April/May 1995, Page 122

Publishers' Page

Each One Teach One...

Was the slogan of crash programs to help raise literacy from near zero in many newly independent nations after World War II. It didn't mean teach one other person over a lifetime. It meant work with one person intensively, and then teacher and pupil each would set out to teach another pair, who in turn would teach another foursome until the nation had reached acceptable levels of literacy in one generation and the job could be turned over to the schools to educate the next generation normally.

We'd Like to Propose New Readers...

Try something similar. (The old ones already do, which probably is why you are a reader.) We don't mean grab the next person who crosses your path. However, it's worth thinking carefully about people with a Middle East interest or connection, whom you may know from the past or whom you meet casually. So what if occasionally you guess wrong and...

Ask a Chilean If She's a Palestinian...

Or a Brahmin from India if he's an imam from Pakistan? Let the Chileans and the Brahmins off with a smile, but ask the Palestinians and Pakistanis if they know about this magazine. If they don't, we'll send them an introductory copy at no charge to them or to you.

If You're Pretty Sure About...

Someone's interest, consider donating a subscription for one year. When we send their first issue, we'll tell them who it's from. When the subscription expires, we'll send the renewal notice to them, not you. If they don't renew, we'll tell you and you can decide whether to pop for another year or write them off as...

Hopelessly Apolitical!

It's no greater sin than being a klutz in the kitchen or a twerp with tools. But when you learn that one or more of your gift subscription recipients has renewed, and therefore may already be looking for other new subscription recipients on his or her own, you'll know you're part of something big that we'd like to call:

Each One Reach One!

We're Feeling a Mite Lonely These Days.

Read the Arab American Activism column on page 69 to learn why. It's ironic that a few months ago AIPAC complained that the fall-off in Jewish interest that followed the Declaration of Principles has forced it to reduce its staff from 140 to 110 or so. Maybe it really was because the Israel-right-or-wrong folks decided Israel already has won.

Compare That With NAAA and ADC...

Reduced to national staffs of three and four, respectively. We won't try to fathom why, except to say that after reading this issue's "five views" on the subject, it's obvious the Palestinians haven't won.

But They Haven't Lost Either...

Unless they lose people like all of us—activists, writers, angels, subscribers. We think...

That's Not Going to Happen!

Some Writers Will Be Disappointed...

When they open this issue. Some articles scheduled for months got bumped at the last minute. PAC chart issues always are leaner and meaner than ordinary ones. There also was so much that had to be said about the death of Senator J. William Fulbright, a long-time member of our advisory board and a man who sacrificed himself in a valiant attempt to change our Middle East policy. (No, he wasn't defeated over his Vietnam views, but by a stealth attack in 1974 resulting directly from his courageous and lonely public stands on the Middle East.)

You Can Look It Up!

Not in any mainstream newspaper in the entire United States, but in articles on pages 49 and 50 by two writers who came to know him well and admire him immensely.

Rest in Peace, Old Statesman...

In the hearts and minds of those of your beloved countrymen who still can read, write and remember and, if our religious interpreters have it all straight, in a place few of your former congressional colleagues can ever aspire to enter—even for a visit.

You Did Your Darnedest!

We've Had Some Hot Arguments...

In this office over the past three years. Said one feller: "If the Lobby had wanted us to do the right thing in Bosnia, we'd have done it by now." Said t'other feller: "Not true. The American Jewish community has been miles in front of most of the rest of the country on this one from the beginning." Then we spotted in the Jewish Ledger of Rochester, NY a reprint from the Jerusalem Report (edited by the good guys who were replaced by the bad guys who now run the Jerusalem Post) of an article by a former professor of philosophy at Belgrade University who now teaches at Hebrew University. It helped us realize why we all were right. At press time we still were negotiating reprint rights, so the heck with it. Read our sidebar on Bosnia on page 6 of this issue, which covers the Jerusalem Report article.

Most Asked Question of the Month...

Is John Deutch, the first foreign-born director-designate of the CIA, Jewish? Yes, according to the Washington Jewish Week. However, unlike Martin Indyk, the first foreign-born and Jewish U.S. ambassador to Israel, Deutch—who came to the U.S. with his parents in 1940 and was naturalized in 1946—has a background in academia, science and government service, not as a full-time employee of Israel's American lobby.

Being a Monthly (Some Months)...

Instead of a daily is frustrating. After the type was set (that's oldspeak for "after the disk was downloaded") for this issue, but before anyone could read our fearless predictions, the media Zionazis opened up on Sen. Bob Dole (see "Election Watch," page 42) and buckets of pro-Israel money began piling up around Gov. Pete Wilson as he began making preparations to run for White House chief channeler of taxpayer funds to Israel.

If It Ends Up as Clinton vs. Wilson...

Where do Americans who believe in human rights, self determination and fair play in the Middle East turn? Please don't say...

"To a Third Party."

Somehow third parties only turn up when one candidate (Jimmy Carter in 1980, George Bush in 1992) is about go to the mat with Israel over settlements.

Third Parties Are a Snare...

And a delusion. In fact, we'll predict right now that if Gen. Colin Powell or someone else ends up heading a well-funded third party ticket, it will be because Dole or Sen. Richard Lugar has been nominated to head the Republican ticket.

So, Instead of Worrying...

About having no choice in the fall of 1996, Arab Americans, Jewish peace activists, Muslim Americans, old Middle East hands and all the rest who see how a foreign lobby is entrenching itself in our government ought to be thinking now of how to prevent it. Former AIPAC Executive Director Tom Dine (the guy with the sensitive nose who now works in the Clinton State Department) said there are three secrets to his organization's success in getting so many of its chosen candidates elected. They are, in priority order: (1) Early Money; (2) Early Money; and (3) Early Money. Think about that and...

Make a Difference, This Month.