September 1990, Page 80

Publishers' Page

The Glue in the Movement

Since it was founded eight years ago, the Washington Report has sought to become a link that binds the diverse groups comprising an American peace and justice movement for the Middle East.

We've watched that movement expand from mostly Arab Americans to include Jewish peace groups, old Middle East hands, retired government officials, Muslims, and now a groundswell of American Catholics and adherents of Christian Orthodox and mainstream Protestant denominations.

Now, as then, we'd like to be the glue that binds these diverse groups with a common aim into a movement that works effectively with Congress and the media for the changes in U.S. foreign aid policy that will support the moderates and the peacemakers in both Israel and the Arab world.

Won't you think about encouraging a congregation, parish or club to which you belong to enter a group subscription to the Washington Report? Or, if they're more open-minded than decisive, why not donate subscriptions to all the members yourself? Rates are $5 per subscription, so long as they are received in groups of 15 recipients or more.

Goodbye to a Great Bunch

Every summer the American Educational Trust welcomes a swarm of interns who do such things as reorganizing files, addressing and mailing tens of thousands of brochures and introductory copies of the Washington Report to potential subscribers, writing their own "seeing the light" articles, and helping congressmembers see the light by recording the donations from pro-Israel stealth PACs to candidates for federal office. They all help the folks back home see who's renting their representatives in Congress, and why.

It's been a good bunch this summer and as they leave we'd like to salute them. Uzra Zeya, a computer whiz and full-time employee since last year, left us to become a State Department foreign service officer. Sharon Kenny, a part-time employee and full-time graduate student for the couple of years she and her husband have been back from Saudi Arabia, will leave us to teach this year at George Washington University. Annick Avera, a part-time employee during the school year and a full-time employee this summer while managing production and distribution of Dr. Israel Shahak's translations From the Hebrew Press, left for a semester in Denmark. Gil Bradberry left us early in the summer to travel to Japan to teach English. Kate Hanley left in mid-August to visit with her family in Dhahran before resuming her full-time studies at Vassar. Nouran Tawfiq returns to the University of Maryland for the school year. Katie Wilson, after a summer cleaning up mailing lists and recording PAC donations, looked a little relieved as she returned to the College of William and Mary for the school year.

Looking for Enlighteners

It's a crucial time in U.S.-Middle East relations. Just as the long-suffering "peace process" began to gather some steam in Washington, it was derailed by Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. The Likud lovers in the media and academia have been in full cry ever since.

Their three-fold agenda is to get some Americans and Arabs killed fighting each other in the Gulf; create a fearsome new "enemy" that will justify another decade of American subsidies to Israel's manic repressives; and give Israel a pretext for "transfer" of Palestinians within its borders to a helpless and perhaps devastated Jordan.

Polls show that Americans are catching on to this Israeli agenda, and the motives of its American mouthpieces. It's the Washington Report's job to speed up the recognition process before it's too late.

Won't you help by joining the several hundred subscribers who this year have enlisted in AET's own "thousand points of enlightenment" program? Send $60 and the names of 12 educational institutions (public and school libraries) and/or "opinion molders," meaning journalists, talk show hosts, educators, clergy and elected or appointed federal or state officials. We'll tell you after 12 months which of your beneficiaries renewed their subscriptions on their own. Take it from us, it's a thrill when you suddenly realize they are saying or writing things they've learned about the Middle East from your donated subscription.

Make a Difference This Month

If one of your representatives in Congress uses the "wimp factor" to goad George Bush into doing something rash in the Gulf, check the name in the pro-Israel PAC donation listing in this issue. Then write the congressmember saying you know what he or she is doing, and why. You might drop a copy to your local newspaper or talk show host. If a journalist is doing the same thing, ask whether he or she knows it's Israeli, not American, work. If the journalist doesn't know, he or she may be shocked. If he or she does know, the journalist may be shocked that you know. Either way, you'll make a difference this month.