April 1990, Page 44b

Arab American Activism

By Catherine Willford

Dole Urges Action on Middle East Peace Process at NAAA Conference

"We are ready; the Egyptians are ready. It is time to get on with it," said Sen. Robert Dole (R-KS) to members of the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) at their 8th annual political action conference. "We have negotiations and elections all over the world—must the Middle East be last?"

Dole's address was one of the highlights of the three-day conference held Feb. 25-2 7 on Capitol Hill. The Kansas senator also elaborated on his proposal to cut by five percent foreign aid funds to earmarked countries. He cited nations such as Panama, Nicaragua, Lithuania, Poland and Czechoslovakia as all deserving of American aid. "Something's got to give," said Dole, "and I think what should give is these multimillion and multi-billion dollar foreign aid entitlement programs that we're funding. Programs that might have made sense when we started writing the checks five or 10 years ago—but programs that, at a minimum, ought to be looked at again, to see if they can be justified in 1990 in view of all these momentous changes around the world."

The Dole proposal on earmarking was also the subject of a seminar featuring former Illinois Congressman Paul Findley and Helen McCloskey, wife of former California Congressman Paul N. (Pete) McCloskey. Findley and both McCloskeys are founding members of the Council for the National Interest. Other conference speakers included Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN), Sheikh Saud Nasir AI-Sabah, Ambassador of Kuwait, Dr. William Quandt of the Brookings Institution, Dr. Bishara Bahbah, editor of The Return, and Dr. James Zogby of the Arab-American Institute. Sen. John Chafee (R-RI) and Rep.Howard Nielson (R-UT) were honored at the Feb. 26 luncheon for their legislative initiatives to reopen West Bank schools.

NAAA presented issue briefs on the Dole proposal, the Middle East peace process, US policy in Lebanon and the immigration of Soviet Jews into Israel. NAAA opposes the Kasten-Leahy bill, which would allocate $400 million in commercial housing loans to the Israeli government for the settlement of Soviet Jews, thus raising US assistance to Israel, already running at $3 billion annually, by 13 percent. Though these loans are stipulated for use only in Israel proper, NAAA fears that they would free Israeli funds to resettle Soviet Jewish immigrants and other Israeli Jews in the occupied territories in direct violation of US policy and international law.

ADC Calls for Dismissal of Schifter Following Human Rights Report

Abdeen Jabara, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), wrote Secretary of State James Baker and President Bush requesting that Assistant Secretary of State for Humanitarian Affairs Richard Schifter be relieved of his duties in the wake of reports that Schifter watered down criticism of Israeli human rights abuses in the 1990 State Department Report on Human Rights and that he briefed Jewish-American leaders about the report while denying their Arab-American counterparts equal access.

ADC has charged Schifter, the founding president of the pro-Israel Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), with unconscionable abuse of office and a serious conflict of interest, and requested that President Bush and Secretary Baker dismiss Schifter for violation of public trust.

"At a time when there is incredible daily suffering by the Palestinian civilian population, it is simply unacceptable that a US government official places the interests of Israel above those of honesty and objectivity," Jabara wrote.

The ADC president also cited information in a Feb. 20 Washington Post column by Jack Anderson that Schifter had attempted to "diffuse criticism of Israel" by ignoring "dozens of well-researched, classified reports" from Jerusalem Consul General Phillip Wilcox.

ADC has called on Congress to inquire into Schifter's conduct with respect to the Israeli section of the State Department report, and to hold public hearings on Israeli human rights practices in the occupied territories.

Calling this year's report on Israeli abuses an apparent travesty," Jabara noted that ADC had cooperated fully with the State Department in the preparation of the 1988 report, but had been denied equal access to the findings of this year's report. Asserting that Arab Americans have suffered increased human and civil rights abuses in the occupied territories during the past two years, Jabara argued that "it logically follows that we have a priority interest in the State Department's report."

H.E. Hisham Nazer, Commerce Official Speak on US-Arab Trade

His Excellency Hisham Nazer, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, gave the keynote address at the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce conference, "Saudi-US Relations in the 1990s." The conference, held March 9 at the New York University Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near East Studies, concluded a three-day visit by a Saudi Corporate Leaders' Group and was part of the activities surrounding the New York opening of the cultural exhibition, "Saudi Arabia: Yesterday and Today," on tour throughout the US.

On the West Coast on March 9, Associate Deputy Secretary John Shaw of the US Department of Commerce spoke on "US-Arab Trade in the 1990s" at a luncheon sponsored by the US-Arab Chamber of Commerce (Pacific) Inc., the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the United States Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Shaw based his address on his experience as team leader for the Booz, Allen & Hamilton Company in planning the new industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu in Saudi Arabia. His most recent book is Saudi Arabian Modernization: The Impact of Change on Stability.

ADC Aids Lebanese Nationals

ADC is supporting a bill submitted by Rep. Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH) which would allow Lebanese nationals now in the until it is safe enough for them to return to their homeland. The bill, HR 3267, has been sent to the House Subcommittee on Immigration. ADC members are sending postcards reading "Support Safe Haven for Lebanese Nationals" to Congress.

Catherine Willford is circulation director for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.