June 25, 2001 Vol. 3, No. 18  

This Week in Washington...

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

Quote of the Week:  Last week President George W. Bush made calls to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Yasir Arafat to urge them to honor the cease fire agreement brokered last week by CIA Director George Tenet.  After the calls, Bush told reporters that he said "we're making some progress and that they all must continue to work toward breaking the cycle of violence."  NSC spokesman Sean McCormack told Reuters that "the President urged Chairman Arafat to seize the moment and work with 100 percent effort to reduce violence and fight terrorism." 

Sharon Visit: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet with President Bush and other administration officials tomorrow for the second time in three months. They are expected to discuss implementation of the Mitchell Report and the cease-fire arrangement brokered bv CIA Director Tenet. JCPA Executive Director Hannah Rosenthal will be part of a small-group meeting with the Prime Minister this afternoon prior to his appearance at a dinner of the America Israel Friendship League tonight in New York.

Sign on the Dotted Line: Senators Joseph Biden (DE) and Gordon Smith (OR) are circulating a letter urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to take stronger action against popular anti-Semitism.  Their goal is to obtain all 100 senators’ signatures before Presidents Bush and Putin meet again on July 22.  JCPA member agencies are urged to contact senators and ask them to arrange signature through Mike Haltzel (202-224-4651) on the Democratic side or Rob Epplin (202-224-8323) on the Republican side. There is good precedent to cite here: a similar letter drew 98 signatures last year, and the 1999 letter, which reached President Yeltsin on the eve of a summit with President Clinton, had 99 signatures For additional information on the letter and conditions in Russia and the FSU, contact NCSJ ( www.ncsj.org).

Here and there on the Hill:  Senator Dodd (CT), chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee will hold two hearings this week on election reform.  Senator Dodd is the lead sponsor of S. 565 (H.R. 1170 in the House) the "Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act." ( See JCPA Action Alert, June 22, 2001 for more information) The House Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee is tentatively scheduled to work on their fy 2002 appropriations this week. Chaired by Congressman Kolbe (AZ), this is the Appropriations bill which includes funding for foreign aid to Israel.   The Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee, chaired by Representative Goodlatte (VA) will hold an oversight hearing on the food stamp program on Wednesday.  Also on Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Senator Leahy (VT) will hold a hearing on ensuring competent counsel for defendants in death penalty cases. (See JCPA press release, June 21, 2001) It is unclear if the Committee hearings on H.R. 7, the Community Solutions Act, rescheduled for this week will actually come to fruition.  After President Bush's speech today in Detroit to the US Conference of Mayors on the subject of his Faith Based and Community Initiatives, it is anticipated that legislators will fine tune the charitable choice components of the legislation to dovetail with his remarks. 

Media Update: We call your attention to an excellent article in the Jewish Week entitled "Bad News: Why Israel is Losing the Media War," which can be found at www.thejewishweek.com/news. Contrary to the widespread negative assumptions about U.S. media coverage in the Middle East, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released findings of an editorial survey of the nation’s largest daily newspapers, which showed overwhelming support for Israel and significant criticism of the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Yasir Arafat. For more information, see www.adl.org.

This Week in New York…

For more information, contact Benita Gayle-Almeleh, Director of Community Relations and Special Projects at bga@thejcpa.org

Entebbe Anniversary: Hard to believe a quarter century has gone by since the day (June 27, 1976) the chilling news of the hijacking of an Air France Airbus hit the airwaves. A brief summary of the hijacking and dramatic IDF rescue, as well as remarks by the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin can be found at www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/entebbe1.html.

Heard from the Field: Welcome to the newest section of JCPA Insider, where we’ll highlight a particular effort, program or project by a member agency. The Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington’s efforts led to a change by the Montgomery County school system’s 2001-2002 school calendar, adding the first day of Passover to spring break. The new schedule means that no student will have to choose between observing the holiday or going to school. Got something you’d like to share? Contact bga@thejcpa.org.