GNU make faults when a semicolon is present in a variable

[M.N.]

I am running make 3.79.1 on Windows 2000 which I got from Delorie.com's site
(DJGPP).  My intent is to compile a .java into a .class file, however the
javac compiler (JDK1.2.2) that I am using requires multiple JAR files that
are specified on the -classpath command line be separated by semi-colons.
I.e.

JSUFFIXES = .class .java

.SUFFIXES: $(JSUFFIXES) $(SUFFIXES)

JAVAC = javac

CLASSPATH = c:\apps\JSDK2.0\lib\jsdk.jar;c:\apps\javalibs\MD5.jar

JFLAGS=-classpath $(CLASSPATH) -deprecation -g

COMPILE.java=$(JAVAC) $(JFLAGS)

.java.class:
        @echo ----------------- $(HOSTNAME) javac $< -----------------------
        $(COMPILE.java) $<
...
[snipped]

When I run make, it fails to interpret the semi-colon that separates MD5.jar
and jsdk.jar as a literal, and it thinks it's some dependency or some other
command and it fails to compile my .java file properly. How do I get 'make'
to treat the semi-colon as a literal and not as some implicit rule? I looked
all over the documentation, and maybe I missed it- or maybe this is a bug.

When I run the compile manually on the command prompt in win2k, it compiles
fine when I separate the .jar files with a ; - semicolon.

Can someone fill me in with some info? Thanks.

Martin