Friday, June 21, 1985
ndoor & Ou tdoor Fu r n is in •
46
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
MEMORIAL DAY SALE
NOTEBOOK
27030 Evergreen
at 11 Mile Rd.
Lathrup Village
LATTICE GROUP
4 Chairs - 48" Table
A Close-Knit
Israeli Community
552-8850
Reg. $63 1. 00
Open Sunday Fop Your Convenience
NOW $ 39995
Mon.-Sot. 9:00-5:30
Open. Daily
ROYAL
4 Chairs - 42" Table
Reg. $486.00
NOW $ 32995
Take stock in America.
Buy U.S. Savings Bonds.
EQUINOX DEVELOPMENT GROUP, INC.
3865 PARK • WEST BLOOMFIELD, MICHIGAN 48033
• HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
DESIGN/ DEVELOPMENT/ REVIEW
• MANAGEMENT AND MEDICAL
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• CONSULTING
363-7243
AARN D. ROSEN
A view from close to the top of the cathedral offers a panorama
of modern, scenic Abidjan, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
Sonrita is the name of the Israeli company building the
cathedral.
far
`
summer-
on
,t1t41:B
I :r:
Q ajoi ydYeoricp
Decaffeinated
:Pc
h-
Instant
FC
; t : 010
P . i'°:1):: f7f11: :4; 9 ue • - ac° a n
:
z
oi
nncee
.;:
e :
D
e
e
SO
O r
r: D Y I ud , cu w
d l a i want.
ewhdftaa::
9 dc
that's
rest
Abidjan, Ivory Coast—
Hundreds of miniature
Israeli flags decorate the
elegant ballroom. Buffet
tables, laden with platters of
elaborately prepared Israeli
delicacies, line one side of the
hall as singers and dancers
perform on a stage to the
delight of the hundreds in the
audience.
The event is the Yom
Ha'atzmaut celebration
marking Israel's 37th an-
niversary of statehood. What
is unusual is the setting:
Africa.
The party is taking place in
Abidjan, Ivory Coast, a West
African capital 3,500 miles
from Jerusalem in a city of
three million whose entire
Jewish population is
gathered in this one room.
The majority of the guests
are affiliated with the Israeli
construction firm, Sonitra,
now completing a two-year
project in the Ivory Coast to
build the world's second
largest Catholic cathedral.
The others are mostly French
Jews of Israeli descent.
There has been an Israeli
presence in the Ivory Coast
for the last 20 years, but the
Jewish community is at its
smallest now—about
300—with the local economy
in a serious slump.
The Israeli Independence
Day festivities, though, are
spirited and lavish. The per-
formers are dressed in
costumes ranging from
Chasidic to traditional
Israeli. A 24-member mixed
chorus sings for half an hour
before leading the audience in
a sing-along of more than a
dozen popular Israeli tunes.
Hebrew song sheets are at
each table, as are bottles of
Israeli wine and small Israeli
flags. Hebrew poems are
recited, dances are presented,
and in a moving segment to
mark Israeli Remembrance
Day, candles are lit on an
oversize menorah in memory
of Israel's fallen soldiers.
Among the dignitaries and
community leaders who ad-
dressed the crowd in French
and Hebrew was Benad
Avital, the Israeli special in-
terest officer in the country.
The only negative element of
the joyous evening, he said, is
that "while the Ivory Coast
has excellent relations with
Israel, it has not yet formal-
ly recognized her."
Observers noted that Presi-
dent Felix Houphouet-
Boigny, 80, is considering
renewing diplomatic ties with
Israel in the near future.
Avital, the highest ranking
Israeli official in the Ivory
Coast, also welcomed the
seven-member American
delegation of the Anti-
Defamation League of B'nai
B'rith, on a goodwill mission
in West Africa. He called on
delegation chairman Robert
Goldmann, an ADL leader in
New York and former ex-
ecutive with the Ford Foun-
dation, who impressed the au-
dience with remarks
delivered in impeccable
French.
Although there is no
synagogue in Abidjan, ser-
vices are held each Friday
evening in a small room of the