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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JUNE 1, 1984
PAGE 9
not suffer. He has, for example, described the Berlin Wall as "a
monument to a crisis in communications which has caused so much
pain to so many people," a remark which betrays his entire atti
tude toward East-West relations. While Jackson cannot bring him
self to acknowledge the Wall as a concrete symbol of Communist
oppression, he does not hesitate to make the most sweeping
attacks on the United States as a bastion of militarism and
racism. His reaction to the invasion of Grenada is particularly
revealing. Americans, he declared, "should feel a sense of out
rage and disgrace" over the action, which "must be seen as.••
gunboat and big-stick diplomacy, manifest destiny, militant ad
venturism, and racial insensitivity."•..
The history of Jackson's participation in the Middle East debate
bears close examination•••• In 1979•..Jackson led a delegation on
a mission to the Middle East•.•• While the trip is mainly remem
bered for Jackson's embrace of Yasir Arafat and his warm words of
praise for the PLO, other less publicized utterances provide a
clearer insight into his beliefs, style, and strategy.
For example, when Prime Minister Begin declined to meet with
Jackson on the ground that the American had made anti-Semitic
remarks, Jackson responded that this represented "a racist deci
sion based on skin color."•.. It was during the same trip, how
ever, that Jackson, following a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust
Memorial, observed that: "The suffering
[of
the Jews during the
Holocaust ] is atrocious, but really not unique to human history,"
and added "Genocide should not be allowed to happen to anyone,
not even the Palestinians."•••
Another reason to treat Jackson's foreign-policy views seriously
has to do with the degree to which they reflect the dominant
attitudes among black elected officials and those blacks who
think and write about the question of what America's world role
should be.
Here the most compelling evidence was the near-unanimous disap
proval of the invasion of Grenada.•.. The Congressional Black
Caucus without dissent approved a statement denouncing the inter
vention, a position which was subsequently reaffirmed after a
meeting with Prime Minister Eugenia Charles of Dominica, a strong
supporter of the invasion.•.• Representative Gus Savage declared
himself "angry and in agony over our country," and charged that
the invasion was at least in part racially motivated.... To
Representative Ronald Dellums, Grenada represented "nothing less
than a crime against humanity executed by people who deserve to
be condemned as war criminals."..•
Five caucus members...were among seven Democratic Congressmen to
sponsor a measure to impeach President Reagan on the grounds that
the invasion violated the Constitution•... Moreover, Conyers and
Savage reportedly bolted in fury from the meeting with Prime
Minister Charles; subsequently, speaking from the floor of Con
gress, Savage referred to Charles [a black woman] as "this puppet
of our President" who "represents Aunt Jemima-ism."...