NEW YORK — Those who best remember the Rev. Jesse Jackson for referring to New York as “Hymietown” in 1984 or embracing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1979 may be surprised to see him taking up the cause of 13 Iranian Jews accused of spying for Israel.
But the Jesse Jackson of 1999 has healed his relationship with much of the Jewish world.
Jackson met with Jewish leaders here Sunday to discuss the plight of the Iranian Jews. Ronald Lauder, chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, introduced Jackson by highlighting examples of the Baptist minister’s pro-Jewish advocacy:
*Jackson stood with Jews in 1978 when neo-Nazis marched in Skokie, Ill.
*He confronted Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev about the plight of Soviet Jewry in the mid-1980s.
*He led a protest at the Dachau concentration camp in 1985 when President Reagan laid a memorial wreath at an SS cemetery in Bitburg, Germany.
Last week, the Iranian government announced that the prisoners — including rabbis, religious teachers and community activists ages 16 to 49 — would be tried as Zionist spies. Espionage ispunishable by death in Iran.
Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, decided at that point to turn to Jackson — a public figure with a record of softening hard-line regimes and the proven ability to get media attention.
Taking the podium at Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue on Sunday, Jackson committed himself to a new interfaith partnership on behalf of the “moral issue” of the Iranian Jews.
He told the assembly, which included Jewish leaders, synagogue members and the families of two of the prisoners, that today “we work together to set the captives free.”
Jackson called on the pope and “leaders of the caliber of Nelson Mandela” to “blend their voices in the chorus” of moral appeals.
Monday, Jackson sought to meet with the Iranian representative to the United Nations as a first step to “mobilize world opinion.” At an ecumenical prayer vigil near the United Nations later that day, he conceded that the meeting had not yet been arranged.
“We hope that one day it will be granted.”
Although disagreements between Jackson and the Jews still exist — including a lingering sense by some that he has failed to distance himself from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan — there was apparently no opposition to approaching Jackson on this issue.
Foxman himself has never shrunk from criticizing Jackson’s controversial actions and statements, but Foxman said Sunday that opposing Jackson’s involvement on the basis of his controversial past would be “unproductive.”
“There is no greater commandment,” Foxman said, than “saving a Jewish life.” In this case, he added, one must ask: “Who is most capable of saving someone’s life?”
Jackson’s reply to the families’ request for assistance was immediate, positive and unconditional, Foxman said.
In April, Jackson led a delegation of religious leaders to Yugoslavia, where they convinced President Slobodan Milosevic to release three captured U.S. soldiers.
As he did in the Balkans, Jackson has enlisted the support of the National Council of Churches in his new appeal. Joan Brown Campbell, the secretary-general of the Protestant group, said she would fly to Tehran if a trip materialized.
No trip is currently planned; Jackson must first obtain a visa from the Islamic state.
“We are working on that process now,” he said this week.
Jackson plans to make an appeal based on humanitarian and religious rather than political grounds. Beyond the moral and humanitarian issues involved, Jackson said he hopes Iran will see the practical benefits of granting the prisoners’ release.
“When we choose peace over war, when we choose life over death, the entire human family benefits,” he said. “This is a great moment for Iran as it makes a step toward its rightful place in the family of nations.”