July/August 1993, Page 5

Letters to the Editor

Human Rights in Sudan

In your April/May 1993 issue you briefly highlighted the human rights situation in Sudan. I would like to expand on that. On Feb. 19, 1993, Amnesty International released a report titled "Sudan: Patterns of Repression." The report highlights several concerns in Sudan. First, in December 1992 and January 1993 there were unconfirmed reports of mass murders in the Nuba Mountains, specifically near Heibara. There have been scores of extra judicial executions in the Nuba Mountains in the past year.

However, the government is not the only party that is responsible for human rights violations. The opposition Sudan People's Liberation Army split into three factions in 1992. Each faction then went on a terrible spree. In January 1992 the Nasir faction of the SPLA deliberately killed 87 people at Pagarau in Bagh-al-Ghazel State. In September the Tont group murdered three foreign aid workers and a journalist. The failure and apathy of the Sudanese government to uphold human rights is appalling. Amnesty International is calling upon the Sudanese government and all factions of the SPLA to take steps to uphold human rights. The report is available from AIUSA, 322 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10001.

Scott Morgan, Amnesty International USA, Chemung Valley Group 368, P.O. Box 778, Corning, NY 14830-4778

"Gifts to Israel" Help Illinois?

I have contacted my congressman regarding U.S. grants to Israel using the table "Cost of U.S. Grants to Israel in Fiscal Year 1993, " found on page 18 of the April/May 1993 Washington Report. I copied that table and sent it to him, along with my suggestion that these should be cut.

I enclose his reply that foreign aid is really a "misnomer" because most of it is reinvested in the U.S., "$409 million of which is spent in Illinois alone, " and that "ending aid to Israel would hurt us too."

I can't accept the idea that we can justify what our money is doing in Israel because it is somehow good business for Illinois. But my question is how he arrives at his figures. In what way does Illinois get back in "business" $409 million from Israel? Can you give me information that will either substantiate this or refute it? I have not replied to Mr. Manzullo yet. I would like to understand what he is talking about first.

Richard C. Wedel, Rockford, IL

Under the law, Israel must spend all but specifically exempted portions of its military aid on U.S. goods and services. By no stretch of the imagination, however, can any portion of the $6.3 billion in U. S. military aid, economic aid and loan guarantees Israel received this year be construed as a benefit to the U.S. economy or to U.S. taxpayers.

Suppose you own and operate a grocery store and also are seeking to help your son or daughter pay for a college education. A customer, Mr. Smith, runs up a bill of $333 a month and, after a year, still has not paid a cent on the $4,000 he owes you.

You complain that his indigence is becoming a problem for you. His answer is that your aid to him didn't cost you anything, because every cent you advanced him was spent in your grocery store. So instead of dunning him, he says, you should be thanking him for giving you all of his grocery business, instead of spreading it around the neighborhood. You write your son or daughter to say he or she will have to drop out of college next year because you can't come up any longer with the $4,000 you've been seeding to help. Your child writes back and says, "If you stopped giving Mr. Smith $4,000 every year, I would be able to continue college. "

We doubt that you would reply that "instead of denigrating Mr. Smith you should be grateful to him because he does all of his grocery shopping in my store and he has promised to continue giving me all of his grocery business next year as long as I continue to give him the money to pay for it. " You would insult your child 's intelligence with such an absurd statement. But that's exactly what your representative in Congress has just done to you. For readers who don't believe any member of Congress thinks his constituents are that gullible about aid to Israel, we are printing Rep. Manzullo's letter in its entirety in ''Other People's Mail" on page 43 of this issue.

A Citation to Be Proud Of

You can be proud of the citation of your magazine on page 16 of the spring 1993 CAMERA media report as "virulently anti-Israel. " If Mother Teresa were to criticize Israel, she would be "a vicious bigot."

Ronald Johnson, Pittsford, NY

We quote the citation to which you refer from a CAMERA article entitled "Through a Glass Peevishly: Clyde Haberman Covers Israel ": ''Not long ago the virulently anti-Israel publication, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, lauded The New York Times Middle East coverage, contrasting it with The Washington Post, a publication deemed too gentle in its treatment of the Jewish state. Among the reasons, no doubt, for appreciation of the Times in such circles are the tenor and focus of articles filed by the paper's Jerusalem correspondent, Clyde Haberman, whose coverage of Israel displays the recognizable hectoring tone of his recent predecessors in the bureau. ''

We wonder if CAMERA ever ponders why all correspondents who spend some time in Israel begin writing critical stories ? Could the problem be with Israel, and not the correspondents? In any case, we're happy to report that now that he 's been in Israel for a while, Washington Post correspondent David Hoffman seems to be reporting more carefully, accurately and informatively, as has Los Angeles Times correspondent Michael Parks for some time. So, David and Michael, watch out for the next issue of CAMERA, which we describe on page 29 of this issue.

Legacy to Lebanon

This is a thank you for the magnificent review your publisher gave to my book about the American University of Beirut, Legacy to Lebanon. When I tried to phone him on receiving the April/May copy of the Washington Report, he was traveling in the Middle East. Of course I feel very flattered. As a result of the review, quite a few people have seemed to want copies. Perhaps they did not know the book existed until now. Again, please accept my heartfelt thanks.

Grace D. Guthrie, Falls Church, VA

The issue in which the review appeared went to members of the American University of Beirut (AUB) and American Community School in Beirut (ACS) alumni associations, so we expect you or we will be receiving many more such requests for the book. For our readers who may be interested in contacting either of those alumni associations, both addresses are 850 Third Ave., 18th floor, New York, NY 10022.

The George W. Ball Book

In his letter printed in the April/May edition, Ambassador George W. Ball unhappily notes The Washington Post's failure to indicate that its reviewer of his book, The Passionate Attachment, has a long connection with Israel.

I recall the occasion of the Italian court's finding of guilty in the trial of the Achille Lauro hijackers. Both The Baltimore Sun and The Washington Post carried news articles about it. The Sun's article noted that the prosecutor did not ask for the maximum penalty because the Italian people have a "certain sympathy" with the Palestinian cause. The Post's article, containing altogether twice as many words as the Sun 's article, merely noted that the prosecutor did not ask for the maximum penalty.

Years ago I heard a parody of The New York limes motto applied to a certain tabloid that specialized in the sensational (with, perhaps, some sacrifice of accuracy!): "All the news that fits, we print! " (Funny, isn't it, that I should think of that now?)

Roger D. Leonard, Bowie, MD

Censorship Committed in Odd Ways

I note a reader complains, in a recent issue, about the way your magazine keeps disappearing from his library. I don't know whether you are aware of this or not, but it is a standard technique within the pro-Israel community to steal books and magazines from libraries, bookstores and historical exhibits, etc. that contain anything they think readers shouldn't see. Indeed, such censorship is the Anti-Defamation League's official reason for existence. By daring to mention the plight of the Palestinians, and to criticize Israeli oppression, however mildly, you have become "anti-Semitic" in their fevered brains.

Hope I have enlightened you as to why your magazine keeps disappearing from library shelves and why, although they read you carefully, you are bad-mouthed or ignored in practically all of the weekly Jewish media around the U.S.

Mark Katz, Long Island, NY

Halting Library Vandalism

This letter is to draw attention to library vandalism of your magazine.

I donated the magazine to libraries in various cities in the state of Washington, one of which is the city of Federal Way.

On a number of visits to this library, I alerted the library staff to the missing name tag on the rack where the magazine is displayed. Furthermore, the magazine itself was not on display. It was shuffled way back behind the rack.

The library staff assured me that they have, more than three times, printed name tags for the magazine only to find them missing the next day, which is an indication of vandalism.

It looks like an organized effort by one person or a group to censor the magazine and prevent the public from reading it.

I suggest that you ask your readers to counter this censorship by the following:

Alert the staff of those libraries they visit to ensure the availability of name tags.

Ensure that the magazine is being displayed on the rack if it is not in use.

If the vandalism continues, then ask that the library staff provide a sign near the library help desk to read "We carry the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine. "

This last suggestion should stop the vandalism, since it is the kind of advertisement the perpetrators would hate to see result from their efforts.

A. Abdeljabbar, Vancouver, WA

Concerned About Bosnia

I congratulate you on your fine publication. I am another cover-to-cover reader. I feel that it is important that Westerners be exposed to the views of Middle Eastern issues not usually espoused by our press.

However, I am concerned and puzzled regarding the issue of Bosnia. The U.S. appears to be experiencing pressure from some foreign governments, including some of the Muslim countries, to intervene. However, it does not appear that these countries are taking any strong and decisive action themselves. Some of the Muslim countries appear to have very adequate financial and military resources, including state-of-the art fighter jets. Russia has just taken the position that outside military intervention is appropriate and necessary—but not by her own troops.

I know that the situation is very complicated, so please enlighten me if there is something I am not understanding. But, the message that I am getting from some foreign governments is that the U.S. is expected to continue to act as police force to the entire world, and that the lives of our young G.I. s are expendable, whereas the lives of their own people are not. That is a very unpalatable message.

Kari Sprowl, Glendale, CA

In fact, there are Egyptian troops in Sarajevo, Turkish aircraft available to enforce the "no-fly "zone, and Pakistan and other Muslim countries have offered ground forces to enforce U.N. peacekeeping in Bosnia, just as they are doing in Somalia. Some help has been turned down by the Western powers with the excuse that excessive intervention by Muslim powers would be "inflammatory. " Outside the U.N., Iran is smuggling in arms and Muslim freedom fighters and bragging about it. Other more moderate Sunni Muslim states are trying to do the same thing while not publicizing it. The entire Islamic world is boiling with rage over Western "double standards, " which seem to depend upon whether the violators or victims of U.N. condemnation resolutions are Muslim. It is the U.N. arms embargo that is preventing help from the world 's billion Muslims from reaching the Bosnian government. We are frankly astonished that America 's six million Muslims aren't pounding down the gates of the White House demanding justice for Muslims in Bosnia, Palestine and Kashmir. International action to end the abuses in those three areas would do more to solve the problem of "terrorism " that so worries the West and "fundamentalism" that rightly worries moderate Arab countries than all the other measures the U. S. and Europe might undertake, combined.

A Workable Map For Bosnia

No amount of resuscitation can revive the Vance-Owen Plan (VOP), which was a recipe for ongoing genocide and instability. A distinguished Western non-Muslim journalist noted that the plan had awarded Croats territory beyond their wildest imagination. He blamed the sudden spark of genocide in Mostar on VOP, as Mostar is mainly a Muslim-populated area and yet it was to be given to the Croats. Croats took it upon themselves to implement the VOP in Mostar.

If someone has decided to not live together, what can you do? You can't push an individual, let alone nations. So there is a need to divide Bosnia into three states proportional to the percentage of their pre-war populations. They will have to swap the territories they control.

Croats and Serbs want to join their mother territories to create "Greater Croatia" and "Greater Serbia." Therefore, these Bosnian Serbian and Bosnian Croatian territories should be adjacent to Croatia and Serbia. If they choose, they can join their respective motherlands. However each one of them should have free access to the sea. In my opinion, such a just plan is quite workable. The international borders of the three states could be secured by forces from most of the countries of the world, not just the UK, France and Russia.

Anwar Ul Haque, MD, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia

We can't adequately reproduce your suggested map, but it certainly seems to make sense. We feel strongly, however, that until the shooting stops, the U. N., led by the U. S., must treat this matter as one of cross-border aggression, allowing the Bosnian government forces access to weapons, doing whatever it takes to stop Serbia from supplying ammunition and artillery from outside, and applying the same rule to Croatia. After the shooting is stopped is the best time to try to work out arrangements that all three parties can accept.

The Awful Bosnian Situation

The situation in what was Yugoslavia is awful. The situation in Angola is worse. There are more people dying there and the U. S. has not even formally recognized the legally elected MPLA and is thus perpetuating that slaughter—and the Washington Report is beating the drum for us to go into Bosnia! I am dismayed at the position that the Washington Report has taken on this, and apparently for political reasons without consideration for the consequences.

Herbert G. Susmann, Palo Alto, CA

We can think of few political reasons to go into Bosnia. There are moral reasons, however, that we find compelling. Practically speaking, stopping a small war now to prevent it from becoming one or more big ones in a year or two is, we believe, a way to save, not waste, tens of thousands of lives, including those of American service personnel.

Pro-Zionist Murk

Here comes one more example of the pro-Zionist murk that obscures Americans' vision of the Middle East: Conor Cruise O'Brien's review in the May 9 New York Times Book Review of Benjamin Netanyahu's A Place Among the Nations.

O'Brien cites with approval the quaint argument that the Arabs ''hate'' Israel because it is a Western and infidel intrusion. He goes on to endorse the even more absurd contention that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are equivalent.

Forget "hate.'' The Arabs oppose Israel primarily for the plain and simple reason that present Israeli policy denies non-Jews equal rights. Thanks to the Washington Report for lighting the candle of objectivity instead of cursing the darkness of communalism.

Curtis F. Jones, Foreign Service Officer, retired, Chapel Hill, NC

Lobbying for Foreign States

I commend you for your outstanding job in covering the Middle East. You are about the only voice in the print media that covers this area fairly and objectively. As a Palestinian born in Lebanon, I have lost hope in finding a peaceful settlement to our problem as long as the Zionists rule the United States of America, my adopted home. Every time this country follows a collision course with the state of Israel, the Zionists win. The most recent instance was the $10 billion in U.S. loan guarantees. It is true they were delayed, but look at the end result. We all know the powerful Israel lobby in Washington is pulling all the strings in the Congress and the White House. How can we expect a just settlement for the Palestine issue when Israel can take our support for granted despite all the atrocities committed against the Palestinians by the Israelis? What would happen if another ethnic group started lobbying for a foreign country in the same fashion as much of the American Jewish community lobbies for Israel? I'm sure any other group would be charged with treason and disloyalty.

Let's move on to the Gulf war and what's left of Yugoslavia just to prove my point. Saddam Hussain of Iraq did not even come close to what the Serbs have done in Bosnia. The Serbs, like the Israelis, defy the international community day in and day out. I don't see sanctions imposed or any military intervention against either Israel or Serbia. These are the issues I felt I had to discuss with you after two years of reading your magazine from cover to cover.

I'm enclosing some pictures of Sumood, a Palestinian folk group which toured the United States in May and June. The group was established in 1988, a year after the beginning of the intifada, by young Palestinian men and women in the Palestinian town of Birzeit. The group's main goal is to contribute to the rebirth of Palestinian folklore and preserve the Palestinian heritage. The main theme of the group's songs is the commitment of the youth to the Palestinian cause. I took the enclosed pictures during the group's performance in the Los Angeles area. You may use them as you see fit.

Gus McHaul, Los Angeles, CA

We think it’s to use one of your photos with your letter, and that reading the Washington Report from cover-to-cover is a fit use of anyone's time.

Taking Issue On Azerbaijan

I would like to congratulate the Washington Report on its unbiased approach in tackling the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh in its May 1993 issue. The report gives an opportunity for the two opposing sides to present their own perspectives on this issue, thus enabling the readers to better understand the roots of this conflict.

It is rare to get the chance to read about the Azeri point of view; therefore, I was delighted to be given the chance to see what the Azeri side has to say.

Unfortunately, Dr. Rasizade uses this forum to score political points by trying to deceive the public into thinking that the pogroms committed against the Armenians (in the city of Sumgait) in 1988 were the natural consequences of the expulsion of the Azeris from Armenia. In fact, it was the other way around. The Sumgait massacres and the subsequent failure by the Soviet authorities to give the proper political evaluation, and to bring all those who were responsible to justice, resulted in the deepening of this conflict.

With a stroke of the pen Dr. Rasizade, the senior researcher at the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan and a visiting researcher at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University in New York, reduces the 3,000-year-old history of continuous Armenian presence in Karabakh to a mere 150 years, and labels the indigenous Armenian population "immigrants from Persia." In so doing, he takes away the basis of Armenian legitimacy for self-determination. He further insults the reader's intelligence by drawing a parallel between the struggle of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and a scenario where Armenians of Southern California could demand separation from California because of their large numbers.

It is astonishing to see that an academician with the stature of Dr. Rasizade would sign an article which is full of inaccuracies. Clearly, it is manipulative in spirit.

Zaven Zakarian, Roxboro, Quebec, Canada

A Narrow View of Armenia

The problem among Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan was given a very narrow view in Michael Collins Dunn's "Special Report" in your Juneissue. It seems that the Turkish government is trying to rewrite history on the Armenian genocide. This is much like what the Israeli government tries to do to the Palestinians.

Armenians for many years have asked the Turkish government to admit that they slaughtered and deported our people. Instead they follow Israel's example and rewrite history. Armenians in the motherland have been suffering since the 1988 earthquake. Living in shacks, they now have no fuel or electricity, due to the cutting of fuel lines by the Azeris.

Armenians and Palestinians are brothers and sisters. Although the world turns its back and refuses to see that we are stripped of our homeland and sent into diaspora, thank God we still have our pride. I never thought I would be writing an angry letter to you.

Sandra Semerdjian, Grand Blanc, MI

We had not the slightest doubt, however, that we would be receiving angry letters from old friends as we ventured into occasional coverage of the Azeri-Armenian war. Unfortunately, in the absence of some international action to halt the shooting, things there are going to get worse and worse as Russians, Iranians, and, perhaps, Turks become increasingly involved. We '11 brave the slings and arrows and count on our readers to correct our errors. So far, at least, even the most disapproving reader mail has been informative and polite, for which we thank the large number of Armenian Americans who have written. To be honest, we're still waiting to hear from Azeris, because this is an issue on which most Americans have very little information. We'd like to present both viewpoints accurately and let our readers make up their minds.

International Volunteers

In your readers' poll I answered that I found your coverage of U. S. policymaking informed and useful, but that your reporting on the Middle East often troubled me. The April/May issue I received today contains a dramatic example of the editorial practice which causes my reservations.

That issue's inside back cover presents four color photos of international volunteers in Bosnia and compares their action to the volunteers who fought to defend the Spanish republic against fascism. This comparison characterizes these volunteers in a fashion so one-sided that it approaches a tragic deception. Considerable information about the recruiting and activities of such international brigades has appeared in the British magazine Searchlight and the German bulletin Anti-info, which publish documentary and investigative reports on neo-Nazi groups.

One international brigade was founded by Eduardo Flores, sent to the war zone by the pro-fascist Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia. A second, the Black Legion, is commanded by former officers of the East German army. Both brigades include members of Le Pen's National Front and other French fascist groups as well as German neo-Nazis.

As for your comparison with Spain, on a tour in Germany neo-Nazi Harold Covington praised such volunteers in these words, "They have given a racist answer to the leftist International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War."

Clearly, numerous groups have entered the fighting in Bosnia with many different motives. Certainly, you would not knowingly provide support to the neo-Nazis among them. Neither can you unqualifiedly present the international brigades in Bosnia as a positive phenomenon. Despite your good intentions, unless we hear specifically why Keith, Kenney and Simon went to Bosnia, we cannot judge or support their actions.

Ken Todd, Austin, TX

We can add little to the captions provided by the French commercial agency that supplied the photos. The captions noted, however, that "not all " of the volunteers pictured were Muslim. "Kenny," the Belgian, is wearing a green headband, obviously signaling that he is a Muslim. In another photo, one volunteer is carrying a Saudi flag and another has a small Turkish flag. Our knowledge of European neoNazis, fascists, skinheads and followers of Le Pen is zero, yet we feel very certain that none parade through the streets of Europe carrying the f lags of Turkey or other Islamic countries or wearing green headbands. Some of the Muslim volunteers in Bosnia may well be funded by Iran and include Muslim extremists of the kind who supported fundamentalist leaders in Afghanistan. They would not, however, tee serving in a unit like the one pictured, under the flags it flies, and commanded by women officers like the one pictured. Bear in mind that these volunteers are supporting the Republic of BosniaHerSegovina, a multi-cultural government, not the rebel Serbian or Croatian militias within Bosnia, which very likely would attract international pan-Slav or neo-fascist elements, respectively, like those you describe.

Change Your Mailing Methods

I am writing you as an Arab American. I work for the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier. One day I happened to come across your respected magazine when I was delivering it to one of your subscribers who had moved. Since your magazine is sent bulk mail, I had no choice but to throw it away. May I suggest that you change your mailing method either by adding "Forward and Address Correction Requested" or by applying for a second-class license. It is a shame to see a great magazine like yours wasted.

Abdala Hilaly, Marysville, WA

Thanks. We can 't send the magazine second class without raising subscription rates, which we are reluctant to do. However, this is a good opportunity to remind all subscribers who are moving that sending a change of address form to the post office is not sufficient, since the post office will not forward bulk mail, including the Washington Report you've paid for, nor will it return the undelivered copy to us. So, we have no inkling that a reader no longer is receiving the subscription. Therefore, if you 're moving, please drop us your new address, using the postage-paid envelope at the center of the magazine.

Eloquent and Courageous Advice

The April/May issue seemed to me even better than ever, but especially the article on Arab Americans and Muslim Americans. It was not only eloquent but courageous. I keep running into people here and there who tell me how grateful they are for the magazine and I always suggest they write to you and say so. They probably never do, so I'm telling you for them.

Rachelle Marshall, Stanford, CA

You Made My Day!

I'm sure you have heard this many times, but thanks for putting out such a wonderful magazine! I am a college student in Tallahassee, FL and am very active in Palestinian/Middle East issues. I am the director of Tallahassee's chapter of the Palestine Aid Society and organizer of the walk-a-thon sponsored by PAS that took place in Tallahassee on June 5. Part of promoting the walk was going on local TV and radio shows. Can you imagine how frightened I was? Being a 19-year-old American who has never seen the land of Palestine, I was scared to death! Your magazine saved me, however. The day before I was to go on a one-hour call-in radio show, I got the June issue in the mail. That issue not only provided me with wonderful information, but it gave me the self-confidence to contribute successfully to educating the American public about the situation in Palestine. You guys made my day!

I will soon be moving from Tallahassee to Toledo, OH to complete my college education. I am very excited about the move because it will give me additional opportunities to meet Palestinians and to educate Americans about the situation. My desire is to work with existing organizations in the Toledo/Detroit area as well as organize new cultural and educational exchanges in the Toledo area between Arabs and Americans. To help make a difference, I'll need all the help I can get! If there is anyone reading this from that area interested in giving me ideas, contacts or support, please contact me. My address is 241X Talco Hills Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32303. My phone is (904) 386-4831. I look forward to hearing from interested individuals/organizations dedicated to promoting peace and justice in Palestine and the Middle East.

Deonna Kelli, Director, Palestine Aid Society, Tallahassee Chapter

Israeli Abuse of Arab Americans

Enclosed is a letter I have sent to President Bill Clinton and to Secretary of State Warren Christopher. You are welcome to refer to it in your commentaries on treatment of Americans of Palestinian origin in Israel. I regret to say that our government, in spite of its supposed enormous influence with the client state of Israel, has failed to give Americans of Palestinian origin protection in Israel from harassment, torture and downright humiliation.

Jesse Maali, President, Maali Enterprises, Inc., Orlando, FL

We have published your letter in "Other People's Mail" on page 45 of this issue. We share your grief and anger at the treatment of your mother by the Israeli authorities. We think it's safe to say that every American would agree, if anyone asked them, that the U. S. should cut aid to Israel until its officials stop behaving like Nazis, and that better than 80 percent of Americans would say stop all aid to Israel until it complies completely with U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 and makes the land-for peace agreement to which all of its Arab neighbors and the Palestinians (and six successive U.S. presidents, prior to Bill Clinton) already have agreed.

Sad to say, we see no evidence that either President Clinton or the Congress will do any such thing. We doubt that they will cut aid to Israel by one penny in 1994 or in any other year, until Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and all other Americans concerned with peace, human rights and fair play in the Middle East begin to vote as a one-issue bloc on Middle East questions, just as Israel's supporters in the U. S. boast that they do. To those who say that such one issue voting is un-American, and that stooping to such tactics would be degrading, we can only ask: Would it be more degrading than continuing to allow our elected officials to subsidize with our tax dollars a regime in Israel that systematically discriminates against its own citizens and those under its illegal military occupation solely on the basis of ethnicity and religion, and that, as a monger of official policy, takes pains to treat some of its American visitors like princes, and others like dirt? None of this is going to stop until Americans stop worrying about being called "anti-Israel" or "anti-Jewish'' and start worrying about how to become actively pro-human rights, pro-peace, and pro-rule of law in the Middle East. So long as our elected officials fear the Israel lobby and believe that, regardless of U.S. public opinion, there is no effective counter-lobby, American citizens like your mother will continue to be abused systematically in Israel, and U.S. diplomats or consular officials who raise serious questions about U. S.-Israel relations will continue to be transferred at the whim of the Israelis, as in the case of U. S. Ambassador William Harrop in Tel Aviv, whose warnings to the Israelis that U. S. aid could tee cut cost him his job this April.

A Busy Student

As a busy medical student, I don't have time to watch hours of news a day to glean what is happening in the Mideast from the fluff and the propaganda. I appreciate a source that I can read to find what is going on and to read about different opinions of people who are concerned about the Middle East.

Anne Flint, Salt Lake City, UT