|
|
October 31, 2003/Cheshvan 5 5764, Vol. 56, No. 6
Summit success
National AIPAC conference draws strong local support
BARRY COHEN
Editor
The age range of participants at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee National Summit, Oct. 26-27, revealed that future AIPAC leadership will be in safe hands.
"To me, the most exciting part of the entire conference has been seeing the wide range of ages," said Adam Schwartz, executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix and summit delegate, noting younger delegates with children and students from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.
Seeing the ASU and U of A students was "incredibly gratifying," said local delegate Barry Zemel. "They're going to go back to campus and be on the forefront of spreading information and correct knowledge (about Israel)," he added.
"They're the new AIPAC generation," said Zemel's wife, Barbara.
Of the 600 delegates from across the nation at the summit, which took place at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, 99 were from Phoenix.
The large percentage of local delegates "is a tribute to the community here in Phoenix that understands the importance of political activism and the U.S.-Israel relationship and the work that AIPAC does at this critical moment for Israel," said Josh Block, AIPAC press secretary.
To qualify as a summit delegate, participants had to be members of AIPAC's Capital Club, which requires an annual contribution of $3,600 per family, explained Block.
Along with involvement with AIPAC, people can show support for Israel by participating in the Grand Canyon Caucus, said Larry Cohen, summit delegate. Although AIPAC members don't make official contributions to candidates and elected officials, participants of the Grand Canyon Caucus do make financial contributions to candidates and elected officials who have been supportive of Israel, he noted.
Local delegates also noted the need for community organizations to work collaboratively with AIPAC in the future.
Federation needs to be able to work with AIPAC and other groups to harness the community's support for Israel, said Schwartz.
He cited the 2002 Greater Phoenix Jewish Community Study, which reports that 93 percent of Jewish respondents regard Israel as "an important communal concern."
"We need all groups, whether it's AIPAC, the Jewish federation, the Jewish National Fund (or) our Jewish community center ... to get the word out in a different way than we've done in the past so we don't have apathy on the part of our people," said Lanny Lahr, past president of the federation board of directors and local delegate.
During the two-day national summit, delegates received AIPAC policy briefings and heard from a variety of elected federal officials and political experts.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) spoke at a luncheon titled, "The U.S.-Israel Relation-ship: The View from Capitol Hill." Amatzia Baram, professor of Middle East Studies at Haifa University and senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, spoke at the forum, "Inside Iraq: The Latest from Baghdad." In a special address, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz spoke live via satellite.
The summit concluded with an event open to the com-munity - both AIPAC and non-AIPAC members - on Oct. 27, attended by approximately 250 people. The event featured a question-and-answer session with panelists Brad Gordon, AIPAC legislative director; Steve Rosen, AIPAC director of foreign policy issues; Rob Bassin, AIPAC political director; and moderator Howard Kohr, AIPAC executive director.
After the event, many of the participants said they felt energized and looked forward to taking part in Israel ad-vocacy.
The panelists engaged the participants to feel for Israel and motivated them to get to work, said Robert Chait. "I guess it fires you up to make contributions (and) to lobby your representative," he added.
Larry Spivack, who said he attended the event as a favor to a friend, called the evening "inspirational."
Mel Myland, who attended both the summit and the communitywide event, ex-plained how in addition to AIPAC, he is active with another organization that works to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship - the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Myland said he recently took part in a national effort to receive support for Israel from "20 million Christians" on Oct. 19.
What stood out about the concluding event was the need for the community to remain united in support of Israel, said Ken Schnitzer, local AIPAC board member.
"Being here (reinforced) my beliefs that the united Jewish community together - Republicans, Democrats, all sects of Jews - need to come together and be involved in AIPAC and make sure we are all supporting each other ... as one people," he said.
Contact the writer at barry_cohen@jewishaz.com.
|
