Ohio Jewish chronicle. (Columbus, Ohio), 1982-11-04

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LIBRARY,   OHIO   HISTORICAL,   SOC^X,.,.
1 98H   VELM-".   AVE.    , '   '
OQLS,   0,  '43211 EXOH
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VOL.60   NO/45
NOVEMBER 4,1982-CHESHVAN 18
Devoted To American
and Jewish Ideal*
FOCUS ON ISSUES
w. Sympathy Expressed for Rome's
France To ixpand Role In Lebanon
PARIS (.JTA)—France agreed last week to expand its role
in Lebanon and pledged to support Lebanon's independence
and territorial integrity. France also announced, after a two-
hour meeting between President Francois Mitterrand and
President /Vmin Gemayel of Lebanon, that it has agreed to
co-chair, with the United States, an international committee
for the reconstruction of Lebanon.
Jewish German Businessmen Receive Threats
BONN (WNS)—The West German publication Staats-
schutz has reported that many Jewish businessmen have
recently received letters containing threats and anti-Semitic
slurs. According to the publication, the letters were mailed
mostly to Jewish personalities in Hamburg, Berlin and
Munich. Jewish institutions andhouseholds in West Germany
have been maintaining a low profile in an apparent attempt
to avoid exposing themselves to criticism and violence.
Hotline For Traumatized Jews Begun
.AMSTERDAM (JTA)—The war in Lebanon and the fallout
from that war in the form of biased media reporting and the
growth of anti-Semitism in this country has traumatized a
sizeable portion of the Jewish population. Many of them are
suffering from severe anxiety and depression. In order to
help them, the Dutch Jewish Mental Health Society has
decided to establish a 24-hour hotline for such Jews to call in
for psychological counseling.
Canadian Official Says Canada
Not Opposed To Palestinian State
MONTREAL (JTA)—A Cabihet minister told a gathering
here of Arab students from the United States and Canada- ^highest government officials
ROME (JTA)-The almost four weeks since the
machinegun and grenade
attack on the main synagogue here which took the
life of a tworyear-old child
and wounded 33 men, women
and children has witnessed a
tremendous outpouring of
sorrow and sympathy for the
Jewish community.
It comes from all levels of
the Catholic Church hierarchy; from lay leaders and
humble parishoners; from
non-Catholic Christians and
, from Italians in all walks-.of
life. But coupled with the
deeply felt shock and grief is
a sense of confusion.
It is visible in the reactions
of people who are unable to
explain the magnitude of
anger and bitterness
expressed by Italian Jewry
in the immediate aftermath
of the tragedy, not only for
the perpetrators—who have
still not been identified or
apprehended—but against
the Pope, the Vatican, the
that "Canada is not opposed to the creation of a Palestinian
state and does not-exclude such a creation" but that "the
security of Israel is the central issue in the Arab-Israeli dispute." Those remarks were made by Pierre de Bane, the
Minister of Fisheries, who represented the federal govern^
ment at the convention of the Association of Arab-American
University Graduates here.
and the media.
Background Of Initial Shock
When the bloodshed and
terror elided, Rome's 15,000
Jews withdrew literally into
themselves. They chose to
mourn alone; rejecting the
Hebrew School 'Friends' To Honor
Past Presidents At Annual Meeting
The "Friends" of the Columbus Hebrew School will
pay tribute at their annual
meeting to the past presidents of the school for their
years of devoted service to
CHS, announced Arthur
Katz, chairman of the
Friends and Dr. Edmond
Schecter, president of the
Columbus Hebrew School.
The Annual Dinner
planned for Dec. 19 at the
Agudas Achim Social Hall
will also feature Aviva
Mutchnick, member of
World Organization of Jews
from .Arab Countries;
All past presidents committed to strengthening Jewish life through supporting
and furthering Jewish education. This commitment- is
evident often long after their
terms of presidency have expired.
The past presidents to be
honored are; Irving Baker,
Morris Fleishman, Dr. William W. Gilbert, Dr. Max P.
Kanter, Arthur Katz, Louis
M. Levin, Robert L. Mellman, Frank R, Nutis, Ben
Seiferas, Herbert L. Solomon, Dr. Harold Starr and
Sol Zeldin.
The affair, at the Agudas
Achim Social Hall, will start
with cocktails at 6:15 p.m.
and will be followed with dinner at'7 p.m.
The Planning Committee
appointed by Friends' Chairman"'Arthur Katz; includes:
CHS President Dr. Edmond
Schecter, Morris Fleishman,
Farrel Shar, Philip Waldman and Dr. Marvin
Zuravsky.
Invitations will be mailed,.
and reservations can be
made by calling 231-7764,
231-8700.
Robert Sohottenstein To Chair
November 21 Big Gifts Affair
Howard Burnett, chairman of the 1983 Young Men's
Division of the ynited Jewish Fund Campaign, recently announced that Robert H.
Schottenstein will chair the
Big Gifts Affair of the Young
Men's Division this year, to
be held Sunday, Nov. 21,9:30
a.m., at the home of Gary
and Connie Robins. Howard
Gross will serve as co-chairman of the Big Gifts event.
Schottenstein, an attorney
at Schottenstein, Zox and
Dunn, has been active in the
Young Men's Division for
many years, first as a
worker and then as a member of the Executive Cabinet
for the past three years. He
also serves on the Board of
Trustees of the Columbus
Torah Academy, is a mem
ber of B'nai B'rith and is
active in the Columbus
Chamber of Commerce.
Gross, vice president of
merchandising for the
Limited Stores, has also
been active in the Young
Men's Division for several
years. He is also active in.
B'nai B'rith, Temple Israel,
the, Jewish Center and the
American Israel Public Af-
fairs Committee (AIPAC).
Guest, speaker at the
1982-83 Big Gifts Affair will
be Morton Kondriicke,
Executive Editor of The New
Republic. Also featured will
be Joseph Kanfer, UJA Cabinet co-chairman.
Additional inforination on
the Nov. 21 Big Gifts /Vffair
can be sedUred by calling the
Federation office (237-7686).
offerings of condolence as
they did official tributes of
flowers;
In their initial shock, they
saw the murderous attack
outside the landmark synagogue as a direct result of a
climate created by events
that preceded it: the audience granted by Pope John
Paul II to Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir
Arafat; the warm reception
Arafat received from1 President Sandro Pertini and Foreign Minister Emilio Colombo; the endless drumbeat of
criticism of Israel by much
of the Italian news media for
its war in Lebanon, particularly after the massacre of
Palestinians in west Beirut
by Israel's Christian Phalangist allies.
Effort At Reconciliation
Many Italians are puzzled
by this linkage and Jews too
are wondering, in retrospect, whether the cause-
and-effect juxtaposition of
events is as clear cut as initially it appeared to be.
Meanwhile, as both communities strive to unravel their
feelings, a reconciliation has ,
been taking place.
Two of the JJ3 wounded
were Catholic. One was a
youth studying for converr
sion to .Judaism; the other
was the fiancee of a Jewish
young man who was attending the Sabbath and Simchat
Torah services. Chief Rabbi
Elio Toaff recalled seeing a
Catholic woman bend to kiss
the ground where the blood
of the victims was spilled as
ambulances were rushing
the wounded to a nearby hospital.
That spontaneous gesture
-matched "the spirit with
which so many Italians 40
years ago risked their own
lives to save the lives of
other Italians of Jewish-
faith," Toaff said referring
to: the Nazi era. He said it
reaffirmed his faith in the
Italian people.
There were many other
manifestations of solidarity
with Rome's Jews. Wounded
children in the hospitals
received piles of letters from.
Catholic schools. One, from
a grade school in Vallecrozia
run by a Salasian nun, said:
"Don't think everyone wants
to kill you. Twnety-two children love you." Another
said: "I will pray that the
PLO will repent."
The Waldensian and
Methodist churches of Rome
sent messages to the Jewish
community saying they had
"confessed their sin and recognized their share of responsibility because, they
had not worked hard
for justice and peace.'
delegation of Polish bishops
and priests, themselves concentration camp survivors,
visited the Jewish wounded
at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital near the main synagogue.
Italty Not Infected
By Anti-Semitism
In all of Europe, the
modern Italian state has
been among the least
infected by anti-Semitism.
The Italian people have not
been and are not now anti-
Semitic. With respect to racism, Mussolini was a reluctant partner of Hitler. While
political pressures instigated his version of the
Nuremburg laws during
World War II, Italians by
and large tried to help their
Jewish neighbors.
Some Jews recalled, after
the synagogue attack, that
Italian soldiers gave haven
to French Jews fleeing the
Vichy regime which only too
willingly collaborated in the
Nazi deportations.
Today there are also political interests at work which,
through alliances with
' extremist Arab groups and
the more doctrinaire sections of. the Communist-
dominated Italian trade
union federation, try to
.exploit anti-Semitism. But
most of the Italian population has remained immune
to these attempts.
Some Questions Asked
So Italians ask: Why do
the Jews insist that the terrorist attack would not have
occurred but for a carefully
prepared climate of anti-
Semitism? The terrorists
almost certainly were
Arabs,: probably Palestinians, probably members of
Abu Nidal's fanatical /J
Assifa which even the PLO
claims to disown.
Italians were in no way
involved, they say. Moreover, terrorism is one thing,
a plague of the times which
has caused death and
destruction not only to Jews;
anti-Semitism is something
else, an ancient prejudice
discredited by decent people.
So why were the Jews so
quick to cast blame? their
fellow Italians ask. Is criticism of the policies of Premier Menachem Begin and
his Defense Minister .Ariel
Sharon to be equated with
anti-Semitism and thereby
be made exempt from all
criticism? Many Jews the
world over are among the
severest critics of the Begin-
Sharon government and they
can hardly be accused of
anti-Semitism, fhe Italians
say.
The   confusion  perhaps
stems from the belief that
because  Italian  Jewry
reacted as one in its grief
and anger over the attack,   ...
they are a monolithic community. In fact, Italian Jews
rarely speak with one voice
but in many, often contradictory voices. When emotions
run high, however, there is a*
tendency  to  generalize.
Long-time friends are mistaken for enemies. Thus, the
Pope and the president of  .
Italy are accused, in the heat,
of the moment, of "causing"
the terrorist assault because
they received Arafat.
Logic and Reality
That logic does not hold
water for long. Many, not
only Jews, agreed that the
Pope's audience with the
PLO leader was at the very
least controversial and inopportune, a "political" misr
take, but certainly not an
anti-Semitic gesture or an
endorsement of the PLO's
methods and goals.
Italian Jews,, who in the
aftermath of the attack
believed otherwise, forgot
some important facts. On
Sept. 12, when Arafat's visit
was imminent, .the Union of
Italian Jewish Communities
made specific demands of
. the government: "To condemn terrorism on all sides
and firmly insist on the revision of the PLO charter during the coming encounters
(with .Arafat) ... in the light
of a negotiated solution of
the Middle East conflict."
Contrary to the belief of
some sections of Italian and
world Jewry, that appeal did
not fall on deaf ear, either in
the government or the Vatican. On Sept. 15, right after
Arafat's meeting with the
Pope, the Vatican Press
Office issued a statement
saying that the Pope had
expressed to Arafat "...
> His wish that a just and lasting solution to the Middle
East conflict will soon be
reached which, excluding
recourse to arms and violence in every form, and
above all to'terrorism and
reprisals, may lead to the
recognition of the rights of
all peoples and in particular
otthVf a'le&tinian people, to
a homeland, and of Israel to
its security."
Later, the Press Office
reiterated that "... When
receiving Arafat, (the Pope)
emphasized the necessity to
exclude recourse to arms, tu
violence,, to terrorism in
order to reach peace in the
Middle East." At a televised
round-table discussion three
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 14)
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