Washington Report, March 5, 1984, Page 4

Lobby Activities

For Arabs:

In recent weeks the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) has taken action on a host of legislative issues.

On the Hill, NAAA representatives have testified before the Senate Finance Committee against a U.S.-Israel free trade agreement now being negotiated; appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in support of the Federal Communications Commission's "fairness doctrine," which NAAA believes has made it easier for it to air its views over radio; and argued before an authorizing subcommittee against further aid increases for Israel.

But the one piece of legislation to which NAAA is giving the most attention—and on which it is taking credit for mobilizing opposition—is a Senate bill calling on the Administration to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. (See also "For Israel" lobby activities.)

NAAA spokesman Ronald Cathell said his group took the lead in contacting a broad range of supporters—including various church bodies, Arab embassies, members of Congress, and other Arab American organizations—to urge them to actively seek the bill's defeat. Mr. Cathell said that it was in large part because of NAAA's efforts that several Christian leaders and others offered to provide testimony against the bill at a recent hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Several religious leaders did appear as witnesses, along with NAAA, but additional hearings are expected to be held for those who had to be turned away. Mr. Cathell said that the additional hearings would work to its advantage because it would give NAAA "more time to oppose the bill vocally." NAAA's goal, according to Mr. Cathell, is to try to keep the bill tied up in committee so that it does not come before a vote of the full Senate—a step requiring a majority of those Senators voting in the committee.

For Israel:

A bill directing the Reagan Administration to move the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was supported by both Jewish and Christian groups at a recent Senate hearing—the first congressional hearing ever held on this issue. The U.S. operates its embassy in Tel Aviv and has done so since Israel's founding because the United Nation's partition plan of 1947 called for a separate status for Jerusalem, which was not to be part of either a Jewish or an Arab state.

Of the five persons who testified on behalf of the bill—introduced by Senator Daniel P. Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and now having over 25 co-sponsors—three were representatives of Christian groups, including the Moral Majority. The other two were the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem and the National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel. Not speaking for a particular organization was Sister Rose Thering, a Seton Hall university professor. The fifth, non-Christian group was the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)—which usually speaks at hearings involving matters on Israel—was not among those giving oral testimony. However, AIPAC officials in attendance made available to the Senators 18 pages of written testimony it had prepared, as well as a new AIPAC booklet that argued for a relocation of the embassy. In the written testimony, AIPAC said present U.S. policy is "divorced from reality" and is an "affront" to Israel. It also stated that "the American Jewish community wants to see an end to the anti-Israel tilt that for decades has afflicted U.S. policy toward Jerusalem," adding that "most Christian Americans ... also are likely to support a change."

The Administration "strongly opposes" the bill, according to Undersecretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, who presented its case at the hearing. "A change in the U.S. position on the status of Jerusalem would seriously undermine our ability to play an effective role in the Middle East peace process," Mr. Eagleburger said.

The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Charles Percy (R-Ill.), announced that he would try to schedule additional hearings on the issue. Hearings may also be held on the House side, where a similar resolution was introduced by Congressman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and has attracted about 50 co-sponsors, according to one of his aides.