IT' X
Hate Marches On
Jewish anti-racism leaders originally
hoped an Aug. 7 rally by a relatively
new neo-Nazi group would pass
almost unnoticed.
But a Washington Post story on the
rally produced an outpouring of anger
from Jews, African Americans and
others
and promises of counter
demonstrations that some Jewish lead-
ers say will only focus more attention
on a tiny hate group.
The danger is that a public chal-
lenge to the Knights of
Freedom/American Nationalist Party
will "make it harder to keep this small
group in perspective," said David
Friedman, regional director-for the
Anti-Defamation League.
)=-)
The organization, he said, is run by
a college student in South Carolina —
Davis Wolfgang Hawke, whom
Friedman said was born with a differ-
ent name: Andrew Greenbaum.
The group combines traditional
neo-Nazi ideology with a strong pres-
ence on the World Wide Web.
Several groups — including Shalom
International, a militant Jewish group
and several African American organiza-
tions — plan counter demonstrations.
ADL and a coalition of Jewish corn-
munity groups are taking a different
approach: "Operation Lemonade" will
solicit donations from local individuals
and groups for each minute the rally
lasts. That money will be donated to
the families of the two victims of the
July 4 racist rampage in the Midwest.
Busting Up INS
Momentum is growing behind a
move to break apart the troubled
Immigration and Naturalization
Service. But Jewish activists fear the
plan, if approved by Congress, will
just make matters worse.
That could be bad news for thou-
sands of Jewish immigrants on long
waiting lists for naturalization because
of INS backlogs, said Diana Aviv, the
United Jewish Communities vice pres-
ident for public policy.
The measure would split the INS
into two competing agencies — one
dealing with enforcement, the other
with immigrant services.
Aviv said the split would add to
bureaucratic delays, and foster even
fiercer competition between the agen-
cies sometimes-conflicting functions.
Since the agency providing immigrant
services would be smaller, it could
`starve the service side," she said.
UJC — the successor agency to the
Council of Jewish Federations and the
.
United Jewish Appeal — doesn't usu-
ally get involved in debates over gov-
ernment reorganization, Aviv said, but
"this would directly affect many of the
people our agencies deal with; it could
have a very damaging impact on the
entire immigration program."
Hearings on the Immigration
Reorganization and Improvement Act
were scheduled in the House this
week. In the Senate, Sen. Spencer
Abraham (R-Mich.), head of the
immigration subcommittee, is ready-
ing his own proposal; Aviv said it is
not yet clear if he will also propose
dividing the troubled agency.
Move On Hate Crimes
Jewish activists were caught by surprise
last week when the Senate stealthily
approved a major hate crimes bill
favored by most Jewish organizations.
They were even more surprised when
lawmakers passed a second, competing
measure by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)
— also without much discussion.
But the surfeit of legislation may not
be good news for groups backing a
stronger federal role in fighting hate
crimes. Faced with competing measures,
lawmakers simply may drop both, or
choose a stripped-down version that
some Jewish groups will not accept.
The measure promoted by the
Anti-Defamation League widens the
range of crimes covered by the federal
hate crimes statute to include crimes
based on the victim's gender, disability
or sexual preference, and makes it easi-
er for Washington to investigate and
prosecute suspected hate crimes
around the country.
Hatch's measure, also an amend-
ment to a big spending bill, does
much the same thing, but lacks the
expanded victim categories — a nod
to conservatives, who see the ADL bill
as just another gay rights measure.
Congress watchers say the sudden
injection of the Hatch proposal and
the late-night, voice-vote passage of
the bill reflects the dilemma for the
Republican leadership: their core con-
stituents are staunchly opposed to any
expansion of gay rights, but a series of
horrific incidents in the past year
would make it uncomfortable for leg-
islators to vote a simple "no."
ADL officials said the swift passage
of the parallel measures proves that
their version had gained strength —
enough to spur the watered-down alter-
native. But they worry that the battle
will be even tougher in the House —
and that any future House-Senate con-
ference will provide opportunities for
pruning the measure still further. LI
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Detroit Jewish News
7/30
1999
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