.1,,, a4effilage..4446 ■ 11.41, 04,peetee,. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, April 17, 1981 Decision Looms for French Jews By EDWIN EYTAN PARIS (JTA) — France is preparing for a hotly con- tested Presidential election campaign, and, as usual, one of the questions posed is how the Jewish electorate will vote. The question, in its broadest terms, is of vital interest not oily to the can- didates who are wooing Jewish voters, but also to the Jewish community. The major issue this year for the ash community is ante's current policy irk the Middle East. Some 400,000 Jews, close to 1.5 percent of the electo- rate, are expected to cast their ballots in the two- round Presidential election scheduled for April 24 and May 10. There are four major candidates running in the first round: President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Socialist Francois Mit- terand, Gaullist Jacques Chirac, and Communist Georges Marchais. Giscard and Miterrand are running neck to neck in public opinion polls. In 1974, Giscard won - by only 340,000 votes and this year the margin could be even slimmer, according to most politi- cal analysts. Public opin- ion polls show that a majority of the Jewish voters, 53 percent, will support Mitterrand, compared to 23 percent who favor Giscard. In 1974, a majority of the Jewish electorate voted for Giscard who ran on a plat- form pledging French sol- idarity with Israel and a change in the pro-Arab policies that had been pur- sued by former Presidents Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou. An overwhelming majority of France's 70t,000 Jews be- long to the middle class and in 1974 were opposed to rad- ical social and economic changes advocated by the Socialist-Communist coali- tion. Regarding the direction of the Jewish electorate in the current election, Baron Alain de Rothschild, president of the Represen- tative Council of Jewish Organizations in France tCRIF), told a press confer- ence recently that each Jewish voter will have to decide for whom to vote "ac- cording to the dictates of his own conscience." As far as CRIF's role is concerned, he said it will adhere to its tra- ditional role and refrain from playing an active role in the electoral campaign despite French Jewry's "anxiety" over France's cur- rent policy in the Mideast. Giscard rolled to victory with the help of a large per- centage of the Jewish vote in 1974; but several months after. his election he sent Foreign Minister Jean Sauvargnargues to Beirut to meet Palestine Libera- tion O'ganization chief Yasir Arafat, authorized the opening of a PLO bureau in Paris, freed Palestinian terrorist leader- Abu Daoud, adopted a lukewarm attitude toward the Camp David agree- ments and grossly mishan- dled popular reactions to the bombing of the Rue Copernic synagogue last October. Chirac was the main in- itiator of the Franco- Iraqi nuclear agreement when he served as Prime WEINTRAUB FAMILY Wishes All Their Customers & Friends WALTHAM, Mass. — Former U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits and Herbert M. Singer, a New York attor- ney, will be honored by Brandeis University May 4 at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Javits,' currently 1 a member of the law firm of Trubin, Sillcocks, Edelman and Knapp, will receive the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Medal for Distinguished Legal Service and Singer will accept the Brandeis Distinguished Community Service Award for his lead- ership in the areas of Jewish philanthropy, education and human rights. By CHARLES LUKACS When the Israelites lifted their sight the host of Egyptians was behind them. Eastern wind blew with rage raising the sea in their ways. WEINTRAQ "Where the customer comes first" Quality jewelers for 3 generations All bankards honored Wm.-Fri. 9 to 5 Sat. 9-3 " 23077 Greenfield Advance Bldg. suite 354 Sfld. . Danny O announcing JNF blue box clearance starting tuesday, april 21 THE BLUE-WHITE BOX IS A SYMBOL OF A STATE'S REBUILDING ...Give it a place of honor in your home. If you do not have one in your home, ask for it by calling the Jewish National Fund office. JNF VOLUNTEERS WILL CLEAR YOUR BLUE-WHITE BOX. Please have yours ready. If your Box is not cleared by May 24, please call the JNF office. MemberS of Youth Organizations will also participate. Remember, all con- trib4tions to JNF are tax deductible. Their lines waver'd, their heart faint ----itheir spirit broke, from a long bondage .. . The voice from the storm thunder'd with awe: , Move stubborn slave! • RUBEN H. ISAACS MRS. FRANK 'SILVERMAN MRS. I. WALTER SILVER President Co-Chairmen. Blue Box Committee Jewish National Fund GREETS THE ENTIRE JEWISH COMMUNITY WITH BEST WISHES FOR A PERCY KAPLAN In your backs, chains! you wear for hundred years, but•beyond the angry waves are, The gates, of your deliverance The sun always shines on the free desert sand Executive Director MRS. JULES KRAFT Pres Women of JNF The mountains high, reach the sky The LORD speaks, from the soaring peaks and where the horizon ends - your eyes can reach the Promised Land! And when Moses raised his hand, they followed — to lead them to the shores, where slaves became Free Men. • t:14 A HAPPY PASSOVER Javits, Attorney Cited by Brandeis Exodus 1110 The Minister and advocated, at the time, a rapproach- ment between France and the Arab states. Mitterrand has a "clean slate," but many fear that he will have to coexist with the Communist Party if elected and will also have to take into consideration the pro-Palestinian elements within his own party's left wing. Marchais is Europe's most pro-Moscow Com- munist. Party leader and has generally adhered to the line as laid down by the Kremlin. For France's Jews, many of whom are now playing an ever greater role in the na- tion's socio-economic policies, the electoral choice will be difficult and may, in some cases, prove excruciat- ing. MRS. EDWARD MENCZER Pres Young Women of JNF KEREN MAYEMETH LEISRAIEL 4111.1 JEWISH NATIONAL FUND 27308 SoOthfield Rd. • Southfield, MI 48076 . 557-6644 • . 4 II I t .4 ,..zt e la* . 444 t t 1 • . 13