cover1_September 2015 Cover 8/6/15 5:18 PM Page 1
THE RELEASE OF SPY FOR ISRAEL JONATHAN POLLARD
DISPLAY UNTIL 9/30/2015
upa_ad_c2_UPA Ad C2 (Page 2) 8/6/15 10:37 AM Page c2
Help Palestinians support one another The Community Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled in Gaza Camp, Jerash, Jordan, currently depends on small donations and grants. The camp’s 24,000 refugees fled Gaza after the 1967 war and have few resources to draw from. That is why UPA has stepped in to help make the Center self-sustaining. Hasan Siam (above, at top) is a key part of that effort. In spite of being deaf, he mastered the skills to train people in the Center’s carpentry workshop. Donate now to make the Center self-sustaining and help Palestinians support one another. helpupa.org 1330 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 104 Washington, DC 20036 Telephone: (202) 659-5007 Transforming lives, empowering communities since 1978 Toll-Free: (855) 659-5007
United Palestinian Appeal
UPA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible according to applicable laws.
Donate now to UPA at helpupa.org/donate
toc_3-4_September 2015 TOC 8/6/15 8:48 PM Page 3
On Middle East Affairs
Volume XXXIV, No. 6
September 2015
Telling the Truth for More Than 30 Years… Interpreting the Middle East for North Americans
■
Interpreting North America for the Middle East
THE U.S. ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE 8 Agreement With Iran a Win for Peace if Israel, Supporters Don’t Sabotoge It
—Rachelle Marshall 11 Why Israel Is Suddenly Owning Up to Its Terrorism—Daoud Kuttab
26 Israel Cuts Funding to Its Christian Schools, Fully Funds Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Schools
—Jonathan Cook 28 Islamic State Threatens Gaza—Even Though the Besieged Enclave Has Nothing Left
—Mohammed Omer 12 Achieving a Nuclear Agreement With Iran—Three Views—Justin Raimondo, Eric S. Margolis, Gideon Levy 15 In the Midst of Political Showmanship, Experts Endorse Iran Nuclear Accord—Dale Sprusansky 21 Lessons Learned: The U.N. Security Council Resolution on Iran Agreement—Ian Williams 23 The Release of Spy for Israel Jonathan Pollard— Two Views—M.E. “Spike” Bowman, James North and Philip Weiss
30 With an Eye to the Future, Israel Cultivates Relations With India and China—John Gee 36 Predictable Congressional Reaction to the Iran Nuclear Agreement—Shirl McArthur 40 Israeli Knesset Member Michael Oren: From Native-Born American to U.S. “Ally”?— Two Views—Grant F. Smith, Allan C. Brownfeld
SPECIAL REPORTS 32 Homeland Security Fights Domestic Terrorism: The Trillion Dollar Hustle—Delinda C. Hanley 34 Middle East Needs Charleston Spirit—Paul Findley 44 Algeria Emerges From Obscurity as a Leading Mediator in War on Terrorism—Marvine Howe
ON THE COVER: Hana Saeidi, the niece of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, accepts the top Golden Bear award for Panahi’s film “Taxi,” in which he stars as a taxi driver ferrying an assortment of characters around Tehran, at the 65th International Film Festival in Berlin, Feb. 14, 2015. Because authorities confiscated his passport, Panahi is not able to travel outside Iran. ©MICHAEL KAPPELER/dpa/CORBIS
toc_3-4_September 2015 TOC 8/6/15 8:48 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
Israel Losing Democrats, “Can’t Claim Bipartisan U.S. Support,” Top Pollster Warns, OV-1 David Horovitz, The Times of Israel
Leader of Christian Zionists Named Head of Campus Anti-BDS Group, Nathan Guttman, The Forward
OV-8
If the “Product” Is Wrong, a Rebrand Won’t Help Israel, Jonathan Cook, The National
After Charleston, Houses of Worship Debate Saving Souls vs. Saving Lives, Alexandra Levine & Madison Margolin & Yardain Amron, The Forward
OV-9
OV-3
Halting Demolition of Palestinian Village Will Be the Exception, Not the Rule, Amira Hass, Haaretz
OV-3
Merkel and the Palestinian Refugee Girl: Why Everyone Missed the Point, Susan Abulhawa, www.counterpunch.org
OV-4
Egyptian TV Series Shines Light on the Untold Story of Arab Jews, Dr. Nadia Naser-Najjab, http://972mag.com
OV-5
To Be Israel’s Ally, The U.S. Must Help It Make Some, Sholto Byrnes, The National
OV-6
Résumé Requirement for Counter-Terrorism Job Appears to Include: Jewish, Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss.net
OV-7
The Chilling Reason Our Government Wants To Erase These Americans From History, Molly Crabapple/Creative Time Reports, www.alternet.org OV-11 Tunisian Men Tortured by CIA and Detained Without Charge for Over a Decade in U.S. Custody Are Finally Freed, International Justice Network Press Release OV-12 The Issues the June Terror Menu Raises, Rami G. Khouri, Agence Global
OV-13
Destroying Syria to Make it Safe for American Values, Eric Margolis, http://ericmargolis.com
OV-14
Sahrawi Women Take to the Streets, Karlos Zurutuza, Inter Press Service
OV-15
DEPARTMENTS 5 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 7 PUBLISHERS’ PAGE
53 CHRISTIANITY AND THE
The Bride of Amman
Of Christ Passes Strong BDS
Syrian Notebooks: Inside the
Resolution—Paul H. Verduin
Homs Uprising
46 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHRONICLE: Max Blumenthal Lambastes Israel for Excess Brutality in Its 51-Day War on Gaza
68 BOOK REVIEWS:
MIDDLE EAST: United Church
—Reviewed by Kevin A. Davis 56 MUSIC & ARTS: Exhibit Focuses on Gaza War
—Pat and Samir Twair
69 MIDDLE EAST BOOKS AND MORE
56 HUMAN RIGHTS: 48 NEW YORK CITY AND TRI-STATE NEWS: A Year Later,
Gaza One Year Later: The Quest For Accountability
70 THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST — CARTOONS
Remembering Israel’s Operation Protective Edge—Jane Adas 50 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHRONICLE: Inspiring
60 ARAB AMERICAN ACTIVISM:
Nakba Museum Opens in the Nation’s Capital
Ramadan Iftar at State Capitol Sparks Hope, Renewal, Reflection—Elaine Pasquini
60 MUSLIM AMERICAN
Islamic Center
Political Prisoner in America Responds to Wadie Said’s
73 2015 AET CHOIR OF ANGELS 74 OBITUARIES
ACTIVISM: Eid al-Fitr Prayer at Burbank
52 ISLAM IN AMERICA: A
71 OTHER PEOPLE’S MAIL
61 WAGING PEACE:
Crimes of Terror
Sen. Chris Murphy Warns That
—Shukri Abu Baker
Washington Is Addicted to War
10 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
lte_5-6_September 2015 LTE 8/6/15 8:28 PM Page 5
Publisher: Managing Editor: News Editor: Assistant Editor: Middle East Books and More Director: Finance & Admin. Director: Art Director: Executive Editor:
ANDREW I. KILLGORE JANET McMAHON DELINDA C. HANLEY DALE SPRUSANSKY KEVIN A. DAVIS CHARLES R. CARTER RALPH U. SCHERER RICHARD H. CURTISS (1927-2013)
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (ISSN 8755-4917) is published 8 times a year, monthly except Jan./Feb., March/April and June/July combined, at 1902 18th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1707. Tel. (202) 939-6050. Subscription prices (United States and possessions): one year, $29; two years, $55; three years, $75. For Canadian and Mexican subscriptions, $35 per year; for other foreign subscriptions, $70 per year. Periodicals, postage paid at Washington, DC and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. Published by the American Educational Trust (AET), a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC by retired U.S. foreign service officers to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states. AET’s Foreign Policy Committee has included former U.S. ambassadors, government officials, and members of Congress, including the late Democratic Sen. J. William Fulbright and Republican Sen. Charles Percy, both former chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Members of AET’s Board of Directors and advisory committees receive no fees for their services. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs does not take partisan domestic political positions. As a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, it endorses U.N. Security Council Resolution 242’s land-for-peace formula, supported by nine successive U.S. presidents. In general, it supports Middle East solutions which it judges to be consistent with the charter of the United Nations and traditional American support for human rights, selfdetermination, and fair play. Material from the Washington Report may be reprinted without charge with attribution to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Bylined material must also be attributed to the author. This release does not apply to photographs, cartoons or reprints from other publications. Indexed by Ebsco Information Services, InfoTrac, LexisNexis, Public Affairs Information Service, Index to Jewish Periodicals, Ethnic News Watch, Periodica Islamica. CONTACT INFORMATION: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Editorial Office and Bookstore: P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009-9062 Phone: (202) 939-6050 • (800) 368-5788 Fax: (202) 265-4574 E-mail: wrmea@wrmea.org bookstore@wrmea.org circulation@wrmea.org advertising@wrmea.org Web sites: http://www.wrmea.org http://www.middleeastbooks.com Subscriptions, sample copies and donations: P.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. Phone: (888) 881-5861 • Fax: (714) 226-9733 Printed in the USA
SEPTEMBER 2015
LetterstotheEditor Panic Bid to Kill Iran Deal Democracy appears to be in potential danger as a U.S. Zionist cabal spends upwards of $20 million to pressure Congress to kill the deal with Iran forged by permanent U.N. Security Council members—Britain, France, U.S., Russia and China—plus Germany, after many months of complex negotiations. The AIPAC lobby—originally the American Zionist Committee—acting as agent for the Israeli government representing the only undeclared nuclear weapons state in the world, now tries to overturn the negotiated agreement with (non-nuclear) Iran in an unprecedented bid to maintain Israeli hegemony in Middle East. Pro-Israel lobbyists are trying to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of a heavily-armed foreign state that is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nor a signatory to either the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) or the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), making it the most dangerous potential threat to global peace, being outside any inspection or control by the IAEA. Is this current Congress the one that will be judged in history as the most supine, inept and easily manipulated [by a foreign power] legislative assembly, ever to have been given control of the lives of the American people and the making and implementation of U.S. foreign policy? Anthony Bellchambers, via e-mail Common wisdom (i.e., we agree) is that not enough Democrats will abandon their president and party to override a veto. Let’s hope that holds true. Meanwhile, however, Americans are subjected to 60 days of foaming-at-the-mouth lies and prevarications. It’s going to be a long, hot (air) summer, indeed! Glued to “The Israel Lobby” I thank you for “The Israel Lobby” supplement. Excellent! I’ve been glued to it. The question I’ve had for a long time regarding AIPAC is about the legality of lobbying for a foreign country. I even wrote a member of the Supreme Court but didn’t receive a satisfactory answer. Patricia Gallogly, via e-mail As the above writer notes, AIPAC is the latest reincarnation of the American Zionist Committee. IRmep’s Grant Smith put it this way at the 2014 National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel “Special Relationship”: “The simple fact of the matter is, when ordered to register, they don't, they fight it. When forced to register, they undergo a transformation into someTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
thing else, and continue their operations. And there’s no better case of that than…the creation of AIPAC.” (A transcript of Smith’s—and every panelist’s—remarks is available at <www.natsummit.org>.) After all these years, the Justice Department no longer makes any effort to force AIPAC to comply with the law of the land—never mind that this is its very raison d’être!
Perfect Timing Many thanks to the Washington Report for ”The Israel Lobby” special supplement. It came at a perfect time: A couple of days after reading Helena Cobban’s comments on the Christian Science Monitor policy on Israel-
Palestine, I received a call from CSM urging me to renew my elapsed subscription. One of the reasons I had dropped my subscription was their strong editorial support of Israel. I was interested that Cobban confirmed in her remarks that this indeed was a CSM policy. I told the caller that I supported the Palestinians and was distressed at “the terrible things” Israel was doing to them. I said I would monitor the magazine on the newsstand and in the library and, if their policy changed, would reconsider subscribing. I hope others take the opportunity to take an economic jab at the Israeli crowd. Jeanne Riha, Corvallis, OR Money talks in many ways, doesn’t it? And the idea is to make them all add up.
Only Boycott Settlements? What is the most effective way to conduct a consumer boycott of Israel? Should we only target settlement products, or products of Israel as well? Even if the objective were just to end the occupation, settlement products are a minor part of Israel’s economy, and reductions in profits from them are unlikely to have much impact on Israel’s economy. Settlement product boycotts are, however, easier to sell to people “on the street,” many of whom disapprove of the “illegal settlements” but may not 5
lte_5-6_September 2015 LTE 8/6/15 8:28 PM Page 6
understand or like the idea of boylearn that the sponsors of their talk Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming! cotting “our ally.” And the value was a group “Marylanders for Send your letters to the editor to the Washington of boycotts in raising public Constitutional Governance,” an inReport, P.O. Box 53062, Washington, DC 20009 awareness of the issues may be nocuous name whose platform (acor e-mail <letters@wrmea.org>. even greater than their economic cording to the handout) included effect. So settlement product boycotts anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-gun, etc., make sense in these regards. But should a mising our ideals? I can certainly see that en- policies which (all?) most of us do not agree boycott be suspended if the target moves dorsing any group which espouses racist or with. However, none of these policies were from the occupied territories into Israel anti-Semitic views is off-limits, but should it referred to in the presentation, nor in the “proper,” as SodaStream reportedly is? be a policy that such groups should be held discussion which followed. I did not find Most of Israel “proper” consists of settle- outside the realm of our interaction? I guess that I was distracted from the purpose of ments built on illegitimately acquired land— it would depend on how easily a propa- the talk, and there was nothing said to i.e., illegal settlements. So there is little intrin- ganda machine could make an effective con- sway me to the beliefs of the sponsors. sic difference between boycotting what is nection between the racist group and the I do hope that some accommodation can usually thought of as a settlement product person presenting a program, or being inter- be made with If Americans Knew, as I and a product of Israel. And broadening the viewed. I can see that there might be this think they have done amazing work in our boycotts’ scope thus not only can signifi- possibility—that having our name con- mutual fight. cantly magnify the economic impact, ex- nected to a questionable group, even though Doris Rausch, via e-mail plaining the rationale for doing so can also innocently, might allow an opportunity for Just as Israel’s Palestinian parties united broaden and deepen public understanding critics to malign us with guilt by association. to form a bloc in the recent Israeli elections— of the issue. These effects, in turn, can only I do agree with Alison Weir of If Ameri- none would have won enough votes on their increase the pressure on Israel to reform its cans Knew, though, that: own—so we urge all groups dedicated to juspolicies toward the Palestinians in all regards. With that goal and mission in mind, I have tice for the Palestinians to set aside their difGregory DeSylva, Rhinebeck, NY aimed from the first to reach beyond the ferences and concentrate on the task at hand. Perhaps this would indeed be a good way “choir” of people who already know about We need to devote all our energy and reto introduce Americans and others to the and sympathize with the Palestinian plight. I sources to the same overriding goal, rather concept that Israel’s occupation of Palestine have sought ways to reach a broad audience, than monitoring, censoring and expelling each did not begin in 1967. We invite readers’ inform Americans across the political spec- other. We don’t need to manufacture enecomments and suggestions. trum and present the most factual, well-cited mies—there are enough out there already. information possible —all with the goal of Keep Our Eyes on the Prize truly bringing an end to the ongoing Mideast From Blog to Print I am very saddened at the apparent infight- tragedy, by preparing Americans to change Please find enclosed something that I ing among groups who, I presume, aspire to policies that enable Israel’s criminal actions. wrote recently on my blog, but now wish the same goal: i.e., justice for the Palestini- Effectiveness has always been my watchword. that it may be published in the pages of ans. Should we be constrained, in an effort The tragedy is far too great for anything less. your magazine—if you find it worthy. to further this goal, to reach out only to After almost seven years behind bars, I My organization, Committee for Palesgroups whose ideals we share? Is it the tinian Rights (and I am speaking only for feel very few people, even among advothinking of the US Campaign to End the Is- myself, not the organization), has sponsored cates of justice, have actually heard firstraeli Occupation and Jewish Voice for Peace films and talks which for the most part hand from victims of injustice, like myself, that, by engaging with organizations whose have attracted only “the choir,” even the personal suffering and the anguish goals we do not share, we would be compro- though we have advertised the event to the their loved ones have to endure every day public, but it ap- justice is delayed. The short reflection that I wrote shows pears that most Other Voices is an people don’t want the pain, explains the challenge, and justioptional 16-page to have their con- fies the need for hope. Shukri Abu Baker, former CEO, Holy v i c t i o n s ove r supplement available turned by listen- Land Foundation, Beaumont, TX only to subscribers of You may find this hard to believe—we ing to another the Washington Report viewpoint. I be- do!—but we swear it’s true. As subscribers on Middle East Affairs. lieve these presen- to your blog, we read this entry when it was tations are still first posted on July 20. We were so moved by For an additional $15 worthwhile, but it that we typeset it as an “Islam in Amerper year (see postcard we would wel- ica” column and prefaced it with the next insert for Washington come people who day’s entry to provide our readers with more Re port subscription c h a l l e n g e o u r context. We were concerned, however, that at viewpoint, as long the very least you would not receive this rates), subscribers will as the discussion issue—and at the very worst it could cause receive Other Voices inside each issue of their you problems we could not imagine. Your letis civil. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. I recently at- ter arrived three days before we sent this Back issues of both publications are available. To tended a talk by issue to the printer, and we are so happy to Josh Ruebner and share your story with our readers (see p. 52). subscribe telephone 1 (888) 881-5861, fax (714) 226Laila El-Haddad at That this country has persecuted and impris9733, e-mail <circulation@wrmea.org>, or write to a Howard County, oned such an eloquent and humane individP.O. Box 91056, Long Beach, CA 90809-1056. MD library, and ual—and others, as well—is a loss to every was surprised to one of us as Americans. ❑ 6
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
pubs_7_September 2015 Publishers page 8/6/15 9:40 PM Page 7
American Educational Trust
Publishers’ Page
It’s a No-Brainer…
An Earful From Some Constituents. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), through its new front group Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran, is spending $40 million to undermine the Iran nuclear agreement in Congress. CNFI’s TV attack ads are adding to the babble of naysayers, not only Republicans and Israel’s prime minister, but also a few key Democrats who, as acolytes of Israel, oppose the accord. Critics of the deal are of the same “mind-set” responsible for the Iraq war, President Obama told American University students here in Washington, DC on Aug. 5. “Many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal,” Obama said, and “seem to have no compunction with…
Being Repeatedly Wrong.” “It’s easy to play on people’s fears to magnify threats,” the president continued, “to compare any attempt at diplomacy to Munich, but none of these arguments hold up...The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy or some form of war. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon.”
Speaking of Nuclear Threats… The world must already feel threatened by the nuclear weapons currently in place, especially when they hear the U.S. plans to spend $1 trillion to modernize its nuclear arsenal. (We write these words on the 70th anniversary of the U.S. dropping the atom bomb on Hiroshima.) Two countries possess 94 percent of the world’s 15,700 warheads, and it’s terrifying to imagine either Russian President Vladimir Putin or any of the American presidential candidates with a finger on the proverbial red button... not to mention Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu! We were appalled to learn in May SEPTEMBER 2015
get him home with them in the U.S. Vanunu told the Washington Report, “I was locked up for 18 years and still cannot go on vacation; I cannot leave, and that is all I am asking for—
Just to Leave Here.”
URIEL SINAI/GETTY IMAGES
The world would be a lot safer without nuclear weapons. As you can see, this issue of the Washington Report devotes a lot of ink to what President Barack Obama has called the “most consequential foreign policy debate” since the vote to attack Iraq. After reading the articles and letters discussing the Iranian nuclear weapons agreement, send the postcard, then telephone, write or visit with your representatives in Congress who are now mulling over their September vote on the deal. You can bet they’re getting...
Mordechai Vanunu being driven to freedom from Israel’s high security Shikma prison in Ashkelon, April 21, 2004.
that the U.S. vetoed Egypt’s proposal of a deadline for a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference to establish...
A Nuclear Weapons-Free Middle East! First proposed by Egypt in 1990, it’s been supported by a large majority of participating states every year since. The U.S. vetoed even the possibility of discussion in order to protect Israel’s undeclared arsenal of nuclear weapons (estimated at up to 400).
Pollard Release to Sweeten the Deal? In an effort to mollify hard-line members of Netanyahu’s coalition—not to mention members of Congress—who oppose the Iran deal, the Obama administration decided not to block the November release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. In 1987, the U.S. Navy intelligence analyst was found guilty of delivering suitcases full of military intelligence to Israel. If Pollard, a traitor of the worst kind, is allowed to leave the U.S. and gets a hero’s reception in Israel, it will harm Israel’s already strained relations with America. We suggest a deal sweetener of our own for Israel:
Release Nuclear Whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu! The former Israeli nuclear technician who first alerted the world to Israel’s nuclear weapons’ stockpile in 1986 is still being held in Israel against his will. After being abducted by Israeli agents and tried in secret, he spent 18 years in prison, including more than 11 in solitary confinement. Vanunu was released from prison on April 21, 2004 but is not allowed to leave Israel. Vanunu’s adoptive parents, longtime U.S. peace activists Mary and Nicholas Eoloff, who both died last year, tried for years to THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Also documented in this issue is the “pricetag” firebombing of a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank village of Duma, which burned 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh to death and severely burned his mother, father and 4-year-old brother, who remain in critical condition. Israeli leaders announced they would treat the killing as “an act of terrorism,” and were quick to trumpet the arrest of a suspect in the attack, Meir Ettinger, 24, the grandson of extremist rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated the use of violence against Palestinians. They approved the “Palestinian treatment,” better known as administrative detention, of other suspects. As we went to press, we read a report on Mondoweiss.net by Nasser Dawabsheh, Ali’s uncle, who has spoken at Tel Aviv protests beside Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog and Zahava Gal-On, head of Israel’s leftist Meretz party. Mr. Dawabsheh said that after the family opened their homes to more than 100 Israeli peace activists, they awoke to the sight of 30 Israeli army jeeps carrying 150 soldiers, who forcibly removed them from their houses, and searched their homes until 4:30 a.m.! That doesn’t sound like…
Soul Searching to Us. Special Issue a Financial Gamble. We’ve heard from a lot of Washington Report readers who were thrilled to receive the free supplement issue containing the proceedings of the Israel Lobby conference along with their August issue. Many of you have ordered extra copies from Middle EastBooks.com to distribute at summer events. Happily, we printed scads, hoping you would do just that and help us get this supplement to every opinion-molder you can think of. Even though we knew it was the right thing to do, the extra expense of printing that bonus issue doubled our perennial summer money troubles. We used money budgeted for this issue to produce it, so if you haven’t sent us a donation yet this year, please do so now and help us...
Make a Difference Today! 7
marshall_8-10_Special Report 8/6/15 8:32 PM Page 8
Agreement With Iran a Win for Peace if Israel, Supporters Don’t Sabotage It SpecialReport
By Rachelle Marshall
WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES
A deal that is likely to earn the negotiators a Nobel Prize for Peace evoked a near-hysterical response in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called it “a historic mistake for the world,” and vowed to continue the effort to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program. Iran will use its renewed oil sales, Netanyahu said, “to finance its terror machine and its expansion and aggression throughout the Middle East and across the globe.” The prime minister’s statement made it clear that the main concern of Israel and its supporters is not Iran’s ability to manufacture a bomb but the assumption that with the lifting of sanctions, Iran will be able to increase its aid to groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. In fact, it is more likely that Iran’s leaders, in order to remain in power, will use the income from oil sales to restore their country’s battered economy. The Israelis’ hand-wringing has Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) discusses President Barack nevertheless paid off handsomely. The Obama’s remarks on the Iran nuclear accord, as ranking committee member Sen. Ben Cardin (D- U.S. has added hundreds of millions of dollars worth of advanced weapons to MD) listens, at an Aug. 6 committee hearing on Capitol Hill. Israel’s annual $3.5 billion in aid, and ccording to Webster’s Dictionary, lifted, and the Iranians will once again be Defense Secretary Ashton Carter traveled paranoia is “a psychosis characterized able to engage in international trade and to Jerusalem in late July to assure Israeli leaders of full U.S. support in the event of a by delusions of persecution”—a phrase finance. Despite a prediction by former secre- military confrontation with Iran. that comes close to describing the mindset Seldom in history has a small country of Israeli leaders, who base their policies taries of state Henry Kissinger and George on the notion that Israel is under constant Shultz in The Wall Street Journal that the claimed the right to dictate policy to its siege, surrounded by enemies bent on its pact would not change “three and a half much larger benefactor, yet Israel, which destruction. Accordingly, the nuclear decades of militant hostility to the West,” owes its very existence to the U.S., has sucagreement with Iran that was welcomed by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani welcomed ceeded in doing so in the past and is inmost of the world as a step toward ending the agreement as a “victory of diplomacy sisting on doing so again. As usual, it has a longstanding conflict was seen in and respect over the outdated paradigm of the help of a well-funded tax-exempt netJerusalem as a threat to Israel’s survival exclusion and coercion.” And in an extra- work of pro-Israel lobbying groups with ordinary interview with New York Times such names as United Against Nuclear (see p. 14). The agreement reached on July 14 be- columnist Thomas Friedman, President Iran, Secure America Now, and the Fountween Iran and six world powers reduces Barack Obama acknowledged that much of dation for the Defense of Democracies. Israel’s chief U.S. lobby, AIPAC, recently Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium, Iran’s hostility was due to actions by the formed a tax-exempt group called Citizens eliminates for years to come Iran’s ability U.S. “Even with your adversaries,” Obama for a Nuclear Free Iran that aims to spend to produce weapons-grade uranium, and subjects Iran’s nuclear sites to the most in- said, you have to “put yourself in their as much as $40 million on a campaign fotrusive and comprehensive inspections shoes, and if you look at Iranian history, cused on urging congressional Democrats regime the U.S. has ever negotiated. In re- the fact is that we had some involvement to oppose the agreement. Republicans are turn, sanctions imposed on Iran by the with overthrowing a democratically already in camp. Republican House U.S. and European Union will be gradually elected regime in Iran. We have in the past Speaker John A. Boehner has promised, supported Saddam Hussain when we knew “We’ll do everything we can to stop it,” Rachelle Marshall is a free-lance editor liv- he used chemical weapons in the war be- and Republican presidential candidates ing in Mill Valley, CA. A member of Jewish tween Iran and Iraq, and so, as a conse- from Jeb Bush to Donald Trump are comVoice for Peace, she writes frequently on the quence they have their own security con- peting to see who can oppose it the most Middle East. fervently. cerns, their own narrative.”
A
8
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a solid Democrat, has come out in support of the agreement and is likely to persuade at least some pro-Israel Democrats to go along. As an unexpected benefit, the pact with Iran may be what prompted Saudi Arabia to adopt a striking reversal of policy toward Hamas. After long regarding Hamas as an adversary, King Salman met with political leader Khaled Meshal and other top Hamas officials in Mecca on July 17, three days after the agreement was signed. The official purpose of the meeting was to discuss possible reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. The Saudis may also be eager to woo Hamas away from Iran.
Paranoia on all Fronts The group paranoia that defines Israel’s policy toward Iran similarly determines its policy toward the Palestinians, which is based on the assumption that they are all potential terrorists who would destroy Israel if given the chance. Any action on behalf of Palestinian rights, such as the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign, is therefore an effort to ”delegitimize Israel” and a sign of anti-Semitism. Minister of Public Security and Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan demonstrated this pathology when he accused Palestinian hunger strikers of carrying out “a new kind of suicide terrorist attack through which they will threaten the State of Israel.” Erdan was referring to Palestinian prisoners who, after enduring months, often years, of confinement without trial, engage in fasting as a form of nonviolent protest. He made the charge last June after 36year-old Khader Adnan reached the 55th day of a fast and Israeli officials, fearing he would die, agreed to release him. In 2012, Adnan went without food for 66 days before being released. Each time he fasted he made one demand: that he be put on trial. At least 370 Palestinians currently are being held in indefinite detention without trial or even knowing the charges against them. Emaciated prisoners are not the only perceived threats to Israel’s security. Throwing a rock can be a capital offense. An Israeli brigade commander in the West Bank, Col. Yisrael Shomer, shot to death 17-year-old Muhammed Hani-al-Kasba in early July after the youth threw a rock at Shomer’s military vehicle. A video of the scene showed that Muhammed had run away after throwing the rock and was shot in the back. On July 22, 20-year-old Mohammad Alawna was shot to death when soldiers raiding the West Bank village of Birkin fired into a group of boys who were throwing stones. The next day, 53-year-old AUGUST 2015
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
marshall_8-10_Special Report 8/6/15 8:32 PM Page 9
After entering East Jerusalem’s Haram Al-Sharif compound, Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian, while providing a friendly escort to an Orthodox Jewish Israeli, following clashes with police, July 26, 2015. Falah Abu Marya was killed by soldiers who had burst into his home in Beit Ommar. They claimed he threw an “object” at them. Those three Palestinians were executed on the spot for their offense. The three Israeli settlers who confessed to kidnapping 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir last summer and burning him to death are certain to get lighter sentences. The two defendants who doused Muhammad with gasoline are 16, and will be treated as juveniles. The third, 30-year-old Yosef Haim Ben-David, admitted urging the others to “finish him off,” but has pled insanity. While Muhammad Khdeir’s killers were brought to a sort of justice, the two masked Israeli Jews who set fire to the home of Saad and Riham Dawabsheh on the night of July 31 are likely to escape justice entirely. Witnesses said that after throwing firebombs into the house the two assailants sprayed “Revenge” on one of its walls, then watched as the Dawabshehs lay writhing on the ground, their bodies on fire. Inside the burning house, 18-month-old Ali was dead, but 4-yearold Ahmed could be heard screaming. Neighbors later pulled him and his parents to a nearby house. Like the perpetrators of similar acts of mayhem against Palestinians, the killers may never be caught. Israel acquired a powerful ally in 2013, when the forces led by Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi overthrew Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. After el-Sisi reTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
placed Morsi as president, one of his first acts was to outlaw the Brotherhood, a party dating back to the Egyptian monarchy. While Morsi had acted as mediator between Israel and Hamas, Egypt’s new rulers regard Hamas as a bitter enemy. Last June, a court sentenced Morsi and scores of other Brotherhood members to death on charges the group was “conspiring with foreign organizations to execute its diabolic and satanic plans.” Nathan Brown of George Washington University, who studies Egypt’s judicial system, said the verdicts “endorse a conspiracy theory sufficiently odd that, if I were to hear it from a fellow passenger on the New York subway I would quickly move to another car.” Under a new anti-terrorist draft law aimed at journalists, anyone who contradicts official government statistics will be sentenced to two years in prison. El-Sisi has likened the opposition media to “a fourth generation of warfare, and even a fifth.” The bill requires reporters to call insurgents “savages, slayers, destroyers, and eradicators.” Harming “national unity” is now a crime, so even peaceful protests are illegal. Some ten thousand Egyptians currently are in prison. A report on the regime’s human rights violations submitted to Congress by the Obama administration last May cited the stifling of freedom, the mass political arrests, and its “arbitrary and unlawful killings”—but nevertheless concluded that the U.S. must continue giving Egypt $1.3 billion a year in military aid. The rea9
marshall_8-10_Special Report 8/6/15 8:32 PM Page 10
Susiya in Danger of Extinction Palestinian families that resettled in the West Bank after being driven from their homes in what is today Israel have lived a precarious existence ever since. In Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank that Israel controls, Israel can demolish Palestinians’ homes and seize their land at will, and is doing so with increasing frequency under an Israeli government that regards all of Palestine as property of the Jews. By the time this article appears, the village of Susiya is likely to have been demolished, and its residents forcibly uprooted, just as their forebears were in 1948 and after. Two years ago Israel demolished more than 50 buildings in Susiya, claiming they were built without a permit, but it is virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain a building permit. More than 98 percent of their requests are denied. Israel has again issued demolition orders to Susiya, this time for homes built on privately owned Palestinian land. Susiya’s residents face dispossession because their village is located between an Israeli archeological site and an illegal Jewish settlement eager to expand. The law is on their side, but justice has no place in occupied Palestine. The land owners took their case to the Supreme Court, which scheduled a hearing for Aug. 3, but residents feared Israel would son was to ensure “the prospects of peace, stability, democracy and economic growth across the Middle East.” The words made no sense but the intent was clear: The assurance that Egypt will continue to maintain peace with Israel takes priority over freedom and human rights for Egyptians. The administration’s decision to back the el-Sisi regime was reflected again in the
IndextoAdvertisers Abusharar & Associates . . . . . . . . . . 22 Alalusi Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 American Friends of Birzeit University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover Holy Land Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Insight Turkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Jahan Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Kinder USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Life for Relief & Development . . . . 25 Mashrabiya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Middle East Children’s Alliance. . . . 33 Muslim Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Palestine Children’s Relief Fund . . . 43 Palestinian Medical Relief Society . 17 Sling.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 “The Israel Lobby” DVD . . . . . . . . . 27 United Palestinian Appeal (UPA) . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover 10
raze the village before then. Nasser Nawaja, a community organizer and researcher for B’Tselem and a native of Susiya, described the plight of his village in an op-ed column for The New York Times on July 23. He predicted that if Susiya is destroyed, many similar villages in Area C would suffer the same fate. The good news is that Susiya is receiving support from around the world. A message from the State Department urged Israel to consider the residents’ “humanitarian needs,” saying, “Evictions of Palestinians from their homes would be harmful and provocative.” The European Union has called on Israel to “halt plans for transfer of population and demoliton of Palestinian housing.” Jewish groups in Israel and elsewhere have joined with human rights activists in sending messages of support to the village. “This story is not a story of Jews against Muslims,” Nawaja writes. “This is simply a story of justice and equality against dispossession and oppression.” On Aug. 2 the High Court granted the residents of Susiya a brief reprieve by postponing its decision for at least two weeks. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu authorized the immediate construction of 300 more housing units in the settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah, and announced plans for 400 more in East —R.M. Jerusalem.
State Department’s refusal to meet with a delegation from the Muslim Brotherhood that was planning a July visit to Washington. The Brotherhood hoped for a private conference with U.S. officials, but after Egypt summoned the U.S. ambassador in Cairo to express its disapproval, the State Department announced there would be no meeting. Mohamed Lotfy, an Egyptian human rights advocate, maintains that in supporting the el-Sisi regime, “America is making the same mistake it did when they were supporting Hosni Mubarak.” By crushing the possibility of peaceful political change, “Sisi is creating a new generation of terrorists, and exporting them to Syria and Iraq,” Lotfy said. Meanwhile, he added, the United States is damaging its reputation in the region “by contradicting its values, or at least the values it tries to export in speeches.” As such warnings fall on deaf ears in Washington, Egypt and Israel continue to cooperate in actions that provoke violent resistance. Egypt vigorously enforces an Israeli blockade that since 2007 has turned Gaza into a prison and reduced a once productive population to penury. Egypt has also denied entry to Gaza by the commission investigating Israeli war crimes for the International Criminal Court. El-Sisi’s attempts to eliminate the Brotherhood, like Israel’s attempts to crush Hamas, have predictably created a vacuum filled by more radical groups. With no outlet for peaceful protest, militants affiliated with ISIS have carried out dozens of vioTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
lent attacks in the Sinai, claiming they were in retaliation for the crackdown on the Brotherhood. Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police officers have been killed, and in late June the state prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, was assassinated in Cairo. Islamist militants in Gaza who are also affiliated with ISIS have set off at least a dozen explosions aimed at Hamas, and the attacks are increasing. When the militants fire rockets at Israel, the Israelis invariably blame Hamas. This suits the real perpetrators. “We will stay like a thorn in the throat of Hamas and a thorn in the throat of Israel,” an ISIS supporter said. Nathan Thrall, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, estimates that the number of jihadis in Gaza has grown from several hundred to a few thousand—a fact that should come as no surprise. Joblessness, injustice, and the absence of freedom create a breeding ground for extremism anywhere in the world. Israel’s periodic attacks on Gaza, and the devastation they leave behind, provide the ideal environment for revolutionary groups to flourish. Washington must take heed of that fact if there is ever to be peace. The nuclear agreement with Iran holds the possibility of a new world order in which diplomacy takes priority over perpetual war. But there will be no lasting peace in the region as long as the U.S. is willing to prop up brutal regimes in order to protect Israel, and continues to provide Israel with the wherewithal for its war crimes. ❑ SEPTEMBER 2015
kuttab_11_Special Report 8/6/15 8:40 PM Page 11
Why Israel Is Suddenly Owning Up to Its Terrorism SpecialReport
By Daoud Kuttab fter over a year of total silence,
AIsraeli Prime Minister Binyamin
THOMAS COEX/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Netanyahu made two phone calls to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in as many weeks. The first of the calls was one of protocol regarding the start of the Eid alFitr festivities but the other call, the more important of the two, was made after Israeli Jewish settlers burned a Palestinian toddler and his family alive. The attack occurred in the village of Duma in the occupied West Bank. The toddler, 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, died in the incident, and his family was left seriously injured and mourning the loss of their youngest son. This particular attack was unprovoked by the Palestinians and has shocked both the Israeli and Palestinian communities at large. Instead of being an attack of retaliation, this case was prompted by an in- Relatives of 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, killed when his house was set on fire by Jewish setternal Israeli conflict, the context of tlers, mourn next to his body lying in a mosque during his funeral in the West Bank village of which has escaped many. Duma, July 31, 2015. Four of the toddler’s family members were injured in the attack. The Israeli army, after much hesitation, succumbed to clear orders from the tag”—which refers to the price for Israeli Taking the Heat Off Israeli High Court and destroyed two government attempts to restrict Jewish set- Israel specifically made this choice to take homes built illegally (according to Israeli tlement activities. some of the international heat off. law) on private Palestinian land near RaThe perpetrators, who scrawled Hebrew Recently, Abbas has decided to use mallah. graffiti meaning “revenge” and a Jewish Palestine’s newfound International CrimiStar of David, were protesting an event nal Court membership to call for a formal Aim of the Attack that happened in another settlement— investigation into war crimes committed The aim of the settler attack on Palestini- namely, the government destruction of a by Israeli occupation forces. At the opening of an emergency meeting ans in the village of Duma was to embar- house built by Israeli settlers on private rass the pro-settlement Israeli government Palestinian lands near the settlement of in Ramallah held by the Palestinian leadership on July 31, Abbas said that he had ineven though it had simultaneously ap- Beit El. The horrible death of the child and in- structed his foreign minister to prepare a proved the building, “immediately,” of 804 new housing unitis in Jewish settlements juring of his family seems to have rattled case against Israel for this war crime as part Netanyahu, who responded by calling the of the larger dossier about the entire settlein Beit El and in Jerusalem. The settlers’ heinous attack, which killing a “terrorist” act which supposedly ment enterprise. He said that since 2004, settlers had probably came from the nearby Maleh set it apart from what the U.N. has docuEfraim settlement, is said to be part of a mented as 2,100 acts of violence against committed 11,000 attacks against Palestinicontinuous wave of attacks on Palestinians Palestinians, their religious institutions, ans, and that all those cases were registered by settlers that carry the name “price their homes, and other Palestinian-owned by Israel as acts committed by unknowns properties, committed by Jewish settlers after superficial investigations for a few hours, and then the cases were closed. Daoud Kuttab, an award-winning Palestin- since 2006. This attack has been defined as “terrorThe question of whether or not the ocian journalist, is a former Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton University. Copy- ism” simply because Israel is petrified of cupying power carried out proper investiright © 2015 Al Jazeera Media Network. the possibility that this incident could gations of these crimes and had held the The views expressed in this article are the open up a “Pandora’s box” of questions re- responsible parties accountable is crucial to author’s own and do not necessarily reflect garding the legitimacy of the settlement the case against Israeli army officials. Al Jazeera’s editorial policy. enterprise and policy in its entirety. Continued on page 29 SEPTEMBER 2015
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
11
views_12-14_Two Views 8/6/15 8:43 PM Page 12
Three Views
JOE KLAMAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Achieving a Nuclear Agreement With Iran
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif gestures from a balcony of the Palais Coburg Hotel in Vienna, where nuclear negotiations were taking place, July 13, 2015. An agreement was announced the following day.
Victory in Vienna By Justin Raimondo
he historic agreement signed by the
TP5+1 and the government of Iran
marks a turning point in America’s relations with the world. It reverses the momentum of nearly 15 years of constant warfare and puts us on a path to peace. In terms of our relations in the Middle East, the agreement means the United States government has finally decided to pursue an independent foreign policy: Washington is no longer taking its marching orders from Tel Aviv. The Vienna accord is, in effect, our declaration of independence—and it came not a moment too soon. As the Obama administration packs up shop in Washington, and the reform regime of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani weathers attacks from Iranian hard-liners, the window of opportunity was beginning to close: this was the last chance for peace in the Middle East. The more than one hundred pages of the agreement outline an accord rich in technical complexity—which none of its critics Justin Raimondo is editorial director of Anti war.com. Copyright © Antiwar.com 2015. 12
have had time or inclination to examine. That hasn’t stopped them from denouncing it as a “bad deal,” and a “sell out,” echoing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu almost word for word. Practically frothing at the mouth, presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said the deal is “akin to declaring war on Israel.” Graham is right that war has been declared, but he has the aggressor all wrong: it is Israel that has declared war on the United States. This conflict has been ongoing for many months: we have seen it played out in the headlines, from Joe Biden’s ambush in Jerusalem to Bibi’s and John Boehner’s ambush of the president in going behind the White House’s back to arrange the prime minister’s speech to a joint session of Congress. Now, finally, an American president has said “Enough!”—and fired back. From all indications, he’s scored a direct hit. So what’s in the Vienna accord? The key provisions are the verification procedures described in the agreement, and these are virtually foolproof. The “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” calls for: “[A] long-term IAEA presence in Iran; IAEA monitoring of uranium ore concentrate produced by Iran from all uranium ore concentrate plants for 25 years; containment and surTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
veillance of centrifuge rotors and bellows for 20 years; use of IAEA approved and certified modern technologies including on-line enrichment measurement and electronic seals; and a reliable mechanism to ensure speedy resolution of IAEA access concerns for 15 years.” What’s not to like? IAEA inspectors will be on the scene: if the Iranians try to cheat, they’ll be caught in no time at all. What about the sanctions issue? All sanctions are being lifted—but only after the IAEA verifies that Iran has held to its side of the bargain (see points 18 and 19 of the Plan of Action). The two essential elements of any Iranian nuclear weapons program have been effectively nullified by this agreement. First, in order to create a nuclear weapon Tehran would require highly enriched uranium. In signing the deal, the Iranians have agreed to reduce their stockpile of uranium by 98 percent. In addition, they’ve agreed to not go over an enrichment of 3.67 percent, far below the level required to produce a workable weapon. Secondly, the Iranians would need a large number of sophisticated centrifuges in order to produce that highly enriched uranium. Under the terms of the deal, Tehran has agreed to reduce the number of centrifuges from almost 20,000 to 6,104 of the most outmoded models, a restriction put in place for a decade. IAEA inspectors will have access to all Iranian nuclear facilities and any Iranian military base where there is reason to suspect illicit activities: in case of a disagreement between the parties on access, a mediation board has been set up, and its decisions are final. The Arak nuclear reactor is being dismantled and rebuilt in accordance with the requirements set forth in the Plan of Action: once this process is completed under international supervision it will be impossible for that reactor to produce weapons-grade material. As for the Fordow nuclear facility, Iran will “refrain from any uranium enrichment and uranium enrichment R&D and from keeping any nuclear material” at this site. In short, all possible paths to an Iranian nuclear weapon have been blocked. Since any violation will be quickly detected, and given that the alternative is almost certainly the rapid development of an Iranian nuclear arsenal, there is no reason for any rational person to oppose this agreement. SEPTEMBER 2015
views_12-14_Two Views 8/6/15 8:43 PM Page 13
The problem, however, is that its opponents aren’t rational people—they’re Israeli sock-puppets who, for reasons of their own, are determined to sabotage the deal no matter what. They oppose it precisely because it is practically foolproof, and we can see this in the text of the Plan of Action itself: “Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons… “Successful implementation of this JCPOA will enable Iran to fully enjoy its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the relevant articles of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in line with its obligations therein, and the Iranian nuclear program will be treated in the same manner as that of any other non-nuclearweapon state party to the NPT… “The E3/EU+3 and Iran acknowledge that the NPT remains the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.” Note the legal framework upon which the agreement rests: the Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed by 191 nations. Only four United Nations member states have refrained from becoming a party to this foundational treaty: Pakistan, India, Sudan—and Israel. The Vienna agreement underscores Israel’s outlaw status in the nuclear realm: Tel Aviv’s defiance stands in stark contrast to Tehran’s willingness to come in from the cold and join the community of nations in opposing the spread of nuclear weapons. From this point on, tremendous pressure will be brought to bear on the Israelis to come clean and agree to a similarly foolproof regime—which they will never do. This is the real reason for Israel’s adamant opposition to the deal: their desire to maintain nuclear hegemony in the region. Now that Iran’s nuclear program has been brought to heel by international pressure, the Israelis are afraid that international pressure on them to do the same will commence. They are right to be afraid, just as the rest of the world is right to be afraid of the fact that Netanyahu’s finger is on the nuclear button: he could vaporize Tehran with a single command. This is where the real danger of war—nuclear war—is situated: in Tel Aviv, not Tehran. And that horrific fact was brought home in Netanyahu’s furious response to the news out of Vienna: “Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran, because Iran continues to seek our destruction. We will always defend ourselves.” Buttressing this thinlydisguised threat, The Washington Post reported Bibi’s hard-line coalition partner NafSEPTEMBER 2015
tali Bennett’s response: “‘Israel will defend itself,’ Bennett warned, vowing that military action is still an option for the Jewish State.” And Israel’s war against America has a nonmilitary aspect, as well, with Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely declaring: “The State of Israel will employ all diplomatic means to prevent confirmation of the agreement.” Yet the Israel lobby, weakened after a series of defeats, hasn’t got the votes in Congress to overturn the Vienna deal. Congress has 60 days to review the agreement, and you can bet they’ll be making a lot of noise in those two deafening months, but this time Israel’s American fifth column has been checkmated—and that marks another seismic shift. Years ago, when Patrick J. Buchanan described Congress as “Israeli-occupied territory,” he was right on the mark: these days, however, it’s quite a different story. The Israel lobby’s unreasonableness, its dogmatic shrillness, and the viciousness with which it pursues its perceived enemies has created a backlash that has ultimately proved to be their undoing. Their hubris has undermined their legendary power—along with the objective fact that U.S. and Israeli interests have diverged. All their tantrums and threats will come to naught, because in the end the American people don’t want to go to war with Iran—and certainly not in order to please Israel’s partisans. With a single blow, President Obama has neutralized the threat of war with Iran that has been hanging over us for years—and obliterated Israel’s death-grip on our Middle East policy as well as our domestic politics. For that he deserves more than a mere Nobel Prize. Obama Acts for America’s Interests By Eric S. Margolis arack Obama is the first American president to stand up to the Israel lobby since Dwight Eisenhower ordered Israel to withdraw from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in 1956-57. Freed of re-election concerns and the need for vast amounts of cash, President Obama finally made the decision to put America’s strategic interests ahead of those of Israel by making peace with Iran. This was a huge accomplishment: the United States has waged economic and political warfare against the Islamic Republic since its creation in 1979. Iran now looks likely to join Cuba in getting paroled from prison. Both refused to bow to Washington and paid a very heavy price that left them semi-crippled
B
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
economically and isolated. Unless the Israel lobby and its yes-men in Congress manage to block the nuclear agreement between Iran and major world powers, Tehran will be re-integrated into the world economic system and reassert its regional power. Iran is the world’s fourth largest producer of oil and a principal supplier to China and Japan. Iran’s gradual return to unrestrained oil exporting may well spook markets that are already facing a severe glut of inventory that has driven down energy prices everywhere. So much for fears of “peak oil.” It’s now time to begin dispelling the miasma of lies about Iran promoted by neoconservatives and their house media. First, Iran has never had nuclear weapons, though polls show many Americans believe they did. The same fib factory that spread lies about Iraq’s non-existent nuclear weapons has churned out a steady stream of disinformation about Iran that was as shameless as it was false. Back in 2007, combined U.S. intelligence concluded that Iran was NOT working on a nuclear weapons program. Israel’s intelligence services came to the same conclusion. But this did not stop Israel’s bombastic prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu, from waging a hysterical, doomsday campaign claiming that Iran was determined to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons—Holocaust II. Americans, and particularly Jewish Americans, swallowed this nonsense promoted by Netanyahu and much of the U.S. media—the same liars who marketed the U.S. war against Iraq. If Iran indeed had a few nuclear weapons and all-important delivery systems why would it attack Israel? Israel has an indestructible nuclear triad: missiles, aircraft, and most lately German-supplied submarines with nuclear-armed missiles on station in the Arabian and Red Seas. If Iran attacked Israel, its nuclear forces would wipe Iran’s 70 million people off the map. The idea promoted by Israel that fanatical mullahs in Tehran would commit nuclear hara-kiri just to attack Israel is absurd. The real fanatics with nuclear weapons are more likely found on the outer fringes of Israel’s coalition government who believe God has given them Biblical Israel that they must expand. Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist and the author of American Raj: Liberation or Domination? Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). Copyright © 2015 Eric S. Margolis. 13
views_12-14_Two Views 8/6/15 8:43 PM Page 14
As this writer has long said, the real conflict between Israel and Iran was not over nuclear weapons, which Iran does not have, but Palestine. Iran championed the Palestinian cause and demanded Israel quit the occupied West Bank and return the Golan Heights to Syria. Israel’s foes, Syria and Iraq, had been crushed by American power, as Israel cheered from the sidelines. Egypt had long ago been bought and is now run by a brutal military dictator who is secretly allied to Israel. That leaves Iran as the last significant supporter of a Palestinian state. If Netanyahu could have convinced the U.S. to attack and crush Iran, Israel’s last impediment to annexing the West Bank and Golan, and perhaps expanding into Syria, would have been removed. We will now see gambling mogul Sheldon Adelson’s fully-owned Republican Party and its media allies, like Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, mount a noisy campaign to block the Vienna deal with Iran. Americans will again be deluged with apocalyptic nonsense about secret Iranian nukes. Remember George W. Bush’s ludicrous claims about the dangers of supposed Iraqi “drones of death?” Well, here we go again. The same fools who thundered about the dangers of an Iraqi nuclear attack on the U.S. will be trotted out again. A new crop of rented know-nothing congressmen will warn of the wicked Iranians. Sheldon Adelson’s billions will work wonders. No one will stop to consider that the oftcited but rarely read Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 that called for the rapid elimination of ALL nuclear weapons in exchange for allowing a few nations to retain nuclear arms for a short period. Today, the U.S., Russia, France, Britain and China are all in violation of the NPT for failing to scrap their nuclear weapons. Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea rejected the NPT. The Arab states and Iran have long been under NPT inspection. Israel, whose secret nuclear program was begun with help from France and aided by technology and uranium stolen from the United States, has the chutzpah to warn the world about Iran, which has so far only a civilian nuclear energy program. Israel is believed to have 80-100 nuclear warheads—why so many remains an interesting mystery. U.S. law calls for cutting off aid to any nations that develop nuclear weapons. Congress has, of course, ignored its own law. When U.N. nuclear inspectors went into Iraq, over half were believed to be agents from the U.S. and Israel. That’s a primary reason why Iran is resisting inspections of its military sites. Interestingly, Iran was be14
lieved to be the leading target of U.N. nuclear inspectors. In fact, Japan is of even higher interest than Iran. More on this in another column. The Vienna deal may well reshuffle the Mideast deck. A return by Iran to economic life will aid and stabilize the region. As America found during the Nixon era, Iran is a natural U.S. ally (or policeman). Washington needs Iran to help stop ISIS, which has the Saudis petrified. Syria is another natural ally for the U.S. Washington’s selfinterest is to shore up the Damascus government rather than trying to destroy it. Iran is not a supporter of “terrorism,” as Israel’s allies claim. It backs Lebanon’s resistance movement, Hezbollah, that was created, as I witnessed, by Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Hamas is no more a terrorist movement than was Israel’s self-defense forces in 1948. Iran’s current role in war-torn Yemen is minor. Burying the hatchet with Iran is one of the Obama administration’s most sensible moves. The Mideast today is a horrifying mess. The Vienna agreement is hopefully a first step in correcting the monumental errors made by the Bush administration and restoring some sanity to the tortured Mideast.
With Iran Deal, Israel Turns a Day of Celebration Into a Day Of Mourning By Gideon Levy
n intelligent Israel, one not brain-
Awashed and angst-ridden, would be
happy this week. The day the agreement was reached with Iran should have been a holiday celebrating the prevention of the next war, the worst of them all. When a country claims to face a threat to its survival, what should make it happier than a chance to prevent war? But it turns out that in Israel the very chance to prevent war is a disaster—another Holocaust. An apocalypse has been averted, certainly delayed by a decade, and Israel has declared a state of emergency. Help, there’s no attack on Iran! Our clever plans are doomed to the wastepaper basket. How Israel craved to see the planes taking off at dawn and bombing, bombing, bombing, as they’ve practiced for years. How Binyamin Netanyahu and his media mouthpieces lusted to see that—preferably American bombers, but Israeli ones would be okay too. What an exhilarating bombing that would have been. What a reception we would have given our boys on their return from the daring operation over Bushehr. Copyright © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
And what a terrible disaster could have ensued. But in Israel, the averting of all this is a catastrophe. The collaborators Isaac Herzog and Yair Lapid have already been mobilized. The Israeli response to the nuclear agreement with Iran reveals the inner workings of the Israeli soul. Israel has been corrupted so badly over the years, the people brainwashed by so much intimidating propaganda that any agreement achieved by nonviolent diplomatic efforts is seen as illegitimate. We have been trained so well to think everything should be done by force, only force, that we’ve forgotten there are other ways to do things. But these ways are no longer in the Israeli vocabulary. That’s what happens when a country lives by the sword and is convinced there is no other way to do things. That’s what happens when any danger, real or imagined, is immediately met with violence. A brigade commander who shoots to death a stone thrower and an Israel eager to bomb Iran speak exactly the same language. When this language is the only one spoken here and Israel refuses to hear about other languages—not to mention try to learn them—Israel has a problem. Maybe this is the threat to its survival—no country in history has lasted long living only by the sword. Israel has plunged into disaster jitters not over the details of the Iran deal, which few have read. It’s acting this way because of the very achievement of a deal. Any agreement, even one stipulating Iran’s surrender, would have met with a similar Israeli response. Try to maintain that bombing wouldn’t have gained the 10 to 15 years like the agreement has. Try to argue that Iran’s return to the family of nations and its economic growth are much better than pushing it to the wall and isolating it. These opinions are seen in Israel as delusional. After all, everyone here is an expert who knows that Iran—unlike Israel, by the way—flouts international resolutions and does not adhere to agreements. The name of our game is always “suspect that everyone is guilty until proven innocent.” When we have nothing but endless suspicions—the whole world is plotting our destruction and has nothing else to deal with—then we’re dealing with paranoia, at an advanced and alarming stage. Ask any Israeli backpacker who returns from the end of the world. You can bet he’s seen anti-Semitism. Things are especially serious when the response becomes a chorus that leaves no room for other voices. Whether it’s against Iran or against Gaza, it’s a song that never ends—let’s bomb them. ❑ SEPTEMBER 2015
sprusansky_15-20_Special Report 8/6/15 9:14 PM Page 15
In the Midst of Political Showmanship, Experts Endorse Iran Nuclear Accord SpecialReport
Article and Photos by Dale Sprusansky hen world leaders announced on
WJuly 14 that an historic nuclear
agreement had been reached between Iran and the P5+1 (comprising the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K., Russia and China), Iran experts and arms control professionals immediately began poring over the detailed and highly technical 159-page document. The vast majority of these experts came away with the same opinion: the deal is a good one. “This is a very strong agreement from a nonproliferation perspective,” Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association told an audience gathered at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on July 16. At a Woodrow Wilson Center event a week later, Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, told attendees that, “In the policy world, there is not a big dispute about this. Nuclear policy experts and national security experts overwhelmingly endorse this agreement.” Nor is it just DC-based think-tank wonks who consider the nuclear deal a victory for global peace. More than 100 former U.S. ambassadors wrote President Barack Obama in mid-July to praise the agreement. “If properly implemented, this comprehensive and rigorously negotiated agreement can be an effective instrument in arresting Iran’s nuclear program and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons in the volatile and vitally important region of the Middle East,” the bipartisan group of diplomats wrote. Even in Israel, former heads of military intelligence, the Shin Bet (Israel’s domestic security agency), and Mossad (its spy agency) have brushed off their prime minister’s political critique of the agreement and voiced their support for the deal. Shorty after it was announced, leaders from several Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations issued their endorsement. Badr Albusaidi, secretary-general of Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quickly tweeted his congratulations to the negotiating team. UAE President Sheikh Khalifa publicly congratulated Iranian Dale Sprusansky is assistant editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. SEPTEMBER 2015
(L-r) Ilan Goldenberg, Richard Nephew and Kelsey Davenport. President Hassan Rouhani on the agreement. Even Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival, seems content with the deal. These scholarly and diplomatic endorsements have been challenged by a small but boisterous and well-funded group of detractors. Chief among the naysayers are congressional Republicans, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and pro-Israel lobbying groups attempting to torpedo the deal in Congress. Their primary tactic seems to be trying to drown out the experts’ voices. In July, a wide-range of experts on Iran and nuclear technology appeared at thinktanks throughout the nation’s capital. What follows is an overview of their thoughts on the technical, regional and domestic implications of the nuclear accord.
What Are the Ramifications? The agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is designed to ensure that Iran never develops nuclear weapons capabilities. Iran currently possesses two potential pathways to a nuclear bomb: uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing. Under the JCPOA, according to experts, both paths are effectively blocked. Speaking at a July 16 Middle East Policy Council event on Capitol Hill, James N. Miller, former undersecretary for policy at the Department of Defense, explained the THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
practical ramifications of the agreement. “The time it would take Iran to breakout, to have enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon, will increase from two to three months today to a year or more under the agreement,” he said. Miller also noted that Iran will be held accountable by an intrusive inspections system. “The agreement puts in place the most extensive verification regime in history for nonproliferation,” he explained. “Inspectors will have 24/7 access to Iran’s declared facilities. The IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] will have access to the entire nuclear supply chain—including mines, mills, conversion, centrifuges and storage.” Speaking at the Atlantic Council on July 15, Jon Wolfsthal, senior director for nonproliferation and arms control on the National Security Council, explained, “The declared facilities, if Iran even attempts to try and misuse those, we will know within days. More likely we will know within hours,” he said. Monitoring will be particularly tight at Natanz, where 5,060 centrifuges remain. “If a rat takes up residence [at Natanz],” Wolfsthal quipped, “we will be there and we will know about it.” Despite these precautions, critics contend that Iran could still produce weaponsgrade nuclear material at an undisclosed, covert location. While this is always a possibility, experts believe Tehran is unlikely 15
sprusansky_15-20_Special Report 8/6/15 8:58 PM Page 16
Jon Wolfsthal of the National Security Council. to take this risk. The agreement protects against the undeclared path to a bomb by permitting IAEA inspectors access to any suspicious sites, including military sites. If Iran objects to an inspection, a joint commission comprised of the P5+1 nations and Iran will vote on whether or not access should be granted. If a majority of nations agree that inspections are necessary, Iran must comply. This is significant, Miller noted, as it means that Iran, China and Russia cannot work together to restrict access to a location. Using this process, Iran can block access to a site for up to 24 days. Some, including Netanyahu, have balked at the 24-day window, contending that it allows Iran to remove evidence of unauthorized activities. “Can you imagine giving a drug dealer 24 days’ notice before you check the premises? That’s a lot of time to flush a lot of meth down the toilet,” the prime minister maintained. But hiding meth and nuclear activities are two very different things, experts pointed out. “It’s much harder to get rid of nuclear material because of traces of radioactivity,” Miller noted. “Twenty-four days may be time for Iran to remove any equipment that is put in place,” elaborated the Arms Control Association’s Kelsey Davenport, “but it isn’t enough time for Iran to eradicate any indication that illicit nuclear activities had taken place, and that’s in part due to the very sophisticated environmental sampling that the IAEA can conduct.” Speaking at the Atlantic Council, Massachusetts Institute of Technology research associate Jim Walsh expressed doubt that Tehran would put so much effort into negotiating the nuclear deal only to cheat. “It would be odd for Iran to negotiate an agreement in which there was more intrusive inspections, where there were more inspectors on the ground with greater man16
date, and then cheat,” he said, calling it “a pretty dumb thing to do.” Even if Iran plays by the rules of the agreement, some fear the country could begin a rush to the bomb once some terms of the deal start to expire in 10 to 15 years. President Obama has conceded that in a decade or so, “the breakout times would have shrunk almost down to zero.” However, he also noted that years of inspections and oversight would have provided the U.S. and the international community with invaluable insight into Iran’s nuclear program. This, he said, would allow “a future president to take action if in fact they try to obtain a nuclear weapon.” Tehran, of course, has long maintained that it has no intention of acquiring a nuclear bomb in the first place. In keeping with this stance, it officially pledged in the deal never to pursue nuclear weapons. It also agreed to implement the so-called additional protocol, which will allow continuous inspections of its nuclear facilities beyond the timeframe of the deal. Under the additional protocol, Iran is also “required to lay out a detailed research and development (R&D) plan and to declare to the IAEA what its prospective plans are,” Wolfsthal noted. Added Davenport, “any changes that Iran wants to make to its R&D will also have to be approved by the joint commission...So if Iran starts to move away from the R&D plan that it will submit to the IAEA, it will become clear very quickly to the joint commission.” At the Wilson Center, Cirincione dismissed those who reject the deal on the basis that it doesn’t prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. “In national security, very often your victories are buying time,” he explained. “And you just bought 25 years. And at the end of the 25 years, all of our options are still available. Like all good negotiations,” he concluded, “this is a deal that allows everybody to leave the table and declare victory.”
What Does Iran Receive? In exchange for agreeing to limits on its nuclear program, Iran will receive relief from a number of sanctions imposed on it by the international community. According to Richard Nephew, former principal deputy coordinator for sanctions policy at the State Department, it’s important to note that the deal does not remove the entire sanctions regime against Iran. “U.S. sanctions with respect to terrorism and human rights will remain in place,” he told the Arms Control Association audience. “The U.S. primary embargo will remain THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
in place,” he added, “with the exception of some very specific licensable transactions”— involving, for instance, the sale of commercial planes, Persian carpets, caviar and pistachios. This means the vast majority of U.S.-based businesses will still be unable to do business in Iran. Nephew also noted that Iran would not receive any sanctions relief until the IAEA has certified that it has taken certain steps to restructure its nuclear program—including reporting any past military dimensions of its nuclear program. “All this talk about signing bonuses and billions of dollars flooding into Iran before a single centrifuge has been dismantled is all false,” Nephew said. “The Iranians are not going to see anything beyond the [2013] Joint Plan of Action’s continuing relief until they have done their part.” It will take Iran approximately six months to remove its centrifuges and take the other necessary steps for sanctions relief to begin, Nephew estimated: “We are really talking about April, maybe March [2016], when the Iranians are actually going to be able to achieve sanctions relief, and when they are going to start to see new business start to flow.” This “is very important,” Nephew said, “because that basically means that for the time being the Iranians are highly incentivized to do all the things they are supposed to do.” For the first 10 years of the deal, the P5+1 members will also be able to snap sanctions against Iran back into place if they uncover evidence that Tehran is cheating. Sanctions will be reinstated if a majority of the P5+1 nations and the EU agree that a violation has occurred. If the vote to reimpose sanctions fails, any of the veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council would be able to unilaterally reinstate the sanctions. Nephew believes the possibility of snapback sanctions could preclude some businesses from doing business with or in Iran. “This is simple prudence on the part of international businesses,” he explained. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to do multibillion dollars worth of investment in the country when you have the risk of either snapback, a noncompliance finding, or some other concern that could get you in hot water, both in Washington as well as with your stockholders.” This means it will likely take a long time for Iran to fully reap the economic rewards of the nuclear accord, Nephew said. He fears this could lead to Tehran becoming discontent. “The real threat, I think, to the longevity of a deal is that this benefit is too SEPTEMBER 2015
sprusansky_15-20_Special Report 8/6/15 8:58 PM Page 17
slow in coming on, and there is, I think, a very significant risk that the Iranians at some point say, ‘we are not getting what we need,’” he cautioned.
How Will Iran Spend Its Money? Fear that Iran will use the money it receives from sanctions relief to stir unrest in the Middle East has been voiced by some opponents of the agreement. Once sanctions are officially lifted, Iran will receive roughly $100 billion in previously frozen assets. While most experts believe at least a fraction of this money will be given to Iran’s proxies in the region, they argue that this is no reason to oppose the nuclear deal. “This was always going to be a challenge if we reached a nuclear deal,” asserted Colin Kahl, national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, at the Stimson Center on July 29. Nuclear-related sanctions were “a means to get a nuclear deal,” he noted, and thus had to be removed once the international community reached an agreement with Iran. Otherwise, he stressed, Iran would never have approached the negotiating table. Kahl described it as inaccurate to depict sanctions relief as a reward being given to Iran. Iran is simply being given access to its own assets, he said. Furthermore, he noted, the $100 billion Iran is recouping pales in comparison to the money it has irrevocably lost as a result of being closed off from much of the world for years. Kahl also noted that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has stated Iran will be able to freely access only around $50 billion of its $100 billion in reserves. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Lew said this is because Iran already has committed $20 billion to projects with China, while “tens of billion in additional funds” constitute unpaid or “non-performing loans” that must be accounted for by Tehran. How will Iran spend the remaining $50 billion? “Nobody knows what they will spend that money on,” Kahl conceded, although he saw reason to believe that Tehran will use most of that money domestically. Iran has half a trillion dollars in urgent domestic needs, he noted, and thus “the lion’s share of the money they get, for a long time, will have to be used for domestic purposes.” Nonetheless, Kahl stressed that the Obama administration is not trusting Iran to spend its money peacefully, saying the U.S. “assumes that Iran won’t change at all” and is prepared to deal with increased SEPTEMBER 2015
Iranian activity in the region. The NSC’s Wolfsthal reminded his audience that Iran does not necessarily need additional funds to carry out its regional activities. Even under the current sanctions regime, he noted, Tehran has been able to push its regional agenda. “It is not a shortage of money that is preventing them from terrorism or sending arms to the Houthis or supporting Assad, right? They’re doing that anyway,” he pointed out. “So is there an incremental risk [of nefarious behavior from Iran]? Yes, there’s an incremental risk. Are we going to be taking steps with our allies to match that? You bet.” At the Middle East Policy Council briefing, former CIA analyst Paul Pillar made a similar point: “I would also note that the Iranians are not bookkeepers when it comes to deciding what they’re going to do in Syria or Yemen or someplace else in the region,” he said. They don’t “check the balance to see how many rials they have in their bank account to determine what their policy is going to be.” At the Atlantic Council, long-time Iran observer Barbara Slavin agued that the Iranian government will be held accountable by its citizens for how it spends the money. “This is not North Korea,” she pointed out. “Public opinion actually does have something to do with the policies undertaken by the government. Yeah, they do a lot of things in the region that, frankly, most Iranians do not support.” Continued Slavin, “But I would argue that if this government wants to retain legitimacy—and remember what the supreme leader here is doing. He is making a pact with the Great Satan, with the font of global arrogance, and everyone knows this. If this system wants to continue beyond Ayatollah
[Ali] Khamenei, it will have to meet some of the aspirations of its people.”
A More Pragmatic Islamic Republic? Experts agree the nuclear deal is a significant moment in the history of the Islamic Republic. Accordingly, many have debated what impact—assuming it survives congressional scrutiny—it will have on the balance of power in Tehran. So-called pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif have staked their reputations on reaching a successful nuclear deal with the P5+1. Having apparently succeeded, many wonder if they stand to gain domestic political power as a result. Speaking at the Arms Control Association event, Ilan Goldenberg, former Iran team chief in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, said there are two schools of thought on this topic. Some believe Rouhani will indeed be rewarded and given greater influence over both domestic and international affairs. There’s “a real strong case to be made” that this will occur, Goldenberg asserted. “He’s going to have tremendous credibility now and leverage.” Others, Goldenberg noted, argue that the supreme leader will instead appease hard-liners critical of the deal by giving them increased influence and resources. “You could also make the argument that the hard-liners are going to double down, that they’re going to want to batten down the hatches, they are not going to want to see this deal lead to more liberalization inside of Iran,” or better relations with the U.S., Goldenberg said. Rice University professor Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, speaking at a July 21 Arab Gulf States Institute event, described Iran-
(Advertisement)
Palestinian Medical Relief Society, a grassroots communitybased Palestinian health organization, founded in 1979 by Palestinian doctors, needs your support today. Visit our Website <www.pmrs.ps> to see our work in action. Mail your U.S. Tax-Deductible check to our American Foundation: Friends of UPMRC, Inc PO Box 450554 • Atlanta, GA 31145 For more information call: (404) 441-2702 or e-mail: fabuakel@gmail.com THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
17
sprusansky_15-20_Special Report 8/6/15 8:58 PM Page 18
ian conservatives as uneasy about the deal, as they see it as a U.S. ploy to push regime change. At the Woodrow Wilson Center on July 23, Iran watcher Robin Wright noted that some Iranians consider Rouhani to be the Mikhail Gorbachev of Iran, accusing him of facilitating the demise of the Islamic Republic. Wright pointed out that hard-liners are also concerned that the deal could help the reformist camp in elections scheduled for early 2016. These elections are important, Wright explained, as the Assembly of Experts—the body that will likely choose the next supreme leader—will be elected, in addition to the Majlis (parliament). Ultimately, Goldenberg believes both the pragmatists and hard-liners will get a piece of the pie. “What you’re going to end up with in Iran very likely for the next few years,” he predicted, “is a very intense political competition amongst the various factions around the supreme leader, who ultimately makes the final decisions.” Pillar agreed that power can shift in either direction, but believes it will ultimately fall into Rouhani’s hands. “Success begets power. And power begets more power,” he noted. “I would say the net effect will be to help the moderates and pragmatists in the Iranian political equation.”
Will GCC-Iran Relations Improve? If Rouhani’s pragmatist camp in Iran does emerge victorious, Pillar believes it will result in a more diplomatic Iranian approach to regional issues such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen. He described Rouhani as having “a relatively more moderate and pragmatic inclination when it comes to aspects of Iranian policy in the region.” At the Arab Gulf States Institute event, Suzanne DiMaggio, director of the Iran Initiative at the New America Foundation, expressed a similar viewpoint. Following the deal’s announcement, she noted, Zarif expressed hope for better collaboration between Tehran and the region. At the same time, she cautioned, “We should not expect Iran to suddenly abandon the groups they support in the region.” Fellow panelist Jamal Khashoggi of the Gulf-based Al Arab News Channel dismissed DiMaggio’s cautious optimism. Even if Rouhani and Zarif are genuine in their desire for peace, he doubted that the entire Iranian military, political and religious establishment will embrace this approach. Arab Gulf nations cannot talk peace with Rouhani while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is carrying out military activities across the Arab 18
Jamal Khashoggi (l) and Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar debate the regional implications of the Iran nuclear deal at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC. world, he said. “Iran seems to think it can shoot and talk at the same time,” interjected Nadim Shehadi of Tufts University. Shehadi insisted that no peace between Iran and the Arab Gulf could be forged until the IRGC ceases its activities. When moderator Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute noted that this is the equivalent of calling for regime change, Shehadi did not back down from his position. The IRGC is an impediment to regional peace, he asserted, even in areas where Iran and the Gulf nations have shared interests, such as the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. “ISIS and the IRGC are the type of enemies that reinforce one another,” he said. Conveying the fears many in the Arab Gulf have of Iran’s intentions in the region, Khashoggi expressed his belief that Tehran is pursuing an expansionist agenda throughout the Arab world, saying, “We are on the defensive. We are not in Iran. We are fighting Iran away from our region.” Despite these concerns, Goldenberg doubts Riyadh will begin its own nuclear program. “I think that’s very unlikely,” he said. “That’s expensive, that takes time, there are costs that come to them in terms of international reactions, in terms of their relationship with the United States.” Many experts also pointed out that Saudi Arabia and its GCC partners enjoy a significant military edge over Iran. Last year, Biden adviser Kahl noted, Iran spent $15 billion on its military, while the GCC nations spent $150 billion. GCC nations also enjoy access to cutting-edge U.S. military equipment. “The balance of power in the region is not in their favor,” Kahl said of Iran. Iran’s recent successes in places such as THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Syria, Iraq and Yemen have more to do with the fragility of those nations than with Iran’s military might, Kahl contended, adding that the U.S. is committed to strengthening these nations so they are no longer susceptible to foreign influence. Speaking at the Middle East Policy Council event, Atlantic Council senior fellow Nabeel Khoury had a different take. “In terms of real fighting power on the ground, in terms of influence in the region, Iran is winning, not Saudi Arabia,” he maintained. “Saudi Arabia has to throw all its might and all its weapons and all its bombs against the barefoot soldiers of the Houthis in Yemen, and it’s not necessarily winning—except, perhaps, carving out an enclave in Aden for President [Abd Raboo Mansour al-] Hadi to be able to return….In Syria and in Lebanon, Saudi influence is far less than that of Iran’s.” Khashoggi believes multilateral talks between Iran, Arab nations and the West are the only way to settle the regional unrest. He characterized the trust deficit between Saudi Arabia and Iran as too wide for their many differences to be resolved bilaterally. “The Saudis and the Iranians have been talking for a long time, but they don’t talk seriously. They don’t talk frankly about these problems,” Khoury said. “And they do need the U.S. to mediate and to bring them together and to bridge the gap between them and to end this rivalry and hopefully get them working together on these problems.” According to Iran watcher Geneive Abdo, speaking at the Stimson Center, the GCC nations may be open to such a dialogue. The Arab Gulf fears the nuclear deal is too narrow, she explained, in that it does SEPTEMBER 2015
sprusansky_15-20_Special Report 8/6/15 8:58 PM Page 19
not address Iran’s role in the region. Gulf leaders would have preferred to have seen the nuclear issue resolved as part of a broader “grand bargain” in which a whole cacophony of issues were addressed, she said. Gulf leaders also fear the deal signals that Washington is pivoting away from its current allies and toward Iran, said former Defense Undersecretary Miller. But, he added, “I don’t see anyone in the United States administration, or elsewhere for that matter, wanting to go this path. On the contrary, I’ve seen the administration saying the right things about Iran, about consultation and about the strength of our commitment to our allies and partners.” Goldenberg suggested that the U.S. could assuage Gulf concerns by entering “serious and strategic” dialogues with the region’s leaders in which the parties discuss how to deal with Iran in the region. This, he said, “will signal to our partners that we mean it when we say we are going to push back on this behavior that we don’t find acceptable from Iran.”
Why Is Israel Unhappy? In terms of Israel, Pillar believes the country’s objections to the deal are largely political. “The Israeli government does not want to see Iran as an unfettered competitor for influence in the Middle East,” he said. “It’s not only a competitor for influence in the Arab world and elsewhere in the region, but it’s one that will continue to be highly critical of Israeli policy in a way that does not get restrained by any relationship with the U.S., as is true, I would suggest, with the Gulf Arabs.” Netanyahu views the Iran deal as a hindrance to Israel’s talking points, Pillar added. The specter of the Iranian threat, he explained, has been “one of the main rationales for sustaining major U.S.-Israel security cooperation.” The deal, he added, “not only diminishes this threat, but also undermines the whole concept that Israel is the only worthwhile partner for the United States on anything in the Middle East.” Finally, Pillar believes that Netanyahu fears the deal will prevent Israel from using Iran to deflect attention from the occupation. “The Iranian threat is the allpurpose go-to diverting topic whenever something else comes up, like the occupation of Palestinian territories, that they don’t want to talk about,” he said. “The response always is, ‘but the real problem in the Middle East is Iran, and especially its nuclear program.’” SEPTEMBER 2015
A Better U.S.-Iran Relationship? Regarding the possibility of a détente between the U.S. and Iran, Goldenberg expressed skepticism. “I don’t see [Khamenei] pursuing a major rapprochement with the United States in the years ahead,” he said. “We are unlikely to see a restoration of full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Iran for years,” Pillar added. “I would look, as an exemplar on this, to the experience with China, in which several years transpired between the time President Nixon made his historic visit to Beijing and diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic were finally established under President Carter in the late 1970s.” Nevertheless, Goldenberg expects dialogue to take place between Tehran and Washington. The U.S., he said, needs to “take advantage of the fact that we actually have this channel of communications with the Iranians for the first time in 35 years. That is meaningful and important.” DiMaggio suggested the U.S. test how much it can achieve diplomatically with Iran, proposing direct, low-key talks on regional issues. “Knowing the sensitivities of this, it would have to be done quietly,” she added. This is not a farcical dream, she insisted, noting that the U.S. and Iran did discuss Yemen and ISIS on the sidelines of the nuclear talks. Given that Iran and the U.S. are operating militarily in the same territory and against the same enemy, DiMaggio said “it would be the height of irresponsibility” not to engage Iran on ISIS. Shehadi, however, disagreed with DiMaggio’s plan for under-the-radar talks between Tehran and Washington. “There’s nothing that would alarm U.S. allies in the region more than that,” he warned. In Khoury’s opinion, the U.S. must use the deal as an opportunity to discuss Syria, which he believes is vastly more important than the nuclear issue. “I’m afraid that if we limit ourselves to simply relaxing and saying Iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon…that we will have done ourselves a disservice,” he said. “The Syrian conflict is a potentially ideal place to start and give this new agreement with Iran the chance to develop diplomatically and to build a better understanding between the West and Iran on what really matters.” Outside of the Arab world, Pillar believes the U.S. and Iran could work together on Afghanistan. “We have already shown during those few brief months in late 2001 and early 2002, at the time of the Bonn conference, that the United States and Iran and its diplomats could work constructively toTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
gether on shared interests,” he noted. All speculation aside, Pillar emphasized the importance of accepting the Iran deal for what it is: a non-proliferation agreement. “The agreement has to stand or fall as a nuclear agreement,” he emphasized. “It does not depend, nor should it depend, on particular assumptions or projections about the rest of the [U.S.-Iran] relationship or about other aspects of Iranian behavior.”
Is There a Better Deal Available? A common retort of the nuclear deal’s opponents has been to suggest that a better deal could be reached with Iran. Experts, however, view this notion as not only wholeheartedly inaccurate, but dangerous. “This is basically a dangerous illusion,” stated Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. “There isn’t a better deal on the horizon, and if Congress somehow blocks this agreement, there are going to be very tough, negative consequences. We will have broken with our European allies. The necessary international support for Iran-related sanctions will dissipate. Iran would not be subject to limits on its nuclear program and could expand this program. We would lose out on enhanced inspections. The risk of a nucleararmed Iran and a conflict would grow.” Even those who disagree with components of the deal must realize that the agreement is vastly preferable to the alternatives, argued Walsh. (Advertisement)
!" !"##$%&'()#*'+% ##$%&'()#*'+ #*'+% #% #%,-./%0-/12-3%45-6%78-36%451%9%:;<=> ,-./%0-/12-3%45-6%78-36%451%9%:;<=>?6+@A ? %
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
19
sprusansky_15-20_Special Report 8/6/15 8:58 PM Page 20
have long desired Iran“I was part of a study ian oil and would likely that looked at the costs overlook U.S. objections and benefits of military and pursue oil arrangeaction against Iran’s proments with Iran. “We gram, and it was the eswould find ourselves, timate of 40 retired miliin my view, very isotary and defense offilated,” he said. cials, including former Pillar warned that national security advisbacking out of the deal ers, that after doing that and reimposing nuIran would be able to reclear-related sanctions constitute its program in would hurt U.S. crediroughly four years,” he bility beyond the Iran noted. “We wipe it out, nuclear issue. “Anyone they rebuild it in four years. You know, what Nadim Shehadi (l) and Suzanne DiMaggio disagree on how the U.S. should interact who’s concerned about U.S. credibility and do we do? We wipe it with Iran in the wake of the nuclear deal. using a tool like sancout again, I guess. I don’t know. We’re talking about an agreement be a nuclear agreement where Iran does tions to influence the Iranians or anyone that’s going to go for 15 years compared to everything we want them to do and they else needs to think really carefully before the 4 years that they would take to reconsti- get zero in return,” he said. “I’m not aware you say, oh, well, let’s keep them in place tute it if we used military force as the op- of any agreement in the history of hu- anyway,” he said. Cirincione suspects the agreement’s mankind that would work like that.” tion.” Davenport argued that not forcing Iran naysayers in Congress are basing their opWalsh also reminded those who believe that Iran is dead set on acquiring a nuclear into complete capitulation actually position to the accord purely on politics. weapons that this view is not supported by strengthens the agreement. “A deal allow- “This is a political fight, a political battle,” the facts. The Director of National Intelli- ing Iran to say it met its strategic objectives he explained. “In the rest of the world, gence, he noted, has reported that Iran of retaining a limited civilian nuclear pro- with the exception of Israel, this agreement ended its nuclear weapons program in 2003. gram and receiving sanctions relief gives is completely non-controversial. It is a no “They have not made a decision to pursue Iran greater buy-in to the agreement,” she brainer. It is a win-win scenario. It’s only nuclear weapons,” Walsh pointed out. “So explained. “It makes the deal more sus- here in Washington, in large part because every time you hear in the media that Iran is tainable because Iran sees incentives to of Bibi Netanyahu’s opposition, that we see racing to the bomb, that is in direct violation comply. So I think this idea that more con- the controversy around this deal.” Noting that critics’ idea of what constiof what the U.S. intelligence community has cessions were necessary would not necestutes a good deal continually changes, sarily produce a stronger deal.” come to conclude at high confidence.” Kahl rejected the idea that Congress al- Walsh said, “It’s called moving the goalCirincione reminded skeptics that during the George W. Bush administration—when lowing the deal to collapse would somehow posts. I remember, on breakout time, Prime Iran had just 164 centrifuges—the U.S. had provide the opportunity to get further con- Minister Netanyahu in that famous speech the opportunity to negotiate a complete end cessions out of Iran. Even if Tehran were to before the U.N. said ‘we need at least a few to Iran’s nuclear program. However, he acquiesce and agree to re-negotiate—a weeks’ or months’ notice before Iran does noted, Vice President Dick Cheney famously highly unlikely scenario—the U.S. negoti- something.’ And then John Kerry comes dismissed the idea of talking with Tehran. ating team would face a severe legitimacy and testifies before Senate Foreign Relations “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it,” crisis, he noted. “How do we drive to a bet- and he says, ‘we’re going to have six months ter deal with less leverage?” he asked. Ulti- of breakout time,’ which is more than a few the former vice president maintained. While the idea of a centrifuge-free Iran mately, Kahl believes the only alternative to weeks or months. But then he was told six was a worthy goal a decade ago, Cirincione the deal is to attack Iran or let it further de- months isn’t enough. And then they come emphasized that times have changed. “I velop its nuclear program. In other words, back with an agreement that says a year, would have preferred zero [centrifuges],” he he warned, “We will face the choice be- doubling that. And then suddenly we hear, ‘well, actually, we need two years.’ I don’t said. “I would have preferred that we could tween the bomb or bombing.” Wright pointed out that the U.S. back- know if there’s any number that we could raze all the buildings and salt this earth; but we are not Rome and Iran is not Carthage.” ing away from the deal would delegitimize choose for breakout time that would satisfy Experts also urged observers to be realis- moderates in Iran. Ayatollah Khamenei people, and it seems to me 15 years is a retic about the concessions the U.S. and its would dismiss Rouhani and Zarif as fools ally, really long time in nuclear years.” At the end of the day, Davenport said, partners could have gotten out of Iran. “The for ever having trusted the U.S. to negotiIranians were never going to accept a zero ate in good faith, she said. As a result, Congress–which has until mid-September enrichment proposal,” Miller noted. Walsh, Khamenei likely would cede more power to to weigh in on the agreement—must put meanwhile, dismissed those who argue that hard-liners, making re-engagement with politics aside and evaluate the deal on its merits: “Does it block Iran’s pathways to Iran could somehow have been convinced the West difficult, if not impossible. According to Miller, even allies of the nuclear weapons? Yes. Does it put in place to roll back its nuclear program without receiving sanctions relief. “Those people are U.S. would be hesitant to re-engage with intrusive monitoring and verification? Yes. saying we can’t have any nuclear agreement Washington if it were to scuttle the deal. Does it provide recourse in the case of viobecause they’re imaging that there’s going to The P5 nations and countries such as India lation? Yes.” ❑ 20
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
williams_21-22_United Nations Report 8/6/15 6:02 PM Page 21
Lessons Learned: the U.N. Security Council Resolution on Iran Agreement By Ian Williams
United Nations Report
t a massive 104 pages,
ASecurity Council Reso-
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
lution 2231 on the Iran nuclear accord is haunted by the “Mother of All Resolutions”—the equally lengthy and detailed Resolution 687 that the U.S. and Britain rushed through the Security Council in the wake of Saddam Hussain’s defeat in the first Gulf war. That war, of course, followed Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait in order to loot its treasures—so that he could pay the huge bills that he had run up by having previously invaded Iran—with the not so covert economic and mili- U.N. Ambassadors Gholamali Khoshroo of Iran (l) and Vitaly Churkin of Russia address the Security tary support of the Western Council after its unanimous July 20 vote to clear a path to lifting international sanctions against the Islamic powers now rounding on Iran Republic. in these current negotiations. Passed with one vote against and two ab- one of the world’s most popular countries, sequences provide some assurances to all stentions, Resolution 687 had allowed the and some of its expedient allies, such as signatories to the Vienna accords. Some of them are worried about what a Western powers to maintain sanctions and Syria, are more of a liability than an asset. With the current uncertain state of pol- different U.S. administration might try to even claim support for some forms of military action many years after the support itics in the U.S., one can see why all the do, and equally with what the hard-liners for them in the Council had shrunk to the parties to the Vienna talks assumed the in Tehran might try to smuggle through. Given the miasma of suspicion and name degree that it was only the ever-unpopular worst. The West assumed that Iran might veto that allowed them to be maintained. try to cheat. Tehran, with support from calling that has surrounded Tehran, one The U.S. could veto any positive attempt to Russia and other Security Council mem- can see why the Iranians are genuinely overturn the sanctions, even when, for ex- bers, was worried that there might be a re- hurt by the accusations. Firstly, Iran under ample, France defected from the West’s play of the U.S. abuse of 687 to pursue var- the ayatollahs has not attacked any of its ious congressional vendettas against Iran. neighbors. Rather, it was the victim of Sadside. After all, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin dam’s war of aggression, one of the bloodSo strong were the anti-Saddam forces after the invasion that rational discourse Netanyahu was trying to lobby American iest wars since 1945. In that war, Iraq was became impossible and necessary ques- legislators into overturning the agreement supported by its Arab neighbors—the tions almost took the form of jokes. Why even before it was signed. One of the rea- very regimes which now pretend to tremwere the Western powers so convinced sons that the White House wanted U.N. ble at alleged Iranian ambitions. Iraq used that Iraq was stockpiling weapons of mass Resolution 2231 approved by the Security missiles, loaded with weapons of mass dedestruction? Because they themselves had Council was that this made it a legally bind- struction and launched indiscriminately sold him the wherewithal to make them, ing agreement, which even derangedly pro- against civilian targets. At the end of that war, in a much overand covered for him when he was using Israeli congressmen might scruple to overlooked finding, the U.N. decided that Iraq them against Iran and the rebellious Kurds. turn. Resolution 2231’s tortuous proceedings was the aggressor, not least because the Taking a step back from the latest Resolution 2231, and the negotiations leading reflect some of those lessons that Moscow finding came at an inconvenient time— up to it, and indeed the conflicts surround- had painfully acquired after 687. It has a just as the U.S. was levying huge reparaing it, provides an object lesson in modern sunset clause, and lapses after 10 years. The tions on Iraq to pay off Kuwait and other realpolitik. Iran under the ayatollahs is not painfully complicated “snap-back” clause Gulf states. Despite its questionable human rights allows U.N. members, especially those inIan Williams is a free-lance journalist based volved in the negotiations, to maintain pres- record (less questionable than many of its at the United Nations who blogs at <www. sure on Iran. The complexity of those pro- neighbors, however), Iran is a relatively deadlinepundit.blogspot.com>. cedures and the political and economic con- good global citizen. Above all, it signed the SEPTEMBER 2015
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
21
williams_21-22_United Nations Report 8/6/15 6:02 PM Page 22
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The only way that the issue of Iranian nuclear disarmament made it to the U.N. Security Council was the loaded vote in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The key vote there was India’s— which, like Pakistan, has not signed the NPT and possesses nuclear weapons of its own. However, it voted to refer Iran to the Security Council—in return for Washington breaking its own rules and supplying technology to India despite its nuclear testing. The fact that the most vociferous complainant about Iran is Israel, a non-signatory to the NPT with a nuclear arsenal all its own, should of course give the rest of the world some pause for thought. Israel’s constant threats of bombing against alleged Iranian nuclear facilities, as well its well-attested campaign of assassination of scientists and sabotage of equipment, actually give Iran very plausible reasons to resist overly intrusive inspections—in addition to the natural paranoia of any beleaguered authoritarian regime. Hence, the masterpiece of convoluted diplomatic prose at the heart of Resolution 2231: the snap-back provision. If one of the signatories complains of “significant non-performance of commitments,” the U.N. Security Council will vote on a resolution to “continue in effect the terminations in paragraph 7 (a) of this resolution”—that is, to continue 2231’s suspension of the sanctions imposed by earlier resolutions. Even if no member actually proposes such a resolution, then the Security Council president will call for a vote.
If the resolution is not passed, or if it is vetoed, then the whole agreement is off— to avoid which, the resolution mandates: “that, in the event of a notification to the Security Council described in paragraph 11, Iran and the other JCPOA participants should strive to resolve the issue giving rise to the notification, expresses its intention to prevent the reapplication of the provisions if the issue giving rise to the notification is resolved, decides, acting under Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations, that if the notifying JCPOA participant State informs the Security Council that such an issue has been resolved before the end of the 30-day period specified in paragraph 12 above, then the provisions of this resolution, including the terminations in paragraph 7 (a), shall remain in effect notwithstanding paragraph 12 above, and notes Iran’s statement that if the provisions of previous resolutions are applied pursuant to paragraph 12 in whole or in part, Iran will treat this as grounds to cease performing its commitments under the JCPOA.” In other words, if the sanctions are reimposed, Iran will consider itself released of any obligations to fulfill any part of the agreement. The danger is that one of the permanent five could veto such a resolution—but only the U.S. would conceivably do so. And the experience of the Iraq resolution was that, once diplomatic support for sanctions collapsed, then effectively so did the sanctions. The burden of proof would be on the complainant to show that it had legitimate reasons to complain.
(Advertisement)
22
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Unlikely Persuasion So, for example, if a U.S. president-elect had foolishly pledged his soul to the Israel lobby and promised to reimpose sanctions, he or she would have to persuade a significant number of other Security Council members to go along. Since the lobby does not have the same sway in other world capitals, this would be highly unlikely. Not only would there be little or no political will on the part of other members of the world community to bring in sanctions, but a grandfather clause effectively protects contracts signed while the agreement is in force from being interrupted by the determination. It is a classic diplomatic deal. Obama can tell the lobby and its friends in Washington: look, the U.S. can bring back sanctions at the drop of a hat. He just does not have to explain that the hat has a long, long way to fall. In any rational world view—outside Likud and the Israel lobby that is—the agreement is a big step forward. It ensures that Iran does not become yet another nuclear state, and ends its isolation. That is good for Iran and its neighbors—including Israel. It is not good for the paranoid lobbyists who have used the alleged threat of Iran to raise funds for themselves—such as Mike Huckabee, with his apocalyptic talk of gas chambers. It is yet another success for the Obama administration, after Cuba, in dropping counterproductive international feuds generated by domestic lobbies. However, the release of Jonathan Pollard heightens the suspicion that in return for getting the agreement through—in order to further U.S. foreign policy objectives—a price must be paid. Increased aid to Israel? Less pressure on settlements? Even less support for Palestine? More vetoes on behalf of Israel? One hopes not. Having pulled off several coups, one can only hope that the Obama administration and the U.S. has learned that it owes Netanyahu nothing at all—except payback for all the insults he has heaped on the White House. In July, Washington’s was the only vote at the Human Rights Council against asking the International Criminal Court to investigate potential war crimes committed on both sides during the Gaza war. Now that Obama has the resolution from the Security Council, is it too much to hope that the pandering will stop and the U.S. will now actively support the Court—whose major function is to put judicial teeth into the slogan “Never Again”? ❑ SEPTEMBER 2015
views_pollard_23-24_Two Views 8/6/15 9:20 PM Page 23
Two Views The Release of Spy for Israel Jonathan Pollard
Jonathan Pollard following his Nov. 21, 1985 arrest outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. INSET: Mordechai Vanunu, who exposed the existence of Israel’s nuclear program to Britain’s Sunday Times, reveals the details of his capture by Israel by writing on his hand: “Vanunu M was hijacked in Rome. ITL. 30.9.86, 21:00. Came to Rome by fly BA504.”
The Damage Pollard Did By M.E. “Spike” Bowman
have worked every major espionage op-
Ieration between 1979 and 2009, and
quite a few that weren’t major operations as well. In my judgment there are four espionage agents who stand out as the ones who did the most damage to the United States. Chronologically, they are John M.E. “Spike” Bowman is a former intelligence officer and specialist in national security affairs. Most recently the deputy, National Counterintelligence Executive, he previously was senior research fellow at the National Defense University. He delivered these remarks at the National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel “Special Relationship,” held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, March 7, 2014. His remarks have been lightly edited for clarity. SEPTEMBER 2015
Walker, Jonathan Pollard, Aldrich Ames and Bob Hanssen, whom I knew personally. I never worked the Aldrich Ames case, that’s the only one that I didn’t work, because I was transitioning from the Navy to the FBI at that time. Now, why do I say that Jonathan Pollard is a major problem or did major damage to us? He was a Navy intelligence analyst. And he wanted to make a lot of money. And he had ideas about weapons schemes and things like this. But one day he was talking to a friend of his in New York who commented that he had met a very interesting person, a colonel in the Israeli air force named Avi Sella, and Pollard said can you introduce me to him? And he did. And right off the bat, Jonathan Pollard said I can help you, what is it you would like to have? Well Sella naturally had Jonathan Pollard checked out, THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
and they realized that he was intent on what he said. And so he said, yes, we’ll be glad to receive anything that you can get. Well, Pollard had a top secret SCI [Sensitive Compartmented Information] clearance, and he had a courier pass. So he could take classified information out and anything he wanted. And he started giving information to the Israelis, and one of their comments was, don’t give us any secret information, we don’t need that level. Only top secret and SCI information. And so that’s what he started doing. And because of his credentials and his courier pass, he could go to the various intelligence libraries and get anything he wanted. And pretty soon the Israelis started tasking him with specific documents they wanted. And the way they were able to do that is they had a book that was published by the DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency] that was basically a catalog of all of the things that were available. And Jonathan Pollard didn’t give it to them, they got that from somebody else. So Jonathan Pollard started giving them whatever they wanted. Now just to recap for a moment what Pollard was trying to do. He didn’t start out to give information to the Israelis, he started out trying to sell anything he could, including classified information. He approached the Pakistanis, he approached the South Africans, he approached the Australians. He turned over classified information to a South African attaché just as a show of good faith. So you know, he’s not a person who was trying just to help the Israelis, he was a pretty venal person here. At one point when he was meeting with his handlers in Paris, he started commenting, you know, I’m really taking a big risk, you know, all this sort of stuff. You know I can really get a lot of time in jail for what I’m doing, it’s a big deal. And the Israelis said, well, what is it you want? And he said, up it by $1,000 a month. So, you know this is really what he is. He’s a person trying to make money. Now what did he do to earn my suggestion that he’s one of the top four? He took so much information to the Israelis, that they had to install two high speed copiers in an apartment to take care of everything that he brought them. 23
views_pollard_23-24_Two Views 8/6/15 9:20 PM Page 24
He would take information out every night in a couple of briefcases, give it to them to copy and then, because they had high speed copiers, they were able to get it back to him quickly. And then he would replace it as soon as he got to work in the morning. How much did he give them? By his own admission, he said I gave them enough information to occupy a space that would be six feet by six feet by ten feet. That’s his admission. We never got the documents back from the Israelis that he gave them. Now they did give us a few documents back, they gave us a couple of thousand back. But really, you know, we don’t know all that he gave. Although Jonathan Pollard has almost a photographic mind. So he was able to tell us an awful lot about what he did. Now the reason he told us all this stuff is we made a deal—his wife was involved in this too, and we made a deal that we would cap her sentence at five years. And that we would not ask for the maximum punishment for him. Now the information that he turned over, some of it actually was information covered by 18 U.S. Code 194, which is mostly electronics communication information. It carries the death penalty. But at the time that Jonathan Pollard did his espionage work, there was no death penalty in the United States. That had been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. And at that time, a life sentence was really, in practice, 30 years. So that’s what we were looking at. Jonathan Pollard was pretty good about telling us all the information that he had given over. And as a consequence of that, one of the things that we do usually with espionage agents, or at least that I did, is I would write an Affidavit for a senior officer to sign that explained what the harm was. So of the things that he gave us, I selected 19 different documents that represented the different categories of information that he had turned over to the Israelis. And just using each one, I explained what the harm is from this type of information, not from this document, but from this type of information, and gave it to [Defense] Secretary [Caspar] Weinberger. And Secretary Weinberger made his edits to it. One of his edits—I have to tell you about this—one of his edits was, he put a sentence in there that said that if the death penalty were available, he would have no hesitation in recommending it. I crossed that out. And the next version I sent in to him, he put the same thing back in. And finally I said, Mr. Secretary, if we can’t ask for the maximum punishment, which is 24
life, we can’t say that death is appropriate. He finally got the picture. But anyway, this Affidavit was then given to Judge Aubrey Robinson, who is now deceased, and I took it to him personally. I sat in an outside room while he read it. He gave it back to me and said, thank you very much, that’s all he said. And then we went to sentencing. And at sentencing, the prosecutors really didn’t say anything. They got up and they said he’s done harm, he should receive a substantial sentence, but that’s about the character of all they said. Jonathan Pollard got up and talked about what he had done and how sorry he was and, by the way, I really didn’t do anything that caused any harm. And Judge Robinson said, come up here, young man. And he pulled out the Affidavit which he now had in his hand. And he pulled it open to a few pages and he said, okay, now explain this one. And Jonathan Pollard couldn’t answer what it was, because it was a very big deal. In fact it has been made public now, so I can tell you what Judge Robinson was pointing at. It was something that’s what we call the RAISIN Manual. And the RAISIN Manual was, at that time, a document that described all of the communications capabilities of the Middle East and how the NSA could attack them. And Judge Robinson just said, explain this one young man, and he was done. So at sentencing, Jonathan Pollard got life, which as I said meant about 30 years. He has been eligible for parole for some time. He will not ask for parole because he wants clemency, so as soon as he steps out of prison, he can leave the United States and go to Israel.
The Soviet Angle By James North and Philip Weiss
he leading source of the theory [that
Tdocuments stolen by Pollard were
handed over to Moscow by Soviet moles within the Israeli intelligence service] is “The Traitor,” a 1999 piece by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker, detailing the allegations that the material ended up in Soviet hands, as a trade for Soviet émigrés to Israel: A number of officials strongly suspect that the Israelis repackaged much of Pollard’s material and provided it to the Soviet Union Philip Weiss is founder and co-editor of, and James North a contributor to, Mondoweiss.net. This is an excerpt from their July 30, 2015 post, “MSM Avoids Central Pollard Question: Did Israel Trade Secrets to Soviets for Emigrés?” Copyright © 2015 Mondoweiss. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
in exchange for continued Soviet permission for Jews to emigrate to Israel. Other officials go further, and say there was reason to believe that secret information was exchanged for Jews working in highly sensitive positions in the Soviet Union. A significant percentage of Pollard’s documents, including some that described the techniques the American Navy used to track Soviet submarines around the world, was of practical importance only to the Soviet Union. One longtime CIA officer who worked as a station chief in the Middle East said he understood that “certain elements in the Israeli military had used it”— Pollard’s material —“to trade for people they wanted to get out,” including Jewish scientists working in missile technology and on nuclear issues. Pollard’s spying came at a time when the Israeli government was publicly committed to the free flow of Jewish émigrés from the Soviet Union. The officials stressed the fact that they had no hard evidence—no “smoking gun,” in the form of a document from an Israeli or a Soviet archive—to demonstrate the link between Pollard, Israel, and the Soviet Union, but they also said that the documents that Pollard had been directed by his Israeli handlers to betray led them to no other conclusion. High-level suspicions about Israeli-Soviet collusion were expressed as early as December 1985, a month after Pollard’s arrest, when William J. Casey, the late CIA director, who was known for his close ties to the Israeli leadership, stunned one of his station chiefs by suddenly complaining about the Israelis breaking the “ground rules.” The issue arose when Casey urged increased monitoring of the Israelis during an otherwise routine visit, I was told by the station chief, who is now retired. “He asked if I knew anything about the Pollard case,” the station chief recalled, and he said that Casey had added, “For your information, the Israelis used Pollard to obtain our attack plan against the U.S.S.R., all of it. The coordinates, the firing locations, the sequences. And for guess who? The Soviets.” Casey had then explained that the Israelis had traded the Pollard data for Soviet émigrés. “How’s that for cheating?” he had asked. In subsequent interviews, former CIA colleagues of Casey’s were unable to advance his categorical assertion significantly. Duane Clarridge, then in charge of clandestine operations in Europe, recalled that the CIA director had told him that the Pollard material “goes beyond just the receipt in Israel of this stuff.” But Casey, who had many close ties to the Israeli intelligence community, hadn’t told Clarridge how he knew what he knew. Robert Gates, who became deputy CIA director in April 1986, told me that Casey had never indicated to him that he had specific Continued on page 35 SEPTEMBER 2015
life_ad_25_LIFEUSA DOT ORG 8/6/15 12:13 PM Page 25
(Advertisement)
cook_26-27_The Nakba Continues 8/6/15 7:29 PM Page 26
Israel Cuts Funding to Its Christian Schools, Fully Funds Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Schools TheNakbaContinues
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Jonathan Cook
Muslim and Christian students attend a class at the Rosary Sisters girls’ secondary school in Jerusalem’s northern Beit Hanina neighborhood, May 12, 2015. srael is seeking to bring dozens of
Ichurch-run schools under government
control to curb the last vestiges of educational freedom for the country’s large Palestinian minority, the community’s leaders have warned. Most of the 47 schools, which are among the highest-achieving in Israel, were established by Christian orders more than 100 years ago—well before Israel’s creation in 1948. Today they are almost the only independent schools catering to Israel’s community of 1.5 million Palestinian citizens, a fifth of the country’s population. Israel segregates its education system based on ethnicity. Leaders of Israel’s Palestinian minority say the church schools, which educate both Christians and Muslims, are the only hope for most families trying to escape the dire conditions in the government-run education system for Arab citizens. Jonathan Cook is a journalist based in Nazareth and a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He is author of Blood and Religion and Israel and the Clash of Civilisations (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More). 26
The drop-out rate in the Arab state sector is 17 percent, and barely more than a quarter of students matriculate. On international tests, Arab pupils’ scores are on average 20 percent below those of Jewish pupils. Many of the church schools, by contrast, have a matriculation rate of 95 percent, better than most of Israel’s top schools for Jewish students. Yousef Jabareen, an Arab member of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, said the church schools, unlike the Arab state schools, had been relatively free of governmental interference designed to create “an atmosphere of intimidation and fear.” “In the Arab state schools, Jewish officials appoint the principals, vet the teachers and dictate the curriculum,” he said. “Christian schools have the flexibility to choose their staff, and teach pupils about their national identity, Palestinian culture and history, and their rights as citizens. All that is now under threat.” Jabareen added that indications were that Binyamin Netanyahu’s new extreme right-wing coalition would seek to strengthen its political control over the Palestinian minority. Naftali Bennett, leader of the settler party Jewish Home, THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
was recently appointed education minister. Fahim Abdelmasih, principal of the Terra Santa school in Ramle and spokesman for the church schools, said the 47 schools faced a “death sentence” after the Education Ministry announced last year it had slashed their long-standing subsidies. Negotiations with the government recently broke down after education officials suggested that the solution was for the church schools to come under government control. Traditionally Israel has funded between 60 and 75 percent of the costs of approved independent schools, with parental contributions and fund-raising filling the gap. However, the church schools now receive no more than 45 percent of their running costs, Abdelmasih said. “The schools just can’t survive after those kinds of cuts,” he said. Education officials have also capped payments from parents whose children attend the schools, effectively barring them from making up the shortfall. With Palestinian families three and a half times more likely to be below the poverty line than Jewish families, the schools say many parents are already struggling to pay existing fees. The church schools have accused the government of discrimination, pointing out that Netanyahu agreed in May to cover in full the budget of two networks of independent schools for ultra-Orthodox Jews, in return for their parties joining his governing coalition. Nabila Espanioly, director of the Tafula child development center in Nazareth, said the poor performance of Arab state schools could be explained by decades of severe discrimination. Studies by the Follow-Up Committee for Arab Education show that Jewish pupils receive at least five times more funding than Arab pupils—$1,100 each compared to $192. The Arab sector suffers from a shortage of more than 6,000 classrooms and 4,000 teachers. And Jewish schools have twice as many computers relative to their student body than Arab schools. In addition, the minority’s leaders have long complained of interference by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, SEPTEMBER 2015
cook_26-27_The Nakba Continues 8/6/15 6:00 PM Page 27
in the appointment and promotion of teachers in the Arab state system, undermining educational values and the professionalism of staff. “Parents want quality education for their children,” Espanioly explained, “but the reality is that the only good choice for most of them is one of these church schools.” The schools are attended by about 33,000 children—some 5 percent of the Palestinian minority’s school-age population—and employ 3,000 teachers. Many of the community’s leaders—from academics, professionals and Knesset members—were educated in such schools, observed Oudeh Bisharat in a recent column for the Haaretz daily. Israel now appeared “determined to crush” the system because of its very success, he added. Boutros Mansour, principal of the Baptist school in Nazareth, said the church schools expected the same treatment as the large number of independent schools for some 200,000 Jewish children from the religious ultra-Orthodox community, known as Haredim. They are fully funded by the government. “The ridiculous thing is that the schools for the Haredim break the law by refusing to teach the core curriculum, including subjects like maths, English and science, and they get 100 percent funding,” he said. “We, on the other hand, teach more than the core curriculum and have some of the best results in the country and yet we are being starved of funds and are in danger of closure.” The Education Ministry was unavailable for comment. But in a statement to Haaretz, it said the church schools had rejected all its proposals. It suggested that they “join the public education system, which would mean a budget allocation of 100 percent while preserving the schools’ special characteristics.” Mansour, however, said the schools’ academic achievements and special character, including its Christian ethos, would be impossible to maintain if they came under government control. Adalah, a legal center for Israel’s Palestinian minority, said it was preparing to challenge the funding cuts in the courts. According to Adalah lawyer Sawsan Zaher, the policy contravened the 1961 United Nations convention against discrimination in education, which Israel has signed, as the government was fully funding independent Jewish schools. Israel also has an obligation under international law to recognize the protected status of schools that existed before Israel’s SEPTEMBER 2015
creation and serve a “homeland minority,” said Zaher. If the Education Ministry refused to reconsider its cuts, Abdelmasih said, Christian leaders in Israel would appeal to Pope Francis to exert pressure on Israel. The threat to the church schools comes as Israel’s small community of Christian Palestinians—now about 2 percent of Israel’s population—says it feels increasingly under attack.
Under Attack In June a historic church near the Sea of Galilee was seriously damaged in a fire started by Jewish extremists. The church marks the spot where Jesus is supposed to have miraculously multiplied loaves and fishes to feed his followers. The arson attack is the latest in a long string of hate crimes against Christian and Muslim holy sites committed in both Israel and the occupied territories by Jewish groups closely associated with the settlements. The government also is putting pressure on Palestinian Christians in Israel to serve in the army. Most object to fighting their ethnic kin in the occupied territories and worry that military service would put them on a collision course with their Muslim fellow citizens. Mansour said such pressures had led many Palestinian Christians to consider emigrating. “Our schools are important in
keeping the connection between Christians and this land. We tell our pupils about their Palestinian Arab identity and heritage—that this is their country.” Jabareen, the Arab MK, said it was important to improve the quality of Arab education in the state sector. He submitted a bill in June that would require the Education Ministry to promote educational and cultural values suitable for the Palestinian minority. “At the moment, the education system strongly advances Zionist values—of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state—and Jewish culture and heritage,” he said. “It entirely ignores the identity and culture of 20 percent of the population, and that has to change.” However, the signs are that Netanyahu’s government is unlikely to be sympathetic. Bennett, the far-right education minister, has overruled his own ministry’s experts to bar Israeli schools from attending a play about a Palestinian political prisoner. The al-Midan theater in Haifa, which staged the show and is Israel’s only national theatre performing in Arabic, is now under investigation. Its funding has been suspended by both the government and the Haifa municipality. “Extreme right-wingers now have control over the education, culture and justice ministries,” said Jabareen. “It seems that in the current political climate this government believes it can renew and extend its assault on our rights.” ❑
(Advertisement)
This DVD of the April 10, 2015 confer-
ence at the National Press Club in Washington, DC provides an unprecedented, frank and long overdue look at the power of the Israel Lobby in the United States. Eighteen speakers address how the Lobby works, its efforts to silence critics and suppress free speech on campus, its impact on Israelis (including Palestinian citizens), its influence over Congress, and its efforts to promote war with Iran. Heralded as “the beginning of the American Spring” by Haaretz columnist and conference speaker Gideon Levy, the Israel Lobby conference is essential viewing for anyone interested in the Israel-Palestine issue or the role of lobbying organizations in American politics. You can also order extra copies of the Washington Report’s special “Israel Lobby” issue ($4.50, including postage). Copies available while supplies last.
To order your DVD ($19.95), visit <www.MiddleEastBooks.com> or call (202) 939-6050 for more information.
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
27
omer_28-29_Gaza on the Ground 8/6/15 8:45 PM Page 28
Islamic State Threatens Gaza—Even Though The Besieged Enclave Has Nothing Left Gazaon the Ground
By Mohammed Omer
PHOTO M. OMER
pathy for IS. Indeed, Sharif Abdelwahab, a 31-yearold administrative employee, says that now no one can say they respect Islamic State. “This threat has united all Gazans against Islamic State,” he explains. According to political analyst Ibrahim Al-Madhoun, “In Gaza people know o n e a n o t h e r, a n d there will be no environment for IS to grow.” Ironically, this is the first time both Gaza and Israel have been threatened by the same group. The real problem, Some of Gaza’s desperate young men, seeing no hope for their future, end up joining the Islamic State and similar however, is not IS itextremist groups. self, but poverty and a destroyed Palestinor the past few months, Hamas has bat- YouTube, considered to be IS’ first direct ian economy forcing young people to the tled with Salafist groups believed to be public challenge to Hamas, as well as to Is- edge of desperation. Islamic State and likesupportive of Islamic State (IS) ideology rael. An Islamic State member delivered minded groups might be the first destinaand who reject the idea of a cease-fire with the group’s message to “the tyrants of tion for youths who see no hope on the Israel and any reconciliation between Hamas,” stating, “We will uproot the state horizon beyond Israel’s occupation and Hamas and the U.S.-backed Fatah. of the Jews and you and Fatah, and all of blockade. In mid-July, on the last day of Eid al Fitr, the secularists are nothing and you will be “The problem is not with the term ‘Isthe people of Gaza awoke to five massive over-run by our swarming multitudes.” lamic State,’” confirms Abdelwahab. Incoordinated bombings of cars belonging to The speaker vowed that life in Gaza will stead, he says, “we fear that more pressure members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. No become similar to that in Yarmouk camp, and closure by Israel and Egypt will force one has claimed responsibility for the at- referring to Islamic State’s April seizure of Gaza youths toward radicalism—after all, tacks, which took place in an area known much of the Palestinian refugee camp on those who impose the siege on Gaza push historically as the hub of Hamas leaders. the outskirts of Damascus. Palestinian youths toward undesirable di“Israeli F16s bombed us last summer,” “We have enough to worry about in our rections.” recalls 41-year-old Abu Sameh, “but now life in Gaza, now we have Islamic State we don’t know who stirs these memories of coming after us,” lamented a student in Salafist Caught in Fire Even though Gaza authorities found no evhorror in us again, on this third day of Gaza who preferred not to give his name. Eid.” IS has made sweeping advances into idence of an Islamic State presence, they No one has established any links be- parts of Egypt, Libya and Yemen, and feel compelled to crush someone—and the tween the coordinated car bombs and ear- launched high-profile attacks in Tunisia. easiest target is the Salafists, the largest lier threats made in June by Islamic State But it is unclear how members of Islamic group after the Muslim Brotherhood, and militants. State could infiltrate Gaza, when the tun- one which is growing in Saudi Arabia, Gazans were outraged to see IS videos on nels have been closed and the Rafah cross- Qatar and Kuwait. Security sources told the Washington Reing with Egypt remains mostly shut. But Award-winning journalist Mohammed Omer de facto government authorities told the port that some 40 Salafists have been arreports from the Gaza Strip, where he main- Washington Report that Gaza is under con- rested and are being held in Gaza jails. This tains the Web site <www.rafahtoday.org>. trol, and it was good that IS made such a move will not make Hamas popular with Follow him on Twitter: @MoGaza. threat against Gaza, as it generated no sym- the Salafist movement in the Gulf, ob-
F
28
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
omer_28-29_Gaza on the Ground 8/6/15 8:45 PM Page 29
served Dr. Ahmed Yousef, a former political adviser to ex-Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. In his just-released study titled Hamas and the Salafist Movement in Gaza Strip: Visions and Common Work, Dr. Yousef calls for bridging the gap between the two groups. Rather than expel the Salafist movement from Gaza, he advocates establishing a line of communication with its members and avoiding military confrontations. “They [IS] must know that what they are doing is damaging the image of Islam across the world, and demonizing all Muslims by stigmatizing them with radicalism and extremism. Such actions only serve the Zionist interest in the Middle East,” Dr. Yousef argues. Nevertheless, Gazans are still unclear as to who is responsible for the Eid explosions—an Eid already made difficult since Israel’s war on Gaza last summer. Gazans are still forced to live with 18 hours of extended electricity blackouts, and shortages of domestic water supplies, during a stifling heat wave afflicting the region. Gaza has no facilities to deal with such a heat wave. As Abdelwahab puts is: “Gaza is like Yarmouk already.” ❑
Owning Up to Terrorism… Continued from page 11
International law, and specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention—relative to the protection of civilians in time of war— makes clear that an occupying power is not allowed to transfer its citizens into occupied areas. An occupying army—and therefore its soldiers and commanders—are entrusted with protecting the civilian population. Therefore, any war crimes committed against the civilian population are ultimately the responsibility of the occupying officers.
Israel’s Illegal Policy Jewish settlement practices are clearly in violation of this convention and international law. This reality is further cemented by the International Court of Justice ruling in a case presented by Jordan in 2004. The ruling ended Israeli-initiated legal discussions disputing the status of the West Bank as occupied territory and confirmed that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to it. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for-
mally condemned the attack and blasted what he referred to as “repeated acts of settler violence” and “Israel’s illegal settlements.” The U.S. Department of State has also condemned the attack, going along with Netanyahu’s description that it was a “terrorist” act. Israelis from all political parties also condemned the attack. By calling this particular act a “terrorist act,” and ignoring the larger crimes of the entire settlement enterprise, the Israelis are hoping to avoid the full force of international law and the downward spiral in international opinion such a trial would inspire. The senseless death of Ali Dawabsheh, and the maiming of his family, have refocused local, regional and world attention on the Palestinian cause. A simple phone call by Netanyahu to Abbas, and the description that this act and this act alone is a “terrorist” act, will not wash away the deeply rooted stains of this conflict. The only way that this issue can be dealt with is through a clear and serious effort to end the decades-old military occupation and the illegal colonial settlement enterprise that it protects. ❑
(Advertisement)
SEPTEMBER 2015
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
29
gee_30-31_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 8/6/15 6:06 PM Page 30
With an Eye to the Future, Israel Cultivates Relations With India and China
Islam and the Near East in theFar East
By John Gee
the Middle East. The two most important are the Asian giants, China and India, homes to over a third of the world’s population.
KIM KYUNG-HOON-POOL/GETTY IMAGES
India
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (l), on an official visit to China, meets with President Xi Jinping (r) in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, May 9, 2013. rom May 9 to 11, 1942, a conference
Ftook place at the Biltmore Hotel in New
York at which 600 American Jews, including a few non-Zionists, as well as 67 Zionists from other countries, met. They passed a resolution, with no votes against but many abstentions, that openly called for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. Returning to Palestine, Ben-Gurion rallied support for what became known as the Biltmore Program, and that November it was adopted as policy by the Central Executive of the Zionist Organization. The adoption of the Biltmore Program had a twofold significance. Firstly, it meant dropping any pretense to the wider world that the Zionist movement aimed at something less than a Jewish state in Palestine: in 1917, the term “Jewish National Home” had been more acceptable to the British government, which thought that openly declaring that it supported establishing a state for another people in a territory it meant to rule would be politically inconvenient. Secondly, the Biltmore Program signaled the transfer of the focus of Zionist lobbying John Gee is a free-lance journalist based in Singapore, and the author of Unequal Conflict: The Palestinians and Israel. 30
efforts from Britain to the U.S. British power was on the wane, and Britain’s usefulness as an ally was clearly questionable, since it had finally responded to Palestinian resistance by declaring its intention to restrict Jewish immigration to Palestine and land sales to Jewish organizations in Palestine. Since then, as Washington Report readers well know, a formidable lobby has been built in the U.S. Might Israel make a similar strategic shift in the future if the mood in the U.S. became less favorable? Given the current level of support in Congress for the Zionist state, this question might seem rather academic, but indications that American public attitudes are changing suggest otherwise. There is no other state that would be able to offer Israel the kind of support that the U.S. has done since 1948, or in which there would be the same level of political commitment to doing so. On the other hand, by developing relations with a range of countries in which opposition to its policies is either limited or easily contained, Israel can gain room for maneuver in order to resist any increased Western pressure to stop expanding settlements and withdraw from the Arab territories it occupied in 1967. This is the prospect held out by the development of Israel’s political, military and economic ties in Asian countries beyond THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Since Narendra Modi became prime minister of India in May 2014, the Indian government has taken steps to strengthen ties with Israel. In September last year, he and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the United Nations General Assembly at the same time and conferred privately. Afterward, it was announced that Modi would be the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, though no date has been set as yet. However, other ministerial exchanges have taken place, with Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh visiting Israel last November and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon traveling to India in February of this year. When, on July 3, 41 countries voted in favor of a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution condemning Israel’s assault on Gaza last year, with only the U.S. voting against, India was one of five countries that abstained. During the conflict, the Indian government had rejected an opposition parliamentary resolution condemning Israel’s use of “brute force” against the Gaza Strip. If the Indian ruling party, the BJP, has an historic affinity with Israel because of shared perceptions of Muslims generally, Modi appears to have a particularly favorable view of the Zionist state. While most of the world was still shunning him because of his passivity during the 2002 antiMuslim riots in the Indian state of Gujarat, of which he was then chief minister, Israel invited him on an official visit in 2006. He praised his hosts highly and spoke of what India could learn from Israel. India also has become a major customer for Israeli military exports. “Although the two nations ramped up security cooperation around a decade ago,” reported Amos Harel in the Feb. 18, 2015 edition of Haaretz, “India has become the largest customer of Israeli defense exports over the past two years. The annual value of arms deals between the two countries has topped $1 billion and makes up nearly 15 percent of all Israeli defense exports.” Last October, India decided to buy Spike SEPTEMBER 2015
gee_30-31_Islam and the Near East in the Far East 8/6/15 6:06 PM Page 31
anti-tank guided missiles, produced by the Israeli armaments company, Rafael, in preference to U.S. Javelin missiles, in a deal worth $525 million.
China Military ties and trade between Israel and China went into something of a freeze following the Phalcon affair in 2001-2, when Israel was compelled to back down over the sale to China of an early-warning radar system incorporating U.S. technology. There has been a recovery since then, especially since 2010. In May 2011, Adm. Wu Shengli, commander of Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s navy, paid an official visit to Israel, followed in August by Gen. Chen Bingde, head of the Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Liberation Army General Staff Department. Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak had made an official visit to China in June 2011. Israel is reportedly the second biggest foreign supplier of arms to China, after Russia. Because China remains a country in which foreign-based NGOsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; activities are strictly controlled and it is very difficult to establish real local NGOs, when an affiliate of a foreign NGO pops up in China it is significant. StandWithUs, a U.S.-based pro-Israel group, launched a China division earlier this year. According to an article by
Mohammed Al-Sudairi in the April 30, 2015 The Diplomat titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;An Israeli Lobby in China?, SWU director Michael Dickson â&#x20AC;&#x153;saw the SWU playing a major role in combating â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;misinformation in the Chinese media about Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Islamic anti-Israel propaganda on university campuses.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? This appears to be part of a broader initiative produced by the recognition of the growing role of China in the world and the realization that Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship was very much a government-to-government one, without much of a basis in Chinese society. The Chinese public is neither wellinformed about the Palestine conflict nor greatly interested in it, despite Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s past solidarity with the Palestinians and the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continued official position of support for all U.N. resolutions affirming the rights of the Palestinians. Given Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s anxiety about the conflict in largely Muslim Xinjiang and the spillover in terrorist attacks on Chinese civilians in recent years, pro-Israel lobbyists see an opportunity to appeal to supposed shared interests between China and Israel. In his article, Al-Sudairi notes the establishment of an NGO called the Sino-Israel Global Network and Academic Leadership (SIGNAL), â&#x20AC;&#x153;created in 2011 to help create
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;a broad-based academic framework that will foster long-term alliances between Israel and China.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? The organization â&#x20AC;&#x153;is actually a by-product of collaborative efforts on the part of Jewish American organizations, with a degree of backing from the Israeli government. SIGNAL receives its funding from a slew of major donors, including the Klarman Foundation, implicated according to some reports in supporting the construction of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank.â&#x20AC;? Al-Sudairi writes that SIGNAL established six Israel Studies Programs in China between 2011 and 2013 and co-sponsors a four month â&#x20AC;&#x153;training programâ&#x20AC;? with Yad Vashem and Bar Ilan University. Among lecture tours it arranged was one by Dore Gold, Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s former ambassador to the United Nations. A counter-effort by the international movement of solidarity with the Palestinians (perhaps starting with the production of more information in Mandarin and Hindi) clearly is called for; otherwise, as fast as progress is made in raising support for the Palestinians in the West and promoting the BDS campaign, Israel and its acolytes will compensate by expanding trade with and building sympathy in Asia. â?&#x2018;
(Advertisement)
! " Alalusi Foundation is caring for over 2,875 Orphans in Iraq
! " #
$ "% & '( ) * +*,+ # -
SEPTEMBER 2015
! " " # $% && '(374 ) * ) +
) + . " ! / " ( . 0 # 0 ! 1 0 . 2 3 4 ) )
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
31
hanley_32-33_Special Report 8/6/15 9:29 PM Page 32
Homeland Security Fights Domestic Terrorism: The Trillion Dollar Hustle SpecialReport
By Delinda C. Hanley
Used with the permission of Signe Wilkinson, the Washington Post Writers Group and the Cartoonist Group. All rights reserved.
resident Barack Obama has asked for
P$41.2 billion for the Department of
Homeland Security in 2016—an increase of $3 billion over 2015. But despite spending more than $1 trillion on domestic homeland security in the decade after the 9/11 attacks, it looks like Americans are still feeling unsafe. It’s true—we are. After 20 years of decreasing crime rates, there has recently been a dramatic spike in shootings in major cities. Each year guns kill 10,000 Americans—more than 30 a day. This doesn’t include the 55 suicides or 46 accidential shootings a day. If you listen to Fox News or right-wing radio talk shows like “Fortress of Faith,” you might believe the threat to Americans is coming almost exclusively from “jihadists,” particularly homegrown Muslim terrorists. That’s because there is a veritable “cottage industry” of sham think tanks like Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum, terrorism “experts” like former FBI trainer John Guandolo, or media outlets like Pamela Geller’s Atlas Shrugs.com. Sensationalist tabloids are happy to join in the fearmongering hysteria, confident that ”if it bleeds it leads.” Even corporate media exaggerate “Islamist terrorist” inciDelinda C. Hanley is the news editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. 32
dents and under-report or explain away the larger number of deadly incidents involving “troubled loners” or someone belonging to a “fringe” group. Nearly every week Americans mourn the victims of yet another shooting rampage. Talking heads explore the shooter’s motives, examining his mental health, upbringing and social media posts. Pundits interview friends, neighbors and family members searching for the signs of what was to come, until they’re drawn away to cover next shooting. The New York Times headline “Homegrown Extremists Tied to Deadlier Toll Than Jihadists in U.S. Since 9/11” must have upset practitioners in the Islamophobe industry. Scott Shane’s thought-provoking article, written after the slaying of nine African-Americans in a Charleston church, quoted a recent study by New America, a think tank in Washington, DC. “Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly twice as many people have been killed by white supremacists, antigovernment fanatics and other non-Muslim extremists than by radical Muslims,” according to the survey. The New America study doesn’t include the deaths of three young Muslim Americans in Chapel Hill, NC. Incredibly, the suspect who ranted about religion before gunning them down is not considered an extremist THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
or a terrorist. It also excludes the mass killings that terrorized the country in the Colorado movie theater, the Sandy Hook elementary school or Virginia Tech, because no ideological motive was evident. “With non-Muslims, the media bends over backward to identify some psychological traits that may have pushed them over the edge,” Dr. Abdul Cader Asmal, a retired Boston physician, told the New York Times. “Whereas if it’s a Muslim, the assumption is that they must have done it because of their religion.” It is imperative that we alter the way we discuss, characterize and count violent acts in this country. That will help American lawmakers as they consider the financial burden and evaluate the effectiveness of the fight for “homeland security.” In order to open this badly needed discussion, the Arab American Institute (AAI) held a standing-room only congressional briefing on July 21 at the Cannon House Office Building titled “Hate Crimes: The Original Domestic Terrorism.”
An Explosion of Hate Groups Domestic terrorism is a serious concern, according to Heidi Beirich, intelligence project director of the Southern Poverty Law Center. She told lawmakers that the number of white supremacist groups in America exploded after 2000 (even before the 9/11 attacks), when statistics revealed that whites would be a minority by 2040. In the 1990s there were some 400 white supremacist groups, but after the election of the country’s first African-American president and anger over the economy, this number has more than doubled to 1,000 hard-core hate groups. Domestic terrorism isn’t coming from Islamic extremists, Beirich emphasized. There are between 5,000 to 6,000 hate crimes each year, according to the FBI, but those numbers are undercounted, Beirich warned. The real number—based on actual survey data – is closer to 200,000. She added that while African Americans and Jews are often targeted, there has been a dangerous rise in anti-LGBT and anti-MusSEPTEMBER 2015
hanley_32-33_Special Report 8/6/15 9:29 PM Page 33
lim violence as well, or violence against people perceived as being Muslim. If people actually understood hate crimes, Beirich concluded, they wouldn’t be under-reported and we would improve our training and reporting. The next panelist, Michael German, with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, started out as an undercover FBI agent posing as a Nazi sympathizer. After specializing in domestic terrorism and covert operations for 16 years, German acknowledged there is little academic research or intelligence about the organizations he infiltrated. He observed that people who engage in hate crimes are motivated less by ideology than so-called experts assume. Single or multi-partner cells take it upon themselves to commit violence, German argued, noting that no leader had asked Dylann Roof to spread his message. He just picked up a gun and went to the Charleston church. Persian Gulf War veteran Timothy McVeigh, who hoped to inspire a revolt against the U.S. government, went on a crime spree testing and experimenting with his techniques before the Oklahoma City bombing. Focus on criminality, not ideology, German urged. After the 9/11 attacks, terrorism is the number one priority, German acknowleged, but we have no understanding of the radicalization process. Who is studying the pathway, profile or explanations of radicalization? German urged Congress to scrap most of the Homeland Security programs and use the funds and expertise to improve traditional law enforcement and help curtail violent criminal activity. Terrorists tend to have a violent past, German opined. A third of murders and 60 percent of rapes are unsolved. “Make people safer by improving the murder solve rate,” German advised. Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said he worries that the attempt by officials to “connect the dots” is creating an artifical picture. In Zogby’s opinion, the Fort Hood shooting by Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, was more of a workplace issue than an Islamic terrorist attack. Most of the silly young Muslim men caught in FBI sting operations didn’t have the wherewithal to carry out terror operations, he pointed out. People who are feeling alienated, aimless, or angry at life—white or black, Muslim or Christian—may try to use violence to validate or justify their anger, Zogby argued. The Boston bombers had drug and SEPTEMBER 2015
Domestic Terrorism: FBI defines as “activities…[that] involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law…appear intended to (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.” Hate Crime: Congress defines as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.” alcohol problems. They went from one problem to the next. Focusing on Islam diverts precious resources, Zogby asserted. “It’s in vogue to put at risk a vulnerable community and make an entire generation of people feel more alienated by targeting them,” he said. Blaming Islam for terrorism tells American Muslims they can never be “one of us,” and creates the problems we’re trying to address, Zogby warned. Panelists agreed that Americans are wasting money looking for a magic bullet and funding programs that previous experience shows don’t work. Instead, German suggested the U.S. government should sponsor studies with sound rational methodology, and not get caught up in politics. Speakers urged lawmakers to take resources away from useless programs. The PATRIOT Act, the special registration and monitoring of certain “non-immigrant
aliens,” and the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of metadata are just a few of the costly programs that have failed. Have full-body scanners or airport profiling, including the $900 million Transportation Security Administration (TSA)’s secret Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (better known as the SPOT checklist), ever stopped an attack? These “sacred cow” programs haven’t caught terrorists and have never been evaluated. They create panic and are a waste of money. “It’s a hustle,” scoffed Zogby. It should be law enforcement that decides our security needs, not intelligence agencies which rake in more funds by playing up national fears. Law enforcement officials from around the country met for an urgent summit in Washington, DC on Aug. 3 to identify the trends that are causing an increase in shootings. They weren’t excited about domestic terrorism. The concerns listed by U.S. police included more guns on the streets, including those with high-capacity magazines, an increase in gang-related activity, and offenders under the influence of synthetic drugs. Police chiefs called for more stringent gun laws, including harsher penalties for gun crimes. Why have we focused on a tiny sliver of “domestic terrorism” instead of addressing larger issues surrounding violent crimes? There is a reason why these people are called “extremists,” German observed: Their ideas are not very popular. If, instead, we make an effort to combat real violent crime so prevalent in America, we will improve the odds of safety for all our citizens. ❑
(Advertisement)
A PProject roject of Middle East Children’s Childr en’s Alliance
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
33
findley_34-35_Special Report 8/10/15 12:14 PM Page 34
Middle East Needs Charleston Spirit SpecialReport
By Paul Findley
tions—let’s convert as many of them as possible into a large new, unarmed humanitarian delivery system. It could be called U.S. Peace Seekers. They will distribute food, water and medicine instead of bombs to the hapless, hopeless people in that region. It could move the sick and wounded to care centers, bury the dead, repair housing and find shelter for the abandoned. No more U.S. bombing and sniping. No more drone strikes against the innocent and defenseless. Within war-ravaged and strife-torn areas, dozens of Peace Seekers units could function simultaneously. Each unit could swiftly serve one ailing village, then leave for other sites of misery. Helicopters nearby could provide rescue if trouble arises. An impossible dream? Before mid-June, who had reason to expect the AfricanAmerican leaders of churches in Charleston, SC to lift America’s spirits with words of compassion and forgiveness in the wake of the senseless mass killing of members of a Bible study group?
The conflicts in the Middle East are essentially civil wars between and among Muslims a world away from the United States. America must stay out. ISIS is a fast-growing demonic sect whose strategic goal is to re-establish a Caliphate over the body faithful and is armed with tactics that include the wholesale slaughter of non-Muslim minorities, Shi’i Muslims, and even fellow Sunni Muslims who challenge their viewpoints. Its appeal taps into the despair and devastated spirits of the forlorn and neglected. It inspires those who feel they have been left behind and believe there is no realistic way to move forward. It tugs at the heartstrings of those without hope. Its attraction is powerful. It draws young followers by the thousand, some from America. ISIS has moved into the political vacuum created by America’s destruction of Iraq as a politically sovereign, unified country, as well as the destruction of much of Syria by radical opponents of the Damascus regime.
DAVID GOLDMAN-POOL/GETTY IMAGES
Parishioners hold hands during the first church service since white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine members of a Bible study group in a mass shooting four days earlier at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, SC, June 21, 2015.
Let there be no doubt. Miracles do happen. A humane dream, yes, but more than that. First the dream. Then the vision. Then a plan to put it into action. In this instance, a practical plan that may turn at least part of the Middle East from killing to peace, and, at the same time, repair America’s tattered image. The afflicted black citizens of Charleston demonstrated to one and all the power of compassion, charity, redemption and forgiveness—qualities that today seem AWOL, absent without leave, in the Middle East. While our Peace Seekers pass out food, medicine and kindness, world leaders must act on the urgent, unmet need for a police force effective enough to enforce international law and bring even nuclear weapons under central control. It is an undertaking suitable for a new association of major powers. Neither the United States nor any other nation should attempt to be global policeman. Perhaps the Charleston spirit can motivate the Great Powers’ political elites to this larger, worldwide challenge.
.S. acts of war in the Middle East have
Uinvolved our nation in worsening un-
declared conflicts that portend a long and futile cost in precious lives and waste of resources worth billions if not trillions of dollars. Only with a Charleston-like miracle can hope be restored to the citizens of many nations who suffer through no fault of their own. America must end its bombing and killing and take a worthy new stance, putting forward the most humane foot in history. Instead of simply withdrawing our military forces or massively downsizing them all at once—the only other rational opPaul Findley (R-IL) served in Congress from 1961 to 1983. For 10 years he was the senior Republican on the House Middle East subcommittee. After leaving Congress he wrote four books (all available from the AET’s Middle East Books and More), including the bestseller They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel’s Lobby. His latest book is titled Speaking Out. He resides in Jacksonville, Illinois. 34
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Middle East War Is About Religion
SEPTEMBER 2015
findley_34-35_Special Report 8/6/15 9:30 PM Page 35
In some of these same areas of conflict Shi’i Muslims and Sunni Muslims are at war with each other. Also involved are Israel, the United States and al-Qaeda—long a threat to America and to our Arab and non-Arab allies. In this mix, friend and foe are not just polar opposites. They are often hard to distinguish. By the estimate of several scholars, our Middle East bombings in recent decades killed nearly 200,000 people. Most of the victims were Muslims apparently innocent of any violence but mislabeled as “terrorists or terrorist sympathizers” or perhaps “collateral damage victims.” U.S. drone bombings, many of them handpicked by President Barack Obama, executed 2,500 people outside so-called war zones in this century. All these victims of U.S. mayhem died without due process of law or even a word of sympathy or apology from our government. These facts alone give us overwhelming reason to avoid further war measures in the Middle East conflict.
No Wonder We Are Hated Our bombings have created far more enemies of America than friends. It is noteworthy that all “terrorists” brought to justice in U.S. courts—the latest being the Boston Marathon bomber—explained the motivation for their violence as payback for America’s massive killings of Muslims in recent years. For more than 40 years Muslims worldwide—and millions of non-Muslims— have been outraged at the U.S. government. Why? For effectively underwriting financially the gradual and unlawful theft of mostly-Muslim Palestine by Israeli settlers. Not to be overlooked is the grim fact that most of our recent acts of war have been and remain unconstitutional. This is not the result of happenstance. It is the result of impeachable neglect of sworn duty by both the executive and legislative branches of our government. Our government should stop trying to change local leadership in Middle East countries. Our record has been a litany of failure: Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt and Yemen. Now we are trying to overthrow the leadership of the government of Syria. We seem never to practice what the Golden Rule teaches us, even after bitter, recent experience. We know what our reaction would be if any foreign government tried to overthrow ours. Iraq has not been a unified nation since U.S. invading forces drove Saddam Hussain SEPTEMBER 2015
from power. It is now broken into three mostly independent parcels, each struggling against ISIS for survival. The present Iraqi government is a puppet regime hand-picked by the United States and other foreign powers. For years our government has attempted to train Iraqi troops to defend their home territory. The results are disappointing and costly. Billions of dollars have been spent with little success or accountability. The present scene in the Middle East seems hopeless. Our nation verges on the precipice of another horrifying, futile and costly bloodbath. If we stay in the Middle East as warriors, we do so at great peril to our nation. Our best hope is the quick transformation of all our military forces in and near Iraq into a large new group of Peace Seekers devoted exclusively to humanitarian relief. If Obama acts promptly, they can be well-established by the end of his presidency and probably be kept functioning by his successor. If not, the new president is likely to turn loose the dogs of war. ❑
Pollard Release… Continued from page 24
information about the Pollard material arriving in Moscow. “The notion that the Russians may have gotten some of the stuff has always been a viewpoint,” Gates said, but not through the bartering of émigrés. “The only view I heard expressed was that it was through intelligence operations”—the KGB. In any event, there was enough evidence, officials told me, to include a statement about the possible flow of intelligence to the Soviet Union in Defense Secretary Weinberger’s top-secret declaration that was presented to the court before Pollard’s sentencing. There was little doubt, I learned from an official who was directly involved, that Soviet intelligence had access to the most secret information in Israel. “The question,” the official said, “was whether we could prove it was Pollard’s material that went over the aqueduct. We couldn’t get there, so we suggested” in the Weinberger affidavit that the possibility existed. Caution was necessary, the official added, for “fear that the other side would say that ‘these people are seeing spies under the bed.’”… The Justice Department further informed Judge Robinson, in a publicly filed memorandum, that “numerous” analyses of Soviet missile systems had been sold by Pollard to Israel, and that those documents included “information from human sources whose THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
identity could be inferred by a reasonably competent intelligence analyst. Moreover, the identity of the authors of these classified publications” was clearly marked. A retired Navy admiral who was directly involved in the Pollard investigation told me, “There is no question that the Russians got a lot of the Pollard stuff. The only question is how did it get there?” The admiral, like Robert Gates, had an alternative explanation. He pointed out that Israel would always play a special role in American national security affairs. “We give them truckloads of stuff in the normal course of our official relations,” the admiral said. “And they use it very effectively. They do things worth doing, and they will go places where we will not go, and do what we do not dare to do.” Nevertheless, he said, it was understood that the Soviet intelligence services had long since penetrated Israel. (One important Soviet spy, Shabtai Kalmanovich, whose job at one point was to ease the resettlement of Russian emigrants in Israel, was arrested in 1987.) It was reasonably assumed in the aftermath of Pollard, the admiral added, that Soviet spies inside Israel had been used to funnel some of the Pollard material to Moscow. A full accounting of the materials provided by Pollard to the Israelis has been impossible to obtain. Hersh’s piece suggests that Pollard’s disclosure placed a lot of real people at risk: DIAL-COINS is the acronym for the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Community OnLine Intelligence System, which was one of the government’s first computerized information-retrieval-network systems. The system, which was comparatively primitive in the mid-1980s—it used an 8088 operating chip and thermafax paper—could not be accessed by specific issues or key words but spewed out vast amounts of networked intelligence data by time frame. Nevertheless, DIAL-COINS contained all the intelligence reports filed by Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine attachés in Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East. One official who had been involved with it told me recently, “It was full of great stuff, particularly in HUMINT”— human intelligence. Many Americans who went to the Middle East for business or political reasons agreed, as loyal citizens, to be debriefed by American defense attachés after their visits. They were promised anonymity—many had close friends inside Israel and the nearby Arab states who would be distressed by their collaboration—and the reports were classified. “It’s who’s talking to whom,” the officer said. “Like handing you the address book of the spooks for a year.” ❑ 35
mcarthur_36-38_Congress Watch 8/6/15 6:32 PM Page 36
Predictable Congressional Reaction to the Iran Nuclear Agreement CongressWatch
By Shirl McArthur
“to extend the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 and to require the Secretary of the Treasury to report on the use by Iran of funds made John Kerry and his negotiating partners in available through sanctions relief.” The bill the “P5+1” group of countries (permanent would extend the 1996 act through Dec. U.N. Security Council members Britain, 31, 2026. While Kirk and Menendez argue China, France, Russia and the U.S., plus that the bill is necessary to be able to “snap Germany) had reached agreement with Iran back” sanctions if Iran violates the terms of over its nuclear program drew predictable an agreement, that isn’t true, because the congressional reactions. A week earlier, on 1996 act doesn’t expire until the end of July 7, Washington Post columnist Walter 2016. So the only reason to introduce this Pincus had predicted that “proponents will bill now must be to remind everyone that praise what emerges and opponents will Kirk and Menendez will oppose and try to pick it apart, section by section.” That is torpedo any agreeexactly what is hapment with Iran, no pening. Which 13 Senate Democrats Might Abandon Their Party and matter what it says. Within hours of Vote to Override a Presidential Veto? Later Sen. Marco the announcement, Rubio (R-FL) joined as Israeli Prime MinisTHE FORWARD’S LIST OF TOP RECIPIENTS OF PRO-ISRAEL PAC a co-sponsor. ter Binyamin Ne“UNDECIDED DEMOCRATS” CONTRIBUTIONS In the weeks leadtanyahu called the Heidi Heitkamp (ND) Richard Durbin (IL) $401,171 ing up to the agreeagreement “a hisCory Booker (NJ) Harry Reid (NV)† 394,001 ment AIPAC put out a toric mistake for the Chuck Schumer (NY) Ron Wyden (OR)* 349,462 memo titled “5 reworld.” Republicans Barbara Mikulski (MD)† Barbara Boxer (CA)† 279,044 quirements for a good mostly were quick to Mark Warner (VA) Barbara Mikulski (MD)† 214,099 deal,” laying out the criticize it, while Bill Nelson (FL) Robert Menendez (NJ) 211,318 Michael Bennet (CO)* Patty Murray (WA)* 195,293 lobby’s unlikely conmost Democrats cauBen Cardin (MD) Jack Reed (RI) 175,850 ditions. Dutifully, a tiously endorsed the Ron Wyden (OR)* Debbie Stabenow (MI) 168,906 s t e a dy s t re a m o f agreement or said it Gary Peters (MI) Dianne Feinstein (CA) 157,342 me m b e rs o f C o n deserves honest conBob Casey (PA) Ben Cardin (MD) 148,696 gress—mostly, but sideration and reJoe Donnelly (IN) Patrick Leahy (VT)* 145,911 not all, Republiview. House Speaker Debbie Stabenow (MI) Susan M. Collins (ME) 145,900 cans—issued press John Boehner (Rreleases or floor stateOH) said “it’s going * up for re-election in 2016; † not running in 2016 ments largely echoing to hand a dangerous AIPAC’s memo. On regime billions of dollars in sanctions relief while paving the ward. If Congress passes neither resolution June 15 Corker wrote to Obama expressing way for a nuclear Iran.” Senate Majority during the review period, sanctions relief “alarm” over the course of the negotiations, saying “it is breathtaking to see how Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) criticized under the agreement can also go ahead. Senate Foreign Relations Committee far from your original goals and statements Obama and Kerry for “reaching the best deal acceptable to Iran, rather than actu- chairman Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) held the P5+1 have come during negotiations.” After ordering a GAO report on the State ally advancing our national goal of ending heated hearings on the agreement before Iran’s nuclear program.” But House Mi- the congressional August vacation. Voting Department’s implementation of the Iran, nority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called will take place sometime in September. North Korea, Syria Nonproliferation Act (the it “the product of years of tough, bold and Obama has threatened to veto a resolution basic Iran Sanctions law), House Foreign Afclear-eyed leadership from President of disapproval if passed by Congress. It fairs Committee chair Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Obama.” Senate Minority Leader Harry would require a two-thirds majority of along with leading Israel-firster Rep. Ileana Reid (D-NV) said “the world community both houses to overcome a presidential Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)—who has somehow acagrees that a nuclear-armed Iran is unac- veto, meaning that, in the Senate, even if quired the title “Chairman Emeritus”—on ceptable and a threat to our national secu- all Republican senators vote to override, June 25 wrote to Kerry expressing “deep rity, the safety of Israel and the stability of overriding the veto would still require at concern” that the report showed “that the least 13 Democratic votes (see above box State Department has failed to fully implethe Middle East.” ment congressionally mandated sanctions on for possible candidates). Before the agreement, leading Iran hawks Iran.” The letter concludes with a series of Shirl McArthur is a retired U.S. foreign service officer based in the Washington, DC Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Robert Menen- seven questions regarding the State Departdez (D-NJ) on June 25 introduced S. 1682, ment’s actions in response to the report. area. resident Barack Obama’s July 14 an-
Pnouncement that Secretary of State
36
What’s next, according to legislation passed in May and described in the previous “Congress Watch,” is a 60-day congressional review period, during which the president cannot waive or suspend any legislated sanctions—but this does not include other sanctions against Iran, such as those imposed by executive action or by the actions of international bodies. Congress can pass either a resolution of disapproval, which would be subject to a presidential veto, or a resolution of approval, in which case sanctions relief under the agreement can go for-
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
mcarthur_36-38_Congress Watch 8/6/15 6:08 PM Page 37
Meanwhile, other Iran-related measures languished (see â&#x20AC;&#x153;Status Updatesâ&#x20AC;? box on p. 38).
Measure With Anti-â&#x20AC;?BDSâ&#x20AC;? Provision Passes As described in the previous â&#x20AC;&#x153;Congress Watch,â&#x20AC;? congressional efforts aimed at the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Boycott, Divestment and Sanctionsâ&#x20AC;? (BDS) movement, mostly by European countries, companies and organizations, in response to Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities in its colonies shifted to two trade bills that are Obama administration priorities, both of which contain provisions that would include the â&#x20AC;&#x153;occupied territoriesâ&#x20AC;? (code for Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colonies on the West Bank) as part of Israel. The first, which would grant â&#x20AC;&#x153;fast-track authorityâ&#x20AC;? for congressional review of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement being negotiated with Asian countries, was passed by the Senate on May 22 as H.R. 1314, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trade Act of 2015.â&#x20AC;? The billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trade Promotion Authorityâ&#x20AC;? part (the â&#x20AC;&#x153;fast track authorityâ&#x20AC;?) includes a section inserted by Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) saying that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the principal negotiating objectives of the U.S.â&#x20AC;? include â&#x20AC;&#x153;to discourage politically motivated actions to boycott, divest from or sanction Israel and to seek the elimination of politically motivated nontariff barriers on Israeli goods, services, or other commerce imposed on the State of Israel.â&#x20AC;? The section includes a â&#x20AC;&#x153;definitionâ&#x20AC;? saying that this means â&#x20AC;&#x153;Israel or persons doing business with Israel or in Israeli-controlled territories.â&#x20AC;? In the House, House leadership divided the bill into parts, but on June 12 the House defeated the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trade Adjustment Assistanceâ&#x20AC;? part, which effectively defeated the whole bill. Then the leadership packaged the Trade Promotion Authority part into the previously passed H.R. 2146 and it was passed by the full House on June 18, by the Senate on June 24, and signed by Obama on June 29 as P.L. 114-026. The second trade bill that includes an objectionable anti-BDS provision is H.R. 644, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcementâ&#x20AC;? bill. It includes an eight-paragraph â&#x20AC;&#x153;Statements of Policy with Respect to Israel,â&#x20AC;? including one that Congress â&#x20AC;&#x153;supports efforts to prevent investigations or prosecutions by governments or international organizations of U.S. persons on the sole basis of such persons doing business with Israel, with Israeli entities, or in territories controlled by Israel.â&#x20AC;? It was passed by the Senate on May 14 and by the House on June 12, but then the Senate inserted the failed Trade Adjustment Assistance part from H.R. 1314 into H.R. 644 and on June 24 called for a SEPTEMBER 2015
conference to reconcile differences. These sections in both bills have been widely touted as opposing boycotts of Israel, ignoring the fact that they would legitimize Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claims on its colonies in the West Bank. And European countries are not boycotting Israel and havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t indicated any plans to, but they do impose restrictions on dealing with Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colonies. It has long been U.S. policy to oppose the Arab and other boycotts of Israel, but this has not included Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colonies on the West Bank. Finally, after too many weeks of silence, State Department spokesman John Kirby on June 30 issued a statement explicitly confirming that policy. The statement says, in part, that â&#x20AC;&#x153;by conflating Israel and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Israeli-controlled territories,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; a provision of the Trade Promotion Authority runs counter to longstanding U.S. policy towards the occupied territories, including with regard to settlement activity. Every U.S. administration since 1967 has opposed Israeli settlement activity beyond the 1967 lines. This administration is no different.â&#x20AC;? Two new anti-boycott measures were introduced. On June 4 Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) introduced H.R. 2645 â&#x20AC;&#x153;to prevent the Thrift Savings Fund from investing in any company that boycotts Israel.â&#x20AC;? The bill includes a clause equating â&#x20AC;&#x153;territories controlled by Israelâ&#x20AC;? with Israel. And on June 16 Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), with 24 cosponsors, introduced H.Res. 318 â&#x20AC;&#x153;condemning resolutions or policies calling for or instituting a boycott of Israeli academic institutions or scholars by institutions of higher learning and scholarly associations.â&#x20AC;? Of the previously described anti-BDS measures, only H.R. 825, introduced in February by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), continues to gain co-sponsors. It now has 70, including Roskam. The other two such bills have made little progress (see â&#x20AC;&#x153;Status Updatesâ&#x20AC;? box).
dan Defense Cooperation bill introduced by Ros-Lehtinen in February. It is intended to help Jordan in the fight against ISIS and in dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis. Among other provisions, it authorizes the State Department to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding to increase military cooperation, including joint military exercises and support for international peacekeeping missions. The Senate version of the bill, S. 1789, was introduced by Rubio on July 16.
McGovern Tries, But Fails, to Force Action on an AUMF As reported in the May issue, on Feb. 11 Obama formally requested from Congress an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against ISIS â&#x20AC;&#x153;and associated forces.â&#x20AC;? The requested authorization would include no geographic limitations, would not authorize â&#x20AC;&#x153;enduringâ&#x20AC;? use of U.S. ground forces, and would expire after three years. But for the next four months Congress took no action on the presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s request. Boehner and other Republican leaders concluded that they could not bridge the partisan divide over the issue, with (Advertisement)
m a s h r a b i y a
3DOHVWLQLDQ (PEURLGHU\
Another Bill Introduced Attacking Hezbollah Financing Sources As previously reported, on May 14 the House passed H.R. 2297 â&#x20AC;&#x153;to prevent Hezbollah and associated entities from gaining access to international financial and other institutions,â&#x20AC;? introduced in May by Royce. It was forwarded to the Senate and referred to the Banking Committee. Then Rubio on June 18, with 19 co-sponsors, introduced the very similar S. 1617 with the same title. It, too, was referred to the Banking Committee.
House Passes U.S.-Jordan Defense Cooperation Bill On July 7 the House passed, under suspension of the rules, H.R. 907, the U.S.-JorTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
(;&(37,21$/ %($87< ZZZ PDVKUDEL\D RUJ
37
mcarthur_36-38_Congress Watch 8/6/15 7:34 PM Page 38
Status Updates S. 269, the “Nuclear Weapons Free Iran” bill, introduced in January by Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (RIL), still has 53 co-sponsors, including Kirk and Menendez. S.Res. 40, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in January, which supports the negotiations with Iran, still has14 co-sponsors, including Feinstein. S. 669, introduced in March by Sen. Barbara Boxer (DCA), which would provide for considering legislation if Iran violates an agreement, still has seven co-sponsors, including Boxer. H.R. 1349 and H.R. 1649 were introduced in March by Reps. Gwen Graham (D-FL) and Doug Lamborn (R-CO), respectively, to authorize cooperation with Israel to develop and establish an anti-tunneling defense system. H.R. 1349 still has nine co-sponsors, including Graham, and H.R. 1649 still has no co-sponsors. H.R. 114, introduced in January by Rep. Scott Garrett (RNJ), to “recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate to Jerusalem the U.S. Embassy in Israel,” has 22 co-sponsors, including Garrett. S. 117, introduced by Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) in January, to “recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel” still has eight co-sponsors, including Heller. H.Res. 222, introduced by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) in April, “expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that any resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should come from direct bilateral negotiations without preconditions and without interference from the United many Democrats believing Obama’s request was too broad, and many Republicans considering it too narrow. So, on June 4 Rep. Jim McGovern (DMA), along with Reps. Walter Jones (RNC) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), tried to force the issue by introducing H.Con.Res. 55, which would direct the president to “remove U.S. forces deployed to Iraq or Syria on or after Aug. 7, 2014.” By citing a provision of the War Powers Act, the measure required debate and vote by the House. McGovern said passage of the resolution would force congressional action to pass an AUMF against ISIS. The debate and vote was held on June 17, and McGovern’s effort failed, by a vote of 139288, with 120 Democrats and 19 Republicans voting yes, meaning that current military actions against ISIS are (rather shakily) based on the AUMF against Iraq resolution of 2002. To keep the issue alive, on June 16 Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) introduced the very similar H.J.Res. 57, the “constitutional alternative to the War Powers Iraq and Syria withdrawal resolution.” In the Senate, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Jeff Flake (RAZ) introduced S. 1587 authorizing the use 38
Nations,” still has four co-sponsors, including McKinley. H.Res. 126, introduced in February by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), “expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding U.S. efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace,” still has four co-sponsors, including Lee. H.R. 1489, introduced in March by Rep. Joe Crowley (DNY), urging “the president to make every effort, in conjunction with the government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the international community, to establish an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace,” still has two co-sponsors, including Crowley. Bills Opposing the BDS Movement S. 619, introduced in March by Sens. Benjamin Cardin (DMD) and Rob Portman (R-OH), still has seven co-sponsors, including Cardin and Portman. H.R. 1572, introduced in March by Rep. Doug Lamborn (RCO), has gained two co-sponsors, and now has 12, including Lamborn. Bills to Cut U.S. Aid to the Palestinians S. 34, introduced in January by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), still has no co-sponsors. H.R. 277, introduced in January by Rep. Alcee Hastings (DFL), still has three co-sponsors, including Hastings. H.R. 364, introduced in January by Rep. Curt Clawson (RFL), still has five co-sponsors, including Clawson. S. 633, introduced in March by Senator Paul, still has no cosponsors. —S.M.
of military force against ISIS. It would also repeal the 2002 AUMF.
Measures Whining about Palestine’s Joining the ICC Gain Co-sponsors The two non-binding resolutions introduced following Palestine’s accession to the International Criminal Court have gained cosponsors. H.Res. 209, introduced by Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) in April, deplores “the actions of the Palestinian Authority to join the International Criminal Court and undertake legal action through the court against Israel.” It has gained 11 co-sponsors and now has 32, including Walorski. H.Res. 270, introduced in May by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), expressing “the sense of Congress regarding the Palestinian Authority’s purported [sic] accession to the International Criminal Court for the purpose of initiating prosecutions against Israeli soldiers, citizens, officials, and leaders,” has gained 10 cosponsors and now has 12, including Franks. In fact, the PA has not joined the ICC. The PA has no standing at the U.N. or its agencies and organizations. The State of Palestine has acceded to the ICC by virtue of its recognition by the U.N. as a nonmember observer state. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Also, H.Res. 293, introduced by RosLehtinen in June, “expressing concern over anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement within the Palestinian Authority,” has gained seven co-sponsors and now has nine, including Ros-Lehtinen. And while the measures to authorize cooperation with Israel to develop and establish an anti-tunneling defense system have made little progress (see “Status Updates” box), Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) got a similar provision included in the Senate-passed version of H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization bill that is in conference committee reconciling differences between the House and Senate versions. Although the earlier Jerusalem measures have made little progress (see “Status Updates” box), a new one was introduced on July14. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), with 25 co-sponsors, introduced H.Con.Res. 62 “expressing the sense of Congress that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and therefore, consistent with the location of other U.S. embassies, the U.S. embassy in Israel should be located in Jerusalem.” The other previously described Israeli and Palestinian-related measures have made no progress (see “Status Updates” box). ❑ SEPTEMBER 2015
sling_ad_39_Sling.com 8/6/15 11:19 AM Page 39
(Advertisement)
views_40-42_Two Views 8/6/15 6:34 PM Page 40
Two Views
DONALD BOWERS/GETTY IMAGES FOR GLG
Israeli Knesset Member Michael Oren: From Native-Born American to U.S. “Ally”?
Copies of Michael Oren’s Ally on display at the June 18 book release party in New York City.
Ask Not What Israel Can Do For America… By Grant F. Smith
iving into historian Michael Oren’s
DAlly: My Journey Across the American-
Israeli Divide—his first-ever book written as a personal narrative—initially seems to be an investment with huge potential payoffs. How does Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S. define the mutual commitments that underpin what he dubs—92 times!— “the alliance?” What value does Israel have as a U.S. ally that warrants its observably massive and constant command over the U.S. government’s resources, including but not limited to the lion’s share of foreign aid, diplomatic support in global arenas, and vast amounts of time and attention from our otherwise busy president and thousands of federal employees? If anyone knows, it surely must be Oren, who “crossed the divide” between the two countries and served as the diplomatic intermediary between America and Israel’s top political leaders. Born Michael Scott Bornstein to American parents in 1955, Oren claims to have suffered anti-Semitic incidents growing up in West Orange, New Jersey. After scraping Grant F. Smith is executive director of the Washington, DC-based Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). 40
together enough money, Oren went to work on a kibbutz in Israel at age 15. He became an elite paratrooper after joining the IDF and participated in Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. After leaving the IDF he went on undercover missions in the Soviet Union to establish contact and work with dissident Zionist groups. Relying on his U.S. passport for protection and assuming cover as a photojournalist, Oren hints he joined Israel’s intelligence service. “Israelis who served in combat units and who held two passports were especially sought after for these missions,” he writes. Whenever Oren got in trouble with the KGB, it was the U.S. ambassador—not the Israeli—that he demanded to see. After high-profile teaching and writing stints in America, Oren reluctantly relinquished his U.S. citizenship in 2009—three decades after he emigrated to Israel—in order to become Israel’s ambassador to the land of his birth. In the first pages of his memoir Oren claims “ally” is a “deceptively straightforward” word, but then only attempts to translate its meaning in Hebrew as a religious covenant. The attributes most political scientists would use are “a sovereign or state associated with another by treaty or league.” Perhaps Oren avoids such definitions because no such mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and Israel exists, although congressional mandates declare THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Israel to be a “major non-NATO ally” (1990) and “major strategic partner” (2014). While Oren’s book effectively categorizes America’s benefactor role toward Israel, he struggles to clarify precisely what—if anything—the U.S. receives in return for its largesse. Does Ally provide valuable insights? Yes, although probably not ones the author intended. It does confirm that an Israeli ambassador—like an Israeli prime minister— enjoys unlimited access to elite U.S. media, at the most crucial times, and can even dictate program format and with whom he will appear. One choice sample provided was Oren’s refusal to appear on a split screen with the bombastic John Bolton. This earned him a rebuke outside Fox News studios by the walrus-mustachioed former U.N. ambassador. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell is on the cell phone, available for any important opportunity, while The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg awaits his next scoop. Oren’s own unstoppable stream of output to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and interviews with a legion of friendly top television and print pundits, left this reader convinced that far more deserving voices, particularly during Israel’s attacks on Gaza, must be drowned off the Oren-saturated bandwidth. Though benefitting from a massive network of Israel affinity organizations in America, Oren mostly downplays the Israel lobby as the principal enabler of the U.S.Israel “special relationship.” After even New York Times columnist Tom Friedman finally admitted that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s 28 standing ovations in Congress were “bought and paid for by the Israel lobby,” Oren told him, “You’ve confirmed the worst anti-Semitic stereotype, that Jews purchase seats in Congress.” Oren similarly dismissed Profs. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt and their findings about the foundations of the relationship as “a conspiracy thesis of undue Jewish influence on Congress and the media.” Despite his objections, however, Oren’s own recitation of endless meetings with influential members of Congress during daily trips to Capitol Hill provides far more support for Mearsheimer and Walt’s thesis than his own thinly sourced SEPTEMBER 2015
views_40-42_Two Views 8/6/15 6:21 PM Page 41
claims of Israel’s intrinsic value to America. Oren’s most repetitive justifications are purely symbolic, such as Israel being “the only true democracy in the Middle East.” In his final chapter Oren seems to resign himself to the Mearsheimer and Walt conclusion when he reveals what is now demanded by America’s “ally” and why. President Barack Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech to Arab youth condemning Israeli settlements, references to pre-1967 lines as a basis for peace negotiations and terrifying “daylight” policy on diplomacy generated major trauma for the Israeli diplomat. Obama told a gathering of Israel affinity group leaders that “when there is no daylight, Israel just sits on the sidelines...” This public distancing and open rebukes of Israel’s leadership must never again happen, demands Oren. Rather, the United States must in the near future officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, unconditionally support it in the U.N. Security Council, and refrain from demanding “swift and transparent investigations” of civilian casualties perpetrated by Israel. It must also release convicted spy for Israel Jonathan Pollard. Oren claims Israel also has some obligations as a U.S. ally, but they are of noticeably lower value to the U.S., less costly to Israel, and mostly intangible. Israel should refrain from building “isolated” settlements (though East Jerusalem and the larger “blocs” are just dandy), respect “American Jewish pluralism” (e.g. stop claiming to be their main representative), and give more respect to the “prerogatives of the world’s mightiest power.” Most importantly, according to Oren, American leaders must return to a policy of “no surprises, no daylight, and no public altercations.” This would be an international redeployment of the “united front” strategy parents often use to manage their unruly children. It would tuck newly energized American intellectuals and activists who oppose the horrifying ongoing carnage and costs generated by the “special relationship” back into bed, in the dark, without supper, awaiting parental decisions in which they have no say—yet which are ostensibly also for their own good. No thanks. Even Michael Oren must know that the American public has grown less infatuated with Israel each passing year. The Internet, alternative media watchdogs and WikiLeaks are buttressing American popular will that their country not be drawn into more Middle East conflicts on false pretenses by pro-Israel forces. The secrecypowered “united front” Oren and many SEPTEMBER 2015
other Israel affinity groups pine for is both bankrupt and simply no longer possible. In his last pages, Oren finally admits— in what may be the understatement of the century—that the so-called alliance “is not, of course, symmetrical.” In his first pages he claims “vocal segments” of the American Jewish community are “a vital component of the alliance.” Uniting the two provides the book’s key unintentional insight. The “special relationship” is not in fact an alliance, because it is all cost and almost no benefit to the U.S. It is rather a corrupt linkage that exists only because of the constant machinations of a small—and declining—subset of Americans who in their zealotry work as hard as Oren to bind America to Israel. Unlike Oren, most never have to finally turn over their U.S. passports, put on a uniform, or move to Israel. As an insider’s catalog of the demands and surface mechanics of this “undue influence,” Ally is somewhat useful to those well-read enough to distill unintended insights from Oren’s pithy anecdotes, soaring rhetoric and stomach-wrenching propaganda.
Oren’s Assault on President Obama and American Jewish Critics of Israel a Revealing Look at Zionist Worldview By Allan C. Brownfeld
n his book, Ally: My Journey Across the
IAmerican-Israeli Divide, former Israeli
Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, a native-born American who emigrated to Israel and, upon being named ambassador, renounced his U.S. citizenship, launches an attack upon President Barack Obama and American Jewish critics of Israel which is unprecedented for a former diplomat. It reveals perhaps more about the Zionist worldview than Oren intended. In op-eds and lectures prior to the book’s publication, Oren psychoanalyzes President Obama and accuses him of being too soft on Muslims because his Muslim father and stepfather abandoned him. He accuses Obama of “intentionally, maliciously abandoning Israel.” In Israel, this assault on the president has been widely criticized. Oren, now a member of the Knesset representing the Kulanu Party, did not even gain his own party’s support for Allan C. Brownfeld is a syndicated columnist and associate editor of the Lincoln Review, a journal published by the Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, and editor of Issues, the quarterly journal of the American Council for Judaism. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
such claims. Instead, the party leader, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, apologized for Oren’s remarks in a letter to the U.S. ambassador. Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan declared that “Oren’s claims are disconnected from reality.” Columnist Nahum Barnea, writing in the June 23 Israel Opinion, noted that, “Some of Oren’s colleagues in Jerusalem and Washington thought that he had gone mad.” In his review of the book in the June 28 Washington Post, Philip Gordon, who served from 2013 until this spring as White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf region, declares that, “The problem with the book is that Oren’s main argument is a caricature, bolstered by exaggerations and distortions.” To Oren’s charges that Obama is the first U.S. president to air differences with Israel in public and the first to break with the principle that there should be no “daylight” in the U.S. relationship, Gordon responds: “Really? To take just a few examples, Dwight Eisenhower slammed Israel for the 1956 Suez operation and forced it into a humiliating retreat. Gerald Ford froze arms deliveries and announced a reassessment of the relationship as a way of pressing Israel to withdraw from the Sinai. Jimmy Carter clashed repeatedly with Prime Minister Menachem Begin before, during, and after the 1978 Camp David summit. Ronald Reagan denounced Israel’s strike on the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq and enraged Jerusalem by selling surveillance planes to Saudi Arabia. George H.W. Bush blocked loan guarantees to Israel over settlements; Bill Clinton clashed publicly with Israel over the size of proposed West Bank withdrawals; George W. Bush called for a settlement freeze in the 2002 road map for peace and afterward repeatedly criticized Israel for construction in the West Bank. In other words, Oren has a point—except in the case of virtually every Republican and Democratic administration since Israel’s founding.” When it comes to his attitude toward American Jews, Oren is particularly instructive. He claims that Jewish journalists are largely responsible for the American media’s alleged critical coverage of Israel. According to Oren, the work of such journalists as Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, David Remnick of The New Yorker, Joe Klein of Time Magazine, the late Bob Simon of “Sixty Minutes,” Leon Wieseltier of The Atlantic and a host of others resembled “historic hatred of Jews.” He speculates that “perhaps persis41
views_40-42_Two Views 8/6/15 6:21 PM Page 42
tent fears of anti-Semitism impelled them to distance themselves from Israel.â&#x20AC;? Oren describes how â&#x20AC;&#x153;The pinch I felt reading articles censorious of Israel sharpened into a stab whenever the names on the bylines were Jewish. Almost all of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s countries are nation-states, so what, I wondered, drove these writers to nitpick at theirs? Some, I knew, saw assailing Israel as a career-enhancerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;equivalant of Jewish man bites Jewish dogâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that saved struggling pundits from obscurity...Others still, largely assimilated, resented Israel for further complicating their already conflicted identity. Did some American Jews prefer the moral ease of victimhood, I asked myself, to the complexities of Israeli power?...I could not help questioning whether American Jews really felt as secure as they claimed. Persistent fears of anti-Semitism impelled them to distance themselves from Israel...â&#x20AC;? This fanciful analysis overlooks another possibility, which is reality itself. The overwhelming majority of American Jewsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; journalists and othersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;do not believe in the Zionist worldview which so captivated Michael Oren as a teenager. His Zionist youth group leaders evidently were very convincing in advancing their doctrine that Jews outside of Israel were in â&#x20AC;&#x153;exile,â&#x20AC;? and that Israel was the Jewish â&#x20AC;&#x153;homeland.â&#x20AC;? He followed their ideological imperatives, abandoned his American â&#x20AC;&#x153;exileâ&#x20AC;? and emigrated to Israel. But most American Jews reject Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presumptuous claim to be the â&#x20AC;&#x153;nation-stateâ&#x20AC;? of all Jews. They consider the â&#x20AC;&#x153;nation-stateâ&#x20AC;? of American Jews to be the United States. Rather than living in â&#x20AC;&#x153;exile,â&#x20AC;? they consider themselves quite at home, Americans by nationality and Jews by religion, just as other Americans are Protestant, Catholic or Muslim. In fact, Orenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s notion of Jewish identity has little to do with Judaism, a religion of universal values which uniquely held that all men and women, of whatever race or nation, are created in the image of God. His view, instead, is one of tribalism, which he understands has little appeal to most American Jews. He writes: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;More tormenting still were the widening gaps between Israel and American Jews. Whatever our differences, I insisted, and however disparately we practice our religion, we still belonged to the same tribe...I could not imagine anyone not being thankful for belonging to it.â&#x20AC;? Of particular concern to Oren is that younger American Jews did not believe they were members of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;tribe,â&#x20AC;? but had an obligation to advance Jewish morals and ethics, to pursue Tikkun Olam, the mandate to repair the world. He laments that â&#x20AC;&#x153;this concept derived from the me42
dieval Kabbalistic idea of reconnecting with the divine light of creation. But in its 21st century American Jewish interpretation, it became a call to rescue humanity. To liberal American Jews especially, Tikkun Olam served as Judaismâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most compelling commandment, almost a religion in itself...It tended to sideline Israel as the focal point of American Jewish purpose...The drift away from an Israel-centric American Jewish identity distressed me.â&#x20AC;? Ally has come under widespread criticism from many prominent American Jewish voices. According to The Atlanticâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wieseltier, known as a vociferous supporter of Israel: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oren might instead consider the possibility that it is not fear of anti-Semitism that impels his brethren in America to distance themselves from Israel and its often controversial policies, but the policies themselves...American Jewish insecurity? You must be kidding...Our problem over here is not Jewish self-hatred but Jewish self-love, we are secure to the point of decadence.â&#x20AC;? Foreign Policy editor Philip Rothkopf, a former Columbia University roommate of Oren, declares: â&#x20AC;&#x153;He proposes their [American Jewish journalists] critique of Netanyahu is similar to the age-old, anti-Semitic image of the Jew as the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;... Nowhere does he entertain the possibility that those critics might just be right and their views motivated by the same hope for a better future for the U.S.-Israel relationship or for Israel itself, as are his. This view is not just wrong, it is profoundly, offensively wrong...He is rationalizing his view with perspectives and analyses that twist reality, pervert his analysis and make it hard for him to accept the idea that perhaps these criticisms donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come from American Jews because of their flaws but because of their strengths.â&#x20AC;? In an article titled, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Michael Oren, You Hardly Know Us At All,â&#x20AC;? Forward editor (Advertisement)
-53,)-3
"!+% #!+% 4HERE S ALOT MORE YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOUR MUSLIM NEIGHBORS
6JG /WUNKO .KPM VJG NCTIGUV PGYURCRGT HQT CPF CDQWV VJG /WUNKO %QOOWPKV[ KP &% /& CPF 8# #XCKNCDNG CV OQUV /QUSWGU #TCD +PFQ 2CM CPF 2GTUKCP TGUVCWTCPVU CPF ITQEGTKGU KP VJG ITGCVGT 9CUJKPIVQP $CNVKOQTG OGVTQRQNKVCP CTGC #XCKNCDNG (TGG
0HONE &AX
WWW -USLIMLINKPAPER COM THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Jane Eisner notes that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The pluralism Oren ridicules is now built into the DNA of American Jews...We feel accepted here because we are, and that leads many of us to broaden that acceptance to those not as privileged. Of course, the president looks awkward wearing a in the official Seder photograph, but that image serves as a powerful acknowledgment that our religious tradition is on an equal footing with the Christianity that once dominated America. The same cannot be said for Reform and Conservative Jews in the Israeli religious context.â&#x20AC;? There is little introspection in Orenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book. He never mentions the long history of Jewish opposition to Zionism and he seems genuinely unaware that his making the State of Israel into a virtual object of worship is engaging in idolatry, which Judaism abhors. He states many times that Israel and the U.S. share â&#x20AC;&#x153;common values,â&#x20AC;? but this is hardly the case. American nationality is not based on common race, religion or ancestry but upon a common commitment to the idea of freedom. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you shed one drop of American blood,â&#x20AC;? Herman Melville wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;you shed the blood of the whole world.â&#x20AC;? Our society champions freedom of religion. In Israel, there is a theocracy in which non-Orthodox rabbis cannot perform weddings, funerals or conversions. At the present time, sadly, Israel represents the tribalism Oren embraces. This, however, is not a â&#x20AC;&#x153;commonâ&#x20AC;? value. It disturbs Oren that â&#x20AC;&#x153;American Jews prefer comfort to sovereignty.â&#x20AC;? But it is not â&#x20AC;&#x153;comfortâ&#x20AC;? with which American Jews identify, but an American identity that guarantees freedom and equality to all citizens, regardless of background. They already exercise sovereignty, as Americans. Oren abandoned America to join his â&#x20AC;&#x153;tribe.â&#x20AC;? Zionism did a good job of alienating him from his native country. In this sense, it remains a uniquely subversive enterprise. It is still doing its best to alienate young Americans from their country. Few, however, are heeding its call and following in Orenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s footsteps. Oren laments that not very many are following in his path. In understanding this fact, however, he does at least recognize that Israel and American Jews are going in decidedly different directions. In that sense, his book serves to illustrate the evergrowing gap between American Jewish values and Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exercise of powerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;perhaps a different result than the author intended. But he has done us the service of making Zionismâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worldview clear to all, something we seldom encounter, since obfuscation serves a philosophy such as this far better than clear explication. â?&#x2018; SEPTEMBER 2015
pcrf_ad_43_PCRF AD 8/6/15 12:47 PM Page 43
Pediatric Oncology & Hematology Department in Gaza The new PCRF Pediatric Oncology & Hematology department that is planned to be built PU [OL UL_[ [^V `LHYZ PU [OL .HaH :[YPW ^PSS ZLY]L HZ [OL ÄYZ[ HUK VUS` JHUJLY [YLH[TLU[ MHJPSP[` WYV]PKPUN JOPSKYLU PU .HaH ^OV HYL Z\ɈLYPUN MYVT JHUJLY ^P[O [OL [YLH[TLU[ [OL` desperately need for free. Due to the siege and challenges that Gazans face in exiting and entering Gaza freely, the health care that is necessary to save their life is not available to them and this decreases their chances of survival. Building this department in Gaza, with an estimated budget of $10 million for construction, equipment, training and initial running expenses, is crucial for a population of children who have experienced the tragedy and faced consequences of one to three wars in their ZOVY[ SPML ZWHUZ PU HKKP[PVU [V ÄNO[PUN H KPZLHZL SPRL JHUJLY >P[OV\[ [OPZ WYVQLJ[ [OLZL JOPSKYLU ^PSS JVU[PU\L [V Z\ɈLY HUK ^PSS UV[ YLJLP]L [OL SPML ZH]PUN [YLH[TLU[ [OL` KLZLY]L SPRL HU` V[OLY JOPSK PU [OL ^VYSK ;OPZ ^PSS IL [OL ZLJVUK JHUJLY WYVQLJ[ MVY [OL 7*9- HZ [OL ÄYZ[ VUL [OL /\KH (S 4HZYP *HUJLY +LWHY[TLU[ ^HZ I\PS[ HUK VWLULK PU (WYPS VM :PUJL [OLU [OL KLWHY[TLU[ OHZ WYV]PKLK MYLL [YLH[TLU[ MVY JOPSKYLU ^P[O JHUJLY PU [OL >LZ[ )HUR 5V[ VUS` PZ [OL department a place for medical treatment, but it is also a place for the children to play, Z[H` \W [V KH[L VU ZJOVVS ^VYR I` YLJLP]PUN [\[VYPUN HUK LK\JH[PVUHS ZLZZPVUZ HUK provide their parents with social and mental health support they need to strengthen their spirits and quality of life.
www.pcrf.net PCRF - Palestine Children's Relief Fund @ThePCRF @thepcrf +VUH[PVU SPUR! https://www.z2systems.com/np/clients/pcrf1/campaign.jsp?campaign=339&fundraiser=11511&
howe_44-45_Special Report 8/6/15 6:24 PM Page 44
Algeria Emerges From Obscurity as a Leading Mediator in War on Terrorism SpecialReport
PHOTO M. HOWE
By Marvine Howe
Algerian author Kamel Daoud. fter a long eclipse, Algeria has re-
Aturned to the international scene
with a compelling message: We lived through the Arab Spring before anyone else; we’ve been vaccinated against terrorism and are ready to share our expertise. Clearly concerned over the troubled situation in the region and possible contagion on its borders, a revived Algerian diplomacy is promoting dialogue with radical insurgents in half a dozen African countries. Also with the blessings of the United States, Algiers hosted an International Conference on Deradicalization in late July, grouping 50 countries and international organizations, as a precursor to the Global Counterterrorism Forum at the United Nations in September. Algiers has developed a counter-terrorism model based on its experience of 15 years of jihadist assaults, assassinations, kidnappings and massacres, and merciless response by security forces. To end this unbridled violence, which left some 200,000 people dead, the Algerian government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika embarked on a program to reintegrate Islamic extremists into civil society. In the fall of 2005, the exhausted nation voted for the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, culminating in a generous amnesty for nearly all concerned. It is too early to say whether the Algerian approach can be exported—or, indeed, Marvine Howe, former New York Times bureau chief in Ankara, is the author of Al Andalus Rediscovered: Iberia’s New Muslims and Other Minorities. 44
if it works. Nevertheless, it has provided Algeria with relative stability and won accolades both at home and abroad. “We have a long history of mediation, from helping free the American hostages in Iran, and negotiating an end to the Iraq-Iran and Ethiopia-Eritrean conflicts,” senior government official Abdelaziz Benali Cherif emphasized in a recent interview. “But there followed the dark years, when we were alone in fighting terrorists, who openly claimed attacks on women, journalists, teachers…,” recalls Benali Cherif, director general of communications, information and documentation at Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The world, however, was completely deaf and blind to jihadist crimes and blamed us for being inflexible on terrorism. The terrorists were viewed as victims, but the real victims were the people. Only after Sept. 11, 2001 did the rest of the world begin to understand what Algerians had endured from terrorism.” Algeria first emerged as a post-colonial leader of the non-aligned world in the wake of its bloody, seven-year war for independence from France in 1962. The wartime leadership established a one-party authoritarian state, made palatable by generous social subsidies from oil and gas wealth. The collapse of the price of hydrocarbons in mid1986 led to what Algerians call “our Arab Spring” in October 1988: rioting in the streets and brutal retaliation by the military, leaving hundreds of dead and wounded. The government then introduced broad democratic reforms, resulting in impressive victories for the newly formed Islamic Salvation Front in local and parliamentary elections. Stunned by the Islamist triumph, the regime cancelled the national elections in early 1992, dissolved parliament and terminated the democratic experiment. This engendered a vicious cycle of fierce terrorist assaults and harsh military response. Algeria sank into turmoil and near oblivion. Determined to end the bloodletting, Bouteflika, elected president in 1999, passed a Law on Civil Concord. This partial amnesty was criticized by human rights groups, and the violence continued. Most Algerians were desperate for peace and finally voted for Bouteflika’s Reconciliation Charter. Nevertheless, many still speak of Reconciliation as a betrayal of the victims. Aïssa Rahmoune, vice président of the Algerian League for Human Rights, points out that families of the missing still THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
demonstrate every week for Truth and Justice. “The 2005 Charter brought neither peace nor justice, only injustice and impunity,” Rahmoune commented recently. “Deradicalization: a strategic absurdity” was the headline of the daily Liberté in response to official attempts to present Algeria’s Reconciliation policy as an example, in the wake of a recent terrorist ambush leaving nine soldiers dead and two wounded. While public order has been restored, the terrorist threat remains in the wings. On Jan. 16, 2013, gunmen linked to al-Qaeda seized the Saharan gas plant of In Amenas, operated by BP, Norway’s Statoil and Algeria’s Sonatrach. After a three-day siege, the army regained control, releasing some 700 hostages, but 39 staff, mostly foreigners, and 29 terrorists were dead. Since then, the military has reported killing one or two armed terrorists in weekly clashes in remote mountainous areas.
“A Good Partner” The country’s isolation, however, has eased, although visas are still hard to come by. In the past five years, Algiers has become an important stopover for international leaders from Europe, mainly former colonial power France, the United States, China, Venezuela and Iran, as well as Arab and African rulers. In Western diplomatic circles, Algeria is invariably referred to as “a good partner” in three main areas: regional stability, counterterrorism and economic relations. The government seems determined to pursue its activist foreign policy. A cabinet reshuffle in May anointed two ministers of foreign affairs. Ramtane Lamamra, who is credited with resurrecting Algerian diplomacy from the doldrums, was named minister of state and minister of foreign affairs charged with international cooperation, while his former delegate, Abdelkader Messahel, was promoted to the post of minister charged with North Africa, the African Union and Arab League Affairs. Lest anyone misinterpret the Foreign Ministry’s campaign for dialogue as a sign of weakness, the army issued a stern warning to would-be terrorists in the June issue of its organ El Djeich. Emphasizing that an important number of terrorists have been eliminated and sizable quantities of arms recovered, the army reaffirmed its “determination to work relentlessly to defend the borders from criminal infiltration until the final eradication of terrorism.” SEPTEMBER 2015
howe_44-45_Special Report 8/6/15 6:24 PM Page 45
Most recently, Algiers has been widely praised for engineering the Accord of Peace and Reconciliation between the government of Mali and radical separatist groups. The Arab League applauded Algeria’s mediation efforts in the Mali crisis, and the European Union hailed Algiers as an “important strategic partner.” In greetings on Algeria’s Independence Day, President Barack Obama stressed the importance of Algiers’ diplomatic efforts to achieve peace and security in the region, particularly in Libya and Mali. Benali Cherif, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, stressed that the Mali peace talks have “all chances to succeed this time because the international community is involved.” He noted that Algeria has resumed participation in the U.N.-sponsored dialogue with Libyan groups and that there have been “positive steps.” Other countries in Africa and elsewhere have asked for Algeria’s help because of its extensive experience in the fight against terrorism. Even the government’s most outspoken critics generally approve of its role as regional peacemaker and its refusal to join Arab forces fighting in Syria and Yemen. Omar Belhouchet, publisher of the opposition daily El Watan, described the mediation in Mali, Libya and Tunisia as “humane and necessary.” Nevertheless, he pointed out that Al-
geria’s authoritarian regime has made important concessions to Islamists at home, bowing to protests against liberalizing the sale of alcohol, condoning attacks on a student over the length of her dress, and allowing death threats against journalists like Kamel Daoud, winner of France’s 2014 Prix Goncourt and author of the acclaimed novel The Meursault Investigation. With total impunity, radical Imam Abdelfateh Hamadache issued a fatwa against Daoud as an “apostate.” The imam has stirred new controversy declaring that if he were president he would let the Islamic State open an embassy in Algeria. During a recent debate on “The Arab Spring Year Four” at Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Foundation, Daoud publicly accused the Algerian regime of making “a deal” with Islamists to end the violence. “The ruling team agreed to control the power and money and leave the streets to the false prophets,” he asserted. Some analysts see Algiers’ focus on foreign policy as an attempt to enhance its image abroad since it is unable to resolve intractable domestic problems. Among these, there is the looming financial crisis. Algeria is dependent on oil and gas for 97 percent of its export earnings. With falling prices of hydrocarbons, the state lost 50 percent of its revenue in the past year. There have been repeated calls for diversification, but to little avail.
Then there’s the administration’s incapacity to resolve deep-rooted ethnic disputes such as that between Arabs and the minority Ibadi Berbers of the M‘zab Valley in the Sahara. In early July, long-simmering problems exploded when masked gunmen attacked the town of Guerrara, leaving 25 dead—mostly Berbers—and many wounded amid widespread destruction. Even the progovernment press faulted the regime for resorting to security forces to restore calm and failing to tackle basic causes of the violence. Casting a shadow over political life is the succession question, with opposition parties openly speaking of a “power vacuum.” President Bouteflika, who suffered a severe heart attack in 2013, was elected to a fourth term last year (see June/July 2014 Washington Report, p. 30), but appears in public only for wheelchair photo ops. The country is said to be run by a political-military group around the president who seem increasingly at odds among themselves. “The regime thinks that international legitimacy is more important than legitimacy at home,” Daoud remarked in an interview. “We need a generational change. We are still ruled by the generation that waged the war for independence 60 years ago, leaders who are old and sick. There’s no alternative because they have not let young leaders emerge.” ❑
(Advertisement)
SEPTEMBER 2015
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
45
twair_46-47_Southern California Chronicle 8/6/15 7:38 PM Page 46
STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR
By Pat and Samir Twair
Author Max Blumenthal. hile Max Blumenthal was discussing
Whis new book, The 51 Day War:
Ruin and Resistance in Gaza (available at AET’s Middle East Books and More), on July 8 at CB1 Gallery, he remarked that the night before, a man had asked him if he weren’t afraid that, as a Jew in Gaza, a Palestinian would shoot him. “No,” Blumenthal retorted, “because the only Jew Gazans see is pointing a gun at them.” The Levantine Cultural Center opted to host the Blumenthal book signing event in the CB1 Gallery in the industrial quarter of Los Angeles because of an exhibit by Jaime Scholnick it was sponsoring there titled “Mowing the Lawn” (see p. 56), Israel’s cynical term for its 51-day assault on Gaza in 2014. Blumenthal scoffed at the Israeli use of the phrase, as if the carnage it inflicted by dropping more than 20,000 tons of explosives on Gaza, leaving more than 2,000 Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance journalists based in Los Angeles. 46
Southern California Chronicle
dead and half a million residents displaced, were nothing but a necessary chore—to which many Zionists may liken it. The best-selling author pointed out that in arm sales after its 51-day assault, BluIsrael made no distinction between civil- menthal commented, “Peace is not profians and fighters in Gaza. According to an itable, but war is.” Israel also came up with a new crowd Israeli military leader, he said, every person in Gaza is Khaled Meshal, the Hamas control device which it calls skunk spray. political leader Israel tried but failed to as- Its victims quickly disassemble and are unsassinate in Amman in 1997. Blumenthal able to get rid of the offensive odor for up noted that Israel destroyed the city of She- to two weeks. When he shared the podium jaiya in 24 hours, leaving more than with Hamid Khan, a watchdog of the L.A. 100,000 residents homeless. Shaking his police, Blumenthal agreed with him that Ishead, Blumenthal lamented that all the car- rael has a foothold in U.S. police policy, nage could be eliminated if Israel were bringing U.S. police to train in Israel. willing to share the land with the Palestinians instead of worrying about the so- Dr. Mustafa Barghouti in Anaheim called Palestinian “demographic threat.” He explained that pregnant Palestinian women and Palestinian children are anathema to what he calls JSIL (the Jewish State in the Levant). Blumenthal, whose new book is reputed to be the first on Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, seems to imply that Israel hopes that if Tawfieq Mousa (l) welcomes Dr. Mustafa Barghouti to California. Gazans are demoralized enough, they will disappear. Hence Dr. Mustafa Barghouti holds the dual posithe self-proclaimed Jewish state imposes tions of president of the Union of Palestinsanctions on building materials, such as ce- ian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC) ment, that prohibit reconstruction of the and secretary-general of the Palestinian infrastructure damaged by Israel in the National Initiative (Al-Moubadara), and it 2014 onslaught, in which explosives were was in both capacities that he presided almost equal to the tonnage of explosives over the July 11 inauguration of the Anadropped on Hiroshima. But still the Gazans heim Arab-American Center. hang on. The Ramallah-based physician was Physicians found unusual wounds in greeted July 10 at the Anaheim home of Palestinian bodies caused by Israeli Tawfieq Mousa and more than 40 friends. weapons which entered by a small hole A volunteer with UPMRC for more than 30 and attacked vital organs, causing three years, Dr. Barghouti noted that in 1985 the days of agonizing death. “The U.S. doesn’t death rate of Palestinian children was 15 have what Israel does have,” Blumenthal percent; now it is less than 1 percent. noted: “a weapon laboratory called Gaza.” During Israel’s assault on Gaza last year, Adding that Israel made a $1 billion profit Dr. Barghouti was the only West Bank THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR
Max Blumenthal Lambastes Israel for Excess Brutality in Its 51-Day War on Gaza
twair_46-47_Southern California Chronicle 8/6/15 7:41 PM Page 47
STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR
Palestinian leader allowed into Gaza BDS Campaign Forum through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. He went through the dan“Ferguson to Mexico to Palestine” gerous ordeal to show support for was the title of a June 6 educathe people of Gaza in defiance of Istional forum in the Culver-Palms rael’s determination to separate the United Methodist church spontwo subjugated Palestinian populasored by Hewlett-Packard (HP) tions. Boycott Campaign. More than 300 Of the $5 billion in reconstruction people attended the event, which funding promised by Arab states concluded that Israel employs the and Europe, less than $200 million same police surveillance techwas forthcoming, he asserted. West niques as the U.S. to subjugate unBank residents sent two-thirds of wanted elements in their populathe relief received by Gazans. tions. “The Zionist project has failed,” “Ferguson/ Prison/Palestine,” the declared the dedicated doctor. first half of the program, featured After 67 years of diaspora the Sourik Beltran speaking from St. Palestinians are receiving more and Louis/Ferguson via Skype, Patrisse more moral support from the Cullors and Mohamad Sheikh. Culworld, he noted, and, furthermore, KinderUSA event speakers Dr. Harry Gunkel and Dr. Laila lors said she was one of 14 black the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and al-Marayati. U.S. artists and community activists Sanctions) movement is growing selected to visit Israel/Palestine, worldwide day by day. As the program began, KinderUSA co- and she took note of the similarities in how In response to a guest’s question about founder Dr. Laila al-Marayati noted how Palestinians are treated like unwanted his three main objectives, Barghouti the sizable crowd was enjoying a feast African Americans in the U.S. replied: “To get volunteers for the UPMRC while Gazans go without. Gabriel Schivone and Amani Barakat disfrom all over the world and train them in Youssef, who stars in the Nick at Nite cussed attempts to enter and control the the West Bank; for the narrative of Pales- sitcom “See Dad Run,” warmed up the au- U.S. surveillance market and Israel’s efforts tine to be heard in the media and social dience. Obeidallah earned laughs when he to thwart Palestinian freedoms. Schivone media; and for Palestinian-Americans to touched upon how ISIS is creating a new described Israeli surveillance firms that disorganize and to participate in U.S. politics.” prohibition for words spoken in its terri- play and market their wares outside of TusAt the dedication the next day, he tory and on candidates in the 2016 U.S. con, AZ. Barakat spoke about her cousin stunned the audience when he said that an election. who was born in the West Bank and came Israeli newspaper had quoted Hillary ClinDr. Harry Gunkel of San Antonio dis- to the U.S. as a graduate student. She met ton as pledging that, if elected president, cussed his April 27-29 visit to Gaza as a and married a Palestinian who was born in she will do everything to ban BDS in the member of a small delegation of the Epis- Israel. After receiving their Ph.D. degrees, U.S. and to incriminate companies that ob- copal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine/Israel the married couple returned to the Middle serve it. Network. The retired pediatrician ob- East, where Israeli law forbids them from served that the hundreds of Gaza young- living together in their cities of birth for Kinder Event at Momed sters he saw were smaller than normal— “security” reasons. Concluding the program were Jaime Cruz This year, KinderUSA’s annual fund-raising generally the result of malnutrition—and event took place May 31 at the trendy new showed symptoms of stress from living in of the national Chicano Moratorium and Dedon Kamathi of KPFK who talked about restaurant Momed in Atwater Village, war conditions. At a center where Kinder feeds hot African-American history and the ongoing noted for its Middle East cuisine flavored with exotic herbs. Entertainment was pro- breakfasts to children, Dr. Gunkel noted struggle for equality. Letters in support of vided by comedians Ramy Youssef and that the children were surprisingly patient BDS projects were written to U.S. politicians Dean Obeidallah, co-director of the com- and polite as they waited for the nutritious and signed by the several hundred attendees. edy documentary, “The Arabs Are Com- meals, probably the only one of the day for SunriseUSA Fund-raiser many of them. ing!” Gunkel recalled visiting a farm where More than 400 people attended the June 27 Beneficiaries of the KinderUSA fundraiser were needy families in Gaza and the Kinder pays for raising chickens to egg- SunriseUSA fund-raiser at the Wyndham GarWest Bank during Ramadan. More than laying age, when 72 mature hens were to den Grove Hotel. The theme of the event was 380 families in Gaza received fresh food be distributed per needy family to eat and “Help and Hope for the Syrian Orphans.” The during the holy fasting month, at a total sell the eggs. The uplifting experience Syrian American Council-Los Angeles cocost of $155,000. In the West Bank, 235 concluded with a look inside a Palestinian sponsored the event with SunriseUSA, which large families with women as the primary home when a village woman welcomed has also started a school project for Syrian chilhead of household received the same. Also the foreigners into her one-room dwelling. dren in Turkey, near the Syrian border. receiving fresh vegetables and live chick- She opened the door to expose empty Organizers Hassan Twiet and Rana Janens were families in Hebron, al-Fawwar shelves—“but,” she said through an in- dali made the iftar dinner the successful and al-Aroub refugee camps and Bedouins terpreter, “in a few weeks, there will be evening it was. SunriseUSA, a 501(c)(3) in east Yalta and Kasbna. The cost was food bartered for our eggs from our charitable organization, was able to raise KinderUSA hens.” $55,000. around $130,000 that night. ❑ SEPTEMBER 2015
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
47
adas_48-49_New York City and Tri-State News 8/6/15 8:24 PM Page 48
A Year Later, Remembering Israel’s Operation Protective Edge
New York City and Tri-StateNews
STAFF PHOTO J. ADAS
By Jane Adas
(L-r) Peter Beinart, Eman Mohammed and Avner Gvaryahu. srael Defense Forces (IDF) veterans
Ifounded Breaking the Silence in 2004 to inform the public about what really goes on during military service. Their latest publication, This is How We Fought in Gaza, is a collection of testimonies and photographs from more than 60 Israeli soldiers, one-third of them officers, who participated in Israel’s 51-day assault on Gaza last summer. Avner Gvaryahu, the organization’s director of outreach, joined Eman Mohammed, a Palestinian photojournalist from Gaza, to discuss “Operation Protective Edge” at an event hosted by New America NYC, a non-partisan think tank that focuses on a wide range of public issues. Haaretz columnist Peter Beinart, senior fellow for NA/NYC’s International Security Program and author of The Crisis of Zionism, moderated the conversation. Mohammed, who had covered Israel’s earlier Operations Cast Lead (2008-09) and Pillar of Defense (2012), described how in the beginning, on July 7, people in Gaza assumed it was a normal Israeli military incursion, and then were shocked at how quickly and broadly the attack intensified. What was unusual, she continued, was not that Israel destroyed so many houses, but that the homes belonged mostly to families Jane Adas is a free-lance writer based in the New York City metropolitan area. 48
unaffiliated with either Hamas or Fatah. She showed photos she had taken of people searching through rubble for missing family members. Mohammed told how she returned home late one night and went to kiss her daughter good night. The electricity was off, which was normal. As she felt in the dark for her daughter, she found the pillow and blanket covered in blood. Her daughter was bleeding from the mouth. Doctors in Gaza could not determine the cause of the bleeding. Mohammed had to put down her camera and take her baby out of Gaza, which she was able to do because she has American citizenship, a choice others do not have. Her daughter is fine now, but they have not been able to return to Gaza “because of border issues.” In response to Beinart’s question, “What was it about?” Gvaryahu replied that Breaking the Silence detects a massive change in Israel since the second intifada and the 2006 invasion of Lebanon. Because the fight is asymmetric, Israel will never have a clear victory and will therefore need to “mow the lawn” using disproportionate force (the Dahiya doctrine) in order to maintain control of Gaza. “We know there will be another operation,” he asserted. In addition, Gvaryahu continued, Israelis lack any empathy for the people in Gaza. While it is only a half-hour from Tel Aviv, the IsTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
raeli public could not find out what was happening. The Office of the Prime Minister asked Israel’s Channel 2 why there were not more pictures of the destruction in Gaza to prove how successful the IDF was. The media responded, “The public couldn’t handle it.” Mohammed said she has given up on the media. She assumed that because foreign journalists and photographers were in Gaza during Protective Edge, as they were not during Cast Lead, the world would see what was happening and respond. But it didn’t. The media departed and the people of Gaza were left to struggle on their own. Gazans feel the media was there to record their pain, make money from it, and move on. Beinart noted that even a “dove” like the novelist Amos Oz asked, “What do people expect Israel to do?” Gvaryahu responded by pointing out that Israel has choices; therefore the question is not why Israel fought in Gaza, but how. For example, Israel chose to use artillery, which has a kill radius of 50 meters and an injury radius of 150 meters. In Cast Lead, Israel used 3,000 artillery shells, in Protective Edge 20,000—in one of the most densely populated areas of the world. The best way for Israel to protect itself, Gvaryahu insisted, is to choose to end the occupation. Asked about envisioning the future, Gvaryahu said that although there is a range of views within Breaking the Silence, they all hope for the day when the Israeli military does not control Palestinian civilians. He described himself as a patriot, “but not at Eman’s expense.” Mohammed admitted she feels pretty lost: “This is breaking us to pieces.”
Jewish, Palestinian American Debate Nature of Just Peace in Israel/Palestine A week later in the same venue, Beinart debated his fellow American Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, on the topic of “Achieving a Just Peace in Israel/Palestine.” As Beinart pointed out, both agree that millions of Palestinians lack basic rights under occupation and in Israel. But he and Munayyer had very different interpretations of the root cause of the problem. SEPTEMBER 2015
adas_48-49_New York City and Tri-State News 8/6/15 6:39 PM Page 49
Nakba museum in Israel, but noted that it would do nothing for Palestinian refugees who could never see it. Refugees forcibly removed and prevented from returning are likely to view Israel’s immigration policy as an anti-refugee policy. And Munayyer said he would be happy to sign up for a Saudi boycott, but added that “Saudi is not the regime that will not allow me to live with my wife in the town where I was born.”
STAFF PHOTOS J. ADAS
According to Beinart, the conflict is due to a clash of rival nationalisms—Jewish and Palestinian. Therefore the only solution that takes into account the national identities of people on the ground is two states. Beinart believes “that in a postHolocaust world, there should be one state on earth devoted to Jewish self-protection,” with the right to privilege Jewish religion and ethnicity, for example in a preferential immigra-
TOP: Yousef Munayyer (l) and Peter Beinart. ABOVE (l-r): Lamis Deek, Joe Catron, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti and Siam Nawara. tion policy and Jewish public symbols. A Palestinian state would be free to do the same. Beinart admitted that two states will not be easy to achieve, but would not be as difficult as the alternative—a single binational state. He declared himself open to any nonviolent pressure on Israel and supportive of a timeline for negotiations, but insisted on distinguishing between democratic Israel and the undemocratic occupied territories. Munayyer attributed Beinart’s analysis to Israel’s identity crisis through claiming to be both Jewish and democratic, when the reality on the ground clearly belies this. Moreover, he said, Beinart’s interpretation de-emphasizes the Nakba and ignores those directly affected by it—the refugees. Munayyer’s question for liberal Zionists is: “What percentage of people like me, Palestinian citizens of Israel, is too many for you? Please draw the line and then explain which illiberal policies you are willing to support to prevent us from growing beyond that point.” Munayyer’s interpretation of the problem is that Zionism set up a system of injustice SEPTEMBER 2015
that the state of Israel maintains through force. The solution is to dismantle the system of injustice and work toward something more just. This means bringing pressure on decision makers in Israel through full BDS, not only in the occupied territories. It also requires a “serious conversation about what the practical implementation of a new system would look like.” Munayyer stressed that this is not a call for Israel’s destruction—but for those who believe it is, he asked, “What sort of state faces an existential threat by merely respecting the human rights of those whose lives it governs?” In rebuttal, Beinart admitted the Nakba was an enormous tragedy for which Israel should take public responsibility—perhaps by building a Nakba museum. As for refugees, he said Israel might accept a limited number, but he would not compromise on a preferential immigration policy for Jews. Beinart considered it a double standard to advocate boycotting Israel and no other rights-abusing state in the region, such as Saudi Arabia. Munayyer appreciated the notion of a THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Israel’s 2014 Assault Not an Isolated Event Al-Awda NY, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, commemorated the one-year anniversary of Israel’s July 7 launching of its latest war on Gaza at Alwan for the Arts in New York. All proceeds from the event were to benefit the Palestinian Union of Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC). Attorney Lamis Deek situated the latest massacre in a continuum of Israeli violence in all its forms: expulsions, siege, economic oppression. The lack of meaningful international response demonstrates that Israeli violence, especially against Gaza, has become normalized, she said. Deek argued that BDS, while critical to increasing international consciousness, cannot on its own stop Israeli violence, but must be combined with legal and social shaming means. Joe Catron, a free-lance journalist who spent three and a half years in Gaza, including through the last two Israeli offensives, said this is a situation with too much context and a 70-year lead-up. For examContinued on page 51 49
pasquini_50-51_Northern California Chronicle 8/6/15 6:43 PM Page 50
Inspiring Ramadan Iftar at State Capitol Sparks Hope, Renewal, Reflection
STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI
By Elaine Pasquini
Guests and CAIR officials listen as state senator Richard Pan, M.D. speaks at the Capitol Ramadan iftar.
STAFF PHOTO E. PASQUINI
ebrated the holy month of Ramadan with its annual iftar—the meal after sunset that concludes Muslims’ daylong fast—cohosted by California state senator Richard Pan, M.D., and Assembly members Kevin McCarty, Jim Cooper and Ken Cooley, at the Sacramento state capitol on July 1. “The support of our elected officials sends a message to the nearly one million Muslims in California that they are part of the great fabric of our state and that their achievements are recognized,” said CAIR Sacramento Valley executive director Basim Elkarra. The large group representing various faiths and occupations listened raptly as Zaytuna College co-founder Dr. Hatem Bazian shared his thoughts on Ramadan and explained the Qur’an’s teachings on fasting and protecting Dr. Hatem the environment. Bazian. “Fasting is about restraining ourselves, and one verse in the Qur’an actually calls on those who believe in God to tread lightly upon the Earth, or, Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. 50
in our modern language, to have a light carbon footprint,” the professor said. “Last week there was a story that said that in America we waste about $165 billion worth of food that we throw out in the garbage. Another story said that we actually only need about $50 billion to address world hunger. So, literally, with that which we don’t consume we could solve world hunger three times over.” Bazian went on to explain that a part of Ramadan is “gaining God-consciousness in relation to other human beings.” He urged the audience to remember the tragic shootings in Charleston and the seven AfricanAmerican churches that were recently burned. “We cannot celebrate Ramadan without thinking of the pain and suffering of others both in this country and around the world,” he pointed out. “We hope that God-consciousness will make it possible to change our society for the better.” Greeted by audience applause for his military service, Marine Staff Sgt. Jacob Harrer, a board member of Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, spoke of his time in Afghanistan as a combat correspondent in 2012. While Staff Sgt. Jacob conducting operations Harrer.
STAFF PHOTO E. PASQUINI
he Council on American-Islamic Rela-
Ttions, California Chapter (CAIR-CA) cel-
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
with the Afghan National Security Forces, as well as police officers, he met with local residents. “When I met the people of Afghanistan, a few things that stood out to me were their kindness, faith and compassion,” the young Marine recalled. “We were foreigners with weapons—intimidating in our body armor—and yet, no matter who we were, they would sit us down and we would drink tea together.” He noted poignantly that, while he was “back in America with all the rights afforded Americans in our Constitution, Afghans still struggle for their own survival, prosperity and to be treated with dignity.” A longtime attendee at the Capitol iftar, state Controller Betty Yee, described Ramadan as “one of the most hopeful times of the year.” One of several non-Muslims who joined in the daylong fast, Yee spoke passionately on her Ramadan experiences. “For many of us, it has become increasingly challenging to make sense of the brokenness that exists in our world today,” she lamented. “I know that when I leave tonight I will feel strengthened by the community that was here. You have taught so many of us to be deep in reflection and emerge really understanding that our place in the world is about lending our hands to help heal our communities and our world.” Former Republican Rep. Wally Herger, who represented California’s 2nd congressional district for 26 years, extolled the religious freedom enjoyed in the United States. “Certainly, one of the greatest attributes, I Former Rep. think, and reasons for Wally Herger. us being the great nation that we are today is because of our religious freedom,” the former congressman averred. “I feel that it is very important that we work together—regardless of what your religious faith is—to do good and to do it together.” State senator Pan presented a resolution from the California State Assembly to CAIR-SV president Sami Siddiqui and executive director Basim Elkarra in honor of the group’s outstanding civil rights work. “This resolution also recognizes that Muslims are a very important part of CaliforSEPTEMBER 2015
STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI
Northern California Chronicle
pasquini_50-51_Northern California Chronicle 8/6/15 6:43 PM Page 51
nia’s diverse cultural and economic society,” Pan concluded.
Carrying placards and a banner proclaiming “We Stand With Chelsea Manning,” some 100 human rights supporters marched in the Chelsea Manning contingent—sponsored by Courage to Resist and the ANSWER coalition—in San Francisco’s June 28 annual Pride Parade. The 27-yearold former intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army was honored for attempting to help end the Iraq war and other conflicts. Convicted on 20 charges, including passing classified documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, along with a video which showed U.S. attack helicopter pilots firing on Iraqi civilians, killing 11 of them, Army Pfc. Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning was sentenced on Aug. 21, 2013 to 35 years in prison. That same year, the whistleblower and democracy advocate was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. “Opening heart and mind to moral responsibility—seeing an opportunity to provide the crucial fuel of information for democracy and compassion—Bradley Manning lifted a shroud and illuminated terrible actions of the USA’s warfare state,” peace activist and author Norman Solomon stated at the time of the nomination. Manning exposed information known as the “Iraq War Logs” which showed the number of civilian deaths in the U.S.-led Iraq war to be higher than acknowledged
New York City… Continued from page 49
ple, he pointed out, 70 percent of Gaza’s residents are refugees ethnically cleansed in 1948. Israel’s siege on Gaza is not one event that began in 2007. It is rather the accumulation of many Israeli actions going back to 1967, when Israel closed the Gaza seaport to international traffic. Since the siege’s escalation in 2007, Gaza’s GDP is down by 50 percent and unemployment, at 44 percent, is the highest in the world. After last summer’s destruction, 80 percent of the population receives international aid, but Israel has so far allowed in only 1 percent of the needed aid. Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, founder of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, observed that this latest round of violence did not begin in Gaza, but rather on Nakba Day, May 15, when the Israeli military shot dead with live ammunition two teenagers, Nadeem Nawara and Mohammad Abu Daher, after a peaceful demonstration in the West Bank. This was SEPTEMBER 2015
STAFF PHOTO PHIL PASQUINI
Marchers Support Whistleblower Chelsea Manning
Chelsea Manning supporters march in San Francisco’s Pride Parade. by Washington, along with undisclosed incidents of torture by coalition troops and Iraqi police. Manning also leaked the “Afghan Diaries,” which provided a bleak account of the United States’ military invasion and occupation of Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009, including unreported civilian deaths and Taliban attacks. And in 2010 and 2011 the intelligence analyst uploaded several thousand U.S. State Department cables to WikiLeaks. “I quickly and fully recognized the importance of these documents to the world at large,” Manning wrote in an op-ed in the May 27, 2015 edition of The Guardian. “In the years before these documents were collected, the public likely never had such a complete record of the chaotic nature of
modern warfare. Once you come to realize that the coordinates in these records represent real places, that the dates are our recent history and that the numbers represent actual human lives—with all of the love, hope, dreams, hate, fear and nightmares with which we all live—then you cannot help but be reminded just how important it is for us to understand and, hopefully, prevent such tragedies in the future.” Courage to Resist project director Jeff Paterson told the Washington Report that, funded by donations from supporters, attorneys are diligently working to achieve a reduced sentence for Manning, who is incarcerated in the federal penitentiary in Fort Leavenworth, KS. ❑
followed by the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens, a massive roundup in the West Bank, and the revenge murder in East Jerusalem of teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was forced to drink gasoline and burned alive. Not allowed to travel to Gaza from the West Bank, Dr. Barghouti was only able to enter Gaza via Egypt after the mediation meetings in Cairo, which he characterized as “a big deceit.” In Gaza he took photos of the “unprecedented destruction,” including one of large shredded explosivefilled metal cylinders that he found inside a rehabilitation center for the disabled. He offered the photograph to TV stations— BBC, CNN, even Fox—but none would show it. The news item that moved him most was an elderly woman standing in the rubble of high-rise apartments that Israel destroyed at the very end of the war. Told not to stay there, the woman asked, “Where should I go?” Dr. Barghouti was in Gaza to organize “the largest medical relief in PMRC’s history.” The medical teams organized 12
mobile clinics to provide dressing for the wounded who could not find room in hospitals. He was proud that the blankets, water, clothing and food PMRC distributed was brought from West Bank donations, adding “We are all one people!” The final speaker was Siam Nawara, father of Nadeem, who was killed by a sniper’s bullet (see June/July 2015 Washington Report, pp. 38-39). “The children of Palestine have a right to stand up against occupation, especially on Nakba Day,” he stated. Four days after Nadeem was murdered, the family found the bullet in the backpack he had been wearing. The family has CCTV and CNN tapes of the incident as well as medical reports by Israeli, Danish and Palestinian pathologists. The shooter has been identified and is currently under house arrest, but has not yet been arraigned. Nawara sold his popular hairdressing salon in Ramallah so he could devote all his time to seeking accountability for his son’s murder. To that end, the family has started a Facebook page: Justice for Nadeem. ❑
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
51
Bakr_52_Islam in America 8/6/15 9:32 PM Page 52
A Political Prisoner in America Responds to Wadie Said’s Crimes of Terror
Islam in America
MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Shukri Abu Baker
Six months before Israel launched its 51-day assault on Gaza, Palestinian girls play in concrete pipes in Gaza City, Jan. 28, 2014. uly 21, 2015: In his book, Crimes of Ter-
Jror, Prof. Wadie Said argues that the
government has brought down the Holy Land Foundation as part of its effort to equate peaceful activism to terrorism. He emphasized that in spite of The Government’s own acknowledgment that the HLF defendants were involved in none but pure humanitarian work, it criminally prosecuted the five men and demanded draconian sentences that have ranged from 15 to 65 years, causing some of the defendants to serve the rest of their lives in prison. I couldn’t agree with Mr. Said more. I received one of the 65-year sentences and without a timely reversal of this legal travesty, I might as well count on taking my last breath in a dismal federal prison. The same scenario applies to my close friend Mr. Ghassan Elashi, who too received an identical sentence. However, none of the HLF five deserved to be forced behind bars for any length of time. We have been subShukri Abu Baker, a co-founder of the Holy Land Foundation (see Jan./Feb. 2013 Washington Report, p. 17), is currently serving a 65-year prison term at the U.S. Penitentiary in Beaumont, TX. He blogs at <http://notes fromshukri.wordpress.com>. 52
ject to a brand of “Judicial Terror” that was inaugurated to eliminate men of the caliber of the HLF5; men who came with unpopular political views especially in regard to Israel’s internationally illegal occupation of their homeland. Capitalizing on the strong public sentiment spawned by 9/11, the Bush administration used the HLF as a “low hanging fruit” to strike back and start its “crusade” on “Islamic terrorism.” In doing so, the government was also acquiescing to the pro-Israel lobby that had been seeking to dismantle the HLF since the early ’90s. However, after two lengthy and costly trials, no one was able to present a shred of evidence that any of the HLF men had caused the slightest harm to either the U.S. or Israel. No one could show any dollar going to support any activity outside legitimate charity. Additionally, in spite of having on hand a seasoned cadre of experts and access to millions of taxpayers’ dollars, the government failed to prove that Hamas actually controlled any of the organizations the HLF has been accused of supporting. The truth is that not only had the government known all along that Hamas was not in control of these charity organizations, it itself continued to provide finanTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
cial aid (USAID) through these same entities for years after the HLF had been shut down and up to the early months leading to the first trial in 2007. The facts are the facts, and no one can rewrite the past unless fully immersed in denial or armed with absolute impunity (which has been the case with the government and its cadre of experts both American and foreign). Fortunately, because of men like Prof. Wadie Said, Truth will eventually expose the reprehensible, yet skillful, camouflaging of the injustice done in the HLF case.
The Power of Girly Laughter July 20, 2015: To my delight, my wife and three daughters looked like a bouquet of flowers today. Their faces glowed with elation as they sat across from me with only a small plastic table separating us. The table was soon covered with an assortment of candy bars, a pecan pie, chicken wings, and drinks, all of which slowly started to disappear mainly into the depths of my stomach. The sugar rush that I get from a day of visitation keeps me up most of the night. However, this is a classic example of the Arabic culture; more food meant more love and I have no qualms with that whatsoever. This was the highly anticipated visit my family had planned for the day following the Eid al-Fitr celebration. To me, it was my most special Eid gift. Sitting with my family on a day like this was a mixed jar of honey and cyan peppers. Sweet indeed was the moment of entanglements, but burning was the thought that it wasn’t going to last long enough. Above all, it was not easy for me to look my youngest daughter in the eyes and notice the sheet of tears starting to build, turning them from solid brown to a pooling shade of hazelnut. By the time I was able to reach my hands and grab her knees to comfort her, she had already broken down. She cupped her hands around her face and buried it in her chest, as though too embarrassed to have been seen vulnerable. Muzzling her crying, Shurook, 14, rested her head on the chest of her mom sitting next to her. Tightly and lovingly, her mom wrapped her arms around her and quietly sobbed. We all did. Continued on page 54 SEPTEMBER 2015
verduin_53-54_Christianity and the Middle East 8/6/15 9:53 PM Page 53
United Church of Christ Passes Strong BDS Resolution By Paul H. Verduin
Christianity and the Middle East
t was 11:32 a.m. on June 30, and the sus-
delegates and hundreds of advocates and observers gathered in the gigantic plenary hall of the Convention Center in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Everyone held their breath for what felt like an eternity of seconds, with eyes transfixed and riveted on the huge overhead video screens. Then, suddenly, the dramatic result of the electronically tabulated vote flashed on the multiple screens: 508 delegates for the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) resolution, 124 against, and 38 abstaining. Although clapping and cheering were officially prohibited, the hall exploded in spontaneous gasps, muffled shouts and repressed accolades. The landmark resolution—requiring the nearly one-millionmember United Church of Christ (UCC) to (1) boycott all Israeli settlement products; (2) divest from five major corporations profiting from Israel’s 48-year military occupation of the Palestinian territories; and (3) lobby the U.S. Congress to impose sanctions on Israel if it is found to be in violation of human rights provisions in U.S. law governing foreign aid—had passed by an overwhelming 80 percent, far exceeding the two-thirds supermajority required for passage. Supporters of the measure hugged each other in excitement and profound relief at the resolution’s triumphant success. As the General Synod moved on to consider other important resolutions, dozens of those who had labored mightily over the past two years for the creation and passage of the BDS bill retreated hastily to a press conference called in a room set apart from the clamor of the cavernous voting chamber. There, UCC officials provided their initial, cautiously measured interpretations of the historic vote. The greatest excitement was among the interfaith team of advocates who were at the press conference both to listen to the spin applied by denominational leaders and to offer their own decidedly enthusiastic takes on the historic BDS vote, officially titled “A Call for the United Church of Christ to Take Actions Toward a Just Peace in the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict.” Paul H. Verduin is a Washington, DC coordinator of Friends of Sabeel-North America. SEPTEMBER 2015
PHOTO P. VERDUIN
Ipense was overwhelming among the 670
Palestinians, Christians and Jews teamed up to work for passage of the UCC’s BDS resolution.
How The UCC Vote Happened The diverse but well-coordinated team of advocates that lobbied the UCC’s voting delegates for the resolution’s passage was led by the Palestine Israel Network of the United Church of Christ—better known as UCC-PIN. This grassroots nationwide network of UCC laity and clergy had worked tirelessly for two years to draft the BDS resolution, refine it, and guide it through the complicated process of achieving its early adoption in the spring of 2014 by the UCC’s Central Atlantic Conference, the regional district comprising the Mid-Atlantic states. UCC-PIN then moved on to the Empire State and the New England states, winning the resolution’s adoption at the New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire conferences. At the same time, it began to campaign for the measure’s adoption by the Central Pacific Conference and other UCC West Coast bodies. As the hour approached for the UCC’s 30th General Synod held this past June 26 to 30, UCC-PIN found that its hard work had secured the backing of 10 of the denomination’s 38 regional bodies, allowing it to arrive at the national gathering in Cleveland with high hopes for passage. But to succeed, UCC-PIN knew it needed allies in the progressive wing of the AmerTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
ican Jewish community in order to stave off accusations that BDS was anti-Jewish or anti-Israel. Fortunately such allies not only were available, but anxious for the opportunity to come to the aid of their fellow BDS supporters. A score of representatives from Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), assisted by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation’s national organizer Anna Baltzer, joined their UCC allies in Cleveland to set about the work of persuading voting delegates to support the BDS resolution drafted by UCC-PIN. “I’m very grateful to this amazing church—they’ve carried on the tradition,” said a somewhat overwhelmed Gay Harter of Cambridge, MA, the rather soft-spoken chair of UCC-PIN’s 20-member national steering committee, referring to the progressive tradition for which the UCC has come to be known. “And to our amazing allies, Jewish Voice for Peace,” she continued. Alana Krivo-Kaufman, JVP’s East Coast regional organizer, reinforced Harter’s spontaneous remarks by adding, “I’m feeling completely inspired by the groundswell of support, and the moral clarity of the UCC in addressing their own complicity in Israeli human rights violations”—in apparent reference to remarks made by one of the dele53
verduin_53-54_Christianity and the Middle East 8/6/15 9:35 PM Page 54
gates during the General Synod’s plenary session discussion of the resolution. The historic BDS resolution, as posted on the United Church of Christ website, calls upon UCC pension boards and investment funds, as well as its regional conferences, local churches and members, “to divest any direct or substantive indirect holdings in companies profiting from or complicit in human rights violations arising from the occupation of the Palestinian Territories by the state of Israel, including, but not limited to, Caterpillar, Inc., Motorola Solutions, Hewlett-Packard Company, G4S, and Veolia Environnement and its subsidiaries until such time as these companies no longer profit from or are complicit in said human rights violations.” In its boycott clause, the resolution calls upon “all entities of the United Church of Christ to boycott goods identified as produced in or using the facilities of illegal settlements located in the occupied Palestinian territories, including, but not limited to, Ahava skin care products, SodaStream products, and Hadiklaim dates,” and upon church members “to join boycotts of such goods in their local communities.” It calls upon such boycotts “to end when (Advertisement)
American Friends of Birzeit University
these companies cease operations in the illegal settlements.” The resolution’s sanctions clause calls on the UCC and its members “to persist in the request to Congress…to ensure that the U.S. aid to Israel violates neither the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits assistance to any country that engages in a consistent pattern of human rights violations, nor the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which limits the use of U.S. weapons to ‘internal security’ or ‘legitimate self-defense.’” Speaking to the significance of the BDS resolution from a Christian faith perspective, Central Atlantic Conference minister Rev. John Deckenback, whose regional conference submitted the resolution to the General Synod after passing it itself, said: “As disciples of Jesus, we hear and seek to heed His call to be peacemakers, responding to violence with nonviolence and extending love to all. It is in that spirit of love for both Israelis and Palestinians, and a desire to support Palestinians in their nonviolent struggle for freedom, that the United Church of Christ has passed this resolution.” Rev. Mitri Raheb, Palestinian pastor of the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, whose inspiring sermon to General Synod delegates the night before the BDS vote may have contributed to the magnitude of its plurality, was quoted in a UCCPIN news release as gratefully remarking: “In approving this resolution, the UCC has demonstrated its commitment to justice and equality. For Palestinians living under occupation or facing discrimination as citizens of Israel…this action sends a strong signal that they are not alone, and that there are churches who still dare to speak truth to power and stand with the oppressed.” ❑
Islam in America… 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 54
Continued from page 52
My daughter was not being melodramatic, nor was she trying to invite attention to herself. Rather, she was being true to her state of being. She was a child who, for the last seven years, has been feeling a deepening sense of lacking. Something terribly irreplaceable has been missing in her life, and that was her father’s presence in the prime days of her childhood and in the cold nights of her growing anxieties. I feel girls need fathers in growing as much as birds need air to fly, and I wish—I just wish—I had been there for my baby girl as air has been there for little sparrows. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Not different from any other people, my family and I have missed one another most achingly on days that are supposed to represent peace, togetherness, and jubilation. We’re not people bereft of hearts or devoid of yearning. We’re simple humans who thrive in joy and shrivel in sorrow. It’s not fair, therefore, that anyone should expect me or my family to be impervious to human suffering. Nor is it fair for our unjust state of separation to last a day longer. There have been grave consequences to the injustice that has befallen us, and when I say “us” I mean the defendants in the HLF case as well as our families. However, I don’t allow resentment to be seated in the core of my spirit or my children’s. I forbid injustice to foster rage or revulsion in my psyche or my children’s. This has been my position all throughout captivity and I’m not about to reverse my position any time soon. I wanted my children to feel the sunshine and believe the sun was up there, even when it was blocked from vision by mountains of smoky clouds. I wanted them to believe in Allah and all the impossibilities He often turns into commonplace. This is the only state of mind I can think of that may conquer this ongoing state of injustice. This is how we can all survive the campaign of Judicial Terror. Touched, but not the least bit discouraged, I assured my youngest that the days to come will be a lot happier than the days that have passed. I told her she was a beautiful girl who was growing faster than I could keep up with, and thus the future was all hers—and not even the sickest illwisher could tamper with the validity of her dreams. Then I urged her that justice should be a cause to which she must be devoted if she were to find a salve for her hurting and for the hurting of countless others. Her sisters nodded in agreement and vowed to join in. My wife winked at me in approval and I winked back. Before the visit was over, I made sure that my baby girl endowed me with one of her most rejuvenating laughs. We all needed it, but I needed it the most because it makes me feel a worthier father when I’m able to turn a moment of brokenness into an occasion for strength. I feel empowered when I’m able to transform a fractured vase into piece of art. I have a mission in life—and my girls stand in the core of it. But this serious mission couldn’t go too far without a steady supply of the invigorating power of girly laughter. That laughter makes me stronger, and when my girls laugh, I know they’re becoming stronger too. And this falls into the heart of my mission. ❑ SEPTEMBER 2015
holy_land_principles_ad_55_Holy Land Principles Full Page Ad 8/6/15 10:00 AM Page 55
(Advertisement)
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 56
House Office Building July 29. One year has passed since “OperaExhibit Focuses on Gaza War tion Protective Edge,” Israel’s latest attack on Fifty small mixed media paintings by Jaime the Palestinian Gaza Scholnick were featured from June 6 to July Strip which killed more 18 at the CB1 Gallery in Los Angeles, CA than 2,200 Palestinians under the title, “Mowing the Lawn,” the Isand devastated its inraeli term for its “Operation Protective frastructure, Ruebner Edge” launched against Gaza in 2014. The noted. Today Gaza reunusual renderings illustrate the daily hormains under Israeli ror of Israel’s attack on the defenseless Palesblockade, unrecontinian enclave. Forty-nine of the selections are scenes dealing with the destruction of Jaime Scholnick stands in front of her “Mowing the Lawn” exhibit. structed, and teetering on the verge of humanlife and property in Gaza, while the 50th deLana Khalaf sang an Umm Kalthoum fa- itarian catastrophe. Israel has failed to hold picts Israeli picnickers watching the IDF bombing. This piece stands separately from vorite, En Kunti Naasi (If You Have Forgot- itself accountable through domestic juditen), in the first half of the program. Stand- cial proceedings, and it’s past time for the the others. After completing her MFA at Claremont ing ovations were given to a Fairouz num- U.S. and the international community to do Graduate University, Scholnick studied ber, Habytak Bil Saif (I Loved You in the so. Eman Mohammed, a Gaza photojournalpaper making in Japan, where her works Summer), and two Egyptian songs, Kull Dah were exhibited at the Museum of Art in Kan Leih (All of This Was for What?) and ist and a contributor to the new book Gaza Tokyo. She uses photographs covered in Ibathli Gawaab (Send Me a Letter), sung by Unsilenced (available from the AET’s Middle East Books and More), showed some of lines of different colors of ink. This tech- Samir Rizk. In the second half, the orchestra chorus her photographs and told the brief story nique has earned her a public art commission from the L.A. Metro system to do the sang Ouloulou Ein Il Shams... (Tell Him the behind each haunting image. There was Expo/Crenshaw station, which is 4 feet tall Eye of the Sun). As a finale, Lebanese singer Mustafa, an autistic 6-year-old, standing in and 200 feet long. Scholnick, who is Jewish, Micheil Ashkar performed a group of songs, his severely damaged home with his sister, said when she hears Israelis calling them- including Kariat El Fingan (The Reader of who said with each war her little brother selves the chosen people, she questions the Cup), made famous by the late Egyptian says fewer words. Mohammed showed another image of a their political motives. —Samir Twair singer Abdulhalim Hafez. More information about the orchestra can be found at <www. home first hit by a smaller missile, a “roof Layali Zaman Concert layali-zaman.com>. —Samir Twair knock” warning, that caved in the roof, trapping and killing its nine occupants. Maestro Adel Eskander led the Layali The next rocket, dropped by a U.S.-made Zaman (Once Upon a Night) Orchestra at its Human Rights F-16, flattened the home, killing everyone June 13 summer concert in the Scottish Rite who’d come to the rescue. Events Center in Pasadena, CA. The OrchesShe showed another image of a shocked tra, formerly known as Kan Zaman (Once Gaza One Year Later: The Quest for grandmother whose family was warned by Upon a Time), performed to a thrilled audi- Accountability ence. A largely Egyptian-American crowd Josh Ruebner, policy director for the US phone to evacuate their home in one filled the theater to hear conductor Eskan- Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, minute. She forgot to call her brother, who der, who was born in Cairo and studied at opened the standing-room-only Capitol was joining them for the fast-breaking the Conservatory of Arabic Music in the Hill briefing, “Gaza One Year Later: The iftar, and the promised missile killed him. A photo of a weeping mother, whose son Academy of the Arts there. Quest for Accountability,” at the Cannon was just meeting up with friends for an iftar meal after fasting. She told Mohammed she’s lost three sons to Israeli missiles. Another photo of a newlywed, Iyad, showed a demolished room he’d just decorated for his eagerly awaited new baby. Mohammed’s story got personal as she described coming home from a terrible day at work filming other peoples’ tragedies. As usual the power was out when she leaned down to kiss her daughters. Lateen’s pillow was covered in blood. Doctors believe Israel used oxygen bombs, which suck the air out, and her little body just couldn’t take it. She was bleeding internally and had an infection. Mohammed put down her camera, picked up her Lana Khalaf sings at the Layali Zaman summer concert. daughters and evacuated. Despite her STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR
STAFF PHOTO S. TWAIR
Music & Arts
56
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 57
STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY
Friends Committee on National Legislation, Jewish Voice for Peace, Just World Books, Middle East Children’s Alliance, United Methodist Kairos Response, and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. At the briefing, participants received a draft letter to congressional offices asking them to write Secretary of State John Kerry demanding a U.S. investigation into Israel’s killing of Palestinian children and its wanton destruction of Palestinian homes with U.S. weapons. —Delinda C. Hanley
daughters’ U.S. passports, it took them a week to leave Gaza for medical help. If they had been only Palestinians Lateen would have died—a fact that still outrages Mohammed. Mohammed, whose TED Talk has had well over a million views, told the audience—many of them congressional summer interns—that Gazans, like abused women everywhere, are told Israel’s violent attacks are their own fault. For so long they’ve been told “they deserve it,” Mohammed reflected. No rocket was launched from Gaza for a year, but still Gaza was punished. Brad Parker, international advocacy officer for Defense for Children International Palestine, provided terrible statistics from the war, including how many deadly airstrikes came from Israeli drones, F-16s and Hellfire missiles. International law regulates warfare, and time and again Israel broke those laws and committed war crimes with no ramifications. “The trigger for each Israeli attack is impunity,” Parker insisted. “They’ll continue attacks until we hold someone accountable.” Nadia Ben-Youssef, U.S. representative for Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said her organization is taking cases like the killing of the four children playing soccer on the Gaza beach, through Israel’s legal system, trying to hold Israel accountable, but impunity is systematic. Israel absolves itself of wrongdoing, so now it is up to international courts. Raed Jarrar with the American Friends Service Committee in Washington, DC had just returned from Gaza. He said the showers in his very nice hotel held only seawater because the water treatment plants in Gaza were bombed. There are eight hours with electricity and eight without, Jarrar remembered. It’s a bureaucratic decision SEPTEMBER 2015
STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY
(L-r) Brad Parker, Nadia Ben-Youssef, Josh Ruebner and Raed Jarrar want Israel to be held accountable for last summer’s war crimes in Gaza.
Photojournalist Eman Mohammed holds a now-recovered Lateen. made in Israel, he added, which controls the electric grid. Construction material is still not allowed in. Nonetheless, Jarrar observed, people are living their lives, enjoying weddings, going out and having fun. As a U.S. citizen (Jarrar is half Iraqi and half Palestinian in origin) he was allowed to go in and out of Gaza, he explained, but it was an “incredibly dehumanizing experience...no one talks to you, you’re treated like sheep or a rat. A metal gate opens and closes with a green or red light. It’s disgusting, painful, to treat people like animals.” Jarrar called for better tracking of U.S. weapons so our country knows where and how Israel is violating the Leahy Amendment, which prohibits the U.S. from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity. This briefing was co-sponsored by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Friends Service Committee, American Muslims for Palestine, THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Gaza: The Forgotten Piece of Palestine’s Future The Palestine Center in Washington, DC kicked off its summer intern lecture series on July 23 with a panel on Gaza and its role in the greater Palestinian struggle. Speakers Dr. Nathan Brown of George Washington University and Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, agreed that Gaza frequently is overlooked when discussing the future of Palestine. “Too often,” Munayyer began, “Gaza is seen in a prism of war.” In the past seven years, there have been three Israeli assaults on Gaza that have caused injuries that transcend just physical destruction and loss of life. “The situation is more urgent than reports indicate,” Munayyer stressed, to which Dr. Brown added, “The situation continues to be unsustainable.” Because of the deplorable living conditions in the Gaza Strip, its importance to the future of Palestine is often overlooked. The largest city across all Palestinian territory is Gaza City, Munayyer noted. Moreover, he stated, “The most valuable resource of Palestine is its population,” and Gaza is home to about 1.8 million Palestinians, 70 percent of whom are refugees from the 1948 Nakba. Although it is currently under Israeli blockade, Gaza has the potential to be a hub of commerce and industry, as it is Palestine’s only gateway to international waters. Natural resource development off the coast of the Strip and its fishing industry are nonexistent because of the current Israeli restrictions. “Gaza is a dynamic center that is integral to Palestine,” Munayyer emphasized. The Palestinian national project has become split since 2007 when there was “a fundamental break in Palestinian politics,” continued Brown. The West Bank and Gaza became two separate entities that remain disjointed after Palestinian elections in 2006. Israel often uses this disunity as an excuse to blame Palestinians for chaos 57
STAFF PHOTO E. QUINN
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 58
Yousef Munayyer (l) and Dr. Nathan Brown note the many challenges facing Gaza and the future of Palestine. that stalls potential so-called peace processes. Despite the lack of cohesion, Palestinians have been able to unite around two movements: the anti-settlement campaign and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The settler population in the West Bank has tripled since the beginning of 2000. Additionally, BDS has an 86 percent approval among Palestinians. This kind of unified support is unheard of in Palestinian politics, Munayyer pointed out. Hamas, which is labeled a divisive force by the international community, has actually prevented the situation in Gaza from deteriorating further, according to Brown. “Control of Gaza was never in Hamas’ long-term agenda,” he added, although they do control day-to-day affairs in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority, once the beacon of the Palestinian national movement, has lost the support and confidence of Palestinians in the West Bank, who voted for Hamas in 2006. The PA “speaks for no constituency,” Brown said, and does not possess the legitimacy to guide Palestine to a more positive future because it lacks functioning tools, leaders, and institutions for statehood. The peace process, Munayyer argued, has been successful only in the creation of impossible-to-reach benchmarks, and in fact “has been an engine of political divide.” Today, he said, Palestinians are moving away from “the paradigm of U.S.-led negotiations.” Noting that Gazans often are left out of such peace talks because of the complexity of their situation, Brown emphasized that any political or diplomatic process not incorporating Gaza alienates and hinders the process. In Munayyer’s opinion, even the bestcase scenario of a two-state solution eventually would lead to political and geographical tensions because Palestine would 58
be separated by Israeli land, meaning the territorial link between Gaza and the West Bank would always be subject to Israeli whims. Brown considers the present moment an opportune time to fundamentally rethink the future of Palestine given that international attention has shifted elsewhere, to Syria, Iraq and Yemen. He also believes that this is the prime moment to hold elections to replace aged leaders with fresh faces that can unify and create real change. —Erin Quinn
Palestinian Refugees in Syria: Before and After the Civil War The Palestine Center in Washington, DC hosted a June 22 panel to discuss the current state of Palestinian refugees in Syria. Both panelists were born and raised in Damascus’ Yarmouk refugee camp: Nidal Bitari founded the Palestinian Association of Human Rights in Syria, and Wesam Sabaaneh is founder and director of the Jafra Foundation, which focuses on the youth and development in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. When Americans think of refugee camps, they often think of tents, explained Bitari, now senior programs manager for the organization People Demand Change. This was not the case in Yarmouk or the 11 other Syrian camps which were home to the 500,000 Palestinian refugees who fled during the 1948 Nakba and subsequent wars. These camps were the hubs of Palestinian heritage, a source of amazing culture, according to Bitari. Before the Syrian civil war there were more than 800,000 people living in the largest camp, Yarmouk, only 160,000 of them Palestinians, according to Bitari. It had a thriving middle class population and was dubbed “the capital of the diaspora.” In fact, according to Bitari, THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Yarmouk had the greatest number of highly educated Palestinian refugees and was the headquarters for diaspora Palestinian civil society until the Yarmouk Camp crisis began in December 2012. Today, about 18,000 people live in Yarmouk, which is under the control of ISIS. Ever since the bloody civil war began in 2011, the Syrian government, specifically the foreign minister, has targeted Palestinian refugee camps, according to both Bitari and Sabaaneh. The majority of camps in Syria have been completely destroyed, with possibly only two or three functioning camps left, Bitari said. He described a major camp near Aleppo where “there is not one Palestinian left.” If this continues, Bitari warned, it will be the end of Palestinian refugees, their rights, and their culture in Syria. “We feel that there are some Israeli fingers in the camp,” Bitari said. “I don’t know if it’s a conspiracy theory or something, but we feel it since the Syria crisis started! Twelve camps inside of Syria, the majority [of them] are completely destroyed...Until now, we don’t know why both sides, the regime and opposition, are targeting these camps. We feel that they want to erase the camps for good, geographically, I mean.” Refugees in the Yarmouk camp have been living under siege for more than two years, he reported, trapped between proAssad and opposition forces. There is nowhere to flee, Bitari explained, because Jordan and Lebanon have closed their borders to Palestinian refugees, and Egyptian authorities have detained hundreds of Palestinian refugees in the Karmouz prison in Alexandria. Europe has given Palestinians humanitarian asylum, especially Germany and Sweden. “The Yarmouk camp was completely transferred from Damascus to Sweden,” Bitari said. Many Syrian refugees have tried to reach Europe by sailing in “boats of death” across the Mediterranean, affirmed Sabaaneh. Refugees, who typically pay thousands of dollars for the dangerous journey, have a 50 percent chance of dying at sea, he continued. It is believed that 7,250 Palestinians refugees have died in these boats, Bitari added. Sabaaneh’s Jafra Foundation works in five different areas in Syria trying to provide waste management, education for 13,000 children, and food distribution and hygiene aid to more than 3,000 families a month. Describing the deplorable conditions in Yarmouk, Sabaaneh said that there SEPTEMBER 2015
STAFF PHOTO E. QUINN
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/6/15 7:10 PM Page 59
Nidal Bitari (l) and Wesam Sabaaneh describe the horrors facing Palestinian refugees in Syria. The day began with a keynote address by Ambassador Anne Patterson, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. She reported that more than 15 million people in the region desperately need access to adequate health care, as health systems that were stable only four or five years ago are now on the verge of collapse. The United States is working to tame this crisis, she said, and has already provided $200 million in aid. However, humanitarian relief alone will not fix the problem, she cautioned, stressing the importance of regional stability and coordinated international peacemaking efforts. The first panel addressed the health needs of the populations experiencing conflict, violence and upheaval. “Syria is the worst-case scenario,” declared Zaher Sahloul, president of the Syrian American Medical Society. “It is the worst humanitarians crisis since World War II.” Fifty percent of Syria’s population has been affected, he said, and upward of 320,000 people have been killed. “The average Syrian has lost 20 years of their life expectancy in the last four years,” he added. Although Syria was a model country for health care before the crisis, previously eradicated diseases such as polio are resurfacing. According to Andrew Harper, the UNHCR’s representative in Jordan, there is
is no medicine, electricity, education, garbage collection, or sewage system. Hundreds of people, mainly children and the elderly, have died of malnutrition. After a year without water, residents of Yarmouk have to travel more than two hours, risking death from sniper fire, to receive a gallon of water that does not even meet acceptable drinking standards. “I know children in Yarmouk camp who are three years old. They’ve never seen a banana. They’ve never seen a chicken,” Sabaaneh said. “I saw a child one month ago and gave him a banana. ‘What is this?’ he asked me.” The situation in Yarmouk is indescribable, declared Sabaaneh. The reality is much too difficult and horrible for words, photos or even videos to convey. It is “inhumane, unfair, and unjust” and a shame for the international community, Arabic countries, and Palestinians everywhere. Audience members asked the panelists how they could provide assistance to Yarmouk and the other camps. Besides providing donations, Sabaaneh replied, advocacy is greatly needed. Tell everyone you know about what is happening to Palestinian refugees in Syria, he urged: “Raise the voice [of the Palestinian refugees].” —Erin Quinn
The Middle East Institute held an all-day event on June 25 at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC to discuss the health challenges facing refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Middle East. The event, titled “Cut Off from Care: The Health Crisis of Populations Displaced by Conflict,” brought together experts from the World Bank, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization, the State Department and numerous NGOs. SEPTEMBER 2015
STAFF PHOTO E. QUINN
Health Crisis Among Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees
a failure to provide basic support for IDPs in Syria. Additionally, he noted, the refugees’ host countries, mainly Jordan and Lebanon, are struggling to provide facilities for the millions of refugees they are hosting. Harper lamented the difficult decisions that need to be made because of the dearth of supplies available. There are 111 cases of child cancer in refugee camps in Jordan, he explained, but UNHCR only has enough funds to treat 65 children. Leonard Rubenstein of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health described the assault on health care personnel in Syria. More than 630 medical personnel have been killed in more than 202 deliberate attacks on medical facilities. Not only do civilians not seek medical attention for fear of an attack, he said, but about 50 percent of medical personnel have fled the country out of fear. NGOs are doing the heavy lifting for IDPs, added Harper, but the degree of the humanitarian response is impossible to sustain. “We won’t achieve what we need to without a global response,” Rubenstein stated. Harper agreed, warning that the military and humanitarian implications of ignoring a country in conflict will transcend borders. The next panel discussed the most vulnerable people in this crisis. Laila Bugaighis, the first female CEO of the Benghazi Medical Center, said that “Libyans have been cut off from care.” There is no framework for health care in Libya after the fragile institutions in place collapsed in 2011. Today, around 60 percent of health care facilities in Benghazi have been shut down. Additionally, most of the expat health care personnel, who comprised 60 percent of health care workers in Libya, have either fled or been evacuated. Instead of throwing aid at the problem, she explained, international partnerships are needed to ensure sustainability. Mental health care also is in dire need of
(L-r) Thomas Staal, Enis Baris and Dr. Ala Alwan discuss possible solutions to the Middle East’s health crisis. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
59
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 60
60
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
STAFF PHOTO SAMIR TWAIR
PHOTO COURTESY NAKBA MUSEUM
reform across the MENA region. Since International Medical Corps in more than in Bethlehem called Tent of Nations, draw2011, mental health disorders in Syria and 35 countries, agreed with Dr. Alwan and ing volunteers from around the world to across the Levant have doubled, to 20 per- further underscored the need to work help them peacefully resist the encroachcent of the population, reported Inka closely with local health authorities to pre- ment of five illegal Israeli settlements. After completing a degree in business Weissbecker of International Medical pare for future crises. Training and capacCorps. There is a global shortage of mental ity building are of the utmost importance, and computer technology at Bethlehem —Erin Quinn University, Nassar attended graduate health care providers, she noted, and this Torbay concluded. school at the Eastern Mennonite Univershortage is more severe in the Middle East. sity in Harrisonburg, VA. Returning to DC, Additionally, there is a reluctance to seek he conceived the idea of building the services because of the stigma that still surArab American Activism Nakba Museum Project of Memory and rounds mental health. Hope in June 2014. He wanted a place in Rabih El Chammay, head of Lebanon’s the nation’s capital to tell his people’s story national mental health program, said the Nakba Museum Opens in the of the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe. It presence of 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Nation’s Capital took him only a year to gather his country has forced leaders support for his dream, and on to reform Lebanon’s mental June 13, his traveling museum health care system. A national held its successful two-week mental health strategy has debut at the Festival Center in been implemented and will be Washington, DC. gradually put into place over Its first exhibit, “Reclaiming the next five years. This systhe Lost Future,” featured the tem will ensure that all people work of six Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon, residents artists. Nassar chose to use their and refugees alike, receive the paintings and photos to tell the best mental care possible, he refugees’ story because art “is a said. language that everyone can unFormer U.S. Ambassador to derstand.” The images depict Syria Robert S. Ford gave the the flight and expulsion of luncheon keynote address, sayPalestinians in 1948, nonviolent ing, “I’m personally not hopeful” about the refugee situation Bshara Nassar leads a discussion after a documentary, “On the Side resistance, and everyday life today. there. The immediate need is of the Road.” This first stage of the mumore humanitarian aid, he acknowledged: “They all need more help Bshara Nassar first admired Washington, seum included educational materials as and they need it promptly.” DC’s inspiring museums while attending well as artwork, articles and historic artiIn the long-term, however, Ford empha- the New Story Leadership program in the facts. Visitors were able to engage in dissized the need for the international com- summer of 2011. His family has created an cussions with Palestinians, as well as watch munity to reaffirm the basic principles of environmental peace center on their farm documentaries and a play about the occuhumanitarian international law and to enhance the effectiveness of its crisis response mechanisms. Muslim American Activism The day concluded with a panel about potential solutions to the current crisis. The world, especially host countries, need to admit that this is a long-term problem, stated Thomas Staal of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Enis Baris of the World Bank said there is a widening gap between the supply and demand of health care, and a need to safeguard what has already been achieved. Baris described the growing concern about parasites resurfacing in Yemen after a great amount of work has been done to reduce them. What are the solutions to these growing issues? Dr. Ala Alwan of the World Health Organization advocated a three-pronged approach based on a high level of readiness, an expanded logistical platform, and sustainable funding to ensure the end to Worshipers turned out July 17 at the Burbank Islamic Center for Eid al-Fitr prayer. The this crisis. Rabih Torbay, who oversees the center served free iftar dinners throughout the holy month of Ramadan.
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 61
Waging Peace Senator Chris Murphy Warns That Washington Is Addicted to War Discussing the Iran nuclear deal at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC on July 22, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) accused decision makers in the nation’s capital of favoring war over diplomacy. “Over my almost nine years in Congress, I have come to at least one inescapable conclusion about Washington…this town still runs on war,” the former House member and freshman senator said in prepared remarks. This “forces debate to slide toward viewing every international predicament and every potential solution through a military lens,” he added. In Murphy’s opinion, the U.S. has been unable to remove itself from its militaristic way of thinking for nearly three-quarters of a century: “A big part of this town still views American power through a World War II lens—the idea that American military power can solve virtually any problem around the world.” This worldview makes it difficult for presidents to engage in diplomatic talks, he explained. “When an American president proposes to solve a major international crisis through a non-military set of means, he is running uphill in this town.” Murphy noted that President Ronald Reagan was lambasted by critics for meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. Among the critics of the conservative icon was then-Congressman Newt Gingrich (R-GA), who described the diplomatic encounter as “the most dangerous summit for the West since Adolf Hitler met with Neville Chamberlain in 1938 in Munich.” President Richard Nixon faced similar backlash for his decision to visit China in 1972, Murphy pointed out. SEPTEMBER 2015
As President Barack Obama attempts to sell Congress on the Iran nuclear deal, he faces similar critiques. Murphy accused Republicans critical of the Iran deal of not learning from the past. “History has proved these critics of diplomacy wrong,” he said. “Now, of course, that hasn’t stopped Republicans today from engaging in the same overheated rhetoric about the Iran Sen. Chris Murphy hopes his colleagues will embrace diplomacy nuclear agreement.” Diplomacy seems to by approving the nuclear deal with Iran. scare lawmakers more than war, Murphy charged, observing that tions were about anything other than stopCongress, despite its constitutional duty to ping Iran from obtaining a nuclear declare war, has refused to press the weapon,” Murphy stated. Others will criticize the deal for not perObama administration on its war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. “But on Iran,” he mitting anytime, anywhere inspections—a noted, “Congress is tripping over itself to demand Murphy believes is unreasonable. inspect and oversee and inquisition every “No country, certainly not Iran, would aspect of this deal and these negotiations.” ever allow inspectors from competitor naThe difference in attitude toward war tions unfettered, unconditional access to and diplomacy on Capitol Hill is striking, every corner of their territory,” he said. Murphy said: “When the president en- “Anytime, anywhere is frankly just a red gages in war, Congress simply waves the herring for those who had no intention of executive on by. When the president en- ever supporting the agreement in the first gages in diplomacy, Congress trips over it- place.” As he concluded his remarks, Murphy self to set up hurdles and obstacles.” Congress, which has until mid-Septem- once again dismissed those who portray ber to approve or strike down the nuclear Obama as being weak for reaching a comagreement, must understand the implica- promise with Iran. “No matter how many tions of its vote, Murphy insisted. If it re- times politicians and pundits say the word jects the deal, the sanctions regime will fall ‘Neville Chamberlain,’ the scope of human apart and the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear history tells us that diplomacy is not weakprogram will not go into effect. Given this ness, it is the epitome of strength,” he said. During the question-and-answer session, reality, Murphy said, a lawmaker would need a truly apocalyptic outlook to reject Murphy was asked if he believes Washington and Tehran would reinstate formal the deal. Murphy appeared cautiously optimistic, diplomatic relations in the near future. The however, that the deal will survive con- senator expressed doubts that this will gressional scrutiny, noting that a handful occur any time soon, but stressed that of Republicans have privately expressed there will be communication between the concern about their party’s hard-line posi- two countries. “We are going to talk to the Iranians in tion on the deal. He also expects Democrats to voice stronger support for the deal once the wake of this agreement…there is a channel that now exists,” he said. “By nathey are done thoroughly assessing it. A core group of spoilers will nonetheless ture of signing this agreement, we’re addo what they can to scuttle the deal by mitting that we are in a relationship now— raising faux concerns, Murphy predicted. a complicated one and often adversarial Some critics will argue that it’s inappro- one—but a relationship nonetheless.” Murphy hopes the new diplomatic priate to give Iran sanctions relief, he said—even though the sanctions being channel will be used to discuss some kind lifted were implemented exclusively for of cooperation between the U.S. and Iran the nuclear program. “It is a total rewrite in the fight against ISIS. “Sure, it’s uncomof history to suggest that the nuclear sanc- fortable to talk about working with Iran to STAFF PHOTO D. SPRUSANSKY
pation. The exhibit also featured video recordings of Palestinians, including 1948 survivors, relating their history and experiences, passing on their stories to future generations. During stage two, the Nakba Museum will host events, seminars and conferences in other parts of the U.S. to allow refugees and their relatives to share their personal stories. The goal of each display or event will be to create a culture of listening and represent a non-contested space, through a simple invitation to witness. For more information, visit <www.nakbamuseumpro ject.com>. —Delinda C. Hanley
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
61
defeat ISIS,” he acknowledged, “but this is a sloppy, messy, convoluted real world. And in the real world, you have to pay attention to the enemies of your enemy.” —Dale Sprusansky
STAFF PHOTO M. GILLESPIE
Jim Webb Speaks to Des Moines Committee on Foreign Relations
Jim Webb speaks to the Des Moines Committee on Foreign Relations. Former Secretary of the Navy and former Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) spoke to the Des Moines Committee on Foreign Relations at the Renaissance Savery Hotel on June 16 critiquing U.S. foreign and defense policy. “I wrote in The Washington Post, five months before the invasion of Iraq, that to invade Iraq would be a strategic blunder that would empower Iran and unleash sectarian violence inside the country,” Webb told an audience of about 75 gathered in the historic downtown Des Moines hotel’s conference room. The Vietnam veteran, who as a U.S. Marine first lieutenant and platoon commander earned the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism in battle in 1969, added that in the same article he predicted that “as opposed to the end of World War II, when our soldiers became the occupation forces in Japan and became 50,000 friends, to send our soldiers into Iraq as an occupying force would make them, quickly, 50,000 terrorist targets. “I took no pleasure in writing that article,” Webb said, “but, in retrospect, I am fortunate to [be able to] say that this is the world we are living in right now in the Middle East, the world that the invasion and the unleashing of sectarian violence afterwards [created]. “I have very strong feelings that the United States does not belong as an occupy62
ing power in that part of the world. We can areas that are “under legitimate internaassert our national security objectives with- tional dispute.” “In the last 18 months, we’ve seen China out being an occupying power. There is an old saying, ‘You don’t take out a hornets’ move down into these areas actually militanest by sitting on it,’” Webb reminded his rizing some of these bases....These are not tactical issues. This is staking out a piece of listeners. The former senator, a presidential hope- territory for the long term that they intend ful, also voiced criticism of the Obama ad- to include as China. Some of these territories ministration’s policy in the Middle East, cit- are 700 miles away from the Chinese coasting what he referred to as “the second line,” Webb noted. [Webb has since made statements that strategic blunder”: the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi and the destabilization of strongly suggest his opposition to the Libya. “During congressional hearings and Obama administration’s negotiated agreeon the Senate floor,” Webb recalled, he had ment with the P5+1 and Iran on Iran’s nuwarned that “if you looked at the situation clear program, statements that have caused on the ground in Libya you could not de- this reporter to wonder about Webb’s comfine a critical national security interest” that mitment to avoiding unnecessary U.S. injustified U.S. military action—no relevant volvement in war(s) in the region.] —Michael Gillespie treaties in effect, no attack or threat of attack against U.S. personnel, no American citizens in need of protection or rescue, “no Jordan in the ISIS Era urgency whatsoever” for the use of force. The Woodrow Wilson International Center Setting aside the Republican furor over for Scholars hosted a July 14 discussion at Benghazi, Webb asked his audience to look its Washington, DC offices on the chalat what has happened to Libya in the after- lenges posed to Jordan by the rise of ISIS. math of the Qaddafi regime, citing tribal viWhile many Jordanians took to the olence, vengeance killings across the coun- streets to air their grievances during the try, weapons depots looted, and thousands Arab uprising of 2011, the country’s oppoof weapons distributed across the region sition has since lost its revolutionary zeal, from Libya. noted Anja Wehler-Schoeck, head of the Criticizing U.S. military intervention German NGO Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s under the rubric of humanitarian interven- Amman office. This, she explained, is tion, “R2P or responsibility to protect,” largely because many fear that an unstable Webb argued, “There is no real definitional Jordan could disintegrate into chaos à la framework around humanitarian assistance. Syria or Libya. If you are going to put American military While internal unrest has abated, the reforces into play, you should come, the ad- gional chaos surrounding Jordan has conministration should come to the Congress fronted the Hashemite Kingdom with a [for approval] if they want to conduct that host of economic and security dilemmas. sort of military action.” Among these is the rise of ISIS. To comRegarding U.S. military interventions in bat the self-professed Islamic State, Jordan Iraq and Libya, Webb said, “We have set a joined the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition in very bad example [in] how we use Ameri- September 2014. can power around the world.” The government faced backlash from Noting that he has been “written about as some quarters for this decision, Wehleran anti-interventionist in my policy views,” Schoeck pointed out, as some Jordanians Webb countered that he doesn’t believe viewed the counter-ISIS campaign as an anyone has made a stronger argument than anti-Sunni mission. he has for “the necessity of our presence as a military force in East Asia over the years.” Webb pointed out that he has been warning and writing about Chinese expansionism for 15 years, and said that China is asserting sover- Anja Wehler-Schoeck (l) and Woodrow Wilson Center moderator eignty over large Henri Barkey discuss Jordan’s response to the ISIS threat. THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
STAFF PHOTO E. QUINN
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 62
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/6/15 7:20 PM Page 63
SEPTEMBER 2015
ISIS, Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan
PHOTO COURTESY MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE
This skepticism subsided, however, in February of this year, when video of ISIS militants brutally executing Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kasasbeh by burning him to death was released. “All of a sudden, all Jordanians were behind the government and supported the airstrikes against ISIS in Syria,” Wehler-Schoeck said. Given the quality of Jordan’s military and security forces, Wehler-Schoeck doubts ISIS will ever pose a serious threat to the integrity of the country’s borders. She also noted that Jordan has no intention of escalating its fight against ISIS by sending ground troops into Syria. Wehler-Schoeck does fear, however, that the regional chaos could lead to the radicalization of some Jordanians. “Ideology traverses borders,” she noted, adding that an estimated 2,000 Jordanians currently are fighting in Iraq and Syria. Taking a no-nonsense approach to its security, Amman has clamped down on critics it views as promoting instability, WehlerSchoeck continued. Accordingly, the government has limited several freedoms, including freedom of speech and of the press. A ban on reporting on the military and the security apparatus has been put in place, she said, and has led to some arrests. Many journalists report that they now self-censor to protect their security, she added. The Jordanian government also is keeping a close eye on the Muslim Brotherhood. While the group is permitted to operate openly in the country, WehlerSchoeck said officials are working to keep the group at bay. She cautioned, though, that the Brotherhood has been a “platform for moderate Islamists,” and warned that cracking down on the group could lead to radicalization. Aside from its precarious security situation, Jordan is also facing critical economic and humanitarian crises. The rise of ISIS has further strained an already weak economy, Wehler-Schoeck noted, by limiting its economic relations with neighboring nations. Syria’s civil war has also brought an influx of refugees that have greatly burdened the country. “Jordan is saturated with refugees,” commented David Schenker, former Levant country director at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, with upwards of 700,000 registered Syrian refugees in the country. “Jordan is a remarkably hospitable country for refugees,” he said, but the refugees are overpopulating the job market, driving up rent prices and using precious resources such as water. —Erin Quinn
KDP representative Hemin Hawrami at the Middle East Institute. Hemin Hawrami, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s foreign relations office in Iraqi Kurdistan, discussed the Kurdish approach to ISIS, Kurdish independence and the future of Iraq at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC on July 8. “From our perspective, this war [against ISIS] is going to be a very, very long war,” he began, explaining that the unstable nature of the region will make defeating the terror group a difficult task. ISIS “is the symptom of the illness,” he said, “it’s not the illness itself.” Despite the chaos in its neighborhood, the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga military forces have been largely successful in fighting ISIS, according to Hawrami. Kurdish fighters have been able to stop ISIS from advancing, he reported, and have reclaimed over 20,000 square kilometers (12 and a half square miles) of land from the group. There is still much work to be done, however, Hawrami continued. Although Peshmerga forces have killed an estimated 11,000 ISIS fighters, more than 10,500 foreign recruits are believed to have joined ISIS over the same time period. Hawrami added that Kurdish victories have been diminished by ISIS’ ability to seize territory in non-Kurdish areas, such as Ramadi, Iraq and Palmyra, Syria. ISIS will continue to pose a significant threat as long as its opponents remain disjointed, Hawrami warned. “We need a comprehensive strategy,” he said, urging greater cohesion among the various groups and governments fighting ISIS. Hawrami also called on the international community to increase its military and humanitarian assistance to Iraqi Kurdistan. “We need more support, enough has not been done,” he stated. Not only are more arms required, but resources to cope with the growing refugee population are also needed, Hawrami THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
added. The surge of internally displaced Iraqis and refugees from Syria has increased, and there are about two million refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan today, he noted. Hawrami was particularly critical of Iraq’s central government, arguing that it has abandoned Erbil. “Baghdad is hardly doing anything to support our government and to support their own citizens who are in the Iraqi Kurdistan region right now,” he charged. He also accused Baghdad of failing to live up to its end of the December 2014 oil deal it signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Under the deal, the Kurds committed to export more than 550,000 barrels of oil per day from areas under their control to Iraq’s national oil marketing entity in exchange for the reinstatement of budget payments and support for the Peshmerga. Long-term, Hawrami believes Iraq’s Kurds will achieve independence. “It is going to happen,” he insisted. “Iraq is broken,” he said, “we don’t want to be part of that unknown future.” He called it unreasonable to expect that Iraq can ever go back to its pre-ISIS status quo. In less than two years, Hawrami said, residents of Iraqi Kurdistan will vote on independence. Stating that the government of Iraqi Kurdistan has “no pan-Kurdistan agenda,” he acknowledged that the government has worked to unify and support Syrian Kurds since 2011. “We want Syrian Kurds to develop their cause within the Syrian revolution,” he explained. —Erin Quinn
History and the Crisis in Yemen The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) and the U.S.-GCC Corporate Cooperation Committee co-hosted a public affairs briefing on June 29 titled “Yemen in Crisis: What Next?” at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. Dr. John Duke Anthony, founder and CEO of NCUSAR, began by asserting that “no Arab country is more difficult to comprehend than Yemen.” Panelists provided a political and economic overview of the country before discussing the current crisis. In the 1970s and ‘80s, Yemen’s economy was based on agriculture and trade, especially given the importance of the southern port of Aden, explained Peter Salisbury, analyst and journalist for various publications, including the Financial Times. The economic power of the central state was extremely limited until 1990, however, when North and South Yemen were uni63
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 64
STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY
STAFF PHOTO E. QUINN
Ghanem insisted. The fied and Ali Abdullah first Netanyahu declared Saleh became president. he was for Oslo. The curA gradual increase in oil rent prime minister deprices created decent clared that he was against amounts of revenue for a Palestinian state. He the central state, conknows what Israelis tributing to Saleh’s want, Ghanem argued, power, Salisbury stated. and they no longer want In 1994, the civil war peace. Netanyahu plans in Yemen between northern and southern factions Dr. Noel Brehony (l) and Dr. John Duke Anthony provide context to the ongoing to expand settlements, annex de facto those setended in President Saleh’s conflict gripping Yemen. tlements, the Jordan Valconsolidation of political power and the establishment of an eco- of religion,” stated Al-Hamdani, calling for ley and Jerusalem as parts of Israel, and recognize a limited state in the West Bank nomic monopoly. Using this increased in- dialogues rather than negotiations. “There is potential for actual peace,” with no right of return for Palestinians. come to create a vast network of conNetanyahu also demands world recognistituents, Salisbury reported, “Saleh was concluded Al-Hamdani, but the Houthis now in the position to buy people off.” need to be part of the peace process and tion of Israel as the Jewish state—not simThe government became completely cen- the future government. Any peace settle- ply a state, as it was already recognized in tralized in Sana’a, yet Saleh did nothing to ment that includes Ali Abdullah Saleh or Oslo. He is doing this not just because he’s provide for the Yemeni people’s basic his family, added Salisbury, will inherently a fanatic Zionist, Ghanem explained, but be flawed and will cause further instability because he wants to encourage a split beneeds. —Erin Quinn tween Palestinians inside Israel and those A “transition agreement” brokered by in Yemen. in the West Bank and Gaza. He is also closthe Gulf Cooperation Council on Nov. 23, 2011 ended the uprising in Yemen that The March 2015 Israeli Elections and ing borders and erecting checkpoints to make it harder for Palestinians to move inbegan that January, continued Dr. Noel Their Implications for the Future Brehony of Menas Associates, a firm that Dr. As’ad Ghanem, a lecturer at the school side or outside their land, much less unite. Today, according to Ghanem, the right provides advice on corporate and commer- of political science at the University of cial law. President Saleh agreed to vacate Haifa, assessed the rise and entrenchment wing in Israel is more powerful than ever. his office, and the government promised to of the Israeli right in Israeli politics at the Israelis actually believe that Barack Obama restructure Yemen’s military. However, Palestine Center in Washington, DC on is the first U.S. president to insist on a twostate solution and is trying to destroy Isnothing was done to shut down the vast July 15. patronage networks that Saleh had created, First of all, Dr. Ghanem said, “there is no rael. Voters also believe Israel is under atBrehony said, and these networks remain peace process between Israel and the Pales- tack by Palestinians and other activists, today. tinians. The peace process ended in 2000,” and especially by the Boycott, Divestment The Houthis were excluded from this when soon-to-be Prime Minister Ariel and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Netanyahu agreement, which added to their numerous Sharon launched an “open-ended war” has benefitted from the politics of fear, and grievances. As Brehony reminded atten- against the Palestinians and the implemen- rails against the nuclear deal with Iran and dees, the Houthis, who are of the Zaidi sect tation of the Oslo agreement. Sharon’s ad- ISIS. Right-wing leaders are changing almost of Shi’i Islam, are not a relatively new mili- ministration unilaterally withdrew from tia group but an historical group in Yemen Gaza, refused to meet with Palestinians, every part of life in Israel, Ghanem said, that has deep tribal roots. began building the separation wall, contin- from education to textbooks, and even theToday, the civil war and the Saudi Ara- ued the de facto annexation of the Jordan ater activities in Haifa. Jewish and Arab parties that refuse to go along are denied bian-led military campaign has left the Valley and increased settlement building. country lacking food, water, electricity The Binyamin Netanyahu whom Israelis financial aid. “In Israel, many domains, like academia, and healthcare, said Sama’a Al-Hamdani, elected in 2015 is completely different from analyst and writer at the blog Yemeniaty. the Netanyahu Israel elected in 1996, Dr. the media and cultural domains, are controlled by those who follow the left—the Inflation within the country is extreme, Labor Party,” Ghanem reflected, so the she added, as 30 percent of Yemenis’ inLikud does not exercise complete control come goes to obtaining water. Additionally, over Israeli politics and society. 21 million of a total of 27 million Yemenis Nonetheless, Ghanem warned, “this today are facing famine. government is going to stay in power for a “There is no governmental presence now period of time longer than a lot of people in Yemen,” she continued. “[The governwho are pro-peace would like to think.” ment] is the least legitimate party on the Ghanem’s final point was that “strucground.” turally, this government cannot go for the Other parties, such as al-Qaeda, are gainpeace process.” Previous governments being territory amidst the chaos, and have relieved that if they didn’t go along with cently taken over the richest governorate peace talks they would fall. In Israel today, in terms of oil wealth within Yemen. “The government needs to be on the ground and Dr. As’ad Ghanem describes the gains made Ghanem concluded, “if this government goes for the peace process, it will collapse. represent all of Yemen’s people regardless by the Israeli Right. 64
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 65
If it does [pursue the peace process], the right-wing parties will withdraw from the government.” —Delinda C. Hanley
New Story Leadership Speakers Reach Beyond Their Differences
tedly ultimately unsuccessful political campaign for change in the 2015 Israeli elections. Atzmon said she was really enjoying her work placement with Ari Roth and the new Mosaic Theater in Washington, DC. In fact, she wants to create social change through theater with young leaders back home. Muhanad Alkharaz, 26, from Nablus, is on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Wisconsin studying the policy and economics of freshwater resources. After graduating from An Najah University and the Arava Institute, Alkharaz invented a water filter while working for an NGO in Hebron designing and installing water systems for the poor. He wants to increase awareness about the degradation of Palestine’s natural environment. After serving in the IDF intelligence corps, Aviv Ayash, 27, now attends Open University in Tel Aviv and works as part of the security detail of the U.S. Embassy. He wants to use sports to help end the conflict. Mohammed Al-Hroub, 22, originally from Hebron but now from Bethlehem, “Jesus’ hometown,” studies geography and environmental science at Al Quds University. His dad and grandfathers loved their land and worked as farmers. Israel is confiscating Palestinian land, so every Friday after prayers Al-Hroub and his friends braved tear gas and bullets to protest. Some of his friends died and Palestinians didn’t win in courts. Al-Hroub observed: “The land is crying out for us to stop this.” Palestinians and Israelis have to decide to work together if we are to share the same land and water, Al-Hroub insisted, because “the environment has no borders.” He wants to bring young Palestinians and Israelis together to work on environmental issues. An enthusiastic outdoorsman, Al-Hroub saw the ocean and went sailing for the first time on this
visit to the U.S. Yaara Elazari, 27, who studies at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, is passionate about music and education. It’s unacceptable that Palestinians and Israelis are perceiving life according to where we were born, she told the audience. Elazari admitted she came to DC with “low expectations.” As NSL participants, “we stopped our lives for two months and had the courage to make some changes...We need new leaders, voices and new stories. We won’t wait for new leaders to make a change...Now I’ll go back with high expectations.” Eman Abushabab, 22, survived Israel’s last attack on Gaza and then moved to Bangladesh to study public health. NSL has showed her there is not only suffering in Gaza, Abushabab said, but that “we are both paying a price.” She hopes to treat children from both sides of the conflict for mental illnesses. She asked the audience not to think of Gazans as only Hamas. “We are humans, people,” she insisted. They say in the NSL, that we are the seed, Abushabab added, ”but without water and sunshine we can’t be trees.” When asked how they felt about “normalization” or working with “the other side” and the reaction they expected from friends when they go home, Shehadeh pointed out that her generation is sick of the conflict and really wants change. As for her NSL experience, she said, “This is one of those things I’ll never regret if I live to be 100 years old.” Rabbi Sunny Schnitzer summed up the feelings of every listener by saying, “You’ve given us a glimmer of something different: aggressive, passionate hope...To heal the planet and the land, first you have to heal the people. You are all great healers.” —Delinda C. Hanley
STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY
Young Israelis and Palestinians shared their stories and hopes for peace at a July 19 event at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, co-hosted with the Bethesda Jewish Congregation (the two share worship space in Bethesda, Maryland). Rev. David Gray welcomed attendees, and Greg Robison, a New Story Leadership (NSL) board member, described how the non-profit organization selects five Israeli and five Palestinian young leaders to attend their intense summer program in Washington, DC. University students between the ages of 18 and 28 spend seven weeks practicing leadership skills, including public speaking, conflict resolution and entrepreneurship. They intern in workplaces including congressional offices, the World Bank and NGOs (this year, sadly, not the Washington Report), and live with host families. “Young people, especially those involved in the conflict, should have their voices heard,” Robison said, pointing out that “arguments and debates rarely change opinions.” Listening and truly hearing others tell their stories can change a person’s mind, he stated. NSL events coordinator Georgia “Katie” Trimm, a sophomore at Yale University’s Berkeley College, introduced each NSL speaker and moderated the subsequent lively discussion. Abeer Shehadeh, a 23-year-old Christian Arab Israeli from Kfar Yasif who attends the University of Haifa, said she came to the U.S. afraid that people wouldn’t accept her diversity. Shehadeh said her life experience has helped make her a mediator and peacemaker. Originally from Hebron, Ehab Iwidat, 20, introduced himself as the tallest and smartest of the group. He works at a hotel and studies at Birzeit University in Ramallah, and is determined to make it easier for tourists to visit the West Bank. Iwidat wants to organize meaningful tours that will overcome Western stereotypes of Palestinians. Sivan Atzmon, 32, was born in Jerusalem and graduated with honors from Tel Aviv (L-r) New Story Leaders Eman Abushabab (Gaza), Yaara Elazari (Jerusalem), Mohammed Al-Hroub University. Atzmon helped (Bethlehem), Aviv Ayash (Tel Aviv), Muhanad Alkharaz (Nablus), Sivan Atzmon (Tel Aviv), Ehab Iwidat found Victory15, an admit- (Ramallah), Abeer Shehadeh (Kfar Yasif) and Shay Ater (Tel Aviv). SEPTEMBER 2015
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
65
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 66
STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY
Visitors spent a fun and informative summer day at the Holy Land Festival hosted by the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, DC on July 25. The festival featured a variety of authentic Middle Eastern food, arts, crafts and music. Next to the Washington Report’s Middle East Books and More booth was a table with volunteers teaching kids to write their names in Arabic. Diners sampled Middle Eastern food from the Jerusalem Restaurant and Rose Palestinian-Americans (l-r) Hani Almadhoun, Deena Faruki and Anton Murra. City Petra, and cooled down with Ramos Brothers snow cones. People posed for pho- is now Israel in the West Bank and Gaza, warned. They are constantly being retos with a life-sized cardboard cut-out of not to mention Jordan, Lebanon and other cruited by militant groups, who offer the Pope Francis and recorded a video greeting countries. It was interesting to see how only jobs available. With Israel preventing to him in advance of his September visit to refugees are treated here, in the U.S., she re- construction material from entering Gaza, Washington, DC. Others took tours of the flected. Catholic Charities helps refugees get even builders are unemployed. Almadhoun described proudly taking his monastery’s church, catacombs and garden. health insurance, apartments and jobs. When asked about daily life in Bethle- oath to become an American citizen in 2013, Throughout the day there were special presentations to discuss the current situa- hem, Mukarker observed that conditions but at the same time struggling to reconcile tion in the Holy Land. Brother Stephen are easier than in a refugee camp, but ob- his personal gratitude toward his new home Touhy and two graduates talked about taining water is a problem for everyone and with his disagreement over its politics. He “Bethlehem University: a Symbol of Inter- Palestinians are not free to travel. Asked also experienced first-hand the limits of his about her trip to Washington, DC she ex- new American passport when he tried to Religious Success.” Founded in 1973, with 112 students and plained that Palestinians can’t use Ben-Gu- travel from Jordan to Palestine. Israeli bor17 faculty, the co-educational Catholic school rion airport, and instead must go to Jordan der guards told him, “You’re Palestinian, not was the first university established in the to catch a flight. Since it can take five hours American,” and denied him entry. Anton Murra, project manager at the InWest Bank. Brother Touhy called it “an oasis at the border crossing alone, it’s risky to ternational Center for Religion of peace for both Christian and and Diplomacy, discussed how Muslim students,” but the Israeli negative perceptions of “the military has forced Bethlehem Uniother” perpetuate hostility beversity to close 12 times, including tween Israelis and Palestinians. a 3-year closure from October 1987 “[IDF] soldiers learn to perceive until October 1990. Classes have threat from every moving Palescontinually been held on- and offtinian,” noted Murra, a native of campus, despite curfews, travel reBethlehem. As a result, he said, strictions and harassment at milisoldiers often not only show little tary checkpoints. There used to be sympathy toward Palestinians, students from Gaza, Touhy noted, but also frequently seek to level but they have not been allowed to unjust punishments on residents come to the West Bank university since 2000. Students and faculty Georgina Mukarker (l) and Randa Alyatim answer questions of the West Bank. Murra recalled the poor treatfrom Ramallah, formerly a 40- about Bethlehem University. ment he received when he minute drive, now endure a twohour commute. Today there are 3,200 stu- book a same-day flight. “I feel happy with crossed a checkpoint every morning to no restrictions here,” she said. “I’m free to reach work. Even though his office on the dents and more than 15,000 graduates. Randa Alyatim, a graduate, started off walk anywhere. No one asks if I am Arab.” Mount of Olives in Jerusalem was only a Longtime peace activist Pat Labuda few miles away from Bethlehem, he had to with a joke about her hometown, Beit Sahour, where Shepherds’ Field is located. moderated the next panel, “Young Pales- leave home at 5 a.m. every morning in The angel appeared in Beit Sahour, she said, tinian Voices: We Will Be Heard,” and in- order to ensure he could arrive at work by because everyone knows people from her troduced the speakers. Hani Almadhoun, 9 a.m. “I got to the office and was already village talk a lot, and they’d get the word director of donor development at Ameri- tired from crossing the checkpoint,” he out fast about the birth of Jesus. Growing can Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), came said, describing the checkpoint experience serious, she described the difficulties stu- to the U.S. from Gaza in 2000. He is wor- as “a pure example of humiliation.” Despite his negative interactions with Isried about his 60 nieces and nephews and dents face getting to school. Bethlehem University student Georgina other youths “trapped in a box” back raeli soldiers at checkpoints, Murra is a strong Mukarker spent the summer interning with home with no jobs. Donors are concerned believer in reconciliation through dialogue. In 2010, he participated in an exchange Catholic Charities in Washington, DC. She about women and children but it’s also told listeners there are refugees from what young men who are in danger, Almadhoun between Palestinian and Israeli youth orga66
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
STAFF PHOTO D. HANLEY
Franciscan Monastery Hosts Second Annual Holy Land Festival
activisms_56-67_September 2015 Activisms 8/5/15 7:09 PM Page 67
LEFT: A visitor poses with a cut-out of Pope Francis.
STAFF PHOTOS D. HANLEY
does its best to stay attached to Palestine through traditions, memories and stories, Faruki explained, but this becomes increasingly difficult as each generation grows closer to their adopted homelands. Israel is seeking to advance this feeling of disassociation by adopting policies that systematically erase Palestinian identity and history, Faruki pointed out. Among the means it uses is its educational policy, changing street names, and remodeling native Palestinian homes. Speaking on the “Museums: Preserving the Past for the Future” panel, Dr. Hugh Dempsey, vice president of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF), noted ways Palestinians are working to ensure Israel’s attempts to erase Palestinian history are unsuccessful. One such project is the Bethlehem Museum, which opened in February 2015. It tells “the story of a people that have been under occupation since Biblical days,” Dr. Dempsey said, and highlights the perseverance of the Palestinian people. The museum is not just intended for tourists, he emphasized (although he encourages anyone going on a tour of the Holy Land to demand that Bethlehem be included on the itinerary). Rather, it is a space that Palestinians, the “living stones,” can go to celebrate their heritage, he said. “The importance of this museum is that it preserves the true narrative” and prevents history from being rewritten, emphasized Abigail Galvan, special programs coordinator at HCEF. The Holy Land Festival is a project of the Holy Land Committee, a coalition of groups that includes the Archdiocese of Washington, the Franciscan Monastery and several other orTOP: Volunteers hand out information about the Holy Family Hospital ganizations that support the of Bethlehem Foundation; MIDDLE: Bethlehem University’s booth “living stones” of the Holy provides food samples and recipes for hummus and qatayef; ABOVE: Land in a variety of ways. Rocio Rabie shares information about the Holy Land Christian —Dale Sprusansky and Delinda C. Hanley Ecumenical Foundation.
nized by Rabbis for Human Rights. “It made people change their views of ‘the other,’” he said. “Those experiences taught me a lot about the importance of communication…those spaces help us to rethink the narrative we have.” Any dialogue must begin with a frank conversation, Murra emphasized: “Ask questions, believe that the person is being honest.” After participating in several dialogues utilizing this approach, he is a strong believer in its transformational potential. “I’ve worked with these youths for years, I’ve seen change in them,” he noted. Murra said he does not believe that participating in dialogue with Israelis normalizes the occupation. Instead, he said, the programs simply offer a safe space for people to talk. Over the long-term such conversations can produce tangible results and a better future, he believes. Deena Faruki, operations manager at United Palestinian Appeal (UPA), shared her experience as a diaspora Palestinian. Faruki’s family is from the city of Ramle, now located inside Israel. In 1948, her family fled the city for Egypt after news of the Deir Yassin massacre reached the village. Her family never returned to Ramle, and their homes have been transformed into a hospital and a state-owned research site. They never received compensation for their property. The diaspora community SEPTEMBER 2015
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
67
bookreview_68_Book Review 8/6/15 6:46 PM Page 68
Books Reviewed by Kevin A. Davis
The Bride of Amman By Fadi Zaghmout, Signal 8 Press, 2015, paperback, 250 pp. List: $17.95; MEB: $16. The powerful novel The Bride of Amman addresses complex issues of gender and sexuality. Told in short chapters from the perspectives of various characters, the author weaves among the lives of his characters to address an impressive array of societal issues. This is the debut novel of Fadi Zaghmout, a prominent Jordanian blogger. His attention to sensitive cultural issues has made him something of a pioneer and an activist for gender and sexual rights in Jordan. As does the Arabic original, the English translation utilizes simplistic, colloquial language, a style similar to Zaghmout’s blogs. What the author lacks in poetic style, however, he more than makes up for in his gripping content. We are introduced to a number of characters, including Leila, a young, academically motivated student; her friend Hayat, who comes to grips with her history of abuse; their friend Rana, who secretly dates a young man from a different religion and must face the consequences; and Salma, Leila’s older sister who must face the pressure of aging as a single woman, much to her family’s chagrin. The sole male character, Ali, is complex and fascinating. Despite being gay, he wants nothing more than to get married, have children, and make his family back home happy. Even though he is an Iraqi refugee, he has a steady job and income and is thus able to find a wife. Yet his sexual drive cannot be satisfied by his wife, despite his love for her. The novel’s main motif is marriage, at once euphoric and daunting. The female characters struggle with their families’ and community’s intense expectations and pressure to find appropriate husbands. 68
Among the issues The Bride of Amman painfully deals with are marriage, sex, homosexuality, suicide, honor killings, child abuse, infidelity, asylum and premarital pregnancy, as well as other related social phenomena. While it could be said that in dealing with so many social ills, Zaghmout fails to deal sufficiently with any one subject, he masterfully shows how so many of these problems are intertwined and simply do not exist alone.
Syrian Notebooks: Inside the Homs Uprising By Jonathan Littell, Verso Books, 2015, hardcover, 246 pp. List: $24.95; MEB: $20. In January 2012, French author and journalist Jonathan Littell flies from Paris to Lebanon and, with a lot of help from local contacts, is smuggled into Syria to document the ongoing uprising from the city of Homs. Syrian Notebooks is the result of his two-week journey. Originally written in French as Carnet de Homs: 16 janvier-2 février 2012, Littell explains in his introduction that this is simply the typed notes from his field notebook. The result is fragmented sentences, only changed to clarify meaning, and occasionally supplemented by context that helps explain the documented events. While the reader eventually gets used to his style, it remains difficult to keep track of all pseudonyms and initials that he uses in place of the real names of his interlocutors. Many of the people he spoke to, Lit-
tell admits, are now dead, arrested, exiled, or recruited into extremist groups. Syrian Notebooks reveals much about Syria before the fullscale outbreak of war, when the resistance was extremely disorganized. Few soldiers he talks to have any real experience with combat and seem to have vastly differing ideas about what plan of action is best to protect their people and bring about the fall of the Assad regime. The book also reveals shifting attitudes toward sectarianism as a result of growing violence. Syrians tended to be proud that they had little interest in sectarian identities, yet Alawis and Shi’i were the first to be accused of being pro-regime and looked upon with intense suspicion by much of the opposition. Furthermore, the book reveals a rejection among the youth resistance of Homs of the ideas of Salafist groups in Syria. They are seen already as outsiders. The most powerful sense that we get from Littell’s experience is the growing climate of fear inside Syria, derived from a number of developments, including public schools asking children to report their parents’ activities, what TV channels were watched in the home and how their parents reacted when Assad spoke. Residents of Homs were even becoming scared of going to a hospital to seek treatment, for fear that their background could lead to them being arrested. Instead, many risked being smuggled into Lebanon just to see a doctor. The presence of what seems to be pro-Assad snipers that fire randomly in the city also led to a fear of even leaving the house. Even though Syrian Notebooks is a personal story told in diary form, the author engages in little self-reflection of his own place in this story of Homs and his own trauma. At the same time, this means his book is not self-indulgent, but rather focuses on the experiences of his interlocutors. ❑ Kevin A. Davis is director of AET’s Middle East Books and More.
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
book_catalog_69_September 2015 8/6/15 6:48 PM Page 69
Middle East Books and More Literature
*
Films
*
Pottery
*
Solidarity Items
*
More
Summer 2015 The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza by Max Blumenthal, Nation Books, 2015, hardcover, 261 pp. List: $25.99; MEB: $18. From the author of the hard-hitting Goliath (also available from AET’s Middle East Books and More) comes a new book on Israel’s summer 2014 assault on Gaza. This harrowing masterpiece of on-the-ground reporting details the trauma and destruction that the citizens of Gaza underwent for the 51-day air attack and ground invasion. Blumenthal not only succeeds in letting Gazans tell their own stories, he uses his own knowledge and expertise to contextualize those stories and the war as a whole.
Gaza Unsilenced by Refaat Alareer and Laila El-Haddad, Just World Books, 2015, paperback, 318 pp. List: $21; MEB: $18. Drawing upon experiences from residents of Gaza during the 2014 Israeli invasion, and solidarity from outside the Strip, this powerful book features numerous essays revealing the suffering of the Gazan people. Gaza Unsilenced features works by Ali Abunimah, Ramzy Baroud, Jonathan Cook, Hatim Kanaaneh, Rashid Khalidi and many more, including new voices from Gaza itself. Wide in scope, it covers a broad range of subjects and perspectives that can help illuminate the perils of life in the Gaza Strip.
From Deep State to Islamic State: The Arab Counter-Revolution and its Jihadi Legacy by Jean-Pierre Filiu, Oxford University Press, 2015, hardcover, 311 pp. List: $24.95; MEB: $22. Jean-Pierre Filiu, who recently rose to prominence with his Gaza: A History (also available from AET’s Middle East Books and More), is back at it with an intriguing take on the rise of the Islamic State, a phenomenon that has spread in various capacities to large parts of the region. Filiu eloquently explores the relationship between autocratic rule in many Arab states, the 2011 Arab Revolts, and the rise of ISIS, illustrating how Islamic militants are a product of what he terms the “deep state” of authoritarian regimes.
Chaos and Counterrevolution After the Arab Spring by Richard Falk, Just World Books, 2015, paperback, 253 pp. List: $24; MEB: $20. From the acclaimed author of Palestine: The Legitimacy of Hope (also available from AET’s Middle East Books and More), the former U.N. special rapporteur analyzes the changing dynamics in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, and looks at broader regional shifts as well. The book is a compilation of numerous blog posts and essays written by Falk over the last few years.
The Lebanese Cookbook: Delicious and Authentic Recipes From a Top Lebanese Chef by Hussien Dekmak, Kyle Books, 2015, paperback, 160 pp. List: $19.95; MEB: $16. Born in Beirut, Hussien Dekmak is a well-known chef in the UK, with multiple highly-rated restaurants. In this useful collection, Dekmak provides easy-to-understand guides for dozens of recipes for every occasion, accompanied by tantalizing photographs in an attractive layout. This book is great for the beginner or advanced chef.
Nothing to Lose but Your Life: An 18-Hour Journey with Murad by Suad Amiry, Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation, 2010, paperback, 162 pp. List: $16; MEB: $14. From the acclaimed author of Sharon and My Mother-In-Law (also available from AET’s Middle East Books and More) comes a gripping memoir of an unforgettable experience. Disguising herself as a man, Amiry smuggles herself into Israel as a migrant worker with other Palestinians, discovering with horror what many Palestinians go through every day. Amiry’s book is sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always controversial.
The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know by James L. Gelvin, Oxford University Press, 2015, paperback, 210 pp. List: $16.95; MEB: $14. This fantastic resource is an invaluable reference for anyone wanting to grasp the basics of the events of 2011 and beyond that dramatically reshaped the region. Gelvin’s guide, accessible yet detailed, is laid out in a question-and-answer format, addressing everything from the end of Mubarak in Egypt to the failed movement in Bahrain. Here, the uprisings are contextualized in terms of the region as a whole and for countries who did not directly experience uprisings of their own.
Art of the Middle East: Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran by Saeb Eigner, Merrel Books, 2015, paperback, 399 pp. List: $39.95; MEB: $30. For anyone interested in art in the Middle East, including paintings, sculpture, and more, this is undoubtedly the most comprehensive resource. Eigner’s impressive tome provides detailed information on the history of art and artists in the region, all organized by different themes, including “Nature and the Land” and “Politics, Conflict and War.” Whether used as a coffee table book or reference source, this book is an absolute jewel.
Dreams of Maryam Tair: Blue Boots and Orange Blossoms by Mhani Alaoui, Interlink Books, 2015, paperback, 343 pp. List: $18; MEB: $15. The first novel by a gifted Moroccan writer tells the enchanting tale of a young girl, Maryam Tair, who is born under special circumstances with special gifts. Set in Casablanca, the story is a gripping commentary on this ancient city and its people. Alaoui weaves between past, present and future, from the beginning of time to the present, in an enchanting and stunningly beautiful story of magic.
Shipping Rates Most items are discounted and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Orders accepted by mail, phone (800-368-5788 ext. 2), or Web (www.middleeast books.com). All payments in U.S. funds. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. Please send mail orders to Middle East Books and More, 1902 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009, with checks and money orders made out to “AET.” U . S . S h i p p i n g R a t e s : Please add $5 for the first item and $2.50 for each additional item. Canada & Mexico shipping charges: Please add $15 for the first item and $3.50 for each additional item. International shipping charges: Please add $15 for the first item and $6 for each additional item. We ship by USPS Priority unless otherwise requested. SEPTEMBER 2015
L i b r a r y p a c k a g e s (list value over $240) are available for $29 if donated to a library, or free if requested with a library’s paid subscription or renewal. Call Middle East Books and More at 800-368-5788 ext. 2 to order. Our policy is to identify donors unless anonymity is specifically requested.
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
69
cartoons_70_September 2015 Cartoons 8/6/15 2:16 PM Page 70
COPYRIGHT @2015 KHALIL BENDIB www.bendib.com
CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com
THE WORLD LOOKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST
The Daily Star, Beirut
CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com
CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com
www.OtherWords.org
Israel Channel 1, Jerusalem
CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com
CWS/CARTOONARTS INTERNATIONAL www.cartoonweb.com
The New York Times Syndicate, New York
Trouw, Amsterdam
70
Lexington Herald-Leader, Lexington, KY
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 2015
opm_71-72_Other People's Mail 8/6/15 6:51 PM Page 71
Ben Franklin on Peacemakers To The Berkshire Eagle, July 21, 2015 Secretary of State Kerry and the president are being criticized for the recent agreement with Iran. They are not the first Americans to catch flak for such a role. In 1781, when Benjamin Franklin was appointed to a commission to negotiate a treaty with the British following the Revolutionary War, he wrote to John Adams: “I have never known a peace made, even the most advantageous, that was not censured as inadequate, and the makers condemned as injudicious or corrupt. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ is, I suppose, to be understood as being in the other world, for in this they are frequently cursed.” William B. Saxbe Jr., Williamstown, MA
Compromise Is Essential To The Sacramento Bee, July 16, 2015 Re: “A historic accord on Iran’s nuclear program” (Editorials, July 15): One of the basic principles of democracy is compromise, and the nature of compromise is that neither side gets everything it wants. After years of diplomacy, the Obama administration and other nations have accomplished something truly great: a compromise deal with a longtime adversary. Sanctions that hurt Iranian society can be relieved, and Iranian manufacturing of nuclear weapons can be made more difficult. It’s not a perfect solution for either side, but it’s necessary and it’s a step forward. Mark Bauer, Sacramento, CA
Congress: Approve Iran Deal To the Contra Costa Times, July 25, 2015 In 2003, Iran had 164 working centrifuges making nuclear material. While President George W. Bush was SEPTEMBER 2015
making sure Iraq would not get a bomb, Iran was quietly increasing centrifuges to a total of 19,000, which was left for President Barack Obama to take care of. The deal that was worked out might not be perfect, but what is the alternative? Another war? The same people saying we should bomb Iran have also said that only bombing ISIS wouldn’t work—that we would need boots on the ground. Do they think Iran would be different? The 10-year war in Iraq would be a “cakewalk” compared with a war with Iran. Obama should ask for a show of hands of all Congress members who are willing to raise taxes to pay for another long war and if they are willing to bring back the draft to fill the boots needed. As noticed, 99 percent of the chicken hawks have never put themselves in danger but are quick to tell others to go fight. Johnny Strawther, Antioch, CA
Opponents Lack Substance To The Sacramento Bee, July 31, 2015 The statements made by the foes of the proposed nuclear agreement with Iran lack substance. These individuals criticize without offering counterproposals; their complaints are dominated by suspicion of the unknown. These naysayers also do not provide any realistic way to improve the proposal. Shouting “no deal is better than a bad deal” is a baseless tactic raising fear while offering no solution. What people fail to accept is that a country can always acquire a nuclear weapon. If you do not accept an agreement with a country to constrain its perceived pursuit for such a weapon, what action can achieve the desired result? Rejecting the current proposal does nothing to lessen the outcome and leaves Iran with ample means to produce a future weapon. Daniel Fong, Rancho Cordova, CA
Deal Prevents Horrors of War To The Sheboygan Press, July 21, 2015 It was the Rev. Billy Graham—more than 35 years ago—who called for an end to the arms race. He described massive spending on the armaments of war as “insanity” and “madness.” The year was 1979. Since then, the investment in perfecting nuclear arms by the U.S., Russia, Israel and other nations of the world has continued. We have the ability now to destroy the world many times over, bringing an end to the wonder of human life and all of nature. A president of our country—Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican— THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
warned against such a calamity. That was more than 50 years ago. “There is no way,” he wrote, “in which a country can satisfy the craving for absolute security, but it can easily bankrupt itself, morally and economically, in attempting to reach that illusory goal through arms alone.” A small girl in Milwaukee, age 8 at the time, stated the truth in a single sentence: “Grownups can’t be trusted with guns and bombs.” A 9-year-old girl in Chicago expressed her thoughts in a note she wrote to an astronaut at the time: “Please take the nuclear bombs to the moon on your next space flight and leave them there.” The agreement between Iran and the U.S. is not perfect, but it is far better than the real possibility of another war and an inferno that could bring even more misery and death to the Middle East. The critics of diplomacy are already howling. They will attempt in the weeks ahead to attack the deal and scare us to death. “I speak,” General Eisenhower said, “as one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war, as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years.” The best route to the future remains diplomacy. The diplomats should be thanked and not attacked. Rev. Frederick Trost, Elkhart Lake, WI
Eliminate All Nuclear Weapons To the Tallahassee Democrat, July 25, 2015 The Iran nuclear agreement should make us all breathe a bit better. Iran not having the capability of producing nuclear weapons is a good thing. Now we need to work on the nine nuclear-armed countries that possess over 15,000 nuclear weapons, many on hair-trigger alert, capable of launching within minutes. Thankfully, we have not had a nuclear event since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 70 years ago. In an age of cyber war and terrorism, these weapons—once perceived as a source of security—have become our greatest liability. Science shows us that even a very limited nuclear war could cause a climate catastrophe that would disrupt agriculture across the globe and produce a global famine that could kill 2 billion people. And the United States plans to spend $348 billion over the next 10 years to maintain and modernize weapons we must never use? At the recently concluded Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review, 159 countries (82 percent of all nations in the world) demanded that the nuclear-armed countries 71
opm_71-72_Other People's Mail 8/6/15 6:51 PM Page 72
agree to eliminate their arsenals. Queen Noor of Jordan has it right when she says: “The sheer folly of trying to defend a nation by destroying all life on the planet must be apparent to anyone capable of rational thought.” Lynn Ringenberg, Tampa, FL
Talking Resolved the Cold War To The Times of Trenton, July 31, 2015 Iran has agreed not to make a nuclear weapon under terms spelled out in months of negotiations. As the poll on page A10 of The Times of July 22, 2015 revealed, the majority of Americans support the agreement with Iran. Although it will be based on diligent verification of all technical aspects of possible bomb making, the same poll shows that many Americans believe that Iran will not adhere to the agreement. It is not surprising, because many biased politicians and pundits are engaged in short-run opposition and scare tactics rather than in the big picture of stopping a troublesome nation from becoming the next nuclear nation. Historians will remind us that, in the midst of the Cold War with a nuclear arms race between the United States and the former U.S.S.R., the top leaders, Reagan and Gorbachev (who had little reason to trust each other), met in Reykjavik, Iceland, and discussed the reduction of nuclear weapons. The result of their talks was the agreement a year later to remove Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces from Europe and to continue to negotiate other reductions in nuclear weapons. The lesson from Reykjavik is that con-
72
flicting nations can enter into agreements to reduce nuclear threat. All members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives should seriously consider their responsibility in working toward a nuclear free world. The agreement with Iran is a bold step and includes steadfast verification of all possible phases of Iranian nuclear weapons development. Carol Kiger Allen, Princeton, NJ
History and the Nuclear Deal
to a normalization of relations with the U.S. We are hopeful that the U.S. will take advantage of this opportunity. It is time to open the door! Dave and Peggy Lucas, Minneapolis, MN
Israel’s Fear of Inspections To the San Francisco Chronicle, July 25,
2015 Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s rants over the nuclear accord with Iran make little sense. As one of your readers recently pointed out, for Iran to use the bomb would be suicidal. But there is one result he has reason to fear: There may now be a demand for Israel to also agree to inspection of its nuclear facilities. Sally Horn, Alameda, CA
To the Austin American-Statesman, July 18, 2015 Re: July 16 article, “Has he got a deal for you: Obama eagerly pitching Iran deal.” Perhaps if Barack Obama had been president instead of Dwight Eisenhower, the CIA might not have overthrown the democratically elected president of Iran and placed the tyrannical Shah on the throne. Obama might not have promoted Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” program, which provided Iran with its first nuclear materials and encouraged Iran’s peaceful development of nuclear energy. If Obama had been president instead of Ronald Reagan, he might not have sold weapons to Iran that equipped Hezbollah, which blew up the Beirut U.S. Embassy and a hotel barracking U.S. Marines. Or perhaps Obama would have been impeached for violating domestic and international law by selling weapons to a state sponsor of terror. We’ll never know what might have happened, but we should know the history of how we got to where we are. Robert Lopez Flynn, Shavano Park, TX
To the San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 5, 2015 The death of Cecil, a lion killed by an American hunter, received a front-page story, follow-up stories, an op-ed and multiple letters to the editor. The firebombing of a Palestinian home by Israeli settlers that incinerated a Palestinian toddler and left the rest of his family in critical condition from burns received an inside story and then died in “Jewish settlers suspected in toddler’s death” (Aug. 1). What has happened to us? Have we gotten so tired of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that we are no longer moved by the deaths of innocent Palestinians or do we simply think of Palestinians as beings less important than lions, even? Esther Riley, Fairfax, CA
Repaired Iran-U.S. Relations?
Don’t Release Spy Pollard
To the Star Tribune, July 23, 2015 We had the privilege of serving in the Peace Corps from 1965-67. Our assignment was Iran, and we lived for two years in a beautiful city in southern Iran. As a result, we have had a great interest in the country ever since. We recently attended a reunion of more than 250 Iran Peace Corps volunteers and had the opportunity to hear from a variety of experts who briefed us on the situation in Iran today. Many of our volunteer friends had traveled there recently, and they all reported that they were welcomed warmly and that the country had made remarkable strides. It was the strong sense of this group that the proposed accord presents a longawaited opportunity to repair relations between our two countries. Iran has a large, well-educated population of people who, by and large, look forward with enthusiasm
To The [Allentown, PA] Morning Call, Aug. 2, 2015 It is outrageous that convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard will be released even after 30 years. Pollard himself estimates that the documents he stole could create a stack 6 feet wide, 6 feet long and 10 feet high. This exceeds 800,000 pages of U.S. intelligence information, with some containing the highest secrecy classifications. Some of those documents included information on how the U.S. analyzes Soviet weaponry, completely undermining America’s nuclear defense capabilities. (In addition, U.S. “assets” were compromised and possibly killed as a result.) In my opinion, for the damage he has caused, Jonathan Pollard should never be released. Matthew C. Ford Jr., Hanover Township, Northampton County, PA ❑
THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
A Lion or a Palestinian?
SEPTEMBER 2015
angels_73-74_September 2015 Choir of Angels 8/6/15 8:52 PM Page 73
AET’s 2015 Choir of Angels Following are individuals, organizations, companies and foundations whose help between Jan. 1, 2015 and July 27, 2015 is making possible activities of the tax-exempt AET Library Endowment (federal ID #52-1460362) and the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Some Angels helped us co-sponsor the April 10 conference, “The Israel Lobby: Is It Good for the U.S.? Is It Good for Israel?” We are deeply honored by their confidence and profoundly grateful for their generosity.
HUMMERS ($100 or more) Anonymous, San Diego, CA Catherine Abbott, Edina, MN Fatima Abdulla, Oak Hills, CA Jeff Abood, Silver Lake, OH Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, Atlanta, GA Rizek & Alice Abusharr, Claremont, CA Shukri Abu Baker, Beaumont, TX James C. Ahlstrom, Stirling, NJ Sohail & Saba Ahmed, Orland Park, IL Christopher Ake, San Diego, CA Dr. & Mrs. Salah Al-Askari, Leonia, NJ Sakker Al-Joundi, Milton, Canada Mazen Alsatie, Fishers, IN Dr. Bishr Al-Ujayli, Troy, MI Hamid & Kim Alwan, Milwaukee, WI Nabil & Judy Amarah, Danbury, CT Edwin Amidon, Charlotte, VT Emile Arraf, Calgary, Canada Dr. Robert Ashmore, Jr., Mequon, WI Mr. & Mrs. Sultan Aslam, Plainsboro, NJ Ahmed Ayish, Arlington, VA Dr. & Mrs. Roger Bagshaw, Big Sur, CA Zaira Baker, Garland, TX Dr. Sami Baraka, Wyandotte, MI Nader Barakat, Moorpark, CA Jamil Barhoum, San Diego, CA Joseph Benedict, Mystic, CT Frances Buell, Lincoln, NE John Carley, Pointe-Claire, Canada Lynn & Aletha Carlton, Norwalk, CT Roger W. Carpenter, Denver, CO Ouahib Chalbi, Coon Rapids, MN Patricia Christensen, Poulsbo, WA Dr. Robert G. Collmer, Waco, TX Robert & Joyce Covey, La Canada, CA Lynn Ellen Dixon, Woodward, PA Robert Dobrzynski, Alexandria, VA Dr. David Dunning, Lake Oswego, OR Kassem Elkhalil, Arlington, TX Dr. Mohamed Elsamahi, Marion, IL M.R. Eucalyptus, Kansas City, MO Dr.& Mrs. Hossam Fadel, Augusta, GA Albert E. Fairchild, Bethesda, MD William Fairchild, Nolensville, TN Family Practice and Surgery, Eatonton, GA Renee Farmer, New York, NY Elisabeth Fitzhugh, Mitchellville, MD Claire Bradley Feder, Atherton, CA SEPTEMBER 2015
Sylvia Anderson de Freitas, Paradise Valley, AZ Donald Frisco, Wilmington, DE William Gefell, Turnbridge, VT Richard Gentilcore, Ft. Lauderdale, FL David C. Glick, Fairfax, CA Dr. Fawwaz Habbal, Cambridge, MA Nabil Haddad, North Wales, PA Allen Hamood, Dearborn Hts., MI Delinda C. Hanley, Kensington, MD Shirley Hannah, Argyle, NY Prof. Hugh R. Harcourt, Portland, OR Robert & Helen Harold, West Salem, WI Mr. & Mrs. Sameer Hassan, Quaker Hill, CT Dr. Colbert & Mildred Held, Woodway, TX Alexander Humulock, Jr., Romulus, NY Rafeeq Jaber, Oak Lawn, IL Anthony Jones, Jasper, Canada Dr. Jamil Jreisat, Temple Terrace, FL Mr. & Mrs. Basim Kattan, Washington, DC Akbar Khan, Princeton, NJ Dr. M. Jamil Khan, Bloomfield Hills, MI Dr. Mohayya Khilfeh, Chicago, IL Rafik Khoury, Adamstown, MD Ernestine King, Topsham, ME Paul N. Kirk, Baton Rouge, LA Loretta Krause, Little Egg Harbor Twp., NJ Ronald Kunde, Skokie, IL John Lankenau, Tivoli, NY Tony Litwinko, Los Angeles, CA Anthony Mabarak, Grosse Pointe Park, MI Allen J. MacDonald, Washington, DC Dr. & Mrs. Gabriel Makhlouf, Richmond, VA Dr. Asad Malik, Rochester Hills, MI Tahera Mamdani, Fridley, MN Aida Mansoor, Berlin, CT Ted Marczak, Toms River, NJ Amal Marks, Altadena, CA Carol Mazzia, Santa Rosa, CA Tom & Tess McAndrew, Oro Valley, AZ Shirl McArthur, Reston, VA Janet McMahon, Washington, DC*** Darrel Meyers, Burbank, CA Lynn & Jean Miller, Amherst, MA Earl Murphy, Fallbrook, CA Elizabeth Murray, Poulsbo, WA Jacob Nammar, San Antonio, TX Hadeel Naqib, Baltimore, MD Neal & Donna Newby, Las Cruces, NM Susan Nicholson, Gloucester, MA THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
Shirley O’Neil, Cleveland Hts., OH Nancy Orr, Portland, OR Khaled Othman, Riverside, CA Amb. Edward & Ann Peck, Chevy Chase, MD Jim Plourd, Monterey, CA Phillip L. Portlock, Washington, DC Peter P. Pranis, Jr., McAllen, TX Dr. Humayun Quadir, Saint Louis, MO Mr. & Mrs. Edward Reilly, Rocky Point, NY Amb. Christopher Ross, Washington, DC Dr. Wendell E. Rossman, Phoenix, AZ Brynhild Rowberg, Northfield, MN Dr. Mohammed Sabbagh, Grand Blanc, MI Antone Sacker, Houston, TX Ramzy Salem, Monterey Park, CA Dr. Abid Shah, Sarasota, FL Dr. Ajazuddin Shaikh, Granger, IN Richard J. Shaker, Annapolis, MD Dr. Najah Sharkiah, Atherton, CA Gretchen K. Sheridan, Mill Valley, CA Kathy Sheridan, Mill Valley, CA Dr. Mostafa Hashem Sherif, Tinton Falls, NJ Zac Sidawi, Costa Mesa, CA Lucy Skivens-Smith, Dinwiddie, VA David J. Snider, Bolton, MA Jean Snyder, Greenbelt, MD Robert Snyder, Greenbelt, MD William R. Stanley, Lexington, SC Gregory Stefanatos, Flushing, NY Edward Stick, Phoenix, MD Dr. William Strange, Fort Garland, CO Vincent Stravino, Bethlehem, PA Mushtaq Syed, Santa Clara, CA Eddy Tamura, Moraga, CA Doris Taweel, Laurel, MD Dr. & Mrs. M.A. Thamer, Woodbridge, VA Michael Tomlin, New York, NY Charles & Letitia Ufford, Hanover, NH United Muslims of America Interfaith, South San Francisco, CA Thomas C. Welch, Cambridge, MA Sara Najjar-Wilson, Reston, VA William A. Wood, Newtown, PA Nabil Yakub, McLean, VA Raymond Younes, Oxnard, CA Dr. Robert Younes, Potomac, MD John Zacharia, Vienna, VA Munir Zacharia, La Mirada, CA Mahmoud Zawawi, Amman, Jordan Fred Zuercher, Spring Grove, PA 73
angels_73-74_September 2015 Choir of Angels 8/6/15 8:52 PM Page 74
ACCOMPANISTS ($250 or more) Dr. M.Y. Ahmed, Waterville, OH Mohamed Alwan, Chestnut Ridge, NY Anace & Polly Aossey, Cedar Rapids, IA Dr. & Mrs. Issa Boullata, Montreal, Canada Andrew & Krista Curtiss, Herndon, VA† Joseph Daruty, Newport Beach, CA Robert & Tanis Diedrichs, Cedar Falls, IA John Dirlik, Pointe-Claire, Canada Eugene Fitzpatrick, Wheat Ridge, CO Ray Gordon, Bel Air, MD Erin K. Hankir, Ottawa, Canada Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, Fort Wayne, IN Abdeen Jabara, New York, NY Fahd Jajeh, Lake Forest, IL Omar & Nancy Kader, Vienna, VA Matt Labadie, Portland, OR Kendall Landis, Wallingford, PA Joe & Lilly Lill, Arlington, VA† Nidal Mahayni, Richmond, VA Joseph A. Mark, Carmel, CA Stanley McGinley, The Woodlands, TX Maury Keith Moore, Seattle, WA Charles Murphy, Upper Falls, MD Dr. Eid B. Mustafa, Wichita Falls, TX William & Nancy Nadeau, San Diego, CA Michel Nasser, Beirut, Lebanon Mary Norton, Austin, TX Mr. & Mrs. W. Eugene Notz, Charleston, SC Hertha Poje-Ammoumi, New York, NY Sam Rahman, Lincoln, CA Neil Richardson, Randolph, VT Ramzy Salem, Monterey Park, CA Lisa Schiltz, Barbar, Bahrain Henry & Irmgard Schubert,
OBITUARIES Compiled by Kevin A. Davis Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, 75, the patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church, died June 25 in Beirut of heart failure. Born in Cairo, he studied at the Armenian Leone Pontifical College in Rome and was first ordained in 1965. He was known as Father Pierre Taza until 1999, when he was elected Catholicos Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics, a position he held until his death. Dr. Mujid S. Kazimi, 67, a prominent Arab-American professor of nuclear engineering, died July 1 during a visit to China. He was born in Jerusalem and studied at Alexandria University in Egypt, before moving to the United States to 74
Damascus, OR†† Shahida Siddiqui, Trenton, NJ Yusef & Jennifer Sifri, Wilmington, NC Mae Stephen, Palo Alto, CA Michel & Cathy Sultan, Eau Claire, WI J. Peter van der Veen, Bellingham, WA
TENORS & CONTRALTOS ($500 or more) Kamel & Majda Ayoub, Hillsborough, CA Mr. & Mrs. John P. Crawford, Boulder, CO Richard H. Curtiss, Boynton Beach, FL* Gregory DeSylva, Rhinebeck, NY Mr. & Mrs. L.F. Boker Doyle, New York, NY Edouard C. Emmet, Paris, France Gary Richard Feulner, Dubai, UAE Ronald & Mary Forthofer, Longmont, CO Dr. Wasif Hafeez, W. Bloomfield, MI Salman & Kate Hilmy, Silver Spring, MD Brigitte Jaensch, Carmichael, CA Louise Keeley, Washington, DC** Gloria Keller, Santa Rosa, CA George & Karen Longstreth, San Diego, CA William & Flora McCormick, Austin, TX Donald McNertney, Sarasota, FL Gerald & Judith Merrill, Oakland, CA Mary Norton, Austin, TX Audrey Olson, Saint Paul, MN Gennaro Pasquale, Oyster Bay, NY Gabrielle Saad, Oakland, CA Dr. M.F. Shoukfeh, Lubbock, TX
BARITONES & MEZZO SOPRANOS ($1,000 or more) Asha A. Anand, Bethesda, MD Wilhelmine Bennett, Iowa City, IA
study at MIT. The director of MIT’s Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems and the Center for Natural Resources and the Environment at MIT’s Kuwait campus, Dr. Kazimi authored over 200 scientific papers throughout his illustrious career. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, 83, former president of the Republic of India, died July 27 after suffering a heart attack while delivering a lecture in Shillong, India. Born in Tamil Nadu, he served as president from 2002-2007 after a long career as an aerospace scientist. A pivotal figure in India’s air and space program, he was known for his advocacy of a strong education program and his support of youthled anti-corruption movements. Omar Sharif, 83, the famous Egyptian actor, died July 10 in Cairo of a heart atTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
G. Edward & Ruth Brooking, Jr., Wilmington, DE Rev. Rosemarie Carnarius & Aston Bloom, Tucson, AZ Rev. Ronald C. Chochol, St. Louis, MO Forrest Cioppa, Moraga, CA Luella Crow, Eugene, OR Linda Emmet, Paris, France Dr. & Mrs. Clyde Farris, West Linn, OR Evan & Leman Fotos, Istanbul, Turkey Dr. & Mrs. Hassan Fouda, Berkeley, CA Hind Hamdan, Hagerstown, MD George Hanna, Santa Ana, CA Judith Howard, Norwood, MA William Lightfoot, Vienna, VA Jack Love, San Diego, CA John Mahoney, AMEU, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Hani Marar, Delmar, NY Sahar Masud, Mill Valley, CA Bob Norberg, Lake City, MN Dr. Wendell E. Rossman, Phoenix, AZ John Van Wagoner, McLean, VA
CHOIRMASTERS ($5,000 or more) Donna B. Curtiss, Kensington, MD John & Henrietta Goelet, New York, NY Andrew I. Killgore, Washington, DC Vince & Louise Larsen, Louvin Foundation, Billings, MT
*In Memory of Richard H. Curtiss **In Loving Memory of Bob Keeley ***In Memory of Donald Neff †In Honor of ADC’s Rachel Corrie Award ††Free Palestine tack. Born Michel Demitri Chalhoub in Alexandria, Egypt, he graduated from Cairo University with a degree in mathematics and physics. Shortly thereafter he changed focus and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London to study acting. In order to be allowed to marry Faten Hamama, a Muslim, Sharif changed his name and converted to Islam in 1955. Sharif is best known to Western audiences for his role as Sharif Ali in the 1962 film “Lawrence of Arabia,” for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and a Golden Globe award for the same category. He acted in more than 50 films from Egypt, France, the United States and other countries. Sharif was also a celebrated bridge player, ranking among the world’s top 50 players. ❑ SEPTEMBER 2015
ANERA_ad_c3_UPA Ad C3 (Page 75) 8/6/15 9:52 AM Page c3
ANERA Annual Dinner Raising funds
October 2, 2015 | Washington, DC
Make a reser reservation vation at at anera.org/dinner anera.org/dinner
cover4_September 2015 Back Cover 8/6/15 8:30 PM Page c4
American Educational Trust Washington Report on Middle East Affairs P.O. Box 53062 Washington, DC 20009
September 2015 Vol. XXXIV, No. 6
A Palestinian prays inside the al-Aqsa mosque in Arab East Jerusalem Aug. 2, 2015, following clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians demonstrating against the death of 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, killed when Jewish settlers set fire to his familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home in the West Bank village of Duma. AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images