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30 Friday, July 19, 1985
440,40.;6.
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Ethiopians In Israel
Rally Against Immersion
Jerusalem (JTA) — Hundreds
of Ethiopian Jewish immigrants
— men, women and children —
marched from absorption centers
in Galilee and from others in
southern Israel Tuesday to pro-
test the demand by the Chief Rab-
binate that they undergo ritual
immersion, a religious conversion
rite.
The Ethiopians, themselves de-
voutly religious, consider this
demeaning and an insulting im-
plication that they are not au-
thentic Jews. This week's march,
the first in a series of planned or-
ganized protests, was triggered by
the refusal of local rabbinical
authorities to issue marriage cer-
tificates to several young couples
who have not undergone immer-
sion.
The marchers, carrying their
personal belongings, trekked
toward Ben Gurion Airport, a
symbolic destination they chose to
demonstrate disenchantment
over their treatment by the Or-
thodox religious establishment.
Between last November and the
early part of this year, more than
10,000 Ethiopian Jews were
brought to Israel by secret airlift
from Sudan. The airlift was sus-
pended in January because of
premature disclosure.
The marchers were thus sym-
bolizing the severe hardships they
had to endure in their long trek by
foot thrugh famine-stricken
Ethiopia to reach the planes in
Khartoum. On Tuesday, many of
them collapsed at the roadsides
from heat and want of food and
water. They were succored by
other Israelis. At Migdal
Haemek, the marchers from ab-
sorption centers in Galilee were
met by Jewish Agency officials
and the local rabbi, David
Grossman. They were persuaded
to return, by bus, to the centers
with the promise that Premier
Shimon Peres would meet with
their representatives and would
bring their grievances before the
Chief Rabbinate.
But about 150 of the protestors
managed to reach Ben Gurion
Airport where they staged a sit-in
at the passenger terminal. Others
marched from the absorption cen-
ter at Kiryat Gat to the local
offices of the rabbinate to protest.
Four motions were placed on
the Knesset agenda this week
dealing with the question of con-
version for Ethiopian Jews. The
Chief Rabbinate, which claims it
recognizes them as Jews, origi-
nally insisted that all males
undergo symbolic circumcision by
drawing blood. They dropped that
demand but are adamant on the
ritual bath.
FBI Arrests
Black Hebrews
Washington — The Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has
arrested 25 members of the Black
Hebrew sect living in the United
States, accusing them of involve-
ment in a multi-million dollar
bank embezzlement scheme
which also made use of stolen
plane tickets and credit cards and
phony passports. Proceeds from
the alleged illegal activities
helped sustain sect members liv-
ing in colonies in Israel, according
to the FBI.
Eighteen Black Hebrews were
arrested in Washington, four in
Chicago and three in Baltimore,
an FBI official said this week.
The Black Hebrews, founded in
Chicago, say they are decendants
of the original tribes of Israel and
citizens of the Jewish state. But
the Israeli-Supreme Court has de-
nied their citizenship claims.
Dershowitz Scores Pact
Between ABA, Soviets
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Washington — A mutual coop-
eration agreement between the
American Bar Association (ABA)
and the Association of Soviet
Lawyers has drawn an angry
reaction from• noted Harvard
University Law professor Alan
Dershowitz, the Union of Councils
for Soviet Jews reported this
week.
"Imagine the public outcry that
would greet the ABA if it had just
signed a cooperation agreement
based on mutual respect with the
official legal organization of the
apartheid regime in South Africa
or Khomeini's Islamic Republic of
Iran," Dershowitz told reporters
in Washington at the ABA's an-
nual convention. "Yet the ABA
has done just that and has done so
without considering the impact
that such an agreement will have
on the people who are struggling
for human rights in the Soviet
UniOn."
The Harvard professor said he
plans to work with the ABA estab-
lishment to bring about an abro-
gation of the U.S.-Soviet agree-
ment, which can be terminated by
either side with three months
written notice.
In a related development, the
Jewish Community Council's De-
troit Soviet Jewry Committee
(DSJC) has joined a national
campaign urging Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev to abide by
the human rights commitments
set forth in the Helsinki Accords,
an agreement which was signed
by the Soviets ten years ago.
The DSJC has also released an
Action Alert requesting cables be
sent to Soviet authorities on be-
half of three Jewish activists ar-
rested in June. The committee
recommends cables urging that
charges against Roald
Zelichonok, Leonid Volvovsky
and Yevgeny Koifman be dropped
and that the prisoners be re-
leased.
For information, contact. the
DJSC, 962-1880: •
,