Tijursday, March 5. 1981 — THE BULLETIN — 11
JWB Stair
Simcha Jacobovici is an activist in every sense of the word. As a represeiStative of the Canadian Association fdr Ethiopian Jewry he is single-mindedly attending to the business of helping to rescue Jews trapped in endangered areas of that strife-torn country.
The former student leader told The Bulletin in an interview last week CAEJ was devoting 100 percent of its collective eneigies to rescue efforts and would not be swayed from its self-appointed task.
Since 197S Beta Yisrael, as Ethiopian Jews refer to themselves, have'been guaranteed rights under the Law of Return by the Knesset with the backing of both the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis of Israel and may become full-fledged members of the reconstituted Jewish State, he voiced adamantly. ^ .
According to a CAEJ release, Ethiopian Jews are '*most likely descendants of Yemenite Jews** who participated in trade across the Ethiopian border and later settled there.
The release points out: "Throughout the centuries they preserved their Judaism, had their own kingdom and their own Jewish army. Then, like the Jews of Spain, Poland and^ Germany.the Jews of Ethiopia were set upon. In 1616, their kingdom was overthrown.** They were then denied education and forbidden to own land.
Like their European counterparts who became money-lenders because Christians would not countenance what they called usury, the Beta Yisrael worked with cooper because others thought the sparks involved were definitive indications of the devil*s presence. For this reason they * were feared and thought to be a source of bad luck, pestilence and disease.
Their present condition is compounded by their landless status. Jacobovici said. 'Besides being considered kin to the devil by the bulk of the population, they are singled out for slaughter by former landed aristocrats who have everything to lose under the promised land reform policies of the Marxist regime which deposed Haille Selassie i» 1974.
Th? Soviet-backed revolutionary government (with Cuban troops) does not have the country fully under its control and as a result many counter-revolutionary forces run rampant trying to accrue as much advantage as they can before they must submit to the authority of the Adis Ababa regime.
Secessionist armies in Eritrea and thirteen other provinces of Ethiopia,*
as well as territorital disputes over the Ogaden with Somalia, are keeping the goverhment*srhands tied and causing widespread hunger, the doctoral candidate ' in political science indicated.
He pointed out that the term 'Falasha* which up tilLnoW has been the term most people have used for Ethiopian Jews,, is perforative. It means *alien* and refers to their constant longing to return to Zion.
Jacobovici is travelling throughout western Canada talking to groups in an attempt to inaugurate CAEJ. chapters. He estimated that it costs approximately $2,000 to get one person out of-the hunger-belt in Ethiopia.
, The Marxist regime is not against Jews but restrained or non-existent relations with Israel make efforts rather delicate, the founder of Network Canada underscored.
The former student leader is particularly proud of his association with Network which he describes as an umbrella organizatidii which encompasses Jewish students from such diverse . youth movement backgrounds as revisionist Betar to leftwing Hashomer Hatzair.
Network Canada was initiated to counteract the threat of Arab propaganda that was-flooding the campuses at the same time as the U.N. General Assembly passed the resolution xieclaring ''Zionism to be racism," he told yjFA ■
IsraePs image was suffering severe damage and major efforts were required to counteract slander and to repair that image oh campus. Lobbying expertise was taught by professionals, effective demonstra- , tion techniques were souj^t; all in all great pains were taken by^the leaders of the Jewish student bod^r to ensure that theircommon ageii|(a w^ not lost in 4he . cacophpnsr of issues ^ presented oh campus.
Today issuies of Jewish students are presented to a variety of concerns: at Youth Liberal conventions, to young Tories, among many others.
Jacobovici remarked ; that the Minister of Justice Jean Chretien recently made specific comments about the contribution-Network, along with Canadian Jewis^h Congress, had made in influencihg the final draft of the Canadian Constitution nsw before Parliament. This was mainly intheareas of rights for the handicapped and the effective prosecution of Nazi war criminals living in Canada.
Moreover; he asserted. Network provides a - forum for contact between Jewish students of various political persuasions. WHile there is room foe a certain amount of infighting, students generally unite
World human rights
report cri
:iERUSALEM — Foreign Ministry spokesman Naftali Lavie was sharply critical recently of the Carter Administration's final report on human'rights throughout the world, comending that its criticism of IsraePs policies in the administered territories wereiirijustificd and that human -rights violationis in some Arab countries were not sufficiently condemned."
The 1140-pase report on human rights in 153 nations in 1980 was prepared by the State Department and lecentiy releassd. Its 19i»ge section on Israel and the occupied territories was longer than for any other country. It had ynstinted pmise for huuiau ri^is'practices in Israel which it described as a ''parliamentary democracy with high standards of justice and human rights.**
But the report observed that "sharply different politico-social environments** prevailed in the "Arab territories Israel has occupied since the 1967 war.**
"We are amazed,** Lavie said, "to what extent they. devote to Israel while other Mideast 'democracies* are hardly mentioned.** He said the State Dcjpartment report overlooked Iraq*s mass deportation of Shiite Moslems and mass executions in Syria. Hf contended that the reports on Saudi Arabia and Jordan were superficiaL But criticism of Israel's actions ih the territories were "very unjust and not convincing.** he said.. ■„
Lavie ^mpiained that the State Department did not make inquiries about alleged Israeli misbehavior in the territories before condemning them. JTA.
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behind various consensus issues, such as IsraePs right to exist within secure borders, opposition to the Arab boycott, fighting against sale by the U.S of F-15 fightei-aircraft to Saudi Arabia, ai^tation on behalf of a united Jerusalem, and propagation of the glaring fact that the PLO is terrorist.
As a student leader Jacobovici was not one to avoid controversy and recalls many instances when hfc led student delegations in walkouts or disruption of Jewish establishment inieetings. A variety of problematic matters/ posed themselves; such as' thie^ infrnt of youth influence or whether organizational
figures who.cairthemselves Zionists should retain that tftle while they continue to live in the Diaspora.
Many of these unresolv^ .areas still exist, but Jacobovici has moved on fairly satisfied that he has done an adequate job.
Network, he feels, acts as a resource for all Jewish students throughout Cdnada. As a national body it can act as coordinator and disseminator of quality educational materials for simultaneous use everywhere. He is confident that its constitution establishes regional balances to ensure that Easterners do not have undue control over decisions and concerns.
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There is no official parent body and this. Jacobovici believes, is very important because anindependett position allows them to needle, the communis without feeling guilty beholden. ^
- The student arm of the Canadiaa Zionist Federation, the Canadim University Bureau, is the result of Ids efforts and meets needs^ ad^rdingto the former student lead^rv which.
were previously only tidhg aJpea care of in a disparate fashion. - Simcha Jacobovici hopes to receive his Ph.D. tli»<summef. He plans to return to Israel where he was bom and to teach political science at a university there.
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