A national Jewish leader has urged American Jews not to turn the Presidential campaign of Jesse Jackson into a Black-Jewish confrontation despite “justifiable concern” over Jackson’s embrace of PLO leader Yasir Arafat.
Albert Vorspan, vice president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), told the 3,000 delegates attending its biennial assembly here that “Jackson will probably engage in demagoguery and infuriate us, but his candidacy may just help to expose the American people to the real world and the real conditions of our cities, our minority families, our youth, our elderly, our future.”
WILL NOT IGNORE JACKSON’S ARAB TIES
The Reform Jewish leader declared that Jews should “refuse to turn the Jackson campaign into a Black-Jewish confrontation. We and the rest of the responsible Jewish community should repudiate and condemn the vigilante campaign of the Jewish Defense League thugs who have announced they will disrupt Jackson’s political rallies,” Vorspan declared. He added:
“Does that mean we should ignore his view and his record, especially his unconscionable theatrical embrace of Yasir Arafat and his ties to Arab groups, which stirred deep and justifiable concern among thoughtful Jews? Decidedly not! Jesse Jackson should be subjected to tough and sharp scrutiny, exactly like all other candidates, and on issues across the board, not only on the Middle East. To exempt him from judgement because he is black would be supremely patronizing. To seek to delegitimize his campaign and to hold him to a separate standard would be racist. Jesse is a showman and an opportunist, but he has become a symbol of black aspirations in our time,” Vorspan said.
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