June 1994, Page 114

Publishers' Page

Poking Through Clippings for...

This issue, we found an item from the New York Times of March 23 that said President Clinton's "advisers recommended in December that he reject (Jonathan Jay) Pollard's petition for clemency . But the process was sidetracked when Philip B. Heymann, then Deputy Attorney General who was coordinating the review, suggested in the report that Mr. Clinton could show lenience. "

According to the Clipping...

"That is the same report that was sent to the White House today (March 22). But after Mr. Heymann resigned under pressure last January, Ms. Reno took it upon herself to review the case, and has added her own comments to Mr. Heymann's report. The Attorney General's comments reflect her support for the view of the intelligence agencies, the Pentagon, the State Department and the Justice Department, all of which opposed any leniency for Mr. Pollard. "

We Told You Most of This ...

In this space in our January issue. But we said we didn't know "whether Janet Reno is going to be Jeanne d'Arc, prepared to burn for her beliefs. " Well now we know this gutsy lady's ...

Really St. Janet D'Arc ...

Who gave the president a transplant of uh, courage that up to now has been missing whenever his administration has come up against Israel's advocates. True, Pollard wasn't high on AIPAC's agenda. It has its hands full extracting $6.3 billion from U.S. taxpayer pockets for Israel every year while claiming it's "only $3 billion. " Nevertheless, it's the first time Pander Bill has dared displease any part of the pro-Israel establishment. So remember St. Janet in your prayers, and watch which media wiseguys try to trip her up. It's another way of spotting those with ...

A Separate Agenda!

For some time we've maintained that some advocates of forceful action to stop the genocide in Bosnia have been individuals identified with Israel, like Elie Wiesel. He spoke out eloquently and directly to President Clinton at the dedication of the Holocaust museum. It made us feel there's some good, somewhere, in everyone. But readers keep pointing out that...

In Fact, Israel Abstained ...

Last December when the United States voted once again for a U.N. General Assembly resolution calling upon the Security Council to lift the arms embargo on Bosnia, force the Serbs to lift their sieges of Bosnian cities, ensure the delivery of relief supplies and, in general, do what the Security Council should have been doing all along. The vote was 109 for, none against, and 57 abstentions, including Israel. It's meaningless until the Security Council passes a similar resolution. However, the vote revealed that...

"America's Strategic Ally".

Is no ally at all when the victims of genocide aren't Jewish. If it's genocide against anyone else, instead of "never again" it's ...

"Don't Get Involved."

But what about Israel's congressional and media apologists? Increasingly it seems they're not the ones who believe the U.N. should be suppressing Serb artillery blasting civilians and returning fire against Serbs who seek to interdict relief supplies by air or land. Nor do they even seem to be calling for lifting the U. N. arms embargo on the legitimate Bosnian government. Increasingly the good guys on this issue seemed to be the same liberal Democrats, like columnist Anthony Lewis, and middle-of-the-road Republicans, like Senate minority leader Bob Dole, who speak out against Israeli human rights violations.

It Seems Too Simplistic to Say...

That the people who tolerate the killing of Palestinians are the ones who tolerate the killing of Bosnians, and those who ignore or apologize for Israeli killers are the same ones ignoring or apologizing for murder, rape and pillage by Serbs. But...

That's the Way It Looks.

We hope readers who disagree will send us some recent exceptions. We hope all readers will use the mail, fax and telephone listings in the box on page 65 to express their support for lifting the embargo that keeps the legitimate Bosnian government from getting the arms its people need to defend their own U.N.- and U.S.-recognized borders. Meanwhile, where white and black hats fit...

We'll Paint 'Em On.

We're Delighted at the Response... We're receiving from the 17,000 libraries we contacted this year concerning book and subscription needs. As usual, we've ended up with a large backlog of unfunded subscriptions from librarians who said they don't have a budget for this magazine, but will put it into circulation if they receive a gift subscription.

If You Want to Help ...

First check your local libraries. If they subscribe, case closed. If they don't subscribe, ask why. If the answer is that they want the magazine but don't want to spend the money, there's your good deed for this month. If you're able to do more, however, you might consider funding at the $12.50 opinion molder's rate some of those hundreds of library requests piled up on Sabrina Ousmaal-Moin's circulation desk.

That's Right, We Said Sabrina's not Catherine Willford's desk. Longtime subscribers, angels and subscription donors will find it hard to believe that Catherine, after six years, left us in May. She's back in school for a full-time nursing course, apparently believing she can ace chemistry as smartly as she built up computer programs to cope with quadrupled circulation with no increase in staff.

We're Also Doing More With Less...

In typesetting. Art director Linda Warschoff, who started as a full-timer but found herself with less and less to do, has gone to a bigger publisher. Replacements?

Ah, There's the Rub.

There'll be none until we see how much labor can be saved by our latest computer investments. So books manager Vince Truman takes over the business office from Sabrina (they're both pictured here at the April ADC convention), and part-timer Ely Dieng will help keep the book club flag flying.

We Hope Our Readers Will ...

Pray for the peace accords, support proactive measures to end the genocide in Bosnia, and get us some new subscribers, since we can't do more with less without more subscribers to do it for. Do it all and...

Make a Difference, This Month!