A

Columbus

Continued from preceding page

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THE JEWISH NEWS

74

Friday, October 17, 1986

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

mourning for the destruction
of the Thmple in Jerusalem.
Abravanel wrote "Let us
abandon our settlements, and
seek homes elsewhere . . . In
one day, on foot and unarmed
300,000 collected from every
province, young and old, aged
and infirm, women and
children, all ready to go
anywhere. Among the num-
ber was I, and with God for
our leader, we set out." He
sailed to Naples and spent
the rest of his years in Italy,
continuing his Biblical com-
mentaries and governmental
activities.
Abraham Zacuto offered a
different though necessary
aid to Columbus than did the
royal court dignitaries San-
tangel and Abravanel. Born
in Salamanca around 1450,
Zacuto was expelled from
Spain and emigrated to
Lisbon, where he was ap-
pointed court astronomer by
King John II and again by
Manuel I. He wrote numerous
works ranging from Jewish
histories to scientific
treatises. In 1493, Zacuto was
named Royal Mathematician.
Zacuto's achievements in
astronomy were many. His
copper astrolabe enabled
sailors to determine the posi-

tion of the sun with greater
position; his improved astro-
nomical tables permitted
sailors to calculate latitudes
without recourse to the miri-
dian of the sun, and to deter-
mine solar and lunar eclipses
with greater accuracy than
ever before.
Columbus, who had made
the personal acquaintance of
Zacuto in Salamanca, used
his tables.
But Zacuto's important
contributions did not exempt
him from the ultimatum pre-
sented in 1497 for all Jews to
convert or leave Portugal. He
escaped to Ihnis, where he
completed a major reference
on Jewish geneologies in
1504. Nine years later, in
Jerusalem, Zacuto completed
an almanac in Hebrew, the
same language he used in the
original editions of all his
works.
Finally, there may have
been still another "Jewish
connection" to the discovery
of America. Columbus him-
self may have been of Jewish
descent. The Encyclopedia
Britannica indicates that he
may have come from a Span-
ish-Jewish family settled in
Genoa, Italy.

Non-Jewish Targets
Hit By Terrorists

New York (JTA) — Middle
East terrorists actually
struck at non-Jewish targets
at a higher rate than Israeli or
Jewish ones during the first
five years of the 1980's, a
study released here last week
shows.
The study, prepared by the
World Jewish Congress,
presents a comprehensive
statistical analysis of ter-
rorism against Jewish and
Israeli targets in Europe from
1980-1985.
It finds that of 154 ter-
rorist attacks on Jewish and
Israeli targets during the
period, the 10 most devas-
tating were carried out by in-
dividuals connected with
Palestinian terrorist organiza-
tions. These 10 attacks ac-
counted for 70 percent of all
fatalities and casualties.
Bystanders were especially
at risk, the study shows. In
these attacks, the majority of
victims were passers-by who
did not directly belong to the
target group, the study notes.
Although the terrorists
generally claim an anti-Israel
motivation, the study finds
that in three out of four in-
cidents the targets were local
Jewish community institu-
tions, such as synagogues—
rather than specifically
Israeli-related targets. "The
statistics belie the political
claims of these murderers
demonstrating they act out of

base racism and anti-Semitic
motives," the WJC states.
But the terrorists do not
only target Jews. During the
period analyzed, Middle
Eastern terrorist attacks
resulted in 1,387 casualties.
Of these, 747 individuals (54
percent of the total) were
non-Jewish.
The report stresses, how-
ever, that statistics cannot
tell the whole story. "Sta-
tistical accounts do not ex-
press the sense of intimida-
tion which is today prevalent
among Jewish communities
in Europe as actual and
potential targets of local and
international terrorisni"
The study, "Terrorism
Against Jewish and Israeli
Targets in Europe, 1980-
1985," was prepared by the
WJC research arm, the In-
stitute of Jewish Affairs, and
is based on reports made
available by the national
Jewish communities in
Europe.

Water Low

Tel Aviv (JTA) — The
Mekorot water company shut
down its main pipeline to
central Israel and the Negev
Sunday because the water
level in the Sea of Galilee is
at a near record low. It is the
first time the pipeline was
closed since its completion.

.17_\