Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1975-08-14

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VOL. 53 NO. 33
AUGUST 14, 1975 - ELUL 7
HOUSTON (WNS) - In a test of whether the Soviet
Union intends to cany put the Helsinki declaration
calling for the. "free flow of peoples, ideas and in¬
formation" the B'nai B'rith's Board of Governors
voted here to send an off icial delegation to the USSR to
meet with both Jewish activists and Soviet officials.
David Blumberg, B'nai B'rith president, said the aim
of the delegation is to establish regular religious and
cultural ties with Soviet Jews and consult with Soviet
authorities on liberalizing emigration policies; ac¬
celerating family reunificatipns and restoring Jewish
communal life under Soviet law. "If Helsinki is a step
toward genuine detente, then there should be a parallel
step forward for Soviet Jews,". Blumberg said. The
proposal was approved by a large majority of the 102-
member board of' governors, although a small
. minority argued that the efforts of the delegation; will
be futile. The B'nai B'rith governors also called for
"aggressive diplomacy" by the West to resist a Third
World takeover of the United Nations. They also en¬
dorsed recent moves by Congress and the State
Department pointing' to a possible American with¬
drawal from the next General Assembly and a cutoff in
U.S. funds if the Arab - sponsored move to suspend or
expel Israel succeeds. U
HOUSTON (WNS) - The United States should
provide trade concessions to Israel as a counter
measure to the Arab boycott, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D.
Tex.) told a meeting of the B'nai B'rith board of
governors here. Bentsen, •" a candidate for the
Democratic Presidential nomination, said Israel -
should also be strengthened to counter-balance Soviet
encroachmentinthe;Middle East. He also warned that
the U.S. will not toleratei Israel's- expulsion from the
United Nations. "The future of the United Stages an<T
Israel will not be determined by blackmailers or
terrorists," Bentsen said. "It will be determined by
our own ties and friendship." Earlier Arnold Forster,
general counsel of the B'nai B'rith's Anti-Defamation
' League, charged that the Administration has "actively
opposed" measures to strengthen! the resistance of
' American business firms to the Arab boycott. He also
noted that "Experience has shown that when
American companies firmly reject the boycott and
continue to trade with Israel, their Arab customers,
who need American products, goods and technical
knowhow, blink at the boycott."
Optimism Appears In Israel As "Significant
Changes" Reported In Egyptian Proposals
JERUSALEM   (WNS)   -
Israelis appeared to be more
optimistic about the chances
for an interim agreement
between Egypt and Israel as
reports, were  issued, that
Egypt has made "significant
changes" in her proposals.
The Egyptian proposals,
which were Cairo's answer
to Israel's outline for an
agreement,   were   given
Israeli Ambassador Simcha
Dinitz during a 90-minute
meeting with Secretary of,
State Henry A. Kissinger in
Washington. Dinitz refused
to discuss the proposals with
newsmen except to remark,
"I can say the course of
negotiations is going on and
this very fact is a good sign."
In Israel, officials were also
tight-lipped    about    the
Egyptians. However, after
the ministerial negotiations
team — Premier Yitzhak
Rabin,-Foreign Minister
Yigal   Allon  and  Defense
Minister Shimon Peres —
.vr6v.iewed2 the : proposals,
2bfficials reported that2there
were ~ changes"in" Eqiipt's;
positions However, Israel is
expected        to        seek
iClarification    frorrt
Washington before she gives
her own answer. There was
also some speculation that
Rabin    may    cancel    a
scheduled visit to Austria
because Kissinger plans to
resume     his      "shuttle
diplomacy" about August 20.
Meanwhile, in Washington
the State Department
"categorically" denied that
Kissinger has urged Israel to
speed up negotiations so that
he could resume his
"shuttle." President Ford in
a Public Broadcast service
interview again warned that
a fifth Arab-Israeli war
could lead to a confrontation
between the U.S. and the
Soviet Union. He urged both
Israel and Egypt to be more
flexible. Earlier White
House Press Secretary Ron
Nessen denied a report from .
Belgrade that Ford and
Yugoslav President Tito
held identical views meant
that Ford endorsed Tito's
call for a separate
Palestinian state. The two
leaders,; following talks
which focused on the
Mideast, called for
moderation and flexibility in
the attempt to reach a set¬
tlement in the Arab-Israel
conflict.    At    a    dinner
welcoming Ford, Tito said
that Israel must withdraw
from Arab . territories as
soon as possible and
recognize Palestinian in¬
dependence. Ford took no
notice of Tito's remarks. But
later after their talks, Tito
said his views were idenHcal
with Ford's on the Mideast.
Ford had emphasized that a
stalemate in the Israeli -
Egyptian negotiations was
unacceptable.
U.S.S.R. Raised Exit Tax For Jews
By David Landau
JERUSALEM (JTA) -
The Soviet authorities have
recently raised the amount
of money they demand for
each exit permit issued to
Jews wishing td emigrate,
Jewish Agency Chairman
Pinhas Sapir revealed Aug.
4. This was one of the causes
of the steady and ongoing
drop in Soviet aliya, Sapir
told the presidium of the
Zionist General Council
meeting under Council
chairman Knesseter Yitzhak
Navon. In a wide-ranging
review of aliya problems,
Sapir said the recent '■"most
favored nation" pact bet¬
ween the U.S. and Rumania
gave reasons for hope of an
improvement in Rumanian
aliya     figures;      South
American aliya was falling
despite the dangerous
political and economic
situation in some countries
on that continent. Soviet
aliya figures for the first half
of this year were 4710
compared with 9700 during
the same period of last year
and over 1400 for the same
period in 1973. (The figure is
of Soviet Jews actually
reaching Israel.) During the
last month only five hundred
Soviet Jews have made aliya
from the USSR, Sapir said.
The main reason, he felt,
was the hardening of the
authorities'    policy    on
emigration. The tax hike
was an expression of this
hardening.
The hardening had caused
"some drop" in the number
of Jews applying for exit
permits, Sapir said, but
more than 160,000 were on
the waiting list, having
applied in the past without
success. As to the rise in the
number 2 of "hosbxim'.'
(emigrants dropping mit at
Vienna or elsewhere and
heading west rather than to
Israel), Sapir said this was
due in part to; a deliberate
policy of selection by the
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
FEATURE
Resurgent Anti-Semitism In Argentina
ByEdnaAlzenberg
(Editor's notsi Edna Alianbtrg.
former JTA Correspondent In
Vtnsiuola, visited Argtntlna last
month. Her analysis Is presented in a
two-part Series.)
Part One
(JTA) - "We vM all go to
Argentina and once -again
work the land, and care for
our flocks... You'll seel It's
a land where 2 everyone
works and where--the
Christian won't hate us,,
because there the sky is
' different and in his soul are
■ found mercy and justice."
(Alberto Gerchunoff, "Los
Gauchos Judios"). In 1910,
when Argentina celebrated
its first centenary of in¬
dependence, a Russian-born
Jewish immigrant published
a collection of stories in
Buenos Aires as his homage
to the land where the sky
„ was different and Christian
didn't hate Jew. Alberto
Gerchunoff, author of the
' volume he  entitled,   "Los
Gauchos    Judios"    (The
Jewish Cowboys), was one of
a group of Russian Jewish
settlers brought to Argentina
by the Jewish Colonization
Association at the turn of the
century as .part, of Baron
Maurice de Hirsch's plan to
find hew homes for Jews
living  under  the heel  of
czarist   Mother   Russia.
Later, .becoming      a
prominent    newspaperman
and   writer,   Gerchunoff
described in a series of short
vignettes how observant,
Yiddish - speaking shtetl
Jews who didn't know the
first thing about agriculture,
became farmers, adjusting
to the ways of the Argentine
Countryside even as they
sought  to  maintain their
Jewish   identity.   In   1975,
"Lbs Gauchos Judios" was
brought to the screen and
caused    an  ' immediate
reaction. During the movie's
premier in Buenos Aires,
ihdendiary   bombs   were
hurled at the entrance to
Cine Broadway where the
picture  was  being  shown
while     "unknowns"
destroyed the glass doors
and seats on the premises
and "distributed   virulently
anti-Semitic    handbills
: claiming that "gold" was the
Jewish    gaucho's    seed,
"usury, their plow;  man,
their beast of burden; their
fruit,   the  blood  of  the
Argentines."  Even  before
the moyie's opening, during
the filming, there was an
attempted arson on the set
which destroyed scenery and
technical equipment and
forced the interruption of
work for a week. After that,
the area where the movie
was being shot was placed
under   armed  guard;   A
preview of "Los. Gauchos
Judios"  scheduled by a
Buenos Aires cinema club
was' cancelled at the last
moment when the picture's
director, Juan Jose Jusid,
received threats:  .
The     apparent   -con¬
tradiction between Ger¬
chunoff s paean to Argentina
as the Promised Land and
the incidents at the Cine
Broadway are largely a
result of the historical
moments Which produced
each. Gerchunoff wrote at a
time when Argentina was
the .most modern,
prosperous, and powerful
nation of all those that had
come into being out of the
dismemberment - of the
Spanish empire in the New
World; when for scores of
European immigrants • —
Jews Included — the
republic on the River Plat
symbolized America. The
movie version of his work, on
the other hand, opened at a
time of trouble for Argentina
when the country is un¬
dergoing one of its severest
political,.economic, and
social crises, with ex¬
tremists both on the right
' and the left trying to outdo
each other In the violence of
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 9)
L to r, Rabbi David Stavsky, Seth Greenberg,
Bernard Hirsch, Carole Elkins, Irvin Flox, Blanche
Young, Not pictured, Mr. Morris Weinstock and Mr.
Martin Schecter.
Beth Jacob REW Them To Be
"The American Jew-Year 2001"
Mrs. Ronald Elkins was
named chairman of the
Seventeenth Annual
Religious Emphasis Week
program at Beth Jacob by
Mr. Bernard Hirsch,
president of the
Congregation. Mrs. Elkins, a
native Columbus ite, and
active member of the Beth
Jacob Sisterhood, an¬
nounced that this year's
theme for the exciting series
of lectures is "The American
Jew — Year 2001". The
lectures will be held in the
Social Hall of Beth Jacob
Synagogue, 1223 College
Avenue, during the week of
September 8 to the 11.
As during pervious R.E.W.
sessions, free literature,
relevant to the theme of the
program, will be available to
those attending. In addition,
at the conclusion of each
R.E.W. session refresh¬
ments Will be served by the
ladies of the Beth Jacob.
Sisterhood. i
Religious Emphasis Week
is held annually at Bern
Jacob Synagogue during the
(CONTINUED ON PAGE •)