UP FRONT
World Jewish Congress
Backs Pollard's Release
IRA RIFKIN
Special to The Jewish News
T
he World Jewish Con-
gress' American Sec-
tion has become the
first major Jewish organiza-
tion to urge the immediate
release of Jonathan Pollard,
the ex-U.S. naval intel-
ligence officer who admitted
passing top secret docu-
ments to Israel.
In a resolution adopted
April 12, but made public
this week, the WJC called
"for the commutation of
Jonathan Pollard's sentence
to time served."
Mr. Pollard, who is being
held in solitary confinement
at the Marion, Ill., federal
penitentiary, has been in jail
since 1985. He received a life
sentence in 1987 after agree-
ing to plead guilty.
An appeals court panel is
slated to consider Mr.
Pollard's request for a new
trial in the fall. His at-
torneys claim a new trial is
warranted on the grounds
that the government
abrogated the plea bargain-
Ira Rifkin is assistant editor of
the Baltimore Jewish Times.
ing agreement under which
Mr. Pollard admitted guilt
when then-Defense Secre-
tary Caspar Weinberger
secretly urged the judge in
the case to deal harshly with
Mr. Pollard.
The WJC American Sec-
tion has a membership of 40
American Jewish groups,
ranging from the American
Jewish Congress and the
"This is the kind of
support we've been
after."
Carol Pollard
Federation of Reconstruc-
tionist Congregations and
Havurot, to the Union of Or-
thodox Jewish Congrega-
tions of America and the
Zionist Organization of
America. Pro-Pollard forces
hailed its stand as a major
breakthrough.
"It's fabulous," gushed
Carol Pollard, Mr. Pollard's
sister and the coordinator of
the pro-Pollard campaign.
"This is the kind of support
we've been after."
Backers have depicted Mr.
Pollard as a contemporary
Jewish hero for providing
Jerusalem with documents
detailing, among other
things, Iraqi chemical
weapon capabilities, and
have sought broad-based
_American Jewish support
ever since his arrest.
However, not until Saddam
Hussein began firing Scud
missiles at Israel did Mr.
Pollard begin to gain the
sympathy his supporters
sought.
Until then, American Jew-
ish leaders had generally
distanced themselves from
the case, which Mr. Pollard's
supporters .attributed to the
fear that charges of dual
loyalty would be raised.
Israeli officials, embarrassed
by Mr. Pollard's capture,
also did little to help.
However, since the Per-
sian Gulf war support for
Mr. Pollard has burgeoned.
Three weeks ago, Seymour
Reich, the former chairman
of the Conference of Presi-
dents of American Jewish
Organizations, visited Mr.
Pollard in prison, and Israeli
newspapers have reported
recent high-level efforts by
Jerusalem to gain Mr.
Pollard's release and even-
tual resettlement in the .
Jewish state.
Jonathan Pollard awaits possible commutation of his sentence.
Further support for Mr.
Pollard also came this week
from the Central Conference
of American Rabbis, the
Reform rabbinical group
that has voiced past con-
cerns about the fairness of
Mr. Pollard's sentence.
Rabbi Joseph B. Glaser,
CCAR executive vice presi-
dent, said the group's exec-
utive board decided Tuesday
to reaffirm its concern, and
to consider joining in the
amicus brief being prepared
in connection with the ap-
peals hearing.
In addition, next week an
ad hoc committee of Ameri-
can Jewish leaders
operating under the auspices
of the National Jewish
Community Relations Ad-
visory Council is also set to
consider support for Mr.
Pollard. Alan Dershowitz,
one of Mr. Pollard's at-
torneys, is scheduled to ad-
dress the panel.
The WJC resolution
pointed out the Mr. Pollard's
life sentence is far harsher
than the terms generally
meted out to those convicted
of spying for the Soviet
Union and other hostile
governments. Statistics
compiled by the pro-Pollard
camp show such offenders
serve an average of 12
years. El
ROUND UP
Kosher Eatery
Opens In Warsaw
New York (JTA) — Kosher
roast beef, gefilte fish,
chopped liver and cookies
shaped like Jewish stars are
available in a Warsaw
kosher restaurant for the
first time in 30 years.
On April 23, the Menora
Restaurant, located at Plac
Grzybowski 2, opposite War-
_ ozyck Synagogue
saw's N
and the Yiddish Theater,
was inaugurated "in the
belief that it would be very
beneficial both to the local
Jewish community and Jew-
ish tourists coming to
Poland," said Rabbi Michael
Schudrich of the Ronald S.
Lauder Foundation.
The restaurant "can also
be a cultural bridge to those
Poles who want to taste
authentic Jewish food," he
added.
Members of the Lauder
Foundation, who have want-
ed to see a kosher restaurant
opened in Poland for the last
three years, realized their
dream through a grant the
organization made to the
Warsaw Jewish community.
But the enterprise was ac-
tually opened by a Polish
gourmet specialty coop-
erative that owns a chain of
more than a dozen ethnic
restaurants in Warsaw,
Rabbi Schudrich said.
The glatt kosher facility,
which seats about 100,
operates under the
hashgachah, kosher cer-
tification, of Rabbi Pinchas
Menachem Joskowicz, chief
rabbi of Poland. Rabbi
Joskowicz is a Polish native
who returned from his
longtime home in Israel to
serve the Jewish community
in Poland.
The resident shochet, or
ritual slaughterer, also came
back to his country of birth
from a distance. Simon Heis-
tein, last of South Carolina,
a Holocaust survivor who
has also lived in Israel, is of-
ficially employed by the
Association of Jewish Con-
gregations.
The opening reception was
attended by representatives
of the Jewish community,
including guests from the
synagogue, the Jewish
Historical Institute and the
Warsaw Jewish Youth Club,
as well as from the Israeli,
American and Canadian
embassies.
The price of a meal will be
about $8 for tourists, Rabbi
Schudrich said. Reserva-
tions can be made by calling
the restaurant at 011-48822-
203754.
Choirs Join
NAACP Dinner
Choirs from Temple
Emanu-El, Temple Israel
and Temple Kol Ami par-
ticipated in a 1,000-voice
multi-cultural choir that
performed late last month at
the NAACP's Fight for
Freedom Fund Dinner.
More than 53 metropolitan
Detroit and Windsor com-
munities participated in the
choir, which featured Polish,
Baptist, Chinese, Hispanic,
Italian, black, Chaldean and
Arab-American represent-
atives. The choir presenta-
tion, which included "The
Star Spangled Banner,"
"Lift Every Voice and Sing"
and "The Battle Hymn of
the Republic," reflected the
program theme, "Detroit:
Diversity and Greatness
Through Culture and
Music."
THE DIRECTORY OF
ARTS & CULTURE
IN ISRAEL
AN EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
A Lotto Luck,
Then The Bomb Falls
Tel Aviv — Shimon
Zagoursky's luck is one in a
million. So is his misfortune.
The good news: the Israeli
resident in 1989 won $1.8
million — tax free — in the
Israeli lottery. He spent
$300,000 on a new house and
another $300,000 to reno-
vate it.
Then last February Mr.
Zagoursky's house was ruin-
ed when a Scud missile fell
nearby. Debris caused hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars'
worth of damage.
Fortunately, the Zagour-
skys were not harmed.
Directory Cites
Israeli Culture
Jerusalem — Melitz, the
Jerusalem-based center for
Jewish-Zionist education,
PREPARED BY
MELITZ CENTERS
FOR
JEWISH-ZIONIST
EDUCATION
JERUSALEM
Melitz's guide to Israeli culture.
has compiled a directory of
arts and culture in Israel.
The directory includes
names and addresses of
leading figures and organ-
izations in dance, the lit-
erary, theater and musical
arts and museums. It
features listings of dance
troupes and choreographers,
poets, fiction writers and
critics, composers, singers
and musicians, painters,
sculptors, actors and drama
workshops, among others.
For information, contact
Melitz at 19 Yishai St., Abu
Tor, Jerusalem 93544.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
11