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VVI31 11
40 Pages
Thursday, May 19, 1983
Sivan 7, 5743
Second Glass Mail Registration Nunnber 1683 — Postage Paid at Toronto.
to all parts
: ■ By WESLEY GOLDSTEIN
MONTREAL —
Milton Harris has taken over his new job ^s national president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, promising a "clear and open" administration that will rectify the budgetary problems of the last two years.
The 55-year-old industrialist from Toronto was acclaimed as president and succeeded Irwin Cotler at the 20th Plenary Assembly closing session on Sunday. He said that systems will be put in place to ensure against a repeat of deficits in the future.
In beginning his 3-year term; Harris said he Woiold strive to lead the khid of Congress that is responsive W the * 'new generation" of Jeiwlsli Canadians^ He pledged to i^ach out to Jews in all parts of the country, by refocusing efforts towards them, and funding them on a more equitable basis.
He added that, the process of decentralization would accelerate in the new administration.
Delivering his inaugural address, Harris touched on a number of issues likely to be im-
Retiring Canadian Jewish Congress president Irwin Cotler [right] congratulates successor Milton Harris. [Howatrd Kay photo]
portant Congress con- human rights, and the
cerns over the next few years.
i Among these will be traditional areas such as oppressed Jewry and
continued pursuit of action against Nazi war criminals residing in Canada. Harris stated he
m-
tends to press the issue of improving the status of women in his administration , and with the
[ContM. on page 12]
A^eement signing
V\:-;;--..-:;By,/.■■■:v■ SHELDON KIRSHNER
Israel's troop withdrawal pact with Lebanon hung on a slender threadthis week as Syria denounced it and warned it would kindle another civil war in Lebanon.
Despite Syria's truculent reaction, Lebandn seemed: determined to go ahead with the U.S.-sponsored accord — which Israel views as a virtual peace treaty. The Lebanese cabinet voted unanimously for It, and Lebanon's parliament gave it its stamp of approval.
The Israeli Knesset was scheduled to ratify the accord, and observers believe Lebanon and Israel will formally sign, it this week.
Because of Syrian pressure, Lebanon is describing the agreement as an elaboration of its 1949 ceasefire accord with Israel. But Israel is not so reticent. In an interview in Montreal, Yosef Burg, the minister of interior, called it a de facto peace arrangement.
A hectic few days
CJN staff reporters Janice Arnold and Wesley Goldstein, assisted by Ottawa correspondent : Gaye Applebaiim spent a hectic few days [and nights] last Week covering the Canadian J e w j sh Congress Plenaiy Assembly.
Some of their stories are on the front page, others on pages 10, 11, 12, 13.
We think our staffers covered the major and' most significant ses-' sions, but because of deadline restrictions [and because, frankly, our reporters were exhausted by Sunday] they couldn't cover everything in time, and coverage will be continued in the May 26 issue.
The accord calls for Israel and Lebanon to end their state of war, to live in peace with each other within secure and recognized borders and to ensure that neither country's ^rritory be used as a base for hostile action against the other.
Six months" after the agreement goes into effect, Israel and Lebanon are due to begin talks on normalization;
On paper, it sounds like a breakthrough. If it is implemented, Lebanon will become the second Arab land after Egypt to normalize its relations with the Jewish state.
However, the euphoria could be short-lived if Syria and the PLO refuse to withdraw ,from Lebanon. V i t z hak Shamir, Israel's foreign minister, has said the accord will be "suspended" if there is not a simultaneous withdrawal of foreign forces.
If Syria and the PLO do not pull but, Israel will probably redeploy its army in Lebanon, keeping its estimated 30,000 troops in the southern part. With Syria occupying the northern sector. Lebanon will be effectively partitioned, and the national integrity of Lebanon will have been shattered.
Clearly, Syria ojpppses, the agreement. The Syrians made it official last week when Hafez Assad, the president^ re^ jected it in "form and substance.'^ Assad said it "undermines Lebanon's sovereignty and independence, constitutes grave dangers to Syrian security," and signifies a victory for Israel in Lebanon.
Syria, which regards Lebanon as coming under its sphere of influence, seeks an unconditional Israeli withdrawal. The PLO, meanwhile, says its men will not leave unless the safety of Lebanon's Palestinian civilians is assured-
With the full support of the Soviet Union, Syria has launched a political and psychological battle against the accord in general and Lebanon in particular.
Syria and the PLO are building up their forces —in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley — the focal point of a war, should it break out — and Israel is reportedly reinforcing its garrison in Lebanon.
Syria's foreign minister, Abdel-Halim Khaddam, said he considered an Israeli attack "very likely." Khaddam said a Syrian-Israeli war would not be a limited one. It would result, he warned, in' * all-out war.''
While Syria raged, the Soviet Union — its chief military supplier — evacuated the dependents of its diplomats in Beirut. Although Moscow denied it, the move could be a sign that war is imminent.
Tension was also high in the Bekaa Valley after an Israeli soldier was killed by Syrian fire. It is the first time this has happened since last autumn. In the past few months, the PLO has caused Israeli casualties.
In a further bid to i n tim id ate Lebanon, Syria encouraged pro-Syrian Lebanese ppliti-cians to denounce the pact. The Syrian Baath party's official organ Al-Baath said it would not bring peace to Lebanon, but only "destroy the basis of the Lebanese state" and usher in "woes, disasters and bloodshed."
It appeared that Syrian tactics were not working. Lebanon was working hard to line Up Arab support in an attempt to isolate Syria. The Lebanese have the backing of moderate Arab regimes, of Algeria, normally a Syrian ally, and of Iiaq, which has a running feud with
Syria. Only South Yemen and Libya have rallied to Syria's side.
Sends message to other ariti-semites
Keegstra affair unites Edmonton^s community
By
JANICE ARNOLD MONTREAL —
Only last summer Edmonton's small community of 4,500 Jews was seriously divided in its view of the Lebanon war. People almost came to blows when the subject came up.
The revelation of a small town mayor' [CJN May 5] ^nd school teacher preaching ^e theory of an international Jewish conspiracy and a denial of the Holocaust has united the Edmonton Jewish community hi a way It has never known.
Eckville is about 150 km. southwest of Edmonton. The chairman of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton's Joint Community Relations Com-
mittee, Herb Katz, was * in the forefront of the battle to expose James Keegstra. Katz, a 36-year-old former Mont-realer, until taking on the chairmanship a year and a half ago, says he was virtually cut off from the Jewish community.
The Edmonton Jewish community, says Katz, wanted to give tlrcrKeegstra incident as much exposure as possible. "We wanted it out in the open as a message to other anti-Semites out there that they will have to be prepared to pay the price." ^^^^ 7 Katz disagrees with those who say Keegsti^a hould not be given the edia attention he has beeiTgettirig, particularly the lengthy interview on the CBC's The. Jour-, nal (see CJN May 12).
The community's feeling was that, given enough rope, Keegstra would hang himself.
"In the abstract anti-semitism seems benign but seeing the raw, ugly face of it, people were really shaken up and not just Jews," said Katz in an interview. "I think we succeeded magnificently in this decision."
Katz spoke at_a workshop on community relations crisis management.
There had/ been an undercurrent in Alberta for some time that was making the Jewish community nervous, he said. A group calling itself the Canadian League of Rights has been actively distributing Nazi-type propaganda.
As well, fundamentalism has been enjoying a
Herb Katz
revival in the old Bible beltof Alberta, Katz said. "Keegstra's theories are a harking back to Aber-hart's Social Credit phil(fsophy\ of the 193()s." ^
Katz believes no chance exists of Keegstra becoming a martyr. "His words are just too
Premier Lougheed.
evil and I believe the vast majority of people in society will do the right thing." ^^-N
Katz, owner of an importing business, says he has thus far not been proven wrong.
"We have received overwhelming support from the public, even
from Eckville. There has not been even one crank caU."
Just before the incident, the Edmonton Jewish community had established relations with the Ukrainian com^ munlty. "Immediately after the news broke, the head of the National Ukrainian Organization phoned me and said — tell me what you want us to do."
. Katz has no quarrel with the Alberta government or with Premier Peter Lougheed's reaction to the whole affair. He welcomes Lougheed's st^tement^ last week for/ its symbplic value in^presenting this as a moral issue to the people/of Alberta.
(Responding tOy sure from the Jews of Alberta and to acquest
pres-
from Nazi hunter Simon Wiesentha 1, Alberta Premier Lougheed last week declared in the Legislature that anti-semitism is a cancer and must be challenged and vigorously condemned by those in positions of
responsibility.
(Lougheed announced, in a 7-page statement, that his government would launch a campaign to promote tolerance of minorities. He promised new procedures *'to reduce, if not eliminate'' bigoted teaching in the provincial school system.)
The content of the statement was secondary, says Katz, but as it turned out quite satisfactory^ the delay in delivering it, he believes ^ was
[Cont'd, on page 10]
)