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56 Pages Thursday, October 13, 1988 Second Class Mail Registration Number 1683 Cheshvan 2, 5749 Postage Paid at Toronto
articipation
NEW YORK (JTA) -
Warning that "the Arab-IsraelGonflici continues to escalate," a top Syrian offi- ■ cial has called for the convening of an international peace conference, with the ■participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, to settle the Middle ■ East dispute.
In an address to the General Assembly of the United Nations.; Syrian Foreign Minister Faroukal-Shara said that while other international conflicts are in the process of being resolved, there is not "even a sign" that the Middle East ■ conflict is progressing toward a solution. v
Shara said that as long
as Israel continues to occupy Arab lands, there can J>e no peace. He said that an international peace conference under UN auspices should be convened on the basis of Israel's "complete withdrawal" from the Golan Height,s, southern Lebanon, thie West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Ea^t Jerusalem.
Shara also said that Palestinian rights to self-determination and to a state of their own also must serve as a basis for the peace conference.
The Syrian official said that ho prbgreiss for peace is likely to result frbm the general election in Israel
and the United States. He charged that the platforms of both major parties in Israel, Labor and Likud, "are. not for peace, "and thatthe U.S. goVerriment is under Israel's influence.
"The spepial relations between Israel and the United States do hot serve peace and are in fact an obstacle to peace'' in the Middle East, the foreign minister declared;
Shara also/ said that the United Nations has failed, because it did not impose sanctions on Israel for not abiding by various UN resolutions.
Diplomats and observers here noted that the irhetpric against Is-
rael this year wias not as sharp as in previous general assemblies. They pointed put, however, that in essence the Syrian demands remained as rigid as in the past.
Shara's address was not the only negative one on Israel here. Addressing the General Assembly, Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz of Iraq accused * 'Zionist circles"- ■ of conducting' 'a campaign against Iraq" by collaborating with the Iranian regime in the belief that a continuation of the war between Iran and Iraq would be ''a . gain for Israel."
In ah apparent reference
[Cont'd, on page 15]
ton on
TORONTO -
An Orthodox Jew from north Toronto last week vaulted; into the international public eye with his $115 million (U.S;) purchase of ' the scandal-ridden PTL Christian TV ministry and Heritage USA theme park.
According to terms of the purchase, Stephen Mer-nick put down a deposit of $100,000 and has 30 days: in which to ihspect thesite. He can cancel the purchase within the, 1-month period without forfeiting the deposit. : :
if he goes ahead with the deal and it is aeceptdd by PTL's creditors and the U.S. bankruptcy court; he would have to pay $50 million (U.S.) by Dec. 3 L arid the rest in five, years. .
I
to Ghaim?
JERUSALEM (JPFS)-All phone subscribers in Jerusailem have received a list of all nine phone numbers for the ^Presidential Residence, becatise Bezek, the Israeli telephone company j left" them out of the hew Jerusalem telephone directory.
Bezek also placed ad^ vertisements in all the newspiapers listing the nimibers. The company's spokesman j Zechariah Mizrotsky, said this was the first time such an important number had been bmitfed fronii the directory;
Memick, 34, was un-available for comment when the deal was announced Oh Simchat Torah and a news conference at the offices of his lawyer, Aaron Griibner, was scheduled last week after The CJN went to press early because of the Thanksgiving holiday. ■
• At an earlier news conference: in Charlotte, NC!, Mernick's lawyers reaid :a prepared statement in which ■ Memick said: •'Whilel amnot a Christian, I have a great deal of respect for the depth of the religious, feeling of the many thousands of,Christians ,wh6 have supported the^ Tleritage; Ministries over the years.'' •;
"I further recognize that the Christian theme is a very important component of the bond that holds the (PTL) assets.together."
PTL, which stands for Praise the Lord or People that Love, includes a television studio, hptel, shopping centre, campground amusement park, church and private housing made famous by the television evangelism_of Jun and Tammy Bakker.
Bakker was forced out of PTL in April 1987 after reports surfaced,..he.;-..tiad sexual relations with former church secretary Jessica ■Itahn. .
Mernick's last iriinuie bid to U.S. bahkruptcy trustees to purchase PTL beatout an earlier offer by Vancouver real estate niag-nate Peter Thomas, owner
Stephen Merhick
of Century 21 Real Estate, and several American bidders.
Memick is an unknown factor in Canadian business circles, according tP a report in the Financial Post. His name does not appear in business directories and he does not appear at real estate functions.
However, the 34-year-old businessman is said to haye ""^a persoiial worth "well in excess of $50 million," according to a source quoted by the Globe arid Mail who saw a copy of his financial statements during the PTL negotia tions. '
Much of Mernick's wealth was amassed in reail estate transactions in the Toronto area, mostly in commercial developments and apartment complexes. His father, the late Frank Memick, was involved in construction and land development in the Toronto area for many years.
Memick has interests in
a mixed-use development in Westchester, NY, he owns Keren Interriational Inc.. an import-export business specializing in trade with Israel, has interests in waste recycling technologies through Spider Maple Lift- Inc. of Toronto and owns a landfill site inlnnis-fil. Township. His ; travel business, All About Travel, has forecast sales at $5 million for the coming year. V
Mernick first gained public attention with hiis negotiations earlier this year to purchase the Firestone Canada tire piani m Hamilton, Ont., which other buyers bypassed because a loss of 1,300 jobs was expected.
"His business acumen is spectacular but in addition, - he has truly shown him,self to be a philanthropist and a geritleman," said Frank Dimant, executive vice president of B'nai B' rith Canada.
[Cont'd, on page 15]
time
Jerusalem resident blows the shofar to honor Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir as he walks down a cafe-lined shopping mall to campaign for re-election. The Israeli elections are set for Nov. 1. [RNS photo]
By
HUGH ORGEL
TEL AVIV (JTA) -
A broad survey of pub--jic opinion taken a month before the elections here shows Israeli voters.tilting significantly to the right, though 23.4% of the electorate is still undecided.
The results of 30 polls published in May, July and September were analyzed in the daily Hadashot, along with the newspaper's own poll. Hadashot made the disclaimer that its survey's methods were not statistically precise.
Support for the Labor Party stood at 31.4% in September, compared with 31.8% in May. It had peaked in July at 32.2%. ......
Likud was favored by 34.2% of the voters in September, down from 34.8% in July and 36.3% in May.
But while the gap be-
tween the two major parties is small, the most recent polls indicate that Likud and the parties likely to join a Likud-led coalition would , receive 57.3% of the vote, compared with 44.9% tor Labor and its potential allies.
On the right wing of the political spectrum, the most significant gain was by Rabbi Meir Kahane's extremist Kach Party, which was supported by 5.4% of the voters in September, after dropping tp_ 3.9% in July. In May, Kach polled 4.4%.
The ultranationalist Te-hiya Party polled 6.3% in September, down from 7.1% in the May polls. In July; it was favored by
6.1%. ■
The religious parties, which seem more likely to a 1 ign themselves with Likud than with a Labor coalition, 'lost grourid. They had the support of .8.7% of the voters in Sep-
tember, down from 9% in July and 9.8% in May.
: To the left of centre, the Citizens Rights Movement polled 4.4% in September, up from 3.3% in July and •1.8% in May. Mapam. the United Workers Party of Israel, also gained. It climbed from 0.9% in May to 1.3% in July and 1.6% in September.
- Parties that rely ori the Arab vote — the largest being the Communist Party — had 5.4% of the vote in September and July, up from 5.3% in May.
The new Center Party held steady at 2.1% during all three polling periods.
It was balanced q^i the right by Gen. Rafael Elian's hardline Tsomet faction, a Tehiya breakaway, which had the support of 2.7% of the voters in May and September, and 2.5% in July.
[Cont'd, on page 15]
came early
Because of the Thanks^ giving Day holiday this edition of The CJN was. printed several diays earlier than usual. (We normally print on Mondays).
But we're staying on top, of the news and we'll update youinthe next issue. Watch especially for our coverage of the Canadian and Israeli elections.
JERUSALEM (JPFS) -
Meir Kahane's Kach Party said last week that it would ignore a decision to keep it off the NoV: 1 Knesset election ballot. It also said thait. it was.planning to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the ban, imposed .by the Central Elections Conimitteein a 28-5 vote.
A Kach spokesman said that the party's "campaign is running as if nothing has happiened. Our next step is to appeal to the Supreme Court in a day or two;" But another Kach member, Knesset candidate Raha-mim Coheri, called the decision , "a political lynching."
The Election Committee, acting on a petition brought by seven parties including both the Likud and Labor, riiled Kach off the ballot because it was ^ racist and antidemocratic.
The committee made a similar ruling in the 1984 campaign. But the Supreme Court overturned that decision, allowing both Kahane's
ultra-rightist Kach and the leftist Progressive Li.st for Peace of Mohammed Miari and Matityahu Peled to compete in the election, and eventually win seats in the Knesset.
But two of the judges in the 1984 case. Justice Menahem Elon and Moshe Bejsky, called the. rulirig which reinstated Kaharie unfortunate. And another. Justice Aharon Barak", said that Kahane's list, while clearly racist, did not have a reasonable chance of putting its program into effect, . even if elected.
A majority of the judges in the 1984 decision suggested that legislation be pas.sed regulating the disqualification of lists in the Knesset elections. Since then, such legislation has been passed.
- The law, passed in 1985, disqualifies a list of candidates from participating in Knesset elections if in its "aims or acts, expressly or by implication, it either rejects the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish Peo-^ pie. rejects the democratic •
nature of the state, or incites to racism."- ' .
This provision will be tested, for the first time, when the Supreme. Court rules on the Kach appeal. One member of the court. Justice Eliezer Goldberg; headstheCentral Elections Commission. Israel Radio reported that Justice Goldberg voted to ban Kach on a count of racism, and against a ban under the antidemocratic clause.
*
. *
The Central Election Committee narrowly upheld the right of the Progressive List for Peace's lieft-wing pro-Palestinian Israeli Arab party, to run in the Knesset elections Nov.-I.
The committee acted only a day after it voted pverwheihi ingly to bar Rabbi Meir Kahane's extremist Kach Party from participating in the elections, on grounds that it engages in incitemeiit to racism.