All the news that
/ Compiled by Elizabeth Applebaum
Red Cross Cites 'Greatest Failure'
Oh, You Beautiful Baby
I
ou might think sleeping new
mothers wouldn't be able to
hear the sound of the Empire
State Building collapsing, much less
recognize their babies' crying.
Yet study after study has shown that
mothers instinctively know the voice of
their own newborn.
Their children only
three days old, 23 new
mothers were tested in a
hospital study that used
the voices of 31 babies.
Twenty-two of the
women were "able to
recognize in their sleep
the crying of their own
babies," writes author
Desmond Morris in
Babywatching. "They ig-
nored the sounds of all
other babies, even if these were wailing
pitifully. The moment the sounds of their
own babies were played, however, they
were wide awake in seconds."
Now a new study, conducted by re-
searchers in Jerusalem, further con-
firms the ties between mother and child.
According to a story in the August
y
issue of Parents magazine, the re-
searchers tested 40 new mothers still
in the hospital to see if, simply by
stroking the back of their baby's head,
the women could identify their own
child.
"Participants in the study were blind-
folded and their noses
covered; the babies were
all sleeping silently, to
rule out possible identi-
fication by other cues,"
the story says. "The re-
sult: A striking 69 per-
cent of the mothers -
some
who had spent just
- wimp
hours with their newbom
— were able to identify
their child from a small
, group of same-age in-
- fants. Through simply
feeding and handling her baby, it ap-
pears, the mother picked up identifying
cues about her infant's skin texture."
The importance of the findings, Par-
ents reports, is that increased recog-
nition between mother and child means
greater bonding.
E.T. Phone Mufon
verybody knows about Presi-
dent George Bush's recent
top-secret meeting with a
space alien (it was, after all, splashed
across the pages of a national tabloid).
So why is the U.S. government still
denying the existence of extraterrestri-
als? Mufon wants to know.
Mufon, the Mutual UFO Network
Inc., is a non-profit organization dedi-
cated to "solving the riddle of Uniden-
tified Flying Objects." Based in Seguin,
Texas, Mufon has a new project: pro-
moting National UFO Awareness Week,
Aug. 9-16.
According to Mufon International Di-
rector Wafter Andrus Jr., some of those
pesky little flying saucers have indeed
been seen over Israel, though details
E
remain sketchy. For years, Mufon had
an Israeli contact in Rishon Letzion, but
the Hebrew University professor let his
membership expire.
Jews in the United States have not,
however, alienated themselves from the
organization. Mufon's director of spe-
cial investigations is Stan Friedman, its
public relations director is Robert
Bletchman, and a leading consultant is
David Jacobs, author of the new Secret
Life: Firsthand Accounts of UFO Ab-
ductions.
"Our members come from all walks
of life, from all over the world," Mr. An-
drus said. "We don't care about your
religion or nationality. Our only interest
is UFOs."
he Red Cross' inaction during
the Holocaust was its "great-
est failure, one which still caus-
es soul-searching in Geneva today,"
according to a report in the upcoming
Red Cross/Red Crescent magazine.
Written by Rebecca Irvin, deputy
head of communications at the Inter-
national Red Cross (ICRC), the story
considers the agency's activities dur-
ing World War II.
"Why did the Red Cross, one of the
oldest and most respected humanitar-
ian organizations in the world, fail to
speak out publically against the bar-
barity?" Ms. Irvin asks. Because "the
committee was convinced that a pub-
T
Make Mine
Mega Mall
ext maybe they'll put in a
football stadium and an of-
fice for the countless Ronco
— but wait, NOW how much would you
pay? — products...
The subject: mega malls and their
worldwide proliferation.
The latest target: Israel.
Some 300 Canadian and American
businessmen are off to Israel next
month to promote Canion Jerusalem,
an $80 million mega mall created by
Montreal industrialist David Azrieli.
The mall comprises 1 million square
feet, 90 percent of which already has
been leased, according to the Canadi-
an Jewish News. !twill be part of a com-
plex including a soccer stadium, a zoo
and a high-tech industrial park.
With mega malls already in Ramat
Gan and Beersheva, Mr. Azrieli will next
launch, following the spring opening of
Canion in Jerusalem, a mall in Tel Aviv.
N
Chabad Opens In Zaire
new Chabad House has
opened in Kinshasa, Zaire,
ome to 200 Jewish families.
Rabbi Shlomo and Miriam Bentoulila
have created daily classes, holiday
awareness programs, Shabbat services
and other activities. Another Jewish
community resides some 2,000 miles
away, in Lubumbashi.
Chabad also recently opened a cen-
ter in Salt Lake City, Utah. That city's
Jewish community tops the 4,000 mark
lic appeal would achieve nothing.
They also feared a denunciation
would endanger, possibly end, its
work with Allied prisoners of war in
Germany."
ICRC's current deputy director,
Francois Bugnion, reproaches the or-
ganization for having "lacked firm-
ness and conviction of their own
moral strengths."
"From the autumn of 1942 on-
wards, it was clear that the ICRC had
enough information to be aware of
the genocide," he said. The agency
"should have issued a strong appeal
to the very highest level of the Nazi
government."
•
Albert Einstein visiting with an Indian tribe.
Curious Mysteries Of Jewish History
ere you one of those
cads who slept through
Sunday school? Do you
think Jewish history is about as in-
teresting as watching infomercials on
juicing as a way of life?
Think again, bonehead.
Each week, the Round Up will fo-
cus on curious and compelling cas-
es from Jewish history. This week's
subject: Albert Einstein.
• Now, Mr. Einstein, as everyone
knows, was a genius. But did you
know that he had difficulty recogniz-
ing his own home? That he would
wander around his neighborhood and
W
ask passersby, "Excuse me, I'm Al-
bert Einstein. Where do I live?"
• Born in Germany, Einstein was
so slow as a child his parents feared
he was retarded.
• When Israel became a state,
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion
asked Albert Einstein to become the
nation's first president.
• Einstein's brain was donated to
medical science following his death.
A portion of it remains with one of the
attending pathologists, who resides
in the tiny Missouri town of West-
on. Weston also is home to the
world's largest ball of string.
T_LIE_D.CTEVAITICIALLOILA I CIA IC
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