admonished the hecklers, saying it reflected poorly on the organization´s coming of age. "That´s not what we are," he told conference-goers. "Five people have no right to define 25 years." Lieberman directly addressed issues that several other candidates tried to avoid, including the security fence Israel is building in the West Bank. The willingness to be direct impressed some, even though they didn´t like his message. "He didn´t come and tickle your ears," Michael Farah, a Republican who heads the National Lebanese-American Chamber of Commerce, said the next day when the incident was being discussed. "The next time I´m in Washington, I´m going to visit Joe Lieberman and thank him for coming out here among the lions." Zogby had, in introducing Lieberman, noted the senator´s openness to ArabAmericans despite political differences. Lieberman´s first stop in 2000 after being chosen as Al Gore´s vice presidential candidate was with an Arab American group, and in 1992 he used his connections to force the Clinton campaign to open its doors to Arab Americans. Lieberman also consults with Zogby on civil liberties issues. "I like the person, I like what he´s done in reaching out to my community," Zogby told JTA. "When other candidates rejected us, Joe Lieberman came to talk to us." Zogby also noted that Lieberman´s appearance came just before the Sabbath and the holiday of Shemini Atzeret. "It´s only a short window between now and the High Holidays," he said. "That´s important." One of the hecklers said Lieberman should have stuck to what unites the Arab