Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January/February 1999, pages 3, 99-102

Letters to the Editor

Retaliation to Distract

Retaliation; Revenge; Comeback; Eye for an eye—tooth for a tooth. Hundreds of years ago, matters were handled by means of retaliation. But it is now 1998. Is retaliation a means of handling an already dangerous situation?

We live in a world of nations which function dependently, not independently. We depend on the hierarchy of nations to help keep order, peace and justice. What is the meaning of our Aug. 19 retaliation for Osama bin Laden’s terrorism, which President Clinton called a “strictly American” act? Do other countries around the world now have the green light to act independently and commit such acts? When other countries have acted independently, they have been punished by the United States. For example, Iraqi President Saddam Hussain’s violent acts against Kuwait have caused thousands of innocent Iraqis to suffer as a result of their leader’s foolishness. Is there a little hypocrisy here? Will the United States be punished for acting independently?

Clinton forgets that Osama bin Laden has a cause, a cause Clinton may not understand, but a cause, nevertheless, and he will fight to his death to achieve what he believes in. In today’s world, we cannot accept one country “retaliating” against another. If every country were permitted to act this way, each society would be as insecure and chaotic as the next.

As an American citizen, I am ashamed of the scandals Clinton has been involved in, followed by a senseless, impulsive act of retaliation against a very dangerous man, and an innocent people. This seems to have been one ego pitted against another, and with Clinton’s ego so badly hurt at this point, it seems more than coincidental that he would act in this violent manner, perhaps to save his image.

After the lies Clinton has told, why should we believe his claims to be true? As an Arab American, I detest what both men have done. Osama bin Laden has only reinforced the stereotype that Arabs are terrorists. Clinton has added to the stereotype of America as a superpower which abuses its power.

I fear for the innocent people who will now suffer as a result of the acts of both men, and I am deeply sorry for those who have already suffered. Instead of applauding acts of violence by foolish leaders, we must generate respect for humanity and a love of life.

Haya Hashem, Austin, TX

Support President Clinton

The Washington Report means a lot to me because it reflects my views and also gives me more information to reinforce my attitude.

I think we should support President Clinton because if Vice President Gore gets in the next two years there is no limit on what Israel may demand. At least Clinton is trying and needs our support against AIPAC.

Phyllis Mackaoui, Arroyo Grande, CA

How to Respond to Terrorism

Recent terrorist attacks and U.S. response has led to the killing of innocent lives. There is concern that the situation may escalate, leading to the deaths of more innocents.

I come from South Africa where millions of African National Congress (ANC) supporters opposed to apartheid injustice were killed, imprisoned or tortured as the government pursued its unrelenting campaign against those it viewed as terrorists. Until a few years ago Canada and most of the Western nations supported the apartheid South African regime which became entrenched in NATO’s Ottawa Declaration.

I see the same pattern emerging and therefore would like to open debate on this issue presenting a perspective that has hitherto been totally ignored. I’d hate to see a repeat of what happened in South Africa. Already countries have taken positions on either side. I hope my article can force people to examine the issues more rationally and from a perspective of justice.

A. Motiar, Thornhill, Ontario

Your article submitted with this letter is on p. 45 of this issue.

Serving U.S. Best Interests

Here is my donation to AET. Thank you for serving the best interests of the United States. Please keep up this excellent work. God bless you and God bless America.

Andrew H. Shahin, Victorville, CA

Working to Right the Wrongs

Enclosed please find a letter I recently wrote to The Morning Call, the local newspaper for Allentown, Pennsylvania. The letter had originally been slightly longer but was shortened, eliminating the less than complimentary comments I had to make of The Morning Call’s editors.

Thank you very much for the excellent work you are doing. Your publication is both enraging, when I read about the continued injustices in the Middle East, and uplifting, when I read about all those who are working to right the wrongs.

Yehia Y. Mishriki, MD, FACP, Emmaus, PA

Your letter, as published, is in “Other People’s Mail,” starting on p. 55 of this issue.

Give Chomsky Space

All too often, popular ideologies serve as pillars for the status quo. You challenge “popular” perceptions which justify the unjust treatment of the Arabs that sustains Israel. Your courage and foresight are inspiring.

The discourse on international affairs is connected to domestic issues. How about inviting Noam Chomsky to write about his observations concerning the economy and the media?

Hani Bawardi, Ann Arbor, MI

For space reasons we have to limit ourselves to the Middle East and U.S. affairs directly connected to them.

A Trip to Bethlehem

The Washington Report has been my most important source of on-going information about the Middle East. I live in a small rural community and don’t watch TV, so I sometimes feel distant from what’s going on in the world.

Last February I attended the Sabeel conference in Bethlehem and was pleasantly surprised to find that (thanks to the Washington Report) I had a good basic understanding of what was discussed. Sometimes when your magazine comes I won’t read it for a few days because I don’t want to be overwhelmed with hopelessness.

The Sierra Club usually adds action notes at the end of each article (call, write, etc.). This is helpful.

Keep publishing. It’s important. I do sometimes feel that the heavy emphasis on Islam is too much. In general, I agree with you on focusing on peace and justice issues in Palestine, Iraq, etc. Also I disagree with you on so much emphasis on American Muslim issues.

Patricia Black, Crescent City, CA

More on Islam

Tell us more of what no one else will on Islam.

Masud, Aurora, IL

A Dialogue of Historical Value

Your special report for Oct./Nov., p. 33, is a change for the better on matters Iranian. Up to now, your print on Tehran has been one-sided and axe-grinding with little relation to reality.

At last, you present Barry Rosen (my former colleague in the foreign service) and Abbas Abdi of Tehran, in a dialogue of true historical value. What took you so long?

Dorothy M. Weaver (U.S.I.A., retired), Portland, OR

What’s taking them so long?

Recapture U.S. Mideast Policy

You are helping to recapture U.S. Middle East policy for American citizens and to encourage patriotic citizens to oppose powerful American Zionists and the massive political and financial penalties brought against those who oppose American Zionists’ actions.

Peter J. Kearney, M.D., Galena, IL

Thanks for your comments and also for your two-year gift subscription for the University of Dubuque library in memory of our long-time friend and colleague, the late U.S. Ambassador Marshall Wiley.

The Truth at Last!

The gift of truth was the best gift I ever received. Only wish it had been done earlier. Thanks to the Washington Report. It’s an educator into the naked truth which gives a completely different flavor or tint to the crisis in the Middle East. Just remember you have more allies than you realize and we’ll be there when and where you need us most.

For the time being we’re learning more of the realities. The Washington Report helps keep us concerned folks abreast of what is really happening. You’ve started something worthwhile. We will keep it alive. We are proud to be subscribers to your magazine. It can only get bigger and better.

S.H. and R.M., Canadian postmark

Nevertheless it makes us a little uneasy when the people who will “be there when...you need us most,” don’t sign their letters.

A Live Wire

Your magazine is excellent! A live wire!

Mary E. McNichol, Rosemont, PA

Publish More Often

I wish you would publish more frequently, even in smaller issues, to keep up with what’s current. I have received magazines that talk about things that happened two months ago. Can you publish advertisements on travel to the Middle East?

Adrian Barbee, El Paso, TX

Going Back to Clifford

The excellent article by Richard Curtiss on the late Clark Clifford reminded me that about 15 years ago I obtained from the University of Texas—LBJ Library the official minutes of the National Security Council’s emergency meeting regarding Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty. In those minutes the following comment is attributed to Clifford, “My concern is that we’re not tough enough. Handle as if Arabs or Russians had done it.”

Some five years ago as a newspaper columnist I got Clifford on the telephone and asked him to expand on his remark about the Liberty. He said, “I do not remember making the remark.” He made no denial that he was accurately quoted.

How could anyone not remember a heroic remark like that since Israel’s attack lasted more than two hours in a deliberate killing of 34 Americans and the wounding of 171 others?

As an old Franklin Roosevelt Democrat I am ashamed of the way official Washington has treated and continues to treat the crew members of the Liberty.

Maury Maverick, Jr., San Antonio, TX

We found the NSC minutes you enclosed interesting in another way, since they list all those who attended the meeting. Some of the others are still living. We’ll ask them what they remember.

Why Don’t African Americans Speak Out?

Five years ago I traveled to Israel and occupied Palestine as an American Catholic pilgrim, steeped in the pro-Israeli, anti-Arab bias of our media. The movie Exodus provided most of my (distorted) images. I have now returned three times, have written a book Jerusalem and the Holy Land: The First Ecumenical Pilgrim’s Guide, and have come to see the prevailing American viewpoint as the product of masterful propaganda and well-funded political lobbying by groups which discount the humanity of the Palestinians.

Your magazine is a great ray of light. But I long to see signs of support from the African-American leadership, such as Jesse Jackson and especially African American Muslims. If Black Democrats would become outspoken in support of the downtrodden Palestinians, perhaps it would become politically correct for other liberals to come to the aid of a people who are being oppressed with our tax money.

James R. McCormick, Traverse City, MI

How about doing a short article for our “Seeing the Light” series on the particular incident (s) or observation (s) that changed your mind?

Squatters in Squattlements

Thank you so much for your fine magazine and tireless efforts! Even though each issue breaks my heart anew.

It occurs to me that you have fallen for a bit of Zionist propaganda that I have only recently identified myself:

Calling illegal aliens in Palestine “settlers” and their constructions “settlements” conveys far too positive a mystique in our country, which still honors the westward movement of “courageous settlers” who “civilized” the land. “Settlement” conveys a sense of fitting permanence.

I believe it is not too late to begin a journalistic movement and to refer to these land-stealers by the more appropriate term: “squatters.” Their construction could be termed “squattlements,” which to my ear is more resonant with the ugly reality.

Please see what you can do about this. Americans are beginning to wake up. Let’s remove the last shreds of wool from their eyes and clear up the fuzzy thinking.

I’m enclosing a letter I wrote to Msgr. O.F. Campion of Our Sunday Visitor, a national Catholic magazine.

Lynn Ellen Dixon, Woodward, PA

We’re reprinting your letter to Msgr. Campion in “Other People’s Mail,” starting on p. 55.

Lived Under Occupation

We appreciate the information you provide—which no other newspaper ever mentions concerning the occupation by Israelis. We are Europeans who have lived under German occupation and feel deep compassion for Palestinians! Thanks for your support of oppressed people.

Anonymous, Chatham, MA

Another Victory for Israel

The Mideast accord signed by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Wye, MD, means nothing. Israel has broken every agreement it has signed.

It is not a diplomatic triumph for Bill Clinton. Just the opposite. A sad day for the United States. It will cost the U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars in financial aid to Israel to ensure its security.

The CIA will play a stronger role in Israel’s security. It will help the Palestinian Authority to subdue the Islamic militants. Clinton has abandoned the role of mediator and has become the judge and jury for deciding who has complied with the agreement. Always in the past, the U.S. has taken Israel’s side. Taking sides with the Israelis will have repercussions with the Arab nations in the region.

Jerusalem must be an open city and the capital of the Palestinian State and all Israeli settlements must be abandoned. The Palestinians must have all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. All the land must be returned that Israel took during the 1967 war, which Israel started. Arafat should declare a Palestinian state.

Until the three major problems—water rights, the settlements and Jerusalem—are settled, there will not be any peace in the Middle East. The U.S. must become a fair and honest mediator, which it hasn’t been.

Netanyahu stated that the traitor Jonathan Pollard must be released from prison. How ridiculous! Pollard was sentenced to life in prison. He must spend the rest of his life there. It has nothing to do with the talks.

Ray F. Dively, Baden, PA

We fear you’re right but hope you’re wrong about the Wye agreement.

Why the Wye Accord?

I have just [Oct. 30] heard an interview by Don Bustany on KPFK of Richard Curtiss and Amy Willentz concerning the Wye “accord” and the future of Palestine, etc. In the interview Curtiss said that the period during which it would be possible, in his judgment, to reach a two-state solution was fast ending. He then went on to say that soon perhaps, the only possible solution would be the establishment of a binational democratic secular state in all of Palestine.

Is the suggestion that a two-state solution is preferable to a binational one? If so, and I mean this to be a serious, not a rhetorical question, why? Is the point an evaluative one or just a statement that it’s unrealistic at this point after so many years of animosity, etc.? Would it be possible to run a serious discussion of this possible solution in WRMEA? What, of course, we all fear most about the two-state solution, besides the Bantustanization of “Palestine,” is that we will end up with one undemocratic repressive Jewish state [even worse, if that is possible, than the one we have now], and one undemocratic repressive Islamic state both crammed into Palestine.

If you decide it is suitable to publish this letter perhaps you could include my e-mail address so that readers who would like to discuss the matter could contact me.

In any case, I have subscribed to WRMEA for over a year now and think it is wonderful. I have learned so much from it, I cannot thank you enough.

Stephen Simon, ssimon@fullerton.edu

Mr. Curtiss’s point was that Yasser Arafat signed off on an (Oslo) agreement premised upon U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 that provides Israeli withdrawal “from territories occupied in the recent [1967] conflict” in return for acknowledgment of Israel’s “right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” Now, as Israel’s current government attempts to chisel away half of the West Bank and Gaza, it is becoming increasingly difficult for any Palestinian leader to reach a final agreement. If the May 4 deadline passes, followed by the inevitable unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state in all of the West Bank and Gaza with a shared Jerusalem or with East Jerusalem as its capital, and Binyamin Netanyahu’s then attempts to seize by force what he could not achieve by negotiation, presumably all bets are off. As the Arab and Muslim states get stronger, it is extremely unlikely that any future legitimate Palestinian leader can be as forthcoming as Arafat has been, and remain the leader of the Palestinians.

Starting from scratch, therefore, a democratic, secular state granting equal rights to all of its resident citizens regardless of religion or ethnicity presumably would be the only possible solution satisfactory to a majority of the Jews, Muslims and Christians of the Holy Land. In the long run it’s probably the only possible solution for any modern state in the world of the future.

A Geographical Hodgepodge

I would like to suggest that you devote one page of an issue soon to a map of the West Bank showing the present division of territory between the Palestinians and Israel, as well as what it will be after the much debated additional 13 percent has been ceded. I saw a small map recently purporting to show the above and I was genuinely shocked. Even after the 13 percent has been ceded, the Palestinian Authority will control only 40 percent of the West Bank, and the word control must not be taken literally, because even then security control in the greater portion of the Palestinian districts will remain in Israeli hands. The prominent publication of such a map will reveal, perhaps better than anything else, what a crazy patchwork has been created with this landlocked series of enclaves separated from one another by Israeli roads, security forces and settlements. If this is the gist of what has been accomplished from the Oslo accords, it strains the imagination to see how any peace or stability can ever ensue from such a geographical hodgepodge.

Contiguity of land is the essence of a recognizable state. The blueprint we see of the West Bank will not provide such a prerequisite for the Palestinians.

As an American, I am sorry, almost ashamed, that our country has, in its role as broker and facilitator between the two sides, become a party, godparent if you will, to such an outcome.

Robert L. Dwelley, Brunswick, ME

More Maps Needed

Please print more maps and better maps.

Ali Douraghy, San Jose, CA

Concentrate on Human Rights

I would like you to concentrate more on promoting democracy and human rights in the Middle East and on criticizing dictatorships. Also I would like you to emphasize the crimes of the regime in Iraq against the people of Iraq and its neighbors.

Hayder Kuba, Laguna Hills, CA

The U.S. Veto

I use the Washington Report for information and as a spur to writing Congress and the president and my local newspapers.

A suggestion: why don’t you have a long article on the use of the U.S. veto and threat of a veto in the U.N. to frustrate action against Israel’s violations of international law and human rights.

Anonymous

The Need to Mail Those Cards

I look forward to the arrival of your magazine, and today’s issue brought this postcard addressed to the secretary of state. I think you need to get more of these printed without the address and nothing after “Dear.” We need to mail these cards to prominent Americans to prick their consciences. It would be more appropriate to have the picture of a crying child standing on the debris of his demolished home which appeared as a cover on one of your previous issues. I have to leave for a month to Pakistan, to organize a science and technology conference in Islamabad. I would not mind buying at least 30 such cards to send them to various senators and congressmen. I would not mind sending these as Eid cards to wake up our “doped and insensitive” brethren. Keep up the good work, and may Allah bless you for fighting injustice. Amen!

Bashir A. Syed (former Fulbright Scholar), Houston, TX

More of the cards you saw may be obtained from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee at 4201 Conecticutt Ave. NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20008, (202) 244-2990..

A Good Insertion

Attached is a letter that ran in the San Francisco Examiner on Nov. 10, 1998. Perhaps it would be a good insert in “Other People’s Mail.”

Rona Saadeh, San Francisco, CA

Thanks. It’s submissions like yours from readers that fill our “Other People’s Mail” column as well as our 16-page Other Voices supplement that subscribers can obtain for an extra $15 per year.

Uncovering the Lies and Liars

It is difficult to find information on Middle East affairs that doesn’t give the Israeli point of view or the uninformed Western viewpoint. I’m looking for facts and I’m looking to uncover the lies and liars. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs is the best overall source of information I have found.

Michael Phillips, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

The Drummer

Enclosed please find the current issue of The Drummer, the Iowa State University progressive community’s alternative to mainstream print journalism. I’ve sent it along to you because it contains an article reprinted from the October/November WRMEA, Rachelle Marshall’s “U.S.-Israel Alliance Comes at High Cost to Americans.” The article begins on page 4 and jumps to page 7 of The Drummer. And you will notice at the bottom of the page 4 sidebar accompanying Ms. Marshall’s piece, we mentioned the AET Book Club and published the Book Club’s 800 number.

Thank you for all the information you and your colleagues at WRMEA provide, and thank you for setting the standard for journalism about and from the Middle East.

Michael Gillespie, Managing Editor, The Drummer, Iowa State University, Memorial Union, Ames, Iowa, 50011.

Not So Much on Palestine

I look forward to every issue of the Washington Report and I read them from front to back. Always there is information contained within those many pages which I find useful, as an independent scholar of the Middle East and North Africa.

However, I do wish you would give more attention to events occurring in regions of the MENA that aren’t always making the headlines in the mainstream media. For instance, the Palestinian/Israeli situation isn’t the only thing going on in that part of the world. Give us more information on the rest of the region and less on the Israelis and Palestinians, who seem to be intent upon ruining their future and that of their neighbors. Tell us more about conditions in Iraq, Lebanese-Syrian relations, the Maghreb and Islamic movements.

Garry Chappell, Eddyville, KY

Useful and Informative

Yours is the most useful and informative periodical on Middle East affairs.

James V. Rogers, Oldsmar, FL

List Charities

List American tax-exempt charities with benefits to Arab American or other Arabic charities.

Naim T. Nazha, Linwood, NJ

More People Should Read WRMEA

Yours is an excellent publication. It certainly offers material difficult, if not impossible, to find elsewhere. I have only two problems with it:

1. The people who need to read it probably will not (including most of Congress).

2. I get terribly depressed reading it.

Bernice Youtz, Olympia, WA

We’ll give you a little encouragement. One legislative assistant has described for us how she highlights passages in each issue she thinks her boss (one of the top senators) should read—once including some very specific criticism of him personally. We know a majority of members agree with us, since some tell us so. Now it’s up to their constituents to free them to act on their consciences on Middle East matters.

Librarian’s Personal Book-Burning Crusade

My thanks to circulation director Samia El-Mahdi for her letter regarding my gift subscription to WRMEA to the Independence Twp. Public Library in Clarkston, MI. Since the magazine was still not in evidence in October, I contacted librarian Patience Beer. She admitted throwing them out. She thought they were “just from some Arab group.” I reminded her that we had discussed this gift subscription last spring and that a letter which included my name accompanied the original copies and the replacements. She said, “oh, I guess I didn’t read it.”

She assured me future copies would be in the library. Don’t you wonder if librarians would throw out gift subscriptions to periodicals that were “just from some Jewish group”? Sadly, despite the American Library Association (ALA) Intellectual Freedom Committee’s Right to Read, many libraries and ALA itself selectively censor material having to do with peace and justice issues in the Middle East.

I hope other contributors of library gift subscriptions will keep on top of situations such as this. If satisfaction is not received from the librarian, contact the library director and the library board or commission.

Irene Rauth (Retired Librarian), Clarkston, MI

Another Case of Censorship?

On Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998, I had the opportunity to attend “Conflict and Peace in the Middle East: A Symposium” held at Southern Illinois University. I was quite pleased to know that the September 1998 issue of the Washington Report was handed to participants with the registration package. I am familiar with your publication as my husband subscribes and I have made a subscription donation. However, when my husband joined me later in the morning, he did not receive the Washington Report with his registration package. After lunch it was brought to my attention that someone from the administration of the university had asked that the Washington Report not be distributed. Is this not censorship? I can imagine that if this happened to a pro-Israeli publication, it would be considered anti-Semitic.

Overall, I enjoyed the conference very much; and, it was my first exposure to a political and educational activity of this nature. And, the timing was great with the Mideast agreement in Washington. The symposium seemed to be well-organized, politically balanced, and offered free registration (which included meals) to students. I was surprised at the number and the educational backgrounds of participants. This symposium was video-taped, although I do not know if and how the proceedings will be available. I look forward to attending other similar activities. Will your publication be able to list future symposiums on the subject?

Charla J. Lautar, Ph.D., Carbondale, IL

Managing editor Janet McMahon lists advance notices of all such activities that reach us in time for inclusion in our “Bulletin Board” section, usually toward the back of the magazine. Many are also listed in Betsy Barlow’s “Education” column. Our thanks to whoever provided copies of the Washington Report for inclusion in the registration package. And shame on whoever gave in to pressure to remove it. If people who know the truth don’t stand up for their convictions, how will anyone else at Southern Illinois University or anywhere else learn the truth about why the U.S. is in so much trouble in the Middle East?

You’re Our Dictionary

The dictionary gives us the meaning and definition of a word. The Washington Report, so to speak, is the dictionary for us to better understand and interpret our government’s view toward the people in the Middle East. I have spent nearly 20 years studying and researching the Near East, from Neolithic times to the present. There are key segments and areas that the Washington Report as well as other periodicals and writers have consciously or unconsciously omitted or ignored. Yet they involve facts that have a direct bearing on today’s dilemmas.

John E. Najar, Cedar Rapids, MI

Examples, please.

The World’s Oil Supplies

According to The Economist (July 18), the Middle East now has 65 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. At current production rates, countries in the Middle East are using their reserves at a much slower rate than the rest of the world. In the future the Middle East’s hold on global oil supplies will very likely increase.

Peter Kenney, Birmingham, AL

And that’s when the U.S. will need the friends we’re needlessly disappointing now, purely for domestic political reasons.

Cal Thomas is Wrong!

If you have the time, I need your help. Recently I found a Cal Thomas commentary in my local newspaper, a Los Angeles Times subsidiary. In it he accused Netanyahu of, essentially, being foolish to be working with an “admitted liar” in President Clinton and stated that “Arafat was playing the Hitler role.” There was more than that and the bottom line was I felt he was pretty racist and mean-spirited. So I wrote him a long letter and took him to task. I particularly took him to task because he and I are both Christians, though obviously we stand in different parts of the room.

In my letter I reminded him of a talk he gave several years ago in which he told how he’d befriended Senator Ted Kennedy in what sounded like a loving, Christ-like manner and I commended him for it. Particularly since he took the conservative Christian, probably mostly Republican, audience by surprise. He also probably taught us a lesson.

Well, he wrote back to me. He stated that he was misquoted, and didn’t make racist remarks (I’m sending him a copy of his article from my paper).

But here’s the point of my writing to you. In his letter to me he said, “As for Ted Kennedy, he’s not trying to take over any territory. Arafat and his supporters want all the land and they want all the Jews out. That’s what they say in their speeches. That’s what they say in their press and literature. Westerners transpose our morality on those who don’t share it.”

Well, I’ve read a lot of Palestinian stuff and wouldn’t agree with his statement. In fact, in the minutes of the Declaration of Principles there is a Sept. 9, 1993 letter from Arafat to Rabin which states, “The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security. The PLO considers that the signing of the [DOP] constitutes an historic event, inaugurating a new epoch of peaceful coexistence, free from violence and all other acts which endanger peace and stability.”

I need your help to find more evidence that Mr. Thomas is wrong. Can you help me find it or share it with me?

David F. Neunuebel, Santa Barbara, CA

We think the words and actions of both the Palestinian Authority and of Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud government make it clear who’s willing to share Jerusalem and the Holy Land and who isn’t. Every issue of our magazine provides more such evidence. The actions of Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon in trying to steal as much land as possible “before it’s too late,” in Sharon’s words, are so blatant that even a cursory reading of any major U.S. daily newspaper provides the evidence.

On his recent visit to Washington, Yasser Arafat told audiences the Palestinian state will be prepared to share all of Jerusalem with Israel. But most Israeli leaders, Likud and Labor alike, say repeatedly that Jerusalem must be the “sole, undivided capital of Israel” which sounds to us like “Palestinians need not apply.”

Since you are working hard at being a good Christian, you obviously believe in redemption. But we’re not clear how aggressive ignorance about the Middle East such as that promulgated by Cal Thomas can be redeemed except by shutting up and listening, something of which he’s demonstrably incapable.

He got his start as press spokesman for Jerry Falwell, and it’s been all downhill from there, inconceivable as that may sound. X

Knowing the Truth

We think that the Washington Report is a great magazine and very informative. We hope that more Americans subscribe to it and read it, so they will know the truth about what is really happening in the Middle East and not what they see in the so-called media.

Muhaideen Batah and Anne Bordonaro, Brooklyn, NY

Updating and Upsetting Me

I look forward to each issue so that I can get updated on what’s happening in Lebanon/Syria and the United States. The American press is afraid to print what’s happening in order not to alienate the Israeli lobby here in the states. Sometimes I literally cry when I read about the Israeli inhumanity toward the Palestinian people. They have short memories of what happened to them, it seems.

James Peters, Brookline, MA

Another Aggressive Campaign Against Iraq

Suddenly the White House mounts another aggressive campaign against Iraq, and one wonders if this new flurry of threats and hostile publicity isn’t somehow part of a package arrangement with Israel to encourage it to meet its recent treaty obligations with the Palestinians. Netanyahu has already tried to link Israel’s acceptance of these treaty obligations with Pollard’s release from prison for spying (top-secret documents that totalled six feet by six feet by eight feet, few of which have been returned to the U.S. and some of which Israel might have shared with Soviet intelligence). Why not Iraq as well? Thwarted by the U.S. intelligence community’s absolute refusal to cooperate in granting Pollard’s release, President Clinton unfortunately possesses the flexibility to offer up Iraq instead.

What makes this explanation seem possible despite the lack of any smoking guns at this point is that Iraq and a PLO settlement have been linked before. Israel already has a long history of refusing to negotiate with the PLO with the excuse that this would be unacceptable so long as there was any military threat from hostile neighboring states such as Syria, Iran, and especially Iraq.

Edward Jayne, Kalamazoo, MI

“Do As We Demand!” (or) Bombing on “Hold” For How Long?

The world’s two hopped-up and primed war lords, to whom “diplomacy” means “Do as we ‘demand’ or we’ll pulverize your country and slaughter your people,” have “drawn down,” but for how long? Their eagerness to use their awesome weapons of mass destruction to attack and destroy Iraq and Iraqi Arabs is reminiscent of one of the Israeli masterminds of the 1982 invasion and destruction of Lebanon and guardian of the massacres in Sabra and Shatilla who reportedly mused that it would be a shame to have their powerful military machine and not use it.

Joyce Bacon, Corona, CA

A Lack of Research

I cannot understand why Iraq gets itself in a bind without researching the world political environment.

Iraq picked a worst-case scenario where the country was on the verge of getting destroyed by a Zionist-controlled Mafia that Clinton left in charge of the U.S. government. They were and still are gunning for Iraq in collaboration with and for the pleasure of Israel. Iraq now knows the reality of the political atmosphere in the Arab world and internationally: Some Gulf states allegedly were ready to give the American bombers the green light to use their air and ground facilities for staging murderous attacks on Iraq and its people. Russia, whose people need food for the winter, showed little interest in opposing a military strike, while both France and China proved to be benign.

Meanwhile Israel, which violates international law on a daily basis, is left with its huge nuclear arsenal that can destroy most of the Arab cities, towns and hamlets while the Arab leaders show complete indifference.

David Zein, Tarpon Springs, FL

In fact, with the exception of Kuwait, its our understanding that no other Arab states of the Gulf were willing to make their bases available for military status against Iraq.

No Credit for the President?

I have just completed reading the excellent articles on Tunisia in the Oct./Nov. issue of the Washington Report. Delinda Hanley’s “Faces of Tunisian Women” and her other two articles were well done. So is the text of the speech delivered at the Conference on Women: Islam and Family Planning in Niamey, Niger by the highly respected Dr. Wassila Ben Hamda.

However, there was no mention of President Habib Bourgiba’s highly admired legislation on women’s issues. During my three-year residency in Tunis, I often heard Tunisian women crediting al-Habib for their advanced status.

Yusif Farsakh, Arlington, VA

One Country at a Time

I suggest you take one country at a time and discuss political, economic and social conditions. On a new subject, why do the Middle Eastern countries shun multi-party democracy and still tolerate dictatorship? It’s the single greatest cause for their bad reputations in the world.

Yussouf Mir, Albany, NY

Regarding your first suggestion, see the section on Oman in this issue with Cyprus scheduled for the next one. Regarding your question, democracy takes root very slowly and with lots of setbacks, as we saw in the U.S. in the previous century, in Latin America in past generations, and are seeing now in East Asia, where the economic downturn reveals democratic forms that have little content. Demoracy is not embedded in most Middle Eastern traditions, but some Arab countries are taking steps in this direction. Most promising, we think, are experiments with free municipal elections, and free elections for consultative councils, but when, if ever, these will evolve into full-fledged parliaments with real legislative powers is anyone’s guess. Where they did, in Lebanon, the country’s institutions broke down in the face of rampant tribalism and sectarianism, so Lebanon is starting all over again.

U.S.-Iranian Ties

Although my interest in Middle East affairs began with the Palestinian problem, in recent years I have shifted to an interest in U.S.-Iranian ties, especially security interests and the petroleum policy of the U.S. regarding the Caspian basin. Equally worrisome is the continued proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. That includes my worry as to how the U.S. policymakers deal with it.

Anonymous

Sleepless Nights

Please find enclosed an additional check to help in “our great effort.”

Every time I receive the Washington Report I spend a sleepless night! Best wishes.

Richard H. Curtiss, Los Angeles, CA

In case readers are confused to see “our” name in two places on the Angels’ Choir list, donor and subscriber Richard Halden Curtiss of Los Angeles is no relation (except maybe two or three centuries back in Connecticut) to donor and editor Richard Holden Curtiss, now of the Washington, DC area though he, too, once lived in Los Angeles. What links them is first-hand exposure to the Middle East and the search for peace with justice there.