INSIDE WASHINGTON
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
Pressure Mounts To Cut
Off U.S.-P.L.O. Dialogue
New Russian Group
Lobbies For Emigres
p
At a time when the ques-
tion of increasing refugee
slots for Soviet Jews is again
on the front burner in Wash-
ington, a group of students is
due in town this week to
lobby Congress on the deli-
cate issue.
But this is not a run-of-the-
mill Soviet Jewry group; the
delegation represents a new
organization, the American
Society of Russian Students.
"This will be the first-ever
lobbying mission of Russian
students in American col-
leges and universities," said
Shlomo Seidenfeld, the
assistant Hillel director at
Brooklyn College and the
mission's organizer. "These
are people with a unique
perspective; they are in con-
tact with family members in
the Soviet Union, they are in
touch with how the people in
Russia view the whole
crisis. They will be able to
convey the fact that the
situation there is now very
frightening to the Jews who
remain."
The group, he insisted, is
aware of the often awkward
politics of increasing refugee
numbers. "What we plan to
do is meet with a number of
congressmen and discuss
creative ways of opening up
ressure continues to
mount on the ad-
ministration to break
off the dialogue with the
Palestine Liberation Organ-
ization in the wake of last
week's attempted attack on
a beach near Tel Aviv.
But despite a surge of
anger from Capitol Hill —
and despite a call by Presi-
dent George Bush for PLO
chief Yassir Arafat to eject
the Palestine Liberation
Front from the organization
or face suspension of the dia-
logue — there were indica-
tions that the State Depart-
ment was hopeful of riding
out the crisis without shut-
ting the door on the PLO
talks.
"The goal will be to get
something — anything —
from Arafat that can allow
the dialogue to continue,"
said one administration
source. "But the pressure is
stronger than ever before to
break it off; Arafat will have
to find some formula to re-
pudiate the attack if he
wants the dialogue to con-
tinue. And he will have to do
it soon."
Jewish activists echo this
sense of urgency. "I don't
know what the administra-
tion is going to do," said
Malcolm Hoenlein, director
of the Conference of Presi-
dents of Major American
Artwork from Newsday by Bob Newman. Copyright. 1990, Newsday. Distrolauted by Los Awake Times Syndicate.
Jewish Organizations. "But
I do think that the decision
has to be made soon; the
credibility of the ad-
ministration's commitment
to the conditions underlying
the dialogue are on the line.
They're going to have to do
something."
Within the administra-
tion, the response to the
speedboat attack was anger
and frustration. The attack
was seen as certain to in-
crease the resistance of
Israel hardliners to the
Baker peace plan. And there
was frustration that the ad-
ministration had been made
to look foolish by the raid.
"The United States got so
committed to sustaining the
dialogue as part of the
broader peace process that
they swept under the rug in-
dications that the PLO was
not living up to the condi-
tions," said Jess Hordes,
Washington director for the
Anti-Defamation League.
"And in doing so, they may
have created false expecta-
tions among the PLO about
what they could and could
not do without arousing the
American government."
'Older Americans Act'
Draws Jewish Interest
Some Jewish groups take
the long view of pending
legislation, a fact that was
confirmed by recent hear-
ings in New York on the re-
authorization of the "Older
Americans Act," a law pro-
viding a variety of services
to the elderly.
The hearings, organized by
New York Mayor David
Dinkins, took place despite
the fact that the re- au-
thorization bill is not
scheduled for debate in Con-
gress until early next year.
"More and more, agencies
are getting together very
early in the legislative pro-
cess to try to have a greater
impact on legislation," said
Susan Banes Harris, Wash-
ington representative for the
New York UJA Federation.
The act provides a number
of services, including hot
meals, home visits, om-
budsman services, elder
abuse prevention activities
and some home care.
The issue has the potential
to become a political hot
potato because of the furious
reaction that greeted last
year's catastrophic health
insurance bill, which was
funded by a surtax for the
elderly.
A number of Jewish
groups participated in the
hearings. "These are very
important issues to Jewish
organizations in major ur-
ban areas," Harris said.
"And more and more, they
involve very complex issues
of equity among different
groups that have implica-
tions for intergroup rela-
tions."
Activists Urge Refugee
Status Liberalization
Despite the unprecedented
flow of Jews out of the Soviet
Union, Jewish activists here
are pushing hard for re- au-
thorization of the Morrison-
Lautenberg bill, legislation
passed last year making it
easier for Soviet Jews to
qualify for refugee status.
Last week, Sen. Frank
Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and
Rep. Bruce Morrison (D-
Conn.) introduced a measure
that would reauthorize the
legislation for two years.
But the White House is
singing a different tune. In
recent meetings with Jewish
activists, administration
representatives have in-
dicated their strong pre-
ference for an executive
order to take the place of the
Morrison- Lautenberg
legislation.
But an executive order
does not have the force of
law.
Rep. Chuck Schumer:
Trying to find new ways.
the refugee quotas."
Seidenfeld also indicated
that the Washington mis-
sion will serve as a way of
helping the new group jell.
"One purpose is to help get
the group off the ground, po-
litically," he said.
The group is scheduled to
meet with Rep. Bill Green
(R- N.Y.), Rep. Gary Acker-
man (D-N.Y.) and Rep.
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Schumer has been at the
forefront of efforts to find
new ways to bring Soviet
Jews into this country
without exacerbating the
budget crisis.
IDF Objector Lobbies
In U.S. For Support
As Israel's territories con-
tinue to seethe, a represent-
ative of the organization of
Israel Defense Forces,
soldiers who refuse to serve
in the West Bank or Gaza,
was in Washington to drum
up support for his group.
Stephen Langfur argued
that Yesh Gvul, the organ-
ization of Israeli military
"refuseniks," is playing an
important role in shaping
Israeli public opinion.
"Refusal has become much
more acceptable in the past
two years," he said in a re-
cent interview. "We are
beginning to feel that we
have more and more com-
pany, more and more sup-
port."
But Israel remains
hopelessly divided on the
Middle East peace process, a
fact that puts a cap on Yesh
Gvul's potential within
Israel. "I wonder if it makes
sense any more to talk about
a single Israel any more," he
said. "People say, 'we have
to support Israel.' But which
Israel are they talking
about? The one on the Right
or the one on the Left?"
The only answer, Langfur
argues, is direct negotiations
with the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization, and,
ultimately, a delmilitarized
Palestinian state.
Langfur, who was born
and raised in New York and
emigrated in 1979, was jail-
ed for 21 days for his refusal
to serve in the West Bank.
"The basic thing behind
my refusal was the im-
morality of what's happen-
ing on the West Bank," he
said. "But the fact is, I have
a family in Israel; I love
Israel, I'm not going to take
my family out. And I'm very
scared. The problem is, I
don't see the forces to turn
the situation around coming
from the people of Israel,
who are so polarized."
Israel's political paralysis,
he argued, puts a special
burden on American Jews.
"In Israel, we have this need
to respond to the immediacy
of our crises; we need Ameri-
can Jews to look from the
distance, with the perspec-
tive they have."
❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
29