Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - November/December 2021 - Vol. XL No. 7 by American Educational Trust

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TELLING THE TRUTH SINCE 1982

Volume XL, No. 7

On Middle East Affairs

INTERPRETING THE MIDDLE EAST FOR NORTH AMERICANS

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November/December 2021

INTERPRETING NORTH AMERICA FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

THE U.S. ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE

One Man as a Whole Generation: The Unﬁnished War of Zakaria Zubeidi—Ramzy Baroud

Establishing Shekel-Free Shops in Palestinian Cities and Towns—Rev. Alex Awad

Zionism’s Original Sin: Ignoring the Fact That Palestine Was Fully Populated—Allan C. Brownfeld

Labour Party Declares Israel an Apartheid State: An Embarrassing Blow to Starmer—Jonathan Cook

Bennett and Biden: Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Off A Cliff—Two Views—Daniel Sokatch and Daniel Larison

The West Bank’s “Rotten Apples”—Amira Hass

Taking Responsibility for the Deaths of Others —Walter L. Hixson

The Language of War and U.S. Policy in the Middle East—Dr. M. Reza Behnam

House Passes Another Billion For Israel’s Iron Dome—Shirl McArthur

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Gazans Face a Twofold Plight: A Crushing Blockade and COVID-19—Mohammed Omer and Julia Pitner B’Tselem: Palestinian Teen Kidnapped, Tortured in Settler Attack—Yumna Patel

The Mariam Foundation: Revolutionizing Cancer Care in Palestine with Compassion—Dale Sprusansky

SPECIAL REPORTS

U.N. Drops Investigation into Human Rights Violations in Yemen—Ian Williams

Canadian Afghans Look for Assurance that Families Still in the Region Are Safe—Candice Bodnaruk

Migrations: Journeys Through Art and Stories —Delinda C. Hanley

36 38 40

In Adversity, Migrant Workers Seek Justice—John Gee

A Decade After the Arab Spring: Comparing Libya and Tunisia’s Experiences—Mustafa Fetouri Popularity Waning, Erdogan Faces Sea of Troubles —Jonathan Gorvett

ON THE COVER: An Arab Israeli protester, in the mostly Arab city of Umm al-Fahm near Jenin, lifts a spoon, reportedly the digging tool used by six Palestinian prisoners who escaped from Israel's notorious Gilboa Prison, on Sept. 6, 2021. The Sept. 10 protest, as well as others across the West Bank and Gaza, denounced the punitive measures taken by the Israel Prison Service against Palestinian prisoners following the jailbreak. (PHOTO BY JACK GUEZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

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(A Supplement to the Washington report on Middle East Affairs available by subscription at $15 per year. To subscribe, call toll-free 1-888-8815861.)

Other Voices

Compiled by Janet McMahon

From the “Iron Wall” to the “Villa in the Jungle”: Palestinians Demolish Israel’s Security Myths, Ramzy Baroud, ramzybaroud.net OV-1 #PalestinianPrisoners: This Is Not the Time to OV-2 Despair, Susan Abulhawa, www.aljazeera.com Bennett Presents: How to Establish One State Without Ruffling Feathers, Aluf Benn, Haaretz OV-3

The Dangerous Rise of a New Stab-in-the-Back Myth, Joe Cirincione, www.responsiblestatecraft.org OV-8 Tony Blair Should Go to Afghanistan, Andrew Mitrovica, www.aljazeera.com

OV-10

Afghanistan’s War Rug Industry: Profits and Everyday Trauma, Jamal J. Elias, www.theconversation.com OV-11

When the Israeli General Met The Palestinian Farmer, Gideon Levy, Haaretz OV-4

North Africa’s Great Walls of Sand, Remi Carayol and Laurent Gagnol, Le Monde diplomatique

Israel’s Problem With U.S. Visa Waiver Program: Respecting Arab-American Rights, Dr. James J. Zogby, www.jameszogby.com OV-5

In Tanzania, Gurnah’s Nobel Prize Win Sparks Both Joy And Debate, Samy Awami, www.aljazeera.com OV-14

Israeli Surveillance and the End Of Politics as We Know It, Haythem Guesmi, www.aljazeera.com OV-6

The Genius of Jokowi, Kishore Mahbubani, www.project-syndicate.org

OV-12

OV-15

DEPARTMENTS 5 Publishers’ Page

6 letters to the editor 52 arab aMeriCaN aCtiVisM:

“Facing Gaza” at the Museum of the Palestinian People

53 huMaN rights:

Humanitarians Ponder Aid to Afghans

Under U.S. Sanctions 54 WagiNg PeaCe:

The Afghanistan Conundrum: Where

Does the Gulf Stand?

64 Middle east books reVieW 70 the World looks at the Middle east—CArToonS

Syrian Migration Series #1, gouache and ink on board, 12” x 18” © Helen Zughaib. See pg. 34 for her timely Kennedy Center forum on refugees. 71 other PeoPle’s Mail 73 obituaries

74 2021 aet Choir oF aNgels 41 iNdeX to adVertisers

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American Educational Trust

Living Under Occupation

Publishers’ Page

Ready for Some Fulfillment?

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Imagine being prevented from reachThe Washington Report is making ing your fields to tend to your crops or some changes and we hope they’ll provide food for your family. Imagine wow us all. Subscribers and donors trying to harvest your olive trees, all can continue to go online to the while fearing a violent attack by Ismanage or start subscriptions, or raeli hooligan settlers. (See p. 22.) donate to help the magazine, our Imagine trying to raise youngsters bookstore or help fund our conferwho may be beaten, burned and terence. But our fulfillment company— rorized by settlers and then arrested, not the location of our office or instead of aided, by soldiers. (See p. bookstore—will change to Ohio. 44.) Imagine being told by authorities While we’ll all miss our helpful staff that you can’t accompany your sick Women participate in a Pink Sports Day event to raise in California (and wish them a child or parent as they undergo seri- awareness of breast cancer at Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza happy retirement), we look forward ous medical treatment. (See p. 50.) City, on Oct. 14, 2021. to making new friends who promise Imagine being slandered and called to share some exciting bells and anti-Semitic when you say this is unacceptwhistles with us. They’re going to help us only one to take a stand for Palestinian able. The unimaginable is sadly the reality send the end-of the-year donation appeal, rights. On an Oct. 21 forum hosted by for Palestinians living under a brutal occuwhich will come your way soon. This will Jewish Dems, candidate after candidate pation. A growing number of Americans are be the one and only appeal this year so pledged to continue Hastings’ legacy of unsaying, “That’s enough. Use my taxes to please give generously, and double the conditional aid for Israel. But not Hardy. help, not harm!” pages of our Angels’ List (see p. 74). Getting emotional, he told the pro-Israel group, “As a Black man, I have asked people who are not of color to stand with Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Off Visitors to our DC Bookstore… me and affirm that my life matters, and Will notice some new Saturday (and maybe A Cliff what that means is I cannot rail against a Sunday soon) bookstore assistants. We Americans and the rest of the world discriminatory criminal justice system in were lucky to find wonderful folks to help should be making every effort to address this country and ignore the fact that 500our bookstore director, Nathaniel, and who climate change, provide access to health 700 Palestinian children are detained happen to love books as much as we do. care, education, affordable childcare, and every year and prosecuted in military With the Museum of the Palestinian People fix crumbling infrastructure instead of courts...” The Nov. 2 election may be over next door and a Palestinian-owned bakery funding endless wars. Voters elected by the time this issue arrives, but regarda block away, we are becoming known as President Joe Biden in hopes he would less of the outcome, we’re certain that prinlittle Palestine! (See p. 52.) work on these issues, which should be bicipled young leaders like Hardy have a partisan issues. Instead, he could be place in this country’s future. sucked into more wars. We wish Biden It’s Never Too Early… and his advisers would read pp. 18 to 21, To start your holiday shopping! We hear so they’ll use tough love on Israel. As Santa may have trouble dealing with a The IsraelLobbyCon is Back! Daniel Larison explains, it’s a crime broken supply chain or shipping toys from We are so pleased to announce that against diplomacy and the national interChina or the North Pole. But have no fear! Hanan Ashrawi will speak at the IsraelLobest for the Biden administration to conPalestinians have been dealing with chalbyCon at the National Press Club on tinue to sidestep a return to the Iran nulenging roadblocks for decades! Purchase March 3 and 4, along with other luminarclear deal while simultaneously giving olive oil, embroidery, pottery and solidarity ies, including Roger Waters, Gideon Levy, credence to Israel’s notion the military items and art to support Palestinians—and Joseph Massad, Don Wagner, Juan Cole, option is still on the table. make a hit at any celebration. And indepenStephen Walt and Sut Jhally. We are anxdent bookstores, like ours, know how to go ious to gather together again, in a safe, sotoe to toe with Amazon to get our books to cially distanced space. (Register to reTelling the Truth, No Matter the Cost readers. Purchase your meaningful gifts serve your in-person ticket for the gala We’d like to salute Omari Hardy, a Florida from Middle East Books and More, <Mid speakers’ dinner and/or conference. If you state congressman running in a special dleEastBooks.com> and help us.... can’t make it to DC, register for a virtual election to fill the late Rep. Alcee Hastings’ conference ticket. See p. 17 for more inseat in Congress. In a crowded field of 10 formation.) other Democratic candidates, Hardy is the Make a Difference Today! NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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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, Aug./Sept. and Nov./Dec. combined, at 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707. Tel. (202) 939-6050. 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 292380, Kettering, OH 45429. 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 292380, Kettering, OH 45429 Phone: (202) 939-6050 • Fax: (202) 265-4574 Printed in the USA

LetterstotheEditor CALLING OUT HYPOCRISY IN BIDEN’S U.N. SPEECH

I recently watched President Joe Biden’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 21. I was initially pleased to see someone other than our previous president representing the United States. However, it did not take me long to be disappointed, if not outright embarrassed. I, like I’m sure everyone in the General Assembly and millions of people around the world, heard flowery comments about human hights and human dignity over and over again. Yet in the very room he made this speech, the U.S. has vetoed most efforts by countries around the world to address the atrocities committed by Israel. Here are just a few of those hollow words: • “We will affirm and uphold human dignity and human rights.” • “We will work together to save lives.” • “We will apply and strengthen the core tenets of the international system, including the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” • “As we strive to make lives better, we must work with renewed purpose to end the conflicts that are driving so much pain and hurt.” • “We’ll work together...to lift people up, to solve problems and advance human freedom.” When it comes to hypocrisy, this was a classic. It’s past time to change our relationship with Israel. Bob Horner, Orlando, FL

ISRAEL’S CONDEMNATION OF POLAND IS HYPOCRITICAL

Recently the Israeli government strongly condemned Poland for refusing to return homes and property stolen from Jews during the Holocaust. This condemnation coming from those who are living in homes stolen from Palestinian Muslims and Christians during the Nakba. You simply can’t make this stuff up. Clyde Farris, West Linn, OR

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

A BOOK PRESIDENT BIDEN AND OTHER LEADERS SHOULD READ

I’ve read extensively regarding the controversial founding of the State of Israel, digesting the works of Ilan Pappé, David Shulman, Tanya Reinhart, Baruch Kimmerling, Grant F. Smith, Norman Finkelstein and many others over the past 25 years. But, perhaps my sense of fear and despair reached a new level after reading Haim Bresheeth-Zabner’s work, An Army Like No Other, a true and thorough history of the Israel Defense Forces, a reading that I recently obtained from your bookstore. I applaud this fine Israeli’s scholarly work of art. The problem is, however, how many of this nation’s movers and shakers will read the book and pay attention to its content, and act accordingly? Like most progressively minded Democrats, I had no illusions as to what to expect of President Joe Biden and the new Democratic administration. I’ve followed Biden’s career over the past 30plus years and have found too many serious mistakes that he’s made to hold out any illusions that he’ll suddenly “see the light.” However, if this nation is to survive by keeping faith with its basic principles of fairness and decency between nations and peoples, he must wake up. Should he do so, then I’m convinced that historians will treat him fair in the telling. Otherwise, I’m fearful that he will go down in history as just another “Joe.” Jack Love, Ft. Myers, FL

ISRAEL CONTINUES TO RAKE IN MONEY FROM THE U.S.

U.S. politicians just voted to send another billion dollars to Israel—allegedly to protect civilian lives. If they really wish to save civilian lives, it’s time for our members of Congress to introduce legislation for a missile defense system for Palestinians, who are being killed in vastly larger numbers. In other words, once again, the vast majority of U.S. politicians from both parties obeyed Israel’s demand that NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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American taxpayers give Israel fighting the Houthis (and trying KEEP THOSE CARDS AND LETTERS their hard-earned tax dollars. to starve that 70 percent) is not COMING! Keep in mind that this $1 billion because they are “an Iranian Send your letters to the editor to the Washington Report, P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009 is over and above the $3.8 billion proxy” (which both sides deny), or e-mail <letters@wrmea.org>. —$10.5 million per day—in milibut because the Houthis are extary aid Israel currently receives plicitly anti-Israel, anti-U.S. and from the U.S. pro-Palestinian. They also do not want is. China is essentially Holocaust-guiltThis is on top of decades of Israel rethe coalition’s U.N.-backed puppet govfree. ceiving more U.S. tax money than any ernment to govern Yemen. This observation, which in itself may other country on earth. On average, IsThe Houthis are not to blame for the be subject to Holocaust-guilt and may raelis have received 7,000 times more violence imposed on them by the coalibe considered anti-Semitic in the West, aid from the U.S. per capita than other tion, and representing the majority of is actually purely pragmatic or empiripeople around the world Yemenis, they should not have to negocal. China does not appear to be beJagjit Singh, Los Altos, CA tiate their right to self-determination. holden in any way to support Israel or The citizens of the coalition’s allies, inthe ideals that Israel claims to repreUNLIKE CHINA, U.S. IS HELD BACK cluding the U.S., Israel, the UAE, the sent. To all appearances, China is free BY ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL UK, France and Canada, must be refrom Zionist influences and can operate A belated thank you for republishing an minded of their own responsibility for as it chooses in the world today. The opinion letter I wrote to the Anchorage the ongoing suffering in Yemen. West, however, is restrained, if not Daily News on Sept. 30, 2020. One of my Karin Brothers, Toronto, Canada. ■ openly guided, by Israel’s not-so-invisimain points at the time was that Amerible hand and therefore, does can/Israeli diplomatic efforts in the Middle not quite have equal leeway. East all contain the common thread of Whether important or not, isolating Iran, which in reality is driving this seems to be a significant Iran into China’s sphere of influence. oversight in today’s geopolitical The recent summit of the Shanghai thinking. Cooperation Organization in Dushanbe, If there is a silver lining to Tajikistan seems to bear this out. Both the new Eurasia summit, it Iran and Afghanistan have apparently might be that an Israeli inspired been welcomed into a new geopolitical war with Iran may now be imEurasian paradigm with China, partpossible since Iranian and nered with Russia, at the helm. It Afghan alliances with China seems that the U.S. has possibly fatally and Russia would prove to be squandered its unipolar position. too dangerous to provoke. By leaving a vacuum in Afghanistan, Ken Green, Cooper Landing, the U.S. opened the door for what has AK been for years a growing new multipoDON’T PUT ALL THE lar dynamic. It appears that closing the BLAME ON THE HOUTHIS Afghanistan/Iran “rear” door in order to IN YEMEN focus on the perceived threat at the PaRe: Elaine Pasquini’s “Biden's cific “front” door makes possibly little Status Quo approach to the sense in any book of “Great Game” OTHER VOICES is an optional 16-page sup Yemen War” in the Aug./Sept. tricks. While washing its hands of plement available only to subscribers of the 2021 issue. Afghanistan and simultaneously mainWashington Report on Middle East Affairs. For Pasquini quotes a scholar taining a less than cordial relationship an additional $15 per year (see postcard who erroneously claims that bewith Iran, America seems to have insert for Washington Report subscription cause the Houthis presently sealed the new Eurasia arrangement control over 70 percent of and solidified an anti-Western front. rates), subscribers will receive Other Voices Yemen, they have “zero incenIf this proves to be true, it gives rise inside each issue of their Washington Report tive to come to the negotiating to a defensible reason to consider an on Middle East Affairs. table.” In fact, the Houthis conimportant nuance of influence that afBack issues of both publications are trol only 1/3 of Yemen, which fects the big Western players; that is avail able. To subscribe, telephone 1 (202) contains 70 percent of the popuIsrael. One cannot argue that Israel’s 939-6050, e-mail <circulation@wrmea. lation, the vast majority of whom impact is not considerable in the West. support the Houthi government. However, it is, or may be, important to org>, or write to P.O. Box 292380, KetterThe reason the Saudi/ realize that, China, itself, is not hobing, OH 45429. U.S./Israel-backed coalition is nobbed with Israel in the way America NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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From the Diaspora

One Man as a Whole Generation: The Unfinished War of Zakaria Zubeidi

A demonstrator holds up a spoon, reportedly the digging tool used by six Palestinian prisoners who escaped through a tunnel from Israel’s Gilboa prison, during a rally in solidarity with them in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sept. 8, 2021. ZAKARIA ZUBEIDI is one of six Palestinian prisoners who, on Sept. 6, tunneled their way out of Gilboa, a notorious, high-security Israeli prison. Zubeidi was recaptured a few days later. The large bruises on Zubeidi’s face told a harrowing story, that of a daring escape and of a violent arrest. However, the story does not begin, nor end, there. Twenty years ago, following what has been etched in the collective Palestinian memory as the “Jenin Massacre,” I was introduced to the Zubeidi family in the Jenin refugee camp, which was almost entirely erased by the Israeli army during and following the Jenin battle.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of palestine chronicle. His latest book is these chains Will be broken: palestinian stories of struggle and defiance in israeli prisons (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). Dr. Baroud is a non-resident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and also at the Afro-Middle East Center (AMEC). His website is <www.ramzybaroud.net>. 8

Despite my repeated attempts, the Israeli army prevented me from reaching Jenin, which was kept under total Israeli military siege for months following the most violent episode of the entirety of the Second Palestinian Uprising, from 2000-2005. I could not speak to Zakaria directly. Unlike his brother, Taha, Zakaria survived the massacre and subsequently rose in the ranks of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement, to become its leader, thus topping the list of Israel’s most wanted Palestinians. Most of our communication was with his sister, Kauthar, who told us in detail about the events that preceded the fateful military siege of April. Kauthar was only 20 years old at the time. Despite her grief, she spoke proudly about her mother, who was killed by an Israeli sniper only weeks before the invasion of the camp, and about her brother, Taha, the leader of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad in Jenin at the time; and of Zakaria, who was now on a mission to avenge his mother,

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

noveMbeR/deceMbeR 2021

PHOTO BY SAID KHATIB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

By Ramzy Baroud

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tically, but unofficially, divided into two of them picked up the phone. That is when brother, best friends and neighbors. groups; one that believed armed struggle we saw the real face of the left in Israel.” “Taha was killed by a sniper. After he was should remain a strategy for liberation, Of the five children who participated in killed, they fired shells at him, which comand another that advocated political diathe Arna’s House theater, only Zakaria surpletely burned his body. This was in the logue and a peace process. Many memvived. The rest had joined various armed Damaj neighborhood,” Kauthar told us, bers of the first group were killed, arrested groups to fight the Israeli occupation and adding, “The Shebab gathered what reor marginalized, including Fatah’s popular were all killed. mained of him and put him in a house. leader, Marwan Barghouti, who was arZakaria was born in 1976 under Israeli Since that day, the house has been known rested in April 2002. Members of the occupation, therefore never experienced as ‘The Home of the Hero.’” second group grew rich and corrupt. Their life as a free man. At 13, he was shot by IsKauthar also told me about her mother, “peace process” failed to deliver the covraeli soldiers for throwing stones. At 14, he Samira, 51, “who spent her life going from eted freedom and they refused to conwas arrested for the first time. At 17, he one prison to another” to visit her husband sider other strategies, fearing the loss of joined the Palestinian Authority security and her sons. Samira was loved and retheir privileges. forces, believing, like many Palestinians at spected by all the fighters in the camp. Her Zakaria, like thousands of Fatah memthe time, that the PA’s “army” was estabchildren were the heroes that all the youngbers and fighters, was caught up in this onlished to protect Palestinians and to secure sters attempted to emulate. Her death was going dilemma; wanting to carry on with the their freedom. Disillusioned, he left the PA particularly shocking. struggle as if PA President Mahmoud less than a year later. “She was hit with two bullets in the heart,” Abbas’ leadership was ready to risk it all for Zakaria only committed to armed strugKauthar said. “Once she turned around, the sake of Palestine, while remaining comgle in 2001, as a way of achieving freedom she was hit in the back. Blood poured out mitted to the Fatah party, hoping that, perfor his people, months after the start of the of her nose and mouth. I did not know what haps, someday the movement would reSecond Intifada. One of his childhood else to do but to scream.” claim the mantle of Palestinian resistance. friends was one of the first to be killed by IsZakaria immediately went underground. The trajectory of Zakaria’s life, so far, is raeli soldiers. In 2002, Zakaria joined the The young fighter was feeling aggrieved at a testament to this confusion. He was not Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, around the time what had befallen his beloved Jenin, family, only imprisoned by the Israelis, but also by that his mother, Samira, and his brother, mother and brother—the latter’s wedding the PA. Sometimes, he spoke highly of Taha, were killed. was scheduled one week from the day he Abbas only to, later, disown all the treachery 2002, in particular, was a decisive year was killed. He was also feeling betrayed by of the Palestinian leadership. He surrenfor the Fatah movement, which was prachis Fatah “brothers” who continued to dered his weapon several openly collaborate with times, only to retrieve it Israel, despite the mountwith the same determinaing tragedies in the occution as before. pied West Bank, and by Though Zakaria is now the Israeli left that abanback in prison, his story redoned the Zubeidi family mains unfinished. Scores despite promises of soliof young fighters are now darity and camaraderie. roaming the streets of the “Every week, 20-30 IsJenin refugee camp, raelis would come there to vowing to carry on with do theater,” Zakaria said in armed struggle. Namely, an interview with Time Zakaria Zubeidi is not just magazine, with reference Order Online a single person but a to the Arna’s House theNonﬁction • Literature • Cookbooks whole generation of ater, which involved ZaChildren’s Books • Arabic Books • Films Palestinians in the West karia and other Jenin Greeting Cards • Palestinian Solidarity Items Pottery • Olive Oil • Food Products Bank who are caught up in youngsters, and was esan impossible dilemma, tablished by Arna MerVisit our store Tuesday-Thursday: 12 p.m.-5 p.m. having to choose between Khamis, an Israeli woman Friday-Saturday: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. a painful, but real, struggle who was married to a for freedom and political Palestinian. “We opened 1902 18th St. NW • Washington, DC 20009 bookstore@wrmea.org compromises, which, in our home and you demol(202) 939-6050 ext. 1 Zakaria’s own words, ished it…We fed them. “have achieved nothing.” ■ And, afterwards, not one

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WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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Christianity in the Middle East

A Palestinian man receives financial aid at a supermarket in Gaza City on Sept. 15, 2021, as part of the U.N.’s Humanitarian Cash Assistance program, supported by the state of Qatar. That aid is paid in Israeli Shekels. Qatari support is considered a crucial lifeline for impoverished Palestinians living in Gaza, which has been under Israeli blockade since 2007. DURING THE EARLY stages of Gandhi’s non-violent resistance against the British colonial presence in India, many of his close compatriots mocked his simple, non-violent strategies. They could not envision how confronting the British monopoly over the salt trade would possibly result in the liberation of India. Nonetheless, Gandhi led his committed followers on a march to the Arabian Sea to make their own salt rather than depend on salt processed by British companies. That simple act, and the brutal British reaction to it, became the trailblazer to India’s independence. As the Palestinian people aspire for independence from Israel’s apartheid regime, they, too, need simple, non-violent ways to shake off the chains of the occupier. Palestinians have called on the global community to join the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. Yet, because of international treaties and economic challenges,

Rev. Dr. Alex Awad is a retired United Methodist Missionary. He and his wife, Brenda, served in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem for more than 25 years. Rev. Awad served as pastor of East Jerusalem Baptist Church, dean of students at Bethlehem Bible College, and director of the Shepherd Society. Awad has written two books, Through the Eyes of the Victims and Palestinian Memories. Rev. Awad is a member of the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace (PCAP). 10

Palestinians themselves are limited in finding practical methods to challenge Israel’s hegemony over their economy. Palestinians began using Israeli currency in 1967, and the New Israeli Shekel (NIS) gradually replaced the Jordanian Dinar and the Egyptian Lira as their primary currency. All 6 million Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, use Israeli currency to the benefit of Israel’s economy and the strangulation of their own. The Israeli government maintains the strength of the NIS through manipulating the Palestinian market—to the detriment of Palestinian businesses. For example, when the NIS or other economic indicators are weak, Palestinians find it easier to get permits to visit Jerusalem or any other city in Israel to spend their money there—energizing the Israeli economy. Some Palestinian economists have proposed ending this dependence on the NIS as a step toward freedom, which can be taken nationally alongside the international BDS movement. I’m not an economist, and while I realize this topic is beyond my usual scope, I delve into it and offer a proposal in the hope of generating feedback, insight and discussion. My proposal is the establishment of Shekel-Free Shops (SFS) in Palestinian cities and towns. A non-violent campaign such as this

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PHOTO BY MAJDI FATHI/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES

Establishing Shekel-Free Shops in Palestinian Cities and Towns By Rev. Alex Awad

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can’t be implemented by the Palestinian Authority (PA) nor by Palestinian economists and businessmen and women, but rather by grassroots Palestinian activists. The PA can’t lead the struggle for independence from the shekel because it is bound by international treaties. These treaties, however, can’t prevent a Palestinian citizen from using the USD, the Euro, the Jordanian Dinar (JD) or the Egyptian Lira (LE), all recognized currency for business transactions, to purchase a house, a car, a garment or pita bread. As it is, Palestinians often use the JD or the USD to pay their house or apartment rent and for big items with high price tags. But because Palestinian shops are flooded with Israeli goods, most Palestinian citizens have become habituated to the use of the NIS to purchase food, clothing, medicine, books, kitchen wares, tools and most other goods.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SHEKEL-FREE SHOP PROJECT

The Shekel-Free Shop project requires three elements to succeed. First, it needs a large enough number of Palestinian citizens who would be willing to buy their groceries and other goods from the SFS. Second, it needs Palestinian shopkeepers who would be willing to stop trading in the Israeli currency and instead use alternate currencies. And third, it needs donors from around the world who would be willing to sponsor the Shekel-Free Shops. Let me illustrate how this might work. To start, a local committee would entreat rich Arab governments or individuals to donate 2-3 million U.S. dollars. They would invite select Palestinian shop owners to become SFS, with a commitment to subsidize the shop owners’ transaction costs via the fund in case of loss due to shifts in currency valuations. The committee would also propagate and encourage Palestinians to support these shops, explaining that whenever a Palestinian uses the shops, he or she is supporting the march toward freedom not only from the Shekel but simultaneously from the shackles of occupation. Once three or four pilot SFS shops succeed, the committee could establish more shops in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The committee could then appeal to NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

other wealthy Arab, Islamic or sympathetic countries and individuals to sponsor additional shops throughout Palestine. For example, Qatar might opt to sponsor 15-20 shops in the Gaza Strip; Malaysia might decide to sponsor 5-10 shops in Hebron; Turkey could commit to 15 shops in Nablus; and Norway might sponsor 10 shops in Bethlehem. Within a few years every city and village in the West Bank and in Gaza could have Shekel-Free Shops. As shop owners begin to see profits, other shop owners would be inspired to join the project. The reader may ask, where would Palestinians obtain the foreign currencies to use at the SFS? This is not as hard as one might think for the following reasons: 1. Many Palestinians work with or for international organizations, agencies and corporations and they are paid in USD, Euro or JD. When my wife and I lived in Palestine, we received our salaries in USD. Each month, we went to the bank or to a money changer to exchange our Dollars to Shekels. Had there been SFS, we would have exchanged our Dollars to Shekels only when needed for bills or items not available in SFS. 2. Much of the funds that the PA and the government in Gaza receive from donor countries are donated in USD, Euro or JD. The PA and Hamas can pay their employees in USD or JD (often they do) and would then hopefully encourage Palestinian citizens not to rush to the money changer. 3. Many Palestinians have family members living and working in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Gulf States. Periodically they assist their family members who live under the Israeli occupation by sending them money in foreign currency. Such individuals could be encouraged not to automatically exchange their foreign currency into NIS. The reader may also wonder what the shop owner is to do with all that incoming foreign currency. The following are a few possibilities: 1. He or she could deposit the money in their local Palestinian or Jordanian bank accounts. There is no law against that. 2. Many Israeli merchants are willing to trade using USD or Euro. This would hopefully continue, assuming the Israeli govern-

ment does not implement laws forbidding them to do so. 3. The Palestinian SFS owner would likely feel encouraged to use foreign currency to purchase goods from Jordan or Egypt rather than depend on Israeli products. What about Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza who work in Israel and earn their wages in Shekels? 1. There would continue to be many nonSFS for them to patronize. And they would certainly be free to do so. 2. Some of these workers, for the love of freedom and independence, may opt to exchange their NIS to a foreign currency— even at some loss—to support a SFS. 3. Some shop owners could be free to choose a gradual and phased switch from their existing use of NIS to other currencies. For any colonizing or occupying country, the first goal is to control the economy of the occupied. The occupiers have told Palestinians that Israeli products are better so they must be encouraged to buy from local Palestinian producers and farmers. Naturally, Israel would likely fight this campaign as much as it has been and continues to fight the BDS movement. And quite possibly, Palestinians might be hesitant to join the campaign. For Palestinians who have used the NIS their entire lives, it would potentially be hard to break the habit and it could be perceived as an inconvenience. However, in due time Palestinians would hopefully view this as a minor inconvenience compared with the daily brutality of the occupation they suffer under. Under occupation their houses are being demolished, their land is being confiscated, their young people are wasting away in Israeli jails and their freedom of movement is extremely compromised. Once a Palestinian citizen from the West Bank and from the Gaza Strip understands that each time he or she uses the NIS they are indirectly supporting and prolonging the occupation, many of them would surely be willing to rise to the challenge of using SFS, given the opportunity. For Palestinians, who are paying an extremely high price living under occupation, supporting the SFS would be a small sacrifice in contrast. ■

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Israel and Judaism

Zionism’s Original Sin: Ignoring the Fact That Palestine Was Fully Populated

PHOTO BY FINE ART IMAGES/HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES

By Allan C. Brownfeld

View of the City of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives in 1753.

AS THE WORLD is increasingly focusing its attention upon Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and its continuing violation of the rights of Palestinians, there is a growing realization that Zionism is guilty of an original sin—namely ignoring the fact that Palestine was fully populated when the Zionist enterprise began. From the beginning, Zionism was a minority movement among Jews. It was created, notes Israeli peace activist Jeff Halper, by “… Jews with little knowledge of Palestine and its people, who launched a movement of Jewish return to its ancestral homeland…after a national absence of 2,000 years…In their eyes the Arabs of Palestine were mere background…Palestine was, as the famous Zionist phrase put it, ‘a land without people for a people without land.’ The

Allan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated columnist and associate editor of the Lincoln Review, a journal published by the Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, and editor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the American Council for Judaism. 12

European Zionists knew the land was peopled, but to them the Arabs did not amount to ‘a people.’” From the very start of Jewish settlement in Palestine, Zionist leaders were quite open in making it clear that they wanted to remove the country’s indigenous population. In 1914, Moshe Sharett, a future Israeli prime minister, declared, “We have forgotten that we have not come to an empty land to inherit it, but we have come to conquer a country from a people inhabiting it, that governs it by virtue of its language and savage culture…If we seek to look upon our land, the Land of Israel, as ours alone and we allow a partner into our estate—all context and meaning will be lost to our enterprise.” Even earlier, in 1899, Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, a former mayor of Jerusalem, alarmed by the Zionist call to transform Palestine into a Jewish state, wrote a letter aimed at Theodor Herzl, the leading Zionist of the 19th century. He pointed out that Palestine had an indigenous population that would not easily accept their displacement. He warned of the perils ahead, ending his note, “In the name of God, leave Palestine alone.”

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In his book, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, Rashid Khalidi, al-Khalidi’s grandnephew and professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, notes that in Herzl’s response to Yusuf Diya, the Zionist leader assured him that the arrival of European Jews in Palestine would improve life for the indigenous inhabitants because of Jewish “intelligence” and financial acumen. He declared, “no one can doubt that the well-being of the entire country would be the happy result.” Herzl’s response, notes Khalidi, concealed Zionism’s real intentions: “With the smug self-assurance so common to 19th century Europeans, Herzl offered the preposterous inducement that the occupation, and ultimately the usurpation of their land by strangers would benefit the people of that country. Herzl’s thinking…appears to have been based on the assumption that the Arabs could ultimately be bribed or fooled into ignoring what the Zionist movement actually intended for Palestine.” In his biography of Herzl, The Labyrinth of Exile, Ernst Pawel notes that the Zionist leader did not practice Judaism or believe in God. Indeed, he once considered mass conversion to Christianity the best resolution of the Jewish “problem.” He regularly denigrated Judaism and in one letter declared, “Just think what the Jews have suffered over the past 2,000 years for the sake of this fantasy of theirs.” Pawel shows that Herzl had every reason to understand the Arab population of Palestine (their numbers and their point of view). Prior to the Second Zionist Congress in 1898, he sent the young Zionist activist Leo Motzkin on a tour of Palestine. One passage in his report, Pawel declares, “deserves the special attention it failed to receive at the time.” In that passage, Motzkin reported: “Completely accurate statistics about the number of inhabitants do not presently exist. One must admit that the density of the population does not give the visitor much cause for cheer. In whole stretches throughout the land, one constantly comes across large Arab villages, and it is an established fact that the most fertile areas of our country are occupied by Arabs…” (Protocol of the Second Zionist Congress)

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Ernst Pawel points to the irony of referring to “our country” when discussing a land already inhabited by others. When Herzl himself visited Palestine in 1898, he seemed to ignore the local inhabitants almost completely. Pawel points out that, “The trip took him through at least a dozen Arab villages, and in Jaffa itself, Jews formed only 10 percent—some 3,000—of the total population. Yet not once does he refer to the natives in his notes, nor do they ever seem to figure in his later reflections. In overlooking, in refusing to acknowledge their presence—and hence their humanity—he both followed and reinforced a trend that was to have tragic consequences for Jews and Arabs alike.” Unlike his fellow Zionists who persisted in fantasizing about “a land without people for the people without a land,” Ahad Ha’am, the Russian Jewish writer and philosopher, refused from the very beginning to ignore the presence of Arabs in Palestine. Ha’am paid his first visit to the new Jewish settlements in Palestine in 1891. In his essay “The Truth From The Land of Israel,” he says that it is an illusion to think of Palestine as an empty country: “We tend to believe abroad that Palestine is nowadays almost completely deserted, a non-cultivated wilderness and anyone can come there and buy as much land as his heart desires. But in reality this is not the case. It is difficult to find anywhere in the country Arab land which lies fallow.” Jewish ethics were the heart and soul of Ha’am’s philosophy and, to the end of his life, he denounced any compromise with political expediency. In 1913, protesting against a Jewish boycott of Arab labor, he wrote to a friend: “I can’t put up with the idea that our brethren are morally capable of behaving in such a way to humans of another people, and unwittingly the thought comes to mind: If this is so now, what will our relations to the others be like if, at the end of time, we shall really achieve power in Eretz Israel? And if this be the Messiah, I do not wish to see his coming.” In 1923, Albert Einstein toured Palestine. He believed that Jewish settlers should be fair to their Arab neighbors and on Nov. 25, 1929, he wrote to Chaim Weizmann:

“Should we be unable to find a way to honest cooperation and honest pacts with the Arabs, then we have learned absolutely nothing during our 2,000 years of suffering and deserve all that will come to us.” Later, in January 1946, testifying before the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, Einstein was asked whether, in his view, refugee settlement in Palestine demanded a Jewish state. He replied: “The state idea is not according to my heart. I cannot understand why it is needed. It is connected with narrow-mindedness and economic obstacles. I believe that it is bad. I have always been against it.” He lamented that the concept of a Jewish commonwealth was “an imitation of Europe, the end of which was brought about by nationalism.” A small number of thoughtful and sensitive Zionists sought a policy of reconciliation with the Arab inhabitants of Palestine. In 1925, under the leadership of Arthur Ruppin, an association called Brit Shalom (Covenant of Peace) was established in Palestine and proposed binationalism as the proper solution to the conflict between Zionists and Arabs, two peoples claiming the same land. In their credo, issued in Jerusalem in 1927, Brit Shalom said it was intent on creating in Palestine “a binational state, in which the two peoples will enjoy totally equal rights, as befits the two elements shaping the country’s destiny, irrespective of which of the two is numerically superior at any given time.” Its spokesmen included such respected figures as Judah Magnes, chancellor and first president of the Hebrew University, and such university faculty members as Martin Buber, Hugo Bergmann, Ernst Simon and Gershom Scholem. For these men, Zionism was a moral crusade, or it was nothing. Brit Shalom’s leader, Arthur Ruppin, was saddened by the growing disparity between universal moral values and narrow Jewish nationalism. “What continually worries me,” he wrote, “is the relationship between Jews and Arabs in Palestine…the two peoples have become more estranged in their thinking. Neither has any understanding of the other, and yet I have no doubt that Zionism Continued on page 21

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Special Report

Labour Party Declares Israel an Apartheid State: An Embarrassing Blow to Starmer By Jonathan Cook

PHOTO BY LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES

Jeremy Corbyn, a socialist and high-profile supporter of Palestinian rights, won the leadership in 2015. Corbyn faced years of evidence-free accusations that his party had become a “hotbed of anti-Semitism,” and even insinuations that he himself was antiSemitic. After losing the general election to the ruling Conservative Party in 2019, Corbyn resigned. Starmer won the leadership contest by arguing that he would continue many of Corbyn’s policies while working harder to stamp out antiLeader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer addresses delegates during his keynote speech on the final Semitism. Members appeared to day of the Labour Party conference, on Sept. 29, 2021, in Brighton, England. hope he would finally put to bed vilification of the party. AT THE ANNUAL conference of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Instead, he has become a central figure in that campaign, exheld in late September, the Palestinian issue was thrust onto centerploiting the anti-Semitism claims to launch a seemingly endless stage once again—despite the best efforts of the leadership to kill purge of left-wing party members expressing support for the Palesall visible support for the Palestinian cause. tinian cause. That has included Corbyn himself, who was expelled In a historic move, and a resounding slap in the face to party by Starmer from the parliamentary faction of the party a year ago. leader Keir Starmer, delegates voted in favor of a motion declaring Corbyn had attracted hundreds of thousands of new members, Israel an apartheid state, echoing the findings of Israeli and interinspired by his more caring, less cynical approach to politics after national human rights organizations. It also called for sanctions four decades of neoliberalism. But reports suggest many tens of against Israel’s illegal settlements that usurp Palestinian land, as thousands of them have quit the party over the past year. well as a halt to the UK’s sales of arms to Israel. Starmer appeared to hope that he could use the conference, in The conference motion demanded an end to Israel’s belligerent the British coastal city of Brighton, to hammer the final nails into occupation of the West Bank and 15-year siege of Gaza, and upheld the coffin of support for Corbyn and his left-wing policies. But with “the right of Palestinians to return to their homes”—a right of return their pro-Palestine motion, delegates had other ideas. for Palestinians expelled by Israel since 1948 that is enshrined in The motion cast a long shadow over Starmer’s keynote speech, international law but increasingly ignored by Western states. in what he had doubtless hoped would be a triumphant finale to The success of the motion, put forward by Labour’s youth section, the conference, stamping his authority on the membership. Instead, was a deeply embarrassing blow for Starmer, who has colluded in a the very issues that plagued Labour under Corbyn continue to campaign by the media, Jewish leaders and his own party’s bureausimmer barely below the surface. cracy to conflate support for Palestinian rights with anti-Semitism. Corbyn argued that claims of anti-Semitism had been exaggerThat campaign began in earnest when Starmer’s predecessor, ated by his opponents to undermine his socialist agenda—a statement that provided Starmer with the excuse to expel him from the Jonathan Cook is a journalist now based in the UK and a winner of parliamentary party. the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He is the author With Corbyn gone, and most of his allies either purged or cowed, of Blood and Religion and Israel and the Clash of Civilisations (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). Starmer has begun driving the party rightwards in an attempt to re14

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assure the establishment that, unlike the socialist Corbyn, he will be a safe pair of hands, protecting its interests at home and abroad. Keeping Israel a close military and intelligence ally in the oil-rich Middle East, as well as not angering Washington, DC, Israel’s staunch patron, appear to be among Starmer’s top priorities. He has stated that he “supports Zionism without qualification”—a reference to Israel’s state ideology of Jewish supremacism over Palestinians. He has also ignored repeated calls from Palestinian groups and Palestinian party members to engage with them, leading one to observe that they have been treated like “outcasts.” Nonetheless, Starmer has been faced with a tricky balancing act that this week’s Israeli apartheid motion will only make harder. On the one hand, Starmer needs to exploit and perpetuate the anti-Semitism smears as a weapon to continue isolating, intimidating and expelling the party’s leftwing members and Corbyn supporters. But on the other, he must at some point show he has surgically removed the antiSemitism problem, both to demonstrate he is a strong, decisive leader and to switch from waging factional war on the party’s left to presenting an image of unity in time for the next election. The conference was clearly intended to mark that turning point. Starmer used the event to explicitly tell party activists that Labour had now “closed the door” on anti-Semitism. Both the apartheid and sanctions components of the motion on Israel, however, serve as a gauntlet showing that the left may not lie down so easily. They put Starmer firmly on the back foot. The Labour leader has suggested in the past that demands for sanctions against Israel—even feeble ones that punish only those industries directly implicated in the occupation—are motivated, not by principle or support for Palestinian rights, but by anti-Semitism. He made that evident, for example, when he withdrew from a Ramadan event last April—upsetting Britain’s Muslim community—because one of its organizers had expressed support for a NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

boycott of dates illegally grown by Israel on occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank. Most Labour members disagree with Starmer’s position. A recent YouGov poll showed that 61 percent of them supported the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BDS) campaign launched more than 15 years ago by Palestinian civil society. Only 8 percent opposed it. The reference to Israel as an apartheid state will prove difficult for Starmer, too. Pro-Israel lobby groups—including the Jewish Labour Movement, an offshoot of Israel’s own Labor party, which is currently sitting in a government dominated by settler leaders—have denounced any description of Israel as an apartheid state.

The Israeli apartheid

motion shows that there are still pockets of resistance, especially among the young.

They have done so even though Israel’s decades-long, systematic abuse of the Palestinian population appears to meet the United Nations’ definition of the crime of apartheid. Instead, leaders of Jewish organizations and the Labour right have weaponized a set of examples attached to a controversial definition of anti-Semitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance imposed on Corbyn in 2018. Those examples include describing Israel as “a racist endeavor” and “requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” The Labour motion rightly takes as its starting point that Israel cannot claim to be democratic when half the population it rules over—the vast majority of Palestinians inside Israel and all Palestinians under occupation—have no voice in how they are ruled. The conference vote requiring Labour to support the Palestinians appears to be a backlash from the party’s left against the onslaught they have suffered over the past 18 months of Starmer’s rule. He has effectively banned constituencies from

criticizing Corbyn’s expulsion from the parliamentary party. Groups that support Palestinian rights and challenged Starmer’s confected antiSemitism narrative—arguing that it has been weaponized against them—have been proscribed. Leaders of Jewish Voice for Labour, set up by Jewish members to defend Corbyn’s reputation, are also being hounded out, including most recently its co-chair Leah Levane, whose entry to the conference was revoked on the second day. One of Corbyn’s most prominent supporters, Ken Loach, the world-renowned film director, was expelled in the run-up to the conference, again in the context of antiSemitism claims. He had expressed support for many of those who were suspended or expelled, calling it a witch-hunt. Starmer’s officials quietly tried to break the party rulebook and block a conference day for Young Labour, the party’s youth section, after it proposed the motion urging justice for Palestinians. Officials also sought to prevent a representative from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Britain’s foremost Palestinian advocacy group, from speaking. Starmer rightly understood that neither could be relied on to toe his authoritarian line. But after the exposure of their move, Labour officials were forced to back down. And finally, John McDonnell, who served as shadow chancellor under Corbyn, berated Starmer for behaving “like Stalin” in allowing the last-minute exclusion from the conference of dozens of members identified as Corbyn holdouts. The move seemed intended to help Starmer’s measures pass, and foil embarrassing resolutions like the Palestine solidarity one. Starmer did manage to secure support from the conference for an independent complaints procedure to handle anti-Semitism cases in future—removing it from the control of party officials. Labour members presumably hope that external adjudicators will be fairer in assessing anti-Semitism allegations than a Labour right bent on settling scores with the left. The celebrations of pro-Israel groups at the prospect of the disciplinary process being outsourced indicates that members

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may be gravely disappointed. For Starmer, transferring the complaints procedure to outsiders means he can finally sever his responsibility for the handling of Labour’s supposed anti-Semitism crisis. It will be out of his hands. All of this is meant to prepare the ground as Starmer, who has lagged in the polls behind a disastrously inept and corrupt Conservative government, tries to prove his electability—even if only at this stage to media moguls like Rupert Murdoch. Starmer clearly believes that the political formula that worked for Tony Blair, who led three Labour governments a quarter of a century ago in the short-lived heyday of neoliberal economics, will work for him, too. The week before the conference, Starmer issued “The Road Ahead,” a personal manifesto chiefly intended to reassure the private sector that he would not disrupt the gravy train it has enjoyed uninterrupted since Blair was in power. He has ruled out public ownership of key utilities, even as gas suppliers continue to go broke and the British public faces an unprecedented hike in energy prices. Starmer pressured delegates to approve—if only narrowly— the appointment as general secretary of David Evans, a man closely identified with business-friendly Blair and the Labour right.

And to top it off, Starmer forced through rule changes, including giving MPs a bigger veto on who can run in leadership elections, to prevent any repetition of a socialist candidate such as Corbyn winning. Although Starmer may be winning the battle to drive Labour back to the right, making it once again an establishmentfriendly party, the issue of justice for Palestinians looks likely to continue hounding him. He faces two opposing challenges he will struggle to contain. On one side, Starmer is determined to shrink his party, ousting as many as possible of the hundreds of thousands of new members who joined because they were inspired by Corbyn’s populist left-wing policies. Starmer has neither an ideological commitment to left-wing politics nor the stomach to brave the onslaught Corbyn faced—especially the barrage of antiSemitism smears—as he struggled to revive socialism 40 years after big business, the establishment media and the Tory Party thought they had buried it. Starmer views the Labour grassroots as an albatross around his neck. It must be removed by further curbs on party democracy, lightly disguised as efforts to root out a supposed anti-Semitism problem. The Israeli apartheid motion shows that there are still pockets of resistance, espe-

cially among the young. They can use the glaring injustices heaped on the Palestinian people as a way to keep embarrassing Starmer and reminding Labour members of how unprincipled their leader is. But on the other side, Starmer also faces a pro-Israel lobby, which has got the bit between its teeth after its critical role in undermining Corbyn. It expects the Labour Party to serve as a cheerleader for Israel, paying no more than lip service to Palestinian rights. For the lobby, Starmer must continue to be cowed with threats of anti-Semitism to make sure he does not concede, under grassroots pressure, that Israel is an apartheid state, or support sanctions, or end the UK’s arms sales to Israel—as party members want. Even before the Palestinian solidarity motion was passed by conference, Euan Philipps, a spokesman for one lobby group, Labour Against Anti-Semitism, set out how much more the pro-Israel lobby expects to extract from Starmer. He told the Jewish Chronicle newspaper that Labour must go further in dealing with what he termed “anti-Zionist anti-Semitism” —that is, labeling and punishing any serious criticism of Israel’s abuses of Palestinians as anti-Semitism. He called for Labour to sever all ties with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, removing the main vehicle for promoting (Advertisement) justice for Palestinians in the party. Philipps urged the party to punish MPs and officials who take part in “extreme” Palestinian solidarity events or protests against Israel’s occupation, dePalestinian Medical Relief Society, a grassroots scribing participation as “tacitly community-baseddPalestinian health organization, founded in endorsing anti-Semitism.” And he demanded Starmer 1979 by Palestinian doctors, needs your support today. take an even harder line Visit www.pmrs.ps against “anti-Semitic” members—in this case, apparently Visit our Website <friendsofpmrs.org> to see our work in action and donate. meaning any who speak out in favor of Palestinian rights. Mail your U.S. Tax-Deductible check to our American Foundation: Labour’s civil war is not going away quite yet. It will continue Friends of PMRS, Inc to simmer, as it has at the conPO Box 450554 • Atlanta, GA 31145 ference, until Palestinians and the party’s left-wing can be perFor more information call: (404) 441-2702 or e-mail: fabuakel@gmail.com manently silenced. ■

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Two Views

Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett (r) meets U.S. President Joe Biden (l) at the White House on Aug. 27, 2021 in Washington, DC. During their first face-to-face meeting Bennett focused on Iran and avoided even mentioning Palestinians.

The Harsh Truth Biden Needs to Tell Israelis Now About Their Future By Daniel Sokatch MOMENTS BEFORE he was assassinated in Tel Aviv 26 years ago, former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin delivered a speech to nearly a hundred thousand Israelis in which he insisted that peace with the Palestinians was the only way forward for Israel, and that Israelis were ready for it. These words would be his last. No Israeli head of state since has uttered such words of hope and promise to either Israelis—or Americans.

Daniel Sokatch is CEO of the New Israel Fund and author of can We Talk About Israel?: A Guide for the curious, confused and conflicted, published by Bloomsbury in October 2021. Twitter: @dsokatc. This article was published in Haaretz © Reprinted with Permission. 18

President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, both in their first year in office, are establishing right now what this new era of the U.S.-Israel relationship will look like. If Bennett’s first Washington visit and recent U.N. speech are any indication, he will attempt to avoid, downplay and dodge any pressure to resolve Israel’s central conflict: in both Washington and New York, Bennett avoided even mentioning Palestinians, much less laying out a plan to return to the negotiating table. That’s no surprise. Bennett is an avowed opponent of a two-state solution and heads an unwieldy government unlikely to advance that agenda. But Biden has supported a two-state solution throughout his career. If President Biden really wants to save the endangered two-state solution that the United States supports, he should talk directly to the Israeli people. Given Biden’s long-held positions on this issue, here is the speech he could give. “Friends have to be honest with each other, even though it might to be tough to hear. And that’s why I’ve got to talk November/December 2021

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Bennett and Biden: Friends Don't Let Friends Drive off a Cliff

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straight with you today. “Folks, since my first trip back in 1975, you know I’ve been as big a supporter of the State of Israel as there is in Washington, DC. In the Senate, I called our aid for Israel the “best $3 billion investment we make,” and as Vice President I was proud to help shape the biggest military aid package in U.S. history. “I’ve personally inhaled Golda Meir’s second-hand smoke. My commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable. My goal is to do whatever I can to help realize a future where every Israeli and every Palestinian can live their lives and raise their families in peace and human dignity. “Friends, it’s simple: you, the Israeli people, have got a choice to make. You can either choose to be a part of the community of democratic nations, with all the privilege and protection that that brings, or you can choose to keep your settlement enterprise on the West Bank. It’s time to decide which one is more important to you. The settlement enterprise isn’t the only obstacle to peace, but it’s one you can do something about right now. “For the past 54 years, the Israeli military has occupied the West Bank, leaving the fates and futures of millions of Palestinians under Israeli military control. At the same time, the Israeli government has built new towns and settled over 400,000 Jewish Israeli citizens in that same territory, while in East Jerusalem another 200,000-plus Jewish Israelis live in new neighborhoods built since 1967. “I know that, contrary to your own government’s actions, many of you agree with nearly every U.S. administration, Democratic and Republican, which have always seen those West Bank settlements as wrong and illegitimate, an obstacle to peace that undermines the possibility for a two state solution. Most of the world sees them as illegal. “Heck, right after the Six Day War, even the Israeli government’s own legal adviser said that settlements violate the Geneva Convention! “But despite all of this, your government insists those settlements are just a part of Israel, like Tel Aviv or Haifa. And anytime anyone says otherwise, the Israeli government accuses them of being anti-Israel or even anti-Semitic. “Look what happened when the European Union—your biggest trading partner!—tried to simply label products made in the settlements as “Made in Israeli Settlements” instead of “Made in Israel” in EU markets. Israeli officials accused them of anti-Semitism. “Now it’s happening to Ben & Jerry’s, because they said they were going to stop selling their ice cream in the settlements—not Israel, just the settlements. They were accused of anti-Semitism and even terrorism! “Folks, that’s just ridiculous. Lots of people, both in Israel and around the world, think the settlements are an obstacle to peace. That’s why hardliners go to such lengths to paint anyone who says so as anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. They want to distract us from the real problem—the fact that the settlements are disastrous for Palestinians, poisonous for Israeli NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

democracy, and fatal to the two-state solution—by attacking the messenger. “We have a saying over here: friends don’t let friends drive drunk. And that’s what Israel’s settlement policy feels like: political drunk driving. And you’re heading for a cliff. “Most Americans support you. But they also want your government to do the right thing, and to do what it can do to resolve the conflict. Polls show that Democrats are increasingly willing to criticize Israeli government policies and want America to play a more even-handed role. They show that young evangelical Christians are less supportive of Israel than their elders. “They show that most American Jews disapprove of the Israeli government’s settlement policies. Heck, they show that one quarter of American Jews think Israel is an apartheid state! “Americans are hearing what your leaders say about the Palestinians, the settlements and the two-state solution, and noticing that those leaders can sound a lot like the ethnonationalists and supremacists right here in America. It makes people uneasy; we’ve learned some hard lessons over the past few years about taking those folks seriously—whether they are American, Israeli or anything else. “Today, Israel is protected by the might of the United States of America. We help ensure your safety and we defend you in the international community, even when we don’t agree with your government’s actions. Israel is also an “associated state” of the European Union. You have the benefits that come with being a part of the second largest economy in the world. “I want to see all of this continue. I want to see all Israelis thrive in a prosperous democracy, at peace with the Palestinians, accepted by your neighbors, and respected by the world. “But none of us in power now in the U.S. or Europe can guarantee that this will continue if you continue to choose the settlement enterprise. “This is it: it’s the settlements or it’s being part of the community of the democratic nations of the world. More importantly, it’s the settlements or it’s the peaceful, just, safe future we all want to see for future generations of Israelis and Palestinians. “You have to decide which one is more important to you. I sure hope you choose wisely.”

Note to Blinken: Israel’s “Military Option” Shouldn’t be on Our Table By Daniel Larison

AS INDIRECT TALKS to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) remain in limbo, the U.S. and Israeli governments continue suggesting that “other options,” including military action, are available and will be considered if the talks should fail. The latest example of this came during a press conference between Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Oct. 13, along with Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan from the United Arab Emirates.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Commenting on Iran’s nuclear program, Lapid said that “Israel reserves the right to act at any given moment, in any way,” and he stated, “We know there are moments when nations must use force to protect the world from evil.” For his part, Blinken said that “time is running short” to restore the nuclear deal, and he affirmed that “Israel has the right to defend itself and we strongly support that proposition.” In the context of discussing Iran’s nuclear program, what Lapid and Blinken are referring to is an endorsement of an illegal and unprovoked attack on Iran in the name of “preventing” Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon that Iran is not seeking. It is a measure of how ineffective U.S. diplomacy has been over the last six months that administration officials are now contemplating “options” that have already failed or should never be tried. Blinken said that diplomacy is still the “most effective way” to keep Iran’s nuclear program peaceful, but the record of their diplomacy to date has been underwhelming. Slow to engage, unwilling to offer even the smallest goodwill gestures, and refusing to take the initiative in rejoining the agreement, the Biden administration has gone through the motions of diplomatic engagement without offering Iran anything of substance to kickstart the process of returning to full compliance. The new Raisi government in Tehran has responded to this by engaging in its own delaying tactics for the last few months. As frustrating as the negotiations have been up until now, there is no realistic alternative that would restore restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program except to stick with the talks to a successful conclusion. The fact that the Biden administration has been glancing at the exits for the last several months has hardly helped matters. While there is grumbling from the Israeli side that their government does not believe the Biden administration is serious when it talks about “other options” or “other avenues” if diplomacy should fail, U.S. officials are signaling that the U.S. views Israeli attacks on Iran’s facilities and territory as self-defense. That is dan20

PHOTO BY ATTA KENARE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

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Iranians drive beneath a billboard urging support for locally manufactured home appliances at Valiasr Square in the capital Tehran, on Oct. 9, 2021. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi banned the import of household appliances from South Korea, saying the imports could harm local production. gerous, and one that puts the U.S. in the awful position of having endorsed an Israeli attack that it cannot control. Even if this is meant only as a sop to hard-liners, it identifies the U.S. with whatever the Israeli government chooses to do. When Israel’s political leadership keeps hinting at taking military action, it is irresponsible for the U.S. to be giving them a green light. As Lapid said during the press conference, “by saying other options, I think everybody understands here, in Israel, in the Emirates and in Tehran what is it that we mean.” The threat to commit acts of war is clear. It is important to understand that there is nothing defensive about the actions Israel has already taken in sabotaging Iranian facilities and assassinating Iranian scientists, and there would be nothing defensive about direct military attacks on Iranian soil. It should go without saying that having a right to self-defense is not a license to initiate hostilities against an-

Daniel Larison, formerly a columnist for The American Conservative, now posts on Eunomia, a daily blog on foreign policy and international affairs, <daniellarison.sub stack.com>. He has a Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

other country on the pretext that it might pose some future danger. It wasn’t selfdefense when the U.S. invaded Iraq, and it wouldn’t be self-defense to drop bombs on Iran. Any “preventive” military action against Iran would not only be a flagrant violation of the U.N. Charter, which prohibits the use or threat of force in international relations except in self-defense, but it would also likely produce the outcome that it is supposedly trying to stop, namely Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon. Even if Iran were seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, that would not give any other state permission to launch attacks on their territory. Since there is no evidence that Iran currently has a nuclear weapons program, that would clearly make military strikes on their nuclear facilities acts of criminal aggression. Nothing would give the Iranian government a stronger incentive to build its own deterrent than an attack on their country. Just as the Israeli attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak 40 years ago pushed Saddam Hussain to pursue nuclear weapons in earnest, an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would likely push NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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the Iranian government to make the political decision to seek nuclear weapons that it has rejected for almost two decades before now. Using force to resolve the nuclear issue is a dead end, but it seems to be one that the U.S. and Israel are willing to entertain. The Biden administration claims that time is running out for Iran to resume full compliance, but there is no option for restoring the nuclear deal that doesn’t involve a diplomatic compromise. “Maximum pressure” sanctions have failed, as the Biden administration has acknowledged more than once, so keeping sanctions in place or piling on more will achieve nothing except to spur continued expansion of Iran’s nuclear program. Covert sabotage has succeeded only in provoking Iran to enrich uranium to higher levels than ever before and to end its voluntary implementation of the IAEA’s Additional Protocol. Military action would be illegal and wrong, and it would all but guarantee the outcome that the nuclear deal had already blocked. It would also expose U.S. troops throughout the region to reprisal attacks and possibly trigger a larger war. Before the U.S. undermined it, the JCPOA was a major nonproliferation success story, and it was also a victory for resolving a longstanding international dispute through compromise. The signing of the agreement in 2015 reduced regional

tensions and made war with Iran much less likely, and it is no accident that regional tensions and the likelihood of war have both spiked as the agreement has gone on life support. When the Obama administration was first presenting the agreement to the world, they argued that its opponents had no alternative except war. As the negotiations over restoring the JCPOA falter, we are reminded once again that this is the only real alternative that hawks have to offer. The “options” that the hawks talk about are doomed to fail, and the cost of these options will be far greater than the sanctions relief that is needed to salvage the nuclear deal. Diplomatic compromise with Iran was the only thing that resolved the nuclear issue six years ago, and it is the only thing that is going to revive the JCPOA now. The “other options” that Lapid and Blinken mentioned lead to more failure and possibly to new conflict. In that respect, Blinken was wrong to say that diplomacy is the “most effective way” to prevent Iran from acquiring the nuclear weapon. As we should all realize by now, it is the only way. ■

Zionism’s Original Sin Continued from page 13

will end in catastrophe if we do not succeed in finding a common platform.”

What Zionists are doing, he argued, “has no equivalent in history. The aim is to bring Jews as a second nation into a country which already is settled as a nation—and fulfill this through peaceful means. History has seen such penetration, by one nation into a strange land only by conquest, but it has never occurred that a nation will fully agree that another nation should come and demand full equality of rights and national autonomy at its side.” There is, of course, great irony in seeing those who have been mistreated respond by mistreating others, who had no part in their own misfortune. As the world is increasingly focusing its attention upon Israel’s treatment of Palestine’s indigenous population, often comparing it to South Africa’s treatment of its indigenous black population, with the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem using the term “apartheid” to characterize it, it is clear that Zionism’s history is catching up with it. More and more observers, including increasing numbers of Jews and many Israelis as well, are coming to agree that Zionism’s original sin was ignoring the fact that Palestine was fully populated. The Palestinians are being forced to pay an extraordinary price for misdeeds committed by others. Clearly, the time has come for a redress of these legitimate grievances. ■

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The West Bank’s “Rotten Apples”

Special Report By Amira Hass

PHOTO BY JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

All the incidents were near settlements and settlement outposts that are known for frictions with the villages on whose land they are situated: Yitzhar, again and again; Maon, Beit El, Shiloh, Ariel, Havat Gilad, Avigayil. Since the beginning of the year, anonymous individuals from among us Jews have damaged about 8,000 Palestinian-owned trees, according to United Nations figures. Say that these are a few rotten apples. Troubled teens. “Wild weeds.” DrugIsraeli soldiers walk past cut-down olive trees on lands belonging to Palestinians from al-Sawiyah village gies and dropouts. We’ve south of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on May 2, 2020. Settlers from the nearby Rahalim settle- been hearing this refrain ment established mobile housing and cut dozens of the trees. ever since it became clear that it is an organized, calcuDURING THE OLIVE harvest season, the fountains of Israeli lated phenomenon— way back in the second half of the 1990s, evil, cruelty and chutzpah erupt in their most concentrated form. before and after Ariel Sharon called for settling every hill in the The wellspring of this God-fearing violence does not distinguish West Bank. Then, as now: The tree fellers, the thieves and the between young and old, man and tree, between destruction and attackers are the messengers of the system and its dear sons, sabotage and crop theft. brothers in the holy cause of dispossessing the indigenous It is violence that knows the soul of its government. After all, Palestinians from this land. the West Bank is dotted with surveillance cameras, with the The immediate and embracing community of the assailants watchtowers and observation posts of the Israel Defense Forces, does not shun them, the rabbis do not rebuke them and its leadwith military and police armed patrols. Despite all this, our deers’ silence is consent. Soldiers back them because the IDF has stroying and sabotaging forces in the olive groves always return a duty to protect the Jewish citizens/settlers. The police close inhome safely. From the same arenas. To the same home bases. vestigations (the few that were opened in the first place) with an In the span of two weeks, from Oct. 3 to 16, there were at efficiency that would make the racist white police in the American least 18 Israeli assaults on harvesters and their trees. The list South in the 1950s jealous. The keyboard warriors of the State of compiled by human rights group Yesh Din: Volunteers for Tel Aviv express their disgust. So what? Human Rights is difficult to read. On Oct. 3, forces struck five This ever-increasing “private” violence, which is decades old, times: They assaulted a farmer, chopped down trees, prevented achieves its goals. In order to “prevent tensions” with the residents harvesters from gathering olives and on two occasions stole of the outposts that spring up like poisonous mushrooms around olives. On Oct. 11 four similar cases of sabotaging trees and the the bourgeois colonies, the IDF prohibits Palestinians from acharvest were recorded. cessing their land. The settlements themselves were built on Palestinian land in the framework of the organized, official robbery that is called, in order to please the ears of the members of the Amira Hass is the Haaretz correspondent for the Occupied TerritoHigh Court of Justice, the “Declaration of State Land,” “Survey ries. Hass joined Haaretz in 1989, and has been in her current position since 1993. Continued on page 48 22

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United Nations Report

U.N. Drops Investigation into Human Rights Violations in Yemen

By Ian Williams

PHOTO BY MOHAMMED HAMOUD/GETTY IMAGES

ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST, one can see why fainter hearts despair of the United Nations while other more urbane observers make allowances for its inherent weaknesses. However, increasingly the failure to do anything about its weaknesses pushes every observer into despair. Ten or fifteen years ago, these Washington Report U.N. columns lamented the stranglehold of the U.S. over the organization and the perennial logjam in the Security Council as the U.S. and Russia vetoed and counter-vetoed essential measures. For many observers, the answer was to expand the Security Council and make it “more representative.” Now, in a way, the reformers have won. There is a jackal pack of hangers on, albeit not formally enrolled in the Council, with an indirect paw on the steering wheel—and more concerningly, a foot on the brake. Unsur- A teacher, who has not been paid for more than three years, instructs students at a school on prisingly this has not made for a more World Teachers’ Day, on Oct. 5, 2021, in Sana'a, Yemen. efficient or effective United Nations. itage site in Sana’a. We saw this most distressingly when the U.N. Human Rights Even their Western allies, such as Britain, who have been supCouncil members succumbed to some combination of browbeating plying and training Abrahamic allies’ murderous forces, could not and bribery from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Ocprovide excuses for scuppering the investigation. But the Saudis, tober to thwart the continuation of an U.N. investigation into human with an extra layer of diplomatic armor from their part in the accords rights violations in Yemen. with Israel, do not have to worry about domestic courts, international This point needs belaboring. On anyone’s objective reckoning, law and human rights lobbies. Shamefully, they have just succeeded despite fierce competition, Yemen is one of the most distressful in cancelling the probe. countries in the world, where the four horsepersons of Apocalypse As Human Rights Watch had said, “Member states bowing to have been staging their own lethal rodeo. There can be no doubt pressure to end the mandate when it is still urgently needed would that there are human rights violations there, which impelled the U.N. be a stain on the credibility of the Council and a slap in the face to Human Rights Council to order an investigation. There is little doubt victims.” As the dark joke in the U.N. has it, if the vote were on a that both sides (in fact all three sides; it’s complicated) are in some show of hands, the wrists of those who voted “no” would probably measure guilty. But, for example, only one side, the Saudis and Emibe sporting Gold Rolexes. ratis, are bombing civilians and, incidentally, a UNESCO world herUzbekistan, Bahrain, Somalia, Venezuela, Indonesia, Libya, the Philippines, Russia, Sudan and, shamefully, India and Pakistan U.N. correspondent Ian Williams is the author of UNtold: the Real acting in uncommon harmony all voted “no” on continuing the probe, Story of the United Nations in Peace and War (available from Middle East Books and More). while Nepal, Japan, Namibia and others failed to have the courage NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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of their lack of principles and abstained. Even more pusillanimous, Ukraine just disappeared for the vote! We are accustomed to Palestine votes evoking hypocrisy at the highest level, as delegations weigh U.S. and Israeli pressure against the principles of self-determination and humanitarian law to which they pay lip service. In the case of Yemen, one can only guess what combination of outright bribes and fear of financial retaliation from the Saudis led to the votes, along with the intriguing spectacle of the heirs of the Warsaw Pact —Russia, China, Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia—who have between them demonstrated strong international solidarity with their bloc of mutual support for authoritarian impunity. The real question is what these countries are doing on the Council at all. They do have a shared concern for human rights in that they all violate them at home, and have now moved to international concern—as in the “you watch my back and I’ll watch yours” variety. It demonstrates that the system for choosing Human Rights Council members has broken down. The Council took its shape in almost a by-gone era of concern for human rights. The Clinton administration had supported the U.N. (up to a point) of course and actively lobbied for human rights—when it suited. The reforms called for every country’s record to be periodically reviewed, which reduced the ability of sup-

portive blocs to head off scrutiny. Human rights supporters could also count on some support from delegations like South Africa to try to secure actual elections that would take into consideration the behavior of the candidates in the regional blocs. They were somewhat successful for a while—even knocking the U.S. off the Council. But the U.S. soon gave up the fight while diehard support for Israel, Guantanamo and similar issues tarnished Washington’s shining armor as a champion of human rights. The “elections” for the seats have become a tragi-farce in which the regional blocs, even the West Europeans, make sure that there are only nominations for the number of seats available. So, there are no contested elections and a primary qualification for nomination appears to be that the candidate country has a dubious human rights record that it wants to hide. All members vote for all the seats, but candidates must come from the regional blocs they represent. In the beginning, there was effective pressure to ensure competitive elections, for which candidates had to prove their suitability. Then the insidious U.N. pressure for consensus and “Buggins’ Turn” principles allied with arm twisting and garotting by the Saudi purse-strings took over and the number of candidates was whittled down to the number of vacancies. Even the last bastion, the Western European seats, succumbed ironically to ensure that the perennially vulnerable U.S. was (Advertisement)

seated since even reforming members saw little value in the Council if the U.S. were not in it. Certainly the Trump administration did nothing to encourage competitive elections for a Council. But other members are culpable as well. Accordingly, October’s Human Rights Council elections saw Cameroon, Eritrea, Gambia, Benin and Somalia for the African group; Qatar, UAE, Kazakhstan, India and Malaysia for the Asian group; Argentina, Paraguay and Honduras for the Latin America and the Caribbean group; Luxembourg, Finland and the United States for the Western group; and Lithuania and Montenegro for the Eastern Europe group take their seats. Few of them are paragons of human rights. And while we can welcome the U.S.’ resumption of participation, let us just say that police impunity for murders and Guantanamo are hardly recommendations. The top vote was 189 for Benin, and much deserved bottom vote of 144 went to Eritrea— as much for its habit of quarreling with neighbors as for its human rights record, I suspect. The U.S. came in next to bottom with 168 votes. But pathetically few states heeded Human Rights Watch’s call to refrain from voting for human rights violators. Back to the drawing board for the Human Rights Council, but who has the political and moral authority to force changes? There is no activist secretary general like Kofi Annan to push a reform agenda and

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the U.S.’ moral authority is deep in the Dead Sea with its Israeli protégé. U.N. Watch is a “nonprofit organization dedicated to holding the United Nations accountable to its founding principles.” After it was pointed out (in here and other places) that its only concerns seemed to be countering criticism of Israel, it has recently weighed in on other issues where the U.N. has failed human rights, in an effort to restore credibility. However, it cannot escape its monomania. In 2019, it took time to inveigh (correctly) against the Saudi accession to the Council. I took the occasion of this year’s Saudi triumph in suppressing the investigation about Yemen to scour their website for any mention of this latest assault on liberty and reason. There is nothing there, which could lead one to suppose that the Kingdom is bathed in the blood of the lamb, cleansed of all sin by the Abrahamic Accords. One would look hard at U.N. Watch to see any criticism of Morocco, whether at home or in the Occupied Western Sahara. It is plain to see that standing by Israel gives a “get out of criticism free card” for any country. With amusing irony, U.N. Watch also tells

home truths about the Palestinian Authority, what one might call the authoritarian wing of the national movement, without mentioning that much of that abuse of power is aimed at more vociferous Palestinian resistance to Israel, which is of course vying to see how much of the Palestinian opposition it can lock up. In the early years of the Council, Kofi Annan and his team actively lobbied delegations to ensure some degree of competition, but as so often on human rights issues, particularly where the Saudis are concerned, there is a deafening silence from the U.N. Secretariat. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is honored, far more often in the breach, than the observance. And that brings us to another core principle of the post-war United Nations, “The inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,” or the abandonment of the old principle of the right of conquest. It is, of course, no accident that this principle was only ratified after World War II had rewritten many boundaries by force! But it is what denies Israel legal title to the West Bank and the Golan Heights—and which denied

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Saddam Hussain title to Kuwait. On Israel’s behalf, the U.S. still tests this principle to destruction. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently reasserted Israeli claims to the Golan Heights, and U.S. responses did not rebut him, but simply mentioned the current incapacity of Damascus. In the West Bank, the U.S. prevaricates on whether or not the territories are occupied or disputed. And to show the global effects, the Biden administration has yet to walk back former President Trump’s acquiescence in the Moroccan landgrab. Showing more adherence to the rule of law, the European Courts over-ruled the EU bureaucrats who allowed Morocco to pocket the proceeds of Western Sahara’s fisheries. On the other hand, in annexers’ solidarity, Israel proudly announced the sale of drones to Morocco, clearly intended for use against Polisario. The U.N. has many fine features and noble aspirations, but one does wonder when the politicians and the leaders of the organization will bother to activate them or, after decades of taming and training by kleptocrats and genocides, even whether they can be activated. ■

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History’s Shadows

A view of the damage at the Zemari Ahmadi family house after a drone strike one day before the final U.S. evacuation flights from Kabul, on Sept. 18, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Zemari Ahmadi and nine members of his family, including seven children, were reported killed in the airstrike on Aug. 29, 2021. FOR SEVERAL DAYS the American public memorialized the 13 U.S. soldiers killed at the Kabul airport in the Aug. 26 attack, which punctuated the ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan. It was well and proper that we mourned the deaths of these service men and women, who were carrying out their duties during the chaotic pullout from the latest failed U.S. military intervention abroad. Amid the photographs, family stories, and saturation coverage of the soldiers’ deaths it was easy to overlook that 169 Afghan civilians also died in the airport terror attack. And on Sept. 17, when after weeks of lies and disinformation, the Pentagon was forced to admit that on Aug. 29, a U.S. drone had unleashed a hellfire missile that killed 10 innocent Afghan civilians—seven of them children—in a “tragic mistake,” it was a one-day story rather than the prolonged media event that the deaths of the 13 U.S. soldiers had precipitated.

History’s Shadows, a regular column by contributing editor Walter L. Hixson, seeks to place various aspects of Middle East politics and diplomacy in historical perspective. Hixson is the author of architects of Repression: how israel and its lobby put Racism, violence and injustice at the center of Us Middle east policy and israel’s armor: the israel lobby and the first generation of the palestine conflict (available from Middle East Books and More), along with several other books and journal articles. He has been a professor of history for 36 years, achieving the rank of distin26

The juxtaposition of these tragedies underscores that while Americans mourn deeply over the deaths of their own, they often barely acknowledge and quickly forget “the deaths of others,” as the MIT scholar John Tirman entitled his uncelebrated yet excellent 2011 book on this phenomenon. In Korea, Vietnam and Iraq alone, Tirman recounted, the U.S. military was responsible for the deaths of six to seven million people, the majority of whom were civilians. Before those wars, U.S. indiscriminate bombing killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese and German civilians in World War II. Exclusive focus on our own casualties and suffering in the wake of events such as the Kabul airport or the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks reinforce notions of American innocence and victimization. However, the United States is anything but an innocent and has been responsible, as Tirman’s book points out, for causing far greater levels of death and destruction than it has suffered in world affairs. In the “Global War on Terror” (GWOT)—the reckless, unbounded crusade that the United States launched in hysterical reaction to the wrenching 9/11 attacks—hundreds of thousands of people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Niger, Somalia and many other venues have been killed compared to a few thousand American deaths. According to Brown University’s Costs of War project, more than 387,000 civilians have been killed

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

noveMbeR/deceMbeR 2021

PHOTO BY BILAL GULER/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

Taking Responsibility for the Deaths of Others By Walter L. Hixson

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in the U.S.-led GWOT. In addition, some 38 million war refugees and displaced persons have been driven from their homes, but we don’t spend night after night on national television discussing these outcomes of the American warfare state. We don’t even talk much about the price tag, which is more than $8 trillion according to the Costs of War project. Yet dare to suggest government spending of comparatively small amounts on public welfare and witness the howls of derision and budget battles that ensue.

MIRRORING THE MILITANT ALLY

So, that’s the society in which we live and every day it comes more and more to resemble another society, that of our “special friend,” the militant little nation of Israel. The United States underwrites Israeli militarism to the tune of $3.8 billion annually and $146 billion since 1948, far more than provided to any other country in the world.

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The American largesse has helped the Zionist state carry out its own long history of indiscriminate wars, which in actuality have been massacres. In the early 1980s, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon killed some 20,000 people compared with about 1,200 Israeli dead. The 2008 Operation Cast Lead, a prolonged Israeli massacre in Gaza, killed some 1,400 people, overwhelmingly civilians and including about 350 children. Israel lost about a dozen people, some of them to friendly fire. In 2014 and again in 2021, Israel perpetrated similar asymmetrical slaughters in Gaza, with nary a peep of official U.S. condemnation. Israel is the world leader in state-sanctioned assassination, with particular emphasis in recent years on targeting Iranians. Before 9/11, the United States officially condemned assassination as an instrument of state policy but the more we identified with Israel, the more we began to mirror and thus to legitimate Israel’s murderous approach. U.S. drone attacks, including sev(Advertisement)

eral mistaken targets and killings of scores of innocent people like the one on Aug. 29, began under President George W. Bush, and then accelerated dramatically under President Barack Obama, who was highly enamored with drone killing. By the time President Donald Trump approved the U.S. assassination of Iranian militarist Qassim Soleimani in January 2020, U.S. policy was indistinguishable from that of Israel. The similarities extended beyond foreign policy and into domestic policing practices owing to the “deadly exchange” programs in which Israelis train U.S. police departments in the latest tactics of violent repression. The United States and Israel are not the only nations guilty of indiscriminate killing but clearly they are not innocent victims. While we have every right to mourn our own dead, we also have a moral obligation, one that is widely ignored, to acknowledge the deaths of others—especially when we are the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity. ■

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Special Report

The Language of War and U.S. Policy in the Middle East By Dr. M. Reza Behnam

MARCUS YAM/LOS ANGELES TIMES

Political language…is detablished to give advice to signed to make lies sound the secretary of defense on truthful and murder retransitioning from hostilities. spectable, and to give an The committee concluded appearance of solidity to in its September report that: pure wind “Muslims do not ‘hate our —George Orwell, 1946 freedom’ but rather, they Since 2001, U.S. adminishate our policies. The overtrations have used “terrorism” whelming majority voice as an instrument to conduct a their objections to what more openly aggressive forthey see as one-sided supeign policy in the Middle East. port in favor of Israel and Predictably, there has against Palestinian rights, been no real examination of and the long-standing, how the term has been used even increasing support for and of existing conditions what Muslims collectively that have allowed the U.S. to see as tyrannies, most noassume the singular role of tably in Egypt, Saudi terrorism arbiter, deciding Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan who and what is a threat to and the Gulf States.” the world. Nor has there The report also deterbeen much reflection on how Caskets for the dead are carried to the gravesite as relatives and friends attend mined that the majority of U.S. policies have caused a mass funeral for members of a family that was killed in a U.S. drone airstrike, Muslims see U.S. policies tremendous anger and pain in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 30, 2021. and actions as a threat to in the Middle East. the survival of Islam itself President George W. Bush constructed his war on terror on lies and that America’s aim is to weaken and dominate the Muslim world. that have yet to be deconstructed. He, and others in the WashThe myth of the “good” war in Afghanistan persists, despite the ington foreign policy establishment, have used the word “terrorism” fact that the United States chose to display its military muscle to stoke fear, to silence and to obscure failed policies. rather than pursue the diplomatic alternatives which were proBush’s fairytale that the United States was attacked on 9/11 beposed by the Taliban government in 2001. cause “they hate our freedoms” persists, because to question that Opportunities to end the war were rejected on two occasions, platitude has become equated with a lack of patriotism. even after U.S. warplanes had destroyed all assigned targets. America’s military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq were always During the second week of bombing in October, the Taliban offered about maintaining hegemony in Central Asia and protecting the to hand Osama bin Laden over to a neutral country once they were interests of multinational corporations, arms manufacturers, a prigiven evidence of his involvement in 9/11 and after America ended vatized military and the State of Israel. They were not, as claimed, its bombing campaign. And on Dec. 5, 2001 the Taliban offered about defending freedom and human rights. Like Bush, successive to surrender Kandahar, disarm, disband and return to their villages. presidents have never leveled with Americans about their true moBush refused both overtures and U.S. military violence continued tives and what the costs of war would be. for 20 more years. In 2004, an independent federal advisory committee, the Defense Absent from commemorations of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication, was eswas any reflective discussion of the war in Afghanistan and that the most powerful military in the world was defeated by men in Dr. M. Reza Behnam is a political scientist specializing in the history, sandals in a desperately impoverished country the size of Texas. politics and governments of the Middle East. 28

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Like Oceania in George Orwell’s prescient novel, 1984, war has been the scrim, the backdrop of everyday life in America for years. The global war on terror has replaced the Cold War as America’s national security narrative. But as for public attention, it has largely been consigned to oblivion. Perpetual war has skewed America’s priorities and created an uncritical devotion to all things military. The language of jingoism, as well as public indifference, have led to an ever-expanding military-security state and counterterrorism operations spread across the globe—all with little public debate and Congressional scrutiny.

TARGETED-KILLING DRONE PROGRAM CONTINUES

Despite the withdrawal of troops, President Joe Biden has stated his intent to continue the “war on terrorism” in Afghanistan. Deprived of an Afghan base in Central Asia, the administration has turned to what it calls its “over-the-horizon” counterterror-

ism strategy. The policy consists of identifying and striking targets with drones launched from outside Afghanistan. Biden, like his predecessors, seems not to believe that drone strikes represent a significant challenge to the international rule of law or to the rules-based international order he touts. He appears unconcerned about the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the use of force by one state inside the borders of another, and international law, which prohibits the use of lethal force outside of armed conflict zones unless it is used as a last resort against grave harm. The U.S. military admitted that its Aug. 29, 2021 drone strike in Kabul, targeting terrorist operatives, was a tragic mistake. Unlike the violence and deaths Americans never see, the death of ten innocent Afghan civilians, including seven children, drew public attention. According to an estimate from Brown University’s Costs of War project, more than 363,000 civilians have been killed in the war on terror. There has been little review of the legal (Advertisement)

standards that govern America’s military operations abroad. U.S. administrations have skirted and broken the rules of international order for decades. A public airing has yet to be had of Washington’s underreported “targetedkilling” drone program. Details about the executive branch program remain secret. Because it is administered without meaningful oversight, little is known about how much evidence is required before an individual is identified as a terrorist and placed on the military kill list. President Barack Obama embraced the drone program and normalized the use of armed drones in non-battlefield settings in Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia. President Donald Trump greatly expanded the targeted-killing program and jettisoned accountability. The strikes killed and injured thousands of civilians. Biden’s counterterrorism strategy confirms another conclusion in the Defense Science Board’s report, that “America’s image problem…is linked to percep-

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tions of the United States as arrogant, hypocritical and self-indulgent.” That perception is reflected in a landay (an ancient form of Pashtun spoken poetry popular among women) that speaks to the feelings of many Afghans— “May God destroy the White House and kill the man who sent U.S. cruise missiles to burn my homeland.” The U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan has ended, but the vast military, intelligence and information infrastructure designed to fight the war on terror remains inveterate. Significantly, the mindset and propaganda that created it continues solidly entrenched. It is dubious that the U.S. will ever do the right thing unless it develops an historical memory about its role in the Middle East and begins to alter it.

UNDERSTANDING ORIGINS OF TERRORISM

Generations of Muslims have had to live with American terror. Never-ending war in the Middle East did not begin 20 Septembers ago. Perpetual conflict was set in motion with the forceful importation of European Zionist ideology into the Middle East, with Zionist theft of Palestinian land and with Washington’s abiding military and financial support for the State of Israel. Drone attacks, bombing, torture and daily humiliation by American and Israeli occupiers have fueled hatred and added to terrorist ranks. The development of civic culture and political maturation in most Muslim countries have been virtually impossible because of the malign presence and division stoked by foreign 30

powers. The United States and Israel have cultivated an environment of dependence, distrust and conflict among regional neighbors. Countries have spent billions on defending against each other rather than addressing the problems of poverty, drought, climate change and regional health that plague the Middle East. After 20 years, the United States has left Afghanistan with an active terrorist network and a collapsing economy. The country is facing a humanitarian crises, including food shortages, drought, COVID-19, economic and environmental deterioration. Fourteen

million Afghans are at risk of starvation and 3.1 million children younger than five are acutely malnourished. Washington has added to the country’s suffering by freezing $9.5 billion belonging to the Afghan central bank. After nearly bombing Afghanistan into the Stone Age, Washington is now expressing concern about human rights and the entitlement of women. For more than two decades, the United States has attempted to solve the problem of terrorism through military force, but it has instead birthed more terrorists. The (Advertisement) answer to ending terrorism rests not with Hellfire missiles, but in understanding its origins and then acting to change the causes that have given it life. The September hearings in the U.S. Congress, dedicated to discerning America’s chaotic exit from Afghanistan, revealed an unwillingness of its members to consider America’s complicity in galvanizing terrorism. It was clear from the testimony of America’s warlords—the country’s top defense official and generals—that they had been mired in a culture they knew nothing about and in a war Playgrounds for Palestine is a project to build playgrounds for our that had no explanation. children. It is a minimal recognition of their right to childhood and Written on the wall of the creative expression. It is an act of love. abandoned U.S. Embassy Playgrounds for Palestine (PfP) is a registered 501(c)3 non-proﬁt in Kabul are these words, organization, established in 2001. We’re an all-volunteer organiza“Citizens, congratulations tion (no paid staﬀ) that raises money throughout the year to conon your newfound indepenstruct playgrounds and fund programs for dence.” All countries in the children in Palestine. Middle East need to be inSelling Organic, Fair Trade Palestinian olive dependent and free from oil is PfP’s principle source of fundraising. U.S.-Israeli influence, domis year, PfP launched AIDA, a private label olive oil from Palestinian farmers. ination and terror. For that to Please come by and taste it at our table. happen, the American people need to be liberated We hope you’ll love it and make it a staple in your pantry. from the fairytales—the appearance of solidity to pure For more information or to make a donation visit: https://playgroundsforpalestine.org • P.O. Box 559 • Yardley, PA 19067 wind—that have sustained the global “war on terror.” ■

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Canada Calling

Canadian Afghans Look for Assurance that Families Still in the Region Are Safe CANADA ENDED its evacuation efforts in Afghanistan at the end of August, and now the Afghan community and its supporters are asking what comes next for their loved ones left in the region. Ariana Yaftali, who is originally from Afghanistan and is co-founder of the Afghan-Canadian Women’s Organization in Winnipeg, said her group wants to advocate for everybody, “because they are all Afghan.” In a recent interview with the Washington Report, she said, “I think Canada responded a little bit later than they should have.” Right now, Afghan families are hearing words and promises but no details and they’re feeling like the international community has abandoned Afghanistan. There was no solid plan for the international community’s gradual withdrawal in order to leave Afghanistan as a proud, self-sufficient country. Instead, Yaftali argues, the world just withdrew, leaving behind a recipe for a humanitarian disaster. Canada’s Acting Chief of Defense Staff, General Wayne Eyre said in a press briefing that the effort to evacuate Afghanistan was one of the largest, most complex and dangerous operations in modern history. He also pointed out that Canada was one of the last countries to cease evacuation operations in the country. “The conditions our armed forces were working under were unlike anything we’ve seen in decades—even during our previous mission in Afghanistan. The threats around

Candice Bodnaruk has been involved in Palestinian issues for the past 14 years through organizations such as the Canadian BDS Coalition and Peace Alliance Winnipeg. Her political action started with feminism and continued with the peace movement, first with the No War on Iraq Coalition in 2003 in Winnipeg. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

PHOTO COURTESY YAFTALI FAMILY

By Candice Bodnaruk

Ariana Yaftali, co-founder of the Afghan-Canadian Women’s Organization in Winnipeg, is trying to help Afghan refugees navigate Canada’s immigration regulations. the airport were significant and dynamic. Non-combatant evacuation operations are inherently complex,” he said. Alexander Cohen, press secretary for Canada’s Minister of Immigration, said in anticipation of the evacuation, Canada implemented a special immigration program for Afghans and their families who have contributed to Canada’s efforts in Afghanistan for the past 20 years. The program includes Afghan nationals (and their family members) whose employment involved a significant and/or enduring relationship with the government of Canada, such as interpreters, cooks, drivers, cleaners, construction workers, security guards, and locally engaged staff who supported the Canadian Armed Forces and the Embassy of Canada in Afghanistan and their family members. While the Canadian effort to rescue as many people as they could was highly appreciated, the number of people evacuated

was not even close to 5,000, which Yaftali called, “a drop in the bucket kind of thing.” Yaftali wished that peacekeepers had remained, but neither the Canadian government nor the U.N. advocated for that, and as a result, she said, “we failed Afghanistan.” The families she has spoken to can’t even find a number to call for immigration. Yaftali, who has worked in the field of immigration, settlement and refugee sponsorship for 18 years, also said the process for family class sponsorship to Canada should be easier and more flexible. Canada’s current rules for immigration sponsorship defines family as a spouse and children under 21. It’s a longer process to bring older members, like grandparents. She said the family class category also refers to de facto members of your family that you are adopting or who are financially and emotionally dependent on you, who are also under 21.

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PHOTO COURTESY ROGER CLARK

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Dr. Hassan Diab rejoins his family in Canada in 2018. Yaftali said the Afghan community has the capacity and willingness to quickly assist incoming families, and they are not going to become a government burden. Families are willing “to be responsible for 12 months of resettlement, financially, emotionally, everything....privately sponsored refugees are already doing really well,” she reported. Yaftali’s organization is asking the Canadian government to increase the number of refugees and to expedite the process, as well as to make the immigration process smoother and easier so that people escape the dangerous zone faster. “We are working on drafting some recommendations,” she said, emphasizing “the need for protection and security for women, children, minorities, Afghan Jews, Christians, Hindus and Hazaras. For everybody we want to advocate because they are all Afghan,” she stressed. Yaftali said many people have contacted her about their difficulty meeting Canada’s current requirements for Afghan refugees, including presenting a recognition letter from the U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR. “They are just pleading for help because they can’t even get out of their 32

own house, let alone go to the UNHCR office to get those papers.” It could be easier to arrange private sponsorships, the same way it was for Syrians and the Yazidis, she said. Yaftali proposes that Canadians use their own rights and privileges to pressure their government and politicians to advocate for and support Afghans who remain stuck in Afghanistan. Give priority to ordinary people whose houses have been shot at or whose lives have been threatened to help them get out, she stated. Meanwhile in another recent telephone interview with the Washington Report, journalist and human rights activist Sally Armstrong said, “Although the government of Afghanistan fell more quickly than anyone could have imagined, everyone who follows Afghanistan knew something like this was coming,” she said. Armstrong, who spent 20 years working in the region, said the kind-hearted response from the Canadian people was “quite typical” because Canadians stand up in the face of injustice. Armstrong recalled how Canada welcomed Syrian refugees here only recently. “They clearly have the muscle memory to do it again be-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

cause I have been hearing from people all across the country asking how they can help,” she said. Armstrong is also confident that Canadians know how to make people feel welcome. She noted that Canadians are ready to support newcomers and help them find jobs, apartments and restart their lives. Meanwhile, Canadian Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, said Canada’s commitment to the people of Afghanistan will continue. He pointed out that Canada is the first country in the world to announce a humanitarian program focused on women leaders, ethnic minorities, journalists and LGBTQ people. “I want to express my solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora here in Canada as we prepare to welcome the 20,000 Afghan refugees. I know Canadians will open their homes and hearts,” Mendicino said during an August press conference.

CANADIAN WHO SPENT THREE YEARS IN A FRENCH PRISON TO BE RETRIED FOR 1980 BOMB ATTACK

Canadian Dr. Hassan Diab spent three years, much of it in solitary confinement, in a French prison accused in an October 1980 attack on a synagogue in Paris. Although Diab was a student writing exams at Beirut University at that time, French investigators claimed he was actually living in France and planted the bomb. In 2008, French authorities directed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to arrest Diab, who was living a quiet life in Canada. Although a Canadian extradition judge stated at the time that the evidence against Diab was very confusing, the judge said that his interpretation of Canada’s extradition law left him no choice but to extradite Diab to France. In January 2018, French investigating judges decided there was no case against him because of lack of evidence, released him from prison and allowed him to return to Canada. After his arrest, Diab lost his job at Carleton University in Ottawa when various NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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groups put pressure on the university to fire him, and today, he still remains on a no-fly list. Now, Diab is facing the prospect of yet another jail term in France, as that country’s government moves to retry him, in absentia, in France’s anti-terrorism court. The specter of a second extradition request is very real. Roger Clark, a former president of Amnesty International Canada, has been a Diab supporter for the past six years. “There is something very, very wrong when a Canadian can be sent to a foreign country where the foreign country can then begin the process of investigating. It’s not as though there was a trial sitting waiting for him, not at all,” Clark said in a recent telephone interview. “In Diab’s case, the investigation of his possible connection to the event only began once he was returned to France.” He said, while Diab had a solid alibi, investigators in the case relied on secret intelligence, which means there were no witnesses to be cross-examined. “In a

Canadian court of law secret intelligence cannot be used to prosecute someone,” Clark explained. Moreover, Clark added that today, in 2021, there is significantly less evidence against Diab, including fingerprint evidence and handwriting analysis used before but were shown to be faulty. However, he stressed that there is great political pressure inside France to send Diab to trial again. “Hassan is a very strong individual, psychologically. He would have to be in order to undergo 39 months in a French prison,” Clark said, adding that the cloud that was hanging over him in 2008 is now darker than it was then. “What happened to Hassan could happen to any Canadian,” Clark said. He explained that a lot of people would like to see Canada’s extradition act reformed. Diab’s supporters launched a postcard campaign during Canada’s recent federal election, asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to immediately suspend Canada’s extradition treaty with France. (Advertisement)

“There is a lot of pressure from right-wing groups that I would describe as Zionist,” Clark said, adding that many of the groups wield a lot of weight and that for many lobby groups it’s better to have someone found guilty even though none of the evidence actually points to him. “Hassan’s case may be down on a long list of cases for the anti-terrorist court. It could be three years away. It depends on whether it would be politically useful for the French to proceed with a trial against Hassan at this time,” Clark explained. “We have a very wide network, it would run into the thousands,” Clark said, pointing out that many Members of Parliament (MPs) have been supportive of the campaign, largely from the New Democratic Party. “There is a lot of real support for Hassan, not just among ordinary people, but also among human rights organizations in Canada,” he said, adding that Canada should signal to the French authorities that the extradition process is wrong and to continue it would be a miscarriage of justice. ■

Alalusi Foundation has provided sponsorships to orphans for more than 12 years. 60 720

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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Special Report

Migrations: Journeys Through Art and Stories By Delinda C. Hanley

PHOTO BY LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

prisonment show the dignity, beauty and perseverance of people fleeing in hopes of a better life. In response to the latest refugee crisis, Zughaib put together a riveting panel, illustrated with photographs, video and artwork, to discuss migration. U.S. attorney Hillary Kipnis’ presentation, “Mythical Aliens and Tales of Humans at the U.S. Southern Border,” was delivered from a policy and legal immigration advocate’s perspective. Every day, thousands of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees leave their countries in search of safety and better lives. She explained the differences between the various categories; refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants. A refugee is a person who has fled their country of origin and is unable or unwilling to return because of a well-founded fear of being perseChildren wait by their belongings at the old Vathy camp, on the island of Samos, on Sept. 20, 2021 as they prepare to be transferred to the new Samos RIC, the first of five new EU-funded migrant cuted due to their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular camps on the Greek islands of Leros, Lesbos, Kos, Chios and Samos. social group or political opinion. An AS THE WORLD watched thousands of vulnerable Afghans scramasylum seeker is also someone who is seeking international probling to flee their country after the Taliban seized back control, the tection from dangers in his or her home country. However, asylum John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosted an important seekers must apply for protection in the country of destination— and timely event called, “Migrations: Journeys through Art and Stomeaning they must arrive at or cross a border in order to apply. An ries,” in its new Justice Forum Theater on Aug. 28. The theater is immigrant is someone who makes a conscious decision to leave located in the Kennedy Center’s new REACH building, named in his or her home and move to a foreign country with the intention of honor of President Kennedy’s aspirational vision of the arts, its capsettling there. Immigrants go through a lengthy vetting process, and ital letters signalling something big in the nation’s capital. many become lawful permanent residents and eventually citizens. In 2021, the Kennedy Center named Arab American artist Helen It is everyone’s legal right to seek asylum, Kipnis said, and as a sigZughaib as a social practice resident because she is using art to natory to the 1967 United Nations Protocol, and through U.S. immake a social impact. Inspired by Jacob Lawrence’s Migration series migration law, the United States has legal obligations to provide profrom 1940-1941, Zughaib’s “Syrian Migration Series” addressed the tection to those who qualify. 2015 Syrian migration crisis fueled by the Syrian war. Her paintings Americans are horrified by images of chaos and cages at our of refugees fleeing war, starvation, chemical attacks and unjust imborders, Kipnis said. “It’s time to apply law and policy in a fair and just manner and change the detrimental U.S. immigration border Delinda C. Hanley is the executive editor of the Washington Report. policies that have impacted the lives of unaccompanied children, 34

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families and adults in recent times.” Many asylum seekers face two stark choices, Kipnis argued, “Fleeing equals living and staying equals dying.” Seeking asylum when your own state can’t provide you with protection is legal, she emphasized, and that right is enshrined in both U.S. and international law. Interfaith coalitions help refugees, many of them arriving with only the clothes they are wearing and all their possessions, including immigration documents, in a plastic bag, she continued. Showing a photo of refugees lined up to enter a mobile shower trailer, Kipnis explained, “Their first stop is a shower, which washes away all the cruelty and trauma they’ve endured so they can start to feel human again. When they put on their clothes they start to come back to life.” Alison Waldman has been working with non-profits since 2016 in Lesvos, Greece. She’s an aid worker and refugee resettlement specialist, who has worked with the International Rescue Committee, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities to resettle refugees throughout the DC-Baltimore region. Her talk focused on “Crisis within a Crisis: Women and Unaccompanied Minors Struggle to Survive in Lesvos.” The Greek island of Lesvos is a holding station for refugees from the Middle East and Africa seeking asylum in the European Union. The original Moria refugee camp on Lesvos, was destroyed by fire in September 2020, in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak. That fire briefly put the dismal conditions in the overcrowded and squalid camps into the international spotlight, however, conditions in the camps today are still abysmal. Among the already marginalized population of refugees, women and unaccompanied children face additional challenges—as in times of conflict and displacement the threat of gender-based violence always increases for women and girls, Waldman said. Waldman currently works with the Azadi Project, a Washington, DC-based NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

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Alison Waldman, Hillary Kipnis and Helen Zughaib shared personal stories about migration and answered questions from the Kennedy Center audience.

nonprofit. Azadi means freedom or liberation in Hindi, Urdu and Farsi. The Azadi Project provides digital storytelling and livelihood skills along with psychosocial support to refugee women. “Their stories are all they have left,” Waldman mused, before showing a film created weeks earlier by women in the Lesvos camp. (No one is permitted to film in the camp, and these women took a great risk to tell the world about their situation.) The refugees spend their days in lines waiting for food, toilets, and two or three hours waiting for a shower. One Afghan woman said the violence in the refugee camp is even worse than she faced in Afghanistan. Waldman said there are 20,000 refugees crammed into a space built for 3,000, with women and girls living alone among a sea of single men. There are no doors on the tents and unaccompanied women have been raped. Some women wear diapers, so they don’t have to go out to the bathroom at night. By sharing even a hard-to-tell story, the women feel stronger, in control and powerful, Waldman observed. “It’s therapeutic. Their voices have been silenced and their fears have never been heard.” Waldman is also working with non-profits to support the physical, emotional and educational wellbeing of unaccompanied minors in Lesvos who have been separated from their families or ophaned. She showed images of artwork created by those traumatized and talented children. COVID stopped

a traveling exhibit of their work, which was meant to help them speak to the world. Thankfully, many of those young artists have now made it to mainland Europe. She said she held few illusions that the world will help these innocents, “but we can document their stories,” she concluded Syrian-American artist Helen Zughaib’s paintings have documented people running from danger toward their dreams. The Zughaib family was evacuated from Beirut in 1967 and again in 1975. Looking at images of the evacuation of Afghans brings back memories of her own family’s terrifying escape from Beirut in 1975, she said. She remembers running from their apartment, dodging crossfire in Lebanon’s civil war, leaving behind pets and her father. Her younger sister lost her shoe, and no one dared to look back, much less pick it up. Shoes are a recurring image in Zughaib’s work, and she noted that while we may take for granted a new pair of shoes, giving a refugee child shoes restores their dignity. Migrants are doing everything they can to escape danger, jumping aboard moving trains or traveling on unsafe dinghies, Zughaib said. One of her pieces depicts Alan Kurdi, the 2-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on a beach in Turkey in 2015. Zughaib uses her art so people won’t forget and in hopes the world may finally learn a lesson from these images and stories, and welcome the Afghan refugees, who have left behind everything in hopes of a better life. ■

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The Middle East in the Far East

In Adversity, Migrant Workers Seek Justice

Migrant workers wait outside the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for a COVID-19 test before their flight to Dubai, UAE on Oct. 8, 2021. Workers take bags of clothes and a few mementoes of home when they leave their country, and they try to go home with gifts that will tell the people in their home village, “I did well!” AT THE BEST OF TIMES, transnational migrant workers in most countries have minimal rights and protections in the countries where they are employed, and poor support from their own governments when they have problems abroad or on their return home. The COVID-19 pandemic made things a lot worse. The Middle East (in particular, the wealthier states of the Gulf) is a major employer of migrant workers. U.N. statistics indicate that, before the pandemic, 23 million migrant workers were employed in the Gulf Cooperation Council states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and 39 percent were women, most of whom were employed in domestic service. As the pandemic spread in 2020, many employers no longer had use for the workers they’d employed, and some workers, in any case, wanted to be with their families. Consequently, there was an exodus of workers from the region, but it was far from smooth. Some workers faced long waits for transport home. In 2021, as

John Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Singapore and the author of Unequal Conflict: The Palestinians and Israel. 36

demand for labor in the region has recovered somewhat, many workers in India and Bangladesh who hoped to work in the Middle East were vaccinated, to comply with new requirements in destination countries but faced delays in obtaining the necessary documentation and authorization to allow them to take up jobs. The net outcome for migrant worker employment in the Middle East is not clear, although it appears that there has been a fall of around 15 to 20 percent at present. However, many workers who left the region returned home with no money and no readily available jobs. Some regions were hit particularly hard economically. The South Indian state of Kerala relied heavily on remittances from workers employed abroad. A year after the pandemic struck the Middle East, 1.1 million out of 2.5 million Keralans employed in the Middle East had returned to their home state, resulting in a severe loss of income and a sharp rise in people seeking employment. It is hardly surprising that most people who were infected with COVID-19 in the Gulf region were migrant workers. As the proportion of mainly migrant non-nationals is high relative to the indigenous

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By John Gee

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population—they are a majority in Bahrain and form over 80 percent of the population of the UAE and Qatar, as well as 44 percent in Oman—this may not seem surprising. But their infection rate was undoubtedly worsened by the close quarters in which many workers, notably in the construction sector, live. Large dormitories, where 15, 20 or more men share a room and common washrooms, allowed infection to spread easily. The pandemic also resulted in an increase in complaints by workers about nonpayment or under-payment of earned wages. This issue has been a cause of concern for NGOs that uphold migrant workers’ rights. In the early stages of the outbreak, a coalition of such organizations issued a call for an “Urgent Justice Mechanism” to be established to support workers whose wages had been unjustly withheld. Migrant Forum in Asia, an alliance of NGOS, has so far produced two reports titled “Crying Out for Justice,” which outline the various ways in which migrant workers in Asia (primarily in the Gulf) report being denied their due earnings, based on submissions from affiliated organizations. At least 59 percent of complaints recorded come from workers in the construction sector. Some countries introduced measures to assist workers trying to obtain payment, but their impact was limited. The UAE, for example, introduced an e-trials system in 2017 for civil disputes, which was given an expanded role in April 2020, to assist workers in pay disputes although many workers are not familiar enough with the technology to use it. A broader problem is that health measures introduced to counter the pandemic resulted in fewer inspections of places of residence, functioning workplaces, and gave rise to a general sense that there were more pressing things to worry about than migrant workers’ rights. As noted, most female migrant workers in the Middle East are domestic workers. With the pandemic, some who had formerly been able to go out on days off found themselves confined to their employers’ homes. As many household incomes fell, some workers reported that their salaries were NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

withheld or curtailed and a common worldwide complaint was that families who were spending more time at home, placed them under greater demands and stress. Domestic workers in Lebanon faced particularly difficult conditions, as the pandemic has coincided with a collapse of the Lebanese economy. One common experience was finding their salaries’ value sliding. Even if paid in a stable foreign currency, they found that the exchange rate by which their wages were calculated was less favorable than the market rate. Some employers ditched their domestic workers as their own incomes plummeted, while there were also workers who, realizing what was likely to happen, decided to return to their home countries as soon as they could. Images of Ethiopian women who were dumped outside their embassy by their employers, with no money to support themselves or buy a ticket home, were broadcast worldwide by the international media. Despite setbacks, there was some progress for domestic workers in parts of the Middle East during the pandemic. Qatar has removed the requirement for those who wish to change employers before their contracts expire to obtain a “No Objection Certificate” from their existing employers, and it has also brought domestic workers under its minimum wage regulations—the first country in the region to do so. The International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) stepped up the frequency of their reporting after the beginning of the COVID outbreak in order to support domestic workers everywhere. Among recent migrant domestic worker organizations affiliated with the IDWF are the Domestic Workers Solidarity Network in Jordan and the Sandigan Kuwait Domestic Workers Association, breaking the isolation of migrant domestic workers in the MENA region. (For IDWF news, see <www.idwfed.org>.)

MALAYSIAN PARTIES SEEK TO END TURMOIL

The Malaysian government and the Pakatan Harapan (PH-Alliance of Hope) opposition coalition have signed an agreement in parliament that is intended

to bring to an end a year and a half of unseemly maneuvers that have done little to enhance the Malaysian public’s respect for politicians. It was veteran politician Mahathir Mohamad’s refusal to hand over the premiership to his coalition partner, Anwar Ibrahim, that precipitated a split in his own party and a series of defections between parties. Anwar tried desperately to muster a majority, but failed by a margin of two parliamentarians. Under the agreement signed on Sept. 13, titled the Memorandum of Understanding for Transformation and Political Stability, parliament will not be dissolved before July 31, 2022. The PH will support or abstain in the vote on the next budget and not vote down a government measure that would precipitate its fall. In both cases, there would be prior discussion of the content of the government’s measures. The government commits itself to introduce a bill to stop “party hopping” by MPs, speed up the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 and limit any prime minister to a maximum of ten years in office. The agreement also covers measures to improve Malaysia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to strengthen parliament. ■

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Special Report

A Decade After the Arab Spring: Comparing Libya and Tunisia’s Experiences

Newly appointed Prime Minister Najla Bouden (at the rostrum) takes her oath as President of Tunisia, Kais Saied, (r) attends the swearingin ceremony at the Presidential Palace of Carthage in Tunis, Tunisia on Oct. 11, 2021. Tunisia’s new cabinet was sworn in two weeks after Najla Bouden was appointed the country’s first female prime minister. TUNISIA, the birthplace and jewel of the so-called “Arab Spring,” is passing through its most difficult period with the potential to bring it back to where Libya, its eastern neighbor, was. A decade earlier Tunisia successfully moved into rebuilding its state institutions after the 2011 revolt: a new constitution was approved, free elections organized first in 2011 and, subsequently, on three other occasions. The opening of the first parliament, in a post-Zine El Abidine Ben Ali era, marked a new phase in which Tunisia appeared on course to become a shining example of success in the troubled North Africa region. Libya’s revolt, on the other hand, went completely wrong from the start. It led to international and regional military interventions culminating, in March 2011, with NATO launching its eight-month air campaign, which eventually helped the rebels take control of the country

Mustafa Fetouri is a Libyan academic and freelance journalist. He is a recipient of the EU’s Freedom of the Press prize. He has written extensively for various media outlets on Libyan and MENA issues. He has published three books in Arabic. His email is mustafa fetouri@hotmail.com and Twitter: @MFetouri 38

and ushered in a decade of chaos, civil strife and destruction. While Ben Ali fled Tunisia and died in exile in Saudi Arabia, Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi fought back only to be murdered by the rebels, leading to further bloodshed. Unlike Tunisia, Libya’s institutions were weak and civil associations hardly existed. Instead, Libya has been a battle ground in which militias, terrorists and tribesmen, encouraged by different international actors, engage in sporadic fights bringing more misery and destruction to the once oil rich and safe country. The United States and its allies, who helped destabilize Libya in 2011, watched hopelessly as the conflict raged and United Nations’ mediation efforts to end it went nowhere. Between 2011 and 2020, Libya appeared beyond rescue while Tunisia seemed headed toward a future of democratic rule and stability. Tunisia’s 2014 openly contested presidential elections handed the top job to the veteran politician, Beji Caid Essebsi, who died in office in 2019. The democratic process was poised to complete a successful transition. In the same year, Libya held its own free elections, but instead of stability the country slid into violence when a coalition of militias

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By Mustafa Fetouri

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rejected the outcome of the polls and chased the elected parliament from the capital, Tripoli, to the far eastern city of Tobruk, for refuge. That war, sometimes referred to as the second civil war, divided the country: Tripoli and the western areas of Libya ended up under the control of U.N.-backed government while the eastern and southern regions were controlled by a parallel administration recognized by nobody. In eastern Libya, strongman Libyan-U.S. dual citizen Khalifa Haftar, commanding his self-styled army, became the dominant force. Haftar aligned himself with the Tobruk parliament, which appointed him commander of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces—sometimes referred to as the Libyan National Army. In 2019, events in the two neighboring countries took unexpected turns. Libya was already in the midst of its third civil war as commander Haftar forces encircled the capital Tripoli in an attempt to dislodge the U.N.-backed government. Despite the approval he received from thenU.S. President Donald Trump and his top security adviser, John Bolton, Haftar failed—thanks to Turkish military intervention in support of the Tripoli government. Haftar’s forces were chased away and a ceasefire agreement, brokered by the U.N., came into effect. The ceasefire created positive momentum and encouraged the U.N. to bring the different Libyan factions to the negotiation table. In Tunisia, the people went to the polls again, after the death of President Essebsi. However, Tunisia’s democratic process descended into bickering, infighting and disagreements, bringing the state to a standstill. Televised parliamentary debates became a circus of discredited politicians. Disenchanted Tunisians grew poorer, angrier and more supportive of a political outsider, Kais Saied, who promised them a war on corruption, which he blamed for every ill in the country. On Oct. 23, 2019 Kais Saied, an unknown constitutional law professor, was sworn in as president. Then came the terrible COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which has killed more than 25,000 Tunisians, stretched the health NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

system to the limit, and brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy. Yet the country’s elected representatives continued their wrangling as if nothing was happening. Libya’s health authorities say the pandemic killed fewer than 5,000 people, so far, but the real figure is thought to be much higher. Different vaccines are now widely available, however many Libyans are reluctant to get vaccinated. All that provided a perfect opportunity for President Saied to decide that the country has had enough and, as a hugely popular president, he had to act. He, repeatedly, warned the political elite to end their quarrels and take measures to salvage the country but nothing happened. On July 25, 2021, Saied acted in a surprising way: he suspended the parliament, dismissed the prime minister, lifted legislators’ immunity, and took over executive powers. He claimed his “emergency measures” were constitutional based on his own interpretation of article 80 of Tunisia’s constitution. That article grants the president the power to take such measures if he believes that the state is in imminent danger. The same article, though, dictates that such a step can only be enacted after consultation with the parliament and should last for only one month after which new elections should be held. The president’s opponents say he consulted no one! President Saied took nearly two months to appoint a new prime minister, Najla Bouden, who until hours before her appointment was completely unknown—an outsider just like the president himself. On Oct. 11, Bouden and her new cabinet were sworn in before the president. But this will not solve Tunisia’s difficult problems. This is a government that lacks constitutional legitimacy and was formed outside of parliament, opening the door for more legal and constitutional fights. In neighboring Libya, 2021 brought some consolation and hope as the U.N. mediating mission succeeded in forging a national government that won a parliamentary vote of confidence last March only to lose it on Sept. 21. But, the mediation efforts also produced a roadmap that will ultimately lead to

legislative and presidential elections scheduled for Dec. 24. Haftar, still a major player in Libya’s politics, is attempting to recycle himself into a civilian leader and is likely to run for president in December. His chances of winning are modest at best. Although, the U.S., its allies and regional countries are supporting the election plan this time, inside Libya not everyone is happy. Indeed, the parliament has passed two important laws governing both presidential and legislative elections. In the new law, the legislative elections are to take place 30 days after the presidential poll in December. This is causing friction among the different political camps in Libya, particularly between the parliament and the Higher Council of State. The council, a consultative body, has rejected both laws claiming they were passed without consultations. Despite this, no impact is expected on the agreed election date. Yet, everyday life gets more difficult for the average Libyan as prices keep skyrocketing, the rollout of COVID-19 jabs is slow, and the country’s infrastructure is all but collapsing after a decade of wars and neglect. As 2021 draws to a close, both Tunisia and Libya are facing similar problems, including structural issues, corruption and, above all disputes about power sharing, resource distribution and good governance—essentially continuing transitional issues. Tunisia’s economic hardships are further complicated by the fact that the country depends on foreign aid, tourism and international loans and while cash is not a problem for oil-rich Libya, the continuing unrest harms both. What is really striking is how Tunisia, the only fledgling democracy to emerge from the 2011 upheavals in the region, ended up in more or less the same situation as its eastern neighbor, Libya. Although Tunisia avoided the violence which consumed Libya, both countries are today more divided than ever on how to proceed. Given both countries’ histories and politics since independence over five decades ago, Tunisia is more likely to move forward despite its economic difficulties. Its demo-

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Talking Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen as he shops at Agricultural Credit Cooperative Market in the Kisikli neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 3, 2021. WHILE TURKISH PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s new book may be entitled, A Fairer World is Possible, the existing world continues to be one of economic, political, geographical and human constraints—all of which have recently been exercising their power on the country’s veteran leader. Indeed, at 67 years of age and now subject to media speculation about his health, Erdogan finds himself surrounded by a sea of troubles. Domestically, the economy—once the jewel in the crown of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government’s reign—has been suffering recently, from a rising cost of living, a weakening currency and a demand for jobs that keeps exceeding supply. His government’s popularity has thus been falling, while the oppositions’ has been rising, along with their ability to work together— a worrying development for Erdogan. Meanwhile, abroad, Turkey is now committed to a range of conflicts, from boots on the ground in Libya to peace-monitoring

Jonathan Gorvett is a free-lance writer specializing on European and Middle Eastern affairs. 40

troops in Nagorno-Karabakh. It also finds itself increasingly close to the firing line in Syria, where Russian and pro-Assad forces have ratchetted up their bombardment of the last major rebel stronghold in Idlib. There, Turkish troops were recently reinforced while Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a difficult—and largely unproductive—summit in late September. That followed an equally frosty time in the U.S., after Erdogan’s recent attempt to warm up relations by offering to guard Kabul airport while the U.S. withdrew, had been rapidly overtaken by events. “On his way to meet Putin,” Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, the German Marshall Fund’s Ankara chief, told the Washington Report, “Erdogan more or less admitted that Turkey was now alone on the world stage.”

PRICES AND INCOMES

With inflation at 19.58 percent in September, and the Turkish currency, the Lira, worth only a third of what it was five years ago, many Turks are currently finding it hard to make ends meet.

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Popularity Waning, Erdogan Faces Sea of Troubles By Jonathan Gorvett

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Food prices—exacerbated by a long drought and recent global commodity price hikes—have jumped over the past year, with fresh fruit and vegetables up an average 40 percent between August 2020 and August 2021. On top of this, accommodation costs have also rocketed, with rents up an average 50 percent in the last 12 months in 50 Istanbul neighborhoods, according to a recent survey by Hepsi Emlak real estate agents. At the same time, jobs—and incomes— have not seen anything like these increases. Officially, broad unemployment stands at around 24 percent, according to the Turkish Chamber of Mechanical Engineers. Its most recent report also suggested that on average, incomes were down 4 percentage points from where they had been a year ago. This is on top of the fact that per capita incomes in Turkey were already lower before the pandemic than they had been in 2013. With these kinds of numbers, unsurprisingly, there have been protests. In recent months, students, in particular, have been demonstrating against high accommodation costs. There have also been poor poll results for the AKP. Support for the party has fallen from 42.6 percent at the last election, in 2018, to 31.8 percent in September, according to a recent poll, while support for Erdogan himself has also fallen, from 47.7 percent back in 2018, to around 41.4 percent today. The AKP’s popularity was hardly helped when investigative journalists published the Pandora Papers, in early October. These showed a string of major Turkish conglomerates with close ties to the pro-Islamist AKP involved in off-shore tax havens and morally dubious—if technically legal—financial practices. At the same time, support for the opposition has been bolstered by the rise of the right wing IYI (meaning ‘Good’ in Turkish) Party. Led by Meral Aksener, it split from the AKP’s coalition partner, the hard-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), leaving NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

the MHP’s support plunging. IYI’s support now stands around 14.5 percent, while the MHP is down at around 8.4 precent. IYI also joined the largest opposition grouping, the center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP), and four other minor opposition parties to produce a roadmap for constitutional change, which was made public in early October. This was a highly unusual display of unity by opposition groupings, with all of them putting their weight behind a return to a parliamentary, rather than presidential system.

CRISIS, WHAT CRISIS?

In an unusual move, in late September, this opposition assembly attempted to address the “elephant in the room” of Turkish politics—the Kurdish issue. For years, the country’s ethnic Kurds have largely supported the left-wing Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Its leaders have been jailed, however, accused of links to the banned armed Kurdish separatist group, the PKK, while a move to ban the HDP entirely is currently going through the courts. On Sept. 19, however, CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu appeared to reach out to the HDP, calling it a “legitimate body… doing their duty.” This view would once have been anathema to IYI party followers, yet IYI party spokesperson Musavat Dervisoglu backed up Kilicdaroglu’s move. In contrast, Erdogan’s response was one of denial. The Kurdish issue had already been “addressed, overcome and ended,” he said, when asked by reporters to respond to Kilicdaroglu’s comments. Yet, as Ali Babacan—one of Erdogan’s former economy ministers and now head of the opposition DEVA Party—replied, “If there are tanks where children play, then there is a Kurdish question.”

AEGEAN ANGST

At the same time, after some months of relative quiet, relations with neighbor Greece came back into the spotlight in September, after Athens complained twice of Turkish harassment of a research ship, the Nautical Geo.

This had reportedly been chartered as part of plans to build a natural gas pipeline connecting Greece, Egypt, Israel and potentially Cyprus, and was in waters claimed by both Greece and Turkey. Maritime security has therefore returned to the Eastern Mediterranean agenda and will likely stay there, as an ExxonMobil/Qatar Petroleum consortium is due to re-start drilling for natural gas off Cyprus in November. In the past, such drilling operations have sparked confrontation at sea between Turkish vessels and those contracted by the oil and gas companies, given contracts themselves by the Cypriot authorities, to work in waters disputed by Turkey. The Turkish foreign ministry also slammed a $3.5 billion defense deal between Greece and France, which includes frigates and warplanes. Under the agreement, “One country will help the other with military means, if the need arises,” Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos told reporters, following its announcement on Sept. 28. “Uneasy lies the head,” with the plethora of issues bubbling, as Turkey’s leader enters his seventh year as president—and 18th year as Turkey’s undefeated ruler. ■

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Gaza on the Ground

Gazans Face a Twofold Plight: A Crushing Blockade and COVID-19

On Sept. 26, 2021, a Palestinian worker walks through a building in Gaza City damaged by Israeli air strikes during Israel’s May assault. Israel continues to deny supplies needed to repair damaged or destroyed infrastructure. ISRAEL’S COLLECTIVE punishment, its blockade of Gaza by land, sea and air, has been going on since June 2007, imposed after Hamas won the majority in elections. Abu Basheer Al Hassinah, 64, used to work as a technician in Israel installing elevators. Now he has no job and has not left Gaza in 20 years. “Long before 2007, back to the 1980s and the First Intifada, anything and anyone Palestinian has undergone systematic destruction, exclusion, segregation and marginalization by Israel’s ever-increasing occupation,” said Al Hassinah. “First we were Palestinians, and now we are constantly treated like refugees, in our own historical land,” he said. Israelis once accused the Palestinians of wanting to push them into the sea, but no country seems willing to acknowledge the

Award-winning journalist Mohammed Omer reports regularly on the Gaza Strip. Julia Pitner is contributing editor to the Washington Report. 42

hypocrisy of that sentiment to what is happening now. Israel continues to push Palestinians into an uninhabitable corner—Gaza— where the reality is one of deliberate economic suffocation, poverty, destruction and rationing of vital resources, including medicines, for Gaza’s 2.1 million residents, including the 1.5 million refugees still holding tight to their rights and the only land left to them. “The hope is there, but one cannot ignore how deep the wounds are” Al Hassinah adds. “When I was 25-years-old, I had regular work, outside Gaza, earned a good wage and my family enjoyed a comfortable life, with food on the table,” he said, recalling the days when thousands of Palestinians worked inside Israel, until they were gradually replaced by Eastern European, Asian and African migrant workers. In the mid-1980s, one third of the Palestinian labor force had found work in Israel. By 1996 this had been reduced to one tenth with even further reduction during and after 2000. For Gazans, the total closure, since 2007, has reduced the work permits to nearly zero.

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

noveMbeR/deceMbeR 2021

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By Mohammed Omer and Julia Pitner

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Today, the fact that Gaza is being pushed to the brink of catastrophe by the blockade of its labor and goods and the destruction of its infrastructure may please Israel, but who can ignore the inhumanity that methodically goes with it? Israel has locked Palestinians in and weighs them down with building pressure and less room to move. Israel uses the just-enough policy of under-the-radar tactics, like the calorie count import restriction policy that was exposed in 2012, to avoid creating a global blockade against itself. Israel is moving Gazan Palestinians ever closer to the edge of extinction in their own land. According to the United Nations, Israel allows passage through the Beit Hanoun crossing only in “exceptional humanitarian cases, with an emphasis on urgent medical cases.” At the same time, Israel restricts the equipment or drugs Gazan hospitals need to address many complex illnesses, like cancer, or the needed supplies to repair damaged or destroyed hospitals. The number of Palestinians issued permits to travel via the crossing for even medical treatment during the 2010-2019 period, stood at 287 people on average daily. In addition, since May 2018, the Egyptiancontrolled Rafah border crossing has opened on an irregular basis, recording a daily average of 213 exits in 2019. In 2020, these numbers dropped to almost zero for both crossings.

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. This is a tough reality for many Gazans, 60 percent of whom are refugees, driven out of their homes in 1948. In addition to the blockade, the outbreak of COVID-19 has created further socioeconomic devastation and poverty, as has Israel’s May-June bombing further destroying the enclave after three previous protracted military assaults on the 7-mile-long Gaza Strip in 2014, 2012 and 2008. Gazans endured sleepless nights throughout all of these wars. Each assault brought Gaza closer to the edge, not only from the physical destruction of thousands of homes and the repeated trauma of the population, but from the killing of thousands of children, women and elders. People living in Gaza have seen all forms of injustice under Israel’s blockade— shortages of medications, food and fuel. Now, Gaza is waiting for answers concerning chronic challenges and limitations of even basic needs: clean water, electricity, health care and education. The promised reconstruction of Gaza, agreed to by international players, is now hindered as the same security procedures and limitations put in place after the 2014 war destroyed the same hospitals, schools, electricity plant, sewage and water treatment plants, in addition to tens of thousands of homes, continues to prevent construction materials from reaching Gaza.

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DE-DEVELOPMENT

The blockade imposed on Gaza has devastated lives, livelihoods and the economy. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Gaza produced almost half of the Palestinian GDP. In the last few years, it has been spiraling downward; The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimated an economic loss of $16.7 billion in the past decade. Many U.N. reports (OCHA, WHO, WFP, UNICEF and UNDP) have described it as the “de-development” of Gaza, including the economy, infrastructure, health and education, as it relates to the general wellbeing of the society. Today, in Gaza, 56 percent of Palestinians suffer poverty, and youth unemployment stands at 63 percent, according to the NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

Gaza is among the very few places in the world where the population continues to suffer from deprivations imposed upon it by others. But there are not many choices for those just trying to live. Leaving Gaza is a luxury that few people can access, even the most ill. Although Israel is encouraging Palestinians to leave permanently through imposing devastation and difficulties, Gazans cannot just relocate to the West Bank; Israel labels that as foreign immigration and the special approval needed is rarely given. Those wishing to travel via Israel to a third country have to sign an agreement that they will not return to Gaza for one year. Al Hassinah says a friend of his daughter, whose mother died a few weeks ago from COVID-19, had a difficult time making it back to Gaza to bury her mom even though she had a non-Palestinian passport. Getting the permit to access travel to and from Gaza was almost impossible. However, even as reconstruction promises are being hampered once again and access to permits continues to tighten, hope hangs on in the small enclave that is living a very public deconstruction and a well-documented harsh reality. The lives of the people in Gaza could immediately improve, if Israel decides or if the international community has the will to pressure it to end the siege. ■

A Project of Middle East Children’s Alliance

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Special Report

B’Tselem: Palestinian Teen Kidnapped, Tortured in Settler Attack

Tareq Zbeidi lies on his steel bed in a corner of his dimly-lit livingroom, on Aug. 26, 2021, covered to the neck with a blanket. Since the settlers’ attack, he hasn’t been able to sleep, and feels anxious, especially in the dark. THE ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS group B’Tselem detailed the harrowing tale of a Palestinian teenager who was kidnapped and tortured by a group of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank this summer. On Aug. 17, 15-year-old Tareq Zbeidi and five of his friends decided to go for a picnic near their village of Silat a-Daher, in the Jenin district of the northern West Bank. Half an hour after the teens arrived at the area, located around 350 meters (380 yards) from the site of the Homesh settlement,

Yumna Patel is a freelance multimedia journalist based in Bethlehem, Palestine and a correspondent for Mondoweiss. 44

supposedly evacuated in 2005, the boys saw a group of Israeli settlers approaching them, some on foot, and some in cars. According to B’Tselem, the boys quickly fled the scene as one of the settlers threw stones at them. Zbeidi, however, whose leg was injured just two weeks prior to the incident, couldn’t keep up with his friends, who managed to escape back to their village. That’s when his nightmare began. “The settlers drove toward me and hit me with their car, and I fell to the ground. The car stopped, and four settlers got out. Some were holding sticks. They attacked me and hit me in the shoulder, legs and back,” Zbeidi recounted to B’Tselem. According to Zbeidi, the settlers then bound his hands and feet

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PHOTO COURTESY B’TSELEM

By Yumna Patel

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and chained him to the hood of their car, before driving him to Homesh. When the settlers arrived, they slammed on the brakes, causing Zbeidi to fall to the ground. “Some of the settlers who were there ran over to me and started kicking me. One settler approached me and peppersprayed me in the face. It hurt and stung, and I screamed in pain. Then one of the settlers brought a piece of cloth and tied it over my eyes,” Zbeidi recounted. Zbeidi said he heard the settlers cursing at him in Arabic and Hebrew, and though his eyes were blindfolded, he felt some of the settlers spit on him. The settlers then continued to kick a terrified Zbeidi, before hanging him from a tree, wounding and burning his feet. “I was left hanging like that for about five minutes, with my eyes covered. I felt them cutting and rubbing the skin of my left foot with a sharp object. I was in so much pain. I couldn’t take it. Suddenly, I felt a strong burn on my right foot, from a lighter or something similar. It lasted a few seconds. I screamed and cried in pain and fear. It wasn’t until then that they took me down from the tree,” Zbeidi told B’Tselem. That’s when one of the settlers struck Zbeidi in the head with a stick, causing him to lose consciousness. According to B’Tselem, shortly after this, the settlers were approached by a group of Israeli soldiers in a military jeep. The settlers handed Zbeidi over to the soldiers, alleging that Zbeidi threw stones at them. When Zbeidi regained consciousness, he was lying on the floor of the military jeep. At that point, he said one of the soldiers threatened him, saying that if he was throwing stones, the settlers would come to his house and arrest him. The soldier then handed Zbeidi his phone, at which point an unidentified man who spoke Arabic—purportedly an Israeli intelligence officer, according to Zbeidi’s uncle—also threatened Zbeidi, saying that “they knew everything about me and that if anyone threw stones at the settlers, he’d come to my house and arrest me.” NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

A short while later, Zbeidi’s uncle and older brother came and got him from the soldiers, put him in a Palestinian ambulance, and took him to a hospital in Jenin. “I was taken to the ER, where I was examined and X-rayed. They found bruises and wounds on my shoulder, back and legs, as well as wounds and burns on my feet. I stayed there until the next afternoon, and then I was discharged,” Zbeidi said, adding that after he was discharged, his body was sore and he couldn’t walk because of the cuts and burns on his feet. According to B’Tselem, while the Homesh settlement was evacuated in 2005, it has maintained a near constant presence of settlers in the area since, “with security forces allowing them to stay there and attack Palestinians.” B’Tselem noted that the attack on Zbeidi was the tenth settler attack on Palestinians near the settlement documented by the group since the beginning of 2020. “This case may be exceptionally cruel, but settler violence against Palestinians, often with the participation of soldiers, has long since become part of Israeli policy in the West Bank and integral to the occupation routine,” B’Tselem said in the report. “The long-term result of these violent acts is the dispossession of Palestinians from growing swaths of the West Bank, facilitating Israel’s takeover of land and resources there.” There were no indications or reports in Israeli media that the settlers who brutalized Zbeidi were prosecuted or reprimanded in any way for their actions.

as a result of the attack. According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between Sept. 21 and Oct. 4, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured eight Palestinians, in addition to those injured during the South Hebron Hills attack. Since the beginning of 2021, there have been at least 365 settler attacks on Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank, according to OCHA. Haaretz reported a higher number, saying that in just the first half of this year, 416 “anti-Palestinian incidents” were reported, double the amount that was reported in the first half of 2020, and in all of 2019. Haaretz attributed the rise in violence to a “hands-off” approach the Israeli security apparatus has been taking when it comes to settler violence. In an effort to avoid confrontations with the settlers, “the style includes permitting the settlers to ‘let off steam.’” ■ (Advertisement)

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A RISE IN SETTLER VIOLENCE

Palestinians have noticed a steep rise in settler attacks over the past year, with many violent incidents occurring just in the past few weeks alone. In late September, settlers launched a brutal attack in the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank, injuring a dozen Palestinians, stabbing their livestock, and causing serious head injuries to a threeyear old boy who had to be hospitalized

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Congress Watch

House Passes Another Billion For Israel’s Iron Dome

By Shirl McArthur

PHOTO BY AMIR LEVY/GETTY IMAGES

current obstructionist posture, Republicans opposed the bill, so the House Democratic leadership couldn’t afford to lose any Democratic votes. Since many liberal Democrats indicated that they could not vote for the bill if it included the Iron Dome funding, Democratic leaders removed it from the bill, which was passed on Sept. 21. So, on Sept. 22, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced H.R. 5323, the standalone “Iron Dome Supplemental Appropriations” bill to appropriate the $1 billion for Israel. On Sept. 23, DeLauro moved to suspend the rules Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system launches to intercept a rocket on May 20, 2021 in Sderot, Israel. In 11 days in May 2021, Israeli strikes killed 256 people in Gaza while the death toll from rocket attacks in and pass H.R. 5323. Her motion passed by a vote of Israel was 13, including one soldier. 420-9, with two voting “present.” Those voting “no” were Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), André MOST OF THE previously reported congressional actions regardCarson (D-IN), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Thomas ing the May 6 to 21 fighting between Israel and Hamas have reMassie (R-KY), Marie Newman (D-IL), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna ceived no further support. Even the two measures introduced in Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). Rep. Alexandria OcasioMay “condemning” Hamas’ actions, H.Res. 394, introduced by Cortez (D-NY) initially voted “no” but changed her vote to “present.” Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), and H.Res. 396, introduced by Rep. The other “present” vote was by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA). Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ), have no more cosponsors. And the H.R. 5323 was referred to the Senate where it has not moved. A draconian S. 1899, introduced May 27 by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), couple of bills to provide funding for Iron Dome were introduced by which would prohibit any direct or indirect U.S. funding for Gaza Republicans, who were intent on grandstanding. H.R. 5311 was inunless certain unlikely conditions are met, still has only three troduced Sept. 21 by Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-NY), with 10 Republican cosponsors. cosponsors, “to appropriate amounts to be made available for the However, Israel’s members of Congress were not ready to let up. procurement” of Iron Dome, and on Sept. 23, Sen. Ted Cruz (RThe previous Washington Report reported that on July 1, House MiTX), with no cosponsors, introduced S. 2839 to provide the $1 billion nority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) introduced H.J.Res. 54, to replenish Iron Dome. It sits in the Senate Foreign Relations Comthe “Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Resolution,” to promittee (SFRC). Of the previously described bills to instead shift fundvide $1 billion to Israel to resupply the Iron Dome short-range rocket ing for Gaza to Israel for Iron Dome, only H.R. 3706, introduced in defense system, and then tried an outrageous legislative ploy to June by Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) has gained a cosponsor. It now bring the measure immediately to the House floor for a vote, without has 37. S. 1751, introduced May 20 by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), any discussion. Unsurprisingly, his motion was ruled out of order. still has five cosponsors. After that failed, House Democrats slipped the Iron Dome money into a bill to keep the government funded through Dec. 3. But in their

Shirl McArthur is a retired foreign service officer. He lives in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. 46

ANTI-HAMAS, ANTI-HEZBOLLAH BILLS GAIN SUPPORT

The previously described H.R. 261, introduced in January by Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), which would sanction any person or organization

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that has anything to do with “Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and any affiliate or successor groups,” now has 57 cosponsors. However, the Senate version, S. 1904, introduced in May by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), still has 23 cosponsors. The similar H.R. 3685, introduced on June 4 by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), now has 85 cosponsors. The previously described anti-Hezbollah measures have gained some support. H.R. 4230, introduced in June by Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) “to support the full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, reduce Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon, and address security threats to Lebanon” now has four cosponsors. H.Res. 558, introduced in July by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) “Urging the European Union to designated Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization,” now has 25 cosponsors. H.R. 4073, introduced in June by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), “Countering Hezbollah in Lebanon’s Military,” which would restrict security assistance to Lebanon, still has four cosponsors.

MORE PRO-ISRAEL BILLS PROGRESS

The companion bills “to encourage the normalization of relations with Israel” have gained some support. S. 1061, introduced in March by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), which was reported out to the full Senate by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) on June 24, now has 69 cosponsors. Its companion bill, H.R. 2748, introduced in April by Rep. Bradley Schneider (D-IL), now has 229 cosponsors. Three U.S.-Israel cooperation bills have also been introduced. Identical bills were introduced in the House and the Senate on Feb. 4, entitled “U.S.-Israel PTSD Collaborative Research” bills. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) introduced H.R. 852, which now has 64 cosponsors, and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) with seven cosponsors introduced S. 221. On Sept. 3, Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) with four cosponsors introduced H.R. 5148, the “U.S.-Israel Artificial Intelligence” bill. On July 26, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) with four cosponsors introduced H.Res. 557, “Expressing the sense of the House against the malignant and metastasizing ideology of anti-Semitism.” It

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

specifically equates criticizing Israel with anti-Semitism. Companion bills would again try to equate Israel’s colonies in the West Bank or Gaza with Israel. H.R. 5356, introduced Sept. 23 by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and S. 2489, introduced in July by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), would “require the maintenance of the country-of-origin markings for imported goods produced in the West Bank or Gaza.” H.R. 5356 has four cosponsors and S. 2489 still has eight.

NEW AND IMPROVED TWO-STATE SOLUTION BILL INTRODUCED

On Sept. 23, amid much fanfare, Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) introduced H.R. 5344 “to preserve conditions for, and improve the likelihood of, a two-state solution that secures Israel’s future as a democratic state and a national home for the Jewish people, a viable, democratic Palestinian state, an end to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, and peaceful relations between the two states, and to direct the Department of State and other relevant agencies to take steps to accomplish these ends.” The bill has 30 all-Democratic cosponsors. This bill would call for several positive actions to be taken and could be cause for optimism if there were a chance that it might be passed. But there isn’t, as demonstrated by the passage of the Iron Dome replenishment bill described above. H.R. 2590, the “Palestinian Children and Families” bill, introduced in April by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), now has 30 cosponsors. It is “to promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation and to ensure that U.S. taxpayer funds are not used by the government of Israel to support the military detention of Palestinian children, the unlawful seizure, appropriation, and destruction of Palestinian property, and forcible transfer of civilians in the West Bank, or further annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law.” But the companion anti-Palestinian/antiUNRWA bills introduced in July “to withhold U.S. contributions to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)” have made some progress. S. 2479, introduced by Sen.

James Risch (R-ID), now has 13 cosponsors, and H.R. 4721, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), now has 33 cosponsors. They would target Palestinian refugees and the “right of return” and would equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism.

BILLS TO RESTORE CONGRESS’ ROLE IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MAKE NO PROGRESS

The far-reaching bill, S. 2391, introduced in July by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Bernie Sanders (IVT), is “A bill to provide for clarification and limitations with respect to the exercise of national security powers,” and has gained no new cosponsors. It would, among other things, give Congress a more active role in approving arms sales, AUMFs, and declaring national emergencies. The other measures to curtail the use of the War Powers Act also have gained no further support. H.R. 1457, the “Reclamation of War Powers” bill, introduced by Rep. James Himes (D-CT) in March, still has only four cosponsors, and H.R. 2108 introduced in March by Sherman “to prohibit

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United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (required by 39 USC 6985 (1) Publication Title: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs; (2) Publication No: 015505; (3) Filing Date: 10/21/21; (4) Issue Frequency: Monthly except Jan/Feb, March/April June/July,Aug/Sept and Nov./Dec.combined (5) No.of issues published annually: 7; (6) Annual subscription price: $29; (7) Complete mailing address of known office of publication: American Educational Trust, 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707; (8) Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business office: American Educational Trust, 1902 18th St.,NW,Washington,DC 20009-1707; (9) Full names and complete mailing addresses of publisher, editor and managing editor: Publisher: Andrew Killgore, 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707, Executive Editor: Delinda Hanley,1902 18th St.,NW,Washington,DC 20009-1707,Managing Editor: Dale Sprusansky, 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707; Editor: Julia Pitner, 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707; 10) Owner: American Educational Trust, 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707; (11) Known bondholders,mortgagees,and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: none; (12) The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes has not changed during preceding 12 months; (13) Publication title: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs; (14) Issue date for circulation data below: Oct. 2021 XL- v.6 (15) Extent and nature of circulation: (a) total no. copies (net press run): Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 4745 No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 4700; (b) Paid and/or requested circulation: (1) Paid/requested OutsideCounty mail subscriptions stated on Form 3541 (include advertiser’s proof and exchange copies): Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 2357, No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 2223; (2) Paid In-County subscriptions stated on Form 3541 (include advertiser’s proof and exchange copies): Average no.copies each issue during preceding 12 months,180,No.copies of single issue published nearest to filing date,174; (3) Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and other non-USPS paid distribution: Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months,180 No.copies of single issue published nearest to filing date,40 (4) Other classes mailed through the USPS: Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 200 No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 200 (c) Total paid and/or requested circulation [sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)]: Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 2597; No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 2463; (d) Free distribution by mail (samples, complimentary and other free): (1) Outside-County as stated on Form 3541: Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 1408; No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date 1443; (2) In-County as stated on Form 3541, Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 0, No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 0; (3) Other classes mailed through the USPS, Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months,150,No.copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 158; (e) Free distribution outside the mail (carriers or other means): Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 392 No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 386(f) Total free distribution (sum of 15d and e): Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 1950 Average No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date 1987; (g) Total distribution (sum of 15c and f): Average no.copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 4545, No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 4450; (h) Copies not distributed: Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 200; No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date 250; (i) Total (sum of 15g and h): Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 4745 No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date,4700 (j) percent paid and/or requested circulation (15c/15gX100): Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months, 35%, No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date, 34%; 16 Electronic Copy Circulation: a. 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the use of federal funds in contravention of the War Powers Resolution,” still has 34 cosponsors.

NEW BILL INTRODUCED TO REPEAL AUTHORIZATIONS FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE (AUMF)

All of the previously described measures to repeal authorizations for military force (AUMFs) that have been passed by the House are still stuck in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC). On Sept. 23 a new one, S. 2835, was introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) with two cosponsors, which tries a different approach. It would “terminate authorizations for the use of military force and declarations of war no later than 10 years after the enactment of such authorizations or declarations.” As previously reported, in August the SFRC took up and reported out to the full Senate, S.J. Res. 10, introduced in March by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), to repeal the AUMFs against Iraq of 1991 and 2002. The measure now has 39 cosponsors. On Aug. 9, Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Durbin introduced S.J.Res. 22 to repeal the AUMF of 2001 after one year. H.R. 255, introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) in January to repeal the AUMF of 2001, now has 76 cosponsors.

LIBYA STABILIZATION BILL PASSED BY THE HOUSE

On Sept. 28, the House passed, under “suspension of the rules,” H.R. 1228, the “Libya Stabilization” bill, introduced Feb. 23 by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), by a vote of 386-35. The bill would impose several sanctions, including on persons “contributing to the violence in Libya.” It was referred to the SFRC. ■

“Rotten Apples” Continued from page 22

Land” or appropriation and closure for security and military needs. In this manner, in a clever fabric of military law that disdains international law together with the violence of the very wise weeds, large expanses of the West Bank have been made free, or nearly free, of Arabs: Shiloh bloc, Etzion Bloc,

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Talmonim bloc, Ariel bloc. The northern Jordan Valley bloc. Meitarim bloc. Reihan bloc. Latrun bloc. Givat Ze’ev bloc. The seam zone bloc. Adumim bloc. The only Palestinians permitted into these zones are workers. In its great generosity, the army gives some of the farmers access to their land two or three times a year, to weed and spray. To plow and sow. To harvest. Find me one Israeli kibbutznik or moshavnik that would accept working the land only a few days each year. This prohibition, backed up by IDF bayonets and Civil Administration orders, is much more violent and effective than any physical assault. And despite it all, the privatized violence of the embedded weeds is instrumentalized by the authorities in precisely the same places that the official violence failed to completely remove the Palestinians from their land. That is why the authorities turn a blind eye to it. That is why the tree uprooters and the crop thieves and the attackers of shepherds and farmers remain secure in their anonymity. ■

After the Arab Spring Continued from page 39

cratic experiences are deeply rooted and supported by a long history of organized unions led by the strongest union organization in the region: the Tunisian Labour Union. The union even won the Nobel Peace Prize back in 2016 for its reconciliation work that helped the country avoid turbulent months marred with political disagreements and security threats that have plagued Libya. Libya lacks all that and has, over the last decade, failed to make any breakthrough in terms of state building, reconciliation, accountability and, above all, security. Militias still roam the country and vested interests are still active behind the scenes while corruption is completely out of control. The Dec. 24 elections will go ahead, but whether Libyans will accept the outcome is another story. While Tunisia is likely to end its internal political disturbances at the ballot box, the same may not be true for Libya and could well trigger another round of violence wiping out the little gains made so far. ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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Helping Hands

The Mariam Foundation: Revolutionizing Cancer Care in Palestine with Compassion

By Dale Sprusansky

COURTESY THE MARIAM FOUNDATION

playing the violin for the patients. He also wrote a small booklet, called The Flight of an Angel, about his sister’s life. After studying management in college, Hamed officially signed the papers launching the Mariam Foundation—the day after he turned 22. “Most of my friends and family didn’t believe I would fulfill my dream,” Hamed joked. But from the moment Mariam died at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota (to where she was transferred from the Rambam Hospital in Haifa), the Mariam Foundation was very real to Hamed. In less than a decade, the Mariam Foundation has become the preeminent resource for PalesHamada Hamed, the founder of the Mariam Foundation, with a Palestinian child undergoing cancer treatment. tinians of all ages battling Hamed began the organization after his litter sister died of leukemia. cancer, be they in Gaza, WHEN HE WAS 15 years old, Nazareth native Hamada Hamed the West Bank or Israel. The organization has more than 800 volsaw his younger sister Mariam succumb to a three-year battle with unteers, 180 doctors and 250 worldwide ambassadors. leukemia. The teenage boy neither wallowed in his very real sorrow, Hamed told the Washington Report that the battle against cancer nor did he find other distractions to take his mind from his devasin Palestine is multilayered. His organization must engage with a tating loss. society that often is afraid to discuss the topic while also navigating Rather, the very week that his sister died, Hamed began planning a political reality that makes it difficult for patients in Israeli-occupied his life’s mission to do everything in his power to ease the suffering areas to receive seamless care. Of course, more universal issues, of those bearing the cross of cancer. His initial plan was to immedisuch as helping people afford cancer treatments and providing physately launch a non-profit organization, but under Israeli law, he had ical and mental assistance to cancer patients and their families, is to wait until he was 22 years old to run a foundation. also at the center of the Mariam Foundation’s work. Unfazed, he spent the next seven years preparing for his 22nd The heart of the Mariam Foundation is its Mariam Joy program, birthday. Hamed regularly volunteered at childhood cancer hospitals, which matches college students with children undergoing cancer treatment. In addition to providing much needed emotional support Dale Sprusansky is managing editor of the Washington Report. for the children, the program also helps ease the burdens of the 50

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families, who for myriad reasons, can’t always be at the side of their children as they undergo chemotherapy. In return for their support, the Mariam Foundation provides their college volunteers with a scholarship for the semester. Hamed noted that this program is especially vital for many families from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, whose children are receiving treatment in Israel. “That’s very hard because of the different atmosphere, different language, and there are no programs designed for these children,” he noted. To make matters worse, in many instances Mariam Foundation volunteers are often the only people with the Palestinian children, as Israel frequently denies travel rights to their families. Hamed estimated that 40 percent of pediatric cancer patients from Gaza are not accompanied by their parents. “Imagine a seven-year-old child coming and having his treatment with a total stranger,” he commented. “He doesn’t have his mother because [Israeli authorities] are worried that she is a terrorist or something.” Hoping to build on the success of the Mariam Joy program, this year the organization launched its Mariam Home initiative. Akin to a Ronald McDonald House, the Mariam Home program offers patients a holistic living environment, empowering them to win their battle against cancer. The house offers access to social workers and psychologists, and features activities such as yoga, art therapy and swimming. In the coming years, Hamed, who was brimming while discussing this new initiative, hopes to open homes throughout all of pre-1948 Palestine. “We don’t only want to pay for the medicine and the basic stuff—we want to do the maximum,” Hamed explained. Another particularly valuable resource, already available to everyone from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, are books provided by Mariam Library that help children process cancer diagnoses. One book helps children understand their own diagnosis while convincing them they are a superhero who can triumphantly conquer cancer. Another book explains breast NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

COURTESY THE MARIAM FOUNDATION

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The Mariam Foundation helps distribute children’s books about cancer, including the above book that helps children understand their mother’s breast cancer diagnosis.

cancer to children whose mothers have been diagnosed with the disease, and helps them prepare for realities, such as their mothers losing their hair while undergoing treatment. The Mariam Foundation is ready to help any child fight and understand cancer, but they are also involved in efforts to destigmatize and prevent the reach of the disease. “We [Palestinians] don’t even call it cancer, we call it ‘that evil disease,’” Hamed noted. This tendency to ignore the ugly reality of cancer only leads to misunderstandings and a lack of preventative testing. First and foremost, the foundation is working to inform Palestinian society that a cancer diagnosis it not a death sentence. “Cancer is not death. 85 percent of children diagnosed with cancer are survivors,” Hamed pointed out. The Mariam Foundation’s annual Hayat Festival highlights this reality by inviting survivors, who often don’t widely disclose their illnesses, to share their stories of recovery. “When someone is dying from cancer, everyone knows about it, but when someone has cancer, they are shy to say it, and they often survive without sharing their diagnosis,” Hamed noted. The festival, which includes music and other entertainment that draws large crowds, also encourages female attendees to get screened for breast cancer. “There are many Palestinian women who died of cancer because they didn’t do the mammogram test,” Hamed lamented. The Mariam Foundation regularly travels to towns and

villages offering the opportunity for women to receive their screening and information about breast cancer. With sights on expanding its offerings, the organization launched the Friends of Mariam in the U.S. this year, so that Americans can make tax-deductible contributions to fight cancer in Palestine. Hamed noted that there is often, for good reason, an abundance of attention paid to the political situation in Palestine. He hopes that people of goodwill in the U.S. will also show increasing concern for the everyday personal challenges, such as cancer, facing countless Palestinians. To learn more, visit <mariamf.org>. ■

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ARAB AMERICAN ACTIVISM Bshara Nassar, director of the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington, DC, hosted a well-attended festival focusing on Gaza, from 2 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 2. The festival was put together by filmmaker Ahmed Mansour, a former New Story Leadership delegate who interned with the Washington Report, and went on to found Philistia Films. Mansour told attendees that the festival was inspired by his mother. During Israel’s May 10-21 assault on Gaza, Mansour said he couldn’t reach his family. In 11 days, Israeli missiles killed 256 Gazans, including women and children, and wounded almost 2,000. Panicked by horrific news reports, Mansour couldn’t believe that the Biden administration approved a $735 million sale of more guided missiles to Israel on May 17. Mansour’s mother finally reached him as he protested outside the White House. She asked why Americans were sending more missiles to Israel. He explained that it wasn’t the American people who are doing it—it is the U.S. government. “Americans are good,” he assured her. Then she asked, “Where are the good Americans?” The Oct. 2 event, guest-curated by Mansour, was his answer to his mother’s question. They filled a Washington, DC block outside the Museum of the Palestinian People as they gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for “Facing Gaza,” a provocative art exhibit by Robert Hardwick Weston. Mansour Facetimed his mom to show her the crowd and called for a “Day of Action on Palestine” in May 2022. The sidewalk outside the museum erupted into a solidarity rally for Gaza and celebration of Palestinian sumud or perseverance, featuring musical performances by activist Luci Murphy and DC’s popular Foty Fusion Band. A stream of shoppers visited the museum’s next-door-neighbor, Middle East Books and More, and browsed tables laden with used books in our courtyard. Olive oil, Palestinian spices and dried food, 52

Filmmaker Ahmed Mansour introduces Malak, the star of his new film, “Angel of Gaza.” pottery, embroidery, soaps and Yemeni coffee flew off the shelves, not to mention the latest fiction and non-fiction books. Laila El-Haddad, author of The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey, talked about using food as an introduction to Palestinian culture. As evening fell, a scrumptious Gazan food buffet, donated and served by Bawadi Mediterranean Grill, appeared on a patio beside the museum and bookstore. Attendees filled every corner of the patio, enjoying heaping plates of food. Somehow the Falls Church, VA-based restaurant kept the steaming trays of food coming, miraculously multiplying the food and bread as more visitors joined the crowd. Weston stood on a chair on the patio so he could talk to entire group about his photo-montage exhibit, “Facing Gaza,” that captures the devastation inflicted on Gaza in 2014 by Israel in “Operation Protective Edge.” Each photo-montage in the series depicts a day in the 50-day war. One image was posted to Facebook by a Gazan, and it’s pasted alongside another image posted that same day by an Israeli. Each montage, as you can imagine, depicts in stark relief two vastly different wartime realities. Israelis were able to go to bars or the beach and carry on with their lives as usual, while Gazan lives and property were shattered. Over the past 10 years, Weston has

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collected a digital archive of tens of thousands of images posted by Facebook users, from 2004-2021 in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. As night fell, the patio transformed into an outdoor theater in order to screen Ahmed Mansour’s long-awaited “Angel of Gaza” film. (A terrible fire destroyed much of Mansour’s original footage, as well as Weston’s previous work.) Mansour’s short film follows 8-year-old Malak and her family as they wait for seven years to join her father in the U.S. Malak’s little brother was only 2 when their dad left to study in America in 2014, and in her diary Malak admits that she barely remembers him. Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge” meant that her father couldn’t come home. He applied for asylum in the U.S., saying it was the hardest decision of his life, knowing that it would mean a long wait for his green card and family reunification approval. The filmmaker captures Malak’s family’s excitement as they pack for a visa interview at the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, and their grief as they miss their appointment because Israel refuses to let them leave Gaza. Mansour also captures the sorrow and loneliness of her father as he waits to hug and hold his family. Spoiler alert: Malak’s family, including Adam, her new little brother, joined Mansour’s film screening in DC. The star of NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 JUNE/JULY 2020

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“Facing Gaza“ at the Museum of The Palestinian People

“Angel of Gaza,” asked viewers in perfect English to help all the children who live in Gaza. Mansour’s debut feature film “Brooklyn Inshallah” had its world premiere at the 2019 Mountainfilm Festival and New York City premiere at DOC NYC. The film will be broadcast nationally on World Channel and PBS in December. Someday in the future, we hope to help celebrate Mansour’s Oscar for Best Documentary on this DC block, which is becoming known as Little Palestine. —Delinda C. Hanley

Rep. Rashida Tlaib on the Subject of the Right to Clean Water

On Sept. 27, a group of youth from the Sunrise Movement held a press conference at the Capitol in support of President Joe Biden’s proposed $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill, arguing that it is a critical way to invest in human capital while also investing in a sustainable infrastructure. Three progressive representatives, Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), lent their support by each speaking briefly about issues raised by the youth activists. Collectively, they pinpointed climate change as an issue that must be at the forefront of the decisionmaking process. They also warned against following the usual default plan of relying on carbon intensive solutions that enrich corporations at the expense of the environment and ordinary people. “Believe the people, not the pundits,” Tlaib cautioned. “This is how we are able to transform our country, through folks on the streets demanding it.” Part of that transformation in the infrastructure bill is funding for replacing water service lines contaminated with lead, a reality Tlaib is personally familiar with as a Michigan representative. It is difficult for her to visit schools in her congressional district, Tlaib confessed, “where the water fountains are shut down because they are completely contaminated with lead.” Access to fresh, safe, clean drinking water is not only a national problem that impacts 63 million Americans but, sadly, it also exists as a problem worldwide. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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Activists listen to Rep. Rashida Tlaib speak on the right to clean water.

As a Palestinian American, Tlaib is quite aware of the issues around water facing Palestinians. In the occupied West Bank, a plethora of rural communities have no access to fresh, clean running water and, where available, many must make do with as low as 20 liters per day (lpd) per capita. In the Gaza Strip, only one in 10 people have direct access to clean and safe water, much of which has to be purchased from private vendors at high cost—and it is still often of substandard quality. Palestinians’ accessibility to water overall is far below that recommended by the World Health Organization’s minimum of 50-100 lpd per capita for basic needs and sanitation. By comparison, the average Israeli has almost unlimited access while using roughly 300 lpd per capita of fresh, clean water, a disparity that has been aptly characterized as “the occupation of water.” —Phil Pasquini

HUMAN RIGHTS Humanitarians Ponder Aid to Afghans Under U.S. Sanctions

Even before the collapse of the Afghan government into the hands of the Taliban, the war-ravaged country was suffering a dire humanitarian crisis. Twenty years of conflict following the U.S. invasion con-

tributed to the internal displacement of 3.5 million Afghans, with an estimated 550,000 fleeing their homes in the first half of this year. Adding to the crisis is the COVID-19 pandemic, severe drought conditions, food, fuel and cash shortages, along with rising prices and a hastily constructed Taliban government. “We really need to scale up the response now,” Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) policy and advocacy adviser Basma Alloush said in a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) webinar on Sept. 2. “The humanitarian response plan needs to be fully funded and we need to be able to make sure that we are not backsliding on any gains that we have made over the decades.” Major issues that NGOs are dealing with, Alloush said, include ensuring the safety of workers, shortages of local commodities in the market and financial access. “Banks have closed to corporate accounts and cash is extremely limited in the markets,” she explained. “People can no longer access their savings…and are running out of money and are no longer able to feed their families.” Alloush said her organization understands why countries have imposed sanctions on the Taliban government, but believes more needs to be done to keep humanitarian aid flowing. “NRC’s position on sanctions is that we believe that states

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Afghan children receive treatment for malnutrition at a hospital in Kandahar, on Oct. 14, 2021. are within their rights to impose sanctions,” she said. “We don’t contest this; our concern is just around the development and implementation of sanctions, and how these sanctions mechanisms could impact civilian populations and disrupt the distribution of humanitarian aid.” Adam Smith, an international attorney who previously served in the U.S. Treasury Department, pointed out that because of its listing as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, the Taliban “is effectively blacklisted from the U.S. financial system and…from the global financial system as well.” Anyone doing financial transactions with the Taliban would be violating U.S. law, for which there are civil and criminal penalties. While there are provisions that allow certain types of humanitarian aid into a sanctioned country, such workarounds can be “very complicated,” Smith noted. The case of Afghanistan is also unique, Smith said. “This is an unprecedented situation. I have never known of a designated terrorist organization taking over a country…like this.” Smith suggested the Biden administration work with the NGO community as well as the banking community “to allow the free flow of funds that are critical in order to basically protect innocents from 54

becoming collateral damage.” Sue Eckert, a senior associate with the Humanitarian Agenda Program at CSIS, noted that the issue of getting funds into Afghanistan is of immediate importance. “Right now we need clarity and channels to get the funds in,” she stressed. “We need political leadership…we need senior levels of the U.S. government to address these issues,” she added. “Otherwise, interagency issues become entrenched and it is hard to move forward.” The situation in Afghanistan brings into stark view the need for humanitarian exceptions to sanctions, Eckert argued. “We need to have this broader discussion on humanitarian action which is so important to U.S. foreign policy, so we are not in this crisis situation.” The Biden administration has announced that it plans to send $64 million in humanitarian relief to Afghanistan. At the same time, Washington is freezing the Taliban’s access to $9 billion in reserves belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department issued a statement on Sept. 24 saying it is committed to helping NGOs facilitate the flow of basic goods such as food and medicine into Afghanistan, while still upholding sanctions on the Taliban. —Elaine Pasquini

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The Afghanistan Conundrum: Where Does the Gulf Stand?

On Sept. 23, the Gulf International Forum hosted a panel discussion entitled “The Afghanistan Conundrum: Where Does the Gulf Stand?” Participants included Obaidullah Baheer, a professor at the American University of Afghanistan; Samuel Ramani, a lecturer at Oxford University; and Javid Ahmad, the former Afghan ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. The discussion sought to answer several questions, most notably: Will the Gulf states be significantly impacted by the events in Afghanistan? And will these countries use Afghanistan as a new arena for geopolitical gamesmanship, or as a place for humanitarian cooperation? Baheer began by highlighting the complex realities currently facing Afghanistan, such as economic decline and weak financial liquidity. As just one example, he noted that Afghans can currently only withdraw a maximum of $200 per week from their bank accounts. In addition to these problems, there is a lack of organizational capability and technical expertise within Afghanistan’s new governmental structure, as many professionals and experts have left the country. Making matters worse, the Taliban are doling out highly specialized, technical government positions and ministries to warlords who helped them capture the country. This issue of bureaucratic capacity is further compounded by the highly centralized nature of the Afghan government, as specific offices inside the federal government have near complete control over all growth and development projects across the country. The loss of technocrats has thus resulted in a devastating dearth of critical “institutional memory” that jeopardizes the functioning of the country, Baheer noted. On the international front, a major question is how many countries, if any, will officially recognize the Taliban government. However, Baheer cautioned that this geopolitical question cannot be decoupled from the issue of humanitarian aid. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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iban government unless the U.S. does so first, he added. At the present moment, Saudi Arabia wants no part in the Afghan crisis, Ahmad said, noting that Riyadh has several concerns related to terrorism and Afghan expatriates living in the Kingdom who sympathize with the Taliban. The country therefore also prefers to take a back seat until the dust settles. Prior to the collapse of the Taliban government in 2001, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan were the only three countries to recognize the group’s rule over Afghanistan. —Mona Ali

Taliban fighters stand guard as passengers disembark a Qatar Airways aircraft at Kabul’s airport, on Sept. 14, 2021.

“We have to understand that the Afghan people are on the front lines,” he noted. “They are being used currently as human shields, so anything the international community does is going to directly affect the Afghan people.” The Gulf states are expected to be among the main donors of financial aid to Afghanistan, but they are concerned that Taliban leaders will use this aid to serve their own interests. However, Baheer believes this issue can be addressed by relying on nations like Qatar, which has an enduring relationship with the Taliban, to develop a trustworthy aid distribution program. In this context, Qatar would deliver aid and determine the form it would take, such as in-kind materials or goods, while the Taliban would be responsible for organizing the distribution on the ground. Ramani classified the positions of the Gulf states vis-à-vis the Taliban into two categories. The first, “engagement without recognition,” is the position of Qatar and Iran. Both countries have established an effective communication network with the Taliban, but will likely not recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan any time soon, he believes. On the other hand, some Gulf states have adopted the position of “spectator” by closely following political developments on the ground and offering to participate in the evacuation process and provide NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

humanitarian assistance. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait all have adopted this position. Addressing the potential for the Gulf states to wrestle for influence in Afghanistan, Ramani said, “I do not necessarily think that Afghanistan will be a classic theater of intraGulf competition or Saudi-Iranian competition like we have seen in other regions. So, for example, it is not going to look a lot like Libya…Instead, I think we will be looking more at secondary competition outside of Afghanistan’s borders. There is going to be a competition to some degree with regards to the supply of humanitarian aid and assistance toward Western policies.” Qatar has an advantage in the soft power competition, Ramani opined, as it played an important role in the evacuation process and in maintaining security at the Kabul airport. The UAE also played a significant role in evacuation operations, he noted. Javid Ahmad, Afghanistan’s former ambassador to the UAE, spoke of the features of the Taliban’s foreign policy. The Taliban is expected to be open to all international actors, including the Gulf states, he said, adding that he can envision Qatar officially recognizing the Taliban government. For its part, the UAE is following a policy of “wait and see” until it knows how the situation will ultimately play out, Ahmad said. Abu Dhabi is unlikely to recognize the Tal-

Iran Looks for Stable Relations With Taliban

Now that U.S. troops are out of Afghanistan and the Taliban is in command, neighboring countries are scrambling to adjust to the new reality in their region and contemplating what kind of relationship they will have with a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. On Sept. 3, the Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted a panel to shed light on the situation, specifically focusing on the position of Iran. While Iran welcomes the departure of U.S. forces, it has concerns relating to ideology, security and the economy, said Nilofar Sakhi, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center. How a Taliban-run government will treat Afghanistan’s Hazara Shi’a minority, which is about 15 percent of the population, is a concern for Iran, Sakhi noted. The Taliban has recently publically professed flexibility in terms of its position vis-à-vis some ethnic and religious minorities, but she believes these statements should be taken with a grain of salt. “One should be skeptical of any political statement about inclusion of ethnic groups by the Taliban because any statement they are making right now is because they want international recognition,” Sakhi warned. “Based on the previous atrocities of the Taliban and their aggressive attitude and behavior toward the Shi’a of Afghanistan, one could predict that they won’t be flexible going forward. But as they need international recognition and money they might

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Hazara children play cricket near the site of the Buddhas of Bamiyan statues, which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, in Bamiyan province on March 4, 2021. Afghanistan’s Shi’a Hazara community has frequently been targeted by the Taliban. change their attitude.” Any sectarian conflict in Afghanistan could be a “threat to Iran’s security going forward…and is cause [for Tehran] to wait and see and follow closely how the Taliban behaves,” Sakhi added. The increased flow of Afghan refugees into Iran is a major security and economic concern since the Iranian economy has been hit hard by wide-ranging U.S. sanctions, Sakhi noted. The sanctions constrain Iran’s access to international funding and aid, and large numbers of refugees would further stress Iran’s resources. For the last ten years, Afghanistan was one of the largest destinations for Iranian non-oil exports, Sakhi noted. Due to Iran’s economic issues, its currency has depreciated significantly, making Iranian goods more affordable to Afghan buyers. “Afghanistan has been a good consumer market for Iran,” she said, “but instability in Afghanistan has a very negative impact on trade and on Iranian markets.” The Taliban-Iran relationship has been complicated in the past, but three years ago Iran began a diplomatic relationship with the group. “This was a strategic move, [and] after one year of the talks, Tehran believed that the Taliban would be the next power in Afghanistan,” Sakhi asserted. Taliban-Iran relations have improved in recent years, but Alex Vatanka, director of MEI’s Iran program, believes Tehran remains somewhat skeptical of the de facto 56

rulers of Afghanistan. “Iran does believe the Taliban has changed, but largely not fundamentally, and that’s a concern,” Vatanka stated. “But they have to find a way to work with them.” —Elaine Pasquini

Rep. Barbara Lee Reflects on Decision to Oppose Afghan War

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Congress hastily—and nearly unanimously—passed legislation authorizing war in Afghanistan. The only “no” vote was cast by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). On Sept. 9, in the wake of the U.S.’ messy withdrawal from Afghanistan, the congresswoman joined the Institute for Policy Studies to reminisce about her prescient vote 20 years ago. Lee told moderator Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! that in the build-up to the vote she consulted a wide-range of individuals, from constitutional lawyers to her pastor and family. “No one that I talked to suggested how I should vote...we talked about the pros and cons,” she explained. Her instinct to oppose the war resolution was affirmed by the words of Rev. Nathan Baxter at a 9/11 memorial service held at the National Cathedral. “As we act, let us not become the evil we deplore,” the preacher warned the audience of policymakers. “I wrote that on the program,” Lee recalled. “Going into the memorial service, I knew that I was 95 percent voting ‘no.’ But when I heard him, that was 100 percent. I knew that I had to vote ‘no.’”

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In particular, Lee said she was deeply concerned about the open-ended nature of the resolution. “It was too overly broad, 60 words, and all it said was the president can use force forever, as long as that nation, individual or organization was connected to 9/11,” she noted. “I mean, it was just a total abdication of our responsibilities as members of Congress. And I knew then that it was setting the stage for—and I’ve always called it—forever wars, in perpetuity.” Lee quickly received derision and hostility for her vote. “The death threats came,” she noted. “The letters and the emails and the phone calls were very hostile and hateful and calling me a traitor and said I committed an act of treason….I can’t even tell you the details of how horrible it is. People did some awful things during that time to me. But, as Maya Angelou said, ‘And still I rise,’ and we just keep going.” Those offering angry feedback failed to consider that Lee simply saw her vote as a patriotic warning against a jingoistic war effort that had the potential to derail the country and the world. “Everyone, of course, wanted to bring terrorists to justice, including myself,” she said. “I’m not a pacifist. I’m the daughter of a military officer. But I do know—my dad was in World War II and Korea, and I know what getting on a war footing means. And so, I am not one to say let’s use the military option as the first option, because I know we can deal with issues around war and peace and terrorism in alternative ways.” In the midst of the hostile pushback, Lee did receive words of support. She estimates that about 40 percent of the letters she received thanked her for her vote. “Bishop [Desmond] Tutu, Coretta Scott King, I mean, people from all around the world sent some very positive messages to me,” she said. Two decades later, some of her biggest detractors at the time are now among the ranks of those applauding her vote. Lee shared one particularly poignant mea culpa that occurred at a 2020 election rally: “This tall, big white guy with a little kid comes through the crowd with tears in his eyes....He came up to me, and he said to me, ‘I was one of those who sent you a NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) gives the lone speech on the House floor opposing the Afghan war resolution, on Sept. 14, 2001. ”Let’s step back for a moment, let’s just pause, just for a minute, and think through the implications of our actions today so that this does not spiral out of control,” she cautioned her colleagues.

Middle East affairs, rather than adhere to the pro-Israel stance that the Israel lobby has long reinforced in the halls of Congress. The polling data suggests that Israel’s 11day assault on the Gaza Strip in May eroded unquestioned support for the Zionist state while fueling the drive to link U.S. military assistance to Israeli actions. Telhami pointed out that the approval rating of President Joe Biden dipped after he offered no criticism or pressure on Israel throughout the 11-day barrage on Gaza.

threatening letter. I was one of those’…. He said, ‘And I came here to apologize. And I brought my son here, because I wanted him to see me tell you how sorry I am and how right you were, and just know that this is a day for me that I’ve been waiting for.’” —Dale Sprusansky

New Poll Data Shows Wavering of Unquestioned Support for Israel

Recent poll data reveals that growing numbers of Americans have begun to question what has long been unquestioned: unconditional U.S. support for Israeli militarism. Roughly half of all Americans, according to recent polls, would tie U.S. military aid to Israel’s actions—a linkage that has long been taboo within the Israel lobby-policed Congress. The polls show that Democratic voters especially want to “apply more pressure on Israel, including withholding aid,” Shibley Telhami, a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, explained in a Sept. 2 webinar sponsored by Americans for Peace Now. According to the polling data analyzed by Telhami, more than half the American public believes their elected representatives “lean more toward Israel than they do.” About twothirds of the public believe that the United States should act as an honest broker in NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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Many prominent progressive Democrats and even some centrist party members, who previously offered uncritical support for Israel, condemned Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. “Evidence suggests that the recent Gaza fighting further diminished support for Israel among Democrats, especially young Democrats,” Telhami noted. “Democrats in Congress are beginning to sense that their constituents are far more open to this idea [of conditioning support for Israel] than they have been over the years.” In addition, on its website the liberal proIsrael Jewish group J Street is calling for a “fundamental reset of American foreign policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” as well as “a clear strategy to end the cycle of violence, injustice and retaliation. This means bringing an end to the occupation and supporting the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians to peace, security and self-determination.” There is some evidence that the growing criticism in the United States is capturing the attention of the new Israeli coalition government. In a Sept. 12 speech, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid signaled the possibility of a new approach in Gaza, declaring, “The State of Israel has a duty to tell its citizens we have turned every stone in an attempt to deal with the Gazan issue.” Israel’s indiscriminate violence and disdain for the mythical “peace process” have also spurred wavering support among a

Activists protest a meeting between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the White House, on Aug. 26, 2021. WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

constituency that Israel and the lobby have long taken for granted—American evangelicals. Influenced by movements to promote racial justice, young evangelicals (under age 35) registered “a dramatic drop” in support for Israel since 2018. The recent polls show that many young evangelicals—about half of whom are non-white—are “walking away from Israel.” They are focused “more on social justice” and less inclined to view the Israel-Palestine issue solely “through the biblical prism,” Telhami noted. Racial diversity is also fueling progressive critics of Israel within the Congress. A record 23 percent of members of Congress are now Black, Hispanic, Native American or Asia/Pacific islander—groups that could readily grasp and condemn Israel’s racist disdain for Palestinian human rights. While public opinion is clearly changing, the overwhelming 420-9 House vote on Sept. 23 in favor of Iron Dome missile funding for Israel, which only eight progressive Democrats and one Republican opposed, shows that lobby influence and pro-Israeli sentiment continue to propel virtually automatic congressional support for U.S. funding of Israeli militarism. —Walter L. Hixson

Activists Demand End of U.S. Financial Aid to Israel

On Oct. 7, the Adalah Justice Project and MPower Change held a rally outside the U.S. Capitol to denounce the recent vote of Congress to send Israel an additional $1 billion for its Iron Dome system. The action took place in conjunction with a webinar hosted by the two organizations on the same day titled,“Gaza is Palestine: People’s Inquiry on May Assault and Ongoing Siege.” The humanitarian groups are demanding that Congress investigate how weapons made in and funded by the U.S. were used to murder an estimated 260 Palestinians in Gaza in May of this year. Activists also wanted to call attention to Israel’s continuing occupation and assault on Gaza, as the world has been distracted by the U.S. military’s exit from Afghanistan and domestic political drama in the United States. 58

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Human rights activists demand Congress end military aid to Israel. A special tribute was paid to the Al-Kolak family, who lost 22 members on May 21, 2021 when an Israeli military airstrike targeted their home in Gaza. Those killed ranged in age from six months to 84 years. Addressing the activists from her home district in Michigan, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib said, “I need this as much as I think you need that strong voice in Congress. I just want you to know again that consciousness on the ground is what is going to transform our country to really fully support human rights for everyone with no exceptions. I am tired of the constant exception when it comes to Palestinian lives.” —Elaine Pasquini

Prisoners Return to the Forefront of the Palestinian Struggle

The escape of six Palestinian prisoners in northern Israel from the high-security Gilboa Prison, known as “The Safe,” on Sept. 6, caused great anger and embarrassment in Israel. Among Palestinians, it was cause for celebration, as people went to the streets to hand out sweets together with the latest news. Although all the men were recaptured within two weeks, their daring escape

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became a symbol of defiance and hope for ordinary Palestinians and leaders alike at a time it seemed to be disappearing. The escape highlights “the long-neglected and intensely polarizing issue of the Palestinian political prisoners, their status in Palestinian society and their treatment at the hands of Israel,” noted Khaled Elgindy, director of the Program on Palestine and Israeli-Palestinian Affairs at the Middle East Institute (MEI), during a virtual panel discussion held by MEI on Sept. 28. Currently, there are roughly 4,600 Palestinians in Israeli jails, of these 520 are in administrative detention and 200 are children. Since the beginning of the occupation in 1967, it is estimated that over 800,000 Palestinians have spent time in Israeli jails. “You will not find any house in Palestine where a family member has not been arrested or detained, even briefly,” Sahar Francis, director general of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, said. This gave rise to the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, which during the ’70s and ’80s was intertwined with the Palestinian national movement and became a force for popular mobilization. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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Francis explained that detainees are brought before military courts that use secret information to issue administrative detention orders. These are orders often renewed, without trial, for years. Prolonged administrative detention is a violation of international law, as is the torture and collective punishment that is practiced against Palestinian prisoners. She stated that, “Israel treats them all as terrorists and, because of the extended detention, the Palestinians will try any way to get out of this situation.” It is no coincidence that the U.S. Congress views these prisoners in the same way. “The Palestinian prisoners have historically been a big issue for Palestinians, and under [the] Oslo [Accords] it was dealt with as a pre-final status issue,” Lara Friedman, president of Foundation for Middle East Peace noted. “But, around 2013, dovetailing with the failure of the peace process, Congress seized on this idea of ‘pay to slay’ equating the Palestinian leadership and resistance with terrorism.” The Taylor Force Act, passed in 2018, presented to the Palestinian leadership a “black and white choice to either throw the Palestinian prisoners under the bus and agree that they are all terrorists or themselves be accused of being supporters of

terrorism” and thus lose U.S. funding. This shift has reverberated inside and outside of the prisons. Jawad Boulos, an attorney who has for 40 years defended Palestinian detainees in Israeli military courts, explained that the military court system has changed over time to become more of a “colonialist” system. “This is an important change because it means that they have set it up for the long-term.” He underscored that the military courts are only designed to provide “legal cover and whitening of the whole system…All legal rights that exist in international laws and treaties do not exist there.” However, Boulos said, the prison break “came at an important moment for the Palestinians where there was growing frustration and a lack of hope.” The details of the escape or recapture were not as important as the meaning and message it sent to the Palestinians, he explained. First and foremost, it brought the prisoners’ movement, which had become more fragmented, back to the forefront. Second, it showed that there is still unity among prisoners, thus reclaiming their historical role. And, most importantly, it showed Palestinians that Israel is not invincible; freedom is still available, even against all odds. —Julia Pitner

Palestinian-Israelis call for the release of Palestinians being held in administrative detention by Israel, including Miqdad al-Qawasmeh. At the time of publication, al-Qawasmeh’s health was deteriorating after being on hunger strike for more than 80 days. The protest was held outside the Kaplan Medical Center in the Israeli city of Rehovot, on Oct. 16, 2021. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

Anera Celebrates its 53rd Annual Gala

Anera held its 2021 Global Gala on Oct. 2 with a virtual event, as well as a small inperson viewing party in Washington, DC for vaccinated members of the board of directors, staff, sponsors and honorary hosts. President and CEO of Anera, Sean Carroll, told attendees that last year Anera delivered more than $112 million dollars of assistance to Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese in need—nearly doubling the amount of aid from two years ago. Anera delivers medical supplies to assist healthcare systems and builds schools and trains teachers. It also erects solar-powered greenhouses, farms, rooftop gardens, water filtration systems, wells and other businesses. In addition to physical infrastructure, Carroll said Anera is “constructing lives and livelihoods, building hopes and aspirations, fueled by real opportunities.” Anera honored the National Arab American Medical Association, whose members have generously supported Anera’s work for nearly 20 years. Several of Anera’s honorary hosts attended in-person, including Jordan’s Ambassador to the U.S. Dina Kawar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). For the second year in a row, Anera doubled as a virtual concert featuring original performances from indie rapper-singer Anees, musician and actress Maysa Daw, the ground-breaking Palestinian rap group DAM, Palestinian singer Bashar Murad, the opera virtuoso Mariam Tamari and the Lebanese alternative pop artist Zef. Syrian-American rapper Omar Offendum served as the gala’s master of ceremonies, sharing some of his spoken word artistry. Offendum concluded the evening with his haunting performance of “Close My Eyes,” dedicated to his late father. His poetic tribute spoke to everyone who has lost a parent: “Now that you’re gone I can speak to you in song,” he acknowledged. “The type of guidance you provided me was priceless. I can almost see you smiling as I write this.” That piece is also a lyrical reflection on immigration, fatherhood, mortality, nature,

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sonally ordered Khashoggi’s assassination. As Khashoggi lived in Washington, DC for several years after fleeing Saudi Arabia in order to freely continue his advocacy on behalf of the Saudi people, members of the Washington community spoke at the remembrance, including Philippe Nassif of Amnesty International, former CNN journalist Eason Jordan and Sherif Mansour of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol, organizers unveiled a dramatic 12- by 12foot square photomontage of Khashoggi, comprised of a collection of his Washington Post news articles. At the evening program’s conclusion, attendees held flickering LED candles to observe a minute of silence to commemorate the 60 years of the remarkable journalist’s life. —Elaine Pasquini

PHOTO COURTESY ANERA

ington, DC on Oct. 1 to commemorate the life and legacy of the late Washington Post columnist. “I want to remind the world about what happened to Jamal three years ago,” Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish writer and the fiancée of Khashoggi, told the crowd. “I also want to tell President Biden and his administration that he said and promised during his election period that he will hold MBS [Mohammed bin Salman], the Saudi crown prince, accountable.” Dr. Abdullah Al-Ouda, research director for Saudi Arabia and the United Omar Offendum reprised his role as master of Arab Emirates at DAWN (Democracy ceremonies—the first person to twice emcee an for the Arab World Now), which Anera gala. Khashoggi founded in 2018, reminded the crowd that Khashoggi’s words Syria, America and humanity. Checkbooks are still alive and that he wanted to defend came out when he sang, “Mankind has democracy. Al-Ouda, whose father, never been benevolent enough to get Sheikh Salman Al-Ouda, is incarcerated along, at least not on a global scale, so as a political prisoner in Saudi Arabia, please begin at home.” pledged that he and other democracy At the end of the evening, Anera was supporters would continue advocating for only about $6,000 short of their $30,000 the rights and freedom of all political prismatching gift goal. —Delinda C. Hanley oners and bring the perpetrators of Celebrating the Life of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder to justice. Khashoggi Other speakers called on the Biden administration to release additional documenOn the third anniversary of the murder of tation on Khashoggi’s murder, especially Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian the CIA’s investigative report, which conConsulate in Istanbul, Freedom First held cluded that Mohammed bin Salman pera memorial on the National Mall in Wash-

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STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz reflects for a moment at the unveiling of a photo montage of the journalist on the third anniversary of his brutal murder.

Access to Information: What is Holding the Middle East Back?

In recognition of the International Day for Universal Access to Information, The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) held a webinar titled “Access to Information in MENA: Holding Officials to Account” on Sept. 28. Panelists discussed the lack of access to information laws in the Middle East, and the limitations of such laws where they do exist. Access to information laws have started to gain traction in the region, with Jordan issuing the first law in 2007, followed by other countries, including Tunisia and Lebanon. Hilda Ajeilat of the Jordan Transparency Center said that though the country’s access to information law has been in place for years, there are many obstacles to its full implementation. “Civil society in Jordan actually opposed the access to information law because of the many complexities it has,” she explained, noting that there are other laws that easily override the law, often rendering it futile. There are two main challenges to access public information in Jordan, Ajeilat explained. The first is that civil servants typically have little to no knowledge of the law’s requirements, so they deny requests. The second is the lengthy timeline for processing. If a request to access information is NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

Demonstrators in Tunis protest Tunisian President Kais Saied’s decision to suspend parliament and rule via executive power, on Oct. 10, 2021. Large protests in favor of Saied’s actions have also been held by those insisting his draconian moves were necessary to confront stifling corruption and mismanagement within government.

denied, the appeal could be a rather lengthy process that ends up in court. Ajeilat said that the Jordanian government is attempting to improve the law, and that there have been new protocols to decide what classifies as public information. “There is always room for improvement, and access to information is key to democracy, human rights and societal development,” she said. Ahmed Ben Taarit from Tunisia’s I WATCH civil society organization said his country’s legal framework is also insufficient. Some of the challenges facing access to information in Tunisia are a lack of political will and a dire need to change the government’s attitude toward sharing information. There is a general culture of secrecy among governments in the region, Taarit noted. “If there is no access to information, then there is no transition and no democracy,” he warned. Tunisia adopted a freedom of information law in 2016, Taarit noted. The law has been of some use to journalists, but has not had a broad impact. “We have a good law that is deemed to be one of the best globally, but the implementation and the attitude of the administration are still far behind,” Taarit said. Assaad Thebian from Lebanon’s Gherbal Initiative noted that the country’s law on NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

access to information was ratified by the parliament in 2017, but only to appease foreign donors so that the financially-strapped country could keep receiving loans. “What [Gherbal Initiative] monitors is whether the different [government agencies] will respond to our requests to access information, but the biggest part of the law is they should publish the information in the first

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place without requests,” Thebian explained. Egypt, on the other hand, does not have a law regarding access to information. Egyptians are desperate for such a law, said Yasmin Omar, an Egypt legal associate at TIMEP. “Since 2012, there has been a constitutional necessity to enact a new law that regulates the right to access information,” she opined. Similar to Jordan, Omar said that Egypt has tens of other laws that would prohibit the implementation of an access to information law—such as counterterrorism laws and laws against disseminating “false news.” In addition, the Egyptian government often deems people attempting to access information as spies, or questions their motives for requesting public information—hence the tens of thousands of people behind bars in the country for political “crimes.” —Toqa Ezzidin

Lebanon’s New Government Seen as More of the Same

Following 13 months without a functioning government, on Sept. 10 Lebanon announced the formation of a new administration under the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Mikati. To address this new dynamic amid Lebanon’s ever-worsening economic, po-

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks after the formation of a new government, at the Baabda Presidential Palace near Beirut, on Sept. 10, 2021. WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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Washington, DC's annual Turkish Festival was held on Sunday, Oct. 3 at The Wharf. Attendees enjoyed an assortment of Turkish food, perused booths selling Turkish handicrafts and took in a slate of cultural performances. litical and social crises, the Arab Center Washington DC convened an online panel of experts on Sept. 28. Patricia Karam, regional director of the Middle East and North Africa division at the International Republican Institute, enumerated Lebanon’s myriad problems including shortages of food, fuel and medicine, along with high unemployment, a decline in social services, the disintegration of state structures and severe currency depreciation. The middle class has effectively collapsed, Karam added. According to a U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia report, 82 percent of the population is now living in “multidimensional” poverty, defined as a household lacking one or more of the following: a stable income, access to housing, healthcare or education. “Banks are insolvent, education has suffered a blow with the departure of teachers, and healthcare has deteriorated with an exodus of nurses and doctors,” Karam explained. “All of this is hap62

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

Annual Turkish Festival Held in Washington, DC

pening while COVID-19 cases are rising and food poisoning is occurring because of poor refrigeration.” One of the worst crises in Lebanon, however, is the “educational catastrophe for children,” Karam noted. “With the additional risk and reality of educators leaving, vulnerable children are facing the risk of never returning to school. Even pre-pandemic there were some one million or so children in Lebanon who had already been out of school,” she lamented. Unfortunately, amid the deteriorating situation, Karam believes the new government is “more of the same.” The government’s primary aim is to boost the standing of Lebanon’s political apparatus that was heavily damaged in the wake of the Oct. 2019 uprising and the [2020] Beirut port explosion,” she argued. As opposed to the previous government of Hassan Diab, which was mostly a government from one side of the political divide, “this government seems to have more of a

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cover from various political factions in Lebanon,” Halim Shebaya, executive director of the Arab Association of Constitutional Law, posited. “But,” he added, “it is important to remember that this government is coming from the very same regime of the post-[civil] war era and the post-2005 [Cedar Revolution] era. It is a government formed by the establishment and, in my view, it will govern for the establishment.” Shebaya questioned whether Prime Minister Mikati, who is from the establishment, is going to govern differently than his predecessor and whether this government will “put forth some confidence-building measures that signal to the public that something has changed.” In terms of the Western view of Lebanon, Randa Slim, director of the Middle East Institute’s Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Initiative, pointed out that the United States is most concerned that Lebanon proceeds next year with its scheduled local, parliamentary and presidential elections. Supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces is another demand of France and the U.S., which is “partly driven by the realization that this remains the last pillar…of the Lebanese state,” she explained. All other major institutions—except for the central bank which was saved by $1.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the formation of the Mikati government—have collapsed or lost credibility, she added. France and the U.S. are pushing for humanitarian assistance for the Lebanese people, Slim said. In addition to the humanitarian crisis facing the Lebanese people, the countries are concerned about an “exodus of economic refugees from Lebanon to Europe,” and not only Lebanese, but Syrians and Palestinians who are residing as refugees in Lebanon. She noted that the U.S., France and many international countries, including Qatar, have said that future aid would be contingent on the formation of a Lebanese government that undertakes serious reforms. “Whatever reforms are going to be enacted are going to be tough reforms, not only on the Lebanese, but also on the establishment itself,” Slim observed. —Elaine Pasquini NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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On Oct. 13, the Arab Center Washington DC organized an online event, “Unpacking Iraq’s Parliamentary Elections: Significance, Outcomes and Implications,” which hosted a range of scholars on Iraq to discuss the most recent Oct. 10 Iraqi parliamentary elections. While the conversation extensively covered such topics as voter turnout, the rise of independent parties, the preliminary victory of Sadrists and the election’s regional impact, the speakers all also discussed the influence of Iraq’s ongoing Tishreen (October) popular movement on the elections. Abbas Kadhim, director of the Atlantic Council’s Iraq Initiative, emphasized that the elections ran relatively smoothly and safely without security threats and with independent monitoring by representatives from the European Union and U.N. Zeidon Alkinani, a foreign policy fellow at the Center for Iranian Studies (IRAM), provided an analysis of the Tishreen movement, a popular movement that emerged in Oct. 2019 calling for—among other demands—a complete overhaul of Iraq’s political system and of the ruling political class. Some of these opposition protesters called for a wide boycott of the elections, accounting for the considerably low voter turnout. The call to boycott rejected the sectarian quota system and the belief that change can happen from within the current political structure. Other groups, including those associated with the activist-led Imtidad political party, participated in the elections and won a considerable number of seats, forming the third largest political bloc. Nussaibah Younis, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, pointed out the positive implications of the rise of these new independent parties, going so far as to label them “glimmers of hope” that continue to widen the political sphere. Younis emphasized that these parties demonstrate the importance of civil society and its ability to form political parties that can counter the political weight of wellfunded and established political parties. Kadhim, too, emphasized that certain boyNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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Assessing Iraq’s Parliamentary Elections

Supporters of the pro-Iran Hashd al-Shaabi alliance chant slogans in Baghdad's Green Zone area, on Oct. 20, 2021. Iraq's Oct. 10 elections reinforced the parliamentary strength of Shi’i preacher Moqtada Sadr, a critic of Iranian influence in Iraq. His ideological opponents, the pro-Iran Hashd al-Shaabi alliance, lost electoral support in this year’s vote.

cotters might regret their decision because their votes would have contributed to independent party victories and increased their number of seats. Younis pointed to the defeat of prominent political blocs such as al-Fatah, an alliance associated with the recent assassination of protesters, as evidence of the ongoing impact of the Tishreen movement. Yet, both Kadhim and Younis explained that the preliminary government will likely not forge extensive government and economic reforms. Muqtada al-Sadr and members of his Sadrist party won the most seats, marking a turn away from Iranian-backed political groups. However, the speakers pointed out there are still questions about the specific shape the government will take and coalitions that will form. The final speaker, Maria Fantappie, a special adviser for the Middle East and North Africa at the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, focused more closely on the regional dynamics and implications of these elections. Iraq, Fantappie emphasized, has the potential to be a regional meeting place for cooperation and dialogue. She raised concerns that certain pro-Iranian political groups might retaliate based on the results of the elections and block regional collaboration. The election’s ramifications thus

pivot between local and regional dynamics and equilibriums. Despite their different expertise and focuses, all speakers agreed on the importance of these elections as both a sign of progress and ongoing pitfalls. As both participation and boycotts in the elections demonstrate, Iraqis from across diverse regions and political orientations called for an end to the reigning sectarian political order and for the representation of Iraqi civil society. As popular protests continue and as some losing coalitions call for vote recounts, the election’s implications will likely continue to unfold within the coming weeks. —Janna Aladdin

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Middle East Books Review All books featured in this section are available from Middle East Books and More, the nation’s preeminent bookstore on the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy. www.MiddleEastBooks.com • (202) 939-6050 ext. 1101

Unsilencing Gaza: Reflections on Resistance

By Sara Roy, Pluto Press, 2021, paperback, 304 pp. MEB $26

Reviewed by Walter L. Hixson

This collection of essays assesses the transformation of the Gaza Strip throughout the years of the professional life of Harvard political economist Sara Roy. To the extent there is a central argument in the book, it is that Israel’s brutal policies have worked to detach Gaza from the Palestinian cause by bludgeoning the Strip into an imposed isolation. Since Operation Cast Lead in 2009, Israel has deployed collective punishment and indiscriminate warfare not just to kill and maim Palestinians but also “to prevent any kind of normal environment from emerging.” Gaza thus has been transformed by Israel’s violent aggression from a key political element of the broader Palestine question into an isolated and neverending humanitarian nightmare. Israel’s blockade and military onslaughts have shattered the Gaza economy, virtually wiped out the middle class, and compelled thousands of young people to aspire to leave. These policies have been deliberate and calculated. By keeping Gaza in perpetual crisis, stopping just short of subjecting

Contributing editor Walter L. Hixson is the author of Architects of Repression: How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy (available from Middle East Books and More), along with several other books and journal articles. He has been a professor of history for 36 years, achieving the rank of distinguished professor. 64

it to mass starvation, Israel has impeded political mobilization and isolated Gaza from the broader Palestinian cause. Organized into eight parts and 25 chapters, Unsilencing Gaza is a collection of essays ranging from the 1980s, when Roy lived and worked in Gaza, to original material written for this volume. Roy does not reserve condemnation for Israel alone, as she makes clear that the United States—including during the Obama years, the period when most of the essays were written— and the European Union have been complicit in the violent repression of Gaza. Comprised mostly of short essays, and with chapters accompanied by a variety of engaging poems and quotations from a wide range of scholars and literary figures, Roy’s book is accessible and readable. She offers a unique and insightful perspective as a longtime academic critic of Israeli repression, but also as a Jew whose parents were victimized by the Nazi genocide. Unlike those who deploy the Holocaust and historical anti-Semitism as a weapon to deflect criticism of Israel, Roy empathizes with

Israel’s victims in Gaza, Lebanon and Palestine in the same way she has memorialized the tragedy of her own family’s victimization under the Nazis. In “Tears of Salt,” an original essay in Part V—which is entitled “A Jew in Gaza: Reflections”—Roy confronts the reality of today in which Israel and by extension the larger global Jewish community have been conditioned to perceive issues “only through the scope of a rifle, and where our security—and humanity—are ensured by denying the same to others.” In other parts of the book, she addresses “the vilification and demonization of Palestinians especially in Gaza and in particular those associated with the Islamic movement.” She argues that “this denunciation has never been more extreme” than it is today. Palestinians deserve the opportunity to “live their lives in peace, work, take care of their children, move freely and create,” but instead they are treated as “people who are disposable and of no consequence.” In the end, Roy succeeds in “unsilencing” Gaza by exposing the prolonged atrocity that is Israel’s decades’ long effort to subjugate this beleaguered strip of land. She argues poignantly that the key to resolving the Middle East crisis is recognition of the essential humanity of Palestinians—that “we are no different than you,” as a Palestinian woman once put it to Roy. There will be no Middle East peace until this basic humanity is recognized and honored and the enforced exceptionalism that separates Gaza from greater Palestine is terminated.

How I Learned to Speak Israel: An American’s Guide to a Foreign Policy Language

By Alex McDonald, Green Tree Publishing, LLC, 2021, paperback, 426 pp. MEB $24

Reviewed by Grant F. Smith

Were Ambrose Bierce alive today endeavoring to update his satirical Devil's Dictionary, he would certainly have no better fodder for satirical definitions than Israeli settler colonization of the Palestinians and the inevitably twisted “dial tested” language used by Israel and its U.S. surrogates to explain the situation. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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DEFEND, (di fend), v.t. 1. To ward off attack from; especially by people one has been ethnically cleansing for seven decades. Israel has a right to defend itself.

Into Bierce’s shoes steps Alex McDonald, whose life journey has resulted not in a dictionary but a foreign language guide. It is a translation of a language “that sounds like English, but its words have different meanings.” Where Bierce's translations were cutting satire, McDonald’s are meant to clarify how Israel and its surrogates have twisted and repeated definitions of commonplace words and phrases so that they no longer have any resemblance to their original, intended meanings. Like Bierce, McDonald dedicated years to writing the book (five to be exact). The dividing line in McDonald’s life is stark. Before was a life behind “filters” that distorted the truth. Afterward was consciousness of purposely hidden facts, won through an intense personal journey. The current Israel/Palestine situation has been so distorted, it is “corrupting American society, debasing both Palestinians and Jews, and bullying and penalizing people who stand for equality, liberty, democracy, free speech and human rights.” Before discarding the filters, McDonald, “had vouched for Israel and was

Grant F. Smith is the director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, DC. Smith’s latest book, The Israel Lobby Enters State Government: Rise of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board, is available at Middle East Books and More. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

N E W A R R I VA L S The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock, Simon & Schuster, 2021, hardcover, 368 pp. MEB $28. Just as the Pentagon Papers changed the public’s understanding of Vietnam, The Afghanistan Papers contains startling revelations from people who played a direct role in the Afghanistan War, from leaders in the White House and the Pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines. In unvarnished language, they admit that the U.S. government’s strategies were a mess, that the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and that drugs and corruption gained a stranglehold over their allies in the Afghan government. All told, the account is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew that the U.S. government was presenting a distorted, and sometimes entirely fabricated, version of the facts on the ground. The Afghanistan Papers is a shocking account that will supercharge a long overdue reckoning over what went wrong and forever change the way the conflict is remembered. Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients by Christine Sahadi Whelan, Chronicle Books, 2021, hardcover, 352 pp. MEB $35. Sumac. Urfa pepper. Halvah. Pomegranate molasses. Preserved lemons. The seasonings, staples and spice blends used throughout the Middle East offer deliciously simple ways to transform food—once you know how to use them. Flavors of the Sun showcases the versatility of these ingredients in over 120 everyday dishes, including starters, salads, soups, familyfriendly meals and desserts. It offers inspiration, techniques and intensely flavorful ways to use everything from Aleppo pepper to za’atar with confidence. Throughout, “no-recipe recipes” help build up your flavor intuition so you can incorporate any of the spices, condiments and preserves into your daily repertoire. In My Mother’s Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home by Mona Hajjar Halaby, Thread, 2021, paperback, 294 pp. MEB $10. Jerusalem, 1948. Zakia is forced to flee the only home she’s ever known as war rips through the leafy streets and the bustling spice-filled souqs. Taking just one suitcase, Zakia thinks she’ll be able to return soon. But within weeks, she realizes she won’t be allowed back to her beloved homeland. California, 2007. Mona grew up with her mother Zakia’s memories of Palestine, imagining the muezzin’s call for prayer and the medley of church bells her mother so vividly described to her. So, when Mona gets the opportunity to teach conflict resolution in Ramallah, she also embarks on a personal pilgrimage to find her mother’s home in militarized and occupied Jerusalem. Instead, Mona holds her mother’s hand as they finally visit Jerusalem together. After 59 years of exile, her mother is returning to the place she once called home—but can a lifetime of loss ever be healed? WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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proud to defend the state from critics.” The corrupting force of hasbara uses language as its tool to distort American world views and “blind us to the atrocities committed on our behalf.” McDonald’s first-hand account shows how the combination of commonplace words such as “separation” and “fence” tells a false narrative about a wall that encroaches deep into the West Bank rather than along the Armistice “Green Line.” It involves scenarios in addition to legal research. Would kindergarteners want a neighbor to fence in their very big, scary dog to keep it from entering their play area? “Of course.” What if it wasn’t on the property line, but cut deep into their own school yard? “No way.” McDonald takes on the so-called “security fence” from 360 degrees. Peaceful Palestinian resisters and intellectuals. U.S. politicians. Mass media. “I had thought ‘security fence’ meant a fence that protected innocent victims from thieves and aggressors. I now realized that the opposite was true. In this case, the ‘security fence’ protected those taking land by force from the innocent victims… limiting their economic opportunities, taking their property from them and limiting their freedom of movement.” Like Bierce, McDonald then offers up his own “usage” definition based on how the “security fence” truly operates and negatively impacts stakeholder communities. McDonald also takes on the messaging mantra that Israel is the “Only Democracy in the Middle East” and the function this serves, denial of Palestinian “peoplehood,” Israel’s home demolitions, “aid” to Israel, settlements, Israel as America’s “greatest ally,” Qualitative Military Edge or QME, Israeli-Jewish organizational operations like “Birthright trips” for U.S. Jewish teenagers to visit Israel and the conflation of “terrorism” and “Palestinian.” Context is provided. The book traces the rise of Zionism to the founding of Israel in 1948, the premeditated Arab expulsion to maintain a Jewish majority and the sordid U.S. role in providing immediate recognition, aid and diplomatic cover. This historical tour explores Israeli claims that it was merely “defending itself” through a series of ag66

gressive wars with its neighbors leading to territorial expansions and contractions. McDonald’s own journey reveals how important it is for Israel surrogates to shut down knowledgeable criticism by individuals and organizations with unfounded accusations of racism, that is, anti-Semitism. “Israel is different because people and organizations that stand for equality are accused of racism (against Jews). With Israel, one is accused of racism because one takes a stand against racism.” This shutting down of debates is protected by aggressive bullying of whistleblowers and critics of Israel’s policies and actions. This systemic bullying not only corrupts debate, but also U.S. politicians and erodes constitutional rights. McDonald offers key points Americans should learn about the Palestinian narrative. He gives Americans the language tools they need to debunk mythology about Israel and to continuously challenge their adoption across major institutions, such as Christian churches and political parties. He provides a detailed list of Palestinian, Jewish, Christian and secular organizations that are actively doing the kinds of work that will lead to productive and nonviolent change. Oddly, McDonald offers no biography in How I Learned to Speak Israel. When contacted, he modestly and repeatedly “foregrounds” the book and asks that readers understand him through the journey of understanding that unfolds on the pages. But the calibre of the writing, worldliness, careful citation of expert sources and polished narrative and structure point to a person with relevant life experience, knowledge and sharply honed research capabilities. Plus, McDonald is publicly the active member of too many elite alumni association Texas chapters for modesty to forever veil his accomplishments prior to the book (and much recent activism, including freedom flotillas). McDonald, son of a Marine Corps drill instructor father, grew up mostly in Europe (London, Zurich, Paris and Geneva) thereby becoming sensitive to foreign policy and international relations. A Boy Scout, McDonald graduated from MIT

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with a degree in computer science and engineering and entered his career selling computers and industrial equipment. He then began working for major U.S. information technology and startup internet companies and as a management and turnaround consultant after graduating from the Harvard Business School. McDonald is an enigma. The beneficiary of the most elite U.S. educational and career experiences, like many Americans, he was a mildly Zionist hasbarist himself. Only through intense and costly efforts to reeducate himself was he able to finally perceive the reality of Israel/ Palestine. It should not be this difficult. Fortunately, for other Americans who have been similarly short changed by our educational, mass media and political institutions, McDonald has provided, despite the title, not a language guide, but rather a valuable travel guide to understanding the problem and becoming part of the solution. Americans from all walks of life can immediately benefit from the useful shortcuts and cut their own five-year journey down to an effortless 424-page read.

Palestine Is Our Home: Voices of Loss, Courage, and Steadfastness

Edited by Nahida Halaby Gordon, Palestine Books, 2016, paperback, 173 pp. MEB $12

Reviewed by Delinda C. Hanley

Some of the most profound memories I have from decades of working at the

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Washington Report and Middle East Books involve listening to the stories of Palestinians who walk through our doors. Something special happens to both speaker and listener when a person shares their unique experience. Holocaust survivors have been sharing their stories effectively via books, newspapers, TV, radio and blockbuster films. Nakba survivors also need to have that opportunity. Nahida Halaby Gordon gathers multiple Palestinian voices, eyewitnesses to history, and knits their stories together to create a very readable guide to the Palestinian tragedy and struggle. Palestine is Our Home: Voices of Loss, Courage and Steadfastness is illustrated with images, including works of art, maps, photographs, and examples of traditional costumes and embroidery. Her book is ideal for book clubs or discussion groups because it includes “Questions for Reflection,” found at the end of each section and a “Leader’s Guide” at the back. Gordon’s own narrative describes Israel’s ethnic cleansing in Jaffa, which included shelling and explosions, or randomly selecting a house and dynamiting it with people still inside. Her father barely survives a bombing near his office. One Question for Reflection after reading her testimony is: “Who was pushed out to sea as Jaffa fell to the Israeli forces? And is this contrary to what you have been led to believe?” Gordon includes a letter written to her by her granddaughter, Madison, as well as a photo of the jar of rocks and dirt Madison collected from the home of Gordon’s own teta. “I knew this earth was the earth your grandmother and your family lived on,” Madison writes. “It is your land, so I wanted you to keep a piece of it with you.” Question for Reflection: “As the older Palestinian generation is dying, do you see that the younger generation feels as strongly about the expulsion of their parents and grandparents from their homeland?” Fahed Abu-Akel describes his own memory as a 4-year-old experiencing the Nakba. Abu-Akel saw his mother on the rooftop of their home in Acre District, waving goodbye as his father took him and his seven siblings to the safety of a NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

N E W A R R I VA L S The Algerian Dream: Youth and the Quest for Dignity by Andrew G. Farrand, New Degree Press, 2021, paperback, 394 pp. MEB $24. Nearly two-thirds of Algeria’s population is under the age of 35. Growing up during or soon after the violent conflict that wracked Algeria during the 1990s, and amid the powerful influences of global online culture, this generation views the world much differently than their parents or grandparents do. The Algerian Dream: Youth and the Quest for Dignity invites readers to discover this generation, their hopes for the future and, most significantly, the frustrations that have brought them into the streets en masse since 2019, peacefully challenging a long-established order. After seven years living and working alongside these young people across Algeria, Andrew G. Farrand shares his insights on what makes the next generation tick in North Africa’s sleeping giant. The Politics of Persecution: Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire by Mitri Raheb, Baylor University Press, 2021, hardcover, 215 pp. MEB $25. The wellknown Palestinian Christian theologian, Mitri Raheb, charts the plight of Christians in the Middle East from the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 to the so-called Arab Spring. The Politics of Persecution analyzes the diverse socioeconomic and political factors that led to the diminishing role and numbers of Christians in Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan during the eras of Ottoman, French, and British Empires, through the eras of independence, PanArabism, and Pan-Islamism, and into the current era of American empire. With an incisive exposé of the politics that lie behind alleged concerns for these persecuted Christians―and how the concept of persecution has been a tool of public diplomacy and international politics―Raheb reveals that Middle Eastern Christians have been repeatedly sacrificed on the altar of Western national interests. Raheb casts the history of Middle Eastern Christians not so much as one of persecution but as one of resilience. Screen Shots: State Violence on Camera in Israel and Palestine by Rebecca L. Stein, Stanford University Press, 2021, paperback, 248 pp. MEB $24. In the last two decades, amid the global spread of smartphones, state killings of civilians have increasingly been captured on the cameras of both bystanders and police. Screen Shots studies this phenomenon from the vantage point of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Here, cameras have proliferated as political tools in the hands of a broad range of actors and institutions, including Palestinian activists, Israeli soldiers, Jewish settlers and human rights workers. Drawing on ethnographic work, Rebecca L. Stein chronicles Palestinian video-activists seeking justice, Israeli soldiers laboring to perfect the military’s image, Zionist conspiracy theorists accusing Palestinians of “playing dead,” and the shifting terms of power and struggle in the smartphone age. WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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makeshift refugee tent camp in the mountains. His mother would not leave her home, saying “This is our land, our home, and our church...” Abu-Akel urges readers,“to take time and make an effort to understand our stories. I hope that when Americans meet Palestinian Americans who are in their 60s or older, they ask to hear their stories.” Gordon’s critically important collection of short essays helps introduce Americans to those seldom-heard narratives.

Honor Thy Label: Dr. Bronner’s Unconventional Journey to a Clean, Green, and Ethical Supply Chain

By Gero Leson, Portfolio/Penguin, 2021, hardcover, 329 pp. MEB $25

Reviewed by Delinda C. Hanley

in 2006. Along the way, the author describes the logistical hurdles caused by the Israeli occupation, including farmers blocked from their orchards by the separation wall, checkpoints and settlers. He also captures the joy of entire families harvesting olives by hand. Leson describes Nasser Abufarha, who studied computer science and anthropology in the United States. Abufarha became convinced that the fair trade coffee concept could be used to benefit olive farmers in his homeland. He founded Canaan in 2004 to make olive oil production profitable in the West Bank, and improve the lives of farmers. It’s fascinating to learn how Canaan and Dr. Bronner’s visions for the future came true, thanks to cooperation, loans from “ethical” or “sustainable” banks, Dutch and other European grants, as well as hard work.

“If we look at the available literature on Palestinian prisoners in Arabic there is much of it,” Aljamal explained. “However, when it comes to other languages, especially English, there is much less literature. So, it’s important to translate these stories. For me, translation is resistance, it’s contributing to the struggle.” Aljamal said Palestinian prisoners and their families have long taken inspiration from the steadfastness of Irish hunger strikers suffering in British prisons. In fact, the cover of the book shows Palestinians holding a sign displaying their solidarity and support for Irish prisoners. “The struggle against settler colonialism in Ireland continues to provide the people of Palestine with the needed inspiration to carry on their own struggle,” Aljamal pointed out. Danny Morrison, a journalist and spokesman for the Irish Republican Army

B O O K TA L K S A Shared Struggle: Stories of Palestinian and Irish Hunger Strikers

Edited by Norma Hashim and Yousef M. Aljamal, An Fhuiseog, 2021, paperback, 240 pp. MEB $18

Report by Dale Sprusansky

Dr. David Bronner’s peppermint-scented, tingly soaps inspire huge sales and customer loyalty. Honor Thy Label, written by Dr. Bronner’s head of special operations, Gero Leson, recounts how a little-known family-run soap company created a revolutionary fair trade and organic supply chain from the ground up. Nearly half-way through the book, Leson’s chapter entitled, “Olive Oil—A Symbol of Hope in the Holy Land,” caught our attention. The company needed organic and fair trade olive oil for their products so Leson headed to Jenin, Palestine

Delinda C. Hanley is executive editor of the Washington Report.

In the spirit of solidarity, activists from around the world have come together to publish the stories of Irish and Palestinian prisoners who have used hunger strikes to protest indefinite detention, torture and the injustices of settler colonialism. The eye-opening accounts of 24 Palestinian and 7 Irish prisoners are collected in A Shared Struggle: Stories of Palestinian and Irish Hunger Strikers, edited by Norma Hashim and Yousef M. Aljamal. On Oct. 2, the editors joined fellow activists on a Middle East Monitor webinar to examine the book’s key findings. Aljamal noted that imprisoned Palestinian hunger strikers are viewed as heroic champions for liberation by many of their fellow countrymen. The editor said he views his work to share their stories as his own way to participate in the Palestinian cause.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

(IRA) hunger strikers, likewise highlighted the Irish anti-colonialist movement’s sense of camaraderie with Palestinians resisting Israeli settler colonialism. “We wanted to make a statement of solidarity with the Palestinian nation, that we are on your side, that our experiences are similar, [both] being subjected to colonialism and imperialism.” Morrison contributed to the book’s introduction and helped organize interviews with Irish hunger strikers. While Palestinians today find themselves under the yoke of the Israelis, Morrison noted that many of the injustices Palestini-

Dale Sprusansky is managing editor of the Washington Report.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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ans currently experience have their origins in actions the British took during their mandate over Palestine. “We have in common the evil the British government inflicted on both of our nations,” he commented. Richard Falk, the former U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, posited that the Palestinians face a starker challenge than did the Irish during the Troubles. “The Irish had the benefit of a neutral geopolitical background,” he explained. “The United States, although an ally of the United Kingdom, had a powerful Irish [population] that neutralized its normal support for the United Kingdom.” Palestinians, on the other hand, face “the geopolitical reinforcement” of their oppression by the U.S. and other Western powers, given the power of the pro-Israel lobby. Falk, who wrote the forward for A Shared Struggle, emphasized that despite having so much military and diplomatic power opposing them, the Palestinians, like all marginalized and oppressed peoples, are destined to see their movement succeed. “Soft power prevails in struggles against colonial oppression,” he said. “In all the major colonial struggles, the political outcome was controlled not by the side that dominated the battlefield, but rather by the side that won the legitimacy war, the side that had the law and morality on its side. That proved to be, in the end, more formidable than the technological, innovative weapons and tactics used by the colonial powers.” This reality is manifested in the perseverance of political prisoners and hunger strikers. “There’s a power embedded in the powerlessness of the prisoner,” Falk said. Hunger strikers are aware that “certain conditions of oppression so undermine the nature of a decent life that it is worth risking everything in order to achieve liberation,” he noted. “That’s a powerful message.” Editor Norma Hashim encapsulated this perspective by quoting a powerful line from Rod Such’s review of A Shared Struggle in Politics Today. “Being removed from society does not mean you are removed from history,” Such wrote. “In fact, as both the Irish and Palestinian struggles demonstrate, prisoners make history.” ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

N E W A R R I VA L S Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd, Haymarket Books, 2021, paperback, 100 pp. MEB $16. Rifqa is Mohammed El-Kurd’s debut collection of poetry, written in the tradition of Ghassan Kanafani’s Palestinian resistance literature. Each day after school, Mohammed El-Kurd’s grandmother welcomed him at the door of his home with a bouquet of jasmine. Her name was Rifqa—she was older than Israel itself and an icon of Palestinian resilience. With razor-sharp wit and glistening moral clarity, El-Kurd lays bare the brutality of Israeli settler colonialism. His poems trace Rifqa’s exile from Haifa to his family’s current dispossession in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, exposing the cyclical and relentless horror of the Nakba. El-Kurd’s book makes the observation that home takeovers and demolitions across historical Palestine are not reminiscent of the 1948 Nakba, but are in fact a continuation of it: a legalized, ideologically-driven practice of ethnic cleansing. El-Kurd definitively shows that the Palestinian struggle is a revolution, until victory. The Middle East Crisis Factory: Tyranny, Resilience and Resistance by Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash, Hurst, 2021, paperback, 216 pp. MEB $18. Why is the Middle East a crisis factory, and how can it be fixed? What does the future look like for its 500 million people? And what role should the West play? Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash tell the story of the modern Middle East as a series of broken promises. They chart the entrenchment of tyranny, terrorism and foreign intervention, showing how these systems of oppression simultaneously feed off and battle each other. Exploring demographic, economic and social trends, the authors paint a picture of the region’s prospects that is alarming yet hopeful. Written by two children of the region, this book is about the failures of history, and the reasons for hope while offering a bold vision for those seeking peace and democracy in the Middle East. Revolution in Syria: Identity, Networks, and Repression by Kevin Mazur, Cambridge University Press, 2021, paperback, 332 pp. MEB $35. How does protest advancing diverse claims turn into violent conflict occurring primarily along ethnic lines? This book examines that question in the context of Syria, drawing insight from the evolution of conflict at the local level. Kevin Mazur shows that the challenge to the Syrian regime did not erupt neatly along ethnic boundaries, and that lines of access to statecontrolled resources played a critical role. The ethnicization of conflict resulted from failed incumbent efforts to shore up network ties and the violence that the Assad regime used to crush dissent by challengers excluded from those networks. By drawing attention to cross-ethnic ties, the book suggests new strategies for understanding ostensibly ethnic conflicts beyond Syria. WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST

The Khaleej Times, Dubai, UAE

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

CartoonArts, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Correio Do Povo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore, Singapore

Cartoon Movement, Amsterdam, Netherlands

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CartoonArts, Leiden, Netherlands NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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Other People’s Mail Compiled by Dale Sprusansky ISRAEL CAN AFFORD TO PAY FOR THE IRON DOME

To The Gainesville Sun, Sept. 28, 2021 The U.S. House almost unanimously (with the exception of nine members) voted to give Israel an additional $1 billion to help replace missile interceptors in its Iron Dome system, which Israel uses to block rockets fired from Gaza. The justification was it would “save civilian lives.” Currently the U.S. gives Israel $3.8 billion each year, almost completely for military assistance. With all the billions we give Israel, a country the size of New Jersey, are they unable to purchase their own interceptors? And whose civilian lives are they saving? Not the Palestinians. According to If Americans Knew, since Sept. 29, 2000 137 Israeli children have been killed; 2,338 Palestinian children; 1,285 Israelis (adults and children) killed; 10,292 Palestinians; 12,324 Israelis injured; 164,038 Palestinians; and 32 Israelis killed by rocket attacks; 4,000 Palestinians. Palestine has no army, navy or air force. Israel has one of the most advanced militaries in the world. And let us never forget, Israel is illegally occupying Palestine and yet continues to build illegal settlements and evict Palestinians from their homes. Pam Meyers, Cedar Key, FL

OPPOSING IRON DOME FUNDING IN THE NAME OF HUMAN RIGHTS

To the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sept. 29, 2021 Regarding “Rep. Cori Bush calls Israel an ‘apartheid state’ after voting against Iron Dome funding” (Sept. 23): I support Bush's vote in opposition to a billion dollar military appropriation for Israel that, once again, failed to confront the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people. Being of Jewish heritage and upbringing, I reject the shriek of anti-Semitism that was sounded almost immediately. The defense of Judaism does not require blind NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

TELL YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS WHAT YOU THINK PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE. NW WASHINGTON, DC 20500 COMMENT LINE: (202) 456-1111 WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/CONTACT

SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2201 C ST. NW WASHINGTON, DC 20520 PHONE: (202) 647-6575 VISIT WWW.STATE.GOV TO E-MAIL

ANY MEMBER: U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON, DC 20515 (202) 225-3121

ANY SENATOR: U.S. SENATE WASHINGTON, DC 20510 (202) 224-3121

fealty to the Israeli government. As a member of Amnesty International, I support the defense of human rights. The nature of governance is not my concern so long as those pulling the strings of power are affording these rights equally to all persons living under their control. In my opinion, Israel fails badly in its treatment of Palestinians. And it goes beyond a system of institutionalized apartheid. Israel makes no attempt at separate-but-equal whitewashing, imposing instead what is nothing short of Jim Crow. Some will ask: But isn’t Israel entitled to defend itself? When a government places its knee on the collective necks of millions of people, the victims are not likely to respond well. When George Floyd was murdered last year, the resultant nationwide protests were not an overreaction to an anomalous incident. But rather, it served to release emotions that have built up as the result of centuries of abuse. In my opinion, Bush deserves thanks for taking this principled stand in defense of human rights. Robert Linsey, St. Louis, MO

someone objected to it because it was “antiSemitic.” Is it anti-Semitic to state that Israel destroyed a Doctors without Borders clinic? Or bombed the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund? Or state the extent of suffering inflicted on Palestinians by Israel’s policies, which are subsidized by our taxpayers? I don’t think so. I believe that our tax dollars shouldn’t be funding a state that is actively expanding illegal settlements, bulldozing homes or committing war crimes with impunity—in violation not only of international law, but of our own laws. The case against doing so is laid out handily in this resolution, which is being denied the opportunity to be debated and voted on. I urge the board to resist kowtowing to those in the community that would level the charge of anti-Semitism without any substantial evidence of such. Last year the board voted to affirm Black Lives Matter. What about human rights? Do the lives of Palestinians matter? The board should answer that. Their constituents are paying attention. Richard McGowan, Madison, WI

To The Capital Times, Oct. 9, 2021 I was disappointed that the Dane County Board decided to take up and then quietly bury a resolution condemning Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza that occurred this May, which displaced 90,000, caused over $380 million in property damage and killed 66 children. The resolution affirms the findings of Human Rights Watch, which recognizes Israel as an apartheid state committing human rights violations, and calls on the federal government to halt any further financial support or weapons sales to Israel. Madison for Palestine, the group that brought the resolution forward, was given few details on why it was pulled except that

To The Irish Times, Oct. 15, 2021 The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign commends acclaimed author Sally Rooney for her principled stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people by refusing a deal with Israeli publishing house Modan. We welcome Ms. Rooney’s position and her moral clarity in respecting the Palestinian BDS call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until such time as it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights, ending its oppression of the Palestinian people. We are proud to count Sally Rooney among the now 1,349 artists who have signed the Irish Artists’ Pledge to Boycott Israel, a list which continues to grow as

COUNTY IN WISCONSIN BURIES RESOLUTION CRITICAL OF ISRAEL

PRAISE FOR AUTHOR SALLY ROONEY’S BDS ENDORSEMENT

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more artists in Ireland and internationally recognize that they can show solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for justice by upholding the principles of the institutional cultural boycott of Israel. As with apartheid South Africa, where states refuse to sanction Israel for its crimes of apartheid, it is up to civil society to act and cultural workers can do this by supporting the BDS call and by refusing to cooperate with institutions that are complicit with the Israeli state’s oppression of the Palestinian people. Sally Rooney is part of the growing international movement that refuses to cross the Palestinian picket line and thus she stands on the right side of history. The struggle continues until this system of apartheid is dismantled and the Palestinian people can live in freedom, justice and equality. These acts of hope and solidarity are crucial and to be celebrated. We thank Sally Rooney and all artists of conscience who take such principled and courageous stands. May there be many more. Zoe Lawlor, Dublin, Ireland. The author is cultural liaison of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

AMAZON AND GOOGLE MUST STOP FACILITATING ISRAEL

To The Guardian, Oct. 12, 2021 We are writing as Google and Amazon employees of conscience from diverse backgrounds. We believe that the technology we build should work to serve and uplift people everywhere, including all of our users. As workers who keep these companies running, we are morally obligated to speak out against violations of these core values. For this reason, we are compelled to call on the leaders of Amazon and Google to pull out of Project Nimbus and cut all ties with the Israeli military. So far, more than 90 workers at Google and more than 300 at Amazon have signed this letter internally. We are anonymous because we fear retaliation. We have watched Google and Amazon aggressively pursue contracts with institutions like the U.S. Department of Defense, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and state and local police departments. These contracts are part of a disturbing pattern of militarization, lack of transparency and avoidance of oversight. Continuing this pattern, our employers signed a contract called Project Nimbus to sell dangerous technology to the Israeli mil72

itary and government. This contract was signed the same week that the Israeli military attacked Palestinians in the Gaza Strip—killing nearly 250 people, including more than 60 children. The technology our companies have contracted to build will make the systematic discrimination and displacement carried out by the Israeli military and government even crueler and deadlier for Palestinians. Project Nimbus is a $1.2 billion contract to provide cloud services for the Israeli military and government. This technology allows for further surveillance of and unlawful data collection on Palestinians, and facilitates expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land. We cannot look the other way as the products we build are used to deny Palestinians their basic rights, force Palestinians out of their homes and attack Palestinians in the Gaza Strip—actions that have prompted war crime investigations by the International Criminal Court. We envision a future where technology brings people together and makes life better for everyone. To build that brighter future, the companies we work for need to stop contracting with any and all militarized organizations in the U.S. and beyond. These contracts harm the communities of technology workers and users alike. While we publicly promise to uplift and assist our users, contracts such as these secretly facilitate the surveillance and targeting of those same users. We condemn Amazon and Google’s decision to sign the Project Nimbus contract with the Israeli military and government, and ask them to reject this contract and future contracts that will harm our users. We call on global technology workers and the international community to join with us in building a world where technology promotes safety and dignity for all.

NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR DEADLY DRONE STRIKE IN KABUL

To the Houston Chronicle, Sept. 22, 2021 Re: “Pentagon reverses itself, calls deadly Kabul strike an error.” Ten civilians are killed, including seven innocent children, and the story is buried in page A26. If this is an example of our over-the-horizon capability to identify and strike threats, as touted by the current administration, then it is a very fuzzy concept, rather than a polished military plan. With no one on the ground in Afghanistan to verify so-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

called intelligence, this sad result is not unexpected. Almost everything that senior defense officials declared after the drone strike proved to be false—a tragic mistake. Yet no one is being held accountable for this travesty. Michael Spiech, Sugar Land, TX

THE ETHICAL AND STRATEGIC PITFALLS OF U.S. DRONE STRIKES

To the Los Angeles Times, Sept. 21, 2021 What can be said about this reported “mistake” in Afghanistan by our high-tech military? It took the lives of 10 innocent family members, including seven children. The report mentions that a missile launch from an aerial drone was based on flawed military intelligence. Intelligence? Under the justification of national security since Sept. 11, 2001, several presidents have initiated or maintained military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq for a generation, contributing to violence, destruction and deaths in those countries. Security? The “lessons” from many years of combat tragedies in Vietnam have been unlearned or long forgotten, even as weapons technology has advanced. Profound questions are unanswered: When we murder the murdering terrorists at all costs, what do we become? Who are the victims? And when we destroy ordinary people, are we our own terrorist enablers? Chuck Hackwith, San Clemente, CA

REMEMBER ALL VICTIMS OF WAR

To the Wednesday Journal, Oct. 5, 2021 Tom Holmes’ “Soul Searching about Afghanistan” mentions death in one section. “In the last six years, 100 military personnel were killed there. That’s 17 a year.” Seventeen is not the number to have in one’s mind when conducting soul searching about Afghanistan. A few seconds with Google yields the following from the Watson Institute at Brown University: “At least 801,000 people have been killed by direct war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan. The number of people who have been wounded or have fallen ill as a result of the conflicts is far higher, as is the number of civilians who have died indirectly as a result of the destruction of hospitals and infrastructure and environmental contamination, among other war-related problems....More than 387,000 civilians [worldwide] have been killed in the fighting since 2001.” Frank Hansen, Oak Park, IL ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

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O• B • I • T • U • A • R • I • E • S Abolhassan Banisadr, 88, Iran’s first president following the country’s 1979 revolution, died in Paris on Oct. 9, 2021 after a long battle with illness. His father was a renowned religious leader and a friend of Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the Islamic revolution against the shah. Banisadr became the first elected president in Iran’s history and he was also appointed as acting commander-in-chief by the supreme leader. Despite his Western appearance and style Banisadr shared a common faith with religious leaders in the Shia Islamic Republic. Banisadr clashed with factions within the Iranian establishment, eventually leading to his impeachment and his flight from the country. Banisadr spent the next decades living in France publishing a magazine and numerous books. Ben-Zion Cohen, 94, the Irgun commander among those responsible for the April 9, 1948 massacre in the Arab village of Deir Yassin, died on Oct. 16. Cohen was never held to account for his role in the massacre of 100 to 250 victims, and remained unrepentant and boastful about his role in it until the end of his life. “If there were another three or four more Deir Yassins in the Land of Israel at the time, not a single Arab would have remained in Israel,” he said. George Hishmeh, 88, an accomplished Arab-American activist and journalist, died on Oct. 7, 2021 in Maryland after suffering a stroke. Hishmeh, a former editor-in-chief of The Daily Star in Beirut, dedicated his life to his work and was a tireless defender of Palestinians in their struggle for freedom and justice. After working with the USIS as an editor for more than 35 years, Hishmeh wrote a weekly column for The Gulf News for nearly 18 years and contributed many articles to the Washington Report. He served as a member of the board of directors at The Jerusalem Fund since its inception, as well as founder and president of the Washington Association of Arab Journalists, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

while also being involved in many other Arab-American organizations and their activities, including the Ramallah Federation. David Edwin Lewis, 90, died on Oct. 16, 2021 in New Hampshire after a long period of declining health. Lewis’ naval career spanned more than 25 years, and he retired in 1979 at the rank of commander. Lewis was wounded aboard the USS Liberty in the Mediterranean Sea during Israel’s attack on the ship, which it claimed was a case of mistaken identification. For the rest of his life, Lewis bore the scars of that day, and was deeply involved with the group of USS Liberty survivors seeking to prove that the State of Israel deliberately staged the attack to try and draw the U.S. into the Israeli-Egyptian Six-Day War in 1967. In 2018, he was a central figure and collaborator in the book Blood in the Water, which chronicles this dark episode of American military history and argues that the Johnson administration did more than just cover up the Israeli assault on its ally. Mark Perry, 70, a widely published military and foreign affairs reporter and historian, died from cancer on Aug. 8, 2021. Perry’s ten books were met with critical acclaim, and include A Fire In Zion: Inside the Israeli-Palestinian Search for Peace. The Boston Globe named The Most Dangerous Man in America the best non-fiction work of 2014, calling it a “brisk but dazzling biography.” Bob Woodward called Four Stars “an important study of America’s military high command.” Perry's work extended beyond his books, and while much of his time was spent researching and writing, he also did significant traveling and reporting in the Middle East, focusing on Israel and the West Bank, starting with the First Intifada in 1987. He believed that peace in the Middle East was possible, and from 1989-2004 he served as informal adviser to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, during which time he also published

By Nathaniel Bailey

numerous articles on the conflict. Perry was a senior foreign policy analyst for Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation and served as editor of the Veteran, as well as editor of Washington City Paper. He was the Washington correspondent for The Palestine Report, and a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center. Most recently, Perry served as senior analyst at The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, 85, former head of the military council that ruled Egypt temporarily after the 2011 uprising, died on Sep. 21, 2021 in Cairo following a period of ill health. Tantawi was a decorated veteran and served as a defence minister of Egypt for nearly 21 years. After the removal of President Hosni Mubarak, in February 2011, Tantawi led the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that ruled Egypt for a year and a half. Despite being a close associate of Mubarak, Tantawi relented to public pressure and put the ex-president on trial on charges of inciting the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising. Tantawi was removed from his position as a defense minister in August 2012, after the late President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood took power in what was described as the first free and fair elections in Egypt’s modern history. Tantawi spent his remaining years largely out of public view. Saadi Yacef, 93, a revolutionary leader who fought French rule in Algeria in the 1950s, died on Sep. 10, 2021 in Algiers from heart problems. Yacef was the military chief of the Front de Libération Nationale during the Algerian war for independence, ordering bombings and other guerrilla attacks until his arrest by French paratroopers in 1957. While in prison, Yacef wrote Souvenirs de la Bataille d’Alger (Memories of the Battle of Algiers). Yacef worked as a producer on Gillo Pontecorvo’s acclaimed film, “The Battle of Algiers” (1966). ■

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AET’s 2021 Choir of Angels

the following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1, 2021 and oct. 5, 2021 is making possible activities of the tax-exempt aet library endowment (federal id #52-1460362) and the american educational trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. some angels are helping us co-sponsor the annual israellobbycon. others are donating to our “capital building fund,” which will help us expand and add coffee service to the Middle east books and More bookstore. thank you all for helping us survive the turmoil caused by the pandemic. We are deeply honored by your conﬁdence and profoundly grateful for your generosity.

HUMMERS ($100 or more)

Robin Abaya, Palm Springs, CA Mai Abdul Rahman, Hyattsville, MD Aglaia & Mumtaz Ahmed, Buda, TX Mohammad & Shaista Akbar, Orwigsburg, PA Hesham Alalusi, Hayward, CA Hani Ali, Beirut, Lebanon Anace & Polly Aossey, Cedar Rapids, IA Mr. & Mrs. Sultan Aslam, Plainsboro, NJ Salim Bahloul, South Yarra, Australia Nabil Bahu, Paleo Psychico, Greece William L. Bigelow, Chicago, IL Dr. & Mrs. Sarkis Broussalian, Santa Monica, CA Prof. Mireya Camurati, Williamsville, NY Sandra Cioppa, Moraga, CA John Cornwall, Palm Springs, CA David K. Curtiss, New Orleans, LA* Warren & Amal David, Washington, DC Lewis Elbinger, Mount Shasta, CA Kassem Elkhalil, Arlington, TX Albert E. Fairchild, Bethesda, MD Andrew M. Findlay, Alexandria, VA Michael Gillespie, Maxwell, IA John Gordon, Santa Fe, NM Alfred R. Greve, Holmes, NY Dixiane Hallaj, Purcellville, VA Robert Keith, Salt Lake City, UT Gloria Keller, Santa Rosa, CA Eugene Khorey, Homestead, PA Fran Lilleness, Seattle, WA Edwin Lindgren, Overland Park, KS Yehuda Littmann, Brooklyn, NY Jonothan Logan, New York, NY Erna Lund, Seattle, WA Charles Lutz, Richfield, MN Nidal Mahayni, Richmond, VA Dr. & Mrs. Aly A. Mahmoud, Oceanside, CA Tahera Mamdani, Fridley, MN Gwendolyn McEwen, Bellingham, WA Bill McGrath, Northfield, MN Susan Kay Metcalfe, Beaverton, OR W. Eugene Notz, Charleston, SC Cindy Percak, Cinnaminson, NJ Jim Plourd, Monterey, CA Paul Richards, Salem, OR James F. Robinson III, San Angelo, TX Fred Rogers & Jenny Hartley, Northfield, MN 74

Ambassador William Rugh, Hingham, MA Ramzy Salem, Monterey Park, CA Izzat & Jawad Saymeh, Charlotte, NC Richard Schreitz, Alexandria, VA Carolynne Schutt, Doylestown, PA William A. Shaheen III, Od Grosse Ile, MI Ellen Siegel, Washington, DC MaryLou Smith, Chapel Hill, NC Mushtaq Syed, Santa Clara, CA Thomas Trueblood, Chapel Hill, NC Richard Wigton, Mechanicsburg, PA Nabil Yakub, McLean, VA Dr. & Mrs. Fathi S. Yousef, Irvine, CA Hugh & Yasmin Ziada, Garden Grove, CA Mohammed Ziaullah, Montclair, CA Fred Zuercher, Spring Grove, PA

ACCOMPANISTS ($250 or more)

Jeff Abood, Silver Lake, OH Hani Ali, Athens, Greece Dr. Robert Ashmore, Jr, Mequon, WI Candice Bodnaruk, Winnipeg, Canada Larry Cooper, Plymouth, MI** Dixiane Hallaj, Purcellville, VA Akram & Lubna Karam, Charlotte, NC Michael Ladah, Las Vegas, NV Mary Neznek, Washington, DC Hertha Poje-Ammoumi, New York, NY John & Peggy Prugh, Tucson, AZ Paul Richards, Salem, OR Ramzy Salem, Monterey Park, CA Betty Sams, Washington, DC# Irmgard Scherer, Fairfax, VA Bernice Shaheen, Palm Desert, CA*** Mostafa Sherif, Happy Valley, OR Mashood Yunus, New Brighton, MN

TENORS & CONTRALTOS ($500 or more)

Concerned Citizen, McLean, VA Diane Adkin, Camas, WA Mohamed Ahamedkutty, Toronto, Canada Sylvia Anderson De Freitas, Duluth, MN Dr. & Mrs. Roger Bagshaw, Big Sur, CA James Bennett, Fayetteville, AR Patricia Christensen, Poulsbo, WA Forrest & Sandi Cioppa, Moraga, CA Raymond Gordon, Venice, FL

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

Dr. Wasif Hafeez, W. Bloomﬁeld, MI Virgina K. Hilmy, Highland, CA Dr. Muhammad M. Kudaimi, Munster, IN Tom & Tess McAndrew, Oro Valley, AZ Darrel Meyers, Burbank, CA Estate of Thomas Shaker, Poughkeepsie, NY**** David Williams, Golden, CO

BARITONES & MEZZO SOPRANOS ($1,000 or more)

Asha A. Anand, Bethesda, MD Joseph Daruty, Newport Beach, CA Gary Richard Feulner, Dubai, UAE Dr. E. R. Fields, Marietta, GA### Ronald & Mary Forthofer, Boulder, CO Dorsey Gardner, Palm Beach, FL Judith Howard, Norwood, MA Ghazy M. Kader, Shoreline, WA Jack Love, Fort Myers, FL Mr. & Mrs. Hani Marar, Delmar, NY Estate of Jean Elizabeth Mayer, Bethesda, MD Mary Norton, Austin, TX Richard J. Shaker, Annapolis, MD**** Dr. Imad Tabry, Fort Lauderdale, FL Donn Trautman, Evanston, IL Young Again Foundation, Leland, NC

CHOIRMASTERS ($5,000 or more)

Anonymous, Palo Alto, CA## Dr. & Mrs. Clyde Farris, West Linn, OR *, # John & Henrietta Goelet, Washington, DC Dr. Letitia Lane-Abdallah, Greensboro, NC William Lightfoot, Vienna, VA *In Memory of Dick and Donna Curtiss **In Memory of Diane Cooper ***In Memory of Dr. Jack G. Shaheen ****In Memory of Thomas R. Shaker #In Memory of Andrew I. Killgore ## In Memory of Rachelle & Hugh Marshall ### In Memory of Jayne E. Fields

noveMbeR/deceMbeR 2021

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FORGING PATH THWA AYS FOR WARD A

Give TToda odday! act.upaconnnect.org/pathwaysffor orward Phone: 202-659-5007 WR Ad v2 v2.indd indd 20

This holiday seasson, forge pathways forward for Palestinian comm munities with a donation toda o y! 10/18/2021 7:26:36 PM

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American Educational Trust Washington Report on Middle East Affairs P.O. Box 53062 Washington, DC 20009

November/December 2021 Vol. XL, No. 7

An Iranian man boating along a river with a view of the 70-year-old ﬁsherman’s bazaar in the seaport city of Anzali, on the Caspian Sea, 227 miles north of Tehran, Sept. 28, 2021. PHOTO BY MOMORTEZA NIKOUBAZL/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES