The Singing Revolution: Estonia’s Non-Violent Resistance to Soviet Rule

The Singing Revolution DVD

Folk songs have always been a central element to Estonian culture; therefore, it is no suprise that singing became the unifying force during protests against Soviet rule in the 1980’s.  With one of the largest collections of folk songs in the world, Estonians have used the form of song as an expression for freedom, self-determination, and national identity since the 19th century.  Before the Soviet Union control the Estonians were ruled under Czarist Russia.

The hope and perseverance of the Estonians to gain freedom from outside rule culminated in a non-violent protest that included singing songs that spoke of such ideas.  This tradition has been alive since the Post WWII period when the Soviets used singing festivals to encourage unity of Marxist ideals.  However, the Estonians began to sing the song, “Land of my Fathers, Land that I Love,” in their native language.  The 30,000 people in attendance at the festival were able to keep the Estonian spirit alive.

The non-violent movement of self-determination in Estonia began to make ground from 1987-1991, and was ended by Estonian independence.  Once leaders in Moscow began to speak of free speech the movement used songs as a way of testing the Soviet’s new policies.  The Estonians chose non-violence to unify against the brutality of the Soviet rule, and knowing that the Soviet Union was in a fragile state the non-violent protestors would not be harmed for fear of bad self-image.  Ultimately, the non-violent protests unified through singing won over Soviet rule, starting a new kind of revolution using a smile and a song, proving that culture can save a nation.

To learn more visit www.singingrevoution.com.

By Kassy Fineout, MPT Intern

mpt.interns@gmail.com

Words cannot express the human & economic devastation

Reflections on Fasting For Gaza

The siege and the blockade of Gaza, and the suffering of the people there is something that is deeply concerning to me and I have been feeling the need to do something, say something… show some solidarity with the people of Gaza. And in some small way hold their suffering in my own life to keep myself more aware.

And so On Wed. December 10 in honor of human rights day I fasted for 24 hours (through Thur. Dec. 11) in Solidarity with the people of Gaza whose human rights are being violated by the Israeli government’s blockade. A fast seemed an appropriate symbolic gesture because the blockade created a situation where the people in Gaza have no choice but do without enough food.

 

It was just a day long fast, something that I was able to do fairly easily. I drank a crazy lot of water. I mean really – a lot of water. Partly just ‘cut it made me feel not hungry. Partly ‘cuz I figured as long as I was fasting anyway I might as well get some health benefits from it.  Somewhere along the line I realized how much water I was drinking. And more to the point I realized that if I were actually in Gaza I couldn’t do that.  Water supply is so limited. People don’t get enough to drink. There is no fuel for the pumps for the wells. When there is water it is often contaminated as the sewage and waste treatment centers have no fuel for their pumps, infrastructure has been damaged by Israeli attacks, and there is not water purification chemicals getting in past the blockade. Wow.  How can people do this to each other? It makes my heart ache. Sounds so dramatic. But really it just does.

 

I also found myself explaining to a number of people why I was fasting. Perhaps it is because of the holidays so many in my life celebrate around this time of the year, but it seemed several people offered me cookies, or some other treat.  Which meant I got to explain what I was doing and why.  Of course, this was one of the main reasons for the fast – to provide the opportunity to talk about the situation in Gaza.

 

It was particularly meaningful when I found myself trying to explain to the children in my life. As children do they often cut to the heart of the matter “but why are they punishing everyone, if only a few people did things they don’t like?” I was asked when I explained the blockade.  And my 8 year old friend who pointed out “yeah, ‘cuz if you were eating today we wouldn’t be talking about this.” –  Yep!

 

A week from human rights day (a week from the first part of the fast) I will start the second phase of the fast. On Wed. 17 December I will begin a 4 day fast through Saturday 20 December. The 20th is Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, representing the long night that those in Gaza continue to suffer.

 

December 21st is the day when those of us honoring earth based spiritual traditions celebrate the returning of the light. I will use this day to break the fast and celebrate my re-commitment to peace and justice in Palestine and Israel, and to being in Solidarity with all those who have their human rights violated – particularly being aware of my connections with those in Gaza and the suffering of the people there in the current situation.

 

Won’t you join me?!

My fast will be a water fast, but should you desire to join you should create an experience that is meaningful – and realistic – for you. Perhaps a juice fast? Perhaps “liquids only” – including fruit/yogurt smoothies and such? Perhaps not a fast at all but time spent in silent solidarity. The goal is not so much to duplicate exactly the fast as I have planned, but to do something that gives us a physical reminder and pushes an awareness of the suffering to the front of our consciousness.

 

As I said, one of the goals of the fast is simply to raise awareness to start people thinking and talking about what is happening to the people in Gaza. To bear witness by making the suffering visible. Are there ways you can do this? Post a blog on your own site? If you are on myspace, facebook or other social networking sites can you change your status to read “fasting with Gaza” or “thinking of Gaza” from the 17^th – 20^th? Is there a public space you can vigil in your community? Letters to the editor?  Each of us can do something.

 

The fast is being sponsored by the Michigan Peace Team. (http://www.michiganpeaceteam.org)

 

In Peace for Justice, Sheri W./MPT

 

 PS: For more information on the situation in Gaza check out:

 

* http://www.amnesty.org/

* http://electronicintifada.net/

 

And to read  eye-witness accounts from Gaza:

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9995.shtml

 

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10008.shtml  and   

 

http://playfulspirit.wordpress.com/2008/11/30/collective-punishment-gaza-crimes-against-humanity/

Targeting Ideologies

Michigan Peace Team

            What significance does this small non-profit really hold in a world filled with such enormous and complex political and social systems?  How can a staff of 5 full time employees with an entourage of dedicated volunteers spread peace in a world where over 4 million are without homes in Palestine, Janjaweed militants are systematically murdering hundreds of thousands, and Zimbabweans are stripped of their right to a free vote by a campaign of violence and intimidation?

            The truth lies in the heart of us all.  The violence that has plagued humanity for centuries will not fall by the hand of UN troops or forceful peace-keeping marshals that physically prevent violence by brute force.  On the contrary we must begin to challenge the ideologies of violence on an individual basis, through interpersonal interactions.

            Violence is a cycle that constantly perpetuates itself and devours everything in sight.  For example, the cycle of violence in the Israel/Palestine conflict is most obvious.  At first the cycle began with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their home in 1947 with the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel.  The massacre at Deir Yassin by British soldiers in the establishment of Israel was the first overt display of outright terrorism and violence in the Israel Palestine conflict.  Over 100 Palestinian men, women, and children were systematically murdered in the village of Deir Yassin.  This scare tactic crushed any possible Palestinian opposition to the establishment of Israel, but planted the seeds of hate and violence to be harvested for decades to come.

            Over 50 years later this cycle of hate, violence, and hostility remains as strong as ever.  As Israelis and Palestinians are stuck in a fierce cycle of violence, with Israeli government forces and militants constantly imposing life threatening abuse against Palestinians, which is countered by small, independent factions of Palestinian extremists who counter with violence on their own.  The cycle continues, violence perpetuates and grows.

            Yet, there is hope.  On both sides of this battle there are people, individuals, who are advocating for peace and an end to the violent interactions.  Palestinian peace groups like Salam Al ann Palestinians for Peace Now!, the Culture of Peace Initiative, as well as  individuals who everyday express peaceful but determined demonstrations against violence; coupled with a number of Israeli peace groups like Rabbis for Peace and the Refusniks who advocate for human rights and non-violence, are paving the way for progress and challenging the cycle of violence each and everyday.  One should not forget to acknowledge international groups such as Christian Peacemaker Teams, the Nonviolent Taskforce, and the Michigan Peace Team, whose influence has added heavy weight to interventions of peace in the violent conflict.

            The above groups are working together in unison to counter the negative ideologies of violence, ethnic enmity, and revenge that flourish within the cycle of violence.  The fight for peace must be won by recognizing that it is not a group of people we must overcome or defeat, but on the contrary, we must embrace, love, and genuinely care for even those who displace us from our homes or bomb our schools.  Instead of targeting populations we must target ideologies behind violent actions and movements.  Specifically we must target violence itself, and end our constant association of the term with people.  People do violent things, but they do not embody violence, they ARE not violent.

            This is evident in the historical cases that prove to us, as hard as it is to accept, that we are all essentially the same, and would fundamentally act in the same way given the exact circumstances.  How else can we explain how when the Hutu tribe, a Rwandan population that had been marginalized and oppressed by the British for decades, turn and oppress to an even greater and more violent degree the Tutsi tribe?  How else can we explain how when on of the most oppressed populations in world history, the Jewish population, can displace, murder, and imprison millions of Palestinians?  How else can we explain how Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe took office as a man of the people, fighting against poverty, and quickly turned into one of the world’s worst and most gruesome dictator?  It is chilling, but given the right circumstances anyone of us could have turned into an Adolf Hitler.

            This is why it is only an ignorant individual who targets a person.  Ultimately the true cause of violence is the circumstances that breed regular individuals to do bad things.  The soldier who bulldozes your home is in essence no different that you or me, and we must embrace him, we must provide him with a change of circumstances that breed love and solidarity instead of hate and violence.

            It’s not a question of Israeli or Palestinian, Liberal or Conservative, Democrat or Republican, but in reality there is no question at all, only the truth that we are all in this together, challenging violence together, and working towards a greater world.  Peace groups like the Michigan Peace Team encourage positive interactions between individuals and groups of people, as well as intervenes in violent interactions, to ultimately create the circumstances that will contribute to greater solidarity and peace through humanity.

Take a break and read a great nonviolent story!

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right

Julio Diaz recorded his story in New York City just days after he was mugged in the subway. StoryCorps

“If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money.”

Julio Diaz, speaking with the teenager who robbed him

Morning Edition, March 28, 2008 · 

Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. 

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn. 

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

“He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go,’” Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, “like what’s going on here?” Diaz says. “He asked me, ‘Why are you doing this?’”

Diaz replied: “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.

“You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help,” Diaz says.

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

“The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi,” Diaz says. “The kid was like, ‘You know everybody here. Do you own this place?’”

“No, I just eat here a lot,” Diaz says he told the teen. “He says, ‘But you’re even nice to the dishwasher.’”

Diaz replied, “Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”

“Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. “He just had almost a sad face,” Diaz says.

The teen couldn’t answer Diaz — or he didn’t want to.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, “Look, I guess you’re going to have to pay for this bill ’cause you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I’ll gladly treat you.”

The teen “didn’t even think about it” and returned the wallet, Diaz says. “I gave him $20 … I figure maybe it’ll help him. I don’t know.”

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen’s knife — “and he gave it to me.”

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, “You’re the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch.”

“I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world.”

Produced for Morning Edition by Michael Garofalo.

 

Thanks to Nonviolent Peaceforce for sending this to us!

Blogging for Human Rights

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
–Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Throughout history there have been many courageous individuals who have stood up for the rights of others around the world. Continuing the work of those before them, the 15 of May 2008 has been designated as a day for bloggers to come together and unite against the abuse of human rights throughout the world. By posting on a single day, bloggers around the world will draw attention to issues of mistreatment and abuse as well as show their solidarity and unity in the fight to protect all peoples’ basic human rights.
In addition to bloggers uniting for human rights, May 15th is also International Conscientious Objectors’ Day with this year’s specific focus being on the men and women in the armed forces. On this day people are encouraged to call in and lobby their Congressmen and Congresswomen to protect the rights of conscientious objectors.
As bloggers unite against human rights abuses and individuals nationwide call into Congress to protect the rights of conscientious objectors, The Michigan Peace Team joins these brave people, from the famous Dr. King to the anonymous blogger or caller, in supporting the rights of all people, both at home and abroad.

Blogging for Hope

Israeli Military Trying to Close Palestinian Orphanages

ACTION ALERT
April 28, 2008

Contact: Joshua Walsh – communications@wrmea.com

Israel has killed 1,020 Palestinian children since 2000 and Palestinians have killed 124 Israeli children. Too many precious children have suffered and died as a result of politics. Another outrage is about to occur and you can help stop it. On April 23 a program on French TV Channel 5 highlighted a tragedy that may occur at any moment. This news is not even discussed in the United States.

The Israeli military is about to close down schools and orphanages run by the Islamic Charitable Society (ICS) in the West Bank city of Hebron. More than 240 boys and girls, aged 5-18 live at the orphanages, while thousands of other children, many of whom have lost at least one parent, receive schooling, food and clothing from the charity. The Israeli military has already seized $157,000 worth of goods — including rice, oil, sugar, clothing and first aid kits — from the ICS warehouse.

Israeli soldiers entered the Rahma Bakery, owned by the society, on April 14, destroyed the oven, and confiscated more than $43,000 of equipment, including all the display cases, refrigerators, fixtures, and most of the inventory. Upstairs, the soldiers destroyed heating ducts. This bakery provided bread for the orphanages.

The charity has appealed to the Israeli High Court of Justice. The Israeli army claims that ICS is supporting the Hamas movement, which started in 1987. The society, founded in 1962, argues that ICS is a Palestinian charitable organization, with no political agenda, which is monitored regularly by the Palestinian Authority.
Israel and its supporters in the United States and Europe have targeted almost every charity that is trying to keep Palestinians fed, clothed, and educated. By closing this charity and others, Israel will complete the economic strangulation and even ethnic cleansing of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel’s wall and checkpoints are already preventing Palestinians’ access to jobs, fields, medical care and schools.
If the Israeli army shuts down the ICS and its projects in the city of Hebron, nearly 300 orphans will have no place other than the street to sleep. Please fax, telephone and e-mail your representatives to ask Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to stop this outrage. Ask him to show Palestinians that he does want peace by stopping this heartless eviction.

WRITE OR TELEPHONE THOSE WORKING FOR YOU IN WASHINGTON:
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
(202) 456-1414

White House Comment Line:
(202) 456-1111
Fax: (202) 456-2461

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20515
Fax: (202) 261-8577

State Department Public Information Line:
(202) 647-6575
Fax: (202) 647-2283

Any Senator
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3121

Any Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3121

E-Mail Congress and the White House:
Congress: visit <www.congress.org>; for President Bush: <president@whitehouse.gov>; Vice President Cheney: vice.president@whitehouse.gov

CONTACT THE EMBASSY OF ISRAEL:
Embassy of Israel
Ambassador Sallai Meridor
3514 International Dr., NW,
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 364-5500 Fax: (202)
(202) 364-5560
 

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, PO Box 53062, Washington DC 20009. Phone: (202) 939-6050, Fax: (202) 265-4574, Toll Free: (800) 368-5788, www.wrmea.com Published by the American Educational Trust, a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states. Material from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs may be printed with out charge with attribution to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

Israel ‘using psychological torture’, reports BBC

(BBC News, Jerusalem) Sunday, 13 April 2008 15:07 UK

Since January, he says, he has been arrested four times by the Israeli security services, accused of stone-throwing and vandalising security cameras in the Old City.

Israel ‘using psychological torture’

Martin Asser BBC News, Jerusalem

Gheith Nasr, 18, of the Burj Luqluq neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, has not had the ideal preparation for his high-school graduation exams in a few weeks time.

He says he has been detained each time for a few days in one of Jerusalem’s interrogation centres, and then sent home under orders not to leave the house for another few days.

The muscular, but shy and inarticulate teenager says he regularly suffered violent treatment as interrogators tried to get him to own up to crimes he says he didn’t commit – but one of his arrests stands out from the others.

“When I saw my mother being brought into the cell with handcuffs, I tell you, I would have told them anything just to save her, anything,” he said.

It happened a day after Gheith was taken off to Qishlik police station. Plainclothes officers and troops returned to the house and searched through the family’s belongings. 

I was only in the room for a few seconds; we looked at each other but we were both too shocked to say anything Um Gheith, mother of prisoner

Already in possession of their ID cards, one of the officers told the parents they must now go down to the police station where they would see their son.

‘Too shocked’

The parents were taken into separate rooms at Qishlik station. Um Gheith – the mother – takes up the story.

“There were two men in the room. I sat down and one stood behind me while the other started shouting in my face in a most aggressive and intimidating way.

“I was shocked, it was the first time I had even set foot in a police station and this man was saying horrible things about what they were going to do to Gheith.

“Then the one behind said: ‘Cuff her hands for the night’ and they put handcuffs on me and then took me along to another room, where I was surprised to see Gheith sitting.

“I was only in the room for a few seconds; we looked at each other but we were both too shocked to say anything. Then they took me out and took off the handcuffs.”

After an hour Mrs Nasr was brought back into the cell for another short and wordless encounter. Then she and her husband were given back their IDs and released.

In the meantime, Mr Nasr had also been taken in to see Gheith, minus handcuffs and an initial “softening up”, but with instructions from a secret service man to encourage the boy to confess.

“I did nothing of the kind,” the genial hospital goods supplier told me. “I sat together with my son for about 10 minutes, asking him how he was and how they were treating him, and saying a few things to keep his morale up.

“Then the officer came back and Gheith was then taken away. The officer asked whether my son was going to own up. I said: ‘He has done nothing’ and the officer replied: ‘You are a liar!’ 

Suicide attempts

In a statement, Israel’s domestic security agency, the GSS or Shin Bet, said it never detains suspects’ relatives or gives false information to detainees to obtain confessions.

“Terrorist investigations are conducted by the Shin Bet according to the [1999] Supreme Court ruling [limiting interrogation methods], under the restrictions of the law and the tight supervision of the Justice Ministry and the courts,” the statement said.

Human rights group the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) says a pattern has emerged recently of the security forces using such tactics with Palestinian interrogees. 

It has published detailed evidence of six sample cases from the last year by the GSS.

The parliamentary constitutional and legal committee has taken the unusual step of scheduling a hearing hours after publication. 

Manipulating innocent family members is morally reprehensible whatever the danger Eliahu Abram, PCATI

 The cases are all far more serious than that of Gheith Nasr in security terms, involving terrorism charges, but the interrogation tactics appear exactly the same.

When Mahmoud Sweiti, accused of belonging to the Hamas military wing in Hebron, was shown his wife and father, who was dressed in a prison coat, he twice attempted suicide, the report says. 

In another testimony, the mother and brother of another prisoner – Said Diab – say they were both detained and that he was forced to secretly watch them being violently interrogated, as he claimed to have been himself.

“Presenting close family members as suspects or under interrogation puts the real suspect under incredible psychological pressure, which can be as bad – if not worse – than physical torture,” says PCATI legal consultant Eliahu Abram.

“The General Security Service may think that between beating a prisoner and showing him his mother crying in detention, the latter is the more non-abusive way, but it is not,” he told the BBC.

Violent techniques

“The prisoner feels a sense of powerlessness and responsibility for what is happening to their loved-one – there is no telling whether information obtained in this way is reliable,” Mr Abram said.

He agrees the domestic intelligence service has to do all it can to investigate the terrorism threat which Israel faces from resourceful and determined foes.

“But that is no justification; manipulating innocent family members is morally reprehensible whatever the danger.”

The use of violent interrogation techniques is prohibited under Israeli and international anti-torture laws, but Mr Abram says the Supreme Court has allowed the use of “trickery” to obtain information.

PCATI believes the domestic intelligence agency is breaking the rules on physical abuse and is acting in an atmosphere of impunity because it says the legal authorities do not investigate accusations made by human rights groups.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7345025.stm

Published: 2008/04/13 14:07:38 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

American ISM Volunteer Beaten and Arrested in Israel

Per the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (www.wrmea.com):

Blake Murphy, an American activist working with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in the West Bank, was beaten and arrested by Israeli army and police forces on March 14, 2008. He now faces a series of evidently false charges from the Israeli authorities due to his work supporting non-violent resistance to the occupation in Palestine and is due to be deported to the United States in the immediate future. While in custody Blake has had many of his legal rights abused by the Israeli authorities.

Blake was arrested during the weekly demonstration in the village of Bi’lin, where the separation wall annexes much of the Palestinian village’s land. Blake was picked out of the demonstration by the Israeli forces, violently assaulted, with pepper spray put in his eyes before being taken off and subsequently arrested.

Blake Murphy had to be taken to hospital due to his injuries caused by the soldiers. He appeared in court on March 15, and at that time the judge prolonged his detention until March 18. He was then told that he would have to reappear in court on March 18, only to be told that this was not the case, after spending 8 hours of that day locked in a room meant for 8—along with 15 others waiting for his trial. While in custody, Blake has been denied a translator in court, he has been brought before a judge without his lawyer being informed, and he has been made to appear for a trial that was cancelled without him being informed.

Blake Murphy had been working for the last 8 and a half months in the Palestinian Occupied Territories with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). For over 6 months he was working as the media coordinator for the ISM and was therefore highly involved in supporting Palestinian non-violent resistance toward the occupation. It is for this reason that he was targeted by the Israeli authorities.

For a video of Blake Murphy’s arrest see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzIAYQmIDRU

For more information or to contact Blake Murphy:
Adam (ISM) 0598503948 or 0548195210

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led non-violent resistance movement committed to ending Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land. They call for full compliance with all relevant UN resolutions and international law.

For specific media inquires such as interview requests, photo usage, etc. please email the ISM Media Office at media@palsolidarity.org or visit their Web site: http://www.palsolidarity.org

Contact the following to voice your concerns:
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
(202) 456-1414
White House Comment Line: (202) 456-1111
Fax: (202) 456-2461
E-mail: <president@whitehouse.gov>

E-mail Vice President Dick Cheney: <vice.president@whitehouse.gov>

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Department of State
Washington, DC 20520

State Department Public Information Line:
(202) 647-6575

Any Senator
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3121

Any Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3121

E-mail Congress: visit the Web site <www.congress.org> for contact information.

The Israeli Embassy, Washington, DC
(202) 364-5500
The Israeli Embassy, Canada
(613) 567 6450
 

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, PO Box 53062, Washington DC 20009. Phone: (202) 939-6050, Fax: (202) 265-4574, Toll Free: (800) 368-5788, www.wrmea.com Published by the American Educational Trust, a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states. Material from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs may be printed with out charge with attribution to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.