February 1993, Page 43

Other People’s Mail

A Sense of Outrage

To The Hon. Lee Hamilton, House subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, Dec. 18, 1992

I write to express my total outrage over the expulsion of the 415 Palestinians by the State of Israel. This unprecedented action is totally destructive to the peace process that so many have worked to keep alive.

The State of Israel must be convinced that they should allow the deportees to be returned to their homes and families and that deportation is not the answer to the longstanding and difficult questions facing both Palestinians and Israelis. Differences can only be settled at the peace table. Expulsion is a contradiction of all that has gone on in the previous working sessions of the peace negotiations and we cannot condone this form of collective punishment. I urge you to begin the process to suspend all aid to Israel pursuant to Article 501 of the Foreign Assistance Act. Perhaps this drastic measure can bring the peace talks back into focus.

These disparate times mandate bold and forthright actions and I urge you and all involved to move quickly and decisively on behalf of a just and lasting peace for all involved.

Edmond L. Browning, Episcopal Presiding Bishop and Primate, New York, NY

A Real Disgrace

To The New York Times, Dec. 28, 1992

"A Diary of Disgrace" (editorial, Dec. 20) sets forth in devastating detail the pattern of avoidance and denial that has characterized our response to the Serbian government-sponsored blockade of Sarajevo. May I note that the United States government has imposed a blockade of its own? In this case, designed to prevent members of Congress from seeing the horror for themselves.

In late November I managed even so to make it through. The Canadians flew me in one day, the British out the next. Only to be greeted by a European Community cable canceling further United States government cooperation with my trip. (A plane was to fly me to Kosovo and Macedonia.)

Our government does not want us to know what is going on in Bosnia. I was first in Sarajevo more than 40 years ago. The city is still recognizable; the people are not. After seven months of siege, there is no food left. What gets through one day is eaten the next.

Jeremy Blade, a former captain in the Gurkha Regiment, with two other officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is trying to feed a third of a million people. He can't. As things are, they will die, from starvation or from the incessant shelling and machine-gun fire. They stand about in the streets. Waiting.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator from New York, Washington, DC

Lebanon and the Deportations

To The Washington Post, Jan. 6, 1993

I would like to make the following comments about the Dec. 29 editorial "The South Lebanon 400":

To engage in a test of wills with the mighty Israel is not our political objective. It is certainly not in the intentions of our long-agonized, now-healing small country. What the government in Beirut is trying to defend from this political assault, enforced by military means, is its own sovereignty, dear to every nation, and most important, the hard-won internal stability and the recovery process now underway.

The deportation of Palestinians massively to neighboring states was one of the most destabilizing factors in the political life of Arab society since the inception of Israel.

Large-scale deportation of Palestinians from Israel to Lebanon by tens of thousands "on a temporary basis" started in 1948. The small country absorbed those who were willing to be absorbed. The rest were only willing to go back to their homeland. They were denied this right by Israel and chose to resort to militancy.

This situation brought the tensions in Lebanon to such a point that in 1975 it triggered a civil war. In the wake of this turmoil, Israel invaded Lebanon twice, trying to bring a military answer to a question of political nature. Part of south Lebanon is under its occupation until today, where military power brought no answer.

Lebanon fought hard to recover its internal balance and still has a long way to go to recover its political stature and rebuild its devastated economy. For these reasons, we cannot allow more deportations to take place into Lebanon. The Arab-Israeli peace talks are indeed the right place to address this issue.

Simon Karam, Ambassador, Embassy of Lebanon, Washington, DC.

History and the U.S. Press

To The Washington Times, Dec. 29, 1992

Forty-one years ago, in the Henry B. Endicott Grammar School's third-grade class, our teacher, Miss Homer, had us go through the various parts of a newspaper. She explained classified ads, news, etc. When she got to the editorial page, she reverentially explained that the editorial page was always limited to objective analysis of important questions, and that the op-ed or commentaries page was utilized to argue or propagandize.

Miss Homer would turn over in her grave if she read two editorials in The Washington Times, "The Power Behind Hamas," Dec. 23,1992, and "The Meaning of the Hamas Deportations," of Dec. 22, 1992.

In the "Power" editorial, the editor avers: "The Hamas organization, to which the expelled Palestinians belong, is a good example. Funded with money from Iran— and from our friends the Saudis, too—throughout the 1980s, Hamas patiently spread its roots in the Israeli-occupied territories."

The truth, according to CNN and two of the three major television networks during Christmas week, was that the Israeli government itself fostered Hamas from the beginning, as a foil to the PLO, and now watches helplessly as the organization kills Israeli soldiers.

In the "Meaning of the Hamas Deportations" editorial, you relate that "a defiant Mr. Rabin, speaking in the Knesset, asked Israelis to have no pity for those who were expelled. " This was juxtaposed, yesterday, with press reports that several of the reporters on-site, interviewing the 415 hostages, found that at least 10 percent, and maybe more, of the men thrown out were victims of mistaken identity. They were guilty of nothing!

Meanwhile 415 families have to worry how they will eat and live for the next two years. I'm sure the Israeli government is hoping they will wend their way to Jordan, give up their lives and their homes in the occupied territories, live at some other country's expense, or just die.

Forty-one years ago, while I was learning about newspapers, my wife, who had been expelled from Kfar Baraam by the Israeli government, was dealing with the fact that her father had just been put in jail for six months by the Israeli government.

The female donkey that she had ridden during the flight from Kfar Baraam had had a baby donkey. When it was one year old, her father, Najib El Youssef, set out to sell the young donkey.

En route, some Israeli soldiers stopped him. On the pretext that he had no bill of sale for the donkey, they confiscated it and jailed him for six months. My wife's mother and five children thus were left with no place to live and no food to live on.

My wife was introduced to U.N. food lines and the camps. After her father got out of jail, the whole family thought better of living under the yoke of the Israelis and headed north into Lebanon, which was the goal of the random Israeli persecution imposed upon them.

Things haven't changed in 41 years. The Israelis still are rending apart families and depriving Palestinians of their patrimony. And U. S . journalists still seem unable or unwilling to cope with this on the editorial page.

Gerald R. Hunt, Montgomery Village, MD

Use Care in Negotiations

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tourain

Secretariat of State

Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano

Vatican City, Europe

Your Eminence:

We understand that representatives of the Holy See are meeting with representatives of the State of Israel to discuss the establishment of diplomatic relations. As you must know, this is a matter of grave concern to Palestinians, particularly our Christian sisters and brothers whose ancestral home is the Holy Land itself. After so many jailings, murders, and other violations of human rights, simple justice would seem to require our Church to insist on an equitable settlement of Palestinian grievances.

This subject touches more than just political issues. Palestinian Christians comprise only about 5 percent of the Arab population, most of whom are Muslims. Because of the intifada and the Palestinians' long struggle for human rights, tensions between Christians and Muslims are high at the present time. If the Church is seen as indifferent to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, Palestinian Christians will be put at extreme risk of reprisals from militant anti-Christian factions.

We would urge, therefore, that you consult closely with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, his counterparts in the Melkite and other Rites, and all Palestinian religious leaders before concluding any agreement with the Israeli government. The survival of the indigenous Christian community of Palestine, the very descendants of the apostles and first believers, may be in jeopardy if you do not.

Larry and Mary Hansen, Aloha, OR

Enforce Sanctions Against Israel

To The Honolulu Advertiser, Dec. 28, 1992

If Bush is finally ready to take action to stop the bloodbath in Bosnia, he should simultaneously, and for the same humanitarian reasons, enforce sanctions against Israel. Barring the International Red Cross from sending relief supplies to aid 415 exiled Palestinians puts Israel in the same category with the Serbian "ethnic cleansers." For Clinton, however, it appears timely to revise the U.S. loan guarantee for Israel. These guarantees are to be implemented for only one year at a time, and a president can cancel them at any time after the first issuance of $2 billion. It also is mandatory to remind the American people that the total "exposure" (loans and interest) for the U.S. will exceed $20 billion 15 years from now.

Roman Makarewicz, Kilauea, HI

Israeli Control Over Jerusalem

To Governor Bill Clinton, Little Rock, AR

We are astounded that you would consider recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel before its status is determined in international negotiations. Would you circumvent the United Nations resolutions and international law protecting people from having their land taken from them? If so, you have no business being the president of any country, especially the United States.

There is much ignorance still being taught from an Old Testament mentality with regard to Israel, as if the modern-day state is the Ancient Israel going on without interruption. This is a frightening philosophy that alienates millions of people. This sort of religious bigotry is something we need to be destroying, not promoting as you would be by unilaterally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Jerusalem is divided now because it is ruled by occupation forces of a modern state that practices religious discrimination. Israel's own Supreme Court has ruled that Jews are not a race. Even people whose parents were practicing Jews cannot become citizens of Israel under the Law of Return if they have converted to other religions. So, President Clinton, recognizing Israel's claim to exclusive control over Jerusalem will only cause strife at a time when religious tolerance is needed more than ever.

For Christians, the promise to Israel was fulfilled by the coming of Jesus. Today, there are no Gentiles, no Jews in the eyes of God for we all are created equal. We have no right to promote or participate in the theft of land in the name of religion. The Palestinians are the descendants of all of the people who have lived in that land before, during and after the time of Christ. There is no religious or legal justification for stealing their land and homes.

Dr. and Mrs. James V. Rogers, Stone Mountain, GA

Are We the Great Satans?

To Gov. Bill Clinton, Little Rock, AR, July 11, 1992

I am answering a letter you wrote me as a candidate detailing, in a general way, your concerns for the future of our nation.

If I may (I'm old enough to be your father) I have one special concern to give to you. I have spent some 11 years of my life living and working with Arabs in the Middle East. Their strong good will toward America, that I observed prior to 1967, has now been badly eroded. We are more and more seen by them to be duplicitous. In this context, the controversial term used by their Iranian neighbors, "Great Satan," can be understood. I am aware that criticism of the Israeli government often is confused with anti-Semitism. It is not. The charge is not even logical, for the Arabs are also Semites.

The cause of the Palestinians is not well understood by Americans, either in or out of government. Most Americans do not know any Arabs. The Palestinian people therefore have become pawns in the long-running Middle East chess game! At best they have been treated only as second-class citizens (and often far worse) by the Israeli government.

I believe that our continued reluctance to develop a real understanding of this issue will result in a lost historical opportunity. This loss would be to the detriment of all the people living in the Middle East!

My best wishes to you,

Robert L. Ackerman, New Alexandria, PA

The $6,000 Head Cloth

To The Saudi Gazette, Oct. 2, 1992

A couple of days ago, I came across a news report from Abu Dhabi, published in an Arabic daily, which I would like to share with Saudi Gazette readers. The news was captioned as ''Ghotra for 20,000 dirhams!" Let me narrate the story as reported from the Emirate of Ajman in the UAE.

After the congregational prayer was over in a mosque in the emirate, people thronged by the boxes allocated for donations for the Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina, each giving his share. There was one gentleman who felt very sorry over the sad plight of his brothers who are being brutally massacred while people everywhere under the "new world order" are watching. He wanted to offer something. He walked past the boxes, tears rolling down his face, for he had nothing to donate.

Overwhelmed by his sorrow, he grabbed his white headgear—ghotra—threw it down and walked out of the mosque. There was another man who saw all this. He soon took the ghotra and raised it high, crying: "This belongs to a man who has no money . . . Who wants to buy this and donate the price for the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina?"

People flocked to the man and soon it was an auction, everybody offering a higher price for the white headgear. And finally it was sold for twenty thousand dirhams!

Abdullah Ahmad Manham, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Editorship of Washington Jewish Week

To The Washington Post, Nov. 19, 1992 I must correct one aspect of Robert I. Friedman's otherwise perceptive report on efforts made by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to have me removed as editor of the Washington Jewish Week (Outlook, Nov. 1).

Contrary to Mr. Friedman's account, at no point in the controversy surrounding my demotion and subsequent resignation as the Jewish Week's editor did publisher Leonard Kapiloff claim that I was a "poor editor. " Nor could he: In the 17 months that I was editor, the paper earned four awards from the American Jewish Press Association (including two first-place awards for excellence in reporting), two "Laurels" from the Columbia Journalism Review and numerous citations in the "mainstream" media. Dr. Kapiloff himself described me—in an article that appeared in the Washington Jewish Week on Aug. 13, two months after I left the paper—as a "good and honest journalist.

Dr. Kapiloff has offered a variety of reasons for my demotion, depending on his audience. He told me it was done in order to boost the paper's circulation. He told one colleague that I "never had a nice word to say about Yitzhak Shamir," the former Israeli prime minister. He told members of the Jewish Week staff that I was acting with too much autonomy as the editor; later he told them, ominously, that "you don't know the whole story about Andy Carroll."

Dr. Kapiloff's inability to articulate clearly his reasons for removing me as editor only fueled suspicion among the newspaper's staff and readership that my demotion was politically motivated—a suspicion that has since been confirmed by articles written by Mr. Friedman and other reporters.

Andrew Silow Carroll, Takoma Park, MD

Understanding Islam

To The New York Times, June 22, 1992

As a Muslim American, I am troubled by "Hear, O Islam, " Leslie H. Gelb's column. The headline is misleading for an essay on Israel's relations with its Arab neighbors. As the Persian Gulf and Iran-Iraq wars have shown, Muslims are not a monolithic political bloc that can be addressed as one; nor can they all be assumed to share the same opinions on Middle East politics.

A large population of Muslims inside and outside the Islamic world does not seek the destruction of Israel. Non-fundamentalist Muslims like myself do not share the interpretation that "Coexistence goes against Islam's sense of world order. " The Qurtan preaches religious tolerance and coexistence. Islam and Judaism have the same Abrahamic origins.

Throughout the globe, the inability of the United States to understand Islam has had disastrous results. Oversimplification of cultures and perpetuation of stereotypes have paid off in losses of money, lives and allies. As the Muslim community grows larger in this country and abroad, this ignorance can only lead to greater tragedies.

S. Ashraf Meer, Philadelphia, PA

Loan Guarantees for Israel

To Mr. Michael Kramer, Time Magazine, Aug. 3, 1992

I very much appreciated your column "Bush's Reward for Courage." Several statements caught my eye:

1. "As Bush and Baker fought and beat the Israeli lobby in Washington, they were reviled for encouraging anti-Semitism and were called anti-Semites themselves."

It is a sad state of affairs when opposition to the waste of billions of our tax dollars can be equated with "anti-Semitism. " I use the term "waste'' because Israel's socialist economy is a basket case which cannot possibly repay the loans. AISO7 that money is desperately needed here at home.

Joseph Sobran has stated this about the name-calling so reminiscent of Joe McCarthy: "An anti-Semite used to be anyone who hates Jews; now it's anyone the Jews hate. "

2. Bill Clinton has "pandered to Jewish voters." That is exactly correct, and even understates the case. I fear for our nation.

Gerald G. Toy, Portland, OR

Prisoner Adoption Program

To Amnesty International, International Secretariat, London, U.K.

This letter is a request to include Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi, a Kashmiri imprisoned by Indian authorities, in the Amnesty Prisoner Adoption Program.

Mr. Bakshi is a student leader, one of the founder members of Kashmir Islamic Students League (KISL). The league is a political party established in 1978 by the students of Government Degree College, Sopore, Kashmir, to protest political corruption in Indian-occupied Kashmir. Mr. Bakshi has been jailed most recently since 1990 and is held in Jammu Central Jail without any charges.

In a published interview (Zafar Mehraj, The Kashmir Times, June 16, 1992), Mr. Bakshi has said that KISL is not a terrorist guerrilla group but a political party which believes in a political struggle for achieving the goal of independence for Kashmir. KISL objectives are to counter immoral and corrupt cultural influences, and to campaign among Kashmiri people for an end to the illegal occupation of Kashmir by India.

Mr. Bakshi was among the first three leaders of KISL arrested by the Indian authorities in 1985. The two others, Sajad Ahmad Shah and Mahraj Ahmad Shago, died in police custody. It is believed that the two leaders died under torture. Mr. Bakshi has been incarcerated now for three years without trial. He is being tortured, and it is reported that wounds on Mr. Bakshi's thighs, resulting from torture with hot irons, are infected.

Mr. Bakshi is one of more than 20,000 Kashmiris who are imprisoned in Indian jails, without trial or charges, for their political beliefs. They seek the right of self-determination, which is a basic human right. Please use your best efforts to secure an unconditional release of Mr. Bakshi.

Rafique A. Khan, Los Angeles, CA