September/October 1993, Page 5

Letters to (and from) Our Editors

Pro-Israel PACs

Recently I saw a listing of the top 50 PACs in terms of total dollar support to congressional incumbents. Can you explain how the Israel PACs might have missed being on that list? I'm sorry I can't be more specific about the list, but I didn't save it.

Joe Mengel, Cary, NC

In June 1992, Washington Post reporter Charles Babcock listed the nation 's top 50 PAC in terms of contributions to candidates for federal office. National PAC, 41^st on the list, is a pro-Israel PAC. Its name illustrates one unique feature of virtually all of the 116 pro-Israel PAC that have been acave at one time or another. Their names don't reveal their purpose. 7hey also are unique for their sheer numbers. The health care industry, real estate lobby, and savings and loan institutions have several PAC, but no other special interest has had at least 40 deceptively named PAC active in every election cycle for the past l0 years. When you total the spending on congressional candidates of all the pro-Israel PAC, the pro-Israel lobby has been the top or among the top two or three special interest spenders in every election cycle since 1982.

A Blanket of Fear

I notice in your letters columns that many people are almost pathetically grateful to you for trying to make the truth known. I, too, have been amazed in the couple of years I've read your magazine at how little of the factual information it provides is available elsewhere in the media.

It isn't a new term, but "conspiracy of silence" is really the only description. How can it be that we, with freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment, still do not, by tacit agreement, talk about something that should be talked about. Fear of being called "anti-Semitic" seems to enforce almost total silence. Your book, Stealth PAG, reveals what is covered up by this blanket of fear.

Israeli Jews can openly debate in the Knesset the problems between them and Arab Palestinians. But these problems are not raised in the U.S. Our representatives are frightened that they will be treated like their former colleagues Paul Findley, Pete McCloskey, William Fulbright, and others. Keep up the great work!

Owens Miller, Los Angeles, CA

Wondering about Libraries

Congratulations on your many improvements in WRMEA. Enclosed please find our annual contribution to the tax-exempt AET Library Endowment to help your efforts. I recently completed my annual course of study at Carlisle Barracks—the U.S. Army Military History Institute. While there I also visited the local Bosler Free Library concerning the status of its gift subscription to the Washington Report. I am wondering if you have any public relations literature to send librarians along with their renewed subscriptions for the ensuing year.

It is nice to see that CNI is going to have a page in your periodical.

Ralph D. garner, Randolph, NE

We contact 22,000 libraries once a year to ascertain their interest in purchasing or in receiving donated subscriptions to the Washington Report or library donation book packets. It is from the list of those who respond affirmatively that we select recipients for undesignated donation subscriptions. More than half of the total library recipients, however, are those who have subscribed on their own or for whom a local reader (or school graduate) has purchased a designated subscription.

More About Libraries

Early this year I submitted an order for a subscription for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs for our Corona City Library. The subscription was to begin with the March issue.

To date, the magazine has never appeared in the periodical section of the library. Last week I learned that it did not even appear on the "master list" of periodicals they carry. The library clerk advised that he would refer the matter to a superior and have her call me.

I placed a phone call to your office and verified that the library's subscription did start with the March 1993 issue. Today I contacted Elizabeth O'Brien, Adult Services Division Librarian, regarding the magazine. She was aware of my prior inquiries, but advised that in checking with the staff she had been told that no one had seen the magazine.

Since there appears to be some confusion, I wonder if it would be possible for you to have another copy of the current issue (July/Aug.) of WRMEA sent out to them immediately, while the mystery of the lost issues is being cleared up, and also personally verify that the subscription is in order. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Mrs. Joyce Bacon, Corona, CA

The library used a temporary address during a period of repairs but assures us it should have made no difference. In any case, the subscription is in order and another copy of the July/Aug. issue is on the way. Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish between the workings of Murphy 's Law and the maneuvers of book burners, but if donors of library subscriptions monitor use of their gift, as you are doing, it will make no difference. This is a straight First Amendment issue and it's important that librarians understand (as many apparently didn't at their New Orleans convention this year, see page 18) that the public's access to all the facts on controversial issues rests squarely in their hands, and those of readers like you who remind them of their responsibility.

Finding You in a Library

I am writing to you for two reasons: First, to enclose a check for my recently commenced subscription, along with a small extra contribution as I know you are in difficult financial straits.

The real reason for my correspondence is to express my heartfelt appreciation to this publication and everyone associated with it. I discovered the Washington Report entirely by accident when I was returning a book for my girlfriend in a Costa Mesa, California library. Having some time to kill, I went to the magazine section, where I happened onto your February issue. The experience is indelibly etched in my mind. That is how profoundly fortunate I feel for having stumbled across this wonderful periodical.

For years I have written letters to the local newspaper's editorial staff in response to one-sided pieces regarding Israel and the Middle East. Only once have I seen one of my letters published. It has gotten to the point that I don't bother writing anymore to the mainstream media on issues involving Israel. You cannot imagine my unmitigated joy upon finding that there was hope the truth was being disseminated in this country rather than being stifled by the almighty Israeli lobby. Then, just as an experiment, I went to several major book chains and stores to see if the Washington Report was offered at any of them. Not one had the magazine on sale.

Well, without making this into a novel, I called the minute I got home to subscribe. I have just received my third issue. My parents used to give me subscriptions to Mad Magazine for Christmas every year. Every month I would check the mail every day to see if Mad had arrived. That is how I feel when I am waiting for the Washington Report to arrive—like a kid awaiting a present. Your magazine is fantastic. Keep up the brilliant work.

Patrick Fennessy, Granada Hills, CA

P. S. If possible, could you send a copy of your March issue? I ordered too late to receive it.

Your March 1993 issue is on its way to you as a token of our appreciation for the extra contribution.

Mixing Religion and Politics

Howdy from Texas! Let me start by saying how much I appreciate the Washington Report on Mid dle East Affairs and the effort that you put forth to bring its readers a truer picture of what is happening in that ever important part of the world. I look forward to each issue to see the perspective not shown in the establishment media. I have been receiving the magazine since 1987, and have shared many articles with friends.

For the past year, I have been faxing important articles to the headquarters of the church of which I am a member—Philadelphia Church of God (Edmond, OK). In the most recent issue of our magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet, the lead article quotes from one of your articles about Iran. Please read the article very carefully and keep an eye on events with this perspective.

I was not asked to send this to you, but took the initiative myself. If you have any comments or questions please do not hesitate to contact me by phone or mail. Or, if you prefer, you can contact the church headquarters at P.O. Box 3700, Edmond, OK 730X3. I hope that this is of some benefit to you and your endeavors to inform your readers of the events in the Middle East.

Michael Turner, Plano, TX

Thanks for your letter and the enclosed article, which certainly does quote extensively from the Washington Report and other sources about the Middle East. The problem for us is that it seeks to relate these accounts of contemporary political events to Biblical prophesy from other eras. Before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, many of the same Biblical prophesies were being used by televangelists to forecast an Armageddon between the Soviet Union and the West. Now it's Islam and the West, with events in Israel triggering the catastrophes. We believe mixing religion with politics only complicates the necessary search for just solutions to political problems. But it's a free country— as long as we all work to keep it that way.

"Remember the Liberty"

I propose that the WRMEA advertise and sell "Remember the Liberty" bumper stickers. The bumper stickers can be obtained by contacting Robert Waltz (1081 Barrone Dr., Weirton, WV 26062, fax and telephone 304-797-0199), the current secretary-treasurer of the USS Liberty Veteran's Association (LVA), who also handles the sales of their memorabilia. The LVA also sells "Remember the Liberty" T-shirts, naval caps, etc., and you may wish to advertise these as well. The LVA retails the bumper stickers at $2.00.

Reverdy S. Fishel, Arlington, VA

We'll do better, by publishing your letter and letting readers contact the Liberty Survivor's Association directly to show their support for this patriotic group 's campaign for a congressional investigation of the June 8, 1967 attack by Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats on the USS Liberty, in which 34 U. S. Navy and U. S. National Security Agency personnel were killed and 171 wounded. As Admiral Thomas Moorer, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has pointed out, it's the only Naval disaster in U. S. history which has not been formally investigated. Members of the USS Liberty Survivor's Association think they know why. We think it's time for their fellow Americans to find out.

Impressive Words to Remember

I have just finished reading my first issue (which took 6 weeks to get to me) of the Washington Report. Just for the sake of statistics, cover to cover applies in my case too. I was particularly impressed with your item "Words to Remember." The subtle contrast in the randomness exhibited in this item and the consistency of the rest of the magazine is crucial to its credibility. The fact recital that goes on throughout your magazine is so squarely and potently aimed at thwarting right-wing Israeli propaganda that it might lead emotionally neutral readers (I am not one) to wonder about your objectivity. Further, I would like to see in your magazine a sampling of popular publications spanning the entire spectrum of positions in the Middle East and elsewhere in order to establish a good reference point.

Ali Charara, Westland, MI

Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Our problem dealing with U.S. relations with an area comprising some 45 countries is lack of space. Just as a reader asked us in a previous issue to denounce the Iranian fatwa condemning writer Salman Rushdie to death (we deplore it, if anyone cares), we must ask why. Rushdie and the entire world intellectual community that supports him have access to any mainstream U. S. journal and use it. Salman Rushdie doesn't need much of our precious space, as we believe he would agree. The same considerations apply to denouncing acts of skinheads and neo-Nazis whose targets in Europe are mostly Muslims and Jews, and in America are mostly African Americans and Jews. These "Aryan" fascists are obvious and gleeful human rights violators and their extremism sometimes provokes reactions in kind by their "enemies, " only compounding the many problems we would like to help solve. Not one in a thousand newspapers and magazines published in the U. S. would disagree with what we've just said, however, and many regularly devote dozens of pages to "exposes" of these bizarre, publicity-seeking hate mongers, wherever they appear. We're not needed to report on already well-documented U. S. hate groups like the Klan or skinheads.

Where we believe we are needed is to document developments in Middle East countries out of the media spotlight (Kashmir, Western Sahara, Sudan, etc.) so that when those areas explode there is a backlog off acts upon which U. S. government leaders and mainstream journalists can draw; to deal with the stories that the mainstream U. S. media will not publish (such as death squads in Israel in this issue); and, perhaps most important and most controversial, the reasons the U. S. mainstream media, Congress and the executive branch will not deal with such abuses even though in many cases it is U.S. foreign aid that makes them possible. that makes us seem relentless or single-minded, at least it 's in pursuit of the real U.S. national interest which, in our opinion, must tee squarely teased upon traditional American support for human rights, self-determination and fair play.

Frankly, it's a role no other major publication in the United States chooses to play consistently and across the board. If we expend our precious space on pack-journalism trivia, or proving our "even-handedness" by denouncing American Nazi thugs in Los Angeles along with Israeli fundamentalist thugs in the WestBank, there isn't going to be much room leftfor the unpopular but indisputable truths that no one else dares to print. Examples are the record of B'nai B'rith's Anti-Defamation League, which seems more sophisticated and better financed but otherwise not much different from other hate groups; or the bribing of Congress by pro-Israel PAG, which seems more effective and less reported but otherwise indistinguishable from the bribing of Congress by the tobacco, real estate, health care and gun lobbies. Anyway, that's how we see our role.

Print This Poem!

I received the enclosed poem, On the Road, from the writer, Taha Qaraqeh, a young poet who lives near Bethlehem in Deheisheh refugee camp, where he was born. He asked me to send it to you to publish. You published one of his poems (Taha's Song) received through Brother Patrick White in your issue of January 1991. Taha's poems have been published in different magazines in Europe and the U.S. The Pilgrim magazine also published a collection of his poems in a book. At the beginning of the intifada, Taha's right hand was broken by Israeli soldiers because he rejected an order to remove the barricades in Deheisheh camp.

Taha graduated in 1991 from the University of Bethlehem with a degree in Arabic Literature. He was admired in the university and by the faculty as a brilliant student able to express through poetry the Palestinian reality under occupation. That reality has impeded Taha from achieving his goals or even finding a job to support himself since his graduation.

Kevork Hovsepian, Marietta, GA

Not a month goes by without a "just this once" request from a subscriber or old friend to print some especially poignant or moving bit of poetry. But we only have so much space, and try to devote it solely to giving readers facts or viewpoints they can't find elsewhere. The exception for Taha's Song was because it was part of a beautifully written tribute to his Palestinian poetry students by their British teacher at Bethlehem University, Brother Patrick White, who now is spending a year in the U. S. We just don 't have space to print poetry, or time to read or space to print unsolicited manuscripts except in our letters columns and for our regular feature, "Seeing the Light. " The latter consists of personal accounts by others of the formative experiences that brought them to their present frame of mind on the Middle East or U. S. relations with it. Aside from fetters and that one department, there's just no more room at this inn.

Libya's Road to Washington?

Maybe Libya's attempt at dialogue with the Israelis wasn't such a misstep after all. The Libyans might well feel that the road to Washington goes through Israel. They have been under siege for a long time, and their survival as a nation must be uppermost in their minds. Is it possible that some shrewd people in the Israeli government might find it worthwhile to be in contact with the only country in North Africa that doesn't have a serious fundamentalism problem?

Unfortunately, in the U.S., both the government and the media (sometimes even including the Washington Report) have locked themselves into a kind of stereotyping that makes rational dealing with Libya impossible. If the U. S. really wanted to have a constructive policy toward Libya, and if the U.S. media really wanted to write intelligently about it, they could begin by dropping such adjectives as "unpredictable, erratic, bizarre. " Then the next step might be to try listening to what the Libyans have to say. They just might turn out to be no more puzzling than anybody else.

Ann Leggett, Long Island City, NY

You were prescient about Libya trying the Israel (or Israel lobby) key to Washington. See our story on Abraham So faer on page 31. Meanwhile we'll watch our adjectives. But how can anyone describe the recent visit to Jerusalem by Libyans, which seemed aimed at embarrassing Saudi Arabia by suggesting it is easier for a Libyan to make a pilgrimage to the Haram al-Sharif under Israeli occupation than to Mecca ? (Actually Libyans can go to either, so far as the host countries are concerned, so long as they don 't try to travel there by air directly from Libya, thus breaking the U.N. embargo.) After being met with fanfare at the Israeli border by hard-liners within the Israeli political establishment and traveling to Jerusalem, the Libyan pilgrims denounced the Israeli occupation and departed a day ahead of schedule. Assuming the pilgrims were just following instructions from home, those instructions did seem somewhat "unpredictable. "

Never Any Praise of Israel

I've just never found an article in your publication which gives any plaudits to Israel in its continuing struggle to survive.

Dr. Gerald S. Colvin, Daly City, CA

We believe Israel 's only chance to survive for the long term in the Middle East is to reach an internationally guaranteed peace agreement with the Palestinians and all of Israel's Arab neighbors based upon U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 of Nov. 22, 1967. That resolution has been endorsed by every U. S. president since that time, all of Israel 's Arab neighbors including the PLO, and at one time by the Israeli government of Prime Minister Golda Meir. We believe it is Americans who encourage Israel to thwart this land-for-peace agreement who are responsible for Israel 's growing peril in a region of some countries which, whether the Israelis like it or not, soon will catch up with them in nuclear capability and may already exceed Israel in surface-to-surface missiles capable of delivering nuclear and chemical warheads. For private Americans to encourage Israel to procrastinate, in hopes of getting a few more city blocks here, a few more hillsides there, is reckless insanity. It's these U.S. Likudniks, and those who listen to them in Israel, who get no plaudits in this magazine.

Bumper stickers For Austria

I should be very grateful to receive a bumper sticker (if they are still available) with the statement "Stop the Genocide in Bosnia & Hercegovina" printed on it. A friend brought one for me from the States when he was visiting and an Austrian acquaintance has requested one, too. If there is a charge, we would gladly send it to you.

Paula Abrams, Vienna, Austria

Fifteen stickers are on the way. If you can, please send us $2 for the first one and 50 cents for each additional copy. If you can 't, they're on us. Unfortunately, if your car is rear-ended, you may never know if the perpetrator was a Serb, Croat or Lord Owen .

You might also be interested to know that an internationally circulated English-language magazine in Malaysia incorporated our bumper sticker into its cover design. Now if only the world 's leaders would stop clucking and start halting the genocide by whatever means necessary.

A Powerful Message

The bumper sticker proposed by Joyce Bacon, "The U.S. gave Israel $6.3 billion this year. Have you paid your share?" (Washington Report, April/May 1993) sends a powerful message that could be further enhanced by augmenting the question. However, I would not want my car to become the potential target of individuals who do not believe in my right to free expression. SO, while I would gladly debate Israel supporters, I cannot place myself or my car at the mercy of an irrational pro-Israeli fanatic, and there are many.

For this message have you considered (1) strategically placed billboards across the nation, and (2) full-page ads in major newspapers? I would add to your message some further information (see below). Of course this is an expensive proposal. But if half of your subscribers are willing to put their money where their enthusiasm is, our common cause will be advanced. Here is my first $100 check toward this project, and I predict that if the WR advances this idea, there will be a flood of donations to fund it. Come on, fellow WR believers, we can do it.

Nabil N. Saaty, San Pedro, CA

Happily for us all, one Washington Report reader, a U.S. government retiree whose spouse is still in U.S. government service, liked the Bacon bumper sticker enough to donate $2,000 toward having one included with every U. S. subscriber copy of this Sept./Oct. issue of the Washington Report. It certainly could prompt discussions, hopefully not while the vehicle you attach to it is moving, but it's absolutely true. The $6.3 billion figure results from adding fiscal 1993's $2 billion in U. S. loan guarantees to Israel to fiscal 1993 's $4. 3 billion in economic aid (see table on page 17). If history is a guide, each billion dollars the U. S. guarantees for Israel ultimately will cost U. S. tax payers far more than a billion dollars. To date, Israel has never repaid a U. S. government loan because, eventually, the Congress forgives loans to Israel by turning them into grants which Israel then doesn't have to repay.

Since President Clinton has assured Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin there will be no decline in U.S. aid (which includes U. S. Loan guarantees) infiscal 1994, the bumper sticker will be valid at least through December 1994. Use it advisedly, however, because f or some Zionist fanatics the truth hurts.

We'll take this opportunity to reassure another reader (and donor) who scolded us for spending nearly $4,000 to enclose a "Stop the Genocide in Bosnia & Hercegovina " bumper sticker in every U. S. subscriber copy of the April/May issue, while our own financial position is so precarious. Mr. Ibrahim Al-Wazir, the Yemeni-American Islamic democrat who contributed the initial

$1,000 to get that project started, subsequently contributed another $1,000 and brought in two more donors, one of whom contributed $1, 000 and the other, $2,000. Regarding your idea for billboards or full page ads, a full-page ad in The Washington Post costs $47,000. A quarter-page ad costs $11,000. We doubt that our readers can generate that level of funding, so we'll keep your $100 check uncashed until we see. Meanwhile, here's how such an advertisement, with some of your suggested additions and some of ours, looks when typeset. Readers are free to place it in any publication that's free or they can pay for. We'll be happy to send the publication "camera-ready copy, " if asked.

Unquestioning Support

Regarding the article by Paul Findley published in your June/July '93 edition, entitled: "Clinton Under Pressure to Grant Clemency to Pollard," it is obvious that some American Jewish organizations and religious leaders have a double standard when it comes to an American citizen being convicted of spying for Israel, and an Israeli citizen being convicted of spying for humanity (like Mordecai Vanunu). According to correspondent David Hoffman, in an article published in The Washington Post weekly edition of June 14-2O, 1993, the Israeli courts have apparently tried in secret an unknown number of Israeli Jews, whose whereabouts are unknown. This has been exposed by the case of Yossi Amit, who was abducted, tried and secretly sentenced to 12 years in prison, starting in 1987, for spying for the U.S. Yossi Amit apparently has endured poor prison conditions in Israel, including five years in solitary confinement, and only recently was permitted some freedom of contact with the outside world, enabling him to inform people of his abduction, secret trial and conviction.

The contrast in treatment of such cases by Israel and its supporters is confirmation of an attitude that freedom, privilege and basic human rights should only be awarded to people who support Israeli policies without question, even if in offering their support these individuals break laws.

Margaret King, The Woodlands, TX

A Letter From Senator Boxer

Enclosed is Senator Boxer's response to a letter of mine decrying the expulsions in December. Its distortion of facts I found insulting in that it presupposed a lack of information in her constituency.

Enclosed also is my response to her letter. I think these senators should be embarrassed. If you find these letters helpful, please print them.

C. Dickson Titus, San Francisco, CA

We are printing Senator Boxer's letter in full and an abridged version of your response in "Other People's Mail " on page 42. Perhaps the greatest embarrassment a member of Congress can suffer is having his or her letters to constituents on the Middle East exposed to an informed readership like that of the Washington Report.

Clinton's Bosnia Policy

Enclosed is a letter sent to President Clinton addressing the administration's policy in Bosnia. I also compliment your fine publication. It is well-written, and the most accurate and fairest publication regarding the Middle East. It seems to be the last bastion of untainted journalism in this country, free of the regular slant toward Israel that has become most apparent in other magazines and newspapers.

The words which you write are part of a battle for freedom and help to establish a level of fairness toward the Arab and the Muslim in America. Thank you and good luck.

Mohamed Sarhan, Warwick, RI

We have never before printed such a long letter on Bosnia as yours. However, in our 1I years of publication, the case for U. S. action has never been more urgent, or desperate. Your fetter appears on page 46 of this issue's "Other Peoples 'Mail. " We hope it may help save Bosnia, the honor of America, and the vision of history and civilization that, up to now, both have represented.

Information Needed

Thanks for your response to my previous query. I can think of no better source of information for my next inquiry than your magazine. I have a recollection that although Israel has claimed its June 1967 attack against Egypt was "pre-emptive," present Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has said that Egypt was not prepared to attack Israel at that time, nor would it have been able to for some time. This would reinforce the notion that Israel, and not the Arab states, was the aggressor in 1967, as in 1956, 1982 and, arguably, in 1948. If you could confirm this statement by Mr. Rabin, or possibly direct me to the source of the quote, it would be greatly appreciated.

E.C., Jr., Washington, DC

Your memory's good and, as you say, Israel indisputably initiated the wars of 1956, 1967 and 1982. Egypt and Syria launched the 1973 attack, but only to recover their own occupied territories, and they kept the fighting confined to those territories. Both sides blame the other for the fighting during the 1947-1949 period, which broke out many times and in many places but ended up with Israel in possession of virtually everything allotted to it by the 1947 U. N. partition plan, along with half the territory allotted by the U.N. to the Palestinian Arab state. The early 1968 quote you remember by the then-Israeli Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin was: "I do not believe that Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent into Sinai on May 14 would not have been enough to unleash an offensive against Israel He knew it and we knew it. " An Israeli cabinet member, Mordecai Bentove, said in 1972 that Israel's "entire story" about "the danger of extermination " was "invented of whole cloth and exaggerated after the fact to justify the annexation of new Arab territories. "Former Congressman Paul Findley's brand-pew book, Deliberate Deceptions: Facing the Facts About the U.S.-Israeli Relationship, from which both these quotations are taken, goes into some detail recounting both myths and facts about the origins of each of Israel 's wars. (See entry in AET Book Club Catalog .)

The Missile Attack on Iraq

The first thought that comes to mind is Bismarck's remark that "There seems to be a special Providence that looks after fools, idiots, and the United States of America. " Perhaps the English poet was correct when he said: "Where ignorance is bliss [i.e., a large part of the American electorate and political leadership], 'tis folly [for the president, or someone aspiring to that office] to be wise!"

The United Nations, with the world's only current 'superpower' controlling it, has imposed severe restrictions on the lives of some of the world's people—particularly the Iraqis! Where is the 'supreme court' to which the Iraq's of the world may appeal for relief?

Both President Clinton and his principal adviser (Hillary) are lawyers—and thus should understand the 'rule of law' with its fundamental core of 'fairness' and 'objectivity'! (Also, 'innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt' through 'due process of law'!) Where was the legal 'precedent' for depriving Iraq of its weapons because of its 'aggression'? In my judgment, the real difference between Iraqi aggression in 1990 and British/French 'aggression' against Egypt in 1956 at Suez is cultural bigotry! (Are you listening, good Christians Bill and Hillary?)

The 'evidence' against Iraq in the alleged 'plot' to blow up former President Bush that I have seen described in the press certainly does not appear to be conclusive—because all of it could be rather easily fabricated by a clever and experienced entity such as Mossad!

When a crime is committed by unknown persons, one of the first questions asked by those responsible for solving it is: who stood to benefit? (Who, for example, inherits the deceased's wealth?) So many of these 'terrorist' acts that tend to turn the U. S. public against Arabs seem to happen around the time Israel is entering peace talks! That is the case this time, also!

Recently a network TV newsman stated that a 'high-ranking' Iraqi official had previously told him that Iraq hoped for 'improved relations' with the new U.S. administration. The 'assassination plot' seems effectively to have torpedoed any such possibility in the near future.

I am confident that in time reasonably intelligent and fundamentally fair-minded Bill (and Hillary) Clinton will realize that he has been had! But, the 'revelation' will likely fit the timing of the old Pennsylvania Dutch expression: "We get old too soon and smart too late! " I have written much of thic rtirPrt_Iy to Bill Clinton. But I am not important enough, and all I receive back is a preformed acknowledgment from some low level flunky. (I was one of them opening the mass of incoming mail during the 'Transition'!)

I am sure that what I send is not read by anyone in a position to act or bring it to the proper attention for consideration! I am hoping, therefore, that if some of what I have written gets published in the Washington Report, subscriber Chelsea or another Clinton intimate will bring it to Bill or Hillary's attention.

Roger D. Leonard, Bowie, MD

A Victim Returns to Kuwait

Because your magazine was so helpful in calling public attention to our plight, we want you to know that we have just returned to California from Kuwait, where in the courtroom my sister Naimat Farhat positively identified the man who raped and attempted to kill her, and who assassinated my father, Ismail, and brother, Usama, just after the liberation of Kuwait. We are pleased that after more than two years the Kuwaiti government has taken the first step in prosecuting the criminals.

However, in order for justice to be fully served, the Kuwaiti government must bring before the court the men who arrived with the assassin at our home and left only after he was inside and holding my family at gunpoint, no matter to whom this prosecution might lead.

Before describing our experience in Kuwait, I wish to offer my thanks to U.S. Ambassador Edward Gnehm and the Lebanese Embassy representative in Kuwait for their public statements in our support. Also I wish to extend my appreciation to all those people along the way who were so helpful to us.

Many people in Kuwait came forward to tell us of their support. On the street, in the court, at the hotel, we received the blessings of Kuwaiti citizens and non-citizens. People afraid to identify themselves called us on the telephone with words of appreciation and encouragement. Workers at the hotel were most gracious to us, happy to see that someone who has suffered abuse is receiving a hearing from a frequently unresponsive government.

It was not easy to be in Kuwait, nor to prepare for the trip there. Initially, the Kuwaiti ambassador said that he would pay for all our tickets to Kuwait. Actually, the Kuwaitis sent only one ticket, which didn't meet our conditions or conform to the public offer to meet all our expenses. I returned that ticket and the $1,000 which came with it and paid $12,000 out of my own pocket to make the trip.

Long ago we stipulated full security for Naimat and her traveling party while in Kuwait. Shortly before leaving London for Kuwait, we were informed that there would be one security guard to meet us on our arrival there. Only after I threatened to call a major news conference and, if necessary, turn around and leave Kuwait if there was only one guard to meet us, did the Kuwaiti officials delegate about a dozen security agents for our protection.

As we began our stay in Kuwait, one condition after another of the agreement upon which we based our trip to Kuwait was violated. There was no interpreter for Naimat's English-speaking American attorney, Jennifer Green. There was no attendant nurse provided for Naimat, who is partially paralyzed from the attack against her. Contrary to our desire to stay at a hotel across the street from the U.S. Embassy, the Kuwaitis took us to another, where the rooms contained hidden eavesdropping microphones.

Since I felt our rights to privacy were violated at the hotel by the eavesdropping devices in our rooms, I accepted the Kuwaiti government's offer to pay for the hotel. Additionally, no cameras were allowed in the courtroom and Naimat's testimony was not delivered in public session as demanded.

On July 17, Naimat was taken to the court at 9 a.m. to identify the suspect and to testify. No one informed us until we arrived at the court that our case would not be heard until the afternoon. You can imagine the additional strain that the change of schedule put upon Naimat, who had been up most of the previous night preparing herself psychologically for her morning appearance.

When we returned in the afternoon, unbelievably, we were taken up in the elevator with one of the men who was to be in the lineup of suspects from which Naimat was to identify the assassin. The man in the elevator looked very much like him. We had been told (and read in the media) that the suspect was partially paralyzed. The man in the elevator with Naimat had crutches and appeared to be physically impaired.

Confronted with the men in the lineup, one of whom she assumed would be the murder suspect, Naimat tentatively pointed out the man from the elevator, whose features by then were burned into her mind. The men left and, to our surprise, another group of men shuffled into the courtroom.

Naimat looked carefully at the second group, who by then were standing behind bars on a platform a few feet above the courtroom floor where she stood, leaning on her cane. Then, without hesitation, she ordered one of the men to step down and face her, there on the courtroom floor, so that she could look closely at his face and compare his height to hers.

Standing about one-and-a-half meters away from the slouching man who had raped her and then put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger on a faraway morning in a nearby Kuwaiti suburb, Naimat studied his face intently. "Stand straight," she said. And when he did so she compared with her eyes her memory of the dimensions of her assassin.

The courtroom was absolutely silent as Naimat's large dark eyes peered out below the white scarf that covers the great scar below which bullet fragments still are lodged in her brain. The suspect was changed. His head was shaved, his beard gone, his moustache thicker, end he had lost weight. But his eyes, his height and his demeanor could not be changed.

"This is the one, " said Naimat, with absolute certainty. Then she declared in a firm clear voice, "If I don't get my rights in this court, I'll get my rights in the hereafter. I want you, the people who are with you, and the people who are protecting you! " Again the silence. Then the judge asked the accused, "What is your name?"

"My name is Jaber Abdullah Al-Motairi Al-Omairi," he responded.

Hearing the name of the accused murderer of her father and brother, Naimat screamed and then grew faint. A chair was brought, and she slumped into it, crying. The judge told the court that the victim had identified the accused assailant. The court was adjourned. Naimat remained, however, and in a closed hearing related the story she had told so many times before of the armed men claiming to represent the authorities who forced their way into our family home after midnight on March 2, 1991.

We hope that the Kuwaiti authorities will broaden the investigation and bring to trial all of the suspects, no matter from what position in Kuwaiti society. And, of course, we believe it is far past time for the Kuwaiti government to fulfill its financial responsibilities to my family. From the beginning I have requested that the Kuwaiti government authorize a representative to meet with representatives of my sister, who requires further surgery and who may require medical care for the rest of her life, in order to settle the reparations issue.

It was a long hard journey to Kuwait and back. The exhaustion of the trip is forgotten, but not the memories. Some are of pathetic attempts to throw us off balance in Kuwait and others are of kind and helpful people who made the unbearable possible for Naimat. It is that final memory that we will hold while we wait for justice to take its course.

Naim Farhat, Santa Cruz, CA

Editor's note. The Farhat family were Lebanese citizens of Palestinian origin who had lived for many years in Kuwait, where Naimat's father, Ismail, was a Kuwaiti government employee. The assault on the family, conducted by men in uniform, occurred immediately after Kuwait's liberation from Iraqi occupation, during a period when many non-citizens complained of vigilante squads apparently seeking to frighten those non-Kuwaitis who stayed throughout the occupation into fleeing. The case was described in detail in an article on page 58 in the November 1991 edition of the Washington Report.

Both books described in these letters are available from the AET Book Club. They are Stealth PACs, list: $14.95; AET: $11.95 for one, $14.95 for two, and Deliberate Deceptions, list: $14.95; AET: $12.95.