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