Michael Emery, 1940-1995

By Pat and Samir Twair

Professor Michael Emery taught journalism for nearly 30 years at California State University, Northridge, and once he became aware of the unjust hand dealt the Palestinians, he traveled to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank and wrote two important articles on his findings in the Village Voice as well as other opinion pieces published locally. This highly respected teacher and internationally known journalist died of prostate cancer in December. He was 55.

Along with his late father, Professor Edwin Emery, Michael Emery co-authored the most widely read journalism textbook in the United States, The Press and America, now in its eighth edition. He also co-authored America's Front Page News, 1690-1970, and America's Leading Daily Newspapers.

On Dec. 16, six days short of the fifth anniversary of his marriage to Palestinian-American Lulu Calnan, Emery was memorialized in the same church in which the couple had exchanged vows.

More than 300 relatives, friends, former students and colleagues filled St. Charles Episcopalian Church in Granada Hills. Some sat in the choir section, others stood outside.

Emery first became a part of Southern California's Arab-American community when he established a journalism scholarship at CSUN in memory of his former graduate student Salwa Rifai. Rifai had died in an auto accident soon after receiving her master's degree in journalism. It was her master's thesis on the American media's pro-Israeli portrayal of the Middle East conflict that woke up Michael to the injustices suffered by the Palestinians--much of it because of Washington's blind support of Israel.

Throughout his life, Emery had been a champion of the underdog. Earlier, he had reported on Central America and atrocities committed by the U.S.-supported Contras. But by 1988, he was motivated to address unjust policies taking place in the Middle East. When he returned from the first of seven trips to the region, he collaborated with Dr. Sabri El Farra on op-ed articles outlining steps for a just Middle East peace that appeared in the Daily News , a suburban Los Angeles publication.

After the Oct. 8, 1990 massacre of Palestinian worshippers at al-Aqsa mosque, Emery traveled to Jerusalem to research the events leading to the murder of dozens of Muslims within the mosque precincts by Israeli police and border guards. By correlating the exact sequence of events as recorded by three separate videotapes prepared by amateur photographers located in different parts of the city, Prof. Emery conclusively disproved the Israeli version of the massacre, which had been reported as fact by two correspondents for the New York Times, Joel Brinkley and Sabra Chartrand. When they declined to correct their published reports, even after he showed them the videotapes, Emery prepared a detailed article, "The Temple Mount Massacre," which appeared in the Nov. 13, 1990 Village Voice.

Prof. Emery conclusively disproved the Israeli version of the 1990 al-Aqsa mosque massacre.

His in-depth exposé was picked up by CBS' "60 Minutes" and his research was acknowledged on the air as the source for the program's accurate segment on the Jerusalem massacre.

Then, with U.S. President George Bush's deadline approaching for Iraq's Saddam Hussain to withdraw his troops from Kuwait, Emery flew to Jordan for an exclusive interview with King Hussein. His article based on the interview, "The War That Didn't Have to Happen: How U.S. Scuttled the Arab Peace Plan," also appeared in the Village Voice. In it, Emery quoted an angry King Hussein who felt Egypt and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government had foiled his attempts to persuade the Iraqi leader to withdraw hours after he had crossed the Kuwaiti border. Emery received the Village Voice 's Mencken Awards best investigative report designation for this work.

Emery's most recent book, On the Front Lines, was published in 1995. It details the exploits of American foreign correspondents in the 20th century. Just months before his death, he was appearing at book signings and captivating audiences as he spun tales about his favorite subject: journalists at work.

On a trip to Israel/Palestine in 1990, Michael and Lulu Emery had planted a small olive tree on the Mount of Olives. Only days before his death, Lulu's daughter cut a branch from that olive tree, wrapped it in wet towels and brought it to Southern California. Even though he was unable to speak, Emery's eyes lit up when he saw that olives were growing on the sprig from the once tiny tree planted five years before. He mouthed the words, "How high?"

The olive branch and a bowl containing the soil of Palestine were buried with his ashes.

Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance writers from Southern California.