August/September 1991, Page 52

Issues in the News

Compiled by George Shadroui

From the Jewish Press:

AIPAC Gearing Up:

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is planning a major lobbying campaign to delink the issues of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and $10 billion in housing loan guarantees sought from the US government, Forward reported.

"Whether confident or not about getting the legislation through Congress, AIPAC is gearing up to a level not seen since the 1981 fight over the AWACS sale, " the New York Jewish newspaper said.

The pro-Israel lobby has organized a nationwide campaign that will bring hundreds, if not thousands, of Israel supporters to Washington in September. The lobby will stress that the loans are a humanitarian issue, not a political one.

AIPAC's executive director, Tom Dine, reportedly told a group that the campaign for the loan guarantees is "the most important humanitarian mission our community and this organization have ever undertaken. "

The US guarantees are seen as essential to the Israeli housing effort, as loans from Germany and France are contingent on them. In addition, the guarantees would enable Israel to borrow more money with a longer payback schedule.

The AIPAC-Jewish community strategy, Forward reported, is to focus on the communities that would benefit from the loans—Ethiopians and Soviet Jews—and not on the "Israeli" approach, which would invite discussion of the peace process.

Linkage or Not?:

Meanwhile, Chairman Dante Fascell of the House Foreign Affairs Committee warned the Jewish community that Congress would likely support President Bush if he decided to withhold $10 billion in housing loan guarantees in response to Israel" s continued construction of settlements in the occupied territories.

Fascell, as reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, said it would be "politically difficult" to approve the guarantees over the Bush administration's objections.

The message to Israel supporters in this country, the JTA reported, is that both the Bush administration and the generally pro-Israel Congress are frustrated by Israel's policy of building more settlements in the territories. National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft told members of the American Jewish Congress that linkage between settlements and the loans is not formal, but does in fact exist.

House Approves Israeli Aid:

The House of Representatives approved $6.2 billion in aid to Israel for fiscal years 1992 and 1993 as part of the 1992-1993 Foreign Aid Authorization Bill.

The bill includes $3 billion for fiscal year 1992 and $3.2 billion for fiscal year 1993. The 1993 allocation includes an additional $200 million in military aid. At the same time, in what the JTA described as a setback for the Bush administration, the House eliminated $27 million in aid to Jordan.

The aid could still go to Jordan if President Bush certifies that Jordan has "taken steps to advance the peace process in the Middle East or that furnishing assistance to Jordan would be beneficial to the peace process in the Middle East," the JTA reported.

Rep. David Obey (D-WI) sponsored this language, which modified an amendment by Rep. John Miller (R-WA) that would have required Jordan to recognize Israel prior to receiving any aid.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher criticized the amendments to Jordan aid. "We think that rigid legislation prohibiting or restricting aid to Jordan would remove a key tool we have to respond to Jordan's improved behavior," Boucher said. Status in the Territories:

The JTA reported that 104,000 Jewish settlers will be living in the West Bank by the end of 1991, a 13.5 percent increase over last year. The West Bank Data Project reported that the growth rate, which had slowed in 1988 and 1989 because of the intifada, has regained its momentum and could reach an all-time high in 1992.

The JTA also reported that the Israeli government is concerned about a sharp drop in Jewish immigration from the Soviet Union during July.

Soviet immigration, which had reached 20,000 in June, was expected to be about 8,000 in July, JTA reported. On one weekend, the JTA reported, no immigrants landed for the first time in years.

Israeli officials differed over whether new Soviet regulations requiring all people going abroad to have Soviet passports or widespread reports of unemployment within Israel were the major cause of the drop.

Jewish Leaders Criticize the Pope:

Jewish leaders have criticized Pope John Paul II for equating abortion with the Holocaust during a Mass he celebrated in Poland.

The pope said that alongside the victims of war and mass murder in the 20th century lay "yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn."

Jean Kahn, head of CRIF, the representative council of French Jewish Organizations, called the analogy reprehensible, according to the JTA.

"Remembrance of the Holocaust has a sacred character, which even the pope, the spiritual leader of Catholicism, cannot transgress, " Kahn said.

"Spiritual Holocaust" in America:

An article in the June 13 Washington Jewish Week referred to soaring intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews as a "spiritual holocaust," the long-term effects of which "may be far more devastating to the future of our people than the destruction wrought by the Nazis 50 years ago."

The article, written by Sheldon Engelmeyer, former executive editor of The Jewish Week (Queens, NY), reported that 25 years ago only 11 percent of Jews married people of other faiths. Since 1985, he reported, 57 percent of all Jewish marriages have been intermarriages.

"As if that statistic is not frightening enough, 72 percent of the children of the intermarried are being raised in other faiths (41 percent) or without any religion at all (31 percent)," Engelmeyer writes.

"Actually, this statistic apparently paints a rosier picture (relatively speaking) than what may be the case. Among other findings: in 80 percent of intermarried households, one is likely to find a Christmas tree in December; on the other hand, in only 59 percent of the homes will one also see Chanukah candles."

Engelmeyer asks: "Who is at fault? All of us, collectively. We all share the guilt. Most of us have put too great an emphasis on trying to be like everyone else in American society."

Jordan is No Palestine:

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has publicly distanced himself from the opinion espoused by Ariel Sharon that "Jordan is Palestine, " the JTA reported. Speaking in early June, Shamir said he did not want to arouse the fears of Jordan's King Hussein by even discussing the issue. Hussein had only recently indicated that he was prepared to hold meetings with Israeli leaders. Sharon responded by saying that should such a meeting be held, the Israelis should use it to inform King Hussein that he no longer is king and no longer has a country.

Pollard Letter of Remorse:

Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy counterintelligence official convicted of spying for Israel, sent a letter to his parents apologizing for his actions, Forward has reported.

The action is seen as significant because Pollard, sentenced to life in prison, is appealing his conviction. Critics have said Pollard has shown little remorse over his actions.

Supporters argue that Pollard's sentence was extreme and that spying for a friendly country like Israel is different than spying for a hostile country.

The case is scheduled to be argued in September before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Israeli Action Excessive:

Israel continues to use excessive force and to violate the rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories, Amnesty International has reported. Amnesty's annual report, released in July, also charged various Arab states with mistreating prisoners and disregarding human rights, the JTA reported.

The report covers human rights violations in 141 countries, of which over 100 governments tortured or mistreated prisoners. In another 29 countries, thousands of people disappeared.

The report charges that Israeli authorities have beaten Palestinian detainees with truncheons, deprived them of sleep, and squeezed testicles. Amnesty called on Israel to end its practice of detaining Palestinians without trial.

The report, the JTA noted, also cites the increasing number of Palestinians being killed by other Palestinians. In 1990, Amnesty reported, 150 Palestinians were killed by other Palestinians, while 120 Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces.

Tikkun Editor May Not be Charged:

Jerusalem police have deferred possible charges against Michael Lerner, editor of the California-based' progressive Jewish magazine, for inciting Israeli soldiers not to serve in the occupied territories, the JTA reported.

Lerner, whose magazine hosted a weeklong conference in support of the Israeli peace movement, thinks Israel should withdraw from the occupied territories and allow the creation of a Palestinian state.

Jerusalem police told the JTA that it will take some time to determine whether Lerner violated Israeli laws during the conference. Lerner told the JTA the charges were an attempt by right-wingers to deflect attention from the substantive issues being raised at the conference.

Boycott Irks Jewish Groups:

The Arab League's boycott office has added 110 companies to its blacklist of firms that have ties to Israel, The Jewish Week, of Queens, NY, reported.

The boycott office also removed 10 companies from the list, including Coca-Cola Co., based in Atlanta, GA. Coca-Cola was unofficially removed from the list in 1989 after Egypt and several Gulf states allowed the company to build bottling plants, The Jewish Week reported.

Of those companies added to the Arab boycott list, 104 are partially owned by media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who was said to have bought a one-third share of Maariv, an Israeli paper. Maxwell also is a member of the board of the Jerusalem Post.

From the Middle East Press:

War Payments:

Of Saudi Arabia's $16.830 billion pledge toward the US cost of the Gulf war, $15.243 billion was scheduled to be liquidated by June 30, the Middle East Economic Digest reported. Of the total paid, $11.836 billion was in cash and another $3.407 billion in goods and services.

The balance of $1.596 billion will be met through in-kind services and smaller cash contributions, MEED reported.

Israelis Support Land for Peace:

A Reuters poll, published in the Saudi Gazette, showed that the majority of Israelis are prepared to trade land for peace. Sixty nine percent of the Israelis who responded to the poll, conducted by the independent Guttman Institute, indicated that they would be willing to give up parts of the West Bank, while 78 percent had no problem giving up the Gaza Strip.

The poll also showed that 96 percent of Israelis wanted to retain East Jerusalem, but envisioned that East Jerusalem would be the capital of a future Palestinian state. The vast majority—87 percent—wanted to retain the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967.

Turkish Power Struggles:

Turkish President Turgut Ozal maintained his grip on power despite the defeat of his chosen prime minister in an election for the leadership of the ruling Motherland Party, the Saudi Gazette reported.

Prime Minister Yildirini Akbulut lost the election to 43-year-old Mesut Yilmaz, a party liberal and the former foreign minister. Observers say Yilmaz will be more independent of Ozal. Leftist journalists said the Motherland Party, founded by Ozal, has lost most of its support because of internal economic problems, the Gazette reported.

New Ethiopian Leader Promises Reform:

Ethiopia's new rulers promised a broad transitional government, but declined to set a date for new elections in the wake of the fall of the Mengistu government.

Acting President Meles Zenawl said all groups seeking a peaceful transition to democracy would be allowed to participate in choosing the transitional government.

He added that the former ruling party, the Workers Party of Ethiopia, would be excluded. He called it a " fascist organization."

Zenawi's Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front helped topple the Mengistu regime late in May. Zenawi said his group was never a "Marxist" party and that he endorsed democracy and a mixed economy.

Sudanese Regime Celebrates:

The ruling regime of Omar Hassan AlBashir celebrated its second anniversary in power in late June, but could convince only two leaders—Libya's Muammar Qaddafi and Chad's Idriss Deby, a Qaddafi ally—to participate, Reuters reported in the Middle East Times.

The regime, which took power from Sadiq Al-Mahdi's democratically elected government in a 1989 coup, has done little to alleviate Sudan's dire economic conditions. Food and gas shortages, a $13 billion foreign debt and an inflation rate of 150 percent have crippled the country, and experts say as many as seven million could starve this year because of severe drought and the ongoing civil war in the south.

The 13-man junta has also suffered as a result of its support for Saddam Hussain and its strident anti-Western rhetoric, the Middle East Times reported. Even Egypt, a longtime ally, has distanced itself from the regime and what it considers Bashir's "militant" Islam.

Bashir has rejected calls to return the country to democratic rule, but he has offered to destroy the notorious Kobar prison, in which numerous opposition politicians have been kept over the years.

Mahfouz Appeals to West:

Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz voiced his concern for the impoverished people in the world and singled out the West to be compassionate, the Saudi Gazette reported.

"The rich countries should remember the people of the developing world. They cannot abandon them to their fate, as they are human and represent the majority of mankind," Mahfouz said.

Mahfouz, a novelist and newspaper columnist, defended Egypt's role in the Gulf war and said the United Nations should play a leading role in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, as it was the UN in the first place that divided Arab and Jew. He also warned against religious extremism. "I am not afraid of real Islam because it is human and democratic," he said.