Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January/February 2000, pages 43-46

Other People's Mail

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

Close Israeli Torture Camps

To Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Washington, DC, Oct. 28, 1999.

I was amazed to learn that the United States voted against a resolution in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights last April calling on Israel to immediately halt the practice of abducting and mistreating Lebanese civilians in occupied southern Lebanon, and keeping them as hostages to use as bargaining chips. I am very concerned about the continued detention by Israel of 161 Lebanese civilians in the Khiam detention camp. International organizations have reported on the inhumane conditions of detention, including torture, which have led to the deaths of at least 14 detainees. Many of the detainees are children, or elderly and infirm. They are denied visits from family, advocates or the Red Cross.

It is unconscionable that the United States would not take every step within its power to demand that Israel cease this illegal and inhumane practice. I urge you to take this step today, and demand that all the hostages be immediately freed, that the Khiam facility be closed, and that Israel abide by its international obligations.

I am opposed to my U.S. tax money being used to support a country that kidnaps civilians and operates torture camps. Given that Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid, I believe that the United States has a particular and urgent responsibility to act in this regard.

Ali Abunimah, Chicago, IL

Selective on Settlements

To The Washington Post, Nov. 2, 1999 (as published).

The Oct. 18 editorial "Mr. Barak and the Settlements" takes a biased legal and political position on Israeli settlements.

U.N. Security Council and General Assembly resolutions confirm the 1949 Geneva Convention's prohibition on Israeli settlement activities in any part of occupied Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem. International law forbids an occupying power from stealing the land and resources of an occupied people.

No country—including the United States—has recognized the legality of a single Israeli settlement. Yet the Post accepts Mr. Barak's distinction between the "legitimate" presence of "existing settlements" and the "illegal hilltop settlements" hastily constructed by radical settlers in the waning days of the Netanyahu government.

Worse, the Post regards favorably Mr. Barak's "dual strategy" of dismantling 12 of 42 new hilltop settlements while approving 2,600 new housing units in the ring of Jewish settlements encircling the Arab population of East Jerusalem.

Roger Normand, Brookland, NY, and Heidi Shoup, Falls Church, VA

(Roger Normand is policy director of the Center for Economic and Social Rights in New York. Heidi Shoup is executive director at the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine in Washington.)

Kosovo Article

To Congressman Wayne Gilcrest, Washington, DC, Nov. 16, 1999.

One of your aides conveyed to me your pleasure upon reading my article "Kosovo: A Watershed in U.S.-Islamic Relations," in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

I would like to thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule to recognize my humble efforts at improving U.S.-Islamic relations. Indeed, our exchange itself is a manifestation of my claim that we are witnessing a turn-around in relations between the U.S. and its Muslim citizens.

I gather that you have personally been deeply concerned with the Kosovo issue. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your leadership.

I am sending a recent article of mine, which I hope you may find interesting. This article, "U.S. Foreign Policy and Political Islam: Interests, Ideas and Ideology," was published in Security Dialogue, a journal published by the International Peace Research Institute (Oslo, Norway). It is from the series "Conditions for Peace and Security in the Middle East" supported by the Royal Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

M.A. Muqtedar Khan, Department of Political Science, Washington College, Chestertown, MD

A Conflict of Interest?

To the Los Angeles Times, May 7, 1999 (as submitted).

Re the Opinion article, May 2, 1999, "Right Tactics, Wrong War; Think Gulf, Not Balkans," by Daniel Byman and Mathew Waxman-Rand.

My question is this: Why does the Times (as well as other papers) almost invariably have Jewish authors on subjects that deal with the Middle East (Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc.)? Don't you think there is the appearance of a conflict of interest?

Let us see articles by at least some non-Jewish foreign service individuals, preferably retired, and I will begin to believe the articles have some credibility. Might I suggest that you review some of the retired foreign service officers who are regular writers for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs? I'm sure you must be familiar with that magazine.

There doesn't seem to be much difference between what has been happening to the people of Kosovo* and the Palestinian people, unless you could say that what is happening to the Kosovo people is happening in a shorter period—a matter of degree. That is, destroying homes because residents are "suspected" of "crimes," or because the residents might be friends of "suspects," or arresting people without warrant, jailing people with no charges, unlimited jail sentences for any "suspects," as well as torture of "suspects" which is sanctioned by the government and courts? The United States has done little or nothing in such instances, but we keep referring to Israel as the "only democracy" in that part of the world! Think we'll ever bomb Israel?

Alberta Z. Abbott, Temecula, CA

*Washington Report editor's note: This letter was written before the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo.

"The Kafr Qasem Massacre Sheds its Shrouds"

To Ha'aretz (Jerusalem newspaper), Oct. 27, 1999 (as submitted).

Regarding "The Kafr Qasem Massacre Sheds its Shrouds," Oct. 27, 1999. Tamar Rotem extolled Israel's judicial system for firmly dealing with the Israeli soldiers who massacred 49 Palestinians. This, however, is highly inconsistent with Ha'aretz's report during the proceedings, on April 11, 1957:

"The eleven officers and soldiers who are on trial for the massacre in Kafr Qasem have all received a 50 percent increase in their salaries. A special messenger was sent to Jerusalem to bring the paychecks to the accused in time for Passover. A number of the accused had been given a vacation for the holiday....The accused mingle freely with the spectators; the officers smile at them and pat them on the back; some of them shake hands with them. It is obvious that these people, whether they will be found innocent or guilty, are not treated as criminals, but as heroes."

While Ms. Rotem did state that officers Meliniki and Dahan were sentenced up to 17 years in prison, she didn't mention that within a year of their sentencing they were free men; that officer Shadmi, who gave the order to shoot "indiscriminately," was found guilty of a "merely technical" error, and fined one piaster; and that after his release, Dahan, who was convicted of killing 43 Arabs, was appointed "officer responsible for Arab affairs" in Ramleh.

Sami Deeb, South Kingstown, RI

Israel Still Has Long Way to go on Admitting Facts

To the Westchester County, NY Journal News, Oct. 20, 1999 (as published).

The truth about such events as: the 1948 war, the massacres of Deir Yassin and Kafr Qasem, the forcible expulsion of Palestinians, etc., is starting to seep slowly into Israel's history textbooks used in the classrooms (news story, Oct. 15). Undoubtedly, Israel is on the right track but it still has a long way to go.

Even though the facts about these shameful events and many others were known all along, Israeli revisionist historians started to write about them only a little over a decade ago, and only now have they made their way into textbooks.

It is unfortunate, however, that many in Israel are still opposed to the truth. Yossi Sarid, the Israeli education minister, in his reply to them said: "We don't need these myths anymore." It is refreshing to see Israel facing up to the truth.

Here, in the United States, the truth about Israel has an even harder time. The chapter on the Middle East in my son's history book, for instance, is totally inadequate. A reader of my Web site, mideastwatch.com, sent me an e-mail rehashing the same old "myths." Letters to the editor of this and other papers, written by Israel's apologists, are still distorting the facts.

If peace is ever to be achieved in the Middle East it has to be built on truth and justice. The good news is that the Israelis have started working on the truth. The bad news is that justice hasn't even crossed their minds.

Medhat Credi, Elmsford, NY

Denying Deir Yassin

To the National Post, Oct. 7, 1999 (as submitted).

In response to Stephen Shoshan's outrageous claim (letter, Oct. 6) that Jewish forces did not commit atrocities against the Palestinian inhabitants of Deir Yassin, I quote the following eye-witness accounts:

Meir Pa'il, official Haganah observer on the scene: "After the Palmach men left [Deir Yassin], the men of the [Irgun and Stern Gang] started a shameful massacre of the inhabitants...[The massacre] was carried out...when the village was in Jewish hands, and without the inhabitants having taken any provocative action..." (Yediot Ahranot, April 29, 1972)

Eliyahu Arieli, Haganah member who arrived at Deir Yassin shortly after the massacre: "All of the killed, with very few exceptions, were old men, women or children. The dead we found were all unjust victims, and none of them had died with a weapon in their hands." (O Jerusalem, Collins and Lapierre, 1972)

After interrogating several female survivors, British Army Assistant Inspector General Richard Catling concluded: "There is no doubt that many sexual atrocities were committed by the attacking Jews. Many young girls were raped and later slaughtered. Old women were also molested." (The Palestinian Catastrophe, Michael Palumbo, 1987)

Mr. Shoshan's assertion that the Jews did not "forcibly" expel Palestinians in 1948 has long since been refuted by several eminent historians, including Israelis. In the words of British Army war historian Major Edgar O'Ballance, who was in Palestine at the time: "Bluntly, the Arab [Palestinian] inhabitants were ejected and forced to flee...as at Ramleh, Lydda, and other places. Wherever the Israeli troops advanced...the Arab population was bulldozed out in front of them." (The Arab Israeli War 1948, Edgar O'Ballance, 1957)

Gary D. Keenan, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Columnist's Words Smack of Racism

To the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sept. 22, 1999 (as published).

Under the headline "Palestinians Talk Peace, but Prepare for War," the Journal Sentinel saw fit to print a racist column by Cal Thomas on Sept. 10.

Thomas likened Palestinians to a "wild animal," argued against the view that "such a beast will be satisfied with a small piece of meat" and concluded that the animal "will forcibly take the rest and then eat you."

Since Arabs are Semites, Thomas qualifies as an example of the other kind of anti-Semite. It would seem that Arabs, and especially Palestinians, are the only ethnic group that it remains safe to caricature today. Can any other ethnic group be subjected in the newspaper to such scurrilous language?

Thomas does not inform; he rants. In this column, as he has for years, Thomas accused Palestinians of a "land grab" and of a "terrorism network." Utterly ignored is the fact that, under international law, this is Palestinian land that Israel illegally has occupied with Jewish settlers.

Also ignored is the state terrorism of Israel, trying to maintain control with systematic torture, deportation, denial of the Palestinian right of return, imprisonment without trial and a host of other human rights violations denounced by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as by the United Nations and Israeli civil rights organizations.

It is shameful to continue to provide him a platform.

Robert B. Ashmore, Milwaukee, WI

The Taboo That Costs Us

To The Hoboken Reporter, Aug. 29, 1999 (as published).

Ever since a neo-Nazi "Aryan" named Buford Furrow shot up a Jewish Center in L.A., explaining his actions as a "wake-up call" for Americans to start "killing Jews," a certain subject has come more out of the closet. In a Chat Room discussion, someone from a Jewish organization claimed that there were several signs by which one could identify an "anti-Semite," and an "obsession with Jews" is one of them. Hmm. Really. But how can one follow events and not be "obsessed?" Israel, Jews, the Holocaust, are in the news every day.

Furthermore, one can't help but notice a change in the mood of a room when the subject is brought up, as if verging on a taboo. Taboo! This is power! It bothers me that the Lobby, trading on Holocaust guilt, has abused this power by bribing Congress to force American tax workers to finance Zion's Original Sin (ethnic cleansing) and subsequent wars, cover-ups and cruelties to the tune so far of 100 billion dollars!

It bothers me that my country is thereby earning vast bad karma; making enemies ("terrorists") that we and our children's children will have to deal with forever at great expense.

T. Weed, Hoboken, NJ

Don't Take My Word For It

To The Jersey City Reporter, Sept. 19, 1999 (as published).

Annie Rothschild (Letters, Sept. 12) is unhappy that I dared hold up to public gaze Zion's Original Sin (ethnic cleansing of Palestinians). Nor is she pleased that I mentioned the 100 billion dollars that the Jewish state has so far cozened out of Joe Taxpayer for this great wrong—the enormous swindle accomplished by hollering "Holocaust" whenever Joe begins to chafe under his burden.

In fact, she's so exercised by my letter than she resorts to calling names: I am "ignorant," a "bigoted whiner," a "rabid anti-Semite," "ranting paranoid," "hateful," and a "spoiled hillbilly." (That last charge I'll own up to.)

But Annie Rothschild doesn't have to take my word. She can read about it in a book called Original Sins, by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, an Israeli historian. An anti-Semite, no doubt.

T. Weed, Hoboken, NJ

Israel's Missing Soldiers

To Representative Thomas Petri, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC, 20515, Oct. 27, 1999.

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a resolution calling upon the State Department to present Israel's concerns about three missing soldiers to the government of Syria. It accepted Senate amendments to the resolution. I would appreciate it if you would send me a copy of that resolution.

It is indeed sad that Congress will knock itself out on behalf of the concerns of the state of Israel over three of their missing servicemen but shows no interest in the concerns of the survivors of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty to get a congressional inquiry to determine culpability for the attack and responsibility for the recall of carrier-dispatched aircraft sent to aid the Liberty when it was under attack.

As you know, 34 young Americans were "blatantly murdered" by the Israelis—to use the language of the late George Ball, undersecretary of state under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. One of the murdered sailors, Duane Marggraf, was from Fond du Lac.

Could you introduce a resolution to Congress calling upon it to investigate the concerns of the Liberty survivors?

Enclosed is a copy of a resolution concerning the Liberty which has been unanimously passed by the Veterans Affairs Committee of the Wisconsin State Assembly and will shortly come for a vote by the entire legislature. It could be the basis of any resolution you may choose to introduce on this subject.

Robert E. Nordlander, Menasha, WI

Biased Against Edward Said

To The Washington Post, Oct. 30, 1999 (as published).

Your unfriendly piece on Palestinian Edward Said (Oct. 26) cited Commentary magazine's hatchet job of him so often you might well have included the original article in extenso to avoid any confusion. If you had done so, you might have had to point out that Commentary, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee and a self-described defender of Israel, is hardly an unbiased source on Palestinians.

Philip M. Giraldi, Purcellville, VA

Israeli Military Aid

To The New York Times, Oct. 24, 1999 (as published).

A.M. Rosenthal (column, Oct. 22) laments Israeli military sales to China because he fears they will tarnish Israel's image.

However, Mr. Rosenthal does not mention Israel's long and ignoble history of military aid to oppressive governments. Israel was one of the few friends and military supporters of the apartheid government in South Africa. Israel also provided generous military aid to train the murderous Guatemalan army in the 1970s and '80s. With such a history, Mr. Rosenthal should not be so shocked at the prospect of Israeli dealings with Beijing.

John Cox, Carrboro, NC

U.S. News and Israel

To the U.S. News and World Report, Nov. 2, 1999 (as submitted).

Re: Editor Mortimer Zuckerman's column (Nov. 9): he is quite right in saying "Real peace [in the Middle East] means an end to threats of violence, disdain and defamation..." Indeed, there is enough blame to be found on both sides. Violence, disdain and defamation also belong to Israel. One thinks of her disdain of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which she signed but disregards. Arbitrary arrest and administrative detention, torture, denial of Palestinians to return to their home soil and expropriation of Palestinian property are all well known actions of this "Democracy."

Violence and disdain are also found in the destruction of Palestinian homes, transfer of Israel's population into the occupied areas and other violations of the Geneva Conventions.

Please do not use the pages of your fine magazine to propagandize for Israel, a nation that is every bit as violent as it claims its Palestinian population to be.

H. Brayton Gifford, Cornwall, PA

Tell the Truth About Israel

To The Christian News, Nov. 1, 1999 (as published).

In spite of the fact that Israeli military might is way out of proportion to Israel's actual size, thanks to the generosity of American taxpayers and the special relationship which has left the doors of the U.S. military arsenal wide open for Israel ever since the period of the so-called strategic alliance, Israeli supporters in this country continuously voice their opposition to any U.S. shipments of defensive arms to Middle Eastern countries. By doing so they ignore the facts that:

• Israel is now one of the biggest arms suppliers in the world;
  
• Israeli agents have run a secret network of sharing technology gained or stolen from the U.S. with countries like China, North Korea, Iran, etc.;
  
• Israel, which still refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, is the only country in the Middle East with substantial nuclear capability. Yet this has never been referred to as a threat, as if the Israeli atomic bomb is not a dangerous weapon in the hands of maniacs, but rather a benign, benevolent and merciful weapon. On the other hand, an imaginary so-called Arab or Islamic bomb is treated as a dangerous one. A nuclear weapon is a nuclear weapon in whatever hands it happens to be.

During the 1973 Middle Eastern war, according to Seymour Hersh as detailed in his book The Samson Option, Israel did not hesitate to threaten the use of nuclear weapons.

It is about time that all U.S. citizens be told the truth about Israel by their representatives in government and the liberal media.

Ray F. Dively, Baden, PA

Timerman on Israel

To The New York Times, Nov. 15, 1999 (as published).

Your Nov. 12 obituary of Jacobo Timerman, the Argentine journalist, notes that he documented "Argentina's shame" and that he criticized the Reagan administration's tolerance of right-wing regimes.

It is worth noting his equally poignant ciriticism of Israeli military excesses in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, set forth in his book The Longest War: Israel in Lebanon. He decided to leave Israel after this, declaring that he had little faith in the democratic opposition to the extremism he found there and so passionately opposed.

Tmis Kapitan, DeKalb, IL

Now Investigate I.N.S.

To The New York Times, Oct. 28, 1999 (as published).

Re Anthony Lewis' Oct. 26 column on the Immigration and Naturalization Service's efforts to deport aliens on the basis of secret evidence: Having read several columns by Mr. Lewis regarding the now common cases involving the INS and its Dickensian bureaucratic morass, is this now the time to make a citizen's request of Amnesty International to investigate the United States immigration agency?

Judith Ann Fraser, Sausalito, CA

Clarifying Burger King Stand

To Mr. Robert Pisapia, Westlake Village, CA,Sept. 23, 1999.

Thank you for contacting Burger King Corporation. Your comments are important to us and we appreciate the opportunity to clarify our actions regarding the West Bank. Burger King Corp. cancelled the right of Rikamor, Ltd., its independent franchisee in Israel, to operate a Burger King food court counter in Ma'ale Adumim in the West Bank effective Aug. 26, 1999. Burger King has asked its franchisee to remove the Burger King brand from the site immediately.

Burger King Corporation's reasons for this action were a breach of its franchise contract and misrepresentation, among other things. Specifically, Rikamor falsely informed Burger King that the food court would be located in Israel. After consulting legal advice, we now know the restaurant is not in Israel. It had been clearly understood between the two companies that Burger King would not approve Rikamor opening restaurants in the West Bank at this sensitive time in the peace process.

The cancellation of Rikamor's right to operate the site as a Burger King franchise will not force the closure of the food counter. But, it will end involvement of the Burger King brand in its operation. Burger King Corporation's decision is purely a commercial one. We abhor boycotts, and believe they serve no useful purpose. In fact, Burger King entered Israel in 1993, two years before the Arab League boycott was lifted.

Burger King has made this decision purely on a commercial basis and in the best interests of the hundreds of thousands of people who depend on the Burger King reputation for their livelihood. Burger King has no interest in taking sides in the Arab-Israeli peace process, except to welcome its early and mutually acceptable outcome.

Burger King regrets that its name and reputation have become entangled in matters that have nothing to do with providing quality food and service to its customers.

I hope this clarifies our position and explains the rationale behind actions we have taken. Again, thank you for contacting us.

Jackie Castro, Consumer Relations Specialist, Miami, FL

Pakistan—The Problem is Kashmir

To the Pensacola (FL) News Journal, Oct. 19, 1999 (as published).

According to the article distributed by Knight Ridder appearing in the Pensacola News Journal of Oct. 13, there is little the U.S. can do in the current Pakistani coup. This is sheer nonsense! As is implied in the article, the crux of the problem lies in Kashmir, where successive Washington administrations have chosen to avoid the tough choice of siding with the vast majority of Kashmiris against "the largest democracy in the world," i.e., India. Kashmir is Muslim and should have become a part of Pakistan at the time of partition in 1947—that it did not was because the ruler was a Hindu. Since that time many attempts by international bodies have been made to provide the people of Kashmir with a voice in their own future; the preferred method being a plebescite. All such efforts have been turned aside by India—the occupying power.

It is worth remembering that during the Cold War Pakistan was an ally of the U.S. while India was neutral—leaning toward Moscow. Beginning in the early '50s the U.S. Army provided trainers and armor to the Pakistanis and later combat aircraft.

Corruption in politics is not unknown in Pakistan and has resulted in several military coups or attempted coups beginning with the failed attempt by Maj. Gen. Akbar Khan, whose life was saved by clever lawyering by Hussayn Suhrawardy (later prime minister).

How can the U.S. influence events in the subcontinent? First, remove the immediate cause by regularizing the Kashmir situation, getting off the fence and insisting upon free elections with U.N. oversight. Second, remove the idiotic embargo on U.S. aid imposed when Pakistan went nuclear. We in the USA say we want self-determination—then let's practice what we preach and, instead of standing on the side wringing our hands, actively support an early plebescite in Kashmir. A self-governing Kashmir will also markedly reduce nuclear tensions in both India and Pakistan.

Frederick U. Wells, Gulf Breeze, FL

Standing by Pakistan

To The Washington Post, Oct. 30, 1999 (as published).

I strongly object to Jim Hoagland's view that Pakistan as a nation is at a dead end and that the United States should walk away [op-ed. Oct. 21]. In Oct. 14 testimony before Congress, Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth rightly said that Pakistan can serve as an example of a progressive Islamic country.

Pakistanis are distressed by recent events and hope that the military coup was a case of taking two steps back to find another way forward toward democracy.

Democracy, even with its many faults, is still the best form of government yet invented. Pakistan is not the first nation to suffer the ills of democracy before reaping its fruits. But as H.L. Mencken said, "The cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy."

Pakistan needs understanding and support in these difficult times from friends and nations around the world—not condemnation.

Farrakh A. Shah, Alexandria, VA (The writer is president of the Pakistani-American Business Association.)

Letter to General Musharraf

To General Musharraf, Chief Martial Law Administrator, Rawalpindi, Nov. 15, 1999.

On behalf of many Pakistani Americans, I congratulate you on implementing martial law due to the reasons you have mentioned. We Pakistani Americans have welcomed an attempt to improve the situation and life of the people in Pakistan. Currently, in our opinion, two big problems are corruption and crime. Corruption is the result of economic hardships and lack of merit in every government department. Certainly, corruption erodes in the presence of merit. If a policeman/officer believes that his selection, job and promotion all depend on merit, he will work hard to end crime. Of course, a reasonable salary to help his family survive is a must.

Dear sir, if you, the present martial law administrator, can change the system permanently so that in every department merit is the motto, and people see it in practice, then they will be supportive. Also, we Pakistani Americans will speak in your favor and will be the biggest and most sincere lobbyists for Pakistan. American congressmen and senators will listen to us as we give them votes and donations. Nawaz Sherif ignored his people by trying to please foreign powers. Ending corruption is the beginning of Pakistan becoming a great and strong nation.

Muhammad Jawaid Khan, M.D., F.A.A.P., Elmhurst, NY

Iran Hostages

To the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 9, 1999 (as published).

Re "20 Years After Hostages, Iran Reflects on Costs," Nov. 4. For America, the number 1 legacy left by the hostages in Iran was the emasculation of President Carter, who was quite friendly to the aims of emerging countries, including Middle Eastern ones. The hostage-taking sped his utter humiliation before the eyes of the world. It sealed his downfall, and allowed the emergence of a chief executive who cared little for anything beyond his own reflection, much less the world at large: Ronald Reagan.

Winston Steward, Los Angeles, CA

Why Silence on Chechnya?

To The New York Times, Oct. 31, 1999 (as published).

As a former resident of Sarajevo, I remember the scenario we see now in Chechnya (news article, Oct. 26). Soldiers would come from outside Bosnia with planes and tanks and would kill, rape, expel and steal. They would encircle cities and keep them under siege. Yes, in Bosnia, they were Serbs. But the arms were the same, and the credo was the same.

It is sad to hear how swiftly President Clinton condemned the shootings in Armenia in light of the silence about Russian crimes in Chechnya. Have we fed the Russians and paid their bills so they could concentrate on killing others?

Adnan Dzinic, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

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