Articles
WRMEA, August 2010, Pages 5-6
Letters to the Editor
Israel's "Final Solution"
RECENT events on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara have again highlighted the brutal nature of the Israeli administration. Once again, Israelis have murdered—in cold blood—innocent, defenseless people. Once again, in response to international condemnation, Israel does little but point fingers and blame everybody else, and contrive fictional excuses: insinuating that the humanitarian organizations had links to terrorist organizations, and that humanitarian aid workers were sufficiently armed to assault Israeli defense force commandos. The rest of the world has quickly seen through this farce. The overt heavy-handedness of the Israelis has once again demonstrated that they will stop at nothing to achieve the aims of Israel's "final solution": the systematic destruction of the Palestinian people.
Dr. Rory E. Morty, Giessen, Germany
To paraphrase the title of Dr. Norman Finkelstein's latest book (available from <www.middleeastbooks.com>), "This time they might have gone too far."
Human Outrage in Turkey
I am e-mailing from Turkey, where human outrage has reached a new height, and this time I totally agree. The Israeli attack on the aid convoy is a humanitarian outrage of enormous portions. It is time for the United States to call a halt to all aid of any kind and to ask the Israelis just who they think they are?
This latest action, which has absolutely no excuse, defensively or otherwise, has in my eyes forfeited all moral justification for the "do whatever you want, Israel"' attitude that has been prevalent in our country for many years. Now is the time to call a halt to our continual support with no questions asked. Every human being must express their outrage and demand and receive justice for all those concerned. I see in today's Cumhuriyet newspaper that Turkey has cut all military, sport and other connections with Israel and called in their diplomatic officers. Let's see what else happens here. Certainly the U.S. should be prompted to issue a similar strong statement.
Linda Thain-Ali, Giresun, Turkey
Israel has demonstrated in the past—specifically, during the 1956 Suez crisis—that it responds to financial pressure. Since this is an election year, voters should demand of every member of Congress up for re-election that he or she support an end to military aid to the outlaw state.
No End of Flotilla Ship Names
I want to thank you and your organization for providing fiscal sponsorship to the Free Gaza Movement. I just made a contribution, and included this message:
"I urge you to name your next ship the Exodus to call attention to the utter immorality of the blockade—especially Israel's refusal to recognize the humanity of its captives in Gaza. You could name another ship the Warsaw Ghetto Relief in case anyone didn't get the first message."
David Schonbrunn, San Rafael, CA
As Patrick J. Buchanan notes on p. XX, the U.S. instituted an airlift to relieve an earlier siege.
No End to Vanunu's Ordeal
In the July 2010 Washington Report it was reported that Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu "must serve an additional three months for meeting with a foreign national."
Israel is well aware that Vanunu and the foreign national—a Biblical scholar—have met many times since 2007, but they already had imprisoned Vanunu in December 2009 for the meeting to which you refer.
On April 30, 2007, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court convicted Vanunu on 14 (of 210) counts of violating a court order prohibiting him from speaking to foreign journalists in 2004. On July 2, 2007, he was sentenced to six months in jail for speaking to foreign media in 2004. On Sept. 23, 2008, the Jerusalem District Court reduced Vanunu's six-month sentence to three months, "in light of his ailing health and the absence of claims that his actions put the country's security in jeopardy."
Vanunu appealed that sentence, offering to do three months of community service in Arab East Jerusalem, the only community he has known since April 21, 2004. His offer was rejected by the Israeli Supreme Court, which insisted Vanunu could only serve in West Jerusalem—which is 99 percent populated by Jews, most of whom consider him a traitor. Fearing he would be attacked there by angry Israelis, Vanunu refused, and was returned to jail on May 23, 2010.
Eileen Fleming, producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu," via e-mail
Spread the Blame
While I appreciate the variety of subjects dealt with in the April 2010 issue of the Washington Report On Middle East Affairs, I feel you need to also frankly discuss the political relationships of the big powers, in the context of their economic and vested interests, all over the world. Powers like the U.S., the UK, Russia, China and France and monarchies like Saudi Arabia and Jordan, including dictatorial regime like that of Egypt, must equally share the blame of a topsy-turvy world!.
Expose them fully, whenever you can!
Jalaluddin S. Hussain, Quebec, Canada
We certainly do not contend that, were it not for Israel, the world would consist only of benign major powers. Perhaps we might argue that unconditional U.S. support for Israel prevents Americans from learning what the vested interests of its and other governments really are.
Boycott Egypt?
Joseph Mayton's "Egyptians View Construction of Gaza Wall As Evidence of Government's 'Hypocrisy'" (April 2010) underscores the Egyptian government's complicity in the crimes against humanity that Israel, with U.S. support, is committing against the people of Gaza. It is sickening to see an Arab League member, which supposedly backs the Palestinian cause, collaborating in a relentless siege against its fellow Arabs. In addition to building that underground wall to cut off the vital Palestinian tunnels, Egypt has consistently obstructed the international groups trying to bring aid to the Gazans. The only explanation I can see for Mubarak's betrayal of his fellow Arabs is money: he doesn't want to jeopardize the $2 billion Egypt gets annually from the US.
Well, if it's all about money, let's hit Egypt there. So far the BDS campaign has focused on Israel and the U.S., but it should be extended to Egypt, which would be especially vulnerable to boycotts of its tourism industry. Until Egypt changes its policies toward Gaza, nobody should tour Egypt to see its famed antiquities. Hopefully, readers will suggest additional ways to boycott Egypt. I also have contacted the BDS movement to urge them also to target Egypt.
Gregory M. DeSylva, Rhinebeck, NY
As Mayton pointed out in his article, most Egyptians oppose their government's collusion with the U.S. and Israel as much as you do. It is the latter, however, who are the "fat cats"—with Washington providing military aid and Israel using it profligately.
Doing What Needs to Be Done
Please find my check for $100 enclosed. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you are doing. I think of the people in Gaza and the bitter injustice of the Israeli occupation every day, many times a day. It is the cause dearest to my heart. I would also like to volunteer for any activity you might think useful, including as a human shield.
I am a 68-year-old professor of American history and culture at Columbia University. Edward Said was my colleague and friend, but I didn't need him to see that something must be done. You are doing it, and for that I thank you again and again.
Ann Douglas, New York, NY
As we like to say, we're all in this together! Thank you for your support of us, and your commitment to justice for the Palestinians.
The Tide Is Turning
I've just received my first issue of your magazine and am very impressed with the quality of the articles and the way you have put the publication together. I'm sorry I didn't know of your organization sooner. I became aware of your work when listening to an interview with news editor Delinda Hanley on CNI's "Jerusalem Calling" online.
I am optimistic that the tide is turning and increasing opposition to Israel's occupation will result in long overdue change to the awful conditions under which the Palestinians live. I'm looking forward to upcoming issues in my subscription. Keep up the good work. By the way, it's nice to read an an honest-to-goodness hard-copy magazine instead of squinting at a screen.
Clif Brown, Evanston, IL
Welcome to the magazine. We're grateful that you prefer to read hard copy and listen online, rather than the other way around!
RSS Feed?
Perhaps you have already considered this thoroughly and decided against it, but in case you haven't, would there be a chance of you offering the content of your e-mail alerts as an RSS feed? I don't like getting lots of newsletters with my e-mail, but I find it very convenient to browse the same content in Google Reader.
Robert Persson, via e-mail
Your wish is our command. You can now subscribe to an RSS feed on our Web site, under "Action Alert Archives."
