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Ballet Division
Jazz - Tap Division
Russian Technique
Annual Nutcracker
Recital
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Beginner - Advanced • Children & Adults
(Pre-ballet, Pre-jazz, Kinder tap: 4-6 yrs.)
Professional, Adult Faculty
Cornelia Sampson, Director
Call for a Free Brochure - (810) 681-5376
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Open House & Registration
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Sept. 4th 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sept. 5th 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
T HE DE TRO IT J EWIS H NE WS
3080 Orchard Lake Road, Keego Harbor
80
A JDC cottage industry project in Addis Ababa prior to Operation Solomon.
established a comprehensive out-
reach system of 75 Ethiopian
Jews who were trained to circu-
late throughout the city on daily
house visits to check on the
health status of the.Ethiopian
Jews. These 75 emissaries were
to become key figures for con-
tacting and alerting the Jewish
population during Operation
Solomon.
In the interim, JDC estab-
lished a coordination mechanism
in the United States to unite
American Jewish advocacy
groups in an ad hoc committee to
insure the secrecy of the im-
pending operation, to establish a
line of communication to the
State Department and to per-
suade the Bush administration
to send an emissary to Addis
Ababa to pressure Mengistu into
releasing Ethiopia's Jews.
As rebel forces began to creep
toward Addis Ababa, the climate
swayed in JDC's favor. The first
breakthrough was achieved
when Senator Rudy Boschwitz,
who was appointed as then Pres-
ident Bush's special emissary to
Addis Ababa, intervened on be-
half of Ethiopian Jewry. The sec-
ond occurred when the Bush
administration convened a series
of peace talks between the rebel
forces and Mengistu. These de-
velopments allowed the ad hoc
committee of American Jewish
organizations to encourage the
administration to pressure
Mengistu into making some con-
cessions. As the rebels made dra-
matic military gains, and as it
became clear that no military aid
was forthcoming, Mengistu fled
to Nairobi. His successor, Gen-
eral Tesafye Gabre Kidan, was
more amenable to negotiating.
Meanwhile, JDC placed a spe-
cial task force from its Israel di-
vision in Addis Ababa to prepare
for a possible evacuation in coor-
dination with the Israeli military
and air force. This involved the
establishment of a land route to
the airport, examination of the
Addis -airstrip, and implementa-
tion of a warning system for the
waiting population. As the date
of the airlift approached, rebel
forces began encroaching on the
outskirts of Addis; JDC inter-
vened and convinced them to de-
lay their invasion.
On the day before evacuation,
JDC implemented the final lo-
gistics of the operation and alert-
ed the Ethiopian Jews to arrive
at the Israeli compound, from
which they were transported to
the airport. On the day of the
evacuation, JDC recruited a large
portion of the Addis police force
to act as taxi drivers to transport
key personnel around the city.
Traffic police on motorcycles were
also recruited to accompany bus-
es to the airport and to break the
curfew in order to achieve max-
imum movement to the airport.
Most of the evacuation took place
while Addis slept.
Operation Solomon was com-
pleted on May 25. In just 36
hours, 14,000 Ethiopians were
airlifted to Israel. ❑
Publicity Deadlines
The normal deadline for local news and publicity items is noon Thurs-
day, eight days prior to issue date. The deadline for birth announcements
is 10 a.m. Monday, four days prior to issue date; out-of-town obituaries,
10 a.m. Tuesday, three days prior to issue date.
All material must be typewritten, double-spaced, on 8'/2 x 11 paper and
include the name and daytime telephone number of sender.