Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 3, 1978 Page: 2 of 20
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U.S, Confident
Talks Will Resume
WASHINGTON [JTA] -
The United States express-
ed the view that Egypt
should not have asked for
the withdrawal of the Israeli
military mission but ex-
pressed confidence at the
same time that Israeli-Egyp-
tian negotiations will be
resumed within the next two
weeks on the foreign minis-
ters’ level at a site some-
where in the Middle East.
State Department spokes-
man Thomas Reston, read-
ing a prepared statement to
reporters, said “We would
have preferred that this
(Egyptian) step had not
been taken because of the
interpretation that may be
placed on it.” He refused to
elaborate on what the
interpretation might be. “It
would not be useful for me to
characterize every develop-
ment that takes place
between now and the time”
that Secretary of State
Cyrus Vance leaves for the
Middle East to meet with
Israeli and Egyptian offi-
cials, Reston said.
He added, “Our overrid-
ing objective is to continue
peace negotiations and to
bring them as soon as
realistically possible to a
successful conclusion. Egypt
and Israel share our view to
keep negotiations going,” he
said. Under questioning by
reporters, he indicated no
doubts that Israeli-Egyptian
talks will be resumed. He
referred to the “upcoming
visit” by Vance and empha-
sized, “We expect these
meetings to take place.”
Israel’s Efforts Praised
Yesterday, the State De-
partment said that it “ap-
preciates the efforts” of the
Israeli government in the
negotiating process, after
disclosing that Israeli For-
eign Minister Moshe Dayan
and Secretary of State
Cyrus Vance discussed the
elements of the speech
Dayan made Monday in the
Knesset. That speech ap-
peared to present a soften-
ing of the Begin govern-
ment’s position on the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
State Department spokes-
man Hodding Carter said
that the Knesset speech
“had been discussed with
Vance at Leeds Castle,
England and is a part of the
record of those meetings.”
He said, “I want to empha-
size” that the discussion was
“between the two of them.”.
He added: “We have ap-
preciated the efforts of the
Israeli government both at
Leeds and thereafter for the
search for solutions for the
key problems that must be
resolved if the negotiations
are to succeed.” Asked
whether the U.S. believes
there is a shift in the Israeli
position, Carter replied he is
“unable to characterize” the
position as a shift.
Dispute Over A Synagogue
BY JON FEDLER
BONN [JTA] - A dispute
has broken out concerning
the ruins of a synagogue in
Gross-Umstadt, near Darm-
stadt, south of Frankfurt. A
plan to transfer the ruins of
the building which was
constructed in 1876 and
destroyed during the “Kris-
tallnacht,” along with other
historical buildings still in-
tact, to an outdoor museum
in a park, has aroused strong
public opposition.
Although the Association
of Jewish Communities in
the State of Hessen (in
which Gross-Umstadt is
located) previously agreed
to the move, its chairman,
Prof. Herbert Lewin, said
See Dispute on Page 19
White House Mum On Bid To Move Olympics
BY JOSEPH POLAKOFF
WASHINGTON [JTA] —
The White House has
temporarily declined to sup-
ply President Carter’s view
on the identical resolutions
in the Senate and House
urging removal of the 1980
Olympics from Moscow to a
city outside the Soviet
Union, in view of the Soviet
government’s violations of
human rights and media
freedom.
Replying to the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency’s ques-
tion whether the President
agrees or disagrees with the
“sense” of the Congressional
resolutions, Presidential
Press Secretary Jody Po-
well replied that “it is
important we thoroughly
consider all ramifications in
response to any action we
find deplorable and that we
respond in the most effec-
tive way.”
President Carter said at
his press conference last
Thursday night that he
opposed “a boycott” of the
Olympics. The Congression-
al sponsors of the resolu-
tions are not seeking a
boycott.
Meanwhile, the Interna-
tional Harvester Co. disclos-
ed it has suspended trade
negotiations with the Soviet
Union and appealed to other
U.S. firms doing business
with the Soviet Union for
support in protest against
the arrest of Jay Crawford,
Harvester’s representative
in Moscow, who was drag-
ged from his car on a
Moscow street June 1 and
held prisoner in Lefortovo
prison. He was accused of
illegally buying large sums
of Soviet currency on the
black market. Crawford,
who denied all charges, was
released June 27 in the
custody of the U.S. Ambass-
ador and has been ordered
to remain in Moscow.
Harvester’s request for
support was made by the
company’s chairman, Brooks
McCormack in a personal
letter sent to executives
July 6 stating, in part, “We
leave it up to the companies
to make whatever response
they wish to make.” At least
two other U.S. corporations
trading with the USSR have
protested, it was said, and
about 20 other American
companies and the Interna-
tional Chamber of Com-
merce have supported Har-
vester’s requests for sup-
port.
When the Jewish Tele-
graphic Agency raised the
question at the White House
on the President’s reaction
to Harvester’s campaign,
Powell replied that the
President had “indicated
two weeks ago that if
American business did not
feel safe from arbitrary
arrests and harrassment in
the Soviet Union that
certainly would have unfor-
tunate effects on the climate
of doing business.” Private-
ly, a top White House source
told the JTA later that “we
thoroughly agree with Har-
vester on this.”
At the State Department,
spokesman Hodding Carter
said that a Harvester repre-
sentative had protested to
the State Department last
Monday on the arrest of
Crawford, and that Harves-
ter was informed “it was up
to them to do what they felt
they needed to do in
response” to Crawford’s
arrest. “We obviously did
not discourage them from
their action and to let Soviet
authorities know how con-
cerned they felt about the
incident involving Mr. Craw-
ford,” Carter added.
Significance Of Harvester’s
Action
Harvester’s action is sig-
nificant in that companies
doing business with the
Soviet Union have encour-
aged more U.S. trade with it
and avoided criticism in
general of Soviet actions
against dissidents and So-
viet Jewry.
Harvester was said to
have sold about $32 million
in earth-moving and con-
struction equipment last
year to the Soviet Union.
After the 1972 Brezhnev-
Nixon agreements, 24 U.S.
companies opened offices in
Moscow. However, non-
agricultural U.S. exports to
the Soviet Union have
dropped this year to about
half their 1976 total. Accord-
ing to a Commerce Depart-
ment estimate, this year’s
trade total will be about
$400 million, apart from
agriculture.
Soviet Violation Of Mail Delivery Probed
WASHINGTON [JTA] -
Officials of the State Depart-
ment and the U.S. Postal
Service publicly blamed
each other for the U.S.
failure to bring formal
complaints to high Soviet
authorities for the non-de-
livery of mail from Ameri-
cans to Soviet citizens,
mostly Jews, or to lodge
complaints against the So-
viet government with the
Universal Postal Union
(UPU).
The conflict arose at the
second hearing by the House
Subcommittee on Postal
Operations and Services, on
what its chairman, Rep.
James M. Hanley (D. NY),
said was “the failure of
Soviet Union officials to
insure uninterrupted deliv-
ery of U.S. mail to its
citizens.”
Appearing before the sub-
committee were Edgar S.
Stock, director of the U.S.
Postal Service’s Office of
International Postal Affairs,
Edward S. Walker, general
manager of the Postal
Service’s International Mail
Division, Mark Schneider,
Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State for Human Rights,
Jerry Goodman, executive
director of the National
Conference on Soviet Jewry
(NCSJ), and Ruth Newman,
postal affairs manager of the
Union of Councils for Soviet
Jews (UCSJ).
Goodman charged that the
non-delivery of mail and
parcels to Soviet Jews was
“one of the employed instru-
ments to carry out” the
isolation of “Soviet Jews
from the rest of the Jewish
community.” Newman ac-
cused the Soviet Union of
“abrogating the letter and
intent” of the Universal
Declaration of Human
Rights and the Helsinki
accords and violating inter-
national laws and agree-
ments established in the
constitution of the UPU.
Inquiries About 2522 Pieces
Of Mail
Walker told the subcom-
mittee that in the year
ending last month, the U.S.
Postal Service received 2522
inquiries about mail and
parcels sent to the Soviet
Union from Americans that
did not reach the ad-
dressees. He said the num-
ber was the average for the
last five years.
The conflict between
State Department and Pos-
tal Service officials centered
on where the matter ceased
to be a strictly postal issue
and became one of diplo-
matic concern. Stock said
the Postal Service “brought
substantiated complaints to
the attention of the Soviet
postal authorities” but that
he had only “discussed most
generally” the issues with
the ‘Soviet Desk” at the
State Department. He said
that in his six years in office,
he received only one letter
from the State Department
about it. Diplomatic action is
up to the State Department,
Stock said.
Schneider said that “Tra-
ditionally, the Postal Service
has responsibility for raising
these matters" and that as
far as he knew “we have not
received this request” from
the Postal Service to take it
up diplomatically with the
Soviet Union. Stock said
that “in specific cases” the
Postal Service brings com-
plaints directly to Soviet
postal authorities but
“where it goes beyond a
postal nature we have
brought it to the attention of
the State Department.”
Schneider said that the
U.S. had raised the matter
at the Helsinki Act confer-
ence in Belgrade last spring
but not bilaterally with the
Soviet government on the
diplomatic level.
Deliberate Isolation Of
Soviet Jews
therefore determined how
customs officials and postal
authorities will function in
the matter of parcels as well
as letters.”
Newman presented the
committee with eight ex-
hibits and a 10-page state-
ment that included copies of
markings by Soviet authori-
ties of mail intended for
Jewish recipients. “In all
cases,” she said, “they have
made the Soviet Jews the
victims, as well as those
brave Soviet citizens who
hold dissenting views within
their society.”
Goodman, in 16 pages of
testimony, said the NCSJ
and the world community
perceives a process of
deliberately isolating Soviet
Jews from relatives, friends
and Jewish communities in
order to speed the process of
assimilation. “At stake is the
future of one-fifth of the
Jewish people and its
spiritual and physical survi-
val,” he said.
She said that the UCSJ
has an “Adopt a Family Data
Bank” in Minneapolis whose
files “are full of letters from
refuseniks telling of long
breaks in their receipt of
mail from their American
friends.” The UCSJ assisted
the “Scientists for Shchar-
ansky,” a group of 400
Americans, in arranging for
Avital Shcharansky’s U.S.
tour on behalf of her
imprisoned husband, An-
atoly.
He noted that in spite of
clear obligations under in-
ternational law to promote
cultural exchanges, Soviet
authorities systematically
confiscate books dealing
with Jewish culture, history
or language.
“Under a variety of
pretexts authorities confis-
cate books of Judaism and
Jewish history, books that
were, ironically, exhibited at
the Moscow Book Fair in
Steptember, 1977. In this
way, attempts by Soviet
Jews to pass on their
traditions, history and cul-
ture are being thwarted.
Political considerations have
Anniversary
Music Festival
Opened Saturday
JERUSALE1V1 [JTA] -
The Israel Music and Folk
Festival opened on Saturday
night in the Binyanei
Haooma, in the presence of
President Yitzhak Navon,
Knesset speaker Yitzhak
Shamir, and other invited
guests. The festival is
celebrating Israel’s 30 years
of independence with musi-
cal works by a variety of
Israeli composers and per-
formances by world-known
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Wisch, J. A. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 32, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 3, 1978, newspaper, August 3, 1978; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth753464/m1/2/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .