NEWS
Students Urge Congress
To Help Ethiopian Jews
WHY PAY AN ARM AND A LEG?
FERN WEINER
Special to The Jewish News
A
AFFORDABLE LUXURY
Relax in the cornBurt of a quality
chaise bunge. Take advantage of
the low prices on our great
selection of casual outdoor
furniture. Save up to 35% on
RUSTICS
select goods through April 22nd.
Livonia - 522-9200 - 29500 W. 6 Mile Rd. • Birmingham - 644-1919 - 221 Hamilton • Novi - Opening In May - 48700 Grand River - 348-0090
FIGHT
THE BIG "F"...
HAPPY PASSOVER
TO OUR
CUSTOMERS
AND
FRIENDS
ITURE
FADING
STOPS
ULTRA VIOLET
up to
NITELICINTER3
MasterCard
VISA
4 7 14 4 1 4
..;--'-competitive rates
u_ U) •
OS
A: U.S. SAVINGS BONDS
THE GREAT AMERICAN INVESTMENT
1-800-US-BONDS
537.7900
— Since 1969 —
great tax advantages
complete safety
Seymour Zate
Solar Sales, Inc
U)
Q: What investment offers
99
z
•
(2)..
Unique Gifts For All Ages
c.
THAT
PERSONALIZED
TOUCH
FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 1990
U)
co
3
Customized Imprinting
Always 20% OFF!
Napkins, Guest Towels, Place Cards
Cake Boxes and Matches.
Bev and Sue 661-0177
• Invitations For All Occasions
18
53-
a.
a.
g
cD
mid the clamor of the
campaign to save
Soviet Jewry from a
threatened pogrom, college
students reminded members
of Congress last week not to
forget the endangered Jews
of Ethiopia.
About 45 students from 15
universities pleaded with
Congressional aides and
legislators to work for the
release of the 20,000 starv-
ing Ethiopian Jews trapped
in the middle of a civil war.
To prepare for the meetings,
the students were briefed by
activists for Ethiopian
Jewry.
"Your presence here is a
hope for the Ethiopian Jew-
ish community," said Will
Recant, director of the
American Association for E-
thiopian Jews. "Right now
only a trickle of Jews are
getting out. It's not enough.
At the rate we're going, it
will take 10 to 15 years. The
solution to save the corn-
munity? A political solution.
"The United States must
make it clear to the Eritrean
and Tigrean rebels, who are
waging a civil war against
the Marxist government of
(Col. Haile) Mengistu
(Mariam), that they are wat-
ching the Jews of Ethiopia,"
Recant said.
Activists believe the lobby-
ing activity comes at a
critical time.
Diplomatic ties between E-
thiopia and Israel were
renewed last November
after a 16-year break. And
famine-struck Ethiopia has
expres,sed some interest in
returning diplomatic ties
with the United States to the
ambassadorial level. The
two nations recalled their
ambassadors in 1979.
Ethiopians are suffering
from anti-Semitism and still
dying of starvation and war
injuries.
"Relief trucks are not
reaching Gondar, where the
majority of the Jews live,"
Barbara Ribakove Gordon,
director of the North Ameri-
can Conference on Ethiopian
Jewry, told the students.
"Thirteen-year-old boys are
being conscripted for the
Fern Weiner is a graduate
student at the Baltimore
Institute of Jewish Communal
Service. Richard Pearl of The
Jewish News contributed to
this story.
army. If they are not at
home when the miltary
calls, the parents are ar-
rested."
A slogan on a T-shirt sold
to benefit the Ethiopian
Jewry movement seemed to
sum up the activists' feel-
ings: "This year in
Jerusalem. Because next
year may be too late."
As part of the two-day
Washington Lobby for Ethi-
opian Jewry, the college
students tried to educate
government officials, ex-
plain the need for the
reunification of Ethiopians
Donald Riegle:
Joined caucus.
with their families in Israel
and encourage legislators to
join the Congressional
Caucus on Ethiopian Jewry.
The lobbying effort March
27-28 was cosponsored by
B'nai B'rith Hillel and Stu-
dent Action for Ethiopian
Jews.
"This is the last genera-
tion of Jews in Ethiopia,"
Sam Young, a senior at
Brandeis University, told
fellow students. "Our ge-
neration must help that ge-
neration . . . We must act
now."
Beth Naditch, a Brandeis
University sophomore, said
she drew some of her in-
spiration for activism from
the students who worked for
years on behalf of Soviet
Jewry.
"Their group grew and the
movement blossomed," said
Naditch, a co-coordinator of
the lobbying effort. "Look
what they accomplished! I
look at them and say, 'We
can do that too!' "
Although the aim is for
Jews in both the Soviet
Union and Ethiopia to be
allowed to emigrate, the
causes must be handled diff-
erently, activists said.
"With Soviet Jewry,
students could sign petitions
Continued on Page 20