October/November 1998 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

—Voices from the Sensible Center—

Interpreting the Middle East for North Americans—
Interpreting North America for the Middle East

The U.S. and the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

6 U.S.-Israel Alliance Comes at High Cost to Americans—Rachelle Marshall

7 Israeli Policy of Distribution Creates Unprecedented Water Shortages for West Bank, Gaza Palestinians—Maureen Meehan

21 Israeli Make-Believe: Jonathan Jay Pollard Did Not Damage the United States—Andrew I. Killgore

22 Israel Ignores U.S. Protests Over Torture, Detention of Young American Citizen in Israeli Prison—Eugene Bird

36 While 80 Percent of American Jews Supported Oslo Accords, The U.S. Jewish Lobby Helped Netanyahu to Destroy Them—Neve Gordon

47 The Politicization of the Holocaust: Examining the Uses and Abuse of Its Legacy—Allan C. Brownfeld

54 An American’s Attempt to Bridge the Gap Between Perception and Reality in Palestine—Joseph Zogby

76 When Israelis Resumed the 1948 War in 1967, My Palestinian Grandmother Refused to Flee Again—Michel Shehadeh

23-43 The U.S. Congress and the 1998 Elections

23 Elections 2000: Arab and Muslim Americans Can Forge a Viable Coalition—Muna Salman and Suliman Mustafa

25 Congressional Hearings Put Politics Above Country—Shirl McArthur

26 A Choice Not an Echo on the Middle East in Wyoming’s Lone Congressional District—Jan Mallery

27 All Six Arab-American Incumbents Favored; All Three Challengers Underdogs—Shirl McArthur

28 Clinton Scandal Causes Uncertainty on Capitol Hill—Shirl McArthur

31 Despite Attacks Orchestrated by Israel Lobby, Pro-Palestinian Candidate Gets 40 Percent in R.I. Primary—Richard H. Curtiss

42 Election Watch: Pro-Israel PAC Donations Up in 1998 Election Cycle—Richard H. Curtiss

43 Pro-Israel PAC Contributions to 1998 Congressional Candidates
(coming soon)

Special Reports

10 Words to Remember: Some Former U.S. Officials, Journalists Cite Indulgence of Israel as Cause of American Troubles Overseas—Compiled by Richard H. Curtiss

11 Words to Remember: Foreign Press Blames Israeli Policies for Terrorism Against Americans—Compiled by Richard H. Curtiss

12 The Bombings of U.S. Embassies and U.S. Rocket Attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan: Three Views—Dr. James J. Zogby
—Richard H. Curtiss
—Raymond H. Close

18 The Islamist Agenda in Turkey: Democracy—Marvine Howe

33 Former U.S. Embassy Hostage Dialogues With a Tehran Student Hostage Taker—Dr. Farid Mirbagheri

35 Grim Economic Day of Reckoning Arriving for Pakistan—M.M. Ali

57 Central Asian States Find Neither Privatization Nor Political Reforms Correlate Exactly With Economic Growth—Gordon Feller

59 Under BJP Government, an Intolerant Face of Hindu India Emerging Unabashedly Into World View—M.M. Ali

60 Scheduled Fall Presidential Elections in Lebanon Presage New Political Faces and Policies—Carole Dagher

74 Thoughts Inspired by PBS’s Two-Sentence Report on the Death of Syrian Poet Nizar Qabbani—Salman M. Hilmy

64-71 A Country Report on Tunisia

64 Tunisia Still Going Its Own Way—Richard H. Curtiss

64 Three Faces of Tunisian Women: A Political Activist, an Entrepreneurial Family, and an Islamic Theologian—Delinda C. Hanley

66 Tunisia Gives Top Priority to Developing Its Tourism Resources— Delinda C. Hanley

68 With Strong Governmental Encouragement, Tunisia Experiencing Exponential Increase in Internet Usage—Delinda C. Hanley

69 Women’s Rights in Islam: The Position of Islam in Family Planning—Dr. Wassila Ben Hamda

71 Third RDC Congress in Tunisia Emphasizes Women’s Equality, Education and Job Creation—Delinda C. Hanley