Lay. May 9. 1980
The Jewish Floridian of Pinellus County
Page 7
The Mod Thing
AJComm. Chapter Slaps Israel
B> JOSEPH POLAKOFF
IWASHINGTON (JTA) -
Lficers of the Washington
Lpter of the American Jewish
Lmmiuee who take issue with
ie Israeli government's policy of
Ittlements on the West Bank
Id Gaza Strip have scheduled a
cial meeting here of the
lapter's approximately 600
embers to debate their stated
ews.
| A letter signed by the chap-
's president, Nancy Lang, and
culated to the members, said
Ihe results of our discussion"
fill be forwarded to the National
ard of Governors which is
.eting in New York on May 13,
^mediately prior to the annual
.eting there on May 15 when
undoubtedly the plenary body
the American Jewish Com-
mittee will come to grips with
lis issue."
1 THE LETTER, dated Apr. 11.
^utioned that the chapter's
eting is for American Jewish
ommittee members only," and
\e "draft statement" attached
it is "confidential" for "in-
Irnal use only."
j However, the contents of the
Itter and draft statement are
ow widely known and discussed
i Washington and are known in
krael. A copy of the letter and
raft was mailed by a recipient to
lie Jewish Telegraphic Agency's
I'ashington Bureau.
Brant Coopersmith, director of
fv Washington chapter of the
JCommittee since 1964, con-
firmed the distribution of the
letter. He told the JTA, "It is
unusual for all members to
discuss an issue but not un-
precedented by any means. The
American Jewish Committee is
not a debating society but
engaged in a process to obtain
more wisdom for ourselves."
Coopersmith said that "no one
in New York" AJCommittee
headquarters "told us to
discuss this issue." He noted that
Ms. Lang and Dr. Lawrence
Goldmuntz. chapter vice
president, are members of the
National Board.
Bertram Gold, AJCommittee
executive vice president, told
JTA "If they (the Washington
chapter) are doing it, they are
doing it on their own. They have
no direction from the national
office. At times we solicit chapter
sentiment, and at times we get
chapter sentiment without
solicitation. We haven't done
that in this case. Foreign policy is
made by the national
organization, not local. At best,
the chapter action will be a
recommendation to the national
organization."
ASKED IF other AJCom-
mittee chapters are taking a
critical position on settlements.
Gold replied. "I don't think so."
He said he did not see it as a
"general thing."
Top officials of the AJCom-
mittee, including Gold and
Richard Maass, president of the
organization, remarked in Israel
last February, when an in-
ternational furor arose over the
possibility of Israel establishing
a Jewish presence in the West
Bank Arab town of Hebron, that
they would not be able to defend
such a move in the U.S.
The Washington chapter
officers' action preceded by one
week President Carter's ap-
pointment of Alfred Moses of
Washington, a national vice
president of the AJCommittee, as
his unpaid advisor on matters of
Jewish community concern.
Contacted by the JTA, Moses
said, "I was not consulted and I
did not review it before my
appointment. It is solely the
work of the local office."
The "confidential draft" stated
that "As a general proposition,
American Jewish organizations
should not meddle in what can be
appropriately regarded as the
internal affairs of the State of
Israel. It should not, in par-
ticular, attempt to second guess
Israel on what are purely issues
of defense.
"ON THE other hand," where
the government (of Israel) takes
steps which can profoundly affect
the future of the Jewish people,
we believe it to be appropriate for
American Jewish organizations
to state their views of these
steps. This is particularly true
where policies by the government
of Israel relate to international
affairs."
The first of the six points of the
draft statement upholds United
Nations Security Council
Resolution 242 as "the foun-
dation of Middle East peace."
The second point states: "We do
not believe that Israel should
incorporate within its borders the
predominently Arab areas of
Judaea. Samaria and the Gaza
districts."
The third point is: "We believe
that Jews have a legal and moral
right to make their homes in
Judaea and Samaria, acting as
individuals or as groups of in-
dividuals. We reject as utterly
disingenuous the protestations of
the international community
which closes its eyes to atrocities
committed across the globe but
violently opposes the action of a
handful of Jews who decide to
make their homes in Judaea and
Samaria. We also consider some
of the statements made by our
State Department on this issue
legally and morally un-
supportable."
POINT FOUR states: "Our
observations on the moral and
legal rights of Jews to settle in
Judaea and Samaria not-
withstanding, we deem it highly
unwise and contrary to the best
interests of the State of Israel for
the government of Israel to
encourage and foster such set-
tlements.
"We believe that the set-
tlements policy of the present
government of Israel has
provided propaganda am-
munition to those who wish
Israel ill, has as a result alienated
many persons who would
otherwise tend to be more
friendly to Israel, has resulted in
the squandering of limited
human and financial resources
and, by scattering points to be
defended in case of war, has been
harmful to the security of the
State of Israel."
The last two points of the draft
statement are that the Israel
Defense Force should remain in
the West Bank area until the
"final border arrangement" is
made, that "the indigenous Arab
population should be given the
maximum opportunity for self-
government compatible with
Israel's security" and that
Jerusalem "should remain un-
divided and a part of the State of
Israel."

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