Washington Report, August 22, 1983, Page 5

Lobby Activities

For Arabs:

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has reached an agreement with State University of New York (SUNY) Press which will give Arab Americans some say in the future selection of books it publishes on the Middle East. The agreement follows a decision made by SUNY Press not to reprint a textbook that ADC found objectionable—a decision which SUNY Press says was influenced, in part, by ADCs charge that the book was biased against Arabs.

According to ADC officials, William Eastman, the director of SUNY Press, agreed at an August 2 meeting to form an advisory committee composed of Arab American scholars who will review manuscripts received by the publisher and make recommendations on them. The group will also recommend for publication studies on Arab American life and anti-Arab racism which it considers worthy.

The formation of the advisory committee grew out of a dispute between ADC and SUNY Press over The United States and the Middle East, a high school textbook written by Philip Groisser, superintendent of Brooklyn high schools, which ADC charged was biased against Arabs and factually inaccurate in many instances. John Zogby, ADC's national field representative, led the effort to publicize these charges by holding a press conference last May in Albany, New York, and mailing "Action Alerts" to ADCs over 16,000 members, urging them to protest the book.

At the end of June the Chancellor of the SUNY school system, Clifton Wharton Jr., told Mr. Zogby in a letter that the book is "now out of print" and that there were "no plans for further printing." Mr. Eastman has acknowledged that "the issue of bias in the book" was a factor in the decision not to reprint it. He later told Mr. Zogby that in addition to not reprinting the book-first published last year-SUNY Press would also recall any unsold copies still on the shelves and was planning to revert all rights and title to the book back to the author.

ADC's Zogby described the outcome as "one of ADC's most significant victories in combating anti-Arab racism."

For Israel:

Several pro-Israel groups have recently sponsored programs aimed at strengthening support for Israel on college campuses across the U.S.

A group of ten collegians—all of whom are student leaders in the Republican and Democratic parties in their home states—returned in early August from a two-week trip to Israel, sponsored by the North American Jewish Students' Network. The purpose of the visit, according to David Makovsky, president of the Network, was to "sensitize a new generation of American leaders to the true realities in the Middle East." The trip's coordinator, Shabsa Lis, said the students were chosen "from areas where there are no large Jewish constituencies."

During their visit they met with Prime Minister Menachem Begin, President Chaim Herzog and Elias Freij, the mayor of Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, among others. Upon returning they issued a statement urging the Reagan Administration to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and expressed their desire to "strengthen the alliance" between Israel and the U.S. The trip was funded by the World Zionist Organization, which is active on more than 200 campuses nationwide.

For its part, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) hosted late last month its third annual national leadership training seminar in College Park, Maryland. Approximately 130 students attended the two-day meeting. Altogether, more than 4,500 students, from nearly 400 colleges and universities, have now participated in such student programs.

The agenda of the seminar was similar to the lobby's annual convention, with workshops on such subjects as the passage of legislation, the appropriate responses to Arab "propaganda," and techniques for effective speaking. Pledges were obtained from the students to sponsor AIPAC membership drives on the campuses and to try to enlist the support of others in next year's elections.

At the White House, in what amounts to lobbying in reverse, the Administration has lately been trying to win support among Jews for its policy in Central America. To do this, it has been trying to publicize the links which it says exist between "PLO terror" and Marxist governments and "revolutionary organizations" in Central America.

The White House Office of Media Relations and Planning has disseminated a nine-page paper which attempts to document the existence of cooperation between the PLO and the Cuban and Nicaraguan governments, and between the PLO and the rebels in El Salvador—in some instances citing reports by the Israeli Defense Forces and briefings by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as sources. It also states that Nicaragua's Sandinista government is "anti- Semitic." The paper—titled "The PLO in Central America"—was sent to "all the Jewish press," according to Sue Mathis, in the Office of Media Relations. She said she did not know if it had been sent to other journalists as well. The paper was issued as part of the Media Relations' "White House Digest" series, dated July 20.