UP FRONT
San Francisco Charged
With Encouraging Hate
GARTH WOLKOFF
Special to The Jewish News
R
ecent actions by San
Francisco Mayor Art
Agnos, Police Chief
Willis Casey and the Board
of Supervisors have fostered
an environment that could
lead to anti-Semitism, the
Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith has charged.
The designation of the city
as a sanctuary for conscien-
tious objectors gives greater
freedom to express anti-
Semitism within the peace
movement, according to
ADL's Pacific regional direc-
tor Richard Hirschhaut.
Further contributing to
that climate, he said, has
been the dismantling of the
S.F. Police Department's In-
telligence Unit, which was
responsible for gathering in-
formation on hate groups
before those groups com-
mitted a crime.
Mr. Hirschhaut's corn-
Garth Wolkoff is a staff writer
for the Northern California
Jewish Bulletin. The Jewish
Telegraphic Agency con-
tributed to this report.
ments come on the heels of
the release of ADL's annual
report on hate crimes, which
found almost half of Califor-
nia's fire-related anti-
Semitic incidents during
1990 occurring in the Bay
Area. Nationally, the report
said, the ADL recorded 1,685
acts of anti-Semitism, mark-
ing the fourth straight an-
nual increase.
The issue of
sanctuary, and the
dismantling of an
SFPD unit, are
cause for concern.
Labeling San Francisco a
sanctuary and eliminating
the Intelligence Unit
"creates a climate that
anything goes in San Fran-
cisco," Mr. Hirschhaut said.
"That climate can lead to se-
rious harm. It's dangerous."
Mr. Hirschhaut criticized
Chief Casey for scrapping
the police's Intelligence Unit
immediately after the police
chief's appointment late last
year. The unit came under
heavy fire for allegedly spy-
ing on political organiza-
tions.
Although the new Hate
Crimes Unit has duplicated
many of the Intelligence
Unit's tasks, the new unit
cannot gather information
on a hate group before a
crime has been committed.
"Before, -a feeling or intui-
tion about a group or organ-
ization could come from sea-
soned law enforcement offi-
cials because their gut can
tell them something about (a
hate group)," Mr.
Hirschhaut said. "None of
that can happen now."
Mr. Hirschhaut also took
the city to task over the es-
tablishment of San Fran-
cisco as a sanctuary for cons-
cientious objectors, people
who claim exemption from
military service due to
moral, ethical or religious
opposition to war.
The sanctuary paves the
way for anti-Semitic and an-
ti-Israel sentiments, he
claimed, by giving tacit ap-
proval to all protesters — in-
cluding those who express
such beliefs.
In fact, many Jews active
in the anti-war protests have
complained they feel
Artwork from Newsday by Ned Levine. Copyright° 1991, Newsday. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
ostracized by a movement
they see as anti- Zionist.
Mr. Hirschhaut said the
mayor's "soft condemna-
tion" of the violence com-
mitted by fringe groups
within the anti-war move-
ment further opened the
doors for the expression of
anti-Semitism.
"Anti-Semitism is an in-
sidious element of many
societies. It has nothing to do
with our position on the
sanctuary," said Mr. Agnos.
"The sanctuary resolution
states that the city will not
expend any resources to
track down or prosecute
anyone with moral, religious
or ethical objections to the
war," he said. "Israel didn't
want this war anymore than
anyone else. This resolution
does not suggest or imply
anything about Israel or the
Jewish community."
In its statement, CHAINI
notes that since the Chinese
occupation of Tibet more
than 40 years ago:
• More than 1 million
Tibetans have perished as a
direct result of the actions of
the Chinese government.
• More than 6,000 Bud-
dhist monasteries have been
destroyed.
• Buddhist monks and
nuns are persecuted and
Tibetan culture is routinely
repressed.
• Millions of Chinese have
been relocated to Tibet,
making the Tibetan people a
minority in their own land.
• The Dalai Lama, spiri-
tual leader and former head
of state of Tibet, has since
1959 been forced to live in
exile.
issue of Spy magazine tells
about the king's 175 cars, 40
boats and 30 motorcycles.
Included in his collection: a
gold Mercedes-Benz used by
Adolf Hitler.
The Jordan Information
Bureau, based in Washing-
ton, D.C., told Spy the car
had belonged to "the Ger-
man Army."
❑
ROUND UP
JDC Program Aids
Soviet Immigrants
New York (JTA) — The
American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee
(JDC) has established
"Women to Women," a pro-
gram to help Soviet women
immigrating to Israel adjust
to their new environment. It
is the first such program
undertaken by the
worldwide relief agency and
the first of its kind in Israel.
Judy Feirstein, a JDC ca-
reer counselor coordinating
the project, said all of the
Soviet women participating
are single mothers, many of
whom face the problem of
having to support on one
salary an elderly parent as
well as young children.
Ms. Feirstein said the ob-
jective of the program is to
match these working women
with Israeli women advanc-
ed in similar occupations or
careers who are willing to
share their experience and
knowledge.
The program involves
workshops that help the
olim prepare for the realities
of being a working mother in
Israel.
Ms. Feirstein described a
typical participant named
Sonia. A single mother who
arrived two months ago in
Jerusalem, she was seeking
a job in an unfamiliar econ-
omic system and needed
child care for her 4-year-old
son and an apartment big
enough for them and her el-
derly mother.
Sonia had to accomplish
this while still unfamiliar
with the language and cul-
ture of her new country.
Haggadot Planned
For Soviet Olim
Bnei Akiva, the Religious
Zionists of America, is spon-
soring a program to give
every new Soviet immigrant
to Israel a Haggadah.
Each Haggadah, which
will be inscribed with the
name of the sponsor, will
contain the traditional Heb-
rew text accompanied by a
modern Russian translation.
Also included will be
guidelines to lead the new
ohm, immigrants, through
The cover of Bnei Akiva's
Hagaddah for olim.
what for many will be their
first Seder.
To sponsor a Haggadah,
send $15 to Bnei Akiva
Haggadah for Russian Olim,
25 W. 26th St., New York
City, N.Y. 10010, or call
(212) 889-5260.
CHAIM Voices
Support For Tibet
CHAIM, Children of Holo-
caust Survivors in Michigan,
has issued its first political
statement — a declaration in
support of the people of
Tibet.
What The King Has
In His Collection
Just about everybody has
something curious in his
garage. But can anybody
match King Hussein of Jor-
dan?
In "Snow White and the
Sovereign Dwarf," a profile
of Queen Noor, the February
Men At Work
In Hadassah
Everybody knows
Hadassah is a women's
organization, right? So why
is Hadassah talking about
its member, designer Ralph
Lauren?
Mr. Lauren is one of some
25,000 Hadassah Associates,
a program started in 1966
for male supporters of the
organization. Other mem-
bers of Hadassah Associates:
actor Glenn Ford, drama
critic Clive Barnes,
Jerusalem Mayor Teddy
Kollek and former New
York Mayor Ed Koch, and
Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
11