American Educational Trust

Holiday Greetings to Our Readers...

Around the world celebrating Ramadan, Hanukkah, Christmas, and the New Year. Our hearts and thoughts go out to those who are unable to enjoy this holiday season due to hunger, closures, curfews, home demolitions, and fear of bombs or shells. Some families are finding it...

Hard to Celebrate...

With their loved ones gone, whether a victim of a military action or a soldier on active duty. Either way, their losses must be hard to bear.

In Searching for a Cover…

To evoke the mood of Christmas in occupied Bethlehem, we discovered that, because Israel has declared the “little town” a closed military zone for the rest of the year—imposing collective punishment on the entire Christian world and forbidding Christmas celebrations for the first time in the history of the Holy Land—photographs just weren’t available. Instead of a…

Madonna and Child…

We found a grandmother in Gaza bidding farewell to her grandson, 3-year-old toddler Hamed al-Masri. There was an anguished staff discussion about whether to depict such tragedy, loss and grief on the cover of an issue that will hit mailboxes and newsstands during the holidays. We finally concluded, however, that our obligation is to show…

The Reality That Palestinians Live.

If the photo offends, angers, grieves or shakes up Americans who pick up the magazine in their libraries or bookstores, we urge them to write, fax, e-mail or telephone decision-makers and demand that the killing stop!

Israel’s Reoccupation…

Of the West Bank and Gaza made it nearly impossible for Palestine’s Muslims to observe the holy month of Ramadan. Indeed, at some checkpoints Israeli soldiers forced Muslims to eat and drink, thus involuntarily breaking their fast. The Israeli occupation has caused isolation, malnutrition, unemployment, depression and death of the most vulnerable Palestinians—the very young and the very old. The day before Fatima Obeida…

A 95-Year-Old Grandmother…

Was killed after buying sweets for her family’s Ramadan festivities, Israeli soldiers opened fire Dec. 2 on a Jenin marketplace teeming with schoolchildren and parents buying food for Ramadan. Mutaz Odeh, 18, was shot in the back as he carried nuts for his father.

Moving in for the Kill...

In this “season of peace,” Washington’s Israel-first cabalists are desperate to consolidate their hold on American foreign policy. In addition to having captured the upper echelons of the Pentagon’s civilian bureaucracy, their recent successes include the appointment of Elliott Abrams as the National Security Council’s Mideast adviser. Apparently his role in the disgraceful Iran-Contra affair qualifies him as an expert—at least on the non-Arab Middle East, i.e., Israel and, theoretically, Iran. Moving into its new Capitol Hill offices was the so-called…

Committee for the Liberation of Iraq...

Whose board members and advisers include such bleeding heart liberators as Richard Perle of the Defense Policy Board, which recently entertained the recommendation that the U.S. occupy Saudi oil fields; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; former CIA director James Woolsey; the Weekly Standard’s ubiquitous Bill Kristol; and Princeton University Orientalist Bernard Lewis, whose son, Michael, heads the opposition research section of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Israel’s Washington, DC lobby. We can only hope they seriously have pondered President Jimmy Carter’s…

Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech…

In which he noted that, “Great American power and responsibility are not unprecedented, and have been used with restraint and great benefit in the past.…Within our country, ultimate decisions are made through democratic means, which tend to moderate radical or ill-advised proposals.” That hope, unfortunately, is based on the premise that the wannabe warmongers put…

America’s Interest Over Israel’s.

In his acceptance speech, Nobel Laureate Carter concisely stated the interest of the U.S.—and, indeed, of the world: “For more than half a century, following the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, the Middle East conflict has been a source of worldwide tension. At Camp David in 1978 and in Oslo in 1993, Israelis, Egyptians, and Palestinians have endorsed the only reasonable prescription for peace: United Nations Resolution 242. It condemns the acquisition of territory by force, calls for withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories, and provides for Israelis to live securely and in harmony with their neighbors. There is no other mandate whose implementation could more profoundly improve international relationships.”

In these dangerous times, let us heed…

The Voices of Reason and Peace.

Our Staff Battled Snow and Ice...

To bring you this issue of the Washington Report. If you, like Palestinians, find yourself homebound and trapped—not by Israeli soldiers, but by winter weather—spend some time writing or phoning newspapers, radio stations and legislators to urge them to demand peace in 2003. Washington is considering granting $14 billion in loan guarantees and extra aid to Israel. Demand a peace agreement and an immediate Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories and illegal settlements in return for your tax dollars.

Your Survey Responses Prompted...

Some changes in this first issue of 2003. While many of you told us to “stay exactly the same,” we listened to those who have asked for more frequent, but smaller, issues, shorter articles, more photos and an action postcard every month. Because of its labor intensiveness and our labor scarcity, we will be discontinuing the Chronology after the next issue, which will cover December 2002. One U.K. reader said, “Cut out the book list section and place it on your Web site.” We now will list the complete book catalog in every other issue, and encourage readers to visit <www.middleeastbooks.com> for all their book-buying needs. Finally, please use a stamp for all correspondence because the Post Office is now charging us up to 90 cents each letter!

Thanks to a Generous Endowment…

From Charles Maria, Robert Younes, M.D. will now devote his writing skills and time to outreach and public relations. His first assignment was to develop a media contact list for the Web site culled from every peace organization he can find. Please e-mail your suggestions to him at <pr@wrmea.com>.

Heartfelt Thanks For Your Donations.

Despite a shaky economy, membership in the Choir of Angels is larger than ever. With your continued help we will make all our voices heard. We’re convinced that the voices of those demanding war represent a minority of Americans. The majority can no longer afford to remain silent. Help us reach out to them so we can prove that, in America today, “ultimate decisions are made through democratic means.” There’s still time to make a tax-deductible contribution for 2003, so seize the moment—and your checkbook—and…