UP FRONT
The Lessons
Washington Ignores
GARY ROSENBLATT
Editor-
This is the
18th consecutive
year I've written
a Year In Review
in a Rosh Hasha-
nah issue, at-
tempting to sum-
marize and ana-
lyze the highlights and trends
of the past 12 months. What
strikes me in looking back
over these essays is the one
theme that appears most fre-
quently: concern over the
deteriorating relationship be-
tween Washington and Jeru-
salem.
It seems that every year I
have been :writing about
strains and open dis-
agreements between the two
allies and wondering if
things are about to get
worse.
This past year the rela-
tionship was weakened by
disagreements over West
Bank settlements, the status
of east Jerusalem, linkage
between Iraq's takeover of
Kuwait and Israel's occupa-
tion of land formerly held by
the Arabs, a $10 billion loan
guarantee, and Washing-
ton' s unwillingness to
destroy Saddam Hussein, as
well as President Bush's
personal dislike of Israeli
Prime Minister Shamir.
But this year was not
unique. Whether the U.S.
administration was Repub-
lican or Democratic, whether
Israel's prime minister was
from Labor or Likud,
whether the focus was set-
tlements or peace talks or
AWACs planes or United
Nations resolutions con-
demning the Jewish state,
there has been this strong
feeling that the equation is
skewed, that Israel is being
Israel is convinced
that the Arab
agenda remains to
eliminate the
Jewish state, if not
on the battlefield,
then piecemeal at
the peace table.
pressured unfairly by the
United States.
Moreover, there has been
a frustration that Washing-
ton's rhetoric about its
"special relationship" with
the Jewish state has been
more lip service than policy.
The U.S. seems to have
become increasingly obsess-
ed with pleasing "moderate"
Arab allies like Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and even Syria than
"the only democracy in the
Middle East."
Am I — are we — being
paranoid, or are we correct
in fearing, year after year,
that the U.S. is on the verge
of forcing Israel to make a
potentially suicidal conces-
sion to the Arabs?
After all, Israel still
receives more foreign aid
than any other country in
the world, the U.S. Congress
has always been solidly sup-
portive of Israel, and it now
appears that, thanks to the
tireless efforts of Secretary
of State Baker, Israel is
about to sit down at a con-
ference face to face with
Arab states and negotiate a
meaningful peace.
So what are we worrying
about?
I think our fear is justified,
based on the fact that while
Washington firmly believes
in Israel's right to exist,
there are major flaws in
American foreign policy
regarding the Middle East —
flaws that could jeopardize
Israel's security and future.
For instance, despite going
to war this year over a
dispute between two Arab
countries, Iraq and Kuwait,
the United States remains
Artwork from Newsday by Bernie Cootner. Copyright° 1991. Newsday. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
convinced that: Middle East
peace is contingent on solv-
ing the Arab-Israeli conflict;
the crux of the problem is
the status of Palestinian
Arabs; and the key to its
solution lies in the land-for-
peace formula.
Washington believes that
a small Palestinian state
could live in peace at Israel's
side.
But Israel looks at history
and draws other conclusions.
One is that the Middle East
would be a region of blood-
shed even if no Jewish state
existed. (Lebanon and
Kuwait are the most vivid
examples of countries torn
apart by intra-Arab
rivalries.)
Another is that the Arab
world is one of oligarchies
and dictators and has never
known democratic freedoms.
Most important, Israel is
convinced that the Arab
agenda remains to eliminate
the Jewish state, if not at
ROUND UPI-
What's Cooking
Among Soviet Jews
New York (JTA) — Eleven
years ago, Tamara
Krasilnikova was living in
Leningrad and learning
about Judaism from a
refusenik named Grigory
Wasserman.
Ms. Krasilnikova's ap-
proach to learning about her
Jewishness was to gather
recipes. She interviewed el-
derly grandmothers and
adapted recipes from kosher
cookbooks smuggled in by
visitors from the West — all
at a time when such fare was
considered illegal religious
matter.
The results of Ms.
Krasilnikova's labors, more
than 1,000 kosher recipes
coupled with instructions on
how to prepare for the Jew-
ish holidays, were passed
clandestinely from Jew to
Jew throughout the Soviet
Union.
By the time a copy of the
cookbook was smuggled out
of the country in 1987, Ms.
Krasilnikova was in New
York and her teacher, Mr.
Wasserman, was in Israel,
heading the regional branch
of a Jerusalem-based sup-
port group for Soviet immi-
grants, Shvut Ami.
Mr. Wasserman put out a
professionally published edi-
tion of the cookbook called
The Aleph-Bet of Jewish
Cooking, copies of which
Shvut Ami is sending to
Jewish families in the Soviet
Union. An additional 15,000
copies will be published
within the Soviet Union, in
cooperation with the Jewish
Publication Society of Vilna.
In an attempt to bring at
least some of Ms.
Krasilnikova's recipes to
English-speaking Jews,
Shvut Ami has translated
and published a dozen of the
recipes, all of which center
around the Sabbath and the
holidays. Included are rec-
ipes for fluden, kremzlach,
chicken stuffed with potato
and kashniki.
For information on receiv-
ing the booklet, write Shvut
Ami, International Center
for Soviet Jews, 10 Belilius
St., P.O.B. 46141, Jerusdlem
91061, Israel.
Keeping Kosher
In Hong Kong
When next in Hong Kong,
don't miss the country's hip-
pest and hottest hangout,
the Jewish Club. The club
offers two kosher restau-
rants: the Sabra Coffee Shop
and the King David Room.
In addition, the club
features several meeting
rooms for private functions,
a library, an exercise room, a
shop offering fresh baked
goods and a number of edu-
cational classes. The shop
also sells imported kosher
foods, wines and candies.
Full membership in the
club is open to Jewish
residents of Hong Kong;
overseas visitors may apply
for temporary membership,
which costs $30 daily. Stu-
The King David Room at Hong
Kong's Jewish Club.
dent and military member-
ships also are available.
For information, contact
the Jewish Club, 4/F
Melbourne Plaza, 33
Queen's Road, Central,
Hong Kong, or telephone
8015440.
Argentina Charges
Two Vandals
New York — For the first
time, Argentina has invoked
its anti-discrimination law
against perpetrators of anti-
Semitic vandalism, accor-
ding to the latest issue of
Latin American Report,
published by the Anti-
Defamation League's
Jarkow Institute for Latin
America.
Two alleged neo-Nazis who
destroyed more than 100
grave markers in a Jewish
cemetery have been arrested
and will be prosecuted under
the recently adopted law,
which provides for prison
sentences for up to three
years for those engaging in
or promoting racial or re-
ligious discrimination.
In its report, the ADL also
noted that the Congress of El
Salvador has joined the
growing number of Latin
American legislative bodies
demanding the revocation of
the United Nations
"Zionism is racism" resolu-
tion, and that the National
Conference of Brazilian
Bishops has officially oppos-
ed the canonization of Queen
Isabella, calling it "wrong to
support the canonization of
someone who has killed so
many Jews."
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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