Zambia would have no objections to the removal to Israel of unused Torah scrolls and other Jewish religious articles now in that country. Zambia’s President, Kenneth Kaunda, made this clear to Israel’s Ashkenozi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren in a letter to Goren this week.
Kaunda spoke highly of the contributions made to his country in the past by the small Jewish community that used to live there. He assured Goren that Jews would always be welcomed back to Zambia. And meanwhile he had no objection if the scrolls were taken to Israel.
Kaunda was one of a number of African leaders who wrote to Premier Menachem Begin last month congratulating him on the outcome of the Camp David summit conference. There are hopes here that after the signing of a peace treaty with Egypt some of the more moderate African countries will resume their diplomatic ties with Israel severed in 1973. (By David Landau)
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
