Washington Report - August 2015 - Vol. XXXIV, No. 5

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SUPREME COURT JERUSALEM RULING

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Volume XXXIV, No. 5

On Middle East Affairs

August 2015

Telling the Truth for More Than 30 Years…

Interpreting the Middle East for North Americans

■

Interpreting North America for the Middle East

THE U.S. ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE 8 Israeli Leaders Say It Openly: All the Land Is Ours —Rachelle Marshall 11 Gaza’s 1.8 Million Residents Are Running Out of Options—Mohammed Omer

19 Palestinian-American Comedian Amer Zahr Turns Pain Into Laughter—Dale Sprusansky 20 Supreme Court: Congress Cannot Decide That Jerusalem Is the Capital of Israel

—Janet McMahon 12 Ban Ki-moon Caves to “Immense” Pressure, Drops Israel From U.N. “List of Shame”—Jonathan Cook 14 Although Left Off List of Offenders, Israeli Crimes Against Children Detailed in Report—Ian Williams

22 Amended Nuclear Agreement Review Bill Signed Into Law—Shirl McArthur 28 Covenant Journey: Birthright’s Flawed Christian Zionist Cousin—Dale Sprusansky

16 Remarks on the Anniversary of Israel’s 1967 Attack on the USS Liberty—Ernie Gallo

SPECIAL REPORTS 17 In Memoriam: Donald Neff (1930-2015) —Alison Weir 24 Earthquake Reveals Surprising Israeli Stake in Nepal—John Gee 26 Turkey Reins in Its Rulers —Jonathan Gorvett 64 In Memoriam: Martha Hodges Katz (1941-2015)

—Ray Nakley, Jr.

ON THE COVER: A Palestinian little boy throws a stone toward Israeli occupation troops in the West Bank village of Kfar Qaddum, near Nablus, during clashes following a demonstration marking the 67th anniversary of the Nakba (Palestinian catastrophe), May 15, 2015.

—JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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

Other Voices

Compiled by Janet McMahon

Munayyer-Beinart Debate Revealed Toothless Sentimentalism of Liberal Zionism, Rob Bryan, www.mondoweiss.net

OV-8

Israel’s Funding Policy on Christian Schools Spurs Controversy, Lisa Goldman, http://america.aljazeera.com

OV-9

The Green Line: Serving Israel’s Racist Policies Since 1967, Neve Gordon, al-Araby al-Jadeed OV-4

Latin Patriarchate Condemns The Sale Of a Church-Owned Land in Palestine to Benefit a Settlement, Press Release, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

OV-10

Michael Oren: American Jewish Journalists Lead Media’s Anti-Israel Assault, Chemi Shalev, Haaretz

Jewish Extremists Set Fire to Historical Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish Church, The Palestinian News & Information Agency, WAFA

OV-11

Worst Year for American Muslims Since 9/11, Linda Sarsour, New Haven Register

OV-12

Obama’s Libya Fiasco, Andres Cala, www.consortiumnews.com

OV-13

If Joe Biden Calls, You Should Duck or Flee, Rami G. Khouri, Agence Global

OV-14

A Tale of Two Coaches: The Politics of David Blatt and the Passion of Steve Kerr’s Father, Dave Zirin, The Nation

OV-15

A Missed Nonproliferation Opportunity, Paul R. Pillar, http://nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar OV-1 Israel’s Plan to Kill Lebanese Civilians, Jonathan Marshall, www.consortiumnews.com

OV-2

A Reflection on the “Delegitimization” of “Israel,” John V. Whitbeck, www.maannews.com

OV-3

OV-5

African Leaders Want Indictments of Bush, Blair and Netanyahu—NPR, Philip Weiss, www.mondoweiss.net BDS Could Cost Israel $4.7 Billion a Year, James North, www.mondoweiss.net

OV-6 OV-6

Will Sheldon Adelson’s Push to Fund Anti-BDS Campaign Backfire on Campus?, Nathan Guttman, The Forward

OV-6

DEPARTMENTS 5 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

40 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHRONICLE: Fourth Annual

7 PUBLISHERS’ PAGE

“Shirin Neshat: Facing History”

“Muslim Day at the Capitol” Brings Constituents, Legislators

30 ISRAEL AND JUDAISM:

58 MUSIC & ARTS:

Together—Elaine Pasquini

59 MAKING A DIFFERENCE: UPA’s Embracing Life Project

Efforts Grow to Limit Campus Mideast Debate in Guise of Fighting “Anti-Semitism”

—Allan C. Brownfeld 32 NEW YORK CITY AND

42 ARAB AMERICAN ACTIVISM: ADC Celebrates 35 Years

Cairo Kitchen: Recipes From the

Dedicated to Civil Rights and

Middle East, Inspired by the

Liberties

Street Food of Cairo

—Reviewed by Kevin A. Davis

TRI-STATE NEWS: “A Borrowed Identity” Examines Cost of Integrating in Jewish Israeli Society—Jane Adas

46 HUMAN RIGHTS: Israeli Detention of Children: “It’s Time to Break the Cycle”

34 THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST — CARTOONS

62 BOOK REVIEW:

48 WAGING PEACE:

63 MIDDLE EAST BOOKS AND MORE

65 BULLETIN BOARD

Saudi Arabia’s Regional Policies 35 OTHER PEOPLE’S MAIL 38 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Under King Salman

56 DIPLOMATIC DOINGS:

CHRONICLE: MPAC Presents

Tunisian President Beji Caid

Annual Media Awards

Essebsi Asks for More U.S.

—Pat and Samir Twair

Assistance

66 2015 AET CHOIR OF ANGELS

39 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

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Publisher: Managing Editor: News Editor: Assistant Editor: Middle East Books and More Director: Finance & Admin.

Director: Art Director: Executive Editor:

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

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (ISSN 8755-4917) is published 8 times a year, monthly except Jan./Feb., March/April and June/July combined, at 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707. Tel. (202) 939-6050. Subscription prices (United States and possessions): one year, $29; two years, $55; three years, $75. For Canadian and Mexican subscriptions, $35 per year; for other foreign subscriptions, $70 per year.

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.

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

AUGUST 2015

LetterstotheEditor The Israel Lobby Conference I want to warmly and strenuously congratulate you for your intense and successful work at the April 10 National Press Club conference regarding AIPAC. AIPAC has done so very much damage by controlling our government, Congress and even our presidents during the present and also past years. It is something on my mind at all times. I feel sad that so many are not yet aware of this fact, and yesterday has done much to change this.

I remained close to my computer yesterday, leaving the program on through its duration.

I was especially elated at the presence and presentation of Paul Findley, who, past 90, is still whom I consider the President of Making Things Clear Concerning AIPAC. It was his first book, They Dare to Speak Out [available from AET’s Middle East Books and More], that inspired me to see the workings of this powerful group, AIPAC, and to protest vehemently against them, even writing to them at times, but also writing letters to the editor (most of them never published).

And all of you at the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs have disclosed so many facts not only about AIPAC, but about the workings of Israel, and truths concerning the Middle East, especially Gaza. It is an education in itself.

Many thanks over and over. I feel eternally grateful about this breakthrough.

Carol Rae Bradford, Somerville, MA Thank you for sponsoring the Israel Lobby conference and providing it live via YouTube. I watched it from start to finish and was thrilled to be able to do so here on the West Coast while it took place on the East Coast.

Richard Herman, Costa Mesa, CA I’m not seeing a category for “Is it good for the U.S.?”, only “Is it good for Israel?”

As an American, I don’t care what is good for Israel—it’s not my job, and not the concern of any Americans, to put a foreign parasite ahead of our own country.

No matter who that parasite may be, whether it’s UK, China, Taiwan or Israel, etc.

Trish Schuh, via e-mail In fact, there was only one panel on the topic “Is It Good for Israel?” The other five panels addressed issues of concern to Americans. Since the Israel lobby never was inTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

tended to be good for Palestinians, we saw no need to ask that question.

Congrats on a highly successful conference! Hopefully your hard work will pay off.

Although I attended only two sessions, which were excellent, I heard that all sessions were outstanding.

The most important speech for me was Gideon Levy’s. For many years now, I keep asking my Israeli friends why the Israelis do nothing about the situation of the Palestinians and how can that be...at last, I have an answer—thanks to Gideon. Now I know.

Ellen Siegel, via e-mail

Along with those of all our distinguished panelists, Levy’s remarks can be read in their entirety in the Special Supplement mailed with this issue to all subscribers.

I want to commend you on The Israel Lobby conference. I watched news editor Delinda Hanley introduce the three panelists, Miko Peled, Gideon Levy and Huwaida Arraf. It was a fantastic session.

And I am still listening to the rest of the sessions. God bless you for all the good work that you are doing. With best wishes and deep appreciation.

Samia Khoury, via e-mail (from Palestine)

Lack of Media Coverage We wish we could attend The Israel Lobby on April 10, 2015. Hopefully the national news organizations will show enough interest to publicize the event.

Thank you for all that you do to bring peace to the Middle East and those areas where conflict arises because of American support for Israel.

Vince and Louise Larsen, Billings, MT You should have included a connection to C-SPAN in your Action Alert announcing the “The ‘Israel Lobby’ conference is too hot for C-SPAN!” so we could complain about their “silencing of criticism of Is5

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rael.” We should complain, and in big numbers. I attended last year, but feel that without coverage, we’re the proverbial tree that falls in the forest with none to witness or hear it.

Pat Carmeli, via e-mail

Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming!

Send your letters to the editor to the Washington Report, P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009 or e-mail <letters@wrmea.org>.

Thanks so much for your shocking media report. I missed the conference but here in my winter home in the Bahamas hung onto just about every word and urged others to follow the proceedings.

You are doing such important work on so many fronts. Yours more than any other organized effort I know goes right to the heart of the major psycho-political scandal of our time: the insidious and often clandestine dismantling of our basic liberties when their expression is seen to interfere with Israel’s ambitions. An incredibly savvy and well-heeled elite of pro-Israel American Christian and Jewish Zionists, as well as military industrialists, is a formidable foe. When the free press ceases to function, as it obviously has in this case, the more insidious because the censorship is not government-imposed but “voluntary,” the task before us is enormous. Again, I salute you for alerting and educating us to this sobering reality.

Charlotte Andrews, Gloucester, MA Any doubt that we live in the United States of Israel?

Robert Bosch, via e-mail It just goes to show how deep these evils are embedded in our nation. Thank you for not giving up.

Greg DeSylva, via e-mail

Fending Off the Jewish National Fund Enclosed is my check for $600, which I would like to have applied as follows: 1) Books: Zionism and Its Discontents and two copies of Freedom Sailors; 2) Extend my subscription to the Washington Report and “Other Voices” for a full three further years; 3) Balance as a gift in thanks to your publisher, Andrew Killgore, for his efforts to bring peace and justice to the Holy Land.

I would be proud to be listed in your Choir of Angels.

About 20 years ago I was a deputy county attorney in Nassau County preparing opposition to a demand for tax-exempt status by the Jewish National Fund. I found a Washington case on the same issue, and Ambassador Killgore was kind enough to personally go to the courthouse and send me copies of the papers in that case. These papers were of great help in my being able to force the JNF to withdraw its application and continue paying taxes for the next 13 years, after which a lower court judge granted the exemption and the county refused to appeal the decision.

Gennaro Pasquale, Garden City, NY Thank you so much not only for your most generous contribution, but also for sending a copy of the article in the Oct. 8, 1999 issue of Haaretz in which Tom Segev reports:

OtherVoicesis an optional 16page supplement available onlytosubscribersoftheWashington Report on Middle East Affairs. For an additional $15 peryear(seepostcardinsertfor Washington Report subscription rates), subscribers will receive Other Voicesinside each issue of their Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

Back issues of both publicationsare available.Tosubscribe telephone1(888)881-5861,fax (714)226-9733,e-mail<circulation@wrmea.org>, or write to P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056.

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

“Pasquale’s memorandum numbers 94 pages and says in summary: The JNF operates in the service of the state of Israel to advance a racist ideology. Therefore, it has no right to an exemption from property tax.

“The lawyer for the JNF responded quickly: He withdrew the request for tax exemption. It appears that a saving of $40,000 is not worth the JNF’s entering into such a legal, historical and ideological discussion.”

We’re all fighting the good fight!

A Godfather’s Advice Please send one of your complimentaryand-try-me issues to my godson and brother. If you can, please include my comment that: If every American were to take just one issue of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine, and read it more or less thoroughly, starting first with those articles or smaller sections that are more familiar and easier to cope with, then moving on to whatever might be of next interest and even a bit complex, eventually it would bring about a much better day for the world and the health of our Mother Earth as well as a GREATLY CHANGED country…far less prone to being so easily taken in by the megaignorance-and-ignorants-makers/mongers on the loose and actually so predominant in these United States of America, especially PENTAGON CITY (also known as Washington, DC).

David M. Pawlak, Des Moines, IA Since it would be a shame if only two people benefited from your advice, we’ve decided to share it with the world!

Spreading the Word I hope things are good at the Washington Report. I’ve been attending a lot of rallies and other political gatherings here in Denver where I’ve been handing out the magazine.

Your articles on fighting racism in Baltimore and Israel, and on examining the causes of radicalization were excellent.

There’s a big “People’s Fair” coming up on June 6 and 7, and I and my allies with Coloradans for Justice in Palestine, Friends of Sabeel-Colorado, and Front Range Jewish Voice for Peace will have a booth and would like many copies to hand out.

I'm thinking, a large box of the March/April, May and June/July 2015 issues would be good.

How much would you need to cover the costs of that?

Thanks, Preston Enright, Denver, CO That’s what we’re here for—with a lot of help from our friends! ❑ AUGUST 2015

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Summertime, and the Living’s Not Easy…

So many conversations we’ve had this summer start with a variation on the same theme: The world seems to be falling apart.

Terrorist attacks on June 26 killed at least one person in France and dozens of visitors to a Tunisian beach in Sousse; a white supremacist massacred nine African-American worshippers in South Carolina; Zionist extremists torched the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha (see p. 8); suicide bombers struck in Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, Afghanistan and Nigeria. It’s horrible even to think this, but by the time this issue reaches you there will probably be another tragedy. The earth’s very crust seems to be cracking apart with racist, religious and ethnic divisions.

Seismic Shifts Are Also Taking Place...

Between some communities and within others. The Arab, Muslim, African and Latino American communities are joining forces to combat hate crimes, hurtful stereotypes, profiling, mass incarceration and police brutality (see reports from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee convention, starting on p. 42). Even the Supreme Court is widening the tent, trying to help all Americans get a crack at the American Dream, ruling that everyone should be entitled to marry and afford proper healthcare. (The highest court of our land also stubbornly refused to fan the flames in the Middle East, issuing a bipartisan decision on Jerusalem [see p. 20].)

That’s Why It’s So Surprising...

That Arab American groups are bickering among themselves. Even worse, peace activist organizations—Palestinian, Jewish and others—are using shocking words like disassociating, disavowing, shunning, excommunicating and others to try to muzzle other activists—former friends—toiling for peace. For 33 years, the Washington Report has covered talks and articles by all these friends, some of whom have now been transformed into witches or witch burners, shamers or sinners wearing unearned scarlet letters. It’s infuriating that when countries in the Middle East and North Africa, not to mention Israel, are breaking apart, supporters in the United States who should AUGUST 2015

Publishers’ Page

BY CARLOS LATUFF COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, THE FREE MEDIA REPOSITORY

American Educational Trust

and Shame,” and U.S. aid to Israel. The next step was obvious: a conference to take on the lobby no one talks about and expose its dark role in American political life.

A Double-Scoop.

be doing everything they can to help are turning inward and eating each other alive.

We’re Failing to Support Each Other.

Part of the Washington Report’s mission has always been community- and coalitionbuilding. This magazine is often the only press in the room—and even if other reporters are there, their stories don’t make it into the newspaper or the evening news.

Now that our community has come of age, with brilliant and successful lawyers, journalists, doctors, business and community leaders, it is doubly perplexing that the organizations they built over the years are floundering.

Ambassador Areikat’s Wake-Up Call.

Palestine’s Ambassador to the U.S. Maen Rashid Areikat urged ADC attendees from all organizations to work together “unifying our efforts...” He charged, “We’re trying to achieve the same things, but our efforts are fragmented...It’s time for a PalestinianAmerican coalition to mobilize our community and lobby on behalf of our causes.”

Palestinians inside and outside the Green Line have figured out that there is strength in numbers and are uniting to work to gain international support for BDS, U.N. recognition, and to build a case against Israeli human rights violations at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

We Need to Unite, and Lend a Hand.

The Next Step.

This magazine has devoted more than three decades to reporting on pro-Israel PAC contributions to members of Congress, and their resulting votes in our “Halls of Fame THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Washington Report readers will find a special treat wrapped up with their August issue: A free supplement dedicated exclusively to the Israel Lobby conference we co-sponsored with the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) at the National Press Club on April 10. Expert panelists and “unimpeachable witnesses” shared their knowledge on the role of the Israel lobby in shaping U.S. policy, its efforts to silence critics and suppress free speech on campus, its impact on Israelis (including Palestinian Israelis), its influence over Congress, and its efforts to promote war with Iran.

It Was the Right Thing to Do… Even though we’ve used resources we don’t have, in both money and staff, to produce the educational supplement included with this issue. The information it contains is invaluable and timeless, and needs to be spread far and wide so that the “American Spring” panelist Gideon Levy spoke of in his Haaretz column can finally come to pass. The speeches are also available as audio and YouTube recordings and in online transcripts at <IsraelLobbyUS.org>. A DVD of the event will be available shortly (see ad p. 21) and can be preordered at MiddleEastBooks.com.

Because Taking on the Lobby Isn’t Cheap...

We’re depending on our readers to help us send extra copies of our special Israel Lobby conference supplement to every opinion-molder you can think of. We’re also depending on all of you who want to strengthen our community dedicated to justice and equal rights for the Palestinians and our Arab and Muslim fellow Americans. Help us take our government back into the hands of voters, not lobbyists. Please fill out the survey we sent as part of our biannual donation appeal and mail it back to us—along with a check— to help us continue to...

Make a Difference Today!

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Israeli Leaders Say It Openly: All the Land Is Ours SpecialReport

By Rachelle Marshall

CMENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

for “preventive military action” against Hezbollah. Gold named as chief negotiator with the Palestinians Silvan Shalom, who says he and his colleagues are “all against a Palestinian state.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is urging the Palestinians to resume negotiations with Israel, but insists he will negotiate only over which settlements would be annexed to Israel. He has repeatedly ignored U.S. demands for a halt in settlement construction outside the large (and also illegal) settlement blocs.

The new government is at last stating plainly what has been Israel’s policy from the beginning, that it will never allow an independent Palestinian state on Israel’s borders. No Israeli leader of either major party, starting with David Ben-Gurion, has agreed to such a state or been willing to say what Israel’s final boundaries should be. Meanwhile those boundaries have A nun inspects the damage to the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, on the shores of the sea continued to expand.

It was no surprise, therefore, that of Galilee in northern Israel, after it was set on fire by Jewish settlers, June 18, 2015. The shrine is Netanyahu lost no time turning down believed to be the site where Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. a French initiative for restarting negohe late Jewish historian Tony Judt de- said in a speech last year, referring to them tiations between Israel and the Palestinians. clared in the October 2003 issue of the as “sub-human.” He later expanded on the On June 21, French Foreign Minister LauNew York Review of Books that the theme, saying, “A Jew always has a much rent Faubius warned of a possible “exploprospect of a two-state solution was dead. higher soul than a gentile, even if he is a sion” in the absence of a peace agreement between the two sides, and said France Israel as a Jewish state had become “an homosexual.”

Israel’s new justice minister, Ayelet would propose a U.N. Security Council resanachronism,” he wrote. “And not just an anachronism but a dysfunctional one.” The Shaked, wrote on Facebook last July, “The olution calling for negotiations based on only reasonable solution, according to entire Palestinian people is the enemy,” and the pre-1967 borders and setting a two-year Judt, was an end to the Zionist movement called for their destruction, including “its deadline for an agreement. Palestinian Presand the establishment of a single, secular elderly and its women, its cities and its vil- ident Mahmoud Abbas immediately wellages, its property and infrastructure.” comed the idea, saying, “Let’s take the democratic state in Israel-Palestine.

Judt’s comments are even more relevant Shaked is especially worrisome to liberal lessons of the past and try to move fortoday, in view of an Israeli government Israelis because as justice minister she has ward.” Netanyahu’s response was to whose members are almost unanimously authority over the Supreme Court, which “fiercely reject” the proposal as an attempt “to force an international diktat on us.” He opposed to an independent Palestinian until now has been largely independent.

She said she would limit the Court’s repeated his demand that the Palestinians state. They have a formidable ally—God, according to Tzipi Hotovely, the newly powers and give politicians more influence recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Every U.S. president since Jimmy Carter appointed deputy foreign minister. Her in choosing its members. Knesset member mission, she said, is to tell the world that Nachman Shai of the centrist Zionist Union has backed negotiations that would lead to “God willed all of Palestine to Israel. This party commented, “Giving Shaked the an independent Palestinian state based on post of minister of justice is like giving the the pre-June 1967 borders. Yet as Israeli land is ours. All of it is ours.”

Newly appointed Deputy Defense Min- Fire and Rescue Services to a pyromaniac.” settlements continued to spread, making As Washington struggles to keep the fig such a solution impossible, Washington ister Eli Ben Dahan goes even further in dismissing any hope of Palestinian inde- leaf of negotiations in place, Israeli leaders has continued to give billions of dollars in pendence. “Palestinians are beasts,” he do their best to shred it. Shaked is a protégé aid to Israel every year—to date a total of of Naftali Bennett, whose Jewish Home $118 billion—and to veto every U.N. resoRachelle Marshall is a free-lance editor liv- party favors Israel’s annexation of most of lution critical of Israel. ing in Mill Valley, CA. A member of Jewish the West Bank. Dore Gold, head of the ForThe Obama administration announced in Voice for Peace, she writes frequently on the eign Ministry, warns against making any June that it would further strengthen IsMiddle East. concessions to the Palestinians, and called rael’s “qualitative edge” over its adversaries

T

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

by providing more weapons, warplanes and training for a larger defense force. “The net result,” said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, “is how to destroy the twostate solution and get away with it.”

Erekat raised the question of what will happen next with an Israeli government that is even more extreme than its predecessors. One result will be more intense indoctrination of young Israelis. Bennett, the new education minister, says his stated aim is to imbue students with a nationalistZionist spirit and raise a generation of patriots. They are certain to be imbued as well with the spirit of Zionist superiority.

Many of the young soldiers armed with nationalist fervor and Uzi machine guns will be assigned to the West Bank, where, convinced that Palestinians are inferior beings, they will be free to bully them at will.

At a recent public debate in Tel Aviv on the question, “The Occupation is Destroying Israel,” a 19-year-old soldier, Shachar Berrin, said he had overheard another urge his fellow soldiers to stop harrassing Christian tourists. “Come on,” the soldier said.

“They’re people, not Palestinians.” That kind of thinking, Berrin said, “resonates throughout many of the soldiers in the occupied terriories...We can see it every day.”

Berrin was immediately charged with taking part in a “political meeting” and sentenced to a week in jail. In another incident, reported by Haaretz , a commander ordered a soldier to kick some Palestinian children, and she said, “I can’t kick them, they’re kids.” The commander said, “So what?

Every one of them will throw a Molotov cocktail at you when he grows up.”

The same attitude is reflected in Israel’s plans for yet another war in Lebanon. Israel’s new defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, freely admits that Israel is preparing for war in Lebanon, citing as a provocation Hezbollah’s military buildup in southern Lebanon, inside the border. He warned, “We are going to hurt Lebanese civilians to include kids...We did it in the Gaza Strip, we are going to do it in any round of hostilities in the future.”

As Israel becomes increasingly extremist, the Palestinians are rejecting violence in favor of nonviolent resistance. The most powerful instrument they have used so far is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which involves actions ranging from boycotting only firms that do business in the occupied territories to boycotting all Israeli products, institutions and organizations. Boycott organizers compare the movement to the actions of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In a similar spirit, the Palestinians tried but failed to persuade the international soccer association, FIFA, to suspend Israel from its roster as it did South Africa durAUGUST 2015

THOMAS COEX/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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Residents of the biblical town of Bethlehem walk past a sign calling for a boycott of Israeli goods produced in illegal West Bank settlements, June 5, 2015. ing the days of apartheid. The Palestinians accused Israel of preventing coaches and athletes from traveling to tournaments abroad, charging them high tariffs on equipment, destroying Gaza’s playing fields, and detaining athletes so long at checkpoints they couldn’t get to tournaments on time. Last year Israeli border police stopped two teenage soccer players, Naser Jawhar and Adam Halabiya, and shot them repeatedly in the legs.

Netanyahu responded to the BDS campaign and the Palestinians’ appeal to FIFA with a howl of outrage. Israel faced “an international campaign to blacken its name,” he charged. The campaign was not based on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians but was “connected to our very existence,” he said.

He likened the BDS campaign to the “blood libel” that claimed Jews “drink the blood of little children.” The Palestinians, he concluded, “seek to deny our right to live here.”

PLO official Hanan Ashrawi pointed out the difference between opposing an unjust occupation and wanting to destroy Israel.

“Any rational person who deals with reality rather than hysterical fear understands we have recognized Israel, we just want Israel to abide by international law and let go of us in the end,” she said. Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., said Netanyahu was attempting to divert discussion from the plain fact that “his government is involved in illegal activities in the occupied territories.”

The firmness with which Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, declare their opposition to a Palestinian state has led to some annoying consequences for the prime minTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

ister. The Vatican in mid-May officially recognized the state of Palestine in a new treaty negotiated by the Holy See and the Palestinians. Shortly afterwards the British newspaper The Guardian published a letter signed by dozens of former British politicians and diplomats calling for “urgent action” to pressure Israel to end the occupation.

The letter cited Netanyahu’s opposition to a Palestinian state, and expressed “low confidence” that the U.S. would lead the way to serious negotiations. It therefore urged that Europeans reconsider their relations with Israel and the Palestinians. The Rand Corporation provided support for a two-state solution with a study that found that the creation of an independent Palestinian state would raise the average per capita income of Israelis by $2,200 and of Palestinians by $1,000. The increases would result mainly from cuts in the military budget and the cost of maintaining the settlements.

Meanwhile, however, Palestinians under occupation are paying an increasingly heavy price as conditions that seemingly cannot get worse do so. As Jewish settlements proliferate and move closer to Palestinian villages, residents face constant harrassment from intruders eager to grab their land. Settlers throw stones at Palestinians’ cars, poison their sheep and water cisterns, and destroy their olive trees—the chief source of livelihood for many families.

The Dutch government has begun warning Dutch tourists to watch out for violent settlers. “Jewish colonists live in illegal West Bank settlements, and at times throw stones at Palestinian and international ve9

marshall_8-10_Special Report 6/26/15 4:23 PM Page 10

An Agreement With Iran Would Further Peace in the Region As this article is being written, Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are struggling to reach an agreement by June 30 that will open Iran’s nuclear program to international scrutiny and release Iran from the international sanctions that have undermined its economy. An agreement that ends Iran’s isolation from the U.S. and Europe could also help promote peace in the region.

Warfare is currently taking place in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya,Yemen and Somalia, and Lebanon may be next. A major source of contention in most of these countries is the hostility between Shi’i and Sunni Muslims. As a supporter of Shi’i factions in many of the countries involved in the fighting, Iran’s cooperation in an international peace effort is essential. This is especially true in Iraq, where Sunnis are an aggrieved minority and the Islamic State, or ISIS, now rules over large areas.

The Sunni population in Iraq has suffered so severely at the hands of the majority Shi’i that they often choose to join ISIS, either for protection or as the lesser of two evils. Shi’i miilitias in Iraq frequently murder Sunnis they find in areas liberated from ISIS, and prevent Sunnis who fled the fighting from returning to their homes. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Sunnis are now homeless refugees in their own country.

Another stimulus driving ISIS recruitment is regional youth unemployment, which has reached 29.5 percent. Samir Murad, a former Jordanian labor minister, said that if young people “don’t find a decent living, they look for the alternative, and the alternative is the so-called Islamic State.” The same is true in the other countries whose economies have been devastated by war. ISIS, meanwhile, has managed to amass millions of dollars in ransom money and from selling stolen artifacts.

President Barack Obama is considering expanding the number of U.S. military bases in Iraq and adding hundreds more troops, but given the conditions in which ISIS flourishes, more fighting will not bring peace. An American-trained army that greatly outnumbers ISIS forces has so far failed to stop them in Iraq, and despite U.S. air strikes, ISIS continues to advance in Syria and has recently appeared in Libya. A solution that has not yet been tried is an effort by government leaders

hicles so be alert while traveling around settlements of Jewish colonists,” the warning says. Settlers who throw stones are ignored by the army, but under a bill recently drafted by the Cabinet, Palestinians who throw stones would be subject to a 10-to-20-year prison sentence.

In Gaza, the suffering is made worse by the scarcity of clean water, power failures, and “war-related psychological trauma,” a World Bank report said. Israel’s indiscriminate air and artillery attacks were a major cause of that trauma, especially in children.

At least 540 children were killed in the attacks and 262 schools were badly damaged.

Many of the children who survived are still too traumatized to attend school.

A report by a U.N. Commission of Inquiry released on June 22 blamed both sides for violating international law during last summer’s war in Gaza. It condemned Hamas for the “inherently indiscriminate nature” of rockets fired at Israeli 10

and experts to identify and deal specifically with the reasons why recruits are flocking to join a group that ruthlessly murders it opponents and enforces Wahhabism, the narrowest form of Islam.

A broad-based effort that includes Iran would bring Sunnis and Shi’i together over a conference table instead of a battlefield, and allow them to deal with common grievances, such as joblessness, economic inequality and exclusion from the political system. There is hope for such a coming-together in the old Arab saying, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

The Taliban are Sunnis and Iran is Shi’i, and the two have long been enemies. But they both regard ISIS as a threat. When ISIS recently turned up in Afghanistan near the border with Iran and began recruiting fighters, the Taliban sent a delegation to Iran “to discuss bilateral issues, and to form, expand and strengthen ties,” a Taliban spokesman said. A few weeks earlier, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had allowed representatives of his government to meet with the Taliban in Qatar, and women in the delegation said they found the Taliban suprisingly forthcoming.

An even more surprising development is the growing prominence of al-Qaeda in Yemen, where it is fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Like Hezbollah, which is fighting ISIS in Syria, a group that the U.S. has long regarded as terrorist is now fighting in Yemen on the same side as the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and several Gulf emirates.

While the U.S. continues to kill al-Qaeda members with drones, the Saudis aim their bombing attacks at the Houthis but spare al-Qaeda, which keeps capturing more territory. April Alley, a Yemen analyst with the International Crisis Group, warns in fact that any aid the U.S. sends other groups fighting the Houthis is likely to end up with al-Qaeda.

The common ground for reaching reconciliation among the several warring parties is admittedly narrow, but considering the urgency of the situation all of the groups or nations involved should be included.

Those talks require Iran’s participation if they are to succeed. For that to happen the Obama administration will have to overcome opposition from Israel and members of Congress and join with the five other major powers to reach an agreement that would be in the best interests of most of the world—including Israel.

—R.M.

civilians, and for killing suspected collaborators with Israel. Referring to Israel, the commission said “the scale of of the devastation was unprecedented,” and cited Israel’s launching of more than 6,000 air strikes, 14,500 tank shells and 45,000 artillery shells between July 7 and Aug. 26.

Many of Israel’s attacks took place at night, the report said, when families were gathered to break the Ramadan fast or were asleep. Israel’s warnings did not provide enough time to evacuate, and because 44 percent of the Gaza Strip is offlimits to Palestinians, there was “no safe place to go.” Hamas interpreted the report as “a clear condemnation of Israel.” Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Ron Prosor, said, “the U.N. has been taken hostage by terrorist organizations.”

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Gaza “a powder keg,” and warned that only if Israel allows Gaza to develop its economy and receive reconTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

struction aid can another outbreak of violence be avoided.That prediction is not farfetched, judging by reports of young fighters stockpiling weapons in preparation for Israel’s next invasion.

Gaza has seen the rise of at least two groups composed of fundamentalist Islamists linked to ISIS, the Omar Brigades and Supporters of the Islamic State in Jerusalem. Like Islamic Jihad, they bitterly oppose Hamas for observing a cease-fire with Israel, and launch rocket attacks on Israel that do little damage but provoke Israeli air strikes in return.

Netanyahu nevertheless said that Israel would hold Hamas responsible for all rockets fired from Gaza, and would use its “full strength” to defend itself. Sooner or later it may have to do so. If the Israelis insist on maintaining rule over all of Palestine, and continue the crippling siege of Gaza while shunning Hamas, they may soon have to deal with far more ruthless enemies. ❑ AUGUST 2015

omer_11_Gaza on the Ground 6/26/15 8:15 AM Page 11

Gaza’s 1.8 Million Residents Are Running Out of Options Gazaon the Ground

By Mohammed Omer ere in Gaza, no one cele-

Hbrated the first anniver-

PHOTO M. OMER

sary of the Palestinian National Consensus government. Even before it was dissolved by President Mahmoud Abbas, most people considered it to have already failed, since it was unable to put an end to the ongoing Israeli-Egyptian economic blockade, Israeli military attacks on Gaza’s citizens, businesses and infrastructure, and Egypt’s widening of its buffer zone.

Economically, Gaza’s real GDP is only a couple of percentage points higher today than it was 20 years ago, in 1994, while the population growth is estimated to have increased by about 230 percent over the same period, according to a World Bank report.

Moreover, the unemploy- Mohammed Farraj lies in the rubble of his bombed-out home in Shejayeh. ment rate in Gaza—43 percent—is now the world’s highest, reported the Washington Report, but otherwise he is Customers who need clothes can only afthe World Bank in its latest economic mon- depressed and stuck driving his mat- ford to buy on credit. “I have customer itoring report, presented in Brussels by the tress—meaning that he is only sitting at debts going back to 2008,” says the mother Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), a home, even though he wants to work. of seven. “They say they have no money, forum of donors to the Palestinian Author“Gaza’s unemployment and poverty fig- and neither do I.” ity. ures are very troubling, and the economic Umm Ibrahim is one of nearly 80 percent The report states that Israel’s ongoing outlook is worrying. The current market in of Gazans receiving some kind of social assiege of Gaza, imposed in 2007, has shaved Gaza is not able to offer jobs, leaving a sistance, according to the World Bank. around 50 percent off Gaza’s GDP. Even large population in despair, particularly Nearly 40 percent live below the poverty more alarming is the situation of youth un- the youth,” said Steen Lau Jorgensen, line. Shocking as they are, these numbers employment, which by the end of 2014 World Bank country director for West fail to fully convey the harsh living condihad soared to more than 60 percent.

Bank and Gaza. tions experienced by nearly all of Gaza’s 1.8 “How am I expected to get married, find The ongoing blockade and Israel’s 2014 million besieged residents. By 2020, this a job and be productive, or even buy sim- war on Gaza, Operation Protective Edge, population is expected to reach 2.1 million, ple bread and butter for myself?” asks have taken a massive toll on the economy in an area the size of Manhattan, home to Anas Abdelrazaq of Gaza City, an IT grad- of Gaza and the livelihood of its residents. an estimated 1.63 million people whose uate who now is looking for any work he Gaza’s exports virtually disappeared, and homes have not been bombed into rubble. can find—but with few, if any options. the manufacturing sector shrank by as In the old days, Gaza had a middle class Gaza universities channel tens of thou- much as 60 percent. “The economy cannot of entrepreneurs running small local busisands of eager, intelligent graduates every survive without being connected to the nesses and employing many people. year into a stagnant workforce. Despite outside world,” added Jorgensen.

“Before the Israeli blockade of Gaza, the their desperation, all have hopes and In Jabalya, Umm Ibrahim Garmosh, 46, Palestinian private sector would employ dreams—along with a sense of irony. still struggles to survive. She used to sell lots of people, keeping a thriving middle “Mattress driver!” says a friend of Ab- clothes—mainly underwear—in the local class alive. But now they are laid off work delrazaq, when asked what he does. He market, earning a little cash to buy food, too,” says Dr. Rami Abdu, a Gaza-based volunteers in order to stay active, he told fluids and soap to take care of her disabled economist. “Being laid off work was not father. But now even that small source of their choice, as many once worked in 5,500 Award-winning journalist Mohammed Omer income is gone. industrial facilities, including 950 factories, reports from the Gaza Strip, where he main“No one has money to buy,” she ex- which have all been destroyed or severely tains the Web site <www.rafahtoday.org>. plains, “so I just sit while the clothes damaged in Israel’s war last summer.”

Follow him on Twitter: @MoGaza.

Continued on page 15 gather dust.”

AUGUST 2015

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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cook_12-13_The Nakba Continues 6/26/15 3:20 PM Page 12

Ban Ki-moon Caves to “Immense” Pressure, Drops Israel From U.N. “List of Shame” TheNakbaContinues

MARCO LONGARI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Jonathan Cook

A Palestinian child screams in pain at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip after she was hit by shrapnel during an Israeli military strike near her family home, July 22, 2014. nited Nations Secretary-General Ban

UKi-moon has overruled his own offi-

cials’ recommendation that Israel be included on this year’s U.N. “list of shame,” which identifies the gravest violators of children’s rights in conflict zones around the world.

It is the first time a U.N. secretary-general has ignored the advice of officials responsible for compiling the list, said a U.N. official in Jerusalem, who wished to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the issue.

The list—an annex to a 22-page report on violations of children’s rights in war zones—was distributed to Security Council members in New York on June 8.

The recommendation that Israel be listed for the first time alongside such groups as Boko Haram, Islamic State (ISIS) and alQaeda was made following Israel’s 51-day attack on Gaza last summer, dubbed Operation Protective Edge.

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 (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More).

12

Israel killed some 2,200 Palestinians, including more than 550 children. A further 3,300 children were injured. Seventy percent of Palestinian child casualties were under the age of 12.

Israel’s inclusion on the list had been backed by both Leila Zerrougui, Ban’s special representative for children and armed conflict, and by U.N. officials in Jerusalem.

In what appeared to be an effort to limit criticism of the move, Ban also overruled Hamas’ inclusion on the list.

Ban’s decision followed months of intense lobbying by both Israel and the United States. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power was reported to have made a direct appeal to Ban in late May to remove Israel from the draft blacklist.

After Ban formally presented the report and the list to the U.N. on June 18, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu commented about the world body: “There is no limit to hypocrisy.” The report should have focused on Israeli claims that Hamas fired rockets from schools in Gaza last summer, he said.

The original recommendation to include Israel was all but inevitable, said the official in Jerusalem, after U.N. investigators THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

confirmed that the Israeli army had targeted seven U.N. schools where civilians, including many children, were sheltering during Operation Protective Edge. Some 44 Palestinians were killed and 227 more injured in the attacks.

Israel had been notified of the sites and their GPS coordinates in advance.

Large-scale killing and maiming of children, and attacks on schools are among the “triggers” for inclusion on the list in a U.N. monitoring process, introduced a decade ago, of children’s rights in armed conflicts around the world.

In an early sign of concern, Israel lobbied the U.N. in February to prevent staff in Jerusalem from holding a meeting at which they were due to recommend to U.N. headquarters that Israel be listed. At the last minute, the meeting was cancelled.

Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported at the time that one of Ban’s officials had privately complained to Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., over the intimidation of agency staff in Jerusalem.

Gerard Horton, a lawyer specializing in Israel’s treatment of children and a cofounder of Military Court Watch, said the pressure on Ban was immense.

“The U.S. pays a large slice of the U.N.’s budget,” he noted, “so U.N. officials cannot afford to ignore the administration’s wishes. If U.N. officials want to help children in Africa and Iraq, they have to ask themselves whether it is worth risking it all for a fight over Israel.”

The U.N. official in Jerusalem, however, said Ban’s decision would damage the organization’s credibility in the Middle East.

Khaled Quzmar, general director of the Palestinian branch of Defense for Children International, warned that the U.N. had “provided tacit approval for Israeli forces to continue carrying out grave violations against children with impunity.”

U.N. agencies have been charged since 2005 with monitoring more than 20 conflicts, including the one between Israel and the Palestinians, for serious violations of children’s rights.

Six grave violations have been identified that qualify a group for inclusion on the list. They are: killing and maiming children, abductions, sexual attacks, attacks on schools and hospitals, the denial of huAUGUST 2015

cook_12-13_The Nakba Continues 6/26/15 3:20 PM Page 13

manitarian access, and the recruitment of children as soldiers.

Although the Israeli army has never been included on the U.N.’s annual list, it has been repeatedly named in the main body of each report as a serious abuser of Palestinian children’s rights.

Israeli violations that have been identified include: actions that led to deaths and injuries; nighttime arrests; cruel and degrading treatment during interrogations; threats of sexual violence; transfers to Israeli prisons, in violation of the Geneva Conventions; attacks on schools; and the denial for patients in Gaza of required hospital treatment.

In this year’s report the Israeli army was identified as one of the worst abusers of children’s rights in the world, with “devastating impacts” on minors. The section on Israel and the occupied territories was the longest in the report.

“The unprecedented and unacceptable scale of the impact on children in 2014 raises grave concerns about Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law…particularly in relation to excessive use of force,” the report stated.

A total of 577 Palestinian children were killed in 2014, most of them in Gaza, surpassed only by the 710 and 679 children who died respectively in Afghanistan and Iraq. The number of children killed in Syria was 368.

Of the 4,249 Palestinian children injured last year, 70 percent were under the age of 12.

Israeli forces also damaged or destroyed 543 schools in 2014, more than occurred in any other armed conflict that year.

The report noted that 700 children in Jerusalem were detained. Testimony from 122 children who had recently completed their incarceration accused security forces of “ill-treatment, such as beatings, being hit with sticks, being blindfolded, being kicked and being subjected to verbal abuse and threats of sexual violence.”

Several incidents from Operation Protective Edge were highlighted.

One case concerned four children, aged between 9 and 11, killed in an Israeli strike on a beach in Gaza on July 16 last year.

“No military targets could be identified in the apparently calm area and no rockets were fired towards Israel from that location at that time,” the report stated.

The Israeli army exonerated itself in its own investigation in early June into the four deaths, claiming there was no way soldiers could have known the figures they targeted were children. Israel called it a “tragic accident.”

AUGUST 2015

Another Israeli strike destroyed a building on July 20, killing 25 members of a single family, including 19 children. “Surviving members testified that they had received no prior warning” from the Israeli army, the report noted.

The U.N. found that rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza killed 4 Israeli children and 13 Palestinian children, and damaged 3 schools in Israel. Five children recruited by Palestinian militant groups were later killed by the Israeli military in fighting.

The report pointed out that Israel had opened only 13 criminal investigations into events during Operation Protective Edge.

Most focused on exceptional or isolated incidents, including looting by soldiers, and ignored Israeli policies and tactical procedures that might have violated international law.

Following the report’s publication, Prosor complained to Ban that Israel was being singled out. He accused Zerrougui of “widespread, systematic and institutionalized biased conduct against Israel.”

An Overdue Listing Philippe Bolopion, Human Rights Watch’s director for crisis advocacy, wrote to Ban in April arguing that the listing of Israeli and Palestinian forces was “overdue.”

Bede Sheppard, deputy director of the children’s rights division at HRW, noted earlier this year that inclusion on the list had proved successful in curbing states’ worst abuses of children’s rights.

“The ‘list of shame’ has been a remarkably effective tool in getting governments to improve their children’s rights records,” he said.

Issam Yunis, director of Al-Mezan, a human rights group in Gaza, said listing Israel was vital to increasing protections for Palestinians under occupation.

“At the moment, Israel is totally unaccountable, especially in Gaza, where it has a green light to do what it likes. Gaza is a society of children [figures show 44 percent of the population is under 14], so it is inevitable that they pay the heaviest price for Israeli impunity.”

In the case of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, violations have been documented and monitored since 2007 by a working group led by the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF. The group includes other major U.N. agencies, international aid organizations, and Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations.

Until this year, Palestinian children’s rights experts noted, Israel had not only been excluded from the list of shame published by the U.N., but had not even been discussed for inclusion.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

“This year, there was a breakthrough,” said Ayed Abed Eqtaish, a lawyer with the Palestine branch of Defense for Children International. “Things are getting noticeably harder for Israel,” he added. The pressure is growing year by year.”

The Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council, a coalition of 12 Palestinian groups, sent a letter to Ban in February urging him to be “impartial” and include Israel on the list.

Evidence emerged in May from within the Israeli army that its soldiers had perpetrated war crimes by targeting civilians, including children.

A group of former Israeli soldiers, Breaking the Silence, published testimonies from soldiers who served in Gaza. Many said they had received similar orders from their commanders: to shoot any Palestinian, whether armed or not, in areas Israel considered combat zones.

A staff sergeant was quoted saying: “The instructions are to shoot right away.

Whoever you spot—be they armed or unarmed, no matter what. The instructions are very clear. Any person you run into, that you see with your eyes—shoot to kill.

It’s an explicit instruction.”

Breaking the Silence concluded that Israel was “at best indifferent about casualties among the Palestinian population.”

In June an Israeli officer, Amihai Harach, went public on Israeli radio admitting that his unit had shelled a medical clinic in Gaza to “raise morale,” after one of his battalion’s officers had been killed in fighting. The unit believed Hamas was operating from the clinic.

He added that such “revenge” attacks were not uncommon during Operation Protective Edge.

His comments were designed to support his battalion commander, Neria Yeshurun, who had earlier told an Israeli army publication that when the company could not attend their dead comrade’s funeral “we decided to fire a volley of shells toward the point from which he lost his life.”

Israel also faced criticism in April when Human Rights Watch published a report showing that Jewish settlements in the West Bank were employing hundreds of Palestinian children, some as young as 11, in violation of Israeli law and international treaties Israel has signed.

The children, said HRW, often worked in agriculture in the Jordan Valley, where they endured long periods in extremely high temperatures, carried heavy loads and were exposed to hazardous chemicals. Pay was well below Israel’s minimum wage. ❑ 13

williams_14-15_United Nations Report 6/26/15 8:17 AM Page 14

Although Left Off List of Offenders, Israeli Crimes Against Children Detailed in Report

United Nations Report

U.N. PHOTO/EVAN SCHNEIDER

By Ian Williams

Leila Zerrougui, the secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict, addresses the Security Council open debate on the issue, June 18, 2015. n the preceding article, Jonathan Cook

Idetails some of the issues surrounding

the intense American pressure on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to drop mention of Israel from the report on Children and Armed Conflict. It was all the more appalling since the agent for the pressure was Samantha Power, who previously had enjoyed a good reputation for her concerns for international humanitarian law.

Although Israel was excised from the list of offenders in the front of the report— ironically along with Hamas, as a trade off—the U.N. Human Rights officers made sure that it was mentioned copiously in the body of evidence presented, reducing Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., to paroxysms of percentages. Interestingly, he did not even try to rebut any of the allegations specifically, but rather resorted to abstract statistics—Israel got 11 percent of the report’s attention while Syria only had 6 percent. Prosor attacked the U.N. special Ian Williams is a free-lance journalist based at the United Nations who blogs at <www. deadlinepundit.blogspot.com>.

14

representative, Leila Zerrougui, for “widespread, systematic and institutionalized biased conduct against Israel.”

The battle over the excision of Israel from the list seemed to be denting Ban’s usually well-deserved reputation for integrity, even though his spokesman Stephane Dujarric was at pains to point out to press that the specific incidents of Israeli harm to children were still detailed in the body of the report.

Indeed the report is quite explicit. It reports, along with many detailed incidents from last summer’s conflict, that: “87. On average, between 8 July and 26 August, more than 10 children were killed daily in Gaza. More than 80 percent of the children were killed between 17 July and 5 August during the ground incursion by the Israeli security forces. At least 13 children in Gaza were reportedly killed as a result of rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel that fell inside Gaza.

“88. At least 2,955 Palestinian children were injured in Gaza. Preliminary estimates indicate that up to 1,000 of them will be permanently disabled. Apart from THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

the July-August Israeli military operation, another 76 children were injured.”

However, on the day of the report, Ban redeemed himself when he told told press: “I am aware of the controversy surrounding the report. I want to express once again my full support for my Special Representative, Ms. Leila Zerrougui, and the excellent work that she and her team have done.”

And at the introduction of the report to the Security Council he specifically singled out Israel, stating, “I am also deeply alarmed at the suffering of so many children as a result of Israeli military operations in Gaza last year.

“I urge Israel to take concrete and immediate steps, including by reviewing existing policies and practices, to protect and prevent the killing and maiming of children, and to respect the special protections afforded to schools and hospitals.”

The net result of Ambassador Power’s hypersensitivity on behalf of Israel was that the country she was intending to protect was singled out more than ever! Part of the package that Washington urged on Ban and the U.N. was that the U.S. needed to get Israel taken off the list in order to ease the passage of any agreement on Iran though Congress. Ban, under attack from both sides, is in an invidious position. He needs the cooperation of the U.S. to achieve many of the objectives he wants for the U.N., and he wants the deal on Iran.

The Israeli Spoke In yet another example of Israel being the spoke in the wheel of diplomacy, the U.N.’s regular review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was even more inconclusive than before. With Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu making so much noise about Iran’s alleged nuclear effort, it takes a lot of chutzpah for congressmen ganging up on Tehran to support the one country in the Middle East which has not signed the NPT and which scarcely makes a secret of its possession of a large nuclear arsenal.

The signatory members of the NPT met this summer at the U.N. to denounce the official nuclear powers—Britain, China, AUGUST 2015

williams_14-15_United Nations Report 6/26/15 8:17 AM Page 15

France, Russia and the U.S.—for not taking the steps toward disarmament that they promised at the time they persuaded the rest of the world to renounce nuclear weapons. It’s their hypocrisy that India, Pakistan and North Korea cited when they went nuclear. Israel keeps quiet about it, of course, officially neither confirming nor denying its nuclear arsenal, but making sure that everyone knows about it.

In 1995, the NPT was scheduled to expire unless it was renewed, and members extracted some promises from the nuclear powers in return for extending it indefinitely. One of the concessions was the call for “the establishment of an effectively verifiable Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical and biological, and their delivery systems.”

Egypt had been asking for this since 1990, and it was an expansion of the proposal that had been passed annually by the U.N. General Assembly since 1980 for a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in the Middle East. At the 2010 NPT Review Conference the countries agreed to start implementing the Middle East Conference, and Britain, Russia and the U.S. agreed to work with the U.N. secretary-general to hold a regional conference on it in 2012.

When 2012 came around, however, the U.S. just postponed the conference, blaming “conditions in the Middle East” and vaguely suggesting there was lack of agreement on “acceptable conditions” by the would-be attendees. Of course, there was one state, unnamed, that would only agree to a nuclear-free region if it were the sole state excluded from the conclusions. In fact, Israel is not a signatory of the NPT— but Iran is.

Even the current unappetizing Egyptian regime maintains some principles. It reintroduced its call for a conference on a Nuclear Free Middle East into the preparations for this year’s NPT Review conference. This is, of course, an entirely laudable principle. After all, if everyone in the region eschews nuclear weaponry, then there is really no excuse for any country in the region to have them.

In the classic way of global governance, diplomats worked around the clock to obscure the issues, but Cairo persevered and secured the language in the draft document for this year’s conference that called for the secretary-general to convene a conference on a WMD-free zone by March 2016. That would have avoided the implicit veto of having the U.S., Britain and Russia as convenors.

The United States, Britain and Canada AUGUST 2015

decided not to support the draft final document from the NPT review conference because of the deadline. Speaking at the conference, Washington said it objected because the plan to set an agenda and hold a conference was not based on “consensus and equality,” and that the document proposed “unworkable conditions” and “arbitrary deadlines.” Canada, in its new role as being more pro-Israel even than the U.S., wanted Israel to be included in the negotiations for the nuclear-free zone even though Tel Aviv is not even a signatory to the NPT, so hardly in a legal or ethical position to demand a place at the table.

It seems eminently reasonable of the members attending to put a deadline on a process that the U.S. has repeatedly postponed.

As always, however, there is one law for Israel and one for everybody else.

The hypocrisy is stunning. To summarize: the permanent five, who all possess nuclear weapons, feign commitment to disarming—while modernizing their nuclear weapons systems. They continue to maintain sanctions on Iran for allegedly taking tentative steps toward refining nuclear fuel that could be used for weaponry. But Britain and the U.S. effectively vetoed a conference that sought to set up a nuclearfree zone in the region because Israel, which is a non-signatory to the NPT and has nuclear weapons, did not want them to. If there is any ethical principle there, it is very well hidden indeed.

All of the parties concerned know that Israel has nuclear weapons. They know that the whole purpose of the procrastination and obfuscation is to avoid Israel having to admit that. It is somehow perplexing that Egypt, despite massive military aid from the U.S., has the chutzpah to be independent on such issues, while the U.S., despite its massive military aid to Israel, does exactly what Israel orders.

Welcome to the Wonderland of international diplomacy. ❑

Gaza on the Ground…

Continued from page 11

The construction sector used to account for more than 18 percent of Gaza’s economic activity, with the infrastructure sector contributing 10 percent. These sectors have since collapsed, no longer providing support for a middle class.

A few families in Gaza used to own and farm productive agricultural land. Now, however, they can only contribute the bare THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

minimum of vegetables and locally made milk and cheese—and even these are not profitable. It seems that Israel’s intention to collectively punish and starve the people of Gaza continues unabated.

But the siege of Gaza also affects the psychological wellbeing of its residents. As much as one witnesses human courage and resilience among people living under extreme pressure, the frustration and despair of Gaza’s unemployed youth is palpable.

Dr. Abdu and other experts warn that this desperation could lead young Gazans toward extremism.

Gaza’s de facto authorities have undertaken massive campaigns to attack the locations of Salafist groups, which have recently appeared in Gaza and threaten to undermine local security. The groups attempted to retaliate directly, but instead launched a few rockets into Israel, hoping that Israel would respond with attacks on Hamas. Israeli fighter jets have struck Gaza several times over the past few weeks. People are expecting a new war, even though they have not been able to deal with the massive economic damages they sustained in Israel’s last assault.

In Shejayeh, the site of one of the fiercest Israeli attacks last summer, 6-year-old Mohammed Farraj lies in the shade to escape an unusual heat wave in Gaza. He and his 10 siblings live surrounded by rubble and the bullet-pocked ruins of his family home.

Like hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents, there is nowhere for him to escape to, since Egypt’s Rafah border is either completely closed or open only occasionally to permit-holding travelers—primarily Egyptian citizens. A permit is a symbol of freedom and mobility, and Gaza youths have started a hashtag on social media, in Arabic: “we want to see the West Bank.”

Even though there is a whole world outside Gaza, just to see the nearby West Bank remains a dream, as long as borders remain closed.

“Even more shocking is the reality that most of Gaza’s 1.8 million residents are confined to an area of 160 square kilometers, not able to travel beyond this area without permits,” said the World Bank’s Jorgensen.

According to the Washington-based Center for Mind-Body Medicine, even before Israel’s devastating 2014 assault as many as one-third of Gaza’s children showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Now, even more feel totally trapped and unable to deal with the traumas inflicted upon them. ❑ 15

gallo_16_What They Said 6/26/15 8:19 AM Page 16

Remarks on the Anniversary of Israel’s 1967 Attack on the USS Liberty What TheySaid

STAFF PHOTO DELINDA HANLEY

By Ernie Gallo

USS Liberty survivor Ernie Gallo speaking at Arlington National Cemetery, June 8, 2015. aptain Burks, Colonel Nalls, USS Liberty crew, USS Liberty families, friends and supporters—Let me start by saying welcome to our 48th USS Liberty Memorial. I will be brief.

But first, let me introduce our distinguished guest, Captain Vorrice Burks, representing Secretary of the Navy Mabus.

Why do we do this each year? Yes, it is to remember and pray for our lost souls, but also to let Washington, DC know the event of June 8, 1967 will never be forgotten. The importance to America of our story fundamentally begins with our 34 shipmates murdered that fateful day. Otherwise they would have died for nothing.

With their deaths in mind and our love of country, we don’t want this to ever happen again to a U.S. Navy ship.

Some did not even see what hit them, it started so quickly and violently. Others were attempting to ensure the ship survived this attack, manning a 50 caliber machine gun, fighting fires, or rescuing a

C

Ernie Gallo is president of the USS Liberty Veterans Association and author of the book Liberty Injustices: A Survivor’s Account of American Bigotry (availalbe from AET’s Middle East Books and More). He gave these remarks at Arlington National Cemetery, June 8, 2015.

16

fallen shipmate, and were hit by missiles, shrapnel, gunfire, drowning, or concussion from the torpedo explosion. The remaining crew owes so much to these brave sailors. With that said, I pray our Lord finds a very special place for their souls, feeling His love and presence.

The mission of the USS Liberty Veterans Association indicates we strive to have the truth told about the deliberate IDF attack.

We want the truth captured in history books for posterity, not the fact that the event is “controversial.” There is nothing controversial about it—all they have to do is ask the “eye witnesses”—the Liberty crew.

Our moral character is being questioned in some circles. Someone is lying, and it isn’t us. The irony here is that in order to serve on the USS Liberty, the sailor was chosen for his honesty and moral character.

The USS Liberty survivor problem is that the USS Liberty did not sink as planned.

They first tried to silence us and at the same time create a dishonest spin to protect the U.S.-Israeli relationship. And it worked very well. Later, folks started asking the survivors what happened and we provided an honest answer. By using our truthfulness against us, our detractors made us appear to be dishonest and anti-Jewish bigots, causing us grief over our loss of charTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

acter and malaise to some Israeli supporters. The dishonesty also tarnishes the deaths of our 34. Can you imagine if one of them was your husband, father or brother?

I have written a book to capture the bigotry we have suffered.

When Americans discover what the Johnson administration did to us, it will be like waking a sleeping giant. Japanese Admiral Tito said the same thing. Some of us can see it in the passion of USS Liberty supporters. America is waking up. One eye is now half opened, and they are very fired up. Their numbers are growing and growing.

In conclusion, please say a prayer for our 34, our departed crew, and the remaining crew. Pray our mission is fulfilled soon, for the sake of America and its military. Amen.

May you have a safe trip home and may our Lord bring us back again next year.

Vaya con Dios. ❑ (Advertisement)

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AUGUST 2015

weir_17-18_In Memoriam 6/26/15 4:30 PM Page 17

Donald Neff (1930-2015) InMemoriam

By Alison Weir

ne of the top journalists to report on

Donald Neff passed away on May 10 in his hometown of York, Pennsylvania, at the age of 84. The cause of death was heart disease and diabetes.

Neff was a luminous writer and meticulous reporter. From humble beginnings, he had reached the top ranks of American journalism. When he then turned his formidable talents to writing books and articles about Palestine, his contracts with mainstream American publishers dried up, his income plummeted, and his fame faded.

Today, even many activists in the growing Palestine solidarity movement are unaware of Neff’s groundbreaking work. This is unfortunate, since he exposed critical facts about Palestine with unparalleled precision and elegance. Much of the information he uncovered is still significant today.

During his long career, Neff reported on the Vietnam War from Tokyo and Saigon and was TIME magazine bureau chief in Houston, Los Angeles and Jerusalem. One of the first reporters on the scene at the Jonestown Massacre in Guyana, he also covered the Apollo moon landing and reported on the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island (not far from his hometown). In 1980 he won the Overseas Press Club of America’s prestigious Mary Hemingway Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for a 1979 cover story about Colombia’s cocaine network.

Neff was at TIME from 1965-1979. While based in Jerusalem, he exposed an incident that would change the course of his life.

In “Epiphany at Beit Jala,” an in-depth essay written for the November-December 1995 issue of The Link (<www.ameu.org>), Neff wrote about this incident and other eye-opening experiences covering the region.

Like most Westerners, Neff had arrived profoundly sympathetic to Israel. However, he wrote, “As my tour extended into years, I could not ignore a disturbing blindness in some of even the most gentle Israelis. They did not seem to see the Palestinians all Alison Weir is founder and executive director of If Americans Knew and president of the Council for the National Interest. Her latest book is Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More).

AUGUST 2015

PHOTO JAMES BUCKNER

OPalestine-Israel has died.

Author Donald Neff. around them…In general, this was just as well because when most Israelis did notice Palestinians their reaction to them was one of loathing or fear that quickly could escalate into violence.”

Neff’s experiences also revealed a power dynamic between the U.S. and Israel that he found astonishing.

He reported on Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s frantic attempts to convince Israel to relinquish Egyptian land Israel had acquired through its 1967 war of conquest and had managed to retain through American support during the 1973 “Yom Kippur” war. The U.S. was calling on Israel to return it to Egypt. Israel refused.

“The extent of Israel’s ability to resist U.S. advice,” Neff wrote, “was my first great eye-opener in Israel. I had had little appreciation of the astounding depth and strength of Zionism’s influence in Washington. I was stunned that a country completely beholden to the United States could thumb its nose at Washington.”

Various encounters through the years caused Neff “deep uneasiness” about the views and beliefs of some Israel partisans in the U.S., raising “the question of dual loyalty to a level I had never realized existed.”

A man who had been serving in the U.S. Navy when Israel tried to sink the USS Liberty, killing 34 and injuring 171 Americans, told Neff that he had been “torn by the dilemma of whether he could actually participate in a U.S. retaliatory attack against Israel.” (This never came.)

Another American Zionist showed Neff his Israeli passport alongside his U.S. one.

Neff was taken aback; it had been illegal for Americans to hold dual citizenship. The man proudly informed him that the policy had been changed in 1967 by the Supreme THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Court, adding with emphasis that the case had been brought by an Israeli and the swing vote was cast by Abe Fortas.

In later researching Fortas, Neff discovered that Fortas was a Zionist and that among his first thoughts when he left the Supreme Court had been to visit Israel.

“There was nothing wrong with that,” Neff wrote, “but it did indicate an attachment of such personal importance that he should have recused himself from the dual citizenship case.” This ruling, Neff wrote, “had destroyed a 200-year tradition.”

Neff’s most intense experience, the “epiphany” of his essay title, came in March 1978, when a freelance reporter called to say that she had “heard reports that Israeli troops had just conducted a cruel campaign throughout the West Bank against Palestinian youth. Many Palestinians had suffered broken bones, others had been beaten and some had had their heads shaved.”

When Neff repeated the report to his TIME bureau staff, all Jewish Israelis, they were indignant. The report was obviously false, they said, because “that is what was done to us in the Holocaust.”

Neff decided to check out the facts for himself, taking along a skeptical Jewish American friend who was living in Israel.

“We went into the small hospital and a young Palestinian doctor who spoke English soon appeared. Yes indeed, he said matter-of-factly, he had recently treated a number of students for broken bones. There were 10 cases of broken arms and legs and many of the patients were still there, too seriously injured to leave. He took us to several rooms filled with boys in their midteens, an arm or leg, sometimes both, immobile under shining white plaster casts.”

When TIME published Neff’s report, it provoked outrage from both Israeli authorities and American Zionists. The New York Times failed to report on the incident, making it seem for awhile that Neff’s report was inaccurate. It wasn’t until an Israeli official investigated the incident and confirmed Neff’s facts that other journalists finally reported on it.

As a result of his reporting, Neff was made an honorary citizen of Bethlehem.

After Neff returned to the U.S. he eventually decided to leave periodical journalism in order to write books. He signed a contract with Simon & Schuster and wrote the first in what was to be a trilogy about the Israeli-Arab wars of 1956, 1967 and 17

weir_17-18_In Memoriam 6/26/15 4:30 PM Page 18

1973 (all available from AET’s Middle East prised by his devastating conclusions, asNeff’s final book, Fifty Years of Israel Books and More). sembled from facts previously known to (1998; also available from Middle East The book, Warriors at Suez: Eisenhower most of us only piecemeal. It is not only a Books and More), was published on the Takes America into the Middle East (1981), good read, but essential background for se- 50th anniversary of Israel’s creation. A colreceived wide acclaim. It was a National rious students of developments in the Mid- lection of the “Middle East History” Book Award finalist and an alternate selec- dle East today.” columns Neff wrote for this magazine betion for both the Book of the Month Club Neff’s next book, on the history of U.S.- ginning in 1993, its short, footnoted chapand the History Book Club.

Israel relations, was published in 1995 by ters were based on a detailed handbook The Chicago Tribune Book World de- the Institute for Palestine Studies, head- compiled daily of events related to Israel scribed it as “A true thriller” and said that quartered in Lebanon. A second, updated and Palestine from 1947 to the end of the the story was “as sobering as it is fascinat- edition was published in 2002.

20th century (see first entry in box). ing....important and compelling reading.”

Neff himself, and many others, considLong before Google and other Internet The Tribune review, however, was to be ered this his most important book. Fallen search engines made their appearance, among the few exceptions to a pattern later Pillars: U.S. Policy Towards Palestine and Neff’s computerized database was a fredescribed by Ambassador Andrew Kill- Israel Since 1945 provides a detailed history quently called upon source of information gore, publisher of the Washington Report of how Zionists overcame the recommenda- for authors and journalists. As the Washon Middle East Affairs. tions of U.S. diplomats, the Pentagon, and ington Report’s late executive editor, Books on the Middle East that editors intelligence agencies to create today’s Richard H. Curtiss, noted in his introducdisliked, Killgore noted, would be assigned uniquely special relationship with Israel. tion to Fifty Years: “Over the phone I could to “a Zionist reviewer...the reviewer usually Citing a multitude of memos and official hear the ‘click, click’ as he entered into his is Jewish, never a Muslim and only occa- studies, Neff’s opus details U.S. officials’ computer—which seemingly always was sionally a Christian. If none of turned on—the key words the facts presented in the that brought up almost inJan. 1, 1947: TERRORISM: IRGUN AND LEHI book can be refuted, the stantaneous answers to whatbook’s substance has to be igever questions I asked.”

Neither side refrained from terrorism in the Middle East. nored.” Often they would simDonald Neff brought honBut in the historic 1947-49 period it was mainly practiced ply go un-reviewed. esty, precision, and courage to in an organized way by Jews belonging to the Irgun and Neff’s second book, Wara topic of world-shaking sigLehi underground groups; Palestinian terrorists operating riors for Jerusalem: The Six nificance that most top jourunder Haj Amin Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, were Days That Changed the Middle nalists feared or obfuscated. less organized and effective, though they scored some noEast, came out in 1985 and For this, he paid dearly. table attacks. As Jewish leader David Ben Gurion recorded was again praised by experts.

Those working to rectify in his personal history of Israel: “From 1946 to 1947 there Former Undersecretary of one of the world’s most signifwere scarcely any Arab attacks on the Yishuv [the Jewish State George Ball called it inicant injustices and causes of community in Palestine]. The Arabs had learned a lesson dispensable to anyone who ongoing tragedy owe deep from the 1936-1939 riots, when the terror campaign and wanted to understand “why gratitude to Donald Neff. we are in such a dangerous general strike had hurt them more than us.”

I personally am profoundly mess in the Middle East.” indebted. I first stumbled —From Donald Neff’s unpublished Middle East Handbook While the Christian Science across Neff’s books when I Monitor called it “one of the visited the Washington Report most significant contributions to modern failed attempts and frequent frustration at a bookstore in Washington, DC in the spring historical literature,” most newspapers ig- special interest lobby that held more influ- of 2001. While I had already seen at firstnored it. ence over U.S. policies than they did. Already hand Israel’s ferocious treatment of PalestiniAmerican Zionists had long disliked by 1949 “Israeli officials were openly brag- ans, I was largely unaware of Israel’s power in Neff’s work. When his report on the Beit ging about the power of the Jewish Ameri- and over the United States. Neff’s work was Jala incident came out, even some TIME can community to influence U.S. policy.” as enlightening as it was disturbing. colleagues had complained. Neff was called Pillars shows the deep roots of many A few years later I had the honor of meetan anti-Semite to his face, while others current issues. “By 1968,” Neff reported, ing Donald Neff in person and conducting shunned him. “the CIA was convinced Israel had pro- a long interview with him about his work.

The book industry included such Israel duced nuclear weapons, or was capable of (A few minutes from this are on a video If partisans, as well. Simon & Schuster did doing so, and informed President Lyndon Americans Knew subsequently released.) not renew its contract with Neff, and his Johnson. His response was to order the I expect that eventually Neff’s books and final book in the trilogy, Warriors Against CIA not to inform any other members of articles, like those of other journalists who Israel: How Israel Won the Battle to Become the administration, including Defense Sec- worked to tell Americans about Palestine America’s Ally, was published in 1988 by retary Robert McNamara and Secretary of but were largely erased from public awareAmana, a much smaller publisher.

State Dean Rusk.” ness, will be rediscovered, as a new generOnce again, Neff produced a powerful Although, again, scholarly reviewers ation intent on justice discovers the power volume. Archibald B. Roosevelt, Jr., a praised Neff’s book, most mainstream media and relevance of his pioneering work. grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, chose not to review it. An exception was The Neff is survived by his companion of 15 a polyglot who spoke 20 languages, and a Washington Post, which assigned it to Tad years, Washington Report managing editor former CIA officer with considerable ex- Szulc, a Jewish American journalist whose Janet McMahon, as well as son Gregory pertise in the Middle East, wrote: “As an primary expertise was Latin America and Neff of York; two stepdaughters, Victoria observer of Middle Eastern affairs for more Eastern Europe. Szulc called Pillars “deeply Brett of Northampton, MA, and Abigail than four decades, I was impressed by the flawed” and charged Neff with being “more Miller of Portland, ME; a granddaughter; originality of Neff’s presentation and sur- Palestinian than the Palestinians.” and two great-grandsons. ❑ 18

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

sprusansky_19_Special Report 6/26/15 11:04 AM Page 19

Palestinian-American Comedian Amer Zahr Turns Pain Into Laughter SpecialReport

By Dale Sprusansky ington Report. “When comedy is involved, sometimes people get a whole fresh encounter with someone who they might have otherwise had no encounter with.”

Some may be pleasantly surprised to learn that Zahr has never faced stiff criticism for the pro-Palestine/Muslim/Arab orientation of his material.

The key to addressing touchy topics is honesty, Zahr believes: “Honesty, transparency,

ne thing all Palestinians share—be

or the Diaspora—is pain. The pain of statelessness, dehumanization and injustice is inescapable and at times all-encompassing.

Palestinian-American comedian Amer Zahr acknowledges there is no ignoring or hiding this pain. He does believe, however, that Palestinians can choose how to process and express their suffering.

“Laughing and crying are not that different,” Zahr told an audience at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC on June 3.

“We’ve all seen someone laugh so much that he starts crying. But sometimes you might even see somebody cry so much that he starts laughing….They come from the same place.”

The absurdity of everyday life in Palestine, Zahr believes, often leaves no option but laughter. “It’s living in a completely alternate universe where things happen there [in Palestine] that don’t happen anywhere else in the world, and where normal things don’t happen,” Zahr explained. “You may cry at the ridiculous, but we Palestinians laugh at the ridiculous.”

With this guiding principle, Zahr is able to do something few others are capable of: generating boisterous laughter at the mention of Binyamin Netanyahu, Israeli settlements, or the decimated enclave of Gaza.

Zahr admits that his comedic routine— which also touches on his life as an Arab American—is a form of therapy. “When I’m on stage, it’s therapeutic for me to talk about these things,” he said. “I think if I didn’t have that, I’d be much angrier than I am.”

At the same time, Zahr realizes his routine is a constructive way to highlight the Palestinian experience. “If you can make people laugh, they listen to you. You can only tell so many stories [that begin with] ‘in 1948…’ until people stop listening.”

Zahr is not sure if his routine has ever changed the opinions of an audience member. At the vey least, though, he knows his comedy has given people an opportunity to see and hear an Arab for the first time.

“A few times, people have told me ‘you’re the first Arab or the first Muslim that I’ve ever met,’” Zahr told the WashDale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

AUGUST 2015

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

Othey in Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank

Amer Zahr at the Palestine Center, days before his June 5 performance at the Kennedy Center. vulnerability—these things are paramount.

And when you’re doing that, how can someone be mad at you? They may think you’re not funny, but they won’t be angry.”

The Dearborn, Michigan resident believes no topic should be untouchable onstage. “A comedian, if he’s good at what he does, he can talk about anything. All that matters is that it’s funny,” he said. “If you’re going to touch on touchy subjects like sex or religion, that just means you better be a lot funnier talking about that than you were talking about something that’s a little more innocuous…otherwise you’re going to come away as dirty or inappropriate.”

When it comes to generating material, Zahr reports having very few difficulties.

“No matter who you are and no matter what sort of situation you are in, there’s probably at least 5 to 10 funny things that happen to you every day,” he observed.

“And for Palestinians, it’s probably more like 50 or 100 funny things that happen, just because of the alternate universe, the weird things we see and have to go through.”

Zahr, who has performed across the U.S. and the Middle East (including Ramallah, THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Bethlehem, Haifa, Nazareth, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv), said he doesn’t change his act for non-American audiences.

The key to a successful performance, he explained, is selecting quality material— not editing jokes. “If I think there’s a certain joke that is too much for a certain crowd, I just won’t tell it,” he said. “I won’t try to change it too much and then tell it, because then it comes out in a way that it’s not supposed to come out and then it seems dishonest.”

Zahr’s favorite place to perform is Palestine—because, he explained, “they’re aware of the stereotypes that others have of them…so laughter to them is really precious.”

He returns to Palestine two or three times a year, but Israel has never granted him permission to enter Gaza. Zahr hopes to one day do a show for the residents of the besieged strip.

While making people laugh is Zahr’s fulltime profession, he also dabbles in several serious fields. He runs a blog, <civilarab. com>, where he shares his views on domestic and international issues; authored a book, Being Palestinian Makes Me Smile (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More); produced a documentary, “We’re Not White”; and is an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Zahr’s students likely enjoy a few laughs during lectures, but they also are being instructed by an eminently qualified professor who has earned three degrees from the University of Michigan: a BA in history, an MA in modern Middle East and North African Studies, and a JD. Indeed, Zahr was on track to become a lawyer until he randomly began his life as a comedian 12 years ago.

Attending a stand-up act as a university student, Zahr volunteered to take the stage in order to fill time. He was a hit. “It was fun and everybody loved it,” he recalled, “so I just kind of caught the bug, I guess, and kept doing it more and more and more.” Five years later, he received his first paid gig.

Zahr is glad his plans for being a lawyer fell through (although his proud Arab mom still tells people he’s a lawyer).

Now instead of teetering on the line between the truth and the “whole truth,” he is able to delicately substitute laughter for tears. ❑ 19

mcmahon_20-21_Special Report 6/26/15 4:32 PM Page 20

Supreme Court: Congress Cannot Decide That Jerusalem Is the Capital of Israel SpecialReport

LEFT: MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES; RIGHT: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Janet McMahon

LEFT: The Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. RIGHT: The Dome of the Rock, the Muslim holy site in Arab East Jerusalem. y a vote of 6 to 3, the Supreme Court

Bruled on June 8 that it is the role of the

Executive Branch, not Congress, to establish U.S. foreign policy, specifically when it comes to recognition of foreign governments.

As Georgetown University professor and former CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explained in his blog for The National Interest: “The decision struck down, as an unconstitutional congressional encroachment on Executive Branch powers, the portion of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for 2003 [Section 214(d)] that would have required the State Department to indicate on passports issued to U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem that the place of birth was ‘Israel’ if the individual requested that designation.

“This requirement contradicted the longstanding U.S. position that the sovereignty of Jerusalem is a matter yet to be decided by international negotiation.”

The Supreme Court found that Section 214(d) “infringes on the executive’s consistent decision to withhold recognition with respect to Jerusalem.”

Janet McMahon is managing editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

20

In a June 8 post titled, “Supreme Court Slam Dunks the Israel Lobby on Jerusalem,” Mondoweiss’ Philip Weiss noted “the angry reactions to the Supreme Court decision from Israel supporters. For them,” he wrote, “it was never really about a parent’s ‘right’ to list Israel on their child’s passport if the child was born in Jerusalem, it was about forcing the hand of the Executive Branch to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

According to Knesset member Michael Oren, Israel’s American-born former ambassador to the U.S., the court’s ruling in Zivotofsky v. Secretary of State “is damaging to Israel’s sovereignty and to the alliance of Israel and the United States.”

Friends of the Court Fifteen amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs were filed in conjunction with the case, all but three of which urged that Section 214(d) be upheld. Of the 12 supporting the legislation, 3 were filed by members of the U.S. House and Senate. The other “friends” were Louis Fisher, a former senior specialist in separation of powers with the Congressional Research Service; the American Jewish Committee; the Anti-Defamation THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

League; the Endowment for Middle East Truth, whose neocon “advisors” incude Meyrav Wurmser, James Woolsey, Frank Gaffney, Daniel Pipes and Caroline Glick; the state of Texas; the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law; the Zionist Organization of America; the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists; and Public Citizen, Inc. The latter group, founded by Ralph Nader, described Section 214(d) as “a statute that was properly enacted by Congress in a field in which it indisputably has legislative power.” According to its brief, the president directed his secretary of state to “disobey that statute.” Furthermore, it argued, “the conduct of matters touching on foreign affairs is a shared responsibility of the president and Congress.”

The three friends urging the court to overturn Section 214(d) offered diverse perspectives.

As the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) noted at its recent convention (see p. 42), it was the only ArabAmerican organization to file an amicus brief in the case. Warning that “The mishandling of the status of Jerusalem will negatively impact any prospects for peace in the Middle East,” ADC added that Section 214(d) “effectively excludes Palestinian Americans born in Jerusalem from rights and/or benefits bestowed to other American citizens born in Jerusalem.”

True Torah Jews Inc. (TTJ) describes itself as “a nonprofit organization of Orthodox Jews, directed by rabbis, who reject the essentially secular political ideology known as ‘Zionism.’” Explaining that “Zionists do not speak for traditional Orthodox Jews, or for ‘the Jews’ generally,” TTJ cites in particular what it calls “‘expansionist’ Zionists—those dedicated to a vision of a ‘Greater Israel.”

TTJ’s brief warns the court that “expansionist Zionists seek to realize their vision by every available means.…Section 214(d), for the expansionist, is a step toward one goal: U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.”

The brief acknowledges that “In the scheme of things, the significance of Section 214(d) is only incremental. But every increAUGUST 2015

mcmahon_20-21_Special Report 6/26/15 4:33 PM Page 21

mental advance moves the ball toward the goal.”

Moreover, the TTJ brief continues, “the expansionist Zionists’ political actions and rhetoric (here and in Israel) have already saddled ‘the Jews’ with moral responsibility for the tragic, and arguably inevitable, consequences of their settlement project and related policing and military operations.”

Advocating that “Jerusalem, the ‘holy city’ for Jews and many gentiles, should not serve as the exclusive capital of the State of Israel,” it calls for the city to be “treated…as an international city, a free zone for all its residents.”

The TTJ brief goes on to note that “in contrast with petitioner’s Zionist amici [friends], TTJ does not seek to shape U.S. policy to serve the interests (real or perceived) of the State of Israel, or of any foreign state.…U.S. foreign policy should be made and conducted on the legitimate interests of the United States…Throughout the centuries, loyalty to the country in which one lives has been a pillar of Jewish values.”

The third brief arguing against Section 214(d) was filed by attorney David Boyle of Long Beach, CA, who describes himself as “an American taxpayer…[who] sees Petitioner’s declaration of Israeli ownership of Jerusalem as hurting American interests and making undesirable results, even terrorist attacks against Americans, more likely.”

Boyle’s first argument is that “Congress should not delegate the recognition power to an individual citizen” by allowing that individual’s request to determine whether a passport reads “Jerusalem, Israel.”

Boyle also notes that Zivotofsky describes [presumably Jewish] Jerusalemites as being motivated by “dignity and conscientious conviction,” while Palestinian Americans who do not want “Israel” on their passports are driven by “personal prejudice.”

Regarding the issue of recognition, Boyle goes on to argue that “a passport is not a complete free-speech zone. The situation…is not like forcing someone to put ‘Live Free or Die’ on their license plate; it’s about territorial recognition.…Moreover, the passport is the property of the government, not just the bearer.”

Boyle devotes a section of his brief to “The Highly-Compelling National Interest in Not Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s Before International Agreement.” He cites the case of Palestinian-American teenager Tariq Khdeir (see p. 46), who was beaten by Israeli police after his cousin was set afire and murdered by Jewish settlers. “Americans AUGUST 2015

have a right to protect their own people,” Boyle writes. “Were Jerusalem under international sovereignty right now, say, the United Nations, Khdeir might not have been beaten senseless by Israelis.…Fortunately, Khdeir did not die, although some Americans have died at Israeli hands, e.g. the sailors killed in the mistaken [sic] Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, and activist Rachel Corrie under an Israeli bulldozer in 2003.”

Writing for the majority—including the court’s three Jewish justices—Justice Anthony Kennedy notes that “If a citizen objects to the country listed as sovereign by the State Department, he or she may list the city or town of birth rather than the country. The FAM [Foreign Affairs Manual], however, does not allow citizens to list a sovereign that conflicts with Executive Branch policy.…the United States does not recognize any country as having sovereignty over Jerusalem.”

Concludes Kennedy: “Recognition is a topic on which the Nation must ‘speak…

with one voice.’”

The Supreme Court of the United States thus upheld the right of the Executive Branch to make foreign policy. It has not always upheld “longstanding U.S. traditions,” however. In 1967 it ruled in favor of an American who moved to Israel and voted in an Israeli election, which previously would have resulted in his losing his U.S. citizenship. By a vote of 5 to 4, the Supreme Court ruled that naturalized American Beys Afroyim could nevertheless retain his U.S. citizenship. The swing vote was cast by Jewish Justice and Zionist Abe Fortas (see p.

17).

Knesset member Michael Oren thus has Fortas to thank for not having to renounce his U.S. citizenship in 1979, when he moved to Israel and joined the IDF. He enjoyed dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship for 30 years, only having to give up his American citizenship when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu named him Israel’s ambassador to his native country. ❑

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

21

mcarthur_22-23_Congress Watch 6/26/15 4:34 PM Page 22

Amended Nuclear Agreement Review Bill Signed Into Law CongressWatch

By Shirl McArthur s reported in the previous “Congress

AWatch,” the Senate on May 7 passed

an amended version of S. 615, the “Iran Nuclear Agreement Review” bill introduced in February by Sen. Bob Corker (RTN). The amended bill would require that a final agreement, along with an extensive “verification assessment,” be submitted to Congress within five calendar days of the agreement being signed. The period for congressional review was reduced from 60 days to 30. During the congressional review period the president cannot waive or suspend any legislated sanctions—but this does not include other sanctions against Iran, such as those imposed by executive action or the actions of international bodies. Congress can pass either a resolution of disapproval, which would be subject to a presidential veto, or a resolution of approval, in which case sanctions relief under the final agreement can go forward. If Congress passes neither resolution during the review period, sanctions relief under the final agreement can also go ahead.

To satisfy the constitutional requirement that revenue bills must originate in the House, the Senate leadership took a previously passed House revenue measure, H.R. 1191, and replaced its text with the amended text of S. 615. There were numerous reports that Iran hard-liners intended to add several poison-pill amendments during Senate floor debate, but Corker and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) managed to ward off those attempts, and the full Senate passed H.R. 1191 by a roll call vote of 98-1. The lone “no” vote was cast by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), author of the March letter to Iranian leaders signed by 47 Republican senators.

Several House members also planned to introduce poison-pill amendments, but the House leadership headed off those efforts by taking up the Senate amendment under “suspension of the rules,” meaning limited debate and no amendments. The House agreed to the Senate amendment on May 14 by a roll call vote of 400-25, with 19 Republicans and 6 Democrats voting “no.”

President Barack Obama signed it on May Shirl McArthur is a retired U.S. foreign service officer based in the Washington, DC area.

22

22 as Public Law 114-017.

While the congressional review period in the amended bill was reduced to 30 days, there are reports out of Geneva that a final agreement might be a few days later than the scheduled June 30. If that happens, the bill includes another provision that if the agreement is submitted to Congress after July 10, then the review period reverts to 60 days.

resolution of disapproval A would be subject to a presidential veto.

Meanwhile, in an impressive show of support for the negotiations, 151 House members, led by Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and David Price (DNC), signed a May 7 letter to Obama urging him “to stay the course, building on the recently announced political framework and continuing to work toward a strong and verifiable agreement.”

On the other hand, Senate gadfly Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) sent two letters complaining that the annual human rights report on Iran and the annual report on Iran’s military power had been postponed. The first, signed by Cruz and five Republican senators, was sent to Secretary of State John Kerry on May 12. The second, signed by Cruz and three of the same senators, was sent to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter on May 22.

Other Iran-Related Measures Languish As previously reported, part of Corker’s negotiations with Democrats to get the amended S. 615/H.R. 1191 approved was an unwritten agreement that, between now and the scheduled June 30 conclusion of the final negotiations with Iran, Congress will enact no further Iran sanctions legislation. This put the long and complicated S. 269, the “Nuclear Weapons Free Iran” bill, introduced in January by leading Iran hawks Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), on hold, at least until after June 30. The bill, which has been strongly pushed by AIPAC, still has 53 cosponsors, including Kirk and Menendez.

The two previously-described more reasonable measures, S.Res. 40, introduced by THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in January and S. 669, introduced in March by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), have gained no additional co-sponsors. S.Res. 40, which “supports the diplomatic efforts of the U.S. and the members of the P5+1 countries to reach a comprehensive agreement with Iran,” still has 14 co-sponsors, including Feinstein.

And S. 669, which would simply “provide for the consideration of legislation to respond to a violation by Iran of an arrangement relating to its nuclear program,” still has seven co-sponsors, including Boxer.

Efforts to Target BDS Movement Against Israeli Colonies Take New Turn Congressional efforts aimed at the “boycott, divestment and sanctions” (BDS) movement primarily by European countries, companies and organizations in response to Israel’s activities in the occupied territories, shifted to two trade bills that are Obama administration priorities, both of which have been passed by the Senate.

The first began as S. 995, the “Trade Promotion Authority” bill, but was later changed to H.R. 1314, the “Trade Act of 2015,” for reasons similar to those described above regarding the “Iran Nuclear Agreement Review” bill. It would grant “fast-track authority” for congressional review of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement being negotiated with Asian countries. As passed by the Senate on May 22, the bill also includes a section saying that “the principal negotiating objectives of the U.S.” include “to discourage politically motivated actions to boycott, divest from or sanction Israel and to seek the elimination of politically motivated nontariff barriers on Israeli goods, services, or other commerce imposed on the State of Israel.” The section includes a “definition” saying that this means “Israel or persons doing business with Israel or in Israelicontrolled territories”—code for Israel’s colonies on the West Bank.

The second, related, bill began as S. 1269 and was later changed to H.R. 644, the “Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement” bill. The bill, as passed by the Senate on May 14, includes an eight-paragraph “Statements of Policy with Respect to Israel,” including one that Congress “supports efforts to prevent investigations AUGUST 2015

mcarthur_22-23_Congress Watch 6/26/15 5:20 PM Page 23

Status Updates S. 825 and H.R. 1540, introduced in March by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), respectively, to “terminate the authority to waive certain provisions of law requiring the imposition of sanctions with respect to Iran,” still have no co-sponsors.

H.R. 1349 and H.R. 1649 were introduced in March by Reps. Gwen Graham (D-FL) and Doug Lamborn (RCO), respectively, to authorize cooperation with Israel to develop and establish an anti-tunneling defense system. H.R. 1349 still has nine co-sponsors, including Graham. H.R. 1649 still has no co-sponsors.

S. 117 and H.R. 114 were introduced in January by Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) and Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), respectively, to “recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel” to Jerusalem. S.117 still has 8 co-sponsors, including Heller, and H.R. 114 has 19 co-sponsors, including Garrett.

H.Res. 126, introduced in February by Rep. Barbara Lee (DCA) “expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding U.S. efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace,” still has four co-sponsors, including Lee. H.R. 1489, introduced in March by Rep. Joe Crowley (DNY) urging “the president to make every effort, in conjunction with the government of Israel, the Palesor prosecutions by governments or international organizations of U.S. persons on the sole basis of such persons doing business with Israel, with Israeli entities, or in territories controlled by Israel.”

These sections in both bills have been widely touted as opposing boycotts of Israel, ignoring the fact that they would also apply to Israel’s colonies. It has long been U.S. policy to oppose the Arab and other boycotts of Israel, but this has not included Israel’s colonies on the West Bank.

With the anti-BDS attention focused on the trade bills, the three previously described such bills have made little progress (see “Status Updates” box).

Measures Introduced Whining About Palestine’s Joining the ICC Two non-binding resolutions were introduced following Palestine’s accession to the International Criminal Court, both of which include interesting terminology.

The first, H.Res. 209, introduced by Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) on April 16, deplores “the actions of the Palestinian Authority to join the International Criminal Court and undertake legal action through the court against Israel.” The resolution accuses the Palestinians of “lawfare,” defined as “the abuse of law to achieve political and military means.” The measure has 21 co-sponsors, including Walorski.

The second measure, H.Res. 270, introduced May 18 by Reps. Trent Franks (R-AZ) AUGUST 2015

tinian Authority, and the international community, to establish an International Fund for Israeli Peace,” still has two co-sponsors, including Crowley.

Bills Opposing the BDS Movement H.R. 825, introduced in February by Peter Roskam (R-IL), has gained 32 co-sponsors and now has 66, including Roskam.

S. 619, introduced in March by Sens. Benjamin Cardin (DMD) and Rob Portman (R-OH), has gained five co-sponsors and now has seven, including Cardin and Portman.

H.R. 1572, introduced in March by Rep. Doug Lamborn (RCO), has gained 9 co-sponsors and now has 11, including Lamborn.

Bills to Cut U.S. Aid to the Palestinians S. 34, introduced in January by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), still has no co-sponsors.

H.R. 277, introduced in January by Rep. Alcee Hastings (DFL), still has three co-sponsors, including Hastings.

H.R. 364, introduced in January by Rep. Curt Clawson (RFL), still has five co-sponsors, including Clawson.

S. 633, introduced in March by Senator Paul, still has no cosponsors.

and Juan Vargas (D-CA), expresses “the sense of Congress regarding the Palestinian Authority’s purported [sic] accession to the International Criminal Court for the purpose of initiating prosecutions against Israeli soldiers, citizens, officials, and leaders.”

Regarding both of these measures, it should be mentioned that the PA has not joined the ICC. The PA has no standing at the U.N. or its agencies and organizations.

The State of Palestine has acceded to the ICC by virtue of its recognition by the U.N. as a non-member observer state.

House Letter Expresses Strong Support for Two-State Solution The previous “Congress Watch” reported that the White House reacted to several unhelpful comments by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prior to the Israeli elections by announcing that it is “re-evaluating” the administration’s policy toward Israel and the Middle East peace process.

This prompted letters from some of Israel’s supporters expressing their “concern” and seeking assurance that the U.S. will continue to blindly veto resolutions at the U.N. that oppose Israel’s actions.

Overlooked was a positive April 1 letter to Obama, originated by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and signed by 79 House members, expressing the signers’ “deep concern” over Netanyahu’s comments “dismissing the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” The THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

signers urge Obama “to persevere in reaffirming that the two-state solution is achievable.”

But on the other hand, on April 28 Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) introduced H.Res. 222 “expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that any resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should come from direct bilateral negotiations without preconditions and without interference from the United Nations.” It has four cosponsors, including McKinley.

And leading Israel-firster Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, with one co-sponsor, on June 3 introduced H.Res. 293 “expressing concern over anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement within the Palestinian Authority.”

The previously described measures urging continuing efforts to promote IsraeliPalestinian peace have made no progress (see “Status Updates” box).

House Passes New Bill to Attack Hezbollah Financing Sources On May 13 Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) introduced H.R. 2297 “to prevent Hezbollah and associated entities from gaining access to international financial and other institutions.”

Royce brought the bill to the House floor on May 14 under “suspension of the rules,” and it was passed by a vote of 423-0. When passed the bill had 10 co-sponsors, including Royce. A similar bill, H.R. 4411, was passed by the House last July during the 113th Congress, but it died in the Senate. ❑ 23

gee_24-25_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 6/26/15 5:12 PM Page 24

Earthquake Reveals Surprising Israeli Stake in Nepal

Islam and the Near East in theFar East

LIOR MIZRAHI/GETTY IMAGES

By John Gee

Israeli travelers with their babies born to surrogate mothers in Nepal disembark from an Israeli rescue plane at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport, April 28, 2015. n April 25, a 7.8 magnitude earth-

Oquake struck the Himalayan state of

Nepal. Over 8,500 Nepalis and some foreign tourists were killed, mostly in or around collapsing buildings. Some were also killed by landslides.

Other countries offered aid at the same time as trying to evacuate their own nationals quickly. Israel sent a 260-person military search-and-rescue team (see June/July 2015 Washington Report, p. 19).

It took part in searching for people buried under rubble and set up a field hospital to treat injured survivors.

Israel also evacuated around 2,000 of its own nationals who had been backpacking in the country. One party of 70 Israelis had been among foreigners trapped by a landslide in Langtang, north of Kathmandu.

The foreigners were reported to have fought for food and places on rescue helicopters after locals refused to shelter them.

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

24

along with India and Thailand, that many young Israelis visit. They are regarded as safe and relaxing places where there is little public hostility toward Israel. For some young Israelis after their first stint of military service, it comes as a very welcome break to be in an environment that is radically different from that at home.

Within Israel, news of the earthquake quickly came to be dominated by the story of Israeli babies born to surrogate mothers in Nepal, 26 of whom (babies, not their mothers) were evacuated from the stricken country.

Israel bars gay couples and single people from hiring surrogate mothers, and so some of them hire women in other countries.

Commercial surrogacy in the U.S. and Canada costs up to $150,000, compared to $30,000 in Nepal. India used to be Israelis’ preferred source of surrogate mothers, but a change in Indian law in 2013 resulted in Nepal becoming the favored source, although some Indian women are still hired and go to Nepal to give birth.

At the time of the earthquake, a further 100 Nepali and Indian women were reTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

ported to be carrying Israeli babies. The Israeli government showed concern for the babies, but not the mothers. It said that those who were near delivery could be flown into Israel to have the babies, but made clear that they would not be allowed to stay.

On April 27, the question was brought up on the Israeli Channel 10 current affairs program “London and Kirschenbaum,” in an interview with then-Interior Minister Gilad Erdan.

Moti Kirschenbaum, in a humorously sarcastic manner, remarked on Erdan’s “really brave decision” to enable a few women to fly to Israel “to ensure the safety of their fetuses.”

Erdan responded with a laugh, “We won’t convert them and let them stay here.”

Kirschenbaum replied, “Of course, after the birth, they will obviously end up in Holot,” to laughter all around.

Holot is the desert detention camp where Africans who have sought refuge and/or work in Israel are detained. Erdan is a highranking member of Likud and one of its rising stars. He has promoted the strengthening of relations between Israel and sympathetic Evangelical Christians in the U.S., and supports the revoking of the citizenship of Israelis who show “disloyalty to the state”—a move that would obviously target Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as Israeli Jews who speak up against the increasingly extreme racist consensus in Israel. Since this interview, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has named Erdan minister of public security, strategic affairs and public diplomacy. Among Erdan’s jobs in this role will be combatting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that Israel fears is achieving growing public support internationally in spite of its efforts to vilify and delegitimize it.

Drowned, Murdered, Rejected Human smugglers and traffickers in Southeast Asia have been profiting from desperate individuals for decades.

I met Burmese workers in 2005 who were told in their own country that there were good jobs to be had in Singapore.

Traffickers brought them all the way down from Myanmar, through Thailand and AUGUST 2015

gee_24-25_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 6/26/15 4:36 PM Page 25

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Malaysia, until they came to the narrow strait that separates Malaysia from Singapore. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Singapore,â&#x20AC;? said one of the men who escorted them, pointing to the lights shining in the darkness from the opposite shore. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Swim across, and someone A P Project roject of w i l l m e e t y o u .â&#x20AC;?

Middle East Someone did, and Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Alliance they became undoc- Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s umented workers with a small subcontractor in the construction industry.

Thousands of undocumented Bangladeshis and Burmese rights organizations called for the migrants work on plantations and elsewhere in to be assisted. In a May 19 statement, the Malaysia. RELA, a paramilitary volunteer Malaysian Bar Association said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Regardless of the identity and status of corps, conducts sweeps of areas where they may be working or living, and rounds the people on board these many boats, the them up for deportation, but a lot of work- first order of priority must be to prevent ers report that they are simply taken to- further suffering and loss of human life, ward the border with Thailand and faced bearing in mind that there are pregnant with demands to be paid a bribe for their women, women who are nursing infants, release. They make their way back to and children, on board the boats. This where they can earn money to send home means the Malaysian government must and then, sooner or later, the cycle is re- allow these boats to land, set up reception peated. Trafficked Burmese have been centers to receive the people on board, found working shelling prawns in Thailand document them, and provide them with for sale in wealthier countries; trafficked basic amenities. There is a precedent for Cambodians, Filipinos and Indonesians doing this, in the way Malaysia treated the have escaped to tell of their time trapped on Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s.â&#x20AC;?

It was a similar story in Indonesia, Thai- and Taiwanese-flagged ships, working for a pittance in conditions of near-slav- where members of parliament from the Islamic parties that control nearly one-third ery and day-to-day brutalization.

The whole sordid business blew up in of the seats called for the people on the May, with reports of boats filled with Ro- boats to be allowed to land, provided with hingyas fleeing persecution in Myanmar assistance and then either be allowed to and Bangladeshis seeking work being left proceed elsewhere or returned home.

In response, the regional governments adrift on the high seas. Thailand had clamped down on part of the trafficking made a U-turn, agreeing to provide hunetwork that used to manage the illegal manitarian assistance and temporary movement of many people across the re- refuge for the boat people. This still does gionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s borders and it was reported that traf- not guarantee them much of a better life, fickers on board the boats had abandoned but at least saves them from death by them in panic. Some 7,000 to 8,000 people hunger, thirst or drowning at sea.

Hardly had the Thai, Malaysian and Inwere thought to be on the boats at the time.

The countries of the region all made it donesian governments changed course clear that they did not want to admit these than news broke of the discovery of mass latest â&#x20AC;&#x153;boat people,â&#x20AC;? and their navies tried graves on the Thai-Malaysia border. to force those approaching land back out Thirty-three bodies had been found in into the open ocean. This led to both in- graves near trafficker-run detention camps ternational criticism and calls for a more in southern Thailand at the beginning of humane response from public opinion sec- May, during the clampdown on trafficking tors within these countries. In Malaysia, in the region. Some traffickers were arfor example, migrant rights and human rested and more than 50 police officers susAUGUST 2015

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

pected of being complicit in the trafficking operation were transferred to other areas, pending further action.

Malaysiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Home Ministry responded to the news by saying that there were no such camps on its side of the borderâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; only for both camps and graves to be discovered in a densely forested area later in the month. Members of parliament were told on May 27 that 28 camps and 139 graves had been discovered, which a minister hastened to state were individual, not mass, graves.

In both the Thai and Malaysian cases, the graves were presumed to be those of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis. A Rohingya woman, Nur Khaida Abdul Shukur, who had entered Malaysia in 2014 after paying off the smugglers, said that two or three Rohingya women were taken away and raped every night while she was in one of the camps.

Human rights groups in Malaysia suspect that some people in government employment must have been complicit in the traffickersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; operation. Questions also seem bound to be raised again about the role of RELA, which, whether members are found to have had links to the trafficking operation or not, contributed to the creation of an environment in which undocumented migrants were abused and exploited with impunity and traffickers may well have concluded that they had little to fear. â?&#x2018; (Advertisement)

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gorvett_26_Talking Turkey 6/26/15 8:59 AM Page 26

Turkey Reins in Its Rulers TalkingTurkey

By Jonathan Gorvett

ADEM ALTAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Throughout all of this, there had also been increasing attacks on the press by the AKP government, with Turkey ranking 154th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index in 2014.

Meanwhile, too, the economic miracle that the AKP had managed during its first two terms began to show signs of slowing.

During Erdogan’s first term, GDP growth averaged 7.2 percent a year, but by 2014 had declined to just 2.9 percent—high by the standards of Western economies, to be sure, but low for a stillemerging market with a youthful, expanding population. Around 4 percent growth is needed just to employ all the new high school and university graduates.

Yet many of these factors already were in play in 2014, when Erdogan won New HDP member of parliament Dilek Ocalan, niece of jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party more than 50 percent of the presidential (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, returns to her seat after taking the oath of office during the vote—and, indeed, when the AKP achieved a strong showing in nationwide Turkish parliament’s first post-election session, June 23, 2015. municipal elections.

What was different this year, it seems, ubris is not only a Greek word, as “The AKP still won, but even if it is in ofmany supporters of Turkey’s Justice fice, it now knows that it doesn’t represent was twofold: first, the leftist, pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) took a and Development Party (AKP) must have the only political will in the country.”

This echoes a growing feeling among strategic gamble that paid off; and, second, realized on June 7, as 13 years of steamrolling majority rule came to an abrupt end more secular Turks, in particular, that the Erdogan himself may simply have gone too AKP, while starting out as a more broad- far in identifying himself and his party at the ballot box.

Since first taking office back in 2002, based, democratic party, had become in- with Turkey and the Turkish state.

Turkey’s ruling party had accumulated a creasingly authoritarian as its time in office Kurdish Roulette solid reputation as an unstoppable elec- grew.

This first drew international attention in Under Turkey’s electoral system, a party toral machine. Boosting that first winning vote of 34.3 percent to 46.6 percent in the 2013, with the Gezi Park protests. Back must get more than 10 percent of the na2007 elections, the AKP then won 49.8 per- then, a demonstration against building on tional vote to qualify for seats in parliacent in 2011. Its winning candidate for one of Istanbul’s few green spaces erupted ment—a law that has effectively discrimipresident, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then into nights of rioting, after a heavy-handed nated against Turkey’s Kurdish minority, as took nearly 52 percent of the vote just last police response and then-Prime Minister the country’s Kurds, while the overwhelmErdogan’s description of the protesters as ing majority in the southeast provinces, year.

So when the dust settled late on election “terrorists.” constitute a minority nationally.

Allegations of corruption against senior night last month and the AKP had won In the past, therefore, the only way the just 40.9 percent of the vote, for many cabinet ministers and even Erdogan’s own HDP or its predecessor parties could gain Turks this was a clear defeat for their coun- son followed at the end of that year. These representation was for their candidates to try’s rulers—despite the fact that the AKP likely came from supporters of Fethullah run as independents. This time, however, Gulen, a U.S.-based Islamic scholar who pre- the party took an all-or-nothing gamble remained Turkey’s largest party.

Perhaps, then, “rebuke” would be more viously had supported the AKP. A major and ran as a single party. crackdown on Gulen’s supporters in Turkey accurate than “defeat.”

It paid off, with the HDP gaining 13.12 “Many voters were frustrated with the ensued, spurred on by Erdogan, with pros- percent of the vote. Demography may acAKP,” says Yusuf Kanli, a veteran colum- ecutors who had investigated the initial cor- count for some of this—the Kurdish popnist with Hurriyet Daily News in Ankara. ruption allegations removed from office and ulation is growing faster than the Turkindicted, while the AKP-controlled parlia- ish—but there were other key factors as Jonathan Gorvett is a free-lance writer based ment voted against any inquiry into the cor- well. in Istanbul. ruption suspects themselves.

Continued on page 60

H

26

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

sling_ad_27_PCRF AD 6/26/15 3:10 PM Page 27

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sprusansky_covenantjourney_28-29_Special Report 6/26/15 8:48 AM Page 28

Covenant Journey: Birthright’s Flawed Christian Zionist Cousin SpecialReport

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

By Dale Sprusansky

A guide shares some debatable historical “facts” with Birthright participants visiting Masada, an ancient fortress near the Dead Sea. t’s summertime, and that can mean only

Ione thing: masses of young Jews are em-

barking on free Birthright trips to Israel.

During their all-expenses-paid, 10-day propaganda tour, they will visit the Holy Land’s ancient Jewish sites by day and party at Israel’s newest clubs by night. In the process, the program’s Zionist donors hope they will come to view the modern country of Israel as the eternal hub of Jewish history and culture.

Birthright, which has brought more than 500,000 Jews from 66 countries to Israel over a 16-year period, has become an institution in the Jewish community.

Hoping to mimic this success, a group of Jewish and Christian Zionists have teamed up to create the Christian version of Birthright: Covenant Journey. Launched in May, this evangelical endeavor will take 250 young Christians on 11-day tours of the Holy Land this summer. Organizers hope to bring thousands more on similar Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

28

trips in the coming years.

In its promotional material, Covenant Journey boasts that participants will “discover and affirm their Christian identity through an experiential journey and educational experience of Biblical, historic, and modern Israel, providing participants with the ability to advocate for Israel upon their return.”

In other words, Covenant Journey is Birthright with a few more references to Jesus and some additional contortions of theology and history.

Despite its obvious pro-Israel orientation, Covenant Journey, which was publically launched at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, oddly takes no official stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Its website, application form (which asks students to state why they support Israel), and itinerary, however, makes their views evident.

Amen to the IDF, No to Baby Jesus As part of their Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land, students participating in this summer’s Covenant Journey program will THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

enjoy stops at a Syrian border bunker, an IDF military base and the Knesset. They will not, however, get an opportunity to visit Bethlehem, the place of Jesus’ birth.

Neither, apparently, will they get the chance to meet any of the modern followers of Christ living in the Holy Land, as the itinerary includes no meetings with Christians.

Why does the agenda include Masada and the Western Wall, but not a visit to the West Bank city of Bethlehem? Why are students meeting with a Holocaust survivor but not a Christian Nakba survivor?

The answer is simple: Covenant Journey is not about bringing young Christians closer to their faith, or even to the Jewish people.

It’s about converting them into supporters of the modern state of Israel.

A tour of Bethlehem would expose students to something more dangerous to Israel than Hamas: amicable Palestinians. A discussion with a Palestinian Christian or Muslim would expose students to propaganda-crushing perspectives from the other side of the wall.

Unlike tour guides who rewrite history at ancient ruins, the personal stories of Palestine’s modern inhabitants, the “living stones,” cannot be fudged.

As Covenant Journey sees it, it’s best that the stones of Biblical times be unearthed while the stones of destroyed Palestinian villages remain unseen. It’s best that the horrors of the Holocaust be exposed while the tragedies of Gaza are rationalized. In lieu of stereotype-destroying visits into Palestine, it’s best to visit stereotype-perpetuating military instillations looking over Arab lands. Imagine if the first Christians succumbed to the same crippling fear of venturing out into the unknown.

Covenant Journey’s substitution of political activities for essential Christian experiences is particularly ironic given that one of the program’s largest sponsors is the Philos Project, an organization that allegedly “seeks to promote positive Christian engagement in the Middle East.”

Given that the Philos Project’s main funder is Paul Singer, a Zionist hedge fund billionaire who contributes heavily to ReAUGUST 2015

sprusansky_covenantjourney_28-29_Special Report 6/26/15 8:48 AM Page 29

publicans, it’s hardly surprising that the group supports a Holy Land experience that offers no engagement with actual Christians.

All irony and disingenuousness aside, trips such as Covenant Journey do serious harm to Palestinian Christians. Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has warned that the Holy Land is rapidly becoming a “spiritual Disneyland”—a place full of attractions, but void of its native Christian population. Covenant Journey is facilitating this transformation by ignoring the modern Palestinian Christian experience.

Evangelical Roots While Covenant Journey trips are not explicitly evangelical in nature, they follow the standard evangelical Zionist blueprint of conflating religion and modern history in an effort to exalt Israel.

It’s thus not surprising that the program’s most notable Christian supporter is Oklahoma evangelical Steve Green, founder and chairman of the crafts chain Hobby Lobby. Green is also behind the Museum of the Bible, which is set to open in Washington, DC in 2017. (Other than Green, most of Covenant Journey’s sup-

porters are Jewish.)

The organization’s creation comes at an interesting time in U.S.-Israel relations. Recent polls have shown that Americans, particularly Democrats and those under 30, are no longer strong supporters of Israel’s policies.

The same polls show that evangelicals overwhelmingly remain supporters of the self-proclaimed Jewish state. There are signs, however, that cracks are emerging even within this pro-Israel evangelical bloc. Leaders of Christians United For Israel (CUFI) have publically voiced concern that young evangelicals don’t share the same passion for Israel as their parents.

Meanwhile, a June 2011 Pew Research Center poll found that 49 percent of American evangelical leaders expressed neutrality toward the Israel-Palestine conflict, while just 30 sided with Israel.

Thus, while a significant number of strong Christian Zionists remain, there are serious questions about the sustainability of their movement, and even greater doubts about their ability to influence the broader American public.

It appears, therefore, as though Covenant Journey was created as an effort

to shore up support for Israel among farright Christians. Simply put, it reeks of desperation. Unlike Birthright, which seeks mainstream Jews, Covenant Journey is targeting a small niche of the country’s declining Christian population. It’s not an effort to ensure or sustain broad American support for Israel, but rather an attempt to solidify a strong opposition bloc to counter the growing tide of voices criticizing Israel.

In this context, perhaps the creation of Covenant Journey is a positive sign, evidence that support for Israel is becoming a wedge issue instead of a bipartisan cause. For every misinformed Covenant Journey participant, there are scores more visiting Palestine or digging into objective news sources in order to discern the truth.

“I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” is the covenant offered in the Book of Jeremiah. “The state of Israel will be our God, and we shall be its supporters,” is the doomed covenant Zionists are attempting to push. It will ultimately fail.

One can only hope that by the time it does, there will be more than Christian stones left in Palestine. ❑

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Efforts Grow to Limit Campus Mideast Debate in Guise of Fighting “Anti-Semitism” Israel andJudaism

By Allan C. Brownfeld

boycotts or advancing BDS (Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions), the advocates of fort by pro-Israel groups and limiting campus speech have individuals to limit free and been engaged in a frenzy of open debate about the Midactivity to make it appear dle East in the guise of fightthat the nation’s college and ing “anti-Semitism.” university campuses have In 2013, Jewish students at suddenly become hotbeds of the University of California, “anti-Semitism.”

Berkeley filed a protest with Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Department of EducaHillel International, says tion’s Office for Civil Rights that the BDS movement on (OCR) concerning protests college campuses threatens against Israel’s occupation of not Israel but the lives of the West Bank, a classroom American Jewish students discussion perceived as being and the integrity of the unihostile to Israel, and critical versity. He declared that the statements made in student BDS movement is “at its government. This, the stuheart an anti-Semitic movedents argued, had created a ment.” In Fingerhut’s view, “hostile environment” for Jews should enlist the uniJewish students. The OCR inversity community in rejectvestigated and rejected the ing BDS because “they’re “hostile environment” comnot just attacking the Jewish plaints. community. They’re attackThree years ago, in reing the university’s acadesponse to similar objections mic integrity.” to allegedly anti-Semitic A new website, Canary speech on campus, the UniMission, has been initiated versity of California Advito document the names and sory Council on Campus Cliphotographs of pro-Palestinmate, Culture and Inclusion ian campus activists around issued recommendations to the country, with links to former UC System President their personal details, social Mark Yudof that included a media and print-out profiles. call “to push its current haThe database, as stated on its rassment and nondiscrimiwebsite, “was created to exnation provisions further” pose individuals and groups and “seek opportunities to that are anti-Freedom, antiprohibit hate speech on camAmerican and anti-Semitic pus.” Acknowledging the in order to protect the pubFirst Amendment concerns, lic and our democratic valthe Council nevertheless adues.” According to Jonathan vised Yudof to “accept the challenge of the litigation The Canary Mission tracks and targets pro-Palestinian activists on campus. Paul Katz, writing in the May 28 Forward, “Organizthat would surely ensue liability for violating clearly established ers are not listed, but the public is invited should its recommendation be accepted.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights in law. FIRE warned Yudof that, “In a fight to submit ‘a sourced profile of someone inEducation (FIRE) pointed out in a letter to against the Bill of Rights, the University of volved in anti-Semitic and/or anti-Israel acYudof that, were he to adopt the Council’s California will not win—nor should it.” tivities’ for [anonymous publication]. Monrecommendations, he would risk personal Yudof, who is Jewish, issued letters to doweiss and Jewish Voice for Peace are “Concerned Members of the University of listed as equivalent to Hamas; many stuAllan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated colum- California Jewish Community” and FIRE dents’ LinkedIn profiles are attached in a nist and associate editor of the Lincoln Re- recognizing the community’s concerns but probable effort to prevent their employview, a journal published by the Lincoln In- declining to stretch UC policies beyond the ment.” stitute for Research and Education, and edi- First Amendment breaking point.

Describing such tactics as “a disgusting tor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the By redefining anti-Semitism to mean perversion of Jewish values,” Katz goes on American Council for Judaism. criticism of Israel, supporting academic to note, “I have not seen a major Jewish orcross the United States

WWW.CANARYMISSION.ORG

Athere is a concerted ef-

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ganization come out to condemn the website...Nor have many organizations similarly condemned Pamela Gellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s racist diatribes or even the constant buzz of Islamophobia and racism present in many synagogues across the country.â&#x20AC;?

The effort to stifle criticism of Israel on the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s college and university campuses is part and parcel of the Israeli governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response to all criticism, whether regarding its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, its dispossession of Bedouins or its treatment of African refugees. On May 31, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel faced â&#x20AC;&#x153;an international campaign to blacken its name,â&#x20AC;? based not on its policies toward the Palestinians but â&#x20AC;&#x153;connected to our very existence,â&#x20AC;? likening the mounting boycott movement to anti-Semitic â&#x20AC;&#x153;libelsâ&#x20AC;? of previous eras.

In a May 21 radio interview, University of California President Janet Napolitano stated that she believes the UC system should adopt the U.S. State Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definition of anti-Semitism. Responding to calls from rabbis, faculty and alumni of the University of California system to adopt the definition, Napolitano said that the Board of Regents would vote on the proposal in July.

State Department Definition The State Department definition reads: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish institutions and religious facilities.â&#x20AC;?

The State Department goes on to cite as examples of anti-Semitism: â&#x20AC;˘ Calling for, aiding or justifying the killing or harming of Jews (often in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view on religion). â&#x20AC;˘ Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as a collectiveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions. â&#x20AC;˘ Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, the state of Israel, or even for acts committed by non-Jews. â&#x20AC;˘ Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust. â&#x20AC;˘ Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

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According to FIRE, â&#x20AC;&#x153;If adopted and used as the basis of discipline by a public university system, the State Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definition of anti-Semitism would likely violate the First Amendment by prohibiting protected expression.â&#x20AC;?

FIRE elaborates: â&#x20AC;&#x153;...as government actors, public university systems like the UC cannot lawfully maintain and enforce policies that prohibit free speech protected by the First Amendment. With the exception of certain well-defined categories of speech implicated by the first example provided hereâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;speech that constitutes incitement, intimidation or true threatsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the expression described here by the State Department are generally protected by the First Amendment. If these examples are turned into enforceable restrictions on free speech, certain criticisms of the Jewish faith or of Israel would be grounds for punishment, a viewpoint-based restriction on expression.

That these criticisms may be bigoted or even false does not mean they may be silenced or punished by government action...There is no doubt that many would find the expression outlined in the examples to be gravely offensive. But one foundational principle of First Amendment jurisprudence, reinforced in decisions dating back decades, is that speech does not lose protection simply because some, many, or even all find it offensive.â&#x20AC;?

As the Supreme Court observed in Texas v. Johnson, a decision vacating a manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conviction for burning the American flag under a state flag desecration statute, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.â&#x20AC;? In another case, United States v. Alvarez, the Supreme Court declared: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Suppression of speech by the government can THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

make exposure of falsity more difficult, not less so. Society has the right and civic duty to engage in open, dynamic, rational discourse. These ends are not well served when the government seeks to orchestrate public discussion through content-based mandates...Truth needs neither handcuffs nor a badge for its vindication.â&#x20AC;?

The fact is, of course, that those who seek to limit free speech on campus are not concerned about a campaign to deny the Holocaust or to disparage Judaism as a religion or to express concern about â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jewish control of the media.â&#x20AC;? What they seek to silence are criticisms of Israeli policies and efforts to call attention to them through such things as campaigns for academic boycotts or BDS. Whether one agrees with such campaigns or not, they are legitimate criticisms of a foreign government and of U.S. aid to that government. Only by changing the meaning of words entirely can this be called â&#x20AC;&#x153;anti-Semitism.â&#x20AC;? Indeed, if it were anti-Semitism, Jewish students and faculty members would not be a significant part of such efforts.

Defenders of Israel would better serve their cause by finding answers to the criticism which they instead are now doing their best to silence. â?&#x2018; (Advertisement)

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adas_32-33_New York City and Tri-State News 6/26/15 4:39 PM Page 32

“A Borrowed Identity” Examines Cost of Integrating Into Jewish Israeli Society

By Jane Adas

New York City and Tri-StateNews

Borrowed Iden-

“Atity,” a film about a

Palestinian living among Israeli Jews, draws on incidents from two novels

by Sayed Kashua: Dancing Arabs, which is also the translation of the film’s Hebrew title, and Second Person Singular. As Kashua told an interviewer in The Forward last September, he “wrote the script years ago, and then it went through so many directors.” Eran Riklis, whose award-winning films include “The Syrian Bride” and “The Lemon Tree,” is the Israeli director who finally turned Kashua’s screenplay into a superb film.

Like Kashua himself, the protagonist, Eyad, is from Tira, a Palestinian city inside the Green Line. Eyad is a bright student and, like Kashua, wins a place at a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Jerusalem.

Eyad’s father had also been the best in school, but is now a fruitpicker “because of politics,” according to Eyad’s grandmother—meaning he spent two and a half years in administrative detention. As his father is driving him to Jerusalem, Eyad Jane Adas is a free-lance writer based in the New York City metropolitan area.

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STAFF PHOTO J. ADAS

ABOVE: Tawfeek Barhom as Eyad in “A Borrowed Identity.” RIGHT: Author and screenwriter Sayed Kashua.

ILLINOISSTATE.EDU

STRAND RELEASING

asks, “What happened in 1969?” His father explains, adding that he has no regrets. They had aimed at libera- was burned alive in revenge—but days betion. “Now we just want them to let fore Israel launched its assault on Gaza— Kashua titled his Haaretz column “It’s us live in dignity.”

Life in the boarding school is Over.” The title in the paper’s English-lantough for Eyad. Everyone mispro- guage edition was “Why Sayed Kashua is nounces his name, laughs at his poor leaving Jerusalem and never coming back.”

Hebrew, and shuns him. Eyad learns Preparing to leave with his wife and three quickly. When a teacher asks him children for a one-year sabbatical at the about the partition of Palestine, he University of Illinois, Kashua decided to gives the Zionist point of view in ex- emigrate instead, to buy one-way tickets cellent Hebrew. He eventually makes and find a buyer rather than a renter for his two friends: wheelchair-bound flat.

In the July 19, 2014 edition of The Yonatan and Naomi, who becomes his girlfriend. They try to keep their Guardian, Kashua wrote that he had told relationship secret, but stories, often humorous, in Hebrew for 25 when Naomi’s mother finds years in the hope that “one day the Israelis out, she tells her daughter it would stop denying the Nakba, the occuwould be better to be a les- pation, and the suffering of the Palestinian bian or have cancer than an people. That one day the Palestinians Arab boyfriend, and takes would be willing to forgive and together Naomi out of school. Eyad we would build a place that was worth livleaves school so Naomi can ing in….but last week I gave up.” return and takes a job in a restaurant where, with his Ten Years of BDS Arab name, he is stuck as a The BDS campaign turns 10 this year. dishwasher.

Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the He borrows his friend movement and author of Boycott, DivestYonatan’s ID card in order to ment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for rise to the level of waiter. When the time Palestinian Rights (available from AET’s comes for Naomi to join the army, she Middle East Books and More), and Rebecca breaks off with Eyad because she wants to Vilkomerson, executive director of Jewish be in an elite unit, which requires high se- Voice for Peace (JVP), spoke at Alwan for curity. The choice Eyad makes at the end of the Arts in Manhattan on May 6 about the the movie to achieve acceptance in Israeli philosophy and goals of the campaign and society is shocking. what has been accomplished so far.

No less dramatic is author Kashua’s own Barghouti described BDS as a human recent decision. As an award-winnning novelist writing in Hebrew, creator of the hugely popular sitcom “Arab Labor” on Israel’s Channel 2, and columnist for Haaretz, Kashua may be the most successful Palestinian citizen of Israel. Yet on July 4, 2014, after the bodies of the three kidnapped Israeli teens were found and Palestinian teenager Mo- JVP executive director Rebecca Vilkomerson and author and hammed Abu Khdeir BDS activist Omar Barghouti.

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AUGUST 2015

rights movement that seeks to humanize and liberate both communities, and to reject the trap of tribal dichotomy and collective guilt. If successful, he said, it will lead either to ethical co-existence or ethical divorce. The three non-negotiable goals are to end the occupation, equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Barghouti acknowledged that some liberal Zionists accept only the first goal as “kosher BDS” in order to maintain Jewish supremacy and privilege within the Green Line, but this would mean abandoning the 12 percent of Palestinians who are Israeli citizens and the 50 percent who are in exile.

Barghouti is adept at dealing with critics of BDS. To those who fret that BDS will lead to Israel’s destruction, he replies, “If justice and equality will destroy Israel, what does that say about Israel?” He noted that Afrikaners also worried that if apartheid ended, “they will eat us alive,” which he charcterized as a typical colonial attitude that assumes the colonized are as savage as the colonizers. Barghouti’s response to “why are you singling out Israel when there are worse human rights abusers?” is that the U.S. has already singled out Israel with billions of dollars and a guaranteed veto of any criticism of Israel at the U.N. BDS has achieved more than expected, something that clearly concerns Israel.

Barghouti noted that last year Israel shifted the issue to the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, “on par with the Iranian nuclear threat,” and initiated a new strategy to delegitimize BDS through lawfare. He observed that increasing Jewish support for BDS, even within Israel, shows that “the myth that the world hates Jews is collapsing.”

Vilkomerson spoke of JVP’s own journey, from opposing Caterpillar, which provided the bulldozer that killed Rachel Corrie, to fully endorsing the BDS call this year. She thanked Barghouti and BDS for being so patient with JVP. Portraying herself as the cheerleader for BDS, she cited recent achievements. Last June, after a 10-year campaign, the Presbyterians divested from three corporations that profit from the Israeli occupation. SodaStream is moving its operations out of the West Bank. In November Durham County, NC severed its security contract with G4S because of the Palestine issue.

Bill Gates and the Methodists also have divested from G4S. This shows, Vilkomerson said, that criticism of Israeli policies is moving from the margins to the mainAUGUST 2015

stream. A surprising success was the 60 Democratic members of Congress who decided to skip Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech, an indication the issue is becoming partisan.

Identifying college campuses as the “engine for BDS,” Vilkomerson listed the many campuses where students, faculty and academic associations such as the American Studies Association are engaged in divestment campaigns. JVP has recently formed an Academic Advisory Council, in part to deal with hostile responses that threaten academic freedom. This is part of an intense backlash that includes lawfare with fiscal consequences, especially at state schools; proposed legislation in Congress to track and criminalize boycotters; and attempts to equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. According to Vilkomerson, “This is how social movements work. The closer we come to winning, the harder the pushback.” She sees a generational shift in public understanding, especially among Africans and Latinos, but also within the American Jewish community, that includes willingness to look at Palestine with fresh eyes and to understand that Israel is not what we thought. “Israel/Palestine is one of the great moral issues of our time,” Vilkomerson concluded, “and this is an opportunity to be on the right side of history.”

New B’Tselem Director, “Rocket Scientist” Hagai El-Ad Hagai El-Ad, who was introduced as “in fact, a rocket scientist,” is the new director of B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Speaking at the New Israel Fund center in New York on May 22, El-Ad explained the founding principle of B’Tselem: if people knew about Israel’s human rights violations, they would be moved to change reality. All that was missing was a credible source of information for Israelis.

But after 25 years of B’Tselem documenting abuses, he said, there is a decrease in concern among Israelis for what is happening beyond the Green Line.

B’Tselem is therefore now calling attention to the nature of Israel’s occupation.

After war, when there is a vacuum of power, international law allows a military commander to act as a “benevolent custodian” on behalf of occupied people in the absence of government. The occupying power is to make no permanent changes, such as moving its own population into the occupied area. Israel, El-Ad asserted, has used the concept of a “temporary belTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

STAFF PHOTO J. ADAS

adas_32-33_New York City and Tri-State News 6/26/15 4:39 PM Page 33

B’Tselem director Hagai El-Ad. ligerent occupation with never an expiration date” to advance its own interests under the guise of legality. After 48 years, he added, nobody needs Netanyahu to explain that the occupation is permanent.

For some, El-Ad continued, this realization is indeed an “aha” moment, but for most it is comforting to believe in the lie of a temporary, benevolent occupation that only needs to be more humane. Efforts to improve the occupation a tiny bit are given unwarranted attention. El-Ad cited two examples. Gaza is now able to export some agriculture products to the West Bank, 10 trucks a day of cucumbers and fish, which is an improvement over zero trucks. But before the closure, he said, the average was 1,000 trucks a day. Secondly, after years of litigation the Israel High Court declared that building illegal outposts on private Palestinian land is theft. In two years the outposts will be demolished, unless the Knesset passes legislation to “kosherize” the theft. Meanwhile in Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank under total Israeli military control, Israel is trying to push Palestinians out through increased home demolitions, relocating Bedouins against their will, and threatening to depopulate villages like Sussia in the Hebron hills. In Area C, according to El-Ad, there is already de facto annexation.

B’Tselem does not advocate for a particular political solution, but El-Ad maintains that as long as there is occupation, there will be abuses that his organization will continue to document. “Regardless of what we do or do not support,” he concluded, “there will be less international patience with the occupation, and that will have consequences.” ❑ 33

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THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST

Daily Star, Beirut

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www.OtherWords.org

The Globe and Mail, Toronto

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Al Ahram, Cairo

De Volkskrant, Amsterdam

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Lexington Herald-Leader, Lexington, KY

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AUGUST 2015

opm_35-36_Other People's Mail 6/26/15 8:51 AM Page 35

Creating Rivals or Allies?

To The Washington Post, June 11, 2015 Regarding Michael Gerson’s June 9 op-ed column, “Rand Paul takes a side”: The United States has a long history of creating rivals in the Middle East. We installed a dictatorship in Iran that was overthrown in 1979 by the current Iranian regime. We armed mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and some went on to create al-Qaeda. Recently, Syrian rebels were given weapons by the United States to fight President Bashar al-Assad; many of the rebels later defected to Islamist militias.

When Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said that the Islamic State “exists and grew stronger because of hawks in our party,” he was absolutely correct and demonstrated a willingness to tackle an issue that others have avoided. Unfortunately, Mr. Gerson’s characterization of this statement as a “gaffe” displays how detached from reality mainstream GOP thinking on foreign policy really is.

Prominent Republicans such as 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (SC), Sen. John McCain (AZ) and, apparently, Mr. Gerson appear to believe that eternal war is the answer to all problems in the Middle East. Only when we realize that destroying foreign countries and arming hostile groups serves to feed, rather than reduce, terrorist activity in the Middle East will we truly answer the threats we face.

Zeke Rogers, Takoma Park, MD

Avoiding Civilian Deaths in Iraq To The New York Times, June 2, 2015 Re “U.S. Caution in Strikes Gives ISIS an Edge, Many Iraqis Say” (news article, May 27): Complaints by some Iraqi and American military officials about United States efforts AUGUST 2015

to spare civilians during airstrikes in Syria and Iraq are dangerously misguided.

Taking all feasible precautions in the means and methods of warfare to minimize loss of civilian life is not “skittishness.” Nor is it solely intended to avert a backlash among local populations, although that is a commendable goal.

Rather, it is an obligation: The international laws of armed conflict require all warring parties to take constant care to spare the civilian population from the effects of hostilities.

Dispensing with such “prudence” might quell complaints of United States “inefficiency” in the fight against the Islamic State. But it would also be illegal.

Letta Tayler, Hong Kong, China The writer is the senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Solidify Iran Nuclear Deal To The Santa Fe New Mexican, June 20, 2015 As international negotiators zero in on a deal to stop the spread of nuclear weapons to Iran, the chorus of anti-diplomacy voices is growing louder. Detractors who call for an end to negotiations are calling for war, and they know it.

A deal is our best bet to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. The alternative could result in a costly and dangerous military conflict and a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

A deal with Iran would set an example of what can be achieved through multilateral leadership, hard-fought diplomacy and international pressure. It’s time for our elected representatives to listen to their constituents, 68 percent of whom support negotiations with Iran.

Let’s work toward a safer future—one with fewer nuclear weapons.

Valerie Plame, Santa Fe, NM

Sisi’s Egypt and U.S. Policy To The Washington Post, May 20, 2015 The trials of Muslim Brotherhood members in Egypt since the coup in 2013 ousted Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president of Egypt, are chilling. The death sentence for Mr. Morsi handed down by a Cairo court is the latest and most egregious case (“Egypt’s deposed leader sentenced to die for 2011 prison break,” news, May 17).

A historical comparison is instructive: Chile’s democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, was ousted in a coup by his army chief, Augusto Pinochet, in 1973.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

The Pinochet dictatorship, supported by the U.S. government and businesses, killed, imprisoned and tortured thousands of purported opponents during its almost two decades of rule. Under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt looks hauntingly similar.

How has the Obama administration reacted to widespread human rights abuses and repression of dissent by the new regime in Egypt? On March 31, it restored $1.3 billion in military aid to the country.

What is the Obama administration’s response to Mr. Morsi’s death sentence? Expressions of deep “concern” by the State Department are insufficient. The administration has to reconcile many conflicting interests in foreign policy, but it would be welcome if principle would occasionally seep into the equation.

In this case, principle as well as longterm U.S. interests require halting all U.S. military assistance to the Egyptian regime.

Or does the administration want the United States to be on the wrong side of history again?

A.L. Phillips, Washington, DC

Israel’s Stolen Water Supply To The New York Times, June 5, 2015 Re “Aided by Sea, Israel Defeats Old Foe: Drought” (front page, May 30): Israel deserves kudos for expanding its water supply through desalinizing water from the Mediterranean Sea, recycling wastewater for use on farms and getting its citizens to reduce household consumption.

However, your article did not touch upon the involuntary contributions Palestinians have made to Israel’s water supply.

Israel has steadily taken control over water long used by Palestinians, by diverting part of the Jordan River, tapping into the Sea of Galilee and drawing from the aquifers beneath the West Bank. Water is consumed, too, by the 350,000 Israelis who have settled in the West Bank.

In this arid region, control of water is as important as control of land.

Helen Winternitz, Bethesda, MD The writer is the author of A Season of Stones: Living in a Palestinian Village.

Don’t Worry About Israel To The Union, June 9, 2015 Don’t worry about Israel. Our government, in spite of our open differences verbally with Israel, just shipped almost two billion dollars of heavy weapons to Israel, including 750 bunker-busting bombs which Israel recently dropped on Gaza, bringing down entire apartment buildings 35

opm_35-36_Other People's Mail 6/26/15 8:51 AM Page 36

in one fell swoop.

Don’t worry about Palestine being welcomed into the International Criminal Court. Neither Israel nor the United States is a member. Don’t worry about the United Nations, as whatever measures are brought up against Israeli apartheid, the United States will veto it and run interference on it. Don’t worry about the 2,200 Gazans Israel killed when they launched a full military incursion into this ghetto, which is totally blockaded already by sea, air and land. Don’t worry about the occupied Palestinian areas. With all of Israel’s illegal settlement activity and home demolitions and security fence incursions deep into Palestinian land, inch by inch Palestine, as we once knew it, will be gone.

Don’t worry because nothing will get by our Congress who supports and “has Israel’s back.” Don’t worry about American news media, as most issues and stories on the occupation are filtered.

Concerned? Support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.

Dean Olson, Nevada City, CA

Contributing to BDS To the San Francisco Chronicle, June 15, 2015 Supporters of peace in Israel/Palestine are using a strategy called BDS. They call for boycotts of Israeli products, divestment from companies profiting from Israeli occupation of Palestine, and sanctions against the Israeli government.

Some supporters of Israel call BDS antiSemitic or anti-Jewish. It is not. Many Jews in America are distressed by Israeli bombings, land grabs and ethnic cleansing. We

want these policies to change and want America to stop supporting them. We want Palestinians to have equal rights in the land of their birth. BDS was the nonviolent strategy used to end apartheid in South Africa.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called Palestinian oppression worse than apartheid. Some Jewish organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace support BDS and ask you to support it as well.

David Spero, San Francisco, CA

Being critical of Israeli policies is not anti-Semitic, since Israel does not represent all Jews. It is also important to note that not all Jews are Zionists; to make this point is reductive and treats all Jews as a political monolith, when in fact it is a topic very much up to debate in our community.

Gabriel Levine, Oakland, CA The writer is a member of the UCLA class of 2014 and a founding member of the Jewish Voice for Peace chapter at UCLA.

BDS: “Not in My Name”

A Not So Tough Call on Campus

To The Tennessean, May 19, 2015

To The New York Times, May 15, 2015 So it seems that there are two competing interests to balance. On the one hand, some college students feel “uncomfortable” discussing the Palestinian situation. On the other hand, we have an entire people longing for liberty, freedom and basic human rights.

Wow, tough call.

Blain Brown, Alhambra, CA

As many of my Jewish friends and speakers started saying, “Standing up to the policies of Israel is the most Jewish thing I can do,” I couldn’t help but listen.

Last June, the Presbyterian Church USA voted to support the BDS movement against Israel. I listened to them, too.

Two weeks ago I needed a new printer for our home. While shopping the aisles at Costco, a nice gentleman working for Hewlett-Packard approached to assist me.

I politely explained that I don’t buy HP products, as I support the BDS movement in solidarity with the Palestinians. This is one small step any of us with a conscience of justice can take.

But now, as I understand it, the Senate has been considering an amendment that would penalize international participation in the growing BDS movement.

It’s called “fast track” legislation and, if I understand, it would allow the U.S. to pressure countries not to engage in BDS, which advocates not doing business with certain companies in the Israeli settlements.

So, the “fast track” group is promoting an amendment, with little publicity I might add, because the BDS is having some effect.

So, here’s my question: Will the Senate someday try to make me buy an HP printer instead of the Brother printer I just bought while supporting a brother?

The occupation is brutal. My friends at Jewish Voice for Peace have a slogan, “Not in my name.” Not in mine, either.

Iley Behr, Nashville, TN

BDS Support on Campus To The New York Times, May 15, 2015 There were and are many Jewish students, like me, who will stand in solidarity with the peaceful Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel until it recognizes Palestinian human rights. At UCLA, there are numerous Jewish students who have taken this stance and have worked with a coalition of student groups to pass divestment.

36

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Blair Resigns as Peace Envoy To The Telegraph, June 15, 2015 Mr. [Tony] Blair’s eight years as Middle East envoy will be remembered for three things: little progress towards a lasting settlement between Israel and Palestine, Gaza becoming the place with the highest unemployment level in the world and a considerable increase in his own wealth.

Michael Thomas, Uffington, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Supreme Court Hijab Ruling To the Los Angeles Times, June 4, 2015 Re “Supreme Court sides with Muslim girl denied a job over head scarf,” June 1: As a Muslim woman who wears the hijab (head covering), I feel that the Supreme Court decision in favor of Samantha Elauf was a great victory.

We live in a diverse nation, and for an employer to deny work to someone based on her appearance is disheartening. I applaud the justices for standing up for the religious rights of minorities. It is distressing to see that in this day and age, women are still judged by their appearance.

My religion awarded Muslim women the right to get a job while wearing the hijab more than 1,400 years ago. The Qur’an says, “Men shall have the share of what they have earned, and women shall have the share of what they have earned.”

I hope employers like Abercrombie & Fitch and others will stop judging women and minorities by their looks and start hiring employees based on their skills.

Saima Sheikh, Allen, TX ❑ AUGUST 2015

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twair_38-39_Southern California Chronicle 6/26/15 4:43 PM Page 38

MPAC Presents Annual Media Awards

By Pat and Samir Twair

Southern California Chronicle burgh Sting,” the story of four AfricanAmerican Muslims targeted by an agent provacateur in a sting operation and arrested for an alleged terror plot on May 20, 2009 in Newburgh, NY, documentarian Davis said there is a need to shift the national dialogue away from old stereotypes.

STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

“We All Live In Gaza”

Filmmaker Maurice Jacobsen.

Actor Stephan James.

Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance journalists based in Los Angeles.

38

Veteran newsman Maurice Jacobsen screened his documentary, “We All Live in Gaza,” April 8 at the Levantine Cultural Center. “Gazans are peaceful people,” he declared, “and are not dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

A

ctor Stephan James, who played the role of Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) in the Academy Award-winning movie “Selma,” accepted the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s (MPAC) top entertainment media honor at MPAC’s 2015 “Voices of Courage and Conscience” awards presentation May 2 at the Los Angeles Omni Hotel.

This was followed by a video comment by Congressman Lewis himself.

Also honored at the 24th annual MPAC event praising productions that cast Islam in a favorable light were the feature film “Camp X-Ray” and the documentary “The Newburgh Sting” by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner. “Camp X-Ray” writer and director Peter Sattler accepted the award for the film that tells the story of a young woman guard at Guantanamo who discovers her mission is ominous.

Accepting her award for “The New-

Jacobsen’s film documents the destruction of Gaza caused by constant Israeli bombing. Following Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, the Egyptian government under Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi rapidly rebuilt Gaza, he pointed out, but that success was later destroyed in Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge assault.

The resiliency of Gazans is evidenced in the young people’s rap music, which Jacobsen records. The filmmaker interviewed a young Gazan musician, Ayman Jamal Magamsi, whose father was killed in an Israeli aerial bombing attack. ”Music can heal and help,” explained Magamsi, who created a website called “Windows to Gaza.”

An image from an unfinished documentary Jacobsen is working on titled “Mission to Gaza” focuses on the words: ”Gaza loves Life.” They are written on a piece of cement from a destroyed building. Jacobsen also noted that, on a weekly basis, Gazans risk their lives by going to “a no-man’s-zone” and protesting Israel’s occupation and siege.

Jacobsen clearly came to love the people of Gaza during the two and a half years he lived with them from 2011 to 2013. For more information, visit <www.in-gaza.com>.

Activists commemorate 67 years of Nakba in front of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles on May 15.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

twair_38-39_Southern California Chronicle 6/26/15 4:43 PM Page 39

Nakba Observed

Middle East Books and More; see June/July 2015 Washington Report, p. 62).

In 2001, a chance meeting with a young architect started Darke on her quest to become a homeowner in the Old City of Damascus. After searching for four years she found the perfect courtyard house: Bait Baroudi, a rundown, two-story house in the Old City’s Muslim quarter. Darke showed slides of the beautiful courtyard and fountain, a self-contained upstairs apartment, and multiple first-floor rooms—including a secret room— decorated over the centuries in the fashion of the prevailing era.

At an event the previous day sponsored by the Syrian American Council-L.A., Darke explained that Iranians have bought much of the property in the Old City as well as in modern Damascus. But she has no plans to sell her beloved house in the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city: “If I sell the house,” she stated emphatically, “it means that I give up on Syria.”

“Obama, Obama, You will see, Palestine soon will be free,” was the deafening chant shouted May 15 by more than 60 activists in front of Israel’s Los Angeles Consulate. The demonstrators were commemorating the 67th year of the Nakba (catastrophe) marking Israel’s forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland. After singing patriotic songs and waving multiple Palestinian flags, the throng departed to the Levantine Cultural Center for a recital of rousing poetry by Fady Joudah, Khadija Anderson, Armine Iknadossian, Morani Kornberg-Weiss and Arash Saedinia.

The next night, the Levantine sponsored a romantic comedy, “Peace after Marriage,” at the Harmony Gold Theatre. On hand to meet the audience was Ghazi Albuliwi, who stars in and directs the film about a Palestinian living in Brooklyn who marries an Israeli woman to get his green card.

Author Describes Her Beloved Damascus Home

Center Marks 2nd Year

STAFF PHOTOS S. TWAIR

“It’s a matter of time until ISIS carries out a sensational assault in the U.S.— then perhaps Washington will take decisive steps about Syria,” stated British travel writer Diana Darke when asked why the U.S. should care about Syria. The occasion was an April 29 signing at the Levantine Cultural Center of her new book, My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Revolution (available from AET’s

TOP: Author Diana Darke. ABOVE: Munir Iqtish speaks at the Burbank Islamic Center on May 9.

On the occasion of the second anniversary of the Burbank Islamic Center May 9, Islamic Relief USA raised funds for Syrian orphans.

Munir Iqtish was the guest speaker at the center, which has doubled its membership and building size in the past year. Qari Youssef Edghouch gave an outstanding recitation of the Holy Qur’an at the benefit dinner. ❑

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AUGUST 2015

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

39

pasquini_40-41_Northern California Chronicle 6/26/15 8:53 AM Page 40

Fourth Annual “Muslim Day at the Capitol” Brings Constituents, Legislators Together

Northern California Chronicle

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

By Elaine Pasquini

STAFF PHOTO E. PASQUINI

ABOVE: Participants in CAIR-CA’s 4th Annual Muslim Day at the Capitol and their children gather for a photo on the steps of Sacramento’s state Capitol. RIGHT: CAIRSV executive director Basim Elkarra (l) and CAIR-LA executive director Hussam Ayloush. ore than 450 members of California’s

MMuslim community participated in

the 4th annual “Muslim Day at the Capitol” (MDAC) hosted by the Golden State’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) on April 27.

Many attendees traveled to Sacramento from Southern California on buses provided by CAIR so they could meet with state legislators or their staffers in their Capitol offices.

Constituents discussed important issues with their elected officials and urged them to support the following legislative items: • SB178, which will provide protection against warrantless government access to electronic communication.

• SB358, which aims to place provisions to implement equal wages to employees, indiscriminant of sex.

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

40

“Let them see how diverse, active and committed to the values of justice this community is,” he said. “Let them know that this group of people today represents one million strong, active, proud California Muslims.”

The third reason, he said, was “to make sure that we empower our community. Our goal is to realize that it is not that difficult to be an advocate, to speak up for what is right, to organize. When you go back home, make sure you speak about your experience to your family members, friends, classmates and colleagues. Share with them the bills you lobbied for on their behalf and tell them about the experience.”

University of California student regent Sadia Saifuddin also addressed the crowd.

“Coming to Muslim Day at the Capitol is the beginning of being proactive about making sure that this is our Capitol,” she emphasized. “We have to hold our legislators accountable, and the only way we can do that is if they know who we are, if they see our faces, if they hear our stories.”

Assembly member Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) showed up to give his support to the day’s events.

“Your agenda today is not a Muslim agenda, it’s a California agenda,” he averred.

“I’m not sure who is against higher education for everyone, freezing tuition, equal pay for everyone and making sure our civil liberties are not violated. That is an agenda we can all get behind.”

The crowd greeted Rev. Alan Jones of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church and president of the California Council of Churches with a particularly warm welcome. “You need to be the voice of Islam,” the popular pastor stated. “Our legislators need to know that Muslims are people who have a passion for our community and for human rights. There are many people in the state of California who do not have a voice. You can be that voice and together we can be that voice.”

Other speakers included State Controller Betty Yee, Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), CAIR San Francisco Bay

• AB42, which would require California community colleges, CSUs, and the UCs to freeze tuition and fees.

After their meetings, the enthusiastic participants gathered on the Capitol’s west lawn for photos and a program of empowering speeches and informal feedback.

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR Los Angeles, cited three reasons why the MDAC program was organized. “The first is to advocate for social justice, fairness and equality for everyone,” he said.

“You made it known to the elected officials that this is how the people feel about justice.”

The second reason, Ayloush noted, was to make sure that the elected officials get to know the California Muslim community.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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pasquini_40-41_Northern California Chronicle 6/26/15 8:53 AM Page 41

Area executive director Zahra Billoo, CAIR Sacramento Valley executive director Basim Elkarra and Joe Debbs of the Los Rios Community College District bond oversight committee.

this need and the enthusiastic interest of students, new courses are continually being developed, including History of the Middle East and Islam in America.

Program instructors include Roni Abusaad, Penny Rosenwasser, Ameena Jandali, Neela Chatterjee, Zeina Zaatari, Moazzam Sheikh, Abdul Jabbar, Bizhan Monavarian and Kinneret Israel.

Stockton-based library advocate Masood Cajee received the White House Conference on Library Information Services Awa r d f o r 2015, the highMasood Cajee. est national award given to a non-librarian advocate for public libraries. “Advocates like Dr. Masood Cajee are true ‘nation builders,’ and we are appreciative of their commitment to supporting the country’s builders, innovators and dreamers,” said Courtney Young, president of the American Library Association, at the May 4 Capitol Hill award presentation on National Library Legislative Day. Amid Stockton’s financial woes of recent years, Cajee has worked tirelessly to revitalize the city’s library system to meet the growing needs of its more than 300,000 residents.

Cajee, a dentist with a busy practice in Manteca and the father of three sons, also serves on the board of the Library & Literacy Foundation for San Joaquin County. In addition, he is chair of Strong Libraries = Strong Communities, a group working toward a ballot measure that will provide stable support for his community’s county library system. Cajee is also a member of CAIR-SV’s executive committee.

STAFF PHOTO E. PASQUINI

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

Masood Cajee Receives White House Award

AMED Studies Now an Academic Minor at SFSU San Francisco State University (SFSU) drew attention this year with new accomplishments, particularly curriculum development, in its Middle East Studies programs.

SFSU’s Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) studies initiative became an academic minor in the school’s College of Ethnic Studies. The minor will allow students to fulfill graduation requirements while learning how to become community leaders.

An Edward Said Scholarship for graduate and undergraduate students in AMED was also established with support from Dr. Said’s family and SFSU alumnus Allam El Qadah. The scholarship will recognize students who exhibit exemplary academic qualifications and a strong community service commitment.

The school established a Memorandum of Understanding between SFSU and AnNajah National University in Nablus, Palestine. It is the first in the school’s history with an academic institution in the Arab and Muslim world. ❑

Kinneret Israel (l), instructor, Interdisciplinary Studies, and coordinator, Critical Middle East Studies Program at CCSF; Abdul Jabbar, emeritus professor, English and Interdisciplinary Studies at CCSF. ties, diversity and social sciences. These required courses are Introduction to Islam, Government and Politics of the Middle East, Demystifying the Middle East, Anti-Semitism/Anti-Arabism, and a new 3-unit course generating a lot of interest titled “Women in the Middle East.”

To reach the total of 16 units required to earn the certificate, students may choose from an array of elective courses, such as Comparative Religions, Asian Art History and International Relations, among many others.

Recognizing the importance of this region, with its large oil reserves that are crucial to the industrialized world, and the political and social changes caused partly by the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, educators acknowledge the need for an accurate understanding of Islam and the people living in the region. To fill

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The program integrates ethnic, gender and interdisciplinary studies. The required three-unit courses are University of California and California State University transferable and collectively meet graduation area requirements in humaniAUGUST 2015

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Mail your U.S. Tax-Deductible check to our American Foundation: Friends of UPMRC, Inc PO Box 450554 • Atlanta, GA 31145 For more information call: (404) 441-2702 or e-mail: fabuakel@gmail.com THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

41

Arab American Activism ADC Celebrates 35 Years Dedicated To Civil Rights and Liberties The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee celebrated 35 years of commitment to civil rights and liberties at its annual convention from June 11 to June 14 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. This year’s convention focused on the intersections of discrimination that Arab Americans share with other minorities in the U.S.; the impact of race violence on minority communities, especially women of color; and the linkage between Ferguson, MO and Palestine. Attendees gathered from across the country to listen to experts address these topics and discuss the impacts they are having on the Arab-American community today.

The convention began with a briefing at the U.S. State Department to discuss foreign policy issues that affect Arab Americans.

Exhibitors arrived the following day, providing books, publications, flyers and conversations with representatives from leading humanitarian aid organizations. Naturally, Middle East Books and More, the Washington Report’s traveling booth, was there to sell the latest books, T-shirts, Palestinian keffiyehs, pottery and olive oil.

Ralph Nader Motivates the Powerful “One Percent” The day began with an energizing session featuring consumer advocate, writer, lecturer and full-time citizen Ralph Nader.

Moderated by Georgetown’s Prof. Daoud L. Khairallah, the discussion examined “Citizen Empowerment: Making the Government More Accountable and Responsive to Citizen Demands.” Nader urged activists to develop skills for civic engagement, which are not taught in school like other subjects.

He recommended holding civic training seminars, including teaching how to write effective letters, organize, and access and use free information from the federal government available thanks to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Nader described how former Sen. Jim Abourezk (D-SD), who founded ADC in 1980, demanded the U.S. government produce a report on U.S. aid to Israel, which for the first time added up some spectacular figures that had never before come to light.

Nader also emphasized the importance of “working the media,” using the correct language, and the need to control that language. Specifically, he encouraged the use of the word “anti-Semitic” to describe dis42

crimination and racism against Arabs.

“Jews don’t own the rights on anti-Semitism,” he declared, since Arabs are also Semites. Israel is colonializing the West Bank, so don’t use the terms occupy or settlements. Israeli attacks are invasions, not incursions, Nader said. There are 400 Palestinians killed or Ralph Nader emphasizes citizen empowerment. injured to one Israeli, but Israeli propaganda will prevail if we do not use the Put in the time, roll up your sleeves and get proper and accurate language, he asserted. it done,” he insisted. “One percent giving “Stop using the words of our adversaries!” several hundred hours a year.” Only a few When asked why there weren’t more thousand people worked for women’s suf“Ralph Naders” in the world, Nader replied frage, or to abolish slavery, or for the modern that “there are progressive people, but they civil rights movement, or for clean water and aren’t on the news.” Now under corporate an end to pollution. “You are not powerless,” control, America’s evening news has be- encouraged Nader, who continued, “If you come trivialized, soft news that focuses on are part of the one percent, you matter.”

Nader concluded by emboldening audithe misbehavior of celebrities or the latest fire or crime—subjects that won’t cause ence members to be involved in their civic trouble from advertisers. There are no more lives. “Showing up,” he said, “is half of than three minutes of actual news on democracy. It gets you to second base.”

Following the talk, attendees met with nightly newscasts, Nader stated, after ads, weather, sports, and chit-chat. American Nader as he signed copies of his newest progressives “need to be more demanding,” book, Return to Sender: Unanswered Letters to the President, 2003-2014, in which he he stressed.

“If you don’t have high expectations, you criticizes American foreign policy decisions have no demands,” he explained. Referring and indecisions from the presidencies of to the total news blackout at the recent Is- George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

—Erin Quinn and Delinda Hanley rael Lobby conference (see special issue) put on by this magazine and IRmep, Nader said there should have been massive protests de- Civil Rights Luncheon manding equal time with the AIPAC confer- American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Comence. Make a list of conservative neocons mittee’s president Samer Khalaf and Abed who have appeared on “The Diane Rehm Ayoub, ADC’s legal/policy director, highShow” (and Rehm is an Arab American!) lighted some of their organization’s outand call for equal time. standing successes in the past year at the Nader recommended studying the Amer- annual Civil Rights Luncheon. ADC has ican Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) handled hundreds of discrimination cases, “A to Z.” Hold fund-raising dinners, he especially focusing on employment, educaurged, build and grow local chapters, and tion and immigration issues, as well as reliform relationships with every senator and gious accommodations in prisons. every representative, Nader advised. HoldADC supported the rights of Palestinian ing protests and marches get our juices up, Americans in the U.S. Supreme Court case he acknowledged, but that’s not enough. Do Zivotofsky v. Kerry, in September 2014, filAIPAC and the National Rifle Association ing an amicus brief supporting the State De(NRA) hold rallies? They lobby—and of partment’s position that Section 214(d) of course AIPAC spends more on hotels for its the Foreign Relations Authorization Act is annual conference than ADC’s entire bud- unconstitutional. That section allows Amerget, Nader admitted. icans born in Jerusalem to put “Israel” as Nader continuously stressed the impor- their place of birth on their passport, while tance of the one percent of the population. not allowing Palestinian Americans born in “All it takes is one percent if it’s a very active Jerusalem to put “Palestine” as their place group, and if public opinion is behind you... of birth. The Supreme Court sided with the THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

activisms_42-60r_v10.qxp_August 2015 Activisms 6/26/15 11:29 AM Page 42

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STAFF PHOTO E. QUINN

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

“Jack’s Night”

Anisa Mehdi and Dr. Jack Shaheen.

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

“over policing and profiteering in communities of color,” she stated, and the solution is to change the justice system and law enforcement policies. For one thing, Cook noted, police are trained to “shoot above the waist.”

Hilary Shelton, the NAACP Washington Bureau Director, agreed that new policies and approaches will help, but he pointed out that racist violence has been going on for generations. Until recently there was just no proof, he continued. It was the word of police versus the word of the victim. New technology and social media have created police accountability, and showed that “Eric Garner was essentially a public execution,” said Shelton.

Statistics show, Abdullah added, that “there is a higher likelihood to be killed by a police officer than a terrorist in this country.”

Each panelist examined the intersectionality of issues affecting minority communities. Shelton emphasized that “events that affect your community, affect ours.” They also noted the importance of working together to build coalitions because no real reform will be accomplished if there is fragImpact of the Ferguson Movement mentation. Abdullah agreed that building ADC panelists discussed the impact that these relationships will end both fear of othFerguson, Baltimore, UNC Chapel Hill and ers outside one’s own community and of law other violent confrontations have had on enforcement. The police need the trust and communities of color in America. These integrity of the people they serve, yet few events have reminded us that people of actually live in the areas that they patrol, color are criminalized in America, stated observed Shelton. Requiring residency for Sakira Cook from the Leadership Confer- police officers, creating educational and ence on Civil and Human Rights. Mustafa training reform, and bringing sensitivity to Abdullah of ACLU Missouri observed, the table are top priorities moving forward.

“Ferguson happens every week in North Shelton concluded the discussion by emSt. Louis,” where police departments treat phasizing there is “no more powerful polilow-income and minority communities as tics than coalition building.”

Another civil rights panel, “The Surveil“enemy combatants.” He affirmed, “there’s lance State Revealed,” followed, featuring something wrong in policing.”

Body cameras and other Band-Aid solu- Shahid Buttar, a former executive director tions aren’t actually dealing with the cause of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee; of the problem, Cook argued. That cause is Patrick Eddington, a policy analyst in Homeland Security and Civil Liberties at the Cato Institute; Sue Udry, executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and Defending Dissent Foundation; Mark Jaycox, an analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation; and Yolanda Cher Rondon, an ADC staff attorney.

They explored the privacy and surveillance isHilary Shelton (l) and Mustafa Abdullah look at racist violence sues that affect all Americans.

—Erin Quinn in America.

State Department, agreeing that only the President, not Congress, has the power to determine how Jerusalem is listed on U.S. passports.

ADC also successfully defended the right to religious accommodation in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) v. Abercrombie, arguing that employees have a legally protected right to practice their religion in the workplace by wearing articles of faith, including hijab, and an employer cannot make an applicant’s religious practice a factor in employment decisions.

Martin Castro, the first Latino chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) gave a stirring keynote address highlighting the negative issues facing Latin and Arab American communities (including racial profiling, immigration, mass incarceration, and hate crimes) and urged both to learn from each other. Mustafa Abdullah, from the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute, housed at USC, and pro bono attorney of the year awardee EgyptianAmerican Michael Hanna also offerred suggestions in coalition building.

—Delinda C. Hanley

NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin.

At dinner on June 12, former CBS news consultant Dr. Jack Shaheen honored ArabAmerican students who excel in media studies (including journalism, radio, TV, and film) with a mass communications scholarship award. He also presented the Outstanding Achievement in Media Award to Whetstone Productions founder Prof.

Anisa Mehdi, an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and writer. Mehdi, who is a professor of communications at Seton Hall University, directed the groundbreaking National Geographic documentary “Inside Mecca.” Her articles have been published in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune and Aziah magazine.

Ayman Mohyeldin, a foreign correspondent for NBC News and anchor for MSNBC, joked that his parents always wanted him to be a doctor but even as a child he pretended to be a newscaster. Mohyeldin, who has reported from Egypt, Libya, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Japan, Europe and the U.S., spoke at the Friday night dinner.

After the awards, ADC members enjoyed uproarious standup comedy routines from Palestinian comedians Amer Zahr (see page 19) and Mona Aburmishan, who had performed at the Kennedy Center the previous week.

—Delinda C. Hanley 43

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Violence Against Women of Color

STAFF PHOTO ERIN QUINN

STAFF PHOTO E. QUINN

The following day, June 13, began with a panel discussion entitled, “The Effect of Systemic Violence on Women of Color.”

Today, women of color are underrepresented, misrepresented, and have limited access to power, explained moderator Fatina Abdrabboh, the director of ADC-Michigan.

Darakshan Raja, the Helga Herz Fellow at the Washington Peace Center, presented startling statistics, noting for example that “being born female, there is a 70 percent risk that you will experience violence.” In (L-r) Darakshan Raja, Dr. Roselyn Aker-Black, Fatina Abdrabboh and Andrea Carcamofact, she continued, “the number one way Cavazos talk about the effects of violence. women are killed in this country is at the —Delinda C. Hanley hands of men.” Those statistics are multi- women already are in place before the police School of Law. plied for women of color because race, reli- even arrive. In fact, assuming the stereotype gion and ethnicity become intersected to that a woman is oppressed, a policeman ADC Dinner Gala produce great discrimination and violence. may ask the abuser to answer questions that ADC president Samer Khalaf acknowledged Dr. Roselyn Aker-Black, an adjunct pro- the officer should be asking the victim. to dinner gala attendees that the organizaThe women offered solutions to problems tion has had a rough year, enduring staff fessor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, observed that black women in facing women of color, including training shortages, a scramble for funds and trying particular are not visible in society, and and educational reforms, and better under- to recover its grassroots membership. As therefore people don’t hear about the crimes standing of and respect for diversity. “We ADC celebrated its 35th anniversary, many committed against them. Additionally, need to stop the dehumanization of women members like Khalaf, who said he was —Erin Quinn raised in ADC, recalled its golden years and women have to combat and hide emotional of color,” Raja concluded. scars so they don’t appear emotional beresolved to make the organization great cause, as Andrea Carcamo-Cavazos, the as- Crossroads of Ferguson and again. “We are no less and no more than sistant director of public policy at the Na- Palestine you. We are our membership,” Khalaf detional Latin@ Network, highlighted, Following the women’s empowerment lunch clared, “and there is no other organization “women are constantly put on trial.” on June 13, an in-depth, lively and some- in our country doing what we do...standing Abdrabboh cited the effects of cyber ex- times hurtful examination of race relations up for your civil rights.” ploitation, because women of color are “es- took place. Some ADC audience members Attorney Albert Mokhiber described the pecially victimized in the cyber world.” asked why there were so many discussions lack of progress in prosecuting the suspects Raja, who is also an anti-gender-based vio- comparing the politically powerless in Fer- in the 1985 murder of ADC’s Southern Calilence advocate and community organizer, guson to Palestinians. “There is a Palestine fornia regional director Alex Odeh. Odeh’s discussed how women are punwidow presented the Alex Odeh ished for their sexuality, adding Award for public service and that males in minority communicommitment to the Arab-Amerities put a great emphasis on can community to Dr. Jamil and shaming and honor killing.

Kamelah Shami, who joined ADC “Shaming,” Raja said, “has alat its inception. ways been controlled by the paAmbassador Clovis Maksoud triarchy.” presented the Hala Maksoud The panelists also discussed Leadership Award—named in the greater level of scrutiny and honor of his late wife, who discrimination women of color served as ADC president from face. White women are depicted 1996 to 2001—to Linda Sarsour, as the ideal homemakers, accord- (L-r) Ahmad Nabil Abuznaid, Kwame Rose, Amani Al-Khataht- a Palestinian Muslim American ing to Raja, and the norms of beh, Prof. Khaled Beydoun and Joshua Harris, managing editor of and racial justice and civil rights dress and style are also set by The Sphinx magazine. activist. The self-proclaimed white women. “It is demeaning “pure New Yorker” describes when someone outside your culture con- in every black city. One community moves herself as “every Islamophobe’s worst nighttrols what you wear,” Dr. Aker-Black added. in and kicks out the other,” explained mare.” After the police killing of Michael She noted that a woman of color who is ed- Ahmad Nabil Abuznaid, co-founder of Brown, Sarsour co-founded Muslims for ucated is a double minority, and “you have Dream Defenders. Young blacks are brutal- Ferguson to encourage work against police to adapt so you don’t offend.” Later she de- ized and they feel it in Palestine—offering brutality. Sarsour is determined to make this clared, “I am not an angry black woman. I solidarity and advice on coping with tear country the greatest in the world, and beam a passionate black woman.” gas. Speakers included Kwame Rose, a com- lieves blacks’ liberation in America will lead Abdrabboh described how in cases of do- munity organizer and social activist from to Palestinian liberation. (See her article mestic violence involving Arab-American Baltimore, MD, and Prof. Khaled Beydoun, “Worst Year for American Muslims Since or Muslim women, stereotypes about these an assistant professor of law at the Barry 9/11” in this issue’s “Other Voices” supple44

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AUGUST 2015

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raeli law for the Palestinian people, she emphasized, but there are more than 50 discriminatory laws that promote inequality.

The Israeli governmental system is “a system that privileges the rights of some over others,” she charged.

Among the questions the panelists answered were how products are chosen for boycott and the effectiveness of these choices. The criteria discussed included the locality of the product to the community, the winability of the campaign, the community’s level of excitement and commitment, and the potential celebrity ties to the campaign, which is often successful in attracting mainstream attention.

—Erin Quinn

STAFF PHOTOS E. QUINN

(L-r) Samer Khalaf, Ambassador Clovis Maksoud and Linda Sarsour.

(L-r) Ramah Kudaimi, Philip Farah and Nadia Ben-Youssef look at BDS successes. ment.)

Arab American former Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV) received the Excellence in Public Service Award. Elected at age 27, Rahall was the youngest elected and longest serving member in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives. He urged Arab Americans to “work the local levers of power“ to make progress in the Middle East. Rahall also noted that the views of Americans are more balanced than those of their leaders in Congress—who are looking out for the interests of a certain foreign country.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Palestine Panel: “Nonviolent Tactics” The convention’s final panel was a discussion of nonviolent methods to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and the protection of human rights. Panelists included Ramah Kudaimi of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Philip Farah, founding member of the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace, and Nadia Ben-Youssef, the U.S. representative for Adalah.

Kudaimi reviewed the history of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. “This July marks 10 years of BDS,” she announced, describing the 2005 call by AUGUST 2015

Palestinian civil society for BDS against Israel and Israeli companies complicit with Israeli war crimes. Today people around the globe are standing in solidarity with the Palestinians and joining the BDS movement.

While Palestinians continue to suffer, Kudaimi noted, the United States blindly gives Israel more than $3 billion a year—but BDS is a way for consumers to fight back and win. Recent successes include SodaStream, which moved its factory out of the West Bank; the French company Veolia, which now has lost more than $24 billion; and artists, including Lauryn Hill, who have canceled their shows and concerts. “We’re becoming mainstream,” asserted Kudaimi.

She called on all attendees to become involved, stating, “In every single one of your cities, there is the potential for a campaign.”

Farah reviewed the progress made by U.S. churches to divest from Israel. “Faith-based political leaders have power,” he affirmed.

The Presbyterian and Methodist Churches have voted to support divestment and this has caused outrage in Israel, where Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemned the BDS movement and called boycotts “political terrorism.”

Ben-Youssef described Israeli law and its implications for Palestinians. Not only is there no right to equality enshrined in IsTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Palestine Lunch a Grand Finale While ADC has defended the rights of Arab Americans and struggled against stereotyping, misconceptions and discrimination in the U.S. for 35 years, the organization always devotes the last day of its annual conference to Palestine.

This reporter and the Washington Report received ADC’s Rachel Corrie Award, in recognition for our “unwavering commitment to human rights.” I reminded the audience, “As we approach the one-year anniversary of Israel’s latest attack on Gaza, this summer children in Gaza are drinking dirty water and enduring shortages of housing, food, medicine and electricity.

“In Maryland there’s been a lot of publicity about ‘free-range parenting’…parents who are accused of child neglect for letting their kids walk home alone from the park.

Where’s the concern for African-American children who are living in poverty or don’t have a home to walk home to? Or Palestinian kids whose homes have been destroyed by Israeli bulldozers or bombs? Why aren’t Americans concerned about Palestinian children who are killed as they play on a beach or arrested as they sleep in their beds?

“To quote Rachel Corrie, ‘This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop.’”

I also described the work of my mother, Donna Curtiss, who has toiled quietly in the trenches all these years, and our driven founders, including Ambassador Andrew Killgore who, at 95, doesn’t miss a day of work, and all our staff. “We, at the Washington Report, feel like we’re your recordkeepers,” I concluded. “It’s been a real privilege to tell your inspirational stories, record your words and deeds, and to provide an historical record of your struggle for human rights, civil rights, dignity and justice.”

Palestinian Ambassador Maen Rashid 45

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(L-r) Samer Khalaf, Delinda Hanley, and last year’s awardwinner, Ellen Siegel.

Areikat asked Arab Americans and their friends to help keep Palestinians on their lands in Israel and the occupied territories.

This task is becoming harder than ever, he said, as Congress continues to try to determine the future of the Middle East in total disregard for its people, shielding Israel from accountability in the U.N., inserting harmful clauses in legislation, trying to make nonviolent actions like BDS illegal, and suppressing freedom of expression.

In one of the conference’s most electrifying moments, Areikat urged listeners to “think about unifying our efforts,” working with other organizations, uniting—not merging, but joining hands and reaching out to each other. “We’re trying to achieve the same things, but our efforts are fragmented,” the ambassador charged. “It’s time for a Palestinian-American coalition to mobilize our community and lobby on behalf of our causes.” Areikat urged listeners to register to vote, volunteer in their communities, build coalitions with Hispanics and African Americans, and work for justice and equality at the grassroots level.

Dr. Yousef Jabareen, a human rights scholar, lawyer and newly elected Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament through the Arab Joint List, credited ADC (where he interned 18 years ago) and Georgetown University (where he studied) with his focus on a political career, instead of research, when he returned to Israel.

Referring to the ambassador’s call for unity, Jabareen noted that Palestinians also have changed their strategy, deciding to unite and work together to protect their rights. Together they’re fighting discrimination on the basis of ethnicity in Israel’s legal, educational and health services, he said.

Two-thirds of Arab children in Israel live 46

under the poverty line, so parliamentarians are demanding fair budgets and equal services. Dr. Jabareen urged Arab Americans to return to their homes around the country after the convention with a greater understanding of the problems facing other communities and to build strong coalitions to fight for minority rights.

Visit <www.adc.org> for more information and videos from ADC’s National Convention, which will soon be available.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Human Rights Israeli Detention of Children: “It’s Time to Break the Cycle” The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) held a June 2 congressional briefing at the Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, DC to reveal widespread and systematic ill-treatment of Palestinian children held in Israeli military detention. Speakers urged the 100 attendees, including staff members from 30 different congressional offices, to bring international juvenile justice reform to children in Israeli military detention by signing on to Rep. Betty McCollum (DMN)’s letter to Secretary of State John Kerry.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) gave opening remarks.

Key speakers at the briefing included Tariq Abu Khdeir, the Palestinian-American teenager who was brutally beaten unconscious and arrested by Israeli soldiers in East Jerusalem last summer, and his mother, Suha Abu Khdeir. (See October 2014 Washington Report, p. 55.) This briefing was part of No Way to Treat a Child’s DC Advocacy Days.

Israel is the only nation in the world that systematically and automatically prosecutes children in military courts, reported Brad Parker, an attorney working with Defense for Children International Palestine. Since 2000, at least 8,000 Palestinian children have been arrested and prosecuted through the Israeli military detention system. Three out of four experience physical violence during arrest, transfer or interrogation, according to Parker, who bases his information on accounts given to him by children who have been detained and their families.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

According to international law and the Covenant on the Rights of the Child, children are protected and entitled to juvenile judicial systems. In the Israeli-occupied territories, however, there is no such system, and 300 to 400 Palestinian children are prosecuted under military law every year. An Israeli settler who is arrested, on the other hand, enters Israel’s civilian legal system. Israel’s military courts and juvenile military courts are one and the same, Parker emphasized. No warrants are needed and there is no oversight for arrests. Children are usually arrested in the middle of the night, merely on suspicion of throwing an object or violating the law.

Tariq Abu Khdeir confirmed Parker’s testimony by recounting the events that changed his life last summer. After the kidnapping and murder of his 16-year-old cousin, Muhammad, Tariq was arrested and detained without charge after being beaten by multiple Israeli officers. He did not receive medical treatment until six hours after he was arrested. Mrs. Abu Khdeir described her horror when finally, four days later, Israeli police allowed her to see her son—“whose face I could not recognize.” Tariq was hooked up to machines, and she wasn’t allowed to speak to him or touch him.

He was placed under house arrest in a distant village and his family was forced to pay a fine, although Tariq was never charged with a crime. “What happened to the officers who beat my son?” Suha Abu Khdeir asked. “There is no accountability,” she asserted, adding that she is worried about returning to Israel/Palestine this summer for their annual vacation. “We want justice,” she declared. “It’s time to break the cycle.”

The impact that their arrest and imprisonment has on Palestinian children is extensive and severe. Many children have nightmares, withdraw, and will not leave their homes without an adult male escorting them, Parker noted. Others can’t concentrate in school or have trouble at home, angry at parents who couldn’t protect them. Some “hyperfocus on studies,” seeing school as a way out of their situation.

These arrests of children are really just another way to control the Palestinian population, Parker added.

Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW), elaborated on this impact, which is not only psychological. These children, who often drop out of school, feel they have no other alternative, and are used for agricultural labor in Israeli settlements in AUGUST 2015

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More than 100 Iowans gathered beneath the sheltering trees of Stuart Square Park east of the Capitol in Des Moines to celebrate Children’s Day, or International Day for Protection of Children, on June 6, a sunny Saturday Tariq and Suha Abu Khdeir speak at Busboys and Poets on afternoon. Local families June 2. “I want people to stand up for kids like me,” he told the enjoyed a variety of activities including buffetaudience gathered to watch “Detaining Dreams.” style food, music, face the West Bank. HRW recently published a painting, arts and crafts, sidewalk chalk and report that details the dangerous and gruel- juggling.

“Three particularly vulnerable populaing work on settlement farms that Palestinian children undertake without the protec- tions are the focus of this first observance in Des Moines,” said Kathleen McQuillen of tion of child labor laws.

Rabbi Brant Rosen, AFSC’s Midwest re- American Friends Service Committee gion director, stated that this issue has been (AFSC), Iowa: “Latino children in U.S. prisallowed “to languish in the shadows for too ons and detention centers; black youths suflong.” He urged audience members to con- fering from racial profiling, mass incarceratact their elected representatives and the tion, and abuse at the hands of law enforceU.S. government to make certain that U.S. ment; and Palestinian children in Israeli milaid to Israel does not support or endorse itary detention supported by U.S. taxpayer the military detention of Palestinian chil- dollars.”

“Detention centers are a bad place to be, dren.

When asked about the U.S. State Depart- especially for a kid,” stated Luis Orellana of ment’s response to the arrest of Tariq, an Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, American citizen, Suha Abu Khdeir said a speaking about Latino children detained for U.S. Embassy official tried to see her son immigration violations. “They don’t want to and get him released but Israeli authorities put the name on it, call it what it is, but it’s were very rude and wouldn’t even meet jail,” he added, noting that detention centers with him. The U.S. official stood outside the offer few opportunities for children to play. prison for three to four hours calling the Israeli government, the U.S. State Department, the Israeli Embassy in DC and members of Congress, before someone finally let him in to see Tariq.

Tariq described the responsibility he feels as he tries to bring awareness to Israel’s human rights and international law violations. “I am the face of the children in Palestine,” he acknowledged. For more information on how to get involved or to view Congresswoman McCollum’s letter visit <nowaytotreatachild.org>.

That evening, the same speakers were joined by filmmakers Joyce and John Cassell and producer Amr Kawji, who gathered at 5th and K’s Busboys and Poets to watch the world premiere of “Detaining Dreams.”

Their moving documentary about Palestinian child detention features live testimony Katie Hueter of AFSC, Iowa, Middle East from child prisoners and their parents. Peace Education Project, speaks in Des Moines June 6 about the plight of PalestinWatch the trailer on YouTube.

—Erin Quinn and Delinda C. Hanley ian children under illegal Israeli occupation.

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STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

Iowa Groups Observe International Day for Protection of Children

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THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

In April, dozens of mothers staged a hunger strike at the detention center in Karnes City, TX, one of four detention centers for families operated in Texas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Karnes City facility, managed privately for-profit by the GEO Group, has been the focus of numerous complaints about sexual abuse, developmental issues and poor quality food.

“If you are an African-American youth and you live in the state of Iowa, you are five times more likely to be in prison, in jail, on probation, or on parole, than you are if you are white,” said Carla Dawson, of Trinity United Methodist Church, “and that’s not something any Iowan should be proud of...As the mother of an incarcerated young man, it is my job to spread the word that that’s not acceptable. That’s not the kind of world I want to live in,” Dawson told the crowd.

“If there is going to be change, we have to be the change,” she emphasized. “Nobody is going to come and change it for us.”

Two speakers spoke about the plight of Palestinian children in Israeli detention.

“Palestinian children face something unlike any others in the world. Israel is an occupying power and the only country that puts children through a military justice system,” said Julie Brown of Des Moines Catholic Worker, who has visited Palestine twice.

A majority of the Palestinian children detained by Israel are arrested at home in the early hours of the morning by soldiers who break into their homes, bind their hands, and blindfold them before transporting them in military vehicles. Detained children are interrogated without the presence of their parents or lawyers, she said, and are rarely informed of their rights. Eighty percent of Palestinian children detained by Israel report that they have been physically assaulted or threatened with violence by soldiers or interrogators, said Brown.

“Every year, 300 to 400 Palestinian children, some as young as 5 years old, are detained and tried in Israeli military courts funded by U.S. tax dollars,” said Katie Hueter of American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Iowa, Middle East Peace Education Project. Hueter encouraged her listeners to contact their congressional representatives and ask them to sign a letter initiated by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) for delivery to Secretary of State John Kerry calling on him to make the protection of children a priority in the United States’ relationship with Israel.

—Michael Gillespie 47

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Georgetown University professor Emad Shahin was sentenced to death by an Egyptian court on May 16.

Two individuals whose families have been targeted by the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi were among those who spoke at a June 5 press conference organized by Egyptian Americans for Democracy and Human Rights at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Georgetown University professor Emad Shahin, one of 120 individuals (including ousted President Mohamed Morsi) sentenced to death by an Egyptian court on May 16, warned that Egypt is rapidly becoming a fascist state. This assessment is based on academic criteria, the political scientist said, and not his personal disapproval of the Sisi regime.

Shahin cited three specific attributes of fascism that he believes are present in Egypt today: a cult of personality, the glorification of the state and the military, and an intense state-run propaganda campaign.

Such pointed academic criticism of the Sisi coup and ensuing presidency is in all probability the reason Shahin finds himself a target of the Egyptian government.

The well-respected academic fled Egypt in January 2014 after security forces intimidated his family. He was later convicted in absentia of espionage, a charge he denies.

“The court never specified the crime that I supposedly committed or produced a shred of evidence for my culpability,” Shahin penned in The Atlantic following the issuance of his death sentence.

According to Shahin, in addition to being unscrupulous Egyptian courts also are incompetent. Among the 120 individ48

uals sentenced to death in his case, two have been dead for several years and another has been in an Israeli prison since 1996.

Despite his predicament, Shahin considers himself lucky. He received his sentence in absentia, while many of his co-defendants are languishing in jail, being tortured and could potentially be killed by the Egyptian state, he noted.

Iman Bakry Haroun’s family has not enjoyed the same fortune as Shahin’s. On May 17, her brother Mohamed and five other men were executed for their alleged role in the killing of Egyptian security forces.

Haroun said her brother was executed “without any investigations, without any evidence against him.”

Mohamed was detained by authorities a month before the soldiers were killed, Haroun noted, meaning there’s no way he could be responsible for their murder. This apparently legitimate alibi fell on deaf ears, however. “Despite all the clear evidence that they were innocent and were already in custody, they accused them of this crime,” she lamented.

An emotional Haroun noted that Egypt’s repressive regimes frequently targeted Mohamed for his political activism. Before being arrested in 2013 by Sisi’s forces, he had been taken into custody several times by ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s security officials.

Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, said Haroun and Shahin’s cases are not aberrations.

“Mr. Sisi has presided over flagrant and systematic abuses of human rights unparalleled for at least several decades,” Stork stated. Sisi’s Egypt has no elected parliament, Stork noted, ensures near total impunity for security forces, issues draconian executive legislation that curtails civil and political rights, has issued hundreds of “sham” death sentences, and holds tens of thousands of political prisoners.

Officials in Washington do not question these facts, Stork pointed out. In a May report to Congress, the State Department concluded that due process and the freedoms of expression, press, association and assembly are not present in Egypt.

“Despite that report from the State Department to the Congress,” Stork said, “President Obama unfroze military equipment [shipments] to Egypt” on March 31.

Shahin lambasted the U.S. and Europe for willfully ignoring Sisi’s human rights abuses, saying the Western world cannot simultaneously claim to be advocates of THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

democracy and send arms and money to military oppressors.

“Call things as they are,” Shahin urged Western leaders. “Call a coup a coup when a military coup takes place, maintain the minimum standards of human rights…and finally, [don’t] reward military generals and coup leaders.”

—Dale Sprusansky

Waging Peace Saudi Arabia’s Regional Policies Under King Salman Dr. Nawaf Obaid, a fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, provided an assessment of the recent Saudi Arabian royal succession. His May 22 lecture at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, titled “Leadership Changes in Saudi Arabia: What Implications for the Kingdom, the Region, and the U.S.?” was sponsored by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

The former adviser to several Saudi Arabian officials began by noting that the transition from the late King Abdullah to King Salman “has proceeded quite smoothly.”

The new king’s priorities, he said, include bolstering the defense of partner and allied states, preventing nuclear proliferation in the region, and strengthening and restructuring the country’s defense, national security, foreign policy and energy establishments.

As part of its effort to stabilize allied countries, Obaid noted that the Kingdom has provided substantial military aid to Lebanon and Egypt.

“The Saudi government is committed to the Sisi government economically, politically and security-wise,” Obaid commented.

Riyadh believes Sisi will “be able to kickstart [Egypt’s] economy and bring back some sort of stability and security to the existing government,” he added.

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PHOTO COURTESY EGYPTIAN AMERICANS FOR DEMOCRACY & HUMAN RIGHTS

Egyptians Targeted by Sisi Regime Share Their Stories

Dr. Nawaf Obaid (l) and Dr. John Duke Anthony discuss Saudi policy toward Egypt, Iran, Libya and Yemen.

AUGUST 2015

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Reflecting on his recent trip to the KingDespite the strength of Egypt-Saudi rela- more open and assertive Saudi role in Libya —Dale Sprusansky dom, Ricciardone expressed optimism that tions, Obaid pointed out that the two coun- going forward.” the country’s highly educated young people tries do have some differences on regional ishave the tools necessary to address Saudi sues. For instance, he said, Saudi leaders have Saudi Arabia’s New Leadership: Arabia’s many challenges, both internal and been frustrated by Cairo’s inability to de- Only Time Will Tell external. velop a cogent position on the Cordesman was somewhat Syrian crisis. less optimistic. While educaTurning to Yemen, Obaid tion rates are high, 30 percent stated that the Kingdom was of young Saudis remain unemjustified in launching a reployed, he noted. This figure gional military operation is even higher for young against its neighbor’s Houthi women. “That’s a lot of talent movement in March. The interthat isn’t being used,” he said. vention was necessary, he inThis issue is not just a Saudi sisted, to prevent the coastal problem, he explained. “There city of Aden from falling and is an amazing lack of correlato destroy the missiles the tion globally between educaHouthis had amassed near the tion and job creation,” he said, Yemen-Saudi border. warning that education withBecause the war began after out quality jobs does little to the Houthis had already made significant gains, Obaid pre- Anthony Cordesman (l) and Ambassador Francis Ricciardone debate in- move countries forward.

The speakers also addressed dicted the conflict would not ternal Saudi policy.

Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical be resolved quickly. “This campaign isn’t for the short-term, so this The Atlantic Council hosted an event on concerns. Cordesman noted that from Iraq campaign will go on. The initial plans are May 29 in Washington, DC to discuss King to Yemen, the Kingdom is dealing with for up to six months, and if it’s still not set- Salman bin Abdulaziz’s recent rearrange- major security threats along its borders. tled, up to a year,” he said. “There is no in- ment of the Saudi cabinet and line of suc- These problems are worsened, he added, by tention on putting ground troops there,” he cession. Anthony Cordesman of the Center the ongoing standoff between Saudi Arabia added. for Strategic and International Studies, and Iran.

While the Iran nuclear deal may resolve The success of the Yemen campaign is Georgetown University professor Jean-Franvital to the Kingdom’s long-term regional cois Seznec and Ambassador Francis proliferation questions, it will do very little strategy, Obaid noted, and Riyadh hopes Ricciardone of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik to quell regional unrest, Cordesman prethe Yemen intervention will serve as a Hariri Center for the Middle East spoke dicted. “These [security] problems are not model for other joint regional operations. about the meaning of these changes and going away, and they’re not going to be reA permanent bloc of like-minded Arab their impact on the future of the Kingdom. solved by the nuclear agreement,” he said.

The Saudis, Cordesman noted, are disapstates working together to ensure regional Cordesman began by drawing an analogy security and stability will be necessary to between the Saudi leadership changes and pointed that the U.S. has not used the nuroll back Iran’s dangerous interference in fantasy football. Both, he explained, have clear talks to address what they believe to be Iran’s interference in Arab nations.

Arab countries, Obaid said. unpredictable futures and outcomes.

Not mincing his words, Obaid described One important royal change was the ap- “They see us as having failed to contain the government in Tehran as an enemy of pointment of Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as Iranian influence,” he said.

While the Saudis believe Iran has prothe Arab nations. While the Kingdom has crown prince. Cordesman believes it was a an adversarial attitude toward the Islamic wise move for the king to elevate a rela- vided assistance to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Republic and its Shi’i militias, he stressed, tively younger person to this position. the U.S. does not share this assessment, that does not extend toward all individuals Given the Kingdom’s multiple security Cordesman pointed out.

The one thing most international actors who practice the Shi’i strain of Islam. threats and King Salman’s health issues, According to Obaid, Saudi Arabia is cer- Cordesman said it was prudent to establish agree on is that Yemen has a very bleak futain it could presently defeat Iran and its a youthful succession plan that would allow ture. “It is going to be unstable and a mess indefinitely into the future,” Cordesman outdated military infrastructure in any di- for greater stability. rect confrontation. To make sure this reSeznec noted that changes have also taken said, noting that many development experts mains true, the Kingdom should make sure place within Saudi Arabia’s energy sector. A have given up on the Arab world’s poorest it maintains nuclear parity with Iran, he 10-member committee known as the nation. The Saudi-led air campaign has deadded.

Supreme Council of Saudi Aramco, headed flected attention from Yemen’s other longAddressing the chaos in Libya, Obaid by the 30-year-old deputy crown prince, existing issues, Cordesman added, such as noted that the Saudi position toward the Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, has been its inadequate water supply and high mal—Erin Quinn conflict could change. While the Kingdom created to oversee the company’s affairs, nutrition rates. has purposefully stayed out of the conflict, Seznec noted. While this news may seem he said, the warring factions have requested significant, Seznec cautioned that very little Civil Society the Key to Yemen’s that the Saudis act as mediators. “It’s some- would change at Saudi Aramco, predicting Future thing the new leadership is looking into se- that technocrats will continue to maintain a The Middle East Program of the Woodrow riously,” he noted. “Expect some form of a firm grip over the company’s affairs.

Wilson Center in Washington, DC held a AUGUST 2015

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Mohammad Al-Shami describes the challenges facing the youths and civil society in Yemen today.

June 11 event featuring Mohammad AlShami, a youth activist and advocacy trainer in Yemen. Al-Shami discussed the country’s youth and civil society, the challenges they face, and possible measures to create unity and greater power.

Al-Shami acknowledged that the reason for the current situation in Yemen is “a long series of wrong actions and decisions,” beginning with the civil war of the 1960s.

Yemen is the poorest country in the region, and it receives most of its capital from external support—which, Al-Shami reported, leads to a great deal of unwanted external influence. Furthermore, Yemen has trouble absorbing and distributing the aid it does receive.

Al-Shami explained that communities do not depend on or trust in their government because, as he said, “the government knows no procedure but the bribe.” Even when Yemen was somewhat stable, the government was unable to rule, he added, and the majority of the population doesn’t care who is in power as long as there is peace.

There are many stakeholders in Yemen who regularly hold more power than the government itself. The military is undergoing a major restructuring, which has been an enormous and strenuous process. Additionally, the military commits human rights violations—not intentionally, according to Al-Shami, but because it is not even aware of human rights. Al-Shami views this ignorance as an opportunity for civil society to work with the military during its restructuring process to ensure knowledge and protection of human rights.

Many resistance movements comprise another main stakeholder in Yemen. An important group in this category is al-Qaeda, which has “filled a political vacuum,” AlShami explained. For many people, especially Yemeni youths, joining an opposition group, specifically al-Qaeda, which has 50

money and organizing abilities, is their best and only option. Al-Shami said that many young people in Yemen have two choices: join a resistance group or remain home, without the ability for upward mobility.

Civil society organizations are doing all the work on the ground in Yemen, Al-Shami stated, distributing water and food, setting up clinics and providing medical care, saving lives and providing information. Furthermore, these organizations are encouraging education and empowering youths and women.

Despite some progress, however, Yemen’s youths and civil society face many challenges, including a lack of funds, lack of space in society, and a lack of expertise regarding education and training.

Al-Shami concluded by offering some solutions. The key, he said, is to advocate for a greater civil societal role at a local level that can evolve and spread to the national and international levels. “This is essential,” he declared. Other measures include enhancing education and training programs that will create a stronger and more wellequipped civil society.

“Civil society is the only long-lasting [chance for] peace,” he argued, “because it can change the behavior of people on the ground.”

—Erin Quinn

Countering Violent Extremism: Local and Global Approaches The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted a full-day conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on June 12 to consider ways of countering violent extremism, both in the Middle East and in Europe and North America. The Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, a leading French think tank on international security issues, co-hosted the conference.

When President Barack Obama convened a high-profile White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism in February of this year, it focused on the need “to develop community-oriented approaches to counter hateful, extremist ideologies that

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Gonul Tol (l) and Jean-Luc Marret examine why people turn to extremism.

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radicalize, recruit or incite to violence.” The MEI conference followed the same general approach with its first two panels headlined “Why Do People Turn to Extremism?” and “Preventing Radicalization at the Local Level.” The final panel, “Countering the Lure of the Islamic State,” continued that focus but added a discussion of military and diplomatic issues related to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The conference opened with a keynote address by Rand Beers, who served as the National Security Council’s deputy homeland security adviser from January 2014 to March 2015. Before that he was acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Beers praised the counterterrorism efforts of the FBI and local agencies, but called law enforcement only a partial solution. He described a new paradigm that places community involvement at the heart of efforts to counter violent extremism. This new model recognizes that individuals generally exhibit behavior that foreshadows violence, he said, and their behavior is often observed by people in the community.

Beers noted that the federal government is conducting four pilot programs based on the new approach and distributed a fact sheet describing one in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Under the heading “Development of an Action Plan,” the fact sheet describes three essential steps, starting with meetings with community members, including religious leaders, business leaders, women, youths, social workers and victims of recruiting. These meetings lead to the second step, a list of “community-identified root causes,” such as difficulties in school, lack of economic opportunity, lack of ties to the broader Minnesota community, and generational divide. The final step is to create a “community resilience action plan” through such actions as increased youth programming, mentoring, additional diverse law enforcement, increased employment opportunities and social media campaigns.

Following Beers’ presentation, the first two panels offered a variety of perspectives on how to make the vision of community involvement a reality. Gonul Tol, founder and director of MEI’s Center for Turkish Studies, described her research into the different experiences of Turkish Muslims in Germany and the Netherlands. Even though the Turks arrived in the two countries with similar backgrounds and religious beliefs, she discovered that the Netherlands was more successful in integrating Turks into their nation. She attributed this result to three key factors.

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First, Tol noted, citizenship laws in the Netherlands encourage the Turks to become citizens, and 70 percent hold dual citizenship. German citizenship laws are less welcoming, and fewer Turks there have become citizens. Second, Turks in the Netherlands have experienced more economic opportunity and upward mobility, while in Germany a higher percentage of Turks are unemployed. Finally, the two countries take different approaches to the legal status of Islam, especially with regard to education.

In the Netherlands, Islam is taught in the public schools, while in Germany it is not.

The result of these differences is that Turks are better integrated in the Netherlands than in Germany.

Another panelist, Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic Studies at American University, stressed the deep-seated nature of the problem, stating that young Muslim males in particular feel that they are targeted in Western media and discriminated against because of their background.

This promotes alienation that can lead to radicalization. “Islamophobia is the elephant in the room,” Ambassador Ahmed warned, and it “does act as pressure to push them away from Western culture.” He urged the media to “show a more balanced view of Muslim culture,” while acknowledging that healing these divisions is a long-term project.

The conference’s final session focused not only on recent ISIS victories on the battlefield, but also its unexpected success in attracting radicalized young Muslims to join its forces. R. Kim Cragin, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, noted that 25,000 volunteers from 100 countries have now traveled to Iraq and Syria, including 4,000 from Europe and North America.

There has been “a 70 percent increase over the past year of foreign fighters flowing into Iraq and Syria,” she reported, adding that foreign fighters are traveling to Libya as well.

Many are appalled by the brutality of AUGUST 2015

ISIS’ tactics, which include mass executions and public beheadings. However, Cragin pointed out that such tactics contribute to success on the battlefield by sending a clear message to enemies: “We are coming. Join us or run.” Malcolm Nance, executive director of the Terror Asymmetrics Project, agreed with that assessment, describing ISIS’s tactics as “the number one force multiplier of this group.”

Several panelists wrestled with the need to fashion a counter-narrative to ISIS’s vision of renewing the power of Islam by reviving the caliphate. However, any such counter-narrative must deal with the long history of grievance that many Muslims feel toward Western interventions in the Middle East, including America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq. Nance pointed out that Muslims are deeply knowledgeable about the history of Western interventions, even going back a century to the Sykes-Picot agreement, in which Great Britain and France divided the region into colonies after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

If any single conclusion emerged from the day’s proceedings, it might be that the need to counter violent extremism, like violent extremism itself, will be a topic for many future discussions.

—Duncan Clark

Omani Receives Top Marriott Award Hadid Jaman Bait Shamasa, an Omani bellman who works at Salalah Marriott Resort in Mirbat, Oman, received a prestigious 2015 Award of Excellence at a ceremony on May 12 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Maryland.

Flown in from around the globe, the honorees and their families were treated to an evening of celebration and praise featuring Marriott leaders and hundreds of fellow associates. The honorees told stories that exemplified the core values of Marriott International.

Only the second recipient from the Middle East (the first was Egyptian Saad AlTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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(L-r) Moderator Abderrahim Foukara, R. Kim Cragin, Malcolm Nance and Ambassador James Larocco.

Honoree Hadid Bait Shamasa tells his story. bakri in 2008), Shamasa said he is the first person to greet guests when they arrive. As the first Omani to work at the hotel (his friends and relatives thought carrying luggage in a hotel was not a worthy profession), Shamasa credits his Bedouin culture with his popularity and success. Like so many Omanis, Shamasa is used to welcoming strangers who soon become friends, and says he enjoys meeting people from around the world.

Shamasa likes sharing his culture with visitors to Oman. After a guest asked where to find local traditional Omani food, Shamasa decided it would be fun to invite the guest to have lunch at his home and meet his family. Since then, he regularly invites hotel guests home for lunch or a cup of tea or coffee with traditional Omani sweets.

Not surprisingly, Shamasa is now a frontdesk agent at the hotel, and more and more Omani citizens have joined him to work at the Marriott.

—Delinda C. Hanley

European Ambassadors Discuss Iran Nuclear Deal The ambassadors of three European nations—Britain, France and Germany (the E3)—gathered at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC on May 26 to discuss the comprehensive nuclear deal being negotiated between Iran and the P5+1.

French Ambassador to the U.S. Gérard Araud began by providing some history.

After European ministers determined in 2002 that Iran was engaged in a clandestine nuclear program with no clear civilian purpose, they decided to open negotiations with Tehran, Araud noted. These negotia51

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(L-r) Moderator Barbara Slavin and Ambassadors Gérard Araud, Peter Wittig and Peter Westmacott discuss negotiations with Iran.

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the regional concerns of Sunni Arab leaders, but maintained that securing the current framework is “the best of the options that are out there.”

All three ambassadors emphasized that the nuclear deal will not stop Western nations from criticizing Iran’s regional behavior.

At the same time, Araud warned, injecting regional geopolitical issues such as Yemen into the negotiations could be “very, very dangerous.” There is no linkage between the geopolitical issues and the nuclear crisis, he stated, arguing that “You can kill this deal if you link it to extraneous issues.”

Westmacott echoed these sentiments with regard to Iran’s human rights record.

However, he assured the audience that “all of our governments remain very concerned about the human rights situation in Iran.”

Westmacott expressed hope that successful nuclear talks would give way to a dialogue on regional issues. Acknowledging that Iran has a long way to go in the area of human rights, he added that these concerns can only be discussed after the nuclear agreement is completed.

—Erin Quinn and Dale Sprusansky

Iran’s Economy After a Nuclear Deal It’s no secret Iran is eager for the sanctions placed against it by the international community to be lifted. What’s not clear, though, is just how much the Iranian economy stands to benefit if sanctions are uprooted.

To shed light on this topic, Bijan Khajehpour, managing partner at Atieh International, delivered a June 2 lecture on “The Economic Significance of the Nuclear Deal for Iran” at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

PHOTO COURTESY WILSON CENTER

tions ceased, however, with the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005.

The following year the E3, along with the U.S., Russia and China, agreed to install a sanctions regime against Iran. Britain’s Ambassador to the U.S. Sir Peter Westmacott cited this international cohesion as a major reason for the thus far successful negotiations that have taken place since the election in 2013 of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

According to Germany’s Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Wittig, the April 2015 Lausanne framework nuclear agreement, which was due to be finalized by the end of June, accomplished three major goals: (1) places strict limitations on Iran’s ability to enrich uranium over a 10-year period; (2) ensures the Arak heavy water facility will not be used to produce weapons grade plutonium; and (3) subjects Iran to an unprecedented monitoring regime that would detect any covert activities.

For Iran, the deal promises gradual sanctions relief. “Snapback sanctions” will be automatically implemented if Iran violates the agreement, Wittig said.

Gritty but vital details are the biggest obstacle to a final deal, Wittig pointed out.

He cited the timing of sanctions relief and the specifics of the verification and monitoring mechanisms as the greatest challenges facing negotiators.

These intricate details must be resolved in order to ensure that all sides are clear on the content and implementation of the final agreement, Wittig explained.

The German ambassador also stressed that Iran will not be blindly trusted to live up to its end of the final deal. The involved parties will “distrust but verify” all of Iran’s actions, he said.

Ambassador Westmacott acknowledged

There is no doubt, Khajehpour said, that Iran’s economy stands to benefit tremendously from the removal of nuclear-related sanctions. However, he cautioned against assessing Iran’s economy solely through the prism of sanctions.

Many experts, Khajehpour observed, believe sanctions account for about 20 percent of Iran’s economic difficulties. Efficient management of the economy by officials in Tehran is thus essential for a true economic revival, he stressed.

According to Khajehpour, President Hassan Rouhani’s government has taken positive steps to reform the country’s economic policies. Since Rouhani’s election in 2013, Iran’s GDP has increased, while its unemployment and inflation rates have decreased.

Even if nuclear talks collapse at the last minute, Khajehpour expects these positive economic trends to continue.

What a deal would do, he said, is accelerate the pace of the economic growth.

Khajehpour predicted that a deal would allow Iran to welcome Western businesses, increase oil production by 400,000 barrels per day, accelerate its gas output, positively impact its exchange and inflation rates, increase its trade surplus, lower its unemployment rate from 10 to 8 percent, and grow its overall economy by 7 percent within two to three years.

While these predictions seem uplifting, Khajehpour issued several caveats.

“Even 7 percent [economic growth] is not enough to create the type of jobs and economic momentum that Iran needs to come out of the various negative areas, especially unemployment and inflation,” he cautioned.

Regional security issues and fluctuating international oil prices also pose major challenges to the revival of the Iranian economy, Khajehpour noted. He cited corruption and harmful economic policies as additional internal restraints to economic vibrancy.

Bijan Khajehpour (l) and moderator Haleh Esfandiari share their thoughts on Iran’s economy.

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Khajehpour also cautioned that it could take several years for the positive impacts of any deal reached this summer to reverberate throughout the Iranian economy.

Sanctions relief could take up to 2 years to be implemented, he noted, meaning, for instance, that it would likely take 18 months for Iran’s oil exports to be completely restored to mid-2012 levels.

—Dale Sprusansky

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Post-War Syria Envisioned

Ghassan Hitto, CEO of the Syrian Forum.

Each organization has executed more than 100 projects, 76 percent of them inside Syria and 24 percent outside, Hitto said. For example, Ihsan has completed 15 projects since early 2015, for a total cost of $6.3 million. The projects included securing food, clean water, shelters and non-food materials.

—Samir Twair

USS Liberty Memorial: The Truth Has Yet to Be Told The 48th anniversary of Israel’s attack on the U.S. Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty which killed 34 American servicemen was remembered on June 8 at the annual memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery. Even after nearly half a century, the truth of the Israeli assault remains covered up. Survivors, families of those killed in action, friends and supporters gathered in Section 34, near the common gravesite of six Liberty crew members, to remember the events of June 8, 1967.

President of the USS Liberty Veterans Association Ernie Gallo, a retired naval officer and survivor of the attack, reminded everyone present why they were gathered: “We need to let Washington, DC know, they will never be forgotten,” he declared (see p. 16 for his complete remarks). The mission of the USS Liberty Veterans Association, Gallo explained, is to “strive to have the truth told.”

The truth is that the ship was “attacked

by Israelis” emphasized Josie Toth Linen, whose brother, Lt. Stephen Toth, USN, earned the silver star when he was killed in the assault. Linen showed attendees a plan for her brother’s new grave marker that had just been installed in the U.S. Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis, MD.

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The future of post-war Syria was outlined June 7 by Ghassan Hitto, who served as the first prime minister of Syria’s provisional government for four months in 2013. A naturalized American citizen, Hitto arrived from Istanbul for a five-city U.S. tour, which began with a talk to more than 70 members of the Syrian American Council-Los Angeles in the Coyote Hills Golf Club in Fullerton.

“Syria today is like a marathon,” he said, “we need to think about it 10 years from now.”

Syrians from around the world gathered in Belgium after the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011 and founded the Syrian Forum, now based in Istanbul. Today Hitto is the CEO of the Syrian Forum and works very closely with the provisional government— which, he said, had established 40 community councils in Aleppo and as many as 130 in Deir ez-Zor before ISIS invaded.

The Syrian Forum has successfully created many organizations in the past two years, such as the news agency <www.alsouria.net>, the USS Liberty survivors gather at the gravestone.

Omran Center for Strategic Studies, Ihsan for Relief and Development, The American ship was attacked in interRizk for Professional Growth, Fener for national waters without warning, first by IsCommunity Advancement, Bousla (Com- raeli aircraft and later by torpedo boats, pass) for Training and Innovation, and Dalil killing 34 and injuring 171. Although Isal-Souri (The Syrian Guide). raeli forces monitored the ship for nine AUGUST 2015

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hours before their assault, Israel claimed that it mistook the USS Liberty for an Egyptian ship, and called it a mistake. However, as Gallo emphasized, “nothing is controversial about it, just ask eyewitnesses,” who know that is was a deliberate attack.

Although rescue planes from the U.S. Sixth Fleet were on their way to assist the ship, President Lyndon Johnson recalled them in order to maintain America’s relationship with Israel. Furthermore, the Johnson administration immediately covered up the fact that Israel was fully aware that it was attacking an American ship.

“We do not ever want this to happen again to a Navy ship,” declared Gallo.

“America is now waking up,” he went on to say, noting that the number of their supporters is growing. Ken Ladd, who is organizing a USS Liberty sticker campaign in New York and is working to create a movie about the attack, agreed with Gallo. “Justice is on the way,” Ladd explained, “because technology has finally caught up with us,”referring to social media and the film industry.

John Feldman, who served two tours on the Liberty in 1966, emotionally pointed out that his replacement, Carl C. Nygren, was buried beneath the grave stone where they’d gathered. Admiral Nancy Norton and Captain Burks of the U.S. Navy also came to the service to honor the fallen. Norton said she was “very honored to be here today to remember the crew, the fallen, and the survivors.”

After the names of the fallen men were read, a wreath was laid upon the grave as friends and family members sang the hymn “Amazing Grace.” A bugler from the U.S. Navy closed the service by playing “Taps” in tribute to those killed in 1967 and to those members of the crew who have died since, including Robert B. Reilly, Dr. Richard Kiepfer, Paddy E. Rhodes and Terry Halbardier, all of whom passed away this past year. “I pray our mission is fulfilled soon,” Gallo said in conclusion.

To join the efforts of the USS Liberty Veterans Association in exposing the truth visit <www. usslibertyveterans.org>.

—Erin Quinn

Ben & Jerry’s Stands by Its Israeli Licensee in Occupied Palestine It was in 2011 that Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel (VTJP) first called on Ben & Jerry’s, an iconic leader of the so53

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morgues could not handle the horrific carnage, bodies of dead children and babies had to be stacked temporarily in ice cream freezers prior to burial.

While this massacre was being carried out, Ben & Jerry’s “peace & love” ice cream was passing through Israeli checkpoints, being transported on Jewish-only roads, and being sold to supermarkets and at catered events in those Jewish-only setBen & Jerry’s sells its “peace & love” ice cream in illegal tlements.

We also asked the comIsraeli settlements. pany, founded by childcially responsible business community, to hood friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenstop its Israeli franchise from selling ice field, to visit the occupied territories and, cream and catering in Jewish-only settle- consistent with its social mission, to speak ments in the occupied Palestinian territories out forcefully against the occupation.

To date, thousands of individuals and of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

VTJP’s thinking reached a tipping point nearly 250 organizations in 20 countries, induring Israel’s massive military assault cluding Israel, have also urged the company against Gaza in the summer of 2014, the to end its franchise’s complicity with Israel’s third in less than six years. Because Gaza’s occupation and settlement regime (<www.

THE TRAGEDY OFF THE ISRAELI-PALESSTINIAN CONFLICT David Ben Gu urion, Israel’s first prime min nister, wrote: “I favor parttition because wh hen we become a sttrong power we will abolish partition and spread through hout Palestine.”

Today, 62 perc cent of the West Bank is under full Israeli control and the e U.N. classifies 4.7 million Palestinians as refugees. Israe el has truly “spread througho out Palestine.”

For many years s the US government’s position has been that the building of West Bank settlementts must stop.

Settlement building continues while we give Israel more than $3 billion an nnually. Our tax dollars assis st Israel in doing what we ask them not to do.

The Committeee for Peace in Israel and Palestine hcliffordws@aol.com

Henry Clifford placed the above ad in the May 7 Hartford Courant. Washington Report readers may remember Clifford’s billboard campaign in major subway stations in downtown Washington, DC in 2013 (see June-July 2013 issue, pp. 63-64) and Westchester County, New York the previous year (see “Publishers’ Page,” September 2012 issue). Clifford’s succinct 2012 ad shows four simple maps: one of Palestine in 1946, another depicting the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan, the third from 1949 to 1967, and the final map in 2010.

Clifford’s next campaign, for bus shelters, will include a mixture of the billboard and the Hartford Courant ad.

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vtjp.org/icecream/internatletter.html>).

Ben & Jerry’s has refused to do so. It also refused to respond to our inquiry about a credible allegation that its franchise purchases equipment from an Israeli company that manufactures in the occupied [Syrian] Golan Heights.

Thus, in April this year, VTJP called for an international boycott of Ben & Jerry’s.

Not long after, in a web posting dated April 10 (<www.benjerry.com/whats-new/ ben-and-jerrys-business-in-israel), the company felt compelled to break a long silence on its Israeli franchise and the occupied territories.

This statement, like others before it, deliberately sidesteps Ben & Jerry’s contractual responsibility for the franchise’s ties to Israeli settlements. It’s a classic example of redirection through misdirection. The statement omits any reference to Israeli settlements and selling ice cream in them. Nor does it acknowledge the stark contradictions between Ben & Jerry’s professed values and doing business with racially exclusive colonies built on confiscated land, including the use of Jewish-only roads to distribute the company’s products. The word “Palestinians” is absent from the text.

It does mention “occupied territories,” however, but chiefly to reassure readers that the franchise does not manufacture ice cream or operate scoop shops there.

“We have no economic interest in the occupied territories,” the statement trumpets.

Instead, the company asserts, it will allocate all licensing fees from its Israeli franchise “to foster multicultural programs and values-led ingredient sourcing initiatives in the region.” It aspires to be “a voice for moderation that builds a sensible approach to multicultural understanding and thriving communities.”

In other words, Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont will not put an end to its Israeli franchise’s unethical commerce, even though selling ice cream and catering to Jewish settlers violates its “peace and love” principles, makes a mockery of international law, and helps normalize a violent and rapacious colonial project.

We can deduce from this, too, that the company has no serious moral qualms with its franchise making a buck in the illegal settlements.

Ben & Jerry’s speaks of doing “business in Israel” and of a visit to “the region” last year by its CEO, select board members and Global Leadership Team members. The company wants its customers to know that “we are keenly aware of how complex the situation can be.”

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Well, not only is the “situation” not complex, it is not even a situation. It is a military occupation and a flagrantly criminal enterprise of Israeli settler-colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, now in its 49th year.

Certain members of Ben & Jerry’s delegation to Palestine last summer insisted on seeing up close the suffering of Palestinians and the ongoing theft by Israeli settlers of their land and water. These are not unobservant or unethical people.

They had conversations with anti-occupation activists and BDS organizers. They saw for themselves that Israel is systematically destroying Arab communities to build fortified colonies on stolen land where only Jews are allowed to live. They cannot, therefore, be so foolish or naïve as to believe that forfeiting licensing fees in the name of “moderation” and to promote “cross-cultural understanding” will put a stop to this or make the company’s economic complicity with it acceptable.

Ben & Jerry’s is standing by Israeli licensee Avi Zinger, not with the Palestinian people. For all its lofty rhetoric, when it comes to Palestine, it will not be guided by international law, its own social mission, or the lessons learned from a long history of supporting progressive causes.

The latest missive from Ben & Jerry’s reaffirms VTJP’s decision to boycott the company. To learn more about VTJP’s campaign against Ben & Jerry’s, to read its detailed report on the company’s business in occupied Palestine, and to assist the boycott effort, visit <www.vtjp.org/icecream>.

— Mark Hage

Cardin Brags About Anti-BDS Clause In Senate Trade Bill Now in the middle of his second term as senator, Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) has become one of the leading congressional voices seeking to curb the growth of American support for the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In April Cardin successfully inserted into the Senate “fast track” Trade Bill (S.995) a lengthy clause making it “a principal negotiating objective” of the United States to discourage BDS campaigns against Israel in trade talks with the European Union, according to Josh Ruebner, policy director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

According to an article in the June 6 New York Times, “The trade legislation is notable in part because the scope of its blacklisting could include companies that refuse to do business with Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, even though they [the AUGUST 2015

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Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) discusses his anti-BDS trade clause. settlements] are widely considered illegal.”

Six days after the Senate version of the 2015 Trade Act passed the full Senate on May 22, an exultant Cardin—a member of the Senate Finance Committee, where his amendment originated, and since April the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—gave the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, at its headquarters in North Bethesda, Maryland. His speech was titled “American Leadership in the Middle East.”

While Cardin gave considerable attention to the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran, and his support for the Obama administration efforts in this regard, he devoted the bulk of his remarks to trying to persuade his attentive audience that a fearful anti-Semitism is on the rise, in the U.S. as well as Europe, and that the growing BDS movement on U.S. campuses and elsewhere is wittingly or unwittingly nurturing this threat. Cardin also asserted that anti-Semitism is on the increase locally, in Montgomery County, Maryland, as well as in Baltimore and on campuses across the country.

The American senator emphasized that “the safety of Jewish communities around the world” was an important concern for him.

Cardin attempted to distance himself a bit from Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s controversial speech before Congress several months ago by quickly and softly saying, “He shouldn’t have.” However, he proceeded to excoriate the BDS movement by baldly and emphatically stating: “The BDS issue delegitimates [sic] Israel. It has nothing to do with the [peace] negotiations.” Cardin went on to assert that there are “some 300 anti-Israel” organizations on U.S. campuses, and that 40 percent of these THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

“are related to BDS events” taking place in academia. “I was proud that the BDS issue was added to the Trade Bill,” he declared.

During the ensuing question-and-answer period following his talk, pro-justice/antioccupation activist Jean Athey, convener of Peace Action Montgomery, an advocacy group in the DC suburb, asked Cardin why his amendment was supportive of Israel’s illegal settlements. “It seems to me,” she remarked, “that the settlements are the greatest impediment to the two-state solution, and the [anti-BDS] language that you used in the insertion…is really to protect the settlements, which I think is a mistake, and I wondered why you did that.”

In his defensive reply, Cardin insisted that he does not “take a position on the Israeli settlements issue—that’s something that’s got to be done at the negotiating table.” He proceeded to argue that those who attempted to limit their boycotting and divesting activity to settlement products face an impossible task—but in so doing seemed to deny that Israel occupied any Palestinian land. “There is no difference on Israeli products that are sold in the international marketplace,” he stated emphatically. “They are not labeled [as to] whether they come from settlements or they come from Israel proper—it’s one country.”

Cardin went on to assure the audience, “I don’t equate this [support for BDS] with anti-Semitism. I think, though, that some of these [BDS] activities can lead to activities, on college campuses particularly, that are not good for Jews.…I wish that the advocates of BDS would spend the same energies with both the Palestinians and the Israelis to get them to the peace process.”

To which BDS activists would probably reply: We tried that for two decades, but it didn’t work.

—Paul H. Verduin 55

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Diplomatic Doings Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi Asks for More U.S. Assistance As part of his May visit to Washington, DC, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi 56

released by the Project on Middle East Democracy, 57 percent of this money is designated for military and security assistance, 16 percent for democracy and governance programming, and the remaining 27 percent for other economic and development assistance.

After meeting with Essebsi on May 21, President Obama also announced that he would give Tunisia the status of major non-NATO ally, a distinction that, according to The New York Times, provides “greater access to things like training, loans of equipment for research and development, and financing for commercial leasing of defense weaponry.” Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Kuwait and Pakistan are the other nations in the region that have this status.

“I want the president and the people of Tunisia to know that the United States believes in Tunisia, is invested in its success, and will work as a steady partner for years to come,” Obama told reporters after his Oval Office meeting with Essebsi. “It is important to recognize that the place where the Arab Spring began is a place where we have seen the most extraordinary progress in allowing all parties and all parts of the population, including women and minorities, to participate fully in the civic and political life of the nation.”

At the USIP, Essebsi emphasized this point. Tunisia, he said, takes pride in its

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

held talks with President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. He also took an hour on May 20 to address members of the media and DC’s think-tank community at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP).

Intent on not ruffling any feathers, Essebsi, who was elected in December 2014, refrained from using the public forum to make controversial remarks about Tunisia’s relationships with other Arab nations or the U.S. Speaking through a translator, Essebsi instead spent the majority Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (l) talks with Bethle- of his time stressing Tunisia’s tenhem University students at the Franciscan Monastery uous economic and security situaof the Holy Land in Washington, DC on June 17. tions. If left unaddressed, these two issues can threaten the country’s Bethlehem University Students Begin emerging but fragile democracy, the 88U.S. Internships year-old leader warned.

“Our friends need to help us,” Essebsi For the third straight year, Bethlehem University and Catholic Charities USA are said, emphasizing that Tunisia needs interpartnering to provide summer internship national support to help address these opportunities to Palestinian students. challenges. The U.S. is helping, he acThis year, 10 Bethlehem University stu- knowledged, “but we want stronger coopdents are interning at Catholic Charities eration.”

More help does appear to be on the way. agencies in Virginia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, Ohio, West Virginia, In his fiscal year 2016 budget request, Louisiana, California and Minnesota. The President Obama has doubled to $134.4 multi-talented students will utilize their million the amount of bilateral assistance skills to assist needy Americans while si- allocated for Tunisia. According to a report multaneously taking advantage of their presence in the U.S. to share their stories as Palestinians.

The students, who are from Hebron, Beit Sahour, Beit Jala and Bethlehem in the West Bank, began their summer in the U.S. with a week of orientation in Washington, DC in mid-June. While in the nation’s capital, they, among other things, met with American-based Palestinian activists at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, spoke with the PLO’s ambassador to the U.S., caught a baseball game, toured national monuments and adjusted to the humid summer climate.

Set to begin their senior year this fall, the students hope to use the skills they develop this summer to help advance the cause of their people upon their return home.

—Dale Sprusansky

Early on the spectacular Saturday morning of May 16, nearly a thousand supporters gathered in Washington, DC’s Rock Creek Park to walk or run 3.1 miles while raising funds to provide counseling for thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza who are suffering from psychological trauma and PTSD. The fourth annual walk in DC raised more than $105,000. UNRWA sponsored an earlier walk/run in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on March 28 and plans others this year at Lake Merced Park in San Francisco on Oct. 17, and Mile Square Park in Orange County, CA on Oct. 24.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

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PHOTO COURTESY SAMIA FINE

PHOTO COURTESY SAMIA FINE

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

social unrest. “This is a situation that cannot last for long,” Essebsi warned.

In a region mired in conflict and instability, unemployed and frustrated young people are prone to making poor decisions, Essebsi observed. He believes this can explain why so many Tunisians have gone to fight in Iraq and Syria.

(Tunisians reportedly account for about a quarter of the foreign fighters in Syria.)

Foreign fighters must not be shunned upon their return to Tunisia, Essebsi argued. Instead, he believes they must be reincorTunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi used his May porated into everyday life. visit to Washington, DC to discuss his country’s “They’re ours,” he explained, economic and security crises. “and therefore we have to bear with them and hopefully we will inclusive society and government. Women find them occupations and jobs.”

Concluding his remarks, Essebsi emphaare free to dress however they like and work where they desire, the country’s con- sized the importance of Tunisia serving as stitution protects its Jewish citizens, and a democratic model for the region. This Islamists are free to openly participate in can only happen, he reiterated, if the international community helps the country bepolitics, he noted.

Indeed, in February Essebsi’s own secu- come a success. lar Nidaa Tounes party entered a governing coalition with four other groups, including (to the chagrin of many secularists) the Islamist Ennahda party. While Essebsi conceded that welcoming Ennahda into the coalition was a tough pill to swallow, he nonetheless believes it will help unify Tunisia. “All parties are coexisting and working together responsibly,” Essebsi pointed out. “This is a government of stability.”

This is not to say that Tunisia has an easy road The Arab League Hall in the Embassy Row Hotel. ahead, Essebsi cautioned, reminding his listeners that political reforms cannot succeed without economic development.

Economically, Tunisia faces a jobs dilemma, not an educational challenge, the president stressed. While Tunisia has progressively improved its educational system since it gained independence from France in 1956, he said, its economy has not developed at the same pace as its educational system.

This has resulted in high rates of unemployment and Calligrapher Hameed Al-Issa.

AUGUST 2015

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Essebsi assured his audience that Tunisia is committed to advancing its democracy regardless of how much or how little outside support it receives. The question, he said, is if the U.S. and others will watch Tunisia limp along, or instead help the country quickly and efficiently consolidate its democracy.

—Dale Sprusansky

Arab League Represents 22 States At Passport DC Passport DC held its increasingly popular “Around the World Embassy Tour” on May 2, 2015. More than 40 embassies opened their doors to Washington, DC visitors who were able to experience the food, art, dance, fashion and music of different countries.

Thousands of visitors enjoyed music and traditional costumes, food and tea at the Arab League Hall, which nobly represented 22 Arab countries—as well as the nearby Moroccan and Libyan Halls—set up in the Embassy Row Hotel on Massachusetts Avenue.

Iraqi calligrapher Hameed Al-Issa couldn’t take more than a 5-minute break every few hours as an endless queue waited for him to write and draw their names in Arabic. Abd elWahab Kayali, a Jordanian master of oud, enchanted visitors with his playing of classic Arab music throughout the day. The Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center offered visitors delicious Omani desserts.

The Arab League Hall also displayed information, books or crafts from the Arab American Historical Foundation (producers of the Arab American Almanac, a virtual who’s who for companies seeking vital Arab-American contacts); DC Film Festival; Hands Along the Nile; Muslim Women Association; the Qatar Foundation International; United Palestinian Appeal; Egypt’s Culture and Education Bureau in DC; and, of course, this magazine’s Middle East Books and More.

Volunteers from Jordan, Palestine and Egypt helped staff the Arab League Hall, as well as students from Latin America and interns from the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. Passport DC highlights Washington’s thriving international diplomatic com57

A visitor to the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center displays her hand decorated with Omani henna. munity and its lively and varied international culture. For more information on the annual May celebration visit <www.culturaltourismdc. org>.

—Muna Howard

Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center Hosts Omani Cultural Night The Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center, located a few minutes north of the White House, hosted an evening showcase of Omani history and heritage on June 4.

The event, which was free and open to the public, offered guests four floors of exhibits and experiences that celebrated the culture of Oman. Food and drink, music, history, and art were in abundance.

Female visitors lined up for two henna artists who demonstrated their talent and creativity by providing complimentary tattoos featuring unique and intricate designs.

Calligraphers tirelessly provided eager visitors with their names or words of choice written in Arabic.

As guests waited in line for a henna tattoo or a personalized calligraphy drawing, they were able to survey the impressive photography exhibition. Many of the pictures depicted the breathtaking landscape and traditional architecture of Oman.

A popular attraction for younger guests and those artistically inclined was the painting of mejmars, traditional Omani incense burners that are used to welcome guests into homes. Samples of frankincense were handed out to use with the decorated mejmars.

The most popular attraction of the evening was the array of Omani cuisine.

Some of the featured dishes included kebabs, hummus, baba ghanoush, stuffed grape leaves, dates, kahwa (Omani coffee mixed with cardamom), and halwa (a tra58

ditional Omani dessert flavored with cardamom).

The evening, which included oud music performed by Omani musicians, proved to be a success in showcasing Oman’s impressive and varied culture and in enabling guests of all backgrounds to learn and appreciate Omani practices and traditions.

Elton Kulak, an intern at the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, commented that he “spent a wonderful evening celebrating the culture of Oman.”

For more information about the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center and its upcoming events, visit <www.sqcc.org>.

—Erin Quinn

Music & Arts “Shirin Neshat: Facing History” An exhibit of works by Iranian-American visual artist Shirin Neshat titled “Shirin Neshat: Facing History” is on display at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC through Sept. 20. The exhibit offers a moving and informative perspective of Iran’s tumultuous political history; it is both a history lesson and a jarring yet beautiful visual and auditory experience.

The artist focuses on three key events in Iran’s history: the 1953 CIA-backed coup that overthrew democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh; the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power; and the Green Revolution of 2009 disputing the results of the presidential election that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to office.

Neshat’s photographs feature lines of Persian poetry, calligraphy and drawings, which the artist meticulously and artfully added by hand to the pieces, which are of

considerable size. The script mirrors the art of henna painting. The poetry includes themes of feminism, martyrdom, identity and displacement—an underlying theme of the exhibit resulting from Neshat’s encounter with Iran after the 1979 Revolution.

The Iran Neshat faced no longer reflected the identity she clung to or the memories of her childhood.

Dispersed among the photo series are Neshat’s short films, which contrast the roles and rights of men and women in Iran throughout modern history. They use vivid video and melancholic audio to express the artist’s personal experience with gender inequality and lost identity.

“Women of Allah,” a collection of photographs first shown in the 1990s, was met with ample praise. The photographs portray women wearing hijab whose expressions vary from sorrow to hostility; the juxtaposition of conventional weapons with these veiled faces troubles the viewer, and is intended to overturn the stereotype of women’s inferiority. The portraits are unsettling yet stunning.

Similarly, “Book of Kings,” inspired by the classic Persian epic poem, features portraits mainly of Iranian youths, recalling the vast number of citizens who were killed, wounded, arrested, or sorely disappointed during the Green Revolution.

Perhaps the most piercing series of the exhibit, “Our House Is on Fire,” is inspired by the 2011 Arab Spring across the Arab world and the Green Revolution. The photos display the faces of war-hardened individuals who have experienced upheaval after upheaval and have survived despite the loss of younger generations. Between these faces, photographs of feet, complete with identification tags, appear to be resting on the shelf of a morgue. Neshat’s utterly human art captures the depth of emotion following the

STAFF PHOTO E. QUINN

PHOTO BY LEXI WOODS

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Three portraits from Neshat’s series “Our House Is on Fire,” which captures the toll that Iran’s revolutions have had on its citizens.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

Anne Garcia-Romero’s two-act play, “Paloma,” ran from May 30 to June 21 at Los Angeles Theater Center. The play tells the story of New York University students Ibrahim, a devout Muslim of Moroccan descent, and Paloma, a Catholic of Puerto Rican descent, who fall in love while translating together Ibn Hazm’s The Ring of the Dove (“Tawq al-Hamama”), the 11th century treatise on the art and practice of Muslim love. The two romantic idealists begin to dream of visiting Andalusian Spain, where Ibn Hazm wrote and where Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed peacefully.

They set off for Granada, but tragedy befalls them in Madrid.

Ibrahim (Ethan Rains) and Paloma (Caro Zeller) love the idea of uniting in glorious Granada. After disaster strikes, Jared (Jess Einstein), Ibrahim’s best friend and lawyer, engages in existential conversations with Ibrahim. Watch out for new plays by Garcia-Romero: they are certain to be enthralling. The director is Alan Freeman, a professor emeritus at Occidental College.

—Pat Twair

Making a Difference UPA’s Embracing Life Project United Palestinian Appeal (UPA) board members, staff and friends met on May 19 in board member George Salem’s offices at DLA Piper in Washington, DC to celebrate the launch of UPA’s “Embracing Life Project.” Thousands of Palestinian children are born with a cleft lip and palate (CLP) or other craniofacial anomalies, UPA’s executive director Saleem F. Zaru told the gathering.

When Zaru worked in Palestine 27 years ago, his company helped fund a successful “Operation Smile” visit to the West Bank and Gaza. Doctors spent eight days operating on kids, then returned to the U.S. Soon kids and their parents started pouring into Zaru’s office asking for additional help, and he discovered this isn’t a one-time operation. Instead it’s an ongoing process which AUGUST 2015

(L-r) Lawyer Jared (Jess Einstein) and star-crossed lovers Paloma (Caro Zeller) and Ibrahim (Ethan Rains) in the interfaith drama “Paloma.”

Zeina Azzam, executive director of the Jerusalem Fund, introduces Foty Fusion performers at a Nakba Commemoration on May 15. requires further surgeries, dental work and This isn’t a procedure that can be done spopsychological counseling, as well as speech radically, the doctor emphasized. Children who miss out on corrective surgeries face therapy.

Two years ago Zaru met Dr. John van social and economic limitations for the rest Aalst, who for the past 10 years has been of their lives. bringing volunteer surgical delegations to Palestine and training Palestinian specialists to deal with facial problems. According to Dr. van Aalst, CLP occurs in one of every 450 live births in Palestine.

Malnutrition and chronic stress can lead to an increased rate of CLP, he noted. Until now, no one has been in place to do routine surgeries and so there are 50-year-olds who need operations. If severe injuries occur or life-threatening surgery is required, these kids are put in the back of the line, van Aalst added.

In fact, without surgery, children are put in the back room for years, Dr. John van Aalst asks UPA donors to help build a a source of shame for their family. Craniofacial Surgery Center in Ramallah.

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

“Paloma” a Must-See Interfaith Drama

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

Arab Spring, which resulted in a loss of both lives and aspirations.

The exhibit is a must-see for summer museumgoers, especially for those seeking to understand modern Iranian history and the changing U.S. roles in it. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is open daily and admission is always free. —Erin Quinn

COURTESY OF THE LOS ANGELES THEATER CENTER

activisms_42-60r_v10.qxp_August 2015 Activisms 6/26/15 11:29 AM Page 59

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

59

Dr. van Aalst has asked UPA donors for help to build a $2 million self-sufficient, comprehensive Craniofacial Surgery Center at Al-Sheikh Zayed Hospital at the Palestinian Medical Center in Ramallah. The center will have two operating theaters, equipment, and patient rooms. Doctors will train local partners at universities and hospitals to continue to care for children and their families. A long-term goal of the Center is to become a full-service center of excellence, the Middle East Craniofacial Care Institute, which can serve children throughout the Middle East.

Two of the key Palestinian surgeons, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Hatab and Dr. Wa’el Al Halaby, were on hand to answer questions.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Child’s Cup Full is Helping Palestinians Help Themselves Child’s Cup Full started as a small fundraising project for Dr. Janette Habashi’s graduate students at University of OklahomaTulsa in 2009. They quickly found it was hard to generate big funds for an afterschool tutoring program in Jenin refugee camp simply by selling cookies and holding dinners. Dr. Habashi began working with UNRWA to acquire sewing machines to pro-

Turkey Reins in Its Rulers…

Continued from page 26

First, the HDP ran with a highly charismatic, 42-year-old co-leader, Selahattin Demirtas. His campaign rallies stood out for their youth, energy, wit and inclusiveness, appealing also to Turkish voters disillusioned with the AKP, and to other minorities. These included Turkey’s non-Muslim religious groups and its LGBT community, both of whom were being attacked by Erdogan during the campaign, as he denounced “atheists and Zoroastrians” along with “the Armenian lobby and gays.”

This characteristically harsh rhetoric from the president—who constitutionally should remain “above politics,” yet was clearly campaigning throughout for the AKP—went over well with the party’s conservative core, but added to feelings of alienation elsewhere.

At the same time, Erdogan also used the elections to push for a constitutional change that would move Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system, offering himself far more power. This, coupled with media reports of the new 1,100room presidential palace he had built— 60

PHOTO COURTESY CHILD’S CUP FULL

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Zababdeh artisans are creating colorful educational toys for schools and homes. vide sustainable jobs for women in the camp. The next challenge was to come up with design ideas for products the Jenin women could sew and sell to help support their families.

Habashi took a business course and got a grant from her university to hire a graduate student to identify design ideas. Later they got another grant to start an artisan center for low-income workers in a village, Zababdeh, located in northern West Bank near Jenin. Today 43 Zababdeh artisans are producing colorful educational toys that Middle East Books and More has begun to sell.

The funds from their sales pay the artisans’ salaries and soon a portion of sales will help

build early childhood development programs.

Zababdeh is working with Symbology Clothing to produce embroidered pieces for Symbology’s Fall/Winter 2015 line. These pieces include fabulous Palestinian embroidery for handbags and clothing. Zababdeh is currently in the process of developing their own line of shoes, handbags, scarves, jewelry and other accessories, which they’ll launch as their new “Darzeh” line (and eventually with its own website).

Visit <www.ChildsCupFull.org> and stay tuned for more exciting products that will empower refugee women.

—Delinda C. Hanley

around nine-times more rooms than the White House—and the creation of an honor guard in Ottoman-era costumes, created a feeling that in Ankara, self-aggrandizement had replaced good government.

Increasingly too, as the campaign wore on, the impression among opposition supporters—and particularly those supporting the traditional center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP)—was that the only way to stop the AKP was to ensure that the HDP crossed the 10 percent threshold.

“There was a move even amongst close CHP supporters to vote for the HDP in an effort to stop the AKP from changing the constitution,” says Oxford-based Turkey analyst Gareth Winrow. As a result, the CHP remained stuck at around 25 percent of the vote—making it the country’s second largest party, but one clearly experiencing difficulties in moving beyond its core.

HDP’s platform.

“The party of Kurdish nationalism—the HDP—and the party of Turkish nationalism—the MHP—both did well,” observes Kanli.

This could portend a furthering of the polarization in Turkish society evident during the last AKP term. Yet the election also indicates a real effort to end such divides.

“The HDP’s inclusiveness worked against polarization, and we now have a much more pluralistic parliament, with more parties, more minorities and more women,” Winrow adds—the number of female deputies having increased from 79 to 98 in the 550-seat assembly. “If in future Erdogan wants to pursue a strategy of polarization, it will be much more difficult.”

There may, too, be some realization of this in the echoing chambers of the giant presidential palace. Erdogan’s post-election statements have been far more modest and conciliatory than his campaign rhetoric.

Meanwhile, Turkey must now try to form a coalition government, or else declare early elections. In either case, it seems likely the country’s many different shades will play a greater role in Turkey’s future political spectrum. ❑

Moving Apart?

The other party gaining in the elections was the right-wing Turkish National Action Party (MHP), which boosted its votes from 13 percent to 16.3 percent. The MHP is opposed to any settlement granting Kurds more autonomy—a key plank of the THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

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bookreview_62_Book Review 6/26/15 9:09 AM Page 62

Books Cairo Kitchen: Recipes From the Middle East, Inspired by the Street Food of Cairo

By Suzanne Zeidy, Hardie Grant Books, 2014, 288 pp. List: $35; MEB:$26 Reviewed by Kevin A. Davis Born in Cairo, Suzanne Zeidy came to New York to earn her M.A. in culinary school and remained after graduation, working in a number of upscale New York restaurants. After a few successful years, she decided to return to her native Egypt and open a restaurant.

She called her restaurant La Bodega, an upscale French bistro in Cairo’s posh Zamalek neighborhood. The restaurant was a success, and her next project became Cilantro, a small independent coffee chain that quickly opened a number of locations around Cairo.

Not content with her popular restaurant and expanding coffee chain, Zeidy decided on the concept of Cairo Kitchen, a family-style Egyptian restaurant in Egypt. The idea was to bring many of the home-cooked traditions of Egyptian cooking to an accessible public place.

The signature dish of both the restaurant and the book is koshary, the classic Egyptian hodgepodge of pasta, lentils and rice. Yet Cairo Kitchen is also known for other dishes, like molokheya, served only on Fridays.

While Cairo Kitchen showcases traditional homecooked food, Zeidy is open about her willingness to experiment and explore fresh twists to classic ideas. She can put “freekeh in a soup rather than stuffed into a pigeon,” is how she explains it.

Cairo Kitchen is not simply an invaluable tome of Egypt’s rich and diverse culinary traditions; it is also filled with practical recipes that span the range of food options, from meat entrees to light breakfast dishes to drinks 62

and desserts.

Zeidy supplements her recipes with Egypt’s cultural background and beautiful pictures of select dishes, her restaurant, and other images of life in Cairo that add an aesthetic value to the book.

In honor of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, I am providing just one example of a multiple course meal that I created for a small group of friends with this wonderful guide. Whether prepared for iftar or just a regular dinner at home, it illustrates the versatility of Cairo Kitchen.

In the tradition of the Prophet, we broke our fast with a few dates before moving to the first dish from Cairo Kitchen. It is common to start an iftar with something sweet, and I chose tamer hindi, a sweet Egyptian drink made by boiling tamarind and adding lots of sugar.

Our first course consisted of courgettes (zucchini) stuffed with cheese and a pearl barley salad. The latter is a great example of Zeidy’s willingness to experiment, in this case taking pearl barley, which Egyptians usually eat as an ingredient in sweets, and making it into a savory salad.

We then proceeded to a lamb fattah, a sumptuous garlic-heavy rice-based dish typically eaten on important occasions.

Accompanying this was maqlouba, a vegetable dish eaten in many Arab countries.

I had always heard that maqlouba was difficult to make and, while it wasn’t effortless, Cairo Kitchen was easy to read and follow along.

Our last main course was, of course, koshary. Since it was the theme of the restaurant and one of Zeidy’s specialties, we couldn’t pass it up (even though it is unlikely to be eaten during Ramadan, as it’s normally a cheap street food).

We chose to top our koshary with fried onions and supplemented it with a side of red chili sauce, another recipe in the book, which spiced it up nicely. We also followed the recipe for dakka sauce, a savory sauce meant to top the dish. One friend who had lived in Cairo for years had nothing but praise for the recipe and the sauces, making her nostalgic for Cairo street food.

Despite being stuffed silly at this point, no Ramadan meal would be complete without indulging in Middle Eastern sweets. Since it was highlighted in the book, we chose to make kunafa, an incredibly sweet pastry normally associated with the Levant.

To avoid potential embarrassment on the day of our feast, I actually made the kunafa the day before, knowing that the cooking process was supposed to be long and difficult. In reality, it was not as difficult as I thought, and everything turned out wonderfully. Had I known this beforehand, I would have made it the day of the feast to serve fresh.

After we had eaten every course, we were all more than satisfied by Cairo Kitchen’s perfected recipes, combining ease-of-use, tradition, and the occasional modern twists. As with most Middle Eastern cookbooks, some readers may have difficulty finding certain ingredients. One example was kunafa dough, which we did end up finding in a Sudanese grocery store. American users also might not prefer the metric system Zeidy uses.

Since Zeidy’s father is from Port Said, there is a heavy seafood component to the book that I neglected in preparing my own meal. This is certainly something I will be trying next time I use the book. Yet, after my experiences with select recipes, I have no doubt that Cairo Kitchen will be a staple in my own kitchen for years to come. ❑ Kevin A. Davis is director of AET’s Middle East Books and More.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

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Middle East Books and More Literature

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Films

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Pottery

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Solidarity Items

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More

Summer 2015 The Islamist Phoenix: The Islamic State and the Redrawing of the Middle East

by Loretta Napoleoni, Seven Stories Press, 2014, paperback, 136 pp. List: $11.95; MEB: $10. While many accounts of the rise of ISIS are keen to portray the group as a well-timed gang of backward extremists, terrorism expert Napoleoni takes a different, more thoughtful approach in her new book. She argues that ISIS is a carefully planned and thoughtfully constructed organization that is both a product of political opportunism as well as a new populism that aims to engage the region’s evolving realities.

The Islamist Phoenix is a welcome addition to a growing literature on the Islamic State.

A Shadow Over Palestine: The Imperial Life of Race in America by Keith P. Feldman, University of Minnesota Press, 2015, hardcover, 314 pp. List: $24.95; MEB: $20. In perhaps the most important exploration of the linkages between the U.S. relationship with Israel and the development of domestic race relations in America, Feldman suggests that since the 1960s, U.S. policy discussions of race, immigration and integration cannot be separated from American imperial projects in the Middle East, specifically its patronage of the Israeli colonization process. Feldman argues that the U.S.-Israel “special relationship has had a profound impact on how we at home frame the very concept of a liberal democracy.”

Return: A Palestinian Memoir by Ghada Karmi, Verso Books, 2015, hardcover, 319 pp. List: $26.95; MEB: $20. From the critically acclaimed author of In Search of Fatima (also available from AET’s Middle East Books and More) comes Return, a powerful and moving account of Karmi’s experiences in Palestine after her exile in 1948.

Her exploits bring her into contact with Palestinian and Israeli politicians, soldiers and citizens. The result is a touching reflection on what role the diaspora has to play in the future of a Palestinian state.

Chief Complaint: A Country Doctor’s Tales of Life in Galilee by Hatim Kanaaneh, Just World Books, 2015, paperback, 255 pp. List: $16; MEB: $12. This collection of short fiction, drawn heavily from the author’s life experiences, documents the struggles of the Palestinian community living in the Galilee, territory that is now considered part of the state of Israel. Kanaaneh shares his intimate encounters with his patients, friends and neighbors in this compelling collection.

Syria: A History of the Last Hundred Years by John McHugo, The New Press, 2015, hardcover, 291 pp. List: $26.95; MEB: $22.

Written with the current civil war in mind, Syria is a must-read for those wanting to contextualize this current dark and complex period in Syria’s history. The Assad regime, the rise of ISIS, and Syria’s relationship with Lebanon are just some of the many intertwined developments explored in this volume. Comprehensive historical accounts of Syria are a rarity in English, and McHugo’s latest book is a welcome contribution.

Sudden Justice: America’s Secret Drone Wars by Chris Woods, Oxford University Press, 2015, hardcover, 386 pp. List: $27.95; MEB: $22. In the most complete account of drone warfare to date, Woods has written not just a history of the U.S. drone program, but a look into how states, organizations and individuals around the world have responded to this program and developed their own to compete in this highly technical war technology. Sudden Justice is both informative and alarming, raising the question of the damage that drones can do and the future of American militarism.

One Thousand and One Nights: A Retelling by Hanan al-Shaykh, Anchor Books, 2014, paperback, 288 pp. List: $15.95; MEB: $13. At once engaging, humorous and beautifully written, al-Shaykh’s novel is a retelling of the classic tale that takes Shahrazad’s original and adds elements of contemporary feminism. Of Lebanese descent, al-Shaykh’s reimagining of the age-old classic is a compelling treat for all readers, whether or not they are familiar with the original story.

Palestinian Commemoration in Israel: Calendars, Monuments, and Martyrs by Tamir Sorek, Stanford University Press, 2015, paperback, 312 pp. List: $29.95; MEB: $26. This fascinating and important account by sociologist Tamir Sorek details the relations between Palestinian citizens of Israel and the Israeli state, showing how commemoration can be both a display of protest as well as a means of communication with the ruling state. Sorek cites the Nakba, the 1956 Kafr Qasim massacre, the 1976 Land Day, and the October 2000 killing of 12 Palestinian citizens of Israel to illustrate his point.

The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East

by Eugene Rogan, Basic Books, 2015, hardcover, 485 pp. List: $32; MEB: $24. From the author of The Arabs (also available from AET’s Middle East Books and More), this is a critical account of World War I in the Middle East, the destructive war that saw the sacking of Jerusalem, Baghdad and Damascus, as well as an analysis of the post-Ottoman agreements that shaped the region. Rogan’s book is mandatory reading for anyone looking for historical context for many of the struggles facing the region today.

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 Middle East Books and More, 1902 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009, with checks and money orders made out to “AET.” 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.

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AUGUST 2015

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 Middle East Books and More at 800-368-5788 ext. 2 to order. Our policy is to identify donors unless anonymity is specifically requested.

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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katz_64_In Memoriam 6/26/15 9:13 AM Page 64

Martha Hodges Katz (1941-2015) InMemoriam

Martha Katz in action (above) and in a more relaxed moment. artha Hodges Katz died April 25,

M2015 in her Youngstown, Ohio home,

surrounded by her family, after a nine-year battle with lung cancer. Born in Ashland, Kentucky, she attended the University of Virginia, Wayne State University in Detroit and Youngstown State University. Katz was a National Certified Counselor (N.C.C.) and a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (L.P.C.C.). She helped found the Sojourner House Domestic Violence Shelter in Youngstown, and served as president or chair of many organizations and committees, including Woman-Safe, Make Today Count, and the Trumbull County AIDS Task Force.

Martha was also a longtime activist for peace with justice in Palestine. For many years she was a member of the Arab American Community Center of Greater Youngstown (AACC). She was a founding Ray Nakley was a spokesman for the Arab American Community Center of Greater Youngstown for many years and has been active with state-wide and national ArabAmerican organizations. He is working as a professional non-profit fund raiser, mainly for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

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PHOTOS COURTESY SOUAD “SUE” NAKLEY

By Ray Nakley, Jr.

member of the Coalition for Peace in the Middle East (CPME) and the Valley Coalition for Peace and Justice (VCPJ). She established the Youngstown Chapter of Women In Black (an international women’s anti-war movement started by Jewish-Israeli women in Jerusalem to oppose Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine).

In 1993, Martha led a CPME delegation from Youngstown to El-Bireh, Palestine, establishing a sister-city relationship between the two cities. In 1995 and 1996, she led CPME delegations from Youngstown to U.N. headquarters in New York City to participate in the North American NGO Symposium on the Question of Palestine. In 2002, with other Women In Black and often alone, she stood in silent vigil for an hour each week in front of the federal buildings in downtown Youngstown to protest U.S. government policy toward Palestine. In 2004, as a member of VCPJ, Martha initiated a weekly series of public vigils, which still occur, protesting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2006, Martha co-led, with this writer, a media delegation from Youngstown to Palestine-Israel to report on prospects for peace in the region while highlighting the THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Mahoning Valley’s connections to the area with interviews of local residents who also live in Palestine and Israel. The reports were aired over seven nights in July 2006 on local ABC affiliate WYTV Channel 33 and concluded with an hour-long primetime special in which Martha participated as a panelist.

She also served as president of the Interfaith Council for Peace in the Middle East (IFCPME) which, during her tenure in 2008, organized and hosted the first Sabeel conference (an international Christian liberation theology movement for Palestine) for northeast Ohio in Cleveland. The conference brought together ambassadors, activists, academics and clergy from three continents and many countries who enlightened hundreds of participants from several states.

An avid reader, Martha enjoyed poetry and music of all kinds, and loved animals.

Over the years, she rescued most of her cats from the streets, some severely injured, and offered each one a safe and loving home.

She also loved the Canfield Fair, and for many years worked each day of the fair at the International Building in the Lebanon, Palestine and United Nations booths.

Martha is survived by a son, Stephen Katz of New York City, a daughter, Julia Katz White (William), and three granddaughters, Miranda, Rebecca and Sarah, of Bala Cynwyd, PA. She also leaves her life-partner of 27 years and caregiver, Raymond Nakley, Jr. and two beloved felines, Mr. Squeaker and Abby, with whom she shared her home.

One of Martha’s friends, Jim Jordan, penned a tribute, “The Spirit of an Activist Never Dies,” published in a blog Elecpencil.

Jim, who spent some time with her on picket lines over the years, wrote that Martha and other activist friends were “now rewarded with the peace, justice and tranquility they were seeking to create for all on Earth.” He added, “It would not surprise me if they couldn’t be happy in heaven because there were souls suffering in hell. I can see these angelic activists putting on comfortable shoes, painting some signs and booking a bus to go on a field trip to give the devil a piece of their mind. I imagine such activists cannot be at peace until everyone is at peace. That is why we feel their spirit every time we walk a picket line or fight to right a wrong.” ❑ AUGUST 2015

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Upcoming Events, Announcements —Compiled by Kevin A. Davis & Obituaries Upcoming Events The IQRA Community will host its Eid Extravaganza on July 17 at Arnold’s Family Fun Center in Oaks, PA. The festival will include food and games for kids of all ages.

Visit <www.iqrainstitute.org> for more information and tickets.

Arab American Women’s Business Council is accepting applications for its scholarship program through Oct. 23.

The scholarship is open to Arab-American women in Michigan who have been accepted to a college institution. The AAWBC will award five $1,000 scholarships this year. For information and application forms, visit <www.aawbc.org>.

BulletinBoard

diehard settler who was charged in 1988 with shooting Palestinian civilians, killing one, who had thrown stones at his car.

Nina Brekelmans, 25, died in a house fire in Washington, DC on June 3, just weeks after she had received her M.A. from Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. As a CCAS student, the Gahanna, Ohio native spent a The 51st Annual Syriac Orthodox Archyear in Jordan on a CASA scholarship. An diocesan Convention will be held July Obituaries 23 to 26 at St. Mary’s Syriac Orthodox Moshe Levinger, 80, a controversial Israeli avid runner, she became deeply involved Church in Shrewsbury, MA on the theme rabbi, died May 16 at Shaare Zedek Medical with athletics in Amman and worked with “Sayfo, lest we forget.” Visit <www.syria- Center in Jerusalem. He was a prime instiga- Reclaim Childhood, an Amman organizacorthodoxconvention.com> for informa- tor of Jewish settlement activity after the tion empowering young women through tion and tickets.

1967 Six-Day War, particularly in Hebron, sports. She had been set to return to and a staunch advocate of a single Israeli Amman on a Fulbright to research runThe Levantine Cultural Center in Los Ange- state encompassing all of Palestine. While ning in Jordan. Despite her young age, les, CA will host a Khaliji and Middle Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Brekelmans was an inspirational figure Eastern Jazz Concert on July 25 at the called him “an outstanding example of a and a beloved member of both the DC and Pico Union Project. The concert will feature generation that sought to realize the Zionist the Amman communities. A scholarship at the music of Naser Musa as well as Souren dream” and The New York Times could Georgetown is being established in her Baronian. Visit <www.levantinecenter.org> only bring itself to describe him as “a con- name to further her work empowering for information and tickets. tentious leader,” Levinger was in fact a women in the Middle East. Please contact Rania Kiblawi at <rk97@georgetown.edu> to contribute to the The 2015 Arab and Chaldean Help make sure that the Washington Report on Middle scholarship fund.

Festival will take place Aug. 1 East Affairs will be here for the next generation. and 2 at the Hart Plaza in downBy remembering the Washington Report in your will, you can: Sheikh Mohammad Altown Detroit, MI. The festival Hanooti, 78, died in Virginia will feature a fashion show, • Make a significant gift without affecting your current cash flow; • Direct your bequest to a vital purpose—educating readers about June 4 of undisclosed causes.

Arabic calligraphy workshops, a U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East; Born in Haifa, Palestine in 1937, children’s fair and other fun and • Receive a charitable estate tax deduction & Leave a legacy for he was exiled to Iraq and ended educational events. Visit <www. future generations. up teaching English in Kuwait arabandchaldeanfestival.com> before studying in Pakistan. He for more information. later moved to the United States Announcements and was a prominent imam in a number of U.S. communities, including the Dar al-Hijrah Palestinian-American Ali Almosque in Falls Church, VA. He Arian has won two Webby was known for his advocacy of Awards for achievements in Inwomen’s rights and the Palestinternet media. He and the three ian cause. other members of his Al Jazeera team won the award for OutSuleyman Demirel, 90, a sevenstanding Digital Team of the Year time prime minister of Turkey, and the Technical Innovation died in Ankara on June 16. award for Palestine Remix, an inBequests of any size are honored with membership in the American Educational Trust’s “Choirmasters,” named for angels Trained as an engineer who beteractive and innovative project whose foresight and dedication ensured the future of the came known as “the king of with full maps and documenWashington Report and Middle East Books and More. dams,” he subsequently served as taries which tell the story of the For more information visit his country’s president, and behistory and politics of the Paleswww.wrmea.org/donate/bequests.pdf, contact us at circulation@wrmea.org, write: American Educational Trust, PO lieved strongly in the right of miltinian issue. Visit <http://interBox 91056 • Long Beach, CA 90809-1056, or telephone our new itary leaders to run Turkey’s poactive.aljazeera.com/aje/Palestine toll-free circulation number 888-881-5861 • Fax: 714-226-9733 litical affairs. ❑ Remix>.

AUGUST 2015

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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AET’s 2015 Choir of Angels Following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1, 2015 and June 10, 2015 is making possible activities of the tax-exempt AET Library Endowment (federal ID #52-1460362) and the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Some Angels helped us co-sponsor the April 10 conference, “The Israel Lobby: Is It Good for the U.S.? Is It Good for Israel?” We are deeply honored by their confidence and profoundly grateful for their generosity.

HUMMERS ($100 or more) Fatima Abdulla, Oak Hills, CA Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, Atlanta, GA Shukri Abu Baker, Beaumont, TX Dr. Bishr Al-Ujayli, Troy, MI Hamid & Kim Alwan, Milwaukee, WI Emile Arraf, Calgary, Canada Dr. Robert Ashmore, Jr., Mequon, WI Ahmed Ayish, Arlington, VA Zaira Baker, Garland, TX Dr. & Mrs. Roger Bagshaw, Big Sur, CA Nader Barakat, Moorpark, CA John Carley, Pointe-Claire, Canada Roger W. Carpenter, Denver, CO Dr. Robert G. Collmer, Waco, TX Lynn Ellen Dixon, Woodward, PA Robert Dobrzynski, Alexandria, VA Dr. David Dunning, Lake Oswego, OR Kassem Elkhalil, Arlington, TX Dr. Mohamed Elsamahi, Marion, IL M.R. Eucalyptus, Kansas City, MO Albert E. Fairchild, Bethesda, MD Renee Farmer, New York, NY Claire Bradley Feder, Atherton, CA William Gefell, Turnbridge, VT David C. Glick, Fairfax, CA Dr. Fawwaz Habbal, Cambridge, MA Delinda C. Hanley, Kensington, MD Shirley Hannah, Argyle, NY Anthony Jones, Jasper, Canada Rafik Khoury, Adamstown, MD Ernestine King, Topsham, ME Loretta Krause, Little Egg Harbor Twp., NJ Anthony Mabarak, Grosse Pointe Park, MI Allen J. MacDonald, Washington, DC Dr. & Mrs. Gabriel Makhlouf, Richmond, VA Amal Marks, Altadena, CA Janet McMahon, Washington, DC*** Jacob Nammar, San Antonio, TX Hadeel Naqib, Baltimore, MD Neal & Donna Newby, Las Cruces, NM Shirley O’Neil, Cleveland Hts., OH Edward & Ann Peck, Chevy Chase, MD Phillip L. Portlock, Washington, DC 66

Peter P. Pranis, Jr., McAllen, TX Neil Richardson, Randolph, VT Dr. Wendell E. Rossman, Phoenix, AZ Antone Sacker, Houston, TX Ramzy Salem, Monterey Park, CA Henry & Irmgard Schubert, Damascus, OR Gretchen K. Sheridan, Mill Valley, CA Jean Snyder, Greenbelt, MD Robert Snyder, Greenbelt, MD Edward Stick, Phoenix, MD Dr. & Mrs. M.A. Thamer, Woodbridge, VA William A. Wood, Newtown, PA Nabil Yakub, McLean, VA Munir Zacharia, La Mirada, CA Mahmoud Zawawi, Amman, Jordan

ACCOMPANISTS ($250 or more) Mohamed Alwan, Chestnut Ridge, NY Anace & Polly Aossey, Cedar Rapids, IA Dr. & Mrs. Issa Boullata, Montreal, Canada Andrew & Krista Curtiss, Herndon, VA† John Dirlik, Pointe-Claire, Canada Eugene Fitzpatrick, Wheat Ridge, CO Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, Fort Wayne, IN Abdeen Jabara, New York, NY Kendall Landis, Wallingford, PA Joe & Lilly Lill, Arlington, VA† Nidal Mahayni, Richmond, VA Shirl McArthur, Reston, VA Stanley McGinley, The Woodlands, TX Maury Keith Moore, Seattle, WA Michel Nasser, Beirut, Lebanon Mr. & Mrs. W. Eugene Notz, Charleston, SC Hertha Poje-Ammoumi, New York, NY Sam Rahman, Lincoln, CA Lisa Schiltz, Barbar, Bahrain Mae Stephen, Palo Alto, CA Michel & Cathy Sultan, Eau Claire, WI

Edouard C. Emmet, Paris, France Gary Richard Feulner, Dubai, UAE Ronald & Mary Forthofer, Longmont, CO Salman & Kate Hilmy, Silver Spring, MD Brigitte Jaensch, Carmichael, CA Louise Keeley, Washington, DC** William Lightfoot, Vienna, VA William & Flora McCormick, Austin, TX Donald McNertney, Sarasota, FL Gerald & Judith Merrill, Oakland, CA Mary Norton, Austin, TX Gennaro Pasquale, Oyster Bay, NY Dr. Robert Younes, Potomac, MD

BARITONES & MEZZO SOPRANOS ($1,000 or more) Asha A. Anand, Bethesda, MD Wilhelmine Bennett, Iowa City, IA G. Edward & Ruth Brooking, Jr., Wilmington, DE Rev. Rosemarie Carnarius & Aston Bloom, Tucson, AZ Forrest Cioppa, Moraga, CA Dr. & Mrs. Clyde Farris, West Linn, OR Evan & Leman Fotos, Istanbul, Turkey Dr. & Mrs. Hassan Fouda, Berkeley, CA George Hanna, Santa Ana, CA Judith Howard, Norwood, MA Jack Love, San Diego, CA John Mahoney, AMEU, New York, NY Sahar Masud, Mill Valley, CA Bob Norberg, Lake City, MN John Van Wagoner, McLean, VA

CHOIRMASTERS ($5,000 or more)

TENORS & CONTRALTOS ($500 or more)

Donna B. Curtiss, Kensington, MD John & Henrietta Goelet, New York, NY Andrew I. Killgore, Washington, DC Vince & Louise Larsen, Louvin Foundation, Billings, MT

Kamel & Majda Ayoub, Hillsborough, CA Mr. & Mrs. John P. Crawford, Boulder, CO Richard H. Curtiss, Boynton Beach, FL* Gregory DeSylva, Rhinebeck, NY Mr. & Mrs. L.F. Boker Doyle, New York, NY

*In Memory of Richard H. Curtiss **In Loving Memory of Bob Keeley ***In Memory of Donald Neff †In Honor of ADC’s Rachel Corrie Award

THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

AUGUST 2015

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Rebuilding in Gaza Amjad Preschool in Beit Hanoun was destroyed last summer. In the past couple months, ANERA completely rebuilt and refurnished it. The school stands out as an oasis in a neighborhood of rubble. $1(5$ LV RQH RI WKH IHZ LQWHUQDWLRQDO QRQSURÄ&#x2020;WV YLVLEO\ UHVSRQGLQJ WR WKH LPPHQVH QHHGV LQ *D]D DQG RIIHULQJ D OLWWOH KRSH LQ D EOHDN ODQGVFDSH Your donations can c help install and repair water and sewage networks so that thousands of families have clean streets and a reliable source of drinking water. Y You ou can c help restore farms so they again yield healthy, fresh produce produc and give families a good source of income. You You can c make it possible to deliver vital medicines and other needed supplies to facilities serving the poorest communities. This Ramadan, ANERA is reaching over 1,500 families with food parcels thanks to the generosity of people like you.

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

August 2015 Vol. XXXIV, No. 5

Young Syrian refugees line up for food as they prepare to break their Ramadan fast in the Akcakale refugee camp in Turkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sanliurfa province, June 20, 2015.

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