I LOCAL NEWS I Gitelman Envisions A Soviet Revolution Precision quartz timepieces in classic black and white. Designed to go from business meetings to dinner parties. -41 Ultimate Alarm Chronograph with Seiko IQ. Stopwatch. Countdown timer. Alarm. SEIKO THE FUTURE OF TIME IS IN OUR HANDS. SEIKO FIRST IN QUARTZ WATCHES FOR 20 YEARS IN ROBIN'S NEST ♦ WEST BLOOMFIELD ♦ 7421 ORCHARD LAKE RD. 737-2333 ♦ CORNER OF ORCHARD LAKE RD. & NORTHWESTERN HWY, G.I.A. CERTIFIED DIAMONDTOLOGIST & REPAIRS ON PREMISES MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ♦ FREE GIFT WRAPPING ♦ CASH REFUNDS NIBBLES & NUTS ELECTROPEDIC ADJUSTABLE BEDS The Perfect Ending For Your Seder!!! A beautiful tray filled with special Passover candy, dried fruits and nuts. Order Early. 737-8088 33020 NORTHWESTERN • W. BLOOMFIELD 1--- VISA' Outside Of Michigan , 1 , 800.75221133 ' Kosher & Sugarfree Available 22 Vin FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1990 Local & Nationwide Delivery FOR MORE INFO CALL 1-800-886-BEDS Dr. Zvi Gitelman, professor of political science at the University of Michigan and a consultant to the federal government, recently ad- dressed an Allied Jewish Campaign progress report meeting on "A New Exodus: Soviet Jews in the Age of Perestroika." Gitelman called the now- open expressions of anti- Semitism "a grass-roots phenomenon, rather than a government-sponsored one." Considering the long history of government repres- sion, "the irony is, today, Soviet Jews are frightened by the weakness of the govern- ment and its inability to stop the killings of 600 people in ethnic violence" since February 1988. The Arme- nian-Azerbaijani fighting is one of the most widely reported examples, he said. "I think the Soviet Union today is on the brink of a revolutionary situation," he said. The telltale signs? A divided elite, a deteriorating economy, a frustrated popula- tion, an empire that's crumbl- ed and ethnic tensions rising to the surface. Until the United States put new restrictions on their im- migration here, Soviet Jews considered Israel a distant se- cond on their most-wanted list. Now, out of fear, they're opting for Israel by the hun- dreds of thousands. "Where they go is a less dominant fac- tor than should they go." Gitelman expressed par- ticular concern about the Soviet government's refusal to implement direct flights to Israel in response to the pressure of Arab govern- ments. This issue is "much more important than the restoration of full diplomatic relations" and could cripple Soviet Jewish immigration, he said. "It's not that there's a growth in anti-Semitism," said Gitelman, "but anti- Semitism is more visible." Gitelman said that when Alexei Kosygin was in power, he declared there is no anti- Semitism in the Soviet Union, and there can be none. "One didn't discuss it. lbday, it's out in the open." Why doesn't Gorbachev try harder to stop it? "Gorbachev is a politician. He knows a condemnation of anti- Semitism will win 1.45 million friends (Jews), but make many more enemies." In the Soviet Union a few months ago, Gitelman saw Zvi Gitelman the emergence of Jewish cultural groups, yeshivot and publications, making Jewish life "more interesting, pluralistic, exciting and con- tentious." Separated from the mainstream of Jewish life for three or four generations, "they are doing what their parents and grandparents did a century ago." There is less criticism of the state of Israel in the media, and there are a growing number of exchanges through tourism and culture. But a Jewish population of 1.5 million can get lost in the enormity of the USSR, with its 110 nationalities and 15 republics. They're scattered through- out the country. They have no communal structure .. . or political influence. There is no defense organization, like the many such Jewish organizations in, the United States, and no political clout to protect the Jews from undemocratic forces. He related how a member of the Soviet parliament took the unusual step last fall of addressing his fellow Jews in a Lithuanian Communist newspaper: "What's all this talk about, 'Should I leave or should I stay?' We have to go." "In the Soviet Union," said Gitelman, "Jews know anti- Semitism as memory, not history .. . When I see panic and hysteria among Soviet Jews . . . when I think about it and the differences between their situation and ours, if I were in their shoes, I'd be run- ning as well .. . "We have to make it possi- ble for them to go; we have to make it possible for them, leaving without money or possessions, running, to reset- tle in the United States and Israel."