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Keego Harbor, MI 48320 EMISSIONS TEST Three-Car Garages Or More a Nearly one-fifth of Jewish News readers own at least three cars. AW) $7. 0 0 With Coupon Source: 1988 Scarborough- Jewish News Study Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results Place Your Ad Today. Call 354-6060 52 FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1991 t may have been old news "inside the Beltway," but it was still good news for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — and a stinging defeat for Arab-American groups that have long sought to limit the long reach of the pro-Israel group. Recently, the Federal Election Commission an- nounced what Jewish ac- tivists have known for many months — that the longstanding complaint against AIPAC, the linchpin of the pro-Israel community, had been rejected by the agency. Curiously, some of the Arab-American groups that had supported the January, 1989 complaint appeared to have lost interest in the ac- tion. "We don't know anything about it," said the spokes- man for one major Arab- American group. "Frankly, we thought the whole thing was resolved a year ago." In fact, the FEC made its decision late in 1989, but did not announce the ruling be- cause the agency had not resolved one final issue. But pro-Israel groups have long been aware that AIPAC had been absolved of the most serious charge — that it coordinates dozens of pro- Israel political action corn- mittees in funding House and Senate campaigns. AIPAC is a registered lobbying organization, and is forbidden from donating money to political cam- paigns — or directing how other organizations should distribute their money in the political realm. PACs, in turn, are not allowed to coordinate their contributions. But the line between collu- sion and a simple conjunc- tion of interests is an extraordinarily obscure one. And this, more than anything else, may have doomed the Arab complaint from the outset. The January 1989 com- plaint alleged that AIPAC violated election laws by co- ordinating donations from some - 27 pro-Israel- PACs. The charges were made by a group of seven former government officials led by Richard Curtis, a former of- ficial of the U.S. Information Agency and a founder of the American Educational Trust, a group that takes strong pro-Arab positions. The complaint alleged con- siderable membership overlap between AIPAC's leadership and the pro-Israel PACs. The result, according to the complaint, is a kind of de facto collusion that violates the spirit, if not the letter of election laws. But this overlap is a perfectly natural conse- quence of the limited size and narrow focus of the pro- Israel community, AIPAC supporters contended — an argument that the FEC ac- cepted. There were also charges that AIPAC coordinates po- The line between collusion and a simple conjunction of interests is an extraordinarily obscure one. litical giving by making its candidate preferences clear to pro-Israel PACs. The complaint included a 1986 memorandum from AIPAC's political director, suggesting that an AIPAC employee ask PACs to make donations in several par- ticularly critical races. It is well known that AIPAC, as a registered lobbying organization, pro- vides information about the positions of current legis- lators to members — infor- mation that can also be used by the funding organizations to make their decisions about where to spend their money. "This guidance is very specific, covering which can- didates 'unfriendly to our issue,' meaning Israel, are vulnerable and which can- didates 'friendly to our issue' need help," Mr. Curtis said in his statement to the FEC. But this informational function, AIPAC contends, is an inherent part of the lobbying process. Again, the EEC agreed. Former Rep. Paul Findley (R-I11.), who blamed AIPAC for his failure to win a 1982 re-election bid, was one of the seven former govern- ment officials who brought the charges against AIPAC to the FEC. He called the FEC ruling "a miscarriage of justice." 0