UP FRONT

Israeli Activists In U.S.
Very Upset By UN Vote

IRA RIFKIN and
JAMES D. BESSER

L

ast week's Security
Council vote condemn-
ing Israel and calling
for United Nations protec-
tion for Palestinians in the
occupied territories was
bitterly attacked by pro-
Israel activists in Washing-
ton, who reacted with far
more outward concern than
did Israeli officials.
Clearly, Israeli officials
were also upset by the U.S.
decision to cast its third anti-
Israel vote since Iraq's inva-
sion of Kuwait led to crea-
tion of the U.S.-Arab part-
nership aligned against
Saddam Hussein. Jerusalem
repeated its long-standing
position that Israel will not
accede to U.N. demands seen
as compromising Israeli
sovereignty or security.
At the U.N., Israel's Am-
bassador Yoram Aridor
termed the measure —which
was finally adopted by the
Council Dec. 20 after weeks
of diplomatic maneuvering
— "a biased, unbalanced
resolution in which Arab

violent provocations are be-
ing condoned, and Israeli
defense against these viola-
tions is being condemned."
At the same time,
however, officials in Israel
sought to soft-pedal the mea-
sure's importance. Avi
Panzer, a senior adviser to
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir, dismissed the mea-
sure as "one more anti-Israel
resolution that will have no
effect and will be filed in the
vault with all the previous
ones."
One Middle East expert
who agreed with Mr.
Panzer's assessment was the
Brookings Institution's
William Quandt. "I think
this will be a little blip on
the radar scope," he said.
Mr. Quandt suggested that
the resolution contained
little that was new and that
fast-moving events will rele-
gate it to quick obscurity.
Israel's reaction to the vote
appeared to reflect a feeling
in Jerusalem that the recent
meeting between Mr.
Shamir and President Bush
bolstered what had been a
rapidly deteriorating rela-
tionship between the two
nations. As a result, Israel's
leaders are now saying,

there is little reason to fear
that Washington will sell-
out Israel in any last-minute
compromise designed to
avoid war with Iraq.
Deep divisions certainly
remain between the U.S.
and Israel over the Palestin-
ian question. But for now, a
working relationship bet-
ween the two nations seems
assured, if only, as one
unnamed Israeli official told
The Washington Post, be-
cause the president realizes
that he needs Israel's full
support for as long as the
Persian Gulf crisis lasts.
The Security Council
resolution deplored Israel's
recent deportation of four
Palestinian activists from
the territories and called for
U.N. personnel to monitor
Israel's treatment of Pales-
tinians. Significantly, the
resolution included
Jerusalem in its definition of
the territories.
In a separate non-binding
statement, the Council also
approved a call for an inter-
national Middle East peace
conference "at the ap-
propriate time."
It was this call for a peace
conference — the concept of
which is anathema to Israel

Artwork from the Los Angeles Times by Catherine Kanner. Copyright. 1990. Catherine Kanner. Distributed by Los Angeles Trines Syndicate.

— that was the focus of the
intense diplomatic maneu-
vering. The fact that it was
not included in the actual
resolution was termed a vic-
tory by American officials,

who claimed that softened
the vote's impact. Israeli of-
ficials also told reporters
said that this made it easier
for them to accept U.S. sup-
port for the resolution. El

ROUND UP

Directory Lists
Campus Activities
With some 6,000 Jewish
students, the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor has
the largest Jewish student
population at any college or
university in the state, ac-
cording to a new guide
published by the B'nai
B'rith Hillel Foundations.
"The Hillel Guide to Jew-
ish Life on Campus, 1991-
1992," lists the estimated
Jewish populations at more
than 450 schools throughout
the United States, Canada
and overseas. It gives gen-
eral information about cam-
pus life and cites some
atypical college programs,
such as a Seder in the desert
at Arizona State University
and a University of Kansas
Big Brother/Sister program
for Jewish children.
Other Jewish student
populations at Michigan
campuses, as listed in the
B'nai B'rith guide, are: Cen-
tral Michigan University
(Mt. Pleasant) —150; East-
ern Michigan University
(Ypsilanti) — 700;

Lawrence Technological
University (Southfield — 100;
Michigan State University
(East Lansing) —2,500; Oak-
land Community College-
Orchard Ridge (Farmington
Hills) — 1,000; Oakland
University (Rochester Hills)
— 200; University of Detroit
Law School (Detroit) — 50;
Wayne State University
(Detroit) — 400; and
Western Michigan Univer-
sity (Kalamazoo) — 350.
For further information on
the guide, contact B'nai
B'rith, 1640 Rhode Island
Ave., N.W., Washington,
D.C., 20036, or call (202)
857-6560.

Rabbi Warns
Of Anti-Semitism
New York — The violent
revolution last year that
overthrew the regime of
Romanian dictator Nicolae
Ceausecu was a "two-sided
coin" for the nation's rapidly
dwindling Jewish commun-
ity, Chief Rabbi Moses
Rosen of Romania said last
week.

"The revolution brought
us indisputable freedom," he
said. "It also afforded liberty
to the fascist killers who
seek to foment anti-
Semitism and destroy
freedom."
Rabbi Rosen, who since
1948 has served as
Romania's chief rabbi, said
that hundreds of anti-
Semitic articles, including
blood libel accusations, have
appeared in the Romanian
press in recent months.

JBI Expands
'Talking Books'
A Jewish Braille Institute
(JBI) volunteer has just
completed the first book for
the blind — Jacob Allerno's
A History of Israel — to be
read in Hungarian.
The JBI recently expanded
its "Talking Books" pro-
gram to reach visually im-
paired Jews in the Soviet
Union and Hungary. Seven
volunteers are now recor-
ding in Hungarian, and 10
are reading in Russian.
In addition to the regular
volunteers, members of five

Dr. Gustav Szabo, a former
broadcaster for the Voice of
America, records a book in
Hungarian for the JBI.

New York temples have
offered to read Hungarian
and Russian books for the
JBI. Among the works they
are recording are Herman
Wouk's The Caine Mutiny,
Levai Jeno's Raoul
Wallenberg and books by
Leon Uris, I.B. Singer and
Sholom Aleichem.

Advocacy Network
Is Launched
Washington, D.C. — The
Religious Action Center of
Reform Judaism has laun-
ched a new Advocacy Net-
work allowing Jews to im-

pact key legislation as it
reaches the decision-making
stage in the legislative pro-
cess.
Those who join the Ad-
vocacy Network will receive
concise background informa-
tion on specific legislation
from the Religious Action
Center. When the bill is
nearing a vote, they will be
asked — usually by phone —
to call their representatives
or senators and express their
views.
Participation in the Ad-
vocacy Network is free. Par-
ticipants may choose from
among six major issues: 1)
Civil rights/civil liberties, 2)
Economic justice, 3) Envi-
ronment,4) Foreign
policy/arms control, 5) Israel
and world Jewry and 6) Wo-
men's rights/abortion.
To join the network, con-
tact Rabbi Sharon Klein-
baum, Religious Action
Center of Reform Judaism,
2027 Massachusetts Ave.
NW, Washington, D.C.,
20036, or call (202) 387-2800.

Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 11

