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SERVfk'G NEBRASKA, Vol. LXII No. 51
Omaha, Neb., Fri., August 17,1984
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WASHINGTON - Soviet diplomats in Washington D.C. may soon find their embassy located on "Andrei Sakharov Plaza," if a proposal passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee recently becomes law. Sakharov, a Nobel prize-winning scientist, has been reported on a hunger strike in Russia, an attempt to coerce Soviet officials to permit his wife, Yelena Bonner, to seek necessary medical treatment in the West. In protest of such Soviet oppression, the move to change the Soviet Embassy's address was first initiated by Iowa Senator Chuck Grfssley (Rep.). Grassley \>ad proposed the entire block in front of the Soviet Embassy be renamed for Sakharov, an idea spawned in Paris, where Grassley and parliamentarians from seven nations discussed ways to improve human rights standards in the U.S.S.R. Shirley Goldstein, of Omaha, was among those attending. ' In Washington, however, the District of
Columbia officials opposed the idea, citing District policy that permits streets to be named for deceased persons only. Refusing to let this initiative die, Grassley implored members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, where such legislation must first be approved, "to take the ball and run with it." His efforts culminated this week with the Appropriations Committee passage of a compromise measure written by committee member Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.), that calls for only the site of the Soviet Embassy to be renamed Sakharov Plaza. D.C. officials reportedly had no objections to this revised proposal. As the measure now moves to the full Senate for approval, Grassley called D'Amato's bill "Even more pronounced in its intention, as we remind the Soviets with every piece of mail they receive, that America will forever be committed to the Sakharovs of the world suffering under oppressive regimes."
WASHINGTON —. U.S. Senator Roger ticipating, in Hamburg, Germany. Jepsen (R-Iowa) defended a prominent New "I addressed the Senate five weeks ago as York Congressman with whom he had been we considered and acted favorably upon, working on an investigation into Soviet sab- House Concurrent Resolution No. 294, otage of the International Mails. which called the Soviets into account for Action by Congressman Benjamin A. Gil- their deliberate interception and sabotage man (R-New York) and Senator Jepsen re- of the International Mails. sulted in new regulations adopted by the ' "This subject has been under investigaUniversal Postal Union Convention in tion by the Subcommittee on Investigations Hamburg, Germany, with 167 nations par- of the House for some 18 months now at ticipating. the specific request of Congressman BenSenator Jepsen attacked the Soviets for jamin A. Gilman of New York, who is a sentheir "slanderous" attack on the New York ior member of the House Post Office and Congressman closely identified with the So- Civil Service Committee and a distinguished colleague long involved in the plight viet Jewry issues. Senator Jepsen's statement on the issue of Soviet Jews. was documented by gathering exHibits for "The Senate voted unanimously in favor the Congressional investigation into the So- of this Resolution, which pointed out that viet sabotage. there was a cold, calculated, systemic campaign by the Soviets to interfere with InSenator Jepsen stated: "I have just learned of a slanderous and ternational Mail. "Congressman Gilman personally atvicious attack on a member of the House of Representatives by the Soviet Union in con- tended the U. P. U. Congress in Germany, junction with the Universal Postal Union as did our Postmaster General, William F. Congress, at which 167 nations were par- Bolger. Both cited the Soviets."
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NEW YORK — National Jewish organizations have welcomed the announcement that the Republican Party's platform would repudiate anti-Semitism and all other forms of hated, racism, and bigotry, but at the' same time urged the Republican leaders to "reject the current divisive assault on the First Amendment's separation of church and state" as a further step to discourage racism and bigotry. America flourished as a free society, the Jewish groups asserted, "because of the guarantees contained in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, most notably the First Amendment." It was in that context, they said, that the Republican Party was urged to protect the separation of church and state, a separation that was characterized as "the wall erected against government entanglement in religious affairs that has led to unparalleled religious tolerance, religious pluralism and religious freedom in the United States." A statement by the Jewish organizations, in which 15 Jewish community relations councils around the country to date have joined, was sent to Sen. Paula Hawkins of Florida and to Congressman Trent Lott of Mississippi, cochairmen of the Republican Platform Committee. Several days ago, Senator Hawkins, along with Senators Alfonse D'Amato of New York and Rudy Boschwitz of Minnesota and Congressman Bobbi Fiedler of California, issued a public statement calling for a Republican Party platform provision denouncing racism and anti-Semitism. Her public statement came in response to a request from Senator D'Amato that the following statement be incorporated in the Republican platform: "In view of recent events and the statements of prominent political personalities, the Republican Party takes this opportunity to reaffirm its adherence to pluralistic principles and to repudiate and disassociate itself from those who preach all forms of hatred, bigotry, racism and antiSemitism." The proposed Republican platform statement, the Jewish leaders commented, "reflects a fundamental consensus among Americans and a basic creed of .our nation which bears reiteration, reinforcement, and rededication."
A request that a state judicial commission investigate a derogatory reference to a black man allegedly made by a Florida circuit judge has been filed jointly by Jewish, Black and Spanish-American organizations. Judge Dick C. P. Lantz of Florida's Eleventh Circuit Court has been accused of making a racial slur on Aug. 1 against the dead father of a black plaintiff in a personal injury suit. The joint request for the inquiry was submitted to Florida's Judicial Qualifications Commission by the American Jewish Congress, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Spanish American League Against Discrimination. ' Judge Lantz was reported to have referred to the black man, Gregory Gill, 27, who was run over by a car, as a shvartzer — a derogatory Yiddish expression for blacks — according to several witnesses who were in his chambers at the time the remark allegedly was made. Judge Lantz, a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, denies making the remark. The reference was reportedly made during discussion of a suit brought on behalf of Mr. Gill's three-year-old son. Two attorneys present recalled that Judge Lantz said: "Oh, I remember that case. That isthe accident that happened at night where the shvartzer was running across the high1 way and they couldn't see him coming because he wasn't smiling." In their request to the Judicial Qualifications Commission, the three organizations said that the "cloud which surrounds Judge Lantz must be dispelled." They asked for an investigation of the jurist "which will exonerate or condemn him." The organization observed in a statement that prejudicial behavior cannot be tolerated within "the halls of justice" since "the judiciary is often the last recourse open to ethnic minorities to redress discrimination they have suffered." This is not the first.'time .Judge Lantz has been at the center of controversy. Four years ago, the Judicial Qualifications Commission found that he had made ill-considered remarks about women and homosexuals.
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. — B'nai B'rith International has deplored the "blatant anti-Semitic bigotry" of the Malaysian government which has ordered the New York Philharmonic Orchestra not to perform a work by Jewish composer Ernest Bloch. Philip Lax, chairman of the International Council of B'nai B'rith, called upon U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar. to talte "appropriate action" against the Kuala Lampur regime, under the provisions of all relevant UN human rights instruments. The International Council, which is the B'nai B'rith agency responsible for U.N. relations, also instructed its representative in Geneva to raise the issue during the current session there of the U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. In a letter to the U.N- secretary-general, Lax noted that reports reaching New York quote Malaysian Information official Rais Yatim as saying that it is not proper for the Bloch piece, entitled "Schelomo" (or Solomon, the king of Israel some 3,000 years ago) to be performed in Malaysia. "Schelomo" is Bloch's most frequently performed work. Yatim told a press conference in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lampur that his government would not encourage the presentation of works of Jewish origin. "Our policy on Israel and the Jews has been spelled out clearly and we are implementing this policy" Yatim said. Lax observed that "anti-Semites frequently try to obscure their racism and religious intolerance under the mask of anti-Zionism. But this time the bigotry is open and raw." The B'nai B'rith leader called upon the U.N. secretarygeneral to take all steps necessary to deal with "this outrage." Specifically, he asked that the Malaysian government be brought up under the Economic and Social Council Resolution 1503 Procedures for consideration of human rights violation. "Minister Yatim's own words attest to the fact that his government's most recent action is a part of a pattern of persistent and reliably attested acts of discrimination against Jews," Lax said. "This is precisely what 1503 was adopted to deal with."
By Irving Greenberg President, National Jewish Resource Center
year, the Reagan administration wishes to soften its image of being excessively hardline on Russia. There is constant media criticism at the poor state of U.S.-Russia relations. There is no profit — indeed, there is real political cost — in maintaining pressure on the USSR on the Afghan issue. But is the situation in Afghanistan better? On the contrary, in an attempt to crush the stubborn guerilla resistance, the USSR is waging a ruthless war against civilians. Two Russian deserters testified in London that Russian soldiers are ordered to kill Afghan villagers in cold blood. At a press conference, they said: "An officer decides to have a village searched . . . What usually happens is we found a cartridge or a bullet. The officers said: 'This is a bandit village. It must be destroyed.' . . . The men and the young men are usually shot right where they are. And the women, what they do is to try to kill them with grenades . . . (The New York Times, June 28, 1984) Dr. Claude M B . J » - Jirectoroif.Mpf)icins sans F r o - " "
(Doctors Without Borders), an organization sending medical teams to conflict areas all over, the world, spoke at Harvard. His organization has equipped and operated twelve hospitals in Afghanistan, four of which have been bombed and destroyed by the Soviets. According to Malurec: Rather than gaining control by seeking native support in villages and towns, the Soviets are attempting to take over Afghanistan by terrorizing its people. Tactics include: pillaging and burning villages, executing inhabitants and, increasingly, heavy air strikes. Mines and booby, traps dropped by helicopters further terrorize the Afghans. The mines are not designed to kill but to injure. An injured person immobilizes fighters and lowers morale as he dies slowly. About 2.5 million Afghans have fled to Pakistan and several hundred thousand to Iran. Dr. Malurec stressed that the lack of news reports is the key to Soviet strategy: "TrSernatioiial public opinion would (continued on page 8)
Those who study the Holocaust are continually tormented by the record of apathy in the rest of the world during this debauch of evil. Recently there was great turmoil when the Goldberg Commission sought to assess responsibility for American Jewish failures to respond. But remembering the past is not an end in itself. And remembering in order to scapegoat the, past is a form of pathology. In the Biblical tradition, we remember in order that behavior be changed. "You shall not torment the stranger for you know the life of a stranger; you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 23, 9) This past month, the press carried reports that the boycott and suspension of cultural offices and exchanges between the United States and Russia initiated by President Carter in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan are about to be removed by President Reagan. In an election