YEAR
IN
REVIEW

GARY ROSENBLATT

Editor

jubilant Arafat in Geneva. The
ongoing intifada in Israel.
Carmelite nuns at Auschwitz.
A Who Is A Jew crisis in Israel
and America. Secretary of State
Baker cautioning Jerusalem
against plans for a Greater Israel. American
leaders castigating Israel for endangering
American hostages by abducting a Hezbollah
sheik from Lebanon. Anti-Semitism on the rise_
around the world.
The Jewish calendar year 5749 was one of
high drama for world Jewry, marked by conflict
and confrontation. And yet, decades from now,
the year may be remembered as one that began
a positive momentum for Israel; in the past 12
months the gates of the Kremlin have opened
wide, with tens of thousands of Soviet Jews
pouring out.
Their intended destination has been the
United States, not Israel, but circumstances dic-
tated that Washington would be further limit-
ing its refugee visas, with Israel the open-armed
beneficiary of American policy changes.
At year's end the test for Israel and world
Jewry was clear: what can be done — diplo-
matically, financially, and socially — to
strengthen Israel and save Jewish lives, and

A

IN LIMBO IN LADISPOLI, thousands of Soviet Jewish emigrants
languished in transit camps in Italy awaiting permission to enter
the United States. The good news: widescale Soviet emigration
was at last a reality. The bad news: political and financial
problems, in Washington and Jerusalem, kept the refugees
confused about their final destination. Photo By Richard Lobel!

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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