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CERVI^G NEBRASKA &UD IOWA SIMCE 1920
Vol. LXIII No. 34
Omaha, K'cb., Fri., May 10, 1985
Sff Dr. Paul Shyken, general chairman for Omaha State of Israel Bonds, announced that Joe Fishel and Joe Po-' lonski have agreed to co-chair the upcoming "New Life" ' dinner in honor of Ben Josin on June : 2 at Beth Israel J.. Synagogue.
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The theme of / — this year's dinner is • "life" in jcecocni- ' tion of the 40th annivorsnry of the i • Holocaust. "Wo ' honor not only Mr. ; Josin,'* but all the j Holocaust survivors," Dr. Shyken said. Mr. Fishel said, L "the dinner is coJoo Polonski sponsored by the Society of Survivors and the Israel Bond Organization and is under the leadership of Cantor Leo Fettman, pres-
3wLife M tuaiur ident of the Society of Survivors, and I know it will bo a warm end tasteful event". Mr. Polonski added, "this is Omaha's first 'New Life' dinner and cinco its inception five years ego millions of new dollars have been injected into Israel's economy". The award ia presented in recognition of Holocaust survivora who have rebuilt their lives in the United States while distinguishing themselves in their communities. Both Joe Fiflhel and Joe Polonski are survivors themnolves. Mr. Fishel was born in Bcndzin, Poland, and lost his family in the concentration camp3. Only one brother eurvives. Mr. Fishel arrived in Omaha in 1947, and currently owns and operates Herman Nut Company. Joa Polonoki wa3 born in Suwalki, Poland, He loot his parents and sister in Treblinka, and he escaped after being at the camp for six weeks. Mr. Polonski arrived in Omaha in 1949, and he currently owns and operates Ak-Sar-Ben TV which ho founded. He also founded and operated J P Real Estate. For information and reservations, call the Israel Bond office at (402) 341-1177 or write to 518 Service Life Bldg., 1904 Farnam St., Omaha, Ne. 68102.
Allan Greene, executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, has resigned, it was announced by Howard Kaslow. Federation president. Mr. Knslow said the resignation wa3 for personal reasons and that a search committee would bo appointed Boon to find a successor. He explained that current Federation staff would take over committees formerly staffed by Mr. Greene to ensure continuity of operations. Mr. Kaslow's statement and Mr. Greene's letter of resignation are as follows: "I have known for several months of Allan Greene's desire to continue his professional career on the East Coast ao that he could be in closer proximity to other mem-
bei-s of his family. "During Allan's six years in Omaha, first as director of planning and budgeting and then ns Executive Vice President of the Federation, our community haB had numerous accomplishments of which we can be very proud and in which Allan's knowledge ,ond organizational end administrative talents played an important role. "I know that the entire Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Omaha and others with whom he has worked in our community join me in thanking Allan for his many contributions to our Federation's progress in recent yqars and in wishing Allan, Sharon and their children much happiness and success in the years ahead. (continued on page 3)
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Mr. Rod noted that violation of this legThe Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act, LB334, will be implemented at the Jewish islative bill is a Class 5 misdemeanor, and Community Center building effective . will take everyone's positive cooperation to Wednesday, May 15, according to Steven J. help implement these procedures. Since viRod, Jewish Community Campus Manager. olation of the act includes the right of any person to demand the management ask vi"The Campus Buildings and Grounds olators to cease smoking, every convener of Committee, chaired by Nelson Gprdman,- a meeting will be asked to enforce tljese reviewed the provisions of LB344 us they rules when booking a room at the Jewish pertain to the Jewish Community Center Community Center building. It will be the building," noted Mr. Rod. "The major pro-. responsibility of the chairman of a meeting vision calls for elimination from smoking in to enforce the "no smoking" rules on behalf all areas of the building except the main of the Jewish Community Cenfer building. All visitors to the Center building are jelobby, the indoor canteen, and one-half of the auditorium, when occupied. AH other quested to abide by the posted signs in the areas (meeting rooms, lounges, studios, etc.) smoking and non-smoking areas effective May 15. will have "no smoking" signs posted."
O .ieco Industries donated the dolls — 1,000 black Cabbage Patch Kids. E1AI Israel Airlines airlifted them free. Abraham H. Fosman, associate national director of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, distributed them to Ethiopian Jewish refugee children in absorption centers in Israel.
Vatlcan°Israel relation: By Marc H. Tanenbaum Rabbi Tanenbaum, director of international relations of the American Jewish Committee, is an authority on VaticanJewish relations. He was the only rabbi present at Vatican Council II, and has recently returned from a mission to Israel, Italy, and the Vatican where he participated in an audience with Pope John Paul II.) Expectations that Pope John Paul II will visit Israel or that formal diplomatic relations will be established between the Holy See and Israel are not in the cards. Not in the near future. ' I have come to that sobering conclusion after a recent three-week mission to Israel, Italy, and the Vatican.' I was part of a leadership mission of the American Jewish Committee that met with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and other foreign ministry officials: Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Andreotti and Defense Minister Giovanni Spadolini; U.S. Ambassador to, Italy, Maxwell Rabb; and, finally, Pope John Paul II and a number of Vatican officials. Extended conversations on the complex Middle East situation with these key actors in the Mediterranean world yielded some fresh insights: . First, contrary to public perceptions, the Vatican maintains de facto recognition of the State of Israel. When Israel's Prime Minister Shimon Peres met with the Pope in February he was given red carpet treatment,, the full protocol accorded a head bf state. That has been true of the diplomatic visits made to the Vatican earlier by. such Israeli governmental leaders as Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the late Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan, Abba Eban, among others. On a day-to-day basis, the Israeli Embassy ifl Rome is in regular communication with the Vatican Secretariat of State,, and other Curial officials. On a cultural level; hundreds of Catholic priests and nuns — with Vatican ap-
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proval — study regularly in Israel. Second, Pope John Paul II, I am persuaded, is personally friendly toward Israel and acknowledges her right to exist as a sovereign nation. In a little-noticed Apostolic Letter issued by this Pope last Easter, entitled, Redemptionis Anno,' he wrote the following about Israel and Jerusalem.' "For the Jewish people who live in the State of Israel, and who preserve in that land such precious testimonies to their history and their faith, we must ask for the desired security and the due tranquility that is the prerogative of every nation and condition of life and of progress for every society... "Jews ardently love her (Jerusalem), and in every age venerate her memory, abundant as she is in many remains and monuments from the time of David who chose her as the capital (my underlining), and of Solomon who built the Temple there. Therefore, they turn their mindB to her daily, one may say, and point to her as the sign of their nation." ' Those are the most forthcoming acknowledgements of the centrality of Israel and of Jerusalem in Jewish consciousness made by any Pope in recent memory. Third, when our AJC delegation asked of Vatican Secretary of State authorities why the Holy See does not establish de jure diplomatic relations with Israel, "we were given at first the usual explanations. "It is not the policy of the Holy. See to enter info diplomatic relations-with a nation when it is in a state bf belligerency with its neighbors, or when its borders are not established by international agreements. That is why the Holy See does not maintain diplomatic relations with Jordan as well," we were told. . . But as the conversation continued, it became clear that that was the given reason, not the real reason. After all, the Vatican has diplomatic ties with some 112 countries, many of which are involved in belligerency, civil wars and
fanei border, disputes — Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, Nicaragua, among others. And those relations are sustained even though the Vatican does not approve of many of their ideological policies. The real reason, it seems quite clear, is that the Vatican profoundly fears that should she move from de facto recognition to establishing full diplomatic de jure recognition of Israel that Arab-Muslim fanatics in the Middle East and in Africa will launch a wave of reprisals against millions of Arab Christians and African-Christians in predominantly Islamic countries. Over and again, Vatican authorities kept referring to the precarious plight of Catholics in Lebanon who suffer daily violence at the hands of fanatic Shiite and Sunni Muslims, and the virtual impotence of the Vatican in helping to protect them. (Christian groups have reciprocated violently as well.) The Holy See officials also described in painful detail for us the horror stories of more than a half million Christians who were killed in the south of the Sudan by the northern Arab Muslims, and the half million Christians killed by the Muslim leader Idi Amin when he was president of Uganda. So great is this preoccupation over the threat of Islamic fanaticism to the security of Christians that Pope John Paul II in a recent address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See berated those Muslim countries whose citizens have come to Europe in the millions and have been assured religious liberty while Muslim countries have denied those same human rights to Christians living in their midst. Thus, it ia far more the fear of Muslim reprisals than antipathy toward Israel that has thus far precluded de jure diplomatic ties between the Holy See and Israel. There are, of course, contested issues between the Holy See and Israel — the. status of Jerusalem, Palestinian self-determination, and holy sites. But those are negotiable issues whereas fear (continued on page 5)