Prominent Arab and Jew Discuss Middle East

Two leading representatives of the America's Arab and Jewish communities who co-authored a recent book on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East argued last night in a forum at the Kennedy School over whether the Palestine Liberation Organization should be included in a Middle East peace conference.

Unless the PLO agrees to two "eminently reasonable" conditions, to recognize the state of Israel and to "say to their people no longer to bomb food markets, schoolbuses, and and airports, they should not be included in a peace conference," argued Hyman Bookbinder, the chief Washington lobbyist of the American Jewish Congress (AJC).

But James Abourezk, a former Republican senator from South Dakota who chairs the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said he supports the inclusion of the PLO in a conference because it represent the wishes of the Palestinian people.

Abourezk and Bookbinder are the authors of "Through Different Eyes," a written debate on Middle Eastern policy. They have been touring the country and debating in public since September. Two hundred people attended last night's forum.

Placing the Blame

Bookbinder placed the blame squarely upon the Arab states. "The total obstinate unyielding opposition of the Arab world towards Israel led to the Arab Palestinians not having their own state," said Bookbinder, who has been AJC's representative for nearly 20 years.

The Arab states have been using Palestinian refugees purely as "political cannon fodder" and have no commitment to a Palestinian homeland, Bookbinder said. He noted that during the 19 years that Jordan occupied the West Bank, the Arabs did not ask Jordan to create a Palestinian state.

Abourezk argued that the American views of the situation in the Middle East have been distorted by the influential pro-Israel lobby in the United States. He claimed that the Palestinians were promised an independent state by the British government in 1918, only to be thwarted by "Zionist political machinations in London."