68 Friday, August 26, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israel Angry Over U.S. Assertion That E. Jerusalem Is 'Occupied'
JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Israel has responded an-
grily to the U.S. State De-
partment's assertion that
America has always re-
garded East Jerusalem as
occupied territory.
"Jerusalem is one city,
indivisible, the capital of
the state of Israel," the
Foreign Ministry spokes-
man declared. "This is and
will remain the status of
Jerusalem," the spokesman
added. Mayor Teddy Kollek
charged that the American
comments could have "an
unsettling effect on the life .
of the city."
The Foreign Ministry
reaction cited at length a
letter published in 1980 by
Arthur Goldberg, former
U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations, in which
the envoy proved that U.S.
policy towards Jerusalem
changed in 1969, when the
Nixon Administration came
into office replacing Lyndon
Johnson's Administration.
The letter was cited to
refute the State Depart-
ment's assertion that
American policy on
Jerusalem had been
"consistent for three de-
cades."
Goldberg in his letter,
which he wrote to The New
York Times in 1980, pointed
to significant differences
between his own statements
to the UN in 1967 and the
statements of his successor
in the Nixon Administra-
tion, Ambassador Charles
Yost, in 1969.
"I never described
Jerusalem as occupied
territory," Goldberg aver-
red. "Ambassador Yost did
in July 1969 under in-
structions from President
Nixon, and his statement
represented a departure
IReaders Forum)
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enclosed.
Detroit Jewry
History Sought
Editor, The Jewish News:
To most of us, history is
something written by the
professional, the historian
who digs in musty archives,
analyzing and interpreting
the past.
Some facts can be gleaned
from newspaper clippings,
from organizational and
governmental records and
the like, but these are only
the bare bones of history.
The life, the spirit, of the
past lies elsewhere.
Who hasn't listened since
childhood to family stories
about Grampa and
Grandma, Aunt Tillie, or
Uncle Morris, who were big
machers in the commu-
nity, who started soup
kitchens, who organized
Jewish singing societies, or
who simply came to Detroit
in the early years of the
community and went to
synagogue, one or another,
and gave tzedaka; in short,
who lived what is now our
history?
Who would think that all
this is really significant:
that this is the stuff of his-
tory, that old letters and
deeds and photos and
diaries and reminiscences
are like gold, that the real
story, straight from the
source, is ephemeral, once
gone, gone forever.
The history of our
Jewish community really
depends on us. We may
not be able to entirely re-
cover its beginnings in
the mid-19th Century, but
surely the 20th Century is
not yet lost.
We all have family ma-
vens, boxes of letters, docu-
ments, photographs with
which to piece together his-
tory. Certainly this is not an
easy task; these must be
supplemented with some
digging in libraries and
archives to supply the his-
torical framework, but it is
worth the effort.
Our family histories, to-
gether, make up our com-
munity history, and if we
are proud to be Jews, we
must find out what we were
and, thus, what we are.
Betty Roth
Carol Atlman Bromberg
Msgr. Kern
Editor, The Jewish News:
We add our voice to
those singing the praises of
Father Clement Kern. Our
organization was blessed to
have him involved in our
interreligious clergy
dialogues. We miss his
presence but accept the
challenge he gave us with
his actions.
True belief in all man-
kind will survive with mod-
els like Clem Kern. We miss
him dearly.
Robert A. Arcand
Detroit Round Table of
Christians and Jews
Nebraska Jews
Editor, The Jewish News:
The newly-formed Neb-
raska Jewish Historical
Society is trying to locate all
former residents of Neb-
raska and Council Bluffs,
Iowa.
We are seeking informa-
tion about the immigrants
and settlers in the early and
mid-1800s (and to the pre-
sent time) synagogue and
organization histories, fam-
ily histories, and any other
pertinent information and
pictures to help us develop
archives for research and
display.
If you are formerly from
this area or know of anyone
who was, please send their
name, address and phone
number to Giant Address
Book, 333 S. 132 Street,
Omaha, Neb. 68154.
Mary Fellman,
from the policy President
Johnson and the Depart-
ment of State pursued with
respect to Jerusalem during
the period of my tenure."
Goldberg, one of the
authors of UN Security
Council Resolution 242,
added that "Resolution 242
in no way refers to
Jerusalem and this omis-
sion was deliberate."
In a speech he made to
the Council in July 1967,
Goldberg recalled, "I
made it clear that the
status of Jerusalem
should be negotiable and
that the (1949) armistice
lines dividing Jerusalem
were no longer viable.
"In other words,
Jerusalem was not to be di-
vided again. This was a far
cry from Ambassador Yost's
statement that we conceive
Jerusalem to be occupied
territory . . ."
In his 1980 letter,
Goldberg also referred to a
conversation between Jor-
dan's King Hussein and top
U.S. diplomat George Ball
soon after the Six-Day War
in which the king "recog-
nized there must be flexibil-
ity on the question of
Jerusalem and that there
could be no return to the
pre-June 1967 status."
In a related development,
the State Department re-
fused to comment on El Sal-
vador's decision to move its
embassy in Israel back to
Jerusalem from. Tel Aviv,
but made it clear that the
United States Embassy will
remain in Tel Aviv. The de-
partment also had no com-
ment on Costa Rica's deci-
sion to return its embassy to
Jerusalem.
Romberg added that the
U.S. regards "East
Jerusalem as occupied
territory within the mean-
ing of UN Security Council
Resolution 242 and subject
to applicable laws and cove-
nants. The consul general in
Jerusalem, therefore, holds
a special status. He is not
accredited to the govern-
ment of Israel. He reports
directly to the Department
of State rather than
through the U.S. Embassy
in Tel Aviv."
However, the consul gen-
eral office and residence are
in West Jerusalem while
the consular and commer-
cial offices are in East
Jerusalem. A further irony
not mentioned by Romberg
is that the Jerusalem consu-
late has often been
criticized by Israelis as
favoring the Palestinians.
On El Salvador, Rom-
berg said that the loca-
tion of the Central
American country's em-
bassy in Israel was a mat-
ter between El Salvador
and Israel.
He said the U.S. position
continues to be that "the
final status of the parties
concerned in context of a
comprehensive, just and
lasting peace. Our position
is that Jerusalem should
remain undivided with full
access to the holy places. In
accordance with this policy,
pending resolution on
Jerusalem's status, our
Embassy will remain in Tel
Aviv."
The State Department
cited its position on
Jerusalem, declaring it
did not consider it Is-
rael's capital and that
East Jerusalem was
"occupied territory" in
expressing U.S. displeas-
ure that Kuwait had re-
fused to accept Brandon
Groves, Jr. as its new U.S.
ambassador to the Per-
sian Gulf state because
he had been a U.S. consul
general in Jerusalem.
Department deputy
spokesman Alan Romberg,
in confirming the Kuwaiti
attitude, stressed that the
U.S. has "no immediate
plans to nominate another
candidate" to replace the
former ambassador to
Kuwait, Francois Dickman.
In Washington, Jorge
Urbina, Costa Rica's Am-
bassador to the United Na-
tions, expressed surprise
that his country would be
honored by a Zionist organ-
ization for the decision to
move the Costa Rican Em-
bassy in Israel back to
Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
"We do not expect any
recognition for something
we consider natural," Ur-
bina told the more than
2,500 persons attending a
banquet during the 69th
annual national convention
of Hadassah at the Wash-
ington Hilton Hotel.
Frieda Lewis, who was
elected to her fourth term
as president of Hadas-
sah, presented a citation
to Urbina which said that
Costa Rica's decision
"demonstrates apprecia-
tion of the significance of
city
great
this
(Jerusalem) in Jewish
life, as well as respect for
the right of Israel, a sov-
ereign nation, to select its
own capital."
In the major address of
the banquet, Sen. Joseph
Biden (D-Del.) declared that
the failure of President
Reagan's peace initiative
has contributed to the im-
provement in Israeli-U.S.
relations.
"The Reagan initiative
was born out of the naivete
shared by the last Adminis-
tration," Biden explained.
He said it was based on
King Hussein of Jordan,
Palestine Liberation
Organization chief Yasir
Arafat and the Saudi Ara-
bian regime being "capable
of independent action"
when even if they were pos-
itive toward negotiations
with Israel, "they are not
capable of independent ac-
tion."
Biden, declaring that Is-
rael is important to the
U.S., said that the relation-
ship should be kept on an
even keel without the up
and down swings in public
opinion.
Israel Ambassador
Meir Rosenne stressed to
the Hadassah banquet
that Israel has always
sought peace with its
Arab neighbors, even in-
cluding this desire in its
Declaration of Indepen-
dence.
How short our happy days
appear. How long the sor-
rowful.
—Jean Ingelow
Tlifitzva': Mollifying Force in Midst
of Angry Divorce Cases in Israel
By MOSHE RON
The Jewish News Special
Israel Correspondent
TEL AVIV — A group of
Jewish women in Haifa set
up a new organization
called "Mitzva" (for justice
and preservation of the
unity of the family).
The aim of this organiza-
tion is to see to it that if di-
vorce is unavoidable, at
least it is carried out in a
decent, quiet and peaceful
manner. The leaders of this
organization meet with the
couples who want a divorce
and try to convince them not
to break up their family life
and refrain from violence. If
they do not succeed, they ar-
range for the divorce to be
carried out in a civilized and
peaceful manner, thus sav-
ing the lawyers' fees.
One couple, already wag-
ing a four-year struggle for
a divorce, called the police
more than once to inter-
vene, but without success.
The husband argues that
the wife does not fulfill her
duties as wife and mother.
The wife complains the
husband has left the house
years ago and is living with
his secretary.
He does not pay support.
The electricity is cut off and
she and their three children
are suffering from hunger.
The husband owns an in-
surance company in Haifa.
When the intervention of
"Mitzva" failed, its mem-
bers staged a demonstration
in front of the husband's
office, carrying placards:
"Free Your Wife!", "An End
to Her Suffering" etc. This
operation worked and had
the required effect.
Another demonstra-
tion took place in front
of the religious council in
Hadera. The members of
"Mitzva" claimed that a
rabbi beat his wife and
does not want to divorce
her. In this case too, the
demonstration suc-
ceeded. Divorce was
given and husband and
wife separated in a
peaceful manner.
The founder of Mitzva is
Silva Mandelbaum. She
came seven years ago from
America and settled in
Safed. She is a university
graduate and told us that in
Israel "divorces have be-
come a business." Although
she is religious herself, she
fights in the rabbinical
courts against postponing
divorce cases. She speaks up
against what she calls de-
gradation of women during
divorce proceedings in rab-
binical courts and delaying
decisions causing women
much suffering.
Mrs. Mandelbaum said
she thinks that one cannot
coerce husband and wife,
who cannot live together, to
do so. Mitzva has today
more than 1,000 members
who volunteered to help
unhappy couples, among
them about 100 male mem-
bers. Most of the women
members come from anglo-
saxon countries.
Mrs. Mandelbaum said
she believes that there is no
need to use immediately the
services of lawyers in rab-
binical courts in divorce
proceedings. She maintains
that lawyers find all sorts of
mutual accusations in order
to drag out the procedures.
Miriam Fisher told us
that she fought for three
years without success to
get her divorce. She was
desperate, until she
heard about Mitzva's ac-
tivities. She applied to
them and after Mitzva's
intervention, her hus-
band was compelled to
give her the divorce.
Today she is very active
in the organization and is
happy with her second
husband.
The methods of the
Mitzva organization are to
demonstrate in front of the
office, the factory or shop of
the husband, embarrass
him in front of his friends
and acquaintances etc.
Among the husbands who
refuse to divorce their wives
are many important per-
sonalities active in public
and social life. When they
hear that Mitzva plans to
demonstrate against them,
they quickly change their
minds.
Mrs. Fisher often takes
part in such demonstrations
and is present during di-
vorce proceedings in rabbin-
ical courts. She counsels
women not to rely on
lawyers because of the cost
and what she called the suf-
fering involved.
She told us about one case
of a couple in Tel Aviv seek-
ing divorce before Judge
Haim Hadad. The proceed-
ings concerning the division
of property, alimony etc.
went on for more than a
year. Mrs. Fisher inter-
vened and an agreement
was reached whereby the
husband was prepared to
leave the apartment to his
wife, buy her a car and pay a
certain monthly alimony.
The wife went to her lawyer
and he advised her not to
agree to the proposition.
The matter came up again
in the rabbinical court. In
the end, the court awarded
her only half of the apart-
ment and a smaller sum of
alimony.