Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January/February 2003, pages 47-49

Other People’s Mail

Some letters by or to other people are as informative for our readers as anything we might write ourselves.

Assassinating Suspects

To The Washington Times, Nov. 7, 2002 (as published).

I am opposed to any assassinations (for that is what they are) committed by the U.S. government at the behest of the Bush administration. The deaths of six “suspected” terrorists in Yemen does not represent a victory to me, but an abuse of power by this government. A crime has been committed, the crime of murder.

These six persons were “suspected” of terrorism, but they were not tried, let alone convicted of any crime. Assassination of suspected enemies is the current policy of the Israeli government, which is morally reprehensible enough. I find it doubly so when my own government commits the same crime.

If the government can find these persons to kill them, it can find them and arrest them. The United States, however, is not the proper venue for their prosecution. Rather, they should be tried in the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Do not think the government has the right to act illegally or immorally in the name of national outrage, personal anger or some misguided sense of vengeance. I prefer justice, and justice would be served by a legal trial of any accused.

Gary E. Kaminski, Ligonier, PA

Fueling Hate

To the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 16, 2002 (as published online).

I read with amusement “Egyptian TV Fuels Hate,” your Nov. 11 editorial regarding the Egyptian soap opera accused of anti-Semitism. When one considers that the Hollywood machine has been spreading lies and distorted images of Arabs (the other Semites) for over a century now, it is rather ironic that you choose to be outraged by a small Egyptian production loosely based on a work of fiction. Movies such as “True Lies,” “Delta Force” and even “Lawrence of Arabia,” just to name a few, come to mind. I do not recall your angry editorials then. People who live in glass houses ought not to be throwing rocks.

Ramzi Zakharia, Jersey City, NJ

Irv Rubin’s Demise

To the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 7, 2002 (as published online).

So, Rubin’s wife believes that someone tried to murder him when he slit his throat and took a header off a jail balcony because he “would never have violated Jewish law by taking his own life.” How interesting. Doesn’t Jewish law also prohibit trying to blow up people––even people of another religion?

Kerry Odell, Upland, CA

A Muslim Child’s Query

To The New York Times, Nov. 11, 2002 (as published).

Thomas L. Friedman’s “morning in America” message is wonderful (column, Nov. 6), but the Bush administration is proclaiming more of a “it’s predawn in America” message instead.

With the terror-war drums strategy having worked so well in the elections, there is no motivation for the administration to change course on political and geo-strategic policy.

Asma Gull Hasan’s Nov. 6 op-ed article about what it means to live as a Muslim in America should be an eye-opener for all those who believe in our fundamental freedoms. As Muslims raising children in America, we shake our heads when our 6-year-old, sensing our reluctance to publicly discuss religion, asks us, “Why do we not tell people we are Muslim—is it a secret?”

S. Izaz Haque, Westford, MA

Remembering Larry Foley

To the San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 31, 2002 (as published online).

The father of a close friend was gunned down in Jordan Monday. Larry Foley was a chief officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) in Jordan and had worked in U.S. AID programs in Bolivia, Peru and Zimbabwe. In 1965, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in India with his wife, Virginia. He was a great human being, a person who had been a role model for many.

My sister was inspired by him to join the Peace Corps and work in the field of development. Larry’s passing is a true loss for his family and friends, as well as for the development world. He was truly committed and enthusiastic about helping people. He was a gregarious and generous human being and he was a loving and devoted father, husband and friend. It is shameful that a man like this, one of the “good guys,” should die as a martyr in the name of the reprehensible policies of this government.

You will be missed, Larry.

Shama Nibbe, Oakland, CA

Time to Free Vanunu

To The Guardian, Oct. 29, 2002 (as published online).

Today Mordechai Vanunu will take his place in an Israeli court, submitting a case for his immediate parole after serving well over two-thirds of an 18-year sentence.

Vanunu was kidnapped from Rome by Mossad agents because he told the Sunday Times of Israel’s secret stockpile of nuclear weapons, manufactured at Dimona Nuclear Research Center, where he had worked as a junior technician. Concerned about the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, Vanunu gave his information because he thought the world should know the truth, and the Israeli public have the chance to debate the threat posed by their possession of these weapons.

In the interests of justice Vanunu’s parole application should be granted. Holding him for over 16 years in prison, 12 of which were spent in solitary confinement, has been condemned by Amnesty International as inhuman. Vanunu’s continued imprisonment cannot be justified. He has suffered enough; his calls for peace should be made beyond prison walls.

Ben Birnberg, Bruce Kent, Yael Lotan, Harold Pinter, Andrew Wilski, Susannah York, Campaign to Free Vanunu

Peace March Buried

To the Los Angeles Times, Oct. 29, 2002 (as published online).

I was surprised to open the Sunday edition of The Times and find a baseball game represented in the front-page photo. Coverage of the previous day’s massive, unprecedented demonstrations against the Bush administration’s desire to attack Iraq was relegated to A17.

As many as 200,000 people protested peacefully in Washington. An additional 42,000 rallied in Berkeley. Excuse me, but this sounds like front-page news. Is the choice to bury the story a reflection of the newspaper’s priorities, or is it a deliberate attempt to downplay the importance of this groundswell showing of opposition to war by ordinary Americans all over the country? Either way, I am more than disappointed.

Linda Duke, Los Angeles, CA

Satloff’s Selective History

To The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Nov. 13, 2002 (as published).

You shortchanged your readers when you failed to identify Robert Satloff’s Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a pro-Israeli think tank.

Similarly, in today’s opinion “Goal of U.S. in Iraq Should be Victory for its People,” Satloff not only promotes a colonialist “save the savages” racism, like a typical propagandist, he fails to tell the whole history.

Satloff supports the invasion of Iraq by using WWII’s Operation Torch as an example of how U.S. power helped the Algerians remove the yoke of the pro-Nazi Vichy government. However, he failed to tell us the Algerians never gained freedom after having been supposedly saved. They were left under French rule, one of history’s most vicious colonial regimes. Nineteen years of resistance and more than a million dead patriotic Algerians was the price of Algeria’s freedom.

For Iraq, a more relevant history lesson is the British, with American aid, installation of a “suitable” Iraqi regime in the late 1930s. The Iraqis rioted and resisted the imposed regime. The installed Iraqi regime was finally removed in a bloody 1956 revolution.

Mr. Satloff’s selective history in furthering his own pro-Israel agenda is not only misleading, it condemns us to repeat history’s mistakes at the cost of American lives.

Issam Nashashibi, Dawsonville, GA

Treatment of Prisoners

To the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 12, 2002 (as published online).

Re “Source of Terror Suspect Photos Sought,” Nov. 9: I would like to thank whoever leaked the photo of the suspected al-Qaeda prisoners on their flight to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and The Times for printing it, if only on A20. I can understand that the prisoners would need to be restrained, but I fail to understand why they were not seated in proper chairs, or at least leaning against the side of the plane, and were instead barely supported by ropes around their chests and backs. I also fail to understand why their heads were covered, inside an empty cargo plane, for a flight halfway around the world. This was cruel, uncivilized and unbecoming the richest and most powerful country in the world.

Carol May, Los Angeles, CA

Human Rights or Oil Profits?

To The New York Times, Oct. 30, 2002 (as published).

In his Oct. 28 column, William Safire chastises the governments of Russia, France and China for putting profits ahead of human rights in dealing with Saddam Hussain. Mr. Safire’s concern with human rights in Iraq is admirable. However, he does not mention the fact that only three years ago the Halliburton Corporation, then headed by none other than Dick Cheney, was selling millions of dollars’ worth of oil-drilling equipment to the government of Iraq.

Since Mr. Hussain’s human rights record was as deplorable then as it is now, it is not surprising that many foreign leaders find it hard to take the Bush administration’s human rights rhetoric seriously.

Alan Abramowitz, Atlanta, GA

U.S. Lies and Jingoism

To the Los Angeles Times, Oct. 30, 2002 (as published online).

What is happening in the U.S.? On Sunday, the Times compared the Cuban missile crisis to our present standoff with Iraq. The difference is clearly in the quality of the leadership. We were fortunate enough to have had leaders who did not resort to infantile name-calling and dehumanizing verbiage to incite the easily misled public with glib jingoism, as is now the case. The public needs clear information, facts and not stirred emotions. We have been lied to through Vietnam and the Gulf war. Our veterans have been ill-treated by our own government as a result of both engagements, and the public has been repeatedly misled. It is time the U.S. government begins to respect those it serves, with facts and verifiable information so the public can make informed and reasoned decisions. We need to be able to trust those in charge of our security, and the only way to achieve this is with honest disclosure and open discussion. It is reckless disregard of our democratic process to do anything less.

Betty L. Seidmon, Los Angeles, CA

Questionable Mandate

To The Guardian, Nov. 11, 2002 (as published online).

The United Nations resolution on Iraq would appear to be one step closer to achieving a legal mandate for war. But the resolution does not give a mandate for regime change, a key aim of the U.S. administration.

While stating that Iraq remains in “material breach” of numerous resolutions, is the Security Council any closer to agreeing [to] the aims of military action? Will there be a coalition where some states wage war for disarmament of Iraq with others fighting for regime change? What happens if Iraq decides unconditionally to adhere to all its obligations hours after the start of the war?

If Iraq complies completely with all resolutions and fully disarms, is there a guarantee sanctions will be lifted? If Iraq does not comply and the regime is removed through force, will the U.S. commit itself to allowing the Security Council to decide the arrangements for the future of Iraq?

Chris Doyle, Acting Director, Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, London, UK

U.S. Sabotaging Inspections

To The New York Times, Nov. 12, 2002 (as published).

Re “U.S. Plans to Pressure Iraq by Encouraging Scientists to Leak Data to Inspectors” (news article, Nov. 9):

It seems that the White House is “confident that Mr. Hussain would attempt to undermine the inspections” because the administration itself is already sabotaging the process.

First by proposing a goal of “regime change” before the United Nations debate began, and now by encouraging Iraqi scientists to become spies, the administration is deliberately trying to derail a peaceful approach. If the recent United Nations resolution is to have any meaning, we must give the Iraqis a realistic chance to comply.

Sergio Fratarcangeli, Madison, WI

Fear of Bush

To the International Herald Tribune, Nov. 12, 2002 (as published).

Regarding “A war on terrorists to wage together” (Views, Nov. 4) by Thomas L. Friedman: Friedman misunderstands Europeans. They do not detest America.

What they believe is that President George W. Bush is potentially more dangerous than Saddam Hussain in that he has the capability to do more harm than either Saddam or Osama bin Laden.

Friedman says that we are all New Yorkers after Sept. 11. Whether or not this true, what we do not want to become is another Israel. Ariel Sharon has been totally unsuccessful in ending terrorism.

But instead of learning from Sharon’s mistakes, Bush is following in his footsteps.

Vivian Weaver, Rome, Italy

War and 2004

To The New York Times, Nov. 12, 2002 (as published).

In “Questions of War and Timing” (op-ed, Nov. 10), Rachel Bronson of the Council on Foreign Relations suggests that, regarding Iraq, the Bush administration should “postpone an assault until next fall.” I’m sure the White House will be in complete agreement, if it’s not actually aiming for the following January or February.

Karl Rove has seen how splendidly the “war talk” phase worked for the 2002 election, and he’ll use the “glamour period” of the attack—before it turns bad—to lead up to the 2004 election.

Lee Child, Pound Ridge, NY

Hidden Horrors of Gulf War

To the San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 25, 2002 (as published online).

Patrick J. Sloyan’s article (“War without death,” Insight section, Nov. 17) has haunted me since I picked up that Sunday paper.

The image of the U.S. military’s “grisly innovation” during Desert Storm of burying, alive or dead, every Iraqi soldier in more than 70 miles of trenches, and then bulldozing the evidence and lying to the press about casualties, was bad enough. Adding to my sense of horror was the description of then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney’s cynical manipulation of the press and self-congratulation on sanitizing the war.

He said, “The American people saw… through the magic of television what the U.S. military was capable of doing.” But he made sure we never saw a dead body, only tidy bombs from a distance.

And now we read through the magic of the press what the U.S. military and members of both Bush administrations are capable of doing: butchering people in innovative ways, hiding the evidence, lying to the press and the people and patting themselves on the back for substituting secret government for an open and accountable democracy.

Does anyone think this Bush administration’s methods of waging and reporting war will differ from the last one’s?

Susan Richardson, Berkeley, CA

Painful Expansionism

To The New York Times, Nov. 1, 2002 (as published).

Re “Chance for Change in Israel” (editorial, Oct. 31):

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s wrong-headedness toward continued expansionism has brought heartache to both Israelis and Palestinians. If continued, it will bring more heartache to the American public as well, for it is we who with our taxes support this wrong-headedness.

Andrea Whitmore, Prairie Village, KS

Peace and Olives

To the San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 4, 2002 (as published online).

The article, “Israeli writers help Palestinians harvest crop” (Oct. 31), focuses on the worthy deeds of a few prominent Israelis, but these are merely a footnote to the subsistence crisis Israeli policy has deliberately caused.

Olives are the principal Palestinian agricultural product and a major source of nourishment for Palestinians. In recent years, thousands of olive trees have been destroyed by Israeli bulldozers and the chain saws and torches of Israeli settlers. Land confiscations and restrictions on the movement of Palestinian harvesters compound the crisis.

Last year the harvest was down by an alarming 80 percent, and this year’s figures will be similarly depressed. Relief organizations report that thousands of Palestinians, especially children, risk serious undernourishment in the coming year.

Israeli policy targets the source of subsistence for thousands of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. The looming humanitarian crisis is unfortunately not offset by the kind actions of a few Israeli intellectuals. By presenting the conflict as a problem of goodwill, the press obscures the human rights issues.

Gregory Hoadley, Oakland, CA

Loyal American Jews

To the San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 4, 2002 (as published online).

I was shocked by the statement of Israeli Knesset member Avshalom Vilan, quoted in Robert Collier’s column (“Pro-Palestine work bitterly splits Jews,” Oct. 27), that Jewish Americans who give help to Palestinians in the occupied territories “feel no loyalty to Israel.”

As a Jew, I was taught that my first loyalty was to God and to my fellow human beings. I learned that being Jewish meant an obligation to act justly and with tolerance, not to worship a piece of territory or give allegiance to a particular government, or to justify the dispossession and oppression of another people.

American Jews who protect defenseless Palestinian farmers from settlers who terrorize them as they try to harvest their olives, or who help rebuild Palestinian homes that have been demolished by Israeli bulldozers, are living up to the highest precepts of Judaism, as well as of Christianity and Islam. Vilan accuses them of doing “nothing to bring both sides to peace.”

Such activists are living evidence that the two sides can live and work together in peace as long as it is peace based on equality and mutual respect, not on a relationship of oppressor and oppressed.

Rachelle Marshall, Stanford, CA

The Basic Facts

To the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 6, 2002 (as published online).

In “The Great Divide” (Opinion, Nov. 3) you published two pieces on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by two Israelis. Where was the Palestinian viewpoint?

Israel’s brutal and illegal 35-year occupation is the source of the violence between the two countries. The Israelis are stealing Palestinian land and water. Ehud Barak’s “generous offer” was nothing more than a series of Bantustans in which the Palestinians would live surrounded by Israeli troops and settlers.

As an American Jew, I support the struggle of the Palestinians for liberation, whether in their own state or as equal citizens in one democratic secular state alongside Israeli Jews.

There is no hope as long as an unjust Israeli state forever oppresses the Palestinians. Hope lies in the end of the occupation and the establishment of full and equal rights for everyone who lives in Palestine and Israel.

Karin Pally, Santa Monica, CA

Will Israel Choose Peace?

To the San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 15, 2002 (as published online).

My heart goes out to the Israeli family that lost a mother and two young sons to a Palestinian terrorist while the children were being read bedtime stories. Was this supposed to be in retaliation for the Palestinian toddler who was killed by Israeli gunfire shortly before? How many more children will die when the Sharon government retaliates for the murder of the two young Israelis?

It is time to stop this madness! In January, Israelis will have a chance to choose a new government. Will they choose a government that perpetuates this endless cycle of violence or will they choose one that is willing to forge a just and lasting peace? A just peace will come about only when the Palestinians’ needs are given equal weight to the Israelis’.

Esther Riley, Fairfax, CA

Kibbutz Metzer Shows Way

To Ha’aretz, Nov. 20, 2002 (as published).

Regarding “The occupation dulls the senses,” by Yisrael Harel, Ha’aretz, Nov. 14:

We should expect nothing better from Yisrael Harel than to ridicule a brave community in mourning. His criticism of Metzer follows the rationale of Meir Kahane: Since Israel proper was founded in war and population transfer so we must keep pursuing war and population transfer. That is wrong, logically and morally.

The people of Metzer are right. The world––and even the PLO on paper since Oslo––recognizes Israel’s existence, i.e., Israel within the borders of 1948. Since Oslo, there are some Arabs who have truly come to accept that reality in their hearts. On this basis, someday, if this formula is ever given a chance by the fanatics on both sides of the conflict, there can be peace.

The world opposes the occupation of the territories captured in the 1967 war. On the basis of “Yesha is everywhere,” there will only be constant war, and eventually the destruction of the Jewish state, first in spirit (a process we are already witnessing) and eventually in reality. The path of reason, morality and justice is clear. The way to safeguard Israel is the way of Metzer, not Yisrael Harel.

Colleen Siegel, Brooklyn, NY

Media’s Unchallenged Bias

To the Foreign Service Journal, November 2002 (as published).

The full-page letter from John W. Hoffman in the September FSJ is an unbecoming example of the boiler-plate, knee jerk, Israeli activist’s reaction to any public, open statement that reaches a significant number of Americans. “Smear sheet,” “rehashed propaganda,” in the view of Hoffman, perhaps, but Israel’s dark side gets rare coverage in our country except by people who know something about the Palestinians and their tragic condition. The publishing world of the United States, for whatever reason, has seen to it that bias remains unchallenged in reporting and commenting upon this continuing history of plunder that brazenly characterizes the Israeli takeover of Palestine. It is a story largely untold, avoided. Israel continues freely to scrupulously implement its grim policies against a helpless, desperate people, protected and funded by us.

Lee Dinsmore, FSO, ret., Elcho, WI

Holocaust Education

To the Bremerton Sun, Nov. 8, 2002 (as published).

Your recent editorial about the Holocaust could have been describing the plight of the Palestinian people today: “discrimination, dehumanization, torture, imprisonment, execution.”

Add to that “land confiscation, home demolition, targeted assassinations, deadly attacks on women and children” and you have a partial picture of the atrocities that modern Israel is inflicting on the Palestinians.

Paula Partain of Central Kitsap High School has a responsibility to educate her students on how the oppressive government of Israel with its holocaust survivors are conducting its own holocaust against the people of Palestine with backing and funding from the United States. They may find this current happening just as shocking as the stories they were told by the five holocaust survivors.

Lauralee Hanson, Bremerton, WA