Notes & News

...Why isn't the Arab world, let alone the rest of the world, up in arms about this horror' Why is it simply a passing non-issue' Is it only Israel that can do wrong' Gore Vidal On How To Stop Arab Terrorism Gore Vidal, essayist, novelist and sometime politician, is the subject of an interview in the December Playboy, from which the following is an excerpt: Question: What is your prescription for fighting Arab-sponsored terrorism' Vidal: Simplicity itself...

...What the Soviet Union owes the world is not a cursory statement of regret [over his reputed death in 1947 in a Soviet prison...

...the Democratic and Republican cochairmen of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, are cosponsors of the Wallenberg monument legislation The announcement was made during a recent reception held to honor Wallenberg where a number of individuals were also recognized for their contributions in publicizing Wallenberg's actions...

...There he died in 1910, a victim of the Spanish flu epidemic...

...According to a report in The New Tork Times (October 9, 1987), Lander wanted to react to the letter, but was told indirectly that this would be unnecessary ' 'Don't worry, the Austrian people will react to it," he was told...

...The Palestinians keep saying they want representation, they want to be heard," said Shultz "It's sort of contradictory for them to say that they need to be heard, but when they're offered a chance, not to take advantage of it...

...At least one member of Manaus's small synagogue claimed his requests were granted...

...If the Syrians Do It, It's Not So Bad Can you imagine what the outcry would be if Israel did what Amnesty International recently reported Syria is doing...

...The repentant Vancier told the judge, "I have no justification for what I did...

...These trading companies would hire new Jewish immigrants to work in warehouses and on steamers, and would send the immigrants to settlements located upstream, where they would set up the settlements' general stores Rabbi Moyal, wanting to leave no stone unturned, decided to go upstream to collect money from the Jews of these small settlements in the Amazon jungle...

...Another Glasnost Phenomenon— Ex-Refuseniks Return to USSR as Tourists While precise figures are unavailable, the number of Jewish emigres from the Soviet Union who have returned to their homeland as tourists, to visit friends and relatives, probably runs into the hundreds According to a Western diplomat quoting an Intourist official, as many as 200 to 300 former Soviet citizens visited the USSR as tourists since last spring Pamela Braun Cohen and Micah Naf-talin of the Union of Councils For Soviet Jews put the figure of Jewish emigres who have returned for a visit even higher Among those who have returned on a tourist visa is Alex Goldfarb, now an assistant professor of microbiology at Columbia University, who wa*s one of the most visible and officially disliked Jewish dissidents of the early 1970s As the word spreads, more and more former Soviet citizens are applying for visas to return for a visit and are getting them...

...We haven't got the money to support Israel...

...Birthrate of Ultra-Orthodox in Israel nearly Eight Per Mother...

...Many Palestinians are willing to accept a compromise peace agreement, but the price of saying so may be their heads They even fear to meet with the American secretary of state...

...That was the end of the matter...

...for the ultra-Orthodox, it is nearly 8 per mother, according to statistics presented at a symposium on World Jewish Population held recently in Israel...

...Lantos and Representative John Porter (R-Ill...

...Two other former members of the militant JDL, founded by Meir Kahane in 1968, were also sentenced, one to a prison term of five years and the other for a suspended sentence of three years...

...But they didn't...

...Moderate Palestinians Fear For Their Lives The greatest obstacle to peace with the Palestinians may be the fear of moderate continued on page 55 Palestinians that they will be murdered if they speak up and take anything less than an extreme stand...

...A day hardly passes without someone's approaching the rabbi's grave, crossing himself or herself, asking for help, and adding to the candles, pebbles, beads, coins and mementos that nearly cover the rabbi's tomb...

...Nothing else will work...

...In the early years of the century, Rabbi Salom Moyal set out on a trip halfway around the world to collect contributions for his struggling yeshiva in Jerusalem...

...It owes the world a full explanation of what happened to one of the true heroes of this century...

...announced that he will introduce legislation to erect a monument to Raoul Wallenberg, the brave Swedish diplomat who saved his life during World War II Annette Lantos, the congressman's wife and founder-president of the International Free Wallenberg Committee, described her efforts to secure American citizenship for Wallenberg in "My Fight for Raoul Wallenberg" (moment, October 1987...

...When Secretary of State George Shultz visited the Middle East in late October, he scheduled a meeting with some Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza...

...Perhaps that is why there is no Peace Now movement on the Arab side as there is on the Israeli side...

...The overall birthrate for Jews m Israel is 2.8 children per mother...

...The Israelis are going to have to give back the land they have stolen from the Palestinians, and create a pluralist state...

...in Austria Last May, Carl Hordl, the deputy mayor of Lmz, an important industrial city in Austria, sent a letter to the president of the World Jewish Congress stating' "You Jews got Christ but you're not going to get Waldheim the same way " Hordl sent a copy of the letter to the retiring U.S...

...Adult volunteers may be given the Shofar Award in recognition of their efforts...

...The Ner Tamid award activities, established previously for Scouts and Explorers ages 11 to 20, are aimed at establishing a positive relationship with the child's rabbi, and include a service project for the synagogue or another Jewish organization...

...At that time, Jewish families owned prosperous trading companies for cacao, hardwood and rubber, located at major Brazilian ports...

...City Government May Boycott Banks Making Soviet Loans A bill that would bar the New York City government from depositing money in banks that make loans to the Soviet Union has been introduced in the New York City Council (See October 1987 moment article, "Gorbachev at the Bank—How Tying up Untied Loans May Free Soviet Jews" by Pamela Braun Cohen and Micah Naftalin ) The bill, which would also bar municipal contracts with all companies that sell goods directly to the Soviet government, has been languishing until recently In late September, however, 30 council members, including the council president and the majonty leader, signed a letter to Soviet foreign minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, saying they would ' 'seriously consider" the bill unless action were taken to allow more Jews to emigrate Former JDL Head Gets 10 Years in Jail Victor Vancier, who served as national chairman of the Jewish Defense League in 1985 and 1986, was recently sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for taking part in a series of "terrorist bombings" in the New York area to protest Soviet treatment of Jews...

...Hordl remains m office...

...ambassador to Vienna, Ronald S Lander...

...Dozens of engraved marble plaques of gratitude testify to the efficacy of the rabbi's intervention Occasionally, even one of the Jews who live in Manaus can be seen at the rabbi's grave...

...Prepared by Rabbi Hyman Chanover of Baltimore, Maryland, along with the Jewish Education Service of North America, the new Maccabee program requires that the child learn about Jewish names, holidays, heroes, symbols, objects and articles...

...Every one of them declined Meanwhile, the Austrian government is considering legislation that would make anti-Semitism illegal in Austria...

...Palestine Information Office Ordered to Close moment's September 1987 debate "Should We Allow the PLO in the United States'" was followed, two weeks later, by the State Department's announcement that it was ordering the information office in Washington, D.C...

...I was a great Zionist when the thing started Lebanon is what turned me around I realized that not only is the Israeli leadership demented but the Shamir/Sharons are active fascists in the way that the Reagan/Rehnquists are passive fascists Question: It's that kind of statement that has gotten you branded as anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic Vidal: I have made myself very clear on the subject Israel has skewed American politics like nobody's business...

...World Jewish Population Declining Apropos the Sachar interview on p. 14...

...With a classic reprieve, Vidal asserted later m the interview, "Most of my friends in the United States are Jewish...

...Richard Schifter, assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs, who was also recognized at the reception, recounted that when he was recently in Moscow the Soviet government responded with their "formula answer" as to Wallenberg's whereabouts...

...According to the Amnesty International report, Syrian security forces have tortured thousands—repeat, thousands— of political prisoners in recent years, including large numbers of Palestinians seized from refugee districts in Syria and from Syrian-controlled areas of Lebanon Many of the prisoners died as a result of the torture Others are seriously ill An official of Amnesty International stated that these rights violations "had the approval of the [Syrian] government " The story appeared at the bottom of page 8 in The New Tork Times of October 28, 1987...

...that speaks for the PLO (called the Palestine Information Office or PIO) to close down and divest itself of its property Originally given 30 days to close down, the PIO obtained a 45-day extension...

...Lantos'] moving and informative article in moment," Ellenoff said "Annette Lantos summed it up when she wrote 'Raoul Wallenberg not only saved 100,000 lives, he saved our faith in humanity.' " The American Jewish Committee cosponsored the commemorative event with the Congressional Caucus for Human Rights...

...The Aleph emblem introduces scouts ages seven to ten to the study of Torah, prayer, holidays, the synagogue, their American Jewish heritage and Israel...

...He is a saint," claimed one of the workers who cares for the cemetery...

...A Rabbi Buried in the Amazon Jungle Performs Miracles from the Grave A rabbi from Jerusalem, dead nearly 80 years, is still performing miracles— mostly for Christians—in the heart of the Amazon rain forest in Brazil...

...They hate the United States because of our connection to Israel...

...It is going to stop soon...

...And it is not to our interest to have the hatred of 150,000,000 Arabs, the hatred of one billion Moslems...

...Rabbi Moyal was buried in the general cemetery of Manaus, Brazil, amid the largely Catholic population whose crosses still surround his grave...

...In early September, Sergei Aleyevsky, a Brookhne, Massachusetts travel agent, organized a group of 18 Jewish emigres who spent a week in the Soviet Union with friends and relatives they had not seen in years—and, in many cases, never expected to see again Boy Scouts Offer Maccabee Badge Boy Scouts may now earn a Maccabee badge...

...The interesting thing is," Ambassador Lander, who is Jewish, told the Times, "the mayor [of Linz], the governor of the area and his party, the People's Party, did not react They found nothing wrong with it The government never condemned it, never said anything This would not have happened any [other] place in the Western world...

...Apropos the article by futurist Max Singer on p 24: The world Jewish population in the year 2000, it is predicted, will be 16 6 million In 1985, it was 12.8 million...

...First graders join their big brothers who are already earning the Aleph and Ner Tamid emblems...

...There is no morality in politics...

...Lander asked several Austnans who privately dissociate themselves from anti-Semitic statements whether they would do so publicly...

...There are only interests...

...No one is sure how it began, but the rabbi is now regarded as a miracle worker...

...He does miracles for people who come to him with faith...

...After receiving threats, the Palestinians boycotted the meeting...

...Wallenberg Monument Proposed for U.S...

...When the American people wake up to it and realize what is going on, they are going to be very, very angry...

...Capital In commemoration of Raoul Wallenberg's sixth anniversary as an honorary American citizen, Representative Tom Lantos (D-Calif...

...Among American Jews, the birthrate is 1 6 per mother...

...Theodore Ellenoff, president of the American Jewish Committee and one of those honored, praised the Lantoses for their selfless efforts to heighten public awareness of Wallenberg's heroism "Nowhere is this more evident than in [Mrs...

...Chief among these incidents was a firebombing at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center on October 20, 1986, when the Moscow State Symphony was scheduled to perform No one was injured m the incident...

...Dr Alois Mock, chairman of the Austrian People's Party, has come out strongly in support of this proposal, which has been approved by a parliamentary committee and must be considered by the full parliament Hammer Echoes moment's Sources In the October moment, we reported "reliable sources" as saying that the Soviet Union had "decided to restore full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1988 " In late October, the Jerusalem Post quoted American industrialist Armand Hammer, who has extremely close ties with the Kremlin, as predicting "resumption of full diplomatic ties between Moscow and Jerusalem" if the upcoming superpower summit between the U S and USSR is successful...

...Says Fred Tichauer, director of Jewish relations for the Boy Scouts of America: "We are interested in strengthening the partnership with Jewish institutions" With all three emblems, the scout works together with an adult supervisor (a rabbi, Jewish day school principal, or parent) who guides the child and recommends him or her for the award when the course of learning is completed N.Y...