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OUR GOALS
The Zionist Organization of America, under the dynamic leadership of its National President, Morton A. Klein, is making a difference -- for Israel and for the Jewish people.
Congress recently passed the Specter-Shelby-Lowey Amendment to the 1995 foreign aid bill, which puts pressure on the PLO to stop violating the accords before it receives U.S. aid. The passage of the bill followed an eight-month long campaign by the ZOA to expose and publicize PLO violations of the Israel-PLO peace accords.
The authors of the Specter-Shelby-Lowey Amendment are Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Sen. Richard Shelby (D-AL), the co-chairs of the ZOA-initiated bipartisan Peace Accord Monitoring (PAM) Group in the U.S. Senate and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY). The ZOA also initiated the creation of a PAM Group in the House of Representatives. Already, 45 U.S. Senators and Representatives (22 Democrats and 23 Republicans) have joined the PAM Groups. The PAM Groups document and challenge the PLO's violations, through legislation, press conferences, and by directly contacting the President and the State Department. In this way, they work to ensure Congressional oversight of U.S. aid to the PLO.
The ZOA is the only pro-Israel organization actively exposes and condemns the PLO's violations. We make sure that the American public and Congress hear the truth about Yasser Arafat and the PLO.
The ZOA mobilized pro-Israel activists nationwide to protest the U.N. vote branding Jerusalem "occupied territory." The ZOA's efforts helped result in an 83-0 Senate vote in favor of a resolution condemning the U.N. position. The ZOA has launched a campaign to explain to the American public and Congress why Jerusalem must remain the undivided sovereign capital of Israel.
The ZOA plays a leading role in the nationwide battle against anti-Israel bias. The ZOA's media-monitoring division documents and exposes the media's anti-Israel distortions. ZOA President Morton Klein has led successful campaigns that convinced the publishers of the world's oldest and largest travel guides, Baedeker's, and D.C. Heath, the publishers of the most widely used American college history textbook, The Enduring Vision, to correct dozens of anti-Israel errors that appeared in their editions.
The ZOA led the campaign against Strobe Talbott, the nominee for Deputy Secretary of State, by exposing his anti-Israel writings. In response to the ZOA's effort, Talbott publicly recanted his anti-Israel views - an important affirmation that malice toward Israel is unacceptable in mainstream American politics. As a result of ZOA's campaign, more than three times as many Senators as expected voted against the Talbott nomination. Both Dr. Henry Kissinger (on the Larry King radio show) and the journal New Republic have recently pointed out that it is now unlikely that Talbott will be nominated to Secretary of State, because of the large opposition to his nomination as deputy secretary.
The ZOA:
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educates the Congress and the American public about the dangers of trying to appease Arab dictators.
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explains the risks that Israel will face if a PLO state is established.
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articulates the legitimate claims of the Jewish people, based on religion, history, and international law.
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combats the Israel-bashers in the newspapers, on television, and on radio.
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sends more Jewish students to Israel each summer, via its youth division Masada, than any other Jewish organization.
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mobilizes pro-Israel activists around the the country to protest when Israel is in danger.
From coast to coast, the ZOA is attracting attention and winning praise. Feature articles about ZOA's activism have appeared in the Jerusalem Post, the New York Jewish Week, the Washington Jewish Week, the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, the Jerusalem Report, and elsewhere. The Israeli daily Ma'ariv recently described the ZOA as "the most important organization in the American Jewish community."
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