—Voices from the Sensible Center—

Interpreting the Middle East for North Americans—
Interpreting North America for the Middle East

Current Affairs

2 Israel: U.S. "Ally" or Not?—Officially, Israel is regarded as a friend and ally of the United States and is so spoken of at the highest levels of government. But there are also many U.S. officials who are questioning whether this assessment is consistent with the actual record of U.S.-Israel relations. In their view, the recent confrontations in Lebanon between U.S. marines and Israeli soldiers are just the latest manifestations of a pattern of behavior that has existed for a long time. For a look at the record, see inside.

4 Lebanon: Preparing to Rebuild—Contract negotiations between U.S. firms and Lebanese officials are in their final stages for several specific rebuilding projects, while Bechtel and other U.S. corporate giants are putting in their bids for the grand-daddy contract of advising Lebanon on the whole reconstruction effort.

5 Lobby Activities—A number of Arab American groups are stepping up their activities in the field of education-with programs such as an essay contest for high school students and scholarship awards for collegians. For its part, the pro-Israel lobby has been diligently trying to arrange for Israel to receive the 75 F- 16 jets which the Administration has put on hold since Israel's invasion of Lebanon last summer.

Regular Features

2 Editorial—What did King Hussein and the late President Kennedy have in common? Quite a number of things, actually, but we thought we would concentrate on one: the use of a similar figure of speech.

6 Facts For Your Files—A Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations

6 Facts For Your Files—Text of letter from U.S. Marine Commandant General Robert H. Barrow to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger

7 Book Review—For a solid primer on Jordan, be sure to pick up a copy of Peter Gubser's new book, Jordan: Crossroads of Middle East Events. Our reviewer believes his discussion of the contributions of the bedouin to Jordanian society is of particular interest.

8 Personality—Being the executive director of a trade association calls for a lot more than just managerial skills. If you want to give your organization the maximum amount of clout, it helps if you try hard to get your members to pitch in and help. Joe Yusif is one executive director who does.