This Week
Insight
Remember
When • • •-
Solemn Protest
HARRY KIRSBAUM
StaffWriter
F
ollowing the harsh verdicts handed out last
month at the trial of 13 Jews accused of espi-
onage in Shiraz, Iran, the Detroit Jewish com-
munity waited until a solemn Jewish holiday to
meet in solidarity.
"The Fast of the 17th Day of Tamuz has been marked as
. a day of sorrow and solidarity of the Jewish people com-
memorating several events," said Rabbi Daniel Nevins of
Adat Shalom Synagogue. These include "the day the
Babylonian army breached the walls of Jerusalem, which
led to the destruction of the first Temple.
From the pages of The Jewish News
for this week JO, 20, 30, 40 and 50
years ago.
4,4e:ea-ea yo n r i 61
4 6
frIr
the lack of due process throughout the recent trial, said
Donald Cohen of the Anti-Defamation League's Michigan
office. "The process clearly contravened international judi-
cial norms."
During his impassioned speech, Cohen said, "There's no
evidence that the Iranian Jews spied for Israel, that they
were in any occupation that would give them access to any
sensitive information that they could convey if they chose
to.
"We're talking about religious leaders, Hebrew teachers,
rabbis, community leadership and identified Jews."
"With all of our energy," Cohen said, "we will oppose
any regime, any government, any institution, any organiza-
tion, any ideology or any individual, which targets Jews
because they are Jews."
Metro Detroiters demonstrate
on behalf of the "Iran 10."
32
..romt
Israel daylight-savings time
as an energy-saving measure.
Norman Woronoff, formerly of
Oak Park, was appointed executive
director of the Jewish Family
Service of Syracuse, N.Y.
An American expedition seeking
Noah's ark has been forbidden to
climb Mt. Ararat by Turkish offi-
cials, who cited "security reasons."
The Israel International Tourist
Award was presented to United Air
Lines for its work promoting air
travel between California and Israel.
Rabbi Gerald Werner has been
named principal of Akiva Hebrew
Day School.
ta‘
Hear Our Voice'
7/28
2000
39100 14a T ,44:ZW A VA, , ,
Arivtl*Wititp
"The Jewish people have used this day as
a day of fasting and of petitions and of
prayer," he said.
Rabbi Nevins was among those speaking
to a crowd of 50 at the Max M. Fisher
Federation Building in Bloomfield Township
on July 20. They were gathered to protest
the verdicts against 10 of the Iranian Jews,
whose sentences ranged from four to 13
years in prison. Three others were acquitted.
"We seek to mark these days not only to
remember what our oppressors did, but also
by what we have had to do to band together
to create strength and unity within the
Jewish people in the face of external oppres-
sion," Rabbi Nevins said.
Ten people approached the podium in
front of a photograph of the 10 Iranians to
announce their names and sentences. Each left the podium
with the same refrain, "May God hear our voice and
answer our prayers."
Eliyahou Kam, a Southfield physician who emigrated
from Shiraz 32 years ago, told the crowd about adult edu-
cation night schools in Iran offering Hebrew classes while
the Shah was in power. After the Ayatollah Khomeini revo-
lution in 1979, half of Iran's 60,000 Jews fled to Israel,
Europe, Canada and the United States.
"We had such a good history," Dr. Kam said. "But sud-
denly, they started to put pressure on the Jewish communi-
ty and started to charge us as spies and put us in jail."
The international community has expressed outrage at
Joel D. Tauber was named recipient
of the Fred M. Butzel Memorial
Award for Distinguished
Community Service by the Jewish
Welfare Federation of Detroit.
Leah Ann Kleinfeldt became the
new assistant director at the Jewish
Community Center.
Above: Dr, Eliyahou Kam
Left: Donald Cohen
Bringing Pressure
After the speeches, spectators signed petitions of protest to
be sent to Mohamed Khatami, president of Iran. Cohen
described why such protests are needed.
"We're still struggling to find the conduit to pressure the
Iranian government. Do they really care about Jews gather-
ing in Detroit? Likely not," he said. "But we have to make
sure it's on the agenda of all our elected officials and in the
international court.
"There's been a lot of quiet diplomacy and that's impor-
tant, but we've got to raise our voices. The Jewish commu-
nityneeds to be mobilized." ❑
A complaint was filed in Germany
against a storekeeper who sold
matches to an 8-year-old boy. The
boy set fire to the doors of the
Luebeck Synagogue.
A new synagogue, Temple
Emanu-El, is nearing completion in
Honolulu.
Rabbi Isaac Stollman has been
elected president of the Vaad
Harabonim, Council of Orthodox
Rabbis, in Detroit.
aft,
Mrs. Morris A. Morton was elected
national president of the Women's
Auxiliary of Alpha Zeta Omega, a
national pharmaceutical fraternity.
The Romanian government has
stated that representatives of the
Jewish Agency. may no longer par-
ticipate in the selection of Jews to
immigrate to Israel.
— Compiled by Sy Manello,
editorial assistant