d Demagoguery as an Evilly Un-American Injection Into Middle East Peace Efforts HE JEWISH NEWS Commentary, Page 2 Editorial, Page 4 A Weekly Review of Jewish Events VOL. LXXVI, No. 5 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 $15.00 Per Year: This Issue 35c _ SUKKOT Greetings to Jewish Communities Everywhere Oct. 5, 1979 . Pope's Peace Plea Welcomed With Invitation to Visit Israel Black-PLO Shuttle Investigation Asked By JOSEPH POLAKOFF WASHINGTON (JTA) Fourteen members of the House of Representatives have asked the Department of Justice to investigate the activities of American black leaders and possibly others who have been in communica- tion with the Palestine Liberation Organization. A letter originated by Rep. F. James Sensonbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), and signed by 13 other Congressmen, was addressed to Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti. The letter did not mention any individuals by name, but pointed out that "in the past few weeks certain U.S. citizens" had been in communcation with the PLO both in the United States and in the Mideast. The letter pointed out that "the Logan Act prohibits a citizen of the U.S. from carrying on any unauthorized com- munication with a representative of a foreign government while attempting to influence that government in regard to disputes and controversies with the United States." Carter Administration officials made it clear that the black leaders who met with PLO representatives, including PLO chief Yasir Arafat, are not representing the U.S. gov- ernment. In connection with the letter of the Congressmen, another congressional source observed that the PLO is not a government" and the act therefore may not be applicable. "If violation of the Logan Act occurred," the letter said, "immediate steps should be taken concerning the parties involved. Continuation of such conduct will only lead to a further lack of confidence in the conduct of our foreign affairs by Congress and our allies around the world." Sensonbrenner is a member of the House Standards of Conduct Committee, popularly known as the Ethics Committee. The cosigners of the letter are mainly conservative Republicans. This week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson continued his Mid- dle East shuttle, visiting PLO chief Yasir Arafat in Beirut, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, King Hussein of Jordan and President Hafez Assed of Syria. Jackson told Arafat that their meeting could establish "a beachhead" for U.S.-PLO discussions. Arafat told Jackson, "We are very happy that you are here to give us (Continued on Page 5)• Sukkot UNITED NATIONS (JTA) — Pope John Paul II, in a major address to the United Nations General Assembly on. Tuesday, called for a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict, implied approval of the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement and declared that a peace settlement "cannot fail to include the consideration and just settlement of the Palestinian question." He also spoke on behalf of the territorial integrity and tranquility of Lebanon and reiterated the Vatican's position on Jerusalem, calling for a "special statute" for that city. Early in his speech, which he delivered in English, the Pope recalled his recent visit to the former Auschwitz death camp and urged that "everything that recalls those horrible experiences should . . . disappear forever from the lives of nations and states, everything that is a continuation of those experi- ences only in different forms . . ." He also declared that "All human beings in every nation and country should be able to enjoy their full rights under any political regime or system." Israel is expected to soon send an official invitation to Pope John Paul to come and visit, it was reported in Jerusalem on Wednesday. POPE JOHN PAUL II Yosef Ciechanover, director general of the Foreign Ministry, presented an invitation when he was received by the Pope in the Vatican earlier this year. Now that the Pope has expressed his intention to visit Israel, the invitation is expected to be renewed. Pope Pius XI visited Israel 15 years ago, the only Pope to visit the Holy Land. Political observers in Jerusalem reacted with satisfaction to the support the Pope gave the Camp David accords and the peace agreement with Egypt in his UN speech, despite his reservations about Jerusalem's status. In his remarks on the Middle East, the Pope said: "It is my fervent hope that a solution also to the Middle East crises may draw nearer. While sraelis Pinpointing being prepared to recognize the value of any concrete step or attempt made to settle the con- flict, I want to recall that it would have no value if it did not truly represent the 'first stone' of a By YITZHAK SHARGIL general, overall peace in the area, a peace that, TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel's chief of military intelli- being necessarily based on equitable recogni- gence, Gen. Yeshayahu Saguy, charged Tuesday that the tion of the rights of all, cannot fail to include - United Nations has understated the number of Palestinian consideration and just settlement of the Pales- terrorists active in the area under its control in south tinian question." Lebanon, claimed that there are now Cuban military units The Pope said, "Connected with thiL all over the Middle East, that new Soviet weaponry has been introduced into the region and that Jordan is convert- question is that of the tranquility, indepen= ing its ground and air forces from defensive to offensive dence and territorial integrity of Lebanon capabilities. within the formula that made it an example Saguy said that according to Israeli estimates there of peaceful and mutually fruitful co- are between 500-700 terroritsts in the territory controlled existence between distinct communities, a . I Cuba, PLO Build-up (Continued on Page 5) (Continued on Page 7) A Festival of Many Symbolic Meanings By RABBI SHMUEL HIMELSTEIN (World Zionist Organization Circling the Torah with the Lulav and Etrog while reciting the Hoshana prayer on Sukkot at Jerusalem's Western Wall. The circling is done once every day and as ven times on the seventh day. _ - JERUSALEM — The festival of Sukkot celebrates the fact that the Jews who left Egypt lived in booths in the desert. As far as the actual composition of the sukka, it can vary from the most flimsy, with "walls" of cardboard or blankets, to the most lavish. There are in fact examples of sukkot, now on display in the Israel Museum, which were transported from Europe. One of these is a beautiful wooden room with painted and decorated walls and even a real window. In, fact there are even sukkot nowadays that are complete in every detail, down to having artificial heating! (Of course the fact that the "roo' must be made of vegetation of some kind, leaving holes through which at least the stars can be seen at night means that the heating unit has to compete against the elements). It is commonly accepted that during Sukkot one eats all one's meals in the sukka, but the truly pious spend all their time in it — including sleeping in it nightly. Those who live in apartment houses have usually had to find a vacant area downstairs or else have had to clamber onto the roof to find an area which was open on which to construct their sukka. There is an old story of the Jew who built his sukka, but found that an anti-Semite had complained to the police that it was an "illegal str.icture." The judge decreed that it was indeed to be torn down, "within eight days." In Israel, on the other hand, those who move into buildings which were built specially for those who wish to observe this commandment will not find any problem. Everyone has at least one balcony which is open to the sky. This is either done by a system of staggering the balconies, or else by decreasing them progressively in size on the higher floors. This means that every person has his own personal "piece of heaven." J:;VItetW Beathig Aravot (willow branches) on the ground at Jerusalem's Western Wall on the seventh day of Sukkot. This sym- bolizes beating out the sins at the con- clusion of the High Holiday season.