CAMPAIGN ’88 : Jackson Lashes Out at Dukakis’ Positions

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, trying to keep the pressure on Democratic front-runner Michael S. Dukakis, criticized the Massachusetts governor Thursday for declining to rule out first use of nuclear weapons in the event of a war in Europe and for his willingness to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Jackson, campaigning in San Jose and Santa Barbara, praised Dukakis, however, for what Jackson perceived as a shift in the governor’s position on sanctions against South Africa.

In a prepared statement, Jackson said he “questioned” Dukakis’ policy on first use, which Dukakis described in an interview Thursday in the Los Angeles Times.

“The United States should never be the first nation to start a nuclear war that could obliterate civilization,” Jackson said. “Our policy should state clearly that the nuclear weapons have one purpose and one purpose only--to deter a nuclear attack on the United States or our allies. As Henry Kissinger has said, ‘mutual suicide cannot be made a rational option.’ ”

And in a speech to educators and elected officials at a San Jose high school, Jackson said he disagreed with Dukakis’ acceptance of Israel’s claim to Jerusalem.

The U.S. government does not now recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the U.S. Embassy remains in Tel Aviv.

“Mr. Dukakis is willing to accept what no other American President has accepted,” Jackson said. “That’s not the key to peace in the Middle East.

“We should resolve the crisis on the West Bank and in the Gaza. We should be providing the balance in the crisis of (Palestinian) terrorism and (Israeli) occupation.

“If we make a move to move that embassy under these conditions, we’re inviting a wave of fundamentalist reaction and confrontation with the church.”

Jackson congratulated Dukakis, however, on “the progress that he has made in defining his policy toward Southern Africa” as outlined in their televised debate Wednesday in San Francisco.

“I welcome his support for the Dellums bill, which calls for comprehensive sanctions against South Africa and requires that the Administration show cause why South Africa should not be listed as a terrorist state,” Jackson said.

Jackson also spoke to 2,000 students at Independence High School in San Jose, where he emphasized the hazards drug abuse, and to a crowd of 4,500 at UC Santa Barbara, where he urged the students to be activists to “make America strong, to make America better.”