This Week
Washington Watch
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of
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Peace Debate
Washington is flooded by pro- and anti- messages
on Middle East peace proposals.
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he fierce controversy sur-
rounding the unofficial
"Geneva Accords" —
unveiled with an interna-
tional flourish in that city on Monday
— shifted to Washington this week as
peace activists tried to generate congres-
sional support for that and other non-
governmental initiatives.
Pro-Israel leaders tried to head off the
expected meetings between top Bush
administration officials and the princi-
pal authors of the Geneva plan. But at
press time that effort seemed to be fal-
tering in the face of an
administration back-
lash against outspoken
Israeli opposition to
any meeting.
Israeli officials lashed
out against the Geneva
agreement and other
nongovernmental _
Powell
peace efforts. They urged
U.S. officials to shun the Geneva
authors, former Israeli Justice Minister
Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, the
Palestinian Authority's former informa-
tion minister, who were due in town
late Wednesday.
That prompted a sharp response from
Secretary of State Colin Powell, who
said at a Tunis news conference, "I do
not know why I or anyone else in the
U.S. government should deny ourselves
the opportunity to hear from others
who are committed to peace and who
have ideas. I am the American secretary
of state. I have an obligation to listen to
individuals who have interesting ideas.
This in no way undercuts our strong
support for the state of Israel."
Washington sources say high-level
meetings with Beilin and Rabbo are
likely, despite the controversy.
Some Jewish leaders insisted such a
meeting would undercut U.S. diploma-
cy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But
Henry Siegman, a senior fellow at the
Council on Foreign Relations, said
meetings between administration offi-
cials and the peace initiative activists
could "open up a debate in Israel that
hasn't been taking place. That's why
Sharon and his people are so opposed,
and that's why a meeting in Washington
is important."
Siegman said a high-level meeting
would also signal to Israelis that "the
narrative they've been sold — that
there's nobody to talk to on the other
side — simply isn't true." -
New Resolution
Jewish peace groups swarmed Capitol
Hill this week, but with varying mes-
sages. Some endorsed Geneva as a
working framework for resuming nego-
tiations; others supported that and
other unofficial peace plans simply as a
spur to new debate over the best route
to peace.
One focus of their lobbying: a new
resolution by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-
Calif., Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.,
and Rep. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., that
"applauds the courage and vision of
Israelis and Palestinians who are work-
ing together to conceive pragmatic, seri-
ous plans for achieving peace."
The nonbinding resolution also calls
on President George W Bush "to
embrace all serious efforts to move away
from violent military stalemate toward
achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace."
Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., Arno
Houghton, R-N.Y., and others intro-
duced similar legislation in the House.
Several Jewish peace groups rallied to
support those resolutions. Chicago-
based Brit Tzedek v Shalom endorsed
what it called the "historic" Geneva
agreement and distributed copies to
every member of Congress. The group
also promised a "full-scale grassroots
campaign to mobilize American Jewish
public opinion in order to influence the
White House to support the accord."
Cherie Brown, a member of the
group's board, said the local chapter .
passed out copies of the agreement at a
downtown Washington restaurant,
along with Swiss chocolate, to mark the
participation of the Swiss government
in the Geneva negotiations.
The Israel Policy Forum circulated a
letter to the resolution's sponsors prais-
ing their expressions of support for "cre-
ative approaches" to peacemaking, but
refraining from endorsing any specific
initiative.
"Our view is that any discussions
about a peace process are helpful, espe-
cially when they're focused on a two-