I NEWS I
You're At
The Head
Of The Class
12 MONTH CD
8 .68 5.35
!ED
What Stopped The Flow
Of Jews Out Of Ethiopia?
MONEY MARKET
8.30 ID 8.00
!ATE
EQUITY LOANS
NO
11%
_ _ FEE
Year 1 Fixed. APR at 13th month xt Prime + 2%.
ALLISON KAPLAN
Special to The Jewish News
With a Subscription
To The Jewish News
Call: 354-6060
THE JEWISH NEWS
Southfield
355-2400
Clawson
435-2840
Waterford
We Create Solutions T"[
674-4901
Maximum Deposit on CD's = $25,000 per family. Annual
yields based on monthly compounding of interest. Rates
subject to change. FDIC lbsured.
FREE
SPRINKLER
SYSTEM
ESTIMATES
WE SHIP
FURNITURE
6453 FARMINGTON ROAD
W. BLOOMFIELD
855-5822
MAPLE (at CRAN BROOK)
BIRMINGHAM
433-3070
CALL 1-800-544-9219
Designs in Custom
Laminate and Wood
(CENTURY RAIN AID)
02A
AO
t° poi"
.
"Over 50 Years Experience"
Southfield
Ann Arbor
Madison Heights
42159 Telegraph Road
358-2994
2461 S. Industrial Hwy.
668.1070
31691 Dequindre
588.2993
261-5230
CALL FOR APPOINTMENT TODAY!
32445 Schoolcraft
Livonia, Michigan 48150
Tables • Desks
Wall Units
Bedrooms
Dining Rooms
10 Years Experience & Expertise in the Design
of Affordable Laminate, Lucite & Wood
Furniture
For
Appt
Call
28
Muriel Wetsman
FRIDAY, JULY 20, 1990
661-3838
T
he emigration of Ethi-
opian Jews bound for
Israel, which had been
proceeding since last fall at a
rate of about 500 a month,
has been halted in recent
weeks, Israeli officials have
confirmed.
The suspension comes at a
time when thousands of E-
thiopian Jews have piled
into the capital city of Addis
Ababa, hoping to receive
permission to join families
and friends in Israel.
The vast majority of the
Jews left in Ethiopia — as
many as 15,000 people — are
now living in miserable con-
ditions in Addis Ababa.
They have poured into the
capital from their native
Gondar region in recent
months, as fighting between
the government of Mengistu
Haile Mariam and rebel ar-
mies has shifted, making
roads to the capital passable.
The emigration of Ethio-
pian Jews has accelerated
since November, when Israel
and Ethiopia restored dip-
lomatic ties and signed an
agreement allowing for
reunification of families on a
humanitarian basis.
The reason for the recent
suspension of the emigration
is unclear, but three main
explanations have been
offered:
The most straightforward
reason for the slowdown is
that Mengistu wished to
avoid embarrassment dur-
ing the meeting of the
Organization of African
Unity, which was held last
week in Addis Ababa.
Israeli and American Jew-
ish officials say Mengistu
may have feared incurring
the wrath of the hundreds of
hard-line, anti- Israel
African leaders who arrived
in the city for the meeting.
They say it would have been
difficult for him to hide the
exodus to Israel.
A second explanation for
the suspension is rising con-
cern among both Mengistu
and Israeli officials that non-
Jews are using the Israeli
channel as a way of escaping
Ethiopia.
Meir Joffe, Israel's ambas-
sador to Ethiopia, was
quoted by The New York
Times as saying that Israel
had been "alarmed" by the
JTA correspondent Howard
Rosenberg in Washington con-
tributed to this report.
fact that non-Jews were at-
tempting to immigrate to
Israel.
Joffe was quoted as saying
the decision to halt the
emigration was made jointly
by the Ethiopian and Israeli
governments.
But William Recant, direc-
tor of the American Associ-
ation for Ethiopian Jews,
one of the relief agencies car-
ing for the Ethiopian Jews in
Addis Ababa, said he did not
believe Israel had anything
to do with suspending the
flow of emigres.
"This is not consistent
with what we have been told
in the past," Recant said
Sunday. He said Israeli offi-
cials were aware that the
The most
straightforward
reason for the
slowdown is that
Mengistu wished
to avoid
embarrassment
during the meeting
of the Organization
of African Unity.
screening process for pro-
spective immigrants "has
been a careful one."
The third and most
troublesome explanation for
a halt in emigration is that
the Ethiopian Jews are be-
ing held hostage to
Mengistu's demands for
Israeli military equipment.
It has been widely reported
in the Israeli and American
press that Mengistu traveled
to Israel on July 4 and 5 to
meet with Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir and request
weapons from the Israelis, in
order to prop up his embattl-
ed regime.
The Israelis have long
been caught between the E-
thiopian dictator's linkage of
military cooperation to Jew-
ish emigration, on the one
hand, and the U.S. govern-
ment's revulsion at the mas-
sive casualties Mengistu's
regime has been inflicting
on the civilian populations of
areas controlled by rebel
forces.
The Washington Jewish
Week reported last week that
Israel had sold cluster bombs
to Ethiopia as recently as
last year and provided
military expertise to forces
protecting Mengistu.
The paper cited a memo-
randum, based on informa-
tion from the Pentagon, that
was written in February by