Letters To (and From) The Editors: Mythology Distorts History and Religion

July 1991, Page 5

Letters To (and From) The Editors

Mythology Distorts History and Religion

First, I would like to thank all the staff of your magazine for their constructive efforts to inform the public in a world where misinformation is rampant. I would also like to comment on "An Open Letter to Elie Weisel" by Kathleen Christison (March 1991), Dr. Edna Hunt's letter to the editor (April 1991), and also the article by Rev. L. Humphrey Walz (April 1991) on the UCC debate regarding "God's Unbroken Covenant with the Jews, " which along with the holocaust in Europe, supposedly justifies the inhuman Zionist practices in Palestine. These practices are based on widespread mythological ideas which distort history and religion.

The truth is that Palestine is the homeland of the Palestinians, and has always been so, regardless of faith, just as in any other civilized country. They can be Muslims, Christians or Jews, as they choose. The Zionist occupation of Palestine claiming it as an exclusive Jewish state is a flagrant racist act, which should be opposed by any intelligent person who values justice and freedom.

Judaism is a religion which was adopted by many converts of different nationalities throughout history. The Turkish Khazars were the major converts whose descendents lived in Eastern Europe and then many immigrated to America. These descendents of the Khazars form the majority of the Jews in the world today, as Arthur Koestler explains in his book The Thirteenth Tribe.

The early Jews were the descendents of tribes who came from the Arabian peninsula, as all Semites did. Palestine has always been populated by these ancient Arabian tribes since the times of Canaan, regardless of the foreign power occupying the land, whether it was Persians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders or Zionists. Today's Zionists, however, who came mainly from Eastern Europe, are descendents of the Turkish Khazars and have no rightful claim to Palestine on any ground.

The Jews today have the task of putting aside Biblical myths and beginning to understand history and religion intelligently and without bias. Otherwise the Zionist ideology and its aggressive leadership will lead them from one disastrous conflict to another.

As for Elie Weisel, and others like him whose work benefits the Zionist movement, they would do better to investigate how the Zionist leadership, in order to achieve its future goals, cooperated with the Nazis in massing European Jews in concentration camps. There are books written on this subject by Jewish writers and one can begin with the Rudolph Kastner case to discover the unbelievable truth. Perhaps one of the contributors to the Washington Report could inform us of the details.

It is time to leave behind mythology and misconceptions, as well as hypocrisy, hatred and bloodshed. Let us all make a dream come true in which children in Palestine can learn to respect each other, whether they are Christians, Jews, or Muslims, so that the rest of the world can follow in the same path of peace.

Tariq Khalid, Mallorca, Spain

Thanks for your thoughts, and, coincidentally, we published a review by Grace Halsell of Koestler's book in the May/June issue, after your letter was written.

Half-Truths Hinder the Cause of Peace

Russell Warren Howe used his review of Every Spy a Prince, a book about Israel's Mossad intelligence agency by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman (January 1991), as a platform for trashing Israel, as is his right. He apparently did not trust the facts to make his point, however, because he felt compelled to uniformly slant them and mix in a number of distortions.

For instance, Mr. Howe says disparagingly that "Mossad sees its best achievements as the kidnapping by 23 people of an old Nazi called Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires—Eichmann was the only person deemed criminal enough by Israel to have been tried and executed and the seizure of remote Entebbe airport in 1972, " which I assume refers to the 1976 rescue of over 100 Jewish and Israeli hostages held by Palestinian terrorists assisted by Ugandan troops. How are we to interpret the phrase, "an old Nazi called Adolf Eichmann"? This description conjures up the image of a doddering, world weary former soldier who made mistakes but is just trying to live his life out in peace. Yet this image is demonstrably false: Eichmann was born in 1906, kidnapped by Israeli agents in 1961, and executed in 1962 when he was around 56 years old. So much for "old. " And Eichmann wasn't just any old Nazi; he is usually described as the architect of the Final Solution, the well-engineered system of transport, camps, and killing machinery used to murder millions of Jews. Given the context and form of Mr. Howe's references to Eichmann and the Entebbe rescue, he seems to be denigrating Jewish lives to further his attempt at delegitimitizing Israel.

Just as Palestinian terrorist actions like the Entebbe hijacking do not devalue Palestinian national rights, the many past and ongoing Mossad activities of dubious morality do not negate Israel's right to exist. I support Israel yet I can admit that, although Eichmann was the "only person deemed criminal enough by Israel to have been tried and executed, " Israel has carried out many extra judicial executions over the years. Why can't Mr. Howe be equally honest? Instead of single mindedly trashing Israel, he should seek a balanced understanding, just as Israelis must stop blindly dehumanizing Palestinians to justify denying them their own state. The half-truths and denigrations of Mr. Howe's approach hinder the cause of peace. Honesty and an attempt to understand Israelis and Palestinians would serve both sides better.

Seth Grimes, Member, Jewish Committee for Israeli-Palestinian Peace

We certainly agree that 56 is not "old. " So, we are sure, would Mr. Howe, a British born RAF veteran of World War H. Mr. Howe once told us it was the "American tradition of adversary journalism " that convinced him to convert from being a UK to a US journalist. In his landmark book The Power Peddlers he exposed, perhaps "trashed, " a number of special interests running rampant over the general interest in Washington, DC. Of the two foreign lobbies it covered, he devoted more space to the Greek than to the Israeli lobby, because at that time the former (where are they now?) looked as menacing as the latter. When he "trashes " a CIA action, as he has, no one thinks he is questioning the legitimacy of the United States. So no one complains. Nevertheless, we take your point. In defense of this magazine, therefore, let us point out that someone has to deal with the illegal and terroristic actions of1sraeljust as we (and all the rest of the US media) would deal with such actions by Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and any other Middle Eastern states that also still do such things. We think you will agree that no other large-circulation periodical in the United States does systematically expose such Israeli actions. We deeply respect the organization with which you are affiliated, and realize that you personally know the price of criticizing even unjust Israeli actions. Obviously you don't do it with relish, but with regret. Please try to give us, and Mr. Howe, credit for exactly the same mixed feelings about a job someone has to do, and one for which there are very few other volunteers.

Thanks for the Magazine

In April I received a gift subscription to The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and I would like to compliment you on its content. I found your publication very informative and the positions you presented well thought out.

Keep up the good work!

Thomas J. Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit

Thanks But No Thanks

Thank you for the book. I did find it surprisingly biased in the way you interpreted many of the news items. However I will be glad to support you and take a subscription when you arrange for your Arab friends to:

Release the hostages, especially Terry Waite.
Imprison Abu Nidal. Then I will begin to believe the Arabs want peace.
Stop censorship in the Arab countries of the media.
Put an end to kidnapping of Westerners, especially Christians.
Palestinians repudiate Saddam Hussain. (How can I, as a Western Christian, believe anything they [and you] say until then?)
State Israel's right to exist, otherwise I have to think you're little better than Nazis without their power!

I have thanked my friend for giving me your book and advertisement. As a clergyman, I will publish my review of your book on the nationwide computer bulletin board along with the prohibition against contributions.

J.D. Smith, Canon

We're not sure which book you received or what city you're writing from, but we're printing your letter because it's one of the rare totally critical letters we receive that is neither scurrilous nor anonymous. We're a little surprised that you make a distinction between Christian and non-Christian and Western and non-Western hostages. To be blunt, it seems rather un-Christian. Otherwise, your numbered points make sense, except for number six. We don't know whether the "you " refers to the publishers or our "Arab friends. " The question is moot, however. Our masthead states clearly that, along with six successive US presidents, we endorse UN Security Council Resolution 242's land-for-peace formula. That calls for acknowledgment of the right of "every state in the area " to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Most of the immediately concerned Arab states, including Syria, have also accepted 242. Members of the Arab League (all 21 Arab states) have also adopted the Fez principles of peace, which are based closely upon 242 and are quite specific about "the rights of the states in the region to live in peace. "

So that's one point down and five to go.

Let Muslim Women Speak for Themselves

I enjoyed Greg Noakes' article on Islamic fundamentalism ' . It's very important that people understand this misused "attack word." I'm writing you, however, in response to a statement in the April 1991 issue on page 94: "We really try to give a sampling of all reasonable opinions on Middle East questions, but in inverse proportion to the amount of space devoted to those opinions in the mainstream US press."

I'm enclosing yet another article about Muslim women, from their point of view, written by one of them, me! Insh'allah you can use it (I know the last one was in your February issue). This viewpoint is reduced to a shambles in the "mainstream press.

Michelle Luberto, Ann Arbor, MI

Thanks for your letter and we'll use your article as space permits. We do our best to let Christians, Jews and Muslims speak for themselves and about themselves, and learn right along with our readers. We think you'll like the "Three Views " on page 28 of this issue.

You've Got the Wrong Candidate

I've seen your article in the April issue of The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, in which you cited me. You've got the wrong man! As you say in your article, I made refusal of any PAC donations a centerpiece of my campaign. And we accepted such contributions. The FEC report is simply in error, and we are at work right now attempting to fix that.

You seem to have some information that we do not have. All we have is a single page from the FEC listing nine contributions. Let me go down that list item-by-item. First, the contributions total $11, 603 (not the $22,500 presented in the table on page 22 of your article). Of the $11,603, the FEC notes that we returned two PAC checks totaling $1,903. We also returned the $500 contribution from "Teamwork America, " although the FEC report doesn't show that fact.

There is a contribution from "Mel Levine for Congress, " but it is a House committee, not a PAC.

Two of the contributions, from the Delaware Valley PAC and from Minn PAC, went to Forward Oregon and not to me. Forward Oregon is a coordinated campaign office dedicated to elect Democrats in Oregon. These funds were used for generic support for a host of Oregon Democrats. None of the money went directly to my campaign. The Delaware group is amending its report, deleting my name. And we've written to MinnPAC (they have no phone number listed) requesting that they do the same.

That leaves one PAC, "East Minwood. We do not show receipt of any money from East Minwood PAC. We have simply been unable to reach them, and we will continue to try.

I'm anxious to put all of this behind me. The footnote at the end of your article says that a book, Stealth PACs, is due out in July of this year reporting on PACs trying to influence US Middle East policy. I do not want errors to appear in that book, and, once we have straightened out the errors in the FEC report, I request that you print a retraction in the Washington Report.

This is very important to me. First, of course, my integrity is at stake. Second, I dislike PACs influencing elections at least as much as you do. My opponent in 1990, Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR), received half of his financial support from PACs; I took none. He outspent me, largely with his PAC money, and beat me. And, third, I'm seriously considering a run against Bob Packwood in '92. He's been the "King of PACs," at least among Oregonians, as you probably know. One year, I believe he topped all members of Congress in his PAC contributions. He's now sworn off taking PAC money, but he has miraculously raised well over $3 million already for his '92 campaign.

Harry Lonsdale, Bend, OR

The $22,500 we reported you received from pro-Israel political action committees (PACs comes from itemized disbursement reports filed at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by 11 pro-Israel PACs-Americans for Good Government, Delaware valley PAC, Desert Caucus, East Midwood PAC, Garden State PAC, Heartland PAC, Hudson Valley PAC, Joint Action Committee PAC, MinnPAC, and San Diego PAC. Mel Levine for Congress is indeed listed as a "House Committee, " which means that its primary purpose is to collect donations for one candidate, Mel Levine (D-CA). The committee, however, acts no differently than a PAC According to a Mel Levine for Congress official, the committee only supports pro-Israel candidates, and, according to FEC records, since 1982 it has spent more than $179,650 on 123 candidates other than Mel Levine.

We understand that candidates for Congress, such as yourself, have a difficult time tracking down PA Cs like Minn PAC and East Midwood PAC, let alone barring them from contributing to your campaign. Their purpose was not so much to help you as to defeat Senator Hatfield, a long-time thorn in the side of the Israel lobby. They don't answer your calls because they're not eager to discuss either motives or strategies. Even if one can get in touch with a PAC (current federal law only requires PACs to list the name and address of their treasurer), it rarely offers what should be public information. This is particularly true of those with deceptive names, like more than 110 of the active pro-Israel PACs we've identified over the years.

Nine of the pro-Israel PACs listed above contributed funds to "Forward Oregon," which has six mailing addresses in places from Boca Raton, Florida to Washington, DC, and no listing at the FEC. Both Delaware Valley PAC and MinnPAC listed donations to "Harry Lonsdale, Senate, Ore., " and "Lonsdale for Senate" addressed to "Forward Oregon. " These PACs apparently saw little distinction between Forward Oregon and your campaign, and, in our opinion, if you expect Oregon voters to consider You PAC-free, you should reject "soft-money" disbursements from organizations like Forward Oregon, which operate on the state party level, outside of FEC guidelines, and blur public disclosure laws. To us it appears that they serve as little more than camouflage for PAC money serving special interests.

You certainly deserve applause for your decision not to take PAC money. But as you point out, a moratorium on PAC money is only part of the battle to loosen an incumbent's near lifelong grip on his seat and to restore confidence in the electoral process. A ban on untraceable "soft money " and out-of-state contributions, which flooded into your campaign against Sen. Mark Hatfield in 1990 and has filled the coffers of Robert Packwood for his 1992 Senate race, is the only way to ensure that members of Congress represent their own constituents, and no one else.

Next time, if instead of challenging Senator Hatfield you challenge Senator Packwood, you won't have to worry about pro-Israel contributions slipping into your campaign war chest. Senator Packwood does much of his fundraising through nationwide mailings to lists of voters considered to be pro-Israel.

Apparently his tactics have worked: as of May, Packwood has raised more than $3.2 million, from 52 nationwide mailings. Less than 5 percent of his itemized donations have come from contributors in Oregon, his home state. (For more information on Packwood see Parker Payson's article on page 11.)

Since our April report and your subsequent complaints to PAC officials, the PACs have amended their reports to indicate that contributions to Forward Oregon were incorrectly attributed to you and that you rejected all their donations. Nice work. We hope that other candidates for federal office will see your example and do the same.

For our part, we will reflect this in the third edition of our book, Stealth PACs, which lists all pro-Israel PAC contributions to all congressional candidates since 1978, and will cite your rejection of such contributions as an example of how candidates might restore the faith of the American people in what most voters have concluded is a thoroughly corrupt institution. In 1992, despite the odds, we'll be betting on some of the challengers. There are a lot of incumbent rascals who need throwing out.

In the Service of Truth

The copies you sent of the March issue of the Washington Report arrived in time for us to procure a table at the Educational Conference on Palestine, Israel and the Persian Gulf. The general topic was "Why Not Linkage?"

While no accurate count could be made due to people who came without registering, a fair attendance estimate would be somewhat over 200. We made the copies available to those who expressed an interest—and 92 copies were given out there.

In addition, we distributed copies to the Peace and Justice reading area, to most of the city libraries (where we talked with librarians and acquisition clerks about the wisdom of presenting a more balanced view of the Middle East and were successful in getting them to agree). We therefore sent in the names and addresses of eight of these, along with a check to cover the cost of a year's subscription for each.

The rest of the copies we have distributed to various reading rooms and waiting rooms such as base clubs, clinics, pharmacies around the city and the university. We have a few copies left from the second batch which you sent and we are taking those to a meeting at the Friends meeting house at which bias in the media is to be discussed and at which time we plan to recommend the Washington Report as part of required reading to offset the one-sided presentation that 99 percent of our media offers.

Keep up the good work. If we can be of any help in furthering the truth-let us know!

Vi and Sam Parks, Albuquerque, NM

It's dedicated people like you who are responsible for our meteoric surge in paid circulation over the past two years. We're printing your letter and a photo of your display of graphs and articles from the Washington Report at the table where you handed out sample copies as one answer to everyone who wrote us this month asking "how can I help? " Thanks.

Thanks, Rabbi Yonassan Gershom

As a new subscriber, I want to let you know how much I am enjoying your magazine. I was deeply moved by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom's article "The Peace Stone, " in the April issue. We can truly appreciate his sincerity when expressing his beliefs regarding Jewish Tradition: "One must treat any person as if he or she might be Elijah, who tests the hearts of the faithful and reveals inner secrets to the mystics. "

My best hope for future growth in Peace is in nurturing our children from the start. There will always be men and women who cherish the life of reason, and we must nourish them by the brilliance of their minds and the glow of shining spirits.

Todah Rabbah-Thanks for sharing your beautiful thoughts, as "We are all one human family."

Sharon Buckley, Northbrook, Illinois