RENOVATION AND
REMODELING
OPPORTUNITY
The Religious Accommoda-
tion Amendment of 1989 was
introduced last week by Rep.
Stephen Solarz, D-N.Y., in an
attempt to put some teeth in
earlier legislation protecting
the rights of the Orthodox.
Cohen did not see anything
unusual about the Agudah-
AJCongress alliance. "This is
something that means a lot to
the Jewish community," he
said. "This is not in any way
a political issue."
AJCongress Will Lose
Outspoken Activist
One of Washington's most
visible Jewish activists is
leaving the political arena.
Steve Silbiger, Washington
representative for the
American Jewish Congress,
will be leaving his position at
the end of the month.
Since his appointment last
Jesse Helms:
Object of Silberger battle.
year, Silbiger has earned a
reputation for outspokenness.
In the recent battle to defeat
an amendment by Sen. Jesse
Helms, R-N.C., designed to
derail the U.S.-PLO dialogue,
Silbiger lobbied tirelessly
against the amendment —
and criticized Jewish groups
that had lined up behind the
North Carolina conservative.
"So in a lot of ways I feel
like I'm going out on a real
high," said Silbiger.
In New York, William E.
Rapfogel is getting set to take
the reigns at the Institute for
Public Affairs, the new
political arm of the Union of
Orthodox Jewish
Congregations.
Rapfogel, a former official
in the administration of
Mayor Ed Koch and current-
ly employed by the American
Jewish Congress
Metropolitan Council, in-
dicated that the O.U. would
probably put off its long-
rumored plan to open a
Washington office.
"There is a lot of work that
needs to be done here in New
York, to develop a real
political operation for the Or-
thodox Union," Rapfogel said.
"Until that's in gear, the se-
cond step, a Washington of-
fice, would be premature."
Franklin Club
Retirement Community
Construction Reduction
During the awkward phases of scheduled
major construction, 6 full-sized indepen-
dent apartments will be available at a
significantly reduced price of $500.00 per
month including utilities, van service,
social activities and emergency response
system. This is a limited time offer and ap-
plies to new tenants only on an annual
lease.
b ea IP •
crease in the INS staff in
Moscow would, by interna-
tional law, entitle the Soviets
to a corresponding increase in
support staff at their embassy
in Washington — a prospect
the FBI views with alarm.
"They're flipping out," said
one Soviet Jewry activist
here. "They see all kinds of
national security implica-
tions to any increase in the
soviet embassy staff. But
from our point of view, it will
be very difficult to ease the
logjam of Soviet Jews without
an increase in INS personnel
in Moscow."
Talks are underway bet-
ween the State Department
and Justice. But there are in-
dications that the negotia-
tions could stretch out for
months.
•
FRANKLIN
CLUB APARTMENTS
28301 Franklin Road, Southfield, Michigan 48034
FBI Opposes More
INS Staff In Moscow
The refusal rate for Soviet
Jews backlogged in Moscow
and Rome continues at a rate
of about 20 percent. And
plans to begin processing
refugees directly in Moscow
have been held up by a squab-
ble between immigration of-
ficials and the FBI.
At issue are plans to expand
the force of Immigration and
Naturalization Service of-
ficials in Moscow. More INS
officers are needed to process
the current backlog and to
keep up with the still-growing
numbers of Soviet Jews seek-
ing admission to the United
States. At the same time, ad-
ministration officials would
like to close refugee process-
ing facilities in Rome as a
cost-cutting measure.
The problem is that any in-
0 •
IP
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
29