UP FRONT
New Assad Rhetoric
Welcomed By Israel
GIL SEDAN
Special to The Jewish News
I
sraeli officials and Mid-
dle East experts here are
giving a cool response to
reports that Syrian presi-
dent Hafez Assad is now
willing to become involved
in the Middle East peace
process.
They feel there was little
new in statements made by
Assad during his visit to
Egypt this week, his first
Movie Shows
Anti-Semitism
Bonn (JTA) — An Austrian
film director has made a
documentary film showing
an alarming picture of anti-
Semitism in the Soviet
Union.
Ernst Grandits, who trav-
eled extensively in the
Soviet Union to make his
film, showed it Sunday in
Frankfurt.
Noting that liberalization
in the Soviet Union had
brought to the fore a deep-
rooted hatred of Jews, Gran-
dits said security forces have
failed to protect the Jews,
who feel themselves
physically threatened by an-
ti-Semitic activists belong-
ing to Pamyat and other
groups.
since Damascus and Cairo
broke diplomatic relations in
1977, following Anwar
Sadat's historic trip to
Jerusalem.
At the same time, they
view the Syrian leader's
change of rhetoric as a
positive development that
could help ease the at-
mosphere of confrontation
that has pervaded the Mid-
dle East in recent months.
Speaking Sunday evening
at a joint news conference in
Alexandria, with Egyptian
president Hosni Mubarak at
his side, Assad said his coun-
try would join the peace pro-
cess "depending on other
circumstances."
His statement was initial-
ly interpreted as Syrian
readiness in principle to join
the peace process and as a
signal that Damascus would
not block Egyptian efforts to
convene Israeli- Palestinian
negotiations.
But Assad insisted that
the Palestinian issue should
be resolved as part of a com-
prehensive settlement
reached in an international
peace conference.
Expectations that Syria
would enter the peace pro-
cess were heightened Mon-
day, when Radio Monte
Carlo reported that Muba-
rak had presented Assad
with an Israeli proposal to
Artwca by Orb...kw Konwo. Copright• 1990. CatheeneKwnet. Dicta:mho:thy Los Anipist limas Syncketa
launch peace talks with
Syria.
The Arab-owned station,
which broadcasts from
Monaco, said Assad had con-
ditionally accepted the pro-
posal, which Israel allegedly
passed to Egypt on the eve of
the Syrian leader's visit.
According to the station's
Cairo correspondent,
Assad's three conditions for
entering peace talks with
Israel were that Israel agree
in advance to withdraw from
the Golan Heights, that the
two countries reach an
agreement on Lebanon and
that an international peace
conference be convened.
The prime minister's office
in Jerusalem denied that
Israel had asked Mubarak to
convey requests to Assad.
But sources in the office
welcomed Assad's "change
of tone," saying the Syrian
president had "started talk-
ing in terms of a political
settlement of the conflict."
They reiterated Israel's
readiness to negotiate peace
with Syria, with no precon-
ditions. Prime Minister Yit-
zhak Shamir last month in-
vited Assad to come to Israel
in the same way that Sadat
had in 1977.
Ehud Ya'ari, a respected
Arab affairs correspondent
for Israel Television,
discredited the Radio Monte
Carlo report as a hoax in-
vented by an "unserious
reporter."
Ya'ari said the basic
Syrian position has not
changed and that Assad was
not likely to shift from his
view that a Palestinian-
Israeli settlement must
precede peace treaties with
any of the Arab countries.
But the report was not
lightly treated by Jewish
settlers in the Golan
Heights, territory that Israel
captured from Syria during
the 1967 Six-Day War and
later annexed. Prior to the
war, the Golan Heights had
been used as a launching
point for attacks against
northern Israeli settlements.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
ROUND UP
New Orchestra
Debuts In Israel
Tel Aviv (JTA) — A new
symphony orchestra made
up entirely of emigre musi-
cians from the Soviet Union
drew a sell-out crowd of
1,000 to its concert debut at
the Tel Aviv Museum.
Some 600 music lovers
packed the auditorium,
among them Tel Aviv Mayor
Shlomo Lahat and Simcha
Dinitz, chairman of the Jew-
ish Agency and World
Zionist Organization exec-
utive. Another 400 listened
and watched on closed-
circuit television in a nearby
hall.
The 65 musicians arrived
in Israel within the past six
months, some only a few
weeks ago. All are profes-
sionals, having been mem-
bers of symphony orchestras
in Moscow, Leningrad,
Odessa, Riga and other
cities.
The ensemble's founder
and conductor, Georgi Got-
chridje, came to Israel six
months ago after managing
and conducting the Odessa
Symphony Orchestra for 10
years.
The first concert was spon-
sored by the Tel Aviv Devel-
opment Foundation, which
provided the musicians with
instruments and clothing to
replace what was left behind
in the Soviet Union.
Although it is being helped
financially by the founda-
tion, the orchestra has a
still-unclear future. Got-
chridje said he hopes to
transform it into a light
classical ensemble that
would tour development
towns and kibbutzim and
not compete with Israel's es-
tablished orchestras.
Jewish Tapes
For The Blind
New York (JTA) — The
Jewish Heritage for the
Blind has published a direc-
tory of organizations that
provide tapes of Jewish in-
terest to the visually im-
paired and handicapped.
The free directory includes
sources for obtaining tapes
on Torah studies, Jewish
history, Israel and the Holo-
caust. The tapes are gen-
erally provided on loan at no
cost or at discount rates.
The directory may be ob-
tained by writing the Jewish
Heritage for the Blind, 1655
E. 24 St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
11229, or by calling (718)
338-4999.
Reform Produce
AIDS Poster
New York — The Reform
movement has created a new
poster to encourage public
education and sensitization
about AIDS.
Sponsored by the Com-
mittee on AIDS of the Union
of American Hebrew Con-
gregations and the Central
Conference of American
The Reform movement's AIDS
poster.
Rabbis, the poster shows a
quilt bordered by rec-
tangular shapes represent-
ing Jerusalem stone. The
design was created to show
that all Jews, including
those with AIDS, are part of
the unbroken chain of Jew-
ish history.
Inherent in the work, the
project's sponsors say, is the
question "Who will say
Kaddish for me?" with the
answer, "All of us."
For information about
purchasing a poster, write
Rabbi Sanford Seltzer,
UAHC, 1330 Beacon St.,
Suite 355, Brookline, MA.
02146.
Mazon Exceeds
$1 Million Mark
Los Angeles — For the
first time, Mazon: A Jewish
Response to Hunger has ex-
ceeded its million-dollar
mark in its annual alloca-
tions to help the hungry and
homeless in the United
States and abroad.
The organization last week
announced grants for the se-
cond half of 1990 totalling
$600,000. The new alloca-
tions, which bring the total
for the year to $1,100,000,
represent a 57 percent in-
crease over the $700,000
allocated in 1989.
Founded five years ago,
Mazon will use the money
for emergency food assis-
tance programs, food banks,
advocacy groups for the poor,
international hunger relief
projects and multi-service
organizations that provide
food, shelter and counseling.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
5