Washington Report, March 19, 1984, Page 4

Lobby Activities

For Arabs:

Pleased by the outcome of a similar project last year, the Arab Women's Council (AWC) has launched its second essay contest aimed at advancing American students' understanding of the Middle East.

The AWC Research and Education Fund which was spun off from the Council to administer this and other educational programs has solicited essays from students at 114 black colleges and universities across the country, according to the project's coordinator, Nancy Piersma. Last year, the contest had been for juniors and seniors in high school only drawn from Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming.

Ms. Piersma said that the Council decided to seek the participation of black schools this year because they were expected to be "the most responsive." As of mid March, more than 50 students from approximately 20 schools had registered for the contest—including, she said, some students attending non-invited schools who happened to hear of the event.

The participants will have until the end of April to turn in an essay proposing a solution to the Arab Israeli conflict. The authors of the six papers judged to be the best will be sent this summer on a three week trip to the Middle East. The three winners chosen last year, who wrote on the same theme, visited historical sites and met with educators and dignitaries in Jordan, Syria and Tunisia.

In addition to the essay contest, the AWC Research and Education Fund has recently co sponsored a series of four lectures on the Middle East, and operates a speakers bureau.

For Israel:

Pro Israel groups in the U.S., long opposed to arms sales to Arab nations, have been moving on two tracks in a stepped up drive to block both U.S. sales to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and West German sales to Saudi Arabia.

On the U.S. side, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is trying to stop recently announced plans by the Reagan Administration to sell 1,613 Stinger antiaircraft missiles to Jordan, and 1,200 Stinger missiles to Saudi Arabia. AIPAC argued in a memorandum it circulated on Capitol Hill that both sales would "threaten to undermine the security of Israel without substantially enhancing the security of the recipients." AIPAC also voiced its opposition to the Jordan proposal at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, which later passed an amendment to the FY 1985 foreign aid bill favoring AIPAC's view. The amendment would bar the sale to Jordan of Stingers and other advanced weaponry "unless the President has certified to the Congress that Jordan is publicly committed to recognition of Israel and to prompt entry into direct peace negotiations with Israel." The Stinger sale is separate from another plan by the Administration to help Jordan build its own rapid deployment force for assisting its Arab neighbors in the Gulf during emergencies.

On the second track opposing Germany's expected sale of arms to Saudi Arabia 12 Jewish American leaders met with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl during his visit to Washington earlier this month. But the group had little success in convincing Mr. Kohl not to sell the arms to the Saudis, according to Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress. He said the twelve left the meeting "with the feeling they had made very little impact" on the Chancellor's decision. Jewish groups fear that the eventual sale could include advanced warplanes, tanks, and missiles. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued a call on March 5 for President Reagan and Secretary of State George Shultz "to bring their influence to bear" against the German sale. Also during the Chancellor's visit, several organizations including the Anti Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and a group called Writers & Artists for Peace in the Middle East placed advertisements opposing the sale in a major New York newspaper.