The Jewish Times

              THG BOSTON
gwish
TIME
Moment's Leonard Fein
On Zionism
Page 5
Write the vision and make it plain upon tables.
HABAKKUK 2:2
VOL. XLI, NO. 8
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1985
23 HESHVAN 5746
TWENTY-FIVE CENTS
PLO And Peres Partners?
-Israeli Press Hints Of New Stance
By Susan Bloch
Israel's strong anti-PLO
stance may be taking a shift
according to rumors in the
Israeli press. It has been reported
that high-level meetings,
probably between King Hussein
of Jordan and Prime Minister
Shimon Peres of Israel, have
recently taken place. In those
meetings, it is said that Peres has
changed his tactics and decided
not to rule out the PLO as a
negotiating partner.
It was hinted, according to
Israeli newspapers, that there
could   be   PLO-Israeli   negoti-
ations if the PLO were to
renounce terrorism, rewrite their
charter to delete references to the
destruction of Israel and
recognize the Jewish State. This
information is said to have been
relayed to Yassir Arafat by King
Hussein.
Although the PLO and its
leadership suffered a massive
public relations defeat after the
Achille Lauro hijacking,
Arafat's standing within the
Arab world does not appear to
have been affected. Adept at
rebounding from apparent
diaster, Arafat has shown that he
can rise above these situations.
He has survived the PLO rout in
Lebanon and other earlier
fiascos. His position, even after
the Klinghoffer killing, appears
to be intact. In the Middle East,
where political murder is a fact
of life, it is obvious that neither
the Israelis nor any Arab
government prefers Arafat dead.
For the Palestinians, no other
spokesman with Arafat's base of
popular support has emerged.
After the broad international
negative reaction to recent PLO
activities, it was thought that
Hussein would remove Arafat's
name from the negotiating
picture and try to work out a
peace plan with the Israelis
alone. However, when Arafat
and Hussein met in Amman last
week, the PLO leader received a
mild chiding and a request not to
embarass the Arab cause any
further with terrorist activities.
For Hussein, who has
survived these 37 years as the
Jordanian King, Arafat is a
necessity. Jordan's population is
75 percent Palestinian. He
cannot risk internal displeasure;
he could risk his throne and
possibly his life.
Many Middle East observers
feel that even if a peace treaty
along the lines of Camp David
were to emerge between Israel,
Jordan and the PLO, it would
have little meaning.
According to an Israeli
government official. "There is a
difference between a peace treaty
and peace." Israelis point to the
empty peace which now exists
with Egypt. In the beginning
they were wont to say that at
least the treaty meant Israelis
were no longer being killed by
Egyptians. After Ras Bourka
and the murder of an Israeli
diplomat in Cairo, Israelis are no
longer so sanguine and the rush
of Israeli tourists to Egypt has
fallen off.   See Partners page 6
Israel, South Africa And Jews
By Susan Bloch
Public opinion, that great
common denominator of
thought, has long asserted that
when the revolution comes to
South Africa, the Jews will be
the first to feel its effects -
because they are Jews and
because they are part of the
white minority.
Professor Robert Rotberg of
MIT does not agree. "All whites
are vulnerable," he says. "Black
Africans may be hostile to Israel,
but they are not hostile to Jews,
certainly not to South African
Jews."
He pointed out that 98 percent
of South African Jews vote for
the Progressive Liberal Party;
that Jews have been active in
liberal politics since they arrived,
almost en masse from Lithuania
in the 1880's. Despite the fact
that a crucial percentage of this
Jewish group is far more active
in opposing apartheid than any
other similar group in the white
community, "there is no feeling
that the Jews would be spared,"
he says.
Thus the fate of South Africa's
120,000 Jews is linked to the fate
of the ruling white minority.
According to Rotberg, who
teaches political science and
history, there is "a deep chasm
between white attempts at
reform and black aspirations."
He states that "the present South
African  government  has   been
introducing reforms which have
significance for whites but not
for blacks...Africans now seek
the political kingdom. They
want to share power, to be
citizens, to vote and to help
determine the future of the rich
land in which they are more
numerous than their leaders."
Rotberg predicts that
"violence, more violence and still
further episodes of militant
protest are clearly ahead for
South   Africa,   until   President
Botha and his colleagues decide
to take bold moves like
prolonged negotiations over
how best to take South Africa
politically into the next century.
The South African Jewish
community has strong ties with
the State of Israel. Their per
capita gifts to Israel are higher
than anywhere else in the world.
Israel, meanwhile, has had a
see-saw relationship with the
South African government.
See South Africa page 14
Ohabei Shalom May Go Condo
By Joseph Berkofsky
BROOKLINE - Temple
Ohabei Shalom officials,
members of Boston's oldest
continuous congregation, will
meet next week to decide
whether to sell part of their
temple to developers who want
to convert it into condominiums.
The Temple Ohabei Shalom
board of trustees will vote on a
plan which would bring the
temple needed money while
moving the temple's activities
into its main domed sanctuary.
The temple's first sale
proposal, to Parencorp
Developers of Brookline, met
resistance from neighborhood
activists last month which
prompted the planning board to
delay action until temple
officials present the board with a
detailed development plan.
Temple members will vote on
a purchase and sale agreement
Nov. 12 for the temple's 57-year-
old center and link buildings.
But members could vote down
the plan, if they find they cannot
afford the move and sale to
Parencorp under stricter town
zoning laws.
"It's all contingent on cost,"
says Temple President Sonya
Ravitch. "If we can't swing it
financially, or if we can't swing it
aesthetically, the purchase and
sale agreement will be null and
void."
It is the aesthetic issue which
has aroused activists. Neighbors
of the temple recently reacted
with concern when the planning
board failed to scale down
zoning, for the temple's
development. They say they
oppose turning the buildings
into condominiums, as the
temple and Parencorp plan.
Merril Diamond, a partner of
Parencorp, agrees with the
activist's reaction. "Neighbors
are concerned about density and
aesthetics. Other condos on
Beacon Street have been
disappointing," he says.
Diamond, in an effort to
reassure neighbors about the
plan, says Parencorp will
maintain the temple's facade and
basic character. "Parencorp has
no intention of tearing down the
temple center building," he said.
Diamond has no doubt been
saying the same thing in private
to activists and temple members,
who have been meeting these
past few weeks to hammer out a
compromise over the issue.
Any actual development is
unlikely until the planning board
sees the temple's plan, which
may not be until spring.
The battle over zoning began
in Brookline last May when
Town Meeting approved a
drastic reduction in building
allowances around Coolidge
Corner. Developers must now
reckon with scaled down height
and zoning laws, so are looking
east and west on Beacon Street
for lots.
Still, the anti-building mood
here is strong enough that
temple planners must take
activists into account before
presenting any plan to the town.
Meanwhile, temple officials
are faced with a temple center
and the link connecting it the
Temple Ohabei
sanctuary which are in disrepair
and difficult to maintain. But
Ravitch denies this is the main
reason for the sale, and says the
temple wants to modernize and
consolidate.
"This is a signal that we're
willing to spend some money to
Shalom today
stay in the community. This
could be a positive thing for the
congregation."
Ravitch  also  maintains that
the Ohabei Shalom's member-
ship is strong and the sale is not a
last  ditch  effort  to save what
See Temple page 6