State House News Service 

By Trevor Hughes 
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE 

September 24, 1999--Twenty legislators - including a handful of House and Senate committee chairmen - are taking a 10-day trip to Israel early next month to study hate crimes, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and to promote relations between the US and Israel. 

Participants will each pay about $800 for the trip; an arm of the American Jewish Committee is picking up the remainder of each participant's $3,200 tab. State ethics laws say legislators may participate in such trips if they're funded by groups with no direct interest before the Legislature. 

On the Oct. 3-12 trip, participants will visit the port city of Haifa, the Israeli "City of Love" and Boston's sister city.  They'll also cruise on the Sea of Galilee and meet with Palestinian officials.  Participants will tour the Israeli Supreme Court, swim in the Dead Sea, tour the Knesset, the Israeli parliament and meet with Israeli president Ezer Weizman. 

The trip will come at a time when the Legislature here is meeting in formal sessions, although the House and Senate have not been meeting frequently of late.  The trip is also in the works as a cloud of uncertainty swirls over the state budget.  That bill, one of the most important bills in any year, is three months late and subject to ongoing high-stakes talks between legislative leaders. 

Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston President Donald Siegel explained the the trip's goal.  "We're interested in promoting mutually beneficial ties and relations between Americans and Israelis," he said.   "We care deeply about Israel and we want Americans to be as educated as possible about the problems Israel faces." 

One of the major lessons trip leaders hope participants take away from the excursion is the feeling of being in the minority.  That's an important memory to draw upon when making laws, said Jewish Community Relations Committee government affairs director Charles Glick. 

"Part of what motivates much of what we do is that we (the Jewish community) recognize that we are still a minority," said Glick, who is going along on the trip.   "There's a mindset that happens when you're in the minority." 

Glick said many participants on such trips have never been "in the minority."  He compared the experience to stumbling off the sidewalk and twisting an ankle - surprising but not really painful. "It's the first time (participants) have been placed in a context where they're in the minority," he said.  "They become perhaps a little more sensitive to the needs of minorities." 

Project Interchange is the only organization solely dedicated to helping American political, religious and cultural leaders understand Israel, Siegal said. He said participants will, in addition to learning about the culture, study the Middle East peace process and look at how their Israeli counterparts deal with immigrants, the elderly and health care. 

"It's clearly not aimed at ordinary citizens.  We're looking for leaders," he said. "We are interested in educating people who have exhibited an interest in public affairs. Relations between states is an important public affair and we want to do whatever we can do to see that as many public officials as possible are educated about the problems Israel faces and the progress Israel has made." 

Siegal added: "I think it's important for Americans to understand what happens in other Democratic states whose methods of governance resemble their own." 

Rep. Carol Donovan (D-Woburn) said she hopes to learn how the Israelis deal with hate crimes. 

"Any time you understand what other people are going through, it helps you," said Donovan, who is Catholic.  "I would hope that if (hate crimes) happened in my district ... I would be able to step forward and be a leader and put a stop to it." 

In a recent memo, House Speaker Thomas Finneran (D-Boston) told members to keep Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 12  open for formal House sessions.  It's unclear whether that schedule will hold up. 

Project Interchange Israel Trip Participants 

* House Government Regulations Committee chairman Daniel Bosley (D-N. Adams); 

* House Judiciary Committee chairman David Donnelly (D-Boston); 

* House Science and Technology Committee chairwoman Lida Harkins (D-Needham); 

* House Taxation Committee chairman John Rogers (D-Norwood); 

* House Election Laws Committee chairman Anthony Cabral (D-New Bedford); 

* Senate Public Service Committee chairman Brian Joyce (D-Milton); 

* Senate Energy Committee chairwoman Susan Fargo 
(D-Lincoln); 

* Senate Counties Committee chairwoman Pamela Resor (D-Acton); 

* Senate Local Affairs Committee chairman Steven Tolman 
(D-Brighton); 

* Rep. Ruth Balser (D-Newton); 

* Rep. Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge); 

* Rep. Carol Donovan (D-Woburn); 

* Rep. Kevin Fitzgerald (D-Boston) and wife Patricia; 

* Rep. John Hart (D-South Boston); 

* Rep. Kay Khan (D-Newton); 

* Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Newton); 

* Rep. Maryanne Lewis (D-Dedham); 

* Rep. Eugene O'Flaherty (D-Chelsea); 

* Rep. Ronny Sydney (D-Brookline); 

* Rep. Martin Walsh (D-Dorchester); 

* Gerald D'Avolio, executive director, Mass. Catholic 
Conference; 

* Margaret Gannon, director of Special Projects for Boston 
Mayor Thomas Menino; 

* Angela Menino, wife of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino; 

* Northwestern District Attorney Betsey Scheibel and her 
husband; 

* New State Police Colonel John DiFava; 

* Supreme Judicial Court clerk Maura Doyle; and 

* UMass-Worcester Vice Chancellor Albert Sherman 
 

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