2^ THE BULLETIN—Thursday, April 8.1993
WORLD
MOSCOW (JTA) — Metropolitan Joharin of Si. Petersburgv tfee Jeeorid^ highest-ranking clergyman in~"the Russian Ortjibdox Church, has once again stirred controversy by issuing new anti-Semitic state-
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The 62-year-old church figure has posed the question of whether the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" were authentic, referring to the infamous 19th-<:ehtury tract that purported to expose a Jewish conspiracy to take over the worlds
The "Protocols*- were actually a fabrication written for the czarist secret
■ police., -
Johann raised the question in a lengthy article titled "The Struggle for Russia," published in late February in the notoriously anti-Semitic and hard-line communist paper Sovietskaya Rossiya.
In the article, J ohannsaid , a smart mian will draw his own conclusions about the "Protocols", and he juxtaposed excerpts from the "Protocols" with dire description of the state of Russia
Last October, Metropolitan Johann stirred controversy with another piece in ; Sovietskaya Rossiya that explained the_ killing of Jesiis and the imposition of Communist rule in Russia as being part of a single conspiracy, implying it was Jewish-dominated.
After publication of that first piece, a spokesman for the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexei II, issued a statement disassociating the church fronri Johann's opinions.
At the time, a church source requesting anonym-' ity said Metropoiitan Johann was sick, but would not elaborate.
In the wake of this latesit incident, Russian Jews were looking for a stronger statement this time!
Rabbi Adolf Shayevitch, recently elected chief rabbi of Russia and head of Moscow's Choral Synagogue, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency he has written to the patriarch asking him to look into the matter.
Johann's latest outburst came on the eve of an inter-re nee between
Jews and representatives of various branches of the Orthodox Church, includ- . ing the Russian OrthodOx Church.
The conference is significant, as it marked the start of a first-ever dialogue between Jews and Orthodox believers, said Michael ChleriOv, co-president of the Vaad, the largest Jewish umbrella organization in the former Soviet Union.
Chlenov said he intended to raise the matter of Johann's public statements with Alexander Kazha, the Russian patriarch's liaison to the Jewish community.
War Grimes trial opens In Australia
SYDNEY, Australia —
After three years of fits and starts that included an apparent suicide attempt and Various legal challenges, the trial of accused war criminal Ivan Polyukhovich opened in Adelaide.
Confronting a jury for the first time, Polyukhovich^ first Australian charged under 1988 Nazi war criminal legislation, pleaded not guilty to two counts of committing war crimes in 1942 in Nazi-occupied Ukraine.
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THOUSANDS OF MOURNERS Joined an emotional funeral procession for slain soldier Yehoshua Friedberg, 24; (left), who came to Israel from Montreal two years ago and volunteered for the army. Below: Fried-berg's parents attend the funeral with his friends from the Golani Brigade.
Israel Sun
JERUSALEM — A Jew ish settler shot a 20-year-olt Arab whose feet-^and hand had been bound after hehai stabbed another settler ii the West Bank; The shoot ing in Susia, a Jewish settle ment south of Hebron occurred against abackd roj of rising right-wing calls foi yigilantism against ter rorisnii. '
Kililiutz welcome
TEL AVIV
The 84
revolution,' bake matzah
MOSCOW (JTA) — As Russia plunged into a new political crisis With President Boris Yeltsin's declaration of "special rule'', the LubaVitcher rabbis in Moscow were busy baking matzah in preparation fdr Pes-
ach.' :y':'\'^''''yy.:\:\-'
"A revolution?" said Rabbi Berel Lazar, who had not seen the TV news here with Yeltsin's announcement, traces of flour on his sleeve, "We have our own revolution here."
Several hundred Moscow Jews preferred to make the journey to the Lubavitchers' niodel matzah bakery at the Russian capital's vast VDNH park, rather than get involved in the small pro-and anti-Yeltsin demonstrations that took place following the president's announcement;
Yeltsin declared emergency rule and called for a national referenduni to resolve the dispute between^ him and the Russian Parliament. The Parliament, in turn, declared Yeltsin's move unconstitutional.
Hundreds of non-Jewish Russians similarly opted for the park, where they gaped at neW Western products displayed in exhibition halls that once showed off the accomplishments of the Soviet economy.
In the centre of Moscow, crowds strolled on the city's main street, window-shopping and eating ice cream, while the McDonald's on Pushkin Square was packed.
At the model matzah bakery, there was a special treat. Children got to make their own matzah, kneading, shaping and baking the unleavened bread with their Own hands.
"The hands-on experience will teach them mpre than lecture," said one Lubavitcher.
Children were not the only ones trying their hands at baking matzah. One grandmother, Faina Kogan, came forward with tears in her eyes and'asked peritiis-sion to prepare her own matzah.
"The government denied me a formal Jewish ed uca-tion," Kogan said, "but they were never able to take away the pride I felt in helping my mother bake rnatzahs." ■} .
Said Rabbi BaruchCunin, "We don't know whaf will happen in Russia iiowijn the meantime, we're "getting ready for Pesach." ~
One Israel I husband in seven heats his virlfg^ sayssogleidgist
TEL AVIV (JTA) — There are more than 100,000 battered wives in Israel, with one in seven Israeli men physically abusing his wife, according to a Haifa University professor^
And every fifth woman in the country is raped by her husband at least once during their marriage, says sociology professor Zvi Eisikovits.
Eisikovits, head of the Domestic Abuse Intervention and Research institute at Haifa University, made hiscorrimentsata news con-
high in Israel
TEL AVIV (JTA) - In 1992, 1,499,200 tourists arrived in Israel, a 60 percent increase oyer 1991 and , a nine percent increase over the previous record year of 1987, according to figures in the newspaper Davar.
ference called to underHnc' the work of the unit, which was established in 1991 in an effort to combine family therapy with research.
The institute is sponsored by the Womeh's League of Israel. The professor stressed that wife-beating is a social problem of c0nsiderable proportions and "^'not a private illness of a few. It happens in every socioeconomic cliass," he said.
Eisikovits noted that there are several reasons why people do not want to know how many women are battered.
Israeli society could not afford the cost of care if all wife-beaters were required by law to have individual therapy, he said. This was one of the options considered, but later dropped, in
developing what was to become the 1991 Law for the Prevention of Family Violence.
The law, as it stands, allows a woman threatened by her husband to request an order to remove him from the home and also allows a welfare worker, visiting the home to order police protection for the family.
But Eisikovits said the law is nevertheless weak and merely a compromise, since it does hot call for psycholo^ gieai arid emotiqnai treatment for the violent husband.
The Haifa institute is currently the only one of its kind in the country, but other similar units are planned for Nazareth, Kiryat Shmoneh, Ashkelon, Holon and Jerusalem.
Bosnian Moslem refugees brought to Israel in a mercy operation are to be housed in Kibbutz Beit Oren on Mount Carmel for the remainder of their stay here. They were siipposed to have been sheltered by Israeli Arab villages of Tira and Umm el^Fahn, but Arab leaders withdrew their support for the plan after having first pressed for the opportiinity to rescue Moslem orphans from the fighting in the former Yugoslavia.
Border crossing
TEL AVIV —In an unusual display of Israeli-Syrian cooperation, an 85-year-old Druse woman was permitted to cross the Golan Heights into Syria to attend the funeral of a son she had not seen in many years. Hindiya Hatib, from the village of Ein Kiniyeh, was accompanied by her daughter as she crossed the border at Kuncitra on March 25.
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From the food section of ihtZion Report, a small periodical published in Chicago; comes this helpful culinary hint on how to handle one of the items to be used at the Seder table.
"Lettuce will not turn brOwn if you put your head ma plastic bag before placing it in the refrigerator."
the tourists came from the United States, II percent from Germany, and 10 percent from, both Britain and_ France, the-reports said -
Israel plans to increase its attractiveness to tourists by building a $2 million tourist-healthcentre on the grounds of kibbiitz Be'eri with hot water springs and mineral spas. . "
A n e n tertai n me n t a nd leisure centre is planned to cater to visitors seeking a ; natural cure for various ailments, or who wish pierely to relax. .■ •.
'■ Israel Sun
IN A PICKLE: "It's not an election year," vendors told Israeli Finance Minister Avraham'Beiga'Shohat as ^ Carmel Market "to see what the people think of the economic decisions made by the government." Shbhat answered such questions as "Why was thepriceof milk raised?" and "Will you tax savings?" He was received warmly by buyers and vendors one of whom handed Shohat a gherkin at his stall.
in Germany
BONN — The number of violent attacks by right-wing extremists decreased considerably this year compared to the first three months of 1992, according to Interior Minister Rudolf Seiters.
However, Seiters said there is still need for ongoing efforts to douse the fires of hatred against foreigners.
From Jan. 1 to March 15, 173 cases of politically motivated attacks against foreigners were registered, compared with 283 in the same period a year ago. This year, two foreigners haVe been killed by uCO^Nazis.
Le Pen loses lawsuit
PARIS - A French court ' has dismissed a lawsuit . brought by the right-wing politician Jean-Marie Le Pen . against Jean Kahn. head of CRIF, Umbrella organization representing French Jewry.
Le Pen had sued Kahn for slander after Kahn said that a speech delivered by Le Pen last -August constituted " "inicitement J to racial hatred:"