Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March/April 2026, pp. 6-7
Letters to the Editor
BURNING FLAGS AND ATTACKING CHILDREN
I would like to comment on the “Other Voices” article in the January/February issue titled, “Germany Is Offering Asylum to Donkeys from Gaza. Gaza’s Children? Not Allowed,” by Leon Wystrychowski.
I would like to add that the U.S. isn’t much better. A few months ago, I read in the papers that President Trump issued an executive order attempting to ban the burning of the American flag (even though the Supreme Court has ruled that flag burning is a protected form of speech). So apparently, according to Trump, it is fine to burn children in Gaza (as well as in Lebanon, Yemen, etc.), but it isn’t okay to burn a piece of cloth. So his motto is to “burn kids, not flags”!
—Yehuda Littmann, Brooklyn, NY
TRUMP’S “PEACE PLAN” FOR GAZA
Thanks to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for standing up to President Donald Trump, who went on and on about his plans for Greenland at the Davos meeting. All his threats about tariffs and other measures fizzled away eventually.
However, Trump’s peace plan for Gaza sounded just as absurd, especially when he has people on board like Tony Blair, who under false pretexts joined the war on Iraq, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Who are they fooling? It is all a business deal, with gas and other resources in that area. The joke will end up on those so-called peacemakers, who do not know how resilient the people of Gaza are.
Ever since the announcement of the peace board and the so-called ceasefire, and even after the signing ceremony in Davos, there has not been one day in which the people of Gaza have been spared shelling and killing. The body of the last Israeli hostage was just handed over, but of course Israel already has found a new reason to violate the ceasefire.
Dare we hope that one of the Arab leaders would lead a united Arab front to stand up to all this nonsense and lead us all to a new era of real peace? A peace that is based on justice, whereby Palestine, including Gaza, is a country with recognized and secure borders. How ironic that the words “Palestine” and “occupation” were not even mentioned once at Davos. Between whom then is this peace plan supposed to be forged?
Even with the unwavering support of the U.S. to Israel ever since 1948, Israel never seems to have enough, and continues to flout international law and all U.N. resolutions. The U.S. veto at the U.N. is another story, and has encouraged Israel to do as it pleases, including the recent demolition of UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem without any consequences, which seemed like burying once again all records of the 1948 catastrophe.
—Samia Khoury, via email
ISRAELI MACHINE GUNS AND ACTIVIST SLOGANS
Wars are formally declared and approved by United Nations resolutions and fought between armies with similar armaments.
Since 1973, Israel has been careful to avoid open combat with the region’s modern military forces, preferring surprise air attacks and Mossad assassinations when dealing with its neighbors.
Given the overwhelming power of the U.S.-backed Israeli military, it is ridiculous to portray Palestinian guerilla resistance to occupation as part of an actual war. Since the mid-1930s Palestinian Arabs have actively resisted Zionist plans to remove all Arabs from Palestine and create a Jewish supremacist state. Unfortunately, this unlawful and brutal Israeli campaign continues.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian’s lawful and morally justified struggle continues, against heavy odds. Of course, Gaza and West Bank guerrillas have killed Israeli citizens along the way, but the death toll among Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli military and settler gangs is vastly higher.
The raising of the Palestinian flag above Canadian government buildings in November 2025 is obviously annoying to those who habitually dismiss the Palestinian cause as terrorism. Even this token symbolism seems excessive to people who support Canada’s ongoing military, economic and diplomatic support for the expansionist but fracturing Israeli state.
Some mainstream editors object to Palestinian supporters wearing masks and chanting slogans while portraying such peaceful actions as, “a different kind of nationalistic culture and an attempt at intimidation.”
Perhaps these editors should examine images of masked Israeli military and security forces expressing their “nationalistic culture” with machine guns rather than shouted slogans.
—Morgan Duchesney, Baddeck, Canada
THE UNIVERSITY OF AUSTIN AND ISRAEL
A column on the recently founded University of Austin is extremely disingenuous, particularly in its failure to expose the ulterior motives of key supporters Jeff Yass, Bari Weiss and Bill Ackman. In fact, these three are hardcore Zionist supporters of Israel and are part of the Israeli government’s effort to brainwash Christians—among others—in the U.S. to follow its pro-Israel propaganda.
Yass has used his considerable fortune to influence U.S. foreign policy and advocate for an attack on Iran. Weiss has taken over editor-in-chief duties at CBS and continues to push the Israeli narrative via the broadcast network. Ackman is another billionaire who helps drive a pro-Israel U.S. foreign policy.
The University of Austin is an attempt to erase Israel’s well-deserved reputation as a genocidal, apartheid nation.
—Ray Gordon, Venice, FL
TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON SOMALI AMERICANS
President Donald Trump is wrong to disparage all Somali Americans, notably those living in Minnesota, as disloyal ingrates dependent on public assistance. To describe them as “garbage” was absolutely disgraceful and bigoted.
During diplomatic assignments to Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan, I routinely served as the ambassador's note-taker in meetings with Somali factional leaders. In addition, as a consular officer I interviewed dozens of Somalis, including several self-professed warlords, separatists, clan leaders and fabulists.
During an abbreviated tour in Tunisia cut short by the September 2012 Salafist attack on the U.S. Embassy and nearby international school, I facilitated several visiting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) refugee teams as their “control officer.” While accompanying the teams to a huge makeshift refugee camp near Ras Ajdir on the Tunisia-Libya border, I chatted with numerous Somali professionals and their family members who were refugees in Tunisia after fleeing Libya as Muammar Qaddafi’s regime collapsed. Most struck me as regular people who desperately wanted to rebuild their lives in America. None had any concept of America’s safety net for new arrivals. To the contrary, I’ll never forget the anguished doctor who told me he would never stoop to becoming a “beggar” in the United States but just wanted a chance to become a productive citizen for his adopted country. Nor will I forget the tugs on my shirt sleeves as we were leaving from desperate Somalis asking in English and Arabic not to forget them.
Like the rest of us, the Somalis traversed the spectrum of humanity—from scoundrels to saints with the vast majority everyday people who, after enduring war and deprivation, sought refuge and a fresh start in the U.S.
Trump owes our fellow Americans who are Somalis a heartfelt apology—assuming he has a heart.
—George W. Aldridge, San Marcos, TX
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