I UP FRONT

Soviet Jewry Issue Is Stripped
Of Immune Stature By Summit

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

S

oviet Jewry groups are
publicly trying to
make the best of last
week's superpower summit
between President George
Bush and Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev.
But privately, the summit
confirmed one of their worst
nightmares; more and more,
the Soviet Jewry issue is be-
ing drawn into the churning
cauldron of Middle East
politics.
The most obvious sign of
this change came at the
summit's concluding news
conference, when Gorbachev
issued a blunt warning to
the Israelis, aiming it at the
question of Soviet Jewish
settlement in the West
Bank.
"The Soviet Union is now
being bombarded by a lot of
criticism from Arab coun-
tries," he said. "Some people
are raising the matter in
these terms in the Soviet
Union: namely, as long as
there are no assurances from
the Israelis that this is not
going to be done by them —

to postpone issuing permits
for exit, to put it off."
Soviet Jewry leaders im-
mediately blasted Gor-
bachev's comments.
"We were deeply disap-
pointed," said Mark Levin,
associate executive director
of the National Conference
on Soviet Jewry. "The issue
of Soviet Jews settling on
the West Bank is a red herr-
ing; the real concern of the
Arabs is Jewish immigra-

Jewish groups
have generally
supported the
administration's
cap on refugees.

tion to Israel, period. What's
disturbing is that Gorbachev
apparently is buying into
that."
"It was quite a shock to
hear Gorbachev's response
to the question, because I
believe he is aware of the
minuscule number of Soviet
Jews who have settled in the
territories," said Shoshana
Cardin, chairman of the Na-
tional Conference for Soviet

Jewry. "To have introduced
this in the way he did — and
to include President Bush in
his admonition — was a
disturbing signal."
Cardin also expressed sur-
prise that the harsh warn-
ings came up at a summit at
which the Soviets hoped to
change President Bush's
mind about an immediate
waiver of Jackson- Vanik
trade restrictions against
the Soviets, and conclude a
trade pact which many see
as critical for the battered
Soviet economy.
"The National Conference
has taken the position that if
the president has assurances
in the areas of our concern —
including high emigration
levels — then we would sup-
port his actions in consider-
ing a waiver. If the Soviet
Union suddenly suspends
emigration because of the
destination of Soviet Jews,
obviously we would not be
able to maintain that posi-
tion."
According to several
sources, behind-the-scenes
communications from Soviet
authorities attempted to
portray Gorbachev's com-

Bush was included in Gorbachev's blunt admonition.

ments strictly as an effort to
relieve pressure from Arab
countries.
"But the fact that this can
even be considered seems
bizarre and extremely
dangerous," Cardin said.
Cardin also pointed out
that any withholding of exit
visas based on the country of
destination would be a viola-
tion of international law.
Despite her strong con-
cerns over Gorbachev's
comments at the press con-
ference, Cardin suggested
that Soviet performance was
still more important than
just rhetoric.
"We must be very wary,
very cautious in how we re-
spond to this unexpected de-

velopment," she said. "We
need to monitor very closely
what takes place next. At
this time, there may be a dif-
ference between what is said
and what is taking place. We
have always maintained
that performance is the
standard we should use to
determine what is happen-
ing in the Soviet Union. So
we will be looking to see if
the numbers remain high."

Seven years old, it has 45
members.
For information on how to
adopt a cow, contact ARZA,
the Association of Reform
Zionists of America, 838 Fif-
th Ave., New York, N.Y.
10021, (212) 249-0100.

Cross in the last days of the
Holocaust.
Perlasca was living in
Budapest in 1944, where he
headed an import-export
business. Hungary, an Axis
ally, was occupied by the
German military in March
1944. With the Nazi empire
collapsing, the Germans
made their first priority
deporting the nation's re-
maining Jewish population.
Perlasca had established
close relations with Spain's
consular officials. When the
Spanish charge d'affaires
left his post on order of his
government, Perlasca ap-
pointed himself to the posi-
tion, becoming the sole
representative of Spain in
Hungary.
Every day from November
1944 until the Red Army
liberated Budapest in 1945,
Perlasca confronted Nazi of-
ficers who sought to deport
Jews. He combed the Nazi
prisons, bringing Jews back
to safety. He used his own
money to buy food and other
necessities for desperate
Jews.

But Gorbachev's com-
ments were only the latest in
a series of shifts that began
with Prime Minister Yit-
zhak Shamir's speech in
January, in which he in-
sisted that the un-

Continued on Page 22

ROUND UP

Ethiopian Jewry
Manual Published

Washington, D.C. — The
Community Volunteer Ser-
vices (CVS) division of B'nai
B'rith International has
published a new manual
describing how Jewish
organizations can help save
Ethiopian Jews.
The guide includes infor-
mation about how to lobby,
sponsoring educational and
social events to create
greater awareness, and lists
direct assistance programs
and other Ethiopian Jewry
advocacy groups.
Single copies of the
manual, "Pidyon Shvuyim
— Redeeming the Captive,"
are available at no charge
from the B'nai B'rith CVS
office, 1640 Rhode Island
Ave NW, Washington, D.C.,
(202) 857-6582.

Gubow, Pollack
Lead Anti-MX Fight

David Gubow, D-
Huntington Woods, and
Lana Pollack, D-Ann Arbor,
this week introduced in the
Michigan House and Senate

a resolution opposing the
planned deployment of the
MX Rail Garrison (MXRG)
nuclear weapons system in
Michigan.
Gubow and 57 cosponsors
introduced the resolution to
the House, while Pollack
and 13 cosponsors brought it
to the House. The resolution
seeks to end congressional
funding for the MXRG.

Why Aunt Ruth
Is A Real Cow

When Kibbutz Lotan,
Israel's newest Reform kib-
butz, recently decided to go
into the dairy business, it
had all the necessary
equipment but one —milk
cows. To obtain a herd, the
kibbutz has launched an
"Adopt-a-Cow" program,
asking sponsors in Israel
and abroad to purchase
"cow-shares" for the kib-
butz.
Under the program, in-
dividuals or groups may
adopt a whole cow or part of
one. For $750 — the cost of
an entire cow — the sponsor
may name the animal and

Unknown Italian
Hero Is Honored

Kibbutz Lotan:
"Take my cow . . . please take my
cow."

will receive a certificate
with its production
statistics.
And you thought you were
going to have to take a gift
certificate to little Sarah's
bat mitzvah or buy Aunt
Ruth yet another bottle of
perfume for her birthday.
Steer clear of those boring
presents and honor them in-
stead with an udderly
wonderful gift — a cow in
their name! Won't they be
m00000ved, and won't you be
popular!
Kibbutz Lotan is located
35 miles north of Eilat.

Washington, D.C. — In the
peaceful city of Padua, Italy,
a shy 80-year-old man lives
with his wife in a small villa.
Until recently, his neighbors
had no idea that the private
man, Giorgio Perlasca, was
responsible for saving the
lives of thousands of
Hungarian Jews during
World War II.
In September, Perlasca
will make his first visit to
the United States, where the
Holocaust Memorial Council
will accord him its highest
honor, the U.S. Medal of
Remembrance. Perlasca
masqueraded as a Spanish
diplomat, exploiting Spain's
neutral status and privileges
to protect Hungarian Jews
from the German Gestapo
and the Hungarian Iron

Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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