Differing Views
Of Zionism

Y KIRSBAUM

Writer

he vote to excise the destruc-
tion of Israel from the
Palestinian Charter in front
of President Clinton was a
arade, and part of the
on Israel should not
ie any additional terri-
ry to the Palestinians
part of the Wye
reement, said Jerome
• ufman, president of
nist Organization of
nerica-Metro Detroit District.
Not so, replied Kenneth Knoppow,
ong-time peace activist and local liai-
n to the Americans for Peace Now
ganization. The "massive" building of
ttlements since Prime Minister
nyamin Netanyahu was elected, and
e "destruction of Palestinian homes,
\ •
shames Israel," shows that the
irit of Wye has been violated by the
etanyahu government, he said.
The two were part of a five-mem-
r forum of Zionists representing a
1de range of opinions speaking at
dat Shalom on Sunday.
For every positive movement
rwards the peace process, the current
,`:trnment has done many things to
bstroy it," Knoppow said.
Kaufman cited a document from
rael's foreign ministry on the status
E. the Wye Agreement asserting,
nong other things, that the
alestinians have still not outlawed all
rganizations of terrorists, have
massed large quantities of weapons,
-, 4 walk hand in hand with Hamas.
' The Palestinians either do not want
eace, or their definition is not the
e as Israel's," he told the audience
f 50 who braved the cold to attend.
Jeffrey Sherman, a member of Herut
USA and a long-time supporter of
3rmer Prime Minister Menechem
>egin and the Likud Party, said, "We
rl_the Likud are inheritors of an agree-
.ient we didn't sign, we didn't like, and
,re didn't approve." He claimed that
sraelis "walk their streets in fear never
:rowing where the next act of terror-
sm will occur, while the Arabs walk
heir streets in complete safety."
John O'Neill, a self-proclaimed
levout Zionist with a middle-of-the-
oad view, disagreed, claiming that

H

lica

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„---

although terrorism will always hap-
pen, "the potential for war has been
diffused."
"Jewish lives are safer now," he said,
and Wye is the latest in the chapter in a
peace process that dates back to 1970,
during the war of attrition, and is head-
ed in the right direction.
"The Jordanian and
Gulf States armies now
play Hatikvah, I think
that is a very huge
development, and it
process.
shows that the peace
process is happening
and is real," he said.
The panelists also faced off on the
Oslo accords. The forum, sponsored
by the American Zionist Movement,
an umbrella movement of 22 different
Zionist organizations, became lively
during an exchange between two
opposite ends of the Zionist spectrum.
Kaufman, whose ZOA supports
Netanyahu, and frequently sends press
releases that slam Arafat and his links
with Hamas, called Knoppow and his
organization far left, and asked the
audience, "Are these people Jews or are
they Arab?"
Knoppow, whose organization
opposes Netanyahu, the expansion of
Jewish settlements, and violence from
both Palestinians and Israelis, respond-
ed by claiming that both Kaufman
and Sherman are "living in a time
warp," and the only option for peace
is a move toward mutual accomoda-
tion stated in the Oslo accords.
Sherman called the accords "a mon-
umental failure" that violated the car-
dinal principle of Israeli politics
accepted by every major political party
for 40 years, that Israel would not
negotiate with the PLO. He called
Wye an improvement because it
included Palestinian compliance.
Firing back, Knoppow said, "Wye
is hardly enough to bring peace and
security, it only jump started the
process that Bibi managed to kill for a
year and a half."
Jeremy Salinger, whose Labor
Zionist Alliance touts the adherence of
the Oslo accords, said, "Arabs and
Jews who think they have a right to
the entire region, and have the right to
expel those from the other side, are
both wrong." He said that extremists
on both sides sound the same. ❑

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1/15
1999

Detroit Jewish News

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