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SHIMON PERES: WHEN THE GODS LAUGH
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Sustain Life, Provide Urgent Food Two-thirds of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon lack regular access to nutritious food. The influx of Palestinian refugees from Syria to Lebanon has further increased poverty and food insecurity. In response, UPA has expanded its Food Program to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon—especially the most vulnerable elderly. Help Palestinians meet their most basic need. Donate to the UPA Food Program:
http://helpupa.org/food
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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.
toc_3-4_August 2013 TOC 6/27/13 10:04 AM Page 3
On Middle East Affairs
Volume XXXII, No. 6
August 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 Israel Prepares for War With Hezbollah as U.S. Escalates Its Involvement in Syria
20 The Role of the U.N. in Creating the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict—Jeremy R. Hammond
—Rachelle Marshall 10 Subverting the International War Crimes Tribunal —William Pfaff 12 Shimon Peres: When the Gods Laugh —Uri Avnery 14 The Newest Arab Idol, Gaza’s Mohammed Assaf: Triumph Over Occupation—Hani Madhoun 16 Remembering and Anticipating Ramadan —Manaal N. Farooqi and Hanna El-amrawi 17 A Bittersweet Success: Baking Nablus Knafeh in Exile—Mohammed Omer 18 Will Samantha Power Be Loyal to Her Principles or To the Israel Lobby?—Ian Williams
22 To Kerry: Get Israeli Peace Leaders Before Congress—Ralph Nader 24 Zionist Lobbying Spurs Increased Congressional Interest in Expanding Iran Sanctions—Shirl McArthur 26 Sidelining Congress to Take Sides in Syria— Two Views—Patrick J. Buchanan, Paul Findley 28 “Dirty Wars”: America’s Perpetual and Unchecked Covert Wars—Dale Sprusansky 29 Washington Mulls Surprise Rowhani Victory in Iran Vote—Jim Lobe 38 Iqrit Descendants Determined to Rebuild, Return To Their Destroyed Village—Jonathan Cook
SPECIAL REPORTS
32 Unrest in Turkey—Two Views —Gwynne Dyer, Eric S. Margolis 34 In Balochistan, It’s the Military, Stupid—Hamzah Saif 36 Myanmar Muslims Face New Wave of Violence —John Gee
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
30 Egypt’s Fateful Choice: The Rule of Democracy or The Rule of the Mob—Esam Al-Amin
A photograph of the Palestinian village of Iqrit, Galilee, in 1937, a decade before Israeli troops forced its residents to evacuate in 1948. See story p. 38.
ON THE COVER: A young Gaza boy holds a poster with a portrait of “Arab Idol” winner Mohammed Assaf while waiting with other children in front of the singer’s family home in the Khan Younis refugee camp. EZZ ZANOUN/DEMOTIX
toc_3-4_August 2013 TOC 6/27/13 10:04 AM Page 4
(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
Walking Tours Connect Palestinians to
What Was the Israeli Involvement In Collecting
Their Past, Jillian Kestler-D’Amours, The National
U.S. Communications Intel for NSA?, Themarker, Haaretz, The Associated Press and Reuters, Haaretz
OV-1
OV-10
Kerry to U.S. Jews: Prod Leaders to Back 2 States, J.J. Goldberg, The Forward
Obama Administration Confirms Massive
OV-11
Samantha Power: Another Win for the
Surveillance Program of U.S. Citizens, Jonathan Turley, http://jonathanturley.org
Israel Lobby, M.J. Rosenberg,
OV-3
The Washington Spectator
OV-11
Syria: Proxy Theater of War, Karim Emile Bitar, Le Monde diplomatique
OV-3
How Syria Became a More Dangerous
The One About Clinton, JNF, Peres and the $500K Bill, Yermi Brenner, The Forward
OV-12
The Lautenberg Amendment,
Quagmire Than Iraq,
Jeffrey B. Perry, www.counterpunch.org
Patrick Cockburn, www.counterpunch.org
OV-13
OV-5 Liberty Survivors Invoke Benghazi,
The Iraq War Is Not Over for the Iraqi People, Justin Doolittle, www.counterpunch.org
Demand Hearings, OV-8
Are Israelis Now Appropriating the Nakba?, Susan Abulhawa, http://palestinechronicle.com
Bryant Jordan, www.military.com
OV-14
The Taliban Torches a Lifeline, OV-9
Ashfaq Yusufzai, IPS-Inter Press Service
OV-15
DEPARTMENTS 5 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
46 ARAB-AMERICAN
67 OTHER PEOPLE’S MAIL
ACTIVISM: ADC Annual 7 PUBLISHERS’ PAGE 40 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Convention: “It Starts With You!” 51 MUSLIM-AMERICAN
CHRONICLE: At KinderUSA
ACTIVISM: Scapegoated and
Annual Fund-raiser, Dr. Mads
Buried Alive
Gilbert Lauds Gazans’ Stoicism
—Pat and Samir Twair
—Reviewed by Andrew Stimson 52 HUMAN RIGHTS: USS Liberty Survivors Mourn at The Tomb of the Unknowns
42 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHRONICLE: CAIR’s “Muslim
70 BOOK REVIEWS: Unfree in Palestine: Registration, Documentation and Movement Restriction The Wall: A Modern Fable
54 WAGING PEACE:
Day at the Capitol” Draws Large
Middle East Institute Conference
Crowd to Meet State Lawmakers
Addresses Turkey
71 NEW ARRIVALS FROM THE AET BOOK CLUB 72 BULLETIN BOARD 73 2013 AET CHOIR OF ANGELS
—Elaine Pasquini 44 ISRAEL AND JUDAISM: In Addition to Billions of Dollars, Washington Favors Israel With
66 MUSIC & ARTS: Photographs from Pakistan’s Tribal Areas 66 DIPLOMATIC DOINGS:
Special Rules, Exceptions
Business Leaders Welcome New
—Allan C. Brownfeld
Tunisian Ambassador
19 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
lte_5-6_August 2013 LTE 6/27/13 1:38 PM Page 5
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. Periodicals, postage paid at Washington, DC and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. Published by the American Educational Trust (AET), a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC by retired U.S. foreign service officers to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states. AET’s Foreign Policy Committee has included former U.S. ambassadors, government officials, and members of Congress, including the late Democratic Sen. J. William Fulbright and Republican Sen. Charles Percy, both former chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Members of AET’s Board of Directors and advisory committees receive no fees for their services. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs does not take partisan domestic political positions. As a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, it endorses U.N. Security Council Resolution 242’s land-for-peace formula, supported by nine successive U.S. presidents. In general, it supports Middle East solutions which it judges to be consistent with the charter of the United Nations and traditional American support for human rights, selfdetermination, and fair play. Material from the Washington Report may be reprinted without charge with attribution to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Bylined material must also be attributed to the author. This release does not apply to photographs, cartoons or reprints from other publications. Indexed by Ebsco Information Services, InfoTrac, LexisNexis, Public Affairs Information Service, Index to Jewish Periodicals, Ethnic News Watch, Periodica Islamica. CONTACT INFORMATION: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Editorial Office and Bookstore: P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009-9062 Phone: (202) 939-6050 • (800) 368-5788 Fax: (202) 265-4574 E-mail: wrmea@wrmea.com bookclub@wrmea.com circulation@wrmea.com advertising@wrmea.com Web sites: http://www.wrmea.org http://www.middleeastbooks.com Subscriptions, sample copies and donations: P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. Phone: (888) 881-5861 • Fax: (714) 226-9733 Printed in the USA
AUGUST 2013
LetterstotheEditor A True American Hero Edward Snowden’s actions in exposing the massive super-secret spying actions of the NSA should be roundly applauded by all Americans who are anxious to preserve our democracy and freedom against the intrusive tyrannical powers of the government. Snowden is a true American hero who has demonstrated enormous courage to follow the dictates of his conscience, jeopardizing a lucrative career and possibly his freedom in pursuit of a higher principle. Predictably, most of the political media pundits have already attempted to trash his reputation and serve as an echo chamber for the NSA’s feeble attempts to defend their spying activities. It is interesting to note that the same media pundits vigorously supported the Bush administration’s false claims of weapons of mass destruction which precipitated the war on Iraq. Conveniently, details of the “keep America safe” argument can never be revealed, on the grounds of “national security.” The much-touted “congressional oversight” is in realty toothless and meaningless and secret surveillance courts mere rubber stamps for the Obama administration. What is especially disturbing is the unholy nexus of civilian corporations and the government and the outsourcing (70 percent) of intelligence work. Martin Luther King said it best from jail in 1963: “One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.” Tejinder Uberoi, Los Altos, CA One-Sided Press Support for Snowden I am upset about the NSA and its spying activities but as a loyal American I am even more concerned about one-sided press support for Edward Snowden and his attack on the Obama administration. Why do people think that Snowden is any kind of a hero? He should be brought to trial so a court can decide if he is a spy. No wonder he is on the run. There are other more newsworthy events that the press should cover. Why not conduct a full investigation of the attack on the USS Liberty? The lack of media and congressional interest in the Liberty incident is antiAmerican. Florence Lloyd, Santa Paula, CA THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
More Patriotic Americans I regret I took so long to express my sympathy regarding the passing of Richard Curtiss. I think I only met him once, but consider him and Mr. Killgore to be the most patriotic Americans I know about. Their courage and the staff’s are so important. I have spent so many hours keeping up to date on Middle East politics, or maybe I should say the American view of Middle East politics, but what really is important is studying how our government has been manipulated by the Israel Lobby and our citizens by the mainstream media. Can this trend be reversed? I must admit I am discouraged. You must confront these thoughts daily and I want to encourage you. Please find a
check to cover the postage for the copies I receive each month. By the way, if you are invited to attend any conferences or events in this area that could use copies of back issues, I am happy to provide and attend. Joseph Najemy, Worcester, MA Thank you for your kind words and support over the years. It is readers like you who keep us going!
Three More Years, Please I’ve just sent my subscription renewal. You publish a magazine like no other and for that reason it is the only one to which I subscribe. Not only do you fill each page with information not readily available, you also give space to authors eminently qualified on the topics chosen. “Congress Watch” is invaluable for the details it provides on legislation and the chart of voting behavior that is a public service to all Americans. To conclude, I will reveal a little secret. After reading each issue, I deposit it in a public location where someone will come across it. It might be placed on a table at a local café, or at the nearby university student union, or by a rack of free newspapers. I’m an avid recycler and this is the best way to do it! Clif Brown, Evanston, IL We applaud your surreptitious efforts to 5
lte_5-6_August 2013 LTE 6/27/13 1:38 PM Page 6
inform your fellow citizens—we might call them “random acts of empowerment”— and suspect they may be quite successful. As we know all too well, without an informed public the ballot box has no power.
about true manipulation. There seem to be at least two concepts worth considering here. First, if one understands the gangster mentality of “The Sopranos” (simply put: you have what I want, now gimme it) then, by extension, Turning a Page one understands Israel’s behavior. The This letter is to inform you of my recent United Nations issues at least 65 resoluaddress change, from the Pinkneyville, IL tions condemning this Israeli atrocity or Correctional Center to a street address in that; the International Court of Justice conMilwaukee, WI. demns, with near-unanimity, the apartheid As you see I have just recently been re- wall, and Israel’s response is the same as leased from prison. All praise be to God. Tony’s [crude gesture]. However, while in prison I feel I have been Then there’s the Jewish Power aspect of enlightened and well informed by your “The Sopranos,” identified and highmagazine, the Washington Report on Mid- lighted by Giuseppe Furioso in his 2002 dle East Affairs. Thank you. Unfortunately letter to Jonathan Alter of Newsweek. at this moment I am not employed and I “Joe” points out: have no way of purchasing a subscription. Ethnic disparagement that masquerades as So I would like to ask if you would extend humor is easiest when it is at someone else’s my subscription until I am able to purchase expense. The fact that Italians act in the proone myself. Again thanks for everything. gram and are among its creators does not get Take care. I leave as I came. you or the program off the hook any more James E. Watkins, Milwaukee, WI than the fact that the actors in the old “Amos Please accept our best wishes as you em- and Andy” series were black. And why did bark on this new phase of your life. We know you not mention the ethnic background of the that one of our angels will be more than producers of the series or of the ownership of happy to ensure that your new freedom does HBO? They are certainly not Italians. not require you to leave the Washington ReHe suggests to the Jewish Alter to use port behind. Congratulations on your change his tribal connections to promote of address! Giuseppe’s idea to create a show based on another “crime family”: Tony Soprano, Israel, and It could be called, ”The Shapiros” and the Jewish Power following could be its leading characters: The Well, the boss is dead, and there are those patriarch of the family Morris Shapiro, a of us who now grieve, kidding ourselves slumlord whose tenants are mostly minority into believing that we actually knew him. and who is also suspected of being the nation’s Such is the power of Hollywood: the abil- largest launderer of Colombian drug ity to manipulate emotions, often to pro- money…cousin Irving Shapiro, a convicted inmote political agendas. Anyone see “Exo- sider trader who recently purchased a pardon dus” lately? “Sophie’s Choice”? Try typing from outgoing President Bill Clinton; Zviv “Holocaust Films” into Wikipedia to learn Shapiro who languishes in a federal prison because he spied for Israel and his brother Lev, an Other Voices is an optional Israeli general, who in addition to siphoning off 16-page supplement available millions from the six only to subscribers of the billion in aid the U.S. Washington Report on gives Israel each year, was recently indicted for Middle East Affairs. For an adwar crimes by a Belgian ditional $15 per year (see court for his role in the murder of 1,600 Egyptpostcard insert for Wash ian POWs during the ington Re port subscripSix Day War; nephew tion rates), subscribers will Aaron who runs a “Tolerance” institute that receive Other Voices bound into each issue of their has destroyed the caWashington Report on Middle East Affairs. reers and ruined finanBack issues of both publications are available. To subcially numerous public figures who were critiscribe telephone 1 (888) 881-5861, fax (714) 226-9733, cal of Israel and her e-mail <circulation@wrmea.org>, or write to P.O. Box American supporters… 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. “Joe’s” letter is published in Persecution, 6
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Privilege and Power edited by Mark Green. To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize (Voltaire). Henry Herskovitz, via e-mail We’ve heard it said that if one can substitute any group in a joke (“How many XXX does it take to XXX?”) the joke is not racist. But what does it mean when there’s a certain group about which non-members can NEVER joke or stereotype, upon pain of ostracism or worse. That one of “Joe’s” scenarios is acceptable and the other unthinkable is uncomfortably revealing.
Disappointed in Amanpour This is to express extreme disappointment that Christiane Amanpour was/is the recipient of the Anthony Shadid award for excellence in journalism by the Arab American Institute Foundation as reported on p. 50 of the June/July 2013 Washington Report! As you well know, Shadid was a much beloved journalist and spokesman for justice, notably in the Middle East. Based upon my own observation as a follower/viewer of Ms. Amanpour's reporting on CNN and ABC, including her former program, “This Week...” I am concerned that this must be a result of political manipulation. When I noted in December 2012 her two-part special “Back to the Beginning: Lands of the Bible” exploring the roots of the three monotheistic religions, I had anticipated an objective informative presentation based upon her background of basically credible reporting...But her two-part special certainly revealed her personal bias. In fact, I don’t recall any mention of Palestine/Palestinians in the “Israel” portion of her journey, and even her on-site “experts/point persons” did not/could not provide hard evidence on the archeological remains/ruins to substantiate her pro-Israel bias/perspective. Thus Ms. Amanpour as recipient of this first ever Shadid award midst the highly reputable company of Ralph Nader, James Zogby and the ambassadors of Qatar, Egypt, the League of Arab States and Palestine—all in the “Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity”—is indeed a major disappointment, especially so when Marian Wright Edelman, Children’s Defense Fund founder, and the Late Casey Kasem are pioneers in justice for the voiceless and vulnerable. Erna I. Lund, Seattle, WA Both the British-Iranian Amanpour and the Lebanese-American Shadid worked for the mainstream media, she in television and he in print (The Washington Post and The New York Times). Not many journalists achieved the credibility and stature Shadid did before his untimely death. His wonderful memoir, House of Stone, is available from the AET Book Club. ❑ AUGUST 2013
publishers_7_August 2013 Publishers page 6/27/13 2:38 PM Page 7
American Educational Trust
Publishers’ Page
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Slow Help Is No Help. breaking, shattering....Hardly a day goes by without the State When we look at troubling of Israel demolishing an Arab events in Syria, Iraq, Af home between the Jordan River ghanistan, Turkey, Iran, and the sea.” Lebanon, the Gulf—not to mention Europe and South Gaza in the Dark. America—we’re reminded of the proverb, “Patience when Due to severe oil shortages, teased is often transformed Gaza residents have been subinto rage.” To be honest, we’re jected to daily electricity cuts feeling kind of angry ourof up to 10 hours. Candles, selves, as we see Americans’ kerosene stoves and power tax dollars, weaponry and generators have become essenblood spilling onto battlefields A Palestinian woman holds her sobbing son as Israeli bulldozers destroy tial commodities in every Gaza in unwinnable wars, while 23 their family home in the Arab East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit home. Some 87,094 Palestinian percent of our children—that’s Hanina on May 29, 2013. high school students are 16.4 million—live in poverty. taking their high school According to the United Nations, the rorists, hit 17 mosques in so-called “price Tawjihi tests in science, humanities and number of refugees worldwide is at its tag” attacks, but no charges have been business. The 37,560 students who live in highest in 18 years, with more than 45 mil- brought against any of the culprits. They the Gaza Strip face the added challenge of lion people having fled conflicts—some, in- vandalized 21 cars and spray-painted Star having to study in the dark. But does... cluding Palestinians now flocking to of David graffiti in a rampage in the Arab Lebanon and Jordan from Syria, multiple East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit The “Enlightened” World Know? times. And the best Washington can do is Hanina, on June 24. They’ve hurled send more weapons? stones—an act for which Palestinians face Heartfelt Thanks arrest and imprisonment—set fire to Pales- As our readers know, Washington Report staff, Let’s Face It, We Can do Better! tinian fields and orchards, scattered spikes writers, readers, subscribers and donors are As the late African-American writer James along traffic routes used by Palestinian ve- dedicated to publishing and distributing this Baldwin wrote, “Not everything that is faced hicles….And they get away with it. So unique publication. We are channeling our frustrated energy toward engagement and can be changed, but nothing can be changed much for equal treatment under the law. activism in order to implement change. until it is faced.” Yet the mainstream AmeriThank you to our angels who have answered can media focus on movie stars, athletes, fires A Freudian Slip? and the latest shooting—working to make Criticizing the U.S. for its handling of North our calls for help to continue publishing the sure we avoid facing hard truths. We chal- Korea, former Israeli Ambassador to the Washington Report. We are taking your lenge our readers to demand better. The gen- United Nations Dan Gillerman told Fox advice and using your donations to reach eral public may be able to find serious articles News on April 14 that a country which out to new readers and advertisers... and alternative points of view on the Internet “thumbs its nose at the world” and posor in the pages of the Washington Report, but sesses nuclear weapons “should be wiped Getting to Know You. we challenge you to find this news covered off the face of the map.” That would be an This issue of the Washington Report is being on your nightly news broadcast or in your “excellent message” to the Iranians, the sent to members of Middle East Studies Asdaily newspaper. Some of the stories you diplomat argued. We’d suggest the ambas- sociation, as well as those attending the Ismight otherwise be unaware of include: sador might have been channeling Mah- lamic Society of North America’s Aug. 30moud Ahmadinejad, but those words attrib- Sept. 2 convention—not to mention the Archbishop Hides Cross. uted to the Iranian president were the result regular wide range of recipients: bookstores, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, of a mistranslation. Not so with Gillerman. boardrooms, universities, libraries, and homes around the world. We encourage our who learned recently that his father was a readers—both new and longtime—to pack German Jew, took a five-day tour of the An Israeli Describes Zionism. Middle East. Did you see the photo of him “How could so many people associate Zion- this issue, and perhaps a stack of books purpausing to tuck his cross in his vestments ism with creation and construction and not chased from the AET Book Club, in the bags before praying at the Western Wall on June with regression and destruction?” won- they will be taking on summer holidays to 26, 2013 in Jerusalem’s Old City? dered Idan Landau, who teaches at Ben- beaches, lakes or family reunions near and Gurion University. His words, written in far. We hope the articles we offer up in this Price Taggers. Hebrew, were translated by Ofer Neiman issue will inform, inspire and fire you up and Have you read about desecrated churches or and published on the Internet’s +972 blog. maybe even provoke you—like our friends mosques in the Israeli-occupied West Bank “After all,” Landau continued, “in parallel in the region we report on—to make some torched by Jewish right-wing extremists, or with the endless construction frenzy, espe- changes of our own and... “price taggers”? “The hills youth,” another cially beyond the Green Line, the hum of euphemism employed to describe Israeli ter- bulldozers has always been audible: beating, Make a Difference Today! AUGUST 2013
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Israel Prepares for War With Hezbollah As U.S. Escalates Its Involvement in Syria SpecialReport
By Rachelle Marshall
ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
rebels and government forces came close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in early June, Israeli soldiers were preparing for yet another war in Lebanon. Saying they had learned their lesson in 2006, Israeli military leaders warned that the next round of fighting would be “short, deadly and urban.” The army accordingly built a mock Lebanese village complete with the fortified tunnels that Hezbollah uses to store supplies. After five days of exercises in which some Israeli soldiers pretended to be Hezbollah, others stormed the village with gunfire, grenades and tanks. After 90 minutes, Hezbollah was declared defeated. Syria’s war, meanwhile, has widened the gulf in Lebanon between Sunnis and Shi’i. Hezbollah’s help in enabling pro-Assad forces to recapture the border town of Qusayr and other lost territory provoked retaliation by Syrian rebels, who bombarded Shi’i areas in Lebanon with rocket and mortar attacks as well as gunfire. Adding to the tensions are A Palestinian protester climbs Israel’s separation wall during clashes with Israeli security forces Israeli warplanes that constantly fly following a demonstration against the illegal wall and settlements in the West Bank village of Ni’lin, overhead in violation of Lebanon’s near the Jewish settlement of Hashmonaim (background), June 14, 2013. airspace. Lebanon’s parliament postponed scheduled elections until srael has once again taken aggressive ac- stability of the region.” The defensive next year for fear of provoking greater section against a neighbor, and once again weapons presumably would infringe on Is- tarian violence. Washington has given its tacit approval. Is- rael’s freedom to attack its neighbors at President Obama has asserted that “Assad rael bombed Syria three times this year, will. must go,” but for months did not make clear once in January and twice in May, while The U.S. and Israel regard Hezbollah as what steps the U.S. should take to bring this claiming that Syria was transporting a terrorist organization, but it is a legiti- about, much less how Obama would deal weapons to Hezbollah. The Israeli military mate political party in Lebanon, respected with the consequences. But as the number has threatened further action if the alleged for the social services it provides. The an- of dead exceeded 90,000 in mid-June, and transfers continue. nounced aim of Hezbollah’s military wing the rebels began to lose ground to the far While the Obama administration did not is to defend against Israeli attacks on better equipped army, Obama concluded comment on Israel’s bombing attacks, Rus- Lebanon. The organization was created in that Assad’s forces were using chemical sia’s announcement in early June that it response to Israel’s 1982 invasion of weapons and agreed to send small arms and was sending advanced missile-defense sys- Lebanon, and the 18-year occupation of ammunition to rebel fighters. tems to Syria brought a sharp response southern Lebanon that followed. In 2006 As it led the U.S. further into Syria’s civil from Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry Hezbollah fought off another Israeli incur- war, the administration did not make clear complained that the weapons would “put sion into Lebanon—its third since 1978. how it would make sure the weapons did Israel at risk” and have “a profoundly negSince Hezbollah depends on Syria to not fall into the hands of radical rebel facative impact on the balance of interests and channel arms from Iran, it considers Presi- tions, or what it would do if the small arms dent Bashar al-Assad’s survival essential to shipments proved to be too little and too Rachelle Marshall is a free-lance editor liv- its existence, and has played an increas- late. Given the rebels’ disarray and a series ing in Mill Valley, CA. A member of Jewish ingly active role in his defense. Hezbollah’s of military victories by government troops, Voice for Peace, she writes frequently on the military activity in Syria set off alarm bells Assad appeared in mid-June to be firmly Middle East. in Israel. As fighting between Syrian in command.
I
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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
AUGUST 2013
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Robert Gates, defense secretary under both George W. Bush and Obama, opposes U.S. military intervention. “I thought it was a mistake in Libya. And I think it’s a mistake in Syria,” he said on “Face the Nation” on May 12. He might have included Iraq in that list. The deaths of 1,045 Iraqi civilians in May from bombing, shooting, and other attacks, most of them by aggrieved Sunnis against the dominant Shi’i, were a grim reminder of a U.S. intervention that ousted one Iraqi tyrant only to see him replaced by another, unleashed dormant sectarian conflict, and led to the rise of radical Islamists allied with alQaeda. Many of those radical groups have moved into Syria and one of them, the Nusra Front, which the U.S. fought against in Iraq, is now the rebels’ most effective fighting force. Similarly, seven months of NATO air attacks on Libya helped oust Col. Muammar Qaddafi, but left soldiers in his disbanded army Israeli soldiers hold a position with anti-tank missiles (c) from the Israeli side of the cease-fire line free to take their weapons to with Syria, in the occupied Golan Heights near the Quneitra crossing, June 7, 2013. The previous Africa, where they helped over- day Syrian rebels had briefly seized the only crossing along the cease-fire line before government forces throw the government of Mali. recaptured it. Rival militias in Libya continue to battle one another, and it now seems evi- shuttled back and forth trying to bring the Faced with an impasse, Kerry and fordent that the attack on the U.S. consulate two sides together, the Netanyahu govern- mer British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Benghazi last September was not an im- ment approved 296 new homes in the West have proposed a $4 billion economic inipulsive act but the calculated work of a Bank and legalized 4 more unauthorized tiative, to be funded by a consortium of radical group. outposts. In a further blow to his efforts, international corporate executives and inObama’s chief intelligence officer, James Israel announced on June 13 that it is plan- vestors, and designed to foster tourism, R. Clapper, and U.S. Ambassador to Syria ning to add 1,000 new housing units to agriculture and industry in Palestinian Robert S. Ford warn that Syria now is so two settlements deep inside the West areas. But the Palestinians insist there badly fractured that even if Assad is de- Bank, Itamar and Bruchin. must be a political solution before such a feated, his downfall would be followed by Unlike Israel, the Palestinians hold few plan can work. months of bloodshed as hundreds of bargaining chips in the conflict, but they They undoubtedly remember the Israeli armed groups turned against one another. do have two essential assets. Recognition air strikes that destroyed Gaza’s new airTo avoid this outcome, Kerry and Russian by the U.N. last fall gave them the right to port and other infrastructure financed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attempted take their case against Israel to the Inter- the Europeans, and are aware that any new to arrange U.N.-sponsored peace talks in national Court of Justice—a right Kerry internationally funded projects could sufGeneva between members of Assad’s gov- persuaded them to delay exercising while fer the same fate. Kerry and Blair could ernment and the rebels, but had no suc- he tried to restart the peace process. Their give an immediate boost to the Palestinian cess. The Syrian Coalition that includes the other asset is an unshakable determina- economy by insisting that Israel stop demoderate opposition groups showed reluc- tion to achieve independence and the stroying crops and age-old olive trees in tance to attend, and several other anti- ability to maintain remarkable restraint the West Bank, dismantle its roadblocks, Assad groups declared they would boycott and cohesion in the face of Israel’s intran- and lift its siege of Gaza. the meeting. sigence. A U.N. report in May charged Israel’s reKerry faces almost equally daunting obThe Palestinians’ demands include an in- strictions with “undermining the livelistacles in trying to restart peace talks be- dependent state based on the 1967 borders, hoods of Palestinians.” Suffering most intween Israel and the Palestinians. The a shared capital in Jerusalem, recognition of tensively are Gaza farmers whose land is Palestinians have attended such talks over the refugees’ right of return, and the release within 400 yards of the border fence and the past 30 years only to see their territory of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, many who have repeatedly seen their crops deshrink and their hardships increase. They of whom have never been charged. Presi- stroyed and their harvest workers shot by consequently refuse to return to the talks dent Mahmoud Abbas has never deviated Israeli soldiers. Ziad Abu Ettewi, who without evidence of Israel’s commitment to from stating these demands and, despite grows peppers in the area, said, “I’m afraid a two-state solution. The Israelis are will- pressure from the Obama administration, of having them bulldozed since the first ing to talk indefinitely as long as they can refuses to return to peace talks until Israel day I planted them.” Continued on page 11 continue settlement expansion. As Kerry stops building settlements. AUGUST 2013
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Subverting the International War Crimes Tribunal SpecialReport
By William Pfaff
acquittals rewrote the standards of earlier decisions in a way that they suggest weaken the court’s previous insistence on American foreign policy since (at least) the the responsibility of officers in atrocity fall of the East-West bipolar system in cases occurring within their areas of com1991, was recently demonstrated by the mand. This is said by critics to NSA revelations of Edward open the possibility that in Snowden. Now there is a new the future the Nuremberg Trimanifestation of apparent illicit bunal’s stern insistence on power assertion revealed by a command responsibility for devastating front-page report the conduct of troops will not in the International Herald Triprevail in the Hague court’s bune on June 15. decisions (and one could add, Marlise Simons of The New undermine the corresponding York Times, for many years the assertion of individual solpaper’s indefatigable specialist diers’ responsibility to chalon the Hague international lenge unjust orders, as subsecourts, revealed that the Danquently written into Ameriish member of the U.N. war can and other armies’ rules of crimes tribunal has made a military conduct). “blistering” protest against Ms. Simons quotes other pressures exercised by the unnamed judges at The Hague United States to bring about as saying they will not supacquittals of several top Croat port Judge Meron’s expected and Serb commanders accused re-election as tribunal presiof responsibility for war crimes dent this autumn because of atrocities during the Yugoslav their discomfort at “unacceptsuccession wars of 1991-95. able” pressures they have felt These acquittals were justifrom him concerning these refied by the court with a verdict cent acquittals, and in favor of that the accused had not preparing a permanent closure specifically ordered or apof the Tribunal, as the U.S. proved war crimes committed government appears to want. by subordinates. Among those A 2005 WikiLeaks document acquitted were two Croat often cited by Judge Meron’s wartime generals, the Serbian army chief of staff, and the Theodor Meron, then-president of the International Criminal Tribunal critics, ostensibly originating chief and deputy chief of the for the former Yugoslavia, speaks at the inauguration of Bosnia’s first in the U.S. Embassy at The home-grown war crimes court, March 9, 2005. Hague, is said to describe Serbian secret police. Judge Meron as “the TriThis was a departure from the principle established in previous war about the present credibility of the court, bunal’s pre-eminent supporter” of the U.S. crimes trials that commanders were impli- created in 1993. His letter, sent to 56 recip- official outlook. What is the significance of all this? In cated in their subordinates’ crimes as they ients in Denmark, dated June 6, and made had all been part of “joint criminal enter- public by the Berlingske newspaper, says the opinion of this writer, it reflects the prises.” It also seemed an abandonment of that in the two cited cases, “tenacious pres- long-standing American (and Israeli) conthe principle asserted—with the specific sure” was applied on his fellow judges to cern that their officers or government figsupport, even insistence, of American au- obtain acquittals for the Yugoslav war com- ures might one day find themselves before thorities at the time—at the Nuremberg manders by the president of the court, the court on charges of breaking internatrials of Nazi leaders after World War II, Theodor Meron, 83, an American legal tional law or as bearing responsibility for declaring the personal responsibility of scholar and judge who is also a former Is- war crimes. U.S. forces during the Vietnam War comraeli diplomat, and claims that he is merely William Pfaff is the author of The Irony of applying the court’s precedents, which a mitted attacks which witnesses and correspondents considered clearly illegal, inManifest Destiny. Copyright © 2013 by Tri- number of other judges contest. They and outside international lawyers cluding the notorious Phoenix Program of bune Media Services International. All rights reserved. and human rights groups contend that the selected assassinations which I myself withe irresistible impulse to aggrandize
Nazi political and military officials for the crimes committed by Germany. A Danish judge at the Hague Tribunal, Frederik Harhoff, a member of the court since 2007, has raised grave questions
ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Tpower which has been evident in
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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
AUGUST 2013
pfaff_10-11_Special Report 6/27/13 1:55 PM Page 11
nessed in operation, and attacks on civilians, as in the My Lai Massacre and other cases, and the effect on civilians of the widespread use of Agent Orange. Torture and imprisonment without trial have been frequent during the so-called war against terror. The American Army’s blitzkrieg-like “Shock and Awe” mass armored assaults on Baghdad and Fallujah during the Iraq war had as their purpose terrorization of populations; and its use of fragmentation and depleted uranium munitions, which by now has been well established by independent inquiries, have had devastating permanent effects on civilian victims. The Israeli army and air force have also used fragmentation munitions in Lebanon and concede having used white phosphorus in civilian neighborhoods during attacks on Gaza. In 2009 the former head of the international law department of Israel’s military establishment, Daniel Reisner, said, “International law progresses through violations. We invented the targeted assassination thesis and we had to push it. At first there were protrusions that made it hard to insert easily into the legal molds. Eight years later, it is in the center of the bounds of legitimacy.” George Bisharat of the University of California Hastings Law College, who quoted Reisner’s words in the International Herald Tribune on Jan. 31, 2013, criticized this Israeli practice of “creating facts,” citing as unjustifiable the Israeli claim that its army’s clashes with Palestinian protesters are “armed conflict” justifying weapons of war, rather than the limited police measures international law authorizes in dealing with protesting residents of illegally occupied Palestinian territory. Bisharat also took issue with Israel’s definition of people who have not left a designated military strike area, after warning, as “voluntary human shields,” its attacks on civilian employees of the Hamas administration in Gaza as “terrorist infrastructure,” and Israel’s employment of banned munitions, hitherto considered war crimes. All this has remained without effective international condemnation since Israel began creating its “facts on the ground” with implicit American endorsement. This would seem the explanation of current efforts to neutralize or close down the Hague War Crimes Tribunal, unpalatable as this explanation may be to those of us who are citizens of the United States or Israel. It constitutes another example of that craving for power or what might be called totalitarian national security (at others’ exAUGUST 2013
pense) that characterizes the NSA program (apparently with some cooperation from Britain’s GCHQ intercept service) of mass interception and exploitation of the content of international communications, including the communications of allied democratic societies. Most democracies are seen as threatening to these American and Israeli stands, no doubt, because they are the states which possess the legal and moral standing to challenge efforts to destroy the established norms of international conduct, as proclaimed by the Nuremberg Tribunal— which amount to an effort to abolish one of the principal moral achievements of the Second World War. ❑
Israel Prepares for War… Continued from page 9
At a meeting of the World Economic Forum in May, Israeli President Shimon Peres reiterated his support for a two-state solution and said to Abbas, “Let’s sit down together—you’ll be surprised how much can be achieved.” Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator, responded by saying, “The only one who needs to be convinced, and I urge Mr. Peres to make every effort to convince him, is the prime minister of Israel, saying he accepts two states on 1967 [borders].” Peres is not likely to make that effort. As prime minister in the mid-1990s he passed up the chance to implement the 1993 Geneva agreements and instead imposed curfews and border closings, launched a bombing attack on Lebanon that killed scores of civilians—including two young American brothers, Hadi and Abdulmohsen Bitar—and authorized the assassination of a Palestinian resistance fighter that fueled a new round of violence. Obama is even less likely to exert pressure on Netanyahu. His appointments in early June of Susan Rice as national security adviser and Samantha Power as ambassador to the U.N. were deservedly welcomed by Israel’s ambassador, Americanborn Michael B. Oren, and by pro-Israel organizations in the U.S. Rice as ambassador to the U.N. vetoed every resolution critical of Israel, and said the Goldstone report describing Israel’s 2008-9 attack on Gaza that killed some 1,400 civilians should be “made to disappear.” Power met with 40 Jewish leaders in 2011 and apologized for having once advocated “a mammoth” U.S. commitment to securing a Palestinian state. She now has THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
the support of those leaders and of ardent Israel supporters Alan Dershowitz and former Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT). In contrast to Rice and Power, another American, U.N. human rights investigator Richard Falk, professor emeritus of International Relations at Princeton, is facing charges that he is anti-Semitic and demands for his resignation. Falk, who is Jewish, has called for a U.N. investigation into charges that Palestinian prisoners are subject to torture, a fact that has long been known. Israel and the U.S. boycotted a debate on the issue at the U.N. Human Rights Council, and the U.S. ambassador to the Council, Eileen Donahoe, called Falk “unfit to serve.” Obama’s failure to pursue Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and Israel’s unyielding rigidity are especially counterproductive at a time when Israel’s neighbors are in the throes of sectarian violence and the only common denominator of the warring groups is hostility to Israel. Despite the unrest in the region, however, Israelis now have a better chance than ever to achieve permanent security. Despite the resignation of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on June 23, the Palestinian Authority remains headed by leaders who are committed to peaceful coexistence with Israel. Hamdallah reportedly resigned because of a conflict of authority with the two deputy prime ministers who were also appointed by Abbas. “The prime minister feels that his deputies have been encroaching on his powers,” a source close to Hamdallah said. One of them, Muhammed Mustafa, is deputy prime minister for economic affairs and was said to be Abbas’ first choice for prime minister. Abbas and the PA remain committed to reconciliation with Hamas and intend to stick to the timetable the two sides agreed on in Cairo for establishing a unity government. A Palestinian government that includes Hamas is certain to be condemned by Israel and the U.S., but in fact would be compelled to abide by a peace agreement with Israel, since as a participant in the negotiations Hamas would have a stake in seeing that it worked. For many Gazans, peace is their first priority. Umm Mahmudal, a 40-year-old mother, was walking down a path in her village near the border with Israel earlier this year when an Israeli fighter jet bombed a nearby house and she was hit by shrapnel. With drones and F-16s circling overhead day and night, she constantly wonders when Israel will attack again. “We are frightened,” she said. “I seek and hope only for peace.” ❑ 11
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Shimon Peres: When the Gods Laugh SpecialReport
KOBI GIDEON/GPO VIA GETTY IMAGES
By Uri Avnery
(L-r) Singer Barbra Streisand, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at Peres’ 90th birthday gala in Jerusalem, June 18, 2003, two months before his actual birthday. f the life of Shimon Peres were a play, it
Iwould be difficult to classify. A tragedy?
A comedy? A tragicomedy? For 60 years it looked as if he was under a curse of the Gods, much like the curse of Sisyphus, who was condemned to roll an immense boulder up a hill, and every time he approached his goal the rock would roll down again to the bottom. Disclosure: our lives have run somehow on parallel lines. He is one month older than I. We both came to Palestine as boys. We have both been in political life from our teens. But there the similarity ends. We met for the first time 60 years ago, when we were 30 years old. He was the director general of Israel’s most important ministry, I was the publisher and editor of Israel’s most aggressive news magazine. We disliked each other on sight. He was David Ben-Gurion’s main assistant, I was Ben-Gurion’s main enemy (so defined by his security chief). From there our paths crossed many times, but we did Uri Avnery, a former member of the Israeli Knesset, is a founder of Gush Shalom, <www.gush-shalom.org>. 12
not become bosom friends. Already in his early childhood in Poland, Peres (still Persky) complained that his mates in (Jewish) school beat him up for no reason. His younger brother had to defend him. When he came to Palestine with his family, he was sent to the legendary children’s village Ben Shemen, and joined a kibbutz. But already as a teenager his political acumen was evident. He was an instructor in a socialist youth movement. It split and most of his comrades joined the left-wing faction, which looked more young and dynamic. Peres was one of the few who remained with the ruling party, Mapai, and thereby drew the attention of the senior leaders. He had to make a much more momentous choice in the 1948 war, a war all of us considered a life-and-death struggle. It was the decisive event in the life of our generation. Almost all the young people hastened to join the fighting units. Not Peres. Ben-Gurion sent him abroad to buy arms—a very important task, but one that could have been carried out by an older person. Peres was considered a shirker at THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
the supreme test and was never forgiven by the 1948ers. Their contempt plagued him for decades. At the early age of 30 Ben-Gurion appointed him director of the Defense Ministry—a huge advancement, which assured him a rapid rise to the top. And indeed, he played a major role in pushing Ben-Gurion into the 1956 Suez war, in collusion with France and Britain. The French were struggling with the Algerian war for independence and believed that their real enemy was the Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser. They got Israel to spearhead an attack to topple him. It was a complete failure. In my opinion, the war was a political disaster for Israel. It dug the abyss separating our new state from the Arab world. But the French showed their gratitude— they rewarded Peres with the atomic reactor in Dimona. Throughout this period, Peres was the ultimate hawk, and a central member of a group which my magazine, Haolam Hazeh, branded as “Ben-Gurion’s youth gang”—a group we suspected of plotting to assume power by undemocratic means. But before this could happen, Ben-Gurion was kicked out by the old party veterans, and Peres had no choice but to join him in political exile. They formed a new party, Rafi. Peres worked like mad, but in the end they garnered only 10 Knesset seats. Peres and the boulder were back at the bottom. Redemption came with the Six-Day War. On its eve, Rafi was invited to join a National Unity government. But the big prize was snatched by Moshe Dayan, who became minister of defense and a world idol. Peres remained in the shadows. The next opportunity arose after the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Golda Meir and Dayan were pushed out by an incensed public. Peres was the obvious candidate for prime minister. But lo and behold, at the last minute Yitzhak Rabin appeared from nowhere and snatched the crown. Peres was left with the Defense Ministry. The next three years were a continuous story of subversion, with Peres trying by all available means to undermine Rabin. As a part of this effort, he allowed right-wing extremists to establish the first settlement AUGUST 2013
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in the heart of the West Bank—Kedumim. He has rightly been called the father of the settlement movement, as he was earlier called the father of the atom bomb. Rabin coined a phrase that stuck to Peres: “Tireless Backstabber.” This chapter ended with the “dollar account.” Upon leaving his former job as ambassador in Washington, Rabin had left an open account in an American bank. At the time, that was a criminal offense, generally settled with a fine, but Rabin resigned in order to protect his wife. It was never proved that Peres had a hand in the disclosure, though many suspected it. At long last, the way was clear. Peres assumed the leadership of the party and ran for elections. The Labor Party was bound to win, as it always had before. But the Gods only laughed. After 44 years of continuous Labor Party dominance, in the Yishuv and the state, Peres managed to achieve the unthinkable: he lost. Menachem Begin made peace with Egypt, with Moshe Dayan, Peres’ competitor, at his side. Soon afterwards, Begin invaded Lebanon. On the eve of that war, Peres and Rabin visited him and urged him to attack. After the war went wrong, Peres appeared at a huge peace rally and condemned the war. In the election before that, Peres had a shattering experience. In the evening, after the ballots were closed, Peres was crowned on camera as the next prime minister. On the following morning, Israel woke up with Prime Minister Menachem Begin again. The elections after that ended in a draw. For the first time Peres became prime minister, but only under a rotation agreement. When Shamir assumed power, Peres tried to unseat him in a dubious political plot. It failed. Rabin, caustic as ever, called it “the Dirty Exercise.” Peres’ unpopularity reached new depths. At election rallies, people cursed him and threw tomatoes. When, at a party event, he posed the rhetorical question: “Am I a loser?” the audience shouted in unison: “Yes!” To change his luck, he underwent a cosmetic operation to alter his hangdog look. But his lack of grace could not be remedied by a surgeon. Neither could his oratorical skills—this man, who has delivered many tens of thousands of speeches, has never expressed a truly original idea. His speeches consist entirely of political platitudes, helped along by a deep voice, the dream of every politician. (This, by the way, disproves to me his AUGUST 2013
pretense of having read thousands of books. You cannot really read so many books without a trace of it showing up in your writing and speeches. One of his assistants once confided to me that he prepared résumés of fashionable books for him, to save him the trouble of actually reading before quoting them.)
From Hawk to Peacenik In the meantime, Peres the hawk turned into Peres the peacenik. He had a part to play in achieving the Oslo accord, but it was Rabin who garnered the glory. The same, by the way, had happened before with the daring Entebbe raid, when Peres was minister of defense and Rabin prime minister. After Oslo, the Nobel committee was about to award the Peace Prize to Rabin and Arafat. However, immense world-wide pressure was exerted on the committee to include Peres. Since no more than three persons can share the prize, Mahmoud Abbas, who had signed the agreement with Peres, was left out. The assassination of Rabin was a turning point for Peres. He had been standing near Rabin when the “peace song” was sung. He came down the stairs, when Yigal Amir was waiting below, the loaded pistol in his hand. The murderer let Peres pass and waited for Rabin—another crowning insult. But, at long last, Peres had achieved his goal. He was prime minister. The obvious thing to do was to call immediate elections, posing as the heir of the martyred leader. He would have won by a landslide. But Peres wanted to be elected on his own merit. He postponed the elections. The results were disastrous. Peres gave the order to assassinate Yahya Ayyash, the “engineer” who had prepared the Hamas bombs. In retaliation, the entire country blew up in a tsunami of suicide bombings. Then Peres invaded south Lebanon, a sure means to gain popularity. But something went wrong, artillery fire caused a massacre of civilians in a U.N. camp, and the operation came to an inglorious end. Peres lost the elections, Netanyahu came to power. Later, when the feared Ariel Sharon was elected, Peres offered him his services. He successfully whitewashed Sharon’s bloody image in the world. In all his long political life, Peres never won an election. So he decided to give up party politics and run for president. His victory was assured, certainly against a nondescript Likud functionary like Moshe THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Katzav. The outcome was again a crowning insult: little Katzav won against the great Peres. (Causing some people to say: “If an election cannot be lost, Peres will lose it anyway!”) But this time the Gods seem to have decided that enough was enough. Katzav was accused of raping his secretaries, the way was clear for Peres. He was elected. Since then he has been celebrating. The remorseful Gods shower him with favors. The public, which detested him for decades, enveloped him with their love. International celebrities anointed him as one of the world’s great. He could not get enough of it. Hungry for love all his life, he swallowed flattery like a barrel without a bottom. He talked endlessly about “Peace” and the “New Middle East” while doing absolutely nothing to further it. Even TV announcers smiled when they repeated his edifying phrases. In reality he served as a fig leaf for Netanyahu’s endless exercises in expansion and sabotaging peace. The culmination came on June 18. Sitting alongside Netanyahu, Peres celebrated his 90th birthday (two months before the real date), surrounded by a plethora of national and international celebrities, basking in their glamor like a teenager. It cost a lot—Bill Clinton alone got half a million dollars for attending. After all the cruelties they had inflicted on him all his life, the Gods laughed benignly. ❑ (Advertisement)
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The Newest Arab Idol, Gaza’s Mohammed Assaf: Triumph Over Occupation SpecialReport
ANWAR AMRO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Hani Madhoun
Singer Mohammed Assaf of Gaza rehearses in Beirut for an “Arab Idol” performance, May 17, 2013. He was named winner of the competition on June 21, having received the votes of 60 percent of the show’s viewers. very Friday night for 16 weeks, millions
Eof people throughout the Arab world
tuned in to watch the hit show “Arab Idol” and root, then vote, for their favorite performer. Among the scores of talented voices who have competed on the program is Mohammed Assaf, a 23-year-old college student and wedding singer from the Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. In the few short months of the show’s second season, Assaf has became the darling of the Arab media. His supporters transcend borders, as he has fans in every Arab country—where “Arab Idol” is the number one show—and beyond. While its viewers may disagree on politics and revolutions, they all agreed on one thing: they adore a skinny, dark, young man from Gaza named Mohammed Assaf. The dark horse in this race, it nevertheless was he who brought home the title, with a resounding 60 percent of the votes cast. In addition to his remarkable voice, Assaf, who comes from humble origins, has shattered stereotypes about Gaza and about Hani Madhoun, a native of Gaza now based in Washington, DC, is a writer and founder/ editor of the music blog HotArabicMusic. com, the largest English-language website on Arabic entertainment. 14
Palestine at large. Despite having grown up in the isolated and besieged Gaza Strip, Assaf performed some of the most intricate Arabic songs during the competition. Exuding charisma, charm and modesty, he chose songs that, when he sang them, became his own. It’s easy to see why he has been dubbed the ”golden throat.” As one Egyptian diva told Assaf, “Your voice comes [along] once every 50 years.” Now even older music listeners are paying attention—as is the Western media. Assaf’s personal story, including his two-day struggle just to get to Egypt for the audition, has gone viral. Israel’s blockade of Gaza requires would-be travelers to obtain a special permit to leave. Young Gazans—boys and men in particular— have an especially hard time at the GazaEgyptian border due to security concerns. Assaf had to convince the border guards to stamp his passport so he could continue on to Cairo. By the time he arrived in the Egyptian capital, the doors to the audition site were closed—so he jumped over the wall. Security guards grabbed him and were escorting him out when another Palestinian recognized Assaf from his performances in Gaza and gave him his candidate number, allowing him to compete. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Assaf slept outside the building that night so he would not lose his place in line. As Assaf’s beautiful voice expresses the deep and complex emotions of a song, the young man performs with utter grace and composure. He gets into each song he sings and gives it his very best. Time after time he has shown that he has what it takes to be a pop culture icon. A young Egyptian singer told this writer that he thinks of Assaf as a superstar who has a unique way to sing his heart out without being overbearing or cheesy. As the reaction of the “Arab Idol” judges and audience demonstrated, with each song Assaf sang—even those with heartbreaking lyrics—he brought joy to his listeners. Suddenly, people from as far away as Yemen were watching “Arab Idol,” offering Assaf their support and votes. Even before the results were announced on the show’s finale, one of Yemen’s hottest pop singers, Belkis, spoke in Assaf’s favor and deemed him the next “Arab Idol.” Wellknown Egyptian pop star Sherine appeared on the show and wondered, “Is Assaf a human like us?” implying that he must be an angel to have such a heavenly voice. She has even jokingly proposed marriage to the young Gazan. Syrian singer Sarah Farah, who last year appeared on a similar show, endorsed Assaf over another finalist who was a fellow Syrian. In fact, most famous Arab singers cast their votes for Assaf, and asked their fans to do the same. That’s a long list! In Gaza, the apocalypse becomes a reality with each Israeli attack—and the threat is constant. So every Friday broadcast of “Arab Idol” gave Gazans a rare chance to celebrate together, as people held viewing parties at their homes to watch this young phenom from Gaza whose televised performances caused such an outpouring of cheers and enthusiasm. Residents of the West Bank city of Ramallah gathered to watch Assaf at “Arab Idol” block parties. Aware of the massive size of Assaf’s fan base—and resulting ratings—the show’s producers saved his performance until last, keeping judges and viewers alike on the edge of their seats with anticipation. The season of “Arab Idol” has garnered international attention and media coverage beyond their wildest dreams. AUGUST 2013
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Assaf does not shy away from the plight of his people, however. On the June 14 broadcast, Lebanese singer Ragheb Alameh, one of the four “Arab Idol” judges, shared a letter he had received from a Palestinian political prisoner sentenced to 27 years who recently had been on a hunger strike. Among the prisoners’ demands, wrote Hussam Shaheen, was to be allowed to watch “Arab Idol” and see Mohammed Assaf perform. Responded Assaf: “Allow me, Mr. Ragheb, to salute all our prisoners in the Israeli prisons, and to tell them that your cause is our cause, and we are all with you, and may God give you freedom.” Following his victory, he told an interviewer: “The revolution is not just the one carrying the rifle. The revolution is the paintbrush of an artist, the scapel of a surgeon, the axe of the farmer. This is something I consider to be logical. Everyone struggles for their cause in the way they see fit. Today I represent Palestine, and today I’m fighting for a cause also through the art that I am performing and the message that I am sending out.” Palestinian leaders also showed their support, with President Mahmoud Abbas sending his son to the show to offer en-
couragement to Assaf, and calling Alameh on his cell phone to describe how proud Palestinians are of Assaf’s astounding rise to fame. Not to be outdone, the son of Ismail Haniyeh, elected Palestinian prime minister in 2006 and now head of Gaza’s government, shared on his Facebook page that he, too, is a fan and supports the young singer and Gaza native on the show. Assaf represents a welcome fresh breeze in these turbulent times, when Palestinians are frustrated by occupation and partisan politics. Moreover, he has shown the world a different face of Gaza. When Arabs used to think of the besieged enclave, they would feel pity for “these poor people,” or think of “tough resistance,” “hot spicy food,” “conservative people” and such. Assaf somehow has managed to make Gaza look cool, and not just a place down on its luck. He has proven that there are good-looking people in Gaza, and that there are guys who are unafraid to show tender emotions such as love (to which his legions of female fans attest!). He’s introduced a different take on patriotism and national pride. Most of all, he is a living example that true talent has no home and can emerge from the harshest circumstances.
There is not much the average Arab man or woman can do to uplift the spirit of a people living under occupation; by voting for Assaf, however, people throughout the Arab world could send a personal, if symbolic, message to Gaza and all of Palestine. Even the Israeli army spokesperson who speaks to the Arabic-language press has shared on social media that he follows Assaf and likes his voice. Assaf wrote back that the Israeli official’s love brings no honor to him as the occupier continues to grab Palestinian land and hold Palestinians prisoner. As a young Web developer in Gaza told this writer: “It’s really a beautiful thing when the name of Gaza is not linked to explosions and destruction, that even though our conditions are miserable, we are able to bring the Palestinian story to people who may not care about politics, in the hopes that one day we will see justice.” Mohammed Assaf comes from an average Palestinian home and has struggled just like everyone else in Gaza. Yet he refused to give up and limit his dreams to getting a visa to some European country. Home videos show him singing as a little boy—and today he is the talk of millions who have happily surrendered their hearts to him. ❑
(Advertisement)
AUGUST 2013
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Remembering and Anticipating Ramadan By Manaal N. Farooqi and Hanna El-amrawi
SpecialReport A Call to Action
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
It’s 6:25 in the evening—only five more minutes until the clock strikes freedom. I’m starting to feel anxious. But it’s not the appetizing meat-filled grape leaves that I’m waiting to devour, nor the pure water that I desperately need to quench my daylong thirst. It’s a specific image that makes me feel like my favorite children’s book characters have come to life. Now it’s only two minutes before the Maghrib (evening) prayers issue their call to action—Allahu akbar, God is great. As everyone in my house rushes to the dinner table to grab the mouth-watering grape leaves, I rush in the opposite direction. Standing on the balcony of my home in the coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt I can finally hear the sound of waves, undisrupted by the usual heavy Egyptian traffic. There Palestinians walk to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City to perform the final are no honking horns, no yelling in the streets, just the sound of the prayer of the day during Ramadan, July 24, 2012. Mediterranean waves beating on the amadan is a time for peace, reflection Canada. Among these community events sand. The Maghrib prayers echo throughand solidarity with those who do not are iftars which include within the larger out the city, and not a single car passes have enough. It is also a means to connect Muslim community North Africans, Cana- by—everyone is enjoying their food. I with the wider Muslim community in one’s dians, South Asians, Syrians and a numer- look at the apartment buildings next door city, state, or country. Having celebrated ous other nationalities and ethnicities and see family members finally coming toRamadan in both the Middle East and in which make up the North American Mus- gether, smiles on their faces and colorful Canada, where I live, I’ve seen some very lim community. Whenever I celebrate iftar Ramadan lights illuminating the scene. interesting cultural differences and prac- at a local community function, I always This is my children’s book, my special Ratices between the two regions. For exam- leave knowing a little bit more about my madan scene. It’s not unusual for people to commiserple, in the Middle East during Ramadan, fellow fasters from around the world. While Ramadan may seem like a journey ate, “I feel bad that you go all day not schools open later, restaurants and malls stay open until 3 a.m. in order to accom- one walks through alone, for me it comes drinking water or eating.” But they modate post-iftar (dinner breaking the with a great support group of family and shouldn’t feel bad, because I certainly day’s fast) shoppers. Furthermore, there is a friends, whether they are fasting or not. don’t. To me, fasting during Ramadan is different sense of solidarity than in the While meeting friends for lunch a few like a challenge that I succeed in meeting years ago, they asked me why I wasn't eat- every day. It is a goal that I set for myself, Western world during Ramadan. When I’ve celebrated Ramadan in ing or drinking any water. After I re- and one that I realize the moment the pure Canada, there seems to be a stronger sense minded them it was Ramadan, they cold water runs down my throat. Ramadan is also a great way for families of community among the minority of promptly decided not to order, and instead Canadian Muslims who fast. For us, com- decided that we would watch a movie in- to come together. In my household, with my parents taking their lunch break at munity- and family-based Ramadan activ- stead to distract me from my fasting. While it may seem rather daunting that work and my brother eating lunch at his ities constitute the core of the social network for Muslims in both the U.S. and Ramadan this summer means that fasting university, it’s usually very hard for all of will last up to 15 hours a day, with the sup- us to get together and enjoy a meal. During Manaal N. Farooqi, from Canada, and port of both fasting and non-fasting family Ramadan, however, everyone is off at the Hanna El-amrawi, from Egypt, were among and friends, it is an experience I truly an- same time, which allows us all to enjoy a this summer’s Washington Report interns. ticipate and welcome. nice dinner, breaking our fast together. ❑
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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
AUGUST 2013
omer_17_Gaza on the Ground 6/27/13 1:43 PM Page 17
A Bittersweet Success: Baking Nablus Knafeh in Exile Gazaon the Ground
By Mohammed Omer ustomers line up in a hot, humid Gaza
CCity knafeh shop, where breezes from
Award-winning journalist Mohammed Omer reports from the Gaza Strip, where he maintains the Web site <www.rafahtoday.org>. He can be reached at <gazanews@yahoo. com>. Follow him on Twitter: @MoGaza. AUGUST 2013
PHOTO M. OMER
the Mediterranean provide occasional momentary relief. Khaled Saleh from Rafah is among those waiting in the long line in anticipation of savoring the authentic cheese pastry soaked in sweet syrup known as Nablus knafeh. “This is the taste of freedom,” he said to a former Bethlehem resident exiled to Gaza, explaining his reason for braving the line. “When I eat it, I see Nablus and the West Bank, the home we are prevented from visiting these decades under occupation.” For everyone in line, this is a treat worth waiting for—and a dream come true for 37year-old former political prisoners Hamouda Salah and Nader Abu Turki. Their shop is known for the best knafeh in town, and the two men can barely keep up with orders. Salah was sentenced to 22 years in prison for resisting the Israeli occupation, he told the Washington Report, and released after 12 as part of the exchange of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Rather than allowing him to return home to the West Bank city of Nablus, however, Israel banished him to Gaza along with 160 other freed prisoners. Gaza represents a different kind of prison for Salah—he is free to move about within the Strip, but unable to leave it. (Shalit, by contrast, returned home to his family.) But Salah has managed to recreate part of his birthplace. “I have spent three months preparing and getting as many original ingredients as possible from Nablus,” the confectioner explained. “Even similar ingredients from Italy, via Egypt, smuggled through Gaza’s tunnels.” Opting for authenticity, Salah rejects many of the alternate ingredients available in Gaza. When this isn’t possible, however, he must compromise. For example, the margarine smuggled in from Egypt “doesn’t give the same distinctive taste” Salah re-
Hamouda Salah prepares to serve freshly baked knafeh to his eagerly awaiting customers.
members from childhood. “With the right margarine it tastes even more yummy,” he recalled. The idea of making knafeh took root when Salah searched for ways to recreate his beloved Nablus in exile. Food was one way to go home without actually being there. “It’s a humble project for me, to relive the atmosphere of Nablus—the city of my birth that I can no longer see or visit,” he explained. “It’s hard, and I wish my mom and brothers were able to visit me.” When asked what he misses most, he replied that now that he is able to make knafeh, “I still miss my relatives, friends and my mom’s coffee, which is the sister of family warmth.” Israeli authorities denied his extended family members permission to visit Salah in Gaza, but he managed to bring his wife, Fatima Abed, in through back channels. Now the couple and their 5-month-old baby, Jannah, who was born in Gaza, live in exile together. The art of making knafeh is handed down from generation to generation in tiny THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
kitchens like the one where Salah works. Gaza’s version of knafeh is denser and sweeter than the juicy, crispy Nablus pastry, widely agreed to be Palestine’s best. In Gaza, cooks use cheese from cow’s milk, while in the West Bank the cheese comes from goat and sheep’s milk. The type of milk used affects the taste of both the pastry and the cheese. To preserve the authenticity of his knafeh, Salah turned to his family and friends in the West Bank for advice, building his knowledge base via Facebook. The tactic worked. Salah’s reputation as an exceptional confectioner is growing and his knafeh is highly sought after. Humbled by the attention, Salah attributes his success to two factors: a new culinary taste unfamiliar to Gazans, and his new customers’ unquestioning support of exprisoners sentenced to exile among them. “When I started work again, I just wanted to keep myself busy with something I enjoyed,” Salah explained, shaking a massive bowl filled with the crispy, syrup-soaked, sunny pastry. “But now the Continued on page 33 17
williams_18-19_United Nations Report 6/27/13 10:07 AM Page 18
Will Samantha Power Be Loyal to Her Principles or to the Israel Lobby?
United Nations Report
JIM WATSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Ian Williams
President Barack Obama listens as former aide Samantha Power speaks after he nominated her as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations at a June 5 White House Rose Garden event. mong the many commandments
Ahanded down by AIPAC to American
politicians and diplomats—and above all to those at the U.N.—is “Thou shalt not commit linkage.” Accordingly, every issue in the region must be dealt with in isolation from the Israeli-Palestinian issue. But consistency is a trap for the petty minded, and a recourse to the first commandment, “Israel is always right,” overcomes most inconsistencies. Samantha Power, nominated to replace Susan Rice as U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, was immediately given the linkage test. The respected author and campaigner for the oppressed across the world, author of a 2002 Pulitzerprize winning best-seller, A Problem from Hell, castigating Western indifference to genocide, has been subjected to a series of loyalty oaths. She can indeed continue her genuinely distinguished record against genocide and abuse of civilian populations and demands for universal justice—as long as she preIan Williams is a free-lance journalist based at the United Nations who blogs at <www. deadlinepundit.blogspot.com>. 18
emptively exempts Israel from any such rules. Those of us who had seen Susan Rice before she became U.N. ambassador could not help feeling that she knew that every word the U.S. issued about human rights and the rule of international law was devalued by its insistence on defending the indefensible—Israel. Having watched President Barack Obama himself under Lobby force-feeding gorge on his own words on the region, one can hardly be shocked when his representatives do the same, and of course anyone who wants confirmation as secretary of state or U.N. ambassador will have to jump through the Lobby’s hoops a second time. (The post of national security adviser, where Rice has landed, does not require Senate confirmation, which would have been very difficult for her to secure after Benghazi.) With shades of the Eichmann trial, Nuremberg and the rest, one would have thought that Power would be a natural for those who keep evoking the Holocaust. But no, the floating of her name was greeted with the now-predictable storm. And as predicted, it was not from the mainstream Jewish and liberal bodies, but from the voTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
ciferous and unrepresentative Israel-firsters. Interestingly, on his own claim, Republican Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (who also calls himself America’s most famous rabbi, without much in the way of factual backing other than his short-lived cable television series, “Shalom in the Home”) called a meeting of 40 Jewish leaders. It took tears streaming down Powers’ cheeks to persuade the assembled gathering that she was not anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. The report was touching, but somehow humiliating. Why should someone with an actual Jewish husband and an unequivocal and indeed unique record of opposition to genocide have to demonstrate lachrymose loyalty to a rogue state before getting approval to represent the United States? It would appear from Boteach’s reporting that Powers held the line to the extent that disagreeing with Netanyahu’s policies and supporting Obama’s was to be seen as neither anti-Semitic nor necessarily anti-Israeli—and her record on genocide and human rights stood for itself. It probably also helped that wiser Lobby minds estimated that alienating someone who has the ear of the White House and was moving to what Israel sees as a critical battlefront was not the most clever of moves. So the mob put away their pitchforks and torches and went home. It will be interesting to see what Powers makes of it. She is certainly a person of principle, but like many others she will have to decide whether she can let one, albeit important, issue frustrate all the work she can do elsewhere. However, this process is not, of course, just some ritual abasement. The almost tragic downfall of Judge Richard Goldstone’s erstwhile legendary integrity when subjected to the witch-hunt process is a warning to anyone else who considers speaking out in a consistent way against all human rights abuses. Or as Richard Falk, the U.N. Human Rights Council special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, put it in his blog: “A defamatory campaign, broadly centered on allegations that I am an anti-Semitic and a self-hating Jew, has led to calls for my resignation or dismissal by highly placed individuals at the U.N. or in leading AUGUST 2013
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governments. In my view, a toxic political environment has been deliberately generated, which pepper sprays anyone, especially if in a formal position of some influence, who dares to offer strong criticisms of Israel’s behavior or shows clear support for the Palestinian struggle.” As the current target of the year for U.N. Watch, as Falk points out, his Jewish origins do him no favors. To be honest, nor does his prickly demeanor, which recently proved a godsend to the cabal of pro-Israel NGO “watchdogs” of the U.N. who only bark loudly when one particular state’s interests are threatened, either directly or otherwise. In Falk’s last official report to the U.N. Human Rights Council he strongly condemned U.N. Watch, and called for an investigation into it—by the U.N. Since almost all the reports have taken U.N. Watch’s tendentious tone with selective quotations, it is worth quoting Falk directly again: “To set the record straight, the special rapporteur proposes that U.N. Watch be investigated to determine whether it qualifies as an independent organization that operates in accord with its name and stated objectives, and is not indirectly sponsored by the Government of Israel and/or other ‘pro-Israel’ lobbying groups affiliated with the Government, as well as whether its program of work is of direct relevance to the aims and purposes of the United Nations. Even a superficial review of their website confirms their preoccupation with character assassination, and the absence of an organizational agenda that corresponds to its claim to exercise oversight over United Nations activities. It is notable that despite its efforts to discredit the Special Rapporteur, U.N. Watch has never offered substantive criticisms or entered
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AUGUST 2013
into any serious discussion of the Special Rapporteur’s reports. Such defamation of a special rapporteur is detrimental to the independence and substantive intention of any mandate. It diverts attention from the message to the messenger, and thus shifts public interest away from the need to protect human rights in contexts that have been identified by the Human Rights Council as of particular concern. The Special Rapporteur recommends that this issue be viewed in relation not only to his mandate, but also as a matter of principle relating to ensuring a responsible role for NGOs within the United Nations system. In like manner, it seems important to encourage a greater willingness on the part of senior United Nations officials to defend special rapporteurs who are subject to such diversionary attacks, or at the least, not to be complicit.” Much of what Falk says about U.N. Watch is indeed true. Apart from providing a living to its self-appointed and self-promoting director, Hillel Neuer, U.N. Watch shows general insouciance about the U.N.’s work in any context other than Israel. Sensitive to that criticism, it has indeed worked with other organizations to highlight human rights abusers—but it is still a selective list—with the so-called “Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.” Of course, Neuer does have a rich field of hypocrisy to till. Many of the states that condemn Israel so fervently are indeed recidivist human rights violators themselves—but U.N. Watch is part of the problem, not the solution. It has yet to utter a word against Israel, which, whatever the depravity of some of its detractors, is indisputably in regular violation of international law and decisions. A mere acknowledgement of that would do wonders to lend U.N. Watch some credibility—but sadly would almost certainly result in the loss of funding for Neuer’s salary.
A Decade Later… I should declare a wry lack of interest here. A year ago the organization exemplified its selective style with the headline, “The Guardian’s Ian Williams Lobbied for Bashar al-Assad’s Syria to Join U.N. Security Council,” referring to an article from over a decade earlier in what it called “the wellcirculated” Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. In 2001, I had merely pointed out the hypocrisy of U.S. calls to keep Syria off the Security Council, in contrast to unmitigated endorsement of Israel, and also predicted (accurately) the failure of Washington’s efforts—but this was twisted into an THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
implication of support for a regime that I have condemned frequently. Even so, Falk’s call for a U.N. investigation smacks too much of the witch-hunts that U.N. Watch itself specializes in. It is going too far and, moreover, provides publicity for an organization for which publicity is its lifeblood, and it was inappropriate in the context of a report on Palestine. But someone with time on his or her hands would do the world a mitzvah (good deed) by doing an exposé of the organization and its selectivity. So having dismissed the U.N. peremptorily for so many years, why Israel’s sudden pre-occupation? It is, of course, a reaction to the Palestinian legal war of attrition building up a substantial, indeed irrefutable, legal case against Israel, in the International Court of Justice, in the General Assembly, the Security Council and all the various agencies of the U.N. Hence the importance of Samantha Power’s commitment to the rule of international law—in particular in the Middle East, where the rest of the world puts the U.S. to the Likud Litmus test. Can Netanyahu do anything that the U.S. will act against? And it is even more important if Palestine musters the courage to defy Washington and ratify the various conventions, not least the International Criminal Court. According to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, “It took us six months to prepare, but I can say now that all our instruments of accession are ready.” And more tellingly, getting to the heart of the angst of U.N. Watch and Israel: “Those who worry about international courts should stop committing crimes.” And those who worry about human rights, democracy and the rule of law should ensure that their concern extends to the Palestinians. ❑
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The Role of the U.N. in Creating the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict SpecialReport
HANS PINS/GPO VIA GETTY IMAGES
By Jeremy R. Hammond
Jewish residents of Jerusalem ride a police car and wave what would become the Israeli flag as they celebrate the previous day’s General Assembly vote recommending the partitioning of Palestine, Nov. 30, 1947. he United Nations was founded with
Tthe stated aim of maintaining peace
among nations, but the reality is that not only has it consistently failed to prevent international conflicts, it has had no small part in causing them. One instructive case study was its role in its early years of helping to create the still-unresolved IsraeliPalestinian conflict. According to the preamble to the U.N. Charter, signed by its founding member Jeremy R. Hammond is an independent political analyst and recipient of the Project Censored Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for his writings on Israel’s 2008-09 military assault on Gaza and U.S. support for it. He is the founding editor of Foreign Policy Journal (<www.foreignpol icyjournal.com>) and can also be found on the web at <JeremyRHammond.com>. He is the author of Ron Paul vs. Paul Krugman: Austrian vs. Keynesian economics in the financial crisis and The Rejection of Palestinian Self-Determination: The Struggle for Palestine and the Roots of the Israeli-Arab Conflict, and is currently working on a book examining the contemporary U.S. role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 20
states in June 1945, the organization’s goal is “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and to “establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained.” Article 1 of the Charter further describes the U.N.’s purposes as being to “maintain international peace and security…in conformity with the principles of justice and international law.” The Charter also explicitly recognizes “the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.” Nevertheless, the U.N. almost immediately upon its founding helped to exacerbate the unfolding situation in Palestine by acting contrary to its own declared principles. Following the First World War, Great Britain, appointed the occupying power under the League of Nations’ Palestine Mandate, proceeded to implement policies that contributed to escalating hostilities between the native Arab and immigrant Jewish communities. After World War II, the League of Nations was replaced by the U.N., which assumed authority over the THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
League’s Mandates. Britain, unable to reconcile its conflicting promises to both the Arab and Jewish communities, sought to extricate itself from the situation it had helped to create by requesting that the U.N. take up the question of Palestine. Thus, in May 1947, the U.N. General Assembly considered and adopted a resolution establishing the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) to investigate and make recommendations. At the time, the U.N. consisted of 55 members, including Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. Palestine remained the only one of the formerly Mandated Territories whose independence was not recognized. No representatives from any Arab nations were included in UNSCOP, however, whose membership comprised Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, India, Iran, Netherlands, Peru, Sweden, Uruguay and Yugoslavia. Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia requested that Britain’s Mandate be terminated and Palestine’s independence recognized, but this motion was rejected. The population of Palestine at the end of 1946 was about 1,846,000, more than twothirds of whom were Arab and one-third Jewish. While the growth in the Arab population was due to natural increase, the growth of the Jewish population was mainly the result of immigration, which was supported by British policy. Arabs constituted a majority and owned more land than Jews in every district in Palestine, including Jaffa, which included Tel Aviv. According to the UNSCOP report, Arabs were in possession of about 85 percent of the land, compared to only about 5.8 percent owned by Jews. Despite these facts, the majority UNSCOP recommendation was that Palestine should be partitioned into two states, with the majority Arabs surrendering land to the Jews for their state. Under the proposal, 45 percent of the land would be for the Arab state, compared to 55 percent for the Jewish state. UNSCOP explicitly rejected the right of the Palestinian Arabs to self-determination, stating that this principle “was not applied to Palestine, obviously because of the intention to make possible the creation of the Jewish National Home there.” Arab representatives had proposed a uniAUGUST 2013
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tary Palestine with a democratic constitution guaranteeing full civil and religious rights for all citizens and an elected legislative assembly that would include Jewish representatives. UNSCOP dismissed this as “an extreme position.” India, Iran and Yugoslavia dissented from UNSCOP’s majority recommendation for partition, supporting instead the alternative proposal, which was, they observed, “in every respect the most democratic solution” and “most in harmony with the basic principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” Arab representatives naturally also rejected the proposed partition plan. After receiving UNSCOP’s report, the General Assembly established another committee that similarly rejected the majority recommendation as being “contrary to the principles of the [U.N.] Charter,” pointing out that the U.N. had no authority to “deprive the majority of the people of Palestine of their country and transfer it to the exclusive use of a minority in the country.” The new committee likewise proposed that the independence of Palestine instead be recognized. Nevertheless, on Nov. 29, 1947, by a vote of 33 in favor, 13 against, and 10 abstentions, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 181, which recommended that the majority UNSCOP plan be implemented. The nonbinding resolution was referred to the Security Council—where it died. It is important to emphasize that, contrary to popular myth, the U.N. neither created Israel nor conferred upon the Zionist leadership any legal authority for its unilateral declaration on May 14, 1948 of the existence of the state of Israel. Indeed, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Warren Austin, observed that the only way the UNSCOP plan could be implemented would be through the use of force, and that the Security Council had no such authority to enforce the partition of Palestine. He further noted that the expectation of the termination of the Mandate and withdrawal of the British from Palestine “would result, in the light of information now available, in chaos, heavy fighting and much loss of life in Palestine.” On the other hand, Austin argued, the U.N. did have authority to take action, including the use of force, to prevent such a violent outcome. The Council “can take action to prevent a threat to international peace and security from inside Palestine,” he stated, as well as “to prevent aggression against Palestine from outside.” He urged the Council: “The United Nations cannot permit such a result. The loss of life in the AUGUST 2013
Holy Land must be brought to an immediate end. The maintenance of international peace is at stake.” The U.N. however, did nothing as the Zionist leadership under David Ben-Gurion implemented a campaign of ethnic cleansing, the expulsion of the Arab population being a prerequisite for the creation of a demographically “Jewish state.” As Ilan Pappe wrote in his groundbreaking book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (available from the AET Book Club), “U.N. agents and British officials stood by and watched indifferently” as Zionist forces systematically attacked major urban centers of Palestine. Similarly, by the end of April, “U.S. representatives on the ground were by now fully aware of the expulsions that were going on.”
Fait Accompli By the time the British occupation came to an official end on May 14, 1948, a quarter of a million Palestinians had already been expelled from their homes by Jewish military forces. The same day, the Zionist leadership issued its unilateral declaration of the existence of Israel, which falsely cited U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181 as having granted legal authority for the establishment of their “Jewish state.” As predicted, war ensued as the neighboring Arab states attempted to muster a military response. In the end, the Arab forces only managed to hold onto the areas known as the West Bank (west of the Jordan River) and the tiny Gaza Strip. Threequarters of a million Arabs had been ethnically cleansed from Palestine by the time armistice agreements were signed in 1949. To Israelis, this was a “War of Independence,” but Palestinians refer to it as the “Nakba”—their “catastrophe.” In November 1948, Israel requested membership in the U.N., declaring that it “unreservedly accepts the obligations of the United Nations Charter and undertakes to honor them.” The following month, the General Assembly passed Resolution 194, which recognized the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes from which they had been ethnically cleansed. Israel rejected the resolution and refused to permit the refugees to return. The U.N. Security Council in March 1949 nevertheless proceeded to lend legitimacy to the Zionists’ unilateral declaration of statehood and ethnic cleansing of Palestine by declaring in Orwellian fashion that “Israel is a peace-loving State…willing to carry out the obligations contained in the Charter” and recommending to the General Assembly that Israel be admitted to the U.N. as a member. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Resolution 194 also established the Conciliation Commission for Palestine to assume the functions of U.N. mediator Count Folke Bernadotte, whom Jewish terrorists assassinated on Sept. 17, 1948. In April 1949, the Commission issued a report stating that it “had no difficulty in recognizing the truth” that “Israel not only had not accepted” the principle of repatriation for refugees, “but had endeavored to create a de facto situation which would render the practical application of the principle more difficult and even impossible.” When the General Assembly debated Israel’s application for membership the following month, the representative from Lebanon, Charles Habib Malik, observed that admitting Israel as a member while it rejected the principle of repatriation of Arab refugees “would be tantamount to a virtual condemnation of one million Arabs to permanent exile,” which, he predicted, would “give rise to serious political, social, economic and spiritual disturbances in the Near East and in the whole world for generations to come.” To admit Israel, he continued, would be to “reward” it “for its defiance of the Assembly’s wishes” and would mean “the perpetuation of the homelessness of the Arab refugees.” Furthermore, Israel had not declared its own borders, and it now controlled territories well beyond those envisioned under the partition plan for the Jewish state and “had no intention of giving them up.” Thus, admitting Israel would be “equivalent to giving it a blank check to draw its frontiers wherever it wished.” “In effect,” Malik argued, “it meant condoning, by a solemn act of the United Nations, the right of conquest,” and “would be prejudicial to the negotiations on the demarcation of boundaries now in progress.” Nevertheless, by a vote of 37 in favor, 12 against, and 9 abstentions, the General Assembly on May 11, 1949 adopted Resolution 273 deciding, despite all evidence to the contrary, “that Israel is a peace-loving state which accepts the obligations contained in the Charter” and admitting Israel as a member into the United Nations. While it is impossible to know how history might otherwise have unfolded had the U.N. not played the role it did, it must be recognized that the conflict that still rages today between the Israelis and the Palestinians is in no small part a consequence of the decisions made and actions taken by member states of the United Nations that were contrary to the very principles the organization was ostensibly founded to uphold. ❑ 21
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To Kerry: Get Israeli Peace Leaders Before Congress SpecialReport
JIM YOUNG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Ralph Nader
Secretary of State John Kerry shares a laugh with Palestinian restaurant workers in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 23, 2013. he new Secretary of State John Kerry
Ttaking four trips to the Israeli/Palestin-
ian region in the past two months means yet another U.S. effort for a negotiated peace process between the Palestinians (under ruthless occupation) and the very dominant Israelis. Why should the prospects be any better than the failed attempts by the esteemed former Sen. George Mitchell, and his predecessors? As senator with a “grade A” from the powerful pro-Israeli government lobby AIPAC, Secretary Kerry has forged a coalition of Israeli and Palestinian businessmen behind a $4 billion economic assistance plan for the West Bank and Gaza. He is also tapping into the significant Israeli public opinion behind a two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is outwardly going through the motions of supporting peace negotiations but demands preconditions and no cessation of expanding Israeli colonies in Palestine. Netanyahu knows how to play the U.S. government like a harp. He talks about negotiations for peace, but remains intransigent. Ralph Nader is an author, activist, consumer advocate and former presidential candidate. This “In the Public Interest” column was first posted May 30, 2013 on <www.nader. org>. Reprinted with permission. 22
Back in 1996, he told an applauding joint session of Congress that Israel’s mature economy would no longer need U.S. foreign aid. Today, Israel is a prosperous, bigger economy but is still receiving U.S. foreign aid. Kerry’s trump card is recognizing the long neglected specific peace offer by the 22-member Arab League in 2002. These Arab countries have renewed and updated their proposal to make it easier for Israel to accept. It includes a comprehensive peace treaty with all Arab nations and Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with minor land swaps. Netanyahu has given this offer the back of his hand despite its highly publicized reiteration in the ensuing years. But this year, Israeli President (an honorific post) Shimon Peres highlighted the verbal Israeli government endorsement of a two-state solution and urged that “a broad structure of support be created for making progress.” The problem is that almost nobody in Israel—hawks, peace advocates, or those in the middle—believes anything will come out of Kerry’s shuttle diplomacy. Here are some reasons why. There is no pressure on Netanyahu’s governing coalition to wage peace. As Ethan Bronner, long-time New York Times reporter in Israel, wrote in the paper’s May 25 edition: “Israel has THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
never been richer, safer, more culturally productive or dynamic.” He might have added that, with huge natural gas finds offshore, Israel is about to be both self-sufficient in fossil fuels and a net exporter. Nor is there any pressure that Netanyahu recognizes from the Palestinian/ Arab side. Palestinians are continually subjugated, impoverished, divided internally and on the losing end of the casualty toll by a ratio exceeding 400 to 1. Israel can strike targets in Palestine at will. Arab nations are internally preoccupied with civil wars, sectarian conflicts and, except for the Gulf countries, weak economies. Israel, with the most modern military, heavily furnished by the United States, and scores of ready nuclear bombs, stands astride the Middle East as a giant colossus. The main reality in Israeli domestic politics is that, if it weren’t for external threats, however exaggerated, the Israeli government and society would have to face very deep divisions inside Israel between secular and ultra-Orthodox populations. From expanding the colonies in Palestine to strict religious rituals and social mores, exemptions from military service, the place of women, and the treatment of the Israeli Arabs, there are two Israels that are ready to erupt were peace to break out with Palestine and Arab neighbors. Faced with this harrowing prospect of domestic civil strife, Netanyahu’s government feels no urgency for peace, according to Bronner. The regional status quo is under control of its iron fist. Many out-of-power Israeli politicians, such as former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, have all argued for vigorously pursuing a two-state solution to head off Israel becoming a state that, in a few decades, contains more Palestinians than Israelis. The militarists, however, are the ones running the government. Moreover, Kerry cannot expect any pressure from Washington on the Israeli government, because Washington, especially Congress, always goes along with the Israeli government, to such a degree that it astonishes opposition parties in the Israeli Knesset. Make no mistake about Netanyahu. He is and has long been a vintage extreme hardliner against any Palestinian sovereignty. In AUGUST 2013
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1989, after the Tiananmen Square massacre in China, Netanyahu, then Israeli deputy foreign minister, told students at Bar Ilan University that: “Israel should have exploited the repression of the demonstrations in China, when world attention focused on that country, to carry out mass expulsions among the Arabs of the territories.” Eviction and the expropriation of what is left of the original Palestine has long been the dogma of Israeli militarists and leaders of the expansionist Likud Party, including Ariel Sharon. The award-winning Israeli documentary “The Gatekeepers” presents six retired leaders of the Shin Bet—the Israeli FBI— speaking with remarkable candor about how rational actions, including those toward peace, were continually overruled by politicians who exploited the Israeli-Arab conflict for their own domestic advantage. So, what is our secretary of state to do? Kerry should propose that these men and other prominent retired outspoken leaders from the military, security, and elected political leaders, together with well-known writers and scholars, testify at length before the U.S. House and Senate. AIPAC cannot stop them from testifying. Congress and the American people will be given an opportunity to hear these experienced, persuasive voices for a peace settlement. After all, peace in the Middle East is more in the U.S. national interest and security than ever before. Americans are paying too hefty a human and financial price to allow a muzzled Congress to stay on bended knee, supporting whatever the Israeli government wants. Such a breakthrough on Capitol Hill will also enhance the Israeli peace and human rights movement which reflects the moral dimension for ending the occupation/colonization of Palestine. In a recent pamphlet by Americans for Peace Now and its counterpart in Israel, Rabbi Michael Melchior, a former Israel deputy foreign minister and member of the Knesset, declared that “to occupy and control the lives of millions of Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria, and to negate their right to create their own state and future in peace, side by side with the State of Israel, is not just, is not moral, and is not Judaism.” In May 2004 Senator Kerry told me, “I have many friends in the Israeli peace movement.” It is time for him to begin the mission for peace in his old haunt the U.S. Congress, without which he will share the decades-long failure of those who came before him in both Republican and Democratic administrations. ❑ AUGUST 2013
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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Zionist Lobbying Spurs Increased Congressional Interest in Expanding Iran Sanctions CongressWatch
By Shirl McArthur
shipping sanctions.” The bill still includes the section requiring that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps be declared a foreign terrorist organization. The bill now has 358 sions to Washington” of the pro-Israel poco-sponsors, including Royce. litical action committee NORPAC on May 8 Two previously described bills—H.R. and of the Zionist Organization of America 893, the comprehensive “Iran, North (ZOA) on May 22, resulting in hundreds Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Acmore Zionists descending on the halls of countability” bill introduced in February Congress to promote the interests of a forby Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and H.Res. 98, ineign state. troduced in March by Rep. Paul Gosar (ROne result of this pressure was increased AZ)—have gained no co-sponsors. attention to previously reported anti-Iran The more responsible H.R. bills, as well as several new 783, the “Prevent Iran from bills and hearings. On May 22 ‘Nuff Said: Acquiring Nuclear Weapons the Senate passed the previand Stop War Through Diploously described S.Res. 65, inKnow Your Acronyms macy” bill, introduced in Febtroduced in February by Sen. We’ve noticed lately that many pro-Israel organizations ruary by Rep. Barbara Lee (DLindsey Graham (R-SC), are now using acronyms instead of their complete CA), has gained only one co“strongly supporting the full names—which often include the words “Israel,” “Jewsponsor and now has 19, inimplementation of U.S. and inish,” and other words revealing their agendas—so cluding Lee. Among other ternational sanctions on Iran we’ve put together this handy guide. We suspect it will things, it says the U.S. should and urging the president to continue to grow, and welcome additions from our “pursue sustained, direct, bicontinue to strengthen enreaders. lateral negotiations with the forcement of sanctions legislagovernment of Iran without tion.” As reported in the previADL Anti-Defamation League (of B’nai B’rith) preconditions in order to reous issue of this magazine, the AJC American Jewish Committee duce tensions, prevent war, measure was slightly improved JINSA Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs prevent nuclear proliferation, by the Senate Foreign RelaJNF Jewish National Fund support human rights, and tions Committee (SFRC) by NJDC National Jewish Democratic Council seek resolutions to issues that softening clause number 8, the concern the U.S. and the interRJC Republican Jewish Coalition “Backdoor to War” clause, national community.” which originally would have TIP The Israel Project The new anti-Iran measures seemed to give Israel a green UJA United Jewish Appeal included S. 892, the “Iran light to attack Iran whenever it ZOA Zionist Organization of America Sanctions Loophole Eliminaclaims to be threatened, intion” bill, introduced on May evitably drawing in the U.S. As passed, the clause now includes the word amendment by leading Israel-firster Rep. 8 by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL). It would amend “legitimate” to limit Israel’s ability to claim Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) eliminating the “the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria it is acting in self-defense and specifies presidential waiver authority. Hailing com- Human Rights Act of 2012” to direct the “against Iran’s nuclear weapons program” mittee passage of the bill, Royce’s press re- president to prohibit the opening, and proto limit possible Israeli targets. It also in- lease says that the amended bill “stiffens hibit or impose strict conditions on the cludes the phrase “in accordance with U.S. penalties for human rights violators by ap- maintaining, in the U.S. of a correspondent law and the constitutional responsibility of plying financial sector sanctions”; account or a payable-through account by a Congress to authorize the use of military “strengthens existing sanctions by com- foreign financial institution that is a person force.” The resolution’s last sentence still pelling countries that are currently pur- described” later in the bill. On May 21 the says that “nothing in this resolution shall chasing crude oil from Iran to reduce their Senate Banking Committee held a hearing be construed as an authorization for the use combined purchases of Iranian crude oil by on the bill, and a NORPAC May 22 “Action of force or a declaration of war.” When a total of 1,000,000 barrels per day within a Alert” said that Kirk—who received more passed it had 92 co-sponsors, including year”; “penalizes foreign persons who en- pro-Israel PAC contributions by far gage in significant commercial trade with ($115,304) for his 2010 Senate race than any Graham. Iran”; “expands the list of sectors of the other congressional candidate—had reShirl McArthur is a retired U.S. foreign ser- Iranian economy effectively blacklisted”; quested NORPAC’s help in rallying covice officer based in the Washington, DC and “limits Iran’s access to overseas foreign sponsors for the bill. So far, the bill has 25 currency reserves and imposes additional co-sponsors, including Kirk. area. ollowing AIPAC’s March invasion of Capitol Hill (see May 2013 Washington F Report, p. 28), May saw the annual “Mis-
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Also on May 22, the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a “markup” session and passed the problematic H.R. 850, introduced in February by Rep. Ed Royce (RCA), “to impose additional human rights and economic and financial sanctions with respect to Iran.” The markup session managed to make an already bad bill, as described in previous issues, even worse. To start with, the committee passed an amendment by Chairman Royce completely substituting a new text. It also passed an
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AUGUST 2013
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On May 15 Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced S. 965. While its title is the “Iran Sanctions Implementation” bill, its focus is on measures to expand U.S. domestic oil production. It has 13 co-sponsors, including Inhofe. And on May 21 Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced S. 1001 “to impose [more] sanctions with respect to the government of Iran.” Among other things it would block property transactions in the U.S. of certain persons and would sanction a person who “knowingly imports, purchases, or transfers goods or services” from Iran. It also includes a financial transactions clause similar to that in Kirk’s S. 892 described above. The bill has 20 co-sponsors, including Cornyn. Also on May 15 both the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees held hearings on U.S. policy toward Iran, during which several senators and representatives urged administration witnesses to tighten the economic pressures on Iran and to pressure Iran’s remaining oil customers to further reduce oil imports from Iran. Finally, on May 23 Sen. John Hoeven (RND), with three co-sponsors, introduced S.Res. 154 “supporting political reform in Iran.”
Events in Syria Continue Getting Congressional Attention Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced two bills that would authorize arms and training to Syrian rebels. First, on May 6, with no co-sponsors, he introduced S. 856, the “Syria Stabilization” bill. Then, abandoning his original bill, on May 15 he introduced a beefed-up version as S. 960, the “Syria Transition Support” bill. Among other things it would provide for humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people and create a “Syria Transition Fund.” But the provision receiving the most attention is Sec. 501, which would authorize the president, “notwithstanding any other provision of law that restricts military, non-military, or economic assistance to Syria, to provide defense articles, defense services, and military training to specific members of the Syrian Supreme Military Council, particular units of the Free Syrian Army, and other Syrian entities opposed to the government of Bashar al-Assad, with funds made available for foreign assistance.” The Senate Foreign Relations Committee took up the bill on May 21 and voted 15-3 to pass it, after which Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) criticized the committee, saying “you will be funding today the allies of al-Qaeda.” The bill has four co-sponsors, including Menendez. The previously described S. 617, the “Syria Democratic Transition” bill introAUGUST 2013
duced in March by Sen. Robert Casey (DPA), has gained five co-sponsors and now has 11, including Casey. This large bill “would authorize U.S. assistance for Syrian civilians and innocent victims of the conflict,…expand sanctions against the government of Bashar al-Assad, strengthen U.S. support for democratically-oriented political opposition groups and help ensure stability and security in Syria during and after a political transition.” H.R. 1327, the “Free Syria” bill, introduced in March by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), has gained three co-sponsors and now has seven, including Engel. This comprehensive bill would increase humanitarian and economic aid to the Syrian opposition as well as provide arms, training and intelligence support to “vetted” opposition groups. It would also set up a framework under which the administration could deploy anti-aircraft systems and allow the administration to develop a program to find and destroy Syria’s chemical and biological weapons stockpiles. Two non-binding resolutions were introduced. H.Res. 223 was introduced on May 17 by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) expressing the sense of the House concerning the “need for the Syrian Opposition Coalition and local coordinating committees in Syria to assume the responsibilities of governance.” On May 21 Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) with two co-sponsors introduced H.Res. 229 calling for Assad and others to be “tried before the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
AIPAC-Pushed “U.S. Israel Strategic Partnership” Bills Get Support Predictably, the NORPAC and ZOA lobbying efforts also focused on the two AIPACendorsed (if not written?) “U.S.-Israel Strategic Ally” bills described in previous issues: H.R. 938, introduced in March by Ros-Lehtinen, and S. 462, introduced in March by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). Both bills would, among other things, authorize increased U.S. “cooperative activities” in the fields of energy, water, homeland security, agriculture, and alternate fuel technologies. They also would expand U.S.-Israel cyber-security cooperation and extend authority to add to “foreign-based” defense stockpiles and to transfer “obsolete or surplus” Department of Defense items to Israel. H.R. 938 has gained 78 co-sponsors and now has 289, including Ros-Lehtinen. Even though it has received considerable criticism, S. 462 has gained 15 co-sponsors and now has 40, including Boxer. Among the reasons for the criticisms of S. 462 are that, first, while H.R. 938 says that THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
“it shall be U.S. policy to include Israel in the visa waiver program when Israel satisfies” the program’s requirements, S. 462 would water down the key requirement of granting full reciprocity to U.S. citizens. Boxer’s version says that Israel only would have to make “every reasonable effort, without jeopardizing the security of the State of Israel, to ensure that reciprocal travel privileges are extended to all U.S. citizens.” Israel consistently refuses to admit Arab Americans or other U.S. citizens seen as sympathetic to the Palestinians into Israel or the West Bank. Another cause for criticism is that S. 462 would exempt Israel from the requirement of a low refusal rate for non-immigrant visas. (Too many Israelis come to the U.S. on tourist visas and then remain illegally.) Meanwhile, of the two previously described measures “to provide for the inclusion of Israel in the visa waiver program,” only H.R. 300, introduced in January by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), has gained a cosponsor. It now has 77, including Sherman. Of the previously described “Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition” bills, H.R. 104, introduced in January by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), and S. 604, introduced in March by Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), have gained cosponsors. H.R. 104 now has 24 co-sponsors, including Garrett, and S. 604 has six, including Heller. Both bills would require that the U.S. Embassy in Israel be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and would remove the presidential waiver authority included in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. One new bill, H.R. 1992, the “Israel QME Enhancement” bill, introduced May 15 by Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), would update the criteria for maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge” to include cyber warfare. It has 15 co-sponsors, including Collins. The previously reported H.R. 1130, the “Iron Dome Support” bill, introduced in March by Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA), has gained five co-sponsors and now has 84, including Davis. It would authorize the president to provide assistance to Israel for the “procurement, maintenance, enhancement, and sustainment of the Iron Dome anti-missile system.” And the annual “congratulate Israel on its anniversary” measure, H.Con.Res. 30, introduced in April by Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL), has gained three co-sponsors and now has 158, including Radel.
NORPAC, ZOA Push to Condition Aid To Palestine and Egypt Languishes Although conditioning aid to Palestine and Egypt were among NORPAC’s and the ZOA’s talking points, their lobbying efforts Continued on page 27 25
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Two Views
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Sidelining Congress to Take Sides in Syria
A Syrian mother walking with her daughters turns to look at smoke billowing from three shells dropped on the town of Al-Bara in the northwestern province of Idlib, June 24, 2013.
A Reluctant Warrior Tiptoes to War By Patrick J. Buchanan
arack Obama has just taken his first B baby steps into a war in Syria that may define and destroy his presidency. On June 13, while he was ringing in Gay Pride Month with LGBT revelers, a staffer, Ben Rhodes, informed the White House press that U.S. weapons will be going to the Syrian rebels. For two years Obama has stayed out of this sectarian-civil war that has consumed 90,000 lives. Why is he going in now? The White House claims it now has proof Bashar Assad used sarin gas to kill 100-150 people, thus crossing a “red line” Obama had set down as a “game changer.” Defied, his credibility challenged, he had to do something. Yet Assad’s alleged use of sarin to justify U.S. intervention seems less like our reason Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? Copyright © 2013 Creators.com. Reprinted by permission of Patrick J. Buchanan and Creators Syndicate, Inc. 26
for getting into this war than our excuse. For the White House decided to intervene weeks ago, before the use of sarin was confirmed. And why would Assad have used only tiny traces? Where is the photographic evidence of the disfigured dead? What proof have we the rebels did not fabricate the use of sarin or use it themselves to get the gullible Americans to fight their war? Yet, why would President Obama, whose proud boast is that he will have extricated us from the Afghan and Iraq wars, as Dwight Eisenhower did from the Korean War, plunge us into a new war? He has been under severe political and foreign pressure to do something after Assad and Hezbollah recaptured the strategic town of Qusayr and began preparing to recapture Aleppo, the largest city. Should Assad succeed, it would mean a decisive defeat for the rebels and their backers: the Turks, Saudis and Qataris. And it would mean a geostrategic victory for Iran, Hezbollah and Russia, who have proven themselves reliable allies. To prevent this defeat and humiliation, we are now going to ship arms and ammunition to keep the rebels going and in conTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
trol of enough territory to negotiate a peace that will remove Assad. We are going to make this a fair fight. What is wrong with this strategy? It is the policy of an amateur. It treats war like a game. It ignores the lessons of history. And, as it continues a bloodbath with no prospect of an end to it, it is immoral. In every great civil war of modernity— the Russian civil war of 1919-1921, the Spanish civil war of 1936-1939, the Chinese civil war of 1945-49, one side triumphs and takes power. The other loses and lives with the consequences—defeat, death, exile. What is the likely reaction to our escalation from humanitarian aid to military aid? Counter-escalation. Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are likely to rush in more weapons and troops to accelerate the progress of Assad’s army before the American weapons arrive. And if they raise and call, what does Obama do? Already, a clamor is being heard from our clients in the Middle East and Congress to crater Syria’s runways with cruise missiles, to send heavy weapons to the rebels, to destroy Assad’s air force on the ground, to bomb his anti-aircraft sites. All of these are acts of war. Yet under the Constitution, Congress alone authorizes war. When did Congress authorize Obama to take us to war in Syria? Where does our imperial president get his authority to draw red lines and attack countries that cross them? Have we ceased to be a republic? Has Congress become a mere spectator to presidential decisions on war and peace? As Vladimir Putin seems less the reluctant warrior, what do we do if Moscow answers the U.S. escalation by delivering on its contract to provide A-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Damascus, which can cover half of Israel? Obama has put us on the escalator to a war already spilling over Syria’s borders into Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, a war that is now sundering the entire Middle East along Sunni and Shi’i lines. He is making us de facto allies of the alQaeda-like al-Nusra Front, of Hamas and jihadists from all across the region, and of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi just severed ties to Syria and is demanding a “no-fly zone,” AUGUST 2013
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which one imagines the United States, not the Egyptian air force, would have to enforce. Our elites shed tears over the 90,000 dead in Syria. But what we are about to do will not stop the killing, but simply lengthen the duration of the war and increase the numbers of dead and wounded. At the top of this escalator our country has begun to ascend is not just a proxy war with Iran in Syria, but a real war that would entail a disaster for the world economy. If the ouster of Assad is what the Sunni powers of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt demand, why not let them do it? Anti-interventionists should demand a roll-call vote in Congress on whether Obama has the authority to take us into this Syrian war.
Hold Back the U.S. Dogs of War By Paul Findley
n 1964, the House of Representatives Re-
Ipublican Conference authorized me to
chair a five-member mission to Paris, there to explore reasons for deep discord between Washington and France. During our mission, French President Charles de Gaulle sent us a cryptic warning about the U.S. role in Vietnam, then expanding massively: “I hope you can win a victory in Vietnam. I do not believe you can. If you continue your present ‘success’ in five years you will be involved in ten places. Then the American people will become tired and return to isolation. In saying that, please remember that neither I nor the French people dislike the American people.” It was a stark—and accurate—forecast of the costly military failures that lay ahead for the United States. By putting quotes around “successes,” de Gaulle made it a synonym for failures. Eighteen years later, Vietnam, one of America’s bloodiest failures, came to an end when the last remnant of U.S. officialdom fled Saigon aboard a helicopter. Other costly failures followed: U.S. Paul Findley served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1983, serving most of that time on the Forign Affairs Committee. He was a principal author of the War Powers Act and is the author of four books on Middle East policy (all available from the AET Book Club). He served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during the World War II and resides in Jacksonville, IL. AUGUST 2013
Marines in Lebanon once and in Somalia twice; U.S.-initiated major wars in Afghanistan—America’s longest—and Iraq, plus frequent acts of war via drone bombers in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. To the list must be added U.S. complicity in Israel’s unlawful 40-year war of attrition that has humiliated and brutalized Palestine’s entire society and consumed more than half of its historic birthright. This involvement has nearly destroyed America’s once celebrated role as moral leader of the world. Will we ever learn? President Obama has announced he will supply small arms and munitions to rebels in Syria who wish to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Once initiated, the startup package inevitably will grow. U.S. war measures in Syria, aside from being presently unconstitutional, will be a curiosity, to say the least. No one leads the motley forces assaulting Assad. Nor is any faction recognized as taking the lead. Rebels include factions hostile to each other over religious differences. Those rebelling even include followers of al-Qaeda, the U.S. government’s terrorist enemy. Can war materiel sent by Obama be packaged carefully enough to keep it from al-Qaeda, or does that matter? Obama should reconsider. He should put a strong leash on the U.S. dogs of war. He should have learned by now that war is the heaviest burden government can inflict on its citizens. Cemeteries and hospital wards supply grim proof. We should never return to isolation, but we should never use war as an instrument of foreign policy. It should be sheathed except to protect our territory and citizens from attack. ❑
Congress Watch… Continued from page 25
bore little fruit. The only previously reported Palestine-related bill to get any support was H.Res. 177, introduced in April by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL). It would urge “the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas to clarify a presidential succession plan, expand political freedom in the West Bank, and take preventative measures to limit the possibility of a Hamas takeover in the West Bank.” It has gained seven co-sponsors and now has 15, including Roskam. The only new Palestine-related bill is the more responsible and balanced H.Res. 238, “Expressing the sense of the House regarding U.S. efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace,” introduced May 23 by Lee with four co-sponsors. Among its 11 resolved THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
clauses are some calling on Palestinians and Arab states to take certain positive steps, such as clause 4 that “calls on Hamas to recognize Israel’s right to exist, denounce violence, abide by existing agreements, and to prevent rocket and missile attacks against Israel.” But it also “calls on the Israeli government to cease support for and to prevent further settlement expansion in the occupied territories.” The last resolved clause “calls on President Obama to establish an achievable timeline for negotiations backed by a strong coalition of stakeholders including ‘The Quartet’ to provide assurance to the negotiating parties that their agreement will be enduring and enforceable.” Two new bills concerning Egypt were introduced, but with little support. On May 9 Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 1922 “to limit assistance to Iran, North Korea, Syria, Egypt, and Pakistan.” Since there has been no aid to Iran, North Korea and Syria for several years, the only effect of this bill would be to limit aid to Egypt and Pakistan. It has four co-sponsors, including Gosar. And on May 16 Rep. Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced the strange H.R. 984 “to prohibit the use of funds for U.S. participation in joint military exercises with Egypt if the government of Egypt abrogates, terminates, or withdraws from the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty.” Of the previously reported measures cutting or conditioning aid to Egypt, only the “Egypt Accountability and Democracy Promotion” bill, H.R. 416, introduced by Ros-Lehtinen in January, and H.R. 1039, introduced in March by Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA), “to rescind unobligated amounts for foreign assistance to Egypt, and to appropriate funds for the Department of Defense tuition assistance program,” have gained co-sponsors. H.R. 416 has gained two co-sponsors and now has 21, including Ros-Lehtinen. H.R. 1039 has gained only one co-sponsor and now has 41, including Fitzpatrick.
Republicans Swarm to Sign on to Bill Calling for Benghazi Investigation Congressional Republicans apparently remain determined to use the tragic September 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya to criticize the Obama administration. An easy vehicle for them is the previously described H.Res. 36, introduced in January by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), “establishing a select committee to investigate and report on the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.” It has gained 96 co-sponsors since last reported and now has 156, all Republicans, including Wolf. ❑ 27
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“Dirty Wars”: America’s Perpetual and Unchecked Covert Wars SpecialReport
By Dale Sprusansky hile covering the Afghan
Wwar for The Nation maga-
zine, investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill could not shake the feeling that he and his follow reporters were missing the war’s real story. Against the advice of NATO, Scahill ventured out of Kabul and into Taliban-controlled villages, where he investigated NATO’s night raids. In so doing, Scahill uncovered the unnerving and scandalous story of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), an elite American military unit so strong, so vast, and so out of control that it has a White House-issued license to covertly and extrajudicially operate in up to 75 countries— all in the name of U.S. national security. On June 7, Scahill unveiled the end product of his investigation, a scathing documentary titled “Dirty Wars,” to an audience at the E Street Cinema in Washington, DC. The film follows Scahill from the beginning to the end of his research. Scahill begins in the village of Gardez, Afghanistan, where in February 2010 a night raid resulted in the grizzly death of several innocent individuals. Speaking to witnesses of the raid, Scahill learned that American men with long Taliban-like beards raided a family home. After shooting several startled individuals attempting to defend their home and loved ones, the troops tied and blindfolded witnesses and flew them to a nearby base to be interrogated. Even more disturbing, the American troops, in an apparent attempt to cover up the raid, used knives to dig bullets out of the bodies of the people they had killed. This disgusting act was captured on a cell phone video, which a villager showed to a bewildered Scahill. To make matters worse, Scahill was told that those killed had long opposed the Taliban. Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. 28
swered made him increasingly suspicious. Launching a full-scale investigation, Scahill found something curious: Gen. William McRaven, commander of the little-know JSOC unit, had visited Gardez to apologize for the deadly raid. Having spent many years covering the Iraq and Afghan wars, Scahill was puzzled as to why he was not familiar with this unit. Scahill’s follow-up research quickly revealed that JSOC is anything but obscure. The military’s most covert unit, JSOC is in actuality the real story of the war in Afghanistan, Scahill discovered. The more he learned about JSOC, the more shocked Scahill became. The unit reports directly to the White House, informants told him, and has a seemingly endless kill list. Furthermore, Scahill discovered that JSOC’s operations in Afghanistan are just the tip of the iceberg, as the unit operates around the globe. Scahill then turns his attention from Afghanistan to Yemen and Somalia, two countries where JSOC has carried out nuUnwilling to admit that they had in- merous operations. In these countries, he vaded the wrong home, NATO denied re- finds familiar stories of American brutality sponsibility for the raid and instead called and deceit. The Yemeni government, Scahill points the incident a Taliban honor killing. When Jerome Starkey, a journalist with out, claimed responsibility for a deadly DeThe Times of London, reported that NATO cember 2009 strike in Majalah that killed was indeed responsible for the raid, the 46 people, including five pregnant women. organization vociferously denied the re- When local reporter Abdulelah Haider port and viciously attacked Starkey’s rep- Shaye found irrefutable evidence that the utation. Damning information on the raid attack was in fact carried out by the U.S., continued to leak, however, and NATO he was immediately thrown into prison by eventually was forced to claim responsi- then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh. When Saleh attempted to release the journalist, bility. While the Gardez case was solved, Sca - he received an urgent phone call from hill was far from satisfied. Back home in President Barack Obama imploring the Brooklyn, he felt there was a much larger American ally to keep the journalist locked story to uncover. “I knew Gardez was not up and silenced. To this day, Shaye remains an isolated incident,” Scahill says in a in solitary confinement, where, according voiceover. The fact that his Freedom of In- to Scahill, he is “losing his mind” and deformation Act requests on military opera- veloping mental illness. tions in Afghanistan were repeatedly unanContinued on page 37 THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
AUGUST 2013
lobe_29_August 2013 Special Report 6/26/13 5:19 PM Page 29
Washington Mulls Surprise Rowhani Victory in Iran Vote SpecialReport
By Jim Lobe he surprise victory of Hassan
sia and China, plus Germany) over the nuclear program. tion has provoked a range of reacMost Iran experts believe tions here, ranging from cautious Rowhani’s victory offers a major optimism about possible détente opportunity for progress in those between Tehran and Washington negotiations. They note that he to outright rejection of the notion persuaded Khamenei to go along that his presidency will produce with a voluntary suspension of any substantive change in policy, Iran’s enrichment-related and reforeign or domestic. processing activities while trying While most Iran specialists fall to negotiate an accord with the EUinto the former category, neocon3 (Britain, France and Germany). servatives and other pro-Israel In 2006, in his capacity as forces insist that even if the presiKhamenei’s representative on the dent-elect wanted to be more forthregime’s Supreme National Security coming on Western demands to Council, he published a detailed curb Tehran’s nuclear program and offer in TIME magazine that inother concerns, he would still be cluded accepting strict limits on overruled by the Supreme Leader, Iran’s uranium enrichment and enAli Khamenei, and other powerful Iranian President-elect Hassan Rowhani salutes journalists hanced International Atomic Enhard-line interests. following his post-election press conference in Tehran, June ergy Agency (IAEA) oversight of Echoing concerns voiced by Is- 17, 2013. Iran’s nuclear-related facilities— raeli Prime Minister Binyamin Neonly to be rejected by the administanyahu, the latter also expressed worry six candidates, came as a surprise to all but tration of former President George W. Bush. that Rowhani’s more “moderate” a few analysts here. Most expected a canA key Rowhani subordinate when he image—especially in contrast to the bel- didate, notably Tehran’s current nuclear headed the nuclear file, Seyed Hossein ligerence of President Mahmoud Ah- negotiator, Saeed Jalili, with the hard-line Mousavian, has worked continuously on madinejad—may lull Western govern- views that are believed to reflect those of the terms of a nuclear accord ever since he ments into making undesirable conces- Khamenei, to triumph whether by the ac- was accused of treason by the Ahmadinesions. tual vote tally or by the kind of ballot rig- jad government and fled the country to ac“The search for a ‘moderate’ Iranian ging that many believe occurred in the cept a post at Princeton University. Most leader has beguiled every American presi- contested 2009 election. recently, he has emphasised that Iran must dent since the revolution of 1979,” accordWhile Rowhani, who has several de- accept “the maximum level of transing to the Wall Street Journal’s neoconser- grees, including a doctorate from Caledon- parency in cooperation with the IAEA”—a vative editorial board. “But the hunt for ian University in Glasgow, has held senior theme that Rowhani also stressed during a the unicorn seems destined to begin again foreign-policy positions in the regime— June 17 press conference in Tehran. with the breathless reporting that Iranians among them, the nuclear file under re“It’s not too outrageous to suspect that have elected 64-year-old cleric Hassan Ro- formist President Mohammad Khatami— Mousavian will return to Iran,” according to hani as their next president.” he was openly critical of Tehran’s recent Gary Sick, an Iran expert at Columbia UniPresident Barack Obama himself no diplomacy, particularly over its nuclear versity, who described Rowhani’s tone and doubt added to those concerns on June 17 program, during the election campaign. style as the “anti-Ahmadinejad.” “There’s a when, after a bilateral meeting with Russ“We have to calculate our national inter- continuity that is very real. Mousavian has ian President Vladimir Putin at the G-8 ests,” he said shortly before the election. argued there’s a deal to be made; it just takes Summit in Northern Ireland, he told re- “It’s nice for the centrifuges to run, but some goodwill on both sides.” porters that the two leaders “expressed people’s livelihoods have to also run, our Other Iran experts agree that Rowhani’s cautious optimism that with a new election factories have to also run,” a reference to election makes a deal substantially more [in Iran], we may be able to move forward the impact of U.S. and Western sanctions possible than it would have been had Jalili, on a dialogue that allows us to resolve the aimed at “crippling” Iran’s economy. whose platform stressed “resistance” to problems with Iran’s nuclear program.” Rowhani, who will assume the presidency Western demands, been elected. Rowhani’s first-round victory, with just in August, gained the strong backing of both But they argue that Washington must also under 51 percent of the vote in a field of Khatami and former President Ali Hashemi be prepared to make concessions in order to Rafsanjani, a centrist whose own candidacy persuade Khamenei to go along, especially in Jim Lobe is Washington, DC bureau chief for had been disqualified by the Guardian Coun- light of the fact that the United States has Inter Press Service. His blog on U.S. foreign cil. Both leaders had also called for major previously rejected Rowhani’s overtures. policy can be read at <www.lobelog.com>. changes in Iran’s foreign policy, including the “Rowhani’s election presents the United Copyright © 2013 IPS-Inter Press Service. regime’s handling of negotiations with the States and its partners with a test—of our All rights reserved. Continued on page 74 P5+1 (the United States, Britain, France, RusBEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
TRowhani in Iran’s Jun. 14 elec-
AUGUST 2013
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Egypt’s Fateful Choice: The Rule of Democracy or the Rule of the Mob SpecialReport
GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Esam Al-Amin
Islamist groups led by the ruling Muslim Brotherhood demonstrate in Cairo in support of the upcoming one-year anniversary of the election of President Mohamed Morsi, June 21, 2013. gypt is imploding. The old revolution-
Eary groups are at each other’s throats.
The unity of purpose displayed during the incredible 18 revolutionary days in early 2011 is not only long gone, but has been replaced with mistrust, acrimony and hostility. Almost immediately after their success in ousting the despised dictator Hosni Mubarak, the groups that carried the revolution on their shoulders parted ways on ideological grounds. At one end of the political spectrum are the Islamist groups led by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) movement and its political affiliate, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). On the other end are the secular and liberal parties that include former IAEA head Dr. Muhammad Esam Al-Amin is the author of the new book: The Arab Awakening Unveiled: Understanding Transformations and Revolutions in the Middle East (available from the AET Book Club). He can be contacted at <alamin1919@gmail.com>. 30
ElBaradei, former Arab League SecretaryGeneral Amr Mousa, and former presidential candidate Hamdein Sabbahi. But ever since the ouster of Mubarak, the Egyptian political scene has been messy and confusing. The youth groups that led the initial uprising in late January 2011 have since been frustrated and marginalized by the political wrangling that engulfed the country. Meanwhile, the MB and their Islamist allies were able to dominate the government by winning the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012 as well as controlling the Constitutional Constituent Assembly that oversaw the writing of the new constitution. With some merit, the opposition charges that the president and the MB have not fulfilled their promises of restoring security, instituting social justice, and sharing power. They also accuse Morsi of inexperience, if not outright incompetence, which they argue exposed the country to national security risks. For instance, on several occasions the president made deciTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
sions and issued decrees—most notably the fateful constitutional decree last November—only to cancel them within a few weeks, days, or even hours. The opposition also accuses Morsi of appointing MB officials or Islamists to the most senior government positions without any regard to qualifications or power sharing. In June, Morsi abruptly cut off Egypt’s relations with Syria, citing the regime’s brutality toward its people. His critics charge that such a move was ill-advised, since it would marginalize Egypt’s role in any future settlement at a time of feverpitch sectarian conflict in the region. Last fall, Morsi proposed a regional-based engagement toward a resolution in Syria that would have involved such powers as Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. That idea is now dead. As for the crisis with Ethiopia over the Renaissance Dam that would substantially cut Egypt’s share of Nile water, the opposition accuses the president of badly mishandling the issue, seriously threatening Egypt’s national and economic security in the process. On the other hand, Morsi and the MB point to their repeated attempts to engage the political opposition only to be rebuffed time and again. He called all the opposition leaders, especially within the National Salvation Front (NSF) that includes most of the secular opposition, to as many as 10 separate meetings with minimal success. As for the appointments, Morsi’s political adviser Bakinam El-Sharqawi stated recently that whenever the president asked the secular groups for candidates for the most senior positions in government, including ministers and governors, they refused to engage or send any nominees, while the Islamic parties led by the FJP readily submitted their lists. But what most political groups overlook are the terrible conditions the country has faced since the fall of the Mubarak regime. The deterioration in security and the lack of productivity have affected all aspects of economic life. Investments have almost stopped and tourism (a major source of foreign currency) has been seriously curtailed. Inflation and unemployment have soared. Services have deteriorated and electricity is AUGUST 2013
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erratic. Gasoline is scarce and rationed. The poverty rate has increased from 40 to more than 50 percent. The Egyptian Center for Social and Economic Rights reported that during 2012 there were 581 local protests, 558 demonstrations, 514 labor strikes, 500 sit-ins, and 561 highway robberies. Such protests and strikes have only increased in 2013: the International Development Center in Cairo reported that in the month of May alone there were 55 different forms of protests, including those surrounding several ministries and government agencies that disrupted government services, as well as the refusal of many to pay taxes and electricity bills. Throughout these tumultuous events, the fulool, or remnants of the Mubarak regime, were lying low during the first year of the transitional military rule. But by mid-2012 they had regrouped, as they coalesced around presidential candidate Ahmad Shafiq, Mubarak’s last prime minister, who lost in the second round by a mere 2 percent. By year’s end the fulool groups had become part and parcel of the secular opposition, and a major factor of the instability that has overwhelmed the country. Perhaps the most serious mistake committed by the revolutionary groups was to underestimate the dangers of the fulool lurking behind the scenes. Many of these groups loyal to the former regime are still largely in control of the security apparatus, most of the private media and the judiciary, as well as major industries and influential economic institutions. Furthermore, throughout the first year of Morsi’s rule, the attacks by the opposition media on MB rule have been not only ceaseless, but in many cases vulgar. Meanwhile the judiciary, led by the Mubarakera Supreme Constitutional Court, reversed most attempts to build the country’s democratic institutions. Adding insult to injury, the judiciary has either declared innocent or overturned the convictions of all senior officials of the Mubarak regime, including Mubarak and his sons. By this April, the country was at an impasse. The ruling party continued to demonstrate its unwillingness to share power or be magnanimous to its rivals for the sake of national unity and building consensus. Its main plan has been centered on winning the next parliamentary elections in order to consolidate its control and form the next government. Its central economic program is to finalize the IMF loan so it can secure more loans and capital from wealthy countries for investments and plugging the budget gap. On the other hand, the fractious opposiAUGUST 2013
tion seemed not only divided but also devoid of real alternatives. What united them was their utter hatred and enmity toward the Islamists in general and the MB in particular. Some leaders such as ElBaradei and Mousa called on foreign powers, including the U.S., to take sides in the internal struggle and condemn the Morsi government. Others such as Sabbahi and Shafiq openly called on the military to overthrow the elected president and take over. Consequently the public was further alienated and disgusted, as its economic livelihood was squeezed and the country’s infrastructure was crumbling. Meanwhile, the head of the military appointed by Morsi last August, Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, publicly stated that the military would no longer be engaged in politics and dismissed all calls to topple Morsi.
Tamarrud vs. Tajarrud Meanwhile, a new group called Tamarrud, or Rebellion, led by several revolutionary youth groups gained momentum when it declared at the end of April a new movement to depose Morsi and challenge his legitimacy. On April 28, Tamarrud announced that it would collect 15 million signatures from registered voters demanding early presidential elections on June 30, the first anniversary of Morsi’s inauguration. Within weeks, most secular and youth groups, as well as the fulool, embraced this central message. By mid-June Tamarrud’s co-founder and spokesman, Mahmoud Badr, announced that the movement has collected more than 15 million signatures which represented a million more people than those who voted for Morsi in the presidential elections. Not to be outmaneuvered, the Islamist groups decried the secular opposition and denounced their undemocratic tactics and unconstitutional calls to depose Morsi before the end of his term in 2016. Asem Abdelmagid, a leading figure in the Islamic Group, an ally of the MB, initiated his own movement Tajarrud, or Impartiality, in order to counter Tamarrud. By the third week of June he announced that by the end of the month he would have collected more than 20 million signatures in support of Morsi. Critics of both movements dismissed these numbers as unrealistic, observing that no one could actually verify their figures. Between Tamarrud and Tajarrud, Egyptian society has never been more polarized. On one side, most of the secular forces, youth groups, Christians and the fulool are mobilizing for the showdown or a second revolution to depose Morsi and dislodge THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
the MB. On the other side, most Islamist groups are vowing to defend Morsi’s legitimacy and rule by all means. On June 21, in an impressive show of force, the Islamist groups mobilized more than a million of their supporters in a Cairo suburb. This massive demonstration was dubbed “No to violence, Yes to legitimacy.” Meanwhile, Tamarrud’s leaders announced that their plan on that day included protests by millions of people in the streets occupying major intersections, and surrounding the presidential palace demanding early presidential elections. Should Morsi refuse to resign, the group announced that it will escalate its confrontation by possibly storming the presidential palace and installing the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court as an interim president, annulling the new constitution and forming a new government led by an independent politician or a technocrat. Hence, there are three possible scenarios that might take place on this fateful day. First, the scenario envisioned by the MB, according to which the call for mass mobilization would result only in modest numbers across the country and would fail to attract millions or sustain itself for days or weeks. Such an outcome, they hope, would vindicate their view and considerably weaken the opposition. A second scenario advocated by the youth groups and nonviolent opposition is that millions of Egyptians would actually take to the streets in a massive show of support for Morsi’s resignation and the end of the MB rule. They hope that such protests across the country not only would be huge and sustained, but concurrently joined by labor strikes and civil disobedience until Morsi gives in. A third scenario is the one tacitly promoted by the fulool groups. In this scenario, former regime loyalists led by former politicians and security officials, as well as corrupt businessmen, who readily financed thousands of baltagies or thugs, will join the demonstrations in order to spread chaos and anarchy. According to this frightful scenario, the role of the baltagies will be to kill hundreds if not thousands of demonstrators, torch MB and FJP buildings and assassinate their leaders in order to force the military to take over the country and launch a new transitional period without the domination of the Islamist groups. Should such a scenario materialize, the Islamist groups have vowed to send millions of their supporters to defend Morsi and the legitimacy of his presidency. Continued on page 37 31
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Two Views Unrest in Turkey
STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINE
Tweeting in Istanbul’s Taxim Square.
Paris 1968, Istanbul 2013 By Gwynne Dyer
t’s certainly not another version of the Iratic“Arab Spring”; Turkey is a fully democcountry. It’s not just a Middle Eastern variant of the Occupy movement, either, although the demands of the huge crowds who have occupied the center of Istanbul and other Turkish big cities are equally diffuse and contradictory. It’s more like the student uprising in Paris in May 1968, although most of the demonstrators in Turkey are neither Marxists nor students. Like the Paris demos, it began over local issues and has rapidly grown into a popular revolt against an elected government that is deeply conservative, increasingly autocratic, and deaf to all protests. The original issue was Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plan to destroy Istanbul’s Gezi Park in order to build a new shopping mall in a city that already has far too many. The park is the only green space in the newer part of downtown, north of the Golden Horn, and covering it over with yet more shops was bound to meet with some resistance. Erdogan, in cahoots with the developers as usual, assumed that the plan to include a mosque in the new mall would placate Gwynne Dyer is an historian and independent journalist. Copyright © 2013 Gwynne Dyer. All Rights Reserved. 32
his own supporters, while the plan to make the exterior of the mall a replica of an old Ottoman barracks that had once stood on the site would assuage everybody else’s unhappiness at the loss of the park. He was wrong. At the start of the protest, on Monday, May 27, only a few hundred people occupied the park. It might all have petered out if the police had not attacked them with clubs and tear gas the following Friday night, burning their tents after they fled. The protesters came back in far larger numbers the next day, and the same thing happened again. By the third night, city centers were being occupied all over Turkey, and it wasn’t just about Gezi Park any more. Prime Minister Erdogan, leaving for a tour of several Arab countries on June 3, dismissed the protests as the work of “a few looters” and “extremist elements,” and said he’d sort it out after he got back at the end of the week. Unruffled, you might call him—just as you would have described French President Charles De Gaulle in the first days of the 1968 revolt in France. After more than a week, however, the protesters had not quit. Meanwhile, in Erdogan’s absence, his closest colleagues were conciliatory. President Abdullah Gul said, “the messages sent in good faith have been received,” and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said, “The use of excessive force against the people who initially started this protest…was wrong.” THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
But what is it really about? After all, Prime Minister Erdogan has led his moderate Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), to three successive wins in national elections, each time with a bigger share of the vote. He has presided over a decade of high-speed economic growth that has lifted millions out of poverty, and he has finally forced the army out of politics. Why don’t they love him? Some do, but many people think he has gotten too big for his boots. Erdogan retains the support of the pious and deeply conservative peasants and recent immigrants to the cities who make up the bulk of his supporters, but he wouldn’t have won without the backing of secular, urban voters who saw him as the best chance to expel the army from politics and put Turkish democracy on a firm footing. He has now lost their trust. He won it by promising that his government would not shove conservative Islamic values down everybody else’s throats, and until recently he kept his promise. But his last election victory, in which he got 50 percent of the vote in a multi-party race, has emboldened him to believe that he can ignore his erstwhile secular supporters. He has pushed through new laws restricting the sale and consumption of alcohol. Despite the misgivings of most Turks, he enthusiastically supports the Sunni Muslim rebels in Syria, as part of a broader strategy of re-establishing the political and economic dominance that the Ottoman Empire once enjoyed in the Sunni Arab world. He even insists on naming the proposed third bridge across the Bosphorus after the 16th century Ottoman ruler Yavuz Sultan Selim, who is notorious for massacring tens of thousands of Turkey’s Alevi religious minority. Around a quarter of Turkey’s population are Alevis, and they have not forgotten. Once Erdogan could play public opinion like a violin; now he is arrogant and tone-deaf. So where does this end up? Not with the overthrow of Turkey’s elected government, and probably not in a military coup either. Most likely there will be apologies, and some government concessions, and the turbulence will subside. Erdogan will not even be removed as AKP party leader right away, though some of his senior colleagues now clearly see him as a liability. The protesters in Paris in May 1968 didn’t get what they wanted right away AUGUST 2013
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either. Indeed, like the protesters in Gezi Park today, they weren’t even sure exactly what they wanted. But 11 months later Charles De Gaulle resigned, and France has never since had to cope with the problem of a Strong Man in power.
Turkey’s Progress Threatened By Far Left and Far Right By Eric S. Margolis
estern politicians and media have been
Wscolding Turkey’s Prime Minister
Recep Erdogan over the recent anti-government demonstrations in Istanbul and Ankara. What began as a local protest over the foolish plan to raze trees in Gezi Park near Istanbul’s bustling Taksim Square quickly exploded into major protests thanks to the ham-handed response of Istanbul police, who tear-gassed and beat demonstrators. Turkish police have never been famed for gentleness. Prime Minister Erdogan’s curt dismissal of the crowd as “looters” further inflamed the situation. In the West, Erdogan was accused of growing authoritarianism and trying to remake Turkey into an Islamic state. Even the normally sensible Economist magazine accused Turkey’s leader of trying to become a new Ottoman sultan. What hypocrisy. These were the same Western newspapers and politicians who ardently backed Turkey’s former governments that were little more than sock puppets for the military. The very same opinion-makers lauded Egypt’s brutal dictator, Hosni Mubarak, as a “statesman.” So-called NGOs like Freedom House and Amnesty International, cat’s paws for Western governments, attacked Erdogan. The demonstrators in Turkey’s cities were mostly young, secular and indulging in a springtime flash riot, facilitated by new social media and support from abroad. Many were rightly angered by Erdogan’s wrong-headed decision to take a lead role in trying to overthrow Syria’s government, a key trading partner for Turkey. Others, by his plans to limit public drinking and the eternal dispute over women’s headscarves. What we have been witnessing is an attempt by anti-Erdogan secularists and far rightists, joined by members of Turkey’s long quiescent far left, to achieve what they could not do at the ballot box: ousting Erdogan’s moderate Islamic AKP party from power. These are the same forces who made a terEric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist. Copyright © Eric S. Margolis 2013. AUGUST 2013
rible mess of Turkey when they were in power from the 1940s until the 1990s: coups, riots, murders, regular financial crisis, and brutal human rights violations. The United States and its media have turned against Erdogan primarily because of his clashes with Israel. Pro-Israel groups in the U.S. are now taking the lead in calling for Erdogan’s ouster. Washington’s conservatives see him as too independent and unreliable. Over the last decade, Erdogan transformed battered, bankrupt Turkey into an economic powerhouse by imposing sound finances and releasing the pent up power of the commercial class that had long been stifled by the cartels and monopolies of the secular leadership for whom the 1930s anti-Islamic dictator, Kemal Ataturk, remains a state deity. Ataturk was a great national hero who saved Turkey from being carved up by the Western powers, Greece and the Soviet Union. But he proved a destructive political leader, tearing up Turkey’s historical roots and religion and replacing them with a vague form of 1930s state fascism. Erdogan has indeed grown mildly imperious; success and the lack of any real political opposition has gone to his head. But he is not yet a new sultan and shows few signs of trying to become one. He has brought real democracy to Turkey, financial stability, and brought it close to European social and legal standards. Syria aside, Erdogan has made great strides in restoring Turkey’s regional leadership and power. As Turks used to say, “Turkey is the center of everything.” Erdogan remains the Mideast’s most popular leader. Turkey’s able president, Abdullah Gul, who may become a rival of Erdogan in upcoming elections, has helped calm the waters. Gul remains the good cop while Erdogan the bad. Remember, in the last election, Erdogan won a landslide in Turkey’s fractured political system, taking almost 50 percent of the vote in a poll with an over 80 percent turnout. Recent demonstrations have sent Turkey’s stock and bond markets into a tailspin, threatening a financial crisis after a decade of calm and steady growth. Erdogan is on the edge of achieving a real peace with Turkey’s rebellious Kurds—the most important advance in modern Turkish history. One suspects Turkey’s generals, some of them itching to stage a coup, and their foreign allies are trying to derail Kurdish peace talks by encouraging the current violence. It took the AKP party a decade to defang the generals and push them out of politics. Are Turkey’s pashas trying to stage a comeback? ❑ THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Gaza on the Ground… Continued from page 17
growing number of customers forces me to work around the clock.” His partner, Abu Turki, entered the kitchen, pulling a large dish of fresh knafeh from the oven. Its delicious smell fills the room and the customers draw closer in anticipation. Each freshly baked batch is sold within 6 minutes, delivered hot and directly to each customer. Then the cycle starts again with the next batch. Though living in exile, Salah said he admires the beautiful beaches of Gaza and hopes his delicious knafeh recipe will be added to the heritage of Palestine. Yet even the success of his delicious pastry cannot assuage his homesickness and ultimate dream. “I dream of getting back to Nablus, my family and neighborhood friends,” the confectioner confesses. Meanwhile, he and his fellow prisoners are the latest addition to Gaza’s more than 1 million refugees prohibited by Israel from returning to their homes. ❑ (Advertisement)
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saif_34-35_Special Report 6/25/13 8:02 PM Page 34
In Balochistan, It’s the Military, Stupid SpecialReport
BANARAS KHAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Hamzah Saif
Supporters of the Balochistan National Party (NP) shout slogans during a May 15 protest in Quetta against alleged vote rigging in May 11 provincial elections. ecent assessments of Pakistan’s newly
Rinaugurated prime minister, Nawaz
Sharif, frequently declare him a changed man. Raised out of obscurity by the brutal junta of Gen. Zia ul Haq, Sharif was long seen as bound to the military by both ideology and expediency. However, the 1999 overthrow of his democratically elected government and Sharif’s subsequent exile are said to have changed his tune. Once known for his generous political accommodation of the military, and confrontations with fellow politicians, Sharif is reported to have reversed the objects of his ire and affection. In the opening days of his third term as prime minister, Sharif has issued strident warnings to the country’s military and adopted a remarkably conciliatory tone in the National Assembly. His party, Pakistan Hamzah Saif is the Afghanistan-Pakistan editor at Ajam Media Collective. He is also a researcher with the World Bank, and has worked with the FAIDA development project in Afghanistan. He has written on and advocated for a revision of U.S. relations toward Afghanistan and Pakistan with the Muslim Public Affairs Council. 34
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), gained an overwhelming plurality of the National Assembly seats in the May 11 election— nearly four times as many as its closest rival. It was buoyed to victory largely by the province of Punjab, where it won nearly 95 percent of its National Assembly seats. In the provinces of Sindh and KhyberPukhtunkhwa, PML-N failed to gain a comparable standing. The results were similar in the elections for the provincial assemblies. Acknowledging the lopsided victory, and in recognition of his rivals’ regional popularity—a point Sharif emphasized in his June 5 inaugural speech—PML-N made no effort to form a coalition government in either Sindh or Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa. It is a political concession many find uncharacteristic of the old Sharif. If Sharif has shown a newfound warmth toward his fellow politicians, there will be plenty of opportunities to test his change of heart toward the military. Certainly, both in exile and following his return to Pakistan, Sharif has been vocal that the military must return to the barracks. That is exactly what 1,200 Baloch demonstrators sitting across the street from the Parliament House in Islamabad deTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
mand. Members of the Bugti clan, they are insisting on the right to return to their tribal land—a claim upheld by the Supreme Court but made unattainable by military operations. The protesters are a stark reminder of the brutal military program in the province of Balochistan, where the Supreme Court has found the military and associated security institutions guilty of the abduction, torture and murder of thousands of Baloch. But hopes that the May elections might be the harbinger of change were dashed by the military, which manipulated and falsified results against nationalist candidates.
65 Years of Oppression At the time of decolonization, modern-day Balochistan comprised British Balochistan along with the Khanate of Kalat and its principalities. While the representatives of British Balochistan overwhelmingly endorsed ascension to Pakistan, the Khanate insisted on its right to form a sovereign state. In recognition of the demand, the government of Pakistan, just three days before formal decolonization, issued a statement acknowledging the Khanate’s status as an “independent sovereign state.” The Khanate’s independence never materialized, however. The British, wary of the nationalist government of Mohammad Mossadegh in Iran, were eager to establish a presence in neighboring Balochistan—but the weak Khanate offered a less-than-optimum ally. The British preferred institutionally stronger and more pliable Pakistan, and thus encouraged it to incorporate the Khanate into its territory. Islamabad needed little prompting to absorb the large, strategic and resource-rich Khanate into its federation. Upon the country’s formation, Pakistan demanded that the Khanate cede to the Pakistani federation authority over foreign affairs, currency and defense. As the Khanate negotiated these demands, Islamabad convinced Kalat’s principalities to independently accede to Pakistan. On April 1, 1948 Pakistani forces were dispatched to Kalat, and the isolated Khanate capitulated. The Khan’s brother, however, immediately launched resistance from AfghaniAUGUST 2013
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stan. Unable to secure either Afghan or Soviet support for his mission, however, he was forced to negotiate amnesty with the Pakistani military. Upon his return, Pakistan promptly reneged on its agreement and imprisoned him. Five years later, in 1955, Pakistan further eroded the Khanate’s independence by introducing the One Unit scheme. Designed as a response to East Pakistani demands for representation, it consolidated the various territories of then-West Pakistan into a single federal unit, in which the Khanate was offered no distinct status. When the Khan resisted, the Pakistani army forcibly incorporated the territory into the Unit. Baloch armed opposition ensued, and again met the brutal force of the Pakistani military. Fighting ceased in exchange for amnesty, which Islamabad again violated by arresting and executing Baloch leaders. This time, Pakistan also established military bases in the area, the closure of which Baloch continue to demand today. The 1970s saw a fresh wave of Baloch repression. In July 1970, following the dissolution of the One Unit policy, the Khanate found itself reincarnated as a formal province of Pakistan: Balochistan. Its previous autonomy was now fully nullified. Additionally, the boundaries of the new province included adjacent Pashtunmajority areas and excised key Baloch- majority ones. The successful secession of East Pakistani nationalists in 1971 brought a redoubled crackdown on Baloch nationalism. In 1973, President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto dismissed Balochistan’s recently elected nationalist government, alleging that it was colluding with the Soviets to break away from Pakistan. The dismissal was timed with a staged seizure of arms from the house of the Iraqi defense attaché, which Islamabad asserted were headed for the Baloch resistance, a claim subsequently discredited. The primary nationalist party, the National Awami Party (NAP) was banned, president’s rule was established in the province, and major Baloch leaders, including the former chief minister and governor, were imprisoned. The resulting conflict was intense, with 80,000 Pakistani troops stationed in Balochistan at its peak. Regional neighbors got involved as well: Iran dispatched 30 U.S. Cobra helicopters to Pakistan’s assistance. The insurgency ended only with the coup against the Bhutto government by General Zia, who opted to negotiate a settlement to what seemed like an unwinnable war. AUGUST 2013
Three decades later, Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorship brought new atrocities to Balochistan. In a bid to undermine his civilian rivals, the dictator engineered an alliance of parties of the religious right called the Muttahida Majlis-eAmal (MMA). To clear the field for MMA in the 2002 elections, the government initiated legal action against prominent Baloch nationalists, and introduced electoral reforms to prevent their candidacy. MMA coasted to victory in the provincial elections. The MMA appointed a Baloch as prime minister, a figurehead position, MMA usurped key ministries. The nationalists rejected the military’s manipulations, and a low-level insurgency took hold. Musharraf’s intransigence contributed to escalating tensions, and in 2006 the murder of Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti—for which Musharraf is currently facing charges—brought Baloch alienation to a new height. Disillusioned by electoral politics, the Baloch nationalists boycotted the next general elections in 2008. The military exploited the political opening to engage in massive poll rigging: voter turnout already was low at 33 percent (compared to a national average of 44 percent), yet 65 percent of the ballots cast were later determined to be fraudulent. Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) formed an ineffectual government in the province with no real popular mandate. Musharraf’s tenure introduced a new dimension to the Balochistan conflict. If both the state and military previously had been complicit in Baloch repression, after the 2008 elections the military began to act autonomously. In place of public operations, a brutal, unacknowledged kill-and-dump policy, executed by local security forces, clandestine agencies, and non-state actors, was instituted. Over the next five years, thousands of Baloch were victims of its violence. Meanwhile, the toothless provincial government openly admitted its impotence, with the chief minister claiming that a parallel government of the security forces ran the province. By 2010 the nationalists were on TV, openly talking of secession.
No Elections for Balochistan With most prominent nationalist leaders in exile, and secessionist rhetoric circulating, Baloch appetite for the electoral process is at a new nadir. The May elections registered the lowest turnout in the history of THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
the province: a dismal 10 percent. By comparison, the nationwide turnout was about 60 percent. In areas where voter turnout was higher, there were reports of the abduction and assault of Baloch candidates. Where assault and coercion were insufficient, polling results were withheld. The results that eventually emerged were universally determined to be biased against the nationalists. Those few who participated in the elections have been vociferously protesting the results. Under these conditions, Sharif’s PML-N won a plurality of the provincial assembly, with the Pashtun nationalist Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) and the Baloch center-left National Party (NP) a close second and third, respectively. To accommodate the nationalists, PMLN has ceded the office of provincial governor to PMAP and the chief minister’s post to NP. If the last five years are any indication, however, such political gestures will be insufficient. What is needed is for the military to be reined in. Importantly, Sharif’s professed intent to withdraw from the so-called War on Terror might deny the military a key means of sustaining its project in Balochistan. In Washington, Baloch aspirations take a distant backseat to the War on Terror, which demands that Pakistan establish firm state control of the province. The present chaos allows militants to find sanctuary in Balochistan. Indeed, the Afghan Taliban’s infamous Quetta Shura is named after the Baloch provincial capital of Quetta. The Pakistani military has used U.S. demands for greater state control to justify its operations, and, seeking to advance its own perceived military interests, America has not questioned the policy. It is reflective of Washington’s tacit approval that, despite repeated assertions that U.S. weapons furnished to the Pakistani military for the War on Terror are being used against the Baloch, Washington has offered no comment. Without American arms to subdue the nationalists and provide cover for its policies, the Pakistani military is likely to find it much harder to continue its operations in Balochistan. It remains firmly invested in the War on Terror, however, both for corporate and ideological reasons. Once firmly in the military’s pocket, Sharif has spoken forcefully over the last few years on the need to chart a peaceful, demilitarized future for Pakistan. Balochistan desperately needs the prime minister to honor his words. ❑ 35
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Myanmar Muslims Face New Wave of Violence
Islam and the Near East in theFar East
YE AUNG THU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By John Gee
A destroyed market in the downtown area of Lashio, in Myanmar’s Shan state, on May 30, 2013, when mobs burned down a Muslim orphanage, mosque and shops during a new eruption of religious violence. nti-Muslim violence in Myanmar
Aerupted in March in the west-central
town of Meikhtila and soon radiated to other districts of the country. An incident on March 20 was reported to have sparked off the trouble. The Muslim owner of a gold shop was said to have gotten into an argument with Buddhist customers, and in subsequent violence a Buddhist monk was killed by a Muslim. Riots broke out in which at least one mosque was burned and dozens of houses belonging to Muslims were burned down. In the first few days of the violence, media reports suggested that the targets were Rohingyas, members of a minority community that is denied citizenship in Myanmar. The government of Myanmar asserts that they are migrants from what is now Bangladesh, and that they should go back there, but Bangladesh does not want John Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Singapore, and the author of Unequal Conflict: The Palestinians and Israel. 36
them either. In 2012, anti-Rohingya violence resulted in nearly 200 people being killed and more than 110,000 displaced. Some tried their luck at sea and ended up in camps in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia; others died of dehydration while their boats drifted out of sight of land, or by drowning. However, Meikhtila is not in Rakhine state, home to most of the Rohingyas, and rioters targeted Muslims in general, wherever they were, including in areas where there had been no recent trouble between the local communities. It seems, however, that the violence did not break out as a spontaneous reaction to the gold shop incident or the monk’s death, but that certain people were looking for a convenient excuse to launch a general antiMuslim wave of violence. In the weeks before the violence broke out, there were reports that the price of parangs—a sort of cleaver used to hack away vegetation or kill animals—had gone up in response to increased demand. And instead of hastening THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
to protect the victims and quell the violence quickly, the authorities made general calls for calm, while, at the local level, troops and police are reported to have stood by and watched. When the violence broke out, a prominent Burmese pro-democracy activist and academic at the London School of Economics, Dr. Maung Zarni, commented on the role of the military in an interview published on the Tricycle website: “This is the most important element. After the military proxy party lost by a landslide in the most recent elections, they decided that the time was right to drive out the Rohingya in order to both curry Buddhist majority favor and demonstrate their relevance in reformed Burma. But you know, it’s not possible for any state in this day and age to destroy an entire population of 800,000 to one million. Not after Nazi Germany. Instead, the military has created a situation where there would be communal riots. In doing so, the military state has attempted to do what amounts to outsourcing genocide. “Here, I think genocide needs to be understood not simply as an act of overt violence against a population. If you look at the policies toward the Rohingya by the Burmese state over the past 40-plus years, it involves attempts to control their birthrate. If you attempt to control a people through population policies or restricting their movement—in short, creating living conditions so unbearable that the population would rather flee, risking their lives at sea or crossing a border—that is genocide.” In the West, Buddhism is considered a religion that is tolerant and opposed to any form of violence, and so some people ask how the violence against Muslims by people who regard themselves as good Buddhists can happen. A long-time resident in predominantly Buddhist Thailand told me: “It’s the same as with other religions or philosophies. If you want to find an excuse for violence against people who believe something else, you can do so. Buddhism isn’t any different that way. Thailand and Burma fought with each other in the past, and they are both Buddhist countries. Buddhists believe that suffering comes from AUGUST 2013
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craving, but you find people who profess to be Buddhists and they still want to acquire, acquire: you find people everywhere who say they believe one thing but do another.” Many Burmese Buddhists are fearful or distrustful of what they see as a threatening Muslim presence, and reflect on the fate of countries where Buddhism was once well-established but has since been extinguished (as in Afghanistan) or lost a lot of ground. Nevertheless, it appears that active hostility was whipped up by a movement called 969, to which Dr. Maung Zarni first drew attention in his blog on March 24. Dr. Zarni went so far as to label it “Myanmar’s home-grown neo-Nazi group founded and led by extremist Buddhist monks with the avowed aim of defending [the] Buddhist faith, Myanmar race and Buddhist nation from Burmese Muslims.” The group was founded in Rakhine state following the 2012 violence. It uses Buddhist symbols, and its name, 969, refers to the nine special attributes of Buddha, six special attributes of his teaching, and the nine special attributes of the Buddhist order. Its leader, Wirathu, was imprisoned for his part in a 2003 massacre of Muslims and destruction of a mosque. Nevertheless, he is free to preach hatred toward Muslims, with little hindrance from those responsible for maintaining law and order in Myanmar. The violence in Myanmar seems to have spilled over into the wider region. Clashes between Muslim and Buddhist asylum seekers in Sumatra in April resulted in eight deaths. At the beginning of June, clashes broke out between groups of Myanmar workers and Rohingya refugees in Malaysia, reportedly resulting in five men being killed before a police clampdown. The Malaysian police announced that they were investigating the possible involvement of the 969 movement in promoting the violence. However, it was not certain that all the Myanmar victims had in fact been killed by fellow nationals. In the absence of definite information about the perpetrators of the violence, the Malaysian police action seemed disproportionate: around a thousand migrant workers were detained. At the end of May, the authorities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state announced a two-child limit for Muslim families in two Muslim-majority towns on the border with Bangladesh. They claimed that the aim was to ease tension in the region caused by a rapid increase in Rohingya numbers. Human rights organizations condemned this discriminatory move. Myanmar has been credited with emAUGUST 2011
following its successful May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. As this must-see, anger-inducing film concludes, it urges Americans to reconsider if their country can “kill its way to victory.” The documentary’s final words are haunting and thought-provoking: “How does a war like this ever end, and what happens when we finally see what’s hidden in plain sight?” ❑ barking on a process of reform and democratization. Censorship has been eased, the opposition National League for Democracy can function relatively freely, and moves continue to negotiate an end to conflicts with national minority-based movements—most recently with Kachin rebels on the border with China. The government of Myanmar has been rewarded with the step-by-step lifting of sanctions introduced at the height of military repression in the 1980s-1990s, and the arrival of a flood of investors and tourists to a country that many previously regarded as off-limits. Amid the international eagerness to embrace a reforming Myanmar, remaining limitations on democratic life and unremedied human rights violations, including passivity or worse in the case of violence against Myanmar’s Muslim minority, should not be ignored. ❑
“Dirty Wars”… Continued from page 28
From Yemen, the film proceeds to unveil America’s outsourcing of its kill list to ruthless Somali warlords, and his own government’s eerie attempts to frighten and silence Scahill. The movie also documents JSOC’s rise from obscurity to prominence
Egypt’s Fateful Choice… Continued from page 31
Regardless of which scenario unfolds, Egypt will be facing difficult times. But for wisdom and rationality to carry the day, Egyptians of all stripes must come to their senses and realize that no group can ignore or marginalize the others. The MB-dominated government must realize that it must be inclusive and transparent, while the opposition must respect the democratic rules of the political game. If the opposition succeeds in dislodging Morsi, no future president would be able to finish his term in office because the other side would also use the same disrupting tactics. If the opposition groups have millions behind them as they claim, they should head for parliamentary elections as soon as possible. If they win a majority of the seats, they not only could form the next government, but they could also change the constitution and act as a check on the powers of the president in a democratic and civilized fashion that would earn the world’s respect. But if they opt for the use of violence or undemocratic tactics in order to have their way, then this remarkable revolution will have been in vain—a feat that would delight Mubarak loyalists and Egypt’s enemies. ❑
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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Iqrit Descendants Determined to Rebuild, Return to Their Destroyed Village SpecialReport
By Jonathan Cook
PHOTO BY DR. DIRGHAM SBAIT
The village of Iqrit today. INSET: A photograph of the Palestinian village of Iqrit, Galilee, in 1937, a decade before Israeli troops forced its residents to evacuate in 1948.
dream nurtured by millions of Pales-
creation in 1948 has become a concrete reality at a small makeshift camp atop a windswept hill in the Upper Galilee. A dozen young men have set up camp at the site, close to Israel’s border with Lebanon, from which their grandparents were expelled more than six decades ago. Today, all that remains of the village of Iqrit is a Catholic church on the hill’s brow. But in 1948, the village was home to 600 Christian Palestinians. Walaa Sbeit, one of the camp’s leaders, said the group had been inspired by a vision of rebuilding their village. “We never lost the connection to this place,” he said. “Every summer we hold a summer school here for the children to learn about the village and their past. And once a month the villagers hold a service at the church. For us, this was always our real home.” 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. 38
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Atinians made refugees during Israel’s
dead in the village cemetery, but not to rebuild the homes that were taken from us.” Sbeit and his friends have been staying at Iqrit in shifts since August, living in an improvised annex to the church that houses a sitting area and kitchen. They have tin shacks nearby serving as a toilet and shower, and two donkeys. Saplings they planted and a chicken coop were destroyed by the Israeli police, Sbeit added, as he perched on the edge of one of the outdoor beds the men have been using since the winter rains ended. The villagers of Iqrit belong to Israel’s minority of 1.4 million Palestinian citizens, a quarter of whom were displaced from their orginal homes in 1948. Today, the Palestinian minority live in more than 100 Palestinian communities that survived the advance by Jewish militias and later the Israeli army. Sbeit and his companions are at the forefront of a movement among the refugees inside Israel to turn the right of return from what has sounded like an increasingly empty slogan into a practical plan of action. Although Iqrit’s 80 homes are long gone, a residents’ committee is due to publish a master plan for the village in the summer, showing how it would be possible to build a modern community of 450 homes, including a school, for the villagers-in-exile, who today number 1,500. The plan has been drawn up by a professional planner from the Technion, Israel’s leading technical university. Iqrit’s refugees also are involved in a pilot project to work out the practicalities of implementing the right of return, understanding the legal, technical and psychological problems facing the refugees. “This really is an historic moment for the Palestinian community,” said Mohammed Zeidan, head of the Nazarethbased Human Rights Association, which has been helping to organize the project. “For the first time, we are acting rather than just talking.
During the 1948 war, some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from more than 400 villages as the new state of Israel was declared on a large part of their homeland—an event known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.” The refugees, mostly descendants of those driven from their homes, now number around five million, according to the United Nations. Nearly all the emptied villages were later destroyed by the Israeli army to prevent the inhabitants, and the generations to follow, from ever returning home. “Until we moved in, the only way back to our village was in a coffin,” said Sbeit, a 26-year-old music teacher in Haifa, 30 miles away. “We have the right to bury our THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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“The villagers are not waiting for Israel to respond to their grievance,” he added, “they are actively showing Israel what the return would look like.” It is not entirely surprising that Iqrit should be leading the way on the refugee issue. Iqrit’s inhabitants were neither expelled nor forced to flee, as happened in most other villages. They surrendered to the Israeli army in November 1948. According to 70-year-old Lutfallah Atallah, the villagers agreed to leave Iqrit after receiving a promise that they would be allowed to return when the army had completed its operations in the area. Shortly afterward, their village was declared a closed military area. “We were put in army vehicles and driven to the village of Rama, and told we would be allowed to return within 15 days,” said Atallah. “We’re still waiting.” Israel does not deny that the promise was made, and the villagers’ right to return was backed by the country’s Supreme Court in 1951. Six months later, the army blew up the houses in a move designed to stop the ruling from being enforced. Shadia Sbeit, coordinator for the Iqrit residents’ committee, said that in the early 1990s, under growing pressure to honor its pledge to the villagers, a government panel agreed to set aside a small area for Iqrit to be rebuilt. The deal fell through when the prime minister at the time, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated. A later prime minister, Ariel Sharon, decided in 2002 that the promise to the villagers of Iqrit and another village, Biram, could not be implemented because it would set a precedent for the return of other refugees and threaten Israel’s Jewish majority. Zeidan called that reasoning “nonsensical.” “The refugees from Iqrit are all Israeli citizens,” he said. “Letting them back will not make Israel any less ‘Jewish.’” The villagers’ push to recreate Iqrit comes as Israel’s treatment of the refugees from 1948 is under renewed scrutiny, particularly in relation to the circumstances in which the refugees abandoned their homes and whether Israel’s leaders ordered a program of ethnic cleansing. Documents recently unearthed by an Israeli researcher, Shay Hazkani, confirm suspicions that an historical claim Israel has used as its chief justification for denying refugees their right of return to their homes was invented by Israeli officials. The files, located in the state archives, reAUGUST 2013
veal that David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s prime minister in 1948 and for many years afterward, set up a research unit in the early 1960s to try to prove that Arab leaders had ordered the Palestinian villagers to leave. Israel’s move was a response to growing pressure from the U.S. president at the time, John F. Kennedy, that it allow several hundred thousand refugees to return to their lands. According to Nur Masalha, author of several books on Palestinian refugees, BenGurion believed Israel would win greater international acceptance of its rejectionist stance if it could show that the villagers left under orders from neighboring Arab leaders, rather than because of mass expulsions. Other documents have shown that the Israeli army physically expelled Palestinians from at least 120 villages, while in most other cases the inhabitants fled in terror as their village, or neighboring ones, were attacked.
Lies on the Ground Minutes of a 1961 meeting record Ben-Gurion telling defense officials that Israel must prove the refugees left “of their own free will, because they were told the country would soon be conquered and [that] ‘you will return to be its lord and masters and not just return to your homes.’” Israeli scholars were recruited to produce a report making Israel’s case at the U.N. They were given access to secret documents, including those captured from British and Arab sources, most of which were subsequently burned. The director of the unit, Rony Gabbay, conceded to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in an interview in May that there was no evidence for the claims made in the report Israel later published. “There was no mention [in the archives] of the local Arab leaders urging the Arabs to flee, that they ‘pushed them,’ as we claimed in our hasbara [propaganda]. I saw nothing like that.” Israel has been equally embarrassed by other recent disclosures that have challenged its version of the 1948 war. Earlier this year, an Israeli magazine published an interview with Yerachmiel Kahanovich, a former soldier, who admitted he had helped to engineer expulsions from two Palestinian cities, Lod and Ramle, in 1948, shooting shells into a mosque where people had sought sanctuary. He and other soldiers then executed residents as they fled. “Sometimes we had to shoot one or two, THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
and then the rest got the message and left on their own. You need to understand: if you didn’t destroy the Arab’s home, he will always want to come back. When there is no home, no village, there is nowhere to return,” he told Yediot Hakibbutz. In June similar sentiments were expressed by Yitzhak Pundak, who in an interview to celebrate his 100th birthday admitted that as commander of the Givati brigade in 1948 he ordered soldiers to raze Palestinian homes. He told Army Radio: “My conscience is at ease with that, because if we hadn’t done so, then there would be no state by now. There would be a million more Arabs.” Evidence of other atrocities in another Palestinian city emerged in May. Excavations in Jaffa, the commercial center of Palestine until 1948, revealed mass graves containing what are believed to be the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces as they attacked the city. In addition, Israeli historian Tom Segev publicized in March the minutes of a cabinet meeting from September 1948, a few weeks before Iqrit was captured. According to the transcript, part of which is still redacted, Ben-Gurion believed efforts to provoke a renewal of hostilities could be used as a pretext to expel the 100,000 Palestinians still residing in the Galilee, designated part of the Arab state in the 1947 United Nations partition plan. “If war breaks out throughout the entire country, this would be advantageous for us as far as the Galilee is concerned because… we could empty the Galilee completely,” he told his ministers. The statement comes close to suggesting that Ben-Gurion planned the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians inside the expanded borders of the new state of Israel, a claim long and vehemently denied by Israeli officials. That interpretation was supported the same month by Derek Penslar, the first professor of Israel studies at Oxford University, who told Britain’s Jewish Chronicle newspaper that Israel had committed “ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinians during the Nakba. Back in Iqrit, Walaa Sbeit pointed to a cluster of houses in the distance, just visible over the border in Lebanon, a country hosting more than 400,000 Palestinians in its refugee camps. The justice of the refugees’ cause should never have been in doubt, he said. “It is long past the time when the world should have corrected the wrong that was done to us. Now we are acting for ourselves.” ❑ 39
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At KinderUSA Annual Fund-raiser, Dr. Mads Gilbert Lauds Gazans’ Stoicism By Pat and Samir Twair
Southern California Chronicle
an elderly Gazan, who swore that “Israeli bombs can crush our homes but address at KinderUSA’s 11th they’ll never crush us.” annual fund-raiser at the KinderUSA Chairperson Long Beach Hilton Hotel. Dr. Laila al-Marayati disHis anger was generated by cussed her trip to Gaza in having witnessed Israel’s early May, and stated that overpowering military reher organization has set a peatedly trample through $300,000 goal for its RaGaza like a rogue elephant madan project of providing while the world passively healthy meals for needy looks on. families during the Islamic “Every three years Israel month of fasting. smashes Gaza with a In addition to sponsoring blitzkrieg. This is state ternutrition and healthcare rorism at its most extreme, programs for children, the and the U.S. is the chief 11-year-old charitable nonsponsor of this unmitigated profit works to empower mayhem,” averred the Norwomen in refugee camps in wegian physician, who’s made many medical mis- VIPs at KinderUSA fund-raiser (l-r) Dr. Basil Abdelkarim, Dr. Mads Palestine, Lebanon and Turkey by operating coopsions to Gaza. “How can Gilbert, Dr. Laila al-Marayati and emcee Jess Ghannam. eratives producing food and descendants of the Holonocents did nothing wrong except to be handsewn items for sale. caust do this to fellow humans?” During Israel’s 23-day Operation Cast born Palestinian,” Gilbert stated. “Every Lead invasion of Gaza in 2008-9, Gilbert American knows every detail in the life of Syrian Unity Town Hall and his colleague Erik Fosse worked round the little boy killed in the Boston Prominent Syrians of the Alawite, Sunni the clock tending to victims of the bomb Marathon bombing, but no one knows and Christian faiths opposed to the regime raids and deliberate shelling of homes. even the names of the hundreds of Gaza of Bashar al-Assad spoke June 1 at a Town They wrote a book, Eyes in Gaza (available children who’ve been murdered and Hall for Unity called by the Syrian Amerifrom the AET Book Club), which Gilbert maimed by Israeli bombs.” can Council-Los Angeles in the Anaheim [See <http://www.rememberthesechil- Hilton Hotel. signed after the program. He returned to Gaza in January and No- dren.org> for the names and circumstances Speaking by Skype from Paris, Dr. vember 2012 to check on his patients’ re- of every Palestinian and Israeli child killed Monzer Makhous, who was recognized in covery. Israel’s Pillar of Cloud operation since September 2000. As of May 31 of this November 2012 by the French government that began last Nov. 14 was more intense year, 129 Israeli and 1,519 Palestinian chil- as Syria’s future ambassador to France and the bombs bigger than three years be- dren had lost their lives.] “once a provisional government is estabNo value is placed on Palestinian life, lished,” gave an update on the then-forthfore, Gilbert said—3,000 Israeli bombs and rockets hit 1,400 targets in the besieged Gilbert asserted, citing the case of an Is- coming Geneva II Conference. Strip—but this time emergency medical raeli found guilty of the shooting deaths of “The Americans reneged on their earlier care was improved, and triage treatments two Palestinian women who was sentenced position that Bashar Assad first had to step to 45 days in prison. “That means 22-and- down in order for him to take part in newent like clockwork. “If you want to witness dignity, go to a-half days for taking a Palestinian life— gotiations about Syria’s future,” Makhous Gaza,” exclaimed the professor of anesthe- this is not justice.” stated, while noting the Syrian National Gilbert blames this indifference on the Coalition (Etilaf) is expanding and now insiology at the University of North Norway. “You know we Norwegians historically military occupation and the impunity Israel cludes 114 members. lived under occupation for years and we enjoys for its war crimes. “The systematic Mohamad Ghassan Aboud, who comes kicked out our occupiers. I guess that’s why destruction of populated cities, identifying from Idlib, Syria and is a businessman in civilians as war targets, drones shooting the Gulf and the owner of the Arabic Oriwe have an affinity for the Palestinians.” He went on to say that 34 percent of rockets into homes, starving a population ent TV, has opened 10 hospitals in refugee Gaza’s wounded were children. “These in- are war crimes,” Gilbert emphasized. camps on the Syrian-Turkish borders. Dis“What can we learn from the people of cussing the political and military situation Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance journal- Gaza?” he asked rhetorically. “Stoic brav- in the war-torn country, he went on to preery.” Gilbert ended his remarks by quoting dict that post-Assad Syria will require a ists based in Los Angeles. utrage inflamed Dr.
STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR
OMads Gilbert’s May 4
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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Marshall Plan to recover. Dr. Hind Kabawat, who is an attorney in Toronto and Damascus and in 2009 was appointed ambassador of conflict resolution and a member of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of the Middle East at the World Economic Forum in Davos, discussed her humanitarian effort for Syrian refugees. This includes establishing the al-Salam School in Reyhanli, Turkey near the border with Syria. Utilizing her skills in conflict resolution, she established local councils in villages and towns in rebel-held Syria, including the Atmeh refugee camp, and taught them how to negotiate. Kabawat also spoke about working with Aziza Jalood from Raqqa, who was jailed for 12 years. Award-winning British historian William Dalrymple discussed his monumental work on Afghanistan, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan 1839-1842 (Knopf 2013) April 28 at Pasadena’s Pacific Asia Museum. Dalrymple’s droll description of Britain’s tragic first battle in Afghanistan had much in common with the West’s contemporary failures at trying to militarily tame tribes of the region to bend to its goals. Using newly available primary sources in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and India, Dalrymple painted eerie similarities between the first Anglo-Afghan War and the
STAFF PHOTOS S. TWAIR
New Afghanistan Tome
TOP: Syrian Town Hall speakers Mohamad Ghassan Aboud (l) and Dr. Hind Kabawat. ABOVE: Author William Dalrymple signs a copy of his book Return of a King. morass in which the U.S. is mired today. “Bush invaded Afghanistan to eliminate al-Qaeda, but, it wasn’t there until after the
U.S. arrived,” he quipped. “Afghanistan is very expensive to occupy: as one 19th century warrior noted, it produces nothing but stones and men.” The narrative focuses on Britain’s strategy to thwart any Russian designs to take over India by re-installing Shah Shuja al-Mulk on the throne his grandfather had established as the first monarch of the kingdom of Afghanistan. The British launched their campaign with 21,000 troops, 4,500 sepoys, 15,500 camp followers and 3,000 camels, but—owing to poor planning and even worse knowledge of the terrain and tribes they were to confront—only one Anglo survived. Dalrymple, whose distant ancestor took part in the campaign, noted the parallels between the 19th century Western foray into Afghanistan and today’s. Not only did Shah Shuja and Hamid Karzai share the same tribal heritage, he pointed out, but the main opponent of Shah Shuja, the Ghilzai tribe, today account for the majority of Taliban foot soldiers. During the question-and-answer period, the author predicted that the Chinese, mindful of Afghanistan’s wealth of mineral deposits, may become the next invader to curse the region for being atop a critical global crossroads. In answer to another query, Dalrymple quipped that in 2003, President George W. Bush thought the Taliban was an all girls’ singing troup. ❑
Laguna Pageant Opens
COURTESY PAGEANT OF THE MASTERS
Under the theme of “The Big Picture,” the 80th Pageant of the Masters opened July 7 in Laguna Beach. Each night until Aug. 31, the curtain will rise at 8:30 p.m. for 90 minutes of actors and lighting experts re-creating masterpieces of sculptures, paintings and ceramics. This year’s presentation will replicate famous art works that inspired legendary filmmakers. ❑ RIGHT: Models re-create Jean-Leon Gerome’s “Arabs Crossing the Desert” at the 80th Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach. AUGUST 2013
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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CAIR’s “Muslim Day at the Capitol” Draws Large Crowd to Meet State Lawmakers
Northern California Chronicle
Participants in CAIR-CA’s second annual Muslim Day at the Capitol. he Council on American-Islamic Rela-
Ttions of California (CAIR-CA) hosted its
second annual “Muslim Day at the Capitol” in Sacramento on April 30. Prior to meeting with state legislators or their staffers, some 150 enthusiastic participants gathered on the west lawn of the state capitol for a short program and group photo. “It is incumbent on our state’s Muslim community to play an active role in shaping both California’s political landscape, and that of our nation, by mobilizing grassroots lobbying efforts for issues that positively impact our local communities,” said Basim Elkarra, executive director of CAIR Sacramento Valley. “Public policy changes will not happen overnight,” added Adel Syed, statewide policy and government relations coordinator for CAIR-CA. “It is the result of relationship building, and a concerted and consistent dialogue with our elected officials, which is something we aim to do by introducing community members to state lawmakers.” CAIR Los Angeles executive director Hussam Ayloush also addressed the crowd. “Today we are representing the diversity and the voice of the American-Muslim community, and, specifically, the California Muslim community,” he said. “At a time Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. 42
when we are under attack, at a time when people are blaming Muslims for every negative thing that happens in the world in order to marginalize Muslims and divide our country, you are sending a message that we will not be divided. You are investing in the state of California and you are investing in our country, because what we are doing is upholding and promoting the pluralism and the activism required by our country. “This is an historic event,” Ayloush continued, “because we are refusing to be victimized, we are refusing to allow negativity to impact us and set our agenda. We are setting our own agenda and we are becoming the change we want to see. We are here to lobby and advocate for issues that impact every person in the state of California. Everyone gets better when we make this place a better place.” Breaking into small groups, the attendees met with representatives in their capitol offices to discuss three specific important human rights issues: 1. The Trust Act (AB 4) that seeks to keep immigration enforcement at the federal level and strengthen trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities. 2. The California Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (AB 241) that aims to protect domestic workers, strengthen stability in the industry and improve the quality of care for Californians by creating uniform and THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
clear industry-wide standards. 3. A free speech resolution on college campuses that approaches issues in a manner that remains faithful to the First Amendment, addresses the sensitivities and concerns of different groups, and proceeds with a diversity of viewpoints represented at the table. In a meeting with Samantha Contreras, aide to Assemblyman Das Williams (DSanta Barbara), Zienab Abdelgany, programs coordinator of CAIR-LA, explained the difficulty of finding a sponsor for the free speech on college campuses resolution. “This issue involves the rights of students to voice opinions and criticize foreign governments, including Israel,” she said. “And no one wants to touch the Israel-Palestine issue. For some people, criticizing Israel is equivalent to anti-Semitism.” The proposed resolution is in response to House Resolution 35 that encourages California schools to crack down on anti-Israel speech and demonstrations and equates student activism with anti-Semitism. CAIR contends the resolution, adopted Aug. 28, 2012 by California lawmakers without debate, went too far and constituted an attack on students’ right to free expression. “This resolution will do nothing to stop antiSemitism,” said CAIR-SV civil rights coordinator Rachel Roberts, “but it will stop the discussions college students must be allowed to have to analyze and form opinions on international issues.” After their meetings—a record number of 110 during the daylong event—partici-
STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI
STAFF PHOTO E. PASQUINI
By Elaine Pasquini
CAIR-LA executive director Hussam Ayloush. AUGUST 2013
STAFF PHOTOS PHIL PASQUINI
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LEFT: CAIR-LA programs coordinator Zienab Abdelgany (l) speaks with Samantha Contreras of the office of Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara). RIGHT: Advertisement placed in the Marin Independent Journal by 14 Friends of Palestine and its founder, Jane Jewell, to bring attention to the amount of financial aid the U.S. gives to Israel. pants told the Washington Report that the process had been beneficial, despite not always receiving any definite commitment from their representatives. Many community members vowed to return next year in an effort to have a say in legislation which affects their lives.
Domes, Arches and Minarets
â&#x20AC;&#x153;One reason I wrote my book was to dispel the myth that our relationship with the Muslim world came about on 9/11,â&#x20AC;? Phil Pasquini, author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America, told students in the Introduction to Islam class at San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s City College on May 13. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Soon after I started visiting the buildings, I discovered American history of both obscure and well-known things and interrelationships between Islam and America. The book contains information about our history as a nation and all of our diversity, not how different we are, but how much we have sharedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;especially with the Muslim world.â&#x20AC;? Pasquiniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self-published book (available from the AET Book Club) traces the more than 200-year history and development of Islamic-inspired architecture in America, from the earliest Spanish-Moorish buildings constructed in the 1700s to the more contemporary buildings of the 21st century. AUGUST 2013
(See Nov./Dec. 2012 Washington Report, pp. 38 and 39). In the question-and-answer period following his presentation, one student asked which state had the largest number of buildings created in the Islamic style. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most of the buildings are in Florida and California, but I found many in the upper Midwest, including Wisconsin and Minnesota,â&#x20AC;? the photographer said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t recognize these buildings as Islamic because they have been on the landscape for so long.â&#x20AC;? Pasquini photographed 200 buildings in 22 states, but included only 109 in his book. Students also further engaged Pasquini about his motivation for writing the book. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wanted to show people that Muslims have been a part of America since its beginning,â&#x20AC;? he explained. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When Judiciary Square was developed in New York City, remains of an African slave cemetery were found with men holding prayer beads. There are estimates that 20 percent of slaves brought from West Africa were Muslim. Little Syria, an Arab-American neighborhood from the 1880s, was near the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. If people knew history, they would know Muslims have been part of our history for a long time.â&#x20AC;? Instructor Neela Chatterjee then gave her students an assignment to look for elements of Islamic architecture in their surrounding environment as they go about their daily routines.
Advertisement Calls Attention to U.S. Aid to Israel On the 65th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) when the state of Israel established itself based on the displacement of 750,000 indigenous Palestinian Arabs and the destruction of 531 Arab villages, San Rafael-based 14 Friends of Palestine and its founder, Jane Jewell, THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
placed an advertisement in the Marin Independent Journal to bring attention to the amount of financial aid the U.S. gives to Israel. In April, President Barack Obama released his 2014 budget request, which included $3.1 billion in military aid and $316 million for joint U.S.-Israeli anti-missile systems. Human rights groups demand the U.S. end this financial support while Israel continues to drive Palestinians off their land to make room for illegal Israeli settlements, to incarcerate young Palestinian children in Israeli prisons, and to subject Palestinians to such apartheid practices as settlers-only roads, water supplies, electricity grids, courts and schools. 14 Friends of Palestine, along with the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), American Muslims for Palestine, Code Pink and Jewish Voice for Peace, oppose Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan to give Israel more U.S. taxpayer money, which, according to one report, would amount to $40 billion by 2028. If Americans Knew and its founder, Alison Weir, have launched a campaign called Stop the Blank Check which has just appeared on billboards in Sacramento. â?&#x2018; (Advertisement)
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brownfeld_44-45_Israel and Judaism 6/27/13 10:38 AM Page 44
In Addition to Billions of Dollars, Washington Favors Israel With Special Rules, Exceptions Israel andJudaism
By Allan C. Brownfeld ashington’s relationship with Israel
Whas been characterized by special
rules and special exceptions from which no other nation benefits. This manifests itself not only in the amount and requirements (or lack of same) of U.S. military aid to Israel, but in Israel’s treatment of non-Jewish Americans. Consider U.S. military aid. Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign military assistance since World War II. To date, the U.S. has provided Israel $118 billion (current or non-inflation adjusted dollars) in bilateral assistance. Today almost all U.S. bilateral aid to Israel is in the form of military assistance, although in the past Israel also received significant economic assistance. According to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report to Congress prepared by Middle East specialist Jeremy M. Sharp, “Israel has received benefits not available to any other countries. For example, Israel can use some U.S. military assistance both for research and development in the U.S. and for purchases from Israeli manufacturers. U.S. aid earmarked for Israel is generally delivered in the first 30 days of the fiscal year, while most other recipients normally receive aid in installments.” The CRS went on to note that, “Israel’s ability to use a significant portion of its annual military aid for procurement in Israel is a unique aspect of its assistance package. No other recipient of U.S. military assistance has been granted this benefit.” One result of this special treatment is that Israel is now the sixth largest arms exporter in the world, with sales totaling $12.9 billion. During his March 2013 visit to Israel, President Barack Obama pledged that the U.S. would continue to provide Israel with multi-year commitments of military aid subject to the approval of Congress. But even that is not enough for Israel. In an effort to avoid mandatory, across-the board sequestration cuts now being imposed on all discretionary federal programs, pro-Israel activists considered special legislation to keep aid to Israel from Allan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated columnist and associate editor of the Lincoln Review, a journal published by the Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, and editor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the American Council for Judaism. 44
being cut. At AIPAC’s annual meeting in March, reported The Forward of March 22, 2013 “...thousands of AIPAC delegates made their way to Capitol Hill for lobbying meetings with their Senate and House representatives. In the meetings, which covered every congressional office, the AIPAC activists urged lawmakers to repeal the cut.”
nder Boxer’s U legislation, Israel is given the right to exclude selected Americans. Among the plans AIPAC initially considered, the Jewish weekly reported, “...would be specific legislation to restore aid exclusively to Israel. Another...would be having the administration use its power to re-obligate funds from other countries to Israel within the same budgetary account.” In 2010, House Minority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) suggested separating aid to Israel from other foreign aid programs for which he and fellow Republicans supported cuts. When AIPAC signaled its opposition, however, the idea was shelved. Subsequently, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (RFL) and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) sponsored legislation asking Congress to define Israel as a “major strategic partner” of the U.S. According to an AIPAC official, if the measure passes it could help Israel’s supporters ensure that U.S. aid to Israel is safe. “In the future,” the official said, “it creates an even stronger commitment for funding Israel.” In yet another example of the campaign to provide Israel with special treatment and exemptions from U.S. laws which no other nation receives, Sen. Barbara Boxer (DCA) has introduced a bill which would provide for Israel’s membership in a “visa waiver” program in which 37 countries now participate, and which is conditioned on reciprocity. Each country allows Americans to enter without a visa—and the U.S. does the same for citizens of those countries. Under Boxer’s legislation, however, Israel is given the right to exclude selected Americans. The bill, called the U.S.-Israel Strategic Ally Act of 2013, now has 40 co-sponsors, including Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Cornyn (R-TX) THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). The bill allows Israel to discriminate against any Americans it chooses by adding the provision that “Israel has made every reasonable effort, without jeopardizing the security of the State of Israel, to ensure that reciprocal travel privileges are extended to all U.S. citizens.” Only Israel would be required merely to make a “reasonable effort” to reciprocate for U.S. citizens. Writing in the April 13 issue of The Guardian, columnist Glenn Greenwald pointed out that “Israel’s religious and ethnicity-based entrance exclusions of American citizens are so well-documented and pervasive that even the U.S. State Department provides an official warning about it in its official advisory for Israel, noting: ‘Some U.S. citizens holding Israeli nationality, possessing a Palestinian identity card, or of Arab or Muslim origin have experienced significant difficulties in entering or exiting Israel or the West Bank.’...To accommodate this desire to discriminate, Boxer...and AIPAC are now attempting to create a special exemption for Israel from the requirement to which all other countries are bound...Most amazingly, the only purpose of this exemption from these U.S. senators would be to allow Israel to discriminate against the citizens these senators are supposed to represent.” Earlier this year, Israel denied entry to Nour Joudah, a 25-year-old PalestinianAmerican woman who was a full-time English teacher at the Quaker Friends School in Ramallah and had traveled to Amman for the Christmas holidays. When she tried to return through Ben-Gurion Airport, however, she was denied entry. Numerous efforts by USAID representatives and congressional staff members to secure her reentry were in vain. Ultimately, she had to inform her students via Skype that she could not return to Ramallah. On March 18, Joudah wrote an open letter to President Obama, in which she said, in part: “I write to you as a young PalestinianAmerican who was denied entry by Israeli officials twice in the last two months. My only wrongdoing was trying to return to my job at a USAID-supported school in the West Bank city of Ramallah...I have been a teacher at Ramallah Friends School...since Aug. 2012...Israeli authorities denied me entry despite having a valid one-year mulAUGUST 2013
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Ira Forman Assumes Weighty Mantle (and Travel Budget) of U.S. Special Envoy On Anti-Semitism By M.J. Rosenberg THIS SUMS UP the political use of anti-Semitism. The new State Department envoy on anti-Semitism is former AIPAC lobbyist Ira Forman, a guy whose entire career has been dedicated to advancing the policies of the Israeli government, at AIPAC and then as head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, where he worked to ensure that Democrats were more hawkish on Israel than Republicans. And why is there a special envoy on anti-Semitism? Why is that the one form of hate granted a special post at the State Department? You know why: because the lobby wanted it. And it gets to place its ex-lobbyist in it. What does the special envoy do? He does the same thing that David Harris of the American Jewish Committee does (except Harris doesn’t do it on the taxpayers’ dime). He travels around the world, kibitzes with various world leaders, stays in fancy hotels, eats tiple-entry Israeli visa. Shocked, I was sent back to Jordan, separated from my belongings in Ramallah and 90 energetic students who suddenly had no teacher for the second semester.” She continued: “Determined to return, I hired an Israeli lawyer and contacted my representatives in Congress. They put me in touch with the Israeli Embassy in Washington, which advised me to try to enter Israel again. Taking their advice, I bought a ticket and landed at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Feb. 25....I was questioned for eight hours, held in a detention center overnight and deported to Jordan on the first flight out of Israel the next morning. This is the type of treatment law-abiding American citizens often receive at the Israeli border....The Arab American Institute has documented hundreds of these cases, including Americans being asked humiliating questions, detained for hours, denied entry or strip-searched.... Mr. President, what is your administration doing to stop this discrimination against U.S. citizens? I have received essentially no help from the U.S. Embassy or Consulate.”
A Sadly Typical Story Sadly, this story is a typical one. In 2010, the daughter of Khader El Yateem, a Palestinian-American pastor from Brooklyn who has been honored by the New York State Senate for his community service, flew from New York to Tel Aviv to spend her 16th birthday with family in Bethlehem. She called her father from the airport crying after she was detained and questioned for hours as Israeli officials demanded e-mail passwords and searched her personal accounts as well as her mobile phone and computer. “It was pure harassment,” said El Yateem. But the worst experience had come in 2003, he said, when his brother-in-law called AUGUST 2013
in great restaurants, goes on great tours and then, every now and then, admonishes his hosts to be more vigilant about anti-Semitism (which, nowadays, usually means criticism of Israeli policies). Then he issues a report (an official State Department report!) that announces that anti-Semitism is on the rise. To what purpose: To buttress the case for standing with the Israeli government, no matter what it does. In other words, the lobby has succeeded in creating one more “pro-Israel” organization, headed by another organizational hack, but housing it in the State Department where it can do what these organizations usually do (nothing except help crush opposition to Israeli government policies) but with the imprimatur of the State Department and paid for by taxpayers! —First posted May 21, 2013 on <http://mondoweiss.net>. Copyright © 2013 Mondoweiss.
to say he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and wanted to see El Yateem and his family before he died. The family—all carrying U.S. passports—tried to enter the West Bank from Jordan, but El Yateem was separated from his family, placed in police custody but was not questioned. He was told he could not enter the West Bank and was driven back to Jordan without explanation. During the week he was in Jordan, his brother-in-law died. “The message to me was that America is the only country in the world that allows Israel to discriminate against its citizens,” the pastor said. Jewish Voice for Peace cites the case of Sandra Tamari, a U.S.-born citizen of Palestinian descent, a Quaker and a member of the Palestine Solidarity Committee in St. Louis, who traveled with an interfaith group of about 30 people to visit the West Bank in May 2012. According to Tamari, Israeli authorities pulled her aside at the airport in Tel Aviv, asked about her family background, then jailed her overnight and put her on a plane back to the U.S. While in custody, she said, she telephoned the U.S. Embassy. The person who took her call asked immediately if Tamari was Jewish, and when she said she wasn’t, replied, “Then, there’s nothing I can do to help you.” Writing in the Los Angeles Times, George Bisharat asked: “Why such blatant racial profiling from a country our leaders call our best friend and ally? No Arab-American has ever committed crimes in Israel to warrant harassment of us all—unless criticism of Israeli policies is such a crime. For while we all experience lengthy detention and interrogation, those of us who bear public witness to Israel’s oppression of Palestinians are the most likely to be denied entry.” Jews are often said to have long memories—but in this case AIPAC and Israel’s congressional acolytes seem to have forgotTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
ten their history. When the Ottoman Empire controlled Palestine, its discrimination against Jewish visitors was a source of political action by Theodor Herzl and the head of the Zionist Federation of the U.S., Richard Gottheil. Haaretz reprinted a 1900 letter from Herzl to Gottheil calling on the U.S. to prevent discrimination against its Jewish citizens in Palestine. In November 1900, the Ottoman authorities published an order prohibiting Jewish visitors from remaining there for more than three months at a time. Subsequently, on Feb. 25, 1901, Herzl sent a letter to American Zionists in an attempt to enlist their help by lobbying the U.S. government to take action. “I am asking you, therefore, to initiate with the greatest speed a discussion in the Congress or the Senate on the question as whether it is permissible to deny American citizens—be they Jews or Christians—to tread on Palestinian ground, or to make distinctions between the various American citizens,” he wrote. Herzl’s letter urged Gottheil to get an answer from the U.S. president: “It will be difficult for him to refuse, since it is not a case of taking a position on Zionism but a matter of equal rights for all American citizens.” Haaretz published this letter under the headline: “When the Jewish lobby was young.” Clearly, the special language for Israel in the Boxer legislation would codify Israeli discrimination against American citizens. It is time—when it comes to military aid, visas and other areas of inter-governmental relations—for Israel to play by the same rules as other nations of the world. AIPAC and its friends do Israel a disservice in the long-run by advancing the view that of all the nations of the world, Israel is above the law. ❑ 45
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at the head table rose to address ADC. Said Durrah of Islamic Relief USA, who also is president of Network of ArabADC Annual Convention: “It Starts American Professionals (NAAP) DC chapWith You!” ter, moderated the lunch session—and demonstrated his talents as a stand-up coThe American-Arab Anti-Discrimination median. Maya Berry, executive director of Committee (ADC) held its annual national the Arab American Institute (AAI), and convention at the Washington Marriott Samer Khalaf, a member not only of the Wardman Park hotel in Washington, DC ADC national board, but of the ArabJune 13-16. With the theme of “It Starts American Family Support Center and With You!,” the four-day event offered an AAI’s National Policy Council as well, array of workshops centered on encouragreed with the ADC president. “We aging Arab Americans to participate more cannot let our differences continue to diactively in their communities and the vide us,” Khalaf stressed. country’s political discourse. Attendees “We must coordinate and collaborate left each workshop with an action item, a where we can,” Berry added. “The Arabletter or postcard to send, or a phone call American experience in the 1970s and to make. ‘80s was the politics of exclusion,” she Advocacy Day lamented, recalling that when Arab Americans raised money for a candidate, The convention’s first day was devoted to advocating at the White House and on Keith Ellison (D-MN) speaks to Arab Ameri- it was returned. That is no longer the Capitol Hill, with Arab Americans engag- cans, including Prof. Jack Shaheen (r), on Capi- case, she reassured the audience. ing their elected representatives about the tol Hill. Civil Rights: Common Bonds issues most pertinent to their community. At that evening’s dinner reception, Throughout the conference civil rights Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) discussed civil leaders discussed the common challenges and human rights issues confronting the shared by Arab Americans and African Arab-American community. Ellison deAmericans. At the June 14 civil rights scribed himself as “a fan and a friend of luncheon, keynote speaker Marc Morial, ADC,” saying he believes that the mara former Louisiana state senator, mayor ginalization of Arab Americans is one of of New Orleans, and the current presithe critical civil rights issues of our time. dent of the National Urban League The Minnesota Democrat urged Arab (NUL), urged his audience to “emphasize Americans to channel their frustrated encommon bonds in order to confront comergy toward engagement and activism in mon challenges.” A new coalition of order to implement change. Arab AmeriArab Americans, African Americans, and cans must act now, he emphasized, and all other marginalized communities “will not pass their problems on to future gen- ADC president Warren David challenges Arab and must emerge” to fight discriminaAmericans to strive for unity. erations. tion, he said. Despite the need for progress and the A Push for Unity continuation of the civil rights movement, Morial said he is comforted by the fact At the June 15 unity luncheon, ADC presthat no one marginalized community is ident Warren David noted that although alone. The March on Washington for Jobs Arab-American organizations are strong and Freedom, which took place nearly 50 and successful, they often fail to work years ago, on Aug. 28, 1963, reflected a closely with one another. “It’s because we mosaic of people of every color, national are a very diverse community,” he exorigin and religion that came together to plained. “We come from 22 different counend legal segregation in the United States, tries and a variety of religious groups.” he recalled. Expressing faith in the future Nevertheless, he reminded everyone, inof America and the relationships between creased collaboration within the ArabArab- and African-American citizens, MoAmerican community would result in rial stated that this coalition will and must Arab-American organizations making sigMarc Morial, president of the NUL, emphasizes emerge based on values, civil rights and nificant progress on critical issues such as common bonds between Arab- and Africaneconomic opportunities. The NUL is with civil rights. American citizens. you as you battle racial profiling, say no “You guys have all the right ingredients,” a staffer told David after a recent their differences, David acknowledged, but to hate crimes and bias in the workplace, he White House presentation. “You are pro- at least they are talking with each other assured the audience. However, he cautioned, this journey will fessionals, educated, good-looking—well, and trying to forge a more unified body. To maybe he didn’t say good-looking,” David illustrate the fruits of this initiative, repre- not be “smooth on a paved highway,” as admitted. But the staffer’s next words had sentatives of diverse organizations sitting we still may be on “the rocky side of the a profound and challenging effect on him: “You’re missing one thing,” the staffer stated. “You’re not together.” As a result of this challenge, leaders of Arab-American organizations now get together for a conference call on the first Tuesday of every month. They may have
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Arab American Activism
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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
AUGUST 2013
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Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP, describes how one young woman made a difference.
argue they should try to save lives by being against the death penalty. She did the same thing at the University of South Carolina. It took her 10 years to do what others had worked two centuries to accomplish, but she succeeded. “Young people got it done,” Jealous observed. [Eaddy is now senior director of the NAACP voting rights initiative.] “Figure out the one thing you want to change before you leave this planet,” Jealous advised. “Make a list if you can’t decide. Then circle one thing and let that be it...Then have the faith in yourself as did the McDonald’s worker and get to work.” He urged listeners to believe in themselves and the power of their community. “You have more friends than you know,” he concluded as the audience rose for a standing ovation.
Civil Rights and Hate Crimes
Community activist Linda Sarsour discussed the constant surveillance Muslim communities are under in New York City. “It’s an infringement on privacy,” she explained. “When we go to mosques now we don’t know if the person next to us is here to pray or here to spy on us.” When Sarsour explained her frustration to the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the department responded by saying “If you’re not doing anything wrong, then you’re okay.” Sarsour urged the audience to help her crack the NYPD, promising, “If you help me fix the NYPD, then I guarantee you we can fix the rest of the 50 states.” The issue of profiling also was addressed at the June 14 “Government Agency Community Forum.” Kimberly Walton, a representative from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), pledged that her agency is working hard to improve training initiatives in order to combat racial
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mountain in securing rights.” Morial con- The June 14 panel titled “Civil Rights: Juscluded by calling on Arab Americans to elevate freedom and justice until they are “not just words but real values, not a mirage but something all people can attain.” During his June 15 dinner keynote speech, Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), pledged a common crusade for civil rights between ADC and the NAACP. Indeed, Jealous announced that he would be engaging the NAACP’s 65,000 listserv subscribers on ADC’s mission to achieve jus- (L-r) Reggie Shuford, Linda Sarsour, Abed Ayoub, ADC’s director of legal and policy affairs tice for Alex Odeh, ADC’s former western and Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. regional director who was assassinated at ADC’s Santa Ana, California offices in tice Denied” addressed issues such as voter profiling. Peggy R. Mastroianni of the 1985. ADC has spearheaded a campaign to suppression and spying on Muslim Amer- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) informed attendees about their reopen his case. icans. In addition to bringing Odeh’s killers to Reggie Shuford, a member of the Amer- right to equal employment opportunities, justice, Jealous said he wants to “demilita- ican Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), began and urged attendees to come forward if rize the streets of this country so we can fi- by discussing the issue of voter suppres- they had encountered any discrimination nally have peace.” In order to achieve this sion. In 2012, he alleged, some states at- while pursuing a job. At the June 15 “Hate Crimes in Amerpeace, he said, a close relationship between tempted to prevent minorities from voting marginalized communities is necessary. by implementing strict photo ID laws. In ica” session, Rajdeep Singh of the Sikh Jealous illustrated ADC’s “It Starts With Pennsylvania the ACLU was able to suc- Coalition and Reshad Staitieh, a staff attorYou!” theme by telling the (by then) late- cessfully challenge and prevent such a law ney with the Council on American-Islamic night audience a “bedtime story” about a from being implemented, he noted, and Relations (CAIR), provided advice on how high school student activist, Jotaka Eaddy, “Now citizens no longer need to show to safeguard community centers and places of worship. Staitieh encouraged his audiwho worked at a McDonald’s drive-thru photo IDs when voting.” ence to develop a positive relawindow in Georgia. Eaddy was tionship with law enforcement upset by the likelihood that a 16agencies, hold community meetyear-old in her state would be ings to inform others of safety sentenced to death. “She didn’t guidelines and build coalitions go to her teacher and ask what with other groups. she could do,” Jealous said, but The Sikh community used figured out that her first step such tactics in the wake of recent should be to get the NAACP stuviolence, Singh said. After the dents in her school together to tackle this issue. Then she went (L-r) Alyaa El-Abbadi, Reshad Staitieh and Rajdeep Singh ad- brutal attack on a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, WI last August, to her school’s pro-life group to dress how communities can try to prevent hate crimes. AUGUST 2013
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(L-r) Barbara Slavin, Abderrahim Foukara, Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, Anisa Mehdi and Raed Jarrar discuss citizen journalism. Sikhs organized a Senate hearing on hate crimes and persuaded the FBI to tally hate crimes against Sikhs, he noted. Similarly, following an attack on an 81-year-old Sikh in Fresno, California in May, the Sikh Coalition organized a “three-tiered response...engagement with the government, the media and the community.”
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Journalism and the Media
Nawal Rajeh (l) and Yasmina Mrabet from the women-focused e-media, Peace X Peace. At a June 15 workshop, ADC communications director Raed Jarrar and Jamiah Adams, director of digital media at the NAACP, discussed the media’s response to the Boston Marathon bombings. “Only a few hours after the attack, the word Muslim was already trending on Twitter,” Jarrar pointed out. “[CNN anchor] John King, an American reporter, identified the bombers as ‘dark skinned,’ which was extremely irresponsible,” Adams stated. “If someone does a crime, it doesn’t matter what religion or color they are, the crime is the story.” At times when people are looking for answers, the media must be cautious and responsible, Adams added, noting that the American media has a history of “taking information and distorting it.” According to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, the alleged bombers “looked Yemeni,” Jarrar related, while the front page of the New York Post showed photos of Moroccan stu48
dent spectators, calling them the “bag men.” The press misquoted a Saudi victim’s Facebook page. All this could have led to a huge backlash and hate crimes, Jarrar argued. When members of the audience asked Jarrar what they can do to help fight discrimination, he told them that ADC is launching a “Media Watch” program on its website. Until it’s complete, ADC urges its members to report any instances of media prejudice to the organization by emailing Jarrar directly at <media@adc. org>, and giving him details—what was said, for example, as well as when and where. “The more we hear from you, the more we can help,” said Jarrar. At the June 14 session titled “The Impact of Hate Speech and Negative Stereotypes in the Media,” Janice Iwama and Jack McDevitt, co-authors of the report “Understanding Trends in Hate Crimes Against Immigrants and Hispanic-Americans,” argued that the media’s depiction of Arabs contributes to hate crimes. In the media, hate speech can be subtle, Iwama explained, citing such common phrases as “Not all terrorists are Muslims, but all terrorists happen to be Muslims” as an example. Such phrases affect the way Americans view the Muslim community, she stated. The June 15 panel titled “Arab Citizen Journalism,” moderated by Emmy Awardwinning filmmaker Anisa Mehdi, reminded attendees that they can play an active role in the dissemination of information by using new media to create their own original content. Abderrahim Foukara, Washington bureau chief of the Al-Jazeera (Arabic) satellite channel, noted that his news organization was the first to pay attention to the information, ideas and stories surfacing on cyberspace, where anyone can broadcast, curate and synthesize information. Barbara Slavin of Al-Monitor.com said she welcomed the advent of citizen journalism as a way to cover stories that do not THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
get attention in the mainstream media. Dismissing the idea that this new type of journalism threatens professional journalists, Slavin argued that traditional journalists will always be needed to “provide context” to the stories reported by citizen journalists. In the opinion of HuffPost Live host/producer Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, “social media excels at bridge-building between countries and governments that are otherwise antagonistic,” explaining that “everybody is broadcasting, regardless of whether mainstream media networks are.”
Organizing for Justice and Resolving Conflict Dr. John Sassin, assistant professor in disability studies at Langston UniversityTulsa, initiated the June 14 “Social Justice from an Arab-American Perspective” session by urging his audience to work for the betterment of children. In particular, Sassin stressed the importance of preventing children from developing prejudices. “If we can construct prejudice, we can deconstruct prejudice,” he argued. Children aren’t born with [it].” According to Sassin, while Arab Americans know how to “act collectively and reflectively” to foster and grow a community, they often fail to focus on the challenges the youth face, both in the Middle East and in America. “As long as we stall, children suffer,” he lamented. At the June 15 session titled “Diversity in Education: From the Community to the Classroom,” Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell, director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Education, discussed promoting cultural sensitivity and diversity. Through engaging with community-based organizations, she explained, the Department of Education seeks to provide a global education that benefits families of all backgrounds. Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are similarly promoting diversity in their education system, said FCPS representative Teddi Predaris, because “diversity creates resilient, open, and innovative citizens of the global community.” Translating all major documents into the top seven languages spoken at FCPS schools, providing interpreters and translators for home/ school communication, respecting religious diversity by providing special lunch menus, and requiring all students to know at least two languages before graduating are among the steps FCPS has taken to encourage diversity, Predaris said. AUGUST 2013
Justice for Palestine A panel on June 16, devoted to the role of culture in the Palestinian national project, examined how Palestinians in both the diaspora and occupied Palestine preserve and protect their culture. Hanan Karaman Munayyer, president of the Palestinian Heritage Foundation, described how costume and embroidery have played a vital role in maintaining Palestinian culture and identity. Maha Saca, founder of the Palestinian Heritage Center in Bethlehem, promotes the arts of embroidery and educates AUGUST 2013
Jewish-American activist Ned Rosch.
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The June 14 “Student Activism and Leadership” workshop provided an opportunity for students to hone leadership and organizing skills. Clinical pharmacologist Dr. Manal Fakhoury defined leadership by what it is not: “Leadership is not a position you occupy... not a title you hold,” she said. “Leadership is a process” that necessitates taking risks, accepting responsibility for one’s future, and establishing goals and dreams, she explained. Fakhoury’s daughter Malak, a student at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, spoke about her experience as vice president of USF’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter. Her experience in the West Bank in the fall of 2012 motivated her to join SJP, she explained, where she rose through the ranks to the position of vice president. Attributing her quick rise to her determination, Malak said, “When you’re motivated at your peak, that is when you should capitalize [on your feelings].” On June 14, the Women’s Initiative, founded by Dr. Amal David, met to decide on three measurable, quantifiable and achievable actions that could help ADC advance social justice. The participants agreed on similar action items, including reaching out to a younger generation, increasing advocacy, and improving outreach through social media and broadcasting. Yasmina Mrabet and Nawal Rajeh, coworkers at the Peace X Peace initiative, which facilitates interfaith dialogue, led the June 14 “Conflict Resolution and Problem Solving Skills” session. Noting that in a conflict “the key word is perceptions,” Mrabet explained that a conflict occurs “if the values, goals and interests [of the two sides] are perceived as antithetical.” Therefore, she said, the key to solving a conflict is “to go beyond [the stated] positions [of the two sides]...to bring perceptions, values and interests to the table,” adding, “If you are not exploring creative solutions and not asking the right questions, you are not going to solve the issue.”
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Nader Atta calls for preserving Arab-American culture. the public about its significance to Palestinian heritage. Lena Yashruti Idriss of Inaash Association for the Development of Palestinian Camps, in Lebanon, markets high quality embroidery stitched by destitute Palestinian refugees in Lebanon’s camps. “How many of you wore your lovely thobes to last night’s gala?”asked American-born Nader Atta, a founding member of ROOTS, a Palestinian American Youth Organization (now in hibernation), who currently works with the United Nations Development Program in Ramallah. He urged listeners to maintain and preserve their culture by teaching children Palestinian songs, Arabic and the debka. Wear your thobe. Be a Palestinian ambassador. Use festivals to teach people about our culture. Pass on our hospitable Arab family values, Atta suggested. “When your kids vacation in Palestine with you, have them bring a friend...Dance in Ramallah, walk in Hebron and eat knafeh in Nablus!” Culture can become a useful economic tool, Atta concluded. Provide grants to support poets, artists and film directors. Palestinian schools need drama, chorus and newspaper clubs to train the next generation. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Leading a June 14 session on Jews in solidarity with Palestinians, Ned Rosch, an activist who grew up in a Zionist family, recalled his early identity struggle as a Jewish American who held conflicting views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His parents firmly believed that Zionism was an essential part of Jewish identity, he recalled, and that anti-Israeli sentiments were tantamount to anti-Semitism. Rosch reflected on an early visit to Israel, during which he worked on a kibbutz near Deir Yassin. Despite his proximity to the former Palestinian village, he was oblivious to the Israeli massacre that had occurred there in 1948, and discovered that such topics were seldom mentioned. “It’s not that [Israelis] hated Palestinians. It’s that they simply didn’t exist,” Rosch explained. “They were invisible and totally irrelevant.” He later deduced that this was Israel’s passive attempt to erase from history the Palestinian presence in the country, and predicted that this is where Zionism will ultimately fail. As he grew older, Rosch continued, he learned of the “glaring contradictions between the Zionist narrative and the reality on the ground,” including Israeli land grabs, ethnic cleansing, and other human rights violations. It soon became clear to him that “one side was the colonizer, the other the colonized.” With this realization, Rosch concluded that criticizing Israel and speaking out for justice does not conflict with Judaism’s core values, but rather upholds them. Opening the June 16 luncheon on Palestine, poet, educator and activist Tahani Salah stated that while “we hear statistics, numbers and dates,” it is the work of poets “to take those and to make them real.” She then recited some of her poetry. Maen Rashid Areikat, chief representative of the PLO Mission to the U.S., invited Arab Americans to look at other communities with recent immigrants to the U.S. as models for how to increase their political representation. “Look at Asian-Americans,” he said. “Their edge was crucial in Obama’s victory in Ohio in the last election.” He advised his audience to vote, write letters, make phone calls, protest, make their voices heard, engage more with fellow Americans and—most importantly—to stay united. “Don’t let the political differences taking place in your homeland reflect on your work here,” the ambassador urged, arguing that we know the problems and the remedies—we just haven’t been taking the right steps. Archbishop Theodosios of Sebastia de49
Palestinian Ambassador Maen Rashid Areikat. scribed through a translator the Palestinians’ dire situation from the Christian perspective. On the economic front, the archbishop noted, there are “employment opportunities only for a small segment of the population” and the “majority of work is in and for Israel.” He appealed to churches to support the work of local actors in creating jobs in Palestine. In spite of everything, he vowed, “our people will not lose hope for a better future.” Archbishop Theodosios went on to say that the state of Israel “prevented Christians from reaching holy sites on certain religious holidays...and [that] groups led by settlers...recently targeted Christian sites.” He concluded by describing the Palestinian issue as one of “freedom, dignity and self-determination,” and urged all to “keep the cause of independence alive.”
Awards Presented Over the course of the weekend, ADC honored several impressive individuals with awards. At the June 14 luncheon, the Rose Nader Award was presented to Houeida Saad, deputy general counsel for Inova Health System, for her continued efforts in fighting for equality and social justice. That evening, Jack Shaheen, a former CBS News consultant on Middle East affairs, awarded four young Arab Americans— Nader Ihmoud, Rand Alkurd, Phoebe Barghouty, and Jordan Laziehm—with scholarships in mass communications. Three major awards were also presented at the June 15 gala. Rima Nashashibi, a consultant in Orange County, California, received the Hala Salaam Maksoud Leadership Award for her activism in the Arab community. Shereef Akeel, a lawyer from Troy, Michigan, was awarded the Guardian of Justice Award for his legal contributions to the Arab-American community. Dr. Yusif and Andrea Farsakh were awarded the Alex Odeh Memorial Award for their 50
Archbishop Theodosios of Sebastia. commitment to justice and human rights. For years Yusif stood across the street from the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC with a Palestinian flag at 5:30 every Friday, rain or shine. He and his wife have worked to protect Palestinian culture, including its embroidery, and to raise funds to help Birzeit University. ADC chairman of the board Dr. Safa Rifka told attendees that ADC had asked President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and many other dignitaries to travel a few blocks away to address ADC’s annual convention. “We have a place at the table for you. We want you to be here,” Rifka and other ADC board members told their elected officials. He asked attendees to contact Obama to tell him, “We missed you.” He thanked ADC members who came from around the country to attend, many of them spending Father’s Day at the conference. Thank you for your work and making the time to come, Rifka concluded, and reminded them, “It starts with you!” —Antoine Rigaut, Hanna El-amrawi, Abigail Sherburne, Tessa Martin, Manaal Farooqi, Dale Sprusansky and Delinda Hanley
ATFL Speakers Share Concerns for Lebanon as They Honor Fellow Lebanese-Americans The American Task Force for Lebanon (ATFL) honored four Lebanese Americans at its annual Gala Awards Night, held this year on April 5 at the Fairmont Washington, DC hotel. ATFL executive director Dr. George Cody started off the evening with a somber description of the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon. When he visited the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut recently, Cody said, he saw three families living in one room and one man whose living space consisted of a closet carved out of a concrete wall next to the street. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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(L-r) The Farsakh family: Shakir, awardees Yusif and Andrea, and Elena. (UNHCR) predicts there will be one million refugees in Lebanon by the end of the year. ATFL President Peter J. Tanous said, “It will only get worse....The mood is tense, the economy is not doing well and hotels are empty.” Welcoming the evening’s 376 guests, Master of Ceremonies Spencer Abraham, former secretary of energy, introduced Ambassador of Lebanon to the U.S. Antoine Chedid, who is well-regarded by all political factions in Lebanon. Ambassador Chedid gave another sobering report on Lebanon: “Until now we’ve been able to weather the storm,” he said, “but Syrian events are affecting us in every way imaginable.” There are now more than 380,000 Syrian refugees, adding to the 1 million Syrians already in Lebanon, Ambassador Chedid stated. His country will continue to receive them—it can’t push them to return to Syria, he observed. “It’s not just the financial burden. We have a saturation problem,” he explained. “We are ringing the bell for help.” Lebanon is a country of paradoxes, Ambassador Chedid continued. Its people may be sharply divided, but all are attached to their democracy, and try to keep Lebanon neutral and avoid regional conflicts. Lebanon needs the assistance of all friendly nations. “We know the task ahead is difficult,” Ambassador Chedid concluded, “but it is still achievable.” Mr. Abraham introduced a fellow Lebanese American, Dr. Charles Elachi, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who showed an exciting video of Curiosity Rover‘s Mission to Mars. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, introduced Nijad I. Fares, chairman of the Houston-based Link Group, LLC. Fares, who moved to the U.S. from Lebanon in 1981, received the AUGUST 2013
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(L-r) Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, former ATFL executive director Tanya Rahall, Rep. Darrell Issa, ATFL chairman and CEO the Hon. Thomas A. Nassif, ATFL Vice Chairman Nijad I. Fares, ATFL Vice Chairman the Hon. Edward M. Gabriel, and ATFL president and CEO Peter J. Tanous. pre-crimes—since they never actually committed a crime. Relatives described Muslims entrapped by FBI stings or prosecuted for thought crimes. Nida Abu Baker said her father, Shukri Abu Baker, CEO of the Holy Land Foundation, was sentenced to 65 years in prison for providing humanitarian aid in Palestine (see Jan./Feb. 2013 Washington Report, p. 17). Her father did nothing but “provide food and shelter for the needy around the world,” Nida stated. “I’m as American as anyone out there. I was born and raised in America,” she added, emphasizing that she is deeply proud of her father, who had just told her on the phone, “justice will prevail.” She asked people to sign a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder calling for an end to this pernicious aspect of the “war
Joseph J. Jacobs Distinguished Achievement Award for his commitment to business excellence. The Honorable Selwa S. Roosevelt, former U.S. chief of protocol, introduced international opera star Rosalind Elias, one of the finest singing-actresses of our time, another Lebanese-American, who received the Ray R. Irani Lifetime Achievement Award. Legendary pollster John Zogby introduced Congressman Richard Hanna (RNY), who received the Philip C. Habib Award for Distinguished Public Service. After nearly 30 years as a business leader, the founder of Hanna Construction is putting his experience to work creating jobs for his state. Retiring ATFL chairman and CEO, the Honorable Nassif, was surprised to receive the Philip C. Habib Award for Distinguished Public Service himself at the close of the evening, thanking him for his many years of service. Each of the award recipients emphasized how important it was to them to be honored by their own Lebanese-American community. —Delinda C. Hanley
Muslim American Activism
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Scapegoated and Buried Alive The National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (NCPCF) held a May 3 rally in front of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC to call for the freeing of U.S. political prisoners. Parents, children, wives and sisters told heart-rending stories of men who have been given harsh, excessive punishments for minor crimes or even AUGUST 2013
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Nida Abu Baker tells her father’s story.
on terror,” which has resulted in Muslim Americans living in a climate of fear. Nadia Elashi, wife of the founder of the Holy Land Foundation and the Texas branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said her husband has always helped needy families. “He could not shut his eyes to his own humanity,” she explained. He opened a food pantry in New Jersey and assisted victims of floods and tornadoes. Her husband told her, “If the goal was to make an example of me, it failed. I’ve felt such love from my community.” Laila, mother of Ziyad Yaghi, now 25, said her son was convicted and sentenced to 31 and a half years in prison for visiting his homeland to find a wife when he was 19. The prosecution showed no evidence of a crime. “I’m sick and tired,” Mrs. Yaghi said. “Enough is enough...This has FBI written all over it.” She asked passersby to “stand up for us. Get to know us. Hear this mother’s heart breaking.” This entire Muslim bogeyman thing is a hoax, she insisted. “We’re normal American families who love this country as much as you.” She warned Americans that there are forces trying to change the U.S. Constitution. “Next time it will be you.” Ferik Duka, the father of three brothers—Dritan, Eljvir and Shain—sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kill Fort Dix soldiers, said his sons were entrapped in a phony conspiracy and goaded into making half-hearted plans for an attack they never intended to carry out. After listening to hours of conversations taped by the FBI agents, the judge admitted he never heard any evidence against the boys. Nonetheless the judge decided the conspiracy was probably hatched when the brothers weren’t being taped. Imagine convicting young men to life in prison for an “aspirational offense,” the anguished father demanded. Shahina Parveen said her 19-year-old son, Shahawar Matin Siraj, who has a low IQ, was entrapped by a paid informer and sentenced to 30 years for plotting to blow up a New York subway station. The litany of grieving relatives continued, until this reporter began to wonder just how many American tax dollars have been spent hiring informers to ensnare naive or disaffected young men, and how much more spent to prosecute and incarcerate them? A study of more than 500 terrorism prosecutions since 9/11 found an FBI informant led more than one-third of the plots and provided all the necessary weapons, money and transportation. —Delinda C. Hanley 51
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“There’s nothing exceptional about terrorists or violent extremists being on the Internet,” said Dr. Peter Neumann, director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London. “They are on the Internet because everyone else is.” Neumann was speaking at a May 28 New America Foundation (NAF) panel in Washington, DC called “Online Radicalization: Myths and Realities” which was held in collaboration with the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). “What makes [terrorists] different from the public, is not how they use [the Internet],” Neumann continued. “It is the purpose for which they use it.” Several weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings took place, the topic of online radicalization was a “very public conversation that needs to be had,” said moderator Haris Tarin, director of MPAC’s Washington, DC office. Dr. Neumann characterized online radicalization as a reality and a challenge to the traditional approaches that government and academics have taken in dealing with terrorism. Because there is “an enormous, vibrant, virtual community” online, he explained, there no longer needs to be a physical community to tie radicals together. Neumann also advised that fighting online radicalization should not focus on shutting down or blocking controversial content. NAF Fellow and Safe Nation Collaborative founder Rabia Chaudry addressed the kind of narratives being used by violent extremists—narratives that are easily disseminated to a wide audience online. The bigger problem is that misleading ideas like “Islam and the West are not compatible,” and “you can’t be a good American and a good Muslim ” are being propagated not only by radicals, but also by “anti-Muslim bigots.” According to Chaudry, it is the latter’s biases that have had the biggest effect on alienating Muslim youth and influencing politicians, media, and policymakers who have backed away from interacting with the Muslim community. “We need the general public, media, politicians, and policymakers to push back on the anti-Muslim narratives being propagated by Islamophobes,” she emphasized. Chaudry proposed helping the Muslim community understand and combat online radicalization by giving parents the tools they need to monitor their children’s activity online. Imam Suhaib Webb of the Is52
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Online Radicalization: Myths and Realities
(L-r) Peter Neumann, Mohamed Elibiary, Rabia Chaudry, Peter Bergen, Haris Tarin, Imam Suhaib Webb and Rashad Hussain. lamic Society of Boston Cultural Center added that “imams and scholars need to be given some leeway to engage in this problem. The fact the Tsarnaev brothers [the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings] were not able to sit down with an imam and go through counseling was our community’s fault. I need to be able to sit down with someone without being worried about being subpoenaed or held as a material witness.” Rashad Hussain, U.S. special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, agreed, noting that “in the online space, Muslims are doing more to make sure their voices are being heard.” By working with Internet service providers to make sure that “disaffected youths” are made aware of the fact that Muslims themselves often are the victims of terrorist attacks, Hussain said that the community is trying to fight the radicals at their own game. During the question-and-answer period, one audience member asked how the word jihad could be better understood, since it often has a negative connotation to nonMuslims. Imam Webb responded that the word is often misused by the perpetrators of violence to describe themselves, which causes the negative connotation. He also recalled a Twitter campaign where the young Muslim community chose to define the word jihad on its own terms, using the hashtag “my jihad.” Many of the tweets were humorous—for instance, “I took out the trash today #myjihad.” Another question touched on the imam’s earlier statement about people who reach out to help those who have been “turned” and find that instead they become targets of law enforcement agencies. Hussain responded, strongly encouraging the Muslim community, parents and imams alike, to become more involved online to help dispel the untruths in much of the radical narratives and to rely on law enforcement to handle real threats of violence. —Alex Begley THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Human Rights USS Liberty Survivors Mourn at the Tomb of the Unknowns The annual memorial service for USS Liberty victims took place June 8 at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. Usually the solemn ceremony is held at Section 34, where some of the Liberty dead are buried. On June 8, 1967, 34 American servicemen were killed and 174 wounded by a purported U.S. ally, when Israeli planes attacked the USS Liberty in international waters without warning. Survivors and friends made their way up the hill to the tomb on a sweltering hot Saturday afternoon. Three siblings, Marilyn Bigelow, Jane Hand, Susan DeVore and a grandson, Scott Triplett, attended the service to honor both their mother/grandmother, Ida Goss, and their brother/uncle, Gerry Goss, who is buried in the mass grave. Mrs. Goss died last year at the age of 98 after having attended many No Greater Love ceremonies to honor USS Liberty victims. (When the sisters cleared out the Goss home to sell it, they found years’ worth of Washington Report magazines. They kept them.) Rick Sturman, sharply dressed in his Navy whites, said he used to come to the No Greater Love ceremonies as a kid, accompanying his survivor dad, USS Liberty radioman Rick ”Rocky” Sturman. Elizabeth Miller from Albany, NY first heard about the USS Liberty by watching the History Channel’s film, “Cover Up: Attack on the USS Liberty” (available from the AET Book Club). One group of supporters who drove from upstate New York arrived at the solemn, yet very brief, ceremony just minutes after it ended. They were disappointed that this year there was no opportunity to read the names of the dead or visit the mass grave site. A large group of tourists watched the wreath-laying ceremony, and asked quesAUGUST 2013
forces to brutally repress Bahrain cannot be solely placed on the members of the opposition, monarchy. “The problem isn’t just one side, it’s both sides,” he said. Thus WashWhitson alleged. While King Hamad bin ington must be careful not to alienate the Isa Al Khalifa promised the Bahraini government, he warned, remindimplementation of reforms ing his audience that Manama has been “a following the release of the major non-NATO ally [of the U.S.] since Independent Commission of 1991.” Doing so, he predicted, would Inquiry’s report in Novem- anger Saudi Arabia and open Bahrain to ber 2011, Whitson said key Iranian influence. While there has always been tension bereforms have yet to take place. In particular, she ex- tween Bahrain’s Shi’i-majority and Sunni pressed disappointment that minority, the split between the two commany members of the oppo- munities is currently “far deeper and bitter sition remain in jail and that than it has ever been,” observed AmbasUSS Liberty survivors lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Un- those government forces sador Ronald E. Neumann, former U.S. amknown to have committed bassador to Bahrain. Sunnis fear the Shi’i knowns in Arlington National Cemetery. abuses during the first sev- will install a theocracy if they assume tions after the event, including, “How eral months of the uprising have not been power, he noted, while the Shi’i believe the come I’ve never heard of the USS Liberty?” held accountable. “Bahrain has made no Sunnis are not willing to enact inclusive This year survivors have compared the progress on these two key reforms,” Whit- political reforms. In order for the current hostilities to be calmed, Neumann said, the 1967 attack on their ship to the 2012 ter- son lamented. The stalled reform process is hindering country’s Sunni monarchy must act as a merorist attack which killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya (see article by Bryant Bahrain’s ongoing national dialogue, Whit- diator. “The idea that the two communities Jordan published on Military.com and son contended, as the government is seen can now work this out without royal interreprinted in this issue’s “Other Voices” as having no credibility. “It’s hard to have vention is a hard one to see,” he opined. Ambassador Neumann predicted that supplement). They are puzzled as to why a political dialogue when the opposition the ongoing stalemate between the regime Congress holds heated hearings and inves- remains in jail,” she added. Professor David Des Roches of the Na- and the opposition will continue for the tigations on one incident yet completely ignores their own pleas for a congressional tional Defense University (NDU) argued foreseeable future. “The government can investigation into the 1967 Israeli attack, that the strategic importance of the United maintain, it will not lose, it will not be which killed far more people. They asked States Fifth Fleet is often overstated. If overthrown,” he said, “but it cannot resupporters to sign a petition at <http:// Bahrain were to kick the Fifth Fleet out of store stability.” Similarly, the opposition is signon.org/sign/investigate-the-attack> to the country, he believes it would not pose capable of sustaining its activities but does call for a congressional investigation into a logistical or strategic problem for the U.S. not have the ability to topple the governIsrael’s attack and the subsequent cover-up The Naval facility in Manama “looks more ment, according to Neumann. Washington’s lukewarm response to by their own government. The petition like an industrial park than a military fawill be delivered to President Barack cility,” Des Roches quipped, downplaying Bahrain’s crisis has resulted in both the opObama, the U.S. House of Representatives its importance. The facility’s real value lies position and the monarchy becoming disin its school, he argued, which offers trustful of the U.S., Ambassador Neumann and the U.S. Senate. For more information visit <www.uss Bahraini students a high-quality educa- lamented. “We have alienated people to libertyveterans.org> or <www.wrmea.org>. tion, and is “probably America’s foremost the point that we have weakened our po—Delinda C. Hanley soft power institution in the Middle East.” litical effectiveness in Bahrain without getAccording to NDU professor Paul Sulli- ting anything for it,” he concluded. Politics and Human Rights in Bahrain van, blame for the current instability in —Dale Sprusansky The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) held a May 21 panel discussion titled “Bahrain: A Conversation About Its Challenges and Opportunities” at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. NCUSAR president Dr. John Duke Anthony moderated. Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch began by lamenting the Bahraini government’s withering commitment to human rights. Before the country’s uprising began in February 2011, she noted, Bahrain was highly regarded by human rights organizations. In the past two years, however, the government has denied human rights organizations and journalists (L-r) Prof. David Des Roches, Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann, Dr. John Duke Anthony, access to the country and has allowed its Sarah Leah Whitson and Paul Sullivan discuss Bahrain’s political stalemate. STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY
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DC Protesters Support “OccupyGezi”
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Anne Richard of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration praised Turkey for opening its borders Facebook brought some 300 to to Syrian refugees. The country 400 protesters to Lafayette runs 18 refugee camps that Square in front of the White house 200,000 individuals, she House on Saturday, June 1, the noted. “The standards in these day after the start of demonstracamps not only meet internations in Istanbul’s main Taksim tional standards, they exceed Square. The Turkish protests them,” Richard proudly rebegan after police launched a ported. pre-dawn raid on a peaceful sitDiscussing Turkish foreign in to prevent plans to cut down policy, Şaban Kardaş of the TOBB trees in Gezi Park at Taksim Square. The DC protest, orgaDemonstrators in front of the White House support protesters in University of Economics and nized by Yurter Özcan, president Turkey. Technology in Ankara argued of the Turkish Policy Center, that in addition to being a reFollowing Whitfield’s remarks, a more gional leader, Turkey has become a global supported the OccupyGezi movement and protested Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip informed panel discussion on Turkey’s role leader. Over the past 10 years, he noted, Erdogan’s harsh handling of the demon- in the Syrian crisis took place. Steve Hey- Turkey has taken positions on such global stration, as well as the silence of Turkey’s demann of the United States Institute of issues as underdevelopment and global inPeace (USIP) said that Turkey has done an justice, and has reached out to Africa, Asia mainstream media over police abuses. Özcan, who as a researcher at the AIPAC- admirable job of responding to the hu- and Latin America. spinoff Washington Institute for Near East manitarian, security and economic chalThe panel on “Is a Turkey-PKK Peace Policy in 2009-10 focused on Turkish- lenges posed by the unrest in Syria. How- Deal Finally Possible?” opened with jourAmerican relations and Turkish domestic ever, he argued, the country has made mis- nalist Aliza Marcus questioning Prime politics, launched the Turkish Policy Cen- takes in its political management of the Minister Erdogan’s decision not to include ter in Washington, DC in 2010. He asked conflict. the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party According to Heydemann, Turkey has (BDP) in peace talks with the militant Kurfor a minute of silence in memory of the two people who had been killed in the contributed to the growing sectarianism in distan Workers Party (PKK). Unlike PKK protest so far and gave a speech in Turkish Syria by associating closely with the Syr- leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been in in support of OccupyGezi. Other protesters ian Muslim Brotherhood. The Syrian op- prison since 1999, she argued, the BDP unshared their thoughts on the protests and position believes that Ankara “has sought derstands the desires and needs of the Kurvoiced their support for their families and to empower the Syrian Muslim Brother- dish people. Noting that the BDP wishes to hood as a leading faction within the Syrian participate in peace talks, Marcus said Erfriends demonstrating in Turkey. —Antoine Rigaut opposition,” he stated, adding that this dogan is “missing an opportunity by isoclose association “has complicated efforts lating the BDP.” to make the opposition more inclusive.” Christopher Harmon of the Marine Waging Peace Volkan Bozkir, a member of Turkey’s Corps University said Turkey must focus Grand National Assembly, offered a dire on satisfying the needs of all Turkish citiMiddle East Institute Conference assessment of the Syrian civil war. Presi- zens, not just the PKK. “I think Ankara Addresses Turkey dent Bashar al-Assad is dividing the coun- should say yes to the Kurds and the TurkThe Middle East Institute (MEI) held its try, he warned, and Syria could become ish people,” he said. “The Turkey-Iran-Iraq Nexus” panel fourth annual conference on Turkey June the Afghanistan of the region. Bozkir went 14 at the National Press Club in Washing- on to describe Syria as “a place where an- began with Lehigh University professor Henri Barkey dissecting the Iraq-Ankara ton, DC. The day-long event featured dis- archy governs.” cussions on Turkey’s relationship with its neighbors and the ongoing protests taking place in the country. Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), co-chair of the Congressional Turkish Caucus, opened the conference by offering a vague assessment of the recent unrest in Turkey. “There are some signs that bother us a little right now,” he said. Asked to elaborate during the question-and-answer session, Whitfield seemed incapable of discussing specifics. The congressman did say that he has briefly met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a handful of occasions and finds the leader to be an im- (L-r) Henri Barkey, Denise Natali and Alireza Nader examine Turkey's relationship with pressive individual. Iraq and Iran.
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(L-r) Aliza Marcus, Ayse Betül Çelik and Christopher Harmon discuss Turkey’s attempt to forge peace with the PKK.
Deputy Prime Minister Addresses Protests During his keynote address, Besir Atalay, deputy prime minister of Turkey, defended his government’s response to the ongoing protests taking place in Taksim Square. AUGUST 2013
The environmentalists who began the protests in late May were peaceful and “have the right to protest,” he affirmed. However, Atalay claimed that “radical elements of illegal organizations” quickly hijacked the demonstrations in an effort to advance the Turkish nationalist agenda. According to Atalay, the government is differentiating between genuine protesters and those who have taken to the square with what he called nefarious goals. “We are evaluating all of these groups separately,” he stated. Atalay also acknowledged that the government made some mistakes in its response to the protests. Atalay was adamant that Turkey is a free and democratic country and a role model in the region. Referencing the Arab Spring, he said Turkey “set an example and inspired people across the region to stand up and protest against authoritarian rulers.” The deputy prime minister was quick to dismiss the notion that the protests in his
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relationship. The two sides “have been throwing a lot of muck at each other as of late,” he observed, with both parties accusing the other of being sectarian. This is in part a result of the Syrian civil war, Barkey explained, which Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki views as a conflict between sects. On the other hand, “the relationship between Ankara and Erbil has become closer and closer,” Barkey pointed out. “For Ankara, the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] relationship is far more important than the Baghdad relationship.” Denise Natali of the National Defense University predicted that Turkey will not encourage the KRG to split from Baghdad. Ankara has economic interests in southern Iraq, she noted, and would likely not choose to lose Basra for Erbil. Likewise, the KRG needs Baghdad’s money to survive, Natali stated, since Erbil derives 95 percent of its revenue from the Iraqi government. Furthermore, she added, an independent Kurdish state would likely be more dependent on Turkey than it presently is on Baghdad, making such a venture counterproductive. Alireza Nader of the RAND Corporation described the Iran-Turkey relationship as “one of competition,” as both non-Arab countries desire to lead the Middle East. Despite this competition, which he predicted “won’t go away anytime soon,” Nader said Tehran and Ankara respect each other’s impressive and proud histories.
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Besir Atalay says “radical elements of illegal organizations” have participated in the Taksim Square protests. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
country are a Turkish version of the Arab Spring, arguing that “Turkey stands at a different position as far as its democracy is concerned.” Since Prime Minister Erdogan took office in 2003, he has worked tirelessly to transform Turkey into a democracy, Atalay maintained. Noting that some individuals have incorrectly classified Erdogan as an autocrat, Atalay described the prime minister as “very steadfast about many issues, and sometimes that’s misinterpreted as authoritarianism.” Atalay described Turkish nationalists as the real threat to democracy in Turkey. Unlike the nationalists, Atalay said Erdogan is in favor of forward-looking initiatives, such as securing peace with the PKK. “We [the ruling AKP party] are the ones who want to change the status quo,” Atalay declared. —Dale Sprusansky
CSID Conference Assesses State of Post-Uprising Arab Countries The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) held its 14th annual conference May 29 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC to discuss “Democratic Transitions in the Arab World: Two Years After the Arab Spring.” Georgetown University professor John Voll began the conference’s first panel with a dire statement: “Democracy is in trouble.” In Voll’s opinion, the abundance of specialized interest groups promoting one issue has resulted in a lack of long-term vision for democratic society. Fixation on a single issue makes political compromise nearly impossible, he explained, and distracts from the overall common good. We are in an “era of single-issue intransigence rather than broad vision,” Voll lamented. Voll went on to say that he believes democracy is transforming and that current definitions of the term are “old fashioned and obsolete.” Academia “has a preconditioned, narrow definition of democracy” as being liberal and secular, he said. However, he argued, “That is not the only option,” since one does not need to be liberal and secular in order to be a democrat. In order for democracy to succeed in the Arab world, Voll said, young revolutionaries must learn how to transition from the Internet and the street to the halls of government. While the youth have found freedom online, he noted, “the social media have been unable to create a bureaucracy and a structure that can run a government.” Prominent Iranian intellectual Abdolkarim Soroush offered lessons from the 1979 Islamic Revolution. According to Soroush, 55
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(L-r) Radwan Masmoudi, Alexander Martin and Joelle Fiss discuss Tunisia’s transition.
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While some believe the Tunisian transition is proceeding too slowly, CSID president Radwan Masmoudi said it’s important for the country not to rush its constitutionwriting process. “I think it’s good we take time to have a dialogue” and build a national consensus, he argued. “I think in general Tunisia is on the right path,” the optimistic Masmoudi said, but expressed disappointment with the level of support the country has received from the U.S. and Europe. The West has only offered “very minimum support,” he said. “It’s as if all of [a] sudden we [the West] don’t care.” Arguing that a successful Tunisia will stabilize the region, Masmoudi warned that “if Tunisia fails, the whole region will become a mess.” It is therefore in the West’s interest to invest in Tunisia’s future, he concluded. Noting that 560 party alliances ran lists in Tunisia’s 2011 Constituent Assembly election, Dartmouth College professor John Carey said the country’s electoral system discourages the coalescing of parties. In the future, he suggested that Tunisia remove incentives for political parties to remain small. However, Carey added, Tunisia’s 2011 election “laid a solid foundation,” warning that dramatic electoral reforms could jeopardize the success of future elections. Rashad Hussain, U.S. special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), began the luncheon session by stating that Washington has been working with the OIC to protect religious freedom, promote entrepreneurialism, ensure the ef-
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the leaders of the Iranian revolution made a mistake in believing that shariah alone can be used to govern a country. Shariah is “a law for the Islamic umma, not for a nation-state,” he explained, because nationstates have conflicting interests that divide the umma. If leaders are to run a state based on shariah, Soroush said, they must first engage in ijtihad (deep independent reasoning) to determine how it can be appropriately applied. Because the 1979 revolution was “theory-less,” he said, the necessary ijtihad never occurred, and shariah has thus proven to be an insufficient means of governance in Iran. Ashfaque Syed, co-author of the Essential Message of Islam, stressed that “democracy is fundamental to Islam,” pointing out that the Prophet Muhammad was commanded by God to take council from the people. All views, even those that are extreme, have a right to be heard, he affirmed—although speech cannot be used to slander one’s faith or ethnicity. Joelle Fiss of Human Rights First opened the second panel by discussing blasphemy laws in Tunisia. Such laws polarize society and “create obstacles to democratic development,” she stated, and “enable governments to decide what ideas are unacceptable.” Pointing out that five individuals were charged with blasphemy in Tunisia in 2012, Fiss classified criminalization of blasphemy as “a growing problem” in the country. Dismissing those who argue that blasphemy laws are comparable to incitement laws in the West, Fiss argued that incitement laws measure intent, while blasphemy laws measure how speech is received. According to Alexander Martin of Durham University, personalistic politics is holding back civil society organizations (CSOs) and political parties in Tunisia, as individuals seek their own piece of the pie instead of partnering with like-minded people. Many of these groups have inherently undemocratic internal politics, Martin said, “and must democratize themselves” before they question the democratic credentials of others.
ficient distribution of humanitarian aid, and eradicate polio from the only three countries where it remains: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. Robin Wright of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars criticized the U.S. approach to transitioning Arab countries, calling it insufficient, unimaginative and reactive. She proceeded to outline seven troubling trends in the transitioning countries: their poor economic outlook, the frustrated public’s growing skepticism of democracy, the fragmentation of political society into hundreds of groups, the worsening security situation, persistent corruption, the troubling state of women’s rights, and the potential for the redrawing of borders due to violence in Syria and Iraq. Col. (Ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson began his remarks by criticizing Israel and its relationship with the U.S. Given the regional instability, he said, Israel is in an “absolutely precarious position” and is attempting to heal its relationship with Turkey in order to become less isolated. He cited the Jewish state’s 2006 invasion of Lebanon and recent brutality in Gaza as examples of the country’s self-defeating and outdated military strategy. “We [the U.S.] have allowed Israel to dictate our security policy to us,” he lamented, even though the country is an “increasingly apartheid state” that “continues to occupy land it shouldn’t be occupying.” Turning to the Iranian nuclear issue, Wilkerson said Washington has backed itself into a corner by using sanctions as its only form of diplomacy. Tehran will not give into Washington’s attempts to change its behavior through sanctions, he predicted, leaving the U.S. with only two options: back down from sanctions or attack Iran. Wilkerson concluded by blasting Washington’s War on Terror, saying that ground wars and drone strikes have only served to foster extremism and anti-Americanism. The U.S. must turn to soft power in the region, he argued. Radwan Ziadeh, founder and director of
(L-r) Radwan Ziadeh, Marc Lynch, Peter Mandaville and Marina Ottaway critique Washington’s relationship with new Arab governments. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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the Damascus Center for Human Rights, opened the fourth panel by arguing that the U.S. has not done enough to end the violence in Syria. Western inaction has allowed the Assad regime to escalate its use of force without consequences, he insisted. Disagreeing, George Washington University professor Marc Lynch argued that Ziadeh should place blame on Syrian actors, not the West, for the escalation of violence in Syria. Lynch also urged the West not to become involved in Syria’s civil war. According to Lynch, the U.S. has been the overseer of a self-serving, unpopular regional order for decades. He urged Washington to develop a long-term vision for a democratic Middle East, arguing that even though doing so may cause difficulties in the short-term, it will pay off in the long-run. In the opinion of George Mason University professor Peter Mandaville, Washington has been too willing to overlook the transgressions of newly elected Islamist groups in the name of stability. This mirrors the approach the U.S. adopted toward the deposed regimes, he added, and urged Washington to stand up for democratic values. While Islamists are not inherently undemocratic, Mandaville said, they, like all other political groups, must be confronted when they start “behaving in decidedly authoritarian fashions.” Marina Ottaway of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars said the U.S. does not fully understand what the people of the Arab world desire of their new governments. A recent Egyptian poll found that a majority of Egyptians want both democracy and shariah-based laws, she noted. Pointing out that political transitions are long and messy, Ottaway said Washington must understand that the current instability in post-uprising countries is “perfectly normal.” Individuals with competing visions for their nations must be allowed to express their views and fight for their beliefs, she said, even if this means the shortterm fragmentation of political society. If the transitions are allowed to proceed organically, the number of political factions will eventually decrease and agreeable norms and laws for the nation will be reached, Ottaway concluded. —Dale Sprusansky
Institutional Reform in Egypt, Libya And Tunisia With political tensions heightening in North Africa, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC held a May 28 panel discussion on the Maghreb region. Three experts discussed AUGUST 2013
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(L-r) Jakob Wichmann, Ellen Lust, Marwan Muasher and Frederic Wehrey discuss the latest political developments in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. political changes and institutional dynamics in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. Marwan Muasher, vice president for studies and director of the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment, moderated. Jakob Wichmann, founder of JMW Consulting, analyzed the post-elections landscape in Egypt and Tunisia. After briefly mentioning the various Islamist groups in Tunisia and Egypt, he stated that “the main debate in the Arab world is simply what role religion should play in the state.” After analyzing 2011 election statistics, Wichmann concluded that “in Egypt those who voted for Islamists felt that religion should play a role in the state, and they also identified themselves as Muslims before Egyptians.” About 30 percent of citizens in both Egypt and Tunisia felt that religion should have an influence on the state, he added, with citizens who voted for the fundamentalist Salafis tending to be younger and less educated. Ellen Lust, an associate professor at Yale University, focused on the political cleavages in both Egypt and Tunisia and how they relate to the political climate in each country. She divided the region’s political parties into two categories: “social movement” parties that have deep societal roots, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and “rent-seeking parties,” which existed under the previous regimes but did not fare well electorally and did not develop strong ties with citizens. “Democracy means different things to these people,” she emphasized. “Particularly in Egypt, democracy has less to do with rights and more to do with economic security.” Frederic Wehrey, senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment’s Middle East program, shifted the focus to Libya. Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule continues to profoundly impact the country, he said, as its government remains highly centralTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
ized, personalized and deprived of institutions. “There is a sense the Qaddafi state is perpetuating itself,” Wehrey noted. Pointing out that “Qaddafi drilled into people’s heads that political parties are pawns of foreign powers,” Wehrey said that as a result many Libyans are suspicious of the country’s newly formed parties. Unlike neighboring Egypt, he noted, Libya has a narrow ideological spectrum, and there are no stark divides among the country’s parties. —Hanna El-amrawi
Portugal’s Estoril Conference and North-South Awards Ceremony Human rights champion and 2003 Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, was the keynote speaker at the Estoril Conferences of 2013, which met in Portugal from April 30 to May 3. This biennial forum on the challenges of globalization aims to be a link between the exclusive meetings of political leaders and policymakers at Davos, Switzerland and the grassroots gatherings at Porto Alegre in Brazil. Ebadi is still fighting the dictatorial regime in Iran, but she has now zeroed in on the struggle for women’s rights in general. “In 1979 we ousted the shah, but it’s not enough to topple dictators,” the former Iranian judge told the assembly of world figures in politics, economics and education. Ebadi emphasized that the “religious dictatorship” was even harsher. “We witnessed the toppling of dictators in the Arab spring, but women have not gained more rights. Spring will only come when women obtain equal rights.” Speaking in Farsi through an interpreter, Ebadi highlighted the ills of globalization, such as the concentration of 80 percent of the world’s wealth in the hands of the 1 percent and the widening gap between rich and poor, with one computer for 57
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guished in international forums for the construction of a better, more inclusive world is an indication of a growing recognition by Europeans of women as key protagonists in the struggle for human rights and democracy. Portugal’s President Anìbal Cavaco Silva, who presided over both the Estoril meeting and the North-South awards ceremony, paid tribute to Hauser and Jahangir for “the significant contributions that they have made to human dignity, tolerance and freedom.” The chief of state also expressed support for the North-South Center and its “new dynamic” working with civil society, Nobel Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi. in particular women and young people. Addressing the gathering of diplomats every two inhabitants of Europe and North and other dignitaries on May 21, Jahangir America compared to one computer for described “a good woman” in Pakistan as 2,000 people in Angola. “one who keeps quiet, gets beaten up and Her main focus was the discrimination keeps quiet.” Women are victims of honor faced by women around the world. On a killings, polygamy and rape at the age of recent visit to overwhelmingly Christian 13, she said. Although the laws have Liberia, she learned that 50 percent of the changed, many people are too poor to get women are still subject to genital mutilalegal aid. “We need to look at the bigger istion. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told sues,” Jahangir stressed, pointing to the her the culture must be changed because disparity of wealth and the culture of immany men won’t marry women unless they punity. “We need to deepen our demochave been circumcised. Ebadi stressed that racy. Now people say they have the right even in Europe and America, one out of to good governance.” three women are subject to domestic vioIn later statements to the press, the lence. “The problem lies in the patriarchal diminutive lawyer said she had “no probculture,” she said. lems” with Pakistan’s new civil governThe petite, gentle-mannered Iranian ment. She hoped elected leader Nawaz lawyer pointed out that in her country, the Sharif would keep his campaign promises, problem was not cultural but rather “discome to grips with the country’s grave ecocriminatory laws.” While more than 60 nomic crisis and power shortages, and impercent of students and many professors prove relations with India. She also stressed are female, a woman’s life is worth half a the need for profound reforms of the judiman’s, according to the laws regarding cial system and the military apparatus. compensation; the testimony of two Questioned about the rise in violence from women is equal to that of one man; under the Taliban, Ebadi told Lisbon daily Pubpolygamy, a man is entitled to four wives. lico: “The sanctuaries have to end. There Fending off pointed questions on Islam are places where neither the military nor and restrictions on women’s rights, Ebadi the police can enter. As long as these sancemphasized that what is said about gender tuaries exist, where some people hide, orabuse in the Qur’an is similar to that in the ganize and recruit others, as long as Torah and the Bible. “These sacred the military are reluctant to attack the books need to be correctly interproblem, we cannot advance.” preted,” she stated. “Religion shouldCo-laureate Hauser, a gynecologist, n’t be used to exploit people.” opened a therapy clinic for victims of Questioned about Western policies sexual violence and trauma at Zenica, on Iran, Ebadi came out forcefully Bosnia in 1992, and Medica Mondiale against military intervention as “towas born. The focus of her speech tally wrong,” liable to provoke a nawas a tally of sex crimes against tionalist reaction and give the governwomen over the past 20 years. ment the pretext to crack down even ”During the war in Bosnia Herzemore. She was equally opposed to govina, between 20,000 and 50,000 economic sanctions, “which make women of all ages were raped and torthings worse.” Instead, she urged political sanctions, such as: refuse to North-South Prize winners Monika Hauser (l) and tured. During the genocide in give Iranian television access to for- Asma Jahangir in the Portuguese National Assembly, Rwanda in 1994, the number of eign satellites; enforce the list of Iran- listening to a speech by President Anibal Cavaco Silva. women who suffered the same fate ian politicians barred entry to Western countries; reject “dirty money” put in European banks to buy mansions abroad; intensify pressure on Iran to respect international laws on nuclear weapons. In other words, she said: ”Stop cooperating with dictators.” Radio stations like the BBC and VOA are popular and help circumvent state censorship, she noted. Social media also is useful, but recently Tehran has copied North Korea in monitoring Internet servers and can cut off access. Shirin Ebadi’s story is especially compelling because she was forced to seek exile in London four years ago and her family has been “taken hostage.” The Iranian authorities arrested her husband and sister, released them on bail but confiscated their passports. Her human rights organization has been closed and her property auctioned off. “It’s not possible to engage in human rights now” in Iran, she concluded, adding that even lawyers are behind bars, social activists taking part in earthquake relief have been arrested, and juveniles under 12 executed. Answering a question on why there hasn’t been a popular revolution, Ebadi responded: “In the past 34 years, there was a revolution, an eight-year war with Iraq, and too much violence. Iranians are tired of violence. They want change without violence. They want to force the government to adopt reforms. Thanks to the resistance, the regime loyalists are decreasing in number. We don’t want to be another Syria.” Later, during a ceremony at Lisbon’s national assembly, two other women human rights activists, Asma Jahangir, former chair of Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission, and Monika Hauser, Italian founder of the women’s relief association Medica Mondiale, were awarded the Council of Europe’s North-South Prizes for 2012. That these women should be distin-
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has been estimated at between a quarter and a half a million. In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo there is still no end in sight to the rapes. Estimates suggest hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been victims of sexualized violence during the decades of conflict in the region. Rapes also took place during the unrest following the presidential elections in the Ivory Coast in 2010 and during the civil war in Libya in 2011. And women are being raped now in Syria.” “The worldwide outcry against the mass rapes committed in Bosnia in 1993 during the following two decades led to an increase in awareness of sexualized wartime violence and its severe consequences,” Dr. Hauser declared. But she stressed that sexualized violence is one of the most frequent crimes carried out in peacetime societies such as Germany. She referred to a 2004 study commissioned by the German Ministry for Women which revealed that 40 percent of the women questioned had experienced physical or sexualized violence, or both, since their 16th birthday. While applauding the United Nations for condemning sexualized violence in wartime, Hauser noted that the U.N. resolutions have not prevented “tens of thousands of women and girls from being raped and molested in Liberia” and “a vast number of young girls and women from suffering tremendous ordeals, with 99 percent of their tormentors remaining unpunished” in the unrest in eastern Congo. Deborah Bergamini, chair of the NorthSouth Center, said it was the first time two women had been awarded the prize, and evidence of the Center’s new focus on the empowerment of women in public life. In a dramatic warning, Bergamini said: “We are particularly alarmed by the news of the killing of Zara Shahid Hussain, senior politician in Pakistan, which occurred on Sunday, reminding us how much needs to be done to ensure the security of women in politics.” —Marvine Howe
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(L-r) Moderator Steven Heydemann, Jon Alterman, Frederic C. Hof, Joseph Holliday and Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula at the U.S. Institute of Peace. out one of the most widely discussed options for U.S. intervention in Syria: the establishment of a no-fly zone. Frederic C. Hof, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, argued that enforcing a Syrian nofly zone could help subdue what he described as “a regime known for its corruption, incompetence and brutality.” Though the U.S. is not necessarily committed to a rebel victory, Hof emphasized the importance of changing Bashar alAssad’s calculation that his regime will ultimately prevail. His fellow panelists agreed that a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone is one of the moves that could engender such regime change. Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, who commanded the U.S.-European no-fly zone over Iraq’s 36th parallel from 1997 to 2003, defined a no-fly zone as a military maneuver “designed to restrict freedom of action in a certain airspace” and stressed the importance of establishing “concise, clear objectives and rules of engagement.” Hof interjected that defining these objectives could help the U.S. avoid the same mistake it made in Iraq, where the complete collapse of the state led to deep resentment and instability in the region. Such a military maneuver would not be cheap, however, Deptula pointed out. The assets required to maintain a no-fly zone include approximately 50 aircraft, he said, as
With violence escalating in Syria, millions displaced, and nearly 100,000 more killed as of April, several events were held in Washington, DC in May and June to discuss the volatile country’s numerous issues, including the international community’s response, humanitarian aid, spillover to neighboring states and Syria’s uncertain future.
International Community’s Response At the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on May 29, panelists met to flesh AUGUST 2013
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well as other capital and human resources. In response to one skeptical audience member who warned of the escalation that could ensue from taking such a bold stance, Hof and Jon B. Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), countered that there is an equally imminent risk of escalation if the U.S. takes no action, especially in light of the Assad regime’s support from Hezbollah and Iran. At a June 7 discussion held by The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Prof. David Des Roches of the National Defense University (NDU) took a different position from the USIP panelists. Describing a no-fly zone as a euphemism for war, Des Roches pointed out that it would inherently lead to even more death and destruction. The more logical approach, he argued, is to focus on diplomacy rather than military involvement, which could exacerbate the situation. Speaking at a June 6 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event titled “The Changing Dynamics of the Syria Crisis,” Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, discussed Russia’s role in the conflict. According to Trenin, Russia’s policy toward Syria is based on three major factors. The first, he explained, is Moscow’s view that the U.S. undermines the U.N. Security Council’s
(L-r) Prof. David Des Roches, Mona Yacoubian and moderator Dr. John Duke Anthony speak at the NCUSAR event. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Spillover in the Region The crisis in Syria has had serious implications for neighboring states, including Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. Mona Yacoubian, a senior adviser at the Stimson Center, spoke at the NCUSAR event about how the conflict no longer is contained within Syria’s borders and has “morphed from a sectarian civil war to a much broader regional sectarian conflict.” Lebanon, arguably Syria’s most volatile neighbor, faces what Yacoubian termed “a melting of borders.” With Lebanese Shi’i Hezbollah fighters now openly engaged in the conflict, Lebanon has “descended into paralysis and vacuum,” according to Paul Salem, as depicted by a surge in violent unrest. “We have reprisals taken against Hezbollah inside Lebanon both by Syrian rebels from Syria and now, more concerning in some ways, from those within Lebanon,” Yacoubian noted. Iraq also has witnessed significant spillover. “May was the most violent month in Iraq in five years,” Yacoubian noted, “with a dramatic uptick in sectarian violence—in part as a result of dynamics within Iraq, but also no doubt fed by the conflict in Syria, in particular by the rise of Sunni jihadism in Syria feeding into a resurgent Sunni jihadist element in Iraq.” Meanwhile, Jordan is facing a serious strain from the influx of Syrian refugees and deteriorating conditions in the coun60
difficult to reach everyone in need of assistance, Gasser explained. Another major obstacle for the ICRC is a lack of accessibility to affected regions: in 2011 humanitarian aid groups found it extremely difficult to access the southern region of Syria to provide supplies and other forms of aid to the area, Gasser said. Even after government officials granted them access to impacted areas, she noted, transportation remained difficult for the ICRC as a result of checkpoints and roadblocks throughout the country. The four-hour journey from Damascus to Aleppo now takes two days, Gasser said, due to an estimated 30 to 50 government and opposition checkpoints along the way.
try’s already saturated refugee camps. “There is growing concern that the burden of Syrian refugees on Jordan’s system is becoming untenable,” Yacoubian warned.
Humanitarian Groups Respond While various countries are taking sides, humanitarian groups such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) remain politically neutral. On May 22, Marianne Gasser, the outgoing head of delegation for the ICRC in Syria, spoke at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars about the ICRC’s response to the crisis and some of the obstacles it is facing. Peaceful protests in early 2011 rapidly developed into small, localized military operations, Gasser recalled, which in turn led to what she described as the “new face” of the conflict in early 2012—when the proliferation of armed groups resulted in a surge of violence from both the government and opposition groups. Recognizing the growing humanitarian needs, in mid-2012 the ICRC doubled its supplies to the region, including food parcels, water, medical equipment, blankets and basic household items, Gasser said. In addition to providing supplies and medical care to victims of the conflict, the ICRC also helps families locate their displaced relatives, she explained. Gasser stressed that the ICRC’s role in the context of a multifaceted war is to assist soldiers and civilians on all sides of the conflict, regardless of their political standing. Acknowledging that the ICRC faces several obstacles in assuming this role, she added, “We can never pretend, unfortunately, that we are covering all the need.” The multiplicity of the opposition makes it
“The Tipping Point”
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ability to objectively monitor the use of force. The second factor stems from Russia’s decision not to block the 2011 international intervention in Libya. “The Russians have burned their fingers badly over Libya,” Trenin explained. “Their reaction to the Syrian crisis has been formed [by this experience].” The final factor, according to Trenin, is Russia’s position on regime change. “Russians maintain that they do not see regimes being changed under pressure from outside sources.” Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have also been supportive of a nofly zone, in what Alterman described as an attempt to commit the U.S. and Europe to the humanitarian crisis. And yet both Alterman and Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, reminded their audiences that the GCC’s military resources are limited, and it therefore is doubtful that any of the six member states could contribute meaningfully. Alterman added that Turkey, another potential U.S. ally for the no-fly zone option, has a significantly more capable air force than the GCC.
Marianne Gasser discusses Syria’s humanitarian crisis at the Wilson Center. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Panelists at the Carnegie Endowment event enumerated the various implications of the Syrian government’s successful siege of Qusayr in western Syria, which ended on June 5. Yezid Sayigh, a senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center, who called in from Beirut, described the fall of Qusayr as a “useful marker” of where the Syrian conflict stands and a “clear indication” of where it is headed in the next few months. Qusayr is not significant in and of itself, Sayigh explained, but rather must be placed in the context of a much larger strategic picture. It reflects some of the inherent problems of the Syrian opposition forces: leadership difficulties, disunity, and a general failure to provide effective military strategies, he opined. It also “sends the message that the regime’s [forces] are in control of their own assets and their own resources,” Sayigh added. While the regime has been pushing back and regaining territory over the past four months, Sayigh described the conflict as still being in a state of “dynamic strategic equilibrium.” He elaborated: “Both sides were able to make gains and losses without tipping the equilibrium, but now it seems that if it tips it will tip in the regime’s favor.” Although some members of the regime were previously uncertain of their allegiance, Qusayr’s defeat implies a change in attitude, according to Sayigh, who predicted that “wavering” individuals will stop defecting in the months to come and that the crisis will reach some form of resolution within the next six months. Other panelists remained uncertain. —Tessa Martin
Iowa Groups Ask Sen. Harkin to Address Drone War, Secrecy Representatives of Iowa peace and social AUGUST 2013
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nity’s support for decades, Briggs, assistant director of CPM; Sherry Howard asked the senator Hutchison of DMVFM; Eloise Cranke of to “really step up to the MFSA; and Harkin office interns Lara Neplate as he leaves office, to tolicky and Samuel Roeder. —Michael Gillespie really speak for those who don’t have a voice. He’s been good at that, and Assessing Pakistan’s Election now’s the time for him to The New America Foundation (NAF) have some real bravery in hosted a May 23 panel at its Washington, calling Obama on the car- DC offices to discuss Pakistan’s May 11 pet for these very serious general election, which saw former Prime secrecy issues.” Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim Harkin announced on League-Nawaz (PML-N) party win a simple Lynn Howard (c) speaks during a May 23 meeting at Sen. Jan. 26 that he would not majority of seats in parliament. Peter seek a sixth Senate term. Bergen, director of NAF’s National Security Tom Harkin’s office in Des Moines. Reynolds emphasized that Studies Program, moderated the discusjustice organizations met with Sen. Tom Harkin is “not slowing down and fading sion, titled “What’s Next for Pakistan’s Harkin (D-IA)’s staff in Des Moines on May away. As I heard somebody say this morn- New Government?” Dr. Simbal Khan, a Pakistan scholar at 23 to ask Harkin to address questions ing, he’s got a real fire in his belly and is the Woodrow Wilson International Center about the Obama administration’s drone stepping up” on a number of issues. Rev. Chet Guinn of the Methodist Feder- for Scholars, pointed out that observers program, secrecy, and to thank Harkin for ation for Social Action noted the similari- have responded to the election with both his action on other issues. “Could Senator Harkin ask the adminis- ties between the disclosure of the Pentagon skepticism and optimism. Skeptics of the tration for the number of civilian casualties Papers during the Vietnam war and the election “cited some of the continuities” in Pakistan since the U.S. drone program documents leaked by Pfc. Bradley Man- with the past, arguing that the country’s has been in existence and during the time ning through Wikileaks, an international, political leadership has essentially remained since the president has escalated the drone online, non-profit organization that pub- the same since the 1990s and that the miliprogram?” asked Jeffrey Weiss, director of lishes secret information, news leaks, and tary remains a potent force, Khan said. On the Catholic Peace Ministry (CPM), who classified media from anonymous sources. the other hand, she noted, optimists “cite “It’s important that we know the truth,” discontinuities” with the past, and point to led the delegation and began the discussion with Harkin staff assistants Jule Guinn stated. “As we sit here, Bradley the country’s vibrant media and judicial Manning is imprisoned for revealing the advances as evidence of progress. Reynolds and Omar Padilla. Regardless of one’s viewpoint, Khan Weiss said the numbers are no longer truth about current policies, and I would classified and “we don’t understand why like for him to be released. It’s unfair, it’s said, Pakistanis should not expect the electhe number of civilian casualties from unjust. We need to know the truth, and tion to result in immediate change. “The election is an event,” but change is a long drone bombings has to be kept secret from we are continually lied to.” Ed Bloomer of the Des Moines Catholic process, she reminded the audience. In adcitizens of the United States. “When the president decides who will Worker said cutting the drone program and dition to fiscal issues, Sharif’s government live and die in foreign countries, what are ending the emphasis on U.S. military action will have to address the “huge issue” of sethe criteria?” Weiss continued. “We feel as foreign policy around the world would curity and “existential internal threats,” that if [our government] is assassinating “put beans, potatoes, milk, and bread on the she said, pointing to militant groups and foreigners on a regular basis in our tables of the needy and mean more jobs for the “abysmal” state of basic law enforcenames—putting our own country in dan- the working class and the middle class, better ment as two imposing internal threats. Malik Siraj Akbar, editor-in-chief of The ger, by the way—that we should know educational opportunities and health care.” Also participating were Aaron Jorgensen Baloch Hal, expressed concern over two ismore about this.” Gilbert Landolt, president of Veterans For Peace Des Moines Chapter 163, read a joint statement on drone policy drafted to represent the views of his chapter, Iowa City Chapter 161, and Linn County (Cedar Rapids) Chapter 169: “We oppose the current U.S. use of weaponized drones as illegal, immoral and counterproductive. We strongly urge that there be no drone control unit for weaponized drones in the state of Iowa,” declared Landolt. Lynn Howard of the Des Moines Valley Friends Meeting (DMVFM) brought a letter from the Friends Committee for National Legislation and a letter composed by Iowa Friends (Quakers). Noting that Harkin has (L-r) Shamila Chaudhary, Andrew Wilder, Malik Siraj Akbar, Simbal Khan and Peter had the peace and social justice commu- Bergen discuss the implications of Pakistan’s recent elections. AUGUST 2013
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sues: the level of militant violence during the election campaign and Sharif’s lack of appeal to people outside of Punjab province. Akbar described the latter as part of a new trend of “regionalized politics” in Pakistan, explaining that “Sharif has no popularity in Balochistan...Waziristan...and in Pakhtunkhwa.” Andrew Wilder, director of the United States Institute of Peace’s (USIP) Afghanistan and Pakistan programs, focused on the positives of the election. “These were relatively free and fair elections,” he noted, adding that despite the violence that permeated the campaign, voter turnout was 55 percent, up 11 percent from 2008. The media and Imran Khan, leader of the defeated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, deserve credit “for mobilizing new voters,” particularly students, youth associations and women, he said. While past electoral violence has been carried out by supporters of political parties, this election’s violence has been militant-based, Wilder observed. “The role of militant groups was a disturbing feature,” he commented. According to Shamila Chaudhary, senior South Asia Fellow at the NAF, post-election Pakistan is an unknown territory. “We clearly don’t have a good idea as to what’s to come,” she explained. Changes in Pakistani institutions, voting patterns, political parties, and media mean that the country’s politics are fluid and still evolving, she opined. Due to Imran Khan’s popularity, Chaudhary predicted a three-party dynamic among the Pakistan’s People Party (PPP), the PML-N and the PTI going forward. She concluded by describing “relations with the U.S. as a potential flashpoint,” given that there is “an unarticulated policy between both countries.” —Antoine Rigaut
Assessing Iran’s Presidential Election Three days after Hassan Rowhani was elected president of Iran on June 14, two Washington, DC-based organizations held discussions on the impact of the cleric’s victory on nuclear negotiations and Iranian domestic politics. Speaking on a teleconference call organized by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, BBC Persian contributor Meir Javedanfar said he was pleasantly surprised that the presidential election was fair. He was not quick to give Ayatollah Ali Khamenei credit, however. Given the perceived fraud that took place during the 2009 presidential vote and the country’s slumping economy, Javedanfar 62
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(L-r) Geneive Abdo, Fatemeh Haghighatjoo and Cliff Kupchan predict how Iran’s presidentelect Hassan Rowhani will approach nuclear negotiations. argued that the ayatollah was forced to permit fair elections in order to maintain his legitimacy. Regardless, former Iranian parliamentarian Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, speaking at an event hosted by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, described the election as “a win-win for all.” While Khamenei was able to increase his legitimacy, the people were able to relish in the fact that their voices were heard, she noted. Pointing to the celebrations which followed the announcement of Rowhani’s victory, Haghighatjoo said “hope and excitement is in the air” in Iran. Bijan Khajehpour, managing partner of Atieh International, agreed, telling his fellow teleconferencers that the Iranian people once again feel empowered. “The people feel that they are back as one of the determinants of the political process in Iran,” he explained. “This was a positive step toward greater democracy in Iran,” Khajehpour stated, adding that “Iran is not as un-democratic as it has been described outside of Iran.” Hosein Ghazian, an exiled Iranian who addressed the Heinrich Böll Foundation event via Skype, attributed Rowhani’s election to the fact that the conservative camp, including the ayatollah, was unable to coalesce behind one candidate. Conversely, liberals, particularly the youth, “lined up behind Rowhani” during the final days of the campaign, driving him to victory. According to Iran’s Interior Ministry, 72.2 percent of Iranians participated in the election, Ghazian noted. During the campaign cycle, Rowhani, regarded by many as a moderate, promised Iranians greater social freedoms, the release of political prisoners, a more diverse press and better relations with the West, noted Geneive Abdo of the Stimson Center at the Heinrich Böll Foundation event. Nevertheless, Abdo stated, Rowhani will not be an American lap dog. The cleric is close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, she reminded her audience, and has stated that the West must recognize Iran’s right to THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
a peaceful nuclear program. Speakers at both discussions were cautiously optimistic that Rowhani, who won 50.7 percent of the vote, will inject some hope into stalled nuclear negotiations. In Javedanfar’s opinion, “Rowhani definitely wants to reach a deal with the West to reduce the sanctions.” Noting that Rowhani slammed Iran’s current foreign policy during presidential debates, Cliff Kupchan of the Eurasia Group told the Heinrich Böll Foundation audience that he expects Rowhani, who was Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2003-2005, to put together a new nuclear negotiation team. The Rowhani administration is “going to be much more creative, they’re going to be engaging” when it comes to nuclear talks, he predicted. “I think Rowhani will have a window of one year to show that a different narrative can be developed in the nuclear negotiations,” Khajehpour predicted. If there is no breakthrough by then, he believes Ayatollah Khamenei will force a reversion back to the status quo. Khajehpour urged Washington to capitalize on this window of opportunity by offering Tehran sanctions relief. Javedanfar expressed doubt that Washington will soften its approach, however, saying, “I don’t see any sanctions relief being offered any time soon.” Because the nuclear issue has been drawn out for a decade, Kupchan said he believes “the U.S. is not going to waste a lot of time figuring out what Rowhani is about.” “We’ve had opportunities in the past and both sides have managed to squander them,” Kupchan reminded his audience, stressing the importance of perspective. The ayatollah still ultimately controls Iran’s nuclear policy, he added. Making a similar point, Khajehpour pointed out that “the overall power structure [in Iran] has not changed much.” Nevertheless, Kupchan said Rowhani’s election provides a rare moment of hope. U.S.-Iranian relations, while expected to remain tense, are “very likely AUGUST 2013
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who seem to be “apathetic” to change for the better,” he and “fed up” with the situaopined. tion. “The basic sentence Kupchan and Khajehpour you’ll get from an Israeli is both predicted that nuclear ne’We tried everything,’” Misgotiations will not be Rowhani’s gav said. —Abigail Sherburne top priority. During a post-election press conference, KhajehNew Story Leadership pour noted, Rowhani said his Raises Funds for 2013 “first priority is to improve our relations with our neighbors, Reps. Chris Van Hollen (Dparticularly Saudi Arabia.” MD) and Jared Polis (D-CO) Kupchan believes the new pres- (L-r) Uri Misgav, Sarah Wildman and Linoy Bar-Gefen discuss the addressed a standing-roomident will place much of his Israeli media’s coverage of Palestine. only crowd at the Fund for focus on improving Iran’s econAmerican Studies in Washingomy. If Washington and Tehran are to reach ter of perspective, Bar-Gefen said. “When ton, DC on May 7 to help New Story Leadany kind of deal, Kupchan said, he believes they [Palestinians] are behind the wall…it’s ership for the Middle East raise money for it will be in regard to Afghanistan, where easier to dehumanize them. It’s easier to its summer 2013 program. both countries share a mutual concern over not think about them,” she noted. But MisAustralian-born founder and CEO Paul gav agreed with Bar-Gefen that “the prob- Costello explained the program: “We bring the narcotics trade. —Dale Sprusansky lem is not hatred, the problem is indiffer- ten students, five Israelis and five Palestinience.” ans, college age, 20-27, to Washington, DC Editing (Out) the Occupation This indifference feeds into an unfortu- for 7 weeks, to live together in diverse pairs, The New America Foundation (NAF) nate cycle, according to the panelists. in a shared host family, and to work in a hosted a May 30 conversation between Is- “Peace means, more or less, apathy or in- shared internship.” Costello received recograeli journalists Uri Misgav and Linoy Bar- difference,” Wildman said. Misgav elabo- nition from Congress and the Northern IreGefen regarding the Israeli media’s treat- rated by saying, “When they [Palestinians] land Assembly for his 2000-2007 peace and ment of the occupation. Sarah Wildman, a shoot, we can’t talk about peace. When reconciliation program for Irish youths. In 2010 he turned his powerful narrative way foreign policy correspondent for politics they don’t shoot, why talk about peace?” But the cycle isn’t hopeless, according to of peace-building into the NSL program for daily.com, moderated the event, which was held at NAF headquarters in Washington, the two Israeli journalists. Misgav pointed Israeli and Palestinian young adults. to President Barack Obama’s recent visit to “This is a great experience for young DC. Bar-Gefen, co-host of “Visitor’s Club” and the Middle East as a way to turn the tide. Palestinians and Israelis to come to the Capeditor of the digital alternative news pro- In the wake of his visit, Misgav said, “peo- ital and see how we do things,” Representative Polis said. Each NSL participant “is gram “Hayarkon 70,” began by discussing ple are talking about hope and change.” Bar-Gefen was quick to agree that Amer- able to forge a personal bond with a neighthe 1990s, which she said was the “golden age” of Israeli coverage of the occupation ican involvement can help to further the bor a world away...I’ve been blown away by and peace process. Today, however, Bar- peace process. “They were blown away,” the drive and creativity of our interns. It’s Gefen said, coverage of the occupation is she said of Obama’s visit. “They were com- been a great experience for our own staff.” “By sharing personal stories you better unpublished and undesired in Israel. Re- pletely in love. [President Obama spoke] a calling a recent meeting with Palestinian message of hope, it is nothing we’ve heard understand a different world view,” added Representative Van Hollen. “Sharing stories journalists, Bar-Gefen said that “these peo- in Israel for years now.” Despite Obama’s positive message, Mis- breaks down barriers and corrects misunple actually think that we’re thinking about them, that we’re talking about them…we gav and Bar-Gefen fear that the recent derstandings.” Quoting writer Sarah Breathdon’t think about the Palestinians anymore. American injection may have come four nach, he said, “The world needs dreamers years too late. They expressed concern and the world needs doers. But above all, the We don’t talk about them.” Haaretz writer and commentator Uri with the youth of both Israel and Palestine, world needs dreamers who do.” He called on everyone in the room to support this Misgav agreed, saying, “these [subvisionary project and help build a betstantive] stories are not as welcome,” ter future for Israelis and Palestinians. and therefore not present in the mainTwo “sister” graduates from the stream Israeli media. 2010 program reflected on their sumAsked Wildman, “How is it possimer together. “Today the situation is ble to live 30 minutes from the conway worse than it was three years ago,“ flict and not feel anything?” Misgav said Mariam Ashour-Perova, who grew responded by saying that Israelis up under siege in Gaza and now works have become “comfortably numb” to for the International Monetary Fund. the conflict and the occupation. Liv“Thank you for not giving up on us.” ing in this sterilized atmosphere, Noam Rabinovich, who now works comfortably flanked by border police for the Israeli human rights organizaand checkpoints, “has damaged the sense of urgency,” Misgav observed. (L-r) Reps. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Chris Van Hollen tion B’Tselem, agreed, saying, “Noth(D-MD) urge donors to fund the New Story Leadership ing has changed. It’s not getting any “You can live with [the conflict].” easier to speak up. I have no intention The lack of urgency is also a mat- program for Israelis and Palestinians. AUGUST 2013
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of shutting up—in fact, I’ve made not shutting up my job.” Rabinovich warned, “The real danger is the absence of change and the absence of hope.” After meeting the class of 2013, five Israelis and five Palestinians, at a welcome barbecue in Rockville, MD on June 22, this writer has a new reason to hope. For more information visit <newstoryleadership.org>. —Delinda C. Hanley
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(L-r) Mahdee Jaber, Aaron David Miller and Nimrod BenZe’ev discuss how Facebook is being used to bring Palestinian and Israeli youths together. dices helps to foster a community and a new, shared sense of identity. Jaber said that humanizing both sides of the conflict is a positive outcome of YaLa’s platform. “Once they make that connection,” he stated, “[the users] don’t think of a Palestinian as just wearing a keffiyeh or an Israeli as just in an army uniform.” “Because you feel comfortable, they are no longer the other,” noted BenZe’ev of the connections he has made with Arabs on YaLa. “I have friends who I know everything about, who know everything about me…that goes beyond dialogue and conflict.” “For once,” Jaber added, “I think people in the Middle East are agreeing on something.” —Abigail Sherburne
Friends of UNRWA Race Raises Awareness, Funds for Gaza Children American Friends of UNRWA held a 5K Walk/Run on June 8 in Washington, DC’s Rock Creek Park to raise funds (and awareness) for children in Gaza. Nearly 400 par-
ticipants—runners and sponsors—raised $92,000 which will help fund a psycho-social support program for 3,000 children in Gaza suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While the vast majority of Gaza’s 1 million children suffer from PTSD, caused by the recent Israeli assault on Gaza and the on-going siege, 61.5 percent show severe to very severe PTSD reactions. A staggering 42 percent of Gazans suffering from PTSD are children under the age of 9. More funds are needed to provide services to Gaza’s children. American Friends of UNRWA is a nonprofit organization that supports the humanitarian and human development work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Another Gaza solidarity 5K will take place in San Francisco on Oct. 5. Visit <www.unrwausa.org> for more information or to make a tax-deductible donation. —Delinda C. Hanley
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The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a June 3 introduction of the YaLa Young Leaders group at its Washington, DC offices. The panel comprised two young people from the organization: Mahdee Jaber, a Palestinian American who currently studies at the College of San Mateo in California, and Nimrod BenZe’ev, a Jerusalem-born Israeli who studies at Tel Aviv University. The conversation was facilitated by Aaron David Miller, vice president for new initiatives at the Wilson Center. YaLa is a social media movement based on Facebook that fosters regional dialogue for the youths of the Middle East. Given its nature as a public social media network, users can create a shared sense of identity and community. But BenZe’ev, a YaLa steering committee co-coordinator, said that the platform goes beyond being a forum for discussion: “We’re amplifying their voices,” he noted, “we’re making them louder, we’re getting them heard.” YaLa is dedicated to being a voice of the youth for the youth, for the future of the Middle East, BenZe’ev said. BenZe’ev is convinced that the website, which has some 365,000 members, reflects the commonalities among people of all different backgrounds and ethnicities. “The notion that you can supplant a future in the region is ridiculous,” he said, insisting that YaLa cannot be about anything but its members. Jaber, an active YaLa member, said that using YaLa “was the first time in my life I had seen an Israeli listen to what a Palestinian had to say.” He had anticipated that the website wouldn’t be popular among some Arabs because of the active Israeli connection, but that has not been the case, he said. So Jaber offered an explanation of how the Palestinians and Israelis were finding common ground: economic instability. “Everyone wanted a job,” he explained. “If you’re an Israeli or a Palestinian, it doesn’t matter.” Both panelists agreed that finding and highlighting these human connections rather than entrenching cultural preju-
Runners and walkers of all ages gather at the starting line, ready to show solidarity with the children of Gaza. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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(L-r) AFSC Iowa Program Coordinator Kathleen McQuillen, DMCW Rachel Corrie Project members Jessica Reznicek and Julie Brown, and AFSC intern Iyyad Rayyan. with a line of Israeli soldiers and a military armored truck. I could not believe what was playing out before me. A small group of school boys was facing off with grown men from one of the largest armies in the world. The soldiers on the ground as well as a large group of soldiers in the tree line on the hill to our right above us were dressed head to toe in full tactical gear and carrying automatic weapons. They were there to block the route of the march. At one point a couple of the young boys picked up some small stones in the road and threw them. These stones rarely hit anything but seemed to be a way for the youths growing up in a life of occupation and war to say, ‘I’m here,’” said Brown. On the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, Brown and Reznicek were members of a three-person MPT team who joined seven other internationals to provide protective accompaniment for about 20 Palestinian farmers in the village of Urif. Brown and Reznicek were arrested, detained at an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) post, moved to an Israeli settlement on illegally-occupied Palestinian land, and released a few hours later. (See “Rosalie Riegle Discusses Crossing the Line,” Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June/July 2013, p. 52.) The event was sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Iowa’s Middle East Peace Education Project. —Michael Gillespie
Speaking May 25 at the Islamic Institute of Orange County, Zahalka said that for Palestinians, the Nakba isn’t an event or a memory. “We are living it,” he declared. East Jerusalem Palestinians are living under full occupation with no rights, he said, including the option to vote. “The Israelis are making all Palestinians refugees, even those living in Israel,” Zahalka continued. “Israel is succeeding by dividing the Palestinians, and we contribute to that division. If we are to survive, we must be one people regardless of the designations of Gaza and the West Bank.” Zahalka recalled the words of poet Mahmoud Darwish, who said that whoever has the most accepted narrative owns the land. “The Palestinians have the truth—that is their narrative. Now they must make it known,” he stressed. Israeli soldiers are indoctrinated to kill Palestinians, he averred. The state of Israel was based on the transfer of Palestinians off the land to make room for Jews from all over the world to create an exclusive Jewish state. Israel is confiscating 800,000 dunams (200,000 acres) of land in the Negev, Zahalka added. “Palestinians must refuse to be ex-
Nakba Commemorated Dr. Jamal Zahalka, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset as well as the elected president of the National Arab Democratic Party, commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, or “catastrophe,” with three speaking engagements the last weekend in May in Southern California at the invitation of American Muslims for Palestine. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR
Julie Brown and Jessica Reznicek, members of the Des Moines Catholic Worker (DMCW)’s Rachel Corrie Project, spoke on May 15 at the Des Moines Valley Friends Meeting House about their experiences with a Michigan Peace Team (MPT) delegation in Palestine’s occupied West Bank in February. “Ramallah is located just inside the apartheid wall that separates the West Bank from Israel,” Reznicek began. “While I was visiting Ramallah, I met a woman who told me a story that broke my heart. She explained the three degrees of Palestinian ‘citizenship’ recognized by the Israeli government. “The first are those Palestinians who were living in Palestine in 1948 on land that is now considered Israel. These people carry with them Israeli IDs. They can vote and fly out of Israel’s airport in Tel Aviv,” Reznicek told the audience of about 30. “The second are those Palestinians who are living in East Jerusalem. They also carry Israeli IDs and can fly out of Israel’s airport. These people cannot, however, vote. Because the first two described Palestinians carry with them Israeli IDs they are also permitted to maneuver somewhat easily through the many checkpoints which surround the West Bank as well as the villages inside it. “The third type of Palestinian are those living in the West Bank,” Reznicek continued. “These people must carry with them a Palestinian ID. They are not permitted by the Israeli government to vote in Israeli elections, to fly out of Israel’s airport, or to even leave the West Bank for reasons other than work or medical emergencies. The Palestinian woman who shared her story with me pulled out her Palestinian ID as she spoke. She looked to me to be about my age, in her early 30s, and tears streamed down my face as I listened. I tried to imagine the feeling of living my whole life in the face of guard towers, checkpoints, giant walls, machine guns and tanks, and watching all of this surrounding me as the apartheid wall continues to close in,” said Reznicek said. Brown described a protest march she attended in Kafr Qaddum. “Just before noon, while the adult men went to pray, a member of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, an EMT, suggested that we walk up the hill to see where the march would be going. As we got to the top we noticed a group of small boys engaged in a standoff
STAFF PHOTO M. GILLESPIE
Rachel Corrie Project Catholic Workers Speak in Des Moines
Dr. Jamal Zahalka (l) with his Southern California host, Tawfieq Mousa. 65
STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR
activisms_46-66_August 2013 Activisms 6/25/13 7:58 PM Page 66
Palestinian flags fly in front of Israel’s Los Angeles Consulate on May 15 as Palestinian Americans commemorated 65 years of the Nakba.
Photos taken by young adults of their villages in Pakistan’s tribal areas on display at the United States Institute of Peace.
Photographs From Pakistan’s Tribal Areas Internews, National Geographic and USAID sponsored a photograph exhibit titled “Pakistan Through Our Eyes: Emerging Photographers from the Tribal Areas” on June 12 at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, DC. The exhibit was the result of a collaboration between Internews, a non-profit organization aimed at strengthening local media worldwide, and National Geographic on a project called “Enabling Progressive Voices in Pakistan,” designed to teach photographic skills to promising photographers across Pakistan. The project organized a photo camp in Islamabad for 17 photographers, all in their 20s and hailing from Pakistan’s Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA). 66
The National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC) held a June 10 luncheon at the Ritz-Carlton hotel to welcome Ambassador Mokhtar Chaouachi, who became Tunisia’s ambassador to the U.S. on April 15. Ambassador Mokhtar told his audience of business leaders that Tunisia’s economy is showing signs of recovery. In 2012, the country’s unemployment rate decreased to 16.7 percent, he pointed out, a 2 percent improvement over the previous year. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has also increased recently, the ambassador added, noting that most of the FDI in Tunisia comes from Qatari- and French-based businesses. “Tunisia possesses many benefits that make the country very appealing to investors,” Ambassador Mokhtar stated. In particular, he cited the country’s new democracy, desirable location, tough anticorruption policy, infrastructure growth, incentive packages and highly skilled workforce as reasons why businesses should invest in the North African country. —Dale Sprusansky
local communities, especially in regions, such as the FATA, which are fraught with war, violence and natural disaster. The group also attended a second photo camp in Washington, DC. They documented stories from the National Mall and DC’s iconic monuments, but also visited local attractions, such as U Street and the E.L. Haynes public charter school. Tyrone Turner, the National Geographic photographer who worked with the participants, recalled how “the language of photography transcended the borders.” Donald Steinberg, deputy administrator of USAID, spoke with great enthusiasm of Pakistan. “There is new hope,” he claimed, “a new spirit...and there is a recognition that the press and media are a key to NUSACC president David Hamod (l) welcomes Tunisian that.” The country’s recent Ambassador Mokhtar Chaouachi to Washington, DC. STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY
Music & Arts
Diplomatic Doings Business Leaders Welcome New Tunisian Ambassador
The 17 young photographers selected their best shots for the exhibit, revealing stories of the little-known region. This project is built upon the recognition of the need to connect people through media in order to empower
STAFF PHOTO A. RIGAUT
pelled. We must stay in our towns and villages to fight or to die,” he concluded. As Zahalka testified in the Knesset: “Take your democracy and give us our land.” —Samir Twair
elections, many experts have remarked, revealed an unusual degree of vibrancy and professionalism from the media. “[These photographers] are a shining spotlight in Pakistan,” Steinberg concluded. Shah Jehan, a photo camp participant, showcased one of his best shots, a side-angled close-up picture of a stoic 65-year-old man with a religious profile. He then described his desire to train fellow young photographers in the FATA. —Antoine Rigaut
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
AUGUST 2013
opm_67-68_Other People's Mail 6/26/13 5:15 PM Page 67
Other People’s Mail Compiled by Dale Sprusansky
No Syrian Intervention To the Anchorage Daily News, June 15, 2013 So we are going to send aid to Syrian rebels based on “intelligence” proving chemical weapons were used on civilians. Didn’t this information come from the same cluster of agencies (NSA, CIA etc.) who told us Saddam Hussain had WMDs? Please, folks, we didn’t belong in Iraq and we don’t belong in Syria. Anne Masker, Eagle River, AK
No Guarantees in Syria To The Washington Post, June 19, 2013 The Post argued that U.S. security interests require a “more robust…intervention” in the Syrian civil war. A better case can be made for avoiding the fray altogether. Sending medium-size and heavy weapons into Syria, with or without the establishment of a no-fly zone, could prolong the violence and destabilize the country for years even if the Assad regime collapses. There is no way to guarantee that sophisticated armaments will not fall into the hands of the most radical elements in the rebel camp. The United States’ experience in Afghanistan suggests caution: The CIA helped give birth to al-Qaeda by supplying weaponry to the mujahideen to fight the Soviet Union. Plus, to control the airspace over Syria, the United States would have to become a belligerent by bombing anti-aircraft batteries, radar sites and other installations. Employing such force in the absence of a U.N. Security Council resolution would violate international law and further strain relations with Russia and China. Iraq, Afghanistan and even Libya demonstrated that U.S. military engagement in the Middle East can produce unexpected and undesirable outcomes. What confidence can Americans have that entanglement in the sectarian fratricide in Syria would be different? Michael J. Keller, Silver Spring, MD
Syria and Libya To The Globe and Mail, June 20, 2013 The no-fly zone imposed by the U.N. over Libya morphed into bombing raids, called for by opposition forces on the ground, on Muammar Qaddafi’s strategic installations. This went far beyond what AUGUST 2013
was initially intended. It is no surprise that China and Russia will not sign on to a nofly zone over Syria. Once bitten, twice shy. Ed Bodi, Oakville, Ontario
No Arms to Rebels To The New York Times, June 17, 2013 Our country precipitated a sectarian blood bath of incalculable proportions in Iraq because the American people failed to stand up to an administration bent on war. The bloodletting in Iraq continues in varying degrees today. A decade later the Obama administration is being pressured by unrepentant Iraq war boosters and others to intervene militarily in the Syrian civil war. While we did not start this conflict, no one believes that our military intervention will stop the carnage. Indeed, its express purpose is to prolong it on behalf of a loose coalition of insurgents, some of whom are affiliated with our sworn enemies and who we can only pray will not indirectly acquire the arms we are providing. Will the American people remain silent while our reach once again exceeds our grasp? I hope not. Michael Curry, Austin, TX
Investigate Liberty Attack To the [Warren, PA] Times Observer, June 8, 2013 June 8th marks the 46th anniversary of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. Joe Meadors, director of operations for the USS Liberty Veterans Association (joe@uss liberty.com) makes the following points of comparison between the current media frenzy over the Benghazi attacks, and Israel’s June 8, 1967 attack on the USS Liberty. 1. Four Americans dead in Benghazi, Libya—results in a congressional investigation. Thirty-four United States sailors dead, 174 wounded on the USS Liberty in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula. No congressional investigation. 2. Rescue forces told to stand down in Benghazi. Rescue aircraft recalled as they set off to save the USS Liberty. 3. GOP members of Congress demand to know the truth about Benghazi. Every member of Congress ignores the USS Liberty. Joe urges us to contact our members of Congress to ask why Congress should inTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
vestigate the attacks in Benghazi but not the more deadly Israeli attack on the lightly armed United States Navy intelligence ship the USS Liberty. Neil Himber (Vietnam vet), Youngsville, PA
Palestinians in Area C To the Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2013 Thank you for publishing the enlightening article about the plight of people living in the so-called Area C in the Palestinian territories, where Israel retains security and administrative control. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor is quoted as saying that “Israel regularly approves dozens of international projects for the benefit of the Palestinian people.” And yet, as the article notes, between 2000 and 2007, 94 percent of Palestinian building permits were rejected. During the same period, more than 18,000 homes were built by settlers on Palestinian land. Americans think of themselves as a moral, just people, yet in 2012, Israel received more than $3 billion in U.S. aid, which assisted a country that illegally suppresses an entire people while American needs went unmet. I don’t know how any self-respecting Israeli or American can tolerate such oppression of our fellow human beings. Elke Heitmeyer, Sherman Oaks, CA
Ultimatum for Israel To the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, June 16, 2013 The article “Israel moving ahead with new settler housing” shows once again how disingenuous Israel and its prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, are about the so-called Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In fact, Israel doesn’t want peace with the Palestinians, today or ever. All it wants is to continue stealing more Palestinian land and water in the occupied territories, until there is nothing left. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz criticized the government for planning more West Bank construction that will undermine U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s current efforts for peace. It is time for the U.S. to give Israel an ultimatum: Either sign a just peace settlement now with the Palestinians, based on pre-1967 67
opm_67-68_Other People's Mail 6/26/13 5:15 PM Page 68
borders, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, or the U.S. ends all financial, military and diplomatic aid to Israel. There would be peace immediately because Israel cannot survive without U.S. support. Ray Gordon, Venice, FL
Israeli Oppression To the San Francisco Examiner, May 19, 2013 The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Meshoe has a point about not linking apartheid and Israel, but his analogy is not complete. I learned about South African apartheid in the early 1980s at a church service where Desmond Tutu gave the evening’s sermon. Years later, I found myself in apartheid South Africa, where over the course of two years I watched the cruel system finally crumble. Israel may not be a comprehensive version of South African apartheid, and the comparison does, as Meshoe says, “trivialize” the viciousness of South African apartheid. South African apartheid’s ultimate goal, however, was to segregate people into nominally independent but heavily manipulated, dependent and starved homelands. Sadly, the West Bank and Gaza, and the treatment of the Palestinians who reside in these territories, in many ways resembles the homeland policies of apartheid South Africa. Perhaps it was this aspect that Tutu had in mind when he made the connection. Monty Agarwal, San Francisco, CA
Drone Alternative To The News and Observer, June 4, 2013 In his speech on counterterrorism, President Obama acknowledged that drone assassinations risk “creating new enemies” (May 24 news story). We know this is not only a risk but a fact. As frequently reported, and as the president admitted, drone strikes result in civilian casualties, including women and children. So why continue a policy that creates the very problem they are trying to solve? The president justified drone assassinations as needed to combat terrorist “networks that pose a direct danger” and said that “right now [they] would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first.” But why should there be such hatred for Americans? Could it be a result of two Gulf wars, 12 years of occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq, hundreds of thousands of casualties and millions displaced from their homes? The Obama administration needs to de68
velop a just, even-handed, non-militaristic foreign policy in the Middle East that does not favor some states over others and does not support regimes that regularly violate human rights. That would be much more likely to dissipate hatred for Americans than continued drone assassinations of suspected terrorists. Joe Burton, Raleigh, NC
Leave No Doubt To U-T San Diego, May 27, 2013 In response to “Holder: U.S. drone strikes killed 4 Americans”: On numerous occasions and in a variety of contexts we have listened to the president piously declare, “This is not who we are.” I suggest to Mr. Obama, the commander in chief, that there be painted the following logo on each and every drone being launched, the statement, “This is who we are,” and elsewhere on the fuselage, “Made in the USA.” Stan Levin, San Diego, CA
Anti-Muslim Cartoon To the [Binghamton, NY] Press & Sun-Bulletin, June 4, 2013 I was appalled to see the May 30 editorial cartoon depicting a stereotypical Muslim terrorist wielding a bloody ma-
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
chete. It came across not just as a commentary on the particular persons who killed the policeman in England but as a condemnation of Islam itself. Their crime should be seen as an individual aberration, not as something inherent in Islam. I am a part of a group in Broome County called Children of Abraham. We are made up of persons from the three Abrahamic traditions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We sponsor programs to encourage and foster inter-religious friendship, respect and appreciation among members of our three faith traditions. Cartoons like the May 30 one work against that effort and pander to common prejudices against Islam. Please use more discretion in the future. John Goodell, Vestal, NY
Close Guantanamo To The Washington Post, May 19, 2013 The hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay has passed its 100th day. One hundred prisoners have been on strike over their conditions and indefinite detention, and 29 men are being force-fed with tubes to keep them alive. Of the 166 men being held at Guantanamo, only a handful have been charged with a crime. Furthermore, a number of the prisoners were cleared for release years ago, and yet they stay imprisoned. I believe the nation is at a critical juncture. It’s time to stand in front of the proverbial mirror and ask: Who are we, really? Do we truly value the rule of law and trial by jury? Does it matter to us that men accused of terrorism have languished in a jail for up to 11 years without ever going before a jury? Do we really care who is guilty and who is innocent? How many of the men at Guantanamo Bay are innocent of terrorism? It may be impossible to know for sure, but that’s the whole point of a trial by jury. For years, we have known that Guantanamo is a stain on our nation’s reputation, sensibilities and foundational values of justice. Many Americans have been willing to forsake our values in the name of security. I would say that a nation that uses “security” to introduce monstrosity is headed for oblivion. And let us not deny that our nation has engaged in torture, extraordinary rendition and indefinite detention in the name of security. It is time to uphold our core, national values of justice and fairness. Put the prisoners on trial or release them. Close the Guantanamo Bay prison once and for all. Vincent Tola, Baltimore, MD ❑ AUGUST 2013
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AUGUST 2013
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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bookreview_70_Book Review 6/25/13 8:06 PM Page 70
Books
Reviewed by Andrew Stimson
Unfree in Palestine: Registration, Documentation and Movement Restriction By Nadia Abu-Zahra & Adah Kay, Pluto Press, 2013, paperback, 216 pp. List: $30; AET: $26. For centuries, population registries, identity documents and m ove me n t re strictions have been tools of repressive states and empires. Commonly associated with nation building, these techniques have systematized discrimination, dispossession and death, shrouding plainly repugnant policies in banal bureaucratic processes. Thus, in its historical context, Israel’s long history of Palestinian denationalization is not unique. In fact, Nadia Abu-Zahra and Adah Kay clearly show that some of Israel’s procedures echo the treatment of Jews in Nazi-ruled territories during World War II. Drawing on extensive reports on the Israeli occupation bureaucracy, Unfree in Palestine illuminates its byzantine maze of permits and policies and their effect on everything from architecture, health, education, employment, agriculture, the economy, and even family life. By 2012, over 100 kinds of permits governed Palestinian movement. There are permits required for worshippers attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem and
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separate forms for attending clerics. A plethora of medical permits distinguish among ambulance drivers, doctors and medical emergency staff, as well as those escorting patients by ambulance and those simply escorting patients. Permits for traveling to a wedding in the West Bank differ from those allowing visits for weddings in Israel, or a funeral, or a work meeting or a court hearing. Palestinians are subject to a constantly shifting regime of rules and orders. Plenty of works have referred to this system of denationalization by bureaucratic fiat, but Unfree is the first book to directly explore the specific means by which the Israeli state practices and legally rationalizes daily repression. The ostensible policy goal of its system is security for Israeli citizens. Yet, as the authors make clear, Israel’s system of repression is intended to force Palestinians from their homeland by making their lives unbearable. Indeed, between 2000 and 2003, 94 Palestinians waiting to get to a hospital died during typical delays at checkpoints, and more than 83 died for lack of access to medical care. Israel justifies its denial of basic human rights, including access to adequate medical care, as a result of the “necessity” of ensuring security between checkpoints within the West Bank. Throughout the course of reading Unfree, it becomes clear that the increasing stranglehold of Israeli bureaucratic repression is unsustainable. The authors conclude that either Palestinians must give up their claim and leave, or that the logic of its increasing repression will push Israel into complete international isolation. Regarding the first possibility, AbuZahra and Kay observe that Palestinians display sumud, or steadfastness, refusing to relinquish hope for a better future despite living in crowded “open air prisons.” By adopting a nonviolent attitude of dissidence as a collective strategy, Palestinians have transcended the fragmenting and isolating effects of mobility restriction. Rather than serving as a chronicle of victimization, Unfree provides a valuable perspective on the tools of Israeli repression and the perilous situation they have created for both Palestinians and Israelis. Abu-Zahra and Kay have provided a vital resource for activists, academics, and those who care about human rights around the world. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
The Wall: A Modern Fable By William Sutcliffe, Walker Childrens, 2013, hardcover, 304 pp. List: $17.99; AET: $13. 1 3 - ye a r- o l d Joshua lives in Amarias, an isolated hilltop town composed of newly built identical houses with wellm o w e d l aw n s and sparkling pools, all surrounded by an enormous wall. Despite his father’s death while serving in the military, Joshua lives a normal life, attending school, hanging out with friends, and fighting with his restrictive stepfather. The wall’s presence always looms in the background, but Joshua doesn’t think much about it or the omnipresence of heavily armed guards. As for those on the other side, Joshua believed what he had been told: they are savage and inhuman and the wall keeps him safe. One day while chasing a lost ball, Joshua discovers a tunnel leading to the other side of the wall. Knowing he won’t get another chance to see what is beyond the wall until he joins the military, he gives in to temptation and crawls through. On the other side he meets Leila, who saves his life, leading him down a path of experiences that he must keep secret—or face severe consequences. The Wall is a coming-of-age story full of suspense and symbolism that will speak to young and older readers alike (the recommended age range is 11-13 years old). The author of several children’s books, William Sutcliffe deftly avoids direct political commentary, but compellingly describes the feeling of living in a dystopian “Occupied Zone” where the “aftertaste of violence” hangs in the air (“Israel” and “Palestine” are never mentioned). When Joshua returns to Amarias, he brings with him the despair for the people suffering in the shadow of the wall and a sense that something must be done to end their demonization and forced segregation. Joshua’s struggle is powerful, realistic, and beautifully written. ❑ Andrew Stimson is director of the AET Book Club. AUGUST 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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Summer 2013 The Almond Tree, by Michelle Cohen Corasanti, Garnet Publishing, 2012, paperback, 352 pp. List: $14.95; AET: $12. Ichmad Hamid is a mathematical genius who struggles with the knowledge that his intellectual gifts can’t save his family and friends from Israeli house demolitions and indiscriminate detentions. With his father imprisoned, his family's home and possessions confiscated, and his siblings swept into the vortex of war, Ichmad races to save his family and transcend poverty and hatred to understand the people who have caused him so much grief.
Demanding Dignity: Young Voices from the Front Lines of the Arab Revolutions, edited by Maytha Alhassen & Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, White Cloud Press, 2012, paperback, 256 pp. List: $16.95; AET: $13. Featuring the personal accounts of young Arab organizers, this collection of essays investigates the stories of those who directly stirred and sparked the recent revolutions still shaking the Middle East and North Africa. Demanding Dignity paints a picture of a burgeoning movement as it faces challenging realities and inspires hope.
The Wall: A Modern Fable, by William Sutcliff, Walker Childrens, 2013, hardcover, 304 pp. List: $17.99; AET: $13.50. Joshua lives in Amarias, an isolated hilltop settlement surrounded by an enormous wall. One day while chasing a lost ball he finds a tunnel leading to the other side of the wall, and what he discovers there will change his life forever. Sutcliff has written a powerfully thought-provoking fable for young adults that captures the essence of asymmetry and injustice that characterizes the Palestine-Israel conflict.
Tears of Gaza, directed by Vibeke Løkkeberg, Choices Inc., 2010, DVD, 124 min. List: $29.99; AET: $24. Disturbing, powerful and emotionally devastating, “Tears of Gaza” is a unique documentary that reveals the civilian cost of Israel’s 2008-9 Operation Cast Lead. Using video and photography captured by Palestinians who lived through the assault, Løkkeberg’s sparse yet potent storytelling offers audiences an unvarnished and apolitical study of the impact of war on innocent lives.
Traitor?, by Terry C. Holdbrooks Jr., Createspace Publishing, 2013, paperback, 164 pp. (no list price available) AET: $9.99. Army specialist Terry Holdbrooks thought it was supposed to be an easy post: guarding a few hundred prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (GTMO). Yet, six-months into his 2003-04 deployment he began a series of life-changing conversations with detainee 590. Traitor? is a true story of personal transformation and an inside look at the daily life and deplorable treatment of GTMO prisoners.
Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World, edited by Philip Seib, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, paperback, 224 pp. List: $25; AET: $20. This trailblazing collection of essays explores the inner-workings of AlJazeera’s sister channel, a news service that is quickly becoming the voice of the Global South for English-speaking audiences. Al Jazeera English covers the channel’s push to counter the narrow view of CNN and other news outlets, changing how its viewers see Africa, Palestine, the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy, and many other topics.
Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control (Fully revised and updated), by Medea Benjamin, Verso, 2013, paperback, 224 pp. List: $16.95; AET: $12. In this rousing exposé and call to arms, CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin reveals the secretive and rapidly proliferating use of robot warfare as a deadly instrument of U.S. foreign policy. Benjamin convincingly argues that this $5 billion business, responsible for the deaths of at least 200 Pakistani and Yemeni children, poses legal and moral implications that will haunt the U.S. for decades to come.
Mayflower Arab: A Memoir, by Carol Rae Bradford, Bookstand Publishing, 2013, hardcover, 200 pp. List: $15.95; AET: $12.75. Carol Rae Bradford’s mother was a descendant of Mayflower pilgrims, and her father was a first-generation Syrian American. Mayflower Arab tells the compelling story of her childhood in Boston, where she found herself an outsider in two disparate worlds: among the New England classmates who ostracized her as a “dirty Syrian” and her father’s intensely insular Damascene family.
Yemen: Jewel of Arabia, by Charles & Patricia Aithie, Interlink Books, 2009, paperback, 212 pp. List: $30; AET: $22. A husband-and-wifeteam combine exceptional photography with diligent research, guiding readers on a mesmerizing tour of Yemen’s landscape, cities, history, art and archaeology. Yemen is the only photographical guide generally available to English-speaking audiences interested in traveling to or simply curious about this beautiful country.
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.middleeast books.com). All payments in U.S. funds. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. Please send mail orders to the AET Bookstore, 1902 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009, with checks and money orders made out to “AET.” Contact the AET Book Club for complete shipping guidelines and options. U . S . S h i p p i n g R a t e s : Please add $5 for the first item and $2.50 for each additional item. Canada & Mexico shipping charges: Please add $15 for the first item and $3.50 for each additional item. International shipping charges: Please add $15 for the first item and $4 for each additional item. We ship by USPS Priority unless otherwise requested. AUGUST 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.
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Upcoming Events & Obituaries —Compiled by Andrew Stimson
Upcoming Events The Muslim Solidarity Committee, Project SALAM, and the Albany chapter of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms will commemorate the 9th anniversary of the 2004 arrests of Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain by holding a rally on July 12 at 6 p.m. at the Masjid As-Salam, 276 Central Ave. in Albany, NY. Rally organizers invite participants to walk a few feet, yards, or miles in solidarity with Project SALAM’s Lynne Jackson as she sets off on a 133-mile Journey of Justice to deliver petition signatures by hand to Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in Binghamton, NY. For more information on Jackson’s walk visit <http://projectsalam.org/walk/walk.html>, email <lynnejackson@mac.com>, or call (518) 366-7324. To sign the petition, e-mail <finlan dia@nycap.rr.com>. Author and activist Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta is embarking on a July tour of California to promote her book and presentation, Refusing to be Enemies: Palestinian and Israeli Nonviolent Resistance to the Israeli Occupation. Her first appearance will be July 12, 7 p.m. at the San Jose Peace and Justice Center, 48 South 7th St., San Jose, CA 95112. She will also visit Santa Rosa, Walnut Creek, San Francisco, Grass Valley/Nevada City, Davis, and Chico. For more information on dates and locations, visit <www.mecaforpeace.org/events/july-book-tour-maxinekaufman-lacusta> or call (510) 548-0542. St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church of St. Paul, MN will host its 6th Annual Middle Eastern Festival, July 19-21, at 1250 Oakdale Ave., West St. Paul, MN 55118. Highlights include Middle Eastern cuisine, live entertainment, a traditional marketplace, a silent auction, children’s games, camel rides, and performances by the John Khoury Band and St. George Dabke Dance Troupe. Admission is free. For more information visit <www. mideastfest.com> or call (651) 457-0854. The Arab American National Museum will host Aghaddan Alqaak: an Evening with Umm Kulthum featuring Amer Zahr and his ensemble in a musical tribute to the greatest Arabic female singer in history, Aug. 16 at 8 p.m., 13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn, MI. For tickets visit <http://amerzahr.com> or call (734) 945-4575. 72
The United Muslim Foundation (UMF) has partnered with Macy’s for the 8th Annual National “Shop For A Cause” charity shopping event on Aug. 24. This one-day event supports fund-raising efforts for local causes and has raised more than $46 million for charities across the country since 2006. By purchasing a shopping pass from UMF, customers can support the organization’s Youth Guides Program and get special discounts on most regular, sale and clearance purchases all day. To purchase a shopping pass from UMF, visit <http://unitedmuslim foundation.org> or call (800) 863-1795. Obituaries: Carol Fleming Al-Ajroush, 53, a former U.S. diplomat and popular blogger who chronicled Saudi society, died May 27 in Charlotte, NC of breast cancer. A native of Espyville, PA, she attended George Washington University and joined the Foreign Service, serving in various postings around the world during her 20-year career. She met her husband, Saudi diplomat Abdullah Othman Al-Ajroush, while posted in Pakistan. Following a long courtship, they moved to Saudi Arabia in 2006. Her blog, “American Bedu,” widely read in Saudi Arabia and the U.S., was noted for its frank but fair commentary on the life of expats in the Kingdom and other Saudi issues. Dr. Alixa Naff, 93, the groundbreaking social historian often called “the mother of Arab-American studies,” died June 1 in Bowie, MD following a brief illness. Born in Rashayya al-Wadi in western Lebanon when it was under British control, she immigrated with her parents to Spring Valley, IL in 1921. During the Great Depression, she was sent to live with extended family members in Detroit, where she began clipping papers, collecting various writings, pictures and other intriguing objects. After working in business administration for a decade, Naff enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she earned a B.A. degree as well as a grant to collect Arab oral histories and folklore. In 1962, Naff drove her blue Volkswagen Beetle to 16 Arab immigrant communities across the United States and Canada, recording interviews with members of the pioneering immigrant generation. Building on this fieldwork, she earned a Ph.D. in soTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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cial history and anthropology in 1972 and became a professor at California State University, Chico, and later the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1977, she left academia due to anti-Arab sentiment and moved to Washington, DC, where she was a consultant for a documentary film on Arabs in America. Working with the DC-based National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs, she gained funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to write her groundbreaking book, Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience. Following its publication, Smithsonian curator Richard Ahlborn convinced her to donate her growing collection, and Naff became the curator of the Smithsonian Institution’s Faris and Yamna Naff Arab American Collection, named after her parents (see October 1996 Washington Report, p. 71). Today the collection, located at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, has grown to more than 500 artifacts, including musical instruments and household goods, as well as more than 2,000 photos and 120 cubic feet of documents, including 450 oral history interviews. Marie Catrib, 65, a celebrated LebaneseAmerican restaurant owner based in Grand Rapids, MI, died June 6 of complications related to ovarian cancer. Born in the northern Lebanese village of Kousba, she emigrated to the U.S. in 1970, settling in Flint, MI. There she baked baklava at home and sold the pastry at local venues, later opening her first restaurant, Marie’s Deli, in Houghton, MI, in 1985. The deli’s success led her to open a second location in Marquette, MI. She pursued training as a pastry chef at the Biltmore Estate Ashville, NC before returning to Michigan in 2005 to open Marie Catrib’s in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids. Her choice to open the neighborhood’s first new restaurant in several years is credited with leading to the successful revitalization of the area. It remains a popular dining spot, and news of her death brought a flood of condolences from loyal customers on the restaurant’s Facebook page. Her sons, Moussa and Fouad Catrib, have vowed to continue operating the restaurant. ❑ AUGUST 2013
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AETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2013 Choir of Angels Following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1 and June 12, 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.
HUMMERS ($100 or more) Americans for a Palestinian State, Oakland, CA Rizek Abusharr, Claremont, CA James C. Ahlstrom, Stirling, NJ Bulus Paul Ajlouny, San Jose, CA Mustafa Amantullah, Los Angeles, CA Nabil & Judy Amarah, Danbury, CT Dr. Nabih Ammari, Cleveland, OH* Sylvia Anderson de Freitas, Phoenix, AZ Anace & Polly Aossey, Cedar Rapids, IA Dr. Robert Ashmore Jr., Mequon, WI Mazen Awad, Gainesville, FL Dr. & Mrs. Roger Bagshaw, Big Sur, CA Alma Ball, Venice, FL Jamil Barhoum, San Diego, CA Allen & Jerrie Bartlett, Philadelphia, PA James Bennett, Fayetteville, AR Robert E. Billings, Walterville, OR Robert A. Boyd, Binghamton, NY Rev. Ronald C. Chochol, St. Louis, MO James Cobey, Washington, DC Dr. Robert G. Collmer, Waco, TX Darcy Curtiss, Herndon, VA* Amb. John Gunther Dean, Paris, France John Dirlik, Pointe Claire, Quebec Dr. David Dunning, Lake Oswego, OR Mervat Eid, Henrietta, NY Dr. & Mrs. Hossam Fadel, Augusta, GA Albert E. Fairchild, Bethesda, MD Yusif Farsakh, Arlington, VA Mr. & Mrs. Majed Faruki, Albuquerque, NM Bill Freij, Plymouth, MI Joseph & Angela Gauci, Whittier, CA Peter Grasso, Bernardston, MA Raymond E. Haddock, Spotsylvania, VA Shirley Hannah, Argyle, NY Robert & Helen Harold, West Salem, WI AUGUST 2013
Mr. & Mrs. Sameer Hassan, Quaker Hill, CT Mr. & Mrs. John Hendrickson, Tulsa, OK Dr. & Mrs. Sam Holland, North Eastham, MA Hala Deeb Jabbour, Herndon, VA Mustafa Jamal, Hyde Park, NY Omar & Nancy Kader, Vienna, VA Mohamed Kamal, North York, Ont. Michael J. Keating, Olney, MD* Dr. M. Jamil Khan, Bloomfield Hills, MI Tony & Anne Khoury, Danville, CA Ernestine King, Topsham, ME Shafiq Kombargi, Houston, TX Ronald Kunde, Skokie, IL John Lankenau, Tivoli, NY J. Robert Lunney, Bronxville, NY Anthony Mabarak, Grosse Pointe Park, MI Richard Makdisi & Lindsay Wheeler, Berkeley, CA John B. Malouf, Lubbock, TX Ted Marczak, Toms River, NJ Martha Martin, Paia, HI Melinda Mason, Lubbock, TX Carol Mazzia, Santa Rosa, CA Nijad Mehanna, Roseville, MI John & Ruth Monson, La Crosse, WI Evemarie Moore, Chicago, IL Maury Keith Moore, Seattle, WA Charles Murphy, Upper Falls, MD Mohamad Nabi, Union, KY Joseph Najemy, Worcester, MA Sara Najjar-Wilson, Reston, VA Neal & Donna Newby, Mancos, CO Kamal Obeid, Fremont, CA Khaled Othman, Riverside, CA Amb. Ed Peck, Chevy Chase, MD Jim Plourd, Monterey, CA Barbara A. Porter, Boston, MA* Mr. & Mrs. James G. Porter, Takoma Park, MD* Cheryl Quigley, Toms River, NJ Dr. Amani Ramahi, Lakewood, OH Mr. & Mrs. Duane Rames, Mesa, AZ THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Nayla Rathle, Belmont, MA Frank & Mary Regier, Strongsville, OH Mr. & Mrs. Edward Reilly, Rocky Point, NY Paul Richards, Salem, OR Neil Richardson, Randolph, VT Amb. Christopher Ross, Washington, DC Amb. Bill Rugh, Garrett Park, MD Hameed Saba, Diamond Bar, CA Dr. Ahmed M. Sakkal, Charleston, WV Kazi Salahuddin, San Jose, CA Walter & Halina Sasak, Northborough, MA Irmgard Scherer, Fairfax, VA Dr. Abid Shah, Sarasota, FL Lt. Col. Alfred Shehab, Odenton, MD Kathy Sheridan, Mill Valley, CA David Shibley, Santa Monica, CA David J. Snider, Airmont, NY Gregory Stefanatos, Flushing, NY Mae Stephen, Palo Alto, CA Dr. William Strange, Fort Garland, CO Mubadda Suidan, Atlanta, GA Beverly Swartz, Sarasota, FL Ayoub & Ghada Talhami, Evanston, IL J. Tayeb, Shelby Township, MI Charles Thomas, La Conner, WA Ned Toomey, Bishop, CA Tom Veblen, Washington, DC Peter & Liz Viering, Stonington, CT Joseph Walsh, Adamsville, RI Edwina White, Sacramento, CA Raymond Younes, Oxnard, CA Dr. Robert Younes, Potomac, MD* Bernice Youtz, Tacoma, WA Munir Zacharia, La Mirada, CA Rafi Ziauddin, West Chester, PA Fred Zuercher, Spring Grove, PA Elia K. Zughaib, Alexandria, VA ACCOMPANISTS ($250 or more) Dr. Abdullah Arar, Amman, Jordan Rev. Dr. Lois Aroian, Willow Lake, SD 73
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William Coughlin, Brookline, MA Mr. & Mrs. John Crawford, Boulder, CO Joseph Daruty, Newport Beach, CA Eugene Fitzpatrick, Wheat Ridge, CO Dr. William Fuller, Valdosta, GA Ray Gordon, Venice, FL H. Clark Griswold, Woodbury, CT Alan and Dot Heil, Alexandria, VA* Dr. Colbert & Mildred Held, Waco, TX* Salman & Kate Hilmy, Silver Spring, MD Islamic Center, Westbury, NY Martha Katz, Youngstown, OH Faisal Kutty, Valparaiso, IN* Sandra La Framboise, Oakland, CA Kendall Landis, Media, PA Joe & Lilli Lill, Arlington, VA Nidal Mahayni, Richmond, VA Amb. Clovis Maksoud, Washington, DC Joseph A. Mark, Carmel, CA Charles McCutchen, Bethesda, MD Corinne Mudarri, Cambridge, MA Mary Norton, Austin, TX Arthur Paone, Belmar, NJ Sam Rahman, Lincoln, CA Dr. M.H. Salem, Amman, Jordan Russell Scardaci, Cairo, NY* Henry & Irmgard Schubert, Damascus, OR*** Michel & Cathy Sultan, Eau Claire, WI Norman Tanber, Dana Point, CA John V. Whitbeck, Paris, France TENORS & CONTRALTOS ($500 or more) Kamel Ayoub, Hillsborough, CA Graf Herman Bender, North Palm Beach, FL Gary L. Cozette, Chicago, IL Richard Curtiss, Boynton Beach, FL Shuja El-Asad, Amman, Jordan Eileen Fleming, Clermont, FL Amb. Holsey Handyside, Bedford, OH Richard Hoban, Cleveland Heights, OH* Brigitte Jaensch, Carmichael, CA Curtiss Jones, Chapel Hill, NC Zagloul & Muntaha Kadah, Seattle, WA David & Renee Lent, Woodstock, VT* Jack Love, San Diego, CA 74
Rachelle Marshall, Mill Valley, CA Patricia & Herbert Pratt, Cambridge, MA Ruth Ramsey, Blairsville, GA Gabrielle Saad, Oakland, CA Dr. Mohammed Sabbagh, Grand Blanc, MI Betty Sams, Washington, DC*,** Yasir Shallal, McLean, VA David Solomon, Orange, CA John Van Wagoner, McLean, VA BARITONES & MEZZO SOPRANOS ($1,000 or more) Asha A. Anand, Bethesda, MD Dr. Joseph Bailey, Valley Center, CA G. Edward & Ruth Brooking, Wilmington, DE Rev. Rosemarie Carnarius and Aston Bloom, Tucson, AZ* Luella Crow, Eugene, OR Shuja El-Asad, Amman, Jordan Linda Emmet, Paris, France Dr. & Mrs. Clyde Farris, West Linn, OR* Gary Richard Feulner, Dubai, UAE Evan & Leman Fotos, Istanbul, Turkey Dr. & Mrs. Hassan Fouda, Berkeley, CA Hind Hamdan, Hagerstown, MD George Hanna, Santa Ana, CA Nicholas Hopkins, Washington, DC Judith Howard, Norwood, MA* Vincent & Louise Larsen, Billings, MT * John McLaughlin, Gordonsville, VA Bob Norberg, Lake City, MN* CHOIRMASTERS ($5,000 or more) Henry Clifford, Essex, CT Donna B. Curtiss, Kensington, MD* John & Henrietta Goelet, Meru, France Andrew I. Killgore, Washington, DC William & Flora McCormick, Austin, TX* Mahmud Shaikhaly, Hollywood, CA *In Memory of Richard H. Curtiss **In Honor of Andrew I. Killgore ***To Free Palestine THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Rowhani Victory… Continued from page 29
intentions and seriousness about reaching an agreement,” wrote Paul Pillar, a CIA veteran who served as the National Intelligence Officer for the Near East from 2000 to 2005, the period of Rowhani’s greatest influence over Iran’s nuclear policy. “Failure of the test will confirm suspicions in Tehran that we do not want a deal and instead are stringing along negotiations while waiting for the sanctions to wreak more damage,” he wrote on his nationalinterest.org blog. “Passage of the test will require placing on the table a proposal that, in return for the desired restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities, incorporates significant relief from economic sanctions and at least tacit acceptance of a continued peaceful Iranian nuclear program, to include low-level enrichment of uranium,” according to Pillar. Describing Rowhani’s victory as a “game-changer,” Vali Nasr, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, argued that Washington must be willing to offer substantial sanctions relief in order to strike a deal. “For the past eight years, U.S. policy has relied on pressure—threats of war and international economic sanctions—rather than incentives to change Iran’s calculus. Continuing with that approach will be counterproductive. It will not provide Rowhani with the cover for a fresh approach to nuclear talks,” he wrote on foreignpolicy.com. But such thinking is precisely what worries neoconservatives and leaders of the Israel lobby. The White House “no doubt will ramp up its beseeching diplomacy to strike a nuclear deal with the Rohani government,” the Wall Street Journal’s editorial writers warned on June 17. “President Obama is desperate to find some agreement to avoid having to launch a military strike. Expect Mr. Rowhani to go along for the talks, but mainly to ease Western sanctions and buy more nuclear time.” The same forces are similarly worried about the replacement of Ahmadinejad by a less bombastic and far more sophisticated Iranian president. In a blog entitled “Rooting for Jalili,” Daniel Pipes, the president of the Middle East Forum, wrote that the same logic that led him to support Ahmadinejad’s re-election four years ago applied to this election. It “is better to have a bellicose, apocalyptic, in-your-face Ahamdinejad who scares the world than a sweet-talking [the 2009 moderate candidate Mir-Hossein] Mousavi who again lulls it to sleep, even as thousands of centrifuges whir away,” he concluded. ❑ AUGUST 2013
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American Educational Trust The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs P.O. Box 53062 Washington, DC 20009
August 2013 Vol. XXXII, No. 6
A photo cleared by military censors shows a display for visitors to the Guantanamo Bay military prison of the belongings of a typical inmate at Camp V, June 25, 2013. The U.S. has imprisoned “enemy combatants” at Guantanamo Bay since early 2002, despite President Barack Obama’s promise to close the facility. JOE RAEDLE/Getty Images