CONTENTS 1-
OPINION
CLOSE-UP
24
The Munich Massacre
JEFF SEIDEL
Unplesant memories
linger 15 years after
the tragedy of terrorism
struck the Munich
Olympics.
LIFE IN ISRAEL
English-Speaking Theater
Takes The Stage In Israel
38
Re l ig ious News Service
There's a new trend in Israel theater
— English is replacing Hebrew as
the language of the stage.
President Reagan greets former Russian refusenik Natan Shcharansky last year at the White House.
Our Struggle Is On
The Brink Of Failure
NATAN SHARANSKY
D
espite certain changes which are
- now going on inside the Soviet
Union, 1987 may prove to be the
year in which the prospect of freedom for
Soviet Jewry was finally destroyed.
The past months have been full of ap-
parently hopeful signs: a rise in emigra-
tion, the release of most of the Prisoners
of Zion, and the granting of exit visas to a
number of well-known, long-term
refuseniks.
So why, despite these signs, could the
year end in ,such terrible failure?
It is because the threat has now shifted
from the fate of a few individuals to the fate
of the entire Jewish nation in the Soviet
Union. A whole people faces a future of cap-
tivity unless we act now to save them.
First, there is the new emigration law
which came into effect in January. It
restricts the right to emigrate only to those
who already have "first-degree' relatives
living abroad — parents, siblings, or
children.
Of the 382,000 Jews who have begun
the emigration process, the new law per-
mits only about 30,000 even to apply. The
rest may never be allowed to leave.
Second, there has been a drastic rise in
the number of Jews refused permission to
leave on the grounds that they are a
"threat to state security" due to their
knowledge of "state secrets!'
Under Gorbachev, anyone applying for
a visa is regarded as a possible spy. The
threat of imprisonment is used to in-
timidate even the small number who are
eligible to leave under the new law.
What is the solution being offered by
Gorbachev? He has made vague promises
of 12,000 emigrants this year and pretend-
ed that this is a huge concession. It is cer-
tainly better than 1986, when less than a
thousand were allowed out, but it is
substantially lower than the 35,000 in 1973
or the 51,000 in 1979.
With nearly 400,000 waiting in line,
12,000 visas a year will not solve the
problem.
But the new law and the veiled threats
reveal that Gorbachev's 12,000 — even if
they leave — will not be the first in a new
wave of Jewish emigration; they will be the
last out of Moscow.
Behind them, the gates of the Soviet
Union will be slammed shut by our com-
placency and locked tight by our silence.
For those doomed to stay, our struggle
is on the brink of failure. Their cries for
help are no longer heard. They are drown-
ed beneath an avalanche of sophisticated
Soviet publicity.
Gorbachev has made some very limited
but very dramatic concessions and he has
exploited them to the maximum for pro-
paganda purposes, creating an image of im-
provement in order to deceive the West in-
to thinking that substantial changes are
taking place. But behind this smokescreen,
- the future of our people is being sealed.
Gorbachev's new style has altered the
atmosphere of the whole campaign. An
enemy that was ugly and barbaric was easy
to struggle against. But now the enemy is
more sophisticated.
He has released the prisoners and stop-
Continued on Page 10
THE DIASPORA
53
- Overseas Ties
DEBBIE L. SKLAR
Two Detroit attorneys take a trip to
explore Jewish life in Morocco.
SPORTS
5
Special Games
Special Olympics
athletes
show their stuff
at a recent
Jewish Center meet,
conducted by
the Michigan
Jewish Sports
Hall of Fame.
ENTERTAINMENT
Marceau Speaks
LILA ORBACH
Internationally-
acclaimed mime
Marcel Marceau
is always eager to
get in word or two.
SINGLE LIFE
In Search of a Partner
95
KAREN A. KATZ
A Farmington Hills psychotherapist
tells how to have a healthy
relationship.
DEPARTMENTS
75
32 Inside Washington
88
36 Synagogue
91
37 Torah Portion
94
60 For Seniors
121
72 Danny Raskin
CANDLELIGHTING
For Women
Engagements
B'nai Mitzvah
Births
Obituaries
September 4, 1987 7:41 p.m.
THE DETROIT 'JEWISH .NEWSi