Focus on Jews and Israel

By Andrea Barron

American Jews React to US-P.L.O. Dialogue

American-Jewish leaders reacted far more positively than their Israeli counterparts to Secretary of State George Shultz's decision to open a dialogue with the PLO. Both Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Labor party Leader Shimon Peres criticized the decision and reiterated that Israel will not negotiate with the PLO under any conditions. Morris Abram, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, refrained from criticizing Shultz, while some US Jewish leaders almost appeared to welcome the Shultz announcement.

George Gruen, director of Middle East affairs at the American Jewish Committee, termed the dialogue "a necessary first step toward seeing whether the PLO are suitable partners in the peace process." And the American Jewish Congress commented, "the United States responded correctly to (PLO Chairman Yasser) Arafat's statements in Geneva on Dec. 14 by opening a dialogue with the PLO."

But mainstream Jewish organizations also called on the PLO to match its words with deeds. Morris Abram said the first thing the US ought to do when it begins talks with the PLO is to demand that the organization amend its covenant, which calls for the dismantlement of the state of Israel. The AJ Congress said that besides revoking its charter, the PLO should also support the repeal of the UN Zionism-is-racism resolution and stop trying to expel Israel from the world body. According to the AJ Committee, if the PLO wants peace, it should end the year-old Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Jerusalem Post correspondent Charles Hoffman says the fact that the US is treating a "former terrorist" like Yasser Arafat as "respectable" could seriously affect relations between Israel and the American-Jewish community. However, Hoffman said, Israel should not expect US Jews to brand American politicians who support a Palestinian state "anti-Israel" if these politicians still favor large amounts of aid to the Jewish state.

Tikkun Announces Campaign for "Negotiations Now"

Over 1,500 Jewish progressives and intellectuals gathered together in New York City in December for a conference sponsored by the two-year old liberal Jewish magazine Tikkun, based in Oakland, CA. (Tikkun, pronounced tih-KOON, means to "repair the world" in Hebrew.) Tikkun editor Michael Lerner accused the major Jewish organizations of being more conservative than the vast majority of American Jews, and of being too uncritical of Israel's policies toward the Palestinians. He attributed this to the disproportionate influence "the 29 percent of Jews who voted for George Bush" wield in these organizations.

"Sixty percent of American Jews supported Secretary of State Shultz's peace plan calling for an international conference based on the exchange of land for peace," Lerner said. "But when Shamir came to the United States last March to reject the Shultz proposal, the press reported that the American-Jewish community gave him the support he was seeking." Lerner and other speakers argued that it was time for liberal Jews to make their voices heard on domestic and foreign policy issues, especially on Israel.

Lerner said Tikkun intends to launch a campaign for "Negotiations Now" between Israel and the PLO, and that American Jews should help convince Israel such negotiations would be in its best interests. He also declared his support for a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and for continued US military aid to Israel to "protect it from assault by those surrounding Arab states that remain unwilling to make peace."

Besides Lerner, featured speakers at the Tikkun conference included Henry Siegman, executive director of the American Jewish Congress, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank; Palestinian intellectuals Edward Said and Ibrahim Abu-Lughod; and former Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban. Eban called the U.S. decision to begin talks with the PLO "a spasm of lucidity" and said the West Bank and Gaza should be under Arab not Israeli control. Asked if he would accept Palestinian rather than Jordanian sovereignty over the territories, Eban answered "Yes," adding, "the key is that these areas be demilitarized."

Staff Change May Push AIPAC Further Right

The departure of Douglas Bloomfield, chief lobbyist for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for the last nine years, may push the powerful lobby further to the right under the Bush administration. Larry Cohler reported in the Washington Jewish Week that Bloomfield was forced to leave because of a conflict with Steve Rosen, AIPAC's foreign policy and research director, and with some Republican board members. Bloomfield, a Democrat, concentrated on establishing strong relationships with both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Rosen, a conservative Republican, "cultivated right-wing figures" like Jesse Helms and has focused more on lobbying the Republican administration.

Rosen waged a three-year campaign to force the closure of the PLO observer mission to the United Nations, an effort which proved unsuccessful. He also was the force behind AIPAC's effort to prevent Yasser Arafat from addressing the UN last November. One of Bloomfield's top priorities was to prevent US arms sales to Arab countries. Rosen, by contrast, did not want AIPAC to come out too strongly against the arms sales so the lobby could stay on the "good side" of the administration.

AIPAC officials have denied that the departure of Bloomfield will weaken the organization or influence its ideological bent. But others, including former AIPAC executive director Morris Amitay, disagree. "I'd say (this) means that AIPAC's effectiveness on the Hill will be diminished," Amitay told the Jewish Week. Said a former AIPAC staffer who now works on Capitol Hill, "When Doug walks out of AIPAC, their effectiveness on the Hill drops by 50 percent."

Jewish Groups "Adopt" Yesh Gvul Refuseniks

Jewish groups throughout the US are adopting Israeli prisoners of conscience as part of a campaign to support Yesh Gvul ("There is a Limit") the organization of Israeli soldiers and reservists refusing to serve in the West Bank, Gaza, or Lebanon. According to Marc Margolis, spokesperson for the San Francisco-based "Friends of Yesh Gvul," groups in Washington, Baltimore, Miami, and Santa Cruz have already "adopted" men who have gone to jail for their beliefs.

The Jewish Committee for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (JCIPP) in Washington has adopted David Palma, the 50th Israeli imprisoned since the start of the Palestinian uprising. Palma, the son of holocaust survivors, is a 39-year-old journalist who has already served three prison terms. JCIPP is committed to raising $450 for Palma to replace the government stipend he would have received had he done his tour of duty in the territories. Ellen Siegel from JCIPP says, "Mainstream Israelis—sons of holocaust survivors—are refusing to serve in the occupied territories. We want Israel to know that there are Jews in America behind them, that these men are not isolated."

You can help JCIPP's Yesh Gvul campaign by sending a donation to JCIPP, PO Box 4991, Washington, DC, 20008. All checks should be made out to the Resource Center for Non-Violence. Individuals or groups interested in adopting a Yesh Gvul refusenik should write to Marc Margolis at 808 Post St., Box 1015, San Francisco, CA, 94109, or call him at (415) 653-1332.

Andrea Barron is a Ph.D. candidate in international relations at the American University in Washington, DC, and is a member of the Jewish Committee for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.