Living With Ililla

Plan to honor the First Lady roils Hadassah's convention.

NEIL RUBIN
Senior Editor

Baltimore

adassah — which bills itself
as the nation's largest
women s organization,
Jewish or not — is used to
fighting on behalf of Israel, health care,
women and children. But a decision to
honor Hillary Rodham Clinton next
week at Hadsssah's national convention
has drawn the ire of Jews opposed to
what they say is the First Lady's pro-
Palestinian and anti-Israel views.
In addition to a dinner recognizing
Mrs. Clinton — about 2,500 seats
already have been sold — thousands of
Hadassah members from more than 40
states will lobby on Capital Hill, salute
the five Jewish female members of
Congress and hear briefings by top-poli-
cy makers and advocates during the July
25 28 meeting in Washington, D.C.
The First Lady will receive the
Henrietta Szold Award, named for the
organization's founder. The honor is
given, > according
to Hadassah litera-
b
ture, to "a man or a woman who rep-
resents the ideals and beliefs of
Henrietta Szold."
Critics charge that Mrs. Clinton has
invited to the White House American
Muslim leaders who are pro-Hamas
and sympathetic to Middle East terror-
ism. In addition to the First Lady's
stands on the Middle East peace
process, some critics say the award
could be seen as an endorsement for
her anticipated candidacy for the U.S.
Senate, representing New York.
An information packet being circu-
lated by Hadassah International
President Marlene Post notes that
Israel's former prime minister,
Binyamin Netanyahu, "considered the
Palestinians its peace partners and
went on record in support of negotiat-
ing toward a final status of a
Palestinian entity ... Current statistics
are that 70 percent of the Jewish
Israeli population is in favor of a
Palestinian state."
The packet also notes that Szold
was a proponent of a bi-national
Jewish/Palestinian state, a concept
rejected by Hadassah's national board.
In the past month, only about
1,000 protests have come from the -

'

organization's 306,000 members,
according to a national spokeswoman.
She added that the national board
overwhelmingly approved Mrs.
Clinton's award about a year ago, well
in advance of a potential Senate run.
Beverly W. Apel, president of the
Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah,
which is sending about 30 members to
the convention, said that while she did
not much approve of honoring Mrs.

Clinton, it wasn't worth breaking with
the national over the issue.
"It's like you are being served a deli-
cious meal," she said. The main
course might be chicken, but there are
many side dishes. You might not like
turnips, for example, but that's not a
reason to take the platter and throw
the whole thing away.
"Hadassah has so much more to
offer, and has for 87 years. Giving up

your membership over this issue is like
throwing away the plate because you
don't like the turnips."
Former Detroit chapter president
Annette Meskin, now Hadassah's
national recording secretary, said the
choice was entirely appropriate. "It's a
humanitarian award, not a political
award," she said. "Mrs. Clinton is a
passionate advocate for the lives of
women and children, which is what
Henrietta Szold stood for. I think she's
done a lot for human rights."
But Barbara Ann Bloom, a
Baldmore activist with right-wing
groups such as Women In Green, said
she has now canceled her life member-
ship. "Hadassah does not strengthen
the unity of the Jewish people by giv-

Beverly W Apel

-

7/23

1999

\__TR_Dar_oit_tawi_c_h_Ne_ws

Annette Meskin

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Reward Notation

Israeli-born man helped
connect gay murder
suspects to shul arsons.

Los Angeles (JTA) — An Israeli-
born business executive has unwit-
tingly supplied a piece of evidence
linking two brothers to the fire-
bombings at three California syna-
gogues last month.
Following the arsons on the syna-
gogues in Sacramento, Calif., on June
18, Michael Zwebner offered a $10,000
reward for information leading to the
arrest and conviction of the arsonists.

.
When federal and local investiga-
tors recently searched the home of
brothers Benjamin Matthew, 31, and
James Tyler Williams, 29, who were
charged Monday with the murder of
a gay couple in northern California
on July 1, they found a notebook. It
contained an apparent "hit list" with
the names of 32 Sacramento Jews,
mostly synagogue officials, who had
been mentioned in media reports in
connection with the fire bombings.
One of the notations read,
"Zwebner — Yid bizman — $10,000
reward on us.
The FBI added the incriminating
notation to an increasing body of evi-

dence, including a cache of white
supremacist literature found at the
brothers' home, some of it identical to
leaflets left at the targeted synagogues.
A 48-year-old native of Israel,
Zwebner lives in London and is chair-
man of the Boston-based Talk Visual
Corp. He recently established a center
in Sacramento to expand his compa-
ny's operations.
Recent news reports have linked the
Williams brothers, who go by their
middle names of Matthew and Tyler, to
white supremacist hate groups, particu-
larly the World Church of the Creator.
This organization has been under
close scrutiny following a shooting spree

