Washington Report on Middle East Affairs — April 2013

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THE LESSON IN HAGEL’S INQUISITION

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Photo by Garo Nalbandian, Diyar Publisher

“Everyone has the right to freedom of movement.�

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The First Marathon in Palestine Bethlehem, West Bank UPA is partnering with Right to Movement, a non-profit organization based in Denmark, to hold the first marathon in Palestine, on April 21st, 2013. Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement prevent organizers from establishing a single, unimpeded 42 kilometer route in the West Bank. Instead, the marathon will make four loops around Bethlehem to highlight the Palestinian lack of freedom of movement.

Donate to support the marathon and Palestinian freedom of movement:

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United Palestinian Appeal

UPA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Contributions are tax-deductible according to applicable laws.

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On Middle East Affairs Volume XXXII, No. 3

April 2013

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 Israeli Elections Come and Go, But Israel Remains an Outlaw State—Rachelle Marshall 11 Obama’s Appointment With History—Patrick Seale

26 No Let Up in Israel’s Decades-Long Campaign to Build Facts on the Ground—Barbara Erickson 28 U.N. Human Rights Council Report on Israeli Settlements Paves the Way to the ICC—Ian Williams

13 Tough Love Can Bring a Just Peace—Paul Findley 14 The Lesson in Hagel’s Inquisition —Robert Parry

30 Congressional “Holds” on Palestinian Aid Finally Released—Shirl McArthur

16 Israel’s Parliamentary Elections—Two Views —Jonathan Cook and Mohammed Omer

32 Israeli License to Cheney-Linked Energy Firm on Golan Heights Raises Eyebrows—Jim Lobe

19 Kerry Tells It Like It Is—George S. Hishmeh 24 Gaza’s Tunnels: Graveyards for the Living —Mohammed Omer

34 Bulgarian Revelations Explode Hezbollah Bombing “Hypothesis”—Gareth Porter

SPECIAL REPORTS 20 Richard H. Curtiss (1927-2013)Devoted His Life To Telling People Stories

—Delinda C. Hanley, Andrew I. Killgore and Greg Noakes 36 Celebrating Elections at the Risk of Forgetting Pakistan’s History—Hamzah Saif

40 Peace at Last in the Southern Philippines?

—John Gee 41 Tunisia in Turmoil: What Next?—Esam Al-Amin 73 In Memoriam: Jerri Bird (1926-2012) —Andrew I. Killgore

38 Unique Egyptian Dolls Seek Museum Home —Pat McDonnell Twair

ON THE COVER: An Israeli soldier aims his weapon at a young Palestinian about to throw a stone to protest Israel’s expropriation of Palestinian land in the village of Kafr Qadum, near Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, Jan. 25, 2013.

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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(A Supplement to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs available by subscription at $15 per year. To subscribe, call toll-free 1-888-881-5861.)

Other Voices

Compiled by Janet McMahon

Ben Zygier, RIP, Justin Raimondo, www.antiwar.com OV-1 Europe May Act Against Hezbollah After Bulgaria Terror Bombing Probe, Nathan Guttman and Donald Snyder, The Forward Golan Heights Braces for More Fighting, Jillian Kestler D’Amours, Inter Press Service

OV-3

OV-4

Just Back From The Mideast— And I’m Really Worried, Eric S. Margolis, http://ericmargolis.com

OV-5

Aftermath: Iranian Revolution, Arab Spring, Richard Bulliet, Agence Global

OV-6

Egypt: No Short Cuts in Democracy, Jamal Kanj, www.redressonline.com

OV-6

Soccer and Egypt, Dave Zirin, www.thenation.com

OV-7

Benghazi, Mali, and the Need For A Defensive American Strategy, Jon Basil Utley, The American Conservative

OV-8

American Political Consultants Also Won And Lost in Israel’s Election, Nathan Guttman, The Forward

OV-9

“Dump Veolia” Water Debacle in St. Louis Is Latest in BDS Battle, Anne Cohen, The Forward

OV-10

Media Urged to Drop Term “Islamist” in New Year, Ibrahim Hooper, http://ranchosantamargarita.patch.com

OV-12

What the U.S. Bombing of Cambodia Tells Us About Obama’s Drone Campaign, Henry Grabar, www.theatlantic.com

OV-12

Obama Targeted Killing Document: If We Do It, It’s Not Illegal, Adam Serwer, www.motherjones.com

OV-13

Campus Today, Capitol Hill Tomorrow: Israel Is Losing Future Democratic Leaders, Tom Dan, Haaretz

OV-14

Pistachio Perplexity, Paul R. Pillar, nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar

OV-15

DEPARTMENTS 5 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 7 PUBLISHERS’ PAGE 43 OTHER PEOPLE’S MAIL 45 THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST — CARTOONS 46 NEW YORK CITY AND TRISTATE NEWS: Celebrating Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark on His 85th Birthday—Jane Adas 48 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHRONICLE: Zaytuna College Hosts Historic Workshop on Environmental Education in Islamic Schools—Elaine Pasquini 50 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHRONICLE: Two Palestinian, Israeli Documentaries Depict Evils of Military Occupation

—Pat and Samir Twair

52 ISRAEL AND JUDAISM: The American Council for Judaism: 70 Years of Challenging Jewish Nationalism—Allan C. Brownfeld 54 HUMAN RIGHTS:

70 BOOK REVIEWS: The Gaza Kitchen

—Reviewed by Andrew Stimson 71 NEW ARRIVALS FROM THE AET BOOK CLUB

Rachel Corrie’s Parents Reflect on Israeli Court Case 55 MUSIC & ARTS: Film Documents “Two Sided Story” 57 MUSLIM-AMERICAN ACTIVISM: Washington and Lee Holds Discrimination Symposium 60 WAGING PEACE: Former Iranian Parliamentarians Propose Nuclear Solution

72 BULLETIN BOARD 74 2013 AET CHOIR OF ANGELS 29 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

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Publisher: Managing Editor: News Editor: Book Club Director: Admin. Director: Art Director: Assistant Editor: Executive Editor:

ANDREW I. KILLGORE JANET McMAHON DELINDA C. HANLEY ANDREW STIMSON ALEX BEGLEY RALPH U. SCHERER DALE SPRUSANSKY RICHARD H. CURTISS (1927-2013)

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (ISSN 8755-4917) is published 9 times a year, monthly except Jan./Feb., June/July and Oct./Nov. 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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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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APRIL 2013

LetterstotheEditor Humanitarians, not Terrorists Thank you so much for the excellent article “Why all Americans Should Care About the Holy Land Foundation Case” (Jan./Feb. 2013 Washington Report, p. 17).

As a result, I’ve received letters from several concerned citizens who expressed outrage at our legal travesty and pledged support for our ongoing struggle in pursuit of true justice.

In addition to the facts stated in the article, it is important to point out that we, the Holy Land Five, are probably the only men on the surface of earth who are serving hard time in prison for providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians living under the illegal and immoral Israeli occupation. Ironically, Israel itself keeps no such prisoners.

Only the U.S. does! Obviously, this makes us political prisoners held in U.S. territory at the behest of a foreign country.

Never could I have anticipated that my dedication to easing the suffering of Palestinian children might one day earn me a 65-year sentence in the land of the free and home of the brave.

Sadly, to the U.S., bombing Palestinian children does not make one a terrorist—only feeding them does!

Again, thank you.

Shukri Baker, co-founder, Holy Land Foundation, Terre Haute, IN We’re so glad to know you received our Jan./Feb. issue—we weren’t sure it would make it through the Communications Management Unit’s (CMU) draconian “security” restrictions. The Holy Land Foundation case also was the topic of a keynote speech by “terrorist lawyer” Nancy Hollander at a recent conference at the Law School of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. See p.

57 of this issue for Marvine Howe’s report.

When we first reported on CMUs (see May/June 2007 Washington Report, p. 12), author Katherine Hughes focused on the case of Iraqi-American oncologist Dr. Rafil Dhafir of Syracuse, NY, whose trial she attended every day. Dr. Dhafir founded the Help the Needy Foundation, which provided food and aid to Iraqi civilians suffering under the U.N. sanctions regime. (Some 500,000 Iraqi children under the age of 5 are estimated to have died as a result of those sanctions.) While Dr. Dhafir was not convicted of terrorism but of violating the Economic Emergency Powers Act and of white-collar crimes, he, too, was sent to Terre Haute’s CMU. (By comparison, non-Muslim Americans who provided aid to Iraqi civilians, and in some cases even travTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

eled to Iraq, were punished only with civil fines.) The latest appeal filed by Dr. Dhafir, who currently is incarcerated in Massachusetts, was denied without explanation. His mailing address is: Rafil Dhafir, #11921052-Unit HB, Federal Medical Center Devens, P.O. Box 879, Ayer, MA 01432.

Let us not forget these and other wrongly imprisoned humanitarians, as well as victims of FBI sting operations. Three excellent resources are Project Salam (<www.project salam.org>), the Muslim Legal Fund of America (<www.mlfa.org>) and the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (<www.civilfreedoms.org>).

Constitutional Coffin I sincerely appreciate the long overdue regard you have bestowed upon the “Holy Land Foundation Five” with your Special Report entitled “Why All Americans Should Care About the Holy Land Foundation Case.” The recent decision by the Supreme Court to utterly refuse to hear the “HLF5” appeal has helped to drive the nail even further into the coffin of the Constitution which is eroding and decaying in front of our very eyes.

And at whose behest is our own Supreme Court eviscerating the very core of our country’s principles and freedoms, leaving behind only dangerous precedents that endanger every citizen? None other than Israel, who produced the anonymous expert witnesses; foreigners who aided the federal government in stripping five lawabiding U.S. citizens of their constitutional protections under the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees the accused the ability to effectively confront their accuser.

After this terrifying moment in constitutional history, we must conclude that when it comes to the United States’ unwavering support of Israel, no principle is too sacred or cherished to escape slaughter upon the altar of blind loyalty and allegiance to the Zionist regime.

Reed Berry, Terre Haute, IN 5

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A Slow but Steady Erosion Your account of the prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation Five is hugely important and very disturbing.

A remark by William L. Shirer in his historic work The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich comes strongly to my mind. When in 1934 he was assigned as a journalist to Germany during its rapid Nazification he found that “[t]he overwhelming majority of Germans did not seem to mind that their personal freedom had been taken away.” It is a giant leap from Germany then to the United States now, in distance, time, and in degree and speed of change, but there is still resemblance in kind. Are Americans concerned with the slow but steady erosion of their freedoms? With seeming indifference of the mainstream press and lack of any serious political challenge, one has to wonder.

For well over two centuries the Constitution of the United States of America, with its protective courts, has been the citizens’ steadfast bulwark against loss of their freedom and civil liberties. But now when egregious breaches of this bulwark are actively initiated by the government and tacitly condoned by the courts, no other defense remains for those whose rights are compromised. The implications of this case, as Downs and Manley point out, are enormous—and deeply frightening.

S.A. Brown, via e-mail It’s been apparent for years that the legislative branch of our government is seriously compromised. With the executive branch now assassinating American citizens and the judicial branch allowing that as well as other

violations of the Constitution—which members of all three branches have sworn to uphold—all Americans are vulnerable. It’s deeply frightening, indeed.

Advocacy Not Enough Your recent article on the European Union and Israel’s settlements, by John Gee (Jan./Feb. 2013 Washington Report, p. 22) was great. As pointed out in the article, it is fine to advocate for a boycott of settlement goods, but it is even more important to enforce that boycott! Right On! BDS all the way!

Mike Levinson, New Rochelle, NY Not only national but local governments as well can act on principle. As an example, see the article “‘Dump Veolia’ Water Debacle in St. Louis Is Latest in BDS Battle” in this issue’s “Other Voices” supplement. (We don’t consider it a debacle, however.)

Action Follows Fury I came across the article “Killing Hope: Why Israel Targets Sports in Gaza” by Dave Zirin in the “Other Voices” supplement to the Jan./Feb. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. It so infuriated me—confirmation of my long-held view that the Zionists holding sway over Israel (and America) are not only brutal illegal occupiers but deliberately vindictive bullies, acting as they do because they know that they are never called to account—that I searched for, found, and have pasted the source article in an e-mail so my entire mailing list would have the chance to read it.

It so infuriated me that I also entered the article into a Word document, have printed it, and will mail it tomorrow under a cover letter to President Obama. I am sure there are many who will see my action as pointless. That Other Voices is an optional may be so, but I 16-page supplement available refuse to end my form of activism only to subscribers of the and resistance Washington Report on until justice is attained by the Middle East Affairs. For an adPalestinians. ditional $15 per year (see Robert Stiver, via e-mail postcard insert for Wash If apartheid ington Re port subscripSouth Africa could be banned from the tion rates), subscribers will Olympics from receive Other Voices bound into each issue of their 1964 until 1992, should not the same Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. principle be applied Back issues of both publications are available. To subto Israel? Perhaps scribe telephone 1 (888) 881-5861, fax (714) 226-9733, we should include the International e-mail <circulation@wrmea.org>, or write to P.O. Box Olympic Commit91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. tee on our correspondence lists.

6

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Al Jazeera in Jamaica While channel surfing last night in our hotel room in Jamaica, I came across an Al Jazeera TV channel. A Palestinian woman was speaking from the balcony of her home telling what her life was like living so near to illegal Jewish settlers. The balcony of her home had a screen all around it due to the fact that nearby illegal Jewish settlers were constantly throwing rocks at her trying to hit people standing on the balcony. She talked about how the illegal settlers treated the Palestinian people living nearby. It was pretty awful.

I hope that Al Jazeera TV comes to America so that the Americans can hear about the atrocities taking place in Israel against the Palestinian people. It will be an eye-opener.

Barbara Gravesen, via e-mail Al Jazeera English is available in about three places here in the U.S.—including, thankfully, the Washington, DC area. It not only provides in-depth coverage of the Middle East, but of Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia—in other words, the entire world. Having purchased Al Gore’s Current TV network, it has announced plans to launch Al Jazeera America (despite the fact that Time Warner cable already has announced it will not carry the new programming). In the meantime, it’s a great reason to indulge one’s wanderlust!

Solidarity Forever I much appreciate the Washington Report but have not noticed much coverage of labor and union issues. So I would refer you to check out the U.S. Labor Against the War Web site (<uslaboragainstwar.org>) and especially the video report of the USLAW leaders visit to attend the Iraq Civil Society Conference. I think this kind of information would be of great interest to your readers.

Allan Fisher, via e-mail We thank you for expanding our horizons.

First You Have to Enter It bothered me for two weeks, but suddenly I see what’s wrong with the statement on p. 30 of your Jan./Feb. issue: “An informal exit poll conducted by CAIR found that 95.5 percent of Muslim voters said they went to the polls on Nov. 6.”

At first, I was just distracted by its improbability. Then—Eureka! An exit poll can never tell how many stayed home.

Anthony Saidy, via e-mail Apparently the poll took the form of an e-mail to registered Muslim voters. Exit polls now include phone calls and e-mails to account for absentee voting. Now that you’ve posed the question, however, we henceforth shall be on high alert whenever exit poll results are discussed! ❑ APRIL 2013

publishers_7_April 2013 Publishers page 2/28/13 3:00 PM Page 7

American Educational Trust

Publishers’ Page

Remembering Dick Curtiss.

His Gift to His Fellow Citizens.

Engagement With the World.

“I’ll never ask anyone to do anything I wouldn’t do,” Chuck Hagel promised a Pentagon audience in his first speech as U.S. defense secretary—one that was televised to U.S. military personnel around the world.

“We can’t dictate to the world, but we must engage with the world,” he said. “That engagement in the world should be done wisely. And the resources that we employ on behalf of our country and our allies should always be applied wisely.” Oorah! Looks like times are a-changin’ for a battle-weary country whose 12-year-and-counting “war on terror” is the longest and most costly in our nation’s history.

Other Lessons Learned.

Hagel’s Senate confirmation, by a 58-41 vote, came after a bruising battle with the Israel lobby which opposed—and, we suspect, fears—the Vietnam veteran and recipient of two Purple Hearts. Lobby quislings questioned Hagel’s allegiance to Israel and worried that his wartime service in Vietnam would make him reluctant to support their push for war with Iran or send U.S. troops to new conflicts in the region. The lobby’s defeat shows jelly-kneed politicians in Washington that it doesn’t win every fight. But…

Hagel—and All of Us—Paid a Price.

Harvard Prof. Stephen M. Walt (who spoke at the Secretary of State’s Open Forum on March 1) posted a revealing article titled “What the Hagel Victory Means” on his Foreign Policy.com blog on Feb. 27. “Even when a lobby doesn’t get its way, it can gain a partial victory by making the winning side pay a price, and by reminding everyone that it can still make trouble. And that was the lobby’s real strategy here...Their aim instead was to deter future administrations from nominating people who weren’t lobby-certiAPRIL 2013

world’s customers who live outside our country. The second is to “stand up for our American values, something that has always distinguished America.” Kerry added that “America should support the rule of law wherever freedom and basic human dignity are denied.” We fervently hope he was thinking of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians when he uttered those words.

ELECTRONIC INTIFADA

As longtime readers, friends and supporters of the Washington Report know, our cofounder and executive editor Dick Curtiss was a driving force behind this magazine.

Indeed, one could say it was his passion, one that stemmed from his thirst for justice and truth. We remember him beginning on p. 20 of this issue—the rest of which, along with all future issues of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, serve as a tribute to him and…

Palestinian Children Are Targets.

A Palestinian child in the crosshairs of IDF sniper Mor Ostrovski.

fied, and to discourage ambitious young foreign policy professionals from doing or saying anything that might...

Put the Lobby’s Crosshairs on Them.”

Like Hagel, newly minted Secretary of State John F. Kerry believes that “deploying diplomats today is much cheaper than deploying troops tomorrow.” Before embarking on a “listening tour” overseas, Kerry gave his first official speech as secretary of state at the University of Virginia, “to underscore that in today’s global world, there is no longer anything foreign about foreign policy.” Globalization, Kerry emphasized, means that American lives are “intertwined” with the lives of people around the world.

A Meager 1 Percent.

“How big is our international affairs budget?” Kerry asked his student audience.

Americans think it’s huge, he acknowledged, but “In fact, our whole foreign policy budget is just over one percent of our national budget.” Sequestration would slice $2.6 billion from the budget for the State Department and USAID, Kerry warned in a Feb. 11 letter to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (DMD), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. (Somehow we rather doubt that Congress will allow U.S. aid to Israel to be on the chopping block. But that is a stick President Barack Obama could use on his trip to the region—especially if he takes the advice of former Rep. Paul Findley [see p. 13]).

“How Do We Do the Right Things…

The good things, the smart things over there” that can strengthen us here at home?

Kerry continued. The first answer, he said, is to encourage jobs and trade, which will help sell American goods to the 95 percent of the THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

When Mor Ostrovski, a 20-year-old Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sniper, posted an Instagram photo of a child in the crosshairs of his rifle, the world was shocked. But as shown on our sister Web site, <www.remember thesechildren.org>, what’s shocking is that this can almost be described as commonplace. The site includes the names of all Palestinian and Israeli children who have been killed since the second intifada began on Sept. 29, 2000. Here are the names and circumstances of five of the six Palestinian children killed on Oct. 1, 2000 (no Israeli children were killed until March 26, 2001, by which time 104 Palestinian children had lost their lives): Muhammad Nabil Daoud Hamad al-Abasi, 16, of al-Bireh, killed by IDF gunfire to his head during a demonstration at Ayosh Junction.

Sara Abdul-Azim Abdul-Haq Hasan, 18 months, of Sarah, near Salfit, killed by Israeli settler gunfire to her head while riding with her father in a car.

Samer Samir Sudki Tabanja, 12, of Nablus, killed by IDF helicopter gunfire to his head while watching a demonstration.

Sami Fathi Muhammad al-Taramsi, 17, of Gaza City, killed by IDF gunfire to his head during a demonstration at Netzarim Junction.

Hussam Naim Hasan Bakhit, 17, of Balata refugee camp, killed by IDF helicopter fire to his head while watching a demonstration.

Not One Israeli Was Killed in 2012.

Meanwhile, in the first 13 days of this year, Jewish settlers and IDF soldiers shot dead at least five young…

Unarmed Palestinians.

Please Help Us Continue…

To bring Americans and readers around the world the information denied them by the mainstream media. Help us honor Dick Curtiss’ legacy and…

Make a Difference Today!

7

marshall_8-10_Special Report 2/28/13 12:12 PM Page 8

Israeli Elections Come and Go, But Israel Remains an Outlaw State SpecialReport

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Rachelle Marshall

A Palestinian family reacts after Israeli bulldozers demolished their home in the Arab East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, Feb. 5, 2013. redictions that Israel’s Jan. 22 elections

Pwould result in a sweeping victory for

the religious right turned out to be wrong—but not very. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s far-right Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu coalition won 31 seats, down from 42 in the outgoing Knesset, and Yesh Atid (There is a Future), the secular party led by charismatic media commentator Yair Lapid, came in second with 19 seats. Yesh Atid’s surprise victory over the religious nationalist Jewish Home party of Naftali Bennett, with its 12 seats, put brakes on Bennett’s meteoric rise to prominence. But the two far-right religious parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, won 18 seats, only 1 less than Yesh Atid.

After trying for weeks without success to persuade Yesh Atid and Jewish Home to join Likud in a coalition government, Netanyahu reached out to Tzipi Livni, whose centrist Hatnua (The Movement) party won 6 seats. Livni will serve as justice minRachelle 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

ister and also lead peace negotiations with the Palestinians. She is known to favor the two-state solution, but it is not clear on what terms. As foreign minister and chief negotiator under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert—whose government unleashed Operation Cast Lead on Gaza in 200809—she failed to reach an agreement with the Palestinians. Sima Kadmon, a columnist for Yediot Ahronot, predicted she would be a “fig leaf” in Netanyahu’s government.

What the final vote count chiefly revealed is that Israeli society is deeply divided between secular and religious factions. An equally significant, though less prominent, split exists between the rich and the poor. Consequently, television commentator Emanuel Rosen predicted, “This is a government that will not be able to make decisions on anything—on the peace process, on equal sharing of the burden, or on budgetary matters.”

Another observer, Rabbi Shmuel Jakobovits, took note of the worries expressed by the secular community at the growing number of ultra-Orthodox Israelis, and said, “The underlying issue is that there’s an ideological contest over the THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

soul of the state of Israel and the Jewish people.” The ultra-Orthodox known as Haredim now make up nearly 10 percent of the population—compared to 20 percent of Arab citizens of Israel—and get disproportionately high subsidies for housing and religious schools. Many of the men and all of the women are entitled to exemption from the draft.

Lapid has vowed to end such special privileges and promote social justice for those Israelis left behind. The economy is booming—with Israel doing far better than the U.S. in terms of economic growth—exports are approaching $18 billion, and the budget deficit is less than 1 percent of GDP. Unlike the deeply indebted U.S., which nevertheless hands out $4 billion-plus to Israel every year, Israel is a net creditor to the rest of the world.

The darker side to this picture is that unemployment in Israel is at 8.3 percent, and the poverty rate is higher than in most Western countries. According to Sever Plocker, an Israeli economics writer for Yediot Ahronot, nearly a quarter of the population is poor, including a third of all Israeli children. The income of the poorest Israelis is lower than it was six years ago, and in Arab sectors child poverty is more than 50 percent. The New York Times reported last year that “a handful of families” controls 30 percent of Israel’s wealth.

The issue of how to end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine was as absent from Israel’s election campaign as it was from the U.S. presidential race. Lapid indicated only that there would be minimal change in Israel’s hard-line policies and its defiance of international law. “I don’t think the Arabs want peace,” he said a few days before the election, and made it clear he would not join in a coalition with the Knesset’s three Arab parties (see article p.

16).

He opposes any division of Jerusalem and would keep intact the huge illegal settlement blocs that divide the West Bank in half. Like Netanyahu, Lapid claims to be all for a return to negotiations, which on the terms Israel has laid down would be the equivalent of asking a hold-up victim to negotiate with the gunman who stole his wallet, his clothes, and his shoes, and is willing to consider returning the tie. The far-right Bennett has pledged to do everyAPRIL 2013

thing in his power to assure there will never be a Palestinian state.

Israel’s violations of international law were spelled out a week after the election when a U.N. fact-finding mission, headed

by Christine Chanet of France, again called on Israel to dismantle all of its West Bank settlements, saying they were in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

Unity Dow, a member of the commission from Botswana, accused Israel of “violence and intimidation against the Palestinians” with the aim of driving them off their land.

Israel is also the first nation to withhold cooperation with the U.N. Human Rights Council, which reviews the human rights policies of 193 member nations every four years. Israel said the review is “a political tool” for those who want to “bash and demonize” Israel. Critics say Israel’s decision puts in jeopardy the entire review process, which has targeted nations such as Zimbabwe, Iran and Sudan and defends the rights of gays, lesbians and women.

The panel estimated the settler population in the occupied territories as 520,000, and said it was growing faster than the population in Israel. Israel’s finance minister, Yuval Steinitz, reported last fall that the government had doubled the budget for new settlements but “in a low-key way because we didn’t want parties in Israel and abroad to thwart the move.” Should Palestine go before the International Criminal Court, the U.N. panel said, Israel could be charged with “gross violations of human rights law and serious violations of international law.”

The Obama administration gave its wellworn response that the panel’s findings did not “advance the cause of peace” and would slow efforts to resolve the issues between the two sides—as if those issues were more complicated than Israel’s continued theft of Palestinian land and its imprisonment of three million Palestinians behind walls and checkpoints.

Israel also feels free to violate international law at will. Israeli warplanes struck deep inside Syria in late January and heavily bombed a research center that was being used to improve Syria’s air defense system. The multiple attacks reportedly targeted anti-aircraft equipment as well as facilities for research in biological and chemical weapons.

Israel claimed the Russian-made anti-aircraft equipment was intended for shipment to Hezbollah, which was formed in Lebanon in 1982 in response to Israel’s invasion and occupation of Lebanon.

Hezbollah is now a member of the Lebanese government and is recognized as APRIL 2013

HAZEM BADER/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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An Israeli soldier stands behind a graffiti-sprayed concrete block in Hebron’s main alShuhada St., which only Jewish settlers are allowed to use, during clashes with Palestinian Hebronites demanding the right of access to their street, Feb. 22, 2013. a political party by the European Union, despite being branded as terrorist by Israel and the U.S. Israeli officials claim the missiles in the hands of Hezbollah would limit Israel’s freedom to carry out its reconnaissance flights over Lebanon—flights that illegally violate sovereign Lebanese air space.

Military analysts said the Russian-made equipment was too sophisticated for Hezbollah to use, and suggested that the air strike was a signal to Tehran that Israel would conduct a similar attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities if Iran came near to achieving weapons capability. Despite warnings from abroad that such an attack could have disastrous consequences, Netanyahu continues to issue threats. On Feb. 3 he called for a national unity government whose “supreme mission” would be stopping Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons.

On the same day, Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, reiterated Tehran’s offer to hold direct talks on the nuclear issue with the U.S., and agreed to a meeting between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany on Feb. 26. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offered last October to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent if the Western powers would supply Iran with that grade of fuel and lift the sanctions, but they refused, instead demanding that Iran ship its stockpiles of enriched uranium out of the country and reveal all of its weapons technology. They would receive in return spare airplane parts and a THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

“gradual” lifting of sanctions.

Although renewed negotiations are scheduled, a harsher set of sanctions by the U.S. and its allies went into force on Feb. 5, forbidding purchasers of Iran’s oil from sending money to Iran and requiring Iran to engage in barter for needed imports. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei angrily reacted to the increased sanctions by rejecting the idea of one-onone negotiations with the U.S. “The U.S. is pointing a gun at us,” he charged. “The Iranian nation will not be intimidated by these actions.”

In a Jan. 30 column in the San Francisco Chronicle by William Luers and Thomas R. Pickering, the two former ambassadors made a strong plea for the West to recognize Iran’s right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes and argued that if economic pressure increases no matter what Iran does, its leaders will have no incentive to make concessions.

Contrary to Israel’s claims that Iran is building a nuclear weapon, The New York Times reported on Feb. 13 that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium is of far lower purity than is needed to make weapons, and some of that uranium has been converted into fuel for a research reactor. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, “All weapons of mass destruction and nuclear arms need to be destroyed.”

Tom Koenigs, a member of the German parliament, points out that the nation George W. Bush called part of “the axis of evil” has opposed the Taliban from the be9

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ginning and taken in more eration Cast Lead, combined than three million Afghan with the severe shortage of An Act of Lawlessness Recalled refugees. He argues that confuel caused by Israel’s sixstructive involvement of Iran year blockade, have left the THE MYSTERIOUS inmate of Israel’s maximum-security Ayis key to finding a solution people of Gaza without alon prison known as Prisoner X, who was found hanged in his in both Afghanistan and power for six to eight hours cell three years ago, was identified by a Kuwaiti newspaper in Syria. “By not talking with a day. Because Gazans often mid-February as one of the 26 Mossad operatives involved in Iran, the Western commuuse candles to provide light, the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a nity is gambling away its inhouse fires are a constant Dubai hotel room on Jan. 19, 2010. The newspaper Al Jarida fluence over a key actor in hazard. It took only one canidentified the prisoner as Ben Zygier, an Australian immigrant the Middle East,” he says. dle to engulf the home of to Israel who had worked for Mossad for 10 years. According Many observers hope that Hazem Dhair and his wife in to Israeli and Australian news reports, Zygier was not directly Obama’s new security team flames on Jan. 31, killing the involved in the murder of al-Mabhouh but was involved in of Secretary of State John couple and their four chilKerry and Secretary of Dedren, ages 3 months to 7 Mossad’s use of foreign passports in that and similar operafense Chuck Hagel will reyears. tions. The reports said also that he had set up a Mossad front sult in a more conciliatory Rawan Yaghi, a student in company in Europe that sold electronics to Iran. They did not U.S. approach to Iran. But Gaza, has described on her say for what purpose. both appointees are chained Web site what it feels like to Zygier was about to disclose details of the passport fraud to by the ankle to a U.S. pollive with F-16s constantly Australian authorities when the Israelis kidnapped him from his icy—strictly enforced by flying overhead. They reguplace of refuge and imprisoned him on charges of treason.

Congress—that precludes larly stage ear-splitting mock When Israeli opposition lawmakers, the media and civil liberany agreement that recograids, and often actual raids ties groups demanded more information, Prime Minister nizes Iran’s right to enrich that within minutes reduce Binyamin Netanyahu defended the secrecy with doublespeak: uranium even for peaceful homes and buildings to rub“We are not like other countries,” he said. “We are an exempurposes as long as Neble. Two recent attacks plary democracy. However, we are more threatened and face tanyahu and his colleagues aimed at assassinating milimore challenges.” The question of how Zygier had been able regard Iran as an “existential tants instead killed 11 small to commit suicide in a cell that was constantly under surveilthreat” to Israel. children and their parents.

Congress maintains a simlance remained unanswered.

“After a number of days of ilar lock on U.S. policy toincessant explosions and —R.M. ward the Palestinians on bemaking sure you’re still alive half of Israel, and it is almost every five minutes,” she exclusively punitive. Among Kerry’s first said, “When people have no hope, when writes, “you start cursing Israel, the United official acts was to call Palestinian Presi- they have despair, little else matters. This is States government, your political leaders dent Mahmoud Abbas to assure him that not about terrorists not liking freedom— and everyone participating in the daily act Obama is “very interested in the peace tell that to the Palestinians who have been of terrorizing you.” process,” and promising to press Congress chained down for many years.” Hagel apolObama plans to visit Israel and the West to restore the $500 million in aid it has ogized for that statement, too.

Bank in March in what Kerry said would withheld from the financially strapped The fact that as a senator Hagel consis- be a “listening” trip. But since he will not Palestinian Authority. He could give no as- tently voted in support of Israel did not bring solid proposals he is prepared to ensurance that Congress would agree. deter Republican senators from blocking force, there is little hope for progress.The Congress’ obsessive allegiance to Israel his nomination until after a 10-day recess. Palestinians for their part cannot negotiate was vividly demonstrated during the con- Despite such delaying tactics, the fact re- successfully unless Hamas and the Fatah firmation hearings of Chuck Hagel for sec- mains that no one qualified to be secretary party can unite to speak for all Palestiniretary of defense. Members of the Senate of defense can help but be aware that Israel ans. Israel has done its best to prevent this Armed Services Committee largely ignored tightly controls all movement of people from happening, sabotaging the effort at such issues as the size of the military bud- and goods in the West Bank and Gaza, and unity again in early February by jailing the get and troop reductions in Afghanistan, observes no laws when it comes to seizing Hamas official in charge of reconciliation and instead bullied him about his loyalty Palestinian land and water. talks. to Israel. Esther Riley, a member of NorthPalestinian students encounter so many As Israel’s closest ally, the U.S. inevitably ern California Friends of Sabeel, confessed obstacles when they try to go to school shares in the resentment that Israeli actions she was confused. “I watched the Senate that the Human Sciences Research Council arouse.That resentment encourages the rise Armed Services Committee grill Chuck calls the situation “a denial of the right to of militant groups, not all of them conHagel on his suitability to be secretary of education.” Israel’s restrictions on move- nected to al-Qaeda, and attempts by the defense,” she said—“but for what coun- ment can even prove fatal. Twenty chil- U.S. to eliminate them with drone strikes in try? I couldn’t tell whether it was for the dren were killed in February when their turn help the militants recruit more memUnited States or Israel.” school bus crashed on one of the danger- bers. John Kerry at his confirmation hearLike the hapless defendants in the 1930s ous back roads West Bank Palestinians are ings spoke of the need to make sure that Soviet show trials, Hagel buckled under the required to use instead of main highways. “American foreign policy is not defined by verbal hammering. He apologized for havThe Israel-firsters who dominate Con- drones and deployments alone.” ing said that Congress was “intimidated” gress seemingly are unmoved by such inciThere’s an equally urgent need to make by the Israel lobby, even while his hearings dents or by the daily suffering caused by sure American policy is no longer defined were demonstrating such intimidation. As Israel’s occupation. The bombing of Gaza’s by the dictates of the Israel lobby and its a Republican senator in 2007 Hagel had one power station in 2006 and during Op- supplicants in Congress. ❑ 10

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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Obama’s Appointment With History SpecialReport

By Patrick Seale

.S. President Barack

UObama’s visit to Israel

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

on March 20 and 21 is likely to be one of those seminal events which will decide his place in history. He will either seize this unique, and probably final, chance to breathe fresh life into the moribund two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or he will consign Palestinian hopes of statehood to oblivion, and go down in the history books as a wimp who surrendered to narrow and partisan political concerns.

Like no other American president since the foundation of the Jewish state 65 years ago, Obama now has it in his power to shape Israel’s future and its relations with its neighbors. Whatever the pressures he is under from Israel’s supporters in the United In an East Jerusalem barbershop, Palestinians listen to President Barack Obama’s Cairo University speech States—and they are very to the Muslim world, June 4, 2009. great—the ultimate decision is his and his alone. He is president of the live in peace and security. That is in Israel’s the world, and all that that implies in world’s most powerful nation. He has se- interest, Palestine’s interest, America’s in- terms of American influence, strategic incured re-election for a second four-year terest and the world’s interest. That is why I terests, trade opportunities and ultimate term, with all the moral and political au- intend to personally pursue this outcome security. The United States has already thority that that achievement confers on with all the patience that the task requires. aroused ferocious hostility by its devastatThe time has come to hold Obama to that ing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well him. Moreover, unlike many of his predecessors, he truly understands what needs to pledge. He knows that only U.S. power can as its pitiless drone strikes against alleged be done in the Middle East, as he demon- check and reverse the headlong land-grab terrorists in several countries. But this will strated in his famous Cairo speech of June of Palestinian territory by messianic Jew- be nothing compared to the anger Obama ish settlers and their right-wing national- and the United States will arouse if he is 4, 2009.

It is worth recalling his words on that ist supporters, which is extinguishing all seen finally to abandon the Palestinians to hope of Palestinian statehood—and, by the their fate. occasion: As well as visiting Israel, Obama will The situation of the Palestinians is intol- same token, threatening Israel’s future as a also be calling briefly on Mahmoud Abbas, erable. America will not turn our backs on democratic state.

Will Obama give a speech at Rabin president of the State of Palestine at Rathe legitimate Palestinian aspirations for dignity, opportunity and a state of their Square in Tel Aviv? Will he dare tell the Is- mallah, and on King Abdullah of Jordan in own…The only resolution is for the aspira- raelis that the U.S.-Israeli special relation- Amman. But these latter meetings will be tions of both sides to be met through two ship—on which Israel depends for its very of trivial importance compared to his duel states, when Israelis and Palestinians each survival—will be put at risk if the land- with Israel’s hard-line Prime Minister grab is not halted and reversed, making Binyamin Netanyahu, whose attachment to the dream of a “Greater Israel” no longer Patrick Seale is a leading British writer on way for a Palestinian state?

Whether or not Obama has the courage needs demonstrating. the Middle East. His latest book is The Israel has pursued this dream relentStruggle for Arab Independence: Riad el- to speak out—and translate his words into Solh and the Makers of the Modern Mid- deeds—will determine not only war or lessly for decades—certainly since the predle East (Cambridge University Press). peace in the region but also whether the miership of Menachem Begin, a pre-indeCopyright © 2013 Patrick Seale. Distributed United States will be seen as the friend or pendence terrorist leader who fought

by Agence Global. the enemy of Arabs and Muslims across against Britain’s mandatory government in APRIL 2013

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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Palestine. During his crucial term of office as prime minister from 1977 to 1983, Begin signed the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, which gave Israel unchallenged military supremacy over the Arabs for more than three decades; he bombed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear plant in 1981; and he invaded Lebanon in 1982—killing some 17,000 Palestinians and Lebanese. Israel remained in occupation of southern Lebanon for the next 18 years, until driven out by Hezbollah guerrillas in 2000.

Above all, Begin promoted the construction of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, a systematic land-theft which has continued ever since. Begin’s legacy lives on. Over the past several decades Israel has not hesitated to use great violence against the unfortunate Palestinians—arresting, torturing and killing them in large numbers, seizing and settling their land, demolishing their houses, stealing their water, and subjecting them to innumerable humiliations and human rights abuses. It has illegally claimed sovereignty over Arab East Jerusalem—thereby ruling out the possibility of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security.

Will this pattern of criminal behavior be

halted and or will it continue with impunity?

Obama is visiting Israel at a time when Netanyahu is still likely to be deep in negotiations over the composition of his next government. It will be Obama’s opportunity to influence the choices Netanyahu makes. As their country‘s best—and perhaps only real—friend, Obama must remind Israelis that West Bank settlements are illegal under international law, and that if their land-theft and settlement construction continue, Israel must eventually face sanctions, international pressure and isolation—much like the package of punitive measures which Israel has pushed the United States into imposing on Iran.

What hope is there that Obama will have the courage to tell Israelis that their actions are putting at risk their vital relationship with the United States? Obama’s actions over the past four years give little ground for hope. He has allowed himself to be humiliated by Netanyahu. In a curious way, he seems to have fallen under Israeli control, at least where the Middle East is concerned. As Prof. Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics writes in his new book, Obama and the Middle East: “The

United States is no longer seen as omnipotent and invincible…” Or again, America’s wars “have diminished America’s power and influence in the Middle East and the international system.” Could it be that Israel has managed to put a stranglehold over America’s decision-making? There is certainly plenty of evidence of that.

On Feb. 17 the International Herald Tribune gave pride of place on its opinion page to an incendiary diatribe which seemed to be written by an Israeli propagandist. However, the author was none other than Tom Donilon, Obama’s national security adviser. In the article, he categorically blames Hezbollah for the despicable attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria (although no convincing evidence has yet been published), calls on the world to recognize the “nefarious nature” of the Lebanese resistance movement, and demands that the European Union add Hezbollah to its terrorist list. Such crass partiality is not worthy of a great power like the United States.

Perhaps, as Fawaz Gerges warns in his book, “We are witnessing the beginning of the end of America’s moment in the Middle East.” ❑

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

APRIL 2013

findley_13r1_April 2013 Special Report 2/28/13 12:55 PM Page 13

Tough Love Can Bring a Just Peace SpecialReport

By Paul Findley

Pcan extricate Palestine, Israel and the

resident Barack Obama, acting alone,

United States from the seemingly inescapable quagmire in which all three are sinking. Neither Congress, Palestine, nor Israel is able and willing to act. To make peace possible, Obama must issue an executive order suspending all types of U.S. aid to Israel and Palestine until a two-state solution is effected.

This powerful act of tough love will promptly bring Israel unprecedented peace and security at home and abroad. It will also right a terrible wrong by rescuing Palestinians from nearly a half-century of oppression. But Obama must act promptly, as his power may soon dwindle.

Years ago I heard a congressional colleague challenge the famous Israeli Gen. Moshe Dayan: “General, our government gives Israel money, arms and advice. Your government accepts the money and arms but rejects the advice. If our government offered money and arms only if Israel accepted the advice, what would your government do?” Without hesitation, Dayan responded, “We would accept your advice.”

Would Israel’s answer today be the same as Dayan predicted? The answer is yes.

These days, Israelis feel as dependent on U.S. support as in the Dayan era, probably more so. Their near-isolation in world councils was displayed recently by the overwhelming U.N. General Assembly vote supporting Palestinian statehood. When

Paul Findley (R-IL) served in Congress from 1961 to 1983. For 10 years he was the senior Republican on the House Middle East subcommittee. He has long supported the twostate solution to the Arab-Israel dispute, first introducing legislation on its behalf in 1976.

After leaving Congress he wrote four books (all available from the AET Book Club) related to the dispute over Palestine, including the bestseller They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel’s Lobby.

His latest book is titled Speaking Out. He resides in Jacksonville, Illinois.

APRIL 2013

U.S. aid is suspended, Israelis will suffer near-panic until their government accepts Obama’s demands.

To assure prompt success, I recommend the aid suspension be comprehensive and kept in full effect until the following requirements are met: • Israel must recognize Palestine’s sovereignty over all its territory seized in the 1967 war, and all Israeli personnel and settlers must leave, except those who possess valid pre-1967 claims or are approved to remain as foreign nationals.

bama must issue O an executive order suspending all types of U.S. aid to Israel and Palestine until a twostate solution is effected.

• Palestine and Israel must sign a peace treaty prohibiting cross-border violence and permit peaceable access to cross-border religious sites.

In addition, Palestine must agree to discuss land-swaps mentioned in the Geneva Accord that followed approval of U.N. Resolution 242. Israel must accept a Palestiniancontrolled highway connecting Gaza with the West Bank and reaffirm refugee rights under U.N. Resolution 194.

Once executive order requirements are met each party will realize great benefit: ISRAEL will be strengthened, because over six million Arabs now under occupation will no longer be within territory it controls. This assures Israel’s long-term survival as a Jewish-majority state. And, for the first time in history, Israelis can expect true security at home, a prospect unthinkable today; Arab states long ago agreed to normalize relations with Israel when Palestine becomes truly independent. The Jewish state will also be free from serious domestic demands for territorial expansion and from the economic THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

burden of maintaining the Palestinian occupation.

PALESTINIANS will enjoy full citizenship for the first time since the end of World War II. They will attain peaceful relations with all nations and the dignity of self-government in a truly independent state. Iran, pleased at Palestine’s independence, will have less reason—perhaps none—to oppose the Jewish state.

THE UNITED STATES, for the first time in over 40 years, will be liberated from complicity in Israel’s unlawful treatment of Arabs. Hostile groups like al-Qaeda will lose much of their power to recruit, as well as their stated reason for being. Any specter of religious war between West and East will fade.

Only a presidential executive order can impose and carry to early success the aid suspension. Congress will likely protest, but Obama can dismiss opposition by citing overriding national security demands.

Congress’ only recourse will be impeachment—a most unlikely response.

President Obama is the only person in the world able to bring about this transformation to a just peace, as he alone holds sufficient power to gain cooperation of the principal parties. If he fails to act, the Middle East is almost certain to remain a fierce battleground, with U.S. drones feeding anti-American fury abroad and Islamophobia at home. Pressed by new settlements, Palestinians will be penned into still tighter corners of their birthright.

IF OBAMA ACTS and perseveres, the world will rejoice, and historians will record him a great peacemaker. His executive order, like the one Abraham Lincoln used to emancipate slaves, will herald the blessings of liberty for several million long-suffering human beings.

Only a dream? Yes, but it will become glorious reality if our president sees clearly the beckoning hand of destiny. ❑ 13

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The Lesson in Hagel’s Inquisition SpecialReport

By Robert Parry

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

seeing what is plainly obvious. After all, if Hagel had reflected honestly about the open secret of the Israel Lobby, other senators would surely have joined in the verbal bashing and his chances for confirmation would have fallen dramatically.

Recognizing that fact, Hagel stumbled into retreat when Graham pressed for examples of members of Congress who had succumbed to pressure from the Israel Lobby. “Name one dumb thing we’ve been goaded into doing because of the pressure from the Israeli or Jewish lobby,” Graham demanded. Hagel demurred, saying he could not.

Smelling political blood, Sen. Ted Cruz, a newly elected right-wing Republican from Texas, denounced Hagel for not challenging a caller during an interview with Al Jazeera in 2009, when the caller alleged that Israel had committed war crimes against the Palestinians.

Though many human rights organizations have documented Israel’s abuse and killing of Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza—as well as its violation of the Geneva Conventions by moving Israeli settlers onto Palestinian land—the only politically acceptable position in Official Washington is to sneer at these realities.

Not surprisingly, Hagel retreated again when Cruz demanded to know, “Do you think the nation of Israel has committed war crimes?” Hagel replied, “No, I do not, Senator.”

Hagel also was excoriated for deviating from one of Official Washington’s favorite narratives, the myth of the “successful surge,” how President George W. Bush and his neocon advisers “won” the war in Iraq by courageously dispatching 30,000 more U.S. troops in 2007.

The myth is that the escalation, virtually by itself, brought peace and victory in

he Senate Armed Services Committee

Tconfirmation hearing of Chuck Hagel

for defense secretary demonstrated a central failing of today’s U.S. political/media process: People routinely get punished— and even blacklisted—for challenging misguided conventional wisdom.

Even if you’re a conservative former Republican senator from Nebraska who fought for your country in Vietnam, any deviation from Official Washington’s orthodoxy opens you to ugly attack from loud voices in the news media and the political world. If you respond by trying to explain your heresy, you invite further abuse; if you retreat, you’re decried as a tongue-tied wimp.

So, the American people are left to view this absurdity: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) acting as if there is no Israel Lobby in Washington and as if no member of Congress has ever faced pressure from this non-existent lobby. Graham treated Hagel Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. His latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, is available in print from <http://consortiumnews.com> or as an e-book from Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Copyright © 2013 Consortiumnews. All Rights Reserved.

14

as if he must be mentally unstable for thinking otherwise.

Of course, Graham and everyone in the room knew that there is a powerful Israel Lobby in Washington and that nearly all members of Congress quake over the possibility of being singled out as not sufficiently supportive of Israel. One of the quickest ways to be disqualified inside Official Washington is to get the label “antiIsrael.”

Thus, when Israel’s bullying Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats compete to show how fast and how often they can jump to their feet in ovations, a humiliating display of obeisance that reflects badly on trained seals.

But you are not to notice this reality. The very observation is punishable by a process known as “controversialization,” i.e., you can expect to be shoved to the margins of polite Washington society and—if you ever do get a chance for some significant job in government or the news media—you will be subjected to what Hagel got on Jan. 31.

A Stumbling Retreat Usually, the only feasible response to such inquisitions is to repent and apologize for THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

APRIL 2013

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Iraq, even though many military analysts consider the “surge,” which cost the lives of about 1,000 American soldiers and countless Iraqis, only one of many factors that accompanied the gradual decline in Iraqi violence.

And the “surge” did nothing to alter the longer arc of an eventual American defeat in Iraq, simply prolonging the forced U.S. departure until the end of 2011. The end result of the war—besides the death and destruction—is that Iraq is now run by an authoritarian Shi’i government rather than an authoritarian Sunni government and has become an ally of Iran rather than a bulwark against Iran.

However, the “surge” myth is cherished

by Washington’s still influential neocons and other Iraq War hawks as their shield against criticism that they rushed the United States into a war of aggression in Iraq that cost the lives of some 4,500 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and squandered about $1 trillion.

McCain’s Revenge In interrogating Hagel, Sen. John McCain, a leading Iraq War hawk, treated the “surge” myth as one of those undeniable facts that only a crazy person would dispute. The Arizona Republican demanded a yes-or-no answer from Hagel on whether he was “wrong” when he opposed the “surge” in 2007, assuming apparently that the only possible answer was to admit error.

On this point, Hagel actually stood his ground, noting that the question was too complex for a yes-or-no answer.

“I actually would like an answer, yes or no,” McCain insisted.

“Well, I’m not going to give you a yes or no,” Hagel replied, noting that other key factors in the gradual decline in Iraqi violence had predated the “surge,” such as the so-called Sunni Awakening against alQaeda extremists, and that history should be the judge of the overall value of the “surge.” Hagel also referred to the Iraq War as a war of “choice.”

The answer only made McCain angrier.

“I think history has already made a judgment about the surge, sir, and you’re on the wrong side of it,” McCain fumed. “And your refusal to answer whether you were right or wrong about it is going to have an impact on my judgment as to whether I vote for your confirmation or not.”

McCain is surely not alone in demanding that everyone genuflect before the myth of the “successful surge.” The U.S. mainstream news media, which was famously APRIL 2013

wrong in accepting President Bush’s false claims about Iraq’s WMD as a justification for war, also has pushed the “surge” myth as some undeniable fact.

Most notably, prominent TV interviewers, such as CBS’s Katie Couric and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, hectored Sen. Barack Obama during Campaign 2008 to admit that he was wrong in opposing the “surge” and that his Republican opponent, McCain, was right in advocating it.

Like Hagel, Obama initially responded by saying that the question was far more complex than the U.S. news media was making it, but he eventually concluded that discretion was the better part of valor and confessed to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that the surge “succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.”

Obama’s surrender may have been a smart tactical maneuver to neutralize the “surge” issue in Campaign 2008 but it only hardened the erroneous conventional wisdom. The still-influential neocons grew bolder in treating the “surge” myth as a giant fig leaf that covered their nakedness on the Iraq War disaster. [See Consortium news.com’s “The Iraq War ‘Surge’ Myth Returns.”]

Risks From False Certainty The “surge” myth also had the consequence of elevating two of its architects, Gen. David Petraeus and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, into the Washington pantheon of military geniuses. As a result, President Obama kept both of them on in his first term and they collaborated to mouse-trap him into a similar “surge” in Afghanistan in 2009, a decision that Obama reportedly came to regret almost immediately.

Ironically, too, Obama’s acceptance of the Iraq “surge” myth has now come back to bite his new defense secretary. But the larger problem is Official Washington’s continuing hostility toward reality and toward people who speak inconvenient truth to power.

There is something extraordinarily dangerous about the most powerful nation on earth being driven by a set of fantasies, several of which were expressed angrily by their adherents in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s hearing on Chuck Hagel.

And the risks are not just inside the government. They stretch to the U.S. news media, which—even after the Iraq and Afghan debacles—prefer to march in lock step with the prevailing group think, knowing that even when the group think THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

proves disastrously wrong, there will be no accountability because the group itself is too powerful.

Rather it is for the rare independentminded person who dares challenge the conventional wisdom—regardless of the person’s record for accuracy—who must be singled out for punishment. There must be discipline in compelling free thinkers to abide by the dominant orthodoxies no matter how misguided they are.

That was the real lesson from the spectacle of Chuck Hagel’s inquisition, that anyone who deviates from the group think must be disqualified from holding office in the U.S. government or—for that matter— any position of influence inside Official Washington. In this up-is-down world, there is no penalty for supporting the invasion of Iraq, only for criticizing the invasion of Iraq.

Further, we must all believe there is no Israel Lobby in Washington. That U.S. politicians are not influenced or intimidated by this non-existent lobby’s hardball tactics. That Israel has never committed a war crime in its treatment of Palestinians.

That the Iraq War was “won” by the 2007 “surge.” ❑ (Advertisement)

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Israel’s Parliamentary Elections

Newly elected Israeli Knesset member Yair Lapid (l), leader of the Yesh Atid party, speaks to Naftali Bennett, head of the hard-line national religious party the Jewish Home, during a Feb. 5 reception in Jerusalem marking the opening of the 19th Knesset.

Netanyahu, Lapid Agree on Core Zionist Principles

By Jonathan Cook

hortly before polling in Israel’s JanuS ary general election began, the Arab League issued a statement urging Israel’s large Palestinian minority, a fifth of the country’s population, to turn out en masse to vote. The League’s unprecedented intervention was motivated by two expected developments.

The first were polls indicating that, for the first time in Israel’s history, more than half of the country’s 1.4 million Palestinian citizens might fail to vote. There had been a gradual decline in their turnout since optimism about the Oslo peace process peaked in the late 1990s. Voting then stood at 75 percent; for the last election, in 2009, turnout had fallen to an historic low of 53 percent.

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.

16

The second was a concern by the Arab League and the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah that a low turnout would further erode the influence of what Israelis term the “center-left bloc,” the electoral opposition to Binyamin Netanyahu and the rightwing and religious parties that formed the previous government.

In the League’s view, the only hope the opposition bloc had of stopping another right-wing coalition—and a continuing impasse in the peace process—was if Israel’s Palestinian citizens voted in large numbers for one of the three Palestinian or Palestinian-dominated parties, which represent the Islamic, nationalist and Communist streams.

In fact, the Arab League’s call revealed a profound, if by now well-established, misunderstanding of Israeli politics. It assumed that the left and right wing’s policies are neatly delineated, and that the differences between the two relate primarily to a willingness to make concessions to advance the peace process.

The international media’s interpretation of the election results echoed this false narTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

rative. It was reported that Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc and the center-left were almost evenly divided, with Netanyahu enjoying a wafer-thin majority of 61 seats to 59.

Palestinian citizens contributed little to the center-left’s apparent success. Their turnout rose marginally, to 56 percent—possibly as a result of the Arab League’s sudden interest—but their votes elected only 11 legislators, just as they had done in 2009.

The results appeared to upend all the predictions of a right-wing surge, which in turn had been expected to deepen Israeli intransigence over the peace process and speed the country’s descent into pariah status. Israelis were readier for peace and compromise, it seemed, than had been generally assumed.

Prof. Neve Gordon of Ben-Gurion University in Beersheva was one of the few observers to challenge this narrative. He questioned the value of creating the category of a center-left, suggesting it was, in fact, no more likely to advance a meaningful peace process than the right.

Based on the parties’ platforms, Gordon APRIL 2013

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offered a different breakdown of the Knesset, into those legislators willing and those unwilling to make the serious concessions required to advance the peace process. On that basis, the “peace bloc” was a small fraction of the parliament—only 15 percent. It consisted of the Palestinian parties plus the small Zionist left party Meretz.

The reality is that all of the other Zionist parties, including the center-left, are agreed on core principles: that Israel should be a Jewish state, or ethnocracy, that represents worldwide Jewry, not its own ethnically mixed citizenry; that a viable Palestinian state would be a strategic threat to Israel and its emergence must be prevented; and that Israel’s Palestinian parties should never be allowed to wield influence on either of the two previous issues.

Only one government dared to break this last principle. Yitzhak Rabin allowed the Palestinian parties to support his minority government from outside the coalition in the early 1990s so that he could force through the Oslo process. Even though Rabin kept the Palestinian parties at arm’s length, the arrangement outraged the right and much of the wider public, which saw it as an act of treachery.

The great white hope of this latest election was Yair Lapid, a former TV anchorman and the leader of the new and supposedly centrist Yesh Atid party. The party had won 19 seats, putting it only one behind the 20 secured by Netanyahu’s Likud party (Netanyahu had run on a joint list with the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party of Avigdor Lieberman, winning between them 31 seats).

Lapid’s triumph—and his presumed role as kingmaker—was the main reason most observers concluded that the election had proved Israelis were turning away from the right. And yet, when asked whether he would lead an opposition to Netanyahu, his response illuminated the kind of false thinking indulged in by the Arab League. He replied: “I want to take this off the table. We will not do that with the Haneen Zoabis.”

The reference to Haneen Zoabi—the most reviled of the Palestinian members of the last Knesset by Israeli Jews but who was reelected for her party, the National Democratic Assembly—was revealing of Lapid’s understanding of Israel’s political realities.

Zoabi, who entered the Knesset in 2009 as the first Palestinian woman elected on behalf of a Palestinian party, was quickly thrust into the role of public enemy number 1. Her crime was participating in the aid flotilla that tried to break the siege of Gaza in May 2010 (see August 2010 Washington Report, p. 17). The lead ship, APRIL 2013

the Mavi Marmara, on which Zoabi sailed, was attacked by the Israeli navy in international waters, and nine humanitarian activists were killed. Zoabi has been demonized in Israel ever since.

Zoabi found herself the focus of attention during part of the election campaign, too.

The Central Election Committee, a highly partisan body dominated by the main Zionist parties, singled her out for disqualification.

A short time later the decision was overturned on appeal to the High Court, leading the joint Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu party to issue a statement saying it would introduce yet more legislation to curb the rights of the Palestinian minority and its representatives: “any expression of support for terror should be grounds for disqualification for running for election in the Israeli Knesset.”

Zoabi had become a symbol for most Israeli Jews, confirming their suspicion that the Palestinian legislators, and the wider Palestinian minority they represent, were really a “fifth column.”

Lapid’s singling out of Zoabi—coupled with his use of her name in the plural— suggested that this was precisely his view as well. For him, as for other Israeli Jews, the Palestinian parties had demonstrated their “treachery” by supporting the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. (Noticeably, Lapid avoided having any Palestinian candidate on his slate, even in an unrealistic slot.)

Same Old, Same Old Lapid’s success and Netanyahu’s failure in the election had little to do with their respective positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In fact, Lapid had mostly avoided discussing the issue, and when he did, his views closely echoed Netanyahu’s. He launched his election campaign in the illegal settlement of Ariel, deep in the West Bank, and when he mentioned the Palestinians it was chiefly to iterate that they would have to forgo their capital in East Jerusalem. When he talked about the settlers, it was to commit to “settlement construction to meet natural growth.”

Netanyahu was punished electorally because he misread the public mood on the so-called “social justice protests” that swept Israel in the summer of 2011. Israel’s white middle class, comprising Ashkenazi Jews, has remained disgruntled at what it sees as the rapid decline in its standard of living as a result of Netanyahu’s neoliberal policies.

By contrast, Lapid captured the selfpitying mood of the protests with his demand that all Israelis “share the THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

burden”—a dig at the rapidly growing community of Jewish religious fundamentalists known as the haredim, and the large minority of Israel’s 1.4 million Palestinian citizens. The burden, in this case, refers chiefly to serving in the army, or doing equivalent national service.

Far from a collapse of the right, the election demonstrated that the right wing is continuing to push the center of political gravity—particularly on the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—ever further rightward.

This was most apparent in changes to the composition of the Likud party itself.

Primaries held before the election were effectively hijacked by the settlers and the extreme right. The Likud’s shrinking liberal wing was replaced by ultra-nationalists, including Moshe Feiglin, who has been leading efforts to take over the Likud party on behalf of the settlers for more than a decade. For the first time, Feiglin will now occupy a seat in the Knesset.

Likud’s move to the far-right has been achieved while maintaining the impression that it is still the party that represents the traditional Israeli right. It has joined two other parties on the far-right—Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu (“Israel is Our Home”) and Habayit Hayehudi (“the Jewish Home”), led by Naftali Bennett—that have maneuvered themselves into the political mainstream, even while holding on to their extremist platforms.

Contrary to the current orthodoxy, the “center-left” is not a counterweight to the rightward shift of these parties. This bloc—including Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, the now barely functioning Kadima party, and a new faction called Hatnuah set up by former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni—espouses positions that would once have comfortably positioned them on Israel’s traditional right wing. The center-left has simply filled the political vacuum left by Likud’s departure to the extreme right.

Similarly, the Labor party—never the peace party it claimed to be—has, under its new leader Shelly Yachimovich, shied away even from the pretense of advocating a solution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

Aside from questions about social justice, the substantive difference between the center-left and the right does not pertain principally to the Palestinians or the peace process. It concerns the importance attached by each side to Israel’s international standing and especially its relations with the White House.

The far-right is so wedded to its ideological intransigence on the Palestinian issue that it is prepared to risk isolation and 17

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pariah status rather than make concessions, even meaningless ones.

The center-left, meanwhile, openly worries about the damage the appearance of intractability will do to Israel’s long-term strategic interests. It does not intend to offer much more to the Palestinians than Netanyahu and the right; but it does believe in the importance of perpetuating a futile peace process as a way to avoid alienating Israel’s patrons and exposing the leadership’s bad faith.

At the time of writing, coalition talks were still underway, but Netanyahu had already managed to lure Livni into his government with an offer that she would be in charge of the diplomatic process. He was also expected to try to bring in either Lapid’s party or Bennett’s Jewish Home, or both.

Netanyahu understands the benefits of drawing in the center-left, as a Likud official cynically noted of Netanyahu’s thinking as he negotiated with Livni: “Livni would ‘whitewash’ the Netanyahu government in the world’s eyes, just as the Labor Party and, later, [Ehud Barak’s breakaway party] Atzmaut ‘whitewashed’ the previous Netanyahu government.”

Barack Obama’s White House, keen to restore its discredited status as honest broker in the stalled peace process, has lost no time in exploiting the center-left’s supposed revived fortunes either. The White House announced a visit to Israel by Obama, his first since becoming president in 2009, despite objections from Netanyahu officials that it would “interfere” with Israel’s coalition-building process.

Likud officials suspect that Lapid will be able to extract greater concessions from Netanyahu in the talks because the Likud leader will not want to greet the U.S. president as head of an exclusively hard-right and religious government.

Obama and his new secretary of state, John Kerry, are likely to use the visit to pressure Netanyahu and Abbas into renewing peace talks. The danger of the myth of the center-left’s resurgence is precisely that it will most likely serve to buy both Obama and Netanyahu a little more breathing space as they try to reanimate a peace process doomed even before it starts.

The Palestinian Perspective: A Military With a State

By Mohammed Omer

alestinians living in Gaza once folP lowed Israeli elections closely, since the outcome affects them directly. In the 1990s—the Oslo years, when peace and an end to occupation seemed possible—they tuned in to Israeli Arabic- or Hebrew-language news channels to monitor the elec18

tion process and results. The hope for peace faded, however, as decades passed and Israelis voted ever more extreme leaders and parties into office.

Israel’s most recent election generated little more than a sense of apathy among Gazans. After all, regardless of who wins, the reality on the ground for Palestinians continues: • 45-plus years of Israeli occupation in Gaza; • 64-plus years of occupation of historical Palestine; • 6-plus years of Israel’s punishing blockade of Gaza; • The continued and expedited expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem of Jewish-only colonies; • The continued annexation of formerly illegal settler outposts; • The continued erosion of Palestinian water rights; • Limited personal and commercial mobility; • Restricted access to agricultural land; • Palestinians’ third-class non-citizen— essentially non-person—status.

In the recent election, Israeli voters had the opportunity to improve the situation—but Palestinians saw little hope of that happening. It is therefore not surprising that only a small percentage of Gazans were even aware of the elections. Those who were remained indifferent to the outcome, despite newly emerging Israeli political parties and personalities. From Gaza’s perspective, the policies being advocated represented not a state with a military, but a military with a state.

The political and military positions of virtually all Israeli political parties varied little: no longer are there calls for seeking an end to the ongoing occupation, for a mutually beneficial outcome, or even for reaching an interim agreement. Each party, whether right-wing or left-wing, put its own spin on Israeli military objectives and called it policy. So the election and its outcome offered Palestinians no hope and aroused little interest.

In years past, recalled Abuelabed Younies of Rafah, “We used to keep up-to-date with Israeli politics. But we have been living under siege for so many years, we don’t anticipate Israel will make any new moves toward peace. Whatever the results of Israel’s elections, it won’t produce a party or a leader who really believes in peace or ending the 64-year-old Israeli occupation.”

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>, and followed on Twitter @mogaza.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

A 30-year-old man who wished to remain anonymous agreed. “We have tried all parties, but to no avail,” he explained, citing the unwillingness of even the more dovish candidates to call for an end to Israel’s hawkish policies of armed occupation and its long-standing record of human rights violations.

Ibrahim Al Najjar worked in Israel for nearly 20 years—until the second intifada broke out in 2000. He’s been jobless since.

When he worked in Israel, Al Najjar would discuss Israeli domestic politics with his Israeli employer. But that daily communication and critical debate no longer is available, a casualty of Israel’s blockade of Gaza for Palestinians exercising their right to vote and elect their own political party.

“I’m not interested in knowing about who wins,” Al Najjar stated flatly, “because they all practice the same harsh politics against the Palestinian people.” In fact, he added, he preferred the right-wing Likud party, because it seemed to offer more freedom of movement for Palestinian laborers to work inside Israel. In his experience, Al Najjar said, Israel’s left-leaning Labor party operated as if its purpose was to control every aspect of the daily life of thousands of Palestinian workers, such as not allowing them to work in Israel by closing the Israeli-controlled Erez Crossing on a whim.

Political analyst Dr. Kamal Alshaer attributed Gazans’ increasing lack of interest to Israel’s wars on Gaza in 2009 and 2012.

Whether right or left, hawk or dove, he noted, each administration, each party wages war on Gaza. Because past experience shows that, regardless of who wins Israel’s elections, conditions for Gaza’s 1.7 million residents will not get better—and in fact continue to worsen—Dr. Alshaer described this lack of interest as a predictable response.

Indeed, noted journalist Mofeed Abu Shamallah, election results anywhere else in the world determine how a government’s politics will affect neighboring countries. “But not in Gaza,” he added wryly. “Here the influence of elections hit Gaza before Israeli elections start.”

With Israel being a militarized state rather than a state military, it is military actions that win votes. For Palestinians, this means more military attacks to woo the Jewish electorate.

“We were used in Israel’s war last November on Gaza as part of the election campaign for the right-wing government,” Abu Shamallah pointed out. That attack killed 180 Palestinians and injured 1,399, 719 of whom were women and children.

Five Israelis also lost their lives.

Continued on page 27 APRIL 2013

hishmeh_19_Special Report 2/28/13 12:17 PM Page 19

Kerry Tells It Like It Is SpecialReport

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By George S. Hishmeh

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (r) and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh shake hands during a Feb. 13 press briefing following their meeting at the State Department. nder American tutelage, history (al-

Umost) repeats itself for both the Pales-

tinians and Israelis. President Barack Obama will be traveling to Israel in March shortly after his re-election, much as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did four years ago when he met with the American president for the first time during his first weeks at the White House.

But their Washington get-together has been memorable for their sharp exchanges, and noted for Obama’s half-baked demand that Israel “freeze” its settlement expansion—a position that upset many an Arab for the American leader’s failure to insist that Israel withdraw its illegal settlers, numbering nowadays about 500,000, from all of Israeli-occupied Palestine. Ever since that inelegant meeting, there has been hardly any movement on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while Israel’s expansion into Palestinian territories continues without any serious challenge from any party, as had been the case since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

This time around, however, the American president will also be meeting with George S. Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He was the former editor-in-chief of The Daily Star of Lebanon.

APRIL 2013

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah, each in his own country, for the first time.

What has most recently been disappointing about the American president’s stance was his failure to mention Palestine or the Palestinians in his Feb. 12 State of the Union address before a joint session of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate—understandably, since his remarks were focused on serious domestic issues.

But, astonishingly, Israel received a different treatment in his only paragraph that underlined a few Middle East concerns.

These lines hardly deal with key issues of the turbulent region: “In the Middle East we will stand with citizens as they demand their universal rights, support stable transitions to democracy. The process will be messy, and we cannot presume to dictate the course of change in countries like Egypt; but we can—and will—insist on respect for the fundamental rights of all people. We will keep the pressure on a Syrian regime that has murdered its own people, and support opposition leaders that respect the rights of every Syrian. And we will stand steadfast with Israel in pursuit of security and a lasting peace. These are the messages I will THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

deliver when I travel to the Middle East next month.”

Obama’s failure to refer directly to a twostate solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has disappointed, if not shocked, many Arab diplomats in Washington and others at think-tanks here. One key point that needs immediate acknowledgement by the Obama administration before any Palestinian-Israeli talks are once again renewed, according to former Arab League Ambassador Clovis Maksoud, is the recognition that the West Bank, particularly East Jerusalem, are occupied. Maksoud underlined that, in accordance with international law, all settlements in an illegally occupied region should be dismantled, not frozen as the American president has proposed.

But the recently revealed assumption of former Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) may be a turning point. After a Feb. 13 meeting in Washington with visiting Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, the new U.S. secretary of state said at a press briefing that he was an optimist over the Arab-Israeli problem, adding, “If I weren’t an optimist, I wouldn’t have taken this job.” He maintained that the U.S. “is an indispensable entity with respect to that process.”

Kerry revealed: “The president understands that. And the president is not prepared, at this point in time, to do more than to listen to the parties, which is why he has announced he’s going to Israel. It affords him an opportunity to listen. And I think we start out by listening and get a sense of what the current state of possibilities is, and then begin to make some choices.”

He went on: “We are committed, as I’ve said to Minister Judeh and to others, to explore every possibility. The window is closing on this possibility. The region knows it. All the leaders I’ve talked to in the region have brought this topic up as a prime topic. And so it deserves our utmost consideration, and it will get that.”

Needless to say, this elaboration by the secretary of state is heart-warming, but it remains to be seen whether Netanyahu, who has yet to finalize a new government, can find the colleagues who are ready to proceed in light of what Kerry has enunciated. Otherwise, we are back at square one. ❑ 19

hanley_v2_20-23_April 2013 In Memoriam 2/27/13 5:19 PM Page 20

Richard H. Curtiss (1927-2013) Devoted His Life to Telling People Stories InMemoriam

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

By Delinda C. Hanley

Richard Curtiss at work in his Washington Report office. y father, Richard H. Curtiss, execu-

Mtive editor and co-founder of the

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, died Jan. 31, 2013 at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD after a heart attack. He was born in 1927 in Grand Rapids, MI and grew up as an only child in La Cañada, CA. He may not have had siblings, but he was blessed with two sets of parents—his parents’ best friends were childless. Somehow he managed to talk all his doting parents into letting him complete high school in two years and join the Army to fight in World War II. After studying Japanese he was completing basic training when the war ended. He found himself in Berlin, as part of the U.S. occupation forces, writing news reports and learning German. After military service, like many of the “Greatest Generation,” Curtiss took advantage of the G.I. Bill, earning a degree in journalism at the University of Southern California, where he was invited to join the professional journalism fraternity, Sigma Delta Chi. After graduation he worked with United Press, which later became United Press International (UPI), and married Donna Delinda C. Hanley is news editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

20

Bourne in 1950. The following year they joined the U.S. Foreign Service, and served in Indonesia, Germany, Turkey, Lebanon, (on three separate assignments), Iraq, Syria and Greece. They worked hard to represent America abroad, and managed to raise four children without the help of extended family or luxuries like airconditioning or central heating.

To this day I can’t imagine how our parents juggled diplomatic duties, Arabic language classes, parties, travels and a normal home life. Our father made time to read us children’s classics, help us memorize poetry, the names of butterflies, planets and U.S. presidents. When a book was not at hand (during road trips) he made up stories that could rival Harry Potter—with the heroine, Julie, outwitting goblins, gnomes and other creatures to protect her band of adventurers. To this day I can’t help scanning for trolls under bridges as I walk.

Dinners may have been late or in an exotic locale, but we all enjoyed listening and contributing to a conversation sparkling with politics and local lore. Our family spent weekends and holidays exploring deserts and ruins, appreciating the region’s rich ancient history. My father kept a THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

sharp eye out for archeological artifacts and fossils. He donated his extensive collection of antiquities, acquired before the UNESCO Convention established rules governing the transfer of cultural property, to Emory University in Atlanta, GA. My sister, Darcy, went on to study Islamic art and history in Cairo. We knew my brother, Drew, had chosen his future wife, Krista, when he gave her a necklace strung with ancient beads he’d found in Iraq and Lebanon. My parents were very proud of all of us and, later, of their six grandchildren.

Curtiss truly enjoyed his work with the United States Information Agency (USIA), discussing U.S. foreign policy and sharing America’s remarkable story with the local press corps. Six years before USIA was disbanded in 1999, President Bill Clinton described the agency as “the human face of America’s public diplomacy, people-topeople diplomats in times of crisis and times of hope.” Curtiss worked with journalists, helped open or fill libraries and cultural centers, and designed programs to showcase American society and culture.

Arab audiences got to know American artists, writers, singers, dancers and musicians—including “ambassador of jazz” Duke Ellington and his band, who visited Baghdad in 1963, during an attempted coup d’état. (It was only later that I learned that other American kids had snow days instead of days off for coups or revolutions.)

Curtiss was deeply proud of his work from 1970-1973 with Voice of America’s Arabic Service, which broadcast well-respected news and popular music throughout the Middle East from the island of Rhodes, Greece. He retired in 1980 as the USIA’s chief inspector. During his U.S. government career he received the USIA’s Superior Honor Award for his service as the U.S. Embassy’s public affairs officer (PAO) in Lebanon during that nation’s civil war, and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy, USIA’s highest professional recognition, in 1974. For years after his retirement, Curtiss continued to teach rigorous writing classes for new foreign service officers.

The 1950s and 1960s were great days to be an American diplomat, teacher, doctor, APRIL 2013

PHOTO COURTESY CURTISS FAMILY

hanley_v2_20-23_April 2013 In Memoriam 2/27/13 5:19 PM Page 21

Richard Curtiss speaking at the University of California, Berkeley in November 1999. or anyone doing business in the Middle East. The U.S. was the most popular Western country, and we American kids felt safe riding our bikes around Baghdad, roaming the suqs of Damascus, playing with neighborhood kids, and hitchhiking to the beach in Beirut. It was a joy to be American and, in our individual ways, help tell this nation’s story.

America’s increasing support of Israel, culminating in the U.S. coverup of Israel’s deadly attack on our own Navy ship, the USS Liberty , during the Six-Day War of June 1967, changed Middle Eastern perceptions of this country. Tragically, the U.S. has never regained its reputation for fairness and impartiality. Somehow my dad, mother and other Americans continued to make lifelong friendships in the region—probably because most Arabs have the unique ability to judge individuals on their own merits, separate from their government’s inexcusable actions or policies.

The same is not true back home, however. When Curtiss moved back to the U.S. and retired in 1980, he discovered that most Americans have no clue about Arabs and Muslims living miles away, not to mention Arab- and Muslim-Americans living right next door. In 1981 Curtiss cofounded, with George Naifeh and Isa Sabbagh, the American Arab Affairs Council (now the Middle East Policy Council) to help America understand the political, economic and cultural issues that affect U.S. interests in the Middle East. He soon joined U.S. Ambassador Andrew Killgore and British Ambassador Edward Henderson to co-found the American Educational Trust (AET), a non-partisan, non-profit foundation, which published the first issue of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in April 1982.

After spending his 30-year career telling America’s story abroad, he devoted the next 30 years to telling Americans stories APRIL 2013

about the Middle East and the non-Arab Muslim world. Both my parents, along with Marjorie and Andy Killgore, worked tirelessly as volunteers, rarely even collecting rent from the office space from which they ran the magazine. Sometimes my folks managed to stop in to visit me and my own growing family in Oman, Saudi Arabia and the U.K. as they traveled, writing profiles of countries in the Gulf, North Africa and Pakistan. Curtiss relived his war correspondent days traveling with Killgore to Arab countries during Operation Desert Shield, a month after Iraq’s Aug. 2, 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and later during Oper-

ation Desert Storm. He flew to Bosnia in July 1992 to observe the international airlift then underway to bring food and medical relief supplies.

Many of the stories he reported were ignored, distorted or purposely omitted by America’s mainstream media. “U.S. media extolling the virtues of Israel, and concealing the virtues of Muslim countries, is not accidental,” Curtiss told University of Pennsylvania students in 2000. “It has extended over the entire half-century of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.” He believed that media bias in America would continue until there was peace in the Middle East.

He traveled across the country speaking at college campuses, mosques, churches and Islamic conventions, lecturing on the ArabIsrael conflict and the Israel lobby’s corruption of the U.S. political system.

Israel’s Corrupting Influence Two years before the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, he spoke at the 1999 Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention in Chicago, describing the Israel lobby’s methods of “so corrupting the U.S. political system that although U.S. lawmakers and presidents know they are supporting an immoral American policy in the Middle East and thus exposing Americans to ter-

Ups and Downs for the Washington Report I FIRST MET DICK CURTISS in Baghdad in 1965. I was 45 years old at that time. Now I am 93, so I knew Dick for more than half of my life. He was a big man—6-foot-3inches in height, and weighing a good 200 pounds. He was good-looking with a fine bearing.

His brainpower equaled his physical size. It helps to be big and brainy. Ease of manner goes along with it. He simply didn’t rub people the wrong way. He could propound his honest views on the Arab-Israel issue without offending the most fiery Zionist. As he used to say, “You don’t need enemies.”

Dick built the Washington Report as it is today. A genius at public diplomacy, he knew how to explain his views so as to gain support without offense. We had our shares of trouble with the Washington Report, but it has been a lot of fun at the same time. We laughed a lot.

Once we were traveling from one capital city to another, carrying a sizeable check for the Washington Report. The plane ran into severe air turbulence. We wondered if the wings would be broken off or if we would come out alive. When we landed and the ordeal was finally over, we asked each other at the same time, “Were you thinking of the movie ‘The Treasure of Sierra Madre,’ where Humphrey Bogart finds the gold, and then loses it?”

One holiday weekend someone broke into our offices and drilled a hole through the top of the safe—until the drill bit broke. We joked that the intruder couldn’t be a Washington Report reader. If he was he’d know there was neither money nor secrets in our safe—everything we had went into publishing the magazine.

Another time Dick picked up the phone and the caller, presumably from the West Coast, growled, “You’ll be dead at 10 a.m.” Dick laughed and said, “But it’s already 11, and I’m still here.”

I felt deep affection for Dick Curtiss. In fact, I loved the guy. I feel the same way about Donna Curtiss and the whole Curtiss family. Dick came to substitute for my older brother, who died in 1983. —Andy Killgore THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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PHOTO COURTESY VOA

hanley_v2_20-23_April 2013 In Memoriam 2/27/13 5:19 PM Page 22

LEFT: Richard Curtiss and Gaby Mallides (seated) at the Voice of America’s Arabic Service, which broadcast from the island of Rhodes in Greece; RIGHT: Duke Ellington, seated, in tan suit, and his band cooled their heels in Baghdad during an attempted coup d’état. Richard Curtiss (center, rear). Photo courtesy Curtiss family. rorism both overseas and at home, these officials are afraid to correct their course.” He cited examples of how American support

of “Israel’s ethnic and religious discrimination is totally contrary to everything America stands for, at home and abroad.”

A Champion of Fair Play and Justice I HAD THE PLEASURE and privilege of working for Dick Curtiss and Andy Killgore at the Washington Report for some four-and-a-half years, from the beginning of 1991 to the middle of 1995, when I moved to Saudi Arabia. I came to AET looking for a job; what I walked away with proved to be the foundation of my career and a set of warm, lifelong friendships.

I was fresh out of graduate school when I came to a job interview and found myself seated opposite Dick. My master’s degree was in Middle East Studies, and I noted on my CV that I had some Arabic language skills. Dick asked how proficient I was, and I responded that my Arabic was decent, but not great. “Good,” he said, “I would be worried if you had said ‘fluent.’” It was my first indication that this was a man who prized truth above all things, and I warmed to him immediately.

He also asked about my writing abilities, and I told him I had written only academic papers. “Well, if you can write those,” he replied, “you can write for the magazine as well— just shorter.” He gave me a writing task—a piece that later became a “Seeing the Light” installment—to be sure, but his judgment proved correct and I went on to write many articles for the Washington Report over the next several years.

But there is a difference between being able to write and being a writer, and it was Dick Curtiss who elevated me from one category to the other. Month after month, issue after issue, and article after article, he edited my work—and with time there were fewer and fewer markups as my skills improved.

Looking back, I recognize it as a true apprenticeship, and a chance to hone my craft as a writer and editor by working with someone whose decades of experience had made working with words second nature. Dick was always a demanding editor but also a patient teacher who loved the art of writing and recognized the responsibilities that came with being an editor. Certainly in my time at the Washington Report, there was never a single word in the magazine that hadn’t passed under his red pencil.

But even more important than Dick’s role as an editor and teacher was the example he set as a man passionate about justice, not only for the Palestinians but for any people whose freedoms were compromised, whose rights were violated, and whose very identity was sometimes questioned. My initial assessment of his commitment to truth was spot on, and over the years Dick Curtiss consistently proved to be a champion of fair play and justice— even when those stances were lonely and unpopular. For that he earned my respect and my admiration.

My first “real” job was at the Washington Report, and as a result of the writing and editing lessons I learned there I have been able to provide for my family, travel the world, and build a successful career as a corporate communicator. More than twenty years ago, Dick took a chance on hiring an inexperienced and unproven writer, and for that I am thankful. But for the skills he taught me, for the lessons he shared, and the example he set, I am profoundly grateful. He will be sorely missed.

—Greg Noakes

22

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Curtiss wrote on an array of topics for the Washington Report, as well as weekly columns for the Arab News, published in Saudi Arabia, and other English-language newspapers in the Gulf. He railed against the neocon-inspired war on Iraq and spoke out against other disasterous foreign policy mistakes on radio and television programs.

He and the rest of the Washington Report staff received awards from every major Arab- and Muslim-American organization for their efforts to report the news mainstream media continue to ignore.

Curtiss wrote and directed two one-hour educational films about the Gulf. He also wrote A Changing Image: American Perceptions of the Arab-Israeli Dispute; Stealth PACs: Lobbying Congress for Control of U.S. Middle East Policy, now in its fourth edition; and co-edited with Washington Report managing editor Janet McMahon, Seeing the Light: Personal Encounters with the Middle East and Islam.

I joined the Washington Report in 1996, after working eight years for another magazine publisher, so I’m a relative newcomer compared to McMahon and, of course, our beloved publisher, Andrew Killgore. I can’t tell you how proud I felt as I watched my father speak at Muslim- and Arab-American conferences, engaging students and urging them to become journalists, and challenging everyone to become more involved in politics. “Until the Israel lobby is neutralized,” he warned in September 1999, “it will be working tirelessly to ensure that neither Muslim Americans nor Arab Americans will be accepted into American political life.”

He’d end most speeches by saying, “Let’s start by agreeing that restoring even-handedness to U.S. Middle East policy is the single most important thing patriotic AmeriAPRIL 2013

cans can do for their country. And if the world’s only remaining superpower begins to support peace with justice in the Middle East, that is the best thing America can do for the entire world.”

After his first stroke, which he suffered while working at his desk at the Washington Report more than 10 years ago, my dad continued writing, now dictating to my mother, pithy articles. McMahon took over his magazine editing duties, but he continued to proofread every page until his death. He believed the Washington Report was vital because it provides a record that there are people who are working for peace and justice—stories the mainstream media want you to miss.

After his death, in addition to a paid death notice, I provided information to Adam Bernstein, the greatly esteemed obituary editor of the Washington Post, about my father’s life—spanning his two careers—telling vital stories first as a foreign service officer in the Middle East and later as the executive editor of a magazine with

PHOTO COURTESY CURTISS FAMILY

hanley_v2_20-23_April 2013 In Memoriam 2/27/13 7:26 PM Page 23

Donna and Dick Curtiss spent their retirement volunteering at the Washington Report. world-wide distribution. Cordial e-mail exchanges and phone calls resulted in a barebones obituary, however, which mentioned that he “wrote two books on Middle Eastern policy and lobbying” and never named his enduring legacy, the Washington Report. My dad, of all people, would not be surprised to hear that the

Messages From Near and Far For me, Dick was a great mentor and a true hero. His example inspired a great many in the struggle for peace and justice in Palestine.

Les Janka, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

am to him, and I’m sure there are so many others like me who didn’t know him personally but owed him so much. He leaves a great legacy.

Rachelle Marshall, Mill Valley, CA

When we were together at USIA, Dick Curtiss was always an inspiration to me for his skillful teamwork and his superb ability to relate to people of other cultures. After USIA, he undertook a pioneering effort to educate Americans about the Middle East that continued until his last days, and that will always serve as a role model for the rest of us who believe in the principles of fairness and justice that he stood for, but did not have the amazing persistence and courage that he had.

Ambassador Bill Rugh, Washington, DC

He was indeed a source of inspiration to me when I first started writing on this issue in 2000. The world needs more Dick Curtisses and we are definitely poorer for his passing.

Kristin Szremski, American Muslims for Palestine

Dick was a tireless and fearless fighter for truth about the wrong-headed American foreign policy. Thankfully, the WRMEA will continue and thrive because he and Andy set a foundation that will survive them. We are all thankful for his immense contribution and endurance under the most difficult of circumstances.

Abdeen Jabara, New York City, NY I’m so sorry to hear of Dick’s death. He was a treasured friend and a long-time fighter for justice, not only for Palestinians but for everyone.

Jim Abouresk, Sioux Falls, South Dakota This is very sad for all of you, I know. I’ve never been able to tell Dick how grateful I APRIL 2013

Very sad to learn about the passing away of Richard Curtiss. He was a very distinguished gentleman to whom we the Palestinians and Americans are indebted for his moral and political courage.

Afif and Christ’l Safieh, London, UK Huwaida and I send you our deepest condolences. He will not be forgotten, and we all continue his uphill struggle...

Adam Shapiro, via e-mail A truly shining light has been dimmed, but never extinguished, because others will carry the torch.

Sushila Cherian, via e-mail Having followed Dick Curtiss’ and Andy Killgore’s efforts from the beginning, I have the greatest respect for anyone who, long after he could have retired, stayed in the fight for justice and the U.S. national interest in the Middle East.

John Richardson, via e-mail

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

paper ran his obituary only on its Web site, <www.washingtonpost.com>, and that it never, despite another e-mail exchange, saw the light of day in the print version of the Washington Post. He’d also be gratified, if not surprised, to know that Al-Jazeera (Arabic) is broadcasting a special story on his achievements. ❑ A Titan departs having fought the good fight.

Mowahid Hussain Shah, Potomac, MD I worked with Dick at USIA for many years and it was always a pleasure to be with him at some meetings. He was a great man and did an excellent job there and thereafter in helping start the magazine. It is not only because he was pro-Palestinian, it was his personality that was endearing.

May Allah rest his soul.

George Hishmeh, Kensington, MD It is true that Richard Curtiss “did not live to see peace in the Middle East and a more fair and rational U.S. foreign policy.” However, his courageous work in helping to create and publish the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, is in itself monumental. The WRMEA has been the key source of information and honest reporting on the Middle East issue for thousands of us who share his dream for peace.

Vince and Louise Larsen, Billings, MT Every era produces a few men/women sorely needed to remind us not only what is important in life but what our responsibilities are. Mr. Curtiss was such a man. The world is the poorer for his passing.

May his family find comfort knowing that his work will continue and that he made such a great difference not just in their own lives but in all those who read his message and were enlightened by it.

Geraldine Colenbrander Vaccaro, via e-mail

Continued on page 25 23

omer_24-25_Gaza on the Ground 2/27/13 5:24 PM Page 24

Gaza’s Tunnels: Graveyards for the Living Gazaon the Ground

PHOTO M. OMER

By Mohammed Omer

Working in Gaza’s tunnels, known as “the trade of death.” aneen Khader had no option. As soon

Has she learned of her father’s death,

she had to cancel her March wedding.

Her father, 41-year-old Bassam Khader, an unemployed construction worker, had tried everything possible to provide a living for his family—but to no avail. His only remaining option was to work in the tunnels, even though this is considered the most dangerous job in Gaza, and known as “the trade of death.” According to Bassam’s niece, Muna Khader, her uncle received between 50 and 80 NIS ($13 to $21) per 12-hour work day.

Following Hamas’ victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections—which international observers, including President Jimmy Carter, described as free and fair— Israel sealed off its borders with Gaza, claiming the action was necessary to prevent weapons from being transported into the Strip. But the effect of the blockade was to deny the people of Gaza many of life’s basic necessities.

With no way to import or export food, livestock and other supplies, the tunnel inAward-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>, and followed on Twitter @mogaza.

24

dustry was born as a way to circumvent the closed borders. It also has made its owners and operators relatively wealthy, while the rest of the population is left to dig and run the tunnels. According to Interior Ministry spokesman Islam Shawan, there are now at least 900 tunnels operating between Gaza and Egypt.

Gaza’s booming tunnel economy provides supplies, basic goods and work for those whose livelihoods vanished with the sealing of the borders, leaving them access only to the barest humanitarian necessities.

More recently, individuals traveling through the tunnels represent a new source of revenue, offsetting the losses suffered by tunnel owners as a result of the partial opening of Israeli-controlled crossings.

The tunnels may seem to be a reasonable and profitable alternative to the closures.

Beyond an easily obtained permit, however, there is little if any government oversight. According to advocate Hazem Hanyia of the Independent Commission for Human Rights, there are virtually no regulations controlling the hazardous working conditions for those for whom tunnel work is their only option for survival. A study Hanyia conducted found that working conditions in the tunnels do not meet minimum standards for workers, and thus THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

are in violation of labor laws. Tunnel workers receive no health or life insurance for their dangerous work.

The lack of legal, economic or social insurance is the least of many Gazans’ problems, however, when so many remain unemployed. As tunnel worker Abu Odai explains while weeping over the death of his colleague Khader, any work that puts food on the table is better than “swallowing just air.” Indeed, the stream of desperate workers means that as soon as the body of one worker is removed, another worker is ready to take his place.

Bassam Khader disappeared while working in a tunnel at the end of January, when there was heavy rain and flooding of the sewage system in Rafah’s Al Junina neighborhood. “He may have drowned,” says his niece Muna, noting that the fire department was busy at the time rescuing local residents from the flooding and seemed unconcerned with yet another tunnel accident.

When eight tunnel workers were brought out injured but alive, Khader’s family was hopeful that he, too, might have survived. But he and two of his colleagues remained missing. So, despite their poverty, his family borrowed 25,000 NIS ($6,765) to rent bulldozers and hire workers to dig 65 feet deeper in the mud beneath the Gaza-Egypt border.

Bassam Khader’s body was found nine days later. His wife was able to identify him only by the clothes he had been wearing the day he disappeared. She blames the tunnel owner, convinced that he knew the flooding conditions made it unsafe to work. But he nevertheless insisted that Khader work half a day if he wanted to receive the pay he was owed for the previous week’s work.

“What hurts me most is that the tunnel owner has never been questioned by the authorities,” Khader’s niece told the Washington Report.

Khader had been working for a few weeks in a tunnel that was empty and rarely used. This made it difficult for the family to identify the tunnel owner, especially since all the owners denied that Khader had worked for them.

Yet as much as Muna Khader and her aunt blame the tunnel owner, Muna says the government also is responsible by not APRIL 2013

omer_24-25_Gaza on the Ground 2/27/13 7:30 PM Page 25

banning tunnel work during such stormy weather conditions. Moreover, she adds, the government “did not even bother to offer condolences in solidarity with the victim’s family.” Muna tried to call members of Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza, but her calls were not returned.

According to the Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, hundreds of children become orphans in similar situations, or have parents severely injured in tunnel collapses, but local authorities do not respond for fear of losing the tax revenue on goods—including fuel, construction materials, cars and food products— transported through the tunnels.

Since 2006, Center statistics show, 235 people have died in the tunnels. Of those, 20 workers were killed by Israeli missile strikes on the tunnels, and an additional 597 were injured in tunnel collapses. An increasing number of injuries are caused by electric shock, the result of inexperienced workers connecting uninsulated wiring. In late February the workers were subjected to yet another new risk, as Egyptian troops flooded the tunnels with sewage water, in a pungent attempt to shut them down.

Injured tunnel workers receive only basic emergency treatment, while to the families of those such as Khader who die, Hanyia says, the tunnel owners offer a small amount of compensation not considered adequate under legal or Islamic shariah requirements: the family of a dead tunnel worker who is single gets $5,000, while a married worker’s family receives a one-time compensation of $10,000.

Even though the owner of the tunnel where Khader worked was finally identified, however, his family received no compensation. Now they find themselves in limbo and debt—despite the fact that local authorities know that tunnel owners have reaped money, property and luxuries from their businesses built on the backs of 1.7 million Gazans.

Moreover, Hanyia says, Gaza’s de facto Hamas government is delinquent in monitoring construction and maintenance of the tunnels despite full knowledge of their number and location. All tunnels are licensed by the Rafah Municipality, which provides electricity and additional services.

Nabil Al Mabhouh, spokesman for Gaza’s Ministry of Labor, says the tunnels are an “emergency phenomenon” made necessary only by Israel’s siege of Gaza and closure of the usual trade crossings.

All the more reason, argues Hanyia, for the Palestinian Authority to keep the presAPRIL 2013

sure on the international community to lift the economic blockade on Gaza and allow in materials Israel prevents from entering Gaza.

According to Zaki Khader, neither the government nor the tunnel owners covered the funeral costs for his late brother, leaving a huge burden on his young widow and eight children. “They can’t be left alone without any source of income,”

Muna Khader insists.

If the government does not act soon, Zaki Khader plans to publicly plead his case by setting up a family protest tent at the opening of the tunnel where his brother died.

His hope is that those in charge will acknowledge the plight of a family which, having lost its only breadwinner, finds itself living on the edge of total desperation. ❑

Messages From Near and Far (continued from p. 23) What a shame. Lovely guy. People like him, Andy and Gene Bird reminded me of a kinder, gentler USA foreign policy.

Ian Williams, New York City, NY Dick was a great man and will be sorely missed. I loved him and have great memories about him. May God have mercy on his soul and give his family and friends patience.

Sami, Nahla and the Al-Arian family, Chevy Chase, MD My deepest gratitude to a man who told the truth that others avoided. Thank you, Richard Curtiss, for your talent, dedication and integrity...

Alison Weir, Council for the National Interest, If Americans Knew What an amazing life he lived in the Foreign Service, experiencing the world and many of its cultures. A legacy of his foreign travel and interests will live on at the Carlos Museum in the Curtiss Collection, a very meaningful gift which will be used in teaching and research for years to come.

Bonnie Speed, Emory University He truly was a giant among men. I still remember speaking with him back in the early ’90s as a law student trying to get into political writing and he so patiently guided me, encouraged me and gave me the confidence to continue. I’m giving four library subscriptions in his memory.

Faisal Kutty, Toronto, Canada It is with great sadness that we learned of Dick’s passing. We shall all miss his intelligence, wit, and drive for justice. On a personal note, he was encouraging and so welcoming of those of us newly minted to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and writing about it.

He, Ambassador Killgore, Janet and all of you at the Washington Report—and of course Delinda and other family members —remain an inspiration to us all. We remember him fondly.

Laura Cooley and Imad Abi-Saleh, Seattle, WA I am very sorry to hear about the passing of Richard Curtiss. Although I did not have the opportunity to meet him last summer, I feel as though I owe a great debt to him. My short summer at WRMEA has not only stoked in me a passion for writing, but also a passion for taking a stand on issues relating to the Middle East, especially unpopular ones. Without his courage to start the magazine and yours to continue running the magazine, I may never have had that opportunity. I might even be going to work for a defense contractor (what a horrid thought). I just thought you should know the impact Mr. Curtiss had on me and we never even met.

Keenan Duffey, Summer of 2012 Intern Richard gave me my first opportunity to get published back in 1998 when he suggested I write for the magazine about an event he was attending in my native Chicago. That blurb led to me eventually becoming the Chicago correspondent for WRMEA. On a personal note, I knew Richard to be kind, patient, and supportive of all things Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian. I pray that his legacy not fade, and that one day the people of Palestine will pay him homage by naming a street or a school after him. Such a gesture would be most fitting Raeed N. Tayeh, Assistant Editor, Akron Law Review I write through my tears, but at the same time I am so very grateful that I had the opportunity to know him and work for him. He will always be an inspiration to me.

Michael Gillespie, Maxwell, IA

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

25

erickson_26-27_Special Report 2/28/13 9:59 AM Page 26

No Let Up in Israel’s Decades-Long Campaign to Build Facts on the Ground SpecialReport

PHOTO KENNETH WALTER

By Barbara Erickson

The expanding illegal settlement of Betar Illit as seen from Wadi Fukin. etar Illit is a newcomer to the arid

Blandscape of the West Bank, but it is

growing rapidly, spreading down the slopes of a rocky hill southwest of Bethlehem. From a small outpost in 1984 it has grown into a city of 40,000, with schools, parks, clinics and transportation to the heart of Jerusalem.

Prominent signs show the way to Betar Illit from the main highway, but casual travelers have no means to discover the ancient farming village in the valley below. No signs indicate the presence of Wadi Fukin, a short distance down a dirt track from the main road.

Although international law and consensus hold that Betar Illit is an illegal settlement in occupied Palestine, the Israeli government supports it with well-paved roads, government subsidies, military and police protection, and tax breaks. The residents of Wadi Fukin, however, watch with a sense of helplessness as Betar Illit destroys their fields and water supply and continues to Barbara Erickson is a journalist living in the San Francisco Bay Area and a member of Northern California Friends of Sabeel.

26

grow unchecked.

This discrepancy between the rights of illegal settlers and the indigenous Palestinian villagers is highlighted in a recent U.N. Human Rights Council report by the International Fact-finding Mission on Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see p. 28). The report, published Jan. 31, exposes the far-reaching effects of colonies such as Betar Illit in the West Bank and East Jerusalem on Palestinian lives.

Many of the U.N. mission findings also apply to Palestinians living in Israel proper, a group that makes up 20 percent of the population (more than African Americans, who constitute 13 percent of the U.S. population). They are citizens of the state but lack the full rights of Israeli Jews and, in common with their fellow Palestinians across the border, also face state-sponsored land confiscation.

Oren Yiftachel, professor of political geography at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, has observed this practice on both sides of the boundary between Israel and Palestine. “It is part of the same system with slightly different legal regimes,” he said. In the West Bank, “It’s fully blown apartheid,” THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

and military force rules, while within Israel, he said, it is “creeping apartheid” and carried out under the guise of planning laws.

International law requires Israel as the occupying power to protect the indigenous residents in the West Bank, and forbids the transfer of Israel’s population into the territory. But Israel flouts these laws, promoting and subsidizing settlements and assigning security forces to protect settlers.

The U.N. report reveals that the settlements takes “a heavy toll” on Palestinian rights, from security to housing, education, worship, freedom of movement and more.

These rights, it states, “are being violated consistently and on a daily basis.”

Israel, which refused to cooperate with the investigation, rejected the report. Foreign Minister Yigal Palmor called it “counterproductive and unfortunate,” adding that the only way to resolve the conflict is “through direct negotiations without preconditions.”

But negotiations have failed to stop settlement construction. Since the Oslo accords were signed, the settler population in the West Bank has more than doubled, from 133,000 in 1995 to more 320,000 today. Including East Jerusalem brings the total population to more than 520,000 settlers in occupied Palestine.

Large tracts of Wadi Fukin’s agricultural land now lie under Betar Illit, and sewage from the settlement has polluted many of the remaining fields. Numerous other West Bank communities also have suffered from this contamination, but Wadi Fukin, by appealing to environmentally conscious staff from another settlement for help, recently won a small battle in its struggle to survive when the Israeli Environmental Protection Ministry ordered Betar Illit to stop polluting the fields of Wadi Fukin.

In Asira al Qibliya, near Nablus, the illegal Yitzhar settlement also encroaches on village land, and settlers threaten and harass villagers working in their fields or harvesting olives. Settlers also cut off water from a natural spring feeding the village.

“Now we have to buy water or use winter rain water,” said Ahmad Abu Hadi, head of the Asira village council.

The U.N. mission found that water confiscation is a critical problem throughout APRIL 2013

erickson_26-27_Special Report 4/17/13 1:10 PM Page 27

the West Bank. “Forcible takeovers and vandalism by settlers increasingly impair access to water,” the report states. “Some of the seized springs are turned into ‘tourist attractions’ or recreational sites, which receive Israeli government support.”

In Wadi Fukin, Ata Manassra noted that 4 of 11 natural springs that supplied the village for centuries have gone dry from the effects of construction in Betar Illit. “An Israeli geologist told us that if the settlement continues, most of the springs will dry up,” he added.

Palestinians in the West Bank are left with an average of 73 liters of water per person daily—below the 100 liters minimum recommended by the U.S. Agency for International Development. By contrast, the U.N. report says, some settlements receive up to 400 liters per person, and many “benefit from enough water to run farms and orchards and for swimming pools and spas.”

The U.N. found discriminatory treatment to be a pattern throughout the West Bank: Israel has built a network of roads for the benefit of settlers only, for example. Settlers are subject to civilian laws, while Palestinians are tried in military courts. Settlers are allowed to carry weapons, which are forbidden to Palestinians.

The Israeli army is frequently present when Jewish settlers attack Palestinian villagers and their property. These attacks, the report notes, “are often carried out in daytime and in the presence of Israeli army or police personnel.” When Palestinians file complaints, these cases are closed more than 90 percent of the time without an indictment. By contrast, 90 to 95 percent of cases brought against Palestinians go to court.

A minority of settlers engage in violence against Palestinians, burning ancient olive trees and harassing children on their way to school. But the report notes that since 1967 Israel has had full control of the discriminatory system that allows Israeli settlers to act with impunity. It also found that “the intent of these attacks was to pressurize Palestinians to leave the land.”

In urban East Jerusalem and Hebron, settlers have moved into Palestinian neighborhoods, taking over apartments and houses.

The main street of Hebron is now off limits to Palestinians, and the report notes that “military orders have led to the closure of 512 Palestinian businesses, and at least 1,100 others have closed due to the restricted access” in the city.

South of Hebron, within Israel’s Green Line boundaries, some 30,000 Bedouins in the Naqab (Negev) Desert face removal to urban townships. Although they are citiAPRIL 2013

zens of Israel, they are being forced to abandon their traditional way of life.

These Bedouin live in “unrecognized” villages, which Israel has refused to grant legal status, even though many of them have proof of existence since Ottoman times.

Without this status, villagers receive no water, electricity or other services, and, as in the West Bank, the state also demolishes houses built without hard-to-get (for nonJews) permits.

In 2010, Israeli authorities sprayed olive and fruit orchards in the Bedouin village of El Araqib, killing 4,500 trees. These have been replaced with rows of eucalyptus and pine under the claim that Israel is now creating a forested “green zone.”

El Araqib’s century-old cemetery is the only tract to survive Israel’s bulldozers, but villagers—now bereft of flocks and fields— continue to return and build tents on their site. Israel destroys even these temporary structures, and the cycle of destruction and rebuilding has been repeated more than 40 times.

Israeli policymakers claim the Bedouins’ land is needed for future generations of Jews. Media reports and politicians describe the Bedouin as “invaders” on Jewish land, but the indigenous residents are fighting back by clinging to their sites.

“This is how bureaucracy and law and planning can make misery out of people’s lives,” said Yiftachel. But the Bedouin and the residents of the West Bank are determined to stay, he added. “They just hang on to the land against the authorities, and the life is miserable. But they know that if they leave the land, quick smart, it will be registered under a Jewish name.”

When Betar Illit began to rise on the lands of Wadi Fukin and other villages, residents had almost no means to resist, according to Manassra. But, he added, “We don’t give up. We use the U.N., the Red Cross.” So far the villagers have managed only to force some delays in construction, and the settlement is projected to grow rapidly to 100,000 residents, dwarfing the surrounding villages.

In the face of these hard realities, the U.N. mission demanded that Israel end all settlement activities “without preconditions,” withdraw all settlers from Palestinian territory, and compensate the indigenous residents for the harm they have suffered.

But settlement construction continues without pause in the West Bank, and this spring officials destroyed acres of spring crops around the Israeli Bedouin town of Wadi Na’am, as part of Israel’s relentless campaign to force villagers to leave. ❑ THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Israeli Elections…

Continued from page 18

Similarly, in April 1996, when Shimon Peres was running for prime minister— having assumed the position following the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin—Israel launched Operation Grapes of Wrath in an attempt to eradicate Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. On April 18, Israeli forces shelled a U.N. base in Qana, where 800 civilians had sought refuge from the bombardment. The attack killed 106 innocent people—including Abdul-Muhsen Bitar, 9, and his 8-year-old brother, Hadi, two Lebanese-American boys visiting their grandmother—and injured many more. A subsequent U.N. investigation found that the attack likely was not an error.

There are exceptions—although whether they are genuine or simply meant to mollify international opinion is rarely debated. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and current Justice Minister Tzipi Livni continue to be the party leaders most openly speaking about “peace” with Palestinians.

Neither, however, has earned the trust or interest of Gazans. After all, both supported Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s 2008-2009 attack on Gaza that killed 1,500 Palestinians, injured more than 5,000 and left schools, hospitals, mosques, houses, farms and UNRWA storage facilities in Gaza in dust and rubble.

Gazans are interested instead in the Fatah-Hamas national reconciliation dialogue. As advocates for the Palestinian people, the possibility of these two parties working together does have an outcome that merits attention. That outcome is hope. And should that hope be realized, it brings the promise of freedom—meaning that the end of decades of occupation cannot be far behind. ❑

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williams_28-29_United Nations Report 2/28/13 1:03 PM Page 28

U.N. Human Rights Council Report on Israeli Settlements Paves the Way to the ICC

By Ian Williams

long report on the illegality of Israeli

Asettlements, such as the latest one de-

livered by the U.N. Human Rights Council on the situation in Palestine would seem almost as superfluous as an inquiry into whether apples really fell from trees near Isaac Newton. Gravity is the law, and so are the Geneva Conventions. But if a country and its supporters keep maintaining that apples fly upward, then restating the law of gravity has considerable merit, and the determined effort of Israel and its supporters to ignore reality and its consequences is remarkable.

The Human Rights Council report is comprehensive in its consideration of the consequences of Israel’s illegal settlements, but what takes it beyond a statement of the obvious is its call on U.N. member states “to assume their responsibilities in their relationship to a state breaching peremptory norms of international law.” Embarrassing to the tacit connivers in Israel’s defiance of Ian Williams is a free-lance journalist based at the United Nations who blogs at <www. deadlinepundit.blogspot.com>.

28

the law, it puts the spotlight on all the countries from the U.S. on down that do nothing about it. Not a single country in the world recognizes the Israeli annexations of territory since 1967. The “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force” is in the U.N.’s chromosomes.

Faced with a detailed and irrefutable catalogue of Israel’s misdeeds, its supporters cry out indignantly, “why pick on poor little Israel with one-sided and unbalanced resolutions?” In fact, for all its many faults, the Human Rights Council has produced many reports that have nothing to do with Israel, but, as one of the most notorious scofflaws in the global community, the Zionist state can hardly complain when it gets more than average attention.

Last July, the president of the Human Rights Council appointed three high-level experts as members of the fact-finding mission on settlements and their effects. Chair Christine Chanet, a human rights lawyer from France, Asma Jahangir of Pakistan and Unity Dow of Botswana.

The mission began by deciding to discard the usual euphemistic linguistic appaTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

United Nations Report ratus on “settlements,” “settlement blocs” and “outposts”—not to mention “legal,” “authorized,” “illegal” and “unauthorized” outposts. They were, the panel concluded, all illegal. This, naturally, proved “judicial bias” to friends of Israel, who added that it was “unhelpful...confrontational, heating the political atmosphere, and thus hindering the possibility of peace negotiations,” as Michael Curtis alleged in an article in the Feb. 7 issue of the misnamed American Thinker.

Interestingly, many critics such as Curtis do not try to defend the indefensible—the settlement policy itself—but rather prevaricate about resolutions condemning it.

This particular critic accused the U.N. of wasting time on Israel when it should have been going after Syria—which would have been a legitimate complaint were it not for the reports on Syria that bracket this one on the Human Rights Council’s Web site.

Needless to say, it takes a brave jurist to volunteer for one of these missions. One has only to look at the sad fate of Richard Goldstone, harassed into eating his own words and now condemned to a life in legal limbo, mistrusted by all sides. In this case, Israel’s acolytes have not yet found too much to excoriate about the mission’s three female members, although they are beginning. Curtis, for example, seized upon a statement Chanet made to declare that she “must be one of the few people in the world to have made the striking comment that ‘it was very difficult to have a real dialogue with Israel.’” Chanet stated it outright, whereas the likes of Barack Obama and others only let it slip occasionally in their dire exasperation, but surely say it only behind closed doors!

Soon, of course, we will see complaints that the report is inaccurate because the investigating trio did not go to the occupied territories. Perhaps this is because, unlike other democratic countries under investigation, Israel did not allow the team in, despite five requests for cooperation!

And finally, of course, Israel claims that the territories are “disputed” rather than occupied, despite firm statements by the International Court of Justice, the Security Council and the General Assembly. One might also add that, despite declarations APRIL 2013

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by one of its own most renowned jurists, who was then legal counsel to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, they are indeed occupied and covered by the Geneva Conventions.

In 1967, right at the beginning of the Israeli occupation, Theodor Meron wrote to then-Prime Minister Levi Eshkol regarding the illegality of settlements. “Civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention,” Meron warned.

Of course, his advice was ignored and he moved out of Israel. It is perhaps significant that, as a long time American citizen, former president of the International Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia and now head of its successor body, Meron’s official biographies are reticent about the Israeli component of his distinguished career— though “speaking truth to power” is surely a distinction in its own right.

For years governments have chosen to overlook Israeli settlement activity in various ways. While UK courts ruled that charities could not send money for settlement activities, the U.S. has allowed tax concessions to a myriad of pseudo-charities pouring money there. Memorably, even under Clinton, U.S. loan guarantees to Israel had a clawback of equivalent money spent on the settlements. By 2010, on the tranche before last, Israel had borrowed $4.1 billion, and roughly 25 percent of the total authorized was deducted ($289.5 million in 2003 and $795.8 million in 2005) for expenditures on settlements. The guarantees have now been extended for another three years, until 2015.

So Washington, while pretending to chastise Israel for settlement-building, knows full well the huge amounts going toward the project. It almost certainly is also aware that much of the settlement activity is financed through backdoor pay-

ments, since the Israeli governments know how unpopular the settlers are and conceal its expenditure from its own citizens and parliamentarians.

With the U.S. sitting on its hands, the Human Rights Council report concludes that Israel has built about 250 settlements in the West Bank since 1967, either with or without government authorization. They estimate the number of settlers at more than half a million (200,000 in East Jerusalem and 320,000 in the rest of the West Bank).

As Israeli spokesmen accuse the Palestinians of violating Oslo with their moves toward statehood and U.N. recognition, one should note that much of this expansion has taken place since the Oslo accord forbade changing facts on the ground.

So the Human Rights Council report is— or, rather, should be—yet another embarrassment for the Western governments who continue to let the settlements expand.

The report concludes that “The legal regime of segregation operating in the OPT [occupied Palestinian territories] has enabled the establishment and the consolidation of the settlements through the creation of the privileged legal space for settlements and settlers. It results in daily violations of a multitude of the human rights of the Palestinians in the OPT.”

“A Legal Regime of Separation” “A legal regime of separation” clearly meets the definitions of the anti-apartheid convention, now incorporated into the statutes of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which defines apartheid as “an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.”

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As many observers have noted, not even South Africa’s apartheid regime built a segregated road system!

So we come to Palestinian statehood at the United Nations. The Palestinian people living under occupation are suffering from the financial sanctions imposed by Israel, in return for which they get the glory of the Palestinian ambassador to say, Cyprus, moving up the protocol list. What has not yet happened is Palestinian signature and ratification of the treaty setting up the International Criminal Court.

If the settlements violate the Geneva Conventions, the anti-apartheid convention and the other rules of humanitarian law as established by the International Court of Justice and the Security Council, not to mention the General Assembly, then the perpetrators on Palestinian territory would, theoretically, be subject to the court’s jurisdiction and extraditable from the 100-plus signatory states of the ICC. In the broadest sense, the perpetrators include almost everyone who has held office in Israel since 1967.

However, there is no impending threat of overcrowding in prison cells near The Hague. The Palestinian government has yet to screw up its courage to the sticking place and do what the Israelis and the Americans fear. But the report is yet another reason for them to do so. ❑

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APRIL 2013

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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Congressional “Holds” on Palestinian Aid Finally Released CongressWatch

By Shirl McArthur

other things, close the PLO mission in Washington in retaliation for Palestine’s successful effort to be recognized by the U.N. as a nonvoting member state. This did not happen, of course, so on Jan. 14 she issued a press release saying that the Obama administration’s decision to keep the PLO office open “sets a dangerous precedent and illustrates that President Obama is not willing to hold the Palestinian leadership accountable when it violates their international obligations.”

USAID.GOV

Aid to Egypt Also Under Fire

Food distribution in Hebron is funded by USAID’s Palestinian Community Assistance Program and the U.N. World Food Program. n mid-February Congressional Quarterly that congressional “holds” had Ibeenreported released on $495.7 million of Palestinian aid, mostly for humanitarian projects, from FY ’12 funds. In addition, the State Department announced that Secretary of State John Kerry would release $200 million from FY ’13 funds for direct Palestinian budget support. Earlier, another $100 million for narcotics and law enforcement was released. As reported in the March Washington Report, the FY ’12 “omnibus” appropriations bill passed in December 2011 did not specifically earmark funds for Palestinian aid, but President Barack Obama’s administration had requested a total of $513.4 million.

Previously, the Washington Report had learned from some U.S. non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that leading Israelfirster and then-chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) had placed a “hold” last September on the remaining unobligated FY ’12 funds. In December, Samuel Worthington, president of “InterAction,” an alliance Shirl McArthur is a retired U.S. foreign service officer based in the Washington, DC area.

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of U.S.-based NGOs, wrote to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her, if the full release of the hold on the FY ’12 funds could not be achieved, to consider going ahead and obligating the funds, as she had done for FY ’11 funding. (As reported in the June/July 2012 Washington Report, that April Clinton notified Congress that she had decided to move ahead with the full FY ’11 funding, in spite of a hold placed by Ros-Lehtinen.)

One NGO president explained to the Washington Report that the matter was complicated by the fact that House foreign aid appropriations subcommittee chair Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), who “has more credibility,” had joined in the latest hold, making it more difficult for the State Department to override it.

With the end of the 112th Congress, however, Granger decided not to renew her hold in the 113th Congress. And new Foreign Affairs Committee chair Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) decided to release the funds, but conditioned on Palestinian efforts to halt alleged anti-Semitism in Palestinian media and textbooks.

As the previous “Congress Watch” reported, Ros-Lehtinen originated a Dec. 21 letter to Obama calling on him to, among THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Last December, in the 112th Congress, RosLehtinen introduced H.R. 6657 “to condition security assistance and economic assistance to the government of Egypt in order to advance U.S. national security interests in Egypt, including encouraging the advancement of political, economic, and religious freedom in Egypt.” That bill died with the end of the 112th Congress.

So on Jan. 25 she introduced the identical H.R. 416 in the new Congress, cutting off aid to Egypt unless the secretary of state certifies that a number of far-reaching conditions have been met, including that “Egypt is not controlled by, under the influence of, or include any policy-makers with ties to, a foreign terrorist organization, its affiliates, or its supporters.” With such wording that condition is obviously impossible to meet, which may explain why the bill has gained no co-sponsors.

On Jan. 15 Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) introduced H.R. 276 “to prohibit U.S. assistance to the country of Egypt.” This bill does not make aid to Egypt conditioned on anything; it would simply prohibit aid, forever. It has nine co-sponsors, including Buchanan.

As previously reported, the Pentagon announced in December that the delivery of 20 previously ordered F-16 fighters to Egypt would begin in January of this year.

On Dec. 17, 2012, Sen. James Inhofe (ROK) wrote to Clinton urging that the delivery be delayed. On Jan. 8 he received a reply saying that the delivery would go ahead, and the first four F-16s were delivered on Jan. 22. On Feb. 6, 39 representatives, led by Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR), signed letters to Obama and Kerry asking APRIL 2013

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them “to reconsider the shipment.” The letter concludes: “we urge you both to delay the transfer of additional aircraft and other military assistance until we are sure of Egypt’s government, its alliance with the U.S. and respect for Israel and its people.”

On Jan. 31, Inhofe and six co-sponsors introduced S.207 “to restrict the sale, lease, transfer, or delivery of F-16 aircraft, M1 tanks, or certain other defense articles or services” to Egypt. The bill would delay such shipments until the president certifies that the government of Egypt agrees to (1) continue to uphold its commitments under the Camp David Peace Accords, (2) provide proper security at U.S. embassies and consulates, (3) end its systematic exclusion and silencing of all official minority political opposition, and (4) take concrete steps to engage in dialogue with such opposition parties and consider a coalition, power-sharing government. Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) also introduced an amendment to H.R. 325 (the legislative vehicle chosen to provide disaster relief for victims of hurricane Sandy) that would prohibit all U.S. military sales to Egypt, with no exceptions, conditions or sunset clauses. The amendment was defeated on Jan. 31 by a vote of 79-19. So that same day Paul introduced S. 201 with the same provisions as his amendment. It has no co-sponsors.

The previously reported holds by RosLehtinen and Granger on the proposed transfer of $450 million to the Egyptian government apparently still have not been lifted.

A New Congress Means New Jerusalem and Israeli Visas Bills On Jan. 3, the day the 113th Congress convened, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) introduced H.R. 104, the “Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition” bill, which would require that the U.S. Embassy in Israel be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It is identical to H.R. 1006, introduced in the 112th Congress in March 2011 by thenRep. Dan Burton (R-IN). Among its several provisions is one eliminating the presidential waiver authority included in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. The bill has 11 co-sponsors, including Garrett.

Then, on Jan. 15, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (RUT) introduced the nearly identical H.R. 252. The only noticeable difference is that it changes the provision for withholding State Department acquisition and maintenance funds if the Embassy isn’t moved from FY ’13 (in H.R. 104) to FY ’15. On cue, Ros-Lehtinen on Jan. 9 issued a press release saying that both the “Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition” bill and the “Visa APRIL 2013

Waiver for Israel” bill (described below) “are key to Israel’s sovereignty and economic wellbeing.”

On Jan. 15 Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), with 64 co-sponsors, introduced H.R. 300 “to provide for the inclusion of Israel in the visa waiver program.” It is the same as Sherman’s H.R. 5850 in the 112th Congress.

And on Feb. 7 Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the same S. 266 in the Senate. Israel has not been included in the visa waiver program, because too many Israelis come to the U.S. on tourist visas and then stay on illegally.

New Congress Sees Some Changes To Senate Foreign Relations, House Foreign Affairs Committees As previously reported, the major House Foreign Affairs Committee change in the 113th Congress is the expiration of RosLehtinen’s chairmanship. She will return to chairing the Middle East subcommittee, where she can be expected to continue to try to thwart U.S. interests in the Middle East. The new chairman is Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), who has said he shares many of Ros-Lehtinen’s goals, but also said that he wants to make the committee “more relevant” and “more bipartisan.” The other significant change on the Republican side is that Burton, a long-time member of this magazine’s “Hall of Shame,” has retired. On the Democratic side the major change is the defeat by Sherman of Ranking Member Howard “Even before I was a Democrat I was a Zionist” Berman in the California Democratic primary. Berman’s successor as ranking member is Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY).

Sherman then thought he was in line to be the ranking Democrat on the Middle East subcommittee, but apparently his campaign against Berman did not set well with many Democrats, and Rep. Ted Deutch (DFL) was chosen instead.

As previously noted, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s chairman and ranking Republican have both departed. Former chairman Kerry, who left to become secretary of state, and is replaced by “Hall of Shame” member and scandal-embroiled Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who has already shown that he intends to continue to intensify sanctions against Iran. Ranking Republican Richard Lugar was defeated in Indiana’s Republican primary, and his place is taken by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN).

Another significant change on the Democratic side was the retirement of “Hall of Fame” member Jim Webb (D-VA). His place on the committee is taken by newly elected Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). On the Republican side, perhaps the most significant THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

developments are that outspoken Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is joining the committee and Tea Party stalwart Jim DeMint (RSC) resigned from Congress.

Benghazi, and Even the “Goldstone Report,” Continue to Get Attention Although Clinton and other officials testified in January and February for several days before various Senate and House committees regarding the well-planned and -executed Sept. 11, 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, by a group of well-armed Salafists, some Republicans, especially McCain, were not willing to let it go. On Jan. 18 Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), with 26 Republican co-sponsors, introduced H.Res. 36 “establishing a select committee to investigate and report on the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.” Then, on Jan. 28, Royce, joined by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (HOGRC) chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and HOGRC National Security Subcommittee chairman Chaffetz, wrote to Clinton seeking documents related to the “incomplete” State Department Accountability Review Board (ARB) report on the failures that led to the attack. According to the letter, “unfortunately, the ARB did not address some important questions about the attacks in Benghazi, which we believe may contain crucial lessons learned for other U.S. facilities abroad to follow.”

On Sept. 29, 2009 the U.N. Human Rights Council released its report on the fact-finding mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone investigating Israel’s 2008-9 assault on Gaza. The report, known as the “Goldstone Report,” condemned both Israel and Hamas of “war crimes as well as possible crimes against humanity.” On Jan. 23, 2013—some 16 months later—Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) introduced S. 95 “to withhold U.S. contributions to the U.N. until the U.N. formally retracts” the report.

As with most of the 40-plus bills Vitter has introduced in the 113th Congress, this has gained no co-sponsors.

Aid to Pakistan Continues Under Attack Senator Paul continues to threaten aid to Pakistan over the jailing of Dr. Shakil Afridi, who played a part in the capture of Osama bin Laden. On Jan. 28 he introduced two new bills regarding Afridi. The first, S. 158, “for the relief of Dr. Shakil Afridi,” would confer U.S. citizenship on him. The second, S. 164, would “prohibit the U.S. from providing financial assistance to Pakistan until Dr. Shakil Afridi is freed.” S. 164 has two co-sponsors, including Paul. ❑ 31

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Israeli License to Cheney-Linked Energy Firm on Golan Heights Raises Eyebrows SpecialReport

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Jim Lobe

Then-Vice President Dick Cheney (l) and Likud chairman Benyamin Netanyahu, out of office at the time and serving as the official Israeli opposition leader, at a March 23, 2008 breakfast meeting at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. n a potential new source of contention

Ibetween President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel has reportedly granted a U.S. energy firm with heavyweight political connections a license to explore for oil and gas in the occupied Golan Heights.

The company is a local subsidiary of New Jersey-based Genie Energy Ltd. The Strategic Advisory Board of another subsidiary, Genie Oil and Gas, includes former Vice President Dick Cheney, media magnate Rupert Murdoch, and former Republican Rep. Jim Courter.

It also includes several prominent investment managers, such as Jacob Rothschild, chairman of the J. Rothschild group, and Michael Steinhardt, a major contributor to Jewish and Zionist causes, notably Birthright Israel, a multi-million-dollar program to bring young Diaspora Jews to Israel.

Jim Lobe is Washington, DC bureau chief for Inter Press Service. His blog on U.S. foreign policy can be read at <www.lobelog.com>.

Copyright © 2013 IPS-Inter Press Service.

All rights reserved.

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The granting of the license by Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, which was initially reported by Dow Jones Feb. 21, comes amid continuing civil war in Syria, which has demanded the return of the Heights since Israel took them in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

It also comes a month before Obama was scheduled to make his first visit to Israel as president.

Some analysts here compared the move to previous announcements by the Netanyahu government of new settlement construction on the West Bank or East Jerusalem—either on the eve of or during meetings with top U.S. officials—that have clearly contributed to thinly veiled tensions that exist between the two leaders.

The administration remained tightlipped about the move following the announcement, confining itself only to issuing a terse statement by the State Department acknowledging the press reports about the licence.

“We intend to discuss this issue with the Israeli Government,” it said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this is part of THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Netanyahu’s plan to put additional pressure on the U.S., as he’s done with President Obama in the past,” Charles Ebinger, an energy and Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution, told Inter Press Service (IPS). “He keeps changing the facts on the ground through expansion of settlements and now this on the Golan.

“He keeps taking these actions, whether with the Palestinians or the Syrians. It makes it more and more difficult for the Arabs to come to the table,” he added. “It’s definitely contrary to international law and goes against any number of U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

“The move probably was not intended primarily to stick a thumb in the eye of the United States,” noted Paul Pillar, a former top Middle East analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), “but coming only a month before President Obama’s scheduled trip to Israel, it demonstrates again that the Netanyahu government evidently is not bothered by doing just that.

“The Israelis may be anticipating a replacement of the [President Bashar Al-] Assad regime by new Syrian rulers who would push harder for return of the Golan Heights. The idea from Israel’s perspective would be to try to strengthen its claim to the territory by creating still more facts not only on the ground but underground,” he told IPS in an e-mail exchange.

Unlike East Jerusalem, Israel has not tried to “annex” the Golan Heights, although in 1981 it extended Israeli law and administration to the territory—a move that was declared “null and void” by the U.N. Security Council. The U.S., which at various times has tried to mediate a peace accord between Syria and Israel, has never recognized the Jewish state’s occupation there.

The Heights, which successive Israeli governments have said they are prepared to return to Damascus under certain conditions, currently hold 32 Jewish settlements with a total population of around 20,000.

In 2008, Turkey reportedly came close to mediating a peace accord between Israel and Syria that included a return of the Heights, but the effort fell apart when Israel launched its “Cast Lead” military operation in Gaza late that year.

Despite the ongoing civil war in Syria, APRIL 2013

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hostilities between Assad’s forces and rebel groups have only rarely crossed the border into the Israeli-controlled territory.

Some analysts said the move appeared designed in part to take advantage of the ongoing chaos inside Syria.

Successive Israeli governments rejected drilling applications in the past mainly out of a desire to avoid inflaming tensions with Damascus, according to one knowledgeable source who declined to be identified.

“With no effective government in Damascus, I guess they figured no harm would come from going ahead,” the source said.

One prominent U.S.-based anti-Assad activist, Husam Aldairi, expressed astonishment at the move, asking, “How is it possible to give a licence for drilling in occupied territory?”

Aldairi, who has served as the president of the U.S. section of the Syrian National Council and now serves as vice chairman of the opposition’s National Coalition’s Tribal Council, said the move “will only serve the purpose of supporting Assad against the revolution.”

“I truthfully think that is a very negative thing to do at this point,” he told IPS in an interview in which he stressed that he was speaking in his personal capacity only.

“You’re only agitating the Syrian people.

At this point, they will not be too worried about it, but, in the long run, there has to be a peaceful resolution over the Golan Heights. By their own admission, the Israeli government says it’s occupied territory. So why would they invest millions of dollars in occupied territory?”

The license, which was reportedly contested by the affected settler communities for environmental among other reasons, will permit Genie Israel Oil and Gas Ltd. to conduct exploratory drilling in most of the southern part of the Heights.

Genie, which has an exploration license in the Shfela region of central Asia through another Israeli subsidiary, Israel Energy Initiatives (IEI), and a joint venture with France’s Total to produce shale oil in the U.S. state of Colorado, said it believes the southern Golan contains “significant quantities of conventional oil and gas in relatively tight formations.”

It’s not clear whether the license approval may have been affected by the political clout and sympathies of the Strategic Advisory Board members, such as Cheney, who was a staunch advocate of Israel’s rightist governments during his vicepresidency from 2001 to 2009.

Murdoch’s media empire, which inAPRIL 2013

cludes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, has also been a reliable advocate of Netanyahu’s Likud Party positions over the past 15 years, and particularly since 9/11.

Until he sold it several years ago, Murdoch also financed William Kristol’s Weekly Standard, a hard-line neoconservative journal.

Steinhardt provided major funding for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a particularly hawkish lobby group whose views are close to those of the Likud Party, from its launch just a few days after 9/11 until at least 2008, according to tax records.

Like Cheney and Murdoch’s U.S. publications, FDD championed the Iraq invasion and, in more recent years, has played an important role in drafting and lobbying for draconian sanctions against Iran.

He also co-founded and has donated millions of dollars to Birthright Israel, a program that provides 10-day, all-expenses-paid trips to Israel to tens of thousands of young Jews from around the world each year. In an interview with U.S. journalist Max Blumenthal at a Birthright rally and dance in Israel last year, Steinhardt insisted that “there was no Palestinian people.” ❑

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Bulgarian Revelations Explode Hezbollah Bombing “Hypothesis” SpecialReport

By Gareth Porter

BGNES/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The host of a Bulgarian television talk show asked Tsvetanov Feb. 9 why the conclusion about Hezbollah had been presented as “only a guess.” But instead of refuting that description, Tsvetanov chose to call the tentative judgment a “grounded hypothesis for the complicity of the Hezbollah military wing.”

The reason why the senior official responsible for Bulgarian security used such cautious language beMuslim clerics and relatives attend the funeral of Mustafa Kyosov, the Bulgarian Muslim driver who was killed came clear from an along with five Israeli tourists in a July 18, 2012 suicide bombing of their bus as it was leaving the airport at the interview given by Bulgarian resort of Burgas. the chief prosecutor for the case, Stanella The chief prosecutor in charge of the Karadzhova, who was in charge of the inhen European Union foreign ministers discussed a proposal to desig- Bulgarian investigation revealed in an in- vestigation, published by 24 Hours newsnate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization terview published in early January that paper Jan. 3.

Karadzhova revealed how little was on Feb. 18, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister the evidence available was too scarce to Nikolay Mladenov presented his govern- name any party as responsible, and that in- known about the two men who investigament’s case for linking two suspects in the vestigators had found a key piece of evi- tors believe helped the foreigner killed by the bomb he was carrying, but whom July 18, 2012 bombing of an Israeli tourist dence that appeared to contradict it.

An article in a Bulgarian weekly in mid- Tsvetanov would later link to Hezbollah. bus to Hezbollah.

But European ministers who demand January confirmed that the investigation The reason, she explained, is that they had hard evidence of Hezbollah involvement had turned up no information on a Hezbol- apparently traveled without cell phones or are not likely to find it in the Bulgarian re- lah role, and further reported that one of laptops.

Only two kinds of information appear to port on the investigation, which has pro- the suspects had been linked by a friendly have linked the two, according to the duced no more than an “assumption” or intelligence service to al-Qaeda.

The statement made Feb. 5 by Interior Karadzhova interview, neither of which “hypothesis” of Hezbollah complicity.

Major revelations about the investigation Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov referred to provides insight into their political affiliaby the former head of the probe and by a what he called a “reasonable assumption” tion. One was that both of them had led a top Bulgarian journalist have further dam- or as a “well-founded assumption,” de- “very ordered and simple” lifestyle, which aged the credibility of the Bulgarian claim pending on the translation, that two sus- she suggested could mean that they both to have found links between the suspects pects in the case belonged to Hezbollah’s had similar training.

The other was that both had fake Michi“military formation.” and Hezbollah.

Underlining the extremely tentative na- gan driver’s licenses that had come from Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and ture of the finding, Tsvetanov used the the same country. It was reported subsejournalist specializing in U.S. national secu- passive voice and repeated the carefully quently that the printer used to make the rity policy, received the UK-based Martha chosen formulation for emphasis: “A rea- fake Michigan driver’s licenses had been Gellhorn Prize for journalism for 2011 for sonable assumption, I repeat a reasonable traced to Beirut.

Those fragments of information were evarticles on the U.S. war in Afghanistan. assumption, can be made that the two of Copyright © 2012 IPS-Inter Press Service. them were members of the militant wing of idently the sole basis for the “hypothesis” All rights reserved. that two of the suspects were members of Hezbollah.”

W

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

APRIL 2013

porter_34-35_April 2013 Special Report 2/28/13 1:02 PM Page 35

Hezbollah’s military wing. That hypothesis depended on logical leaps from the information. Any jihadist organization could have obtained fake licenses from the Beirut factory, and a simple lifestyle does not equal Hezbollah military training.

But Karadzhova’s biggest revelation was that investigators had found a SIM card at the scene of the bombing and had hoped it would provide data on the suspects’ contacts before they had arrived at the scene of the bombing. But the telecom company in question was Maroc Telecom, and the Moroccan firm had not responded to requests for that information.

That provenance of the SIM Card is damaging to the Hezbollah “hypothesis,” because Maroc Telecom sells its cards throughout North Africa—a region in which Hezbollah is not known to have any operational bases but where al-Qaeda has a number of large organizations.

Morocco is also considered a “staunch ally” of the United States, so it is unlikely that the Moroccan government would have refused a request from the United States to get the necessary cooperation from Moroccan Telecom.

Senior Bulgarian officials have remained mum about the SIM Card, and Karadzhova was sacked as chief prosecutor shortly after the interview was published, ostensibly because the interview had not been approved.

On Jan. 17, the sister publication of 24 Hours, the weekly 168 Hours, published an article by its editor, Slavi Angelov, reporting that the Bulgarian investigators had failed to find any evidence of Hezbollah involvement.

Angelov, one of the country’s premier investigative journalists, also wrote that one of the two suspects whose fake IDs were traced to Beirut had been linked by a “closely allied intelligence service” to a wing of al-Qaeda.

The story, which is not available on the Internet but was summarized on the 24 Hours Web site, earned a brief reference in a Jan. 17 story in the Jerusalem Post. That story referred to Angelov’s sources for the information about the al-Qaeda link as unnamed officials in the Interior Ministry.

The Angelov story’s revelation that Bulgaria had no evidence linking Hezbollah to the bus bombing was also headlined by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on the same day.

By the time the investigation’s fourmonth extension was due to expire on Jan. 18, there was no question among investigators that they needed much more time to APRIL 2013

reach any meaningful judgment on who was responsible for the bombing. Chief prosecutor Karadzhova told 24 Hours there was “no obstacle to the deadline being extended repeatedly.”

But by mid-January, international politics posed such an obstacle: the United States and Israel were already pointing to the Feb. 18 meeting of EU foreign ministers as an opportunity to get action by the EU on listing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Washington and Tel Aviv wanted a conclusion from the Bulgarians that could be used at that meeting to force the issue.

A meeting of Bulgaria’s Consultative Council for National Security to consider extending the investigation, originally scheduled for Jan. 17, was suddenly postponed.

Instead, on that date Foreign Minister Mladenov was sent on an unannounced visit to Israel. Israel’s Channel 2 reported after the meetings with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror that Bulgaria had given Israel a report blaming Hezbollah for the bus bombing.

The office of the Bulgarian foreign minister and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov both issued denials Jan. 18. Borissov said there would be no comment on the inves-

tigation until “indisputable evidence has been discovered,” implying that it did not have the needed evidence yet.

Nevertheless, over the next three weeks, the Bulgarian government had to negotiate the wording of what it would say about the conclusion of its investigation.

The decision to call the conclusion an “assumption” or even the weaker “hypothesis” about Hezbollah was obviously a compromise between the preference of the investigators themselves and the demands of the United States and Israel.

The timing of that decision is a sensitive issue in Bulgaria. Prime Minister Borissov told reporters in Brussels Feb. 7 that he had decided to “name Hezbollah” after investigators had found the SIM card at the site of the bombing. That would put the decision well before Karadzhova gave her interview Jan. 1.

And in any case, the discovery of the SIM card could not have caused the investigators to veer toward Hezbollah but would have called that hypothesis into question.

Tsvetanov admitted that the Hezbollah “assumption” had been adopted only “after the middle of January.” That admission indicates that the decision was reached under pressure from Washington, not because of any new evidence. ❑

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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Celebrating Elections at the Risk of Forgetting Pakistan’s History SpecialReport

FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Hamzah Saif

Activists from Pakistan’s opposition parties during a Feb. 4 protest in Islamabad to express solidarity with the Election Commission of Pakistan and demand its empowerment to ensure free and fair general elections. judicial and media powerhouses appear firmly committed to the electoral process.

In March an elected government in Is- Negotiations regarding the composition of a lamabad will have completed a full term for caretaker government to oversee the electhe first time—an accomplishment pa- tions, and the establishment of an election raded with fanfare by the incumbents. Ac- commission headed by the respected activist cording to noted Swedish political scientist and former Supreme Court Judge FakhrudStaffan Lindberg, a stable democracy is one din G. Ebrahim, bolster expectations of an that has completed three consecutive non- honest and transparent vote.

Moreover, the political competition is inviolent elections. With its second election expected early this summer, this moment tense. The ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which rode to victory on a sympais being hailed as historic for Pakistan.

In fact, given the country’s checkered de- thetic vote in the wake of the assassination mocratic history, interspersed with military of former leader Benazir Bhutto, has squancoups, the transition still seems so unlikely dered support through its abject governance. to many Pakistanis that fears of a military or A return to incumbency is unlikely. Its pritechnocratic interruption remain. The mid- mary rival, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz January arrival of politician-theologian Dr. (PML-N), led by former Prime Minister Tahir-ul-Qadri, whose demand for electoral Nawaz Sharif, would have benefited in a reform threatened to postpone elections, had two-party contest, but now faces a new lent significant fuel to the rumors. However, challenger. After nearly two decades as a poa disruption of the transition seems increas- litical pariah, Imran Khan’s populist Pakistan ingly unlikely. The country’s military lacks Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has established itself the requisite legitimacy for a takeover, and as a potent force in PML-N’s electoral bastions of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Regional parties, such as the Karachi- and Hamzah Saif is a researcher with the World Bank. He has previously worked with the Sindh-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement USAID-funded FAIDA project in Afghani - (MQM), and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwastan, and has written on and advocated for based Awami National Party (ANP), which improved human security conditions in Pak- each garnered roughly a third of the seats in istan and Afghanistan with the Muslim their provincial strongholds in 2008, can be Public Affairs Council. expected to perform similarly this year. he media is atwitter: Pakistan is headed

Tfor elections.

36

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Meanwhile, the religious right, historically only a marginal force in Pakistan—with Jammat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat UlemaIslam (JUI) strongest among them—is expected to continue its electoral decline from its 2002, post-U.S.-invasion-of-Afghanistan high to cumulatively secure less than 5 percent of the national vote.

Despite this encouraging robustness of the electoral processes, however, one must resist the temptation to indulge in too sanguine an assessment of Pakistan’s democratic progress. While the elections augur an optimistic trend, it is critical to realize that contemporary electoral achievements and considerations are largely an elite concern, and remain divorced from the myriad of woes that ordinary Pakistanis face daily.

Devastating electricity and fuel shortages cripple the country. Hospitals must contend with medical shortages; public transport is in ruins; kidnappings, robberies and general lawlessness abounds. Despite positive trends in the higher courts, justice remains ever inaccessible for ordinary Pakistanis. And an inflation rate of well above 10 percent has put basic commodities out of reach for many millions of citizens.

And that’s in the relatively peaceful provinces. Elsewhere, secessionist movements and insurgencies have become longstanding realities. Baluchistan, territorially the largest province, remains caught in the turmoil of an armed separatist movement and the military’s brutal response. Assassinations and urban bombings claim hundreds of lives each month. Khyber-Puktunkhwa, meanwhile, continues to be the battlefield for American and Pakistani interests in Afghanistan; its residents—more than a million homeless, thousands dead— pay the price of these imperial ambitions.

In this atmosphere, celebrating the completion of a full electoral term as a monumental achievement in national history represents at best a one-dimensional portrait of contemporary Pakistan. Less charitably put, the discussion continues the worrisome trend among many Pakistani and American commentators of focusing only on the perceptions and concerns of the country’s elite.

In Pakistan, the preoccupation with identifying the peaceful completion of an electoral term as a milestone in national progress fits neatly into the government’s historiogAPRIL 2013

saif_36-37_Special Report 2/28/13 10:01 AM Page 37

raphy. School textbooks present a story of Pakistan focused on political power-players, from Jinnah to Zia to Musharrafâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;systematically erasing from national memory the inconvenient consistency of marginalization evident in the histories of wage laborers and nurses, sharecroppers and teachers, and the other communities that constitute the majority of Pakistan.

These citizens have long contested their exclusion from national history. In the years immediately following the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creation, its vigorous progressive movement argued for a continued struggle for independence, claiming Pakistan would not achieve substantive freedom until its masses were emancipated from economic and political destitution. Today, despite decades of economic and social conservatism, some commentators continue to prioritize issues of cyclical poverty and political marginalization over the glamor of elections. Unfortunately their voices are drowned out by privatized Pakistani media channels competing for ratings, and by American audiences hungry for positive news with recognizable buzzwords.

But the limited relevance of this electoral

achievement is an inescapable reality on the Pakistani street.

Weary of economic turmoil, some fondly remember the (albeit illusory) prosperity under Pervez Musharrafâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dictatorship.

The sentiment is sufficiently prevalent to have deserved mention early this February in the farewell remarks of Der Spiegelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s departing Pakistan correspondent. Musharraf himself continues to head a political party that enjoys pockets of support.

Also rejecting the current elected government are those citizens who have become the targets of violence through state complicity or its ineptitude. In mid-January, following the massacre of almost a hundred community members, Hazara Shiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;i in Baluchistan asked for a military removal of the provincial government that had failed to protect their lives and property. Similarly, in early February, the otherwise staunchly anti-junta Pashtun ANP called for a military deployment in the southern metropolis of Karachi, where Pashtuns have become the targets of kidnappings and assassination campaigns.

Like all people, Pakistanis want a government attuned and responsive to their de-

mands. While grassroots democratic movements are active in every part of the country, they remain as antagonistic to the current electoral process as supportive of it. The Lawyers Movement of 2007 that precipitated Musharrafâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dismissal also marched against his elected successor in 2009. Just as Punjabi peasants were beaten under Musharraf for protesting military appropriation of their land, today electricity and telecommunication industry employees are intimidated by the government and beaten by the police for protesting their abysmal working conditions.

It is very tempting to celebrate the first completion in Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history of an elected governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s full termâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;certainly, one does not wish to diminish the benefits of democracy to the country. However, it is necessary to acknowledge that a singular focus on the achievement of elections is a disservice to those Pakistanis who struggle for democratic representation under this regime as they did under the junta. We cannot turn our faces from this reality in favor of spurious fantasies of democratic salvation if we wish to understand and sympathize with the lives of the majority of Pakistanis. â?&#x2018;

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37

twair_spread_38-39_Special Report 2/28/13 6:59 PM Page 38

Unique Egyptian Dolls Seek Museum Home SpecialReport

By Pat McDonnell Twair ust a first glance at Mahalabiya, Zeinab,

JAgouza, Amal and Zaki brings a smile to

their beholder. Even cranky curmudgeons grin and want to know more about them.

As dolls go, the five are neither beauties nor perfectly proportioned—but they are irresistible!

The dolls were sewn in 1980 under the watchful eye of anthropologist Andrea B. Rugh, who paid village women at a social welfare center near Alexandria, Egypt to create dresses for the dolls replicating the style of the province in which they were born.

Plump Mahalabiya is attired in the “embire” look of the Boheira Governorate which was copied after the high-waisted, décolletage style worn by camp followers of Napoleon’s troops when they occupied Egypt in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A special decorative piece has been inserted into the neckline for a more modest appearance.

The beauty, Zeinab, has violet-hued hair and wears a dress identified with the Kulubiya Governorate just north of Cairo. The emphasis on her garment is its high waist.

The square neckline is surrounded by triangular cutouts; tucks on the sleeves render a leg-of-mutton height to the upper arm.

Agouza, the blue-haired old lady, is attired in a black dress common to the Sharkiya Governorate in the south. A touch of elegance comes from sparkling glass and gold beads at the neckline with a line of open work called shebabiik (literally “windows”) that reveal glimpses of skin.

Her conservative garment was brought with immigrant families from the south of Egypt.

Red hair distinguishes Amal, whose dress is a variation of the style known in the Gharbiya Governorate. There are shebabiik crenellation at the neckline and a ruffle at the hemline, with an extra tuck for lengthening after shrinkage from washing.

The galibiya, common to most rural Arab men and boys, is worn by Zaki, whose crocheted under cap is topped by a Pat McDonnell Twair is a free-lance writer based in Los Angeles.

38

Fez-like cap of woven reeds.

While Dr. Rugh insisted the women meticulously copy each detail of their village dress, she was amused by the humor they showed in selecting the hair color for each female doll.

Al-

tions of her dolls in her book Reveal and Conceal: Dress in Contemporary Egypt (1986, Syracuse University Press), but later decided to commission an artist to draw the dresses identifiable with each region.

Overall, she concluded in the late 1970s, rural

though these regional dresses were commonplace in the 1970s, they rarely are seen today in Egyptian cities, where women from the countryside tend to wear the standard galibiya bi suffra overdress, which doesn’t allow merchants to identify them as “country bumpkin” easy marks.

The dolls were patterned after longlegged models whose exaggerated limbs serve to seal window frames from winter drafts. Dr. Rugh intended to use illustra-

men’s clothing identified their occupation and status. As farmers they wore loose galibiyas; as workers returning from oil countries they wore a more tailored galibiya, and as students and graduates they wore Westernized clothing. Rural women tended to identify with geographical place, community and convention. Many rural women attending educational institutions wore long dresses or adopted Islamic attire. By doing this, they indicated their

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

APRIL 2013

twair_spread_38-39_Special Report 2/28/13 6:59 PM Page 39

modern status as educated persons but didn’t compromise their modesty.

Dr. Rugh is a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. She and her diplomat husband, William Rugh, who was U.S. ambassador to Yemen from 1984 to 1987 and to the United Arab Emirates from 1992 to 1995, have enjoyed the dolls over the past three decades—as have their granddaughters. Now they agree it’s time for the dolls to be viewed by the public in a museum that will exhibit them permanently. She’ll also include a copy of Reveal and Conceal.

Interested museums should send their requests to this writer at <pamir7133@sbcglobal.net>. ❑

ABOVE: Egyptian dolls (from left) Amal, Mahalabiya, Zeinab and Agouza.

TOP RIGHT: Anthropologist Andrea B. Rugh holding Mahalabiya and Zeinab.

RIGHT: Zaki wears a loose galibiya and crocheted cap.

Photos Vickie Baily

APRIL 2013

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

39

gee_40_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 2/27/13 7:13 PM Page 40

Peace at Last in the Southern Philippines?

Islam and the Near East in theFar East

KARLOS MANLUPIG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By John Gee

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III (r) shares candies with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahim during a Feb. 11 visit to the rebels’ stronghold in Sultan Kudarat on the island of Mindanao.

40-year-old conflict in the Philip-

Apines that so far has cost the lives of

150,000 people and displaced two million may be drawing to an end.

Although widely regarded in the West as a strongly Catholic country, the Philippines has a substantial Muslim minority, concentrated on the west side of Mindanao, the archipelago’s second largest island, and in the smaller islands to its west, between the Philippines and Borneo. They are commonly known as Moros.

The Philippines’ capital, Manila, was a predominantly Muslim city when Spanish ships first arrived in the region, but it was conquered by the Spanish and became the center of their rule. The main Muslim areas not only put up a strong resistance to these colonialists, but were also the site of rebel activity against U.S. forces after the latter occupied the Philippines during the 1898 Spanish-American War. (Film fans of a certain age may recall “The Real Glory,” a 1939 film starring Gary Cooper in which the hero battles Moro guerrillas, who are portrayed as ruthless and without any redeeming features.)

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

40

The regime of Ferdinand Marcos showed no respect for the Muslims, whose resentment intensified in reaction to a policy of settling Christian Filipinos in areas of Mindanao inhabited by Muslims. They felt as though they were being squeezed out of their home territory. Under the leadership of Nur Misuari, the Moro National Liberation Front was founded in 1969, and shortly afterward it launched an armed struggle for an independent state. A peace agreement signed with the Philippines government in 1996, with the promise of an autonomous region, was a failure. Some Muslims still wanted an independent state, but a more fundamental problem was that the autonomy scheme was too limited in scope to satisfy most Muslims: it covered only a portion of the Muslim-majority areas, and the limited central government aid that was allocated to the autonomous region did not go far once it had filtered through its corrupt administration.

As a result, popular support gravitated toward other opposition movements, especially the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which had an army variously estimated at between 12,000 and 20,000 fighters at its disposal. Philippines army offensives against the MILF were costly to both THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

sides, and worsened the refugee problem without producing a decisive breakthrough. An on-and-off peace process dragged on for 15 years. It seemed as though a breakthrough had finally been achieved in 2008, when a preliminary peace pact was agreed that provided for an enlarged autonomous Muslim region—but opponents scuttled the deal by taking it to the Supreme Court and managing to have it declared unconstitutional. It didn’t help that the then-government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appeared half-hearted in its commitment to the pact.

Arroyo’s successor, Benigno Aquino III, came to office in June 2010 with promises of reform, including a determination to resolve the armed conflicts plaguing the Philippines. In August 2011, he arranged a secret meeting in Japan with MILF’s chairman, Murad Ebrahim—the first to take place between a Filipino president and the MILF leader. Aquino committed his government to seeking to sign a comprehensive peace agreement within a year. That proved a little over-optimistic, but on Oct. 15, 2012 a preliminary peace agreement was signed in Manila between Aquino and Ebrahim, witnessed by Malaysian Premier Najib Razak.

In addition to providing for the larger autonomous region agreed under the abortive pact of four years’ earlier, it was underwritten by the promise of enhanced development aid from the central government and the strong personal commitment of the president. In return, the MILF agreed to dismantle its armed forces; some are likely to be integrated into the Philippines army.

This past February Aquino visited a MILF base in Mindanao. In a speech to former rebels, he stressed the importance of achieving a final settlement before his term ends in 2016. The prospects seem good. Aquino’s support in the Senate and the country at large is strong, and the Philippines’ economy is performing fairly well at present, so the conditions for making a peace settlement stick are more favorable than they were in 2008. It is true that there are those in the Muslim areas who are against any agreement with the Philippines government short of independence, but they enjoy very limited support. Whether that changes depends on Continued on page 42 APRIL 2013

amin_41-42_Special Report 2/27/13 7:18 PM Page 41

Tunisia in Turmoil: What Next?

SpecialReport

By Esam Al-Amin

Constituent Assembly.

Within weeks of the elections, Ennahda formed a two years ago came from coalition with two other Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia. For secular and leftist parties, 28 days people across the namely, the Congress for country revolted against the Republic, led by the repression and corruphuman rights activist tion of the 23-year authorMoncef Marzouki, and itarian regime of Zine El the Bloc for Labor and Abidine Ben Ali. Finally, Liberties, led by legon Jan. 14, 2011 Tunisians endary leftist Mustafa Bin celebrated their victory Jaafar. While Ennahda reand resilience over tained the post of prime tyranny and oppression minister, to be occupied when Ben Ali fled the by its general secretary, country. But if getting rid Hamadi Jebali, it backed of the dictator was relaMarzouki as president tively short and easy, the and Bin Jafaar as parliadismantling of his regime mentary speaker. The and its corrosive effects on main loser in the elections society has proven to be was a coalition of 11 very challenging indeed. rigidly anti-Islamist secuTunisia possessed several lar parties and former advantages over other Arab communists under the countries experiencing name of Democratic Modrevolutionary change since ernist Pole, which gar2011. Compared to Egypt, nered no more than five it is a relatively small counseats in the Assembly. try of 11 million, with a Thus, by the end of the homogeneous population first year after Ben Ali’s and a highly literate puboverthrow, Ennahda and lic. In the half-century its coalition partners were since its independence from France in 1956, A Tunisian protester holding a poster of murdered opposition leader Chokri Be- in firm control of the Tunisian society was able laid flashes the victory sign during a Feb. 23 demonstration on Habib Bour- Tunisian political scene.

Their one-year mandate to recover from its three- guiba Ave. in Tunis. quarter-century colonial past, reclaiming its ment led by the Ennahda (Renaissance) was to lead the transitional period by writArab and Islamic heritage by establishing Party represents one of the most religiously ing a new constitution, stabilizing the strong political parties and popular social moderate and modern political Islamist economy, purging the state bureaucracy of movements based on Arab nationalism and trends in the Arab and Islamic world. Its the corrupt elements of the former regime, outlook on modernity and the relationship and preparing for new parliamentary elecIslamic ideology.

But even as secularism and liberalism between state and society is similar to the tions after the passage of a new constitumaintain a distinct presence in Tunisian so- Justice and Development Party in Turkey. tion.

But despite the great hopes and relative ciety, as well as being rooted among the Ennahda’s leader, Sheikh Rachid al-Ghanelites and in urban areas, religious traditions nouchi, is also considered one of the most calm of the first year, the following year and practice are strongly embedded modernist Islamic thinkers, who readily ac- was marred by bitter political divisions, throughout the country and across all cepts the concept of the modern democratic economic stagnation, and the deterioration of security. On the Islamic front, several classes, particularly among the poor and the state with all its nuances and limitations.

As the political party that suffered conservative Salafist parties were estabmiddle class. In addition, the Islamic movethrough the most repressive measures car- lished, challenged Ennahda, and pushed Esam Al-Amin is the author of the newly re- ried out by the former regime’s security for a more conservative agenda, calling for leased book The Arab Awakening Unveiled: forces for more than two decades, Ennahda the inclusion of shariah as the source of Understanding Transformations and Rev- unsurprisingly won a plurality in the Oc- legislation in the new constitution.

These calls provoked a bitter debate beolutions in the Middle East (available from tober 2011 elections, capturing 42 percent the AET Book Club). He can be contacted at of the vote and becoming the country’s tween the Islamists on one hand, and majority party, with 89 of 217 seats in the staunch secularists, liberals and leftists on <alamin1919@gmail.com>. he spark that ignited

FETHI BELAID/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Tthe Arab Spring over

APRIL 2013

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

41

amin_41-42_Special Report 2/27/13 7:18 PM Page 42

the other. The frame of the discussion was effectively changed from a â&#x20AC;&#x153;revolutionary vs. counter-revolutionaryâ&#x20AC;? political struggle into an â&#x20AC;&#x153;Islamist vs. secularistâ&#x20AC;? ideological battle.

Since the conservative members of Ennahda were drawn into this fight on the side of the Salafists, the debate consumed and drained the country for several months until Ghannouchi and Ennahdaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership wisely ended it by siding with the liberal parties and saying they would not include the word shariah in the constitution. Ghannouchi reasoned that lifting the language from the old constitution that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Islam is the religion of the stateâ&#x20AC;? was enough to preserve the Islamic identity of Tunisian society. He argued that any mention of shariah would needlessly divide the society, and that Islamic law could not be imposed from above.

Using highly volatile rhetoric, the secularist opposition nevertheless still accused Ennahda of having a secret Islamist agenda, charging that the Islamist party was trying to infiltrate the state and appoint thousands of its members to the most sensitive positions in government. Furthermore, ordinary Tunisians felt that their economic well-being not only failed to improve but had actually worsened, as labor strikes, demonstrations and civil disobedience became more frequent.

In reality, most Tunisians had revolted against the Ben Ali regime not only to end its political repression but to address its economic corruption, poor performance, high unemployment and lack of social justice. But now the corrupt elements of the former regime, currently occupying sensitive positions in the media, intelligence services, security forces and state bureaucracy, have further undermined the coali(Advertisement)

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tion government by incessantly attacking Ennahda and its leaders.

In the midst of the tensions caused by charges and counter charges between the Islamists and secularists, who are aided by former regime loyalists, political turmoil in the country escalated when a popular political figure, Chokri Belaid, was assassinated. Belaid was a labor and human rights lawyer and politician who led the left-secular Democratic Patriotsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Movement. He was extremely vocal against political Islam and sharply critical of Ennahda and its leaders. On Feb. 6, he was killed in front of his house by unknown assailants.

Until then, assassinations were unheard of in the political context of Tunisian society. Secular groups quickly accused the Islamists of carrying out the shocking act.

All political parties condemned it, as hundreds of thousands participated in Belaidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s massive funeral and protested the horrifying act. Furthermore, four secular and leftist parties withdrew from the Assembly and called for general strikes. Prime Minister Jebali called the killing â&#x20AC;&#x153;a political assassination and the assassination of the Tunisian revolution,â&#x20AC;? while Ennahda issued a statement calling the attack a â&#x20AC;&#x153;heinous crimeâ&#x20AC;? which targeted the â&#x20AC;&#x153;security and stability of Tunisia.â&#x20AC;?

The immediate political consequence of this incident was a declaration by Jebali on state TV to form a new caretaker government made up of technocrats and professionals. The nation needed to de-escalate the political tensions and focus on the acute political and economic problems facing the country, he stated. While many opposition parties welcomed his announcement, Ennahda rejected it. Ghannouchi warned that a government composed of political parties with a shared agenda and a common program would better guarantee legitimacy and stability. While they both suffered from divisions within their own ranks, resulting in party splits, Ennahdaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two coalition partners initially backed Jebaliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but then withdrew their support in favor of a political government. Their critics charge that the coalition is trying desperately to cling to power after failing to fulfill any of their electoral mandates, from writing a new constitution to overseeing an economic recovery and growth.

On the other hand, Ennahda leaders argue that a new constitution has indeed been drafted that enshrines many rights, freedoms and principles of democratic governance. They bitterly and discreetly complain of foreign interference that aims to undermine the revolution and destabilize THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

the Islamistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rule. As Jebali resigned and refused to form the next government on the basis of political coalitions, Ennahda chose Interior Minister Ali al-Aridh to form the next government with the same coalition partners. Al-Aridh vowed to form a government composed of all political trends and competent technocrats.

One reason revolutions are so rare in history is that they represent massive popular expressions of discontent and anger with the existing political order built up over decades. Once they reach the tipping point, they result in the toppling of the existing order and establishment of a new one. But the most important principle during the transition period is not the implementation or preservation of democratic norms, based on sharp political and ideological differences, but the preservation of political and social harmony in the country until the old regime is completely eradicated and a new order is established in its place. The sooner Tunisian leaders of all political strands recognize this fact and focus on the main objectives of the revolutionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;namely freedom, social and economic justice and human dignityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and postpone their ideological battles until a new order is established, the more likely their remarkable revolution will succeed and endure. â?&#x2018;

Islam and the Near Eastâ&#x20AC;Ś Continued from page 40

how the peace process advances in the next couple of years.

Malaysian Prime Minister visits Gaza Malaysian Prime Minister Najib visited the Gaza Strip on Jan. 23. Along with his foreign minister, Anifah Aman, and other officials, he crossed into Palestine from Egypt. Najib became the latest political leader to break the diplomatic siege imposed by Israel and the U.S. on the government of Ismail Haniya after Hamas won a majority in a democratic election in 2007.

Najib said that the purpose of his visit was to â&#x20AC;&#x153;show solidarity and our support for the struggle of the Palestinian people.â&#x20AC;?

He also stated his support for efforts to bring together Hamas and Fatah, the two largest Palestinian political parties, in a government that could prepare the way for another general election.

The diplomatic siege was first broken

by Qatarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emir, Sheikh Hamid bin Khalifa al-Thani, in October 2012. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, also has visited the Gaza Strip. â?&#x2018; APRIL 2013

opm_43-44_Other People's Mail 2/27/13 5:14 PM Page 43

Other People’s Mail Compiled by Dale Sprusansky

Senators Clueless To The Westerly [RI] Sun, Feb. 8, 2013 The Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Chuck Hagel’s nomination for secretary of defense was disheartening.

While attacking Hagel, several committee members displayed abject ignorance about Israel and Iran. They tried to outdo each other expressing their fealty to Israel and hostility toward Iran. (They showed almost no interest in America’s longest war— Afghanistan—or the Pentagon budget.)

Any interested 10th-grader can discover that Israel has nuclear weapons and Iran does not; and that Iran abides by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while Israel rejects it. You also don’t need a high school diploma to learn that Israel has bombed or invaded its neighbors in recent years, while it’s been more than 250 years since Iran attacked another country.

One might expect that our senators would make a little effort to learn the truth.

But instead they obediently accept the false propaganda from Binyamin Netanyahu, AIPAC and the AP’s George Jahn (just as they accepted the lies justifying war with Iraq). Then they give Israel unlimited weapons and billions of U.S. tax dollars to destroy Palestinian homes, crops and lives.

And they impose sanctions on Iran to crush its economy and starve its people.

Rod Driver, Richmond, RI

Hagel Courageous To the [Rochester, MN] Post-Bulletin, Jan. 10, 2013 Neoconservatives—Jews and Christians who prefer force of arms over diplomacy and Israel’s interests over America’s own— are out to stop former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel from being confirmed as the next secretary of defense.

One statement of his that will be recycled by his detractors was uttered in 2008: “I’m not an Israeli senator. I’m a U.S. senator.”

It was primarily the neoconservatives, including Dick Cheney and “Scooter” Libby in the White House and Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith in Defense, who fixed the intelligence to promote going to war with Iraq, even though Iraq was not involved in 9/11, had no association with al-Qaeda, possessed no weapons of mass APRIL 2013

destruction and posed no threat to the United States.

Hagel’s 2008 statement is a courageous declaration of independence from the proIsrael lobby and gives hope to Americans who think a war with Iran on Israel’s behalf, a repeat of the Iraq debacle, would be disastrous in lives lost and another body blow to the fragile world economy.

Bob Norberg, Lake City, MN

Fasters Protest Israel To The London [Ontario] Free Press, Feb. 25, 2013

I am one of hundreds of people worldwide who have begun a rolling international fast in solidarity with Samer Issawi and other prisoners in the Israeli jail system who are dying for freedom. Issawi has been fasting for more than 210 days.

The practice of administrative detention (without the possibility of a legal defense) has been widely condemned by human rights organizations and international jurists. It is particularly indefensible in the case of those who, like Issawi, were freed in an exchange of prisoners, only to be detained once again.

Former prisoner Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit now enjoys his freedom; there is no justification for imprisoning again those released at the same time as him, like Samer Issawi.

We call on the Israeli authorities to free these detainees and end the inhumane practice of administrative detention.

David Heap, London, Ontario, Canada

Trip Raises Questions To the [Kennewick, WA] Tri-City Herald, Feb. 2, 2013 I recently traveled to Palestine and Israel with a “Pilgrims of Ibillin” pilgrimage. I saw bulldozed homes, “erased” villages, bullet holes, separated lands, checkpoints, razor wire fences, 27-foot-high walls, higher guard towers, guards, Israel Defense Forces teenage soldiers with M16s, restricted water access, illegal settlements on prime land, road blockades—all in land that had been designated for the Palestinians—and in land that had been home to Palestinians for ages.

I returned home to the United States. I learned Israel is the biggest long-term reTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

cipient of U.S. aid. It receives $3 billion per year from the United States, and in the spring of 2012, Congress came together to earmark in the midst of the U.S. budget crisis an extra $1 billion in military aid to Israel—all to a country that occupies Palestinian land and lives.

If all this aid were actually helping, it might be justifiable. But, Israel should not be above the law in violating the rights of the Palestinian people. Instead, Israel is hurting Palestinians, Israelis and Americans. It is a danger to the entire world.

We are all human beings. We are all children of God. We must come together and share in our blessings and in our sorrows.

Karen Marvin, Richland, WA

Truth About Israel To the Poughkeepsie [NY] Journal, Feb. 12, 2013 Courageous Israeli soldiers are telling the truth about official military policies intended to intimidate and terrorize Palestinian civilians. Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter speak the truth about Israeli apartheid, segregated roads, and violence against Palestinians. International human rights agencies speak the truth about the ongoing food, medical, water and electricity shortages resulting from Israel’s inhumane blockade of Gaza. Even the U.S. government speaks the truth about the damage resulting from Israel’s construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank.

Some supporters of Israel do not like to hear these truths. I would humbly suggest that Israel’s supporters pressure Israel to stop building illegal settlements for thousands of settlers, treat all Israelis and Palestinians equally, and make provisions for the return of farms and land stolen from Palestinian families. All of the whitewashing, spinning and propaganda from the Israeli lobby and groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee will not change the truth about official Israeli policy and behavior. Only the Israeli government is in a position to stop the illegal settlements, treat all Palestinians and Israelis equally, and make arrangements for Palestinians to return to land and farms that were confiscated from them. Ultimately, the truth will set Israel free. For 43

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Israel to live in peace with all, it needs to provide justice for all.

Eli Kassirer, New Paltz, NY

Cut off Aid to Israel To the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Jan. 28, 2013 The column “Break the diplomatic rules” by Thomas Friedman is flawed for two important reasons. First, he would solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by placing a long list of demands on the Palestinians, but none on the Israelis. Second, he acts as if the two sides were equal opponents, when, in fact, the opposite is true.

Friedman should listen to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which wrote in an editorial last year, “Israel is ruled today by an extremist rightist government that objects to any compromise—a fact that the Obama administration is unwilling to admit. Nor has it chastised Israel, which receives more U.S. aid than any other country, for its unrelenting harsh treatment of the Palestinians.”

President Barack Obama should pressure the Palestinians to join Fatah and Hamas together, while also pressuring Israel to sign a just two-state peace settlement, based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

Obama must find the courage to tell Israeli officials that he is willing to end all U.S. aid to them if they refuse his offer.

Only then will there be peace in the Middle East.

Ray Gordon, Venice, FL

Review All Drone Killings To The New York Times, Feb. 12, 2013 I am deeply, deeply disturbed at the suggestion in “A Court to Vet Kill Lists” (Feb. 9) that possible judicial review of President Obama’s decisions to approve the targeted killing of suspected terrorists might be limited to the killings of American citizens.

Do the United States and its people really want to tell those of us who live in the rest of the world that our lives are not of the same value as yours? That President Obama can sign off on a decision to kill us with less worry about judicial scrutiny than if the target is an American? Would your Supreme Court really want to tell humankind that we, like the slave Dred Scott in the 19th century, are not as human as you are? I cannot believe it.

I used to say of apartheid that it dehumanized its perpetrators as much as, if not more than, its victims. Your response as a society to Osama bin Laden and his fol44

lowers threatens to undermine your moral standards and your humanity.

Desmond M. Tutu, archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, aboard MV Explorer, near Hong Kong

Torture and Drones To The Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 6, 2013 The Justice Department defends the legality of killing suspected terrorists, even Americans, on the power of President Obama’s directive alone (“Okay to use drones”). But if those same suspects are caught in the field of battle, water boarding them for three seconds to gain information is illegal and inhumane.

And that makes sense, morally or legally, how?

Jeanne Kilgore, Sharonville, OH

Oversight for Drones To the Los Angeles Times, Feb. 9, 2013 Re: “Obama agrees to release files on drone strike,” Feb. 7 The recently leaked Justice Department memo that outlined the overly broad and vague legal boundaries used to justify drone strikes should shake the American

WRITE OR TELEPHONE THOSE WORKING FOR YOU IN WASHINGTON. President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20500 (202) 456-1414 White House Comment Line: (202) 456-1111 Fax: (202) 456-2461 Secretary of State John Kerry Department of State Washington, DC 20520 State Department Public Information Line: (202) 647-6575 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 AND THE WHITE HOUSE E-mail Congress: visit the Web site <www.congress.org> for contact information.

E-mail President Obama: <president@whitehouse.gov> E-mail Vice President Joe Biden: <vice.president@whitehouse.gov>

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

people to the core.

While I applaud President Obama for releasing more information to the Senate and House intelligence committees, the root of the problem remains: The administration is using the Authorization for the Use of Military Force passed by the House on Sept.

14, 2001 as one of the justifications for the lethal use of drones. As the only member of Congress who voted against this blank check, I believe now more than ever that we must repeal it.

We need a full debate of the consequences of the September 2001 action, and meaningful oversight by Congress is vital.

As commander in chief, it is Obama’s duty to keep our country safe, but Congress must not retreat from its constitutional obligation of oversight. These checks and balances are the foundation of our democracy, and they must stay intact.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland

Drones Are Illegal To the Los Angeles Times, Feb. 22, 2013 In 2012, Christof Heyns, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions, characterized many drone attacks as war crimes in violation of international law.

The U.N. Human Rights Council is now deliberating whether to concur.

In any case, extrajudicial executions are banned by Articles 6, 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Michael Haas, Los Angeles, CA

Pull Plug on Afghanistan To The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 22, 2013 Regarding “How to Waste a Decade in Afghanistan” by Frederick W. Kagan and Kimberly Kagan: Is it reasonable to ask our armed forces to continue efforts to greatly reduce the presence of the Taliban and alQaeda in Afghanistan? Why do we think we can succeed? We’ve already paid a huge price in lives, misery and money, including multiple deployments and suicides.

The Taliban and al-Qaeda can always retreat to the mountains or Pakistan in order to fight another day. Negotiating with the Taliban would seem to be an oxymoronic.

This war can be compared with Vietnam. Both have included fuzzy objectives, a weak and double-dealing government and a very clever foe who will never give up. It has all the earmarks of a quagmire.

Does anyone really believe that keeping large numbers of our military there will lead to a long-term, satisfactory outcome?

J.D. Bullington, Phoenix, AZ ❑ APRIL 2013

APRIL 2013

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THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST

The New York Times Syndicate, New York

Al Ahram, Cairo

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Israel Channel 1, Jerusalem

www.OtherWords.org

The Economist, London

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Celebrating Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark on His 85th Birthday

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. mong the many, many tributes from

Apeople all over the world to Ramsey

Clark at the gala celebration of his 85th birthday at New York City’s Riverside Church on Jan. 12, Imam Ashrafuz Zaman Khan of the Islamic Circle of North America captured the spirit of the evening most succinctly: “Ramsey Clark’s mission is the same as the prophets—oppose injustice; work for peace.”

Clark, the son of Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark, was assistant attorney general and then attorney general during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

After that, instead of playing it safe in Washington, he traveled the world over opposing injustice and working for peace—to Vietnam, Iran, Cuba, Palestine (for 30 years Clark was the Palestine Liberation Organization’s U.S. attorney), Nicaragua, Iraq, Yugoslavia. In 1992 Clark founded the all-volunteer International Action Center. Its mission, as co-director Sara Flounders explained, is to defend the demonized. According to another co-director, Teresa Gutierrez, “Ramsey Clark chose to commit class suicide. He could Jane Adas is a free-lance writer based in the New York City metropolitan area.

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travel in limousines; instead he carries his own luggage.”

In acknowledging so much warmth and appreciation, Clark admitted he was sort of embarrassed, then quickly moved on. He noted that Riverside Church was where, on April 4, 1967—one year to the day before he was murdered—Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “Beyond Vietnam” address. At the time, King sent Clark a note saying how hard it was to call his own country “the greatest purveyor of violence on earth.” The violence, Clark observed more than 45 years later, “now exceeds anything the world has ever known. It must be stopped.”

Clark insisted that attention be paid to Trident submarines armed with nuclear warheads that can take out a continent and are on alert at all times; to the assault on the environment that is getting angry at us; to assassinations of people who don’t know they are in danger by drone operators who don’t know who else is in the vehicle or the house. “People who tolerate this are in trouble,” Clark concluded. “We have miles to go before we sleep.”

ject by translating Mozart’s operas from Italian and German into Arabic. To demonstrate and discuss singing Mozart in Arabic, baritone Raouf Zaidan, who has been a principal singer for the project since its inception, was joined by bass baritone Ashraf Sewailam and pianist Kamel Boutros.

Opera has flourished in Cairo since Verdi’s “Aida” made its debut there in 1871—although, as Habachy pointed out, it was commissioned by an Albanian, composed by an Italian, the heroine is Ethiopian and the villain Egyptian. European opera in Cairo traditionally has been sung in the original language, with subtitles added only in the 1990s. Although some people oppose any translation, Zaidan and Sewailam feel strongly that communication is more immediate when opera is sung in the language of the audience. Opera is first of all a play, Zaidan emphasized: it tells a story and therefore must be understood. After the first demonstration of an aria, Habachy said it was a thrill to hear Mozart in Arabic. She added that Egyptians have the reputation Lincoln Center Hosts “Opera in of being “inordinately fond of music.” SeArabic” Panel wailam agreed, adding “the Egyptian people can’t do anything without music, not even a revolution.”

In the third act of “The Marriage of Figaro,” the Count is fuming, which Sewailam described as what is happening in Egypt right now. But in the next act, while all others in his entourage are standing, the Count kneels to ask forgiveness (in Arabic it is “mercy”) of his wife, the Countess.

Ashraf Sewailam (l) and Raouf Zaidan sang works by Habachy asked how this Mozart translated into Arabic. scene is accepted in Egyptian culture. “It’s in process,” Nimet Habachy knows the New York Sewailam replied, “as are all kinds of opera scene very well, indeed; for years freedoms.” When asked what will hapshe hosted the weekly Metropolitan pen, he said he is betting on the EgyptOpera radio broadcasts. She described the ian people.

Sewailam has a surprising side career. In Feb. 2 panel she moderated at Lincoln Center on “Opera in Arabic” as a first in 1996 a friend called, anxiously asking, all of New York City. In the 1980s Dr. Aly “where is the lower end of the male Sadek launched the Opera in Arabic pro- falsetto?” He demonstrated and was hired STAFF PHOTO J. ADAS

STAFF PHOTO J. ADAS

By Jane Adas

New York City and Tri-StateNews

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

APRIL 2013

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to Palestinian libraries, Brunner explained that it would set a precedent: first books, then houses, then land. Moreover, he continued, it would challenge the building myth of Zionism that if it was not a land without people, it was at least a people without a culture, and that would undermine Israeli identity.

on the spot to be the voice of Mickey Mouse in Arabic cartoons.

One week before the start of the Egyptian revolution, Zaidan and Sewailam participated in a performance of “The Magic Flute” in Alexandria. Sewailam performed what George Bernard Shaw described as “the only music which might be put into the mouth of God without blasphemy”: the High Priest Sarastro’s hymn to the Egyptian deities Isis and Osiris, asking them to give light to the path of wisdom.

As if this were not moving enough, the performers, joined by many in the audience, concluded by singing the Egyptian national anthem.

Attempt to Silence Omar Barghouti, Judith Butler Fails

STAFF PHOTOS J. ADAS

This time intimidation did not work. Students for Justice in Palestine at Brooklyn College invited Omar Barghouti, author of BDS: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights (available from the AET Book Club), and Judith Director Benny Brunner DisButler, visiting professor of phicusses “The Great Book losophy at Columbia University Robbery” and board member of Jewish Voice for Peace, to discuss the Benny Brunner is a RomanianBDS movement. Those who born Israeli documentary filmlabel any criticism of Israel antimaker who has lived in AmsterSemitic—New York City politidam since 1986. That year he cians, the Anti-Defamation made one of the first films about League (ADL), Harvard law proIsrael’s dispossession of the Palesfessor and Brooklyn College tinians: “Al-Nakba: The Palesalumnus Alan Dershowitz— tinian Catastrophe 1948.” While swung into action. They held shooting a film in Israel in 2008, press conferences demanding Brunner read an article by docthat Brooklyn College President toral student Gish Amit, “SalKaren Gould cancel the event; vage or Plunder? Israel’s ‘Collecsome City Council members tion’ of Private Palestinian Lithreatened to cut the college’s braries in West Jerusalem,” and funding. But President Gould was shocked. He realized that the held firm. New York City Mayor Nakba was not only a matter of Michael Bloomberg held his refugees and destroyed villages, but the destruction of a culture. TOP: Director Benny Brunner. ABOVE: Omar Barghouti at a TIAA- own press conference, saying he opposed BDS, but that a public The Center for Palestine Studies CREF demonstration in New York City. university should be free to at Columbia University hosted a Feb. 5 screening of the documentary Brun- greed took over. Historian Benny Morris sponsor a forum on any topic. “If you want ner spent nearly five years making, “The told Brunner that the issue is no more than to go to a university where the government Great Book Robbery,” with the director in a footnote to 1948, which Brunner charac- decides what kind of subjects are fit for disterized as the general attitude of Israelis: cussion,” he added, “I suggest you apply to attendance.

The film reveals that between April 1948 “We didn’t do anything very bad. We kept a school in North Korea.”

In fact the intimidation backfired. It and February 1949, Israel’s National Li- the books. So what?”

It was not only books. Brunner inter- generated so much publicity that the Feb. brary collected 30,000 books and manuscripts from Jerusalem alone, and at least viewed Dr. Mohammed Batrawi, a cardiol- 7 event, which was admission by RSVP 40,000 books from Jaffa, Haifa and ogist at Ramallah Hospital. As a prisoner of only, was filled to capacity more than a Nazareth. A 1948 letter refers to “the book war during the Nakba, Batrawi was or- week in advance. The next day The New collection” with instructions to “process dered to clear abandoned Palestinian York Times ran a prominent article that the books that came with the spoils.” The homes of their possessions in various mentioned the chanting protestors outlibrary still houses 5,787 books in a special towns. When they reached his hometown side as well as the “crowd of hundreds” collection labeled “AP” for Abandoned of Isdod (now Ashkelon), the POWs were inside who gave Barghouti a standing ovaProperty. Brunner assumes all the others ordered to remove the tiles from the roof of tion. In the same newspaper, national have been incorporated into the National his own house. Historian Ilan Pappe tells ADL director Abraham Foxman took out Library’s collections, but he was denied the viewer, “They appropriated every- an expensive three-quarter-page ad compermission to interview or film there. He thing—except the people. This was done paring BDS to the racist Ku Klux Klan and suggested that the original motive of the in order to defeat the Palestine narrative, calling the event at Brooklyn College a hate-fest. BDS guidelines, however, are National Library staff might genuinely to erase Palestinians from history.”

Asked why Israel doesn’t return at least very clear about opposing all racism—inhave been to secure the books from the rampant looting then in progress, but then the books labeled “AP” to their owners or cluding anti-Semitism. ❑ APRIL 2013

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Zaytuna College Hosts Historic Workshop on Environmental Education in Islamic Schools

Northern California Chronicle

Participants and guests gather at the Berkeley Independent Studies outdoor oven during a tour of the garden as part of the Experiential Environmental Education in Islamic Schools program. n historic environmental service-

H. Ali, founding director of the University of Vermont’s In stitute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security (IEDS), was h e l d Ja n . 1 through 5 at Berkeley’s Zaytuna College, Saleem H. Ali. the first Muslim liberal arts college in the U.S. Imam Dawood Yasin of Dartmouth College served as program director of the multi-day event, which was co-sponsored by Zaytuna College, the IEDS, and the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union.

For five days, a small group of educators from Islamic schools across the U.S. attended a series of workshops led by Muslim educational leaders and experts in environmental science from around the world on the importance of caring for the environment from theological perspectives.

Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

Alearning program, initiated by Saleem

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

By Elaine Pasquini

The activities, including field trips, were specifically designed to train the participants to implement environmental education in their respective institutions.

At the opening night reception, Dr. Mahan Mirza introduced Imam Zaid Shakir, co-founder of Zaytuna College, who delivered the keynote address on “Planting

Seeds for a Greener Tomorrow.”

“Hopefully, this workshop will galvanize our community’s energy and translate these ideas on environmental issues into policies and practical programs that can be implemented on the ground,” Shakir said.

Referring to verses from the Qur’an (see sidebar), the Islamic scholar noted, “Ecological consciousness is something integral to our religion. Historically, we didn’t need a concerted effort to focus people’s attention on environmental issues. This was something that our religion did and we didn’t have to talk about it. It was something we lived. The Qur’an calls our attention to nature and to be in harmony with nature,” the imam said.

Noting the importance and power of lobbying politicians to implement policies that reflect the will of the people, Shakir concluded by urging the audience to “never underestimate the potential that the people have, because it is great.”

Following his address, workshop presenters engaged in a lively panel discussion.

Lamenting the amount of waste generated from iftars (meals ending each day’s Ramadan fast), Ameena Jandali, a cofounder of Islamic Networks Group, discussed her efforts working toward a

Qur’anic Verses on Environmentalism In workshop presentations, speakers, including Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Rizwaan Akhtar, Imam Afroz Ali, Nana Firman, Ameena Jandali, Rhamis Kent, Dawood Yasin and Imam Zaid Shakir, made references to verses in the Qur’an relating to ecology and environmentalism, including: Qur’an 23:12: We created man from an extract of clay.

Qur’an 16:11: He grows for you crops, olives, date palms, grapes and all kinds of fruits.

In this is a sign for those who think.

Qur’an 6:99: He is the One who sends down from the sky water, whereby we produce all kinds of plants. We produce from the green material multitudes of complex grains, palm trees with hanging clusters, and gardens of grapes, olives and pomegranate, fruits that are similar, yet dissimilar. Note their fruits as they grow and ripen. These are signs for people who believe.

Qur’an 7:31: O children of Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.

Qur’an 6:141: He is the One who established gardens, trellised and untrellised, and palm trees, and crops with different tastes, and olives, and pomegranate—fruits that are similar, yet dissimilar. Eat from their fruits, and give the due alms on the day of harvest and do not waste anything. He does not love the wasters. —E.P. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

APRIL 2013

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LEFT (l-r): Dr. Mahan Mirza, Imam Zaid Shakir, Rhamis Kent, Imam Afroz Ali and Imam Dawood Yasin. RIGHT (l-r): Ameena Jandali, Nana Firman and Anna Gade.

APRIL 2013

that include practical tips on protecting the environment, and volunteer opportunities for youths.

“It’s all been an experiment,” he told the enthusiastic workshop participants, “but Muslims in the community were very receptive to our ideas.”

people over the head" about environmental issues, but rather to approach the matter “in a way people can relate to.”

STAFF PHOTO E. PASQUINI

Rizwaan Akhtar.

Green Muslims On Jan. 3, Rizwaan Akhtar gave a well-received presentation on Green Muslims, an organization that seeks to build an organic source of environmental leadership, awareness and action within American Muslim communities. Akhtar is a senior program associate at World Learning in Washington, DC, where he administers leadership development and exchange programs for youth from around the world.

During Ramadan six years ago, Akhtar recalled, he and a few friends hosted a zero-trash potluck iftar with the goal of raising awareness of environmental issues within the Muslim community. “We asked people to bring only leftovers to our ‘leftar’ and not anything made specifically for that day,” he explained. “It was a huge success; we had more food than we expected and the event, with 30 people, only produced one small bag of trash!”

Last year, Akhtar said, the group took children to a Washington, DC farmer’s market and tasked them with purchasing fruits and vegetables found in the Qur’an.

Current Green Muslim projects include a tableware assembly program that the group rents out, “green” Ramadan tool kits THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

“green” Ramadan. “Being environmental is being Muslim and vice versa,” she stated.

“For some reason, Muslims do not see environmentalism as part of Islam, but I think we need to educate our community that this is as much of our religion as growing a beard or wearing hijab, and it actually impacts our children.”

Nana Firman, an independent urban sustainability specialist, described sustainability as a global problem. Since 2009 she has been a member of the Climate Project’s Indonesian team of presenters specially trained by Al Gore for climate change-related issues.

“I look at the ways people of faith are drawn and compelled to address issues of environmental change and the ways they are turning to faith-based approaches,” Anna Gade, professor at the University of Wisconsin, told the guests. “So, academically, I look at the traditions and resources on which Muslims draw to address environmental change.”

Noting that environmental issues are affecting the heart of the Muslim world, Rhamis Kent of the Permaculture Research Institute explained that “Islamic tradition for protecting the environment is explicitly pointed out in the teachings of the Qur’an.”

Imam Afroz Ali is managing director of Seekers Guidance and founder and president of the Al-Ghazzali Centre for Islamic Sciences and Human Development based in Sydney, Australia. As a founding member of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, he has initiated philanthropic, as well as sustainable, environment projects around the globe. “Environmental activism has a deep and profound connection and experience for the human being,” he averred.

Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, author of Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet, urged the audience not to “beat

Joy Moore.

Berkeley Independent Studies Garden Berkeley food activist Joy Moore led workshop participants on a tour of the Berkeley Independent Studies garden located about a mile from Zaytuna College. Upon entering the yard, the group was delighted to see the outdoor wood-burning oven which, Moore explained, was popular with the kids, who all love the pizza she prepares in it. Moore, who has played a longtime key role in community efforts to reform school lunches in the Berkeley Unified School District, discussed her struggle to get children to eat fresh produce— and less junk food—and urged her educator-audience to create gardens at their schools and encourage healthy eating among their students. ❑ 49

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Two Palestinian, Israeli Documentaries Depict Evils of Military Occupation

Southern California Chronicle

PHOTO COURTESY KINO LORBER

By Pat and Samir Twair

Emad Burnat views his five broken cameras in his documentary of the same name. wo of the documentary films nomi-

Tnated for the 2012 Oscars awarded Feb.

24 reveal the lethal reality of Israel’s unchecked actions in the name of security.

One is “5 Broken Cameras” by Palestinian Emad Burnat (available from the AET Book Club); the other is Dror Moreh’s “The Gatekeepers,” which tells some of the secret decisions of the Shin Bet, Israel’s state police.

Winner of the directing award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, “5 Broken Cameras” was almost entirely filmed by Burnat, who enlisted the cooperation of Israeli Guy Davidi to edit the footage and codirect the project.

The title comes from the fate of five cameras used by Burnat to record Israel’s relentless confiscation of the land of his village, Bil’in, just inside the Green Line separating the West Bank from Israel. As the apartheid wall separated Bil’in farmers from their fields and Israeli settlements swallowed up ever more of their land, the villagers devised weekly nonviolent protests against Israel’s blatant theft of their property (see p. XX of this issue).

Burnat purchased his first video camera in 2005 upon the birth of his fourth son, Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance journalists based in Los Angeles.

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Gibreel, to record the boy’s growth. It was also the beginning of Bil’in’s resistance to Israeli encroachment on their land. Burnat observes early in the film that each of his son’s births represented a phase of their lives. Mohamed was born in 1995 during the days of hope following the Oslo accords. Yasin was born in 1998, a time of uncertainty, and Taki-ydin arrived in 2000, when the second intifada broke out.

As settlers illegally placed trailers on Bil’in land, Burnat secretly filmed night

landgrabs. He photographed settlers burning and uprooting ancient olive trees, and Israeli troops injuring nonviolent protesters with tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. As the weekly Friday demonstrations began to be reported by European media, Israel brutally tried to stop the villagers from protesting—and Burnat from filming.

His five cameras all were shot and destroyed; he himself was arrested and seriously wounded. This is a powerful and moving story demonstrating the basic human desire for self-determination while offering insight into the distinct personalities which coexist in a village community.

“The Gatekeepers” also provides a grim image of how Israel gives no quarter to the Palestinians whose lands it occupies. Since 1967, the Shin Bet has built a surveillance network whose modus operendi was to turn the people into becoming informers and to show no mercy to those it targeted as terrorists. Its job was to track down terrorists, which they did even when there was relative calm.

The harder Israel clamped down on the Palestinians, however, the more they resisted, as evidenced in an early bus hijacking. The Shin Bet opted not to negotiate and attacked and captured the bus. Two surviving hijackers were photographed very much alive. Hours later they were dead. Avraham Shalom, then head of the security apparatus, looks into the camera and says the two were near death from the

A Less-Than-Warm Welcome to the U.S. When “5 Broken Cameras” filmmaker Emad Burnat, his wife Soraya and son Gibreel arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Feb. 19 to attend Oscar week events and the Feb. 24 Academy Awards ceremony, they were told they would be deported because Burnat did not have proof of an Oscar invitation. The Palestinian filmmaker was amazed, because over the past year he had entered the U.S six times without incident for consultations on his film.

Burnat tweeted his friend, Oscar-winning documentarian Michael Moore. An outraged Moore called Oscar officials, who immediately notified their attorneys to inform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials of Burnat’s legitimate invitation. The Burnats were released from an LAX holding cell and arrived hours late to a Beverly Hills dinner co-hosted by Moore for Oscar-nominated documentary filmmakers. All the American dinner guests apologized for the rude treatment at LAX. While it is customary in the Israelioccupied West Bank, Burnat replied, he hadn’t expected it in the U.S. ICE granted the Burnats a one-week visa.

—P. and S.T.

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Kan Zaman Winter Concert Arab Americans in Southern California always anticipate a performance by the Kan Zaman Community Ensemble—but this winter’s concert on Jan. 12 set a precedent when it offered classical, folk and contemporary Arab music without its conductor and co-founder Wael Kakish. More than 450 people gathered in Pasadena’s Lake Avenue Church to hear the program commemorating “Love of One’s Homeland.”

Maestro Kakish has been in Oman since March 2012 where he’s in charge of education and research at the Royal Opera House of Muscat. During his absence, the ensemble has been managed by Musa Nasser, Stephen Kent and Lana Khalaf.

Apropos of the program theme was the Lebanese selection written for Fairuz, “Jayiblee Salaam” (The Peace Dove), sung by Lana Khalaf. Another favorite with the auAPRIL 2013

performing “Biktub Esmik ya Bladi” (I Will Write Your Name, My Country, on the Sun That Never Sets).

Kan Zaman, which means “once upon a time” in Arabic, is dedicated to preserve, educate and entertain audiences through performing Arab music in concerts, lecture-demonstrations and interactive workshops. Its Web site is <www.kanzaman.org>.

Salute to Egypt’s Revolution

STAFF PHOTOS S. TWAIR

beatings they sustained. He ordered that the job be finished. It was with a rock to the head. “But they were unconscious,” he states.

What director Moreh omits is that the so-called rash of “suicide bus bombings” were in retaliation for the Feb. 25, 1994 massacre

by Baruch Goldstein of 29 Palestinian worshippers in Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque.

Riots and protests broke out in the West Bank and, within the next two days, Israeli troops killed 19 Palestinians. The first suicide attack targeted the Afula Bus on April 6, 1994, following the 40-day Islamic period of mourning. Overall, the film shows copious photos of bombed bus skeletons—but none of dead Palestinian children or rubble where bombed Palestinian homes stood.

The viewer observes how Jewish terrorists are handled with care and light sentences. This leniency led to what Shin Bet views as its greatest failure, the Nov. 4, 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish—not Palestinian—extremist. After that, says one former Shin Bet leader, everything changed, as the government took a harder stance against Palestinian opposition to intensified settlements.

The six former Shin Bet directors interviewed conclude that the decision not to talk to their Palestinian adversaries was a mistake and that occupation has to end.

One explains that, after they retire, they tend to take a leftist perspective.

TOP: Laura and Danny Albahra are honored in front of the Kan Zaman Ensemble during a Jan. 12 concert. MIDDLE: Egypt’s Consul General to Los Angeles Elhusseini Abdelwahab speaks at a House of Egypt fete.

ABOVE: UCLA Prof. Gabriel Piterberg (r) and filmmaker Eyal Sivan. dience was “Ya Bladi ya Bladi” (My Homeland, My Homeland) an Egyptian melody sung by Ragy Salamah.

Two guest artists, 11-year-old twins Laura and Danny Albahra, who had arrived in the U.S. from Syria only two months earlier, performed the Lebanese classic “Nassam Alaina el Hawa” (A Gentle Breeze Came Upon Us), with Laura on the piano and Danny on the oud.

The grand finale featured Syrian singer Samir Rizk and the Kan Zaman Ensemble THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

The initial event of the House of Egypt was a Jan. 27 celebration and dinner and talk

by Sheikh Tarek al-Sayed in Renaissance Hall, Glendale. Opening remarks were made by chairman Tarek Hassanin, who explained that the House of Egypt was founded in February 2011 by a Muslim and a Copt to unite Egyptians in the U.S. and to send funds to charities in Egypt.

Egypt’s revolution isn’t over yet, Hassanin told the audience of nearly 500. The struggle is still going on, with a toll of 30 martyrs just that day. All segments of Egyptian society are seeking equality, dignity and freedom, he concluded. Members of the board were introduced and the revolution was praised by Tarek Shakir, a member of the Egyptian Parliament, and Elhusseini Abdelwahab, the Egyptian consul general to Los Angeles.

Sheikh al-Sayed emphasized that, after 60 years of corruption, Egypt’s youth will no longer accept the Old Guard. The new generation realizes the new government must start reforms from scratch and face the setbacks of more than 40 percent of the people being illiterate and living in poverty. The eight million Egyptians who are educated and wealthy must help to rebuild the economy and national fiber, he urged.

For more information, visit <www.TheHouseOfEgypt.com>.

“Route 181” Screened UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies (CNES) showed two portions of Israeli cinematographer Eyal Sivan’s four-and-a-halfhour documentary, “Route 181” on Jan. 31.

Sivan was present to answer questions about filming the line which the United Nations designated as the partition between Jewish and Palestinian lands. Sivan used this partition line, which was adopted as U.N. Resolution 181 on Nov. 29, 1947, as the title of his film.

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The American Council for Judaism: 70 Years of Challenging Jewish Nationalism Israel andJudaism

By Allan C. Brownfeld

WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Poznanski declared: “This country is our Palestine, this city is our Jerusalem, this house of God our temple.”

In recent years, for some Jews the state of Israel has replaced God as the object of worship—a form of idolatry, not unlike the Golden Calf. Israeli flags are to be seen on the pulpits of many synagogues. Young people are sent on “Birthright” trips to Israel, allegedly to strengthen their Jewish identity. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly called upon American Jews to make a “mass aliyah”— emigration—to Israel. No other foreign government argues that millions of Americans—because of their religion—are in “exile” in the United States and that their real “homeland” is that forLessing Rosenwald (l), the first president of the Amer- eign country. American Jewish ican Council for Judaism, with President Harry Tru- groups acquiesce in this interferman in 1953. ence in their internal affairs.

Through the very fabric of ince 1943, the American Council for their lives, the vast majority of American Judaism has advanced the philosophy Jews reject the basic tenets of the Jewish of Judaism as a religion of universal values, nationalism which has become the official not a nationality, and has maintained that position of the groups which claim to repAmericans of Jewish faith are American by resent them. The history of the American nationality and Jews by religion—just as Council for Judaism shows us the other Americans are Protestants, Catholics prophetic vision of its founders. Current or Muslims. It has challenged the Zionist developments and trends indicate how philosophy which holds that Israel is the their analysis has stood the test of time.

On June 1, 1942, a group of rabbis met “homeland” of all Jews, and that Jews living outside of Israel are in “exile.” In doing in Atlantic City, New Jersey for a two-day so, it has contended that this philosophy conference. They were concerned about a represents the thinking of the majority of resolution adopted in February 1942 by American Jews, a largely silent majority the Central Conference of American Rabbis not represented by the organizations (CCAR), the Reform rabbinical group, which reversed Reform Jewish philosophy which presume to speak in their name.

The Council’s philosophy is much older by calling for a “Jewish army” in Palestine, than the 70 years in which the organization a direct violation of its 1935 resolution callhas been in existence. In 1841, at the dedi- ing for “neutrality” when it came to the cation ceremony of Temple Beth Elohim in question of Zionism and Palestine. This Charleston, South Carolina, Rabbi Gustav was viewed by those who maintained the traditional position of Reform Judaism as Allan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated colum- an endorsement of Zionism by the Reform nist and associate editor of the Lincoln Re- movement, and a rejection of its own traview, a journal published by the Lincoln In- ditional philosophy.

In November 1885, a group of Reform stitute for Research and Education, and editor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the rabbis met in Pittsburgh and wrote an eight-point platform that one participant American Council for Judaism.

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called “the most successful expression of the theology of the Reform movement that had ever been published in the world.”

The platform emphasized that Reform Judaism rejected Jewish nationalism in any variety. It stated: “We recognize in the era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the approaching realization of Israel’s great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice and peace among all men. We consider ourselves no longer a nation but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state.”

Discussing the June 1942 Atlantic City meeting—which led to a decision in November 1942 to establish a formal organization, whose name, the American Council for Judaism, was adopted at a Dec. 7, 1942 meeting in New York—Prof. Thomas Kolsky, in his book Jews Against Zionism, the American Council for Judaism, 1942-1948 (Temple University Press) writes: “Their protest against the rapid advances of Zionism in the U.S. and its encroachment upon Reform Judaism resulted in the formation of the American Council for Judaism....Optimistic about the future of Jews in the Diaspora—in the U.S. and throughout the world—it regarded the anti-Semitic atrocities committed during World War II as a temporary aberration and firmly believed that a free and democratic society would provide the best guarantee for the well-being of Jews wherever they lived....The ACJ rejected all forms of Jewish separatism and denied the right of any group to speak for all Jews…As a solution for the conflict between Jews and Arabs, the ACJ recommended a democratic state in Palestine wherein Arabs and Jews would share in the government and have equal rights and responsibilities. It rejected the creation of an exclusively Jewish state as undemocratic and as a retreat from the universal vision of Judaism.”

Rabbis who joined the Council led some of the nation’s leading congregations.

Among them were Samuel Goldenson of New York, Irving Reichart of San Francisco, David Marx of Atlanta and Julian Feibelman of New Orleans.

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meeting, Rabbi David Philipson declared that Zionism and Reform Judaism were incompatible: “Reform Judaism is spiritual.

Zionism is political. The outlook of Reform Judaism is the world. The outlook of Zionism is a corner of eastern Asia.”

Among the early ACJ founders was Rabbi Morris Lazaron of Baltimore. He had been an early Zionist, captured by the romantic vision of the movement. After visiting Nazi Germany and seeing the effects of its nationalism, Lazaron became convinced that nationalism, a force leading the world to destruction, could not serve as an instrument of Jewish salvation. For Lazaron, the mixture of religion and state spelled disaster.

The Council also recruited many nationally prominent laypersons, among them: Judge Marcus Sloss of the California Supreme Court, Herbert and Stanley Marcus of the Nieman-Marcus Company in Dallas, Admiral Lewis L. Strauss, and Alfred M. Cohen, former president of B’nai B’rith. The first president of the Council was Lessing J. Rosenwald, who had retired as chairman of Sears Roebuck and Co., which was founded by his father, the respected philanthropist Julius Rosenwald.

The Council was incorporated in December 1942 and Rabbi Elmer Berger was named executive director. Judah Magnes, chancellor of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, wrote a letter endorsing the Council statement of principles: “It is true that Jewish nationalism tends to confuse people not because it is secular and not religious, but because this nationalism is unhappily chauvinistic and narrow and terroristic in the best style of Eastern European nationalism.”

From 1943 to 1948, the Council conducted a public campaign against Zionism.

One of the speakers at its 1945 conference was Hans Kohn, a one-time German Zionist associated with the University in Exile in New York. He declared: “The Jewish nationalist philosophy has developed entirely under German influence, the German romantic nationalism with the emphasis on blood, race and descent as the most determining factor in human life, its historicizing attempt to connect with a legendary past 2,000 or so years ago, its emphasis on folk as a mythical body, the source of civilization.”

cans who are Jews by the religion presented

by Zionist plans to foster an ‘Israel-centered’ Jewish life in the U.S.” He wrote: “The creation of a sovereign state embodying the principles of Zionism, far from relieving American Jews of the urgency of making that choice, makes it more compelling.”

In the early days of 1953, Berger and Rosenwald met at the White House with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The president accepted their memorandum, which discussed the “confusion of Judaism with the nationalism of Israel,” such as Israel’s “Law of Return,” enacted in 1951, which could be interpreted as granting de facto Israeli citizenship to all the world’s Jews. The new secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, took the memorandum with him on his first trip to the Middle East and echoed many of its points in a radio address at the end of the trip (see “Surprises for the First U.S. Secretary of State to Visit the Mideast” by Donald Neff, June 1994 Washington Report, p.

73). Dulles urged that Israel “become part of the Near East community and cease to look upon itself as alien to that community.”

The Council ran religious schools, published children’s textbooks and established a philanthropic fund. In an article about the Council in June 26, 2010 New York Times, “On Religion” columnist Samuel G. Freedman pointed out that the Council’s philosophy “adheres to a consistent strain within Jewish debate...The effort to separate the Jewish state from Jewish identity has centuries-old roots...The intense criticism of Israel now growing among a number of American Jews” has made the Council look “prophetic.”

Freedman noted that, “The arguments that the council has consistently levied against Zionism and Israel have shot back into prominence over the last decade...

Until Theodor Herzl created the modern

Zionist movement early in the 20th century, the biblical injunction to return to Israel was widely understood as a theological construct rather than a pragmatic instruction. Most Orthodox Jewish leaders before the Holocaust rejected Zionism, saying the exile was a divine punishment and Israel could be restored only in the messianic age. The Reform movement maintained that Judaism is a religion, not a nationality...What is numerically true, thus not open to debate, is that only a tiny proportion of American Jews have ever rejected exile here to emigrate to Israel.”

Recently, more and more Jewish voices have challenged the Zionist consensus which has emerged in organized American Jewish life. They have come to understand that the growing idolatry of the state of Israel has led to the distortion of a rich religious heritage.

The founders of Reform Judaism rejected the notion of a God confined to a particular “holy” land, embracing instead a universal God, the Father of all men, and a religion of universal values as relevant in New York or London as in Jerusalem. Early in the 20th century, Hermann Cohen, one of the foremost Jewish philosophers of modern times, understood the danger that Zionism would re-ignite an intoxication with the land that would strangle Jewish morality.

For 70 years, the American Council for Judaism has never abandoned its vision of a universal faith of ethical values for men and women of every race and nation which the Prophets preached and in which generations of Jews believed. The Council’s early leaders recognized how narrow nationalism would corrupt the humane Jewish tradition. For the past 70 years, the Council has kept that tradition alive. That more and more men and women are returning to that faith at the present time is a vindication of their vision. ❑

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Post-Partition Determination In the face of the 1947 partition of Palestine, the Council wished the new state well and declared its determination to resist Zionist efforts to dominate Jewish life in America.

Rabbi Berger published an extended essay that outlined “the challenge to all AmeriAPRIL 2013

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Human Rights

Ten years ago this March, Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old peace activist from Olympia, WA, was run over and killed by an American-made Israeli bulldozer while attempting to save from demolition the home of a defenseless Palestinian family in Rafah, Gaza.

Since her tragic death, Rachel’s parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, have worked tirelessly to pursue justice for their daughter.

On Jan. 17, they appeared at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to reflect on their daughter’s life and on the Aug. 28, 2012 ruling by an Israeli judge that the Jewish state is not responsible for Rachel’s death.

Before the Corries began their remarks, they had the opportunity to talk privately with long-time White House correspondent Helen Thomas. “It was an honor to be able to speak with her,” Cindy Corrie said. “You could always count on Helen for the tough questions.”

Cindy opened the conversation by describing Rachel as a caring and adventurous young woman, “someone who liked to get out into the world and explore new places.”

In January 2003, she noted, Rachel arrived in Gaza as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Rachel was shocked at what she saw upon her arrival in Gaza, Cindy said. Like most Americans, she added, her daughter was not fully aware of the profound daily struggle the Palestinian people face.

A key aspect of Rachel’s nonviolent activism was acting as a human shield against Israeli bulldozers attempting to destroy homes in Rafah. On March 16, 2003, Rachel—wearing a bright orange vest— was protecting the home of Samir Nasralla, a respected pharmacist whom she had befriended, when an Israeli bulldozer ran over her. The Israeli military claims that the two soldiers operating the bulldozer never saw Rachel. The peace activist’s colleagues and parents are convinced the soldiers murdered Rachel.

Immediately after Rachel’s death, Cindy said, her family’s top priority was to learn as many details as possible about the incident that killed Rachel. This process of fact-gathering quickly led to frustration, she recalled, as the Israelis were not cooperative or forthcoming. Frequent requests for information made by American officials, including President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, went “unan54

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

Rachel Corrie’s Parents Reflect On Israeli Court Case

Craig Corrie (second from l) and his wife Cindy (r) share a personal moment with legendary White House correspondent Helen Thomas. swered or ignored,” Cindy explained. To this day, she said, the U.S. government, particularly Vice President Joe Biden’s office, continues to monitor the case.

For its part, the Israeli military conducted an internal investigation of Rachel’s death.

Not surprisingly, the investigation determined that the operator of the Caterpillar bulldozer was not at fault, Cindy noted, adding that the State Department characterized the review as lacking in thoroughness, credibility and transparency.

In an effort to force Israeli authorities to provide a more truthful account of Rachel’s death, in 2005 the Corrie’s filed a civil lawsuit against the military. The family asked for a symbolic one shekel (about 25 cents) in damages.

Throughout the trial, Craig Corrie said, the Israeli state consistently presented false or misleading evidence. The state’s witnesses had “incredible inconsistencies in their stories,” he said, noting that “they kept contradicting themselves.” In addition, Craig said, the Israeli military presented doctored video in the courtroom. According to Craig, who has spent countless hours meticulously reviewing footage, the bulldozer shown in the military’s video is not the one that killed Rachel. In the Israeli video, viewers can see individuals carrying stretchers pass by, rushing to the actual location where Rachel lay. But the camera that was monitoring the bulldozer that ran over Rachel was turned away five minutes before she was killed, Craig said.

Despite the many flaws in the state’s case, Cindy noted, Haifa District Court Judge Oded Gershon “completely took the state’s explanation and ignored discrepancies,” THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

ruling that the Israeli state was not responsible for Rachel’s death. “The state and judge never tried to reconcile the differences,” she lamented.

In mid-January, the Corries filed an appeal against Judge Gershon’s ruling.

While he believes that the American public has become more aware of the pain caused by Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine in the decade since Rachel’s death, Craig acknowledged that there still is much work to be done. “You can speak about the cause of Rachel, but you cannot talk about Rachel’s cause,” he said of his interactions with most American politicians.

—Dale Sprusansky

SAC Holds “I Witness” Event The deprivation and hardships endured by Syrian refugees were described by activists who visited camps in Turkey and northwestern Syria at an “I Witness Syria” Town Hall meeting of the Syrian American Council (SAC) of Greater Los Angeles in La Mirada Holiday Inn on Jan. 26.

Dr. Ziyad Kattih, who delivered medical supplies to Aleppo, said the people are suffering from the lack of sanitation and bad water. Doctors are using pliers and scissors for surgical instruments, while they have no pain killers and people lie in the street among corpses awaiting treatment.

Hanadi Alwan of Pomona and her daughters, Leila and Selma, spent one month delivering food, blankets and medications to displaced Syrians. They took backpacks to children who have no school supplies and gave moral support to burn victims whose shelters caught on fire.

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STAFF PHOTO A. BEGLEY

STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

to give up,” was the response from Aramin oration and nonviolence.

The subject of Mayor’s film is and Damelin.

For more information about the “Two a familiar concept in conflict resolution: sharing pain through Sided Story” visit <www.theparentscircle.

—Alex Begley dialogue instead of violence. com>.

The participants in the meetings range from Ohad Tal, a young “One Day After Peace” Draws settler from Elazar in the West Parallels Between People, Conflicts Bank, who arms himself with a The New America Foundation, Georgegun, to Tamar Atrash, a student town’s Master of Arts Program in Conflict from Hebron who arms himself Resolution, the Georgetown Initiative on with a keffiyeh. Other partici- Human Security, and the Foundation for pants include a Holocaust sur- Middle East Peace cosponsored the Washvivor and a Nakba survivor, as ington, DC premiere of the documentary Speakers describe the horrors of Syrian life in refugee well as peace activists from both film “One Day after Peace” at the Carnegie sides. The one thing all have in Institute of Science on Feb. 6. camps at an L.A. town hall meeting on Jan. 26. common is that they have lost a The film, produced and directed by Miri and Erez Laufer, takes the viewer on an ited three destitute camps in Idlib: Atmeh, family member to the ongoing conflict.

There is shared sadness when each mem- emotional journey from Israel to Palestine where people eat two meals a day and use toilets covered by plastic sheeting ber discusses his or her personal tragedy. to South Africa and back, as its protagowrapped around a tree; Qah, where rain There is anger later on when Tal won’t re- nist, Robi Damelin, grapples with the comcaves in tents and children play in garbage; linquish the weapon he brought to the plexities of forgiveness.

Damelin lives in Tel Aviv but was born and Karameh, which barely shelters 15,000 meeting because he doesn’t feel safe.

The viewers feared for young Atrash in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her son victims near Hama.

—Samir Twair when a group of Israeli soldiers have to ac- David, an Israeli soldier, was killed by company him through the streets of He- Palestinian sniper Thaer Hamad in the secMusic & Arts bron to protect him from irate Jewish set- ond intifada. Finding inspiration in South tlers, who are more incensed by his very Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation CommisFilm Documents presence in his own hometown than by the sions (TRC), she travels there to use them “Two Sided Story” bravado he displays in the face of their as a guide to help her understand and forOn Feb. 7, 2013 the United States Institute hostility. And finally, there is humor, when give her son’s killer.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commisof Peace (USIP) screened the documentary the group takes part in a role-reversal exfilm “Two Sided Story” by Tor Ben Mayor, ercise—each side speaking as the other— sions in South Africa were launched in the mid-90s as a way to grant amnesty to all the Emmy award-winning director of that devolves into laughter.

Where the film shines, though, is in the parties without allowing actors to shirk ac2000’s “Kapo.” Partially funded by a USIP grant, the film examines a group of 27 Is- moments where pain and differences are countability. Considered to be one of the raelis and Palestinians of all ages and back- forgotten and everyone enjoys each other’s most successful models, South Africa’s grounds during a series of meetings held company. One scene that stands out is TRCs helped build a foundation of reconby the Parents Circle Families Forum—Be- when Dan Montokovitch, an ultra-Ortho- ciliation for a country emerging from a reaved Palestinians and Israelis for Peace dox Jew, hesitantly asks Wajeeh Tomeezi brutal civil war. for a tour of Bethlehem. The result is both In South Africa, Damelin meets former and Reconciliation.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and people like Two active members of the Parents Cir- hilarious and heartwarming.

During the question-and-answer session Adriaan Vlok, the former minister of law cle, Robi Damelin and Bassam Aramin, were on hand for a post-screening ques- an audience member remarked that these and order, the man who claims responsibiltion-and-answer session. Damelin, who im- types of meetings and dialogues have been ity for many of the atrocities carried out by migrated to Israel from South Africa, has going on for years but have never yielded the police between 1986 and 1991, as well fought for peace between Palestine and Is- any large-scale progress. “We can’t afford as one of his victims, Shirley Gunn.

Damelin also meets with the rael since the death of her son, a leader of the Azanian People’s Libsoldier in the Israel Defense eration Army, Letlapa Mphahlele, Forces. Aramin was imprisoned and the mother of a woman he orunder brutal conditions for seven dered killed in the Heidelberg years as a teenager for planning Tavern bombing. Decades later an attack on Israel in 1985. He there are still so many emotions later co-founded Combatants for between those who killed and Peace, which brings together forthose who grieve that it makes for mer soldiers and fighters from some completely heart-wrenching both sides in a nonviolent effort scenes that few viewers will be to oppose the conflict. Despite the able to forget. fact that Israeli soldiers gunned Damelin puts so much effort down his 10-year-old daughter outside her school in 2007, he (L-r) Moderator USIP’s Steve Riskin, Robi Damelin and Bas- into understanding her grief and channeling it into change that she continues to be a voice for collab- sam Aramin.

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almost forgets there is another side to this equation: the man who she hopes to meet with and show her forgiveness to does not want to meet her and does not want her forgiveness. Hoping to apply in Israel the example that the TRCs set in South Africa, Damelin attempts a dialogue with Hamad and his family with encouragement from the Parent’s Circle Families Forum—a group for bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families. She discovers that Hamad endured horrific experiences as a child under Israeli occupation, including seeing Israeli soldiers kill his uncle. While she readily accepts his justification for shooting her soldier son, she has a harder time with the fact that he may not want her forgiveness.

Damelin continues to ask for a meeting with Hamad and hopes for his release as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, despite her older son’s emphatic disagreement. She is steadfast in her quest, however, saying, “The occupation is killing the moral fiber of Israel.”

For more information about the film and other screenings, visit <www.onedayafter peace.com>.

—Alex Begley

images across the gallery walls, Break the Silence Media and Art Project (BTS/MAP) engages people on multiple levels through murals, video, art/research, multi- and trans- media projects.

To date BTS/MAP has created close to 25 public art projects in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and the United States. BTS/MAP will present photos and video from four of these projects: • “A Tale of Two Cities,” The OlympiaRafah Solidarity Mural Project (ORSMP) located in Olympia, WA, is co-produced with the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, <www.rachelcorrie foundation.org>. The project was inspired by the life of Rachel Corrie, who was killed in Rafah in the Gaza Strip while defending the home of a Palestinian pharmacist from demolition. The mural, located in Olympia, WA, where Corrie was born and raised, is 4,000 square feet of inter-disciplinary international solidarity. More than 150 groups and individuals worldwide contributed images making visible connections between seemingly distant issues and locations. Innovative use of technology including “Call the Wall” allows viewers to hear audio tracks associated with all the images in the murals, thereby deepening the viewing experience. (2007- Present) • “The Maia Mural Brigade,” (maia means water in Arabic) took place in cities, towns and refugee camps throughout Gaza. It brought together activists, trauma therapists, muralists, filmmakers, Estria Foundation’s Water Writes Project <www. estria.org>, Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural Project <www.olympiarafahmural. org>, Afaq Jadeeda (New Horizons), Palestinian youth, artists and activists to create collaborative murals that deal with the universal right to clean water. The murals are located at water filtration systems in Gaza

being installed by the Middle East Children’s Alliance, <www.mecaforpeace. org>, that have been providing clean drinking water to more than 30,000 children. (2011–Present) • “Mourning and Action—Sabra-Shatila Commemorative Mural Project,” in conjunction with Beirut’s Al-Jana Resource Center and Ahlam Laje’a Center, the murals commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1982 massacres in Beirut’s Sabra neighborhood and Shatila Refugee Camp <http://btsmap.tumblr.com>.

An international team of painters and youth from Shatila Refugee Camp, West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Egypt, the U.S., Mexico, Guatemala and refugee camps in Lebanon painted 2,000 square feet of walls in Mosque Square in Shatila Camp (see cover of the Nov./Dec. 2012 Washington Report). The paintings explore themes of resilience, creativity and memory. Included is a memorial to Rachel Corrie, whose parents’ civil suit against Israel for her killing was rejected by the Israeli high court in August 2012. (2012-Present) • “Aamer Family Mural Project” is another effort to create beauty out of ugliness. The Aamer family lives near the West Bank, in the Palestinian town of Mas’ha, surrounded on all four sides by Israel’s illegal apartheid wall. In 2004 and 2005 BTS/MAP worked with many local groups, including Anarchists Against the Wall; Black Laundry; Women’s Peace Service; Flowers Against the Occupation and the Aamer family and neighbors, to paint a mural on the wall that faces the family’s front door. In 2011, the Aamers requested BTS/MAP to paint out the mural, except for the phoenix painted by U.S. artist Eric Drooker. They now ask people who visit them to write anti-occupation poetry on the wall. (2004-2011)

A giant painted tree sprouting dozens of leaves with images from dozens of artists, growing across a huge wall. Enormous eyes looking out from the side of a building.

These are some of the striking images featured in the Jerusalem Fund Gallery’s exhibition “Undefeated Despair” (Precarity, Public Art and Solidarity in Palestine and Lebanon), a media and art project from Break the Silence, on view in Washington, DC from March 8 to April 12. With mural 56

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Public Art and Solidarity in Palestine And Lebanon

“Maia Mural Brigade” in Gaza.

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making stained glass windows in the early 1970s. The Whitlatch exhibit will be on view in the Jerusalem Fund Gallery from April 19 through May 24.

—Dagmar Painter

This public art project blends technology, activism, youth development and social change. The occupation of Palestine is the impetus of investigations into the dynamics of trauma, resilience, borders, solidarity and cross-movement building. For more information or to contribute to the ongoing Break the Silence Media and Art Project, visit <http://breakthesilencearts. org/public-art-and-murals>.

—Dagmar Painter

Feminist Artists Showcased at New Sahara Gallery

PHOTO COURTESY JERUSALEM FUND

The walls of the Jerusalem Fund Gallery in Washington, DC, sparkled with reflective light from the wall sculptures of glass artist Corinne Whitlatch. Titled “Visual Musings on a Search for Peace,” the exhibition reflects her thoughts on peace, musings she contemplates during the many hours she twists, solders and mounts the components of her intricate sculptures. Many of the works contain glass, iron and pottery shards she acquired while traveling in Palestine and the Middle East. She incorporates symbols and icons of the region to speak to universal truths, such as in the piece titled “Bethlehem.” The center of cobalt blue was blown and stamped by the Nitshce family glass-blowing factory in Hebron. The pottery pieces are from the rim of a bowl from Jerusalem’s Balian Armenian pottery studio, with the outer blue rim from a plate made in Hebron. The intertwined stars are a traditional Arab design motif, and the grey glass border reflects the wall that surrounds Bethlehem.

Whitlatch retired in 2007, after serving as executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of 20 national Christian organizations in Washington, DC for 21 years. A Quaker craftsman in a church-window production shop in Des Moines, Iowa taught Whitlatch the traditional skills of

Hebron architecture of fire and water.

APRIL 2013

STAFF PHOTO SAMIR TWAIR

Whitlatch Exhibit Depicts Search For Peace

Farnaz Sabet with an assemblage of her shattered ceramics.

The works of Syrian exile Fadia Afashe (see Jan./Feb. 2013 Washington Report, p.

40) and Iranian-American ceramist Farnaz Sabet were the focus of a Feb. 10 exhibition reception at New Sahara Gallery in Northridge.

Although new to the Los Angeles art scene, Sabet shows promise as a contributor with her innovative pottery, which is at times shattered, left unfired or pierced by a bullet hole. She earned her bachelor’s degree in ceramics from California State University, Northridge in 2011 and will receive her master’s degree this spring.

Sabet says her grandfather’s execution for his Baha’i beliefs in the Islamic Republic of Iran has shaped her political beliefs and inspired many of her pottery assemblages. She likens the plasticity of wet clay to the resiliency of her family members who have hardened themselves to survive while retaining the scars of violence.

“Warped and changed, we endure,” she observes, as do her ceramics, whether leather dry and brittle or fired to a highly burnished gloss.

The two-woman show will continue through mid-March and will include roundtable discussions on arts, media and the Syrian revolution. For viewing by appointment, please e-mail <info@newsahara gallery.com>.

—Pat McDonnell Twair THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Muslim-American Activism Washington and Lee Holds Discrimination Symposium With the escalation of Washington’s war on terror, America’s Muslim community is increasingly demonized and its basic civic rights threatened. This is the main message from a Feb. 15 symposium on “Discrimination against Muslim Americans in a Post9/11 World.”

This would not have been a surprising conclusion from some big city liberal institution, but it is all the more significant coming from the Law School of Washington and Lee University, a small, elite Southern institution in Lexington, VA, proud of its heritage and traditions.

“Discrimination against Muslim Americans is just part of the larger picture of discrimination against minorities in this country,” said Monica Tulchinsky, a third year student in international human rights and one of the student organizers of the forum, explaining why they had chosen this theme.

Before a sympathetic audience of about a hundred students and a few townspeople, Nancy Hollander, the self-described “terrorist lawyer,” delivered the keynote speech on “The Criminalization of Charity: the Holy Land Case and the Decline of American Justice.” Hollander, who also represents two prisoners in Guantanamo, recalled the facts: the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation, the largest Islamic charity in the U.S., was closed on Dec. 4, 2001, its assets seized, and leadership accused of sending funds to Hamas, a Palestinian organization on the U.S. government’s terrorist list. (See Jan./Feb. 2013 Washington Report, p. 17.)

The first trial ended in 2007, without proving any links between the foundation and Hamas. In a retrial, however, based on testimony from secret sources and hearsay, five Holy Land officials were convicted of sending more than $12 million to charities allegedly controlled by Hamas. The defendants were sentenced to 15 to 65 years in prison. On Oct. 29, 2012 the Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal; the next step is to file a writ of habeas corpus.

“The case brings shame to the American justice system,” Hollander said, comparing it to the Supreme Court’s 1944 decision on Korematsu v. United States, which upheld Executive Order 9066, which sent Japanese Americans to internment camps. That ruling eventually was voided as being based on false information.

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PHOTOS COURTESY THE LAW NEWS, W&L UNIV. SCHOOL OF LAW

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(LEFT) Symposium keynote speaker Nancy Hollander speaks on the criminalization of charity.

(ABOVE) “Muslims in America Today” panelists (l-r) Daniel Cox, Haris Tarin, Muslim Public Affairs Council, DC, Amara S. Chaudhry, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Philadelphia, and Washington and Lee law Prof. Timothy Keefer, panel moderator.

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Muslims in the U.S., he said that more than Muslims Mark President Obama’s personal interaction is needed to rebut an Second Inauguration anti-Muslim campaign. Tarin called for more pushback from the political leader- Muslim Americans held a star-studded Inship, saying, “When public leaders step in, augural Benefit Gala on Jan. 20 at the things change.”

Josephine Butler Parks Center near MeridAmara S. Chaudhry, Council on Ameri- ian Hill/Malcom X Park in Washington, can-Islamic Relations (CAIR) representative DC. The event celebrated the re-election of in Philadelphia, focused on the govern- President Barack Obama and highlighted ment’s increased criminalization of Mus- the contributions of Muslims to the nation. lims since 9/11. She specifically referred to Gala organizers presented “Golden Minaret enhanced surveillance by the FBI and New Awards,” similar to the American Latino York Police Department of mosques, orga- Media Arts (ALMA) Awards or the Nanizations, cafes, universities, airports and tional Association for the Advancement of borders. Pointing out that FBI guidelines Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards, to bar the use of race in profiling, she em- recognize American Muslims and their orphasized, “and so they target Muslims— ganizations and institutions. Areas of not North Africans or Middle Easterners.” recognition included media and entertainHamid M. Khan, of the United States In- ment, medicine and civil rights. stitute of Peace recounted how shariah has Master and Mistress of Ceremonies been distorted from its original meaning as Preacher Moss (the comedian from “Allah “a path” to become a political football “no longer controlled by academics but in the hands of politicians.” In the U.S., the antishariah movement played a significant role in the 2010 midterm elections and the Republican presidential primaries. Chaudhry said anti-shariah militants have presented 78 bills in 31 states, but only five states have (Above) Native Deen, a DC trio whose music combines a hipadopted the legislation. hop style with lyrical themes grounded in Islam.

A Pennsylvania court declared the anti-shariah bill “inherently Made Me Funny”) and young Muslimunconstitutional,” and Oklahoma’s consti- American aspiring TV anchor Noor Tagouri tutional amendment barring shariah was kept the ball rolling. Congressman Keith Elchallenged in a federal court. lison (D-MN) challenged the audience to —Marvine Howe continue working to improve their nation.

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

In a panel on “Muslims in America Today: Where We Are, Where We’ve Been,” Daniel Cox, co-founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, presented a grim picture of American perceptions of Muslims from recent surveys. Nine-in-10 Americans know nothing or little about Muslim religious beliefs and practices, and only atheists are viewed more negatively.

Seven-in-10 Americans have little or no social interaction with Muslims—on a par with Mormons. While 81 percent believe Muslims in America hold strong religious beliefs, nearly 7-in-10 feel they are not respectful of women. Four-in-10 Americans say Islam encourages violence more than other religions, and 63 percent of Republicans (66 percent Tea Party) and 40 percent of Democrats say Islam is at odds with U.S. values. Finally, nearly 6-in-10 Americans acknowledge that Muslims in the United States face a lot of discrimination; only gays and lesbians are said to face more.

Providing context to these numbers, Haris Tarin, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington, DC, listed world events that have led to the “trauma” in U.S.-Muslim relations: the oil embargo and Iranian revolution in the 1970s, bombings in Lebanon in the 1980s, the first Gulf war in 1990-91, and 9/11/2001, when a group of Muslims declared war on the United States. Initially, Americans had been supportive of the Muslim community, but over time there was an increase in hate crimes, discrimination in housing and employment, and rhetoric against mosques, shariah law and Muslims in general. Tarin cited reports by the Center for American Progress which found that far right-wing groups have poured $50 million into “an anti-Muslim political agenda.” (See November 2011 Washington Report, p. 18.)

Noting there are only about four million

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STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

After opening prayer and an impressive rendition of the national anthem by Ebony Khan, Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray took to the stage to commend the mosque for the many services it provides to the community. “I want to thank Masjid Muhammad (L-r) Imam Mansoor Sabree presents a special courage award to for being such an imHusain and Hamza Abdullah, who put their careers as NFL play- portant part of the ers with the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals, respec- fabric of the District of Columbia,” the tively, on hold to make the hajj. mayor said.

In addition to being the first mosque The Council on American-Islamic Relations received the Golden Minaret Award constructed by American citizens, Mayor for “Excellence in Civil Rights,” accepted Gray pointed out, Masjid Muhammad proby CAIR national legal director Nadhira duced the first Muslim chaplain in the U.S. Al-Khalili. CAIR national executive direc- Army; the District’s first Muslim police oftor Nihad Awad presented Golden Minaret ficer; the first Muslim judge in Maryland; awards for education and youth leadership the nation’s first Muslim-American Veterto the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament ans Association; and the first Muslim Boy (MIST) and the Mohammed Schools of At- Scouts chapter.

“Your mosque has promoted what we all lanta.

Imam Mohamed Magid, president of hope to achieve: diversity,” United States ISNA, presentated a Special Innovation Attorney for the District of Columbia Award to Yasir Kahf for producing the Ronald C. Machen told the audience. He “1001 Inventions” exhibit. Other awardees went on to stress the importance of comincluded champion boxer Muhammad Ali, munities building partnerships across all whose Lifetime Achievement award was lines, noting that cooperation helps solve accepted by a niece; Muslim-American fe- problems such as poverty and youth viomale fencing champion and athletic am- lence.

Rashad Hussain, U.S. special envoy to bassador Ibtihaj Muhammad; and the Abdullah brothers, Hamza and Husain, for- the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, mer NFL players who gave up lucrative conveyed greetings from the White House. contracts to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.

After presentations of Golden Minaret Awards for Health and Civil Rights, the evening continued with amazing musical and comedy routines. Proceeds from the event, attended by elected and public officials, community leaders, activists, entertainers and athletes, generated funds for non-profits working in the nation’s capital.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Masjid Muhammad Celebrates 75 Years

Noting the proactive nature of the mosque when it comes to interfaith relations, he said, “The Masjid Muhammad has been ahead of the curve for a long time.”

Aisha Rahman, executive director of KARAMAH, Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, read a statement prepared

by KARAMAH founder Prof. Azizah alHibri. While pointing out the special role of Masjid Muhammad in the history of Islam in America, al-Hibri lamented the fact that it took so long for American Muslims to establish their own faith communities in this country. Pointing out that Muslims have lived on this continent since the 14th century, she encouraged American Muslims to learn more about the history of their faith in the United States.

The round of congratulatory remarks was followed by a remarkable performance

by Brazilian musician Angelica de la Riva, an internationally acclaimed soprano.

After dazzling the audience with her amazing vocal skills, de la Riva thanked the mosque for the invitation and expressed her desire to see a growth in crosscultural and interfaith initiatives.

The banquet continued with a heartfelt keynote address by Khadijah Mohammed, the wife of the deceased Imam W. Deen Mohammed. Though soft-spoken, Mohammed’s words captivated and deeply moved the audience. She urged the community not to grow complacent, reminding them that as Muslims they are called to be of constant service to God and their neighbors.

Imam Talib Shareef, Masjid Muhammad’s resident imam and a 30-year retired U.S. Air Force chief master sergeant, concluded the evening by presenting an award to 13-year-old Taji Lee. An impressive young man from nearby Prince George’s County, MD, Lee ran into his burning house in December 2012 to save his mother, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and could not make it out on her own. Imam Shareef praised Lee and held him up as an example of how to live out the Muslim faith.

—Dale Sprusansky

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

Launch of “My Jihad” Ad Campaign

The Washington, DC faith community of Masjid Muhammad, the first mosque built from the ground up by American citizens, held a banquet at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill on Feb. 2 to commemorate its 75th anniversary. The event, which showcased the mosque’s commitment to interfaith outreach, featured speeches and live entertainment by individuals of many backgrounds.

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray thanks Masjid Muhammad for being a vital part of the city.

More than 2,000 students, working mothers and even an award-winning photojournalist—Sadaf Syed—joined Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago chapter, to launch a national educational ad campaign called “My Jihad.” Public buses and trains in San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, DC began carrying the ads at 59

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a large-scale philanthropic organization based in Riyadh and named it the King Faisal Foundation (KFF). One of its activities is the King Faisal International Prize (KFIP), to honor scholars and scientists who have made the most significant advances to benefit humanity and enrich human knowledge.

This year’s awards bring the total number of laureates to 223 distinguished individuals from 40 different countries. The KFIP are ranked among the world’s most prestigious awards, and several of the KFIP laureates in science and medicine have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize.

—Sameen Ahmed Khan

PHOTO COURTESY MYJIHAD.ORG

the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013.

The term jihad has taken on negative and violent connotations, and is often mistranslated simply as “holy war.” The educational campaign explains the full meaning of jihad as a believer’s internal “struggle or effort” to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible. The campaign includes an interactive community discussion using YouTube A Chicago bus carries My Jihad ad. videos, Facebook and the #MyJihad hash tag to urge supporters to covered the tunnel Israelis had dug under share insight into their own personal strug- al-Aqsa Mosque. Along with the Al-Rawha gles or efforts. Muslims and non-Muslims Peoples Committee, Mahagna prevented alike already have contributed to the cam- the confiscation of Al-Rawha land in 1998.

He has regularly organized events titled paign.

Rehab said the campaign was conceived “Al-Aqsa is in Danger” which attract thouas a response to the anti-Islam ad campaign sands of Palestinians in occupied Palestine created by conservative blogger Pamela and help boost their morale.

The Arabic Language and Literature Geller, who ran a series of incendiary antiMuslim “Defeat Jihad” ads on city buses in Award was bestowed upon the Arabic LanDC, New York and Chicago in November. guage Academy in Cairo, Egypt for its efThe goal of the campaign, Rehab ex- forts in writing Arabic dictionaries. The plained, is “reclaiming jihad from the Mus- Medicine Award went to Prof. Jeffrey lim and anti-Muslim extremists who ironi- Michael Friedman (U.S.) and Prof. Douglas cally, but not surprisingly, see eye to eye Leonard Coleman (U.S. and Canada) for their work on the genetics of obesity. The on jihad.”

“This campaign is about representing our Science Award, in the area of physics, went voices, our lives—our reality,” the organi- to Prof. Paul B. Corkum (Canada) and Prof. zation’s Web site, <http://myjihad.org/>, Ferenc Krausz (Hungary-Austria) for their reads. “The purpose of the campaign is to independent pioneering work which has bring forth the mainstream majority of made it possible to capture the incredibly moderate voices that is often squeezed out fast motion of electrons in atoms and molbetween two extremes. The simple, yet ecules.

The prize consists of a certificate, handmuch ignored fact is that jihad is a positive, written in Diwani calligraphy, summarizpeaceful, and constructive practice.”

—Delinda C. Hanley ing the laureate’s work; a commemorative 24 carat, 200 gram gold medal, uniquely Palestinian Wins King Faisal cast for each prize; and a cash endowment Foundation Award of Saudi Riyal 750,000 (U.S. $200,000) to be The King Faisal Foundation in Riyadh, shared equally.

The prizes are named after the third Saudi Arabia announced the 2013 King Faisal International Prize recipients on Jan. king of Saudi Arabia. In 1976, the sons of 28. Sheikh Rai’d Salah Mahagna of Pales- the late King Faisal (1906-1975) established tine won the award for Service to Islam. He was a founding member of the Islamic Movement in Occupied Palestinian territories, launched in 1948, and its chairman from 1996-2001, in which capacity he pursued distinctive reforms and social services. He also served as chairman of the alAqsa Foundation for the Refurbishment of Revered Islamic Places. In collaboration with the Islamic Endowment Organization in al-Quds and the Committee for the Conservation of the Revered al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, the pioneering Sheikh Mahagna has led many projects in the al-Aqsa Mosque. It was he who dis- The King Faisal Foundation Award.

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Waging Peace

PHOTO COURTESY KING FAISAL FOUNDATION

Former Iranian Parliamentarians Propose Nuclear Solution

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars held an event at its Washington, DC headquarters on Jan. 24 to discuss a Jan. 7 letter sent by seven former Iranian parliamentarians to President Barack Obama, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton outlining how the nuclear conflict could be peacefully resolved. Two of the letter’s authors, Fatemeh Haghighatjoo and Seyed Aliakbar Mousavi, spoke at the event, titled “A Proposal for the Resolution of the Iranian Nuclear Standoff.”

In the letter, the parliamentarians argue that a “transparent and bilateral dialogue between the U.S. and Iranian governments” must be established. The letter also calls on the international community to acknowledge Iran’s right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. Furthermore, the parliamentarians argue that the P5+1 should lift sanctions in exchange for Iran halting 20 percent uranium enrichment. Finally, the letter urges Tehran to allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities.

Parliamentarian Haghighatjoo began the discussion on an optimistic note, stating her belief that the next few months present “a golden opportunity for addressing the nuclear issue.” President Obama has greater flexibility now that he is in his second term, she noted, and the crippling impact of sanctions has made “Iran’s government ready for a new round of negotiations.”

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STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

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(L-r) Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, Seyed Aliakbar Mousavi, Haleh Esfandiari, George Perkovich, Robert Litwak and Jim Walsh discuss the Iranian nuclear stalemate. Staff photo D. Sprusansky

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not be able to certify that Iran’s program is peaceful and Western discontent will cause the crisis to persist.

According to Robert Litwak, vice president for scholars at the Wilson Center, the Islamic Republic must determine what role it wants to have in the international community. “The nuclear question is a proxy issue for a broader debate in Iran about what kind of relationship it is prepared to have with the rest of the world,” he said, adding that Iran must answer the question: “Is it a revolutionary state or a normal country?”

—Dale Sprusansky

Iranian Nuclear Negotiations Ahead of scheduled Feb. 26 talks between the P5+1 and Iran in Kazakhstan, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars held an event at its Washington, DC offices on Jan. 29 to discuss the question: “The Nuclear Issue: Why is Iran Negotiating?” Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Wilson Center’s Middle East program, moderated the panel discussion.

Bijan Khajehpour, managing partner of Atieh International, began by noting that 2012 was the Iranian economy’s worst year

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

Haghighatjoo went on to argue that the continuation of sanctions benefits neither Iranians nor the West. Sanctions have created a “security environment” in Iran, hindering the political opposition’s ability to air its grievances, she pointed out. Most Iranians are concerned with surviving day to day, Haghighatjoo added, not with political matters. She also warned that sanctions are increasing anti-Western sentiment in the country, as Iranians are beginning to blame their hardships on the international sanctions regime.

George Perkovich, director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s nuclear policy program, said that while the U.S. is eager to engage in direct talks with Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei is hesitant. Jim Walsh, an international security expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s security studies program, attributed the ayatollah’s reluctance to the trust deficit that exists between Washington and Iran. Because both sides expect the other to negotiate in bad faith, opportunities for a deal continually go to waste, he lamented, adding that he feared the current situation “is déjà vu all over again.”

On the issue of Iran’s right to enrich uranium up to 5 percent, Perkovich said that “most people recognize that Iran has won [this] issue.” The P5+1 recognizes that a deal will not be possible unless this concession is made, he added. However, Perkovich said, the West, fearing that Iran will pocket this concession and stop negotiating, will not officially give in until a deal is finalized.

If a deal is reached, Perkovich said that Iran must allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect its nuclear facilities. If Tehran does not allow these inspections, he noted, the IAEA will

since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988.

While acknowledging that “external sanctions have played a role in bringing about this economic situation,” he stressed that “sanctions are not the only issue in Iran.”

In Khajehpour’s opinion, Tehran’s populist economic programs and mismanagement of the economy must also be cited as reasons for the nation’s downward economic spiral.

While sanctions have hurt Iran’s middle class, Khajehpour said, government and semi-government entities have actually benefited. “The government can very easily hide behind the sanctions,” he stated, noting that the Western-imposed sanctions have been used to cover-up internal economic mismanagement. As an example, Khajehpour cited declining oil production capacity as an issue that predates sanctions.

Khajehpour, who was imprisoned in Iran for three months in 2009, said that Tehran is also doing its best to assist the lower class, which is generally supportive of the regime. He noted that Iran has recently decided to give the poor a cash handout before the Iranian New Year begins on March 20.

Looking ahead, Khajehpour said he does not believe that a nuclear agreement is on the horizon. “I don’t think it has reached the position where Iran is going to feel compelled to come and soften its approach,” he explained.

According to Alireza Nader, an international policy analyst at RAND Corporation, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is uneasy about negotiating with the West. While Nader expects this hesitancy to continue, he added that pressure from four Iranian factions (the reformists, the pro-Mahmoud Ahmadinejad camp, the supporters of Khamenei, and the Iranian population) could force the ayatollah to reconsider the negotiating table.

Should the wealth enjoyed by the Revolutionary Guard and other Khamenei sup-

(L-r) Bijan Khajehpour, Haleh Esfandiari, Michael Adler and Alireza Nader assess Iran’s willingness to negotiate a nuclear settlement.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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STAFF PHOTO M. GILLESPIE

been more sharply focused by news porters become compromised by sancthat the Iowa Air National Guard tions, Nader continued, they could do 132nd Fighter Wing’s F-16s, based at an about-face and urge the ayatollah Des Moines International Airport, to negotiate. They “will not stand by will be replaced by drone operations idly and see their country come to this year. ruin,” Nader said, predicting that the On the morning following her Iranian people would put tremendous multi-media presentation, Bolger and pressure on Khamenei should the curmembers of Iowa VFP chapters 163, rent situation worsen significantly.

Des Moines; 161, Iowa City; and 169, Michael Adler, a public policy Cedar Rapids were joined by represcholar at the Wilson Center, stressed sentatives of Des Moines Catholic that Iran’s nuclear program is not Worker, Occupy Des Moines, Amerimoving as quickly as many believe.

Indeed, he pointed out, the latest in- Leah Bolger of Veterans For Peace speaks out in Des can Friends Service Committee, and Methodist Federation for Social Actelligence indicates that Iran could Moines against drones. tion-Iowa for a rally against drones not produce a nuclear weapon until 2015. (Iran has never stated that it intends duty in the U.S. Navy and retired in 2000 and a news conference at the main gate of the Iowa Air National Guard base in Des at the rank of commander. to produce a nuclear weapon.)

There are frequent anti-American Moines.

The fact that the Islamic Republic has “We got about two dozen people, a slowed down its nuclear program could be demonstrations in Pakistan, where about a sign that it’s willing to negotiate, Adler 75 percent of the population views the U.S. pretty good turn-out considering the speculated. “Diplomacy still looks a lot more as an enemy than a partner, primar- frigid, single digit temperature,” said better than military action,” he concluded. ily because of the drone program, said Bol- Gilbert Landolt, president of VFP chapter —Dale Sprusansky ger, one of several VFP members in the del- 163, who noted that the Associated Press reported on the rally. Landolt said he exegation.

Leah Bolger Talks About Drones in “The people, though, were so gracious pects drone warfare to be an increasingly Des Moines and warm to us,” she recalled. “They un- contentious issue in Iowa.

—Michael Gillespie Leah Bolger, outgoing president of Veter- derstand the difference between American ans For Peace (VFP), makes good use of her policies and the American people. They time. Traveling in January from Washing- were so hospitable and appreciative of us, Does the U.S. Have a ton, DC, where she marched and spoke while at the same time asking, ‘Why does Middle East Strategy? during Arc of Justice events, to St. Louis, your country do this? What about interna- The Middle East Policy Council held a Jan. MO for the annual VFP board meeting, tional law?’”

16 forum at the Rayburn House Office Bolger explained that while many Pak- Building on Capitol Hill to address the quesBolger decided to spend a couple of days talking and rallying with Iowa activists istani officials speak publicly against the tion: “U.S. Grand Strategy in the Middle who oppose the Obama administration’s drone assassination campaign, high offi- East: Is There One?” Middle East Policy cials privately accede to U.S. government Council executive director Thomas Mattair drone assassination program.

Bolger spoke to a standing-room-only pressure, while Pakistani media outlets col- moderated the discussion among four wellcrowd at the Franklin Avenue Library in lude with the government by identifying respected observers of the region.

Des Moines on Jan. 22, discussing her ex- the victims of drone strikes only as miliFormer U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia periences as a member of a delegation of tants, when in reality many of them are in- Chas Freeman began by highlighting the some 30 U.S. activists who traveled to Pak- nocent civilians. contradictory nature of Washington’s MidBolger showed a photo of the aftermath dle East policy. When it comes to Israel, he istan in October to meet with local officials and victims of U.S. drone strikes in that of a drone strike, an image she said she pointed out, the U.S. acts “almost entirely country (see Jan./Feb. 2013 Washington found particularly compelling. on religious and emotional bonds.” How“This one really gets to me. This is a man ever, he went on to say, when dealing with Report, p. 34).

“Drones are killing people, thousands of holding up a shard of his wife’s clothing, Arab nations the U.S. is practical, strategic people, most of them we know are inno- which was all that was left of her when he and unsentimental. “This disconnect has cent. Reports show that only 2 percent of came home. He found this piece of her precluded any [U.S.] grand strategy,” Freethe people we’ve killed [with drones] are dress in a tree, and here is this man trying man argued. high-level al-Qaeda operatives,” Bolger to document his wife’s life by holding up a Blindly supporting Israel is hurting piece of her clothing. This is all he has to America’s standing in the world and exactold an audience of about 50.

Bolger said she considers all those killed be able to prove that she even existed,” erbating the Arab-Israeli conflict, the amby drone strikes innocent because none of said Bolger. bassador continued. “Israel’s ill repute cor“Our government doesn’t recognize this,” rodes U.S. prestige and credibility not just them have been afforded any kind of due she continued. “Our government denies in the Middle East but in the world at process.

“Nobody was ever taken before any these people have been killed…We are cre- large,” he stated. “The United States has afkind of judicial proceeding, no evidence ating enemies faster than we are killing firmed that, regardless of how Israel bewas presented against them, no charges them.” haves, it will allow no political distance beThe attention of Iowa peace activists, tween itself and the Jewish state. In the eyes were filed against them. So, all those we have killed have been innocent civilians,” long aware of and opposed to the U.S. gov- of the world there is none.” said Bolger, who served 20 years on active ernment’s drone assassination program, has In the opinion of University of Virginia 62

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STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

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(L-r) Amb. Chas Freeman, Thomas Mattair, Prof. William Quandt, Ambassador Marwan Muasher and Dr. John Duke Anthony discuss Israel’s influence on U.S. foreign policy. professor William B. Quandt, U.S. regional policy should be centered on Iran, Turkey and Egypt. He suggested that Secretary of State John Kerry attempt to forge a new relationship with Iran’s leadership. “I think it is well time to overcome the long U.S.-Iran estrangement. Some form of diplomatic rapprochement is needed in the coming years,” he said.

“The United States and Turkey on a wide range of issues have been more cooperative than they have been competitive,” Quandt observed, urging the U.S. to “keep this relationship on track.” The fact that Turkey will play an important role in the futures of Iraq and Syria and is “something of a model to be emulated in the region,” makes maintaining cordial relations with Ankara imperative, he said.

While the nature of the U.S.-Egypt relationship has undergone a substantial transformation in the last two years, Quandt said that the U.S. must find a fresh way to engage Cairo. “We have to think of new ways of dealing with a new Egypt, with a new Egyptian leadership, and it’s going to take some real constant attention and effort,” he opined.

Dr. John Duke Anthony, president of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, discussed how the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) fits into U.S. regional policy. According to Dr. Anthony, the GCC is uncertain as to “where the United States is coming from or headed or likely intending to arrive” on the issues of Iran and Israel-Palestine. Regarding the later, Dr. Anthony said that the GCC views Washington as “being intimidated by the representatives, the agents, the sympathizers, the fifth columns, the Trojan horses of a country of 8 million people [Israel].

“We also know as children that crime is not supposed to pay. And here’s an instance where it not only pays [for Israel], but it pays quite handsomely,” he continued.

“There’s no other country on the planet that APRIL 2013

receives this kind of largess, this material benefit, despite defying its protector, despite defying its primary source of finance and diplomatic intervention.”

Marwan Muasher, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that time is running out for the two-state solution and urged Washington to urgently pursue peace. “The choice today on this issue is between the difficulty of achieving peace today and the impossibility of achieving it tomorrow,” he said. “If we are waiting for a better time to come, when all the stars will be aligned, I’m afraid that that time will never arrive.”

Muasher then offered five suggestions for U.S. policy. First, he said, Washington must fully commit to supporting democratic governance. Second, the U.S. must understand its limitations in the region. “Political transition on the ground will largely be driven by domestic events and considerations,” Muasher explained.

Third, the U.S. should not choose sides in internal political battles. “The best way to support the goal of sustainable democratic change is by clearly committing to the principles and processes of democracy and accepting and dealing with all legitimate winners of elections,” he argued. Fourth, and related, the U.S. must avoid viewing all groups, particularly Islamists, through the same lens.

Finally, Muasher urged Washington to use diplomacy in order to “break the regional deadlock on Syria.” A negotiated settlement that allows a political transition to take place, ensures the protection of minorities and allows institution building to take place must be reached, he urged.

—Dale Sprusansky

Videographer and Activist Harry Fear Speaks in Iowa City British journalist and activist Harry Fear spoke to a near-capacity crowd at the Iowa City Public Library on Jan. 18, his first U.S. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

stop on his “Reporting Aggression—World Talking Tour.”

“What is happening in Gaza is an ongoing emergency, an ongoing tragedy, with innocent lives being taken for no reason, with no justification, on a daily or weekly basis,” said Fear, whose livestream Web broadcast from Gaza City during Israel’s eight-day assault in November on the blockaded Palestinian enclave captured and held the attention of audiences around the world.

“As a documentary filmmaker and journalist, I approach the situation knowing very well that there is a pre-existing deficit in people’s understanding of the conflict,” Fear explained. “Most obviously the Palestinian narrative and understanding of reality and of history is something that doesn’t exist in Western media, and nowhere is that more true than in the United States, where there is even more corporate control of information than, for example, in Britain, where I am from,” he said.

Fear contrasted some 120 million Google news results for the Sandy Hook Elementary School gun massacre, in which 20 children and six teachers and school administrators were killed, with about 90,000 Google news results for Israel’s November assault on Gaza, which lasted eight days and killed more than 30 Palestinian children and many other civilians.

“So, you can see there is a problem here with the way that the media treat the loss of innocent life. Some people are apparently more important than others,” declared Fear, noting differences between corporate news coverage and alternative reportage on deaths in illegally occupied Palestine.

The so-called Israel-Palestine conflict is not some sort of conventional war, he continued. It’s an asymmetrical conflict between a First World country with the fourth strongest military in the world against a defenseless, captive people, said Fear.

The savvy and articulate young videographer described the experience of reporting from Gaza under continuous bombardment by Israeli artillery, drone, and fighterbomber aircraft for eight days while hearing the Muslim call to prayer at least five times each day as, “eerie, horrifying…somewhat apocalyptic.”

But the conflict is not a religious one, he noted. It did not begin 2,000 years ago between Jews and Muslims. Such notions are part of Israel’s propaganda campaign.

Rather, it started in 1947, said Fear, who described the deprivation and punishment the government of Israel regularly visits upon Palestinians as “shocking.”

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Videographer and activist Harry Fear speaks in Iowa City.

“This stuff is real. It’s been going on for 65 years, and it is happening to normal human beings just like you and me.…Most of the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are children,” he pointed out. “It’s a very young population, and children are least able, least prepared to deal with the siege and with state violence.”

When Gaza is not under attack, Fear said he finds it very easy to get around and to work as a journalist there.

“Getting access to people is very easy.

Everyone has a story to tell because every family has been touched by some sort of tragedy. Everyone is ready to talk, and even getting access to officials is easy as well.

They’re desperate to get their message out,” Fear explained.

“In Gaza there is an overwhelming feeling of entrapment, imprisonment, and terror,” with bombardment by Israeli naval vessels, land-based artillery and aircraft, including the ever-present Israeli drones buzzing overhead. Additionally, Israel has almost totally sealed off the land in terms of import-export economic traffic and entry and exit civilian traffic. This, Fear pointed out, “constitutes an illegal siege under international law. The effect has been to slow down economic growth and de-develop the Palestinian economy, suffocating normal economic life. Gazans are imprisoned and impoverished in their own land.”

Nevertheless, Palestinians struggle valiantly to maintain a sense of normalcy, Fear said, and “there is a general widespread sentimental relationship with the whole of 1948 Palestine, which, morallyspeaking, is Palestinian.” Hamas is an elected government and still has widespread popular support in Gaza, he noted, adding that Israel’s decision to end the assault on Gaza after eight days without a ground invasion is widely perceived as a victory for Hamas and for Gazans.

Since early December, Fear’s speaking 64

tour has taken him to Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the U.S., the UK, Malaysia, and New Zealand. As of early February he planned to speak in Australia, Ireland and Northern Ireland, and Egypt.

[Harry Fear and Kathleen Wells co-host the radio show “Palestine Today” every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 noon (Pacific Standard Time) on KCAA radio/AM 1050 (KCAAradio.com.)]

—Michael Gillespie

Fatah forces] Hamas replaced the Palestinian Authority security forces with Hamas security forces, which Israel claims is a violation of the Oslo accords.” Israel cites this as its reason for blockading Gaza. “Most people do not know why Gaza is under an Israeli blockade,” Croatti emphasized.

“Most believe in error that it is simply because Hamas won the elections.

“Palestinians have now embarked on a two-tier strategy,” Croatti continued. “One, to emulate the Arab Spring and use peaceful demonstrations to demand equality and voting rights in Israeli elections; and two, to appeal to the United Nations to declare a Palestinian state, as happened with Kosovo over Serbia’s objections.”

Croatti also discussed the results of the recent Israeli elections. He described how the right-wing proposal to annex the West Bank and continue to withhold equal rights from Palestinians living there (i.e., virtual apartheid), coupled with an increasingly hostile attitude by ultra-Orthodox Jews toward secular Zionists (which has been described as a battle for the “soul” of Israel), caused the Israeli “center” to flex its muscles even though Likud still controls the government.

—Muna Howard

Mark Croatti Looks at Palestinian Statehood: What Happens Next?

Prof. Mark Croatti tackled the question, “Now that the United Nations has recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state, what happens next?” in a Jan. 30 talk sponsored by The Committee for Palestinian Rights at Howard County Central Library in Columbia, MD. Croatti, who teaches comparative politics at George Washington University, first took a look at the results of the so-called “peace process” since the Oslo accords: “Israeli settlers have increased in East Jerusalem and the West Bank from 150,000 to 500,000,” he stated. “Palestinians living in the West Bank continued to be denied citizenship and voting rights, even though Israelis who move to the West Bank can vote in Israeli elections.”

Palestinians living in the West Bank cannot live in Israeli settlements or drive on the roads around them, Croatti added.

Regarding Israel’s blockade of Gaza, he noted that ”Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005; Hamas won the Gaza [and West Bank] elections in 2006 and then [following an attempted coup by U.S.-trained

Inauguration Protest Urges U.S. to End Aid to Israel

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Prof. Mark Croatti examines the results of the “peace process” since the Oslo accords.

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Hundreds partook in an inauguration weekend protest on Jan. 19, dubbed the “No Blank Check for Israel” rally. Cosponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace and many other organizations, the rally demanded the termination of America’s annual $3 billion-plus in aid to Israel.

Equipped with inarguable facts, protesters marched from Farragut Square in downtown Washington, DC to the White House, where they held a candlelight vigil.

People of all religions, political parties, races and ethnicities participated in the vigil for peace and equality in Palestine and Israel.

The protesters argued that Washington’s unlimited and unconditional financial, military and political aid to Israel is creating an atmosphere that is counterproductive to peace in the Middle East. The Palestinians, they noted, have been constantly overlooked and neglected, while the state of Israel evades even slight condemnations. This unbalanced approach is in stark contrast to America’s founding principles of freedom and equality, various speakers noted.

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Rev. Graylan Hagler calls for justice and civil rights for Palestinians.

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truth being a people’s quest to free themselves from humiliation and oppression.

—Marwan Ayad

Activist Discusses Nonviolent Protest in Bil’in, West Bank Iyad Burnat, leader of the nonviolent protest movement in the West Bank village of Bil’in, appeared at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC on Feb. 4 to discuss his community’s ongoing nonviolent efforts to resist Israel’s illegal occupation.

Burnat, whose brother produced the Oscar nominated film “5 Broken Cameras“ (available from the AET Book Store) which documents Bil’in’s weekly nonviolent protests, began by stating that since 1948 the Israelis have intentionally sought to “make the lives of the Palestinians hard.”

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The Palestinian struggle for respect and dignity has been successfully transformed into a political conflict where Palestinian calls for their rights are interpreted as dangers to the American/Israeli agenda, the protesters lamented. This perception, they pointed out, is the result of biases and misinformation stemming from deceivingly credible sources such as politicians and the media.

Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior minister at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, DC, urged those at the rally to take a stand against their country’s support for Israel. “There has been silence for too long; folks have been silent too long over the issues and the morality surrounding the occupation,” he said. “We’re not looking away any longer.”

The subject of U.S. aid to Israel must no longer be taboo, Rev. Hagler added. “If you question aid to Israel or products produced out of illegal settlements in the occupied territories or any subject related to Israel you run the risk of being labeled an antiSemite,” he noted. “I’ve got news for you: we’re not against anyone—we’re standing up for human rights. We’re standing up for everyone.”

Craig Corrie, father of Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist run over by an Israeli soldier driving a bulldozer in Gaza, thanked the 60,000 people who signed a recent letter to President Barack Obama conditioning U.S. aid to Israel on compliance with U.S. and international law. Corrie summarized the views of the marchers: “We’re asking the U.S. to not fund Israel when it violates our own laws.”

Through their rally, the protesters hope that they have successfully revealed the truth of the Palestinian struggle—that

During Israel’s construction of the illegal separation wall, he noted, 1,000 olive trees were destroyed in Bil’in. Because most of the 1,900 residents of the village are farmers, most people lost their jobs when the trees were destroyed, he explained.

Further complicating matters, Burnat added, since the Oslo accords were signed in 1993 seven Jewish-only settlements have been built in Bil’in and other nearby Palestinian villages. The settlers steal water from Bil’in’s residents and constantly harass the village’s farmers, he said. The surrounding illegal settlements are always green and lush, Burnat pointed out, while on the Palestinian side “everything is brown.”

In 2004, Burnat began a movement in Bil’in that peacefully and creatively resists the Israeli occupation every Friday. Having protesters dress up as Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Nelson Mandela or as the exploited blue Na’vi people from the film “Avatar” are among the creative ways the villagers have displayed their opposition, he said.

Despite the nonviolent nature of the protests, Burnat continued, Israeli soldiers have responded with excessive violence, including the illegal practice of firing rubber bullets and tear-gas canisters at very close range. Since the protests began, he noted, 40 Palestinians have been killed, while many others have been injured.

Burnat believes that the Israelis are resorting to violence because they know the nonviolent movement has been successful.

“They try to break us in many ways,” he said of the soldiers. The fact that the protests still occur weekly and have now spread to 20 villages suggests that Israel’s efforts are failing, Burnat commented.

The Palestine Center being the final stop of his three-month speaking tour across the United States, Burnat said he believes that he has been able to enlighten many Americans. “Most of them [audience members] did not know that their money goes to Israel’s army,” he emphasized.

Burnat concluded by urging Americans to recognize and reverse their country’s role as a financer of the occupation. “As a Palestinian we believe that this country [the U.S.] is a part of the occupation,” he said. “We have to stop the Israeli occupation.”

—Dale Sprusansky

Portrayal of the “Other” in Israeli and Palestinian Textbooks Improving Iyad Burnat describes the creative ways in which the residents of the West Bank village of Bil’in peacefully protest the Israeli occupation.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Researchers presented the results of a three-year scientific study of Israeli and Palestinian textbooks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Feb. 5. Yale 65

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Palestinian Authority minister professor Bruce E. Wexler gave of religious affairs, the Greek, an overview of the methodolArmenian and Latin patriarchs ogy and rigorous standards of Jerusalem and the Anglican employed in examining the and Lutheran bishops of the schoolbooks, and summarized Holy Land. the study’s findings during the The study recommends that well-attended briefing, hosted the Israeli and Palestinian minby the American Task Force on istries of education review the Palestine (ATFP). content of their textbooks.

The study examined 3,000 Palestinian Prime Minister texts, illustrations and maps in Salam Fayyad welcomed the books used in Palestinian, Isstudy, Professor Adwan raeli state and ultra-Orthodox pointed out, and has inJewish schools. (Arabic books structed the Palestinian Educaused in Israeli Arab schools, tion Ministry to use the study which are produced by the Israeli Ministry of Education, (L-r) Profs. Bruce Wexler, Daniel Bar-Tal and Sami Adwan describe results in future work and new schoolbooks. were not included in the the results of a scientific study of Palestinian and Israeli textbooks.

Israeli officials, who frestudy.) All data was sent to Yale Prof. Daniel Bar-Tal of Tel Aviv Univer- quently claim Palestinian textbooks teach for analysis. Wexler described the study as “transparent, open, collaborative, rigorous sity explained that in any conflict it is typ- hatred, rejected the study’s conclusions as ical for schoolbooks to reinforce the narra- biased. The Anti-Defamation League in the and scientific.”

A scientific advisory panel of textbook tives of each side, and downplay or ignore U.S. called the study “distorted and counanalysis experts from Germany and the the narrative of the other. Noting that there terproductive.” This angry reception of the United States, along with leading Israeli was more positive representation of Pales- report’s findings surprised the professors. and Palestinian academics, reviewed the tinians in Israeli state books than in Pales- “We are scientists and we are not shocked study from start to finish. That panel con- tinian or ultra-Orthodox books, he went on by the results,” Professor Wexler said. cluded that the study sets a new interna- to emphasize that “Sub-humanizing depic- “But we are shocked by those who would tional standard for textbook study tions of the other were not to be found. try to discredit the results rather than They were absent. Extreme negative char- build on them.” methodology.

The full study report and translated According to Bethlehem University pro- acterizations of the other are rare and do quotes from the schoolbooks are available fessor Sami Adwan, the study centered on not involve sub-humanizing depictions.”

Professor Adwan added that the issue of at <www.israelipalestinianschoolbooks. rigorous procedures, including “joint lead—Delinda C. Hanley ership and research assistants, an interna- maps was a major finding. “A majority of blogspot.com>. tional advisory team, a standardized re- both Israeli and Palestinian schoolbooks do search method to maximize objectivity, not reflect the rights and presence of the Establishment of the Open Book and simultaneous evaluation for added re- other side, especially in maps that show Project the whole area as either Israel or Palestine. In her last week as U.S. secretary of state, liability.”

While Palestinians have been accused of Dehumanization of the other is very rare, Hillary Rodham Clinton and League of Arab teaching violence and hatred of Jews, de- but there is a tendency to reinforce their States Ambassador Mohammed Al Hussaini monizing the other, or using excessively own narratives and perpetuate a lack of in- Al Sharif announced the launch of the negative depictions in children’s education, formation about the other. But there is no “Open Book Project” at a Jan. 28 press researchers found only six examples in incitement or hate speech, as we have been briefing in the State Department’s Ben 9,964 pages of Palestinian textbooks ”that hearing.”

Franklin Room. The project will make availProfessor Bar-Tal emphasized that Israeli able for free online high-quality educational were rated as portraying the other in extreme negative ways other than as the schoolbooks had greatly improved since materials, especially on science and techenemy, and none of these six were general the time when he was a student in the nology, in the Arabic language. dehumanizing characterizations of per- 1960s, and Professor Adwan added that Palessonal traits of Jews or Israelis.”

The study produced four main findings: tinian schoolbooks also are • Dehumanizing or demonizing is rare in far better than the old Egyptian and Jordanian both Palestinian and Israeli books.

• Both Israeli and Palestinian books pre- books they used before sent “unilateral national narratives” that the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. show the other as an enemy.

The U.S. State Depart• Information about the other’s religions, culture, economic and daily activities is in- ment funded the schoolbook study, which was iniadequate or absent.

• Negative bias in presentation of the tiated by the Council of Reother is significantly more pronounced in ligious Institutions of the Israeli ultra-Orthodox and Palestinian Holy Land, made up of the Then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (l) and League of chief rabbis of Israel, the Arab States Ambassador Mohammed Al Sharif. school books than in Israeli state books.

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The Ramifications of Israel’s Election Two days after Israel held its Jan. 22 legislative election, the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) held an event at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, DC to assess the outcome. GWU professor Marc Lynch moderated the discussion among four experts on Israeli politics.

voters were also discouraged by the fact that many of the centrist parties focused on only one issue.

University of California, San Diego professor Gershon Shafir discussed the surprising electoral success of the Zionist-Orthodox Habayit Hayehudi (The Jewish Home) party. After the right-wing party won just 3 seats in 2009, he pointed out, many observers doubted its future. How-

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“Our hope is to lower geographic, economic and even gender-based barriers to learning,” Clinton stated. “Anyone with access to the Internet will be able to read, download and print the open materials for free or adapt a copy that meets the local needs of their classrooms or education systems.”

The State Department will work with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) and the Arab diaspora to bring scientific knowledge and innovation to the descendants of the Arab thinkers, mathematicians and scientists who contributed so much to that knowledge.

Based in Tunis, ALECSO is an institution of the 22-member Arab League, a forum to promote political, economic, cultural, scientific and social programs of interest in the Arab world.

Clinton pointed out that this idea represents a very old tradition: “At a time when Europe was still in the Dark Ages, Arab scholars preserved seminal writings from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome that would have otherwise have been lost.”

According to the secretary, working with ALECSO and others to create free access to quality educational materials demonstrates to Arabic-speaking publics America’s interest in building friendships and partnerships while helping them realize their economic aspirations. “We see educational diplomacy as the means for fulfilling the obligations to try to match reality and actions with the aspirations and hopes of the men and women across the Arab world,” Clinton said.

U.S. partners in the Open Book Project include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Rice University, the Hewlett Foundation, and Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that specializes in the sharing and use of creative work through free, legal tools.

“Now, we know it’s not enough to generate the right material,” Clinton acknowledged. “We have to work together to make sure it is connected to Arab educators, students, and classrooms, and I hope we can put a full year of high-quality college-level science textbooks—biology, chemistry, physics, and calculus—online, for free, in Arabic.”

Clinton concluded her remarks by noting, “As I have traveled the world, I must say that we’re living at a moment when young people’s hunger for knowledge, opportunity, good jobs, the future that they seek, has never been more powerful. And it is also connected to peace and security. So let’s think of how we can creatively deliver on this very exciting program.”

—Delinda C. Hanley

(L-r) Profs. Gershon Shafir, Ilan Peleg, Yoram Peri, Marc Lynch and Jonathan Rynhold discuss Israel’s Jan. 22 legislative election.

While Washington is concerned about the so-called peace process, Lafayette College professor Ilan Peleg said, Israeli voters are primarily concerned with domestic affairs. Israel’s occupation of Palestine “was not really discussed in a focused and decisive manner” during the campaign, Peleg noted.

University of Maryland professor Yoram Peri pointed out that voters cited the question of peace as their fourth priority, behind social and economic issues. Peace “was not the issue, and it will continue to not be the issue in the near future,” he predicted.

According to Bar-Ilan University professor Jonathan Rynhold, opposition parties chose not to challenge Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the issue of peace because Israelis tend to approve of his management of the issue. In his opinion, Netanyahu will have the political space to generally do as he pleases vis-à-vis the Palestinians.

Due to the political center’s messaging issues, Peleg said, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud-Beiteinu alliance was able to capture the most seats—31 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. (Despite its victory, Likud-Beiteinu performed worse than expected, and lost 11 seats.) The inability of the centrist parties to unify created the impression that they were based on the personal ambitions of their leaders, he elaborated, adding that THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

ever, Habayit Hayehudi experienced a comeback in January and won 12 seats.

The Jewish Home “seeks to serve as a conduit for secular Jews into religious culture,” Shafir explained, noting that despite its Orthodox nature, a third of the party’s supporters are secular, and Israelis have come to view it as a moderate party.

Among other things, he said, its supporters appreciate its tough anti-corruption stand and its opposition to the military exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

According to Peri and Rynhold, the election results do not indicate that Israeli society is moving to the right. Instead, they argued, that right-wing parties have moved further away from the center. As Peri put it: “The right-wing block is now much more to the right than it used to be.”

—Dale Sprusansky

Assessing Jordan’s Elections After months of widespread, cross-class unrest stemming from displeasure over the pace and quality of King Abdullah II’s political reforms, Jordan’s parliamentary elections took place on Jan. 23. On Feb. 1, the Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted two observers of the elections at its Washington, DC headquarters to discuss the outcome.

The event, titled “After the Jordanian Elections: Challenges Ahead for the Hashemite Kingdom,” was moderated by MEI vice president Kate Seelye.

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support for King Abdul- held a Feb. 11 event titled “Elections and lah’s reforms. “Most Jor- Politics in North Africa” at the school’s danians don’t see the re- Washington, DC campus. Three leading form process as being political scientists with expertise in the recredible,” she stated. gion offered their views on Tunisia, Egypt While their displeasure and Morocco. GWU professor Marc Lynch with the king remains, moderated.

Greenfield said that the Portland State University professor ongoing tragedy in neigh- Lindsay Benstead began by presenting the boring Syria and the in- results of a poll she conducted in Tunisia stability in post-uprising and Egypt in late 2012. Despite the popucountries such as Libya lar belief that the people of these countries and Egypt has caused Jor- desire the integration of politics and relidanians to reconsider gion, she pointed out that just 26 percent their calls for radical polit- of Tunisians and 28 percent of Egyptians ical change. The popula- polled believed religion should play a large tion’s “greater tolerance role in politics. Benstead attributes the Danya Greenfield (l) and Leslie Campbell evaluate the suc- of where Jordan stands electoral success of Islamist parties to the cesses and failures of Jordan’s Jan. 23 parliamentary elections. vis-à-vis its neighbors” fact that they are “more organizationally Leslie Campbell, regional director for the has given King Abdullah some temporary capable,” adding that they have much better name recognition and are effective camMiddle East at the National Democratic In- breathing room, she opined.

The fact that the IAF was able to mobi- paigners. stitute, explained that King Abdullah had Benstead’s data also refute the notion three objectives in the elections: for them lize 15,000 protesters at an October 2012 to be perceived as transparent and well- rally, but only 2,000 individuals at a that support for Islamist parties is declinmanaged; to attract a good turnout; and for protest the Friday before the elections, ing. She pointed out that results from Jordanians to view the elections as a mo- shows that many Jordanians, including Egypt show growing support for the Musment of substantive change rather than as IAF members and sympathizers, are hold- lim Brotherhood-backed Freedom and Jusing back on directly challenging the tice Party and for the Salafist Al-Nour more of the same.

In Campbell’s opinion, King Abdullah II palace, Greenfield said. If the IAF were to party. In Tunisia, she said, 46 percent of reachieved his first two goals. Most Jordani- participate in future elections, she esti- spondents stated that they plan to vote for ans accept the elections as being legiti- mated that they would win 20 to 25 per- the Islamist Ennahda party in the upcoming June 2013 general election. As to why mate, Campbell said, and the Muslim cent of the seats.

Greenfield did, however, caution the au- liberal and secular disenchantment has Brotherhood-affiliated Islamic Action Front’s (IAF) effort to boycott the elections dience that there is potential for future vi- failed to hurt the popularity of Islamists, olence in Jordan. In addition to the re- Benstead said, “Islamist parties are doing a flopped.

Campbell praised the fact that the elec- maining frustration surrounding the coun- better job than non-Islamist parties at tions were run by an independent electoral try’s lackluster reforms, she noted that keeping their base.”

The economy remains the most imporcommission, and not the Interior Ministry. high unemployment, along with the rising Noting that in past elections votes were price of fuel and other commodities “could tant issue for voters in Tunisia and Egypt, cast by writing the candidate’s name down potentially prompt another wave of Benstead continued. She predicted that —Dale Sprusansky voters will favor parties that present sound on a loose sheet of paper, Campbell cited protests.” economic plans, but added that “the parthe introduction of pre-printed, standardties are not distinguished from one another ized ballots as another positive develop- Panel Assesses Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco in terms of economic programs.” This fament.

On the negative side, Campbell said, the George Washington University’s Project on vors Islamists, Benstead said, due to the elections did little to change Jordan’s polit- Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) fact that they are better known. ical landscape. Due to the uneven size of electoral districts, he explained, Jordanians once again voted along tribal lines, preventing the emergence of political parties as candidates run on parochial interests.

This absence of organized political blocs allows “the king and the royal palace [to] essentially do what they want,” Campbell said.

Given the fact that voters were motivated by local issues, said Danya Greenfield, deputy director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council, the decent turnout for the elections (with 40 percent of eligible voters (L-r) Matthew Buehler, Prof. Lindsay Benstead and Prof. Ellen Lust discuss the role of Isparticipating) does not necessarily indicate lamist parties in North Africa.

Mali Conflict Explained As France and several African nations continued their battle to free northern Mali from radical Islamist rule, Washington State University professor Peter Chilson appeared at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, DC on Jan. 29 to explain the genesis of the conflict.

The current violence has its roots in the October 2011 killing of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, Chilson said. Throughout his reign, Qaddafi formed alliances with many disgruntled African tribes, providing APRIL 2013

Prof. Peter Chilson explains how radical Islamists managed to take control of northern Mali.

groups the Tuareg partnered with had undermined the rebellion, seized power and established a fundamentalist form of shariah law. The Islamists remained in power until France launched its intervention this past January.

The Tuareg never desired the implementation of Islamic law in their territory, Chilson said. Instead they simply wanted “an independent state in which they could protect their culture.”

Looking ahead, Chilson predicted a “sustained period of guerilla warfare” in the country’s north. While France has managed to retake major cities such as Timbuktu, he noted, the militants have now either been absorbed into the local population or gone into the desert—creating the possibility of future instability.

—Dale Sprusansky

them with resources in exchange for their loyalty. The Tuareg people, an ethnic group found throughout the Sahel, were one such Turkish Airlines Made Valentines Day group co-opted by Qaddafi, Chilson stated. Sweeter in DC Upon his death, Chilson said, as many as Turkish Airlines jumped on the food truck 10,000 Tuareg rebel fighters left Libya and bandwagon for two weeks to celebrate returned to their home countries, with most Valentine’s Day, passing out free delicious going to Mali or Niger.

Turkish coffee on the streets of WashingWhile Niger disarmed the Tuaregs upon ton, DC. A coffee truck piloted by unitheir arrival, Chilson explained, the Mali formed Turkish Airlines stewardesses government made the fateful decision not to toured the nation’s capital, visiting some of strip the rebels of their heavy weapons, but the city’s most popular high-traffic areas. instead to attempt to integrate the Tuareg As part of its Valentine’s Day campaign, into the Malian army. Despite publically co- Turkish Airlines also offered several prooperating with the integration, Chilson said, motional airfares from Washington to a the Tuareg used this interim period to plan number of romantic getaways for travel bea rebellion. tween Feb. 8 and 28. “Turkish Airlines In January 2012, the Tuareg-composed flies to more countries than any other airNational Movement for the Liberation of line in the world, making it easier than Azawad (MNLA) launched its rebellion ever to travel to some of the world’s most with the assistance of jihadist groups, Chil- romantic destinations from the DC area,” son continued. Frustrated by President acccording to Handan Corekci, Turkish Amadou Toumani Toure’s management of Airlines’ Washington, DC general manager. the rebellion and the high number of mili- “This year, we’re showing locals just how tary deaths, Chilson said, Malian soldiers simple and affordable it is with our current marched on the capital of Bamako in March. promotions and at the same time, bringing While the soldiers were simply hoping to a little bit of romance to the city.” bring President Toure to the negotiation —Muna Kent table, according to Chilson, the president misread the march as a coup attempt and fled the capital. This resulted in an “accidental coup” taking place, Chilson said.

The military’s takeover of Bamako created instability in the country and allowed the rebels to quickly take control of the north by April. However, Chilson noted, the Tuareg had little time to celebrate their vic- In Washington, DC, Turkish Airlines passed out Turkish coftory. By June, the jihadist fee to celebrate Valentine’s Day and special airfares.

PHOTO COURTESY ALPAYTAC MARKETING

Matthew Buehler, a Ph.D. candidate at University of Texas, Austin, discussed the recent ascent of the Islamist Justice and Development (PJD) party in Morocco. Like Islamists in Tunisia and Egypt, he noted, the PJD “rode the wave of discontent to political victory” and won a plurality of seats in Morocco’s November 2011 parliamentary election.

Despite its electoral success, Buehler said, the PJD still faces a number of questions regarding its future. He cited the “threat of co-optation” as the most salient of these threats, noting that if the PJD fails to press the palace on reform it could lose its legitimacy as an opposition party. Since it gained control of the government, Buehler pointed out, the PJD has been careful not to test King Mohammed VI and his inner circle. “They don’t want to push the bar too far,” he explained.

Buehler cited the presence of a shadow government in Rabat as another issue facing the PJD, noting that since the PJD’s electoral victory, King Mohammed has appointed several outgoing ministers to highlevel cabinet positions. There is now an ongoing bureaucratic power struggle between members of the government and members of the king’s cabinet who essentially hold the same title, Buehler concluded.

Yale University professor Ellen Lust urged observers to distinguish between two types of elections that have taken place in the Arab world over the past two years: those for political reform and those to determine a post-revolution government. While the later took place in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, she said, the monarchies in Morocco and Jordan have called elections for the sole purpose of gauging how quickly their citizens expect them to pursue reforms. In Lust’s opinion, the outcome of the November 2011 Moroccan election shows that the people do not demand the rapid implementation of reforms.

—Dale Sprusansky

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

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Books The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey

By Laila El-Haddad & Maggie Schmitt, Just World Books, 2012, Paperback, 135 pp. List: $29; AET: $24.

Reviewed by Andrew Stimson Most Americans, if they know anything about Gaza at all, are aware only of its refugee camps, Hamas, rocket attacks, and frequent Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invasions. While Gaza is certainly no stranger to conflict and devastation, Gaza City and its environs have a rich history stretching back 3,000 years. A number of authors have taken on the challenge of introducing Western audiences to the macro and micro narratives of Gaza and the Palestinians who live there. Works such as Gerald Butt’s Life at the Crossroads and Sara Roy’s books, Failing Peace and Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza, have expertly captured larger historical, political and economic stories, while a number of powerful memoirs (I Shall Not Hate, Eyes in Gaza, and Gaza Stay Human) have reflected the personal experiences of life in Andrew Stimson is director of the AET Book Club.

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Gaza (all are available from the AET Book Club).

Yet, no book has managed to capture the full picture of the Gazan experience as thoroughly as The Gaza Kitchen. Through an exploration of the intimate world of home-cooked meals, this cookbook is more than just a collection of recipes; it is the stories of the men and women involved in food production from the fields to the kitchen, as well as the effects of humanitarian aid, history, internal political forces and Israel’s ongoing siege. The Gaza Kitchen is an anthropological record, an economic indictment, a practical cookbook, and a fascinating read.

The authors focus primarily on collecting the traditional meals that their informants proudly identify as their heritage.

Accompanied by pictures showing calloused hands crushing garlic in a zibdiya, or massaging a roll of kmaj, each recipe includes insights from a lifetime of cooking. The cuisine of Gaza is, in fact, the cuisine of Palestine, due to the intense concentration of refugees who fled to the 25-mile long Strip in 1948 and now constitute about 80 percent of the population. This unprecedented period of regional upheaval saw the introduction of culinary variations from hundreds of villages throughout historic Palestine. In Gaza, one can find families eating northern Palestinian cuisine, characterized by tart yogurt-based sauces, as well as southern variants using tomato-based soups or coastal dishes known for their seafood and exotic spices. As El-Haddad and Schmitt observe, Gaza is a case study, “key to understanding the conflict as a whole.”

Over the past 60 years eating habits in the region have been altered by Israeliimposed isolation. The forces of de-development, a term Sara Roy used to describe the methodical dismemberment of an indigenous economy by the dominant one, have kept Gaza in a constant state of near economic collapse. El-Haddad and Schmitt outline how Israeli policies deliberately transformed a “fertile, productive, sustainable territory into a radically impoverished powder keg…at the brink of ecological disaster,” and created “a cage full of consumers.” Israel blocks nearly all exports, creating a situation the authors describe as autonomy “exchanged for dependence...where rights should be there is charity.” Examples of how this affects the food consumed in the Strip are littered throughout The Gaza Kitchen: electricity shortages THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

dampen demand for local dairy products that can easily spoil; Israeli officials intermittently allow cheaper Israeli goods through the border, destabilizing the price of regularly consumed foods such as tahina, turning the unique local variety of red tahina into an endangered species. The list goes on.

A potent example of how political realities have created new traditions is the use of purslane in the nutritious stew called Rijliya (p. 74). This small-leafed succulent grows throughout North Africa and the Middle East. Found in sidewalk cracks and vacant lots, it is widely considered a weed. However, many Palestinians remember subsisting on the plant during their exodus in 1948.

One of the authors’ informants, 89-yearold Um Ibrahim, recalled finding the plant growing in between bushes while fleeing Zionist militias in 1948. “For a long while,” she recounts, “it’s all we survived on.”

Wild greens and herbs have long found their way into Palestinian meals, but plants such as the ubiquitous za’atar (Origanum vulgare) have become unavailable in Gaza due to the Israeli-imposed travel ban that blocks Palestinian travel to the West Bank, where it grows best. In fact, since 1977 Israeli law has forbidden the plant’s use for all Palestinians, declaring the fast-growing herb a “protected species” and threatening foragers with hefty fines. Condemning the ancient tradition of za’atar cultivation as well as bans on other herbs is widely seen as strictly anti-Arab.

Yet, The Gaza Kitchen is not a catalog of lamentations. As they are elsewhere in Palestine, homemakers, farmers, fishermen, cooks and street vendors in Gaza are resilient. One of El-Haddad and Schmitt’s informants, Um Hana, remains radiant despite having just recalled how the Israelis used white phosphorus on her neighborhood during Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009). Notwithstanding the constraints placed on Gazans at all levels of society, they continue to celebrate their traditions. El-Haddad and Schmitt excellently maintain the balance between documenting hardship and extolling an irrepressible culture. With helpful conversion charts, a guide to key ingredients and substitutes, and too many classics of Gazan cuisine to mention here, about the only element missing is an index. Regardless, The Gaza Kitchen is a practical and endlessly browsable collection of stories and recipes. ❑ APRIL 2013

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AET Book Club Catalog Literature

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Music

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Film

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Monographs

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More

Spring 2013 Five Broken Cameras, directed by Guy Davidi and Emad Burnat, Kino Lorber, 2012, DVD, 90 mins., Hebrew & Arabic with English subtitles. List: $29.95; AET: $24. The first-ever Palestinian film to be nominated for best Documentary Feature by the Academy Awards, this critically acclaimed film is a deeply personal, first-hand account of life and nonviolent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village surrounded by Israeli settlements. Structured around the destruction of each one of Burnat’s cameras, the filmmakers’ collaboration follows one family’s evolution over five years of village upheaval.

The Arab Awakening Unveiled: Understanding Transformations and Revolutions in the Middle East, by Esam Al-Amin, American Educational Trust, 2013, paperback, 355 pp.

List: $20; AET: $16. The author, a contributor to The Nation, Counterpunch, and other publications, has collected his most insightful essays exploring the implications of the Arab Awakening and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. His sharp analysis of the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel and its destabilizing effects on the region are a welcome antidote to mainstream media coverage of the region.

The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism, by Trevor Aaronson, Ig Publishing, 2013, hardcover, 272 pp. List: $24.95; AET: $20.

This groundbreaking study exposes how the FBI has built a network of more than 15,000 informants whose primary purpose is to infiltrate Muslim communities to create and facilitate phony terrorist plots so that the government can then claim it is winning the war on terror. Aaronson offers unprecedented detail into how the FBI traps hapless individuals in manufactured terrorist plots in order to justify the $3 billion it spends every year fighting “terrorism.”

The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey, by Laila El-Haddad & Maggie Schmitt, Just World Books, 2012, paperback, 135 pp. List: $29; AET: $24. In the summer of 2010, the authors traveled the length and breadth of the Gaza Strip hunting for the recipes presented in this richly illustrated cookbook. Yet, their work is more than just a collection of recipes.

Gaza Kitchen includes precious insights into Gaza’s ecology and economy, as well as the personal stories of Gazans involved with the cultivation and preparation of food.

Where the Paved Road Ends: One Woman’s Extraordinary Experiences in Yemen, by Carolyn Han, Potomac Books, 2012, hardcover, 256 pp. List: $29.95; AET: $23. Han paints a vivid portrait of Yemeni customs, including enjoyment of the stimulant qat and a proclivity for carrying AK47s wherever the men go. She conveys as well what it was like to be a woman alone surrounded by a culture not her own. As the old saying goes, the teacher became the student, and through these pages Han provides readers a rare glimpse into a Bedouin culture most will never encounter.

Nasreddine, by Odile Weulersse, illustrated by Rébecca Dautremer, Eerdmans Books, 2013, hardcover, 34 pp. List: $17; AET: $13. Nasreddine, the legendary character beloved throughout the Middle East, is brought to life as a young boy in beautifully detailed artwork. In this clever story, Nasreddine’s attempts to bring his donkey to the market offer a gentle reminder to children and adults alike that it’s not always necessary to listen to the world’s criticisms.

The Thistle and the Drone: How America’s War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam, by Akbar Ahmed, Brookings Institution Press, 2013, hardcover, 400 pp. List: $32.95; AET: $24. Renowned author Akbar Ahmed reveals a tremendously important yet largely unrecognized adverse effect of the so-called War on Terror: U.S. tactics have exacerbated the already-broken relationship between central governments and the tribal societies on their periphery. Ahmed argues that the fragments of these communities threaten to shoot off in unpredictable directions and fuel escalating global violence.

Going to Tehran: Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran, by Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, Metropolitan Books, 2013, hardcover, 496 pp. List: $32; AET: $24. Less than a decade after Washington acted on a fraudulent case for invading Iraq, similarly misinformed and politically motivated claims are pushing America toward war with Iran. Today the stakes are even higher. Challenging the daily clamor of U.S. saber rattling, the authors argue that the U.S. should renounce 30 years of failed strategy and engage with Iran.

The Prophet: A New Annotated Edition, by Kahlil Gibran, edited by Suheil Bushrui, Oneworld Publications, 2012, paperback, 99 pp. List: $12.95; AET: $10. Originally published in 1923, The Prophet continues to inspire millions worldwide with its timeless words of love and mystical longing. Introduced and annotated throughout by distinguished author, poet, critic, and translator Suheil Bushrui, this revised and updated edition is a truly enlightening experience for anyone seeking solace and wisdom in the chaotic modern age.

Shipping Rates Most items are discounted and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Orders accepted by mail, phone (800-368-5788 ext. 2), or Web (www.middleeastbooks.com). All payments in U.S. funds. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. Please make checks and money orders out to “AET.” Contact the AET Book Club for complete shipping guidelines and options.

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APRIL 2013

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 Book Club 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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bulletin_board_72_April 2013 Bulletin Board 2/27/13 7:34 PM Page 72

Upcoming Events, Announcements & —Compiled by Andrew Stimson Obituaries Upcoming Events Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) will honor a number of Arab Americans during the ACCESS 42nd Anniversary Dinner on Saturday, April 27, in Detroit, MI. For tickets, please contact Rose Asi at (313) 842-4749 or <rasi@accesscommu nity.org>. For more information about the event or other ACCESS programs, visit <www.accesscommunity.org>.

Join Khaled Al Nabawi, Dr. Sherif Abouelnaga, ECN Tri-State Chapter chairwoman Fatma Abboud and volunteers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who are hosting the Egyptian Cancer Network Fundraising Dinner & Presentation on Saturday, March 30 at the Garden City Hotel in Garden City, NY. For ticket purchases and more information contact Fatma Abboud (917) 577-9088 or Moustafa Elshiekh (718) 679-7959 or visit <http://egyptcancernet work.org/the-buzz/newyork-2013/>.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) will host the 2nd Annual ADC International Women’s Day Celebration, honoring the achievements of extraordinary Arab-American women, on Sunday, March 10 at the Westwood Country Club, 800 Maple Ave. E., Vienna, VA 22180.

For tickets and more information contact Dr. Amal David at (313) 617-6000 or visit <https://support.adc.org/events/interna tional-womens-day>.

From Aug. 23 to Sept. 3, The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation will facilitate a 12-day Ecumenical Movement for Prayer for World Peace and The Healing of Humanity, including three days of Prayer in Bethlehem followed by a pilgrimage. The trip will be led by Monsignor Andre-Joseph Leonard, Patriarch Fouad Twal, and Vicka Ivankovi´ c-Mijatovi´ c, Reservations must be received by April 15, and full payment by June 17. For more information visit <www.hcef.org>.

Announcements Areej El Madhoun, a 14-year-old Palestinian from Jabalya Camp in northern Gaza, took first place at the annual “Intelligent Mental-Arithmetic” international math competition held in Malaysia, only two weeks 72

after Israel’s assault on Gaza ended last November. El Madhoun outpaced 2,500 competitors by solving roughly 180 complex mathematical equations in a matter of minutes. She and her teammates, Danya AlJaa’bari, Lua’ai Al-Hamarneh, Abdullah AlNajjar and Mohammad Al-Yazouri, took home several awards and earned praise from High Education Minister Ossama Al-Muzaini and many others.

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) is calling for activists to show their support for the Palestinian struggle by organizing a Thirsting for Justice Campaign Teach-In in their homes, schools or community centers on World Water Day, Friday, March 22.

The campaign aims to help Americans gain an accurate understanding of the challenges Palestinians face daily trying to access clean water, and to promote discussion on how best to support the preservation of their water rights. To sign up and receive teach-in materials, visit <www.mecaforpeace.org/or ganize-community-teach-world-water-day>.

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, in collaboration with The Arab-American Language Institute in Morocco, will hold its Summer Language program in the Kingdom of Morocco from June 3 to July 13.

Applications are due April 17. The program includes intensive Arabic-language classes, as well as day excursions, local outings, workshops and demonstrations. Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited U.S. college or university and be in good academic standing.

For more information and to apply, visit <http://ncusar.org/>.

Applications for the Center for International Learning’s Intensive Arabic Language Program in Oman are due by March 15. The program includes three levels of Modern Standard Arabic (beginner, intermediate and advanced), as well as Omani dialect, media Arabic, and skills classes. Program dates are: May 23-July 2, and July 5-Aug. 6.

A limited number of partial scholarships are available through the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. To apply visit <http:// ncusar.org/study-abroad/cil-oman>.

Obituaries: Chokri Belaïd, 48, a Tunisian lawyer and opposition leader, was fatally shot outside his THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

BulletinBoard

home in Tunis on Feb. 6. An outspoken critic of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali prior to the 2011 Tunisian revolution, he became a popular opposition figure after his party pulled out of Tunisia’s constituent assembly, the body charged with drawing up a new constitution. For over a year prior to his assassination, as general secretary for Tunisia’s Popular Front he called for the government of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali to step down. Shortly after his death, several large protests were held in Tunis and thousands attended his funeral. In response, the prime minister decided to dissolve the existing national government, form a small “national unity” government and hold elections as soon as possible.

Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine, 84, religious leader of Morocco’s largest opposition movement, died Dec. 13 of natural causes. In 1987 he founded Adl wal Ihsan, a subsequently banned yet popular political party. After accusing King Hassan II of gross corruption in an open letter, Yassine was held in a mental ward for three years. He spent another decade under house arrest, before being released by Hassan II’s son and successor, King Mohammed VI. Yassine’s movement was known for providing food, legal aid and financial assistance to Morocco’s poor.

Ignatius Hazim, 92, patriarch of a Damascus-based Eastern Orthodox Church, died Dec. 5 in Beirut following a stroke. Born Habib Hazim in the Syrian village of Mhardeh, he was attracted to serving the Antiochian Orthodox diocese from an early age. After studying at the American University of Beirut and in France, Hazim helped found the Orthodox Youth Movement of Lebanon and Syria. He was elected Patriarch Ignatius IV in 1979. During the Lebanese civil war he founded the secular University of Balamand in Lebanon and served as dean for many years. The patriarch did not support the current Syrian rebel uprising and called for a peaceful political dialogue. ❑ APRIL 2013

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Jerri Bird (1926-2012) InMemoriam

By Andrew I. Killgore

tion and torture of Americans (see December 2000 Washington retired foreign service Report, p. 96). She was officer Eugene Bird and a person of very strong dedicated searcher for opinion, and she was peace in the Middle almost always right.

East, died at her WashFrom 1989 to 1996 ington, DC home on Jerri was an adminisDec. 12, 2012. She had trator of the Washingperitoneal cancer. ton, DC offices of HarJerri Bird was born v a r d U n i ve r s i t y ’s in Portland, Oregon Center for Hellenic and raised in Eugene, Studies. She was also a Oregon, where she member of the World graduated from the Affairs Council.

University of Oregon in 1948. That same year Some argued that a she married Eugene Jerri Bird (second from left) at the 2005 launching of the “Jerusalem Women Speak” Palestinian State would (Gene) Bird, who was to tour. That year’s participants were (from left) Hidaya Said Najmi, Marianne Albina jeopardize Israel’s secubecome a foreign ser- and Gila Svirsky. rity needs. In a letter vice officer and a published in The New Middle East specialist in the State Depart- before audiences in America—one a Pales- York Times, Jerri argued that “Israel is altinian Christian, one a Palestinian Muslim ready one of the most modern military forces ment.

Jerri accompanied her husband on as- and one a Jewish Israeli. Their lectures at in the Middle East, and this has not prosignments to Jerusalem, Beirut, Jeddah, universities, churches and civic groups tected it against violence….Israeli human Cairo and Riyadh. While Gene was serving about the situation in the Holy Land were rights violations against Palestinians guaranas consul to Jerusalem in April 1956, the well attended. The idea was brilliant, and tee continued violent resistance. An indefamily experienced the turmoil of that year’s the joint appearances evoked great interest pendent Palestinian state…would be a step Suez Crisis. It was in Jerusalem that this in the Arab-Israel issue. in the right direction. The only alternative is In June 2002 Jerri authored a long article endless bloodshed.” writer first met Jerri and Gene in 1957, and in the State Department’s Foreign Service where we became lifelong friends.

Besides her husband, Gene, Jerri is surJerri Bird became deeply focused on the Journal entitled “Israel’s treatment of Amer- vived by their four children, Christina Middle East and used her “spare” time after icans.” The original title had been “Arab- Macaya of Camas, Washington, Kai Bird of raising four children to start in 1989 “Part- Americans in Israel. What Special Relation- Lima, Peru, Nancy Bird of Cordova, Alaska ners for Peace,” an organization that ship?” setting out examples of brutal Israeli and Shelly Bird of Alexandria, Virginia. Her brought three Jerusalem women to lecture treatment of Arab Americans. An ardent son Kai, a highly talented writer and biogproponent of peace between Arabs and Is- rapher, won the Pulitzer Price for American Andrew I. Killgore is publisher of the Wash- raelis, Jerri pulled no punches about her in- Prometheus, a biography of atomic scientist ington Report on Middle East Affairs. dignation over Israel’s detention, interroga- J. Robert Oppenheimer. ❑ erine (Jerri) New-

Southern California…

Continued from page 51

Prof. Gabriel Piterberg introduced the film as a project of Sivan and Palestinian Michel Khleifi, who traveled and filmed people they encountered for two months in the summer of 2003 driving south to north following the partition lines.

Omnipresent in the documentary were construction crews building the transIsrael highway and monstrous bulldozers and cranes erecting the cement apartheid wall. The filmmakers photograph a nonviolent group trying to deliver food to resi73

COURTESY BRIGETTE SCHEEL

STAFF PHOTO DELINDA HANLEY

J house Bird, wife of

dents of Nablus and of Israeli troops assaulting them and roughly knocking a woman to the ground. They talk to an elderly Israeli who recalls driving Palestinians from their homes and villages in 194748; suddenly he grows suspicious and asks if they have a permit to ask these questions.

Conversations take place with Moroccan and Tunisian Jews who regret they immigrated to Israel decades before. “We weren’t treated right,” one woman recalls. “They called us brooms.”

During the question-and-answer period, Sivan said Khleifi primarily talked to the Arab Jews because, even though they

didn’t know his ethnicity, they knew he wasn’t an Ashkenazi Jew and that he understood them. Although Sivan’s attention to realism can be tedious, viewers feel as if they’re along on the trip.

“I’m not afraid of silence, I’ve never written questions beforehand,” stated Sivan, who is an associate professor in media production at the University of East London.

“There’re too many firm answers [to the Israeli-Palestinian impasse] and not enough questions.”

Next academic quarter, CNES will screen Sivan’s “Jaffa—the Orange’s Clockwork,” which traces the history of Palestine and Israel through oranges. ❑

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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AET’s 2013 Choir of Angels Following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1 and Feb. 23, 2013 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. We are deeply honored by their confidence and profoundly grateful for their generosity.

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