Washington Report, July 9, 1984, Page 5

Lobby Activities

For Arabs:

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has charged that proposed legislation aimed at combatting international terrorism could result in the harassment of Arab Americans and their organizations.

ADC opposes all four pieces of anti-terrorism legislation submitted to Congress last April by the Reagan Administration and for which Congressional hearings have recently been held. ADC is especially critical of one bill which would make it illegal for Americans to offer "support" to foreign governments or international organizations that have engaged in acts of terrorism threatening to U.S. interests or persons. Under the bill, the secretary of state would be granted sole authority to decide which governments and organizations fall into this category, and his decisions could not be challenged in the courts.

"Conceivably," ADC said in a recent statement, "this legislation could lead to a secretary of state designating the PLO, for instance, as a 'terrorist group' and could result in the surveillance, harassment and possibly arrest of legitimate and legal groups of Arab Americans that the government deems are merely 'supporting' the PLO—even if the support is humanitarian or political." ADC is concerned that it and other Arab American groups might be affected by the legislation, if it is approved—since some pro-Israel organizations have been trying for several years to convince policy-makers that "pro-PLO."

ADC is going ahead with initial plans to try to defeat the bill, despite indications by the Administration that it will consider less restrictive language. Last month ADC participated in two strategy sessions with about one dozen civil liberties groups. Robin Madrid, ADC's representative, said the groups agreed to draft a statement opposing all four pieces of legislation and, after collecting as many endorsements as possible, to send it to members of Congress.

Meanwhile, the ten-month old Council of Presidents of National Arab-American Organizations urged President Reagan in a telegram to end what it called an Israeli "blockade" of fuel shipments to southern Lebanon. "To date, the Israeli government has rejected pleas to allow fuel shipments to pass" into the region, according to an announcement by the Council. The telegram to President Reagan was signed by Abbas Alnasrawi, who was elected in April to a six-month term as Council chairman, replacing former U.S. Senator James Abourezk. Mr. Alnasrawi is currently president of the Association of Arab-American University Graduates (AAUG).

For Israel:

A growing concern of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is that after the November elections a second-term Reagan Administration—or possibly even a new Democratic president—will re-start Mideast peace efforts in a way that would not be in Israel's interest.

At the root of AIPAC's fears is that the U.S. might try to settle all of the outstanding Arab-Israeli disputes at once by holding an international conference. "The attraction of this comprehensive option in a new administration should not be underestimated," according to Martin Indyk, a senior policy analyst with AIPAC's research department. Writing in a recent issue of Near East Report, AIPAC's newsletter, Mr. Indyk said that there has been a pattern over the years in which U.S. presidents have turned to this type of diplomacy after the "step-by-step" strategy—of which he considers the Reagan plan to be a part—has met with failure. He cautioned, however, that "if the step-by-step road to a solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict is blocked, Washington should not assume that a comprehensive negotiation will clear it."

Some of the underlying reasons for AIPAC's opposition to a comprehensive approach were outlined by executive director Thomas Dine in a major policy speech to AIPAC members earlier this year. According to Mr. Dine's scenario, if the U.S. takes this approach it is first likely to try to "squeeze" Israel to halt West Bank settlements, as well as to offer arms to Jordan, and to hold secret talks with the PLO. These steps and others would be taken, said Mr. Dine, "to hint to (PLO chairman) Arafat that if he plays along he would get some kind of entity in the West Bank." He then argued that "before this thing called a peace process ever got off the ground, we would have an entire list of U.S. actions profoundly hostile to Israel and to U.S.-Israel relations."

The prospect of this post-election scenario, Mr. Dine concluded, has created a "sense of foreboding" within the American Jewish community.