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4 < Situation Jewish legislator in Iran arrested member ' M , i “‘T'"? Kalini Nik™*, the only Jewish f i i u IS ’ * ran * an Parliament, has been arrested and charged with “moral turpitude" by the Islamic state prosecutor for alleged “illicit sexual relations” with sev- Fn!,L°h U | S WOmen . a " d men employed in a clinic he heads, the glish-langusjge daily Teheran Times reported Friday. INikruz, a 40-year-old pharmacist, was elected to the Iranian legislative assembly two-and-a-half years ago to occupy the seat t Iranian C onstitution reserves for a representative of the Jewish community. Despite parliamentary immunity, he is eing detained in Teheran’s central prison, the newspaper report said. There was no confirmation from any other source. —Edwin Eytan Continued from page 2 Tadio that “Jews and Christians arc unclean and Moslems should not associate with them,” accord ing to Amir, who monitors Iran ian radio. In any power struggle, .lews could be expected to be an early casualty. In other words, although some l imes facts were inaccurate or could not be immediately veri fied. their alarm was certainly justified. Far greater attention has been focused on far lesser Jewish persecutions in Argentina. Nicaragua, France and Austria. Why then did Jew'ish and Israeli leaders seek to debunk the re ports? The next day, the Jerusalem Post published a bizarre front page story headlined: “Report on Iran Jews Said Exaggerated.” Flip-flopping on their front page of a day earlier: “Jews Fleeing Iran as Terror Mounts,” the fol low-up Post article declared that “the report of heightened perse cution of Jews there gives an exaggerated and distorted picture of the situation.” One leader of an American Jewish organization declared, “There seems to be no hard evi dence that there is a significant deterioration now, nor for such sweeping statements as wide spread torture, imprisonment and roundups.” Even Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, ans wering a question about the Times report, also declared that while the picture was not good, the reports were being “exagger ated.” Win try to downplay the per secution in Iran? In a word, Jew ish and Israeli leaders are justifi ably reluctant to speak out. “The Khomeini regime does not toler ate any minority,” explains Marc Tanenbaum. international direc tor of the American Jewish Com mittee, reached in Jerusalem. “ The situation is of course dark. Jews have it bad. But the better part of wisdom among Jewish leadership believes that it is bet ter not to make any wild or sweeping charges that could pro voke retaliation. We are dealing with a very impetuous regime and if we aren’t careful, we could have an entire Jewish commun ity being held hostage.” Such cautions however have understandably caused conster nation among Jewish groups eager to speak out in defense of their Iranian co-religionists. But the director of the Jerusalem office of a leading Jewish defense or ganization echoed Tanenbaum’s cautious approach, adding his dilemma: “And yet we cannot just ’no comment’ on the situa tion because American Jews cannot afford to be silent.” A third Jewish leader, equally un willing to go on the record, asserts. “1 know it is going to look like Israel and Jewish leadership is abandoning the Jews of Iran, or trying to minimize their plight. But that is not true.” Indeed it is not. This reporter Vanunu remanded into custody on aggravated espionage charge Mordechai Vanunu. accused ol treason for his role in allegedly selling w hat he apparently claimed were Israel’s nuclear secrets to the London Times, appeared in public for the first time Sunday since the new spaper account sev eral months ago. Vanunu showed up in Jerusa lem District Court, bearded and wearing blue jeans, a red t-shirt, and tennis shoes. He was driven to a back entrance of the court house in a police van in order to avoid the scores of newsmen and photographers who were w aiting outside the court for hours in the hope of being permitted to attend his scheduled remand hearing. The court session lasted just 40 minutes. Vanunu heard a repre sentative of the state attorney’s office, Uzi Chasson, request that he be remanded in custody until the end of his trial. Judge Zvi Cohen, however, granted the re quest of Vanunu’s attorney, Amnon Zichroni, that the hear ing be put off so that he could have more time to prepare his case. Meanwhile, the judge ordered Vanunu to remain in custody. The judge also denied Zichroni’s request that the trial be held in open court. The newsmen were not permitted into Sunday’s hearing. Vanunu was shown the charge sheet which says that he provided assistance to an enemy in war and committed “aggrax ated espi onage," both offenses w hich carry a sentence of life imprisonment. — Yaacov Ben Yosef s-Kahane policies condemned-n NEW YORK (JTA)—The Women’s League for Conserva tive Judaism has sharply condemned the policies of Rabbi Meir Kahane and called for a congregational boycott of his appear ances at synagogues or other Jewish community institutions. A resolution adopted at the recent convention of the 200,000-member League stated that “Racism of any sort must be opposed by Jews everywhere as being antithetical to the teachings of Judaism. We call upon the institutions of Conser vative Judaism and others to speak out against the policies of Meir Kahane and other anti-democratic forces in Israel and vigorously oppose any synagogue or organizational platform to those (like Kahane) who espouse such destructive methods . and goals.” J v — i The Critics' Choice Best value Low maintenance 1987 Mazda means a cut above - the more you look, the more you like! M VZDAiOhl.l TL KHOsl’OKI s| lVO LET’S DEAL MAZDA323 Dl l L XI si DAN BEST CONSUMER GUIDE S CHOICE FOR 1987 rqo* PRICES MAZDA KVrit KHO LARGE DISCOUNTS NO HASSLE/NO WAITING LIST FREE DELIVERY TO ATLANTA CUSTOMERS. LEASES AVAILABLE. 5 YEAR OR 50,000 MILE WARRANTY OPTIONAL jyjQjQp CHARLES LEVY COMPANY ’T SrUA3,90, (404,563-6469 , 404)563-8306 ^rs^xpehence ATLANTA LINE-CALL 525-0687 has been briefed in detail on efforts to assist Iranian Jews. Mathematics and specifics can not and should not be discussed, but regardless of the public pos ture, American Jewish leaders — and Israel in particular—are not ignoring their historic obligations. Under such circumstances, Jew ish leaders must walk a fine line between their duty to acknowl edge the worsening plight of Iranian Jewry, and their fear of tripping some wire that would shut the door of assistance. “Those who are responsible believe there is a greater value than creating publicity, and that is saving lives,” declared Harry Wall, of the Anti-Defamation League’s Jerusalem office. Other sources add that this precept is understood even by leading ele ments of the non-Jewish press currently covering the Iranian persecution. “They have facts that they are responsibly not includ ing in their coverage,” says an American Jewish organization al official, “We’re talking life and death." Ironically, the greater fear some Jewish leaders have is not so much from the press, as from fundraisers within the Jewish community itself. “So far,” de clares one Jewish organizational leader here, “the fundraisers haven’t gotten a hold of anything, so there has been no public cam paign. And believe me, we wouldn't need one. There are plenty of wealthy Iranian Jews in Beverly Hills to do that. But we do worry about the fundraisers." Tanenbaum adds this warning: “There are narcissistic Jewish leaders who jump at the oppor tunity to exploit such situations. History will be very harsh with those kinds of people. And their behavior will ultimately become accountable. “For the foreseeable future.” asserts Tanenbaum. “we w ill have to walk on eggshells in this mat ter." In consequence, a modicum of public reassurance is now re quired. But hereafter, the less said the better. * 19Kb. 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