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52 Pages
Thursday, December 15, 1988 Tevet 7^ 5749
Second Class Mail Registration Number 1683 - Postage Paid at Toronto
Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress (centre, back row) addressed the prestigious Canadian Club in Toronto last week. Among the head table guests at the lunch(ton meeting were (from left, back row) former Ontario Premier Bill Davis and Rabbi Dow Marmur; front row, Murray Koffler, Ray Wolfe, Judith Cohen and Senator Leo Kolber. [Graphic Artists photo}
WJC urges change in approach
By
SHELDON KIRSHNER
TORONTO -
: Soviet Jewry activists in
the Diaspora should be saying '*Let my people be Jews" rather than preaching "Let my people go," the president of the World
TEL AVIV (JTA) -
it was a triumph in defeat and it warmed the hearts of Jews throughput the Soviet Union on a frigid Saturday.
The Hapoel volleyball team from Kiryat Ata, the Israeli champions; recent-: ly played the Moscow Dynamos, the Soviet Cup-holders in Moscow.
Hapoel was soundly beaten - 15-8, 15-3 and 15-2 — in what was the first roiind of the European Cup tournament.
But the contest was clearly a case where the game was more important than the victory.
The televised match was the first time in the 21 years since Moscow severed diplomatic relations with Israel that Israeli and Russian sports teams met anywhere but in a third country.
The Israelis got a tremendous reception from the crowd and the press. ■„/;
Moishe Alpia, the Kiiyat
Ata club manager, reported in a telephone interview from Moscow that their welcome from Jews and non-Jews was "outstanding."
He said that many Jewish ^spectators waved Israeli flags and chanted'' Hapoel, Hapoel'' throughout the game.
Although the Israelis lost, the only carping in Israel was from the ultra-Orthodox parties, which complainedto the mayor of Kiryat Ata that he allowed the team to play on the Sabbath. ; 'v— " ■
"Hapoel will have a chance to even scores when the Mpscovites come to Israel this week for a return match.
V Meanwhile, eyes are on Israel's championship Mac-cabee Tel Aviv basketball team, which is scheduled to play the CSKA Red Army sports club team in Moscow Jan. 12. A return match in Tel Aviv is scheduled for March 2. • - \ •'
Jewish Congress said last • week. ■ ■
Urging Jews round the world to recognize "the sea change" that has occurred in ofncial Soviet treatment of the Jewish question sinCe the accession to power of Mikhail Gorbachev, Edgar Bronfman called on Jewish organizations to adopt a less confrontational, more pragmatic approach to the Soviet Union.
Before addressing the Canadian Club at the Royal York Hotel, Bronfman, in a speech to the International Council of the World Conference on Soviet Jewry in Jerusalem, had argued that anti-Soviet vigils and demonstrations were now counter-productive. (CJN, Dec. 8) ;
In Jerusalem, he also said that the Soviet government was keepiiig promises it had made to him in the past two years to loosen restrictions against Jews.
In his Toronto addressT which was attended by an . overflow crowdlof mainly corporate executives and businessmen, he pointed to historic changes such as Moscow's decision to legalize the teaching of Hebrew and to let Jews have their own communi-» i:y centres.
In an interview with The; Canadian. Jewish
News, Bronfman said that the task presently facing Soviet Jewry activists abroad is to ensure that Soviet Jews win cultural and religious freedom. Bronfman, chairman and
[Cont'd, on page 15]
By
DAVID LANDAU
JERUSALEM -
Labor and Likud coalition talks are on again, aimed at establishing a broad-based government.
They resumed Sunday morning with a brief get-together between Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the Likud leader, and Labor Party leader Shimon Peres, foreign minister in the outgoing cabinet.
Also present were Shamir's closest associate, Moshe Arens and Labor's No. 2 man. Defence Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Their discussion was described as general. Two separate working teams of both parties, were to convene later.
One was to discuss policy guidelines of .a new Labor-Likud coalition. The other was to examine the division of cabinet portfolios between the two big parties and the smaller ones likely to be their coalitjon partners.
Labor and Likud, whose 1984 unity government has continued in power as a caretaker regime since the new Knesset was elected Nov. 1, are resuming negotiations that Labor broke off two weeks ago.
Since then, Shamir has been working overtime to put together a Likud-led government with the ultra-Orthodox and far right-wing parties.
But he was unable to wrap one up before Labor's 1,300-member central committee voted decisively last week to seek a. broad coalition with, Likud.
Though both parties are trying to form a unity government for the good of the country, there is no assurance of success at this point. Labor has laid down , three conditions:
•• It insists that the three far right-wing parties — Tchiya, Tsomet . and Moiedet — be excluded frorrv.the new government.
• It demands the right of its Knesset members to vote their conscience * free of coalition discipline, if
meet
TEL AVIV (JTA) -
Israel is attending the UN General Assembly's session this week in Geneva, where its annual debate on Palestine has been moved so that Yasser Arafat can be heard.
Israel's acting ambassador to the United Nations, Yohanan Bein, will address the assembly. But when the Palestine Liberation Organization chairman delivers his speech, the Israeli delegation is scheduled to walk out.
•—Arafat was denied an entry visa by the U.S. state department to address the General Assembly in New York.
The debate on Palestine, to have opened there on Dec! 1, was postponed. The assembly voted overwhelmingly to shift the ses-
sion to Geneva, where Arafat is welcome.
There had been some doubt whether Israel and the United States, the only nations to vote against the move, would attend. The U.S. .state department indicated last week that the American delegation would be in Geneva.
Ambassador Bein wiU at-. tempt to reftite a broad consensus ■ in Europe that=the Palestine National Council meeting in Algiers last month took significant steps toward the recognition of Israel, acceptance of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and the reriunciafit)n of terrorism..
An Israeli. information team, headed by Moshe Raviy, director general of the foreign ministry's information bureau, are at the Geneva session.
the divisive Who Is a Jew amendment reaches the Knesset floor.
• Finally, Labor opposes elements in the agreements Likud ha,s already signed with the ultra-drthodox parties. ■
The problem on the far right stems from Tehiya, since the two smaller rightist parties are expected to bow out of the coalition voluntarily.
But Likud signed an agreement with Tehiya pledging to establish 40 new Jewish settlements in the administered territo-
ries over the next four years.
Tehiya leader Yuval Ne'eman said if Labor balked, '"that is Labor's problem." He seemed to imply that Tehiya would remain in a broad coalition and hold Likud to its promise.
Labor had hoped Tehiya would withdraw rather than sit in a government with Labor, which opposes commitments to massive settlement programs in the administered territories.
[Cont'd, on page 15]
Because of the upcoming holidays. The CJN printing schedules are being revised, which means a change in editorial deadlines for the next couple of weeks.
Deadline for the Dec. 22
and Jan. 5 issues is now past and we can not accept any releases unless they are of vital importance. There will be NO ISSUE on Dec. 29. Deadline for the Jan. 12 issue is Dec. 23.
Letter to Editor
The AJCS position
, EDITOR'S NOTE: In the Dec. 8 Issue of The CJN we carried a report and photo on page 1 of a delegation of Montreal rabbis going to Israel to lend support to the Israel government for the proposed amendment of the Law of Return. In this story, the rabbis made some rather unflattering remarks about the role of Allied Jewish Community Services of Montreal in joining with other federations across North America who are opposed to the amendment.
The AJCS has taken us totask for "writing about and printing these distortions without attempting to obtain even a comment from the
AJCS."
It is pur view that when a group of respected citizens — especially rabbis — makes a statement such as was carried in the Dec. 8 issue, there is no need to question their opinions or to check them out with any other leaders of the community. After all, rabbis have very strong opinions on this divisive matter, and who arc we to question their opinions?
However, in accordance with our request to the AJCS, we are publishing the following letter from the president, Peter Wolkove in response to the story. We have deleted references to our alleged "unprofessional" approach in han^ dling the story because we believe there is no basis for such a charge.
The ''strong denunciation'' of Allied Jewish Community Services by a group of four Orthodox rabbis as reported in the Dec. 8 Canadian Jewish News, is of concern to us because the accusation against AJCS of''creating hysteria" and "blackmailing" Israel by threatening to withhold funds, raised here are patently incorrect and without foundation.
We have.insisted that this correction be printed in The Canadian Jewish News not to give our ' 'side" of the story, because that is not the point. Our purpose is to ensure that CJN readers know exactly what AJCS has said andi done on the issue of possible amendments to the Law of Return.
The stated position of AJCS, is simply, that we believe, as do the Jewish: fedetations across all of North Ainerica, that the Law of Return should not be the subject of political accornmOr dation, due to the gap it may create between sig-nificant segments of Diaspora Jewry and Israel, We believe the matter should be removed from the political agenda. We joined the Council of Jewish Federations, of which we are a member, in conveying that position'to the leadership of Israel. • /■■^■■^y. V,'^: • .
At the CJF General Assembly in' New-Orleans (CJN Nov. 24), the issue was ad-''' dressed at length. When ah American delegate" insisted that a vote be taken on witholding funds from Israel it was massively defeated. The Montreal representatives present voted en bloc against any notion of withholding funds from Israel. That the rabbis quoted could accuse us of "blackmail" i.s wrong, hurtful and
absurd. / \^
[Coint^d. on page 15]