UP FRONT

Mandela, Sharansky May Meet;
S. African Jews Get Apology

ALLISON KAPLAN

Special to The Jewish News

N

elson Mandela and
Natan Sharansky
have agreed in prin-
ciple to meet in the United
States during the African
National Congress leader's
upcoming visit here, an
American Jewish leader con-
firmed Monday.
"Both sides have indicated
that they are interested in
the meeting," said Abraham
Foxman, national director of
the Anti- Defamation
League of B'nai B'rith.
"Now it's a question of work-
ing out logistics and schedul-
ing."
Mandela will visit Detroit
on June 28, but due to time
constraints, Jewish com-
munity leaders were not
able to set up a meeting with
him. Mandela is scheduled
to have an 18-hour stopover.
ADL's Foxman said he
believed "it would be ap-
propriate for two prisoners of
conscience of our genera-
tion," to "meet to exchange
their experiences and dia-
logue toward understanding
and common ground."
Foxman spoke upon his
return from meeting in
Geneva with Mandela, who

also met with leaders of
other Jewish organizations.
At the meeting, Mandela
apologized for statements he
may have made offending
Jews and expressed support
for the State of Israel.
Mandela's apology echoed
the one he made June 4 to
South African Jewish
leaders. At that time, the
ANC's deputy president

"Sharansky and I
have shared
experiences."
— Nelson Mandela

apologized for his remarks
after his release from prison
in February, in which he
stated his solidarity with the
Palestinians and drew an
analogy between their suf-
fering and that of black
South Africans. He said then
that if "the truth hurts the
Jews, that's too bad."
Mandela physically and
spiritually embraced Yassir
Arafat, chairman of the
Palestine Liberation Organ-
ization, in Lusaka, Zambia,
in late February.
The Johannesburg
meeting June 4 saw the
South African Jews explain

to Mandela and Thabo
Mbekl, a member of the
ANC executive committee,
the historically close rela-
tionship between Israel and
the South African Jewish
community. The ANC
leaders then restated the
group's firm and longstan-
ding opposition to racism in
all its forms.
Mandela assured all pre-
sent that neither he nor the
ANC had at any time in-
tended to offend the Jewish
people. He expressed his own
and the ANC's principled
and unswerving opposition
to anti-Semitism.
He also expressed ap-
preciation to the many Jews
of South Africa engaged in
the effort to bring peace and
justice to all peoples in
South Africa.
Foxman said that the
plans for Mandela's meeting
with Sharansky grew out of
an exchange with Mandela
at the meeting Sunday.
Mandela told the delegation
he was not sure if he would
have time to meet with
American Jewish leaders
while in the United States.
"I said it would be better if
you met with Natan Sharan-
sky, a friend of mine and a
hero of the Jewish people,"
Foxman recounted.

Mandela then said that he
had read Sharansky's
autobiography, Fear No
Evil, after being given the
book by Helen Suzman, a
former Jewish member of
the South African Parlia-
ment and longtime anti-
apartheid activist. He ex-
pressed interest in meeting
with the onetime Soviet
refusenik.
"Sharansky and I have

shared expe - iences," Fox-
man quoted Mandela as say-
ing.
The reports from Foxman
and other members of the
delegation of the warm and
cordial meeting with
Mandela were generally
greeted positively by the
organized American Jewish
community. The New York
Jewish Community Rela-
Continued on Page 10

ROUND UP

An Unforgettable
Gift To Israel

With a handful of quarters
stuck in envelopes, Obinna
Awusah walked into the
Jewish Community Council
office. He was there to make
a donation as part of a prom-
ise he made as a child.
Awusah, who lives in
Detroit, was born in Nigeria.
A Christian from the Ibo
tribe, he was a child during
the Biafra Civil War in the
late 1960s. He and his fami-
ly were often starving dur-
ing the famine that accom-
panied the war.
But then relief started ar-
riving. Awusah and his
family received packages of
food and other supplies, all
shipped from Israel.
Awusah's mother told her
son he must never forget this
kindness, without which the
family would not have sur-
vived. She made him prom-
ise he would one day repay
Israel.
After the war, the family
settled in Detroit. Awusah

began studies at Wayne
State University and found a
part-time job at a car wash.
Awusah did not forget his
pledge to Israel. He saved
every tip he received at
work, then took the coins to
the Jewish Community
Council.
Council Associate Director
Alan Gale directed Awusah
to the Jewish National
Fund, where the money was
donated.

NAMES Quilt
Travels To Israel

San Francisco — The
Friends of the Israel Tour of
the NAMES Project Interna-
tional AIDS Memorial Quilt
plans to send sections of the
quilt, including panels made
for Israelis, Jews and Arabs,
to Israel on Dec. 1 in con-
junction with World AIDS
Day. The quilt will be ex-
hibited for three weeks in
Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and
Haifa.
The NAMES Project corn-

prises more than 12,000 in-
dividual panels, each made
to memorialize a friend or
family member who died of
AIDS. It has been displayed
throughout the United
States, including a visit last
year to Detroit.

Canadian Medal
Goes Up For Sale

London, Ontario — The
earliest medallic symbol of
Canadian Judaica will be up
for sale at a June 23 auction
in London, Ontario.
The hand-engraved gold
medal, produced to the pri-
vate order of David David in
1817, was a requirement for
membership in the
prestigious Beaver Club of
Montreal. The Northwest
Company, an association of
predominantly Scottish fur
traders, gave the award to
David, the first Jew born in
Canada.
The honor came at a time
when Jews in Canada were
without religious or political
rights. Through personal

David David's Beaver Club medal:
Up for sale.

achievement, David was ac-
cepted as a member of the
most elite club in Canada,
and became part of the most
powerful group of busi-
nessmen in the country. He
spent the winter of 1807 in
Indian country, where he
acquired furs from the na-
tives — a prerequisite for
membership in the Beaver
Club.

Madonna's Piano
Just Loves El Al

Madonna, Paul McCartney
and Billy Joel have some-
thing in common besides
music: their pianos, guitars,
drums and saxophones all

fly on El Al Israel Airline's
cargo fleet.
Next week, Madonna's
stage and sound equipment
will take to the skies from
John F. Kennedy Interna-
tional Airport, New York to
Amsterdam, so the Material
Girl can continue her
"Blonde Ambition" tour in
Europe.
Then on July 1, Paul Mc-
Cartney's rock-and-roll gear
returns to New York from
London via El Al's airfreight
service. This is the third
time during his current tour
the former Beatle has used
El Al.
Billy Joel also recently
shipped his musical equip-
ment with El Al, from New
York to Cologne, Germany,
for his "Storm Front" con-
cert.
Other performers who
have used El Al's cargo for
their concert equipment in-
clude Boy George, Neil Dia-
mond and the Alvin Ailey
Dance Troupe.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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