Name that Terrorist” (July 2008 Washington Report, p. 23) makes it clear that Israel has practiced terrorism against the Palestinians for many years.

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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2008, pages 5-6 Letters to the Editor A Chance Encounter I COULD NOT believe it when I chanced across your thoughtful and fair magazine. A beacon of sanity in a minefield of propaganda. I “found” you in Borders bookshop Sydney. They have an excellent selection of magazines from all over the world. Accordingly, I wish to take out a subscription together with “Other Voices” for three years. Please advise cost for dispatch to Australia. Fredericka H. Smith, Queensland, Australia Needless to say, we’re always thrilled to be found—especially by someone who goes on to subscribe to the most we offer for the longest period of time we offer it. We welcome you as a subscriber and will continue doing our best to remain a beacon of sanity (and retain our own sanity). Covering FreeGaza I am a British/American living in the States and regularly read your Web site, <www.wrmea.com>. I understand that you publish a monthly issue, but on your home page I notice that you haven’t yet posted any “breaking news” about the FreeGaza boats’ arrival in Gaza on Aug. 23, which is a remarkable and very important event, and so necessary to bring world attention to the plight and misery inflicted on the Palestinian people by Israel, illegally! I hope you are doing all you can to cover the boats in Gaza. Please give this event all the coverage you can! I really enjoy your writers’ reports from all regions, especially the Middle East, where I, myself, spent many years! Melanie Filban, via e-mail We encourage you to sign up to receive our action alerts (click on “Join Our Email List” on our home page), by which we kept subscribers updated on the progress of the SS Free Gaza and SSLiberty, as well as other breaking news. On p. 15 of this issue (which won’t appear on our Web site until our December issue is mailed), you’ll find Pat McDonnell Twair’s article on the audacious and successful mission. Special Terrorists? James Abourezk’s “Name that Terrorist” (July 2008 Washington Report, p. 23) makes it clear that Israel has practiced terrorism against the Palestinians for many years. He also broaches the subject of placing Israel on America’s list of terrorist states. Since the United States has provided unwavering economic, political and military support to Israel from the beginning, why should not the United States also include itself on its list of states that support terrorism? How is its support of Israel any less egregious than Iran’s support of Hezbollah or Syria’s support of Hamas? Lamentable though Arab terrorism is, at least it is defensive in nature. Israel engages in terror for the aggressive purposes of conquest, dispossession, and ethnic cleansing. Perhaps Israel and America deserve special places on the list. Gregory M. DeSylva, Rhinebeck, NY A Special Candidate Why do you also not give any attention to Ralph Nader?! He is the only candidate who really matters. Levi Reavey, via e-mail We were always told that if you can’t say something bad about a candidate, don’t say anything at all. But see Senator Abourezk’s profile of Nader on p. 28 of our March 2008 issue. Obama’s AIPAC Speech Until Barack Obama’s speech before AIPAC I had been a staunch supporter. Hearing him endorse the Holocaust of the Palestinian people changed all that. Coupled with the Congress passing a $30 billion 10-year package for Israel is sending a message to the Arab/Muslim world of more of the same policies of the past. This is not lost on the rest of the world, particularly the Middle East. It means that the present conflict will continue into the foreseeable future. What would happen if in the next few months Israel sends its bombers into Iran to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities? What would happen if Iran retaliates by sending missiles into Israel? Would there be an Arab embargo? What if China warned the U.S. not to interfere, or it would come to the aid of Iran? The U.S. stands alone in support of Israel. In my opinion Obama will become our next president in a landslide. But because of his unneeded support for Israel I cannot vote for him. I will vote for Ralph Nader, knowing that my vote will be wasted, other than as a protest. If there is enough protest, maybe Washington will wake up. Vern Weiler, Bay City, WI Perhaps because they had such high hopes for Obama—who, we believe, really does understand the issues surrounding Israel’s occupation of Palestine—many American voters are disappointed to feel that, once again, they are being asked to choose between the lesser of two Zionist evils. It’s depressingly apparent that knowledge does not necessarily translate into appropriate words or action, whether in the White House or on Capitol Hill. On the other hand, four more years of a neocon-driven McCain administration (see story p. 22) may be something from which this country—not to mention the Middle East—may not recover. Huffing and Puffing Over Georgia All the huffing and puffing by the White House to bring down the “Russian House” has a strong touch of irony. Public outrage over Russia’s brutal attack on the sovereign state of Georgia has little to do with the welfare of the Georgian people and everything to do with losing a rich source of cheap oil. The late night comedians had a field day mocking Bush’s fiery condemnation of Russia with images of our bloody incursions in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is precious little we can do to quell the Russian tiger. Our military commitments have reduced us to a giant impotent “Gulliver.” There is little doubt that most Russians supported their army’s brutal response erasing their collective national humiliation with the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Our vested oil interests in Georgia go back many years, when President Bill Clinton sponsored the construction of the oil pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan to Tbilisi in Georgia and thence to Ceyhan on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. The Clinton and Bush administrations funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Georgia and lobbied U.S. allies in Europe to “fast track” Georgia’s membership application to NATO. These highly provocative actions demonstrated a shallow understanding of the Russian psyche, and produced a predictable brutal Russian response. The Bush administration can now lay claim to ushering a rebirth of a new “Cold war” era. Tej Uberoi, Los Altos, CA If you subscribe to our “Other Voices” supplement, you’ll be especially interested in the first two articles reprinted there: “War in Georgia: The Israeli Connection” and “How Anti-Iran Policy Contributed to War in the Caucasus.” According to the former, which appeared on <www.ynetnews.com>, the Web site of the Israeli paper Yediot Ahronot, “Israel began selling arms to Georgia about seven years ago following an initiative by Georgian citizens who immigrated to Israel and became businesspeople.” And, of course, it is in the interests of Israel—via AIPAC—that Washington pursues ever more stringent sanctions against, if not outright attacks on, Iran. It’s precisely the Israeli angle, we’d contend, that explains the mainstream media’s Alice-in-Wonderland reporting on Georgia and Russia, where—just as in its reporting on Israel’s occupation of Palestine—black is white and up is down. The Only Policy I want to commend you on your publication, as I have discovered this is where I turn in order to read the “truth” about the Middle East. From infancy I have been taught by my Lebanese immigrant parents that honesty is not only the best policy, it is the ONLY policy. I recently sent a letter to my senator, Carl Levin, confronting him with questions regarding the enormous amount of contributions he receives from pro-Israel PACs. I sent copies of my letter to my state senator and representative, and have yet to receive a reply from either of them. Most people in this state have Carl Levin on a pedestal because he supposedly favors the working class. Little do they realize that most of their tax dollars are going directly to Israel to support their lifestyle that far surpasses ours. I have also asked our local library, the William P. Faust Public Library of Westland, to accept a contribution of a subscription to the Washington Report, as I noted the omission in reference materials. I have made this offer on at least three separate occasions and have yet to receive a reply. In closing I want to pay tribute to Joanne Elisabeth Fedor McKenna, who passed away recently. My only hope is that her legacy will live on through brave and honest women like her who will continue to fight for the truth. Diana A. Hage, Westland, MI We applaud your dedication to the truth and your determination that it shall be known—despite efforts to conceal it by your senator and local library (and the mainstream American media, of course). People like yourself and the late Mrs. McKenna—whose “In Memoriam” by Hassan Al-Husseini we trust you saw on p. 70 of our August 2008 issue—are the reason we have confidence that not only truth, but justice, ultimately will out. Where’s the Conclusion? Regarding the article entitled “The Nakba Continues: The Ethnic Cleansing of Jaffa’s Ajami Neighborhood” (July 2008 Washington Report, p. 14): It looks like the conclusion to the article is missing. Is there any way to get a copy of the full article? Or is the conclusion in the magazine and not noted? Tim Rise, via e-mail Alas, it looks like the last few words were bumped off the page. Here is the final sentence in its entirety: “What is happening in Jaffa’s Ajami neighbourhood is not simply a case of entrepreneur developers trying to make a profit, but is representative of a policy of dispossession being implemented across historic Palestine.” We thank you for bringing this to our attention, and apologize for the error.