September 1995, pgs. 3, 107-110

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor are selected, edited and abridged on the basis of relevance, accuracy, taste and available space. The editors do not have facilities to respond to individual letters, or to clear in advance published letters, as edited, with the writers.

More About the Lavi Jet

As a Lebanese-American and a Member of Congress with an abiding interest in the Middle East, I have read with interest the July/Aug. 1995 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

I was especially intrigued by the article by Donald Neff with respect to the Lavi jet, appearing on pages 47, 110 and 111. The reason for my interest is that in 1984, during a heated debate on the floor of the House of Representatives, I argued against continued funding for the Lavi jet, and I offered an amendment to end that funding. This was, of course, years before the United States finally saw fit to stop funding Israel's so-called warplane which was, as I knew at the time, destined to fail.

It was my thought, since no mention was made of it by Mr. Neff, that you might wish to advise your readers that there were, in fact, efforts made (though doomed to fail), to stop funding the Lavi jet, which was using American taxpayer funds and American technology, within a year of entering into the agreement with Israel in the first place. Had my amendment been adopted, we would have saved over a billion dollars at least four years earlier than August 1987 when (as Mr. Neff reports) the U.S. finally woke up to the waste. For that reason, I am pleased to enclose copies of the House debate, and the vote which occurred on my amendment in 1984, in the event you would be interested in providing your readers with a follow-up on the subject of U.S. involvement with the failed Lavi jet project.

In the interim, may I express my deep appreciation for the contribution you make to a better understanding of Middle East affairs through publication of the Washington Report, I always look forward to reading it, to sharing it with friends, and to adding each volume to my personal library. With warm regards,

Nick J. Rahall, II, Member of Congress, (D-WV), Washington, DC

Thanks for your kind words and the useful information on the Lavi and other boondoggles, about which we'll continue to keep readers informed.

How to Help Mordechai Vanunu

Kenneth Iman (letter July/Aug.) asked how he could help nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu, who is serving his 10th year of solitary confinement in an Israeli jail. Mr. Iman may wish to get involved with the U.S. Campaign to Free Mordecai Vanunu, which is an organization run by a tireless group of volunteers dedicated to ending Vanunu's cruel and undeserved punishment. The address is 2206 Fox Avenue, Madison, WI 53711.

John Dirlik, Point Claire, Quebec

Israel's Atomic Stockpile

I wish you would provide more information regarding Israel's Dimona atomic stockpile and U.S. violations of its own laws by sending "annual grants" despite the "Proxmire Amendment."

Charles Frederique, Great Neck, NY

How Are You Correcting This Error?

Re the picture caption on the back cover of your June 95 issue, how is it being corrected? I suggest one solution would be to run the photo again with the corrected caption in bold-face type.

Let me take this opportunity to say that your magazine appears to be one of the few, if not only, to print the Middle East news—the only show in town.

K. Balian, San Francisco, CA

The caption on the back cover photo of the June 1995 issue showed four young Armenian residents of Israel/Palestine outside the West Jerusalem office of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin protesting the strengthening of Israeli-Turkish ties and holding signs calling for "world condemnation of genocide committed by Turkey" against Armenians during World War I. Unfortunately we misspelled "condemnation," erroneously turning it into "commendation." It's the kind of mistake that no computer spellcheck catches. A couple of readers mentioned it on the telephone but yours is the first letter on the subject. We assume the error was so obvious that few readers were puzzled as to what we meant to say, so we'll leave it at that. Oddly, one Middle East-born reader suspiciously asked whether the young people were professional models, since all were so good-looking, but he hadn't noticed the misspelled word. In any case, we regret the error.

Failure of Reporting

Unlike the Washington Report, most American media fail to report the atrocities Israel inflicts on the Palestinians. Dealing with the PLO, they describe "terrorism," but with Israel it's "military action." They always report on numbers of Jews killed, but seldom on how many Palestinians are killed by Israeli military or settlers. Thanks for avoiding such very biased reporting.

Ms. Sarah Miller, Toms River, NJ

You're Not Non-Mainstream

The Washington Report to me is an example to all other publications of the U.S. media. No stupid apologetics to coddle fealty toward the readership for Israel. I am, however, tired of you describing yourselves as non-mainstream. This only marginalizes the Washington Report, and its devotees. Can it be that we are still climbing the ladder to respectability? Pray for the day when others follow your bright example. You have my highest esteem, and respect. Shokran!

John Stich, Slidell, LA

You're right. Our views really are mainstream. The problem is that we're all alone in expressing them in journalistic rather than in purely academic format.

Like Your Balance, Hate Your Jumps

I like your balanced approach, offsetting U.S. media mindsets, but wish you could run your articles on consecutive pages more than you do. I find myself jumping to the "continued" page so often that it's an annoyance.

Mr. William Chanatry, Utica, NY

Despite our "controversial" stands on political issues, we get virtually no complaints on that score, other than from readers who say, accurately we confess, that sometimes we "pull punches" rather than lay out the whole bitter truth about Israel in covering the Israel-Palestine dispute. We do this to avoid making life even more difficult for librarians who fight the good fight to keep on their shelves at least one objective publication (ours) about the Middle East. As for your complaint about article placement, since less than half of our magazine consists of four-color pages, we generally put the beginning of an article, with photos, on a four-color page and the continuation on a black-and-white page in order not to "waste" the four-color capability. Maybe when we hit 100,000 circulation we can afford to switch to all color and eliminate the problem.

Passing Out

The Washington Report is great because it brings the news that is not published in the American press. I pass the magazine around to my friends and at least 25 to 35 people read my one issue! Keep up the good work!

James G. Peters, Brookline, MA

Before we get carried away and start claiming between one and one-and-a-half million readers, let us suggest that some of those 25 to 35 get subscriptions of their own and start passing their copies around.

Misguided Christians Help Israel

Give more attention to the Christian connection—it is the Christians who keep Israel alive and Christianity that keeps Americans from seeing the light.

Dr. John Hartung, Brooklyn, NY

Our board chairman and monthly columnist Rev. L. Humphrey Walz will love your letter, since he always has more copy to submit than we have space to print it. As increased circulation and advertising allow the magazine to enlarge, his column "Christianity and the Middle East" can get longer.

Holy Writ

The Washington Report is our Middle East Bible and Qur'an combined. Keep up the good work.

Mr. & Mrs. Ahmed Ayish, Elyria, OH

And keep up your good reading, but don't neglect the originals.

Who Has Control of Our Policy?

I would like to re-join your Choir of Angels as a Hummer (I never could sing) and to that end am enclosing my check for $100.

I sincerely hope that "American Perceptions of the Arab-Israel Dispute" are really changing. In intellectual circles no doubt that is true, but so many Americans seem utterly unaware or unconcerned about what is going on outside of their own personal interests.

I am 93 and was happy to have lived long enough to see the collapse of the communist empire and Germany re-united. But I have little hope of seeing a just peace established in the Middle East. Zionism seems too completely in control of United States policy. I hope I am wrong.

In all events, I feel you are doing wonderful work which will bear fruit in the long run.

Blanche C. Kerr, Los Angeles, CA

P.S. If this entitles me to a free book, please send The Passionate Attachment to Senator Robert Dole.

Welcome back to the choir for 1995. The late George Ball's book will go to Senator Dole with your letter as printed in this issue by way of explanation.

AIPAC Has Our Leaders by the Neck

The Washington Report is a very informative magazine. As an American of Palestinian origin, I lost my hope of our American government being fair in the Middle East. AIPAC has everybody in high positions in this country by the neck, from President Clinton down to Congress. But you keep our hopes up a little bit. Thank you for a job well done and God bless you!

Name withheld by request

Believe it or not, the vast majority of Americans who are informed about the Middle East agree with you that neither Israel nor its American cash cow are at all fair to the Palestinians. People are just afraid to say so. Our job is to give such folks enough courage to make it possible, perhaps imperative, for politicians who want to be elected and journalists who want to be read to start supporting a truly even-handed U.S. policy in the Middle East.

An Ode to Number One

The Washington Report is my oasis in a desert devoid of serious news about the Middle East. I anxiously await it and read it cover to cover with its objective reporting and extensive coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It has to be number one!

Mr. Mazen Awad, Gainesville, FL

With all due humility, it is number one!

Thanks for the Memories

I grab your magazine from the mailbox. It was through the Washington Report that I became a Palestine Aid Society delegate last year and it was a trip I will never forget. Thanks!

Ms. Jean Kersting, Kirkwood, MO

We've been matchmakers for more than a decade, starting with the marriage of an early business manager to one of our student interns. They're now the parents of two children in Texas, and we're still here to serve.

Mandatory Reading

The Washington Report is mandatory reading for those who don't dwell in apathy and who aren't "pack oriented," but genuinely care about the conditions under which people live in the Middle East. I agree with you on defending the rights of all indigenous peoples, but disagree with you on the Bosnian war. The Serbs of Bosnia need protection from the tyranny of the majority there.

Michael Skramstad, Phoenix, AZ

With all due respect, we can't help hoping those Serbs who have decided they don't want to live in peace with their neighbors will continue needing protection.

U.S., Israeli and Palestinian Wages

The enclosed article by Sever Plocker in Yediot Ahronot contains some amazing assertions regarding Israel's GDP and per capita income which I have no reason to dispute. Sever Plocker (also spelled Plotzker) is a reliable reporter. In this article he did not correct for inflation nor explain how he converted from the highly variable shekel to U.S. dollars. Nevertheless, the shekel has been stable at $0.33 for over a year so his figures for 1995 should be reliable.

I am sending it to you for your interest. If the figures are correct, the annual per capita income of Palestinians, now as low as $800, dropping from a high of $1,200 three years ago, seems even more disgraceful.

Frank Collins, Woodbridge, VA

We have reprinted the article in "Other Voices" on page 114. Since it was distributed on May 2 on the Prodigy on-line service and originated with the Information Service of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, we have to assume that it is valid or that the Israeli government would like us to think so. Either way, if Plocker's figures are correct, Israeli per capita GDP will reach $15,000 this year and the average Israeli wage will reach $1,500 per month. Since Plocker says the average American wage is $1,550 per month, his figures indicate that, based on present growth rates, the Israeli average wage will surpass the American average wage in a matter of months.

This only highlights the absurdity of the present U.S. foreign aid program, which devotes more than one-third of U.S. foreign aid worldwide to Israeli recipients who may soon be receiving higher average wages than the American taxpayers who are providing the aid.

Directing Political Donations

I would appreciate a list of representatives and senators who are not beholden to the "Israel Lobby." I would like to direct my donations toward them.

Dr. James F. Faith, Argyle, TX

We'll try to comply by printing regular listings of recipients of pro-Israel political action committee donations, starting early in the 1996 election year, and by bringing out toward the end of 1995 a fourth, updated edition of our book on the subject: Stealth PACs: Lobbying Congress for Control of U.S. Middle East Policy. It contains complete tables on the career totals of campaign donations accepted from more than 120 named pro-Israel PACs by every individual present and past member of Congress since 1976.

Send Your Magazine Around

I wish, somehow, that this magazine could be sent to our president, members of Congress and pro-Israel writers and newspapers.

Elmer Singelyn, Menlo Park, CA

You'll either be gratified or horrified to learn that subscriptions, donated by our subscribers, go to President Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chelsea Clinton's school library, several members of the White House staff, officials of the Departments of State, Commerce, Defense and the CIA, and nearly every U.S. ambassador in the Middle East. At least one subscription goes to every one of 535 members of Congress, in most cases from a named resident of their congressional district. Many journalists subscribe on their own, and others receive it from grateful or outraged readers, viewers or listeners. A pessimist must ask, if all these people know how harmful their Middle East actions are, how can they continue to act the way they do? An optimist can respond, if they didn't know, think how much worse their actions might be.

Impossible to Scan You

Your magazine is impossible to scan through, unlike Time, Newsweek , etc. In fact, I only read a few pages at a time because of anger, frustration and, too often, pain!! Unfortunately even with the changes in Congress we still have a president and presidential candidates plus Congress who willingly play the "Price is Right"—the least statesmen money can buy!

Harriet Gelfusu, Johnston, RI

An Urgent Middle East Message

As I watch the evolving relationship between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East, I feel impelled to offer reflections and suggestions, based on a long history of involvement with both the Jewish and the Palestinian peoples. Both peoples are close to my heart, and their peaceful coexistence is a goal that I strive for by every means I can.

I have been a friend and champion of the Jewish people for many years. Before and during World War II, I worked to bring Jewish refugees out of Europe. Some I took into my home and business—where they became valued colleagues. Though not myself Jewish, I served as publicity director for the United Jewish Appeal in my community. I rejoiced when Israel was reborn.

Then, in 1949-50, I served as an unpaid volunteer on the Quaker/U.N. team that administered relief for 200,000 Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip. I saw at first hand their suffering and privation, and my heart went out to them. So, I have a stake in both sides of the conflict.

Our country has come down firmly on the side of Israel. All told, more foreign aid from the United States goes to Israel than to the rest of the world combined. But this aid carries with it some grave dangers. Without this aid the situation in Israel, as matters stand today, would be desperate—if not hopeless. But that aid is doomed to stop—or wither away. Let me tell you why.

It will not be through any lack of good intentions, but because of powerful economic forces which already are at work. The United States is suffering from enormous and rapidly growing maldistribution of ownership and income. The masses of the American people can no longer buy anywhere near as much as they produce. The nation's economy keeps running by virtue of the astronomical expansion of debt. The federal debt alone is close to the incredible sum of five thousand billion dollars—and it's growing. To this must be added a comparable sum of state and private debts.

This borrowing is like a drug which must be taken in ever-increasing doses—until it kills the addict. The annual interest on the debt already has reached staggering proportions. The crash is coming as it did in 1929—only worse—when the U.S. economy will fall apart and the government will be bankrupt. Under existing conditions that would be almost a death knell for Israel.

I see one way out. Negotiations to date have been fundamentally adversarial. A clean sweep is required. The nations of the Middle East must come together and form a community, as happened in Western Europe when historic enemies came together, following the most devastating war in history, and formed a successful community.

Israel and the entire Arab world can come together in such a community if Israel will take the lead. Close economic integration is called for. Individual national security must give way to group security. Strong nations must give help to the weak. Massive Western help (while it lasts) must be pumped into Palestine to restore it as a healthy, functioning nation. Israel must ease off on the settlements. Jerusalem might be made an international city with both Israeli and Palestinian governments there. In a word, we must give history a new turn.

There will be lots of problems. It will take a while to outgrow terrorism, after all that the Jews and Arabs have been through. But it can be accomplished with time. There will be population problems. Refugee populations tend to grow rapidly. Population in the Gaza Strip has grown from 200,000 refugees and 70,000 natives in 1949 to a total of 900,000 today. The doubling time there is about fifteen years.

These problems can be tackled wisely and humanely in the context of community. Without community the Israelis and Palestinians are set for a spiral of escalating violence, without hope of long-time well-being for either side. And the entire Arab world will lose out as well.

Ernest Morgan, Burnsville, NC

We would add just two points. The 21 Arab states have their community, the Arab League, which is at about the same stage as the European Union. It should come together more rapidly because most of the members share a language, Arabic (the exception being Somalia), and all share the same culture. However, just as the Europeans so far haven't gotten together politically, taking opposite sides even on Bosnia, neither have the Arabs, as we saw during the Gulf war. The idea of Israel fitting into either such union boggles our minds, but the idea of an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian customs union does not seem beyond the realm of immediate possibility if the Israelis finally carry out U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 without further pettifoggery and give equal rights to their own Christian and Muslim citizens.

Angry, Sick and Hopeless

I am angry! I read every article in your magazine but it makes me sick! And hopeless at the power of the Israeli lobby. I am angry that our congressmen, senators and our president are selling their souls for the sake of Israeli money!

Gabor Marossy, Middletown, OH

Good! Stay angry while others who are slower to ignite reach the boiling point and maybe someday those you name will be more afraid of losing the American people's votes than the Israel lobby's money. That money, of course, is your taxpayer money granted to Israel and then recycled back to corrupt the U.S. political system through a thousand law firms, publicists, tax-exempt non-profit organizations, media and public relations specialists, registered and unregistered lobbyists, and political action committees.

The Fight Against Propaganda

Your coverage of Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and related political, cultural and educational issues in the U.S. has kept me informed and happy that someone is strong enough to continue the fight against propaganda and control of the media and minds of the general public.

Nabil A. Hadithy, Berkeley, CA

A Different Point of View

I rely on the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs for a more detailed analysis of events in the Middle East and for an understanding of the point of view of non-Israelis.

Mary Witherspoon, Huntsville, AL

That's a start, so long as you remember that more than 99.9 percent of the world's population is non-Israeli. So our point of view is shared by virtually the entire human race. The obvious exceptions, of course, are the New York Times and Washington Post, and their U.S. media imitators. They, too, serve a purpose, however. We rely on them for an understanding of the point of view of Israelis.

Could There Be Collusion?

Possibly I am getting cynical, in this, my 64th year. However, it is also possible that I am getting "smarter" after observing the "Jewish State" for so many adult years.

Am I possibly correct in suspecting "collusion" between the militant settlers and certain high officials of the Israeli government?

Settlers suddenly establish a new settlement—that just "happens" to be in a "strategic" location around Jerusalem. It is quickly labeled "illegal"—but nothing is done to physically remove it.

(As I recall, the Nazi government of Germany would occasionally "claim" that some of its supporters had gone "too far"—but, like the Israeli government, would do nothing of substance about it! On the other hand, the Arabs who build "illegally" in Palestine get much swifter "justice"—from the blade of a bulldozer!)

Are we seeing pragmatic, imperialist-minded Israelis "using" (without much resistance!) the "fanatics"?

I have always believed that the "good" Jews will ultimately prevail—and earn the deep respect instead of the anti-Semitism of the non-Jewish world. But, it looks like it still might be a fight that will make Stalingrad look like a Sunday school picnic by comparison!

Roger D. Leonard, Bowie, MD

Until we're proved wrong, we're going to call it an Israeli "good cop-bad cop" strategy, with both kinds working in their own ways for the same objective.

We Need You in Wyoming

The Washington Report keeps me informed and gives me the other side of the coin on most items that appear in the news. I live in remote Wyoming and I need WRMEA very much!

Doug Nelson, Northwest College, Anthropology Dept., Powell, WY

Let us assure you that readers inside the capital beltway or in mid-Manhattan need us even more because they're subjected to so much more mythinformation about the U.S. and the Middle East.

You Help My Decisions

The Washington Report has made me more informed about what is going on with many countries/areas that are not dealt with adequately in the mainstream media, and the role our government plays. It also has helped me to write more intelligent and accurate letters to my congressmen and it aids me in my voting decisions.

Ms. Candy Shehadeh, Naples, FL

That's all we can ask of our readers who together represent a potential bloc of voters that—with time, patience and self-discipline—could tilt U.S. Middle East policy back to the evenhandedness that a few U.S. political leaders have advocated over the years but have had to abandon for lack of media or public support.

Information on Embargo on Iran

I find your magazine most informative about the Palestinian/Israeli situation and on the Zionist influence in U.S. politics, media and government. Your greatest and most serious failing is to whitewash U.S. involvement in the Israeli occupation and to minimize U.S. culpability in the Palestinian Holocaust. You always make excuses for U.S. political/economic/military and moral support of Israeli aggression. I would like to read more about the U.S.-led embargo on Iran and on U.S. relations with Iraq and Iran.

Mr. Philip Eways, Brooklyn, NY

You're Paralyzed on the Iraq Issue

Thousands of Iraqis are dying of hunger and disease for the crime of having a bad leader, yet your magazine is absolutely paralyzed regarding this issue. I am aware of the sensitivity of your position but you do not know the impact of the sanctions on the psyches of the rest of the Arabs and Muslims. When you do then maybe you will have the courage to say it.

Walid S. Al-Doori, Boston, MA

Since you wrote your letter we've tried to convey in our pages some of what you are expressing. (See Kathryn Casa's "Iraq Embargo Toll Now Surpasses War's Horrors" on p. 10 of our July/Aug. issue.) We've never been able to recruit a Baghdad correspondent, although we've tried, because those we've approached are afraid to write objectively for a U.S. publication.

The same, we fear, would apply to a resident correspondent in Tehran.

One-Stop Shopping

You are a unique forum for an American with 30-plus years in the Mideast. Your magazine is a fabulous one-stop shopping tour monthly—after which news of interim events fits into place until your next issue. However, I do find much of your data on books and such of little value on a monthly basis. Perhaps twice a year!

Robert Miller, Winter Springs, FL

Better be careful or our book club manager may lose your next book order.

My Main Source

Your magazine is my main source of information on current events in the Middle East at this time. Although I often become angry or depressed at the scale of the injustice I read about, I wouldn't change anything in the format or the contents of your magazine.

Leyla Schimmel, Cambridge, MA

Anger and Compassion

Without the Washington Report providing balanced and accurate information on U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states, many of us might not be able to maintain useful levels of fire, anger, compassion, hope and activity regarding the quest for Middle East peace with justice. Without you we would be poorly informed indeed! Thank you for your enduring support for human rights and fair play.

Mr. Charles Cutting, Jr., Shelburne, VT

Balance Views From All Sides

You are my best source of balanced views from all sides.

Michael Turner, Plano, TX

Is Color Worth the Money?

Is the cost of so much color photo reproduction worth it? I'd rather see black-and-white plates and have you more solvent than see lots of color plates and have you go bankrupt!

In any case, the Washington Report is unique—in its approach, its scope (topical and geographical), its focus on the issues, its insights and knowledgeability, its commitment, its fairness and integrity. I have every issue on my bookshelf, and I use it and cite it in my writing and lectures. I have profound respect and admiration for the publisher, editor and several writers whom I have long known personally. May the WRMEA not only endure but prevail!

Dr. Colbert C. Held, Waco, TX

Such praise from a scholar who spent much of his first, diplomatic career traveling constantly throughout the Middle East is high praise indeed. In answer to your question, in fact only 48 of our 124 pages are four-color pages. We think this is the minimum needed to get good newsstand placement, which we have in some very surprising countries, and which is vital to our continued expansion. Thanks for your concern. Meanwhile, thanks to our burgeoning Angels' Choir, in which you became a charter member many years ago, we're still solvent, if only barely.

Contrasting Assessments of Jesus

I read with interest the article by Grace Halsell in the June 1995 issue of the Washington Report. About 25 years ago I wrote a letter to a TV evangelist regarding what the Talmud says about Jesus and what the Qur'an says about Jesus. [Ed. note: Jesus, in addition to Moses and some other Old Testament figures, are regarded by Muslims as prophets who preceded Muhammad, the final prophet of God.] I submitted proper references. I received a letter in return which informed me that my statements were the sickest, most prejudiciously anti-Jewish statements which he had ever read.

I wrote back to remind him that I myself did not compose either the Qur'an or the Talmud and in fact could not be responsible for the contrasting judgments in these literary creations. Some people cannot comprehend what is fact. Or they suppose that people divulge undeniable facts not to create proper understanding but for the propagation of hatred.

On another occasion, years ago, during a discussion and without stating the source, I quoted I. L. Peretz, the father of modern Yiddish literature, a man who was opposed to Zionism. A listener jumped to his feet and shouted, "You really hate Jews, don't you?!!"

Again I was once told that my extensive readings in both Jewish Zionist and Jewish anti-Zionist writings of the early decades of this century, along with my readings in Arabic literature, had corrupted any proper understanding of the Israel-Palestine problem and that I should read the Bible if I had any hope of true comprehension of the situation.

These last two incidents, by the way, occurred with medical doctors, not individuals without significant education.

William H. Strange, MD, Fort Garland, CO

We wouldn't trust such physicians even with a hangnail.

So Many Pages, So Little Time

Your magazine is excellent and informative—I only wish I had more time to read it. I subscribe to support you and I send one gift subscription each year. Even if I do not have time to read you myself, I pass the magazine along. Keep up the good work.

Arthur H. Trowbridge, Sheboygan, WI

We'll keep printing magazines so long as you keep passing them along.

Only God Knows How You Do It

When I first discovered the Washington Report, I felt that the voice of God was speaking. "God sees everything," I was told when I was growing up. Now, through the publication of your fine magazine, we too are allowed to see the truth. Keep up the great work.

Louis Barrood, Jr., New Brunswick, NJ

There are a few mysteries in the current White House that may leave even the Almighty confused. Nevertheless, with His blessing, we'll continue to try to do His will as He gives us to understand it.

Good Reading All Around

Yours is the only popular magazine I'm aware of which concentrates on news about the Middle East. Your book offerings are a special bonus.

Alice Keifer, Las Vegas, NV

Read the Letters Columns!

I think your magazine is excellent! It is well done and professional. I always enjoy the thoughtful and intelligent letters from your well-informed, active readers. And lastly, I enjoy the editor's penetrating responses to some of the negative letters—they seem very sensitive.

Rowland Saafir, Detroit, MI

So do you!

Playing To Your Strengths

Yours is a truly excellent publication. Your chief strength is in taking a situation that has been reported on in the newspapers and expanding on the whys and hows of it. I only wish that I could do more to help you.

Lynn Schultz, Mesquite, TX