January 1989, Page 22

Issues in the News

US and Israel Deny Nir Report:

US Secretary of State George Shultz and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres both have denied any knowledge of a secret agreement described in an interview given to the Washington Post before his death by Amiram Nir, counterterrorism advisor to Peres and a major Israeli figure in the Iran-contra scandal. Nir, who was killed in early December in the crash of a chartered aircraft in Mexico, said the US-Israeli agreement provided for use of funds from the sale of US arms by Israel to Iran in 1985 and 1986 for counterterrorist operations. "Mr. Nir in his capacity in the Israeli government did propose a more formal agreement or memorandum of agreement in the time period of September and October 1985," State Department spokesman Charles Redman said. "But that proposal was immediately rejected by the United States government. So that may explain where some of this story came from."

US Ships Remain in Gulf:

Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci told US sailors in the Persian Gulf that their efforts had helped convince Iran that "terrorism on the high seas does not pay political dividends." Speaking Dec. 5 aboard the US flagship in the gulf, Carlucci said: "We have through your actions brought an end to one of the bloodiest wars in the 20th century ... It is possible there will be some changes in the way the regimen is conducted, but we're not talking about any specific drawdowns and haven't set any numerical target. What we want is to remain alert and ready until we're confident that the cease-fire will take hold and be permanent."

US Looking for Good Relations with Arabs and Israel:

At the end of a three-day visit to Israel, Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci signaled the US intention to maintain good relations both with Israel and with friendly Arab states. "It's important for peace that the United States maintain relations with moderate Arab countries," Carlucci said. "At the same time US support of Israel and binational military cooperation signal to Israel's adversaries that there is no military option ... peace must be achieved through negotiations."

Arabs Comprise One-Fifth of Israeli Population:

The Arab population of Israel is growing at twice the rate of the Jewish population, according to the Statistical Abstract of Israel for 1988. It estimated total Israeli population as of Nov. 1, 1988, at 4,464,000 persons. Of these, 3,650,000 were said to be Jews, comprising 81.8 percent of the population; 631,000 or 14.1 percent were Muslim; nearly 150,000 comprising 2.3 percent were Christian; and 78,000 comprising 1.7 percent were Druze. The Jewish and Christian populations grew by 1.5 percent in 1987, the Druze population by 2.8 percent and the Muslim population by 3.3 percent. Birthrates among all segments of the population are dropping. The rate of 4.6 births per Muslim woman compares to eight births per Muslim woman 15 years ago. Jewish immigration was estimated at 13,000 in 1987 compared to 9,500 in 1986. The number of Israelis living abroad for more than one year increased by 9,200 in 1987 and increased 13,900 in 1986. All of the figures are estimates, since few Israeli emigrants reveal when they depart that they do not plan to return.

Saudi Development Aid to Sudan:

The Saudi Fund for Development provided a $9,600,000 loan to Sudan Nov. 1 for purchase of railroad equipment. It was the development fund's 15th loan to Sudan, bringing Saudi development fund aid to Sudan to a total of $232,216,000.

US Church Leaders Hall "Significant Step" by PNC:

Churches for Middle East Peace Nov. 18 described Palestine National Council actions at Algiers as "a significant step forward" toward peace. The chairman of the organization of national representatives of 13 US Protestant, Catholic, and Unitarian denominations and orders, the Rev. Dr. Walter Owensby, associate director of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Washington office, said: "The PNC is clearly moving in the direction of a negotiated settlement of the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.''

Congress Commemorates Victims of Khomeini Regime:

On Oct. 21 the US House of Representatives designated June 20 as a "National Day of Remembrance for Political Prisoners in Iran." The event commemorates June 20, 1981, when Revolutionary Guards opened fire in Tehran on a crowd of half a million demonstrators participating in a protest called by a major opposition group, the People's Mujahedin, against the Khomeini regime.

Reagan Holdovers in Bush Administration?

Washington Jewish Week's Dec. 1 edition called upon the incoming Bush administration to retain four "individuals who have distinguished themselves in the Department of State." They are Legal Counselor Abraham Sofaer; Assistant Secretary for International Organizations Richard Williamson; former Congressman Edward Derwinski, who serves as undersecretary for security assistance, science and technology; and Richard Schiller, assistant secretary for human rights and humanitarian affairs. All are in key positions to support or block US government actions regarding Israel and other East states.

The Importance of Assistant Secretaries:

The Jewish Week of Queens, NY, reports that Morris B. Abram, retiring chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, "is in line for a high-level post in the Bush administration" and "there has been talk that Abram may replace Richard Shifter, assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs." Recommendations in the national Jewish press either to retain Shifter or replace him with Abram cite the importance of the position in matters concerning Soviet Jewry. Unmentioned is the crucial role the incumbent also can play in strengthening or weakening the State Department's annual report on human rights violations in Israel and Israeli-occupied territories. Although the report is drafted at the Israel desk in the State Department's Bureau of Near East and South Asian Affairs, it must be approved by the assistant secretary for human rights and humanitarian affairs. Congress requires such a report on every country receiving US economic assistance. An unfavorable report could trigger a cutoff of such economic aid to Israel. Although US military assistance to Israel is administered from the Pentagon, the undersecretary of state for security assistance, science and technology can play a key role regarding academic and research grants as well as US military assistance for Israel. The priority being placed on retaining firm supporters of Israel in these key State Department positions reflects deep concern within Israel's American establishment that in expected confrontations over Middle East peace with the Likud element in the future Israeli government, the Bush administration will seek to apply pressure through reductions in the annual $3 billion in direct US economic and military grant assistance to Israel.

Bush Appointees Scanned for Middle East Opinions:

The national Jewish press and pro-Israel lobbyists have been both glum and guarded in their comments on Bush appointments announced to date. They point out that Secretary of State Designate James Baker has no track record to date on the Middle East. The pro-Israel establishment has made Arab-American New Hampshire Governor John Sununu a particular target, however, ever since he was appointed a director of the Bush presidential campaign. The conservative Republican has faced a battery of hostile questions concerning his record as the only state governor who declined to sign a state proclamation denouncing the UN's "Zionism is Racism" resolution, and a proclamation he (and several other governors) signed honoring victims of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967. Jewish leaders have said, however, they were generally satisfied with his answers. Sununu, who will be the White House chief of staff, told questioners he also was responsible for the explicit support in the Republican campaign platform for the security of Israel and the rejection of Palestinian statehood. Jewish weekly press commentators noted that retired General Brent Scowcroft, who will be Bush's White House national security adviser, is considered a technocrat rather than an ideologue. He once was regarded as a Henry Kissinger protege when he was Kissinger's deputy under Nixon and replaced Kissinger as national security advisor during the Ford administration. Pro-Israel lobbyists weighed in heavily against the appointment of former Texas Senator John Tower as secretary of defense. "He supported just about every Arab arms sale," one lobbyist said, "and he is closely linked with oil interests." Pro-Israel lobbyists were also negative about the Bush appointment of Richard G. Darman as budget director. As deputy to Secretary of the Treasury James Baker last year, Darman was opposed to some maneuvers by Israel's congressional supporters for legislation to relieve Israel of some of its massive debt to the US government by restructuring loans through private banks with a US government guarantee. Thomas Pickering, who will be US ambassador to the United Nations, has served as US ambassador both to Israel and to Jordan as well as in Africa and Central America. He is the highest-ranking career officer in the US Foreign Service and once was called by King Hussein the best US ambassador ever assigned to Jordan.

Jewish Congressional Supporter of Israel Weighs in and Then out of "Who Is a Jew" Controversy:

Democratic Representative Mel Levine of California drafted what was planned as a letter expressing the "profound concern" of Jewish friends of Israel in Congress over the possibility of an Israeli government committed to amend Israel's "law of return" so that only persons born of a Jewish mother or converted by an Orthodox rabbi would qualify. Few Jewish congressmen were eager to sign the letter, however, since the issue splits their own constituents. Levine was said to have abandoned the idea at the urging of representatives of the Israeli government. "It's a very sensitive issue," Steve Silbiger, Washington representative of the American Jewish Congress explained. "There's no question that people on the Hill are very concerned about what this issue will do to US-Israeli relations. People are concerned that if there is less support from American Jews, it will make things harder in what we already expect will be a difficult congressional session."

"60 Minutes" Defends Its Expose of AIPAC:

Executive Producer Don Hewitt of CBS's weekly 60 Minutes issued a letter defending his news program's critical pre-election report on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's unsuccessful campaign against the re-election of Rhode Island Senator John H. Chafee. The letter from Hewitt, who is Jewish, was a response to one by AIPAC Executive Director Tom Dine calling the "60 Minutes" report "an attack on our rights" and part "of an ongoing effort to separate the United States and Israel." Hewitt's response said: "Letters like that are no doubt effective in getting money out of your constituents, but hollering 'anti-Semitism' at anybody who has an honest disagreement with you trivializes, demeans and makes a mockery of 'anti-Semitism."' Rebutting charges of an anti-Israel bias, Hewitt continued: "Never in the history of broadcasting has any one news program done as many favorable stories about any one country as "60 Minutes" has done about Israel." Asked by reporters whether CBS chief Executive Officer Laurence Tisch, a long-time national Jewish leader and outspoken supporter of Israel, had discussed the program with him, Hewitt responded, "no comment."

Amnesty International Denounces Wave of Executions in Iran:

Amnesty International reports that 300 executions in Iran since June 1988 have been confirmed and that the actual number is probably in the thousands. Copies of the report may be obtained from Amnesty International, 322 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10001.

Jerusalem Tourism Down:

Jerusalem hotels anticipated only 40 to 50 percent occupancy in December, instead of the normal Chanukah and Christmas tourism boom. Yonatan Harpaz, director of the Jerusalem Hotels Association, blamed tourist concern about the Palestinian uprising and anger among American Jews over the continuing "Who is a Jew" controversy.

Settlers Claim West Bank Security Worsening:

Jewish settlers held a press conference in early December to challenge Israeli government and Israeli Defense Forces assertions that conditions are calmer in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The settlers, including two Israeli reserve brigadier generals, asserted that the security situation is worsening and demanded permission for soldiers to shoot Palestinian stone throwers.

Knesset Gets Bill to Legalize Violence Against Arabs:

Nine right-wing Knesset members have introduced a bill to decriminalize acts of violence by Jews against Arabs. The bill would, in effect, turn the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip into a free-fire zone, allowing both soldiers and settlers to use firearms or other weapons against Arabs without fear of criminal penalties. The bill is retroactive. If adopted, it will free the last three members of a Jewish underground terrorist gang still in prison for the murder of three Arab students in a raid on the Islamic University in Hebron five years ago, and for conspiring to blow up buses used by Arabs in East Jerusalem. Sponsors of the bill are drawn from the Likud, the secular rightwing Techiya, Tsomet, and Moledet parties, and the National Religious Party. All would be at the core of a right-wing Likud coalition government.

New Edition of AIPAC's "Myths and Facts" Available:

The Near East Report, a newsletter published by former American Israel Public Affairs Committee staffers, is offering a 1989 edition of its "Myths and Facts: A Concise Record of the Arab-Israeli Conflict." Written by AIPAC Deputy Director Leonard Davis and edited by Eric Rozenman and Jeff Rubin, it was first published in 1964 and is regularly updated. The 1989 edition is available for $3.95 plus 70 cents postage by writing Near East Report, 500 North Capitol St., NW, Suite 307, Washington, DC 20001.

United Jewish Appeal Expects 12,000 Soviet Jews in 1989:

Executive Director Jeffrey Solomon of the United Jewish Appeal Federation predicts that 12,000 Soviet Jews will resettle in the United States in 1989. In 1988, he said, 11,238 Jews had left the USSR by Sept. 30, with some 90 percent coming to the US, and half of those settling in the New York City area, mostly in Brooklyn and the Bronx. "We have been the leader in calling for the Soviet Union to let the Jews out," he said, "and now that we're getting what we asked for, we need to pay the cost of resettling them." He said the federal government has until now paid $800 to help resettle each Soviet Jew, but there is now "talk of cutting back on federal refugee settlement money, and every dollar they cut back we'll have to make up." It costs the UJA-Federation an average of $2,800 to resettle each Soviet Jew in New York City, Solomon said.

Rabbi Meir Kahane

Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the extremist Jewish Defense League in the US and the now banned Kach party in Israel, has been ordered to pay $10,000 in damages for assaulting an Arab-American heckler at a speech Kahane gave in a Kansas City suburb in 1986. Brooklyn-born Kahane, 56, failed to appear for a December 1988 hearing in Johnson County District Court and no representative appeared in his behalf. Kahane had filed a counterclaim for $10,000 against the heckler, Mousa Shukair, a Palestine Human Rights Campaign member, but the Kahane claim was dismissed when he failed to appear in court.

Palestinian University Students Outnumber Israeli Students:

Haifa University researcher Gabriel Ben-Dor reports there are 84,000 Palestinians studying in Middle Eastern universities, in addition to an unknown number in universities in the US and Europe. By contrast, Ben-Dor said, there are only 72,000 students in Israeli universities, of whom 68,000 are Jews and the remainder Arabs.