U.S. Holocaust Commission Places a 'Jewish' Wreath at Babi Yar WASHINGTON (JTA) β€” A wreath, stating for the first time that Jews had died at Babi Yar, was placed at the Babi Yar Monument in Kiev last Friday by members of President Carter's Commission for the Holocaust. The wreath contained English, Russian, Yiddish and Hebrew inscriptions saying it was from a Presidential commission formed to establish a memorial "toβ€’ the catas- trophe that overtook European Jewry." The Mounting Prejudices: Israel's Enemies Attain Notoriety on Many Fronts Writer Elie Wiesel, chairman of the commission, said that between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in 1941, more than 90,000 Jews were machinegunned by Nazi troops. The official estimate is 70,000. Ten members of the commission, accompanied by 34 advisers and others, are on a tour to study what type of Holocaust memorial should be established in the U.S. Before coming to the Soviet Union, they inspected Polish memorials at the Nazi death camps at Maidanek, Treblinka and Auschwitz. The commission, representing Jewish and Christian organizations, is visiting Copehna- gen and Jerusalem. They attended services at the crowded Moscow Synagogue last Saturday and members of the congregation rushed to talk to them at the conclusion. HE JEWISH NEWS A %VeekIN Revietu Commentary, Page 2 of knish Events `One-Sided Piety' Scrutinized Wallenberg Case: PR Fiasco Diaspora Jewry Is Being Tested Editorials, Page 4 VOL. LXXV, No. 23 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 $12.00 Per Year: This Issue 30c Aug. 10, 1979 Carter -Vance Reassurances Easing U.S.-Israeli Tensions WASHINGTON β€” Top officials of the Carter Administration, including the President, Vice President Walter Mondale and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, concluded a week of reassuring Israel on the U.S. position towards the Palestine Liberation Organization and UN Security Council Resolution 242 by holding a 90-minute working lunch with Israeli Ambassador Ephraim Evron on Wednes- day. Following the luncheon, Vance met with reporters with Evron at his side and stated again that the U.S.-Israeli friendship was strong. Details of the working luncheon were not disclosed. Vance said Evron would now report back to the Israeli government with a note from President Carter. Carter, Vance, and national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski attended the meeting with Ev- ron. CYRUS VANCE WALTER MONDALE JIMMY CARTER Sen. Richard Stone (D-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Middle East, had earlier been quoted in Israel as saying that the U.S. would adhere to its promise not to deal with the PLO until it recognized Resolution 242 and recognized Israel's right to live peacefully within secure borders. Stone also said that Vance assured him the U.S. would veto a pending UN Security Council resolution on Palestinian rights as it now stands because it would alter 242 by calling for granting Palestinian self- determination and the right to an independent state. Israel Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan had said in interviews with the press that the American stance towards Israel was "not just an erosion, but a funda- (Continued on Page 6) EPHRAIM EVRON RICHARD STONE DANIEL MOYNIHAN Jewish Residents Organizing Israeli Editors Say Farewell to Southern Sinai Desert Region a Temple in Livingston County By MOSHE RON The Jewish News Special Israel Correspondent TEL AVIV β€” A group of editors of the Israeli newspapers recently flew with Deputy Dcifense Minister Mordecai Zipori to southern Sinai. We know that we were going to say 'bye to parts of this area, which is being returned to Egypt. Three times Israel has occupied Sinai. In 1948, during the War of Independence, the commander of the southern front, Yigal Allon, pushed his army deep into Sinai. In 1956, Israeli troops occupied the whole Sinai area. After both campaigns, Israel yielded to international pressure and withdrew its forces. The third time Israeli troops moved into Sinai, during the Six-Day War in June 1967, they occupied the whole area again. For 12 years it has been under Israeli occupation. Billions of Israeli pounds were in- vested in developing this area, building roads and military airfields. In 1948 and 1957, Sinai was returned to the Egyptians after the Israelis had destroyed all their installations. This time everything will be left to the Egyptians according to the peace treaty signed by both countries. We were interested in the fate of 11,000 Bedouins who are living in southern Sinai. In our talks with some sheikhs, they admitted that they are not too happy. They defined the 12 years under Israeli rule as their "seven fat years." During this time a big change occurred in their style of life. Instead of tents they are living today in small houses. Their camels and donkeys have given way to cars MOSHE RON (Continued on Page 5) A group of Jewish families in Livingston County are organizing a new congregation and expect to have services for the High Holy Days in Brighton and on a regular basis thereafter. Some 22 families met at an organizational meeting in Brighton last week. The group was offered two church buildings and a school to use for services. Barbara Levy of Brighton initiated the idea for a congregation. The Levys moved from the Detroit area to Brighton more than a year ago and the idea for a congregation evolved after a search for a Hebrew tutor for the three Levy sons. The initial meeting Aug. 2 resulted from newspaper articles in Livingston County papers. Mrs. Levy said that in addition to the 22 families represented at the meeting, 14 more in Brighton, Hartland, Howell and other communities had expressed an interest. The new congregation has yet to be named. It has had offers of assistance from Brighton's first Presbyterian Church and St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which offered their buildings for meetings and services, and Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor which offered a portable Aron Kodesh. A site committee met this week to discuss the use of the churches or a school and an executive committee was also scheduled to meet. The entire group will meet again next week to discuss organization, a site and dues. Rabbi David Hachen, regional director for the Union of American Hebrew Congre- gations (Reform) has been advising the group, and attended the initial meeting with Rabbi Ralph Mecklenberger of Temple Beth Emeth and James Fuller, president of the Metropolitan Detroit Federation of Reform Synagogues. The new congregation plans to hold services for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur with the aid of a student rabbi from Hebrew Union College. For information about the new congregation, call Barbara Levy in Brighton, 227- 2603, or in Oak Park, 398-0152.