Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - Vol. XXXIII, No. 6 | September 2014

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113 CONGRESS’ HALLS OF FAME AND SHAME

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On Middle East Affairs

Volume XXXIII, No. 6

September 2014

Telling the Truth for More Than 30 Years…

Interpreting the Middle East for North Americans

Interpreting North America for the Middle East

■

THE U.S. ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE 8 Israel Again Wreaks Vengeance on Gaza —Rachelle Marshall

20 American Third Pillar Volunteers Help the Homeless in Washington, DC —Delinda C. Hanley

11 An Open Letter to the Media on Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge”—Al-Haq

22 Israel’s Ongoing War on the U.N. Waged With Impunity—Ian Williams

13 Is Everyone a “Terrorist”? Israel Attacks Facility for The Disabled in Gaza—Mohammed Omer 14 If Gaza’s Dead Were America’s Dead—Barry Lando 15 Resolving Gaza Starts From 1947-48 —Rami G. Khouri 16 On Israel’s Insanity Defense and the World’s Shared Delusion—Samah Jabr 18 Americans Take to the Streets in Support of Gaza —Photo essay

24 Old Ideologies, Modern Follies: The “Jewish State” and The “Islamic State”—Dale Sprusansky 26 Israel Uses Closed Military Firing Zones to Drive More Palestinians From Their Land—Jonathan Cook CONGRESS AND THE 2014 ELECTIONS 28 Ten Senators, 17 Representatives in 113th Congress’ “Hall of Fame”—Shirl McArthur

SPECIAL REPORTS 42 What Did U.S. Spy Satellites See in Ukraine?

—Robert Parry 44 “Man of the People” Joko Widodo Wins Indonesia’s Presidential Election

—John Gee

ADAM BERRY/GETTY IMAGES

80 In Memoriam: Casey Kasem (1932-2014) —Jack G. Shaheen

A sign held by a participant in a July 17 demonstration in Berlin against Israeli military action in Gaza. See pp. 18 and 19 for coverage of demonstrations throughout the U.S.

ON THE COVER: A relative of Ahed Zaqot, killed in an Israeli airstrike, weeps during his funeral in Gaza City, July 30, 2014.

HOSAM SALEM/NurPhoto/CORBIS

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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 1-888-881-5861.)

Other Voices

Compiled by Janet McMahon

Netanyahu’s Real Goal, Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, Agence Global How U.S. and Blair Plotted “Cease-fire” Scam, Jonathan Cook, www.jonathan-cook.net Timelines and Historical Creationism, Ted Snider, www.antiwar.com New York Times Silences Israel’s Palestinian Citizens on Gaza War, Patrick Connors, http://mondoweiss.net “So Long, Israel, and Thanks For Nothing,” Carol Daniel Kasbari, Haaretz

OV-1

How America’s Policies Sealed Iraq’s Fate, Dahr Jamail, Agence Global

OV-2

Trouble Brewing in Kurdish-Controlled Kirkuk, OV-11 Mohammed A. Salih, Inter Press Service

OV-3

Liberated Homs Residents Challenge Notion Of “Revolution,” Eva Bartlett, Inter Press Service OV-12

OV-4

OV-5

Stop Calling the Iraq War a “Mistake,” Dennis J. Kucinich, www.huffingtonpost.com

OV-6

Neocons Go Undercover, Justin Raimondo, www.antiwar.com

OV-7

OV-8

Report: Iran Sanctions Cost U.S. Economy Up to $175 Billion, NIAC Press Release

OV-13

“Tyrant” Full of Vicious Stereotypes, Jack G. Shaheen, www.thereporteronline.com

OV-14

Celebrating a Muslim Hero, in Iowa, Jan Gross, www.desmoinesregister.com

OV-14

Why I, a Palestinian-American Muslim, Went to the White House Iftar and What I Learned, Tarik Takkesh, http://mondoweiss.net

OV-15

DEPARTMENTS 5 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 7 PUBLISHERS’ PAGE 46 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHRONICLE: Palestinian Patience Wears Thin as Israeli Crimes Escalate, World Witnesses Silently

—Pat and Samir Twair 48 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHRONICLE: Assembly Member Richard Pan Hosts Reception Honoring Life, Art of Hassan Alawsi—Elaine Pasquini

54 ISRAEL AND JUDAISM:

Obama’s Foreign Policy and the

Semites” Has Backfired in More

Future of the Middle East

Ways Than One—Allan C. Brownfeld 77 BULLETIN BOARD 56 THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST — CARTOONS

52 CHRISTIANITY AND THE MIDDLE EAST: Presbyterian Church (USA) Votes to Divest From Three U.S. Corporations—Paul H. Verduin

78 BOOK REVIEW: Jerusalem Unbound: Geography,

57 OTHER PEOPLE’S MAIL

History, & the Future of the Holy City—Reviewed by Kevin A. Davis

60 ARAB AMERICAN ACTIVISM: ADC Convention’s Theme: “It Takes a Community”

65 MUSLIM AMERICAN 50 NEW YORK CITY AND TRI-STATE NEWS: Two-State Solution Is History, Says Israeli Activist Jeff Halper—Jane Adas

69 WAGING PEACE:

Calling Presbyterians “Anti-

79 NEW ARRIVALS FROM THE AET BOOKSTORE 81 2014 AET CHOIR OF ANGELS

ACTIVISM: A Ramadan Precedent

66 MUSIC & ARTS: Changing Regimes and Societies With the Power of Music

68 HUMAN RIGHTS: North-South Prize

49 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

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Publisher: Managing Editor: News Editor: Assistant Editor: Book Club Director: Finance & Admin.

Director: Art Director: Executive Editor:

ANDREW I. KILLGORE JANET McMAHON DELINDA C. HANLEY DALE SPRUSANSKY KEVIN A. DAVIS CHARLES R. CARTER RALPH U. SCHERER RICHARD H. CURTISS (1927-2013)

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (ISSN 8755-4917) is published 8 times a year, monthly except Jan./Feb., March/April and June/July 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.

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Published by the American Educational Trust (AET), a non-profit 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 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, selfdetermination, and fair play.

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Phone: (888) 881-5861 • Fax: (714) 226-9733 Printed in the USA

SEPTEMBER 2014

LetterstotheEditor Horror and Shock I am sitting here in Nairobi frozen in horror and shock at the needless suffering inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza. Just look at those Israeli monsters with their high-tech killing machines bombing the hell out of defenseless Gazans. What kind of world are we living in that Obama and Merkel can sit on the sidelines basically cheering them on?

Dana April Seidenberg, via e-mail Israel’s campaign of terror against nearly two million innocent civilians trapped in Gaza is unconscionable. Its targeting of homes, schools, mosques and power plants indicates that civilians are the primary targets, and resistance fighters collateral damage, rather than the other way around. Outraged human beings in this country (see p. 18) and around the world are taking to the streets to demand an end to the carnage.

They are showing themselves to be the real moral leaders!

Nowhere to Run Mohammed Omer’s piece “Nowhere to run” is one of the best of the dozens (hundreds?) of articles that I have read—certainly the best first-person account—about the present onslaught on Gaza. I have posted it on Twitter.

Many thanks and keep up the great work. I am proud to have been associated with the Washington Report since its founding 30-plus years ago.

William Lee, Brooklyn, NY Thank you so much for your support over the decades!

In addition to his regular articles in our print editions, we circulated our Gaza correspondent’s July 9 account of the first days of Israel’s latest assault on his country to our many thousands of action alert recipients.

Those who would like to receive the alerts may sign up on our website, <www.wrmea. org>, under “Vital Activist Resources.”

Omer has since been published in The New York Times, Al-Jazeera, Middle East Eye and other outlets, and appeared on the radio program “Democracy Now!” He truly is a “voice for the voiceless” people of Gaza, all of whom are in our thoughts and prayers.

From Cuckoo to Bird of Prey The state of Israel was imposed upon the Muslim Middle East by a then-newly formed United Nations that represented only a fraction of the global community in 1947. Even then, the resolution that was framed by a post-war lobby in America— THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

that had persuaded a reluctant President Truman it would be politically expedient—was only passed in the face of vociferous opposition from all the Arab states that would be directly affected, and who threatened a defensive war if the nonbinding resolution was implemented.

However, the state of Israel was established in 1948; the Arabs did wage a defensive war—but lost, thereby establishing a cuckoo in the Muslim nest.

That cuckoo has since transmogrified itself into a nuclear-armed bird of prey that, unlike everything in nature, kills not for food but for power. This is now a creature that has outgrown its foreign habitat and

needs to be caught, overpowered and returned to breed in its native America, where it will have a sufficiency of land and food to sustain itself and procreate. Then Palestine can be returned to the indigenous people of the region, the Muslim Arabs, and there can be peace, west of the River Jordan, for the first time in nearly threequarters of a century.

Tony Bellchambers, London, England We’ve always found it significant that Zionism did not originate in the primarily Muslim Middle East, where many Jews emigrated after 1492, but in the “civilized” Christian West (including, of course, England, home to Lord Balfour, he of the infamous declaration). Yet today it is the Arab world that is paying the price for what author and musician Gilad Atzmon describes as Israel’s “pre-traumatic stress disorder.”

Unable to Claim Ignorance Thank you for your informative and courageous website/magazine through the years. With articles such as those you publish, at least no one can say, “I didn’t know.”

Here’s my question, perhaps you might point me in the right direction for an answer.

I know there are many people in the Obama administration who hold dual U.S.5

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Israeli citizenship. I have seen the Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming!

The Tides Are Turning! list in several places.

Send your letters to the editor to the Washington Based largely on post-Holocaust Is there a similar list of current Report, P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009 Christian guilt, coupled with an congressional staffers who are dual or e-mail <letters@wrmea.org>. extraordinary ability to organize, citizens?

Zionists, for more than 40 years, have Thanks again for your work.

Bob DeWeese, Port Townsend, WA not a political action committee, and hence completely controlled the narrative reWe are not aware of any such Capitol Hill does not make campaign contributions. The garding the Israeli occupation of the anlist, but shall remain on alert. Of course, any congressional junkets to which you refer are cestral lands of Palestine. But slowly, ever Jewish staffer is eligible to become an Israeli all-expense-paid trips paid for by the Ameri- so slowly, the tides are turning. Several citizen. Whether they avail themselves of that can Israel Education Foundation, which factors are responsible for the historic privilege (not available to non-Jews) or not, AIPAC describes as its “affiliated” charita- shift. First, the once most potent weapon however, more than a few of them often act ble organization. Theoretically, then, no of the Zionists, i.e., the age-long timeworn assiduously on behalf of the self-proclaimed money changes hands, and the recipients are accusation of anti-Semitism, is rapidly losing its force and effect. It took almost 70 Jewish state. Maybe that’s because AIPAC for the election winners who have taken office. years has taken pains to place its interns and In a 2009 interview with Melanie Sloan years, but people finally are starting to reacolytes in as many congressional offices as of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in alize that the charge of anti-Semitism has possible. To paraphrase the old Levy’s rye Washington (CREW), C-SPAN’s Brian largely been used as a tool by the Zionists bread ads: “You don’t have to be Israeli…” Lamb read an excerpt from the guide to to suppress criticism and to garner unconcongressional ethics on the CREW website: ditional support.

Free Trips Not Included Second, the ever-increasing outrageous“Two, the sponsor of the trip does not retain Thank you for the “Election Watch” from or employ a registered lobbyist or a foreign ness of Israeli conduct toward the virtually the August 2014 issue. Do the contribu- agent.…Sponsor…is an institution of defenseless Palestinians is becoming imtions received by our congressional incum- higher learning, as defined by section 101 of possible to legitimately defend—even for bents include the free trip so many of them the Higher Education Act of 1965...” Sloan the most ardent of Israel supporters. Inhave received to go to Israel? Colleen then explained: “Well, this was initially deed, even a growing number of Jews are Hanabusa of Hawaii received a free trip to even called the AIPAC exception.” In this speaking out against the atrocities commitIsrael, I believe it was for two people. I case, we’re afraid, the exception doesn’t ted by many of their brothers in the occudon’t know if Sen. Brian Schatz also re- prove the rule! pied territories. ceived a similar trip. All our Congress peoFinally, the growing availability of sople have received these trips, including Programmed for Failure cial and alternative media is allowing a Mazie Hirono and Tulsi Gabbard. Are their One big reason for the failure of Obama’s shocked world to see, many for the first travel expenses included in the contribu- “peace process” that I have not heard is time, what is really happening on the the total inappropriateness of the U.S. act- ground in the Middle East. And it is this tions you list? Thank you very much. ing as the mediator of this matter. The U.S. final factor that is the key. Evil cannot Leatrice Fung, via e-mail The pro-Israel PAC contributions we mon- has glaring conflicts of interests regarding survive in the light of the day. But we all itor every election year consist of cash dona- this issue generated by its decades of un- must do our part to spread the light. How tions to congressional campaigns. Some 30 de- qualified support for one party at the ex- do we do that? you ask. Simple. First we ceptively named pro-Israel PACs donate to pense of the other. How can it suddenly educate ourselves, and then we educate virtually the same candidates, which we seri- be expected to act impartially? It’s like anyone and everyone who will listen. An ously doubt is merely a coincidence. Despite asking the Hatfields’ lawyer and patron to informal and animated world brought an the presence of “PAC” in AIPAC—the Amer- settle their dispute with the McCoys. If end to South African apartheid; we can ican Israel Public Affairs Committee—it is the administration had a shred of con- do the same to Israeli apartheid. And science or wit they every little bit helps. For example, and I would recuse them- encourage all of you to do this as well, on Other Voices is an optional selves. the outside of the envelope of every let16-page supplement availGregory DeSylva, ter I send and on the bottom of every able only to subscribers of Rhinebeck, NY electronic message I send, I affix the “Israel’s Lawyers”— phrase: “BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sancthe Washington Report on including Dennis Ross, tion)—End Israeli Apartheid!” We must Middle East Affairs. For an Martin Indyk, Aaron get these powerful words widely dissemadditional $15 per year (see David Miller and inated. postcard insert for Wash other partisans of the Do this and get everyone you know to ington Re port subscripself-proclaimed Jew- do this. Start blogs and websites, correish state — have spond with Palestinians, write your lawtion rates), subscribers will achieved their goal: makers and get your friends and family to receive Other Voices inside no negotiated solution do so, post large placards in public places, each issue of their Washington Report on Middle East to its deadly occupa- set up teams and canvass college campuses, Affairs. tion of Palestine. The get involved—nay, become immersed—in Back issues of both publications are available. To real mystery — or this historic moment. Walk bravely, you maybe not — is why are not walking alone. subscribe telephone 1 (888) 881-5861, fax (714) 226these men have not Scott Barbour, Pine Knot, KY 9733, e-mail <circulation@wrmea.org>, or write to been put out to pasAs Israel continues to reveal its true naP.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. ture for the good of us ture, we trust that more and more people of all. conscience will take action! ❑ 6

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

SEPTEMBER 2014

publishers_7_September 2014 Publishers page 7/31/14 8:04 PM Page 7

American Educational Trust

Publishers’ Page

Killing Children in Their Sleep.

SAID KHATIB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

and intolerance expressed before, “The shelling of a U.N. facility that is even at the height of World War II. housing innocent civilians who are Everyday, Everywhere… fleeing violence is totally unacceptProtests are taking place in cities able and totally indefensible,” White around the world, including Tel House spokesman Josh Earnest Aviv and Washington, DC—but said—at last—on July 31, more than you wouldn’t know it from your three weeks after Israel began its local newspaper, TV network news latest assault on the besieged Gaza or even The New York Times or Strip. After establishing that the Washington Post. The Post has school-turned-shelter for 3,300 mentioned rallies in Germany and people in the Jabalya refugee camp France, suggesting protesters were was bombed by Israeli shells, killing somehow anti-Semitic, or “echoes some 20 people, including U.N. workers, Pierre Krahenbuhl, the A Palestinian child wounded in an Israeli air strike on his from Germany’s past.”

UNRWA commissioner-general, said, family home arrives at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southBut “Change Is in the Air,” “I condemn in the strongest possible ern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2014.

Said activist Nora Burgan, hours terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces.” According to her hosts watched news in Arabic broadcast after returning from a trip to Gaza. “We’re at Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. had on their cable or satellite station, which she the tipping point.” Palestinians refer to the given Israel precise GPS coordinates for the hadn’t had access to since she arrived in the resistance, not to Hamas. Tweet, use social school—17 times! Krahenbuhl said, “This is States. “The difference is night and day from media, send messages to NBC, CBS, and letan affront to all of us, a source of universal the news on American TV,” she marveled. ters to the editor. We can change U.S. foreign policy, she concluded. Indeed, after outraged “It’s like we live in an alternate universe.” shame.…Today,” he lamented,... viewers protested to NBC, reporter Mo“The World Stands Disgraced.”

And That’s No Accident. hyeldin was sent back to Gaza, to give the Israel’s vastly superior firepower is bolstered American reporters get in trouble if they “Palestinian perspective.” Let’s make that… by more than $3 billion in annual U.S. mili- betray sympathy for Palestinian civilian victary aid, and Congress spent the final days tims. Egyptian-American NBC correspon- The First of Many Victories. before its August recess working on a pack- dent Ayman Mohyeldin witnessed and then age of additional taxpayer support for Israel’s reported on the brutal killing by Israeli gun- We Need Your Help.

Iron Dome security system. CNN revealed boats of four little boys playing soccer on a We are in urgent need of your generous conthat the Pentagon provided Israel with an beach in Gaza City. NBC quickly replaced tributions—your time, ideas and cash. The emergency shipment of ammunition within him with Richard Engel, who, to their cha- needs of people lacking water, food and three days of its request on July 20. grin, is also compelled to give heart-rending safety both at home and in the Holy Land reports. How long will he last? Reporters for come first, of course. But those of us fightAnguish and Shame.

American TV can’t be too critical of Israelis ing for their rights here need help, too.

The Washington Report is receiving anguished or, like CNN’s Diana Magnay, they’ll be “re- • We need a volunteer graphic designer to and heart-rending telephone calls and e-mails assigned.” After being threatened and harhelp us create signs, postcards, advertisefrom our readers, friends and writers. People rassed before and during a live shot in ments and more. also are stopping by our Middle East book- Israel, Magnay tweeted: “Israelis on hill • Because our hard-working summer instore to talk. “I’m so ashamed of my govern- above Sderot cheer as bombs land on #gaza; terns are returning to school, we need talment,” we’re hearing, or “We need to cut off threaten to ‘destroy our car if I say a word ented replacement “Helen Thomas InU.S. aid now.” One 87-year-old (with a Jewish wrong.’ Scum.” Magnay found herself on terns” this fall. Please apply by sending last name) who lives near our office said, “I’m the next plane to Moscow. your resume, writing sample and a cover upset and grieving. I have no ties to the letter explaining your motivations to <in Middle East. In fact I completely supported Who, Me, a Racist? ternship@wrmea.org>.

Israel until it started building settlements. I’m Israeli Knesset member Ayelet Shaked posted • Follow us on Twitter (@WRMEA) and like sickened by the Washington Post’s coverage of a screed on Facebook that appears to be a call us on Facebook. Add your protest pictures Israel’s attacks on civilians, U.N. schools and for genocide (and sure enough, the day after and comments to our Facebook page hospitals. There have been no reports of the her post three settlers burned a Palestinian <https://www.facebook.com/wrmea>. reaction in the Arab streets or even European teenager alive). Shaked went on a rant about • If you can’t drop into our bookstore to Palestinian mothers: “They have to die and streets. Where can I get real news?” admire its new look, visit our new <mid their houses should be demolished so that dleeastbooks.com> website and blog.

That’s the Problem. they cannot bear any more terrorists...all are • Keep your spirits and energy up. There are Dina Salah ElDin, a Washington Report our enemies and their blood should be on our so many of us who care and refuse to give summer intern from Egypt, enjoyed an Eid hands. This also applies to the mothers of the up. We know that, together, we can ..... dinner with a local Egyptian-American dead terrorists.” A European friend called us family. She found herself glued to the TV as and said she’d never heard that kind of hatred Make a Difference Today!

SEPTEMBER 2014

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

7

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Israel Again Wreaks Vengeance on Gaza SpecialReport

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Rachelle Marshall

A displaced girl stands next to a makeshift tent at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where many Palestinians sought refuge after fleeing Israeli attacks on the city’s Shejaiya neighborhood, July 21, 2014. srael’s scuttling of the recent peace talks,

Iand the Obama administration’s decision to back away from efforts to end the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, left a vacuum destined to be filled by violence. It was not long in coming. The murder of three young Israeli settlers on June 12, and the torture and burning to death of a 16-year-old Palestinian three weeks later reflected in turn the anger and frustration felt by the Palestinians as hopes of independence faded, and the bitter hatred of Arabs fostered by strident Israeli extremists, many of them members of the government.

Official Israeli reaction after each crime illustrated the double standard inherent in a Zionist state where all people are said to be equal but some are more equal than others.

When the young Israelis—Gilad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah—were abducted and shot to death while hitchhiking near Hebron, all of Israel erupted in mourning —the laments accompanied by calls for revenge and cries of “Death to Arabs.” Facebook and other social media were filled with anti-Arab hate messages.

Citing no evidence whatever, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu immediately blamed Hamas for the killing. “[The vicRachelle Marshall is a free-lance editor living in Mill Valley, CA. A member of Jewish Voice for Peace, she writes frequently on the Middle East.

8

tims] were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by beasts,” he said. “Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay.” Cabinet member Naftali Bennett promised to “turn membership in Hamas into an entry ticket to hell.” It was the entire population of Gaza that paid, and heavily.

Israel launched “Operation Protective Edge” on July 7, with its most intensive bombing attack on Gaza since 2009, when air strikes killed 1,400 Palestinians. Again, F16s, Apache helicopters and warships bombarded the densely crowded Gaza Strip day and night, blowing apart apartment houses, offices and homes. Targets were chosen seemingly at random, and aimed at punishing the whole population—half of whom are children. During the first few days alone, fire from an offshore naval vessel killed four small boys as they played soccer on the beach. An air strike on a center for the disabled killed two patients and seriously injured four. A bomb destroyed a seaside cafe, killing nine young men who were watching the World Cup. Another missile slammed into a mosque during evening Ramadan prayers and killed 18 worshippers.

With no bomb shelters to protect them, and surrounded by closed borders and unable to escape, more than 1,200 Palestinians were killed in the first 3 weeks, including at least 200 children. Six thousand Gazans were wounded. Meanwhile Israel had cut off electricity supplies to Gaza and deTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

stroyed sewage pipes, so raw sewage flowed in the streets. On July 20, one of the deadliest days, Israeli tanks invaded the crowded Shejaiya section of Gaza City and kept up a steady barrage of artillery fire, killing 87 Palestinians and filling the hospitals with shrapnel-torn bodies. As Israeli shells crashed down even on ambulances, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the attack on Shejaiya an “atrocious action.”

When it seemed the terrorizing of Gaza could get no worse, Israel launched a ground invasion, using gunboats, tanks and thousands of troops, while war planes continued to pound the besieged territory. In the hours before the invasion, gunboats kept up constant fire along the sea front as Israeli bombers hit a rehabilitation hospital and an air strike killed 4 more small children, bringing to 17 the number of children killed in just 2 days.

President Barack Obama expressed sorrow over the civilian casualties but reiterated his support for Israel. “Israel has a right to defend itself,” he said, referring to the hundreds of rockets fired by Hamas in retaliation for Israeli air strikes.

An Egyptian cease-fire proposal negotiated

by Secretary of State John Kerry—with the notable exclusion of Hamas from the talks— required no concessions from Israel and would have maintained the status quo. Gaza would remain an open-air prison, its inhabitants trapped behind Israeli-controlled borders and suffering under a seven-year blockade that has totally paralyzed the economy and left Gazans dependent on outside aid.

The critical shortages of electricity, fuel and hospital supplies would continue unrelieved.

“Everyone wanted us to accept a cease-fire and then negotiate our rights,” said Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, no doubt recalling the fruitless negotiations of the past.

“We rejected this and we reject it again.”

On July 29, as the number of Palestinian dead passed 1,200, including 300 children, Israel escalated its offensive by bombing 150 more sites, including Gaza’s only surviving power plant. As flames from the burning plant filled the sky, electricity needed to run water and sewer systems, hospitals, and homes was completely cut off.

Qatar has offered to pay Gaza’s 43,000 civil servants, who have long gone unpaid, but is prevented from doing so by U.S. prohibitions against aiding “terrorist organizations.” An Israeli official recently called plans for the construction of 3,000 more housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem SEPTEMBER 2014

and the West Bank “an appropriate Zionist response to the establishment of the Palestinian terror government.” In fact, the government resulting from the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah is made up of nonpartisan professionals. It includes no Hamas members¸ and is largely under the control of President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.

On the West Bank, immediately following the kidnapping of the three Israelis the army began an extensive search for the kidnappers. Soldiers ransacked media offices, charitable societies, and homes, leaving behind piles of broken furniture, office equipment, and toys. At the end of 3 weeks, 550 West Bank Palestinians had been arrested, at least 100 were wounded and 6 were dead. Many Palestinians released by Israel in a 2011 prisoner swap with Hamas were rearrested.

On July 2, a day after the three Israeli youths were buried, the body of Muhammed Abu Khdeir was found in a Jerusalem forest. An autopsy found the slight 16-year-old had been tortured and beaten, then burned to death while he was still alive. “He couldn’t hurt a fly, he is so small,” a cousin said. A video taken by a security camera showed him being forced into a car near his home in the Shuafat neighborhood of East Jerusalem while walking to the local mosque for pre-dawn prayers. Settlers in East Jerusalem had earlier tried to kidnap a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old but were thwarted by the children’s mothers.

This time, Israeli officials warned against a rush to judgment. A government spokesman said it had not yet been determined whether the killing was an act of revenge or a nonpolitical crime. Four of Muhammed’s cousins were grilled by police for several hours, and pressed on whether the motive for Muhammed’s killing was a family dispute. Salahedeen Khdeir, an uncle of Muhammed, said, “We gave the police pictures of the kidnappers, the car tags, exactly when and where he was taken, and still they say this is a family problem.”

When Palestinians turned out to protest Muhammed’s murder, police responded with tear gas, stun grenades and live ammunition, injuring some 170 people. One of the injured was Muhammed’s American cousin, 15-yearold Tariq Khdeir, who was visiting with his father from their home in Florida. Tariq was watching the demonstrations from the sidelines when he was set upon and beaten by a group of masked Israeli police. A video taken by neighbors shows the Israelis kicking and dragging the handcuffed boy, whose face was badly bruised and both eyes blackened.

The court filed no charges against Tariq but fined him $800 and ordered him held under house arrest for 9 days.

On July 6, Israeli officials announced the arrest of three Israelis for the murder of SEPTEMBER 2014

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

marshall_8-10_Special Report 7/31/14 7:46 PM Page 9

A man kisses the head of Noha Mesleh, a one-year-old baby who died of her wounds from an Israeli attack on the UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun where Palestinians had sought refuge, as he carries her body during her funeral in Beit Lahia, July 25, 2014.

Muhammed Khdeir. Details of the arrest were hushed up by a judicial gag order but press reports said the suspects belonged to one of the ultra-Orthodox extremist groups that are exerting increasing influence on young Israelis. Contrary to their treatment of Hamas, however, Israeli officials blamed none of these organizations for the killings.

Ahmed Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Knesset, pointed to the contrast between the government’s reaction to the kidnapping of the three Israeli settlers and the hushedup arrest of Muhammed’s killers. “It’s an ordinary message that the life of Jewish Israelis is much more valuable than the life of others, especially Palestinians,” he said.

“This is a double standard, both moral and political, and it’s part of the anger in the street here, about what the Israelis are doing to our lives.”

According to B’Tselem, since 2000, Israelis have killed 3,000 Palestinians who were not taking part in any hostilities. The longest prison sentence given to a soldier guilty of an unlawful killing was seven and a half months.

Hamas officials persistently denied any involvement in the kidnapping of the three Israelis and tried at first to stop the militants’ rocket attacks. But as Israel’s bombing of Gaza continued to kill Hamas members, and civilian casualties mounted, Hamas’ military wing responded with its own more sophisticated rockets. Hamas’ pledge to refrain from violence was ended, and the reconciliation agreement with Fatah in danger of falling apart.

After a June 21 article in Haaretz speculated that the kidnapped Israeli youths had been assumed dead from the beginning, there was little doubt that the army’s West Bank THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

search operation and assault on Gaza were aimed at destroying Hamas once and for all and ending its unity agreement with Fatah.

As long as the occupation continues, however, a fatally weakened Hamas will sooner or later be replaced by more militant groups, and President Abbas, who has already been criticized for cooperating too closely with Israel, will suffer as well. If the Israelis can discredit moderate Palestinian leaders, and eliminate Hamas leaders willing to accept peace with Israel in exchange for return of the occupied territories, they will finally be able to say with truth that they have no one to negotiate with. For Israel’s increasingly extremist right wing, combatting Palestinian resistance with military power is infinitely preferable to negotiating with representatives of a united Palestine willing to live in peace with Israel.

Inching Back Into Iraq After backing away from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Obama is slowly edging into a more intractable conflict in Iraq, where jihadis known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) continue to seize Iraqi territory.

Making their job easier is the fact that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has proven to be as brutal a strong man as Saddam Hussain.

He has engaged in a long-running feud with the Kurds over the control of oil in their territory, systematically excluded Sunnis from the government, and imprisoned tens of thousands of Sunni men. Maliki’s militias have summarily executed hundreds of them. When ISIS forces invaded Iraq early this summer, Iraqi soldiers trained and funded by the U.S. abandoned their weapons and melted away—the retreat led by their officers.

9

marshall_8-10_Special Report 7/31/14 7:46 PM Page 10

“Hamas Is Not Alone Anymore…”

If one of the purposes of “Operation Protective Edge” was to inflict so much punishment on the Palestinians they would turn against Hamas, the effort failed. On the contrary, as Israeli bombs fell on hospitals, schools, homes and U.N. shelters, and left entire neighborhoods in ruins, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza came together as never before in support of Hamas. Protest demonstrations spread throughout the West Bank, often erupting in violence as demonstrators were confronted by Israeli soldiers and armed settlers. On the night of July 25, more than 10,000 people marched through Ramallah to to the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, where they were met by soldiers Elections were held last April, but so far parliament has been able to agree only on a new speaker, Salim al-Jubouri, a moderate Sunni. A prime minister was to be chosen by mid-August, but with no more likely candidate in sight, Washington is reluctantly continuing to support Maliki. Obama announced in late June that he was sending 350 military advisers to Baghdad and (Advertisement)

10

armed with M-16s—weapons normally used against a wartime enemy.

By the end of that week, the Israelis had killed at least six West Bank Palestinians. One of them was Hashem Abu Maria, a staff member of Defense for Children International-Palestine, who witnesses said was standing and watching when Israeli soldiers shot him. But the protesters were not deterred. “It doesn’t matter how many of us they kill,” a participant in the Ramallah march said. “Hamas is doing the right thing for us.” Another said, “Actually, I thank Netanyahu because he united us. Now Hamas is not alone anymore, all the people are united.”

—R.M.

promised direct military action “if it’s necessary to defend the United States against an imminent threat.” But since ISIS’ stated goal is to establish a Caliphate in most of Syria and Iraq, it is hard to see how it poses an imminent threat to U.S. security.

The more likely fear on the administration’s part is that without help from Washington, Iraq will become dependent on Iran. Consequently the U.S. is providing Maliki with a $14 billion military aid package that includes F-16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters, Hellfire missiles and M-16 rifles.

Witnesses say Iraqi forces use helicopters to fire indiscriminately at suspected militants, and as a result are killing large numbers of civilians.

The unfolding scenario is familiar. Once again, as it did in Vietnam, the U.S. is inching its way into war in a region where its national security is not at stake. It is again supporting a corrupt and unpopular government against an enemy that is fiercely committed to its cause and familiar with the terrain. The U.S. is also in danger of becoming involved in an age-old sectarian dispute between Shi’i and Sunnis. The Arab saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend is applicable in Iraq. Many Sunnis don’t particularly like ISIS, but they hate Maliki more.

In yet another example of blowback, ISIS got its start in Iraq in response to the American invasion, when many Iraqis joined the jihadis to fight against the Americans. ISIS later regrouped in Syria, and now controls large portions of northern Iraq and Syria, erasing the map lines drawn in 1916 by Georges Picot of France and Sir Mark Sykes of Britain, the diplomats secretly assigned by their governments to carve up the Ottoman empire and apportion it beTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

tween their two countries.

The U.S. so far has been unable either to dislodge Maliki or persuade him to reach out to the Sunnis and Kurds. A similar impasse was narrowly avoided in Afghanistan, where former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah bitterly disputed the results of the recent election. Ghani was declared the winner by nearly a million votes, but Abdullah, who is backed by powerful northern warlords, claimed the count was fraudulent and threatened to seize power unilaterally.

After a 12-hour negotiating session led by Kerry, both candidates agreed to an internationally monitored recount, after which the winner would be declared president and the loser prime minister. The deal was reached only after Obama threatened to withhold billions of dollars in aid if the dispute continued. But it is a fragile agreement, and since Abdullah is a Tajik and Ghani is a Pashtun, if either one rejects the final results, Afghanistan could again be torn by ethnic conflict.

As the Obama administration has learned, there are clear limits to American power in the Muslim world. But after losing thousands of lives and spending hundreds of billions of dollars in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. has too much invested in each country to enable it to leave. A complete American withdrawal could leave Iraq vulnerable either to conquest by ISIS or domination by Iran. Withdrawal from Afghanistan almost certainly would lead to victory by the Taliban.

The two situations illustrate the folly of military intervention where U.S. national security is not at stake, and the eventual costs are likely to be many times greater than expected. The one country over which Washington does have significant influence is Israel, which in flagrant violation of international law is holding nearly two million Gazans under siege and repeatedly slaughters its most vulnerable citizens. In that situation constructive U.S. action remains woefully, shamefully, absent. ❑ SEPTEMBER 2014

Al-Haq_11-12_Special Report 7/31/14 5:50 PM Page 11

An Open Letter to the Media on Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge” SpecialReport

By Al-Haq n July 7 Israel launched “Operation

lowed, on July 17, by a ground invasion.

Reminiscent of “Operation Cast Lead” in December 2008 to January 2009 and “Operation Pillar of Defense” in November 2012, there have been violations of international law committed both by Israel and Palestinian resistance groups. Yet, as with previous operations, the framing of “Operation Protective Edge” by both the media and world leaders has not only distanced this latest round of hostilities from the wider context of Israel’s 47-year-old occupation of the Palestinian territory—namely the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip—but has also framed the discourse in a manner that largely legitimizes Israel’s violations of international law.

As a Palestinian human rights organization established to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Al-Haq has sought to address the widely inaccurate interpretations of international law that appear to justify Israel’s actions during “Operation Protective Edge.”

Why Israel’s “Self-Defense” Justification Is Misleading The U.N. Charter obliges all members to refrain from the threat or use of force, with the sole exception of the “inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations.” This provision of the U.N. Charter forms the basis of the jus ad bellum—otherwise known as the body of law that regulates how and when U.N. member states can resort to the use of force, i.e., it is applicable before an armed conflict erupts.

“Operation Protective Edge,” however, has been launched within the context of an Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian nongovernmental human rights organization based in Ramallah, West Bank. Established in 1979 to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, it has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. This article was first posted on its website, <www.alhaq.org>, July 24, 2014.

SEPTEMBER 2014

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

OProtective Edge” in the Gaza Strip fol-

A Palestinian watches as flames engulf the fuel tanks of the only power plant supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip after Israel shelled it overnight, July 29, 2014. ongoing occupation. Occupation in itself is a phase in armed conflict in which the previous invasion phase has ceased and authority is exercised and established by the occupying power. As such, the applicable body of law is international humanitarian law (IHL), which forms the basis of the jus in bello—otherwise known as the laws that regulate an ongoing armed conflict. Once in the throes of an armed conflict, as Israel has been since it occupied the OPT in 1967, the initial resort to force has already occurred and all ongoing and future use of force must be regulated exclusively by IHL, which does not include a “self-defense” provision. Instead, IHL recognizes the reality of armed conflict while seeking to limit the humanitarian cost with a number of fundamental provisions, from which there can be no derogation. The prohibition against intentionally targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure and the obligation to take all precautions in attack to avoid civilian casualties are two crucial tenets of IHL. Furthermore, Israel’s use of the “terrorism paradigm” to justify its attacks on the Gaza Strip is legally flawed. As the occupying power, Israel already exercises effective control over the OPT according to the rules of IHL. As such, rockets fired from THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

the Gaza Strip cannot be viewed as an external threat of terrorism, but instead must be addressed within the context of a belligerent occupant’s duty to maintain order within the occupied state under the laws governing belligerent occupation.

Regardless, the U.N. Security Council has made it clear that any actions combating terrorism must be in line with international law, particularly international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law. Therefore, Israel’s claim that it is engaged in a conflict to combat alleged terrorism does not absolve it from its obligations as a party to the conflict. As such, IHL and international human rights law (IHRL) remain the applicable bodies of law for any Israeli actions taken in the Gaza Strip no matter the pretext. Furthermore, it must be noted, the obligation to respect and ensure respect for IHL does not depend on reciprocity.

Why “Knock-on-the-Roof” Warnings, Telephone Calls, SMS Messages and Leaflets Do not Alleviate Israel’s Obligation not to Target Civilians and Civilian Infrastructure While the attacking party to the conflict is obliged to take precautionary measures be11

Al-Haq_11-12_Special Report 7/31/14 5:50 PM Page 12

fore carrying out attacks in order to spare civilians and civilian objects, this by no means negates the primary obligation not to make civilians and civilian objects the target of attack. In cases in which a building is civilian in nature, Israel’s policy of “knock-on-the-roof” warnings—a procedure in which it fires a small missile at the roof of a building to warn its occupants that a fully armed larger missile attack is imminent—does not transform that building or its occupants into legitimate military targets. Telephone calls, SMS messages and leaflets warning civilians of an imminent attack similarly cannot be considered to alter the individuals’ civilian character nor imply that civilian casualties resulting from such attacks are to be considered “human shields.” In addition, when providing warnings, attacking parties to the conflict must ensure that such warnings are meaningful in that they indicate where civilians can take shelter and how much time they have to evacuate the premises.

Without such information the warning is rendered ineffective.

Furthermore, Israel’s “knock-on-theroof” policy in itself has caused damage to civilian property, has injured and killed civilians and generates fear among the civilian population. In this regard, it should be emphasized that in all circumstances it is the attacking party that must to do everything possible to verify that the objective is indeed military and not civilian. In case of any doubt as to the identity of the object or persons, they must be assumed to be civilians; hence the attack must be aborted.

Why the Military Necessity of Displacing Thousands of Palestinians In the Gaza Strip Must Be Called Into Question Under IHL, the principle of military necessity is the exclusive legal justification for any military operation. As such, belligerent parties must assess whether a military advantage will be gained as a result of an attack against legitimate military targets. Even if the proposed action does not violate other rules of IHL, attacks not intended to contribute to the enemy’s military defeat can never be justified by military necessity, because they serve no military purpose. Following from this definition, military action must be intended toward the military defeat of the opposing forces and must offer a direct contribution toward this goal.

Israel’s policy of urging Palestinians to evacuate their homes in whole neighbor12

hoods, leading to the displacement of tens of thousands of people, can only be justified if such action is essential for the attainment of legitimate goals, which are in themselves in line with the rules of IHL. If an attack is carried out and it transpires that there was no military advantage to be gained, then it may suggest that the motivation for the attack was to terrorize and forcibly displace the civilian population, in violation of IHL. During “Operation Protective Edge” Israel has issued fake warnings in which it informs families that their homes will be attacked without actually carrying out the attack. Such warnings instil fear into the civilian population of Gaza, unnecessarily contribute to the daily increase in displaced Palestinians, and violate the prohibition included in the Fourth Geneva Convention against all measures of intimidation or terrorism.

Why Any Rejection of Cease-fire Proposals Does not Alter the Obligations Incumbent on the Parties to The Conflict Under International Law The acceptance or rejection of any ceasefire proposal by either party to the conflict is a purely political decision and does not alter the obligation incumbent upon both Palestinian resistance groups and Israel to refrain from targeting civilians and civilian objects. In accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention, no agreement between the parties to the conflict can adversely affect the situation of protected persons, i.e., the Palestinian population, nor restrict the rights conferred upon them by the Convention. Any cease-fire should be brokered under conditions that address the root cause of the current situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and that seek to bring to an end the unlawful closure of the Gaza Strip and ensure Israeli compliance with its obligations under international law.

Why “Operation Protective Edge” Must Be Viewed in the Context of Israel’s 47-Year-Old Occupation of The West Bank, Including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip Despite Israel’s unilateral “disengagement” in 2005, the Gaza Strip remains under occupation, as affirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), numerous states and U.N. bodies. Israel has repeatedly demonstrated that it meets the “effective control” threshold necessary for occupation through its ability to deploy troops into the Gaza Strip, its ability to THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

make its authority felt in the territory and its continuing control over land borders, population registry, airspace and territorial sea.

As the occupying power, Israel is under a legal obligation to take all necessary measures to protect the civilian population of the occupied territory and to ensure that the human rights of the population therein are upheld. Israel’s illegal regime of closure imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2007 amounts to a form of collective punishment of the population of 1.8 million and has prevented full recovery from the devastation caused by “Operation Cast Lead” and “Operation Pillar of Defense.” The Gaza Strip is entirely surrounded by a concrete wall, a double wire fence, watchtowers and closed crossings and is subject to a naval blockade, allowing Israel to monitor and restrict the entry of goods and materials into the territory, including vital medicine and medical equipment. In the past year, the only departure point from the Gaza Strip, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, has been frequently closed. These closures of the Rafah crossing, compounded by Israel’s ongoing closure of the territory, have resulted in electricity and fuel shortages.

This ongoing closure, combined with repeated cycles of violence, has a devastating impact on the population’s right to life, health, education, food, water and adequate standard of living—all of which Israel is obligated to provide for under IHRL. Import and export restrictions have severely stunted basic infrastructural development and recovery and have had a particularly negative impact on the agricultural and manufacturing sectors in Gaza. By the first quarter of 2014, this had translated into an unemployment rate of 40.8 percent.

These continuous violations of international law have provided the background for the current escalation of violence. In order for a just peace to be achieved that puts an end to this vicious cycle of violence, the international community must uphold their obligations under international law, including their own obligations under the Geneva Conventions, in order to end Israeli impunity. Ultimately, Israel’s occupation of the OPT must be brought to an end, as this is the root cause of the violations of international law committed in the region and the ongoing threat to peace and security. The framework for achieving this just peace is found in international law, and only through its respect and enforcement can such a peace be achieved. ❑ SEPTEMBER 2014

omer_13-14_Gaza on the Ground 7/31/14 5:52 PM Page 13

Is Everyone a “Terrorist”? Israel Attacks Facility for the Disabled in Gaza Gazaon the Ground

PHOTO M. OMER

By Mohammed Omer

A Palestinian inspects damage to the Mabarat Palestine Association for the Disabled the day after a July 12 Israeli missile attack. s dawn approaches, just shy of 4 a.m.,

Athe handicapped and disabled pa-

tients of the Mabarat Palestine Association for the Disabled try to sleep in what remains of the association’s building in Beit Lahia. On July 12 the special needs facility had sustained three direct missile hits from Israeli F16s, killing two female patients, Suha Abu Sada, 47, and Ola Washahi, 30.

Three other patients were seriously injured, including Mai Hamada, 31, and Sally Sakr, 19, who suffered severe burns and injuries, along with a caregiver.

According to association director Jamila Eliwa, the dead women, who suffered from mental and physical disabilities, had lived at the facility since it opened in 1994. “Out of all [Israel’s] criminal acts,” she exclaims in frustration, “the last thing we could have imagined was that they would hit an association for the disabled or target an association for the mentally disabled. This is a crime, and the world is watching.”

Award-winning journalist Mohammed Omer reports from the Gaza Strip, where he maintains the Web site <www.rafahtoday.org>.

He can be reached at <gazanews@yahoo. com>. Follow him on Twitter: @MoGaza.

SEPTEMBER 2014

The center is home to 19 disabled patients. Fortunately, due to the summer holiday and Ramadan, 14 patients were staying with their families. Those who remained at the center were injured or killed. The center’s patients include paraplegics, quadriplegics, people missing limbs or facing other physical challenges, as well as mentally disabled residents.

Many need help just to get out of bed.

These are long-term care patients, many born with disabilities, others injured in car accidents, at work, or in previous Israeli attacks. At the center they receive physical therapy and the equipment of independence, from wheelchairs to prosthetics.

The complications of evacuating already disabled victims made their rescue even more difficult for ambulance crews. Bodies of the dead and injured had to be dug from the rubble. Survivors were taken outside, covered with blankets and moved to stretchers for transport to other hospitals.

The Israeli military’s latest tactic is to “warn” people before bombing a building.

This warning can be a phone call, flyers dropped from the sky, or a “smaller” bomb exploding on the roof. People inside typically have from one to five minutes to get THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

everyone out before the building is destroyed. Some make it. Many do not.

The Mabarat Palestine Association for the Disabled received no warning, however. Even if it had, one to five minutes is not enough time to evacuate a care facility of physically and mentally handicapped patients.

“The rockets hit us suddenly,” whispers 31-year-old Mai Hamada, who has a speech impediment. “One from above and another from the side.”

It is not known why Israel targeted the healthcare facility—according to director Eliwa, there is no military resistance in the area. In addition to the rehabilitation facility the airstrike severely damaged five homes and a curating museum, which preserves Palestinian heritage.

Outrage over the Israeli strike on a facility for the disabled has inflamed Palestinian society. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights harshly condemned the attack. “Such crimes are largely similar to those committed by occupation forces during Operation Cast Lead,” it said in a statement.

After investigating the incident, Al Mezan classified it as a war crime. It called on the international community to act 13

omer_13-14_Gaza on the Ground 7/31/14 5:52 PM Page 14

If Gazaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dead Were Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dead

by Barry Lando On the face of it, the casualty figures in Gaza may seem not that horrific to Americansâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;unless you transpose that same level of death and mayhem to the United States, 176 times the population of Gaza.

For instance, so far reportedly 571 Palestinians have been killed, including 154 children. Total wounded=3,550, of which 1,125 are children.

If the United States were to be hit by a similar onslaught, the number of Americans killedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;mostly in the past five daysâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;would be 101,000, of which 27,000 would be children. The number of Americans wounded would be 627,000, of which 198,000 are children.

Another comparison: That number of dead would be almost twice the number that the United States lost in 10 years of fighting in Vietnam (58,000).

It would almost equal the 116,000 American soldiers killed in World War I. It would be more than one-third of the Americans killed (291,000) fighting between 1941 and 1945 in World War II. It would almost equal, however, the total number of American soldiers wounded (670,000) in WWII. And remember: â&#x20AC;˘ the great majority of those Palestinian deaths have occurred in just five days. â&#x20AC;˘ a large proportion of those dead and injured were not soldiers. â&#x20AC;˘ And the slaughter continues.

Barry Lando is an Emmy Award-winning former producer for â&#x20AC;&#x153;60 Minutesâ&#x20AC;? who now lives in Paris. This blog was first posted on his website, <http://barrymlando.com>, July 21, 2014.

swiftly to protect civilians and hold Israel responsible for these crimes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The silence of the world on killing women, children and the elderly offers those criminals immunity, increasing their appetite for killing,â&#x20AC;? explained an Al Mezan spokesperson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This will lead to grave humanitarian crises.â&#x20AC;?

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A neighbor who helped collect from the rubble not only wheelchairs but severed arms and legs bursts into tears. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These were disabled, defenseless women, who posed no threat to anybody,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even walk or help themselves with routine tasks without the help of their caregiver. If the disabled are not safe in their own beds, how can we be safe?â&#x20AC;?

Since July 7, Israeli attacks have damaged or destroyed at least 18 healthcare facilities, including 2 hospitals, 12 clinics and 2 nursing homes, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Instead of targeting medical facilities in violation of international law, Israeli forces must protect medics and patients, and ensure that people wounded can safely reach medical facilities in Gaza and, when necessary, outside the Strip,â&#x20AC;? said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa program director for Amnesty International.

According to the United Nations, the death toll after the first three weeks of fighting stood at more than 1,200 Palestinians killed and close to 6,100 injured, the majority of them civilians. Israel had lost 56 soldiers, including 1 to friendly fire.

Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ground invasion has caused more casualties than its other attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, whose 1.8 million residents are experiencing a growing humanitarian crisis, with electricity outages and an increasingly desperate shortage of water and medical supplies. At Al Wafa hospitalâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;another medical facility hit by Israeli F16 missilesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;ambulance crews had to evacuate 18 disabled patients to another hospital because of severe structural damage to the building, according to UNOCHA. Mabaratâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eliwa plans to seek help to rebuild the facility so it can continue to provide rehabilitation services to the disabled. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those are my family, and I will not leave them in the street,â&#x20AC;? she vows. â?&#x2018;

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14

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

SEPTEMBER 2014

khouri_15_Special Report 7/31/14 4:30 PM Page 15

Resolving Gaza Starts From 1947-48

By Rami G. Khouri

SpecialReport s I write this in late July, the terrible

Asituation in Gaza focuses on whether

or not the parties can agree on a humanitarian cease-fire that would also trigger negotiations on deeper contested issues in order to try and resolve the underlying conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

This conflict has some common elements with the chaotic situations in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and other Arab lands.

Anyone trying to analyze these many conflicts in our region must separate the short-term reactions that drive some people from the more long-term and structural processes normally associated with statebuilding. So I would place the spread of the “Islamic State” and other hard-line Salafist-takfiri movements in Syria-Iraq in the category of short-term, transient movements that were born from the chaos of recent years only; they will not endure, because they lack deeper anchorage in the societies of these countries.

The battles for Kurdish and Palestinian statehood, on the other hand, or the tensions among different regions of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Sudan are more deeply anchored in movements for national rights, autonomy or self-determination that have long been suppressed by the modern Arab or Israeli security state. The process of sorting out such conflicting demands between the central state and the various identities of its citizens often takes many decades, some serious constitutional litigation where available, and a brief or prolonged civil war.

The common denominator among all such situations is that wars end and stable statehood takes off only when all the citizens feel that their interests are taken into account in the management of statehood.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has experienced recurring and increasingly vicious bouts of violence because the rights and interests of the Palestinians have consistently been neglected in favor of the rights of Israelis to their own secure state. This lopsided situation that favors Zionist over Rami G. Khouri is editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon. Copyright © 2014 Rami G. Khouri. Distributed by Agence Global.

SEPTEMBER 2014

Palestinian Arab interests has been consistently supported by the major Western powers, including in the initial American cease-fire proposal that reflects Israeli aims much more than it meets Palestinian demands.

esolving this conflict R requires framing its core elements correctly As long as this situation persists, it will be impossible to secure a credible short-term cease-fire or to start addressing the deeper underlying issues that define the centuryold conflict between Zionism and Arabism.

Resolving this conflict requires first of all framing its core elements correctly, which repeated American mediators—whether cloaked Zionists or simply well-meaning amateurs—have never done.

Any serious attempt to end this latest round of fighting and seek to ensure that it is never repeated must start by grasping the three elements of the conflict that matter to both sides, with equal magnitude— not with the John Kerry approach that frames a cease-fire through the lens of Israeli wishes to remain in Gaza during a cease-fire to destroy the tunnels and other resistance elements that Hamas and allied Palestinians have used to fight back against Zionism’s denial of their rights.

The three fundamental elements that must be dealt with in this case include: 1) stopping the fighting and allowing both sides to go about their daily lives without the threat of being attacked or militarily occupied; 2) implementing the measures agreed to in the last cease-fire agreement in 2012 that removed the physical and political siege that Israel, Egypt, the United States and others had imposed on Hamas and Gaza; 3) grappling seriously with a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiation that addresses ending the condition of Palestinian refugeehood as fiercely as it addresses the Israeli demand for Arab recognition and security. This means going back to the events of 1947-48, when the conflict took its present shape of Israeli statehood and Palestinian refugeehood.

This kind of approach that honestly acknowledges the critical issues for both sides THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

is so tough that it has never been attempted seriously. It was the key to successful breakthroughs for peace in other instances of profound nationalist battles, such as in Northern Ireland and South Africa that mirror the identity and rights battles we witness all around the Middle East today.

The Palestinian resistance groups fighting from Gaza, and the thousands of Palestinians demonstrating in the West Bank, are the direct descendants of Palestinians who were made homeless and stateless due to the birth of Israel in 1947-48. Grasping and resolving these root issues is very hard to do for Zionists and Israelis, who refuse to acknowledge their major role in the refugeehood of the Palestinians, along with ignoring that no peace will come to anyone unless the 1947-48 root causes of conflict are resolved equitably.

If Israelis do not see this in the eyes, tunnels, rockets and charred bodies of dead Palestinian infants, and continue with the United States to insist on prioritizing Israeli security over a more balanced approach to ensuring the dual rights for both peoples, then these savage rounds of violence will persist for years. That would be adding stupidity to savagery. ❑ (Advertisement)

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jabr_16-17_Jerusalem Journal 7/31/14 7:47 PM Page 16

On Israel’s Insanity Defense and the World’s Shared Delusion JerusalemJournal

TIM BOYLES/GETTY IMAGES

By Samah Jabr

Palestinian-American Tariq Khdeir, 15 (c), arrives home to Tampa, FL after being arrested and held under house arrest in Arab East Jerusalem for nine days. His cousin, Muhammed Abu Khdeir, was abducted and burned alive by three Israeli Jewish extremists. nce the surveillance cameras of Pales-

Otinian shopkeepers in East Jerusalem’s Shuafat neighborhood revealed the images of the Israeli abductors of Muhammed Abu Khdeir, the fabricated Israeli propaganda that the 16-year-old Palestinian boy had been gay and the victim of an honor killing perpetrated by his own people became completely unsustainable. Soon after, hoping to contain the resulting clashes that erupted in Shuafat and extended to many nearby neighborhoods, Israeli police announced that they had captured six suspects involved in the crime.

Just days later, however, it was announced that three of them already had been freed. The others were described as two minors and a mentally unstable adult with a dominating personality who is on psychiatric medication, according to Yediot Ahronot.

That has a familiar ring to it! In 1969 Dennis Michael Rohan, an evangelical Samah Jabr is a Jerusalemite psychiatrist and psychotherapist who cares about the wellbeing of her community—beyond issues of mental health.

16

Protestant from Australia, set fire to the alAqsa mosque in order to hasten the second coming of the Messiah and create an opportunity to rebuild the Jewish Temple.

Rohan was later declared mentally ill and exonerated for his actions.

In 2007 Julian Soufir confessed to having murdered Palestinian taxi driver Taysir Karaki, saying he did not feel guilty because he considered Arabs the equivalent of cattle and he was simply slaughtering one. Soufir had entered the victim’s taxi in Jerusalem and asked to be driven to Tel Aviv. He then persuaded Karaki to come to his brother’s apartment with an offer of coffee and the use of the bathroom, and attacked the Palestinian with a knife he had obtained ahead of time. At his 2008 trial, the court accepted the testimonies of two defense witnesses who claimed that Soufir was not fully “conscious” at the time of the murder—despite the fact that he had explained his motive for murdering Karaki— and Soufir was acquitted.

A few years ago, I testified as an expert witness at the Jerusalem district court regarding the case of one of my psychiatric patients who, while suffering an acute psyTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

chotic episode, stabbed an Israeli soldier.

My patient was 30 years old; after sustaining severe injuries during his arrest, which required 12 surgeries and left him handicapped, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison! The insanity defense certainly did not do my patient much good.

It is one of many pretexts used to avoid the prosecution, imprisonment or punishment of Jewish Israelis who murder Palestinians—but not the other way around.

When a Palestinian minor attacks an Israeli, the youngster appears in court with bruises and fractures. Nor are charges dropped because he is a minor. We shall see what happens to the minors who tortured Abu Khdeir and burned him alive.

Settlers’ Law For many years—in Hebron, especially— radical Jewish settlers have been attacking Palestinians under the very noses of Israeli soldiers, who only intervene to defend the settlers from Palestinians responding to their attacks. In 1994 American-born Dr. Baruch Goldstein massacred 30 Palestinians praying at Hebron’s Ibrahimi mosque, which he entered under the eyes of Israeli soldiers who—instead of acting to stop the massacre—fired live ammunition into the fleeing crowd, killing even more Palestinians!

In 2008 Ze’ev Braude, a settler from nearby Kiryat Arba, was caught on camera as he shot at close range two Palestinians from the Matariya family during the evacuation of a Palestinian house in Hebron.

The film was provided to Israeli police as evidence, but the indictment against Braude was dropped. In his ruling, Judge Elyakim Rubinstein held that “in this instance, the right of the accused to a fair trial outweighed the harm to national security!”

These and similar actions are the consequences of ideologies held by Gush Emunim and other radical movements that encourage the building of settlements in the belief that the coming of the Messiah can be hastened through Jewish settlement of occupied Palestinian land that God promised the Jews. Rather than working to eradicate these beliefs, the Israeli government instead has endorsed them through such vehicles as the Sebastia agreement, SEPTEMBER 2014

jabr_16-17_Jerusalem Journal 7/31/14 7:47 PM Page 17

which encourages Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

Israeli intelligence, so effective in hunting down every Palestinian boy who so much as throws a stone, remains inept at imposing limits on the actions of Jewish Israelisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from the fanning of anti-Arab sentiment and racist slogans by the Beitar football team, to attacks on Arab employees of Israeli restaurants, to settler â&#x20AC;&#x153;Price Tagâ&#x20AC;? vandalism and assaults, with graffiti boasting â&#x20AC;&#x153;Price tag blood vengeance.â&#x20AC;? The official Israeli response to these and other outrages is one of indulgence, and actions to counteract them are minimal. But these groups are inspired by the undercurrent of hatred and dehumanization of Palestiniansâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a sentiment expressed by Israeli politicians, rabbis and the arbiters of public opinion. Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consistent unwillingness to bring settlers to justice for their violent actions against Palestinians only encourages and incites further settler violence.

Impunity for Israeli Soldiers In 1984, during what became known as the Bus 300 affair, Shin Bet officers first allowed Israeli Jews to beat up two Palestinians who had hijacked a bus, then executed the two men on the spotâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;after the hostages had been freed and the hijackers captured and handcuffed. The Shin Bet initially claimed that the hijackers had died when the hostages were being rescued. But these lies were exposed when photos were released showing the hijackers alive after their capture. Nevertheless, Shin Bet head Avraham Shalom and all the officers involved received a presidential pardon for unspecified crimesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;before any charges were even brought against them.

In 2004, Iman al-Hams, a 13-year-old Gaza student, lay injured on the ground after having been shot by Israeli soldiers when she entered a â&#x20AC;&#x153;closed military zoneâ&#x20AC;? on her way to school. Captain â&#x20AC;&#x153;R,â&#x20AC;? a Givati Brigade soldier, approached her and shot her at point-blank range. (See Jan./Feb. 2005 Washington Report, p. 9.) According to transcripts of radio exchanges between the soldiers during the incident, Captain â&#x20AC;&#x153;Râ&#x20AC;? said he did this â&#x20AC;&#x153;to confirm the kill.â&#x20AC;? In court he later claimed that he believed the young girl posed a serious threat and that he had opened fire, not directly aiming at Iman, as a deterrent. Haaretz later reported that Israel would award Captain â&#x20AC;&#x153;Râ&#x20AC;? 80,000 NIS in compensation, after he was acquitted of a charge related to the shooting.

In 2005, Israeli soldier Eden Natan-Zada opened fire on Palestinian citizens of Israel at the border of Shafa Amre, killing 4 and SEPTEMBER 2014

wounding 21. When he paused to reload his rifle, those who survived the massacre overpowered and killed him. The state of Israel, however, chose to indict 12 of the townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residents! Many were charged with attempted murder for â&#x20AC;&#x153;taking the law into their own hands.â&#x20AC;?

Last year, Arafat Jaradat, a young student from Hebron, died five days after being detained for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli forces during a protest. An autopsy revealed three broken ribs, severe contusions on his legs and forehead, and blood in his mouth and nose. A Turkish forensic specialist found the injuries consistent with torture. The Israeli medical examiner described the same wounds on Jaradatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body but was unable to determine a cause of death. The Israeli Foreign Ministry released a statement claiming that Jaradat died of a heart ailmentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;even though none of the medical specialists, including the Israeli medical examiner, had noted any evidence of a heart condition!

Just a few months ago, on March 10, Israeli troops at Allenby Bridge killed unarmed Palestinian-Jordanian Judge Raed Zeiter, 38, who was on his way to the West Bank to collect rent money to pay for the treatment of his ill son. The Israelis alleged that he tried to snatch a weapon from a soldier, but eyewitnesses told a different story: When the judge lit a cigarette while waiting to be searched; a soldier pushed him, yelling that he couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t smoke; Judge Zeiter pushed back, shouting, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t insult me!â&#x20AC;? The soldier then shot the judge, who was left bleeding for half an hour at the feet of a crowd of Palestinians who waited in line, paralyzed by fear. Judge Zeiter finally died of his wounds. Israeli officials claim surveillance cameras were not functioning on that particular day, and the investigation is now closed, leaving the Israeli officialsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; version unchallenged.

Palestinians who kill or even attempt to kill Israelis invariably receive heavy sentences. By contrast, Israelis who kill Palestinians get away with their crimes or receive very minimal sentences, suspended sentences, or finesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;if they are not given medals and awards! We have seen soldiers who film themselves while they abuse Palestinians. Many of my own patients who have been tortured under interrogation describe appalling events that took place within four closed walls. Who pays for that? Who is held accountable? Israel makes it impossible to document or track these cases, destroying the evidence and hiding the truth.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

The Israeli army, Israeli institutions and individual Israelis violate Palestiniansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; human rights with complete impunity. International laws have been created to provide an effective remedy to victims of human rights abuses, but Israeli laws are carefully designed and amended to make Jewish Israelis immune from them. For example, Law 5712 of 1952 was amended to make it impossible for a Palestinian who has sustained damages at the hands of a state agent in any area of the West Bank or Gaza Strip to claim compensation. While â&#x20AC;&#x153;national securityâ&#x20AC;? is invoked to drop all charges against Israeli Jews, â&#x20AC;&#x153;secret evidenceâ&#x20AC;? is used to prosecute and detain Palestinians through administrative detention without disclosing the charges against them, thus depriving them of the right to due process.

Julian Soufir did not consider himself a murderer because he believed Arabs were like cattle and he was just slaughtering one; Captain â&#x20AC;&#x153;Râ&#x20AC;? felt threatened by an injured 13-year-old schoolgirl and shot her at point-blank range. Not only does the Israeli government and public opinion share these delusions, but the international community supports Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paranoia by endorsing its â&#x20AC;&#x153;right to defend itself.â&#x20AC;?

After â&#x20AC;&#x153;Operation Cast Leadâ&#x20AC;? in 2008-09 and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Operation Pillar of Defenseâ&#x20AC;? in 2012, in July Israel launched â&#x20AC;&#x153;Operation Protective Edge.â&#x20AC;? We have witnessed three wars in less than six years, all on the pretext of weakening resistance groups. The failure of the international community to set limits and hold Israel accountable for its actions and the inertia of the official Palestinian leadership in going to the International Court of Justice will only invite young people like the friends of Muhammed Abu Khdeir to overcome their fear and act on behalf of the victims of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s insane policies. â?&#x2018; (Advertisement)

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protests_18-19_Protests Spread 7/31/14 3:18 PM Page 18

18

PHOTO COURTESY PHIL PORTLOCK

Rev. Graylan Hagler speaks at Dupont Circle on July 25.

STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

groups across the the United States—and the rest of the world—began protesting, demanding an end to Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians. Iowans rallied in front of the Neal Smith Federal Building in Des Moines on July 7. More than 300 spirited protesters gathered outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC on July 11 to listen to speakers, blow whistles and bang pots, pans and drums.

The following day, July 12, some 1,200 protesters in the San Francisco Bay area marched up Market Street from the Embarcadero to a rally at United Nations Plaza, waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs reading “Stop U.S. Aid to Israel” and “Long Live Palestine.” To the surprise of shoppers, a dozen youths from the ANSWER coalition unfurled a Palestinian flag from the atrium inside the Westfield shopping center as the marchers passed by the upscale mall.

More than 6,000 marched in solidarity with Gaza in San Francisco on July 20.

At least 2,000 activists turned out July 12 at the West Los Angeles Federal Building to call on Washington to facilitate a full cease-fire A speaker at a July 12 White House rally. between Israel and Gaza. AlAwda Cleveland organized a national rally on July 20 entitled, “Defend Palestine; End the Genocide.” Under the gaze of security officers in Homeland Security SUVs, more than a thousand marchers gathered at the U.S. State Department to hear rousing remarks from Jews, Christians and Muslims who decried Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge.” Protesters walked to the White House, as supporters driving down Constitution Ave. honked in agreement with signs reading: “Lift the Blockade,” “You Don’t Have to be Muslim to Stand up for Gaza. You Just Need to be Human,” “How Many Kids Have to Die?” “Fund Jobs, Not Israel” and “Defend Palestine; Defund Israel.”

As the Israeli military’s brutal air assault intensified, San Franciscans of all ages joined the protest on July 12.

Marchers in Westwood, CA on July 12.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

PHOTO COURTESY DEB VANPOOLEN

s soon as Israel launched its brutal air

Aassault on Gaza on July 7, peace

hundreds of protesters gathered at Dupont Circle in DC for al-Quds day, July 25. One speaker, Graylan Hagler, pastor at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, DC, described Israel’s racist policies in shocking detail. Having accompanied an all-black delegation to the Holy Land in January, Reverend Hagler told the crowd, “We know Jim Crow when we see it!”

In response to the massacre in Gaza, a broad coalition of anti-war, Muslim and Arab-American groups joined together to organize a national march on the White House on Aug. 2. Buses from around the country transported Americans to their nation’s capital to demand an end to Israel’s occupation—funded by their tax dollars!

—Delinda Hanley, Dale Sprusansky, Samir Twair, Michael Gillespie and Elaine Pasquini

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

Americans Take to the Streets in Support of Gaza

Protesters July 25 in downtown Bozeman, MT. SEPTEMBER 2014

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

PHOTO COURTESY JAMES HUMMER STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

Nearly 500 people of all ages and faiths came together for a prayer for CODEPINK held a die-in at the White House on July 16 to protest Gaza organized by seven groups on July 12 in front of the Capitol Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s military assault on Gaza. As the names of those killed in building in Denver. Coloradans will protest every Saturday until Israel Gaza were read, many listening were reduced to tears. stops its brutal punishment of Palestinians.

Protesters at the State Department mourn the dead on July 20.

Palestinian Christians urge those attending the annual Christians United for Israel summit in Washington, DC on July 21 to reconsider their unconditional support for the self-proclaimed Jewish state.

STAFF PHOTO M. GILLESPIE

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

protests_18-19_Protests Spread 7/31/14 3:18 PM Page 19

A most impressive Palestinian protest in Des Moines, IA on July 24.

SEPTEMBER 2014

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

19

hanley_20-21_Special Report 7/31/14 4:32 PM Page 20

American Third Pillar Volunteers Help The Homeless in Washington, DC SpecialReport

STAFF PHOTOS D. HANLEY

By Delinda C. Hanley

American Third Pillar Charities volunteers gather in front of Masjid Muhammad with some of the Eid gift backpacks.

Mohammed Maraqa tells his own story at the July 17 iftar.

look at a crisis closer to home. His DCbased non-profit organization, founded in 2011 by local metropolitan DC residents to help those in need, takes its name from the Third Pillar of Islam, which is zakat, or alms-giving, he explained. Third Pillar volunteers have held food drives, partnered with DC Central Kitchen, Islamic Relief and other organizations to deliver lunches and feed the hungry. Their next goal is to open a food pantry.

ATPC’s amazing board and volunteers are really the most diverse representation of Muslims in America, very much reflecting the diversity of the Washington, DC community. The board and core volunteers are both Shi’i and Sunni, American-born and newly immigrated—from dozens of countries. They are engineers, civil servants, medical professionals, writers, housewives and elementary schoolchildren. Some are activists who are involved with many groups, while others are involved only with this organization.

Maraqa, a data director by day, shared his deeply moving personal story—the experience that drove him to establish Third Pillar. His Palestinian father came

from Hebron, studied in America and built a thriving construction company in Kuwait. In 1990 he sent his son to the U.S. to study, but within six months the Maraqa family luck had changed. His father lost his company and his fortune, then died of heart attack during the IraqKuwait conflict. Maraqa suddenly found himself penniless, he said, unable to pay for housing and tuition, much less travel home for his father’s funeral.

Maraqa was homeless.

His mosque let him store his belongings in a shed while Maraqa couch-surfed, staying with friends in Austin, TX and doing odd jobs. Then someone robbed the shed and everything, including the watch his father had given him, was gone.

“I’ll never forget my feelings of anger and helplessness,” Maraqa told listeners.

After a painful 10-year struggle, Maraqa moved to Arlington, TX, obtained a scholarship to the University of Texas and earned a graduate degree. Before long he was recruited to work for Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign and eventually found himself living in a great Washington, DC neighborhood.

One day Maraqa saw a man eating out of

merican Third Pillar Charities (ATPC)

Ahosted a fast-breaking iftar on July

17 at the Josephine Butler Parks Center in Washington, DC. But no one felt very festive. Muslims, nearing the end of their 16hour fast on a hot summer day, as well as Jews, Christians and other invited guests, were appalled by Israel’s murderous ground invasion of Gaza, launched earlier that day. A few nights earlier, on July 14, President Barack Obama had inexplicably invited Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer to speak at the White House iftar. To add insult to injury, Obama chose that Muslim religious event to reaffirm his unwavering support for Israel’s right to “self-defense,” neglecting to mention the rights of Palestinians. Guests also were shocked by new revelations surrounding the National Security Agency’s illegal surveillance of Muslim- and Arab-American community leaders.

Amid this turmoil, following a moment of silence for Gaza, Mohammed Maraqa, American Third Pillar’s president, introduced himself and challenged guests to Delinda C. Hanley is news editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

20

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

SEPTEMBER 2014

a garbage can near his apartment. When Maraqa gave him some money, the man refused to take it and began hitting himself on the head. Maraqa looked into the other man’s eyes and instantly recognized the same fear and anger he’d once felt. “I vowed to help,” he said.

Over 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness in America each year. One out of 50 children, or 1.5 million American children, will be homeless at some time this year.

“The homeless are not lazy. They’ve fallen into a bad situation,” Maraqa explained. “They contracted a sickness or they were hurt in some way on a battlefield. A lot of people in this city are hurting and it’s up to us as Muslims to help them.”

Said Durrah, half-Syrian, half-Palestinian and all-American, works at Islamic Relief USA by day and is a stand-up comedian at night. He described the ways Third Pillar volunteers help. They’ve filled Thanksgiving dinner meal boxes with all the trimmings, and packed nutritious lunches. They don’t just pull up in front of a shelter and deliver pizzas. Volunteers actually talk to people as they hand out healthy drinks and food. He described one woman who must have been a veteran who’d served in Iraq or Afghanistan—she was missing a leg.

They got the distinct impression she was not pleased to see Muslims arriving at her shelter. By the end of their visit, she admitted, “You’re OK.” As Ramadan drew to a close on Sunday, July 27, Third Pillar volunteers gathered at Masjid Muhammad on 4th St. in northwest Washington, DC to assemble Eid presents for the needy. They filled 175 brandnew backpacks full of basic personal hygiene items like toothbrushes, toothpaste and deodorant, as well as pens and notebooks.

“With all the bad news in Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and the rest of the world, we need some uplifting,” Silveth Khawaja told the Washington Report, as she and other volunteers loaded backpacks into cars. “I heard about this opportunity to volunteer and help on Facebook. Ramadan is all about giving back to charity.”

Volunteers divided into two groups.

Spirited board member Irene Stevenson’s group headed to the DC General homeless shelter, and Maraqa’s bunch, including another ATPC board member, Abed Ayoub, a lawyer for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, drove to McPherson Square, two blocks from the SEPTEMBER 2014

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

hanley_20-21_Special Report 7/31/14 4:32 PM Page 21

Abed Ayoub (l), Mohammed Maraqa and other volunteers hand out the Eid backpacks at McPherson Square.

White House. There were more than a hundred homeless people milling about in the hot sun, pushing carts or toting plastic bags of belongings—all of them eager for a backpack. Volunteers soon ran out.

The notebooks and pens were an unexpected surprise. One smiling man walked away saying, “Now I can get my thoughts together. I’ll write them down.”

This writer suggested he compose a letter to President Obama to ask for more jobs. He laughed good naturedly and responded, “He’d never read it.”

Another backpack recipient said, “Thanks for coming here to help today. I like helping people myself. But right now I’m the one who needs a hand.”

Volunteers for American Third Pillar Charities have their own stories. Their families may have come from war-torn countries or they may have lived in America for generations, but they come together a couple of times a month to help their fellow Americans next door who are down on their luck. “For all of us, it is our connection to our community—both Muslim and our DC lives—that brings us together,” Maraqa concluded. For more information, please visit <www.thirdpillar. org>. ❑

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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williams_22-23_United Nations Report 7/31/14 5:53 PM Page 22

Israel’s Ongoing War on the U.N. Waged With Impunity

United Nations Report

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Ian Williams

A U.N. vehicle destroyed in an Israeli strike on Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 29, 2014. ne of Ban Ki-moon’s forgotten achieve-

Oments just after taking office in 2007

was to secure compensation for the U.N. premises destroyed by Israeli weaponry in Gaza. He is unlikely to get anything this time, however—even though in at least one incident, in which it seems almost certain that Israeli mortar fire landed on the UNRWA school at Beit Hanoun, killing dozens of sheltering refugees, evokes memories and suspicions. Not only was it the fourth UNRWA school that Israel had fired on, it was just the latest in a long chain of incidents, going back to the 1948 assassination of U.N. envoy Count Folke Bernadotte, in which Israelis have targeted U.N. premises and personnel. (See September 1995 Washington Report, p. 83, and the September 2013 issue, p. 30.) Who now remembers Qana in 1996, when the IDF continued its shelling even after being called and told what it was doing? (See July 1996 Washington Report, pp. 6 and 21.) The innocent dead victims find themselves proIan Williams is a free-lance journalist based at the United Nations who blogs at <www. deadlinepundit.blogspot.com>.

22

moted to “human shields.”

The savagery of these attacks defies military logic. Like the Sarajevo marketplace massacre, it is just possible that the motive was undisciplined individual bigotry and that the higher military and political echelons winced at the undiplomatic crassness of their personnel. But in Bosnia it eventually proved too much, and the international community unleashed force against the perpetrators and their protectors.

Looking at the long chain of incidents, even with the vicious, racist and reactionary ministers in the Israeli cabinet, we have the same disturbing paradigm of impunity. The Israeli government will deny rather than condone these incidents of murderous barbarism, but it will blame the victims rather than take action against the perpetrators. In the IDF chain of command and control there is a clear culture of impunity. Even if Beit Hanoun was the product of one or two Israeli soldiers exercising their racist fantasies, they can be confident that their careers will continue untrammeled, and that they might even be heroes to the civilians lounging on deck chairs cheering the assault on Gaza.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

While not quite cheering, much of the international community shares complicity in this culture of impunity. Where is the pressure on Israel to stop such incidents, to punish the guilty? At one time, it seemed that the International Criminal Court offered a means to do so. But Washington and its allies are effectively writing an exclusion clause into international law: Israel can do no wrong. We can rightly condemn Slobodan Milosevic or Bashar al-Assad for deeds in Bosnia or Syria, but not Binyamin Netanyahu.

It is wrong to blame the diplomats, who are, after all, men and women sent abroad to lie for the countries. The real Pontius Pilate emulators, washing their hands in the blood of others, are back in their respective capitals. Nowhere has that been seen more than in the last weeks of the Israeli attack on the Gaza ghetto.

To anyone who is not imbued with U.S. mainstream media, soaked as it is in Israeli hasbara and its official spokespeople intoning lying platitudes with straight faces, Israel’s disproportionate use of force in Gaza was already apparent even before its shelling of U.N. shelters. So where to begin?

We could start with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose effort to win statehood for Palestine is now revealed to be a pointless morale-boosting diversion since he refuses to take the only step that would have given it any significant meaning—accession to the International Criminal Court, which would make crimes committed on Palestinian territory subject to ICC proceedings.

The unity government of Hamas and Fatah—which is, of course, the real proximate cause of IDF operations and crimes in Gaza—de-emphasized the applicability of the treaty to a Palestine that had joined.

But of course Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are hostages to Israeli security, waiting for the IDF to pick them up, or off, at will.

Then we can move to Secretary of State John Kerry for his indiscreet remarks on Fox—“Hell of a pinpoint operation”—in which his private candor about IDF operations contrasted so signally with his hypocritical mantras about supporting Israel’s right to self-defense.

SEPTEMBER 2014

williams_22-23_United Nations Report 7/31/14 5:53 PM Page 23

Kerry’s office later explained that “his private comments were consistent with his publicly stated view…: Israel has the right to defend itself, including against recent tunnel attacks, but he has encouraged them to not only take steps to prevent civilian casualties, but to take steps to deescalate and we’re working together to achieve a cease-fire.”

An objective observer might comment that “achieving a cease-fire” could be done most effectively by stopping financial, military and diplomatic support to the country that is refusing it, not to mention the personal motives of payback to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for his repeated insults and nose-tweaking of both President Barack Obama and Kerry.

Human Rights Council Vote The abdication of ethics continued in July, with the U.S.’ lonely negative vote on the U.N. Human Rights Council resolution calling for an investigation into what was happening in Gaza. But Washington was pretty much first among almost equals in its diplomatic amorality. No less than 17 countries went along to the point of abstention on the resolution. Korea and Japan and a fistful of French neo-colonies joined the EU in approving the sentiments of the resolution, but not daring to put their hands up for it.

The 29 countries supporting it were not all great paragons of human rights protection, but at least they went on record in support of “Ensuring respect for international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

Interesting was Dublin’s statement. Ireland, with a population angry about events in Gaza, hedged its bets in a typical manner. It “fully accepts that the Government of Israel has the right to defend its people, but this right does not negate the rights of others. Any use of military force in self-defense must be in accordance with international humanitarian law, and in particular must be both discriminate and proportionate. In view of the casualty figures, we do not believe that this has been the case.”

But it followed the EU line, which was somewhat tangled in its own right. In effect, the EU is hampered because, short of Israel nuking a European city, members like France and Germany cannot bring themselves to condemn the country, and thus prevent any joint EU criticism. But of course they cannot say, anymore than Kerry can, that Israel is above the law, so they made the excuse that the UNHRC resolution “fails to condemn explicitly the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israeli SEPTEMBER 2014

civilian areas as well as to recognize Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself.”

This is thinner even than the average fig leaf, since the resolution that was passed declares unequivocally that it “Condemns all violence against civilians wherever it occurs, including the killing of two Israeli civilians as a result of rocket fire, and urges all parties concerned to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”

It is true that in this context, the mention of the two dead somewhat accentuates the hundreds dead on the other side, but it is difficult to reconcile the EU lie with the reality.

One hesitates to inflict formal U.N. prose on readers, but the preamble to the Human Rights Council resolution cites the international law that Israel is so patently flouting.

It begins: Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Recalling General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006 and Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1 and 5/2 of 18 June 2007, Reaffirming the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people and the inadmissibility of the acquisition of land by the use of force, as enshrined in the Charter, Affirming the applicability of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, Reaffirming that all High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention are under the obligation to respect and ensure respect for the obligations arising from the said Convention in relation to the Occupied Palestinian

Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Reaffirming their obligations under articles 146, 147 and 148 with regard to penal sanctions, grave breaches and responsibilities of the High Contracting Parties, Gravely concerned at the lack of implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the United Nations FactFinding Mission on the Gaza Conflict of 2009, and convinced that lack of accountability for violations of international law reinforces a culture of impunity, leading to a recurrence of violations and seriously endangering the maintenance of international peace, Noting that 9 July 2014 marked the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and that no progress has been made on its implementation, and affirming the urgent need to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law in this regard, The resolution calls not only for a new “Goldstone” Commission to investigate what is happening, but calls up Switzerland, the responsible power, to convene a convention of parties to the Geneva Convention to consider Israel’s failure to apply its strictures to the occupied territories—thereby giving Europe and the U.S. the opportunity to show their pusillanimity yet again.

Many critics of the U.N. system rightly condemn the veto as an obstacle to progress, but taken overall, a veto is almost healthy, an honest statement of a position.

An abstention is in its own insidious way even more pernicious, since the accompanying statements so often show that the governments concerned accept all of the facts, even the conclusions, but are too invertebrate to record a vote in the face of American and Israeli displeasure. ❑

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Old Ideologies, Modern Follies: The “Jewish State” and the “lslamic State” SpecialReport

PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

By Dale Sprusansky

A Jewish settler in the West Bank city of Hebron tells a group of Americans and Canadians that Israel is “too human” to Palestinians.

In June, this reporter traveled to Israel and Palestine with a Sabeel delegation of individuals from the United States and Canada to explore the religious and political climate of the Holy Land. This article is the first in a series that will examine our findings and reflections. s Iraq and Syria disintegrate, the

Aworld watches with great trepida-

tion. The group that once referred to itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) now simply calls itself the Islamic State.

This new self-professed Caliphate claims sovereignty over not just a significant chunk of land in the Middle East, but over all of the world’s Muslims.

In the 21st century, the idea of a country existing exclusively for the fundamentalist ideologues of one religion seems archaic. The violence being used to create this “state” further separates it from modern ideals.

Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

24

And yet for all the concern and outrage expressed about the Islamic State, there is another country just a few hundred miles away that subscribes to a similar worldview: the self-proclaimed “Jewish State” of Israel.

Claiming—by right of divine election— to be the homeland of all the world’s Jews, Israel purports to be fulfilling the will of God. Both the Jewish State and the Islamic State rely on propaganda and religious texts in an effort to legitimize their existence and call their brothers and sisters living abroad to come “home.” Both were conceived through (and continue to perpetrate) abhorrent acts of violence. Followers of both ideologies see themselves as victims of global persecution.

While imperfect, such a comparison— on any level—would likely send ardent Zionists into a tizzy. Israel, in their view, is a modern, civilized nation surrounded by ruthless Arabs hell-bent on eradicating Jews. Arabs deploy terrorists, they maintain, while Israel is forced to respond with measured violence for security reasons. In their minds, Israel is an island of sophistication in a sea of savagery.

Many Israeli Jews our delegation met with proudly and confidently shared such sentiments.

Commented Sheldon Schorer, an attorney and dual citizen of Israel and the United States: “If you take away all the guns from the Israelis, there would be a slaughter. If you took all the guns away from the Arabs, there would be peace.”

U.S.-born Israeli Ardie Geldman, who lives in the illegal West Bank settlement of Efrat, used even harsher words to describe his Palestinian neighbors. “If they, meaning the Palestinians, were capable of doing to us what we are capable of doing to them, none of us would be here,” he said, quoting an Israeli newspaper. “They would annihilate us all, left and right, religious and secular, industrialists and farmers, each and every one of us. We live side by side with a vile monster that has malicious intentions and limited abilities.”

Given these “malicious intentions,” many Zionist Jews believe Palestinians simply can’t be trusted to act humanely. “You would never find a Jewish lady who could THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

go to the Arab hospital here in Hebron and come out alive,” maintained a Jewish settler who confronted our group while it was walking the streets of Hebron in the southern West Bank. Jews, on the other hand, can be trusted to act morally, she argued: “When I gave birth in Jerusalem, [the hospital] was all filled with Arab ladies, and they got the best treatment.”

This strain of supremacist rhetoric repeated by many Zionist Jews is similar to the language deployed by other colonists throughout history. In Latin America, Japan, North America, Australia and elsewhere, one can read countless documents written by the founders of new nations describing the need to “tame” and “civilize” the “barbaric” indigenous peoples they encountered.

A Colonial Outlook And just like the Spaniards in Latin America or the British in Australia, many Zionists believe their rhetoric is factual and their displays of force are necessary. They point to isolated incidents such as the 1929 massacre of 67 Jews in Hebron or the recent kidnapping and killing of three young Israelis as definitive proof that beyond the borders of Israel there are masses of Arabs waiting to slaughter Jews. They insist such overwhelming military assaults as “Operation Protective Edge” in Gaza are necessary because force is the only language understood by the natives, who lack a set of modern moral standards.

While spouting such rhetoric, most Zionists claim to be blissfully ignorant of (or even deny) the many injustices carried out by the Israeli government or their fellow citizens against Palestinians. Take for instance, this statement by the aforementioned settler in Hebron: “Even now with the kidnapped people, [Israel] doesn’t go shut [Palestinian] electricity, they don’t close their water, nothing.”

Such a claim, of course, could not be further from the truth. During times of war and “peace” alike, Israel frequently restricts Palestinian access to basic necessities such as water and electricity.

The Emergency Water Sanitation and Hygiene group, a coalition of 27 organizations working to provide the residents of SEPTEMBER 2014

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Is this really the settlers’ definition of being “too human”? If Israelis, and particularly their settlers, are such advanced and moral people, how does one account for the many physical and verbal manifestations of intolerance and bigotry one finds throughout the country?

Walid Abu-Hallawa, director of public relations at the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, describes Hebron’s settlers as “abnormal people.” Typical individuals, he reasons, would never willingly create or move into such a hostile and depressing environment. “Normal people like to live in an area where there is life, shops, supermarkets, schools, restaurants,” he said.

These settlers, however (many of whom are from New York), choose to live surrounded by 1,500 soldiers, carry automatic weapons down the street and live in contempt of their neighbors.

SEPTEMBER 2014

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

Zionists and the Israeli government are able to easily claim the moral upper hand. “We are so human to them, too human for them,” the settler from Hebron insisted. “You don’t find [unprovoked acts of violence] on the other [Israeli] side. You just don’t.”

The reality is that Jewish Israelis regularly commit acts of violence against Palestinians. This is especially true in the settler’s own city of Hebron, IDF soldiers prevent Palestinian children from entering Shuhada where one can witStreet, a settler-only road in Hebron. ness some of the gravest injustices Gaza access to clean water, has reported being carried out against the Palestinians.

Portions of the historic Palestinian marthat Israel has deliberately targeted Gaza’s water infrastructure during “Operation ket in Hebron’s old city are covered with Protective Edge.” As a result, they warn, nets that protect shoppers from the access to clean water is sparse and sewage garbage regularly thrown at them by Jewis overflowing into Gaza’s crowded streets. ish settlers. Several Palestinian homes in Al-Monitor reports that Israel also has the city have sustained severe fire damage purposely restricted Gaza’s access to elec- as a result of settler attacks. Israeli authortricity. The online publication notes that ities regularly ban the call to prayer at the Israel intentionally destroyed most of city’s historic Ibrahimi mosque, which Gaza’s electrical transformers when it Muslims can only access by passing launched its ground offensive on July 17. through an Israeli security checkpoint— As a result, Gaza’s electricity outages now one of 101 such checkpoints in the city.

Hebron is also home to Shuhada Street, last longer than 21 hours a day.

Such tactics are also frequently deployed perhaps the eeriest stretch of pavement in in the West Bank. Some West Bank villages all of Israel and Palestine. Once home to receive water intermittently (if at all), prosperous Palestinian shops, the street is while their settler neighbors enjoy lush now barren. The 420 or so settlers who live gardens and large swimming pools. In- in Hebron are the only people permitted to deed, last year the Palestinian human enter portions of the street.

Standing at the center of the street at rights organization Al-Haq released a report finding that an estimated 113 Pales- midday on Friday, one feels as though he is tinian communities are not connected to a in the middle of a ghost town being used water network. The report also found that as a military training facility. IDF solders Palestinian access to water has decreased encircle the area. Settlers are in their 20 percent since the Oslo II peace accords homes, hidden from sight, observing Shabbat behind barbed wire fences. Shuttered were signed in 1995.

Even within its own territory, Israel de- storefronts are everywhere, some covered nies more than 40 “unrecognized” Bedouin with signs erected by settlers explaining villages in the Negev and the Galilee access the violent nature of Arabs. The young to water or electricity. These villages, inci- Palestinian boys in the distance being dentally, only exist because the Israeli gov- yelled at by soldiers for trying to enter the ernment forced certain Bedouin tribes off street are the only indication of life. The their native lands in order to build Jewish- street is completely void of the soul it once had. It is deprived of humanity. only communities.

Is Shuhada Street Israel’s idea of civility?

Overlooking such inconvenient facts,

Red signs warning Israelis that their lives are at risk if they enter a Palestinian town or village are located throughout the West Bank.

According to Ardie Geldman, human values “are foreign to the [Palestinian] monster next door and [they] certainly don’t feel obliged to uphold them.” A 21st century man with a degree in sociology ought to know that such 19th century colonial rhetoric will not advance the cause of peace and justice.

If Israel is going to get serious about peace, it must do what it demands of its “enemy”: conform to modern morals. In the meantime, it can take consolation in the fact that its ideology is hundreds of years ahead of the “Islamic State,” which is looking to re-establish a system of government that died in 1258. ❑ 25

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lsrael Uses Closed Military Firing Zones to Drive More Palestinians From Their Land TheNakbaContinues

By Jonathan Cook

PHOTOS BY MAURICE JACOBSEN

has declared a closed military firing zone since the 1970s.

It is one of several that have hemmed in al-Aqaba on all sides, making life for the 300 villagers—as well as dozens of Bedouin families encamped in the surrounding hills—a continuous game of Russian roulette. Most are engaged in grazing animals.

“He was shot on purpose by the Israeli army, in cold blood,” said Burhan Daragmeh. “There was no reason to shoot him. But everyone of us who lives in this area knows that we are not safe.”

B’Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said that, based on her previous experience, the Daragmeh family might have to wait years before they receive an official explanation from Israel about how their son died.

Over the years, six other villagers from al-Aqaba, including a six-year-old girl, have been killed in firing zones, two by live fire and four by faulty shells that exploded. A further 38 inhabitants have been injured.

Following a petition to the Israeli courts in 1999, the army agreed not to continue conducting live-fire exercises in al-Aqaba or carry out maneuvers among the houses.

However, according to the Israeli human rights group ACRI, the pledge has been violated on several occasions.

As a result, more than 700 villagers have become “refugees,” according to the mayor, Sami Sadeeq, fleeing al-Aqaba to seek greater safety in nearby cities under Palestinian control. Sadeeq himself was injured in 1971, at the age of 16, by bullets that paralyzed him from the waist down.

Sakher’s death occurred shortly after Israel’s former Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon was questioned about the true purpose of the firing zones.

Since Israel’s occupation began in 1967, military training zones have proliferated across Area C, the nearly two-thirds of the

Herder Burhan Daragmeh (above) and the martyr poster for his slain son, Sakher (inset). n the midst of the interna-

Itional furor that erupted over

the June 12 abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers, the death of an 18-year-old Palestinian shepherd in the West Bank went unremarked.

Sakher Daragmeh was killed on June 21, as he tended goats close to the remote village of al-Aqaba, on the high slopes of the northern Jordan Valley.

His father, Burhan Daragmeh, said he and other relatives found Sakher’s body covered in blood, with a bullet wound to the chest.

The army quickly took charge of his body, which was sent into Israel for an autopsy.

The Israeli authorities so far have declined to divulge their findings, said the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. However, the Israeli police have initiated an investigation.

Whatever the precise circumstances of Daragmeh’s death, everyone agrees that the Palestinian youth died in an area that Israel Jonathan Cook is a journalist based in Nazareth and a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His most recent book is Disappearing Palestine.

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

West Bank that were assigned to temporary Israeli control under the Oslo accords.

The West Bank is expected to be the bulk of a future Palestinian state.

Danon admitted that the firing zones provided a justification for forcing Palestinians off their lands. “Whoever is in an area that doesn’t belong to him, that has been declared a firing zone, will have to be evacuated from there—and yes, we plan to remove more people,” he said, responding to an official parliamentary question.

Currently, 18 percent of the West Bank has been declared as Israeli military training and firing zones—about the same land area as designated under Palestinian control, officially termed Area A in the Oslo accords.

In the Jordan Valley, the figure for such zones rises to 56 percent.

Michaeli said that international law clearly prohibited Israel from locating military training and firing zones in occupied Palestinian territory.

“Israel is entitled to build a military base to protect an occupied area,” she explained, “but not to use Palestinian land for its longterm training needs. It has to do that inside its own sovereign territory.”

Some 38 Palestinian villages have found themselves, like al-Aqaba, trapped in firing zones, endangering the inhabitants’ safety and in many cases providing grounds for Israeli officials to demolish their homes and forcibly remove them.

Herders like the Daragmeh family face particular difficulties moving around firing zones.

Israel is currently trying to expel the entire population from eight villages in an area known as the South Hebron Hills that has been declared “Firing Zone 918.”

“Israel has many different ways to make life very hard for Palestinians so that they will be driven off their land,” said Dror Etkes, an Israeli expert on the settlements.

“But the firing zones are the number one method.”

The Israeli deputy defense minister’s comments in June were in response to a question prompted by testimony from a senior Israeli army officer to a parliamentary committee.

Einav Shalev, in charge of military operations in the West Bank, stated in April that SEPTEMBER 2014

cook_26-27_The Nakba Continues 7/31/14 5:54 PM Page 27

firing zones were designed to displace Palestinians from sections of Area C. He added that the army had recently increased its use of military firing and training zones in the Jordan Valley to stop Palestinians living there.

He told legislators: “I think that the movement of armored vehicles, other vehicles and more in this region and the thousands of soldiers marching clears the way.

When the battalions march, people [Palestinians] move aside.”

He also referred to Palestinian homes as “weeds,” saying, “There are places where, when we reduced the quantity of training substantially, weeds started growing.”

The Jordan Valley, nearly 30 percent of the West Bank, became a key diplomatic battleground in the nine-month, U.S.-led peace process that collapsed acrimonously in April. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had insisted that the Israeli military be allowed to continue operating in the Jordan Valley for the forseeable future.

Tamar Zandberg, a dovish legislator whose question prompted Danon’s statement, commented on Facebook that the firing zones were being exploited for political purposes. “Apparently the deputy minister

is starting to prepare to implement the Bennett plan to annex Area C while cleansing it of as many as possible Palestinians.”

Naftali Bennett, a senior government minister, has proposed annexing much of the West Bank as an alternative to reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians. A recent poll of Israeli Jews living outside the settlements showed that one in three supported the West Bank’s full or partial annexation.

Israel has been stepping up its destruction of homes in the Jordan Valley, according to recent data from the United Nations. Some 390 homes were demolished last year, more than double the number the previous year.

The Jordan Valley is home to 65,000 Palestinians, and another 6,000 Jewish settlers.

Etkes said he had begun mapping the firing zones to determine how many of them were in actual use.

“It will be another six months till I have the results, but I’d be extremely surprised if the army actually needs more than a tenth of the area it has zoned for military training,” he said. “Instead they are used as a pretext for expelling Palestinians.”

Sakher Daragmeh’s death has evoked troubling memories for Al-Aqaba’s mayor.

Sadeeq, who has been confined to a wheel-

chair for more than 40 years, said he had been shot at the same location as Daragmeh.

“When I heard the army had killed Sakher, it brought back very painful memories,” he said. “The reality is that nothing has changed here with the army’s policy in more than four decades.”

Sadeeq said that despite the court ruling 15 years ago, the army continued to make regular forays into al-Aqaba, including in early July, when Israeli soldiers destroyed a house and five animal shelters. “The constant pressure of facing the soldiers is intended to make us fearful and leave,” he stated.

He estimated that more than 2,000 villagers were living outside al-Aqaba, most of them in Tubas and Nablus, cities in Area A, under Palestinian control.

Etkes said: “Life is very difficult at the best of times for Palestinians in Area C, but those in the firing zones are in the worst situation of all. The immediate goal is to drive them out and into Areas A and B [under greater Palestinian control]. Ultimately, Israel wants them out of the West Bank entirely.”

“Israel comes to our village and demolishes homes even in the winter rains,” said Burhan Daragmeh. “They’d prefer to see us homeless, wandering from place to place.” ❑

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Ten Senators, 17 Representatives in 113th Congress’ “Hall of Fame” CongressWatch

By Shirl McArthur ith mid-term elections approaching, W the Washington Report is

HALL OF FAME

HALL OF SHAME

had 356 co-sponsors. Those who withstood intense AIPAC pressure and declined to co-sponsor the bill are recognized in Column 4.

5. Israeli-Palestinian Peace. Two resolutions were introduced supporting efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace through a negotiated two-state solution. The first, H.Res. 238, was introduced by Lee in May 2013. The second, H.Res. 365, was introduced in September 2013 by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). Co-sponsors of one or both measures are shown in Column 5.

6. Hezbollah. In April 2014, Rep. Mark Meadows (RNC) introduced H.R. 4411 to try to punish Hezbollah by restricting its access to international financial and other institutions. The bill has gained strong support in the House, and has 322 co-sponsors.

Those not co-sponsoring the bill are shown in Column 6.

Career Pro-Israel Career Pro-Israel pleased to again present PAC Donations Senate PAC Donations its scorecard for the cur- Senate rent members of Con- Baldwin, Tammy (D-WI) $ 28,615 Boozman, John (R-AR) $ 8,500 99,505 Cornyn, John (R-TX) 76,480 gress. Chosen were issues Brown, Sherrod (D-OH) 157,342 Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) 107,500 that best demonstrate Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) Tom (D-IA) 552,950 Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) 160,323 congressional support Harkin, Leahy, Patrick (D-VT) 145,911 Hatch, Orrin (R-UT) 75,200 for, or harm to, U.S. na- Levin, Carl (D-MI) 729,937 Heller, Dean (R-NV) 23,000 394,001 Inhofe, James (R-OK) 130,800 tional interests in the Reid, Harry (D-NV) 235,700 Kirk, Mark (R-IL) 339,386 Middle East. House Re- Rockefeller, John (D-WV) Bernie (I-VT) 4,000 Moran, Jerry (R-KS) 15,700 publicans apparently de- Sanders, Warren, Elizabeth (D-MA) 7,500 Roberts, Pat (R-KS) 72,300 cided to try to turn the Shelby, Richard (R-AL) 200,825 Thune, John (R-SD) 54,230 tragic September 2012 House Toomey, Patrick (R-PA) 32,250 attack on U.S. facilities in Earl (D-OR) $10,000 Wicker, Roger (R-MS) 66,400 Benghazi, Libya into a Blumenauer, Conyers, John (D-MI) 7,000 partisan issue, so the res- Dingell, John (D-MI) 18,700 House 10,500 olution calling for a spe- Edwards, Donna (D-MD) 6,500 Bachmann, Michele (R-MN) 37,000 cial investigation into the Ellison, Keith (D-MN) Sam (D-CA) 14,150 Broun, Paul (R-GA) 0 attack was not chosen, Farr, Grijalva, Raul (D-AZ) 12,500 Collins, Doug (R-GA) 0 because it was supported Johnson, Eddie Bernice (D-TX) 4,500 Cotton, Tom (R-AR) 2,500 40,200 DeSantis, Ron (R-FL) 1,000 by nearly all Republi- Johnson, Hank (D-GA) Jones, Walter (R-NC) 2,500 Duncan, Jeff (R-SC) 0 cans and no Democrats.

Barbara (D-CA) 3,000 Franks, Trent (R-AZ) 5,600 For the House, six posi- Lee, McCollum, Betty (D-MN) 9,750 Johnson, Bill (R-OH) 0 tive and four negative is- McDermott, Jim (D-WA) 7,000 Messer, Luke (R-IN) 1,000 12,575 Poe, Ted (R-TX) 15,000 sues were chosen. Of the McGovern, James (D-MA) 14,193 Pompeo, Mike (R-KS) 500 six “positive” columns, Miller, George (D-CA) Jim (D-VA) 3,000 Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana (R-FL) 291,240 three show those members Moran, Welch, Peter (D-VT) 11,000 Royce, Edward (R-CA) 52,950 who withstood pressure Salmon, Matt (R-AZ) 9,000 Sherman, Brad (D-CA) 93,430 HOUSE: The Negatives from AIPAC and others to Vargas, Juan (D-CA) 100 7. Anti-Diplomacy Letsupport issues contrary to Weber, Randy (R-TX) 0 ters. In July 2013, all but one U.S. national interests.

Yoho, Ted (R-FL) 0 member of the House Foreign Seventeen members regisAffairs Committee signed a tered in five or six positive columns, with no more than one negative receiving the most attention was H.R. 850, letter to Obama, initiated by Royce, quesmark, and they have been inducted into the the “Nuclear Iran Prevention” bill intro- tioning the value of negotiations with Iran duced by Rep. Ed. Royce (R-CA) in February and calling, instead, for tougher sanctions.

“Hall of Fame.”

The “Hall of Shame” lists the 18 House 2013. Under intense AIPAC pressure, the full Signers of that letter are shown in Column members who registered in three or four House passed it on July 31, 2013, by a roll 7. Much publicity was given to the March negative columns, with no more than one call vote of 400-20, with one voting “pre- 2014 House letter, signed by 391 members, sent” (abstaining). Those who voted no or originated by former Majority Leader Eric positive mark.

Cantor (R-VA) and Democratic Whip Steny For the Senate, five positive and four abstained are recognized in Column 1.

2. Pro-Diplomacy Letters. At least two Hoyer, which originally was thought to lay negative issues were chosen. Three of the five positive columns reflect those who significant letters, both originated by Rep. out “red lines” for Iran negotiations. Inresisted AIPAC’s pressures. Ten senators David Price (D-NC), were sent to President stead, however, in an effort to garner as registered in four or five positive Barack Obama in 2013 and 2014 expressing many signatures as possible, the letter was columns with no more than one negative support for “reinvigorated U.S. diplomacy” so toned down as to be almost moderate. So mark, or three positive columns with no with Iran. Those who signed either or both its signers are not included.

8. Cut Palestinian Aid. Three measures negative marks, and their names appear of these letters are shown in Column 2.

3. Pro-Diplomacy Bill. Similarly, in were introduced that would cut Palestinian in the “Hall of Fame.” The “Hall of Shame” lists those 14 senators who regis- February 2013 Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) in- aid unless certain unlikely conditions are tered in three or four negative columns troduced H.R. 783, to “Prevent Iran from met. The first was H.R. 1337, introduced in Acquiring Nuclear Weapons and Stop War March 2013 by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL); with no more than one positive mark.

The House and Senate issues are enu- Through Diplomacy.” Its 19 co-sponsors are H.R. 3868 was introduced by Royce in January 2014; and H.Res. 542 was introduced recognized in Column 3. merated below: 4. U.S.-Israel Partnership. Another by Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) in April 2014. CoHOUSE: The Positives major AIPAC objective was the passage of sponsors of at least one of these measures 1. Iran Sanctions. Numerous bills sanc- H.R. 938, the “U.S.-Israel Strategic Part- are shown in Column 8.

9. Jerusalem. The scorecard would not tioning Iran were introduced, but the one nership” bill introduced by leading Israel-firster Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R- be complete without mentioning the perenShirl McArthur is a retired U.S. foreign FL) in March 2013. The full House finally nial measures intended to force the U.S. service officer based in the Washington, passed the bill, under “suspension of the Embassy in Israel to move from Tel Aviv to DC area. rules,” this past March. When passed it Jerusalem and to eliminate the presidential 28

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

SEPTEMBER 2014

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waiver authority included in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. Four such bills have been introduced in the 113th Congress.

H.R. 104 was introduced in January 2013

by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ); H.R. 252 was introduced the same month by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT); H.R. 2846 was introduced in July 2013 by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ); and H.R. 3629 was also introduced by Franks, in December 2013. Their co-sponsors are identified in Column 9.

10. Letter to ASA. In January 2014, Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) led 134 representatives in signing a letter to the president of the American Studies Association (ASA) protesting its decision to boycott Israeli universities and academic institutions. Signers of the letter are named in Column 10.

SENATE: The Positives A. Iran Sanctions. As with the House, several new Iran sanctions bills were introduced, but the one gaining the most support was the comprehensive and punitive S. 1881, introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in December 2013. It has 60 co-sponsors. The 40 senators not among its co-sponsors are recognized in Column A. B. Back Door to War. In May 2013, the Senate passed the non-binding S.Res. 65, introduced that February by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), urging strengthening of sanctions on Iran. Some have called this the “back door to war with Iran” resolution, because two of its clauses would appear to give Israel a green light to attack Iran, which inevitably would draw in the U.S. When passed in had 92 co-sponsors.

Those 11 senators not among the co-sponsors are recognized in Column B.

C. Pro-Diplomacy Letters. At least two letters were sent supporting the negotiations with Iran. The first, originated by Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) and signed by the chairs of 10 Senate committees, was sent in December 2013 to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Saying they strongly support the ongoing negotiations, they urged Reid to hold off on bringing Iran sanctions legislation to the floor. The second letter was originated by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), who felt that the March 18, 2014 letter originated by Sens. Menendez and Graham, described in paragraph F below, was too strong and urged his colleagues to join him in signing the relatively moderate Cantor/Hoyer House letter, described in paragraph 7 above. Twenty-two senators joined Levin in signing the House letter. Signers of either or both of these two letters are recognized in Column C. D. U.S.-Israel Partnership. The Senate version of the U.S.-Israel Partnership bill, S. 462, introduced in March 2013 by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), has not been passed, largely because of its problematic provision that would seek to include Israel in the visa waiver program. However, it has 64 co-sponsors. Those senators not co-sponsoring the bill are shown in Column D. E. Israeli-Palestinian Peace. The Senate’s measure supporting efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace through a negotiated two-state solution is S.Res. 203, introduced in July 2013 by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Its nine co-sponsors are recognized in Column E. SENATE: The Negatives F. Anti-Diplomacy Letters. At least four letters or “statements” were sent ei-

ther opposing negotiations with Iran and urging new sanctions, or adopting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s maximalist position urging unreasonable conditions on any agreement that might be reached. The one receiving the most support and attention was the Menendez/Graham letter mentioned in paragraph C above. Sent this past March 18 and signed by 83 senators, it listed “core principles” for the conclusion of negotiations.

Last September Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), joined by 10 Republican senators, wrote to Obama urging more sanctions rather than negotiations; in November 2013, nine Republican senators, led by Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN), signed a letter expressing skepticism about the negotiations; and in November 2013, 14 senators, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), signed a statement urging stronger sanctions rather than negotiations. Signers of at least one of these documents are shown in Column F. G. Jerusalem. The Senate bill intended to force the U.S. Embassy in Israel to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is S. 604, introduced in March 2013 by Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV). Its co-sponsors are named in Column G. H. Cut Palestinian Aid. One bill was introduced in the Senate to prohibit aid to the P.A. unless a list of unlikely conditions are met. S. 2265 was introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in April 2014. Its 18 cosponsors are identified in Column H. I. Hezbollah. The Senate’s companion to H.R. 4411 (paragraph 6) intended to punish Hezbollah by restricting its access to international financial and other institutions is S. 2329, introduced in May 2014

by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). Its cosponsors are shown in Column I. ❑

REPORT CARD FOR THE 113th CONGRESS

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Aderholt, Robert (R) Bachus, Spencer (R) Brooks, Mo (R) Byrne, Bradley (R) Roby, Martha (R) Rogers, Mike (R) Sewell, Terri (D) Alaska Young, Don (R) Amer. Samoa Faleomavaega, Eni (D) SEPTEMBER 2014

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SEPTEMBER 2014

Lipinski, Daniel (D) Quigley, Mike (D) Roskam, Peter (R) Rush, Bobby (D) Schakowsky, Janice (D) Schneider, Bradley (D) Schock, Aaron (R) Shimkus, John (R) Brooks, Susan (R) Bucshon, Larry (R) Carson, Andre (D) Messer, Luke (R) Rokita, Todd (R) Stutzman, Marlin (R) Visclosky, Peter (D) Walorski, Jackie (R) Young, Todd (R) Braley, Bruce (D) King, Steve (R) Latham, Tom (R) Loebsack, David (D) Huelskamp, Tim (R) Jenkins, Lynn (R) Pompeo, Mike (R) Yoder, Kevin (R) Barr, Andy (R) Guthrie, Brett (R) Massie, Thomas (R) Rogers, Harold (R) Whitfield, Ed (R) Yarmuth, John (D) Boustany, Charles (R) Cassidy, Bill (R) Fleming, John (R) McAllister, Vance (R) Richmond, Cedric (D) Scalise, Steve (R) Michaud, Michael (D) Pingree, Chellie (D) Sablan, Gregorio (D) Cummings, Elijah (D) Delaney, John (D) Edwards, Donna (D) Harris, Andy (R) Hoyer, Steny (D)

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Maryland

Ruppersberger, Dutch (D) Sarbanes, John (D) Van Hollen, Chris (D) Massachusetts Capuano, Michael (D) Clark, Katherine (D) Keating, William (D) Kennedy, Joseph (D) Lynch, Stephen (D) McGovern, James (D) Neal, Richard (D) Tierney, John (D) Tsongas, Niki (D) Michigan Amash, Justin (R) Benishek, Dan (R) Bentivolio, Kerry (R) Camp, Dave (R) Conyers, John (D) Dingell, John (D) Huizenga, Bill (R) Kildee, Dan (D) Levin, Sander (D) Miller, Candice (R) Peters, Gary (D) Rogers, Mike (R) Upton, Fred (R) Walberg, Tim (R) Minnesota Bachmann, Michele (R) Ellison, Keith (D) Kline, John (R) McCollum, Betty (D) Nolan, Richard (D) Paulsen, Erik (R) Peterson, Collin (D) Walz, Timothy (D) Mississippi Harper, Gregg (R) Nunnelee, Alan (R) Palazzo, Steven (R) Thompson, Bennie (D) Missouri Clay, Wm. Lacy (D) Cleaver, Emanuel (D) Graves, Sam (R) Hartzler, Vicky (R) Long, Billy (R) Luetkemeyer, Blaine (R) Smith, Jason (R) 34

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Wagner, Ann (R) Daines, Steve (R) Fortenberry, Jeff (R) Smith, Adrian (R) Terry, Lee (R) Nevada Amodei, Mark (R) Heck, Joe (R) Horsford, Steven (D) Titus, Dina (D) New Hamp. Kuster, Ann (D) Shea-Porter, Carol (D) New Jersey Frelinghuysen, Rodney (R) Garrett, Scott (R) Holt, Rush (D) Lance, Leonard (R) LoBiondo, Frank (R) Pallone, Frank (D) Pascrell, Bill (D) Payne, Donald (D) X Runyan, Jon (R) Sires, Albio (D) Smith, Christopher (R) New Mexico Lujan, Ben Ray (D) Lujan Grisham, Michelle (D) Pearce, Steve (R) New York Bishop, Tim (D) Clarke, Yvette (D) Collins, Chris (R) Crowley, Joseph (D) Engel, Eliot (D) Gibson, Chris (R) Grimm, Michael (R) Hanna, Richard (R) Higgins, Brian (D) Israel, Steve (D) Jeffries, Hakeem (D) King, Peter (R) Lowey, Nita (D) Maffei, Daniel (D) Maloney, Carolyn (D) Maloney, Sean (D) McCarthy, Carolyn (D) Meeks, Gregory (D) Meng, Grace (D) Nadler, Jerrold (D) SEPTEMBER 2014

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New York

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Oregon Walden, Greg (R) Pennsylvania Barletta, Lou (R) Brady, Robert (D) Cartwright, Matt (D) Dent, Charles (R) Doyle, Michael (D) Fattah, Chaka (D) Fitzpatrick, Michael (R) Gerlach, Jim (R) Kelly, Mike (R) Marino, Tom (R) Meehan, Patrick (R) Murphy, Tim (R) Perry, Scott (R) Pitts, Joseph (R) Rothfus, Keith (R) Schwartz, Allyson (D) Shuster, Bill (R) Thompson, Glenn (R) Puerto Rico Pierluisi, Pedro (D) Rhode Island Cicilline, David (D) Langevin, James (D) S. Carolina Clyburn, James (D) Duncan, Jeff (R) Gowdy, Trey (R) Mulvaney, Mick (R) Rice, Tom (R) Sanford, Mark (R) Wilson, Joe (R) South Dakota Noem, Kristi (R) Tennessee Black, Diane (R) Blackburn, Marsha (R) Cohen, Steve (D) Cooper, Jim (D) Desjarlais, Scott (R) Duncan, John (R) Fincher, Stephen (R) Fleischmann, Chuck (R) Roe, Phil (R) Texas Barton, Joe (R) Brady, Kevin (R) Burgess, Michael (R) Carter, John (R) Castro, Joaquin (D) Conaway, K. Michael (R) SEPTEMBER 2014

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Cuellar, Henry (D) Culberson, John (R) Doggett, Lloyd (D) Farenthold, Blake (R) Flores, Bill (R) Gallego, Pete (D) Gohmert, Louie (R) Granger, Kay (R) Green, Al (D) Green, Gene (D) Hall, Ralph (R) Hensarling, Jeb (R) Hinojosa, Ruben (D) Jackson Lee, Sheila (D) Johnson, Eddie Bernice (D) X Johnson, Sam (R) Marchant, Kenny (R) McCaul, Michael (R) Neugebauer, Randy (R) Olson, Pete (R) O'Rourke, Beto (D) X Poe, Ted (R) Sessions, Pete (R) Smith, Lamar (R) Stockman, Steve (R) Thornberry, Mac (R) Veasey, Marc (D) Vela, Filemon (D) Weber, Randy (R) Williams, Roger (R) Utah Bishop, Rob (R) Chaffetz, Jason (R) Matheson, Jim (D) Stewart, Chris (R) Vermont Welch, Peter (D) Virgin Islands Christensen, Donna (D) Virginia Cantor, Eric (R) Connolly, Gerald (D) Forbes, Randy (R) Goodlatte, Bob (R) Griffith, Morgan (R) Hurt, Robert (R) Moran, Jim (D) X Rigell, Scott (R) Scott, Bobby (D)

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Wittman, Robert (R) Wolf, Frank (R) Washington DelBene, Suzan (D) Hastings, Doc (R) Heck, Denny (D) Herrera Beutler, Jaime (R) Kilmer, Derek (D) Larsen, Rick (D) McDermott, Jim (D) X McMorris Rodgers, Cathy (R) Reichert, David (R) Smith, Adam (D) West Virginia Capito, Shelley Moore (R) McKinley, David (R) Rahall, Nick (D) Wisconsin Duffy, Sean (R) Kind, Ron (D) Moore, Gwen (D) Petri, Thomas (R) Pocan, Mark (D) Ribble, Reid (R) Ryan, Paul (R) Sensenbrenner, James (R) Wyoming Lummis, Cynthia (R)

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Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California SEPTEMBER 2014

Sessions, Jeff (R) Shelby, Richard (R) Begich, Mark (D) Murkowski, Lisa (R) Flake, Jeff (R) McCain, John (R) Boozman, John (R) Pryor, Mark (D) Boxer, Barbara (D) Feinstein, Dianne (D)

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HALL OF SHAME. Appears in three or four negative columns and no more than one positive column.

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Bennet, Michael (D) Udall, Mark (D) Connecticut Blumenthal, Richard (D) Murphy, Christopher (D) Delaware Carper, Thomas (D) Coons, Chris (D) Florida Nelson, Bill (D) Rubio, Marco (R) Georgia Chambliss, Saxby (R) Isakson, Johnny (R) Hawaii Hirono, Mazie (D) Schatz, Brian (D) Idaho Crapo, Mike (R) Risch, James (R) Illinois Durbin, Richard (D) Kirk, Mark (R) Indiana Coats, Dan (R) Donnelly, Joe (D) Iowa Grassley, Chuck (R) Harkin, Tom (D) Kansas Moran, Jerry (R) Roberts, Pat (R) Kentucky McConnell, Mitch (R) Paul, Rand (R) Louisiana Landrieu, Mary (D) Vitter, David (R) Maine Collins, Susan (R) King, Angus (I) Maryland Cardin, Benjamin (D) Mikulski, Barbara (D) Massachusetts Markey, Edward (D) Warren, Elizabeth (D) Michigan Levin, Carl (D) Stabenow, Debbie (D) Minnesota Franken, Al (D) Klobuchar, Amy (D) Mississippi Cochran, Thad (R) Wicker, Roger (R) Missouri Blunt, Roy (R) McCaskill, Claire (D) Montana Tester, Jon (D) Walsh, John (D) Nebraska Fischer, Deb (R) Johanns, Mike (R)

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Heller, Dean (R) Reid, Harry (D) New Hampshire Ayotte, Kelly (R) Shaheen, Jeanne (D) New Jersey Booker, Cory (D) Menendez, Robert (D) New Mexico Heinrich, Martin (D) Udall, Tom (D) New York Gillibrand, Kirsten (D) Schumer, Charles (D) North Carolina Burr, Richard (R) Hagan, Kay (D) North Dakota Heitkamp, Heidi (D) Hoeven, John (R) Ohio Brown, Sherrod (D) Portman, Rob (R) Oklahoma Coburn, Tom (R) Inhofe, James (R) Oregon Merkley, Jeff (D) Wyden, Ron (D) Pennsylvania Casey, Robert (D) Toomey, Patrick (R) Rhode Island Reed, Jack (D) Whitehouse, Sheldon (D) South Carolina Graham, Lindsey (R) Scott, Tim (R) South Dakota Johnson, Tim (D) Thune, John (R) Tennessee Alexander, Lamar (R) Corker, Bob (R) Texas Cornyn, John (R) Cruz, Ted (R) Utah Hatch, Orrin (R) Lee, Mike (R) Vermont Leahy, Patrick (D) Sanders, Bernie (I) Virginia Kaine, Tim (D) Warner, Mark (D) Washington Cantwell, Maria (D) Murray, Patty (D) West Virginia Manchin, Joe (D) Rockefeller, John (D) Wisconsin Baldwin, Tammy (D) Johnson, Ron (R) Wyoming Barrasso, John (R) Enzi, Michael (R)

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*not in office SEPTEMBER 2014

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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parry_42_Special Report 7/31/14 4:38 PM Page 42

What Did U.S. Spy Satellites See in Ukraine?

SpecialReport

YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Robert Parry

A column of Russia’s air defense system Buk-2M launch vehicles rolls onto Red Square in Moscow during the May 9, 2013 Victory Day parade celebrating Russia’s costly victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. n the heat of the U.S. media’s latest war

Ihysteria—rushing to pin blame for the

crash of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet on Russia’s President Vladimir Putin— there is the same absence of professional skepticism that has marked similar stampedes on Iraq, Syria and elsewhere—with key questions not being asked or answered.

The dog-not-barking question on the catastrophe over Ukraine is: what did the U.S. surveillance satellite imagery show?

It’s hard to believe—with the attention that U.S. intelligence has concentrated on eastern Ukraine for the past half year— that the alleged trucking of several large Buk anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia to Ukraine and then back to Russia didn’t show up somewhere.

Yes, there are limitations to what U.S. spy satellites can see. But the Buk missiles are about 16 feet long and they are usually Investigative reporter Robert Parry, editor of Consortiumnews.com, broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. Copyright © 2014 Consortiumnews. All Rights Reserved.

42

mounted on trucks or tanks. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 also went down during the afternoon, not at night, meaning the missile battery was not concealed by darkness.

So why hasn’t this question of U.S. spyin-the-sky photos—and what they reveal—been pressed by the major U.S. news media? How can The Washington Post run front-page stories, such as the one on Sunday, July 20, with the definitive title “U.S. official: Russia gave systems,” without demanding from these U.S. officials details about what the U.S. satellite images disclose?

Instead, the Post’s Michael Birnbaum and Karen DeYoung wrote from Kiev: “The United States has confirmed that Russia supplied sophisticated missile launchers to separatists in eastern Ukraine and that attempts were made to move them back across the Russian border after the Thursday shoot-down of a Malaysian jetliner, a U.S. official said Saturday. “‘We do believe they were trying to move back into Russia at least three Buk [missile launch] systems,’ the official said.

U.S. intelligence was ‘starting to get indications…a little more than a week ago’ that THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

the Russian launchers had been moved into Ukraine, said the official” whose identity was withheld by the Post so the official would discuss intelligence matters.

But catch the curious vagueness of the official’s wording: “we do believe”; “starting to get indications.” Are we supposed to believe—and perhaps more relevant, do the Washington Post writers actually believe—that the U.S. government with the world’s premier intelligence services can’t track three lumbering trucks each carrying large mid-range missiles?

What I’ve been told by one source, who has provided accurate information on similar matters in the past, is that U.S. intelligence agencies do have detailed satellite images of the likely missile battery that launched the fateful missile, but the battery appears to have been under the control of Ukrainian government troops dressed in what look like Ukrainian uniforms.

The source said CIA analysts were still not ruling out the possibility that the troops were actually eastern Ukrainian rebels in similar uniforms, but the initial assessment was that the troops were Ukrainian soldiers. There also was the suggestion that the soldiers involved were undisciplined and possibly drunk, since the imagery showed what looked like beer bottles scattered around the site, the source said.

Instead of pressing for these kinds of details, the U.S. mainstream press has simply passed on the propaganda coming from the Ukrainian government and the U.S. State Department, including hyping the fact that the Buk system is “Russian-made,” a rather meaningless fact that gets endlessly repeated.

However, to use the “Russian-made” point to suggest that the Russians must have been involved in the shoot-down is misleading at best and clearly designed to influence ill-informed Americans. As the Post and other news outlets surely know, the Ukrainian military also operates Russian-made military systems, including Buk anti-aircraft batteries, so the manufacturing origin has no probative value here.

Continued on page 51 SEPTEMBER 2014

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

43

gee_44-45_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 7/31/14 4:40 PM Page 44

“Man of the People” Joko Widodo Wins Indonesia’s Presidential Election

By John Gee

Islam and the Near East in theFar East

was Prabowo’s vice-presidential running mate. More importantly, although Golkar, the second precedented public interest, Joko largest party in Indonesia’s parWidodo, popularly known as liament, had officially thrown its “Jokowi,” won the Indonesian weight behind Prabowo, the presidential election. party was, in fact, divided. Its His victory was not a sure chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, had thing, however. Joko started off hoped to stand for the presidency with a 20 percent lead over his himself, and when that did not sole rival, Prabowo Subianto, but prove feasible he approached the former special forces lieuPDIP leader Megawati Sukarnoptenant-general whittled away at utri with an offer of support for that advantage to the point that, Joko in return for the promise of days before the vote, many coma certain number of seats in a mentators were pronouncing the post-election government. Bakrie election “too close to call.” only turned to Prabowo when he Joko had made a good impresfailed to obtain that commitment, sion on many poorer Indonesians but it left many of his members as a down-to-earth man who they unhappy at his decision, and could see as one of their own. Besome openly declared their supfore going into politics, he was a port for Joko, whose vice-presifurniture dealer. He was credited dential partner, Jusuf Kalla, is a with being a good mayor, first in former chairman of Golkar. the city of Solo and then in InOn the other hand, the PDIP donesia’s capital, Jakarta. He enparty machine’s mobilization in tered the contest for the presifavor of Joko was lackluster, and dency with the backing of the Ina decisive role in building his donesian Democratic Party-Strugcampaign was played by enthusigle (PDIP), the largest party in Inastic individuals who did not bedonesia’s parliament and of long to any political party. Comwhich he is a member. parisons were made by some obPrabowo is the leader of the servers to Barack Obama’s first Great Indonesia Movement Party U.S. presidential campaign: ac(Gerindra), which became the tivists used social media, carried third largest party in parliament, with 73 seats out of 560, in this Then-candidate Joko Widodo addresses party supporters during on strong canvassing of support in their local neighborhoods, and year’s general election. He rose to a July 14 visit to Surabaya to monitor vote tabulation. partially overcame the Prabowo his high position in the army Both men tried to build coalitions of par- camp’s advantage in big financial donors under the Suharto regime, and has been accused of being responsible for the mas- ties, and Prabowo appeared to have been by gathering many small contributions.

During the campaign, Prabowo came sacre of villagers in East Timor in 1983 and more successful than Joko when the camthe killing of demonstrators during the paign officially opened: he’d rallied the over as a more forceful and decisive candipopular riots that brought Suharto’s rule to backing of 6 parties that had captured 49 date than Joko, giving some the impression an end. He was married to Suharto’s mid- percent of the popular vote in the general that he had better leadership qualities dle daughter, though they later broke up. election, compared to Joko’s alliance of 4 overall, although in their televised debates Although he has pledged his commitment parties with 40 percent of the vote. Three Joko generally held his own. The Prabowo to democracy, associations such as these of the Muslim parties supported Prabowo camp had to contend with questions about his democratic credentials and record on made him appealing to those who han- and one backed Joko.

However, that gave a deceptive impres- human rights, while Joko faced a persiskered for the “strong government” of the sion of the real strength of the candidates. tent campaign of questioning of his reliSuharto years.

At the grass roots of the National Mandate gious status, including stories that he is a John Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Party (PAN), one of the Muslim parties in Christian or that he is indifferent to MusSingapore, and the author of Unequal Con- the Prabowo alliance, there was significant lim religious observance.

On July 22, two weeks after voting support for Joko, although its own leader flict: The Palestinians and Israel. t the end of a fiercely fought

JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Acampaign that attracted un-

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SEPTEMBER 2014

gee_44-45_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 7/31/14 4:40 PM Page 45

closed on July 9, the final results were declared. Joko had taken 53.15 percent of the popular vote, giving him a margin of victory of over 6 percent, or 8.3 million more votes than Prabowo. Not only did he win in his strongholds of Jakarta and central Java, but also in the islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and in a number of districts of the island of Sumatra, which was thought to have been firmly in Prabowoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pocket.

Prabowo claimed electoral fraud and said he would contest the result, but even as he spoke some members of his coalition were congratulating Joko on his victory and starting to sound out the possibility of switching their parliamentary support to him.

That should help him to construct a parliamentary alliance that can support his presidency and to start fulfilling campaign pledges that include investing in infrastructure, expanding health and education provisions, and fighting corruption, a hardy perennial of Indonesian political campaigns.

Malaysians Stunned by Downing of Flight MH17 All 298 people on board Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 perished when it was hit by a ground-to-air rocket on July 17.

Departing from Amsterdamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Schiphol Airport, it had almost crossed the breadth of Ukraine when it was struck by the missile over territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

Indications are that it was targeted in error by rebel fighters who were too ill-trained and inexperienced to distinguish a civilian airliner from a warplane.

Of the dead, 193 were Dutch nationals.

The second biggest group of victims of the rocket attack was 43 Malaysians. Among the Malaysians was a family of six, looking forward to celebrations to mark the end of Ramadan at home.

News of the disaster reached Malaysians while many of them were breaking their fast for the day. What is usually a time of light-hearted conviviality turned into an evening of despondency. Those who had relatives aboard generally knew it and realized immediately that there was no hope that they had survived. One question that many asked was why the flight was passing over a war zone, but it emerged within 2 days that, out of a group of 17 Asian airlines that regularly used the flight corridor that passed over Grabove, where MH17 fell in fragments, only 2 had decided to reroute their flights before the attack out of safety concerns.

SEPTEMBER 2011

The Malaysian government called on Russia to cooperate in persuading the rebels who controlled the area where the plane came down to allow free access to investigators. However, early public statements seemed muted compared to most issued in the West, and, in retrospect, this was no doubt because of the secret negotiations that were undertaken between a team headed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and the rebels for the release of the remains of the dead and of the aircraftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two black boxes. Those negotiations were successful; five days after the disaster, the handover took place.

The popular mood in Malaysia was mixed; there was anger at the attack and at Russian attempts to deflect blame from the rebels it supported, but also bewilderment.

The conflict in Ukraine had seemed far removed from Malaysia and was a news story that had only briefly featured prominently in the local media, during Russiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s acquisition of the Crimea. Suddenly and brutally, it was brought close to home.

In the days following the disaster, people gathered to remember the dead at mosques, churches and temples across Malaysia.

For Malaysians as a nation, the loss of MH17 came as a double blow on top of the disappearance of Flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean in March. People seemed to want an explanation for why their country had experienced two air disasters within such a short space of time, but could find none.

Citizensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Involvement in Syria and Iraq Conflicts Trouble SE Asian states On May 26, a 26-year-old factory worker drove an SUV filled with explosives into

the headquarters of the Iraqi SWAT team in Anbar province, killing 25 soldiers. He was the first Malaysian suicide bomber, and his death set off alarm bells in several Southeast Asian states.

There had already been reports of men from Muslim communities going to join Salafist armed groups fighting in Syria and Iraq. Some had posted statements, photos and videos on Facebook and YouTube.

A June 28 Malaysian newspaper report said that there were around 30 Malaysians and 56 Indonesians fighting in Syria. Some commentators in Indonesia think that this underestimates the number of Indonesians who have gone to fight against the Syrian and Iraqi governments. On June 18, Syriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s U.N. representative told a press conference that 15 Malaysians had been killed fighting in his country.

Within days of the declaration of a caliphate by ISIS leader Abu Bakr alBaghdadi, more than a thousand supportive postings were made on social media sites in Indonesia. Among groups pledging their allegiance to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;caliphateâ&#x20AC;? was the terrorist group Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (Mujahidin of Eastern Indonesia), which has attacked police on the island of Sulawesi. However, some networks that have previously endorsed calls for jihad against various enemies have reacted with caution to the declaration. These include Jemaah Islamiyah, which has in the past been accused of having links to terrorist activities within Indonesia itself. Abu Bakr Bashir, perhaps the most well known radical Islamist activist, who is currently serving a 15-year prison term for terrorism, stated his support for ISIS but refrained from pledging allegiance to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;caliphate.â&#x20AC;? â?&#x2018;

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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twair_46-47_Southern California Chronicle 7/31/14 4:49 PM Page 46

Palestinian Patience Wears Thin as Israeli Crimes Escalate, World Witnesses Silently

By Pat and Samir Twair

STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

the masses waving Palestinian flags. Approaching the counter-demonstrators, Abunimah asked one agitated individual: “What could make this stop?”

“Eliminate all Muslims,” was the unequivocal response. A policeman then interjected himself by asking Abunimah ungrammatically: “Are you with the Palestine?” and proceeded to handcuff him for ”trying to fire everyone up.” Released after a phone call to the officer’s sergeant, Abunimah proceeded to make a rousing speech to the expectant crowd.

Los Angelenos demonstrate outside the Israeli consulate July 8.

Representing the Israel Divestment Campaign, he upscale neighborhood of West Los Sherna Berger Gluck reminded the throng Angeles reverberated on a July after- that Palestinians have endured collective noon with the impassioned chants and slo- punishment since 1948 and that the chilgans of several hundred Palestinian Amer- dren of Gaza are daily dying from malnuicans who gathered outside the Israeli con- trition and shortage of medical supplies sulate to demand an end to Israel’s intensi- caused by the Israeli-imposed blockade. fied collective punishment of the captive “Look at the bigger picture,” she urged.

Palestinian population in Gaza and the Palestine Revisited West Bank.

Exasperated by Washington’s silence as The last time Sherna Berger Gluck visited Israeli troops rampaged throughout the the West Bank was during the summer of West Bank in 2,400 violent raids in the 1994, at the tail end of the first intifada, so search for three missing settler teenagers, 20 the retired professor at California State human rights organizations rushed to sup- University Long Beach accepted an invitaport the emergency July 8 protest. The re- tion from Birzeit University to present a sult was the largest rally in years decrying paper on online archiving last March. She Israel’s unrestrained abuse of Palestinians. took the opportunity to revisit colleagues And judging by the cheers and car horns of and friends she came to know during expassing motorists, the public agrees that Is- tended field trips to the area from 1988. rael is the bully in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Gluck’s interactions with women in West Arriving at the cacophonous scene, Elec- Bank and Gaza villages, refugee camps and tronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah, urban leadership committees became the who was scheduled to speak at the demon- material for her book, An American Femistration, decided to first interview a few nist in Palestine: The Intifada Years [availdozen people separated protectively by the able from the AET Bookstore]. police across busy Wilshire Boulevard from “One of the highpoints of my 2014 trip was to reunite with the families I’d lived Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance journal- with in the village of Kufr Na’meh,” Gluck ists based in Los Angeles. noted. “They remarked about the rising

Southern California Chronicle

costs of living and weren’t optimistic about the future.” Although they were still aligned with the same political party, her friends admitted the real grassroots activism had faded. For instance, she continued, “they believed the weekly demonstrations in Bil’in—just down the road from them—are no longer meaningful, but now just for show.”

Gluck lamented what she sensed was the weakening of social bonds forged during the earlier period of struggle—a phenomenon she also noted among former activists in Jerusalem. “In other words,” she explained, “there seemed to be a growing so-

46

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

T

Prof. Sherna Berger Gluck. cial fragmentation which I found to be very disheartening.”

Today the refrain that justice might be achieved was: “not in my lifetime, but maybe in the lifetime of my children or grandchildren.” A colleague who teaches on the Birzeit campus said she was encouraged because she saw changes in her students becoming aware of political issues and the savvy of how to achieve their goals possibly because of social media.

Changes in the landscape were dramatic and depressing. Twenty years ago, the CalSEPTEMBER 2014

twair_46-47_Southern California Chronicle 7/31/14 4:50 PM Page 47

SEPTEMBER 2014

unfailing support of ADS was extolled by Raghida Aboulhosn, president of ADS Southern California, and Dr. Rima Muakkassa.

Dr. Jamil Aboulhosn, Kasem’s son-in-law, who served as master of ceremonies, also introduced speakers Dr. Nidal Radwan, Dr. Rabih Aridi, Dr. Anis Makarem, Imad Jamal (known professionally as Michael Jamal), and Nassib Chaar. Fadi Zahereddin read aloud a letter of condolence from the Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblat, who was to have a memorial service for Kasem in his castle the next week.

Dr. Makarem pointed out that when the ADS had its national convention in Los Angeles in 1996, Kasem personally invited the governor, who attended, and when the present center was purchased the same year, the radio personality guaranteed the bank loan on top of his generous donation. A video highlighting the milestones of the beloved humanitarian’s life compiled by his son, Michael—himself a successful deejay in Singapore—concluded the inspiring event.

Islamophobia Explored

STAFF PHOTOS S. TWAIR

ifornia activist had not imagined the ominous presence of a towering wall snaking through and dividing Palestinian land on every acre of the West Bank, nor the sight of Israeli settlements replacing pastoral forested hilltops. Gluck also was nonplussed to view large stone buildings being erected in Ramallah and its environs.

“This building boom—part of what is referred to by the locals as the ‘Ramallah bubble’—is alarming because it is a disconnect between the reality of the lives of Palestinians living in villages and in Jerusalem who are barely scraping by and that of the wealthy in the diaspora. Just consider the irony,” she added, ”of a rich Palestinian building a mansion to live here maybe one month of the year while his neighbors in Jerusalem or South Hebron hills are faced with ongoing home demolitions.”

A more foreboding question to Gluck is the intention behind the construction of all the new P.A. ministry buildings in Ramallah. If the capital of the future Palestinian state is to be Jerusalem, why are P.A. administration edifices going up in Ramallah?

Summing up her conclusions, Gluck opines that regardless of whether they favor a one- or two-state solution, the many Palestinians she talked to are disheartened by the lack of a genuine leadership committed to a true democracy and a just solution. “Instead,” she explained, “they see a leadership that seems to be collaborating with the Israelis rather than confronting them.” She qualified this by adding, “Perhaps Fatah loyalists would have a different view of the situation than the people I interviewed.”

Since returning and digesting her impressions from the trip, Gluck is convinced that Palestinians she’s talked to both inside and those in the diaspora believe a whole new structure is needed. “In other words,” she suggested, “perhaps the Palestine National Council should be resuscitated so that all Palestinians would be represented—those under occupation, those inside Israel, and those inside refugee camps and in the diaspora.”

Above all, Gluck found, people in the West Bank don’t feel they’ve been totally abandoned by the international community as they hear about the success of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement and its impact on Israel. “In contrast to the absurd charade called the peace process that uses so much energy and pro-

TOP: Casey Kasem family members at Druze Center (l-r): son, Michael, daughter Julie Aboulhosn, brother Mouner and his wife, Mary. ABOVE: Levantine Center speakers Sohail Daulatzai (l) and Asli Bali. duces nothing,” she noted, “the people feel that this international solidarity movement helps to keep the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians in the public eye.”

Casey Kasem Memorial The Druze community took the news of Casey Kasem’s death as losing a beloved family member. Indeed, he was a lifelong supporter of his faith and reared his children in it. And so on June 22, the American Druze Society (ADS) of Southern California hosted a memorial service in its Eagle Rock center for Kasem, who achieved worldwide broadcasting fame during his lifetime (see p. 80).

Moving tributes were made by Kasem’s daughters, Julie Aboulhosn and Kerri, son, Michael, and brother, Mouner. Kasem’s involvement in and enrichment of the Arab American community and Los Angeles were recounted by Judge James Kaddo. His THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

“Islamophobia Through the Experience of Blacks” was the topic of a May 25 program at the Levantine Cultural Center featuring Sohail Daulatzai of the University of California, Irvine, and Asli Bali of UCLA School of Law. “White supremacy and Islamophobia go hand in hand,” declared Daulatzai, who said that roughly one-third of black slaves in the New World were Muslims, which explains the affinity between American blacks and Islam.

After World War II, black veterans returned to segregation in the U.S., stated the author of Black Star, Crescent Moon: the Muslim International and Black Freedom Beyond America. The Marshall Plan was aimed at strengthening the old colonial powers, Daulatzai reasons, and America’s Achilles heel was how it treated its black citizens. So in the 1950s, Washington sent some blacks abroad to say how good life was for them in America.

Malcolm X confounded the establishment, Daulatzai continued, by rejecting the white surname his freed black ancestors had taken from their former owners, but above all he viewed American blacks not as a minority but as a global majority.

Hence, the government saw his growing influence on Martin Luther King, Jr. as dangerous. ❑ 47

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Assembly Member Richard Pan Hosts Reception Honoring Life, Art of Hassan Alawsi

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

By Elaine Pasquini community, and the media crowded into Pan’s small office to honor the artist and view his work.

“We are here to celebrate the life and art of Hassan Alawsi,” Pan told the crowd. “He really contributed to the community through his creative art and I am thrilled to display his artwork here in the Capitol. We need to stand together when tragedies happen.”

assan Alawsi settled in the U.S. in

H2007 to escape the ravages of war in

his native Iraq. On March 16, 2014 the Baghdad-born refugee was fatally shot in the parking lot of a Home Depot store in Sacramento, California, the victim of an apparent hate crime, according to Sacramento County officials.

Employed as a security guard at Sacramento’s Salem Center, Alawsi was a fine arts graduate of the University of Baghdad and his real passion was art, which he taught in Iraq and in the refugee camp in Jordan where he stayed for a time. For the last three years Alawsi taught art to adults with disabilities at Aim Higher Adult Development Center in Elk Grove.

To honor his memory, California State Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) displayed nine of Alawsi’s paintings in his Capitol office during the month of July. Pan unveiled the artwork at a July 2 reception, the day that would have been Alawsi’s 47th birthday. Some 30 friends, members of the Sacramento Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

48

Activists Protest Drone Warfare, U.S. Troops to Iraq, Support for Israel Members of the Sacramento Area Peace Action group who oppose the U.S. military’s ongoing use of drone warfare and the escalation of troops and advisers to Iraq rallied July 1 at the corner of 16th and J streets in California’s capital city. Since 2002 the group has been bringing its message of peace to passing motorists through its weekly vigil held on the same busy street corner.

The action group also condemns U.S. support for Israel as the self-proclaimed Jewish state continues to occupy Palestinian land, expel Palestinians from their homes and restrict their movements. The activists deplore the Israeli military’s killing, arrest and detention of Palestinians since the discovery of the bodies of three missing Israeli settlers. Due to these actions by the Israeli government, and its violation of international law, the group calls for California State Assembly members to oppose California Senate concurrent resolution SRC 121, which would support the memorandum of understanding between California and Israel regarding trade relations. Two-way trade between Israel and California totaled over $4 billion in 2013—one of the largest two-way trade relationships between Israel and any state in the U.S. The Sacramento Area Peace Action group supports the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights.

STAFF PHOTO ELAINE PASQUINI

ABOVE: California State Assembly member Richard Pan (l) and Basim Elkarra, executive director of CAIR-SV. RIGHT: Hassan Alawsi’s watercolor painting “Ravages of War.”

Northern California Chronicle

Family friend Fidette Concepcion spoke emotionally about the artist. “I met Hassan in a class at Cosumnes River College in 2009,” she related. “His wish was to show his art to the world and I hope that this is just the beginning of that wish.” Concepcion related that Alawsi once told her: “I love music, I love art, and I love women; and not in that order.”

Alawsi lived in Sacramento with his brother and sister, and all three became naturalized American citizens. His body was buried in Iraq on April 10.

Pointing out that many Iraqis have relocated to the Sacramento Valley area and that Syrian refugees are also seeking refuge in the community, CAIR-SV executive director Basim Elkarra said, “We have to make sure that Sacramento is a welcoming place. We promised the family of Hassan Alawsi that his legacy will live on, and we will make sure that everyone remembers his beautiful soul.”

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Protesters Deplore Israeli Army’s Killings of Palestinians Several hundred human rights defenders gathered outside the Israeli Consulate in downtown San Francisco July 7 to protest the escalation of raids, arbitrary arrests and the killing of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by the Israeli army since the June 12 abduction of three Israeli settlers. The Israeli government also sanctioned the demolition of Palestinian homes without providing evidence of wrongdoing to the public or in a court of law, and the restriction of movement of Palestinians, especially Muslims wanting to pray at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque during the holy month of Ramadan.

SEPTEMBER 2014

STAFF PHOTOS PHIL PASQUINI

pasquini_48-49_Northern California Chronicle 7/31/14 8:30 PM Page 49

LEFT: On a busy Sacramento street corner, activists protest ongoing U.S. military actions and drone warfare. RIGHT: Human rights defenders protest outside the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco.

STAFF PHOTO ELAINE PASQUINI

Zaytuna College co-founder Imam Zaid Shakir spoke about Ramadan and what the holy month means to Muslims, as well as its universal message. “Besides fasting, it is a month of prayer, charity and restraint, and, collectively, all of these things bring out the best of what it means to be human,” Shakir said.

Nearly 200 people from the Muslim and interfaith community, along with members of the California legislature, turned out for the iftar—the meal breaking the dawn to sunset fast. ❑

IndextoAdvertisers ABOVE: Guests at the Capitol Ramadan iftar pose for a group photograph. RIGHT: Zaytuna College co-founder Zaid Shakir.

Alalusi Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

The large crowd outside the Montgomery Street consulate called for the end of U.S. financial aid to Israel, the release of children held in Israeli prisons and the end of Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians.

The demonstration was co-sponsored by the ANSWER Coalition, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Middle East Children’s Alliance and the Coalition for Palestinian Rights.

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover

California Senate President pro tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly members Mariko Yamada and Roger Dickinson, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, California Chapter (CAIR-CA), and Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS) co-hosted the annual Ramadan iftar at Sacramento’s state Capitol rotunda July 1.

SEPTEMBER 2014

Arab American Voice. . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Folk Art Mavens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

11th Annual Capitol Iftar

American Friends of Birzeit University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Islamic Relief USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Kinder USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Mashrabiya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Model Arab League . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Mr. FizzGiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

“This evening is not just about celebrating the holy month of Ramadan,” CAIR-CA board chair Safaa Ibrahim told the crowd, “but for American Muslims this evening is also about celebrating our constitution.

The fact that we can conduct an iftar at the state Capitol speaks volumes to the U.S. Constitution and our First Amendment.”

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Muslim Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Persian Heritage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 United Palestinian Appeal (UPA) . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover Zakat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 49

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By Jane Adas eff Halper, co-founder and direc-

Jtor of the Israeli Committee

Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), spoke June 24 at Alwan for the Arts in lower Manhattan.

This was during Israel’s Operation Brother’s Keeper, but before the bodies of the three abducted Israeli yeshiva students were discovered and Israel launched its latest bombardment of Gaza. Halper began by saying that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, unlike other bloodier conflicts, such as in the Congo, impacts the U.S., not only financially and politically, but also morally.

Americans, he explained, seem to be unaware of how alienated we are from much of the world that views Palestinians as emblematic of resistance to the neocolonial world system.

In Halper’s view, the two-state solution, which he described as generous toward Israel, is gone. It was ICAHD’s Jeff Halper. finished off in part by Israel imposThe two-state discourse emphasizes ocing a matrix of control over the occupied territories by, for example, building a road cupation, but Halper warned that this system that links Jewish settlements to Is- process is happening in the entire country. rael, but separates Palestinian communities Within Israel, by law the 20 percent of the from each other. Israel has succeeded in population that is Palestinian has access to turning the West Bank into Judea and only 3 percent of the land. Last year, he Samaria, Halper said, eliminating East noted, three times as many homes of PalesJerusalem as a coherent urban entity, and tinian Israeli citizens were demolished than creating in effect one state with a single those in the West Bank. Israelis speak of currency and single road, electricity and having “never finished 1948,” but, according to Halper, Israel knows it can’t get rid of water systems.

The American-born Israeli activist ob- 6.5 million Palestinians (half the population served that two-plus decades of U.S.-led between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, peace talks have achieved for Palestinians a not counting refugees), so it is aiming at mere 38 percent (Areas A, under so-called “qualitative transfer.” By this he means getPalestinian control, and B, under Palestinian ting the educated middle classes to leave the civil control) of 22 percent (the occupied ter- country. They are “in a prison with the ritories) of their homeland. He added that back door open” so that they can go to Israel is working to remove Palestinians Egypt or Jordan. Those Palestinians who from Area C, the 62 percent of the West can’t afford to use the back door will then Bank under full Israeli control, and to in- be easier to control, being confined into crease the Jewish presence there in order to cantons via “separation” barriers, which turn all of Palestine into Israel, a process Is- Halper noted in Hebrew is “hafradah” and raelis call “Judaization” or, more ominously, in Afrikans is “apartheid.” The U.N. defines the crime of apartheid as a permanent and “de-Arabization.” institutionalized system of domination, a Jane Adas is a free-lance writer based in definition Halper finds apt for Israel, where privileging Jews over others is desirable. the New York City metropolitan area.

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

New York City and Tri-StateNews Halper said apartheid is the liberal approach: it was the Labor party that set up Areas A, B and C, built the separation wall, and established settlement blocs designed to be incorporated into Israel. He calls the alternative approach “warehousing,” where Palestinians disappear into a kind of prison system, nobody cares, and the guards have the right to suppress any resistance. The only good news Halper finds in this is that the situation is really stark-naked occupation.

But where to go with the twostate solution dead? Halper cautioned that the occupation may win, in the Holy Land no less, and with U.S. support. Israel profits from using the occupied territories for the development and testing of weapons and is now the world’s fourth largest arms exporter. Without the occupation, he said, “Israel would be New Zealand and not a strategic ally.” Halper thinks that for Palestinians, fragmented and exhausted, giving up on a Palestinian state will be emotionally difficult. They fear being locked into a bi-national state with their much stronger oppressors, whose security they must at the same time ensure.

Halper’s hope is that Israelis will recognize that Ben-Gurion’s political Zionism has exhausted itself, and that they will revive the relevance of cultural Zionism. Then there could be one democratic state. For the name, Halper quipped that he is willing to retain the historical name, provided it is spelled “Palestein.”

STAFF PHOTO J. ADAS

Two-State Solution Is History, Says Israeli Activist Jeff Halper

Sportswriter Dave Zirin Salutes Palestinian National Soccer Team Dave Zirin, according to ESPN’s Robert Lipsyte, is “the best sportswriter in the United States.” The Utne Reader named Zirin one of “Fifty Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World.” Zirin was in New York on July 1 to discuss his latest book, Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy. Although the book is about what FIFA and the IOC do to host countries, “absolute heartache in the name of sports,” Zirin began by dedicating his SEPTEMBER 2014

adas_50-51_New York City and Tri-State News 7/31/14 4:52 PM Page 51

at the talk, has been a training field for how to put down protests.

Zirin, who was in Brazil to cover the underreported massive protests against the commodification of sports that the World Cup and Olympics have become, was among the tear-gassed. He described Brazil as “insanely militarized.” Even the police horses have gas masks. Nor is it likely the drone surveillance and crowd control tactics will abate when the World Cup moves on.

Zirin described sports as a Trojan horse to effect neoliberal policies where the market is king and there is no safety net. So, he asked, “Why watch?” First, the locals did not ask for a boycott. And, more importantly, soccer is the beautiful game, a way to forge connections. “The World Cup,” he concluded, “humanizes parts of the world that the U.S. shuns.” Zirin uses a discussion of sports as his own Trojan horse to address social movements and issues that people prefer to ignore. ❑

Ukraine…

by the Kiev regime about something as sensitive as whether Russia provided sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles—capable of shooting down high-flying civilian aircraft—to poorly trained eastern Ukrainian rebels.

This charge is so serious that it could propel the world into a second Cold War and conceivably—if there are more such miscalculations—into a nuclear confrontation. These moments call for the utmost in journalistic professionalism, especially skepticism toward propaganda from biased parties.

Yet, what Americans have seen again is the major U.S. news outlets, led by The Washington Post and The New York Times, publishing the most inflammatory of articles based largely on unreliable Ukrainian officials and on the U.S. State Department, which was a principal instigator of the Ukraine crisis.

In the recent past, this sort of sloppy American journalism has led to mass slaughters in Iraq—and has contributed to near U.S. wars on Syria and Iran—but now the stakes are much higher. As much fun as it is to heap contempt on a variety of “designated villains,” such as Saddam Hussain, Bashar al-Assad, Ali Khamenei and now Vladimir Putin, this sort of recklessness is careening the world toward a very dangerous moment, conceivably its last. ❑

STAFF PHOTO J. ADAS

talk to the Palestinian National Soccer Team, because “soccer can be sustenance for people in difficult times.”

As sports editor of The Nation, Zirin has written about the unique obstacles Palestinian athletes must face. In the March 3 issue, Zirin told of Israeli forces shooting Jawhar Nasser Jawhar, 19, and Adam Abd alRaouf Halabiya, 17, members of the youth soccer team, in the feet at a checkpoint. “Now they are never going to play sports again.” (See May 2014 Washington Report “Other Voices” supplement, p. OV-10.) In the next issue, March 10, Zirin responded to the “overwhelmingly hostile response” by naming other targeted Palestinian members of the Palestinian national team: “four dead by Israeli munitions and—at least—three jailed Sports journalist Dave Zirin. in Israeli prisons without trial over the last decade.” In “And Still We Rise: Cup (August 2014 “Other Voices,” p. OV-7).

Palestinian Soccer Stands Tall” (June 2), “Exporting Gaza” (June 30) details how the Zirin reported how the Palestinian team, for Israeli defense industry has made huge the first time in its 86 years of existence, de- profits through supplying security equipfeated the Philippines to qualify for the Asia ment for the World Cup. Gaza, he explained

Continued from page 42

Relying on the Ukraine Regime Much of the rest of the known case against Russia comes from claims made by the Ukrainian regime, which emerged from the unconstitutional coup d’état against elected President Viktor Yanukovych on Feb. 22.

His overthrow followed months of mass protests, but the actual coup was spearheaded by neo-Nazi militias that overran government buildings and forced Yanukovych’s officials to flee.

In recognition of the key role played by the neo-Nazis, who are ideological descendants of Ukrainian militias that collaborated with the Nazi SS in World War II, the new regime gave these far-right nationalists control of several ministries, including the office of national security, which is under the command of longtime neo-Nazi activist Andriy Parubiy.

It was this same Parubiy whom the Post writers turned to seeking more information condemning the eastern Ukrainian rebels and the Russians regarding the Malaysia Airlines catastrophe. Parubiy accused the rebels in the vicinity of the crash site of destroying evidence and conducting a cover-up, another theme that resonated through the mainstream media (MSM).

SEPTEMBER 2014

Without bothering to inform readers of Parubiy’s unsavory neo-Nazi background, the Post quoted him as a reliable witness, declaring: “It will be hard to conduct a full investigation with some of the objects being taken away, but we will do our best.”

In contrast to Parubiy’s assurances, the Kiev regime actually has a terrible record of telling the truth or pursuing serious investigations of human rights crimes. Still left open are questions about the identity of snipers who on Feb. 20 fired on both police and protesters at the Maidan, touching off the violent escalation that led to Yanukovych’s ouster. Also, the Kiev regime has failed to ascertain the facts about the death-by-fire of scores of ethnic Russians in the Trade Union Building in Odessa on May 2.

The Kiev regime also duped The New York Times (and apparently the U.S. State Department) when it disseminated photos that supposedly showed Russian military personnel inside Russia and then later inside Ukraine. After the State Department endorsed the “evidence,” the Times led its newspaper with this story on April 21, but it turned out that one of the key photos supposedly shot in Russia was actually taken in Ukraine, destroying the premise of the story.

But here we are yet again with the MSM relying on unverified claims being made THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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Presbyterian Church (USA) Votes to Divest From Three U.S. Corporations

Christianity and the Middle East

PHOTO P. VERDUIN

By Paul H. Verduin

(L-r) IPMN Steering Committee members Jeff DeYoe and Katherine Cunningham with Rifat Kassis, director of Kairos Palestine. lar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions. The vote was the culmination of an General Assembly of the Presbyterian intensive effort over the past decade by the Church (USA), meeting in June in Detroit, PCUSA to persuade the three multi-billionapproved an historic resolution to divest dollar enterprises to either stop selling from three major U.S. corporations found equipment and services which support to be profiting from Israel’s 47-year mili- and profit from Israel’s military occupatary occupation of the Palestinian territo- tion, or face divestment on the part of the ries, an area inhabited by more than four Presbyterian Church’s pension fund and investment foundation. The Presbyterian million Palestinian people.

The 51 to 49 percent vote took place in Church’s negotiating efforts failed, accordthe Cobo Conference Center on the banks ing to church officials, and as a result the of the Detroit River, not far from a statue General Assembly’s delegates from all parts grouping commemorating Detroit’s role as of the United States voted to divest.

Caterpillar supplies Israel with many of the last stop on the road to freedom for African Americans escaping from slavery the bulldozers used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to demolish some 27,000 Paleson the Underground Railroad.

Widely seen as a landmark decision, the tinian homes and structures since 1967. pro-divestment vote makes the Presbyter- Caterpillar’s earthmoving equipment has ian Church (PCUSA) the first major Chris - also been used in Israeli military operatian denomination in the United States to tions against Gaza and in the construction divest from three American companies per- of the separation wall snaking through the ceived as furthering the harsh Israeli multi- Palestinian West Bank. The Israeli navy decade occupation of Palestine—Caterpil- employs many Hewlett-Packard products in enforcing the Gaza Strip blockade, and Paul H. Verduin is Washington, DC coordi- HP also supplies electronic biometric scannator of Friends of Sabeel-North America. ning equipment for monitoring Palestiniy a margin of only seven votes out of

B613 cast, delegates to the biennial

52

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

ans at several West Bank military checkpoints. Among other things, Motorola Solutions supplies Israel with military communications products, fuses for bombs, and security technology for Jewish-only Israeli settlements on the West Bank.

At its General Assembly in 2012 the PCUSA had already decided to boycott all Israeli products—including SodaStream home beverage kits, Ahava cosmetics and Sabra dates—manufactured or produced by Israeli companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territories in violation of international law. But a move that year to divest from Caterpillar, HP and Motorola Solutions failed by just two votes. The narrow defeat for divestment in 2012 spurred Presbyterian advocates, especially those in the grassroots Presbyterian organization known as the Israel/Palestine Mission Network (IPMN), to “double down” for a divestment victory this year. A couple of hours after that goal was achieved in Detroit this year, the Rev. Jeff DeYoe, IPMN’s advocacy chair, framed the accomplishment as follows: “In 2006 in advocacy our goal was to get our foot in the door for every ‘letter’ of BDS. Our long-term goal is to get our foot in the door and keep going.”

The divestment success by the Presbyterians is expected to provide encouragement to advocates in the United Church of Christ (UCC) working to pass a similar divestment resolution in their own national convention next year, as well as to divestment advocates in the 11-million-member United Methodist Church, which next convenes in 2016. The Methodists already divested this year from the British multinational G4S due to the fact that G4S supplies security and surveillance equipment to Israeli prisons incarcerating Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.

While a narrow majority of delegates to PCUSA’s General Assembly believe their denomination made the right decision, a sizable and vocal minority regret the divestment decision, believing it will harm their relations with the American Jewish SEPTEMBER 2014

verduin_52-53_Christianity and the Middle East 7/31/14 4:53 PM Page 53

community and cause some in that community to view the Presbyterian Church (USA) as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.

But pro-divestment delegates are encouraged by the growing number of Jewish Americans who share their opposition to the blatant violence and violation of human rights and international law being perpetrated—with apparent impunity— by the Israeli government, including those who are active in Jewish Voice for Peace and other national and local Jewish and secular anti-occupation organizations. At the Presbyterian General Assembly at least 40 members of Jewish Voice for Peace and other groups worked collaboratively, armin-arm with their Presbyterian counterparts in advocating with General Assembly delegates for divestment.

Before the Presbyterian General Assembly got down to business, advocates for divestment—about 200 in number, including Presbyterian members of IPMN and their Jewish and Palestinian allies—met together in the Motor City for five days in mid-June to draft and critique statements of testimony and strategize on how to work effectively with delegates during the coming week of June 16-21 for the desired outcome. Rabbi Brant Rosen, the gentle but outspoken opponent of the Israeli occupation who founded and co-chairs Jewish Voice for Peace’s Rabbinical Council, inspired the advocates and a few openminded delegates at the beginning of the week of Assembly deliberations with a compelling keynote address.

Beginning on June 16, two days of deliberations by the General Assembly’s Middle East Committee—a group of some 60 delegates who had been assigned at random to this important committee—began the process leading to the final plenary vote on divestment on the evening of Friday, June 20 by the more than 600 delegates constituting the General Assembly. It was during the two days of debate by Middle East Committee delegates that “open testimony” by advocates pre-selected for this strategic task proved crucial.

On the divestment issue, Palestinian American Nahida Gordon of Ohio urged delegates to adopt the recommendation of the Presbyterian Church’s Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) that the PCUSA divest from the three identified companies. Dr. Gordon’s testimony was followed by remarks from Presbyterian pastor and advocate Mark Davidson of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who was quick to remind delegates that the Presbyterian Church already bars inSEPTEMBER 2014

vestment in harmful products such as alcohol, tobacco and firearms and the companies that produce them. Addressing the futility of “positive investment” in Palestine, Reverend Davidson quoted Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa who once famously quipped, “We don’t want our chains made more comfortable, we want them removed!”

New Jersey advocate Paul Talarico continued the chain of testimonials urging divestment by reminding Middle East Committee delegates that Israeli authorities have destroyed 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures since 1967. IPMN Membership chair Ted Settle reminded delegates that Jesus told those who thronged to hear him, in effect, “You are among the oppressed and God cares about you.” Added Settle: “Palestinians are lying on the Jericho Road—are we Presbyterians going to look the other way and walk to the other side of the road?”

Addressing delegates apprehensive about what their Jewish neighbors back home might say and think if they voted for divestment, John Anderson, pastor of a church in San Francisco, said to delegates, “You have nothing to fear. [This vote] is about our integrity. It is I—each of us— who are complicit. If we do nothing [about the occupation] we are complicit.”

Committee Members Debate Nevertheless, not all delegates on the Middle East Committee were convinced that divestment would be wise. One feared that divestment “will adversely affect our relations with the American Jewish community.” Echoing that sentiment, another delegate remarked that “divestment is a negative, because it interrupts relationships established with Jewish neighbors.” But Rev. Andries Coetzee of Ohio, a delegate born and raised in South Africa’s white Afrikaaner community, praised the divestment resolution, saying that while he was still living in South Africa he could not have been personally liberated from the racist apartheid way of thinking today “without the PCUSA divestment from South African companies” supporting apartheid prior to its fall. “You dehumanize not only those you’re oppressing but you [also] dehumanize yourselves,” he persuasively intoned.

The Middle East Committee voted 45-20 to recommend to the General Assembly plenary the passage of the resolution for divestment from Caterpillar, HewlettPackard and Motorola Solutions.

In the General Assembly’s plenary conTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

sideration of divestment, viewpoints expressed by some of the more than 600 delegates echoed the concerns expressed in Middle East Committee deliberations three days earlier. Thankfully, prior to its recommendation, Middle East Committee delegates had softened the stark language of the original divestment resolution. Included in the revised resolution were clauses reaffirming Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign nation, reaffirming Presbyterian commitment to a two-state solution, calling for continued interfaith dialogue, supporting negotiations, and encouraging possible positive investments in Israel and Palestine. The divestment resolution was introduced to the plenary as “a very holistic” statement.

Despite these reassuring clauses, the resolution calling for divestment was met with stiff opposition in the June 20 plenary sessions. A minority report from some delegates in the Middle East Committee claimed that “divestment has divided us for more than 10 years.” “The world needs a reconciling Presbyterian Church,” the report argued. “It will result in alienation from a significant portion of the Jewish community,” it warned, and “will link us with a movement [the BDS movement] that is not controlled by us.” A statement signed by 1,700 rabbis is saying we’re divesting from Israel, it noted, concluding: “Divestment will not end the conflict—dialogue and investment will bring about true peace.”

To counter these claims, delegate William Ward of Washington State stepped to a microphone and offered plenary delegates a set of assurances. The resolution to divest “is not to be construed as divestment from Israel or aligned with the global BDS movement,” he reassured them. “It is divestment from these three companies, not from the state of Israel.” Nor is it “pro-Palestinian, beyond the issue of human rights,” he explained.

With these reassurances, delegate Christine Sackett of Detroit, like William Ward a member of the Middle East Committee, rose to tell the plenary, “I am now persuaded that the MRTI recommendation [the Mission Responsibility Through Investment’s recommendation for divestment from the three companies] is the way to go.”

Although there was a great deal more debate on the issue in the June 20 plenary sessions, her sentiments seemed to typify the view of 310 of the 613 delegates who ultimately cast their votes in favor of the divestment overture, making divestment from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions the official policy of the Presbyterian Church (USA). ❑ 53

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Calling Presbyterians “Anti-Semites” Has Backfired in More Ways Than One Israel andJudaism

PHOTO PAUL VERDUIN

By Allan C. Brownfeld

Anti-divestment Jews in grey T-shirts work delegates to the Presbyterian General Assembly during a break in the proceedings. Their T-shirts read, “Love Us or Leave Us.” n June, the Presbyterian Church (USA)

Ibecame the most prominent religious

group in the United States to endorse divestment as a protest against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The church’s General Assembly, meeting in Detroit, voted 310303 to sell stock in Caterpillar, HewlettPackard, and Motorola Solutions, companies whose products Israel uses in the occupied territories (see p. 52).

The Presbyterian Church is the largest yet to endorse divestment at a churchwide convention. The measure that was passed not only called for divestment but also reaffirmed Israel’s right to exist, endorsed a two-state solution, encouraged interfaith dialogue and travel to the Holy Land, and instructed the church to undertake “positive investment” in endeavors that advance peace and improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians.

The church also said that the motion was “not to be construed” as “alignment with or endorsement of the global BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement.” Heath 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.

54

Rada, the church’s moderator, who was leading the proceedings, said of the vote: “In no way is this a reflection of our lack of love for our Jewish sisters and brothers.”

Major American Jewish organizations lobbied the Presbyterians to defeat the divestment vote. More than 1,700 rabbis signed an open letter saying that “placing all the blame on one party, when both bear responsibility, increases conflict and division instead of promoting peace.”

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, leader of the Reform Jewish movement, addressed the assembly and offered to broker a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the church’s two top leaders so they could convey the church’s concern about the occupation, on the condition that the divestment measure was defeated.

According to the June 21 New York Times, “That offer appears to have backfired, with some saying afterward that it felt both manipulative and ineffectual, given what they perceive as Mr. Netanyahu’s approval of more settlements in disputed areas and lack of enthusiasm for peace negotiations.”

According to The Times, “Of more influence was the presence at the church’s convention all week of Jewish activists, many of them young, in black T-shirts with the slogan ‘Another Jew Supporting Divestment.’ Many of them were with Jewish THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Voice for Peace (JVP), a small but growing organization that promotes divestment and works with Palestinian and Christian groups on the left.”

JVP director Rabbi Alissa Wise spent a week inside the convention center and spoke at a prayer service. She said that divestment can serve a constructive purpose.

“To me this helps Palestinians build their power,” she said, “so that Israel is convinced, not by force, but by the global consensus that something has to change.”

Two smaller U.S. religious groups have divested in protest of Israeli policies in the occupied territories: the Friends Fiduciary Corp., which manages assets for U.S. Quakers, and the Mennonite Central Committee.

Earlier in June, the pension board of the United Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant group in the U.S., revealed plans to sell holdings in G4S, which provides security equipment and has contracts with Israel’s prison system.

The companies from which the Presbyterians divested play an important role in Israel’s occupation policies.

Caterpillar sells heavy equipment used by the Israeli government in military and police actions to demolish Palestinian homes and agricultural lands. It also sells heavy equipment used in the occupied Palestinian territory for the construction of illegal Israeli settlements, roads solely used

by Israeli settlers, and the separation wall extending across the 1967 “Green Line” into East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The number of outstanding demolition orders in East Jerusalem alone has been estimated at up to 20,000.

Motorola Solutions provides an integrated communications system, known as “Mt. Rose,” which is used by the Israeli government for military communications.

It also provides ruggedized cell phones to the Israeli army which it uses in the occupied territories.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) provides biometric ID equipment to monitor only non-Jews at several checkpoints in the West Bank. West Bank Palestinians, who number 2.4 million, are required to submit to lengthy waits as well as the mandatory biometric scanning, while Jewish Israelis and other passport holders transit without being subjected to scanning or comparable delays.

The San Francisco Chronicle of June 29 discussed HP’s role in Israel as the lead artiSEPTEMBER 2014

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cle in its business section. The local Bay Area company, it reported, is the target “of an international campaign” that “has emerged to pressure Israel by persuading investors to dump shares of companies that do business with the government or operate in the disputed [sic] territories. Unbeknownst to many Americans, the Palo Alto computing giant makes the high-tech identity cards Israel uses at occupied checkpoints in the disputed [sic] West Bank territory Israel captured in 1967 but Palestinians claim as their own country. Until recently, none of this attracted much attention, partly because information technology is kind of boring but also because the U.S. is a strong ally of Israel...Whether you side with Israelis or Palestinians, this much is true: A Silicon Valley Titan has parked itself on top of a ticking public relations time bomb...”

The idea that anyone in America, let alone a respected church group, would be dumping stock to protest Israeli policies would have been considered unthinkable only a few years ago. This is what makes the Presbyterian Church’s decision so significant.

Shortly before the Presbyterian vote, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu addressed the church in an open letter: “The sustainability of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people has always been dependent on its ability to deliver justice to the Palestinians. I know firsthand that Israel has created an apartheid reality within its borders and through its occupation.

The parallels to my own beloved South Africa are painfully stark indeed.”

The response from the organized Jewish community to the Presbyterian vote was swift, and the rhetoric extreme. In a June 22 tweet, American Jewish Committee Global declared that, “All you need to know about Presbyterian divestment step against Israel—extremist David Duke endorses it.” Rob Jacobs of the right-wing Zionist group StandWithUs declared, “Incredible! The former head of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke endorsed and applauds Presbyterian Divestiture.” The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg went further and declared twice, without any substantiation whatever, that Duke “claims credit for devising Presbyterian Church strategy.”

Duke, who had nothing whatever to do with the Presbyterian vote, must be pleased with the publicity Jewish groups have given him. Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, called the divestment action “outrageous” and said it would have a “devastating impact” on relations between the national church and mainstream Jewish groups. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called the Presbyterian vote “disgraceful.”

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Jane Eisner, editor of The Forward, wrote from Israel on July 4: “...when Jewish treatment of Palestinians is judged worse than the way any other dominant group treats a minority, when it is deemed worthy of unique sanction...how can I believe that this isn’t about the Jews? And that, my Presbyterian friends, is anti-Semitism.”

Jonathan Tobin, writing in Commentary on June 25, accused the Presbyterians of allying themselves “with haters like David Duke” and declared that “radicals tainted by anti-Semitism have hijacked [the Presbyterian Church] leadership...this move was motivated by intolerance and hate.” In its official statement, the American Jewish Committee said the Presbyterian divestment action was “driven by hatred of Israel.”

Defending the Decision While the organized Jewish community continues to charge anyone who criticizes Israel with “anti-Semitism,” this trivialization of genuine bigotry is difficult to maintain in the face of the increasing number of Jewish voices to be heard defending the Presbyterian decision—and sometimes even lamenting that the church did not go further.

Writing in Tikkun, Cantor Michael Davis, a member of the JVP Rabbinical Council, declares that, “I, as an Israeli national who served three years in the IDF, and who has served the Jewish community in Chicago for over 20 years, support the right of our Presbyterian friends to freely explore their conscience on divesting from American companies that benefit from Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank...I believe, along with a growing number of Jews and Israelis, that BDS is the best nonviolent option to stop the downward spiral to inevitable violence...Under international and American law, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is illegal. Any business involved in the occupation is therefore illegal too.”

M.J. Rosenberg, also writing in Tikkun, states that, “There are hundreds of thousands, maybe a few million good Israelis who are desperate for outside help to end the occupation. This [Presbyterian] resolution provides hope...The Presbyterian resolution targets only the occupation which is fair and right. I believe that being proIsrael requires opposing the occupation.

The resolution is pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian and, above all, pro-peace.”

After the Presbyterian vote, JVP declared that it “congratulates and celebrates...the vote...The church has a long history of ethical investment choices and it is a strong signal of its commitment to universal human rights that it chose to divest. This is a turning point...The decision will have real consequences, sending a message to Palestinians that the ongoing violations of their THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

human rights is worthy of action on the global stage, and to companies and the Israeli government that the occupation is both morally and economically untenable.”

Dries Coetzee, a church commissioner originally from South Africa, thanked the church for having helped to liberate Afrikaners like himself from their role in apartheid through its divestment action in 1985. He called upon the church to do the same for Israelis.

Responding to Forward editor Eisner’s attack on the Presbyterians, Mondoweiss editor Philip Weiss wrote on June 25: “As for the absence of political freedom in Syria and Egypt, Americans and Jews have a special relationship to Palestine. Israeli Jews established apartheid there with our complicity. What means does Eisner advocate for ending apartheid? The occupation has now lasted almost 50 years, and the creation of Israel involved ethnic cleansing and dispossession that has never been addressed (decades after Jews received reparations from Germany). As Eisner says, ‘divestment is not only about wielding punishment; it’s about shaping a moral conversation.’ O.K., let’s have it. And if you’re the liberal Jewish newspaper, are you making any room for anti-Zionist Jews?”

The idea that American Jews are united in support of the Israeli government, whatever it may do, is one which mainstream Jewish groups have long promoted, along with the notion that challenging the Israeli government constitutes “anti-Semitism.” It has used this tactic to intimidate open discussion and debate. The Presbyterians, along with the Quakers, the Mennonites and many others, have shown that they no longer fear such false attacks. And the evidence that many Jews stand with them is growing.

From the Open Hillel movement on college campuses which is challenging the censorship of Jewish speakers who are critical of Israel, including Israelis, to the strong reaction against the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations’ recent denial of membership to J Street, to the recent Pew study which showed that more and more American Jews, particularly young people, are alienated from Israel and its treatment of Palestinians, it becomes clear that Jews hold many points of view with regard to Israel.

As JVP’s Cantor Davis wrote: “Christians, like Jews, have a special interest in what happens in the Holy Land and a special responsibility to its peoples. The Presbyterian Church should be free to debate the issues on their merits without fear of being branded anti-Semites or any of the other harsh responses that have been circulating in the Jewish community. Let us show our Christian neighbors the same respect that we expect and enjoy from them.” ❑ 55

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CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

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THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST

The New York Times Syndicate, New York

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

The New York Times Syndicate, New York

The Dominion Post, Wellington, New Zealand

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

La Repubblica, Rome

The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore

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The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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Other People’s Mail Compiled by Dale Sprusansky Senate Lacks Courage on Israel To the Contra Costa Times, July 23, 2014 I am disgusted, but not surprised, that not one member of the U.S. Senate had the strength or decency to vote against the resolution supporting Israel’s attack on Gaza.

It requires enormous courage and integrity to stand up to the Israel lobby.

The Israeli military is targeting hospitals and ambulances in Gaza. Look at the photos of the demolished buildings in Shajiya, of the Palestinian boys playing soccer on the beach who were killed by the IDF. Israel is targeting civilians. It is engaging in collective punishment. This is a war crime.

Israel is able to commit these and many other atrocities because of the unconditional, financial support of the United States.

People are standing up. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world, including in the United States, have taken to the streets to protest Israel’s siege of Gaza and the U.S. complicity in this crime.

Is there not one elected official with the courage and compassion to demand an end to the massacre in Gaza?

Melinda Stahr, Oakland, CA

U.S. Foreign Policy Hypocrisy To The Boston Globe, July 23, 2014 Hypocrisy is diplomacy’s worst enemy, and we see it in plain view as President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry try to calibrate U.S. foreign policy with respect to the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine by Russian separatists and the Israeli offensive in Gaza to root out Hamas’ infrastructure.

On the one hand, the United States chastises Russian President Vladimir Putin for supplying to the pro-Moscow separatists the ground-to-air missile that brought down the airliner. On the other hand, Obama stands behind Israel as its military operation in Gaza, with American-supplied arms, kills children and other civilians, no less a part of humanity than the passengers on the Malaysian airliner.

How could it be that Israel has the right of self-defense, but the Russian-backed separatists do not?

In another example, how is it that the United States can take Syrian President SEPTEMBER 2014

Bashar Assad to task over the killing or displacement of children and civilians in the Syrian civil war but say next to nothing to Israel over its barbaric operation?

Guive Mirfendereski, Newton, MA

American Complicity in Gaza To The Seattle Times, July 22, 2014 The current Israeli bombing and killing in Gaza is despicable and intolerable [“No clear path to cease-fire in Gaza,” Page One, July 22]. The U.S. is complicit in this state of affairs, as over the course of multiple administrations we have continued to support Israel financially, and in other ways.

I feel that the U.S. should immediately halt all forms of support for Israel. Furthermore, I believe that the myriad, complex and longstanding conflicts in the Mideast could only be relieved to some degree by allowing Israel to fend for itself.

Gwen McEwen, Bellingham, WA

Thou Shalt Kill With Precision?

To The Wichita Eagle, July 17, 2014 The Palestinian people in Gaza are facing yet another round of brutal bombardment by the Israeli military. The actions of the Israeli government transformed the ethos of the Jewish religion from “thou shalt not kill” to “thou shalt kill with great precision.” Today Israel is known for the power of its military and not for the power of its biblical ethics. Although Hamas is guilty as charged when it comes to launching rockets at Israelis, Israel passes with flying colors when it comes to the brutality and gruesome murder of many Palestinians in Gaza.

Imagine a Palestinian family sitting together conversing over a meal or watching TV when a high-explosive rocket, launched with the intent to kill, converts functioning human beings into human parts mixed with building concrete. The only good thing about this kind of a scene is that we hope their deaths were quick.

We live at a time when we plan to murder humans in advance, and we broadcast it for the world to see. We then sit in front of our TVs watching the murder taking place, and no one has the decency to stop it. I don’t blame Israel as much as I blame the leaders of the free world.

Maher Musleh, Wichita, KS THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Disgusted by Rocket Strikes To The Peterborough Examiner of Ontario, July 22, 2014 I agree that Israel has the right to defend itself. I agree that Israel has the right to attack those who attack it.

However, they do not have the right to kill innocent men, women and children and consider them collateral damage. They have the moral responsibility to be sure of who they’re going to hit when they launch a missile or fire a shell.

Unfortunately blaming the citizens for being in the wrong place or not evacuating before they blow the place to pieces is disgusting and pathetic for a country wanting the world to believe they’re civilized and worthy of respect.

Gene Byrnes, Lakefield, Ontario, Canada

Who Are the Real Terrorists?

To The Sacramento Bee, July 22, 2014 Re: “Desolation in Gaza” (Page A1, July 22): After looking at the picture [of Israelis sitting on a hill and cheering as Gaza gets bombed] on the front page of The Bee today, how can anybody not recognize who the real terrorists in the Middle East are?

This picture says more than a thousand words.

Josef Schuchmann, Loomis, CA

Israel’s History of Agression To The Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 22, 2014 There are 1.8 million people in tiny Gaza, who are direct refugees from Israel’s brutal 1947 land seizures and evictions.

Israel seized direct control of Gaza in 1967, and has ruled it with an iron fist ever since. It sees to it that Gazans cannot move into or out of the Strip without its rare approval, cannot build anything significant, cannot import any materials except the little Israel lets in, are kept nutritionally impoverished, have 50 percent unemployment, have electricity for only a few hours a day and have restricted access to water, much of which is undrinkable.

After a broad uprising against all this in the early 2000s, Israel conducted massive assaults twice in 2004, twice in 2006, twice in 2008, in 2009, 2012, and now in 2014. It deploys tanks, F-16s, Apache helicopters, naval gunships and phosphorus 57

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bombs, all against a largely unarmed and defenseless population determined to show the world they haven’t surrendered to their occupation. Who is really in need of self-defense and who is, and always has been, the aggressor? And what would the PD staff write if they had been born Palestinian and confined for life to the conditions of Gaza?

David Singerman, Cleveland Heights, OH

Double Standard on Injustice To The Tennessean, July 18, 2014 According to Mark S. Freedman and Martin Ted Mayden (Tennessee Voices, July 16), Palestinians are responsible for their own suffering and “needless loss of life” due to “intransigence.”

But suppose Israel had herded 1.8 million Americans into a walled ghetto and slammed the gates shut, denying them freedom and basic human rights? Wouldn’t the U.S. military rain missiles on Tel Aviv in order to bring the Israeli government to its senses? Or suppose that the women and children trapped in Gaza were Jewish; wouldn’t the Jews of the world rightly call it another Holocaust?

Desmond Tutu said that Israel’s oppression of Palestinians was worse than what he experienced in apartheid South Africa.

Another Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jimmy Carter, said that Palestinians were being treated like animals when he visited Gaza.

So perhaps Hamas is only doing what military organizations do when women and children are being abused.

And we should remember that the American Founding Fathers, [abolitionist] John Brown, Sitting Bull and the Jewish Resistance were called “terrorists” by the people in power and their propaganda organs, as if they too should have had the sense to submit to terrible injustices rather than forcefully resist.

Mike Burch, Nashville, TN

Don’t Shun Hamas To The San Francisco Chronicle, July 22, 2014 A basic flaw in The Chronicle’s plan for peace (editorial, July 22) is the assumption that Hamas “fanatics” must be excluded.

Like it or not, Hamas is the democratically elected government of Palestinians in Gaza and must be a party to any peace. Unless the United States and Israel recognize this, any peace efforts are doomed.

Tom Miller, Berkeley, CA 58

ISIS Wants U.S. to Attack Iraq

Redrawing Lines in Iraq

To The Washington Post, July 23, 2014

To The New York Times, July 13, 2014 Re: “Iraq must not come apart:” Leslie Gelb makes a well informed case for Iraq to be kept intact. He does not, however, mention the basic problem: that it was put together in the first place. At the Cairo Conference in 1921, Winston Churchill and others, including T.E. Lawrence and Gertrude Bell, drew a circle on the map, named it Iraq and sent Prince Faisal to be king. They neglected strong advice from their committee that “Southern Kurdistan” should be autonomous. That conference proved to be the prelude to decades of conflict and chaos in the Middle East. There is a strong argument for drawing further lines on the map to give the parties the autonomy that many of them want.

John Parkinson, Wollongong, Australia

Michael O’Hanlon’s July 20 Outlook commentary, “Why Obama should send several thousand more troops to Iraq,” argued for a limited redeployment of U.S. forces in Iraq to combat the Islamic State and assist the Iraqi army. Such measures would be as sensible as checkmating oneself in chess.

The Islamic State thrives off fiery, antiWestern rhetoric and propaganda. To galvanize Muslims into pursuing jihad, it claims the West is waging a war against Islam. By blaming civilian deaths on foreign powers, the Islamic State bolsters its recruitment efforts. Sending U.S. troops to combat the organization would only aid its propaganda and convince others to fight for its cause.

Military intervention is precisely what the Islamic State hopes for. The United States would be wise to not play into its hands.

Christian Fernando, Washington, DC

U.S.-Iran Cooperation in Iraq?

To the Financial Times, June 14, 2014 Your editorial “The nightmare emerging in Iraq” (June 12) overlooks one irony: that Iran may now find it in its interest to intervene militarily. And if it did, it would be doing so as a U.S. ally. Perhaps, too, concrete military cooperation in Iraq would undergird a more productive U.S.-Iranian negotiation over Iran’s nuclear capacity.

Who would have thought that Iran might emerge as key to stability in the region?

Albion M. Urdank, Los Angeles, CA WRITE, TELEPHONE OR E-MAIL LEADERS

President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20500 Comment Line: (202) 456-1111 Visit: <www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submitquestions-and-comments> Vice President Joe Biden (same as above) Secretary of State John Kerry U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 (202) 647-6575 #8 or (202) 647-5291#1 Visit <www.state.gov> to e-mail comments Any Senator U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-3121 Any Representative U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-3121 E-mail Congress: visit <www.congress.org> THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Iraq’s Disappearing Christians To the Detroit Free Press, July 23, 2014 While the world has been overwhelmed by the Malaysian plane tragedy and the Israeli-Gaza conflict, one event went unnoticed: a complete ethnic and religious cleansing of Christians in the province of Mosul, Iraq. The cleansing took place after they refused to convert, pay the penalty, or be executed by the Islamic State militants (ISIS). Their houses were marked with the letter “N,” the first letter of the Arabic word for Christian—Nasrani or Nazarene—and confiscated. Their churches were demolished. Their businesses were looted. Those who fled were completely stripped of even their basic wealth.

Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako and Pope Francis have appealed to world leaders to stop this persecution and ethnic cleansing, but their words have fallen on deaf ears.

America and Western world governments—who are signatories to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights—have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the plight of the Iraqi Christians and those facing similar persecution elsewhere.

This dilemma has not stopped, but continues toward the rest of Iraq, where in less than 10 years, a Christian population of more than 1.5 million will only be a few hundred thousand and maybe completely exterminated. Those who believe in human rights, freedom of religion and anti-ethnic cleansing must act now.

Otherwise, history will have repeated itself.

Ramsay F. Dass, President, American Middle East Christians Congress ❑ SEPTEMBER 2014

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ADC Convention’s Theme: “It Takes a Community” The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) held its annual convention from June 12 to 15 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, in Arlington, VA, providing attendees the opportunity to hear speakers from across the nation discuss their commitment to the protection of civil rights and liberties. The first day was “ADC Advocacy Day,” as Arab-Americans met with Congressional staff on Capitol Hill and attended a Congressional dinner.

Throughout the convention, ADC’s national president, Samer Khalaf, who started his tenure in January 2014, spoke with attendees, holding “town-hall” meetings and listening to members’ suggestions and comments. He emphasized the changes the 34year-old organization is making, including a new sexual harassment policy and the relaunch and rebranding of the new Women’s Empowerment Forum. “Most importantly,” Khalaf stated at every opportunity, “I have refocused the ADC on its original mission: representing and fighting against discrimination and stereotyping of Arab-Americans.”

A Zionist Change of Heart and the BDS Movement The following day, June 13, started with a panel discussion titled “The BDS Movement: A Palestinian Struggle to Achieve a Lasting Peace based on International Law, Justice, and Freedom,” featuring Ned Rosch, a Palestinian solidarity activist.

Rosch, named after a great uncle who was killed in the Holocaust, was raised in an extremely Zionist family who believed “Israel was the redemption of the suffering.” According to that narrative, there were no Palestinians, and the goal was to take as much land away from them as possible.

“Zionism is about erasing the memory of the Palestinian presence,” Rosch stated, and anyone who criticizes these ideas is accused of being anti-Semitic.

The issue for him, Rosch explained, was how to unravel Zionism from Judaism, realizing the powerful and amazing beauty of Judaism but the internal contradictions that Zionism brings. Rosch had an opportunity to go to Israel to work on a kibbutz. After years studying political science, he didn’t see the contradiction between the Jews’ triumphant return to their supposed homeland versus what is actually being done on the ground to the Palestinian people. He 60

spent time with Arabs because he thought there was a part of him that was missing something.

For many years, he relied on a dual narrative, becoming an anti-war political activist. But when it came to Palestine, Rosch said, “I was torn up inside.” He became torn between his Zionist upbringing and what he actually saw Israel doing, ultimately coming to understand that tribal loyalty should never trump a commitment to justice. Rosch Ned Rosch answers questions related to the BDS movement. now believes that “his own liberation as a Jew is bound up in the liber- legal and policy director Abed Ayoub to ation of the Palestinian people.” renowned trial attorney Haytham Faraj.

Rosch concluded by discussing what he Faraj represented a U.S. Marine involved in believes is the most “exciting movement” the Haditha Massacre—the controversial on the scene today relating to the Israeli- killing of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians after Palestinian conflict—the Boycott, Divest- a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine in ment and Sanctions movement (BDS). It ad- November 2005. Following the trials, Faraj vocates a boycott of Israeli goods, businesses wrote No Time for Truth, detailing the inand services, along with any Israeli prod- vestigation of the massacre and the proseucts produced in the occupied Palestinian cution of the Marines. Faraj accuses the territories. These efforts raise awareness government of giving immunity from prosabout the reality of Israel’s policies and en- ecution to the killers, who received no jail courage companies to use their economic in- time. fluence to pressure Israel to end its systemNext, the challenges and opportunities atic denial of Palestinian rights. The move- the civil rights community is working on ment has spread to college campuses, where today were discussed by panelists Priscilla students urge their universities to divest Ouchida, executive director of the Japanfrom Israel. “BDS is a strategy that allows ese American Citizens League; Dr. Azizah people of conscience to play an effective al-Hibri, founder of KARAMAH, Muslim role in the Palestinian struggle for justice,” Women Lawyers for Human Rights; and Rosch said, “and I will continue working Jotaka Eaddy, senior adviser to the presifor this goal until peace is achieved.” dent of the National Association for the —Nizar Kuseybi Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

“Student Activism on College CamCivil Rights Work and College puses” was the subject of the final panel Campus Activism discussion on June 13, featuring Radhika The Civil Rights Luncheon followed, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The keynote speech was given by Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization which tries to fight hate, teach tolerance and seek justice for vulnerable The Washington Report’s “Helen Thomas interns,” (l-r) Shannon members of society.

Martensson, Gabriella M. Patti, Clara McGlynn and Mitra Moin ADC’s Pro Bono At- (not pictured are Nizar Kuseybi and Dina Salah Eldin) staffed the torney Award was Middle East Bookstore booth and covered ADC events throughout presented by ADC’s the weekend.

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Sainath, an attorney at Palestine Solidarity Legal Support and cooperating counsel at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Palestinian-American activists Gabriella KaiyalSmith and Lena Ibrahim discussed the work of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in the DC, Maryland and Virginia area, and Tareq Radi, another PalestinianAmerican organizer, described his work founding George Mason University’s Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA), and discussed anti-normalization and distinguishing the differences between “coresisting and co-existing.”

After a “Networking Dinner,” media critic Dr. Jack Shaheen, the internationally recognized author of the book and film Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (available from AET’s Bookstore), presented the Shaheen Mass Communications Scholarship and Achievement Awards to Nadine Sebai, who will attend UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, and Joseph Khalil, who will work for a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City this coming fall.

Shaheen graciously remembered many of his own friends and mentors who worked to eradicate negative Arab and Muslim stereotypes, including the Washington Report’s executive editor Richard Curtiss, who died last year.

Syrian vocalist/songwriter Gaida and her band entertained the enthusiastic audience for the rest of the evening.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Who Is an Arab? Panelists Discuss Arab Identity The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination convention’s third day, June 14, started off with Prof. Hisham Aidi, Hind Makki, Khaled Beydoun and Sally Howell speaking on a panel entitled “Racial, Religious and Ethnic Self-Identification: Beyond Categories.” Their conversation revolved around the challenges of self-identification facing Arab Americans, who are legally considered white by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Both Aidi, a professor at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and Beydoun, a critical race studies fellow at UCLA, emphasized history and geopolitics as the primary determinants of Arabs’ current legal racial status in the U.S. Describing his remarks as “Arab-American Legal History 101,” Beydoun explained that the first wave of Arab immigrants to America were Levantine Christians who claimed “whiteness” in order to distance themselves from this country’s much-maligned black SEPTEMBER 2014

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(L-r) Hisham Aidi, Hind Makki, Khaled Beydoun, Sally Howell and moderator Hala Buck discuss Arab-American identity. population, and because it was a requirement for citizenship. In the early 20th century, the demographic makeup of Arab immigrants changed, with many new arrivals coming from non-Levantine states and North Africa. U.S. officials granted these Arabs “whiteness” as well. Thus today’s Arab Americans, no matter their self-identification, are classified as white.

That may change soon, however, if the ADC and other advocates have their way. As Aidi noted, there is a strong movement within the Arab-American community for minority racial status. There are certain advantages to minority status, including financial aid programs, because the U.S. government defines a “race” as an economically disadvantaged group that has historically suffered discrimination.

Yet the quest for minority status is not simply about money. In a larger sense it is about recognition. Makki, who is Sudanese, spoke passionately about her self-identification and the difficulties she faces as someone who does not fit neatly into the categories of “Arab-American” or “white.” “The term ‘Arab’ is abstract. It tells me nothing about who you are, who I am,” she explained. “I rarely identify as Arab-American…I fully identify as Afro-Arab, as black.” Nevertheless, she noted, others rarely identify her in this way and she is often thought to be Southeast Asian. This sort of misunderstanding, she said, is a common experience for Arab Americans whose identity cannot be determined by phenotype yet who do not feel they fit into the government’s category of white.

Howell discussed how Arab Americans could overcome these divisions and work together, citing the Arab-American community in Detroit, MI as an example of “how communities go about resisting their own racialization.” Representing a multitude of THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

origins, religions, political identifications and generations, the group nevertheless has discovered a way to work together as a cohesive Arab-American community. Howell attributed its success to its size, institutional depth and vitality. Its “strength of diversity and being able to channel that diversity” makes it strong and provides a template for other Arab-American communities.

—Clara McGlynn

Emerging Communities The next panel, “Arabs Outside the Arab Center: A Look at Emerging Communities from Outside the Levant,” expanded upon some of the themes expressed by the earlier speakers. All three panelists, Khaled Beydoun, Aziz Elshami, and Fatima Aghbalou, described the challenges of being a nonLevantine Arab in the United States.

“When you ask North Africans where they belong,” began Aghbalou, “they themselves don’t know.” She observed that identity is fluid, composed of social categorization, the formation of social identity awareness, social comparison of identity in relation to others, and the pursuit of psychological difference. Often, she warned, the Arab community does not recognize that it takes part in this discourse, which can lead to exclusion. “How can we find, for example, a broad umbrella…to capture community voices?” she asked. “Is there a common umbrella that brings us together” rather than one that differentiates us?

Elshami gave a personal account of exclusion. A Sudanese-American, she has never identified as Arab, noting, “inside Sudan it means something very different than outside.” She observed that Levantine Arabs often do not accept North African Arabs, leading to a kind of “limbo” for the latter group. Beydoun seconded this observation, saying that there are feelings of 61

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to see them as.” Minkara received a standing ovation.

Speaking by video from a rooftop in Amman, Jordan, Manal Omar, associate vice president for the Middle East and Africa Center of the U.S. Institute of Peace, accepted the Rose Nader Award in recognition of her leadership, commitment and passion to civic duty. Omar works with women who refuse to be victims and who play a necessary part in creating peace.

Dr. Mahmud and Carmela Thamer accepted the Alex Odeh Memorial Award in recognition of their dedication to the Arab-American community. Dr. Thamer was born in Iraq, studied medicine at Harvard and Johns Hopkins (where he met Carmela) and returned to Iraq to teach at Baghdad Medical ADC Women’s EmpowerCollege. In 1970, the couple rement Luncheon turned to the U.S., where Dr. Thamer worked in the cardiology ADC’s “Women’s Empowerment Luncheon” on June 14 highlighted TOP: Sara Minkara (l) is congratulated by Anisa Mehdi division of Johns Hopkins. They the importance of gender equality after her inspiring keynote speech. ABOVE: Dr. Mahmud joined ADC at its very inception in today’s society. Anisa Mehdi, Thamer and his wife, Carmela, accept the Alex Odeh and worked to expand its membership beyond its original Syrian and filmmaker, educator and interfaith Award.

Palestinian core, helping the naactivist, introduced Lebanesetional organization represent all Arab AmerAmerican Sara Minkara, president and hope in living, Minkara said.

—Mitra Moin “I am lucky and privileged,” she ac- icans. founder of Empowerment Through Integration (ETI). Minkara, who woke up blind one knowledged. “My mother empowered me.” morning when she was 7 years old, has not As a result she’s been able to follow her Activism in the Entertainment allowed anything to prevent her from reach- dreams and aspirations, graduating from Industry ing her goals. She was thankful, she said, Wellesley College with a mathematics and A predictably lively session on June 14, for her family’s help and the strong social economics degree, something rare for blind “Activism in the Arts: Creating Change support systems in America that have al- people, and launching ETI. Through Expression,” featured singer/ Minkara recognizes that her reality is the artist/activist Luci Murphy, Arab-American lowed her to receive an education.

Minkara hopes to use her experience to exception, not the rule. There are one bil- Muslim comedian/humanitarian Said Durinspire other visually impaired children lion people in the world today living with a rah and performer/columnist Dean Obeidalacross the world. She founded ETI in 2009, disability, she said—equivalent to one-sev- lah. “We need more Arab Americans in the during her sophomore year at Wellesley enth of the world’s population. Only 2 per- arts—everyone can’t be a lawyer, engineer College, to help integrate blind people into cent of them receive any type of education, or doctor,” Obeidallah began. “If you don’t the economies of developing nations. She and only 3 percent of them are literate, want to be an artist you can at least support shared reflections of blind children who Minkara said. “The stats are even worse for Arab Americans going into the arts. Buy have no hope, no dreams, and who feel like women with disabilities—only 1 percent of their films. If you see me in a restaurant— women are literate. Women with a disabil- buy me dinner,” he quipped. “Arab Amerithey are a burden on society: Hoards of people. Clashing noises. So many ity are five times as likely to be sexually as- cans need to be present in the media to tell voices. Multiplying sounds. Lost, alone, saulted as the average person...Why is this our own stories.” empty. Feel for a corner. Feel for a chair. Sink our reality?” she asked. “Why is the largest Murphy agreed that artists need help. She down. This is a camp of empowerment and minority in the world not in the forefront of said there are “gatekeepers” who may not hope. Hope? I know what hope is. I hope I’m our conversation? Because they are an in- like political or ethnic humor or music, so not seen. I hope I’m easily missed. I hope I’m visible population or, at best, seen as a char- it’s important for Arab Americans to work lost in the crowd for this is what hope is be- ity case. They are seen as a population that on the business side of the industry or help cause it is all I can hope for, right? Slump needs to be pitied. They are not seen as peo- bankroll artists. She urged future artists to down. There is hope in being invisible. If I my- ple with potential to be productive mem- follow their hearts. “If you have a burning self cannot see, I don’t want to be seen. If I am bers of society.” desire to be an artist, just do it.”

Minkara urged the audience to ”go benot seen, I cannot be hurt. If I am not hurt I Durrah discussed tangible ways to break yond the world’s labels! Seek the unper- into the entertainment industry, including can continue to exist.

This is the reality for many blind chil- ceived potential in others. See people for participating in comedy workshops, poetry dren, who have no inspiration and see no who they are, and not what society tells us readings and art shows. Durrah recalled 62

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“marginality and out-of-placement” for some Arab Americans.

“Levantines have been very good at claiming the role of victim,” he argued, but in fact Arab identity is “a colonial project” forced upon certain groups, notably North Africans. “Arab identity was not chosen by them, it was imposed on them.” Due to this marginalization, Beydoun wondered if North Africans should choose to identify with the Arab-American community at all, and questioned ADC’s commitment to those whose ArabAmerican identity cannot be described in “very simple terms.”

Audience members had many questions to ask the panelists and a lively discussion followed the presentations.

—Clara McGlynn

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

SEPTEMBER 2014

in society today.”

Hanna, an attorney who litigates discrimination claims for Arab Americans, said the criminalization of Arabs happens everyday. Discrimination against Arabs and Muslims is worse than any other minority race, he said, adding (L-r) Dean Obeidallah, Luci Murphy and Said Durrah discuss their “cases will most Arab Americans in the arts. likely always get overcharged.”

One of Hanna’s cases concerned the Imam family in Miami, charged with funneling money to the Pakistani Taliban due to suspicious phone calls to their families back in Pakistan. The father Haytham Faraj (l) and Michael Hanna discuss discrimination in was jailed for a full year while the case the courts. was argued in court. meeting an Iraqi woman at a State Depart- With no specific evidence produced against ment-funded comedy workshop. Although the family, the case was dropped and the fashe said she had nothing funny to talk ther was released.

This case and other cases happening about, Durrah got her to turn her pain into something that made her audience smile— every day to Arabs are a travesty, Hanna even though her jokes went through three stated. He concluded by showing a fascitranslators! “Stay true to yourself. Be the nating study done by the Equal Employbest at what you do. That’s how we change ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which found a 250 percent increase in disthe hurtful labels,” Durrah concluded.

—Delinda C. Hanley crimination against Arabs and Muslims since Sept. 11. “Discrimination is out there,” The Criminalization of Being Arab Hanna reiterated, and continues to be A June 14 ADC panel entitled “The Crimi- prevalent in our society every day.”

—Nizar Kuseybi nalization of Being Arab” featured attorneys Haytham Faraj and Michael Hanna, who specialize in different kinds of discrimina- A Memorable ADC Gala Dinner tion law. They discussed some of their cases Hundreds of Arab-Americans enjoyed a rerelated specifically to discrimination against ception and gala dinner at the Crystal GateMuslim- and Arab-Americans. way Marriott’s Arlington Ballroom on the Faraj began by describing one of his most evening of June 14. The program included a controversial cases: that of a 35-year-old fa- three-course dinner, moving speeches and a ther who bought four boxes of Sudafed for comedy sketch, and concluded with the a drug dealer just to make some extra melodies of a rising artist. money for his family. Even though the man In his opening remarks, ADC National had only one previous conviction—for sell- President Samer Khalaf stressed the imporing a gram of marijuana when he was 18— tance of the unity of Arab Americans, dehe was convicted on three counts of solicit- spite the community’s natural differences. ing drugs and sentenced to 15 years in “We may be from different backgrounds, prison. After many months of vigorous trial but we are one people, we need to gather work, the sentence was reduced to one year and join the community,” he said, reflecting in prison, which Faraj described as one of the convention theme of “It Takes a Comhis happiest days as a lawyer. The criminal munity.” “It takes more than one hand [to attorney concluded by emphasizing how clap], more than one voice,” he pointed out. “the government uses leverage to overThe awards ceremony recognized those charge in so many cases that are dealt with who have dedicated their lives, knowledge SEPTEMBER 2014

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and passion in promoting, fostering and expanding U.S.-Arab relations.

The ADC Distinguished Public Service Award was presented to Dr. John Duke Anthony, the founding president and chief executive officer of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR). In her introductory remarks, former congresswoman and ADC president Mary Rose Oakar described Anthony as “the only American who got to sit at the same table with all the important figures of the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council].”

Upon receiving his award, Anthony delivered an address on the importance of the Arab-American community and its role in building and shaping the U.S. as we know it today.

“Let there be no lack of appreciation to the Americans of Arab ancestry, who have done to this country a lot more than what many of us aspire to do,” an emotional Anthony said, holding his award.

He went on to explain the role of the NCUSAR in promoting knowledge of the Arab world though its internship program, visits to various Arab countries and participation in Model Arab League conferences.

“I can say for myself, we will not get tired until the right thing is done,”Anthony concluded, expressing his hope that the U.S. would refrain from its “impaired actions” against the Arab world.

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Awardees Dr. Raymond Jallow (above) and Dr. John Duke Anthony (below).

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tice in Palestine, are leading sophisDr. Raymond Jallow was the reticated movements, the like of cipient of ADC’s Lifetime Achievewhich haven’t been seen since Vietment Award. Born and educated in nam anti-war protests. What are Iraq, he served as an adviser to Arab Americans doing to engage the seven U.S. presidents on issues of Hispanic community, young people economics, monetary policy and and others who can join to solve the Middle East affairs.

Israel-Palestine conflict? Kuttab Having participated in 25 consecasked his audience. utive ADC annual conventions, JalJeff Halper, an American-born Islow expressed his hopes and dreams raeli author and human rights acfor ADC in particular and the Arabtivist who co-founded the Israeli American community in general.

Committee Against House Demoli“My dream is for this organizations (ICAHD), described the righttion to keep on developing,” he said. wing shift and other worrisome “My dream is for the ADC to prochanges in Israel that should be vide this award to a leader in the Ellen Siegel accepts the Rachel Corrie Award. alienating American Jews. Political Arab world who gives up his power activists in Israel are in retreat, for a younger generation.”

Halper warned. “The same old peoSuggesting that ADC invest more ple are exhausted and in despair,” in providing scholarships, expandhe said. “It’s the bottom of the 9th ing nationally and internationally, inning,” and if there isn’t a resoluJallow nevertheless applauded ADC tion to the conflict, Israel will befor pursuing its mission, despite the come an apartheid and isolated difficulties. “Civil rights, civil liberstate. The Palestine issue has become ties, and support to Arab-Americans a global human rights issue, Halper amid all the suffering they have added. “It’s the last half of the last been subjected to through the inning. Even if we’re tired and exyears,” Jallow cited as the goals of hausted, we must turn this around ADC. and achieve justice,” he urged. He Moved by the two awardees’ concluded by advocating for a binaspeeches, the audience was then invited to take action and help ADC Dr. Yusif Farsakh announces the launch of the first free tional, inclusive state. It’s time to keep achieving its goals. “We are “Palestinian Traditional Embroidery mobile application,” stop talking about a national liberation movement and start legitimizraising money to invest in our fu- accompanied by models wearing traditional dresses. ing a one-state solution, he said. ture,” ADC National Board Chair Dr. Safa Rifka explained, accepting donations swers—and going nowhere. Like the intro- This will put the burden on Israel while acfrom $1,000 to $20,000 over the coming duction of the Internet, it may take awhile tivists work on a civil rights strategy in a bi—Delinda C. Hanley year. “Give up your daily Starbucks, for the for people to get used to a new way of doing national state. sake of your child,” he joked with the audi- things, he acknowledged, but a new stratConvention Closes With a Palestine ence. Audience members responded by egy is desperately needed. contributing about $100,000 by the end of Some on-the-ground realities have Luncheon the evening. changed, Kuttab pointed out. The two-state The Palestinian Luncheon was the final After dinner, Palestinian-American come- solution is dead and now non-state actors in event at ADC’s convention and it started dian Amer Zahr took to the stage to deliver Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Palestine, Israel with a sad announcement by Prof. Jack a short, funny—and at times painful— and the U.S. are determining what is hap- Shaheen: Radio legend Casey Kasem had sketch. His humor on the Israeli-Palestinian pening in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The just died (see p. 80). After recalling his conflict hit the spot. “The only difference Arab Spring has highlighted the frailty of gentle soul and kindness, Shaheen asked between us and [the Israelis],” he explained, all existing governments and the rapidity for a moment of silence. “is that they were chosen by God, and we with which change can come. Citizens have ADC presented the Rachel Corrie Award were chosen by the FBI.” a growing influence on policies, Kuttab to Jewish-American anti-war activist Ellen —Dina Salah ElDin added, noting that New York Times colum- Siegel, in recognition of her devotion and nists, Washington intellects and young peo- commitment to justice. Siegel is a regisParadigm Shift: New Thinking on ple all are getting their information from tered nurse who helped wounded Israel-Palestine blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

Lebanese and Palestinians during Israel’s There are other changes in the U.S., in- 1982 invasion of Lebanon. She was workThe final panel discussion at ADC featured two human rights activists, one Palestinian cluding a marked decline in the power of ing in the Gaza Hospital in the Sabra and the other Israeli, moderated by this AIPAC, Kuttab continued. Today American refugee camp in Beirut during the Sabra writer. Lawyer and peace activist Jonathan Jews feel different about Israel—even J- and Shatila massacre and subsequently tesKuttab, co-founder of Al-Haq, the leading Street is out of touch and working on an old tified before the Kahan Commission of InPalestinian human rights agency, began the paradigm. Boycott, Divestment and Sanc- quiry in Jerusalem. Every year Siegel rediscussion by urging listeners to stop ask- tions used to be fringe and today is main- turns to Lebanon to remember the victims ing the same questions, getting the same an- stream. Young people, like Students for Jus- of that massacre.

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“Rachel Corrie would have been 34 if she hadn’t been crushed by an Israeli bulldozer trying to demolish the home of a Palestinian,” Siegel began.

“She might be married. She might have a child.” Instead, Siegel said, Corrie’s face is on posters in every Palestinian refugee camp.

There are 450,000 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, many of them living in extreme poverty, Siegel continued. Some of them live in metal containers and others, including a good friend Prof. Jack Shaheen (l) and Edmund Ghareeb. of hers, live in the old Gaza Hospital, transformed into small apart- television.” For eight years, Shaheen documents, without running water or regular mented how Arabs were being portrayed on electricity, with piles of trash piled at the more than 200 television programs. entrance.

He confronted those who were responsiPalestinians make up 11 percent of ble for the portrayals, Shaheen said, someLebanon’s population, Siegel noted, and thing that requires constant vigilance. Shanow the conflict in Syria has forced more heen has given more than 1,000 lectures on refugees to flock to Lebanon. Siegel urged the subject, and written other books, inArab Americans to help by donating to cluding the award-winning book and film ANERA, UPA, UNRWA, Atfalouna and Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a other humanitarian organizations.

People (both available from the AET BookThe next speaker, Abdulhadi Hantash, store), and 300-plus essays. began working as a cartographer in HeGhareeb had been working in Beirut, bron in 1978. Hantash said he had several Lebanon as a reporter when he noticed the urgent messages from Palestinians for lack of balance in the way the U.S. media Americans: 1. We extend our hands in was covering the region. Ghareeb told a peace; 2. We are not against the Jewish re- story about a particular instance when the ligion, we are against the occupation; 3. media had not covered an address by Sen. J. Forty-seven years of occupation—it’s William Fulbright at the Middle East Instienough; 4. Don’t push Palestinians into a tute’s annual conference in 1975 about the corner; and, finally 5. Stop sending money Sinai Declaration. Congress was discussing to Israel for guns. the topic, but even after MEI sent copies of “There are 5,000 Palestinians in Israeli the senator’s speech to all the major editors, jails. In fact, all Palestinians are in jail,” nothing happened. When reporters responHantash lamented. “Still, we extend our sible for covering the story said they hadn’t hand for peace and nobody hears us,” he had time to read it, Ghareeb took it into his concluded.

—Delinda C. Hanley own hands to interview the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations ComPortraying Arabs: 30 Years Later mittee.

Fulbright was very critical of what he In 1984 Prof. Jack Shaheen, former CBS consultant on Middle East affairs, and Dr. called “the moralizing by the press.” He Edmund Ghareeb of American University told Ghareeb, “I have been disserved by both published works on the portrayal of what seemed to me to be an arbitrary and Arabs and Muslims by Western media. prejudiced standard of newsworthiness in Shaheen’s TV Arab studied the images of the national press, especially as applied to Arabs on television, and Ghareeb’s Split Vi- the Middle East. I have noted repeatedly the sion examined news, print and broadcast quantitative disparity between press covermedia. On June 11, the Palestine Center age of Palestinian guerrilla attacks within Iswelcomed the two authors, who discussed rael and of Israeli attacks on south Lebanon.” Fulbright noted that the number “Portraying Arabs: 30 Years Later.”

Shaheen became interested in studying of casualties usually were much higher how Arabs and Muslims are portrayed in among either the Palestinians or the the media when his children came to him Lebanese than the Israelis.

Fulbright recalled an April 1978 speech saying, “Daddy, they’ve got bad Arabs on SEPTEMBER 2014

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he made criticizing Israel’s foreign policy. Unlike most of the media, The Washington Post did not cover it, but the following day ran articles blasting Fulbright’s speech.

Ghareeb noted that the media has gone through different phases over the last few decades—sometimes portraying issues accurately and then going through phases of deterioration.

For a brief period of time, he said, as a result of the Arab Spring, journalists were working on the ground, speaking to people and reporting accurately.

Since then, however, reporters have retreated.

One of the mistakes that many in the West—especially Western media—made was relying on activists for their stories and photos, Ghareeb said. That made it difficult for them to see things in a balanced way.

“The issue of media coverage will be with us for a long time,” he concluded.

Shaheen agreed that the prospects for Arabs and Muslims, especially in films and TV, looks grim.

“9/11 came and all of a sudden American Arabs and American Muslims became the enemy,” he explained. “We became clones of al-Qaeda.” Shaheen cited such shows as “24” and “Sleeper City” as adding fuel to the fire.

“The stereotype has kind of shifted from Arab to Muslim, or anyone who looks Middle Eastern, Pakistani, Indian, or an American who has been influenced by those God awful Muslims,” Shaheen said. “The ArabMuslim stereotype is still there, but it has spread its wings.”

Shaheen concluded, “What needs to be done, and what hasn’t been done, is we need to confront directly, immediately, with force and persistence, clear thinking, intelligence, and a basic sense of decency with us, the men and women who are responsible for this before it gets out of hand.”

—Gabriella Patti

Muslim American Activism A Ramadan Precedent Dr. Saleh Kholaki is the first Syrian American to serve as chairman of the board of the Islamic Center of Southern California, and on June 28, the beginning of Ramadan, he set a precedent by having a woman, Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, deliver the tafseer (explanation) of the Surat al-Nisa 65

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Dr. Saleh Kholaki. (women’s chapter) from the women’s prayer room.

For the past 30 years, Dr. Kholaki has recited the Qur’an at the Islamic Center and throughout this year’s Ramadan observance, the Duarte dentist led the Saturday night prayers until dawn at the Los Angeles center.

—Pat McDonnell Twair

Music & Arts Changing Regimes and Societies With the Power of Music

World Refugee Day in Nairobi, Kenya Features “Forgotten” Palestinians in Lebanon

PHOTO COURTESY USIP

Since 2011, protest movements have managed to shake off some of the Middle East’s decades-long established political realities and knock down entire regimes. But the protest movement is not just masses of people camping in public squares, chanting against their corrupt leaders and throwing empty teargas canisters back at security forces. These peaceful (and sometimes bloodily violent) protests have begun to change the region’s social and cultural landscape beyond recognition. We now have Egyptian rappers, Iranian rockers, Lebanese jazzmen and Turkish acapella groups. All have one thing in common: they are using their art to challenge the status quo.

own set of problems, music is a unifying force in the fight against repression. “Musicians of all backgrounds, in all [Middle East] countries, are suffering from the same problems,” according to Sobhani. “Whether a military government in Egypt, a secular government in Turkey, these musicians are constantly being censored.” He cited his own experience in Iran, where “my music is banned.…The music is silenced by the government because they are afraid of the message it could send,” Sobhani said.

The event also featured a 25-minute film documenting a trip Sobhani made to Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey, in which he talks and listens to underground artists whose art emerged amid the Arab Spring. In the opening scene of “Music of Resistance, Conversations in the Middle East” Sobhani gives his take on the explosion of arts and music in the Middle East. “I think society is like, let’s think of it as boiling water. It’s slowly warming up, and it gets to the point where it starts boiling,” he explains. “Everybody is trying to express their feeling.”

—Dina Salah ElDin

This is the thesis considered at a June 10 panel discussion titled “Rhythms at the Intersection of Peace and Conflict: The Music of Nonviolent Action” co-sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum (CPRF) in Washington, DC. Since the best way to begin a panel discussion on the role of music is to play music, for about 20 minutes the audience watched indie music videos by young Arab, Turkish and Iranian artists. Next George Lopez, vice president of USIP’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, emphasized the importance of arts and culture in educating, changing and advancing societies. “Every culture has its own cultural reservoir,” Lopez noted. “It gives strength to institutions and individuals to challenge the status quo and strengthen nonviolent solidarity.”

Maria J. Stephan, USIP senior policy fellow and co-author of the award-winning book Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, recalled how she first discovered the power of music as a tool of resistance as a child.

“Whenever I had an argument with my mother, I would go back to my room, lock the door, get my Disney drumset out and start knocking on it!” she laughed, joined by the audience.

Timothy O’Keefe, a professional composer, producer, DJ, performer and cofounder of the globally distributed record label Freedom Beat, agreed that there is more to music than just notes. “There are a lot of ways in which music can be used,” he said, including expressing people’s thoughts, desires and hopes, and even challenging authorities. He described Freedom Beat’s mission as “to bring the music and the musicians out to the world.”

Arash Sobhani, founder of the Iranian underground band Kiosk, believes there is no going back for the power of music in the Middle East. While each country has its

Attendees watch Arash Sobhani’s film featuring underground artists in Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey.

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On June 20, 2014, World Refugee Day, Nairobi’s Alliance Française set aside its normal cultural programming to launch a provocative pictorial display of the Palestinian resistance in Beirut’s refugee camps and environs. The photo exhibition, “The Forgotten People: Portraits of Generations of Palestinian Refugees in Exile with No End,” ran until July 13.

Each September Beirut’s Palestinian refugees accompanied by international activists commemorate the Sabra and Shatila Massacre—that tragic event of September 1982 when Lebanon’s extremist Phalange militia, under Israeli surveillance, slaughtered between 800 and 3,000 defenseless Palestinians living in the Sabra and Shatila camps.

Images of the yearly solidarity march to a designated memorial frame the exhibition.

Activists in solidarity with the resistance— including Ellen Siegel, recently awarded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s prestigious Rachel Corrie Award (see p. 64), the Washington Report’s Delinda C. Hanley, and some dedicated Italians—are evidence of the event’s global reach. Photos of refugees’ daily lives in the camps, reminiscent of Nairobi’s own underserved neighborhoods, as well as travel to southern Lebanon, add context and atmosphere.

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Holy Land Festival at Franciscan Monastery

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metaphor for the mental impoverishment reflected in the “Jewish” state’s warped policies upheld by our own U.S. government.

A favorite history lesson is the arbitrariness and impermanence of nation-states everywhere—particularly those embedded in violence. Colonialism, racial/ethnic apartheid and extremist ideology cloaked in religious dogma are headed for the scrapheap of history. Stay “Passing the memory of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila tuned. Whether it is an inclusive deZionized Israel, a bi-naMassacre to the next Generation.” tional state or the recovery of high-tech business centers and affluent res- the former Ottoman social landscape of idential neighborhoods. Today 450,000 Bilad-al-Sham (“Sun Countries,” referring to Palestinian refugees live cheek-by-jowl with the pre-l9l9 Eastern Mediterranean lands) as the new influx of 1 million Syrians fleeing a free trade zone—with, of course, the right war and famine at home. In the shadow of all refugees to return—it will happen!

—Dana April Seidenberg cities of winding streets, where tangled webs of electric wires intersect pipe fittings and drying laundry, Palestinians live to- Tunisian Artwork on Display at gether in their own areas of Sabra, Shatila The Palestine Center and Bourj el Bourajneh.

Beyond the surface story something sweet and melodious was in the air. Having a privileged view of a rich private world of the colorful Palestinian community, one could not but admire these extraordinary people. Out of an undeserved past and 66 years of forced exile, a new alchemy of enlightened individuals with a unity of shared purpose could light up the sky. I fell under the spell. In these neat residential Palestinian neighborhoods lined with open-air businesses, the resistance was in full swing.

For the legacy of the massacre is about camaraderie and regeneration. Real neighborhoods filled with enterprising individuals had built a congenial society of thriving institutions with schools, hospitals and women’s centers, kindergartens and preschools. Giggling toddlers are having fun. Samia Zoghlami’s “The Cherry Tree.”

The next generation is being prepared for the kind of paradigm shift that is forever al- The Palestine Center in Washington, DC tering the face of the Middle East. was abuzz with the sounds of French and The narrative history of Palestine in English on June 13 when well-known Lebanon is also alive in the south: at Qana Tunisian artist Samia Zoghlami opened “Le in martyrs’ open-air tombs; at Mleta, with Temps des Cerises,” her first U.S. exhibit. its displays of Israel’s arsenal of powerful Zoghlami, who studied in Paris and under weaponry deployed against Palestinians; the famous Tunisian artist Nejib Belkhodja, and a small museum exhibiting artifacts of is influenced both by local artistic tradition Old Palestine. Lively meetings with Pales- and by more contemporary currents. Attinian leaders and journalists give currency tendees enjoyed hors-d’oeuvres while adand intellectual context to the struggle. The miring the Cubism-inspired paintings of no-man’s-land where unsightly views of ce- musicians, cherries (cerises in French), ment separation walls and barbed wire de- cityscapes, and other scenes. Zoghlami’s artface the border between Lebanon and Pales- work was on display at the Palestine Center tine/Israel is a fitting monument to and until July 15.

—Clara McGlynn COURTESY THE JERUSALEM FUND

PHOTO COURTESY D. SEIDENBERG

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(L-r) Moderator Pat Labuda and a standingroom-only audience listen to the “Palestinian voices” of G.J. Tarazi, Zeina Azzam and Paul Noursi at the Franciscan Monastery.

The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, often described as “an oasis of peace in Washington, DC,” held its first annual Holy Land Festival celebrating its brothers and sisters in the Holy Land on July 12. Far more than the expected 300 visitors wandered through the church, Nativity Grotto, historic gardens and outside shrines, learning about Palestine and enjoying a perfect summer day. They visited booths offering Middle Eastern cuisine, activities, handmade crafts, informational materials, and—of course—AET’s traveling Middleeastbooks.com table full of the latest books, DVDs and solidarity items, including soaps and lotions from Palestine.

The Franciscan friars also hosted panel discussions, including “Palestinian Voices,” spotlighting speakers from the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace. Moderator Pat Labuda began with a moment of silence for Gazans who were suffering from Israel’s latest attacks. The first speaker, G.J.Tarazi, said his cousin, a medical director in Gaza, described the current attacks and wounds as the worst she’s ever seen. Tarazi, Paul Noursi and Zeina Azzam gave superb accounts of what it’s like to grow up hearing their parents and relatives longing for their homes in Palestine and to actually visit their homelands as Americans of Palestinian origin.

Azzam described being yelled at in a lengthy and frightening exit interview at Ben-Gurion airport, as she worried she would miss her plane. Visitors to Israel, especially Arab Americans, are discouraged from coming or going, panelists agreed, their cell phones and laptops arbitrarily searched. “They don’t want us to tell our stories,” Azzam concluded. Nonetheless, each speaker told his or her family’s story, using photographs, poetry and vivid de67

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scriptions. They noted how sad they feel when Palestinians are invisible in the U.S. media or, even worse, portrayed as terrorists.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Human Rights

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STAFF PHOTO M. HOWE

North-South Prize

The two winners of the Council of Europe’s North-South Prize (seated in center), His Highness the Aga Khan, chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, and Suzanne Jabbour, Lebanese psychologist and director of the NGO “Restart.” man Mikhail Gorbachev, Jordan’s Queen rebuilding a new life through mental health counseling as well as medical, social and Rania and Brazil’s Lula da Silva.

The North-South Center, made up of 17 legal help,” Jabbour said. By 2007, the mamember states including the Vatican, is cur- jority of their patients were Syrians, folrently celebrating its 25th anniversary. Cen- lowed by Iraqis. Today, she works with a ter chairman Jean-Marie Heydt said its mis- staff of 86 professionals in centers in Beirut sion is to promote the values of the Council and Tripoli, who received 1,500 Syrians in of Europe: democracy, human rights, soli- the last six months and 250 Iraqis in the darity and North-South interdependence. past year.

“Our main target is state torture,” JabHe announced this year’s activities, including a course for Youth and Citizenship in bour declared, emphasizing that torture is Tunisia, a conference on women’s empow- an important tool to extract information in erment in Morocco, and the Lisbon Forum the war in Syria. “Torture as an instrument in September on “Electoral Processes and against terrorism is not justified,” Jabbour Democratic Consolidation in Countries South of the Mediterranean.”

After the ceremony, Jabbour told the Wash ington Report that it was her first meeting with the Aga Khan, and that he had expressed interest in her work and “would consider supporting it.” In an interview, she recalled how a small group of Lebanese mental health professionals had concluded there was a need for more comprehensive therapy for torture victims. In 1996, they founded in Beirut the We commemorated World Refugee Day on June 21 at St. FranCenter for Rehabilitacis Episcopal church in San Antonio. It was my fifth year hightion of Victims of Torlighting the Palestinian refugees’ struggle for freedom, justice and ture, an NGO inforequality after 66 years of living in miserable conditions as a result mally known as REof Israel’s illegal brutal colonization and occupation of the Palestinian homeland.—Jacob J. Nammar START. “Restart means THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

SEPTEMBER 2014

WWW.BORNINJERUSALEM.COM • WWW.JACOBNAMMAR.COM

Suzanne Jabbour, a Lebanese clinical psychologist, has been awarded the Council of Europe’s prestigious North-South Prize for her dedicated fight against torture. The corecipient of this year’s prize is His Highness the Aga Khan, head of the Aga Khan Development Network, for his work to improve living conditions in deprived regions around the world.

Accepting the honor in the name of “all victims of torture, abuse and ill-treatment,” Jabbour, who heads the International Council for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture as well as a Lebanese NGO, focused on the plight of Syrians, now in their third year of war. “Syria is badly bleeding,” she said tersely, noting that 150,000 people have been killed, 2,841,524 turned into refugees and 6.5 million internally displaced, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“Are we doing enough to protect victims?” Jabbour asked, addressing U.N. agencies, European institutions and civil society organizations. “We are doing a lot, but we could do more,” she said, calling for new diplomatic and political mechanisms for lasting peace, the establishment of humanitarian corridors, continued support of refugees, and the rehabilitation and reintegration of victims.

For his part, the Aga Khan, who heads the Ismaili Community (Shi’i Muslims), emphasized the worldwide absence of sufficient debate, dialogue and education in the effort to avoid conflict. “That insufficiency often plagues relations between the North and the South—and increasingly between the North and the Islamic world,” he said, adding that institutions like the North-South Center “have never been more important.”

Portugal’s President Anibal Cavaco Silva presided over the May 12 awards ceremony, which took place in parliament, the stately 17th century Palace of Sao Bento. Before the assembly of Portuguese politicians, foreign diplomats and other dignitaries, Cavaco presented each winner the North-South trophy: a glass globe with multiple points on a mirror base, representing one transparent, integrated world, highlighted by diversity.

Among previous laureates: singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, former Soviet states-

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Waging Peace

STAFF PHOTO D. SALAH ELDIN

Obama’s Foreign Policy and the Future of the Middle East

Ambassador Chas Freeman provides a critique of U.S. foreign policy.

Triggered by President Obama’s May 28 West Point speech and the unfolding crises in the Middle East, the Middle East Policy Council chose “Obama’s Foreign Policy and the Future of the Middle East” as the title for its 77th Capitol Hill Conference. The conference, held July 21 at the Rayburn House Office Building, gathered four experts to assess the policies of the Obama administration toward the Middle East and to offer difficult but possible solutions to the ongoing turmoil across the region.

Kenneth Pollack, senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and author of The Threatening Storm: What Every American Needs to Know Before an Invasion in Iraq and other books, said that the current situation in the Middle East easily contradicts the arguments he initially heard from Obama’s team: that the U.S. needlessly squandered resources in the region.

“I never thought that at 2014, I would be looking at a Middle East worse than the one we saw in 2006,” Pollack admitted. He also cited the recent activity by Secretary of State John Kerry as a sign that the Obama SEPTEMBER 2014

administration finally has realized that de- foreign policy establishment for relying on taching the U.S. from the problems in the narratives rather than analysis.

“We have leaders who can’t lead, and legMiddle East is not the solution. “The Middle East does need the help of the United islators who can’t legislate. In short, we have States,” Pollack argued, adding that having a government that can’t make relevant decia nuclear deal with Iran should be a step sions, fund their implementation, and enlist forward to further engagement and prob- allies to support them, or see them through,” Freeman continued. “Outsiders lem-solving in the Middle East.

In the opinion of Paul Pillar, former CIA can’t manage the Middle East, and shouldanalyst and non-resident senior fellow at n’t try,” he argued.

Finally Freeman suggested that it was Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies, there is no easy solution or vision “time for countries in the region to accept that the Obama administration could adopt. responsibility for what they do.” Just as im“The challenges out there are simply too portantly, he added, it was time for the complex, and the U.S. interest at stake, fac- United States to stop shielding Israel from ing those challenges,” he explained. “They the consequences of its actions, and justifyare too multifaceted to boil everything ing its assaults against Palestine. “America down to a single vision in a bumper-sticker should cut the umbilicus and let Israel be Israel,” Freeman concluded. kind of way.”

For complete transcripts or to watch the When it comes to foreign policy, Pillar suggested that ad-hoc policies are the way conference online, visit <www.mepc.org>.

—Dina Salah ElDin to deal with the current problem, and that “not doing certain things…is at least as important in advancing and protecting U.S. in- Will President Sisi Bring Stability terest in this region as doing things.” He To Egypt? cited launching the war on Iraq in 2003 as Michele Dunne, senior associate at the the prime example of how “not doing cer- Carnegie Endowment for International tain things” could be the best approach the Peace, opened her July 1 talk on “Will PresU.S. can adopt toward the Middle East. ident Sisi Bring Stability to Egypt?” at the Amin Tarzi, director of Middle East stud- Women’s Foreign Policy Group in Washingies at Marine Corps University, agreed about ton, DC with a recollection from the previthe complexity of the situation, but argued ous year. Following massive demonstrations against ad-hoc measures, which he equated opposing Egypt’s President Mohamed with crisis management. “Unlike any area in Morsi, on July 3 Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the world…there’s no place that has the issued the democratically elected president problems the Middle East has,” he said, not- an ultimatum to step down and suspended ing, “we cannot fix everything. the constitution and parliament. “When I “Yes, we are a partner, we have an interest saw that, I said to myself, ‘That’s it. A mili[in the Middle East]…we need to be in that tary coup is underway. Egypt’s democratic region,” Tarzi admitted. He urged the U.S. opening might very well be over.’” A year administration to be consistent in its poli- later, el-Sisi himself was sworn in as Egypt’s cies toward the Middle East. “When you president with an overwhelming 96 percent talk to colleagues in the region, they are of the votes. confused,” he said. “Friends and foes are Examining the current atmosphere in confused to the point that they have no idea Egypt, Dunne warned, “The grievances what to do anymore.”

Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman summarized the history and future of U.S. foreign policy in respect to the Middle East: “A while back, the United States set out to reconfigure the Middle East. The result is that the region and our position in it are both in shambles.

“We have a foreign policy elite that has its head up its media bubble,” he Michele Dunne warns that U.S. economic aid to Egypt has said, criticizing the U.S. plummeted since the 1970s.

STAFF PHOTO D. SALAH ELDIN

stressed. She noted that a majority of countries—140, according to Amnesty International—still practice torture, and that it is increasing because of the spread of armed conflicts.

—Marvine Howe

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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that caused the 2011 uprising [against Mubarak] are still present. The lack of opportunities, the bad treatment from the government, the bad services, human rights abuse…All of these are still there, even worse than before,” she argued.

Often asked if the Egyptian people would choose stability over democracy, Dunne argued that the real question should be whether this option is actually on the table.

“In terms of stability, I don’t think the prospect for things to quiet down is very likely,” Dunne said, answering her own question. She described the past year as so turbulent it doesn’t allow much room for hope, citing the worst record of human rights abuses in Egypt’s modern history, up to 40,000 political prisoners, 3,000 casualties in anti-military protests, over-populated prisons, mass trials, a “draconian” antiprotest law, and a wave of domestic terrorism that left more than 400 police and army officers killed.

“There is no way for us to put a pretty face on it,” Dunne stated. Yet, most Egyptians are holding onto the hope that things may improve with Sisi’s presidency. “President Sisi will have something of a honeymoon…Many Egyptians would like to give him a chance and see him succeed,” Dunne acknowledged, adding that this does not lessen any of the daunting challenges ahead for Egypt.

Addressing the question of U.S. policies toward Egypt, Dunne said that the gap between military and economic aid to Egypt has become enormous—economic funds have plummeted from $1.3 billion in the ’70s to $200 million today, while the amount of military funding has remained untouched. As a result, U.S.-Egyptian bilateral relations have ultimately become “very military heavy, very security heavy…with a much less robust degree of economic and cultural exchange,” Dunne said.

Reminding the attendees of the slogans of the 2011 uprising—bread, freedom, social justice and human dignity—Dunne concluded that “Egyptians need to reach a consensus on how to translate those needs and demands into economic and social processes that address those needs…What we need to do is look at ourselves in the mirror and ask: Are we [the U.S.] contributing or inhibiting the Egyptian people from reaching this consensus?”

—Dina Salah ElDin

A Crystal Ball to Egypt’s Future A June 16 event hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC examined developments in Egypt. Speakers were Wilson Center scholars Emad Shahin, pub70

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(L-r) Emad Shahin, Marina Ottaway, Haleh Esfandiari and Moushira Khattab (on screen). lic policy professor at the American University in Cairo, and Marina Ottaway, an analyst on issues of political transformation in the Middle East. Moushira Khattab, current chair of the Egyptian Women in Foreign Policy group of the Egyptian Council of Foreign Affairs, joined the conversation from Cairo via Skype.

Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Wilson Center’s Middle East program, introduced the topic by noting that while there is a lot of debate regarding the legitimacy and significance of the recent elections and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s victory, Egypt’s future remains mostly unknown. This discussion was akin to “looking through a crystal ball,” Esfandiari said.

Shahin began by stating that under elSisi, the economy remains one of the biggest question marks. “Sisi needs to do the opposite of Mubarak: fight corruption and lead a radical reconstruction for the economy,” he said. The problem, however, is that “Sisi is a product of the old [Mubarak] regime,” Shahin said, citing Sisi’s declaration in a TV appearance during his campaign that “we should give the corrupt a chance.”

Ottaway based much of her analysis on a recent trip to Egypt in which she observed the three-day electoral process and the inaugural period. “My first impression was that we are dealing with a tense situation,” she said, reflecting on her attempts to get through the barb-wired Tahrir Square during el-Sisi’s inaugural celebrations. “The government is very nervous about crowds,” she noted. “The fact that the square was not even full says a lot. This is a country that is nervous on all levels.”

According to Ottaway, uncertainty seems to be what most Egyptians have in common.

“Whether it is economic reform, electoral laws, [the future of] business and finance, the most prevalent answer is ‘I don’t know,’” she said. Ottaway agreed with other commentators that el-Sisi’s vision of the fuTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

ture of the Egyptian economy remains unclear, saying that the most concrete statement el-Sisi has so far given regarding the issue of fuel subsidies promoted the use of bicycles, which she described as merely a “cosmetic approach to reform.”

From Cairo, Khattab tackled the question of Egypt’s future from a different perspective. “Sisi presents himself as a president to all Egyptians,” she argued. “He has welcomed all those whose hands have not been stained by blood.” On the issue of national reconciliation raised by Shahin, Khattab said that the process is already ongoing and that several delegations from the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union have been meeting with el-Sisi to put forward a plan for national reconciliation.

On the issue of the economy, Khattab acknowledged the difficulties facing el-Sisi.

“We have seen that over the last three years Egypt has been left with an economy [resembling] a ticking bomb,” she noted. To deal with it, el-Sisi will have to count on his popular support to take “painful but necessary steps,” such as the gradual lifting of fuel subsidies.

Finally, Khattab talked about what the future of Egyptian women looks like, and called women the “unsung heroes who gave Egypt the chance for a better Egypt.” She applauded el-Sisi for delivering an apology to a recent victim of sexual assault in Tahrir Square, describing the incident as “unheard of in the Middle East.” —Dina Salah ElDin

AmCham Egypt Members Hopeful About Egypt’s Economic Future In a June 25 talk hosted by the Center for National Policy (CNP), four of Egypt’s leading businessmen shared their insights on the future of business and investments in post-election Egypt. The businessmen, all members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham Egypt), focused on the positive outcomes of the transition SEPTEMBER 2014

STAFF PHOTO D. SALAH ELDIN

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(L-r) Anis Aclimandos, Omar Mohanna, Gregory Aftandilian, Tarek El Refai and Hisham Fahmy call for U.S. investment in Egypt.

SEPTEMBER 2014

tions…this will allow the president to tackle the issue of subsidies,” Mohanna stated.

AmCham CEO Hisham Fahmy agreed that when it comes to Egypt’s economy, the positives outweigh the negatives.

“For the past three years, whenever we are asked about Egypt, we say it has been ‘busy,’” Fahmy said, laughing along with the audience. “Well, despite this state of busy-ness, over the past three years U.S. companies in Egypt have done exceptionally well and are looking for growth,” he said. To encourage investors, Fahmy remarked that “while General Motors went into a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S., it was making money in Egypt.”

At the end of the discussion, AmCham Egypt representatives handed out a flyer noting that with its 80 million residents, Egypt is the ideal market for investors: “Egypt has been through a period of transition, and despite of it all, its business environment remains deep in its wealth of expertise, wide in its array of offerings and diverse in its history of achievements,” the flyer maintains.

—Dina Salah ElDin

CSID Conference Examines U.S. Policy in Turbulent Times The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) held a timely conference entitled “The Struggle for Democracy in

Finding Egypt’s Way Forward STAFF PHOTO C. MCGLYNN

and the potential that exists within Egypt’s economic environment.

The discussion was moderated by Gregory Aftandilian, CNP’s senior Middle East fellow, who began by describing the nature of current U.S.-Egyptian bilateral relations.

They “have been on the rocky path for the past 12 months,” he acknowledged, but added that “while political relations are still uncertain, strategic relations are back on track.” Aftandilian noted that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry remains concerned about human rights abuses in Egypt.

AmCham president Anis Aclimandos said that over the years USAID programs in Egypt have been very successful. “They started with focusing on infrastructure, and then moved to encouraging the private sector, then onto [promoting] democracy and governance,” he explained. Regarding the difficulties Egypt is facing, Aclimandos said that “we used to describe Egypt as a beautiful home in a lousy neighborhood. Now it is a beautiful home in a dangerous neighborhood.” Despite the difficulties, however, he stressed, “we have a government that we trust will move ahead.”

Tarek El Refai, head of global client management, Middle East and Africa, at BNY Mellon, shared a similar outlook. “Egypt is unique,” he said. “Under [President Hosni] Mubarak, the stocks shut down for three weeks.” But despite its closure during the 2011 uprising, Egypt’s stock index increased by more than 60 percent over the past year, he noted.

Such strengths do not negate the fact that there are challenges ahead of Egypt’s newly elected government. Omar Mohanna, chairman of the Suez Cement Group of Companies, described the issue of energy subsidies as one of the biggest challenges facing the new government. Twice what is spent on education and five times what is spent on health care, energy subsidies accumulated through the years, causing governmental expenditures to become “totally distorted.”

However, Mohanna believes the government is finally ready to fix that distortion.

“There has been change in the Egyptian political life—we now have a road map, we have a constitution, and we have had elec-

Turbulent Times: Practical Solutions for U.S. Policy” on June 12 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC. The day was filled with informative panels and speeches from Middle East experts, politicians, and policymakers. Philip Gordon, former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, and Keith Ellison, the U.S. representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, opened the program.

Gordon’s speech centered on developments in the Arab world since the Arab Spring of 2011. “Three and a half years ago I don’t think anyone could have imagined the change,” he said. Reminding the audience that “this kind of political change is very difficult,” he pointed out that European revolutions, while ultimately successful, needed “several generations for democracy to really take root.” Gordon reiterated the U.S. commitment to democracy in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, outlining some plans to help those countries succeed, but acknowledging that the U.S. could only do so much. “No one is a model for anyone else,” he concluded. “We don’t encourage other countries to follow the American model,” he added.

Ellison, the first and now one of two Muslim members of Congress and an advocate for the Middle East, urged audience members to become active in the political process. If constituents are concerned about domestic affairs, he explained, so are representatives. He urged Americans in the audience to draw other Americans back into international affairs.

Like Gordon, Ellison proclaimed his support for U.S. aid to Tunisia, calling the country a “bright light in this darkened sky.” He also requested increased U.S. involvement in Syria on humanitarian grounds, citing firsthand accounts from Syrian friends, and a re-evaluation of U.S. involvement in the Middle East. “We need to enrich our relationships” with MENA countries, he argued. “Sometimes it’s not that you’re doing the wrong thing, it’s just that you’re not doing enough of the right thing.”

—Clara McGlynn

Former Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon gives opening remarks at the 2014 CSID Conference.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Egypt has had a busy summer, with presidential elections resulting in the landslide victory of former military chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. In turn, Washington, DC abounded with events where speakers attempted to interpret the results of these elections and what they could mean for the future of Egypt and its people.

In its 15th annual conference on June 12, the Center for the Study of Islam and 71

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trappings of democracy that existed under Mubarak are now absent,” she stated.

“The closing of political space, the exclusion of political parties, and the mass arrests facilitate the crystallization of authoritarianism.”

On the other hand, argued Yasser ElShimy, a teaching fellow in political science at Boston University and former diplomat at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Egypt’s problems are much bigger than dysfunctional political systems and binary divisions. “Egypt is going through a long period of transformation,” he said, noting that the societal problems following Egypt’s unrest are just as grave as the political ones.

“The society is desperate to see anything that resembles the minimum degree of normalcy,” he explained. Co-existence is the solution, El-Shimy concluded. “Everybody claims to be representing the Egyptian people and what they want. But the fact of the matter is that Egyptians need to learn to coexist…promoting the greater good as much as possible.”

—Dina Salah ElDin

Experts Discuss Syria Following the panel on Egypt, another panel addressed the ongoing Syrian conflict. Robert Ford, former U.S. ambassador to Syria and Algeria, offered his thoughts

STAFF PHOTOS C. MCGLYNN

Democracy (CISD) addressed “Egypt’s Derailed Transition: Finding a Way to Move Forward.” In his opening remarks, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said, “We need to help Egypt hold onto Tunisia…it is essential that the democratic process prevails.” Expressing his skepticism of the election and its results, Ellison urged Washington to take a stance and refrain from “engaging in military assistance [to Egypt] until they have elections that are up to standard.”

Many Egyptians share Ellison’s skepticism, said Emad Shahin, public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and a professor of public policy at the American University in Cairo. “The prerequisites for elections in an open, free and fair environment were clearly absent,” he argued. Even though the Egyptian media helped “portray el-Sisi as the nation’s savior,” he added, the low voter turnout (which Shahin described as an “implicit boycott”) showed that “Sisimania” was nothing but a creation of the media machinery.

Shahin went on to say that the difficulty of the current conditions in Egypt has led to an unprecedented state of division, disappointment and despair among Egyptians.

Among the challenges Egypt, its people and its newly elected president are facing, he said, national reconciliation and the country’s unclear economic prospects are at the top of the list of issues el-Sisi needs to address.

“What Egypt needs now is a comprehensive political reconciliation to be able to move forward,” Shahin argued, noting that “no side can win over, eliminate or exterminate the other.” Regarding Egypt’s economic future, Shahin said that not only had el-Sisi’s platform been very vague, but that el-Sisi himself constantly attempted to lower the people’s expectations and rule out any potential breakthroughs for the country’s stalling economy. “He even said himself that he had nothing to offer to the people,” Shahin pointed out.

On a more positive note, Shahin acknowledged that “there has been a huge change in the mindset of the people.” Citing a sign that was prominent in Cairo’s Tahrir Square during the Jan. 25, 2011 uprising that read “Down With the Next President,” he confidently concluded that regardless of how el-Sisi’s presidency turns out, “Egypt will not see life-long presidents again.”

According to Dalia F. Fahmy, assistant professor of political science at Long Island University, however, the dream for a democratic Egypt that once emerged from Tahrir Square has been shattered. “Egypt is redefining authoritarianism…Even the

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) gives opening remarks. Dalia F. Fahmy discusses Egypt.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

on short- and long-term solutions to the Syrian crisis. Unfortunately, he explained, “there is no easy solution for Syria in the short term.” There could be a reduction of violence and increased humanitarian assistance if local cease-fires are expanded and an agreement between Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and the rebels is reached.

However, Ford—who resigned as ambassador because he felt the Obama administration was not doing enough to aid the Syrian opposition—was pessimistic about this short-term option. Not only does it present near-insurmountable challenges, he said, but it also could result in the partition of the country.

Ultimately, Ambassador Ford argued, the international community needs to work on the long-term option, which necessitates Assad leaving office. This is difficult, he acknowledged, because the Assad government refuses to discuss the possibility. Ford suggested that changes in the government structure, such as changing the leadership of the security forces, oil, and finance industries, could make it impossible for Assad to rule singlehandedly or could even force him out. Even if this scenario were to happen, however, moderates in the government and the rebel groups would have to rally to form a new government, and U.N. peacekeeping forces would likely be needed. Admitting his plan was “cold comfort today,” Ford apologized that “I have no good news to offer.”

None of the other panelists had more positive outlooks. Mohammed A. Ghanem, director of government relations at the opposition Syrian American Council, called on the U.S. to stop the “barrel bombs” in Syria.

These weapons, filled with shrapnel and explosives, terrorize and kill Syrian civilians.

Ghanem drew connections between the barrel bombs, the failure of the Syrian rebels to contain ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, now the Islamic State), and ISIS’ subsequent foray into Iraq. He argued that providing the Syrian rebels with antiaircraft weapons to shoot down the planes carrying the barrel bombs is in the best interest of the U.S. Bassam Haddad, director of the Middle East Studies program at George Mason University, also apologized at the start for what he called “a downer presentation.” Discussing Syria and the idea of an “international community,” he criticized the U.S. and other world powers for their inaction in the region. The conflict is no longer about the people and about victory, he said. It is a “geopolitical matter.” The U.S. is watching its enemies fight in Syria, so maintaining SEPTEMBER 2014

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CSID Panel Addresses Redefining U.S. Policy Toward MENA The final panel at CSID’s 15th annual conference discussed redefining U.S. policy toward the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The speakers discussed the false choice between stability and democracy and how Washington must view policies in the region from a new perspective.

Dr. Jocelyne Cesari, director of the “Islam in the West” program at Harvard University, warned against attempting to export the Western model of secularization to other parts of the world.

“We think that the secular mind as we know it in the West exists the same way in the Muslim-majority countries. It does not, and not because Islam is incompatible with democracy. Actually, you do not need secularization to build democracy,” Cesari noted.

“To be secular does not mean to be democratic.”

Cesari said that Islamic institutions work, explaining, “The change comes from people who are rooted in religion.”

Charles Kurzman, professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill warned against sacrificing democracy in the name of protecting rights. “You often end up with neither democracy nor rights,” he pointed out.

The best preparation for democracy is practice, he argued, and many Arab counSEPTEMBER 2014

tries will have to go through a messy stage before achieving a democracy.

Political scientist Stacey Pollard, who teaches at Western Michigan University, discussed how the state/society relationship leading up to the Arab Spring continues to impact the political landscape of the region.

She encouraged policymakers to assess prospects for realizing successful democratic transitions.

Pollard recommended that policymakers not try solutions that are “one size fits all.”

“U.S. policymakers require a means to develop an understanding of the unique characteristics of the military institutions in each of these Arab states,” she said. “Our policy approach needs to be nuanced and targeted based on the strong understanding of military history and culture.”

—Gabriella Patti

Des Moines St. Patrick’s Day Seven Found Guilty

turning from a visit with family members in the mountains.

Clemens said he decided to go to jail in solidarity with discouraged and despondent friends in Afghanistan.

Citing a statement by the World Council of Churches on the use of drones and the denial of right to life, Guinn argued that the use of drones poses serious threats to humanity. Civilians are often killed in the U.S. government’s undeclared war in Pakistan against suspected militants, he stated.

“There is overwhelming evidence of civilians and children being killed,” Brown, who has traveled to and worked in Israelioccupied Palestine beneath skies patrolled

by Israeli drones, told this reporter.

“Just from the number of children being killed, we know there is a huge flaw in our drone program,” she added. “I believe it is our duty as citizens to stand up and say so.”

Adams, a former president of Veterans For Peace, spoke of the importance of making the U.S. legal system take note of violations of international law.

“If we, as American citizens, demand that our leaders and our country uphold the law and be prosecuted under the law, then and only then will it become universal law,” he said. “If we sit back and watch, international law will become weaker and weaker.”

“It is important to Glen and me to give the defendants an opportunity to have their say in court about what is happening overseas,” explained attorney Larry James, who, along with attorney Glen Downey, provided their services pro bono. —Michael Gillespie

At the end of a two-day trial, a six-person jury deliberated for only 30 minutes on June 24 before finding the St. Patrick’s Day Seven guilty of misdemeanor criminal trespass at the Iowa Air National Guard base in Des Moines. The seven defendants were among a group of about 30 involved in a nonviolent direct action protest against drone warfare (see June/July 2014 Washington Report, p. 60). The direct action protest took place on March 17, during the 2014 Annual Midwest Catholic Worker Faith and Resistance Retreat.

Judge William Price sentenced Rev. Chet Guinn, 85, Julie Brown, 36, and Ed Bloomer, 67, all of Des Moines; Ruth Cole, The 2015 Federal Budget: 26, and Steve Clemens, 63, of Minneapolis, Democracy And Human Rights in MN; Michele Naar-Obed, 57, of Duluth, The Middle East MN; and Elliott Adams, 67, of Sharon The Project on the Middle East Democracy Springs, NY to a fine of $100 or 48 hours in (POMED) and the Heinrich Boll Foundation the Polk County jail. Guinn and Adams of North America held a June 10 discussion elected to pay the $100 fine plus court costs on The Federal Budget and Appropriations and other fees, while their fellow defen- for Fiscal Year 2015: Democracy, Governance, dants chose to go to jail. and Human Rights in the Middle East. The Several of the seven have traveled to and worked in the Middle East and have seen the effects of drone warfare.

Naar-Obed told the court that she had witnessed drones flying over northern Iraq and met with relatives of a family—a husband and wife and five children—who were killed by a drone-fired missile that exploded in Elliott Adams (l) and Julie Brown, two of the defendants in their car as they were re- the trial of the Des Moines St. Patrick’s Day Seven.

STAFF PHOTO M. GILLESPIE

this war of attrition is in its interests, Haddad suggested. Yet geopolitics cannot be the primary determinant of action, saying, “We cannot turn the humanitarian issue on and off when it suits us.” Pointing out that there are still dictatorships in the region being propped up or ignored by Washington and the international community while Syria burns, he lamented, “Always the Syrian people pay the price…Let us not hold our breath for someone to save Syria.”

Finally, Najib Ghadbian, the special representative to the U.S. for the opposition, the Syrian National Coalition, outlined the prospects for a political solution in Syria.

The short answer, he told the audience, is that “these prospects [for a political solution] are very grim right now.” The Assad regime is extremely brutal, he charged, and in the conflict has been able to use brutality and “get away with it” internationally.

“This continues to be a weakness in any pursuit of a political solution,” he explained. Ultimately, Ghadbian placed the responsibility for international Syrian intervention on U.S. President Barack Obama— but, like his fellow panelists, said he doesn’t hold much hope.

—Clara McGlynn

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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“more closely resembl[ing] traditional development programs.”

All four panelists agreed that U.S. support for Yemen was urgent, particularly democracy and governance programming. As McInerney pointed out, “A lot of Yemenis have criticism toward the particular tactics [drone strikes] the U.S. uses,” but most of the “democracy advocates involved in the political transition process believe that the U.S. is genuinely trying to play an important supportive role.”

—Shannon Martensson

Lessons Learned for Stabilization In Syria As the fighting in Syria continues, the Stimson Center and U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) held a June 11 discussion in Washington, DC to examine the findings of a report on “lessons learned” from previous U.S. efforts at conflict stabilization. Panelists were Mona Yacoubian, senior adviser for Stimson’s Middle East program, James Schear, deputy assistant secretary of defense for partnership strategy and stability operations from 2009 to 2013, and Ann Vaughan, director of policy and advocacy at Mercy Corps.

The study was initiated by USIP, which invited Stimson to organize and participate in working groups comprising five people from Stimson, five from USIP, and five participants with diverse field or institutional experience. By investigating the U.S. experience in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, explained Stimson Center president and CEO Ellen Laipson, the study tries to assess their utility and relevance to an “extraordinarily daunting task: trying to engage with Syrian civilians in distress.”

Laipson made clear that the purpose of the study was not to assess current U.S. foreign policies, but to examine other experiences and attempt to independently evaluate their relevance to the situation in Syria—where, as of March 2014, more than 150,000 people have been killed, including 10,000 children, and more than 9 million

Syrians, or 40 percent of the population, have been displaced.

“There are some very important lessons learned that can be applied in the Syria case: what not to do, and sometimes, in small instances of success, what to do,” Yacoubian said. She then went on to cite eight key lessons featured in the report.

• Lesson 1: It is essential to understand conflict dynamics and to integrate that understanding with strategy programming.

The Syrian conflict is enormously complex.

“We recommend creative conflict mapping techniques to understand effectiveness of U.S. assistance,” Yacoubian said. An example is the Mapping Conflict in Aleppo, completed by Caerus Associates. The study brought together time-series data and local research teams to map the conflict in Aleppo during a four-month period, providing an insight on the evolution of the conflict.

• Lesson 2: Stabilization and transition take an integrated approach and acknowledge the overlap between peace building and security and development. “It’s not a straight line trajectory going from one point to the next,” Yacoubian explained, “but rather more akin to a diagram where there are different things going on at the same time.”

• Lesson 3: Even in situations of very intense conflict, there are areas of mutual dependencies that exist between hostile communities. Using tools such as conflict mapping is critical in understanding where mutual dependencies exist so as to ideally mine those dependencies for conflict mediation and resolution at the sub-conflict, local level. Studies of cease-fires could offer further insights.

• Lesson 4: Yacoubian stressed the importance of local actors, not external players, to lead local negotiation and mediation.

“We suggest it is important to focus much more extensively on training Syrians to facilitate in local dispute resolution and negotiation.”

• Lesson 5: There should be a bottom-up

STAFF PHOTO S. MARTENSSON

discussion included publication authors Stephen McInerney, executive director of POMED, and Cole Bockenfeld, along with Lorne Craner and Amy Hawthorne. McInerney warned the audience that this year’s publication was “probably the grimmest and bleakest report we have published.”

The report, which examines the fiscal years 2010-2014, along with 2015 budget requests, found that many popular views concerning U.S. expenditures in previous years were correct. The U.S government spent almost the same amount of money on bilateral military and economic aid to corrupt governments in the region as they do now. “Unconditional support for corrupt governments that maintained stability through repression of their citizens generated strong animosity toward the United States, which became seen in the region as the primary external backer of repressive Middle Eastern governments,” the publication noted.

One of the main issues examined was the lack of funding to Tunisia, despite numerous press releases from the White House describing the country as a top priority. “The United States has a huge investment in making sure that Tunisia’s experiment is successful,” President Barack Obama said during a White House meeting with visiting Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa. “The administration has spoken about helping Tunisia,” McInerney pointed out, “but the reality is that we are not really doing anything.

Tunisia should be seen as a real historic opportunity for the United States,” he added.

As the report notes, Tunisia’s new constitution has been “widely heralded as the most progressive in the Arab world—by an overwhelming majority.”

Despite being the ninth largest recipient of U.S. bilateral assistance, however, Tunisia is exactly where it was in 2010. The amount of speeches about Tunisia being a “top priority” is no longer enough, McInerney argued, and according to the report “it remains unclear whether that verbal support will translate into congressional appropriations.”

Bockenfeld then addressed the concerns regarding the $770 million Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund (MENA IF) which, according to Bockenfeld, was abandoned because “there wasn’t a high level of full-court press by the administration to sell the plan, which is absolutely necessary up here [on Capitol Hill] these days with that kind of dollar amount.” The MENA IF has been replaced by another fund called the Middle East and North Africa Fund of only $225 million, which the report describes as

(L-r) Stephen McInerney, executive director of POMED, Cole Bockenfeld, Lorne Craner and Amy Hawthorne describe “the grimmest and bleakest report we’ve ever published.”

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

SEPTEMBER 2014

U.S.-Iran Relations: Past, Present And Future For the past 35 years, the United States and Iran have had a hostile relationship. The Atlantic Council held a discussion on June 3 in Washington, DC to analyze past, present and future relationships between the two countries in order to determine possible solutions.

Seyed Hossein Mousavian, diplomat and author of Iran and the United States: An Insider’s View on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace, described three periods of previous relations. The U.S. and Iran were able to have a cordial and strategic relationship for a century, between 1856 and 1952. The second period, from 1953 to 1979, saw relations begin to sour when Americans supported the coup toppling democraticallyelected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953. The American-backed Shah ruled as a dictator until 1979 when he was deposed by the Islamic Revolution. Mousavian said this third era represented the “most hostile type of relations” between two countries, surpassing even U.S.U.S.S.R. relations.

SEPTEMBER 2014

(L-r) James Schear, Mona Yacoubian and Ann Vaughan discuss stabilization in Syria based on a study completed by USIP and the Stimson Center.

Despite the hostilities, Mousavian argued that every Iranian administration has approached the U.S. and attempted to normalize relations, but all efforts have failed. The objective now is to look to the future, Mousavian said. “We have a lot of mutual grievances, mistrusts, misunderstandings, misperceptions, miscalculations, misanalysis.”

In his book, Mousavian discusses a roadmap for the future and outlines the path to success, insisting on the importance of going beyond nuclear issues. Washington and Tehran, he argues, must complement negotiations with extensive bilateral dialogue on all outstanding issues, including terrorism, human rights and regional cooperation. “We need a comprehensive package,” he asserted. To be realistic, he made clear the importance of such a package being implemented phase by phase.

Reciprocating goodwill with goodwill is critical, he continued, and despite the confusion between the two nations, common interests must be discussed. Mousavian considers it a grave mistake to concentrate on differences, and cited Henry Kissinger’s statement that the U.S. and Iran have more common interests than any other two countries. The Iranian diplomat also insisted on the need for more people-to-people relations.

Fellow panelist John Marks, president and founder of Search for Common Ground, agreed. “What you want to do is understand the differences and act on the commonalities,” he said. “People-to-people ways of moving forward could make a profound difference.”

Marks differed with Mousavian, however, on the need to face the past in order to seek a better future. He believes apologies are in order on both sides. “The United States was deeply hurt by the [1979] hostage crisis. It really got at our essence. Iran was deeply hurt by the 1953 coup, and by the shooting down of the Airbus in 1988 by the U.S. Navy. There are a whole bunch of things on both sides, and if we are going to move to the future, I think we need to deal with them,” he argued.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Moderator Barbara Slavin, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, posed the question of cooperation during peace talks. Mousavian explained that whenever there has been some progress in U.S.-Iran relations, hard-liners in both countries have actively tried to obstruct it. “I believe we will never be able to create a consensus, neither in Tehran nor in Washington. It is impossible. But,” he concluded, “if there is a serious political will from both political leaders, then we have enough issues to discuss and to resolve.” —Mitra Moin

ASDA’A Survey Reports Voice of the Arab Youth Young people make up an important sector of the population in the Arab world.

Largely responsible for the uprisings of the Arab Spring, they are the future of their respective countries. Yet this group is largely unheard and misunderstood. The ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, conducted yearly since 2008, provides a window into the lives and thoughts of the region’s youth. On June 10, Jay Leveton, chief executive officer at Penn Schoen Berland, presented the top 10 results from the 2014 survey at the American Security Project (ASP) offices in Washington, DC. The 2014 survey was conducted in 16 countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,

COURTESY ATLANTIC COUNCIL

approach with a focus on local governing structures, “particularly if projects are small-scale and have local buy-in.”

This could lead to potential, albeit gradual, success in stabilization.

• Lesson 6: Stabilization efforts need to be both nimble and demand-driven, encompassing needs identified by local Syrian actors on the ground.

• Lesson 7: Given the large refugee problem, argued Schear and Yacoubian, with more than 2.5 million Syrians residing outside the country, it is important to focus stabilization activities on nontraditional populations, such as refugees. “Note how important the refugee population is,” Yacoubian said, “both in terms of their size but also the potential future role it will play.” Furthermore, as there is a disproportionately young population, Syrian youth play a major role as well.

• Lesson 8: Specifically examining Washington-based obstacles is crucial. For instance, bureaucratic incentives can be poorly structured, and large-scale projects can be a recipe for failure, as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a significant disconnect between high-level decision-makers and on-the-ground engagement. Vaughan agreed with these major hurdles, while emphasizing the need for humanitarian aid to be impartial.

—Mitra Moin

STAFF PHOTO M. MOIN

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Seyed Hossein Mousavian discusses U.S.-Iran relationships throughout the years.

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STAFF PHOTO N. KUSEYBI

continue doing this survey,â&#x20AC;? Leveton advised. The second most surprising result was the high levels of confidence young people have in their governments. In most of the countries polled, confidence was in the 60 percent range.

This result would be unheard of in the Jay Leveton presents findings from the ASDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;A Burson-Marsteller United States or EuArab Youth Survey. rope, and shows Tunisia, the UAE and Yemen. Pollsters inter- that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the governments are trying to address viewed 30,500 18- to 24-year olds face-to- the needs of young people in particular.â&#x20AC;?

Like their American and European peers, face, 50 percent of whom were male and 50 percent female. It was a particularly â&#x20AC;&#x153;inter- however, Arab youths are concerned with esting and challenging time in the region the economy. The rising cost of living and when the survey was done,â&#x20AC;? Leveton noted, unemployment remain the biggest conadding that overall there had been a drop in cerns, entrepreneurship is growing due to the lack of jobs, and there is widespread optimism since the Arab Spring in 2011.

The number one result of the survey was support for energy cost subsidies. These that â&#x20AC;&#x153;modern valuesâ&#x20AC;? are gaining importance concerns exist in all of the countries polled, in comparison to â&#x20AC;&#x153;traditional valuesâ&#x20AC;? as de- indicating a general need for economic refined by the survey participants themselves. form, but young people tend to see the In 2011, 83 percent of respondents said tra- problem as national, to be addressed by ditional values were important, while in 2014 each country individually.

On a regional level, the number one conthat number had dropped to 54 percent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something to keep an eye on as we cern is civil unrest. Conversely, climate

change ranks last, with only 6 percent citing it as a primary concern.

One Arab youth concern that might prove particularly surprising to Westerners is obesity and health care. In 2013, 28 percent of respondents were â&#x20AC;&#x153;not concerned about health issues.â&#x20AC;? In 2014, that number dropped to 20 percent. In the same time period, the concern for obesity rose from 12 percent to 26 percent. Diabetes has become an important issue in the Middle East, Leveton commented, and it is â&#x20AC;&#x153;another concern that policymakers have to deal with.â&#x20AC;?

Audience members asked Leveton to describe the most surprising results of the poll. The biggest surprise, he replied, was that â&#x20AC;&#x153;with everything thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been taking place, the fact that thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still a high level of confidence in government.â&#x20AC;? In addition, he called the low concern for the environment a â&#x20AC;&#x153;head scratcher,â&#x20AC;? but attributed it to a lack of public policy debate on the subject. He also was surprised by the low importance of the Syrian conflict, and the results indicate that, for many, the conflict seems very far away. It may affect the region as a whole, but the youth tend to look at issues on a country-by-country basis, with the economy and the cost of living as primary concerns. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Clara McGlynn

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bulletin_board_77_September 2014 Bulletin Board 7/30/14 11:50 AM Page 77

Upcoming Events, Announcements & —Compiled by Kevin A. Davis Obituaries BulletinBoard Events The Alliance of Baptists and Bright Stars of Bethlehem will host the Room For Hope Festival at Queens University, Covenant Presbyterian Church and St. John’s Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. At the four-day festival, from Sept. 25 to 28, visitors will learn about the story of Palestine through performances and events. For more information visit <www.allianceofbaptists.org>.

The Washington, DC area will celebrate Arab Fest 2014 on Sept. 27 at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, VA. The event aims to celebrate Arab culture and enhance the image of Arabs to Americans. It will feature food, music, DJs, comedy shows, talent shows, fashion shows, and dance performances. Visit <www.arabfest.org> or e-mail <info@arabfest.org> for more information.

The Ramallah Club of Detroit will host Palestine Day: Building Bridges, a fundraiser for the Medical Mission in Palestine, on Sept. 28 at the Burton Manor in Livonia, MI. Visit <www.arabamerica.com> for more information and how to volunteer.

The art exhibit Here and Elsewhere is on view at the New Museum in New York City through Sept. 28. One of the largest contemporary collections of art from the Arab world outside the Middle East, the exhibit features more than 45 different artists from more than 15 countries. For more information visit <www.newmuseum.org>.

The Jerusalem Fund Art Gallery in Washington, DC will be showing Fragmented Spring, an exhibit of works by LebaneseAmerican artist Helen Zughaib. The exhibit will feature paintings relating to the 2011 Arab Spring and the anti-government protests that defined it. Opening on Sept.

5, it will remain on view until Oct. 17. For more informatin visit <www.thejerusalem fund.org>.

American Muslims for Palestine will hold its 7th Annual Conference for Palestine in the U.S.: Reclaiming Our Narrative Nov. 27 to 29 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, IL. Speakers will include Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Abdelfattah Mourou, Bill Fletcher and many more. Discounts for SEPTEMBER 2014

early registration. E-mail <info@ampales tine.org> or visit <www.conference.am palestine.org> for complete information.

Announcements As the result of an agreement between FilmOn Networks and Voice of America, all Voice of America programming can now be viewed at <www.filmon.com>, including VOA’s Persian-language programming.

The Policy Studies Organization (PSO) and the Digest of Middle East Studies (DOMES) have issued a Call for Papers for their 2015 Middle East Dialogue: The Middle East: Glorious Past, Uncertain Future. The conference will take place Feb. 26, 2015 in Washington, DC. Two-page proposals for papers relating to political, social and economic reform, as well as women’s rights and religious tolerance, should be sent to <dgutierrezs@ipsonet.org> by Nov. 1, 2014.

Obituaries Lebanese-American scholar Fouad Ajami, 68, died of cancer June 22 in Maine. Born a Shi’i Muslim in Arnoun, in southern Lebanon, he moved to the United States in 1963 and attended what is now Eastern Oregon University.

He went on to pursue a Ph.D. in international studies at the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. He then taught political science at Princeton University, where he was known for his activism on behalf of Palestinian rights.

However, it was not until Ajami left Princeton to become the director of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC that he rose to prominence.

The author of numerous books and articles, including The Arab Predicament, The Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation’s Odyssey, and The Foreigner’s Gift: The Americans, The Arabs and the Iraqis in Iraq, he was also a frequent contributor to such publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs. Along with Orientalist scholar Bernard Lewis, he founded the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA), an academic organization intended to counter the respected Middle East Studies Association (MESA), which Ajami claimed to THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

be unfairly critical of Israel and U.S. foreign policy in the region.

Ajami is perhaps most notorious for his advocacy for the U.S. invasion of Iraq and his advising the George W. Bush administration.

He was a close adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and was frequently cited as a Middle East expert by neocon administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, to justify the U.S. invasion. Ajami asserted that Iraqis in the streets would “erupt in joy” at the arrival of American troops. He went on to support the surge, then became a sharp critic of President Barack Obama for not supporting the war, further criticizing Obama’s 2011 announcement of U.S. troop withdrawal. Ajami even went so far as to credit the Arab Spring to Bush’s invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Despite his ostracizing by the academic community and the rousing opposition to his political positions, Ajami remained committed to the war in Iraq until his death, calling it a “noble effort.”

Salwa Bugaighis, 50, a Libyan human rights activist, was killed June 25 in her home in Benghazi by unknown attackers.

An active supporter of the 2011 Libyan uprising that led to the death of Muammar Qaddafi, she also served on the National Transitional Council, the Libyan transitional governing body. Her death is currently being investigated.

Ashley Mammo, 45, an attorney in West Bloomfield, MI who also worked with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, died July 9 in Detroit of breast cancer. A graduate of the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a degree in psychology and political science, she earned her law degree at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. She joined ADC in 1997 and became a board member in 2005.

A co-founder of Arab-American Women Advocating for Resources and Empowerment (AWARE), which helped bring together and foster female leaders in the Arab-American community, she was well known for her passionate advocacy of the Chaldean Christian and Arab communities in Michigan and across the country. ❑ 77

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Books

Jerusalem Unbound: Geography, History, & the Future of the Holy City

By Michael Dumper, Columbia University Press, 2014, hardcover, 360 pp. List: $35; AET: $28.

Reviewed by Kevin A. Davis Michael Dumper opens his latest book on Jerusalem with the important question, “Why another book on Jerusalem?”

Given the plethora of literature on the Holy City and its context within the larger Palestinian conflict, the question is valid. Interestingly, Dumper justifies Jerusalem Unbound, his third book on the city, by citing his recent work on the interdisciplinary project titled “Conflict in Cities and the Contested State,” which has pulled together scholars in sociology, architecture, urban studies, engineering and political science to cultivate new perspectives on Jerusalem as an urban space.

The results, claim Dumper, influenced

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his desire to write another book on Jerusalem, this time focusing on it as a divided city with competing and contesting borders.

Dumper draws upon previous research on divided cities, placing Jerusalem in the same category as Belfast, Brussels, and Mostar, cities to which he continually refers. He argues, however, that Jerusalem is a special case. Not only is it a truly divided city, it also has a specific religious identity that makes the divisions much more complex than anywhere else. His main thesis is that there are limitless borders within the city, created by ethnic, religious, political and sectarian differences that overlap and connect in complex ways. It is not simply a two-way division between Palestinians and Israeli Jews, but a confusing array of social and political identities and accompanying statuses.

Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of what Dumper labels the “hard borders” of the city. These include borders created by walls, highways, barriers, checkpoints and other physical barriers.

Examining the creation and expansion of these borders from an historical perspective, he also looks at how such borders affect the security infrastructure of Jerusalem and Israel’s ability to impose its military order through such infrastructure.

In the second chapter, Dumper introduces the concept of Jerusalem’s “soft borders.” Where the hard borders are visible to any observer, Jerusalem is a dizzying maze of more subtle borders, including those resulting from various education systems, electoral voting patterns, and the results of continued settler colonies and Israel’s incomplete annexation of East Jerusalem. Such borders affect the way the city is lived and understood by its residents. And, more often than not, according to Dumper, the soft borders contradict the apparent hard borders of the city.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

The result is that despite Israel’s colonial claim to the city, spaces of autonomy and uneven state control continue to dictate life for the city’s residents.

The third chapter explores the “holiness” of Jerusalem. In Dumper’s view, it is not just the contrasts between hard and soft borders that make the city of Jerusalem so complex, but the borders created by religious practices. He argues that religious sovereignty by small enclave communities—whether Muslim, Jewish or Christian—have created areas where Israel’s direct control comes further into question. Each community in a sense controls certain parts of the city, and such control becomes incorporated into the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Dumper devotes his book’s final two chapters to outlining a detailed proposal for a peaceful solution based on his previous analysis. Because of Jerusalem’s divergent borders, a simple political solution that entails a city divided into two parts is not practical and ignores the realities of everyday life for its residents.

Rather, any solution must account for hard and soft borders as well as religious autonomy by multiple communities who consider Jerusalem to be holy. Dumper eloquently argues that such complexities have rarely been addressed in peace negotiations.

It is perhaps here that Dumper’s argument becomes weakest, possibly due to the abundance of solutions presented by various analysts or to Dumper’s sometimes overly deep knowledge of international law and the city. At the same time, however, his specific attention not to the entirety of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but rather on the settlement of the city of Jerusalem specifically, make his argument much more palatable and useful for general audiences and policymakers alike. Dumper’s unmatched knowledge of the everyday dynamics of Jerusalem make his insight incredibly valuable.

In sum, Jerusalem Unbound is a clearly organized, meticulously researched, highly readable guide to Jerusalem’s complex social and political landscape.

Readers with an interest in political geography, urban studies and international law all will benefit from Dumper’s analysis, and his accessible writing style also will appeal to casual readers with an interest in the Holy City, its history, and its many fascinating aspects. ❑ Kevin A. Davis is director of the AET Bookstore.

SEPTEMBER 2014

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AET Bookstore Catalog Literature

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Music

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Film

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Monographs

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More

Summer 2014 A Concise History of the Arabs by John McHugo, New Press, 2013, hardcover, 352 pp. List: $26.95; AET: $22. In his latest book, McHugo explores the current dynamics of the Middle East through its long and complex history. Rather than discussing each country separately, the author analyzes predominant themes across the Arab world at certain times, beginning with the birth of Islam and continuing to the present. McHugo’s expertise in the region shines through, and readers will appreciate this historical account that is both large in scale and accessible.

A Kid’s Guide to Arab American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis and Maha Addasi, Chicago Review Press, 2013, paperback, 224 pp. List: $16.95; AET: $15. In this hands-on guide for readers ages 7 and up, Dennis and Addasi have come up with a great way for kids to learn about Arabs in America. Through games, stories and activities such as cooking lessons, dance practices and art projects, young Americans will learn about the history and culture of diverse Arab populations in the United States and their immense contributions to our society.

Olives, Lemons and Za’atar: The Best Middle Eastern Home Cooking by Rawia Bishara, Kyle Books, 2014, hardcover, 224 pp. List: $29.95; AET: $26. In what is more than just a cookbook, Bishara, born in Nazareth, Palestine and now a chef in New York, traces stories of his family’s cooking. The book provides delicious recipes accompanied by moving stories that recall the personal origins of the food. Bishara provides recipes for every course of a meal with an impressive variety that will satisfy every diet.

Amazing Travels of Ibn Battuta by Fatima Sharafeddine, illustrated by Intelaq Mohammed Ali, Groundwood Books, 2014, hardcover, 32 pp.

List: $17.95; AET: $12. In this vivid and beautifully illustrated children’s book, Sharafeddine provides an accessible introduction to the amazing accomplishments of one of the Arab world’s greatest explorers, Ibn Battuta. The author retells entries from more than 30 years of Ibn Battuta’s diary in an engaging manner for children ages 7 to 11.

Silver Treasures from the Land of Sheba by Marjorie Ransom, AUC Press, 2014, hardcover, 264 pp. List: $49.50; AET: $40. In this stunning collection of images and text about jewelry from across the diverse land of Yemen, Ransom provides a complete guide to Yemeni jewelry and the culture and history surrounding it. Those with an interest in jewelry and art, or with a general interest in learning about Yemen, will be well rewarded by Ransom’s stellar work.

The Hostage by Zayd Mutee’ Dammaj, Interlink, 1993, paperback, 168 pp. List: $10.95; AET: $8. Part of Interlink’s Emerging Voices in International Fiction series, author Dammaj weaves an engaging tale of a young boy taken from his family by the Yemeni imamate as a means to secure the family’s political allegiance. Dammaj follows the boy’s development to adulthood as a servant in the Royal Palace. This book is a great way to learn about Yemen in a readable, charming manner.

North Africa: A History from Antiquity to the Present by Phillip C. Naylor, University of Texas Press, 2014, paperback, 384 pp. List: $29.95; AET: $22. In a thorough but highly readable introduction to North Africa, historian Naylor challenges the very conception of North Africa as a geographical entity, tracing the region’s role in world history from antiquity to the present. North Africa is a great book both for those with a strong background in the region and for those learning about it for the first time.

The Orange Trees of Baghdad: In Search of My Lost Family by Leilah Nadir, Smith Books, 2014, paperback, 336 pp.

List: $17.96; AET: $15. In this moving memoir, Nadir tells her family’s story. Born in the West but of Iraqi roots, the author travels to Baghdad after the U.S.-led 2003 invasion to discover her roots and reconnect with her family. Her own journey of discovery provides valuable insight into the experiences of Iraqis in the war through a deeply personal account.

Refugees of the Revolution by Diana Allan, Stanford University Press, 2014, paperback, 328 pp. List: $24.95; AET: $20. Anthropologist Allan’s first major publication is a breakthrough study of life in Shatila, the Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut. The book provides powerful insight into notions of nation, exile, homeland, and return through a detailed and provoking study that forces readers to reassess notions about what it means to be a Palestinian refugee.

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SEPTEMBER 2014

L i b r a r y p a c k a g e s (list value over $240) are available for $29 if donated to a library, or free if requested with a library’s paid subscription or renewal. Call the Bookstore at 800-3685788 ext. 2 to order. AET policy is to identify donors unless anonymity is specifically requested.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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Casey Kasem (1932-2014) InMemoriam

CARLO ALLEGRI/GETTY IMAGES

By Jack G. Shaheen

Radio icon Casey Kasem. arly in the morning of Sunday, June 15,

Emy daughter, Michele, called me with

the sad news that my dear friend, Casey Kasem, had passed away. My heart wept.

Fond memories of our times together flashed through my mind. Then I recalled the last few years of his life, when Casey struggled valiantly with serious health problems.

I last saw him in 2011, when his daughter Julie had invited me and Don Bustany to her home for lunch. Though he was thin, fragile and had difficulty speaking, Casey’s mind was as keen as ever.

At the time, I wondered whether millions of Casey’s fans would ever know about his quest to eradicate harmful stereotypes of Arabs. Though he should be remembered as a great radio personality, as the voice of Scooby-Doo’s Shaggy, and as a champion of good causes, Casey should first and foremost be remembered as a civil rights activist, determined to illuminate justice.

We first met 30 years ago, at an ArabAmerican gathering in Washington, DC. My book, The TV Arab, had just been reJack G. Shaheen is the author of Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People and Guilty: Hollywood’s Verdict on Arabs After 9/11 (both available from the AET Bookstore).

80

leased, and when I gave him a signed copy he quickly responded with a smile and a huge hug.

From that moment on we became friends, true friends.

And from that moment on Casey began to spend much of his time speaking out.

He participated in and supported workshops for peace. He began calling the TV industry’s attention to Arab stereotypes and received positive responses.

Each and every time I published a book on the stereotype, Casey was at my side. He would purchase dozens of copies, determined to spread the word, and would pass them out to colleagues and media personnel.

We worked together on his groundbreaking essay titled “I Want My Son to be Proud.”

In this article Casey helped counter the stereotype by citing the names of numerous notable Arab Americans.

He wanted his 12-year-old son, Mike, and other young people to be proud of their roots. He made visible to American readers, for the very first time, the many contributions Arab Americans made to their country.

Today, an expanded version of the original essay which highlights positive contributions made by Arab-Americans, “Arab Americans Making a Difference,” remains THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

one of the most effective and sought-after publications offered by Washington’s Arab American Institute.

The professional and the professor—we were a team.

We believed the future belonged to young optimists, that they would make a difference.

At the same time, our activism called for a united team effort.

We were guided by the Arab proverb, “One hand does not clap.”

Several times, we spoke on radio and appeared on TV together to contest and eradicate harmful images.

Alone, at Walt Disney headquarters in Burbank, the two of us squirmed in our seats as we viewed a special screening of the controversial 1932 cartoon, “Mickey in Arabia.”

A year later, Casey was with me and others helping to convince Disney to delete the harmful opening lyrics of “Aladdin,” which they did. Disney executives dared not challenge the wisdom of Casey Kasem.

We also worked well together as script consultants, editing the teleplay for Hanna-Barbera’s TV movie “Scooby Doo in Arabian Nights.”

Yet, the quiet times we shared as friends remain the most memorable. I recall one evening, especially, at his home; he had this great popcorn machine and popped enough corn for an army; we ate every kernel while watching the Lakers play; Casey loved the Lakers.

We would hear Michele sing at Chadney’s, a jazz club near NBC’s Burbank studios; and we would often meet and dine at the Lebanese restaurant Carnival with our friend Don Bustany.

We would go on and on about how best to counter the stereotype, then brag about our roots.

When together in the public arena Casey would always express humility and kindness to one and all.

He was a humanitarian, a man of peace who was a champion for justice in the Middle East.

Kamel Amen Kasem should be remembered as one of God’s most gentle beings; as a man who sincerely cared about others, who always kept his feet firmly planted on the ground.

This is why his tender soul now rests in its rightful place, among the brightest stars in our universe. ❑ SEPTEMBER 2014

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AET’s 2014 Choir of Angels Following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1, 2014 and July 16, 2014 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 helped us co-sponsor the March 7 National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel “Special Relationship.” We are deeply honored by their confidence and profoundly grateful for their generosity.

HUMMERS ($100 or more) Jeffrey M. Abood, Silver Lake, OH Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, Atlanta, GA James C. Ahlstrom, Stirling, NJ Aglaia Ahmed, Buda, TX Dr. M.Y. Ahmed, Waterville, OH Emeel & Elizabeth Ajluni, Farmington Hills, MI Robert Akras, N. Bay Village, FL Dr. & Mrs. Salah Al-Askari, Leonia, NJ Dr. Subhi Ali, Waverly, TN Nabil & Judy Amarah, Danbury, CT Mike & Pat Ameen, Kingwood, TX Edwin Amidon, Charlotte, VT Sylvia Anderson de Freitas, Phoenix, AZ Anace & Polly Aossey, Cedar Rapids, IA Dr. Robert Ashmore, Jr., Mequon, WI Mr. & Mrs. Sultan Aslam, Plainsboro, NJ Dr. & Mrs. Roger Bagshaw, Big Sur, CA Nabil Bahu, Athens, Greece Mrs. Alma Ball, Venice, FL Jamil Barhoum, San Diego, CA Allen & Jerrie Bartlett, Philadelphia, PA Susan M. Bell, Alexandria, VA Peter Bentley, Sebastian, FL Syed & Rubia Bokhari, Bourbonnais, IL Stephen Buck, Bethesda, MD John Carley, Pointe-Claire, Quebec Lois Carrig, Erie, PA Blaine Chandler, Boise, ID Dr. Arthur Clark, Calgary, Canada Dr. Robert G. Collmer, Waco, TX Lois Critchfield, Williamsburg, VA Ray Doherty, Houston, TX Tareck Elass, Washington, DC Gloria El-Khouri, Scottsdale, AZ M.R. Eucalyptus, Kansas City, MO Dr. Moneim Fadali, Los Angeles, CA Albert E. Fairchild, Bethesda, MD Catherine Fararjeh, Santa Clara, CA Renee Farmer, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Majed Faruki, Albuquerque, NM Claire Bradley Feder, Atherton, CA Douglas A. Field, Kihei, HI Eileen Fleming, Clermont, FL SEPTEMBER 2014

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Stanley McGinley, The Woodlands, TX Tom Mickelson, Madison, WI Lynn & Jean Miller, Amherst, MA Peter Miller, Portland, OR Dr. Yehia Mishriki, Emmaus, PA Colleen Mitchell, Fresno, CA Mr. & Mrs. Farah Munayyer, West Caldwell, NJ Ann Murphy, Tacoma, WA Mohamad Nabi, Union, KY William & Nancy Nadeau, San Diego, CA Jacob Nammar, San Antonio, TX Neal & Donna Newby, Las Cruces, NM Susan Nicholson, Gloucester, MA Tom O’Connell, Brooklyn, NY Rev. John O’Neill, Petaluma, CA Khaled Othman, Riverside, CA Edmond & Lorraine Parker, Chicago, IL John Parry, Chapel Hill, NC Vicki Perkins, Calgary, Canada Phillip Portlock, Washington, DC Clarence Prince, Austin, TX Syed R. Quadri, Elizabethtown, KY Bassam Rammaha, Corona, CA Nayla Rathle, Belmont, MA Vivian & Doris Regidor, Pearl City, HI Mr. & Mrs. Edward Reilly, Rocky Point, NY Paul Richards, Salem, OR Ms. Brynhild Rowberg, Northfield, MN Arthur Rowse, Chevy Chase, MD Ambassador William Rugh, Garrett Park, MD Grace Said, Chevy Chase, MD Betty Sams, Washington, DC Dr. Dirgham H. Sbait, Portland, OR Russell Scardaci, Cairo, NY * Robert M. Schaible, Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights, Buxton, ME Joan Seelye, Bethesda, MD Mona Serageldin, Cambridge, MA Dr. Abid Shah, Sarasota, FL William A. Shaheen III, Grosse Ile, MI George Shalabi, Sauk City, WI Theodore Shannon, Middleton, WI Lewis Shapiro, White Plains, NY Yousuf Siddiqui, Bloomfield, MI Lucy Skivens-Smith, Dinwiddie, VA William Slavick, Portland, ME Edgar W. Snell, Jr., Schenectady, NY Gregory Stefanatos, Flushing, NY 81

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Dr. William Strange, Fort Garland, CO Karl Striedieck, Port Matilda, PA Mushtaq Syed, Santa Clara, CA Ned Toomey, Bishop, CA Nona Tyler, Loveland, CO Tom Veblen, Washington, DC Sheila Wells, Monterey Park, CA Duane & Barbara Wentz, Kirkland, WA Darrell & Sue Yeaney, Scotts Valley, CA Munir Zacharia, La Mirada, CA Nadim & Alicia Zacharia, San Diego, CA Ziyad & Cindi Zaitoun, Seattle, WA Fred Zuercher, Spring Grove, PA

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Omar & Nancy Kader, Vienna, VA Martha Katz, Youngstown, OH Dr. M. Jamil Khan, Bloomfield Hills, MI Paul N. Kirk, Baton Rouge, LA Michael Ladah, Las Vegas, NV Kendall Landis, Media, PA David & Renee Lent, Hanover, NH† Joe and Lilli Lill, Arlington, VA Nidal Mahayni, Richmond, VA†† Rachelle Marshall, Mill Valley, CA Tom & Tess McAndrew, Oro Valley, AZ Dr. Charles W. McCutchen, Bethesda, MD Dr. Eid B. Mustafa, Wichita Falls, TX Arthur Paone, Belmar, NJ Edward & Ann Peck, Chevy Chase, MD Catherine Quigley, Annandale, VA Sam Rahman, Lincoln, CA Neil Richardson, Randolph, VT Yasir Shallal, McLean, VA James G. Smart, Keene, NH David J. Snider, Airmont, NY Mae Stephen, Palo Alto, CA Mubadda Suidan, Atlanta, GA Michel & Cathy Sultan, Eau Claire, WI John Theodosi, Lafayette, CA John V. Whitbeck, Paris, France

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Henry Clifford, Essex, CT Donna B. Curtiss, Kensington, MD****, † John & Henrietta Goelet, New York, NY Andrew I. Killgore, Washington, DC Vincent & Louise Larsen, Billings, MT*, ** Mahmud Shaikhaly, Hollywood, CA Joan Toole, Albany, GA *In Memory of Richard H. Curtiss **In Honor of Andrew I. Killgore ***For Helen Thomas Internship ****In Memory of Frank Regier †In Memory of Ghassan Sabbagh ††In Memory of Leila Goodman ❑ SEPTEMBER 2014

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

September 2014 Vol. XXXIII, No. 6

An Iraqi family fleeing recent violence near the city of Mosul, after it was overrun by ISIS militants, prepares to sleep on the ground as they try to enter a temporary displacement camp in Khazair, in Iraqâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s northern Kurdistan region, July 3, 2014.

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