February 1993, Page 5

Letters to (and from) the Editors

From The First Daughter

Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me and for the magazines. I am very interested in world affairs and current events. You all are very thoughtful to remember me. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write back to you—things have been very hectic around here! Thank you again for writing, and I hope you have a great holiday!

Chelsea Clinton, Little Rock, AR

Thanks for your letter and thanks to the subscriber who asked us to send Washington Report copies to you. We have sent a gift subscription from another reader for the library of the Sidwell Friends School, which you have decided to attend.

Help for Bosnia

Thank you for your generous contribution to support the work of our Mission to the United Nations. It is unfortunate that we have to depend on these donations to keep our work going, but as I am certain you can appreciate, our Nation's resources have been depleted and even plundered.

The work that we do here, we hope, can be as valuable to the survival of our people as any military weapon or humanitarian relief.

We will be grateful for any help that you can continue to offer, as the Mission's expenses are substantial. We are one of the very few diplomatic offices for our Republic, and are often asked to deal with issues which the U.N. Missions normally do not have to consider.

Muhamed Sacirbey, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, P.O. Box 1896, New York, NY 10163

An Australian Resource

I appreciate that the Washington Report is aimed primarily at the American public but let me say as an Australian citizen that it is my major source of meaningful, accurate and up-to-date information on the Middle East, Israel in particular. More please on the current major conflict in Israel, that between secular Israel and Judaism.

Mr. P.T. Brailey, Adelaide, Australia

Clinton: Too Smart to Control

I agree with you that it appeared as if the media turned its guns on George Bush. But, while I always welcome effective efforts to get Israel out of the U.S. fiscal and moral treasury, I worked hard for the Clinton candidacy because I simply could not stomach Bush's butchery, first in Panama and then Iraq!

As a 10-year-old, my Japanese wife was bombed in Tokyo—and I can see that the scars are still there almost 50 years later! The pain of war does not end when the shooting stops—in Japan, Lebanon, Panama, Libya or Iraq! I am proud that I was among the 'anti-war' marchers in early 1991!

I have hope that Bill Clinton is too intelligent to remain "under control"—at least intellectually, although effectuating any actual change in policy may be very difficult for him! As for Al Gore, even he may grow up! Do they have subscriptions to the Washington Report?

Roger D. Leonard, Bowie, MD

Yes, thanks to opinion molder subscriptions donated by our readers who beat you to them. We hope you 're right that President Clinton is too intelligent to remain ''under control. " We know—and so, we feel certain, does he—that continuing the Bush policy of linking U.S. aid to Israel to Israeli performance at the peace table is the only way to bring about peace in the Middle East. But if Clinton does, the mainstream media will turn its guns on him, just as it did on Bush, with attacks not on a get-tough-with-Israel policy, which virtually every American would support, but on anything unrelated to the Middle East on which he looks vulnerable. (This was the case with the media attacks on Bush for alleged inattention to a recession from which the U.S. was, in fact, recovering even before the election campaign began, as all of the "economic indicators " now so clearly demonstrate.) So President Clinton may feel he must choose between representing America's best interests for four years or representing the special interests for eight. Our guess is that he'll straddle, doing "anything to be re-elected " for four years in hopes of getting a chance to be a great president in his second term. In pacts with the Devil (read Israel lobby), however, the Devil generally wins.

Reply to Dr. Hitti

In his letter in the November issue, Professor Youssef Hitti accuses me of suggesting that Israel is the only source of terror and instability in south Lebanon, and argues that Syria is at least equally to blame. He asserts that "Israel has declared repeatedly that it does not have any territorial ambitions over the south of Lebanon, and that its presence there is directly related to the protection of its northern border."

In the good old days, whenever I criticized U.S. intervention abroad, say in Vietnam or Nicaragua, the stock response from super patriots was, "what about Soviet crimes? Why don't you criticize Castro?" So I'll assert at the outset that I agree with Professor Hitti that Israel is by no means the only source of terror in the Middle East. Several Arab regimes are brutally repressive, not only exploiting their own citizens but those of poorer neighbors. They deserve exposure and condemnation. But the U. S. does not subsidize these regimes with billions of dollars a year, as it does Israel. Consequently it does not have the same degree of leverage over them and there is not much an American citizen can do to change them other than to argue, as I have done publicly, that we should stop providing them with arms or any other kind of assistance.

In the article that Professor Hitti takes issue with, I discussed Israel's actions in south Lebanon and not Syria's, as he would have liked. One reason is that the article was specifically focused on Israel's behavior in southern Lebanon, not on the political situation in that country. Nevertheless, it is also true that despite the repressive nature of its government, Syria has not invaded Lebanon three times in the last 20 years or slaughtered tens of thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians in the process. Syria is not currently conducting regular bombing raids that kill hundreds of Lebanese a year, including children. Syria is not keeping hundreds of Lebanese men penned like animals, dying slow deaths, in order to barter for the return of a captured Israeli pilot. Syria was, indeed, invited into Lebanon in the mid-1970s by Christian factions in order to put down Palestinian and Muslim forces that were on the verge of winning the civil war.

The recent elections, which were supported by Syria, were the first to be held for a parliament in which both Christians and Muslims were to have equal representation. For this reason, many Christian factions (though certainly not all Christians) chose to boycott them. Israel refused to permit Lebanese living in the occupied zone to travel north to vote.

As for Professor Hitti's statement that Israel's occupation of Lebanon was simply an act of self-defense, the Palestinians had scrupulously observed a cease-fire across the border for 11 months before Israel violated it with a massive bombing and full-scale invasion in June l9X2. The motive behind Israel's invasion was not self-defense but to destroy the PLO and with it the voice of the Palestinians under occupation. Earlier, the sporadic attacks by Palestinians across the border were conducted by refugees who had been driven from their homes in the ethnic cleansing that Israel carried out in 1947 and 1948. Israel has consistently refused to consider negotiating the return of these desperate people.

Finally, Professor Hitti makes the vague claim that since Hezbollah leaders are ideologically motivated, "their attacks will continue even if Israel withdraws from Lebanese territory." But evidence points to the contrary. Hostility to Israel from Shi'i in southern Lebanon did not manifest itself until well after Israel's 1982 invasion, when Israel's occupation policies proved cruel and humiliating. Those policies are today no less repressive and continue to fuel the resentments of the local Lebanese. If Israel were to offer complete withdrawal of its troops and surrogate forces in return for a demilitarized zone in southern Lebanon, an increase in U.N. peacekeeping forces, or other assurances of security, I suspect those few zealots who wished to continue the bloodshed would soon find themselves with no support.

Rachelle Marshall, Stanford, CA

A Clean Bill of Health

I was born, reared and educated (and married) in Cairo, Egypt. In 1958 I came to the U.S. for postgraduate medical training, so I have first-hand knowledge and experience from the Middle East. Yours is the best-written, most accurate, and (to me) fair-minded American periodical I have seen so far, and also the best-informed. Your issues are almost encyclopedic in their scope. Please keep up the good work.

Dr. David Mikhail, Walloon Lake, MI

Mainstream Media Silence

What angers me is the awareness that the information in your magazine is not available to the masses. The silence of the mainstream media on the plight of the oppressed Palestinians is deafening. The American people have been so brainwashed there is rigid resistance to any fair discussion. The attitude is "Don't present me with the facts because my mind is made up." Until there is a public forum that addresses this issue, I do not see any hope for truth to prevail. As Mirbeau said, "O good voter, unspeakable imbecile, poor dupe. "

Mary T. Shuman, Coral Gables, FL

Exercising Freedom of Speech

Isn't it tragic that our representatives and the public are afraid to denounce the Israelis' subjugation of the Palestinian people for fear of incurring the wrath of the all-powerful Israeli lobby, AIPAC, and being fabled anti-Semitic. It seems to me that this is a diminution of our rights as a people to freedom of speech. On the other hand, there are millions of citizens like me who are beginning to speak out.

Jack A. Veltman, Cedar Glen, CA

While driving to work on the day your letter arrived, we heard the end of a radio discussion of Israeli deportations of Palestinian Muslims. When the discussion was thrown open to callers, five in a row excoriated that local public radio station because the two members of its ''balanced " panel, both retired diplomats, allegedly minimized the illegality of the Israeli action, depicted Israel as something resembling a Western democracy, and ignored the racism or bigotry that denies human rights to the voiceless Palestinians under occupation. Particularly eloquent was one caller who described himself as a Jewish peace activist who is ' fed up" with being taxed to support the oppression of Palestinians by an Israeli government that is swindling (a milder version of the word he used) the United States.

Subsequently, on the same station and on the same subject, we heard another caller challenge a former Reagan White House official for denying the U.S. applies a ''double standard '' to Iraqi and Israeli violations of international law. 7he former official had been getting a free ride from other callers, but his tortured answers to one caller's informed questions quickly exposed his bias to other listeners.

Informed American public opinion has changed. Now it's time for those who know to call the media bluff as these listeners did, and call in to warn other listeners when "balanced discussions" to which they are listening actually are one-sided. A viewer or reader need ask only that both or all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian problem be presented. In our opinion, this very seldom happens on PBS, CBS, CNN or in The Washington Post, The New York Times or Los Angeles Times. It is happening sometimes, but too seldom, in The Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and on ABC and NBC. Readers can best judge the situation in their own cities and states and we'll be happy to hear from them.

Message From Morocco

I consider the Washington Report to be one of the most objective magazines on the Middle East, unlike the rest of the American media. It's a hopeful sign. At least there are some Americans who care about their country and about principles and values for which their forefathers fought—justice, freedom, and self-determination. It's about time the Americans liberate themselves from the Zionist yoke! But why don't you write about the people and children who are dying and starving because of the U.N. embargo, imposed by ax-President Bush!

Loukili Hassani Fauzia, Tangier, Morocco

A Source for Saudi Arabia

The Washington Report is the best source of information on Zionist activities around the world, and how to counter them. However, sometimes you make me angry by publishing articles by secularists on Islamic issues without providing an Islamic reply.

Yazeed Al-Dukhayyil, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

A Beacon of Light

When our family was introduced to your publication in December 1990, it was like a beacon of light in a dark storm. The information contained in each issue is so valuable that we cannot choose any monthly news item to be more important than another. God bless the Washington Report and all its contributors.

Sandra Semerdjian, Grand Blanc, MI

You Are Bashing Iran

As an avid reader of your publication, I would like to nominate Michael Collins Dunn "Iran Basher of the Year." It has become almost impossible to distinguish the contents of his columns from those appearing in some of the most right-wing publications in the United States. The only objective way one can judge the magnitude of the Iranian military buildup is to compare Iran's weapons acquisitions with those of its neighbors and potential adversaries. One needs only to take a cursory look at the myriad of U.S. military agreements with and weapons sales to the Gulf Arabs, Egypt, Israel and other regional countries to understand the depth of Iran's anxiety. Let us not forget that Iraq's invasion of Iran and the subsequent deadly war between the two countries was made possible partly because of the failure of deterrence. No Iranian government, be it the current regime or another type of government, can easily forget the devastation of the Iran-Iraq war and Iran's military weakness that caused Saddam Hussain's invasion and his subsequent war against the Iranian nation.

Also, let us not forget that what Dr. Dunn calls "Iranian attacks on neutral shipping in the Gulf in 1987 and 1988" were indeed precipitated by Iraq's incessant attacks on Iran-bound ships. Those "neutral ships" were in fact in the service of those countries that had sided actively with Iraq. Under international law, ships of nations that are active partners of one of the belligerents are not neutral. During World War II, both the United States and other Western countries routinely attacked ships of nations that were aiding the Axis powers. The Gulf Arabs had, for their own reasons, decided to aid and abet the Iraqi war efforts against Iran in the 1980s. Therefore, they should not have expected to remain totally immune from the spillover effects of the Iran-Iraq war.

One can only hope that in the future a modicum of balance is found in your coverage of Iranian affairs. The Iranian government is certainly not without faults and should be criticized for its misbehavior. However, to whip up anti-Iranian frenzy incessantly serves neither the Iranian nation nor the Arabs in the long run.

Prof. Nader Entessar, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL

Avid Washington Report readers are seldom wrong. However, we hope you'll repeat the part about not whipping up a nationalist frenzy in a letter to Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

I Cannot be Placid

By being "informed," I cannot be placid. Therefore, I become "angry," "fired up," "compassionate," "hopeful," "active" and, hopefully, "effective." I have enormous respect for your passionate defense of our country in relation to those who wish to harm it—both within and without.

Juliet R. Ristom, Los Angeles, CA

You Relieve My Distress

The Washington Report is just about the only U.S. publication that alleviates my distress and frustration over the stifling of rational and fair discussion about the Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing and U.S. abetting of that policy.

Jane Adas, Highland Park, NJ

A Canadian in the Choir

I write belatedly to thank you for the books you sent to me as an appreciation for my membership in the Choir of Angels. It is the only time in my life I have ever been addressed as an "angel." Thank you!

The news from south of our border is not encouraging for prospects of peace in the Middle East. As a long-time follower of events in that area I am, however, encouraged to read the letters to the editors and "Other People's Mail" in the Washington Report. They demonstrate that there is a growing awareness among the citizens of the USA of the way in which the pro-Israel lobby has dominated U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Unfortunately, this domination has been neither in the national interest of the USA nor, ultimately, of Israel.

I have watched for over two decades and with growing dismay the U.S. become a greater part of the problem when it could have been the catalyst for a just solution. With the Clinton/Gore administration you will need to redouble your admirable efforts to inform the citizens of your nation. May God grant you the strength and good health to continue. I enclose a small contribution to keep your colors flying. Good luck and my best wishes for peace and success in 1993.

Joan McConnell, Ganges, B.C., Canada

The books went to you as a pre-1992 angel. We'll publish the 1992 list in the March issue and send everyone on it another expression of our appreciation.

More About Jordan, Please

The Middle East is my passion—Palestine and Jordan perhaps my obsession. My reading—three daily newspapers, journals, magazines, and books—is all concentrated on one subject—the world-wide community of Islam. CNN is on constantly in my home. Therefore I am informed, fired up, angry, and filled with compassion.

With your reports on personalities I sometimes find myself gratefully hopeful. The Washington Report is the only publication I've run across that allows me access to such things as organizations, and I appreciate the Middle East Marketplace (where I wish more people would advertise merchandise). These allow me to become more active and effective.

Basically, it's the humanizing quality of your articles that I value so highly. Yours is the one publication that makes the people involved real and brings the complicated situations into lifelike dimensions.

I disagree with you on your implied position on King Hussein. I am aware of bad feelings toward him among Palestinians and am aware of the reasons. However, Jordan as a state is in a position of prime importance in the area and I feel, therefore, that more information about it should be printed.

Nola McKinstry, St. Petersburg, FL

We have nothing against King Hussein and have received letters of congratulation from his brother, Crown Prince Hassan, for our Middle East coverage.

I'm Not Stupid

I live in Miami and your Washington Report tells me what my congressman would never have the guts or honesty even to talk about. Without you I would only hear what the Israeli lobby wants me to hear and thinks I am stupid enough to believe. Bless you.

Mark Benson, Miami Lakes, FL

Political Cartoons Help

Your political cartoons brighten up what is often grim subject matter. The most inspirational sections are "Other People's Mail" and "Other Voices" (especially your selections from smaller papers), because they show what other folks are doing to educate the public. I often mail off copies of Brother Patrick White's or Prof. Israel Shahak's articles to add moral authority to my opinions. Your articles by Islamic authors are informative, but seldom useful to persuade a Southerner.

John Hanson, Greenville, SC

The Vatican and Israel

Enclosed please find a copy of a letter we have written to Cardinal Jean-Louis Tourain of the Vatican Secretariat of State expressing our views on the negotiations planned between the Holy See and the State of Israel. We wrote at the request of our friend Fr. Peter Madros, Pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Beit Sahour, a small Christian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Along with many Palestinian clergy and laity, Fr. Peter is deeply distressed over the possibility that the Vatican will grant diplomatic recognition to the State of Israel without linking such recognition to a just political settlement for the Palestinian people as well as guarantees from the Israelis to honor the sanctity of the Christian Holy Places.

We are asking all of our friends to write letters to the Vatican expressing concern for our sisters and brothers in Palestine/ Israel. If we do not respond to the cries of these descendants of the apostles and first believers, the Christian presence in the Holy Land may very well be reduced to museums and tourists. This simply must not happen.

If your readers take a few minutes to write a letter of support for Palestinian rights to Cardinal Tourain, they may find the points we raised in our letter helpful. Yours for a just peace in the Holy Land.

Larry and Mary Hansen, Aloha, OR

An updated version of your letter to the Vatican's Secretariat of State is in this issue's "Other People's Mail " on page 44.

AET Quest

I eagerly await each issue of the Washington Report for the fresh ammunition it provides for the struggle of our group of activists against the "Israel First" attitudes pervading our society. The Report is our primary information source and offers a "reality check" all but totally lacking in the general media. "Myths and Facts," "Other Voices," and "Letters to the Editor" all regularly provide a strong foundation for our efforts and Dr. Israel Shahak's "Translations from the Hebrew Press" open a uniquely valuable channel into the minds of the Israeli public and its leaders. The dauntless spirit and the candor and humor with which the "Publishers' Page" treats the often precarious financial situation of the AET is a tonic which restores our occasionally flagging morale.

George E. Luecker, Albuquerque, NM

A Resource for the Demoralized

Your publication has become a very valuable resource in my search for truth and to provide "the other side of the coin." How refreshing and motivating is your information? I share your magazine with at least 10 friends each month. Many articles have been passed on in an ever-growing circle of new patriots who are now seeing the dark forces destroying the true American spirit. Your publication has inspired me to make contacts with Arab friends, and give them opportunities to speak at my church and other outlets of social life.

I am working for a second degree in Political Science early next year, when I will be 47. I have shared your refreshing articles with scores of my fellow evening students over the past few years, many of whom have changed their views of our Zionist "friends." No more "one-waystreet" support for Israel, which I now see as a "hideout" for Zionists, not a "homeland" for Jews.

Many of your articles were photocopied and distributed to business groups, graduate students, civic and social clubs, and mailed to family members around the country. I receive calls each week from classmates and friends wanting to know more about the AET.

Yes, your publication is the beautiful "voice in the wilderness," warning us our country is on the downswing, morally, spiritually and economically. You provide truth, encouragement, and energy to concerned citizens around the nation.

A sincere and fervent supporter.

Jim McGraw, Atlanta, GA

We Like Your Authors

In the Washington Report for November 1992, we particularly appreciated the articles by Gene Bird ("How Israel Got the Loan Guarantees Opposed by 80 Percent of Americans") and by Dr. Israel Shahak ("Memory of 1967 'Ethnic Cleansing' Fuels Ideology of Golan Settlers").

For the benefit of other readers of the Washington Report, we relate that current circumstances, involving fiscal distress for the federal government and for many states, are particularly conducive to actions utilizing your information in concert with facts from other sources. If pro-Zionist criticism develops, our rebuttal can profitably incorporate facts from the cited articles in the Washington Report. We must also express appreciation for the previous commentary of Parker Payson about the possible costs of "guaranteed loans" for Israel (Washington Report, Nov. '91).

Floyd R. Nelson, George L. Fischer, William L. Knaus, St. Paul, MN

The History of the Middle East

The Washington Report has made it possible for me to develop an acute awareness of the history and ongoing conditions in the Middle East. Fortified with information, I can appeal to the congressional representatives from Nevada to make more intelligent decisions for the protection of the American people. The magazine has also helped me have a broader look at the daily suffering of too many people on this planet, and to look for leaders who help resolve some of the human misery.

Electra Larsen, Reno, NV

Democracy and Minority Rights

A serene mausoleum, built around the middle of the 17th century in memory of a beautiful queen, was a Mogul emperor's gift to India. Prof. M.M. Ali's photo of this "crystal tear," adorning his article on the plight of India (Dec. '92/Jan. '93) reflects his anguish at the recent willful destruction of the Babri Mosque and the bloody carnage that has followed. As a fellow Muslim from India, I share his concerns about the present state of our native land, but disagree on the causes and cures of this social pathology.

First we are made to accept as axiomatic the desirability in the so-called Third World of parliamentary democracy and election of rulers by a numerical majority, even though in our case these institutions are alien, with no historical and cultural roots.

Second, we also are told that centralized leadership "provides the energy" to establish inter-religious and ethnic peace and economic prosperity. But in India, weak central governments have been the guarantee against oppression, permitting opportunities for local cultures to flourish.

In pluralistic and polyglot societies such as India, the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and many other places with significant ethnic and religious minorities, dictatorship and tyranny need not be the only alternative to centralized parliamentary democracy. Political institutions could be crafted that give far greater autonomy and empowerment to significant minority segments of society, each of which claims its own ethnic, linguistic or religious heritage.

In India the Muslim minority is very large in absolute numbers, but it comprises less than 10 percent of the total population. However, Muslims in India are not evenly dispersed and there are significant concentrations of Muslims in selected parts of the country. Among these concentrations there are a few places which have been known to be extremely vulnerable to attack by the Hindu religious majority for political, historic and economic reasons.

If advocates of big-diversity propose the creation of protective zones to conserve natural species, I do not see the harm in identifying minority zones to preserve a country's historic and current cultural diversity without the dismemberment that was witnessed in the case of India, and which we are witnessing today in the Soviet Union, or the genocidal massacre that we confront at present in Bosnia.

The cry for one-man one-vote and let the majority prevail was a workable proposition in the 19th century when homogeneous societies had already emerged from their feudal shells to take advantage of technological and economic opportunities. Today, in vastly complicated and ethnically plural societies, the greatest threat to democracy does not stem from minority rule by usurpers of power but from the tyranny of the majority, against which there is no recourse within the prevailing rules of democracy.

Dr. Abdul Gaffar Khan, adjunct professor of economics, American University, Washington, DC

The Struggle for Peace

Your magazine has helped me to expand and deepen my knowledge of the struggle for peace in the Middle East. I rely upon your detailed accounts of lobbying on behalf of foreign aid spending to help inform my conservative and fiscally responsible friends of the cost to our government of the "only democracy in the Middle East." I also rely on your factual reports of suffering and human rights abuses in the occupied lands to convince my more liberal friends that the "only democracy" isn't very democratic to non-Jews.

Paul M. Ablan, W. St Paul, MN

Looking for Pen Pals

Like Volodya Korolev, whose letter you published in your December/January issue, I am writing to express interest in corresponding with people in or from the Middle East. As a second-generation Lebanese-American woman, my interests are in bringing about an awareness of the true problems the people of the Middle East must face, all of which fall under the umbrella of liberty, peace and justice for all. My country of preference naturally would be Lebanon first, and Palestine as a second choice. Anyone else also would be perfectly welcome. I look forward to hearing from those with similar interests overseas or here in the U.S.

Ms. Pamela Simon, 1499 Collins Ave., Marysville, OH 43040

Pen Pals II

The suggestion for a pen pal column in the Dec.'92/Jan.'93 issue is exactly what I've been looking for. I would be interested in writing to a Palestinian, male or female. My preference would be someone in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, and around my age. However, I would like to correspond with a Palestinian anywhere in the world or of any age.

I am female and will be 28 years old soon. I have been interested in the Palestinian struggle for self-determination a dozen years. In the last three years, I have made a particular effort to learn more about it, and to try to do something about it by writing to Washington. I have become interested in Arab culture and history in general, and would like to learn to speak and write the language. I would love to visit Palestine someday. I love animals (especially cats), music, movies and reading.

Your publication has been an invaluable source of information, notably when composing letters to Washington, DC. With Al Gore as a senator, you can imagine some of the difficulties I've had. With the situation looking as bleak as it does now, I expect to be making even more use of the Washington Report.

Susan Haws, 102 East Unaka Ave., No. 2, Johnson City, TN 37601.

Pen Pals III

I am responding to the letter from the December/January issue suggesting pen pals. I too am interested in such an idea as corresponding with a pen pal from the Middle East. I have attempted to establish such a relationship through American Greetings To The World, but they were unable to fulfill my request of corresponding with someone in the Middle East.

I am interested in all aspects of the Middle East, such as language, traditions, religion and history as well as current events. I am a 26-year-old single female in my first year at college considering Middle Eastern studies. I have traveled to Israel, Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Turkey. Specifically I am interested in those countries which I have visited including Yemen, Iraq, Oman, Iran and Palestine.

Ms. Jeri Lang, 8210 Glen Arbor Road, Ben Lomond, CA 95005.

We'll probably move the pen pal listings to their own niche in subsequent issues of the Washington Report.

What is the Story?

I like the fact that your articles are short, generally well-researched, and to the point. I enjoy reading such features as "Seeing the Light" and "Other People's Mail," which give me hope that there are lots of Americans out there who know more, and want to know more, than is commonly thought. I find you a great resource in terms of books, especially. (With very reasonable prices!) I've also taken advantage of the "Shahak Translations," which, along with the Washington Report, is a great two-in-one deal.

Would you consider publishing a future article on the recent controversy surrounding an article in National Geographic on Palestine? I don't have enough information about the case (I heard of it in a conversation), but it seems that one researcher was fired for his contribution, and that, for the first time in 144 years, National Geographic issued (or is about to issue) a "retraction" to the original article. It seems that the original article established a historical presence of Palestinians on that land—a fact that enraged you know who . . . What is especially upsetting about the case is the power the Zionist lobby can muster, not only to dispute "facts," but to establish their lies as truth, even in the "scientific community," and get people fired as well. It's scary . . . and outrageous.

Souad Dajani, Yellow Springs, OH

Yes, we know a bit about the National Geographic case, and the facts basically are as you present them, although National Geographic would undoubtedly contend that the researcher "resigned. " We'll give you the story in a subsequent issue—complete with invertebrates and man-eating sharks still inhabiting National Geographic's ecological niche.