This Week

Washington Watch

Amnesty On Amnesty

Jewish groups protest AI's inclusion on anti-Semitism panel.

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

A

nti-Semitism is a hot topic
on Capitol Hill these days,
but sometimes lawmakers
seem to get confused about
the difference between the good guys
and the not-so-good guys.
That was apparent when plans by the
Helsinki Commission to hold hearings
on anti-Semitism in Europe touched
off a political rumble after the chair-
man announced the list of witnesses.
The Helsinki Commission is an inde-
pendent federal agency that monitors
human rights across Europe. It includes
members of both Houses of Congress
and representatives of the State,
Commerce and Defense departments.
The panel of witnesses originally
included two recognized experts —
Mark Levin, executive director of
NCSJ, a leading Soviet Jewry group,
2nd Dr. Shimon Samuels, European
representative for the Simon
Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
What raised eyebrows was the third: a
representative of Amnesty International,
the big human rights group. Amnesty is
respected for its work around the world,
but Jewish leaders say it has a big blind
spot when it comes to anti-Semitism —
the very topic it was called to address
before the commission.
"It's a very odd choice," said
Abraham Foxman, national director of
the Anti-Defamation League. "I don't
know what their expertise is; in fact,
they have turned a blind eye to anti-
Semitism, while spending a lot of their
time chastising Israel."

AI was one of the nongovernmental
organizations that sat by last summer
as pro-Palestinian groups turned the
United Nations Conference on Racism
in Durban, South Africa, into a festi-
val of anti-Israel invective. The group
finally protested some of the outright
anti-Semitism that was one of the
most disturbing features of the confer-
ence, but most participants said its
objections were too little, too late.
"By not standing up, they gave this
anti-Semitism new credibility," Foxman
said. "This is a strange group to treat as
`experts' in hearings on anti-Semitism."
And AI has taken a skewed approach
to the Middle East conflict, he said,
regularly criticizing Israel's treatment of
the Palestinians, but ignoring anti-
Israel and anti-Semitic incitement
throughout the Arab world.
Last week, AI teamed up with
Human Rights Watch, another inter-
national human rights group, to issue
a statement condemning the new wave
of anti-Semitism. But the statement
went on to express what seemed like
equal or greater concern about the rise
in violence "against Arabs and certain
ethnic and religious minorities" in the
wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and the
intensifying crisis in the Middle East.
"Their record on Israel has been con-
sistently negative, and their silence on
anti-Semitism quite deafening," said
David Harris, executive director of the
American Jewish Committee. Another
prominent Jewish activist said that the
group's appearance may be designed to
mollify American donors upset about
its performance in Durban.
Early this week, Rep. Chris Smith,

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R-N.J., the commission co-chair on
the House side, was besieged with
complaints from Jewish groups and
lawmakers, including Rep. Ben
Cardin, D-Md., the only Jewish mem-
ber of the Helsinki panel. The invita-
tion to AI, Cardin said, "just doesn't
make any sense. They might be an
appropriate witness for some subjects,
— but not anti-Semitism."
The effort by Cardin and others
produced partial results. Late Tuesday,
congressional sources said that Smith,
while keeping AI on the witness list,
invited two other Jewish groups to tes-
tify: the Anti-Defamation League and
the American Jewish Committee.
Despite AI's continued presence on
the panel, Cardin said he was satisfied.
"I'm pleased the Helsinki Commission is
holding hearings on this," Cardin said.
"It is important for us to look at human
rights and religious freedom issues, and
to express concern about the rise of anti-
Semitism. The other witnesses are very
well qualified to talk about that."

GOP Backing Israel

The Bush administration is using its
clout with Congressional Republican
leaders to slow down a series of resolu-
tions that the White House claims
could impede its ability to wage effec-
tive Mideast diplomacy.
Many lawmakers are taking a differ-
ent view, even a number of top
Republicans. But that may not be
enough to get the Mideast measures
past several key congressional leaders
who are still singing the administra-
tion's tune.

"There's a lot of support, but the big
problem is when the administration
leans on the Republican leadership,"
said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.,
sponsor of last year's Middle East Peace
Facilitation Act (MEPCA), which the
lawmaker said was "lobotomized" in
response to administration pressure.
Now, Ackerman has teamed up with
Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the deputy
majority whip, to push a much tougher
version of MEPCA, a companion to a
Senate bill offered by Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Mitch
McConnell, R-Ky. The measures would
impose a variety of sanctions on the
Palestinian Authority, including freez-
ing its assets and curtailing its diplo-
matic activities in Washington unless
the president can certify that it is work-
ing actively to end terrorism. They
would also scale back the presidential
waiver authority in last year's bill,
adding to the administration's ire.
"Congress is getting more and more
impatient with the Palestinians,"
Ackerman said. "The administration is
very far behind the curve."
But congressional sources say there
are big roadblocks ahead, starting with
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., the head of
the House International Relations
Committee and an administration loy-
alist, who is refusing to mark up the

But the political dynamics of pro-
Israel, anti-PLO legislation has changed
dramatically, posing a major headache
for the Republican White House.
"Traditionally, strong pro-Israel, anti-
PLO resolutions have come mostly
from the usual suspects — Democratic
members with big Jewish constituen-
cies," said a congressional source. "In
the past six months, we've seen a real
shift to Republicans putting their
names on the resolutions, and often
Republicans in real leadership posi-
tions, whose districts have few Jews."

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