JCRC retracts call for action

Eric Fingerhut

Washington Jewish Week

August 8, 2007

A call to action on Mideast legislation and its retraction a day later by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington raised some eyebrows around the area last week, but the organization says it was simply a mistake.

The e-mailed "action alert" urged approximately 7,000 recipients to ask their senator to sponsor legislation backed by some dovish Jewish groups that calls on President George W. Bush to appoint a special envoy to the Middle East and welcomes the Arab League peace initiative. The retraction e-mail, coming about 25 hours later, said the original alert "was distributed without the approval of either our professional or lay leadership, and therefore is not the authorized position of our agency."

Two local Jewish activists told WJW that they suspected the retraction was the result of negative outcry from the community, but JCRC executive director Ron Halber said that "nothing could be further from the truth" adding that he personally received just two responses raising questions about the alert before sending out the retraction last Wednesday afternoon. "It was our desire to be honest," said Halber, noting that not retracting the alert could have misled other community relations councils that might have considered following the Washington JCRC's lead and backing the bill. "It wasn't the position of the agency," Halber said. A person familiar with the council confirmed that the legislation had never been discussed by the council's board.

Halber said a JCRC staffer, "in an attempt to advocate as strongly as possible for Israel," sent out the e-mail "prior to engaging in the necessary consultation" with organizational leadership. "We've reviewed our internal procedures" and reminded staffers that no action alert can go out "without the approval of the JCRC director," Halber said.

Halber said he has subsequently received 10 to 15 e-mails praising him forthe retraction.

"We hope the community will admire the decision to admit a mistake and immediately correct it," said the JCRC leader. "Mistakes happen." He added that the mix-up will not make the organization less active in communicating its views to the community.

The resolution at issue, introduced by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), calls on President Bush "to pursue a robust diplomatic effort to engage the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, begin negotiations, and make a 2-state settlement a top priority." It also calls on Hamas to recognize Israel's right to exist, in addition to endorsing the Arab League peace intiative and calling for the appointment of a special Mideast envoy.

Some critics of the bill argue that pushing so strongly for final-status talks would result in undue pressure being exerted on Israel. In addition, they contend, the Palestinian government, which finds itself in a tenuous position, is not prepared for any kind of peace negotiations.

Among the initial co-sponsors of the legislation were Sens. Chuck Hagel(R-Neb.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.), some of the stronger critics of the Jewish state in the U.S. Senate. But as of early this week, the legislation had 35 co-sponsors, including Democratic Sens. John Kerry (Mass.), Ted Kennedy (Mass.), Carl Levin (Mich.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Herb Kohl (Wis.) and current Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) The only local senator to co-sponsor the legislation is Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.). Dovish Jewish groups, including Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom and the Israel Policy Forum have advocated for the legislation. But, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, like most other American Jewish groups, has not taken a position on it. Hadar Susskind, Washington director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said that, to the best of his knowledge, none of the 125 local community relations councils around the country have supported the bill although he said a few had called to discuss it. JCPA also did not take a position on the resolution.

The legislation was scheduled to come to the floor last Friday, but was not considered before the Senate adjourned for its August recess. Rena Cohen of Rockville, who last month had e-mailed her friends and other contacts, urging them to tell their senators to oppose the bill, said she was pleased that the JCRC retracted the alert. But she was concerned that "the damage was done," since many recipients of the action alert probably had called their senator and urged support for the legislation prior to receiving the retraction.

Halber acknowledged that possibility and apologized for it, but said the JCRC's experience showed that it often took up to 72 hours for many action alert recipients to make calls. He also argued that the resolution, originally introduced in June, doesn't reflect the "reality of the Middle East" and hasn't kept up with events on the ground such as the Bush administration's recent diplomatic push.

But a supporter of the legislation saw the JCRC mixup as a sign that the bill should have been backed by the wider Jewish community. "What it suggests to me is that people looked at the language ... [and] there was nothing objectionable, and therefore their first reaction was to go for it," said APN spokesperson Ori Nir. "That's a good thing."