Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 13, 1994 Page: 4 of 24
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Opinion
TEXAS JEWISH POST, THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1994-IN OUR 43TH YEARI
Washington Watch
Warnings on Assad Meeting:
The pro-Israel community in
Washington is bolding its collec-
tive breath as President Bill Clin-
ton, in the middle of a pivotal swing
through a seething Europe, gets set
to meet with Syria’s President
Hafez Assad in Geneva on January
16.
Israel’s friends here are nervous
that Clinton may not be prepared
for Assad’s tough, sometimes de-
ceptive style of negotiating—and
that by agreeing to the meeting, the
president may have already given
the Syrian strongman much of what
he wants.
In briefings before the trip, the
president was warned about the
difficulties in negotiating with
Assad.
“People pointed out the need to
be extremely cautious in dealing
with him,” said Jess Hordes, Wash-
ington director for the Anti-Defa-
mation League. “In the past, com-
mitments have been made that
haven’t been kept; he has a history
that requires a great deal of cau-
tion, both tactically and in assess-
ing his strategic view of the re-
gion’’
The message from Jewish groups
to the peripatetic president was this:
there MAY be opportunities for
using the U.S.-Syrian relationship
to further the stalled talks between
Damascus and Jerusalem—but it
will take exceptionally tough and
skilled bargaining on the part of the
president to make that happen
Just under the surface is a grow-
By James David Besser
TJP Washington Correspondent
ing anxiety that Clinton may not be
up to the job.
“Some of the foreign policy mis-
steps in ocher parts of the world
have created concern that he may
not have the backbone for negotiat-
ing with someone of Assad's char-
acter,” said one leading pro-Israel
activist “His recent efforts with
the North Koreans has increased
that anxiety .**
At the very least Jewish activ-
ists want the president to be force-
ful in insisting that Assad get seri-
ous about negotiating directly with
Israel, and not focus his attentions
on Washington
cus leader Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.)
has not altered his controversial
suggestion that Fanakhan could
play a role in coalitions designed to
fight the violence ravaging Ameri-
can cities.
But effective community rela-
tions work around the country has
taken the edge off the issue, ac-
cording to numerous sources here.
Jewish activists in a number of
congressional districts have met
with African American members,
quietly expressing the reasons for
the Jewish sensitivity about the
Black Muslim leader
Community relations councils
around the country have been meet-
ing with local black leaders in re-
sponse to the controversy, which
erupted in September after
Farrakhan was included in a semi-
nar on “Race in America" at the
annual Black Caucus legislative
weekend in Washington.
“The feedback from the field has
been largely positive,” said Larry
Rubin, executive vice chair of the
National Jewish Community Rela-
tions Advisory Council (NJCRAC).
“Many African-American organi-
zations around the country are look-
ing for positive points of contact
with the organized Jewish commu-
nity.”
The underlying problem of black -
Jewish tensions have not dimin-
ished, sources in Washington em-
phasize—but effective community
relations efforts by Jewish groups
around the country have defused
the impact of the Black Caucus
flap
Zogby Set to Visit Israel:
For years, Jim Zogby has taken a
strong interest in Israel—a nega-
tive interest, according to many
Jewish activists.
compatriots in Gaza and the West
Bank.
Now, in this new era when peace
is at least a possibility, Zogby is
getting his chance. And just in case
the authorities there give him
trouble, his traveling companions
will include a number of prominent
Jewish and Arab-American busi-
ness people, and a man whose pro-
Israel credentials are above chal-
lenge: former Rep. Mel Levine (D-
Calif).
Rep. Mel Levine
The trip is the first official foray
of Builders for Peace, an indepen-
dent group created at the behest of
Vice President A1 Gore to funnel
private-sector money into Gaza and
Jericho—a critical element in mak-
ing the troubled Palestinian self-
rule experiment work.
The trip will
feature one other
intriguing event:
Levine, who spon-
sored more than his share
of anti-PLO measures dur-
ing his years on Capitol
Hill, will meet with Yasser
Arafat in Tunis.
But the Builders for Peace ex-
cursion will involve more than a
few intriguing bits of symbolism;
also on board will be more than a
dozen business executives from
around the country interested in
investing in the Palestinian self-
rule area.
Included will be representatives
of the company that makes Culligan
water softeners, who will demon-
strate small devices that can purify
water for a whole town. Another
possible participant is Jamie Farr, a
star in the television series
M*A*S*H. Farr, who is Lebanese
by descent, is interested in selling
handicrafts from Gaza and the West
Bank on the Home Shopping Net-
work.
Another participant will explore
the possibility of a major housing
and hotel project for the region.
The Builders for Peace team re-
mains optimistic despite the recent
hitches in the Israeli-PLO imple-
mentation talks, said Ralph
Nurmberger, the group’s executive
director.
The group will hold apublic event
with Commerce Secretary Ron
Brown, who will be in Israel to sign
a major science and technology
agreement that will provide a sig-
nificant boost to Israel’s
economy—and a reciprocal shot in
the arm to American workers.
Jews Line Up for Major
Domestic Battles:
Jewish groups could be right in
the middle of the fray as civil rights
activists get set for the next big
battle in Congress—the effort to
pass a major gay, lesbian and bi-
sexual civil rights bill, which is
expected to begin in earnest next
MM I
The legislation would prohibit
discrimination on the base of sexual
orientation in employment, hous-
ing and federally funded pro-
grams—a wide-ranging civil rights
statute.
The bill is being put together
with the active involvement of the
Leadership Conference on Civil
Rights, the leading civil rights group
in the nation. A major figure in
drafting the measure is Georgetown
University law professor Chai
Feldblum, who played a prominent
role in the fight to lift the ban against
gays and lesbians in the military.
Jewish groups like the Religious
Action Center of Reform Judaism
WASH WATCH p. 22
Texas Jewish Post
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No Ruckus Over Black Caucus:
Remember all the ruckus over
the congressional B lack Caucus and
the new “covenant” between the
important Capitol Hill group and
Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan?
The basic issue has not disap-
peared; Congressional Black Cau-
James Zogby
But the longtime head of the
Arab American Institute has never
visited Israel, or his friends and
Visws and opinions of columnists and contributors ara thsir own and not
ft* TEXAS JEWISH POST.
Th* TEXAS JEWISH POST I
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 13, 1994, newspaper, January 13, 1994; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth753589/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .