Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 49, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 30, 1995 Page: 4 of 24
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Opinion 4 TEXAS JEWISH post, Thursday, November 30,1995 - in our 49th year!
Washington Watch
Joint Session for Peres?
With Prime Minister Shimon
Peres due in town on December 11
for a round of high-level meetings,
Israeli officials are anxious to give
him the most visible platform for
his expected call for renewed sup-
port for the Mideast peace pro-
cess.
This week,
pro-Israel forc-
es here were
busy trying to
arrange an ad-
dress by Peres to
a joint session of
Congress, an
idea that won
Shimon Peres support from
leaders on both sides of the aisle.
But the logistics of the proposed
address were daunting — espe-
cially because Peres will arrive just
as the bitter, high-stakes negotia-
tions between Congress and the
administration over the stalled bud-
get bill reach critical mass.
A budget bill must be passed by
December 15. and most Congres-
sional observers expect a political
conflagration in the days before
that deadline that could overshad-
ow the Peres visit.
The proposed address to Con-
gress would also serve to bolster a
December 12 peace process lobby
day by a coalition of groups led by
the National Jewish Community
Relations Advisory Council
(NJCRAC), the Conference of
Presidents ol Major American Jew -
ish Organisations and the Ameri-
can Israel Public Affairs Commit-
tee.
“There is a feeling that our com-
munity has not been vocal enough
on the peace process in an orga-
nized fashion.” said Lynn Lyss,
NJCRAC’s chair. “This will be a
leadership group from around the
nation that will meet with the key
players from both parties in the
House and Senate, as well as the
administration, to make one point:
we support THIS peace process."
Lyss expressed satisfaction that
AIPAC and the Presidents Confer-
ence were joining in the Washing-
ton event, which NJCRAC had
scheduled before Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination
Peres will also attend a major
rally in support of the Israeli gov-
ernment in support of the Israeli
government in New York on De-
cember 10 to drive home the same
message — that American Jews
need tocxplicitly and actively sup-
port the current Middle East peace
process. Just how explicit that en-
By James David Besser
TJI* Washington Correspondent
dorsement will be continues to be
a source of controversy among Jew-
ish and pro-Israel groups
Administration officials also
expect Peres to explain his new
proposals for negotiations with
Syria — proposals that, according
to reports from Israel, may include
an increased American peacekeep-
ing role.
That could be a tough sell on
Capitol Hill, a fact that will make
Peres’ initial meetings with con-
gressional leaders even more im-
portant, according to sources here.
Jewish Groups Applaud Bosnia
Agreement, but Wary About
T roops:
Jewish groups responded cau-
tiously to last week’s agreement
aimed at ending the slaughter in
Bosnia.
Jewish leaders generally ap-
plauded the administration’s me-
diation efforts, but sidestepped the
controversial question of sending
20.000 American troops as part of
a NATO peacekeeping force
Most Jewish activists expressed
the view that any end to the blood-
shed was desirable, but that the
agreement will do little to perma-
nently dampen the animosities that
have driven the civil war.
“A lot of people in our move-
ment think that it satcrrible agree-
ment. that it rewards genocide."
said Joshua Goldstein, a former
leader of the Bosnia Support Com-
mittee and a professor of interna-
tional relations at American Uni-
versity in Washington. “There’s a
lot of truth in that; it’s not a JUST
agreement But given the political
realities. I think the agreement is
more positive than negative. De-
ferring animosities may be the best
we can hope for.”
But mtnxlucing American troops
into that kind of environment could
prove hazardous.
“We turned on the Bosnian Mus-
lims by agreeing to this arrange-
ment.’’ said a prominent Jewish
military analyst, “and the Serbs
turned on the Bosnian Serbs. If
you have a unified Sarajevo under
these conditions, it could look like
Beirut All the old grievances are
still out there — and American
trtHips will be right in the middle of
it.’’
Jewish groups heaped praise on
President Bill Clinton and on As-
sistant Secretary of State Richard
Holbrooke, who was instrumental
in negotiating the treaty.
But most groups referred only
indirectly to the question of Amer-
ican peacekeeping troops — the
subject of an impassioned speech
by President Clinton on Monday
night.
“The world stood by while a
people was slaughtered." said Dav-
id V. Kahn, president of the Amer-
ican Jewish Congress. “Let us now
not stand hy passively while they
ask for our help in enforcing to-
day’s agreement.’’
Tough Going for Government
Nazi Hunters:
Government Nazi-hunters are
still in business in Washington,
but it’s harder and harder to get
anybody to pay attention. And the
bitter partisanship of the l()4th
Congress is making matters worse.
\
hep. bam o«fdenson Rep Tom Lento*
Recently, Rep Charles Schum-
er (D-N Y) asked his colleagues to
sign a letter to the president of
Lithuania urging him to request
the extradition of alleged Nazi war
criminal Aleksandras Lileikis. The
Justice Department’s Office of
Special Investigations (OSI) has
initiated denaturalization proceed-
ings against Lileikis, an 88-
year-old resident ol Norwood.
Mass, who is accused of respon- _
sihility for the death of thou- —-
sands of Jews in Vilmusduring the
Nazi occupation.
But the process would move
much quicker if Lithuanian offi-
cials demanded extradition —
which they have refused to do.
A few years ago, legislators on
both sides of the aisle would have
lined up to sign Schumer’s letter.
But according toCapitol Hill sourc-
es, Schumcr is now finding the
signature gathering process tough
going, in part because the high
turnover of members and staff
means that knowledge about the
Nazi hunting effort is flagging on
Capitol Hill.
And GOP legislators arc increas-
ingly unwilling to join the outspo-
ken, sometimes controversial
Schumer in the effort to lean on the
Lithuanian government.
“There was a time when we could
count on bipartisan support for
something like this," said a House
source “Now, everything is so
polarized, and people are so suspi-
cious; the result is that Republi-
cans simply don’t want to sign
something authored by Demo-
crats."
And especially Democrats like
Schumcr, who generally infuriates
the conservative Republican lead-
ership.
Also on the Lileikis letter arc
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N Y.),
Rep Sam Gejdenson (D-CT.)and
Rep Tom Lantos (D-CA ). Lanlos
is a Holocaust survivor; Gejden-
son was born in a DP camp after
the war.
Schumer is considering doing a
briefing to provide some basic ed-
ucation about the Nazi-hunting ef-
fort for a new generation of con-
gressional staf fers, many of whom
haven't even heard of OSI.
Meanwhile, the Nazi-hunting
agency appears to be holding its
own against the congressional bud-
get cutters — although it has expe-
rienced some of the downsizing
that has swept through the Justice
Department.
In I988, its first full year of
operation, OSI’s staff of 19 attor-
neys litigated 17 cases; in 1994 a
staff of 9 attorneys worked on 20
cases.
“We re busier than ever, but
there are fewer and fewer people to
do the work,” said OSI director Eli
Rosenbaum. “The collapse of com-
munist rule has opened previously
sealed archives containing a trea-
sure trove of captured Nazi docu-
mentation. But time is running out;
this is the last moment in history
see WASH WATCH p. 23
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 49, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 30, 1995, newspaper, November 30, 1995; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth754253/m1/4/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .