February 1989, Page 40

Focus on Arabs and Islam

By Catherine M. Willford

ADC Supports Complaint Against AIPAC

Seven former US civilian and military officials have accused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the principal pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States, of violating federal election laws.

Their complaint, filed with the Federal Election Commission, and based upon research compiled by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), charged AIPAC with secretly coordinating activities of at least 27 of the network of between 60 and 100 active pro-Israel political action committees (PACs) which play increasingly prominent roles in congressional elections.

Complainants are former Undersecretary of State George Ball, former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Akins, former US Information Agency Chief Inspector Richard Curtiss, former Illinois Congressman Paul Findley, former US Navy Middle East Task Force Commander Admiral Robert J. Hanks, former ambassador to Qatar Andrew I. Killgore, and former AMIDEAST President Orin Parker.

They contend the FEC should require AIPAC to register as a political action committee. This would require it to file reports on its activities with the FEC. At present, the complaint charges, AIPAC is circumventing the law which limits donations to a candidate by a PAC to $5,000 in the primary election and $5,000 in the general election. By illegally directing campaign donations by affiliated PACs, the complainants allege, AIPAC is able to assure that candidates it certifies as "friendly to our issue," meaning Israel, receive sums of $200,000 or more in a single election year.

In a press conference statement, ADC President Abdeen Jabara hailed the action as "part of the growing protest by the American public of the role that the big money of special interest groups plays in distorting the American political process as well as US foreign and domestic policies."

Ambassador Killgore, one of the complainants and the publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, called upon the FEC "to examine the roots of AIPACs perversion of the American political system" and "intimidation of American politicians."

Answering questions at the press conference, complainant Richard Curtiss, chief editor of the Washington Report, noted that as of last Sept. 30 pro-Israel PACs had outspent the only two Arab-American PACs active in the 1988 elections by a margin of better than 100 to 1. The same ratio held true in the 1984 and 1986 elections, he said.

Curtiss charged that of more than 100 pro-Israel PACs identified by his publication over the past six years, virtually all conceal their purpose from the public.

"Their non-descriptive names, in fact, have become their hallmark, making them easily identifiable in the records of the FEC," he said. He described as "the worst-kept secret in Washington" the fact that "AIPAC's formidable ability to mobilize congressional support for aid to Israel ... is based not upon an appeal to the American national interest, but upon threats by a special interest that has resorted to conspiracy and collusion."

Responding to the press conference charges, AIPAC's public affairs committee said its "members proudly participate in the American political process and do so within the law," adding that "we are confident the FEC will expeditiously concur."

The DataBase Project on Palestinian Human Rights

The chief goal of The DataBase Project on Palestinian Human Rights is to "provide accurate and reliable data on human rights violations under Israeli rule," according to Dr. Louise Cainkar, director of the project's Chicago office. Begun in May 1986 by the Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC), the DataBase Project is now an independent organization that continues to work closely with PHRC. The DataBase Project, in turn, coordinates the work of two cooperating agencies: the Palestine Human Rights Information Center (PHRIC) in East Jerusalem, and the Chicago based Human Rights Research and Education Foundation.

PHRIC collects and stores information on human rights violations in the West Bank, Gaza, and within the Green Line. Ms. Jan Abu Shakrah heads PHRIC's staff of 18 field workers, researchers, archivists, computer operators, and writers. The Human Rights Research and Education Foundation distributes the information collected at PHRIC's East Jerusalem office to the world beyond Israel and Palestine.

Since July 1988, data have been transmitted via satellite from East Jerusalem to Chicago by computer modem. Earlier, the agencies were dependent on fax machines and costly long distance telephone calls. The switch to all-computer transfer was particularly fortunate because, only a month later, the Arab Studies Society, which housed PHRIC's fax machine, was shut down by Israeli authorities.

The DataBase Project on Palestinian Human Rights is often confused with the West Bank Data Project, founded by noted Israeli historian and author Meron Benvenisti. The West Bank Data Project concentrates more on statistical and demographic studies which contribute to socioeconomic analyses than on human rights issues.

The DataBase Project has been used as a resource by such publications as Harper's, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and United Press International. Data assembled by the project have been particularly useful for Arab-American groups, which have used it in their reports and in preparing testimony for the State Department and Congress.

Although the DataBase Project normally provides its updates on the first of each month, its December 1988 report was held open until Dec. 8, to reflect data for the full first year of the intifadah. Dr. Cainkar was surprised when the State Department called her Chicago office to inquire about the delayed report. "We were very pleased to see that they take our data seriously," she said. She hopes that some of her project's data will be utilized in the Department of State's annual report on observances of human rights by Israel. The State Department is obligated by law to present such a report on every country receiving US government assistance. According to the DataBase Project, there have been 433 Palestinian deaths directly related to the first year of the uprising. Contributions to the DataBase Project may be sent to One Quincy Court, Suite 1308, Chicago, IL 60604.

AAI Active in California

The Arab American Institute (AAI) has organized Arab Americans in nine assembly districts to run for local Democratic party committee positions in order to qualify as delegates to the California State Democratic Convention to be held this month in Sacramento. Last year, Arab Americans succeeded in persuading the California Democratic Council—the largest caucus within the state party—to adopt a resolution in support of Palestinian self-determination and statehood. The state party chair, Peter Kelly, subsequently prevented consideration of the resolution by the party convention, despite the fact that its supporters had secured the necessary signatures in support of a floor debate and vote. At this year's convention, delegates will be voting for a new party chair.

ADC Publishes Polls

ADC has published Issue Paper #22, American Public Opinion and the Palestinian Uprising, a study of the shift of US opinion on the Israeli occupation since the beginning of the uprising. To order, contact the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee at 4201 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20008, or call (202) 244-2990.

Catherine M. Willford is a free-lance journalist and the circulation director for the Washington Report.