COMMUNITY
ADL Takes The Fizz
From Pepsi Rumors
Associate Editor
p
epsi and Coke will
continue their soft
drink war, but the
Jewish community may
need to drop the issue from
its agenda.
Michigan and national of-
ficials of the Anti-
Defamation League have
again put to rest reports that
Pepsi does not do business
with Israel because of the
Arab boycott of Israel.
ADL Michigan Region Di-
rector Richard Lobenthal
said the soft drink rumors
began in the 1970s because
The absence of
Pepsi in the Israeli
market and Donald
Kendall's testimony
combined to spread
boycott rumors.
Pepsi was not involved in
the Israeli market. Coca
Cola does business in Israel.
The Israeli government
kept Pepsi out of Israel at
the request of the fledgling
Israeli soft drink industry,
Mr. Lobenthal said.
At the same time, Pepsi
chairman Donald Kendall
was accused of being anti-
Semitic when he testified
before Congress against the
Jackson-Vainik amendment
linking U.S. trade conces-
sions to Soviet human rights
progress.
Mr. Kendall was serving
as the chairman of the
USSR-U.S. Trade and Econ-
omic Council and advocated
the council's position that
trade and human rights
issues should be separated.
Mr. Kendall's testimony and
Pepsi's absence in Israel
took the fizz out of Pepsi's
popularity for a number of
Jewish groups.
According to Kenneth
Jacobson, ADL's director of
international affairs, "there
is no conclusive evidence
that Pepsi is boycotting
Israel." In fact, Mr. Jacobson
said, several Pepsi sub-
sidiaries do business in
Israel, including Foods
International and Wilson
Sporting Goods.
"Pizza Hut, another Pepsi
subsidiary, is reportedly
moving into Israel," Mr.
Jacobson said. The company
reportedly signed a franchis-
ing agreement with Klal
Leasing and will use Pepsi
soft drinks in its Israeli
stores, Mr. Jacobson said.
The local talk about Pepsi
surfaced again this summer
after The Jewish News ran a
letter to the editor about the
company. Matthew Prentice,
owner of the Unique Restau-
rant Corp., said his seven
Detroit area eateries receiv-
ed about 100 complaints
following publication of the
letter because they serve
Pepsi "and several
customers have accused me
of being anti-Semitic."
Mr. Prentice said he
prefers dealing with Pepsi
because the company has
better emergency service for
his restaurants. But, he said,
90 percent of his customers
are Jewish and he planned
an immediate changeover to
Coca Cola products if ADL
had confirmed a Pepsi
boycott of Israel. ❑
Youngsters lead the parade from the Diag.
Ann Arbor Reaches Goal
For Operation Exodus Campaign
MELANIE KOFF
Special to The Jewish News
JCCouncil
Names New Staff
Beverly K. Phillips has
been hired to fill the Jewish
Community Council's new
position as part-time com-
munity relations associate,
under the supervision of
Miriam Schey Imerman,
Director of Domestic Con-
cerns. Ms. Phillps was a con-
sultant on training and pro-
duct management at
Michigan Bell. She is also ac-
tive in Women's American
ORT and JARC.
Southfield Program Office
Coordinator Linda Foster has
increased her hours to
assume the Soviet Jewry
responsibilities. In addition,
Ms. Foster will staff Council's
new Task Force on College-
Related Issues, which will
work to help Jewish students
deal with anti-Semitism and
anti-Zionist organizing on col-
lege campuses.
Cynthia Black is Council's
new secretary, responsible for
maintaining organization
records and primary
secretarial duties for the
public relations department.
Joining Ms. Foster and Ms.
Phillips in the Southfield Pro-
gram Office is Lillian
Yashinsky, calendar sec-
retary.
Shana Vinegar will return
as a volunteer staff intern on
a part-time basis.
embers of Wash-
tenaw County's Op-
eration Exodus com-
mittee held a celebration
Sunday, hosting a rally and
march in Ann Arbor to mark
the end of their successful
campaign to raise $380,000.
High school students,
parents pushing strollers and
recent Soviet immigrants
were among those who mar-
ched 1% miles and then heard
speakers and entertainment.
rIbn weeks ago, the Ann Ar-
bor volunteers set a goal to
raise $380,000 by Sept. 30 to
support the emigration of
thousands of Soviet Jews from
the Soviet Union to Israel.
"We've had such.
phenomenal support," said
Laurence Smith, chairman of
Washtenaw County's Opera-
tion Exodus. "We've already
reached the goal and I'm
positive we will exceed it."
Seventy people attended a
July 12 kick-off event and
pledged $149,065, almost 40
percent of the total goal. Mr.
Smith said 60 volunteers
worked on behalf of Wash-
tenaw County's Operation
Exodus, sponsored by the
United Jewish Appeal and
the Jewish Community
Association.
Operation Exodus is a $3.6
billion worldwide campaign.
Israel has pledged $3 billion
of the total. The United
Jewish Appeal has organized
a campaign to raise $420
million from American Jews.
Detroit's Operation Exodus
campaign has raised $19
million.
The money will be used to
transport new immigrants
from the Soviet Union to
Israel and will fund housing,
job re-training and language
instruction.
Angela Keselman, who left
the Soviet Union in 1980, at-
tended the rally with her
7-year-old daughter. She is a
member of a committee of
Soviet Jews from Temple
Beth Israel who worked on
the campaign.
Said Ms. Keselman, "With
the situation in Russia now,
you don't know what's going
to be tomorrow. I am very pro-
ud to be part of what we are
doing here. This is the great-
est cause there could be."
About 250 participants
marched from the University
of Michigan Diag to Ann Ar-
bor's West Park, where a five-
piece Klezmer band was play-
ing. State Senator Lana
Pollack and U.S. Senator Carl
Levin's nephew, Matthew
Levin, were among those who
spoke at the event.
A group of students from
area temples and schools
entertained the audience
with Israeli songs.
Said Dr. Owen Perlman,
president of the Jewish Com-
munity Association/United
Jewish Appeal of Washtenaw
County, "Who could predict
the changes that have occur-
red? In 1986 fewer than 1,000
Jews were allowed to leave
the Soviet Union. This year
150,000 Soviet Jews will ar-
rive in Israel. Over the next
five years we could see one
million Jews leave the Soviet
Union?'
Keynote speaker Zvi
Gitelman, professor of
political science at U-M, read
examples of anti-Semitic
remarks printed in the Soviet
media that called Jews "a
lesser people" and "a threat
to the Russian people."
Said Dr. Gitelman, "Soviet
Jews feel they don't belong in
the country where their
ancestors were born. We must
help the Jewish state
welcome back the Jewish peo-
ple of the Soviet Union."
He said, "It is greater to
receive guests, to take in the
homeless, than even to meet
God." ❑
World Food Day
Set For Oct. 16
The 5th annual "Seven Per-
cent Solution for World Food
Day" campaign of the Jewish
Community Council will be
Oct. 16. Participating
restaurants agree to donate
seven percent of the day's pro-
ceeds to a network of
emergency food providers in
Michigan.
The "Seven Percent Solu-
tion" gets its name from the
fact that seven percent of the
U.S. population goes to bed
hungry every night.
A list of participating
restaurants can be obtained
by calling the Jewish Corn-
munity Council, 962-1880.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 53
1•1 I M I
ALAN HITSKY