Washington Report - June/July 2017 - Vol. XXXVI, No. 4

cover1_June/July 2016 Cover 5/25/17 5:01 PM Page 1

TRUMP VISITS THE MIDDLE EAST

DISPLAY UNTIL 7/30/2017

UPA_ad_c2_UPA Ad Cover 2 5/24/17 2:40 PM Page c2

toc_3-4_June July 2017 TOC 5/25/17 8:49 PM Page 3

TELLING THE TRUTH FOR 35 YEARS...

Volume XXXVI, No. 4

On Middle East Affairs

INTERPRETING THE MIDDLE EAST FOR NORTH AMERICANS

June/July 2017

INTERPRETING NORTH AMERICA FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

✮

THE U.S. ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE President Trump Visits the Middle East—Three Views —Juan Cole, Anshel Pfeffer, Amira Hass Hunger Striking for Palestinian Rights—Philip Giraldi

14 16 18

12

A Letter to President Trump From Families of Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Occupation Jails

Ambassador Zomlot Hopeful That Trump Will Disrupt U.S. “Peace Industry”—Delinda C. Hanley Jewish Nation-State Bill Looks Ahead to Rule Over Palestinian Majority—Jonathan Cook

Ronald Lauder Cozies up to Trump as His Estranged Ally Netanyahu Watches and Worries —Allison Kaplan Sommer

20

37

40

Should Hamas Rewrite the Past?—Ramzy Baroud

22 24 26 29 30 43

May Local Elections Reflect Divisions Among Palestinians—Mohammed Omer

Dropping by Shatila, a Wounded Place—Kathryn Habib 50 Years Later: Will the Crew of the USS Liberty Ever Receive Justice?—Ernest A. Gallo

Omnibus Appropriations Bill Includes More Than $3.8 Billion for Israel—Shirl McArthur Emulating the Settlers He Supports, Israeli Ambassador Danon Seizes U.N. Territory —Ian Williams

Dr. James Zogby Slams Religious Freedom Commission for Ignoring Israeli Violations —Dale Sprusansky

SPECIAL REPORTS

34

Iranians Re-elect Moderate President Hassan Rouhani—Two Views —Trita Parsi, Ph.D., Farideh Farhi

The Case for People-to-People Ties Between Iran and The U.S.—Dale Sprusansky China’s Growing Reach in Central Asia, Indian Ocean Littoral—John Gee

WWW.SILKROUTES.NET

8 11

China hopes to reach the Middle East via its Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road. See story p. 40.

ON THE COVER: Israeli occupation troops arrest Palestinians demonstrating solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger

strike in Israeli jails, amid clashes in the West Bank village of Beita, south of Nablus, April 21, 2017. See story p. 11. .

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

toc_3-4_June July 2017 TOC 5/25/17 9:14 PM Page 4

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

Other Voices

Compiled by Janet McMahon

Visitors Not Welcome: Israel Taking Border

Prez Trump: You Can’t Fight the Whole World, Eric S. Margolis, http://ericmargolis.com

OV-1

Control to New Extremes With Tourist Bans, Judy Maltz, Haaretz

Trump Seems Enchanted by Middle East Fantasies and Failures, Rami G. Khouri, Agence Global

OV-2

Airlines?, Ali Younes, www.aljazeera.com

When Da’ish Is Defeated: Who Will Fill the Intellectual Vacuum in the Arab World?, Ramzy Baroud, www.ramzybaroud.net

Was Israel Behind U.S. Laptop Ban on Mideast

OV-9

OV-11

OV-3 Israel, Into the Darkness,

NYT Cheers the Rise of Censorship Algorithms, Robert Parry, www.consortiumnews.com

Gideon Levy, Haaretz

OV-12

OV-4 The Agony of J Street,

Facebook vs. Palestine: Implicit Support for Oppression, Nadim Nashif, www.aljazeera.com

OV-6

OV-7

Lawrence Davidson, www.tothepointanalyses.com

5 Publishers’ Page

6 letters to the editor

42 israel and Judaism: Israel’s War on BDS Increasingly Alienating American Jews —Allan C. Brownfeld 45 the World looks at the middle east — CARtoonS

Hassan Abdel Zaher, The Arab Weekly

OV-14

Will the Next War Erupt in the Balkans?,

Politicizing Anti-Semitism—An Analysis,

DEPARTMENTS

OV-13

Umrah No Longer Affordable for Egypt’s Poor,

This Is How Israel Inflates Its Jewish Majority, Editorial, Haaretz

Abba Solomon, http://mondoweiss.net

OV-7

Justin Raimondo, www.antiwar.com

58 music & arts:

Alice Rothchild’s Condition Critical Portrays Daily Life in Palestine

61 Waging Peace: U.S.-Egyptian Relations in the trump Era

71 obituaries

OV-15

72 book revieW: ten Myths About Israel —Reviewed by Nathaniel Bailey

73 middle east books and more 74 2017 aet choir oF angels 47 indeX to advertisers

46 other PeoPle’s mail

51 muslim american activism: Identifying and Rectifying the Root Causes of Islamophobia

57 human rights: Civil Rights Group Examines Hijab Rule

The newly expanded Middle East Books and More bookstore.

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

48 arab american activism: AtFL Honors Women Who Have Made a Difference in Lebanon

pubs_5_Publishers Page 5/25/17 9:54 PM Page 5

American Educational Trust

More Sectarianism and Weapons.

Publishers’ Page

Divisive narratives and foreign weapons have for decades fueled death and destruction throughout the Middle East. Instead of boldly calling for a paradigm shift, President Donald Trump reinforced these narratives during his May visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel. The president used his much-touted “address to the Islamic world” in Riyadh to engage in sectarian rhetoric by taking...

Sharp Aim at Iran.

“Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate Iran, deny it funding for terrorism, and pray for the day when the Iranian people have the just and righteous government they deserve,” Trump told his largely Sunni audience. While such rhetoric will appease Israel, certain Sunni allies, and many in Congress, it will do little to heal the sectarian divide that has crippled the region. Ironically, Trump delivered his remarks as Iranians took to the polls to reject extremism by re-electing moderate President Hassan Rouhani (see p. 34).

More Weapons to the Region.

On his trip, Trump also announced $110 billion in new arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the next 10 years, an agreement that undoubtedly will contribute to the further destruction of Yemen. The deal was finalized just as Amnesty International reported that in Iraq the U.S. government has lost track of more than…

$1.6 Billion in Weapons.

Seeking to bolster the fight against ISIS, the U.S. sent $1.6 billion in weapons to the Iraqi army in 2015. But, according to records obtained by Amnesty International via a Freedom of Information Act request, the Defense Department failed to track where these weapons went. Once again it’s possible that these weapons are being used by nefarious groups to sow further chaos. “It makes for especially sobering reading given the long history of leakage of U.S. arms to multiple armed JUNE/JULY 2017

groups committing atrocities in Iraq, including the armed group calling itself the Islamic State,” commented Amnesty human rights researcher Patrick Wilcken.

When will the U.S. learn its lesson and stop flooding the region with weapons?

Status Quo for Israel.

Despite all his talk about a “huge” peace deal, President Trump did little to shift the impasse between the Israelis and Palestinians during his brief stop in the Holy Land. Like his predecessors, Trump gave lip service to peace and reaffirmed the U.S.Israel “special relationship.” Noticeably, Trump never mentioned the two-state solution in any of his public remarks. Unless the president has a trick up his sleeve it appears that Palestinian suffering will continue—facilitated by the more than $3 billion in arms the U.S. gifts Israel every year. Unlike the weapons in Iraq, we know exactly where this military equipment is used—on the besieged people of Gaza, the Palestinians of the West Bank, and perhaps…

One Day Again on Lebanon.

Books & Backgammon

Our previous Publishers’ Page noted the expansion of our Middle East Books and More bookstore downstairs. We’re delighted to announce that shoppers are already enjoying a spot of coffee and a little backgammon, as they peruse the latest books. (See photo on facing page.)

What we didn’t know for certain then was that our upstairs offices, including our

library and conference room, would soon be up for sale. Our “GoFundMe” campaign showed amazing reader solidarity and generated urgently needed funds, but nowhere near enough to buy our deceased publisher’s property. So as we put this issue together we were also packing up 35 years worth of files and photos, finding new homes for special collections and oh—the shredding! Our end-goal is a leaner and meaner, but far cozier, less paper-dependent office space.

They Will Be Missed.

Sol Schindler, 92, a retired Foreign Service officer who used to write for the Washington Report, died April 11 in Washington, DC. We also received sad news recently that Maidhc Ó Cathail, a widely published Irish investigative journalist and political analyst who occasionally wrote for us, also died, in Ireland. We met him when he flew all the way from Japan, where he was teaching English, to attend our 2014 National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israeli “Special Relationship.” Both Sol and Maidhc were wonderful comrades in arms.

But We Are Happy to Welcome…

Our first ever “journalism fellow,” Anagha Srikanth, who started the week we went to press. She will soon be followed by a superb group of summer interns we’ll put to work. We take heart that there are still young people eager to enter the field of journalism! More and more readers hungry for real news are heading to the Internet. Thanks to a generous grant, we recently redesigned our website to incorporate up-to-date news to help inform readers. Check out <www.WashingtonReport. me> to get your Washington Report fix between issues and sign up to get our action alerts and a weekly online newsletter.

Finally, please fill out our survey on the back of our biannual donation letter when you send in your generous donation. We need your help as always to…

Make A Difference Today!

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

5

lte_6-7_March/April 2017 Letters to Editor 5/25/17 2:28 PM Page 6

Managing Editor: News Editor: Assistant Editor:

Middle East Books and More Director:

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

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

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

Published by the American Educational Trust (AET), a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC by retired U.S. foreign service officers to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states.

AET’s Foreign Policy Committee has included former U.S. ambassadors, government officials, and members of Congress, including the late Democratic Sen. J. William Fulbright and Republican Sen. Charles Percy, both former chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Members of AET’s Board of Directors and advisory committees receive no fees for their services.

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs does not take partisan domestic political positions. As a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, it endorses U.N. Security Council Resolution 242’s landfor-peace formula, supported by nine successive U.S. presidents. In general, it supports Middle East solutions which it judges to be consistent with the charter of the United Nations and traditional American support for human rights, self-determination, and fair play.

Material from the Washington Report may be reprinted without charge with attribution to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Bylined material must also be attributed to the author. This release does not apply to photographs, cartoons or reprints from other publications.

Indexed by ProQuest, Gale, Ebsco Information Services, InfoTrac, LexisNexis, Public Affairs Information Service, Index to Jewish Periodicals, Ethnic News Watch, Periodica Islamica.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Editorial Office and Bookstore: P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009-9062 Phone: (202) 939-6050 • (800) 368-5788 Fax: (202) 265-4574 E-mail: wrmea@wrmea.org bookstore@wrmea.org circulation@wrmea.org advertising@wrmea.org Web sites: http://www.washingtonreport.me http://www.middleeastbooks.com Subscriptions, sample copies and donations: P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056.

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

6

LetterstotheEditor DROPPING THE MASKS

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly posed a fundamental, long-overdue question that had been taboo for American politicians, to the extent that it ever even crossed their minds: What benefits do the American people actually derive from the U.S. government’s numerous “alliances” around the world?

It was a question which recent decades—and America’s renewed selfsufficiency in hydrocarbons—have made particularly relevant to America’s role in the Greater Middle East.

It is now abundantly clear what those benefits are: Gargantuan arms sales contracts signed by Sunni Gulf monarchies and enemies provided by Israel. In this context, Iran, the country that both the Gulf monarchies and Israel love to hate, and the Iranian people are simply collateral damage in a far bigger game.

Few Americans participate in those benefits, but they are essential manna from heaven for the military-industrial-intelligence-surveillance-homeland-security complex, one of the three pillars (along with the uniformed military and the Israel-First Lobby) of what I have long labeled the “Permanent Government” of the United States, which never loses an election and continues to pull the strings of virtually all the impotent elected politicians who come and go in Washington.

Donald Trump may have performed a significant service by dropping the masks. While the U.S. government has traditionally pursued its “interests” abroad while publicly proclaiming its devotion to “democracy promotion” and “human rights” as its primary motivations, these have never been serious concerns of those in the “Permanent Government” pulling the strings.

Their priorities have always been fullspectrum global dominance and money.

The new regime in Washington no longer makes any pretense of being motivated by more benign or admirable values and aspirations.

This moral clarity may help other countries, notably including European countries, to adjust their own approaches to dealing with American power in the

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

years ahead.

John V. Whitbeck, Paris, France We hope Americans will also realize that these policies are not specific to our current president, but have been the basis of U.S. foreign policy for decades.

We doubt, however, that there would have been such “resistance” to them had Hillary Clinton won last year’s election.

Similarly, both Labor and Likud governments in Israel have endorsed and implemented illegal settlements, breaking the bones of Palestinians, and other acts of repression and terror with which we are all too familiar—but the Labor party was more skillful in donning the mask.

CONFERENCE ON THE ISRAEL LOBBY AND AMERICAN POLICY

Having received the May issue days ago, I am so very elated reading day by day this exciting issue [with the Israel Lobby and American Policy conference transcripts].

You make me (the reader) feel as if I am present at this most exciting event.

The only thing I regret is that I was not able to be physically present.

I have just completed the reading of the Nick Rahall and Jim Moran section, and this is more than exciting because of the truthful and necessary exposure of the behavior of AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups.

Now, I will continue on to read what Hanan Ashrawi is saying. We always liked seeing her on television. Years go, when she spoke at St. Paul's Cathedral in Boston, she was heavily heckled by Zionists and could not complete the questionand-answer period.

This issue brings to light the long-term trials and trauma that our good politicians must go through in order to bring truthful Middle East material to the attention of the American public.

Many thanks for this valid information over and over! I may ask for extra copies to give out.

Carol Rae Bradford, M.Ed., Author, Somerville, MA We, too, are sorry you were unable to join us on March 24, but can assure you that, while certainly not as up close and personal as hearing the speakers in person, their written remarks are equally compelling. And, since we consider these transcripts to constitute a timeless record, we ordered extra copies—so ask away!

JUNE/JULY 2017

lte_6-7_March/April 2017 Letters to Editor 5/25/17 2:28 PM Page 7

DVDS PREFERRED

My husband and I really appreciate hearing and reading about the Middle East from a more informed and truthful perspective.

I understand your conference DVDs won't be available this year. If I am wrong let me know, as I would like to purchase one.

While they are available on your website my husband is not one for computer viewing.

I know Jane Killgore, and know that her father, Ambassador Andrew Killgore, will be very missed. His legacy is impressive.

Jesica Conrad, Bemidji, MN Several people have asked us about getting DVDs of this year’s conference, but our unfortunate experience has been that they are very costly to produce in terms of both time and money—and we are in short supply of both!

We were very happy that both Jane Killgore and her sister, Roberta McInerney, were able to attend this year’s conference, which Andy Killgore helped plan before his death, and considered a game-changer.

THE BALFOUR DECLARATION

I have long admired Hanan Ashrawi's oratory on behalf of her people, but I take issue with her statement on p. 38 of your May issue that Balfour wanted to establish a national home for the Jews but at the same time a state. Balfour carefully avoided the word "state." Britain made that clear in subsequent statements. The Declaration was not a decree but a general statement of principles, and was endorsed, as written, by the U.S. Congress. The Anglo-Jewish Association approved of a "Jewish settlement" but not a Jewish nationality. The Central Confederacy of American Rabbis also opposed a Jewish state. It is time to cease blaming the Declaration for the current problems in the Holy Land. Jewish immigration post-Balfour was minimal. The United Nations 1948 recognition of Israel is most blameworthy.

Horace Hone, West Palm Beach, FL Certainly World War II and the 1948 recognition of Israel were major factors.

We would, however, point you to journalist Vincent Sheean’s account of Jewish provocations regarding the Haram alSharif in 1929 (see “Seeing the Light,” March and April/May 1992 issues; also available on our website, <www.wash ingtonreport.me>). His eyewitness report makes clear that Jewish intentions—and actions—were well advanced by then.

JUNE/JULY 2017

explain to public opinion, clearly and courageously, a certain number of facts that are forgotten with time. The first of these is that there is no Zionism, colonization, or Jewish State without the eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of their lands.” Eighty years after Ben-Gurion, the willful eviction of Arabs continues.

As written in the Balfour Declaration, Zionists were to have Palestine as a homeland, not a state, as was Lord Balfour’s intention. His Declaration unequivocally stated, “…nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

But Zionist terrorist groups did exactly that—they destroyed the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jews by displacing them, burning and destroying their crops and trees, razing their homes, rationing their water, and massacring villages and their inhabitants. Their reign of terror also drove out the British, leaving Zionist terrorist gangs to establish Israel as a state on Palestinian land.

Groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and If Americans Knew speak out against the inhumane treatment Israel has and continues to perpetrate against the Palestinians, despite over 40 U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning these atrocities, all of which the U.S. has vetoed.

Finally, last December, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. abstained, allowing a Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s settlements to pass—a vote that resulted in a firestorm of opposition from our AIPAC-led Congress and press, even though U.S. policy has always been for a two-state solution and dismantling settlements.

Perhaps, if the United States had signed the first U.N. resolution decades ago, we would have had a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel long ago, and peace, not turmoil and utter destruction, would have prevailed in the Middle East.

Today, however, with the U.S. refusing to sanction Israel’s indefensible actions, there is little hope that will ever occur.

Loretta Krause, via e-mail A sad history, indeed. Clearly we cannot rely on our pusillanimous press and politicians to rectify—or even accurately portray—this situation. We must look elsewhere—and to ourselves. ■

KEEP THOSE CARDS AND LETTERS COMING! Send your letters to the editor to the Washington Report, P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009 or e-mail <letters@wrmea.org>.

ISRAELI IMPUNITY

Israel’s settlements are illegal, and despite Camp David accords, Oslo agreements and other peace agreements to which it has agreed, Israel continues to confiscate and settle more and more Palestinian land with impunity, because it knows our government will allow it.

Palestinians have been earmarked for annihilation since the early 1900s, when Zionist terrorist gangs began their campaign of terror. In 1937, David Ben-Gurion stated, “We must expel the Arabs and take their places.” In a 1938 speech, he stated, “Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves…politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves….” The first quote states Israel’s founding intentions; the second affirms the Palestinians’ right to defend themselves against a country that has taken their land.

As recently as 1998, Ariel Sharon stated: “It is the duty of Israeli leaders to

OTHER VOICES is an optional 16-page supplement available only to subscribers of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. For an additional $15 per year (see postcard insert for Washington Report subscription rates), subscribers will receive Other Voices inside each issue of their Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

Back issues of both publications are available.

To subscribe telephone 1 (888) 881-5861, fax (714) 226-9733, e-mail circulation@wrmea. org>, or write to P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 908091056.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

7

views-MEvisit_8-10_Three Views 5/25/17 7:47 PM Page 8

Three Views

President Trump Visits the Middle East

KOBI GIDEON/GPO

polished off as many as 100 million persons in the 20th century and that Muslims may have killed 2-3 million.

Trump seems to think that pumping $110 billion in new shiny weapons into a volatile Middle East will lead to peace!

If there is any sure correlate of war, it is massive purchases by one regional power of new armaments. You have to use them while you have the advantage or your rivals also acquire them.

Trump managed to insult Islamic civilization by implying that the pre-Islamic civilizations in the region were better: “Egypt was a thriving center of learning and achievement (L-r) President Donald Trump, his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister thousands of years before Binyamin Netanyahu at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, May 22, 2017. other parts of the world. The wonders of Giza, Luxor and Alexandria are proud monuments to that ancient heritage.

“All over the world, people dream of walking through the ruins of Petra in Jordan. Iraq was the cradle of civilization and is a land

By Juan Cole of natural beauty.”

This is sheer Orientalism, an allegation that Pharaonic Egypt, TRUMP’S SPEECH on Islam, written by notorious IslamoNabatean Jordan and Sumerian and Babylonian Iraq were great phobe Stephen Miller, who used to organize Orwellian Two Mincivilizations but that once Islam came, they went downhill. Millerutes Hate sessions against Muslims at Duke, is just as bizarre Trump do not know about al-Azhar University in Egypt being as everything else Trump does. among the oldest in the world (George Makdisi argued it was the Miller-Trump imply, as has become common in right-wing oldest). They don’t know about Harun al-Rashid’s House of WisAmerican discourse, that Muslims have a peculiar problem inasdom, where Greek philosophy was debated in Arabic by the Abmuch as they produce terrorists. What do they think the Ku Klux basid caliph and his court sages at a time when Charlemagne Klan is? I estimate that people of European Christian heritage was trying to learn to scratch out his name. They don’t know Juan Cole is a public intellectual, prominent blogger and essayist, and about the Abbasid invention of algebra or of Omar Khayyam’s the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University use of geometry to solve algebraic equations. The only compliof Michigan. His latest book is The New Arabs: How the Millennial ment they give Islamic civilization is that Dubai and Riyadh have Generation Is Changing the Middle East (available from AET’s Middle skyscrapers, which is surely the blind spot of a Realtor.

East Books and More). Copyright (c) 2017 <www.juancole.com>. All rights reserved. .

Miller-Trump sweep up national resistance movements like

Trump on Islam: Neo-Orientalism and Anti-Shi’ism

8

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

views-MEvisit_8-10_Three Views 5/25/17 7:47 PM Page 9

Hamas and Hezbollah with al-Qaeda! Neither of these would exist if the Israelis hadn’t a) expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in 1948 and then come after millions of their descendants and militarily occupied them in 1967; and b) if the Israelis had not launched a brutal war of aggression on Lebanon in 1982 and attempted to occupy permanently 10 percent of Lebanese territory. The Shi’i of south Lebanon liked the Israelis before 1978. The 1982 invasion killed 10,000-20,000 people and involved indiscriminate artillery barrages and aerial bombing of Beirut, which Osama bin Laden alleged helped inspire him to destroy some American skyscrapers.

Designating Hezbollah a terrorist organization but not doing so to the armed Israeli squatters who routinely attack Palestinians in their own homes is typical of everything that is wrong with U.S. policy in the region. Attacking civilians is always wrong (and is cowardly). But Hezbollah in 1984-2000 mainly attacked other soldiers, who were illegally occupying Lebanese Shi’i land.

As for Yemen’s Houthis, they are not a creature of Iran, which has relatively little to do with them. They are rural Zaydi Shi’i who resented Saudi attempts to proselytize them, marginalize them, and make them Wahhabis. You’ll never have peace in Yemen as long as you don’t recognize legitimate Zaydi interests.

For Trump to attack Iran, which just had a popular election where the electorate bucked the choice of the Leader, from Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, is weird.

The American Right is deeply implicated in radicalizing Muslims. Afghan Islam was radicalized by the Reagan jihad against the Soviet Union. Eisenhower and Reagan both attempted to enlist Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabism against Communism. Most Palestinians were secular or mainstream until the Israelis cultivated Hamas as an alternative to the PLO. Trump wants to site a center for combating extremist ideology in Saudi Arabia! The Wahhabi form of Islam practiced in that country encourages extremist ideology! The Saudis took the practice of takfir, or excommunicating Sunnis and Shi’i, to the next level. In the 19th century they even excommunicated the Ottoman emperor!

If the Saudis want to combat extremism, they have to formally abjure this unfortunate heritage of Wahhabism and roundly condemn the unilateral branding of people as non-Muslim when they maintain that they are Muslims. (In the Sunni and Shi’i mainstream, takfir or excommunication of a Muslim is rare and disapproved.)

Contemporary radical extremism in the Muslim world is founded on a few basic principles: 1. Takfir or the excommunication of other Muslims for being insufficiently puritanical, anti-democratic, anti-Western, etc.

2. Exalting holy war or “jihad” as they understand the word (it does not mean holy war but merely struggle for the faith in the Qur’an) to a basic pillar of the religion.

3. Willingness to commit suicide to blow other people up. Suicide is forbidden in mainstream Islam just as it is in Catholicism.

Saudi Arabia has to condemn all three—excommunication, the JUNE/JULY 2017

militarization of jihad, and homocidal self-sacrifice.

So Miller-Trump are barking up entirely the wrong tree here, as you would expect from completely ignorant people sticking their bare hands into about 50 bee hives.

Then they condemn Iranian intervention in Syria but don’t mention that Saudi Arabia backed the radical terrorist group Jaysh al-Islam that had genocide against Syria’s Shi’i on their minds. Nor do they admit that without Hezbollah, Homs would have fallen to al-Qaeda in Syria (which the U.S. has tacitly supported; yes) and could have been used to cut off Damascus to resupply.

Any fair-minded and knowledgeable person in the Middle East would read this speech as a farrago of Orientalist prejudice against Muslims, coddling of Wahhabis, slamming of Shi’i, and continued rank unfairness toward the Palestinians in favor of holding the Israelis completely blameless for their massive ethnic cleansing campaigns, which are ongoing.

That terrorism can be addressed by vague words and by failing to address the underlying social causes is a non-starter. That war and violence can be tamped down by unfairly taking one side in a sectarian struggle or by flooding massive new arsenals into the region are the pipedreams of bigots who cannot face their own bigotry.

Why Trump’s Western Wall Visit Is Actually Bad News for the Israeli Right

By Anshel Pfeffer IN AN ATTEMPT to apply symbolism to every step that Donald Trump takes on his short visit to Israel and the territories, Israeli politicians and the local media have made a major fuss of the fact that Trump is the first U.S. president to visit the Western Wall while in office. They even tried to make it out as some wonderful gesture to Israel and the Jewish people.

But it was nothing of the sort.

Not only did Trump refuse to have Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accompany him on his pilgrimage to the Wall on Monday afternoon, his entourage insisted that no Israeli government official attend either—save for the celebrity-loving “Kotel Rabbi,” Shmuel Rabinovich. Even photographers from the Government Press Office were not allowed on site.

On the officially approved Israeli itinerary, the time spent in East Jerusalem was left blank. Just like the visit Tuesday morning to the territories for the meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The dwindling ranks of Trump’s ardent supporters on the Israeli right will mumble something about interfering State Department diplomats. What State Department? The one Trump hasn’t got around to appointing senior officials for yet? This was his call—and if it was important enough for the president to change

Copyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

9

views-MEvisit_8-10_Three Views 5/25/17 7:47 PM Page 10

U.S. policy on recognizing East Jerusalem as being part of sovereign Israel, he would have done so.

The bottom line is that not only does Trump have no intention of jeopardizing his relations with Sunni Arab leaders by moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, he won’t even make the tiniest gesture in that direction by allowing Netanyahu to join him for a few minutes in the Old City.

He has made three mini-speeches since arriving in Israel and hasn’t mentioned the word “Jerusalem” in one of them. He was warned not to do so by his advisers, and that’s it. He can’t be bothered to challenge them because he doesn’t care.

The religious right in Israel that celebrated Trump’s victory back in November, predicting how the new U.S. administration would be fine with Israel building settlements and annexing the West Bank, should look no further for proof that their great expectations were without foundation.

Sure, this is the unorthodox and iconoclastic Trump who has no patience for diplomatic conventions and niceties. But this is also the Trump who has no patience or interest in straying from his own comfort zone. He has his heart set on a grand antiIran/anti-Islamic State alliance with the Sunni Arab leaders, and that is what Netanyahu wants, too. Of course, Netanyahu would like the administration to recognize Israel’s sovereignty in East Jerusalem, but the anti-Iran front is much more important to him.

And besides, although he never admits it in public, Netanyahu is an atheist and symbols like the Western Wall don’t have that much meaning for him.

I’m not writing this out of any glee or feeling of schadenfreude at the shattered illusions of the Israeli right. Trump’s visit to the Wall is not good news for the Israeli left, either.

It means he isn’t serious about making peace in the region.

There’s a reason no previous sitting U.S. president ever put the Wall on his itinerary. Barack Obama, for example, visited the Kotel in 2008 while a Democratic presidential candidate, but didn’t visit as president in 2013. As president, every action and word has major implications, and a Western Wall visit simply has too much potential for causing offense to either side in the conflict— Israelis or Palestinians.

A president who is serious about trying to solve the conflict— and every president who has visited Israel in the past has been—doesn’t get himself into a corner like that. It’s Diplomacy 101.

So why did Trump visit the Wall anyway? Who knows why he does anything. Maybe it was a paternal gesture to his daughter Ivanka, the convert to Judaism. Probably he assumes that a photograph by the most visible symbol of Judaism could help him back home with Jewish and evangelical voters if he runs for re-election in 2020. Maybe it’s because he loves big buildings and has been gripped recently with a special passion for walls.

Whatever it is, it isn’t because he seriously plans to change anything in this region. Certainly not to fulfill the wildest dreams of the Greater Land of Israel lobby or to bring peace to this land.

10

The Miracle Didn’t Happen: Trump Never Said “Palestinian State”

By Amira Hass

ANYONE UNFAMILIAR WITH the conflict might have thought, based on Donald Trump’s visit and his warm words about Israelis’ suffering, that the Palestinians were occupying and oppressing the Israelis. This wasn’t due to Trump’s usual inarticulateness, epitomized this time in the embarrassing “amazing” he scrawled in Yad Vashem’s visitors book. His worldview, background and divisiveness all prime him to treat Israel as the victim (actual and potential).

Thus the miracle (or disaster) didn’t occur; the U.S. president didn’t say the words “Palestinian state.” Perhaps in Israel a few cockeyed optimists expected him to say a bit more than schmaltz about peace and were disappointed. Many others, who feared that he would, breathed sighs of relief.

As for the Palestinians, sober after so many years of disappointments and unfulfilled promises, they expected no surprises from Trump. And as I’ve written before, for the Palestinian Authority’s leaders, even maintaining the status quo and the protocols of respect were enough for now.

Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, spared its readers the sentence Trump uttered in Bethlehem, which the Israeli media highlighted: “Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded or rewarded.” The Ma’an news agency also skipped that sentence, which is obviously a slap in the face to the hunger-striking prisoners, their families and Palestinian society as a whole. Still, both Ma’an and Wafa mentioned Trump’s statements about fighting terror.

The prevailing Palestinian view, incidentally, is that the side that uses terror, and that funds and rewards it, is Israel. It seems the omission of that sentence was meant mainly to preserve the honor of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who once again spoke patiently about his loyalty to the two-state solution.

Did Trump ad-lib that sentence because of the terror attack in Manchester, or was it planned in advance? Did it hint at some stipulation he made during his private meeting with Abbas, which he didn’t make in Washington, regarding payments to the prisoners’ families (the Israeli diversion du jour)? Let’s wait and see.

In Riyadh, Trump fanned the flames of Saudi and Sunni hatred for Iran and Shi’ism. There, and of course in Jerusalem as well, he included Hamas among the “bad guys.”

The hostility between Fatah and Hamas is overt and profound. But if Trump (or those whispering in his ear about what to say) intends to fan this hostility as part of his “peace” effort, he won’t succeed. Despite all the disagreements and mutual incitement between the two rival Palestinian governments, and despite the well-founded feeling among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip that they’ve been abandoned, ultimately, as efforts to support the hunger strike show, they are united by the knowledge that their common problem is Israel’s aggressive rule. ■

Copyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

Giraldiprisoners_11-13_Special Report 5/25/17 8:31 PM Page 11

Special Report

Hunger Striking for Palestinian Rights

By Philip Giraldi

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

MARWAN BARGHOUTI HAS stopped drinking water. He started his hunger strike 36 days ago as of May 23, together with 1,500 other Palestinians who are being held in Israeli prisons. Each day the strikers have been drinking water mixed with salt, the salt needed to keep their electrolytes functioning to stay alive, but their health has reached a critical phase in which they are experiencing vomiting, fainting and loss of vision. Barghouti, who has been in Israeli prisons for 15 years, is wagering with his own life in a bid to obtain better conditions for the 6,500 Palestinians in Israeli detention, most of whom have been imprisoned on faux terrorism-related charges by military tribunals that have a 90 percent conviction rate. Nearly 500 children are among the prisoners, some of whom are only 12 years old, and there are Families of Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails demonstrate in front of the Red Cross offices in East Jerusalem on May 17, as hundreds of the prisoners entered the second month of a hunger also an estimated 500 Palestinians held in strike. administrative detention, which permits the West Bank, as well as among activists in Europe and the United Israeli authorities to confine them indefinitely without any charges States. It is also gaining strength on social media, most particuor any trial. larly on Facebook, with videos of supporters of the Salt Water The Israeli authorities describe the hunger strike as a “violaChallenge inviting their friends to join the movement. Hunger tion of prison rules.” In the past, they have responded to such striking is the ultimate personal statement, a peaceful form of protests by bringing in doctors to help restrain and supervise protest that can only be effective if it helps to mobilize other force feeding of the strikers, but the practice proved very conforces to bring about change. With that in mind, the account of troversial among members of the medical profession and has the suffering of Marwan Barghouti and his comrades in prison been suspended, though there have been suggestions that “fordeserves the widest possible dissemination worldwide. eign” doctors might be brought in to do the dirty work. So it is to Marwan Barghouti is, not surprisingly, a controversial figure. be presumed that the strike will continue until the protesters eiHis resistance to the Israeli occupation of his homeland began ther win, begin to die or choose to cease and desist. early, at age 15, when he joined Fatah and eventually went on to I have had the pleasure of speaking recently with Marwan’s co-found the organization’s youth movement. He later assumed youngest son, Aarab, a graduate of St. Mary’s College of Calileadership of its paramilitary wing Tanzim, though he eventually fornia with a master’s degree in financial analysis, who has distanced himself from Fatah due to its corruption and for a short begun a campaign to publicize his father’s resistance against the time headed his own reform party. He subsequently rejoined Israeli prison authorities. He has been asking supporters to Fatah in 2006 and is now a member of the Palestinian parliathemselves drink salt water as a sign of solidarity with the hunger ment. He is widely regarded as the most popular of Palestinian strikers. Many prominent Palestinians have done so publicly, and leaders even though he is in prison—or perhaps in part because the practice has become widespread both in Gaza and on the of that.

Barghouti’s biography reads like a work of fiction. One of Philip Giraldi, a former CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military seven children, his father was a migrant worker. He completed intelligence officer, is executive director of the Council for the National Interest. high school while in an Israeli prison, where he learned Hebrew, JUNE/JULY 2017

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

11

Giraldiprisoners_11-13_Special Report 5/25/17 7:47 PM Page 12

and then went on to complete a BA in history and political science followed by an MA in international relations, both at the Palestinian Birzeit University. It required 15 years to complete his degrees, because he was exiled to Jordan by the Israelis from 1987 to 1994 for his involvement in the first intifada after being charged with “incitement,” a favorite catchall phrase frequently used by Israel to indict anyone who is perceived as an opponent or critic when no actual charges can be plausibly supported by evidence.

Marwan Barghouti was indeed prominent in both the first and second intifadas due to his undoubtedly correct belief that a powerful Israel had no interest in any peaceful accommodation with the beleaguered Palestinians. He supported sometimes violent resistance and provocations directed at Israeli soldiers and settlers on the West Bank, though he did not consider Israeli citizens inside Israel legitimate targets. In 2002, he was arrested in Ramallah by the Israelis during the second intifada and eventually convicted of five counts of murder plus additional charges.

He was given the maximum sentence of 5 cumulative life sentences for the alleged murders, plus 40 additional years for attempted murder and membership in an illegal organization.

In his trial Barghouti denied everything but refused to defend himself, claiming that the court had no jurisdiction and that

he was legitimately resisting the Israeli occupation of his home. No one was able to demonstrate that he had actually killed anyone, but the prosecution insisted that he had given the orders to do so. It should be noted that the trial was a political rather than a criminal event and completely illegal, as he was a Palestinian living in Ramallah who was being tried in an Israeli court and sentenced to prison in Israel.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union subsequently reviewed the case and found that it had violated the accused’s rights and that numerous international legal agreements and norms were contravened.

Since 2002, there have been growing demands for Marwan Barghouti’s release, including from some Israeli politicians and peace groups, based on his relative moderation and desire to see a peaceful transition into a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. He has sometimes been likened to Nelson Mandela as someone who could potentially bring order and justice to an apparently intractable situation. Barghouti is undeniably more popular than either Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah or Ismail Haniya of Hamas. If he were free and an election were held today, he would undoubtedly be elected Palestinian president.

It is important to understand the context of the plight of the Palestinian prisoners to appreciate where Barghouti’s struggle for Palestinian rights derives from. Israel shoots to kill Arab demonstrators, including

children, who throw stones. It engages in illegal mass, arbitrary arrests of Palestinians who do not reside in Israel but are nevertheless subject to control by the Israeli military authorities, who have a relatively free hand on the West Bank. Once convicted by a military court, which is almost always the case, the prisoners are then held in Israel, a violation of international law, while their homes back in the Palestinian territories are frequently demolished to collectively punish the families.

The trip through Israeli security barriers from the West Bank to the prisons requires 20 hours’ travel each way, leading to a 45minute visit with a barrier in between so no one can actually see anyone else. A one visit per year limit for anyone over 16 is part of a process intended to further punish the families. Prisoners are routinely tortured by Israel, including the “Palestinian Chair,” an excruciating procedure which was developed by Israel Defense Forces interrogators and later taught to Americans and used at Abu Ghraib. Hundreds of Arabs have also been killed while in custody and reports of organ harvesting have surfaced in the international media.

Over the past 50 years, an estimated 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned by Israel at one time or another, fully 40 percent of the adult male population.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers run amok on the West Bank, protected by the police and army as they attack Palestinians at

A LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP FROM FAMILIES OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS IN ISRAELI OCCUPATION JAILS

23 May 2017

Mr. Donald Trump, President of the USA 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC Greetings, On this holy land, 37 days ago, 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails launched a hunger strike. They chose to starve themselves in defense of their dignity and to protest their deprivation of basic rights. We the families suffer with every second that passes as the risk over their lives is multiplying. Do our prisoners have to experience martyrdom to achieve the most basic of

This letter was presented to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the eve of his visit with President Trump.

12

rights, and do we have to be reunited with them once they are corpses instead of welcoming them home alive?!

This hunger strike entering now its sixth week comes against the backdrop of the continued arbitrary imprisonment of thousands of Palestinian prisoners who were forcibly transferred out of the occupied territory, who endure alongside their families inhumane restrictions and violations of their rights on a daily basis. The prisoners are demanding the right to see their children, and contact their families and proper medical care, and the end of torture, illtreatment, isolation and other arbitrary and collective measures against them. International law avails these rights and more.

We, families of prisoners, are demanding that our children are not abandoned to die in the occupation jails. Hundreds of our sons, fathers and husbands are now struggling against imminent death in what Israel is calling field hospitals and which are in fact

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

Giraldiprisoners_11-13_Special Report 5/25/17 7:47 PM Page 13

STAFF PHOTO SAMIR TWAIR

cises brutal control over the Palestinrandom and systematically destroy ian population, which is treated as if their livelihoods. They are rarely arit were subhuman. Indeed, many Isrested and, if they are, they are tried raelis believe that Arabs are subhuin Israeli civil courts, where they are man and deserve to be “ethnically nearly always acquitted. It is a situcleansed.” But a people under occuation that would be unimaginable pation, even if relatively powerless, nearly anywhere else in the world, has a right to resist under internabut Israel gets away with it due to a tional law, to include the use of viosympathetic Jewish-dominated lence, which is what the two intifadas media in the U.S. and lickspittle were all about. politicians worldwide who can easOne has to hope that Marwan ily be bought or coerced.

Barghouti succeeds in his resistance Numerous international laws and and that his son Aarab will be able the Geneva Conventions have been to reach the widest possible audiviolated in the horrific treatment of ence to publicize what exactly is the Palestinians, but Israel contingoing on in Israel’s prisons and, by ues to act with impunity. Israel’s extension, in its cruel occupation colonial occupation and theft of Marwan Barghouti’s youngest son, Aarab, at the May 13 and settlement of what remains of Palestinian land are illegal and have Palestine. And we should not forget been frequently condemned by KinderUSA fund-raiser in Los Angeles (see story p. 54). other prisoners of conscience like Isworld bodies like the United Nations. The United States agrees that the uses its money and political access to cor- raeli nuclear whistleblower Moredechai settlements are illegal, though it avoids the rupt American politicians as well as judicial Vanunu, who has yet again had his liberty word, but it balks at calling out the brutal processes worldwide, as Alison Weir has restricted by the country’s Supreme Court.

Israeli military occupation for what it is. recently demonstrated with her brilliant Israel is an essentially racist police state in The U.S. has also served as Israel’s pro- analysis of how any criticism of Israel is spite of its frequent boasts about its altector in the U.N. and elsewhere, meaning now being conflated with anti-Semitism leged democracy, but the important mesthat there is no pushback against Israeli and increasingly regarded as a universal sage for us Americans is that we have unfortunately served as Binyamin Neactions that is in any way commensurate “hate crime.”

Israeli apologists like to frame the Pales- tanyahu’s enablers. The Palestinians deto the crimes that its government commits.

The current American ambassador to tinian “problem” as a group of unre- serve a state of their own, and the time the U.N., Nikki Haley, is a virtual echo deemable terrorists who have to be dealt has come for the United States to demand chamber for Israel’s Foreign Ministry. She with harshly, a narrative that portrays all that Israel free all political prisoners, like sells out U.S. interests to pander to the Arabs as a threat. But the reality is that Is- Marwan Barghouti, and allow that to happowerful domestic Israel Lobby, which rael has overwhelming power and exer- pen. ■

the same prisons where they are detained, showing disregard to their health, human dignity and lives.

Those prisoners were arrested by Israel as it is trying to impose its control over the land and the people, and they are part of the 800,000 Palestinians who were arrested since 1967. This mass arrest transformed us into a nation held captive, a nation of prisoners, and made of every Palestinian home a prisoner’s home. We urge the world to support the Palestinian prisoners in their struggle to ensure respect for their rights, guaranteed by international law as an indispensable step toward securing freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people. We Palestinians have a lot to offer to the world. We have offered role models in all fields, from within jails and outside of them, and we pursue life, and our people who have endured sacrifice to achieve freedom dream of a day where our children will grow in a free country, in JUNE/JULY 2017

safety and in peace.

We believe you have the ability and the necessary influence over the occupying power’s government to end the suffering of our children in Israeli prisons. You have stated you wanted to achieve peace, and peace starts with ending the Israeli war against our children, our homes, our land, our existence and our rights. The Israeli refusal to respect the most basic rights of our prisoners and its inhumane measures against them and against us, and its threats against their lives, are the best indicators of its intentions. We call upon you to urgently intervene to save the lives of our prisoners from the risk of imminent death and to help achieve their just demands.

As the leader Marwan Barghouti, who is heading this hunger strike, has said: the last day of the occupation will be the first day of peace. ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

13

hanley_14-15_Special Report 5/25/17 9:24 PM Page 14

Special Report

Ambassador Zomlot Hopeful That Trump Will Disrupt U.S. “Peace Industry”

By Delinda C. Hanley

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

doning the two-state solution—worried THE ARAB CENTER Washington Palestinians but excited Israeli Prime (ACW) invited Ambassador Husam S. Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who Zomlot, the new chief representative of said he envisioned “a new day” in Isthe Palestinian General Delegation to rael’s relations with the U.S. After the U.S., to brief reporters on May 15 at Trump’s election Palestinians hoped the National Press Club. He gave an for the best, and believed the new upbeat update on Palestinian President president truly desires to mediate the Mahmoud Abbas’ May 3 meeting at the end of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

White House with President Donald “Peace is not a mirage. It is attainable,” Trump, and previewed Trump’s May 22 Zomlot insisted. visit to Israel and his meeting with Trump appointed his closest advisAbbas the following day in Bethlehem. ers and family members to lead this In fact, Ambassador Zomlot was on his effort, which Zomlot saw as signs of way to the airport to help President his seriousness. When Trump’s speAbbas prepare for that visit. cial envoy to the region, Jason Dov In his introduction, ACW executive Palestinian Ambassador Husam S. Zomlot.

Greenblatt, visited the West Bank in director Khalil Jahshan noted that March, he met with Abbas and other leaders, visited a refugee President Trump has said he is committed to renewing peace camp and met with Palestinian youngsters and Gazans. This negotiations and has characterized the resolution of the Palesgave him a look at the human side of the situation instead of just tinian-Israeli conflict as “the ultimate deal.” abstract words, numbers and statistics.

Ambassador Zomlot began his remarks by pointing out that During Abbas’ visit to Washington, Zomlot continued, Palesthis was the 69th anniversary of the Nakba, the catastrophic distinians presented their position credibly and explained the complacement that forced his own father and 750,000 other Palesmitments they’ve already made for peace. Palestinians also sotinians from their homes and towns in 1948. “It all starts and lidified the nearly quarter-century of the U.S.-Palestinian bilateral ends there,” he said. In order to move forward on the road to strategic relationship. Abbas and Trump established spontapeace, he stated, the world must acknowledge “the events and neous, good chemistry, according to Zomlot, and affirmed a trustwounds of 1947-’48.” The Nakba is not one historic crime, it is based relationship, as Trump indicated his desire to intervene as ongoing: until today, Israel continues to grab land, murder and a mediator and make peace. Best of all, judging by the cameras imprison Palestinians with impunity. and large audience at the Press Club, the meeting reintroduced This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declarathe Palestinian issue—which has been on the backburner in tion, 70 years since the U.N. partition plan of Palestine, and 50 Washington and the rest of the world—and put it right up front. years since the June 1967 war—when Israel occupied what was Zomlot reiterated the Palestinian requirements for the resoluleft of Palestine—and “zero years” for the two-state solution, tion of the conflict: a two-state solution, which means full soverZomlot observed. He expressed hope that 2017 would herald a eignty over the 1967 borders—which, Zomlot argued, is already different future for the Palestinians. a painful concession: giving up 78 percent of Palestine. “The alZomlot also reminded reporters that 1,700 Palestinians are on a ternative to the two-state solution is a democratic, egalitarian hunger strike, which by then had lasted 27 days. The prisoners are state,” Zomlot said. “That means one-person, one-vote, which asking for visits with their families and medical care. “They are dewe believe Israel will reject wholeheartedly, or the status quo or manding very basic rights granted by international law and all other full-scale apartheid, which we will reject.” states in the international community,” Zomlot stated. (See p. 11.)

Palestinians don’t want a mini-state, he maintained, “we want Some of Trump’s heated campaign promises—such as the full sovereignty over the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem for U.S. Embassy move, recognizing illegal settlements, and abanour capital,” as well as the right to self-determination.

Delinda C. Hanley is news editor of the Washington Report on Middle east affairs.

“More than half our nation are refugees, including myself and 14

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

June/July 2017

our president,” Zomlot said. There is no way, as we seek the “ultimate deal,” that Palestinians will brush half our population under the rug. We want a final deal that addresses the legitimate aspirations and grievances of Palestinian refugees, he went on. “Our position has made clear that the final deal cannot leave anyone behind.”

Israel can stay secure where it is, he continued, but Palestinian flexibility should never be misunderstood. Israel is building settlements in an area they think will be swapped for other land but, countered Zomlot, “says who?”

Even though the two presidents did not discuss the way forward and, at present, the U.S. administration is addressing both sides separately and bilaterally, Zomlot is relatively hopeful. He believes President Trump is personally committed to making a deal. Trump is a non-political person, Zomlot argued, so he might just go ahead and disrupt the old “peace industry,” which has produced a “lasting process instead of a lasting peace.” The ambassador noted that all the peace plans have failed because each was designed to prevent an outcome, rather than to achieve one.

The “peace industry” has been keen to make sure the U.S. acted as Israel’s lawyer rather than as a mediator between two American allies. “Palestinians are also America’s friends and expect to be treated as such,” Zomlot stated. “We are the ultimate partners for the ultimate deal.”

In Zomlot’s opinion, success or failure depends on an honest broker recognizing three things: 1. Understand the Palestinian political dynamics, and the maximum citizens expect and minimum they could accept.

2. Palestinian recognition of Israel will be genuine, and both sides will benefit from a good relationship.

3. Always allowing Israel to be above the law delays peace. It’s time to listen to the Palestinian side of the story instead of focusing on Israeli claims of Palestinian violence or incitement. The prisoners’ hunger strike is the exact opposite of violence, Zomlot stated. The source of the incitement is the occupation. “We do not incite against Jews...Palestine is a model of JUNE/JULY 2017

PHOTO BY OLIVIER DOULIERY-POOL/GETTY IMAGES

hanley_14-15_Special Report 5/25/17 9:24 PM Page 15

President Donald Trump and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in the White House Oval Office, May 3, 2017.

diversity. We incite against Israel’s expansion. It’s our obligation. It’s our responsibility,” he explained.

As for the recent declaration by Naftali Bennett, Israel’s Jewish Home chairman, who has said there will never be a Palestinian state, Zomlot concluded, “I promise you there will be. There will be peace.”

BETTER WITHOUT A PLAN?

Josh Rogin from The Washington Post asked the first question: Do you think the Trump administration really has a peace plan? Zomlot quickly replied, “There have been so many plans it might be better to start without a plan. Previous plans have all started at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP). They write a policy paper or frame a process designed to prevent the outcome. We’re happy they don’t have a plan.”

When asked if Trump will call for two states, Zomlot admitted Palestinians don’t know what Trump will say. Regarding Israeli security, Zomlot said mutual security is required for both Israelis and Palestinians, and noted that it is Israel that is in the wrong place. Not only does Israel always play “the security card,” but it’s the only country that seeks protection by and from the victim. A country with 260 nuclear warheads and the world’s fourth biggest airforce seeks protection from its victims—

and we do it excellently, the ambassador pointed out. We want to take that argument away from them.

When asked about Hamas-Fatah issues, he said both sides know they need to engage in a long-needed path to reconciliation.

“It’s a national domestic issue,” he explained.

As for Israel improving relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council and neighbors in the region, Zomlot remarked that Palestinians would prefer normalization with 57 Arab and Islamic states after Israel makes peace. It’s their incentive for peace, he said, but Israel wants the “fruits of peace before the seeds are planted and irrigated.” He emphasized that the Palestinian/Arab position is “solid like a rock. Politicians come and go, but on the Arab street the support for Palestine is genetic.”

When asked about restrictions for Americans who support BDS traveling to Israel, Ambassador Zomlot suggested, “You should ask the Israeli ambassador. My movement is also restricted by the same measures.”

He then invited the audience to “come to our area—you’ll find good food, hummus....” And for Americans who can’t visit his beautiful land, he joked, you haven’t given Palestinians F-16s or bombs, but you have provided us with the Internet and social media. We have a very good case, and we can now share our real stories directly with you. ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

15

cook_16-17_The Nakba Continues 5/25/17 7:55 PM Page 16

The Nakba Continues

Jewish Nation-State Bill Looks Ahead to Rule Over Palestinian Majority

By Jonathan Cook

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

national self-determination in Israel, and calls for the government to further strengthen ties to Jewish communities outside Israel.

It also increases the powers of so-called “admissions committees,” which block Palestinian citizens from living in hundreds of exclusively Jewish communities that control most of Israel’s land.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked has suggested that the redrafted bill, due within two months, will be even more hard-line, requiring judges to prioritize Israel’s Jewish character over democratic principles.

She said the legislation “will make the presence of Jewish values felt as a tool for judges.”

In addition, critics are concerned that the legislation is intended to stymie any prospects of reviving peace talks with the Palestinian leadership in the occupied territories. On a visit to the region in late May, U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that he is preparing to relaunch the long-stalled peace process.

In a keynote speech, he said, “Peace won’t be easy.

Israeli police push a Palestinian away from the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City We all know that—both sides face tough decisions, as Jewish Israelis commemorate Jerusalem Day on May 24, marking Israel’s capture of but Israelis and Palestinians can make a deal.”

East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day war.

Netanyahu, however, has already stated that he will insist on a precondition that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. The NEW LEGISLATION TO cement Israel’s definition as a state benew bill will effectively set out the terms of the state Abbas is exlonging exclusively to Jews around the world is a “declaration of war” pected to recognize. on Israel’s Palestinian citizens, the minority’s leaders have warned.

Justifying the legislation to his Likud party supporters, Netanyahu The bill, which defines Israel as the “national home of the Jewish said: “The bill establishes the fact that the State of Israel is the napeople,” passed its first vote in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on tion-state of the Jewish people in our historic homeland.”

May 10, after it had receved unanimous backing from a governHe added: “There is no contradiction at all between this bill and ment committee. equal rights for all citizens of Israel.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has vowed to get the meaHowever, leaders of Israel’s large Palestinian minority strenusure on to the statute books as soon as possible, but it must first ously disagreed. be redrafted by the Justice Ministry.

Knesset member Ayman Odeh, head of the Palestinian-domiAmong its provisions, the legislation—popularly known as the nated Joint List party, warned that the legislation would ensure “the Jewish Nation-State Bill—revokes the status of Arabic as an offityranny of the majority over the minority.” cial language, even though it is the mother tongue of one in five citUnder the bill, Hebrew alone will be an official language, with izens: Israel’s large minority of 1.7 million Palestinians.

Arabic accorded only “special status.” Palestinian citizens already The legislation affirms that world Jewry has a “unique” right to complain that most public services and official documents are not Jonathan Cook is a journalist based in Nazareth and a winner of the provided in Arabic.

Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He is the author of “The aim is to portray institutional racism in Israel as entirely norBlood and Religion and Israel and the Clash of Civilisations (availmal, and make sure the apartheid reality here is irreversible,” Haable from AET’s Middle East Books and More). Copyright © Abu Dhabi Media Company. All rights reserved. neen Zoabi, a Palestinian Knesset member, said. “It is part of the 16

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

cook_16-17_The Nakba Continues 5/25/17 7:55 PM Page 17

right’s magical thinking—they are in denial that there is an indigenous people here still living in their homeland. We are not about to disappear because of this law.”

Zoabi and two other Palestinian legislators were ejected from the chamber after protesting against the bill at its first reading on May 10.

In strictly legal terms, the Jewish NationState Bill offers limited changes. Since its founding in 1948, Israel has defined itself as a state of the Jewish people rather than of all its citizens, including its Palestinian minority.

The Law of Return of 1950 allows only Jews to immigrate to Israel and receive citizenship. Adalah, a legal rights group for Israel’s Palestinian citizens, has documented dozens of laws that explicitly discriminate against Palestinian citizens.

Aeyal Gross, a constitutional lawyer, wrote in the Haaretz daily that “a democratic state cannot identify itself with only part of its population.”

Legislation declaring Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people has been under periodic debate since its author Avi Dichter, a former head of Israel’s Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence service, unsuccessfully introduced a first draft in 2011. Dichter said the new bill included changes “to expand the basis of supporters” among the Zionist parties.

Masud Ghanaim of the Joint Arab List pointed out a problem for Jewish religious parties in supporting such legislation: “How can this government bring a law that Israel is the state of the Jewish people, while the argument is still going on among Jewish communities about who is a Jew?” Orthodox rabbis recognize as a Jew only someone with a Jewish mother. The Law of Return, on the other hand, allows anyone with a single Jewish grandparent to immigrate as a Jew. The other difficulty with the bill—this time for the political left—has been explained by Hassan Jabareen, the head of Adalah.

He noted that Israel’s Labor party founders—today associated with what is called the Zionist Camp—originally had tried to avoid too much legislation that overtly discriminated on an ethnic basis, preferring to promote an image abroad of Israel as a liberal democracy. Instead the state concenJUNE/JULY 2017

trated on racist administrative practices.

The right wing under Netanyahu had jettisoned this tradition, said Jabareen.

“The Netanyahu government’s goal is to make Jewish supremacy apparent and to make Arab citizens explicitly inferior—both in the Arabs’ own eyes and in the eyes of Jews. As such, the Nation-State legislation is anti-Arab and racist at its core,” he wrote.

“For these reasons, the debate between the two camps is not about whether discrimination should or should not be stopped, but rather about how to continue it.”

CONTINUING DISCRIMINATION

Writing in Haaretz, Ravit Hecht noted that the “most common criticism of the new nation-state bill among the Zionist center left is that it’s unnecessary, since it merely confirms well-known axioms embodied in the Declaration of Independence.”

Zeev Elkin, a government minister, used those grounds during a parliamentary debate to try to cajole the opposition parties to back the bill: “Give me one line that bothers you. Much of what appears here already appears in the state’s law books.”

The new legislation, however, is significant for reasons beyond its immediate legal implications.

Not least, it gives Israel’s self-definition as the nation-state of the Jewish people something akin to constitutional standing, observed Ali Haider, a human rights lawyer and former co-director of Sikkuy, an organization lobbying for equal citizenship rights.

The bill, if passed, will join a handful of Basic Laws intended to provide the foundations of any future constitution. (Israel has not had one since its founding.) Such laws take precedence over ordinary laws and are much harder to repeal.

“This is a very dangerous step,” Haider explained, “because it makes explicit in a Basic Law that all Jews, even those who are not citizens, have superior rights in Israel to those citizens who are Palestinian.”

An alternative draft of the new law, which promised equal rights to all citizens, was effectively blocked by the government in January, when it came up for consideration.

According to Haider, the new version would provide the constitutional foundation

to justify a tide of other laws intended to marginalize Palestinian citizens and erode their rights as citizens.

An Expulsion Law passed last year gives the Knesset the power to expel Palestinian members if they make political statements the Jewish majority disapprove of. Another bill before the Knesset, the Muezzin Law, silences the Muslim call to prayer.

Such laws are almost certain to be challenged in Israel’s Supreme Court. “The judges will be much more reluctant to intervene if the Jewish Nation-State Bill is in force,” Haider said. “They will feel under pressure to ignore basic democratic principles and give priority to Israel’s Jewish character.”

He added that there would be little opposition from the Jewish public. A survey by the Israel Democracy Institute last December found that more than half of Israeli Jews wanted any citizen who rejected Israel’s definition as a Jewish state stripped of basic rights.

Continued on p. 19 (Advertisement)

American Friends of Birzeit University

Gifted Palestinian students can reach their potential with your generous donation.

(Tax ((T Tax Exemption p is Applied for) AFBU American Friends of Birzeit University

Thank you in advance for ki d ib b i

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

17

haaretz-Lauder_18-19_Special Report 5/25/17 7:57 PM Page 18

Special Report

Ronald Lauder Cozies up to Trump as His Estranged Ally Netanyahu Watches and Worries

By Allison Kaplan Sommer

DON EMMERT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

was no video message from Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu—there was not even a written greeting to be read aloud.

The contrast of Trump’s embrace and Netanyahu’s absence spoke volumes.

Lauder and Netanyahu’s is the story of a long, once-close and mutually beneficial relationship gone sour—largely due to Netanyahu, who pushed his longtime supporter away. The current chapter appears to be one in which Lauder has the ability to unsettle Netanyahu, once his close friend and key supporter, with his ability to whisper in Trump’s ear. This is increasingly problematic for the prime minister and his supporters in the U.S. since Lauder, pro-Israel Republican he may be, makes no secret of the fact that he believes a negotiated two-state solution should move forward.

Jacob Kornbluh, a reporter for Jewish InPresident-elect Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up following his meeting with World Jewish Consider who is well connected in Trump’s gress President Ronald Lauder (r) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, FL, Dec. 28, 2016.

Jewish circles, reported Tuesday that multiple sources around the president have told him that Lauder has THE LAST WEEK of April was a big week for Ronald Lauder. “convinced Trump that ‘the ultimate deal’ between Israelis and Not only did the World Jewish Congress, which he heads, make Palestinians is achievable, a deal that has eluded each of Trump’s international headlines thanks to the U.S. President Donald immediate predecessors. Lauder is said to have told the president Trump’s video message at its plenary assembly’s opening dinthat the Palestinians are ‘desperate’ for a deal and that ‘Israel is ner, but the president’s speech also stressed the personal conthe problem.’” He added that there are those in Trump’s circles nection between the two men. who—unhappily, it seems—call Lauder “the Palestinians' man in “I want to thank Ronald Lauder, not only for his many years of DC.” It has also been noted that Lauder met with Egypt's Presifriendship—and he truly has been my good friend, he even predent Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo in March, paving the way for the dicted early that I was going to win the presidency—but also for Egyptian leader’s warm reception in Trump's White House. his leadership of this organization. He has done a fantastic job,” Trump likes people familiar to him, and Lauder is a face he Trump said. has known for 50 years. The two men are wealthy New Yorkers Trump wasn’t the only big name paying homage to Lauder of the same generation—both attended the University of Pennand his organization during the two-day WJC plenary assembly, sylvania’s Wharton School. Lauder, however, enjoyed easier enwhere he was elected president of the organization for the third tree into Manhattan high society as heir to his mother Estée time. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also Lauder’s cosmetics empire. The elder Lauder was helpful to spoke at the Sunday night dinner, on Tuesday U.S. Ambassador young Trump while he was building his fortune and his brand, to the United Nations Nikki Haley paid a visit, and in a final sureven naming a fragrance after him. prise, Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin made an appearance in a Later, Ronald Lauder and Trump bonded politically over their video message. support for and admiration of Ronald Reagan. In the 1980s the One face and voice, however, was conspicuously absent. There two men were New York tabloid fixtures: Trump for his audacious Copyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved. real estate and personal escapades, and Lauder for his stint as 18

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

haaretz-Lauder_18-19_Special Report 5/25/17 7:57 PM Page 19

Reagan’s ambassador to Austria and his subsequent unsuccessful attempt to break into local politics by running for mayor in 1989. (He lost the Republican primary to Rudy Giuliani despite spending record sums on his campaign.)

Back then, Lauder would have been a surer bet for wanting to be president someday. But he seems to have realized that electoral politics were not his forte and has instead parlayed his wealth and philanthropic activity into political clout, focusing on rebuilding Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe and championing the recovery of art stolen by the Nazis.

Largely through his support of and connection to Netanyahu, he entered the world of Middle East diplomacy. Like other Netanyahu backers, Lauder became heavily involved in Israeli media, investing in Channel 10. It was an ill-fated adventure, however. Not only did he lose a reported $130 million over the 11 years of his ownership. His investment sowed the seeds of his falling-out with Netanyahu when he and his wife Sara became upset over Lauder’s failure to stop the station from airing a series of reports on alleged financial misconduct by the couple.

Soon after, with nothing to lose, Lauder moved the split from the personal realm into the political one. He publicly took Netanyahu to task over the peace process, criticizing the prime minister’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state prior to negotiations and saying that Israel must be seen as being willing to negotiate without preconditions.

The relationship has been distant and icy ever since. It surely didn’t help that when Lauder came to Israel for Shimon Peres’ funeral, he was called to police headquarters to answer questions that turned out to be related to Netanyahu’s “gifts” case involving [Hollywood producer] Arnon Milchan. While at first rumors flew that Lauder was involved in the case, it seems his testimony was merely needed to establish Netanyahu’s patterns of behavior when it came to receiving gifts and favors from wealthy patrons.

True, Netanyahu still has Sheldon Adelson. But while Adelson is wealthier and may JUNE/JULY 2017

have gotten a front-row seat to Trump’s inauguration by underwriting it, the casino billionaire’s ties to Trump are far less grounded in history and loyalty than Lauder’s and, according to recent reports, increasingly shaky.

Lauder’s, in contrast, are rock solid. He was the one who publicly defended Trump in December, standing by him in his rocky transition period. When he was criticized for his ties to Steve Bannon, Lauder took to the airwaves to declare that Trump “doesn’t have an anti-Semitic bone” in his body. A month later, when even Trump supporters were slamming him over not mentioning Jews in his International Holocaust Remembrance Day statement, Lauder was nearly alone in his defense of the president, saying the White House statement “appropriately commemorates the suffering and the heroism that mark that dark chapter in modern history.”

When Trump and Netanyahu met in February, Lauder hailed their relationship as the possible “recipe for the end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Now it seems he is lobbying Trump to make it happen, which can’t be good news for Netanyahu, who faces substantial political pressure on his right flank.

If Netanyahu had ever dreamed that Donald Trump could win the White House, and Lauder—Trump’s friend for half a century—would be one of his trusted voices on Middle East policy, he would never have allowed the cosmetics tycoon to drift so far for so long. ■

Jewish Nation-State Bill Continued from page 17

Another key goal of the bill for the Netanyahu government is its likely impact on any moves to revive peace talks with the Palestinians. Netanyahu’s government no longer even pays lip service to the idea that it might agree to a Palestinian state. Most debates in the Israeli cabinet focus instead on intensifying settlement building and preparations for annexing areas of the West Bank.

Zoabi noted that since Netanyahu came to power in 2009, he has worked tirelessly to persuade Washington to accept his new pre-

condition for talks that the Palestinian leadership recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The new bill would place Abbas in a tricky position, allowing him to enter talks with Israel only if he first agrees to sacrifice the rights both of Israel’s Palestinian citizens to equal citizenship and of millions of Palestinian refugees to return to their former homes.

“This law is aimed not only at Abbas but at Trump,” said Zoabi. “It gives him a map instructing him exactly what can be negotiated over and what the terms of a solution must look like.”

Dichter, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, indicated the diplomatic use to which it would be put.

Telling the Israeli website Ynet that “The Palestinian aspiration to eliminate the Jewish people's nation-state is no longer secret,” he said that Israel must make “demands of its enemies to recognize it as the nationstate of the Jewish people.”

Netanyahu echoed Dichter, saying that the bill was “the clearest answer to all those who are trying to deny the deep connection between the people of Israel and its land.”

It is probably not coincidental that the Nation-State Bill is being fast-tracked, as farright ministers in Netanyahu’s government have drafted separate legislation to apply Israeli laws in the West Bank. This is a key plank in efforts by Jewish settlers and their supporters in government to annex the West Bank by stealth.

Marzuq al-Halabi, a Palestinian journalist writing for the Israeli website +972, warned that on the back of the Nation-State Bill the government would seek to redraw Israel’s borders to include parts or all of the West Bank.

The resulting “apartheid regime” would then “create…‘justified crimes’ against the Palestinian people, such as population transfer or removal,” he wrote.

A Haaretz editorial agreed that Netanyahu was laying the groundwork for annexing the West Bank without conferring rights on its Palestinian population.

The new law, it said, was intended as “the constitutional cornerstone for apartheid” in Israel and the occupied territories, allowing Israel to “maintain control over…a Palestinian majority living under its rule.” ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

19

baroud_Hamas_20-21_Special Report 5/25/17 2:33 PM Page 20

Should Hamas Rewrite the Past?

Special Report

By Ramzy Baroud

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

of December 1987, which saw the killing of thousands of Palestinians, mostly children.

At the time, the Hamas leadership was a grassroots composition, consisting of schoolteachers and local imams and almost entirely made up of Palestinian refugees.

While Hamas founders openly attributed their ideology to the Muslim Brotherhood Movement, their politics were, in fact, formulated inside Palestinian refugee camps and Israeli prisons.

Despite their desire to see their movement as a component of a larger regional dynamic, it was mostly the outcome of a unique Palestinian experience.

True, the language of their Charter, at the time, reflected serious political immaturity, lack of true vision and an underestiYahya Sinwar (center left), the new leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and his predecessor mation of their future appeal.

However, it also reflected a degree of Ismail Haniyeh (c), now Hamas’ senior political leader, attend a May 1 gathering in Gaza City to watch the speech of exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshal (on screen), during which he announced sincerity, as it accurately depicted a rising that Hamas was officially changing its original Charter. popular tide in Palestine that was fed up with Fatah’s domination of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

NOW THAT THE Palestinian Islamic Movement, Hamas, has ofFatah, along with other PLO factions, became increasingly disficially changed its Charter, one should not immediately assume engaged from Palestinian reality after the Israeli invasion of that the decision is, in itself, an act of political maturity.

Lebanon in 1982.

Undoubtedly, Hamas’ first Charter, which was released to the The invasion of Lebanon saw the dispersal of the Palestinian public in August 1988, reflected a degree of great intellectual national movement abroad among various Arab countries, headdearth and political naïveté . quartered mostly in Tunisia. In Tunis, Palestinian leaders grew “Allah is great, Allah is greater than their army, Allah is greater wealthy, but offered nothing new, except for tired clichés of a bythan their airplanes and their weapons,” the original Charter gone era. partly read.

The 1987 intifada was a reflection of popular frustration, not It called on Palestinians to take on the Israeli occupation army, only with the Israeli military occupation, but the failure, corrupseeking “martyrdom, or victory,” and derided Arab rulers and tion and irrelevance of the PLO. armies: “Has your national zealousness died and your pride run Thus, the formation of Hamas in that specific period of Palesout while the Jews daily perpetrate grave and base crimes tinian history cannot be understood separate from the intifada, against the people and the children?” which introduced a new generation of Palestinian movements, This may seem foolishly worded now. But back then, the conleaders and grassroots organizations. text was rather different.

Due to its emphasis on Islamic (vs. national) identity, Hamas The document was released a few months after the formation developed in parallel, but rarely converged, with other national of Hamas, itself created as an outcome of the Palestinian uprising groups in the West Bank and Gaza.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a The national movements operated under the umbrella group media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of the United National Front for the Intifada, representing PLO’s afPalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My father Was a freefiliates inside Palestine. Hamas operated largely alone. dom fighter: gaza’s untold story (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). His website is <www.ramzybaroud.net>.

Toward the end of the intifada, the factions clashed, and di20

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

june/july 2017

baroud_Hamas_20-21_Special Report 8/30/17 2:21 PM Page 21

rected much of their violence against fel- ment of Palestinian opposition forces. Al- raeli-American-PA rejection.

Hamas’ old Charter was often used to silow Palestinians. Thanks to internal divi- though he was under tremendous Israelsions, the intifada was exhausted from U.S. pressure to crack down on the “infra- lence voices that called for ending Hamas’ within, as much as it was mercilessly structure of terrorism,” he understood that isolation, along with the Gaza siege. Taken beaten by Israeli occupation soldiers from cracking down harshly on Hamas and oth- out of its historical context (a popular upers could hasten his party’s eroding popu- rising), Hamas’ Charter read like an archaic without. treatise, devoid of any political wisdom.

Yet Hamas continued to grow in popu- larity.

A year or so after his passing, local On May 1, Hamas introduced a new larity.

Part of that was due to the fact that Palestinian elections—in which Hamas Charter, entitled: “A Document of General Hamas was the reinvention of an older Is- participated for the first time—changed the Principles and Policies.”

The new Charter makes no reference to lamic movement in Gaza, and parts of the political power dynamics in Palestine for the first time in decades. Hamas won the the Muslim Brotherhood. Instead, it realigns West Bank.

The moment Islamic groups were re- majority of seats in the Palestinian Leg- Hamas’ political outlook to fit somewhere between national and Islamic sentiments. branded as Hamas, the new movement islative Council (PLC).

It consents to the idea of establishing a immediately mobilized all of its conA COSTLY VICTORY Palestinian state per the June 1967 borstituency, its mosques, community and youth centers and large social networks to Hamas’ election victory in 2006 prompted der, although insists on the Palestinian echo the call of the intifada, defining it a Western boycott, massive Israeli crack- people’s legal and moral claim to all of hislargely as an “Islamic awakening.” down on the movement, and clashes be- toric Palestine.

It rejects the Oslo agreements, but Hamas extended its influence to reach tween Hamas and Fatah. Ultimately, Gaza the West Bank through its student move- was placed under siege, and several Is- speaks of the Palestinian Authority as a ments in West Bank universities, among raeli wars killed thousands of Palestinians. fact of life; it supports all forms of resisother outlets.

During the last 10 years Hamas has tance, but insists on armed resistance as The signing of the Oslo accords in 1993, been forced to seek alternatives. It was a right of any occupied nation.

Expectedly, it does not recognize Israel. but especially the failure of the accords forced out of the trenches to govern and Hamas’ new Charter seems like a and the so-called “peace process” to meet economically manage one of the most imscrupulously cautious attempt at finding the minimum expectations of the Palestin- poverished regions on earth. ian people, gave Hamas another impetus.

The siege became the status quo. At- political balances within extremely tight poSince the period of “peace” saw the ex- tempts by some European powers to talk litical margins.

The outcome is a document that is—alpansion of illegal Jewish settlements, the to Hamas were always met by strong Isthough it can be understood in doubling of the number of ille(Advertisement) the region’s new political congal settlers and the loss of text—a frenzied departure more Palestinian land, from the past.

Hamas’ popularity continued Hamas of 1988 may have to rise. seemed unrefined and lacking Meanwhile, the PLO was savvy, but its creation was a sidelined to make room for direct expression of a real, exthe Palestinian Authority (PA).

This informative 24-page bookisting sentiment of many Established in 1994, the PA let, published by the Women’s Palestinians. was a direct outcome of Oslo.

International League for Peace Hamas of 2017 is much Its leaders were not leaders of and Freedom (WILPF) in more stately and careful in the intifada, but mostly 2015—two years before Hamas amended its original both words and actions, yet it wealthy Fatah returnees, who Charter—argues that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement cannot be achieved as long as Hamas is excluded is adrift in new space that is were once based in Tunis and from negotiations. Among other recommendations, it governed by Arab money, reother Arab capitals. calls for the removal of Hamas from the U.S. State gional and international politics It was only a matter of Department Terrorist List and an end to the persecution and the pressure of 10 years months before the PA turned of anti-war and Palestinian solidarity activists. under siege and war. against Palestinians, and Hamas at the Middle East Peace Table: Why? Indeed, the future of the Hamas activists, in particular. can be downloaded at <www.wilpfus.org/ movement, and its brand of The late Palestinian leader documents/Hamas/WILPF_Hamas_Booklet.pdf>. For politics and resistance, will be Yasser Arafat understood well information on obtaining a hard copy, contact Barbara determined by the outcome of the need to maintain a semNielsen at <bln.sf.ca@gmail.com>. this dialectic. ■ blance of balance in his treat-

Hamas at the Middle East Peace Table: Why?

JUNE/JULY 2017

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

21

omer_22-23_Gaza on the Ground 5/25/17 8:00 PM Page 22

Gaza on the Ground

May Local Elections Reflect Divisions Among Palestinians

Palestinians walk the red carpet during a human rights film festival in Gaza City, May 12, 2017. In its third year, the festival coincides with the Cannes Film Festival and aims to show that there is an alternative to the catwalks and glamor of its French counterpart.

THIS PAST MAY marked exactly 10 years of division between the Gaza Strip and West Bank. For the entire decade, Palestinians have not experienced any true freedom of movement, democracy, liberation from oppression, or self-determination.

Gaza has survived several massive Israeli assaults which have pulverized its population of almost two million trapped men, women and children, sending them running for cover to the four corners of their tiny besieged enclave.

One cannot help but think back to the day the Palestinian Authority (PA) was created, in 1994, when the people of Gaza took to the streets to welcome Palestinian officers returning from exile with Chairman Yasser Arafat—all with hopes of a united Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital. (See July/Aug. 1994 Washington Report, pp. 7-14.)

“Viva Palestine,” I recall an elderly lady saying, as she kissed

Award-winning journalist Mohammed Omer reports regularly on the Gaza Strip. Follow him on Twitter: @MoGaza.

22

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Mohammed Omer

the forehead of a Palestinian officer returning from Tunisia.

Jerusalem was once a modern, thriving, shared capital of all faiths and sects, but this hope, too, is crumbling into dust. Try as they might to revive the dream, Palestinians feel their hopes slipping away and their dreams being crushed and suppressed.

The division between Fatah and Hamas is wider than ever—a disunity welcome to certain interested parties.

The grim humanitarian crisis threatening the besieged coastal enclave remains unabated. It affects every aspect of daily life, ranging from lack of medication, educational supplies and technology to a scarcity of clean drinking water and basic household supplies. Daily energy blackouts leave Gazans living without electricity for up to 18 hours a day.

AN UNREALIZED DREAM

Local elections were the dream of many Palestinians in Gaza—but that dream, too, has not been realized. The PA has said it wants to unite Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem with local elections.

But this is an impossible mission, especially after the results of the 2006 Legislative Council election, when Hamas won the majority of votes in both Gaza and the West Bank.

In 2010, the Central Election Commission, unable to operate in Gaza due to the political division between Hamas and the PA, postponed elections until a later date. But the Ramallah-based PA decided to hold elections anyway, without including Gaza.

Hamas refused to take part in the elections, saying any election should be part of a political reconciliation.

“Elections will serve only Fatah, and it will never serve Palestinian democracy,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum— although Hamas fears that any elections could in fact result in its loss of control of Gaza.

In addition to Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Islamic Jihad and other factions decided to boycott the elections, further deepening the division.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

omer_22-23_Gaza on the Ground 5/25/17 8:00 PM Page 23

Nevertheless, the PA proceeded to hold elections, in the West Bank only. No one was surprised when Fatah won—after all, it had no competition. As the electon results were announced, residents of Hebron and Ramallah took to the streets to celebrate the Fatah victory.

According to a poll by the Arab World for Research and Development, however, only about 53 percent of eligible West Bank voters participated in the mid-May elections, compared to 65 percent in the 2005 local elections.

These local elections are of great importance, as they affect all local government functions, including municipalities and public services. The latter became an enormous burden on Hamas as a result of Israel’s embargo on Gaza. The drastically shrinking revenues from supply tunnels to Egypt have left Hamas with limited financial resources to provide for the daily needs of Gaza’s residents.

Moreover, the May elections came right

after the PA decided to reduce the wages of its employees who live in Gaza by 30 percent. This is seen as a further attempt by the PA to pressure Hamas into accepting a PA leadership role in Gaza again.

Hamas did not officially react but, just before President Mahmoud Abbas’ White House meeting with President Donald Trump, allowed tens of thousands of PA employees to take to the streets of Gaza in protest against the salary cuts.

POPULARITY TEST

In the West Bank, some 800,000 Palestinians were expected to vote for representatives in 145 local councils. Because so much of the West Bank is under Israeli military control, however, just over 420,000 were able to make it to the polls.

Fatah sees the elections as a way forward and a triumph of democracy. “This is the democratic life we promised our people,” proclaimed Fatah leader Mahmoud Al-Aloul. The joy is limited to the West

Bank, he added, because Hamas did not want to hold elections in Gaza.

Hamas also boycotted local elections in 2012. Some polls seem to suggest that if Hamas did participate in parliamentary elections, it might just win the West Bank—and Fatah might win in Gaza.

There is no sign of a presidential election on the horizon, even though President Abbas, 82, has been in power for 12 years, and there is no clear successor.

The disenfranchised voters of Gaza, taking to social media platforms under their umbrella of darkness, had little to say other than comments mocking the Fatah “victory.” Indeed, most Gazans view the May elections as a popularity test for the Western-backed Abbas and his Fatah party.

“It feels like we are talking about a different state, outside of Palestine, when it is, in fact, the West Bank, only one hour away from Gaza,” a young Gaza human rights activist commented on Facebook. ■

(Advertisement)

JUNE/JULY 2017

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

23

habib_24-25_Special Report 5/25/17 8:53 PM Page 24

Special Report

Dropping by Shatila, a Wounded Place

By Kathryn Habib

MARIA GABRIELLE HABIB/DESIGNMA

In 1982, during the Lebanese civil war and Israeli invasion, at least 2,000 to 3,500 residents of Sabra and Shatila camps— mostly women, children and the elderly— were massacred by forces of the Lebanese Phalange (a Maronite Christian political party and militia) under the watchful and accommodating eye of the Israel Defense Forces. I reflected, “Is this where you and your descendants deserve to live (or die) if you are shoved out of mainstream humanity by war and occupation? You don’t end up where you deserve.”

We entered the camp onto Sabra St., our van bumping up and down in the potholes, weaving its way past lively colorful shanty shops, wall against wall, bustling with residents buying vegetables or used clothes from open air tables, along with toys, refrigerators, car parts or TVs. Suddenly we Director Jamila (l) and a staff member with children in a BAS kindergarten class. passed a garbage heap overrun by shaggy, dirty sheep on the loose, probably soon to be slaughtered by local IN MARCH my family and I visited Shatila Palestinian refugee butchers. People were everywhere, bustling amid the inescapable camp in Lebanon. I felt I was walking into scenes of a Dostonoise of traffic jams, car horns and Arabic music blasting from loud evsky novel. Forty years ago I had made a similar visit, and here speakers. The weather was nice. Quietly the sun shed its warmth I was again—at one of the world’s most painful, agonized crossand light indiscriminately on that crowded scene, and it felt good. roads, a place where politics gone wrong spills out its guts, and We left the van to walk down a narrow alleyway leading to a injustice wounds the bodies and souls of thousands. The reality kindergarten inside one of the camp’s neighborhoods. The althat people push others far away, out of sight—even wipe them leyways are a maze of uneven surfaces, with family residences from the face of the earth—hit me hard, and I cried. opening directly onto them. Hearing our voices, a few people Shatila was established in 1949 to temporarily house Palespeeked out their front doors, revealing dimly lit small spaces, a tinian refugees fleeing for safety during and after the war that essort of catacombs environment. tablished the state of Israel. Now, four generations later, it We climbed a narrow, uneven stairway and were directed into houses almost 40,000 people. The residents are victims of the the modest office of the kindergarten’s director, Jamila. A social largest (currently, seven million or so worldwide, according to the worker and educator, she was born in the camp 60 years ago American Friends Service Committee) and one of the longest and has remained. Never married, she is devoted to her children: refugee displacements of our times, now being re-enacted by the the 5,000-plus she’s helped get a hopeful start to life. Jamila’s very same politics grinding on to displace the Iraqis and the Syrname suits her; it means “beauty” in Arabic. ians. Nearly seven decades after the initial displacement, 1.5 milHer kindergarten is part of a much larger humanitarian prolion Palestinian refugees still live in 58 UNRWA-recognized gram established by Palestinians in all the camps in Lebanon camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, in addition to Gaza and called the National Institution for Social Care & Vocational Trainthe West Bank. ing, also known as Beit Atfal Assumoud (BAS), with an emphaKathryn Habib is a free-lance editor/writer and fund-raising consultant sis on addressing the mental and physical health of families and for projects providing humanitarian support in poor Lebanese and Palestinian communities. children. The work began in 1976, at the beginning of the 24

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

habib_24-25_Special Report 5/25/17 8:53 PM Page 25

MARIA GABRIELLE HABIB/DESIGNMA

Lebanese civil war, to help surviving orphaned children after an armed siege at the Tel al Zaatar camp housing nearly 60,000 Palestinians. About 3,000 lives were lost then.

Jamila began, “I always start by reminding the mothers and the teachers and volunteers (and myself) that you must smile first.” Perhaps sensing my unasked question about how she managed to persist in such circumstances, she continued, “By starting with a smile you create a joyful setting, and the child immediately relaxes.

It’s very important to start that way.”

She paused, then continued, “We always teach two main things: respect—respect for yourself and others. It’s very, very important. We also teach the children to know their rights. For us the Right of Return is our main right.”

She then pointed to a small poster on the wall with a complete list of the pedagogic principles they apply in their work, a disarmingly simple yet profound list:

So in the face of the worst odds, transformation starts with a smile, and then emerges with respect and remembering your rights? I wanted to believe in that possibility. I finally did—because it was coming from a woman who had tested these truths in the most demoralizing and challenging circumstances.

The classrooms we visited were bursting at the seams, colorful and buzzing with little ones and all kinds of learning activities. Smiling Finnish and Italian volunteers, JUNE/JULY 2017

laughing with the children, were assisting the teachers, who are all camp residents. I noticed children with special needs and thought, “How on earth will you cope starting life in the camp and having special needs also?! No, no, no! No one deserves that.” Learning disabilities and other special needs are more prevalent in long-term refugee populations, Jamila reminded us.

ESSENTIAL PROGRAMS

We watched the little ones try hard to balance their lunch plates, carrying them to the kitchen to clean up after their hot meal.

The kindergarten’s meal program is essential. Many don’t have enough food at home, so all the children eat a hot, nutritious meal and snacks during their halfday at school. They learn dental hygiene and other health and nutrition practices, beginning with a big tooth drawing mounted on one wall. The staff reinforce these lessons with the children’s families.

Mental health and family health concerns are frequent obstacles, due to the camp residents’ poverty, unemployment and long-term refugee status.

Our visit was ending. Jamila led us back through the dim alleyways toward our van.

She stopped at a camp cemetery, entering through a tall, heavy metal gate that clanged shut. We stood in a large room with mausoleum vaults for the dead. It was quiet and cool, the outside noise diminished. The contrasting hush was startling, but at the same time consoling. Perhaps the dead lying here finally had found peace. Friezes of Arabic calligraphy decorated the walls and vaults. Photos of the deceased were plastered here and there, many of them of young men.

Then Jamila pointed out a grave in the far corner; her grandmother was buried there. She told us how they were trapped during the violent confrontation that became known as the Camps War. Between 1985 and 1989 pro-Syrian militia from Amal, a Lebanese Shi’i movement, and anti-Arafat factions laid siege to Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut and the south.

Food was running short. During the last two weeks of that confrontation, she and others lived on only water, preferring to

give available food to the children. Clearly Jamila had looked death in the face and will not forget it. She was grateful to have survived. She could still smile.

Leaving the cemetery and walking on, we remarked on the tangled webs of electrical wires hanging everywhere above our heads, erratically bringing electricity to the residents. We turned a corner. Glued to the wall was a black-and-white funeral poster of a 21-year-old man who had been electrocuted by those wires. Many accidents happen, Jamila said.

Further on, she told us that every morning UNRWA comes through the alleyways and collects the garbage that families put outside their doors in plastic bags. In the afternoon, resident volunteers go through a second time. Families try hard to keep their homes and environment clean. There was no stench of garbage.

It was time to go. We hugged Jamila and said our goodbyes. It was hard to walk away from her. I thought of Dostoevsky’s popular statement that “beauty will save the world.” Had I encountered that kind of beauty?

Silently we climbed into the van, heading back to Beirut. We passed new multimillion-dollar buildings. Both the driver and another camp resident riding with us remarked, “Do you know how much one apartment costs? Maybe $5 million.... who can afford that?” The contrast with Shatila housing was painful to contemplate.

A week later, back at my home in Virginia catching up on e-mail, I saw an announcement for an international symposium in New York sponsored by Parsons, Global Studies, and the New School for Social Research called “Making Home in Wounded Places: Design, Memory, and the Spatial.” Still pondering our camp visit, I understood better what I had witnessed: making home in a deeply and repeatedly wounded place. ■

Donations to support the work of BAS can be made via United Palestinian Appeal, a Washington, DCbased 501(c)(3) non-profit organization: <www.helpupa.org/beitas sumoud>.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

25

gallo_26-28_Special Report 5/25/17 8:45 PM Page 26

Special Report

50 Years Later: Will the Crew of the USS Liberty Ever Receive Justice?

By Ernest A. Gallo

USS LIBERTY VETERANS ASSN.

Regarding the 1967 Six-Day War, we have discovered that the USS Liberty was part of the joint operational plan known as Operation Cyanide. This document should be declassified immediately and released to the American public for analytic and historical purposes. The complicity of the Israelis and the Johnson administration in launching the Six-Day War alarmed the Soviet Union. When it suspected that the U.S. was planning to enter the war militarily, the Soviets threatened President Lyndon Johnson with a military confrontation and President Johnson wisely backed down from any further U.S. military activities, leaving Israel to fend for itself. On June 8, 1967, Israel perceived the USS Liberty as a threat to its war agenda, which it did not plan to abandon until the Golan Heights was taken a few days later. Israel was not concerned about an American-Soviet confrontation—as A depiction of Israel’s deadly warplane and torpedo attack on the USS Liberty. long as the Soviets stayed out of the way.

For the vast majority of Americans who are unaware of our FOR HALF A CENTURY, the USS Liberty Veterans Association story, on June 8, 1967, the Israel Defense Forces murdered 34 (LVA) has tried to expose the true story of Israel’s deliberate atAmericans on the high seas (31 sailors, 2 Marines, and an NSA tack on the USS Liberty through books, news media, movies, and civilian). Out of a total crew of 294 men, 70 percent became caletters to the president of the United States and members of Consualties, with 174 wounded in addition to the 34 killed. Israel’s gress. While we have encountered politicians and news media torpedo attack on the USS Liberty constituted the willful atpersonnel who were willing to help, they have been unable to intempted murder of 294 Americans on the high seas. terest their superiors or others in supporting our cause. Many For 6 hours on the morning before the attack, the Liberty was people believe it is just too risky to say anything negative about Issubjected to intense scrutiny by Israeli photo-reconnaissance airrael—even though the USS Liberty is the most decorated U.S. craft, with 12 overflights flying as low as 200 feet. The ship had Navy ship in the history of the Navy for a single action. traditional American markings on her bow (GTR-5) and stern The Israelis and the U.S. government do not want the truth to (USS LIBERTY), and was flying a large American flag which be told. It is obvious that they fear how Americans would react if stood out prominently in the breeze. The Liberty was sailing in inthe truth were known. Yet the deeds of Israel and the Johnson adternational waters off the Egyptian coast on a clear and sunny ministration require an objective and thorough investigation. Conday. The ship was a WWII victory hull cargo ship, lightly armed gress has never officially investigated the attack, leaving in place with four 50-caliber machine guns for repel boarder purposes. a cover-up of the worst magnitude. This despite the fact that the Her military mission was to monitor, intercept and record all radio House of Representatives has a constitutional mandate to “define transmissions in the ambient ether. The attack occurred in three and punish Pirates and Felonies committed on the high seas and coordinated phases, by the Israeli air force, navy, and marines, offenses against the Law of Nations” (Article 1, section 8). respectively.

Ernest A. Gallo, a USS Liberty survivor and past president of the USS Following the six hours of overflight reconnaissance, three IsLiberty Veterans Association, is the author of Liberty Injustices (availraeli fighter jets strafed, rocketed and bombed the Liberty. This atable from AET’s Middle East Books and More). This magazine’s tack was followed by three Israeli torpedo boats firing 40mm cancomplete archive of USS Liberty articles is available on its website, <www.washingtonreport.me/uss-liberty-archive.html>. nons and torpedoes. Since the Liberty was virtually unarmed and 26

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

gallo_26-28_Special Report 5/25/17 8:46 PM Page 27

PHOTOS GTR5.COM

mature message that Ameridid not pose a military threat, can help was on the way (they at no time did the torpedo had no way of knowing that boats demand that the Liberty the U.S. aircraft had been resurrender, as did the North called), and was reluctantly Koreans before capturing the forced to terminate the last USS Pueblo in 1968. Instead phase of its attack. In fact, the Israeli torpedo boats help did not arrive until 18 leisurely circled the ship, hours after the attack, when shooting at anything that the Liberty was only 15 air moved and whatever target minutes away from the USS suited their whim. It defies Saratoga and its fighter jets. In logic as to why Israel exaddition to the loss of Ameripended so many munitions can lives, Israel destroyed one on a defenseless ship, unless of the most advanced U.S. init were trying to send the telligence ships.

United States a message. By the time the attack was finPROOF OF ISRAELI ished, the Liberty was riddled INTENT with 821 holes and a 24x39foot hole in her starboard side There is proof that Israel poscaused by one of the torpeitively knew it was attacking does, and had sustained 2 an American ship: three Air napalm bomb strikes. MiracuForce intelligence personnel lously, the Liberty refused to (Ronald Gotcher, Steve sink and was able to get unForslund and Richard Block), derway under her own power. at different locations and unIt was obvious to the Liberty aware of each other’s responcrew that no survivors were to sibilities, observed real time be left, as the Israelis were U.S. Air Force Security Group observed machine gunning aircraft translations (from Helife rafts and firefighters. brew to English) of interAt the beginning of the atcepted discussions between tack, the Liberty radiomen and the attacking Israel fighter pielectronic technicians atlots and their ground contempted to send out a May trollers. The ground control Day call. Responding to our station asked the pilots to SOS about 15 minutes into confirm that the target was the attack, the USS Saratoga American, and they replied launched conventionally “yes.” Ground control then orarmed fighter aircraft to assist dered the aircraft to attack TOP: The deck as seen through a gaping hole. ABOVE: Napalm damage to the Liberty. Our SOS did not and sink the target and enthe starboard side of the superstructure and deck. identify the attacker at the sure no survivors. time, as its identity was unknown. But just firmed the order to recall all aircraft despite Another confirmation that the attack was minutes after the Saratoga launched its res- the Liberty’s plea for help. Without an offi- deliberate comes from the Israeli State cue mission, the White House recalled all air- cial investigation, it cannot be determined Archives (published in Haaretz, Israel’s leadcraft, abandoning the USS Liberty and sub- if Sixth Fleet aircraft would have prevented ing English-language newspaper). The jecting her to an additional hour of the Israeli the Israeli torpedo boat attack and ended archives reveal that U.S. Ambassador to the all hostility, thus preventing the murder of U.N. Arthur Goldberg revealed to Israel’s turkey shoot.

In disbelief, RADM Raymond Geis, 25 of the crew members. ambassador to the U.S., Avraham Harman, When hostilities finally ceased, heli- that the Americans had managed to record commander of the Sixth Fleet Carrier Division, challenged the order (as was his copters were observed overhead with Israeli the Israeli pilots during the attack, and the right and responsibility in this situation). commandos at the ready to finish us off. recordings proved they knew their target was Unbelievably, the White House again reaf- Fortunately, the Israelis intercepted a pre- an American vessel. There was only one JUNE/JULY 2017

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

27

gallo_26-28_Special Report 5/25/17 8:46 PM Page 28

GTR5.COM

cause the attack involved Isway out of the crisis, Goldberg rael and has been comtold Harman: Israel had to put pounded by a state lie, we are someone on trial. But Israel automatically labeled a bunch never did. of whiners. I guess we are supA subsequent U.S. Naval posed to keep our mouths Court of Inquiry “investigation” shut—after all, Israel is our ally. was a sham. It did not adhere I suppose if no one had been to Naval judicial standards (as killed or wounded, we could stated by Rear Admiral Merlin possibly do that. However, the Staring, former Navy judge adfact that 34 were murdered vocate general), and was deliband 174 wounded, and that Iserately falsified to conform to rael attempted to murder all the Israeli version (as observed 294 Americans aboard the by retired Navy Lawyer Captain Ward Boston in a sworn affi- The lives of the survivors of Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS Liberty— USS Liberty, we would be rewounded and uninjured alike—were changed forever. miss as Americans if we did davit). Certain details were either changed or omitted so as not to conflict rective. The Pentagon has indicated that no not speak out, as our 34 shipmates would with Israel’s stance that the attack was a investigation will take place—even though have died for nothing.

More than 30 prominent U.S. officials, tragic mistake. The orders to falsify came di- all the LVA is asking for is a complete and admirals and authors believe the Israeli atrectly from President Johnson. This is ob- honest investigation.

The crew of the USS Liberty did every- tack was deliberate. They include Admiral struction of justice at the highest levels. The rights of 291 American military personnel thing possible not to give up our ship, fight- Thomas Moorer, former chairman of the ing back the only way we could by main- Joint Chiefs of Staff, former CIA Director were violated.

The survivors of the USS Liberty were taining our vital engineering propulsion ma- Richard Helms, and former Secretary of instructed never to talk about the incident chinery and water-tight integrity—and, State Dean Rusk. under penalty of fine and/or imprisonment. most of all, helping keep our wounded YOU ARE NEEDED Subsequent military orders were in line crewmates alive. Despite the decorations with the White House position, which was earned by caption and crew, we have been After reading this article, if your American not to indicate on any documents, monu- dishonored and chastised by the lies of Is- spirit is challenged, please write to the ments and the like that Israel was the at- rael and our own government. Our elected president of the United States and your tacker. As an example, USS Liberty skip- leaders apparently do not understand—or members of Congress requesting an offiper Captain William McGonagle was care—that by joining in the Israeli lie that cial investigation. If enough citizens deawarded the Congressional Medal of the attack was a case of mistaken identity, mand to know the truth, the pressure may Honor for his actions to keep the ship afloat they: make the LVA appear as anti-Jewish be too great for our detracters to stop us. and operational, saving countless Ameri- bigots; frustrate our efforts to distance our- Make no mistake, our society will be the can lives. But his award was presented to selves from neo-Nazi organizations that winners when the complete truth of Israel’s him not by President Johnson at the White use us, thereby reinforcing the bigot smear; attack on the USS Liberty and of the June House, as is customary, but by the secre- ignore the fact that because Israel attacked 1967 Six-Day War is fully understood. Our tary of the navy at a low-level ceremony at with torpedoes, this was the attempted government can then stop living this lie, the Washington Navy Yard. Moreover, murder of 294 Americans. and history can be recorded accurately.

Not only has Washington never pressed Captain McGonagle’s citation lacked any Please help! Become an associate memmention of the attack’s perpetrator—Israel. Israel to hold accountable the perpetrators ber of the USS Liberty Veterans Association What a crime it will be for historical rea- of the attack, but it apparently: does not re- for $20 and receive our regular newsletter. sons if the U.S. government continues to alize the embarrassment to the crew of Because we are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt orlie about details of the Six-Day War. In the being considered the “bad guys” for speak- ganization, all desperately needed donations end, truth always wins out. How shameful ing up; puts its relationship with Israel over are tax-deductible—and gladly accepted! for our elected officials who will not stand and above the American crew members of You can contact the LVA at P.O. Box the USS Liberty; and dishonors the crew 680275, Marietta, GA 30068; phone (770) up to be counted.

For the sake of our fallen 34 shipmates, and our lost shipmates by making us a po- 363-3986. however, we will not give up. They deserve litically correct item of the day.

God bless America, and may God give Time after time, the eyewitnesses to the our officials the grace and courage to do justice! On June 8, 2005, the LVA filed a War Crimes Report against Israel in com- attack—the surviving Liberty crew mem- the right thing and initiate a proper and pliance with a Department of Defense di- bers—are called conspiracy theorists. Be- honest investigation. ■ 28

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

mcarthur_29-31_Congress Watch 5/25/17 2:38 PM Page 29

Congress Watch

Omnibus Appropriations Bill Includes More Than $3.8 Billion for Israel

By Shirl McArthur

THE “OMNIBUS” appropriations bill (H.R. 244), incorporating the 11 appropriations bills not yet passed by the last (114th) Congress, was passed by the House May 3, by the Senate May 4, and signed by President Donald Trump May 5 as P.L. 115-31.

As usual, Israel got the lion’s share of foreign aid included in the bill (see box). Aid for other Middle East countries, including the West Bank and Gaza, is not specified.

ISRAEL: $3,839.5 million, including “not less than” $3,100 million as a military grant and $75 million for “security assistance” (66 percent of the total U.S. military aid appropriations); plus $600.735 million from the Defense Department for missile defense programs; plus $7.5 million for “refugees resettling in Israel”; plus $42.5 million for anti-tunnel activities; plus $11.8 million for a water desalination program; plus $2 million for U.S.-Israel energy cooperation.

EGYPT: $1,412.5 million, including “up to” $1,300 million in military aid and $112.5 million in economic aid, both with restrictions.

JORDAN: $1,279.95 million, not specified between military and economic aid.

TUNISIA: $165.4 million, not specified between military and economic aid.

IRAN REMAINS A FOCUS OF 115TH CONGRESS’ ATTENTION

AIPAC held its annual “policy conference” the last week of March, during which thousands of Zionists descended on the halls of Congress to promote Israel’s national interest, regardless of whether it conflicts with U.S. national interest. The first measures selected by AIPAC’s leadership to be promoted were bills that would impose additional sanctions on Iran. S. 722, introduced by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) on March 23—three days before the conference began—is a wide-ranging measure to impose sanctions “in relation to Iran’s ballistic missile program, support for acts of international terrorism, and violations of human rights.” It has 49 co-sponsors, including Corker. H.R. 1698, introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), also on March 23, would “expand sanctions against Iran with respect to the ballistic missile program of Iran.” It has 254 co-sponsors, including Royce.

Other bills to impose “nonnuclear” sanctions on Iran are S. 227, introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and two co-sponsors on Jan. 24, and its House companion, H.R. 808, introduced

by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) and four co-sponsors on Feb. 1.

Some members of Congress are still upset about the Obama administration’s payment to Iran last year of $400 million of the $1.7 billion owed Tehran to resolve a 1979 arms deal signed before the fall of the shah. The money was paid out of a fund called the “Judgment Fund,” and two bills were introduced in the Senate

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

JUNE/JULY 2017

to require the Treasury Department to disclose details of payments from the fund. S. 386 was introduced by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) with three cosponsors on Feb. 15, and S. 565 was introduced by Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) and three co-sponsors on March 8.

The Iran sanctions act of 2012 included presidential waiver authority for sanctions on Iranian financial institutions.

On April 6 Reps. Lee Zeldin (RNY) and David Schweikert (RAZ) introduced H.R. 2081 to remove the waiver authority and expand the sanctions.

The pending sale of Boeing aircraft to Iran continues to draw congressional fire. Rubio, with five co-sponsors, on Feb. 16 introduced S. 420 to “require the president to report on the use by the government of Iran of commercial aircraft” for military purposes. And on April 10 he and Roskam wrote to Trump urging him “to suspend current and future licenses for aircraft sales to commercial Iranian airlines.”

Using a different approach, Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA) on March 17 introduced H.R. 1619 that would provide training to Gulf allies’ forces to “stop Iran from smuggling weapons to terrorists” by sea.

The previously described Iran-related measures have made little progress, as shown in the “Status Updates” box on p. 30.

THE U.N. CONTINUES TO DRAW CONGRESSIONAL IRE

AIPAC’s second legislative agenda item was to thank Israel’s congressional supporters for supporting H.Res. 11 and S.Res. 6 objecting to the Obama administration’s abstaining on U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2334. That resolution described Israel’s continuing expansion of its colonies (“settlements”) as an obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians—a position consistent with long-standing U.S. policy, as followed by presidents of both parties, until now. H.Res. 11, introduced by Royce, sailed through the House and was passed on Jan. 5 by a roll call vote of 342-80, with four abstentions.

However, S.Res. 6, introduced by Sens. Rubio and Ben Cardin (D-MD), still has not been passed, although it has 79 co-sponsors. Apparently AIPAC has given up on it.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

29

mcarthur_29-31_Congress Watch 5/25/17 2:38 PM Page 30

STATUS UPDATES

S. 15, Iran sanctions, introduced in January by Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), would extend the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 through December 2031 and impose additional sanctions on Iran. It still has no co-sponsors.

H.R. 566, aircraft to Iran, introduced in January by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), would require a report on the use by Iran of commercial aircraft for military activities. It now has six co-sponsors, including Roskam.

H.R. 478, S. 67 and H.R. 380, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). H.R. 478, introduced in January by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) to impose sanctions on the IRGC, now has eight co-sponsors, including Poe. The other two bills, also introduced in January, direct the secretary of state to submit a report on designating the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization. S. 67, introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), has three cosponsors, including Cruz. H.R. 380, introduced in the House by Rep. Michael McCaul (RTX), now has 20 co-sponsors, including McCaul.

S.Res. 5, H.Res. 14 and H.R. 263, U.N. Security Council.

Introduced in January, the three measures express disapproval of the Obama administration’s refusal to veto Security Council Resolution 2334. None have made any progress. S.Res. 5, introduced by Sen. Jerry Moran (RKS), still has three co-sponsors, including Moran; H.Res. 14, introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), still has 58 co-sponsors, including Ross. H.R. 263, introduced by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), still has 12 co-sponsors, including Lamborn.

H.R. 193, H.R. 249, H.R. 264, H.R. 373 and S. 107, antiU.N. H.R. 193, introduced in January by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), would actually “end membership of the U.S. in the In addition to the previously described measures that would withhold contributions to the U.N. (see “Status Updates” box), Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) on Jan. 31 introduced H.R. 769, which would withhold U.N. funds until UNSC Res. 2334 is repealed. It has 12 co-sponsors, including Granger.

On April 27 the entire Senate signed a letter, originated by Sens. Rubio and Chris Coons (D-DE), to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urging him to make “a comprehensive effort to directly confront and root out” the U.N.’s “anti-Israel bias.”

Earlier, on Jan. 17, Rubio introduced S. 169, “Countering Anti-Semitism and AntiIsrael Activities at the U.N.” This bill has little to do with “anti-Semitism” (which isn’t defined), but instead pulls together many of Israel’s right-wing objections to the U.N. 30

U.N.” It still has nine co-sponsors, including Rogers. The other four bills, also introduced in January, would prohibit U.S. contributions to the U.N. H.R. 249, introduced by Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), has three co-sponsors, including Babin. H.R. 264, introduced by Lamborn, still has only two co-sponsors, including Lamborn. H.R. 373, introduced by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), now has seven co-sponsors, including Gohmert. S. 107, introduced by Cruz, now has 25 co-sponsors, including Cruz.

S. 11, H.R. 257 and H.R. 265, Jerusalem Embassy. The three previously described measures, introduced in January, would move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. All have made some progress. S. 11, introduced by Heller, now has nine co-sponsors, including Heller. H.R. 257, introduced by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), now has 32 co-sponsors, including Franks. H.R. 265, introduced by Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), now has two cosponsors, including Lance.

S. 68 and H.R. 377, Muslim Brotherhood. Both measures call for designating the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization. S. 68, introduced by Cruz, still has five co-sponsors, including Cruz. H.R. 377, introduced by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), now has 55 co-sponsors, including Diaz-Balart.

H.R. 489, Muslim Registry. This positive bill, introduced in January by Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), would prohibit the collection of information and the establishment or utilization of a registry for the purposes of classifying or surveilling persons on the basis of religious affiliation. It now has 80 co-sponsors, including DelBene.

—S.M.

system, including the Human Rights Council and UNRWA. It also would legitimize Israel’s colonies by making it U.S. policy to reject UNSC Res. 2334’s characterization of the colonies as “illegal.” It has four co-sponsors, including Rubio.

Also, on April 28 leading Israel-Firster Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) with 12 co-sponsors introduced H.R. 2232 “to ensure accountability at the United Nations and its specialized agencies and to promote reform and limit anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias at the U.N.” This is just the latest in a long string of anti-U.N. measures introduced over the years by RosLehtinen, who has announced her retirement at the end of the current session of Congress.

And presumably to gain ammunition for future attacks on the U.N. system, Rep.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Mo Brooks (R-AL) on Jan. 30 introduced H.R. 733 calling for a detailed “accounting of total U.S. contributions to the U.N.”

EFFORTS CONTINUE TO EQUATE ISRAEL’S COLONIES WITH ISRAEL

Another of AIPAC’s legislative priorities was to press for passage of the identical “Israel Anti-Boycott” bills—S. 720, introduced by Cardin on March 23, and H.R. 1697, introduced by Roskam the same day. However the bills’ texts make it clear that they are not aimed at boycotts against Israel. Rather, they are aimed at the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) movement targeting Israeli products and companies from the occupied West Bank—another attempt to legitimize Israeli colonies on the West Bank by equating the colonies with Israel. S. 720 has 32 coJUNE/JULY 2017

mcarthur_29-31_Congress Watch 5/25/17 6:06 PM Page 31

sponsors, including Cardin, and H.R. 1697 has 178, including Roskam.

Similarly, AIPAC also pressed for supporting S. 170, the “Combating BDS Act of 2017,” introduced by Rubio on Jan. 17. It says that “a state or local government may adopt and enforce measures” to divest state or local assets from, or prohibit investment of state or local assets in, an entity that knowingly engages in BDS activity targeting Israel or “Israel-controlled territories.” It has 37 co-sponsors, including Rubio.

NEW RESOLUTIONS SEEK TO PUNISH PALESTINIANS

Two new, non-binding anti-Palestinian resolutions were introduced. The first, H.Res. 68, “condemning Palestinian incitement,” was introduced Jan. 27 by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and two co-sponsors.

H.Res. 109, “deploring the actions of the Palestinian Authority to join the International Criminal Court,” was introduced by Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) Feb. 7.

Three bills would prohibit, condition, or limit foreign aid to the West Bank and Gaza.

H.R. 789 was introduced Feb. 1 by Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) and nine co-sponsors; H.R. 1164 was introduced Feb. 16 by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) with 29 co-sponsors; and S. 474 was introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) with 11 co-sponsors on Feb. 28.

U.S.-Israeli cooperation in cybersecurity technology. H.R. 612, introduced by Reps.

James Langevin (D-RI) and John Ratcliffe (R-TX), was passed by the full House by voice vote on Jan. 31. S. 719 was introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) with four co-sponsors.

Two identical measures were introduced March 21, S.Res. 90 and H.Res. 218, urging increased U.S.-Israeli cooperation in new areas of endeavor. S.Res. 90, introduced by Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), has 10 co-sponsors, including Perdue, and H.Res. 218, introduced by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), has 53 co-sponsors, including Lieu. Also, on Feb. 16 Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) introduced H.R. 1159 encouraging U.S.-Israeli space cooperation. It has 26 co-sponsors, including Kilmer.

BUT SOME POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS

The most encouraging development was the March 24 letter to Trump, originated by Reps. David Price (D-NC) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and signed by 191 House

members, calling on Trump “to reaffirm the U.S.’ long-standing, bipartisan commitment to supporting a just and lasting twostate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” H.Res. 23, introduced in January

by Price, which would express “the sense of the House of Representatives reaffirming long-standing U.S. policy in support of a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” now has 116 cosponsors, including Price.

Similarly, on March 23 Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and John Conyers (D-MI) introduced H.Res. 226 calling on Trump “to continue his predecessor’s work towards a negotiated, two-state agreement ending the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict backed by a strong international coalition of stakeholders to provide assurance to the negotiating parties that their agreement will be enduring and enforceable.” And on Feb. 27 Reps. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Joe Crowley (D-NY) introduced H.R. 1221, which would “seek the establishment of and contributions to an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.” ■

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

NEW—INCLUDING SAME OLD— PRO-ISRAEL MEASURES

While the previously described measures saying the U.S. Embassy in Israel should be moved to Jerusalem have made little progress (see “Status Updates” box), a new one, H.Con.Res. 11, was introduced Jan. 23 by Reps.

Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Brad Sherman (D-CA).

Identical bills were introduced Jan. 23 to promote JUNE/JULY 2017

By remembering the Washington Report in your will, you can: • Make a significant gift without affecting your current cash flow; • Direct your bequest to a vital purpose—educating readers about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East; • Receive a charitable estate tax deduction & Leave a legacy for future generations.

Bequests of any size are honored with membership in the American Educational Trust’ s “Choirmasters,” named for angels whose foresight and dedication ensured the future of the Washington Report and Middle East Books and More.

For more information visit www.wrmea.org/donate/bequests.pdf, contact us at circulation@wrmea.org, write: American Educational Trust, PO Box 91056 • Long Beach, CA 90809-1056, or telephone our new toll-free circulation number 888-881-5861 • Fax: 714-226-9733 WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

31

williams_32-33_United Nations Report 5/25/17 8:02 PM Page 32

United Nations Report

Emulating the Settlers He Supports, Israeli Ambassador Danon Seizes U.N. Territory

By Ian Williams

U.N. PHOTO/MARK GARTEN

poacher keeps on poaching, any arguments about promoting him to gamekeeper lose some validity, but it’s a measure of the success of Israel’s PR push that the West Europeans could vote for a state that has a record-breaking run of scofflaw behavior standing in defiance of innumerable U.N. resolutions.

One cannot help but suspect that the de facto axis that has developed between Saudi Arabia and Israel against Iran has also contributed to the successful “normalization” of Israel in the international system. As we saw, the Saudis explicitly claimed quasi-Israeli privileges when they successfully censored a report on the effect of their horrifying bombardment of Yemen, and they continue to Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., speaks to journalists, May 11, 2017. evade successfully examination of the effect of their sanctions on Yemeni civilians.

It has to be said that while the defection of reactionary Arab FOR A LONG TIME, Israeli right wingers have scorned and reviled regimes might enhance the Palestinians’ moral high ground, the the United Nations and all its works—apart, of course, from GenIsraelis and their friends almost have a point about the U.N.’s speeral Assembly Resolution 181 partitioning Mandatory Palestine. cial treatment of Israel. In reaction to their military and economic As an Israeli right-wing settler supporter himself, Ambassador impotence, Palestine and its remaining friends have generated inDanny Danon, the state’s permanent representative to the U.N., numerable resolutions against Israeli behavior, each of them sepsurprised many Israelis when he took the position, which Nearately well merited. But the overwhelming number has tended to tanyahu had offered him as a way to get rid of a domestic rival. devalue those issues that matter, and of course the nature of the The ambassador, however, has exploited his position well. In the complainants leaves much to be desired.

U.N., occupied territories, seizing ground wherever and whenever At one time the resolutionary road to liberation was an attempt he can and then expanding from there.

by Palestinians to fight on the only battlefield that they had a Even though his grandstanding in the General Assembly is aimed chance of winning, but now it is almost counterproductive—alless at winning over other U.N. members and more at amassing pothough the reactions of Israel must be gratifying. tential future contributors for his political ambitions back home from The UNESCO board, for example, pointed out the legal truth affluent American supporters, it does indeed have the effect of softthat West Jerusalem is not under legal Israeli sovereignty, even if ening up the institution, whose staff have seen what happens to it has parked the Knesset there. Trump’s promises notwithstandpeople who utter inconvenient truths. ing, that is why there are no diplomatic missions there. And innuIn the halls of the U.N. itself, the Americans had to bully the merable resolutions condemn the continuing Israeli presence in West European and Other Group some years ago to accept Israel “the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem,” which of as an associate member of their regional bloc. It is now a full memcourse galls them almost as much. ber, and a majority of the group successfully placed Danon as The Israeli response has been to enlist the U.S. externally, and chair of the U.N.’s Legal Committee—the U.N. equivalent of lobbies internally in many countries, to soften their positions so counputting Goldman Sachs in charge of banking regulation. If the tries will now abstain on resolutions that they used to support, and in some cases—notably the Anglo-Saxon axis of Canada, Australia U.N. correspondent Ian Williams’ book UNtold: the Real Story of the United Nations will be published by Just World Books in Spring 2017. and the UK—to move closer to the U.S. on Middle East questions.

32

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

williams_32-33_United Nations Report 5/25/17 8:36 PM Page 33

Once again, the Saudi dimension is important. Margaret Thatcher, for example, did not care in the slightest for Palestinian rights— but she cared deeply about arms sales to the Gulf states and looking after their petrodollars banking for them. The new British Prime Minister Theresa May is equally concerned about arms sales—but it is now clear the possibility that British diplomatic positions could veer toward Israel now weigh much less heavily in Riyadh than in the past.

So it is against this U.N. backdrop against which Ambassador Danon is now screening his hasbara (propaganda) events, most recently using a U.N. committee room for a forum to pillory the Palestine Authority for payments to the families of alleged terrorists. In particular, Danon has used his office to book the U.N. General Assembly Hall to sponsor “Ambassadors Against BDS” mass rallies where the usual suspects among proIsraeli organizations bused in their supporters to fill the hall. Although the Assembly has been available for private hire in the past—when, for example, the Church of Scientology rented it—U.N. officials carefully covered U.N. insignia so the organization’s integrity would not be compromised.

On this occasion, the podium with the U.N. badge formed the backdrop for Danon’s photo-ops, with thousands of supporters waving Israeli flags. Interestingly, apart from Danon there were few ambassadors actually present, but billing U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley as his guest speaker doubtless helped intimidate any U.N. officials who remembered U.N. decisions on the Middle East.

Haley is of Indian origins and is close to the current Indian government. But one would never guess the role played by boycotts in the India independence movement, which targeted government salt and British manufactures in an effort to get rid of the colonial yoke. Indeed, one would never guess the iconic role played by U.S. agitators in boycotting tea imports in times past in Boston.

One cannot help but wonder why other states, like South Africa, do not join hands with the Palestine Mission for a conference on the essential role played by civil society organizations in BDS movements against apartheid and other repressive regimes. In case the flood of Israeli indignation clouds JUNE/JULY 2017

the view, one should perhaps remember that the BDS movement is an attempt by civil society to enforce international law and U.N. decisions on the government that has been defying them for 50 years!

APARTHEID REPORT WITHDRAWN

Perhaps most symbolic of the march of Israel through the institutions is the withdrawal of the report from the Economic Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) on Israeli Apartheid, which brings together all these strands. The impassioned torrents of outrage from Israeli supporters about BDS and comparisons with apartheid have intimidated commentators across Europe and America, despite their essential validity. The white regime in South Africa was, after all, a close collaborator with Israel in sanctions busting, arms trading and, it would appear, even nuclear weapons development, so quite why the comparison should have become odious to the point of “anti-Semitism” is a mystery. After all, few, if any, of the people now so outraged objected to Israel’s aid and support for the apartheid regime.

There was a dilemma for ESCWA. Prof.

Richard Falk has an outstanding record in international law and human rights, but like anyone else who submits critical reports on Israel he has been demonized and vilified. But not to use his expertise would be to bow down to politically motivated slander, so he was commissioned, along with Virginia Tilley, anyway.

The ad hominem slurs were wheeled out immediately—think poor Judge Richard Goldstone—and cries came for the report to be withdrawn. New Secretary-General António Guterres had just taken office and the biggest item on his agenda was relations between the U.N. and the new U.S. president, Donald Trump, who had adopted a strong anti-U.N. and pro-Israel stance, so when the U.S. asked for the report to be removed, he folded. Despite the U.N.’s withdrawal of the report, it is still available online, at <www.jadaliyya.com/pages/ index/26223/un-report-establishes-israeliapartheid;-fallout-b>, and it is still valid. It is reassuring that Rima Khalaf, ESCWA’s director, resigned in protest at being forced to take down the report.

The report meticulously demonstrates the apartheid-like conditions Israel imposes—and one should remember that there is a binding International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid— which, like the earlier Genocide Convention, commits states to action about it.

Indeed, that is one of the reasons Israeli leaders get so upset about the comparison, since although the blow to their reputation can hurt in PR or political terms, such charges carry international legal weight, not least with the International Criminal Court hovering around. Similarly, they might have physical possession of the occupied territories (and East Jerusalem, of course!), but without legal title that only the U.N. can give them, their behavior is subject to potential jurisdiction of the ICC and other tribunals adjudging the Geneva Conventions.

However, as a resounding footnote, the report also answers the question Israeli supporters keep asking: why is Israel singled out so often at the U.N.? The report explains: “the situation in Israel-Palestine constitutes an unmet obligation of the organized international community to resolve a conflict partially generated by its own actions. That obligation dates formally to 1922, when the League of Nations established the British Mandate for Palestine as a territory eminently ready for independence as an inclusive secular State, yet incorporated into the Mandate the core pledge of the Balfour Declaration to support the ‘Jewish people’ in their efforts to establish in Palestine a ‘Jewish national home.’ Later United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions attempted to resolve the conflict generated by that arrangement, yet could not prevent related proposals, such as partition, from being overtaken by events on the ground. If this attention to the case of Israel by the United Nations appears exceptional, therefore, it is only because no comparable linkage exists between United Nations actions and any other prolonged denial to a people of their right of self-determination.”

And that, dear reader, is why the international community keeps going on about Israel—it is the world’s own guilty conscience. ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

33

views-Iran_34-36_Two Views 5/25/17 2:41 PM Page 34

Two Views

Iranians Re-elect Moderate President Hassan Rouhani

MAJID SAEEDI/GETTY IMAGES

There are a few things we can say about the meaning of the Iranian people’s collective action.

First of all, once again, Iranians voted against the candidate who was believed to be favored by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This is now a strong pattern, as I pointed out recently in Foreign Affairs.

Secondly, the Iranians also rebuked exiled opposition groups and Washington hawks and neocons, who called on the Iranian people to either boycott the elections or vote for the hard-line candidate Ebrahim Raisi in order to hasten a confrontation. Clearly, these elements have no following in Iran.

Third, despite Trump’s undermining of the nuclear deal with Iran, and despite significant problems with the sanctions relief Some of the tens of thousands of supporters of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who poured process which has left many Iranians disinto the streets of Tehran to celebrate his re-election, May 20, 2017. appointed in the nuclear deal, Iranians still chose diplomacy, détente and moderation over the confrontational line of previous Iranian administrations.

Iran is today one of the few countries in the world where a mesBy Trita Parsi, Ph.D. sage of moderation and anti-populism secures you a landslide election victory.

THE IRANIAN POPULATION’S political sophistication continFourth, despite Rouhani falling short on his promises to imues to impress. Despite a highly flawed political system where prove the human rights situation in Iran, Iranians and the leadthe elections are neither fair nor free, the overwhelming majorers of the Green Movement gave him a second chance. But now ity chose a nonviolent path to bring about progress. They mashe has a stronger mandate—and fewer excuses. Now is the time sively participated in the elections with a 75 percent turnout— for him to deliver on the promises that inspired tens of millions compare that to the turnout in the U.S. elections in 2016, 56 perof Iranians to elect him twice as president. cent—and handed the incumbent moderate President Hassan He must take decisive action to protect the human rights and Rouhani a landslide victory with 57 percent of the vote. civil liberties of the Iranian people, pursue improved relations In a regional context, this election is even more remarkable. with the world, and promote economic growth for the Iranian In most of the Middle East, elections are not even held. Take people. The hard-line forces behind Iran’s arbitrary arrests and Saudi Arabia for instance, President Donald Trump’s choice for spiking executions may not answer to Rouhani directly, but the his first foreign trip.

Iranian people who elected him expect him to do more in his secTrita Parsi is an award-winning author and the 2010 recipient of the ond term to bring about change. Failure to do so risks disenGrawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. He is the chanting a generation of Iranians from the belief that their voice founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, and can make a difference, potentially ceding Iran’s future to the the author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Ishard-line voices who would take the country back to isolationism rael and the United States (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). and confrontation with the West.

A Politically Sophisticated Electorate

34

WAShIngTon RepoRT on MIDDle eAST AffAIRS

jUne/jUly 2017

views-Iran_34-36_Two Views 5/25/17 2:41 PM Page 35

Fifth, while Saudi Arabia was hosting Trump and pushing him to return to a policy of complete isolation of Iran, the EU Foreign Policy head Federica Mogherini congratulated Rouhani on his election victory and recommitted the EU to the nuclear deal. The election results will strengthen the EU’s dedication to ensuring the deal’s survival, as well as its commitment to an inclusive security framework for the Middle East. Consequently, the EU will oppose Trump and Saudi Arabia’s attempt to stage a confrontation with Iran. This puts the Trump administration once again out of synch with Europe and the U.S.’s Western allies on a key security issue.

Sixth, Iranians have once again endorsed a policy of dialogue with the West, but the question is if Trump will unclench his fist and embrace this window for diplomacy. Just as the nuclear crisis was resolved through negotiations, the remaining points of conflict between the U.S. and Iran can also be resolved diplomatically, including Syria and Yemen. This is what the Middle East needs now—more diplomacy, not more arms sales.

Seventh, Congress should avoid undermining the clear proengagement message sent by the Iranian people and empowering hard-liners by pushing forward provocative sanctions legislation in the wake of the election results. New Senate sanctions were scheduled to be marked-up in committee the following week. What a horrible response to the Iranian people after they voted for diplomacy and moderation.

Finally, the power struggle in Iran will increasingly shift toward the question of who will succeed Ayatollah Khamenei and become Iran’s next Supreme Leader. It is widely believed that Rouhani is eyeing this position. With his landslide victory, he has improved his prospects. To some extent, this is what this presidential election was really about.

Iran’s Conservatives Lose a Presidential Election and More

By Farideh Farhi

IN THE PAST two decades, Iranian presidential elections have been accompanied with surprising results and even tumult. Newcomers have won against better-known and -financed politicians while presumed establishment candidates and assumed winners have done poorly. This time around, the surprise was not in the results but the blunt conversation generated by the campaign and the skeptical way the voters assessed the promises of the candidates. Current President Hassan Rouhani was re-elected relying

Farideh Farhi is an independent scholar and affiliate graduate faculty at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. She has taught comparative politics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Hawai'i, University of Tehran, and Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran. She has been a recipient of grants from the United States Institute of Peace and the Rockefeller Foundation and was most recently a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Copyright © 2008-2017 LobeLog.com.

JUNE/JULY 2017

on a motto that emphasized continuity and improving on the course that his election initiated in 2013. A solid majority of voters responded to this motto of “we shall not return to the past.” Had he not been re-elected, that would have been a surprise. But the convincing way he won in the midst of an all-out assault by his opponents against his governing record requires explanation.

At this point it is not possible to do an analysis of the composition of the vote. The Interior Ministry has yet to release detailed data about precincts or even provinces. Governors of various provinces have released information about the total number of votes for each candidate, but not all provinces have done so.

Hence, any comments about urban-rural or middle class vs. poor neighborhood splits are not warranted. If anything, the general information about the provinces suggests that the kind of splits proposed in the press may not hold. For instance, many of the provinces with higher rural concentration tended toward Rouhani, while the highly urban (and religious) province/city of Qom went to his opponent Ebrahim Raisi (55 percent). So have the three Khorasan provinces that have historically been dominated by the Imam Reza Shrine, for which Raisi is the custodian (Raisi has reportedly also won in Hamedan, Semnan and Zanjan provinces). Furthermore, the spread in the other provinces is quite varied, with Rouhani scoring more than 65 percent in provinces such as Tehran, both East and West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah and Albroz, more than 70 percent in Kordestan and Sistan and Baluchistan, while achieving much closer margins in some other provinces.

Still, there is no question that Rouhani was re-elected convincingly. To be sure, Rouhani was also elected in 2013 by a wide margin against his multiple opponents when he received slightly over 50 percent of the vote and his closest opponent garnered only 16 percent of the vote. His surprising victory in 2013 was made possible through an alliance of reformists, moderates, and some middle-of-the-road conservatives, an alliance that also proved successful in the 2016 parliamentary election. But his slightly over 50 percent vote in that election gave his conservative opponents—identified as principlists inside Iran—the impression that if they managed to unify around a single candidate, and focus on the continued economic ills of the country, they could prevent his re-election. Using a semi-democratic process, they eventually did manage to unify behind the candidacy of Raisi, a former high-ranking member of the judiciary and current custodian of the well-endowed Imam Reza Shrine. But their candidate proved weak in both formulating his message as well as delivering it.

In the end, despite an increase in eligible voters by six million since the 2013 presidential election, the total vote cast for Raisi (close to 16 million) was slightly less than the total number of votes Rouhani’s separate conservative opponents received in 2013. In other words, unity did nothing to expand support for the principlist camp. Meanwhile, Rouhani bettered his 2013 record significantly by expanding the number of votes garnered from about 18.6 million to 23.5 million.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

35

views-Iran_34-36_Two Views 5/25/17 2:41 PM Page 36

How Rouhani managed this accomplishment is the story of this election. A lackluster campaign of 55-60 percent turnout would have posed a real danger to his re-election. Instead a savvy campaign produced a 73 percent turnout by transforming Rouhani into a good-humored and caring father figure who insisted that his opponent’s proposed policies endangered the progress and stability the country had enjoyed since the 2013 election. Rouhani bluntly stated that these policies risked war in the international arena and economic ruin, political closures, cultural restrictions, and turmoil at home.

RAISI’S CLUMSY CAMPAIGN

It is not yet clear why Raisi challenged a sitting president just a few days after he had publicly insisted on his absolute commitment to the Imam Reza Shrine. Recently appointed custodian by Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Raisi said he wanted to focus on the affairs of the Shrine. Raisi’s relative youth, his exclusive experience in the judiciary, and his previous reluctance to be in the public eye made him an unlikely candidate for a demanding executive position. A better time for him to run would have been in 2021, after a few years of administering a religious endowment (probably Iran’s largest economic conglomerate) and when he did not have to run against a more experienced sitting president.

But his recent appointment to the Imam Reza Shrine had fanned speculation about his potential candidacy for the position of Supreme Leader. Perhaps these speculations convinced the alliance of principlist organizations and groups that someone perceived as “the Leader’s candidate”—a perception the international media readily consumed and repeated by as well— boosted Raisi’s chances. Or perhaps Raisi was convinced that he needed a stint as president before he could become a viable contender for the position of Leader.

Whatever the reason, his emergence as the main Rouhani opponent, and the way he conducted his campaign, was a godsend for the incumbent president. It polarized the political environment and clarified the stakes for the electorate in the last two 36

weeks of the campaign. To be sure, Raisi initially tried to position himself as a candidate that stood above Iran’s political factions. In the first week of his campaign, posters even appeared that represented him as promoter of both Islamic principles and reform. For a very short period, they even tried to frame him as similar to reformist Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s still popular former president and also a black turbaned seyed who traces lineage to Prophet Mohammad. However, Raisi’s inexperience in the face of public scrutiny, lack of charisma, and competition with the other main principlist candidate—Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf—prevented him from maintaining that position.

Caught off-guard by Qalibaf’s very aggressive attacks against Rouhani’s government in the first televised debate, Raisi’s quieter demeanor also turned aggressive and populist in the second and third debates, as well as on the campaign trail. His campaign’s sole focus became the dispossessed. Like Qalibaf, his rendition of the state of the Islamic Republic turned outright dark, replete with absolute misery and poverty, economic inequality and corruption. Policywise, like the Tehran mayor, Raisi promised to increase substantially cash grants to the poor, uproot widespread corruption in the Islamic Republic’s bureaucracy, and reject Rouhani’s “reliance on the outside world” to help Iran’s economy. Astonishingly for someone who has spent his whole career in Iran’s judiciary—a body responsible for Iran’s high execution record and partisan imprisonment of political opponents—he even held Rouhani responsible for stifling political dissent. Although he did not call for the abandonment of the nuclear agreement, Raisi claimed that he could handle its implementation better. By the time Qalibaf withdrew in Raisi’s favor in the last week of the campaign, there was little difference in positioning between the two.

With an eye on the need for voter motivation, the more politically astute Rouhani turned Raisi’s criticisms against him. If Qalibaf and Raisi were going to represent the Islamic Republic as rife with socioeconomic inequality, corruption and repres-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

sion, then surely Rouhani could also become blunt and break taboos in his criticism of institutions such as the judiciary in allowing such a dour state of affairs. More significantly, he could also remind people that Raisi, despite his attempted positioning as above the factional fray, had surrounded himself with hard-liners and conservatives who advocated cultural and political restrictions and promoted an adventurist foreign policy. Rouhani’s coup de grace was his suggestion that Raisi was using the resources of the Imam Reza Shrine, “which belongs to all Iranians,” for partisan purposes.

By the end of the campaign, Rouhani had added voters who had become genuinely fearful of Raisi to voters who thought that four years is not enough for any president to implement his promised course. A campaign that had begun with criticism of Rouhani’s handling of the economy in the post-nuclear agreement era was now being described as “fateful” by many voters in setting the cultural and political direction of the country for the years to come. “I know these people,” thundered Rouhani in one of his rallies.

“They want to put a curtain on the sidewalks and separate men and women.”

Raisi complained about the “fear mongering” against him to no avail.

THE BIGGEST LOSERS

If Raisi was badly hurt in this election, it was Tehran Mayor Qalibaf who completely forfeited his political future. This was his third presidential run, and he adopted a different persona in each campaign. First he was a flashy modernist executive worthy of comparison to the first king of the Pahlavi dynasty, who built Iran through his authoritative and forceful personality. Then he was a jihadi manager. And this time he was representing the 96 percent of Iran’s population whose livelihood was being “sucked” by the top 4 percent of the population. These successive incarnations exposed Qalibaf as an opportunist who will say anything to win, including a promise of increasing cash grants five-fold that few believed. More importantly, with the comContinued on p. 38 JUNE/JULY 2017

sprusansky_37-38_Special Report 5/25/17 2:45 PM Page 37

Special Report

The Case for People-to-People Ties Between Iran and the U.S.

By Dale Sprusansky

MEGHDAD MADADI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

the importance of sports diploIN NOVEMBER 2006, President macy.

George W. Bush restored Iran’s Shortly after these dual efforts participation in the International were launched, the Iranian govVisitor Leadership Program, alernment decided to reverse its lowing hundreds of Iranians to endecision. While Tehran attributed gage in cultural, academic, scienits reversal to a U.S. federal tific, athletic and other exchanges judge’s decision to suspend with Americans. It was the first Trump’s ban, Baktiari believes time in 25 years that Iranians the pressure the Iranian wrestlers were invited to participate in the put on their government played State Department program. no small role in getting the AmerA decade later, proponents of ican wrestlers’ visas approved. people-to-people initiatives now Baktiari is encouraged that hope that a Republican president voices in favor of sports diplomacy will once again embrace such now carry great weight in both the exchanges between the peoples U.S. and Iran. Wrestling exof Iran and the U.S. Several adchanges between the two counvocates of these exchanges tries have been institutionalized to gathered at the Atlantic Council the extent that “no matter what in Washington, DC on May 5 to government is in power in Tehran assess their future viability under or Washington, these relationthe Trump administration. ships will continue,” he stated.

Bahman Baktiari, executive diPoliticians in both countries rector of the International Founhave come to accept—and even dation for Civil Society, is optimistic that these exchanges will American wrestler James Green shakes hands with spectators as endorse—U.S.-Iran wrestling exremain in place, citing USA they photograph him with their cellphones following his match at changes, Baktiari added. In the the World Wrestling Cup Final in Kermanshah, Iran, Feb. 17, 2017.

U.S., this includes extremely conWrestling’s February participaservative congressmen, he noted. “USA Wrestling right now has tion in the freestyle wrestling World Cup held in Kermanshah, compiled a list of all the congressmen who are former wrestlers, Iran. and they are now making direct connections with them—and sevShortly before the U.S. team was set to depart for Iran, Preseral Tea Party members are former wrestlers—and they have gotident Donald Trump announced his travel ban targeting seven ten these people on board,” he said.

Muslim-majority countries, including Iran. In retaliation, the IranIn Iran—where wrestling is the treasured national sport—Bakian government denied visas to the American wrestlers. tiari pointed out that a presidential candidate recently endorsed Wrestlers in both Iran and the U.S., however, refused to let wrestling diplomacy during a televised debate. “There is this natthis diplomatic tiff disturb the long tradition of sports diplomacy ural energy, I think, that is not shown in the media, that is brewbetween the two wrestling teams, which have met 32 times since ing,” Baktiari said of the Iran-U.S. wrestling relationship.

1998. The Iranian Wrestling Federation immediately lobbied its Stan Albrecht, former president of Utah State University, emgovernment to reconsider the visa applications of the American phasized the importance of educational exchanges between the wrestlers, Baktiari noted, while the American wrestlers aptwo adversarial countries. proached both the Trump administration and the media to stress In particular, Albrecht highlighted the critical role Iranian students play in the American college educational system. More than Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle east affairs.

12,000 Iranians are currently studying in the U.S., he observed, june/july 2017

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

37

sprusansky_37-38_Special Report 5/25/17 2:45 PM Page 38

three-fourths of whom are graduate students. Half of these graduate students are studying the important fields of science and engineering, he added, saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re absolutely critical to what goes on at our universities, as teaching assistants, as research assistants, as research collaborators on a whole bunch of projects.â&#x20AC;?

Utah State University has for decades engaged in academic and research exchange programs with academic institutions in Iran, Albrecht continued. One such program allows researchers to cooperatively study two of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest inland saltwater lakesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Great Salt Lake in Utah and Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lake Urmia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would be a tragic loss if something happened that we were unable to continue those types of partnerships,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Excluding Iranians and other international students from entering the U.S. would have a devastating impact on the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s universities, Albrecht warned. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;constant historical and current infusion of intellectual power that comes from across the worldâ&#x20AC;? is the reason American universities have grown in prestige, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a history of bright young people coming to the United States, studying at our universities, many of them staying, making a major contribution to our country, many of them returning home and making major contributions in their country,â&#x20AC;? he said.

These academic exchanges also have real economic and political impacts. Albrecht pointed out that international students contributed $32.8 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2015-2016 academic year. Denying access to brilliant minds from abroad, he added, puts the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage to countries such as Australia and Canada, who will gladly accept individuals disregarded by the U.S. Barbara Slavin, director of the Atlantic Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Future of Iran Initiative, observed that virtually all the Iranian negotiators involved in the successful nuclear talks received Ph.D.s from American universities.

Kamiar Alaei, associate dean at the State University of New York at Albany, noted that Iranian and American scientists have been cooperating for a number of years on public health initiatives. In partic38

ular, he highlighted the work he has done to bring American researchers to Iran to help the country better respond to its HIV epidemic. The joint effort has helped Iran significantly enhance its care for both those with HIV and those most vulnerable to contracting the disease, he noted. Despite facing a setback during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejadâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;during which Alaei was imprisoned for three years due to his outreach to high-risk individuals such as sex workersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the efforts of Alaei and the American researchers he recruited have resulted in a demonstrable improvement in the lives of many Iranians.

Regardless of how the Trump administration decides to approach Iran politically, Slavin hopes Washington will remain committed to fostering apolitical people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We hope that, whatever decisions the administration makes about U.S. policy toward Iran, it carves out a space to continue this kind of work,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x2013; (Advertisement)

m a s h r a b i y a

3DOHVWLQLDQ (PEURLGHU\

(;&(37,21$/ %($87< ZZZ PDVKUDEL\D RUJ

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

Two Views

Continued from page 36

plete reformist sweep of Tehranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 21-member municipal council election, he will no doubt be replaced after 12 years of ironclad control of the city. His likely replacement will be Mohsen Hashemi, the eldest son of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. Hashemi received almost three times as many votes as the current conservative chair of the council, Mostafa Chamran, who came in 22nd and will only make it to the council if Hashemi or another elected reformist is chosen as mayor.

But by far the biggest loser in this election was the conservative alliance itself. It put forth all the candidates it could muster.

The Guardian Council did not qualify several of their candidates, and those qualified were badly hurt (in the case of Qalibaf, fatally) in this election. Its promise of a figure that could both unify the principlists and also gain popular support remains unmistakably unfulfilled. What this reality of repeated failure in the electoral game means for the principlist camp is yet to be decided.

On the other side, the reformists not only helped the centrist Rouhani win reelection. They also managed to introduce to the Iranians such candidates as First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, who unabashedly declared himself a reformist and performed well during the televised debates only to withdraw in Rouhaniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favor. These candidates may end up as serious presidential contenders once Rouhaniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s term is over. The reformists have apparently also done very well in the council elections of other major cities besides Tehran, including Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, and even the city of Mashhad, the seat of Imam Reza Shrine. They have once again shown that they can run better-organized campaigns and motivate voters despite severe restrictions imposed by the conservativesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; control of non-elective institutions and positioning of the state media against them. Meanwhile, Iranian citizens, by keeping electoral politics alive and meaningful, continue to reshape the basic tension that frames the Islamic Republic. â&#x2013; JUNE/JULY 2017

June/July 2017 ralph 6_May 2017 Israel Conference issue 4/20/17 10:55 AM Page 39

(Advertisement)

Read R ea d

MON DOWEI SS

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

E - SUBSCRIBE SU BSCRI BE

FOLLOW F O LLO W

gee_40-41_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 5/25/17 2:53 PM Page 40

Islam and the Near East in the Far East

China’s Growing Reach in Central Asia, Indian Ocean Littoral

By John Gee

WWW.SILKROUTES.NET

China’s Gansu province, and passed either north or south of the Taklamakan desert, traversing what are now Xinjiang in China, the Central Asian Republics, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and Syria. Routes could shift according to security conditions, but the overland Silk Road flourished as a trading route throughout the Middle Ages, and survived in an attenuated form even after 16th century European voyagers opened up more efficient, faster East-West trading routes.

The vast area covered by the Sources: Xinhua (Silk Road routes); U.S. Department of Defense, Gazprom, Transneft (pipelines); United historic routes of the old Silk Nations (rail entry points) Road, as well as its past economic role in the global economy, illuminate the scope of present-day China’s ambitions: together, DURING HIS VISITS to Kazakhstan and Indonesia in September the belt and road include 60 countries and a quarter of world trade. and October 2013 respectively, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke For the world’s second largest economy, the successful implementaof his government’s vision of a cooperative economic development tion of the One Belt, One Road strategy would provide an outlet for strategy of “One Belt, One Road.”

Chinese investment, markets for exports, and enhanced access to The Silk Road Economic Belt consists of countries along the hisraw materials and resources such as oil, as well as specifically fostoric Silk Road between China and Europe, and Beijing’s aim was tering economic development in Xinjiang, Tibet and other western to encourage their integration into a massive regional network areas of the state. All of this had already begun to evolve long before through investment, trade, infrastructural development and cultural the new strategy was announced, but existing projects have now exchange. The Maritime Silk Road is a sea-based counterpart to been integrated within the broader strategy. At a forum held in Beijing the belt, embracing countries on the main maritime route between in May where 1,500 representatives from 130 countries had gathered, China and Europe, in Southeast Asia, and the countries along the the Chinese president pledged $174 billion of funding for Silk Road northern rim of the Indian Ocean, including on the Red Sea. Beprojects. China is expected to invest $1.6 trillion in the belt and road in tween them, the two zones include much of the Middle East. the coming decade.

There was no one historic Silk Road. It first appeared some 2,000 Securing energy supplies for its development plans was one key years ago, when goods passed backward and forward, often changmotivation behind Beijing’s increasing engagement with states coving hands, between China and the Roman Empire. China’s most ered by the new strategy. valued export was silk, which was both highly prized in Rome and After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, China was keen to buy considered a luxury representing decadence by those who regarded Iraqi oil. A contract on oil exploration in a field in Wasit province in themselves as defenders of traditional Roman values. The overland southern Iraq had been signed with Saddam Hussain’s regime in routes out of China diverged in the area of Dunhuang, in modern 1997, but U.N. sanctions, followed by instability after the overthrow of the regime, prevented the implementation of the contract until John Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Singapore, and the author of Unequal Conflict: The Palestinians and Israel.

2005. That year the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) 40

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

gee_40-41_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 5/25/17 2:53 PM Page 41

became the first foreign firm to sign an oil agreement with Iraq since Saddamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s downfall. The joint venture set up to implement the contract was 75 percent owned by CNPC and 25 percent owned by Iraqâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Northern Oil Company.

China became the biggest customer for Iraqi oil, buying almost half the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s production by 2013. Hundreds of Chinese workers traveled to Iraq to sustain and expand production in the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s south.

Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest supplier of oil is Saudi Arabia. The two countries only established official diplomatic relations in 1990, but thereafter, trade boomed. Investments have flowed both ways, with Saudi companies investing in oil-related projects in China and Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest aluminium company partnering with Saudi companies to construct an aluminium smelter. When Saudi King Salman visited China in March of this year, the two countries signed memoranda of understanding and letters of intent said to potentially be worth $65 billion.

When Xi visited Riyadh in January 2016, a joint statement was issued in which the two governments declared their support for â&#x20AC;&#x153;the legitimate regime in Yemen,â&#x20AC;? meaning that of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. China would defend this move as consistent with its policy of non-interference, but the opponents of the old regime, who control most of northern Yemen, certainly would not see it the same way. During the same regional tour, Xi visited Egypt, where 15 projects, mainly infrastructural, were agreed on, requiring an investment of $15 billion. Interviewed by Egyptâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Al-Ahram newspaper before his visit, the Chinese president said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;China supports the people of Egypt in making independent choices for the future of their own countryâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;implicitly dissociating China from Western critics of the military coup that overthrew the elected government of Mohamed Morsi. From Egypt, Xi traveled to Iran, becoming the first foreign head of state to visit the country since the lifting of sanctions: China is also Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest oil customer.

Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first overseas military facility was established in 2016 in Djibouti, the small Horn of Africa state that also hosts U.S. and French facilities. The Chinese logistics cenJUNE/JULY 2017

(Advertisement)

A PProject roject of Middle East Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Alliance

ter there was reportedly established to support anti-piracy operations in the region.

Should U.S.-China relations deteriorate markedly, however, Djibouti could be faced with some difficult choices.

THE PAKISTAN COMPONENT

An element of the One Belt, One Road strategy is the establishment of a trade and communications network from western China to the Indian Ocean through Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;referred to as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This involves more than $40 billion worth of investments. Rather than relying on Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main port of Karachi, the corridor scheme will focus on the expansion of the previously minor port of Gwadar.

Gwadar was a possession of Oman for 200 years before it was purchased by Pakistan in 1958. It is sited in Baluchistanâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; (Advertisement)

-53,)-3

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

The Muslim Link, the largest newspaper for and about the Muslim Community in DC, MD and VA. Available at most Mosques, Arab, Indo-Pak, and Persian restaurants and groceries in the greater Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area. Available Free!

0HONE &AX

WWW -USLIMLINKPAPER COM

which, besides being a province of Pakistan, is also the name of a territory that extends into neighboring Afghanistan and Iran, and which Baluch nationalists would like to turn into an independent, united state. This is one fly in the ointment, as far as CPEC is concerned: Baluch insurgents have attacked vehicles on roads from the north down to Gwadar. The Pakistani Taliban also pose a threat to this route. To offset this disadvantage, Gwadar is far from the border with India and thus less exposed than Karachi to disruption in the event of Pakistani-Indian hostilities, as well as being close to the Gulf region and the Straits of Hormuz. Given the vulnerability of the land route across Pakistan to instability and insurgency within the country, it may be that Gwadarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main importance for China will be in offering facilities for Chinese ships, naval and commercial, in the Indian Oceanâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;although both China and Pakistan deny that they intend to build a naval base there. China is investing massively in Gwadar, and will have administrative control of the port for 40 years.

China is likely to make economic and strategic gains with the One Belt, One Road Strategy, but risks rousing hostility from those wary of its ambitions, and those subjected to the rule of oppressive regimes with which Beijing is happy to do business unquestioningly, while professing a policy of non-interference. It may also well find that it is over-reaching itself and that there is a high price to pay. â&#x2013;

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

41

brownfeld_42_44_Israel and Judaism 5/25/17 3:02 PM Page 42

Israel and Judaism

Israel’s War on BDS Increasingly Alienating American Jews

By Allan C. Brownfeld

ROBYN BECK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

and said it did grievous harm to freedom of political expression and protest. In March 2016, Israeli Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Yisrael Katz argued that Israel should employ “targeted civil eliminations” against BDS leaders.

The expression is a play on the Hebrew word for targeted assassinations. In June 2016, Haaretz reported that Israel’s strategic affairs minister was going to create a “dirty tricks” unit to “establish, hire or tempt nonprofit organizations or groups not associated with Israel to disseminate” negative information about BDS supporters.

In the U.S., establishment Jewish organizations from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to the Simon Wiesenthal Center have called the BDS movement “anti-Semitic”—this despite the fact that it is supported by groups such as Jewish Demonstrators carrying a sign advocating BDS protest U.S. aid to Israel at a Democratic Voice for Peace and such international groups as fund-raiser held by then-candidate Hillary Clinton at the Beverly Hills home of pro-Israel Jews for Palestinian Right of Return and the Isbillionaire Haim Saban, Aug. 22, 2016. raeli activist organization Boycott From Within.

ISRAEL HAS DECLARED war on the nonviolent movement Not surprisingly, as support for BDS increases, particularly on calling for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as a means university campuses, the attacks upon it have become more to end Israel’s occupation of Palestine and violation of Palestinshrill. ADL national director Jonathan Greenblatt, speaking at a ian human rights. In the process, it is alienating more and more 2016 meeting hosted by the Israeli Mission to the United NaAmerican Jews who are part of the BDS movement, as well as tions, said, “We need to expose the extremists and anti-Semites others who see Israel’s move as a retreat from “shared democwho are behind BDS. BDS is an anti-Semitic movement...a conratic values.” tinuation, a modern version, if you will, of an irrational hatred of The BDS movement was started in 2005 by more than 170 the Jewish people...Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.”

Palestinian non-governmental organizations as a peaceful In March of this year, the Knesset passed legislation that promovement to restore Palestinian rights in accordance with interhibits the entrance into Israel of anyone supporting and belonging national law through strategies of boycotting Israeli products and to the BDS movement. Writing in The Jerusalem Post, Yonah Jecultural institutions, divesting from companies complicit in violaremy Bob asks: “Does this include a left-wing Jewish college stutions against Palestinians, and implementing state sanctions dent who calls for a boycott of Israel on his Facebook page? Does against the Israeli government. They cited a body of U.N. resoluit include an individual who made a small, one-time contribution to tions and specifically echoed the anti-apartheid campaign a BDS organization? Are foreigners who wish to boycott only the against minority white rule in South Africa. settlements, but not the rest of Israel, included in the ban?”

In July 2011, the Knesset passed a law making it a civil offense Peter Beinart, a contributing editor to The Forward, wrote a to publicly call for a boycott against Israel. In response, 32 Israeli March 17 column headlined, “I support boycotting settlements— law professors signed a petition calling the law unconstitutional Should I be banned from Israel?” He notes that “I’m one of those people” at whom Israel’s new law is aimed because, “In 2012, I Allan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated columnist and associate editor of wrote a book that urged American Jews to buy products from ‘dethe Lincoln Review, a journal published by the Lincoln Institute for Remocratic Israel,’ the territory inside Israel’s original boundaries in search and Education, and editor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the American Council for Judaism.

Continued on p. 44 42

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

sprusansky_43_Special Report 5/25/17 2:56 PM Page 43

Special Report

Dr. James Zogby Slams Religious Freedom Commission for Ignoring Israeli Violations

By Dale Sprusansky

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

THE UNITED STATES Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) was established in 1998 with the mandate of monitoring global violations of religious freedom and making policy recommendations to the president, secretary of state and Congress. The commission’s annual report catalogues violations of religious liberty in a large number of countries, including Russia, China and many Middle Eastern nations. Israel, however, has never been mentioned in the report.

During his four-year tenure, outgoing commissioner Dr. James Zogby frequently requested that the commission investigate Israel’s treatment of Muslims, Christians and non-Orthodox Jews. On several occasions, Dr. James Zogby. representatives of these faith communities appealed directly to the USCIRF, but the commission invariably dismissed their concerns.

Deeply troubled by what he witnessed on the commission, Zogby is now publically criticizing USCIRF’s apparent unwillingness to subject Israel to scrutiny.

In a five-page statement of dissent, Zogby bemoaned the “continuing and glaring refusal of some commissioners to even allow for a consideration of religious freedom in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” The commission, he argued, has “an obligation to consider Israel’s use of religion to discriminate against both its own citizens and Palestinians living in the occupied territories.”

Speaking at an April 26 press conference on Capitol Hill, Zogby highlighted several poignant instances in which the commission ignored the concerns of religious groups in Israel and Palestine: 1) Shortly after Zogby joined USCIRF in 2013, the nine-person commission decided to pen an op-ed at Christmas highlighting the plight of Middle Eastern Christians. Referring to the region as the “cradle of Christianity,” the op-ed noted anti-Christian activity in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Nigeria—but not Israel.

“I said, to the best of my knowledge, the cradle was Bethlehem,” Zogby recalled. He informed his fellow commissioners of the con-

Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle east affairs. june/july 2017

cerns he frequently heard from Palestinian Christians. His concerns were “absolutely shut down,” he said. “The op-ed went out without any mention of this at all.”

2) In July 2014, Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, shared his concerns with the commission. In particular, he cited Israel’s plans to seize land belonging to Palestinian Christians; Knesset legislation requiring Arab Christians in Israel to list their religious affiliation on their ID cards; Israeli laws that make it difficult for Palestinians to remain residents of Jerusalem and unify with their families; and restrictions on movement for clergy and the faithful alike.

“The commission not only refused to recognize the patriarch’s concerns, but dismissed him rather rudely, actually with two commissioners challenging him as to why he didn’t use his good offices to challenge Hamas,” Zogby noted. “He left the meeting rather shaken. No action was taken.”

Fr. Drew Christiansen, a Jesuit priest who has been a consultant to the Vatican on Middle East issues, was at the meeting between Twal and the commission. “What was remarkable about Patriarch Twal’s meeting with the commission was the skeptical and defensive way in which the USCIRF commissioners received the patriarch’s message,” he recalled. The commission displayed “little, if any, effort to learn about his concerns, whether for Arab Christians living in Israel, or Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza,” he added.

Having dealt with this issue for many years, Christiansen said he was hardly surprised by the commission’s treatment of Twal.

“Patriarch Twal’s reception was consistent with the indifference I’ve come to expect from the commission on questions of Palestinian religious liberty,” he said.

3) Earlier this year, the commission received two letters urging it to look into Israel’s religious practices and policies. The first letter—signed by 11 major U.S. religious communities and 34 Christian groups in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem—highlighted a 192-page report by Palestine Works, an association of Continued on p. 70

Washington RepoRt on Middle east affaiRs

43

brownfeld_42_44_Israel and Judaism 5/25/17 2:58 PM Page 44

Israel’s War on BDS Continued from page 42

which Jews and Palestinians live under the same law, but not ‘nondemocratic Israel,’ the West Bank, where Jews enjoy citizenship and Palestinians live under colonial rule. So while I oppose boycotting Israel as a whole, I support boycotting Israeli settlements, which I believe threaten Israel’s moral character and its long-term survival.”

In the April 18 issue of The Forward, Rachael Stryer, a senior and co-chair of J Street U at Stanford, wrote an article asking, “Will Birthright Kowtow To Israel’s Right-Wing Government?” Discussing the Birthright Israel program, which sends Jewish students on free trips to Israel, she writes: “This summer I planned to travel to Israel through Birthright...I had long been looking forward to the voyage. Now, I don’t know whether I’ll be allowed on the trip...I am a strong supporter of the two-state solution as the only way to secure Israel’s future...and guarantee the rights of the Palestinian people. I see the occupation and the entrenchment and expansion of the settlement movement as a threat to these principles. Because of this, I make the personal choice not to buy products manufactured in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”

Because of the new law, Stryer notes, “Many pro-Israel American Jews are worried that, thanks to our political beliefs, we may no longer be welcome in Israel....

There are many Jewish young people like me at Stanford and across the country who are excited about exploring Israel, but who also find ourselves in opposition to the country’s settlement policy and deeply concerned about the ongoing occupation.…More than just my summer plans are on the line here. Israel’s future—and the future of the American Jewish relationship with Israel—hang in the balance.”

In the view of Ian Lustick, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, the Israeli law banning entry to supporters of BDS criminalizes thought, “since it would imply that anyone who helped organize a public discussion of 44

whether to boycott the State of Israel would also be bannable from the country.

In other words, it would be an attempt to stop people from thinking.”

In a March 16, 2017 editorial, Washington Jewish Week asked, “Is Israel Shutting the Door on Skeptics?” It declared: “We support efforts to combat the BDS movement...But the anti-BDS bill...will neither halt nor diminish BDS activities and will not make Israel more secure. All it will really accomplish is to make Israel a less welcoming place...”

ONLY SOME ARE WELCOME

Last December, Isabel Phiri, a theologian and an assistant general secretary of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, was refused entry. In July of last year, five Americans on a fact-finding trip were detained, questioned and deported. This past February, an American executive with the liberal New Israel Fund was detained and questioned at the Tel Aviv airport by an interviewer holding a document that said “BDS,” although the Fund does not support the movement. According to Laura Friedman, the director of policy and government relations for Americans for Peace Now, the new law is “redefining as an enemy of Israel anyone who does not agree that the settlements are now and will forever be part of Israel. That’s going to be problematic for a lot of American Jews who care about Israel. It’s just heartbreaking.”

Writing in The Nation, Mairav Zonszein described the new law as marking a turning point in Israel’s relationship with American Jews: Israel no longer cares what American Jews think, she said: “Israel is sending the message that it does not want or need American Jewish involvement if that involvement takes the form of pitched criticism or dissent and that the cultural or historical connection is just not that important to them.”

Open Hillel has called on Hillel International to condemn Israel’s “dissenter ban,” which it says “will impact the thousands of Jewish students who travel to Israel to tour, study, research, intern or work.”

In the opinion of Washington Post

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

columnist Richard Cohen, “A law that stifles dissidents, that bars lovers of Israel from Israel itself, is not only repugnant on the face of it, but also additional evidence that occupation of the West Bank is corroding Israeli democracy. Israel may win the West Bank and lose its soul.”

Speaking to J Street’s annual Washington conference in February, Tony Klug, a special adviser on the Middle East at the Oxford Research Group, said that support for Israel’s “never-ending” occupation is changing the nature of what it means to be Jewish. “We used to be people devoted to justice,” he said. “Now we have become enablers of Israel’s injustice.”

Klug declared: “We now face the major reality of a state that describes itself loudly and often to be Jewish...as withholding fundamental human rights from millions of people indefinitely, a standpoint that is in total defiance of quintessential Jewish principles.”

It is becoming apparent to more and more American Jews that Israel does not share their values. The law banning those who dissent from Israeli government policy is yet another example. And the idealized— and largely false—image of Israel so long promoted by establishment Jewish groups is undergoing renewed scrutiny.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also addressed the annual J Street conference.

He recalled living on a kibbutz near Haifa in 1963 and reminisced about the “progressive values” nurtured there. “But,” he added, “as you all know, there was another side to the story of Israel’s creation, a more painful side...the founding of Israel involved the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people already living there, the Palestinian people. Over 700,000 people were made refugees...”

The real story of Israel is replacing the mythical one for an increasing number of American Jews, particularly in the younger generation. A sea change in the American Jewish relationship with Israel now seems to be underway, and Israel’s declaration of war against the BDS movement and its supporters has given this added impetus. ■ JUNE/JULY 2017

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

Copyright @2016 Khalil Bendib www.bendib.com

The Khaleej Times, Dubai

Basler Zeitung, Basel

JUNE/JULY 2017 CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com

cartoons_45_June/July 2017 Cartoons 5/25/17 3:37 PM Page 45

THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST

National Post, Toronto

Trouw, Amsterdam

www.OtherWords.org

Times of India, New Delhi

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

45

opm_46-47_Other People's Mail 5/25/17 8:56 PM Page 46

sen the path of coexistence and reconciliation instead of vengeance and animosity.

This is a living example for the entire world.

Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London, UK

TRUMP WRONG TO DEEPEN IRANSAUDI ARABIA DIVIDE

To The New York Times, May 22, 2017 President Trump’s attack on Iran in his public address in Saudi Arabia was both a cheap sop to his Saudi hosts and a dangerous precedent for the future politics of the Middle East. The Saudis have decided to combat their fears of Shi’i opposition in their own land by blaming Iran.

The United States could effectively lead rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, especially with the recent re-election of President Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian leader most able and willing to make peace with the United States and its allies, including Saudi Arabia. But instead a weak and irresolute American president has been led by the nose to a course of action that will further increase regional tensions. It is a sad day for American leadership in the world.

William O. Beemn, Minneapolis, MN

RESISTING REVENGE AFTER THE TRAGEDY IN MANCHESTER

To the Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2017 The killing of 22 people in Manchester after a pop concert has stirred the spirit of the British people. As a doctor, I know it is impossible to convey the effect of the death, raw pain, anxiety and fear experienced in the last few days. It is never an easy thing to endure suffering. (“Members of Manchester's Muslim community among those most strongly condemning deadly bombing,” May 23.)

The lunatic who murdered innocents was a Muslim criminal, but never a soldier of Islam.

Centuries before the Geneva Convention, Muslim soldiers were ordered not to kill an old person, a man, a woman, a child or a priest, and not to cut a tree or desecrate a church, synagogue or any place where God is worshiped. Nothing religious could motivate or justify the perpetration of such horrendous deeds.

It is never an easy option to resist calls for revenge against the Muslim community. However, amid the death and the grief, the British people seem to have cho46

HOW WASHINGTON VIEWED IRAN’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

To The Washington Post, May 24, 2017 The May 19 editorial “Looking for an upside in Iran” said that “it’s not clear that there’s a side to root for” in Iran’s presidential election. Why should Americans be rooting for any candidates in a foreign election? Isn’t it up to Iranians to decide who they think is best, rather than us? Moreover, calling for the collapse of the Islamic Republic, whose high-turnout elections, however flawed, are infinitely more democratic than American “allies” in the region such as Saudi Arabia, seems a little hypocritical and perverse.

Joseph Hannon, Boston, MA

PRIORITIZE REFUGEES OVER BOMBS

To The Denver Post, April 10, 2017 Donald Trump’s newly professed concern for the children of Syria who have suffered the horror of a deadly sarin attack belies his magnificent disregard for their ultimate safety as he denies their families the right to seek asylum in the U.S. Any U.S. military action in Syria ordered by Trump comes with the promise of creating more instability in the region,

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

more violence inflicted upon innocents, and more backlash toward Americans in other parts of the world.

His recklessly impulsive retaliatory attack on a Syrian air base—to the tune of $70 million in Tomahawk missiles— will have little strategic effect on the outcome of this civil war, and his dropping a few bombs on an already war-savaged country does not a foreign policy make.

Susan Altenhofen, Fort Collins, CO

RETHINKING THE U.S. ROLE IN SYRIAN WAR

To The New York Times, April 7, 2017 Re “After the Missiles We Need Smart Diplomacy,” by Antony J. Blinken (Op-Ed, nytimes.com, April 7): Mr. Blinken is correct when he states, “The real test for Mr. Trump is what comes next.” He may also be correct when he states that striking Syria was the right thing to do; mass murder is indefensible.

However, genocides and mass atrocities are being inflicted on many people in several nations in Africa—Sudan, Nigeria and Central African Republic to name a few.

Are African lives less valuable than Syrian lives? Is an African child not also “a child of God,” as President Trump referred to the Syrian victims? What difference should it make morally whether the mass murder is caused by chemical weapons or by other means?

The United States could more immediately and effectively mitigate the slaughter in Africa than in Syria. The Syrian problem should be one for Middle East Muslim nations to solve. And also Russia, since it owns this conflict more than any other nation outside of Syria itself.

David Kuziemko, Sterling Heights, MI

TIME FOR U.S. TO RETHINK FOREIGN POLICY

To The Denver Post, April 14, 2017 There must be something about the walls of the White House and the military academies that distort the brain and prevent different thought patterns. For over 50 years, our presidents and military leaders have been doing the same old things and expecting different results.

The dropping of the MOAB in Afghanistan is a futile iteration of the B-52s bombing of the Cu Chi tunnel complex in Vietnam.

Instead of changing failed strategies, our leaders change excuses.

It’s time we quit looking at other cultures JUNE/JULY 2017

opm_46-47_Other People's Mail 5/25/17 9:46 PM Page 47

and [examined] ourselves. It’s time we tried something different.

Gary Hall, Denver, CO

COST OF TRUMP’S MOAB STRIKE IN AFGHANISTAN

To The Sacramento Bee, April 14, 2017 The 22,000-pound “mother of all bombs” costs $16 million. The one dropped in Afghanistan on Thursday killed 36 ISIS fighters. That’s $444,000 per kill. Hardly a great return on investment. I thought we had a smart businessman in the White House.

Robert Neuman, Davis, CA

STILL NATION-BUILDING IN AFGHANISTAN?

To The Washington Post, May 5, 2017 Stephen J. Hadley, Andrew Wilder and Scott Worden, in their May 2 op-ed, “How to win the peace in Afghanistan,” gave us the formula to win there. But Mr. Hadley spent the entire eight years of President George W. Bush’s terms as No. 2 and then No. 1 national security adviser. From deposing the Taliban and the U.S. invasion through to handing the “account” over to President Barack Obama, he was there.

And now, Mr. Hadley’s group has provided us with a modest proposal on how to win.

Finally.

Let me condense the four objectives: First, “destroy all Islamic State and alQaeda elements” there. Check. Second, stem corruption, create a modern economy and install good government. Check.

IndextoAdvertisers American Friends of Birzeit University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover Kinder USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Mashrabiya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Middle East Children’s Alliance. . . . 41 Mondoweiss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Muslim Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 United Palestinian Appeal (UPA) . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) . . . . 21 JUNE/JULY 2017

Third, be clear that the resolution of a politically driven civil war is political, not militarily driven. Check. Last, bring in the various regional interests—China, Russia, Iran and the madcap collection of ’stans— to support this. Check. So 16 years after beginning our misguided effort (read the reports of the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction) to build a modern nation there, one that is ranked 169th-most-corrupt (out of 176), the writers say we need to double down on nation-building. Check.

Peter F. Schaefer, Washington, DC

REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS OF U.S. AIRSTRIKES IN IRAQ

To the Los Angeles Times, April 11, 2017 Re “Syria crisis tests Trump’s plan for a new world order,” April 7.

When will we see the same concern for children and other civilians who were killed in a U.S.-led air strike in Mosul last month?

Innocent people were killed there too, and by our own planes, but we see no crocodile tears from Trump over them.

Joyce Hargreaves, Redondo Beach, CA

TRUMP SHOULD GET TOUGH ON ISRAEL

To The Baltimore Sun, May 24, 2017 The article, “President touts ‘rare opportunity’” (May 23), describes remarks by President Donald Trump that are totally divorced from reality. President Trump stressing prospect of peace between Israel and the Palestinians is a farce because Israel doesn't want a peace settlement with the Palestinians, today or ever.

All Israel wants is to continue stealing more Palestinian land and water until nothing is left while maintaining its brutal occupation that includes home demolitions, targeted assassinations, hundreds of humiliating roadblocks and checkpoints, daily Jewish settler violence against Palestinians and their property, and a strangulation blockade on the civilian population of Gaza. In 2014, Israel invented another excuse to invade Gaza, murdering 2,200 Palestinians, three-quarters of whom were civilians, including over 500 children.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is making a fool of President Trump, telling him one thing while telling his extremist settler followers the opposite.

If Mr. Trump really wanted to resolve this conflict, he would give Israel an ultimatum:

Either agree immediately to a two-state accord based on pre-1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, or the U.S. ends all financial, military and diplomatic aid to Israel. Without U.S. support, Israel would become a Third World country and its tough-talking prime minister would be forced to come begging for peace with his neighbors. This would benefit all parties involved—Israel, the Palestinians and the U.S. Ray Gordon, Bel Air, MD

DISGRACEFUL TURKISH ATTACK ON U.S. SOIL

To The Washington Post, May 19, 2017 Regarding the May 18 news article “Turkish guards’ violence denounced.”

A foreign dictator’s guards crossing a street in the District to pulverize peaceful American protesters is the most surreal and barbaric diplomatic incident I’ve seen on U.S. soil in my 25 years.

A video of the event clearly shows several Turkish guards kicking a woman in the head after knocking her down. Another man is repeatedly kicked in the face. The protesters, along with their purple cardboard signs, are left battered in the field.

Referring to this attack as a “clash” was a disservice to these innocent American victims and softened the terrifying behavior of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s guards.

Disturbingly, the guards walked away while the silenced Americans left in ambulances.

Aidan Hoolachan, Ellicott City, MD ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

47

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 48

ARAB AMERICAN ACTIVISM On March 22, the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC was filled with hundreds of guests gathered to honor the accomplishments of Sheikha Rima al-Sabah and Carmen Chahine Debbané. What all in attendance had in common—guests and honorees alike—was Lebanon.

For 19 years, Lebanese Americans and those of Lebanese descent have gathered in Washington, DC to attend the American Task Force for Lebanon’s annual gala honoring the members of their community who have excelled in their careers and made a name for themselves in both America and Lebanon.

This year’s gala was the biggest and most successful to date.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who introduced Debbané at the ceremony, said in his introductory speech, “We celebrate so many Lebanese men for the money they make…but tonight, we’re celebrating two remarkable women, and we’re celebrating them for the fact that they give back.

“Tonight, we’re celebrating the very fundamentals of Lebanese women, both here and around the world,” the congressman added.

Sheikha Rima al-Sabah was honored with the Ray R. Irani Lifetime Achievement Award. Named for the former chairman and chief executive officer of Occidental Petroleum and vice chairman of the ATFL, the award recognized alSabah’s fund-raising efforts that have benefitted her native country of Lebanon.

Former National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones introduced al-Sabah, describing her as “not just a person you know, but really an event you experience.” He credited her for having “the energy of at least a dozen four-star generals.”

Al-Sabah, a former war correspondent and founder and chairman of the KuwaitAmerica Foundation’s Annual Benefit Gala Dinners, has raised over $19 mil48

PHOTO COURTESY ATFL

ATFL Honors Women Who Have Made a Difference in Lebanon

2017 Gala honorees (l-r) Sheikha Rima al-Sabah, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Carmen Chahine Debbané.

lion to help fund education for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, and also to provide scholarships for Arab women to attend Georgetown University, among many other notable causes. In 2015, she was also selected to be a National Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Al-Sabah is married to Kuwait’s Ambassador to the U.S. Sheikh Salem alSabah.

The other honoree, Carmen Chahine Debbané, received the Philip C. Habib Award for Distinguished Public Service.

As the founder and CEO of the Lebanese Center for Special Education (CLES), Debbané has changed the way children with learning disabilities are educated in Lebanon.

Representative Issa described Debbané’s work as helping “those who are most often left behind, that are the least understood. She really does good things without looking for much more than making sure that it happens,” he explained.

Creating individualized programs at 104 public schools in Lebanon since 1999, CLES has made it possible for children with learning disabilities to re-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

main in the mainstream school system while also being provided the opportunity to receive the specialized education they require.

“This award means a great deal to me, because Lebanon means a great deal to me,” Debbané said. “So many of us here tonight share that in common, carrying forward a tiny piece of Lebanon in our hearts.”

—Kailey Love

NAAWA Celebrates International Women’s Day and Each Other

The National Arab American Women's Association (NAAWA) celebrated International Women’s Day and Arab-American heritage by holding a gala on April 2 at the Sheraton Tysons Hotel in northern Virginia. NAAWA provides a forum for Arab-American women of every age to use their talents, knowledge and expertise as they network and empower each other.

The theme for the evening was “Weaving the Colorful Fabric of America.”

Social entrepreneur/communications consultant Hazami Barmada, the evening’s emcee, kept the program lively and engaging. “Our individual success depends on our collective success,” she said, and together our unique threads JUNE/JULY 2017

weave a strong fabric.

Mayor Allison Silberberg of Alexandria, VA remarked, “All Americans come from somewhere else in the world—with the exception of Native Americans. We’re a nation of immigrants.” Schools in Alexandria teach children from 125 countries who speak 87 different languages. This new generation is more accepting and celebrates diversity and harmony, Silberberg said. She called the recent travel ban “abhorrent and painful,” and said she was grateful to have the opportunity to “reassure our community that this is a hate-free zone.”

Palestinian-American human rights lawyer Zaha Hassan, a New America Fellow and part of the Al-Shabaka Palestinian Policy Network, called for Arab-American women to be bridge-builders in an increasingly divided country. “We have a history of straddling communities and faith traditions. It’s embedded in our DNA,” she explained.

Hassan also called on Arab women to tell their own stories. “If you don’t tell your story you’re invisible,” she warned. She went on to share her family’s story. Her father, who fought in the Korean War, had a story about everything. He frequently told his seven kids stories from his life— each time with a different ending—he was a hero, a prince charming, Hassan said.

Her mother never talked about her own story but it turned out she was the real hero. She grew up in a small Palestinian village without a father and with only a 4th grade education. She married at 15 and taught herself embroidery in order to earn money to buy two tickets to join her husband in America. This 19-year-old, who had never ridden an escalator, took a plane to America, not knowing a word of English, Hassan marveled. She helped buy a house—which caught fire, burning everything, including her embroidered dresses. Somehow she rebuilt her life, Hassan said, calling her mom “a warrior princess, a strong woman, a survivor, and an unsung American hero.” Hassan urged her listeners to share their own stories with their neighbors and communities and to “allow others to see us.”

JUNE/JULY 2017

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 49

The National Arab American Women's Association (NAAWA) organizers and speakers.

Following music by Randa Rouweyha and Fuad Foty and closing remarks by NAAWA chairperson Dr. Najat Arafat Khelil, the evening ended with an art auction, the proceeds of which benefitted women and children refugees. For more information about the organization visit <www.naawa.org> —Delinda C. Hanley

Arab America Reception Celebrates Community’s Heritage

Arab America kicked off National Arab American Heritage Month (NAAHM) with a special reception on April 3 at New America in Washington, DC. Across the country, cultural institutions, school districts, public servants and Arab Americans engaged in special events to celebrate the community’s rich heritage and numerous contributions to society.

As attendees entered into the reception, they encountered work by ArabAmerican artist Helen Zughaib, whose work depicts the beauty and strength of Arab women, family life and rich culture.

Next came a photo wall booth where women wearing stunning dresses from their countries of origin gathered.

As visitors snacked on Arabic hors d'oeuvres, they listened to welcoming remarks by Arab America president Warren David, who called for education to dispel stereotypes and empower the next generation of Arab American trailblazers, during this time of heightened

hate crimes and bigotry directed toward the Muslim- and Arab-American communities.

Arab America asked legislators, city councils and school board members to issue NAAHM proclamations and adopt a NAAHM curriculum kit. Sent to nearly 100 school districts, the curriculum kit highlights the history of Arab migration to America, geographic understanding of the Arab world, Arab-American diversity in faith and language, interesting customs and traditions, issues affecting their community, and our many achievements in business, politics, education and more.

“Unfortunately, we’re in a time where negative stereotyping and political rhetoric have induced unwarranted hate and bigotry directed against our community,” said David. “We are hopeful that the spirit of National Arab American Heritage Month will restore the dignity our community deserves.”

David introduced Ambassador Dr. Husam S. Zomlot, the new chief representative of the Palestinian general delegation to the U.S., who thanked the community for its support of his fellow citizens. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), who represents the largest concentration of Arab Americans outside the Middle East in Dearborn, discussed the valuable role played by Arab Americans in their community.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

49

Arab American Institute’s Helen Samhan also noted how far Arab Americans have come in this country, adding that 30 years ago, all the community had was Arab American Heritage Day. She pointed to Maryland educator Samira Hussein, who worked for years to gain recognition for Arab Americans in the Montgomery County School District.

Now, there’s an entire month dedicated to the community’s history. Others, including DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, gave short remarks, which can be viewed on the Arab America website <www.arab america.com>.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards Gala Inspires Attendees

with a large refugee population whose “very existence is under assault,” presented the Award for Institutional Excellence to The Arc of the United States, an organization that advocates for and promotes the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

AAI executive director Maya Berry remarked on the perseverance of the Arab-American community, noting, “We have faced some challenging travails before today and will continue to face more tomorrow. We, too, have shown we can flourish in tough conditions.”

Video messages were played from two former vice presidents—Al Gore and Joe Biden—to introduce the Najeeb Halaby Awardee for Public Service: LebaneseAmerican Greg Simon, who Biden appointed to lead the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force. In his remarks, Simon described his career in public ser-

The Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF) hosted its 19th annual Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards Gala on April 27 at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Washington, DC. Master of Ceremonies was Ayman Mohyeldin, formerly with Al Jazeera English, now the foreign correspondent for NBC News and an anchor for MSNBC. Author and journalist Lawrence Wright presented the Anthony Shadid Award for Excellence in Journalism to Steve Coll. Coll is a journalist, author, Pulitzer Prize winner and dean of the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who noted she is from a state Hamdi Ulukaya speaks to a well-wisher.

50

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

vice: “We must keep the door to citizenship open to honor those who suffered so much, to reach that door. If my public service stands for anything, it stands for this—we are a great nation because of that open door.”

Jen Smyers of Church World Service presented the Individual Achievement award to Hamdi Ulukaya, a philanthropist and founder of Chobani. The son of a Kurdish shepherd, he immigrated from Turkey to upstate New York, where he worked on a dairy farm in a small close-knit and welcoming community. In 2005 he established his Greek yogurt company, which is now worth more than $1 billion.

After traveling to the Greek island of Lesbos, he saw the impact of the refugee crisis. “It is so bad,” he said. “I looked into a little girl’s eyes. She was looking into my eyes, searching for hope and an end to her suffering and pain. This is so big, and this disaster is caused by people in our own region. All everyone wants is hope for a future for their family,” Ulukaya said. He has established the Tent Foundation, a global alliance of more than 40 businesses and NGOs working to help the world’s 65 million refugees and displaced people.

After Ulukaya’s remarkable speech, the focus of the evening shifted to Palestine, and, as AAI president James Zogby described it, the Palestinian people’s resilience and the “amazing ability of a people to translate personal suffering into hope.”

The final award of the evening went to Palestinian artist and writer Kamal Boullata for his lifetime of work and dedication to bettering humanity.

Zogby honored Boullata not only for his work but also for “the spirit of Palestine that lives in him and that he has been able to create for us in his art.”

Boullata concluded the evening with a striking image: “Just as the heart is a small organ that determines the body’s life or death, Palestine’s role in the region’s history has been as determinative to its surrounding world.” —Delinda C. Hanley STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

Arab America hosted a celebration of Arab American Heritage Month and welcomed Ambassador Husam S. Zomlot (c).

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/25/17 8:06 AM Page 50

JUNE/JULY 2017

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 51

Dr. Edmund Ghareeb delivered the 2017 Hisham Sharabi Memorial Lecture at the Palestine Center/Jerusalem Fund in Washington, DC on May 8. Dr. Ghareeb, who taught at American University for 28 years, as well as at Georgetown and George Washington universities in DC, is an internationally recognized expert on the Middle East, Kurds, Iraq and media issues. He discussed the contributions of early Arab-American “men of letters” of the Mahjar press, the general name for the early Arabic-language newspapers and publications published in the U.S. from the 1890s to the 1920s.

The subject of the memorial lecture was fitting, Dr. Ghareeb noted, because Dr. Sharabi was an expert on the Mahjar writers, who Sharabi believed shed light on the perceptions and positions held in the Arab-American communities on the issues of Palestine and Arab nationalism. Sharabi, Ghareeb added, was a firm supporter of institution building and cofounded the Palestine Center, Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, and the Journal of Palestine Studies. Ghareeb quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, “Every institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.”

“Intellectuals have a unique role in transforming social consciousness,” Dr. Ghareeb said, as he launched into describing the work of Mahjar writers. One of the many extraordinary writers, literary critics, novelists, and poets who contributed to the Mahjar press was Mikhail Naimy, whose short stories focused on the unity of all faiths. In 1915, two years before the Balfour Declaration, Naimy warned about the dangers of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine. Years later, in the 1930s, Ameen Rihani, another prominent intellectual who frequently wrote about Arab-Jewish coexistence and cooperation, opined that Jews don’t need to create a state of their own.

Rihani believed that Arabs would welcome Jews moving to Palestine if they removed the barrier of political Zionism.

JUNE/JULY 2017

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

Mahjar Writers on the Subject of Palestine

Dr. Edmund Ghareeb discusses the rich legacy of Mahjari writers.

To watch Dr. Ghareeb’s entire lecture visit <www.thejerusalemfund.org>.

—Delinda C. Hanley

MUSLIM AMERICAN ACTIVISM Identifying and Rectifying the Root Causes of Islamophobia

The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) devoted its May 18 conference in Washington, DC to analyzing how Islamophobia rose to prominence in the U.S. and the steps that ought to be taken to overcome this divisive and dangerous phenomenon.

Georgetown University professor John Esposito, speaking via Skype, outlined the persistently negative depiction of Muslims and Islam by public officials and the media alike.

Esposito noted that President Donald Trump’s campaign gave legitimacy to Islamophobia, which has been on the rise for years. On the campaign trail, Trump frequently called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., said he would “strongly consider” closing mosques, criticized President Barack Obama for visiting a mosque, and said that “Islam hates us,” among other comments. The president has also surrounded himself with individuals who have engaged in Islamophobic rhetoric, such as White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, Attorney

General Jeff Sessions and CIA director Mike Pompeo.

Media studies show this Islamophobic sentiment is echoed on television news, Esposito said. According to a study by Media Tenor, a Europe-based group that monitors global media, 80 percent of media coverage about Muslims in the U.S., UK and Germany last year was negative. Fox News was by far the worst offender, he noted, with 100 percent of their stories about Muslims being negative.

Dalia Mogahed, director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, dissected the thought patterns that lead to Islamophobic beliefs and policies. Sharing the results of a study by University of Pennsylvania professor Emile Bruneau, Mogahed noted the three sentiments that make people more likely to support policies that target Muslims: • Collective guilt—the idea that all Muslims are responsible for the acts of a few. People of all political parties frequently display this sentiment when they persistently call on Muslims to condemn terrorism. “When you hear people say ‘Muslims have to do more,’ that is thinly veiled code for ‘Muslims are collectively guilty,’” she said.

• The dehumanization of Muslims by viewing them as less evolved than other people. Liberal “comedian” Bill Maher, she noted, frequently derides the humanity of Muslims on his HBO program.

• The belief that Muslims hate “us” and are inherently in conflict with the West.

This notion, she said, was used by the George W. Bush administration—with its frequently used variations of the phrase “they hate our freedom”—to advocate for the Iraq war.

These three beliefs, Mogahed warned, “manufacture consent for bad things happening to Muslims,” such as discriminatory policies at airports and surveillance of mosques.

Mogahed also pointed out the great extent to which Islamophobia is engendered by political events. Between 2001 and 2013, she noted, research shows that

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

51

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 52

52

who, when they speak and take public positions, function within that context.”

—Dale Sprusansky

President Trump and “Radical Islamic Terror”

During President Barack Obama’s eight years in office, Republicans regularly attacked him for refusing to utter the phrase “radical Islamic terror.” President Donald Trump, trying to convey a tougher approach to combating terrorism, has used this phrase repeatedly and unabashedly.

comfortable using the phrase, while some Trump appointees are beginning to question the shrewdness of using the phrase upon hearing the concerns of the law enforcement community. “It’s a lot more complicated on the inside at the moment than it appears from the outside,” McCants observed.

Sahar Aziz, professor of law at Texas A&M University, was much less restrained in her criticism of the president.

The phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” has a Crusade-like feel to it, she said,

(L-r) Will McCants, Sahar Aziz and Robert McKenzie discuss how President Trump’s rhetoric has impacted Muslim Americans.

How this change in philosophy impacts both the so-called “global war on terror” and American Muslims was the focus of the second panel at the CSID conference.

According to Will McCants, director of the Brookings Institution’s U.S. Relations with the Islamic World program, those who study terrorism watched with horror as candidate Trump maligned Muslims and fed the extremist narrative that Islam and the West are inherently incompatible. While one may disagree with the policies of past administrations, McCants said, they at least understood that emphasizing a “clash of civilizations” plays into the hands of groups such as ISIS. Despite Trump’s frequent use of the phrase “radical Islamic terror,” McCants said some within the administration— most notably National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster—are wary of the phrase.

“This is not a settled debate,” he noted, adding that career civil servants are un-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

and gives the impression that Muslim countries are utterly uncivilized. The phrase, she added, also sends the message that discrimination is acceptable and that Muslims are a problematic fifth column within the U.S. The Trump administration, Aziz opined, has lifted the cover off the “authoritarianization of counter-terrorism in the United States,” which she said has been taking place since 9/11. Denial of civil liberties and the surveillance of religious groups are actions typically associated with authoritarian regimes, not democracies, she said, and must not be tolerated regardless of who is in the White House.

Robert McKenzie, a senior fellow at New America, noted the bipartisan nature of the Islamophobia problem. While some on the right outright demonize Muslims, many on the left only speak about Muslims as vital counterterrorism JUNE/JULY 2017

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

anti-Muslim sentiment spiked on three occasions: during the run-up to the Iraq war, and during the 2008 and 2012 election cycles. Actual acts of violence, such as 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing, did not elicit anywhere near as much Islamophobia, she said, which suggests that Islamophobia is a “tool of public manipulation” used by those in power to manipulate the public.

Every American ought to be concerned about the rise of Islamophobia, Mogahed emphasized. “It is something that impacts every single American,” she said. “It is a tool of public manipulation, it is eroding our freedom and democratic principles.”

To alleviate the scourge of Islamophobia, Mogahed stressed the importance of directly confronting people’s hypocrisy.

Dr. Bruneau’s study, she stated, found that simply pointing out the double standard of expecting Muslims to condemn terror while not expecting Christians to condemn the KKK make people much less likely to assign collective guilt. People must also be taught not to hold one person’s bad actions against an entire group of people, she added. Muslims must also refrain from being too gentle when confronting bigotry, Mogahed opined. Years of trying to show people they are harmless have yielded little results, she believes. “The way to address bigotry is not by coddling it, it’s not by accommodating it, it’s not by playing into it and trying to make bigots feel more comfortable with you,” she said. “It’s by making it difficult to act on it, in terms of policy and organization and political organizing.”

Esposito stressed the importance of promoting and explaining the principle of full equality. “We need to move much more aggressively, both government and non-government…to promote programs and projects that emphasize the idea, on the one hand, that diversity can be a strength, but connect that with what that means: equality of citizenship and human rights based on mutual understanding and respect,” he said. “We can’t get to a point of mutual understanding and respect unless we have politicians, media, government officials, academics

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 53

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

partners who can provide information their neighbors, he stressed.

Despite all the negative news, McKenabout potential extremists. Both approaches, he lamented, reinforce the zie noted that positive things are hapidea that Muslims are inextricably tied to pening as well. He recalled meeting with the Muslim Student Association at terrorism.

McKenzie noted that discriminatory Bradley University in Peoria, IL earlier practices against Muslims occurred this year and being pleasantly surprised under the Obama administration. In par- that the students reported experiencing ticular, he pointed to the Countering Vio- little discrimination. In fact, the students lent Extremism (CVE) program, which in noted that they have been working handpractice is meant to thwart all extremist in-hand with other groups to confront activity in the U.S., but in reality focuses racism and xenophobia.

While hateful incidents frequently almost exclusively on Muslim Americans make the news, McKenzie said it is im(see p. 57).

“The Obama administration was not portant to remember that across the exactly going after right-wing extremists,” country Muslims and their allies are McCants pointed out. “They were very using the Trump era as an opportunity to gun shy about this….Sadly, politically, foster greater understanding and comit’s OK to go after Muslims who are es- munal ties. “I think this is really a unique pousing extremist views, but it’s not OK period with lots and lots of negatives, but domestically, politically, to go after the also, I think, lots and lots of positives,” he concluded.

—Dale Sprusansky right-wing.”

Given this reality, the CVE program de Sen. Chris Murphy Decries facto targets Muslims, McCants said.

“When it’s only applied to one commu- Militarization of U.S. Foreign nity, then in a way, it’s almost as insult- Policy ing as being more explicit about which community you are truly worried about,” he explained.

The movement to counter Islamophobia must be about more than “just holding Donald Trump’s feet to the fire,” McKenzie argued. “It is also holding Democrats’ feet to the fire to ensure that when we get out of this mess that we’re currently in, that we don’t swing back to the old story of ‘we need to engage Muslims because they can help us identify the bad apples.’ We gotta get Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT). out of that narrative.”

While federal polices and practices are Speaking at the Center for the Study of important, McKenzie emphasized the im- Islam and Democracy’s May 18 conferportance of change at the local level. It’s ence in Washington, DC, Sen. Chris Murimportant for Muslims to be engaged in phy (D-CT) called for diplomacy and detheir communities and become more in- velopment to play a much more significant volved in local politics, he said. Such role in U.S. foreign policy. civic engagement is the most tangible American foreign policy has essentially way for Muslims to ensure that their been transferred to the military under the rights are protected and to build ties with Trump administration, Murphy contended.

JUNE/JULY 2017

He noted that President Donald Trump has appointed former generals to many prominent positions within his administration, while the State Department remains “virtually unstaffed,” operating with vacancies in many key positions.

While the militarization of U.S. foreign policy has been expedited by Trump, it is not a recent phenomenon, Murphy said, noting the failure of past administrations to expand America’s diplomatic reach and reimagine how the U.S. engages the world.

American foreign policy will continue to yield negative results until the current military-centric paradigm is critically reassessed, Murphy argued. “Every U.S. president is destined to fail internationally with the current foreign policy toolkit that we give them,” he said. “Why is it that President [George W.] Bush and President [Barack] Obama—pursuing very different philosophies—ended up with a world at the end of their eight years that seemed more chaotic, not less chaotic?

The reason, to me, is not necessarily strategy—it’s resources.”

Upon assuming office, presidents inherit a plethora of military resources, but a dearth of diplomatic resources, Murphy noted. Recent U.S. government spending reveals the glaring extent of the disparity.

Since 2003, funding for the U.S. military has more than doubled, Murphy said, while funding for development and diplomacy has increased only marginally. Today, the U.S. spends 20 times as much on the military as it does on diplomacy and development, a ratio Murphy described as “wildly out of balance.” This imbalance is so dramatic that the U.S. has “more people today working in military grocery stores than we have diplomats in the entirety of the State Department,” he noted.

This disparity of resources naturally drives the U.S. toward pursuing military solutions, Murphy contended. The problem is not necessarily that diplomatic so-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

53

lutions to conflicts don’t exist, he added, but rather that “we cannot even imagine a non-military solution because we have no [diplomatic] resources.”

Hoping to rectify this imbalance, Murphy has released a new 65-page proposal outlining what he calls a new progressive vision for U.S. foreign policy. Titled “Rethinking the Battlefield,” the proposal calls for a $50 billion increase in non-military funding—a doubling of the resources available to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The proposal also calls for reforms in how these agencies operate.

Murphy’s proposal would not cut the military’s budget. “I don’t argue for taking money from the military and putting it into the non-military foreign policy budget,” he explained. “I agree with the concept of peace through strength, but I do think that we are mis-resourced today.”

Speaking days before President Trump departed to Saudi Arabia, Murphy also addressed the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Trump, he said, must find a “way in which we can make this alliance work for both countries for the long-term, and that is a very real, very difficult conversation.”

Murphy acknowledged Saudi Arabia’s status as a U.S. ally, but expressed concern about its ongoing war in Yemen. In particular, he said, the U.S. must reassess the level of support it supplies to the war effort. “If we do fight with them, it has to come with conditions,” the senator said.

“The United States has its fingerprints all over a famine inside Yemen that is killing a child under 5, every 10 minutes through causes that are preventable….Part of the responsibility lies in the failure of the United States to tell the Saudis to get serious about stopping targeting civilian and humanitarian assets inside that country.”

Prior to the president’s departure for Saudi Arabia, the Trump administration worked to finalize a new 10-year, $110 billion arms deal with the Kingdom. During his two terms in office, President Obama approved $115 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

—Dale Sprusansky 54

Dr. Laila Al-Marayati (l) and Naomi Shihab Nye with a poster of Gazan children.

Field of Voices: Planting Seeds of Resilience

Award-winning poet and writer Naomi Shihab Nye told attendees at KinderUSA’s annual fund-raiser on May 13 at the Audubon Center in Los Angeles, “I’m rooting for the children of Gaza and all the children of the world who somehow have to survive in terrible circumstances created for them by adults. We, who have had longer on the planet, should know better. But the people in power do not seem to know better.”

Nye, a Palestinian American who lives in San Antonio, TX, went on to discuss the Israeli army’s outrageous treatment of citizens in Gaza. She described the blockade as well as the sanctions against human beings who have as much right to live as any Israeli. Somehow Israel always gets a free pass and the government’s abuse goes unchecked, she said—then the U.S. gives it more money!

Nye encouraged her American community to always speak out and support projects like KinderUSA, that “speak to the better instincts of humankind...I urge everyone to contribute to KinderUSA as much as they can. Dr. Laila Al-Marayati is my hero,” she explained.

Saying that she began writing poems at age 6, Nye read a selection from her upcoming book Voices in the Air. She then read her poem “Gate A-4” from Honeybee, another book of her poems.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

She also read a passage from Ibtisam Barakat’s book, Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine.

Nye concluded by saying: “I’m proud to be present for a project supporting rights of children who deserve as much as the beautiful Californian children and all our children do.”

KinderUSA president Dr. Laila AlMarayati commented, “The need this year is great!...We provide food every year to the Gaza children, especially in Ramadan.”

Bedouin X played traditional Arab music. Next Aarab Marwan Barghouti, the youngest son of the long-time prisoner Marwan Barghouti, was called to the podium to make spontaneous remarks.

“When my father was arrested I was little and didn’t know why the Israeli soldiers arrested him,” Barghouti recalled.

“Later, I went to see him in prison after he was tortured. Then I started to see him once every two years. He was growing older, with gray hair, but he has the same big smile. I haven’t touched my father’s hand in 15 years, but I still feel his warmth.”

In a moving show of solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners who are on hunger strike, KinderUSA offered attendees a bit of saltwater to drink in unison.

KinderUSA is the leading American Muslim organization focused on the health and well-being of Palestinian chilJUNE/JULY 2017

STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 54

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 55

and advocacy on Capitol Hill, attendees left with a new level of commitment and expertise.

“It’s crucial that the work AMP does in the nation’s capital is supported by civic engagement at the local and state level,” said Dr. Abuirshaid. “This reinforces the

dren. For more information on this 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, visit its website, <www.kinderusa.org>.

—Samir and Pat Twair

American Muslims for Palestine attended an advocacy day on Capitol Hill.

At least 65 people attended the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)’s third annual Palestine Advocacy Day and Training at George Washington University in Washington, DC April 29-May 1. This year the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) partnered with AMP, helping to create the training program along with AMP staff and lead trainer Ahlam Jbara of Chicago. Not only were the training and advocacy led

by Palestinian Americans, they were also led by Palestinian-American women, noted AMP outreach director Taher Herzallah.

In addition to Jbara, PYM leaders Nadya Tannous, Maisa Morrar and Dima Masoud helped create the two-day program and conducted sessions as well.

Dr. Osama Abuirshaid, AMP national policy director; Kareem El-Hosseiny, AMP national government relations coordinator; Herzallah and AMP national Media Director Kristin Szremski also led sessions.

The purpose of the event was to give participants the skills and knowledge they need to mobilize people in their home districts to participate in civic engagement. After three days of training JUNE/JULY 2017

idea there are constituents out there who are willing to get involved and who are paying attention.”

“We had diverse participants from New York to California, who visited the offices of dozens of representative and senators,” said El-Hosseiny.

The “Asks” to both the State Department and elected officials included: • Reaffirming the U.S. position that Israeli settlements in the occupied West

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

PHOTO COURTESY AMP

2017 Palestine Advocacy Day a Resounding Success

Bank are illegal; • Asking the IRS to investigate the taxexempt status of the Jewish National Fund and the Hebron Fund, both of which raise money for settlements in violation of the tax code for charities; • Pressuring Israel to end its use of administrative detention of Palestinian prisoners and to end human rights abuses in its military prison system; • Furthermore, delegates asked that Congress and the State Department encourage the Trump administration to abide by decades of U.S. policy and refrain from moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

“We’re heartened by the response this year. It’s vital that elected officials hear from their Palestinian and Muslim constituents,” Dr. Abuirshaid said. “Now we’re working to build on this and create a network of those willing to get involved with civic engagement for Palestine.”

—Muna Howard

Sixth Annual “Muslim Day at the Capitol” Draws Record Crowd in Sacramento

“Action Trumps Fear” was the theme of the sixth annual “Muslim Day at the Capitol” hosted by the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA). The election of Donald J. Trump and his attempts to implement a discriminatory travel ban, flawed immigra-

California state Assembly member David Chiu (D-San Francisco) speaks at a press conference on the Capitol grounds in Sacramento.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

55

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 56

56

Trump has declared war on the Muslim community, he has declared war on all of us. From my perspective, if he is saying he is going after the Muslim community, it is our responsibility as legislators to say, ‘Mr. Trump, you’re going to have to come through us!’”

Jewish Voice for Peace representative David Mandel urged the community members to stand together “because when they come for some of us they

and advocacy will we be able to trump Islamophobia, bigotry, xenophobia and defend our civil rights as a nation,” Yannina Casillas, CAIR–CA legislative and government affairs coordinator, told the enthusiastic group at the program’s conclusion.

—Elaine Pasquini

More than 20,000 Attend This Year’s ICNA/MAS Convention

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

tion policy and federal budget cuts for education drew more than 700 Muslims to Sacramento on April 24, the highest number of attendees in the event’s history.

“We will continue to stand for justice regardless of who’s in the White House,” CAIR Los Angeles executive director Hussam Ayloush assured the large crowd, which came from all over the Golden State. “We do not let others determine our agenda. We’re doing what is right because this is the teaching of our religion. We stand for justice, and against racism, for all people.”

At a mid-morning press conference CAIR-CA, together with government officials and civic leaders, highlighted the following legislative priorities: 1. California Religious Freedom Act (SB31), which prohibits a state or local agency from participating in a federal program to create a database on a person’s religious beliefs, national origin or ethnicity for law enforcement or immigration purposes.

2. California Values Act (SB54), which would ensure that state and local resources are not used to fuel mass deportations, and that public schools, state health facilities and courthouses remain safe and accessible to all state residents, regardless of immigration status.

3. Hate Crime Reporting Standards (AB158), which would establish uniform hate crime reporting standards for all law enforcement agencies and ensure that hate crimes are properly recorded by officers at the local level.

4. Safe Place to Learn Act (AB1318), which would require the Education Department to assess whether the local educational agency has provided information to all employees on supporting students who face bias or bullying, as well as resources that support youth and families who have been subjected to these traumas.

“These days we are in right now are darker than any of us, I think, are able to remember,” California state Assembly member David Chiu (D-San Francisco), author of AB1318, told reporters gathered on the Capitol grounds. “If Donald

Girls listen to refugees speaking at ICNA town hall. come for all of us. The attacks today are on Muslims,” he said. “Yesterday it maybe was on Jews, and who knows who it is going to be on tomorrow.”

Other speakers included Andy Noguchi of the Japanese American Citizens League, Florin chapter; California Secretary of State Alex Padilla; California state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D–Bell Gardens), author of SB31, co-sponsored by CAIR-CA; Andrew Medina of Asian Americans Advancing Justice–California, a co-sponsor along with CAIR-CA of AB1318; and CAIR executive directors Basim Elkarra (Sacramento Valley), Hanif Mohebi (San Diego) and Zahra Billoo (San Francisco Bay Area).

Throughout the day, participants met with their state legislators or staff members to urge them to support these important bills, which affect the civil rights of all Californians.

“We hope through this event that we show California and the nation that only through action and civic engagement

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

The theme of this year’s annual convention convened by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Muslim American Society (MAS) was “Quest for True Success: Divine Message of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.” Instead of the usual Memorial Day weekend gathering at the convention center in Baltimore, MD, due to the timing of Ramadan this year, the 42nd annual ICNA-MAS Convention moved to Easter weekend, April 14-16.

The theme was tied to the Christian holiday celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, and speakers stitched together the common messages of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.

A group of mostly Syrian refugees addressed a Town Hall-type session, describing their current struggles finding work and learning English. ICNA moderators asked for audience members to sponsor the families who repeatedly said they don’t need money—what they need are mentors and guides.

One refugee asked where to find halal JUNE/JULY 2017

meat. Another said she was a chef who could cook everything. “I don’t know where or how to sell my food. Let me cook for your events,” she offered.

The room was full of families and children. One single mother asked for help minding her baby while she looked for a job. “I don’t need money. I need someone to help me so I can work, start my new life and support my family,” she said.

Asked what misconceptions they’ve discovered Americans have about refugees, one new arrival turned the question on its head. “Overseas we have a misconception of America,” he lamented. “We hear it’s the land of opportunity. Now that we’re here we discover rent is expensive, and it’s hard to find a job with the language barrier.”

Many of the refugees have left their network of family and friends behind.

They could benefit from having someone to guide them and confide in, ICNA hosts emphasized. After the meeting concluded, new friends enveloped the refugees. Once again ICNA, which has been helping refugees for decades, gave the latest arrivals to America the feeling that they’re part of a community that cares.

—Delinda C. Hanley

HUMAN RIGHTS Civil Rights Group Examines Hijab Rule

Je'Nan Hayes and her mother spoke at the monthly meeting of the Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition on April 4 at Richard Montgomery High School in Maryland. Hayes is the Watkins Mill High School student who was not allowed to play in her team's championship basketball game because she wears a hijab. It was her first year on the varsity team and, after playing 24 games, they’d made it to the championship. Before the contest, the head official informed Hayes’ coach, Donita Adams, of a rarely enforced rule requiring “documented evidence” that Hayes needed to cover her head for religious reasons. Hayes had played in the first 24 games of the season JUNE/JULY 2017

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 57

Three generations (l-r): Grandmother, granddaughter Je'Nan Hayes, and mother Carlitta Foster-Hayes. without anyone telling her or her coach about the rule.

Hayes said she was shocked and cried: “This was the first time I’d felt discriminated against.” Her mother, Carlitta Foster-Hayes, who always taught her daughter she could do anything she wants, asked her friends on Facebook what to do.

Maryland’s outreach manager from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Zainab Chaudry, said, “Let’s get the rule changed.” So they did.

Speakers from the Board of Education at the April meeting said they were deeply troubled, saddened, embarrassed and humiliated by this incident that took place in a county that is proud of its diversity. They thanked the teen and her mom for taking the lead on this and making the rule change.

Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, gave an overview of her organization and the tremendous progress made by Arab Americans.

Nonetheless, she said, during the recent election campaign it’s been “eye-opening to see that America still struggles with Islamophobia, xenophobia, homophobia and racism.”

The president did exactly what he promised with his “Muslim ban,” but there was immediate pushback by state attorneys, protests at airports and around the country, Berry noted. She also spoke about the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program [see p. 53], a surveillance system that cultivates faith leaders, teach-

ers and health providers to serve as informants to law enforcement, with tips then forwarded to Homeland Security fusion centers. A lot of funding is coming in to expand the CVE program and take it nationwide, Berry warned, and it will make our young people view themselves as “the other.”

—Delinda C. Hanley

Princess Basmah Speaks on International Women’s Day

The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted Saudi Arabian Princess Basmah Bint Saud Bin Abdulaziz for a discussion on April 12, International Women’s Day, about the growing role of women entrepreneurs in the Arab world and strategies for advancing female-led businesses. Basmah, who lives in Jeddah, argued that the greater engagement of women in the workforce and in leadership posts is key to ensuring a more prosperous and peaceful region. She discussed her experiences and insights, including the launch of a regional campaign to empower businesswomen.

Basmah described her own journey, as a divorcee raising five children, making her own money and growing in self-confidence as she re-invented herself, launching several successful careers. She’s become— in turn and simultaneously—a successful journalist, fashion designer, organic farmer, writer, caterer, and owner of an art cafe that features work from artists from Dar Al-Hekma University.

Basmah described the Kingdom’s New Family Law, under which she is now able

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

57

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 58

MUSIC & ARTS Alice Rothchild’s Condition Critical Portrays Daily Life in Palestine

Author/activist Dr. Alice Rothchild discussed her latest book, Condition Critical: Life and Death in Israel/Palestine, at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC on Feb. 10. An obstetrician-gynecologist by profession, Rothchild has been advocating for Palestinian rights through literature and film since 1997. Condition Critical exposes what day-to-day life is like in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza through the blog posts and essays she compiled on her annual trips to Palestine, a voyage she has undertaken every year since 2003.

“It is very powerful to pay attention to these intimate details to get a real understanding of what it is like to live under occupation,” Rothchild explained.

In sharing the stories of the many Pales58

Dr. Alice Rothchild reads excerpts from her recent book, Condition Critical.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

“Jerusalem, We Are Here” Offers a Portal to the Past

STAFF PHOTO K. LOVE

to register her children in hospitals and schools without requiring a male guardian.

She said she is confident that women will soon also have right to travel without seeking permission from a male guardian.

When asked about the ban on women driving, she explained that it’s not the most pressing priority for Saudi women. “We need our basic rights first.”

She encouraged Americans to speak to real Saudi women, who will dispel common stereotypes.

—Delinda C. Hanley

STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY

Princess Basmah Bint Saud Bin Abdulaziz.

administration, and what it meant for the people of Palestine.

Everyone in Palestine “was horrified” by then-candidate Trump, she recalled. “Who knows what is going on in Mr. Trump’s brain, but he is certainly creating an environment where the right wing feels completely able to do whatever it wants…

There’s a huge burst in settlement building, and that is happening because they feel unleashed. There is no one there to stop them.”

Condition Critical is available from the Washington Report’s Middle East Books and More. Rothchild’s talk can be viewed online at <www.thejerusalemfund.org/ 15804/book-talk-condition-critical>.

—Kailey Love

tinians she has met, Rothchild sheds light on the Palestinian narrative that often goes untold, stating her belief that “the sharing of personal narratives is a really powerful way to find the truth and to really understand the context in which history is occurring.”

Most of the experiences she shared from Condition Critical occurred during her time in Palestine between 2013 and 2015, and focused on the IDF’s treatment of Palestinian children, the lack of attention paid to women’s health issues, and the lives of refugees.

Rothchild co-founded American Jews for a Just Peace, an organization with chapters across the U.S. that promotes equality in the Israel-Palestine region. She “feels a sense of personal responsibility” to advocate for the Palestinians, she said, due to Israel’s claim that it “speaks for the Jews.”

“I found that I had to re-examine the meaning of my own Jewishness in light of the uncomfortable consequences of Zionism,” Rothchild said in discussing her discovery of critical Jewish activism against Israel during the 1960s.

In the Q&A session that followed her reading, Rothchild discussed the Trump

Imagine gaining access to memories that you thought were lost forever, buried by the reality of the present, and being able to relive them—virtually, at least.

On April 13, the Jerusalem Fund in Washington, DC hosted Dorit Naaman for a showing of her interactive documentary “Jerusalem, We Are Here.” Born an Israeli Jew who grew up in Jerusalem, and currently a film and media professor at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, Naaman’s innovative documentary opens the window to a forgotten past and allows displaced Palestinians to travel back to the Jerusalem they once knew.

Taking a total of six years to complete and released in November 2016, “Jerusalem, We Are Here” is a virtual tour that allows the viewer to “walk” through present-day Jerusalem. Primarily focused on the city’s Katamon neighborhood (where, notably, current Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lived in his youth following the Palestinian Nakba), three separate tours allow viewers to hear stories from the past while walking down the streets of the present.

A compilation of interviews, video clips and computer animations appear throughout each tour as one passes specific houses, giving personal testimonies from those who were expelled from their homes JUNE/JULY 2017

PHOTO COURTESY JERUSALEM FUND

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 59

in 1948. Naaman gathered information about the homes along the route and offers a description of the family that once lived there, accompanied by family photos and often featuring a video or animation clip.

Many of the video segments feature interviews with the original Palestinian residents, their children or grandchildren who try to go back to Katamon, handheld cameras capturing their return to a home that is now unrecognizable. All three tours take roughly two hours to complete, based on the participant’s level of interest.

Naaman’s goal when she set out to create the documentary was to preserve the “history of a people somewhat extinguished by the world.” She was inspired to create the documentary and develop its unique approach to storytelling, she explained, because she felt it was important to “map and tell the stories of a Jerusalem that is no longer there” and protect a community from being lost.

Even though the documentary has been released to the public, it is still a work in progress. Naaman continues to gather information and stories and attempt to connect with former Katamon residents, uploading new details as she goes.

Though it is bittersweet for original residents and their families to return to the streets and houses that have been taken from them, it serves as a reminder that, as the title explains, although they may be physically gone, their memories remain.

They are still here, and they still rememJUNE/JULY 2017

ber. To view Naaman’s documentary visit <https://jerusalemwearehere.com/#/>.

—Kailey Love

PHOTO COURTESY MARK RICHEY

Dorit Naaman describes her documentary.

year-old Palestinian left several unfinished novels, as well as his most famous work, Men in the Sun, an allegory of the Palestinian experience in the Nakba.

Included in the Palestinian Youth Movement presentation were stories by local young Palestinian Americans. Those authors were recognized during the program, and awarded prizes: the first prize going to Jazelle Jaja.

An audience of about 75 enjoyed local musicians, coffee and snacks, interspersed with the reading of Kanafani’s early story The Stolen Shirt.“Without our stories we have no voice,” organizers noted. “Having a voice is synonymous with the capacity to challenge structures of power.”

The Studio Grand is a performance venue on a main street in a primarily residential neighborhood. Attendees lingered,

The Palestinian Youth Movement encourages local Palestinian-American writers.

Palestinian Youth Movement Releases Kanafani Anthology

The Palestinian Youth Movement organized an evening to celebrate the life and work of Palestinian writer and artist Ghassan Kanafani and the release of an anthology on April 8 at Studio Grand in Oakland, CA. The Palestinian Youth Movement compiled the anthology of writing and commentary on Kanafani, who led a politically engaged life and whom Israel assassinated in a 1972 car bomb attack in Beirut. The 36-

enjoying the warmth of the event, until the Studio Grand closed for the evening!

—Mark Richey

The Voices From the Holy Land Film Series

A coalition of more than 25 interfaith (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Unitarian) and interdenominational organizations in the Washington, DC metropolitan region sponsored the third annual “Voices From the Holy Land Film Series,” from Feb. 19 to April 23 at the Washington National Cathe-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

59

dral. According to organizers, the film series was established because “mainstream media does not do a good job of presenting fully and fairly all sides of the issue; there is more ‘repeating’ of the loudest voice than ‘reporting.’ Lost in all of this cacophony are the voices of the people living in the Holy Land.”

By showing films made by Israeli, Palestinian, American and European filmmakers the interfaith organizations sought to change this narrative. Many of the screenings, featuring the filmmakers, were standing-room only. After each of the following film screenings, there was a Q/A with the audience.

“Two Blue Lines” “Where Should The Birds Fly?” “Occupation of the American Mind: Israel’s Public Relations War in the United States” “Open Bethlehem” “The Living of Pigeons” and “East Jerusalem: Six Voices” “Out of Cordoba: Averroes and Maimonides in Their Time and Ours.”

Visit their website, <www.voicesfromtheholyland.org> for ideas to plan film screenings in your city.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Art Gallery Focuses on Syria Crisis

The Gallery Al-Quds at the Jerusalem Fund in Washington, DC has had a dizzying 60

number of exhibits in the past months. The exhibits “They Have Names” and “Forty out

of One Million,” both of which opened on April 21, contain stunning photographs by Berlin-based photographers Daniel Sonnentag and Kai Wiedenhöfer, who capture the impact of the Syrian conflict and the urgent humanitarian crisis.

Sonnentag began volunteering at the International Congress Center (ICC) Berlin refugee camp in 2015. He has become a regular face in the camp, accompanying the kids on excursions, teaching kick boxing, and becoming a mentor to many. His photographic work examines the social issues of integration of immigrants and the communication between people of different cultural and religious backgrounds.

Wiedenhöfer snapped portraits of 40 Syrian war-wounded in towns, villages and refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon between spring 2014 and 2015. By showing the genuine aftermath of this war, he tries to raise support for people who are in des-

Photos by Daniel Sonnentag (TOP) and Kai Wiedenhöfer (ABOVE) remind viewers that the Syrian civil war is more than a list of casualties.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

PHOTOS OF PHOTOS D. HANLEY

“Two Blue Lines” director Tom Hayes and “Open Bethlehem” director Leila Sansour.

STAFF PHOTOS D. HANLEY

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 60

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 61

perate need. The war will never end for them, as they will have to endure their injuries for the rest of their lives.

—Delinda C. Hanley

U.S.–Egypt Relations In the Trump Era

Five days before Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visited the White House, the Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) and the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) co-hosted a March 30 panel on the topic “Egypt and the United States under the Trump Administration” at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. In his opening remarks, ACW’s executive director Khalil Jahshan noted that democracy is a central issue to both ACW and POMED, and that the latest annual survey conducted by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha revealed that 80 percent of Egyptians believe democracy is the best form of government.

POMED executive director Stephen McInerney reminded the audience that President el-Sisi’s visit was the first of an Egyptian president to the White House since former President Barack Obama welcomed then-President Hosni Mubarak in August of 2009. When Trump was running for president, he called Sisi “a fantastic guy” and praised his iron-fisted methods, saying, “He took control of Egypt. And he really took control of it.”

Al-Hayat Washington bureau chief Joyce Karam introduced the panelists and moderated the 90-minute discussion.

Paris-based Bahey Eldin Hassan, cofounder and director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, delineated five points on the present situation in Egypt under President el-Sisi: 1. The lack of justice and absence of accountability for the massive human rights abuses in Egypt, including mass killings, systematic torture of convicts and forced disappearances.

2. The eradication of all forms of peaceful activism, such as social and cultural acJUNE/JULY 2017

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

WAGING PEACE

(L-r) Michele Dunne, Joyce Karam, Khalil Jahshan, Bahey Eldin Hassan, Moataz El-Fegiery and Tom Malinowski. tivities, and even raiding downtown coffee shops where young people meet. “Such policy of zero tolerance toward peaceful activities renders the stability of Egypt as an impossibility,” he argued.

3. A huge gap in the political, cultural and social values between President elSisi and the younger generation.

4. The erosion of major state institutions, such as the parliament and judiciary.

5. The rapidly deteriorating security situation in the Sinai as ISIS sets up checkpoints at al-Arish, which is only 90 miles from the Suez Canal. Without a major increase in security, Hassan warned, “Sinai may very well become Egypt’s Mosul.”

Elaborating on the subject of Egypt’s dismal human rights record, London-based Moataz El-Fegiery, protection coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at Front Line Defenders, reported that there are now around 60,000 political prisoners, including journalists, human rights activists and “others who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Democracy activists and human rights defenders in Egypt now are under constant threat of being charged with treason “or worse,” he said.

Tom Malinowski, former assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, pivoted to the subject of U.S. military aid to Egypt. “There are a lot of American-provided F-16s in Egypt that show up at military parades and celebrations,” he noted, “but I have not seen any of them show up in the sky over Mosul, where Americans and our coalition partners are

actually fighting a common enemy.”

Turning to the subject of Cairo’s relationship with Washington, Michele Dunne, director and senior fellow at the Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, argued that Egypt’s internal affairs are the reason for the cooling of American-Egyptian relations going back to the George W. Bush presidency.

“Both Bush and Obama became disillusioned because they saw that the internal problems in Egypt make it a very problematic ally for the United States,” she stated.

“Human rights abuses have driven young people to despair and radicalization, thereby fueling terrorism inside of Egypt, which is a very serious problem that cannot be denied."

On the subject of the economy, Dunne warned, “We’re looking at a serious economic situation in Egypt, including a high unemployment rate—30 percent among young people and an even higher rate for university graduates.” With respect to generating jobs, she added, “We see that President Sisi has adopted a strategy that is not aimed at generating jobs for Egyptians, that is not aimed at human development. Instead he has put billions of dollars into projects led by the military.”

Human rights abuses coupled with a deteriorating economy is “a recipe for very serious instability” in this country of 94 million that is a bridge between Africa and Asia. “Will President Trump unconditionally support Egypt?" Dunne wondered.

—Elaine Pasquini

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

61

(L-r) Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani and Khalil Jahshan call for accountability for casualties in Syria.

Will U.N.’s Accountability Mechanism Provide Justice in Syria?

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, a total of 188,279 civilians have been killed at the hands of the Assad regime, the Syrian Network for Human Rights claimed in November 2016. That number is only a portion of the estimated 470,000 deaths during five years of violent civil war, many of them occurring in the midst of human rights violations and war crimes.

At its third “Diplomatic Luncheon” on Feb. 8, Arab Center Washington DC hosted Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif AlThani from the State of Qatar and Ambassador Christian Wenaweser from the Principality of Liechtenstein, their countries’ permanent representatives to the U.N., to address the mounting toll of these war crimes, and U.N. efforts to push for accountability for all participants.

In his opening remarks, Arab Center executive director Khalil Jahshan cited a recent example of this violence that had been revealed the previous day.

“While the bloodbath in Syria unfortunately continues, unabated, we are shocked to hear in the news in the past 24 hours reports of the mass hangings and exterminations that took place at Sednaya since 2011 and have been kept somehow under wraps,” he said.

That report, published by Amnesty Inter62

national, claimed that up to 13,000 prisoners had been executed by mass hanging at Sednaya Military Prison outside Damascus from 2011 to 2015—a prime example of war crimes left unaccounted for.

“People of conscience everywhere need to raise their voices and state, unequivocally, enough is enough,” Jahshan said.

Both representatives cited frustration at how little discussion occurs on the subject of accountability, which they said only appears as an “afterthought” in any conversation on the Syrian conflict within the U.N. “There was always a very strong focus on the political process,” Ambassador Wenaweser said. “There was extremely little and almost no discussion on accountability…we very strongly agreed that this was wrong.”

To bring an end to these casualties and lack of accountability, the U.N. General Assembly passed Resolution 71/248 on Dec. 21, 2016, creating an “International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic.” This IIIM resolution, sponsored by the representatives of Qatar and Liechtenstein, received 105 votes in favor, 51 abstentions, and 15 votes against.

“We strongly believe—and this goes beyond Syria—that this is a decision that has much more far-reaching implications,” Am-

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

STAFF PHOTO K. LOVE

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 62

bassador Wenaweser explained, “because the General Assembly has never asserted its competence in this area in the way it has done now.”

Ambassador Al-Thani said she considered the IIIM mechanism to be “actually the most practical step taken by the U.N. General Assembly since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.”

Often referred to as “Triple IM,” the mechanism will gather information and evidence to prepare case studies for any court—such as the International Criminal Court or Syrian National Courts—that will have jurisdiction over these cases in the future. IIIM is intended to work impartially, and not focus on perpetrator-specific cases based on affiliation. Its ultimate goal is to ensure justice for the victims of these crimes and for all the Syrian people affected by the violence.

“The absence of justice and [presumption of] impunity encourage committing further crimes, and this is what we are seeing in Syria every day,” Ambassador AlThani said, speaking of the growth of extremism due to violence left unaccounted for by the international community and the Syrian government. “We believe that this resolution has created the right deterrent.”

The next steps in this process include appointing a head of IIIM to carry out operations, drafting terms of reference, and finding a place where proceedings may take place once enough evidence has been compiled. However, in order to move forward, funding is required. The IIIM requires about $5 to $6 million in cross-regional state donations to kickstart the mechanism and keep it running.

“If we want to give strength to this process, we need to provide funds,” Ambassador Al-Thani stated. “Everyone can help in any way possible. There’s no ownership. It’s not an intergovernmental process purely. The resolution identifies the important role played by every party— by member states, the U.N. bodies, individuals and organizations.”

While the United States was initially a co-sponsor of the resolution, and was very active in helping it gain support within the U.N., it is unclear whether the Trump adJUNE/JULY 2017

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 63

ministration will continue to stand behind it and provide the necessary support.

“We have no indication from the new administration one way or the other, but of course we hope that there will be continued support for this project, including financial support, but we do not know,” Wenaweser concluded.

—Kailey Love

Pro-Israel Americans Much More Likely to Support Bombing of Syria, Denying Entry to Refugees

Americans who believe that U.S. foreign policy should lean toward Israel are significantly more likely to support President DonJUNE/JULY 2017

Protesters at the The ANSWER Coalition protest in Washington, DC.

ever, when Israel was factored into the equation. Among those who want the U.S. to lean toward Israel (roughly one-third of Americans), 77 percent voiced support for the strike. “That’s true of Republicans, that’s true of Democrats, that’s true of Independents,” Telhami noted. “People who want the U.S. to lean toward Israel tend to be more supportive of the strikes than the rest of the population, regardless of party line.”

Just 38 percent of those who lean toward Palestine or neither side said they support the attack.

Supporters of Israel also were much more likely to be opposed to the U.S. taking in fully vetted refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries. Overall, 59 percent of Americans said they support the U.S. accepting these refugees, while just 40 percent of Israel’s supporters expressed this view.

Asked about Trump’s travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries, 80 percent of pro-Israel Americans expressed their support, while just 30 percent of those favoring Palestine or neither side said they agree with the Prof. Shibley Telhami’s poll shows Americans who support Is- ban. Overall, 49 percent of rael also support Trump’s travel ban.

Americans expressed sup-

ald Trump’s decisions to bomb a Syrian military airfield and to deny entry to refugees and travelers from the Middle East, according to a poll conducted in mid-April by University of Maryland professor Shibley Telhami.

Discussing the poll’s findings at the Brookings Institution on May 11, Telhami noted that, overall, 52 percent of Americans support Trump’s April 6 decision to strike a Syrian government airfield. As expected, the poll revealed a deep partisan divide, with 81 percent of Republicans supporting this escalation of the U.S. role in Syria, compared to just 31 percent of Democrats and 34 percent of Independents.

This partisan divide disappeared, how-

STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY

More than 100 human rights defenders gathered in Lafayette Square across from the White House on April 7 to protest the U.S. military’s airstrike the previous day on Syria’s al-Shayrat airbase. The U.S. action was in response to an April 5 chemical attack on Khan Shaykhun, in the country’s northwestern Idlib province, allegedly ordered by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a U.S. warship reportedly killed seven people, including four children.

Protesters carried signs reading “Hands Off Syria” and “No War on Syria” in both English and Spanish. Some displayed flags of the Free Syrian Army, a faction founded in 2011 by former officers of the Syrian Armed Forces who are dedicated to bringing down the Assad government.

While the protesters at the evening rally were vehemently against the Assad regime, they still did not want the American military to be involved in a war on Syria.

Activists demanded the U.S. military refrain from further air attacks and that all U.S. troops—even those acting in a socalled advisory capacity—depart Syria and Iraq immediately. The crowd also called on President Donald J. Trump to allow Syrian refugees into the U.S., a humanitarian action the president opposes.

The ANSWER Coalition organized the Washington, DC protest, along with others held in San Francisco and New York City.

—Elaine Pasquini

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

Protesters Condemn U.S. Airstrike On Syria

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

63

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 64

port for the ban.

Telhami’s poll also measured how Americans believe Trump’s April 6 strike will impact the future of the war in Syria.

More than half of the respondents—51 percent—believe the strike will have no impact on efforts to end the violence. A plurality—42 percent—believe the attack will result in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad targeting the Syrian opposition more aggressively. The poll also found that 66 percent of Americans believe Assad used chemical weapons against the town of Khan Shaykhun on April 4, while 23 percent said they were uncertain. The U.S. strike on the Syrian government airfield was launched in response to this alleged chemical attack.

In a rare area of bipartisan agreement, 63 percent of those surveyed said they believe the U.S. strike makes it more likely that American military involvement in the conflict will grow. This view was shared by 55 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Independents.

Despite clear skepticism that the strike will help end the war and fear it will increase the likelihood of an expanded U.S. military presence, Telhami believes a small majority of Americans still approved of the strike simply because they believe a message needed to be sent to Assad.

“Among Democrats and Independents who are supporting this strike, they’re not supporting it because they think it’s going to make Syria better, but more because of the punitive [aspect]—you know, it’s about time we hit them for use of chemical weapons,” he said. —Dale Sprusansky

watchwords of this massive, noisy meeting of activists on Chicago’s Near-South Side.

United by the national meeting’s slogan, “All In!”, participants called for an end to Israel’s brutal military occupation in the Palestinian territories, and an end to racism and discrimination against Palestinians within pre-1967 Israel.

More than 45 speakers crowded the speakers’ platform over the three days of plenaries and workshops. One plenary, “Let’s Talk About Zionism,” looked at “the

connections between Zionism, white supremacy, and anti-Semitism in the TrumpNetanyahu era,” and explored “practical visions for imagining a world beyond Zionism.”

The wide array of workshops ranged from “Local Organizing Challenging Islamophobia and Racism” to “Fighting AntiBoycott State Legislation: Legal, Media, and Organizing Strategies.”

“Knitting is a good metaphor for the work we’re doing,” declared JVP executive director Rebecca Vilkomerson, referring to

The 2017 National Member Meeting of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), held at Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center, galvanized the energies of the 1,000 advocates—Jews and non-Jews alike— who participated in the March 31-April 2 event. JVP members kicked off the long weekend with a raucous klezmer ensemble and ended with a stirring call to practice a prophetic Judaism insisting on justice for all.

Intersectionality and solidarity were the 64

(TOP) JVP executive director Rebecca Vilkomerson; (MIDDLE) Prof. Robin D. G. Kelley; (ABOVE) Prof. Judith Butler.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

PHOTOS COURTESY JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE

“All In!” Jewish Voice for Peace Calls for Palestinian Liberation, Participation in BDS

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/25/17 8:07 AM Page 65

JUNE/JULY 2017

“We’re going to occupy the occupation.”

Rachel Gilmer, a black feminist organizer and author who co-directs the Florida-based youth movement The Dream Defenders, built the case for African-American action in the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Israel has been selling “counter-terrorism” training and equipment “to police around the world,” including U.S. police departments. G4S, the third-largest corporation in the world, has for years been supplying security equipment to Israeli prisons incarcerating Palestinians as well as U.S. prisons incarcerating African Americans and other minorities. “The fight for liberation of Palestinians is our fight—a global war for dignity and self-determination,” Gilmer concluded, addressing African Americans in the Black Lives Matter movement and throughout American society.

Kristian Davis Bailey described how “the Zionist military carries out its military campaigns against indigenous people.” He also examined the design of “settler colonies,” and Jewish settler violence against Palestinians.

Kalia Abiade, journalist and program director of the Pillars Fund, which focuses on Muslim civic engagement in the U.S., reminded the JVP audience of the “wellfunded Islamophobia movement in the United States.” For example, she said, “Act for America (AFA) is an explicitly antiMuslim organization that claims 800-1,000 members” and is involved in “securing our borders,” supports Israel, and has “state legislators in their pockets.” It also harasses Muslim Student Associations and

PHOTO B. HUGHES

the broad coalition of blacks, women, churches, campus groups, and others making up the BDS movement. She highlighted the pioneering work of Jews of color—“Jews of Color and/or Sephardic/ Mizrahi Jews” (JOCSM)—who held their own caucus on the JVP national meeting’s opening day.

Robin D.G. Kelley, author and professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of California, remarked that female-dominated JVP is “one of the groups to remind the movement” that the Palestine struggle “is a women’s issue.” Kelley then recalled Martin Luther King’s memorable speech against the Vietnam War, which he delivered at New York’s Riverside Church 50 years ago, on April 4, 1967. One sometimes is called upon “to be a traitor to a nation state in order to be loyal to humanity,” Kelley asserted.

Judith Butler, a University of California Berkeley professor who serves on the JVP advisory board and also on the international board of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, shared her vision of JVP as “an organization of allies.” “We don’t spend a lot of time deciding who is Jewish,” she quipped. “What is Jewish? A kind of living joyously,” Butler continued, “an openness to many voices.” On the other hand, she asserted, “Zionism is ultimately anti-Semitic.…Ashkenazi rule [in Israel] wants to maintain itself at all costs.”

Describing Jewish Voice for Peace as “a cacophonous chorus,” Butler went on to note that JVP has grown to the point where it now numbers 250,000 constituents, with 12,000 financial supporters and 70 chapters coast-to-coast.

“We need to build power,” urged Palestinian organizer Fadi Quran, senior campaigner for Avaaz (a civic organization that promotes global activism) in Palestine.

“Power is built on five pillars,” he stated, adding that it is “only through collective genius that we can achieve it.” Quran spoke of (1) military power versus nonviolent resistance, (2) economic power, (3) cohesiveness in the movement, (4) alliances, and (5) moral clarity—“a connection of spirituality” along with “a connection of action.”

He modestly but forthrightly predicted,

the leaders of mosques, she noted.

Tareq Baconi, a Palestinian with a Ph.D. in international relations from Kings College London, castigated Israeli military tribunals for “the 98.7 percent conviction rate of Palestinians.” On the other hand, the policy fellow at the transnational Palestinian think tank Al-Shabaka condemned the Palestinian Authority for acting “as a partner in the occupation.”

A stirring closing plenary provided inspiration and energy for “the fights and work ahead,” reminding national meeting participants that organizing for justice must be “All In!” in “our communities, in our families, in the streets, in our houses of [worship], in the courts, and of course in our hearts.”

Rabbi Alissa Wise, JVP’s current deputy director who co-founded the organization’s rabbinical council, regaled and inspired her audience, saying that JVP should engage “in deep rapid response to whatever crisis” it encounters concerning the Palestinians, in a “loving, intentional” way.

“Many more will join” in the effort to build “the world to come!,” the rabbi concluded.

—Paul H. Verduin

Orthodox Rabbis Welcome President Abbas to White House

A delegation of 14 Orthodox Jewish rabbis who oppose the Zionist ideology rallied in front of the White House May 3 to welcome the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to town. He was meeting in White House with President Donald Trump.

In a written statement, the delegation’s leader, Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, said

Orthodox Jewish rabbis welcome President Mahmoud Abbas.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

65

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 66

to absorb them. Therefore, Jews needed a state of their own in their ancestral homeland.

However, at the birth of Zionism, more than 90 percent of the population of Palestine was nonJewish. The only option for Zionist Jews, then, was transfer of the indigenous population, i.e., ethnic cleansing. For decades this was denied. The consensus view was that Palestine was empty—much, Finkelstein noted, as pioneers in America considered the new world a virgin land. Then in his 1987 book, The Birth of the Palestinian Finkelstein on Anti-Zionism Refugee Problem, Israeli historian Dr. Norman Finkelstein says the U.N. has been generous to IsVs. Anti-Semitism Benny Morris identified transfer as rael since its beginning. “inevitable and inbuilt into ZionDr. Norman Finkelstein addressed the question of whether anti-Zionism is survival of Judaism in an increasingly sec- ism,” which led to Palestinian resistance in anti-Semitism in a Feb. 16 talk sponsored ular world and amid growing assimilation. self-defense. In his next book, Righteous by the Princeton Committee on Palestine. Physical survival became more urgent be- Victims (1999), Morris wrote that the entirely rational fear of territorial displaceFinkelstein has been studying this issue ginning in the 1930s.

Finkelstein described the two basic ment and dispossession were the chief since his time as a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton, where his dissertation focused types of nationalism. In civic (also called motivating factors in Arab opposition to on the theory of Zionism. He explained liberal or political) nationalism, as in post- Zionism, both in 1948 and after 1967. that Zionism developed at the end of the Revolutionary France and the United Finkelstein characterized the Palestinian 19th century to address two concerns: the States, one’s nationality is based on citi- stance as anti-ethnic cleansing rather than physical survival of Jews, and the spiritual zenship and entails choice. He quoted his- anti-Semitism. As in American attitudes totorian Eric Hobsbawm’s ward their own indigenous population, for definition: “Americans Israelis and their American supporters the are those who wish to overall final good justifies cruel acts; thus be.” In ethnic national- they find “Palestinians psychotic because ism, which includes they refuse to recognize that their ethnic Zionism, a nation is an cleansing was morally just.”

One argument that anti-Zionism is motiexclusive, organic whole of people of common vated by anti-Semitism is that, of all the descent, wherever they just causes in the world, so much internamay live. In this version, tional attention is fixated on Palestine and the nation one belongs the Zionist state. Finkelstein pointed out to is determined at birth. that white South Africans also felt unfairly Even if citizens, German singled out for criticism during the antiJews were and Palestin- apartheid era.

Israelis and their supporters view the ian Israelis are foreign bodies, aliens in some- United Nations as particularly hostile to Isone else’s nation. rael. But Finkelstein sees the international Finkelstein noted that community as being generous to Israel Zionist leader Chaim from the beginning. The 1947 partition plan L.A. 4 Palestine and Women Weizmann, a chemist, (Security Council Resolution 181) gave 56 in Black-Los Angeles staged a wrote that Europe has a percent of the land to the one-third of the demonstration in front of the saturation level of 10-15 population that was Jewish. After Israel Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles on Feb. 15. percent for Jews, be- took half of the remaining territory allotted yond which it is not able to an Arab state and expelled 90 percent of STAFF PHOTO SAMIR TWAIR

STAFF PHOTO J. ADAS

they were glad the meeting was taking place. He added: “We hope a way will be found to bring an end to the decades of bloodshed that the Zionist occupation has brought upon the entire population of Palestine, Jews and Arabs alike.”

Rabbi Weiss continued: “We Jews wish the American and Palestinian presidents the utmost success.” The rabbis’ delegation comprised members of Neturei Karta International, a worldwide community of Orthodox Rabbis.

—Bill Hughes

66

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 67

PHOTO COURTESY IQRAA

volunteers have raised more the indigenous population, the than $208,000 for UPA-impleU.N. still admitted Israel as a mented education projects. member state and did not enWe also partner with the force the Palestinian Right of Marathon Charity Cooperation, Return (Security Council Resoan umbrella group of locally lution 194). Following the 1967 based charities, many with inwar, which Finkelstein labeled ternational focus and reach. The an Israeli act of aggression, the MCC and its charity partners U.N. demanded an Israeli withprovide training and race day drawal not to the partition line support for all our runners. This but to the Green Line, and made includes coaches, running adit conditional upon Arab states vice, pace groups, food, drink, renouncing aggression. The inand shelter on race day. We ternational community did not train at about a half-dozen trails allow South Africa to get away in the metropolitan area on a rowith black Bantustans, but has tating basis. accepted a similar solution for IsHere’s an important fact about rael. our Iqraa runners. We have runIsrael, Finkelstein concluded, ners at all levels: fast and slow, is the ethical challenge of our beginners and veterans. All that time, not because of anti-Semimatters is a desire to work to imtism, but because of the approve educational opportunities palling features of its treatment Iqraa’s 2016 Baltimore Half-Marathon team (l-r) Cathy Baker, Kirk for Palestinians. Even so, our of Palestinians. “If we eliminate Campbell and Jamylah Baruti. runners include some outstandthe terrorist background noise, it’s hard to come up with a more unjust sit- raising to provide university scholarships ing achievers. Some of us have become uation.” There is the longevity: 100 years to Palestinians in Gaza and the West certified coaches through a program run by the Road Runners Club of America. And since the Balfour Declaration; 50 years Bank. since occupation; 10 years since Israel’s • The initial training run is one mile for several Iqraa runners have qualified for the blockade and siege of Gaza. There is the half-marathoners and three miles for prestigious Boston Marathon, probably the “inequity of Biblical proportion,” Finkelstein marathoners. The training mileage in- most elite of American marathons because argued. For example, in less than six creases incrementally each week to en- of its time-based qualification regime.

Iqraa has established itself as a permayears, Israel has launched three assaults sure runners gain racing fitness without nent fixture on the Washington, DC runon Gaza, where more than half the popu- risking injury. lation is under 18 and are refugees. In the • Iqraa runners reflect the diverse back- ning and volunteer-philanthropy scene. most recent, Operation Protective Edge in ground of interests and passions that Since 2008, 148 Iqraa runners have com2014, 550 Palestinian children were killed make up American society and the Wash- pleted the Marine Corps Marathon or 10K, and one Israeli child; 18,000 Palestinian ington, DC metro area. It is a non-sectar- the Baltimore Running Festival Halfhomes were destroyed and one Israeli ian and non-political association. We’re Marathon or 5K, and a number of other home. Suffering of such disproportion just a group of runners united by our slo- long-distance races such as the Richmakes “a mockery of the demand for bal- gan and mission statement, “Running for mond, Twin Cities, and Boston Marathons.

This year, we’re running the Prince William ance.”

—Jane Adas a brighter Palestine.”

• Our slogan is featured prominently on Half-Marathon on Oct. 1 and the Marine Season Ten of Iqraa: Running for a our red-and-white running jerseys, which Corps Marathon on Oct. 22. Runners can Brighter Palestine! are sponsored by United Palestinian Ap- also pick other races that are compatible Team Iqraa began our 10th season of run- peal. Each Iqraa runner earns a free run- with our May-October training schedule.

In 2016, Iqraa raised over $20,000, ning for a brighter Palestine on Saturday, ning jersey by running and fund-raising.

Iqraa cooperates closely with UPA, a enough to fund about 20 scholarships. We May 6. Here are a few things you should 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization. would love to have more runners so we know about us.

• Our slogan reflects our desire to im- All donations raised by Iqraa runners go to can support more of these deserving stuprove educational opportunities for Pales- UPA-implemented scholarship programs at dents. UPA works with nine universities to tinian youth. Iqraa, which means “Read” in nine universities in the West Bank and facilitate such scholarships, including six in Arabic, is devoted to running and fund- Gaza Strip. Since 2008, Iqraa runners and the West Bank—Birzeit, Al Quds, Dar al JUNE/JULY 2017

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

67

Kalima, An Najah, Bethlehem University and Palestine Polytechnic—and three in Gaza, including Al Azhar, University of Palestine, and University College of Applied Sciences.

The 2016 running program was highly successful. Returning runners formed a solid core of mentors and experienced fund-raisers. Most of our runners were able to raise more than $1,000 to help us reach our goal. Our fund-raising was greatly bolstered by a dedicated core of volunteers who contributed more than $4,000 of the total.

Here are two final thoughts to share about our program. First, running with Team Iqraa is a great way to get in shape or improve running fitness, meet good and dedicated people, and perform selfless charity work for a great cause. As our runners prove each year, anyone willing to make the commitment can be an Iqraa runner and complete a long-distance race.

UPA hosted two information sessions for anyone who wanted to run for Iqraa— particularly beginning runners—in 2017.

The info sessions were held on Wednesday, April 26 and April 29 at UPA’s office at 1330 New Hampshire Ave, NW near Dupont Circle. For more information, just e-mail me. We look forward to running for a brighter Palestine with you.

—KirkCampbell, kirkcruachan@yahoo.com

Gaza children with their teacher, Kifah Kudaih.

has when thrown into the sea.

Another video depicted a school in Japan where pupils clean their classroom.

“We want to visit the children in Japan and we want the Japanese children to visit us in Gaza,” one of the Khan Younis kids declared.

Afterwards the children cleaned their classroom and decorated it with balloons and flags. They also cleaned their playground and planted flowers and plants in recycled and colored plastic bottles.

The second day, which was World Health Day, the children were bused to a park where they played fun healing games, had lunch, enjoyed splashing in a swimming pool, and received coloring books and crayons as gifts.

PHOTO COURTESY ELANA GOLDEN

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/25/17 8:07 AM Page 68

Kudaih and his team at “Heart Beat Youth Center” said they believe that this event will give the children the sense that they have the power to improve their environment, and hence their daily lives. Such small actions can help relieve the pressures of PTSD and restore a sense of belonging to something greater.

The event was funded by donations from media consultant Elana Golden in Los Angeles and Veronique Ho in France.

—Samir and Pat Twair

Being a Sweetheart to Refugee Children on Valentine’s Day

Overwhelmed by the sight of so many refugee children barely surviving in horrendous conditions, an Iraqi Muslim woman

“Beautiful Environment,” an ecology program for kids ages 6 to 12, took place on April 6 and 7 in Khan Younis, Gaza, Palestine. The program was created and implemented by Kifah Kudaih, founder and director of the Khan Younis-based “Heart Beat Youth Center,” and his team of teachers and psychologists. “Heart Beat Youth Center” offers programs that empower children and youth and help them heal from the trauma of war.

On the first day, the children were taught the importance of hygiene and of protecting their environment. They watched a video that explained how plastic is not biodegradable, and the hazardous effect it 68

A Nakba 69 protest in front of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles on May 15, marking the 69th anniversary of the Palestinian catastrophe, turned nasty when counter-protesters carrying Israeli flags attacked demonstrators, throwing eggs and shouting epithets.

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR

L.A.-Gaza Children Enjoy Heart Beat Youth Center Program

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 69

STAFF PHOTO M. GILLESPIE

PHOTO COURTESY E. SIEGEL

beautiful art of all.” and an American Jewish woman United Palestinian Appeal has decided to do something positive to launched a program to help Beit try and help. They organized an Atfal Assumoud or NISCVT. Visit event on Feb. 11—“Be a Sweet<www.helpupa.org/beitassumoud> heart to Iraqi, Syrian, Palestinian for more information. and Lebanese Children.” The invita—Ellen Siegel tion promised the gathering would be “Better than Chocolate!”

DMCW and VFP Establish Several dozen people, including “24/7 War Zone Picket Line” Jews, Muslims and Christians, in Des Moines gathered at a home just outside Baltimore, MD. Guests purchased At noon on May 11, members of the paintings and cards crafted by the Des Moines Catholic Worker Iraqi-American hostess, as well as (DMCW) and Veterans For Peace handmade knitted scarves, gloves, (VFP) Chapter 163 established blankets, jewelry and stunning art what a joint press release described works. Unique handmade books as a “Stop the Killing 24/7 War Zone with drawings and poems by the Picket Line & Direct Nonviolent AcJewish hostess were also offered tion Campaign” at the entrance to Palestinian embroidery from BAS. for purchase. Attractive Palestinian the Iowa Air National Guard’s 132nd embroidery items from the organiWing base at the Des Moines Interzation National Institution for Social Care event, the Iraqi organizer said, “I can’t help national Airport. and Vocational Training (NISCVT), also but feel sad and helpless when looking at “We’re drawing attention to something known as Beit Atfal Assumoud (BAS), these children, who through no fault of that should be obvious, an active war zone made by women in refugee camps in their own, find themselves in this terrible on the south side of Des Moines,” deLebanon were available to buy. Several situation. I must do what I can to help.” clared DMCW founder and former priest The Jewish organizer remarked, “Arab Frank Cordaro. guests donated funds to sponsor a kindergarten child in the camps through NIS- and Jewish friends in Baltimore are com“These drone command centers were mitted to continuing the effort to raise put together by the Obama administration, CVT. Delicious refreshments were served, funds to assist refugees and victims of war which made drones their choice of and the ambiance lent itself to wonderful and instability in the Middle East, as well weapons to kill. And [Donald] Trump told discussions on how to continue to help. as the refugees here in the United States. us clearly, in December before he was Guests were all inspired and heartened by Creating art is a beautiful human en- elected, that the way to get ISIS is you each other. One guest shared her experi- deavor, but the art of sharing is the most gotta kill their families,” said Cordaro. ence of volunteering at Standing Rock to protest and stand in solidarity with the American Indian tribes in order to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline. She remarked that her “experience will be something she will never forget.” An elderly Iraqi woman spoke about having to leave some of her family behind in Iraq in order to provide safety for her family’s escape. An Iranian man shared his experiences of what it was like being in Iran after the fall of the shah and at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution. A Palestinian man said he was leaving soon for Jerusalem in order to attempt to reclaim his home and land.

Guests found the feeling of being with like-minded folks at this point in history to be uplifting and satisfying.

When asked why she was having this Catholic Worker Frank Cordaro at the entrance of the Iowa Air Guard base in Des Moines.

JUNE/JULY 2017

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

69

On Dec. 3, 2015, then-candidate Trump told the hosts of Fox and Friends, that because terrorists don’t care about their own lives, “you have to take out their families.

They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself.”

Continued Cordaro: “What’s going on here is that folks are here killing people’s families, women and children. This is a war zone. We’re begging the local Christian community to take a look at this moral issue. It’s urgent. It’s important. And it’s what Jesus would do.”

Military air operations from a base in Des Moines began in 1941. The 132nd Wing’s predecessor, the 365th Fighter Group, flew its last mission in Europe in 1945. In 2013, Congress changed the Des Moines wing— which until then had only operated manned fighter aircraft—to a multi-mission unit operating RPA (remotely piloted aircraft) MQ9 Reapers, an ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) group, and a cyber operations squadron. RPA or UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles), commonly known as “drones,” have become increasingly controversial in recent years as weapons and surveillance platforms. Some U.S. military drones fly in foreign war zones but are operated remotely by personnel stationed at bases in the U.S.

Dr. James Zogby Continued from page 43

attorneys that seeks to promote Palestinian human rights. The report applied the commission’s own standards to Israel and found that the country directly violates several of these standards.

The signatories to the letter were dismissed by the commission as being insignificant, anti-Semitic, and focused only on targeting Israel, Zogby recalled. “My response was, I’m not singling Israel out, you’re singling it out as the only country we can’t criticize,” he said.

A second letter was sent by Hiddush, a group of Israeli and North American Jews who work to promote religious freedom in Israel. The letter raised concerns about “the excessive power of the Orthodox religious 70

Demonstrators outside the White House on April 8 protest the use of drones, which surveilled the area around a Syrian airbase prior to the U.S. cruise missile attack on it.

Cordaro, a long-time peace activist and outspoken nuclear weapons critic, noted that foreign wars are now being fought and enemies targeted by military personnel inside the U.S. “We are killing women and children now from the South Side of Des Moines. These are war crimes. We need to stop this kind of warmaking,” he said.

“We’re here to raise awareness of the drone command center and let people know about the killing of civilians, women

and children,” said Gilbert Landolt, president of VFP Chapter 163.

Cordaro and Landolt said they anticipate active support for the Des Moines picket line from CW and VFP groups across the United States. Citing Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, who led a five-year-long campaign in the 1950s, Cordaro declared that they will be on the picket line 24 hours a day, seven days a week, “until they stop.”—Michael Gillespie

parties [in Israel] over the rights and dignity of the population as a whole.” Again, the commission disregarded the appeal.

In discussing these letters, Zogby said, some commissioners expressed concern that investigating Israel would envelop the commission in an endless debate. Several commissioners also feared the prospect of losing congressional funding. “In a sense, we got bullied into silence,” Zogby said. “It wasn’t that we lost the vote,” he added. “It was the way that the discussion took place that prompted me to decide to come to you today.”

In his written dissent, Zogby charged that the commission is betraying its mandate by granting Israel immunity from criticism. “By refusing to examine Israeli behavior, we are saying to Palestinian Christians and Muslims, and non-Orthodox or secular Jews in Israel, that we will not de-

fend their freedoms and rights,” he wrote.

Zogby additionally warned that the commission is impugning its credibility by providing cover for Israel. “We are exposing the commission to the charge that we have a double standard—that we will criticize every other country, but never Israel,” he said. “In fact, many of the behaviors we cite in our criticisms of other countries (for example, Turkey in Cyprus or Russia in Crimea) are replicated

by Israel in the occupied territories.”

Aundreia Alexander, associate general secretary of the National Council of Churches, expressed the same concern.

“When USCIRF arbitrarily chooses not to [investigate] certain nations, such as Israel,” she said, “it indicates that this commission is but a tool of American foreign policy—willing to bludgeon those countries our nation has identified as enemies, and to protect those that we see as allies.” ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

JUNE/JULY 2017

STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI

activismsr2_48-70_June/July 2017 Activisms 5/24/17 3:14 PM Page 70

obituaries_71_Obituaries 5/25/17 2:59 PM Page 71

O• B • I • T • U • A • R • I • E • S Saloua Raouda Choucair, 100, died Jan. 26 at her home in Beirut, Lebanon of undisclosed causes. She was known as one of the first Arab abstract artists. She began painting as a student at the Ahliyyah School for Girls. An extended visit to Cairo in 1943 introduced her to Islamic art and architecture, themes that she incorporated into her work. In 1947 she exhibited her work at the Arab Cultural Center in Beirut, which she helped to found—an exhibit often cited as the first display of modern abstract art in the Arab world. After working steadily throughout her country’s civil war, she finally began to gain recognition outside of Lebanon when she was in her 90s, with shows in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Barbara Harlow, 68, died Jan. 28 in Austin, Texas of esophageal cancer.

Known as a scholar and author who incorporated human rights and post-colonialism studies into her classroom, her seminal study, Resistance Literature, published in 1987, was one of the first works in English to examine the fiction produced during national liberation struggles in the Third World. Harlow worked under the premise that imaginative writing was a way to gain control over the historical and cultural record of the developing world. Her first teaching post was in 1977 at the American University in Cairo, where she immersed herself in contemporary Arab literature and became an advocate for the Palestinian cause. On returning to the U.S., Harlow taught at Wesleyan University and Hobart and William Smith Colleges before joining the English department at the University of Texas.

Mostafa el-Abbadi, 88, died Feb. 13 in Alexandria, Egypt of heart failure. A Greco-Roman historian and archeologist, JUNE/JULY 2017

Compiled by Nathaniel Bailey

he was the soft-spoken visionary behind the revival of the Great Library of Alexandria. He was a scholar at the University of Alexandria in 1972 when he first had the idea to rebuild the library. When U.S. President Richard Nixon visited Egypt in 1974, he began to ask questions about the ancient library, sparking an interest from authorities at the University of Alexandria and in the Egyptian government. Abbadi was called on to design the plans for the new library, which opened in 2002. After criticizing the haste and a lack of care in building the library, he was not invited to the opening.

Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP, 86, died Feb. 26 of what his family described as a “longterm illness.” The son of Polish Jewish immigrants and a Zionist for much of his life, he became the longest serving Member of the British Parliament and one of Israel’s most vocal critics. Over decades as an MP, he called for sanctions against Israel and made numerous statements condemning Israeli violence toward Palestinians. Prior to his election to Parliament in 1970, he worked as a journalist and published a book, Inside the Promised Land, outlining his personal views and disillusionment with Israel. He was often at odds with the British establishment due to his support for the Palestinians.

Lynne Stewart, 77, died March 7 at her home in Brooklyn, NY of complications from cancer and a series of strokes.

Stewart spent a large portion of her life as a lawyer working for social justice, and built a substantial reputation for representing the poor and reviled, saying that she sympathized with her clients even if she did not support or endorse their tactics. Stewart was most known for representing Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who was

found guilty in 1995 of plotting to blow up significant New York City landmarks.

Stewart was convicted in 2005 of helping to smuggle messages from the sheikh to his followers in Egypt, and was released from prison in January 2014, after her cancer was diagnosed as terminal.

Dr. Don Peretz, 94, died April 29 in Mitchellville, MD of undisclosed causes.

Known as a leading scholar of the ArabIsraeli conflict and the plight of Palestinian refugees, as well as a committed Jewish peace activist, he became a conscientious objector as a young man. He studied Japanese at the University of Minnesota and served with the U.S. Army as a Japanese interpreter for a medical naval unit in Okinawa, where he treated primarily civilian casualties who were wounded during the U.S. invasion.

Shortly after the end of World War II, he went to Palestine to see the situation on the ground for himself. He was interested in Palestine because his father had been born in Jerusalem in 1894, when it was a province of Syria under the Ottoman Empire. Using his GI Bill benefits, Peretz enrolled in Hebrew University. On the day he arrived in Jerusalem in 1946, Irgun terrorists blew up the King David Hotel, killing 91 people. He resisted attempts to draft him into the Haganah, the basis for the Israeli army, but instead became a reporter, filing eyewitness accounts of the mass exodus of Palestinians in 1947. Two years later he began working with the American Friends Service Committee, doing relief work in Palestine. On his numerous visits to the region, he met various Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, from whom he received a Christmas card. Peretz later remarked how rare it was for a Jew to receive a Christmas card from a Muslim. ■

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

71

bookreview_72_Book Review 5/25/17 3:01 PM Page 72

B •O •O •K •S Ten Myths About Israel

By Ilan Pappé, Verso, 2017, paperback, 192 pp. List: $15.95; MEB: $14.

In the first few pages of his latest book, Ilan Pappé states, “We need to examine the facts.”

He thus not only sets the tone for the coming chapters, but also takes aim at the often confusing and obfuscating debate that surrounds the political and social situation in Israel and Palestine.

Pappé proceeds to cut through the nonsense, laying out the reality without fanfare and clutter, launching right into the succinct spirit of the title. He tackles a variety of myths, both historical and contemporary, including: The Jews Were a People Without a Land, The June 1967 War Was a War of “No Choice,” and The Two-State Solution Is the Only Way For-

72

Reviewed by Nathaniel Bailey ward. Delving deeper beyond the 10 myths, Pappé exposes and sheds light on many others as well, including little facts and tidbits that make for an interesting read. He doesn’t muddle the conversation with external factors and distracting points, but instead offers the reader a clean narrative and, as he has in the past, a fair amount of bluntness.

Ten Myths About Israel is a timely book that can be recommended to those with varying degrees of familiarity with the historical and contemporary aspects of the colonization and occupation of Palestine.

For those who are new to studying the issue, Pappé provides a clear explanation of facts based on in-depth reporting and analysis. This serves as a strong foundation for continued study, and the author facilitates further exploration of his points with his thorough citations and comprehensive references.

For those who have been studying Israel’s colonization of Palestine for years, this book is still extremely important.

Pappé fills in many gaps of knowledge

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

that readers may have overlooked, and works to right many of the wrongs that have crept into liberal and progressive dialogues about this conflict. Indeed, he introduces a new lexicon entirely, arguing that we need a language that suits the reality on the ground. It requires abandoning buzz words and phrases like “the peace process,” and rejecting such false characterizations of Israel as “the only democracy in the Middle East” and “a peace-loving nation.” Beyond giving up aspects of the current language, certain terms need to be re-evaluated, such as redifining Zionism as colonialism, Israel as an apartheid state, and the Nakba as ethnic cleansing. This new lexicon will be valuable in personal conversations as well is in analyzing the inaccuracy and misrepresentatoin of conventional media on this topic.

One hopes that Ten Myths About Israel will generate self-reflection and dialogue, with those who believe the myths as well as with allies and supporters of the Palestinian cause. Ideally, such dialogues will help place interlocutors on the same factual and historical page, so that the discussion can transcend a disagreement about facts.

Ten Myths About Israel was published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Pappé is the author of numerous other acclaimed books, including The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2007) and The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge (2016). He also has collaborated with such noteworthy authors as Noam Chomsky in works like Gaza in Crisis (2013) and On Palestine (2015). These and other books by Ilan Pappé are available from Middle East Books and More. ■

Nathaniel Bailey is director of Middle East Books and More.

JUNE/JULY 2017

book_catalog_73_June/July 2017 5/25/17 3:04 PM Page 73

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

*

*

*

SUMMER 2017 No Country for Jewish Liberals by Larry Derfner, Just World Books, 2017, hardcover, 240 pp. List: $26.95; MEB: $22. Derfner writes about his personal and political life in contemporary Israel from his childhood in the United States and later transition to living in a new country. Blending memoir, political analysis and reporting, he gives readers a unique look into the dynamics, mindsets and challenges of Jewish liberals in today’s world.

Ten Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappé, Verso, 2017, paperback, 192 pp. List: $15.95; MEB: $14.

Published on the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, Pappé’s latest book uncovers and exposes the common misperceptions and myths regarding Israel and Palestine over the past 150 years. His book is useful not only to those seeking to widen their breadth of knowledge regarding Israel and Palestine, but also to readers who have studied this conflict for years, but may be in need of a refresher to fill gaps in their knowledge.

Under the Shadow: Rage and Revolution in Modern Turkey by Kaya Genç, I.B. Tauris, 2016, paperback, 240 pp.

List: $19.50; MEB: $18. Turkey has become an increasingly tense political and social landscape. The seasoned author of Under the Shadow highlights voices from across modern Turkey’s political spectrum, weaving in historical accounts to try to understand how this divided country will navigate the 21st century among unprecedented conflicts and divides in the region and wider world.

Condition Critical: Life and Death in Israel/Palestine by Alice Rothchild, Just World Books, 2017, paperback, 256 pp. List: $19.99; MEB: $16. For almost 15 years, Rothchild has made annual visits to Israel and Palestine to document everyday stories from Israel, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Written with brutal honesty, Condition Critical seeks to humanize the impact of decades of Israeli occupation and colonization.

The New Odyssey: The Story of the Twenty-First Century Refugee Crisis by Patrick Kingsley, Liveright, 2017, hardcover, 368 pp. List: $26.95; MEB: $25.

The vast increase in the number of global refugees has turned the story of individuals’ struggle for survival into impersonal numbers and statistics. Kingsley listened to these personal stories and presents them to readers in an effort to combat Western indifference regarding this century’s refugee crisis.

State of Terror: How Terrorism Created Modern Israel

by Thomas Suarez, Interlink, 2016, paperback, 418 pp. List: $20; MEB: $18. Suarez tracks the use of terror by Israel and its supporters in creating a Jewish state in Palestine. Relying on historical and contemporary sources, he tracks the acts of political and social terrorism often buried in the mainstream media and public consciousness.

A Revolution Undone: Egypt's Road Beyond Revolt

by H.A. Hellyer, Oxford University Press, 2017, hardcover, 320 pp. List: $29.95; MEB: $28. Five years after Egypt’s revolution, many questions remain. Blending analysis and narrative, A Revolution Undone charts events from Tahrir Square to Sisi through the eyes of someone who experienced it all.

White and Black: Political Cartoons from Palestine by Mohammad Sabaaneh, Just World Books, 2017, paperback, 212 pp.

List: $19.95; MEB: $18. Palestinian political and resistance art has an important place in the narrative of the conflict. In his new book of cartoons, Sabaaneh offers unique insights into the political and social dynamics of modern Palestine.

The Open Door: A Novel

by Latifa Al-Zayyat, Hoopoe Fiction, 2017, paperback, 392 pp. List: $17.95; MEB: $16. In 1946 Cairo, uprisings against British colonialism are in full swing. After Layla’s older brother returns severely injured from clashes with British soldiers, events begin to shift and awaken the world around her.

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.

JUNE/JULY 2017

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

73

angels_list_74_June July 2017 Choir of Angels 5/25/17 8:07 PM Page 74

AET’s 2017 Choir of Angels

Following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1, 2017 and May 7, 2017 is making possible activities of the tax-exempt AET Library Endowment (federal ID #52-1460362) and the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Some Angels helped us co-sponsor the conference “The Israel Lobby and American Policy.” Others donated to our “Capital Building Fund.” We are deeply honored by their confidence and profoundly grateful for their generosity.

HUMMERS ($100 or more)

A. Kent MacDougall, Berkeley, CA

Jeff Abood, Silver Lake, OH

Caroline & John Merriam,

Dr. Robert Abel, Wilmington, DE Rizik & Alice Abusharr, Claremont, CA Diane Adkin, Camas, WA

Julie Arnold, Bemidji, MN*

Robert E. Barber, Parrish, FL

Kate Bisharat, Carmichael, CA Heath Blackiston,

Melbourne Beach, FL*

Elizabeth Blakely, Cambria, CA Ed Brooks, Mount Airy, MD Gordon & Louise Brown, Washington, DC

A.L. Cummings, Owings Mills, MD Ron Dudum, San Francisco, CA Sarah L. Duncan, Vienna, OH

Kassem Elkhalil, Arlington, TX Gary R. Feulner, Dubai, UAE

Joseph & Angela Gauci, Whittier, CA William Gefell, Tunbridge, VT

Tahsin Masud, Tucker, GA

Tom & Tess McAndrew, Oro Valley, AZ Washington, DC*

Tom O’Connell, Brooklyn, NY Patricia & Michael Peterson, Washington, DC*

Neil Richardson, Randolph, VT

Dr. Ahmed M. Sakkal, Charleston, WV Rafi M. Salem, Alamo, CA Teofilo Siman, Miami, FL

David J. Snider, Bolton, MA

Darcy Sreebny, Herndon, VA Joanie Tanous, Boulder, CO J. Tayeb, Shelby Twp., MI

Jerry & Jane Thompson, Bemidji, MN* John & Daniel Van Wagoner, McLean, VA

Benjamin Wade, Saratoga, VA Robin & Nancy Wainwright, Severna Park, MD

Barbara Germack, Brooklyn, NY

Lawrence Waldron, Berkeley, VA

John & Alice Goodman, Bethesda, MD*

Asma Yousef, Alexandria, VA

Michael Gillespie, Maxwell, IA

Erin K. Hankir, Nepean, ON, Canada Dr. Kamal Hasan, Davison, MI

John Hendrickson, Albuquerque, NM A.H.M. Hilmy, Kew Richman,

Sarah & Robert Wilson, Reston, VA* Bernice Youtz, Tacoma, WA Vivian Zelaya, Berkeley, CA

Fred Zuercher, Spring Grove, PA

Mary Izett, Walnut Creek, VA

ACCOMPANISTS ($250 or more)

James Kawakami, Los Angeles, CA

Michael Ameri, Calabasas, CA

Surrey, UK

Bilquis Jaweed, West Chester, OH Mazen Kawji, Burr Ridge, IL Faizul & Maimun Khan, Silver Spring, MD

James A. Langley, Washington, DC* Alice Ludvigsen, Oslo, Norway Anthony Mabarak,

Grosse Pointe Park, MI

74

Mohamed Alwan, Chestnut Ridge, NY Dr. Isa Canavati, Fort Wayne, IN Joe Chamy, Colleyville, TX Robert & Tanis Diedrichs, Cedar Falls, IA***

Raymond Gordon, Venice, FL

Dr. Raymond Jallow, Los Angeles, CA David & Renee Lent, Hanover, NH

WAShIngTOn REPORT On MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS

W. Eugene Notz, Charleston, SC

Dr. James Zogby, Washington, DC

TENORS & CONTRALTOS ($500 or more) Andrew and Krista Curtiss, Herndon, VA*,**

Brigitte Jaensch, Carmichael, CA Ghazy Kader, Shoreline, WA Mary Norton, Austin, TX

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

G. Edward & Ruth Brooking Jr., Wilmington, DE*

Center for Arab American Philanthropy, Dearborn, MI

Rajie Cook, Washington Crossing, PA

Ronald & Mary Forthofer, Longmont, CO Evan & Leman Fotos, Istanbul, Turkey Dr. Hassan Fouda, Berkeley, CA Jack Love, San Diego, CA

John Mahoney, New York, NY Roberta & John McInerney, Washington, DC*

CHOIRMASTERS ($5,000 or more)

Patricia Ann Abraham, Charleston, SC Donna B. Curtiss, Kensington, MD*,** Dr. & Mrs. Clyde Farris, West Linn, OR*,**

John & Henrietta Goelet, New York, NY Estate of Andrew I. Killgore, Washington, DC

*In Memory of Andrew I. Killgore

**In Memory of Richard H. Curtiss

***In Honor of John F. Mahoney

JunE/JuLy 2017

ANERA_ad_c3_ANERA Ad Cover 3 5/25/17 5:12 PM Page c3

What sets ANERA apart?

9 9 49 years of work with refugees in the Middle East.

9 9 120+ staff on the ground.

9 9 94% of revenue goes to life-changing programs.

9 9 Measurable impact.

anera.org/donate aner a.org//donate don

cover4_June-July 2017 Back Cover 5/25/17 8:10 PM Page c4

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

June/July 2017 Vol. XXXVI, No. 4

Displaced Iraqi children stand in line to get food at the Hammam al-Alil camp for internally displaced people south of Mosul, May 25, 2017, as government forces continued their offensive to retake the city of Mosul from Islamic State fighters.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images