April/May 1993, Page 5-6, 93-4

Letters to (and From) The Editors

A Lasting Trace

If the recent book my son and I have written leaves any lasting trace, it will be because of Ambassador Killgore's overgenerous and eloquent review.

Unhappily, The Washington Post failed to mention in its biographical note that its reviewer, Walter Laqueur, spent 10 years as a professor in Israel, as well as doing his graduate work there. His review of our book, The Passionate Attachment, not only faithfully follows the party line, but is written in a particularly overbearing tone.

I have been told that the first reviewer assigned by The New York Times resigned the assignment after reading the book—or, more possibly, after being cautioned by her pro-Israeli friends.

AIPAC is adopting a shrewder course than it sometimes does. Rather than challenging the book and making it controversial, it is doing everything possible to smother it altogether. Needless to say, I am deeply grateful to you for striking such an eloquent blow for a good cause, as you continually do.

With admiration and warm best wishes.

George W. Ball, Princeton, NJ

Alarm and Admiration

The February issue of the Washington Report was perhaps the best, and most frightening: the best because of the most moving and excellent review of the book The Passionate Attachment and the most frightening because of the shadow you cast over the future of the magazine in the "Publishers' Page. " There must be a way of letting some big government in the Middle East realize that your publication does 100 times more good for less than one percent of the cost to them of publicity here in the U.S. Enclosed is my check. I can't do more.

Ramsay Madany, Phoenix, AZ

First, thanks to you and the many like you who, literally, rode to the rescue like the U. S. cavalry. We feel quite certain by now that we're okay for the rest of this year. We 'II let next year take care of itself, and call in the cavalry again when we need to. We picked your letter from dozens like it because of your mention of foreign help. We have U. S. -educated foreign nationals who help as individuals, as those who read the names in our angels' choir are aware. But the vast majority of our "angels "are U. S. citizens, and that's how it should be. We deal with America's problems, not someone else's.

We've gotten by, our way, for 1I years now and are looking forward to the 12th, thanks to people like you, giving what they can on a regular basis but there to kick in a little more when we have a real emergency. We haven 't invested 1I years of our lives in this magazine to see it go down the drain. If you, and the many, many others whose letters we don 't have space to print, are there for us, we 'II be there for you—so long as God grants us the power. Our deep thanks to all the old friends and the many new friends who came through for us.

A Congressional Helping Hand

Knowing of your interest and concern, I am enclosing a copy of two letters, which I have written to Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Lee Hamilton, and to the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations David Obey, respectively, requesting that, in FY 1994, the vital humanitarian assistance for Lebanon be increased to $15 million, an increase of $5 million over the FY 1993 earmark of $10 million.

With warm regards, Rep. Nick J. Rahall, II, (D-WV) Washington, DC

Can the Review be Reprinted?

You have made yet another splendid contribution to efforts on the part of all of us to understand the Middle East. The contribution came in the review by Andrew I. Killgore of the book by George and Douglas Ball entitled The Passionate Attachment.

My only concern about that review is that it won't get a sufficiently broad hearing if it is limited to the Washington Report. Is there any way that other publications can be encouraged to reprint that review?

Of course there was a poisonous review in The Washington Post by Walter Laqueur.

At the end of that review, as I recall, Laqueur recommended an "embargo" on books of this type. I suppose he had in mind that an embargo would be more effective than a symbolic book burning—but the idea and motive remain about the same.

John Wills Tuthill, Washington, DC

Thanks for the kind words. Except for reprints from other journals in our "Other Voices "section, other publications are free to reprint articles originally published in the Washington Report We ask only that a publication list our address so that it reads, "Reprinted from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009. "

Tired of Propaganda

I wish I had known about this magazine earlier. I used to subscribe to Time but cancelled my subscription a couple of years ago because I was disgusted with their pro-Israeli stance and propaganda. Your magazine keeps me informed and the end result is that I am frustrated because I do not see, or foresee, change occurring.

Sultan A. Aslam, Plainsboro, NJ

Expelled is the Correct Word

Just a note to express my continuing gratitude for the Washington Report, end the most recent one in particular. From the op-ed piece that I finally succeeded in placing in the Jan. 30 "Commentary" section of the Philadelphia Inquirer (after utter silence from nine other big-city dailies) you will readily see why your coverage of the expulsion was so important to me too.

I would like to point out—as I have to many others who have written about this catastrophe—that the word "deport" and "deportees." is TOTALLY inaccurate; all the dictionaries I consulted confirm my view that the correct word in this case is "expel, " "expulsion" and the "expelled." I, as an Israeli, would be "deported" from the U.S., but you, as Americans, would be "expelled"!!!

This last Saturday, I was shocked to hear former U.S. Ambassador [name deleted by editor] say with emphasis, "and one thing is sure: we [U.S. foreign policy] have a 100 percent firm, unalterable, no-matter-what commitment to the existence and integrity of Israel within secure boundaries. " Later that same evening I read Ambassador Killgore's review of the book by George and Douglas Ball, of which I had not heard up to that moment—again, the "silent treatment"!!! A "passionate attachment" indeed. I have just ordered the book: perhaps I can learn its ingredients.

What can be done, how and when, to make a dent in this CURTAIN OF SILENCE? And, by the way, yes, you do owe me a NICKEL.

Dr. Edna Homa Hunt, Winter Park, FL

You bet us a nickel that George Bush would cave in and give Israel the $10 billion in loan guarantees without getting in return anything tangible in terms of cooperation with the peace process. Bush twice defied Yitshak Shamir and the Israel Lobby in Washington and we proclaimed in print: "We think, Dr. Hunt, you owe us a nickel. '' But then, Yitshak Rabin promised to "freeze " settlement activities, while mumbling a few caveats, and Bush gave Congress the "green light " to write up legislation giving Israel the first $2 billion. Rabin 's "freeze " had enough holes to drive a thousand Israeli cement trucks through, if they hadn't been otherwise engaged working on the 10,447 housing units in Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the occupied territories which Rabin exempted from his freeze. Nevertheless, in one of its last acts before leaving office, the Bush administration signed over the first $2 billion installment in U.S. Loan guarantees to Israel, which in the long run will cost the U. S. taxpayer far more than $2 billion. So, yes, Dr. Hunt, we think we owe you a nickel. Since you've bought the George Ball book, you 'II receive the nickel enclosed in a first edition of Deliberate Deceptions: Facing the FACTS about the U. S. -Israeli Relationship. It's a brand new book by former Congressman Paul Findley, author of They Dare to Speak Out. We hope to have his new book in our book department by May of this year. Its "fallacy " and "fact " format is a good reference for those in the frontlines of the battle to refute fiction about the Middle East in daily newspapers and periodicals. (List price is $24. 95. Our price will be $19.95 for one or $24. 95 for two. We'll take orders now but don't call and ask where it is until mid-May.)

Thanks, Dr. Hunt, for teaching us a lesson in humility—not that we'll need it since we don't expect ever to be wrong again.

We'll All Keep Trying

I'm sorry I cannot do more in your Choir of Angels this time—but I'll keep trying. The Washington Report cannot disappear!

Les Janka, Washington, DC

And thanks to long-time subscription-getters and repeat members of the AET Choir of Angels like you, although the magazine was down, we 're back on our feet!

Aspin, Woolsey and JINSA?

An article from the Italian newspaper Mattino, of which I know nothing, claims that before Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and CIA Director James Woolsey were appointed to their present Clinton administration positions they were members of JINSA (The Jewish Institute for National Security).

The article also states that they are trying to move the Sixth Fleet (under NATO command) from Naples to Haifa. The author of the article, Armando Borriello, states that Aspin and Woolsey both refuse to comment about the change from Naples to Haifa.

A second article deals with China's arms industry. A few years ago, someone told me that there would be an effort to provoke the Islamic nations to work with the weapons suppliers of China and North Korea, to become a "threat" to world peace. This could be worked up in the West as a need to keep up the demand for weapons now that the Soviet Union is no longer a threat. At the time, I dismissed the story as farfetched.

But from the provocation by Hindus in India, to the story of U. S. complicity with the old communist regime of Tajikistan (where the U. S. ambassador was accused of giving money to the communists), to trouble in Iran, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Azerbaijan and the attempt to isolate Libya, it would seem that all the Islamic states are under great pressure to confront the West with its hypocrisy. I believe these stories should be examined for accuracy and should be publicized quickly in order to defuse any conspiracies to provoke Islamic-Western confrontations.

The Bosnian Muslims have asked only that they be allowed to obtain weapons for the defense of their communities. I have written many congressmen and senators as well as the president to have the U.N. ban on weapons for Bosnian defense lifted. The president does not reply, and congressional replies do not address the issue of lifting the ban on letting Bosnian Muslims have weapons to defend themselves and their communities. The Serbians refer to World War II as a pretext to attack Muslims 48 years later. Think what havoc that kind of thinking could provide in the United States or Canada.

Andrew Patterson, Houston, TX

Thanks to concerned citizens like you, our government seems to be moving toward lifting the arms embargo to let the Bosnians defend themselves. You'll find some corroboration of facts in the Italian news you cite in articles by Paul Findley, Israel Shahak and Leon Hadar in this issue.

Senator Mitchell and PACs

As a new subscriber to your magazine, I ordered a copy of Stealth PACs several months ago and duly received and read it.

Astonished to find your listing of Sen. George Mitchell as receiving a total of $143,900 from 1978 through 1990, I wrote him a letter expressing my ethical indignation over such action.

Now, I have received his letter denying acceptance of such funds from the AIPAC, along with his explanation that it is prohibited by law from engaging in such activities. I have enclosed his letter for your review. Tell me, how do you respond? I need to know the truth.

Dorothy M. Weaver (USIA-FSO, retired), Portland, OR

Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-ME) wrote in his July 8, 1992 letter to you: "Contrary to the assertion in your letter, I did not receive $143,000 from the American Israeli Political Action Committee [sicl from 1978 to 1990. In fact, I received no money from AIPAC for either of my re-election campaigns. In any case, political action committees are prohibited by law from contributing more than $10,000 to any federal candidate in any election cycle. "

The Senator, or whoever drafted the letter for his signature, seems to have taken advantage of a possible misstatement in your letter to avoid addressing the substance of your accusation. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (correct name) is an organization that lobbies f or Israel. It is not a political action committee. Many of its board members, however, have set up pro-Israel PACs with deceptive names. These and other like-minded pro-Israel PACs, 116 of which~ we have identified and named in Stealth PACS: Lobbying Congress for Control of U.S. Middle East Policy, have donated $143,900 to Senator Mitchell's election campaign committee ($77,400 in 1982, $1, 000 in 1984, $2,500 in 1986, and $63,000 in 1988), according to the statements these pro-Israel PACs have filed with the Federal Election Commission. Senator Mitchell will be up for re-election in 1994, by which time perhaps you or voters f rom the state of Maine will have forced him to respond to two questions: Why do these pro-Israel PACs support you ? And why did you accept $143,900 of their money?

For Accuracy on Iraq

In the interest of the historical accuracy that we demand in discussions of the Mideast, allow me to point out two errors in Richard Curtiss' brief history of Iraq in the February issue. First, most biblical scholars agree that Abraham did not come out of Ur, but was in all probability a local hero or cult figure from the Hebron area. When the people from this region were absorbed into the Hebrew confederacy, their local traditions, like those of other areas, were to a degree woven into the growing tapestry of a Hebrew national history, and Abraham emerges as a national hero.

Second, the Code of Hammurabi (18th century BC) is not, as often assumed, the oldest surviving collection of laws, only the most extensive. There are, for example, fragments of collections of Urukagina of Lagash and Sargon of Akkad (24th century), Ur-Nammu of Ur (22nd century), Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (20th century), and a collection from Eshnunna published a few decades before that of Hammurabi.

Picky, picky, picky, huh?

Richard M. Berthold, Assoc. Professor of History, Albuquerque, NM

We'll let the scholars argue about Abraham, even those who think he didn't exist at all, but agree with your wording on the oldest surviving legal codes, all from Iraq.

Russian Jewish Emigres

I heard on National Public Radio that thousands of Russian Jews, despite the history of Hitler, preferred to take their chances in Germany over Israel, but I could not find it in print. If you have it in print would you please send it to me?

Maury Maverick, San Antonio, TX

Most people leaving the former Soviet Union wanted to go to the U. S. or Canada. It used to be that the way out was to convince the Israeli government they were Jewish and go there. Then, many Soviet immigrants to Israel would re-embark for the U.S. Nowit's not so easy because Israel demands a refund of transportation money before granting an exit visa.

Some Jews not willing to wait in Russia for a U.S. visa now go to Germany and claim political asylum while deciding whether to remain or apply there for a visa to the U.S. or elsewhere. Recently, Mona Charen, a conservative Jewish columnist, wrote in the Feb. 15, 1993 Washington Times that, since 1984, Israel had had more Jews emigrate than immigrate every year but 1991 and 1992. If that's so, why is Israel 's population growing ? It's because of natural increase, mostly among its Orthodox Jewish communities and its Arab citizens, and because it doesn't stop counting Jews as residents until they've been away for four years without returning. Since most immigrants from Israel return to visit relatives at least every four years, many who have lived in the U.S. for years still are counted as present in Israel. Israel's declared population of five million (including 800,000 Palestinian Arabs) probably is overstated by about 600, 000 Jewish citizens and understated by 100,000 Arab citizens.

High-Quality Material

Your information is always up to date and well-researched. The Washington Report gives me the latest information to continue working toward ending anti-Arab racism in this country. I especially value the emphasis on America's responsibility in the on-going struggle against Zionism.

Paula Kotakis, San Francisco, CA

Seeking Justice From Kuwait

I write to you on behalf of my family who lived in Kuwait for the 35 years prior to the Iraqi occupation and the Gulf war. My father, born in Palestine but an employee for many years of the Kuwaiti government, and my brothers and sister remained in Kuwait to support the resistance effort against the Iraqis. During the occupation my father was tortured by the Iraqis and my older brother was jailed.

On March 2, 1991, a few days after the end of the Gulf war, a Kuwaiti entered my family home at gunpoint. After informing my father, my younger brother and my sister that he was an assassin trained in the United States, he forced my father and my brother to be tied up. He raped my sister and shot her in the head, leaving her for dead.

Then he assassinated my beloved father, Ismail, and my dear brother, Ossuama, with bullets in their heads. Later my sister awoke in a pool of blood and screamed for help. From that horrible moment, it took six months of an intense international effort to bring her to California for very advanced brain surgery to save her life. In that one awful moment her life was changed from that of a vital and beautiful Arab woman to one of merely existing as a physical and emotional cripple far from her home.

The Kuwaiti government turned to the world community for help. The response was overwhelming and Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait. But for the past 25 months I have been unable to penetrate the Kuwaiti wall of indifference, with the objective of securing justice and payment of reparations for the pain and suffering caused my family by Kuwaiti criminals.

Our case has been taken up by the American Embassy in Kuwait, but so far as I can tell none of the letters written by an energetic and sincere U.S. ambassador in Kuwait have elicited a response. In fact, many detailed letters, which included my family's demands, have been sent directly to the Kuwaiti government. As of this writing there has been no action whatsoever by the Kuwaitis to meet our demands, or any substantial formal response to our communications to them. Such irresponsibility has led us to file a petition with the Human Rights Committee at the United Nations.

And so, I now turn to the readers of your respected magazine. For any reader who needs more information, please call or write to the phone and fax address listed below. I seek not revenge but justice. I demand not reward but reparations; reparations that, no matter how great, can never compensate for the losses we have experienced and the suffering that we continue to endure. May God be with you.

Naim Farhat, Santa Cruz, CA, Tel/fax (408) 423-0209

This is the second time we have publicized your sister 's case. While we understand that Kuwait's government was shattered and its tiny population has been traumatized by the brutalities of eight months of military occupation from August 1990 to March 1991, horrifying details of which still are emerging, we find it difficult to understand why the Kuwaiti government has not set up some facility to make an effort to deal, systematically, one case at a time, with those non-Kuwaiti nationals who also need help as a result of the horrors that took place in Kuwait during the occupation and in the vigilante period that followed.

Inspiring Devotion

I love the Washington Report. Your existence and the devotion you show toward furthering justice in the Middle East is inspiring. I would like to see church (and temple) libraries "pushed. " If churches took on charity drives to provide relief for Palestinians, that would go a long way toward grassroots education here.

I'm curious about motives for Islamic "demonology. " I wouldn't mind seeing articles on that. (I may have missed them.) Could you provide ammunition in an article to counter the U.S. terming the PLO a "terrorist organization" and using it as a tool to avoid supporting Palestinians? I also would love to see an article that compares Clinton's Serbian war crimes charges with details of similar Israeli actions.

Karen Brothers, Atlanta, GA

I Can't Agree With You

I am a former '60s antiwar/civil rights activist who learned about Palestinian issues from those movements. As a leftist, I experienced U.S. government repression, and I cannot support or identify with repressive, imperialist, destabilizing U.S. policy anywhere.

After reading your "Two Personal Views" (Oct. '92), I sympathized with your stance on the elections, but still found it incredibly narrow and myopic. You seemed to think that Israeli and U.S. policy are in a kind of vacuum that can be isolated. I see the Palestinian movement as part of worldwide solidarity with liberation movements/ political prisoners, etc. Bush is a war criminal who murdered a quarter of a million Iraqis for political glory and U.S. world domination. Your support for him made me sick and lessens your credibility.

Ken Scudder, San Francisco, CA

Liberal Bias in the Media

On Saturday, March 13, I was listening to WLS Talk Radio in Chicago as I usually do and decided to call in and offer my opinion on the subject at hand. The host was Roe Conn, a very, very liberal Democrat. He was asking the listening audience if they were ready to make sacrifices such as President Clinton was suggesting. The subject was the closing of military bases throughout the country. I made the telephone call to WLS and it was answered by a woman who asked me what I wanted to comment about and was I willing to make sacrifices. I said yes, but I wanted to suggest that the U.S. government shut off the billions in aid to Israel. She told me to hang on the line and shut my radio off. I did as she asked, then waited and waited and waited. She finally came back on the line and told me that Roe Conn was going to shift the focus of the show and go on to a new topic. She said, "It's not my idea but his."

I was going to use the figures in Frank Collins' article in the March 1993 issue of the magazine to bolster my suggestion so as to save Americans' jobs at stake in the U.S. I should have known better. Anytime you bring up Israel to any of WLS's talk show hosts you get the same treatment. Aid to Israel is a taboo subject.

My question is, how does an individual fight the liberal bias in the media? Don't we own the airwaves? One thing I forgot to mention also was that a former WLS talk show host was the new freshman congressman, Mel Reynolds. Your article written by Andrea Lorenz, "Pro-Israel Political Action Committee Contributions to Congressional Candidates in the 1991-1992 Election Cycle," reports that Mel Reynolds received $45,350. I called his show once during the Gulf war and was rudely put down by him when I tried to discuss aid to Israel. He would have none of that. Now I see why.

Anyway, I enjoy reading your publication very much.

Donald P. Pollard, Chicago, IL

It's more likely fear of advertisers than "liberal bias. " See what happens if you introduce the subject of aid to Israel on the talk shows hosted by conservatives Rush Limbaugh or, in the New York area, Bob Grant, also a congressional wannabe. With Limbaugh, you won't get on. With Grant, you will soon be off.

Opinion Molder Subscriptions

I have sent you $100 for "opinion molder subscriptions. " I would prefer the subscriptions to be sent to Warren Christopher, Les Aspin, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Madeleine Albright, Edward Djerejian, Lee Hamilton, State Department Israel desk and probably Leslie Gelb. If these people have subscriptions, then please send mine to whomever you choose.

By the way, are CNN people getting the magazine?: Ted Turner, Jane Fonda, Larry King and Frank Sesno? Or the PBS news anchors, C-SPAN or ABC, NBC and CBS? I just want the whole world to read my beloved Washington Report!

Sincerely and gratefully yours, Nuha Marchi, Orlando, FL

Those you've named who weren't getting the magazine will be now, thanks to you and others who've donated opinion molder subscriptions. Right now we have more funds for subscribers than names of opinion molders, so we welcome more nominations as well as more donations.

From Hope to Hip Pocket

You speculate on how much the Israelis have President Clinton in their hip pocket. Does the naming of Martin Indyk for National Security Council Middle East adviser give you a hint???

Imagine a one-time Australian who lived in Israel (most likely as a citizen) and served as an informal adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir coming as an immigrant to America, acquiring his citizenship Jan. 12, 1993 and, within days, being appointed National Security Council adviser.

Whose "interests" is Indyk to serve? Those of America or Israel? Good God in heaven how obvious can it be?

Our Founding Fathers must be turning over in their graves in disgust at this latest outrage. Unbelievable. In fact—to be more straightforward and honest—President Clinton might as well have appointed Yitzhak Shamir as National Security Council Middle East adviser—and spared us the deceit.

K. Nevers, Worcester, MA

Spinning News About Israel

The Washington Report is the only magazine that provides good information on Middle East affairs, especially on news related to Israel or its lobby. The sanitized mainstream press' version of Israel-related news leaves a lot to be desired and does not accurately reflect the truth.

Since I read newspapers/magazines or watch news in Spanish, I am able to compare that information with the English speaking media. More often than not, I am amazed how the same news is presented in English. It looks like the general rule is that if the news is not favorable to Israel, it is sanitized, "balanced" or reduced in size. If it is favorable, then it is enlarged.

Vincent Perez, Chicago, IL

Diluted and Sanitized News

It's impossible to keep one's " sharpness " in comprehending Middle East issues without the Washington Report. The mainstream news is so diluted and sanitized on radio/TV and in newspapers that the Washington Report is the sole avenue available for those of us who wish to remain well informed.

Bill Gassmann, Downington, PA

Educating My Congregation

As a Presbyterian minister, I value the Washington Report as giving "the other side" of the news. I need it as a source of books to educate myself and my congregation. As a citizen, I wish the magazine would be even more clear and direct on who to write to and how in our government. I desire to understand Islam much better. (I read Greg Noakes' and the Rev. Walz's articles with the mightiest of interest!) Could you do more topical "myth" sheets—i.e. by subject, like the '67 war—give a page of myths and corrections. This would aid those of us teaching and writing letters. I keep saving your articles for my files.

The Rev. Mark F. Greiner, Kettering, OH

We'll carry "Myths and Facts" and "Quatsch Watch " wherever space permits, and compile them in easy reference format in a year or so. To do so, we 're dependent on readers to send us examples of "Myth-information " and "Quatsch "from the media to reprint and refute.

A Feeling of Community

The principal thing the Washington Report means to me (apart from being a great source of information) is that it gives one a feeling of community. For so long resistance to the Zionist assault on the Palestinians and the Arab world has been confined to a few scattered voices, barely heard and ignored. Your magazine makes one realize he/she is not alone and, with concerted and cooperative effort, we can help bring peace to the Middle East.

Gary D. Keenan, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Bosnia Not in The Mideast

Bosnia is not in the Middle East. If you continue reporting on this issue the way you have thus far, then I urge you to change your name to "Washington Report on Islamic Affairs. " If your magazine is so insistent on covering anything dealing with Islam, then perhaps you'd care to comment on the renewed fatwa/death sentence extended on Salman Rushdie. I don't recall reading anything on this topic in WR.

Could you confirm whether AIPAC lobbyists are exempted from the requirement to register as agents of a foreign government in the U.S.? I am told there is no such requirement.

J.L. Lindemulder, London, England

Bosnia, like Pakistan, India, Kashmir, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and other areas upon which we report frequently is not geographically in the Middle East, but what the U. S. does or doesn't do in those places, particularly in Bosnia right now, profoundly affects U. S. relations with the entire area. We 're not sure why you need the Washington Report to tell you about Salman Rushdie, since he and the mainstream press seem capable of representing his side of the story most eloquently. Killing unarmed civilians—whether noted Indian-British authors, schoolchildren in Israel, Palestine or Lebanon, or office workers in New York—is terrorism, which we report upon frequently and oppose unequivocally.

Our March issue (page 39), which you would not have received until after you mailed your letter, mentions the death sentence against Rushdie in a roundup of Iranian government-directed terrorist actions.

In answer to your other comment, AIPAC has registered lobbyists on its payroll, but neither AlPAC nor its employees have registered as foreign agents. This is ironic since the excuse it now offers for its unquestioning previous support of efforts to obstruct the peace process by Israel 's Likud government is that AlPAC supports any "democratically elected government of Israel. " There also have been cases in the past where AIPAC has justified delays in getting its legislative act together with the explanation that the Israeli government was slow to take a position or had changed its position.

More recently, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has criticized AlPAC for not checking the position of the Israeli government before beginning to act on its own with the president or Congress.

All this adds up to a portrayal of an organization functioning in Washington, DC as an agent of the Israeli government. But AlPAC does not register under the Foreign Agents Act because, it argues, AlPAC funding originates in the U. S. Even this is little more than a technicality, since much of the money used by organizations lobbying for Israel in the U.S. is money raised for projects in Israel, but left in the U. S. for use in lobbying Congress for ever-greater U.S. government funding for Israel.

A Cover-to-Cover Reader

The Washington Report has been an extremely important source for my recently completed Master's thesis, "Nationalism, Legitimacy, and Sovereignty: The Case for Palestinian Statehood." I can't afford to return to the Middle East every few months and you have kept me up-to-date on the rapidly changing events in the region. I am one of those cover-to-cover readers who happens to feast on every word.

Barbara Oskoui, San Jose, CA

Catholic Church Leaders

Mary knoll Justice and Peace office would like to donate four opinion molder subscriptions at $12.50 each to the enclosed list of leaders of the Catholic Church. Enclosed is our check for $50. If any of the four individuals are already receiving the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, please select other opinion molders to receive your magazine.

Each month your magazine presents a credible alternative to the mainstream press on issues relating to the Middle East that needs to be heard by Catholic bishops and other opinion molders. The possible demise of your publication due to a lack of funding truly worries me as to who will continue to present such information in this format. Keep up the excellent work!

Terence Miller, Associate for Africa and the Middle East, Mary knoll Fathers and Brothers, Washington, DC

Thanks to people like you and institutions like yours, we feel empowered (read funded) to continue to present such information in this format for several issues to come.

From the Gatch Family

Thank you for the wonderful story by Andrew Killgore in your February issue on my late brother, John. I have circulated it among friends and relatives. Would that I had a friend as eloquent to report on my life's work after I'm gone.

Lewis G. Gatch, Cincinnati, OH

From a Schoolmate

I read your publisher's most understanding obituary of my friend, John Gatch. We went to Exeter and Princeton together—but I had not seen him for several decades. You caught his persona perfectly. Always laid back, John spoke quietly but with great effect. He seemed to have an abundance of common sense at an early age. I'm a columnist for the Trenton Times and appreciate your most useful magazine.

Harry Sayer, Princeton, NJ

From a Colleague

Your publisher drew a really moving picture of John Gatch. I felt I knew him at last, although we had served nearby and met often. I've told my wife I would like you to write my eulogy.

C.J. (Pat) Quinlan, Edina, MN

Only if you get there first.