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A Trip To Trouble:
Clinton Will Address Palestinians
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36 Detroit Jewish News
Catca Tao Best
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JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
Washington
IV
ill the Middle East fir-
mament tremble when
President Bill Clinton's
helicopter sets down at
Gaza International Airport next week?
Will a troubling new era in U.S.-
PalestiMan relations begin with
Clinton's precedent-shattering address
to 1,500 Palestinian officials, includ-
ing many former terrorists, assembled
to "confirm" an earlier decision strik-
ing out offensive portions of the PLO
charter?
The White House insists the trip,
which will take place against the back-
drop of a rising war of words between
Israeli and Palestinian leaders and a
surge of Palestinian rioting, will not
affect the special U.S.-Israel relation-
ship or mute American concerns
about Palestinian violations of the
Wye River agreement. But Jewish
leaders aren't so sure.
"The good news is that the United
Stares is actively and forcefully
engaged," said David Harris, executive
director of the American Jewish
Committee. "The bad news could be
that it's hard to balance that kind of
mediating role with our traditional
pro-Israel orientation. There's more
talk about 'evenhandedness'; there are
reports about mirror-imaging the trips
to Israel and Gaza, implying that the
administration is moving very close to
the 50-yard line. And that has pro-
duced concern in our community."
At the same time, a broad spectrum
of community leaders are rejecting
Israeli appeals for pro-Israel political
pressure to convince the administra-
tion to alter Clinton's itinerary —
especially because of what some see as
the imposition of new conditions on
Wye implementation by the
Netanyahu government.
The pro-Israel uproar is being
fueled by the mounting conflict over
core issues, such as Palestinian state-
hood and the status of Jerusalem, and
genuine confusion over the new, closer
relations between U.S. officials and
the Palestinian leadership.
Israeli officials and some American
Jewish leaders, Harris said, worry that
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yassir
Arafat "may feel emboldened because
he believes America has shifted closer
to his view on many of these issues.
Because of that, the trip has taken on
much greater meaning."
That echoed the message delivered
by Israel Foreign Minister Ariel
Sharon in a series of meetings in
Washington this week.
Sharon warned against the creation
of "false expectations" in the region,
and said that the impression of an
American tilt toward the Palestinians
could intensify the rioting that has
erupted throughout the West Bank in
recent days.
"I think that one of the dangers
now is that the PA [Palestinian
Authoritvlgets the feeling that they are
totally backed by this great democra-
cy," Sharon said. "This feeling creates
a situation of more violence."
Initially, Sharon's requests for a
meeting with the president were
rebuffed, but on Monday, Clinton
stopped by for a one-hour session with
the foreign minister during his meet-
ings with National Security Adviser
Sandy Berger.
The images
of Clinton
in Gaza will have
a huge impact.
Administration officials acknowl-
edge that the visit to Gaza to observe
the action on the PLO covenant came
at Clinton's urging, not Netanyahu's;
but the president's visit, they say, does
not represent a tacit acknowledgment
of Palestinian sovereignty.
But peace-process supporters and
opponents alike agreed that the images
of Clinton in Gaza will have a huge
impact.
"This is the biggest thing that's
happened to the Palestinians
a
recognition of a real relationship with
the United States," said Judith Kipper,
co-director of the Mideast program at
the Center for Strategic and
International Studies. "It represents a
fundamental change in their status. I
see that as a positive development."
Robert 0. Freedman, president of
Baltimore Hebrew University and a
leading Mideast analyst, said that "the
underiving dynamic of Wye is the
alienation between Clinton and