Washington Report - January/February 2018 - Vol. XXXVII, No. 1

cover1_January-February 2018 Cover 12/8/17 4:25 PM Page 1

FADWA AND MARWAN BARGHOUTIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LOVE STORY

DISPLAY UNTIL 2/28/2018

UPA_ad_c2_UPA Ad Cover 2 12/7/17 3:11 PM Page c2

Transforming lives, empowering communities since 1978

helpupa.org/donate helpupa.org/donate

toc_3-4_January/February 2018 TOC 12/9/17 11:45 AM Page 3

TELLING THE TRUTH FOR 35 YEARS...

Volume XXXVII, No. 1

On Middle East Affairs

INTERPRETING THE MIDDLE EAST FOR NORTH AMERICANS

✮

January/February 2018

INTERPRETING NORTH AMERICA FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

THE U.S. ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE Trump Reverses U.S. Policy on Jerusalem—Five Views —Hanan Ashrawi, Rashid Khalidi, Shibley Telhami, Juan Cole, Mark Perry

14

Israel Amps up Ethnic Cleansing in Order to Further Judaize Jerusalem—Jonathan Cook

19 21 25

17

Transfer of Palestinians, in Word and Deed —Amira Hass

The Love Story of Fadwa and Marwan Barghouti —Jaclynn Ashly

Israel Lobby Billionaire Praises Jared Kushner for Collusion With Netanyahu—Ali Abunimah

38

39

Egypt, Israel and Jordan Combine to Make Travel Nearly Impossible for Gaza Students —Ghada Ahmed, We Are Not Numbers

28 30 32 34 41 42

From Amateurs to Entrepreneurs: Social Media Changing Gazans’ Lives—Mohammed Omer

Tens of Thousands of Palestinians Entitled to Israeli Citizenship—Nir Hasson

70 Years Later, Israel Continues to Ignore What It Doesn’t Like in Partition Resolution—Ian Williams

The Continuing Drumbeat for War on Iran—Two Views —Paul R. Pillar, Bradley Burston

Palestinians: Victims of an Unjust U.S. Law —James J. Zogby

Congress Under International Pressure to Continue Honoring Iran Nuclear Deal—Shirl McArthur

SPECIAL REPORTS

37

Qatar Rallies Around Its Flag, Free Press —Delinda C. Hanley

The Poetic Demise of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s Most Powerful Man—Michael Horton

After Months of Electioneering, Malaysia to Head to The Polls—John Gee

73

’Tis the Season for Charitable Giving: A Washington Report Compendium

WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES

8

A demonstrator walks through Lafayette Park across from the White House on his way to join a protest called by American Muslims for Palestine against President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Dec. 8, 2017.

ON THE COVER: The setting sun illuminates the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque on the Haram Al-Sharif THOMAS COEX/AFP/GETTY IMAGES compound in the Old City of Arab East Jerusalem.

toc_3-4_January/February 2018 TOC 12/9/17 11:45 AM Page 4

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

Other Voices

Compiled by Janet McMahon

Shadowy Israeli App Turns American Jews Into Foot Soldiers in Online War, Josh Nathan-Kazis, The Forward

OV-1

Marzuq Al-Halabi, http://972mag.com

OV-3 Did AIPAC Secretly Write Your Rabbi’s Sermon?, Josh Nathan-Kazis, The Forward

OV-11

Upper East Side Moms Facebook Group in Turmoil—Over Israel and the Palestinians, Mira Sucharov, The Forward

OV-12

OV-6

Syria, “Experts” and George Monbiot, Jonathan Cook, www.counterpunch.org

OV-13

OV-8

Killing More Innocents Than We Admit, Paul R. Pillar, http://nationalinterest.org

OV-15

Yitzhak Rabin Memorial 2017: War Is Over if You Want it—Just Don’t Mention the Occupation, Gideon Levy, Haaretz

OV-4

Surveillance of Palestinians and the Fight for Digital Rights, Nadim Nashif, Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network Palestine Boosted by Asian Qualifying

5 Publishers’ Page

6 letters to the editor

55 Waging PeaCe: Remembering

Gaza at an Annual Winnipeg Vigil

45 other PeoPle’s Mail

67 obituaries

47 the World looks at the

68 book revieW:

Middle east — CARtoons

48 MusiC & arts:

Al Quds Festival Celebrates Palestinian Culture

50 MusliM aMeriCan aCtivisM: CAIR-LA’s 21st Annual Banquet

54 huMan rights:

A Wake-up Call for Civil Liberties

the Idea of the Muslim World: A Global Intellectual History

—Reviewed by Shannon Tawoos 69 Middle east books and More 70 2017 aet Choir oF angels 26 indeX to advertisers

Anda Greeney, founder of Al Mokha coffee, brews cups of dark and light Yemeni coffee at an Oct. 15 event at Middle East Books and More. See p. 47.

PHOTO BY MAYADA GHAZALA.

DEPARTMENTS

OV-9

The Dark Prince: Mercenaries in the Senate?, Christopher Brauchli, www.counterpunch.org OV-10

The Slow Death of Israeli Citizenship,

Success, Fifa Brief, www.fifa.com

Jewish Democrats Launch a New Group One Year After Trump’s Win, Nathan Guttman, The Forward

pubs_5_Publishers Page 12/8/17 9:28 PM Page 5

American Educational Trust

America’s Loose Cannon.

Every country in the world, except for Israel, disagrees with President Donald Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv. For decades, and through Democratic and Republican administrations alike, Washington’s policy has been that the final status of the city is a matter for negotiations between Israel and Palestinians. This even though U.N. Resolution 181 of 1947 which partitioned Palestine—and which Israel seized upon to declare itself a nation—called for Jerusalem to “be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime and [to] be…

Administered by the United Nations.”

Years of U.S.-led negotiations, dubbed the “peace process,” have long been on life support. And the U.S., with its billions of dollars in annual military aid to Israel and protection of Tel Aviv at the U.N., has been anything but an impartial broker. Trump’s move is thus not so much a change in Washington’s longstanding pro-Israel orientation, but rather a deeper, brasher, lesscalculated, Trumpian manifestation of that orientation. Good news is hard to come by these days, but if there’s any positive aspect of Trump’s announcement, it is that there is no longer any pretense that the United States is an honest and…

Even-Handed Broker of Peace.

Though the White House still insists that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner (who in December 2016 worked with Israel to undermine U.S. interests) and lawyer Jason Greenblatt will work out the “ultimate peace deal,” Palestinian leadership is now suggesting that the peace process is history. “Now is the time to transform the struggle for onestate with equal rights for everyone living in historic Palestine, from the river to the sea," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said. It remains to be seen exactly how or if Palestinian leadership will tackle a non-two-state approach. In the mean time, however, one thing is clear: Palestinians will…

Continue to Suffer and Struggle.

On Friday, Dec. 8, Palestinians and their JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Publishers’ Page

Israel’s enemies, not ours; greater restrictions on academic freedom at American universities; and closer ties between local U.S. police departments and…

Israeli Occupation Forces.

By Now You’ve Received…

supporters took to the streets around the world to condemn the U.S. announcement. Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians—one in Gaza and one in the West Bank—who were demonstrating. In other words, Palestinians protesting the actions of the U.S. inside their own country were killed by the forces of another country. That’s akin to U.S. troops going into Tijuana to suppress Mexicans protesting Germany’s declaration that the U.S. capital is Ciudad Juarez. While Trump’s Jerusalem decision, Muslim travel bans, attempts to scuttle the Iran deal, etc., etc. etc. can be disorienting and deflating, it’s essential to remain focused on the absurdity of the injustice Israel—with the help of the U.S.—has, and continues to…

Inflict on the Palestinian People. Exposing the Israel Lobby.

Of course, a major reason the U.S. continues to support Israel’s indefensible actions is the enormous power of this country’s pro-Israel lobby. While the Israel lobby is often ignored by think tanks and news outlets both inside and outside the Beltway, we are more motivated than ever to assess the role of the lobby at our fifth annual Israel Lobby and American Policy conference on March 2 in Washington, DC. It is the lobby, after all, that encouraged Congress to pass the Jerusalem Embassy Act in 1995—the law that empowered Trump to make his Dec. 6 embassy announcement. And it is the lobby that works tirelessly to promote more U.S. wars against

Our emergency appeal. And you know that this magazine is in financial jeopardy. We certainly understand if your wallet is feeling as light as ours, since the economy hasn’t yet trickled down into our neck of the woods. Your limited finances may be torn between helping humanitarian causes and supporting a publication dedicated to exposing and eliminating the forces behind these human disasters. We’ve heard more than once…

“If I Win the Lottery…

I’ll give you thousands of dollars!” Others promise to give gift subscriptions instead of bling. Some readers are worried about family members, friends and colleagues left behind in the region. Others recall fulfilling careers or happy school days in the Middle East, hoping they’d made a difference, along with lasting memories. But…

There Are Other Ways to Help…

Besides money. Can you apply for grants or fund-raise on our behalf? Send us names and addresses of community leaders or people who have had good letters to the editor published in your local papers. We’ll send them a sample copy of the magazine and hope that it will speak for itself and that they’ll subscribe. We can’t feed hungry refugees with this magazine, but we can help prevent future wars and refugees. In these days when the mainstream media continues to ignore or misrepresent the reasons behind today’s fast-moving and devastating events, when Congress continues to place the desires of Israel above the needs of its own constituents, when the U.S. and Israel increasingly find themselves on one side, with the rest of the world on the other— now, now is the time to join together and support one another and…

Make A Difference Today!

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

5

lte_6-7_January/February 2018 Letters to Editor 12/8/17 6:52 PM Page 6

Managing Editor: News Editor: Assistant Editor:

Middle East Books and More Director:

Finance & Admin. Dir.: Art Director: Founding Publisher: Founding Executive Editor:

JANET McMAHON DELINDA C. HANLEY DALE SPRUSANSKY NATHANIEL BAILEY CHARLES R. CARTER RALPH U. SCHERER ANDREW I. KILLGORE (1919-2016) RICHARD H. CURTISS (1927-2013)

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (ISSN 8755-4917) is published 7 times a year, monthly except Jan./Feb., March/April, June/July and Aug./Sept. combined, at 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 200091707. 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 landfor-peace formula, supported by nine successive U.S. presidents. In general, it supports Middle East solutions which it judges to be consistent with the charter of the United Nations and traditional American support for human rights, self-determination, and fair play. Material from the Washington Report may be reprinted without charge with attribution to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Bylined material must also be attributed to the author. This release does not apply to photographs, cartoons or reprints from other publications. Indexed by ProQuest, Gale, Ebsco Information Services, InfoTrac, LexisNexis, Public Affairs Information Service, Index to Jewish Periodicals, Ethnic News Watch, Periodica Islamica. CONTACT INFORMATION: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Editorial Office and Bookstore: P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009-9062 Phone: (202) 939-6050 • (800) 368-5788 Fax: (202) 265-4574 E-mail: wrmea@wrmea.org bookstore@wrmea.org circulation@wrmea.org advertising@wrmea.org Web sites: http://www.wrmea.org http://www.middleeastbooks.com Subscriptions, sample copies and donations: P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. Phone: (888) 881-5861 • Fax: (714) 226-9733 Printed in the USA

6

LetterstotheEditor CONSPIRACY CHARGE AVAILABLE TO MUELLER

In a Nov. 22 Haaretz news report entitled “Mueller Investigating Kushner’s Efforts to Combat U.N. Resolution Condemning Israeli Settlements,” I noted the intriguing nature of the charges which an experienced and unbiased prosecutor might potentially bring against Jared Kushner regarding his effort to recruit Russia to serve Israel against the United States. Treason is statutorily very difficult, and few prosecutions have ever been brought under the Logan Act. However, one of the charges which Robert Mueller has included in his predominantly tax-evading indictment of Paul Manafort is the splendidly flexible charge of “conspiracy against the United States.” That charge, as well as others in the panoply of charges to which any prosecutor has access in time of need, is therefore clearly available and should fit Jared’s case. Of course, if joining with others to put Israeli desires ahead of American interests constituted, legally, a “conspiracy against the United States,” virtually the entire U.S. Congress would be indictable—which makes Mueller’s choice of charges particularly intriguing. If Robert Mueller were to expand the scope of his mandate to cover political collusion with the foreign country that really does control not just the Trump regime but virtually the entire American political class, patriotic and self-respecting Americans could dare to dream of a Second American Declaration of Independence. One can always dream. John V. Whitbeck, Paris, France Alas, it’s getting harder and harder to dream, especially after President Donald Trump’s Dec. 6 speech recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and promising to move the U.S. Embassy there. But we’ve always said that any meaningful change has to happen here in the U.S.—and God works his wonder in strange ways!

SPREADING THE WORD

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Key West, FL, met a sports journalist from Germany and we got to talking Middle East politics. I had my October copy of

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

the Washington Report with me, and gave it to her. Do you suppose you could send me another copy of that issue? I do donate to your magazine from time to time and have gotten many people to subscribe. Barbara Gravesen, Lady Lake, FL Say no more, a copy of the October issue is on its way. And we thank you for helping spread the word and for your support over the years!

WATER AS A WEAPON

Reading Mohammed Omer’s October 2017 “Gaza on the Ground” column, I was reminded of my own experience while visiting friends in the Elram neighborhood of East Jerusalem in 2015. It was my second visit to their home, which is located in an historically Palestinian Arab area of the city. But between 2007 and 2015 so much had changed that the area was hardly recognizable. Gone were the people, and the beautiful gardens that had produced an abundance of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs. Sage, marjoram, mint and basil plants had become dried up patches of weeds and dirt. I arrived during one of the orchestrated dry spells, and there wasn’t water for drinking, cooking, bathing or flushing toilets. When I asked my friend, who is an Israeli citizen, how long before the water would be turned on, her sad reply was, “Who knows? They never tell us.” The Israeli government uses water as a weapon against the Palestinians so as to make their lives miserable, to ethnically cleanse their neighborhoods. If you are an Arab, you are allowed the “luxury” of water every few weeks or so, forcing you to scramble and fill up the large black water tanks that are fastened to the tops of the buildings. And if you run out? So what. The policy is racist and life-threatening. “The only democracy in the Middle East”? Laughable, if it wasn’t so destructive to the lives of millions. Kate Daher, via e-mail Being an Israeli citizen is meaningless if one is not Jewish. Well, actually, it does mean one thing: the state wants to get rid of you. What we find stunning is that Palestinian Israelis constitute a higher percentage of the population than African Americans do in this country (20 percent JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

lte_6-7_January/February 2018 Letters to Editor 12/8/17 6:52 PM Page 7

vs. 12 percent). And even though race relations here have a long way to go, at least the consensus is that discrimination is wrong, while in Israel it is more than accepted, it is official policy.

ernment (read American taxpayers). What a nerve! Just thought you should know. Judith Howard, Norward, MA We checked with Grant Smith of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, who is an expert on what he terms “Israeli affinity organizations” in this country—and a co-organizer of our annual Israel Lobby and American Policy conference (see p. 23)—who told us that the IFCJ is “one of two major ‘Christian’ Israel affinity organizations that was set up with a great deal of Israel lobby donor support to tap evangelicals (a new funding stream) for Israel. They’ve done some pretty questionable/provocative operations in conjunction with the Jewish Agency and Israeli government overseas. They raised $132 million in 2015, and paid out only $60 million in ‘grants.’ I doubt very much of that goes to the needy. Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein gets almost $1 million for his services to the organization,” according to their 990 tax form. ■

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>.

ISRAEL DECLARES WAR ON AIUSA

On Nov. 23, Thanksgiving, The New York Times published a moving, tragic story of a Palestinian, Raed Jarrar, who was denied entry into Israel to bury his father. His late father’s only crime was to be born a Palestinian—a man of sterling reputation, a refugee, a civil engineer, a farmer and an entrepreneur. Jarrar senior fled his home with his family in 1967, when Israel invaded the West Bank. Raed visited his relatives in the West Bank in 2015 while working for a Quaker nongovernmental organization. He was anxious to visit his extended family in the city of Jenin, but was prevented from doing so by the Israeli government. What apparently terrified Israel was Raed’s position as advocacy director for the human rights organization Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), which called on governments to ban goods from illegal Israeli settlements. This apparently was a red flag.

Amnesty International is unequivocal in its condemnation of Israel’s settlement policy. Under international law, AIUSA considers Israel’s business activities in its illegal West Bank settlements a war crime. In a classic case of the tail wagging the dog, the American Consulate General in Jerusalem refused to intervene on Raed’s behalf and was told the officials could not help. Jagjit Singh, Los Altos, CA When we saw the title of Jarrar’s article, “Why Won’t Israel Let Me Mourn My Father?” we thought the answer was pretty obvious: because he isn’t Jewish. Cased closed. Apparently the fact that he is an American was of no help to him. What does mystify us, however, is that there are some Jews Israel bans as well: Norman Finkelstein and Adam Shapiro, both of whom are committed to justice for the Palestinians, come to mind. How can Israel be a state for the Jews if it doesn’t allow all Jews to enter? The fact that it has no problem admitting Jews such as Samuel Sheinbein, the Maryland teenager who murdered, then dismembered and burned the body of, Alfredo Tello Jr. before fleeing to Israel, doesn’t seem to be a satisfactory answer. But maybe it tells us all we need to know.

(Advertisement)

CHRISTIANS AND/OR JEWS

OTHERVOICESisan optional16-page supplement available only to subscribers of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. For an additional $15 per year (see postcard insert for Washington Report subscription rates), subscribers will receive Other Voicesinsideeachissueoftheir WashingtonReport on Middle East Affairs. Back issues of both publications are available. To subscribe telephone 1 (888) 881-5861, fax (714) 226-9733, e-mail circulation@wrmea. org>, or write to P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

I must be on a data base for the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, because in the mail I just received a request to “feed an elderly Jewish widow in Israel for only $2.40.” ($17/week.) The letter is signed by an Orthodox rabbi by the name of Yechiel Eckstein, with notes and pictures of Ehud Barak, Pat Boone and Binyamin Netanyahu included. “While most of the world has turned its back on Israel and the Jews, I know that true Christians in America have not forgotten them.” At the top of the letter Rabbi Eckstein writes: “Please read how Christians like you are helping rescue the poor in Israel!” An awful lot of money was spent on this marketing ploy. It is interesting that the Jewish widow in this mailing is not helped by the more than $3 billion, and now probably $4-5 billion, Israel receives from the U.S. gov-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

7

views-Jerusalem_8-13_Five Views 12/8/17 9:25 PM Page 8

Five Views

Trump Reverses U.S. Policy on Jerusalem

JACK GUEZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli soldiers along the Gaza-Israel border, Dec. 8, 2017 following President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Trump Is Making a Huge Mistake on Jerusalem By Hanan Ashrawi

PRESIDENT TRUMP ANNOUNCED on Wednesday, Dec. 6, that his administration is making a radical break with nearly 70 years of official United States policy and with the international community: He is recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This decision will be interpreted by Palestinians, Arabs and the rest of the world as a major provocation. It will cause irreparable harm to Mr. Trump’s own plans to make peace in the Middle East, and to any future administration’s efforts, as well. It will also undermine the United States’ own national security. The president should reconsider this decision immediately. Since Israel was established in 1948, the United Nations and the United States, like most countries, have refused to recognize any country’s sovereignty over Jerusalem, a city holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians. For this reason, the United States has always maintained its 8

embassy to Israel in Tel Aviv. Since Israel militarily occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the United States and the international community have rejected as illegal Israel’s attempts to cement its control over the city by expanding its boundaries, annexing it and constructing a ring of settlements on occupied Palestinian land around its outskirts to sever it from the rest of the West Bank. With his Dec. 6 announcement, Mr. Trump has legitimized Israel’s illegal actions and sent the message that the United States no longer has any regard for international conventions or norms, and that might and power

prevail over justice and the law. Perhaps this shouldn’t have been a surprise. Members of Israel’s hard-right government were overjoyed at Mr. Trump’s election, believing they would have a free rein to accelerate the expansion of settlements. The president’s selection of his sonin-law, Jared Kushner, to lead his administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and the appointment of David Friedman as ambassador to Israel, both of whom have ties to Israel’s settlement movement, further emboldened the settlers and their supporters in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government. Indeed, Israel has expanded its settlements over the past year. By rewarding its claim on Jerusalem with official recognition, Mr. Trump is giving Israel a free hand to accelerate its policies of creeping annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories and its deliberate attempts to erase the Palestinians’ historical, political, cultural and demographic presence in historic Palestine. This will encourage Israeli officials to further intensify their violations of Palestinian rights in the city; more Palestinian homes will be destroyed and more Palestinian families made homeless. (Since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, Israeli au-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

views-Jerusalem_8-13_Five Views 12/8/17 8:41 PM Page 9

thorities have, according to the United Nations, destroyed some 20,000 Palestinian homes in the city.) It will also mean more Palestinian land stolen for settlements, and more Palestinian Jerusalemites will have their right to reside in the city where they were born and raised and where their families still live revoked by Israel, as it has done to more than 14,000 Palestinians since 1967, according to human rights groups. And it will fuel further calls from right-wing Israelis, including members of Mr. Netanyahu’s government, to annex parts or all of the West Bank: After all, if the United States has given its stamp of approval to the annexation of Jerusalem, why shouldn’t right-wing Israelis believe it will one day do the same with more territory? Moreover, the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as part of Israel could embolden messianic Jewish extremists— some of whom are supported by Israeli government officials— who want to build a Jewish temple in the Noble Sanctuary mosque complex in the Old City of East Jerusalem, one of the most sensitive religious sites in the world. This could easily ignite a major religious conflagration in the Middle East and beyond, with an outcome that cannot be predicted. The Dec. 6 announcement may finally put to rest the dream of a two-state solution, which has been on life support for years already—after more than 25 years as the United States government’s official goal. For if all of Jerusalem is part of Israel, then East Jerusalem cannot be the capital of a Palestinian state, rendering the idea of two states living side by side in peace obsolete. If that is not enough to persuade Mr. Trump to change his mind, he should listen to the advice of his own secretary of defense, James Mattis. In 2013, when he was the head of the United States Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, Mr. Mattis said that he “paid a military security price every day” because the United States was “seen as biased in support of Israel.” American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital exacerbates this problem exponentially. It is our hope as Palestinians that saner voices will prevail and that the United States will refrain from any actions that will further destabilize the Middle East. If Mr. Trump truly wishes to have a chance at making peace, he must reverse his decision on Jerusalem immediately.

Trump’s Error on Jerusalem Is a Disaster for the Arab World—and the U.S., Too By Rashid Khalidi

EVERY TIME IT SEEMS Donald Trump cannot outdo himself, he does it again. Now he has announced that his administration will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing nearly seven decades of American policy. This step will have multiple negative ramifications, many impossible to predict. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Jerusalem is the most important of the so-called final status issues that have been repeatedly deferred during the Israel-Palestine negotiations because of their extreme sensitivity. Trump has ploughed into this imbroglio like a bull in a china shop, zeroing in on the most complex and emotional issue of all those connected to Palestine. Jerusalem is undoubtedly the most important aspect of the entire Palestine question. It has been central to the identity of Palestinian Muslims and Christians as far back as the founding moments of both religions, and has become even more so as the conflict over Palestine has become fiercer. The rivalry over this holy city is exacerbated by the fact that the same site—the Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, the Temple Mount to Jews—is sacred to both. Because of its explosive nature, this is an issue that no Palestinian politician, and few Arab leaders, would dare to trifle with. For someone such as me, whose family has lived in Jerusalem for hundreds of years, Trump’s announcement does not just mean that the U.S. has adopted the Israeli position that Jerusalem belongs exclusively to Israel. He has also retroactively legitimized Israel’s seizure and military occupation of Arab East Jerusalem during the 1967 war, and its imposition of discriminatory laws on hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living there. The damage he has done will be permanent: the U.S. cannot undo this recognition. This act completely disqualifies the U.S. from its longstanding role as broker, a position that Washington has monopolized for itself. So much for the pitiful “peace plan” that Trump’s son-inlaw Jared Kushner was cooking up and hoping to impose on the Palestinians. Trump’s action signals disdain for the opinion of the whole Arab world. Whatever Arab dictators and absolute monarchs may tell the Americans they depend on, the Arab peoples are unanimous in supporting the Palestinian position on Jerusalem. Their inevitable reactions to this move will impinge on vital U.S. interests all over the region. As Secretary of Defense James Mattis noted in 2013: “I paid a military security price every day as a commander of [Central Command] because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel.” This latest diplomatic fiasco is another instance of the administration showing utter contempt for the views of the rest of the world. Not one country recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. There is a global consensus that until a settlement is achieved, it is illegitimate to prejudge or predetermine the outcome of negotiations. The U.S. formally assured the Palestinians on this score in inviting them to the 1991 Madrid peace conference. Of course, there is a lengthy American track record of bias in favor of Israel. No one should have expected fairness on this issue from them or from their boss.

Rashid Khalidi is Edward Said professor of Arab studies at Columbia University. Copyright © 2017 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

9

views-Jerusalem_8-13_Five Views 12/8/17 8:41 PM Page 10

It is now hard to see how a sustainable Palestinian-Israeli agreement is possible. True to Trump form, this is an entirely self-inflicted wound that will long echo in the annals of diplomacy. It will further diminish the already reduced standing of the U.S., complicating relations with allies, with Muslims and Arabs—and with people of common sense the world over. Trump, who was warned against this step by Arab, Middle Eastern and European leaders, has now made resolving the conflict over Palestine much harder, even as he has brought joy to his friends, and to their dangerous, extremist soulmates in Israel. Far from ushering in the “deal of the century,” as he boasted, with this foolish move Trump may usher in the debacle of the century. This is a sad day for international law, for Palestine, and for everyone who cares about peace in the Middle East.

Why Is Trump Undoing Decades of U.S. Policy on Jerusalem? By Shibley Telhami

IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to see the logic of the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and possibly moving the U.S. Embassy to Israel there—before it even unveils what’s certain to be a controversial plan for Middle East peace, which will be tough enough to sell. The White House is probably betting that, despite the noises in the Arab world against such a move, their key allies in Saudi Arabia and Egypt will limit their opposition—already publicly voiced—to lip service, as they are all interested in protecting relations with Trump over more urgent issues, such as fighting militancy and confronting Iran. It’s also betting that the Arab and Muslim public outcry will be limited, both because of efforts by their governments to contain dissent, and because administration officials may have swallowed the arguments that Arabs no longer care about Palestine, or even Jerusalem. All of this is doubtful, but let’s consider for a moment the possibility that the administration’s assessment that costs will be limited is accurate. No one, not even President Donald Trump, is arguing that such a move will be helpful to American Middle East policy. This begs the question: Why is Trump doing this? Trump certainly doesn’t need to solidify his pro-Israel credentials; three of his key Middle East advisers are known to be sympathetic with the Israeli right. More importantly, the American public, including his Republican core, already thinks his policy is pro-Israel. A University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll (among a national sample of 2,000 American adults, fielded by Nielsen Scarborough Nov. 1-6 and released at the Brookings Institution Dec. 1) found that 59 percent of Americans said they preferred that Trump lean toward neither side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In contrast, 57 percent of

Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development and director of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, and nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. Copyright © 2017 The Brookings Institution

10

Americans, including most Republicans, said he is in fact leaning toward Israel. Our poll also shows that 63 percent of all Americans oppose moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, including 44 percent of Republicans. How about the Evangelical Christians whose support has been critical for Trump, and who are known to support declaring Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there? Two-thirds of Evangelicals say Trump’s policy is already leaning toward Israel—a proportion that’s even higher than that of the rest of the population. Even on moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, the support is hardly overwhelming: While 53 percent of Evangelicals support the move, 40 percent oppose it. Evangelical leaders undoubtedly bring this issue up with the president, but none would have abandoned him for not making the declaration. Trump has been the president who has arguably given the Evangelical right more than any other president in history has: from favorable key appointments such as Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, to highly favorable policies toward religious schools. In the meantime, the administration’s assumptions about the limited costs of the move are based on little more than a leap of faith. In fact, the move would go against the very priorities that the administration has set for itself in the Middle East: fighting Islamist militancy and confronting Iranian influence. Jerusalem is the perfect issue for Iran and Islamist militants to use to mobilize support against the United States and those who endorse its policies. Publicity over likely limited Arab voices, such as the Twitter hashtag #Riyadh-is-more-important-than-Al-Quds, may have played a role in the assessment—in addition to re-enforcing Israeli government statements. But this is not new. In the leadup to the Camp David negotiations that President Bill Clinton mediated in 2000, it was not hard to see that the White House underestimated the centrality of Jerusalem to the Palestinians and Arabs broadly and that this issue could bring the negotiations down. It did. Sure, the Middle East is more divided today than it was then. Many Arabs are focused on their immediate tragedies; others may have a diminished connection to Palestine, or even to Jerusalem. But as the region has grown deeply divided, Jerusalem has remained a central symbol that transcends the divide. It remains a mobilizing issue even in a polarized environment: Even if Arabs don’t go out into the streets in consequential numbers, a declaration will play into the hands of those plotting in the basement. It’s also good to recall what happened just a few months ago, as the same assumptions about the irrelevance of Palestine and Jerusalem prevailed. Following the killings of Israeli policemen, an Israeli government attempt to install security machines to search Palestinian worshippers at al-Aqsa Mosque generated Palestinian demonstrations that quickly mobilized Arab and Muslim public opinion, and led to intervention by governments— ultimately forcing a reversal of the measures.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

views-Jerusalem_8-13_Five Views 12/8/17 8:41 PM Page 11

MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

There is of course a direct impact on Jordan, whose stability is essential; King Abdullah, an American ally, has been among the first to make clear in his warnings about the impact of the move on his society; since then many have added their warnings, including Turkish and French leaders, among others. Then, there is the direct impact on the Palestinians. The move could force Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to walk away, at least initially, from talks. But even if Trump could get Abbas to swallow the move, the leverage Abbas would expend to keep any degree of legitimacy among Palestinians will inevitably come at the expense of his ability to convince the Palestinians to swallow any deal Trump will offer—a Protesters prepare to burn an American flag during a Dec. 8 demonstration at Cairo’s al-Azhar nearly impossible task in the first place. mosque. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Muslim and Arab countries that FriSo, again: Why in the world is Trump day in a show of solidarity with the Palestinians. doing this? From the outset, most experts understood that the “deal of in from their publics. One trial run for the 2011 Tunisian revothe century” was most likely beyond reach and that its collution was massive demonstrations in 2009 during the Israeli lapse may lead to President Trump lashing out with such assault on little Gaza, where student activists, trade unionists, moves as moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and giving attorneys and others learned to network and get out enormous the green light to expand Israeli settlement in the West Bank. crowds. Ben Ali’s and Mubarak’s toadying to Washington The fact that the White House may take a controversial step helped make them so hated that they were overthrown, in part on Jerusalem now, before he even has a chance to unveil his because Washington stands for economic policies that punish plan, means one of two things. workers and the middle classes, but in part because WashingThe first is that his advisers live in their own bubble, reinton stands for stealing Palestinians’ land and making them forced by unprecedented inexperience. In fact, this is already homeless and poverty-stricken. a public fear. Despite deep partisanship on almost every Rulers like King Abdullah II of Jordan, who have a powerful issue, Americans come together on this issue: 81 percent of alliance with the United States but whose people are proall Americans, including 71 percent of Republicans, prefer Palestinian (indeed 60 percent are of Palestinian heritage), Trump relying on experts in his Middle East diplomacy, not on are not sleeping well these days. inexperienced family members and personal lawyers. It isn’t that everyone doesn’t already know that Washington But there is a second possibility: That the Trump administrais on board with screwing over the Palestinians and humiliattion has already given up on its “deal of the century” and is ing the Arabs. But Trump just flaunted it in everyone’s face. looking for ways to pin the blame on someone else. But let us consider the Saudi cold war with Iran. Given the open Saudi signals of cooperation with Israel against Tehran and given the Al Saud’s embrace of Trump, Riyadh is implicated in the Jerusalem decision whether they like it or not. In the propaganda wars between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Iran just By Juan Cole got a big boost. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called up Turkish PresiSOME SECTIONS OF the crazy quilt that makes up the Trump dent Tayyip Erdogan and the two agreed that Jerusalem is the administration want to push Iran back out of the Arab world and permanent capital of Palestine. Turkey is majority Sunni, while weaken it, in support of Israel and Saudi Arabia. Those actors Iran is a Shi’i republic. Any attempt to block Iran’s influence have just been handed a big setback by Trump’s slurred and would have to aim at instigating bad relations between these crazed announcement that he will move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and recognize it as the capital. Juan Cole is a public intellectual, prominent blogger and essayist, and While Washington pols fondly imagine that all politics is elite the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University politics, it isn’t actually the case. Ask Hosni Mubarak or Zine of Michigan. Copyright (c) 2017 <www.juancole.com>. All rights reserved. El Abidin Ben Ali. Political leaders have to get a minimum buy-

Trump’s Jerusalem Move May Help Iran Win the Middle East

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

11

Wearing a keffiyeh and standing in front of a giant photo of Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock, Iraq’s powerful Shi’i cleric Muqtada al-Sadr addresses the media in the shrine city of Najaf, denouncing President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and demanding the closure of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Dec. 7, 2017. two, among the most populous and wealthy countries in the Middle East. Trump managed to bring Turkey and Iran together by what they called his “wrong” and “illegal” action. In fact, Rouhani called for all 56 Muslim-majority countries to make a stand against the U.S. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Jerusalem will always be Arab and Islamic. The country’s leader, Ali Khamenei, also weighed in, pledging to organize the Muslim world for a respone. So now the Iranians (not Arabs) are the champions of Arab nationalism, while Saudi Arabia and Egypt are supine. So Trump is helping make Iran a leader of the Muslim world. Good job. Or take Iraq, the government of which is run by the Shi’i, pro-Iran Da’wa (Islamic Call) party. The blowhard CIA Director Mike Pompeo strutted around saying he’d written a letter to Qassem Solaimani, the head of the special operations “Jerusalem Brigade” force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, warning him about his operations in the Middle East. The U.S. has some 6,000 men in Baghdad. So after Trump’s announcement, which way do you think the Iraqi government is tilting? Toward the Iranian position on Jerusalem. The Iraqi foreign minister wrote a harsh letter to Washington denouncing Trump’s decision. Shi’i cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warned Arab leaders that if they abandoned Jerusalem it would be the end of them. His followers also staged demonstrations Dec. 6, including in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called the American announcement a “declaration of war” on the Arab peoples and an attack on “the human rights of Palestinians.” So guess who is responsible for the security of the U.S. troops in Iraq? Yes, that is right. The Iraqi government, its 12

HAIDAR HAMDANI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

views-Jerusalem_8-13_Five Views 12/8/17 8:41 PM Page 12

army, and its Shi’i militias. In Lebanon, the Saudis had tried and failed to break up the national unity government in which Shi’i, Christian and Sunni officials serve. To the extent that Riyadh openly marked Saad Hariri, the prime minister, as a creature of the Saudis, they did him some harm with the Lebanese people. He has rescinded his forced resignation and hastily issued a stinging rebuke of Washington over Jerusalem. But it rings hollow given his identification with the Saudi-Israeli-American axis. So if the Lebanese have to take sides on this one, it won’t be the Saudi-IsraeliAmerican side. Therefore the Shi’i leader Hassan Nasrallah is strengthened internally by this move, the opposite of what the Saudis were going for. Thank you Messrs. Trump and Pence.

Tillerson, Mattis Warned Trump Against Embassy Move By Mark Perry

DONALD TRUMP’S ANNOUNCEMENT that the U.S. now recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and will eventually move its embassy there, might well be the most predictable decision of an otherwise unpredictable presidency. Trump made his Jerusalem promise back in March of 2016, during an address he gave to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). It was an obvious attempt to convince skeptical Jewish leaders of his uncompromising support for Israel. But it’s not only that Trump was intent to fulfill a campaign promise: The Jerusalem initiative has been in the works since the day he took office, was coordinated with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and is supported by influential voices in the administration—including Vice President Mike Pence, son-in-law Jared Kushner, Middle East envoy (and former Trump Organization lawyer) Jason Greenblatt, and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. The decision was all but finalized, The American Conservative has learned, during a late November meeting of Trump’s foreign policy advisers at the White House. The November confab was well underway when Trump arrived to press his case. While the president was only expected to stay in the meeting for 15 to 20 minutes, he ended up staying for a full hour. Trump, TAC was told by a senior Pentagon officer with knowledge of the meeting, was adamant about

Mark Perry is a foreign policy analyst, a regular contributor to The American Conservative and the author of The Pentagon’s Wars. He tweets @markperrydc. Copyright © The American Conservative 2017.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

views-Jerusalem_8-13_Five Views 12/8/17 8:41 PM Page 13

keeping his campaign pledge, but was brought up short by warnings issued by Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Both officials argued that the move would endanger American diplomats serving in the region, undermine the administration’s efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and result in condemnations from both Arab countries and America’s most important allies in Europe. Trump could expect almost no support in the international community, they said. America would “have to go it alone.” Trump listened closely to the warnings over the next hour (“it was a very intense exchange,” TAC was told by the senior Pentagon official, “but it certainly wasn’t heated”). But at the end of the discussion the president said that he would go ahead with his decision despite the difficulties it might cause. He also acknowledged concerns about possible threats to U.S. diplomats, and said that he would dampen them by repeating U.S. assurances that it was committed to a two-state solution. Moreso, he argued, the U.S. did not need to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem immediately—which would serve as a further reassurance. Even so, his Dec. 6 announcement about Jerusalem was tortured by a number of inherent contradictions, including the most prominent of all—the contention that the decision was not only in the “best interests of the United States,” but would actually enhance the prospects of a twostate solution and energize the peace process. “We are not taking a position on any final status issues,” Trump added, “including the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem or the resolution of contested borders. Those questions are up to the parties involved.” The decision is “in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.” In fact, it seems unlikely that this unseemly sleight-of-hand (of making dubious claims) will allay Arab fears that the U.S. continues to be “Israel’s lawyer” (to use a term coined by former U.S. Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller). Now it has JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

also become Israel’s realtor. This seems not to bother the president, who is becoming known for playing a poor hand by throwing in more chips. The strategy is almost perverse in its beauty, and was on full display among administration officials intent on selling the president’s Jerusalem initiative in the wake of his address. The Trump announcement, as one of them argued, doesn’t undermine the peace process— not because there isn’t one (as everyone suspects), but because there is, and it’s going swimmingly. Trump, this official added, was actually anxious to make his Dec. 6 announcement because he was so encouraged by the progress made on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process by Jared Kushner and his team. “I know a lot of that progress isn’t visible,” as this official was overheard saying to a prominent television reporter, “[but] it’s partly because that progress is not visible that they’ve been able to make so much progress.” Domestically, it would seem Trump has little to worry about. The Democrats have spent the last 70 years (since 1948) fawning over Israel and defending it, while the Republicans’ Christian Evangelical base is in full-throated support of the embassy move. Furthermore, the GOP has been desperate to break into what was once a Democrat-only monopoly on Jewish-American political funding—and Jewish votes. In this sense, Mr. Trump’s

Jerusalem announcement can be seen as a kind of coming out party—a celebration that the monopoly has been broken, that the Republicans have arrived. Then too, the bedrock of progressivism of American Jews (who supported any number of progressive movements over the last decades) has been overawed by concern that Israel can best be defended by backing pro-military conservative interventionists. And so it is that President Trump’s Jerusalem announcement might well be seen as a significant and decisive victory—for Israel, for the Republican Party, and for those Jewish Americans who have had to choose between their progressive ideals and their support for a nation that is anything but. The result is stark, discomforting. It may be that the controversy will fade, that the Arab world will remain quiet, that the Trump administration will use the Jerusalem decision as a springboard to launch a creative and fair resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That Jared Kushner will succeed where George Mitchell did not. But that doesn’t seem likely. Rather, it’s probable that the governments of Europe will remember the real import of this decision—that when asked to stand with our European allies and Arab friends, we chose Israel instead. Pay attention: This is what it feels like to live in a nation whose moment has passed. ■

(Advertisement)

Palestinian Medical Relief Society, a grassroots communitybased Palestinian health organization, founded in 1979 by Palestinian doctors, needs your support today. Visit our Website <www.pmrs.ps> to see our work in action. 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 WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

13

cook_14-16_The Nakba Continues 12/8/17 1:52 PM Page 14

The Nakba Continues

Israel Amps up Ethnic Cleansing in Order to Further Judaize Jerusalem

By Jonathan Cook

ISRAEL WILL SOON bar all access to a Palestinian village whose farmers have continued a tradition stretching back thousands of years of tending stone terraces to grow crops in the fertile uplands outside Jerusalem. These farmers are among the latest victims of Israeli efforts to put in place the final pieces of a Greater Jewish Jerusalem that will require “ethnically cleansing” tens of thousands of Palestinians from a city their families have lived and worked in for generations, human rights groups have warned. The villagers of Walaja, many of them holding Israeli papers as “residents” of Jerusalem, were warned in November that they will be penned behind a military checkpoint and Israel’s concrete and steel “separation barrier.” The terraces they have farmed for generations and a historic spring where they water their livestock will be off-limits, becoming instead attractions for Israelis in an expanded Jerusalem metropolitan park. A brochure issued by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority describes the terraces as an “outstanding feature” that has “decorated the Judean Hills for longer than 5,000 years, since man started farming the land.” In an effort to deny Walaja’s current ties to the

Jonathan Cook is a journalist based in Nazareth and a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He is the author of Blood and Religion and Israel and the Clash of Civilisations (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). 14

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

WIKIMEDIA

The West Bank village of Walaja with its agricultural terraces.

land, the brochure adds that “terrace agriculture was preserved in the Arab [Palestinian] villages until the [1948] War of Independence.” The pace of physical and demographic changes in and around Jerusalem has accelerated dramatically since Israel began building a steel and concrete barrier through the city’s Palestinian neighborhoods more than a decade ago, according to the rights groups and Palestinian researchers. Israel is preparing to cement these changes in law, they note. Two parliamentary bills with widespread backing among government ministers indicate the intended contours of Jerusalem’s future. One bill calls for the annexation to Jerusalem of some 150,000 Jews in illegal West Bank settlements surrounding the city. As well as bolstering the city’s Jewish population, the move will give these additional settlers a vote in Jerusalem’s municipal elections, pushing it politically even further to the right. Another bill will deny more than 100,000 Palestinians—on the “wrong” side of the barrier—rights in the city. They will be assigned to a separate local council for Palestinians only, in what observers fear will be a prelude to stripping them of residency and barring them from Jerusalem. The scheme, say planning experts, offers a double benefit to the far-right government of Binyamin Netanyahu. It decisively reverses the strong demographic growth of the city’s Palestinians, helping to engineer a strong Jewish majority to “Judaize” Jerusalem. And it also allows Israel to covertly annex the large West Bank settlement blocs near Jerusalem. Meanwhile, a web of harsh Israeli policies, including late-night arrests, land shortages, home demolitions and a denial of basic services, are intensifying the pressure on Palestinians living inside the wall to move out. These measures are designed to pre-empt any future peace efforts, and effectively nullify Palestinian ambitions for a state with East Jerusalem as its capital, said Aviv Tatarsky, a field researcher with Ir Amim, an Israeli group advocating fair treatment for Palestinians in Jerusalem. “What is going on is ethnic cleansing, without guns,” Tatarsky said. “Israel hopes to get rid of a third of Jerusalem’s Palestinian JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

population through legislative moves alone.” Israel’s refashioning of Jerusalem borders has hit Walaja hard because it sits half-in and half-out of the muncipality’s area of jurisdiction. The villagers have found themselves caught in the worst of both worlds. Jerusalem authorities have issued dozens of home demolition orders, many of them over the past year, as it strictly enforces its planning regulations on the “Jerusalem side” of Walaja, where some 100 families live. There was a large stand-off between residents and municipal demolition crews in August. The villagers say Israel is seeking to drive them out of the village by criminalizing their homes. But at the same time, all of Walaja’s houses have been sealed off from Jerusalem by the final sections of the separation barrier wending its way through the city. Israel is also preparing to move a military checkpoint some 2 kilometers closer to Walaja to cut residents off from the agricultural terraces the villagers have cultivated for generations. Following these changes, the village’s historic terraces will be treated as inside Jerusalem’s borders, while Walaja’s residents will effectively have been ejected outside the city limits. Walaja’s plight has been replicated for tens of thousands of Palestinians across East Jerusalem who are being gradually cut adrift from the city. Israel’s demographic concerns in Jerusalem date back to 1967, when it occupied and annexed East Jerusalem, combining the large Palestinian population there with West Jerusalem’s Jewish population. It also expanded the city’s municipal borders as a way to covertly annex West Bank land. Israel initially set an upper limit ratio of 30 percent Palestinians to 70 percent Jews in what it called its new “united, eternal capital,” but has been losing the battle to maintain that ratio ever since. Higher Palestinian birth rates mean that today there are more than 315,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem, comprising nearly 40 percent of the city’s total population. Projections suggest Palestinians could be a majority within a decade. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

UNRWA PHOTO © 2017/RAMI ABU-SA’D

cook_14-16_The Nakba Continues 12/8/17 2:48 PM Page 15

A new kindergarten inaugurated Aug. 17, 2017 in Walaja through the joint efforts of UNRWA, the Walaja Village Council and the Italian NGO Civil Volunteer Group. Although few Palestinians in Jerusalem have taken or been allowed Israeli citizenship, and almost none vote in municipal elections, Israel fears their growing numerical weight will increasingly make its rule in the city untenable. “What we have in Jerusalem is an apartheid system in the making,” Mahdi Abdul Hadi, a Palestinian academic in Jerusalem, said. “Israeli policies are dictated by demographic considerations, and that has created a huge gulf between the two societies. Palestinians are being choked.” Fear of the demographic loss of Jerusalem provoked the launch of a high-profile campaign by political and security leaders last year: “Save Jewish Jerusalem.” Fearful that Palestinians will soon be a majority and might start voting in municipal elections, the campaign warned Jewish residents that soon they would “wake up to a Palestinian mayor in Jerusalem.” Over the past year government ministers, including Education Minister Naftali Bennett, have aggressively pushed for the annexation of Ma’ale Adumim, a large settlement outside Jerusalem, in the West Bank. Gradually, they appear to be winning the argument. In late October a ministerial committee was set to approve a Greater Jerusalem Bill,

legislation intended to expand Jerusalem’s municipal borders to include Ma’ale Adumim and several other large settlements in the West Bank. It won Netanyahu’s backing. The settlements would have been annexed in all but name, and their 150,000 residents become eligible to vote in Jerusalem municipal elections. Yisrael Katz, the minister of transport and intelligence who helped introduce the bill, has said its purpose is to “safeguard a Jewish majority” in the city. A recent poll showed 58 percent of Israeli Jews support the plan. Under pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump, Netanyahu has temporarily put the bill on the back burner. Washington is reportedly worried that the legislation will stymie a peace initiative it is reportedly about to unveil. Ir Amim fears the legislation is likely to be revived when pressure dissipates. A position paper it published in November warned that the legislation was the “first practical move since the annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967 to implement the de facto annexation of areas in the West Bank to Israel.” After decades of implanting Jewish settlers in the midst of Palestinian areas to prevent the latter’s development and growth, Israel is beginning the difficult process of disentan-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

15

cook_14-16_The Nakba Continues 12/8/17 1:52 PM Page 16

gling the two populations, said Tatarsky. The effects are being felt keenly on the ground—and not just in Walaja. In November, Israeli forces stormed the Bedouin village of Jabal al-Baba and issued “eviction” notices to its 300 residents. In August the Israeli army demolished the village’s kindergarten school. Jabal al-Baba stands between East Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. “These Palestinian communities outside Jerusalem are like a bone in the throat for Israel,” said Tatarsky. “Israel is trying to make their life as hard as possible to force them to leave, and so create a territorial continuity between Jerusalem and the settlements.” Meanwhile, Israel is tightening its chokehold on Palestinians in East Jerusalem’s built-up areas. Those on the far side of the concrete wall have been effectively abandoned by the Jerusalem municipality, and are finding it ever harder to access the rest of the city, said Daoud Alg’ol, a Palestinian researcher on Jerusalem. A bill by Ze’ev Elkin, the Jerusalem affairs minister, is designed to disconnect from the Jerusalem municipality Palestinian neighbouhoods such as Walaja, Kafr Aqab, Shuafat refugee camp and Anata, which lie beyond the separation wall. They would be shunted off into a separate local council for Palestinians, instantly reducing the city’s Palestinian population by a third. “Once Palestinians are in a separate local council, Israel will say the center of their life is no longer in Jerusalem and their Jerusalem residency papers will be revoked,” said Alg’ol. “This already happens, but now it will be on a much larger scale.” Since 1967, Israel has revoked the residency permits of more than 14,000 Palestinians, forcing them to leave Jerusalem. Even though their residents pay taxes to the Jerusalem municipality, Palestinian areas outside the barrier are already “twilight zones” of neglect and lawlessness. In Kafr Aqab, for example, which is sealed off from the rest of East Jerusalem behind the wall and a military checkpoint, residents receive few services. Israel, however, has 16

also denied the Palestinian Authority access. “They are living in a no-man’s land,” said Alg’ol. These areas have become a destination both for criminals and for Palestinian families caught out by Israel’s intricate web of strict residency regulations. Palestinians in the West Bank are denied access inside Jerusalem’s wall, while Palestinians in Jerusalem risk being stripped of their residency papers if they move out of the city. Couples who have married across that residency divide have found a refuge in Kafr Aqab as Israel slowly disconnects the neighborhood from East Jerusalem. Residents say the population there has rocketed from a few thousand to tens of thousands in the past few years. As a result, a building boom has taken place beyond the wall as Palestinians take advantage of a lack of enforcement by Israel of its building regulations. That has offered demographic gains for Israel too, said Alg’ol.

A SILENT TRANSFER

“Planning restrictions and land shortages inside the wall have created a housing crisis for Palestinians, making it too expensive for them to live there,” he said. “They have been forced to move to areas outside the wall to find more affordable housing. Economic pressure is creating a silent transfer.” Palestinians in neighborhoods inside the wall are being driven out in other ways, noted Tatarsky. Traditionally, Israel has used a range of policies to strip Palestinians of land and prevent development in Jerusalem and justify home demolitions. Those have included declaring Palestinian areas “national parks,” thereby criminalizing the homes in them; confiscating the last green areas to build Jewish settlements; and allowing settlers to take over Palestinian properties in Jerusalem’s Old City and surrounding neighborhoods as Israel seeks to strengthen its hold over the city’s holy sites, especially al-Aqsa mosque. There are now some 200,000 Jewish settlers living in East Jerusalem.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

“Palestinians are never part of the planning in Jerusalem, and their interests are never taken into account—they are always an obstacle to be removed,” Alg’ol said. “Israel wants the land but not the Palestinians on it.” Pressure has mounted on Palestinians in Jerusalem, noted Tatarsky, as their communities have been denied schools and basic municipal services. More than 80 percent of Palestinian children live below the poverty line.

COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT

The Jerusalem municipality and police have also begun stepping up “law enforcement” operations against Palestinians—or what residents term “collective punishment.” Under the pretense of “restoring order,” there has been a wave of recent late-night raids in areas like At-Tur and Issawiya. Large numbers of Palestinians have been arrested, demolition orders issued and businesses closed. “Israel is using the same militarized methods as in the West Bank,” said Tatarsky. “The assumption is these pressures will encourage them to move to areas outside the barrier, where sooner or later they will lose their residency rights. “Israel has realized that is an opportunity it can exploit,” he stated. The office of Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, issued a statement denying that the situation of Palestinians in East Jerusalem was deteriorating. It said that there had been dramatic improvements in Palestinian areas in the provision of schools, community centers, sports fields, new roads, postal services and welfare. It added that Barkat had “developed a plan unprecedented in scope and budget allocation to reduce gaps in East Jerusalem in order to address the 50 years of neglect he inherited from his municipal predecessors and successive Israeli governments.” Alg’ol described the municipal claims as a denial of reality. “Israel wants to create a make-believe city free of Palestinians,” he said. “Where it can, it is ethnically cleansing them from the city. And where it can’t, it simply hides them from view.” ■ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

hass_17-18_Special Report 12/8/17 2:39 PM Page 17

Special Report

Transfer of Palestinians, in Word and Deed

By Amira Hass

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

THE LEGACY OF Rehavam Ze’evi (“voluntary transfer”) is commemorated all the time in the Jordan Valley. Highway 90 there is named after him, using his irritating nickname, Gandhi. On every large sign with the words “Gandhi Highway,” the hardly secret Israeli desire to get rid of the Palestinians is linked to the appropriation of one of the international symbols of liberation from colonialism. And now comes Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant, and with the help of Kan, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, transfers the Palestinians with a thrust of his tongue. “In the Jordan Valley after 50 years there’s a total of 5,000 people,” he said on the morning news program Thursday. He didn’t say Jews, he didn’t say Israelis. He said “people.” And the expe- A Palestinian watches as an Israeli army excavator demolishes a Palestinian home allegedly built without a permit in the West Bank village of Jiftlik, near the Jordan Valley, Nov. 7, 2017. rienced presenter didn’t interrupt and say: “Just a minute, there are at least implemented a mental transfer of tens of thousands of Palestini70,000 Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley, and they’ve been ans while internalizing the ultimate Zionist vision. there since before 1967. In Ouja alone there are about 5,000 And here is a coincidence that did not happen by chance: people. And a similar number in Jiftlik, and let’s not forget the city About an hour after Galant’s radio interview, soldiers sent by of Jericho, which has a population of about 35,000, and thoutheir commander, Maj. Gen. Roni Numa, came to carry out more sands of families of shepherds for whom the valley is home.” than a verbal removal: They placed an expulsion order for about On the previous evening, Kan’s television news publicized 300 Palestinian shepherds and their families on the highway, in Galant’s plan to persuade more Jews to commit a crime and mithe area of the Al Maleh rural council. The injunction is not adgrate to the Jordan Valley. “Today only about 6,000 people live dressed to anyone and wasn’t delivered in person to anyone. in the Jordan Valley,” explained the reporter, and nobody corThe soldiers were following orders, and also demonstrated their rected her. This is repeated on the Kan website, with a slight profound disdain for the humanity and rights of the Palestinians, change: “Today only about 6,000 human beings live in the reperhaps as they learned and absorbed from their commanders gion,” according to the item that sums up the televised report. in the army and the Civil Administration, as well as from the Galant and the TV reporters showed an extreme lack of school system. awareness of the significance of the word that they chose or alIsrael has not succeeded in persuading a larger number of Islowed to be used, in the above-mentioned context. Even if the raelis to settle in the Jordan Valley despite the large amount of reporters themselves are probably opposed to expulsion, they land and water it steals from the Palestinians and transfers to Amira Hass is a journalist with the Israeli newspaper haaretz and authe settlers. But it has been able to make life extremely hard for thor of drinking the sea at gaza: days and Nights in a land under the Palestinians there. At least 200,000 who fled and were exsiege and Reporting from Ramallah: An israeli Journalist in an ocpelled in 1967 are not allowed to return. cupied land. Copyright © haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved. And since then Israel has been preventing Palestinian comJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WAshiNgtoN REpoRt oN MiddlE EAst AFFAiRs

17

hass_17-18_Special Report 12/8/17 2:39 PM Page 18

munities in the Jordan Valley from developing naturally, using a large number of mean methods that we have detailed dozens of times, and that cause young people to flee from their villages to Area A enclaves: These ploys include closed areas for the purpose of military training exercises, nature reserves, violent outposts, land confiscations, a prohibition against linking up to infrastructure, prohibitions against construction, blockades and checkpoints, preventing access to springs, drying up springs and on and on. One of the veteran shepherds told

Haaretz: â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the 1970s the army fired at the flocks to get rid of us. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t leave, and then they arrested us and released us in exchange for a ransom. We sent our children to graze the sheep in our place, so the soldiers confiscated sheep and made us buy them back for the full price. We did. And in 1993 and 1994 they began the policy of demolishing our buildings.â&#x20AC;? In other wordsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;at the beginning of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oslo era.â&#x20AC;? Zeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;eviâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legacy of voluntary transfer is in no need of commemoration. It is being implemented all the time. â&#x2013;

(Advertisement)

-53,)-3

"!+% #!+% 4HERE S ALOT MORE YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOUR MUSLIM NEIGHBORS

6JG /WUNKO .KPM VJG NCTIGUV PGYURCRGT HQT CPF CDQWV VJG /WUNKO %QOOWPKV[ KP &% /& CPF 8# #XCKNCDNG CV OQUV /QUSWGU #TCD +PFQ 2CM CPF 2GTUKCP TGUVCWTCPVU CPF ITQEGTKGU KP VJG ITGCVGT 9CUJKPIVQP $CNVKOQTG OGVTQRQNKVCP CTGC #XCKNCDNG (TGG

0HONE &AX

WWW -USLIMLINKPAPER COM

ISRAEL IS SO CONFIDENT OF ITS ABILITY TO EXPEL PALESTINIAN COMMUNITIES THAT IT NO LONGER EVEN BOTHERS TO CREATE THE ILLUSION OF LEGAL PROCEEDING

Over the past month, the state has informed three Palestinian communities that it intends to expel them from their homes and land. The notification was made by leaving orders on the roadside. â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;&#x201A;In the northern Jordan Valley, on Nov. 9, 2017 the state notified two communitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Umm a-Jamal and Ein al-Hilwehâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that they must leave their homes within eight days. These communities total 20 families, 5 of whom live in the area on a seasonal basis. The total number of residents is 130, including 66 youths and children under the age of 18. â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;&#x201A;In the Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ale Adumim area, on Nov. 16, 2017 the state informed the residents of Jabal al-Baba that they must leave their homes within eight days. This community numbers about 60 families, and has a total of 284 residents, including 151 youths and children under the age of 18. Israel has acted for years to expel communities around the West Bank. In the past, its efforts were based mainly on military orders concerning planning and building. However, the proceedings concerning such orders are protracted and require the precise mapping of the land and buildings, as well as the issuing of separate demolition orders for each building. Now the state has found a new mechanism it hopes will enable it to circumvent such proceedings and accelerate the expulsion of residents: the Order concerning Unauthorized Buildings (Temporary Provision) (Judea and Samaria) (No. 1539), 57442003. This order was originally intended for the expulsion of settlers from â&#x20AC;&#x153;outpostsâ&#x20AC;? established around the West Bank, although the state very rarely used it for this purpose. The order allows the Military Commander to declare an area in the West Bank a â&#x20AC;&#x153;confined area,â&#x20AC;? and to order the eviction of all property in that area. On this basis of this order, GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Roni Numa signed the new orders concerning the Palestinian communities. It seems that Israel is so confident in its ability to expel entire 18

villages without incurring judicial or international criticism that it is no longer bothering to create even the illusion of legal proceedings. However, the difference between the proceedings is purely technical. The planning and building proceedings never stopped the state; even if they managed to postpone expulsion, they never removed the threat of expulsion from thousands of people. Over many years, thousands of Palestinians in dozens of communities have lived under a constant and real threat. The state has refused to regulate their status, allow them to connect to the water and electricity infrastructure, establish educational institutions for their children, pave roads to their living areas, and maintain a reasonable living routine. The state has recently declared its intention to expel two additional communities over the coming monthsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Susiya in the southern Hebron Hills and Khan al-Ahmar close to Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ale Adumim. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced that in the absence of opposition from the American administration, these communities will be expelled by April 2018. The expulsion proceedings against these communities have continued for years before the Supreme Court, which has refrained from prohibiting their expulsion. Whatever the proceedings used by the state in its attempt to expel Palestinian residents from their homes, the crime is the same: the forcible transfer of a protected population, which amounts to a war crime. This is the case whether the violence used is direct or indirect, physical or administrative. Whether the expulsion is undertaken by force or by creating an intolerable reality that forces the residents to leave their homes and landâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the essence is the same. All those involved in committing this crimeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;including the prime minister, defense minister, the justices who approve the expulsion, and the GOC who signs the ordersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;bear personal liability. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Tselem press release, Nov. 22, 2017

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Ashly-Barghouti_19-20_Special Report 12/8/17 2:43 PM Page 19

Special Report

The Love Story of Fadwa and Marwan Barghouti

By Jaclynn Ashly

PAULA BRONSTEIN/GETTY IMAGES

WHEN FADWA BARGHOUTI traveled to Israel’s Hadarim prison last month, her heart was pounding with excitement. She had not seen her husband, imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, for six months. But after some 10 hours of waiting, Israeli soldiers approached Fadwa and told her she was forbidden from visiting her husband until 2019, owing to her activism during a more than 40-day mass hunger strike among Palestinians held in Israeli prisons earlier this year. The strike was led by Marwan. “These visits were so important to me,” Fadwa told Al Jazeera from her office in Ramallah, where posters and portraits of Marwan adorned the plain white walls. “They were my breath. It was how I was able to regenerate and gain strength.” Fadwa called Israel’s decision “blackmail” meant to pressure her to cease In Ramallah, Fadwa Barghouti stands in front of a poster of her husband, Marwan, who is serving five consecutive life sentences in an Israeli prison, prior to Palestinian presidential elections her political activities. “But I have dedi- in which he was rumored to be a possible candidate, Nov. 21, 2004. cated the past 16 years of my life to advocating for Palestinian political prisoners. I would never give this called. “When the occupation ends, I can promise you that we up just for a visitation.” will live a nice and normal life together, but only when Palestine is free,” Marwan said, according to Fadwa’s recollection. Marwan TOGETHER IN STRUGGLE told Fadwa that she should take a week to think over the proposal and decide whether she was willing to dedicate herself to Fadwa and Marwan grew up together in the village of Kobar, outsomeone whose life would be fully committed to the Palestinian side of Ramallah city. Fadwa’s family was one of few in the vilresistance. Fadwa’s response was sharp and confident: “I said lage where their daughter continued her education in the city that I do not need this week. Palestine is not only yours; it is for past the sixth grade, and she was the first woman in her village all of us. And I will stand with you in the struggle for our people’s to obtain a driver’s license. At the age of 18, she became the freedom.” youngest founding member of the Women’s Union for Social Work, which she now heads. The group works to increase the SEVEN YEARS OF EXILE participation of women in the Palestinian resistance movement. Marwan, meanwhile, began a 5-year sentence in Israeli prison Fadwa was 20 when she accepted Marwan’s proposal, and her when he was 18. Fadwa was just 14 at the time. A few years into life quickly became intertwined with the Palestinian resistance his jail term, he sent a message to Fadwa through a recently removement. In 1987, Marwan was exiled to Jordan during the first leased prisoner: “He told me that Marwan loves me and that he intifada, after he became a major leader in the uprising. Fadwa wants me to wait for him.” When Marwan was finally released, and her two children followed him, and the family resided in exile his marriage proposal was anything but typical. “He said he was for seven years. not interested in money or building a home, and that his heart She returned to Palestine with Marwan after the signing of the would be dedicated to the Palestinian resistance,” Fadwa re1994 Oslo accords. Two years later, Marwan was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council. Copyright © 2017 Al Jazeera Media Network. “After we returned to Palestine, my vision was very clear. I JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

19

Ashly-Barghouti_19-20_Special Report 12/8/17 2:43 PM Page 20

continued my studies and concentrated on raising our four children,” Fadwa said. Fadwa, who studied law and opened up her own law office in Ramallah, said that her main focus was agitating for legal reforms in Palestine and within Palestinian political parties to ensure the participation of women in Palestine’s political spaces. However, when the second intifada broke out in 2000, “everything changed for me,” she said. During the uprising, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 5,000 Palestinians, Marwan’s popularity surged as he led Tanzim, an armed wing of the Fatah movement. Fadwa, meanwhile, dedicated her time to participating in protests and supporting the families of Palestinians killed or jailed by Israeli forces. Marwan’s leadership role in the Palestinian uprising caught the attention of Israeli authorities, who attempted to assassinate him on several occasions. He became one of the most wanted Palestinian resistance fighters.

A SECRET MEETING

Eighteen days before Marwan’s most recent imprisonment, Fadwa met her husband secretly in a garden near Ramallah city. Marwan had brought her there to warn her of his inevitable imprisonment or possible death. “He told me that he would go into hiding and that he would be unable to contact me,” Fadwa said. Marwan then began to tell Fadwa his will. On April 15, 2002, Marwan was detained by Israeli authorities, charged with alleged involvement in several deadly attacks against Israel. He received five life sentences. Marwan was the first Palestinian to refuse to recognize the legitimacy of Israeli courts during his legal proceedings, and the first Palestinian parliamentarian to be imprisoned by Israel. Marwan was held in solitary confinement for almost three years, making it impossible for Fadwa to visit him. The night before her first visit, she could not sleep. “I had so many butterflies in my stomach,” she said with a wide smile. Her life from that point on became consumed with pushing for her husband’s freedom. She contacted all of Marwan’s in20

ternational supporters and spearheaded a worldwide media campaign for his release, and for that of thousands of other Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. “My entire life became dedicated to the struggle of political prisoners,” Fadwa said, noting that she made contacts with leaders in Europe, South Africa, Latin America, the United States and all over the Arab world. “My work focuses on raising awareness of the realities of occupation and the situation of political prisoners,” she said. “Israel tries to portray Marwan and the other prisoners as terrorists...I want to show the world that these prisoners have the right to resist the Israeli occupation.” In 2013, Fadwa traveled to South Africa to formally launch the Free Marwan Barghouti and All Palestinian Prisoners campaign with the late South African antiapartheid icon and former political prisoner Ahmed Kathrada. Since then, eight Nobel Peace Prize laureates, 115 governments, 15 former heads of state and hundreds of other public figures have lent their support to the campaign. Last year, Marwan was (Advertisement)

A erican Friends Am of Birzeit Uniive ersity

Gifted Palestinian students can reach their potential with your generous donation. (Tax ((T Tax Exemption p is Applied for) AFBU American Friends of Birzeit University

Thank you in advance for ki d ib b i

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Fadwa herself has simultaneously risen as a dynamic leader on the Palestinian political stage, and she currently sits on Fatah’s revolutionary council; during the last elections, she received more votes than any other candidate.

“SCARIEST TIME OF MY LIFE”

Earlier in 2017, Marwan led a mass hunger strike among Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, which at its peak included upward of 1,600 prisoners from various political parties. The strike lasted for more than 40 days, the longest in Palestine’s history, and demanded humanitarian reforms in Israel’s prison system. Fadwa’s last visit with Marwan was in March, a few weeks before the start of the strike, after which he was moved into solitary confinement until the strike ended. “Despite everything Marwan and I have been through, the hunger strike was the scariest time of my life,” Fadwa said. “When Marwan is in prison, at least we know he’s safe. But during the hunger strike, at any moment Marwan or one of the other prisoners could die.” Fadwa spent every waking moment advocating on behalf of the hunger-striking prisoners. She led marches and sit-ins, campaigned on the international stage, and routinely met prisoners’ families. “When I was sitting with the women— the sisters, mothers, or wives of the prisoners—I could see it in their eyes how scared they were for their loved ones,” Fadwa said. “I had all of the same worries, but I made sure not to show it. I had to keep myself strong for the other women.” In the end, Palestinian leaders declared the hunger strike a success, saying that 80 percent of their demands were met, although Israel denies this. Today, Fadwa says that what keeps her and Marwan together and persevering— despite being separated by prison walls for 16 years—is their unending love. “I am still waiting, 33 years later, for Marwan to provide me a normal life like he had promised. But Palestine has not yet tasted freedom. So we must continue our struggle until that day comes.” ■ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

abunimah_21-22_Special Report 12/8/17 6:54 PM Page 21

Special Report

Israel Lobby Billionaire Praises Jared Kushner For Collusion With Netanyahu PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S son-inlaw Jared Kushner received public praise on Dec. 3 from a billionaire Israel lobby financier for his possibly illegal attempts to derail a U.N. Security Council vote condemning Israel’s settlements a year ago. This came as news broke that Kushner failed to disclose in government ethics filings his role as director of a family foundation that funded Israeli settlements. Kushner, a senior adviser to Trump, is in charge of efforts to revive the so-called peace process. New details of Kushner’s Saudi-backed plan reported Dec. 3 confirm that it would require nothing less than a complete capitulation by the Palestinians to Israel’s demands, leaving them with a state in name only.

“NOTHING ILLEGAL”

DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES

By Ali Abunimah

The Brookings Institution’s Saban Forum, described as a U.S.-Israeli dialogue, hosted a Dec. 3

On Sunday, Dec. 3, Kushner appeared at conversation between senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner (l) and pro-Israel billionaire Haim the Saban Forum, an Israel lobby confer- Saban at Brookings’ Washington, DC headquarters. ence at Washington’s Brookings InstituSaban and Kushner were on opposite sides of the 2016 U.S. tion, financed by Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban. presidential election; Saban has donated millions of dollars to Saban and Kushner sat on stage for what was billed as a the Clintons, including Hillary Clinton’s failed presidental bid. He “keynote conversation.” also made huge donations to support President Barack Obama “You’ve been in the news the last few days, to say the least. and the Democratic Party. But you’ve been in the news about an issue that I personally But his coziness with Kushner can be explained by Saban’s want to thank you for, because you and your team were taking own admission that his real political agenda is extremely narrow. steps to try and get the United Nations Security Council to not “I’m a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel,” Saban told The go along with what ended up being an abstention by the U.S.,” New York Times in 2004. Saban said in the exchange. “As far as I know there was nothing illegal there, but I think that ISRAELI COLLUSION this crowd and myself want to thank you for making that effort.” “Thank you,” Kushner responded. Reports in several outlets, including Dec. 1 in BuzzFeed, have Kushner refused to be drawn out on whether Trump would annamed Kushner as the “very senior member” of Trump’s transinounce the following Wednesday that the U.S. recognizes tion team referred to in charging documents filed in federal court Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a move that would underscore the that day. absurdity of the U.S. posing as an honest broker. According to the documents, the senior figure ordered Trump adviser Michael Flynn to contact all the members of the U.N. SeAli Abunimah is co-founder of the Electronic intifada and author of curity Council to try to thwart the resolution either by delaying the the Battle for Justice in palestine and one Country: A Bold proposal vote or casting a veto. to End the israeli-palestinian impasse (both available from AET’s Flynn, who served briefly as President Trump’s national secuMiddle East Books and More). Copyright © 2000-2017 electronic intifada.net. rity adviser, on Dec. 1 entered a guilty plea for lying to the FBI JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WAshiNgtoN REpoRt oN MiddlE EAst AFFAiRs

21

abunimah_21-22_Special Report 12/8/17 6:54 PM Page 22

about conversations with the Russian ambassador, including one on Dec. 22 last year about the U.N. resolution. The guilty plea stemmed from the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia. Multiple reports have suggested that Kushner may be a target of the investigation and that he may be suspected of violating the Logan Act, a rarely enforced 1799 law that prohibits private citizens from interfering in diplomatic negotiations to the detriment of the United States. According to The New York Times, “Mueller’s investigators have learned through witnesses and documents that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel asked the Trump transition team to lobby other countries to help Israel.” Netanyahu is a long-time friend of the Kushner family, even sleeping in their New Jersey home, displacing the teenage Jared from his bedroom to the basement. Flynn confirmed Dec. 1 that he is now cooperating with Mueller’s probe.

IGNORING THE STORY

But even if Kushner is never charged under the Logan Act, the revelations about the transition team’s activities reshape the dominant narrative that Trump was colluding with Russia to advance Russian interests at American expense. The picture that has emerged is of top Trump transition officials colluding with Israeli leaders to undermine the policy of the sitting Obama administration, for the benefit of Israel. Yet mainstream media and pundits have continued to downplay or ignore the clear exercise of Israeli influence aimed at sabotaging U.S. policy. The revelations about Flynn’s activities do “not prove that there was collusion with the Russian government,” journalist Max Blumenthal told “The Real News.” “It certainly doesn’t demonstrate that Russia was attempting to subvert American democracy,” Blumenthal said. “It does demonstrate that the Israeli government, through its point man, Jared Kushner, was engaged in collusion, was engaged in for22

eign meddling and subversion.” “This for some reason is not the story, and we know why,” Blumenthal added. Despite the efforts of Kushner and Flynn, the U.N. resolution passed without opposition on Dec. 23, after the U.S. in a rare move declined to cast its veto.

FAILURE TO DISCLOSE

It is common knowledge that top Trump officials Kushner and David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador in Tel Aviv, made sizable donations to support Israel’s West Bank settlements, all of which are illegal under international law. But Newsweek revealed on Dec. 3 that Kushner failed to disclose in U.S. government ethics forms his role as a director of his family’s foundation from 2006-2015, a period in which it funded Israeli settlements. “The failure to disclose his role in the foundation—at a time when he was being tasked with serving as the president’s Middle East peace envoy—follows a pattern of egregious omissions that would bar any other official from continuing to serve in the West Wing,” Newsweek reported, citing experts and government officials. The Kushner foundation donated at least $58,000 for construction and other purposes in settlements between 2011 and 2013. “Had Kushner included the role in his financial records, his involvement in such donations—and the following conflicts of interest that could possibly arise in his government position—may have been considered by the Office of Government Ethics,” according to Newsweek.

“PEACE” PLAN

Given the systematic lack of accountability for senior U.S. officials, dating back decades, there is little reason to expect that anything short of an indictment will remove Kushner from his role. And the more that is known about the “peace plan” he is helping forge, the clearer it is that Kushner and his colleagues are simply mouthpieces for Netanyahu. On Dec. 3, The New York Times characterized the as yet unpublished plan in the following terms: “The Palestinians

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

would get a state of their own but only noncontiguous parts of the West Bank and only limited sovereignty over their own territory. The vast majority of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which most of the world considers illegal, would remain. The Palestinians would not be given East Jerusalem as their capital and there would be no right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.” These were the elements reportedly conveyed to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in November with an ultimatum that he accept them or resign. These ideas are so far below what any Palestinian could ever accept that even Abbas was “alarmed and visibly upset” by the Saudi proposal, according to an official from his Fatah party cited by the Times. The White House has denied that its plan has been finalized, and Saudi Arabia denied it supported such positions, according to the Times. But the newspaper provides ample reason to doubt those denials, noting that: “the main points of the Saudi proposal as told to Mr. Abbas were confirmed by many people briefed on the discussions between Mr. Abbas and Prince Mohammad, including Mr. [Ahmad] Yousef, the senior Hamas leader; Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Parliament; several Western officials; a senior Fatah official; a Palestinian official in Lebanon; a senior Lebanese official; and a Lebanese politician, among others.” The Saudis have been pressuring the Palestinians to capitulate to Israel evidently to clear the Palestinian cause out of the way so that the growing Saudi-Israeli alliance aimed at Iran can be brought fully into the open. One element of the plan reportedly includes giving Palestinians a capital in the village of Abu Dis, instead of Jerusalem. This is a revival of a 1990s fantasy in which the small village would be renamed “al-Quds” and declared the “capital of Palestine,” while the real city of Jerusalem is swallowed up by Israel. Israel currently uses part of Abu Dis as an illegal garbage dump. ■ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

conference-ad_23-24_Jan-Feb 2018 Conference Ad 12/8/17 1:18 PM Page 23

Here are just some of the incredible speakers coming this year! Rabab Abdulhadi is an associate professor of Ethnic Studies/Race and Resistance Studies and the senior scholar of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative, at the College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University (SFSU). She is the only professor named as a defendant in the lawsuit Mandel v. San Francisco State University, in which ILYH 6)68 VWXGHQWV DOOHJH WKDW WKH VFKRRO KDV Â³V\VWHPDWLFDOO\ LQVWLOOHGÂ´ DQWL-Jewish hostility on campus. The case, prepared by the Israel affinity organization The Lawfare Project, was dismissed Nov. 8 by federal Judge William H. Orrick. Gideon Levy is a columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz, which he joined in 1982. He spent four years as the QHZVSDSHUÂ¶V GHSXW\ HGLWRU DQG LV FXUUHQWO\ D PHPEHU RI LWV HGLWRULDO ERDUG +H LV ZLGHO\ FRQVLGHUHG WKH Â³GHDQÂ´ RI ,VUDHOL MRXrnalismÂ²DV ZHOO DV Â³WKH PRVW KDWHG PDQ LQ ,VUDHO Â´ $V /HY\ KDV ZULWWHQ Â³7UHDWLQJ WKH 3DOHVWLQLDQV DV YLFWLPV DQG WKH FULPHV SHUSH WUDWHG DJDLQVW WKHP DV FULPHV LV FRQVLGHUHG WUHDVRQRXV Â´ Levy writes the weekly Twilight Zone feature, which covers the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza over the last 30 years, as well political editorials for the newspaper. His columns about politics, money, how Israel's military occupation is changing Israeli society and about U.S.-Israel relations are widely read and discussed around the world. Jefferson Morley LV D YHWHUDQ :DVKLQJWRQ LQYHVWLJDWLYH UHSRUWHU DQG WKH DXWKRU RI WKH 6W 0DUWLQÂ¶V 3UHVV ERRN The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton. 7KH ERRN VKHGV QHZ OLJKW RQ $QJOHWRQÂ¶V ZLOOLQJ QHVV WR VXERUGLQDWH 8 6 LQWHUHVWV WR WKRVH RI ,VUDHO ZLWKLQ WKH &,$ FLWLQJ VXFK FDVHV DV ,VUDHOÂ¶V DWWDFN RQ WKH 866 Liberty and the diversion of U.S. government-owned weapons-grade uranium from Apollo, PA to Israel in the 1960s. M.J. Rosenberg is a writer, primarily on matters relating to Israel. His latest is "Sorry, Democrats: Your NRA Is Spelled AIPAC." He is a regular contributor to The Nation and Huffington Post, with his writing widely reprinted throughout the world. He has special expertise on the Israel Lobby, having been employed by several pro-,VUDHO RUJDQL]DWLRQV EHWZHHQ DQG DQG DQG +LV ODVW SRVW ZDV DV HGLWRU RI $,3$&Â¶V Near East Report and as senior adviser to then-Executive Director Thomas Dine. Virginia Tilley is a professor of political science at Southern Illinois University, and co-DXWKRU RI WKH UHSRUW Â³,VUDHOL 3UDFWLFHV WRZDUGV WKH 3DOHVWLQLDQ 3HRSOH DQG WKH 4XHVWLRQ RI $SDUWKHLG Â´ FRPPLVVLRQHG E\ WKH (FRQRPLF DQG 6RFLDO &RPPLVVLRQ IRU Western Asia (ESCWA) of the United Nations. The report, co-authored by Prof. Richard Falk, finds that Israel is imposing an Â³DSDUWKHLG UHJLPHÂ´ RQ 3DOHVWLQLDQV Barry Trachtenberg is the Michael R. and Deborah K. Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History and an associate professor of history at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. On Nov. 7, 2017, he testified before a +RXVH -XGLFLDU\ &RPPLWWHH KHDULQJ RQ Â³([DPLQLQJ $QWL-6HPLWLVP RQ &ROOHJH &DPSXVHV Â´ +H WROG WKH FRPPLWWHH WKDW ,W LV increasingly common to hear reports that a new anti-Semitism threatens to endanger students on a scale not seen since the 6HFRQG :RUOG :DU DQG WKH +RORFDXVWÂ«KRZHYHU WKH\ DUH PRWLYDWHG OHVV E\ DQ DFWXDO WKUHDW IDFHG E\ $PHULFDQ RU ZRUOG Jewry, than they are part of a persistent campaign to thwart debates, scholarly research, and political action that is critical of the state of Israel."

Location

Stay tuned for future announcements!

The National Press Club building is located at 529 14th St. NW, Washington, DC 20045.

Tickets and Event Updates Get tickets online and official event updates on the web at: http://www.IsraelLobbyandAmericanPolicy.org Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/USIsraelLobby Follow @WRMEA and @IRmep on Twitter for updates.

Organizers

conference-ad_23-24_Jan-Feb 2018 Conference Ad 12/8/17 1:18 PM Page 24

National Press Club Ballroom & Exhibition Hall March 2, 2018 8AM-5PMÂ˛Networking Reception follows until 7PM The Israel Lobby and American Policy conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, IRmep. Attendees receive a box lunch. and a beverage ticket for the post-conference reception Same day registration is $199

Fax to: (202) 265-4574 (if paying by credit card) Mail to: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs 1902 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009

Conference Registration Form $89 Year-End Special rate. (Ends 1HZ <HDUÂśV (YH Limited quantities of tickets are available. Please send my ticket to the e-mail below. I understand seating is limited and agree to abide by National Press Club and conference rules.*

$99 Regular rate. My registration will be delivered on or before 2/23/2018. Please send my ticket confirmation to the email below. I understand seating is limited and agree to abide by National Press Club and conference rules.*

Attendee Information First Name**

I would like to make an additional taxexempt contribution of $__________to the conference fund of the AET Library Endowment, which publishes the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, which are the sole organizers of this conference.

Last Name**

Students enrolled in college or university and members of news organizations can apply for free entry by registering online at: IsraelLobbyandAmericanPolicy.org

Salutation (Mr. Mrs. Dr. Ms. Miss)

Name as you wish it to appear on your badge; please include any title or organizational affiliation which may be applicable**

Address**

City**

State**

Phone**(at least one associated with payment card)

Zip**

Email**

Business Phone

Mobile Phone

Home Phone

Payment Card Information $PH[ 9LVD 0DVWHU&DUG &KHFN HQFORVHG SD\DEOH WR $(7 /LEUDU\ (QGRZPHQW ZLWK Âł FRQIHUHQFHÂ´ in memo (not payee) line.

Card#***

Expiration Date***

Name as it appears on Card***

Security Code***

Signature***

Billing address associated with payment card, if different from attendee address*** **See venue and conference rules at http://israellobbyandamericanpolicy.org/Tickets_Registration/ ***Required attendee information ***Required information if a payment card is used 2UJDQL]HUV HVWLPDWH WKH ÂłLQ-NLQGÂ´ YDOXH RI HDFK WLFNHW WKH FRVW RI IRRG DQG EHYHUDJH DW The remainder plus any extra donation should be fully tax-deductible to most attendees and donors. Rev. 12/04/2017

wann_25-26_Special Report 12/8/17 6:56 PM Page 25

Special Report

Egypt, Israel and Jordan Combine to Make Travel Nearly Impossible for Gaza Students

By Ghada Ahmed

PHOTO PAM BAILEY

STUDYING ABROAD IS a dream for many students around the world. Typically, the most challenging part of making that dream a reality is securing a scholarship that will pay all or most of the tuition, fees, and room and board. Once they are selected, however, the difficult part for most students is over; getting a visa to visit their host country, booking an airline ticket and departing for their new, temporary home requires some work, but rarely poses major barriers. For a Palestinian in Gaza, however, it’s a totally different story. Getting a scholarship is perhaps the easiest step—since there’s no guarantee you’ll ever be able to use it. Palestine has no airport (Gaza had one for all of two years before it was destroyed in an Israeli missile strike), and we are not allowed to operate a seaport, despite our long coastline. Thus, there are only two ways to travel in The Erez terminal constructed by Israel to control who goes in and out of Gaza is built on and out of Gaza: via the Rafah Crossing, con- Palestinian land, but Palestinians are not welcome there. Thus, youths often protest by attrolled by Egypt, and the Erez Crossing, con- tempting to plant their flag by the cage-like fence. trolled by Israel. Rafah is closed to the world sically saying it will allow the holder to enter the country for 48 most of the time; in fact, this year it has opened only 28 days hours to fly out of Amman. (Palestinians are not allowed to use through October. (The Egyptian government promised that the Israeli airport, Ben-Gurion.) Note that Palestinian residents Rafah will stay open now that a “unity” government has taken of the West Bank are not required to obtain the same permit to control of Gaza from Hamas, but violence in the Sinai has proenter Jordan; this restriction is for Gazans only. And without a vided an excuse to keep it mostly shut.) And even when Rafah letter from Jordan, applying for an Erez permit is out of the quesis open, most Palestinians must pay a bribe of $3,000 or more tion. This raises a question: Is Jordan enforcing Israel’s policy? to be assured a place on the list of allowed travelers. Thus, Erez Who is protecting whom? has become Gaza’s only gateway for those who cannot wait inIn earlier years, we could take a taxi from a station in Shujaiya definitely. or Palestine Square (Midan Falasteen) in Gaza to the Allenby In June, along with three other friends, I was awarded a scholBridge, which crosses into Jordan. The journey took two hours arship to study audiovisual translation at Hamad bin Khalifa Unior less, and students and workers traveling to other Arab counversity in Qatar. I remember so clearly the day we received the tries regularly crossed the bridge. A permit to enter Jordan, while news. When I saw that e-mail in my inbox, my tears found their required, was a formality only, one easily and quickly obtained. way down my face. “We DID it!” I shouted to one of my friends. But that has changed. I eagerly awaited the start of the semester on Aug. 20. I had After the Oslo accords were signed in 1993 and the Palestinnever tried to leave Gaza before, and I had no idea of the torturian Authority created the following year, Gaza residents were alous journey upon which I was embarking. lowed to exit only through Israeli-controlled Erez. Permits to Before applying for a permit to exit Gaza through Erez, Palesenter Jordan were routinely issued within a day or two—until tinians first must obtain a “no-objection” letter from Jordan, baaround August 2015. Why did Jordan suddenly start making it Ghada Ahmed is Gaza correspondent for WeAreNotNumbers.org. so difficult to enter its country? No one has been able to get a JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

25

wann_25-26_Special Report 12/8/17 6:56 PM Page 26

straight answer. According to Human Rights Watch staff, “We hear informally that Jordan doesn’t want to be asked to ‘solve Gaza’s problem’ or be seen as an alternative to Egypt for crossing.”

To add insult to injury, the Jordanian authorities recently extended the time required before a new application can be filed to six months. I had a feeling I was doomed.

REJECTION WITHOUT EXPLANATION

SUCCESSIVE DEPRESSING ATTEMPTS

In late June, I submitted the required documents and paid about $40 to Friends for Express Transportation, which is the only official agent in Gaza authorized to process requests for no-objection letters. Several days later, I was informed that the Jordanian General Intelligence Department had accepted my application, and I was over the moon—gullibly thinking I had been approved. However, a message sent three days later by the Jordanian Liaison Office in Ramallah stated, “We regret to inform you that your application was not accepted.” It was a horrible shock! When I asked why, I was informed that the Jordanian Borders and Residence Department makes the final decision, with no explanation required. It has the right to reject us, but we have no right to know the reasons for depriving us of our dreams and our future.

IndextoAdvertisers Alalusi Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 American Friends of Birzeit University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover The Israel Lobby and American Policy 2018 Conference . . . . . . . . 21 Kinder USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Mashrabiya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Middle East Children’s Alliance. . . . 33 Mondoweiss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Muslim Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Palestinian Medical Relief Society . 13 United Palestinian Appeal (UPA) . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover 26

Armed with my Qatari visa, I applied to exit via Rafah in case it opened. (A visa issued by another country is necessary to apply to leave Gaza through Rafah; fortunately, I had received it via e-mail after submitting my information—a much easier process than the United States requirement that Palestinians travel to Jerusalem for an interview, possible only if Israel agrees.) I was assigned spot No. 16,798. That’s how many other people were waiting to get out. Even if the crossing opened, I’d never make it. In late August, I contacted the Palestinian ambassador in Qatar, begging him to help me get the no-objection letter from Jordan. He kindly agreed, and the Jordanian authorities received an application on my behalf on Sept. 6. Meanwhile, I stayed in constant touch with my assigned professors in Qatar, trying to follow the lectures using the university’s distance-learning system and to submit the assignments. If I could make it there, I didn’t want to be too far behind. Anxious waiting dominated my days. Strangely enough, the Palestinian website that tracks requests to exit through Erez showed that my application to leave was on file, indicating that a Jordanian letter had been submitted without anyone’s knowledge. But despite repeated inquiries, no approval to exit came. Then, on Oct. 8, I received an e-mail from the university’s coordinator of master’s programs stating, “In accordance with university policies, your late presence is not accepted and you can no longer join the Translation and Interpretation Institute.” I plunged into the depths of despair; my efforts for the last three months had been in vain.

A TOUGH CHALLENGE

You may be wondering about my three friends from Gaza who received the same scholarship from Qatar. Two suffered the same fate I did. The other, Doaa, surpris-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

ingly received the Jordanian letter, and then a permit to exit Gaza through Erez. On that day, I tweeted: “It is with a combination of grief and joy that one of my closest friends has just left Gaza. We were supposed to leave together.” She was fortunate to make it to the university in time. In October, it was reported that, on average, Gazans were forced to wait 23 working days for a permit for medical treatment, 50 days for family concerns or work appointments, and 70 days for other cases like studying. When a permit is issued, you’re notified the night before your departure date, leaving hardly any time to pack and say your good-byes. Thus, an airline ticket can only be purchased at the last minute, when it is most expensive. To make matters even worse, Israeli authorities adopted a new rule effective Aug. 1: When Palestinians do exit Gaza, they may not carry electronic devices (including laptops, a necessity for students), food, hard-sided luggage, toiletries, medicine, and even perfume and makeup. They must travel to Amman hungry, and buy new supplies at their destination—an expensive burden for an impoverished Gazan. Added to all that is a new mandate that all Gazans exiting via Erez must sign an agreement not to return for at least one year. While discussing my woes with one of the officers at Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, one of them told me, “Ghada, you are braving significant obstacles in order to study. But thank God you aren’t a cancer patient, for instance. You can try again, but how long can a terminally ill patient wait?” We are supposed to feel blessed for not being in an even worse situation! It’s now the middle of November, and there has been no progress in my case. Egypt, Jordan and Israel play with the lives of Gazans just like a game of dominos. “If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story,” Orson Welles once wrote. But in Gaza, there is no happy ending, no matter where you stop the story. Each time a glimmer of hope tries to put down roots, it shatters into pieces. ■ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

January/February 2018 issue 12/8/17 10:55 AM Page 27

(Advertisement)

Read R ea d

MON DOWEI SS

News N ews & opinion o pin io n y you an ttrust o u ccan rust about Palestine, United a bo ut P alestin e, Israel Israel & the the U n ited States States MONDOWEISS M O N D O W EI S S . N NET ET

E - SUBSCRIBE SU BSCRI BE

FOLLOW F O LLO W

omer_28-29_Gaza on the Ground 12/8/17 6:43 PM Page 28

Gaza on the Ground

From Amateurs to Entrepreneurs: Social Media Changing Gazans’ Lives

By Mohammed Omer

HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/14DFTER/

resources. Despite this, the youths of Gaza hold their heads high. Gaza is very well connected, informed, and alert regarding global events. One American filmmaker traveling to Gaza told me, “Even the latest music hits from California—Gaza youth get to know about them before us people living in the neighborhood!” There are several Instagram stars in Palestine’s blockaded Gaza Strip, with followers from around the globe looking not only at images of innovation and creativity, but Palestinian traditions, culture, crafts and cuisine as well. Gaza is also home to a new type of entrepreneur—a new generation of Internet-savvy youths now finding ways to make money, online. For example, people from all over A sampling of graphic designer Mohammed Hammed’s hand-made notebooks. the world who want a personalized 2018 notebook come to 24-year-old Mohammed Hammed. A self-taught graphic designer, MoISRAEL’S DENIAL OF freedom of travel to Gaza’s two million hammed runs Dfter and designs and creates hand-made noteresidents has created a new psychological reality—one that debooks. Online customers can select their own colors, fonts and fies the walls and gates around them, and enables them to travel covers. the world and exercise their freedoms. Indeed, their thirst for life “With the lack of jobs and the unemployment in Gaza, I deand human rights is stronger than ever. Social media is the cided to use my design talent to start my own business,” means, and Instagram the space where there are no homeless Hammed explained. people, no Israeli missiles, and no electricity blackouts. Instead, Personalized notebooks cost between $2 and $5. He started one sees Gaza in joyful colors. his business and own brand through Instagram and Facebook. The United Nations has warned that Gaza will be unsutainable The start-up is doing well: Hammed has already repaid the debts and uninhabitable by 2020 as the result of 10 years of Israeli he incurred to launch his business. A local shipping company deblockade, economic starvation, and three devastating wars and livers the finished products to people’s doorsteps. Israeli military attacks, affecting every aspect of life in Gaza. Yet However, Hammed still hopes his business can be expanded the new generation is interacting via the Internet, and can see imto a wider world of customers, once Israel lifts its blockade of ages of life from Europe and the Arab world. Perhaps the only Gaza. He has no doubt that he can provide orders internationpeople who are content with the long-term, ongoing conditions in ally. Gaza are the Israeli people, who covet the land of Palestine and its The most popular notebook cover is “Ana bedei asafer”—or, “I want to travel.” Award-winning journalist Mohammed Omer reports regularly on the Gaza Strip. Follow him on Twitter: @MoGaza. Social media technology brings so much accessible work28

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

omer_28-29_Gaza on the Ground 12/8/17 8:16 PM Page 29

space to besieged Gazans, as Gaza universities continue to produce thousands of fresh, enthusiastic and progressive graduates into the constricted workforce. Both Gaza Sky Geeks and Gaza Gateway have pioneered outsourcing technology services to international clients. Within Gaza, social media-based commerce and advertising also are creating new market opportunities. One might wonder at the exciting possibilities available as one scrolls down the Instagram page of Amany Kahlout, who has more than 30,000 followers. For her, Instagram was a space to share good food and coffee—but Kahlout soon saw an opportunity to enter the business side, by sharing information on beauty and cosmetics, including her sister-in-law’s makeup talents. A week later, more than 30 brides connected with her, and rushed to her in-laws’ salon. Now she can bring goods from abroad, including chocolates and kitchen items, to sell in Gaza.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Of course, these impressive examples of innovative success and survival do not change the reality on the ground that 60 percent of Gaza’s young people and 40 percent of its adults are unemployed, according to the World Bank. Another Gazan who started on social media is Mohammed Qatrawi. Fed up with trying to find work in Gaza, he used social media to create his own digital marketing company in 2015. Now he runs a platform from Gaza for online marketing for small to medium-size projects. “It was an uneasy decision initially, as going to freelance work was never a simple choice, given the major risks. It also requires much continuous dedication and hard work,” Qatrawi said. “Now, I’m proud to have succeeded,” he added, “and my company has built a network of local and international clients.” The negative aspect of this trend is when Gaza journalists resort to using their Instagram and Facebook outlets to promote commercial products. A qualified female (Advertisement)

journalist who never found employment in her field has more than 100,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts ads for medications, food and restaurant services—and receives $13 per post. But she is earning a living, which is not easy to do in Gaza. For people like Hammed, however, social media provides a rare opportunity to use his talent and bring in extra cash. “I hope the business continues to grow—to support my parents, but also make everyone happy through my art work,” he says, as the orders pour in. Over 95 percent of his clients are women, who like his personalized art and design work. Many of Gaza’s new entrepreneurs hope eventually to expand beyond the confines of the besieged enclave. “At this stage, we will use our minds—no need for foreign aid,” said Qatrawi as he managed his 130,000 Facebook followers. But to him it is more than a business—it is a form of dignity and freedom, and evidence of a savvy new generation of resilient Palestinians. ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

29

hasson_30-31_Special Report 12/8/17 6:50 PM Page 30

Special Report

Tens of Thousands of Palestinians Entitled to Israeli Citizenship By Nir Hasson

LIOR MIZRAHI/GETTY IMAGES

which was conferred on East Jerusalem’s Palestinians shortly after the Six-Day War in 1967, was supposed to be a temporary solution for the Arabs already living there when Israel annexed it. But it remains in force until this day. Moreover, this status was granted under the Entry into Israel Law—as if these Arabs had entered Israel rather than the state entering their lands. This status creates numerous problems. Permanent residents must repeatedly visit the Interior Ministry’s crowded East Jerusalem office to prove they still live there, or to replace lost documents or change their address. They can’t vote in national elections and, above all, permanent residency is relatively easily revoked. For decades, very few Palestinians A Palestinian shows his identity card to an Israeli policeman in Jerusalem’s Old City, Oct. 7, 2015. sought Israeli citizenship, viewing it as recognition of Israeli rule of the city. In recent years, though, due to economic, social and political changes OSAMA ABU KHALAF flew to Rome last year. Like other Palesin Palestinian society, the number of citizenship applications has tinian residents of East Jerusalem, he isn’t an Israeli citizen and risen steadily—from 200 in 2006 to over 1,000 last year. therefore has no Israeli passport, just a laissez-passer (tempoBut the application process is very lengthy, very bureaucratic rary travel permit). and very difficult, so few Palestinians ultimately succeed in re“The clerk at the airport in Rome saw that under nationality it ceiving citizenship. stated ‘Undefined,’” Abu Khalaf, 27, recalled. “She asked if I’m All applicants must prove their center of life is in Israel; that a refugee—she thought I was Syrian. I said, ‘I’m not a refugee. I they have lived in Israel for three of the last five years; and that live where I was born, but it’s occupied territory.’ It’s very humilithey have a “strong, constant affiliation with Jerusalem.” ating to be without citizenship.” To achieve this, they must submit dozens of documents, from “I didn’t migrate from anywhere to anywhere,” he added. “It’s water, electricity and municipal tax bills to school registration the state that came to us, not we to it.” forms. They also must pass a Shin Bet security service check Abu Khalaf has been trying to obtain Israeli citizenship ever since and have no criminal record—Abu Khalaf’s application, for inhe turned 18. But like thousands of other East Jerusalem residents, stance, was delayed for five years because of a minor criminal he has repeatedly been turned down, on various pretexts. case involving a dispute with a neighbor. Only recently did he discover that under a forgotten clause of In addition, applicants must demonstrate proficiency in Hethe Citizenship Law—which was enacted precisely to solve the brew—even though Arabic is an official language in Israel—and problem of stateless people like him—he should have been given those with Jordanian citizenship must prove they have sent a letcitizenship almost automatically. But the Interior Ministry ignores ter to the Jordanian Embassy renouncing it. this provision, which could result in thousands of Palestinian resFinally, if all of their documents are approved, they must go to idents from East Jerusalem receiving citizenship very quickly. the Interior Ministry office and swear loyalty to Israel. Some 37 percent of Jerusalem residents are defined not as IsAll of the above requirements stem from Article 5 of the Citiraeli citizens but as permanent residents of Israel. This status, zenship Law. But Article 4a, enacted in 1968, allows a Palestinian Copyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved. who was born in Israel and has no other citizenship to obtain Is30

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

hasson_30-31_Special Report 12/8/17 6:50 PM Page 31

raeli citizenship almost automatically—as long as he applies between his 18th and 23rd birthdays, has been an Israeli resident for the previous five years, hasn’t been convicted of a security crime and hasn’t been sentenced to five years or more in jail for any non-security crime. This provision was irrelevant for the first 20 years, because East Jerusalem Palestinians were still officially Jordanian citizens. In 1988, however, Jordan stripped all Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem of Jordanian citizenship. Today, therefore, tens of thousands of young Palestinians meet the requirements of Article 4a. Nevertheless, not a single person has been granted citizenship under this provision, and the Interior Ministry admits it doesn’t even have a procedure for processing applications under Article 4a. Rami Yovel is one of several lawyers who have been trying to change this, so far to no avail. In 2012, he petitioned the High Court of Justice on behalf of Nadel Rashaq, who was born in East Jerusalem

in 1993, grew up in Be’er Sheva and only discovered she wasn’t an Israeli citizen when she tried to enlist in the army and was rejected on that ground. Though the state initially opposed her petition, saying she had not proved that the center of her life was in Israel or that she had no other citizenship, Rashaq was suddenly granted citizenship under Article 5, prior to the first hearing taking place. Yovel is convinced this speedy action was taken in order to prevent the court from ruling on his Article 4a claims. About a year ago, Yovel filed a similar petition on behalf of Nasser al-Fakir, a 21year-old Bedouin from Be’er Sheva who, like thousands of other Bedouin, never received Israeli citizenship even though all his relatives are citizens. The first hearing will be held early next year. Abu Khalaf’s lawyer, Adi Lustigman, said that when she tried to obtain citizenship for her client under Article 4a, an Interior Ministry official told her, “It wasn’t meant for minorities.”

But Dr. Amnon Ramon, who recently published a book (in Hebrew) on the legal status of East Jerusalem residents, is convinced Article 4a was meant to resolve the problem of East Jerusalem Palestinians. True, it was submitted to the Knesset before the Six-Day War even began—to fulfill Israel’s obligations under the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness—but it was passed months after the war ended. Ramon charged that the Interior Ministry simply doesn’t want to use it because it would result in many more Palestinians potentially receiving citizenship. Lustigman, meanwhile, noted that the law is unlikely to apply to Jews, since even new immigrants were never officially stateless in their country of origin. The Interior Ministry declined to respond to a number of questions by saying only: “Over the past 10 years, no applications for citizenship have been filed under Article 4a of the Citizenship Law. This clause of the law is an active article, but it isn’t widely used.” ■

(Advertisement)

#$%$&'()* *+&,-%.(+, /01+2'+3435)65+4(-3')7+5)%,)+561%,)(,).1(')$(738 13)%,-)9):($$)$(43)$(;3)<5+.135')(,).13),3=.>?)@ A5+613.)B&1%22%-)C&6+,)1(2)<3)63%D3E) Alalusi Foundation has provided one‐year sponsorships to over 4,543 Orphans in Iraq 567689:;<=8>?7@:=>;:9;A7B:>C;D=B;=EFB;GHIJJ;KBLM7>9;:>;NB7O; ;

$50 PQJ;R;;LB=E:?F9;=>F;S=>@MT9;989@F>7>AF;D=B;=>F;AM:6?U;; $600 PQJJ;R;V:66;LB=E:?F;G;WF7BT9;X79:A;98LL=B@;D=B;G;AM:6?U; Y7>@;@=;98LL=B@;7;D7S:6WZ;[F@T9;@76\]; 567689:;<=8>?7@:=>;:9;7;^JG_A`_a`;AM7B:@7X6F;=BC7>:b7@:=> ;;

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

,-.-/01234/56.7145289.:2;9<=.502>94?@A7 BCDE2F.7145.-2,G@HI222J.KL.962M,2CNENE OEBPQ2RRDST374222222215U4V.-.-/01U4/56.7145H49W

LLLH.-.-/01U4/56.7145H49W ;c=>7@F;97DF6W;=>6:>F;V:@M;d7WL76] c=>7@:=>9;;@7eR?F?8A@:X6F;@=;@MF;D866;Fe@F>@;=D;@MF;67V;;;;;f7e;Nc;g;hGRiG^I^GI

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

31

williams_32-33_United Nations Report 12/8/17 7:07 PM Page 32

United Nations Report

70 Years Later, Israel Continues to Ignore What It Doesn’t Like in Partition Resolution

By Ian Williams

JACK DOWNEY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

details for the committee members—who, minutes show, were already predisposed to see the Jewish refugees and settlers in a very sympathetic light. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently discovered the papers of Paul Mohn, Sweden’s deputy representative to the commission. David Horowitz, the Jewish Agency emissary to the U.N., wrote at the time that Mohn is the person “who more than anyone else established the boundaries of the future Hebrew state.” It has always been a mystery why delegates thought it was acceptable to draw boundaries in complete disregard to the wishes, and in some cases even the existence, of the actual population living there. Mohn seems to have been the actual drafter of the gerrymandered boundaries, and his papers explain his partiality to Zionist demands, based on family revulsion against anti-Semitism going back to the The Zionist Labor Convention’s ceremony in New York celebrating the adoption of U.N. Reso- Dreyfus case and exacerbated as it obvilution 181 partitioning Palestine, Nov. 29, 1947. ously was for committee members by the recent Nazi genocide. Mohn’s papers seem to indicate that it was only at the end of its IT IS NOW 70 years since the U.N. General Assembly voted for mission, when it had been persuaded to recommend partition, that Resolution 181 to partition Palestine between an Arab and a Jewthe committee realized that it was supposed to map the actual ish state. When pro-Israel commentators demand to know why the boundaries, which Mohn undertook almost singlehandedly. U.N. is “obsessed” with Israel and the Middle East question, this is But that does not explain their insouciance toward the very exwhy. The partition of Mandatory Palestine and dispossession of istence, let alone the rights, of the Bedouin, who were the majorits people are the original sins of the world organization when it ity inhabitants of the Negev—which the committee handed over to collectively overrode the very principles it had just written into its the Jewish state despite a complete absence of Jews there!—let charter. alone to the sensibilities of the Palestinians gerrymandered into a The Arab side understandably boycotted the U.N.’s Special 45 percent minority in cantons with 55 percent Jews. Looking at Committee on Palestine. After all, they were being invited to help their comments at the time it is chillingly clear that the committee map out the cuts for their own vivisection and did not agree with members did not idealistically expect the Arabs and Jews to live the process, since it did flout most of the principles for which the happily ever after in binational harmony. Not at all. The Palestinipost-War U.N. was supposed to stand. However, firm principles ans were supposed to take the hint and move out, as of course are not always conducive to sound policy, and the Palestinian many of them did, when the hint was reinforced with bayonets and absence allowed the Zionist side to shape the agenda and the news of the massacre at Deir Yassin. For extra resonance, we should also remember that it was U.N. correspondent Ian Williams is the author of UNtold: the Real Mohn’s maps and recommendations to make Jerusalem a corpus Story of the United Nations (available from Middle East Books and More). separatum under U.N. trusteeship that results in Israel’s claimed 32

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

williams_32-33_United Nations Report 12/8/17 7:07 PM Page 33

capital to be a diplomatic desert devoid of embassies. You will not be surprised that this and other inconvenient sections of 181 were overlooked when Vice President Mike Pence joined the bumptious Israeli ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, in celebrating the 70th anniversary. Those celebrations notwithstanding, Israeli celebration of Resolution 181 tends to be ambivalent. Back in 1947, its passage was greeted with enthusiasm as the foundation of the Jewish state, but since then, there is that Jerusalem thing. How do you celebrate a resolution that explicitly bars you from control of your “eternal capital”? That was compounded a year later when Resolution 194, passed almost simultaneously with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, enshrined the right of return or compensation to the dispossessed Palestinians. Israel’s response, which could be discounted, and that of its American patron, which is harder to sideline, has been to diminish the legitimacy of the U.N. General Assembly, particularly since Washington lost its guaranteed majority in the 1960s with the influx of newly independent nations. It is now firmly asserted that Assembly resolutions are not legally binding. Inadvertently expressing his country’s ambivalence, Ambassador Danon on the one hand denounces the U.N. as totally biased against Israel, while on the other trumpeting every minor voting success it has. In 2016, he wrote to the secretary-general asking for kosher food in U.N. catering to “ensure that the parliament of nations be open and respectful to the traditions of the Jewish people.” Fair enough—if he could ensure that Israeli politicians paid heed to the parliament of nations! It is not as if Israel has been particularly good at following Security Council resolutions, let alone those of the General Assembly!

dan’s Hashemite dynasty has not always been closely associated with human rights, nor even those of Palestinians, but those of us who saw Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein at work, for example on the Balkans, are not so surprised by the effective and independent work he is now doing as High Commissioner of Human Rights, in the face of relentless pressure from the Saudis, who have reportedly called Amman to ask King Abdullah to rein in his brother, and of course from the West and Israel. Currently he is holding steady on the completion of a database of companies operating in Israel’s West Bank settlements. The U.N. Human Rights Council ordered its compilation in March of 2016, mandating the OHCHR to “investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on Palestinians.” Hundreds of companies have been approached, and neither they nor their Israeli hosts are happy. Israel and its friends failed to stop the database research, but as the irrepressible Danon put it to The Associated Press, “We will do everything we can to ensure that this list does not see the light of day.” Washington’s permanent representative, Nikki Haley, in her avatar as joint representative for AIPAC and Danon, can be relied upon to bring the White House into the fray, but so far it is going ahead. If or when published, it will be an authoritative guide for BDS supporters worldwide

to fine tune their decisions. It also presents an interesting dilemma for the U.S., whose diplomats are frequently at the fore in denouncing human rights violations—often deservedly so. Its ultimate weapon would be to walk out of the Human Rights Council—but the U.S. has been voted off in the past, and the Council survived long enough for Washington to use some unseemly pressure to get back on again! If it did walk out, Israel would be left with “supporters” who abstain when their arms are twisted by the U.S. and who thus could not be guaranteed to hold the line in Washington’s absence. Even though it’s been a long time since anyone expected consistency or logic from any U.S. administration, what type of international profile will it present if it tries to stop publication of information on which companies are operating in territory which the State Department considers occupied, and in settlements which the Security Council and the International Court of Justice have deemed illegal? To bring us back to the beginning, Vice President Pence, attending (of course) the Israeli mission’s celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Resolution 181, was explaining why in June President Donald Trump, like all his predecessors, signed a waiver to legislation mandating the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. It was, of course, because of 181’s clauses on Jerusalem! ■

(Advertisement)

THE BDS DATABASE

With so many important members of the U.N. in effect deciding that they do not have a dog in the fight on issues of principle, like the Palestinian question, it is heartening to see the work of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). JorJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

A PProject roject of Middle East Children’s Children’s Alliance

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

33

views-Iran_34-36_Two Views 12/8/17 7:08 PM Page 34

Two Views

The Continuing Drumbeat for War on Iran

miliar phenomenon of rallying around the flag. Iranians are rallying around their flag today. By Paul R. Pillar A variant of this first phenomenon—again with numerous examples throughout history—is the picking of fights with outsiders AN IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCE of the unrelenting, unqualias a way for a ruler to muster more united domestic support than fied hostility toward Iran that Donald Trump has made a centerhe otherwise would enjoy. Mohammed bin Salman, the young aupiece of his foreign policy is described in an article by Thomas thoritarian prince who now Erdbrink of The New York makes Saudi Arabia’s policies, Times about the impact of that is picking fights with Iran—the policy on the Iranian public. other day he likened Iranian Erdbrink summarizes the overSupreme Leader Ali Khamenei all effect: “In short, it appears to Hitler—partly in the hope of that Mr. Trump and the Saudis making his remarkably audahave helped the government cious internal power grab sucachieve what years of represceed. There may be something sion could never accomplish: of the same motivation for Donwidespread public support for ald Trump, although as with his the hard-line view that the domestic policies, he is more United States and Riyadh caninterested in the loyalty of a not be trusted and that Iran is narrow political base than in now a strong and capable state winning broader support. capable of staring down its enThe other fundamental emies.” process is the tendency of Such an effect is unsurprishard-line views, and those who ing. Nor are the underlying dypropound them, to prevail namics unique to Iran. Two against more moderate alterfundamental processes are at natives in the face of an exterwork in Iran to produce the efnal threat. To preach about the fect Erdbrink is observing. Both malevolence and untrustworare foreshadowed by many thiness of a foreign power is, in earlier experiences of countries Iran as in the United States that felt especially threatened and other countries, a defining by a foreign power. One is the tendency of na- A Shi’i Muslim Iranian on his way to the central Iraqi shrine city of Kar- characteristic of being a hardtions to unite and to overcome bala shows his T-shirt bearing the images of Iran’s former and current liner. Erdbrink quotes a hardinternal differences in the face Supreme Leaders, Ayatollahs Ruhollah Khomeini (l) and Ali Khamenei, line Iranian political analyst named Hamidreza Taraghi as of such a threat. This is the fa- Oct. 28, 2017. saying, “Thanks to Trump’s Paul R. Pillar is nonresident senior fellow at the Center for Security dishonest, cheating and crazy remarks, he has proved what we Studies at Georgetown University and nonresident senior fellow in have said for a long time: America cannot be trusted. Many didForeign Policy at the Brookings Institution. He is a contributing editor n’t believe us, but now they do.” to The National Interest, <http://nationalinterest.org>, where he This is not just a claim that the hard-liners themselves make. writes a blog. Copyright © 2017 The National Interest. All rights reserved. A liberal-minded theater director in Tehran observes, “We need HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

What U.S. Enmity Has Wrought in Iran

34

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

views-Iran_34-36_Two Views 12/8/17 7:09 PM Page 35

to understand that the U.S. has been playing with us all along. Trump is proving that our hard-liners were right all these years, to say that America cannot be trusted.” A major effect of the Trump administration’s vehement hatred of Iran—and his efforts to confront it—is thus to make Iranians more determined than ever to stay their current course, with more internal unity and political support than ever before. The administration’s hostility naturally engenders negative feelings about the United States in return; it would hardly be a human reaction if they did not. So the administration’s drumbeat message, that Iran is supposedly an implacable and irredeemable foe, is not only counterproductive but also to some degree self-fulfilling. The popular sentiment in Iranian streets and salons is much more than a product of regime propaganda. Despite Trump’s calling a “dictatorship” an Iranian political system that actually is more democratic than most in the Middle East, he is confronting not just a “fanatical regime” but instead a nation that is exhibiting nationalism very similar to what other nations have exhibited, especially in times of externally imposed stress. Iranians also constitute a relatively well-educated nation and can easily see through such Trumpian falsehoods as the allegation that Iran is in cahoots with the Sunni terrorists of al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) rather than carrying much of the burden of fighting against them. Erdbrink notes how one Revolutionary Guard soldier that IS captured and beheaded has become a national hero. The reporter goes on to quote a self-described reformist in his early thirties: “There are many here like me, who don’t care for the Islamic Republic and its rules. But today is about something bigger than that; one of us has been killed. At the same time this American president is breaking our hearts with his rhetoric and threats. We have to choose sides. I choose for my country.” Much of what the Trump administration and some others in the United States routinely label as the “nefarious, malign, destabilizing behavior” of Iran in the Middle East is supported by, and is even a source of pride for, most ordinary Iranians. They understandably see much of this Iranian activity—certainly including the military action against IS—as necessary for national defense and/or a laudable contribution to a larger cause of international security. The same goes for Iran’s development of ballistic missiles. An Iranian sociology professor who is a leading reformist notes that many Iranians, “even those who are completely secular,” cheer missile tests because the tests “are making them feel strong and safe” in the face of growing threats from the United States and Saudi Arabia. What U.S. policy is doing to Iranian public sentiment represents a huge missed opportunity with a proud and intelligent people who otherwise could have been willing and able partners in much that the United States has hoped to accomplish. This follows earlier missed opportunities, especially when the George W. Bush administration slammed the door in the face of an Iran that had been working effectively with the United States against al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban. Now the Trump administraJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

tion, egged on by the rulers of Israel and Saudi Arabia to whom Trump has surrendered the initiative on policy for this part of the world, is trashing rather than building upon the agreement that has successfully restricted the Iranian nuclear program. In this way, the United States is sliding down an endless spiral of conflict, confrontation, and perhaps war.

Netanyahu Needs a War. He Needs It To Be With Iran. And He Needs It Soon. By Bradley Burston

BINYAMIN NETANYAHU NEEDS a war. He needs it to be with Iran. And he needs it soon. Netanyahu needs a war because he’s desperate, and because a war might answer two of his more immediate needs: First, an overarching, delaying-action distraction, and second, in the event a war should succeed even as his career fades, the single thing the prime minister wants the most in this life: a legacy. He’s desperate now because he’s losing ground fast in the latest opinion polls. He’s desperate because after all these many years in power, obsessed by his place in history and his own wishlist comparisons with Winston Churchill, Netanyahu still has no legacy beside the number of all these many years in power. He's desperate because he's fast losing the support of the bulk of North American Jews, and, perhaps more crucially to him, he may even be losing the backing of Sheldon Adelson. Most of all, though, he’s desperate because as prime minister, he knows that he may not have much time left. He’s desperate because police detectives and investigative journalists are closing in on him. He pretends that the allegations center on innocent favors traded for innocently modest luxuries. But the security-minded public knows only too well that Netanyahu may be involved in malfeasance in securing the purchase of several advanced German-built submarines— potentially Israel’s most potent strategic weapon in its continuing confrontation of Mutually Threatened Destruction with Iran. And things just got worse. Even as Netanyahu’s handpicked men sought to ram through a bill to blunt the damage of the police probes, the crude power play counterproductively drained away much of whatever presumption of innocence the Likud leader may still command. Enter Iran. For years, Netanyahu chafed as his defense ministers, army chiefs and intelligence agency directors restrained him from going ahead with what they foresaw as an ill-fated, ineffective and possibly catastrophic offensive against Iranian nuclear sites. It was to be Netanyahu’s Churchillian moment. His place in

Copyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

35

views-Iran_34-36_Two Views 12/8/17 7:09 PM Page 36

“Israel is saying, ‘This will not be.’” According to Hanegbi, long one of Netanyahu’s more trusted and, relatively speaking, more moderate lieutenants, Iranian forces near the border or naval or air bases elsewhere in Syria “are red lines which we not allow to be crossed.” At the same time, Netanyahu is clearly, and legitimately, troubled by a Trump administration which appears to be cutting and running with respect to Syria, ignoring the prime minister’s pleas to counter rising Iranian influence there. Tonight, in a deep and often lonely office near the main exit from Jerusalem, a man whose darkening expression is tending far more toward Richard Nixon than Winston Churchill is planning his next move. In the past, hard-line Israeli leaders under the threat of police probes have opted for a dramatic shift to the left, hoping to ride a peace push to save their premiership. But Netanyahu has worked so long and so well to block any meaningful avenue toward peace that he has himself choked off much of his own room to maneuver. Three years ago, desperate at the time, he opted for war. The war was avoidable, the results for Israel and especially Palestinian civilians, devastating. And yet… For Netanyahu, it worked. The Israeli army was badly demoralized and in disarray. Large swaths of Israel felt vulnerable to attack. In Gaza, hundreds of children and large numbers of • Make a significant gift without affecting your current cash flow; adult civilians were • Direct your bequest to a vital purpose—educating readers about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East; killed and thousands • Receive a charitable estate tax deduction & Leave a legacy for future generations. more wounded. Bequests of any size are honored with membership in the American Educational Trust’ s “Choirmasters,” named for angels whose But Netanyahu? foresight and dedication ensured the future of the Washington Report and Middle East Books and More. He’s still there. Just where he was. Still For more information visit www.wrmea.org/donate/bequests.pdf, contact us at circulation@wrmea.org, write: American Educational Trust, PO Box 91056 • Long Beach, CA 90809-1056, or telephone our new toll-free circulation number 888-881-5861 • Fax: 714-226-9733 studying those military maps. ■

history. And his own brass—and the Barack Obama he so loathed—denied him. Now, however, just when Netanyahu needs it most, Iran is showing signs that it is coming to him. And just like that, signs of war abound once again. Citing Iran’s mounting presence in Syria, Netanyahu’s defense minister has demanded that the military budget be hiked by well over a billion dollars. The demand is particularly extraordinary in view of the fact that the army’s chief of staff reportedly sees no need for the increase. On Nov. 26, the Kuwait-based Al Jarida newspaper reported that Israel had secretly vowed to destroy any Iranian facilities deployed in Syria within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of Israel’s northeast border. Quoting an unnamed Israeli source, the report said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had relayed Netanyahu a message from Syrian President Bashar Assad with a Syrian offer for a 40 km. demilitarized zone in return for Israel not

working to topple the Syrian leader. Netanyahu was quoted as being prepared to accept the deal, but adding that Israel remained committed to the goal of driving Iran and its client Hezbollah out of Syria. The next day, raising eyebrows and speculation in a public forum, Israel Defense Forces Chief Spokesman Ronen Manelis told a conference of Israeli journalists that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah would be a target for assassination in any future war between Israel and the Iran-controlled militia. Then, on Nov. 28, Netanyahu’s Minister for Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi, who often enunciates policy for the prime minister, issued a warning to Iran in unusually stark terms. Asked point-blank if Israel now faced the prospect of a new war on its northern border, Hanegbi told Army Radio, “Tension in the north is surging.” The Iranians, he said, make no secret of their desire to stake out a military presence in Syria.

Help make sure that the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs will be here for the next generation.

By remembering the Washington Report in your will, you can:

36

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

hanley_37_Special Report 12/8/17 8:12 PM Page 37

Special Report

Qatar Rallies Around Its Flag, Free Press

By Delinda C. Hanley

Al Jazeera Arabic’s television studio.

Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. INSET: Holiday clothes for sale in a Doha market.

STAFF PHOTOS D. HANLEY

ON JUNE 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt imposed a sea and air blockade on Qatar, severing all political and economic ties, and issuing a list of 13 demands. Six months later, as the stalemate continued, Americans, Europeans and non-boycotting Arabs gathered from Dec. 2 to 4 at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, Qatar for the fourth annual Gulf Studies Forum to examine the Gulf crisis and the role of the media. The setting for this serious forum was incongruous. Qatar is preparing for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2022 by building elegant new skyscrapers, hotels and stadiums. Lusail, a massive planned community, is emerging from the sands and set to be completed by 2020, at an

Delinda C. Hanley is news editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

estimated cost of $45 billion. Visitors, including tourists on cruise ships, already flock to Doha’s museums, an opera house and a vibrant souq, packed with men and women shopping and socializing in sidewalk cafes and restaurants. Traffic is congested in this lively city, despite tunnels and overpasses. Construction of the Doha Metro is well underway and scheduled to open by the end of 2019. It’s hard for a visitor to imagine that there is a blockade. Outside pressure from the blockading states has mobilized Qatar’s 2.6 million population of citizens and guest workers to rally around the flag of this proud Gulf state. In fact, flags, balloons and light shows masked the tension as Qatar’s Dec. 18 National Day holiday approached. Images of Qatar’s young leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad alThani, bedecked buildings and cars, as well as candy and clothing for sale in the marketplace. Continued on page 72

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

37

horton_38_Special Report 12/8/17 7:11 PM Page 38

Special Report

The Poetic Demise of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s Most Powerful Man

By Michael Horton

MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

revivalist movement who would go on to inspire the Houthi rebels. Members of the Houthi family swore revenge on Saleh and his family after that, and 13 years later they finally delivered. The Houthis, who have proven to be as calculating as Saleh, were waiting for the opportunity to exact revenge and consolidate their power. By announcing that he was open to negotiations with Saudi Arabia, Saleh provided the Houthis with what they had been waiting for: an excuse to attack him and those closest to him. For months, if not years, the Houthis had been slowly co-opting Saleh’s own network of ranking officers and tribal officials. It was a tactic that their leadership learned from Saleh himself, who was an expert at coYemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh addressing a rally in Sana’a marking the 35th an- opting and liquidating rivals. Saleh grew up poor, a member of what niversary of the founding of his political party, the General People’s Congress, Aug. 24, 2017. was then a weak tribe, the Sanhan. His education was limited to military training. Yemenis loved to make ON DEC. 4, Houthi rebels assassinated Yemen’s former Presifun of his unpolished Arabic in his televised addresses. He dent Ali Abdullah Saleh. For nearly 40 years, Saleh was the most began his career as an enlisted man and was then commispowerful man in Yemen. Even after he was forced to resign as sioned as second lieutenant. He participated in the coup against president in the wake of a popular uprising in 2012, he remained North Yemen’s ruler, Imam Muhammad al-Badr, and by the midthe center of gravity in Yemeni politics. 1970s he was a full colonel. For a man from an insignificant famMost Yemenis have never known a Yemen without Ali Abdulily that belonged to an insignificant tribe, his rapid progression lah Saleh as its president or as a central political figure. In so from enlisted man to full colonel and then to president was nothmany ways his—at times ruthless and always Machiavellian— ing less than meteoric. rule defined modern Yemen. His grisly death at the hands of his Saleh’s rise to power was facilitated by ruthlessness—he did enemies turned allies turned enemies again will reverberate for not hesitate in having his enemies lined up against a wall and months and years to come. The already brutal and complex civil shot—and an acute understanding of the men and country he war in Yemen will only become more so. sought to control. Saleh had a prodigious memory and could reThere is a Yemeni poem that contains a repeated stanza that cite tribal lineages with ease. He knew who fit in where and who translates roughly as: cycles of revenge bring only cycles of sorhe needed to win over or eliminate. At the same time, for much row. Saleh, like most Yemenis, was a fan of poetry, which is still of his 34-year reign (first as president of North Yemen and then a high art in Yemen. His assassination was itself an act of reas the first president of a unified Yemen in 1990) he understood venge, part of a cycle that he himself set in motion when he orthat certain lines must not be crossed. There were limits to his dered the killing of Hussein al-Houthi in 2004, the founder of the ruthlessness. He knew that only so many cycles of revenge Michael Horton is a senior analyst for Arabian affairs at the could be managed at once. Jamestown Foundation. He is a frequent contributor to Jane’s intelliAfter 9/11, Saleh’s understanding of the limits of his power gence Review and has written for numerous other publications includshifted. For much of his reign he was referred to as the mayor of ing the national interest, the economist, and West Point’s CtC sentinel. Copyright © the american Conservative 2017. Continued on page 40 38

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

JanuaRy/febRuaRy 2018

gee_39-40_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 12/8/17 8:32 PM Page 39

Islam and the Near East in the Far East

After Months of Electioneering, Malaysia to Head to the Polls

By John Gee

MOHD RASFAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

IT WAS NO real surprise when Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Zahid Hamidi announced on Nov. 11 that elections would take place within 180 days. Hamidi was addressing the annual conference of Parti Gerakan, a component of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that is headed by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which has formed every Malaysian government since independence in 1957. Constitutionally, the present parliament must be dissolved at the end of its five-year term, which falls on June 24, 2018. The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan begins on May 15, meaning that would not be a good time for campaigning and turning out voters. Chinese voters ought to be taken into account, too, and Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 16. Hence, the expectation is that an election will take place at some point between mid-February and mid-May. Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (second from r) and opposition The previous election result came as a shock leader Wan Azizah (second from l) hold placards reading “Love Malaysia and Destroy to the ruling coalition. While it won 60 percent of Kleptocracy” at an Oct. 14 rally organized by the Pakatan Harapan (Coalition of Hope) parliamentary seats, it did so with just under 47 opposition coalition in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur. percent of the vote. Had constituency boundhomes. The opposition, for its part, made the most it could out of aries and sizes not been manipulated to favor UMNO, said critrevelations since 2015 of massive misappropriation of money ics, the opposition parties would have achieved a majority, given held by 1MDB, a big state investment company whose affairs that they had formed an electoral alliance that ensured they did have been the subject of investigation in the U.S., Switzerland, not run in the same constituencies and thus split the anti-UMNO UAE, Singapore and other countries. (See October 2016 Washvote. In September, Prime Minister Najib Razak declared his goal ington Report, p. 32.) at the next election: not simply to win the votes of a majority and Najib has consolidated his position in UMNO by sacking oppoto increase BN's majority, but to achieve a two-thirds majority nents or cornering them so that they resigned: going into an elecsuch as the ruling coalition held up until the 2008 elections. It tion, he has no internal party rivals. In contrast, the opposition is would need a net gain of 16 seats in the 222-seat federal parliadivided (see Aug./Sept. 2017 Washington Report, p. 35). The Isment to do so. lamist party, PAS, a key participant in the successful opposition A two-thirds majority would allow the BN to pass changes to alliance in 2008 and 2013, has moved toward an accommodation Malaysia's constitution. with UMNO, which should ensure that the two parties avoid runThe official election campaign will last only a few weeks, but ning against each other in key seats they already hold, while PAS the electioneering has been going on for well over a year. It inisplits the opposition vote in UMNO's target seats. It would be very tially provoked speculation that an election would be called ahead damaging to the opposition's chances of holding its ground, let of time, at some point in 2017. The October 2016 budget included alone advancing, if an electoral deal is successfully concluded— giveaways such as cash handouts to poor families and special but cementing such a pact would present both UMNO and PAS bonuses for 1.6 million civil servants, who also stood to benefit with problems. Would UMNO be ready to give up the chance to from loans to buy such items as smart phones, motorbikes and make inroads in Kelantan, which PAS has run for 27 years and where UMNO has invested money and effort in expanding its supJohn Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Singapore, and the author of Unequal Conflict: The Palestinians and Israel. port base? Would PAS be prepared to abandon a bid to regain JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

39

gee_39-40_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 12/8/17 7:13 PM Page 40

ground in the neighboring state of Terengganu, which it held from 1999-2004? The four-party opposition alliance, Pakatan Harapan (Coalition of Hope), places its hopes on the PAS breakaway Islamist party, Amanah, attracting some support away from PAS, and, more particularly, on the drawing power of the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Malaysian United Indigenous Party [PPBM]), led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, now 92. Mahathir did not carry a big chunk of the UMNO electoral apparatus with him when he split from the party he once led, factors that may limit his party's impact. Vital for PPBM will be its performance in the northwestern state of Kedah, Mahathir's home state, where the population is overwhelmingly Malay and Muslim, and where his son was chief minister until being forced to step down in February 2016. Mahathir was declared chairman of Pakatan Harapan in July. The current BN leadership seems to be worried that Mahathir does have electoral appeal. In June, the government set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into an alleged cover-up of foreign exchange losses of billions of dollars at Bank Negara (Malaysia's central bank) in the 1990s, during Mahathir's premiership. In July, Prime Minister Najib said of Mahathir: "Under his leadership many corners were cut, and the Malaysian people had to pay a very high price that a few of his friends benefited, even when symbols of national pride had horrendous and catastrophic decisions inflicted on them." In August, Deputy Prime Minister Hamidi claimed that Mahathir's father was Indian. A skeptic might be forgiven for wondering why it took 20 years and more for the ruling party to notice these alleged faults. The anti-Mahathir campaign hit a new low in November 2017 when pictures of Meera Alyanna Mukhriz, one of Mahathir's granddaughters, were published in Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian, two pro-government newspapers. The accompanying articles criticized the young woman's “luxurious life,” but the pictures, taken from social media pages, seemed to have been selected with a view to outraging conservative readers who would object to seeing a 40

Malay woman showing her legs. Perhaps the opposition might draw comfort from the discovery by the electoral reform group Bersih that in three constituencies where government ministers won with slim majorities in 2013, over 1,000 army voters who had not yet moved into their accommodations in the constituencies have been added to the electoral role in each case. The soldiers and their families are mainly Malays and would be expected to be UMNO voters predominantly. Moves like this suggest a worry over the ministers' prospects that the opposition’s disarray and the prime minister's resilience in the matter of the 1MDB scandal would not appear to warrant. ■

Ali Abdullah Saleh Continued from page 38

Sana’a because his writ did not extend beyond Yemen’s capital. The United States, as part of its “war on terror,” began training and funding Yemen’s armed forces, ostensibly so they could engage al-Qaeda. For Saleh and those closest to him, the war on terror was a gift. The influx of money, high-tech weaponry and special forces trainers dramatically enhanced the power of Yemen’s elite Republican Guard, which was controlled by Saleh’s eldest son, Ahmed Ali Saleh. The gloves came off, but not in the fight against al-Qaeda. This was the goose that laid the golden egg. Instead, Saleh went after the Houthis and southern separatists with a vengeance. He forgot that his power had limits. He forgot that he was trying to rule over one of the best-armed countries in the world where revenge is regarded as a sacred duty by many, even if it takes decades to secure. In the north, the Houthis fought his forces to a standstill, and in the south rightfully aggrieved southerners resisted his efforts to continue marginalizing them economically and politically. By 2011, with the “Arab Spring” raging across the Middle East, Saleh’s grip on power had waned, yet he and those close to him refused to recognize that his time had passed. Troops under the command of his son and nephew opened fire on protesters in Sana’a and elsewhere as he fought to retain control of a country that

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

he viewed as his and his family’s property. In June 2011, Saleh survived the bombing of the mosque at his presidential palace and was flown to Saudi Arabia, where he underwent rounds of surgery. Defiant and wily as ever, he slipped past his Saudi minders and returned to Yemen, where he engineered a handover of power to his ineffectual vice president, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Hadi never stood a chance against Saleh, who was openly referred to by generals and cabinet ministers as the “president of the president.” Saleh continued to exert influence even when he underwent successive rounds of painful surgeries for injuries sustained when his mosque was bombed. His defiance and determination to return to power, or at least to secure power for his son Ahmed Ali Saleh, were undiminished. In September 2014, Houthi rebels took over Sana’a with little fighting. Saleh and the generals who remained loyal to him had made a deal with the men they’d battled since 2004. Saleh was betting on his ability to co-opt and in time eliminate his rivals while leveraging their military prowess. This bet did not pay off. The Houthis beat him at his own game. Instead of co-opting them, they instead incorporated many of those officers and forces that had been loyal to Saleh and his sons. After years of staying one step ahead of a legion of enemies, Saleh’s last gamble cost him his life and will likely cost thousands more Yemenis theirs. He bet on support that was not there and he underestimated his enemies. The poor boy who fought his way to the top and managed to stay there for nearly 40 years was in the end a victim of the cycle of revenge—a cycle that, if it is not stopped, threatens to destroy a nation of 26 million. The Houthis’ leadership would do well to look closely at the footage that their men captured of Saleh’s body. It could just as easily be footage of them in the coming months if they continue to ignore the limits of their power. While support for Saleh was a fraction of what it once was, his death could bring a kind of redemption. Saleh’s defiance, determination, a wicked sense of humor, and undeniable charisma may well blot out his legacy of corruption and violence. ■ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

zogby_41_Special Report 12/8/17 7:15 PM Page 41

Special Report

Palestinians: Victims of an Unjust U.S. Law

By James J. Zogby

U.N. PHOTO/ESKINDER DEBEBE

IMAGINE THAT YOU are a victim of a violent crime or theft but are forbidden from reporting it because Congress has passed a law that not only prohibits you from reporting the crime, but threatens punishment if you dare to do it. This is the situation in which the Palestinians recently found themselves. The Palestinians were told that the U.S. government was on the verge of decertifying their right to maintain an office in Washington because they had the audacity to complain to the International Criminal Court (ICC) about Israel’s land theft and settlement activity in the occupied territories. The story behind this nightmarish situation began in 1987, when Congress passed a law prohibiting the Palestine Liberation Organization from operating an office in the United States. This legislation, which was pushed by AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, was Fatou Bensouda, chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, addresses the Sixteenth designed to ensure that the Palestinians session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal would have no presence or voice in either Court (ICC), at U.N. headquarters in New York, Dec. 4, 2017. Washington or at the United Nations. It was Among them were: renouncing the Arab boycott, nullifying the PLO an effort to put into law a secret commitment Secretary of State Charter, not opening offices in Jerusalem, ending terrorism, and Henry Kissinger had made to the Israelis a decade earlier that the taking no steps to change the status of Jerusalem, the West Bank U.S. would not recognize or dialogue with the PLO. The Israelis or Gaza pending the outcome of negotiations with the Israelis. had insisted on this “no-talk” policy for the simple reason described Because Congress chose to only impose these conditions on by Israeli Labor Party leader Yitzhak Rabin: “Whoever agrees to U.S. aid to the Palestinians and their right to operate an office in talk to the PLO means he accepts in principle the creation of a the U.S., while placing no such requirements on Israel’s adherPalestinian state between Israel and Jordan, and this we can ence to the terms of Oslo, it was clear from the very beginning never accept.” of the so-called “Oslo process” that the U.S. could not play the In 1993, after Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo accords, in role of “honest broker” in the search for peace. which both sides recognized each other’s national rights, ConEvery six months, Israel’s lobby would raise the issue of Palestingress met to reassess their 1987 legislation. Instead of doing the ian compliance, documenting alleged Palestinian infractions and then right thing and simply canceling it, once again pressed by AIPAC protesting when the State Department would certify them. All the Congress chose to keep the law in place. The one concession while, Israel, operating with complete impunity, continued: expanding found in the new bill gave the president the right to waive the Jewish-only settlements, roads and infrastructure in the West Bank anti-Palestinian provision every six months on the condition that and what they called “Greater Jerusalem,” creating new “facts on the the State Department could certify to Congress that the Palesground”; imposing new humiliating conditions on Palestinian life in tinians were adhering to the provisions of the Oslo accords. the occupied lands; and repeatedly violating their obligations under This legislation, termed the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act Oslo and the follow-up Cairo and Paris economic accords. (MEPFA), imposed a series of requirements on the Palestinians. While Israel had recourse to go to the U.S. Congress to complain about allegations of Palestinian non-compliance, the Palestinians James J. Zogby is president of the Arab American Institute. The views could not. Their only recourse was to bring their case to the United and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Arab American Institute. Continued on page 44 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

41

mcarthur_42-44_Congress Watch 12/8/17 7:16 PM Page 42

Congress Watch

Congress Under International Pressure to Continue Honoring Iran Nuclear Deal

By Shirl McArthur

EUROPEAN LEADERS PUSHED back strongly against President Donald Trump’s Oct. 13 announcement that he would not certify that Iran is complying with its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding the multi-national nuclear agreement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron issued a rare joint statement that left little doubt that they saw Trump’s move as dangerous to international security. They urged the White House and Congress to “consider the implications to the security of the U.S. and its allies before taking any steps that might undermine” the agreement. Even the Russian Foreign Ministry said they “regret the decision” and that “obviously it runs counter to the spirit and letter” of the agreement. Trump did not recommend that Congress impose new sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program, but instead said he wants Congress to amend The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) of 2015 to set new conditions for U.S. participation in the agreement—which would effectively mean U.S. withdrawal from the agreement. On Nov. 7 delegations from the European Union (EU) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) met in Washington to defend the agreement to members of Congress and others. EU foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini pointed out that trying to renegotiate any part of the 104-page agreement would open up the whole thing. She said “we wish to see the U.S. continue in the implementation of the deal,” adding, “I got clear indications that the intention is to keep the U.S. compliant with the agreement.” Answering criticisms of the agreement’s “sunset” provisions, she pointed out that “Article 3 says that Iran will never develop a nuclear weapon.” In its required quarterly report the IAEA said that Tehran is adhering to the restrictions imposed by the agreement and that IAEA inspectors were given access to any sites they tried to visit. If Congress does reimpose nuclear-related sanctions it will either further isolate the U.S. from the other signatories to the agreement—Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China—

who want the agreement to remain in place, or it will result in the agreement’s collapse, allowing Iran to resume its nuclear weapons program.

HOUSE PASSES ANOTHER IRAN SANCTIONS BILL, MEASURES TARGETING HEZBOLLAH

On Oct. 26 the House passed, by a vote of 423-2 under “suspension of the rules,” the previously described H.R. 1698, introduced by Rep. Edward Royce (R-CA) in March, imposing more, non-nuclear sanctions on Iran. It was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where it rests. When passed, it had 324 co-sponsors, including Royce. All four of the previously described measures attacking Hezbollah—and, directly or indirectly, Iran—were passed and referred to the other chamber of Congress. The Senate on Oct. 5 passed by voice vote S. 1595, the “Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Amendments” bill, introduced in July by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). When passed it had 40 co-sponsors, including Rubio. Its companion bill in the House, H.R. 3329, introduced in July by Royce, was one of three anti-Hezbollah measures passed by the House on Oct. 25 under “suspension of the rules.” The other two were H.R. 3342, “Sanctioning Hezbollah’s Illicit Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields,” introduced in July by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), and the non-binding H.Res. 359, introduced by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) in May, urging “the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.” When passed H.R. 3329 had 115 co-sponsors, including Royce; H.R. 3342 had 27 co-sponsors, including Gallagher; and H.Res. 359 had 59 co-sponsors, including Deutch. Previously this column reported that some Republican members of Congress were upset about the Obama administration’s payment last year to Iran of $400 million of the $1.7 billion owed it to resolve a 1979 arms deal signed before the fall of the shah. One of the measures introduced as a result was H.R. 469, the “Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements” bill, introduced in January by Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA). As part of the flurry of anti-Iran actions on Oct. 25, the bill was brought to a vote and passed by the House by a party-line vote of 234-187.

Trying to renegotiate any part of the 104-page deal would open up the whole thing.

Shirl McArthur is a retired foreign service officer. He lives in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. 42

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

mcarthur_42-44_Congress Watch 12/8/17 7:16 PM Page 43

STATUS UPDATES

H.Res. 393, Pro-Peace. Most of the previously described measures promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace have made no progress. However, H.Res. 393, introduced in June by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), which would express “support for addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict in a concurrent track with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,” rather than dealing with Israeli-Palestinian peace before dealing with regional peace, has suddenly received a lot of attention. It gained 31 co-sponsors during October and November and now has 36, including Hastings. H.R. 1159, U.S.-Israel Cooperation. While H.R. 1159, introduced in February by Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA), encouraging U.S.-Israel space cooperation still has 35 co-sponsors, includ-

ANTI-BDS BILLS LANGUISH, BUT NEW MEASURES INTRODUCED

The previously described “Combating BDS” (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) bills that claim to be pro-Israel but in fact are about doing business in the settlements, not Israel—S. 720, introduced by Sens. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) in March and H.R. 1697, introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) also in March—continue to gain some support. As reported in previous issues, the ACLU expressed its opposition to the bills because they would violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and would punish American citizens based solely on their expressed political beliefs. In a letter to Cardin and Roskam, Amnesty International said that the bills “directly violate U.S. legal obligations to respect and protect freedom of expression and association guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” and “would violate U.S. legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.” Nevertheless, congressional supporters of the bills continue to ignore decades of bipartisan distinction between Israel and the settlements and maintain that the bills are about boycotting Israel, rather than the settlements. S. 720 now has 52 co-sponsors, including Cardin, and H.R. 1697 now has 269 co-sponsors, including Roskam. Of the bills that would encourJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

ing Kilmer, it was ordered to be reported to the full House on Sept. 28.

H.R. 377, Muslim Brotherhood. H.R. 377, introduced in January by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and aimed at designating the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, now has 75 co-sponsors, including Diaz-Balart. H.R. 489, Muslim Registry. Introduced in January by Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), H.R. 489 would prohibit the collection of information and the establishment or utilization of a registry for the purposes of classifying or surveilling persons on the basis of religious affiliation. It still has 92 co-sponsors, including DelBene. —S.M.

age states to adopt anti-BDS measures, S. 170, introduced by Rubio in January, now has 47 co-sponsors, including Rubio. H.R. 2856, introduced in June by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), now has 105 co-sponsors, including McHenry. A new pro-Israel measure was H.Con.Res. 92, “recognizing the deep and abiding friendship between the U.S. and Israel.” Introduced Nov. 13 by Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) and three co-sponsors, it was passed by the full House, under “suspension of the rules,” on Nov. 15. Another new pro-Israel measure is H.R. 4017, introduced Oct. 11 by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Brian Mast (R-FL). It would “authorize the president to take actions to ensure Israel is prepared for all contingencies if Iran seeks to develop a nuclear weapon after expiration of certain provisions of the [JCPOA].” Identical measures were introduced in the House and Senate “affirming the historical connection of the Jewish people to the ancient and sacred city of Jerusalem and condemning efforts at UNESCO to deny Judaism’s millennia-old historical, religious, and cultural ties to Jerusalem.” H.Res. 570 was introduced in the House Oct. 12 by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and 10 co-sponsors. S.Res. 291 was introduced Oct. 16 in the Senate by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with six co-sponsors. An unusual U.N.-related new bill is H.R. 4237, introduced Nov. 3 by Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and two co-spon-

sors. It would “prohibit U.S. assistance to foreign countries that oppose the position of the U.S. at the U.N.”

ANTI-PALESTINIAN BILLS PROGRESS, BUT A POSITIVE ONE INTRODUCED

The so-called “Taylor Force Act” (after a former U.S. Army officer reportedly killed in a Palestinian attack), H.R. 1164, introduced in February by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), was passed by voice vote on Dec. 5. It prohibits aid to the West Bank and Gaza unless, among other things, the PA is taking steps to end acts of violence against U.S. and Israeli citizens by Palestinian individuals. Its Senate companion, S. 1697, introduced in August by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), was reported out to the full Senate by the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee on Sept. 6. H.R. 1164 had 170 co-sponsors, including Lamborn, and S. 1697 has 29, including Graham. The previously described H.R. 2712, introduced in May by Rep. Brian Mast (RFL), which would impose sanctions on the PA, was also taken up by the HFAC and ordered reported to the full House on Nov. 15. It now has 28 co-sponsors, including Mast. H.R. 3542, condemning the alleged use of human shields by Hamas and introduced in July by Rep. Joe Wilson (RSC), languished for three months without receiving much attention. But then it, too, was taken up by the HFAC and ordered

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

43

mcarthur_42-44_Congress Watch 12/8/17 7:16 PM Page 44

reported to the full House on Nov. 15. It has seven co-sponsors, including Wilson. But a significant positive bill was introduced Nov. 14 by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) and 17 co-sponsors. H.R. 4391 would “require the secretary of state to certify that U.S. funds do not support military detention, interrogation, abuse, or illtreatment of Palestinian children.”

NDAA PASSES, BUT SENATE MUST YET CONSIDER FY-18 OMNIBUS BILL

Both houses of Congress have passed the Conference Report reconciling the differences between the House and Senate versions of H.R. 2810, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), clearing it for the president. The House passed the Conference Report on Nov. 14 and the Senate passed it two days later. The Senate still has not taken up H.R. 3354, the “Omnibus Appropriations” bill, setting appropriations for several departments and agencies, including the State Department and foreign aid, which was passed by the House Sept. 14. As reported in the previous issue, the Continuing Appropriations Act, H.R. 601, signed by the president on Sept. 8 as Public Law 115-56, only continued government funding at the FY-‘17 level until Dec. 8, 2017. On Dec. 7 Congress passed a two-week spending bill to prevent a government shutdown.

KURDISH STATEHOOD SUPPORTED, MILITARY FORCE AUTHORIZED

On Sept. 25 Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) with four co-sponsors introduced H.Res. 534 to express “the sense of the House of Representatives that the people of the Kurdish region of Iraq have the right to determine their status as a sovereign country.” On Oct. 12 Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) and six co-sponsors introduced H.J.Res. 118 to authorize the use of military force (AUMF) against al-Qaeda, the Taliban and ISIS. Earlier, on Oct. 12, Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), with no cosponsors, introduced the less-clearly written H.J.Res. 112, that would provide AUMF “against Islamist Extremism.” ■ 44

Unjust U.S. Law Continued from page 41

Nations— where the U.S. would, in the end, veto any and all resolutions critical of Israel. In this context, I have always found it irritatingly disingenuous when the Israeli side expresses its contempt for what they call the U.N.’s “automatic majority” for the Palestinians, while refusing to acknowledge the “automatic majority” Israel has in the U.S. Congress. Over the next two decades, the terms of the MEPFA were modified to include a suspension of U.S. aid for the Palestinians and decertification of their right to operate in the U.S. if the Palestinians were to join any international body with the equivalent status of a “member state”; or if they were to receive full member state recognition at the U.N.; and, more recently, if they were to bring a case against Israel’s violations of international law before the International Criminal Court. When, this fall, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the United Nations General Assembly he spoke these words: “We have also called on the International Criminal Court, as is our right, to open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials.” Abbas specifically cited Israeli settlement activity as the crime in question. Israel’s settlement policy is, in fact, in violation of international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from both moving its population into “territories occupied in time of war” and dispossessing the occupied population of their land and properties. Every member nation of the U.N. except Israel has held that the Conventions apply to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. Even the U.S., despite repeated efforts to dumb down the language it uses to describe settlement activity—from obstacle to peace, to unhelpful, to illegitimate, etc.—has never erased from the books a Carter-era legal opinion on settlement illegality. In the 50 years of its occupation, Israel has built settlements for over 650,000 of its

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

A (TEMPORARY?) REVERSAL Following Palestinian threats to sever all communication with the U.S. if its Washington, DC mission was closed, the State Department issued a statement on Nov. 24 saying the mission would be permitted to remain open for at least the next 90 days, on the condition that “the PLO Office…limit its activities to those related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.” Added State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez: “We…are optimistic that at the end of this 90day period, the political process may be sufficiently advanced that the president will be in a position to allow the PLO office to resume full operations.” citizens in the West Bank and around Jerusalem, deliberately changing the demographic character of the territories. They have also built a wall well inside the West Bank separating Palestinians from their land. And in order to facilitate this colonial venture they have seized Palestinian property, dispossessing the people of the occupied territories—again in violation of the law. Since the U.S., despite periodic hollow protests, has never shown willingness to act to stop this theft and illegal dispossession, and since Congress has, of late, been writing legislation using language that has the clear intent of legitimizing Israel’s conquest and colonization, the Palestinians’ only recourse has been to take the matter to the ICC. That they have dared to use this nonviolent legal challenge to Israel’s law-breaking caused the recent crisis that threatened to close the Palestinian office in Washington and make it illegal for them to operate in the U.S. The State Department and Congress said that they are simply following the law. But the law in question is an unjust law that punishes the victim while allowing the victimizer to continue its crimes. The law ought to be changed, but since Congress will not behave in a balanced manner, the Palestinians should proceed full speed ahead with their complaint to the ICC. ■ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

opm_45-46_Other People's Mail 12/8/17 7:17 PM Page 45

of public transport buses as Israeli or Arab; agrees with the paving of streets in Israeli neighborhoods and not Arab ones; and backs the free movement of Israelis from city to city while forbidding the same for Arabs. Do I sense the presence of a white elephant in the room? Hassan Rasheed, Eugene, OR

WHY IS U.S. TAXPAYER MONEY BEING SENT TO ISRAEL?

JERUSALEM MOVE ONLY ENSURES MORE CONFLICT

To The Monitor, Dec. 8, 2017 The Balfour Declaration, 100 years ago, set the stage for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with land given by the English to European Jews without consulting the Palestinian residents. And now, U.S. President Donald Trump adds to the theft/insult/disgrace by moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Still another step that thwarts the Palestinians’ hope for a nation. Dare I say, the only course for lasting peace is a multi-religious one nation: Israel-Palestine. Do not bet on it, but do bet on more years of conflict. In fact, most of Trump’s actions in his year in office have furthered the chances for hate and wars. Eugene “Gene” Novogrodsky, Browns ville, TX

TRUMP’S MOVE ADDS ANOTHER LAYER OF INJUSTICE

To The Register-Guard, Dec. 7, 2017 The recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital supports the armed conquest of territories; condones policies of no return for Arabs who leave Jerusalem for any period of time; supports the separate designation JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

To The Middletown Press, Dec. 7, 2017 Recently Alan Stein of Natick, Massachusetts, asked in a letter to the editor, “Will we keep subsidizing the Palestinian Authority?” My question, as an American citizen/ taxpayer and a veteran of the Vietnam War, is: Should we keep subsidizing Israel to the tune of $3.8 billion annually? In 1967, the Israel Defense Forces attacked the USS Liberty, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 171 others. Israel was never held accountable. Israel has violated more U.N. resolutions than all member nations combined. Israel has in past wars dropped white phosphorus grenades on Gaza children from jet aircraft. According to Amnesty International’s report dated 2016/2017, “Israel’s unlawful construction and expansion of settlements and their related infrastructure has bred mass violations against Palestinians over the past five decades.” I could go on. “Everyone has a right to live in a home and no one may uproot him.” No rational person would disagree with the words from Binyamin Netanyahu. Unfortunately, he was referring to the settlers living in homes stolen illegally from the Palestinians. The world is catching on to this disparity. The BDS movement is a start. What happened to the millions of Jews in Europe in the last century is unspeakable and inexcusable. What Jews are doing to the Palestinians now and for the past 50 years is equally unspeakable and inexcusable. It has to stop. Geoff O’Neill, USMC retired, Silver Spring, MD

U.N. RESOLUTION 242 IS CLEAR: SETTLEMENTS ARE ILLEGAL

To the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Nov. 15, 2017 Rabbi Dovid Asher, in his letter “It’s time to pass anti-BDS legislation,” misrepresents both the United Nations and Presi-

dent Ronald Reagan in claiming Israel’s right to occupy Palestinian territories. Asher asserts: “President Reagan made it clear in Resolution 242, Israel and its neighboring states should make peace with each other but also should establish ‘a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.’ Until that condition is met, Israel alone is entitled to administer the territories.” Resolution 242 was enacted Nov. 22, 1967, by the U.N. Security Council, following the Six-Day War in which Israel conquered the West Bank. The resolution asserted that the first condition for peace was “withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” Reagan addressed the issue 15 years later—on Sept. 1, 1982—in an address to the nation on U.S. policy for peace in the Middle East. Asserting that “the Arab-Israeli conflict should be resolved through negotiations involving an exchange of territory for peace,” Reagan stated: “This exchange is enshrined in U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which...remains wholly valid as the foundation stone of America’s Middle East peace effort. It is the U.S. position that, in return for peace, the withdrawal provision of Resolution 242 applies to all fronts, including the West Bank and Gaza.” Citing the Camp David accords of 1978, Reagan asserted, “there must be a period of time during which the Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza will have full autonomy over their own affairs.” Reagan added: “Further settlement activity is in no way necessary for the security of Israel and only diminishes the confidence of the Arabs that a final outcome can be freely and fairly negotiated.” Reagan’s advice, and the U.N. Security Council’s, should be heeded, not misrepresented. Charles Robideau, Midlothian, VA

THE MOTIVES AND HUMAN COSTS OF U.S. ROLE IN YEMEN

To the Herald-Citizen, Nov. 2, 2017 Why we are supporting a war against Yemen? We’re selling billions in arms to Saudi Arabia. It’s putting vast amounts of money into our military industrial complex and our government doesn’t want to disturb them. That’s where the money comes from to support their election campaigns, their salaries. At the current rate of infection there will soon be one million people with cholera in that tiny country. The largest epidemic of cholera in history. And who suf-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

45

opm_45-46_Other People's Mail 12/8/17 8:55 PM Page 46

fers? Civilians mostly and children mostly. I don’t think we hate Yemeni people. Please write your congresspeople. President Eisenhower in 1953 said, “Every gun that is made, every warship that is launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its workers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron." Hector Black, Cookeville, TN

U.S. SUPPORT FOR SAUDI-LED WAR IN YEMEN MUST END

To The Washington Post, Nov. 12, 2017 The Nov. 9 editorial “The crisis in Yemen” called attention to the effect of Saudi Arabia’s blockade on famine in Yemen. It mentioned the lack of media attention to the Yemeni tragedy, which includes “the fastest-growing cholera epidemic ever recorded” and “the world’s biggest food emergency.” It said that Saudi Arabia bears heavy responsibility for the crisis for its “ruthless but unwinnable war.” But it did not mention direct U.S. military complicity in this long and pointless campaign. In addition to selling a vast arsenal of weapons to Saudi Arabia, our government’s military gave logistical guidance in the Saudi military headquarters in Riyadh and continues to provide intelligence to Saudi defense officials and aer-

ial refueling during bombing runs. The Saudi-led coalition could not have conducted the two and a half years of bombing without the support of our military. In recent years, our military has carried out innumerable raids on the terrorist group al-Qaeda in Yemen, but al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have taken advantage of the Saudi-led campaign to seize territory and expand their activities in the Arabian Peninsula. There is a move afoot in the House and the Senate to end U.S. involvement in this tragic war. It is time to pass legislation to end it. Marjorie Ransom, Washington, DC. The writer is a retired diplomat who served in Yemen.

“IRRELEVANT” WAR DEATHS

To The New York Times, Nov. 30, 2017 Re “The Truth About the Cost of War” (editorial, Nov. 24): I was in a unit in Vietnam in 1969 that called in air and artillery strikes on “free fire zones” in III Corps, northwest of Saigon. I asked an Army officer how we knew that the people we fired on were all the enemy. “By definition,” he said, “if we kill them, they are the enemy.” Part of the truth in your editorial isn’t that civilian casualties are underreported but that their deaths in battle are seen as irrelevant. Bruce W. Rider, Grapevine, TX

A NATION DRIVEN BY FEAR

To the Houston Chronicle, Dec. 1, 2017 Regarding “True fiscal conservatives in Congress would downsize military spending” (Page B3, Monday), bravo to columnist Michael Taylor for saying what needs to be said loud and clear. But why do we do it? Why do we, as a country, seem to believe that even spending as much as the next eight countries combined is not enough? Why are we so afraid? Our modern culture is suffused with fear and lacking in joy and love. We build fortress homes and arm ourselves, even though violent crime is falling. We spend ourselves into the poor house building an unneeded military and get bogged down in futile nation-building exercises because of fear. It is hard to believe that many believe we are a Christian nation, when we are so driven by fear. Alan Jackson, Houston, TX

TRUMP’S ANTI-MUSLIM TWEETS MUST BE CONDEMNED

To The Boston Globe, Dec. 4, 2017 Re “Trump shares anti-Muslim videos

46

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

online” (Page A1, Nov. 30): Given Donald Trump’s digital history since his inauguration, we’ve come to expect behavior in the form of early-morning tweets that, by the standards of any previous administration, Republican or Democratic, can be viewed only as notably unpresidential. Even so, I felt like I’d been slapped in the face when I read about his retweets of the three videos disseminated by a far-right British fringe group intent on inflaming anti-Muslim fear and hatred. And I’m Jewish. I can only imagine the pain and offense experienced by my American friends and colleagues who are Muslim, and who are forced to endure, repeatedly, this kind of stereotyping, hate-crime-inducing mistreatment at the hands of their own president. It didn’t take long for British Prime Minister Theresa May to condemn the retweets and the group that first posted them, who, her office said, seek “to divide communities by their use of hateful narratives that peddle lies and stoke tensions.” By retweeting, Trump no doubt realized he was doing the same. The American people, regardless of faith or tradition, need to say that this is not who we are, and that Trump’s corrosive tweets, designed to drive wedges between us, disserve us all. Michael Felsen, Boston, MA

CAN THE MILITARY DESTROY PRISONER ARTWORK AT GITMO?

To The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2017 Re “Who Owns Guantánamo Art? Not Prisoners, the U.S. Says” (Arts pages, Nov. 28): The United States military intends to burn and destroy all the art created by Guantánamo prisoners, claiming that the government owns it. The government can certainly destroy it. But it doesn’t own it at all. The government cannot destroy the copyright that each prisoner owns in his works. Under United States copyright law, that right belongs to each prisonerartist for the next 70-plus years. That copyright cannot be divested by military forces. This may amount to nothing, commercially speaking, especially if the prisoners cannot photograph the works to acquire a permanent record. But it is nice to know that as a moral and a legal matter, not a practical one, the Guantánamo prisoners have a right that their captors cannot touch. Mickey Davis, Cleveland, OH. The writer is a professor of intellectual property law at Cleveland State University. ■ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

cartoons_47_January/February 2018 Cartoons 12/8/17 2:35 PM Page 47

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST

Lexington Herald-Leader, Lexington, KY

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

COPYRIGHT Â©2017 KHALIL BENDIB WWW.BENDIB.COM

National Post, Toronto, Canada

www.OtherWords.org

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada

Confidencial.com.ni, Managua, Nicaragua JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Morning Herald, Sydney, Australia WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

47

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 48

Al-Quds Festival Celebrates Palestinian Culture

Inundated with a never-ending flow of negative and tragic information from their homeland, Palestinian Americans in Northern Virginia took an opportunity on Nov. 12 to put political considerations aside and celebrate their rich and vibrant culture. Organized by Arabesque Media, the day-long Al-Quds festival at the City of

Alexandria’s Durant Art Center featured an abundance of Palestinian food, music and dance. Talented young dabke dancers entertained the packed room as they performed their country’s traditional dance; young women showed off traditional Palestinian dress in a fashion show; and children were quizzed on the history of Palestine. The event also included a selection of vendors, including Middle East Books and More, as well as a cultural display that showcased art and handicrafts from Palestine. —Dale Sprusansky

The best of Palestinian culture was on display at the festival celebrating Palestine’s capital city of Jerusalem.

California Arab Film Festival

PHOTO COURTESY DOAA NOUR PHOTOGRAPHY

MUSIC & ARTS

The 21st annual Arab Film Festival opened Oct. 13 at San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre. During the following 16 days, audiences in San Francisco, Oakland, Vallejo, Berkeley, Pasadena and Los Angeles enjoyed the exceptionally vibrant cadre of Arab cinema reflecting the diverse personalities of contemporary Arab communities in the Middle East, North Africa and the Diaspora. The festival screened 25 documentaries and 25 narratives from 28 countries. Seven feature films and 11 short films were directed by women, including “Solitaire,” the opening night hit directed by Sophie Boutros. Five of the films featured LGBTQ stories, such as “In Between,” Palestinian Maysaloun Hamoud’s directorial debut. The award-winning “Gaza Surf Club” directed by Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine was one of the top crowdpleasers. This documentary of Gaza’s surfing enthusiasts reveals one form of the irrepressible resistance of the 1.7 million residents—half of whom are under age 18—living in a country that has been called “the world’s largest open-air prison.” Director Tarik Saleh’s “The Nile Hilton Incident” set in Cairo shortly before the revolution was another audience favorite. Revolving around a hard-boiled police detective who investigates a murder at the Nile Hilton Hotel, its film noire quality echoes American 1940s detective flicks. A special Saudi Film Showcase was held in Oakland and provided audiences a rare glimpse into the Kingdom’s independent film scene. —Elaine Pasquini

Festivalgoers, including PLO Ambassador to the U.S. Husam Zomlot (bottom right, wearing keffiyeh), enjoy one of the day’s many cultural performances. 48

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

PHOTO COURTESY DOAA NOUR PHOTOGRAPHY

22nd Arabian Sights Film Festival

For the 22nd year, the Arabian Sights Film Festival provided Washington, DC audiences with entertaining and provocative contemporary films from the Arab world. Under the umbrella of the Washington, DC International Film Festival, Arabian Sights was presented by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates. “Solitaire,” a heartwarming socially insightful comedy directed by Sophie Boutros (Lebanon/Jordan/Egypt), reJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

PHOTO COURTESY STRAND RELEASING

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 49

Scene from“The Nile Hilton Incident.”

STAFF PHOTO E. PASQUINI

ceived the Audience Award. “Foreign Body,” co-presented by the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia and the Middle East Institute, was awarded the Cultural Ambassador Prize, sponsored by The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. This fourth feature film by Tunisian director and writer Raja Amari explores the life of a young woman struggling to find her way in the new reality of life after the Tunisian revolution. “The past few years the Tunisian cinema has been experiencing a new dynamic characterized by more freedom in the choice of topics,” Hanene

Tajouri Bessassi, Minister Plenipotentiary Hors Classe, told the audience prior to the Oct. 21 screening. “My Uncle,” directed by Nassim Abassi, (Morocco), made its North American premiere on opening night. Closing night featured “The Worthy,” directed by Ali F. Mostafa (UAE), followed by an after-party. Other films included “The Originals,” directed by Marwan Hamed (Egypt); “In Syria,” directed by Philippe Van Leeuw (Lebanon, Belgium, France); “I Still Hide to Smoke,” directed by Rayhana (Algeria/France/Greece); “A Day for Women,” directed by Kamla Abu Zekry (Egypt), and “Blessed Benefit,” directed by Mahmoud al-Massad (Jordan). Nazareth-born Hiam Abbass received the Honorary Artistic Acknowledgment for her outstanding portrayals of vastly different characters in three of the festival’s films. Arabian Sights ran Fridays through Sundays between Oct. 20 and 29 at the AMC Mazza Gallerie Theatre. All films screened with English subtitles. —Elaine Pasquini

“Beyond the Front Lines”: The Psychology of Occupation

Hanene Tajouri Bessassi, Minister Plenipotentiary Hors Classe, at a reception sponsored by the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia following the Oct. 21 screening of “Foreign Body.” JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

French filmmaker Alexandra Dols’ latest film, “Beyond the Front Lines,” examines the psychological effects on Palestinians of living under Israeli military occupation for half a century. The subtitled documentary was screened Nov. 18 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC as part of the Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting’s

FilmFest program. Dols had recently completed a film on the role of women in the Algerian revolution when she came upon the writings (many of which have appeared in this magazine) of Dr. Samah Jabr, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who heads the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s Mental Health Unit. Dols found Jabr’s writings to be “in the tradition of Frantz Fanon,” the Martinique-born psychiatrist whose groundbreaking books focused on the “politicization of psychology” in the context of colonialism. We first see Jabr speaking to a meeting of Israeli psychologists, one of whom says she is afraid to sign the BDS pledge. Jabr matter-of-factly responds that her own threshold of fear is higher than the Israeli’s, later explaining that while she can empathize with individual Israelis she knows, she cannot empathize with the Israeli collective as a whole. The film follows Jabr as she drives from her native Jerusalem to her office in Ramallah—where, she says, she sees Palestinians who have been diagnosed with a specific mental illness, but not the vast majority of those who experience “immense suffering and the pernicious process” of Israeli degradation. As an example she cites an instance at the Qalandia checkpoint where, after not moving for two hours, Palestinian drivers began honking their horns in anger and frustration. The Israeli soldiers responded by closing the checkpoint entirely until the drivers at the front of the line convinced the others to stop honking. Being forced to suppress the frustrations they are subjected to on a daily basis can lead to deep depression, Jabr notes. She views the Nakba as a “transgenerational trauma”—not a single event, but a process that began in 1948. In the end, however, the film is not about victimization, but about sumud, or resilience—which, Jabr points out, one need not be born with but can learn and develop. “Resistance to the occupation does not mean everyone has to fight,” she explains, adding that building and healing are forms of resistance as well.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

49

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 50

HTTP://DERRIERELESFRONTSLEFILM.FR

back and trailed by support vehicles. In a Nov. 1 program co-hosted by the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center and the Smithsonian’s Freer/Sackler galleries, Evans described his team’s 49-day trek. The audience then viewed “Crossing the Empty Quarter,” the cinematic rendering of the experience directed by Simon Gallimore. "The key to making the journey possible was receiving the blessing of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos," the explorer said. “Otherwise, we would never have unlocked the door to cross that border. We were very privileged, and you would not be able to do it today.” [Saudi Arabia officially cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and closed their joint border on June 5, 2017.] He also praised the hospitality his team received in southern Oman. “We had 1,000 unexpected guests join us for dinner cumulatively over 12 days,” he related. Preparing for the trip was problematical, Evans explained, as unruly camels and one team member’s potential health issues threatened to delay the adventure. Throughout their journey across the Arabian Peninsula—one of the driest areas on earth, with temperature extremes from 40º C (104º F) to zeroº C (32º F)— they experienced sandstorms, the possible appendicitis of a team member, a sick camel, and potential water shortages due to desert wells not being sufficiently main-

Explorer Mark Evans on “Crossing The Empty Quarter”

On Dec. 10, 1930, Omani Sheikh Salih bin Kalut led British explorer Bertram Thomas and his team of 40 men and 40 camels for 57 days across the Arabian Peninsula’s Rub’ al Khali, the world’s largest sand desert, known in English as the Empty Quarter. Eighty-five years later, to the day, British explorer and Outward Bound Oman executive director Mark Evans and his team followed in Thomas’ footsteps, traveling 800-miles from the coast of Oman, through Saudi Arabia to Doha, Qatar by foot, camel50

MUSLIM AMERICAN ACTIVISM CAIR-LA’s 21st Annual Banquet

More than 2,000 people turned out for the Council on American-Islamic Relations Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR-LA) 21st Annual Banquet Nov. 18 at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel. The event helped raise nearly $580,000 of the $650,000 fund-raising goal in support of CAIR-LA. Themed “Living Our Faith: Defending Freedom,” this year’s banquet featured Dr. Jonathan A.C. Brown, the Alwaleed bin Talal chair of Islamic Civilization at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, as well as Roula Allouch, CAIR National Board chair. In addition, Imam Siraj Wahhaj of the Al-Taqwa British explorer and Outward Bound Oman executive director Mark Evans speaks at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art. Masjid in New York gave

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

Along with other impressive Palestinians from various walks of life, “Beyond the Front Lines” introduces us to former political prisoner Rula Abu Diho, who was arrested when she was 19 for her activism in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, imprisoned in Ashkelon for 9 years, and is still forbidden to travel. Now a lecturer at Birzeit University and a member of the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, it is evident that her descriptions of prison torture, both physical and mental, are based on personal experience. But, she emphatically concludes, “If you think we’re a destroyed people, you’re dead wrong.” —Janet McMahon

tained. But they prevailed, arriving at their destination on Jan. 27, 2016. “Every day we’d walk two hours without stopping, and if we were feeling good we’d keep going until about four in the afternoon,” Evans told his audience. “The sun was pretty tough, so you might as well keep walking. We’d choose a campsite, gather some wood—it’s surprising the amount of wood in the middle of the biggest desert on earth—and get a beautiful fire going and the coffee on. Then the most magical part of the day is when that sun drops, the temperature goes down instantly and that amazing sky just reveals itself,” he exclaimed. The film showcased Oman’s spectacular desert landscape of a blazing sun and evening skies reflecting an abundance of celestial activity, while the difficulties of the journey were vividly highlighted. Following the question-and-answer session, guests including Omani Ambassador Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy enjoyed a reception featuring delicious Mediterranean food. —Elaine Pasquini

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 51

The Network of Arab-American Professionals (NAAP)-DC held a listening party at Middle East Books and More on Oct. 15. Attendees listened to an NPR podcast by Mokhtar Alkhanshali about producing coffee using beans grown in the midst of an active war zone in Yemen. Then listeners got to sample perfect cups of Yemeni dark and light coffee brewed by Anda Greeney, founder of Al Mokha coffee, also from Yemen. Along with the coffee jolt, Greeney gave guests a vivid account of how this coffee supports Yemeni farmers and makes its way to American coffee mugs. Watch a short video from the event by Mayada Ghazala. http://bit.ly/2jq4vUY nered international attention and praise. The late Taliesin Myrddin NamkaiMeche was honored with the Champion of Justice award. Earlier this year, he stood up to a white supremacist in Portland, Oregon who had been threatening two young women with racial and Islamophobic slurs. Namkai-Meche was Prof. Jonathan A.C. Brown (l) and Hussam Ayloush. stabbed by the man an address to the banquet attendees when he tried to defend the women, and drawing parallels between the struggles of thus sacrificed his life standing up for justhe African-American and Muslim commu- tice. The award was accepted by NamkaiMeche’s mother, Asha Deliverance. nities in the U.S. Various public officials sent their greetMohamed Bzeek received the Champion of Compassion award for his work ings and congratulations on the occasion supporting terminally ill children in Los An- of CAIR-LA’s 21st Annual Banquet, ingeles County. The only known foster par- cluding California’s Democratic Sens. Kaent in the county who takes in terminally ill mala D. Harris and Dianne Feinstein, U.S. children, Bzeek’s work has recently gar- Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA), and many STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

PHOTO BY MAYADA GHAZALA.

Yemeni Coffee Podcast Party

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

more. CAIR-LA executive director Hussam Ayloush reviewed the past year’s events and accomplishments and emphasized its mission moving forward. “CAIR will continue to fight for our rights, defend the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, and confront the growing atmosphere of Islamophobia in our state and country,” he said. “Remember, our community is only as strong as its organizations. And our organizations are only as strong as our investment in them. I hope CAIR-LA can continue to count on you.” In his remarks, Dr. Brown said that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore and his scandals should be condemned by every conservative in this country. “We are the conservative people who appreciate diversity in our society,” he continued. “In this country we protect the people and their rights.” In addition to these esteemed speakers, a number of city and state officials were present, as well as interfaith leaders, imams and representatives from almost all the Islamic centers and mosques in Southern California. —Samir Twair

Interfaith Service Honors Veterans

Alliance for an Indivisible America 2020 (AIA2020) and the Muslim American Veterans Association (MAVA) sponsored a Nov. 10 interfaith gathering at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Some 25 veterans and other members of the local Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Jewish communities gathered at the gravesite of U. S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, whose parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan spoke at last year’s Democratic National Convention. “This is an opportunity for us to remember everyone who has served his country and has given their time and effort with or without the ultimate sacrifice—but certainly people who have made the sacrifice to serve their country—and this is an opportunity for us to say ‘thank you’ to them,” said AIA2020 executive director Robert Marro, a past member of the National Guard and a re-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

51

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 52

52

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

make the World Veterans’ tired senior U.S. foreign serCenter; and Imam David T. vice officer. Debye, lay leader for the “We salute our brother Muslim community at QuanCaptain Humayun Khan, his tico Marine Corps Base, also Gold Star family and all of spoke. those who fought with him Following the presentaand care about human life all tion, the group crossed the over the world,” said Lyndon street to lay a wreath in front Bilal, MAVA’s national comof the Spirit of Freedom mander. sculpture at the African Moving to the nearby American Civil War Memorgravesite of Staff Sgt. Ayman ial on U St., NW. Taha, a member of the All The next day, in an emoDulles Area Muslim Society tional Veterans Day cere(ADAMS) community who mony, MAVA members laid died in 2005 while serving with the U.S. Special Forces (L-r) Robert Marro holds photos of Ret. Gunnery Sergeant J.T. Inge, a wreath at the Vietnam in Iraq, Imam Mohamed one of the surviving original Montford Point Marines; Asma Hanif, Memorial on the National Mall. —Elaine Pasquini Magid, ADAMS executive re- Inge’s daughter; and Guy Labib Gregory. ligious director, led a traditional Muslim prayer. “Taha’s sacrifice was fully in keeping with the dedication of the Muslim community to their American homeland, and his sacrifice was a testament to the patriotism of all immigrants who love America, of whatever faith,” the imam said. Asma Hanif, daughter of Ret. Gunnery Sgt. J.T. Inge, who was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Barack Obama and is one of the surviving original Montford Point Marines, told the crowd how proud she was “to be the daughter of my father, who provided humanitarian services regardless of race, creed or gender.” Several other MAVA commanders, in- MAVA members lay a wreath in front of the Spirit of Freedom sculpture at the African American cluding Guy Labib Gregory from St. Civil War Memorial. Louis and Daniel Habeel from Chicago, recalled their own service in the U.S. mil- niversary Nov. 10 at the African American CAIR Banquet Inspires Hope itary during the Vietnam War and how Civil War Museum in Washington, DC. much it meant for them to be able to Recognizing that during war “we created The national office of the Council on honor the sacrifice of all their comrades, widows and orphans,” MAVA co-founder American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) drew living and dead. Talib-Din reminded his audience that “As a record crowd of some 1,000 to its 23rd Other speakers included U.S. Ambas- Muslims we cannot turn our backs on our annual banquet on Oct. 28 at the Marriott sador Islam Siddiqui, Mike M. Ghouse of responsibilities to restore a healthy rela- Crystal Gateway hotel in Arlington, VA. the Center for Pluralism, Andra Baylus tionship with people we were sent to de“Living Our Faith: Defending Freedom” and Andrea Barron. —Elaine Pasquini stroy. Let us help, not hurt.” was the theme of the fund-raising proMAVA commanders Guy Labib Gre- gram which was co-emceed by CAIR MAVA Commemorates 20th gory; Lyndon Bilal; Stanley Mahdi; Talib Los Angeles executive director Hussam Anniversary, Honors Veterans Shareef, president and imam of the his- Ayloush and San Francisco Bay Area The Muslim American Veterans Associa- toric Masjid Muhammad; Daniel Habeel, executive director Zahra Billoo. “In many ways our 23rd year of advotion (MAVA) commemorated its 20th an- founder and director of Chicago’s Re-

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 53

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

privilege, begin to really cacy work was one of the most stoke a toxic form of popchallenging, but we survived ulism, and win,” Webb said, with your support and the comnoting that “toxic populism” mitment of our staff and volunwas nothing new and related teers,” said CAIR national examples of this found in the board chair Roula Allouch in Qur’an. “When people of her welcoming remarks. piety, of justice, nuance and The CAIR Chapter of the responsibility are silenced, Year Award— the first of many then that space will be filled community service awards preby those who are irresponsisented—recognized the Massable and have a bad agenda.” chusetts chapter for, among Citing CAIR’s important other actions, organizing a rally work, the imam urged audiin 36 hours which drew 25,000 ence members to become people to protest President involved. “We should beDonald Trump’s first Muslim come more engaged and not travel ban. be silenced,” he stated, “beMasrur Javed Khan, presi(L-r) Masrur Javed Khan, president of the Islamic Society of Greater dent of the Islamic Society of Houston and recipient of CAIR’s Muslim of the Year Award, with cause a silent community Greater Houston, received the CAIR national board chair Roula Allouch and CAIR national execu- cannot speak for itself. When it does not speak for itself Muslim of the Year Award for tive director Nihad Awad. then other people will reprehis leadership in the Hurricane Rock held Taliesin while he died, and he sent that community.” Harvey relief efforts. Webb praised the increased participaFormer Standing Rock tribal chairman said, ‘tell everyone on the train I love David Archambault II was awarded them,’” Asha Deliverance, Taliesin’s tion of young Muslims within their communities after the 9/11 attacks, of young CAIR’s Malcolm X Award for his leader- mother, told the audience. Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Deedra Muslim women since the election of Donship in the Native American community’s spiritual and environmental opposition to Abboud, who is running to be the first Mus- ald Trump as president, and the growing lim woman in Congress and the first Muslim number of Muslims running for local ofthe Dakota Access Pipeline. Pioneering diplomat, researcher, in the United States Senate, delivered the fices in their cities. The stellar line-up of speakers also inscholar and teacher Dr. Sulayman S. first of the evening’s keynote addresses. “By CAIR taking a chance on me, I was cluded Islamic Society of North America Nyang received CAIR’s Lifetime able to find my voice,” said Abboud, who president Azhar Azeez, Imam Yusuf Abdi Achievement Award. Hawaii Attorney General Douglas S. served as director of CAIR’s Arizona chap- and Zainab Baloch. “CAIR is strong and CAIR is tough beChin and Washington State Attorney Gen- ter from 2001 to 2005. “I was able to find eral Bob Ferguson shared the Defender of my passion for civil rights that I had no cause these are tough times,” said CAIR Liberty Award for successfully blocking idea I had. 2017 is a challenging time and national executive director Nihad Awad. presidential executive orders barring travel 2018 will be as challenging as we will “We promised you last December we allow it, but we must look at it as an oppor- would be unwavering, and this is what we from Muslim-majority countries. The evening’s most poignant moment tunity—as breaking barriers—and remem- have been doing in defending the rights of Americans. CAIR has your backs.” was the presentation of the Courage ber that we are the fabric of this country.” Stand-up comedian Jeremy McLellan Believing that bringing people together Award to Ricky Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Micah Fletcher for is one of her strong suits, the 45-year-old wrapped up the evening’s events with their heroic efforts in defending two Democrat decided that running for office his freewheeling style of liberal-advocacy teenage girls—one Muslim wearing a was her way “to take a stand and bring humor. CAIR’s No Banz gum was a popular hijab and the other African-American— us together.” Imam Suhaib Webb, the second gift for banquet attendees and added adagainst racial slurs and bullying by a white supremacist on a Portland, Oregon light- keynote speaker, is one of the best-known ditional fun to the lively event with derail train on May 26, 2017. Tragically, Best contemporary American imams. He cur- scriptions on the package reading: and Myrddin suffered fatal stab wounds rently serves as scholar in residence at “Tastes Like Freedom,” “Ban Bad Breath, Not Muslims,” and “Flavorful New York University’s Islamic Center. and Fletcher was seriously wounded. “A year ago we saw a presidential can- Splash Removes Foul Executive Or“A beautiful Native American woman —Elaine Pasquini who had just returned from Standing didate, a bully, someone full of his own ders.” JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

53

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 54

HUMAN RIGHTS The National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (NCPCF) held an evening event at the Diyanet Center of America in Lanham, Maryland on Oct. 27. NCPCF executive director Dr. Mel Underbakke gave an overview of her organization, a coalition of individuals and organizations which seek to educate the public about the erosion of civil and political freedoms, and the abuses of prisoners within the U.S. criminal justice system. She described Communication Management Units (CMUs), designed to isolate and segregate certain prisoners in federal prisons. There are two CMUs, one in Terre Haute, Indiana (see May/June 2007 Washington Report, p. 12) and the other in Marion, Illinois. They house a total of 60 to 70 prisoners, over two-thirds of whom are Muslim, even though Muslims represent only 6 percent of the general federal prison population. CMU prisoners are banned from physical contact with their visiting families and friends, and interactions with other prisoners and phone calls are limited. CMU detainees are given no explanation for why they’ve been placed in CMUs and no review process to allow them to transfer to the general population. “The erosion of civil rights concerns us,” Underbakke said as she described the arrest and 65-year prison sentences of Ghassan Elashi and Shukri Abu Baker, founders of the Holy Land Foundation, formerly the largest Islamic charity in the U.S. She described FBI entrapment, families devastated by the cost of legal fees, unidentified key witnesses testifying behind a screen, and the growing number of incarcerated political prisoners. Dr. Jonathan Brown of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University said he grew up taking the government’s side in arguments until he got married and learned about the egregious case of his father-inlaw, Dr. Sami Al-Arian. He is trying to teach his children not to be afraid, he said. Sheikh Omar Suleiman, an American Muslim scholar and founder of Faith Forward Dallas, opened his keynote address 54

(L-r) Sheikh Omar Suleiman, Ikraan Abdurahman, Mariam Abu Ali and Drs. Mel Underbakke and Jonathan Brown take questions from the audience.

by saying that when Malcolm X was murdered, his widow Dr. Betty Shabazz said she and her six daughters were treated like lepers by her community. Suleiman called on the Muslim community to demand justice and help the families of prisoners. He urged clergy and activists to take a principled, political stand and not forget about or abandon either the prisoners or their families. Mariam Abu Ali has been advocating for her brother Ahmed for more than 10 years. She recalled coming home from exams as a 14-year-old and seeing half a dozen FBI SUVs surrounding her apartment. After being tortured for three days in Saudi Arabia, her 22-year-old brother had confessed to a conspiracy to assassinate President George W. Bush. He is now serving a life sentence, and being held in solitary confinement, which his sister says is meant to break both the prisoner and his loved ones. Ikraan Abdurahman is the sister of Zacharia, a studious Somali-American from Minneapolis whose circle of friends was infiltrated by a classmate and recorded talking about videos and trying to travel to fight with ISIS. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, another friend to 30. All the boys had ambitions and goals, and they were taken away, she said. Abdurahman talked about the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs, which, she said, target and stigmatize one religious group. A kid who displays his religion at a basketball game gets his name

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

jotted down and is included in a list of potentially radical kids. No one knows who is an informant at school or at the mosque, and people are afraid to talk about politics. Speaker after speaker described similar cases, and called on the audience not to turn their backs on their incarcerated brothers. —Delinda C. Hanley

Supporters of Rohingya Muslims Rally Outside White House

Some 200 supporters of the Rohingya Muslims rallied outside the White House Oct. 29, calling on President Donald J. Trump to denounce the Myanmar government for its inhumane treatment of these indigenous people, a minority living primarily in a poor coastal region of the country and Myanmar citizens until their citizenship was revoked by the military regime in 1982. Burma Task Force, along with interfaith organizations in the greater Washington, DC area, is urging people to contact their congressional representatives and the White House to ask them to immediately address the humanitarian crisis, including by sending emergency aid supplies, imposing sanctions against the government and creating a United Nations peacekeeping force in Bangladesh. Speakers at the rally included U.S. Ambassador Islam Siddiqui; Yasmine Taeb, on behalf of Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN); and Gaston Araoz-Riveros, from the office of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). Following Aug. 25 attacks on police JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

A Wake-Up Call for Civil Liberties

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 55

PHOTO COURTESY PAUL GRAHAM

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

ters created very large stations and an army base paper dolls representing by the Arakan Rohingya the children killed in 2014. Salvation Army, an estiAs the photo shows, the mated half-million Ropavilion strung up Israeli hingyas fled to neighboring flags as a barrier to hold Bangladesh to escape back our demonstration rape, killings and house (every year they try to give burnings by Myanmar’s seus less space)—but incurity forces. (See Nov./ stead we lined up our Dec. 2017 Washington Relarge paper dolls in front of port, p. 39.) the flags and also set up According to Amnesty Insome Palestinian flags. ternational, which has called Our placards reflected a Myanmar’s actions “crimes “tourist” theme, with an against humanity,” the counimage of an Israeli beach try’s security forces have that read “Welcome to Iskilled hundreds of Rohingya rael,” while the bottom half Muslim men, women and Supporters of Rohingya Muslims outside the White House. read “Welcome to Gaza” children. The protesters also called on Myan- panded to reflect on how the Pavilion does and showed a distraught man carrying mar’s Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San not represent the cultural diversity of Is- his injured child. Our event is the only continuous action Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader— rael. The contributions of Muslims and although legally barred from being prime Christians are not reflected, and while the in Winnipeg that draws attention to Isminister—to return the award, as she Israel pavilion does serve Palestinian/Arab rael’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza. We do think we are having an imhas failed to adequately address the cri- food, it refers to it as Israeli. Every year our action has grown, and pact. People from all backgrounds attend sis and protect Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority. —Elaine Pasquini this past summer we were able to hold Folklorama, and many are unaware of Isour event on two nights. We stand on the rael’s oppression of the Palestinian peograss across from the building and do ple. Protesters are able to talk to those WAGING PEACE not interfere with people entering or exit- attending the event and provide a teaching the event. Our sole purpose is to be ing moment about something many peoRemembering Gaza at an peaceful and raise awareness about Is- ple still are not aware of. Annual Winnipeg Vigil We plan to continue this action in the rael’s violations of international law. Since 2014, when Israel invaded Gaza in Members of Independent Jewish Voices, years to come. —Candice Bodnaruk and Larry its “Operation Protective Edge,” Canadi- Winnipeg Coalition Against Israeli Sutherland, Winnipeg, Manitoba, ans have met yearly for a silent vigil at Apartheid, Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Canada the “Israel Pavilion” at Folklorama, a two- Canadian Palestinian Support Network Mennonite week Winnipeg summer cultural festival. and Festival-goers visit a variety of pavilions Central Committee that claim to reflect the diversity of each were in attendance country, and sample food and entertain- last August. Our action was also ment at each venue. The Israel pavilion has never reflected featured in two artithe diverse cultural makeup of Israel itself. cles in our local When we held our first peaceful vigil, newspaper, the the 51-day war was on and we wanted to Winnipeg Sun. Our 2017 theme draw attention to Israel as an apartheid state, its ongoing occupation and Israel’s drew attention to continuous violations of international law in the effect Israel’s the West Bank and Gaza. What began as blockade of Gaza an action against Israel’s invasion of Gaza has on children. has continued each year as a way to re- One of our organiz- Canadians hold a silent vigil outside the “Israel Pavilion” at Folklomember the victims, and has also ex- ers and her daugh- rama. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

55

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 56

the United Nations and the entire international community to take vigorous action to break the century-old logjam created and perpetuated by the great powers.” —Jane Adas

Rashid Khalidi Provides Historical Context for Balfour Declaration

56

Palestinian Perspectives Shared

A three-speaker conference on Nov. 4 in the college town of Northfield, MN, sponsored by Northfielders for Justice in Palestine/Israel, gave Minnesotans a glimpse into the anti-Zionist Jewish point of view, realities of today’s Gaza, and efforts to improve Israel’s treatment of Palestinian children. Rabbi Mark Braverman, describing continued references to a two-state solution as “political chicanery,” said that a sense of entitlement, exceptionalism and victimhood is keeping Jewish Israelis imprisoned by the wall they built against Palestinians. “I want to liberate my own people,” said the native Philadelphian, who has family roots in Jerusalem. “We need to do for Israel what the world did for South Africa.” The Israel of today is not the Israel of the Bible, Braverman said. Instead, the Zionism that has created Israel is “sinful and heretical.” If Jesus were to return, said the rabbi, he would leave the Mount of Olives, walk to the Knesset and tell modern Israel to “destroy this temple.” The next speaker, Nathan Stock, has been director of the Carter Center’s IsraelPalestine Field Office and has lived in Gaza during perilous times. Stock’s narrative, primarily a mini-history lesson of the crowded Strip’s last 20 years, underscored Palestinian financial hardships caused by Israeli control of land, sea and air.

during the war. Five weeks after the Balfour letter, he continued, advancing British troops captured Jerusalem. By war’s end, Palestinians were exhausted and suffering from what Khalidi described as collective post-traumatic stress syndrome. Four hundred years of Ottoman sovereignty were replaced by a strict British military occupation and then, in 1923, by a British Mandate that not only incorporated the Balfour Declaration in its preamble, but expanded on its commitments to a Jewish national home. To understand the inability of Palestinians to retain control of their ancestral homeland, Khalidi stressed the importance of recognizing the triple bind they found themselves in: the might of the British Empire at a time when colonial possessions had not yet been successful in freeing themselves from imperial powers; “an international colonizing movement with a national mission and its own independent sources of finance and support;” and international legitimacy accorded both by the League of Nations. This historical background, Khalidi maintained, helps us realize that the conflict between Israel and Palestine did not begin in 1967, or even in 1948, and that the Great Powers—Britain and then the U.S.—through selfinterested formulas that ignore international law, have exacerbated the conflict. “It is (L-r) Jennifer Bing, Rabbi Mark Braverman and Nathan high time,” he concluded, “for Stock.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

STAFF PHOTO B. MCGRATH

Prof. Rashid Khalidi describes the desperate situation of Palestinians before the Balfour Declaration.

STAFF PHOTO J. ADAS

On Nov. 2, 1917, His Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Arthur James Balfour sent a brief letter to Lord Rothschild: His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing nonJewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. This became known as the Balfour Declaration, which, according to Prof. Rashid Khalidi of Columbia University, “in effect constituted a declaration of war by the British Empire on the indigenous population of the land it was promising to the Jewish people as a National Home.” On the centenary of Balfour’s letter, Khalidi spoke at the U.N. on behalf of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. His topic was the historical background of the Declaration from a Palestinian perspective. The unidentified “existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”—94 percent of the population at the time—already were concerned about increasing Zionist immigration and land acquisition that led to the removal of Palestinians working the land. Between 1909 and 1914, Rashidi noted, the two leading Haifa and Jaffa newspapers published more than 200 articles warning of the dangers the Zionist movement posed for Palestinians. Then, with the beginning of World War I, all local newspapers were shuttered and were not allowed to resume printing until 1920. Khalidi observed that wartime conditions in Greater Syria, which then included Palestine, caused intense suffering: grinding battles between British and Ottoman forces led to dislocations and food shortages. Half a million people died due to famine alone, and the population of Palestine declined by 6 percent

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 57

PHOTO KHALID NAMEZ, COURTESY ANERA

“During the 1980s, unemHCEF’s Conference ployment in Gaza was around Focuses on Jerusalem 5 percent,” said Stock. It now exceeds 40 percent. “Mostly “Jerusalem: The City of Peace we hear about the difficulties for All” was the theme of this of bringing things into Gaza,” year’s Holy Land Christian Ecuhe added. But Israel has also menical Foundation (HCEF) blocked Gaza’s ability to exconference, held Oct. 28 at the port strawberries, oranges, furJerusalem Fund for Education niture and other items. Lack of and Community Development in revenue has prevented the rulWashington, DC. Fr. James ing Hamas party to pay its Gardiner of the Franciscan government workers in Gaza. Monastery in Washington, DC The final speaker was Jenoffered the opening prayer, and nifer Bing, director of the Monmouth University political Chicago-based Palestine-Isscience professor Saliba Sarsar rael Program run by the Ameri- Musician Huda Asfour (l) and rapper Omar Offendum at ANERA’s emceed the day’s events. Midcan Friends Service Commit- dinner. dle East Books and More tee (Quakers), who has lived staffed a booth loaded with in the West Bank. Her advocacy concenPassing up the traditional sit-down din- books and Palestinian solidarity items. trates on informing Americans of Israel’s ner, ANERA’s elegant reception gave atIn his opening remarks, HCEF president widespread detention of Palestinian tendees the opportunity to mingle as they and CEO Sir Rateb Rabie remarked that teenagers, who are jailed for as long as ate hors d’oeuvres and viewed artist focusing on Jerusalem at this year’s conthree months for the crime of throwing a Diane Campion’s “The Innocents Pro- ference was vital, as life for Christians and stone. “One purpose [of the grim incar- ject,” painted portraits of Syrian and Muslims is getting more difficult. Professor ceration] is for Israeli interrogators to Palestinian refugee children caught in the Sarsar noted that since Jerusalem’s learn about adult members of the com- middle of a turbulent situation. Guests founding in 3,000 B.C., the city has been munity” from which the youngster has donated funds to help ANERA’s projects attacked 52 times, captured and recapbeen snatched, Bing explained. The boy that support education, economic oppor- tured 44 times, and destroyed twice. It’s is presented with a “confession,” in He- tunities and dignity for Syrian and Pales- important to understand the city’s competbrew, which he is persuaded to sign in tinian refugees. They also met Sean Car- ing narratives, he said, its current situation order to gain his freedom. roll, who recently replaced Bill Corcoran and the prospects for peace. Bing sees hope in legislation, such as as ANERA’s CEO and president. Dr. Bernard Sabella with the Middle East a bill presented by Rep. Betty McCollum Emmy-nominated journalist Ahmed Council of Churches described the inequalof Minnesota. This measure would Shihab-Eldin, a correspondent/producer ities between Palestinians—who now comthreaten to cut off U.S. aid to Israel if in- for AJ+ and VICE on HBO, was master of prise 37 percent of the population—and dependent groups find that mistreatment ceremonies. Shihab-Eldin describes him- Jews living in Jerusalem. Nearly 81.8 perof arrested Palestinian children contin- self on Twitter as “Palestinian by blood. cent of Palestinians in the Old City live ues. —Bill McGrath American by birth. Kuwaiti by nationality. below the poverty line, in contrast to 28.5 Egyptian by upbringing. Austrian by ado- percent of Jewish residents. Last July, exANERA’s Gala Introduces New CEO lescence. Curious by nature.” tremist religious Jews tried to alter the staSean Carroll Palestinian composer/musician Huda tus quo on the Haram Al-Sharif. Dr. Sabella American Near East Refugee Aid Asfour sang and played the oud for the pointed out that the 1994 Memorandum by (ANERA), a development organization appreciative audience. Zeina Azzam, the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem dehelping families in the Middle East since ANERA board member and publications clares that Jerusalem should be an open 1968, held its 2017 annual gala Oct. 13 editor at the Arab Center Washington DC, city, universally accessible, and not monopat the stunning National Museum of read a poem by Palestinian poet Mah- olized by any particular group. U.N. ResoluWomen in the Arts in downtown Wash- moud Darwish. Spoken-word artist Omar tion 242 specifies that East Jerusalem is ocington, DC. The theme of this year’s din- Offendum, born in Saudi Arabia to Syrian cupied and subject to negotiations. ner was “Tapestry of Humanity: The parents and raised in Washington, DC, Nonetheless, Israel regards both East and Common Thread that Binds Us All.” capped off the evening with his unique West Jerusalem as a unified Jewish city. Fr. Michael McDonagh, senior adviser to Guests watched an excellent film spot- blend of hip-hop and Arabic poetry. —Delinda C. Hanley the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and to the lighting ANERA’s work. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

57

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 58

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

city); attacking the Palestinarchbishop of Jerusalem, said ian leadership and cultural inJerusalem should be a city of stitutions—for example, shutpeace. He called on Christians ting down Orient House; and to denounce housing discrimiweakening Palestinian socination, the lack of democracy, ety by means of economic and other problems facing deprivation (such as not colPalestinians in Israel. lecting garbage and encourModerated by HCEF aging the drug trade); board member Elias G. 2. Colonization or replacSaboura, the second panel ing the Palestinian people; examined Christian perceptions of Jerusalem. Ambas- (L-r) Dr. James Zogby, Khalil Jahshan and Ambassador Husam Zomlot said and 3. Israelization of the sador David Mack described Americans need to be better informed about Jerusalem. Palestinian people, (teaching serving in Jerusalem after 2. Integration (the Israelization of East the Israeli narrative to Palestinian schoolthe 1967 war and getting married in St. George’s Anglican Cathedral. Father Drew Jerusalem, undermining the Palestinian children). The stumbling-block of all negotiations Christiansen, HCEF co-founder and pro- identity by, for example, removing Arabic has been Jerusalem, he pointed out, fessor of ethics and global development at from the city’s street signs); and 3. Gentrification (settlers moving into the adding that there will be no final agreeGeorgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, emphasized universal rights to ac- city, displacing Palestinians, especially in ment without East Jerusalem being desigcess holy places. Environmental concerns, the Old City. Also, Israeli tourist maps nated as the Palestinian capital. This capincluding the restoration and preservation highlight Jewish landmarks, but omit ital city will be open to all faiths, including Jews, Zomlot concluded. of the biblical landscape, should bring the Palestinian sites). The second speaker, Khalil Jahshan, exBishop Roy Edward Campbell, Jr. of the three religious faiths together, he said. Professor Sarsar described Jerusalem Archdiocese of Washington called for a ecutive director of the Arab Center in Washas a place where earth seems nearer to “New Jerusalem,” where everyone has ington, DC, noted that the Israeli occupation, now 50 years old, was originally porheaven. As such, he said, it must be inclu- equal dignity. Next came the screening of “Judhuri” trayed by the Israelis as a temporary measive and characterized by respect and concern for others. “Jesus stated that the (“My Roots”), a documentary by Palestin- sure. “Occupation is bad for Israelis, Palestwo great commandments are love of God ian-Guatemalan filmmaker Loubna Turju- tinians, and the United States,” he added. Since 1937, Jahshan noted, there have and love of neighbor. Therefore, we must man, who visited Palestine with a “Know push the message that Jerusalem is a city Thy Heritage” Leadership program. Her been 79 attempts at peacemaking. The film included a conversation with an Israeli Trump administration’s policies are vague, for all,” Sarsar concluded. The third session focused on the Pales- soldier from Florida at the Western Wall, he said. They whine about settlements but tinian economy and religious tourism. Mar- and a conversation with little Palestinian do not call for a settlement freeze. Indeed, the president appointed as U.S. ambaswan Ahmad, president of the Arab Ameri- boys who idolize famous soccer players. The final session focused on prospects sador David Friedman, who has helped can Business Council, observed that religious tourism is under-exploited. Tourism for peace. The first speaker, Ambassador build Israeli settlements. The bottom line is, has rebounded in the past year, after a re- Husam Zomlot, head of the PLO General Jahshan concluded, “There will be no peace cent decline due to incidents of violence, Delegation in the U.S., agreed with previ- in the Middle East without Palestine, and Ahmad said, but Israel is hurting the de- ous speakers that no religion should have there is no Palestine without Jerusalem.” The third speaker, Dr. James Zogby, velopment of religious tourism by restrict- a monopoly in Jerusalem, since it is saing overnight stays in the West Bank and cred to three religions. Jerusalem is a na- president of the Arab American Institute, by its poor treatment of arriving visitors at tional hub, or center of gravity, for cultural said that Americans are ignorant about events, hospitals and politics, he noted. Palestinian Christians’ long presence in Ben-Gurion Airport. Sir Rabie, who leads many of HCEF’s “The Palestinians’ call for Jerusalem to be the Holy Land. When the U.S. seeks reli“Living Stones” pilgrimages to the Holy the capital of Palestine is not a demand, gious freedom abroad, it ignores Israel, where non-Jews are second-class citizens Land, said Israeli policy toward Jerusalem but a concession,” Zomlot said. The ambassador went on to describe or non-people. Israel does not suffer any is three-pronged: bad consequences, no matter how bad its 1. De-development (withholding ser- three legs of Israeli policy: 1. Deconstruction of Palestinian society behavior is. vices from East Jerusalem, although East As for the two-state solution, Zogby said Jerusalemites pay the same taxes as Is- (declaring Palestinian Jerusalemites to be aliens with temporary residency in their own it is no longer possible, either physically or raelis); 58

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

politically. When Israelis say that they support the two-state solution, they are merely trying to get the West off their back. The Israeli government is not able to construct a political coalition that can make peace. Zogby called for supporters to counter the effects of decades of Israeli propaganda like the film “Exodus,” seen by so many Americans. “We must focus on individual Palestinians who are suffering from human rights abuses, in order to put a human face on the situation,” he said. The movement toward gay marriage succeeded because everyone knew someone who was gay, Zogby noted, whereas there has been no success in eliminating homelessness because most people do not personally know any homeless person. Americans need to meet and get to know individual Palestinians, he concluded. Jahshan added that public opinion is changing on college and university campuses. Ambassador Zomlot said that Palestinians must re-brand to show Americans that their society has always been highly educated and tolerant of diversity, and to make clear that they are not merely victims but are professionals. —Delinda C. Hanley

Palestine and the Restrictions on Academic Freedom

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 59

Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi.

dissent and intimidating organizers, they will cover up criticism of Israeli atrocities, she said, calling it “the new McCarthyism.” She and other SFSU advocates for justice in Palestine have been subjected to multiple bullying attacks by such right-wing pro-Israel groups and individuals as David Horowitz, the Canary Mission, AMCHA, Campus Watch, StandWithUs, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Middle East Forum and the Zionist Organization of America. Dozens of racist posters calling student advocates for justice for Palestine Nazis or Jew-haters popped up on campus between Oct. 14, 2016 and May 3, 2017. Abdulhadi noted that there is “equal opportunity silencing” of progressive Jewish voices. There has never been consensus among Jews in America on Palestine, she said, charging that hard-line groups claim to own the discussion and silence others as self-hating Jews. Because states are cutting funding to public universities, the schools are more

PHOTO COURTESY FORWARD FILM PRODUCTIONS

Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, senior scholar of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative at San Francisco State University (SFSU), gave a riveting talk at the Jerusalem Fund in Washington, DC on Nov. 21. Abdulhadi, who teaches courses on ethnic studies/race and resistance, is the only professor named as a defendant in the case of Mandel v. San Francisco State University, because of her scholarship and outspoken positions on Palestine and Islamophobia. The lawsuit was filed by the racist and Islamophobic “Lawfare Project.” Abdulhadi described her experiences as being the target of long-standing and systemic attempts to silence Palestine activism in the U.S. Israel supporters hope that by silencing Scene from “Stitching Palestine.” JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

dependent on donors, and thus more susceptible to donor pressure to silence proPalestinian voices, Abdulhadi said. She cited a controversy on her campus over a mural honoring the late Prof. Edward Said. The mural took three years to approve and ended up with design modifications, e.g., omitting the cartoon refugee boy Handala figure holding a sword-shaped pen to express the concept of “a pen is mightier than a sword,” as well as a house key to symbolize the “Right to Return” of the Palestinian refugees. These tactics ultimately fail, Abdulhadi observed, only creating more publicity and greater student activism as supporters unite to resist. Students at SFSU came to the mural unveiling wearing Handala Tshirts, she said, and the university needs more professors to fill the demand for more classes on race and resistance at SFSU. —Delinda C. Hanley

“Stitching Palestine” Screenings

Middle East Books and More hosted its first-ever film screening—and the DC premier—of Carol Mansour’s latest documentary, “Stitching Palestine,” on U.N. Day, Oct. 24. Researcher and writer Rose Esber and nurse Ellen Siegel, a witness to the SabraShatila massacre, who both recently visited refugee camps in Lebanon, gave opening remarks. Every seat was full as the audience watched the Canadian/Lebanese/Palestinian filmmaker’s award-winning film, connecting the stories of 12 Palestinian women to the art of embroidery produced in 12 different refugee camps in Lebanon. Mansour’s focus on women’s stories emphasizes the important role they play as guardians of memory, using arts and storytelling to hold their communities together. The women, from different social and economic backgrounds, recall their lives before their exodus, their memories, and their identity, interconnected by the ancient Palestinian tradition of embroidery. Resilient and determined, the women are

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

59

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 60

lawyers, artists, writers, housewives, activists, architects and politicians who stitch together the story of their homeland, their dispossession, and their unwavering work for justice. The Jerusalem Fund in DC hosted another well-attended screening on Dec. 2, with an introduction by Siegel, who provided background information on the film and its relation to Beit Atfal Assumoud (www.socialcare.org), a charity organization dedicated to improving the lives of Palestinian families in Lebanon (see Nov./ Dec. 2017 Washington Report, p. 24). —Delinda C. Hanley

Is the Palestinian Struggle Succeeding or Faltering?

Is there a legitimate Israeli peace camp? Are Zionism and equality compatible? Has the Palestinian Authority (PA) lost its legitimacy in the eyes of Palestinians? These were among the questions tackled during the lively, and sometimes contentious, first panel of the Palestine Center’s annual daylong conference, held Nov. 17, 2017 at its offices in Washington, DC. Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, was firm in his position that Zionism is the problem at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Since Israel’s founding, he said, the country’s leaders have made it clear that they view Palestinians as a demographic threat to the selfprofessed Jewish state. Following the 1967 war, he noted, Labor Minister Yigal Allon suggested “thinning the Galilee of Arabs,” while Religious Affairs Minister Zerah Warhaftig said Israel “must increase [the number of] Jews and take all possible measures to reduce the number of Arabs.” Fifty years later, this remains the philosophy of many Israeli leaders, Abunimah said. In 2014, current Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who at the time was a Knesset member, shared a racist article that describes the Palestinian people as “the enemy” and calls for the targeting of Palestinian mothers who give birth to “snakes.” This year, Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi threatened a third nakba (a mass displacement 60

and expulsion of Palestinians, as took place in 1948 and 1967). “You’ve already paid that crazy price twice for your leaders,” Hanegbi said. “Don’t try us again because the result won’t be any different.” “This right to be racist is one which is foundational to Zionism, it cannot be separated from Zionism,” Abunimah stated. “The way to end Israel’s human rights abuses is to end the system of Zionism and to replace it with a system of full, equal, guaranteed rights for everyone, regardless of their race, religion and ethnicity. That’s the future we should be working toward.” Alon Ben-Meir, a professor at New York University, offered a sharp rebuke of Abunimah’s historical approach. “Repeating the historical account of what happened 100 years ago and rehashing that history, however instructive it may be, is not going to bring the Palestinian people one step closer to establishing a Palestinian state,” he argued. “The question today for us is, how do we change the picture? How do we create an environment that is conducive to the creation of an independent Palestinian state?” Instead of lamenting the past and repeating its mistakes, Ben-Meir encouraged Palestinians to develop an effective strategy for the future. “You must recognize today that what you have done in the past 50 years did not produce any results,” he insisted, pointing to the continued expansion of Israeli settlements and the hardships many Palestinians have endured. “The policy of resistance did not work, and it’s not working,” he added. While some in the audience found truth in Ben-Meir’s criticisms, they were much less receptive to his proposed solution. He implored Palestinians to stop portraying Israel as a right-wing country and to start engaging with Israel’s left, which he estimated to be at least half the country. Engaging this liberal peace camp is the best path to peace and the delegitimization of Netanyahu, he maintained. An agitated Abunimah strongly contested Ben-Meir’s assertions. “What we heard is a rehearsal of the same talking points we’ve been hearing from the socalled Israeli peace camp for as long as I

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

remember,” he said. “We’ve been hearing since the time of [Shimon] Peres ‘Give the Israeli peace camp a chance, and support them, they want peace.’ It was the Israeli left that built the settlements and built the occupation.” Pointing to the success of the global BDS movement and other nonviolent Palestinian movements, such as this past summer’s successful campaign to get Israel to remove metal detectors from the alAqsa mosque compound, Abunimah said it’s time to do away with the myth of liberal Zionism, not Palestinian anti-colonial resistance. “The time for these myths are over— these old myths that falsely portray the situation as just a disagreement between equals,” Abunimah said. “This is the 21st century, enough of this colonial, racist nationalism. Zionism comes from the 19th century, and we should send it back there.” Dr. Abdel Razzaq Takriti, a professor at the University of Houston, also refuted Ben-Meir, arguing that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has continuously engaged and cooperated with Israelis—to the detriment of Palestinians. He said the problem with the PA, which he described as “a structure that basically acts to contain Palestinian resistance,” is that it does more to appease Israel than to advance the Palestinian cause. “Our institutions have been hijacked, they have been frozen in space and time,” Takriti continued. “The PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization, which he said has become virtually indistinguishable from the PA] now is nothing but a stamp in Abu Mazen’s [Mahmoud Abbas’] pocket, and with it he basically approves policies that are not popular and that are not acceptable to the Palestinian people and that do not accord with the Palestinian national consensus.” Instead of abolishing existing Palestinian institutions, Takriti advocated for their rejuvenation. He noted that strong institutions, such as the FLN in Algeria and the ANC in South Africa, played critical roles in the fight against colonialism in those countries. “Our people need to reclaim institutions that are already there, they don’t JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 61

OBSTACLES TO PALESTINIAN SOVEREIGNTY

Virginia Tilley, a professor at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, opened the second panel of the annual Palestine Center conference by comparing the Palestinian Authority to the Bantustan governments of apartheid South Africa. “The Palestinian Authority is a Bantustan government,” she opined, elaborating that the PA “provides the trappings of government without meaningful sovereignty… [and] allows domestic civil rule in order to deflect the demand for political rights.” In essence, this means the PA has been co-opted and exists primarily to protect Israel. “Security becomes the condition for remaining a Bantustan,” she explained, noting that Israel would delegitimize the PA if it decided to cease security cooperation. Though Bantustans are sold as interim governments, Tilley said, they are in fact intended to serve as a permanent source of leverage and control over the oppressed. “Sovereignty is never intended,” she stated. “A Bantustan is designed to preclude meaningful sovereignty, because the dominant power cannot give up that sovereignty.” Khaled Elgindy, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy, expressed doubt that a two-state solution is still possible. He went on to argue that a one-state solution is unlikely, given the political climate in both Israel and Palestine. He believes that imaginative solutions such as a confederation, or two states sharing the same land, need to be considered. Tilley found Elgindy’s proposal unconvincing. “I don’t like the idea that we would spend time looking at a confederation or this strange idea of two states in one land,” she said. “How do you have that? Someone controls the water. Someone controls the natural resources. Who is that? Having two sovereign entities in one territory is nonsense.” Sam Husseini, communications director at the Institute for Public Accuracy, noted the media bias that exists in the U.S. as it JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

need to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “It’s hijacked, we need to be able to free it. We need to be able to engage our young people in it.” —Dale Sprusansky

(L-r) Sam Husseini, Khaled Elgindy and Virginia Tilley debate peace proposals. pertains to Palestine and Israel. “The progressives on MSNBC and the right-wingers on Fox or Breitbart all have inherent pro-Israeli assumptions,” he said. He pointed out that under the premise of fighting “fake news,” popular media companies such as Twitter, Facebook and Google have developed algorithms that make it more difficult to find information from alternative news sources that are likely to be more critical of Israel. He urged those concerned about Palestine to choose their words carefully when discussing the issue in order to make sure that deceptive terms such as “the peace process”—which he said Israel uses to perpetuate the status quo—don’t become normalized. —Dale Sprusansky

GAZA’S CRUMBLING SOCIETY, ECONOMY AND POLITICS

Harvard University professor Sara Roy concluded the 2017 Palestine Center conference with an in-depth, and at times gutwrenching, account of the current situation in Gaza. Below are selected remarks from her speech, which was based on a recent trip to the besieged home to nearly 2 million people. • Failed Economy: “Gaza, historically a place of trade and commerce, has very low levels of production at the present….Unemployment, especially youth unemployment, was the defining factor in all my conversations with people. Overall, unemployment now hovers around 42 percent, while for young people between 15 and 29 years, it stands at least at 60 percent.” • Desperation: “Personal need is everywhere, but what is new in my long experi-

ence in Gaza is the sense of desperation which can be felt in the different ways that people behave and respond, and the boundaries they are willing to cross that once were inviolate. Such behavior is not hidden, but in full view, an emerging feature of daily life.” (For instance, Roy recalled seeing a woman aggressively begging at her hotel and refusing to leave, and a young boy pleading for money at a restaurant. “I had never seen this before in Gaza,” Roy said.) • Rising Prostitution: “Perhaps the most alarming indicator of people’s desperation is the growth of prostitution in Gaza’s traditional and conservative society. Although prostitution has always been present to varying but very limited degrees in Gaza, it was always considered shameful and immoral, carrying immense social consequences for the woman and her family. This appears to be changing as individual and family resources dissolve. A colleague, who is a well-known and highly respected professional in Gaza, told me that women, many of them well-dressed, have come to his office soliciting him, and ‘not for a lot of money.’ He also told me that because of the rise of prostitution, it has become harder for girls to get married, because ‘no one knows who is pure.’ Families also plead with him to provide a safe and decent space for their daughters by employing them in his office. Another friend told me, while sitting in a restaurant, he witnessed a young woman trying to solicit a man with her parents at a nearby table. When I asked him how he explains such incomprehensible behavior, he responded by saying ‘people who live in a normal environment be-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

61

have normally. People who live in an abnormal environment do not.’” • Suicide and Divorce: “Abnormality in Gaza is also seen in rising suicide rates, from hanging, immolation, jumping from heights, drug overdose, ingestion of pesticides, and firearms. Gaza’s divorce rate, historically low at 2 percent, now approaches 40 percent, according to the U.N. and local healthcare professionals….There are 2,000 domestic disputes a month in Shati [refugee] camp, said one official, and the police cannot cope. The courts alone receive hundreds of complaints every month. The Hamas government cannot deal with the number of problems, and around 40 percent of Gaza’s youth want to emigrate.” • Militancy for Sustenance: “Amid such disempowerment, young people have increasingly turned toward militancy as a livelihood, joining different militant extremist organizations simply to secure a paying job. Person after person argued that growing support for extremist factions in Gaza does not emanate from political or ideological belief, although that is true for certain people, but from the need to feed their families.” • Frustration with Hamas: “The misconduct and fraudulence that is now associated with Hamas and the inability to challenge it in any meaningful and effective manner have given rise to a social commentary on, and even critique of, Hamas’ conduct that uses religion as its analytical instrument. This critique is not about conditions of life in Gaza, but about the use of religion by Hamas as a coercive tool and justification for abusive behavior. By linking political behavior to religion, and using religion to judge the defects in that behavior, people are, quoting a colleague, ‘putting power on the defensive,’ in an altogether unprecedented way, at least in Gaza. This critique is taking place entirely on social media— Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp—beyond the control of Hamas, which is apparently very frustrated by its inability to control or extinguish the increasingly harsh commentary.” —Dale Sprusansky

What’s Next for Iraq’s Kurds?

Washington, DC’s Middle East Institute (MEI) held a Nov. 7 panel discussion on 62

(L–r) Amberin Zaman, Peter Shea, Gonul Tol and Shaswar Abdulwahid discuss Iraqis and Kurds following the Sept. 25 Kurdish referendum.

the subject of Iraq and its semiautonomous northern Kurdish region following the Sept. 25 nonbinding independence referendum, which was approved by 92 percent of Iraq’s three million Kurds, who for decades have desired self-rule of their oil-rich area. Moderator Gonul Tol, MEI’s director for Turkish Studies, led the discussion among Shaswar Abdulwahid, president of the Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan-based New Generation Movement, an initiative to advance Iraqi Kurdish civil society and advocate political and economic reform; Peter Shea, director of the State Department’s Office of Iraq Affairs; and Amberin Zaman, a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse. Tol first asked Abdulwahid whether Kurds think they are better off being part of Iraq, or having an independent Kurdistan. “To be honest, many, especially the youth, care more about the economic situation and are thinking about the future, especially if we have an election,” Abdulwahid explained. “We need new elections, new leaders and a new government who can solve the problems and have negotiations both with Baghdad and our friends outside of Kurdistan. We need to think about the future, not by talking, but building institutions. An election would bring new people with new ideas.” Responding to Tol’s query on the current government in the Kurdish region, Zaman insisted that President Masoud Barzani, who resigned Nov. 1, would continue to play an important role within the Kurdistan regional government (KRG), if only to ensure that his own party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, remains united. “I agree that elections should be held,” Zaman said, “and that the leader of Iraqi Kurdistan be given a popular mandate to

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

continue with negotiations with Baghdad and to try to consolidate within.” In his comments, Shea continually repeated the State Department’s position that “the United States’ number one priority in Iraq is a united, federal, democratic, prosperous country with a viable, prosperous, stable Kurdistan region in Iraq.” Responding to the moderator’s question on whether fighting ISIS or containing Iran was more important, Shea replied, “It’s not an either/or choice. President Trump has made it very clear that fighting ISIS is a top priority and has also made it clear that countering nefarious Iranian influence throughout the world is a priority.” A lively question-and-answer period followed the panelists’ remarks, as many attendees were Iraqi or Turkish Kurds. Responding to a skeptical audience member on the value of new elections, Abdulwahid opined that having new elections was “the only way to keep Kurdistan safe and peaceful. For hundreds of years we tried violence,” he noted, “but now even the worst election is better than no election, and elections give hope to the people.” —Elaine Pasquini

MEI Panel Tackles Mideast Priorities

“Assessing U.S. Middle East Priorities” was the title of the opening panel at the Middle East Institute’s 71st annual conference at Washington, DC’s Capital Hilton Hotel. The Nov. 15 discussion, moderated by Mary Louise Kelly, national security correspondent for National Public Radio, featured Gen. (ret.) John Allen, president of the Brookings Institution; Nancy Lindborg, president of the U.S. Institute of Peace; Phil Gordon, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Juan JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 62

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 63

MEI Honors Sheikha Hussa Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Fadi Ghandour

Washington, DC’s Middle East Institute held its 71st annual awards banquet Nov. 14 at the Capital Hilton Hotel. EgyptianAmerican comedian and director of the award-winning documentary “Just Like Us” Ahmed Ahmed served as master of ceremonies and entertained guests with his lively commentary. MEI board of governors member Nijad I. Fares presented the Issam M. Fares Award for Excellence, named in honor of his father, to Sheikha Hussa Sabah AlSalem Al-Sabah, founder and general-director of Kuwait’s Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah cultural organization, for her contribution to the arts and education and for highlighting the importance of preserving culture. “Sheikha Hussa Al-Sabah has worked for over four decades to make the arts and heritage of Islamic societies available to people around the world as a tool for greater understanding,” Fares said. “She and her husband, Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, have collected art objects from around the Islamic world. The pieces they have acquired and preserved represent virtually every medium of art produced since the time of the Prophet Muhammed and before. Sheikha Hussa has created and nurtured what

(L-r) Phil Gordon, Gen. (ret.) John Allen, Mary Louise Kelly, Nancy Lindborg and Juan Zarate.

Zarate, chairman and co-founder of the Financial Integrity Network. Allen began the discussion by stating that, in his opinion, he’d never seen the Middle East as unstable as it is today. “What’s going on in Saudi Arabia has a number of us scratching our heads,” he said. “I think the young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have violated one of the great strictures of power politics, which is: do not destabilize your base as you are attempting to engage in broad overseas adventures, which would be in Lebanon and Yemen.” Another challenge of the region is the four-party standoff of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt against Qatar, which, Allen said, “has permanently fractured the GCC and has engaged Iran more deeply in the problems in the region.” Gordon cited other major problems in the region, including possible nuclear proliferation in Iran and the ongoing humanitarian crisis of Syria’s civil war, resulting in the large number of refugees in Europe, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. Lindborg echoed these concerns, as well as the profound social disruptions of the refugees. “It creates additional requirements for support and leadership from third parties,” she explained. Rebuilding does not just concern infrastructure, Lindborg pointed out, “but really seeing how you proceed with reconciliation at a basic level. The Middle East is so divided that it affects the future for generations to come,” she added. Zarate pointed out the region’s many shifting relationships, including the alliance of Israel and Sunni Arab countries against JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

the Muslim Brotherhood, and what the U.S. alliance with the Kurdish forces means with regard to its relationship with Turkey. “There is an interesting dimension in the use of economic power in a more aggressive and overt way in the region than ever before,” he claimed. “You have a question of how Saudi Arabia is treating Lebanon in terms of economic power and how the UAE is using its power.” Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Allen argued that the Trump administration needs to support a two-state solution. Having worked with the Palestinians, Allen said, “I believe in the Palestinians. I believe in what they are seeking to do as partners with Israel. They want an emergent sovereign state in this process, and they want Palestine to be a platform for stability in the region.” As to when is a good time for peace negotiations, Allen told his audience that “There is no bad time to be attempting Middle East peace.” And, he added, using Iran as “a regional bogeyman” is not a justification for putting off attempts for a peace process. Other topics included Russia’s powerful role in the region, Washington’s longterm goals in Syria, and the status of the Lebanese prime minister. In conclusion, Kelly asked the panelists to give some reasons for hope in the Middle East. The list included Tunisia’s powersharing government, the spirit of entrepreneurialism of the youth throughout the region, and even the possible transformation and modernization of Saudi Arabia. During the question-and-answer session, an attendee asked if Secretary of

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

State Rex Tillerson would still be around after the holidays and “who is running U.S. foreign policy?” Those questions remained unanswered. —Elaine Pasquini

Sheikha Hussa Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah receives the Issam M. Fares Award for Excellence from Nijad I. Fares.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

63

has become an internationally recognized cultural organization. The Dar AlAthar Al-Islamiyyah promotes education, conducts an annual cultural season of lectures, music concerts, workshops and children’s programs, in addition to organizing traveling exhibitions and loaning objects to other museums.” Christopher Schroeder, a well-known advocate for entrepreneurship in the Middle East, presented the MEI Visionary Award to Fadi Ghandour, founder and chairman of Ruwwad for Development, a private sector-led community empowerment initiative that helps marginalized groups in Amman, Jordan and across the region through civic engagement, educational programming and community partnerships and services. “I am proud to present this award to my friend, Fadi Ghandour, for investing in people and supporting entrepreneurs throughout the Middle East.” —Elaine Pasquini

Educational Opportunities for Displaced Syrians

The Turkish Heritage Organization and the George Washington University chapter of No Lost Generation co-presented a Nov. 16 program titled “Education for Displaced Syrians: Innovative Solutions to a Complex Challenge,” at G.W.’s Marvin Center. Dr. Jessica Anderson, an affiliate of the Institute for the Study of International Migration and adjunct professor at the Elliott School and Georgetown, moderated the 90-minute discussion. Syrian activist Remi Hassoun opened the conversation with a poignant retelling of his experience. Upon leaving Syria in 2011, when he was 17, he went to Turkey. Eventually, he said, he obtained a visa to come to the U.S. and began school in a community college while also working. Not having access to his transcript from his Syrian high school made applying to universities or colleges more difficult, Hassoun explained. “It’s much easier now for Syrian students to go to Turkish universities with a scholarship, but here [in the U.S.] it is harder to get a scholarship, and I have to work full-time.” 64

(L-r) Dr. Jessica Anderson, Katherine T. Miller, Remi Hassoun, Lina Sergie Attar and George Batah.

George Batah is the co-founder of the Syrian Youth Empowerment, an initiative to assist Syrian high school students. The group has secured admissions and full scholarships for Syrian students at Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Columbia, MIT, Duke and Georgetown universities. “Our hope with providing higher education is to be able to build a class of future leaders who will be able to participate in rebuilding Syria,” Batah said. “A four-year college is the best option, but we need to be innovative in confronting a crisis of this size.” Asked about helping students in the bleakest of circumstances, he responded, “People who are in the hardest situation are more positioned to succeed, and they have much more passion and are harder working. We try to find them because we know that they will succeed because they want it so badly,” he added. “They do not like the reality that they live in.” Lina Sergie Attar is the co-founder and CEO of the Karam Foundation, a nonprofit organization seeking to build a better future for Syria through educational programs, smart aid distribution and sustainable development projects. “It’s very important for people to understand the importance of supporting Syrian refugees,” Attar stated. “What we have always known is when host communities support them and give them opportunities, then they are able to contribute back to the community tenfold.” In Turkey, where the Karam Foundation works for Syrian refugee youth, Attar noted, “Syrian refugee students are now entering in the Turkish school system and are no longer in makeshift schools. They are in the

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

system, and thousands and thousands of Syrian refugee youth and high school students have access to Turkish universities. These are the kind of moves that countries need to make across the board. “Turkey has opened up thousands of fully funded scholarships for Syrian refugee students,” she added, “including a stipend, not just the tuition. The opportunity in Turkey is extraordinary.” Some students cannot go to school because they work to support their families, Attar explained. In these cases, the Karam Foundation provides them with micro-scholarships to help enable the children to attend school. Because “Syrian refugee teens are the most vulnerable set of people in the refugee community,” the foundation built the Karam House in Reyhanli, Turkey. “The reason why it really works now is because the Syrian kids are entering into the Turkish system,” Attar said, “so they are going to schools and they are on the track of getting a formal education. The Syrians are so grateful to Turkey for taking in 3.5 million Syrian refugees and opening up their country to them,” she added. At the Karam House, children are also learning Turkish and English, in addition to coding, entrepreneurship skills and university preparation. Katherine T. Miller is the Global Education in Emergencies specialist for the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) PEER (Platform for Education in Emergencies Response) program. “Around 2014,” she recalled, “we saw there was a great need for education, without which there was the risk of having a lost JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 64

generation. When this came to the fore, IIE acted and started the Syrian Consortium for Higher Education and then PEER, in a larger effort to think globally about how we improve access for displaced Syrian students to higher education.” PEER has two goals, Miller said. The first is an online clearinghouse of some 700 opportunities for displaced students to find scholarships and language learning and, secondly, “to provide a survey of the landscape as to who is doing what.” “When students have a pathway to higher education they are more apt to stay in primary and secondary school,” Miller explained, “because they see an avenue toward a larger goal.” She pointed out that when students don’t have access to higher education, but desire it, the boys are more apt to fall toward extremism and the girls toward early marriage. “I would love to see education cease to be a development concern,” she concluded, “and finally considered a humanitarian concern.” The panelists all agreed that the number one action needed to help Syrians and Syrian refugees is to end the war and the daily bombings. —Elaine Pasquini

Lebanese Women Celebrate a Lebanese Poet and Each Other

Dima Osseiran hosted a Nov. 7 luncheon at her Potomac, MD home attended by more than 50 notable women of Lebanese heritage. They were celebrating the arrival of Dima’s mother, Shahina Osseiran, en route to a ceremony in honor of her father, prominent Lebanese poet and scholar, Jawdat R. Haydar (1905-2006), at North Texas University in Denton. The English department unveiled a plaque and announced an annual prize in his name. Haydar (whose books are available from Middle East Books and More) wrote that his greatest wish was for “Humanity to one day learn to be at peace with its environment, for violence and pollution to come to an end.” The Osseiran luncheon also became an impromptu celebration of some extraordinary Lebanese women in attenJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 65

Lebanese women have much to celebrate.

dance. Carla Jazzar, Lebanese chargé d’affaires in Washington, DC, has been an effective acting ambassador since the departure of Ambassador Antoine Chedid in January 2016. Also in attendance was Lebanon’s newly appointed U.N. ambassador, Dr. Amal Mudallali, who graduated from the American University of Beirut with a degree in political sciences, and earned another degree in political communication from the University of Maryland in the U.S. (Lebanon has appointed other women as ambassadors recently, including Tracy Chamoun, granddaughter of late president Camille Chamoun, now Lebanon’s ambassador to Jordan, and journalist Sahar Baassiri, who was appointed as Lebanon’s ambassador to UNESCO. They were not at the luncheon.) As Jazzar and Mudallali cut a cake inscribed, “Your image shall e’er be in our mind. Honored and acclaimed by all the nation. J.R. Haydar,” the women raised their glasses to acknowledge the growing power of Lebanese women. —Delinda C. Hanley

NCUSAR Hosts 26th Annual U.S.Arab Policymakers Conference

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations hosted its 26th annual U.S.-Arab Policymakers Conference Oct. 18 and 19. The two-day conference included panels on such topics as “Energy Dynamics of U.S.-Arab Relations,” “ArabU.S. Defense Cooperation,” and “ArabU.S. Relations: Where Are We Going?” The first day’s keynote speech was delivered by Gen. Joseph L. Votel, commander of the United States Central Command. The general began by stating

that the Middle East, Central and South Asia “remains an area of extraordinary importance to the United States” and that “it will remain an important area for us in the future.” With all the challenges and unknown future in the region, General Votel said that three words—Prepare, Pursue, Prevail—make up a “very simple approach that we use in thinking about this region.” Citing the relationship between the U.S. and the UAE in Yemen, joint counterterrorism goals, as well as U.S. support for governments opposing Iran, General Votel characterized American goals as “local solutions to local problems, and U.S. assistance where and when our interests are affected.” The second day of the conference opened up with a talk by Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the United States. The ambassador stated that he is “still optimistic” about his country’s future despite the “dire situation on the ground”— which, he said, is “not as complicated as Syria.” During the question-and-answer period, Ambassador Mubarak described the situation in Yemen as not a conflict between Saudi Arabia vs. Yemen, north vs. south, or Sunni vs. Shi’i, but one of a legitimate government versus militias. That day’s keynote speech was delivered by HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal AlSaud, former Saudi ambassador to the UK and the U.S. Prince Turki explained that the Arab world is “facing immense challenges, some of which are in our hands to solve, but others, unfortunately, are in the hands of others.” He went on to say that “governments must respond

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

65

activisms_48-66_January/February 2018 Activisms 12/7/17 2:55 PM Page 66

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

PHOTO COURTESY NCUSAR

about, or transparency in, energetically to reform this fight against corrupneeds and constantly tion in Saudi Arabia, strive to lead society toKhashoggi said. In fact, ward better conditions.” journalists are not even Some of the challenges allowed to offer construcfacing the Arab world that tive criticism. he enumerated in his The economic implicaspeech were the “presertions of MbS’s crackdown vation of the nation-state,” are already observable, “the power imbalance visKhashoggi added, and à -vis Iran,” terrorism, and potential investors are the Arab-Israeli conflict. HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Al-Saud gives a keynote speech at NCUSAR. nervous, as private busiPrince Turki also criticized U.S. foreign policy, stating that Salman (MbS) had arrested dozens of nesses and corporations as well as Washington was to blame for some of high-profile royal figures, seemingly en- royal entities are being punished. the current regional disorder by destroy- couraged the resignation of Lebanese Khashoggi urged MbS’s government to ing the Iraqi national state, failing to re- Prime Minister Saad Hariri, amped up alleviate the “unemployment epidemic” in spond in time to the massacres of the Riyadh’s rhetoric against Iran and the Kingdom as well as to show transSyrian people, and disregarding the ad- Hezbollah, and doubled down on the war parency in the corruption crackdown. In vice of friends and allies in the region. in Yemen. Two experts on Saudi Arabia, addition, Khashoggi suggested removing He expressed the hope that President Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and any radical religious elements from the Donald Trump will remedy the past mis- Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle government payroll, freeing reformist takes of the U.S. East Fellow from the Baker Institute for clerics and embracing what he described A panel on the role of the GCC in the Public Policy at Rice University, dis- as the “natural alliance” the Saudis have with the Muslim Brotherhood. region focused on the rift within the cussed the developments. In Ulrichsen’s opinion, “the GCC. Dr. Abdullah BaaSaudi Arabia we have bood, director of the Gulf known since 1973 is slipping Studies Center at Qatar away and we are seeing the University, suggested that passing of the ‘old guard.’” “the impact of the Gulf criHe didn’t believe the crown sis is going to be devastatprince’s anti-corruption caming.” Not only are Russia, paign or increased aggresTurkey and Iran taking adsion in the region are indicavantage of the rift, he extive of a “power play” beplained, but there is also cause “to the extent there the possibility of the GCC (L-r) Khalil Jahshan, Jamal Khashoggi and Kristian Coates Ulrichsen. was a power grab, it…finbecoming defunct. Dr. Khalid Al-Jaber, director of the Al-Sharq ACW executive director Khalil Jahshan ished” well before these recent developStudies and Research Center, also posed several questions: What is the ments. Now that MbS is firmly entrenched questioned the survivability of the GCC, true meaning behind the current anti-cor- as the next king, his biggest concern will and warned that the rift is “pushing some ruption purge? What will be the domestic be how to manage expectations, Ulrichsen states to build new alliances.” implications of the roundup of high-pro- said. “He now has to deliver.” The crown prince faces operational —Shannon Tawoos file figures? What impact will this campaign have on general governance, in- hurdles and pushback from those with Shake-up in Riyadh: Regional and ternal royal family politics, and the role of vested interests as he transforms his ViInternational Implications sion 2030 into reality. Much like his acthe religious establishment? Khashoggi began trying to answer tions in Yemen and Syria, MbS “owns” The Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) held a Nov. 17 panel discussion at the these questions by saying he and other his decisions in a way that his predecesNational Press Club to explore the re- Saudi citizens have long called for an sors have not. Since he is young, he will gional and international implications of anti-corruption crackdown, but he ex- be around much longer than previous recent developments in Saudi Arabia. In pressed his concern that the crown Saudi monarchs to pay the consethe two weeks prior to this standing-room prince is “doing the right things the quences if things go wrong, Ulrichsen —Delinda C. Hanley only talk, Crown Prince Mohammed bin wrong way.” There has been no debate concluded. 66

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

obituaries_67_Obituaries 12/8/17 2:46 PM Page 67

O• B • I • T • U • A • R • I • E • S John H. Trattner, 86, died of cancer Oct. 6 in Rockville, Maryland. The career foreign service officer and author of many books was a State Department spokesman during the Iranian hostage crisis, the 444-day diplomatic standoff when 52 Americans were held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran before their release in January 1981. Born in Richmond, Virginia, Trattner graduated from Yale University in 1952 and served in the U.S. Navy for three years. After working as a journalist and freelance reporter, he joined the U.S. Information Agency in 1963, and served in a variety of government agencies. He was the principal author of seven Prune Book reports detailing the qualifications and responsibilities required for the more than 3,000 top-level appointed positions a president must fill when taking office.

Elizabeth Stewart “Betsy” Mayfield, 76, died at her home in Ames, Iowa on Oct. 17, 2017 of lung cancer, although she had never smoked. Born in Gettysburg, PA to the Rev. Seth C. Morrow and Levinah Morrow, she attended the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH, then worked in New Jersey as an English teacher and in Washington, DC as a writer for Rep. Alphonzo Bell of Santa Monica, CA. After marrying Dr. John Mayfield in 1968, the couple relocated to Pasadena, CA, where John began postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology. In 1971 they moved to Pittsburgh, PA, where Betsy worked in university fund-raising at Carnegie Mellon University and where their two daughters, Katherine (Kate) and Margaret (Margie), were born. In 1977, the family moved to Ames, where Betsy embarked on a successful career with the Iowa State University (ISU) Foundation. After many years at Iowa State, Betsy’s spirit of adventure took her to a job with the New York City headquarters of Lebanese American University, then called Beirut University College (BUC). Through her work and friendships with BUC alumnae and during visits to Lebanon, Israel and Palestine she beJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Compiled by Nathaniel Bailey

came aware of the plight of the Palestinian people and became increasingly concerned and devoted to telling their story. After a decade of commuting between New York and Ames, Betsy returned to Iowa full time in 1998, and concentrated her attention on nonviolent efforts on behalf of Palestinian equality and human rights. Fearless in her activism and fiercely protective of Palestinian young people she often referred to as "my kids," Betsy sought to make a difference. She produced films for the Jerusalem Fund in Washington, DC, and for Sabeel, the East Jerusalembased center for liberation theology, worked with Arab students at ISU, and brought Palestinian students to study at ISU, all while assisting and encouraging dozens of other international students studying at ISU. She co-authored many early articles by Washington Report contributor Dr. Samah Jabar, now a psychiatrist in Ramallah (see p. 49). Betsy also organized two film festivals: “Boundaries: The Holy Land,” in Des Moines in 2002 at the Fleur Theater, and her tour de force, “Palestine Unabridged: Films about Life within the Conflict,” at the Ames Public Library in 2003. “Palestine Unabridged” was dedicated to Rachel Corrie, the American college student, activist and diarist martyred by Israel in Rafah, Gaza, on March 16, 2003, whose parents and aunts are native Iowans. The series featured 13 films, mostly documentaries by Palestinian, Israeli, British and American filmmakers, on alternate Thursday evenings, and a public discussion forum on the intervening Thursdays at local restaurants and coffee houses. Zionist groups at the local, state and regional levels sought to prevent the film festival from opening by pressuring members of the city council and the library’s board of directors. When that failed, they mounted a campaign of harassment against the library director and staff, and again were unsuccessful. Ultimately, the publicity generated by those who sought to prevent the film series opening and then to force its closing increased public interest and facilitated both a wider pub-

lic dialog about Palestinian human rights and an increased awareness of Zionist efforts to shape and limit public discussion. Not long before her death, Betsy was visited by a minister who offered his prayers. Weak and ill, Betsy took him firmly by the arm, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Don’t pray. DO something!” No words could better express the legacy of unrelenting action she leaves behind. —Michael Gillespie Howard Schaffer, 88, died Nov. 17 in Washington, DC of congestive heart failure. Born in New York, he studied American history and literature at Harvard University, and developed an interest in foreign policy while serving in the Army during the Korean War. He joined the foreign service in 1955, holding posts at embassies in India and Pakistan. Considered a leading South Asia specialist, including on the conflict in Kashmir, Schaffer was one of 29 diplomats who signed the 1971 “Blood Telegram,” a firstof-its-kind State Department dissent cable that criticized U.S. complicity in Pakistan’s brutal crackdown on East Pakistan, which soon after became the independent state of Bangladesh, and where Schaffer served as U.S. ambassador. He subsequently was director of studies at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy and wrote biographies of diplomats Chester Bowles and Ellsworth Bunker.

Shadia (Fatima Ahmed Kamal Shaker), 88, died on November 28, in Cairo, Egypt after suffering complications from a stroke. Shadia, born in Cairo in 1929, rose to prominence as an Egyptian actress and singer who captivated the Arab world during the golden age of Egyptian entertainment from the 1940s-1970s. Shadia’s style helped to define the entertainment scene in Egypt for decades, mostly through her hit singles sung with a distinctive Egyptian dialect of Arabic. In the 1990s, Shadia abruptly walked away from the entertainment industry, embracing a strict interpretation of Islam while living a life in near total seclusion. ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

67

BookReview_68_Book Review 12/7/17 2:56 PM Page 68

B •O •O •K •S The Idea of the Muslim World: A Global Intellectual History

By Cemil Aydin, Harvard University Press, 2017, hardcover, 304 pp. MEB: $28.

Today, many people in academia, in politics, and in everyday conversations, can be heard using the term “Muslim world” to describe some 50 Muslimmajority countries between Morocco and Indonesia, and a religion with more than 1.5 billion followers around the world. The idea that there is a “clash of civilizations” between the West and Islam is also widespread, with scholars around the world playing into the idea that conflict has existed between these two “civilizations” since the beginning. In his latest book, The Idea of the Muslim World: A Global Intellectual History, Cemil Aydin breaks down this “simplistic and ahistorical” notion of a unified Muslim world. Going back to the 19th century, when Europeans pushed for and en-

68

Reviewed by Shannon Tawoos dorsed Orientalism, racial theory, and colonialism, Aydin successfully shows that the idea of the Muslim world arose not from imperialism itself, but the racial turn of European imperialism and contradictions within the imperial framework. Europeans often criticized rights afforded to minorities and supported Christian independence movements within Muslim empires such as the Ottoman Empire, while ignoring calls for equality for Muslims in their own imperial systems. From the Ottoman Empire to Anwar Sadat’s Egypt and Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Aydin demonstrates that Muslim-majority countries have prioritized “national interests over pan-Islamic causes.” Prior to World War I, he writes, Muslims in the British Empire often viewed themselves as loyal citizens, even if that placed them at odds with another community of Muslims. However, the false promises and racial imperialism of the Europeans caused Muslim intellectuals to turn to the idea of a Muslim world in their quest to counter European ideas of the racial inferiority of Muslims. Due to the false promises it made to the Arabs during World War I, Aydin notes, “the British Empire won the war but lost the loyalty of its Muslim subjects.” Thus, imperial racism and interaction with the changing international order led to the rise of pan-Islamism, pan-Arabism, Islamism and other intellectual movements in Muslim communities.

WAshington REpoRt on MiddlE EAst AffAiRs

The Palestinian Table by Reem Kassis, Phaidon Press, 2017, hardcover, 256 pp. MEB: $35.

"Reading and cooking from this essential book—a thoughtful collection of great recipes, historical and cultural insights, and beautiful photographs—will move you closer to understanding this complex, fascinating part of the world." - Anthony Bourdain A definitive collection of 150 delicious, easy-to-follow, and authentic Palestinian recipes inspired by three generations of Palestinian family tradition.

Additionally, Aydin breaks down the popular idea of the inevitability of SunniShi’i sectarianism, arguing that sectarianism did not arise until the 1980s. He cites as an example the 1939 marriage of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (then Prince of Iran), a Shi’i, and Sunni Princess Fawzia of Egypt. The Idea of the Muslim World is a timely book which explores modern Muslim international relations and intellectual history to debunk the notion that there exists a unified “Muslim world” which is naturally in conflict with the West. One hopes that Aydin’s work will assist in a reshaping of the historical myths and misconceptions which led to the idea of a Muslim world and resulting clash of civilizations. ■

Shannon Tawoos is an intern with the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

jAnuARy/fEbRuARy 2018

book_catalog_69_January February 2018 12/8/17 9:35 PM Page 69

• EAST • BOOKS • AND • MORE MIDDLE Literature Films Pottery Solidarity Items More *

*

*

*

WINTER 2018 My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne Del Rizzo, Pajama Press, 2017, hardcover, 32 pp. MEB: $15. This new children’s book, a gentle yet moving story of refugees from the Syrian civil war, illuminates the ongoing crisis in Syria and elsewhere as it affects children, reflecting the hope of generations of people as they struggle to redefine home.

The Baghdad Eucharist by Sinan Antoon, Hoopoe, 2017, paperback, 136 pp. MEB: $14. Antoon’s latest work is an intimate story of love, memory and anguish in one Iraqi Christian family. His novel brings together young and old perspectives on Iraq’s good years and bad years alike.

Vegan Recipes from the Middle East by Parvin Razavi, Grub Street, 2017, hardcover, 192 pp. MEB: $30. The cooking of vegetables is treated with respect in the lands that make up the rich and varied tapestry of the Middle East. Razavi has produced a beautiful vegan cookbook based on the fresh and varied cuisines of Iran, Armenia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Turkey.

Thirst: A Novel of the IranIraq War by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Melville House, 2017, paperback, 160 pp. MEB: $15 Painting a stark picture of the Iran-Iraq war with vivid pictures, multiple perspectives and often dark humor, Thirst is the story of two opposing armies bogged down fighting to control a water tanker. Dowlatabadi is widely acknowledged as one of Iran’s most important and influential contemporary writers.

The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian Americans and the Everyday Politics of Race by Neda Maghbouleh, Stanford University Press, 2017, paperback, 248 pp. MEB: $24. By observing more than 80 young people and drawing on never-before-analyzed historical and legal evidence, Maghbouleh captures the unique experience of an immigrant group trapped between legal racial invisibility and everyday racial hyper-visibility. The Limits of Whiteness offers a groundbreaking, timely look at how Iranians and other Middle Eastern Americans move across the American color line.

False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East by Steven Cook, Oxford University Press, 2017, hardcover, 360 pp. MEB: $26. How did things go so wrong so quickly across a wide range of regimes? In False Dawn, Cook examines the trajectory of events across the region from the initial uprising in Tunisia to the failed coup in Turkey to explain why the Middle Eastern uprisings did not succeed.

Iran: A Modern History by Abbas Amanat, Yale University Press, 2017, hardcover, 1,000 pp. MEB: $35. This masterfully researched and compelling history of Iran from 1501 to 2009 is not a survey in the conventional sense, but an ambitious exploration of the story of a nation. Amanat covers the complex history of Iran’s diverse societies and economies against the background of dynastic changes, revolutions, civil wars, foreign occupation and the rise of the Islamic Republic.

Balfour’s Shadow: A Century of British Support for Zionism and Israel by David Cronin, Pluto Press, 2017, paperback, 224 pp. MEB: $24. Balfour’s Shadow traces the story of the rhetorical and practical assistance Britain has given to the Zionist movement and the state of Israel since the Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917. Cronin uses previously unreleased sources and archives to reveal a new side to an old story, focusing on controversial public officials and important historical events such as the Arab Revolt, the Nakba and establishment of Israel, the wars of 1956 and 1967 and the Cold War.

The War and Environment Reader by Gar Smith, Just World Books, 2017, paperback, 256 pp. MEB: $24. While many books have examined the broader topic of military conflict, most neglect to focus on the damage military violence inflicts on regional, and global, ecosystems. The War and Environment Reader provides a critical analysis of the devastating consequences of “war on the environment,” with perspectives drawn from a wide array of diverse voices and global perspectives.

SHIPPING RATES Most items are discounted and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Orders accepted by mail, phone (800-368-5788 ext. 2), or Web (www.middleeastbooks.com). All payments in U.S. funds. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. Please 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. Shipping Rates: Please add $2.50 for the first item and $2 for each additional item. Canada & Mexico shipping charges: Please add $15 for the first item and $2.50 for each additional item. International shipping charges: Please add $15 for the first item and $3.50 for each additional item. We ship by USPS Priority unless otherwise requested. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Library packages (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.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

69

angels_70-72_January-February 2018 Choir of Angels 12/8/17 8:14 PM Page 70

AET’s 2017 Choir of Angels

Following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1, 2017 and Nov.21, 2017 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 conference “The Israel Lobby and American Policy.” Others donated to our “Capital Building Fund.” We are deeply honored by their confidence and profoundly grateful for their generosity.

HUMMERS ($100 or more)

Catherine Abbott, Edina, MN Dr.& Mrs. Robert Abel, Wilmington, DE Jeff Abood, Silver Lake, OH Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, Atlanta, GA Rizek & Alice Abusharr, Claremont, CA Miriam & Stephen Adams, Albuquerque, NM Diane Adkin, Camas, WA James C. Ahlstrom, Stirling, NJ Qamar Ahsan, Flint, MI Bulus Paul Ajlouny, San Jose, CA Saleh Al-Ashkar, Tucson, AZ Dr. & Mrs. Salah Al-Askari, Leonia, NJ Joe & Siham Alfred, Fredericksburg, VA Tammam Aljoundi, Saint Louis, MO Jafar Almashat, Martinsburg, WV Mazen Alsatie, Carmel, IN Edwin Amidon, Charlotte, VT Ali Al Shihabi, Long Beach, CA Nabil & Judy Amarah, Danbury, CT American Muslims for Palestine, Bridgeview, IL Abdulhamid Ammuss, Garland, TX Sylvia Anderson De Freitas, Duluth, MN Anace & Polly Aossey, Cedar Rapids, IA Julie Arnold, Bemidji, MN* Dr. Robert Ashmore, Jr., Mequon, WI Robin Assali, Cypress, CA Mostafa Aswad, Verborn, MI**** Robert E. Barber, Parrish, FL Lina Barkawi, Vienna, VA Stanton Barrett, Ipswich, MA Allen & Jerrie Bartlett, Philadelphia, PA Lisa Beach, Waukee, IA Kate Bisharat, Carmichael, CA Heath Blackiston, Melbourne Beach, FL* Elizabeth Blakely, Cambria, CA Aston Bloom, Tucson, AZ †† Ed Brooks, Mount Airy, MD Gordon & Louise Brown, Washington, DC James Burkart, Bethesda, MD Barbara Candy, Loomis, CA William Cavness, Falls Church, VA Ouahib Chalbi, Coon Rapids, MN Dr. Robert G. Collmer, Waco, TX Robert Cooke, Faith Forum, Gaithersburg, MD 70

A.L. Cummings, Owings Mills, MD Peter & Linda Dobrzeniecki, Wolverine Lake, MI**** Ron Dudum, San Francisco, CA Sarah L. Duncan, Vienna, OH Ibrahim Elkarra, San Francisco, CA Kassem Elkhalil, Arlington, TX Dr. Mohamed Elsamahi, Marion, IL Dr. & Mrs. Hossam Fadel, Augusta, GA Family Practice & Surgery, Eatonton, GA Yusif Farsakh, Arlington, VA Zamin Farukhi, Orange, CA William Gefell, Tunbridge, VT Barbara Germack, Brooklyn, NY Michael Gillespie, Maxwell, IA John & Alice Goodman, Bethesda, MD* Raymond Gordon, Venice, FL Richard N. Groh, Chicago, IL**** Dixiane Hallaj, Purcellville, VA Dr. Safei Hamed, Columbia, MD Delinda C. Hanley, Kensington, MD† Shirley Hannah, Queensbury, NY Susan Haragely, Livonia, MI Prof. & Mrs. Brice Harris, Pasadena, CA Dr. Kamal Hasan, Davison, MI Nicholas Heer, Seattle, WA John Hendrickson, Albuquerque, NM Clement Henry, Moorestown, NJ A.H.M. Hilmy, Kew Richman, Surrey, UK Helen Holman, Litchfield, ME Mary Izett, Walnut Creek, VA Bilquis Jaweed, West Chester, OH Ronald Jaye, Watsonville, CA Jeanne Johnston, Santa Ynez, CA Dr. Jamil Jreisat, Temple Terrace, FL Omar & Nancy Kader, Vienna, VA James Kawakami, Los Angeles, CA Mazen Kawji, Burr Ridge, IL Ghazala Kazi, Columbia, MD Nazik Kazimi, Newton, MA Rev. Charles Kennedy, Concord, NH††† Susan Kerin, Rockville, MD Faizul & Maimun Khan, Silver Spring, MD Dr. M. Jamil Khan, Bloomfield Hills, MI M. Yousuf Khan, Scottsdale, AZ Fouad Khatib, San Jose, CA

WAShINgTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Dr. Mohayya Khilfeh, Chicago, IL Tony Khoury, Sedona, AZ Dr. Jane Killgore, Bemidji, MN* Mary Lou Kostielney, Phoenix, AZ Loretta Krause, Southport, NC Ronald Kunde, Skokie, IL Matt Labadie, Portland, OR Kendall Landis, Wallingford, PA James A. Langley, Washington, DC* William Lawand, Mount Royal, QC, Canada Fran Lilleness, Seattle, WA Alice Ludvigsen, Oslo, Norway Robert L. Mabarak, Grosse Pointe Park, MI A. Kent MacDougall, Berkeley, CA Ramy & Cynthia Mahmoud, Skillman, NJ Dr. & Mrs. Gabriel Makhlouf, Richmond, VA Dr. Asad Malik, Bloomfield Hills, MI Mr. & Mrs. Hani Marar, Delmar, NY Ted Marczak, Toms River, NJ Amal Marks, Altadena, CA Martha Martin, Paia, HI Tahsin Masud, Tucker, GA Shirl McArthur, Reston, VA Gwendolyn McEwen, Bellingham, WA Bill McGrath, Northfield, MN Caroline & John Merriam, Washington, DC* Arthur Miller, Spring City, PA Nabil Mohamad, Washington, DC John & Ruth Monson, La Crosse, WI Maury Keith Moore, Seattle, WA Isa & Dalal Musa, Falls Church, VA Raymond & Joan Musallam, Wilton, CA John Najemy, Albany, NY Sara Najjar-Wilson, Reston, VA Stephen L. Naman, Atlanta, GA Jacob Nammar, San Antonio, TX Nisrin Nasrallah, Gatineau, Canada Donald & Geraldine Ness, Leesburg, FL**** Susan Nye, Watertown, MA**** Tom O’Connell, Brooklyn, NY John L. Opperman, Ridgecrest, CA Khaled Othman, Riverside, CA Gennaro Pasquale, Oyster Bay, NY Phil & Elaine Pasquini, Novato, CA

JANuARy/FEBRuARy 2018

angels_70-72_January-February 2018 Choir of Angels 12/8/17 8:14 PM Page 71

Amb. Edward & Ann Peck, Chevy Chase, MD Patricia & Michael Peterson, Washington, DC* Jim Plourd, Monterey, CA Barry Preisler, Albany, CA Brian & Colleen Price, Radnor, PA Cheryl Quigley, Toms River, NJ Marjorie Ransom, Washington, DC Robert Reynolds, Mill Valley, CA Neil Richardson, Randolph, VT Fred Rogers, Northfield, MN William Rose, Birmingham, AL Brynhild Rowberg, Northfield, MN Dr. Mohammed Sabbagh, Grand Blanc, MI Dr. Ahmed M. Sakkal, Charleston, WV Rafi M. Salem, Alamo, CA Betty Sams, Washington, DC* Irmgard Scherer, Fairfax, VA Dr. Abid A. Shah, Sarasota, FL Richard J. Shaker, Annapolis, MD Thomas Shaker, Poughkeepsie, NY Qaiser & Tanseem Shamim, Somerset, NJ Lewis Shapiro, White Plains, NY Lt. Col. Alfred Shehab, Odenton, MD Kathy Sheridan, Mill Valley, CA Dr. Mostafa Hashem Sherif, Tinton Falls, NJ Nancy Taylor Shivers, San Antonio, TX Teofilo Siman, Miami, FL Darcy Sreebny, Herndon, VA Peter & Joyce Starks, Greensboro, NC Gregory Stefanatos, Flushing, NY Mushtaq Syed, Santa Clara, CA Eddy Tamura, Morago, CA Joanie Tanous, Boulder, CO Doris Taweel, Laurel, MD J. Tayeb, Shelby Twp., MI Charles Thomas, La Conner, WA Robert Thomas, Fredericksburg, VA Jerry & Jane Thompson, Bemidji, MN* Michael Tomlin, New York, NY Joan Toole, Albany, GA Thomas Trueblood, Chapel Hill, NC Ruth Vail, Ann Arbor, MI John Van Wagoner, McLean, VA Paul H. Verduin, Silver Spring, MD Benjamin Wade, Saratoga, VA Robin & Nancy Wainwright, Severna Park, MD Lawrence Waldron, Berkeley, VA Rev. Hermann Weinlick, Minneapolis, MN Thomas C. Welch, Cambridge, MA Hugh Westwater, Columbus, OH Sarah & Robert Wilson, Reston, VA* Raymond Younes, Oxnard, CA JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Asma Yousef, Alexandria, VA Dr. & Mrs. Fathi Yousef, Irvine, CA Bernice Youtz, Tacoma, WA Mahmoud Zawawi, Amman, Jordan Vivian Zelaya, Berkeley, CA Fred Zuercher, Spring Grove, PA

ACCOMPANISTS ($250 or more)

Mohamed Alwan, Chestnut Ridge, NY Louise Anderson, Oakland, CA Dr. Isa Canavati, Fort Wayne, IN Joe Chamy, Colleyville, TX Larry Cooper, Plymouth, MI**** Robert & Tanis Diedrichs, Cedar Falls, IA*** Dr. David Dunning, Lake Oswego, OR Mervat Eid, Henrietta, NY Mr. & Mrs. Majed Faruki, Albuquerque, NM Raymond Gordon, Venice, FL Dr. Walid & Norma Harb, Dearborn Hts., MI Erin K. Hankir, Nepean, ON, Canada Ribhi Hazin, Dearborn, MI Dr. Raymond Jallow, Los Angeles, CA Zagloul & Muntaha Kadah, Los Gatos, CA Mr. & Mrs. Basim Kattan, Washington, DC Gloria Keller, Santa Rosa, CA Omar Khwaja, Mountain View, CA Sandra La Framboise, Oakland, CA David & Renee Lent, Hanover, NH Anthony Mabarak, Grosse Pointe Park, MI Nidal Mahayni, Richmond, VA Tahera Mamdani, Fridley, MN Georgianna McGuire, Silver Spring, MD Donald & Jeannette McInnes, Cambridge, MA**** Darrel Meyers, Burbank, CA Ben Monk, Saint Paul, MN Nancy Orr, Portland, OR Hertha Poje-Ammoumi, New York, NY Phillip Portlock, Washington, DC Mary H. Regier, El Cerrito, CA Nuhad Ruggiero, Bethesda, MD Lisa Schiltz, Barbar, Bahrain Yasir Shallal, McLean, VA Dr. William Strange, Bandera, TX

TENORS & CONTRALTOS ($500 or more)

Michael Ameri, Calabasas, CA Colette Burghardt, Bethel Park, PA Forrest Cioppa, Moraga, CA Andrew and Krista Curtiss, Herndon, VA*,** Mo Dagstani, Redington Beach, FL

Joseph Daruty, Newport Beach, CA Robert & Tanis Diedrichs, Cedar Falls, IA Clark Duncan, Rockville, MD Joseph & Angela Gauci, Whittier, CA Dr. Wasif Hafeez, W. Bloomfield, MI George Hanna, Santa Ana, CA Mr. & Mrs. Sameer Hassan, Quaker Hill, CT Brigitte Jaensch, Carmichael, CA Fahd Jajeh, Lake Forest, IL Les Janka, Leesburg, VA Ghazy Kader, Shoreline, WA Issa & Rose Kamar, Plano, TX Bill & Jean Mansour, Corvallis, OR Tom & Tess McAndrew, Oro Valley, AZ Corinne Mudarri, Cambridge, MA William & Nancy Nadeau, San Diego, CA Mr. & Mrs. W. Eugene Notz, Charleston, SC Audrey Olson, Saint Paul, MN Herbert & Patricia Pratt, Cambridge, MA Sam Rahman, Lincoln, CA Jalal & Gabrielle Saad, Long Beach, CA Yusef & Jennifer Sifri, Wilmington, NC Mae Stephen, Palo Alto, CA Dr. Robert Younes, Potomac, MD Dr. James Zogby, Washington, DC

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

Drs. A.J. & M.T. Amirana, Las Vegas, NV Asha A. Anand, Bethesda, MD Lois Aroian, East Jordan, MI Graf Herman Bender, North Palm Beach, FL Karen Bossmeyer, Louisville, KY G. Edward & Ruth Brooking Jr., Wilmington, DE* Center for Arab American Philanthropy, Dearborn, MI Rev. Ronald C. Chochol, Saint Louis, MO Forrest Cioppa, Moraga, CA Henry Clifford, Essex, CT Rajie Cook, Washington Crossing, PA Edouard C. Emmet, Paris, France Gary R. Feulner, Dubai, UAE Ronald & Mary Forthofer, Longmont, CO Evan & Leman Fotos, Istanbul, Turkey Dr. Hassan Fouda, Berkeley, CA Salman & Kate Hilmy, Silver Spring, MD Hind Hamdan, Hagerstown, MD Julester Haste, Oxford, IA Ghazy Kader, Shoreline, WA Dr. Jane Killgore & Tom D’Albani,

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

71

angels_70-72_January-February 2018 Choir of Angels 12/8/17 8:14 PM Page 72

Bemidji, MN* Jack Love, San Diego, CA John Mahoney, New York, NY Roberta & John McInerney, Washington, DC* Mary Norton, Austin, TX Dr. M. F. Shoukfeh, Lubbock, TX David J. Snider, Bolton, MA Dr. Imad Tabry, Fort Lauderdale, FL Donn Trautman, Evanston, IL

Qatar Rallies

Continued from page 37

Qataris longed for a breakthrough later that week in Kuwait, at the 38th annual summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries on Dec. 5 and 6. The split over Qatar has fractured collective decision-making at the GCC, founded in 1981 as a political and economic union among Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. There were also fears, soon realized, that President Donald Trump’s impending decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would push the Doha blockade off the summit agenda. In his keynote speech at the Gulf Studies Forum, Qatar’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said, “We hope the summit will provide a clear mechanism to end the crisis which has passed six months, putting a Gulf state under siege without any reason.” Sheikh Mohammad described the embargo and smear campaign against Qatar as the result of Doha’s increasingly prominent role in regional power politics. It’s normal and healthy to have differences of opinions with other countries, he said, and unfair to be punished with a blockade. While to date the GCC has been ineffective in bringing about an end to the crisis, Sheikh Mohammad said he hoped the council would “rise to the aspirations of the peoples of the Gulf,” accept Kuwaiti mediation, and resolve the crisis without internationalizing the disagreement. In his Gulf Studies address, Qatar Media Corporation CEO Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Thani said that officials used the media to explain government po72

CHOIRMASTERS ($5,000 or more)

John McGillion, Asbury Park, NJ

Patricia Ann Abraham, Charleston, SC Donna B. Curtiss, Kensington, MD*,** Dr. & Mrs. Clyde Farris, West Linn, OR*,** John & Henrietta Goelet, New York, NY Estate of Andrew I. Killgore, Washington, DC

*In Memory of Andrew I. Killgore **In Memory of Richard H. Curtiss ***In Honor of John F. Mahoney ****In Memory of Diane Cooper †In Memory of Prof. Jack Shaheen ††In Memory of Rosemarie Carnarius

sitions to the public. His own government took the high road, he noted, refusing to incite its people, use fake news, or insult or abuse the siege countries. Nearly 70 speakers presented papers or joined in panel discussions. Some believed that the manufactured crisis was aimed at Al Jazeera and the Arab Spring and information revolution it generated. Others declared the feud a matter of simple jealousy that an Arab rival was hosting the World Cup. According to Nawaf AlTamimi, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, the 13 demands, including disbanding Al Jazeera, are an attempt to disintegrate Qatar’s brand, including its charities, as well as Qatar Airways. This is a rivalry between brothers, he added: “who has the tallest building, the longest runway?” Whatever the cause of the Gulf dispute, Bertrand Badie, a French political science professor, used a sports analogy to warn that as globalization and interdependence increase, second league players want to play in the top league and top league players are afraid of failing. Yet it is the weakest, non-state actors who end up playing the main role and setting national agendas, Badie said: “Not the president of the United States, but terrorists like Osama bin Laden.” Neither sanctions nor military interventions succeed, he warned. The longer this crisis goes on, the more everyone will lose. Many memorable conversations took place during breaks. One Qatari woman, Dr. Dhabya al Sulaiti, who works in the field of education, said the price of food has sky-rocketed despite government subsidies. She said she missed her weekend shopping trips to the UAE, as well as visits with family members living in Riyadh.

Dr. Zafer M. Alajmi, a retired Kuwaiti air force colonel and columnist for several newspapers, related a conversation his daughter had with a fellow passenger on her flight from Kuwait City to Doha the previous day. Her seatmate said she now had to fly to Kuwait to meet with her husband, a UAE citizen. “We’re all brothers and sisters,” Dr. Alajmi said, intertwined with each other. “Kuwait is determined to help end this conflict so we can all get on with our lives.” In between Forum talks, some delegates squeezed in a trip to Al Jazeera’s Arabic and English studios. Walls and two security checkpoints protected the journalists, who are concerned about attacks. Yemen’s ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh had just been killed by Houthi rebels as we entered the news station on Dec. 4, and the atmosphere was electric. One Iraqi correspondent defended Al Jazeera, saying the debates it encourages are healthy. Governments may wish to block the truth, he said, but you cannot hide the sun. People want the truth. “Arab viewers can pick what they want to eat. If you tell a viewer, ‘don’t eat this apple’— they’re going to eat it,” he said. “If a government bombs us, it will make us heroes and martyrs,” he added. “The only way to close this station is to build a better competitor.” After the failure of the December GCC summit to resolve the Gulf dispute, there were plans unfolding for meetings with the Council of the League of Arab States and the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation to thrash out responses to the Jerusalem issue. As my plane headed home and Doha’s city lights faded from view, this observer is convinced that Qatar will prod its way back into a stronger, more effective GCC. ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

†††In Memory of J. Paul Shenk

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

charities_73-74_Special Report 12/8/17 2:51 PM Page 73

Special Report

’Tis the Season for Charitable Giving: A Washington Report Compendium Key:

Addameer—Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association: P.O. Box 17338 • Jerusalem • 3 Musa Tawasha St., Sebat Bldg, 1st Floor, Suite 2 • Ramallah, Palestine • +972-02-960446 • www.addameer.org • Supports Palestinian political prisoners through visits, aid, advocacy and the media.

$ = Tax exempt G = Includes Gaza relief L = Includes Lebanon relief R = Includes refugee aid

Alalusi Foundation: 1975 National Ave. • Hayward, CA 94545 • (510) 887-2374 • www.alalusifoundation.org • Iraq Orphans Project provides support to more than 4,543 orphaned children in Iraq and aid to marginalized peoples in various countries. ($)(R)

Amaanah Refugee Services: 10333 Harwin Dr., Suite 675 • Houston, TX 77036 • (713) 370-3063 • 500 E. St. Johns #2.602 • Austin, TX 78752 • (512) 522-7649 • www.refugeelink.com • Collects food, clothing, furniture and funds for refugees being resettled in Houston and Austin, TX. ($)(R)

American Friends of Birzeit University: 1416 N. Utah St. • Arling ton, VA 22201 • www.fobzu.org • For more than half a century Birzeit University has provided an excellent education for Palestinian men and women. American Friends of the Spafford Children’s Center: 2037 S. Carrollton Ave. • New Orleans, LA 70118 • SpaffordUSA@gmail.com • www.spaffordcenter.org • Provides medical, psychological and educational services for some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. ($)

American Refugee Committee: 615 1st Ave., NE, Suite 500 • Minneapolis, MN 55413 • (800) 875-7060 • www.arcrelief.org • Provides emergency support, clean water, shelter and health care to refugees from Syria, South Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. ($)(R)

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA): 1111 14th St. NW, Suite 400 • Washington, DC 20005 • (202) 266-9700 • www.anera.org • Helps refugees and poor families in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon through education, economic development and health programs. ($)(G)(L)(R)

less, hungry, sick and vulnerable in American communities, including refugees and asylum-seekers already in the U.S. ($)(R)

Four Homes of Mercy: The Arab Orthodox Invalid’s Home Charitable Society: 10455 Torre Ave. • Cupertino, CA 95014 • +97202-627-4871 • www.fourhomesofmercy.com • Provides specialized residential services and respite care for people with congenital and acquired neurological disorders. ($)

Friends of UPMRC (Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees): PO Box 450554 • Atlanta, GA 31145 • (404) 441-2702 • www.pmrs.ps • A grassroots community-based Palestinian health organization, founded by Palestinian doctors, to support the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. ($)(G)

Fund for Armenian Relief: 630 Second Ave. • New York, NY 10016 • (212) 889-5150 • www.farusa.org • Supports Armenian communities, including in Lebanon, where Armenian villages give shelter to refugees of recent wars. ($)(L)

Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP): PO Box 1049 • Gaza City, Palestine • +972-08-264-1511 • www.gcmhp.com • Provides urgently needed mental health care for residents of the Gaza Strip. (G) Gaza Mental Health Foundation, Inc.: PO Box 380273 • Cambridge, MA 02238 • (617) 661-9000 • www.gazamental health.org • Supports the critical work of the GCMHP and other independent, nonsectarian mental health and women’s empowerment groups in the Gaza Strip. ($)(G)

Hands Along the Nile Development Services, Inc. (HANDS): 535B E. Braddock Rd. • Alexandria, VA 22314 • (703) 875-9370 • www.handsalongthenile.org • Promotes U.S.-Egyptian cultural exchange and helps to empower local communities through a variety of development projects. ($) Hidaya Foundation: PO Box 5481 • Santa Clara, CA 95056 • (866) 2HIDAYA • www.hidaya.org • Sponsors educational, environmental, social welfare and charitable projects in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, West Africa, Indonesia, the U.S. and Canada. ($)

AMIDEAST: 2025 M St., NW, Suite 600 • Washington, DC 20036 • (202) 776-9600 • www.amideast.org • Provides scholarships to deserving Arab youth, including Hope Fund scholarships for Palestinian college students. ($)

Helping Hand for Relief and Development: 21199 Hilltop St. • Southfield, MI 48033 • (888) 808-HELP • www.hhrd.org • Responds to human suffering in emergency and disaster situations around the world, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, class, religion, color, cultural diversity and social background. ($)

The Bethlehem Association: 1192 N. Garey Ave. • Pomona, CA 91767 • (650) 740-3119 • www.bethlehemassoc.org • Strengthens close ties among Bethlemites living in the Diaspora and raises funds to help and support their hometowns of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour. ($)

International Orthodox Christian Charities: 110 West Rd., Suite 360 • Baltimore, MD 21204 • (410) 243-9820 • www.iocc.org • Provides emergency relief and development programs to those in need worldwide, without discrimination. ($)

Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children: 72 Philisteen Street • PO Box 1296 • Gaza, Palestine • +972-8282-8495 • www.atfaluna.net • Provides education and training to deaf and hearing-impaired individuals and their families in the Gaza Strip. (G)

Catholic Charities USA: PO Box 17066 • Baltimore, MD 21297 • (800) 919-9338 • www.catholiccharitiesusa.org • Helps the home-

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF): 6935 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 518 • Bethesda, MD 20815 • (301) 951-9400 • www.hcef.org • Sponsors ongoing education, child sponsorship and housing programs for Palestinian Christians, as well as an emergency fund to supply medical supplies, food and services. ($)

Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Relief/Helping Hand: 16626 89th Ave. • Queens, NY 11432 • (718) 658-1199 •

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

73

charities_73-74_Special Report 12/8/17 2:51 PM Page 74

www.icna.org • Repairs infrastructure and sponsors educational and nutritional programs. Islamic Relief USA: PO Box 22250 • Alexandria, VA 22304 • (855) 447-1001 • www.irusa.org • Provides education, food, health aid, water and sanitation programs to communities facing floods, wars and other disasters. ($)

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD): PO Box 81252 • Pittsburgh, PA 15217 • (646) 308-1322 • www.icahd usa.org • Rebuilds Palestinian homes demolished by Israel, sometimes several times, in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel. ($) The Jerusalem Fund: 2425 Virginia Ave., NW • Washington, DC 20037 • (202) 338-1958 • www.thejerusalemfund.org • Provides grants for humanitarian and cultural projects in Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan, as well as for educational projects in the U.S. ($)(L)

KinderUSA: PO Box 224846 • Dallas, TX 75222 • (888) 4518908 • www.kinderusa.org • Supports health and development programs for Palestinian children in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan. ($)(G)(L)

Leonard Education Organization (LE•O): PO Box 504 • Buena Vista, VA 24416 • (609) 730-3946 • www.LeonardEducation.org • Secures and manages undergraduate scholarships for Palestinians from the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan to American colleges and universities. ($)(G)(L) Life for Relief and Development: PO Box 236 • Southfield, MI 48037 • (800) 827-3543 • www.lifeusa.org • Provides medicine and medical equipment, and supports infrastructure development, in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine. ($)(G)(L)

ical care in the U.S. for children who cannot be adequately treated in the Middle East; trains local doctors and sends medical supplies to Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. ($)(G)(L)

Pilgrims of Ibillin: c/o Jitasa • 1750 W. Front St., Suite 200 • Boise, ID 83702 • (608) 241-9281 • www.pilgrimsofibillin.org • Supports Palestinian children in Israel through Archbishop Elias Chacour, promoting education and interfaith understanding. ($) Project Hope: 29 An-Najah Al-Qadim St. • Nablus, Palestine • +972-9-233-7077 • www.projecthope.ps • Provides educational and recreational activities, medical and humanitarian relief, and practical training to residents of Nablus and its neighboring Askar and Balata refugee camps. (R)

Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice: 203 East Fourth Ave., Suite 402 • Olympia, WA 98501 • (360) 754-3998 • www.rachelcorriefoundation.org • In memory of Rachel Corrie, the Corrie Family Foundation promotes educational programs in the U.S., and economic, environmental and social justice in Rafah, Gaza, where Rachel was killed by an Israeli soldier. ($)(G) The Rebuilding Alliance/Rebuilding Homes Campaign: 1818 Gilbreth Rd. • Burlingame, CA 94010 • (650) 651-7165 • www.rebuildingalliance.org • Raises funds to rebuild Palestinian homes and promote strategic Palestinian and Israeli cooperation. ($)

René Moawad Foundation: 1732 Connecticut Ave., NW, 3rd Floor • Washington, DC 20009 • (202) 338-3535 • www.rmf.org.lb • Promotes social, economic, agricultural and rural development, and democracy and human rights in Lebanon. ($)(L)

Lutheran World Relief: 700 Light St. • Baltimore, MD 21230 • (800) 597-5972 • www.lwr.org • Specializes in international development and disaster relief and seeks to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice.

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center: PO Box 3192 • Greenwood Village, CO 80155 • (503) 653-6625 • www. fosna.org • Provides a variety of community programs, particularly to Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel. ($)

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders: 333 7th Ave. • New York, NY 10001 • (212) 679-6800 • www.doctors withoutborders.org • Provides emergency medical relief around the world. ($)(R)

T’ruah, The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights (formerly Rabbis for Human Rights): 266 W. 37th St., Suite 803 • New York, NY 10018 • (212) 845-5201 • www.truah.org • In addition to advocacy, provides humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, including those in Israel’s unrecognized villages. ($)

Maysoon’s Kids: 447 Lawton Ave. • Cliffside Park, NJ 07010 • (917) 803-9111 • www.maysoon.com • Palestinian-American comedienne Maysoon Zayid personally travels to nine different Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank providing humanitarian assistance and sponsoring programs for disabled, wounded and at-risk children. ($)

Mercy Corps: PO Box 2669, Dept. W • Portland, OR 97208 • (888) 747-7440 • www.mercycorps.org • Global organization providing emergency medical relief in times of crisis. ($)

Middle East Children’s Alliance: 1101 Eighth St., Suite 100 • Berkeley, CA 94710 • (510) 548-0542 • www.mecaforpeace.org • Promotes peace and justice in the Middle East, focusing on Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and Iraq. ($)(G)(L)

Nazareth Project Inc.: 237 North Prince Street • Lancaster, PA 17603 • (717) 290-1800 • www.nazarethproject.org • Raises funds to support the Nazareth Hospital in Israel and St. Luke’s Hospital in Nablus, West Bank. ($) Near East Foundation: 110 Fayette St., Suite 710 • Syracuse, NY 13202 • (315) 428-8670 • www.neareast.org • Supports community development and provides humanitarian and emergency assistance in more than 16 countries. ($) Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: PO Box 1926 • Kent, OH 44240 • (330) 678-2645 • www.pcrf.net • Sponsors free med74

Syrian American Medical Society: PO Box 34115 • Washington, DC 20043 • (202) 930-7802 • www.sams-usa.net • A nonpolitical medical relief organization working to save lives and alleviate suffering to every patient in need on the front lines in Syria and neighboring countries. ($) (R) (L)

United Palestinian Appeal: 1330 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Suite 104 • Washington, DC 20036 • (202) 659-5007 • www.helpupa.org • Sponsors health, education and community development programs in the West Bank, Gaza and refugee camps throughout the Middle East. ($)(G)(R)

UNRWA USA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East): • 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, 10th Floor • Washington, DC 20009 • (202) 223-3767 • www.unrwausa.org • Supports the humanitarian work of UNRWA through outreach, fund-raising and advocacy. ($)(G)(R)

World Vision: PO Box 9716 • Federal Way, WA 98063 • (888) 511-6548 • www.worldvision.org • Global Christian humanitarian organization providing relief in many countries in the Arab and Muslim world. ($)

The Zakat Foundation of America: PO Box 639 • Worth, IL 60482 • (888) 925-2887 • www.zakat.org • Sponsors programs in 10 countries for emergency relief, orphan sponsorship, education, development and health. ($) ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

anera.org/givehope

Make your tax-deductible donation before the end of the year!

9 95% 5% off ffunds o unds sp spent ent d directly irectly o on n programs programs in Palestine Palestine a and nd Le Lebanon banon

cover4_January/February 2018 Back Cover 12/8/17 7:19 PM Page c4

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

January/February 2018 Vol. XXXVII, No. 1

A man rests atop salvaged mattresses and other household items outside damaged buildings in the Iranian town of Sarpol-e Zahab in the western province of Kermanshah, near the border with Iraq, two days after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake stuck the region on Nov. 12, 2017. ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.