Pipes Chimes In

Your reporter, Elaine Kelley, has it wrong in her report in your July 2001 issue on my talk at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon on April 19, 2001.

I never said anything along the lines of “The Palestinians are a miserable people …and they deserve to be.”

That’s not how I think, speak, or write. Here is what I wrote in an article just prior to that talk (“The Left’s ongoing Oslo delusion,” The Jerusalem Post, April 25, 2001, http://www.danielpipes.org/articles/20010425.shtml), which accurately reflects my thinking, both in April and now:

“If Israel truly wants to end its problem with the Palestinians, it must adopt the opposite approach: convince Palestinians not of its niceness but its toughness. This means not replanting Arab olive trees but punishing violence so hard that its enemies will eventually feel so deep a sense of futility that they will despair of further conflict.

“A historical analogy comes to mind: when World War I ended, German armies remained intact and their capital city unoccupied. Not convinced they had really lost the war, Germans harbored a deep discontent that led to the rise of Hitler. In contrast, Germans emerged from World War II utterly defeated and without any illusions to confuse them. This time, understanding the need for a fresh start, they turned to Konrad Adenauer and built a peaceful, successful country.

“The Palestinian Authority is hardly Germany, but the analogy does hold: Palestinians will not give up on their aggressive ambitions vis-^-vis Israel until fully convinced that these cannot succeed. Only then can they build a polity and an economy commensurate with their dignity and talent. Ironically, then, Palestinians need almost as much to be defeated by Israel as Israel needs to defeat them.

“It’s time for the [Israeli] Left to recognize the vastness of its error in the Oslo process and adopt the tough-minded policies that will finally liberate Israelis and Palestinians from their mutual conflict.”

In brief, far from thinking the Palestinians a miserable people, I call attention to their dignity and talent, then propose how to liberate them from their demons so they can build a civil society and decent lives.

Daniel Pipes, via e-mail

Thank you for providing a sample of your writing, in which, we agree, you did not say, “The Palestinians are a miserable people…and they deserve to be.” Rather than characterize the historical reasoning and humanitarian impetus underlying your words, however, perhaps we’d better quit while we’re ahead.

With regard to your thinking, you alone know what that is. As for your public utterances, we’ll stick by the vivid recollection and written notes of our reporter, and would do so even were she not a Roman Catholic nun.

Taking up Shahak’s Torch

I was so distressed to read the obituary of Israel Shahak in my latest copy of the Middle East International—I am sure you all share my distress. Another great voice for justice has been stilled. I was so fortunate to meet Israel many years ago in Chicago at a conference. I remember shaking his hand and commending him for his bravery in speaking out despite the conseqences. He assured me that he was not brave as a resident of Israel but would be if he lived in New York, a remark whose relevance I came to appreciate. Nevertheless, I am aware that he faced much opprobrium and harassment in Israel for his fearlessness in opposing injustice and oppression both in Israel and occupied Palestine. I shall sorely miss his writing and honorable presence in our world where such integrity is in too short supply. Let us hope that there are others willing to take up the torch—and to bear it as courageously as he did.

Joan McConnell, via e-mail

In addition to Norton Finklestein’s remembrance of Israel Shahak which appeared in our last issue, see p. 71 of this issue for Allan C. Brownfeld’s appreciation of Shahak’s ideas and ideals.

Unbiased Reporting

Almost 14 years ago, I was introduced to the Washington Report by a lady from your circulation department. She sent me a complimentary copy of your excellent magazine after reading an excerpt of a letter I had written to TIME concerning Oliver North. Since then I have come to rely on your publication for trustworthy reports on the Middle East scene and I have cancelled my other subscriptions to news magazines such as TIME, Newsweek and US News and World Report. I am so incensed by the blackout, distortions and bias on Middle East coverage as reported by the main TV networks that I am now turning to BBC World News, France 2 and Deutsche Welle, where there is a modicum of objectivity.

For the benefit of Washington, DC-area viewers interested in a more balanced news reporting I highly recommend the international TV station WNVC (Channel 56). Quite per chance, on Sunday, July 1, I discovered and caught the better part of the weekly program “Capital View.” Dr. James Zogby (is he connected with Zogby International, as reported on p. 91 of your April 2000 issue?) was conducting an incredibly warm and sympathetic interview with Hanan Ashrawi. The eloquent spokeswoman of the Palestinian cause was responding to him and various callers, mostly from Middle Eastern countries. She defended her people in vibrant and moving terms.

Then, a few days later, I watched “an exclusive interview” of Ariel Sharon while on his first visit to my native country. France 2 anchorwoman Beatrice Schonberg and a junior correspondent for Middle East affairs were taking turns relentlessly grilling the Israeli prime minister on crucial matters such as the extension of illegal settlements, how soon there would be a freeze on them, targeting Palestinian “terrorists,” etc. Alas, tough questions cannot budge Sharon from his illegal, repressive policies or his defiance of international laws. But still, it was refreshing to see him nonplussed and on the defensive. Quite a change from the deferential interviewers to whom he is more accustomed in this country.

I highly commend your publication for its unbiased reporting and wherever I can, I try to spread your good word! Lastly, I would like to offer my Washington Report collection from mid-1987 to the end of 2000. Can you put me in touch with an individual or group who would be interested? I am afraid that if I give the magazines to a Fairfax County Library, some pro-Zionist zealot will quickly dispose of them as subversive propoganda.

Monique M. Byer, Springfield, VA

We in the Washington, DC area indeed are fortunate that we do not have to rely only on American network television for our news. It wasn’t that long ago, was it, when Americans pitied citizens of the then-U.S.S.R. for not being able to trust their national news media, and commiserated with their resulting cynicism?

To answer your other questions, Dr. James Zogby is the president of the Arab American Institute. His brother John is the Zogby of Zogby International. With regard to your collection of Washington Report back issues, we’ve run out of storage space to house these treasures. Perhaps some of our readers can recommend worthy recipients. The main thing is to get the word out!

Stone-Throwing Protesters

On p. 21 of the July 2001 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs an article claimed that no stones were thrown at Jewish teenagers demonstrating outside an AIPAC conference by Arab demonstrators across the street.

I was one of those Jewish teenagers who had stones thrown at me. My friends were hit by stones, and one member of our party was punched in the face by an Arab youth who left the demonstration across the street to follow our party as we left the area.

In light of this new evidence, I would like you to print a retraction as soon as possible.

Danny Shoag, via e-mail

Not a “Complete Fabrication”

With all due respect, Delinda Hanley’s accusation that Rabbi Sidney Schwartz’s account of stone throwing at the March rally was a “complete fabrication” is not only false, it is insulting. She had no right to assume that because she and her colleagues did not see or hear about the incident, it simply did not happen. Being one of the many students at the scene, I was an eyewitness to, if not a victim of, the stone throwing.

Let me spell it out for you. The Panim el Panim group was on its way back to the hotel when a bunch of kids came up to us and started cursing us out. One Panim student got angry and began to yell in return. The Arab kids crossed the street, moving away from the group, and from there began chucking stones at our group. A few kids were hit by the rocks, but, as Rabbi Schwartz truthfully stated, no one was seriously injured. We did not fight back, but hurriedly walked back to our hotel.

Now, I’m sorry if her own words come back to haunt her, but Hanley is right; “Newspaper readers assume articles are based on truth.” While Rabbi Schwartz was speaking the truth, she, in fact, was the one misleading your audience.

I will be the first to agree that the majority of the pro-Palestine crowd was being very peaceful and nonviolent. But a few kids did get out of hand. How dare you tell the world otherwise? I by no means accuse you of lying, but PLEASE, in the future, fully research your accusations before putting them into print, because in this case, they were completely groundless and incredibly infuriating. For many of us, that incident was the first time we were hit with a realization of what goes on day to day in Israel, and it is very disrespectful of you to say it never happened.

Furthermore, a Palestinian lady came up to us after the incident and apologized for those boys. She said she respected what we were doing and hoped we didn’t base our sentiments toward all Palestinians on those few kids. We greatly appreciated her words, and respected her in turn. So I think you can understand how you debase your own cause by claiming that it never happened.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope that in the future you will be more careful to omit such blatant mistruths from your propaganda.

Michele Nagar, a Panim el Panim participant

In her article, Hanley’s exact words were “we know beyond any doubt that no one among the hundreds of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish demonstrators standing together on the anti-Sharon side of Connecticut Avenue threw stones across four lanes of rush-hour traffic.” Your accounts seem to confirm this, describing a most regrettable event that took place some distance from the demonstration itself.

A Purely “Personal” Loan

Just a note, perhaps a long one, to tell you how much I appreciate the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. I’m sorry I don’t have enough resources to qualify for the “Angels” category, but I help where I can and I’ll try to do more.

The Report is excellent in all aspects. There is never an issue that does not provide me with useful information, and seldom an issue that does not provide me with information that finds its way into our weekly newspaper, The Floyd County Hesperian. Your yeoman service regarding campaign contributions from AIPAC to favored friends, and your totaling of public funds going to Israel are most appreciated. I find that information nowhere else.

Until one spends some time in public service, or in elective politics, or in the publishing business, the extent of Israeli influence in America is usually ignored, or at least unappreciated. Campaign contributions are one aspect of that influence, but only one.

After I retired from the USIA, I returned to Texas and opened a consulting firm. Clients were primarily political candidates, or people who had some problem with government and needed a little help to open doors. Time went on. We got a Republican governor and, ultimately, a Republican president (Reagan). Eventually I was approached by a Houston businessman who owned a rather large building that was leased to the INS (the Immigration and Naturalization Service). He thought his tenant was doing some wrong things, and wanted to talk to someone about it. We accepted him as a client and began our work. You wouldn’t be interested in all the folderol that went on with trying to be helpful, but in the process one very important bit of information emerged.

I first asked him why he didn’t just go to his congressman, since I felt it was a matter some hard-working congressman could handle in a hurry.

“No,” he said. His congressman was a black Democrat (Mickey Leland, who was ultimately killed in a plane crash in Africa while on a congressional junket) whom he did not support in the most recent election. “And he knows it,” my client said.

He went on. “We have his vote on anything dealing with Israel, but beyond that I’m not allowed to talk to him.”

The “we,” my client explained, were three Jewish bankers in Houston, of whom he was one. They had “loaned” the congressman $25,000. For that they were assured of no anti-Israel vote by the congressman. They had arranged the note as a purely “personal” loan for 90 days. At the end of that 90 days the loan was paid off by one of the other bankers, who immediately assumed the note. This was done, he said, to keep the bank examiners from complaining about unsecured loans on the bank’s part. Obviously, the note was never to be repaid, as long as the congressman voted right on Israel. I suppose when the congressman’s plane went down in Africa, the note was written off. Mission accomplished.

(Incidentally, my client’s problem with his tenant never was solved to his satisfaction.)

The question naturally arises: how many pro-Israel votes in Congress are the result of similar arrangements? How much “foreign aid” money has Israel received from the American taxpayer because of “personal,” unsecured loans to various senators and congressmen by Jewish interests?

Anyhow, keep up the good work.

Ken Towery, via e-mail

We Know Too Much

As the abuse of Muslims and Christians in Palestine continues, I get more and more frustrated. One answer to the puzzle may be to get voters to pressure the U.S. government to demand the Israelis start acting responsibly, to stop economic aid until they do.

At the local level, I have talked to neighbors and friends about their understanding of the situation. I have found that they aren’t that well-informed. My goal is to get them better informed and then encourage them to write to their elected representative and senators in Congress. To help me do this, I have put background information on my Web site at <www.billbuckel.com>. I invite you to look at it.

Part of the problem is that people like you (and, to some extent, people like me) know too much. We have difficulty communicating with those who have only a casual interest in the topic. One of the maps I have included with this letter shows the West Bank (North Palestine). It is from the Washington Report, April 2000, p. 8. Note all of the detail in the map. What does this tell the casually interested reader?

Also enclosed is a U.N. map of the same general area. This may be found at <http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/gpal/pal_maps.htm>. The map number is 3639. Note how it is not cluttered up with lots of detail.

Here is my challenge to you all at the Washington Report. Come up with something simple (one page) that your readers can photocopy and hand out to neighbors and friends. Again, the goal here is to get serious-minded neighbors and friends of your readers to write to their elected representative and senators in Congress, asking them to stop supporting tyranny by sending aid to Israel.

Bill Buckel, Columbus, OH

We checked out your self-described “Serious No-Frills Web Site” and were impressed. The section on “Palestine/Israel and the American Taxpayers’ Obligations” is presented in an outline format that lends itself to various issues and links—including to the U.N. map cited above. Also on the Web site are position papers issued during your 2000 campaign for Congress in Ohio’s 15th congressional district. Should you run, and win, in 2002, we’ll see you in Washington. In the meantime, we take your point, accept your challenge, and invite suggestions from readers.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

The report by Abdulhadi Ayyad on actions in support of the Palestinians in Britain carried in your July issue was welcome, but please allow me to correct one error.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has played a major role in getting a campaign to boycott Israeli goods launched, was not founded during the first intifada, but in 1982. The first steps to set it up were taken in the spring of that year, during an upsurge in Palestinian protests in the West Bank against the Israeli occupation. About two months after the first PSC meeting Israel invaded Lebanon, and the new campaign found itself organizing a succession of protest actions and providing speakers for public meetings all over Britain. Subsequently, it launched a bimonthly paper which appeared regularly for 10 years from the end of 1982—the longest continuous run of any Palestine-solidarity publication in Britain—before lapsing into fewer appearances following the Oslo accords.

It was quite a struggle to keep the campaign going during periods when public interest slackened, but it was important that at least a skeleton network of activists was kept together then, both for what it still could do and because, when the first and second intifadas broke out, it provided the nucleus of an organization that could go into action quickly and effectively: valuable time was not lost starting a new organization from scratch.

John Gee (formerly national secretary of PSC and editor of its paper), Singapore

All the Ads Fit to Print?

What is the general thinking over there regarding a NY Times ad? I get sick reading these horrid pieces by CAMERA and the like and know how rare it is for the New York audience to get any news not completely slanted against the Palestinians in the local media. (My God, have you seen the Daily News or the Post recently?) The Times is, of course, going through its identity crisis and is fearful of criticism from the Israel-right-or-wrong crowd. I heard from Michael Lerner at Tikkun (in response to my letter) that they ignored his op-ed submissions, but certainly they can’t refuse an ad presenting the anti-occupation side, can they? Is it too costly?

I’m not the one to draft it but I’d be happy to throw in some bucks to see something questioning America’s backing for such cruelty as bulldozing nurseries (Aug. 20, BBC News on line) and shooting young protesters in their own backyards while ignoring the civilized world.

By the way, I’ve read your magazine and find in it not a scintilla of what I would consider anti-Semitism, for whatever it’s worth to you (I myself am Jewish). Keep on trucking.

G. Abrams, via e-mail

Full-page ads in The New York Times do indeed cost a small fortune, but some pro-peace groups, such as Churches for Middle East Peace,have managed to purchase the space. At the moment we don’t have the resources to spearhead such a drive, but should that situation change we’ll send out the call. If we learn of any other efforts to spread the word we’ll announce those as well.

Our Lucky Stars

I have been your reader for years, and thank my lucky stars and the friend who gave me the first copy of your magazine many years ago. Since as a child I lived for five years in Palestine and attended a convent school in Jerusalem, I am especially sensitive to what is happening now in the Holy Land and the terrible treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis. Your magazine is wonderful, supplying the information we cannot get easily elsewhere. PLEASE keep up the good work.

Wanda M. Madeyski, Livingston, TX

Thank you for including your letter to Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie in response to a Richard Cohen column attacking Pope John Paul II for his failure to defend Israel’s use of torture against Palestinians on his holiness’ recent visit to Syria. Space prohibited us from including it in “Other People’s Mail,” but we value every effort to set the mainstream media straight on the Middle East. Keep those cards and letters coming!

An Educator’s Request

I am a high school teacher who would like to know if you have any information materials for educators to use. I would like to subscribe, but my meager yearly budget won’t allow it!

Thank you.

Don Davis, via e-mail

We’ve paired you up with a donor so that you’ll be receiving a subscription to the magazine for the coming school year. Ensuring that the Washington Report is available in school classrooms and libraries is one of the best ways we know of spreading the truth as widely as possible.

A Web Surfer’s Request

I have been wistfully looking forward to you archiving the recent back issues of your magazine on your Web site, but haven’t had much encouragement from you. Do you plan to do that any time soon? I like to read your magazine and would appreciate you updating your archive.

Rustum P., via e-mail

Our attention and resources have been focused on development of our new Web site. With that complete, we’ll be adding the recent back issues of the Washington Report as quickly as possible. It’s good to know someone is watching!

Server Woes

I just attempted to subscribe from your site and it does not appear that my subscription was accepted. Could you please make sure that only one subscription request is accepted.

Unsigned, via e-mail

In the transition to our new Web site, we’ve encountered some server difficulties. These should be resolved by the time this issue reaches your hands.

Cover Christian Arabs

My wife, Mary S. Bond, and I had been subscribers of the Washington Report and supporters of the United Palestinian Appeal for a number of years. We believe in the work that you have been doing and hope that you will continue informing citizens of the world what is going on in Israel/ Palestine. Many of the people that we talk to are not even aware of the treatment that the Palestinian people have been receiving. However, people are becoming better informed than they were, even just a few months ago.

Overall, your coverage of the affairs of the Middle East has been well done and is fairly balanced, giving more than just one side of the story. However, it seems to me that, especially in recent years, your coverage is almost entirely devoted to the Arab Muslims in Palestine, in the countries adjacent to Palestine and in the United States. My wife and I—as well as, I believe, other people—would also be interested in hearing more about the Christian Arabs. I believe that nearly half of the Arab-Americans are Christian. Is this ratio similar in Palestine and in other countries in the Middle East; also, are the Christian Arabs in Palestine and the Middle East treated differently than the Muslim Arabs?

Henry E. Bond, Cody, WY

What you perceive as an increased emphasis on Muslim Americans may be due to the fact that the community is coming into its own in the United States—as evidenced particularly in the Muslim-American bloc vote in the 2000 presidential election. Because Muslim Americans are emerging as a political force, more coverage than in the past is devoted to that phenomenon. In sections such as “Arab-American Activism” and “Waging Peace” we don’t distinguish between Muslim or Christian Arab Americans. (Many of the Arab-American civil rights organizations, in fact, are largely composed of Christian Arab Americans.) Our regular column by Dr. Fred Strickert, “Christianity in the Middle East,” deals exclusively with Christian Arabs and other Middle East peoples.

Armenian Genocide

Thank you for including Prof. Fred Strickert’s article on the 1,700-year anniversary of the Armenian Church in your July issue. Since the recent Turkish/Israeli alliance, the Jewish lobby has been working hard to prevent Congress and the president from recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

S. Walter Kran, M.D., San Leandro, CA

Obnoxious B.C.E.

I noticed for the first time in the May/ June issue, the use of the obnoxious expressions “C.E.” and “B.C.E.” in the Washington Report. Since these letters normally stand out like a red flag to me, I am wondering if I have missed something in the past or if you have newly adopted this terminology. I will be watching for it in the future and will sever my connection with your magazine if necessary to avoid future sightings.

I have never seen an explanation for abolishing BC and AD. Is it a part of a Jewish drive to abolish all references to Christianity in American public life? Is it the work of atheist intellectuals, who run the universities, foundations, museums, etc., who can’t stand the thought of Jesus Christ? Or of the new-age, one-world, multiculturalists who see the need for a lot of revisions in American thinking? An arrogant elite of course does not have to explain when they hand down their Diktat.

The whole idea is a bit silly since they are still using the Western, Christian calendar. If they are offended at that, let them use the Chinese or Jewish or Muslim or Inca calendar and get away from that terrible Western civilization altogether.

Robert Blucker, N. Little Rock, AR

You have a good eye. The usage of C.E. and B.C.E. in this magazine is indeed a recent one, in response to the growing acceptance of the abbreviation. We’d hate to lose you over a matter of form rather than content, and hope you’ll reconsider.

More on April Cover

The cover photo of your April 2001 issue showing 13-year-old Mohammad Mahmoud Hellis and his grandfather illustrated how life and dignity are violated by the conditions under which the Palestinians are forced to live. For me, the public’s indifference is beyond comprehension. This is not a basketball game about which people in the U.S. can choose sides depending on their whims of the day. What is happening in the Middle East involves every man, woman and child on Planet Earth.

We know the U.S. sends a minimum of 6 billion dollars a year to 6 million people in Israel. We have armed Israel to the teeth and now this child of ours has become a spoiled brat out of control. Sharon is insane.

Taking the stand that there is nothing one can do is pure weakness. If society has the will and intelligence to construct smart bombs and star wars defense systems then surely we have the ability to stop starvation, displacement of people and state-sponsored murder. If one’s God and religion guide one’s values, then surely life is the only logical reality.

Ideally, Mohammed’s grandfather’s main concern should have been tending his garden, visiting his friends over coffee and watching his grandson grow to be a healthy, distinguished young man; he should never have had to suffer the trauma of his grandson’s murder. The boy was shot as he was walking to school.

So what are you for? Life or insanity? Actually, we are already involved; we no longer have the luxury of choosing.

Susan Wagner, Dallas, OR

An English-Language Rarity

Never before have I read a magazine or newspaper (in English) that presents issues in such a straightforward, truthful, compassionate and just manner. The Washington Report is one of the rare sources of truth concerning the situation in Palestine. What a relief from the Zionist-dominated media! Thank you for the professionalism of your journalists, writers, photographers, and staff. It’s comforting to know that there are some people in this world who are not afraid to stand up for truth and justice.

Mona Rajab, St. Louis, MO