Free Republic

The skirmishes are still raging on the ground. But over media airways, the Palestinian Israeli contest has long been decided. Were it a boxing match the referees would have long called the mismatch off, scoring a technical KO. Israel has been routed, and even the Israeli government is finally coming to realize that its defeat in the media battle may well be decisive to the ultimate outcome of its war. There are many reasons for this daily thrashing on the world's screens. A major one emerges from the contrast between the striking invisibility of terror and the salience of daily...

[IMRA: The Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General told IMRA that they are not aware of any comment by Secretary General Annan regarding the changes that were made in the draft resolution .] UNITED NATIONS - Israel withdrew a draft resolution on the rights of the Israeli child from consideration by the General Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee Wednesday to avoid having it amended to refer to the welfare of all children in the Middle East, not only Israelis. Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said he withdrew the resolution because some countries, led by Egypt, had proposed "hostile amendments...

The Arabists Among Us By James M. Hutchens ________________________________________ In 1995, a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year,” was Robert D. Kaplan’s The Arabists. It is a fascinating and insightful account of how the State Department of the United States government became, and remains, pro-Arab. Basically, it is a story of how, over the last two centuries, the children of missionaries to the Muslim world of the Middle East, have been pipelined through Ivy League schools into the State Department. Once embedded there, in the Office of Near Eastern Affairs, their love for the Arab peoples and culture...

Outrage at plan to celebrate tolerance Sunday September 1, 2002 The Observer As New York gears up for the first 11 September anniversary, educators are at war over what the young minds of America should be encouraged to learn from the hijack attacks. The battle has been drawn across familiar lines: Educators who regard the experience as an opportunity to instill a broader understanding of the world, Islam, the benefits of tolerance, diversity and notions of global responsibility, against conservatives who regard the event as an opportunity to encourage patriotism and moral certainty. Last week the National Education Association, the...

For many New Yorkers, this summer's most emotional election will be held Tuesday in DeKalb County, Ga. The race for the Democratic nomination in the 4th Congressional District pits incumbent Cynthia McKinney against Judge Denise Majette. Both are black Christians, but their primary has become a national Jewish-Arab battlefield. McKinney is the Arab candidate. After 9/11, she scolded then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani for turning down $10 million from an anti-Israel Saudi prince and asked for the money for her own causes. She accused President Bush of failing to stop the bombing of New York and stirring up Mideast war to benefit...

One of the biggest stories in the middle east during the last 24 hours is/was the agreement brokered by Bush yesterday evening to release Arafat from his house arrest. Tonight the left coast edition of ABC's World News Tonight didn't even mention the subject except for a passing reference to "events in Ramallah" by Ted Koppel in his lead piece on the standoff in Bethlehem.Wonder why?