May 30, 2000 Vol. 2, No. 18

This Week in Washington...

For more information, contact Reva Price, Washington Representative at rprice@thejcpa.org

The Hill Takes a Holiday: Both the House and Senate are in recess until June 6, 2000. As always, JCPA member agencies are urged to arrange meetings with elected officials while they are home. To assist you in developing your meeting agenda, a complete listing of recent JCPA action alerts can be found on our website at www.jewishpublicaffairs.org. Contact Washington Representative Reva Price with any questions or for specific issue information at (202) 293-1649 x201, or rprice@thejcpa.org.

Legal Representation and Holocaust Assets: The JCPA has received several inquiries about fee-for-service companies that have placed advertisements in the Anglo-Jewish press offering assistance to survivors in filing restitution claims. These companies will typically charge a percentage of any sums recovered. Should you receive inquiries from survivors, please inform them that while it is perfectly legal to set up such a business, (although the JCPA cannot vouch for the legitimacy of any of these outfits) survivors need not pay anyone to help them complete and submit claims forms. Assistance is available free of charge from a variety of local sources, depending on the community and type of claim. Greg Schneider, the Assistant Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference will be addressing the JSBOR Taskforce at the upcoming meeting, to provide an update on assets restitution issues. Contact Guila Franklin Siegel at gfsiegel@thejcpa.org with any questions.

Barak-Clinton Meeting Rescheduled: President Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Barak are set to meet on Thursday, June 1, 2000 in Berlin. The meeting was rescheduled after Prime Minister Barak canceled a meeting last week in Washington because of the Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon. According to a White House press release, the two leaders will discuss prospects for reaching an Israeli-Palestinian framework agreement on permanent status and assess the situation following Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. The two leaders will also exchange views on how to strengthen the US-Israel relationship.

This Week in New York…

For more information, contact Benita Gayle-Almeleh, Senior Community Consultant at bga@thejcpa.org

Beijing + Five Events: Next week, 189 United Nations Member States will send delegations to the United Nations for a five day evaluation of progress made since the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing nearly five years ago. The "Platform for Action" drafted in Beijing identified specific objectives and actions for governments, the international community, the private sector and non-governmental organizations to improve the status of women and girls throughout the world. Governments and NGOs will be asked to recommit themselves to achieving women’s equality, and agree upon action steps necessary to achieve full implementation of the Plan for Action. The JCPA Ad Hoc Committee on Beijing + 5 will be represented at the special session by co-chairs Judy Palkovitz of Pittsburgh and Sybil Gass of Southern New Jersey. On Monday, June 5, the JCPA will be hosting a Jewish Women’s Caucus gathering, and on Tuesday, June 6, will be sponsoring a special meeting with the Israeli delegation to the Conference. Those interested in participating in either or both events should contact Lmallin@thejcpa.org.

Our Turn At Bat: As part of the continuing coalitional effort to enact the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, JCPA Chair Dr. Len Cole and Executive Vice Chairman Larry Rubin have sent letters to all 50 Senators urging that a vote on this critical legislation be scheduled. Coalition members have been assigned dates to contact legislators urging such action be taken.

A Tisket, A Tasket: Mark your calendars for the JCPA Task Force meetings, Sunday June 11^th and the JCPA Board of Directors Meeting, Monday June 12^th in New York City.