Washington Report - November/December 2016 - Vol. XXXV, No. 7

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ISRAEL TO GET $38 BILLION IN U.S. MILITARY AID

DISPLAY UNTIL 12/26/2016

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From building schools to irrigating farms, you can create a lasting impact across Palestine and Lebanon.

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TELLING THE TRUTH FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS...

Volume XXXV, No. 7

On Middle East Affairs

INTERPRETING THE MIDDLE EAST FOR NORTH AMERICANS

✮

November/December 2016

INTERPRETING NORTH AMERICA FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

THE U.S. ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE

8 10

Newspeak, Netanyahu-Style: Portraying Israeli Ethnic Cleansers as Victims—Jonathan Cook

12 16

Dispatch From Inside the Signing Ceremony for the $38 Billion U.S.-Israel MOU—Grant F. Smith

The $38 Billion “Understanding”—Three Israeli Views —Amos Harel, Ora Coren, Gideon Levy A Taste of Democracy Has Whetted the Appetite of Gaza’s Young Would-Be Voters—Mohammed Omer

65

The Shimon Peres Palestinians Can’t Forget —Yousef Munayyer

Congress and the 2016 Elections

20 21 22

Palestine and the Democratic Party Platform —Dale Sprusansky

Every Voice Matters in This Election—Delinda C. Hanley New MOU Gives Israel $3.8 Billion Per Year, An Increase of $200 Million—Shirl McArthur

SPECIAL REPORTS

26

30

18

25

Afghanistan—Fool’s War—Eric S. Margolis

Syria—What Cost “Victory”?—Graham E. Fuller

28

Postcard From Cyprus—Jonathan Gorvett

The Best Man Won: António Guterres Elected New U.N. Secretary-General—Ian Williams

33

Indonesian Ulema Takes Stand Against Forest Burning—John Gee

’Tis the Season for Charitable Giving: A Washington Report Compendium—Compiled by Emily Neil

See story p. 26.

ON THE COVER: The children of Mohammad Azam, a Pakistani driver killed in a May 21 U.S. drone strike that killed Taliban

leader Mullah Akthar Mansour, hold a photograph of their late father while standing outside the house of their uncle Mohammad Qasim in the Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan, May 30, 2016.

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

Analysis: $38B Israel Aid Deal Is Political Boon for Binyamin Netanyahu—and Barack Obama, Nathan Guttman, The Forward

How Far Are We From War With Russia Over Syria?, Eric S. Margolis, www.ericmargolis.com

OV-7

Getting Fooled on Iraq, Libya, Now Russia, Robert Parry, www.consortiumnews.com

OV-8

OV-1

Has Israel Effectively Colonized the United States?, Badruddin Khan, www.counterpunch.org

OV-3

Turkey’s Intentions in Iraq and the Battle for Mosul, Robert Olson, http://lobelog.com

OV-11

The High Cost of Security, Gideon Levy, Le Monde diplomatique

OV-4

Ten Countries Host Half of World’s Refugees: Report, Al Jazeera, www.aljazeera.com OV-12

Occupation of Palestine Continues to Fuel Mina Al-Oraibi, http://lobelog.com

OV-5

Bibi Backs Trump—on Putin, Patrick J. Buchanan, Creators Syndicate, Inc.

DEPARTMENTS 5 Publishers’ Page

6 letters to the editor

35 other PeoPle’s Mail

37 the World looks at the

Middle east — CARtoons

38 arab aMerican activisM:

ADC Conference: “Inspiring Change

through Action”

47 MusliM aMerican activisM:

Poll Reveals American Catholics Are Wary of Islam

48 Music & arts: Zarqa nawaz and

Laughing All the Way to the Mosque

55 huMan rights: AnERA Annual Dinner Highlights tending Roots,

Bearing Fruit

OV-6

In Challenge Lies Opportunity, The Elders, http://theelders.org

OV-12

The Balkan Muslims, Jean-Arnault Derens & Laurent Geslin, Le Monde diplomatique

OV-14

56 Waging Peace: sJP-Rutgers Hosts Dr. Mahmoud Alhirthani and Miko Peled 60 book revieW: Missing Man: the American spy Who Vanished in Iran —Reviewed by Dale Sprusansky

In preparation for the holiday season, Middle East Books and More director Nathaniel Bailey unpacks some of the hundreds of pieces of Palestinian pottery ordered from Fakhoury Pottery in Jerusalem. Washington Report readers and supporters contributed some $13,000 to help defray the costs of the $20,000 pottery order, and we thank them for their generosity, which we know will be appreciated far and wide.

61 Middle east books and More 62 obituaries 63 2016 aet choir oF angels 9 indeX to advertisers

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

Conflict in Middle East,

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Soon We Will Know...

American Educational Trust

Who our next president will be. At press time—less than three weeks before the Nov. 8 election—polls seem to favor Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton. Does this mean we will soon be at war with Syria—and perhaps Russia?

The former secretary of state has a history of backing U.S. military intervention. The invasion of Iraq, which she supported, and the overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, which she oversaw, created a power vacuum which ISIS has been only too happy to fill. Meanwhile, as Eric Margolis notes on p. 25, the longest war in American history is entering its 16th year, with no end in sight. Should Clinton be elected president, Americans who want to end the killing and the devastating refugee crisis will…

Have Our Work Cut Out for Us.

It’s hard to know what to say regarding her Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump.

While he has had some rational foreign policy positions—withdrawing U.S. troops from overseas, for example, insisting that our allies (including Israel?) pay for their own defense, and being a “neutral” mediator between Israel and Palestine—his changing opinions on these and other subjects and overall unpredictability make us especially glad this year that the Washington Report’s policy is to…

Not Endorse Any Candidate.

Instead we will continue to provide Americans with the news and analysis they cannot get from their mainstream media—including The New York Times and Washington Post—so that voters are informed long before they go to the polls and have the chance to vote for a candidate who will…

Truly Represent Them.

Our Upcoming Conference…

“The Israel Lobby and American Policy,” co-sponsored with the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep), is NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Publishers’ Page

Knowing that winter rain and dropping temperatures will make life as a refugee even more miserable this coming winter season, we put together some suggestions for your “Charitable Giving” this year. We didn’t include the American Educational Trust (that’s us!) to this list because ’tis the season to…

Think About Others! another way we bring essential information and analysis to the American public. You’ll definitely want to join us at the National Press Club on March 24, 2017—just days before AIPAC’s annual policy conference rolls into town and American officials rush to pay tribute to “America’s Pro-Israel Lobby,” as AIPAC now descibes itself. Is that new moniker, we wonder…

Supposed to Sound Cuddly?

Each year attendees tell us that our conference is the best they’ve ever been to, and we want to continue that tradition! But we need your help to do so. Not only does that require months of planning, but it takes money to bring our fabulous speakers to Washington—some from overseas—pay for their lodging, rent the National Press Club’s ballroom and Holeman lounge, fund student scholarships, etc., etc., etc.

You Get the Idea.

It’s especially important to get support in the early stages, so that we can reach for the stars, so to speak! So please visit the conference website, <http://IsraelLobbyAnd AmericanPolicy.org> for information on how to donate—and register. (We want to see you there!) Meanwhile, order the DVD of our 2016 conference, “Israel’s Influence: Good or Bad for America?” (or purchase all three DVDs from each conference—such a deal) from AET’s Middle East Books and More (see book list insert). It will help you get through the…

Long Months Until March 24!

Pottery, Olive Oil, Books and More.

Thanks to your donations we were able to purchase tons of new pottery from Jerusalem with gorgeous designs, along with embroidery from Gaza and refugees in Lebanon—not to mention books—just in time for conference season and Christmas!

In fact our booth at the recent Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s conference (see story next issue) nearly ran out of pottery thanks to members of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America who were meeting on the same floor!

Introducing a Refugee Pop-Up

We can’t resist a shout out for the new Syrian refugee temporary “Pop-Up” store right next door to Middle East Books and More (we share the same landlord—us)! It’s the brain-child of Diana Richards and Alex McDonald (see photo), who convinced Victoria Sams to rent a U-Haul and, along with four other vehicles and volunteers, hauled furniture from a Holiday Inn going out of business on Wisconsin Ave., as well as clean, unclaimed clothes left behind at The Georgetown Valet cleaners. All the coats were immediately sent to refugees recently settled in Maryland. Now we hope university students will staff the store and help us make incoming refugees feel welcome.

We’ve talked to people at nearby churches who have “adopted” refugee families. Send us your stories and ideas so we can share them. Together, we will...

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 NATHANIEL BAILEY CHARLES R. CARTER RALPH U. SCHERER RICHARD H. CURTISS (1927-2013)

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (ISSN 8755-4917) is published 7 times a year, monthly except Jan./Feb., March/April, June/July and Aug./Sept. combined, at 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 200091707. Tel. (202) 939-6050. Subscription prices (United States and possessions): one year, $29; two years, $55; three years, $75. For Canadian and Mexican subscriptions, $35 per year; for other foreign subscriptions, $70 per year. Periodicals, postage paid at Washington, DC and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056.

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LetterstotheEditor

CLARIFYING TERMINOLOGY

I believe we must improve the language we use regarding the Palestinian-Israeli matter. The most common error is to refer to it as a “war.” But that phase of the struggle was over long ago. Now the heart of the matter is equal rights for the Palestinians. Continuing to refer to it as a “war” leads to more fruitless “peace processes” that the Zionists drag out endlessly by disingenuously demanding the complete end to Palestinian resistance while they continue to expand their settlements. That, of course, buys them more time to extend their colonization. “Peace processes” between these parties is as nonsensical as peace negotiations between our slaves and their masters would have been.

Sometimes your fine magazine also uses “war terminology” in this context. For example, in the Aug./Sept. 2016 issue, Ramzy Baroud refers to Israel's “siege” on Gaza. (Better terms might be “ghettoizing” or “imprisonment” of Gaza.) And Paul Pillar advocates for “Palestinian Peace” and “…resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” which also are off the mark. (“Palestinian justice” and “…ending Israeli aggression” are more to the point.)

Such terminological imprecision apparently reflects confused thinking on the issue and is pretty widespread among Palestinian supporters. Jewish Voice for Peace, for one, might better be called “Jewish Voice for Justice.” After all, Zionists also want peace, but without justice.

Does JVP really share common ground with them? Clarifying terminology can only reduce public confusion, and improve progress, on this issue.

Gregory DeSylva, Rhinebeck, NY Thank you for pointing out the importance of language. Not only does “terminological imprecision” reflect confused thinking, we would suggest, but it also results in such thinking. Language is a potent weapon, in other words—to the point where we often find ourselves fed up with “peace”! Palestinians not only deserve equal rights, but human rights as well.

“TRIBUTE,” NOT “AID”

While a New York Times editorial has criticized the amount of Washington’s $38 billion tribute-payment commitment to Israel as being “too big,” numerous voices in Israel and the U.S. Congress have criticized it as being too small.

In the World Bank’s per capita income

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

rankings for 2015, Israel is ranked no.

29, higher than a majority of the member states of the European Union.

Such a wealthy country does not need “aid” in any amount. The payments made to it by another country whose government it effectively controls can more accurately be characterized as “tribute.”

Dictionary definitions of “tribute” include “a payment made periodically by one state or ruler to another, especially as a sign of dependence,” “a payment in money or other valuables by one ruler or nation to another in acknowledgment of submission,” and “a stated sum or other valuable consideration paid by one sovereign or state to another in acknowledgment of subjugation.”

It is clearly more appropriate and accurate to describe the payments made pursuant to the Israeli-American “special relationship” as “tribute” than as “aid.”

John V. Whitbeck, Paris, France As Badruddin Khan asks in an article in this issue’s “Other Voices” supplement, “Has Israel Effectively Colonized the United States?” Clearly Israel wants Washington to know that the answer is yes, but wants to hide the truth from those footing the bill—American taxpayers.

“IRREVERSIBLE” FROM THE GET-GO

Some comments on Allan C. Brownfeld’s October article (“As Prominent Israelis Say the Occupation Is ‘Irreversible,’ U.S. Plans Massive New Aid”).

Before he became first prime minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion declared, “The Arabs will have to go. We will drive them out and take their place. We will expand and obliterate Palestine.” Little by little, Israel is coming close to achieving his objectives. After each extension of the settlements our State Department responds with anemic protests such as “corrosive to the cause of peace,” “counterproductive” or “unhelpful.” Does their vocabulary exclude words like egregious, outrageous or flagrant? With the inevitability of gradualness, occupation becomes irreversible.

The statement in Dotan’s film “The Settlers” that the “Jewish terrorists emerged in the last 30 years” is underestimated by over 50 percent. During the mid-1940s I was a staff officer participating in Britain’s thankless peacekeeping task in the Holy Land. We whose fathers had liberated NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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vast Arabic areas from four cencopies. Each teacher got at least KEEP THOSE CARDS AND LETTERS turies of Ottoman domination in two different issues and some COMING! 1917 were targets of verbal abuse teachers got three (I had some Send your letters to the editor to the Washington from Arabs for letting in too many extra copies left over from anReport, P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009 Jews. And we, whose governother event in addition to the or e-mail <letters@wrmea.org>. ment was the first to take up arms copies you sent). A teacher against the perpetrators of the came up to me at the break and Holocaust, were assaulted with time your dedicated efforts—gratifying evi- said she was going to put the magazines bombs by Zionist extremists because we dence that momentum is moving in the on the “reading table” in her classroom, were restricting Jewish immigration to the right direction! which is where students can pick up League of Nations-mandated limit. They reading materials and if they write a remurdered hundreds of my colleagues and TEACHERS’ WORKSHOP A port on an article, they get extra credit. assassinated a United Nations mediator, SUCCESS Thank you for helping us provide this Count Folke Bernadotte, for being too great experience to the teachers.

I wish you could have seen our workshop even-handed.

Vicki Tamoush, via e-mail These atrocities were orchestrated by today for teachers, “Learning about Islam We are proud to be a resource for your Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin, and the Arab World.” We had 49 teach- annual workshops in Los Angeles for Kwho proudly claimed, autobiographically, ers—the full capacity of the room—and 12 teachers. The more teachers and stuthat he was “Terrorist No. 1,” though I there were also some teachers who tried dents who question the official narrative would say that label is more appropri- to register but will have to wait for next about Israel perpetrated by the mainately applied to his partner. Both of them year's sessions. They were asking inter- stream media, the less disinformation became prime ministers of Israel and, esting questions and were fully engaged, they will have to unlearn. unlike other terrorists, they were not ad- taking notes throughout the day. When monished by the U.S. government. They we came to the part where we reviewed A SENTIMENTAL REMINDER were showered with money and muni- the Washington Report with them and Thank you so much for sending a hard tions, enabling Israel to continue its pol- showed them the book catalog and all, I copy of the Jan./Feb. 1995 issue! I retold them that if they couldn't afford a quested it for a good friend of mine who icy of territorial aggrandisement. subscription for their classroom, I would had a letter to the editor published in that Horace Hone, West Palm Beach, FL It’s no surprise that Israel and the pay for it myself. We explained how this issue. Her name was withheld, but the United States have failed to ratify the magazine would provide the news stories letter was in regard to travel to Lebanon, which was banned at that point in time.

Rome Statute establishing the Interna- they could never get elsewhere.

It was your generosity that made all Her husband, now deceased, was tional Criminal Court. this possible and I want to thank you so Lebanese, and it was very frustrating for A TERRIFIC RESOURCE much for providing us with all those her to have such trouble traveling to Enclosed please find a check for Lebanon, especially when she $200. felt safer there than in her home Thank you once again for concity of San Francisco. tributing issues of your magazine Anyway, she had the magaOTHER VOICES is for our annual conference efforts. zine as a keepsake and sentian optional 16In 2016 UUJME had a robust mental reminder of her husband, presence at the General Assemand was sad because it had page supplement bly of the Unitarian Universalist gone missing after a move. She available only to Association in Columbus OH, spent several months unpacking where we proposed a Business and looking but still couldn't find subscribers of the Resolution regarding non-investit and assumed that it was lost.

Washington Report ment in corporations complicit in So hearing about how bummed human rights violations in the ocshe was I decided I would try to on Middle East cupied Palestinian territories. It find a copy to replace the original, Affairs. For an addiwon 55 percent of the delegate and I was so thrilled when your votes—a clear majority, but not staff offered to mail one! It was tional $15 per year the two-thirds super-majority very kind of you to respond so (see postcard insert needed for adoption. quickly, and my friend Kendra is As always your magazine was so pleased to have a replacefor Washington Report subscription rates), suba terrific resource to distribute at ment. scribers will receive Other Voices inside each no cost.

Romy Bauer, via email UUJME is very heartened by the It is our pleasure to be able to issue of their Washington Report on Middle East majority vote and is especially replace a treasured lost issue.

Affairs. grateful to the support of its allies.

It’s hard to remember that there We are gearing up for another year was a time when Americans Back issues of both publications are available. To of promoting our cause in the larger could not travel to Lebanon, and subscribe telephone 1 (888) 881-5861, fax (714) Unitarian Universalist community.

Israeli soldiers shot young PalesSusan E. Nye, Treasurer, Unitinians for simply carrying their 226-9733, e-mail circulation@wrmea. org>, or write tarian Universalists for Justice in national flag. While there’s so to P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. the Middle East, Cambridge, MA much yet to do, at least those Thank you for your letter and days are behind us. ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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The Nakba Continues

Newspeak, Netanyahu-Style: Portraying Israeli Ethnic Cleansers as Victims

Children of Jewish settlers play outside their home in the outlaw settlement of Amona, northeast of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Sept. 7, 2016. An Israeli court has ruled that the 40-some families living there must leave by Dec. 25.

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Binyamin Netanyahu has used one of his video postings on social media to launch an assault on the established definition in international law of “ethnic cleansing.”

He argued that a Palestinian demand to dismantle Jewish settlements amounted to the “ethnic cleansing” of some 650,000 Jews who are living illegally in the occupied territories.

“The Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: no Jews,” he said in the short video on Facebook on Sept. 9. “There’s a phrase for that: It’s called ethnic cleansing.”

Netanyahu’s immediate aim was not difficult to decipher. He hoped to place yet another obstacle in the way of Palestinian efforts to seek international backing for statehood. His move came in the face of mounting pressure separately from France and Russia for the Israeli government to re-engage in peace talks.

When Palestinian leaders call for a state free of armed, Jewishonly colonies breaking up any hope of Palestinian territorial conti-

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

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MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Jonathan Cook

guity, Netanyahu was effectively asserting, they should be labeled as ethnic cleansers.

Early indications were that Netanyahu’s rewriting of international law could win backing from the U.S. right—and potentially from the next U.S. administration, if Republican candidate Donald Trump is elected president in November.

Israel’s Haaretz daily quoted Trump adviser David Friedman agreeing with Netanyahu and accusing the Palestinians of planning to make any future state “judenrein”—the term Nazis used to mean “empty of Jews.”

“It is an entirely racist and anti-Semitic position,” Friedman added.

Amal Jamal, a politics professor at Tel Aviv University, said Netanyahu’s video should be understood as the flipside of his earlier precondition for peace talks: that the Palestinians recognize Israel as an exclusively Jewish state.

That demand was intended as a trap for the Palestinian leadership, said Jamal, especially given that Israel includes 1.7 million Palestinian citizens who already suffer rampant and institutionalized discrimina-

tion.

Although the demand for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state was initially derided, Washington has now included its acceptance by the Palestinian leadership as a core condition for peace talks.

In the new video, Netanyahu again exploited the existence of the large minority of Palestinians inside Israel to advance his right-wing agenda. He explicitly equated the settlers in the occupied territories with Israel’s Palestinian citizens, saying neither is “an obstacle to peace.”

The implication was that, should the Palestinian leadership insist on the settlers being “ethnically cleansed” from their illegal colonies, Israel would be justified in demanding tit-for-tat. If the settlers have to return to Israel, why not a population swap, with Israel’s Palestinian minority forced into the occupied territories?

At least, that was how Palestinian leaders in Israel understood the danger. Ahmed Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, wrote a commentary in response: “We are not Israeli settlers, Mr. Netanyahu…[We] are not foreign immigrants that came to Israel and applied for visas or citizenship…[We] are the indigenous population.”

Jamal said that Netanyahu’s claim would also help the prime

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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minister “set the domestic agenda” against political rivals on the far-right, such as Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, both of them identified with the settler movement.

Lieberman has repeatedly announced plans for land swaps that would redraw Israel’s recognized borders to move some Palestinian communities outside Israel in return for the annexation of the larger settlements.

“Neither Lieberman nor Bennett have gone as far as Netanyahu has now in suggesting that the evacuation of any settlement is ethnic cleansing,” Jamal said. “That will strengthen him with his power base on the right.”

Nonetheless, this new condition—that Jewish colonies be treated as untouchable—is diplomatically a high-risk strategy.

If, as Netanyahu claimed in the video, “societies that demand ethnic cleansing don’t pursue peace,” what does that say about Israel, a state founded on the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948?

Chemi Shalev, an analyst with Haaretz, noted: “After years that Israel has toiled to prevent the loaded term ‘ethnic cleansing’ from entering the Israeli-Palestinian lexicon, Netanyahu is now pushing it in himself, through the front door.”

As a counter-video hurriedly produced by the Palestinian Authority pointed out, Israel’s founding fathers spoke out repeatedly in favor of ethnic cleansing.

Extending Netanyahu’s logic, another commentator in Haaretz observed that, if Jews had an inviolable right to live on Palestinian land, why should Palestinians expelled in 1948 not have an equivalent right to live in their former homes now inside Israel, in cities like Haifa and Jaffa?

Netanyahu’s claim shone an embarrassing light not only on Israel’s past crimes.

Palestinians are currently being driven off their land to allow for the expansion of Jewish-only settlements, with Israel demolishing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and in West Bank communities in the Hebron Hills and Jordan Valley.

It has been doing the same to Palestinian citizens inside Israel. The homes of 1,000 Bedouin residents of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev are about to be demolished so that NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

an exclusively Jewish town—also called Hiran—can be built in their place.

In short, ethnic cleansing—of the kind defined by international law—is very much an ongoing project by Israel.

Then there is the matter of the United States, Israel’s Daddy Warbucks. Netanyahu chose to issue his video in English, indicating that it was intended for a foreign as much as a domestic audience.

Publicly, the Obama administration called Netanyahu’s comments “inappropriate and unhelpful.” Behind the scenes, the White House was variously reported to be “seething” and “livid.”

That was entirely predictable. In the video, Netanyahu stated that “some otherwise enlightened countries even promote this outrage [of ethnic cleansing of Jews].”

AN ATTACK ON WASHINGTON

It was hard not to read this as an attack on Washington. U.S. President Barack Obama spent his first term trying unsuccessfully to force Netanyahu to freeze settlement expansion, and has regularly called the settlements an impediment to peace.

In August U.S. officials were reported to have warned of a “harsh response” if Israel demolished Palestinian homes in the West Bank village of Susiya to make way for settler homes.

So why did Netanyahu choose this provocative course?

The video was certainly not a mistake. It is part of a strategy planned by Netanyahu’s foreign media spokesman, David Keyes. He was appointed in March after coming to prominence for controversial pro-Israel stunts on social media.

Netanyahu has issued eight such videos under Keyes’ direction, many of which have gone viral and are highly popular among his supporters, both in Israel and the U.S. The inspiration for the latest video appeared to be Frank Luntz, a high-profile consultant to the Republican Party and pro-Israel causes. Famously, he developed a document in 2009 advising Israel’s supporters on how best to make their case. Netanyahu’s ethnic cleansing claim is set out almost word for word at the top of page 62 as the most effective argument with Ameri-

can audiences.

The Trump campaign’s apparent endorsement of the Netanyahu video suggested that the Israeli prime minister might be reading the political climate in the U.S. correctly.

Jamal said that Netanyahu and his advisers intended to severely limit the terms of any future peace process. “Now anyone who demands the evacuation of settlements risks being accused of anti-Semitism,” he pointed out.

Jeff Halper, a founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, agreed that Netanyahu’s goal was to reframe the international community’s assumptions.

“Netanyahu is telling them that there are no more occupied territories and no more settlers,” he said. “He’s saying, ‘Israel won, and it is time to get used to the reality of a single state.’ This is the new normal and he wants the language and thinking of the international community to reflect that.”

Halper added that Netanyahu and the right expected “pushback.” “But their thinking is that if you ‘routinize’ talk of the settlers not as colonizers but as normal residents of Judea and Samaria [the Biblical terms for the West Bank], the idea of annexing large parts of the West Bank will over time no longer seem so outrageous.” ■

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Special Report

Dispatch From Inside the Signing Ceremony For the $38 Billion U.S.-Israel MOU

By Grant F. Smith

PHOTO G. SMTIH

private passageway, relieved of cell phones, and kept behind a rope line at the back of the room. Numerous State Department minders were on hand to keep the press in line.

It quickly became clear that pro-Israel activists made up the large contingent of the special guests. “I want you to meet…he’s from the Conference of Presidents! [of Major American Jewish Organizations]!” went one introduction. Jonathan Greenblatt, the new head of the AntiDefamation League, entered the room with quiet intensity, less effusive than his predecessor, Abraham Foxman, who headed the organization for 28 years before stepping down in 2015. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), ejected in Acting Israeli National Security Adviser Jacob Nagel (l) and U.S. Undersecretary of State Tom June amid controversy as chair of the DeShannon—both wearing U.S.-Israeli flag pins—during the Sept. 14 signing of the Memorandum mocratic National Committee, only to imof Understanding giving Israel $38 billion in U.S. military aid over a 10-year period. mediately be named Hillary Clinton’s honorary campaign chair, flitted among her numerous admirers across the Treaty Room. Only a handful of ON SEPT. 14, U.S. Undersecretary of State Tom Shannon and low-ranking uniformed military personnel were on hand, ignored Acting Israeli National Security Adviser Jacob Nagel signed a new by most of the special guests and mainly serving at the very end 10-year memorandum of understanding for $38 billion in U.S. milas props for an official photo opportunity. itary aid to Israel. A signing ceremony—described as “low-key” by After a perfunctory speech by Rice claiming an “unshakeable The Washington Post—was held in the State Department’s Treaty commitment to Israel’s security” and assertion that “our security is Room. Ceremonial protocol revealed not only why such a memolinked” without explaining how, and additional comments by randum of understanding (MOU) cannot be subjected to much Nagel, the MOU signatures were inked at a long table. The public scrutiny, but also the identities of the main constituencies leather portfolios passed between signatories seemed too thin to pushing for such aid in the face of growing opposition. contain the actual MOU. Shannon and Nagel cast what seemed The attendees were either State Department special guests to be almost furtive glances at the audience as press and State invited to fill the arced row of chairs in the Treaty Room, or memDepartment video cameras rolled and shutters snapped. bers of the news media responding to a last-minute notification The new MOU succeeds the George W. Bush administration’s posted on the State Department’s website. The rules for news 10-year (2009-2018) $30 billion MOU. Under that agreement, Ismedia were strictly enforced. There were to be no questions rael used 26.3 percent of its U.S. aid to build up its own domesasked of officials—such as Nagel or U.S. National Security Adtic export-oriented military industrial complex. It also used MOU viser Susan Rice—before or after their speeches. Reporters aid to purchase U.S. commodities such as military rations, diesel were also kept from asking questions of the many special guests and aviation fuel. Israel and its U.S. affinity organizations then who filed in from an elegant annex. They were marched from a lobbied and extracted hundreds of millions more from Congress Grant F. Smith is director of the Washington, DC-based Institute for each year in additional “short fuse” emergency funds for missile Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). View a database of Israel defense. The U.S. taxpayer shelled out $1.3 billion for Israel’s Affinity Organizations, 2012 revenues, employees, volunteers and forecast 2020 revenues at http://israellobby.org/bigisrael/ Iron Dome system, with additional ad hoc allocations for Israel’s 10

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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COURTESY IRMEP

mocrats, 59 percent of Independents and classification guidelines in 2012 mandating Arrow-3 and David’s Sling systems.

The complete contents of the George W. 40 percent of Republicans felt U.S. aid to criminal charges against any contractor or Bush MOU—like its Obama administration Israel was either “too much” or “way too federal employee who dares mention Issuccessor—remains a mystery. Neither much.” An IRmep poll fielded by Google rael’s nuclear weapons. Kirby followed the has been publicly released. The George Consumer Surveys immediately after the gag order to the letter. The huge, costly imW. Bush Presidential Library and Mu- MOU signing revealed that 80.8 percent of pact of the gag order on sunshine laws has seum—responding to a FOIA request— U.S. adults would rather spend the $38 bil- provided standing for a lawsuit challenging confirmed that the expiring MOU was “ap- lion pledged on higher priorities such as not only the gag order as illegal, but also all proximately 675 pages,” but shows no ea- caring for veterans (20.7 percent) or edu- U.S. aid to Israel (see October 2016 Washington Report, p. 18). gerness or haste to release it. The State cation spending (20.1 percent).

Many Israel lobby trumpets and mainOn Sept. 16 State Department SpokeDepartment has not responded to a FOIA request for the current MOU, which is likely sperson John Kirby responded to a re- stream media outlets claim the MOU is even lengthier and more complex, or for a porter’s persistent questions about the le- necessary for an Israel made vulnerable complete list of MOU ceremony invitees. gality of aid to Israel, given former Secre- by Iran, but this claim rings increasingly According to the MOU Fact Sheet released tary of State Colin Powell’s newly leaked hollow after Iran’s entry into an agreement that limits its nuclear by the White House, program. As the preIsrael will now be preeminent conventional vented from lobbying and nuclear force in Congress for additional the region, Israel is not missile defense aid, under any major may no longer spend threat. Some MOU opMOU dollars on components claim the aid modities such as fuel, is all the doing of a and the huge subsishadowy “military indization of Israeli milidustrial complex.” tary contractors will There is also little emgradually sunset. pirical support for this However, the MOU claim. Revenues of must still be funded by Congress. As an exec- Results of a statistically significant Google survey of 1,005 adults fielded Sept. 14-16, 2016. the top five U.S. military contractors were utive order mandating Foreign Military Financing, a Foreign Oper- e-mails confirming that Israel had over 200 $221 billion in 2015. Though more of the ations Appropriations Act must be passed nuclear weapons pointed at Tehran. MOU is earmarked to U.S. contractors, each year by Congress and signed into law Asked whether, under U.S. law, aid to Is- who purposefully spread manufacturing by the president before spending on new rael should be cut off since it is not a sig- across many congressional districts, the military hardware can commence. The ap- natory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation total MOU annual giveaway represents propriation is likely to be included in an om- Treaty, Kirby dodged and weaved, claim- less than 2 percent of the “top five’s” reving he was unware of and would not dis- enue and reveals why few can be found nibus spending bill in December.

Key members of Congress heavily sup- cuss the implications of such “e-mail traf- openly lobbying for it.

Through private petition-gathering and ported by pro-Israel donors and PACs, fic.” When pressed to comment on Israel’s have already proclaimed the MOU caps possession of nuclear weapons, Kirby fundraising appeals, the American Israel on addition funds “unconstitutional.” Re- stated, “I’m certainly not going to discuss Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and publican Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), matters of intelligence from the podium, other Israel affinity organizations reveal Kelly Ayotte (NH), John McCain (AZ) and and I’m not—I have no comment on that.” their role beyond that of honored guest at The concept that Israel’s nuclear MOU signing ceremonies. In fact, they are Ted Cruz (TX) have already rejected principle of limitations by filing measures to weapons program is an “intelligence mat- the primary force driving U.S. aid to Isprovide Israel with $1.5 billion in military ter”—rather than common knowledge long rael—which since 1948 has consumed in the public domain that should have pol- more of the U.S. foreign aid budget than aid in addition to MOU commitments.

Absent from legislative and executive icy implications—is a subterfuge that has any other country in the world. Absent the branch maneuvers is any consideration of been repeatedly used by U.S. administra- intense daily efforts of more than 300 U.S. broader U.S. public opinion about aid to Is- tions since Gerald Ford left office. The Israel affinity organizations employing rael. Pollster Shibley Telhami found in a Obama administration passed a secret gag 14,000 people, with annual revenues on March 2016 poll that 57 percent of De- order regulation under State Department Continued on p. 14 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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Three Israeli Views

The $38 Billion “Understanding”

DAVID SILVERMAN/GETTY IMAGES

tence of the Obama administration, the new agreement is “all-inclusive”—Israel has committed not to go behind the administration’s back to Congress to request more money.

Such additions, initiated by Congress and sometimes by the administration itself, have been awarded to Israel to fill the gaps caused by the 2014 Gaza war, to help develop technology to locate Hamas’ terror tunnels, and especially to expedite the development and procurement of missile-interception systems. According to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Israel received $729 million for these purposes in 2014 and $620 million last year; according to Israeli sources, this number will come to $600 million in 2016.

In other words, the real upgrade in the new “unprecedented” agreement is around $100 million to $200 million annually compared with recent years, and that’s without considering inflation; neither the old nor new agreements account for erosions in purchasing power.

But that’s small change compared with the $7 billion The first U.S. F-16i jet fighter to be delivered to Israel lands at the Ramon Air Force that many claim Netanyahu lost for Israel due to his Base in the Negev desert, Feb. 19, 2004. That year Israel received $2.04 billion in U.S. military aid, along with $720 million in economic aid. The recently signed $38 performance on the Iranian nuclear agreement, his difbillion memorandum of understanding with Israel calls for $3.8 billion in annual ficult relationship with President Barack Obama and U.S. aid—all of it military. the repeated delays in sealing the new agreement.

As the Israeli opposition parties and the media put it, this is the price of Netanyahu’s address to Congress against the nuclear agreement in March 2015 despite the administration’s pleas not to do so.

But defense officials have told Haaretz that the damage was actually done later. They say that even after the signing of the

By Amos Harel Vienna accord with Iran in July last year, agreements in principle had been reached between U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton EVEN IN THE flexible world of Israeli politics, it’s been a while Carter and his Israeli counterpart at the time, Moshe Ya’alon, on since there was such a gap between reality and how the Prime an aid package totaling $45 billion for the decade.

Minister’s Office was spinning reality. In press statements and Netanyahu, however, insisted on one last effort to manipulate Contalking points, the military aid agreement with the United States gress against Obama and the deal in September. That failed attempt is being portrayed as an unprecedented achievement. “The was apparently the point where the White House lost patience. biggest aid package ever,” we keep hearing.

In his defense, the prime minister and his people say that taking But the chasm between the headlines and the real numbers a principled stand against the Vienna agreement was important from is huge. Nominally, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his both an historical and a practical perspective. The move persuaded spokespeople are right. The agreement includes a commitment Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states that Israel was standing her for $38 billion in aid over a decade, higher than the $31 billion in ground, even at the cost of a clash with a United States that was the current deal that ends in 2018. displaying a defeatist, conciliatory approach to Iran, which backs inBut it’s doubtful that this is a reliable comparison. At the insissurgencies and terror all over the region. The value of a principled Copyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved. approach is hard to quantify, but is it really worth $7 billion?

With U.S. Military Aid, Are Netanyahu’s Strong Beliefs Worth $7 Billion?

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enlarged U.S. military aid package showed that allowances for To the question marks surrounding the aid package we must Israeli spending at home wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t decline until year 6 of the 10-year add another key issue. Under pressure from the administration, agreement. the option of using up to a quarter of the aid money to buy equipOn Sept. 14, Israeli and U.S. officials signed the deal that ment from Israeli defense companies will be gradually phased boosts annual aid starting in 2018 to $3.8 billion, from $3.1 billion out. Israel will get a gradual phase-out; it will be six years before under the current agreement. such purchases must end.

While Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Defense Ministry is looking forward to the extra This bad news isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t directly connected to the argument over Iran largesse, Israeli defense companies feared they would be the or the lack of chemistry between Netanyahu and Obama. The adbig losers because Washington insisted that as a condition for ministration was responding to pressure from U.S. arms makers, the heftier aid, Israel would have to give up its right to spend up which have lost huge contracts because of budget cuts, and which to 26.3 percent of the aid locally. are seeking new markets abroad. But theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve found theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had The final agreement indeed phases out the local-procurement a hard time competing with Israeli firms buoyed by U.S. aid. feature, but under far easier terms than defense industry leadIsraelis who visited Washington earlier this year got the impresers had expected. The draft agreement had called for the phasesion that this change to the agreement was raised by the adminout to begin in year one and be completed by year six, but under istration only in March or April. This means that if Israel hadn't the final agreement the process wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t begin until year six. acted as if it had all the time in the world, it might have been able â&#x20AC;&#x153;During the first six years of the agreement, Israeli industry will to sign the agreement before the cancellation of the buy-in-Israel be even better off than in the previous one, relatively speaking,â&#x20AC;? provision came up. (This is exactly what administration officials, said an Israeli government source who requested anonymity. including Vice President Joe Biden, had urged Israel to do.) â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be getting 26 percent of a bigger aid pieâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;$3.8 billion In the long term, thousands of Israeli jobs will be lost. The Isinstead of the $3.1 billion of the last few years.â&#x20AC;? raeli companies have already said they will have to start proIn dollar terms, that spells annual local procurement of nearly ducing in the United States, in cooperation with local companies, $1 billion starting in 2018, compared with about $815 million now. to be able to keep a portion of the aid.

Still, the increase in U.S. aid, which came after months of neThe man representing Israel at the signing ceremony in Washgotiations between Washington and Jerusalem, isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as dramatic ington was Jacob Nagel, the acting national security adviser and as the headline figures suggest. In recent years, Israel has been the second person to refuse a permanent appointment to the job, receiving supplements of $600 million and $730 million to dewhich has been vacant since the beginning of the year. It seems velop anti-missile and anti-tunnel technology. that given the tension between Obama and Netanyahu, the U.S. But the timetable will also give Israeli defense companies time president is doing the minimum. He raised the aid level in a way to adjust to the new situation; for instance, by setting up U.S. that lets him claim that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the highest aid package ever (which is subsidiaries that will be considered American companies in important both for the White House and the Democrats ahead of terms of procurement, the source said. the November election). Still, Obama is signing the agreement According to defense industry experts, Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest conwith Netanyahu the way a recalcitrant husband finally grants his tractors like Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, wife a divorce: on condition they no longer have to spend any which have the resources to set up U.S. operations or already time in each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence. have them, wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be affected by the winding down of the localWhile itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all coincidental, of course, the death of former Presprocurement clause. ident Shimon Peres will let the Prime Ministerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office skirt the The real problem is for the scores of midsize and small deaid-package issue quickly and deal with the next storm to erupt. fense companies that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have that option, said Ziva Eger, reThe damage and gaps in the agreement, however, will be with (Advertisement) sponsible for foreign investment and inus for years to come. dustrial cooperation at the Economy and Industry Ministry.

To help them, she said, her people will be approaching big U.S. companies to buy Israeli defense goods or even intellectual property from smaller ones, since so many 4HERE S ALOT MORE YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOUR of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s defense contractors specialize

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Israeli Defense Sector Breathes Easier After New U.S. Aid Pact

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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she’s counting on the Defense Ministry’s cooperation to coax companies into doing so.

With New Israel Aid Deal, Obama Is Patron Of the Occupation

By Gideon Levy BARACK OBAMA IS a bad president for Israel. If the military aid he approved for the coming decade is the largest ever, then as a president he is the worst ever for Israel. The last thing Israel needs is more arms, which will push it toward more acts of violence. But Obama is president in a country in which each home has a small tin container—like the blue-and-white Jewish National Fund boxes over here—into which every U.S. citizen must place a few coins as assistance and charity for poor, needy Israel, weak as a frail leaf.

One hundred and fifty dollars per person or $300 for each U.S. taxpayer for the next 10 years. Not toward America’s considerable social needs, not to assist truly needy countries—imagine what $38 billion would do for Africa—but to provide weapons for an army that is one of the most powerfully armed in the world, one of whose main enemies are girls brandishing scissors; to finance an army that is not fighting any other serious army now; the army of a country that few others can match in sheer recalcitrance, one which methodically defies the United States and the international community. And worst of all, this country will receive another free gift, without having to give anything in return. The money will go only toward arming it, which will push it toward more acts of aggression.

That’s the deal and there has been no serious debate over it, neither in Israel nor in the United States.

In America only a few are asking why.

What for? How long? What comes in exchange? And not even what American interest is served by the huge outlay of the

Copyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved.

14

American taxpayer. But let’s leave America to the Americans. The only discussion in Israel is whether the Americans can be squeezed for more. It’s good that it stopped at $38 billion. MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union) said the prime minister has already told senior security officials that they can “go wild.” More assistance would ensure even more wildness. Some of the money will go for defense systems, but another part will go for maintaining the occupation and especially to fund violent showy actions, in Gaza and Lebanon, and megalomaniacal useless training exercises against imagined dangers.

“The American aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean,” as the Americans (Alexander Haig) and the Israelis (Moshe Ya’alon) like to describe Israel, will continue to launch bombs and fire shells, sometimes unrestrainedly, in the name of American taxpayers and their money. Does Obama want that? That’s the outcome of his policy.

This generous assistance, the likes of which no other country on earth receives, makes American lip service even more ridiculous as Israel continues to defy Washington. American protest, fury in the State Department, anger in the White House—these are all jokes.

If this is the American aircraft carrier, then the settlements, violation of international law, the crimes, the raids and the wars that America is so careful to decry, are carried out on its own aircraft carrier.

Every additional balcony built in a settlement is Made in the U.S.A. Every killing of women and children in Gaza is “Born in the U.S.A.” Obama is the patron of the occupation, and to hell with the hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

Israelis should not be grateful for U.S. generosity; it is damaging to their country. What does Israel need more armaments for? Why does it need to make war against the barefoot people of Gaza and the young men of the West Bank?

A courageous and honest Israeli statesman would have said long ago: no thank you. That money is not good for us. Even without it the Israel Defense Forces is too big for its needs. But the rit-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

ual continues, America pays and Israel occupies and bombards, as if there is no other way. That is Israel’s Pyrrhic victory.

That is also Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s personal victory: All the accusations about ruining ties with the United States are completely without foundation. Relations have never been better— just look at the numbers.

Nothing has been destroyed in the relationship, and that’s a shame. With friends like that, one hardly needs enemies. Israel can go on about its business, the check is blank and America is paying, no strings attached, for at least another 10 years. Is there any worse news for Israel? ■

Signing Ceremony Continued from page 11

track to reach $6.3 billion by 2020, there would be no massive aid package to Israel.

Not only does it serve no quantifiable, publicly known U.S. national interest, supporting Israel’s military actions generates blowback against the U.S. in the form of terrorism, economic warfare, and loss of global good will.

At the conclusion of the signing ceremony, a stringer for a major U.S. business magazine told me she had just returned from Gaza, reporting on the dismal state of the private sector, and was distraught at the Soviet-like conduct of the MOU signing event. “That was simply awful,” she murmured as we were whisked from behind the rope line and out the Treaty Room doors, even as special invitees began a private celebration massing for selfies (somehow special guests retained their devices) and photo ops with Secretary of State John Kerry.

“What did you expect?” I responded. “An opportunity to actually ask a question?”

“No,” she replied, “I expected to be treated like a human being.”

Such consideration, whether toward Palestinians and peoples in neighboring countries likely to face newly empowered Israeli military adventures, or the majority of Americans who oppose foreign aid to Israel, is long overdue. ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER JUNE/JULY 2016

conference-ad_15_Special Report 10/20/16 8:30 PM Page 15

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omer_16-17_Gaza on the Ground 10/20/16 4:08 PM Page 16

Gaza on the Ground

A Taste of Democracy Has Whetted the Appetite of Gaza’s Young Would-Be Voters

By Mohammed Omer

SAID KHATIB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

realized,” Al-Masri says, expressing concern about the growing sense of chaos and division among Palestinians exacerbated by the social media campaigns. “We are unhappy with the way things are going,” he adds.

“Neither the people of Gaza nor the West Bank are happy.”

“I am angry at this delay of democracy,” says Belal Khaireddin, a 31-year-old unemployed Palestinian. He blames the Palestinian factions for the delay in elections leading to deep divisions between Palestinians and re-enforcing the lack of freedom of movement and free speech imposed by the occupying power, Israel.

“The factions pretend to be reconciling,” Khaireddin says, “but that never happens in reality.”

Adds his friend Abu Younies, a Brother Motasem (r) looks on as Interior Ministry officials present a certificate to his parents marking the birth of Waleed (inset), the two millionth baby to be born in Gaza, at their home in Rafah, Oct. local lawyer, “Palestinian politics is 12, 2016. like a game between egotistic children: either my way or the highway.”

Young people in particular have embraced the practice and “WE HAVE endured so much suffering to reach this moment principle of municipal elections. Too young to participate in the of going to the polls, but politics always seems to have the 2006 presidential and parliamentary elections—deemed “free final say,” laments Rafah resident Abu Ismail Al-Masri. and fair” by international observers, including President Jimmy Voters in Gaza appeared excited about scheduled elections, Carter—they are ready and willing to vote as adults for the the first in a decade, launching massive and unprecedented first time in their lives. social media campaigns. The elections were supposed to fill But their idealistic vision of participatory democracy has 3,818 seats on 416 municipal councils in cities, villages and been undermined by old men stuck in the factional rivalries of refugee camps across the Palestinian territories. the past. Young Palestinians view the legislative council as an Now, however, it seems that their dream of democracy is empty, redundant shell, while the most popular political leader, being deferred yet again: in September the Palestinian high Marwan Barghouti, is serving multiple life sentences in an Iscourt in Ramallah ruled that municipal elections, planned for raeli prison.

Oct. 8, are to be postponed due to an appeal by the Ramallah-based PA of a decision by Hamas judges to disqualify GAZANS MORE KEEN some Fatah candidates in Gaza.

“Again, we are robbed of our choices, which never seem to be Voter registration in Gaza has soared to over 80 percent, far higher than in the West Bank. Gazans are more keen to participate in the latest election because they see it as the only Award-winning journalist Mohammed Omer reports regularly on the Gaza Strip. Follow him on Twitter: @MoGaza. democratic way out of the collective punishment imposed on 16

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them by the international community for voting for Hamas, which won the overall majority—including among West Bank voters—in the 2006 elections. Democracy, after all, means respecting the choice of the majority, whether one likes the result or not—theoretically, at least.

Social media debates continued to grow exponentially. With the majority of Gaza’s youth unemployed, the only way they can resist the blockade conditions and voice their frustrations is through social media debates, mainly on Facebook and Twitter.

When the high court decided to postpone the elections, social media was flooded with expressions of disappointment.

According to polls conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, two-thirds of Palestinians want PA President Mahmoud Abbas to resign. Hamas is facing criticism as well, for fighting three wars with Israel without much success, but with extensive loss of

life and the destruction of much of Gaza’s infrastructure.

A legal challenge filed on behalf of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, demanding their right to vote in Palestinian elections, was another factor in the high court’s decision to postpone elections.

Israel considers East Jerusalem to be part of Israel, and almost certainly would never allow the presence of Palestinian ballot boxes. But Palestinians—along with virtually every other country in the world—consider East Jerusalem occupied territory and want it to serve as their capital in a future Palestinian state.

One benefit of the indefinitely postponed election, however, was the vigorous social media campaign, which, despite its divisiveness, showed how eager Palestinians are for change. Facebook and Twitter were flooded by comments

by Hamas supporters thanking Hamas for what it has done, and Fatah supporters promising the reconstruction of Gaza.

“I never thought this election would actually happen,” confesses Aya Al-Alami, an engineering student in Gaza. She admits, however, that “the election has given us the chance, and the idea, that Palestinians could unite, nationally, and this could lead us to true long-term reconciliation. But this did not happen yet; the divide is too deep to bridge—so many average people will pay the price, and both factions will continue to blame one another.”

While it may now be difficult to reschedule municipal elections, the taste of democratic debate has whetted the appetite of the majority of young people, so that the urge for elections is stronger than ever before.

“Elections are what the U.S. should be pushing for,” says Al-Alami, when asked what the international community can do.

However, she adds, “with Obama’s latest aid package to Israel, it has become clear that he was not the man for equal and mutual peace in the Middle East.” ■

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Special Report

The Shimon Peres Palestinians Can’t Forget

By Yousef Munayyer

ILIA YEFIMOVICH/GETTY IMAGES

time Peres, who died Sept. 28 at 93, put his signature on the Accords on the White House Lawn, he was 70 years old. The most significant parts of his biography, those in which he had the biggest impact on the world around him, are the parts most remembrances have chosen to deemphasize.

Shimon Peres was a Forrest Gump–like figure in Israeli history. At almost every critical stage, he was involved in important policy decisions, and his actions had a longlasting impact on the course of the state.

During the war in 1948, even at a young age, he played an important role in procuring the arms Israel would use in the process President Shimon Peres speaks at a press conference for foreign media on July 6, 2014 in Sderot, of depopulating much of the native populaIsrael, two days before Israel launched its deadly Operation Protective Edge against Gaza, killing tion of Palestine. In 1956, he worked with some 2,200 people, 67 percent of them civilians.

Britain and France to launch a war on Egypt in defense of Europe’s dying colonial ambitions. Through his relationship with Paris, Peres was able to gain WHEN MAJOR figures die, the remembrances begin to pour in.

French support for the development of Israel’s nuclear-weapons The narratives created about those who have gone are supprogram. That alone is likely the most significant achievement on posed to tell us a lot about them. But what we choose to rehis résumé. But since it was done behind Washington’s back, it member and how we choose to remember tell us a great deal hasn’t figured prominently in American remembrances. about us as well.

By the 1970s, as defense minister, Peres had morphed from In the case of Nelson Mandela, the mainstream American reweapons procurer to weapons provider, helping to supply South membrance narrative was that of Mandela the nonviolent dealAfrica’s apartheid regime with not only conventional weapons but maker—a portrait that brushed aside Mandela the freedom fighter secretly agreeing to sell it nuclear weapons—at the very same who reserved the right to use violence against oppressors suptime the world was moving in the direction of an international arms ported by the United States and Britain. In the case of Muhammad boycott against Pretoria. During this period, Peres also oversaw Ali, the remembrance narrative leaned toward that of the aging the establishment of illegal settlements in the West Bank, settleOlympic flag-bearer, silenced by Parkinson’s, who was a symbol ments that would later be major geographic and political obstacles of tolerance—not the fiery, vocal champion of oppressed African to the two-state solution he later claimed he wanted to see. In Americans who denounced racism and American imperialism and those years, he was a supporter of the settlement enterprise and sacrificed the peak of his career by refusing to be drafted to fight called for permanent Israeli control of the West Bank. in Vietnam. We remember, in these figures, that which is easy for One of the most important impacts of Peres’ career, which too us, and we forget that which makes us uncomfortable. often is left out of the conversation, is how poor a politician he With the passing of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon was. The Polish-born Peres was seen by many Israelis as an Peres, a similar dynamic is at play. The remembrances focus on outsider who was not entirely trustworthy (perhaps because he the Peres of the Oslo Accords, the Nobel Laureate who battled did not serve in an army combat role), especially in comparison for an agreement despite the political costs in Israel. But by the with his political rival Yitzhak Rabin, who was born in Palestine and actively partook in the ethnic cleansing of some of its towns Yousef Munayyer is executive director of the US Campaign for Palesand villages. His various battles with Rabin often left their Labor tinian Rights, and a policy analyst with the Arab Center in Washington, DC. Copyright ©2016 The Nation. Distributed by Agence Global.

Party divided, and on the three occasions when Peres led his 18

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party in national elections, it resulted in Likud Party prime ministers: under Menachem Begin in the late 1970s, Yitzhak Shamir in the ’80s, and Binyamin Netanyahu in the ’90s.

In fact, one has to wonder if Netanyahu, now internationally recognized as an obstacle to the peace that Peres ostensibly sought late in his life, would even have had much of a political career if not for the political blunders of Peres. After the 1995 assassination of Rabin by a Jewish extremist, Peres became prime minister, and the following spring, on the eve of national elections, he ordered the army to launch Operation Grapes of Wrath in Lebanon.

The Israeli shelling of a U.N. facility housing refugees in Qana, Lebanon, which killed over 100 civilians, was not merely a criminal act (Israeli officials claimed it was accidental, but the U.N. released a video demonstrating that Israel was monitoring the unarmed facility with a drone and helicopters), but it sent two powerful messages to Israeli voters. To

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

many Israeli Jews, the message was that Peres was incapable of handling security matters; to many Palestinian citizens of Israel, the message was that they could never in good conscience vote for a man with the blood of their kin on his hands.

Netanyahu pounced on this opportunity in the ’96 campaign, while Peres did little to counter it. Within a few short weeks, Netanyahu won by a razor-thin margin, despite having been down nearly 20 points in the polls weeks earlier. Votes from settlements established under Peres’ watch in the 1970s undoubtedly contributed to his downfall, and given the margin, might have made the crucial difference.

Although the U.N. investigation of the massacre at Qana concluded that the strike killing scores of civilians was likely deliberate, Peres declared that “everything was done according to clear logic and in a responsible way,” adding, “I am at peace.”

So while making peace with massacres is unconventional for Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, perhaps it is not entirely inac(Advertisement)

curate to call Peres a peacemaker.

Netanyahu, who then became prime minister for his first of four terms (so far), enacted policies that he would later claim killed Peres’ acclaimed Oslo Accords. In fact, Netanyahu boasted about this on video while speaking candidly in a house in an Israeli settlement. That very settlement, Ofra, was established in the 1970s with Peres’s support and blessing. Fittingly, Netanyahu declared Oslo dead on a hilltop that Peres built.

The historical reality is that the bulk of Peres’ career contributed to undermining the peace that he claimed to be seeking.

As all that was going on, where was Washington? Standing right by Israel’s side, providing support for it. Perhaps that is why so many have chosen not to remember.

Peres did not represent an Israel that was the opposite of Netanyahu’s Israel; he played an inseparable part in producing it.

For millions of Palestinians still denied their basic rights, that is a reality they do not have the luxury of forgetting. ■

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Election Watch

Palestine and the Democratic Party Platform

By Dale Sprusansky

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

Dr. James Zogby.

DR. JAMES ZOGBY, president of the Arab American Institute, appeared at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC on Sept. 14 to discuss the Democratic Party’s evolution on the issue of Palestine.

The prominent Democrat has fought for decades to shift his party’s stance on Israel and Palestine. Earlier this year, Sen. Bernie Sanders appointed Zogby to serve on the Democratic National Convention Platform Drafting Committee—a position he also held in 1988 at the request of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Efforts to insert language more supportive of Palestinian rights were voted down by the drafting committee both years.

While the Democratic Party elite by-and-large remain pro-Israel, Zogby believes there is reason for hope. He argued that real, albeit slow, progress has been made since he first became involved in the issue in the late 1970s, when he founded the Palestine Human Rights Campaign.

At the time, he noted, most human rights groups ignored the issue of Palestine and refused to partner with organizations that did not toe the pro-Israel line. During this period, he said, his office was firebombed and his group was regularly accused of being terrorists. After returning from a meeting at the White House,

Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

20

Zogby recalled being told by Vice President Walter Mondale’s staff that he would not be welcomed back because people objected to the administration including an Arab in meetings. “It was a very difficult time and we learned a lesson back then that it was kind of a balance…the greater the empowerment, the more the backlash to stifle the empowerment,” he said.

Things began to change for the better in the early 1980s, Zogby said, when the community became organized and empowered through the establishment of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).

Another boon, he said, came in 1984 when then-presidential candidate Jesse Jackson decided to name Zogby his deputy campaign advisor. Jackson’s decision made Arab Americans feel as though they finally had a place at the political table. “The community got energized in ways I hadn’t seen,” Zogby recalled. “There had never been an American political campaign that had included American Arabs by name.”

The cohesiveness of the coalition built in the early ‘80s was tested in 1988, when the issue of Israel-Palestine was intensely debated on the floor of the Democratic convention. Jackson’s team insisted on challenging the status quo on Israel-Palestine, causing “the proverbial s--t to hit the fan,” Zogby recollected.

Party officials told him they couldn’t put the “P-word” in the platform and that insisting on a more pro-Palestinian position could destroy the party. Zogby recalled a prominent Democrat telling him, “You’re going to destroy the Democratic Party if you keep on doing this, and you will never have a place in this party again, you’re done.”

Zogby said his interaction at the 1988 convention with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who presented the case against Zogby’s proposed platform changes, was particularly distasteful. “The agreement that we reached was that we would not engage in personal attacks,” Zogby recalled. “Chuck Schumer got out and said something about ‘the last speaker was disgraceful, dishonest, disingenuous.’ People started booing, booed so much that he got pulled off twice and they had to pound the gavel to get the convention back. After it was over, Schumer comes to the back and he puts his arm around me, and he says ‘Zogby, you have no idea how much money you raised for me in Brooklyn last night.’”

Although Schumer’s camp won the platform vote, Zogby said, the moment elevated the issue. “We lost, but we didn’t,” he exContinued on p. 24

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Election Watch

Every Voice Matters in This Election

By Delinda C. Hanley AS ELECTION DAY nears something is missing. It sure isn’t radio, TV, mass and social media coverage. Every day voters are inundated by yet another shocking revelation or accusation. There is no bandwidth left for serious policy discussion.

Newspapers and magazines have already endorsed candidates, and even TV networks that wished to appear objective haven’t always succeeded.

This year there are few bumper stickers and yard signs in sight, at least when it comes to showing political support for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump or the Green Party or Libertarian candidates. While there are some signs supporting candidates running for local office, today the country is so bitterly divided that most folks are afraid that placing a sign on their car or lawn will invite trouble or even vandalism. Or perhaps it’s hard to summon enthusiasm about any contender.

When friends or co-workers gather to talk, the conversation inevitably turns to the elections. The rest of the world is equally obsessed and bewildered by Americans’ choice of candidates and the rancor of this campaign. They ask, “Is this what democracy looks like?” There are already charges of election fraud.

None of the presidential or congressional candidates inspire hope that peace and justice in the Middle East will ever be on their agenda. At a time when young Americans are becoming more sympathetic to Palestinians, Republican and Democratic candidates have become more pro-Israel than Israelis. Just as students have finally embraced diversity in the classroom, politicians are encouraging racism, xenophobia and divisiveness.

Across the country, candidates for public office religiously attended ethnic political forums. Numerous candidates introduced themselves on Sept. 25 at the Virginia Arab American Political Forum’s “28th Non-Partisan Annual Candidates’ Night Dinner,” in the Tysons Corner Marriott Hotel. They all said they valued diversity and tolerance in their voting districts. The audience was far too polite to ask the tough questions, and left it to former Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) to demand answers from At-Large Chairman of the

Delinda C. Hanley is news editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Prince William Board of County Supervisors Corey Stewart, then chair of Trump’s Virginia campaign. What about Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.?, Moran thundered. What about his hateful rhetoric? What about the problems facing Muslims trying to build a mosque in Culpeper and Prince William counties in Virginia? What ever happened to protecting American values like liberty and justice for all? Turning to the audience, Moran concluded, “Your voice matters. Your vote matters—especially in this election.”

The candidates you vote for should work for you. That might mean approving a new mosque or protecting your civil rights. Will they vow to be evenhanded in the Israeli-Arab issue? Will they welcome or bar more Syrian, Palestinian and Iraqi refugees? Will they support BDS? Will they stop profiling, entrapping and spying on vulnerable Muslim Americans?

Tell them how to earn your vote—and keep the pressure on them after the elections. As we’ve seen over the years, great words and promises don’t count for much in either Congress or the White House, but a groundswell of voters constantly demanding change will energize our leaders.

The next president will have to use every diplomatic arrow in his or her quiver to head off a war-without-end in the Middle East, or God forbid, a crazy crusade or even a confrontation with Russia, China or North Korea. Finding equitable solutions to devastating conflicts and funding reconstruction and the return of refugees in war-torn Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Gaza will be a challenge, especially at a time when voters are demanding a balanced budget, investment in jobs, healthcare, education, and crumbling infrastructure.

It’s hard to be optimistic. The best outcome for this election will come from a record voter turnout among the young, black, Hispanic, women and—most especially—Arab- and Muslim Americans. The leaders they elect will take notice. Muslim- and Arab Americans are registering in record numbers and in battleground states, and their votes could very well decide the election. Even if voters are disappointed in the candidates and feel they are voting for the “lesser of two evils,” every American must vote. ■

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Congress Watch

New MOU Gives Israel $3.8 Billion Per Year, An Increase of $200 Million

By Shirl McArthur

U.S. AND ISRAELI negotiators on Sept. 14 signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will give Israel $38 billion per year over 10 years, beginning in FY 2019 (see pp. 10-14).

Israel will get $3.3 billion per year in military aid and $500 million per year for its missile defense systems. Under the current MOU, negotiated in 2007, Israel gets $3.1 billion per year in military aid, plus it has been getting about $500 million per year for missile defense systems out of Defense Department appropriations. So the new MOU represents an increase of about $200 million per year. Israel also agreed not to lobby Congress for more aid except during a war, and to phase out the amount of military aid it can use for purchases in Israel instead of the U.S. Currently Israel can use 26.3 percent of its military aid in Israel, a concession granted to no other recipient of U.S. aid.

There have been reports that some Israeli critics of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu are disappointed with the deal, saying he made too many concessions and had to accept less than the $4 billion to $5 billion that he wanted. They blame Netanyahu’s acrimonious relationship with President Barack Obama for this.

Several members of Congress—especially Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), chairman of the Senate foreign aid appropriations subcommittee—were unhappy that the agreement seems to take aid appropriations out of the hands of Congress. Graham said he is “offended that the administration would try to take over the appropriations process.”

The day before the signing of the MOU, the House, in a meaningless symbolic gesture, passed H.Res. 729, introduced in May by leading Israel-firster Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). It urges a quick conclusion of a new, “robust” MOU with Israel. When passed it had 283 co-sponsors, including Ros-Lehtinen.

resolution have made no progress. However, on Sept. 20 Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) introduced a new one, H.Con.Res. 157. Similarly, the previous bills urging greater U.S.-Israel cooperation have gained no support, but three new ones were introduced. Two of them, both introduced July 14, urge greater U.S.-Israel cybersecurity cooperation: Rep. James Langevin (D-RI) and one co-sponsor introduced H.R. 5843, and Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) with two co-sponsors introduced H.R. 5877. The third new measure was H.R. 5989, urging U.S. and Israel space cooperation. It was introduced Sept. 9 by Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and 36 co-sponsors.

Most of the previously described measures complaining about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israeli products and companies from the occupied West Bank have made no significant progress. However, the two identical bills to “authorize state and local governments to divest in entities” that engage in BDS activities against Israel have made progress. In the Senate, S. 2531, introduced in February by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), now has 46 cosponsors, including Kirk. The House bill, H.R. 4514, introduced in February by Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL), now has 165 co-sponsors, including Dold.

The agreement seems to take aid appropriations out of the hands of Congress.

SOME NEW PRO-ISRAEL MEASURES INTRODUCED

The previously described measures saying that the U.S. should continue to veto any anti-Israel U.N. Security Council

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

22

CONGRESS VOTES TO OVERRIDE VETO OF ILL-ADVISED BILL AIMED AT SAUDI OFFICIALS

In an unsurprising display of cowardice, both houses of Congress on Sept. 28 overwhelmingly voted to override President Barack Obama’s veto of the bill S. 2040, “to deter terrorism and provide justice for victims,” that ends the sovereign immunity of states from being sued for supporting terrorist attacks against the U.S. The bill is widely thought to be aimed at Saudi Arabia for allegedly giving support to al-Qaeda and the 9/11 attackers, although the 9/11 Commission’s report said that the commission “found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded [al-Qaeda].”

Prior to the vote to override the veto, many foreign and defense policy officials and experts expressed concern over the possible negative effects on U.S. foreign relations. In his veto message Obama said that “enactment of [S. 2040] could encourage foreign governments to act reciprocally and allow their

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domestic courts to exercise jurisdiction over the U.S. or U.S. officials—including our men and women in uniform—for allegedly causing injuries overseas via U.S. support to third parties.”

But in a Congress most of whose members are not known for far-sighted statesmanship, short-term election considerations took precedence over longterm national security implications. The vote to override was 348-77 in the House and 97-1 in the Senate, with the only “no” vote cast by Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who is retiring.

Then, in a stunning display of closing the barn door after the horse is gone, 28 senators, all of whom voted to override, signed a Sept. 28 letter to the bill’s sponsors, Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), expressing their concerns about the “potential unintended consequences that may result from this legislation,” and saying they would like to work “to mitigate those unintended consequences” during the “lame duck” session of Congress after the elections.

Other anti-Saudi measures were the two resolutions to “disapprove” the proposed sale of M1A1/A2 tanks and other military equipment to Saudi Arabia.

S.J.Res. 39 was introduced on Sept. 8 by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) with four co-sponsors. In the House, H.J.Res. 98 was introduced on Sept. 20 by Rep. Ted Lieu (DCA). It has eight co-sponsors. Congressional objections to the sale are the result of the Saudi-led coalition’s military campaign in Yemen resulting in civilian deaths. However, on Sept. 21 the Senate, by a vote of 71-27, tabled the motion to bring S.J. 39 to the floor for a vote, effectively killing the chances that the resolutions will be passed during this Congress.

anti-Iran measures, and selected two to be passed by the House, even though there is no chance that any of the measures will get through the Senate.

During August it was reported that the administration in January paid Iran $400 million of the $1.7 billion owed to Iran to resolve a 1979 arms deal signed before the fall of the shah. Unfortunately, the payment happened at about the time that Iran released four detained U.S. citizens. Naturally, congressional Republicans professed outrage, saying the payment was “ransom,” paid to get the release of the citizens. The State Department’s spokesman said that it was Iran’s money, and the payment had nothing to do with the citizens’ release.

Never mind. In September at least five bills were introduced denouncing the “ransom” payment and prohibiting future such payments. In the House, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) on Sept. 6 introduced H.R. 5931; Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and nine co-sponsors introduced H.R. 5940; Rep. David Young (R-IA) and seven co-sponsors introduced H.R. 5941; and Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and three co-sponsors introduced H.R. 5949. In the Senate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) with 28 co-sponsors introduced S. 3285. House leadership then selected

H.R. 5931 to be brought to a vote, and it passed by a roll call vote of 254-163, with 16 Democrats voting for it and one Republican voting against. When passed it had 71 co-sponsors, including Royce.

The second bill chosen to be passed was H.R. 5461, introduced on June 13

by Reps. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) and French Hill (R-AR). It would require the secretary of the treasury to submit a report of the assets held or controlled by certain Iranian leaders. It passed on Sept. 21 by a roll call vote of 282-143.

Another bill relating to Iran’s finances was H.R. 5983, introduced Sept. 9 by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) with five cosponsors. It would require “an appropriate federal banking agency” to request or require a U.S. bank to terminate an account determined to be a conduit for an agency of “any country listed from time to time on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.”

On Sept. 1 David Albright, a long-time critic of the Iran nuclear deal, issued a report describing several “secret” concessions given to Iran to allow it to evade certain restrictions in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Both the White House and the State Department quickly denied Albright’s charges, and the director of nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Associa-

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PARTISAN ANTI-IRAN BILLS STILL BEING INTRODUCED

Congressional Republicans came back from their August vacation apparently convinced that continuing to attack Obama’s Iran policy will help them get re-elected, thus reaffirming their determination to make U.S.-Iran relations a partisan matter. They introduced a flurry of NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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STATUS UPDATES S. 3267, the wide-ranging bill introduced in July by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker (RTN) to extend the 1996 Iran Sanctions Act (ISA)—due to expire at the end of this year—and impose new sanctions on Iran, now has eight co-sponsors, including Corker.

S. 3281, the Democratic alternative to extend ISA, introduced in July by Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (DNV), which would simply extend ISA until Dec. 31, 2026, now has 19 co-sponsors, including Reid.

H.R. 4333, introduced in January by Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-MA), relating to Iran’s missile tests, now has 33 cosponsors, including Kennedy.

H.Res. 686, the positive resolution “expressing support for efforts to enhance Israeli security and create the conditions tion noted that the agreement permits certain exemptions.

Predictably, some members of Congress immediately denounced these ”secret concessions,” and on Sept. 14 Sens.

David Perdue (R-GA) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced S. 3329 “to ensure transparent enforcement of the JCPOA.” None of the previous bills aimed at stopping Boeing’s sale of commercial aircraft to Iran have made any progress. But a new one, S. 3286, was introduced in the Senate on Sept. 6 by Rubio. It would prohibit the Treasury Department from issuing export licenses for the aircraft. ■

Democratic Platform Continued from page 20

plained. “We actually won a moral victory of having the issue breaking the deadly silence.” Noticing he was dejected after the vote, Zogby said, civil rights leader Percy Sutton hugged him and told him “‘what you did tonight was what we did in 1948 with the issue of civil rights.’ He said, ‘I know you’ve been beat up, and I know you’re taking it hard, but you just did a breakthrough.’”

When Zogby returned to take a prominent role in the 2016 platform-writing process, he said he was pleased to see that many members of the old Jackson team had reunited with the Sanders campaign.

This time, though, he said, he faced less internal resistance to his views. “The issue 24

toward a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” introduced in April by Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), now has 64 Democratic co-sponsors, including Yarmuth.

H.Res. 750, introduced in May by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), “urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization and increase pressure on it and its members,” now has 53 co-sponsors, including Deutch.

H.R. 3892, introduced in November by Rep. Mario DiazBalart (R-FL), aimed at designating the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, now has 69 co-sponsors, including Diaz-Balart.

—S.M.

had sunk deeper into the public consciousness,” he said. “I wasn’t the odd man out, as I had been in the Jackson campaign.”

Zogby said he was at first unconvinced that Sanders would be an avid supporter of the Palestinian cause, as he had given the Vermont senator several briefings on the Israel-Palestine issue and wasn’t sure that his words were registering with Sanders.

That uncertainty changed, Zogby recalled, when Sanders declined to address the AIPAC conference this past March and instead offered some criticism of the Israeli government. Sanders realized his critical stance was being received approvingly by many on the left, Zogby said, and decided to make Palestine part of his progressive agenda. “It registered with him, like Jackson and the wave—this one works, this is where my progressive coalition is on this issue,” Zogby said. “It became something that he embraced and owned.”

When it came time to debate the issues with Hillary Clinton’s pro-Israel platform committee members, Zogby said he was shocked at their agenda. He expected the Clinton camp to put up a large fight about BDS and the status of Jerusalem. Instead, they wanted to debate settlements and occupation. “When it became apparent to us that the dividing line was going to be the words ‘occupation’ and ‘settlement’ I was floored,” Zogby recalled. “I thought that was a no-brainier and a given. But they made that the issue, and we embraced it, we said ‘this is what we’re going to fight on.’”

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Although the Sanders camp’s proposed wording was voted down, Zogby noted that some small but significant improvements to the platform were nonetheless achieved.

For instance, he pointed out that for the first time ever, the platform speaks of Palestinian rights. “Palestinians should be provided with independence, sovereignty and dignity,” the platform reads. “Palestinians should be free to govern themselves in their own viable state in peace and dignity.”

Zogby believes the Clinton camp inserted this language in an attempt to pre-empt the Sanders coalition, saying, “They were preempting our objection and our debate by inserting that language.”

Going forward, Zogby said he is encouraged by the fact that support for Palestinian rights is growing within the Democratic Party. Still, he warned, Israel and its supporters are working constantly to rollback the movement’s advances.

If the momentum is to continue, Zogby said, activists must raise the issue and support lawmakers when they get pounded for being critical of Israel. Ultimately, he believes, it’s simply impossible for grassroots movements to succeed without the support of a powerful champion. “If it hadn’t been for Bernie Sanders, the issue wouldn’t have made it at all,” he stated. “And if it hadn’t been for Jesse Jackson the issue wouldn’t have been there on the national stage either.

It takes a champion to be able to push you to the point where the issue you care about surfaces above the level of invisibility.” ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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Afghanistan—Fool’s War

Special Report

By Eric S. Margolis

SHH MARAI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO Oct. 7, the U.S. launched the longest war in its history: the invasion and occupation of remote Afghanistan. Neighboring Pakistan was forced to facilitate the American invasion or “be bombed back to the Stone Age.” America was furious after the bloody 9/11 attacks. The Bush administration had been caught sleeping on guard duty. Many Americans believed 9/11 was an inside job by pro-war neocons.

Afghanistan was picked as the target of U.S. vengeance even though the 9/11 attacks were hatched (if in fact done from abroad) in Germany and Spain. The suicide An Afghan boy displaced by fighting between Afghan and Taliban forces plays with a plastic attackers made clear their kamikaze mission bag at a makeshift refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul, Oct. 19, 2016. At least 323,000 was to punish the U.S. for “occupying” the Afghan civilians were displaced by conflict in the first 10 months of 2016. holy land of Saudi Arabia, and for WashingTop of the World, the Pashtun warriors were the bravest men I’d ton’s open-ended support of Israel in its occupation of Palestine. ever seen. They had only ancient weapons but possessed This rationale was quickly obscured by the Bush administraboundless courage. tion that claimed the 9/11 attackers, most of whom were Saudis, During the 2001 U.S. invasion, the Americans allied themselves were motivated by hatred of American “values” and “freedoms.” to the heroin- and opium-dealing Tajik Northern Alliance, to former This nonsense planted the seeds of the rising tide of IslamoCommunist allies of the Soviets, and to the northern Uzbeks, phobia that we see today and the faux “war on terror.” blood foes of the Pashtun and former Soviet Communist allies.

An anti-Communist jihadi, Osama bin Laden, was inflated and Taliban, which had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11, had demonized into America’s Great Satan. The supposed “terrorist shut down 90 percent of Afghanistan’s heroin and opium trade. training camps” in Afghanistan were, as I saw with my eyes, The U.S.-allied Northern Alliance restored it, making Afghanistan camps where Pakistani intelligence trained jihadis to fight in again the world’s leading supplier of heroin and opium. U.S. ocIndia-occupied Kashmir. cupation forces, backed by immense tactical airpower, allied Afghanistan, remote, bleak and mountainous, was rightly known themselves with the most criminal elements in Afghanistan and as “the graveyard of empires.” These included Alexander the installed a puppet regime of CIA assets. The old Communist seGreat, Genghis Khan, Timur, the Moguls and Sikhs. The British cret police, notorious for their record of torture and atrocities, was Empire invaded Afghanistan three times in the 19th century. The kept in power by CIA to fight Taliban.

Soviet Union, the world’s greatest land power, invaded in 1979, In late September, Washington’s Special Inspector General seeking a corridor to the Arabian Sea and Gulf. for Afghan Relief (SIGAR) issued a totally damning report showAll were defeated by the fierce Pashtun warrior tribes of the ing how mass corruption, bribery, payoffs and drug money had Hindu Kush. But the fool George W. Bush rushed in where anfatally undermined U.S. efforts to build a viable Afghan society. gels feared to tread, in a futile attempt to conquer an unconWhat’s more, without 24/7 U.S. air cover, Washington’s yesquerable people for whom war was their favorite pastime. I was men in Kabul would be quickly swept away. The Afghan army with the Afghan mujahidin when fighting the Soviet occupation and police have no loyalty to the regime; they fight only for the in the 1980s, and again with the newly formed Taliban in the Yankee dollar. Like Baghdad, Kabul is a U.S.-guarded island in early 1990s. As I wrote in my book on this subject, War at the a sea of animosity.

Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated A report by Global Research has estimated the 15-year Afghan columnist, and author of American Raj: Liberation or Domination? war and the Iraq war had cost the U.S. $6 trillion. Small wonder, (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2016.

Continued on p. 34 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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By Graham E. Fuller

A man carrying a child emerges from a dust cloud following a reported airstrike on Kafr Batna, in Syria’s rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area on the outskirts of Damascus, Sept. 30, 2016.

A DEEP contradiction lies at the heart of U.S. policy toward the present horrifying conflict in Syria. Which is better? To now reluctantly accept continuation of Bashar al-Assad in power in Damascus for the foreseeable future, thereby hastening the end of the war and the killing? Or to fight till the last Syrian in the belief that an indefinite prolongation of the civil war will somehow bring about a much brighter future for Syria and deal a rebuff to the position of Russia and Iran in Syria?

The Syrian war represents one of the darkest moments in civil conflicts anywhere in the world in recent years. At this juncture its locus is now in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and an ancient center of Middle Eastern high culture. And this is where the human level of suffering particularly cries out for relief. The number of people who have been killed by bombing—in recent weeks especially by Syrian government forces and Russian air attacks—is horrendous. Fear, starvation and death haunt this once magnificent city.

But there is a decision to be made. Back in 2011, in the midst of the Arab Spring revolutions, there was reason to believe that

Graham E. Fuller is a former senior CIA official, and author of numerous books on the Muslim world. His latest book is Breaking Faith: A novel of espionage and an American’s crisis of conscience in Pakistan. His website is <http://grahamefuller.com>.

26

the Assad regime, too, would quickly bite the dust, as did Mubarak in Egypt, Qaddafi in Libya and Ben Ali in Tunisia. But as an early uprising emerged against Assad, the regime reacted swiftly with harsh reprisals in the belief that a quick putdown would nip it in the bud.

If Syria had just been left to its own devices, Assad’s cynical calculations for maintaining power—typical of most authoritarian rulers who fight to the bitter end—might have quickly ended with a regime victory. But unlike Egypt or Libya, Syria itself was indeed divided over his rule: although Assad was never popular, much of the Sunni economic, military and governing elite had become de facto aligned with the minority Alawite Assad regime.

Other minorities such as Christian, Jews, Druze and others believed that while they didn’t like Assad, he was far preferable to a scenario of overthrow by jihadists or a long civil war. That belief considerably explains why Assad has not fallen.

But of course Syria was not left to its own devices but rather became the magnet of regional power-struggles, the cock-pit of proxy wars rapidly involving Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the U.S. on one side, with Iran, Iraq (to some extent) and Russia on the other. Now, the U.S. for over 40 years has viewed the Assad family regime as a thorn in its side against U.S. dominance in the Middle East; it intermittently sought to overthrow it, with little

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AMER AL-MOHIBANY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Syria—What Cost “Victory”?

Special Report

fuller_26-27_Special Report 10/20/16 8:29 AM Page 27

success. This time around the U.S. now saw Syria as offering a great venue to strike back at Iranian and Russian influence in the region as well. It therefore became willing to support “moderate” jihadis in the anti-Damascus struggle.

Sadly, there have been almost no genuinely moderate and effective Syrian guerrilla forces since the outset. Jihadist groups have dominated the military struggle. And radical jihadi forces have been invariably more effective fighters on the ground than “moderate jihadis.” Obama finally wisely came to perceive that backing a civil war that would bring jihadists to power in place of Assad was, in the end, not a good deal.

But the impulse to deliver a blow to Iranian and Russian interests still dominated most of Washington’s hawkish thinkers. The Syrian people would become the pawns of Washington’s struggle against Moscow and Tehran.

The U.S.-Russian agreement to establish a cease-fire and reach a political solution—to which Kerry and Lavrov devoted so much attention—might have stood a chance. But it required one key condition: Assad would not be overthrown; he would retain power pending a multinational process to transition to a new regime.

Washington in principle bought into that difficult-to-implement principle, but still could not bring itself to abandon the “moderate jihadis” as a fighting force on the U.S. side.

Moscow’s view is starkly simple: disarm— or eliminate—all forces fighting the Assad regime to hasten the end of the war and a political solution (with few U.S. allies).

After five years of hideous and devastating civil war—whose refugees have shaken up the very politics of Europe itself—there are probably few Syrians alive at this point who would not prefer to go back to the unfriendly peace and stability of Assad authoritarianism—that was otherwise not known for the degree of brutality that characterized, for example, Saddam Hussain in Iraq.

Meantime, war is hell. For most civilians, in the end almost any peace is better than almost any war.

Washington must now decide: Does it want to continue for months to argue NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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Thank you in advance for ki d ib b i about how moderate or violent a particular jihadi group is to find suitable allies among them—to use as bargaining chips over the negotiations of new governance down the road in Damascus? (Most of these wouldbe allies are now in the al-Qaeda orbit to

one degree or another.) Or will it decide that an end to the war, even on Assad’s terms, is not more realistic, and yes, even more humane?

Russia holds the stronger cards in this confrontation. If the U.S. decides to end the war now and accept an Assad victory, there is no doubt that Moscow will have emerged as relative strategic victor. But how serious a strategic setback is that in reality? Is every battle, every piece of turf, worth trying to best Moscow over? Is Washington still willing to fight till the last Syrian—with all the radicalization in the region and its refugee flows—simply to parry Russia? Yes, Russian and Syrian bombings in Aleppo against all insurgent strongholds have recently been vicious and murderous. The U.S. has also bombed. Civilians always die, whoever bombs. An end to bombing and civil war is imperative from any humanitarian perspective. This is not, or should not be, a zero sum game with Russia. The game is not worth the candle, the stakes are low. The U.S. still shares the major common goal with Russia and the region—ending jihadism in Syria and the neighborhood.

Conversely, if blocking Russian (and Iranian) interests at every turn is the supreme American strategy, then Washington stands just as guilty as Russia and Iran in tossing more Syrian bodies onto the bonfire of this feckless proxy war. ■

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Special Report

Postcard From Cyprus

PHOTO J. GORVETT

By Jonathan Gorvett comes to life, with thousands of foreign tourists coming over from the ROC in search of bargains.

By nightfall, though, while the southern side of the city is full of busy bars and restaurants, the northern side returns to an empty slumber.

Yet despite this apparent somnolence, some profound economic and political changes are underway on this side of the capital. These may have important consequences for life on the island as a whole as well, while also having implications for the U.N.-sponsored talks currently underway here, and which have now entered a crucial phase.

HOPES AND FEARS

The current round of these talks has TurkThe flags of Turkey (l) and Turkish Cyprus hang from a building in the Turkish sector of Nicosia. ish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades meeting frequently under U.N.-auspices to hammer out a deal.

ON THE NORTHERN side of Cyprus’ divided capital of Both leaders are known for their support for a solution Nicosia, ruined old Ottoman kervansaray stand shoulder-towhich would transform the divided island into a bi-zonal, bishoulder with boarded-up colonial-era British banks. In the communal federated republic. shabby, ramshackle streets, a line of long-abandoned ArmenYet, while the signs may be encouraging—and U.S. Vice ian merchants’ villas ends in a bullet-riddled art-deco hotel.

President Joe Biden and Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Over on the crumbling Venetian walls, a Turkish army post Nuland have also put a great deal of effort into supporting a sits perched among the barbed wire on a sun-baked medieval settlement—there are other, deeper changes going on in the bastion. north that may be pushing the TRNC away from reconciliation Since 1983, this northern third of Nicosia has been the capiwith the south. tal of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (TRNC), a What many Turkish Cypriots—along with Greek Cypriots— breakaway territory that also covers just over a third of this de fear is that the longer a settlement eludes them, the more the facto divided island. unique character of Turkish Cyprus will disappear. In its place, Recognized only by Turkey, the TRNC is separated from the north may end up as just an extension of its larger neighthe Republic of Cyprus (ROC)—the largely Greek Cypriot, inbor to the north, Turkey. ternationally recognized EU member state that controls the “We don’t want to end up as just Greater Antalya,” says southern two-thirds—by a U.N. buffer zone.

Mertkan Hamit, an activist with the Turkish Cypriot Dayanisma Nowadays, though, the U.N. posts that used to dot this zone (Solidarity) group, which brings together many NGOs in the have been largely abandoned, replaced by motion-sensor north of the island. cameras.

Historically, Turkish Cypriots have always seen themselves On the northern side of the capital, too, some of those old as quite different from mainland Turks, with their own tradistreets have received a partial face-lift recently, thanks largely tions, history and culture. While sharing a language with their to EU and U.S. funding, aimed at culturally reconnecting the Anatolian neighbors, Turkish Cypriots generally are much city’s two sides. During the day, too, the old bazaar area more secular. At the same time, sharing the island with the Jonathan Gorvett is a free-lance writer based in Istanbul.

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IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

lims from other counof colonial rule—have tries. The latter group given many of them a has grown in recent quite different outlook. years, too, as the Yet, with Turkey the TRNC has sought to only country to recogpromote its university nize the TRNC, while sector in Central Asia also maintaining a garand Africa. The experirison of around 30,000 ence of students who troops on the island come here from these since it invaded in regions is not always a 1974, Ankara naturally good one, however, exerts a great deal of with many who arrive influence on the Turkon the promise of a ish Cypriot state.

“European” education This has been largely ending up working infinancial, with a major grant from Turkey—and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci (l) and Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasi- stead in the large, shadow economy. its redistribution on the ades shake hands at a June 2 social function in Nicosia’s U.N.-patrolled buffer zone.

“As the TRNC is unisland—forming the basis of much of the TRNC’s politics and paid, while many projects—including the recognized,” says Mete Hatay of the economics. Now, however, the sense construction of a new crossing point to Peace Research Institute Oslo’s Nicosia office, “people from these countries have among many here is that that influence is the south—were frozen.

Eventually, the crisis ended with the no representation here, and thus have becoming a lot more comprehensive— more pro-Ankara Turkish Cypriot parties no one to complain to if they are exand politically targeted.

An example of how this recently ousting the pro-reunification government ploited or swindled.”

The sense is that this unrecognized played out in the politics of the TRNC (although Akinci stayed) and replacing it with one that would sign the deal with status is being exploited by Turkish was over the issue of water. mainland companies as well, who use As a southerly Mediterranean island, Turkey, with a few adjustments.

Since then too, Turkey has announced the island as a source of cheap labor.

Cyprus finds this vital resource becoming “There is a sense that the TRNC is a increasingly scarce. To solve this grow- that it is hooking up the TRNC to its elecing problem for the north, Ankara re- tricity grid. Meanwhile, in a deeply sym- place where you can do things you could cently built a pipeline bringing fresh bolic act, the clocks in the TRNC are never do in Turkey,” says Erol Kaymak, a water to the island from Turkey’s south- also now being set to Ankara time, rather member of the International Relations faculty at the TRNC’s Eastern Mediterern mountains. This was enthusiastically than time on the rest of the island.

There is also a growing concern here ranean University in Famagusta. This unwelcomed by the Turkish Cypriots—until the arrangements for the water’s distribu- that while Turkey has been seen in the derscores a sense that Turkish compapast as a great source of security for the nies are grabbing an ever-bigger share of tion were revealed.

A Turkish company was to be placed Turkish Cypriots, it is fast becoming a the investment pie in the north, further in charge, with municipalities obliged to quite different—and much more threaten- expanding the mainland’s influence.

Akinci himself is clearly worried by all sign exclusivity contracts before being ing—country. Turkish President Recep hooked up. This raised the possibility Tayyip Erdogan is not widely liked here, this. Indeed, he told reporters in Septemthat Turkish Cypriot farmers would have nor is his Justice and Development Party. ber that without a settlement soon, the This concern has been highlighted by Greek Cypriots could one day find themto seal up their own wells in order to rethe sense among many here that the fi- selves negotiating with Turkey, rather ceive the piped-in water.

The result was a political storm, with nancial aid that used to be given by than with the Turkish Cypriots.

As the talks enter an intensified phase, the Turkish Cypriot government of the Ankara directly to the Turkish Cypriot govtime—which was aligned with Akinci and ernment is now being targeted at munici- then, the north is a place of great anxipro-reunification—demanding a better palities and projects that promote the eties about the future. And this time deal. Ankara responded by suspending Turkish ruling party’s pro-Islamist agenda. many of those anxieties are not so much Mosque building has thus accelerated about the Greek Cypriots, as about the all financial aid to the TRNC. With the state the chief employer and in recent times, even though few Turkish Turks—an increasingly disturbing power project financer in the north, this quickly Cypriots attend. Instead, the faithful are for many Turkish Cypriots, just across meant public workers’ wages going un- largely Turks from the mainland, or Mus- the narrow waters to the north. ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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United Nations Report

The Best Man Won: António Guterres Elected New U.N. Secretary-General

By Ian Williams

DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

qualified candidate, and that was demonstrated by the new procedure under which even if the Security Council made the final decision, it did so knowing that its choices were made from candidates who had been under full scrutiny of the General Assembly and from such members of the world public not distracted by the Trump circus.

The key issue was whether veto-wielding Moscow could accept a West European democratic socialist. It was helped when Bulgaria supported a second Bulgarian candidate against Moscow’s choice, UNESCO head Irina Bokova, weakening the expedient Russian stand for an East European woman—by which they meant Bukova.

Guterres’ candidacy also was helped by support from African countries that mainThen-UNHCR Commissioner António Guterres (c) meets with refugee children during a visit to tained good relations with the Portuguese, the Moria Identification Center on the Greek Island of Lesvos, Oct. 10, 2015. whose socialist Rose revolution had ended the colonial power’s wars of repression, but above all by THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL has defied the media and the his record as head of the U.N. refugee agency, the most overchattering classes with its unanimous nomination of António worked, active and least hidebound section of the organization.

Guterres, the former Portuguese prime minister, as the ninth Not least, as a former prime minister of an important but nonU.N. secretary-general. He walked to an easy finish on the first threatening power, with a built-in address book of world leaders “real” straw ballot—in which the permanent members showed from his work—not to mention contacts across the whole spitheir true colors by voting with ballots that were a different color der’s web of U.N. organizations—Guterres is not going to be a than non-veto-holders’. mere secretary, taking dictation from the great powers.

As so often in politics, the crowds of fans outside the real In the end, it is almost reassuring to note that the permanent arena—in this case, the Security Council—allowed their fervent five and the other members of the Council care enough about wishes for a female secretary-general to overcome their powers the organization to choose the best candidate to lead it! of observation and analysis. Had the feminist sisterhood united No such lofty considerations of international needs seem to behind one suitably qualified candidate they might have won the bedevil Israeli leaders and press, whose first consideration was day, but seven women running against each other made it eas“Will he be good for Israel?” Much of the discussion was as filled ier for the best candidate to win. with wishful thinking as those who assumed a woman secretaryThe wishful thinking about it being time for a woman, and general was in the cards, with less justification. Guterres has a about it being Eastern Europe’s turn, shattered on the hard realtrack record that shows his familiarity with the issues. ity that the East European regional group is an atavistic fiction Intriguingly but understandably, the elephant in the room that briefly revived by local politicians’ ambitions and Moscow’s supnone of the candidates mentioned throughout the campaign is port for a Bulgarian woman of impeccable Soviet background. the Israel-Palestine issue, even though it occupies so much time From the beginning it was clear that Guterres was by far the bestand effort at the United Nations.

When Ban Ki-moon was elected secretary-general, I pointed out U.N. correspondent Ian Williams’ book UNtold: the Real Story of the United Nations will be published by Just World Books in Spring 2017. that South Korea’s position, surrounded by Japan, China, North 30

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Korea, Russia and the U.S., meant that the Middle East was effectively beyond his event horizon. His inclination was to assume that Washington’s views on the subject were objective. However, I also pointed out that Ban was a person of deep principle and integrity, as demonstrated by his support for the International Criminal Court in the face of Republican opposition, and that he would soon learn from his experiences.

I am pleased to say that he did. To begin with, the Israelis tried to inhibit him visiting Gaza because they correctly anticipated what his reaction would be to the conditions they have created there. Because of his low-key diplomatic posture, Ban has not received the credit he deserves for his outspoken and explicit comments on the Middle East. As the “secular pope,” his approach smacked more of the confessional than the pulpit, but the substance of his statements was surprisingly stark by U.N. standards—and actually inflammatory by Washington’s much lower standards.

It helped that Ban’s door was always open to Israeli politicians, even as, for example, he called for an end to the siege and assaults on Gaza. He should not have to wait as long as did Boutros Boutros Ghali, who had to die first, for appropriate recognition of his many strengths, not least from supporters of international justice.

In contrast, Guterres hits the ground running. As Portuguese prime minister, as president of the Socialist International and, above all, as U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, he has been deeply involved in the Middle East in all its manifestations, not least as one of the globe’s leading producers of refugees.

It does help that he will not be pre-emptively harassed for being anti-Israel. He worked with Shimon Peres and Ehud Barak, who both had ranking positions in the Socialist International. They paid official visits to him as prime minister in Lisbon during their respective terms as Israeli prime minister.

Barak told Israeli Army Radio, “I am sure he (Advertisement)

will be fair…His views are closer to those of Amos Oz than Netanyahu. His stances reflect those of the world. The world’s view of Israel is that it hopes to see a different Israel.

If the government would act differently, it could change how Israel is seen.”

“There’s no record of him making any remarkable statement against Israel,” former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor also told the station—which shows the low bar for the nation’s beleaguered international reputation.

Israel’s current ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, typically, hectored, “The State of Israel hopes, and expects, that the U.N. under his leadership will act in the spirit of its founding principles as a fair body able to differentiate between good and evil and will end its obsession with Israel. I hope that this change in leadership will bring an end to the organization’s hostility towards the Jewish state.”

Danon expects the U.N. to “accept responsibility” for the return of the remains of

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two Israeli soldiers that Hamas holds in Gaza. Quite why that should be more pressing than accepting responsibility for the United Nationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; failure to enforce innumerable resolutions on Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s occupation is a product of Danonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s typically tribal selfcenteredness.

The Israeli Labor connection through the Socialist Internationalâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;of which Boutros Ghali was also once a vice presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;has mollified the attitude of many moderate socialist parties in the West who condemn Israeli government actions while politely assuming, often on very slender evidence, that their socialist comrades share their views on settlements.

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FILLING IN THE GAPS

But Israeli commentators immediately filled in the gaps by noting Guterresâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; expressions of sympathy for the Palestinians, which they, probably correctly, assume must imply implicit criticism of the nation that created their plight.

The Jerusalem Post noted apprehensively that in September 2014, addressing the Arab League in Cairo, Guterres praised the Arabâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hospitality to refugees, and added that the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s various refugee crises â&#x20AC;&#x153;pale in comparison to the desperate situation of the Palestinians, the largest protracted refugee situation in the world.â&#x20AC;?

He lamented that Palestinians in Syria were â&#x20AC;&#x153;being forced to flee for the second time,â&#x20AC;? but that it was, even worse, â&#x20AC;&#x153;shock-

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ingâ&#x20AC;? that Gazans â&#x20AC;&#x153;could not even flee to seek safetyâ&#x20AC;? from the latest Israeli onslaught. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No one wants to be a refugee,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But for the people of Gaza, not even that was an option.â&#x20AC;?

The rational conclusion is that Israel once again faces a U.N. secretary-general who is quite prepared to talk to its lead-

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32

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

ersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but who will firmly remind them that they are not exempt from the U.N. Charter and international law.

Of course, we should not join in the obsessiveness. A U.N. secretary-general has many, many other problems to face. Climate change, world poverty, the teetering international financial situation, and great power conflicts more threatening than anything since the fall of the Berlin War. On all of these, Guterres is not Superman: he can do little or nothing without the backing of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s major powers. But the evidence of his career is that he is in position to do better than any other candidate would have been. His election is good news for the United Nations and the world.

To return to the subject, however, last March the U.N. Council on Human Rights in Geneva voted to compile a list of businesses operating in the territories, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to bring about an international boycott on them. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, the outspoken Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein, called on the U.N. deputy secretary-general to publish the list of Israeli businesses and international corporations which have ties with the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to ensure that the U.N.â&#x20AC;&#x201D; whose procurement from Israeli companies has recently doubledâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;abides by its own rules. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is reasonable to assume that the U.N. has ties with businesses which are expected to be included on the list, and therefore the U.N. must stop these illegitimate links,â&#x20AC;? Al-Hussein wrote to Jan Eliasson.

He wants the U.N. Procurement Division to note and use the list when contracting with Israeli companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in interesting contrast to the moves across the U.S. and the West to hinder the BDS movement. The moves will doubtless be anticipated by ferocious denunciations of anti-Semitism with a fury calculated to obscure the elementary fact that the settlements represent a standing violation of U.N. resolutions and the Geneva Conventions. One would like to think that AntĂłnio Guterres could persuade his former Socialist International colleagues in Israel to mainstream that point of view there. But it is probably easier to sort out climate change. â&#x2013; NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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Islam and the Near East in the Far East

Indonesian Ulema Takes Stand Against Forest Burning

By John Gee

BAY ISMOYO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

EVERY YEAR, during extended dry periods, fires are deliberately started in parts of Indonesia in order to clear forest land of trees. Many small farmers and plantation owners follow this practice, though the main culprits are probably the latter.

Each year, the burning destroys more forest, replacing diversity with monoculture (oil palms are the main plantation trees) and further eroding the habitat in which endangered animals such as orangutans, tigers and Sumatran rhinoceroses live.

The burning results in haze, caused by fine particles that rise up into the air and are then carried considerable distances by the wind. In Singapore, it is bad enough when this happens: the air smells of burning, visibility is reduced and there are daily A villager tries to extinguish a peatland fire on the outskirts of Palangkaraya city in Central Kalihaze reports that advise people on what mantan, Oct. 26, 2015. precautions they may need to take to protion,” he said, “we hope that people’s behavior can be altered." tect their health. Yet this may be caused by fires that are 200 or He told AFP, "The Qur’an states that we are not allowed to more miles away. It is certainly worse for Indonesians living in harm the environment, and forest burning causes damage not cities and towns near where the burning is taking place. only to the environment, but also to people’s health—even Last year’s burning was particularly bad, with 125,000 individual neighboring countries are complaining." fires devastating 875,000 hectares of peatland. Fires in woodland The MUI also made recommendations to central and local on peat can continue to burn underground even when flames are governments, as well as to corporations and the general public, no longer visible on the ground, and then blaze up again. and intends to release a booklet setting out its views.

Indonesian government responses have been weak, with very This is not the first time the MUI has issued fatwas on envifew prosecutions of offenders taking place, and the burning has ronmental problems. It has also issued them on the protection continued. Now the highest Muslim religious body in Indonesia of the environment, waste management and wildlife protection: has stepped in with a strong statement against forest burning. in March 2014, a fatwa said that illegal hunting and trafficking of The Indonesian Ulema Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia— wild animals was haram. That fatwa called on Muslims to play MUI) issued a fatwa condemning the practice on Sept. 13, after an active part in protecting Indonesia’s threatened species, inbeing requested in January to look into doing so. The council cluding elephants, orangutans, rhinoceroses and tigers. studied the problem carefully before adopting a public position.

Perhaps encouraged by this Indonesian example, ulema in a At a media conference in Jakarta announcing the fatwa, couple of Malaysian states have issued fatwas on environmental board member Huzaemah Tahido Yanggo said: problems this year. In February, ulema in the state of Terengganu "Burning forest and land can cause further destruction, enviissued a fatwa against the hunting of protected species of animals, ronmental hazards, general loss, health issues, and many othand in March ulema in the small northern state of Perlis put out a ers. That is why MUI declared forest burning as ‘haram,’ meanfatwa that said it is haram to purposely pollute the environment. ing unlawful, sinful and thus strongly prohibited."

In addition, Huzaemah said that facilitating, conniving or beneWHERE WILL DUTERTE TAKE THE PHILIPPINES? fiting from forest burning is haram as well. "With this moral regulaSince Rodrigo Duterte was inaugurated as president of the John Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Singapore, and the author of Unequal Conflict: The Palestinians and Israel.

Philippines on June 30, he has earned international opprobrium NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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with an "anti-crime" drive that, by October, had resulted in some 3,500 people being killed extrajudicially. The fact that many of the victims are drug sellers or users has meant that they have little public sympathy. Although condemned by human rights organizations and criticized by Western governments and the United Nations, the policy has considerable popular support in the Philippines, and Duterte has not so far felt any necessity to rein in the police/vigilante violence.

On Sept. 30, in a speech at Davao International Airport, Duterte attacked U.S. and European critics of his policy, saying, "Hitler massacred three million Jews.

Now there are three million drug addicts in the Philippines. I'd be happy to slaughter them.”

Duterte was mayor of the sprawling city of Davao for a total of 22 years, having first won the post in 1988. He operated a similar policy there. Davao is in Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines and one that was long troubled by conflicts involving the Muslim-ma(Advertisement)

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jority regions. Efforts to clinch a final deal to bring peace to the area have stalled several times over the questions of approval by the Philippines Senate of an autonomy plan and over the boundaries of the proposed autonomous region.

Shortly after his election, on July 8, Duterte promised Filipino Muslims that he would bring peace to Mindanao, but suggested that he would attempt to do it by introducing a federal system of government to the Philippines. He claimed that this proposal was supported by both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front, and yet this implies the shelving of the autonomy scheme that has been the subject of protracted, on-off negotiations with both the fronts. He said that if his plan for federalism was rejected, he would then secure the passage of a law to establish the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. He said that he was willing to negotiate its final borders.

In a rambling speech on Sept. 12, Duterte referred to the presence of U.S. soldiers in Mindanao: "For as long as we stay with America, we will never have peace in that land,” he said. “We might as well give it up. So, those special forces, they have to go. They have to go. In Mindanao, there are so many American [troops] there. They have to go. We will reorient our foreign policy."

Philippines officials hurried to say that nothing had changed in their country’s attitude toward the U.S., but Duterte’s statement can be seen in the context of his contemptuous rejection of U.S. criticisms of his "anti-crime drive" and his conciliatory attitude toward the biggest regional power, China, over the South China Sea islands that it disputes with its neighbors.

One aspect of Duterte’s policies that has so far attracted little attention is his statement in May, as president-elect, that he would revive the Philippines’ claim to Sabah, the easternmost state of Malaysia.

Sabah was leased by the Sultanate of Sulu, which was part of the Philippines, to the British North Borneo Company in 1878 in return for an annual payment. Sabah joined the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 and Malaysia still pays a small annual amount

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

to the Sultanate of Sulu. The dispute over the territory flared up into violence in February 2013, when 200 armed men from Sulu landed in Sabah and were killed or dislodged by the Malaysian army. ■

Afghanistan

Continued from page 25

when gasoline trucked up to Afghanistan from Pakistan’s coast costs the Pentagon $400 per gallon. Some estimates put the war cost at $33,000 per citizen. But Americans do not pay this cost through a special war tax, as it should be. Bush ordered the total costs of the Iraq and Afghan wars be concealed in the national debt.

Officially, 2,216 American soldiers have died in Afghanistan and 20,049 were seriously wounded. Some 1,173 U.S. mercenaries have also been killed. Large numbers of U.S.-financed mercenaries still remain in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama promised to withdraw nearly all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by 2016.

Instead, more U.S. troops are on the way to protect the Kabul puppet regime from its own people. Taliban and its dozen-odd allied resistance movements (“terrorists” in Pentagon speak faithfully parroted by the U.S. media) are steadily gaining territory and followers.

The U.S. recently dragooned NATO and other satrap states to a “voluntary” donor conference for Afghanistan where they had to cough up another $15.2 billion and likely send some more troops to this hopeless conflict. Washington cannot bear to admit defeat by tiny Afghanistan or see this strategic nation fall into China’s sphere.

Ominously, the U.S. is encouraging India to play a much larger role in Afghanistan, thus planting the seeds of a dangerous Pakistani-Indian-Chinese confrontation there.

There was no mention of the 800 lb. gorilla in the conference room: Afghanistan’s role as the world’s by now largest heroin/ opium/morphine producer—all under the proud auspices of the United States government. The new U.S. president will inherit this embarrassing problem. ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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the U.S. and Europe should help them accomplish that. This is not an issue we can avoid, as a nation or as human beings.

In the long term, the U.S. should prioritize humanitarian issues in the region.

Syria needs peace, regardless of whose political goals triumph. The health of young children should come before politics.

Charlie Tomb, Brunswick, ME

SYRIAN REFUGEES HAVE TALENTS TO SHARE

SYRIA’S FORGOTTEN CHILDREN

To the Portland Press Herald, Sept. 22, 2016 A year ago this month, the world was stunned by the photograph of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, lying dead on a Turkish beach.

Like Aylan’s father, Abdullah Kurdi, many thought that the image would help clarify the situation in Syria. Nobody—Russian or American, German or Turkish, Sunni or Shi’i—wants to see a young child die.

But this summer we were appalled again at a similar image: That of 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh, sitting barefoot in an ambulance, covered in dust and blood after narrowly surviving the blast of a Russian airstrike.

Many of us now share Mr. Kurdi’s confusion as to why we are still seeing such images and confronting the same stories.

The reality is, children are caught in the violence every week in Syria, and many are not as lucky as Omran.

But the greatest strategic questions return to which armies should be backed, what districts should be bombed, and who should or should not receive more weaponry.

The U.N. has continually reported on what looks like a bottomless humanitarian crisis, but international powers seem more willing to fight a proxy war in Syria than find ways to help the millions of desperate people living in the country.

For now, the international community must help the refugees; nobody should sacrifice the lives of their children in their search for safety.

The U.S. should accept more than 10,000 Syrians. Syria’s neighbors should improve conditions for their refugees, and NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

To The Fresno Bee, Oct. 1, 2016 Wow! I have rarely read such an ill-informed statement in The Bee’s letters section as that which describes Syrian refugees as perpetually unemployable (Sept. 25).

What does Gerald Fountain of Coalinga think these people were doing before their country became a war zone?

Syria is not a country known for having an American-style welfare safety net. No, the refugees we hopefully will welcome into our country were hard-working individuals raising families and sending their children to school.

Many were running their own businesses, while others are well-educated professionals, who speak English as a second language. They may have lost their capital, but they bring skills and experience with them, are eager to get back to work, and will be valuable additions to our economy.

Bob Turner, Clovis, CA

ANOTHER WAVE OF REFUGEES IN THE ARAB WORLD

To The Wichita Eagle, Oct. 11, 2016 My feelings go out to the people of Syria, especially the city of Aleppo, where heavy bombing is occurring. Many orphans, widows and widowers result from these serious situations. Hospitals are caught in the destruction, as are deliveries of food and medicine.

I am mindful of my time spent as a teacher and relief worker in Jordan and the West Bank in the 1950s. Arab Palestinian refugees fled their homes to live as refugees in the Jericho area, among other places in Palestine. The refugees resulted from the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 and totaled about 700,000.

The Jericho area had 38,000 refugees in the Aqaba Jabber refugee camp. The United Nations provided rations for the inhabitants. This camp was emptied out in the 1967 Six-Day War, with the refugees fleeing eastward into Jordan. Being a teacher, I assisted in clothing distributions.

This is a sight to behold, with its many manifestations of poverty and hopelessness.

Marlow Ediger, North Newton, KS

ISRAEL DOESN’T NEED MORE AMERICAN MONEY

To the Houston Chronicle, Sept. 23, 2016 The United States has pledged to give Israel $3.8 billion a year over 10 years, which White House officials described as the largest foreign assistance package in U.S. history. My family has been to Israel in the past and myself there for business recently, and they do not appear to be a welfare state.

In my lifetime, I can only hope that our government could commit $38 billion to educate and train our children and young adults to be able to find meaningful employment in their lives instead of roaming the streets of America. You can look into the eyes of someone without hope, and you will be looking into the eyes of crime.

William Story, Woodlands, TX

ISRAEL MUST FACE PUSH BACK FOR ITS ACTIONS

To The New York Times, Oct. 7, 2016 For decades the United States has abdicated its responsibility to use the leverage it has, as Israel’s largest backer, to put pressure on its government to end its unsustainable and unconscionable treatment of Palestinians.

Even in their more stringent condemnation this week, American policy makers once again failed to articulate what the consequences would be for Israel’s continued violations of international law. This is not primarily an issue of Israel’s strategic interests, but an issue of the right of Palestinians to live with freedom and equality in their land.

A coalition of Palestinian civil society groups has made three very clear demands: End the occupation of lands seized in 1967, full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the right to return for refugees. Anything less is neither a just nor a lasting solution.

Naomi Dann, Media Program Manager, Jewish Voice for Peace, Brooklyn, NY

REFUTING PRO-ISRAEL SPIN

To The Courier-Journal, Sept. 20, 2016 A representative of the Jewish Federation of Louisville has written another pathetic propaganda piece in defense of the Israeli government.

Let’s not mince words: Gaza, for decades, has been an Israeli holding pen

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for Palestinians. Israeli government records demonstrate how its forces, during its “war for independence,” violently expelled Palestinians from over 400 towns deemed necessary for a future Israel. Palestinians, threatened at gunpoint, were given 24 hours to leave. Some recalcitrant Palestinian citizens were shot dead. Successive Israeli governments have been clear. No Palestinian person is allowed back to reclaim land in Israel.

The demographics of Israel cannot be “tainted” by “others.” One million of Gaza’s population are U.N. refugees whose families have survived this tragic ethnic cleansing. Justice has never been served on behalf of the refugees in Gaza.

This is why the op-ed is pathetic: Israel is an economic, political and military Goliath compared to an impoverished Palestinian people. It ultimately controls the situation in Israel-Palestine through this superiority.

Despite this, the Jewish Federation publishes defensive pieces without acknowledging that true peace will emerge only when the international community pressures Israel to grant the Palestinian people due justice and respect as equal human beings.

Matt Bewley, Louisville, KY

when I was assigned as the Defense Department’s counternarcotics officer for Afghanistan in 2004. The lead for Afghanistan, the State Department, was already talking about nation-building. At Defense, we were skeptical from the start.

The Afghan-Pakistani border was uncontrollable. There were too many factions.

Our own military refused to help with opium control. There was no answer to the problem of “poppy debt” (the farmers had to pay drug lords with opium). There were no government institutions worthy of the name, and the leadership sat atop a hopelessly corrupt system.

Security was unattainable, and has remained so even when we had more than 100,000 troops in the country.

What hope do we have now? Progress has been sporadic and will never survive in an insecure environment. Like the Middle East, South Asia can find its solution only by looking inward. It is not a place for people who have never shown a clear understanding of the region, its history or its possibilities.

Joseph Blady, Franklin Lakes, NJ. The writer was a program officer for the under secretaries of defense for policy and intelligence, 2004-14.

IT’S TIME TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN

To The Washington Post, Oct. 14, 2016 The Oct. 9 news article “Airstrike kills over 100, injures hundreds more at funeral in Yemen” did not mention the White House reaction, which stated that “U.S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check” and that the White House is undertaking “an immediate review of our already significantly reduced support to the Saudi-led Coalition...to adjust our support so as to better align with U.S. principles, values and interests.”

The White House continues to insist, however, on a peace settlement based on the lopsided United Nations Security Council resolution of April 2015 that requires the Houthi-led coalition to lay down its weapons and withdraw from the areas it occupies, with no provision for similar disarmament by the Saudi-led coalition.

Since the catastrophic attack Saturday and the White House statement, the bombing raids have continued unabated.

Unless both parties put down their arms and a third party is named to supervise a cease-fire, there will be no peace.

Marjorie Ransom, Washington, DC The writer was a U.S. diplomat in Yemen.

To The New York Times, Sept. 23, 2016 You say Afghanistan will be a difficult discussion for the next administration.

There is no need for a discussion. We should just leave.

The problems we face today bear a startling resemblance to those that existed

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TIME TO RETHINK BASIS OF SAUDIHOUTHI CEASEFIRE IN YEMEN

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A WORLD WITH LESS WAR AND LESS POVERTY

To The Seattle Times, Sept. 19, 2016 As the refugee crisis and public safety once again find their way into headlines, it is important to consider international aid [“New York bombs filled with shrapnel and clues,” Page One, Sept. 19]. Our country has engaged in conflict in the Middle East longer than any other war in our history. So far, we have succeeded in creating more refugees and instability. It is time for a different approach.

International aid addressing global poverty is an essential part of reducing violence around the world. As a former U.S. Army infantry soldier, I saw firsthand the crushing poverty in Iraq and Afghanistan that gives rise to extremism and sectarian violence. Simply sending more troops will not fix the problem.

Our country spends less than 1 percent of its federal budget on foreign aid. By shifting our priorities, we could help children in other countries avoid starvation long enough to receive the education they need to be productive members of society.

Poverty rates and malnutrition are already dropping. With our help, they can be eliminated, opening the way for U.S. trade.

More than 45 percent of all U.S. exports now go to developing countries.

World poverty and U.S. national security are inexorably linked. Let’s stop ignoring the underlying issue and use our most effective weapon against extremism—the international affairs budget.

Will Sweger, Seattle, WA

APPALLING TORTURE AT GITMO

To The Washington Post, Oct. 16, 2016 Re “A Guantanamo inmate’s unending imprisonment” (Oct. 9, Opinion): There really are no words to express how sickening I find the treatment of Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, or Abu Zubaydah, as he is called, at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And the fact that my government, which likes to hold itself up as a shining example to the rest of the world, is the perpetrator of this hideous miscarriage of justice makes me almost physically ill.

Despite overwhelming odds, and being blocked at every turn by U.S. officials, the lawyers defending these cases have persevered on behalf of people who surely must believe the world has gone mad.

Joanne Heisel, Columbia, MD ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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ARAB AMERICAN ACTIVISM ADC Conference: “Inspiring Change Through Action”

The official theme of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s 36th National Convention, held at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Sept. 29 to Oct. 2, 2016, was “Inspiring Change Through Action.” Yet another theme that emerged over the course of the weekend was the importance of coalition-building and working across communities. Many speakers, panelists and awardees cited coalitionbuilding and fighting for justice alongside other organizations as the single most important factor for achieving goals to support and defend the rights of the Arab-American community, and uphold human rights for people throughout the world.

division among voters, she said, adding that “the Republican Party has really taken anti-Muslim hate to the next level.” At the same time, Khalek emphasized the ways in which the Democratic Party also has failed Muslim Americans, noting that they “aren’t off the hook just because they don’t talk in as extreme terms.”

In Khalek’s opinion, the way to combat the hate rhetoric and bigotry of this election cycle lies in part with the younger generation of voters, who according to polling results have proved to be more tolerant and open. “Building a progressive left,” Khalek said, could confront the hateful rhetoric which has been heard throughout this election cycle.

“We need to have a left that has a strong counter-narrative,” stated Khalek, who also argued that a “longer, more sustained effort outside of the parties” was necessary to keep younger voters more engaged.

One way that might take place, she said, is through mobilization at smaller, local levels for progressive leaders.

Khaled Saffuri, a well-established legal and policy expert on international business and the Middle East, with extensive experience working with Congress and ADC, noted that the kind of “hate speech” heard in this year’s election campaign is invariably composed of three elements: donors who support those who proclaim bigotry and xenophobia; politicians and speakers themselves; and the crowd, who listens to, responds to and encourages it. This essentially means that hateful rhetoric “became an industry,” he said. An increase in

hate speech comes when any of these three parties has a reason to further propagate bigoted rhetoric.

Without a market for it, Saffuri concluded, “this message would not exist.”

—Emily Neil

Increasing Participation and Protecting Rights at the Polls

PHOTO COURTESY ADC

The next panel of the day, “Increasing Participation and Protecting Rights at the Polls,” dealt with perhaps the most important way to combat hateful election rhetoric: ensuring that Arab-American voices are heard in the upcoming elections by encouraging voter registration, and defending against voter intimidation. The panel was co-chaired by Nadia Aziz, government relations director at the Arab American Institute (AAI), and Abed A. Ayoub, ADC national legal and policy director.

According to Aziz, the Arab-American Combating Election Rhetoric and population in many states numbered Intimidation above the margin of victory in past elections in their respective states. This, she A Sept. 30 panel on “Combating Election said, is evidence that Arab-American votRhetoric and Intimidation” discussed the ers can have a significant impact in deterchallenges the Arab-American and Muslimmining election results.

American communities face when they turn The AAI initiative “Yalla Vote,” also out to vote on Nov. 8. known by its eponymous hashtag, was Marcia Johnson-Blanco, co-director of launched in 1998. It promotes voter eduthe Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights cation and encourages Arab-Americans to Voting Rights Project, manages Election vote on issues important to the country as Protection, the nation’s largest non-partia whole. Aziz said that the primary objecsan voter protection program, and supertives of the initiative and AAI’s voter eduvises the work of the National Commission cation and registration efforts are to: 1) on Voting Rights.

Get as many people registered to vote as She cited a “disillusionment with our syspossible; and 2) have an effective and eftem” as one of the problems affecting votficient plan for mobilizing voting participation today, in ers and ensuring they get to what has been “an election the polls to cast their vote. season like no other.”

Aziz also noted that AAI “Anti-Arab and anti-Muslim planned to release in October hate has really become a the results of a poll indicating wedge issue,” said panelist who its members will be votRania Khalek, journalist, asing for on Nov. 8. sociate editor of the Electronic Ayoub stressed that it’s Intifada, and co-host of the “important to watch out for weekly podcast “Unauthofolks intimidating people at rized Disclosure,” discussing the polls,” as has happened the hate rhetoric so prevalent in the past. Voters should in this year’s election campaign. It’s come to replace ADC Legal Director Abed Ayoub (l) and AAI’s Nadia Aziz speak to the ADC know their rights and be prepared to contact ADC or other issues in creating a true community about getting out the vote.

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other relevant organizations and government offices should they experience intimidation or any infringement on their voting rights at the polls. If there are instances of intimidation, Ayoub added, voters should try to document and record them as thoroughly as possible.

—Emily Neil Amer Zahr, a well-known Palestinian comedian, attorney and adjunct professor at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, moderated a panel that examined the growth and successes of the BDS movement. BDS faces an enormous challenge in the wake of state and federal legislation which has already or soon could infringe on the right of companies to be involved in the BDS movement and exercise their First Amendment rights.

Abed Awad, attorney and adjunct law professor at Rutgers Law School, summarized the history of the word “boycott,” which was first used in 1880 and eventually became defined as a “political tool for effecting social and political change.”

“We have a history in this country of using boycott as a way to effect social and political change,” Awad noted, adding that boycott was seen as a form of speech.

He described the current BDS movement, encouraging businesses, universities, and all organizations to divest from Israel, as “civil disobedience, it’s nonviolent.”

Awad specifically referred to “attempts to silence our First Amendment rights” by the New Jersey state legislature, which passed a bill in June blacklisting businesses involved in the BDS movement by prohibiting state pension fund investment in pro-boycott companies. Awad worked to directly organize and protest against the law, which included a meeting with members of the Newark, NJ newspaper The Star Ledger, that resulted in an uncharacteristic editorial from the paper condemning the legislative action.

Josh Ruebner, author of Shattered Hopes: Obama’s Failure to Broker IsraeliPalestinian Peace, (available from Middle East Books and More) and policy director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, described this kind of backlash as a “manNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

PHOTO COURTESY ADC

First Amendment Issues and BDS

(L-r) Amer Zahr moderates the panel “First Amendment Issues Relating to BDS,” with speakers Abed Awad, Josh Ruebner and Dalal Hillou.

ifestation of the success of this movement.” Labor unions, colleges, universities, churches and corporate boardrooms are all among the number of organizations and institutions which have embraced the BDS movement, he noted, including at least nine mainstream churches that have called for divestment, as well as for ending U.S. military aid to Israel.

“This movement represents a challenge to Israeli legitimacy or illegitimacy,” Ruebner stated. “It shows that when we organize, we can not only have an impact, we can win.”

Ruebner also acknowledged the significance of legislation at the federal level, however, most notably the combative BDS act of 2016: S. 2531 in the Senate and H.R. 4514 in the House. The pending bill seeks to authorize states to blacklist businesses involved in the BDS movement, essentially giving “a federal blessing” to these state efforts to limit the impact of the BDS movement in what Ruebner and other organizations, including the ACLU, have described as “blatantly unconstitutional measures.”

Dalal Hillou, a second-year law student at American University in Washington, DC, and former member of the executive board of Athens for Justice in Palestine, described how Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a nationwide organization with chapters at many universities—like the one she was a part of as an undergraduate at University of Georgia— has contributed to the growth of the BDS movement nationwide.

Although SJP has grown significantly beyond the “very isolated, very community-based” identity the organization had in the past, Hillou said, Palestinian activists and supporters of SJP and the BDS movement are increasingly being targeted for their work.

Canary Mission is one particular website she cited as being a major deterrent for campus SJP/BDS activists. Administered anonymously, the website lists the names of Palestinian activists and professors, among others, in an effort to blacklist them. Hillou described the site as “one of the ways they’re trying to chill the free speech of Palestinian activists.” A survey of students and professors whose names have appeared on the site reported that as a result of being named, 70 percent have “toned down their activism.”

“BDS has escalated from a whisper to a shouting match,” Hillou said, adding that at least 1,000 professors have lent their signatures to the site <againstcanarymis sion.org>, which aims to counter the effect and efforts of Canary Mission.

The panelists agreed that state and federal legislation which would allow states to require businesses to declare their involvement in BDS is directly related to the First Amendment right to free speech, and to the right of individuals and private organizations to act according to their own beliefs and values.

“As Arab and Muslim Americans, the mantle of the First Amendment is on our shoulders,” Awad said. If plaintiffs were

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found in seven or eight of the states which have anti-BDS legislation, efforts to curb the BDS movement could be directly confronted, challenged and defeated, he said.

In the midst of the panel, three students from the University of Illinois at Chicago's campus spoke about SJP efforts there, and some of the backlash they’ve experienced in response to their activism. Last year, they reported, SJP received a death threat and reported it. As a consequence, the undergraduate student government approved a proposal for an Arab Cultural Center on campus, the first of its kind in the country.

The panelists agreed that coordinating with Jewish groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is essential for the success of the BDS movement. JVP was among the organizations which rallied to strike down the anti-BDS legislation in New Jersey which was eventually passed on June 27, Awad noted. “We will not make effective change without the Jewish-American groups on our side,” he said. “It’s not going to work without these alliances.”

Ruebner added that “positive investment in the Palestinian economy vs. BDS” is not an actual conflict, and the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Though some people have cried “crocodile tears” that “BDS is ruining the Palestinian economy,” he said, the statistics and reality as reported on the ground do not support that claim.

—Emily Neil

dedication to ADC. “We would never have survived the ’90s without Clovis’ dedication,” he said, noting that at one point Maksoud mortgaged his home to help ADC survive. “He was always near and dear to all of us.”

Former Lebanese Ambassador to Canada, Chile and Poland Massoud Maalouf recalled his final moments with Maksoud. On May 4, he accompanied Maksoud to an event at the Al-Hewar Center in Virginia. He recalled Maksoud being his typical self that night: jubilant in demeanor and passionate in his speech. At the conclusion of the event, he drove Maksoud home and everything seemed normal.

Two hours later, Maksoud suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

Said Arikat of Al Quds Daily recalled Maksoud’s commitment to Arab nationalism and the Palestinian cause. Despite the depressing state of the Arab world, he said, Maksoud always remained upbeat and hopeful.

He also shared a story that highlighted Maksoud’s intellect and wit: one time, the two were traveling from Amman to Washington, and the entire time Maksoud kept him gripped with jokes, anecdotes and compelling regional analysis, Arikat recalled.

Jack Shaheen, a writer and lecturer who specializes in identifying anti-Arab stereotypes in films and popular media, recalled Maksoud’s amazing oratorical skills. Once, he said, the two were sharing the stage at an event and Shaheen mentioned the word “prejudice.” Maksoud proceeded to speak eloquently about prejudice, without notes, for more than an hour.

Dr. Fida Adely, the Clovis and Hala Salaam Maksoud Chair in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, noted Maksoud's role in establishing the school’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in the 1970s.

She described Maksoud as a passionate believer that Americans needed to be better educated about the affairs of the modern Arab world.

Maksoud's daughter Elizabeth concluded the evening by emphasizing her father's dream of Arab unity. “His love for the Arab world and the Arab people was boundless,” she said. “He was always hopeful that one day Arab unity would become a reality.”

She encouraged all of Maksoud's friends to continue her father's mission, saying, “The reality is, you are his legacy and you are his family.”

—Dale Sprusansky

The Growing State of Surveillance And the Fallacy of Protection

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

On the second day of the conference, a panel of experts spoke on the increase in surveillance in the name of national security, and the ways in which it has made its impact felt on the Arab-American community. ADC national staff attorney Yolanda Rondon was the moderator.

“I want you to walk away from the panel with a deep skepticism that we should give up our privacy to be a little bit safer,” stated Naureen Shah, director of Amnesty International USA’s Security and Human Rights Program. She described the “new normal” that has emerged since 9/11 and Dinner Pays Tribute to Dr. Clovis has linked the reality of insecurity in the Maksoud world—the global refugee crisis, terrorist attacks, wars in the Middle In May, Dr. Clovis Maksoud, the East—with an implicit status quo brilliant and admired former Arab of accepting limitations on priLeague ambassador to the United vacy by U.S. government surStates and India, died of a cereveillance programs in order to bral hemorrhage. On the first bolster national security. But for night of its conference, ADC held Shah, the question remains: “Is a dinner to honor and pay tribute surveillance the answer to that to Maksoud. insecurity?”

Throughout the evening, MakCautioning that “We’re all soud's friends and family took to under surveillance because the the stage to share their fondest U.S. government needs to feed memories of the lively diplomat, the beast,” Shah cited the fact author and intellectual.

ADC President Samer Khalaf Dr. Jack Shaheen describes Ambassador Clovis Maksoud’s oratory that the U.S. has forces in 135 countries in the world, and is still began by highlighting Maksoud’s skills.

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PHOTO COURTESY ADC

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(L-r) Yolanda Rondon, Mike German, Naureen Shah and Murtaza Hussain discuss surveillance. involved in arms trading, war and conflicts.

This aspect of U.S. foreign policy “is never part of the narrative in the global war on terrorism,” she pointed out.

Mike German, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, discussed his current work for civil liberties and his 16-year experience as an FBI special agent. He described the “tremendous amount of dysfunction” present in the FBI counter-terrorism unit, and warned that the strategy of mass surveillance is “only the first step.”

The information collected is then used “to target communities,” he said.

According to data, German continued, “there were far more terrorist attacks in the ’70s and ’80s.” The media and government’s efforts to “ratchet up the fear” is in part feeding into the goals of terrorists in the first place, he added, while also serving to justify surveillance methods and practices in the name of national security.

There are two approaches to identifying the development of an individual into a terrorist, German said: the psychological school, which studies whether it comes in part from a mental defect and seeks to understand psychological roots; and the political science school, which holds that political violence can’t be understood outside of its context.

According to German, the government has taken the route of identifying more with the psychological interpretation of terrorist activity, “reviving a context of radicalization” following 9/11.

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“There’s no science behind this concept of radicalization,” he stated, noting that the very characteristics highlighted in FBI policy as signs of “radicalization”—such as increased Muslim religious practice, alternately growing or shaving a beard, and political grievance, among others—are used to justify surveillance.

According to German, it is the very discriminatory nature of the government’s own surveillance policies that it then uses as evidence to support those same policies—“in this twisted logic that if the government discriminates against you, that makes you more of a suspect.”

Murtaza Hussain, a national security journalist at The Intercept, described how his publication, which launched in 2014 as a result of the Snowden revelations, has made it its central purpose to cover surveillance and national security.

“In founding this organization, our goal is to be very adversarial,” Hussain said, noting the context of its role in the midst of what he termed a widespread “loss of faith in institutions” in America—one of these institutions being the media, which has perhaps failed in the past to accurately and aggressively cover surveillance and national security.

“What we saw from surveillance documents is that it affects everyone, but it affects some people more than others,” Hussain said. “When these policies and practices become normalized in one sphere, it becomes easier to adapt to another sphere.”

The fact that so much of our lives now occur online, “in such granular, intimate detail,” saved permanently, can lead to the idea that there is a “database of ruin” which can be used and manipulated by intelligence agencies for any individual, he noted.

“When you have so much data about someone, you can create any story you want about someone, which is a real danger of surveillance,” Hussain observed. He urged citizens to be more wary of allowing rights to be eroded in the service of counter-terrorism and national security when there is no set proof that surveillance is the solution to confronting national security issues.

“You don’t know how all these powers, all those rights that are being sacrificed now will set the precedent for the future,” he cautioned.

The panelists agreed that in addition to being a violation of constitutional rights, current national security surveillance policies have yet to be shown to have any type of impact in increasing security and averting violent incidents and attacks.

“There is zero evidence that they’re actually effective in suppressing terrorist violence,” German said of the FBI’s current policies in countering violent extremism. “It reinforces this Islamophobic theme that terrorism is a Muslim issue.”

He cited a current program in Britain established in the past two years that is now under consideration for implementation by the U.S. government. “These programs have been very divisive,” he stated. “The way they’re implemented, they create insiders and outsiders.

“Why the U.S. would adopt a model that was a colossal failure in Britain…is hard to explain,” German added.

Shah also noted that under the FBI’s current policy of identifying those who may be vulnerable to radicalization, even children are being targeted, as teachers are encouraged to look for signs of radicalization among their students.

“We all explore who we are growing up,” she noted. “The government doesn’t have a right to treat you like a criminal until you actually are. And that’s what’s being

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Two Attorneys Dazzle ADC Civil Rights Luncheon

Two incredible women lawyers headlined ADC’s Civil Rights Luncheon. Lana Kreidie defends children and adults in Riverside County, CA and continues the fight for justice in the killing of Alex Odeh. Kreidie told listeners she grew up in Beirut during the civil war. Once, as her family took shelter in a hallway from the shooting, she asked her father, “Why do they hate us?” He replied,

Lawyers Lana Kreidie (l) and Jumana Musa received awards at ADC’s Civil Rights Luncheon.

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or other children killed playing in a park or on a Gaza beach. Or LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) young people in a dance club gunned down in Orlando. Or children in Gaza or Flint who can’t drink clean water.

It’s critically important for all of us—doctors, engineers, actors and lawyers—to work across communities, she said. Hire employees who have been incarcerated, pay a living wage, speak up when you see something is wrong, Musa urged. We can all do small everyday acts of kindness.

“Nobody is free until everybody’s free,” she reiterated, before receiving a standing ovation.

—Delinda C. Hanley

“They don’t hate us; they don’t know us.”

She urged Arab Americans to fight Islamophobia by helping Americans know them.

After her family moved to the U.S., Kreidie studied to become a deputy public defender because, she said, “even the weakest among us who may have done a bad thing is somebody’s son or daughter.” She told a story about defending a man who accepted a prosecutor’s deal even though he was innocent in order to someday get released from prison to care for his family.

Years later Kreidie asked a juvenile she defended why he had committed a dumb crime. He replied, “I want to be with my father.” Then she realized her earlier client was that father. Kreidie received ADC’s Attorney of the Year Award.

Jumana Musa, a human rights attorney and racial justice activist who works for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), received the Ralph Johns Civil Rights Award (given in memory of a Syrian-American hero of the civil rights era). Musa was one of the first attorneys allowed to travel to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where she served as Amnesty International’s legal observer.

Musa said Americans should realize that freedom and human rights are not a part-time proposition. Paraphrasing Nelson Mandela, she said those rights don’t mean anything unless everyone has them.

We should be equally moved when we see Hispanic migrants or Palestinians forcibly moved across the border. Or college students shot dead in North Carolina

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American Values at the Crossroads: Immigration and Refugee Policy

STAFF PHOTOS D. HANLEY

turned on its head,” she said, indicating that the solution to national security shouldn’t lie in “[arming] teachers in a climate of rampant Islamophobia.”

German suggested that Homeland Security’s “Countering Violent Extremism” department should be changed to a department which works to counter all violence, encompassing terrorist violence as well as state violence and other crimes.

“We are ignoring a huge amount of violence while we hyper-focus on a small amount of violence,” German said.

Hussain echoed this, saying that the empirical data “shows that most terrorism is a result of political violence.”

He argued that “the real problem after 9/11 is not the radicalization of certain communities, but the radicalization of U.S. policies.”

Rondon concluded the panel by noting that ADC itself was subject to government surveillance in 2005 due to its “activism and the identity of the clients they represent.”

—Emily Neil

A Saturday afternoon panel of distinguished attorneys and human rights and immigrant rights advocates discussed the ways in which the current rhetorical and political climate influence immigration policy. Moderator Alia Boltakke asked lawyers Nash Joseph Fayad, Albert Mokhiber and Denyse Sabagh to “separate some of the myths from reality” on how current immigration laws are affecting the Arab-American community and others.

Mokhiber, a partner with the law firm Mokhiber and Moretti and formerly ADC legal director, began by responding to concerns over Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s assertion that he would ban all Muslims from entering the country. “No one single person is going to arbitrarily block Arabs and Muslims from entering the U.S. just because they want to do that,” Mokhiber stated.

Sabagh, head of Duane Morris, LLP’s immigration practice group, and former national president and general counsel of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, supported Mokhiber’s assertion.

“Just because Trump says he’s going to build a wall is rather meaningless unless he has the support of Congress and the funders,” she pointed out.

The function of immigration—and its values and role in our nation’s legacy—is important to consider, said Fayad, founder NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

law, Mokhiber suggested, is to change public opinion through community outreach meetings to educate the public about the many Arab Americans, like Steve Jobs, the son of a Syrian refugee, who have contributed greatly to American society since the country began.

Panelists also viewed immigration reform in light of policy at the Mexican border and reform for Latino/Hispanic immigrants to the U.S. Sabagh noted that approximately $3-6 billion dollars a year is spent on border control.

It’s not all about illegal immigration, Fayad added. “We need to get involved more and more with different organizations and different communities. If there is one problem that unifies all of the minorities, it’s immigration.”

Immigration law is in need of “organic reform,” he opined. “It has to be related to what are our needs at the time.” The cornerstones of immigration are family, work and refugees, he said, and laws must change according to the country’s needs in relation to those cornerstones.

“We’re trying to treat the symptoms, not the disease,” Fayad said, adding, “We need to work on statistics. Maybe we need more than 60,000 migrant visas a year.”

Taking a closer look at America’s needs will result in a better-informed immigration policy, he argued, adding that he would “like to see the CARRP program disappear.”

—Emily Neil

(L-r) Alia Boltakke, Albert Mokhiber, Denyse Sabagh and Nash Joseph Fayad. and president of Fayad Law, PC, a law firm focused exclusively on advocating for immigrants’ rights in family and business cases. Immigration is foundational in the creation of America, he stated. “The immigration laws…were the tools used to make this country powerful,” he said, adding that the U.S. should have the foresight to work to improve immigration laws in order to secure another 200 years of prosperity.

Sabagh delved into the specific programs and policies that disproportionately affect Arab- and Muslim-Americans, and which need to be addressed in order to reform immigration law.

One such program is the government’s Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (CARRP). A secret program begun in 2008, CARRP allows the FBI to review applications to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for permanent residency, citizenship or asylum. This results in long, unexplained delays, as the USCIS often will wait for the FBI to make the final decision on what action should be taken regarding specific applications. Because of the secret nature of the CARRP program, applicants cannot discover why their cases are delayed.

If anyone has experienced an unexplained delay or hold up in the immigration process, Sabagh said, “most likely your case has been ‘CARRP-ed,’ and sent to the FBI for approval. She described the criteria for a case to be subject to CARRP review as “overly broad.”

“Even though the desire is to protect Americans, in reality what it really does is NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

adversely affect our community,” Sabagh said, arguing that the idea that this process is improving national security was “vacuous thinking.”

The ACLU has been working to counter the CARRP program by taking on relevant cases. In August 2013, the ACLU of Southern California published a report, “Muslims Need Not Apply: How USCIS Secretly Mandates the Discriminatory Delay and Denial of Citizenship and Immigration Benefits to Aspiring Americans.”

Panelists encouraged audience members to reach out to ADC and others if they have experienced delays in the immigration process which might be due to the CARRP program.

“You should know you’re not alone,” Mokhiber said.

He cited an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) contingency plan, discovered in 1987, as an example of the importance of confronting discriminatory policies. The secret memo proposed the creation of a mass deportation holding center in Oakdale, LA for anyone from eight specific countries in the Middle East and North Africa region who were lawful residents in the U.S. After the program was exposed, it was officially disavowed by government officials, and the secret interagency task force which had written it, called the Alien Border Control Committee, was soon terminated.

“Education and action are extremely important,” Mokhiber emphasized. “Always, ADC needs to know about these things to do something about it.”

One strategy to influence immigration

VA Governor McAuliffe Headlines ADC Gala Awards Banquet

PHOTO COURTESY ADC

PHOTO COURTESY ADC

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Virgina Gov. Terry McAuliffe (l) accepts his Commitment to Public Service Award from ADC President Samer Khalaf.

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his commitment to public service. He has worked to make Virginia an inclusive state, welcomed refugees, and regularly engaged with the Arab-American and Muslim communities. McAuliffe served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005 and was chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. Two of McAuliffe’s five children have spent summers volunteering in Nablus.

McAuliffe said he has zero tolerance for discrimination and is tired of the campaign rhetoric, especially the vicious attacks on the Khan family from Charlottesville, VA, whose son died serving this country. The way the Khans stood their ground made him proud to be an American, McAuliffe said. “We are a nation of immigrants. Your contributions to the U.S. of A are second to none. I’ll continue to fight for you.”

—Delinda C. Hanley

The Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

Sunday is traditionally set aside as the ADC Conference’s “Palestine Day,” which began this year with a panel discussion on “The Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza.” Each panelist stressed the desperation and dire conditions faced by Gazans today—worse, perhaps, than ever before.

“It is so important to keep Gaza on the forefront of our minds,” said Chelsey Berlin of B’Tselem USA. She stressed the severity of the Israeli blockade, which has made it near impossible for anyone, for any purpose, to travel in and out of Gaza—even if they apply for, receive, and have in hand the necessary travel permits.

The “system itself…abridges international law,” Berlin noted, but it is important to understand how that system functions.

The categories for permission to leave Gaza are: business; medical patients; staff members of NGOs; family visits; and travel to receive consular services. Categories for students and family reunification are not among those accepted as legal reasons to exit Gaza, Berlin pointed out.

Overall, she added, even permits given for one of the legal reasons for leaving are increasingly scarce.

She and other panelists emphasized the ways in which the blockade significantly affects other aspects of daily life in Gaza, especially in terms of the economy.

In Gaza, Berlin said, “the unemployment level is among the worst in the world.” Resources are limited, as 95 percent of the water is not potable, and electricity is only available a few hours a day.

“This is a man-made problem, not a natural catastrophe,” Berlin stated, citing a U.N. report released in 2015 that found that Gaza will become unlivable by 2020.

“The vast majority of people in NGOs would say Gaza is unlivable now,” said panelist Bill Corcoran, who has been CEO of the aid organization American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) for nearly a decade.

Even students who have received a Fulbright scholarship to come to the U.S. to study can’t get out of Gaza. The blockade is making it impossible to build up the education system in Gaza by bringing in experts, who are at times turned away at the border even if they have received the

(L-r) Moderator Dr. Bishara Bahbah, Bill Corcoran, Chelsey Berlin and Brian K. Barber stress the severity of the blockade on Gaza.

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STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

Muslim-American comedian Said Durrah was an engaging master of ceremony at ADC’s Gala Awards Banquet on Oct. 1.

ADC president Samer Khalaf welcomed the ballroom full of ADC supporters and noted that thousands of people had viewed the panel discussions streamed on Facebook throughout the conference. ADC presented awards to an array of inspirational recipients.

Dr. Claire Nader presented the Rose Nader Award, named after her mother, to Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician who worked tirelessly to expose Flint’s water crisis. Dr. Hanna-Attisha pushed doctors, government officials and public health experts to reveal Flint’s high lead content in its water.

As an Iraqi American Hanna-Attisha says she values her right to speak out here. “If I can inspire or motivate a future generation of strong women who are ethical and who are stubborn and who are persistent and who care about their community, that would be worth it,” Dr. Hanna-Attisha concluded.

Attorney Albert Mokhiber described the 1985 assassination of ADC regional director Alex Odeh in Santa Ana, and the recent financial troubles Odeh’s widow, Norma, is facing after losing her job. [By the end of the evening ADC raised $10,000 to help Norma keep her home.]

Attorney Samer W. Burgan and his wife, business owner Nora, received the Alex Odeh Memorial Award for their decades of vital public service and work for the ArabAmerican community. Each gave hard-hitting speeches, and expressed their disappointment with President Barack Obama.

Arab Americans believed he would empathize with Palestinians, but instead he handed over $38 billion to reward this apartheid state, Samer Burgan said.

Najah Bazzy, an acclaimed leader in the health care field, received the Hala Maksoud Leadership Award. Bazzy founded Zaman International, a Detroit-based nonprofit providing crisis assistance (food, furniture, clothing and help paying utility bills) and training to marginalized women with children. Zaman has also funded safe drinking water projects to help 600,000 people around the world.

Virgina Gov. Terry McAuliffe gave a rousing keynote address after being honored for

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Researchers asked specific questions in order to accurately describe mental health in Gaza. They found that 69 percent of respondents had to avoid thoughts about traumatic events at least once in the past two weeks, and 31 percent regularly had to push thoughts of traumatic events from their minds. Of those surveyed, 77 percent reported feelings of depression at least once in the past two weeks, and 23 percent regularly experienced depression in that time period.

But perhaps the most telling statistic, Barber said, was the percentage of those asked about how often they felt “broken or destroyed, and had a lack of hope in the future” in the two weeks prior to the time they were surveyed. Of the respondents, 94 percent had felt “broken or destroyed in the past two weeks”; 35 percent had felt that way regularly in that time period.

“You will find people who still smile. You would see in their eyes exhaustion,” Barber said. He then pointed to a photo from Gaza displayed on the screen that showed a green tree growing in the midst of rubble. “If that tree is emblematic of Gaza as a people, it would be losing its leaves and it would be parched with thirst,” he concluded.

—Emily Neil

ADC Convention Concludes With Palestine Luncheon and Awards

This year’s Rachel Corrie Award was presented to Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior minister of Plymouth Congregational United

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

proper paperwork.

“It’s tragic in the West Bank; it’s critical in Gaza,” Corcoran said of the increased border restrictions.

Corcoran described how the Gaza Strip, approximately two times the area of Washington, DC, is increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, bereft of external economic and diplomatic ties. There is one cargo entry point, and agricultural development has been stalled. Corcoran said there have been 50 incursions since 2014 in which the Israeli army has crossed the border and flattened the fields restored

by ANERA working with other community members and farmers.

According to Corcoran, “80 percent of Palestinians are dependent on getting food from someone else,” and the goal with water and sewage projects, along with educational projects, is simply to get resources and facilities back to their pre2014 level.

In Corcoran’s estimation, it will take “at least another 10 years” to restore infrastructure and living conditions in Gaza to what they were before Israel’s 2014 assault.

Restoration and rebuilding efforts are made more difficult by the fact that lack of political progress discourages donors from investing in Gaza, Corcoran said.

Brian K. Barber, Ph.D., has been interviewing families in Gaza for 20 years, and is currently writing a book based on his work, focused on mental health in Gaza.

The source of Gazans’ suffering is “not a mysterious thing,” he said. “They know the cause...It has everything to do with the economics and politics.”

Barber noted that while in the past he would “proudly and authentically proclaim the strength and heartiness of Gazans” while speaking to outside audiences, it would be disingenuous to focus on that in light of the overwhelming desperation and deprivation Gazans are now experiencing.

“So deep, so widespread is the suffering, people are expressing it in ways they haven’t before,” Barber said, citing conversations with various Gazans he has worked with and interviewed.

Barber shared the results of a 2011 study he conducted of 600 Gazans.

Rev. Graylan Hagler received ADC’s Rachel Corrie Award.

Church of Christ in Washington, DC. In introducing Reverend Hagler, this writer, last year’s proud awardee, said: “For decades Reverend Hagler has spoken out in support of Palestinian human rights. He sees the connections between the struggles of Black Americans and Palestinians for justice and liberation. He says, ‘You can’t pick or choose racism—if it exists in the U.S. or Palestine or South Africa. You’ve got to stand up against racism wherever it is.’ So many ADC speakers have emphasized the intersectionality of injustices going on across this country and in occupied Palestine, so it is appropriate that Reverend Hagler receives this award.”

Reverend Hagler said he has never been able to ignore injustice or racism.

When he attended seminary he was asked to stop advocating for South Africans, but he refused to quit standing up to apartheid. Hagler said he has heard people say that there can be no peace in the Middle East and that Palestinians have lost their struggle to be free from occupation. But, Hagler stated, “Justice cannot be won in a microwave minute, or even in 10 years’ time.” Referring to the recent opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall, he noted that Black Americans have been advocating for their rights and their place in American history for 300 years. Victory will be won, Hagler promised, because love and justice eventually triumph.

Acclaimed filmmaker Leila Sansour showed a trailer from her new film “Open Bethlehem,” the story of a homecoming to the world’s most famous little town. Every copy of her film at Middle East Books and More’s booth was sold out, but we hope to get more copies.

In her keynote speech, San Francisco State University Prof. Rabab Abdulhadi implored listeners to retain Palestine’s history by remembering the truths and anniversaries. Israel seeks to obliterate Palestinian culture and food, as well as erase its people, she warned. Abdulhadi urged Arab Americans to hold Israel accountable and to educate their kids to remember where they came from.

—Delinda C. Hanley

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For the past 11 years, U.S. Arab Radio has put on a daily radio show addressing ArabAmerican issues. To celebrate that birthday, as well as the traditional end of Ramadan, the Arab-American community, business leaders and supporters held a Sahra banquet at Wayne Tree Manor in Detroit, MI on Sept. 30.

Speakers highlighted the important role of ethnic media in the U.S., both to keep the Arab and Muslim immigrant communities informed and to provide a bridge with others, including the African-American and Hispanic communities.

International journalist and founder of U.S. Arab Radio Laila Alhusini thanked her sponsors, supporters and listeners for making the event possible, and for the great success of U.S. Arab Radio.

She opened the event with a well-received speech about expanding and becoming a national radio station. “Starting a nationwide station can be accomplished by forming a nonprofit organization, utilizing grants, selling advertising, establishing private-public partnership, attracting sponsorships and relying on your support,” she said. “And yes—if we build it, they will come, and we will be successful.”

U.S. Arab Radio host Adel Mozip’s multi-media presentation described some of their most popular programs, including award-winning Ramadan programs.

Mozip, who volunteers his time as a journalist and technician for the radio station, is running for the Dearborn Board of Education.

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Mohamad Abelzaher directs programing at U.S. Arab Radio, trains young journalists, and is working to expand U.S. Arab Radio’s reach into the Middle East and North America.

U.S. Arab Radio presented several awards to journalists and business leaders, including Al Cole, a 10-year veteran CBS Radio broadcaster who launched the People of Distinction Broadcasting Network.

Dr. Sahar Khamis of the University of Maryland hosts “The Bridges,” a program that offers a unique platform for interfaith voices showcasing examples of successful community engagement and activism, especially among women of different backgrounds. Dr. Khamis emphasized the need for Arab- and Muslim Americans to tell their own stories to ensure accuracy, combat Islamophobia and extremism.

“Mainstream, corporate media rarely touches on the topics we care so deeply about,” this writer, another award recipient, said. Sometimes, when we all work together, the facts, the context, the words actually do get out. “It’s up to us to tell Americans these true stories. We need you, your children, and your grandchildren to become the journalists, newspaper publishers, radio and TV talk show hosts who can tell your stories.” I encouraged the au-

dience to “please vote, volunteer and help fund your voices in politics and the media.

This country works best when every voice is heard.”

Syrian opera singer Lubana Alquntar thrilled the crowd singing classic songs made famous by the greatest stars of the Middle East. The event concluded with a spirited performance by the Turab Beladi dance troupe.

U.S. Arab Radio broadcasts can be heard in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, Illinois, Windsor, Canada, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and soon—we hope—throughout North America.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Storytelling Project on Being Palestinian in America

Najib Joe Hakim’s exhibit “Home Away From Home: Little Palestine by the Bay” is on view at the San Francisco Public Library’s Jewett Gallery through Nov. 27. The lively Aug. 28 opening reception provided Northern California residents an opportunity to meet the multi-talented photographer and learn about his storytelling project—a combination of visually stunning photography and riveting oral history.

Hakim interviewed and photographed 27 Bay Area residents to garner answers to the question: “What does it mean to be

More than 600 people attended the 10th annual Al-Awda (Palestinian Right of Return Coalition) picnic, featuring Palestinian singer Jamil Al Ashkar, on Oct. 2 at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley, CA. Waving Palestinian flags, the audience danced the dabka to folk music. Picnic organizers Tawfieq Mousa, Amani Barakat and Anis Zubi were among the celebrants.

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STAFF PHOTO SAMIR TWAIR

U.S. Arab Radio founder Laila Alhusini.

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

U.S. Arab Radio Celebration

Photographer Najib Joe Hakim with Zahwa Amad, next to his photograph of her displayed in his “Home Away From Home” exhibit in San Francisco.

Palestinian in America?” While not every interviewee, of varying ages, was born in Palestine, all expressed close ties to their roots and a determined resilience. Alongside each black-and-white photograph was a QR code that viewers could scan to listen to the person’s interview with Hakim.

Hakim, who was born in Lebanon to Palestinian parents and immigrated to the U.S. with his family as a child, told guests the exhibit is the second in a planned trilogy. The first, “Born Among Mirrors: Fifty Years After,” chronicled his family’s journey from Palestine to Lebanon and eventually the United States. The last piece of his trilogy is still to be determined, he said.

The “Home Away From Home” exhibition was well received in Washington, DC last year (see October 2015 Washington Report, p. 48).

—Elaine Pasquini

MUSLIM AMERICAN ACTIVISM Poll Reveals American Catholics Are Wary of Islam

Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative released on Sept. 12 the results of a groundbreaking poll on how American Catholics view Islam. The survey, which sampled English-speaking American Catholics in April 2015, found that Catholics are largely suspicious of or uneasy about Islam.

Just 14 percent of respondents said they have a favorable view of Muslims, while 30 percent said they have unfavorable views, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

worship God, especially by way of prayer, alms-deeds and fasting.” According to the survey, 90 percent of Catholics have never heard of Nostra Aetate.

On the other hand, the survey suggests that most Catholic clergy are at least aware of the document, as 89 percent of respondents said Islam had been discussed either neutrally or favorably by priests in their sermons. That doesn’t mean, however, that clergy are actively encouraging dialogue and engagement with Muslims.

Responding to the survey, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, said more needs to be done to facilitate understanding and interaction between Catholics and Muslims. “The only way to get rid of the fear is to understand more clearly,” he said. Understanding, McCarrick added, will only come when religions speak with each other, instead of to one another.

Fr. Drew Christiansen, professor of ethics and global development at Georgetown, said Catholic press outlets and publishers should better monitor themselves and do more to facilitate understanding. The poll, he noted, found that those who consume Catholic media (which the vast majority of American Catholics do not) tend to have more negative views of Muslims. The study also found that books by known Islamophobes such as Robert Spencer are sold at many Catholic bookstores.

Scott Alexander, associate professor of Islamic studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, questioned why Catholic

and the remaining 45 percent said they have “neither favorable nor unfavorable” views.

Catholics’ views about Islam are not well thought out, the poll found, as only 1 in 10 respondents said they “know a lot about Islam.” The following results are thus unsurprising: only 30 percent said they know a Muslim personally; 7 percent reported participating in dialogue or service with Muslims in recent years; 42 percent disagreed that Muslims and Christians believe in the same God; nearly half said they can’t name any similarities between Catholicism and Islam; 86 percent incorrectly believe that Muslims worship the Prophet Muhammad; 74 percent falsely believe that Muslims don’t have a “high regard for Jesus”; and 88 percent incorrectly think honoring Mary is not a component of the Islamic tradition.

The survey also found that Catholics are uneducated about what their faith teaches about Islam.

In 1965, as part of the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church released a declaration titled Nostra Aetate, which outlines its approach to nonChristian religions. The section on Islam says, in part, “The church has also a high regard for the (L-r) Profs. John Esposito, Scott Alexander and Fr. Drew ChrisMuslims….they highly es- tiansen react to a poll showing that American Catholics have a teem an upright life and poor understanding of Islam.

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STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

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Medea Benjamin Speaks at 9/11 Interfaith Memorial

Author Medea Benjamin.

Muslims for Peace sponsored an interfaith commemoration of the 15th anniversary of 9/11 at the Masjid-e-Ali mosque in central New Jersey. An imam, a rabbi and a minister offered prayers. Phillip Kramer, the mayor of Franklin Township, said he came because he wanted to spend the anniversary “with loyal, patriotic Americans.”

Keynote speaker and CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin thanked Muslims for Peace for “inviting a Jew, like me.”

Benjamin spoke in depth about her new book, Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the US-Saudi Connection. Following the at48

tacks on 9/11, she observed, more and green energy, health care for all. The U.S. more members of Congress are paying has 800 military bases around the world, close attention to the U.S.-Saudi relation- she noted, most of them not wanted by the ship. Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Rand local populations—just as Americans would Paul (R-KY), Al Franken (D-MN) and Mike not welcome foreign bases on our soil. “To Lee (R-UT), along with 64 members of save money and be more secure,” BenCongress, introduced bills to oppose $1.5 jamin concluded, “we should close them billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. and use the money to protect us here.”

—Jane Adas On Sept. 9, both the House and Senate passed a bill allowing families of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi Arabian government MUSIC & ARTS in court. President Obama vetoed the bill on Sept. 23, in part because it could set a Zarqa Nawaz and Laughing All the precedent for lawsuits against the United Way to the Mosque States. On Sept. 28 Congress voted to override Obama’s veto.

Zarqa Nawaz, who gained fame with her piSaying she feels sorrow for the tremen- oneering first sitcom about what it is like to dous destruction committed on 9/11, Ben- be a Muslim living in the West, spoke at jamin said she also regrets the way Amer- Georgetown University in Washington, DC ica has acted in the 15 years since then. on Sept. 14. Her TV show, “Little Mosque She has seen some of the damage first- on the Prairie,” which aired from 2007 hand. She went to Afghanistan via Pakistan through 2012, brought record ratings to its one week after the U.S. invasion in October Canadian network, CBC, and engaged 2001, and found people grieving and flee- viewers around the world. Nawaz then ing from our so-called smart bombs. She began working on her recent book, Laughled a delegation of women to Iraq prior to ing All the Way to the Mosque, in which she the 2003 U.S. invasion of that country. shares her journey as an artist of Muslim There they met with U.N. weapons inspec- faith, from making short films and docutors who told them they had found no mentaries to her successful television show weapons of mass destruction, and with and future projects.

Iraqis who said, “Yes, Saddam is a dictator, Nawaz was born to immigrant parents in but no, we do not want the U.S. to liberate Toronto but now lives in Saskatchewan, us.” The U.S. did invade, and the legacy, Canada. Her family was obsessed with according to Benjamin, is around one mil- education and having a good career. lion dead Iraqis, hatred between Sunni and While wrestling with those expectations Shi’i that had not existed before, and the and her own goals and desires in life, she creation of new terrorist groups, each worse ended up at school for journalism and than the previous. In addition, the U.S. has bombed Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia, yet there is still terrorism. The U.S. military response is clearly not the solution.

Indeed, Benjamin argued, militarization is the broader issue. “We need a massive reorientation of how we spend our money and what is our role in the world,” she said, pointing out that 54 percent of our discretionary funds are spent on the military—money that could be directed toward college debt, Zarqa Nawaz shows a photo of herself as a baby in Toronto.

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STAFF PHOTO N. BAILEY

leadership permits anti-Muslim materials to be distributed in Catholic circles. He also lamented that most of the individuals writing about Islam in Catholic press outlets have little to no training or expertise in Islamic studies. Going forward, he encouraged actual scholars on the topic to do more to reach non-academics. He also called on Catholic leadership to more closely follow the principle of dialogue laid out in Nostra Aetate.

The full report, “Danger and Dialogue: American Catholic Public Opinion and Portrayals of Islam,” can be found online at <bridge.georgetown.edu>.

—Dale Sprusansky

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Museum of African American History and Culture Opens on National Mall

After years of planning and fund-raising, the National Museum of African American HisNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

COURTESY DOUGLAS REMLEY /NMAAHC

began taking film classes on the side. For one of her classes, Nawaz made a short comedy entitled “BBQ Muslims,” in which two Canadian Muslim brothers are asleep at home when their backyard barbecue grill explodes. They are immediately suspected of being terrorists from the Middle East, creating neighborhood backlash and a media storm. Meanwhile, the environmental activists/terrorists who actually perpetrated the crime to draw attention to pollution and carbon emissions are frustrated that their cause was not picked up by the media.

Although the short film was made as a comedy, it extended deeply into the realms of satire and ingenious social commentary. “BBQ Muslims” was picked up by the Toronto International Film Festival, and led to Nawaz being offered an opportunity to create her now famous sitcom.

“Little Mosque on the Prairie” brings together a random assortment of unlikely characters in a small rural town in Saskatchewan, mixing elements from the Middle East and the West and creating wonderful comedic and insightful moments about all aspects of society and religion.

Through her work Nawaz hopes to reframe the narrative around her identify, faith and gender. “Its not about the niqab or the burkini, it’s about the wider view of society and superiority,” she said, commenting on the recent trends of discrimination and backlash toward Muslim and Arab communities living in the West. “We need to embrace the arts in order to tell our story on our own terms.”

With her films, television show, and now her book, Nawaz is reaching wide audiences with her story—a small piece in reshaping the narrative of Muslims in the West that has wide reaching impact.

Laughing All the Way to the Mosque is available from Middle East Books and More, online or in the store, for $16.

—Nathaniel Bailey

COURTESY ALAN KARCHMER/NMAAHC

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ABOVE: The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

BELOW: Training robe worn by Muhammad Ali at the 5th Street Gym.

tory and Culture—the Smithsonian Institution’s 19th museum—opened Sept. 24 on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The push for a federally owned museum began in 1915, although serious legislative work only started in the 1970s. The site for the museum was selected in 2006 and the building, housing nearly 37,000 objects, was designed by David Adjaye.

Twelve extensive inaugural exhibitions relate African-American history from the transatlantic slave trade in the 15th century to the present day, including the election of President Barack Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement. Arranged chronologically, the earliest exhibits are located underground, with contemporary displays on the upper floors. The mu-

seum’s extensive collection requires a visit of several hours—or multiple visits—in order to absorb the overwhelming amount of information.

The Slavery and Freedom Gallery is one of the most poignant, presenting personal stories of Africans brutally transported to North America and the inhumane living and working conditions of their enslavement.

The story of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo is a particularly intriguing one. Born into the Fulani family of Muslim religious leaders in West Africa in 1701, the educated Muslim was kidnapped, shackled and transported on a slave ship to Maryland, where he worked on a tobacco plantation. Impressed by Diallo’s devotion to his daily prayers, his owner eventually released him, and the Muslim scholar returned home. Diallo is known for having transcribed the Qur’an from memory.

According to historian Allan D. Austin, an estimated 15 to 30 percent of enslaved African men were Muslims.

One glaring omission in the museum, however, is any reference to Yarrow Mamout, an Arabic-speaking African Muslim enslaved for 44 years by the Beall family of Maryland. After being manumitted in 1796, he purchased a home at 3324 Dent Place, NW in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood in 1800. He is the subject of James H. Johnston’s book, From Slave Ship to Harvard: Yarrow Mamout and the History of an African American Family. In the 1800s the Georgetown area was home to an African-American Muslim community, which is not represented in the museum.

Free timed entry tickets are available at <http://event.etix.com/ticket/e/1004039/tim ed-entry-pass-washington-national-museum-of-african-american-history-and-cultures>. The lines to visit the long-awaited museum wrap around the museum, and all tickets through March 2017 have been distributed.

—Elaine Pasquini

14th Annual Turkish Festival in Washington, DC

September was Turkish Heritage Month in DC, supported by the Turkish Tourism and

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A scene from "Almanya: Welcome to Germany."

STAFF PHOTO E. PASQUINI

between two cultures is moving.

“The Eye of Istanbul: The Life and Photographs of Ara Güler” was an outSouvenir carpets, ceramics, fezzes and nazar keychains for sale standing finale to Turkish at the outdoor bazaar at the Turkish Festival in Washington, DC. Heritage Month. The onehour documentary, diCulture Office, DC Commission on the Arts rected by Binnur Karaevli and Fatih Kay& Humanities and TD Bank. On Sept. 25 mak, tells the story of legendary Armenthe American Turkish Association of Wash- ian-Turkish photographer Ara Güler.

Known for his compelling composition, ington, DC held its 14th annual Turkish Festival. Traditional music, folk dance per- painstaking methodology and unique way formances and Turkish culinary delights of looking through his camera lens, the 88were in abundance during the daylong year-old photojournalist has taken more event, which drew a large crowd on Penn- than one million photographs in his 60year career. sylvania Avenue.

In addition to his iconic black-and-white Turkish Heritage Month Washington, DC concluded Sept. 29 with two film images of Istanbul, he has photographed screenings at the Goethe Institut. In her many celebrities, such as Salvador Dali, feature film debut, “Almanya: Welcome to Alfred Hitchcock and Sophia Loren.

As he prepares for a retrospective exhiGermany,” Yasemin Samdereli tackles the immigrant experience of a Turkish family bition of his work, Güler reveals himself in in Germany. Engaging flashbacks tell the the film to be not just an award-winning story of Huseyin from Anatolia, who trav- photographer, but an historian in a crucial els to Germany in the 1960s for better place during critical times.

—Elaine Pasquini economic opportunities. The film progresses to the present day, when his sixAFSC Screens “Detaining Dreams” year-old grandson ponders whether he is Turkish or German and where he fits in. In Des Moines The bittersweet narrative concludes with a The American Friends Service Committee family vacation to the hometown village in (AFSC) screened “Detaining Dreams,” its Turkey of Huseyin and his wife. new documentary film about Israel’s sysThe film is enlightening on the history of tematic detention and abuse of Palestinian guest workers in Germany, and its telling children, at Drake University’s Old Main in of the family members’ angst in being torn Des Moines, Iowa on Sept. 19.

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Rabbi Brant Rosen, midwest regional director of AFSC, traveled from Chicago to participate in a post-screening panel discussion with Jody Mashek, legal services director for AFSC’s Immigrants Voice Program in Des Moines, and AFSC Iowa Middle East Peace Building associate Katie Huerter. All three visited Israel and Palestine earlier this year.

“Detaining Dreams,” an intimate film focusing on the experience of four Palestinian boys arrested by Israeli forces in the Palestinian West Bank—detained without legal representation, abused, and prosecuted in the Israeli military detention system—challenges Israeli hasbara (propaganda) messaging prevalent in American media.

“The film illustrates a critical and vital issue that is absent from the mainstream media: not just the treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons, but the effects of the occupation on Palestinians overall,” Rosen told an audience of about 60 gathered in an elegant Old Main dining room.

“We read in the newspapers about the uprising and Palestinian violence, but we rarely hear about Palestinian life under occupation...the constant contact with violence when you are occupied by a military authority that can act with impunity,” explained Rosen.

“When you see interviews with children describing how the army can barge into their home in the middle of the night and NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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ment here in Iowa, stated Huerter.

AFSC is screening the documentary at events across the country.

—Michael Gillespie Gaza filmmaker Khalil al-Muzzayen was the guest of honor at a gathering in Prof.

Mahmood and Nancy Ibrahim’s Los Angeles home. He came to California to assist Elana Golden on her feature film “Gaza Airport” and to spread the word on his own project,“The Karama Gaza Red Carpet Rabbi Brant Rosen (l) speaks at a Drake University panel discussion with Jody Mashek (c) and Human Rights Film Festival.”

Katie Huerter (r) on Sept. 19.

Al-Muzzayen, who studied filmmaking in ety organizations issued a call to the intertake a child out of bed, take that child to an Saint Petersburg, Russia, has directed unknown place, and the parents have no national community to take part in their lib- and produced many award-winning films, recourse, don’t know where they are or eration movement in the context of a non- such as “Mashoo Matook” (“Something how to get in touch with their children, that violent human rights campaign,” she Sweet,” 2010), which was screened in the is impunity. That’s what it 2011 Cannes Festival. The means to live under military film, which depicts the interoccupation,” Rosen stated. action between Israeli The documentary is part troops and soccer-playing of the vital “No Way To Treat Palestinian children, was A Child” campaign (<nwtshown during his visit to Los tac.dci-palestine.org>) coAngeles at the Ibrahims' sponsored by AFSC and home. His latest film is Defense for Children Inter“Sara 2014,” which won the national-Palestine, Rosen best first feature in the 2015 added.

Alexandria Film Festival.

Mashek and Huerter said Al-Muzzayen has directed they’d traveled in Israel and the Karama Gaza Red CarPalestine with an Interfaith Celebrating filmmaker Khalil al-Muzzayen’s (r) visit to Los Angeles are (l-r) pet Film Festival since Peace-Builders delegation in Elana Golden, Nancy Ibrahim and Prof. Mahmood Ibrahim.

2015. The festival, held in June. “One of the children the Sheja’eya neighborhood featured in the film was taken in a night pointed out. “The Boycott, Divestment, and in eastern Gaza, attracted more than raid. It is so hard to comprehend the night Sanctions (BDS) movement is growing.”

12,000 people last May. —Samir Twair Huerter cited actions by the United raids completely,” said Mashek.

UPA Hosts A Night for Palestine: “In Nabi Saleh they told us how they go Methodist Church, the United Church of to sleep with their clothes on. If they are Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Music for Life awakened in the middle of the night they American Friends Service Committee, and United Palestinian Appeal held an Oct. 2 want to be prepared. Still, months later, I the Unitarian Universalist Association in benefit concert to raise awareness and am having trouble finding words to explain support of BDS. funds at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theater in Huerter noted that the introduction of Arlington, VA. “A Night for Palestine: Music the juxtaposition of the beauty we saw all around us and the sheer horror of what anti-BDS legislation pushed by Zionist or- for Life” featured Palestinian musician, Palestinians experience,” she told the au- ganizations across the nation has engen- composer and educator Ramzi Aburedwan dered a backlash, because many Ameri- and his Arabic-French Dal'ouna Ensemble, dience.

Mashek noted that in Palestine and on cans view boycotts as a time-honored, ef- a dynamic fusion of Palestinian folk, classiher return to the U.S. she felt as if she fective, nonviolent form of protected free cal, jazz and world music. Ensemble memspeech. were carrying around a dirty secret. bers include an amazing percussionist, The effort to criminalize BDS and black- Tareq Rantisi from Palestine, oud player Huerter drew attention to positive results of activism on behalf of Palestinian human list organizations that support BDS has Ziad Ben Youssef from Tunisia, Edwin rights. “In 2005, 170 Palestinian civil soci- only grown and strengthened the move- Buger from Yugoslavia on accordion, and a STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

STAFF PHOTO M. GILLESPIE

Gaza Filmmaker in L.A.

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special guest singer, Moroccan-American Nidal Ibourk.

Renowned composer, violist and buzouk player Aburedwan was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Al’ Amari refugee camp in Ramallah. A photograph of 8year-old Aburedwan throwing a stone at an Israeli tank became an iconic image of the first intifada, and was featured on the cover of the December 1988 issue of the Washington Report. Today Aburedwan is bringing musical education to Palestinian children in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon and touring 12 U.S. cities to educate Americans about his rich culture.

The evening featured a mixture of traditional songs “celebrating the good life in Palestine.” Being happy is how his countrymen resist the occupation, he said. Aburedwan’s own compositions are unforgettable, especially the waves and seagulls in “Bahar,” which he wrote after his first encounter with the sea in France. West Bank Palestinians like Aburedwan aren’t able to travel to the seaside in Israel, and can enjoy the ocean only on trips abroad.

—Delinda C. Hanley

knocked on doors late at night and asked residents to stand for a picture near or by their homes.” Compelled by the frightening night raids routinely conducted by the Israeli army on the residents of Bil’in, the photographer conducted his own “raid” to show the humanity of the innocent victims of the illegal home invasions and the reality of the occupation. Two photos by Hamde Abu Rahma of actual violent Israeli army night raids were also on view.

At the exhibit’s Sept. 30 opening reception, guests viewed Cahan’s engaging portraits of individuals and families, including a family cat, after he awakened them

ABOVE: Hamde Abu Rahma’s photo of an actual Israeli night raid on a Palestinian family.

BELOW: Richard Cahan’s photo of Bil’in residents on view in Gallery al-Quds.

“Night Raid” Photographic Exhibit At Gallery al-Quds

“I conducted a photographic night raid in 2013,” photojournalist Richard Cahan explained in a statement about his photo exhibition on view at the Jerusalem Fund’s Gallery al-Quds in the Palestine Center in Washington, DC. “Armed with a camera, I walked down the dark, winding streets of Bil’in in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, 52

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JERUSALEM FUND

(L-r) Tareq Rantisi, Nidal Ibourk, Ramzi Aburedwan, Ziad Ben Youssef and Edwin Buger (not shown) inspire their audience.

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Omani Cultural Night

Washington, DC area residents enjoyed an amazing evening of traditional Omani hospitality hosted by the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center on Sept. 15. Sampling the delicious Omani cuisine, including hummus, stuffed grape leaves, dates and halwa—an iconic dessert especially popular during Ramadan—was the centerpiece of the evening’s festivities.

Many couples, and some children, posed for photographs against a dramatic Omani landscape after donning colorful Omani outfits. Expert henna artists exquisitely decorated ladies’ hands, while calligrapher Seyyed Abbas Mousavi wrote guests’ names in flowing Arabic script.

An interesting table of spices provided novEmBEr/dEcEmBEr 2016

A guest snaps a photo of her young daughter in an Omani dress at the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center. the curious an opportunity to test their scent expertise by attempting to distinguish cloves from cinnamon or ginger, among several other spices.

Oud music performed by a talented trio added to the feeling of being in a faraway desert oasis.

The center is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 to 4. Visit <www. sqcc.org> for information, including on upcoming Arabic classes and future events.

—Elaine Pasquini

writes about the changing nature of warfare, the changing role of the U.S. military, and the need to rethink core assumptions about the laws of war. She discussed her new book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon at New America in Washington, DC on Sept. 15.

Brooks grew up in a left-leaning family, married an Army officer, and has spent the past years working for the Department of Defense in the Pentagon—all combining to influence what would become her new Author of How Everything Became book. She began her remarks by saying, War Traces a Shift in America “You name it, the Pentagon supplies it.”

Author Rosa Brooks, a senior fellow at New The Pentagon is the largest office building America’s International Security Program, in the world, she pointed out, and at the same time the world’s largest one-stop shopping center, where one can find chocolate shops, pharmacies, a DMV branch, food court, eye doctors’ offices, arms, weapons, and tools of war. It has it all, Brooks said, making you wonder about the connections between the military and everyday life.

In her book, Brooks describes how, in the past Daniel Rothenberg (l) and Rosa Brooks, co-chairs of New decade, there has been a America’s Future of War Project, discuss How Everything Be- seismic shift in how we came War. view laws and security. New

STAFF PHOTO N. BAILEY

around 2 a.m. and they graciously posed for photographs, wearing clothes of their choosing.

“Night raids are a nightmare for Palestinians. It is sheer horror to think about it,” said Raed Jarrar, government relations manager at the office of public policy and advocacy of the American Friends Service Committee, the organization that initiated and produced “Night Raid” in collaboration with the “Israeli Detention: No Way to Treat a Child” campaign. “When you’re sleeping with your children in your homes, soldiers break into your home, wake up your children and arrest them.” The soldiers with machine guns have no court orders with them when they break into homes in the middle of the night, Jarrar pointed out. “There are 10 night raids a day in Palestine,” he said, “and there are 700 Palestinian children arrested every year, mostly through these night raids.”

Both Jarrar and photographer Cahan believe it is important for Americans to see these photographs and to know about the night raids, since the United States is an active participant in these raids by annually giving billions in American taxpayer money to Israel.

The exhibition, which closed in Washington Oct. 14, is traveling to other U.S. locations. For more information, or to host the exhibit in your town, visit <http://nwttac. dci-palestine.org/.

—Elaine Pasquini

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

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trends and global threats have changed Americans, she said, and now we view all threats through the lens of war. The military is not only fighting wars, but building infrastructure, fighting disease, and training civil society personnel in other countries. Once a temporary state of affairs, America’s wars today are everywhere and forever, according to Brooks. Our enemies change constantly, rarely wearing uniforms anymore, and virtually anything can become a weapon.

“If your only tool is a hammer, then everything is a nail,” Brooks said. “If your only functioning part of government is the military, then everything looks like a war.”

This overlap and blurring of lines requires immediate and thoughtful reflection to proactively steer the direction of the relationship between the military and society in order to be better equipped to face these changing threats, she argued.

Brooks concluded by warning that we are failing to use our imagination in dealing with global crises if we only use the tools of the military. “It is not too late to change all of this,” she said, “but that does not mean that it will be easy…the world has changed.”

How Everything Became War is available from Middle East Books and More, online or at the store, for $24.

—Nathaniel Bailey

Black Flags Chronicles Rise of ISIS

Washington Post reporter Joby Warrick appeared at the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival in Washington, DC on Sept.

24 to discuss his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS. The book (available from Middle East Books and More) masterfully traces the history of ISIS, with an emphasis on the personalities and events behind the group’s rise.

Warrick began his discussion by focusing on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which later morphed into ISIS. Al-Zarqawi was far from pious as a child growing up in Jordan, Warrick noted: “He was a bad seed from the very beginning.

He was in constant trouble from the time 54

of middle school onward. Not just Tom Sawyer mischief, but cutting kids with razors, using drugs, he drank. He was a violent, vicious youth absolutely headed for trouble.”

Al-Zarqawi eventually found an outlet for his violence in Afghanistan, where he went to fight in the late 1990s, Warrick continued. He arrived too late to fight the Soviets, however, so he joined other Arabs fighting in the country’s civil war. He eventually returned home to Jordan, where he built a small terrorist cell that targeted symbols of “Western corruption,” such as bars, liquor stores and pornographic theaters.

The Jordanians were eventually able to track down al-Zarqawi and place him and those affiliated with him in prison. The terrorists were separated from the general population, in an effort to prevent them from spreading their ideology. This ended up backfiring, Warrick explained, as the group used their time in isolation to strategize and grow in fervor. Al-Zarqawi also emerged from the prison with enhanced leadership credentials.

In 1999, Jordan’s King Hussain died and, according to custom, some 2,000 prisoners were granted amnesty. Al-Zarqawi and his followers were among those set free, 10 years before their scheduled release date.

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Al-Zarqawi quickly returned to Afghanistan, where he tried to unite with al-Qaeda.

However, Osama bin Laden viewed him as too extreme and refused to grant him a prominent role in the organization. Al-Zarqawi subsequently drifted into relative insignificance, Warrick noted.

In February 2003, however, al-Zarqawi was granted what Warrick called a “second miracle.” Secretary of State Colin Powell, trying to legitimize the U.S. invasion of Iraq, attempted to tie the regime of Saddam Hussain to al-Qaeda, and cited al-Zarqawi as an individual likely to be cooperating with the Iraqi regime. This baseless association suddenly raised al-Zarqawi’s credibility, Warrick said, and he subsequently began receiving recruits and arms. He then went to Baghdad to wait for the Americans to arrive.

Al-Zarqawi’s goal was to ignite an antiU.S. insurgency and create a civil war in Iraq. He succeeded, and his group, known as al-Qaeda in Iraq, helped send Iraq into a downward spiral. “He isolated us in Iraq, then he set off a civil war around us,” Warrick said.

After three years, however, U.S. forces became more effective in countering the insurgency, and in 2006 al-Zarqawi was killed. His movement was largely defeated by 2008—or so it seemed.

Several years later the group reemerged in Iraq under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the current leader of ISIS. Unlike the brash and charismatic al-Zarqawi, Warrick noted, al-Baghdadi was a shy and scholarly individual.

Nonetheless, he capitalized on the U.S. troop withdrawal and the renewal of tensions between Sunnis and Shi’i to bring the terror network back into relevancy.

The group caught yet another break in 2011, with the outbreak of civil war in neighboring Syria. They quickly proved themselves to be the most efficient fighters among the rebels in the civil war, and swiftly gained recruits and considerable amounts of land in both Syria and Iraq.

Suddenly the group was proclaiming a new name: the Islamic State. Controlling significant taxable populations, oil wells, banks, etc., ISIS soon became the wealthNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

iest terror group of all time.

Today, of course, ISIS has experienced significant setbacks, and Warrick believes the group will continue to fall from prominence. Nonetheless, he fears the group’s legacy will be with the world for a long time.

Thousands of young children have lived under ISIS, and some have even been subjected to ISIS propaganda. “The seeds of countless tragedies are still out there now,” he said. “Who’s going to provide psychological counseling for the young?

Who’s going to rebuild their cities and schools, who’s going to rebuild the economy and offer the hope of a job for their families some day in the future?”

If we don’t address these questions, we will be hearing from these young people in the future, Warrick warned, and the cycle of violence could repeat itself.

—Dale Sprusansky

Lens on Syria Captures the Destruction of War

Daniel Demeter gave a photo presentation on his new book, Lens on Syria: A Photographic Tour of Its Ancient and Modern Culture, (available from Middle East Books and More) on Sept. 22 at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Demeter spent his 20s traveling the world, visiting more than 35 countries. During one of his trips, he attempted to travel by land from Egypt to China. After passing through Jordan in 2003 he ended up in Syria, where he fell in love with the country and stayed there for an extended period of time. He later completed his travel to China, but then returned to Syria, from 2006 to 2009, to begin the project that would become his book.

In Lens on Syria, Demeter’s goal was to share the culture and history of Syria and its people with the world. Beyond being an entry point for new travelers, he wanted to provide a more comprehensive guide for those who want to spend more than a few weeks in Syria and see some of the sights not in the typical tour book.

The book covers Syria by region—Damascus, the South, Homs and Hama, the NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

STAFF PHOTO N. BAILEY

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Daniel Demeter guides his audience through a now-embattled Syria.

East, Aleppo, the North, the coast, and all the places in between, capturing the beauty of the land in stunning photographs and descriptions.

Many of the sights featured in the book have been mentioned in news reports from war-torn Syria. Thanks to Demeter’s book, we have images of places that no longer exist and marvelous photos that no one can take again.

“Syria is a place that is very special, and I hope to return to it one day,” Demeter remarked as he concluded his presentation.

He hopes that works like his can help make Syria known beyond the ugly images of violence and war.

—Nathaniel Bailey

HUMAN RIGHTS ANERA Annual Dinner Highlights Tending Roots, Bearing Fruit

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) held its annual dinner Oct. 7 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. Nearly 420 supporters gathered to hear about the innovative programs that are now growing from roots ANERA has cultivated since 1968. ANERA doesn’t use sob stories to fundraise. Instead it shows the positive results of providing Palestinian children and adults in the occupied territories and Lebanon with the tools they need to live de-

cent, self-determined lives.

Bill Corcoran, president and CEO, described some of ANERA’s programs that are helping irrigate parched farms and improve crops by re-using waste water and building irrigation lines. In northern Lebanon ANERA projects provide recycle bins, plant trees near homes, and help sort solid waste. In Gaza ANERA has leveled damaged land, built greenhouses and provided seedlings. Aid recipients identify their needs and ANERA uses their input to craft new projects.

Islamic Relief USA’s Anwar Khan was honored for his organization’s help funding ANERA’s urgent water and sanitation projects, improving living conditions for 50,000 people in Gaza. Islamic Relief donors and volunteers also support ANERA’s early childhood development programs, rehabilitating pre-schools, training teachers and distributing book bags.

Other ANERA honorees included individuals who have helped ANERA’s outreach.

After seeing the devastation of Israel’s war on Gaza in 2014, Nabila Ali launched a Facebook fund-raising campaign that started with her friends in Chicago. The first day there were seven donations, then her friends shared with their friends. In 10 weeks she raised $131,132 to help Gazans.

Karmel Sabri from Minneapolis also raised funds for Gaza by organizing the Dear Gaza block party, an annual music

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has reportedly rescued more than 60,000 people since its formation in 2013.

On Sept. 27, the group’s head, Raed alSaleh, appeared at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC to provide an update on the work of the White Helmets. Speaking (L-r) Islamic Relief’s Anwar Khan, Karimah Al-Helew and Hani through a translator, alHamwi.

Saleh painted a bleak and arts event in her community. Her 2015 picture, describing the atrocities his group block party raised more than $20,000, has witnessed in places such as Aleppo. which was turned into $1.3 million of in- He called on the international community to do more to end the violence in Syria. kind medical aid.

“A lot of people come to us and ask ‘what Attendees enjoyed tasty Arabic food and live music by Moroccan-born musi- do you need to continue your work?’” alcians Chakib Hilali and Mohcine Saqi. One Saleh said. “Our demand is not for support highlight of the night was an interactive to continue the work of the White Helmets. word cloud created by the audience. Peo- Rather, our demand is to stop the killing itple tweeted their answers to the question: self so that we don’t have to continue this “What are you #RootedIn?,” and watched awful job.”

The U.S. government has provided the their answers—like “family, love, peace, justice, rights, heritage”—join others to ap- group with $23 million in assistance.

On their website, the White Helmets have pear on a screen. —Delinda C. Hanley launched a petition asking the U.N. Security Head of Syrian White Helmets Council “to stop the barrel bombs [being Visits Washington dropped by the Assad regime] by introducSince the outbreak of Syria’s deadly civil ing a no-fly zone if necessary.” Many have war, a group of brave civilian volunteers questioned the wisdom of a no-fly zone, cithave worked to rescue individuals injured ing the presence of Russian airplanes over or trapped by bombings and other acts of Syria, and the fear that this action would be war. The 3,000-man group, called the used to initiate a policy of regime change, White Helmets, or the Syrian Civil Defense, among other issues.

Kenan Rahmani of the Syria Campaign, the group that sponsored al-Saleh’s trip and advocates for the establishment of a no-fly zone, said his organization simply wants the bombing campaign against civilians to stop. “We believe a nofly zone would help reduce the civilian toll,” he said. “A no-fly zone doesn’t choose between sides. A no-fly zone would merely stop all Raed al-Saleh (l) and Kenan Rahmani describe the White Hel- airstrikes that would be targeting civilians.” mets’ efforts to save lives in Syria.

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WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

The White Helmets pride themselves on being an impartial group that simply works to rescue anyone who is trapped or injured.

That being said, al-Saleh was not hesitant to criticize the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying Assad’s forces are now targeting the White Helmets, destroying their vehicles and operations centers. “We’ve come to this point where even our life-saving efforts are being taken away,” he said.

Ambassador Frederic Hof, director of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, said that regardless of one’s views on the solution for Syria, the White Helmets offer hope for the country’s future.

“For those of us who are tempted to give up on Syria, please consider the courageous, selfless, lifesaving work of the White Helmets,” he said. “The White Helmets represent the Syria of the future. They remind us and our leaders that we as human beings need not be governed by cowardice and indifference in the face of lawlessness and brutality.”

Netflix recently released a 40-minute documentary on the group’s heroic efforts.

The White Helmets were also nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

—Dale Sprusansky

WAGING PEACE SJP–Rutgers Hosts Dr. Mahmoud Alhirthani and Miko Peled

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)– Rutgers (New Brunswick) hosted Dr. Mahmoud Alhirthani and Miko Peled on Sept. 19 for its first event of the academic year. Dr. Alhirthani is professor of translation and inter-cultural studies at Al Aqsa University in Gaza City and founder of the Gaza-based Center for Political Development Studies.

He is also the Arabic translator of Peled’s book, The General’s Son (available from Middle East Books and More).

Gaza is not Palestine, Alhirthani stressed: it is only 2 percent of the historical area of Palestine. He rejected the current narrative that there are two Palestines: the West Bank under PA control, and Gaza under Hamas. Rather, he NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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This was the story Peled, growinsisted, the Palestinians are ing up in Israel, took for one people who comprise those granted. The Palestinian narrain Gaza, who have experienced tive is summed up in the word so many Israeli assaults; those nakba—catastrophe. The realin the West Bank, undergoing a ity, according to Peled, is that slow-motion genocide; those Zionism is a settler colonial prowithin Israel living under ject with an insatiable appetite. apartheid; and those displaced Israel “finished the job” in 1967 in the diaspora. and, just as the European JewGaza has one of the highest ish immigrants had done in population densities in the world: 1948, immediately began de1.8 million people, the majority molishing and building for Jews refugees from 1948, live in 140 only. The result is a single state square miles that include eight Miko Peled (l) and Dr. Mahmoud Alhirthani at Rutgers discuss the with exclusive rights for Jews. refugee camps. Israel’s “hersiege of Gaza and Israeli magic tricks.

The reality is that “five minmetic siege” on Gaza, now in its 11th year, has led to new levels of suffer- not make it through. It took Alhirthani 41 utes from Gaza are Israeli cities with water, clean sheets, and ample electricity.” ing, Alhirthani said, citing a 2015 United hours to get from Rafah to Cairo.

Nevertheless, Alhirthani concluded, Peled noted that Israel has been invading Nations report that predicted Gaza would be uninhabitable by 2020. He described “Palestinians are unbreakable. All colonial and bombing Gaza for seven decades, the siege as “systematic ethnic cleansing regimes eventually fall with steadfast re- first targeting “infiltrators” and “fedayeen,” by suffocating people in a small space,” sistance. If the intellect is a pessimist, the then “terrorists” and “Hamas.” Gaza has no tanks, no F-35s, and has never been a and said Israel’s message to Gazans is, “If will is an optimist.”

Peled accused the American media of military threat to Israel, but it is “a legitiyou resist, we will make it worse for you.”

Every sector is affected, Alhirthani con- failing to provide any context when they macy threat to Israel’s narrative,” Peled tinued. Hospitals lack the most basic report that “suddenly there are rockets out said.

Israel has so far accomplished the items, he said, and going to the hospital of Gaza,” “suddenly someone has stabbed with a child is a nightmare. Two years ago a soldier,” or “suddenly Israel bombs “magic trick” of convincing politicians that his son Mohammed had an accident and Gaza.” He proceeded to provide the miss- it is only exercising its right to defend itself. needed stitches in his head. The boy was ing context. It begins with the 1917 Balfour Others, however, are becoming more willplaced on a blood-stained mattress. The Declaration, in which “one racist white ing to question the narrative. Peled said he nurses apologized, explaining they had no guy,” the foreign secretary of Britain, gave has seen changes in Americans’ attitudes sheets. Alhirthani put his shirt under his someone else’s country to another white over the last several years, for which he guy, the millionaire Baron Walter Roth- credits “the heroes” of SJP and the BDS son’s head.

Al Aqsa University has more than schild, neither of whom had ever lived in (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) 25,000 students. Alhirthani is one of 14 that country. The next step, Peled said, movement. He predicts that Hillary Clinton teachers in the English department. They was the 1947 U.N. partition resolution that will be “the last Zionist president,” because are packed into one office with two com- produced a “map drawn by a drunk,” “there is a wave building that is unstopputers. It is also difficult for the students. which assigned the larger portion of the pable.”

However, the efforts to silence resisThere are today more than 100,000 uni- land to Jews, most of whom were recent versity graduates without jobs. Electricity arrivals and who comprised only one-third tance continue. The morning after Peled’s is available on average eight hours a of the population. “Why would Palestinians Rutgers talk, the following e-mail was sent out: “Tues., 20 Sept. [CANCELLED]: day—but precisely which eight hours is accept that?” Peled asked.

From that moment on, he explained, Tonight's talk by Miko Peled at Princeton unpredictable. This is why Gazans hear washing machines whirring in the middle there have been two diametrically op- University, originally scheduled for 7:30 of the night, accompanied by the buzzing posed narratives. The Israeli account is, p.m., will not [sic] longer be taking place of ever-present drones overhead. Free- “we accepted partition, although we de- and will not be rescheduled.”

—Jane Adas dom of movement is a major problem. To served all the land. Palestinians rejected come to the U.S., Alhirthani left Gaza two partition and attacked us. We asked them Bright Stars of Bethlehem: months in advance. There are only two to stay, but they left. We did nothing exit points: Erez in the north and Rafah in wrong. Only a few years after the Holo- “Room for Hope” Celebration the south. Rafah is open only two or three caust and 2000 years after our expulsion, Bright Stars of Bethlehem's 5th annual days a month and all the people waiting do we were able to re-create our homeland.” “Room for Hope” celebration of Palestinian NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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fessor in Dar al-Kalima’s culinary arts program.

The evening concluded with entertainment featuring Dar al-Kalima student vocalist Wa’d and qanounist Ayham performing with San Francisco’s Georges Lammam Ensemble. —Elaine Pasquini

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

Veterans Challenge Islamophobia With a Voter Registration Drive

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

TOP: Shelby Toler (l), Bright Stars of Bethlehem network and events director, listens as Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb speaks at the Room for Hope program at Busboys & Poets.

CENTER: Dar al-Kalima student vocalist Wa'd and qanounist Ayham (back row, center) perform with the Georges Lammam Ensemble at Busboys & Poets.

RIGHT: Chef Bassem Hazboun (l) and one of his culinary students offer tastes of traditional Palestinian food before a Sept. 19 viewing of “The Wanted 18” at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.

trying to pass through the filthy concrete and barbed wire heavily guarded checkpoint from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. The daily trek in pre-dawn hours until late at night leaves the men too exhausted to spend time with their families.

Guests enjoyed delicious cuisine prepared by Bassem Hazboun, chef and manager of al-Ilyeh restaurant at the International Center of Bethlehem and a pro-

PHOTO COURTESY MAUREEN SHEA

art and culture ran from Sept. 19 to 22 in Washington, DC at a multitude of venues, before moving on to Connecticut. The festival aims to raise money for scholarships to help youth in the Holy Land study music, dance, cooking and other arts. On Sept. 20, guests enjoyed an evening of music, delicious food and a film screening at the Monroe Street Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC. “We are here to make sure that Palestinians have a future, so that they have hope and something to live for and that they not give up,” Bright Stars cofounder and president Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb told guests.

“Our mission is to look for the gifts that God gave the young people of Palestine and to mentor them so that they can excel in their profession and in life.”

Saed Andoni, film program coordinator at the Dar alKalima University College of Arts & Culture in Bethlehem and a co-producer of “The Wanted 18,” introduced the award-winning documentary “The Living of the Pigeons” by his student, Baha’ Abu Shanab. The 17-minute film gives an intense, heartbreaking account of the stark reality of Palestinian workers

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

Voter registration drives are going on across the United States because for democracy to work, voting by an informed and responsible citizenry is necessary. Veterans For Peace (VFP), the Muslim Solidarity Committee, the Interfaith Alliance of NYS, the Interfaith Center Serving the University at Albany, and the Social Action Committee of Congregation Beth Emeth joined with Masjid As-Salam in Albany and Al-Hidaya Mosque in Latham, NY to hold a neighborhood voter registration drive in front of the mosques for four consecutive Fridays until Oct. 14, the deadline for New York State residents to register to vote in the Nov. 8 general election. The drive registered a total of 133 voters.

News sources have reported that Muslims nationwide are working to register 1 million new voters. Nationally, VFP is conducting a campaign to challenge Islamophobia to support their Muslim brothers’ and sisters’ right to worship in peace and security (see Veterans Challenge Islamophobia, <http://veteranschal lengeislamophobia.org>).

To help ensure this right, it is essential that all responsible citizens vote and assist others in registering to vote and make their voices heard

noveMbeR/deceMbeR 2016

PHOTO COURTESY JEANNE FINLEY

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Mosque member Abdussattar (l) supports efforts to register new voters in front of the Masjid As-Salam in Albany, NY on Oct. 7. Tim Truscott and Judy Martin volunteer at the table as Lynne Jackson (r) looks on. in the upcoming elections. To this end, VFP worked to assist registrations in Los Angeles—the cut-off date in California was Oct. 24.

—John Amidon

Protesters Call for No Trump Hotel In Washington, DC!

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

A large crowd of human rights advocates gathered outside of Donald J. Trump’s new luxury hotel in the heart of Washington, DC Sept. 12 to protest the ostentatious hotel’s “soft” opening. Blocking the main Pennsylvania Ave. entrance to the $800-a-night lavish hotel and spa, activists from Code Pink, the ANSWER Coalition and other or-

ganizations held signs reading “Stand Against Anti-Muslim Bigotry” and “Stand With Immigrant Workers.”

Situated inside the historic Old Post Office, a federally-owned building on the National Register of Historic Places, the structure underwent a purported $200 million makeover. Expressing disgust with Trump’s inflammatory anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant statements in media interviews and rallies, most passersby supported the protesters’ message that a Trump enterprise did not belong in the nation’s capital. The lone Trump supporter didn’t engage with the protesters.

—Elaine Pasquini

A Donald J. Trump impersonator and human rights supporters protest outside the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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B •O •O •K •S Missing Man: The American Spy Who Vanished in Iran

By Barry Meier, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016, hardcover, 288p. List: $27; MEB: $20.

The case of Robert “Bob” Levinson, the CIA contractor who went missing in Iran in 2007, has long been of interest to me. Levinson and I share the same hometown of Coral Springs, FL and, living as I was in South Florida at the time of his disappearance, I was naturally inundated with news about his case.

While I was always largely sympathetic to Levinson, my feelings shifted significantly in December 2013, when the Associated Press reported that the official story about Levinson’s disappearance was a sham. Far from being a businessman, the AP revealed, Levinson was in Iran on a CIA espionage mission. Suddenly Levinson was no longer an innocent hostage, but rather a captured spy.

It was with this somewhat unsympathetic attitude that I approached Missing Man. I expected Barry Meier’s account of Levinson’s disappearance to give credence to my distrust of the CIA and solidify Levinson as an unlucky but unsympathetic figure. The book would confirm one presumption, but shatter the other.

Meier begins his riveting account by providing an ample amount of context— Levinson does not depart for Iran until page 100. While all the material presented in the first 99 pages proves to be helpful to understanding the story, it can nonetheless tantalize a reader waiting for the “real” drama to start. That being said, fans of spy thrillers or those with an 60

Reviewed by Dale Sprusansky interest in espionage and the criminal underworld will find the many anecdotes contained in these opening pages to be of great interest. From my perspective, the best function of the introductory pages is the great lengths Meier takes to establish Levinson as a person: a family man, a workaholic and a patriot.

Levinson began his government career with the FDA, before working for three decades as a federal agent with the FBI. At 50, he decided to retire and work as a private contractor, where he could make more money to support his wife and seven kids. His departure from government did not go as planned, however, as he found the private cases he was hired to investigate unfulfilling compared to his intense work at the FBI. Levinson decided he wanted back in the game and reached out to a good friend of his, Anne Jablonski, who worked for the CIA’s Illicit Finance Group. He was eventually hired as a contractor to help the group dig up dirt on Iran. It was outside Levinson’s comfort zone—he had spent his career largely focused on Latin America and the Soviet Union. This unfamiliarity with the Middle East would, in part, lead to his downfall.

Levinson quickly became frustrated with the agency, as it struggled to find him money and did not officially authorize him to engage in covert action. A life-long field agent, he refused to be limited to writing detached analytical reports, and thus provided the agency with intelligence he gathered while on his many trips abroad for private clients.

This “rogue” attitude led Levinson to Iran. A contact introduced him to Dawud Salahuddin, an American fugitive living in Iran who could potentially provide him with the kind of intelligence that would get the CIA to finally take him seriously.

Levinson arranged to meet Dawud on

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Kish Island—the only part of Iran he could enter without applying for a visa. The meeting took place on March 8, 2007.

Up through March 8, Meier relies heavily on Levinson’s revealing e-mails to chronicle his narrative. Upon Levinson’s disappearance on that date, the book revolves around his family’s rollercoaster ride to find him, as numerous promising leads turn into dead ends.

Meier also chronicles the government’s shabby investigation into Levinson’s disappearance. The CIA was quick to disassociate itself from Levinson, claiming his contract with the agency expired long before the trip to Kish. The FBI, despite being highly skeptical of the CIA’s denial, did not conduct a thorough investigation, even though e-mails tying Levinson to the CIA just before his trip were readily accessible to investigators.

It was only after Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), at the behest of the Levinson family, began asking hard questions that a real investigation was launched about a year after his disappearance.

Though Levinson never informed the CIA he was traveling to Iran, Meier’s account offers evidence that some within the agency—particularly Jablonski— knew he was conducting work far beyond the parameters of his contract.

Meier also finds it hard to believe that top CIA officials were unable to quickly piece together the real purpose of Levinson’s trip following his disappearance.

The book cannot answer what happened to Levinson. It does, however, provide a riveting, stranger than fiction account of one of the biggest CIA scandals in modern time. Ultimately, Meier’s account made me sympathetic to Levinson, but not to the agency that betrayed him and his family.

Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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MIDDLE • EAST • BOOKS • AND • MORE Literature

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Films

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Pottery

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Solidarity Items

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More

FALL 2016 The Age of Jihad: Islamic State and the Great War for the Middle East by Patrick Cockburn, Verso, 2016, hardcover, 464 pp. List: $29.95; MEB: $24. After spending significant time on the ground in the past decade reporting on wars around the Middle East, Cockburn explores the vast geopolitical struggles that are facing not only the region, but also the global arena. He traces the history of the many events that led to the growth of the Islamic State and the fertile grounds that produced the Middle East we see today.

Palestine on a Plate: Memories from by Mother’s Kitchen by Joudie Kalla, Interlink, 2016, hardcover, 240 pp. List: $35; MEB: $25.

Kalla’s book is a celebration of Palestinian food and family that will bring people together around the world. A collection of colorful photos and vibrant recipes, her cookbook will take you from wherever you are and place you at a table in Palestine surrounded by delicious homecooked food.

America’s Continuing Misadventures in the Middle East by Chas W. Freeman, Jr., Just World Books, 2016, paperback, 256 pp.

List: $19.99; MEB: $18. Freeman expands on his earlier works to paint a picture of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East since 2010.

The distinguished ambassador uses his deep insight and wit to explore the international ramifications of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Arab Spring, increased involvement by global superpowers, and the recent military and diplomatic “misadventures” the U.S. has embarked on in the Middle East.

A Land Twice Promised: An Israeli Woman’s Quest for Peace

by Noa Baum, Familius, 2016, paperback, 264 pp. List: $18.95; MEB: $15. Baum, a Jewish Israeli, grew up in Jerusalem surrounded by war and in the shadow of ancestral traumas. While living in America, she meets a Palestinian woman who grew up under Israeli occupation. As the two slowly develop a friendship, they wrestle with tough questions, relying on compassion and humor to figure out how to take the first steps toward peace and healing.

Otared: A Novel by Mohammad Rabie, American University in Cairo Press, 2016, paperback, 352 pp. List: $17.95; MEB: $15. Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, Otared is an unflinching and grisly tale. Set in 2025, 14 years after Egypt’s failed revolution, the country is invaded once more. Former cop Ahmed Otared joins a group of fellow officers in Cairo’s turbulent downtown seeking to liberate his country and return it to the people.

Iran Without Borders: Towards a Critique of the Postcolonial Nation by Hamid Dabashi, Verso, 2016, hardcover, 265 pp. List: $29.95; MEB: $24. Iran’s recent narrative has been dominated by the binary, pitting the traditional Islamist regime against the secular, educated population hubs. Going back centuries rather than decades, Iran’s long history includes diverse influences and cultures that make it a truly cosmopolitan country. Dabashi traces Iran’s evolution from its ancient roots through different social movements and global events that have made it the country it is today.

The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals that Reshaped the Middle East by Jay Solomon, Random House, 2016, hardcover, 352 pp. List: $28; MEB: $22. For years, the United States has been engaged with Iran militarily, financially, and covertly—all largely hidden from public view and scrutiny.

Solomon digs deep into the history between Iran and the U.S., and the different aspects of their relations over the past 10 years, from the nuclear agreement to Iran’s involvement in the wider Middle East.

The Terror Years: From AlQaeda to the Islamic State

by Lawrence Wright, Knopf Publishing Group, 2016, hardcover, 384 pp. List: $28.95; MEB: $25. In 10 articles originally published in The New Yorker, Wright traces the roots and rise of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, exploring how their beliefs, international foreign policy, and group dynamics have led to the global presence of terror. His book ties together these trends and stories, giving us a unifying account of Middle Eastern terrorism, and where terrorism and the response to it might take us.

Lens on Syria: A Photographic Tour of Its Ancient and Modern Culture by Daniel Demeter, Just World Books, 2016, paperback, 304 pp. List: $29.99; MEB $24. After spending years traveling around the Middle East, Demeter fell in love with the history, culture and people of modern and historic Syria. In his book, Demeter takes us on a photographic journey around Syria, showing its hidden sites and windows into its rich history that is often forgotten as the civil war rages on.

SHIPPING RATES Most items are discounted and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Orders accepted by mail, phone (800-368-5788 ext. 2), or Web (www.middleeastbooks.com). All payments in U.S. funds. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. Please send mail orders to Middle East Books and More, 1902 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009, with checks and money orders made out to “AET.” U.S. Shipping Rates: Please add $5 for the first item and $2.50 for each additional item. Canada & Mexico shipping charges: Please add $15 for the first item and $3.50 for each additional item. International shipping charges: Please add $15 for the first item and $6 for each additional item. We ship by USPS Priority unless otherwise requested.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Library packages (list value over $240) are available for $29 if donated to a library, or free if requested with a library’s paid subscription or renewal. Call Middle East Books and More at 800-368-5788 ext. 2 to order. Our policy is to identify donors unless anonymity is specifically requested.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

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O• B • I • T • U • A • R • I • E • S Compiled by Nathaniel Bailey Donald A. Kruse, 85, died Sept. 8 in La Grange Park, IL. Born in Springfield, PA, he received a BA from Wheaton College, IL; an MA from the University of Pennsylvania; and graduated from the National War College. After serving two years in the U.S. Army he joined the U.S. Department of State in 1957. During his 32-year-career as a Foreign Service Officer he served as deputy consul general at the American Consulate in Jerusalem, and became aware of the wrongs the Palestinian people endured on a daily basis. After retiring, he served on the board of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) and led annual pilgrimages. “Don’s devotion was unwavering for justice and peace in the Middle East, especially for the Palestinian people,” he wife, Sally, said. “His steadfast commitment led many people, including me, to recognize the plight of the Palestinians, and he encouraged us all to believe that one day justice would prevail.”

worked many odd jobs growing up in New York until he was drafted into the Army during World War II. Following his military service, he was accepted to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University) and later transferred to Stanford University, where he graduated with a degree in economics. A vocal liberal progressive activist, his notable achievements include being instrumental in working with and persuading the Greek military junta to release former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, assisting in raising funds to defend Daniel Ellsberg after he was charged with leaking Pentagon Papers regarding the Vietnam War, and overseeing the campaign to oust Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates after the beating of Rodney King. He also urged Yasser Arafat and the PLO to move away from violence and recognize Israel, helping pave the way for the historic handshake between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the signing of the Oslo accords on the White House lawn in 1993. “I did it for Israel,” he said.

Stanley K. Sheinbaum, 96, died of natural causes in his home in Los Angeles, California on Sept. 12. Born in the Bronx to parents who were recent immigrants from Lithuania, he

Nahed Hattar, 56, was shot and killed Sept. 25 outside a courthouse in Amman, Jordan, where he had been on trial for posting on social media a cartoon deemed offensive to Islam. After he posted the cartoon, he received many death threats over the Internet. He was born in Amman and attended the University of Jordan. Raised Christian, he later moved away from his religious roots and identified as an atheist. Hattar was known in Jordan as a writer and for his involvement in progressive and leftwing political movements, and for being a staunch supporter of the Syrian regime, and an outspoken critic of the Islamic State and similar militant groups. His killer, who is in custody, has no known ties to any of the militant groups in the region. Hattar’s supporters have accused the Jordanian government of creating a hostile atmosphere and environment that encouraged violence against Hattar. Government spokesperson Mohammad Momani condemned the killing as a “heinous crime.”

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WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Jeroen Oerlemans, 45, a prominent Dutch photojournalist, was shot and killed Oct. 2 by an Islamic State sniper in Sirte, Libya, while he was covering a battle between progovernment forces and the Islamic State group. He had traveled to many parts of the world as a freelance photographer and journalist, including to Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan and nearly all the countries in the Middle East. His photographs have been published in such publications as Newsweek, Time and The Guardian. Oerlemans is survived by his wife and three children in Amsterdam.

Shawkat Jamil Dallal, 84, died of natural causes Oct. 25 at his home in New Hartford, NY. Born in Jerusalem, he left Palestine as a teenager in 1949, when his family moved to Kuwait, where he worked and applied to schools in the United States. He was accepted at Cornell University, where he met his wife, Diana Fuller, and went on to graduate from the Cornell School of Law in 1959. After practicing law in New York, Dallal returned to Kuwait in the early 1970s to work as a legal counsel to the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). He returned to the United States in the mid-1980s, and embarked on a variety of business ventures and teaching at universities. His dedication to teaching and speaking were inspired by his life-long commitment to raising awareness about injustices and human rights violations in Palestine. He was well known for his writings on and extensive knowledge of Middle East affairs, which he incorporated in his teaching.

Later in life, he served as a commissioner on the board of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights. He was the author of two books, Scattered Like Seeds: A Novel (1998) and The Secret of RoseAnne Riley (2013), and is survived by his wife of 62 years, Diana Fuller Dallal, and their three children. ■ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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AET’s 2016 Choir of Angels

Following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1, 2016 and Oct. 6, 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.

HUMMERS ($100 or more)

Anonymous, Dearborn Heights, MI Anonymous, Largo, FL Annonymous, Oyster Bay, NY Anonymous, San Diego, CA Anonymous, Somerset, NJ Jeff Abood, Silver Lake, OH Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, Atlanta, GA Shukri Abu-Baker, Beaumont, TX Rizek & Alice Abusharr, Claremont, CA Michael & Jane Adas, Highland Park, NJ Diane Adkin, Camas, WA Frank Afranji, Tigard, OR Dr. M.Y. Ahmed, Waterville, OH Emeel & Elizabeth Ajluni, Farmington Hills, MI Dr. & Mrs. Salah Al-Askari, Leonia, NJ Andrew Allen, Tiburon, CA Amin Almuti, Orinda, CA Arthur Alter, Goleta, CA Hamid & Kim Alwan, Milwaukee, WI Hanaa Al-Wardi, Alhambra, CA Nabil & Judy Amarah, Danbury, CT Edwin Amidon, Charlotte, VT Dr. Ali Antar, Bristol, CT Anace Aossey, Cedar Rapids, IA Robert Ashmore, Mequon, WI Mr. & Mrs. Sultan Aslam, Plainsboro, NJ Zaira Baker, Garland, TX Sami Baraka, Wyandotte, MI Robert E. Barber, Parrish, FL Carolyn Barrani, Salt Lake City, UT Allen & Jerrie Bartlett, Philadelphia, PA Peter Beck, Accokeek, MD Mohammed & Wendy Bendebba, Baltimore, MD Syed & Rubia Bokhari, Bourbonnais, IL Dr. Andrew Borland, Seattle, WA Kathy Brandt, Laurel, MD Lynn & Aletha Carlton, Norwalk, CT Jean K. Cassill, Bellingham, WA William Cavness, Falls Church, VA Ouahib Chalbi, Coon Rapids, MN Patricia Christensen, Poulsbo, WA Joyce Chumbley, Orlando, FL Robert & Joyce Covey, La Cañada, CA Mrs. Walter Cox, Monroe, GA A.L. Cummings, Owings Mills, MD M.O. Dagstani, Redington Beach, FL Khalid Darwish, San Jose, CA Ray Doherty, Houston, TX John L. Doyle, Boston, MA David Dunning, Lake Oswego, OR

nOvEMBEr/DEcEMBEr 2016

Bernie Eisenberg, Los Angeles, CA Kassem Elkhalil, Arlington, TX Mansour El-Kikhia, San Antonio, TX Dr. Mohamed Elsamahi, Marion, IL Hassan Eltaher, Ottawa, Canada Albert E. Fairchild, Bethesda, MD Family Practice & Surgery LLC, Eatonton, GA Yusif Farsakh, Arlington, VA Steven Feldman, Winston-Salem, NC Franciscan Monastery of The Holy Land, Washington, DC Joseph & Angela Gauci, Whittier, CA Michael Gillespie, Maxwell, IA Nabil Haddad, North Wales, PA Halal Transactions, Omaha, NE Delinda C. Hanley, Kensington, MD*,*** Susan Haragely, Livonia, MI Walid Harb, Dearborn Heights, MI Robert & Helen Harold, West Salem, WI Brice Harris, Pasadena, CA Angelica Harter, N. Branford, CT Steven Harvey, Manchester, NH Sameer Hassan, Quaker Hill, CT Mr. & Mrs. John Hendrickson, Albuquerque, NM George High, Woodbridge, VA Jonathan Hill, Northfield, MN Emmett Holman, Fairfax, VA Dr. Marwan Hujeij, Cincinnati, OH William C. Hunt, Somerset, WI Zafer & Juhayna Husseini, Dallas, TX Ejaz Hyder, Somerset, NJ George Jabbour, Sterling Hts., MI Rafeeq Jaber, Palos Hills, IL Bilquis Jaweed, West Chester, OH Anthony Jones, Jasper, Canada Mohamad Kamal, North York, Canada Charles Kennedy, Newbury, NH Akbar Khan, Princeton, NJ M. Jamil Khan, Bloomfield Hills, MI M. Yousuf Khan, Scottsdale, AZ Fouad Khatib, San Jose, CA Dr. Mohayya Khilfeh, Chicago, IL Eugene Khorey, West Mifflin, PA Tony & Anne Khoury, Sedona, AZ Paul N. Kirk, Baton Rouge, LA Mr. & Mrs. Khalil Kishawi, Chicago, IL Loretta Krause, Little Egg Harbor Twp., NJ Ronald Kunde, Skokie, IL Matt Labadie, Portland, OR Sandra La Framboise, Oakland, CA Dennis Lamb, Fairfax, VA Darryl Landis, Winston-Salem, NC John Lankenau, Tivoli, NY

William Lawand, Mount Royal, Canada Marilyn Sutton Loos, Haverford, PA J. Robert Lunney, Bronxville, NY Anthony Mabarak, Grosse Pointe Park, MI Allen J. MacDonald, Washington, DC Donald MacLay, Springfield, PA Ramy & Cynthia Mahmoud, Skillman, NJ Gabriel Makhlouf, Richmond, VA Dr. Asad Malik, Bloomfield Hills, MI Tahera Mamdani, Fridley, MN Ted Marczak, Toms River, NJ Joseph A. Mark, Carmel, CA Amal Marks, Altadena, CA Rachelle Marshall, Mill Valley, CA Carol Mazzia, Santa Rosa, CA Susan Kay Metcalfe, Beaverton, OR Shirl McArthur, Reston, VA William McAuley, Chicago, IL Gwendolyn McEwen, Bellingham, WA Gerald & Judith Merrill, Oakland, CA Tom Mickelson, Neshkoro, WI Lynn Miller, Amherst, MA Yehia Mishriki, Emmaus, PA John & Ruth Monson, La Crosse, WI Maury Keith Moore, Seattle, WA Mr. & Mrs. Jan Moreb, Gainesville, FL Joseph Najemy, Worcester, MA Sara Najjar-Wilson, Reston, VA Steve L. Naman, Atlanta, GA Jacob Nammar, San Antonio, TX Doris Norrito, Largo, FL Kamal Obeid, Fremont, CA Nancy Orr, Portland, OR Dr. Bashar Pharoan, Timonium, MD Bill & Kay Plitt, Arlington, VA Jim Plourd, Monterey, CA Philip Portlock, Washington, DC Barry Preisler, Albany, CA Cheryl Quigley, Toms River, NJ Bassam Rammaha, Corona, CA Marjorie Ransom, Washington, DC**** Oostur Raza, Gilroy, CA Edward Reilly, Rocky Point, NY Paul Richards, Salem, OR Neil Richardson, Randolph, VT Rose Foundations/Makdisi-Wheeler Fund, Berkeley, CA Ambassador Chris Ross, Washington, DC Brynhild Rowberg, Northfield, MN Edward & Alice Saad, Cheshire, CT Bryan Saario, Edmonds, WA Mohammed Sabbagh, Grand Blanc, MI Denis Sabourin, Ste-Adele, Canada Antone L. Sacker, Houston, TX Dr. Ahmed M. Sakkal, Charleston, WV

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Betty Sams, Washington, DC Babak Sani, Berkeley, CA Irmgard Scherer, Fairfax, VA Lisa Schiltz, Barbar, Bahrain Henry Schubert, Damascus, OR Tariq Shah, Mississauga, Canada Rifqa Shahin, Apple Valley, CA Richard Shaker, Annapolis, MD Thomas Shaker, Poughkeepsie, NY Aziz Shalaby, Vancouver, WA Lewis Shapiro, White Plains, NY Kathy Sheridan, Mill Valley, CA Zac Sidawi, Costa Mesa, CA Teofilo Siman, Miami, FL Donald & Gretel Smith, Garrett, IN David J. Snider, Bolton, MA Yasser Soliman, Hamilton Township, NJ Eileen Sopanen, Abiquiu, NM William R. Stanley, Lexington, SC Peter & Joyce Starks, Greensboro, NC Abdalla Suleiman, Denver, CO Mushtaq Syed, Santa Clara, CA Doris Taweel, Laurel, MD Anver Tayob, Saint Louis, MO Charles Thomas, La Conner, WA Robert Thomas, Fredericksburg, VA Michael Tomlin, New York, NY Charles & Letitia Ufford, Hanover, NH Unitarian Universalists for Justice, Cambridge, MA Voices for Justice in Palestine, Walnut Creek, CA Tom Veblen, Washington, DC V.R. Vitolins, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI Robin & Nancy Wainwright, Severna Park, MD Sally Wallace, Waverly, VA Hermann Weinlick, Minneapolis, MN Thomas C. Welch, Cambridge, MA Jeannie K. Williams, Minneapolis, MN Darrell & Sue Yeaney, Scotts Valley, CA Raymond Younes, Oxnard, CA Bernice Youtz, Tacoma, WA John Zacharia, Vienna, VA Mohammed Ziaullah, Montclair, CA Elia K. Zughaib, Alexandria, VA

ACCOMPANISTS ($250 or more)

Aglaia & Mumtaz Ahmed, Buda, TX Robert Akras, North Bay Village, FL Hani & Raja Ali, Athens, Greece Mohamed Alwan, Chestnut Ridge, NY Louise Anderson, Oakland, CA Dr. & Mrs. Roger Bagshaw, Big Sur, CA Joe Chamy, Colleyville, TX Duncan Clark, Rockville, MD Joseph Daruty, Newport Beach, CA Gregory De Sylva, Rhinebeck, NY Mustafa Elayan, Decatur, AL Majed Faruki, Albuquerque, NM Dr. Jamil Fayez, Oakton, VA 64

Elisabeth Fitzhugh, Mitchellville, MD Eugene Fitzpatrick, Wheat Ridge, CO Malcolm Fleming, Bloomington, IN William Fuller, Valdosta, GA Ray Gordon, Bel Air, MD Dixiane Hallaj, Purcellville, VA Erin K. Hankir, Nepean, Canada Masood Hassan, Calabasas, CA Fahd Jajeh, Lake Forest, IL Ms. Nazik Kazimi, Newton, MA Kendall Landis, Wallingford, PA Barbara LeClerq, Overland Park, KS Nidal Mahayni, Richmond, VA Ms. Jean Mayer, Bethesda, MD Tom & Tess McAndrew, Oro Valley, AZ Dr. Charles W. McCutchen, Bethesda, MD Stanley McGinley, The Woodlands, TX Charles Murphy, Upper Falls, MD William & Nancy Nadeau, San Diego, CA Amb. Edward & Ann Peck, Chevy Chase, MD Sam Rahman, Lincoln, CA Sean P. Roach, Washington, DC Noel Sanborn & Virginia Lee, Palo Alto, CA Abid Shah, Sarasota, FL Dr. Ajazuddin Shaikh, Granger, IN John Stanford, Santa Fe, NM Mae Stephen, Palo Alto, CA Michel & Cathy Sultan, Eau Claire, WI Eddy Tamura, Moraga, CA John & Dariel Van Wagoner, McLane, VA James Wall, Elmhurst, IL Mahmoud Zawawi, Amman, Jordan

TENORS & CONTRALTOS ($500 or more)

Michael Ameri, Calabasas, CA Anace Aossey, Cedar Rapids, IA Lois Aroian, East Jordan, MI Dr. & Mrs. Issa J. Boullata, Montreal, Canada Mr. & Mrs. John Crawford, Boulder, CO Lois Critchfield, Williamsburg, VA Krista and Andrew Curtiss, Herndon, VA**, *** Richard Curtiss, Boynton Beach, FL Edouard C. Emmet, Paris, France Dr. Jamil Fayez, Oakton, VA Claire Bradley Feder, Atherton, CA Ronald & Mary Forthofer, Longmont, CO Joseph & Angela Gauci, Whittier, CA Wasif Hafeez, W. Bloomfield, MI George Hanna, Santa Ana, CA Sam Holland, North Eastham, MA Brigitte Jaensch, Carmichael, CA Tony Litwinko, Los Angeles, CA Bill & Jean Mansour, Corvallis, OR Georgianna McGuire, Silver Spring, MD Henry Norr, Berkeley, CA Henry Schubert, Damascus, OR Mr. & Mrs. Yasir Shallal, McLean, VA Dr. William Strange, Bandera, TX

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Texas Cardiac Center, Lubbock, TX Lorie & Wilbur Wood, Vancouver, WA

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

Anonymous, Washington, DC Zainab Abbas, London, UK Paula Allen, Naples, FL Asha A. Anand, Bethesda, MD Graf Herman Bender, North Palm Beach, FL Majid Batterjee, Vienna, VA Karen Ray Bossmeyer, Louisville, KY G. Edward, Jr. & Ruth Brooking, Wilmington, DE Carole Brown, Stamford, CT Rev. Ronald Chochol, St. Louis, MO Tom D'Albani & Dr. Jane Killgore, Bemidji, MN Linda Emmet, Paris, France Dr. & Mrs. Clyde Farris West Linn, OR** Evan & Leman Fotos, Istanbul, Turkey Dr. & Mrs. Hassan Fouda, Berkeley, CA John Gareeb, Atlanta, GA Hind Hamdan, Hagerstown, MD R. Jacob Hikmat, Columbia, MD Salman & Kate Hilmy, Silver Spring, MD Judith Howard, Norwood, MA Mary Ann Hrankowski, Rochester, NY† Muhammad Khan & Fatimunnisa Begum, Jersey City, NJ Dr. and Mrs. George Longstreth, San Diego, CA Jack Love, San Diego, CA John Mahoney, AMEU, New York, NY Mary Norton, Austin, TX Audrey Olson, Saint Paul, MN Mary H. Regier, El Cerrito, CA M.F. Shoukfeh, Lubbock, TX Dr. Robert Younes, Potomac, MD

CHOIRMASTERS ($5,000 or more)

Patricia Ann Abraham, Charleston, SC Forrest Cioppa, Moraga, CA† Henry Clifford, Essex, CT Donna B. Curtiss, Kensington, MD*, ** Estate of Rafeek Farah, Trenton, MI John & Henrietta Goelet, New York, NY Andrew I. Killgore, Washington, DC Vincent & Louise Larsen, Louvin Foundation, Billings, MT William Lightfoot, Vienna, VA Ahmad Salhut, Englewood Cliffs, NJ *In Memory of Ambassador Clovis Maksoud **In Memory of Richard H. Curtiss ***In Memory of Joe Lill ****In Memory of David Ransom †In Memory of the USS Liberty

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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Special Report

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

Compiled by Emily Neil

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

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

Alalusi Foundation: 1975 National Ave. • Hayward, CA 94545 • (510) 887-2374 • www.alalusifoundation.org • Iraq Orphans Project provides support to more than 3,344 orphaned children in Iraq and aid to marginalized peoples in various countries. ($)(R)

Amaanah Refugee Services: 10333 Harwin Dr., Suite 675 • Houston, TX 77036 • (713) 370-3063 • www.refugeelink.com • Collects food, clothing, furniture and funds for refugees being resettled in Houston. ($)(R) American Friends of Birzeit University: 1416 N. Utah St. • Arlington, VA 22201 • www.fobzu.org • For more than half a century Birzeit University has provided an excellent education for Palestinian men and women.

American Friends of the Spafford Children’s Center • 2037 S. Carrollton Ave. • New Orleans, LA 70118 • SpaffordUSA@ gmail.com • www.spaffordcenter.org • Provides medical, psychological and educational services for some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. ($) American Friends of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East): • 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, 10th Floor • Washington, DC 20009 • (202) 223-3767 • www.unrwausa.org • Supports the humanitarian work of UNRWA through outreach, fund-raising and advocacy. ($)(G)(R) American Refugee Committee: 615 1st Ave., NE, Suite 500 • Minneapolis, MN 55413 • (800) 875-7060 • www. arcrelief.org • Provides emergency support, clean water, shelter and health care to refugees from Syria, South Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. ($)(R)

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA): 1111 14th St. NW, Suite 400 • Washington, DC 20005 • (202) 266-9700 • www.anera.org • Sponsors ongoing programs in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan, and provides emergency relief. ($)(G)(L) (R)

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

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

The Bethlehem Association: 1192 N. Garey Ave. • Pomona, CA

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

91767 • (650) 740-3119 • www.bethlehemassoc.org • An organization of the Bethlehemite Diaspora, collects donations to support well-established charities and clinics around Bethlehem. ($)

Catholic Charities USA: PO Box 17066 • Baltimore, MD 21297 • (800) 919-9338 • www.catholiccharitiesusa.org • Helps the homeless, hungry, sick and vulnerable in American communities, including refugees and asylum-seekers already in the U.S. ($)(R)

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

The Free Gaza Movement: 405 Vista Heights Rd. • El Cerrito, CA 94530 • (510) 232-2500 • www.freegaza.org • Challenges the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip by boat, bringing symbolic humanitarian aid. (G)

Friends of UPMRC (Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees): PO Box 450554 • Atlanta, GA 31145 • (404) 441-2702 • www.pmrs.ps • A grassroots community-based Palestinian health organization, founded by Palestinian doctors, to support the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. ($)(G) Fund for Armenian Relief: 630 Second Ave. • New York, NY 10016 • (212) 889-5150 • www.farusa.org • Supports Armenian communities, including in Lebanon, where Armenian villages give shelter to refugees of recent wars. ($)(L) Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP): PO Box 1049 • Gaza City, Palestine • +972-08-264-1511 • www.gcmhp.com • Provides urgently needed mental health care for residents of the Gaza Strip. (G)

Gaza Mental Health Foundation, Inc.: PO Box 380273 • Cambridge, MA 02238 • (617) 661-9000 • www.gazamental health.org • Supports mental health providers and programs in the Gaza Strip by raising funds for grants to programs like GCMHP and other service providers. ($)(G)

Hands Along the Nile Development Services, Inc. (HANDS): 1601 N. Kent St., Suite 1014 • Arlington, VA 22209 • (800) 564-2544 • www.handsalongthenile.org • Promotes U.S.Egyptian cultural exchange and helps to empower local communities through a variety of development projects. ($) Hidaya Foundation: PO Box 5481 • Santa Clara, CA 95056 • (866) 2-HIDAYA • www.hidaya.org • Sponsors educational, social welfare and charitable projects in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, West Africa, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the U.S. and Canada. ($)

Helping Hand for Relief and Development: 21199 Hilltop St. • Southfield, MI 48033 • (313) 279-5378 • www.hhrd.org • Responds to human suffering in emergency and disaster situations around the world, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, class, religion, color, cultural diversity and social background. ($)

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Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF): 6935 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 518 • Bethesda, MD 20815 • (301) 9519400 • www.hcef.org • Sponsors ongoing education, child sponsorship and housing programs for Palestinian Christians, as well as an emergency fund to supply medication, medical supplies, food and services. ($) International Orthodox Christian Charities: 110 West Rd., Suite 360 • Baltimore, MD 21204 • (410) 243-9820 • www.iocc.org • Provides emergency relief and development programs to those in need worldwide, without discrimination. ($)

Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Relief/Helping Hand: 16626 89th Ave. • Queens, NY 11432 • (718) 658-1199 • www.icna.org • Repairs infrastructure and sponsors educational and nutritional programs.

Islamic Relief USA: PO Box 22250 • Alexandria, VA 22304 • (855) 447-1001 • www.irusa.org • Provides education, food, health aid, water and sanitation programs to communities facing floods, wars and other disasters. ($) The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD): PO Box 8118 • New York, NY 10116 • (646) 308-1322 • www.icahd usa.org • Rebuilds Palestinian homes demolished by Israel, sometimes several times, in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel. ($)

The Jerusalem Fund: 2425 Virginia Ave., NW • Washington, DC 20037 • (202) 338-1958 • www.thejerusalemfund.org • Provides grants for humanitarian and cultural projects in Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan, as well as for educational projects in the U.S. ($)(L)

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

Leonard Education Organization (LE•O) • PO Box 504 • Buena Vista, VA 24416 • (609) 730-3946 • www.LeonardEducation.org • Secures and manages undergraduate scholarships for Palestinians from the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan to American colleges and universities. ($)(G)(L)

Life for Relief and Development: PO Box 236 • Southfield, MI 48037 • (248) 424-7493 • www.lifeusa.org • Provides medicine and medical equipment, and supports infrastructure development, in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine. ($)(G)(L)

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

Maysoon’s Kids: 447 Lawton Ave. • Cliffside Park, NJ 07010 • (917) 803-9111 • www.maysoon.com • Palestinian-American comedienne Maysoon Zayid personally travels to nine different Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank providing humanitarian assistance and sponsoring programs for disabled, wounded and at-risk children. ($) Médecins Sans Frontiè res/Doctors Without Borders: 333 7th Ave. • New York, NY 10001 • (212) 679-6800 • www.doctors withoutborders.org • Provides emergency medical relief around the world. ($)(R) Mercy Corps: PO Box 2669, Dept. W • Portland, OR 97208 • (888) 747-7440 • www.mercycorps.org • Global organization providing emergency medical relief in times of crisis. ($)

Middle East Children’s Alliance: 1101 Eighth St., Suite 100 • Berkeley, CA 94710 • (510) 548-0542 • www.mecaforpeace.org • Promotes peace and justice in the Middle East, focusing on 66

Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and Iraq. ($)(G)(L)

Nazareth Project Inc.: 237 North Prince Street • Lancaster, PA 17603 • (717) 290-1800 • www.nazarethproject.org • Raises funds to support the Nazareth Hospital in Israel and St. Luke’s Hospital in Nablus, West Bank. ($) Near East Foundation: 230 Euclid Ave. • Syracuse, NY 13210 • (315) 428-8670 • www.neareast.org • Supports community development and provides humanitarian and emergency assistance in more than 16 countries. ($)

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: PO Box 1926 • Kent, OH 44240 • (330) 678-2645 • www.pcrf.net • Sponsors free medical care in the U.S. for children who cannot be adequately treated in the Middle East; trains local doctors and sends medical supplies to Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. ($)(G)(L)

Pilgrims of Ibillin: 1750 W. Front St., Suite 200 • Boise, ID 83702 • (608) 241-9281 • www.pilgrimsofibillin.org • Supports Palestinian children in Israel through Archbishop Elias Chacour, promoting education and interfaith understanding. ($) Project Hope: 29 An-Najah Al-Qadim St. • Nablus, Palestine • +972-9-233-7077 • www.projecthope.ps • Provides educational and recreational activities, medical and humanitarian relief, and practical training to residents of Nablus and its neighboring Askar and Balata refugee camps. (R) Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice: 203 East Fourth Ave., Suite 402 • Olympia, WA 98501 • (360) 754-3998 • www.rachelcorriefounda tion.org • In memory of Rachel Corrie, the Corrie Family Foundation promotes educational programs in the U.S., and economic, environmental and social justice in Rafah, Gaza, where Rachel was killed by an Israeli soldier. ($)(G)

The Rebuilding Alliance/Rebuilding Homes Campaign: 1818 Gilbreth Rd., Suite 243 • Burlingame, CA 94010 • (650) 325-4663 • www.rebuildingalliance.org • Raises funds to rebuild Palestinian homes and promote strategic Palestinian and Israeli cooperation. ($) René Moawad Foundation: 1732 Connecticut Ave., NW, 3rd Floor • Washington, DC 20009 • (202) 338-3535 • www.rmf.org.lb • Promotes social, economic, agricultural and rural development, and democracy and human rights in Lebanon. ($)(L) Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center: PO Box 9186 • Portland, OR 97207 • (503) 653-6625 • www. fosna.org • Provides a variety of community programs, particularly to Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel. ($)

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

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

World Vision: 1 World Drive • Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5T 2Y4 • (905) 565-6100 • www.worldvision.ca • Global Christian humanitarian organization providing relief in many countries in the Arab and Muslim world. ($) The Zakat Foundation of America: PO Box 639 • Worth, IL 60482 • (708) 233-0555 • www.zakat.org • Sponsors programs in 10 countries for emergency relief, orphan sponsorship, education, development and health. ($) ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

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

November/December 2016 Vol. XXXV, No. 7

As the sun sets, Palestinian youths walk outside a mosque in Gaza City, Oct. 17, 2016. MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images