Jackson Denounces Israel

The Rev. Jesse Jackson denounced Israel last Saturday for selling military hardware to South Africa which the Democratic Presidential hopeful said is being used “to shoot down and oppress Black people.”

Jackson also said that he would send military aid to Israel “in an emergency” although he did not indicate what circumstances would constitute such a condition. He repeated his belief that there is a need for the U.S. to maintain a dialogue with all the Arab states.

“We cannot even protect Israel’s interests if we do not have adequate relations with Israel’s adversaries,” Jackson said in response to a telephone call on the Public Broadcasting System call-in program from Newark, N.J., where Jackson was campaigning for the Democratic Primary there on June 5.

On U.S. foreign aid to the Jewish State, Jackson said, “As we subsidize Israel, they are in fact selling arms to South Africa and they (the South Africans) are using these arms to shoot down and oppress Black people there.” He added that the apartheid government of South Africa “sells diamonds to Israel that are being sold (by Israel) all over the world.”

But he stressed that Blacks and Jews “have much more to gain by being together rather than being apart.” He repeated his suggestion that a dialogue between American Blacks; Jews and Arabs could be the “key” to peace in the Middle East.

BELIEVES IN REDEMPTION

When a caller asked how, as a disciple of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., he could associate himself with Louis Farrakhan, the Black Moslem leader, and Yasir Arafat, the chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Jackson replied that as a Christian he believes in redemption and has personally witnessed “much transformation and change in people.”

“Israel saved Arafat’s life when his back was against the wall,” Jackson said in an apparent reference to Israel allowing ships to carry Arafat and his PLO fighters from Tripoli, Lebanon, last year where they had been besieged by PLO dissidents and Syrian troops. “Even they saw some good in the worst of a situation,” Jackson said.

ON THE ISRAELI-ARAB DISPUTE

On the Israeli-Arab dispute, Jackson stressed that the U.S. must “convince the Arab nations and Israel that they stand more to gain in trading with each other than by fighting with each other.” He added that President Carter, by bringing Israeli Premier Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat together “contributed to Israel’s defense” and he urged the expansion of the Camp David process.

Jackson contended that even with the large military aid given to Israel, it cannot help the U.S. in the present crisis in the Persian Gulf. He said this demonstrates that the U.S. needs other allies in the Middle East.

CLAIMS ‘DIVERSIONARY’ TACTIC

Jackson also charged that his remarks earlier this year in which he called Jews “Hymies” and New York City “Hymietown” were being used as a “diversionary” tactic to prevent discussion of such issues as Israel’s relations with South Africa. He said his remarks had “no religious or political overtones.”

“If one has an attitude that’s negative or cynical, one may consider it an insult,” he said of his “Hymie” remarks. He added: “I really think people who have not responded with a forgiving attitude may be using that term as a diversion from more serious issues that must be wrestled with between two communities that have so much to gain by being together as opposed to being apart.”