I NEWS I

Alamo Group Protests
Federation "Slander"

TRUNK SHOWING

VICKI CABOT

Special to The Jewish News

of

MOTHER OF THE BRIDE

And

OCCASION DRESSES

March 1, 2, 3
Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Informal Modeling
sizes 4-16
Prices $300-$3600

Always 20 % OFF
APPLEGATE STORE ONLY

29839 Northwestern Hwy.
Between 12 & 13 Mile Rd.
At Inkster Road

iiMon.-Sat. 10-5:30
i ----Thurs. eve. till 8:30

1,4 1ER I

The $7.50 Plan

L4.1

is alive and well at

M118111118NICS

DRIVE•1111
CELLULAAL

31051 Stephenson Hwy.
Madison Heights

585-4520

GIFT

S BASKETS &

TRAYS
(
FOR ALL
OCCASIONS

(313) 626-9050

32825 Northwestern Hwy.
Farmington Hills

PanaSonic
Hand-Held

626-8480

We offer the lowest rates in town
and the finest Panasonic equipment.

(gCELLIVET

//f/

O

• Personalized & Theme Baskets
l • Gourmet Food & Gift Items

CORPORATE GIFTS

LOCAL & NATIONWIDE DELIVERY (

7:7:702

•01.1"

MOBILE
COMMUNICATIONS

■ %41.:11

0wi

AUTHORIZED RESEL LER

Call or Visit Our Showroom

We Feature Ameritech
Cellular Service.

29594 Orchard Lake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI

*KOSHER & DIET RESTRICTED AVAILABLE

[(Mast77'ard)

58

FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1990

(
,
i

F

liers charging
"Slander from the
Jewish Federation"
recently placed on parked
cars here have added fuel to
a fight between the Jewish
Federation Council of
Greater Los Angeles and the
Tony and Susan Alamo
Christian Foundation.
The issue: an alleged fed-
eration campaign to put a
purported foundation-
affiliate, Alamo Designs, out
of business.
The letters charged that
workers at the company's
Arkansas operation were
forced to work as "slave
laborers" and asked
retailers to discontinue sell-
ing the designer denim
jackets made by Alamo
Design.
The jackets, described in a
recent Los Angeles Times
story as "among the hottest
items in the Los Angeles
fashion market," retail for
$600-$1,200 and feature
elaborate sequined and air-
brushed images of the New
York skyline, Hollywood
and Rodeo Drive.
According to Alamo foun-
dation spokesman Tom
Alford, Rachel Andres, di-
rector of the L.A. Jewish
Community Relations
Committee's commission on
cults and missionaries,
wrote letters last fall to Los
Angeles retailers alleging a
link between Alamo Designs
and the Tony and Susan
Alamo Christian Founda-
tion. Both the Los Angeles
Times and Los Angeles Jew-
ish Journal corroborated
reports of Andres' letter-
writing campaign.
On Dec. 18, Alamo Designs
filed a $250 million lawsuit
in Los Angeles Superior
Court, charging Andres and
the Los Angeles Federation
with slander and libel and
seeking a court injunction
against any future letter-
writing.
Federation news bureau
manager Jeannette Hart-
man says that as of Feb. 13,
neither the Federation nor
Andres has been served with
the court papers. She declin-
ed to comment further on the
case.
Meantime, fliers in the
form of an open letter from
the "shareholders and
families at Alamo Designs

Vicki Cabot is a writer for the
Greater Phoenix Jewish News.

Inc." appeared in Phoenix
and elsewhere across the
country, refuting the
charges of "slave labor" at
the company's operation and
defending church leader
Tony Alamo, who was
charged with child abuse as
the result of an October 1988
incident.
Fred Reagan, a spokesman
from the Los Angeles FBI of
confirmed that Alamo
has been implicated in an
October 1988 beating inci-
dent and charged with
"unlawful flight to avoid
prosecution in connection
with felony abuse charges."
Fliers first were sighted on
windshields of cars parked
at last fall's Arizona State
Fair and then on cars parked
adjacent to Central Avenue
for December's Fiesta Bowl
Parade.
They also have been found
stuffed in doorjams in
Phoenix-area apartment
complexes and placed on
cars in shopping centers, ac-
cording to reports from the
Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith, American Jew-
ish Committee and the
Community Relations Coun-
cil of Jewish Federation of
Greater Phoenix.

❑

Sharansky
Blasts NJCRAC

Jerusalem (JTA) — Soviet
Jewry activist Natan
Sharansky has denounced a
resolution recently adopted
by leaders of Jewish com-
munities across the United
States that warned Israel
not to settle Soviet Jews in
the West Bank.
A Jewish group should not
be highlighting an issue that
"simply doesn't exist,"
Sharansky said, citing
Israeli government statistics
that show only a tiny frac-
tion of Soviet immigrants
choosing to settle in the ad-
ministered territories.
He spoke of his dismay at
the 216-207 vote on the
matter at the National Jew-
ish Community Relations
Advisory Council's plenary
conducted in Phoenix, Ariz.,
saying that a Jewish group
should not be highlighting
an issue that has been
overblown in the news
media.
"Either you take the posi-
tion of wanting to find out
the truth, or you are con-
cerned about what the non-
Jews will think," Sharansky
said of the NJCRAC vote.

(