SERVING NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA FOR MORE THAN 75 YEARS Vol. LXXVI
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Barak meets with Clinton, Jewish leaders Jan Schneiderman represents NCJWat White House by Matthew Dorf, Lisa Hostein and Carol Katzman
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Now that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has formed his government, set his peace policies and developed a warm relationship with President Clinton, he is working to line up the support of the American Jewish community. "I told them, 'I need your support,"* Barak said in a brief interview during Sunday night's formal White House dinner. With President Clinton standing at his side, Barak said American Jews should stop creating partisan fights on Capitol Hill on issues such as those involving Palestinian compliance with the peace accords. ' : ' •; V : American Jews should put "all of their retrpac^f tive differences aside" and work to restore bipartisan congressional support for the peace process, Barak told the three Jewish groups with whom he met - the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the Israel Policy Forum and AIPAC. Omahan Jan Schneiderman, National President of the National Council of Jewish Women, was invited to both the Conference of Presidents meeting and to the state dinner at the White House. In an air-conditioned tent on the South Lawn of the White House, Schneiderman was seated at a
table next to Gen. Colin Powell. Secretary of Deiense William Cohen, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Zalman Shoval, Mrs. Elie Wiesel and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) were seated with her. "Prime Minister Barak and President Clinton both spoke briefly to express their friendship, AmericanIsraeli unity and moving the peace process forward," Schneiderman told the Jewish Press in a phone interview. Barak also injected a certain poignancy as he con- J a n Schneiderman yeyed his mission. In his speech Sunday night, Barak said that as a military man, "I can tell you that there have never been words or images that truly convey the horrors of the battlefield. "As prime minister and minister of defense," he
Hate group linked to shootings is one of fastest growing in U.S. by Daniel Kurtzman
WASHINGTON (JTA) - The white supremacist who went on a shooting spree against minorities recently belonged to an overtly racist and antiSemitic group that advocates a racial holy war. It is also a group whose leader found some unlikely Jewish supporters earlier this year in his battle to gain a license to practice law. ; Matthew Hale, an unabashed anti-Semite who heads the World Church of the Creator, has twice been denied a license by an Illinois state panel that evaluates the "character and fitness" of prospective attorneys because he espouses racial hatred. But Alan Dershowitz, a prominent Jewish attorney, came to Hole's defense after the initial denial, arguing he had a right to free speech and a right to practice law, no matter how objectionable his views. The Anti-Defamation League, while calling Hale's views "abhorrent," said that denying him a law license "sets a dangerous precedent." "At another time, in another place," the ADL said in a statement last February, "we could envision a circumstance in which another Committee on Character and Fitness could follow this lead to reject a candidate because t h a t candidate has expressed support for abortion, opposition to school prayer or other moral views contrary to the majority of his or her community." The controversy gained Hale nationwide attention and launched him onto the talk show circuit. Dershowitz offered to represent Hale, but Hale later declined, saying that Dershowitz's association with his cause had already given him the publicity he sought and aided his widespread recruiting drive. The World Church of the Creator, founded in 1973 in Florida, has experienced a resurgence in recent years under Hale's leadership and is now what law enforcement and other officials call one of the fastest-growing hate groups in the country. The group teaches that Jews and non-whites are subhuman "mud people" who threaten the survival of the "white race."'It sees a "racial holy war" as inevitable in its quest to build "a whiter and brighter world."
said, "I pray that the time will never come when I have to give the order to go ; to war." ; He said his "hardest moments" came "at the door of a fallen.soldier's family, on the day he was lost. It is the memory of those moments which: I carry with me here this evening." V v••'..-.-. '., Toasting Clinton, the premier said, "We know that we can count on you and the American people as we cross a great historic divide and extend a hand of friendship to our neighbors.'" . Ehud Barak In a bid to reassure those who worry about Israel's security, he has altered the theme that characterized the reign of his mentor, the late Yitzhak Rabin. Instead of talking about ensuring Israel's security, he seems to take pains to stress that he is determined to strengthen Israel by ending the conflict with its Arab neighbors. He says repeatedly that he will not sign any agreement that he doesn't believe will make Israel stronger. . "What struck me most was Barak's spirited energy," she added, noting he strode into the meeting with the Conference of Presidents with "tremendous energy, shoulders held high, a smile on his face." Barak stressed the common goals and shared destiny between Israel and American Jewry. He spoke of his commitment to make peace with the Palestinians, Lebanon and Syria. : "Making peace is like climbing a mountain," Barak told the 55 leaders gathered for the Conference of Presidents meeting, "We either make it to the top or we fall back. You can't stop or you'll fall off the cliff." Barak thanked American Jewry for bringing the Ethiopian Jews "home" and asked the leaders to "face the challenge of Jewish continuity, solidarity and keeping young people Jewish." , : ••;: Schneiderman said Barak was warmly received at both events and she looks forward to future meetings with the Israeli leader and members of
The group's Web site, which Hale runs, proclaims, among other things, that Hitler had the ; right idea, but should have promoted the supremacy of all whites, rather than just Germans; V Although the group claims not to condone, violence, the July 2 shooting spree carried out by Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, a 21-year-old follower of Hale's, was only the latest in a string of violent attacks associated with the group. ': Smith's rampage, which left two men dead and at least seven others - including six Jews - injured, ended late Sunday night when the alleged gunman took his own life. ' : Federal agents are still investigating the World Church of the Creator in connection with last month's bombing attacks on three Sacramento, synagogues. World Church fliers were left at one of. his government; ; '•:••; ; : • , i the three torched sites prior to the attacks, Record-: ';. "Find a way to unite yourselves to send a clear : ingtotheADL. • ^ : • • '/... and unequivocal message into the American politiThe group's predecessor, the Church.of the cal system" to support Israel's peace policies, Barak Creator, was also linked to the 1991 murder of a urged American Jews, according to participants black sailor in Florida returning from the Persian who attended a closed-door briefing for the Israel Gulf War and to foiled plots to assassinate black Policy Forum, a group that actively supports the and Jewish leaders and to bomb black and Jewish peace process. ; • agencies, synagogues and churches. •••.•: .'/'.''.'Making Middle East peace is like "moving down:a In the last year, three members of the group corridor with surprises coming at you from both have been accused of pistol-whipping and robbing sides," Barak said during his six-day U.S. visit.''• a Jewish video store owner in Florida, purportedly While he expects surprises from Israel's negotiatto raise money for "the revolution." ing partners, and at times even from the United Smith, meanwhile, had already come to the atten- States, they should not come from American Jews tion of students and administrators at both the placing obstacles in his path as he tries to reach University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which he agreements with Israel's Arab neighbors, he said. attended from 1997 to 1998, and Indiana University His remarks came after announcing an ambitious at Bloomington, where he was currently enrolled. 15-month deadline for setting a comprehensive At both schools, police say, he distributed hate framework for peace for Syria, Lebanon and the literature, and at Indiana he formed a group he Palestinians while pushing the United States back called the White Nationalist Party of Indiana info the role of facilitator rather than mediator. University. It was while he was a student there In seeking American Jewish support, Barak has that he joined Hale's World Church of the Creator, his work cut out for him. He is about to move into according to the Center for New Community, an final-status talks with the Palestinians to tackle organization that works to counter hate group the hardest issues in the Palestinian-Israeli peace activity. process - Jerusalem, borders, settlements, state(Continued on page 11) hood and refugees.