Caught in the Crossfire

One of the country’s hottest congressional races reached near boiling point last week when the alleged pro-terrorist sympathies of a local Muslim leader were added to the political stew.As a further fillip to the controversy, the accusations against the Muslim leader came from the gentile candidate but were rejected by his Jewish opponent.

The principals in the minidrama are:

• Republican Rep. James E. Rogan, running for reelection in a district encompassing parts of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. Rogan was one of the most zealous among the 13 GOP House managers who carried the impeachment charges against President Clinton last year.

• His Democratic opponent, State Sen. Adam Schiff. The race, whose outcome may help deter-mine which party controls the House next year, is neck and neck, with both sides pouring millions of dollars into the contest.

• Caught in the political crossfire last week, Salam al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee and a native of Iraq.

Exactly a year ago, al-Marayati was in the national news when he was appointed to the newly created National Commission on Terrorism by House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.)The appointment raised a storm of protest by major Jewish organizations, which attributed to al-Marayati a long list of statements justifying terror-ism, equating America’s struggle for independence with Islamic fundamentalism, and calling for a renewed Arab economic boycott of Israel.

Although al-Marayati maintained that the attributions were lies or twisted out of context, and many local Jewish liberal leaders and an editorial in The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles came to his defense, Gephardt withdrew the Muslim leader’s nomination.

Fast forward to the present. A week ago Sunday, the Muslim Council, together with Mormon, Presbyterian and Unitarian churches, sponsored a forum on “The Role of Alcohol in Crime” at the La Canada YMCA. Schiff and Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti were the main speakers, and al-Marayati was present.

Two days later, Jason Roe, Rogan’s campaign manager, was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying that Schiff’s presence at the same forum with al-Marayati “raised some questions about the associations [Schiff] plans to keep” if elected to Congress.

Pointing to the pro-terrorist sentiments attributed to al-Marayati last year, Roe said that “it seems to me odd that Sen. Schiff would feel comfortable, especially as a Jew, to be participating in this event.” Roe added that Rogan had declined to appear at the same forum because of al-Marayati’s co-sponsorship of the meeting.

Reaction came swiftly. al-Marayati denounced Roe’s statement as “an absolute outrage,” and Parke Skelton, Schiff’s campaign manager, said that Rogan “is trying to drive a wedge between Schiff and the Jewish community.”

The following day, a dozen clergy members and community leaders of various faiths held a news conference in al-Marayati’s defense. Among them were such liberal stalwarts as Rabbi Emeritus Leonard Beerman of Leo Baeck Temple and Douglas E. Mirell, president-elect of the Progressive Jewish Alliance.Also on hand was Rabbi Gilbert Kollin of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, which lies in Rogan’s district. “I have worked with al-Marayati on many community events,” said Kollin. “I’m sure we don’t agree on, say, the future of Jerusalem, but no one has a right to suggest that he is an apologist for terrorism.”

The news conference was enlivened by Irv Rubin, head of the Jewish Defense League, who hoisted a sign reading, “Rogan Doesn’t Kiss Terrorists’ Butt.”

What mainly differentiated the current controversy from the Gephardt brouhaha a year earlier was the noninvolvement – with one exception – of national Jewish organizations.
A year ago, the sharpest protests against the Gephardt appointment came from the New York headquarters of the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the Conference of Presidents of American Jewish Organizations.

The attacks elicited widespread, though privately expressed, resentment by Los Angeles officials and members of the organizations. As Kollin put it, “I was terribly annoyed that these East Coast leaders didn’t consult with us, who knew al-Marayati best, before they denounced him.”
Another reason for the current noninvolvement was briefly summarized by Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-president of the Conference of Presidents.

“In contrast to last year, I consider the present controversy a local matter, and we won’t get into it,” Hoenlein said.
The shift in attitude was signaled by David Lehrer, the regional ADL director, whose national headquarters strongly protested al-Marayati’s appointment last year.
“We have had and continue to have substantial differences with Salam al-Marayati on a variety of issues,” Lehrer said. “But that doesn’t mean that we or others ought to shun him or treat him as a pariah. There is room for civil discourse.”

However, one group that spearheaded last year’s protest on the Gephardt appointment – the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) – was in no mood to quit the fight now.
National ZOA President Mort A. Klein, reached in Israel, said that “No person in politics should have any dealing with a man who praises such terrorist groups as Hamas and Hezbollah and who signed a letter calling for the dismantling of Israel.

“The fact that Schiff appeared in public with al-Marayati gives credibility to a man who compared Prime Minister Netanyahu to Hitler and praised Holocaust deniers.”
On the ground, Rabbi Dov Fischer, president of the ZOA’s Los Angeles district, launched a media campaign in support of Rogan.

Fischer released a letter praising Rogan’s “moral courage in standing up against those who would justify terrorism.”
The letter was signed by five fervently Orthodox rabbis and Conservative Rabbi Julian M. White, regional president of Americans for a Safe Israel.In a followup, Fischer sent out a statement, headed “16 Victims of Arab Terrorism Support U.S. Congressman Rogan’s Refusal to Appear with Defender of Arab Terrorist Groups.”Of the 16 signatories, all but one were East Coast residents and could not be verified for lack of phone numbers.

Fischer said the Los Angeles ZOA chapter was formed about six months ago in the wake of the first al-Marayati controversy but said he was unable to give numbers for ZOA’s national and local membership.Meanwhile Roe, the Rogan campaign manager who kicked off the fuss, said in an interview that the media had “mischaracterized his statements” by attributing to him allegations (against al-Marayati) made by others.

“All I said is that if these allegations were true, they were cause for concern,” Roe declared.Roe acknowledged that had he anticipated the fallout from his initial statements, he would have kept quiet. “It’s been an emotionally draining experience,” he said.

By the end of the week, the controversy quietly wound down. Rogan and al-Marayati met at a Chamber of Commerce banquet, and the congressman handed the Muslim leader a letter, which said in part:”I have reviewed statements attributed to you. Many of them were hostile toward Israel. As a longtime supporter of Israel, I strongly reject those sentiments.

“However, provocative foreign policy opinions do not equate with pro-terrorist opinions. I find nothing in your previous statements that I have seen indicating you encourage or support terrorism.”