Cyprus in Jewish History; Number Declines
NEW YORK (JTA) — At
different times the island of
Cyprus (probably the "Ali-
shiya" or "Elishah" men-
tioned a number of times in
the Bible), played an impor-
tant role in Jewish history,
according to a special report
prepared for the JTA by Dr.
Frederick Lachman, execu-
tive editor of the Encyclo-
pedia Judaica.
After World War II the
British government forcibly
transferred many thousands
of the so-called "illegal" im-
migrants, who tried to reach
Palestine, to detention camps
in Cyprus. Their total num-
ber from 1946 to 1948 was
51,500. With the establish-
ment of the state of Israel,
they were quickly absorbed
in the mainstream of the
mass immigration which be-
gan to arrive in the country.
In 1951 the Jewish popula-
tion of Cyprus numbered 165
persons, and by 1970 there
were only 25 Jews left on the
island.
Jewish settlement on the
island began during the 3rd
Century BCE under Ptolo-
maic rule. In 142 BCE, the
Romans sent letters to
Cyprus requesting that the
rights of the Jews be safe-
g u a r de d. The historian
Josephus refers to flourishing
Jewish settlements, and Has-
monean coins have been dis-
covered on the island. King
Herod. received from Augus-
tus a portion of the revenue
from Cyprus' copper mines,
and his granddaughter, Alex-
andra, married an aristocra-
tic Jew, Timius of Cyprus.
Under Trajan, probably in
116/7 CE, the Jews of Cy-
prus, together with those of
Cyrene, Mesopotamia and
Egypt revolted for causes
which are not clear, and it
is reported that the Jews of
Cyprus killed 240,000 people
and destroyed the city of
Salamis. After the revolt was
suppressed, Jews were strict-
ly forbidden to set foot on
the island, but during the
3rd Century the Jews had
resettled in Cyprus, accord-
ing to the authoritative En-
cyclopedia Judaica.
In the eart 7th Cen-,
tury there was a large Jew-
ish community in Fama-
gusta, and other large com-
munities developed later in
Nicosia. Paphos and Lima-
sol. Jews, however, were
discriminated against by law,
and in the 14th Century they
had to wear the distinguish-
ing yellow badge. An attempt
in 1568 to foment a rebellion
on the island, a Venetian
possession, in favor of the
Turks was attributed to the
statesman Joseph Nasi.
Thanks to the efforts of Solo-
mon Ashkenazi, a peace
treaty was signed in 1573 be-
tween Venice and Turkey,
the latter having conquered
the island in 1571.
In 1878 Benjamin Disraeli
succeeded in placing Cyprus
under British administration.
Between 1883 and 1897 there
were attempts to settle Jews
from Romania on the island.
In the early 1900s, Herzl dis-
cussed with Chamberlain a
plan to settle Jews in Cyprus,
but without success. Between
1933 and 1939 Cyprus was a
sanctuary for 500 Jewish
refugees from Germany.
In 1960 diplomatic relations
were established on an am-
bassadorial level, but the
government of Cyprus as-
sumed a complex and some-
times contradictory attitude
in its relations with Israel;
at the United Nations its
representatives mostly sided
with the Arab states, and
simultaneously Cyprus fos-
tered mass tourism from Is-
rael and developed satisfac-
tory trade relations and
technical cooperation.
10—Friday, August 4 01 74
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israel Successful at W. German Fair
JERUSALEM — The eight
Israeli firms who exhibited
at the Interstoff Textiles Fair
in Frankfurt reported favor-
able response.
The federal republic is Is-
rael's second biggest trading
partner after the United
States.
About 66,000 of Israel's
3,500,000 population work in
the textile industry. The pres-
ident of the Israeli Textile
Industry, Dov Jacobovitz,
said in a newspaper inter-
view that he expected Is-
rael's exports to the Federal
Republic to increase by be-
tween 10 and 20 per cent.
Israel exported ready-to-
wear clothes, including
leatherware, materials, fibers
and threads, worth DM 53,-
POE
0(1
n,
000,000 to the federal repub-
lic. F a b r i c s, fibers and
threads accounted for 12,-
100,000.
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Israel Donates Medical Aid,
Plasma for Cyprus War Victims
TEL AVIV (JTA)—A spe-
cial Red Cross chartered
plane arrived at Ben-Gurion
Airport and picked up a con-
signment of 51/2 tons of medi-
cal supplies `or victims of
the Cyprus war.
The consignment was pre-
pared by the Israeli Red
Magen David Association
On July 24, the Red Magen
David Blood Center shipped
to Cyprus 100 units of blood
plasma needed urgently for
treating wounded persons.
The blood units were do-
nated by Israelis especially
for victims of the Cyprus
war.
The end of major fighting
in Cyprus and use of a new
route recommended by the
International Air Transport
Association made possible
resumption of all regular
flights to Israel.
A Swiss Airlines plane was
the first to land July 24 via
the new route, with planes of
Scandinavian Airlines and
other overseas companies fol-
lowing.
Prior to the outbreak of
the Cyprus war, flights to
and from Israel were made
on a beam from the Nicosia
control tower, which was
Israeli Athletes
Guarded in Norway
OSLO (JTA)—Norway pro-
vided tight police protection
for the Israeli swimming
team participating in the
International Swimming Corn-
petition here.
Armed policemen in uni-
form were stationed around
the swimming pool and out-
• side the building where the
events were taking place, in
order to prevent possible ter-
rorist attacks against the
team members.
knocked out, apparently
damaged in the fighting.
The new route recom-
mended by IATA has been
in use by El Al since the
invasion of Cyprus by Turk-
fth forces when the inter-
national airlines discontinued
scheduled services to Israel
and in part to Lebanon.
El Al reported a spRial
flight to the British base at
Akrotiri in Cyprus where it
picked up 60 Israeli tourists
and -families of diplomats
still stranded at the base.
JVS-Sponsored
Addict Aid Project
Adopted by Newark
NEWARK (JTA) — The
Jewish Vocational Service of
Metropolitan New Jersey de-
veloped a vocational rehabil-
itation program for former
drug addicts which has been
so successful that it has been
taken over as the official re-
habilitation phase of Newark
city's new Multi-Phasic Drug
Treatment Center.
The project, called Work
Oriented Rehabilitation Com-
munity (WORTC) was a
three-year experiment start-
ed in 1971 at the request of
the New Jersey Division of
Vocational Rehabilitation,
Region II of the Rehabilita-
tion Services Administration
of the federal Department of
Health, Education and Wel-
fare, and the city of Newark,
according to the Newark
Jewish News.
The program was coordi-
nated, staffed and adminis-
tered by JVS, a beneficiary
of the United Jewish Appeal
of Metropolitan New Jersey,
as the vocational service of
Integrity House, a drug re-
habilitation treatment cen-
ter, which houses 170 for-
mer addicts.
e join Joe Forbes in
supporting* Jim Blanchard
for U.S. Congress
State Rep. Joe Forbest believes that Jim Blanchard best understands —
and will best be able to do something about — the issues which are of
utmost concern to all of us: inflation, tax reform, crime, education, the
need for a national energy policy, concern for Israel.
We agree.
We urge you to join us in supporting James J. Blanchard, Democrat for
the U.S. Congress in the 18th District — Tuesday, August 6.
Harriet Arnowitz
Cindy Brody
Sue & David Brody
Lorraine Beardslee
Isaac & Beverly Benaim
rris Bieder
Shirley &
Don Cohen
Bernard Crank
Lou Chess
Joe Forbes
Don Flavin
Jerry & Debbie Goldberg
David Goldberg
Rachel Goldberg
Meredith Goldberg
Maxine Gutfruend
Elaine Graybar
Simon and Inez Gold
Barbara & Michael Horowitz
Lucille & Marcel Halberstadt
Don Jones
Alex & Roz Jacobson
Sara Kujala
Barbara & Phil Kraft
Sheldon Larky
Ardeth Lobel
Sara & Joe Levine
Lisa & Abraham Levy
Marilyn Mazell
Armen Mechigian
Larry & Myra Morton
Jerry Naftaly
Stuart & Susan Oshinsky
Nate Peiss
Mark Pittman
Gary Polk
Linda Polk
Fayge Posen
Bob & Marsha Rosenblum
Lila Reder
Nancy Rott
Marlene & Ron Rosen
Paid for and authorized by the Blanchard for
Congress Committee, Paul Dizik, Treasurer.
Jack Stein
Ethel Silberg
Ernest Solomon
Rae Sugarman
David & Frances Shepherd
Wendy Shepherd
Suzie Serlin
Barbara & Sheldon Sherman
Annette & Burton Shaffer
Harry Weberman
Judy Weisman
Barbara Wright
Morton Zumberg
Norman Zausmer
Joyce Zack