\”It\’s the economy, stupid,\” was President Clinton\’s campaign mantra, and the same lesson was hammered home June 5-7 to 25 Israeli diplomats at a three-day conference at the Beverly Hilton.
By most measures, last week\’s policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was a success.
AIPAC will be tasked with keeping its members focused on the important issues facing Israel and maintaining support in Congress if the Gaza pullout, planned for this summer, goes awry. The effort to keep attention focused on Iran\’s presumed drive for nuclear weapons is also high on its agenda.
\”I think it\’s important for Jews to help other Jews,\” said Heather Greenberg, explaining one of the reasons behind her work on behalf of Jewish charities.
Last week\’s anti-Semitism conference at UCLA had the potential to be powerful and mind-expanding — except that almost no one showed up.
President Bush is declaring his hope for a Palestinian state loud and clear, and no wonder — it\’s almost the price of entry to the alliance with Europe that he urgently wants to revive.
For an Israeli who lives in Jerusalem, it\’s strange being the only Jew in the room. Yet that\’s how it was on Jan. 10 as I gave a talk on the current political situation to an international conference of Catholic bishops at the elegant Knights Palace Hotel in the Old City.
One hundred imams and rabbis from 20 different countries came together for four days of discussion about religion, peace, justice and dignity. Meeting in plenary sessions and breakout groups, over meals and during evening cultural programs, this conference was a public attestation of the possible.
Is religion more prominent or less today in American life? Is it fading away or roaring ahead? Articles about the conservative Christian influence in the Bush administration point — often fearfully — in one direction.
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