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UP FRONT
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Soviet Jews And U.S. Trade:
Debating The Next Equation
DAVID HOLZEL
Staff Writer
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oviet Jewish emigration is
unlikely to increase appreci-
ably in the near future be-
cause the United States and world
Jewry missed an important opportu-
nity to successfully link the emigra-
tion issue with trade relations.
We don't have the leverage we
had in the late 1970s," explained
Prof. Marshall Shulman, a senior lec-
turer in international relations at
Columbia University and director
emeritus of the W. Averell Harriman
Institute for Advanced Study of the
Soviet Union. About 50 people
crowded into the living room of the
Franklin home of Ira and Gail Mon-
dry to hear Prof. Shulman speak on
"Jews in the Soviet Union," one of
three lectures he gave this week in-
the Detroit area.
It was the Jackson-Vanik
Amendment of 1974 which defined
American policy toward the Soviets
as a linkage between free emigration
from the USSR and trade and credits
from the U.S., he recalled. This set in
motion the increased number of Jews
leaving the USSR. The Soviets, he
said, were acting in anticipation of
receiving most favored nation trad-
ing status from the U.S. This lever-
age dissolved when the U.S. granted
MFN status to China in 1979, ignor-
ing the Soviet Union, after which the
Soviets shut the gates on Jewish
emigration. ,
With a year-by-year review of
trade status with the Soviets after
1979, the U.S. could have retained its
leverage, Prof. Shulman asserted.
The U.S. did not follow this course,
and "there's a growing feeling that
we made a mistake in 1978 and
1979." The Russians, he added, are
now skeptical about U.S. promises,
and he doubts we can "recreate the
situation of 1978-1979."
Detroit born, Prof. Shulman,
was an advisor to Secretaries of State
Dean Acheson, during the Truman
years, and to Cyrus Vance, during
the Carter Administration. He told
his Detroit listeners that Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev's "main
task is to break the Stalinist mold (of
rigid centralization) which has be-
come a drag on the economy."
He called the USSR "the most
conservative country in the world in
resistance to change," and said Gor-
bachev's first, tentative steps were
toward "changing the psychology of
the people" toward work, alcoholism
and corruption.
"It will be a long time before 'we
can know if he will be able to carry
out his program," Prof. Shulman
warned. His first steps have been
"with the easier part of the program.
He didn't take on the major interest
groups," which could hurl Gorbachev
from power if he is not careful. "Gor-
bachev is working on personnel
changes in the bureaucracy before he
begins to take on the more dangerous
part of the program,
"It will take a self-confident
leadership to release large numbers
of Jews," he said. "Public opinion is
against letting people out."
Other factors are at play, how-
ever, which could affect Jewish emig-
Continued on Page 18
C
Allan Gale, assistant director of the Jewish Community Council, reads the names of
the Soviet refuseniks with rally organizer Martin Weston.
Local Rally For Refuseniks-
Attracts 300 To Read-In
Staff Report
The vigil for Soviet refuseniks,
held Feb. 26 at Tel-Twelve Mall, ws
"probably one of the most successful
B'nai B'rith affairs," according to or-
ganizer Martin Weston.
About 300 people attended the
two-hour long reading of refusenik
names. Weston, B'nai B'rith Metro
Detroit Council Soviet Jewry chair-
man, said about 1,200 names were
read by 20 Jewish and non-Jewish
readers.
"I would have liked to have gone
on another two hours," he remarked.
"I'm absolutely floored at the number
of people who wanted to be involved."
The vigil mirrored other gather-
ings held around the country and the
world, organized by B'nai B'rith In-
ternational.
•
ROUND UP
Pollard Agents
Penalty Urged
fr
Washington (JTA) — The
State Department said it ex-
pected Israel to"call to ac-
count" any individual involved
in the case of Jonathan Pol-
lard, an American naval
analyst who has confessed to
selling U.S. military informa-
tion to Israel.
The State Department is-
sued its statement during a
press briefing when asked
about the recent promotion of
Col. Aviem Sella, an Israeli Air
Force officer alleged to have
supervised Pollard's activity.
Sella has been named com-
mander of Israel's second-
'r base.
• e Pollard's es-
covered, the
ael said it
event the
recurrence of such un-
authorized activity and any Is-
raeli involved would be called
to account," said State De-
partment Deputy spokesper-
son, Phyllis Oakley. "We ex-
pect the government of Israel
to stand by these undertak-
ings."
Barbie Trial
Set For May
Paris (JTA) — Klaus Barbie,
"the Butcher of Lyon," will go
on trial May 11 in that same
city which he ruled and ter-
rorized as gestapo chief during
the German occupation of
France in World War II. He is
charged with war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
Barbie has been confined to a
maximum security prison, St.
Luc Fort in Lyon since he was
taken into French custody
after his ouster from Bolivia in
Feb. 1983. Over the past four
years, several dates have been
set for his trial, only to be post-
poned as prosecution and de-
fense lawyers sifted through
thousands of documents and
battled over legal
technicalities.
A turning point occurred last
year, when the supreme court
ruled that crimes committed
against resistance fighters
could be considered crimes
against ,humanity, not subject
to the 20-year statute of limita-
tions.
Tourism Slump
May be Over
Jerusalem (JTA) — The
slump in tourism to Israel may
be over, according to officials of
the Ministry of Tourism. They
reported significantly im-
proved figues for the last two
months of 1986 and the begin-
ning of 1987.
In fact, the ministry predicts
a 20 percent rise in American
tourist traffic this year, al-
though tourism from the U.S.
and Canada has always lagged
behind Europe.
Greece Ponders
Israel Relations
Athens (JTA) — Foreign'
Minister Karolos Papoulias
said Feb. 23 that Greece is
seriously considering estab-
lishing full diplomatic rela-
tions with Israel, according to
media reports from Brussels,
where he attended a meeting of
the European Economic Com-
munity (EEC) foreign minis-
ters. Israel is presently repre-
sented in Greece only on the
consular level.
New Assistant -
Center Director
Al Freedman has been
named assistant executive di-
rector of the Jewish Commu-
nity Center.
A native Detroiter, Freed-
man comes to the Center from
Washington, D.C., where he
was director of programs and
publications for the Interna-
tional B'nai B'rith Youth
Organization.
Previously, Freedman was
employed at the Jewish Center
as a "tween" club - leader and,
later directed the children's di-
vision.
5