UP FRONT
Survey Suggests
A 'Dovish' Shift
American Jewish leaders overwhelmingly
support territorial compromise, according
to a new study.
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
s
upport for Israel is
unwavering in the
American Jewish es-
tablishment in the wake of
the Madrid peace con-
ference, but the same cannot
be said for the policies of
Prime Minister Shamir.
According to a survey
released during this week's
Council of Jewish Federa-
tions General Assembly, the
new statistics shoW a clear
shift in the direction of a
more "dovish" position on a
number of key issues.
Fully 88 percent of the
Jewish leaders endorsed
"territorial compromise in
the West Bank and Gaza in
return for credible guar-
antees of peace," a signifi-
cant increase from previous
studies.
"The numbers are quite
extraordinary," said David
Gordis, director of the Wils-
tein Institute of Jewish
Policy Studies, a think tank
associated with the Univer-
sity of Judaism in Los
Angeles. "What was the
most interesting to me was
the degree to which this
group was clearly in dis-
agreement with the position
of Yitzhak Shamir in oppos-
ing territorial compromise."
The Wilstein Institute
There is a strong
streak of
pragmatism among
the Jewish leaders,
according to the
survey results.
conducted the survey bet-
ween November 7 and
November 18, based on a
sample of more than 200
CJF board members and the
heads of 100 of the largest
Jewish Federations.
Another important finding
refuted the popular assump-
tion that American Jews
regard the Bush administra-
tion as hostile to Israel.
The Jewish leaders seem
content with the policies of
the Bush administration in
pressing for a Middle East
peace settlement.
Some 91 percent agreed
with the proposition that
successful talks will require
an active involvement by
Washington.
And 75 percent agreed
that the United States
"should continue to press
both sides to adopt more
flexible positions," a strong
affirmation of support for
policies that have sometimes
caused gnashing of teeth in
the official Jewish commun-
ity.
"I was somewhat surprised
by the positive attitudes
towards the administra-
tion," said Seymour Martin
Lipset, a George Mason
University scholar and one
of the principal researchers
for the Wilstein study.
"They felt that the ad-
ministration was doing the
right thing in the peace pro-
cess — and they should do
more of it, namely, to press
both sides."
Sun Itl Raul Roberts. Copyrigle 1990, Baltimore Sian: Distobutad by Los Arasiles I irriat
There was almost univer-
sal agreement among the
Jewish leaders on baseline
issues like the need for a
strong Israeli military estab-
lishment.
There was hardly a word of
dissent over the necessity for
continuing Jewish control
over Jerusalem as Israel's
capital, or over the percep-
tion that the Arab nations'
refusal to accept Israel's
right to exist is "the major
obstacle to peace" in the re-
gion.
But the ambivalence of
many of the Jewish leaders
came out in questions that
probed controversial issues
like Israel's settlements pol-
icies: 76 percent of the re-
spondents agreed that
"continued Israeli rule over
1.8 million Palestinians in
the West Bank and Gaza
ROUND UP
HIAS Reunites
Lost Relatives
New York — For 30 years,
Florida businessman Joseph
Levi tried to find the nephew
of his late father, Jacob.
Consistently disappointed
by unanswered letters and
other dead ends, Joseph had
• _ all but lost hope of ever
reuniting with his Soviet
Jewish cousin, Boris.
Then last month, the loca-
tion department of the Heb-
rew Immigrant Aid Society
(HIAS) — and a lucky break
— helped the two men
restore their family ties.
Jacob Levi, a barber living
in New York, and his
brother, a civil engineer in
Poland, had kept in touch
through letters since Jacob's
immigration earlier this
century to the United States.
After World War II, Jacob
learned that his brother had
been drafted by the Russian
army and was living in the
Ukraine with his wife and
son, Boris.
In 1961, Jacob went to the
Soviet Union to visit his
family; he learned upon his
arrival that his brother had
died two days before. His
brother's wife spoke with
Jacob about having Boris
move to the United States.
Upon returning home,
Jacob tried to contact his
sister-in-law with informa-
tion, but his letters went
unanswered.
After Jacob's death in
1962, his son Joseph con-
tinued the search for Boris.
Eventually, he was referred
to the HIAS location
department. But because
Joseph had virtually no in-
formation on his cousin's
whereabouts, there was
little BIAS could do.
Then something happened.
While Joseph was looking
for Boris, Boris had been
conducting his own search.
Eva Gamm, HIAS location
department coordinator,
received a letter from Boris
who was searching for his
cousin "Jack." Ms. Gamin
had a hunch that Joseph and
"Jack" were one and the
same.
Ms. Gamm recently put
the two in touch.
The story of the Levi
cousins is just one of numer-
ous reunions credited to
HIAS' location department.
In 1947 alone, the agency af-
fected some 37,515 locations.
Those looking for lost
relatives may contact HIAS
for further information. Call
Eva Gamm at (212) 613-
1428, or write BIAS at 333
Seventh Ave. , New York,
N.Y. 10001.
ORT-IBM Programs
Debut In USSR
Jerusalem — ORT recently
joined forces with computer
giant IBM to bring
technological training to the
Soviet Union.
Soviet educational au-
thorities have ordered 250
laboratories from ORT to
train teachers for their-
technical schools. IBM will
supply the labs' computers,
while ORT will provide the
educational software, train-
ing equipment, and
guidance to teach Soviet
educators such subjects as
robotics, computer-aided
design and automated
manufacturing.
One of the ORT-IBM joint
technology training centers
will be in Sverdlovsk, the
home base of Russian Re-
public President Boris
Yeltsin. Until recently,
Sverdlovsk was a military
development area off-limits
to foreigners.
ORT also is holding
negotiations for future part-
nerships with IBM in other
Eastern European countries
including Czechoslovakia,
Poland, Albania and
Bulgaria.
Poster Teaches
The Holocaust
Washington, D.C. — A
primitive computer. An
array of yellow stars and
colored triangles. A hand-
carved painted wooden but-
terfly.
This collection of ordinary
objects represents some of
the more than 20,000 ar-
The Holocaust Memorial's new
poster series.
tifacts assembled by the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Muse-
urn, which opens April 1993.
Meanwhile, the museum has
developed a poster featuring
some of these objects to help
teach the Holocaust to
American school children.
Designed to help children
identify with and under-
stand the experiences of
Holocaust victims, the
posters include background
text, suggestions for further
reading and a short Holo-
caust chronology.
For information, contact
the Education Office, U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Muse-
urn, 2000 L St. NW, Suite
588, Washington, D.C.
20036, or call (202) 653-9220.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
11