NATIONAL Pretoria's Precedent South Africa's first Jewish ambassador is charged with convincing American Jews to end their opposition to economic sanctions. JAMES D. BESSER Washington Correspondent epending on your point of view, the choice of Harry Schwarz as South Africa's new ambassador to Wash- ington was a shrewd and cynical political move — or a reflection of just how far South Africa has come in a year of incredible change. Mr. Schwarz, the first Jew to serve anywhere as an am- bassador for South Africa, is a longtime critic of apart- heid and the ruling National Party, the architect of that nation's system of racial segregation. However, Mr. Schwarz, who officially assumed his new post March 1, is also an accomplished and insistent salesman whose product — an end to the economic sanc- tions that he says are squeezing the life out of the South African economy — is not a particularly popular one with the American Jew- ish community. Anti-apartheid forces here suspect he was selected for the Washington post in an attempt to weaken the pro- sanctions movement by driving a wedge between the movement and the Jewish community, which has been highly visible in its support of sanctions. Mr. Schwarz, however, in- sists that his appointment is a clear signal that the re- forms unleashed by the Pretoria government are the beginnings of a fundamental transformation of South M- D 86 FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1991 rican society — warranting the removal of sanctions. "If I had to describe it, I would say that I am a mes- sage rather than an ambas- sador. The fact that I can advocate what I have al- ways believed in shows that it's what [President Frederik W.1 De Klerk believes in now." He argues that continued U.S. economic sanctions jeopardize his nation's fragile moves toward de- mocracy. "Freedom cannot be en- joyed in poverty and degra- dation," Mr. Schwarz told a group convened by the A- merican Jewish Committee several weeks ago. "Fledgling democracies can fail because of economic pressures. We need to see to it that this new South Africa can get off to a start in which democracy can sur- vive." Having intervened in "internal" South African af- fairs in the anti-apartheid cause, Mr. Schwarz said, the United States now has an obligation to help that coun- try in its shift to a more e- quitable system by helping its fragile economy survive. "The United States must help the South Africa of the future," he said. "When the day of freedom comes, I don't want the people who have been discriminated against in South Africa to say, 'but it isn't any differ- ent.' " In conversation, Mr. Schwarz is forceful, but gen- erally eschews stridency. He is a neat, compact man with Ambassador Schwarz: Sticking to the topic of sanctions. an almost aristocratic bear- ing. His speech gives no hints of his childhood in Germany Although new to diploma- cy, he is polished and per- suasive; despite a reputation for a hot temper, he picks his way through controversial questions with aplomb. In meetings with Jewish groups, Mr. Schwarz is at once familiar and exotic. While not shy about citing his own Jewish credentials, he makes it abundantly clear that there is a wide gap in perception and understan- ding between American Jews and their South Afri- can cousins. He also has a relentless way of sticking to one or two key issues, like sanctions. This is not a man who ram- bles or engages in wasteful small talk In an interview, he sug- gested that his decades-long opposition to South Africa's system of institutionalized racism is a natural product of his Jewish background. That connection, he added, . is shared by many South Af- rican. Jews, who have been disproportionately active in the anti-apartheid move- ment. And for South African Jews, the rush to alter South African society has been ex- hilarating, but also one that has stirred up fear among the community of some 114,000. "The Jews have enjoyed a period of stability in South Africa," he said. "At the moment, we are going through a period of uncer- tainty —something we share with many other segments of the community in South Africa. We are concerned about the nature of the con- stitution that our country will have, and we are con- cerned about the nature of the economic system in the future." In the past, he said, the strong Zionist orientation of the South African Jewish community has been a point of friction with leaders of the black opposition. . Mr. Schwarz has been in- strumental in arranging meetings between African National Congress represen- tatives, including Nelson Mandela, and leaders of the South African Jewish com- munity. The results have been en- couraging, he said. "I think we are seeing a far greater understanding and a much more amicable relationship," he said. "The ANC accepted that they want friendly relationships with Israel after the new South Africa is born. They accepted the contribution that the Jewish community has to the anti-apartheid struggle...and they accepted the idea that Jews will have a role to play in the new South Africa." Speaking personally, Mr. Schwarz said "being Jewish, you have certain value stan- dards, and you have a cer- tain belief that your own people have been discrimi- nated against over many centuries," he said. "Therefore, you cannot be a person who discriminates, or who is party to a discrimi- nating procedure." His moral development, he added, was also influenc- ed by the Jewish religious framework imparted by an Orthodox grandfather. "I was largely brought up by my maternal grand- parents," he said. "I stayed with them at various times (.=- in my life. My grandfather was a student of Maimonides, who was a very important part of his life. That rubbed off on me to a considerable extent."