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—Voices from the Sensible Center— Interpreting the Middle
East for North Americans— Current Affairs 2 Israel: Good News, Bad News—Our friend Humphrey came into our office the other day bubbling with optimism about what will happen when Israelis vote on July 23. We didn't want to upset him when we gave him our views—but gosh, sometimes the truth can't help but hurt a little bit. 4 Mideast Investment Down—We thought you'd be interested in the latest Treasury Department figures on what Middle Easterners own in the U. S. With oil revenues down and Arab development still going strong, the drawdown on assets is not surprising. 5 Lobby Activities—There's been much talk by the Administration these days about how the U. S. can combat the problem of international terrorism—and the American-Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee is all riled up about it. Meanwhile, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has been looking past the November elections—and it doesn't like what it sees, as far as a U. S. peace initiative for the Middle East is concerned. Regular Features 2 Editorial—It hardly seems possible that Lebanon may actually be finding its way out of the darkness.But whether or not it's really happening, we thought we would pass along some of our thoughts on the outlook. A Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations. Excerpts from letters to Congress by Presidents Carter and Ford on Jerusalem legislation. 7 Book Review—Meron Benvenisti, a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, has written the definitive survey of just how far Israel has gone during the last 17 years in putting its stamp onto the West Bank. His data is hard to argue with, but many think his conclusions may be a shade too gloomy. 8 Personality—Being assistant secretary of state for Near East and South Asian affairs means you have to attend to crises within an arc that curves from Morocco to Bangladesh. For Richard Murphy, the first of the State Department's certified "Arabists" in this job, many places along this arc have long been familiar territory. |