Page 2-THE NEWS-Aprii, 1987
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH NEWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Federation Marvin Bienstock, Director
Foundation of Charlotte Jewish Community &
Jewish Community Center Barry Hantman, Director
N.C. Hebrew Academy Berta Straz, Administrator
Lubavitch of N.C Rabbi Yossi Groner, Director
Editor Rita Mond
Advertising Blanche Yarus
Copy deadline the 10th of each month
P.O. Box 13369, Charlotte. N.C. 28211
The appcarancc of advertiiiiig In The Newt doe* not constitute a kaihruth
endorsement.
On The Issues... By Ira Gissen, Va/NC Director ADL
Editorial
^^Shoah** Examines the Holocaust
This month we will be observing the holiday of
Passover...the commemoration of the escape of the
Jews from Egypt. We will gather around the Seder
table with family and friends, partaking of the tradi
tional meal and reading from the Haggadah. We will
also be saying special prayers for our brethren in
Russia who are not as fortunate as we are in this
country and are unable to celebrate Pesach.
The week after this holiday, we will be reminded
of another chapter in our Jewish history...one that
is painful, but should never be forgotten...the
Holocaust. PBS Channel 58 and WTVI, Channel 42
will be showing “Shoah” on April 27, 28, 29 and 30.
The time slot on Channel 42 will be at 8:00 p.m. Check
your time schedule for the broadcast time on Chan
nel 58. It is a 9V2-hour presentation and should
definitely be tuned in by everyone.
Based on interviews with concentration camp sur
vivors, “Shoah” (which means “holocaust” or “an
nihilation” in Hebrew) confronts one of mankind’s
most painful periods. It is directed by Claude Lanz-
m2inn, who spent 10 years working on this film. Some
portions are subtitled.
Lanzmann tires to reveal the Holocaust’s atrocities
without platitudes or sentimentalizing. He uses no gris
ly footage of the camps; instead, he relies on survi
vors’ memories to paint a vivid picture of the horrors.
Throughout his interviews with Treblinka,
Auschwitz and Chelmno survivors, Nazi SS officials
£ind gentile citizens from towns near the camps, Lanz
mann focuses at all times on specific, concrete details.
By watching survivors retell their most wretched
memories, we begin to confront the history of the
Holocaust. Undoubtedly, those who see this film will
never forget it.
—Rita Mond
PMsom Gr*«tinfi from th* itaff
The Jewish Calendar
CandJeiighting
Apr. 3 • 6:28 p.m.
Apr. 10 - 7:34 p.m.
Apr. 13-7:36 p.m. (First Seder)
Apr. 14 - 8:35 p.m. (Second Seder)
Apr. 17 - 7:39 p.m.
Apr. 19 - 7:41 p.m. (7th Eve Pesach)
Apr. 20 - 8:41 p.m. (8th Eve Pesach) May
Apr. 24 - 7:45 p.m. May
51 p.m.
56 p.m.
Syria: Politics of Terror
Syria's central role in inter
national terrorism, the
significance of its alignment
with the Soviet Union and its
anti-American and anti-Israel
policies are outlined in a new
report issued by the Anti-
Defamation League of B’nai
B’rith.
Titled “Syria: The Politics of
Terror, 1982-1986,” the report
provides details of the massive
Soviet arms buildup in Syria
since 1973: Syria’s wide
spread political repression and
denial of human rights; the
systematic persecution of
Syria’s Jewish minority and
the nation’s anti-Israel
operations.
With the “guidance and sup
port” of Syrian President
Hafez al-Assad, the report
states, Syria has used ter
rorism as in instrument of
foreign policy, most notably
the ouster of the American
and Western presence from
Lebanon.
The report states that
following the April 1986
American retaliatory air
strikes against Lybia, Syrian-
backed terrorist ^oups decid
ed at a meeting in Damascus
to escalate attacks against
American interests through
out the world.
Syria has provided bases for
the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards in areas of Lebanon it
controls and until recently
allowed pro-Iranian terrorist
groups, including the Hez
bollah (Party of God) and the
Islamic Jihad, to operate free
ly behind Syrian lines.
Until last year, the report
A+iBUPIN^ hand
/o5iPBeaoN/
ft
Letters to the Editor
Hooray for the J**
We are indeed blessed to
have such a beautiful facility
as our Jewish Community
Center. There is something for
everyone. I became excited
last April when I saw the con
struction at Shalom Park
nearing completion. It was
then that I decided to call Stu
Epstein, the Physical Educa
tion Director, and find out if I
could work into an exercise
program there. I have a
neurological condition and had
been going to Charlotte
Rehabilitation Hospital for
out-patient physical therapy
twice a week. I knew I couldn’t
join an aerobics class or a
group activity, so I needed to
know if there was something I
could do on my own. Stu was
very accommodating and in-
vit^ me to meet Richard
Edgerton, the Health Club
Supervisor. After viewing the
equipment, Richard showed
me which machines would best
suit my needs.
The next week I was into a
program determined to make
my body stronger. I soon
realized just how difficult it
was going to be. It took a lot
of energy and I was sore, but
in order to achieve my goal I
had to keep pushing. I did not
give up Physical Therapy but
maintained my routine at the
“J”. In August, I was
discharged from the hospital
because they felt there wasn’t
anything they could do for me
that I couldn’t do for myself.
I’m up to three workouts a
week and feel much stronger.
A few weeks ago I invited
my Physical Therapist to see
Shalom Park and observe my
workout on the machines. He
was truly impressed and
couldn’t get over my progress.
His encouragement, as that of
Stu, Richard, and my terrific
coach, husband Ron, have
been a positive force for me.
My improvement has helped
me both physically as well as
mentally and it is absolutely
amazing. For this I say
“Hooray for the J.”
—Ellie Katz
continues, “the evidence of
Syria’s role in international
terrorism was viewed by
Western powers as largely cir
cumstantial.” But conclusive
evidence of a “Syrian smoking
gun” was finally uncovered at
British and West German
court trials in 1986. Syrian in
telligence officers and
diplomats were linked to two
terrorist incidents — the
thwarted attempt to blow up
an Israeli airliner departing
from London and the bombing
of the German-Arab Friend
ship Society building in West
Berlin.
A long list of direct and in
direct Syrian involvement
with international terrorist in
cidents is contained in the
report, including the 1983
bombing of the U.S. Marine
barracks in Lebanon in which
241 Americans died and the
1985 hijacking of a TWA
airliner in which an American
Navy diver was killed.
Among other incidents
linked to Syria, the following
were cited:
• The bombing of the
American embassy in Beirut,
in 1983, in which 17
Americans were killed.
• The suicide bombing of the
American embassy annex in
Beirut in 1984.
• The grenade and machine
gun attack at Israel’s El Al
airline counters at mrports in
Rome and Vienna in 1985, in
which 19 persons were killed
and 114 wounded.
The report lists at least
three instances of President
Assad’s personal involvement
in his nation’s terrorist
activities:
• Assad himself authorized
operations of the Iranism ter
rorist squads in Lebanon’s
Bekaa Valley under Syrian
control.
Assad personally supervised
the training of Syrian
“kamikaze” airforce pilots
with the assisteince of his top
intelligence aide. General
Mohammed al-Kholi.
Syria provided safe haven in
Damascus for the extremist,
Marxist elements of the
Palestine Liberation Organiza
tion following Israel’s attack
on PLO bases in Lebanon in
1982.
Palestinian terrorist Abu
Nidal’s group, which is believ
ed to have been responsible for
the Rome and Vienna airport
attacks, has also set up bases
in Syria.
West European counter ter
rorist agencies have uncovered
Syrian-controlled terrorist net
works in Europe, including
Athens, Madrid and
Marseilles and Lille, France.
“Assad’s Syria,” the report
concludes, “poses a multi
dimensional threat to western
interests. Its central role in in
ternational terrorism, in pro
moting Soviet influence in the
Middle East and in threaten
ing the security of Israel,
makes Syria a uniquely
destructive political entity.”
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