L
IIIYou are cordially invited to attend
*
ACCORD page 65
The Agency for Jewish Education
75th Annual Meeting
in celebration of jevoish education
honoring
Mandell L. Berman
a
for his lifetime achievement in _Jewish education
witnguest speaker
Charles R. Bronfman, P.C., C.C.
Monday, June 13, 1994 at 7:30 p.m.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
27375 Bed Road; Southfield
Lawrence Lax, Chairperson of the Nomination Committee
presents the following slate:
President
Vice-President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary
Robert A. Berlow
James L. Jonas
Barbara Klarman
Alex Blumenberg
Dr. Lynda Giles
Members at large for the Executive Committee:
Peggy M. Frank • Joel Gershenson • Lawrence Lax
Members nominated for a three-year term on the Board of Directors:
Ruth Beitner • Barbara Bloom • Alex Blumenberg
Ellen Bates Brackett • Robert Mellen • Terran Leemis
Member nominated for a two-year term on the Board of Directors:
Michael Traison
(../Leeting and Program at 7:30 p.m. / 'Dessert reception at
Chairman
Dr. Conrad L. Giles
Honorary Chairmen
Dr. Irving A. Smokier • Sylvia lwrey
jor more information call
(810) 354-I050
Agency for Jewish Education
A Beneficiary of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
9:15 pm.
Israeli interests protected by [the]
Agreement." Such wording clear-
ly leaves much open to interpre-
tation.
• Yet perhaps most galling of
all to the strapped Palestinians
is the provision that the transfer
of power to the Palestinian Au-
thority includes all 'liabilities and
obligations" related to "acts or
omissions which occurred prior
to the transfer."
In plain English, that means
if Israel is sued for an act com-
mitted or debt incurred during
its military rule and loses the
case, the Palestinian Authority
must pick up the tab. Or, as Is-
raeli analyst Meron Benvenisti
summed up the agreement,
"Only in one matter is there no
restriction on the Palestinians'
responsibility: liability for all the
obligations, deeds, and misdeeds
committed before the transfer of
authority."
Mr. Benvenisti, in fact, believes
the Palestinians got even less for
themselves in the present agree-
ment than the Egyptians de-
manded for them in the brief
autonomy negotiations with the
Begin government in 1980. In a
similar vein, some Palestinian
critics believe they had a better
deal in the offing in the Wash-
ington talks before they were
surprised by the Oslo accord.
"The agreement just is a reor-
ganization of the occupation to
make it more comfortable for the
Israelis," complained Ghassan al-
Khatib of the Palestinian People's
Party, a one-time negotiator in
Washington. "And in leaving all
options open for the fmal settle-
ment, including reversing what-
ever has been achieved till now,
it doesn't move us any closer to a
state."
Why did Mr. Arafat agree to
such a deal?
"The PLO is broke," Mr. al-
Khatib ventured, "and Arafat
was under terrible pressure from
the Arab countries and donor
states. But above all, he was will-
ing to pay this price for recogni-
tion of the PLO."
In the old days of the zero-sum
strategy, when Palestinians were
disgruntled, Israelis felt entitled
to cheer. Those rules have
changed now, and some analysts
fear that Israel may have done
too well for itself in the Gaza-Jeri-
cho agreement. Still, few Pales-
tinians have actually read the
detailed document, and in the
meanwhile history goes on.
The transfer of power has tak-
en place and what counts from
now is happens on the ground,
not what exists on paper. ❑
Speeding Up
The Pull Out
Israel is reportedly ready to soon withdraw from an
additional six West Bank Palestinian towns.
DOUGLAS DAVIS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT
A
s Israelis hold their breath
and wait to see whether
the newly deployed Pales-
tinian police force can keep
order in Gaza and Jericho, the
Rabin government is preparing
to unilaterally accelerate its with-
drawal from six other major
Palestinian population centers.
Israeli forces will continue de-
fending Jewish settlers in the
West Bank, as they are in Jeri-
cho and the Gush Katif area of
Gaza, but sources in Jerusalem
say they will not wait for the
scheduled July 13 Palestinian
elections before withdrawing
from Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus,
Jenin, Tulkarem and Kalkilya.
The Israeli decision is under-
stood to be driven by the hope
that disengagement from the
main body of Palestinians will
defuse tensions, give the new, ex-
panded PLO authority an incen-
tive to crack down on Islamic
extremist elements, and prevent
the West Bank from being used
as a platform for increased at-
tacks on Israeli targets, which
could abort the entire process.
It is considered unlikely that
Islamic radicals will use areas un-
der PLO control to launch its at-
tacks for fear of provoking a
powerful reaction from Palestin-
ian police anxious to prove they
are in control. Instead, the radi-
cals are likely to use Israeli-con-
trolled areas of the West Bank as
the springboard for their opera-
tions.
Fear of Islamic-inspired vio-
lence against Israelis was un-
derscored by assessments from
Israel's intelligence community
that an upsurge in terrorism is
to be anticipated in the wake of
the withdrawals from Gaza and
Jericho.
According to the head of Israeli
military intelligence, Major-Gen-
eral Uri Saguy, his service and
Israel's Shin Bet domestic intel-
ligence agency both believe that
Islamic Jihad and Hamas "intend
to escalate terror."
In an interview published in