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Barak, Ehud

American Jewish Congress Urges Palestinian Authority Chairman to Cancel Anti-Israel UN Convention

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The American Jewish Congress has called on the Palestinian Authority Chairman, Yasir Arafat, to cancel an anti-Israel United Nations Convention scheduled to be convened in Geneva on July 15, the same day that Israel's new Prime Minister Ehud Barak will meet with President Clinton in the White House. The AJCongress Executive Director, Phil Baum, wrote in a letter to Arafat that the Geneva meeting would "burden the peace process," while the White House meeting would "facilitate its movement forward." Baum questioned the purpose of holding the Geneva meeting, which aims to condemn Israel, and warned that it would "inflame Israeli public opinion" just as Barak prepares to break the freeze in the peace process.

Key Takeaways:

  • The American Jewish Congress has called on the Palestinian Authority Chairman to cancel an anti-Israel UN Convention scheduled for July 15 in Geneva.
  • The AJCongress Executive Director, Phil Baum, wrote in a letter to Arafat that the Geneva meeting would "burden the peace process," while the White House meeting would "facilitate its movement forward."
  • Baum questioned the purpose of holding the Geneva meeting, which aims to condemn Israel, and warned that it would "inflame Israeli public opinion" just as Barak prepares to break the freeze in the peace process.
  • The letter noted that Barak's visit to Washington follows his face-to-face meetings with Arafat, President Mubarak, and President Assad, as well as his emotional address before the Knesset in which he echoed Arafat's call for "a peace of the brave."
  • Baum reminded Arafat that the American Jewish Congress has met with him on several occasions and urged him to act to cancel the Geneva meeting to avoid diminishing the atmosphere of hope and expectation at the White House meeting between Barak and Clinton.
  • The full text of the letter to Arafat from Phil Baum

Statistics:

  • 1 UN Convention scheduled for July 15 in Geneva
  • 1 letter written by Phil Baum to Arafat
  • 1 meeting scheduled between Ehud Barak and President Clinton in the White House on July 15
  • 1 meeting between Arafat and Phil Baum on several occasions

Sources:

  • American Jewish Congress letter to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat
  • Phil Baum's statement to Arafat
  • Presentation to the Knesset by Ehud Barak
  • Meeting between Ehud Barak and President Clinton in the White House

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