11 Tavat, B7S1 Friday, Dae. tt, 19M
Vol. LXVN No. 1« Omaha, Nabr.
Thousands of Jews fleeing chaos in Soviet Union By If ngh Orgd and Cathrine Geraon TEL AVIV (JTA)Alarmed at mounting chaos in their homeland, thousandfl of Jews have left the Soviet Union in recent days and are arriving in Israel in record numbers. More than 5,500 landed at Beo-Gurion Airport in recent days and the wedcend total was expected to exceed 7,000. The arrival rate at BenGurion is about 100 an hour. Chartered El Al planes and aircraft of the Polish and Hungarian airiines ate bringing the olim in from Warsaw, Budapest and Bucharest, Romania. The immigrants are required to chimge planes at those points because there are stOl no direct flints to Israel from Moscow. Simcha Dinitz, chair num of the Jewish Agency for Israel, which pays the cost of transporting the immigrants, predicted that between 1,200 and 1,300 imndgranta will be arriving daUy from now on. By comparison, 1,909
Soviet Jews arrived in Israd in all of 1987, and only 220 arrived during the entire previous year. Soviet Jewish immigration for December is expected to exceed 30,000 and rise to 40,000 in January, as ecooomic deterioration and p<riitical unoer tainty grip the Soviet Union. By comparison, just under 5,000 Soviet Jews arrived in Israel last January. No change The weekend volume was so large that the Orthodox-controlled Absorption Ministry had no choice but to allow flights to land (m Friday night and Saturday. But it insisted that immigrant processing be put off until after the Sabbath. That meant that the newcomers had to be bused to hotels in the Tel Aviv area and returned to the airport after Shabbat to be registered and aasigned to absorption locationaJKound the countiy. The flood ot airivab is placing a severe strain on Israel's economic and social fabric. Uri Gordon, head of the
Jewish Agency's Immigration and Absorption Department, was sharply critical of the government's absorption efforts in an Israel Radio interview Sunday. He rqiped the various ministries for wasting time arguing among themselves over jurisdiction. "It's about time everybody realized we are in an emergency situation," Gordon said. On the same news broadcast Knesset member Arieh (Lova) Eliav of Labor, speaking by telephone from Moscow, denied the mass exodus of Soviet Jews was an act of panic. Eliav, who has been touring the Soviet Union with Knesset Speaker Dov Shilansky of Likud, objected to articles in the Israeli press that depicted scenes outside the Israeli consular mission in Moscow as "breicha."
ruled on a final issue: whether AIPAC must register as a political action committee. Unlike PACs, whose purpose is to make contributions to political candidates, AIPAC maintains that it is a non-partisan lobby for Israel in Waahington. An AIPAC spokesperson said the outstanding issue hss to do with whether the 55,000-member organization is or is not technically a "membership organization." The FEC is expected to make that decision at the same time it concludes a similar inquiry into other groups with large memberships that have 8<Hne involvement in the ppUtical arena. The charges against the {Ho-Iarael lobby ware filed
in January 1989 by seven former government officials, with help from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. They aUeged that AIPAC had illegally coordinated politiul contributions made by 27 pro-Israel PACs. Among the seven was former Rep. Paul Findley (R-IU.), who haa blamed AIPAC for his failure to win a 1982 re-election bid. Findley filed separate charges last July, alleging that AIPAC coordinated contributions to the reelection campaign of Sen. Tom Haridn (D-Iowa), who had appeared at AIPAC fund-raising events in Atlanta in June 1089. That charge was also dismissed by the FEC, in a unanimous ruling issued Oct. 30.
Israeli missile By Hugh Orgel TEL AVIV (JTA)Israeli ofHcials refused to ' comment over the weekend on reports that Israel teat-fired a missile ovar the Maditerranean, triggering ] a rad alart among U.S. f forces in the Persian Gulf. Acoordfav to thfl raports
Eliav sakl he and Shilansky had received assurances that "even after the resignation of Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadae, the Soviet emigration policy will not change." EUav also said the two Knesset members "met with over a thousand Russian Jews studying Hebrew with teachers sent, from Israel. "We have Ut Hanukkah candles with Jews in Lithuania, we have spoken at endless mass meetings and we are both very satisfied with our visit here," he said. Lik^ Gordon bc$wever, Eliav stressed that Israeli pc^tidana and citizens in general must realize "we are being tested, the great-
Meaaafacape
ThaiiefiWbBnifyntema escape and also rafen to the illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine ri^t after World War II. "There is no doubt that
FEC clears AIPAC of charge By Howard Roaenberg WASHINGTON (JTA) —The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has been cleared by the Federal Election Commission. AIPAC had been charged with coordinating congressional campaign contributions made by various pro-Israel political action committees, which are barred by federal Uw from acting in collusion. The unanimous decision by the FEC's six commissioners was actually reached last December, but not offidaUy released to the public until last week, after growing pressure from the pro-Iarael community to have itself cleared from what AIPAC called "the complainants' paranoid conspiracy theory." The FEC did not initially want to release its decision, because it haa not yet
the Russian Jews feel a strong pressing to leave, but it cannot be compared to the 'breicha' of the 1940s," he said.
abroad, there is some dis- armed forces deployed in pute over whether larael "Oparatian Deaart Shield" gave the United States ad- hi Saudi Arabia. vance notice before it Soldiers donned gas launched a Jericho-2 mis- masks and anti-chamicalsile, whkh has a 760-niile warfare clothing and took range. to btmkera and trenchea. As soon as the launch was datactad, a maximum The all-claar sounded alert Wu s«iwd«d for U.S. . about. 10. ralnutas UtA-....
^urWgltiiJliiarfthogsaods of Jewa streanihig into the country." One of the aioat serious challangae ia housing the newcomers.
arrivea A container ship arrived at the port of Ashdod on Sunday with 441 American-built mobile homes, the first consignment of temporary housing to reach Israel from the United States. Each unit is 40 feet long and contains 144 square feet of living space. Another 3,000 of the same
kind are due in Israel next month, and 50,000 smaller units will be imported next year. But they may not be enough to keep pace with immigration, and tent cities may have to be set up. Hie first shipment was three days late. The vessel had an engine breakdown near Crete and had to be towed to Israel.
Airport express By Morria MaUne Tom Fellman, chairman of Omaha'a Operation Exodus campaign, is planning a special welcome for the latest group of Soviet Jews to be resettled in Omaha. He is inviting the Jewish community to join him in a bus/auto caravan leaving from the Ruby Tuesday restaurant the evening of Dec. 30 for a noo-etop trip to EppfaQiLAiifiBUAt thia writing, tinw of arrival for the eight Soviet Jewish emigrants had not been estab-
lished. Mr. FeUman sakl those interested may call Jewish Family SOTVice at 334-8200 for an estimated time of arrival and then meet at the restaurant in One Pacific Place about an hour before. Mr. FeUman, who had arranged a festive welcome celebration several months ago, said all those unable to fit on the bus will be encouraged to drive on their own to the airport and continue the party there.
KEEPiNQ llME IN m AliDDLE EA&T VH^iMslW
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Anti-Semitic mail mailed to troops Foxman said thia bahrNEW YORK (JTA)-A mailing of anti-Semitic let- mation haa been provided ters sent to American to the Secretary of D«service personnel sta- fCBsa and to doBMatic law tlooed in Saudi Arabia haa enforcttnent ajpadea, inbam linked to an extrem- cluding the FBI, and that ist group by the Anti- tha Defease Department Defamation League of officiala have reported alflrting (laid coounanders B'nai B'rith. Abraham Foxman, na- hi Oaaart ShiaU to the tional dfrector of ADL, mailing. In his lettar to Secretary said informatioo from the letter coBBScta tha hate of Defanaa Dick Chanay, mall to a Lu Vagaa-baaed Foxman axplainad that nao-Naii Skinhead organi- the lattara. addiaaaid to ution called tha Christian "Any White Sarvkamam:ber," and "Any Sarvfaw;. Identity SUnhaada
member," "contahi vkioua expraaaions of radal and r^oua bigotry aa wall as twiatad and falsa rapraaanUtkn of America's foreign poticy Intareato in Saudi Arabia." The iettera, aignad by membwa of White Chriatian Women, allaga "Jewish control of Ajnarlea." and warn that if white "Arvan" U.S. soldiera dto "fighting the war for the Jews in Israel," than "white women In tha U.S. will many nonwhitas."