NCJW, AJCongress, UAHC Restore Mexico Travel Programs NEW YORK — Three major Jewish organizations have announced that they will immediately resume their travel programs to Mexico as a result of Mexico's newly clari- fied position on Zionism. The three organizations are the National Council of Jewish Women, the American Jewish Congress and the Union of American Hebrew Congrega- tions, the parent body of Reform Judaism. The organizations based their decision on a recent report from a subcommittee of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The special subcom- mittee said, "We have reviewed all relevant actions and statements by the government of • Mexico and, in particular, (President) Luis Echeverria. We are satisfied that a decided reversal of Mexico's attitude toward Zionism. Israel and the Jewish people have in fact taken place. We are no longer confronting an adversary but have regained a friend. It is our recommendation that our relations be fully normalized." The three organizations stated, "We note further the refusal of the Mexican govern- ment in recent weeks to support comparable resolutions in other international forums which also impliedly condemn Zionism. In the light of these factors our organizations have determined that effective at once we are resuming our travel programs to Mexico." Truth Distorter Exposed . . . Some Additional Basic Facts on Israel's Role Quest for Peace: Lost Opportunities Caused by Abandonment of Realties Commentary Page 2 A Weekly Review Editorial Page 4 f Jewish Events VOL. LXVIII, No. 24 • ._s2 =° -9 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 - S10.00 Per Year ; This Issue 30c February 20, 1976 U.S. Support for USS Highlig is Brussels Conference AJCongress Halts Hearings on '60 Minutes' Syria Show The American Jewish Congress haL, announced that it will with- draw from hearings scheduled before the National News Council in a dispute between the Congress and CBS, citing the Council's "deference" toward CBS and the network's refusal to participate in the hearings. The dispute stems from the CBS "60 Minutes" program aired last spring in which the Congress charged that Mike Wallace made an "ex- cessive, inaccurate and distorted" presentation of the condition of Jews living in Syria. Phil Baum, associate executive director of the Congress, re- leased a letter sent on Feb. 10 to William Arthur, executive director of the National News Council which declared that: "Consistent rul- ings of the Council — especially those which would have required the identity of our principal witness to be publicly disclosed despite the obvious danger to the lives of his relatives in Syria — have sev- erely restricted the manner in which we would be allowed to present our case and have manifested an attitude so egregiously solicitous of the rights of the media as opposed to those of the general public — as to allow us no other choice." The AJCongress statement added: "Our decision to withdraw is especially distasteful to us because we are absolutely persuaded that Mike Wallace and the 60 Minutes program violated basic canons of pro- fessional journalism by their insistence upon interviewing only Syrian Jews presently residing in Syria, and therefore obviously subject to coercion and intimidation by the Syrian government, and by their corre- sponding refusal to interview Syrian Jews who have escaped from Syria and who therefore may reasonably be expected to be free to testify more honestly and without fear." "We think this decision by the 60 Minutes program is wholly inde- fensible," the AJCongress said, "and wrong both in terms of competent journalism and the honest pursuit of a clear and undistorted insight into the condition of Syrian Jewry." Newsweek magazine reported last week that "60 Minutes" will air in March a film of their return visit to Syria two months ago. Newsweek says that Mike Wallace will again conclude that Syrian Jews are not subject "to severe persecution." (Continued on Page 5) BRUSSELS (JTA) — Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho), leader of a Congressional delegation to the Second Brussels Conference on behalf of Soviet Jewry, said Tuesday at a Belgian press con- ference that the Jackson Amendment to allow freer emigration of Soviet minorities had "re- sulted in fewer Jews being allowed to leave. Practically, we have lost ground." Sen. Church, a former backer of Sen Henry Jackson's amendment, advocated a method based more on "moral pressure being brought to bear on the Soviet Union." He also said the United States "should underscore at every opportunity it has the right of the individuals to leave the Soviet Union." He said the U.S. should do so "at any time it negotiates with the Soviet government and it should clearly show how seriously it views this issue". The Sena- tor did not let himself be drawn into saying whether the U.S. should back this demand with material conditions. Church stressed, "I believe the Soviet Jews have a right, not just a privi- lege, to leave the Soviet Union, to live as Jews unhampered and not subject to discrimination. When I come here to affirm that Israel lives not by sufferage but by right, I stand not on alien ground but in the great tradition of Western democracies." President Ford has sent a message pledging America will support the right of emigration at appropriate international forums and in exchanges with other governments. The President's message specifically cited emigration as one of the funda- mental human rights that the U.S. adheres to. This is an apparent reference to the 1975 Helsinki Declaration on Human Rights of which both the U.S. And the Soviet Union were signatories. Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, in his message, noted "the pre- s • CHURCH sent leadership of the Soviet Union has taken the first appropriate step by • recognizing in principle the right of Jews who wish so to emigrate to Is- rael." He added, however, "We will not reconcile ourselves to the Continuing policy of in- timidation and suffering inflicted on very many who seek permission to emigrate, so as to intimidate others from emigration. We, the Jewish people, will forever stand firm in our support of the religious and national rights of our Soviet Jewish brethern." Another message which met with warm response came from Sen. Jackson, who promised "we shall not retreat" from backing demands for Soviet emigration with material means. On Tuesday Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, called for a new international drive to permit the free emigration of Soviet Jews and, at the same time, urged the Soviet Union to allow the revival and revitalization of religious and cultural life for those Jews who remain in the USSR. (Continued on Page 14) egin to Speak at Bnai Brith Bonds Event Menachem Begin, leader of the Likud opposition coalition in Israel's Knesset, will be the guest speaker at the Einsten Lodge and Chapter, Bnai Brith, ann ual dinner-dance on behalf of Israel Bonds. The event will he held 7:45 u.m. March 6 at.Adat Shalom Synagogue. Begin led the'mtlitant Irgun during the last days of the BritiSh Mandate in Palestine, and was the founder of Herut, the second largest political party in Israel. He has been elected to the Knesset since its formation. Begin was a "Minister Without Portfolio" in the coalition Cabinet that was formed shortly before the outbreak of the Six-Day War in 1967. He served in that position until 1970 when he left the Cabinet to lead the Likud political opposition in the Knesset. Zionist Revisionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky appointed Begin as head of the Polish Betar movement in 1939, and he worked for "illegal" immigration from Poland to Palestine. Captured by the Russians in 1940, Begin spent several yearsin a.Siberian labor camp before being released and making his way to '0 ?. Broomfield Gains House Support for $563 illion Hike in Funds for Israel WASHINGTON (JTA) — The House Interna- tional Relations Committee, by a voice vote Wednesday, approved a provision in its foreign aid authorization bill to provide Israel and some 50 other countries with an additional 25 percent of their 1976 foreign aid allocation to cover the "Transitional Quarter" this summer. The provision was offered by Rep. William S. Broomfield (R- Mich.), the ranking Republican on the committee which indicates Administration support for the MENACHEM BEGIN (Continued on Page 5) BROoMFIELD