ci)
Senatorial
Conscience:
Carl Levin's
Courageous
Stand on
Death Penalty
No Accord
Without Israel
THE JEWISH NEWS
A Weekly Review
Self-Criticism
on the Menu
of Jewish Events
Editorials, Page 4
Commentary, Page 2
Copyright c The Jewish News Publishing Co.
VOL. LXXXV, No. 1
17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, MI 48075-4491 424-8833
$18 Per Year: This Issue 40c
March 2, 1984
House Panel OKs Restricting
Jordan Arms, PLO Contacts
Strauss Vetoed. Curbs on
.Neo-Nazi Revisionist Hate
BONN (JTA) — Legislation drafted by the government which
would close loopholes in present laws against neo-Nazi activity has
been vetoed by Franz Joseph Strauss. Prime Minister of Bavaria, head
of the Christian Social Union (CSU) in that state and a powerful ally of
Chancellor Helmut Kohl's ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Strauss' veto, reported in the
Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper,
was corfirmed by Justice Minstry offi-
cials. It constitutes a serious em-
barassment for Kohl who has commited
himself several times to see that the law
is passed. He and Foreign Minister
Hans-Dietrich Genscher decided last
month to bring it before parliament, de-
T. spite strong reservations by the CSU
and other conservative elements.
Last week, Strauss visited Syria on
a "private visit" to meet with Syrian
leaders on Middle East issues.
The exact manner in which Strauss
exercised the veto on the neo-Nazi law
STRAUSS
was not immediately known and it is
uncertain whether the draft law still has a chance for ratification by
both houses of Parliament. A stronger draft of the same law was
approved by the Bundestag last year but rejected by the Bundesrat, the
upper house. The latter is composed of representatives of the govern-
ments of the federal states.
The law, initiated by former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
when his Social Democratic Party (SPD) governed West Ger-
many, would make it an offense to deny that the Holocaust oc-
curred, to allege that the systematic killing of Jews under the
Nazis never occurred or that the death camps did not exist.
The law would have authorized state prosecutors to bring charges
against persons who claim there were no gas chambers. Under existing
legislation, only private individuals can initiate proceedings and must
prove that they were personally offended by the claim.
When the original draft was rejected by the Bundesrat last year,
Justice Minister Hans Engelhard of the Free Democratic Party, the
CDU's junior coalition partner, introduced substantial modifications
which, according to legal experts rendered the law "mild" toward neo-
Nazis. But the changes did not satisfy the CSU and conservatives
within the CDU.
(Continued on Page 5)
•
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Reagan Administration suffered a setback on its proposal to
sell arms to Jordan when the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle
East adopted an amendment this week by a vote of 7-2 that would forbid such sales unless the
President certifies that Jordan is "publicly committed" to recognizing Israel.
The House panel also approved an amendment that would bar the Administration from
dealing with the Palestine Liberation Organization. The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Mel
Levine (D-Calif.) and passed unanimously, was reportedly prompted by reports that the Ad-
ministration had conducted a series of contacts with the PLO through a third party for a
nine-month period ending June 1982.
These prohibitions were adopted by the House subcommittee as it acted on
President Reagan's foreign aid requests for fiscal 1985. It approved most of the Ad-
ministration's country-by-country requests for economic and military assistance in
Europe and the Mideast. But it increased the request for $850 million in economic aid to
Israel by $250 million. It deferred action on requests for Turkey and Greece, which are
involved in a continuing dispute over Cyprus.
The amendment on Jordan was adopted despite Administration opposition. The Adminis-
tration regards Jordan as a vital ally and wants to grant King Hussein's desire to acquire
advanced F-16 jet fighters, mobile ground-to-air antiaircraft missiles and other weapons.
But the committee's amendment would prohibit such sales "unless the President has
certified to the-Congress that Jordan is publicly committed to the recognition of Israel and to
prompt entry into direct peace
negotiations with Israel." Hussein
has so far refused to enter into direct
peace talks.
The amendment on the PLO is
BAL HARBOR, Fla. (JTA) — The AFL-CIO has
reportedly intended to bar the Ad-
adopted a resolution declaring it "deplored" the move by
ministration from circumventing a
the government of West Germany to develop a close mili-
1975 agreement with Israel that the
tary relationship with Saudi Arabia.
U.S. will not recognize or negotiate
"The AFL-CIO calls upon the United States govern-
with the PLO until it recognizes Is-
ment to make known the profound distaste of the American
rael's right to exist. The amendment
people" towards the decision of the government of Chancel-
states that the U.S. "hereby reaf-
lor Helmut Kohl, said the resolution adopted by the labor
firms
this policy." It adds: In accord-
federation's executive council which met in Florida last
ance with that policy, no officer or
week. "It must be reversed."
employee of the United States gov-
The resolution said, "The Saudi Arabian govern-
ment has proclaimed a holy war against Israel and
ernment and no agent or another in-
has joined directly and indirectly in every Arab war
dividual acting on behalf of the
against Israel.
United States government shall
"It has financed military supplies to other Arab armies
negotiate with the Palestine Libera-
and terrorist organizations dedicated to Israel's destruc-
tion Organization or any representa-
tion. It is bad enough that Western governments should
tive thereof."
provide military weapons to Saudi Arabia . . . In light of
The committee's action on Is-
,
history, the German people should be particularly sensitive
AFL-CIO Hits Bonn
Arms Sale to Saudis
to this issue."
`Jews of Germany' Opens Sunday
The Holocaust Memorial Center's inaugural exhibition, "Jews of Germany Under Prussian Rule," opens Sunday
for a 31/2-week stay at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield.
The German-produced exhibition contains more than 1,000 photograph enlargements and montages, and is being
shown for the first time outside Germany. The exhibition is the first by the soon-to-be-opened Holocaust Memorial
Center.
The exhibition is co-sponsored by the government of West
Germany, which is paying shipping and personnel costs for the
exhibition, and Detroit's West German Consul, Dr. Josef
Deutz.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the HMC has
scheduled speakers, panel discussions and films. The
exhibition will close March 28.
Sunday's featured speaker will be Dr. Fred Grubel, execu-
tive secretary of the Leo Baeck Institute in New York. He will
present a slide presentation and speak at 2 p.m. at the Center
on "Jewish Life in Germany: Treasures of the Leo Baeck
Institute." His institute is the world's major depository of
German Judaica and history.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a 15-minute film, "Our Time in the
Garden" about a girl growing up in Berlin, will be shown on
the hour.
On Tuesday, at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. the film "Jakob the Liar"
(Continued on Page 24)
"Jews of Germany" exhibit.
(Continued on Page 3)
Reagan, Wiesenthal
at the White House
President Ronald Reagan met with Simon Wie-
senthal at the White House Feb. 16. The President
lauded Wiesenthal's efforts to apprehend Nazi war
criminals and the work of the Wiesenthal Center in
Los Angeles, saying it was "morally imperative for the
civilized world to remember" the Holocaust at-
rocities.