Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 2000, Page 99

Diplomatic Doings

Andrew Killgore Briefs Egyptian Diplomat Trainees

Fifty-one young Egyptian diplomats attended a Sept. 20 briefing at the Egyptian Embassy with Middle East experts, including Washington Report publisher Andrew Killgore. Dr. Ibrahim Oweiss, president of the Council on Egyptian-American Relations, introduced the former ambassador, who was the first to address the trainees on the third day of their two-and-a-half week visit in the United States.

Ambassador Killgore began his talk with a description of the historic three estates in the French monarchy: the Noblemen, the Clergy, and “Everyone Else.” In America, he said, “the media has been called the fourth estate, which tells you something about its power in this country.” He described mainstream media coverage of the Middle East as a “cult of dis-information,” which continues to propagate half-truths and biased positions.

Killgore defined other useful phrases for the diplomats, including “stealth PACs,” or political action committees, which usually mention nothing about Israel or even the Middle East in their titles or descriptions but nevertheless subvert the political system with campaign contributions. Another word Killgore de-mystified was “Arabists,” coined by Zionists to describe post-World War II Foreign Service officers as aristocratic, anti-Jewish, Ivy-league college graduates who sympathize with Arabs. This simply isn’t true, said Killgore, citing his own middle-class background and the humble backgrounds of the vast majority of his colleagues. He and other officers simply wanted to tell the truth about what they witnessed while serving in the Middle East, and because of it they were labeled “anti-Semitic” by Zionists.

One diplomat asked what political strategy worked best for Arab Americans and American Muslims. Killgore explained that, until recently, if Arab contributions to political candidates were reported in the press, the money would be returned. But now that’s changing (except in New York). The Washington Report, its publisher emphasized, tries to give media coverage to organizations and events all over the country. Publicity can encourage people to get politically involved and realize they are “not alone.” When asked what diplomats can do to improve American perspectives of Arab countries, Killgore replied, “Be a good diplomat—be as honest as your government will let you be.”

—Elizabeth Neal