Washington Report on Middle East Affairs \| Telling the Truth for 30 Years

March 1988, Page 16, 17

Letters to (and From) the Editors

Israel and the Contras: Why Aren't We Told?

Dear Editor:

I'd like to say how much I liked The Indiscreet Bones of the Iran-Contra Affair by George Weller which ran in your December issue. It is a devastating commentary ont he role the majority of American journalists played in keeping the Israelis from looking bad during the investigation of a scandal for which the Israelis were largely responsible.

What makes such a superstar as David Brinkley, for example, cow-tow to them? I don't believe I ever heard him utter an unflattering comment about Israel. Certainly no one on McNeil-Lehrer ever does, and except for John Chancellor and Tom Brokaw, the other network biggies seem to be under AIPAC Director Tom Dine's control. Thank goodness for CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The Nation, and of course the Washington Report. Has Mr. Weller ever thought of writing a book on this subject? I am quite familiar with Paul Findley's They Dare to Speak Out, but consider his chapter on the media only the first scratch on the surface.

-Jackie Burnett, Ventnor, NJ.

Russians Should Thank Israeli Lobby

Dear Editor:

Interavia magazine reports: "Jordan is to buy MiG-29s plus SAM-7 and SAM-9 systems. Payment conditions are reportedly agreed, although numbers were not disclosed and no offical confirmation has been given by Jordan."

I hope the Russians send the Israel Lobby a thank you note.

-Ken Patrick, Lenexa, KN.

Pollard and his Pipeline to the KGB

Dear Editor:

I enclose a story which appeared in the December 14 Houston Post quoting sources in the CIA and reporting a breach of U.S. security resulting from the Pollard affair substantially beyond anything previously revealed. The UPI piece discloses that the Pollards were part of a pipeline providing top secret information to the KGB through the Israeli Mossad. If true, the shocking and dangerous ramifications of this betrayal require through investigation, but I did not see any follow up on this story.

-J.J. Horman, Kingwood, TX.

Dear Mr. Horman:

The report you enclosed was one of two by Richard Sale of UPI. Several of our readers have sent us clippings of one or the other from their local dailies. One appeared in a Washington, DC, "alternative" weekly which asked the question all Americans should ask: "Why hasn't this been printed in major newspapers all over the United States?" Although few editors found space for these disturbing reports, we carried the first in our February edition and the second in this March edition as part of the Other Voices section. We're grateful to Cheryl Rubenberg, author ofIsrael and the American National Interest, who brought the UPI reports to our attention, and to readers like yourself who spotted them in the few local newspapers that braved the wrath of their advertisers by printing them.

Boston Office of Arab TV Show Attacked

Dear Editor:

In Boston a few days ago the offices of the television program Arabic Hour were broken into and the cameras stolen-an effort to prevent the show, which operates on a shoestring, from going on the air.

We no longer have an ADC office in Boston since two years or so ago when the JDL, or like-minded people, put a bomb on its doorstep which exploded and injured severely two police who were trying to defuse it. Bit by bit, it seems that freedom of speech is being denied to us Americans of Arab extraction.

I am therefore so glad for the Washington Report, a wonderful publication. I have given subscriptions to many academics and religious folk because I want them to be educated by a voice which no one can complain is "Arabic."

-Ann Thomas, Brookline, MA.

Not All Those for Palestinian Rights are Leftists

Dear Editor:

I am prepared to help some candidates who have defied the Israeli lobby or are under assault by same. TheWashington Report could help by reporting on who is in trouble with the lobby over the next year. Middle Eastern peace and Palestinian rights are basically a cause of the left in this country, but not all supporters are leftists. I congratulate you on maintaining a balance in the Report that does not offend a non-leftist, and encourage you to continue to focus on the main issues.

-Robert O. Blucker, San Antonio, TX.

Dear Mr Blucker:

Thanks and see Candidate Watch in this issue.

Ed Wright and the Memoirs of an Intelligence Officer

Dear Editor:

I was moved by your tribute to Ed Wright, for whom I worked in G2 during the war when he was sort of a kindly uncle to me. He was my boss in Cairo on the Joint Intelligence Committee there in 1944, and helped launch me as assistant military attache in Baghdad later that year. In another incarnation, when I was chief of the Middle East program of the Voice of America, he steered a woman to me who later became my wife.

I give him due credit for all these beneficient acts in a book published by Little and Brown entitled The Lust of Knowing: Memoirs of an Intelligence Officer. The title comes from Flecker's Golden Road to Samarkand, and the poem gives a certain direction to my memoirs.

Archibald B. Roosevelt, Jr., Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Roosevelt:

We're looking forward to reviewing your book and making it available to our readers through our own book club later in the year.

Today's Secular Zionists

Dear Editor:

It is perceived by many Americans, principally fundamentalists with deep roots in the Old Testament, that Israel is a religious state deserving the sympathy and support of Christians of every denomination. One contention of Palestinians that has been effectively suppressed is that the majority of today's Zionists are, in fact, secular agnostics, and not "people of the Book."

Would you publish a comparative report on the state of worship in Israel today? The number of churches, mosques, synagogues, and services? It is my belief that the number of synagogues in Israel is a classified figure.

-John L. McClenahan, Philadelphia, PA.

Dear Dr. McClenahan:

It's a little out of our field but perhaps one of our readers can supply that information or direct us to a reliable source. Thanks for the idea.

The Washington Report: Reactions, Suggestions, Comments

Dear Editor:

Some time ago I receieved, with great pleasure, my first issue of the Washington Report. Never mind that it took two months to reach us. It's truly a treat to have a perspective from "the other" American community concerned about the Middle East. Thank you for your monumental endeavor to focus a truthful eye on happenings here.

-Canon Riah Abu El-Assal, Christ Evangelical Episcopal Church, Nazareth.

Dear Editor:

I did a column in the San Antonio, Texas Express-News recommending that people subscribe to your report. Was there any reaction? Your subscription envelope says $25 for a subscription, but $5 for a preacher, teacher, journalist, or library. If these lower rates are in effect, I will donate several subscriptions. It would be interesting if you would question the presidential candidates on two issues: whether Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel, and whether the PIO offices should be closed.

-Maury Maverick, San Antonio, TX

Dear Mr. Maverick:

Thanks for the donation subscriptions and yes, we certainly did receive many responses to your column.

Dear Editor:

Thank you for the one-year gift of a subscription to the Washington Report donated by my friend, Dr. James F. Caldwell of Foley, AL. As a former Iraqi who immigrated to the U.S. in 1960, I can sincerely say that theWashington Report is the first U.S. publication presenting not only objective views on the different Jewish lobby activities in this country, but also challenging the essence of these activities. Your publication has restored my confidence in the integrity and decency of the American people. After the expiration of my one-year subscription, I would like you to consider me as a regular subscriber.

-Dr. Matti Moosa, Gannon University, Erie, PA.

Dear Editor:

As a funeral director, now retired, I would like to point out that many people "pre-arrange" their own funerals today. In this connection, one is always asked if memorial donations are preferred and if so to what causes. I am going to furnish information on my own arrangement form that I desire any memorial contributions to be sent to the American Educational Trust Library Endowment-tax exempt. I would also like to be able to send memorial donations to AET in memory of friends who have died and said "memorials to donor's choice." I wonder if there are not others among your readers and supporters who would like to do the same thing.

-C. Swift Treadwell, Memphis, TN.

Dear Mr. Treadwell:

The AET Library Endowment has acknowledgement cards for donors and for the family of the person in whose memory such tax exempt donations are made. Thanks for the suggestion and for your own personal arrangements.

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