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 ?!: F PEOPLE ARE OPENING OUR 12 MONTH CD AT AN ASTONISHING RATE. 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