UP FRONT
Occasional Bursts Of Hysteria
Pepper Concern Felt By Israelis
•••
HUGH ORGEL
Special to The Jewish News
T
he mood in Israel since
the outbreak of the
Persian Gulf crisis has
been one of watchful con-
cern, rather than wide-
spread panic.
And Israeli Prime Min-
ister Yitzhak Shamir has
denied what he called
"ugly" media reports in the
United States that Israel is
urging Washington to take
military action against Iraq.
Mr. Shamir spoke after the
publication in Israel of parts
of a warm letter from Presi-
dent George Bush praising
Israel's restrained role in
the Persian Gulf crisis.
Briefing the Knesset For-
eign Affairs and Defense
Committee, the premier said
Israel was not offering the
United States any advice at
all about how to proceed in
the crisis, beyond expressing
its support for the Bush ad-
ministration's policies.
But Mr. Shamir would not
go as far as to say that Israel
would prefer to see a diplo-
matic resolution of the crisis.
"I didn't say that," he was
reported to have told the
committee when pressed on
this point.
Mr. Bush's letter to the
premier — his second during
the crisis — contained a pro-
posal that the two countries
intensify their cooperation
and communications in the
face of the Gulf crisis. The
letter was delivered Monday
by Ambassador William
Brown.
But adding to the concern
Israelis feel are new verbal
attacks leveled at the coun-
try by Arab delegates to the
annual hearings in Geneva
of the U.N. Human Rights
Commission's subcommis-
sion on the prevention of dis-
crimination and the protec-
tion of minorities.
Among the most vehement
critics has been Nabil el-
Arabi, the Egyptian ambas-
sador to the United Nations
here, who assailed Israeli
settlements in the ad-
ministered territories.
There was a day or two of
near-hysteria in the Jewish
state about a week after
Iraq's Aug. 2 invasion of
Kuwait, when rumors
spread that Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein had mass-
ed some 600 medium- range
missiles equipped with
chemical weapons near the
Jordanian border with
Israel.
The reports sparked
demands for the distribution
of gas masks to the public
immediately, rather than at
the end of the year, as
originally scheduled.
But the panic died down
when Israeli officials cited
intelligence reports in-
dicating that the number of
missiles in the Iraqi arsenal
was really 200 to 300, rather
than the rumored 600, and
none of them was equipped
with chemical warheads.
Moreover, the intelligence
reports showed that only a
limited number were aimed
at Israel, with the majority
lined up against Iraq's main
enemy at that moment: U.S.
armed forces in Saudi
Arabia.
Since then, the hysteria
has subsided, though there
are still calls for early
distribution of the gas
masks. Typical of the level of
concern are the questions
pet owners are asking about
what provisions will be
made to protect their cats
and dogs. (They have been
told that gas masks for pets
are not available anywhere
in the world.)
There were also two days
Israeli Ran Cohen shops for his own gas mask, helped by a Tel Aviv
saleswoman.
of panic buying of food and
other essential items, trig-
gered by television and radio
interviews given Aug. 23 by
Col. Dov Peled, head of the
IDF's civil defense depart-
ment for public protection. •
Asked what the public
should do in an emergency,
he said all homes should be
stocked with one or two
week's supply of canned
goods and essential foods,
including bottled mineral
water, as well as candles,
matches and batteries for
transistor radios, to be able
to listen to emergency in-
structions in the event of
power failures.
Within hours, super-
market chains reported a 20
to 30 percent jump in sales of
Continued on Page 10
ROUND UP
Jews Are In Tune
With Tuna
New York — Jewish
families consume a con-
siderably higher amount per
person of cottage cheese,
high-fiber products, instant
decaffeinated coffee,
margarine and canned tuna
fish than non-Jewish
families, according to a new
survey conducted by the
Joseph Jacobs Organization.
The survey shows that
62.7 percent of the 'Jewish
families use cottage cheese,
versus 29.7 percent of the
non-Jewish households; 70.2
percent of the Jews use
margarine, versus 27.6 per-
cent of the non-Jews; and
40.2 percent of the Jewish
homes use tuna, while the
figure in non-Jewish homes
is 18 percent.
Other products with major
differences between non-
Jewish and Jewish
households include
dishwasher detergent (16.8
percent versus 30.2 percent)
and semi-moist dog food
(15.3 percent versus 35.5
percent).
How 1 Hadassah
Group Blossomed
New York — When in the
late 1970s incoming Soviet
refugee women were first
invited to join the San Fran-
cisco chapter of Hadassah,
they were convinced the
offer was really a plot engi-
neered by the KGB.
Today, the all-Soviet group
is more than 300 strong.
When they arrived, the
new immigrants sought a
bridge between the two cul-
tures. While the American
women could offer cookies
and rides to the doctor, they
found language barriers
frustrating.
"What the refugees really
needed was a role model,"
says group founder Elaine
Henderson.
That's where Eve Naftaly
came in.
Ms. Naftaly, 94, was born
in Czarist Russia and fled
with her family to Man-
churia following the
Bolshevik Revolution. She
was later sent to a concen-
tration camp, settling after
the war in the United States.
Arriving with only the
clothes on her back, she
became an administrator at
a San Francisco hospital.
Ms. Naftaly became the
guiding spirit of the new
Hadassah chapter. Among
her projects: teaching the
women democracy.
"For the first time in their
lives, their individual votes
count," she says. "They see
that they can make a differ-
ence."
Keep Kosher
And Stay Healthy
Chicago — The American
Diabetes Association Inc.
and the American Dietetic
Association have prepared a
new publication to help Jew-
ish families who enjoy tradi-
tional foods and are concern-
European foods.
To receive Meal Planning
With Jewish Foods, send
$1.50 and a self-addressed,
stamped business-size
envelope to The American
Dietetic Association, c/o Lee
Enterprises, P.O. Box 1068,
Dept. JM10, South Holland,
Ill. 60473.
Meal Planning:
No cholesterol fans need apply.
ed about healthy eating.
Meal Planning With Jew-
ish Foods offers practical
ideas on eating nutritiously
while keeping kosher. It in-
cludes a typical daily meal
plan, complete with sug-
gested nutritious food
changes, and a comprehen-
sive nutrient analysis with
the fat, cholesterol, calorie
and fiber content of each rec-
ipe, including mandlebrot
(almond bread) and kugel.
The guide also features
exchange lists for common
German Brings
Einstein To Israel
Jerusalem — During a re-
cent visit to Israel, Dr.
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl,
speaker of the East German
parliament, brought with
her a memento from the life
of the late German-Jewish
Nobel laureate, Albert Eins-
tein, which she donated to
the Einstein Archives at the
Hebrew University of
Jerusalem.
The gift was an album con-
taining some 40 photos
showing Einstein during the
period he lived in his
summer house outside
Berlin.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
5