Washington Report, August 27, 1984, Page 5

Lobby Activities

For Arabs:

Arab Americans affiliated with the Republican Party now have an official representative in the 1984 presidential campaign with the appointment of Joseph D. Baroody as national chairman of Arab Americans for Reagan-Bush. This marks the first time that a Republican presidential campaign has appointed someone to rally support from Arab Americans.

The move was announced prior to the Republican convention in Dallas and was greeted with satisfaction by most Arab Americans. Two organizations representing segments of them, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA), had been working for weeks for the appointment of a liaison to their community. It is not known whether Mr. Baroody will continue to play a role after the November elections, assuming Mr. Reagan is re-elected. Mr. Baroody, who has long been active in the Republican Party and in Arab American affairs—and is a past president of the NAAA—is the head of a public affairs consulting firm located in Washington, D.C.

Also connected with the fall elections is an effort by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee to publicize the Mondale campaign's refusal to accept financial contributions from five prominent Arab Americans living in Chicago. The five Democrats met with Mr. Mondale last May and donated checks of one thousand dollars each, which then were held until July and returned. Albert Joseph, one of the contributors, said he was told by one of Mr. Mondale's fundraisers that he, Mondale, had decided not to accept further donations from Arab Americans. ADC has written to hundreds of its key supporters and influential friends, asking them to protest this action by contacting Mr. Mondale and leaders of the Democratic Party. ADC also has written twice to Mr. Mondale requesting an explanation and an apology to the Arab Americans. The NAAA says it is also working on the matter, but quietly.

For Israel:

Pro-Israel Jewish organizations, up in arms over a State Department official's recent remark that Syria has been "helpful" in Lebanon, have succeeded in obtaining reassurances that the U.S. has not adopted a more favorable policy toward Syria.

Secretary of State George Shultz wrote in a letter to Kenneth Bialkin, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, that Syria and the 'U.S. both support—"for different reasons"—the central Lebanese government. But, he said, the comment by Richard Murphy, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, that Syria was a "helpful player" in Lebanon "did not indicate any change in U.S. policy regarding either Lebanon or Syria." Mr. Shultz said that Mr. Murphy's remark before a congressional panel last month was a description of "an evolving situation in which changed circumstances have resulted in some redirection of Syrian tactics."

Mr. Shultz's letter was in response to a telegram sent by Mr. Bialkin, who had criticized the Assistant Secretary's statement as an "astonishing and depressing development."

Meanwhile, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has come under investigation by the FBI for possessing a classified report on the Reagan Administration's current negotiating strategy on a free trade agreement with Israel. The report, prepared for President Reagan by the U.S. International Trade Commission, supplies information on the degree to which U.S. industries would suffer if all duties were removed on imported Israeli products. This information, if made available to Israel, would greatly enhance its bargaining strength. AIPAC, which has acknowledged possession of the document, has been lobbying Congress to give Mr. Reagan formal authority to negotiate a free trade agreement.