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THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST
DISPLAY UNTIL 7/30/2016
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TELLING THE TRUTH FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS...
Volume XXXV, No. 4
On Middle East Affairs
INTERPRETING THE MIDDLE EAST FOR NORTH AMERICANS
✮
June/July 2016
INTERPRETING NORTH AMERICA FOR THE MIDDLE EAST
THE U.S. ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE
8
Homes of East Jerusalem Palestinians Threatened by “National Parks” Policy—Jonathan Cook
13
Israel Deals Itself a Weak Hand in Military Talks With U.S.—Moti Bassok
Mearsheimer, Walt, Freeman Headline Koch Institute Event—Dale Sprusansky
28 30 52
20 22
24
Is Israel Moving From a Right-Wing to a Fascist Government?—Three Views —James Zogby, Gideon Levy, Uri Avnery
40
32
EU/Turkey Refugee Agreement Benefits EU, Not Stranded Refugees—Sara R. Powell
11
“I Will Tell Him to Tell God Everything!” —Mohammed Omer
Two Parties Plus One Gender Equals Three of a Kind —Samuel Hazo
No “Explanation” Disproves Israel’s Guilt in 1967 Attack on USS Liberty—Reverdy S. Fishel Remember the Golan Heights?—Eric S. Margolis
College Textbook Discontinued After Pro-Israel Groups Object to Dispossession Maps —Dale Sprusansky
Congress and the 2016 Elections 16
The Presidential Contest Gets Curiouser and Curiouser—Three Views —Robert Parry, Graham E. Fuller, Janet McMahon
Iran Continues to Receive Congressional Attention, But With a Partisan Flavor—Shirl McArthur
SPECIAL REPORTS
34
The End of American Iraq: Poor Shi’i Invade Parliament Over Corrupt Spoils System —Juan Cole
37 38
Trouble Brewing in Egypt—Paul R. Pillar
Beirut Madinati: Is This the Way Out of Our Awful Situation?—Rami G. Khouri
43
IN MEMORIAM: Ambassador Clovis Maksoud (19262016): A Voice for Arab Unity and Palestinian Rights —Delinda C. Hanley
46
And Then There Was One…Turkey in the Age of Erdogan—Jonathan Gorvett
44 48
There’s More Than One Way to Skin the Security Council Cat—Ian Williams
Singapore Worried by “Radicalized” Bangladeshi Workers—John Gee
ON THE COVER: A Palestinian protester covers his face against tear gas fired by Israeli security forces following a March 30 Land Day demonstration in the West Bank village of Burqa, west of Nablus. JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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(A Supplement to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs available by subscription at $15 per year. To subscribe, call toll-free 1-888-881-5861.)
Other Voices
Compiled by Janet McMahon
Did the Arabs Betray Palestine? Ramzy Baroud, Antiwar.com
OV-1
Top 3 Signs Bill Clinton Didn’t Kill Himself to “Give” the Palestinians a State, Juan Cole, Juancole.com
OV-3
Zionism Begins to Unravel—An Analysis, Prof. Lawrence Davidson, tothepointanalyses.com
OV-5
Iraq on the Brink of Collapse, Gwynne Dyer, Wanganui Chronicle
OV-11
When Europe Loved Islam, Marya Hannun and Sophie Spaan, www.foreignpolicy.com
OV-12
Orthodox Shomrim Patrol Faces New Questions After Brooklyn Bribery Scandal, Josh Nathan-Kazis, Forward
OV-14
OV-5
Scandal a Move Against Jeremy Corbyn?,
DEPARTMENTS
OV-8
OV-10
New McCarthyism: Is London’s “Anti-Semitic” John Wight, www.rt.com
When Liberals Run out of Patience: the Impolite Exile of Seymour Hersh, Dave Wagner, www.counterpunch.org
OV-3
Identity Politics, Huma Yusuf, Pakistan’s Dawn
OV-7
Exploiting Global Warming for Geo-Politics, Jonathan Marshall, www.consortiumnews.com
Do Not Fear Use of Arabic, Shazia Ahmad, Albany Times Union
It Is Time to Stop Celebrating Jewish Dissent In the Palestine Solidarity Movement, Nada Elia, http://mondoweiss.net
OV-6
5 Publishers’ Page
6 letters to the editor
54 arab aMericaN activisM: Kahlil Gibran Awards Highlight Programs Helping Refugees
56 MusliM aMericaN activisM: Sacramento Legislative Briefing on Islamophobia
58 huMaN rights: Turkey’s First Lady Calls for Greater Refugee Assistance 59 WagiNg Peace: CSID Explores Link Between Repression and Radicalization 72 diPloMatic doiNgs: Thousands Tour Embassies and Mosque
Hundreds of visitors toured the Islamic Center of Washington, DC for the International Mother's Day annual bazaar on May 14. See story p. 72. 73 Music & arts:
The Morning They Came for Us Puts
Faces on the Syrian War
75 other PeoPle’s Mail 77 the World looks at the
Middle east — CARToonS
78 book revieW: Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir —Reviewed by Dr. Vacy Vlazna
79 Middle east books aNd More 81 obituaries
82 2016 aet choir oF aNgels 36 iNdeX to advertisers
STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY
50 israel aNd JudaisM: Sanders Campaign Makes the Divisions in American Jewish Views of Israel Clear to All—Allan C. Brownfeld
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American Educational Trust
Has acknowledged that Democrats no longer march in lockstep when it comes to their views on Israel. In a May 25 article titled “A Split Over Israel Threatens the Democrats’ Hopes for Unity,” the newspaper acknowledges that “the prospect that one of the party’s most sensitive issues will be open to public debate.” It attributes this development to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ appointment of Dr. Cornel West and James Zogby—not to mention Rep. Keith Ellison—to the Democratic platform drafting committee (see p. 19). Candidate Hillary Clinton, it points out, “has been less inclined to criticize Israel.”
You Don’t Say.
Just because she said she’d invite the Israeli prime minister to the White House in her first month in office? But, in not quite the penultimate paragraph, the Times article recalls that “At the 2012 Democratic convention, delegates booed officials who reinstated in the party platform a recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” So it seems that, four years ago, many Democrats were ahead of their leaders. Now, in 2016, it looks like both the Democratic Party and…
The Times They Are a’Changing.
But attitude changes don’t happen in a vacuum. One can point to a May 14 UNICEF report that 25 Palestinian children were killed and more than 1,300 injured in the last three months of 2015. (Three Israeli children were injured during that time.) In addition, 422 Palestinian children between 12 and 17 were being held in Israeli military detention at the end of last year, the highest number in seven years. The “No Way to Treat a Child Campaign” hopes you’ll send the postcard included in this issue. Surely most Americans agree that a war on children… JUNE/JULY 2016
PHOTO COURTESY LINDY DREW AND MONDOWEISS.NET
Even The New York Times…
Publishers’ Page
This Is a Critical Time for Us.
Hedy Epstein (1924-2016)
Is Not a Shared Value.
Meanwhile, as its government moves ever more rightward (see “Three Views” on p. 24 of this issue), Israel is demanding a yuuge increase in U.S. military aid. Not content with $3.5 billion a year, it is demanding a $1.5 billion raise for the next 10 years, for a total of $50 billion (see p. 13). The parsimonious Obama administration has offered $40 billion over the coming decade—but that’s not good enough. And what does the U.S. get in return? Hmm, let us think. We’ll have to…
Get Back to You on That. Our Ramadan Appeal.
The Washington Report’s first and most urgent donation appeal in 2016 is hitting mailboxes just as Ramadan begins. As always, we’ll also be sending this magazine to public libraries, students, professors, members of Congress, journalists, prisoners, voters, and other readers around the world. We are committed to keeping our 34-year archive of Washington Report articles free and available to the public on the Internet, and print subscriptions affordable for all. In order to do that, however, we need those of you who can afford it to contribute to this magazine, bookstore and future events.
We must raise more $35,000 in the next few weeks to meet our bare-bones budget. If you haven’t yet contributed (and you don’t see your name on our Choir of Angels on p. 82) and are able to do so, please donate now online at <www.wrmea.org>. You can also donate by check, made payable to AET (American Educational Trust) and mailed to P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056.
Commercial Media Is Raking It In!
Advertising dollars from candidates and corporations are paying for astonishing election news coverage. No super PACs or companies pay for our work to change U.S. foreign and domestic policies, and achieve peace and justice. That’s up to you. Please help the Washington Report continue to provide the journalism our community relies on. Help us supply the books and magazines that can inform and transform readers. We’re tired of worrying about paying the next print bill. Instead we want to focus on producing a great magazine and training enthusiastic future journalists who are just now arriving to begin their Helen Thomas summer internships.
Losing Old Heroes, Creating New Ones.
We’re losing some giants, like Ambassador Clovis Maksoud (see pp. 43) and we just learned that Holocaust survivor, civil rights and pro-Palestinian activist and Ferguson protester Hedy Epstein, 91, has died. She tried several times to sail to Gaza in recent years to protest Israel’s blockade of the area. Epstein ended each of her frequent talks by telling her audience, “Remember the past, don’t hate, and don’t be a bystander.” Help us educate a new generation of leaders....
Make A Difference Today!
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Publisher: Managing Editor: News Editor: Assistant Editor:
Middle East Books and More Director:
Finance & Admin. Dir.: Art Director: Executive Editor:
ANDREW I. KILLGORE JANET McMAHON DELINDA C. HANLEY DALE SPRUSANSKY KEVIN A. DAVIS CHARLES R. CARTER RALPH U. SCHERER RICHARD H. CURTISS (1927-2013)
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (ISSN 8755-4917) is published 8 times a year, monthly except Jan./Feb., March/April and June/July combined, at 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707. Tel. (202) 939-6050. Subscription prices (United States and possessions): one year, $29; two years, $55; three years, $75. For Canadian and Mexican subscriptions, $35 per year; for other foreign subscriptions, $70 per year. Periodicals, postage paid at Washington, DC and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. Published by the American Educational Trust (AET), a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC by retired U.S. foreign service officers to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states. AET’s Foreign Policy Committee has included former U.S. ambassadors, government officials, and members of Congress, including the late Democratic Sen. J. William Fulbright and Republican Sen. Charles Percy, both former chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Members of AET’s Board of Directors and advisory committees receive no fees for their services. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs does not take partisan domestic political positions. As a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, it endorses U.N. Security Council Resolution 242’s 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 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
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LetterstotheEditor THE MAY 2016 ISSUE
The conference issue arrived, and IT LOOKS GREAT!!! My only regret about the annual conferences is that I can't be there. They are so important to "the big picture." I completely support your devoting an issue to the conference, though I wish the resources had been available to do a special issue like last year. Michael Gillespie, via e-mail We, too, regret that you were unable to attend, but realize that the state of Iowa is much farther away than Iowa Ave. here in the nation’s capital. But we’re very pleased that so many people were able to experience the “Israel’s Influence” conference via C-SPAN, livestreaming, our audio and video coverage of the presentations—which you can still view on the conference website, <www.IsraelsInflu ence.org>—and now in print. And we’re even more pleased that each version reflects the excellence of the program! We also know that you work tirelessly to educate your fellow citizenss, as the following reader explains in a letter she wrote us prior to the conference:
WORKING HARD AT HOME
Thought you might like to know why one person who attended your conference two years ago will not attend this year. It's a lot of money and time to travel from Boston to DC—the first year I was able to combine it with lobbying on the Hill, and I think another group (maybe Churches for Middle East Peace?) had a conference right after yours. But the main reason is because I am working so darn hard around Boston, as is everyone I know who's involved in this issue. We're hosting talks by Palestinians and Israelis who advocate equal rights and justice, films with discussions, writing to and meeting with members of Congress, and organizing and attending programs in churches. The denomination I belong to, Unitarian Universalist, will have a discussion and vote in June at its annual meeting to engage in shareholder activism with five U.S. companies involved in the occupation, to inform them about the damage their actions are enabling. If after two years they are still involved, then we divest from their companies. Informing and organizing these con-
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
gregations is extremely time consuming. So I thank you for organizing this great conference and I hope it's well attended. And I thought you might like to know that it's not because your previous conferences weren't good that some of us are not returning, but partly because we “get it” and are busy bringing others “into the light.” Wishing you a great conference, Pat Westwater-Jong, via e-mail There are so many ways to spread the word, and it is extremely encouraging and inspiring to hear of your “darn hard” work! We have held our conferences here in Washington, DC primarily for logistical reasons, not because Washington is “where the action is.” Additional proof of that can be seen in the report on the Unitarian Universalist Association’s March decision to divest from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Motorola Solutions and Caterpillar (see p. 69).
THE C-SPAN EFFECT
I think the conference was a great success. I just received an e-mail from a cousin in Michigan who says he saw me in the audience while watching Gideon Levy's talk on C-SPAN. This shows, I think, that there is a wide audience—because my cousin is not focused on the Middle East at all. Allan Brownfeld, via e-mail Since the mainstream media in this country is determined not to inform Americans of the issues addressed by this year’s conference speakers, we are thrilled when people stumble upon the full story. Nor would it surprise us if these inadvertent converts are just as angry and passionate as we are!
THE STUDENT CONTINGENT
Just wanted to say thank you for having us students from the University of IllinoisChicago. We really enjoyed the conference, and DC as well. We learned a lot, especially being surrounded by people much older than us who have so much knowledge and life experience. They taught us so much and I learned so many new perspectives. I would love to attend future conferences. Oday Rafati, via e-mail Because we believe the younger generation’s involvement is crucial, we were very happy to be able to provide travel and JUNE/JULY 2016
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ticket subsidies to students from across the country. Moreover, as young speakers from this and previous years’ conferences have demonstrated, we have much to learn from them as well!
Personally, I really enjoyed the conference. I loved being able to hear Rula Jebreal and Gideon Levy speak, it motivated me and helped remind me that the work that I do and the activism I am involved in on campus makes a difference. I loved the location of the conference as well, because we got to do some sightseeing. The networking I was able to do at the conference was by far the most beneficial. Thanks again for all your help and for reaching out to us to attend! It means a lot. Rula Rashid, via e-mail We thank you for the work you do on campus and for attending this year’s conference. The energy and enthusiasm of attendees and speakers alike was exciting and gratifying, and we hope the ripple effect will continue to spread!
the square, but a friend of mine at AUC who arranged the screening there said that it screened in a theater in one of the AUC buildings near Tahrir Square still occasionally used for cultural events. The campus was moved to the desert in 2008, and during my time there, in fact as soon as I arrived in 2001, we were looking at building plans for the future campus. Anyway, I dearly hope next year I can attend your great conference in person. Samirah AlKassim, Program & Communications Manager, The Jerusalem Fund & Palestine Center, Washington, DC Not only was “Valentino’s Ghost” screened at AUC’s Tahrir Square campus, but we alerted organizers of the event, and director Michael Singh, who was in Cairo the day of the conference, to the livestreaming of the event, so we suspect it may have been viewed as well.
LOOKING FORWARD TO 2017
MORE U.S. AID TO ISRAEL?
A MOTIVATED STUDENT
I am sending a $50 contribution to the American Educational Trust to help defray the costs of your March 18, 2016 conference. As you suggested, I watched the streaming of the conference from the comforts of my office instead of driving to Washington so I could be there in person. You had a great conference with a full audience and very good speakers. Gideon Levy was great again. I will be attending the one next year in person or by streaming. Nancy Qubain, Lexington, VA Thank you very much for your contribution, we can use all the help we can get! Of course, we hope to see you in person next year, but we will be sure conference proceedings are available online for those who are unable to attend.
“VALENTINO’S GHOST”
Congratulations on a great conference. I watched the afternoon panels livestreamed and was so grateful for livestream. I ran into someone the next day who had attended the conference and he also said that it was really, really great. Mabrouk! When I heard producer Catherine Jordan say that the film “Valentino’s Ghost” screened at Tahrir, I had a moment of doubt—the Sisi government is not one to allow demonstrations or any activities on JUNE/JULY 2016
has proposed an unprecedented military funding package that could top $40 billion over 10 years. In a stunning admission, the former Israeli Defense Force (IDF) commander-in-chief, Gabi Ashkenazi, stated that “U.S. taxpayers have contributed more to the Israeli defense budget than Israeli taxpayers in the past three years.” According to Rand Paul, “Israel’s per capita income is greater than threefourths of the rest of the world.” Its economy is booming and is destined for even greater prosperity from its discovery of natural gas. On the home front, there is mounting disillusionment that our country’s domestic and foreign policies have been misguided and trillions squandered with failing alliances and never-ending conflicts. This anger has fueled both the Sanders and Trump campaigns. With trillions of debt accumulating for future generations of Americans, we continue to send billions of our tax money to reward Israel for its decades-long occupation, demolition of Palestinian homes and the construction of hundreds of illegal settlements. More and more influential voices both in Israel and at home are calling for an end to military aid to Israel. Continuation of such aid will only embolden Israel to continue its current policies of oppression and occupation and doom any hope of a lasting peace with the Palestinians. Jagjit Singh, Los Altos, CA We suspect more and more Americans oppose this misguided largesse. If their “elected representatives” truly reflected the will of the people, they’d turn off the tap.
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>.
In yet another gesture of capitulation to Israeli demands, the Obama administration
AN OBSOLETE TRIBALISM
OTHER VOICES is an optional 16-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 Voices inside each issue of their Washington Report 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 908091056.
Please find enclosed my contribution to your excellent work, and thank everyone at the Washington Report for what you do. I have come to the conclusion that Zionism is obsolete. It represents a turn of tribalism that belongs in the dustbin of history. Diversity is what made America what it is and diversity benefits any country or society. I cannot help but think how much better and stronger Israel would be if it fully integrated the Christian and Muslim population it controls, giving them equal rights and equal opportunities. Until that happens, Israel will always be a pariah state dependent on foreign aid and diplomatic cover from the misguided government of the United States. Clyde Farris, West Linn, OR ■
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The Nakba Continues
Homes of East Jerusalem Palestinians Threatened by “National Parks” Policy
By Jonathan Cook
PHOTO J. COOK
Human-rights groups accuse Israel of increasingly using such parks as a tool to grab control of Palestinian land and demolish homes, under the guise of archaeological preservation and tourism development. Enass Masri, a field researcher for Bimkom, a group of planning experts helping Palestinians negotiate Israel’s labyrinthine planning system, said the goal of national parks in Israel was to protect green spaces and heritage sites. In Jerusalem, however, the policy had been subverted. “Uniquely in East Jerusalem, the national parks include residential areas,” she said. “They are a monster making Aref Totanji and some of his family members in front of their home in Sawaneh, which Israeli these families’ lives a misery.” According to Bimkom, the Jerusalem forces demolished May 17. municipality has been seeking to transfer control over a growing number of Palestinian neighborhoods ON THE JERUSALEM planning map, the aerial view of the to an ostensibly environmental agency called the Israel Nature Sawaneh district and its cluster of homes is obscured by and Parks Authority. green ink, part of a swath of color besieging the walls of the The consequences for Palestinians living in these parks was Old City on every side. devastating, said Masri, because this process made demoliOver the past decade, these colored zones have spread over tions easier to secure. In addition, the loss of open land in East the map of East Jerusalem, creating a patchwork that engulfs Jerusalem to the national parks was stripping Palestinians of ever more Palestinian neighborhoods close to the Old City. any hope of developing housing for the next generation. The green ink may look innocuous on paper, but on May 17 Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demoliit heralded the arrival of giant bulldozers and more than 100 tions said: “The national parks are a great way for Israel to Israeli security officials. Two homes were demolished, making conceal its real agenda. They are seen as a good thing—eco23 people homeless and leaving 12 more families in immedilogical and benign. ate danger of losing a roof over their heads. “It’s much less easy to understand that they constrict PalesThe single-story home of Aref Totanji, 50, was one of those tinian development, fragment Palestinian living space, and targeted. “We have nowhere else to go,” he said of the 16 justify house demolitions.” family members who lived with him, including his sevenThe families in Sawaneh, next to the Palestinian neighbormonth-old granddaughter. hood of Wadi al-Joz, discovered only two years ago that they As Israeli authorities declare “national parks” over residenwere living in the Jerusalem City Walls Park, even though it tial areas, thousands of Palestinians living in overcrowded was officially established four decades ago. neighborhoods close to Jerusalem’s Old City are being It was the first park to be declared after Israel occupied East trapped in a similar planning nightmare. Jerusalem, in violation of international law, in 1967. Jonathan Cook is a journalist based in Nazareth and a winner of the But only in the past year have the residents noticed Israeli Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He is the author of officials taking an interest in their neighborhood. Regular surBlood and Religion and Israel and the Clash of Civilisations (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). veys have been carried out and inspectors have issued clean8
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
JUNE/JULY 2016
up orders. Totanji’s neighbors, Nureddin and Sharif Amro—two brothers who are blind—had parts of their homes demolished last year, including a kitchen, sitting area, garden wall and chicken coop. Electricity cables and sewage pipes were also damaged. All the families have been warned that they are in the way of a planned “Bible Trail” running along the eastern edge of the Jerusalem City Walls Park. The land on which all the homes are built is privately owned by two Palestinian families. No suggestion has been made that there are archaeological remains under either the homes in Sawaneh or in a large green space close by that also falls within the national park. The families suspect that the authorities may be targeting their area now because it includes the last large parking space within walking distance of the Old City. The space is used by buses that bring thousands of Palestinians to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque on Fridays. Nureddin Amro, principal of a school for the blind in Jerusalem, said the Parks Authority appeared to be more interested in developing what he termed “settler tourism” at Sawaneh. “The authorities are preparing to create a network of paths and tourism centers here to connect between the settlements and the Old City,” he said. “The settlers are keen to get this area.” He noted that extremist settler groups had expressed a desire to destroy the alAqsa mosque, inside the Old City, and replace it with a Jewish temple. The homes in Sawaneh are located in a valley below the Mount of Olives, at the northern end of the Valley of Gethsemane, where Jesus is said to have prayed with his disciples the night before his crucifixion. Tourism projects proposed by the residents, including the construction of a hotel at the site, have been summarily rejected, according to the families. “It’s not really about tourism. It’s about the kind of tourism that forces us out of our homes,” said Amro. JUNE/JULY 2016
PHOTO J. COOK
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Blind brothers Nureddin (l) and Sharif Amro in front of their neighboring homes, parts of which were demolished last year.
The residents live only a short distance from the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, in the same Jerusalem City Walls Park. There settlers have been given license to take over homes and excavate an archaeological park, called the City of David, under and around the houses. Silwan has become a flashpoint, with regular clashes between Palestinian residents, on the one hand, and settler groups and the Israeli police, on the other. Silwan’s residents say the Israeli authorities are keen to take over the area because their homes reach to the walls below the al-Aqsa mosque compound. The Parks Authority’s goal, according to its website, is “to protect nature and heritage sites and care for them for the benefit of the public.” In a 2012 report, Bimkom noted that the declaration of a national park was “an extreme measure [that] should be applied only in unequivocal cases in which natural heritage considerations take absolute priority.” But Masri said the Jerusalem municipality had preferred to transfer its green spaces and Palestinian residential areas to the Parks Authority as a way to bypass normal planning rules. As a national body, the Parks Authority is not required to take into account the welfare of East Jerusalem’s residents in
its decisions. It also has the power to evict Palestinians without confiscating their land, thereby avoiding court challenges over ownership and demands for compensation. The use of environmental or touristic justifications for demolishing Palestinian homes or limiting development was also less likely to attract censure from the international community. Samer Ersheid, a lawyer representing the Sawaneh families, said Palestinian areas of Jerusalem were denied master plans, making it all but impossible to gain building permits. But the families inside the national parks were in a particularly difficult situation. “The Parks Authority is pushing aggressively for these homes to be destroyed,” he said, “and the chance of delaying or reversing the demolition orders is much harder.” Close ties between the Parks Authority and leading settler groups are an open secret. Shaul Goldstein, who was formerly the head of the large Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the West Bank, has been the head of the organization since 2011. The head of the Park Authority’s Jerusalem office is Evyatar Cohen, who was previously a senior official in Elad, the main settler organization active in Silwan.
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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“Under this arrangement, the settlers become agents of the Parks Authority and that gives them all sorts of extra powers, independently of the government, municipality and police,” said Halper. He added: “The creation of tourism projects in these national parks is also a very effective way to bring Jews from Israel and from overseas to help legitimate the settlers’ activities.” Neither the Parks Authority nor the Jerusalem municipality was available for comment. In a lecture in 2006, Cohen stated that the goal of East Jerusalem’s national parks was to prevent the obliteration of the city’s landscape and its flora, and restore its “former glory.” However, other official statements have suggested a different rationale. At a meeting of the National Parks Council in 2003, Jerusalem’s city engineer, Uri Shitrit, admitted that the use of national parks was likely to create “constant confrontation” with local residents. He added,
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however, that they were helpful in areas that were “inhabited by a hostile population, which is continually growing”—a reference to the city’s Palestinian residents. When Jerusalem’s outline was agreed to a year later, in 2004, Israeli officials observed that “massive governmental intervention” would be needed if planning objectives were to guarantee a strong Jewish majority of 60 percent in the city. According to Bimkom, the national parks are playing a key role in meeting that demographic target. Areas like Sawaneh, said Halper, were also the final territorial pieces creating a belt of Jewish control encircling the Old City. In a recent report, the International Crisis Group noted that this belt was intended to create a “firewall…preventing a withdrawal [by Israel] from the city’s core” in the event of a peace agreement. East Jerusalem has long been claimed by Palestinians as the capital of a future Palestinian state. But Israel has annexed (Advertisement)
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
East Jerusalem and claims it as part of its “united and eternal capital.” Efrat Cohen-Bar, a planner with Bimkom, said Israel had so far declared two national parks in East Jerusalem, and had another large one awaiting approval on Mount Scopus. The new park, which also is on Palestinian land, would block any future development of the neighborhoods of Issawiya and A-Tur, she said. But Bimkom has also seen a version of the Jerusalem master plan showing three additional national parks close to the Old City that were not included on the officially published map. “From the activities we see on the ground, we strongly suspect that these areas are being prepared for a time in the future when they will be declared national parks,” she said. Cohen-Bar cited the destruction in April by the Parks Authority of a privately owned playground in Silwan just outside Continued on p. 12
JUNE/JULY 2016
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Gaza on the Ground
“I Will Tell Him to Tell God Everything!”
By Mohammed Omer
PHOTO M. OMER
THERE ARE FEW SIGNS in Gaza of a life lived freely. The water system has been largely destroyed, power to homes is cut and houses are left in ruins, destroyed by bombs, and with no visible signs of any positive re-construction having started. Children are trapped inside their traumas, while parents are restrained by forced unemployment and poverty, unable to give their children any encouragement under these conditions. This is precisely what Israel wants—to make life, for Gaza’s nearly 2 million residents, absolutely desperate, minimal, locked down, fragmented, and with no hope of escaping the desperation, unless they decide to leave Palestine, in most cases forever. When Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza Desperate Gazans try to gain passage to Egypt at the Rafah border crossing. ended, I traveled to the Al-Fokhari neighborhood on the eastern border of Khan we know we could die any moment,” said the 39-year-old man Younis and reported on the war’s devastating impact on the after the funeral, holding the hands of his two children. population there (see October 2014 Washington Report, p. The dead woman’s son, Mohammed al-Amour, who was re12). The agony and the suffering of the people—my own peoleased two months earlier after several years in Israeli prisple—and the trauma of the children of the besieged Gaza ons, stood next to his mother’s body and kissed her forehead. Strip still exists today. I recently revisited the courageous fami“My mother was killed while sitting, peacefully, in our farm lies who refused to leave their ancestral lands, or the concenhome,” he said, as his sister cried and two of Amour’s small tration camp for non-Jews which is Gaza. Al-Fokhari is where grandchildren, who did not understand what had happened, Israeli soldiers vandalized private homes and spray-painted tried to wake up their grandmother. threats and messages of hate inside children’s bedrooms, The whole area is on edge after Israel recently began warning families not to come back if they valued their lives. It shelling it again. “Electricity cuts for 18 hours are unbearable is here that many Palestinians were later found dead, some in this heat,” said Zaidan, “and there is barely any water for weeks after the war, and many others today remain missing. cleaning and for household use. In between all this, we have The civilian residents of Al-Fokhari have every reason to fear a to dodge the bullets,” he added. And the bombs. new Israeli military offensive in Gaza. As they gathered to bury The area where Amour lived, along Gaza’s border with IsZaina Attia al-Amour, a 54-year-old grandmother killed in an Israel, was hit by several Israeli artillery shells. Residents are raeli attack in the first week of May, they feared retaliation for concerned that this could be the start of a new Israeli bombing crimes they have not committed. campaign. It can hardly be called a war—it is more like a masAt al-Reda mosque, relatives and friends gathered for a presacre of the innocents. burial ceremony. “Today, we are burying a dear member of During Israel’s 2014 offensive, Zaidan, like many others, had our community,” said Mamdouh Zaidan, taking part in the funo option but to flee his home. When he returned after 51 days, neral. “No one knows when this madness will end—we lie to the house was partially destroyed and the animals had been our children by telling them it will be fine, but inside ourselves, killed, by random shelling and the lack of food and water. No one can find the words to describe this form of punishment Award-winning journalist Mohammed Omer reports from the Gaza Strip. Follow him on Twitter: @MoGaza. and displacement of children who have nowhere else to go in JUNE/JULY 2016
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Palestine, since everywhere is under attack, subject to restrictions on movement and under overall military occupation. Palestinians who live on the eastern borders of Gaza are shot at by Israeli soldiers and can be killed just for being in the “wrong place.” On the western edge of Gaza, at sea, fishermen are shot at in their boats while trying to catch fish and make a living. Children are shot at and killed while playing football on the beach, or just for trying to fish like their fathers, as in the case of brothers Kayed and Mohammed Kullab, arrested on the beach of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip the second week of May. When the people of the coastal enclave of Gaza reach the boiling point after Israel’s unremitting cruel and unusual punishment, they vent their anger in demonstrations, and are fired on again by Israeli troops, using U.S.-made M16 bullets. Families sitting quietly at home in the dark dread the next attacks. The hum of drones above is their babies’ deadly lullaby. Even the otherwise romantic candlelight kills their children, in house fires resulting from the lack of electricity. In May, three babies and toddlers from Al-Hindi were found in a small apartment, their tiny bodies distorted and unrecognizable. Blackened and scorched toys lay around them while their heartbroken father, Mohammed Al-Hindi, looked on in shock, hardly able to accept that the human remains were really his three dead children. No one can believe that just a few days ago, inside this tiny, burned out room, there was life, laughter and small children playing. Now there is only a child’s bed in the middle of the charred smoke-stained room. Next to the bed lay the bodies of 3-year-old Yousra, 2-yearold Rahaf and Naser al-Hindi, six months old. All of them burned to death here. We Palestinians are allowed no other options but to light candles or use car batteries to light our homes—with often deadly results when candles fall and ignite surrounding materials. Israel just aims to drive us out—or burn us out—of our homeland. How is that acceptable to anyone who cares about freedom and equality? 12
NO MEANS OF ESCAPE
There is little room in Palestine to escape Israeli persecution. Gazans are walled off, by land, sea and air, from any kind of freedom of mobility. Look to the sea and there are Israeli warships, with their guns pointing at the shore. Look to the skies and the Hellfire missiles come raining down, or drones hover above and watch, able to shoot targets on sight. Look to the land and Israeli tanks and snipers watch you back. To the south, where Rafah crossing is located, more than 30,000 people are registered to travel, according to OCHA, the U.N.’s humanitarian affairs office. But Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi assists Israel in its punishment of Palestine and hardly lets anyone cross, regardless of what their registration documents say. The Egyptian government is highly selective and arbitrary when it comes to whom it allows to cross the border. Even Palestinians suffering from cancer are not let through the gates of Rafah if they do not hold Israeli permits to travel for treatment. During the second week of May, I waited for more than 15 hours at Rafah crossing, waiting for my brother to be freed. From Tuesday until dawn on Wednesday I once again witnessed the harsh realities of being caged like human animals, and being tortured by inhuman Israeli policies that humiliate those whose land they covet. That same week thousands of people rushed to Rafah to get through the gates when they swung open for the first time in 85 days—the longest period of continuous closure since 2007, according to OCHA. As I walked into the terminal, I found not only Palestinians stranded there, but people of all nationalities who had come as visitors and were now stuck indefinitely. This is not counting the more than 5,000 patients who cannot get adequate treatment in Gaza’s ill-equipped hospitals, and just want to live. The only ones who receive priority to travel are those able to bribe Egyptians via a middle-man, with around $5,000 the going price for an exit permit. I met several
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
people who told me that paying this bribe is the only way through, to get treatment—a universal human right. Of course in Gaza, very few people have this kind of money. The mother of a cancer patient banged on the gate, shouting, “I beg you to let me pass.” The Egyptian troops paid no attention to her, although just a few paces away stood a soldier who could decide whether her son could leave or not, and so would live or not. But she could not see him because a large, closed door stood between her and her right to seek vital health treatment for her son. When I asked her what she would say to the U.S. government in Washington, DC, she replied: “If my son dies, I will tell him to tell God everything! I will tell him to tell God that this is an Americanblessed blockade inflicted upon a harmless population,” she mourned through her tears. ■
“National Parks” Policy Continued from page 10
the existing Jerusalem Walls national park. The original master plan, she said, indicated that the area where the playground was built would eventually be included in an extension to the park. The U.S. State Department expressed concern in April at what it called “a damaging trend of demolitions, displacement and land confiscation” in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. For East Jerusalem’s families, who have resisted waves of Israeli expansion, fears are high that the growth of the national parks could see them lose the battle for good. Nureddin Amro, of Sawaneh, pointed out that it would not be the first time his family—and many of the others—had been displaced. “These homes were built long before Israel came here or the national park was declared,” he said. “Israel forced us out of our original homes and we rebuilt our lives here in East Jerusalem. Now Israel is hounding us out of our homes all over again.” ■ JUNE/JULY 2016
haaretz_13-14_Special Report 5/26/16 4:42 PM Page 13
Israel Deals Itself a Weak Hand in Military Talks With U.S.
Special Report
By Moti Bassok
ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES
SINCE LATE LAST YEAR, the United States and Israel have been engaged in stubborn, nerve-wracking negotiations on a renewal of an agreement providing multiyear military assistance to Israel for the next decade. Israel is seeking a sharper boost in assistance than the United States is prepared to finance. U.S. congressional sources have said recently that at first, Israel was asking for $4 to $5 billion per year, which over the duration of the agreement, from 2019 to 2028, amounts to up to $50 billion. The current military aid agreement between the U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter (l) and Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon, who resigned May two countries, for 2009 to 20, participate in a Q & A at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, Oct. 27, 2015. 2018, is based on a memobe an increase in American military assistance. If it were to inrandum of understanding signed by President George W. crease by $1 billion a year, it would free up major sums to Bush and provides a total of $30 billion, at an average of $3 fund civilian budget lines. billion per year. Israel argues that American assistance has eroded in real Based on revised assessments of the past several weeks, terms over the years and therefore should be revised. Israel the United States has managed to reduce Israel’s demands, also maintains that the security threats that it is facing have to somewhere between the $37.5 billion that the United States grown in recent years, due to the nuclear agreement with Iran, is proposing over 10 years and the $40 billion being requested for example. Over the last several years, 16 percent of the Isby Israel. One way or another, that’s $3.75 to $4 billion per raeli government’s budget has been allocated to defense year, amounting annually to $750 million to $1 billion more while in the past, the proportion funded by U.S. assistance than the current agreement. was higher. The American taxpayer currently funds more than 20 perLast year, before the major powers, including the United cent of Israel’s defense budget. This year’s overall governStates, sealed an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program, ment budget is 59.1 billion shekels, or $15.6 billion, and more U.S. President Barack Obama tried to come to an understandthan 12 billion shekels of that comes from American economic ing with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the centerpiece assistance. of which would have been generous compensation for the At the end of last year, when then-Defense Minister Moshe Iranian agreement in the form of defense assistance to Israel. Ya’alon [see p. 24] and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon were The compensation would have been part of the new military dealing with negotiations over an increase in the defense budassistance pact and would have come in return for a halt to get for the next five years, Kahlon assumed that there would the strenuous objection to the nuclear agreement that NeCopyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved. tanyahu had been expressing. JUNE/JULY 2016
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NETANYAHU SAYS NO
The prime minister refused the deal and the message was conveyed by the Prime Minister’s Office at the time that Israel would prefer to come to an agreement on the future aid package with Obama’s successor at the White House. The opportunity was lost. Members of the United States House and Senate actually tried to convince Netanyahu to go ahead and sign an agreement with the Obama administration. They told the Israelis with whom they spoke that Israel would not get a better deal from the next American administration. The next president will also only take office in January of next year, and security assistance to Israel will presumably not be one of the first issues that he or she will deal with. Furthermore, it’s impossible to gauge what the new administration’s stance on the subject will be. In light of the uncertainty and expected delay, it is now clear to the prime minister and his associates that they made a mistake. The extent of the assistance will be decided with the current U.S. administration, since Netanyahu and Kahlon are now eager to come to an agreement with Obama. It will be billions of shekels lower than what could have been obtained prior to the Iranian nuclear pact. At a White House meeting in November of last year between Obama and Netanyahu, the two announced the opening of negotiations on the new memorandum of understanding for the period of 2019 to 2028. In March of this year, Defense Minister Ya’alon also met with his American counterpart, Ashton Carter. A month earlier an American delegation headed by U.S. diplomat Yael Lempert, who was previously stationed at the American Embassy in Cairo, visited Israel to discuss the new agreement. She is considered an expert on the region and is in charge of policy regarding Israel and Egypt at the U.S. National Security Council. The head of the Israeli team at the talks is reserve Brig. Gen. Jacob Nagel,
the deputy head of the Israeli National Security Council. He is coordinating the activity of a working group that includes representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Defense Ministry, the Israel Defense Forces and the finance and foreign ministries. The focus of the talks, of course, is the size of the financial assistance. But no less important are the conditions to which the use of the funds will be subject. There is a blackout on the details of the Israeli team’s work and Nagel would not meet in advance of this article to discuss the matter. The talks between the two countries are stalled at the moment. Fully 83 of the 100 members of the U.S. Senate from both parties recently released a letter expressing support for a new, rather gener-
And with respect to the new agreement under negotiation, the Americans are demanding that the portion of the assistance that can be spent in Israel be gradually reduced over the years to zero [Editor’s note: as is the case with all other recipients of U.S. military aid]. The demand has engendered major anger among Israeli defense suppliers (including, for example, the companies that manufacture uniforms and boots for the IDF). The Americans have reiterated their commitment to Israel’s defense, but have warned that the United States has budgetary problems of its own.
MORE THAN $100 BILLION
Since the United States first began providing military assistance to Israel in 1962, it has funneled slightly more than $100 billion to the country, and that’s in addition to Washington’s civilian assistance. In recent decades, the military aid has been a constant $3 billion or so a year. During Obama’s years in office, the United States has also provided billions of dollars on advanced projects of importance to Israel such as anti-missile systems, including Iron Dome, David’s Sling and the Arrow system. Since the end of World War II, on a cumulative basis, Israel has received more American financial assistance than any other country, according to congressional reports. In recent years, Israel has received 55 percent of America’s foreign military aid. (The United States also invests huge sums in its regional and global military alliances and in military operations, it should be noted.) Egypt ranks second behind Israel, and the 55 percent to Israel does not include special military assistance that the United States also provides to Israel on occasion. With U.S. presidential elections in another six months and Obama leaving the White House in another eight months, the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office will make every effort to wrap up an agreement with the Obama administration by the end of the summer. So, as far as Israel is concerned, a lot is now riding on the outgoing president. ■
The American taxpayer currently funds more than 20 percent of Israel’s defense budget.
14
ous agreement [see p. 40], but it’s hard to imagine that the letter will influence the policy makers at the White House. Over the past several months, the United States has insisted that any sum decided on be final and not supplemented later. In addition, the Americans are demanding that Israel not attempt to bypass the White House via the Congress in the future with military assistance requests beyond what is agreed upon now. Israel is unenthusiastic about the new condition. The current agreement with the United States commits Israel to spend 73.5 percent of the American assistance in the United States, with American defense contractors. The balance can be spent in Israel. The agreement serves U.S. defense firms well but hurts their Israeli counterparts. An effort by Israel to increase the portion that can be spent in Israel has met with an American refusal, meaning that just 26.5 percent of the aid under the agreement in force now can be spent in Israel until it expires at the end of 2018.
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JUNE/JULY 2016
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views-clintontrump_16-19_Special Report 5/26/16 4:43 PM Page 16
Three Views
PHOTO CREDIT (L-R): JOHN SOMMERS II/GETTY IMAGES; JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES; ROBYN BECK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The Presidential Contest Gets Curiouser and Curiouser
Presidential candidates (l-r) Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
Democrats, Too Clever by Half On Clinton By Robert Parry
LAST YEAR WHEN DEMOCRATIC insiders looked forward to Election 2016, they expected a run-of-the-mill Republican, possibly even legacy candidate Jeb Bush. So they countered with their own “safe” next-in-line legacy candidate, Hillary Clinton, who would supposedly win by playing up the prospect of the first woman president. In such an expected match-up, the concern of rank-and-file Democrats about Clinton’s hawkish foreign policy would be negated by the GOP nominee still defending President George W. Bush’s Iraq war and again surrounded by neocons pounding the drums for even more wars. With both parties putting forward war candidates, anti-war Democrats would accept Clinton as the lesser evil, or so the thinking went.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. His latest book is America’s Stolen Narrative. Copyright © 2016 Consortiumnews. All rights reserved. 16
The likely Republican nominee also would be burdened by reactionary domestic proposals, including GOP plans for privatizing Social Security and Medicare. By contrast, centrist Clinton would look reasonable in promising to protect those popular programs, albeit with some modest trimming of benefits to please the budget hawks. But the Democratic insiders didn’t count on the unlikely emergence of populist billionaire Donald Trump, who repudiated Bush’s Iraq war and the GOP’s neocon foreign policy and rejected Republican orthodoxy on “entitlement reform,” i.e., slashing Social Security and Medicare. The unabashed Trump also has made clear that he is not afraid of countering Clinton’s “woman card” by playing his own “man card,” including attacks on her troubled marriage and her tolerance of Bill Clinton’s notorious womanizing, even claiming that she was her wayward husband’s “enabler.” At first, the Democratic hierarchy couldn’t believe its luck as the Republican Party seemed to splinter over Trump’s disdain for the GOP’s neocon interventionism and rejection of the party’s cutbacks in Social Security and Medicare. Trump’s mocking attacks on his rivals also shattered the decorum that Republican leaders had hoped would mark their primary campaign.
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So, the Democratic insiders initially rubbed their hands with glee and imagined not only an easy presidential victory but major gains in the House and Senate. However, new polls show Trump running neck-and-neck with Clinton nationally and in key battleground states, while other polls reveal strong public doubts about Clinton’s honesty, thus wiping the premature smiles off the Democrats’ faces.
PANIC MODE
Indeed, some Democrats reportedly are slipping into panic mode as they watch Clinton’s poll numbers tank and the Republican Party come to grips with the Trump phenomenon. The new storyline of Campaign 2016 is the tale of top Republicans reconciling to Trump’s populist conquest of the party. At least, these GOP leaders acknowledge, Trump has excited both average Republicans and many independents. The obsessive media coverage of Trump’s meetings on May 12 with senior congressional Republicans made the narcissistic real estate mogul and reality TV star look like some major world leader being received in Washington as a conquering hero. And, with the GOP rallying behind Trump, the likelihood is that his poll numbers and favorable/unfavorable ratings will continue to improve. So, instead of Democratic dreams of a landslide victory, the party insiders are worrying now about their decision to coronate a deeply flawed and wounded candidate in Hillary Clinton. Not only could she lose to Trump but she could take many of the House and Senate candidates down with her. It’s dawning on some Democrats that they may have squandered an historic opportunity to realign American politics to the left by promoting the wrong person in 2016. At a moment when the American people are demanding change—even willing to risk entrusting the White House to the unorthodox and inexperienced Donald Trump—the Democratic Party may be stuck with an uninspiring status quo candidate who also is pro-war, indeed far more hawkish than President Barack Obama. Thus, in the fall election, not only would Trump be in a position to bait Clinton about her dysfunctional marriage, reminding the nation of the messy scandals of the 1990s, but he could challenge her on her warmongering positions, including her years of support for the Iraq war and her hawkish policies as secretary of state, including her instigation of the disastrous “regime change” war in Libya. This November could be the first time in modern American history when the Republican nominee would be the relative “peace candidate” and the Democrat would be the “war candidate.” That changing places could lose Clinton much of the “anti-war left,” a significant faction within the Democratic coalition, with many “peace Democrats” either voting for Trump or choosing a third party, such as the Greens. Of course, the Democrats didn’t have to be in this position. The party leaders could have encouraged a more competitive primary contest instead of trying to keep alternative candidates, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren and some younger JUNE/JULY 2016
Democratic prospects, on the sidelines, all the better to give Hillary Clinton an unimpeded path to the nomination. The party insiders treated Clinton like an incumbent president seeking re-election, a foregone conclusion.
ALTERNATIVES, ANYONE?
But the best laid plans of mice and politicians often go astray. How weak Clinton is as a candidate has been underscored by her struggle to put away a progressive challenge from Sen. Bernie Sanders, a 74-year-old “democratic socialist” from Vermont, who isn’t even technically a Democrat, listing himself as an Independent. Even though the vast majority of “super-delegates”—i.e., party insiders—have lined up behind Clinton and she leads in pledged delegates, Sanders continues to win primaries, including recent ones in Indiana and West Virginia, and he could roll up a series of victories in upcoming western state races. Clinton could stagger to the Democratic convention in July with a dispirited party lining up glumly to witness her long-delayed coronation. The onlookers might sense that they had made a terrible mistake but couldn’t correct it. They would be left to grit their teeth and hope that Clinton’s self-inflicted wounds, such as her private e-mails as secretary of state, don’t fester and become fatal. Arguably, it is the Democrats who would benefit the most from a contested convention, one that might give them an opportunity to reconsider the choice of Clinton and either nominate Sanders, who fares much better against Trump in poll match-ups, or pick someone else, possibly a fresh face like Senator Warren. While that may be highly unlikely—even if Sanders sweeps the remaining primaries—it is beginning to dawn on Democratic insiders that their scheme to grease the skids for a Clinton nomination might end up slipping Donald Trump into the White House.
How Trump Is Corrupting Hillary’s Administration By Graham E. Fuller
THE SCARIEST THING ABOUT Donald Trump’s candidacy is not that a guy like him is running for top office, but rather the disastrous impact he is going to have on a Hillary administration. Now, in this crazy year—actually non-stop circus for 18 months—the press has engaged in an orgy of vitriol and bloodletting against the Republican nominee for the presidency with a hysteria I have never seen in my life against any mainstream party candidate. And the Donald probably deserves a great deal of it. Yes, we can all see now how Trump is engaged in shred-
Graham E. Fuller is a former senior CIA official and author of numerous books on the Muslim world, the latest being Breaking Faith: A Novel of Espionage and an American’s Crisis of Conscience in Pakistan.
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ding, maybe even remaking, the Republican Party—creative destruction. That, in the view of many, including myself, is basically a good thing, given how far off the rails of reality the party has drifted. Trump has trashed the neocon war party, blamed George W. Bush for the debacle in Iraq and elsewhere, wants to throttle way back on foreign wars, and has declared a readiness to talk to Putin—otherwise treated in the U.S. press as toxic and Satanic. (Though even Chuck Hagel, former secretary of defense, recently had the temerity to suggest that things with Russia were getting dangerous and that we should be in constant dialogue with Putin.) Like many others, I have been galvanized at watching the spectacle of Bernie Sanders proclaiming issues in his campaign that had been virtually off limits for political discussion for decades: gap between rich and poor, rapacious international trade deals, a fair wage, free university education, the call for U.S. balance (gasp!) in handling the Arab-Israeli issue, etc. The great thing about Bernie—even if he probably won’t get nominated—is that he has pushed hawkish, friend-of-Wall-St. Hillary to the left. She has as much as acknowledged that. That will be Bernie’s greatest legacy. I would have hoped that the issues Sanders has raised can never be shoved back into the political toothpaste tube again. That was the hope. But now along comes Trump. The right—and especially the neocons—are hysterical about what he is doing to the Republican Party— of neocons, hawks, Wall Street cash recipients, fundamentalist Christians, Tea Party, and U.S. global supremacy. They are pulling out all stops in a desperate attempt to block Trump at all costs. Many of them already say they will vote for Hillary, such is their fear of the Donald. And herein lies the fear. Just what does that do to Hillary— ever tacking to the shifting winds of popular opinion? Bottom line is that Democratic Party nominee Hillary will no longer have to worry about winning over the Sanders’ left—some of whom might have stayed home on election day. The massive support of Republicans, and especially neocons, will bail Hillary out. Hillary will indeed embrace this Republican support—and will accommodate to it. Indeed her basic political instincts have been all along in that direction anyway—rather than to the left. And that means we are guaranteed to have a President Hillary Clinton far to the right of Obama—who barely qualifies even as centrist himself. In short, the essential pressures that Bernie has been exerting to pressure Hillary to the left—so vital to balanced government—are being cancelled out. Bernie’s influence, and all those who revel in the fresh air of his platform, will be drowned in the new love-fest between Hillary and the Republicans— whose key neocon figures like Robert Kagan and Charles Krauthammer now enthusiastically and publicly embrace her. The handwriting on the wall is clear: the advisers, counsellors, so-called brain trusts and special aides around her (some of whom even infiltrated into Obama’s ranks)—those who re18
main blindly impervious in their serial defeats in foreign policy—they will all be back in full force to offer us same old, same old losing foreign policies dating back to George W. And so the U.S. will continue to be virtually the only democratic country in the world whose political spectrum runs boldly from right to center—and then stops. There is no left in America. We operate on half a spectrum. Why do I cringe in using the word “left”—even to describe myself? Because left is a dirty word in the U.S. One can speak freely of politicians on the right. But to say that someone is on the left is fightin’ words—it smacks of the un-American. Trump’s delivery of the neocons and Republican establishment to Hillary’s door will be his final and greatest damage to our political order. He will now bring out all the very worst instincts in Hillary that some of us had hoped might have been softened or nuanced through Bernie’s unwavering spotlight on what really ails the nation. Precisely in his own defeat will Trump bring about his greatest revenge in decisively coloring the next administration.
By Their Posses Ye Shall Know Them By Janet McMahon
IN THE LATE 1990S, when the presidency was becoming more than just a gleam in candidate George W. Bush’s eye, this writer recalls reading that one of his advisers was the über neocon Richard Perle. “That’s strange,” I said to myself, dismissing it, in effect, as a mysterious anomaly. Lesson learned. The Bush II administration went on to confirm the importance of a president’s vice president, cabinet secretaries, National Security staff and other appointees. As Paul Craig Roberts, a former assistant treasury secretary under President Ronald Reagan, has noted: “presidents have little idea of what is transpiring in the vast cabinet departments and federal agencies that constitute ‘their’ administration. Many parts of government are empires unto themselves.…For example, the information flows from the cabinet departments, such as defense, state, and treasury, are reported to assistant secretaries, who control the flow of information to the secretaries, who inform the president. The civil service professionals can massage the information one way, the assistant secretaries another, and the secretaries yet another. If the secretaries report the information to the White House chief of staff, the information can be massaged yet again.” Therefore it is instructive at this point in the 2016 presidential campaign to take a look at who is surrounding and supporting the three remaining candidates.
DONALD TRUMP
The presumptive Republican nominee has made some rather refreshing comments, calling the Iraq war a “disaster,” and ex-
Janet McMahon is managing editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
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plaining that he “would love to do something with regard to negotiating peace finally for Israel and for their neighbors, and I can’t do that as well as a negotiator—I cannot do that as well if I am taking sides.” That certainly was not the tenor of Trump’s remarks at the AIPAC conference in March, however—perhaps because his speech was in large part written by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with input from Israel’s American-born right-wing ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer. Kushner, described by Reuters as “an Orthodox Jew with ties to Israel,” is publisher of the New York Observer. Clearly well aware of his father-inlaw’s tendency to speak extemporaneously, he advised Trump to use a teleprompter to ensure he did not go off-message when addressing AIPAC. According to The New York Times, Trump has asked Kushner to “put together a blueprint for a transition team,” working with senior adviser Paul Manafort and campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who will be in charge of the vice presidential search (let’s hope he doesn’t recommend himself!). Named head of the transition team was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who famously couldn’t say enough mea culpas after he uttered the apparently forbidden phrase “occupied territories” when auditioning for Sheldon Adelson’s endorsement and financial underwriting. Speaking of the billionaire casino magnate, who expressed regret that he had not been a soldier for Israel but only for the U.S., after weeks of silence he endorsed Trump in a May 13 Washington Post op-ed. “I…strongly encourage my fellow Republicans—especially our Republican elected officials, party loyalists and operatives, and those who provide important financial backing—to do the same,” Adelson wrote. The New York Times subsequently reported that in a private meeting between the two men, Adelson told Trump “that he was willing to contribute more to help elect him than he has to any previous campaign, a sum that could exceed $100 million.” Whatever Trump’s personal views on Israel, then, he is surrounding himself with enough Israel-firsters that theirs might end up being the driving force behind a Trump adminstration foreign policy. The Democratic candidates are somewhat more predictable (not that that’s a difficult assignment):
HILLARY CLINTON
The Democratic equivalent of Sheldon Adelson is Mighty Morphin Power Rangers mogul Haim Saban (see June/July 2014 Washington Report, p. 30). “I’m a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel,” the Israeli-American billionaire has said—and his candidate is Clinton. Small wonder. She has pledged to invite Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the White House “in my first month in office.” Writing in the Jewish Forward, she went on to say: “I also will combat growing efforts to isolate Israel internationally and to undermine its future as a Jewish state, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.” So much for the First Amendment. JUNE/JULY 2016
Among her top advisers is neocon Victoria Nuland, who many expect to be appointed secretary of state or national security adviser in a Hillary Clinton administration. Also revealing is the fact that many Republican neocon stalwarts are now endorsing Clinton, including the Brookings Institution’s Robert Kagan (Nuland’s husband), Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Eliot Cohen, a former adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. As of this writing, The Weekly Standard’s William Kristol seemed on the verge of abandoning his “Anyone but Trump” campaign to recruit a third-party candidate. (And what thanks did he get for that? David Horowitz of the misnamed neocon Freedom Center called him a “renegade Jew”!) Of course, this is not the first time Republican neocons have abandoned their party for a Clinton. In 1992, the late New York Times columnist William Safire could not bring himself to endorse incumbent President George H.W. Bush, who had convened the Madrid peace conference following the first Gulf war and attempted to tie U.S. loan guarantees to Israel to an end to settlement building. Clearly Bush had gone beyond the pale, so Safire hitched his wagon to Bill Clinton’s. Were he alive today, it would no doubt be hitched to Hillary’s.
BERNIE SANDERS
In a campaign that keeps going and going and going—much to Clinton’s dismay—the former Independent senator from Vermont has focused more on domestic issues, the economy in particular. In his April 14 debate with Clinton, however, the Brooklyn native criticized Israel for its use of “disproportionate force” in its 2014 attack on Gaza. Sanders added, “If we are ever going to bring peace to that region which has seen so much hatred and so much war, we are going to have to treat the Palestinian people with respect and dignity.” In an effort to pave the way to party unity before the July 25 national convention in Philadelphia, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) gave Sanders the right to choose five members of the platform committee to Clinton’s six. Sanders named Arab American Institute president James Zogby; Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim-American member of Congress; Prof. Cornel West; environmental activist Bill McKibben; and Native American activist Deborah Parker. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency described Zogby, Ellison and West as “prominent critics of Israel.” Among DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s four appointees to the committe was former Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), who has stated that, “Even before I was a Democrat I was a Zionist.” Perhaps that explains why so many members of the Jewishestablishment are backing Clinton rather than their co-religionist candidate. On the other hand, younger Jews are more supportive of Sanders—as are Muslim-American voters. Perhaps we are seeing a harmonic convergence of Americans of all races and creeds who recognize injustice when they see it and are determined to put an end to it. ■
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Mearsheimer, Walt, Freeman Headline Koch Institute Event
By Dale Sprusansky
Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle east affairs. 20
cupations and nation building, and the creation of hostile enemies who resist U.S. attempts to forcefully expand its power. Instead of continuing with this strategy, Walt believes the U.S. should adopt a policy of “offshore balancing.” Under this approach, he explained, the U.S. would intervene abroad only if the balance of power in a key region—namely Europe, northeast Asia, or the Persian Gulf—were at stake and the governments of that region were incapable of countering the rising threat. This is not isolationism, Walt clarified, as the offshore balancing paradigm maintains that force, while a last resort, is sometimes necessary to maintain the balance of power in a vital strategic region. Nor, Walt argued, is offshore balancing a new concept for the U.S. From the 19th century through World War II, the U.S. was primarily concerned with building its economy and solidifying its regional hegemony, he noted, and only intervened abroad out of necessity. Walt thus argued for a return to a more humble and pragmatic American policy. “Global leadership is not an end in itself; it is desirable only if it benefits the United States directly,” he stated. “By focusing on vital interests and avoiding costly quagmires, offshore balancing would allow the United States to invest more in the long-term foundations of national power—education, infrastructure, research and development.” Ultimately, Walt believes the world would be more likely to emulate the U.S. if it had its own house in order. “If we want to spread democracy and promote human rights, the best thing we can do is set a good example,” he said. “If others see the United States as a just, fair, tolerant and prosperous society—you know, one where the public transportation in the nation’s capital actually works— they are more likely to want something similar for themselves.” Bacevich is skeptical that a new direction in U.S. policy will be implemented as long as the current foreign policy elite re-
Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs
STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY
THE CHARLES KOCH Institute, a think tank supported by one of the country’s most prominent conservative mega-donors, held a conference in Washington, DC on May 18 to assess the status quo of American foreign policy. The event featured two prominent realists—University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer and Harvard University professor Stephen Walt—as well as such leading critics of U.S. foreign policy as former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Prof. John Mearsheimer. Arabia Chas Freeman and Boston University professor emeritus Andrew Bacevich. The conference’s hard-hitting line-up of practitioners and scholars provoked an outcry from some in the pro-Israel camp. Apparently concerned that the event would feature an unflattering critique of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Eli Lake of Bloomberg sought to delegitimize the conference with a sensationalist May 17 article titled “Koch Brothers Give a Megaphone to the Anti-Israel Fringe.” Alas, perhaps to the chagrin of Lake and company, the speakers hardly mentioned Israel. Instead, they stayed focused on the actual topic of the conference—“Advancing American Security: The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy”—and reserved their harshest remarks for the formulators of U.S. foreign policy in Washington. Mearsheimer and Walt provided the conceptual framework that guided the day’s conversation. The scholars, previewing their forthcoming article in Foreign Affairs, argued that current U.S. foreign policy, centered on “liberal hegemony” (the belief that the U.S. must militarily dominate the globe and spread democracy, open markets and human rights), must be rethought. According to Walt, liberal hegemony results in the U.S. having more security obligations than it can afford, engaging in oc-
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main in power. He pointed to a recent conversation he had with two former high-ranking George W. Bush administration officials—in which they refused to even acknowledge any downside to the Iraq war—as evidence of how dire the situation is. “They’re too busy peddling platitudes about the absence of any alternatives to American global leadership [that]…they can’t be bothered to consider what the actual exercise of so-called leadership has brought in a place like Iraq,” Bacevich commented. The problem isn’t isolated to the Republican Party, he cautioned. As a whole, Bacevich believes the American foreign policy establishment not only is “incorrigible, impervious to learning and morally inert,” but “incapable of reforming itself.” Thus, he said, “it must be dismantled, its playbook discarded, its myths about leadership and isolationism exposed as self-serving untruths.”
Mearsheimer argued that the foreign policy elite have been able to hold on to power for so long largely because the U.S.—by virtue of its geopolitical position, nuclear strength and global power—is shielded from the consequences of its actions. “The United States is a remarkably secure country, and there’s almost nothing that it can do to threaten its security in any meaningful way,” he said. “The reason we can run around the world engaging in all these lost causes is because we are so remarkably secure.” The real blowback, Mearsheimer argued, is felt by those who live in areas where the U.S. engages militarily. “The people who are paying the price are in places like the Middle East,” he said. “The amount of death and destruction we have brought to the Middle East is mindboggling.” Freeman lamented the failure of the U.S. to develop a professional diplomatic corps that can work alongside its professional
army. While the U.S. attempted to professionalize the Foreign Service in 1924, he believes this experiment has failed. Top diplomats are still chosen based on who they know rather than their skills, he said, while rank-and-file diplomats are not given the time and resources they need to achieve diplomatic breakthroughs. Freeman thus sadly still finds truth in a statement published by the New-York Tribune in 1857: “Diplomacy is the sewer through which flows the scum and refuse of the political puddle. A man not fit to stay at home is just the man to send abroad.” The current state of the Foreign Service is “perilous to our country,” Freeman warned, as it inhibits the ability of the U.S. to both avoid conflict and negotiate an end to wars. It’s the job of the military to win a war, he noted, but it’s the job of diplomats to reconcile the defeated to their fate. Recent wars show U.S. diplomats have been unable to achieve such a feat, he said. ■
BACEVICH BLASTS PERPETUAL U.S. WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST
After decades of military intervention across the Middle East, it is time for the U.S.—its government and citizens alike—to critically assess the wisdom of this seemingly never-ending engagement, maintains Boston University professor emeritus Andrew Bacevich in his latest book, America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History. The author, a retired U.S. army colonel, appeared at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC on April 13 to present an overview of his book. Amidst the ongoing panic over what should be done about ISIS, Bacevich argues that a much more fundamental series of questions must be asked: “Does waging war across a large swath of the Islamic world make sense? Is that war winnable? If not, why are we there? For the most powerful country in the world, is there no alternative? Have we no choices?” Chronicling U.S. military involvement in the Middle East from 1980 to the present, Bacevich seeks to look beyond individual engagements—Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, etc.—to get to the crux of American involvement in the region. He does this by assessing the motivations behind U.S. policy, the intentions of those implementing the policies, and the results and consequences of these policies. Bacevich’s stark, albeit unsurprising, conclusion is that U.S. policy in the region over the past few centuries has had more to do with sustaining American global hegemony than ensuring the national defense. “Nominally, the U.S. troops dispatched to invade, occupy, garrison, bomb, or raid various parts of the Islamic world since 1980 have sought to punish the wicked, protect the innocent, and spread liberal values,” Bacevich said. “Their advertised purpose has been to liberate, defend or deter; yet their actual purpose has been far more ambitious, in my view. The real mission has been to sustain the claims of American exceptionalism that have long since become JUNE/JULY 2016
central to our self-identity.” While some may not agree with his conclusion, Bacevich believes that the failure of U.S. military involvement in the region is not up for debate. “Through a combination of naïveté, shortsightedness, and hubris we have actually made things worse,” he said, “at very considerable costs to ourselves and others.” Bacevich in part blames America’s failure in the region on the inability of U.S. administrations from Carter to Obama to set forth a plausible strategy for achieving their ambitions. Dovish administrations have failed to fully invest in peace and containment, he stated, while hawkish administrations have been reluctant to fully “crush” their enemies. Failing to either contain or crush, the U.S. has “instead chartered a course midway in between,” he noted. “In effect, the United States chose aggravation.” In Bacevich’s opinion, the prospects for ending the prolonged Middle East war any time soon are bleak. The lack of discussion about this topic in a presidential election year shows that the American people now believe U.S. involvement in the region is a fact of life, he said: “Like the war on drugs or the war on poverty, the war for the greater Middle East has become a fixture in American life and is accepted as such.” Strong mainstream anti-war voices are needed to expose the unsustainability of the status quo and ignite popular calls for a change of strategy, Bacevich argued. “The war for the greater Middle East awaits its Eugene McCarthy or its George McGovern,” he said. Ultimately, Bacevich concluded, nothing will change until the American people demand an end to their country’s military involvement in the Middle East. “One day the American people may awaken to this reality,” he said. “Then, and only then, will the war end. When the awakening will occur, however, is impossible to say. For now, sadly, Americans remain deep in slumber.” —D.S.
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PHOTO CREDIT (L-R): MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES; ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES; DAVID CALVERT/GETTY IMAGES
Two Parties Plus One Gender Equals Three of a Kind
By Samuel Hazo
Her vote meant that she thought replacing a foreign government, good or bad, was our right simply because we had the power and the pretext to do it. You cannot “dryclean” that and act as if what you approved in principle was subsequently a “mistake.” Also as secretary of state, she encouraged vigorously the “leading from behind” campaign to destroy the Qaddafi dictatorship in Libya. This again was regime change seen as an American right. Libya remains in shambles today, with rival factions battling for control and with ISIS moving into the void. When told that the dictator Qaddafi had been captured and reportedly bayonetted through the anus and shot, Mrs. Clinton replied dispassionately, Former Secretaries of State (l-r) Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine Albright and Hillary Clinton. “We came, we saw, he died.” Then, as actually recorded on YouTube, she laughed. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, Madeleine Albright and ConAs evidenced by her recent speech at the annual AIPAC condoleezza Rice were the secretaries of state in three adminisvention, Clinton’s close ties to Israel and Israeli policies show little trations. What seems undeniable now is that they had a simihope for evenhandedness in a Clinton presidency. With her lar inclination toward or reaction to the use of military power Super PAC already in receipt of more than $5 million from Israeleither by the United States or by an allied, client country. They firster Haim Saban and her pledge before her AIPAC audience also were alike in that they claimed that military force should that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would be the first person be used only when all other options were exhausted. That, of she would invite to the Oval Office in the event of her election, the course, is a standard refrain used by all those who are already electorate can expect little to be changed. American vetoes at the determined and committed to the use of force, regardless. U.N. will go on blocking reprimands of Israeli misbehavior, the anHillary Clinton, as is now known to the point of boredom, voted nual billions will continue to flow to Israel, the illegal settlements with the George W. Bush administration to invade Iraq. The result will continue to expand to make the possibility of a dream-like of that invasion was that more than 100,000 Iraqis were killed and two-state solution more and more unlikely, and the Palestinians more than that wounded (mostly civilians), approximately 4,500 will continue to suffer simply because they are who they are. A reAmericans killed and more than 32,000 wounded both physically cent caricature of Clinton as Israel’s lawyer is not far from the and mentally, 2,000,000 Iraqis displaced, Iraqi culture irreparably truth, but that is no more laudatory in an American president than damaged and fragmented (libraries, museums, antiquities and her “So be it” pledge (never denied) that she would not condemn relics were destroyed and the population divided along religious the next Gaza onslaught even if 200,000 Gazans were killed. or ethnic lines), the Iraqi army summarily disbanded (thus providMadeleine Albright showed similar disregard for Middle East reing the backbone for ISIS) and a lackey government installed that alities in a televised interview in 1996 with Lesley Stahl regarding was a government in name only. Clinton has recently (and opporthe cut-off of medical and other humanitarian aid to Iraq via a tunistically) called her original approval a “mistake,” but that does U.N. resolution initiated by the United States. Stahl reminded Alnot exonerate her from the consequences of her original decision. bright that the consequences of the cut-off resulted in the deaths of more than 500,000 children and that this number actually exSamuel Hazo, the author of more than 30 books, is professor of Engceeded the number of children killed in the bombing of Hiroshima. lish emeritus at Duquesne University and founder of the International Poetry Forum. “Was it worth it?” Stahl asked. Albright pondered the question 22
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and then said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We think it was worth it.â&#x20AC;? Her answer raised quite a few eyebrows subsequently, but nothing came of it. She was even awarded the Medal of Freedom in 2012. Finally, there is the example of Condoleezza Rice. Like Clinton and Albright, she has an impressive dossier: Baccalaureate and doctoral degrees from the University of Denver, a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree from Notre Dame, piano skills of concert quality, distinctions in academia, politics and business, her name on an oil tanker, secretary of state and assorted subsidiary roles in the George W. Bush administration, postadministrative honors, degrees, citations, speeches priced as high as $270,000 per speech. (Not quite in Hillary Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s category but more than pocket change.) Her defense of the Iraq war and of torture never quite disappeared, nor did her insistent prolongation of the Israeli war on Lebanon that was sanctioned by her and her Decider-in-Chief and the servile and obsequious Lord Tony Blair. A border skirmish was cited as the provoking cause of
the war, but subsequent evidence revealed that the war had been planned for months as a way of crushing forces in the south of Lebanon that were seen as a threat to Israel. The Israeli attack was not confined to the border or even to the south of Lebanon but included the country as a whole for collective punishment. (It was the same strategy and rationale that was used against Gaza in 2008 and 2013.) Results? More than 1,000 civilians killed, one million displaced, bridges and roads destroyed throughout the country, airport runways cratered, water refineries hit and a coastal oil refinery bombed. The oil slick from the refineryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tanks and pipes fouled beaches in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus for years. Two million cluster bombs (made in the United States but with the stipulation that they could not be used against civilians) were dropped on southern Lebanon, and many still remain a decade after the war. More than 39 people, mostly children, have been killed by them to date. Dr. Rice convened with Israeli authorities when the war ended after 28 days, (Advertisement)
although every country in the world, with the exception of the United States, England and Israel, voted in the United Nations that the war should have stopped three days after it began. She proudly proclaimed the birth of a new Middle East and prepared to fly to Beirut. While she was en route, the president of Lebanon, surveying the destruction and ignoring protocol, told her not to land. Former Secretaries of State Clinton, Albright and Rice seem to have shared a disturbing preference for the use of force, whether by the United States or by allied or client countries. Some have said that all three are visceral hawks. Whether they are so in fact or were simply following the orders of their superiors is for historians to determine. But all three should have been told that talking or acting â&#x20AC;&#x153;toughâ&#x20AC;? and then using force and military power to prove it when you are on the wrong side of an issue is indefensible. And as the defenders of that policy, which has made the Middle East what it is today, they bear the responsibility and the guilt. â&#x2013;
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Three Views
Is Israel Moving From a Right-Wing to a Fascist Government?
ILIA YEFIMOVICH/GETTY IMAGES
Still others saw the entry of the Zionist Union into the hard-line Netanyahu government as an insurance policy guaranteeing that the Obama administration would not take or support any untoward actions against Israel at the United Nations for fear of disrupting the new fragile Israeli unity government. One respected Israeli writer called it a “stroke of genius”—a classic Netanyahu move: a feint to the left providing his government with a fig leaf to mask its continuing aggressive settlement policy in the occupied territories. As much as Netanyahu and Herzog, each for his own reasons, wanted this unity charade to succeed, it was not to be. The prime minister had become inAvigdor Lieberman (l) and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu confer before speaking at a rally creasingly annoyed by his outspoken in Ashdod, Israel prior to the country’s January 2013 general election. Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon, who had recently taken to defending the right of the military to speak out against excessive use of force. Netanyahu wanted By James Zogby to replace him. Herzog appeared willing to accept the role but wanted other key cabinet posts for his bloc, as well. This FOR WEEKS NOW, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Newould have required that Netanyahu displace other coalition tanyahu has been engaged in public negotiations designed to partners, a move that would have fractured his right-wing albring Isaac Herzog, chair of the “centrist” Zionist Union bloc, liance. into his coalition government. And then, out of the blue, NeAnd so, still needing to remove his troublesome defense tanyahu did a complete reversal, dropping Herzog and instead minister and to expand his one-vote majority coalition governbringing the far-right Avigdor Lieberman into his government. ment, Netanyahu abruptly turned to the right and invited the The move caught Israelis and much of the rest of the world by controversial Lieberman (who once called for “beheading” Issurprise. Just one day before Netanyahu’s announcement, liberal raeli Arab “traitors”) to join the government, offering him the commentators were salivating over the prospects of a NetanyahuDefense portfolio. Herzog coalition, basing their assessments more on wishful thinkWith all these, Netanyahu has revealed key aspects of his ing than sound political analysis. Some speculated that national governing philosophy. unity might moderate the government, easing international presHe is a master maneuverer, but despite his occasional sure on Israel. When Egypt’s President el-Sissi offered to help fafeints to the left, he is, at his core, a right-wing hard-liner. He cilitate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and both Herzog and Nehas no interest in ending the occupation or providing justice tanyahu in rapid succession issued statements supporting the for the Palestinians. Even if Herzog had joined the coalition, it Egyptian proposal, commentators were positively gleeful. Many would only have been as a fig leaf to shield Netanyahu from even speculated that el-Sissi’s move had been orchestrated with Western critics—not a serious move toward peace. Equally Netanyahu and Herzog to help spur the Israeli unity effort. important to note is that, far from being a strong leader, Netanyahu is weak and constantly fearful of others, both inside James Zogby is president of the Arab American Institute and author of Arab Voices (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). and outside of his government, who may challenge his author-
Binyamin Netanyahu Did It Again
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ity. Alongside his core belief in maintaining Jewish control over Eretz Israel stands his concern with maintaining his personal power. These two goals define the man and explain his bullying and his maneuvers. His behavior has been shameful, but so, too, is the extent to which Israelis, Americans and others continue to enable his malevolent rule. As one Israeli military leader noted recently, Israeli society is on a slippery slope— becoming increasingly tolerant of racist violence. Even though some of the most disturbingly bigoted personalities are in the Netanyahu government, the leader of the “centrist” opposition was desperate to join this coalition to protect it from Western critics. The Europeans continue to threaten sanctions in the face of ever-expanding settlement construction in occupied lands. On this issue, Netanyahu has been especially defiant. During his tenure in office, the settler population has increased by over 100,000. Despite this behavior, the Europeans have allowed themselves to be silenced and bullied by Netanyahu into inaction. As for the Americans, they have repeatedly expressed displeasure over Netanyahu’s settlement policies and his blatant interference in U.S. internal politics. Nevertheless the administration is now debating whether to reward his government with a 10-year aid package valued at $35 billion—while Netanyahu, supported by allies in Congress, is brazenly holding out for $45 to $50 billion. And so, operating with virtually no restraints, Netanyahu continues to maneuver and to aggressively advance his hardline agenda. He maintains his grip on power. Israeli society continues to become more extreme and intolerant. Palestinians are more despairing and desperate. And peace more remote.
With Lieberman as Defense Minister, Israelis Should Head for The Bomb Shelters By Gideon Levy
SOMETHING IMPORTANT happened May 18; something that cannot be taken lightly even for a moment. The mere fact of offering Avigdor Lieberman the position of defense minister is the crossing of a red line that has never been crossed. The offer has no legitimacy because Lieberman has no legitimacy, even if he was elected democratically. For the first time in Israeli history, fascism is a clear and possibly present danger. True, Menachem Begin’s election as prime minister evoked similar fears, as did the appointment of Ariel Sharon as defense minister. But those were other times, when Israeli society still had immune mechanisms, a system of checks and balances. They were eliminated long ago. Now the state is in the hands of someone who could destroy it.
Gideon Levy is a columnist for Haaretz. Copyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved. JUNE/JULY 2016
That Wednesday, a process that began nearly 40 years ago was completed. The right rules and Lieberman will soon be defense minister. If it weren’t so dangerous, it would be tempting to shout at the right, “We dare you.” To shout at the center-left: “We dare you to keep quiet.” And to shout at the world: “Show them all.” Will you keep arming and funding this Israel? Will you continue to view a state in which Lieberman is No. 2 as “the only democracy in the Middle East”? But the situation is too dangerous, my friends. Yes, Lieberman has a pack of court advisers, some of whom even fancy themselves leftists, who explain that he’s a “serious man,” that he’s “a man of his word” and that he’s a pragmatist. But these statements have never been tested. Lieberman was never in a position to make decisions, and the test is too dangerous. And what if he’s not all those things? What if this cynical man discovers that carrying out his nationalist delusions and his racist remarks is his key to becoming prime minister? Do we need reminders about who this is? His proposal to blow up the Aswan Dam. His saying that Egypt’s then-President Hosni Mubarak could “go to hell.” His inflammatory theory that Palestinian terror is part of global jihad. The man who called members of Breaking the Silence “mercenaries who sold their soul to Satan.” Who called activists in Yesh Gvul “kapos” and said Arab MKs should be tried as in Nuremberg. Need we mention his incitement? Then there is his recent declaration that Elor Azaria, who shot dead an incapacitated Palestinian assailant, is a hero. Need we mention that his party is corrupt to the core, the criminal allegations that he avoided by the skin of his teeth only because the attorney general is feeble? The man who made the Time Magazine 100 of influential world leaders in 2009 never really influenced things. Now, an opportunity has opened up before him and he is liable to exploit it. True, it could be that the wolf will become a sheep, that what you don’t see here what you see there, that his famous cynicism will lead him precisely to good places. However, there is another possibility, that Lieberman will be Lieberman. The Israel Defense Forces perhaps will try to stop him for his sake, perhaps the Shin Bet, too. If Lieberman will be Lieberman, we will miss Binyamin Netanyahu. If Lieberman will be Lieberman, the territories will burn like they’ve never burned before. If Lieberman will be Lieberman, all Israeli Arabs will become enemies. If Lieberman will be Lieberman, no one will be able to complain about Maj. Gen. Yair Golan’s comparison with dark times. They will be here and now. However, if Lieberman will be Lieberman, Golan will not be Golan and Israel will not be Israel. If Lieberman will be Lieberman, this op-ed would not even be published. I was always for tearing the masks off the face of Israel. On Wednesday, May 18, they were torn off finally. However, the price is liable to be too hard to bear. We should prepare the bomb shelters, for we are liable to need them soon.
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I Was There By Uri Avnery
“PLEASE DON’T TALK about Yair Golan!” a friend begged me. “Anything a leftist like you writes will only harm him!” So I abstained for some weeks. But I can’t keep quiet any longer. Gen. Yair Golan, the deputy chief of staff of the Israeli army, made a speech on Holocaust Memorial Day. Wearing his uniform, he read a prepared, well-considered text that triggered an uproar which has not yet died down. Dozens of articles have been published in its wake, some condemning him, some lauding him. Seems that nobody could stay indifferent. The main sentence was: “If there is something that frightens me about the memories of the Holocaust, it is the knowledge of the awful processes which happened in Europe in general, and in Germany in particular, 70, 80, 90 years ago, and finding traces of them here in our midst, today, in 2016.” All hell broke loose. What!!! Traces of Nazism in Israel? A resemblance between what the Nazis did to us with what we are doing to the Palestinians? Ninety years ago was 1926, one of the last years of the German republic. Eighty years ago was 1936, three years after the Nazis came to power. Seventy years ago was 1946, on the morrow of Hitler's suicide and the end of the Nazi Reich. I feel compelled to write about the general's speech after all, because I was there. As a child I was an eyewitness to the last years of the Weimar Republic (so called because its constitution was shaped in Weimar, the town of Goethe and Schiller). As a politically alert boy I witnessed the Nazi Machtergreifung (“taking power”) and the first half a year of Nazi rule. I know what Golan was speaking about. Though we belong to two different generations, we share the same background. Both our families come from small towns in western Germany. His father and I must have had a lot in common. There is a strict moral commandment in Israel: nothing can be compared to the Holocaust. The Holocaust is unique. It happened to us, the Jews, because we are unique. (Religious Jews would add: “Because God has chosen us.”) I have broken this commandment. Just before Golan was born, I published (in Hebrew) a book called The Swastika, in which I recounted my childhood memories and tried to draw conclusions from them. It was on the eve of the Eichmann
trial, and I was shocked by the lack of knowledge about the Nazi era among young Israelis then. My book did not deal with the Holocaust, which took place when I was already living in Palestine, but with a question which troubled me throughout the years, and even today: how could it happen that Germany, perhaps the most cultured nation on earth at the time, the homeland of Goethe, Beethoven and Kant, could democratically elect a raving psychopath like Adolf Hitler as its leader? The last chapter of the book was entitled “It Can Happen Here!” The title was drawn from a book by the American novelist Sinclair Lewis, called ironically It Can't Happen Here, in which he described a Nazi take-over of the United States. In this chapter I discussed the possibility of a Jewish Nazilike party coming to power in Israel. My conclusion was that a Nazi party can come to power in any country on earth, if the conditions are right. Yes, in Israel, too. The book was largely ignored by the Israeli public, which at the time was overwhelmed by the storm of emotions evoked by the terrible disclosures of the Eichmann trial. Now comes General Golan, an esteemed professional soldier, and says the same thing. And not as an improvised remark, but on an official occasion, wearing his general's uniform, reading from a prepared, well thought-out text. The storm broke out, and has not passed yet. Israelis have a self-protective habit: when confronted with inconvenient truths, they evade its essence and deal with a secondary, unimportant aspect. Of all the dozens and dozens of reactions in the written press, on TV and on political platforms, almost none confronted the general's painful contention. No, the furious debate that broke out concerns the questions: Is a high-ranking army officer allowed to voice an opinion about matters that concern the civilian establishment? And do so in army uniform? On an official occasion? Should an army officer keep quiet about his political convictions? Or voice them only in closed sessions—“in relevant forums,” as a furious Binyamin Netanyahu phrased it? General Golan enjoys a very high degree of respect in the army. As deputy chief of staff he was until now almost certainly a candidate for chief of staff when the incumbent leaves the office after the customary four years. The fulfillment of this dream shared by every General Staff officer is now very remote. In practice, Golan has sacrificed his further advancement in order to utter his warning and giving it the widest possible resonance. One can only respect such courage. I have never met General Golan, I believe, and I don't know his political views. But I admire his act.
A Nazi party can come to power in any country on earth, if the conditions are right.
Uri Avnery, a former member of the Israeli Knesset, is a founder of Gush Shalom, <www.gush-shalom.org>. 26
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(Somehow I recall an article published by the British magazine Punch before World War I, when a group of junior army officers issued a statement opposing the government's policy in Ireland. The magazine said that while disapproving the opinion expressed by the mutinous officers, it took pride in the fact that such youthful officers were ready to sacrifice their careers for their convictions.) The Nazi march to power started in 1929, when a terrible world-wide economic crisis hit Germany. A tiny, ridiculous farright party suddenly became a political force to be reckoned with. From there it took them four years to become the largest party in the country and to take over power (though it still needed a coalition). I was there when it happened, a boy in a family in which politics became the main topic at the dinner table. I saw how the republic broke down, gradually, slowly, step by step. I saw our family friends hoisting the swastika flag. I saw my high school teacher raising his arm when entering the class and saying “Heil Hitler” for the first time (and then reassuring me in private that nothing had changed). I was the only Jew in the entire gymnasium (high school). When the hundreds of boys—all taller than I—raised their arms to sing the Nazi anthem, and I did not, they threatened to break my bones if it happened again. A few days later we left Germany for good. General Golan was accused of comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. Nothing of the sort. A careful reading of his text shows that he compared developments in Israel to the events that led to the disintegration of the Weimar Republic. And that is a valid comparison. Things happening in Israel, especially since the last election, bear a frightening similarity to those events. True, the process is quite different. German fascism arose from the humiliation of surrender in World War I, the occupation of the Ruhr by France and Belgium from 1923-25, the terrible economic crisis of 1929, the misery of millions of unemployed. Israel is victorious in its frequent military actions, we live comfortable lives. The dangers threatening us are of a quite different nature. They stem from our victories, not from our defeats.
DIFFERENCES, BUT SIMILARITIES AS WELL
Indeed, the differences between Israel today and Germany then are far greater than the similarities. But those similarities do exist, and the general was right to point them out. The discrimination against the Palestinians in practically all spheres of life can be compared to the treatment of the Jews in the first phase of Nazi Germany. (The oppression of the Palestinians in the occupied territories resembles more the treatment of the Czechs in the “protectorate” after the Munich betrayal.) The rain of racist bills in the Knesset, those already adopted and those in the works, strongly resembles the laws adopted by the Reichstag in the early days of the Nazi regime. Some rabbis call for a boycott of Arab shops. Like then. The call “Death to the JUNE/JULY 2016
Arabs” (“Judah verrecke”?) is regularly heard at soccer matches. A member of parliament has called for the separation between Jewish and Arab newborns in hospitals. A chief rabbi has declared that Goyim (non-Jews) were created by God to serve the Jews. Our ministers of education and culture are busy subduing the schools, theater and arts to the extreme rightist line, something known in German as Gleichschaltung. The Supreme Court, the pride of Israel, is being relentlessly attacked by the minister of justice. The Gaza Strip is a huge ghetto.
A STRONG FASCIST SMELL
Of course, no one in their right mind would even remotely compare Netanyahu to the Fuehrer, but there are political parties here which do emit a strong fascist smell. The political riffraff peopling the present Netanyahu government could easily have found their place in the first Nazi government. One of the main slogans of our present government is to replace the “old elite,” considered too liberal, with a new one. One of the main Nazi slogans was to replace “das System.” By the way, when the Nazis came to power, almost all highranking officers of the German army were staunch anti-Nazis. They were even considering a putsch against Hitler. Their political leader was summarily executed a year later, when Hitler liquidated his opponents in his own party. We are told that General Golan is now protected by a personal bodyguard, something that has never happened to a general in the annals of Israel. The general did not mention the occupation and the settlements, which are under army rule. But he did mention the episode which occurred shortly before he gave this speech, and which is still shaking Israel now: in occupied Hebron, under army rule, a soldier saw a seriously wounded Palestinian lying helplessly on the ground, approached him and killed him with a shot to the head. The victim had tried to attack some soldiers with a knife, but did not constitute a threat to anyone any more. This was a clear contravention of army standing orders, and the soldier has been hauled before a court martial. A cry went up around the country: the soldier is a hero! He should be decorated! Netanyahu called his father to assure him of his support. Avigdor Lieberman entered the crowded courtroom in order to express his solidarity with the soldier. A few days later Netanyahu appointed Lieberman as minister of defense, the second most important office in Israel. Before that, General Golan received robust support both from the minister of defense, Moshe Ya’alon, and the chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot. Probably this was the immediate reason for the kicking out of Ya'alon and the appointment of Lieberman in his place. It resembled a putsch. It seems that Golan is not only a courageous officer, but a prophet, too. The inclusion of Lieberman's party in the government coalition confirms Golan's blackest fears. This is another fatal blow to the Israeli democracy. Am I condemned to witness the same process for the second time in my life? ■
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Special Report
No “Explanation” Disproves Israel’s Guilt in 1967 Attack on USS Liberty
By Reverdy S. Fishel
MANY REMEMBER Israel’s June 8, 1967 attack on the U.S. electronic intelligence ship USS Liberty. The Johnson administration covered it up at the time, but in 1979 Liberty survivor James Ennes published his book Assault on the Liberty (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More), which demolished Israel’s explanation purporting that its murderous attack was an “accident.” Since then, several additional facts indicating Israel’s guilt in knowing the ship’s U.S. identity have come to light. Here is a brief account of what was known at the time Ennes’ book was published: The USS Liberty was an electronic intelligence—or “ELINT”— ship. With the 1967 Six-Day War brewing, the U.S. government sent the Liberty to the coast off Gaza and the Sinai, but the war broke out four days before it could get there. On June 8, the ship was sailing 13 miles off the coast of Gaza, in international waters. It was clearly and unmistakably marked as a U.S. ship: it was flying the U.S. flag, and had standard U.S. Navy markings: GTR on the bows and Liberty on the stern. Except for its sister ship, Belmont, the Liberty looked like no other ship in the world: it carried a 17-foot-wide microwave dish antenna, and had many other radio antennae—making it look like a “porcupine.” U.S. Admiral Thomas Moorer called it “the ugliest ship in the world.” Israeli aircraft reconnoitered the Liberty eight times between 6:03
Reverdy S. Fishel is an associate member of the USS Liberty Veterans Association. 28
WWW.GTR5.COM
The USS Liberty as seen in a 1966 photo.
a.m. and 12:15 p.m., and flew so as to obviously be photographing the ship. Twice, the Israeli pilots were heard reporting it to be an American ship. The Israelis later admitted that prior to the attack they identified the Liberty through Jane’s Fighting Ships—in other words, they not only knew what kind of ship it was, but which ship it was! The Israelis jammed the Liberty’s radio distress signals, indicating extended radio monitoring of its signals, and claimed that the ship’s flag was not flying, or hung limp, which is a plain and proven lie. The Israelis claimed they thought the ship was the old rusted-out Egyptian ship El Qusier, which was only one-quarter the size of Liberty: 2,700 tons vs. 10,400 tons! The two ships looked nothing alike, and most do not believe that the IDF—“the most competent military in the world”—would ever have made such a stupid and grievous mistake. Even a retired Israeli military officer said, regarding the Liberty attack, “We made no mistakes during that war.” Starting at 1:59 p.m. Israeli jets hit the Liberty with cannon fire, rockets and napalm, killing nine of its crewmembers. PT boats then slammed a torpedo into the ship, killing an additional 25 men, then strafed the ship for an hour and 40 minutes, shooting at crewmembers fighting fires on deck and at all lifeboats thrown overside. Thirty-four defenseless American servicement were killed, 171 wounded.
SEVENTEEN YEARS LATER, THE “MARKER EXPLANATION”
A culprit, when confronted with facts indicating his guilt, often changes his story. Such is the case here. In September 1984, two Israeli military writers, Hirsh Goodman and Ze’ev Schiff, published an article in The Atlantic Monthly putting forth a new explanation for the IDF’s alleged “misidentification” of the Liberty. Considering Israel’s military censorship of such matters, their “marker explanation” may be considered a semiofficial account. At 5:45 a.m., a ship was sighted at Liberty’s position, and a marker—colored red for being unidentified—was placed on the battle control table in the IDF command center. At 6:03 a.m., a plane first identified the ship as an “American Naval supply vessel.” As Goodman and Schiff reported: “Though the ship had positively identified as American—and therefore neutral—no move was made to change its designation from red to green, the color used to designate a neutral target. The duty
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officer responsible for updating the battle control table testified that he had refrained from changing the color code because ‘identification had been vague and uncertain.’” Shortly before 10:00, the Liberty’s identity was confirmed through Jane’s Fighting Ships. But, according to Goodman and Schiff, “at 11:00, the duty commanders in the navy war room changed shifts. The new commander ordered the green marker designating its position removed from the table” because “I wanted the battle control table as uncluttered as possible.” Thus, “from 11:05 the Liberty was no longer a known quantity.” (Keep in mind the Liberty was again sighted at 12:15.) The Israeli torpedo boats left their base at 12:00—suggesting that an attack had been ordered by this time. The Israelis claimed that at 11:24 it was reported that the Egyptian city of Al Arish, which they had captured, was being shelled from the sea. Thus they thought the (temporarily “unidentified”) Liberty was responsible for this. Torpedo boats were dispatched to investigate the ship. One PT boat reported radar indicating that the ship was traveling at a speed of 30 knots, and a second PT reported the ship’s speed at 28 knots, thus leading them to believe it was a warship, not a slow merchant type. The Liberty’s top speed, however, was only 16 to 18 knots. Perhaps one radar set malfunctioning and indicating an exaggerated speed is conceivable, but two doing so is preposterous—except, of course, to Israel’s apologists. This is the only possible or plausable explanation the Israelis can produce. There is no other way in which the attack could have happened without foreknowledge of the ship’s identity. Of course, the firstmentioned facts pointing to Israel’s foreknowledge that the Liberty was an American ship are indisputable. But it is very posJUNE/JULY 2016
sible that Israel’s “marker explanation” is completely conjured up—made of whole cloth. If this was in fact the case, why did the Israelis wait 17 years before advancing this explanation? Why? Because this explanation did not exist in 1967! The attack was ordered, and began just before 2 p.m. At 3:15, the Israeli torpedo boats, no doubt out of ammunition, finally quit firing on the Liberty and departed. One hour and 17 minutes later—at 4:32—they returned, and signaled, “Do you need assistance?” (It is reported that the Liberty’s skipper responded with an obscene gesture.) It is to be assumed that after about 37 minutes the PT boats were directed to head back to the ship—and that Israel had “discovered” the Liberty’s U.S. identity by 3:50 p.m. But how did they discover this so soon after the attack? Most probably, they knew the ship’s identity all the while, and were also in fear of retribution by the U.S. Sixth Fleet, and so they ordered the boats’ return.
A MURKY NEGATIVE
While all other video film Israel has released of the Six-Day War combat is crystal clear, the gun-camera footage of the Liberty attack released is of a photographic negative, and quite murky. This is strange. Why is this so? Probably because had the IDF released clear footage it would have been obvious to all—and to the attacking Israelis as well—that it was clearly an American ship. (Advertisement)
Moreover, the released footage was accompanied with purported dialogue of the pilots. One supposedly said, “She’s a big mother.” “You hit her good. There’s oil coming out.” This dialogue is obviously conjured up. The Liberty did not spew forth any oil until the torpedo strike—20 minutes after the jets had left the scene! And, finally, no Israeli commander was ever punished for this big, grievous “mistake.” Why did Israel attack the Liberty? Ennes provides the most plausible explanation: On the day of the attack, Israel was preparing to attack and grab Syria’s Golan Heights, and did not want the U.S. to know that Israel was the aggressor and blow the whistle on them— possibly forcing Israel to relinquish its illgotten gains. Consider the timeline: On June 8, Israel was preparing to invade, the Liberty is put out of action, and Israel attacks Syria the next day. Since Ennes’ book appeared, another motive has surfaced: At the very time the Liberty was attacked, Israeli forces were massacring hundreds of Egyptian prisoners at El Arish—very near the Liberty’s position. Perhaps the motive could be that the IDF simply wasn’t going to allow any ELINT ships near its territory. Or that it intended to sink the Liberty and its entire crew and blame the attack on Egypt, thereby drawing the U.S. into the war as an ally—or at the very least strengthening Washington’s support of Israel. The motive might be one of the above or any combination of the four. Regardless of its motive, Israel’s unprovoked and murderous attack on the USS Liberty was about as accidental as Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Forty-nine years later, the U.S. government—Congress and the White House alike—are too terrified of the Israel lobby to ever bring Israel to account, or even investigate the attack. This is an outrage and a national shame. ■
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Special Report
Remember the Golan Heights?
By Eric S. Margolis
JALAA MAREY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Golan that it occupied. This illegal annexation was condemned by the United Nations, the United States and European powers. But Israel held on to Golan and implanted 50,000 there in some 41 subsidized settlements. The world has pretty much forgotten how close it came to nuclear war in 1973 over Golan. The heights became a primary nuclear trigger point along with Kashmir, Germany’s Fulda Gap, and the DMZ, Korea’s inner border. Golan recently resurfaced in the news when Israel’s right-wing prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, told Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, that his nation would never return Golan to Syria. In a speech soon after, Netanyahu vowed Israel would hold The Nimrod Fortress on the southern slopes of Mount Hermon in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The 13th-century medieval Muslim castle was built on a half-mile-high ridge to guard a major access on to Golan for “all eternity.” He also admitted for the first time that route to Damascus against armies coming from the west during the sixth Crusade. Israel had made “dozens” of cross-border attacks on Syria. DURING THE 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Syrian forces had surThe long basalt plateau is indeed a valuable prize. It exprised Israel and were fast approaching the edge of the steep tends from snow-capped, 9,200 ft. (2,814 meter) Mt. Hermon Golan Heights, captured by Israel during the 1967 war. It in the north to the Sea of Galilee and Yarmouk River in the seemed as if Syrian armor and infantry would retake Golan, south. Golan supplies 15 percent of Israel’s scarce water and then pour down into Israeli Galilee. may contain gas or petroleum deposits. Soviet recon satellites observed Israel moving its nuclearIsraeli artillery on Golan can hit Syria’s capital, Damascus; armed, 500km-range Jericho missiles out of protective caves Israeli electronic sensors blanket Damascus and cover all Syrand onto their launch pads. At the same time, Israel was seen ian military movement below. Having walked much of the loading nuclear bombs on their U.S.-supplied F-4 fighterGolan on both Syrian and Israeli-held sides, I can attest to its bombers at Tel Nof airbase. remarkable military importance and thick defenses. Believing Israel was about to use nuclear weapons against After the 1967 war, Israel ethnically cleansed Golan, levelSyria and Egypt, Moscow put huge pressure on both to rein in ing the capital, Kuneitra, with bulldozers and expelling almost their advancing forces. Damascus, already in range of Israeli all Golan’s 130,000 Druze and Arab inhabitants. Jewish setartillery on Golan, ordered its armored forces on Golan to halt, tlers were brought in to replace them. The U.S. shielded Israel allowing Israel to mount powerful counter-attacks and retake from U.N. action and worldwide protests. the strategic heights. Before 2011, Israel hinted that it would return Golan to Syria In 1981, Israel formally annexed the 580 sq. mile portion of as part of a comprehensive peace agreement—provided Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated Damascus ceased supporting Palestinian claims to their lost columnist, and author of American Raj: Liberation or Domination? lands. But once the Syrian civil war conveniently began, there (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2016. was no more talk of Golan. 30
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In fact, it’s pretty much clear that Israel has been quietly fueling the Syrian conflict by discreet arms and logistics support to so-called “moderate” Syrian rebels and lobbying for the war in Washington and with the U.S. media. Netanyahu has even said—with a straight face—that Israel cannot return Golan, or even negotiate, until calm returns to Syria and Iraq. Netanyahu is clearly following the grand strategy of the founder of his rightwing Likud Party, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a militant Russian Zionist. Jabotinsky asserted that the Arab states were an artificial, fragile mosaic of inimical Arab tribes. Hit them hard enough, claimed Jabotinsky, and they will shatter into small pieces, leaving Israel master of the Levant (central Arab world). The destruction of Iraq and Syria have confirmed Jabotinsky’s theory. Accordingly, Israel is delighted to see Syria, a primary foe, lying in ruins as a result of a U.S., British, French, Turkish and Saudi-instigated civil war. Damascus
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A PProject roject of Middle East Children’s Children’s Alliance
is in no shape to demand the return of Golan, and the rest of the world does not care. The destruction of Syria as a unitary state offers the expansionist Likud government many opportunities to extend influence into Syria—as was the case in Lebanon during its bloody 1975-1990 (Advertisement)
civil war. Or even carve off more Syrian territory “to protect Israel’s security.” The words of Israel’s founding father, David Ben-Gurion, still resonate: the state of Israel is a work in progress and its borders should not be fixed or even defined. Notably the borders with Syria and Jordan. ■
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Special Report
EU/Turkey Refugee Agreement Benefits EU, Not Stranded Refugees
By Sara R. Powell
AYESHA KELLER
to the implementation of the eU/Turkey agreement had no such guarantee of resettlement. as a result, many of them were arrested and placed in what had been registration camps—such as Moria on Lesvos and vial on Chios—and are now detention centers. Others were shipped off to new camps around mainland greece, while thousands of others remained at Idomeni at the Macedonian border and in the port of Piraeus outside athens. although the deal was seemingly meant to bring order to the chaos of hundreds of thousands of refugees streaming onto the greek islands over the past year, and to stop the practice of smugglers charging outrageous sums—sometimes up to €2,500 per person—for a cramped spot in a dangerously overcrowded rubber dinghy, it has done neither. Refugees detained in Moria refugee camp in Lesvos, Greece protest conditions. The boats still arrive, albeit not as often. They are still overcrowded. They still fall short of seaI was havIng dInner upstairs in sindibad restaurant in worthiness. The life jackets are still often fake, dangerously Basmane, the old part of the Turkish city of Izmir. a man at so. and the tens of thousands of refugees still in greece often the only other occupied table was talking loudly, find themselves in a far worse situation than they had been unashamedly, with his companions and into his phone. he prior to the eU/Turkey agreement. spoke about having 2,000 pills of some kind. he arranged a meeting with a prostitute for someone, and told someone on OVERCROWDED CAMP the phone that they should go with their group of 100 people to the meeting point to board the boat for greece. The man In Idomeni, Medécins sans Frontières (MsF, or doctors withwas a smuggler. out Borders) built a 1,500-person-capacity transit camp in the In early March, the european Union (eU) signed a deal with fall of 2015 for refugees crossing into Macedonia. however, Turkey that was supposed to end the human trafficking feedborder closures in early 2016 saw the camp population ining off the refugee crisis. It did nothing to address the root crease to 10 times capacity. The 15,000 people trapped causes of the crisis, however; rather, it was concerned with against a barbed wire fenced border, facing a severe lack of ending the crisis for europe by pushing the refugees out of adequate infrastructure and facilities and inclement weather, europe and back into Turkey. became increasingly desperate. arriving with high hopes that according to the deal, all refugees arriving in greece on or were quickly dashed, refugees tried crossing a raging river— after March 20, 2016 were to be deported back to Turkey. In three drowned, and those who made it across were immediexchange, for each person deported from greece to Turkey, ately returned to the camp by Macedonian border police—and the eU agreed to take one syrian refugee for resettlement in storming the fences, only to be met with tear gas and rubber europe. But those refugees already stranded in greece prior bullets. none of the various plans to evacuate Idomeni have worked, and thousands continue to wait hours for food that Sara R. Powell is a former director of the AET Book Club. may run out before they reach the distribution point, to sleep 32
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in the rain and the cold, risking hypothermia, and to live without basic sanitation. The closed borders and vast overcrowding of Idomeni made it harder to reach. Buses which had once dropped refugees off at a gas station near both the camp and the border now stopped some 60 kilometers short of the site, forcing those on board to walk the rest of the way. As Idomeni became less of an option, refugees began filling the port of Piraeus. With the numbers of those camping at the port rising rapidly, the Greek government limited the number of refugees allowed onto the ferries bringing them from the islands to the mainland. At least one ferry was pressed into service as a temporary refugee camp while docked at the port, but still about 5,000 people were camped out at Piraeus. Greek and international volunteers brought food, tents, sleeping bags and other necessary items to the dock, but the situation, like that in Idomeni, was, and remains, untenable.
IMPENDING DEPORTATIONS
For the thousands of refugees stuck on the islands, the situation changed drastically before implementation of the EU/Turkey agreement even began. On March 18, two days prior to the official implementation, word came from the mayor’s office in Mytilini, the capital of Lesvos, that all refugees would be rounded up and deported to Turkey. While that didn’t happen and there have been few deportations to date vis-à-vis the number of refugees, many were rounded up or reluctantly turned themselves over to the Greek police. Some were sent to the newly constructed mainland camps, which lack even the most basic facilities. The camps consist mostly of floorless tents, with no medical facilities, no volunteers or distribution facilities, no electricity or wi-fi (the only way for most refugees to maintain any contact with the outside world), and sometimes even no running water. A contact inside Paranetsi Drama camp near Kavala, in northern Greece, reported that police confiscated all cell phones to disable their JUNE/JULY 2016
AYESHA KELLER
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Refugee children appeal to move to Athens. cameras before returning them. Others, including most Pakistani refugees—Pakistan having been declared a “safe” country—were locked in Moria, newly designated an official detention center. The UNHCR, MSF, and other NGOs pulled out in protest, leaving the camp residents at the mercy of the police. As boats continued to arrive, Moria was overcrowded again within days, despite attempts to empty it by shipping pre-agreement arrivals off to mainland camps. Food shortages at all the camps became a serious issue. At first, one meal a day was pushed under the razorwire-topped fences. Later, when overcrowding became too much, internal gates were opened, but fights often broke out in the food lines that were instituted instead. According to refugee friends inside the camp, police showed favoritism, often attacking those who complained of unfair practices. In addition to fights, there was a hunger strike to protest conditions in the camp. Eventually, after a police assault on an unaccompanied minor (many of whom
were kept locked up inside Moria, while others were deemed adults on the spurious basis of a visual physical exam), a riot erupted, resulting in a refugee takeover of the camp for a few hours. Since then, conditions have improved somewhat, at least for the minors. There is now a new program run by Iliaktida, a vocational training center on Lesvos, to house teens, as well as provide lessons and training. Despite that small ray of hope, the refugee situation continues to be a crisis, and human traffickers continue to send too many people to their deaths for profit. Ironically, the United States, which bears a large part of the responsibility for the crisis, accepted only 2,290 Syrian refugees through the end of last November. However, the State Department sent a representative to Moria after it became a detention center to express sympathy and a commitment to take more refugees and increase funding to the UNHCR. A real commitment to end the multiple wars waged on Arab and Muslim countries would seem a more effective step. ■
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Special Report
The End of American Iraq: Poor Shi’i Invade Parliament Over Corrupt Spoils System
By Juan Cole
AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
I visited it in 2013. You enter through a narrow entranceway and can only really go in by foot (this measure stops car bombs from getting in). The security people who checked us in were international—Ghana and Peru or something. I doubt they would die for the cause. There were Iraqi troops on the outside of the blast walls. Apparently some of them sympathized with the Sadr Trend and let the crowd pull down a couple pylons of the blast wall, after which they streamed in. Who were the protesters? The Sadr Movement is particularly popular in East Baghdad, or Sadr City, a dense slum where a plurality of Baghdadis live. The father of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Muhammad Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, was assassinated Supporters of Shi’i cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gather in the parade grounds outside the parliament in by Saddam Hussain’s secret police in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on May 1, 2016, the day after Sadr supporters broke into 1998. Young Muqtada survived unthe area. Thousands of Iraqis marveled at the Green Zone’s fountains, flowers and perfect lawns. The visitors were mostly protesters who broke in, but also included Baghdadis taking the oppor- derground. He re-emerged in 2003 to oppose the U.S. military occupation of tunity to see an area off-limits for so many years that it acquired almost mythical status. his country, forming the Mahdi Army, which more than once fought U.S. troops. His was a movement BAGHDAD WAS UNDER a state of emergency on May 1, a of the poor and the street. After the U.S. withdrew, al-Sadr day after members of the Sadr Trend stormed the Green Zone adopted a lower profile. But now that President Barack Obama and invaded the parliament building, briefly imprisoning parliahas re-established a U.S. military command in the country, almentarians in the chamber (and some in a basement) before Sadr has come back out to protest the renewed U.S. presence letting them go. Some apparently were beaten as they left. and the al-Abadi government, which the U.S. props up. Most of the protesters, though, were relatively peaceful and What were they protesting? had been ordered to avoid violence by their leader, Muqtada The spoils system. al-Sadr. As at Tahrir Square in Cairo in 2011, of which the inNow that Andrew Jackson is being taken off the $20 bill and vasion of the Green Zone was a distant echo, they chanted, his demerits and virtues are being debated, the spoils system “peacefully, peacefully” (silmiyyah, silmiyyah). is back in the news. He made enormous numbers of promises When George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003 he established to his supporters about the goodies they would get if he won blast walls around central government offices, establishing a the 1828 election. He came in firing an unprecedented number four square mile Green Zone (i.e., one that was safe and which of people from government jobs and filling those positions with the U.S. controlled, with the rest of the country being a Red members of his party. Win the election, you get the spoils. Zone; more or less, that situation never changed). The parliaA sitting president, James A. Garfield, was assassinated in ment building and Western embassies were in the Green Zone. 1881 over the spoils system (his assassin had supported the Juan Cole is a public intellectual, prominent blogger and essayist, party but wasn’t rewarded as he thought he should have been). and the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved. Not until the Pendleton Act of 1883 was a nonpartisan civil 34
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service commission created, and the spoils system began to decline at least a bit. (In today’s U.S. government, sometimes the Senior Executive Service positions above GS-15 are given to political appointees, and of course the cabinet and sub-cabinet slots are all filled by political appointees; but this is a thin sliver of the upper bureaucracy, whereas most people who work in government offices have a career unaffected by the party in office.) So how is all this relevant to the storming of the Iraqi parliament? The Bush administration in its years of military occupation of Iraq presided over the installation of an Iraqi spoils system more rowdy and rapacious than anything Andrew Jackson ever imagined. The Bushies and the U.N. put a parliamentary system in place, so that the parties that form the biggest coalition in the national legislature get to put forward a prime minister, who is appointed by the president. That prime minister then appoints a cabinet, with most cabinet ministers overseeing a ministry. The cabinet appointees came from the parties supporting the prime minister in parliament. Thus, the minister of housing might be from the Da’wa Islamic Party (the Islamic Call or Mission Party), a Shi’i fundamentalist group drawn from what’s left of the Iraqi middle class and typically led by laymen rather than clergy. The Ministry of Labor would then be packed with members of the Da’wa Party. Some of this spoils system is rooted in the de-Ba’athification drive of Ahmad Chalabi, Nouri al-Maliki and other Shi’i political entrepreneurs who wanted to fire Sunni Arabs from the Iraqi bureaucracy after the fall of Saddam Hussain. They tagged anyone who belonged to the Ba’ath Party as unsuitable for government service, even down to school teachers. And it wasn’t just members of the party, but people who had relatives who were members of the party. Most Ba’ath Party members committed no greater crime than conformism (or maybe they wanted to travel; you had to be a member to get a passport). So Chalabi et al. got rid of some 100,000 Sunnis from their government jobs at a time when the Bushies JUNE/JULY 2016
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Thank you in advance for ki d ib b i ran the Iraqi state factories and other stateowned companies into the ground because they didn’t believe in “socialism.” So the Sunnis were just made unemployed. When Nouri al-Maliki reigned as prime minister (2006-2014), his spoils system became ever more corrupt and exclu-
sive. The Sunni Arabs of Iraq were almost entirely excluded from spoils. Members of al-Maliki’s Da’wa Party got fabulously rich off the country’s oil income. The corruption of his officer corps led directly to the collapse of the Iraqi army at Mosul in 2014, allowing Da’ish (ISIS, ISIL) to take over 40 percent of the country. The sense of deprivation of the Iraqi Sunni Arabs who cooperated with Da’ish also drove these events. You couldn’t say he was a successful prime minister.
A “RENTIER STATE”
Iraq is what is called by political scientists a “rentier state.” That just means that the government gets an income (or “rent”) from external payments (in this case foreign purchases of its petroleum). Rentier states famously don’t really need their people so much. In ordinary states like the U.S., a lot of politics is about how much the government will tax the people, and who will get the benefit of government services. In a rentier state, there are no taxes. Politics is about how much the state officers have to share their bonanza with the people. Wise rentier states share liberally. Iraq’s elite is not wise. Al-Maliki’s successor, Haydar alAbadi, was, like al-Maliki, a leader of the Da’wa Party and continued the spoils system. Other parties complained that Da’wa got the lion’s share of lucrative ministerial appointments (and therefore
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that the partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s members got the good government jobs). Muqtada al-Sadrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s al-Ahrar Party (Party of the Free Ones; people complained when I called it the Liberty Party, but that is what it amounts to) gained 36 seats in the 2014 parliamentary election and was given 3 cabinet seats. These appointments did not give the Sadrists much patronage. But al-Sadr has only a tenuous relationship to the party, anyway. His power base is the poor Shiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;i of the slums, in East Baghdad, Amara, Basra and elsewhere in the Shiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;i south. Although Iraq is an oil country, you couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tell it by looking. I was there in 2013 and was shocked by how decrepit everything was. It was like a Third World country, not like Dubai or Doha. I wondered where all that oil money could be going. If I wondered that, imagine what the slum dwellers think. So, beginning last summer, the Sadrists began saying they were mad as (Advertisement)
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hell and werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to take it any more. They accused the party officials heading the ministries, along with many of the parliamentarians, of essentially embezzling the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vast oil wealth. By February al-Sadr had presented an ultimatum to al-Abadi to abolish the spoils system by appointing a technocratic cabinet. That is, the minister of health would be a high-powered physician or hospital administrator, not a Daâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;wa Party hack. Sadr brought 200,000 people into the streets of downtown Baghdad demanding this outcome. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t only al-Sadr making this demandâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;many members of the smaller parties who felt that al-Daâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;wa had gotten greedy joined in. Al-Abadi at length acquiesced and presented a list of technocrats to head ministries. But cabinets have to be approved by parliament. When the speaker of parliament looked like he would go along with al-Abadi and al-Sadr, the parties that dominate parliament voted to remove him and replace him. They werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t giving up their spoils so easily. But others in parliament did not accept this parliamentary coup, so there are now two speakers of parliament. The members of parliament are so busy with other things (including international travel and residences abroad) that they canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t easily get a quorum together to vote on al-Abadiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s technocratic cabinet, and it is not clear he could muster a majority for the measure. Parliament was trying to meet on April 30 when the angry people of the slums and run-down middle class neighborhoods made a breach in the blast walls around the Green Zone, which surround the parliament building and Western embassies, keeping them safe. The Sadrists among them accused the parliamentarians of being thieves and of neglecting services for the poor. They also resent Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s influence with the al-Abadi government, and some chanted against Tehran from the floor of parliament. Al-Abadi is trying to re-establish order and has declared a state of emergency. But you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t imagine parliament forgiving him for presiding over this attack on their security, and some doubt he can
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
remain prime minister. More important, the conflict brings into question the whole architecture of Iraqi governance put into place under American rule from 2003-11. While this uprising of poor Shiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;i may seem a distraction to Americans of the fight against Daâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ish in the Sunni north, both situations derive from similar inequities. The spoils system deprived the Sunnis of a fair share in the oil wealth, just as it deprived the Shiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;i slum dwellers. The Sadr Trendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relatively peaceful but dramatic breach of the Green Zone and the surrender of the Mosulis two years ago to Daâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ish are both protests of the deprived against the fat cats. American pundits will find a way to make all this about sectarianism or Shiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ism or Islam. It isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. Much of what is going on in Iraq is a form of class struggle. It turns out that neoliberalism and the rentier state havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, as some imagined, made Marx irrelevant. But it is also true that some of the work the Communist and Baâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ath Parties used to do in Iraq back in the 1960s is now being done by al-Sadrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand of puritanical slum Shiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ism. â?&#x2018;
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Trouble Brewing in Egypt
Special Report By Paul R. Pillar
MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
WITH U.S. ATTENTION toward the Middle East being recently focused on such matters as warfare in Syria and Iraq and on the relationship with Saudi Arabia, little attention span is left over for the relationship with the most populous Arab nation. But developments in Egypt have, in multiple respects, significant capacity for creating attention-grabbing problems for Washington in addition to problems to which Egypt already is contributing in significant though less salient ways. The regime of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has become increasingly harsh, illiberal and downright brutal—much more so than the last previous Egyptian general-turnedpresident, Hosni Mubarak. The State Department’s official human rights report on Egypt says that the most significant human rights problems there have been Hundreds of Egyptian journalists demonstrate outside the Journalist Syndicate headquar“excessive use of force by security forces, ters in Cairo on May 4,2016, calling for the sacking of the interior minister after two reporters deficiencies in due process, and the sup- were arrested in an unprecedented police raid two days earlier. pression of civil liberties. Excessive use of content. Unemployment among young males in particular proforce included unlawful killings and torture. Due process probvides a receptive audience for extremist messages. lems included the excessive use of preventative custody and Much of the regime’s crackdown has been aimed at the pretrial detention, the use of military courts to try civilians, and Muslim Brotherhood. Sisi’s regime came to power in a coup trials involving hundreds of defendants in which authorities did that deposed the democratically elected president, Mohamed not present evidence on an individual basis. Civil liberties Morsi, who was a member of the Brotherhood. Under problems included societal and government restrictions on Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood constituted a peaceful opfreedoms of expression and the press, as well as on the freeposition that was formally banned but informally tolerated. doms of assembly and association.” Nongovernmental human Now that the Sisi regime has instead tried to smash the Brothrights organizations have used even stronger language to deerhood, some of its members have been led to conclude that scribe the situation in Egypt. peaceful opposition does not work and that violence is the The most worrisome consequence of the regime’s harsh only path with a chance of bringing results. Such members policy has been the boost it gives to extremism, including viohave been among the recruits to terrorist groups. lent extremism in the form of international terrorism. This is an A substantial escalation of terrorist violence in Egypt has unsurprising result of denying people peaceful channels for been taking place since Sisi took power. This has included, but expressing opposition and dissent. It also is a direct product of is not limited to, an armed uprising in the Sinai by a group that anger over the harsh practices themselves. And it is not as if has declared its allegiance to ISIS. Given what would be natthe Sisi regime has been any better able than its predecesural responses to the regime’s policies, this is not a surprise. sors to pull off an economic miracle that would keep Egyptians The U.S. government considers Egypt a partner in counterPaul R. Pillar is Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Center for Security terrorism, which was a topic for the chairman of the Joint Studies at Georgetown University and Nonresident Senior Fellow in Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, in a recent visit to Egypt. Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution. He is a contributing ediCertainly the two governments share objectives in countering tor to The National Interest, where he writes a blog. Copyright ©2016 The National Interest. All rights reserved. Continued on p. 39 JUNE/JULY 2016
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Beirut Bulletin
Beirut Madinati: Is This the Way Out of Our Awful Situation?
By Rami G. Khouri
ANWAR AMRO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
anchored in military or security sectors. Beirut Madinati is neither the Muslim Brothers nor Field Marshal-turned-President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, but something new that reflects an attempt to translate citizen discontent and citizen expectations into a political movement that can respond to those sentiments. 2) Beirut Madinati represents that rare, perhaps unique and unprecedented, success in translating Arab populist street anger into organized political and electoral action. It would seem to be the response to the big question that many in Lebanon, including myself, asked last August and September, after tens of thousands of Lebanese from all walks of life broke through their sectarian straightjackets and demonstrated on the streets A Lebanese woman shows her ink-stained thumb after casting her vote for the municipal elec- against their moribund and uncaring potions at a Beirut polling station, May 8, 2016. litical elite that had allowed uncollected garbage to pile up across the city: Would these expressions of mass individual anger, rather than orgaIT WILL TAKE SOME time to grasp the many potential consenized sectarian mechanical street marching and flag waving, quences of the 40 percent of votes that the upstart Beirut be translated into an organized force that could achieve the Madinati (Beirut My City) movement of technocrats, young desired change in the conduct of the government and the poprofessionals, academics and progressive activists won in litical elite as a whole? Beirutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s May 8 municipal elections. It is beyond doubt that this Arab citizens who feel disrespected by their own governwas a significant development, even though its slate of 24 ments usually have only had a few obvious options to respond: candidates did not win a single seat on the city council. demonstrate in the streets, join Islamist or leftist-progressive opThis small movement has achieved something meaningful position movements, emigrate, engage in violent or criminal acin a small corner of Lebanon and the Arab region, and even tivity, or shut down half their humanity and live life as unthinking then its 40 percent of votes cast was a harvest among only 20 robots rather than full human beings with minds, sentiments and percent of eligible voters who went to the polls that Sunday. a sense of dignity and rights. Beirut Madinati seems to have Despite this, this is an important development for several reaproduced a new option that will be attractive to many people, in sons that may have repercussions across the region. Lebanon and perhaps across parts of the Arab world. 1) Beirut Madinati seems to represent that elusive element that Its performance to date only offers partial answers to the people have been searching for across the modern Arab world question of whether it will be able to channel popular anger for many decades: the middle ground between Islamist populism into organized and effective political action. Its members were and hero-worshipping great leader authoritarianism that is usually able to strategize, develop a plan to tap citizen anger and Rami G. Khouri is published twice weekly in Beirutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Daily Star newschannel it through the municipal election to seek the political paper. He was founding director and now senior policy fellow of the incumbency they need to bring about change, and organize Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the their electoral engagement in a manner that secured them a American University of Beirut. Follow him on Twitter @ramikhouri. Copyright Š2016 Rami G. Khouri. Distributed by Agence Global. respectable 40 percent of the vote, including being the top 38
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vote getters in some sub-districts. They also did this against enormous odds, as they faced the collective power, money, legacy, media control and organizational capabilities of virtually all the major Lebanese political groups that banded together to maintain control of the municipal council that has performed in such a mediocre manner in recent years. 3) They appealed to voters on the basis of a 10-point plan that addressed issues that matter in the lives of Beirut residents, such as transport, public and green spaces, affordable housing, health and safety, environmental quality, waste management, and public services such as li-
Trouble Brewing Continued from page 37
and degrading Islamist groups such as ISIS and its self-declared affiliate in the Sinai. But the net effect of all of the Sisi regime’s policies almost certainly has been an increase rather than a decrease in the number of terrorists in action. The regime probably hopes and expects that it can quell violent Islamist groups through police and military measures the way the Mubarak regime was able to do in the 1990s. But even if it could—and given the current regime’s other policies, this is doubtful—this would be less a matter of eliminating the terrorism than of exporting it, making it at least as much of a problem for the United States. The head of one of those Egyptian groups from the 1990s, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is now the head of al-Qaeda. Most recently there have been indications of broader, and active even if nonviolent, opposition to the Sisi regime. In April Cairo saw the largest protest demonstration in Egypt in at least two years. The immediate issue was the handing over of two Red Sea islands as part of a deal with Saudi Arabia, but the discontent being exhibited against the Sisi regime ran much deeper than that. The regime is not on the verge of being toppled, but at least in the short term such open defiance is likely to trigger still JUNE/JULY 2016
braries. Such a policy-based, citizen-oriented political program that includes specific deliverables within a time frame (the city council’s six-year term) is rare in Arab political life, but it seems to appeal very strongly to many citizens. A political movement that goes beyond complaining of the ills that plague us, and instead uses nonviolent, action-focused electoral mechanisms to bring about change in people’s lives is a novelty in the modern Arab world. Beirut Madinati has a big challenge ahead of it now, given its electoral performance that seems to validate the efficacy of its approach to turning around the political morbidity of the Arab political gover-
nance order. How it proceeds to act now in the political sphere will be important to its ability to build on its initial success and continue to gather steam for future elections, whether municipal or parliamentary. It is a movement worth watching, because its message of individual citizens’ hope and hard work vs. collective despair and dependency seems to provide one possible answer to the big question that hundreds of millions of Arabs have been asking themselves for half a century at least: how did we allow ourselves to get into this disgraceful condition of dysfunctional governance and dilapidated public order, and how do we get out of here? ■
more crackdowns by the regime, with more of the resulting anger and radicalization. Over the longer term, one cannot be confident about how in Egypt, the site of the high emotions of Tahrir Square five years ago, events may get ahead of the current general-turned-president, as they did with the last one. Even before matters come to that point, the United States faces the problem of being closely associated with a regime that is increasingly on the wrong side of popular sentiment. The benefits said to flow to the United States from that close association usually center on two things. One is some matters of military access that include privileged passage through the Suez Canal for U.S. Navy ships. That undoubtedly is a benefit of a relationship that is something more than just normal and businesslike, but there is no common currency for evaluating whether that benefit is worth enough to the United States to offset the negative aspects of the relationship. The other topic usually cited is Egypt’s continued adherence to the peace treaty with Israel signed in 1979. The voluminous U.S. aid relationship with Egypt, which is second in size only to U.S. aid to Israel itself, dates directly from that peace agreement, with the aid being in effect part of the price that the United States paid for Anwar Sadat’s signature on the treaty. It certainly is beneficial that, with all the things the United States is worrying about in the Middle East, it
does not have to worry about a new war between Israel and neighboring Arab states. But the main reason that is not a worry is not so much any warm feelings about peace with Israel (such feelings being hard to find in Egypt) but the fact that Egypt’s war-fighting ability, despite all that U.S. military aid, has atrophied from where it was in the 1970s, while Israel’s has grown. In other words, everyone realizes that any new Egyptian-Israeli war would be a rout and an easy victory for an Israel whose military superiority over everyone else in the Middle East is as great as it has ever been. An undesirable aspect of the EgyptianIsraeli relationship since Sisi has been in power has been Egypt’s collusion with Israel in strangling the Gaza Strip. The connection of Hamas with the Muslim Brotherhood is the Egyptian regime’s main motivation in this regard. By playing a part in maintaining Gaza as an openair prison, the Egyptian regime is contributing further to a major human rights problem as well as to more radicalization, with Hamas being not nearly radical enough in the eyes of some desperate Palestinians in the Strip. So there are reasons to believe that Egypt, even if not in the headlines much today, may return to the headlines in the not too distant future. We should hope there is some careful policy planning going on in Washington for the day when it does. ■
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Congress Watch
Iran Continues to Receive Congressional Attention, But With a Partisan Flavor
By Shirl McArthur
MEMBERS OF THE INFORMAL congressional “I hate Iran no matter what” caucus continue their relentless efforts to punish Iran for its real or imagined transgressions. Since the Jan. 16 official adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) implementing the nuclear agreement with Iran, however, Iran-related measures have taken a distinctly partisan flavor, with Republicans urging harsher measures against Iran, perhaps in an unlikely effort to undermine the agreement and, in so doing, embarrass President Barack Obama. As a result, Republican-initiated measures have little, if any, Democratic support, and Democratic-initiated measures have no significant Republican support. Since the beginning of the year there have been persistent reports that Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) and ranking Democrat Ben Cardin (MD) have been working to produce a new, bipartisan Iran sanctions bill that would also extend the 1996 Iran Sanctions Act due to expire at the end of this year. So far, no such bill has come forth. The Washington Post reported in April that one reason for this is that Republicans want to place more restrictions on presidential waiver authority than Democrats are willing to accept. A prime example of how partisan Iran-related measures have become is the previously described H.R. 3662, the “Iran Terror Finance Transparency” bill, introduced in October by Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK). It supposedly is aimed at institutions providing financial services to the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or other foreign terrorist organizations. But by prohibiting the lifting of some Iran sanctions, it was designed to scuttle the Iran agreement, and was strongly opposed by Democrats. It was first passed by the House on a party-line vote three days before the JCPOA implementation, but that passage was reversed on a technicality. The House again passed it on Feb. 2 by a vote of 246-181, with only three Democratic votes in favor. It was sent to the Senate and referred to the Banking Committee, where it likely will sit. A new bill that would sanction the IRGC is S. 2726, introduced March 17 by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL). It has 19 co-sponsors, all Republicans, including Kirk.
After early April press reports that the Obama administration was considering loosening financial restrictions against Iran to enable Iran to conduct some transactions in U.S. dollars—reports the Treasury Department quickly denied—congressional Iran haters erupted in outrage. Five bills were introduced by Republicans that would, in one way or another, prevent the administration from loosening the restrictions. On April 6 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), with five co-sponsors, introduced S. 2752; also on April 6 Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), with no co-sponsors, introduced S. 2757; on April 11 Rep. David Trott (R-MI) and two co-sponsors introduced H.R. 4898; and on April 19 Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) and two co-sponsors introduced H.R. 4995. A slightly different approach was taken by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) in introducing H.R. 4992 on April 19. It would “codify regulations relating to transfers of funds involving Iran.” It has nine co-sponsors, including Royce. Two new, identical bills were introduced “to impose sanctions with respect to the ballistic missile program of Iran.” In the Senate, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) introduced S. 2725 on March 17. It has 19 co-sponsors, including Ayotte. H.R. 4815 was introduced on March 21 by Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and has five co-sponsors. One new bill was introduced authorizing state and local governments to adopt and enforce sanctions against Iran. H.R. 4448 was introduced by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) on Feb. 3 and has 38 co-sponsors, including DeSantis. And three measures were introduced threatening Iran if it doesn’t behave! S. 2485 was introduced on Feb. 3 by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and four co-sponsors, requiring the immediate reinstatement of all sanctions if Iran gets nuclear technology from North Korea. H.Res. 600 would reaffirm the right to use all available options, including military force, to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. It was introduced on Feb. 3 by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) with 12 co-sponsors. And Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) on April 6 introduced S.Res. 414 on the reapplication of sanctions if Iran violates the JCPOA.
Shirl McArthur is a retired foreign service officer. He lives in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
House and Senate letters were sent to Obama urging that his administration quickly conclude a new Memorandum of Under-
By prohibiting the lifting of some
Iran sanctions, H.R. 3662 was designed to scuttle the Iran agreement.
40
SENATE, HOUSE LETTERS URGE INCREASED U.S. AID TO ISRAEL
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
JUNE/JULY 2016
mcarthur_40-42_Congress Watch 5/26/16 8:01 PM Page 41
standing (MOU) with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s government setting aid levels for Israel for 10 years. The current MOU, setting aid at $30 billion over 10 years, was negotiated in 2007 and will expire next year (see p. 13). The House letter, sent on April 20, signed by 51 representatives and initiated by Reps. David Jolly (R-FL) and Gwen Graham (D-FL), urged Obama to increase Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s military aid from the current $3.1 billion per year to $5 billion, or $50 billion over 10 years. Note that the total FY â&#x20AC;&#x2122;16 military aid appropriations for all countries is about $4.7 billion. So, to accede to this request would mean either eliminating all other military aid programs, or increasing the total, at a time when Congress is busily cutting important U.S. domestic programs. The Senate letter, initiated by Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and sent April 25, was strongly pushed by AIPAC and, as a result, was signed by 83 senators. However, according to John Hudson, writing in Foreign Policy, the letter caused resentment from some Democratic senators because it implicitly criticizes the Iran nuclear agreement. Among the many cited justifications for increased aid is the â&#x20AC;&#x153;likelihood that Iran will resume its quest for nuclear weaponsâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;in effect saying the signers expect the nuclear agreement to fail. Several Democrats urged that â&#x20AC;&#x153;likelihoodâ&#x20AC;? be replaced by â&#x20AC;&#x153;possibility,â&#x20AC;? but Hudson reported that Coons refused. The Senate letter does not cite a specific amount, urging instead â&#x20AC;&#x153;a substantially enhanced new long-term agreement.â&#x20AC;? The 17 senators who declined to sign the letter were Democrats Tammy Baldwin (WI), Barbara Boxer (CA), Sherrod Brown (OH), Tom Carper (DE), Al Franken (MN), Tim Kaine (VA), Patrick Leahy (VT), Chris Murphy (CT), Jack Reed (RI), Bernie Sanders (VT), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Jon Tester (MT) and Tom Udall (NM); Republicans Bob Corker (TN), Rand Paul (KY) and Jeff Sessions (AL); and Independent Angus King (ME). JUNE/JULY 2016
EFFORTS CONTINUE TO EQUATE ISRAELâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S COLONIES WITH ISRAEL
The House and Senate finally both passed the conference report reconciling their different versions of H.R. 644, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcementâ&#x20AC;? bill, a companion to the alreadypassed Trade Promotion Authority Act strongly promoted by the Obama administration. As passed, the bill included the previously described anti-BDS provisions effectively equating Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colonies with Israel. Obama signed it on Feb. 24 as P.L. 114-125. As expected, when signing, Obama issued a Signing Statement saying, among other things, that the provisions, â&#x20AC;&#x153;by conflating Israel and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Israelcontrolled territories,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; are contrary to longstanding bipartisan U.S. policy,â&#x20AC;? and that his administration â&#x20AC;&#x153;will interpret and implement the provisionsâ&#x20AC;Śin a manner that does not interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct diplomacy.â&#x20AC;? Reasonable people might conclude that Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement put an end to congressional efforts to legitimize Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colonies by equating them with Israel. But no, congressional leaders of the efforts found a new approach. They discovered that it has been U.S. policy since 1995
that products made in the West Bank and Gaza cannot be mislabeled as made in Israel. (Israel did not object to the regulation when it was adopted in 1995, nor when it was amended in 1997.) So on Feb. 1 Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) with seven co-sponsors introduced S.2474 saying that goods made in the West Bank can be marked as originating in Israel. On Feb. 9 Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) with one cosponsor introduced the identical H.R. 4503 in the House. On Feb. 12 Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) introduced H.R. 4555 saying that articles from the West Bank territories administrated by Israel shall be marked as made in Israel. Lambornâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bill has 21 cosponsors, including Lamborn. Also, on Feb. 10 identical bills were introduced to â&#x20AC;&#x153;authorize state and local governments to divest in entitiesâ&#x20AC;? that engage in BDS activities against Israel. In the Senate Kirk with 19 co-sponsors introduced S. 2531, and Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL) introduced H.R. 4514 in the House. Doldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bill has 79 co-sponsors, including Dold. One of AIPACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s big pushes at its March conference was to urge its members to pressure their representatives to sign a letter to Obama, originated by Reps. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Kay Granger (R-TX) and sent April 20, urging
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STATUS UPDATES
H.R. 4333 and H.R. 4342, introduced in January by Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. John Delaney (D-MD), respectively, both relate to Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s missile tests. H.R. 4333 now has 27 co-sponsors, and H.R. 4342 19 co-sponsors. H.R. 4257, introduced in December by Rep. Devin Nunes (RCA) sanctioning the IRGC, now has 37 co-sponsors, including Nunes. H.Con.Res. 100 and S.Con.Res. 26 are identical bills introduced in December regarding the right of state and local governments to impose sanctions on Iran. H.Con.Res. 100, introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), now has 55 co-sponsors, including Roskam. S.Con.Res. 26, introduced by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), now has five co-sponsors, including Kirk. the U.S. â&#x20AC;&#x153;to veto one-sided U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutionsâ&#x20AC;? regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The letter sets out six â&#x20AC;&#x153;tenetsâ&#x20AC;? the U.S. â&#x20AC;&#x153;mustâ&#x20AC;? adhere to. The tenets are mostly unsurprising, considering the source. They include â&#x20AC;&#x153;opposition to Palestinian efforts to seek recognition of statehood in international bodies.â&#x20AC;? Under AIPAC pressure, 394 House members signed the letter. Similarly, identical measures were introduced saying that the U.S. should continue to veto any UNSC resolution that inserts the UNSC into the peace process. On April 15 Lamborn and one co-sponsor introduced H.Con.Res. 128, and on April 19 Rubio with seven cosponsors introduced S.Con.Res. 35. On April 18 Rep. John Yarmuth (DKY), with 11 fellow Democratic co-sponsors, introduced H.Res. 686 â&#x20AC;&#x153;expressing support for efforts to enhance Israeli security and create the conditions toward a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.â&#x20AC;? Surprisingly, Lowey sent a letter to House members saying thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no connection between her letter and Yarmuthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s measure and urging members not to co-sponsor it. Identical measures were introduced recognizing U.S.-Israel economic cooperation and encouraging new areas of cooperation. H.Res. 551 was introduced on Dec. 3 by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), and has 106 cosponsors, including Lieu. Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) introduced S. Res. 383 on March 1, and it has 14 co-sponsors, includ42
H.R. 3892 and S. 2230, identical bills introduced in November aimed at designating the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, have gained some support. H.R. 3892, introduced by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), now has 57 co-sponsors, including Diaz-Balart. S. 2230, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), now has six co-sponsors, including Cruz. S. 2377, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Visa Waiver Program Security Enhancementâ&#x20AC;? bill introduced in December by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), does not make certain persons ineligible. Included among its many provisions are those tightening the visa waiver program by requiring secure passports and improving information sharâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;S.M. ing. It has 22 co-sponsors, including Reid.
ing Perdue. On cue, on March 17 Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) with four co-sponsors introduced H.R. 4810 that would authorize increased U.S.-Israeli defense cooperation. And on March 23 Rep. David Cicilline (DRI) introduced H.R. 4860 to authorize U.S.Israeli cybersecurity cooperation. It has 41 co-sponsors, including Cicilline. Three new anti-Palestinian measures were introduced. Two identical bills were introduced Feb. 10: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), with no co-sponsors, introduced S. 2537, and leading Israel-firster Rep. Ileana RosLehtinen (R-FL), with 18 Republican cosponsors, introduced H.R. 4522. Both effectively would close the PLO office in the U.S. unless the president certifies that, in effect, the Palestinian have ceased all efforts to resist Israeli domination. H.Res. 651 was introduced March 17 by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) with two co-sponsors, condemning â&#x20AC;&#x153;violent terrorist attacksâ&#x20AC;? against Israelis and condemning PA Presi(Advertisement)
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WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
dent Mahmoud Abbas for failure to condemn those attacks.
ATTEMPTS TO CORRECT UNINTENDED PROBLEMS WITH VISA WAIVER PROGRAM
As previously reported, the FY16 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Omnibusâ&#x20AC;? appropriations bill passed in December included a provision to â&#x20AC;&#x153;improveâ&#x20AC;? the visa waiver program, which allows short-term visa-free travel to the U.S. for tourists and business travelers from 38 program countries. The provision makes any person ineligible for the program who in the past five years has been to Iraq, Syria, Sudan or Iran. It also makes nationals of program countries who are also dual nationals of Iraq, Syria, Sudan or Iran ineligible for the program. But many members of Congress expressed concern over the unintended effects of the provision, especially the part regarding dual nationals, and two new bills were introduced to undo some of the unintended effects. On Jan. 20 Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and three co-sponsors introduced S. 2449, the Senate companion to the previously-described H.R. 4380, introduced in January by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), which would eliminate the dual nationals provision. H.R. 4380 now has 25 co-sponsors, including Amash. And on Jan. 20 Cardin introduced S. 2458 to exempt from the restriction any one who has been â&#x20AC;&#x153;in a prohibited country to perform official duties as an employee of an international organization.â&#x20AC;? It also would provide U.S. national security waiver authority. â&#x2013; JUNE/JULY 2016
hanley_43_80_In Memoriam 5/26/16 8:17 PM Page 43
In Memoriam
Ambassador Clovis Maksoud (1926-2016): A Voice for Arab Unity and Palestinian Rights By Delinda C. Hanley
STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY
AMBASSADOR CLOVIS MAKSOUD kept doing what he loved until the very end— speaking, motivating others and laughing. His last public appearance was a rousing speech on May 4 to celebrate the 1,000th event held at Al-Hewar Center in Vienna, VA, and the 27th anniversary of Al-Hewar Magazine. He joked and laughed merrily with friends who drove him home to Maryland. During the night he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, was quickly rushed the hospital, and died on May 15 (Nakba Day, when people commemorate the Palestinian catastrophe). Sobhi Ghandour, the leader of Al-Hewar center, which promotes Arab culture and dialogue, told me, “It was like he came to say goodbye to us. God bless his soul.” Maksoud was born in Bristow, OK, to a Lebanese Orthodox Christian mother and a Maronite Catholic father who had set- Ambassador Clovis Maksoud at the League of Arab States’ 4th Arab American Day celebratled in Oklahoma to work in petroleum ex- tion at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC on Dec. 4, 2015. ploration. The family moved to Beirut, greater or lesser extent. “On a given issue, it can be weak one Lebanon when Maksoud was in high school. Dr. Maksoud studday and grow strong the next,” he explained. Then the envoy ied political science at the American University of Beirut, graduseamlessly switched the direction of the discussion to rhapated in 1948, then received a law degree from George Washsodize about the Arab common cultural and spiritual heritage. ington University in 1951. He went on to pursue graduate studThat article mentions another subject near and dear to the ies at the University of Oxford. Lebanese-American diplomat—Palestine. Even before his There have been 95 articles in the Washington Report cover1979-1990 stint as Arab League ambassador, Maksoud was ing Maksoud over the years. They tell astonishing tales about a dispatched to the U.S. as a special Arab League envoy to exbrilliant and well-loved man. The first, a personality piece pubplain the Arab point of view during the 1973-74 Arab oil emlished in February 1983, is an interview with Maksoud, then a bargo. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries 54-year-old chief representative in the U.S. of the Arab League (OPEC) had cut oil exports to the U.S. and other nations that and the Arab League’s Permanent Observer at the U.N. (see provided military aid to Israel in the October 1973 Arab–Israeli p. 44). When the Washington Report asked, what do you do? War (known in Israel as the Yom Kippur War). A famous TV he replied, “Our job is to convey the Arab consensus to Amerireporter asked Maksoud point-blank: “Aren't you ashamed to can policymakers and opinion makers.” In answer to the obvibe here while Americans have to wait in gas-lines? Don’t you ous follow-up question, Maksoud replied, “Of course there is,” think you should apologize to the American people?” Maksoud but acknowledged that Arab consensus is often weak—to a recovered quickly—and justified his reputation for never being at a loss for words—by replying that he was very sorry, and Delinda C. Hanley is news editor of the Washington Report on MidContinued on p. 80 dle East affairs. JUNE/JULY 2016
WashiNgtoN REpoRt oN MiddLE East affaiRs
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United Nations Report
Two months after Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Arab League Ambassador Clovis Maksoud (r) confers with Security Council president Ambassador Noel Dorr of Ireland (l) and Soviet Ambassador Richard S. Ovinnikov, Aug. 6, 1982. The U.S. vetoed a Soviet draft resolution calling for a ban on the supply of arms to Israel until it fully withdrew its troops from Lebanon. THE GOLDEN DAYS HAVE never glistened quite as brightly as we think, but if there were a Golden Age of Arab Unity it was perhaps half a century ago, when an American-born Lebanese Christian, Clovis Maksoud, was an ambassador for the Arab League, first in India, then later in the U.S. and at the U.N. In those days, Arab Unity meant more than a vow of omerta between governments to cover each thuggish dictator’s rear— certainly to Maksoud, who was a true, but pragmatic believer. He died in May, in Washington, where he had long headed American University’s Center for the Global South, and where he could call upon his long experience, powerful intellect, and deep reservoirs of respect across the world.
Ian Williams is a free-lance journalist based at the United Nations who blogs at <www.deadlinepundit.blogspot.com>. 44
U.N. PHOTO/YUTAKA NAGATA
There’s More Than One Way to Skin the Security Council Cat
By Ian Williams
His pragmatism showed in several ways at the U.N. One was when he deployed the rhetorical skills he had honed in the Oxford Union and “Maksoudized,” as it was known—fondly, one might add. Superb and soaring, polysyllabic and poetical, his speeches mesmerized audiences—but left them scratching their heads as they wondered what he had actually said. When I asked him about it while he was at the U.N., he smiled and explained, “I represent the Arab League—it is almost impossible to say anything concrete that will not upset at least one of the members.” As Arab League ambassador to the U.N., Clovis Maksoud has also left a lasting legacy that is equally mixed in its effects. He crafted the deal that synchronized the Asian and African groups’ cycles to ensure that there would always be an Arab representative on the Security Council. It is not in the Charter, but by longstanding agreement, temporary seats are apportioned on the basis of geographical regions: Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and the West European and Other Group. Eastern Europe was essentially the Warsaw Pact countries, which have now almost all joined the European Union and NATO, or are trying to, but they maintain the fiction—claiming, for example, that it is their group’s “turn” to have a secretary-general. West European and Other was sufficiently elastic to include Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and thus allowed itself to be bullied into accepting Israel as a member. In the U.N.’s version of geography, the Arab world is split between Asia and Africa, each of which has five temporary seats rotated on a two-year cycle. More often than not—as with so many U.N. positions—the fix is in. The diplomats at the U.N. courteously sort out a rota to avoid unseemly contests and surprises. One can tell decades ahead which member state will be “elected.” It is the same system that eviscerates the Human Rights Council by putting some of the most egregious offenders on it. At least the Human Rights Council made a pretense for a while of fielding more candidates than seats—even if they all knew which were the real candidates and which were for show. The deal Ambassador Maksoud made was that every two years, Asia would reserve a seat for an Arab League member and in the alternate biennium one of the North African Arab states would rotate around. This was the cozy arrangement that returned dubiously Arab countries like Djibouti to the Council and regularly seats Security Council members who are in flagrant vi-
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
JUNE/JULY 2016
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olation of the Council’s own resolutions. That is not an exclusively Arab problem, of course, but it lends neither prestige nor potency to the U.N. as an institution and the Security Council as its highest embodiment of the international community in matters of war and peace. When Ambassador Maksoud crafted the deal, his concern was that there be an Arab voice on issues like Palestine that united them, and that there was at least vestigial respect for the notion of Arab Unity. But, of course, that fell apart after the original Egypt-Israel deal and never recovered. It has now become a diplomatic career opportunity for salespeople of unelected oligarchs.
THE SECURITY COUNCIL ADVANTAGE
The point of being on the Security Council was more than adequately demonstrated earlier this year, when Western Sahara appeared yet again on the agenda. The imbroglio has dire potential beyond the Polisario (the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro) and Morocco. Quietly but effectively, the issue has eroded the always parlous authority of both the secretary-general and the Security Council that have, with all their failings, done a lot to keep the peace since 1945. In March Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the camps in Tindouf and, clearly upset by what he saw, called for the referendum on self-determination and referred to the Moroccan presence across much of Western Sahara as an “occupation.” He had a similar epiphany when he visited Gaza early in his mandate and saw for himself the reality behind the clinically cleansed language of U.N. resolutions. When Ban made his statements Morocco went into unprecedented paroxysms of undiplomatic denunciation, claiming—totally falsely—that the U.N. and the international community accepted its annexation. In a breathtaking abuse of language, Morocco accused the U.N. secretarygeneral of “semantic slippage” for using the term “occupation” and, along with JUNE/JULY 2016
even more incoherent indignation, noted with “utter dismay the verbal slippages, faits accomplis and unjustified complacency” of the secretary-general. It ordered the U.N. staff out of the territory it controlled. The kingdom staged mass “spontaneous” demonstrations against the secretary-general in the Moroccan capital, Rabat. There were clear U.N. resolutions and decisions, not just about the territory’s status but about the U.N. staff. It was an unprecedented challenge to the Security Council’s authority. Remember, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was put on trial for such temerity. The International Court of Justice had ruled that the Sahrawis are entitled to exercise their right to self-determination, and dismissed Moroccan claims to the land and the fealty of its people. The General Assembly had called for the “occupation” to be ended, and the Security Council had from the beginning asked the Moroccans to withdraw. Security Council Resolution 690, passed in 1991, established MINURSO, the U.N. Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, to implement settlement proposals that Morocco had accepted in 1988. Rabat had paid lip service to the referendum while it tried to pack the electoral rolls with its settlers, but when it became clear that the eligible voters wanted Morocco out, the kingdom insisted that the referendum must exclude any question of independence. Almost as revealingly, Morocco and France have fought successfully to ensure that MINURSO remains the only peacekeeping operation without a human rights monitoring component. When Morocco ordered U.N. staff to leave, Ban sought the support of the Security Council—but did not get it, due to opposition from France, Egypt and Japan. After days of backroom wrangling, the most the Council could deliver was an anodyne appeal for the mission to continue. Persuaded by his staff that the U.N. term was a “non-self-governing” territory rather than an “occupied” one, Ban, even though upset by the Moroccan tirades, explained that his use of the term was
his personal emotional reaction to the plight of the refugees. He did not back down from the clear decisions of the U.N. over the years, but modified his entirely accurate statement for the exigencies of diplomacy. He and his advisers were appalled by the lack of active support from major Security Council members which, in effect, handed Morocco a proxy veto via France and its African allies. If only to uphold the authority of the institution, the Council should have had much stronger resolution about Morocco’s behavior.
A COMPROMISED SYSTEM
Morocco and its friends have thoroughly compromised the U.N. system on the Saharan issue. U.N. officials have been bribed and browbeaten not to challenge the Moroccan version with anything as upsetting as the truth. Interestingly. the MINURSO website begins its list of U.N. resolutions in 1991, when it was set up, not in 1975, when the Security Council asked Morocco to get out! Rabat has consistently refused to hold the referendum that the Mission was sent to prepare for. The king, like his father before, knows he would lose it. And, once again shamelessly backed by France, Morocco’s successful opposition to permit a human rights component in MINURSO is a telling indication of how he intends to keep it. In May, the Security Council sent a delegation to talk to Arab League countries in Cairo, where many of them grandstanded, demanding (rightly) that the Council should enforce its resolutions on Middle East peace and settlements. They seem to be missing the point that France’s attempts to jump start the peace process at the eastern end of the Maghreb are compromised by its own behavior on the western end. Perhaps summing it up, it was reported that, at a recent gathering, a former French ambassador to the U.N. reprimanded his British former colleague for being a puppet of the U.S.—for which he got the deserved riposte, “Better than being the King of Morocco’s puppet!” ■
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Talking Turkey
And Then There Was One… Turkey in the Age of Erdogan
By Jonathan Gorvett
ICAGDAS ERDOGAN/GETTY IMAGES
whole neighborhoods crushed and emptied. Placed under siege by the army, these cities in particular have seen hundreds killed and wounded, after several districts were effectively taken over by the PKK and its youth wing, the YDG-H. Now, Cizre remains under curfew, while the violence has spread throughout the southeast and into Turkey’s largest cities. Reports of soldiers, policemen and alleged PKK militants killed are now a daily occurrence, while the shadowy Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK) claim responsibility for a sequence of urban bomb attacks. As for the suppression of dissent, journalists and academics have borne the brunt of this so far. A petition against the renewed A man looks in despair at his ruined home in Cizre, March 2, 2016, after Turkish authorities allowed residents of the mainly Kurdish town in southeast Turkey to return to their neighbor- violence between the army and PKK signed by 1,128 academics and 1,000 of hoods for the first time since Dec. 14. their supporters led to a wave of dismissals and suspensions on campus earlier this year. It more recently led WHEN SPEAKING AT his now-frequent mass rallies, Turkey’s to the jailing of three academics for “making terrorist propaganda.” current president often glowingly refers to his nation’s predeNow, two leading journalists from Cumhuriyet newspaper, cessor state, the Ottoman Empire. who had reported on a convoy of weapons sent into Syria— Like most leaders talking about their country’s past, Recep most likely by Turkish intelligence—were recently given fiveTayyip Erdogan omits much—and among these elisions is a year jail sentences each. Foreign journalists, too, have faced subject that was always messy even back then: succession. increasing harassment in recent months, along with denial of For in an autocracy, where power is centralized in the body admission to the country and, in a few cases, deportation. of one man, how can a system change without a rebellion, the In addition, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party violent suppression of dissent—or a quiet garrotting in some (AKP) has now forced through parliament a bill that will redark palace corner? move the immunity of deputies, a move widely thought aimed That rebellions, suppression and quiet political garrotting against the pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party (HDP). have, unfortunately, also all been features of the current presiWithout immunity, almost all HDP deputies will be open to dent’s term in office says much about the processes currently prosecution and jailing for “supporting terrorism,” in much the underway in Turkey. same way as the above-mentioned academics. Indeed, some 93 years after the Islamic Ottoman Empire fell and As for the political garrotting, Erdogan’s recent ousting of his the secular Turkish Republic began, a systemic change is underown prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, stood in a long tradition. way, the outcome of which remains a source of major uncertainty. While the Ottomans used strangulation with a silken cord to reFirst, though, the rebellion. Since the collapse last summer move contenders for the throne, Davutoglu’s forced exit cerof the peace process between the government and the Kurdish tainly delivered much the same message: that there could only Workers’ Party (PKK), whole towns and cities have been devbe one sultan within the Empire’s borders. astated by pitched battles in the country’s southeast. Artillery The hapless now-former prime minister, formally removed at a and tank fire in the streets of Diyarbakir and Cizre have left special AKP congress in late May and replaced by Erdogan loyalist Jonathan Gorvett is a free-lance writer based in Istanbul. Binali Yildirim, had recently flown far too close to Erdogan’s sun. 46
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Reportedly enjoying cordial relations with Angela Merkel and other European leaders, Davutoglu’s success in brokering a controversial deal with Brussels swapping Syrian refugees for cash and visa-free EU travel clearly angered his president. “The date for the introduction of visafree travel was already announced in Ankara back when I was the prime minister,” Erdogan complained on a trip to Croatia in early May. “The presentation of such small things as big gains makes me sad.” Under the current constitution, however, Erdogan’s chagrin should not have been so significant. The prime minister technically enjoys much more power than the president, while Davutoglu was also head of the AKP and of their group in parliament. Yet all this on-paper administrative and political capital meant nothing when faced with the overarching political reality of contemporary Turkey. Once Erdogan had identified Davutoglu as a potential rival, the president’s supporters in the AKP moved first to remove the prime minister’s power of appointment within the party, then to remove him from office altogether. The entire process took only a few days. Other potential rivals have been dealt with in similar fashion. Abdullah Gul, a founding member of the AKP along with Erdogan and the previous presidential incumbent, saw his own elimination while still in office. This was after he had clashed with Erdogan over the Gezi riots in Istanbul in 2013. Inner AKP maneuvring saw Erdogan and Davutoglu exclude the popular and more liberal Gul from standing for any position at the end of his presidential term. Other liberals to meet an untimely end include Ali Babacan, who had won international praise for his handling of the economy in the first two AKP terms in office. He was not re-nominated by the party as a candidate for the 2015 general election. On the other end of the AKP political spectrum, the more traditional, conservative Bulent Arinc—also an AKP founding member and the former deputy prime minister—
was also shunted out last year. At the same time, another, more massive purge has also been ongoing against Erdogan’s former allies, the Fethullah Gulen group. Followers of a U.S.-based cleric, this organization, which promotes an economically liberal, conservative-Islamist agenda, provided the AKP with much of its more adept cadre in recent times, along with its more sophisticated overseas promotions.
The generals are now back
secure their release, with AKP approval. Aside from demonstrating the enormous degree of political control over the judiciary the AKP now has, this case also illustrates the new balance of power in the country. The generals, previously so opposed to Erdogan and the source of not a few dreams of his overthrow among ardent secularists, are now back in alliance with the government—at least for now. It may not be a coincidence, either, that this has also occurred along with a resumption of violence in the southeast. Indeed, Erdogan has recently been at pains to bolster Turkey’s military prowess, backing ambitious military equipment programs, which include the development of the domestic arms industry. He also has been increasingly bellicose in regard to the conflict in neighboring Syria, saying in late May that Turkey was “ready to clear” a zone on the Syrian side of the border. As for relations with the Kurds, Erdogan has little to offer except further warfare against the PKK, along with the bulldozing of strongly pro-HDP districts of cities like Diyarbakir, and their resettlement with non-Kurds. Described as the Diyarbakir Master plan, the demolition of the Sur neighborhood in that city, already devastated by months of siege, has strong government support. Empire, of course, is a state of almost constant warfare. The Ottomans knew this well, as did their subjects, who radically rejected the Empire in the early 20th century, going on to create a swathe of new republics in its place. Now, nearly a century later, Erdogan seems bent on reviving the very thing that the destruction of the early 20th century saw laid to rest. In Istanbul and other Turkish cities today, there is thus a feeling of tension and uncertainty that few can remember the like of. “We just don’t know where all this leads to,” an Istanbul lawyer—who, like many, wished to remain anonymous—recently told me. “We just don’t know how it all ends.” ■
in alliance with the government.
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Yet this friendship broke down spectacularly in 2013-2014, and a purge of Gulenists has been on-going throughout Turkey ever since. Now described as a “terrorist organization,” the Gulenists have been fired, arrested and denounced, particularly since pro-Gulenist prosecutors began investigating senior AKP ministers—along with Erdogan’s son, Bilal—on corruption charges at the end of 2013. Those investigators themselves were subsequently fired and arrested, after intervention by Erdogan. One unexpected consequence of this, however, was a rapprochement between the president and another major source of political power in Turkey, the army. In the AKP’s first two terms, the secularist military had been a major target for the party—and vice versa. The military had been behind two attempts to have the AKP banned. The failed efforts were followed by a major, AKP-sponsored investigation into allegations that the soldiers had been planning a coup. The result, known as the Ergenekon scandal, was a major purge of military officials, with several hundred officers and senior commanders sent for trial. Many were jailed. Yet many of the prosecutors at the time later turned out to be the same Gulenists who had come after Erdogan in 20132014. Arguing that this invalidated their earlier convictions, the military officials jailed in the late ’00s were all then able to
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Islam and the Near East in the Far East
Singapore Worried by “Radicalized” Bangladeshi Workers
By John Gee
PHOTO BY HAIM ZACH/ISRAELI GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE VIA GETTY IMAGES
When arrested, Mizanur was found to have a bomb-making manual, sniper rifle manual and a list of targets for murder in Bangladesh, including members of nonMuslim religious groups, atheists and “hypocrites”—Muslims who do not follow the extremist interpretation of Islam the group embraced. Questioned by police, Mizanur said he would “carry out an attack anywhere if he was instructed to do so by ISIS,” so that, even if ISB was intending to target Bangladesh, it was willing to carry out attacks in Singapore if told to do so. The arrests in April follow the arrest and deportation of 27 “radicalized” Bangladeshi During a weeklong visit to the Middle East, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong inspects workers to their homeland late last year; news of those arrests was only released an Israeli honor guard with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, April 19, 2016. this past January. The vast majority of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore, who number around EIGHT BANGLADESHI migrant workers were arrested in Sin150,000, are law abiding and tolerant of others. gapore in April on suspicion of planning to carry out terrorist Debbie Fordyce coordinates the food program for destitute attacks in Bangladesh. The men were held under the island workers of the migrant worker rights society, Transient Workstate's Internal Security Act (ISA). A further five men who were ers Count Too (TWC2). It sees around 200 Bangladeshi worksaid to have “possessed and/or proliferated jihadi-related maers every day. She told the Washington Report: terials, or supported the use of armed violence in support of a “We've known a large number of men who are strict obreligious cause” were deported. servers of Islamic customs, and yet all have been graciously The eight ISA detainees had formed a group calling itself the respectful and accepting of our [TWC2 volunteers] un-Islamic Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB), according to Singapore's manner of dress, speech and actions. All the men we know Ministry of Home Affairs, which has authority over the national have expressed genuine respect and admiration for Singapolice force. The group had intended to go join ISIS in the Midpore's law and order and for the honesty and predictability of dle East but, realizing that it would be hard to reach ISIS-held the people. They would want nothing more than to transplant areas, had decided to return to Bangladesh to work for the these positive attributes from Singapore to their own country. overthrow of its elected government and the establishment of a “I would hazard a guess that these men who were detained new regime under ISIS’ self-proclaimed caliphate. under the ISA had been working hard to send money home to They were led by 31-year-old Rahman Mizanur. Whereas the support their families, and were also grateful for that opportunity. great majority of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore are I heard that they’d garnered S$13,000 to put toward weapons or employed in the construction and shipyard sectors on work perexplosives for their cause. It’s not a grand sum, and suggests mits, Mizanur was employed on an S-Pass, issued to more highly that they really were a small organization. People have told me skilled workers, as a draftsman. He was first employed in Singathey’ve never heard of ISB, and so assume that this group is pore nine years ago and returned off and on, never showing any without close ties to larger radical or terrorist groups. sign of political involvement. Something seems to have changed “We can only hope that security measures being put in place before his latest return, in December 2015. He supported ISIS to ensure Bangladeshi men's reliability as workers don’t impact and set out to recruit supporters. In March, they formed ISB. the numbers that are allowed to come, and that the fear of terrorJohn Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Singapore, and the author of Unequal Conflict: The Palestinians and Israel. ism doesn’t persuade employers to avoid hiring Bangladeshi 48
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workers. The result might somewhat slow down Singapore’s construction and marine projects, but could be devastating for the stability of Bangladesh.” News of these arrests has disturbed a society in which a high level of personal security is largely taken for granted. The last serious terrorist attack on Singaporean soil took place half a century ago, during Indonesian President Sukarno’s “Confrontation” campaign against the newly independent Federation of Malaysia, which he denounced as a neo-colonial creation. On March 10, 1965, two Indonesian soldiers operating in civilian clothes planted a powerful bomb in MacDonald House, on one of Singapore's main roads. It killed three people, injured 33 and shattered windows within a 100-yard radius. In Bangladesh itself, violent extremists continued their murderous activities with near impunity. The latest victims included a secular student, a Hindu tailor, two gay men, Professor of English Rezaul Karim Siddique and an elderly Buddhist monk. ISIS claimed responsibility for Siddique’s murder, claiming that he encouraged atheism, though relatives and friends deny that An insightful A n insigh tful rreference eference ffor or years 18 y ears
he was an atheist. The Bangladeshi government said that ISIS could not have committed the murder as the group does not exist in Bangladesh, disregarding the decentralized way in which ISIS has gained affiliates who have very little actual connection with it, such as the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines. Among recent victims of extremist attacks in Bangladesh have been Hindus, Christians, Ahmadis, Sufi Muslims and Shi’i Muslims, as well as those considered to be atheists. One alleged killer has been arrested to date, accused of participating in the murder of gay activists.
SINGAPOREAN PM IN MIDDLE EAST
A Singaporean delegation headed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank in April. In talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his Palestinian counterpart, Rami Hamdallah, Lee called for the resumption of talks between the two sides aimed at achieving a two-state solution. None of his public statements touched on questions such as final borders or the Palestinian call for a halt to settlement building. (Advertisement)
An honorary doctorate was conferred on Lee during his visit to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In his acceptance speech, he expressed appreciation for Israeli support in training Singaporean army officers in the 1960s. He also referred to later cooperation between the two states: “Over the years, our relations have expanded much further beyond defense and security, though, of course, defense and security ties remain. Our companies are very active in exploring opportunities in both countries. We collaborate in technology and in R&D. The Singapore-Israel Industrial Research & Development Foundation (SIIRD) has funded about 150 projects over the last 20 years, providing about US$170 million in funding. Our universities and research institutes have regular exchanges, including with the Hebrew University. We have just witnessed the signing of three agreements: one with the National Research Foundation to manage Hebrew University's research in Singapore; one with the National University of Singapore; and another one with the Nanyang Technological University, reaffirming the parties’ commitment to deepen research collaboration.” ■ oundation Published Published by by SETA SET TA F Foundation Edited by by Muhittin Muhittin Ataman Ataman Edited
RECENT CONTRIBUTORS: CONTRIBUTORS: CHRIST CHRISTOPHER OPHER RL LAYNE AYNE • RICHARD JACKSON JACKSON • NORMAN G. G. FINKELSTEIN • BERDAL ARAL DAVID PAUL DA AVID R ROMANO OMANO • MOHAMMED AYOOB AY A YOOB • P PA AUL KUBICEK • BASHEER R NAFI • DMITRI TRENIN ERINA A DAL ACOURA • MALIK K MUFTI • MARINA OTTAWAY OTTAWAY • SUSAN BETH R RO OTTMANN • MER RT T BİLGİN BİLGİN KATERINA DALACOURA ROTTMANN MERT RANCK K DÜVELL • ERDEM BAŞÇI • SIL LVIO VIO FERRARI • ALİ ÇARK KOĞL O OĞLU • JAMES DEVINE DEVINE • T AHA ÖZHAN FRANCK SILVIO ÇARKOĞLU TAHA RICHARD F FALK ALK • CANAN BALKIR • JAMES DORSEY DORSEY • FU UA AT KEYMAN FUAT KEYMAN
JUNE/JULY 2016
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Israel and Judaism
Sanders Campaign Makes the Divisions in American Jewish Views of Israel Clear to All
By Allan C. Brownfeld
GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Palestinian people with respect and dignity.” Sanders criticized his opponent, Hillary Clinton, for her talk to AIPAC in which, he pointed out, there was no concern expressed for the needs of the Palestinians. “There comes a time,” he declared, “if we are going to pursue justice and peace, that we are going to have to say that [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu is not right all of the time. You spoke on the Middle East and barely mentioned the Palestinians.” The audience cheered these remarks. Some said it took “courage’ for Sanders to criticize Israel. But in expressing the views he did, he was hardly alone. The April 16 New York Times carDemocratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a March 7 rally in Dearborn, MI. ried a front page story with the headline, “Chiding Israel, Sanders Highlights JewNEVER AGAIN WILL THE organized American Jewish comish Split.” According to The Times, “Jewish Democrats, like munity—from AIPAC to the ADL to the American Jewish Comthe rest of the party, have been struggling for years over the mittee and rabbinical groups—be able to claim that their unappropriate level of criticism when it comes to Israel's policies critical support of the Israeli government represents the conin the occupied West Bank and Gaza. But that debate burst sensus view of American Jews. This has been clear for some onto a big national stage...thanks to Mr. Sanders, the most time. In the case of the nuclear agreement with Iran, for examsuccessful Jewish presidential candidate in history. Mr. ple, the majority of American Jews supported the agreement, Sanders's comments...buoyed the liberal and increasingly while the establishment Jewish organizations did everything vocal Democrats who believe that a frank discussion within they could to defeat it—and failed. the party has been muzzled by an older, more conservative During the April Democratic presidential debate in Brooklyn, leadership that is suspicious of criticism of Israel.” Sen. Bernie Sanders called for an “even-handed” U.S. policy Discussing “Bernie's Israel Heresy,” New York Times columin the Middle East. In response to a question about whether nist Roger Cohen wrote that “the fact that his words are deemed Israel's response to missiles from Gaza was “disproportionshocking or even newsworthy reflects the degree to which, over ate,” he responded: “Of course Israel has the right not only to many years, major American Jewish organizations have been defend itself but to live in peace and security. But in Gaza able to dictate the line that says there is only one way to support there were 10,000 wounded civilians and 1,500 killed. Was Israel and win elections—and that is uncritically. In most of the that a disproportionate attack? The answer, I believe, is it was. rest of the world, Sanders's position would be uncontroversial, As somebody who is 100 percent pro-Israel, in the long run, if reflecting a consensus...The continued expansion of Israeli setwe are going to bring peace, we are going to have to treat the tlements...Netanyahu's heavy-handed intervention in American electoral politics and his relentless attempt...to stop the Iran nuAllan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated columnist and associate editor of clear deal have all been factors in undergirding the view that it is the Lincoln Review, a journal published by the Lincoln Institute for no betrayal of Israel to be critical of some of its policies...Sanders Research and Education, and editor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the American Council for Judaism. struck an important blow for honest and more open debate by 50
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raising issues seldom broached in an American presidential campaign.” Steven M. Cohen, research professor of Jewish Social Policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, hailed Sanders' statement and said that, in reality, it made him more genuinely “pro-Israel” than his opponent. He said: “As a candidate, Hillary Clinton... has signaled she'll be far less inclined to challenge the Israeli government or make an assertive push for a resolution of the conflict. Sanders seems far better positioned to do both. That's why I call the senator more pro-Israel than Hillary. The current policies of Israel are not good for Israel. They're dangerous to Israel's security and corrupting to its morality—and Israel's security and morality go hand in hand.” Writing in The Daily Beast, Michael Tomasky said that “Sanders is to be commended for this anti-pandering—it could herald the start of a positive change in the way Democrats at least talk about the Middle East. But he was also able to get away with it because New York has changed so much.... Sanders showed that he's more in touch with the current mindset of a crucial constituency than Clinton is.” It is not only young people who are disillusioned with the path being taken by Israel. A major American Jewish leader, Rabbi David Gordis, a former executive at the American Jewish Committee, former president of Hebrew College and former vice president of the Jewish Theological Seminary, wrote in Tikkun on Feb. 23 that Israel is a “failure” and the Zionist dream has “curdled into Jewish selfishness.” He lamented that, “After a life and career devoted to the Jewish community and to Israel, I conclude that in every important way, Israel has failed to realize its promise for me.” In his article “Chosen People? The Break-up of American Jewish Identity,” Columbia Prof. Todd Gitlin wrote in the March 28 Tablet Magazine that “when Israel became an illegal occupier of the JUNE/JULY 2016
territories it conquered in 1967, it forfeited its universalist mantle. It made Israel look like a less compelling answer to the immense question of chosenness... Israel interpreted chosenness as a title to land and a warrant for defying world opinion and international law. It justified its aggressions as defenses...Israeli exceptionalism abandoned the high moral ground...[and] became steadily more illiberal and thus more offensive to Jews who remain among America's most liberal populations.”
REDEFINING ANTI-SEMITISM
Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign shows not only how sharply Jewish opinion is divided about Israel and U.S. Middle East policy, but also that the organized Jewish community's promotion of the idea of widespread anti-Semitism in American society is without foundation. Indeed, it is precisely because real anti-Semitism exists only on society's fringe that there are strenuous efforts to redefine anti-Semitism to mean “anti-Zionism,” or even simply criticism of Israeli government policies, thereby ignoring the long history of opposition to Zionism within the Jewish community itself. Even Jewish organizations which are critical of Israel, such as Jewish Voice for Peace, have been referred to as “anti-Semitic.” In the case of Sanders, he was criticized for not making his Jewish roots a centerpiece of his campaign. When he thanked supporters in New Hampshire for his landslide victory in the Democratic primary, he reminisced about his upbringing as “the son of a Polish immigrant who came to this country speaking no English and having no money.” The New York Times reported that, “While the crowd cheered, Rabbi Michael Paley of New York was among many Jews watching the speech who were taken aback. He said he was surprised that the Vermont senator had not explicitly described his father as 'a Polish Jewish immigrant'...” On a different occasion, at a speech in Harlem, Sanders declared, “I am very
proud of being Jewish. Being Jewish is so much of who I am.” What the organized Jewish community found difficult to accept was the fact that Sanders' religion was of little interest or concern to voters. A Gallup Poll last year found that 92 percent of Americans said they would vote for a Jewish president, roughly the same as those who said they would vote for a Catholic, an Hispanic or an African-American. Shortly after Sanders' criticism of Israel in the New York debate, Vice President Biden addressed J Street and pointed to the “steady, systematic expansion” of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, calling it a step in the wrong direction. Biden concluded: “The present course Israel is on is not one that's likely to secure its existence as a Jewish, democratic state—and we have to make sure that happens.” J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami said: “This is a watershed moment in the political currents that shape American policymaking around Israel and the Middle East.” There can be little question that Sanders' call for justice and peace, and the positive response it has received, mark the decline of the Israel lobby's power. Writing in Mondoweiss, Ilene Cohen declared that “the change in public opinion in this country has been glacial, but it's happening. Sanders actually spoke truths—and here's the crux of it: he will live to tell. That's the news. A lot of Democrats and younger Americans in general, including many Jews, are breaking out of the old stranglehold... There are those who say Bernie could afford to do this because he's going to lose the primary in New York anyway. Who cares. He had to think it first. And then he had to say it. And he did....It has been fully 10 years since John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt published their groundbreaking The Israel Lobby...And here we are today. Today's Israel lobby is no longer the third rail of American politics. And everyone knows it.” ■
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Campus News
College Textbook Discontinued After ProIsrael Groups Object to Dispossession Maps
By Dale Sprusansky
GLOBAL POLITICS: ENGAGING a Complex World, a textbook used in political science courses throughout the country since 2012, will no longer be on syllabi this fall. In March, the book’s publisher, McGraw-Hill Education, announced that it has ceased publication of the textbook due to a series of maps showing the Palestinians’ progressive loss of land to Israel from 19462000. The abrupt decision to recall the book came after Elder of Ziyon, a pro-Israel blog, initiated a movement against the textbook earlier this year. In a March 1 post, the anonymously written blog said that “McGraw-Hill must be held accountable for pushing such propaganda in college classrooms,” and encouraged readers to contact the company’s customer service department. A week later, McGraw-Hill announced that the textbook would be discontinued and all existing copies of the book destroyed. "As soon as we learned about the concerns with it, we placed sales of the book on hold and immediately initiated an academic review,” McGraw-Hill spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said in a statement. “The review determined that the map did not meet our academic standards. We have informed the authors and we are no longer selling the book. All existing inventory will be destroyed. We apologize and will refund payment to anyone who returns the book.” The publisher’s decision prompted 35 prominent academics, including Ilan Pappé, Judith Butler, Rashid Khalidi and Angela Davis, to sign a letter expressing their disapproval. The letter, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, refers to the incident as “shocking and unacceptable,” as well as a “blatant act of censorship.” Above all, they note that the publisher’s decision will deprive students of accurate information. “The maps in question are historically accurate and vividly illustrate Israel’s dispossession of the Palestinian people and appropriation of their land, which is why the Israeli government and its supporters wish to suppress them,” the letter says.
Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. 52
This is not the first time maps depicting the diminishing size of Palestine have been a source of controversy. Last year, MSNBC received backlash for airing the same maps. It, too, bowed to pro-Israel pressure, releasing a statement apologizing for using “not factually accurate” maps.
CONTINUED DIVESTMENT SUCCESS
During the spring semester, several student organizations mounted successful divestment campaigns on campus. In New York, the Doctoral Students’ Council at the City University of New York (CUNY) passed a resolution calling for an academic boycott of Israel “for as long as the Israeli state continues to violate Palestinian rights under international law.” The resolution was approved in a 42-19 vote, with 9 abstentions. Students at the University of Chicago approved a resolution calling on the school to divest from companies that aid or profit from Israel’s “violation of human rights and international law in Palestine.” The proposal passed by an 8-4 vote, with 3 abstentions. At the University of Minnesota, students scored a partial victory in April, when a watered-down version of their divestment resolution was approved. The initial resolution called for divestment from Caterpillar, Elbit Systems, G4S and Raytheon—four companies that, in the words of the resolution, profit from “human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, the U.S.-Mexico border and in prison detention centers across the world.” Per the suggestion of a student affiliated with Students Supporting Israel, the resolution was amended, and all references to specific companies were removed. The final resolution simply—and vaguely—calls for divestment from any company that profits off of human rights violations. Despite these victories for the BDS movement, it remains unlikely that university officials will recognize any of the above votes. CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken said the university is “disappointed by this vote,” and pledged that the resolution “will not change CUNY’s position.” Meanwhile, University of Chicago Presi-
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dent Robert Zimmerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;speaking last year in the context of fossil fuel divestmentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;said his university is unlikely to accept any divestment measure, regardless of its target.
STUDENTS FIGHT BACK AGAINST HOROWITZ
Notorious Islamophobe David Horowitz, founder of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;freedom centerâ&#x20AC;? that bears his name, was behind posters plastered throughout San Diego State University (SDSU) in April that targeted students supportive of BDS. The posters specifically named seven student activists associated with Students for Justice in Palestine, calling them promoters of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jew hatred on campusâ&#x20AC;? and allies of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Palestinian terrorists.â&#x20AC;? SDSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Muslim Student Association led the effort to counter the blasphemous messages conveyed by the posters. Responding to the controversy, SDSU President Elliot Hirshman voiced his displeasure with certain aspects of the posters, but stopped short of referring to them as hate speech.
Not satisfied, on April 27 students confronted Hirshman about the posters. According to various news reports, as he was leaving an unrelated event students surrounded the campus police car Hirshman was in and demanded he make a stronger statement. After an hour-long standoff, Hirshman apparently made a brief apology to anyone upset with his position. He subsequently announced on May 2 that the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s administration will â&#x20AC;&#x153;undertake a review of university policies to ensure we are balancing freedom of expression and protection from harassment.â&#x20AC;?
CONGRESSIONAL LETTER LABELS CRITICISM OF ISRAEL AS ANTI-SEMITIC
U.S. Education Secretary John King received a letter signed by 38 members of the Houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism in April asking him to review how his department is dealing with incidents of anti-Semitism on college campuses. The letter cited the existence of BDS campaigns and â&#x20AC;&#x153;anti-Israelâ&#x20AC;? events as evi-
dence that anti-Semitism is a growing issue on college campuses. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are particularly concerned by reports of over 500 anti-Israel programs on U.S. college campuses during the 2014-2015 academic year, an increase of 38 percent from the prior academic year, as well as 29 Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement campaigns sponsored by student groups, an increase of 21 percent,â&#x20AC;? the letter said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anti-Semitic intimidation, harassment and discrimination are manifested not only in easily recognizable anti-Semitic slurs but also in anti-Semitism masked as an anti-Israel or anti-Zionist sentiment.â&#x20AC;? Signatories of the letter include prominent Israeli supporters Eliot Engel (DNY), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Ted Deutch (D-FL). According to Deutchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office, the endorsers of the letter include the Anti-Defamation League, the Zionist Organization of America, the World Jewish Congress and the Jewish Federations of North America, all vociferous defenders of Israel. â&#x2013;
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Arab American Activism
Presenters and awardees focused on the plight of refugees at the 18th annual Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards dinner on April 19, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. “Refugees are all around us,” Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF), pointed out. “With more than 60 million people forcibly displaced in every region of the world, we are proud to shine a light on those working to assist and empower refugees.” Former Governor of Maryland (20072015) and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley presented AAIF’s Award for Institutional Excellence to Melek El Nimer, founder of the Unite Lebanon Youth Project (ULYP). During O’Malley’s short presidential campaign he spoke out on behalf of Syrian refugees. “My parents taught us we are a nation of nations,” O’Malley said. Every religion urges believers to be compassionate and welcoming to strangers, whether they come from Ireland, Syria, Germany, Palestine, Poland or Vietnam, he said. When O’Malley campaigned in Dearborn, MI, he met with refugees who showed promise and potential and believed they will be of value to their community. O’Malley urged the U.S. to use Canada as a model and take in more Syrian refugees. “We are a nation of immigrants and refugees. It’s in our DNA,” he said. “The enduring symbol of America is not the barbed-wire fence. It is the Statue of Liberty.” O’Malley spoke out against "Islamophobia and xenophobia" during his campaign, reminding voters that Muslims are our neighbors. El Nimer’s organization, ULYP, founded in 2010, provides thousands of vulnerable students with the tools they need to succeed in their education. Impoverished Lebanese as well as Palestinian and Syrian refugees from preschool on up 54
Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements (l) and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Alek Wek.
participate in high quality programs and earn ULYP college scholarships. For more information visit <www.unitele banonyouth.org>. DC Councilmember Anita Bonds presented the Najeeb Halaby Award for Public Service to Suzanne Sareini, who was the first Arab American elected to the Dearborn City Council and went on to become “a voice for the voiceless” and serve the state of Michigan for more than 25 years. Sareini began her career in public service early. Her parents ran a restaurant, and she found herself making phone calls to help customers who couldn’t speak English. When she ran for city council—an Arab American, Republican, Muslim woman—she received hate mail, bomb threats and personal attacks. “Today there are Arab Americans across the U.S. running for elected office,” Sareini said. “Our future is bright. I hope I made a difference.” Supermodel Alek Wek, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), presented AAIF’s Award for International Commitment. Wek fled South Sudan at the age of 14, walking for two weeks, getting separated from her family, hungry and afraid. Her father had always told her, “They can take away most everything but they can never take away your education,” so she threw herself into her
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studies when she got to the U.K. She was discovered by a modeling agent in a London park and built a nearly 20-year career as a famous model. “I use my platform to build awareness for the nearly 60 million forcibly displaced people around the world today,” Wek said. Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees at UNHCR Kelly T. Clements accepted the award from Wek on behalf of her colleagues who, she said, are “the heart and soul” of UNHCR’s humanitarian response. UNHCR was founded in 1950 in response to the humanitarian crisis facing millions displaced by WWII. Now, 65 years later, UNHCR operates in 125 countries, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen, Libya and Iraq, providing protection for those forced to flee due to war and persecution. Their work has never been more critical than it is today, Clements said, “where parts of the world are a mess” and as the Syrian conflict has displaced more than 12.2 million people. Peter Tanous presented a special recognition award to actor, comedian and philanthropist Jamie Farr, who played the lovable Lebanese Corporal Maxwell Klinger in the hit TV series M*A*S*H* for 11 years. JUNE/JULY 2016
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Kahlil Gibran Awards Highlight Programs Helping Refugees
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Children prepare to dance the dabke.
AAI President Dr. James Zogby concluded the “aspirational night,” noting that these awardees remind us “where we want to be.” —Delinda C. Hanley
Gaithersburg Kids Showcase Their Arab American Heritage
April is Arab American Heritage Month in Maryland, and the city of Gaithersburg goes all out to celebrate the community’s achievements. Gaithersburg’s Multicultural Affairs Committee, chaired by Samira Hussein, hosted an evening reception featuring presentations by students on April 11, at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park. Hussein introduced Mayor Jud Ashman as the mayor of the greatest city in the world. WalletHub, an online financial resource, ranked Gaithersburg as the most ethnically and racially diverse city in America in 2016. “We’re not without our challenges,” Mayor Ashman said, “as we strive to be as inclusive as possible across our cultural and economic differences, but our commitment to recognizing and embracing the contributions of all of our residents strengthens the fabric of this community, making Gaithersburg an awesome place to live.” Students took the stage to present fun facts, art and photos showcasing their rich heritage in Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan and other Arab countries. Children who attend the first dabke folkloric dance classes offered for Maryland’s elemenJUNE/JULY 2016
tary school-aged children showed the impressive results of six weeks of practice. They also sang a nursery rhyme in Arabic that caused many grandparents and parents to wipe away tears. This writer confesses that, while she was impressed by the performances, she was equally entertained by the parents in attendance, whose faces glowed with pride as they captured their children’s big moments with their cell phones and video cameras. —Delinda C. Hanley
ATFL Honors Success in Lebanese Diaspora
The American Task Force for Lebanon (ATFL) hosted its 18th gala awards night at the Fairmont Washington Hotel in Washington, DC on April 12. Former Michigan Sen. Spencer Abraham, who went on to serve as George W. Bush’s secretary of energy, was master of ceremonies. He introduced Martha Raddatz, chief global affairs correspondent for ABC News, who gave a heartfelt portrayal of her friend and fellow ABC News reporter, Paula Faris, co-host of the “The View” and co-anchor on “Good Morning America.” Faris has “strong values, a beautiful brain and a big heart,” said Raddatz, as she presented Faris with the Philip Habib Award for Distinguished Public Service. Faris described faith and family as her greatest legacy from her Lebanese heritage. Her grandparents left everything behind to start a new life in America, she said. (In fact, her uncle was born three
days after the tough, hard-working couple arrived in Flint, MI.) ATFL’s president, former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Edward Gabriel, introduced the organization’s new executive director, Leslie Touma, a security expert and automotive industry veteran. Next to speak was Lebanese Chargé d’Affaires Carla Jazzar, who described the critical challenges caused by nonstop refugees flooding into her nation, including 450,000 children. Lebanese students attend classes in the morning and refugees in the afternoon, she said, as teachers try to save Syria’s “lost generation.” After a remarkable performance by Lebanese-American operatic and crossover tenor Amine J. Hachem, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced the next honoree, Tony Fadell, founder and CEO of Nest, which produces thermostats, smoke alarms and cameras to help people keep an eye on their homes and pets from afar. The brilliant inventor was senior vice president of Apple’s iPod division, and worked on the first three generations of iPhones. After Fadell accepted the Joseph J. Jacobs Distinguished Achievement Award, the half-Lebanese and half-Polish innovator described the joys of eating two Christmas dinners each year in Toledo—one Polish and one Lebanese—adding that he’s now a vegetarian. After growing up hearing stories about Zahlé, in his early 20s he had to go to Lebanon and “discover his roots.” On his last day, at his send-off party—as his family hid his return plane ticket—he noticed the appearance of a great many female cousins. His relatives thought he had come to Lebanon to find a bride! Turning serious, Fadell said that today he is working to energize young entrepreneurs in Lebanon. The final awardee, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, senior counsel at Greenberg Traurig LLP, accepted the Ray. R. Irani Lifetime Achievement Award. She is president and co-founder of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate
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(L-r) Spencer Abraham, awardees Paula Faris, Victoria Reggie Kennedy and Tony Fadell, ATFL president Edward Gabriel and new executive director Leslie Touma. in Boston, which she established in memory of her late husband, Sen. Ted Kennedy, “to educate and inspire” the next generations of leaders and citizens to get involved in civic life. Kennedy said her parents, Judge Edmund Reggie and Doris Boustany Reggie, were proud Lebanese Americans who loved this country, which they called “the land of opportunity.” They also cherished the “strong values of the old country: faith, close family ties, and incredible food.” —Delinda C. Hanley
Muslim American Activism
Sacramento Legislative Briefing On Islamophobia
To address the disturbing trend of scapegoating and fear mongering of American Muslims and other minorities, Asian Americans Advancing Justice–California (Advancing Justice–CA), the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR–CA), and the Sikh Coalition hosted an April 25 briefing at the Sacramento state Capitol titled “Islamophobia: Impacts on California.” In a recent study, CAIR–CA has discovered that 55 percent of American Muslim students attending California public schools experience some form of bullying based on their religious identity, said Saad Sweilem, civil rights attorney for the CAIR Sacramento Valley chapter. Despite the unprecedented number of 56
hate crimes reported, the many unreported incidents are of great concern, Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of CAIR (CAIR-SFBA), told the audience. “It’s become far too normal in the Muslim community that people have accepted they are going to get hate calls, that they may sometimes receive hate mail or vandalism, because this is just the cost of being Muslim in America,” she related. Harjit Kaur, community development manager for the Sikh Coalition, also noted the rise in hate crimes and school bullying in Sikh communities across the country. Nationwide, she said, 70 percent of Sikh students that either wore headgear or did not cut their hair have been harassed. “When a political candidate says something awful about Muslims or refugees, we see a corresponding increase in the number of calls we receive,” said Reem Suleiman, community advocate for the Advancing Justice– Asian Law Caucus, who, as a Muslim
growing up in California’s central valley after 9/11, suffered discrimination. “These issues are personal to me,” she acknowledged, “but I think there is a real opportunity to combat the issue in a creative or productive form.” Suleiman described a case of school bullying of a Muslim student that was favorably resolved through a “restorative justice session” provided by the Asian Law Caucus. Restorative justice, she explained, is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of the victim and repairing the harm caused to the victim through reconciliation with the offender, as well as involving the community. “In terms of school bullying this is a great opportunity, because students are still developing their opinions and it provides a wonderful learning opportunity for all parties,” Suleiman pointed out. Sameena Usman, CAIR–SFBA governmental relations coordinator, introduced Amandeep Singh, a Sikh, who shared his personal story of being harassed solely because of his religion. Now a deputy sheriff in Yuba County, California, Singh won the right to wear a turban and keep his beard as required by his religion. The law enforcement officer praised the Sikh Coalition for helping pass California’s Workplace Religious Freedom Act in 2012. Andrew Medina, policy manager for Advancing Justice–CA, emphasized the need for the passage of AB2845 in order for school instructors to receive the training and resources necessary to combat discrimination and bullying in schools. —Elaine Pasquini
(L-r) Zahra Billoo, Reem Suleiman, Andrew Medina, Harjit Kaur and Saad Sweilem speak about Islamophobia at the Sacramento state Capitol.
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The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) drew more than 600 attendees to its fifth annual “Muslim Day at the Capitol” in Sacramento on April 25. Participants—including a record number of students from all regions of California—discussed important issues with their state representatives or their staffers and urged them to support the following legislative items: • SB1286, which will enhance community oversight on police misconduct and serious uses of force and allow local governments that choose to establish civilian review boards to hold public hearings. • AB2845, which will provide school employees with the resources and training necessary to assist students subjected to school bullying and discrimination. • AB2792, which will require local government and law enforcement agencies to enter into an agreement, vetted through public meetings and a public vote, before participating in Immigration and Customs Enforcement programs in order to bring transparency to federal immigration programs. Constituents also asked their elected officials to oppose AB1551, AB1552 and AB2844, which would penalize businesses and institutions that participate in the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel. The global BDS initiative began in 2005 in response to a plea by Palestinian civil society for a boycott due to the continued illegal occupation of Palestinian land by the state of Israel. This important issue is one of constitutionality, students told their representatives, as boycotts—being a form of free speech— are protected under the First Amendment. “This is just the beginning,” CAIR Sacramento Valley executive director Basim Elkarra told the enthusiastic attendees following their meetings. “When you return to your districts, keep up your engagements with these assembly members and senators—go to their district ofJUNE/JULY 2016
TOP: (R-l) California state assembly member Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) and CAIR-SV executive director Basim Elkarra speak to children at “Muslim Day at the Capitol.” ABOVE: CAIRLA executive director Hussam Ayloush (c) with students at “Muslim Day at the Capitol.” fices and do the same thing you did today to keep the pressure on.” CAIR Los Angeles executive director Hussam Ayloush thanked the participants for “representing the one million Muslims in California” and standing up for issues which are important to all Californians. —Elaine Pasquini
MPAC Media Awards Honor Actors, Directors Who Humanize Muslims
“American Muslims are teachers, doctors, engineers, artists, businessmen and
businesswomen…we all work to make America a better democracy. Muslims fought and died for this country. How dare Trump say what he said. We need to make America a better and true democracy.” So said actor, author and social justice activist George Takei on April 24 as he accepted his Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) media award for the voice of courage and conscience. Celebrating their sold-out 25th anniversary gala, MPAC recognized Takei for his tireless advocacy for human rights. The co-star of the TV series “Star
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Turkey’s First Lady Calls for Greater Refugee Assistance
MPAC media awards recipient actor George Takei. Trek” was five years old at the onset of War World II, when the U.S. government rounded up his Japanese-American family and dispatched it to a relocation camp in the swamplands of Arkansas. “We had no money, no property and were penniless,” Takei recalled. He frequently warns American Muslims that this same fate could befall them if Islamophobia intensifies. Also receiving MPAC media awards were American comedian, actor and writer Hasan Minhaj, best known as a correspondent on “The Daily Show” with Trevor Noah, and two-time Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who directed the 2015 Oscar-winning documentary, “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” which deals with honor killings in Pakistan. A fourth honoree was “Salam Neighbor,” a documentary film by Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci which deals with the struggle of 85,000 Syrians who try to restart their lives inside Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp. For more information, or to watch videos of the event, visit <www.mpac. org/blog/celebrating-25-years-of-themedia-awards.php>. —Samir Twair 58
Delivering the keynote address at a March 30 conference hosted by the SETA Foundation in Washington, DC, Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdogan accused global leaders of failing to respond adequately to the devastating Syrian refugee crisis. “Actors in the international community have built their strategies on closing their doors to the refugees,” she charged. “Since the people who died on the shores of the Mediterranean were Syrian, they did not attract the attention of the modern world.” Mrs. Erdogan encouraged international leaders to turn away from political maneuvering and instead embrace compassion. “We should make an appeal to the collective conscience of mankind for an international effort to ensure that the Syrian refugees can live in humane conditions,” she said. “Conscience is the only key to unlock dirty policies. All that is needed is empathy. Just think of what a Syrian woman or child has had to leave behind when fleeing the country. There is no need to think of what they are able to take with them, for you can be sure that those suitcases hold nothing but fear and despair.” Since the Syrian civil war began in
2011, Turkey has accepted 3 million refugees, more than any other country. The First Lady said the Turkish people receive Syrian refugees with open arms. “We do not call them ‘refugees,’” she explained. “We call them ‘guests.’” The Turkish government offers the refugees a variety of services, she noted, such as education, psychological support and occupational classes. “Turkey is the top country in the world in terms of humanitarian aid in comparison to its gross national product,” she said. “With a growing economy, Turkey will continue to exercise this humanitarian spirit in every area.” The First Lady also used her remarks to address the escalating security crisis in Turkey. Recent attacks, allegedly carried out by ISIS, “will never succeed in dissolving the historical brotherhood of the people in Turkey,” she stated. “Terror organizations and their collaborators who have no grassroots in society will drown in their own malicious intentions.” Mrs. Erdogan’s Washington visit coincided with her husband’s participation in the fourth international Nuclear Security Summit. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s stay in the city was not without controversy, as members of his entourage allegedly attempted to deny journalists critical of his policies access to his March 31 remarks at the Brookings Institution. Outside that event, Turkish security officials
Some 330 delegates from more than 28 states took part in the National Muslim Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on April 18. They met with 225 elected officials and congressional staffers. The lobbying effort is sponsored by the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a coalition of leading national and local American Muslim organizations. USCMO announced a drive on Dec. 21, 2015 to register one million voters before the November 2016 presidential election.
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Human Rights
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Beerman, the rabbi’s widow. In his opening remarks, Reverend Bacon noted the special affinity shared by All Saints and Leo Baeck Temple, where Beerman was the spiritual leader. UCLA history professor David Myers, a close friend and an expert in Jewish studies, called Rabbi Beerman a courageous and articulate fighter for social justice, “a man of word” who said Emine Erdogan, the First Lady of Turkey, believes the international community has responded inadequately to things that nobody else dared to say. Rabbi Ken Chasen Syria’s refugee crisis. said he was honored that allegedly engaged in physical altercations Rabbi Beerman selected him to be his with individuals protesting the president. successor at Baeck Temple. —Dale Sprusansky The emcee, actor Mike Farrell, commented: “There are men in the world Rabbi Beerman Memorialized at who lift us up, and Leonard was one of All Saints them.” Milton and Judith Viorst, writers More than 350 Christians, Muslims and and close friends of the Beermans, travJews gathered at Pasadena California’s eled from their home in Washington, DC All Saints Episcopal Church on April 11 for for the event. a heartwarming program memorializing The national anthem was sung by the pacifist and vocal critic of Israel Rabbi All Saints Octet, while Mary and George Leonard Beerman, who died at age 93 in Regas read the sermon, an excerpt from December 2014. All Saint’s longtime rec- “What America Can and Should Be,” detor Rev. George Regas and current pas- livered by Beerman at All Saints on July tor Rev. Ed Bacon welcomed participants 3, 2011. Musical selections were perand introduced to the audience Dr. Joan formed by Alan Bergman, and Vicki
Celebrants at an April 11 memorial service for Rabbi Leonard Beerman in All Saints Church are (l-r) Judith Viorst, Rev. Ed Bacon, Milton Viorst, Dr. Joan Beerman and Salam al-Marayati.
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Riskin read a Carl Dennis poem titled “A Maxim.” Award-winning screen writer and playwright David Rintels read from one of his plays, and Alan Friedman, who said Beerman loved poetry, read some of the rabbi’s favorites. Muslim Public Affairs Council president Salam al-Marayati and Dr. Laila al-Marayati read an excerpt from Beerman’s last Yom Kippur sermon on Gaza, delivered Oct. 4, 2014 at the Baeck Temple. In closing, Jane Olson read an excerpt from another powerful sermon by Rabbi Beerman, delivered on May 18, 2007, “A Vision for a Bewildering Time.” —Samir Twair
Waging Peace
CSID Explores Link Between Repression and Radicalization
Encouraging the U.S. to adopt a genuine pro-democracy agenda in the Middle East, speakers at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy’s (CSID) 17th annual conference sought to draw a direct link between authoritarian rule and the rise of violent extremist groups. The event, titled “Democratization, Authoritarianism and Radicalization: Exploring the Connections,” was held in Washington, DC on April 21. Sahar Aziz of the Texas A&M School of Law accused Western governments of focusing on the symptoms rather than the causes of extremism. Dire economic, social and political conditions—which are commonly found in authoritarian states— are causes of radicalization, she stated. She particularly called attention to political repression, which she believes causes disenfranchised individuals to conclude that violence is the only avenue through which they can be heard. “Dictatorships breed terrorism,” Aziz stated, “as they inculcate a culture of violence and instill fear, suspicion, and aggression among the citizens.” Despite this dangerous reality, the U.S. government maintains a strong rela-
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preceding 22 months. This dramatic increase in violence, he believes, can be attributed to the bloody manner in which Sisi seized power and his subsequent use of repressive tactics (such as imprisonment) to close all political space for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Anecdotal evidence from John Voll (l) and Carl Gershman argue that democracies U.S. citizen Mohamed Soltan, can emerge in the Middle East. who spent nearly two years in tionship with many of the region’s auto- Egypt’s notoriously brutal prison system, cratic regimes, Aziz noted. At the same seems to suggest that political prisoners time, Washington is engaged in endless are being radicalized, Hashemi noted. wars against extremist groups that—in Soltan told The New York Times that her opinion—exist largely because of the several of his cellmates were ISIS suprepressive tactics of these regimes. In porters. “They would frequently point to other words, Aziz believes the U.S. is supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood fighting groups that it has helped create. and state: ‘look, you idiots, your model To change this paradigm, Aziz said the doesn't work,’” Soltan recalled. “The ISIS U.S. must invest more in human devel- supporters would then proceed to make opment that benefits the average citizen very simple arguments telling us that the and not only political elites. This, she ex- world doesn't care about democratic valplained, entails assisting with fundamen- ues and only understands violence….By tal needs such as food, water and shel- the time the ISIS guys were finished ter, but also includes addressing the po- speaking, everyone—the liberals, the litical demands of the local population. Brotherhood people—would be left comAziz was careful to clarify that, in her pletely speechless. When you're in that opinion, indigenous democratization type of situation and don't have many forces must lead the charge to end au- options left, for some people these kind thoritarianism. Instead of imposing or of ideas start to make sense.” dictating how this process plays out, the Such stories have not convinced the U.S. ought to let each country develop U.S. to dramatically change its Egypt its own democratic system, she empha- policy, Hashemi lamented. He noted that sized. “What we can do in the West is Speaker of the House Paul Ryan reensure that we are not supporting, di- cently met with Sisi and offered words of rectly or indirectly, authoritarian states support, while Secretary of State John whose number one objective is to quash Kerry has consistently maintained that that indigenous democratization Egypt is on a democratic path. By emprocess,” she said. bracing the status quo, Hashemi beNader Hashemi, director of the Center lieves the U.S. is making things “qualitafor Middle East Studies at the University tively worse” in Egypt. of Denver, argued that the case of PresiMisguided Washington policies not dent Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s Egypt vali- only hurt the people of Egypt and the dates Aziz’s thesis. In the 22 months broader Middle East, Hashemi warned. since the July 2013 coup launched by Extremists cite U.S. support for represSisi, he noted, there have been more sive regimes as evidence that the people than 700 attacks across Egypt, while of the region can only enact change there were just 90 such incidents in the through violent extremism, he said, 60
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adding that, “The consequences of these policies are now being played out on the streets of Brussels, Paris, San Bernardino, and sadly one can predict they’re not going to stop there.” According to John Voll, professor emeritus at Georgetown University, it is time to finally dismiss the idea that authoritarianism can serve as a stepping stone to democracy. In 1963, Voll noted, Princeton sociologist Manfred Halpern published a book titled The Politics of Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa, in which Halpern argued that undemocratic countries could benefit from an “authoritarian road to democracy.” Halpern cited as an example Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, arguing that Turkey needed a transformational strongman such as Ataturk before it could become a democracy. History, Voll believes, has proven Halpern wrong. “We have discovered that the authoritarian road leads to authoritarianism,” he said, “and it does not lead to democracy.” Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy, encouraged the West not to give up on the notion of a democratic Middle East. Despite the turmoil of the past five years, he said, a recent study conducted by his organization found that many in the region—70 percent—still believe in democracy. Closing the conference, Hashemi read a speech given by President Obama in which he stressed the importance of democracy and freedom. There is no question, Hashemi believes, that the president and many other officials know what is right and ought to be done. The work now, he stressed, is convincing leaders to do what they know is right. “Everyone is saying the right things, but when it comes to U.S. policy, they’re not doing the right things,” he said. “It’s that chiasm between what everyone knows should be done and is not being done where there’s a big void that has to be filled.” —Dale Sprusansky JUNE/JULY 2016
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Tunisia’s nascent democracy is evidence that democratic governance is possible in the Muslim-majority Middle East, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) told attendees at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy’s (CSID) 17th annual conference in Washington, DC on April 21. Ellison described Tunisia as a “light” and praised the country for pressing forward with its democratic experiment in the face of deep economic and security challenges. While leaders in Egypt and elsewhere have worked to undermine the will of Arab Spring protestors, Tunisia’s political class has embraced the spirit of the 2011 uprisings, he noted. The country’s leaders—Islamist and secular alike—have worked collaboratively to draft an inclusive constitution and to ensure the carrying out of legitimate parliamentary and presidential elections, Ellison pointed out. The Tunisian government even permitted its citizens to take to the streets en masse earlier this year to express their dissatisfaction with the country’s struggling economy, Ellison added. Allowing such demonstrations to take place is a healthy sign for Tunisia’s democracy and an indication that the country’s leaders are committed to preventing a return to authoritarianism, he stated. The U.S. must work closely with Tunis to ensure the country’s smooth democratic transition, Ellison stressed. He encouraged Washington to make sure that Tunisia’s economic situation—particularly its high youth unemployment rate—does not undermine critical political achievements. In his Fiscal Year 2017 budget, President Obama has requested $140 million in assistance for Tunisia—more than double the amount the country received last year. Ellison, however, believes Congress should allot more money for Tunisia. “We can do better,” he said. “We need to be advocates for the best example of Muslim democracy in the Middle East.” The success of democracy in Tunisia is important not just for the region, but also for JUNE/JULY 2016
American Muslims, who have been portrayed as anti-democratic outsiders by Islamophobic forces within the United States, the congressman said. Ellison, the first Muslim American ever elected to Congress, lamented that the compatibility of Islam and democracy is even a topic of conversation in the U.S. “The Muslim community has become this political football being pushed back and forth across the political landscape in Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) believes Tunisia can help dispel a way that doesn’t enhance the notion that Islam and democracy are incompatible. American democracy, and I believe, even limits and curtails and ‘otherizes’ International and Public Affairs in Providence, Rhode Island, delivered a powerthe American Muslim community,” he said. American Muslims and their allies must ful series of lectures—essential reading unify to defeat the Islamophobic narrative for diplomats and policymakers—on the that Muslims are allergic to democracy, Elli- U.S. global role in the 21st century. These son emphasized. “No matter how meritori- lectures (available on his website, <chas ous or important an idea might be, if there’s freeman.net>) address the “Causes and no organized constituency to stand for that Consequences of the Crumbling of the idea, that idea’s not going to prevail,” he Pax Americana,” and “The U.S. in the cautioned. Conversely, he added, “no mat- New World Disorder,” and propose a ter how trivial, stupid, discriminatory, or bad how-to-guide for “Recovering Diplomatic an idea might be, if there’s a group of peo- Agility.” On March 8, students at Johns Hopple who are committed to pushing that idea, kins School of Advanced International that idea is going to prevail.” Ellison concluded by encouraging the Studies in Washington, DC heard FreeU.S. to do more than just dictate democ- man discuss how diplomacy could further ratic principles to Tunisia. The U.S., with American foreign policy goals around our its imperfect political system, ought to increasingly connected world. Freeman spoke at the Carnegie Enlook at Tunisia’s burgeoning democracy as an opportunity to ponder solutions to dowment for International Peace in Washits own democratic shortcomings, he said. ington, DC on May 12 to introduce his lat“We here in the United States should est work, America’s Continuing Misadventake inspiration from Tunisia. We need to tures in the Middle East (available from learn a lesson from Tunisia,” he stated. AET’s Middle East Books and More). His “Sometimes an older institution can be previous book, published in 2010, anareinvigorated by the excitement of a brand lyzed U.S. policies and their results. “Unnew democratic project. We need to take fortunately,” he said, “both the situation in that kind of inspiration from what Tunisia the Middle East and our position there have continued to deteriorate,” so Freeis doing and stand next to them.” —Dale Sprusansky man’s latest book picks up where the first left off, and shows that we haven’t learned Chas Freeman’s New Book and much from everything that has gone Recent Lectures Are Must-Reads wrong in the Arab Spring, the simmering Ambassador Chas Freeman, senior fellow Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the changat Brown University’s Watson Institute for ing roles of China and other emerging STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY
Rep. Keith Ellison Praises Tunisia’s Democratic Transition
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(L-r) Carnegie’s Michele Dunne, Ambassador Chas Freeman and University of Virginia Prof. William Quandt discuss America’s Continuing Misadventures in the Middle East.
powers in the Middle East. Freeman shared five conclusions he has reached with the Carnegie audience: “(1) when people in high places twist intelligence to confirm their political convictions, unpleasant surprises and strategic setbacks are likely to follow; “(2) threat assessments inflate to fill the policy criteria and agendas of those whose budgets depend on them; “(3) if a nation (no matter how great and powerful) acts without first asking, ‘and then what?,’ the chances are excellent that it will not like the results; “(4) there are not many problems that can be solved by the use of force alone, but there are almost none that can’t be made worse by it; and “(5) a country with no credible enemies is yet vulnerable to ruin by allies and friends.” Freeman went on to note: “In the Middle East, we have found out the hard way that not every cakewalk puts cake on your plate.” He also listed six of the most popular neoconservative axioms that have turned out to be false, the first being that wars in the Middle East can easily be made to pay for themselves, and the last that “if we sock it to terrorists over there, they won’t dare follow us home.” The cost of the experience to refute these delusions has been considerable, Freeman continued. “It starts with a lot of dead and maimed soldiers and mercenaries, as well as $6 trillion in outlays 62
and unfunded liabilities. The dead and wounded came home. The money will never return. It was poured into the sands of West Asia and North Africa or ripped off by contractors. The fact that it was not invested in the general welfare and domestic tranquility of the United States accounts for our broken roads and rickety bridges, the educational malnutrition of our youth, and our reduced international competitiveness.” Freeman went on to describe the consequences of our misadventures abroad, including “the eruption of tribal and sectarian conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Syria and Yemen; escalating proxy wars between Saudi Arabia and Iran; a putrefied peace process between Israel, the Palestinians, and other Arabs; the gradual self-transformation of Egypt into the political equivalent of an IED; continuing impasse with Iran; diminished respect for us by allies in Europe; and the ongoing metastasis of terrorism with global reach. Our homeland is shabbier and we are less, not more, secure than we were.” Freeman then explained why America can’t just ignore the Middle East or walk away from problems our military interventions helped create. Instead, he suggested a better strategy than the current one of “reinforcing failure with more money and redoubled effort.” He urged the U.S. to be “more restrained in using our military power” and to improve working relationships with the countries in a
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region “full of unfinished American foreign policy projects.” It is time to “recalibrate” our relationships in the Middle East, Freeman argued, and “focus on the protection of American interests rather than on support for the policies of partners who believe and act as though they owe us nothing.” Apply the “no more something-for-nothing” approach to all our client states in the Middle East, Freeman emphasized. He marveled that Americans continue to tolerate Israel’s open intervention in our politics to extract financial and military aid even though its behavior is a major cause of the instability, anarchy, and warfare in the region. “Wean Israel from its nearly 70 years of welfare dependency,” Freeman urged. This will relieve “U.S. taxpayers of the burden of subsidizing it despite its wealth, and stop enabling its government to do stupid stuff that trades gratification today for reduced prospects of survival as a secure democracy tomorrow. Or if subsidies must for some reason continue, condition them on Israeli policies that gain the Jewish state long-term security through peaceful coexistence with its Arab neighbors.” Addressing ongoing warfare in the region, Freeman suggested we “Stop trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again...The states and borders that have been shattered can’t now be restored. Attempts to reconstruct the arrangements imposed under Sykes-Picot don’t just waste American money and prestige, they cost American and Arab lives and rationalize terrorist reprisal against the United States.” Instead of resisting religious and ethnic communities’ efforts at self-determination, Freeman said Washington should focus on working with partners in the region to ensure that the restructuring of the region’s borders does as little harm as possible to the interests of the U.S. and its allies. Why not work with partners in the region to push for a bargain like that which ended the Thirty Years War in Europe in JUNE/JULY 2016
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Arabia Incognita: Dispatches From Yemen and the Gulf
Acclaimed Yemen scholar Sheila Carapico, a professor at the University of Richmond, appeared at George Washington University in Washington, DC on April 26 to discuss her new book, Arabia Incognita: Dispatches From Yemen and the Gulf. The edited volume brings together leading experts on Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula. The book begins with a JUNE/JULY 2016
chapter titled “The Arabian Peninsula, 1958-85,” and continues with chapters on the unification of Yemen, political Islam, the 2011 Yemeni uprising and subsequent descent into civil war, and the ongoing Saudi-led intervention in Yemen. The book also includes fascinating political cartoons by acclaimed Yemeni cartoonist Samer AlShameeri. Michael Hudson and Sheila Carapico field questions on Carapico said the volume Yemen’s multiple challenges. seeks to explore Yemen’s unique—if not out of place—role in the removal of long-time strongman Ali AbdulArabian Peninsula. Unlike its wealthy lah Saleh. monarchical GCC neighbors, Yemen is Despite officially agreeing to step down poor, populous and a republic, she noted. as president in a 2011 GCC-brokered “Yemen is kind of this very folksy West deal, Saleh has been able to remain a Virginia kind of place down there at the powerful influence in Yemen, and is now edge [of the peninsula],” she quipped. closely aligned with his former enemy, the Despite its distinctiveness, Carapico Houthis. While many intricate details of said the book argues that Yemen can’t be Saleh’s political maneuvering and engrasped without an understanding of its durance are unknown, Carapico believes relationship with its neighbors. Yemen’s the GCC deal unwisely left an opening for geopolitical location is “relevant to the Saleh to return. Unlike other ousted leadway it functions in the world,” she ex- ers, she noted, he was granted immunity, plained. permitted to remain in the country, and During a wide-ranging Q&A session continued to serve as chairperson of his moderated by Georgetown University pro- powerful political party. Saleh’s handfessor emeritus Michael Hudson, Cara- picked vice president, Abd Raboo Manpico fielded questions on Yemen’s politi- sour al-Hadi, was named his successor. cal trajectory, the ongoing Saudi-led interPresident Hadi, who now attempts to vention and U.S. foreign policy toward govern from the coastal city of Aden, was Yemen. never popular among Yemenis, Carapico Carapico highlighted the tremendous pointed out. “Nobody supported him,” she human toll more than a year of war has said, “that’s why the Houthis were able to taken on the already fragile Yemen. More just walk into town.” Carapico also susthan 3,000 civilians have been killed, and pects Saleh was happy to leave the counthousands more injured. The situation has try in the hands of an unpopular man, become so bad that some Yemenis are knowing that Hadi’s weakness would pronow fleeing to Somalia, of all places, she vide an opening for him to exploit. Accordsaid. ing to Carapico, Hadi “wasn’t chosen by Saudi Arabia has long viewed Yemen Saleh because he was a strong leader or as its backyard, Carapico noted, and thus a smart guy. He [Saleh] wanted someone it’s not surprising that the Kingdom has without any charisma or base of support responded so forcefully to the Houthi in- anywhere in society.” surgency. Riyadh, she said, has been on Touching on Washington’s Yemen poledge ever since protesters took to the icy, Carapico expressed disappointment. streets en masse in 2011 to demand the “The United States has never had a STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY
1648? Freeman proposed. The Treaty of Westphalia established a principle of live and let live for diverse beliefs and religious practices within Christendom. In the interest of its own security, as well as that of the region, the West can help the conservative Muslims of the Middle East ban Da’ish, criminalize it, contain and defeat violent Islamism. Freeman concluded by urging the U.S. government to “define U.S. objectives in the Middle East and develop a strategy to achieve them that relies on more than military power.” He urged Americans to “enlist the active support of other global and regional powers as well as conservative Muslims.” Finally, he pointed out, statecraft can use instruments other than force—for example, propaganda, clandestine support for foreign causes, and diplomacy—to build coalitions and alliances and bend others to support U.S.led policies. Whenever Ambassador Chas Freeman speaks, his listeners imagine how different U.S. foreign policy—and the world—could have been if this perceptive and fearless American diplomat had been chairman of the National Intelligence Council during the Obama administration. Instead, in 2009 pro-Israel activists, members of Congress and media commentators ignited a firestorm that caused Freeman to withdraw his name from White House consideration. Perhaps the next administration will be wiser and braver, and hire him again. —Delinda C. Hanley
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Yemen policy,” she said. “They’ve the onus mostly on the non-Arab always only had a Saudi policy, members of the Middle East,” he and the policy toward Yemen is an said, “because I think their actions outgrowth of the Saudi policy, have been more egregious toward rather than a direct policy.” This Arabs than any Arab actions have reality can be seen in the current been toward them.” Saudi bombing campaign, she Regarding the Israel-Palestine said, noting that the U.S. continissue, Fahmy said the topic is “reues to supply the Saudis with grettably being ignored” because weapons and has only supported other issues—such as the Syrian U.N. resolutions that put virtually civil war—are more bloody for the all of the responsibility for the viotime being. But, he believes, iglence on the Houthis. Nabil Fahmy believes Arab governments have allowed out- noring the crisis in the Holy Land Carapico said Washington’s side actors too much say in regional politics. will end up hurting the region in failed Yemen policy can be the long run. “It’s not going to go summed up by a conversation she had our own, and that does not work,” Fahmy away,” he stated. “It’s going to come with a high-ranking State Department offi- cautioned. back and hit us right in the face.” cial a few years ago. The official told her While outside tampering in Arab affairs Fahmy also reflected on the outcome and other Yemen experts that the U.S. frustrates the Arab public and leads to all of the so-called Arab Spring and the drone campaign in the country was a suc- sorts of conspiracy theories, Fahmy said prospects for political reform in the recess and that all of Yemen’s problems it’s important to remember that many of gion. While it’s clear the 2011 protests could be fixed with $100 million in aid and the foreign actors are operating with the have not succeeded, he called it premaassistance—or $4 for each of Yemen’s 26 consent of governments in the region. ture to classify the region-wide movemillion people. “It really said something to “We’re the ones who encouraged them ment for reform as a failure. “I think it’s a me about the State Department’s policy in to play that role,” he said, “and therefore process that is ongoing,” he said, “and if Yemen,” she said. we’re to blame for why they’re becoming you look at transformations of this magArabia Incognita is available from AET’s stakeholders in the process.” It is thus nitude anywhere else in the world historiMiddle East Books and More. time, he argued, for the Arab world to cally, it never happens in five years, it —Dale Sprusansky convey the need for a new, less direct never happens in three years. It’s more a role for outsiders in the region. decade- or several decade-long Egypt’s Former Foreign Minister Turning to regional relations, Fahmy process.” Urges Greater Arab Autonomy expressed his belief that the Arab world Addressing developments in his own After years of relying heavily on foreign must re-engage its non-Arab neigh- country, Fahmy admitted he is “not parpowers for various forms of assistance, it bors—namely Iran, Turkey and Israel—in ticularly happy with how far we’ve gone is time for Arab governments to become order to bring stability to the Middle East. five years after 2011.” At the same time, more self-dependent, argued Egypt’s forBefore this can happen, however, he did not seem overly concerned with mer Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy at a Arab countries must solve their own do- what many believe is an increasingly reApril 12 Middle East Institute event in mestic issues, he cautioned. “You can’t pressive government in Cairo. Instead, Washington, DC. get a regional order until the Arab coun- he insinuated that a slow reform process The current quid pro quo system in tries put their own house in order,” he ar- is underway in Egypt and that it will take which outside forces (such as the U.S. gued, “otherwise they will be in a weak time for progress to be made. and Russia) provide support to Arab position vis-à -vis the non-Arab countries Fahmy did, however, encourage Arab states in exchange for a say in the re- in the region.” leaders to operate more transparently gion’s politics is unsustainable, Fahmy Despite his appeal for greater regional and to better ensure the protection of believes. This arrangement too often diplomacy, Fahmy seemed pessimistic human rights. As 2011 showed, he makes Arab governments subservient to that large divides, such as the Saudi pointed out, “we will be held accountable foreign actors, he said, and leads to poli- Arabia-Iran split and the Turkey-Egypt by our own people.” —Dale Sprusansky cies that don’t benefit the people of the rift, will be solved any time soon. He also How to Combat ISIS in Libya region. “If we continue to overly depend wasn’t hesitant to express his opinion on others then we will ultimately put the that the non-Arab nations are largely re- The growing presence of ISIS in war-torn international political agenda ahead of sponsible for the regional friction. “I put Libya has many Western governments on 64
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country and don’t care about the whole.” The result, he lamented, is chaos that serves as a breeding ground for extremism. “Chaos is the enemy,” he emphasized. “Da’ish is an enemy—and a big enemy—but chaos is the enemy…because Da’ish feeds on chaos.” Wafa Bugaighis, senior representative of the govern(L-r) Fred Wehrey, Charles Lister, Wafa Bugaighis and Jonathan Winer urge the U.S. not to adopt a security-first ment of Libya to the U.S., urged the international comapproach to combating ISIS in Libya. munity to make Libya’s econedge. In May, 15 countries—including the omy their top priority. Doing so, she arUnited States—announced their desire to gued, would help eliminate the pressures ship weapons to Libya’s new Government that help drive extremism. Any attempt to of National Accord to help it battle ISIS defeat ISIS without addressing Libya’s and other extremist groups. economy and political divides would be Experts on Libya and ISIS assembled futile, she said. “The U.S. and the interby the Middle East Institute (MEI) in national community should not see Libya Washington, DC on May 20 cautioned purely through the lens of counterterrorthat simply sending more weapons to ism,” she cautioned. Libya would not solve the country’s seLister advised the U.S. against sendcurity crisis. Instead, they urged the in- ing more arms into Libya, as he believes ternational community to adopt a more local forces are not sufficiently orgawholesome approach to Libya, with fos- nized, trained and vetted. Instead, he tering political reconciliation being a top said, Washington should focus on reconpriority. ciling the aforementioned political diviCharles Lister, a resident scholar at sions and let ISIS collapse on itself. ExMEI, noted that ISIS exploited local divi- perience from Iraq and Syria shows that sions and broader instability across people aren’t necessarily happy under Libya to gain a foothold in the country. ISIS and that resentment will grow over One particularly troubling division, he time, he said. noted, is the battle between the country’s Fred Wehrey of the Carnegie Endowcompeting eastern and western armed ment cautioned that by sending support forces. “Unless those two forces unite,” to particular groups, the U.S. would be in he said, “I can say with pretty significant effect taking sides in the civil war, and certainty that ISIS will exploit those two could thus inadvertently deepen dividivisions.” sions within Libya. “The risk is that workJonathan Winer, the State Depart- ing with militias against the Islamic State ment’s special envoy for Libya, also em- could further fracture the country and rephasized national unity. “The U.S. strat- duce the incentives for reconciliation,” he egy to counter Da’ish is rooted in the warned. recognition that prolonged political disOverall, there are believed to be cord in the country has allowed extremist 3,000-6,000 ISIS fighters in Libya, 70 groups to proliferate,” he said. percent of whom are foreigners. Given According to Winer, too many actors in the pressure it is under in both Iraq and Libya are acting like “mini Qaddafis who Syria, ISIS increasingly sees Libya as want to control particular portions of the strategically important and has accordJUNE/JULY 2016
ingly diverted fighters, particularly Tunisians, to Libya, Wehrey noted. “The Islamic State has made a concerted effort to redirect foreign fighters,” he said. —Dale Sprusansky
Peace Groups Rally Against Drones at Iowa Air Guard Base
Fifty members of Iowa peace and social justice groups rallied with retired U.S. Army Col. and former U.S. State Department official Ann Wright at the entrance to the Iowa Air National Guard base in Des Moines on Friday, May 6. Wright described the base’s drone facility as a relatively new operation that reflects a national trend. “Our congressmen and women want to have a little piece of the action in every one of the states,” she explained, “so state national guards all over the country are becoming drone centers.” Reading to the crowd the resignation letter of U.S. Army Reserve Chaplain Christopher John Antal, Wright noted that his resignation may have been in part a result of his participation in a March 30 drone symposium sponsored by Veterans For Peace (VFP) at the University of Nevada School of Law. Reverend Antal is a Unitarian Universalist minister who served as a military chaplain in Afghanistan. “You never can tell what will trigger somebody to say, ‘You know, I think I’ve had enough.’ I’m one of the ones who finally, at long last, said, ‘I’ve had enough,’” said Wright, who was one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in protest of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. “You never know what will cause someone to have a crisis of conscience that will demand they stop any sort of association with this assassin drone program,” added Wright, who serves on the VFP’s national advisory board. “We just got the news that the military now considers drone operators to be involved in combat duty while they’re flying the drones. They’ve never admitted that before,” longtime Catholic Worker peace activist Brian Terrell told this reporter.
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soring the rally and a presentation by Wright at Trinity Methodist Church in Des Moines that evening. —Michael Gillespie
Col. Ann Wright (r) speaks to a crowd at a rally on May 6 against the drone facility at the Iowa Air National Guard base in Des Moines.
“Soldiers who are in combat are legitimate targets for attack, so this institution that is supposed to be protecting us is endangering us, putting a combat zone right here in residential Des Moines.” Terrell noted that news organizations had reported the previous week that ISIS hackers with links to Britain have published a hit list of dozens of U.S. military personnel they claim are involved in drone strikes in Syria and Iraq. Terrell described that development as “horrible,” but said it was a result of the drone assassination program that often kills noncombatants and civilians. “The people we are killing with the drones are not combatants,” he maintained. “Whatever it is they’re doing otherwise, when they are killed it is rarely in combat. They are people who have been determined either by the president or in a meeting or by their patterns of behavior to be a danger to the United States.” They’re killed while they’re driving down a highway, celebrating a wedding, mourning at funerals or picking up their kids at school—wherever drone operators can find them, said Terrell, who served a six-month sentence in federal prison in 2012-13 for a drone protest at Whiteman AFB in Missouri. “It’s not only the damage we do overseas killing innocent men, women, and children. It’s ruining our moral fiber right here at home,” said Gilbert Landolt of VFP Chapter 163 of Des Moines. “The people on the other side of this 66
fence, they’re not bad people, but I think they’re misguided. They’re not seeing all the damage they’re actually doing.” Wright was invited to speak in Iowa by VFP Chapter 169 in Cedar Rapids. Wright toured Iowa with peace activist Kathy Kelly, speaking at venues across the state prior to the rally in Des Moines. VFP Chapter 161 of Iowa City, Catholic Peace Ministry, Des Moines Catholic Worker, Methodist Federation for Social Action-IA, and American Friends Service Committee-Des Moines were among the organizations co-spon-
The Syrian American Council (SAC)’s national team visited Los Angeles April 23 to update the membership on its work in Washington, DC in support of the Syrian people’s struggle for freedom and democracy and opposition to the current government. “Syria at a Crossroads” was the theme of the event in Brea, CA. SAC president Mirna Barq discussed the organization’s work and achievements. Suzanne Meriden, director of operations, introduced Mohammed Ghanem, SAC’s Washington, DC-based government relations director. Ghanem spoke about President Barak Obama and the Iranian nuclear agreement of 2015 and how the deal was concluded. “They [the U.S. and Iran] worked on reducing the violence in Syria and getting some humanitarian measures [agreed on] along the way. They worked
More than 400 people gathered on May 1 in Costa Mesa, CA to protest the April 27 aerial bombing by Russian warplanes of an Aleppo hospital, killing the last pediatrician in the city. Scores of children and adults also died.
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SAC National Team Visits LA
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Syrian American Council national officers (l-r) Mohammed Ghanem, Mirna Barq and Omar Hossino talk in Brea April 23. on local cease-fires, and when they failed, the United Nations turned to international talks in Geneva,” Ghanem said. When the Obama administration and Iran achieved the cessation of hostilities in Syria, then the U.S. was happy, Ghanem continued. But, he pointed out, no progress was made on ending the government’s siege of towns and cities across Syria, getting humanitarian aid to needy Syrians, and peace negotiations. As a result the cease-fire collapsed and the negotiations stopped. The Americans don’t have a “Plan B.” Unlike the Turks, who have formed the Islamic Alliance and gathered their army along the Turkish border, the U.S. is not ready to use force if peace negotiations fail. —Samir Twair
Halper on Judaization, De-Arabization in Israel/Palestine
Jeff Halper arrived at Princeton University on April 28 directly from a Tel Aviv via Moscow flight to New York. He apologized for being jetlagged, then, without notes, spoke lucidly and with deep insight about “Where we are heading in Israel/Palestine.” As a former professor of anthropology as well as co-founder of JUNE/JULY 2016
the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, the American-born Halper unites the research skills of an academic with an activist’s firsthand experience. In his latest book, war against the people (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More), Halper draws on both to help us understand how “Israel gets away with it.” He asked why, when the two-state solution had the support of nearly the whole world, including Palestinians since 1988 and the Arab League since 2002, Israel blocked it. He believes the reason has to do with the $2.5 trillion a year homeland security industry, in which Israel has a big share. Israel uses the occupation as a resource, Halper explained, a laboratory for developing, testing and then marketing tactics of control: weapons, surveillance, biometrics, policing tactics, airport security. Israel produces 40 percent of the drone market, and is the second largest arms supplier to China, as well as to the other BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia and India), to which Halper said we can now add the second tier of MINT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey). Halper argues that Israel has more military/technology influence in the global south than
the U.S., something he describes as “exporting the occupation.” In an ironic aside, Halper noted that President Barack Obama recently offered Israel a new military aid package of $37 billion over 10 years. The New York Times describes this as “the largest package of military aid ever provided by the United States to another nation.” But, Halper reported, Israel is balking. On April 25, two days before he spoke, 83 senators wrote to Obama demanding that the amount be increased to $45 billion. This, he added, to a country the size of New Jersey, and evidence that the U.S. is on the side of the oppressor. Halper described Zionism as “a century-long campaign to turn Palestine into Israel.” At its center is Judaization, a term Halper acknowledged sounds antiSemitic, but is one the Israeli government officially uses. The result has been the deliberate fragmentation of the Palestinian people. The PLO, which represented all Palestinians wherever they lived—in the diaspora, in refugee camps, in Israel, and under occupation—in effect no longer exists. According to Halper, the peace process destroyed it. The legislative body of the PLO, the Palestinian National Council, has not met in 20 years. Add to that “Israel’s long campaign of assassinating or imprisoning any Palestinian leadership,” and the result, Halper said, is that Palestinians have no effective leadership, nor any mechanism to get together and plan. “De-Arabization” of the land, Halper continued, has by now succeeded. East Jerusalem now has more Jews than Palestinians. Within Israel, planning and zoning laws confine the 20 percent of the population who are “Israeli Arabs” (never, he noted “Israeli Palestinians”) to 3.5 percent of the land. Gaza is caged. Palestinians in “Judea and Samaria” are restricted to Areas A and B, less than 40 percent of the West Bank. There is no longer any detachable contiguous territory, meaning the two-state solution is dead.
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In Halper’s view, Israel is exactly where it wants to be: in control of the whole area with a collaborative Palestinian Authority. True, the existing onestate reality fits the U.N.’s definition of the crime of apartheid—one population maintaining separation by a regime of domination—but Halper claimed that within Israel, apartheid is considered the liberal option. Worse is warehousing, as already exists in Gaza. Halper predicts that, in either order, the PA will collapse and Israel will formally annex the 62 percent of the West Bank that is Area C, leaving it officially in control of 85 percent of the area. The U.S. and the EU, through the U.N., would then make the remaining bits of Palestine international protectorates, taking on the responsibility of feeding and sheltering the inhabitants, like zookeepers. With humility, “because only Palestinians can lead the struggle,” Halper suggested an alternative: one Binational Democratic State (BDS). Palestinians might say to Israel: “You eliminated the solution of two states and therefore a democratic Jewish state. Israel can only be 68
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Activist and author Jeff Halper.
Jewish with apartheid. We accept the reality of an Israeli-created single state, but we do not accept apartheid.” Settlers can remain and refugees return; both can live anywhere. Halper acknowledged that ideologue settlers would not accept this, but noted that they are only 1 percent of Israel’s Jewish population. Palestinians in the diaspora and within Israel would accept it, but those in refugee camps and in the West Bank might see this as a legitimization of Zionism and oppression. Therefore, Halper stressed, there must be a Palestinian discussion of what the end game should look like among all four sectors. Most of the world, the U.S. Congress excepted, is in support of peace with justice in Israel/Palestine. The BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) is gaining force everywhere. Halper therefore suggests a new slogan: BDS 4 BDS. —Jane Adas
Running for a Brighter Palestine
Team Iqraa’s 9th season began on Saturday, May 7, with a training session of 1 mile for half-marathoners and 3 miles for marathoners. The mileage increases incrementally each week to ensure runners gain racing fitness without risking injury. Iqraa, which means “Read” in Arabic, is devoted to running and fundraising in support of improved education for Palestinian youth. Iqraa runners reflect the diversity of interests and passions of American society and, specifically, the Washington, DC area. What unites us is “running for a brighter Palestine,” our slogan and mission statement. Iqraa, a non-sectarian and non-political association, cooperates closely with United Palestinian Appeal, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-governmental organiza-
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tion. All donations raised by Iqraa runners go to UPA-implemented scholarships and work/study projects at universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Since 2008, Iqraa runners and volunteers have raised $188,000 for UPA’s education projects. Iqraa also partners with the Marathon Charity Cooperation, an umbrella group of locally based charities, many with international reach. The MCC and its charity partners provide training and race day support, including food and beverages for all member runners. An additional feature of MCC support is its large number of coaches, certified by the Road Runners Club of America. Several Iqraa runners are also MCC coaches, and the group meets at about a half-dozen outdoor trails in the metropolitan area on a rotating basis to train. Iqraa has established itself as a permanent fixture of the Washington, DC running and volunteer-philanthropy scene. Since 2008, 140 Iqraa runners have completed the Marine Corps Marathon or 10K, the Baltimore Running Festival Half-Marathon or 5K, and a handful of other long-distance races such as the Richmond Marathon. This year, the Baltimore Running Festival will take place on Oct. 15 and the Marine Corps Marathon and 10K on Oct. 30. The education work funded by Iqraa last year centered on funding university scholarships and work study programs for 27 Palestinians. UPA supported programs in eight universities: five in the West Bank—including Birzeit, Al Quds, Dar al Kalima, An Najah, and Palestine Polytechnic—and three in Gaza, including Al Azhar, University of Palestine, and University College of Applied Sciences. The 2015 running program was highly successful. Returning runners formed a solid core of mentors and experienced fundraisers among our 14 runners who completed races last year, while the team raised $27,000, the equivalent of 27 scholarships. Team Iqraa includes these runners and a dedicated core of JUNE/JULY 2016
every person, upholding justice, equity and compassion in human affairs, and seeking peace and world community. When we refuse to profit from human rights abuses and the suffering of fellow human beings, we are living our principles.” By divesting from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Motorola Solutions and Caterpillar, the UUA is joining other religious denominations, including the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ, which have voted to divest from these and other companies profIqraa’s Baltimore Running Festival team (l-r) Cathy Baker, Annie Rohlin, Richard Hazboun, Jorge iting from Israel’s abuses of Guzman and Kirk Campbell. Palestinian rights; and the United volunteers whose work greatly boosts target of boycott and divestment cam- Methodist Church, which has voted to our fundraising capacity. paigns due to their complicity in viola- boycott goods produced in settlements, Running with Team Iqraa is a great tions of Palestinian human rights. and which recently divested from two Isway to get in shape, meet good and dedi“We are pleased with this decision raeli banks and placed three others on a cated people, and perform selfless char- made by the UUA officials,” said Curtis no-investing list due to their complicity in ity work for a great cause. As our runners Bell, a member of the UUJME Board of the illegal construction of Israeli settlehave proven, anyone willing to make the Directors. “As Unitarian Universalists we ments on occupied Palestinian land. commitment can be an Iqraa runner and want to live by our principles, which inUUJME will be working to reinforce complete a race. To learn more about us, clude respect for the worth and dignity of and solidify the UUA’s decisions with check out <http://iqraadc.org> or e-mail <kirkcruachan@yahoo.com>. —Kirk Campbell
Unitarian Universalists Divest From Companies Profiting from Israel’s Occupation
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) welcomes the March 7 decision of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) to divest from several companies involved in human rights abuses and environmental degradation. The UUA has adopted a human rights screen focusing on conflict zones that includes human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories. It subsequently divested from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., and Motorola Solutions. The UUA has also divested from Caterpillar Inc. due to concerns over its environmental and social practices. These four companies have been the JUNE/JULY 2016
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PHOTO COURTESY KIRK CAMPBELL
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Spring rain soaked hundreds of participants at UNRWA USA’s fifth annual Gaza 5K walk/run in Washington, DC’s Rock Creek Park on May 21, but nothing could dampen their spirits or resolve to show their support for Gazans. They raised $145,000. The DC event and others in New York City and San Francisco raised funds for UNRWA's Community Mental Health Program (CMHP) to help thousands of refugee children in Gaza affected by PTSD and other psychological trauma. WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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Shakir, Saksena Examine BDS Challenges
A Palestine Center panel featuring Omar Shakir of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Rahul Saksena with Palestine Legal discussed “BDS: Context and Challenges” on April 21. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions is a global grassroots movement that was initiated by Palestinian civil society in 2005. It calls for the academic, consumer and cultural boycott of Israeli institutions, companies, goods and services. Shakir, who researched and co-authored The Palestine Exception to Free Speech, described how other movements have deployed BDS to challenge institutional discrimination, and cited three reasons why it is such a powerful tool. First, he said, it helps reframe the conversation. Americans believe that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “this thousand-year-old conflict” that can never be resolved because “these people hate 70
each other.” They don’t realize it is a late 19th century conflict over land, resources and rights, a situation of a colonizer and a colonized. BDS doesn’t require people to force solutions on Palestinians and Israelis—one-state, twostates, etc., Shakir explained. It simply means you are part of a church, university or an academic union and “you do not want your institution invested in profiting over a system of discrimination and rights abuses.” Secondly, Shakir continued, it changes the calculus of Israeli activists. BDS helps people recognize that if Israel continues down this road it threatens to become like apartheid South Africa. It is the most effective, moral, nonviolent way of exerting pressure on the stronger power to come to the table and end its policies and rights abuses. Thirdly, BDS is mobilizing communities around the world, Shakir concluded. His-
Omar Shakir and Rahul Saksena discuss BDS progress and challenges.
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passage of a Business Resolution by delegates to the UUA General Assembly in Columbus, Ohio in June. Adoption of this resolution will guide the UUA as it continues to include human rights concerns in the occupied Palestinian territories in its future investment decisions. Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East is a UUA-related social justice organization that works within the Unitarian Universalist denomination and in the larger community for a peaceful and just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including a solution affirming the equality, dignity, freedom and security of all people involved. —Larry Cooper
tory shows us that protest movements rely on symbols, boycotts, strikes, sit-ins, flags, songs and symbolic actions. The accumulation of that pressure forces leaders to change their calculus. Because they’re losing the BDS debate on college campuses and in courts, Israel supporters are fighting back with anti-BDS legislation. Rahul Saksena described the rise of anti-BDS legislation even though the Supreme Court has said that boycotts are a legal means to bring about political, economic and social change, to vindicate rights, and—like free speech—are protected by the First Amendment. In 2015, Saksena said, his organization, Palestine Legal, responded to 240 incidences of suppression of Palestine advocacy in this country, mostly on college campuses. He showed a map of the many states that, in just the last few months, have introduced, or in some cases passed, anti-BDS legislation. Most, like New York, Maryland, and Illinois, threatened to reduce state funding for schools that voted to adopt a BDS resolution. None of those bills passed, Saksena said, because they were clearly, blatantly, unconstitutional—and because there was a very strong organizing effort, including “Freedom to Boycott” in Maryland, and activists in New York who came together and fought these bills.
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Today, Israel advocacy groups realize they can’t make BDS illegal because there’s this First Amendment problem. Instead, Saksena said, they’re telling legislators, “You have to blacklist these people, or organizations, or corporations.” Or they are saying, “if you boycott Israel we’re not going to let you do business with our state.” Their third tactic is pension fund divestment: “If you are a corporation and you boycott Israel, we don’t want to have anything to do with you, so we’re going to divest our pension fund from you.” Many people are concerned about these bills, but the biggest threat that they pose is the chilling effect they have. The bottom line is that none of these bills takes away our right to advocate for BDS or to boycott Israel—and that’s important. —Delinda C. Hanley
Conversation With Dr. Hanan Ashrawi
younger generation. As you know, the PLO is certainly geriatric, to put it lightly.” Azzam asked Ashrawi to talk about the organization she founded in 1998, MIFTAH, the Palestinian initiative for the promotion of global dialogue and democracy. MIFTAH was one of the first organizations to train women, youth and media. “In the U.S. you say that you have glass ceilings,” Ashrawi said. Back home, we have “brick walls,” she explained, and it’s very hard to break through, so you need real support systems and solidarity. MIFTAH has built a network of women leaders who run for office, challenging men in a patriarchal society, urging accountability and integrity, and fighting corruption. “And we continue to be, as always, troublemakers, when it comes to the Palestinian leadership. I have always been a troublemaker and I will continue to be one,” Ashrawi vowed. The conversation turned to life after the Oslo accords. Ashrawi warned that the “chicken is coming home to roost.” All the problems and our worst expectations have materialized and come back to haunt us, she said. Palestinians had a great sense of hope and euphoria, and
truly believed that this was the beginning of “the devolution of occupation, the evolution of statehood.” After all, Ashrawi noted, Palestinians had agreed to make peace and accept the ’67 boundaries— only 22 percent of Palestine—“and we thought the whole world and Israel would sit up and take notice and see this as a major opportunity.” Instead, she lamented, it bought Israel more time, more cover—legal, political, economic— to entrench its occupation. It had no binding timeline or commitment. “When you can renege on signed agreements and get away with it, you are going to do what you want,” Ashrawi pointed out. Today’s Palestinian youth don’t remember anything except the occupation, she continued. Israel is ethnically cleansing Jerusalem, changing its culture and identity, and isolating it from the rest of Palestine. Israel has stepped up its campaign of settlement activities, and resorted to again using live ammunition, shoot-to-kill orders, home demolitions, collective punitive measures and expulsions of people. The settlers have created a reign of terror, in which they destroy, kidnap, kill or steal crops. “They act with impunity,” she said, “because the im-
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Dr. Hanan Ashrawi reflected on Palestinian politics and society in a lively conversation with the Palestine Center’s executive director Zeina Azzam at her Washington, DC offices on April 18. Dr. Ashrawi is a member of the PLO Executive Committee and the Palestinian Legislative Council, and head of the PLO Department of Culture and Information. Ashrawi admitted she resisted taking political office for a long time, until she was elected after the “mutiny” of Palestinian women. Political parties had chosen a list made up entirely of men, which was OKed by the Palestine National Council. But women said, “No,” she recalled. So in spite of their parties’ instructions they voted for Ashrawi and other new faces, hoping for reforms. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work,” Ashrawi admitted. Years later, “I am still there,” she said, but added that she believes the “future should be shaped by the Zeina Azzam (l) and Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, who said that after Oslo, “the chicken is coming home to roost.” JUNE/JULY 2016
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worked. That’s why these young people now go out and face the Israelis at checkpoints. We didn’t use weapons when we were young, Ashrawi noted. “We firmly believed in nonviolent resis-
Diplomatic Doings
tance all our lives.” The young people are saying the same thing we told our parents: “You failed, you didn’t liberate Palestine, it’s our turn.” —Delinda C. Hanley
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punity that Israel practices as a state outside of the law has been internalized where its own citizens enjoy impunity.” So there is a sense of hopelessness and despair. Political settlement has not
Thousands Tour Embassies and Mosque
Thousands of visitors lined Washington, DC’s city blocks on May 7 and 14 to visit embassies, learn about unfamiliar religions, try new foods and experience exotic music by taking Cultural Tourism’s Passport DC Embassy Tour. Passport DC takes people on a journey around the world and introduces thousands of visitors to lively and varied cultures. Cultural tourists watched children dance, tried on flowing robes, sipped fragrant coffee in desert tents pitched in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s embassy. Visitors to the embassy of Indonesia admired batik fabrics and tried their hand at painting puppets. They tried to play a Javanese gamelan and sampled delicious coffee, tea and cuisine. Oman’s Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center offered visitors a chance to don gorgeous Omani dresses and pose in front of an Omani fort or play the spice game to see if they could identify all the scents of the Sultanate. Visitors to Qatar’s embassy watched a cook prepare traditional bread cooked with spices and—best of all—sampled the product. They tried on Qatari garb and popped into a photo booth to capture the moment. People poured into the Islamic Center of Washington, DC for the International Mother’s Day annual bazaar on May 14. Guests took off their shoes to tour the mosque and later entered a colorful marketplace to purchase food and crafts from Muslim countries, including Egypt, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sudan and Syria. The Washington Report’s Middle East Books and More joined up with American Palestinian Women’s Association (APWA) to introduce curious and receptive Americans to Palestinian food, olive oil, crafts and, with a little luck, politics as they took home sample copies of the magazine. 72
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Trade and Investment Opportunities in Oman
Lee Oppenheim described exciting business opportunities in Oman.
The Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman and the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development (ExportDC) teamed up on April 20 for a forum to introduce Americans to “Trade and Investment Opportunities in Oman” at the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center in Washington, DC. The Cultural Center’s executive director, Kathleen Ridolfo, described the mission of the center, which began educating Americans 11 years ago, offering scholarships to study Arabic and fellowships at U.S. universities. Ridolfo gave a brief history of “the home of Sinbad the Sailor,” emphasizing that Oman has always been tolerant, open to other cultures, peaceful and stable. After Sultan Qaboos ascended to the throne in 1970, he spent the next 40 years transforming his country and educating his people until they became a highly skilled workforce. Omani hospitality, traditions and diverse topography make the nation a popular tourist destination. Shireen Said, commercial attaché at the Embassy of Oman, told the audience that her country is the size of Arizona, JUNE/JULY 2016
with 1,000 miles of coastline and a population of 3.8 million. Oman is developing all kinds of projects, from global shipping and fisheries to oil and gas. The government also has undertaken transportation projects, and is working to improve infrastructure and water access. Naomi Wiegler, international trade specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce, promised investors they’d have a partner if they come to Oman. Our relationship with Oman goes back more than 200 years, she noted, and this year the U.S. signed a major technology cooperation agreement. Lee Oppenheim develops franchises for Precision Tune Auto Care and said that so far they’ve opened 260 stores in the U.S. and 330 centers in seven countries. Omanis have 1 million vehicles and 56,000 kilometers of roads, and the country has been a great location to build 20 franchise stores. It takes two years to train each new franchise participant, Oppenheim said, but Omanis and other Gulf states are still knocking at their door wanting to open up more franchises. There is an expanding market for all kinds of businesses in Oman, he concluded. —Delinda C. Hanleyr
Music & Arts
The Morning They Came for Us Puts Faces on the Syrian War
Janine di Giovanni, the Middle East editor of Newsweek, provides an “unflinching account” of the conflict in Syria and its impact on Syrian lives in her new book, The Morning They Came for Us (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). The award-winning journalist, also a contributing editor of Vanity Fair, who has reported on many wars, spoke at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on May 11. “It’s a harrowing read,” Carnegie moderator Perry Cammack admitted, as he asked di Giovanni about the toll reporting on the Syrian war took on her. “After the Bosnian war I swore I’d never live through another war that
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Janine di Giovanni discusses her book,The Morning They Came for Us.
would consume me,” she answered. She was a young reporter living in Sarajevo during the siege, determined to give a voice to the Bosnian people and make a dent in U.S. policy. “Martha Gellhorn, who’s one of my heroes, once said, ‘You can only love one war. The rest is responsibility.’ I went on to cover many, many, many wars after that,” the journalist said, but the war in Syria also became her war. Di Giovanni admitted that when she first started covering the war in Syria, sneaking across the borders and passing as a Syrian woman, she felt the way “you do when you’re getting into a dangerous relationship”—but she couldn’t stop. “This was a war against civilization, and the public wasn’t paying enough attention,” she said. “It’s like a malaria fever that you get into your bloodstream. My friends urged me to stay detached but I couldn’t.” Readers will also become attached to the people on both sides of the war they’ll meet in her book. They’ll meet Hussain, brutally tortured by doctors, recovering in a rehab center in Homs. “How will he go back and fit into life when he recovers?” di Giovanni wondered. Or Miriam, di Giovanni’s gov-
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ernment handler, who bravely accompanies her to horrific places and begins to have her doubts about her own politics. War is never black or white, and the soldiers and their victims are not good or bad, readers may conclude after reading The Morning They Came for Us. —Delinda C. Hanley
Palestinian Films a Hit at Filmfest DC
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Filmfest DC celebrated its 30th anniversary from April 14-24, showing steller films, documentaries and shorts repreAfter the screening of ”3000 Nights,” Mai Masri signs an autograph for a student who said senting the best cinema from around the he wants to be a filmmaker like her. globe. “The Idol” (“Ya Tayr El Tayer”), Masri’s other features include “33 of al-Zeeb, in the Akka district near an Isbased on the true story of Mohammad Assaf, the Gazan winner of "Arab Idol," Days” (2007), “Children of Shatila” raeli settlement called Naharia. They had won the Best Feature Award. The film, in (1998), “Wild Flowers: Women of South excellent relations with their Jewish Arabic with English subtitles, was di- Lebanon” (1986) and “Under the Rubble” neighbors, she said, inviting them to their —Delinda C. Hanley weddings and selling them fish and fruits rected by Palestinian Hany Abu-Assad, (1983). from their orchards. More than half the whose previous films, “Paradise Now” Exiled Palestinians Tell Arabs in Palestine were killed or exand “Omar,” were nominated for AcadAmericans About the Nakba pelled, their homes leveled during alemy Awards. “3000 Nights” (“3000 Layla”), directed Mariam Fathallah, an 86-year-old great- Nakba (the Catastrophe) in 1948. She by Mai Masri, won a Special Jury Award. grandmother known as Umm Akram, and told harrowing stories of how a few peoThis U.S.-educated Palestinian film- Amena Ashkar, the granddaughter and ple survived the bloodbath. Umm Akram escaped to Lebanon with maker, who also directed the documen- great-granddaughter of other Nakba surtary “Beirut Diaries,” told the audience vivors, traveled across the U.S. from her family, and for the past 68 years has that she researched the condition of April 3 to June 5 on the Nakba Tour. lived in Ein El Helwah refugee camp, Palestinian women in Israeli prisons and They came to Potter’s House in Wash- southeast of the port city of Sidon. She based this film on a real woman blended ington, DC on April 25 to tell their stories. has raised three generations in a with others she interviewed. Layla Umm Akram was 18 when she was crowded refugee camp, lived through (Maisa Abd Elhadi) is thrown into a po- forced to flee her beloved seaside village five Israeli invasions of Lebanon, as well as the 1976 Tel al-Zaatar lice van on a rainy night camp massacre that killed and then inexplicably conmore than 2,000 refugees. victed of helping a young (Listen to Umm Akram tell Palestinian she picked up her remarkable story on hitchhiking. We never youtube.com.) know what that boy was Amena Ashkar, 23, transcharged with! Layla gives lated for Umm Akram and birth, chained to a bed in told the audience what it’s prison. Viewers are spelllike to grow up in refugee bound watching the intercamps. She also described action between Palestintheir mixed receptions as ian political prisoners and they spoke across the U.S, Israeli criminals and waron the tour sponsored by dens. Filmed in Jordan, The Free Palestine MovePalestinians—some of ment, International Solidarthem former prisoners ity Movement-Northern Calthemselves—play both ifornia and al-Awda PalesPalestinians and Israelis. tine Right to Return CoaliIn Arabic and Hebrew, with English subtitles. Amena Ashkar (l) and Umm Akram describe a lifetime waiting to go home. tion. —Delinda C. Hanley 74
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of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) initiative. And why does Danon refer to “IsraeliArab” negotiations instead of IsraeliPalestinian negotiations? Palestinians are, for the most part, an Arab people, but they are a separate people who have inhabited Palestine for many centuries and have hopes and aspirations of their own apart from other Arab countries. Doris Rausch, Columbia, MD
TOURING ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS
NETANYAHU’S PHONY PEACE TALKS
To the Los Angeles Times, April 29, 2016 Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, writes that “the modern history of Israeli-Arab peace-making has taught us that only direct negotiations between the two sides can actually achieve results.” (“Israel's U.N. ambassador: Direct diplomacy is the only way to peace,” Opinion, April 25) Exactly the opposite is true. Past peace “processes” have resulted in Israel confiscating even more Palestinian land. Nothing positive has ever happened for Palestinians. Yes, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has “extended himself…in his pursuit of direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority,” but he has also said that he would never allow a Palestinian state. So what is the point of negotiations except to pretend that something positive is being done? Palestinians would be insane to subject themselves to yet another peace “process.” Their only hope appears to be with the United Nations and the success JUNE/JULY 2016
To The Washington Post, April 22, 2016 Regarding the April 18 front-page article “Israeli settlers see tourism as a new route to legitimacy.” Israel’s propaganda machine has reached a new low in using tourism to try to humanize the settlements that violate international law and U.S. policy. The article ignored the Palestinians displaced from their land to make way for the settlements. I’ll bet that the evangelical Christians targeted by Israel are not told that the communities they are visiting are segregated. Nor are they told that Palestinian Christians are evicted just as fast as Palestinian Muslims, and with no more due process, to make way for the settlers. As an American Jew whose parents and grandparents were the victims of land covenants, I am ashamed of what Israel is doing to Palestinians in my name. A few fancy tours and wine tastings don’t change the horrors of occupation. Seth Morrison, Arlington, VA
PALESTINIAN YOUTH ENVOY NEEDED
To the Corvallis Gazette-Times, May 12, 2016 Palestinian children in the West Bank, like adults, are subject to arrest, prosecution and imprisonment under an Israeli military detention system that denies them basic rights. Israeli Jews, on the other hand, living in illegal settlements on Palestinian land, are subject to Israeli civilian laws, complete with all the protections one would expect in a democracy. This constitutes “separate and unequal” policies. The U.S. State Department's human rights report (2013) states that these military courts have a 99 percent conviction rate for Palestinians. UNICEF reports that for Palestinian children, ill-treatment within the Israeli military detention sys-
tem is “widespread, systematic, and institutionalized.” Five hundred to 700 Palestinian children are processed in Israeli military courts each year. A Defense for Children International–Palestine inquiry found that during and after an arrest, 75 percent of Palestinian children were subjected to physical violence, with 97 percent denied access to legal counsel and had no parent with them during interrogation. This treatment is in defiance of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Israel ratified in 1991. For these reasons and others, U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota is calling on President Obama to appoint a special envoy for Palestinian youth. She's written to all members of Congress asking them to co-sign her letter and she's asking all of us to urge them to do it. It's easy to do at the website, “No Way to Treat a Child” (Palestine), a project of American Friends Service Committee and Defense for Children International– Palestine. Gretchen Newlin, Corvallis, OR
FREE SPEECH AND ANTI-BDS BILLS
To The Columbus Dispatch, April 8, 2016 The recent editorial stand of the Columbus Dispatch against the BDS movement and [in support of] a bill recently introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives are a threat to democracy and freedom of speech. HB 476 would prohibit the state from contracting with for-profit entities that boycott or divest from Israel. More than two dozen bills and resolutions like this have been introduced at the national, state, and local levels. These bills are the result of a coordinated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists to suppress Palestine human rights activism in the U.S. These bills are an attempt to suppress the First Amendment right to free speech and are unconstitutional. They also threaten the rights of U.S. citizens to take collective action to address injustice. In a landmark 1982 decision in NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that boycotts and related activities to bring about political, social and economic change are political speech, occupying “the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values.” Ending the illegal occupation of Palestine and respecting the human rights of Palestinians is the way to peace and security for both peoples and in the best in-
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terest of Israel, Palestine and the United States. Connie Hammond, Columbus, OH
REP. ENGEL WRONG ON ISRAEL
To The Riverdale Press, April 21, 2016 In “Criticizing Israel, Bernie Sanders Highlights Split Among Jewish Democrats” (New York Times, April 15), Rep. Eliot Engel told The Times that Bernie Sanders’ comments on Israel during his debate with Hillary Clinton were “disgraceful and reprehensible” and added, “Maybe he feels like he has to bend over backwards because he’s Jewish.” Engel’s remark suggests that Sanders’ Jewish background compromises his political positions. This is a very basic antiSemitic slur. Furthermore, Engel’s dismissal of Sanders’ insistence that we “treat the Palestinian people with respect and dignity,” and that we acknowledge disproportionate force used by Israel in 2014, demonstrate that the congressman is completely blind to the suffering in Gaza. I urge my fellow residents of Engel’s district in the Bronx and Westchester to take note of their congressman’s reactionary words. I would also like to inform them that I will be challenging Mr. Engel for his congressional seat as an independent in the upcoming election. Akiva Zamcheck, New York, NY
U.S. ROLE IN GLOBAL ARMS TRADE
To The New York Times, May 24, 2016 Re: “Block the Sale of Warplanes to Nigeria” (editorial, May 18):
As the National Rifle Association and the gun manufacturers are to the United States, the United States is to the world. Can we not stop selling death to other countries, whether democratic or not? And how can we hope for a less violent America when America peddles weapons across the planet? Alexandra Moddat, Orford, NH
ENDLESS WARS CREATE REFUGEES
To The Gazette (of Cedar Rapids, IA), May 2, 2016 The scope of the refugee crisis is incomprehensible. Scenes of refugees from the Middle East are heartbreaking. We see that these displaced families are like our own families and we have compassion for the immense suffering and humiliation these millions endure. We contribute dollars to refugee assistance, attend benefits, participate in walkathons and criticize public officials when they seek to blame the victim. However, until we recognize and admit that war is the principal reason for the refugee crisis, we will have failed to grasp the key to shortor long-term solutions. From Libya to South Sudan, from Yemen to Syria, from Iraq to Afghanistan, it is obvious to anyone wishing to see that war is the cause of this suffering. If war is not curtailed, refugee numbers and suffering will increase. We have spent almost 15 years and $1.7 trillion in military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we continue to bet on war as the solution. We sell cluster bombs to the Saudis and have started sending B-52 bombers to our bases in Qatar. Is there any lessons from the clanging of history here? As citizens of the U.S., we must call on our government to reverse course. We must renounce an exalted sense of American exceptionalism and stop seeking refuge in our fears. Ed Flaherty, Iowa City, IA
ACTION NEEDED ON REFUGEE CRISIS
To The Washington Post, April 28, 2016 I am grateful for the April 23 editorial “When will Europe end the drownings?,” especially the call for a “more humanitarian commitment to provide for those seeking refuge and to tackle the conflicts driving them from their homes.” My organization, the International Organization for Migration, has counted deaths on Mediterranean waters approaching
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9,000 men, women and children since the start of 2013. An update of IOM’s 2014 publication “Fatal Journeys” is due soon and will show that at least 55,000 migrants are known to have died along migratory routes between 1996 and 2015, plus the more than 1,200 who perished on Mediterranean routes just through the first four months of this year. We have said throughout this crisis that it’s inadequate to count the casualties. We also must insist on action: saving lives, demanding a cessation of hostilities and creating a coordinated humanitarian response to this continuing tragedy. William Lacy Swing, Geneva, Switzerland. The writer is director general of the International Organization for Migration.
$1 TRILLION FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS
To The Seattle Times, May 7, 2016 The Op-Ed by State Rep. Gael Tarleton and Joe Cirincione argued for cutting the massive U.S. nuclear arsenal to a smaller number of nuclear weapons. It stated, “If Washington state were a sovereign nation, it would be the third largest nuclear weapon state in the world.” The reason for this is the large number of nuclear weapons maintained at the submarine base at Bangor on the Hood Canal. The existence of such a large stockpile of nuclear weapons so close to Seattle and its immense destructive power should instill in all Washingtonians an abiding interest in seeing the world’s nuclear stockpile being reduced. The U.S. is about to embark on a $1 trillion upgrade to its nuclear arsenal. Investing so much tax money on these horrible weapons systems means they will likely be around for most or all of the 21st century. One can just imagine how $1 trillion of tax money could be used for more constructive purposes, such as infrastructure repair, research into cancer and other diseases and paying off student debt, among other uses. But the most pressing reason for demanding an end to all nuclear weapons in the world is the immense danger they pose to all life on earth. If these weapons are allowed to exist indefinitely, at some point they could be used—either because of madness, technical failure, or communication failure. The world can ill afford the threat they pose. Tom Krebsbach, Brier, WA ■ JUNE/JULY 2016
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cartoons_77_June/July 2016 Cartoons 5/26/16 11:49 AM Page 77
THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST
Daily Star, Beirut
The Economist, London
National Post, Toronto
www.OtherWords.org
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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B •O •O •K •S Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir
by Salman Abu Sitta, American University in Cairo Press, 2016, hardcover, 320 pp. List: $44.95; MEB: $38. The spirit of Dr. Salman Abu Sitta’s Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir mirrors precisely the dynamic will of its creator—in a word, sumoud, a compelling steadfastness to his homeland and to the right of return of every Palestinian. “It is the determined will of people that counts,” Abu Sitta writes. “It must of course be accompanied by vigorous planning and action. An iron will does not bend in the face of obstacles or challenges, failures or disappointments. These challenges only sharpen it. Its ultimate reward is to enforce justice, to return home.” Abu Sitta’s personal experiences, great intellect, moral rigor and totality of purpose confer authoritative soundness to
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Reviewed by Dr. Vacy Vlazna his part in Palestine’s modern history. Accounts such as Ilan Pappé ’s definitive history outlining Israel’s systematic crimes of the Nakba, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (available from Middle East Books an More), now, thanks to Abu Sitta, will be imbued with the flesh and breath of Palestinian truth and rights. Opening the door of the memoir, we step into and see, through the eyes of the 10year-old Salman, his birth place, the village of Ma’in in the Beersheba district, as yet pristine and undefiled by the Zionist scourge and anguished loss. It is a generous land that feeds well its people and their livestock. We join in the robust vitality of Palestinian village life, and listen to the poetic recitation of family histories by storytellers “who are the real source of our history.” Abu Sitta’s memoir is rich in this tradition, chronicling his family’s illustrious lineage of the Tarabin, “the largest, wealthiest, strongest tribe in southern Palestine,” extending into Egypt as far as Cairo. Abu Sitta’s father, Sheikh Hussein, a self-educated man who was “chief judge at the tribal court in Beersheba,” became a key player in the Palestinian national movement, ensuring that no land was sold to Jews and spurning collaboration with the British. Abu Sitta details the fateful impact of the arrival of European colonialism and documents the post-WWII departure of the British that shamefully abandoned the meagerly armed Palestinians to the wellarmed terrorist Haganah, Irgun and Stern militias. He
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
details the tragi-heroic resistance of villagers in the Beersheba district, doomed to join the surviving hoards of terrified Palestinians fleeing massacres, as at Burayr, Tantura and Deir Yassin, and death from 670 ethnically cleansed villages. At 11 years of age, young Salman and his family set up tents in Gaza alongside fellow “uprooted people, robbed of their land, but not of their identity and least of all family cohesion. Groups maintained their social structures, complete with the village mukhtars and sub-mukhtars.” Abu Sitta goes on to study in Egypt, the UK and Canada, later working in Kuwait, Iraq, Yemen, Canada and the UK. In the ’60s, the Royal Geographical Society library was the starting point of Abu Sitta’s journey of sleuthing maps and literature on Palestine before the Zionists savagely rent it to pieces “to wipe Palestine from memory.” Then came the challenge, over decades, of meticulously making Palestine whole again. Abu Sitta is a pragmatic visionary whose unwavering yearning for home has morphed into the Palestinian Land Society; his literal pièce de résistance is the phenomenal Atlas of Palestine, 1917-1966. He has devoted his life to preserving the integrity of the land of Palestine— past, present and future—in preparation for the certain return of all its stranded children: “We are creating a file for every village…Young architects are now working on the reconstruction of these destroyed villages to be built in the same locations with the same beautiful old features, but with modern amenities.” The outstanding feature of Dr. Salman Abu Sitta’s memoir, however, is its invitation to “meet” a true colossus of Palestinian sumoud. ■
Dr. Vacy Vlazna is coordinator of justice for Palestine Matters and editor of a volume of Palestinian poetry, I Remember My Name.
JUNE/JULY 2016
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Middle East Books and More Literature
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Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Pal estine and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Davis, Haymarket Books, 2016, paperback, 180 pp. List: $15.95; MEB: $14. In this new collection of essays, the famed scholar and activist examines power struggles against oppression the world over, tracing global histories of liberation. She uses these insights to focus on the two cases of Palestine and Ferguson, viewing them both as struggles against state terror and inspiring readers to take a stand for justice and freedom.
Being Palestinian: Personal Reflections on Palestinian Identity in the Diaspora by Yasir Suleiman, Edinburgh University Press, 2016, paperback, 370 pp. List: $29.95; MEB: $26. This groundbreaking new volume compiles the reflections of 201 Palestinians from various backgrounds living in North America and the UK on what it means in today’s society to be Palestinian. Exploring ideas of identity and homeland, this book is a welcome look at the Palestinian diaspora in the West.
The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches From Syria by Janine Di Giovanni, Liveright Books, 2016, hardcover, 206 pp. List: $25.95; MEB: $20. Award-winning journalist Di Giovanni has become well known for her reporting of the conflict in Syria for such outlets as Newsweek and The New York Times. In this pioneering work, she retells the story of the Syrian civil war through the intimate stories of a number of Syrians, including a student, a doctor and a nun. The result is a uniquely human perspective that provides insight into the war’s larger context and provides a fresh take on the plight of ordinary Syrians living through this ongoing violent struggle. A must read.
Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Back Bay Books, 2015, paperback, 378 pp. List: $17.99; MEB: $15. Despite being ordered released by a federal judge, Slahi has been held in the notorious Guantanamo prison since 2002 for unknown reasons, after being arrested in his home country of Mauritania. Early in his captivity, he began writing a diary, the results of which comprise the contents of this fascinating memoir. The result—even with more than 2,500 U.S. government redactions—is a powerful insight into the legal grey zone of Guantanamo.
The World the Settlers Made by Philip Weiss, Mondo weiss.net, 2016, paperback, 21 pp. List: N/A; MEB: $8. This eye-opening new report by the founder and editor of Mondoweiss is the culmination of his five-day journey through the settlements of Israel, documenting the worldview of one of the most controversial aspects of life in the occupied West Bank. Weiss aims to expose the flawed logic behind the settlement expansions and articulate the nuances of daily life within them.
War Against the People: Israel, the Palestinians and Global Pacification by Jeff Halper, Pluto Press, 2015, paperback, 340 pp. List: $30; MEB: $28. This latest book from the American-born author of An Israeli in Palestine (also available from MEB) is a brilliant analysis of “securitization” in the Israeli context, from domestic surveillance to police weaponry. Halper shows how “technologies of control” allow the occupation to continue so effectively, and highlights Israel’s contribution to these systems of domination worldwide.
Israel and South Africa: The Many Faces of Apartheid by Ilan Pappé, Zed Books, 2015, paperback, 374 pp. List: $29.95; MEB: $24. This collection of essays examines the now common but still controversial analogy of “apartheid” from the South African context to Israel, analyzing the true extent to which such a comparison can be made. Featuring contributions from Jonathan Cook, Ran Greenstein, Oren Ben-Dor and others, Israel and South Africa is a welcome contribution to a great moral discussion.
Gaza as Metaphor by Helga Tawil-Souri and Dina Matar, Hurst Books, 2016, paperback, 267 pp. List: $24.95; MEB: $20. Bringing together a diverse group of scholars, journalists and activists, Gaza as Metaphor is a hugely important new volume exploring the significance of Gaza as a space in which metaphors are both created and used to describe. By analyzing the spatial history of Gaza, the authors help the reader understand Gaza as a real and significant place whose fate is linked to larger stories of Palestine, the region and global dispossession.
The New Arab Wars: Uprisings and Anarchy in the Middle East by Marc Lynch, Public Affairs Books, 2016, hardcover, 384 pp. List: $26.99; MEB: $22. Since the 2011 “Arab Spring,” most states that underwent dramatic political change have shifted from optimism about renewed democracy to pessimism about resurgent authoritarianism, violence and chaos. Lynch bluntly but eloquently criticizes Western policymakers for horribly misreading the events of 2011 and their aftermath, delivering a stark condemnation of Western interference.
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In Memoriam
Continued from page 43
would be happy to apologize just as soon as the U.S. apologized to the Arabs for “putting Palestinians into bread-lines.” Former U.S. Sen. James G. Abourezk (D-SD), founder of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, wrote a fabulous article fondly describing his long-time friend’s verbal escapades, published in the March 2009 Washington Report, called, “Clovisizing America” (see the Washington Report home page, <www.wrmea.org>). Abourezk’s “mustread” article describes how Maksoud attained his talent for debate and “oratorical gymnastics” by speaking at the wellknown Oxford Union and London’s Hyde Park corner, confounding cynical audiences with his remarkable vocabulary and never using notes. After the 1973 war, Abourezk wrote, Maksoud was asked to comment on the outcome. “In every dimension,” Maksoud began, “metaphysically, psychologically, and transcendentally, the 1973 war was one of our most magnificent political victories...within the context of our military defeat.” Maksoud traveled across America articulating Arab grievances with U.S. foreign policy. In his trips around the world he spoke passionately to Arabs of panArab aspirations and Palestinian rights. He resigned from the Arab League in 1990, protesting the lack of pan-Arab (Advertisement)
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consensus and a vacuum in leadership. Following his diplomatic career, Dr. Maksoud served as professor of international relations and director of the Center for the Global South at American University in Washington, DC. He helped inaugurate Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. An audience member at one of the tireless diplomat’s speeches disagreed with Maksoud’s call for Palestinian civil disobedience. In Maksoud’s opinion, this would force the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas leadership in Gaza to unite against the Zionists. His critic said it was not fair to equate the PA with Hamas, and Maksoud told him, “I agree with the essence of your question, but I agree much more with the substance of my answer.” I will never forget his electrifying observations about the careless use of words during a brainstorming session after a talk I gave at the Al-Hewar Center in March 2013. “Israel is not an occupying power. It is a conquering power.” And, “Settlements should not be frozen. Settlements should be disbanded or dismantled. They’re illegal.” The most dangerous terminology of all, Maksoud warned, are the words “Jewish state.” “It’s outrageous to call for a single ethnic or racial nation in the 21st century,” he emphasized.
MANY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENTS
Fortunately, Maksoud’s large community of friends and admirers did not wait until after his death to show their appreciation for the contributions of this diplomat, journalist, author and educator. Among the many, many lifetime achievement awards bestowed on Ambassador Maksoud was one by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and another by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Maksoud and his wife, the late Dr. Hala Salaam Maksoud, were instrumental in the founding of ADC in 1980, and she served as ADC president from 1996 to 2001. He gave the Palestine Center’s prestigious “Hisham Sharabi Memorial Lecture” in 2014. The audience always rose to its feet with thunderous applause after his speeches.
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Last November, Maen Rashid Areikat, who represents the General Delegation of the PLO, presented Maksoud with the Order of the State of Palestine, the Star of Merit on behalf of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Incense and music from PalestinianAmerican virtuoso Simon Shaheen’s violin soared to the rooftops of Saint Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church at Ambassador Maksoud’s funeral service on May 19. Calling him a “champion of peace,” speakers talked about Maksoud’s life of service and tireless teaching. He was loved by so many people around the world. Georgetown University Professor Emeritus Michael Hudson said he’d known Maksoud for 40 years and always benefitted from his advice. “He was notorious for inventing new words,” Hudson recalled, and traveling in the Middle East with this “progressive Arab nationalist” was like traveling with a rock star. Carla Jazzar, chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of Lebanon, and Qatar’s Ambassador Mohamed Jaham Al Kuwari memorialized him in Arabic. Others shared their memories of Maksoud at the “Mercy Dinner” following his funeral. Imam Yahya Hendi, Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University, looked around the huge gathering and said, “His spirit is here. I see it everywhere,” calling Maksoud “the largest flower in the Arab garden.” Former ADC president Albert Mokhiber invited others to share memories, stories and poetry. Abourezk sent a letter lamenting the fact that he has now lost three of the best friends in his life. Ralph Nader challenged mourners to establish a meaningful tribute to Maksoud. Lisette Mondello, his daughter by his first wife, Rosemary Curry, vowed to try to carry on his legacy. “Clovis Maksoud was an only child,” she said. “I was an only child. My son is an only child. Tonight I’ve felt like I have a huge family.” She spoke for everyone who mourned Maksoud, who was a favorite uncle, brother, mentor and good friend to all. ■ JUNE/JULY 2016
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O• B • I • T • U • A • R • I • E • S Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, 95, a highranking Pakistani official, died Jan. 26 of unknown causes in Islamabad, Pakistan. Khan began his career serving with the British Indian Army in North Africa during World War II. He was captured by Axis powers and held prisoner for three years before his eventual release. After his military service, he was appointed ambassador to numerous countries, including France and the United States. Khan is perhaps most known for serving as Pakistan’s foreign minister from 1982 to 1997. Among his many accomplishments are his involvement in the Agha Khan University, his role in negotiating the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and his diplomatic negotiations in the 1977 Hanafi siege in Washington, DC.
Compiled by Kevin A. Davis
iban, Ahmed’s father died and the young boy took up arms to aid the Afghan government. He was controversially decorated as a war hero by the Afghan government, a ceremony which was wellpublicized, making him an immediate target for the Taliban. As a result, he was shot while running errands in a local market. His death has come to symbolize the questionable role of children in both sides of the conflict and focuses attention on human rights abuses in Afghanistan.
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, 93, an Egyptian politician and former U.N. secretary-general, died Feb. 16 of a broken pelvis in Cairo. A Coptic Christian, he was born in Cairo in 1922. His grandfather, Boutros Ghali, was prime minister of Egypt when he was assassinated in 1910. BoutrosWasil Ahmed, 10, an Afghan war hero, Ghali studied at Cairo University, The Uniwas assassinated by the Taliban in versity of Paris and Sciences Po in Paris, Tarinkot, Afghanistan on Feb. 3. During a earning a Ph.D. in international relations. 43-day government siege against the Tal- He then taught at Cairo University, University of Paris, Columbia Uni(Advertisement) versity and the Hague Academy of International Law. He served as Egypt’s foreign minister and deputy foreign minister under President Anwar Sadat, and played a key role in the negotiations between Egypt and Israel. Elected U.N. secretary-general in 1991, he dealt with such crises as the Speaker: Homayra Ziad, Ph.D., genocide in Rwanda, the Angolan civil war and the Scholar of Islam, ICJS.Org breakup of Yugoslavia. Although nominated for a second term, his election was vetoed by the United States.
Coming September 2016 21st Annual New Mexico Muslim Women’s Association Retreat
native of Kansas, Lill served in the Army from 1943-1946 before studying at the University of Kansas. In 1954, he accepted an appointment with the Foreign Service. In the ensuing 25 years he served in Palermo, Beirut, Baghdad and Vienna. Lill was a great friend and supporter of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Michael Ratner, 72, an attorney and former president of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), died May 11 of cancer. Most noted for the Rasul v. Bush case, which he filed on behalf of Guantanamo Bay prisoners against the U.S. government, he argued before the Supreme Court that detainees had a constitutional right to have their cases heard in U.S. courts. He also filed for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the Abu Ghraib scandal, sued the Bush administration in an attempt to end the Gulf war, and sued the Clinton administration to stop the bombing of Kosovo. Ratner was also the author of numerous books and articles on human rights. ■ (Advertisement)
Dar al Islam Abiquiu, New Mexico For more information:
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Joe Lill, 95, a retired U.S. foreign service officer, died March 4 in Arlington, VA. A WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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AET’s 2016 Choir of Angels
Following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1, 2016 and May 11, 2016 is making possible activities of the tax-exempt AET Library Endowment (federal ID #52-1460362) and the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Some Angels helped us co-sponsor the March 18 conference, “Israel’s Influence: Good or Bad for America?” We are deeply honored by their confidence and profoundly grateful for their generosity.
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Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, Atlanta, GA Amin Almuti, Orinda, CA Peter Beck, Accokeek, MD Dr. Andrew Borland, Seattle, WA Gregory De Sylva, Rhinebeck, NY Joseph & Angela Gauci, Whittier, CA Nabil Haddad, North Wales, PA Delinda C. Hanley, Kensington, MD Mr. & Mrs. John Hendrickson, Albuquerque, NM Jonathan Hill, Northfield, MN Dr. Marwan Hujeij, Cincinnati, OH William C. Hunt, Somerset, WI Charles Kennedy, Newbury, NH Paul N. Kirk, Baton Rouge, LA Anthony Mabarak, Grosse Pointe Park, MI Tahera Mamdani, Fridley, MN Bill & Jean Mansour, Corvallis, OR William McAuley, Chicago, IL Stanley McGinley, The Woodlands, TX Joseph Najemy, Worcester, MA
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A Hazara Afghan boy smiles in Daykundi, one of Afghanistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 34 provinces. Its capital, Nili, is located about 190 miles west of Kabul. SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images