Afghanistan
Jewry's Tragedy:
Flourishing
Group's Decline
in a Century
of Persecutions
THE JEWISH NEWS
A
Commentary, Page 2
VOL. LXXVI, No. 20
Weekly
.Review
of Jeuish Events
On the Way
to the Synagogue:
Anticipating
Youth Response
in an Age of
Declining Interest
Editorial, Page 4
17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 . 424-8833 $15.00 Per Year: This Issue 35c
Jan. 18, 1980
Israelis Are Wary of Russian
Weaponry, Advisers in Syria
Labor Pledges Support
for Israel to Continue
PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — Lane Kirkland, president of the
AFL-CIO, said here Tuesday night that his organization would
do "all in its power to prevent an erosion of support for the only
democratic state in the Middle East — Israel — not only for
Israel's sake but our own." He also denounced "repeated sugges-
tions from high places that America's interests would be served
by abandoning opposition to dealing with the PLO and to estab-
lishment of a Palestinian state."
Kirkland, whO succeeded the late George Meany as head of
the country's largest labor federation three months ago, ad-
dressed a dinner of the Philadelphia Jewish Community Rela-
tions Council where he accepted the Jules Cohen Memorial
Award for "outstanding contributions to man's struggle for
human rights." The dinner, held in
association with the National
Jewish Community Relations
Advisory Council (NJCRAC) an-
nual assembly, also honored Theo-
dore Mann of Philadelphia, outgo-
ing chairman of NJCRAC; and his
successor, Bennett Yanowitz of
Cleveland. The occasion was Kirk-
land's first public address since he
succeeded Meany.
He called for "a stronger overall
American foreign policy and the de-
fense efforts required to back it up."
He warned, "The Soviet Union has
demonstrated that it is prepared to
project the global power it has ac-
quired in the last decade. Our re-
LANE KIRKLAND
sponse must be of the same char-
acter."
The AFL-CIO leader asserted that "a Palestinian state — a
PLO state — would be a direct threat to the economic, political
and strategic interests of the U.S. and the entire Western alliance
We have seen what a Palestinian state would look like. It
would look like the Iran of Ayatollah Khomeini."
Kirkland maintained that it was "no accident that the
Ayatollah's gunmen received their training from the PLO and
that Yasir Arafat has offered material and political support to
Khomeini's campaign to humiliate the U.S." Kirkland also
claimed that "A Palestinian state would, like Iran, be a terrorist
state that employs assassins, kidnappers and bombthrowers as a
matter of official policy. How can it be in the interests of the U.S.
(Continued on Page 13)
El Al, Egyptair
Flights to Begin
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Premier
Menahem Begin and Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat reached agreement at their
Aswan summit meeting that regular civi-
lian flights between Tel Aviv and Cairo will
begin Jan. 26.
Begin said the aviation agreement was
not strictly required under the terms of the
Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. However, he
said, Sadat had promised him at their meet-
ing in El Arish last summer that air links
would be established as soon as normaliza-
tion went into effect. He has abided by his
promise, Begin said. Telephonic communi-
cations and postal links will also be opened
between the two countries on Jan. 26.
El Al began negotiations this week with
Egyptair to finalize a schedule.
TEL AVIV (JTA) — The growing Soviet presence in Syria and the
continued flow of Soviet weaponry into that country has been a cause of
mounting concern in Israel. Israeli sources estimate the number of Soviet
military personnel in Syria at 1,500. However, the sources said they had no
confirmation of foreign press reports that an additional 500 Russian advis-
ers arrived in Damascus last week.
The Russians are helping the Syrians absorb new weapons which
reportedly include MiG-25 fighters and T-72 tanks. Israeli Premier
Menahem Begin considers the situation serious enough to have mentioned
it Tuesday to a group of visiting members of the British Parliament. He
raised the matter again Wednesday when he spoke to reporters after
briefing President Yitzhak Navon on his summit meeting with Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat in Aswan last week.
Begin said that Syria has drawn closer to the USSR as Moscow
continues to supply it with arms and, therefore, Israel must remain
MENAHEM BEGIN
alert. According to Begin, the Soviets intend to create tension along
the Israeli-Syrian border in order to divert international attention from their incursion into
Afghanistan. Begin told the Knesset that the lesson of Afghanistan is that a Palestinian state
would lead to a direct Soviet presence in the Middle East.
Israel's concern is shared by Maj. Saad Haddad, commander of the Christian militia in south
Lebanon which Israel supports. Haddad said Wednesday that if Syria attacked Israel it would do so
from Lebanon rather than on the Golan Heights. He said that while the Golan topography was better
suited for tank warfare, the Syrians fear that an attack there, if unsuccessful, would open the way to
Damascus.
A "senior American source" said Tuesday there was no reason to fear that Syria was heading
toward war with Israel, according to the Voice of Israel. The source reportedly said that Syria has
(Continued on Page 14)
One-Year Deadline Set on Nazi Cases
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Justice Department has set a one-year deadline for disposal of the cases
pending against 250 alleged Nazi war criminals living in the United States. That goal was announced by Philip
B. Heymann, an assistant attorney general, in a letter to several American Jewish leaders who had expressed
concern that the Justice Departi..ent was dragging its feet in pursuing these cases, some of which have been in its
files for more than 30 years. The case against Michigan's Valerian Trifa was started in 1975 and has yet to come
to trial.
"Our goal for the immediate future is to reach the end of 1980 with all files in one of two statuses: either
having been filed with the court or having been closed entirely for lack of substance," Heymann wrote.
He is in charge of the Justice Department's Criminal Division that oversees the Office of Special
Investigation which is directly handling the cases. His letter was apparently intended to reassure
Jewish leaders and others troubled by the recent transfer of Martin Mendelsohn, who established the
OSI and was its deputy director.
Mendeliohn's transfer was raised last week at a meeting between Jewish leaders and Attorney General
Benjamin Civiletti in which Heymann participated.
Heymann promised in his letter, "We are going to bring this chapter to a close without bypassing any case
that has promise." Walter Rockier, who has directed the OSI since it was transferred from the Immigration and
Naturalization Service last May and was Mendelsohn's immediate superior, said new cases and any others that
may be added in the future would not be bound by the one-year deadline.
(Continued on Page 14)
Games Boycott Backed
WALTHAM, Mass. — The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews has urged
President Carter to officially sanction the removal of the 1980 Olympics from
Moscow. The organization has also expressed its support of the President's re-
assessment of U.S. foreign policy following the Soviet invastion of Afghanistan.
Robert Gordon, president of the UCSJ said, "We strongly believe that, given
the current situation, our presence in Moscow will make a mockery of the ideals of
international cooperation and sportsmanship."
Gordon said, "We feel that removing the Olympics from Moscow will
serve the interests of the American people, as well as those of Soviet Jews,
whose fate is of special concern to us. Major U.S. newspapers have already
reported Soviet plans to brutally 'cleanse Moscow of undesirable elements.'
i.e., refusniks and other religious and political dissidents.
"We know the history of President Nixon's visits to the Soviet Union in
1972 and 1974, when refusniks suffered house-arrest or languished in
Soviet jails for the duration of his visits. We must not allow the presence of
American athletes and spectators in Moscow this year to legitimize this
oppressive regime.
"Holding the summer Olympics in Moscow in 1980 is the moreal equivalent of
holding the Olympics in Berlin in 1936," Gordon said. "We, therefore, urge you to
(Continued on Page 8)
Iranians Take
Jews' Property
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Kol Israel Radio says
that the regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini is confiscating the property of
wealthy Iranian Jews. According to the re-
port, the property of 51 Jewish families was
expropriated after they were charged with
collaborating with the regime of the deposed
Shah.
Among those to lose their property is a
Jewish industrialist who was formerly a
member of the Iranian parliament, and the
late Habib Elkanian, a Jewish leader exe-
cuted by the Islamic regime shortly after
Khomeini came to power for alleged collab-
oration with the Shah and for maintaining
contacts with Israel. The property of Elka-
nian's sister was also confiscated, Kol Israel
said.