YEAR IN REVIEW 5749 YEAR IN REVIEW
JOHN TOWER was
rejected by a Senate
vote of 53-47 to serve as
Secretary of Defense,
a blow to the new Bush
Administration. Tower was
rumored to be a
womanizer, a heavy
drinker and to have a cozy
relationship with the
-
defense industry. Richard
Cheney won swift
approval in the post.
of American hostages. After an
intense flurry of diplomatic
maneuvering concerning the fate
of the Western hostages, the
issue faded away and the
hostages continue to languish in
captivity.
Let My People Go.
Where?
The tens of thousands of
Soviet Jews who took advantage .
of glasnost and the Kremlin's
opening wide the gates of
emigration were not exactly
hostages languishing in capti-
vity. But a visitor to Ladispoli,
Italy, the primary transit camp
for the emigrants awaiting ap-
proval to come to America,
REP. BARNEY FRANK,
a popular Jewish
congressman from the
Boston area, was the
subject of a controversy
over his relationship
with a male prostitute.
could see that they were deeply
anxious about their legal status
and final destination as they
lived from month to month in
limbo.
Washington, Jerusalem and
American Jewish organizations
dealt with the issue in different
ways. Washington took a
tougher stand in light of the
press for more refugee slots by
ruling that not all Soviet Jews
were now considered refugees
automatically. This was welcome
ABORTION was a .major issue, With
pro-life and pro-choice advocates
lobbying in advance of a Supreme
Court ruling that could allow states
-increased control over public funding
for abortion. Many Jewish groups
took positions against the court ruling
and participated in a large pro-choice
march in Washington.
news to Jerusalem, which has
long insisted that since the
Soviet Jews are coming out on
Israeli visas and are being wel-
comed by Israel, they should
not be given refugee status by
the United States. The
American Jewish establishment
was caught in a bind, empathiz-
ing with Israel's need and desire
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
57