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VOL. LVI, No. 13 ADARB23,5749 THURSDAY, MARCH 30,1989
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JERUSALEM — Leaders of Diaspora Jewry gathered here for the Prime Minister's Conference on Jewish Solidarity With Israel urged Israel to reconsider its opposition to negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization.
But Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir told the300-member conference steering committee thathis government was united in opposition to such talks and to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
KIDS, COSTUMES, CANDY, bears and balloons always make for a festlve fuhbtioh, andl the Jewish Community Centre's Purim Carhival Sunday, March 19 was ho exception. The activlty-fHied afternoon of noisy fun was attended by hundreds of people from across the Lower Mainland.
He told his audience that the Palestinians living "west of the Jordan" would have to be satisfied with a limited form of self-government as an interim arrangement. The final status of the territories could jonly be discussed after such an interim arrangement had proved itself for some time. ; ■
However, the prime minister did acknowledge that the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza Strip could not continue for long. He said,that he would present new ideas for furthering the peace process during his visit to Washington next month, but he did riot elaborStef^^^-'^-^ a^
premier was reported to have told the world Jewish leaders that the "Who Is a Jew" issue is hot on the Israeli legislative agenda at present.
He called on Diaspora leaders to work out a formula acceptable to all of the various streams of Judaism.
The prime minister's remarks were made in a ; closed-door session of the steering committee in advance of the official opening of the solidarity conference, which SHAMIR - Page 2
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By ETHAN MINOVITZ
Wielding computerized messages of hate in place of their former typewritten scrawlings, members of a shadowy Mission-based group of neo-Nazis left their mark in the usually peaceful suburb of Richmond over the March 11-12 weekend.
Posters bearing the letterhead of the Aryan Resistance Movement and laden with pleas against "black, yellow and jew power" (sic) were pasted on lamp standards over a six-block length of Chatham Street in the southwestern seaside neighborhood of Steveston.
Local officials believe the posters — which call for a halt to non-white immigration and defend convicted Toronto publisher Ernst Zundel —mark the first appearance of the white supremacist organization in Richmond. However, The Bulietin has learned, the ARM is under continuing Royal Canadian Mounted Police surveillance in light of its activities.
"Merchants (in the area) found (the posters) stuck to the utility poles," said Richmond corporate affairs director Rod Drennan, who had planned to meet with municipal department heads last week to arrange for the offending messages to be removed. Instead, though, "a lot of the merchants just ripped them off," he said. "It was just in a small area."
According to Sgt. Bill Van de Braak,"D" Watch commander with the Richmond detachment of the RCMP, the Aryan Resistance Movement had made no previous appearance in the community. "It's
nothing 1 heard of before in Richmond, and hopefully, it will never happen again," he commented. "We hear rumors, but that's as far as it gets," said Vande Braak.
A member of the RCMP detachment removed one of the posters, some of which bore a Mission post office box, and opened a file on the incident, the semi-weekly Richmond Review reported.
Although printed partly by computer, the latest hate literature bears a striking resemblance to earlier neo-Nazi propaganda produced by ARM: swastikas, SS logos, numerous spelling and grammatical errors.
Despite the sloppy appearance of the posters, their authors are known to the Mission RCMP, who have observed the Aryan Resistance Movement's activites "for some time."
Cpl. Keith Colonval, a general investigator with the detachment in the central Fraser Valley community, was reluctant to give details of the RCMP's surveillance. "The only thing I can tell you is that I'm aware of them . . . we're aware that they exist," he told The Bulletin in a telephone interview. "We're not really in a position to say much more.
"The fact that they maintain a Mission post office box does not necessarily mean (the Movement is) based in Mission," he said. "It's more of a mailing address than anything," Colonval stated.
The RCMP spokesman believes that the ARM has not been active in the Mission area.
NEO-NAZI - Page 3
By GRANT LIVINGSTONE
JERUSALEM ^ The varied response to four speakers at opening and plenary sessions of the Prime Minister's Solidarity with Israel Conference at Bihyanei Ha'uma auditorium showed the perceptions and thrust of most of over 1,500 delegates, and another thousand or more relatives and friends attending it;
Prime Minister Shamir received a strong response, applause, and a standing ovation, as he sought united world Jewish support for his approaching trip to Washington.
The^applause for Finance Minister Peres, in contrast, was muted. The next day he drew a better response, avoiding contentious foreign policy issuesi iconiing on strong on Israel's development plans, and Soviet aliya needs.
There was deep audience accord with two other main speakers. Defence Minister Yitzhak Rabin and foreign Minister Moshe Arens. LIVINGSTONE Rabin, declaring he could "make territorial compromises for peace," strongly warned that any cry of "let's vacate" Judaea and Samaria in response to violence or pressure would be an incentive to far worse violence than at present.
STANDING OVATION - Page 2
y^FJ? Staff
Danzig 1939: Treasures of a Destroyed Community has been postponed and is now slated to open at the Vancouver Museum on May 2.
Museum director Dr. David Hemphill told The Bulletin that residual asbestos found in the building's heating ducts has caused closure of the museum and postponement of the long-awaited exhibit.
Experts have been cleaning up the material since late February, when it was found during a routine examination of the heating system. "After closing the museum to the public, we tried shutting off areas of the ducts so that at least staff could continue work^ ing," said Dr. Hemphill. "But we finally had to close up completely until the job is done."
Built in 1968, the building was last inspected in 1983 and extensive asbestos removals were made at that time. Following this the building was declared
well within safety standards. However, since then new guidelines have been issued and the museum must now comply with these.
Plans now are" to open Danzig 1939 with a gala preview reception May 1 and the public opening is slated for May 2.
"We hope to extend the
exhibit beyond the planned June 18 closing date," said Dr. Hemphill, "but that remains to be seen at this point." *
A spokesperson from the Jewish Festival of the Arts Society, which is organizing the exhibit's accompanying film series, told JWB that J FAS is now looking into alternative sites for the first three films slated in the series.
The Bulletin will reschedule its planned Danzig 1939 features, resuming them closer to the new opening date.