Close Up
The New
Jesse Jackson?

Forgive-and-
forget plays
slowly in the
Jewish
community.

JAMES D. BESSER
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

1E1

ow do you read what is in a
person's heart?
Especially when that person
is Rev. Jesse Jackson, a mercurial figure who
has become a symbol of hope for many of
America's disadvantaged as well an anathe-
ma to many in the Jewish community for past
statements critical of Israel and intemperate
ui comments about Jews.
When Rev. Jackson described Zionism as
a poisonous weed, when he embraced PLO
leader Yassir Arafat and called attention to

48

No ulterior motives: Rev. Jackson Insists that his interest in bridge-building is personal, not political.

