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The Print
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Friday, May 5th
5 p.m. - 10 p.m.
A rare opportunity to
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knowledgeable
antique art dealers.
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et me tell you a little about tors, and in particular with their
assessment of where the politi-
my electronic mail.
Every day I get a stack cally powerful Jewish communi-
— figuratively, of course, ty stands.
The Right understands this re-
since this is the electronic age —
of news reports and analyses ality. As a result, their vigorous
from groups opposed to the cur- Capitol Hill effort has focused on
rent Israeli government and its trying to convince legislators that
approach to the faltering peace the Rabin government's peace
policies are highly controversial
process.
Some of these missives are within the American Jewish com-
crude and polemical in the ex- munity, and that support for the
treme. But others are slick and policies could mean heavy polit-
well-reasoned, the products of so- ical costs.
That contention is not sup-
phisticated communicators with
a clear vision of their in-
tended audiences.
And what do I get from
American supporters of
the peace process, and of
the bold policies of the gov-
ernment of Prime Minis-
ter Yitzhak Rabin?
Bubkes. Hardly a elec-
tronic murmur. Or I get
press releases about "safe"
issues only peripherally re-
lated to the Mideast nego-
tiations, like the growing
menace of Iran — an im-
portant issue, to be sure,
but one that sidesteps the
central issue of the Arab-
Israeli peace talks.
The same goes for my
incoming FAXes, and old-
fashioned U.S. mail; when
it comes to the debate over
the peace process, the
Right is slugging away
with bare fists, while sup-
porters of the current
peace process are barely in A towering "Uncle Sam" hands out literature
protesting the sending of troops to the Golan
the ring.
Heights.
On Capitol Hill, this
gap has serious policy im-
plications. In many House and ported by the polls. But it can
Senate offices, the vast majority have a political impact if not
of calls and letters on the countered by those who support
Mideast come from hardliners the negotiations and ant to
who reject the Israeli-Palestin- show that the opposition
ian Declaration of Principles and comes rom a small, but vocal
the ongoing Israeli-Syrian nego- minority.
So where are the peace process
tiations.
Many staffers report a sharp supporters? Mostly, they are try-
increase in genuine hate mail ing to raise money from an in-
about Israel — from Jews who creasingly apathetic public, or
cannot stomach the policies of the focusing on specific projects in-
tended to bolster the peace
current government.
Legislators are not necessari- process. They;re leaving the
ly swayed by constituent mail or broader pro-peace agenda to
by lobbying blitzes by visiting del- mainstream groups like the
egations. But let's face it: most American Israel Public Affairs
law makers are not personally Committee (AIPAC).
But groups like AIPAC cannot
close to the Middle East contro-
versy. Their judgments on issues be particularly effective advocates
like aid to Middle Eastern nations for those policies. Their own lead-
or the use of American forces in ership cadres are divided on some
peacekeeping operations are key issues.
And with Israeli elections corn-
heavily overlaid with political fac-
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