Focus on Arabs and Islam

By Ann Lynn Foster

US Probe of Israeli Labor Practices Postponed

US Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter has postponed until after the presidential election his investigation into allegations of mistreatment of Palestinian workers by Israel, which could affect that state's special trade status with the US.

A hearing scheduled to begin October 3 was postponed to November 15 at the request of both Israeli and Arab groups in the US in an attempt to remove political considerations from the investigation. Nevertheless, a spokesperson for Vice President George Bush came out against the proposed investigation, saying that Bush "has never questioned and does not question" Israel's labor practices.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a complaint in June charging Israel with violating the rights of Palestinian workers by denying trade union protection to more than 100,000 Palestinians from the occupied territories who commute to work everyday in Israel. ADC also charged Israel with closing trade union offices in the West Bank and arresting Palestinian labor activists.

If the allegations are found to be true, Israel could lose its right to export products to the United States free of charge under the Generalized System of Preferences Congressional Delegation Heads for Occupied Territories.

A six-member delegation of congressional aides departed for the West Bank and Gaza Strip October 13 to begin a 12-day fact-finding mission sponsored by ADC. Staffers of Reps. Harris Fawell (R-IL), Martin Edwards (D-CA), Jimmy Hayes (D-LA), H. Martin Lancaster (D-NC), and Bob Clement (D-TN) participated in the mission, conceived as part of ADC's Eyewitness Israel program. The trip was to be "carefully structured," according to ADC's Faris Bouhafa, to expose delegates to all points of view in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The group visited Palestinian villages one day and held discussions with Israeli officials the next. The tour also included visits to Palestinian refugee camps, Israeli settlements, and the Knesset, as well as briefings by Israeli Foreign Ministry officials and representatives of Israeli peace groups. Eyewitness Israel programs such as this were designed by ADC to provide lawmakers with more balanced information on the West Bank and Gaza. The first delegation returned in September, drawing a strong reaction from the Israeli government, which called the entire ADC program "subversive." ADC President Abdeen Jabara responded to the charge, saying that the key irritant to Israel was the fact that the ADC program was balanced. "When Israeli or American Jewish organizations sponsor similar delegations," Jabara added, "they rarely include any meaningful contact with Palestinian political figures and never arrange for visits to Palestinian camps and villages. ADC is not afraid to let US congressional representatives see both sides of the story ... If we are subverting anything, it is Israel's attempt to conceal the truth."

The next delegation is scheduled to leave in early December, marking the first anniversary of the Palestinian uprising.

State Department Hears of Israeli Human Rights Violations

ADC President Abdeen Jabara met with Richard Schiffter, the State Department's head of human rights issues, October 20, and presented him with what he described as the most comprehensive data available in the US on specific instances of Israeli human rights violations over the last 10 months. Collected from various sources, ADC spent one month cross checking and verifying the list, which includes 1,500 specific instances of violations. Jabara presented the cases to Schifter for study in preparation for the State Department's 1989 human rights country report on Israel.

Arab Americans Fight Anti-Semitic Charge

The Arab-American Institute has spent the last month combating a Republican Party campaign to portray a new Arab-American member of the Democratic National Committee as anti-Semitic. The attack on Ruth Ann Skaff, a prominent member of the Houston Arab-American community and a strong supporter of Palestinian rights, has included full-page advertisements in both the New York Times and the Boston Globe, as well as in Jewish weekly newspapers in which Republicans have attempted to portray Skaff's views as anti-Semitic. In response to the campaign, the Arab-American Institute sent out "action alerts" to Arab-American members of both parties telling them to speak out to their party officials against such "baiting," and point out that this can only alienate Arab Americans from the Republican Party. In editorials printed in both the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post, AAI President Jim Zogby has condemned the attack. "No one should be required to pass a litmus test on areas of US foreign policy in order to participate in domestic politics," Zogby said in one article. "in particular, it strikes me as somewhat credulous to expect that Skaff would express support for Israeli policies at a time when those policies have resulted in such hardship and suffering for the people of her ancestry in the Middle East."

Berkeley to Vote on Sister City Tie with Palestinian Refugees

On November 8, residents of Berkeley, CA, will vote on an initiative to adopt the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabaliya as a sister city. If passed, the legislation would make Berkeley the first US city to adopt a Palestinian town, in sharp contrast to the more than 200 US-Israeli sister city programs.

The campaign for the initiative, Measure J, is facing heavy opposition, according to Nabil Al-Hadithy, a member of the Friends of Jabaliya organization. "We are being outspent by over 40 to one," said Hadithy, who says the city's conservative Jewish establishment is funding the well-organized opposition, although many progressive Jews are speaking out in favor of the measure.

Becoming a sister city with communities in politically troubled areas is not new to Berkeley, which has already adopted cities in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and South Africa. The purpose of Measure J is to create a "human link" between the two communities, and hopefully mitigate the brutality of the oppression experienced by Jabaliya residents, just as Berkeley's support for an impoverished black community in South Africa helped residents there stand fast against orders of the South African government to relocate.

Jabaliya is among the poorest and most densely populated areas in the world. Rates of Infant mortality and preventable disease are also among the highest in the world. In a campaign leaflet, supporters of the measure state that "just as it has been good for Americans to form ties of goodwill with Israelis, it's right and timely for Berkeley to reach out in friendship to Palestinians. "

Supporters of the measure include peace activist Daniel Ellsberg, International Jewish Peace Union Chairman Larry Harris, Jerusalem journalist Peretz kidron, Nobel Peace Laureate Linus Pauling, and Professor Edward Said of Columbia University. Readers wishing to support the campaign may send their contributions to Friends of Jabaliya, P.O. Box 8292, Berkeley, CA 94709.

Ann Lynn Foster is managing editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.