Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2001, page 3

Letters to the Editor

Hold That Thought

The April issue arrived yesterday afternoon and I’ve just read the “Six Views” [on Ariel Sharon’s election]. Individually and together they were as powerfully moving as anything I’ve read recently (including the new translation of Anna Karenina!). Edward Said is always great, but in this one he’s more eloquent than ever.

I was about to go for the scissors when a thought occurred to me. I know you have more to do than anyone rightfully should have, but do you think it would be a good idea for the Washington Report to publish a book on the intifada? Ken Stone has put together a very good collection of brief quotes about the intifada so far, but I think there’s room for a collection of longer pieces, if it could contain stuff of the quality of “Six Views.”

If we lived in a reasonable and just world those essays would be read by millions of people, who might be just as moved as I was. Anyway, it’s great that you published them. The magazine gets better and better.

Rachelle Marshall, Stanford, CA

Would that we had the resources—financial as well as personnel! We’re glad to learn, however, that the “Views” were not redundant. Most of them had appeared on the Internet, and we’re still curious if many of our readers may not have seen them, and other articles, in their earlier incarnation.

Growing Sophistication

Since subscribing to the Washington Report over 20 years ago, I have experienced a graduate course in Mideast history and U.S. government. I can’t say it has been fun, but it has been eye-opening.

The growing sophistication of the letters column has been a barometer of my learning, and that of others. When we began, our complaint was the imbalance of retaliations: a hundred Palestinians to 10 Israelis. Then an awareness of America’s responsibility came to the fore. Next, the ways our elected officials are suborned to the service of Israel.

Now we awaken to the fact that our media are wholly owned by Israeli agents who miraculously appeared on the scene with multibillions of dollars to spend on buying the control of newspapers, TV networks and U.S. elections. Where did they get these billions? From our taxpayers.

But our letters need to look farther. I never see a solution offered; nor do I know of one. I am starting to see that the American people are the problem. They refuse to look at the Israeli abuse of their country. Their media and government have been taken over subversibly by a foreign power. Yet the Gentiles think it’s a hate crime even to discuss the matter.

Scott Nicholson, Bradenton, FL

We agree that the American people—or more specifically, perhaps, their elected representatives—are the problem. However, we also are convinced that, once Americans understand the truth of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they will insist on an end to U.S. support for Israel. Partisans of Israel know that, too—that’s why they’re so desperate to control the mainstream media.

No Surprise

My congratulations to Kathleen Christison on her analytical “Special Report” (April 2001) about the current state of American perceptions about what is going on in the Middle East and Israel in particular. Of course, the virtually total negative portrayal of Palestinians and Muslims in the U.S. media is no surprise to us Washington Report readers. Ms. Christison’s hard-headed conclusions will no doubt offend some of your readers as being too “negative.” Some will like better to dream that events like the appointment of Spencer Abraham as secretary of energy implies a new U.S. “official” openness to Arab-Americans so that the Muslim oil producers will reward Americans with lower oil prices! This kind of unreality is not what is needed.

Ms. Christison is right. Don’t expect any major change in policy from the Bush administration. They are sailing the same sea of emotional, ill-informed, “Holocaust”-driven conventional wisdom as most Americans and all previous administrations, and, being politicians like the rest, will not buck the tide unless compelled to do so.

The question is, what can be done to counter the negative images being promoted on innocent and ignorant Americans by the media?

In my opinion the Arab and Muslim nations with the resources to do so must organize a professional media campaign to counter the slanders being aired. The Washington Report and a few others are doing a fine job but their limited resources and audience are not enough to reach the American people. Only these nations have the resources to finance such a campaign.

The war must be conducted in the mainstream media. The full-page ads by Zionists in The New York Times (for example) must be matched and countered by the Arab and Muslim view—dollar for dollar, line for line. And I’m not talking about pure propaganda.

The facts, law and morality are on “our” side! (I’m not an Arab or a Muslim, but I known injustice when I see it. There are many Americans like me, but most are in ignorance of the facts.)

Also, like the Israelis, the services of competent PR professionals must be secured to advise and head media contacts. The nations with the resources to do this are apparently too timid to back such a campaign. They are undoubtedly being advised by “experts” that a campaign openly financed by them would not be well-received by Americans and therefore counter-productive. This doesn’t bother the Israelis with their fifth-column of U.S. organizations. Who can get the ear of those who can fund such an effort? Does the Washington Report have the contacts? If not, find out who does and wake them up before it is too late.

Albert Doyle, Sanibel, FL

Sorry Charlie

The first guest on Charlie Rose’s show tonight [April 30] was that great statesman Shimon Peres. He’s big on “peace,” but he pronounces it “piss,” which just about sums up political Zionism.

How can anybody in Charlie Rose’s position be so ignorant on the subject as he appears to be? He and his assortment of Zionist guests grapple so sincerely with the question of why, WHY the Arabs insist on shooting themselves in the foot. Some of the guests even trot out Abba Eban’s egregious mot about how the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Charlie and the guests just can’t figure out why the Palestinians allow opportunity after opportunity to pass them by. The whole scenario just makes no sense to them. Charlie is clearly in sympathy with his Zionist guests.

Then he invites Palestinians on the show. The Palestinians state the facts, but Charlie just doesn’t get it, as he snottily questions them.

The April 2001 issue of the Washington Report was great—so great. The cover was stunning.

I want to sing in the choir. Please charge $200 to my credit card.

Wish I could sing louder. Maybe later. Thanks for everything you all do.

Karen Ray Bossmeyer, Louisville, KY

You’re an angel! Your name doesn’t appear in this issue’s choir, however, because your letter didn’t make it from the letters section to the circulation department until after that page had been printed. We know you’re there in spirit, though—and that’s what angels are all about.

Balkan-Mideast Parellels

The contrasting parallels in the period 1991-2001 between U.S. policy and posture in the Balkans (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and now Macedonia) and in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis strike me as poignant. My research and information at best is cursory, sketchy, and inadequate. Is there anyone who has examined or is examining in depth and contrasting these two

geopolitical areas/problems insofar as American official conduct these past 10 years is concerned? Superficially it strikes me that if the U.S. were to conduct itself in the Israeli-Palestinian debacle as it has done in the Balkans, Israel and Sharon (among others) would be in the same dock as Serbia and Milosovic.

Such an examination in detail, if it already has not been done, I believe could be very worthwhile. Can anyone point me to such a thoroughgoing analytical study?

John E. Marsh, Lynchburg, VA

Subscribers Network?

I have been a subscriber to your periodical for 10 years or so, and have written and phoned regarding some way to have your subscribers network. Individually we have little effect when writing our representatives, but one letter with 20 or 30 signatures on it will have a heck of an impact. Is there some way for me to contact others in my area, who are in accord with your stance on the Mideast, that we may exchange ideas and information, and act in unison? Everyone I talked to in your office expressed enthusiasm, but nothing ever came of it.

Nicholas C. Droogas, Vancouver, WA

Our new executive Web producer, Emad Fraitekh, who joined us as this issue was going to press, plans to include an activism section on the Washington Report Web site to facilitate just such contacts. Start checking our Web site, <http://www.washington-report.org>, in July for a new design and features.

A Revolting Cover

I have been a reader and supporter of the Washington Report for several years and have always found the contents of your magazine extremely valuable. You have managed to give heart to those of us who need support in the endless plea for a just peace for the Palestinians. However, I am appalled at the cover of your April issue. It is, in short, revolting. I have torn it off the cover of my magazine and trashed it.

You do not use dead children and the anguish of their relatives as propaganda for your views. You are stooping to the level of the settlers in Hebron who would not bury their dead baby, and of the Israelis who have used photos of that dead baby to promote their side.

I hope the photograph was a mistake. However, if you feel that dead children on the cover of your magazine is appropriate, I have no choice but to cancel my subscription and not send any more contributions. I will get my news off the Internet.

Gretchen Theobald, Washington, DC

We hope we don’t have to convince our readers that our aim is not to exploit Palestinian suffering. Rather, it is to end it. We hope our covers will touch Americans who can identify with their fellow human beings and be moved to learn more about their plight. And, we might add, even some of the living young people we’ve had on our covers, such as Fares Odeh (December 2000 issue), were killed by Israeli soldiers before the issue even was off the press. We hope for the day when there will be no pictures of victims—of any nationality—of the violence in the Middle East, because there will be no such victims.

Another Disturbing Cover

The front cover photo of your new [May/June] issue is very disturbing. Wouldn’t it make an effective poster?

Carolyn Barrani, via e-mail

Mohammed Ali Abu-Swei

I would like to have information on the child who is pictured on the December 1997 cover of the Washington Report. Please kindly let me know of any information about the guardian of this child. I look forward to hearing from you.

Mohammad B. Yousaf, Hughesville, MD

Photographer Khaled Zighari went to visit Mohamed, who is now 7 and attending first grade. Although they were the victims of Israel’s brutal policy of home demolition, his family is not poor. You might want to check p. 70 of our January/February 2001 issue, which lists several organizations that work with the needy in Palestine.

Photos to Slides?

I have been struck, issue by issue, of the vividness of the color photos of action in the Middle East which grace the pages of the Washington Report. I have given some thought to try and make slides of some of these color views to illustrate a lecture on events in the Middle East. Lately I have had some difficulty getting a proper focus as I use my camera.

Thus, I am wondering whether any of the photographs might be available as slides for showing, or whether some photographers might be willing to allow slides to be made from certain ones. The vividness of the pictures do carry a message which can be more effective than the spoken word, no matter how valid.

Joseph M. Canfield, Weaverville, NC

Many of the photographs in the magazine are under copyright by agencies such as Associated Press or Agence France-Presse (check the photo credit for each picture). The Washington Report does not have the right to grant reprint permission for these pictures. Interested parties must contact the agencies themselves for permission to use their photos—and it ain’t cheap!

Washington Report on Islamic Affairs?

I just bought for the very first time the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. It is the May/June 2001 issue. I have to admit that it contained many interesting and insightful articles, but I was perplexed and confused at the huge number of articles and editorials that dealt with Islamic issues.

Your magazine contained a large number of articles about American-Muslims and Muslims in the Middle East but not a single article dealt with Christian issues or what Christian-Arabs are doing in the U.S. Please don’t count the lousy two pages about the pope’s visit to Syria.

I would like to draw your attention to something important: there are millions of Christians living in the Middle East! In addition to that, nearly half of the so-called Arab-Americans are Christians.

Your magazine did not meet my expectations and I will think twice when I consider buying the next issue. As a Christian living in Egypt, I am so angry when people like you tend to couple being an Arab with being a Muslim. The Arab world contains people of many faiths, so please don’t eliminate us simply because we are the minority here. I have this feeling that the Arab-Muslim coupling is just as Tom and Jerry, Hamburger and French Fries!!!!

If you will continue concentrating on the actions of Muslims in the U.S. alone then I have a very smart idea for you: Change your name to Washington Report on Islamic Affairs!!!!

Maged Aziz, via e-mail

We consider ourselves very sensitive to the issue of religious minorities—here and in the Middle East. Indeed, a common misperception of Americans is that all Arabs are Muslims, and we take pains to correct that inaccuracy. In this country, however, it is American Muslims who are the minority—although a fast-growing one—and we try to educate mainstream America about their concerns and problems. Along with “Islam in America,” our regular columns include “Christianity in the Middle East” and “Israel and Judaism.”

An Unusual Surprise

I think your site is excellent. Surprisingly and unusually, it seems to portray the truth about what is really happening to the Palestinians. To my knowledge, there is no such non-Muslim equivalent magazine in the U.K. I have only seen Middle Eastern issues, and in particular the Palestinian question, addressed in a similar fashion in the Muslim media.

The mainstream press in the U.K. is extremely pro-Israel. Even the coverage of the so-called “liberal press” is at best confusing, portraying the struggle as one between equals. The language used also is very emotive when covering the death of an Israeli child, for example, but not so when reporting the countless murders of innocent Palestinian children. To me it does not matter on which side a child is lost—it is always a terrible tragedy, and the reporting should reflect that.

From Edward Said’s articles on American public opinion, I was under the impression that most people believed all the propaganda about Arabs being terrorists and their lives being worthless compared to the lives of Israelis. I am delighted to learn that this is not the case through magazines like yours. I do not know what your sales figures are, but I wish you all the best of luck.

M. Abdullah, via e-mail

Mutual Assistance

We at CAIR-NY would like to thank you very much for your generous contribution of 500 copies of the Washington Report, February and March issues. In response to the current conflicts in occupied Palestine, CAIR-NY has been conducting seminars, lectures as well as doing petition drives to

put pressure on lawmaking officials as well as increase awareness among the mainstream public. The distribution of your extraordinary issues, which focused on especially Palestinian issue, was an effective way for us to reach out to many religious and public advocacy groups. Some of the

organizations include:

Academy of Political Science, Admiral Family Circle Islamic Community, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, The American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan N.Y., American Guild of Organists, Americans for Middle East understanding, Catholic Digest, Center for Community Leadership, Center for Educational Studies, Choice in Dying, Commonweal Magazine Foundation, Community Health Care Assoc. of N.Y. State, Cooke Foundation, Council of Churches of the City of New York, Ecumenical Community Development Organization, Educators for Social Responsibility, Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church, EWHA Women’s University Board of Trustees, Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, INC, Global Education Associates, Graymoor Ecumenical and Inter-religious Institute, Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, International Education and Resource Network, International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Japan-North American Commission of Cooperative Mission (JNAC), Jewish Theological Seminary, John Milton Society for the Blind, Kids in Distressed Situations, Lebanese American University, Metropolitan New York Peace Action Council, Ministerial Interfaith Assn. of Harlem, Minority Task Force on Aids Morality in Media, New York Chamber Ensemble, New York Organ Donor Network, North American Congress on Latin America, Operations Cross Roads Africa, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Presbytery of New York City, Regional Emergency Medical Service Council, Religious and Human Rights in Closed Societies, Riverside Park Fund, Commission on Christian Unity and Inter-religious Concerns, and many more.

Additionally, we distributed several copies at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Penn Station to commuters during rush hour. We also distributed these magazines to many offices at Columbia University. Our common goal is to provide true and honest news to the American people and fight against unjust policies inside and outside the country. It is our hope that these organizations will subscribe to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

Thanks again for your support,

Tahir A. Syed, President, CAIR-NY

World Wide Web Connection

I am pleased to write to you. I am a student living on the West Bank. I actually got information on the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs from the Internet.

Your journal is very valuable and interesting to me, but being unable to pay its subscription fee, I hope you can add me to your subscription list so I may take advantage of it.

Amer M. Dana, Tulkarm, West Bank

Circulation director Asma Yousef has found a donor to cover the cost of a subscription, so you will soon be receiving the Washington Report on a regular basis.

A Hard Copy Enthusiast

I used to be an avid reader of Time and U.S. News & World Report, but found them too bland and biased. I went for a long time without reading any magazines, and it is a pleasure to see your magazine in my mailbox. I do read (mostly on the Internet) about what is happening in the Middle East, but having it in a hard copy is somehow better.

Robert Azar, Whitehall, PA