COLORWORKS STUDIO OF INTERIOR DESIGN

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Robert Stewart Photography

Immigrant Group
Charges Neglect

As we continue to grow...

We are pleased to announce that Marilyn Slatin, ASID of
Rernarc's Interior Design has joined our studio as an associate.

Marilyn brings with her eleven years of experience and expertise in commercial and
residential custom design, as well as a reputation for creativity and excellence.

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A heartfelt thank you to you, our clients for making our expansion possible.

32500 Northwestern Highway • Farmington Hills • 851-7540

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Jerusalem (JTA).— Misguided
Israeli educational policies are
"steadily transforming Ethiopi-
an immigrants into a black un-
derclass," according to a report
just published by the Israel As-
sociation for Ethiopian Jews.
Titled "Creating an Under-
class: How Israel's Educational
System is Failing Immigrant
Youth," the report accuses the
government of providing sub-
standard education to Ethiopian
immigrants and of segregating
them from other Israelis.
Although acknowledging that
many officials in the Jewish
Agency for Israel and the Edu-
cation and Absorption ministries
have made "heroic efforts" to help
Ethiopian olim succeed, the as-
sociation charges the government
with educational neglect.
The report, compiled four
years after the Operation
Solomon airlift brought 14,400
Ethiopian Jews to Israel, is sub-
titled "A Call to Action."
The report states that "while
the problems posed by inade-
quate housing and job prospects
are well-known, the most critical
obstacle to the absorption of the
Ethiopian community is the ed-
ucation system."
The Ministry of Education re-
jected the report as biased.
Ministry spokesman Yeoshua
Amishav conceded that "serious
problems do remain in the inte-
gration of Ethiopian youngsters,
but such biased reports add noth-
ing to the solution of such prob-
lems."
"This report was written with-
out any consultation with the
ministry," Mr. Amishav said. "It
gives a black-and-white picture,
which has no connection with re-
ality."
Noting that some 50 percent of
Ethiopian adults are unemployed,
the report says, "For the Ethiopi-
an community, education is the
only avenue to social mobility and
a critical key to the future."
The education system, the re-
port concludes, "has only con-
tributed to a vicious circle of
poverty, unemployment and ju-
venile delinquency."
According to the report, much
of the problem stems from edu-
cational segregation.
At the kindergarten level,
nearly 50 percent of all Ethiopi-
ans are enrolled in segregated
schools, many located in caravan
sites throughout Israel.
And in elementary school,
Ethiopian children are often sent
to the weakest schools in the
country. Between 15 percent and
20 percent of all Ethiopian sec-
ond- to fifth-graders are illiter-
ate, according to the report.

Once they turn 12 or 13, more
than 90 percent of Ethiopians are
sent to Jewish Agency Youth
Aliyah boarding schools, which
also cater to "problem" youths.
Of these, the vast majority are
placed on vocational tracks or in
scaled-down academic programs
that do not lead to full matricu-
lation.
This "massive uprooting," the
report charges, "has dealt a dev-
astating blow to the community's
family structure, wit broad im-
plications for the future."

U.S. Balks
At Council Seat

Buenos Aires (JTA) — The son
of Libyan leader Muammar Qad-
haffi met with Argentine Presi-
dent Carlos Menem during a trip
to "search for investment oppor-
tunities."
Libya has been seeking Ar-
gentine assistance in lifting U.N.
sanctions imposed after Libya re-
fused to extradite terrorists linked
to the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am
flight over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Libya is also seeking a seat on
the U.N. Security Council, a
move that the United States
wants to thwart.
Alsadi Muammar Qadhaffi,
24, who is not a government of-
ficial, talked with Mr. Menem for
half an hour at the presidential
residence, north of the capital.
The younger Qadhaffi said his
government is looking for oppor-
tunities to invest state funds in
Argentina.
Trade between Argentina and
Libya is limited to commodities.
The July meeting follows a vis-
it earlier this year to Argentina
by an official Libyan delegation.
At that time, the Libyans asked
Argentina to approach the U.N.
Security Council about lifting
sanctions against Libya. Argenti-
na agreed, and later reported to
Tripoli that "there was no dispo-
sition on the part of the U.N. to
ease sanctions against Libya."
Argentina had joined in the
sanctions ordered by the United
Nations in 1992 after Libya re-
fused to extradite the terrorists.
At the time, Mr. Menem had the
Libyan ambassador expelled
from the country and withdrew
the Argentine ambassador to
Libya.
Meanwhile, the United States
is stepping up its campaign against
the possible presence of Libya on
the U.N. Security Council.
Libya is in rotation for a seat
on the council, which has five per-
manent seats and 10 that are
elected for two-year terms.

