Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May-June 2008, pages 5-6

Letters to the Editor

The Only Game in Town

IN A RECENT column entitled “Death of the Two-State Solution,” Patrick Seale concluded that “the choice for the Palestinian people is between abject surrender and armed resistance.” There is also a third and far better choice—the persistent, nonviolent pursuit of full rights of citizenship in a single democratic state in all of Israel/Palestine, free of any form of discrimination based on race or religion and with equal rights for all who live there.

Whether violent or nonviolent forms of resistance are most likely to produce justice depends entirely on the goal being pursued.

If the goal is to convince a determined and powerful settler-colonial movement which wishes to seize your land, settle it and keep it (eventually cleansing it of you and your fellow natives) that it should cease, desist and leave, nonviolent forms of resistance are suicidal. The only hope of success against such enemies lies in truly effective violent resistance, which increases the cost and pain for one’s enemies to the point where they decide that the price of pursuing their objective has become too high to sustain. Furthermore, in such a confrontation, occasional, ineffective, pinprick violence is counterproductive, simply permitting one’s enemies to condemn, blame and dehumanize their victims both in their own eyes and in the eyes of others. (BOTTOM LINE: Since, if the goal is a decent two-state solution, large-scale, effective violence is beyond Palestinian capacities, small-scale, ineffective violence is counterproductive and nonviolence is suicidal, there is not now, and has never been, any available tactic which offers any hope of achieving the goal of a decent two-state solution.)

If, however, the goal is to obtain the full rights of equal citizenship in a democratic, nonracist state (as was the case in the American civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), then nonviolence would be the only viable approach. Violence would be totally inappropriate and counterproductive. The morally impeccable approach would also be the tactically effective approach. The high road would be the only road. (BOTTOM LINE: There is one—and only one—available “match” of goal and tactic which can, now or ever, offer the Palestinian people any hope of successfully achieving peace with some measure of justice: pursuing a democratic one-state solution through nonviolent means.)

Perhaps, if those in America and Europe who have been demanding that the occupied Palestinian people unilaterally renounce violence were genuinely interested in either peace or justice, they should and would offer or accept a morally impeccable tradeoff—a definitive renunciation of violent resistance by all Palestinian factions in return for a concerted American and European demand (backed by the threat of punitive sanctions) for the prompt establishment of a democratic, nonracist state in all of Israel/Palestine.

Of course, the Palestinians should not wait for a moral and ethical transformation among Americans and Europeans. The Palestinians can—and should—take the high road unilaterally. Patrick Seale concludes that “the situation is bleak.” It certainly is—unless the Palestinians seize the initiative, reset the agenda, consign the odious “road map” to nowhere to the trash heap of history and make the nonviolent pursuit of democracy “the only game in town.”

John V. Whitbeck, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

“Rachel Corrie” in Hebrew?

My parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, are in Israel and the West Bank right now for the opening of the Arabic version of “My Name Is Rachel Corrie.” I don’t know of any Hebrew versions of the play that are currently in the works, but I know this is something that we would all hope would some day happen.

The play has been performed in several different languages, but we as a family really have very little to do with that process. Keep in mind that the Royal Court Theatre, Alan Rickman, Kat Viner, and the Corrie family all have an interest in the play...so it is not up solely to our family what happens with productions. This is why we have one agent to represent the play and all the interests involved.

In general, what happens is that a theater company will approach the agents hired to represent the play and propose a production. The agents will then examine the proposal, taking into consideration many things—but key considerations are the location of the production and whether or not a particular theater company is the best company to handle the production in that location. Translation into both Arabic and Hebrew would receive even more scrutiny from the agents, as the first productions in these languages would be very important to the play.

In the case of the Arabic translation, the theater company involved was well respected in the Arab world and also had a good reputation with the Royal Court Theatre in London...this helped in securing permission for the translation and performance of the play to move forward.

Sarah Corrie Simpson, via e-mail

We’ve had requests to translate and print Remember These Children booklets, dedicated to Rachel Corrie, into Hebrew and Arabic. On March 13 we sent out an action alert concerning the Corries’ seven-city book tour to accompany the new release of Let Me Stand Alone: The Journals of Rachel Corrie (available, of course, through the AET Book Club). We know that as more people in this country learn about Rachel’s idealism and her life, they will be proud to call her an American hero.

Getting Aid Into Gaza

The Israeli peace movement is to be congratulated for its medical aid to Gaza (“Relief Supplies Finally Break Gaza Blockade,” April 2008), and Dr. Eyad Sarraj is to be commended for his success in mobilizing humanitarian aid from Israel and many other countries.

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) is engaged in similar efforts on an ongoing basis (see <www.anera.org> for further information). In this fiscal year, we will send into Gaza about 16 shipments of medicines and medical disposables, valued at $12 million. I mention this as an introduction to three important points.

(a) It remains possible to send a limited range of humanitarian supplies into Gaza. ANERA encourages other NGOs to join in this effort and is pleased to consider requests for practical advice and assistance from interested donors/partners.

(b) Important life-sustaining commodities are not included in the list of permitted commodities. This includes medical equipment and spare parts, cleaning supplies, and many types of medications. Gaza’s medical services will not be restored to an acceptable standard until there is unrestricted movement of such commodities.

(c) The cost of sustaining Gaza’s hospitals and clinics exceeds NGO capabilities; no matter how strongly we stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza, our combined efforts will always be insufficient. The Palestinian economy, in Gaza as well as the West Bank, must be restored so that eventually Palestine’s own taxes, fees and donations can fund a sustainable health system.

William D. Corcoran, President, ANERA, Washington, DC

History Trumps Mistrust

I received your “urgent donation appeal,” and will respond accordingly with the enclosed donation. This is despite my strong anti-CIA feelings, and my mistrust of the FBI—both organizations which now advertise on your Web site.

Because of your past history, and because the CIA/FBI ads are up-front and forthright, I am again donating. We all have to do things at times that we’d probably rather not do. My worry is the power the CIA has in the past (and still) exerted/exerts on the American media. Former CIA director William Colby was reported to have said, “The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the media.”

Anyway, I hope this helps you continue to report the truth as best you can, and stay independent.

Ray Hrycko, Chiba-Ken, Japan

It’s angels such as yourself who make it possible for us to do what we do want to do!

Seminary vs. Yeshiva

The New York Times is using the term “seminary” to describe the yeshiva in Jerusalem which suffered from several students being killed. I have always known the term “seminary” to describe a school preparing students for professional religious work. Is this a common term in Israel for what amounts to a religious high school?

Betty Jane Bailey, via e-mail

We doubt very much that the Israeli press used the word “seminary.”

Censorship at Comcast?

I tried to e-mail Comcast to put Al-Jazeera in their lineup, saying I wanted balance in the Israel/Palestine issue. And they took out the Al- and everywhere I mentioned Israel they entered “cut and paste” instead.

Is this censorship?

June Forsyth Kenagy, Albany, OR

Interns and Donuts

An intern thank-you note is in the mail, but I just wanted to thank you myself too, for a really delightful and special morning in February. It was a fascinating peek into the Washington Report and into courageous journalism on the Middle East in general. Thanks so much for facilitating this and for making it such a lovely experience for all of us. Afterwards, a number of the interns came up to tell me that this had been one of their very favorite visits during the whole internship. Moreover, a few of them expressed great enthusiasm for possibly pitching articles to you in the future. We would love to bring our summer interns to visit, too (though don’t worry about feeding them! Welcoming them and answering their questions is more than enough).

Also, the summer cultural series is moving ahead. We would love to have the Washington Report’s store be a part of the bazaar. Also, I spoke to your Book Club director, Matt Horton, about having my publisher send copies of my upcoming book  of poems on Jews of Djerba to the store. I think it would be a great place for it.

Thank you again for everything.

Naomi Stone, Middle East Institute, Washington, DC