PEOPLE ARE OPENING OUR 12 MONTH CD AT AN Arab Nominee Ou Flap over terror panel appointee erodes ASTONISHING RATE. ties between U.S. Jews, Arabs. DANIEL KURTZMAN Jewish Telegraphic Agency Washincrton THAT'S because people who've shopped around have discovered that our 12 month Certificate of Deposit offers one of the highest guaranteed rates available. At Paramount Bank, we always look out for your best interest. That is because we believe that our customers are our greatest assets. Paramount Bank is your hometown bank. From our convenient hours to our wide range of products, we work hard to meet all your financial needs. Of course, all accounts are FDIC-insured. Visit today or call 1-800-421-BANK and discover the bank where personal service is paramount. MAIN OFFICE 30850 Telegraph Road Suite 250 Bingham Farms, Michigan 48025 (248) 646-3400 Fax (248) 646-5187 BRANCH 1732 West Maple Road Birmingham, Michigan 48009 (248) 723-4800 Fax (248) 723-4848 PARAMOUNT BANK Your Hometown Bank FDIC *Annual Percentage Yield for balances of $500 INSURED Illini/1111111. LENDER TRANSFER YOUR HOME MOVIES 8mm - 16mm TO VHS CRAW CAMERA Film Length In Feet 8mm & Super 8 & 16 1-200 Feet 201-400 Feet 401-600 Feet 601-800 Feet 801-1000 Feet 30533 N. WOODWARD ROYAL OAK (3 Blocks South of 13 Mile) 18 Detroit Jewish News special FREE BACKGROUND MUSIC $20.00 $26.00 $39.00 $52.00 $65.00 Film Over 1,000 Feet Add 60 A Foot (Video Tape $8.00 Additional) 7/16 1999 r Summer On Any Video Transfer Century Camera 288-5444 With This Coupon. Expires 7/25/99 L 248-288-5444 Daily & Saturday 10-6 Friday 10-8 J acing bitter complaints from Jewish groups, House Minority leader Richard Gephardt's (D- Mo.) has withdrawn the appoint- ment of a prominent American Muslim leader to a congressional commission on terrorism. Arab and Muslim groups said Gephardt's decision to drop Salam Al- Marayati, who heads the Los-Angeles based Muslim Public Affairs Council, opened a huge new rift between them and the Jewish leaders. The leaders said Al-Marayati had condoned acts of terrorism against Israel. Several members of Congress had also raised objections, urging the FBI to fully investigate whether he was qualified to serve on the newly created 10-member National Commission on Terrorism, which is charged with reviewing national policy on preventing and punishing terrorism. In a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Gephardt said the process of gaining a security clearance would take longer than the 'six-month life of the commission itself. Aides said political considerations did not influ- ence the decision. Infuriated by Gephardt's reversal, Arab and Muslim leaders have defended Al-Marayati as a voice of moderation. They blame American Jewish leaders for misrepresenting him as part of what they are calling a larger "witch hunt" to exclude Arabs and Muslims from gov- ernment policy-making positions. They point to a recent campaign supported by some Jewish organiza- tional officials to oust Joseph Zogby, the first Arab American to work for the State Department's Near East -bureau in decades, from his post because of arti- cles he wrote criticizing Israel — and to opposition earlier this year to the appointment of Al-Marayati's wife, Laila, to an international commission on religious freedom. In a joint statement issued Monday, nine American Muslim and Arab American organizations called on Gephardt to reinstate Al-Marayati, saying they were "appalled by the McCarthyite tactics applied by extremists seeking to sabotage this appointment and muzzle our commu-' nities' authentic voices in order to monopolize discussion." Jewish officials dismiss the notion of a conspiracy to keep Arab or Muslims out of government. The con- troversy surrounding the terrorism commission, they say, has nothing to do with Al-Marayati's ethnic or reli- "If it had been a Christian or a Jew holding the same views, we would have been equally forceful." — David Harris gious background and comes down solely to his statements on terrorism. `-) The flap has added another stress point to already strained relations between American Jews and American Arabs that is certain to complicate efforts to revive intergroup dialogue. It has even caused tensions among Jews, with some Los Angeles Jewish activists backing Al-Marayati and con- demning the Jewish organizations campaigned against him. Relations between American Jews and American Arabs and Muslims have taken a tumultuous course since the beginning of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993. The goodwill and dialogue that grew out of the sia b nina b at the White House has given way to a series of grievances and an almost complete breakdown in communication between groups as the peace process has foundered in recent years. Now, amid renewed optimism for peace in the Middle East with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's assump-