UNIVERSAL GENEVE
ry about the relative importance
the President attached to de-
scribing what practices are al-
lowed — and the general way in
which he talked about what is
prohibited because of church-
state considerations.
"There's nothing in the direc-
tive that we object to," said
Michael Lieberman, Washington
counsel for the Anti-Defamation
League. But we are concerned
about a lack of balance that could
put too much focus on allowable
religious activities."
The guidelines' emphasis on
permissible religious activity, oth-
er
Jewish activist warn, could ac-
tually serve as a blueprint for
Christian groups that want to
bring more religion into the class-
room.
Jewish groups used last week's
White House session to make the
point that the church-state ar-
guments need to be spelled out
more clearly in the guidelines.
That, they hope, will take the
punch out of Republican efforts
to pass a "religious equality"
amendment widening the scope
of permissible religious activities
in the schools and other public fo-
rums.
Just in case, the coalition is
preparing to contact school su-
perintendents around the coun-
try to provide the detail and
balance that the White House
will apparently omit from its
guidelines.
Gloom Deepens
On Bosnia
AP/T. ILLYES
ewish groups,
dismayed by the
carnage in
Bosnia, are in-
tensifying their calls
for strong American
military action to curb
aggression by Bosn-
ian Serbs.
On Monday,Jewish
groups were among
the 27 organizations
at a Washington
press conference on
the subject.
"Nothing else has
worked; force must be
used to stop genocide,
not simply to retreat
from it," according to
the coalition state-
ment, signed by sev-
en major Jewish
groups and organiza- A Jewish refugee kisses a friend goodbye in Bosnia.
tions like the Nation-
al Association of Arab Americans even though that is a risky course
of action."
and Human Rights Watch.
Most Jewish groups applaud-
The Anti-Defamation League
ed
last week's Senate vote to lift
called on the administration "to
mobilize the international corn- the arms embargo on Bosnia, al-
munity to vigorously, through the though several had qualms about
use of force, counter Serbian ag- the fact that the action, if it sur-
vives House action and a
gression."
The American Jewish Corn- promised presidential veto,
mittee, in a letter to President would be a unilateral one.
"We're pleased that it was lift-
Clinton this week, indicated that
ed,"
said B'nai B'rith president
"we are prepared to support you
and your administration in Tommy Baer, who just returned
achieving the deployment of such from the region, where he met
force as may be necessary to halt with Croatian President Franjo
the progress of barbarism in Tudjman, another major player
in the Balkan tragedy. "We felt
Bosnia."
that
the United States had a very
"The Jewish community
shares in the general frustration clear obligation to act, and we're
about what to do in Bosnia," said pleased that the Senate did."
All nine Jewish senators —
the Washington representative
eight
Democrats and one Re-
of one major Jewish group. "But
with the evidence of genocide publican — voted with the GOP
growing by the day, we under- majority on the arms embargo
stand the moral implications of question, another reflection of the
sitting back and doing nothing. Jewish community's strong iden-
So the time has come to press for tification with the victims of eth-
serious American military action, nic cleansing.
j
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