Washington Watch

Yasser Bashi

Beating on Arafat; courting Arab-Americans; Bush's expansive choice;
women's act advances; making genocide visible.

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

D

espite Tuesday's tentative Sharm el-Sheikh
agreement to end three weeks of clashes in
Israel, Gaza and the West Bank,
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat continues
to get pounded on Capitol Hill for his role in insti-
gating the recent surge in violence.
It was hardly a surprise that the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was able to get a
majority of senators together to criticize the Palestinian
leader during the height of the disorders last week.
What was surprising was the total.
Ninety-four lawmakers signed the letter to
President Bill Clinton, accusing Arafat of a "deliberate
campaign of violence" in the face of unprecedented
Israeli offers to reach a final-status agreement. That,
the lawmakers said, "constitutes a fundamental viola-
tion of the entire peace process."
The lead signers were Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott (R-Miss.) and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-
S.D.).
Of the six senators who did not sign, only two actu-
ally refused: Robert C. Byrd, a West Virginia
Democrat who has been a longtime foe of pro-Israel
forces, and Sen. Spencer Abraham, the Michigan
Republican. Abraham, the only Arab American in the
Senate, has a big Arab-American constituency. The
lawmaker, seeking a second term in next month's elec-
tion, is considered the most vulnerable Republican
incumbent in the Senate.
Separately, a proposal to cut off U.S. aid if Arafat
declares statehood unilaterally was warming up. The
measure passed the House but has been stuck in the
Senate because of administration objections. But a
compromise in the works this week, to broaden the
president's waiver authority, might be enough to get
the Senate to act before Congress adjourns.

Courting Arab Americans

With the polls showing the closest presidential race in
decades, the Jewish vote is looming larger than ever.
But so is the Arab-American vote, which is why
both parties have suddenly cranked up their outreach
to that community, especially in several key states.
This week, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the
Republican nominee, was endorsed by the Arab
American Political Action Committee. The group
cited an array of political factors in the decision,
including the fact that during the second debate,
Bush came out against ethnic profiling and the use of
secret evidence in legal proceedings involving suspect-
ed terrorists.
Those are top issues for Arab-American and
Muslim groups in the wake of the 1996 anti-terror-

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2000

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Yasser Arafat adjusts his kaffiyeh in Gaza.

ism law, which many say has led to widespread civil
rights abuses.
Jewish groups generally support some use of secret
evidence when terrorism is suspected, although
many believe the 1996 law went too far.
The Democrats, too, have increased their Arab-
American outreach. Late last week, for example, Vice
President Al Gore met with three Arab-American
leaders and assured them of American fairness in
seeking an end to the latest wave of violence in
Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
Two of those leaders were from Michigan — the
epicenter of Arab-American political activity, and a
state that is emerging as critical in the Nov. 7 presi-
dential contest, said Johns Hopkins University polit-
ical scientist Benjamin Ginsberg.
Arab Americans, he said, have increased their level
of political organization in areas where their num-
bers are high, he said, "and they have become a rea-
sonably significant source of money for both par-
ties." And, unlike the Jewish community, which is
firmly wedded to the Democrats, "the Arab
Americans are a genuine swing constituency. So it
behooves both parties to court them — especially
when the election is expected to be close."

Bush's Expansive Choice

Jewish Democrats are assailing George W Bush for a
recent interview in which he suggested that he would
approve government funding for religious social-serv-
ice programs, even if those programs include the
study of religious texts.
Speaking to Beliefnet, an online religion magazine,
Bush said that "if reaching Bible study or the Qur'an
is a method that works, we should welcome it, so long
as it's a voluntary program." Effectiveness in curing
social ills, not church-state considerations, would
drive his administration's decisions on "charitable
choice" programs, he suggested.
That puts Bush several steps further than other sup-
porters of such programs, which are designed to make
it easier for religious organizations to get federal
money to provide health and social services.
Phil Baum, executive director of the American
Jewish Congress, labeled Bush's comments "disturb-
ing." The AJCongress has brought legal action against
Texas for a program that involves exactly what Bush
described in the Beliefilet interview — a charitable
choice program that included Bible reading.
"He did not qualify what he was saying by warning
about the possible abuses of these programs for pur-
poses of proselytization," he said. "We have grave con-
cerns about any charitable choice program without
guarantees against religious misuse."
The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJOC)
was quick to blast Bush's comments as extreme. "For
anyone in America who still has any doubt about
the immense damage a Bush presidency would do to
every American's religious liberty, this interview
should clear up any confusion," said NJDC
Executive Director Ira N. Forman. He said that
Bush's program — if implemented nationally —
would undercut the church-state wall and pose "a
danger to the independence of religion."
On the other side of the aisle, the Republican Jewish
Coalition has continued its barrages against Sen. Joe
Lieberman (D-Conn.), the vice-presidential nominee,
for refusing to back off from his stated willingness to
meet with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
A Lieberman spokesman said that the offer still
stands, despite criticism from the Republicans and a
number of Jewish leaders. But the spokesman said
Lieberman does not think a meeting would be in order
"in the heated environment of a political campaign."

Women's Act Advances

In a last-minute burst of activity, Congress has passed
a catch-all crime bill that includes reauthorization of
the Violence Against Women Act, a 1994 law that
provides funding for a variety of local initiatives
aimed at curbing domestic violence.
That's good news for a handful of Jewish groups,
including the National Council of Jewish Women,
Hadassah and the Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism. They had made reauthorization of the meas-
ure, which supporters say has had a concrete impact
in hundreds of communities across the country, a top
priority
Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers slipped
the measure into a bill aimed at limiting sexual traf-
ficking, legislation that had become a catch-all for
crime-related measures.

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