(June 2) - The Clinton-Gore administration claims it is "the most pro-Israel
administration ever." Yet the administration recently appointed two
anti-Israel extremists - one who has harshly attacked Israel and strongly
criticized US policy for not being pro-Arab enough, and one who has accused
Israel of persecuting Moslems and has associated herself with groups that
justify Arab terrorism and support Holocaust-deniers.

The first appointment was Joseph Zogby, who had been hired to join the State
Department's Mideast team as an aide to Assistant Secretary of State Martin
Indyk, the key figure in shaping America's Mideast policies.

When we at the Zionist Organization of America learned of Zogby's hiring, we
publicly exposed the fact that in two articles currently on the Internet,
Zogby calls Israel a "colonizer" and an "alien oppressor" whose rule is
similar to South African apartheid; accuses the US of "willful
ineffectuality" and playing an "unconstructive role" in the Mideast; and
mocks "the American government's rhetoric about respect for the rule of law
and human rights."

One of Zogby's articles was also published in the Washington Report on Middle
East Affairs, a magazine which, according to US Congressman Steve Rothman
(D-NJ), contains "cartoons, articles and photographs that are extremely
antisemitic and filled with messages of hate and bigotry."

Zogby also had a conflict of interest; while working at the State Department,
he continued as director of the "Palestine Peace Project," which brings
American lawyers and law students to Palestinian Authority territory to turn
them into "ambassadors" to influence the American public to be more pro-Arab.

Interestingly, Joseph Zogby's "Peace Project" shares the same phone number as
the major pro-Arab lobby in the US, the Arab-American Institute, which is
headed by Zogby's father, James, another anti-Israel extremist.

We also exposed the fact that Joseph Zogby had been arrested in Israel. In
1994, the Israeli police, implementing a court order, went to the home of a
convicted Arab terrorist, in Jerusalem, to seal off two of its rooms. Zogby
and a friend refused to leave the premises, and were arrested. (Jerusalem
Post, June 24, 1994)

After the ZOA's protests, Assistant Secretary Indyk announced on April 22
that Zogby would be leaving the State Department "within one month." Zogby
resigned on May 14.

But now another extremist, Laila Marayati, has been appointed to the State
Department's United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. The
commission monitors the persecution of minorities around the world.

Marayati is a longtime leader of the Moslem Women's League, which on its Web
site charges that those who complain about the persecution of Christian
minorities in various countries "have been less vocal about the rights of
Palestinian Christians, for example, who also experience violations of
religious freedom by the state of Israel."

In fact, it is the PA, not Israel, which violates the religious freedom of
Palestinian Arab Christians. The Israeli government has reported that "on the
social and religious level, the few Christians remaining in Palestinian
Authority-controlled areas are subjected to brutal and relentless
persecution."

Last year, two American courts - one in Illinois, the other in North Carolina
- granted asylum to Palestinian Christian Arabs on grounds that they would be
persecuted for their religious beliefs if they return to PA territory.

Marayati is also connected to various extremist anti-Israel groups. One is
the Moslem Public Affairs Council (MPAC), which has called the establishment
of Israel "illegal" and has justified Hamas suicide bombings against Israel.
Marayati's Moslem Women's League (MWL) shares the same Los Angeles address
and telephone number as the MPAC. Her husband, Salam, is president of the
MPAC, and the two groups co-sponsor events.

Marayati has spoken at the convention of the American Moslem Council, which
the American Jewish Congress has described as "a defender of Moslem terrorist
organizations" such as Hamas. She has also spoken at events sponsored by the
Islamic Center of Southern California, which has published openly antisemitic
cartoons and defended Holocaust-denier Roger Garaudy.

A US government commission is no place for someone who associates herself
with those who oppose Israel's existence, justify the murder of innocent
Jews, and sympathize with Holocaust-deniers. The fact that this commission
deals with religious persecution, and Marayati's MWL has falsely accused
Israel of persecuting Moslems and Christians, is also cause for concern. If
she refuses to repudiate the anti-Israel, pro-violence positions of the
groups with whom she has associated herself, her appointment should be
revoked.

Whether or not Marayati remains on the commission, a broader question must be
considered: If the Clinton-Gore administration is "pro-Israel" as it claims,
why does it keep appointing anti-Israel extremists?

The writer is national president of the Zionist Organization of America.