ANALYSIS
Studio In Harvard Row Mall
Losing Clout?
Continued from Page 20
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FIRMLY ROOTED IN ISRAEL,
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BRANCHING OUT IN NEW DIRECTIONS
a process that encourages a
feeling of participation
among Arab-Americans —
and lays solid foundations for
action on national issues.
At the same time, there is
growing concern that pro-
Israel grass-roots activity has
gone flat in recent years as
the community's political
focus shifts to Washington.
"We've become much more
of a 'delegating community;
says Marc Pearl of the
Americans for Democratic Ac-
tion. We delegate more of the
responsibility for action to
our Washington and New
York representatives, to the
staffs of the big organizations.
Other than an occasional
Super Sunday, there isn't a
need to stuff envelopes. It is
more difficult to motivate peo-
ple; on a day-to-day level,
political participation has
dropped off in American
society as a whole — and in
the Jewish community."
This shift, Pearl argues, has
weakened the "political infra-
structure" of the Jewish com-
munity — a fact, he says, that
was particularly apparent
during the traumatic debate
at last summer's Democratic
convention over the issue of a
Palestinian state.
"The Arab groups did their
homework," he says. "They
had their people mobilized. It
seemed like the Jewish
groups just didn't want to get
their fingers dirty."
Other observers point to the
fact that pro-Israel political
activity is turning more
towards an emphasis on cam-
paign financing and profes-
sional lobbying — and away
from large-scale grass roots
activity.
But the political action
committee system has its own
vulnerabilities. "And Con-
gressmen still look at their
mail," said an aide to a
Jewish representative. "We
have some really terrific
Washington representatives
for Jewish organizations —
but without the calls and let-
ters from constituents, the
reps are hobbled."
"The point is that we can't
just rely on the power we've
accumulated," says Marc
Pearl. "We have to keep
building our foundation, keep
revitalizing. If we don't
rebuild and reinvest in our in-
frastructure —educating and
motivating people, developing
a vision for tomorrow —there
will be nothing for the Arab
community or the right wing
to pick off. "
The growing competition
facing Jewish activists is not
confined to the are a of foreign
affairs.
Another shock in 1988 was
the increasingly ferocious
_
AMERICAN ISRAEL CORPORATION
22
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1989
Bush:
Owes few debts to the Jewish
community.
competition among American
minorities for shares of a
shrinking federal pie — a
competition that threatens to
cut to the heart of the coali-
tions that have long been a
pillar of Jewish political
power.
The problem is compounded
by the fact that Jews have
traditionally shunned federal
help for their own domestic
programs. Now, in response to
shrinking voluntary con-
tributions and the vast new
economic strains caused by
the rise in Soviet immigra-
tion, Jewish groups are in-
creasingly entering the corn-
petition for scarce federal
dollars — in some cases find-
ing themselves pitted against
their traditional coalition
partners.
Jews, according to some
observers, have also been slow
to forge new relationships
with groups that are emerg-
ing as new forces in the
political process — including
Hispanics and Indochinese
Americans.
"We tend to forget from
whence we came, and we get
upset when we see other
groups trying to elbow us out
of the way," says Mark
Talisman, Washington
representative for the Coun-
cil of Jewish Federations.
"One of the things that's wor-
ried me is the turning inward
of our community, as a
defense against the kind of
competition we're talking
about. That's the wrong
answer; there are people who
need our help to come along
the way we came along, and
we need to give that help."
Coalitions, Talisman em-
phasizes, are "movable rela-
tionships." New ones need to
be formed — both out of a
moral obligation, and as more
practical matter; the power of
any small minority will
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