Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 1987, page 12

180 Degrees

"180 Degrees appears every Friday in Florida Today, parent publication of USA Today. Whenever space permits, the Washington Report will present a debate between George Thompson, a retired US Foreign Service officer, and Dan Warrensford, an engineer, on some aspect of Middle East affairs.

The omnipotent Israeli lobby is at it again, Dan. You know its membership: It consists of anybody who feels in his heart he is a citizen of both the US and Israel, believes our foreign policies are the same, and approves brutal violence when Israelis do it, but labels it "terrorism" on the part of anyone else—especially the Palestinians.

Its members have long sought to destroy the Palestine Liberation Organization as the legitimate negotiating voice for thousands of men, women, and children who still lead abysmal lives in occupied areas of that troubled land.

Living literally under the guns of Israeli martial law, they are a people without hope and without a future in their own country.

Now, thanks to the lobby, they soon may be without a voice in the US where they need it most.

Not surprising. We were the first to succumb to Israeli wiles. We're still doing it to the tune of more than $3 billion annually—a gift to every Israeli citizen of more than $750 each and every year.

Need I remind you of who first brought the White House into the Iranamok affair?

The lobby succeeded in getting the Congress to sponsor an "Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987" (S. 1203), which would ban the PLO from the US. Now, it has enlisted the aid of flacks from one of your favorite organizations, the Heritage Foundation, to send pro-Israeli letters to the editor to publications throughout the country.

Fact, Dan: The Israelis are using the lobby to silence the PLO. It is because they know that without Yasir Arafat—who has gotten a bum rap in the US—the Palestinians will join the American Indians in the dustbin of history.

As those of us who served in the Middle East used to say, "When it comes to public relations, the Israelis don't know where to stop, and the Arabs don't know where to begin."—George Thompson

If you're only concerned about the ability of Arab Americans to lobby on behalf of the PLO "cause," not to worry, George. There are numerous avenues by which Palestinians (with legitimate gripes) can reach Americans and, thereby, the US Congress. I have witnessed such lobbying on CNN, C-Span, the major commercial networks, and in the pages of numerous journals and newspapers (like the one in which we continue our debate). And I will not demean myself by labeling those lobbyists as "flacks."

However, your purpose is not to decry a dearth of forums for those sympathetic to the Palestinian "cause." In fact, your agenda requires the vilification of Israel by attempting to establish some sort of moral equivalence between Israelis and the PLO. Sorry, pal, it won't wash.

In the first place, if Arab nations had not attacked Israel with conventional and terrorist forces over the years, Israel never would have levied reciprocal attacks. And before you pen too many accusations of "terrorism" against Israel, ask yourself how many aircraft and ships she's hijacked. How many innocent civilians has she murdered? How many hostages has she taken?

Sorry to disappoint you, old bean, but the PLO has no place in this country. It is, truly, a terrorist organization. Remember the Munich massacre? That bloody event was staged by Yasir Arafat's thugs. And among the several leaders of the fragmented PLO, Arafat is considered a "moderate." Incredible! Consider some of the less "moderate" PLO chieftains: 'Abd Al-Wahab Kayyali (Arab Liberation Front); George Habash (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine); Ahmad Jibril (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command); Abul Abbas (Palestine Liberation Front); and Abu Nidal (Abu Nidal Faction). The roster is much longer. It makes the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List read like a collection of Sunday school teachers.

Get real, George. Dry your tears, and join me in fond good riddance to the PLO's American section.—Dan Warrensford