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P ho to by RN S/Reu te rs

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Global Digest

Applications
From Survivors

New York (JTA) — Some $31.4
- million from a Swiss humanitarian
fund will be divided among quali-
fied applicants in the United States
soon after a Nov. 30 application
deadline.
The toll-free number for those
American survivors seeking to
apply for monies from the fund is
(800) 549-6864. Some survivors in
Eastern Europe have already
received payouts from the fund,
which totals approximately $185
million.

A Palestinian
merchant and
an Orthodox
Jew do busi-
ness in the
West Bank.

LARRY DERFNER

Israel Correspondent

A

mar Abu Roumi is 21, unem-
ployed, nominally religious
and a sure voter for the
Islamic Movement when it
makes its electoral debut in the Israeli
Arab city of Tamra on Nov. 10, munici-
pal Election Day.
Asked this week why he supported
the movement's candidacy, Abu Roumi,
a friendly fellow helping out at his
brother's flower shop, explained, "They .
do so much for people here. A few
months ago they opened a candy store
and hired three unemployed people to
run it. They also give free classes to the
unemployed — in Islam, but in other
subjects, too."
He said he was certain the Islamic
Movement would win the election in
this northern dry of 22,000, and oust
the left-wing, Arab-dominated Hadash
party (Democratic Front for Peace and
Equality) from power. When that hap-
pened, Abu Roumi said with equal cer-
tainty, he would land a job. "The leaders
of the movement are educated, and they
know how to get things done," he
explained.

A new, fresh,
well-organized
force in
Israeli Arab politics
is making
its legal move.

But it wasn't just the Islamic
Movement's social and economic efforts
that made him a supporter; it was also
the movement's promise to raise Tamra's
"moral" level. "They said that after the
election, they're going to buy all the
stores that sell alcohol and close them
down."
And if the owners don't want to sell?
"They said they're going to do it legally
— nothing will be done by force," he
replied. "Everyone will get along like
brothers.
The Islamic Movement, which now
runs a half-dozen Israeli Arab munici-
palities, is very interested in adding
Tamra to its list in November. It also
elected two Knesset members in 1996,
and intends to elect more.

"

"The Islamic Movement is the new,
fresh, well-organized force in Israeli Arab
politics. It has a strong social message,
and has the potential to fill the vacuum
left by [the declining appeal of]
Hadash," said Prof. Elie Rekhess, head
of Tel Aviv University's Arab political
studies program.
The Islamic Movement's candidate
for mayor in Tamra is Moussa Abu
Roumi, a distant relative of Amar's. A
3I-year-old doctoral student in medical
sciences and political activist at
Jerusalem's Hebrew University, he esti-
mates that 10 percent of Tamra's resi-
dents are devout adherents of the
Islamic Movement, and another 20 per-
cent are sympathizers. (Because there is
such a long list of candidates and parties
in the race, 30 percent support would
likely be enough to take over Tamra city
government.)
Abu Roumi lists some of the move-
ment's good works for the city: paying
school fees for poor children; donating
computers and water coolers to public
schools; providing 64 university scholar-
ships in the last year; operating a cut-
rate textbook store and candy store; and

Attention Focus:
German Banks

Berlin (JTA) — The leader of
Germany's Jewish community said
he was confident that two of the
country's latest private banks
would soon settle an $18 billion
class-action suit filed by U.S.
Holocaust survivors.
Ignatz Bubis made the predic-
tion days after Switzerland's two
largest commercial banks reached a
$1.25 billion settlement of
Holocaust-era claims. The class-
action suit against Deutsche Bank
and Dresdner Bank accuses them of
knowingly trading in gold looted
from Jews during the Holocaust.

Illinois Law
Gets A Veto

New York (jTA) — The American
Jewish Committee expressed disap-
pointment at Illinois Gov. Jim
Edgar's veto of a measure to protect
religious freedom in his state.
Other Jewish groups could join
the AJCommittee in opposing the
veto, which Edgar said he made
because this particular Religious
Freedom Restoration Act did not
apply to prisoners. Coalitions
including Jewish groups have lob-
bied for states to pass legislation
supporting religious freedom after
the Supreme Court ruled that a
federal law that did so was uncon-
stitutional.

POWER on page 44

8/28
1998

Detroit Jewish News

41

