Kahane Episode Stirs Passions on Both Sides
(Continued from Page 1)
ties "to recognize the right of
Jews who so desire to return to
Israel" and to let those who stay
"exercise fully their right to live
in accord with their Jewish cul-
tural and religious heritage." The
declaration was adopted without
debate. But the fraternal mood in
which the conference convened re-
mained badly shaken in the after-
math of the appearance of Rabbi
Meir Kahane, national chairman
of the Jewish Defense League: the
conference's refusal to admit him;
and his subsequent arrest and ex-
pulsion from Belgium.
While conference spokesmen and
many delegation leaders hailed the
gathering as a "memorable his-
toric experience" that would go
far toward aiding Soviet Jews, the
Kahane episode left a residue of
bitterness among Kahane's ardent
supporters and among many dele-
gates who reject the JDL's tactics
but feel the conference erred in
barring its leader from speaking.
On the other hand, many delegates
felt the action of the conference
presidium was fully justified on
the grounds that Kahane came to
Brussels as a "spoiler." Many dele-
gates resented a speech by Mena-
hem Begin, leader of the Herut
faction of Israel's Gahal opposition
party, who declared that the "time
was passed when Jews denounced
other Jews." That remark was
taken as a slap at the conference
leadership, who issued a statement
castigating the JDL and its leader.
Begin told the Jewish Telegra-
phic Agency later: "I don't know
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why this uproar. I did not agree
with the way the Kahane incident
was handled and it was my good
right to say so." He told the JTA
further that he. "was not referring
in any direct way to anybody at
the conference when I spoke of
denouncing Jews. You can de-
nounce people In many ways but
not necessarily by running to the
police." The JTA correspondent
here found no evidence to support
charges by some factions that the
conference was responsible for
Kahane's arrest.
The Belgian Ministry of Justice,
in a communique about the Ka-
hane affair, noted that Kahane
had come to Belgium to attend the
conference on Soviet Jewry but
the conference organizers made it
known that he was not a delegate
and ushers at the conference had
orders not to admit him. Never-
theless, the statement went on,
Kahane told Belgian authorities
that he wanted to speak at the
gathering, and to ;void a disturb-
ance the minister of justice was
obliged to remove him temporarily
from Belgian territory.
Support for Kahane's right to
speak, though not for his tactics,
was expressed by several dele-
gates who participated in a sym-
posium of writers and artists on
Soviet Jewry. Among them were
the American playwright Paddy
Chayefsky and producer-director
Otto Preminger, who made the
movie version of the Leon Uris
novel "Exodus." Preminger
created a stir when he told the
conference that its treatment of
Kahane was "just as contemptible
and wrong as what the Nazis and
the Soviet Communists have done."
Preminger was applauded from
some parts of the hall but his
analogy drew a storm - of protest
from most delegates. Preminger
later apologized because he said he
didn't want to give the Russians
the satisfaction of seeing Jews at
loggerheads, but he added that the
conference owed an apology to
Kahane. Chayefsky supported Ka-
hane's plea for more action and
fewer words. "We should put to-
gether something more than a cry
of pain and an appeal to the
conscience of the world which
never has worked very well," he
said.
The delegates put aside their
differences when the closing ses-
sion of the conference was address-
ed by Israel's former .Premier
David Ben-Gurion. The 83-year-old
elder statesman had been confined
to bed with bronchitis and was un-
able to attend the earlier sessions.
He received an ovation that lasted
several minutes.
Speaking in Hebrew, he said:
"This conference bears witness to
the devotion of the Jewish people
to Russian Jews." Observing that
Soviet Jews are denied the right
to teach or sneak Hebrew, Ben-
Gurion said: "We have many com-
plaints against the Soviet authori-
ties, but we fight for the rights of
Soviet Jews by clean means. The
Russians themselves—and there
are millions and millions of decent
Russians — will understand our
struggle."
Rabbi Arthur J. Lelyveld. presi-
dent of the American Jewish Con-
gress. said that "Whatever the con-
siderations of world politics may
be, we cannot and shall not
moderate our insistance on the
right of our brothers to leave the
Soviet Union."
Evidence that Soviet authori-
ties may be tampering with mall
from Israel addressed to Jews
In Russia was disclosed by Joel
Gang, a British delegate to the
conference on Soviet Jewry who
edits a news bulletin, "Focus on
Soviet Jewry."
Gang said he received a tele-
phone call from a Moscow Jew,
Yuri Slapak, who informed him
that he and 30 other young Jews
presented a petition to the Supreme
Soviet Feb. 25. Gang said that ac-
cording to Slapak, one of the com-
plaints contained in the petition
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
was that official invitation forms
to come to Israel were missing
from letters received by Jews from
Israeli relatives although the let-
ters all said that the forms were
enclosed. Jews seeking exit visas
from Soviet authorities must sub-
mit documentary proof that they
have relatives in Israel and have
been invited to go there.
Another complaint contained in
the petition hinted that some So-
viet Jewish families may be divid-
ed over going to Israel. The peti-
tioners said that the Ovir, the
office which deals with exit visas,
caused them difficulty by demand-
ing permission from their parents
to go to Israel. They said the de-
mand was irritating and involved
their parents unnecessarily_ Ac-
cording to Gang, Slapak said a
high Russian offiical told the peti-
tioners that their complaints would
be answered through the news
media at the end of March. He
was apparently referring to the
Communist Party Congress at
which references are likely to be
made to the Soviet Jewish prob-
lem, Gang said.
Zev Yaroslaysky of Los Angeles,
chairman of the California Stu-
dents for Soviet Jewry, called the
conference a "cruel hoax on the
Jewish community" because it al-
legedly barred in advance any del-
egate likely to make "any concrete
proposal for action." But Ben-Gur-
ion said in Tel Aviv that as a result
of the gathering, "more Jews will
be able to leave Russia now than
before."
Yaroslaysky referred specifical-
ly to the conference action in bar-
ring Rabbi Kahane. Yaroslaysky,
himself an activist though he has
not supported JDL tactics in the
past, said barring of Rabbi Kahane
was of "the same type of dictator-
ial character for which the confer-
ence supposedly was called to con-
domn the Soviet Union:" He said it
"clearly indicated" that the 800
delegates in Brussels represented
"a very small cross-section" of
world Jewry. Ben-Gurion himself
conceded that no mass migration
of Jews from Russia could be ex-
pected from the conference results.
that the closing in Brussels on
-joudnment and that the confer-
ence would be kept in session
jourament and that the confer-
even though the participants
have dispersed. The spokesman
said a proposal for a month-long
vigil on behalf of Soviet Jews
had been left pending for further
consideration.
The conference's political com-
mittee adopted a suggestion by
Mrs. Raya Yaglom, president of
the world WIZO, to appoint a del-
egation to visit Russia for discus-
sions with Kremlin leaders and
Soviet Jews. The committee was
said to be giving "careful consid-
eration" to the timing and imple-
mentation of the proposal. The
vagueness on this and other pro-
posals led to disappointment by
many delegates and observers.
Two delegates representing the
Assirei Zion (Prisoners of Zion)
charged that Israel was not doing
enough for Jews who suffered exile
or imprsonment in the Soviet Un-
ion for their Zionist beliefs and
who eventually managed to reach
Israel.
Yehezkel Pularevitz and Abra-
ham Stukarevitz told the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency correspondent
at the conference that little inter-
est is being shown in the problem
in Israel. They said that even al-
lowing for the tensions and pre-
occupation with Israel's conflict
with the Arabs, it was disturbing
that the Assirei Zion had been al-
most forgotten,
They said that some of them lost
their health and capacity to work
as a result of imprisonment in
Soviet labor camps and some have
died. leaving their widows and
(The Kahane episode bad re-
percussions in Israel. Addressing
a dinner for a group of Pioneer
Women leaders from the United
States. Premier Golda Meir de-
scribed the JDL as a "tragedy"
and said "no small group can
assume that it knows better than
the organized Jewish world and
use methods that play into the
hands of our enemies."
(Addressing the Knesset in Jeru-
salem, Foreign Minister Abba
Eban reiterated the Israel govern-
ment's firm opposition to the tac-
tics employed by the JDL. He re-
peated verbatim a statement made
in the Knesset by Premier Golda
Meir last November accusing the
JDL of sabotaging the legitimate
fight for the rights of Soviet
Jewry. He also read a condemna-
tory resolution adopted by the gov-
ernment and published Jan. 17.
Asked about Kahane's attempt to I
give the Assirei Zion the status
and support that Israel gives to its
war veterans and war invalids
-were not being acted upon.
Orthodox Rabbi Says
Conference Is "Harassment'
Which Might Boomerang
NEW YORK (JTA) — Rabbi
Abraham Gross, president of the
Rabbinical Alliance of America,
told the JTA he considered the
Brussels conference on Soviet
Jewry to be "harassment" of the
Soviet Union. "I admit that the
public outcry (on behalf of Soviet
Jewry) has awakened certain ele-
ments that have been oblivious,
but I'm questioning' what it has
accomplished for Soviet Jewry,"
he said. Jewish emigration from
the USSR has been going on un-
publicized for a number of years,
Rabbi Gross observed, and "har-
assing" the Kremlin with an inter.
(Continued on Page 48)
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participate in the Brussels confer-
ence, Eban said the event was'
being held by Jewish organiza-
tions, not on a governmental level
and that the Israel government as
such was not represented. He said,
however, that the Israeli delegates
shared the government's view with
regard to the JDL's "illegal ac-
tions against Soviet representa-
tives and insttutions."
(The youth section of the National
Religious Party adopted a resolu-
tion protesting Rabbi Kahane's ex-
clusions- from the Brussels confer-
ence.)" .
One of the major criticisms of
the conference was that it took no
specific actions to implement its
stated aim to end the repression of
Jewish cultural and religious life
in the USSR and to persuade the
Kremlin to grant emigration rights
to all Jews who wish to leave.
There was no decision to constitute
the conference as a permanent
body to follow through on its aims.
A conference spokesman told
the Jewish. Telegraphic Agency
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