Ohio Jewish chronicle. (Columbus, Ohio), 1990-08-23

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Oh i o H i st;. Boci et y L i br.
198S Velma five.
Columbus, Ohio
43£11 COMP
VOL.68 NO. 34
AUGUST 23, 1990-ELUL 2, 5750
Devoted to American
and Jewish Ideals.
OPERATION'
Soviet Re;:
—AND—
Resettlement.
In This Issue:
JNF Mobilizing
To Tackle Israel's Housing Crisis .. 3
ESL Tutors Needed ........... 4
JNF Preparing Land
For Arriving Soviet Immigrants ...... 5
Russian Library Open ........ 7
Support Sought
For Rally ................10
SA'z a, -COMMUNITY RALLY -
'STAND UP FOR FREEDOM-SEPT; 30
Jews Among U.S. Forces In Saudi Arabia
Despite The Kingdom's Exclusion Policy
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -
Despite Saudi Arabia's official policy of refusing entry
to Jews, the Pentagon says
Jewish soldiers and chaplains are being sent there
with U.S. forces to repel any
New Executive Director On Board At JFS
With extensive experience
in clinical counseling, program development, executive leadership and staff
training, Marvin Kuperstein
Iraqi Troops Thought
They Were Training
"To Conquer Israel"
JERUSALEM (JTA) --
Iraqi troops who invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2 thought they
were on a training exercise
preparing "to conquer Israel," according to a man who
identified himself as a member of the Kuwaiti royal family in an,unusual telephone
interview last week with Israel Radio.
The troops were surprised
to find themselves occupying
a neighboring Arab country,
according to the informant,
who identified himself as
Prince Ahmed Yusuf a-Sabah,
a cousin of the deposed Emir
Jaber al-Ahmed a-Sabah of
Kuwait, presently reported
to be in Saudi Arabia.
He spoke from a hotel
room in Bahrain, another oil-
producing emirate in the
Persian Gulf, where he said
he escaped from Kuwait by
using desert back roads.
He was fully aware he was
talking to the Israeli media,
the radio reported. If indeed
a Kuwaiti prince, he would
be the first member of that
country's extensive royal
family interviewed by Israeli journalists.
The telephone connection
was made by a Tel Aviv-
based private company relayed through London. There
are no direct telephone communications between Israel
and the Persian Gulf states.
"We saw a lot of aircraft
and a lot of troops in all the
streets of Kuwait," Sabah
said. He spoke pf widespread
looting and rape by the Iraqi
soldiers.
"The Iraqis came to the
houses, they took everything
from the houses, money if
they had some, gold, TV,
radio, everything. And in
every empty house, they
came and they put in an Iraqi family," he charged.
"The Iraqis are everywhere in Kuwait. There is
nothing now in Kuwait. They
took everything," he said.
has been appointed executive director of Jewish Family Services.
Kuperstein previously
served as executive director
for the Wisconsin chapter of
the American Diabetes Association.
A clinician by education,
he earned a master of social
work from Yeshiva University in New York City.
Kuperstein's professional
background has been a blend
of clinical and administrative experience, working primarily in Jewish communal
agencies with two stints at
general community nonprofit agencies.
vices. Although officially a
non-sectarian agency, JFS'
principle goal, under Kuperstein's leadership, is to be
the leading clinical agency
for the Jewish community.
Clinical, therapeutic and
counseling expertise need to
be dispensed with sensitivity
to the Jewish heritage and
perspective, Kuperstein feels.
As the central resettlement agency for Columbus-
bound Soviet Jews, JFS provides housing set-up and acquisition, clinical and vocational services, medical and
Jewish referrals and a
gamut of volunteer activities
. feared  toti,?ieIJS $™ - UnitedState^.besaid
Americans through the tran-        •        - -*■ --'---■
Iraqi invasion.
"No one is taken out of a
unit. because of religion.
Units go as units," Pentagon
public affairs spokesman
Tom Green said in Washington.
Another Pentagon official,
who requested anonymity,
said there are "no restrictions on religious services"
for U.S. troops inside Saudi
Arabia.
The official, however, said
he had no information on the
number of Jewish chaplains
being sent to the vicinity of the
kingdom.
Rabbi David Lapp, director of the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council, said last week
that no U.S. Jewish military
chaplains are currently in
Saudi Arabia, but that the
nearby U.S. Sixth Fleet and
the USS Saratoga, a battleship, have Jewish chaplains.
Jewish chaplains in the
Marines and infantry units
have been placed , on alert
but have yet to leave the
Marvin Kuperstein'
As a non-profit agency
head, Kuperstein feels a
commitment to both his
agency and the community
at large, taking an active
role in bipartisan concerns.
"If an issue arises that has
meaning and importance to
the general community, I
feel it's important to keep up
on these matters, regardless
of my agency's involvement.
This translates into JFS being involved in areas that
don't directly affect the Jewish community, but impact
the general community. We
want to be part of this solution," Kuperstein explains.
JFS serves the Jewish and
general community through
a range of clinical and vocational  programs  and  ser-
sition trauma.
Kuperstein believes JFS'
most important mission is
the resettlement of New
Americans. "We currently
provide the basic support,
retraining and guidance that
deals with the emotional upheaval New Americans are
living through," he says. Giving up homes and starting a
new life can tear up people
and families.
"The community lias done
a wonderful job and must
continue the good work for
New Americans yet to come..
The long range challenge for
JFS and the Jewish community is to still be there once
New Americans outgrow the
"New. American" designation, after four to eight
months. There will be times
when they need help beyond
that critical period.
"We can't turn our back to
their needs and say we can't
help since they are no longer
New Americans. Collectively, we must gear up and continue to provide services. We
cannot dismantle what we
have. These anticipated
needs must be incorporated
into future planning for the
agency. I don't want them to
fall between the cracks."
CONTINUED ON PAGE K
Lapp said that if Jewish
chaplains did land in the
Saudi kingdom, "that would
be history," marking the
first such deployment in an
Arab country.
Lapp stressed that the
Chaplain Council wants to be
careful of Saudi sensitivities.
"We don't want to embarrass them, nor do we want to
put ammunition in the hands
of Iraq," he said, "The host
country has always called
the shots."
According to Lapp, rough
ly 1 percent of U.S. armed
forces personnel are Jewish.
If that same ratio applied to
the contingent of U.S. troops
dispatched to the Persian
Gulf, that would mean approximately 200 Jewish soldiers are how stationed in or
near Saudi Arabia.
Until the late 1970s, the
American military screened
out Jews from participation
in military contacts with the
Saudis, according to Steven
Emerson, author of the
"American House of Saud."
Congressional hearings in
1975 revealed that the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
had agreed to Saudi demands that all American
military personnel serving
in Saudi Arabia submit certificates of religious affiliation and other background
materials, said Emerson.
"These actionfe effectively
barred Jews from participation in Saudi projects."
At Saudi Arabia's insistence, American blacks also
wergnnpt. given military, as-,
signments.
The Saudis relaxed their
policy of excluding Jews,
however, in November 1973,
when American journalists
accompanying Henry Kissinger, a Jew who was then
secretary of state, made his
first trip to the Arab country
after the oil embargo.
Offended by the Saudi visa
application, most of the journalists refused to indicate
their religion. The Saudis,
says Emerson, "were forced
to look the other way."
Despite that incident,
though, scores of American
companies - and a few universities - have been weeding out Jews from their projects in Saudi Arabia for
years.
In the late 1970s, for example, the VinnelGorp. in California insisted that no personnel with "contacts or interests in any country not
recognized by Saudi Arabia"
be assigned to the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel.
In addition, Baylor College
of Medicine in Texas refused
to send Jews to Saudi Arabia
for its lucrative cardiovascular surgical contract with
King Faisal Hospital.
About the same time, however, the Saudis quietly
started ignoring the fact that
Americans with Jewish surnames were working on military or industrial contracts
in the kingdom.
And starting in the
mid-1980s, Jewish members of
congressional delegations
were allowed into the kingdom.
Nonetheless, the Saudis
still maintain they will not
allow "Zionists" into the
country, and many American companies still comply
with the anti-Jewish restrictions.
Things have changed since
the early '80s "but not that
much," says Emerson. "The
Saudis still don't have an
open visa policy. If you write
'Jewish' on the visa application you're asking to be rejected."
EARLY DEADLINE
Deadline For The Thursday, Sept. 6, Issue
•   Is NOON, THURSDAY, AUG. 30
The OJC Office Will Be Closed On
LABOR DAY, MONDAY, Sept. 3
Governor Celeste Visits Wexner Heritage House
Governor and Mrs. Richard Celeste visited Heritage House recently at the invitation
of Bella Wexner, honorary chairwoman of the board, to view the rapid progress of construction for the Wexner Heritage House and to greet residents. "Heritage House-is
really a model geriatric health care center," Gov. Celeste noted in addressing
residents during their luncheon in the new residents' dining rooms. "Residents and all
of Columbus really have a great deal to be proud of." Pictured during the tour of the
Wexner Heritage House are (1. to r.) Louis Robins, Endowment Fund chairman-,
Robert A. Glick, president; Irving Barkan, past president; Wexner; Gov. Celeste;
Gerald N. Cohn, executive vice president; Dagmar Celeste, and two construction
employees from Setterlin Construction Company.
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