Washington Report, May 28, 1984, Page 5

Lobby Activities

For Arabs:

Two Arab American organizations recently sponsored an evening program in Washington to publicize their charges of Israeli mistreatment of Arab prisoners in Israel.

The event, held by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC), consisted of talks by an Israeli attorney, Felicia Langer, who has long represented Palestinians, and by Mike (Hazem) Monsour, an Arab American who was recently imprisoned by Israel for three weeks while on a visit to the West Bank.

Ms. Langer charged that 140 Palestinians and Lebanese are currently in Israeli jails, taken there from Lebanon just prior to Israel's release last year of over 4,000 other Arabs as part of a prisoner exchange agreement. She said that these prisoners were not allowed legal representation or proceedings and were barred from all contact with family and friends for a period of four months. She said that in an affidavit given to her by one prisoner, Ghassan Zaidan, he described how he was beaten, deprived of adequate food and sleep, made to stand for hours with raised arms, and other forms of abuse.

Mr. Monsour, a 44 year-old businessman and deputy sheriff of Albuquerque, New Mexico, testified to similar treatment during his 22 days of confinement in Israeli jails. He said that after being made to stand and kneel with a canvas-like bag over his head for approximately 15 hours, he unwillingly signed a document—written in Hebrew, a language he does not understand. Later, a military judge charged him with involvement in a Palestinian organization, citing a "confession" by Mr. Monsour as evidence. Mr. Monsour said that he had told his interrogators that he had collected money in America for the United Holy Land Fund, a U.S. charity, and that he had spoken to American civic groups and clubs in support of the Palestinian cause. His interrogators replied: "What you did in America is illegal here. You are not an American, you are a Palestinian." Mr. Monsour said the charges against him were finally dropped, but before being released he was told that if he did not keep quiet about his experience, his life and the lives of his family would be in danger. ADC is now making plans to sponsor Mr. Monsour on a speaking tour across the U.S.

For Israel:

Americans For A Safe Israel (AFSI) has filed petitions with the Federal Communications Commission to prevent eight NBC affiliates in New York state from renewing their broadcast licenses.

AFSI charged in a 100-page brief that the eight networks violated the FCC's "fairness doctrine" by broadcasting the NBC Nightly News coverage of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon—coverage the AFSI alleges was unfair and a "deliberate distortion of the news." Basically, the fairness doctrine requires broadcasters to offer opposing views on controversial topics.

The director of AFSI, Peter Goldman, claims that during 10 hours of reporting on the war during a period of roughly three months, NBC spent all but about 30 minutes presenting the news in a manner favorable to the Arabs.

Lawrence K. Grossman, president of NBC News, denies these charges and says that coverage was "accurate, thorough, and balanced."

This is the AFSI's second attempt to block NBC affiliates from renewing their licenses. Earlier this year the FCC rejected similar petitions against seven stations in New England, but AFSI says it has revised the petitions and resubmitted them.