Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August 2008, page 74

Publishers' Page

We’re Shaking With Fear and Fury…

As we write this, because we’ve just learned that Mohammed Omer, our 24-year-old Gaza correspondent, returning from a European speaking tour and a London ceremony where he received his share of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism (see p. 15), is being taken home to Gaza in an ambulance. By the time you read these words more will be known, but what we have been told so far is that, after crossing to the West Bank from Jordan, he was detained by Israeli soldiers, who stole his belongings (demanding to know where his prize money was!) and beat him until he had to be hospitalized. Mohammed was determined to return home and continue to be a “voice for the voiceless”—the last thing, of course, the Israelis want. We are equally determined to bring his words to our readers around the world.

The Palestinian Nakba Continues.

More often this year than in the previous six decades, the mainstream media has allowed Palestinian voices to be heard. Writing in the June 24 International Herald Tribune, for example, Dr. Saree Makdisi (see p. 38) pointed out that “The Nakba did not end 60 years ago…It continues to this very day, albeit on a smaller scale.…Virtually every day another Palestinian joins the ranks of the millions removed from their native land and denied the right of return.”

Israel Denies Arab Americans Entry.

On June 19 the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), American-Arab Institute (AAI) and American Task Force for Palestine (ATFP) met with U.S. State Department officials to discuss Israel’s practice of denying entry to Israel and the occupied territories to U.S. citizens of Palestinian or Arab descent. ADC, AAI and ATFP are asking Americans to report their travel difficulties to the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem. To our knowledge, American tourists and volunteer teachers at Palestinian universities also are being denied entry.  Mohammed Omer and Norman Finkelstein have…

More in Common Than They Know.

The Passing of a Great American Hero.

We couldn’t believe our eyes when we read an excellent Associated Press obituary for Captain Ward Boston, 84, published in the June 20 Washington Post. The crusty senior legal counsel for the Navy’s Court of Inquiry, who helped investigate Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS Liberty, died on June 12 and the Post—of all papers!—gave him one more chance to speak out about the U.S. government’s coverup of the attack. The obituary noted Captain Boston’s sworn 2002 affidavit in which he said President Lyndon B. Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara had instructed investigators to “conclude that the attack was a case of ‘mistaken identity’ despite overwhelming evidence.” (See the July/August 2003 Washington Report for an interview with Captain Boston.)

Liberty Turns Up in Wild Places!

In its June issue, Hustler magazine published a superb eye-opening article about the coverup by Paul Craig Roberts, a former assistant treasury secretary and former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. Liberty survivor Gary Brummett told Roberts he “feels like someone who has been locked up for 40 years on a wrongful conviction.” This controversy won’t go away until there is a full congressional investigation of Israel’s deliberate attack and why the country these Navy men served…

Betrayed Them.

Smears and Slander.

FRONTPAGEMAGAZINE.COM recently published a rant titled, “Israel-Hater Seeks to Infiltrate Government” (see pg. 32 for more on that Islamophobic attack on a candidate who happens to be Muslim). Among the article’s many inaccuracies was the statement that the Washington Report is a project of the Council for the National Interest. It is not—for one thing, we’ve been around longer, and last time we checked a younger entity was unable to give birth to an older one. We certainly do share an interest in improving the national dialogue regarding the Middle East, but our role is to report on the activities of CNI and other like-minded groups. We are, however…

Subject to the Same Smears.

See, for example, the letter to the Christian Science Monitor by Michael Salberg of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), in which he calls our magazine and writers part of an “anti-Israel group” and CNI “another virulently anti-Israel organization.” We couldn’t help but notice that Salberg himself never addresses the subject of the article he complains about, “Why the presidential candidates won’t talk about Israel” (reprinted in this issue’s “Other Voices” supplement). When a newspaper like the Christian Science Monitor publishes even-handed articles for a change, we hope you’ll heap on the praise—because it’s a given that the other side will…

Heap on the Abuse.

Circulation Comes Home.

After several years in Williamsport, PA, our circulation and donation department will once again be located in our Washington, DC offices. Thanks to the diligent efforts of our new circulation director, Nina Hamedani (who started as an intern, and proved she was a computer and organizational whiz, as well as a writer), a new razzle-dazzle circulation computer program, and TLC from our friends in Pennsylvania, this promises to be a smooth transition.

Bookstore Revamped.

AET Book Club director Matt Horton has remodeled both the online and storefront AET Book Club (see updated Web site, <www.middleeastbooks.com>). Visit our shop either in the blogosphere or in DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood for the latest Middle East books, music, DVDs, and Palestinian handicrafts. Our bookstore on 18th St., NW is surrounded by restaurants—there’s even a fabulous (trust us!) chocolate shop next door—so treat yourselves to a bite and a browse through our tempting shelves. We’ll be open for business Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Ahlan wa Salan!

Recent Donation Appeal.

It was past time to make the improvements noted above, but they’ve cost us dearly. It will come as no surprise to any of you that the economic factors squeezing your pocketbooks are also creating havoc with our budget. Thanks to rising gas and postage prices, the costs of shipping our magazine and books have soared. Paper prices have also jumped as well. We are keeping our fingers crossed that you’ll respond generously to our recent donation appeal—especially during this crucial election year. If we all do our part, together we can…

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