a T HE D ET RO I T J EWIS H NE WS

Economic Issues
Meet Success

Paris (JTA) — Two days of
multilateral talks on Middle
East economic issues ended
here last week without a
final statement but are be-
ing regarded as a moderate
success.
The governor of the Bank
of Israel, Jacob Frankel, sin-
gled out for praise a proposal
for a bank for regional de-
velopment, put forward by
both France and Egypt.
It was only opposition from
Saudi Arabia that prevented
Egypt from advocating its
proposal more vigorously,
Israeli delegates said.
Egyptian delegation head
Merbat Tallawi said wide
participation in the con-
ference from both within the
region and outside it demon-
strated the importance of
stability in the Middle East
to the rest of the world.
She also called for con-
fidence-building measures,
such as allowing Palestin-
ians to have their own
banks.
Delegates agreed to add
trade, agriculture and
energy to the issues under
discussion. These now also
include tourism, com-

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munications, training for
Palestinians in administra-
tion during the transitional
period of autonomy, enhanc-
ing the level of Palestinian
universities through
agreements with European
institutes of higher learning,
and business and cultural
development.
The talks opened only
after a new head was named
for the Palestinian negotia-
ting team to replace a dele-
gate considered unaccep-
table by Israel.
Yusuf Sayagh, a member
of the Palestine National
Council, the so-called
parliament of the Palestine
Liberation Organization,
developed a case of diplo-
matic flu, enabling a suc-
cessor more acceptable to the
Israelis, Zeyn Mayasi, to
head the delegation.
Chairman David Gor
Booth of Britain said just the
presence of Israelis and
Arabs at the negotiating
table made the talks a
success. Israel had boycotted
an earlier round of the talks.
The next round of talks is
tentatively scheduled to be
held in Rome next March.

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Gay Synagogue
First In Canada

Toronto (JTA) — In a confi-
dent stride out of the closet,
gays are establishing their
own synagogue here — the
first in Canada.
Keshet Shalom, or Rain-
bow of Peace, will have a
mailing list of about 180
men and 120 women of vary-
ing ages, and plans to file in-
corporation papers, said
membership coordinator
Michael Arkin.
To gain legitimacy, Keshet
Shalom hopes to affiliate
with the Jewish Federation
of Greater Toronto and the
Canadian Council of Reform
Judaism.
Rabbi Daniel Gottlieb, the
Reform council's executive
director, said he would
welcome an application by
the new congregation.
Jack Ajzenberg, the fed-
eration's director of opera-
tions, said the agency con-
curred.
The synagogue has af-
filiated with the World Con-
gress of Gay and Lesbian
Jewish Organizations, the

Washington-based interna-
tional umbrella of 60 consti-
tuent organizations in
Israel, Europe and the
Americas.
The synagogue was born
out of a lack of acceptance by
some heterosexual Jews in
the community.
Toronto's gay Jewish
community has gone
through several metamor-
phoses since its formal es-
tablishment over a decade
ago.
Most recently, the group
was known as Chutzpah.
When it was founded, no
synagogue in Toronto would
provide the group a venue.
Mainstream congregations
feared that homophobic
members might resign.
In recent years, one syn-
agogue, Holy Blossom Tem-
ple, let the group hold a
Chanukah party there.
The gay group found a
home at the Cecil Street
Community Center in
Toronto's prewar Jewish
area.

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