DI. Denies Bombing Communist Headquarters
NEW YORK (JTA) — The Man- America, and Dr. David Hunter,
hattan headquarters of the Ameri- deputy general secretary of the
can Communist Party was rocked National Council of Churches.
by a bomb blast early Tuesday
Snarl came to shout and push
morning, damaging the building's came to shove as a delegation of
first floor windows and public en- Jewish leaders clashed verbally
trance doorway. The blast was the and physically at high noon with
latest in a series of bombings officials of the Communist Party
which have been touched off in So- USA over the issue of Soviet
viet installations or Communist- Jewry. The delegation had come
affiliated organizations in recent to present a petition to party sec-
months. The blast was reported to retary Gus Hall.
the offices of United Press Inter-
Before the Jewish delegation had
national -and Associated Press by even arrived, and with most of
an unidentified caller who said: those present members of the print
"The Communist Party building and broadcast media, a spokesman
has just been bombed. Let the
for the Communist Party charged
tools and lackeys who throw our
brethren into jail know that they, out of 'the front door of the party's
brownstone headquarters on Man-
too, are responsible for the actions
hattan's west side, waved his fist,
of those who they support. Let our called those assembled "anti-
people go. Never again."
Soviet," "anti-Communist" a n d
Although that slogan is associ- "racist."
ated with the Jewish Defense
He demanded that they "go out
League, a spokesman for the group
denied its involvement in the and shout for the freedom of An-
gela Davis," the black militant on
bombing. •
trial in California for conspiracy
"We had no involvement in the in a courtroom shooting incident.
bombing," said Lawrence Fine, There had, in fact, been no shout-
executive director of the JDL, "al- ing or other noise to .that point.
though we do support the actions The party spokesman, Claude
of those who have acted out their Lightfoot, is himself black. After
embitterment towards the Soviet he closed the door behind him, the
Union. We believe that many Jews Jewish group arrived, headed by
have become radicalized and will Richard Cohen, associate execu-
do anything to express their out- tive director of the American Jew-
rage at the treatment of Soviet ish Congress and spokesman for
Jewry. We applaud the action."
the New York Conference on Soviet
Fine also expressed his belief Jewry. After reading the petition
that the party or parties respon- aloud, Cohn taped it to the door
sible for the bombing had timed of the brownstone and knOcked
the action to coincide with the on the door. Lightfoot re-emerged,
opening of the Communist Party tore the petition from the door,
Congress in Moscow. "We believe crumpled it and threw it to the
that whoever has done this is say- ground, while with one hand
ing to the Communist Party Con- against Cohen's waist he launched
gress we do not acknowledge your into a verbal tirade against the
oivressive regime and we will do delegation, calling them "Fascist
anything to liberate our brothers." JDL people" (the Jewish Defense
:.No comment was immediately League was not represented) and
available from the Communist exclaiming: "You go to Israel and
Party headquarters. Meanwhile, get off the backs of the Arabs,
a police spokesman declined to de- that's what you do!"
scribe the nature of the explosive
The delegation had been refused
and told the JTA that no clues an appointment to talk to Commu-
leading to the identity of the bomb- nist Party officials, according to
ers had yet been found. He also Cohen. Lightfoot further accused
disclosed that minor damage the demonstrators: "You aren't do-
had been inflicted on a church di- ing a damned thing about black
rectly opposite the Communist people!" and insisted: "Go down
building and a store nearby.
to Mississippi where you belong!"
Community Council Appeals
The Jewish leaders shouted back
to U.S. Communist Party
that American Jewry has been in-
The Detroit Jewish Community strumental in the struggle of Amer-
Council has urged that American ican blacks.
Communist Party leaders use their
Lightfoot retorted that Israel
influence with Soviet authorities to was "keeping the Arabs in slavery,"
lift the restrictions on the free ex- to which Cohen replied: "Lies!
pression of Jewish life in the US- Slander! Lies!" Another black
SR and to perinit Jews to emigrate man, chewing on a wooden swizzle
freely from the Soviet Union.
stick, emerged from the party
Communist Party leaders from building to aid Lightfoot, who was
many countries, including the U.S., charging the demonstrators with
are attending the Soviet Commu- trespassing. The second man warned
nist Party Congress in Moscow the Jews to "Go ahead before you
this week. In a wire to Gus get your - - - handed to you!" The
Hall, chairman of the Corn- incident broke up quickly as the
munist Party of the USA, the Com- demonstrators left. During his con-
munity Council urged that Ameri- frontation with Lightfoot and other
can delegates to the party congress Communist Party leaders, Cohen
call on Soviet leaders to lift the was nearly toppled from the stoop
oppressive treatment of Jews by
the Soviet Union.
Action by the Community Coun- Tut I Am a Jew,'
cil was prompted by the fact that Pleads Caught Arab
some Communist parties, notably
TEL AVIV (JTA) — When is a
those of England, France and Italy,
spoke out against Soviet treatment Jew not a Jew? When he is a
of Jews at the time of the Lenin- Palestinian terrorist posing as a
grad trial, and criticized the death Jew in order to get into Israel.
sentences and the severity of other Among the four terrorists cap-
sentences originally imposed by tured March 22 in the major en-
the Leningrad court. These sen- counter on the Golan Heights in
tences were subsequently reduced. which four of his fellows were
killed, there was one who contend-
Religious Leaders Call
ed that he was a Yemenite Jew
on Communist Party Congress
NEW YORK — The religious who had concluded that the best
heads of Orthodox, Conservative way to get a piece of the good life
and Reform Judaism called upon in Israel was to pose as a terror-
ist and cross the border.
the congress of the Communist
This he had done, complete with
Party of the USSR, on the eve of rifle and explosives.
its meeting in Moscow, to elimi-
The Israeli officer in charge of
nate "the cruel vestiges of Stalin's the four prisoners decided to test
rule" against more than 3,000,000 him. First he asked him to read
Soviet Jews and asserted that "the from a Hebrew Bible, but the man
time has come for review of all opened it from the left. Then the
Soviet policy toward Jews since officer asked him to recite some
1948."
Hebrew words, which he was un-
The appeal was delivered to the able to do. Finally the officer
Soviet embassy by an interreli- asked him to complete the sen-
gious delegAtion that included tence beginning "Shema Yisroel
Rabbi Solomon J. Sharfman, presi- . . .," but he could not do it and
dent of the Synagogue Council of quickly confessed.
of the party headquarters. There
were no policemen on the scene.
There will be a "major freedom
rally" in support of Soviet Jews at
the United Nations on April 4.
Leaders of American academic
life called upon the Soviet Commu-
nist Party to endorse a four-part
program to relieve the plight of
Soviet Jewish citizens. Prof. Hans
J. Morgenthau, chairman of the
5,000-member Academic Commit-
tee on Soviet Jewry and professor
of political science at City College
of New York and Chicago Univer
sity-, made public the texts of let-
ters addressed to Leonid I. Brezh-
nev, general secretary of the Corn-
munist Party of the Soviet Union,
and to Communist party leaders in
12 Western nations.
Two Jews in the Urals city of
Sverdlovsk were arrested by Soviet
authorities recently after they sent
letters to Premier Alexei Kosygin
and Communist Party General Sec-
retary Leonid I. Brezhnev protest-
ing the impending trials of Jews in
Leningrad and Riga, the JTA
learned from reliable sources. The
arrests took place on March 17
The men were identified as Val-
ery Kukui and Yuli Kosharovski.
The latter was sentenced to 15
days in the workhouse on- charges
of "hooliganism." Kukui also was
sentenced to a jail term of un-
known duration. Both men report-
edly were leaders of a group of
nine Jews in Sverdlovsk who have
been protesting the Leningrad trial.
The sources said that the homes
of each member of the group were
searched by Soviet police.
More than 100 members of the
Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry
confronted officials of the Com-
munist Party USA Tuesday in
what Glenn Richter, SSSJ na-
tional coordinator, called "an
hour-long shouting match."
The students attempted to pre-
sent the officials with petitions on
behalf of Soviet Jewry signed by
30,000 Americans during the past
three days. The petitions were re-
fused by Lightfoot. Lightfoot again
charged the demonstrators with
being members of the Jewish De-
fense League and with ignoring
the plight of Angela Davis.
"The issue," Richter told the
JTA "is not the JDL. The issue is
not Angela Davis. The issue is
Soviet Jews."
Informed sources told the JTA
that a 48-year-old Jewish physi-
cian was arrested in Tzernowitz
in the Ukraine two weeks ago
after unsuccessfully applying for
an exit visa. He was identified
as Dr. Haim Renert, a gynecolo-
gist.
The source said that four of the
30 Jews jailed after a protest last
week at the offices of the chief
Soviet prosecutor, Roman A. Rud-
enko, have been separated from
their fellow prisoners. The four
were identified by their last names
only as Prestin, Zand, Slapak and
Polsky. They had been sentenced
to 15-day terms on charges of
"hooliganism." The source said
their removal from the Moscow
jail to an unknown place of deten-
tion was unusual considering the
short sentences and was "omi-
nous."
20—Friday, April 2, 1971
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israel Referees a Minor 'Holy War'
JERUSALEM—The Israeli gov-
ernment intervened to prevent
violence between two rival Chris-
tian sects here each of whom holds
a claim to sacred sites in the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher....
For more than a century, the
Coptic Church maintained two
chapels and allegedly barred ad-
mittance to those of the Abyssinian
Church. Under the direction of
Prime Minister Golda Meir, the
Abyssinians were given the chapel
keys and the Copts were guaran-
teed access.
This is the first time that Israel
has intervened in a church dis-
pute, and bitterness over the out-
come is expected from the Copts.
The Egyptian-based Copts charge
that Israel is more sympathetic
to the Ethiopian-based Abyssinians
because of political preference.
On Easter 'Day, 1969, Israeli
police broke up street fighting
and stone throwing between the
two Orthodox church sects.
Finest in Eye Wear!
Complete Prescriptions Filled
Lab on premises
for fast service
18437 W. 8 Mile Rd.
Parking in Rear
RETAIL & WHOLESALE
LARKINS OPTICIANS • 255-2530
11th
ANNUAL
ISRAEL
7 Weeks
$940
Bar Mitzvah Pilgrimage
A unique educational experience for boys and girls of Bar Mitzvah
age this July and August. Rich, religious, educational and cul-
tural program designed to acquaint participants with Israel, its
people and culture.
Dept. of Educafion & Culfure • Jewish Agency
515 Park Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10022 • Tel.: (212) PL 2-0600 Ext. 343
Honor the PASSOVER—
Traditionally!
Deliciously!
Produced under strict Rabbinical supervision. Certificate on request.
S & J AUTOMOBILE
WHOLESALE
ORDER YOUR 1971 -CAR
AT THE LOWEST POSSIBLE
PRICE FROM THE SALES
LEADERS.
ALL MAKES—ALL MODELS
Joe Benis
We Also Handle
-1 Mtmny Loiter
Trade-Ins — You Save Both Ways!
CALL US TO BUY OR LEASE!
We Specialize In New & Pre-Owned Cadillacs
DI 1-6550
•OUTSTATE SHIPPING AVAILABLE
INVENTORY LIQUIDATION SALE!
MEN'S AND BOYS' CLOTHING
IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
SPECIAL GROUPS
MEN'S
SUITS
$42
Values to $110
MEN'S
SPORT COATS
$118
Values to $70
BOYS
SUITS
BOYS'
'
$22
SPORT COATS
Values to $60
saw
Values to $35
CHOICE OF SINGLE OR DOUBLE BREASTED
OPEN SUNDAY 104
OAK PARK CENTER
9 Mile and Coolidge • •
Li .7-2919