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| —Voices from the Sensible Center— Interpreting the Middle
East for North Americans— Inside This Issue 1 Special Report—Dwight Eisenhower was the only U.S. President to stand up to the Israel lobby until Ronald Reagan's first term when we began to see "It's Reagan or Begin" bumper stickers. The difference was that Ike won, but Reagan blinked. Will the lobby win the second Reagan round as easily? 2 Editorial—Maybe if we speak more frankly to each other about the Middle East now, we'll save ourselves grief in the future. 3 Policy—Let's buy a yellow ribbon for the State Department Arabists. They've been held hostage by the Israel lobby for 40 years. 4 Congress—While Congress congratulates itself on its successful passage of a foreign aid bill, let's not overlook the fact that Israel walked away with a third of all our economic and military aid, worldwide. 5 Lobbies and Activists—While Arab-American groups published how-to-do-it manuals for citizen action, Israel's lobby published talking points to demonstrate that some of the $450 million the U.S. taxpayer will be paying this year to fund production of the Lavi fighter plane in Israel will return to U.S. firms. 6 Media—Despite complaints to the networks about ethnic stereotyping, Jack Shaheen notes, in 1985 there are only two kinds of television Arabs: Invisible heroes and visible villains. 9 Trade and Finance—To continue funding their five-year-old war, Iran is making barter deals, and Iraq is opening a new oil pipeline through Saudi Arabia. 10 Personality—Meet Jeremy Levin, one of America's "forgotten hostages" of Beirut, who wouldn't stay hostage; and his wife, Sis, who wouldn't let us forget him. 10 Book Review—The first Syrian immigrants to the U.S. planned to make a bundle and return to the old country, but they were hooked on the challenges, the opportunities, and the freedom. Alixa Naff talked to these old timers, many of them backpack peddlers, and tells us just how it was in Becoming American. |