April/May 1995, Pages 3, 102-105

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor are selected, edited and abridged on the basis of relevance, accuracy, taste and available space. The editors do not have facilities to respond to individual letters, or to clear in advance published letters, as edited, with the writers.

Emergency Appeal From Home

Yesterday, I received my copy of the Jan./Feb issue and also received an "emergency appeal" for help. After reading it, I kept thinking and had a hard time sleeping last night. Nobody knows better than you that the loyal and dedicated readers of the Washington Report have always come through in the past in response to the rare calls for help. I am absolutely certain that they will once again stand up to the occasion. My only regret is that I am no longer in the States and cannot initiate a drive for subscriptions or funds in my New Jersey area. I am, however, forwarding my contribution of $100.

I have been subscribing and a part of the Washington Report family almost since it first published. I can proudly state that I am an "addict of this unprecedented, but authoritative, approach to the Middle East." No other magazine or periodical gives so much information or pleasure to read as the Washington Report. So please hang in there, you have tens of thousands of supporters who, I am certain, will come to the rescue.

May I request that you use stronger envelopes to mail the copies overseas? I received my copy in an envelope which was unsealed and whose left side was also ripped open. I am surprised that it did not get lost in the mail.

Waheed Khalid, Ouro Preta, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Thanks for the support and also for the tip on mailing envelopes. And you're right. An awful lot of readers did come through when needed.

Whatever Your Fate

I just wanted to let you know, whatever the ultimate fate of the Washington Report, that I think you have done a prodigious job, both in editing and writing. Home with a cold I did a little further reading and was astonished at your work. And this comes, as you know, from someone who has worked on Middle East problems for some 40 years now. Congratulations and best wishes.

Alfred M. Lilienthal, Washington, DC

We're honored not only by your words but also by the knowledge that, having made the journey before us, you know as well as we what obstacles have been placed in our path, day after day, month after month, year after year by a lobby that knows no shame.

Please Cover More Countries

First of all I would like to congratulate you for your wonderful publication of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs that seeks to give unbiased information to its readers. The only criticism I may have is that coverage is almost totally on Arab countries. It would be very good to read in your magazine about other Muslim countries in the region, especially on Iran, Turkey, and other Turkic countries.

We are publishing a monthly, Altinoluk, only in Turkish, that shares your aim to give correct information to the reader. We would like to exchange our magazine with yours. We are enclosing the latest issue of Altinoluk. We would be very happy to hear from you soon.

Ahmet Tasgetiren, Editor, Ankara Cad. 60/5 Cagaloglu-Istanbul, Turkey

We'll do our best to increase coverage of the countries you mention. It depends largely on finding correspondents on the spot who can write frankly without suffering reprisals. We're printing your full address for Turkish speaking readers who may wish to contact you about subscriptions, and meanwhile see "Talking Turkey," p. 56 in this issue.

Expensive Overseas Subscriptions

For a number of years prior to the time Lebanon became the disaster that it now is, I represented Al-Ahram which was the major if not the only truly objective voice in the Mideast.

I have long been interested in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. I recently sent a copy to my close friend, a Syrian living in Egypt who was formerly with the Intelligence Division of Syria and of Egypt and he was very impressed, but I note that while there is a $19 per year rate for U.S. consumption a much higher rate is charged for foreign subscriptions. I would think that you would be delighted to have as many foreign subscriptions as possible and I know from personal knowledge that your views on the Israel, Bosnia and other Mideast problems are extremely well received in those foreign countries.

Further, in many of these countries 50 or so dollars for a foreign subscription is much harder to obtain than that amount in U.S. dollars here in the United States.

Foreigners, much like an average American citizen, get their views from wire services and quotations from American news media by their home news media. This as you know gives a rather warped view of the situation.

I would think that courtesy copies for educational personnel in practically all of the countries of the world as well as the universities and libraries would be extremely important.

In other words, you have a large market out there which is apparently unused and perhaps even unnoticed by you. If the former head of the Syrian and Egyptian Intelligence Service under Nasser and Sadat was totally unaware of your magazine, I think you need a lot more effort being placed in marketing.

Jennings P. Felix, Seattle, WA

We do seem to have a very wide circulation among journalists, both American and local, throughout the Middle East and parts of South Asia. Aside from that, however, we totally agree with your assessment. Unfortunately, marketing costs money and the investment is only amortized over a decade or so. And, to be blunt, we have no money. Like Mother Hubbard's, our cupboard is bare—no big foundation, no rich publisher, and no wealthy membership organization behind us. Our only resources are our professionalism (uncontested we believe), the uniqueness of our message based on objectivity, no matter whose ox is gored (which is why we have no big brotherly sponsors) and our readers. So far the latter have done wonders in spreading the word about our existence (as you did with your friend in Egypt). Therefore, until our ship comes in, we'll just have to have faith that our readers will continue to help us reach out, and that those who can will keep on harmonizing as members of our "angels' choir."

Caught in the "Hate War"

Thanks for M. M. Ali's reports in your March issue on India, Pakistan and Kashmir. The United States, as the world super power and a leading trade partner of the two countries, can help resolve the Kashmir conflict. But, if the recent trips of our secretaries of defense and commerce are any clue, Washington wants to sell bombs and beer, not build peace.

Kashmiris are caught in the hate war between India and Pakistan. The two governments use an increasingly large share of their scarce economic resources on war material. Despite grinding poverty, India and Pakistan are South Asia's largest military spenders.

Most Kashmiris would prefer a demilitarized Kashmir, with its two parts joined again as in 1947, and with open borders to both India and Pakistan. A demilitarized Kashmir would be best for all. It would stop a financial drain on India and Pakistan. It also would remove a nuclear flashpoint from that part of the world. As a Kashmiri-American, I want Washington to help build peace.

Rafique A. Khan, Los Angeles, CA

Tax Deductions for Israel

First I would like to tell you how refreshing and heartening it is to read your publication. Up until now I have concentrated on the more traditional progressive periodicals and occasional books or simply reading carefully between the lines of mainstream media. Personal experience as a young traveler in the countries surrounding Israel has left me telling a story few people in the United States want to hear. This has only fueled my interest in the background of the problem of Israel and the relationship it has with its allies here in the U.S.

ln my goal of dealing with accurate information, I have come across a question with which you most likely could help me either by commenting directly or pointing me to the source. I have always heard a lot of talk about tax deductions for various donations to Israel. Well, recently an old friend told me of there being tax credits for some types of donations or investments. Appreciating the difference between tax deduction and tax credit, we were both outraged. I need to know if this is valid information. Also concerning the figures you frequently give in WRMEA for U.S. financial aid to Israel, do these data reflect the tax deductions and if not, what sort of number do these contributions really amount to? Isn't this really foreign aid that lies out of the realm of our "democratic" administration? I am well aware of the hostility that can be directed toward me for even making this inquiry elsewhere so therefore I am going to you.

Filip Sokol, Boulder, CO

Under U.S. law, Israeli organizations to which donations are tax-deductible for Israeli citizens also are tax-deductible for American citizens. Thus a donation to any Israeli charity by a U.S. citizen can be deducted from that U.S. citizen's U.S. income tax. Yes, this amounts to U.S. government-subsidized foreign aid to Israel that escapes any congressional purview. Since those Israeli charities also presumably are beyond any IRS oversight, the astonishing U.S. law opens the door wide to the grossest abuses. Suppose a U.S. multi-millionaire gives $100,000 to an Israeli charity but asks that charity to credit him with a $1 million donation? The U.S. millionaire then can declare that false $1 million donation on his federal income tax, which may give him a $320,000 deduction from his U.S. taxes. The U.S. government cannot disprove his claim. So the Israeli charity gets the $100,000, the U.S. millionaire makes $220,000 on the deal, and the U.S. taxpayers have to make up the $320,000 loss to the U.S. Treasury. And, so far as we know, there is no way to prove fraud and put the swindler in jail. In our opinion everyone involved in writing and passing that law belongs in jail. But what's new about corrupt members of Congress?

In answer to your second question concerning the total of such private donations, the "conventional wisdom" among writers for weekly Jewish newspapers is that American Jews raise between $750 million and $1 billion annually for Israel in addition to U.S. government grants. This magazine's $6.3 billion total for annual U.S. government grants ($4.3 billion) and annual U.S. government loan guarantees ($2 billion) to Israel does not include any of these funds (see "The Cost of Israel to U.S. Taxpayers" on page 41 of this issue for further details).

Are similar laws applied to tax-deductible charities in any other foreign countries? We don't know. We'd like to hear from readers on that. Are there also tax credits for investmentsin Israel? We don't know of any but bear in mind that often when people start to dig, they find hidden subsidies for Israel in the budgets of all kinds of government departments and agencies. We used to get many tips about such covert subsidies from people inside the government charged with administering them. No more. The fear of retaliation from "Friends of Israel" both in Congress and inside the executive branch is overriding.

It reminds us of the darkest days of Stalinism (yes, we're that old) when, if you took "a walk in the woods" with a Soviet diplomat, far from taps, bugs and hidden recorders, you might be told how effective the all-pervasive fear of the Soviet system at that time was in suppressing dissent, or even the thought of dissent among Soviet citizens. We remember the sad smile of a Soviet cultural attaché many years ago in a Middle East country when we naively told him, "Americans would never tolerate such a system." "Under certain circumstances, they would," he responded. It turns out that he was right.

The Peace Agreement Charade

Despite, and perhaps because of, the charade that is called the Middle East "peace process," crowned by the Arafat-Rabin Oslo Agreement, there is a need for a continuing principled voice, like yours, calling for a genuine peace based on justice for the Palestinian people. The Oslo and Cairo agreements have simply legitimized the illegal and oppressive Israeli occupation of Palestine and the escalating expansion of illegal Jewish settlements lavishly funded by U.S. taxpayers' dollars.

I am enclosing copies of letters I have written related to this issue, which you may find of interest to publish in "Other People's Mail."

Ismail Zayid, M.D., Halifax, Nova Scotia

Thanks. You'll find one of your excellent letters to editors in this issue on page 39.

Final Judgment on JFK Assassination

In your March 1992 issue, Congressman Paul Findley commented that "It is interesting—but not surprising—to note that in all the words written and uttered about the Kennedy assassination, Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad, has never been mentioned...despite the obvious fact that Mossad complicity is as plausible as any of the other theories."

As a consequence, I'm surprised that you have not yet mentioned my book, Final Judgment, that thoroughly documents for the first time (and with over 600 footnotes) the Mossad's role in the JFK assassination. The thesis is not that sensational if you look at the big picture.

JFK was engaged in a bitter secret conflict with Israeli Prime Minister Ben-Gurion over U.S. Middle East policy—particularly JFK's effort to stop Israel's drive for nuclear weapons. In April 1963, Ben-Gurion resigned in disgust saying JFK's stance threatened Israel's survival. Upon JFK's death, U.S. policy toward Israel did a 180-degree turnabout.

Where is the Mossad connection? Clay Shaw, the trade executive charged by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison with conspiracy in the JFK assassination, served on the board of a shadowy corporation with multiple and highly intriguing ties to the Mossad. (Oliver Stone's film "JFK" left these details out, perhaps because Stone's chief financial backer was Israeli arms dealer Arnon Milchan.)

Another interesting item: the book cites a former French intelligence officer who alleges that the Mossad contracted out the assassins through an ally in French intelligence who hated JFK for supporting Charles de Gaulle's decision to grant independence to Algeria. And who at the CIA worked to convince the Warren Commission that the KGB was behind the JFK assassination, thereby necessitating a cover-up to prevent war with the U.S.S.R.? None other than the Mossad's devoted ally, the late James J. Angleton.

All of this is only the tip of the iceberg. There is much more. Read the book and reach your own final judgment. You'll never look at the JFK assassination in the same way again.

Michael Collins Piper, Washington, DC

Thanks for your letter. The 335-page book, published in 1993, is available at $20 per copy from Wolfe Press, P.O. Box 15564, Washington, DC 20003.

Warming a Reader in Alaska

Things are improving in Alaska even though the temperature today is minus 27 degrees Fahrenheit. The "improvement" comes with my receipt of the January/February edition of the Washington Report.

Enclosed is an article entitled "Shaping Reality" by James M. Wall which was printed in the Dec. 7, 1994 edition of the Christian Century magazine. A friend of mine sent it to me for comments. She said that the "senior citizens" in her area were not aware of the true situation in Jerusalem until they read this article. It is refreshing to learn that other seniors are very interested in receiving "the Arab side of the news" when it comes from their own sources. This is important because senior citizens maintain an influential voice in national politics and they do change politicians' votes when required.

I am a Christian of Lebanese descent and was born and educated in Ohio. Due to my "famous" name I, like many others of Arab descent in the U.S., have been subjected to a hell of a lot of abuse by people who just don't understand that all Arabs are not terrorists.

I hope that this article will provide you with additional material for the Washington Report.

Saad Assad, Fairbanks, AK

Thanks for the James Wall article which we had slated for reprinting in the March issue until it was "bumped" by another, shorter article by the same author. We find the writing of this editor of Christian Century always perceptive, informed and courageous on Middle East matters.

Canada Calling Daniel Pipes

I feel obliged to respond to Daniel Pipes' challenge in your letters pages to Abdelrahman Alamoudi, the executive director of the American Muslim Council, to find any errors or anti-Islamic sentiment in his writings. After reading In the Path of God, a major work written by Dr. Pipes years ago, I must say that I wasn't surprised to find an inaccurate portrayal of Islam and the Islamic resurgence.

Rather then write a critique of his book, since space does not permit, I shall point out only a few examples of errors and unscholarly writing on Dr. Pipes' part to prove my point.

1) In chapter 4 (p. 73), Pipes claims that "Muhammad abrogated the treaty [with the pagans] and captured Mecca." Not true. Any historian will tell you that it was the Quraysh (then the pagan enemies of Muhammad) who launched an offensive onslaught against an ally of the Prophet, thus abrogating the treaty. Pipes' claim that Muhammad abrogated the treaty to capture Mecca presents the Prophet of Islam as a crude liar and conniving leader.

2) Pipes writes that "they [Shi'i Muslims] recognize as valid only the third of those first four caliphs, Ali ibn Abi Talib" (p. 51). Ali ibn Abi Talib was the fourth caliph, not the third, a fact that almost every Muslim child knows.

3) Dr. Pipes further writes that the Qur'an implies the Trinity to consist of Mary, Jesus, and the Father (p. 78). Wrong! Nowhere in the Qur'an does it say that. The Qur'an only presents a scenario of Judgment Day in which Jesus will deny having called people to worship him and Mary (5:116). Indeed there was a sect known as the Maryamites in early history that worshipped Mary. Had Dr. Pipes examined the Qur'anic verse, he would not have put forth this argument so hastily.

4) Perhaps what is most misleading in Dr. Pipes' book is his section on male-female relations in Islam. He simply regurgitates Fatima Mernissi's views without considering that her ideas are not representative of mainstream Islam. Pipes, quoting Mernissi, asserts that in Islam the woman's sexual needs make her the "symbol of unreason, disorder, the anti-divine force of nature and disciple of the devil." Pipes would probably have been a little hesitant to quote Mernissi if he had known that the Prophet Muhammad referred to women as muhsanah—a fortress againstthe devil. Pipes' willingness to quote unreliable and unaccepted sources of Islamic thought may reveal his intent to prove a preconceived notion of a misogynist religion rather than present the facts.

5) Dr. Pipes divides Westerners who have a favorable view toward Islam into either those "who feel ill at ease in the West," or as "apologists...[who] promote Islam for profit" (pp. 14-15). This is a sweeping generalization. It is surprising that an "intellectual" of his stature can resort to such simplification. His train of thought seems to imply that no one can be an adherent of mainstream Western values and at the same time admire Islam. This mindset would presume that such highly respected scholars as John Esposito, Charles Butterworth and Karen Armstrong, who often praise Islam, are either achieving a personal gain by doing so or are "ill at ease" in their own society.

To end this letter, I feel I should inform Dr. Pipes that I am a 19-year-old student, and definitely not an expert on or scholar of Islam. But if I can find so many errors in his work, how many more would an actual scholar find? It seems to me Pipes either has a very shallow understanding of Islam or he is "against Islam, period."

Atif Khalil, Rexdale, Ontario, Canada

An Urgent Appeal From Israel

I have enclosed an urgent appeal, issued from Israel, which sheds an interesting light on the situation of army reservists who refuse, on moral grounds, to join the IDF in the occupied territories. It is also a strong and courageous refusal of the "existence of a Jewish State at the expense of Palestinians."

Being a subscriber to your publication, I hope this testimony, if published, will be a useful document to inform your readers about the persistent dark side of the "peace regime" which is being established in the occupied territories, and the sanctions imposed on those who dare defy the system.

I would like to thank you for the quality and intellectual probity of your publications, and wish you good luck in your continuous quest for truth and peace.

Marwa Daoudy, Doctoral Candidate, Graduate Institute for International Studies (Geneva, Switzerland)

We are printing the two communications you (and others) enclosed, one from Israel's Alternative Information Center in Jerusalem and the other from Israeli conscientious objector Nathan Krystall, in "Other People's Mail" on pages 35-36 of this issue. They demonstrate that individual Israelis should not be judged by the hypocritical policies of the Rabin government (or the fascist policies of the Likud) any more than we would want to be judged as individuals by the Clinton administration's hypocritical toleration of genocide in Bosnia or its active funding of genocide in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Despite our tiny staff, we feel that, thanks to our subscribers, we have 40,000 correspondents in 50 U.S. states, 10 Canadian provinces, and more than 60 countries around the globe, as each issue of the magazine demonstrates. Thanks to all who send tips, letters and articles, published and unpublished.

Pension Funds

Your magazine needs to publish a national review of those public employee pension funds that invest in foreign securities. Up to a few years ago, Ohio law prohibited such investments but, as you know, pro-Israel people swooped into state capitals throughout the U.S. and got such laws changed including those in my state, Ohio. It must amount to hundreds of millions of dollars invested in Israeli bonds.

None of this is ever covered by the statehouse press corps, editorial pages or business editors.

The same is true with the foreign aid issue in Congress. Did you notice stories out of Washington on cutting foreign aid conveniently failed to mention Israel by name? Instead, the news account would say "Senator Helms emphasized that there would be no cuts in current U.S. aid to the Middle East."

In recent weeks there have been lots of columnists writing about how the American people don't really understand what it takes to reduce the deficit..."that polls clearly show that when most Americans are asked how much of the federal budget is for foreign aid, they name a high figure, say 10 or 15 percent, when in reality it is only one percent." That statement from the New Yorker was repeated by several other publications and the talk shows, of course, would never ever dare to talk about aid to Israel.

Yet the press devoted so much time and space to the Mexican bailout. Here is a neighbor to our south that it ought to be in our interest to support if you apply the same logic that was used in the Israel loan guarantee issue. As we all recall, there was little or no debate on the Israel loan guarantee in the press.

Your magazine ought to consider publishing a single page each month that readers could convert into dozens of copies to send to friends, members of Congress, clergy and media listing cuts planned in the federal budget such as student loans, child care, military, senior programs, etc., including NEA, national public radio, etc. and also listing proposed cuts in aid to Israel....ZERO.

My employer is a retailer and I cannot write letters to the editor or speak out on this issue for obvious reasons. One final thought, with money getting tight in Washington and all this talk of a balanced budget and only a few brave ones who dare to mention cuts in Medicare, or limiting COLAs for seniors, or limiting social security benefits to so-called affluent seniors, why hasn't AARP spoken out on the foreign aid subject?

I assume you are going to give readers an update on how Mrs. Gingrich is doing in her new job. What it is she is supposed to do on behalf of investing in Israel? Keep up the good work.

A Subscriber, Ohio

We suppose AARP doesn't speak out on foreign aid for the same reason you didn't sign your letter. Former Congressman Paul Findley called it "the great fear" in his book, They Dare to Speak Out. Regarding Marianne Gingrich's great new job, several of our columnists, including Congressman Findley, mentioned it but, somehow, none of them was able to figure out what she is supposed to do in the office.

A World of Mendacity

Enclosed are two good letters that were printed late last year on the editorial page of the Times-Picayune. I thought perhaps they would be of some interest to you or possibly to fellow readers and devotees. Whether you can print them in the Washington Report or not is not so important to me. It is only important to me that others of a similar mind see these words as they are so seldom seen in the Picayune, or in any national newspaper for that matter. I so often feel alone, adrift in a world of mendacity. These letters prove that even in a paper as politically correctly attuned to the Israeli line as the Picayune, on occasion that narrow line can be broken. It shall be broken, bit by bit. May you all continue to endeavor on.

John Stich, Slidell, LA

You are not alone and, if you'll recall the Berlin Wall, when it started to go, it went not bit by bit but with a rumble and a bang. As America's timid clergy finally catches fire, and as the taxpayer revolt finally focuses on the fact that "foreign aid" really means only aid to Israel and countries paid to keep the peace with it, with hardly a crumb left for people truly in need because of factors beyond their control like drought, earthquakes, famine or outside aggression, watch the tables, finally, turn. Not incidentally, when readers send informed letters from their local papers like the two you sent from the Times-Picayune, both of which we have reprinted in "Other People's Mail" p. 37, we check first to see if the writers also are subscribers to the Washington Report. Most are, but when we can track down those who are not, they get a sample copy and generally sign up. Thanks.

Why Not Cater to the North African Community?

I wish the magazine covered more of North Africa (the Maghreb). That might increase your subscriptions by catering to the North African community. Just a thought. Keep up the good work.

Azzedine Layachi, Astoria, NY

Inspired to Write About Berberism

The enclosed very short piece was inspired by Aicha Lemsine's essay on "Berberism" (WRMEA, Jan./Feb. '95, p. 31), but I hope will prove cogent standing on its own. Ms. Lemsine's essay presents yet another myth as pernicious and wishful as that of the colonial French against whom she argues. Wrapped as she is in her Berber banner, only a fool would have the temerity to stand up and disagree. Nevertheless, her article is really a quick shot in the cause of a transient political line, to whit: "the Berbers shouldn't let themselves be lured into any separatist or autonomous movements while the current Algerian government is dealing with the Islamic insurgents because this would be 'treason' to the joint heritage they share with the Arabs."

In the service of this passionate argument, Ms. Lemsine invents a whole new history of North Africa, in which the Romans and "Byzantines" were "bad," and the invading Arabs "good." The historical record is repeatedly distorted and mangled in the process. For example, in the case of Belasarius "carrying out devastating massacres of Berbers," not a smidgen of historical evidence exists for this assertion! Belasarius was hardly in North Africa long enough to do much massacring of anyone. But it fits in with Ms. Lemsine's thesis of evil imperial powers from the "north" devastating North Africa. At the end of her article, Ms. Lemsine appears to imply that since she is a Berber of the Aures mountains, nobody had better argue with her about all this. Nevertheless, I list some contrary observations in the enclosed piece based upon the historical sources.

Kenneth W. Meyer, DOS Tunis

So far we've received two informative articles, yours included, and undoubtedly there are more to come in response to Aicha Lemsine's thoughts on the Berbers. PAC charts and articles on Senator Fulbright's death precluded using either this time, but maybe we'll have a quieter month later in the year. Meanwhile, Aicha Lemsine's latest article on the Algerian tragedy is on page 20.

Possible Nuclear Weapons Blackmail

This refers to the Associated Press article published this week, describing U.S. Defense Secretary Mr. William Perry's visit to Israel and his warning regarding possible nuclear weapons blackmail.

In spite of the fact that Israeli military might is way beyond its actual size, thanks to the generosity of American taxpayers and the special relationship which has left the doors of the U.S. military arsenal wide open for Israel ever since the period of the so-called strategic alliance, its supporters in this country continuously voice their opposition to any defensive arms shipments to Middle Eastern countries. By so doing they ignore the facts that:

* Israel is now one of the biggest arms suppliers in the world;

* Israeli agents have run a secret network of sharing technology gained or stolen from the U.S. with countries like China, South Africa, etc.;

* Israel, which still refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, is the only country in the Middle East with substantial nuclear capability. Yet this has never been referred to as a threat, as if the Israeli atomic bomb is not a dangerous weapon in the hands of maniacs, but rather a benign, benevolent and merciful weapon. On the other hand, an imaginary so-called Arab or Islamic bomb is treated as a dangerous one. A nuclear weapon is a nuclear weapon in whatever hands it happens to be.

* During the 1973 Middle Eastern war, according to Seymour Hersh as detailed in his book The Samson Option, Israel did not hesitate to threaten the use of nuclear weapons.

It is about time that all U.S. citizens and their representatives in government treat all countries with the same measure, demonstrating our firm belief in freedom and justice for all.

Taher M. Abughazaleh, Plano, TX

About the Albanian Muslims

A friend sent me a copy of the June issue of your magazine. I read the two pieces by Grace Halsell. After reading the one titled "Who Are the Albanian Muslims?" I was sad and indignant. Sad because of a hunch that some readers will believe the various falsehoods uttered by the person interviewed by Ms. Halsell. Indignant because at a time when truth and tolerance are most needed, the utterances do not contribute to either.

There is the allegation that the old Serbian empire lasted for only nine years, whereas historians tell us that during the Middle Ages the Serbian empire was the strongest one in the Balkans for over 100 years. The many Christian monuments, mainly churches and monasteries (some regarded by the United Nations as world cultural treasures), testify to the fact that the Kosovo area was the cradle of Serbia. At the time of the existence of the Serbian empire, there were few Albanians in the area, as evidenced by the lack of Albanian monuments of any kind. I visited Kosovo in 1939, as well as in 1948, and I did not see any Albanian historical monuments.

There is also the allegation that in 1912-13 the Serbs waged a policy of genocide. This was the time when the Balkan countries pushed the Turks out of Europe, and the Serbs liberated Kosovo after over 400 years of Turkish colonial rule. In his first order to his troops, King Peter I of Serbia ordered that there be no retribution for the persecution of Serbs by the Albanians when the latter were Turkish surrogates. An historical record of those persecutions, especially the 19th century ones, is to be found in the archives of France, Britain and Russia, which consist of reports of their respective consuls who reported from the area.

There is also the allegation that before 1913 Kosovo was considered a part of Albania. By whom? Prior to 1913 there was no Albania. In that year, the great powers created the Albanian state as a way of denying to Serbia and Montenegro important areas captured in the Balkan wars.

In critical times, such as the ones now prevailing, when truth should guide all of us, it is indeed regrettable that historical distortions should appear in such a respected publication as yours.

Alex N. Dragnich, Professor Emeritus, Vanderbilt University, Bowie, MD

Pen Pal Corner

I would like to meet anyone who wishes to correspond. My name and address here in Lorton prison is F. McCoy, P.O. Box 99-D#2, Lorton, VA 22199. I have not yet gotten my name formally changed to my Muslim name, listed below.

Al-Salaamu alaykum wa Rahamatullah wa Barakatu. Your brother in Al-Din al-Haqq.

Hassan Muwwakkil, Lorton, VA