lte_6-7.qxp_MAY 2021 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 4/1/21 4:15 PM Page 6
Executive Editor: Managing Editor: Contributing Editor: Contributing Editor: Other Voices Editor: Middle East Books and More Director: Finance & Admin. Dir.: Art Director: Founding Publisher: Founding Exec. Editor: Board of Directors:
DELINDA C. HANLEY DALE SPRUSANSKY WALTER HIXSON JULIA PITNER JANET McMAHON NATHANIEL BAILEY CHARLES R. CARTER RALPH-UWE SCHERER ANDREW I. KILLGORE (1919-2016) RICHARD H. CURTISS (1927-2013) HENRIETTA FANNER JANET McMAHON JANE KILLGORE
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (ISSN 87554917) is published 7 times a year, monthly except Jan./Feb., March/April, June/July and Aug./Sept. combined, at 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707. Tel. (202) 9396050. Subscription prices (United States and possessions): one year, $29; two years, $55; three years, $75. For Canadian and Mexican subscriptions, $35 per year; for other foreign subscriptions, $70 per year. Periodicals, postage paid at Washington, DC and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. Published by the American Educational Trust (AET), a nonprofit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC by retired U.S. foreign service officers to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states. AET’s Foreign Policy Committee has included former U.S. ambassadors, government officials, and members of Congress, including the late Democratic Sen. J. William Fulbright and Republican Sen. Charles Percy, both former chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Members of AET’s Board of Directors and advisory committees receive no fees for their services. The new Board of Advisers includes: Anisa Mehdi, John Gareeb, Dr. Najat Khelil Arafat, William Lightfoot and Susan Abulhawa. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs does not take partisan domestic political positions. As a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, it endorses U.N. Security Council Resolution 242’s land-for-peace formula, supported by nine successive U.S. presidents. In general, it supports Middle East solutions which it judges to be consistent with the charter of the United Nations and traditional American support for human rights, self-determination, and fair play. Material from the Washington Report may be reprinted without charge with attribution to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Bylined material must also be attributed to the author. This release does not apply to photographs, cartoons or reprints from other publications. Indexed by ProQuest, Gale, Ebsco Information Services, InfoTrac, LexisNexis, Public Affairs Information Service, Index to Jewish Periodicals, Ethnic News Watch, Periodica Islamica. CONTACT INFORMATION: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Editorial Office and Bookstore: 1902 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009-9062 Phone: (202) 939-6050 • (800) 368-5788 Fax: (202) 265-4574 E-mail: wrmea@wrmea.org bookstore@wrmea.org circulation@wrmea.org advertising@wrmea.org Web sites: http://www.wrmea.org http://www.middleeastbooks.com Subscriptions, sample copies and donations: P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056 Phone: (888) 881-5861 • Fax: (714) 226-9733 Printed in the USA
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LetterstotheEditor THE LOBBY IS THE TRUE DRIVER OF U.S. POLICY TOWARD ISRAEL
Re: Walter L. Hixson’s article, “Israel and America: Allied in Racism,” published in the March/April issue. The premise of his analysis would make more sense if American popular opinion were actually in line with America’s extremely pro-Israel foreign policy, but it’s not. Researcher Grant F. Smith (author of Big Israel, perhaps the best book on Israel’s political power in the U.S.) has shown that the oft-cited opinion polls supposedly showing strong popular support in the United States for Israel are skewed and deceptive, tendentiously contrived and interpreted in Israel’s favor, and that Americans generally are far less sympathetic to Israel and far more sympathetic to the Palestinians than their bipartisan foreign policy of slavish devotion to the self-professed Jewish state might suggest. By posting this glib truism, the Washington Report is in fact promoting a favorite Zionist talking point, a lie that protects pro-Israel Jews from the uncomfortable truth: that what drives America’s bipartisan lockstep support for Israel is not some deep cultural affinity but rather the disproportionate money, power and ruthless zeal of the organized pro-Israel Jewish community. That combination of lobbying organizations, media and entertainment magnates, Washington think tanks, large donors to political campaigns and university endowments, and so on, is collectively known as (for lack of a better word) the Israel lobby. Mark Williams, via Facebook Thanks for the spirited response, with which I have little fundamental disagreement. Note that I began the column by saying that “one reason” Israel and the United States get along is mutual racism, not the “only reason” they get along. I didn’t cite any opinion polls and don’t dispute Grant F. Smith’s analysis of them, though evaluating polls is a tricky business. Polls aside, I do believe there is a “cultural affinity” in the United States
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
concerning Israel and would invite readers to see my earlier column on settler colonialism and also the insightful book by Amy Kaplan (Our American Israel), among other works. I do not believe this is an either-or question. I totally agree that the lobby (on which I’m finishing a new book) plays an extremely powerful role, but it skillfully manipulates and builds on an existing cultural foundation. The cultural affinity is exaggerated by the lobby, but it exists and is rooted in American history—and not solely because of wealthy pro-Israel donors. Religion, race and mutual histories of settler colonialism conjoin with the lobby’s nefarious activities to anchor the “special relationship” with Israel. —Walter L. Hixson
ISRAEL’S VACCINE APARTHEID
Re: Your email action alert drawing attention Rosemarie M. Esber’s letter to The Washington Post concerning Israel’s failure to provide sufficient supplies of COVID vaccines to Palestinians. It is no surprise to see the biased Western press congratulating Israel for its COVID vaccination program. What people don’t read is any similar Israeli vaccination plan for the Palestinians! This obligation is enshrined in the Geneva Convention for all peoples under military occupation. However, it is also unbelievable that Egypt, with a border crossing to Gaza, does nothing to help. There are many donor countries, who are only too willing to provide the vaccines! Barry M. Watson, Dunsville, United Kingdom Speaking of “the biased Western press,” The Washington Post altered Rosemarie M. Esber’s letter on its website, removing her reference to Israel’s targeting of Palestinian COVID testing sites. You can learn more about Esber’s ordeal on p. 18.
TIME FOR ONE STATE
As a Palestinian refugee who was subjected to ethnic cleansing by Jewish gangs in 1948, I appreciate the letter MAY 2021
