yoavh@nsc.UUCP (yoavh) (02/01/84)
According to the New York Times, Mr. Jackson's well-known (but not well respected) group PUSH has been the recipient of 2 $100,000 grants from those well known "people united to serve humanity", the Arab League. These donations are the largest ever recieved by PUSH. Of course, it would be unkind to suggest that these donations would have in anyway disposed Mr. Jackson to travel to certain hostile Arab capitols to engage in dramatic PR schemes.
reza@ihuxb.UUCP (H. Reza Taheri) (02/02/84)
Well, of course one would have expected such contributions to come from the country that is the forerunner in saving humanity, Israel. But I don't think that South Africa, Israel's closest ally after the U.S., would have appreciated that too much. I couldn't help but respond to your article. You *just have to* include some insulting/racist/chauvinistic remark against Muslims and/or Arabs in all your articles (whoever you are at nsc!yoavh). No matter what you are talking about, this seems to be the case. Can't you think of anything else? Life is too short and you'll get too old too fast acting like this. H. Reza Taheri ...!ihnp4!ihuxb!reza (312)-979-1040 P.S. Yes, I am a Muslim but not an Arab, if you must express your hatered. Actually I am Iranian. Does this make me worse on an enemy? Does my existence pose a treat to the well-being of you and your family? Too bad, I can't help but existing.
mjk@tty3b.UUCP (Mike Kelly) (02/03/84)
As Jackson himself pointed out, there are 22 nations in the Middle East. To consider 21 our enemies and 1 our friend is silly. Or, to put it another way, why doesn't the New York Times report on page 1 the contributions from Zionist organizations to candidates? Mike Kelly ..!ihnp4!tty3b!mjk
yoavh@nsc.UUCP (yoavh) (02/07/84)
Mike Kelly brings up two points in his reply to my article:
1) "As Jackson himself pointed out, there are 22 nations in the
Middle East. To consider 21 our enemies and 1 our friend is silly."
Both Jackson and Kelly imply here that the US sacrifices good relations
with Arab nations by maintaining the same with Israel.
This is not true.
In fact, the US has good relations with many Arab countries. Egypt recieves
nearly as much aid from the US as Israel, and relations between the two
countries are very close. We are strongly allied with the Lebanese,
whose army we are training. We constantly hear from the Administration about
our "good friends, the Saudis" (they're not, but that's another story
entirely), and we directly and indirectly support countries such as Sudan.
2) "...why doesn't the New York Times report on page 1 the contributions
from Zionist organizations to candidates?"
Here he equates donations from Americans to presidential candidates with
foreign contributions designed to influence American organizations.
As I understand it, Americans of all religions, ethnic backgrounds, and
creeds have the right (and responsibility) to lobby their government and be
involved in the political process. Surely no one would suggest that black
Americans shouldn't try to affect US policy concerning Africa, or that they
should not attempt to elect candidates who represent their interests.
However, influence peddling by foreign powers is another story altogether.
Last I heard, none of the members of the Arab League were citizens of the
US - in fact, many of the member countries are known for their extreme
hostility to America, which has resulted, on occasion, in them doing
nasty things like trying to shoot down American planes. yoavh@nsc.UUCP (yoavh) (02/07/84)
Mr. H. Reza Taheri is somewhat less than to the point in his reply to my article: "I couldn't help but respond to your article. You *just have to* include some insulting/racist/chauvinistic remark against Muslims and/or Arabs in all your articles..." That he "couldn't help but respond" is evident from the hysterical tone of the bizarre accusations contained in his note. I certainly do not "have" to include some insulting, etc remark against Arabs or Muslims in all my articles - the fact is, I have never included such remarks. I challenge Mr. Taheri to produce such remarks. "Yes, I am a Muslim but not an Arab, if you must express your hatered. Actually I am Iranian. Does this make me worse on an enemy?" Frankly, Mr. Taheri, I don't recall asking if you are a Muslim, nor did I enquire as to your national origin. In fact, before I saw your article in net.politics I never knew of your existence. At the risk of being trite, I have several Iranian friends, who, incidentally, had to leave Iran due to the activities of a certain fanatical Mr. Ayatollah Khomeini, who was busy butchering Iranian Jews and Bahais at the time. "Does my existence pose a treat to the well-being of you..." Um, no, I wouldn't say that your existence poses a "treat" to me. However, it does sort of bother me that people can read a short, reasonably clear article about a news item and somehow construe it as a personal insult. My sincere apologies for any hard feelings, Mr. Taheri - I assure you that I did not write my article in order to offend you. Let me restate the point of my note: Jesse Jackson's organization PUSH recieved $200K from the Arab League, the largest donation they had ever recieved. The Arab League is not exactly known as an organization devoted to "saving humanity" (thus I conclude from their frequent calls to Jihad, holy war). Mr. Jackson recently travelled to Syria and performed some valuable PR for one of the most vicious tyrants in the Middle East. I find this noteworthy, and it leads me to muse on a possible connection between these two facts.
reza@ihuxb.UUCP (H. Reza Taheri) (02/08/84)
OK. Maybe I got a little out of line. My apologies, especially on the "threat" remarks. This might be net.politics (read net.jungle) but I should have drank a glass of cold water before posting. Let's face it. Net.politics clearly has a pro-Israeli/anti-Arab tone to it (or am I REALLY paranoid?). I had decided not to get myself involved in this mess, but somehow blew my top that day. H. Reza Taheri ...!(most major machines on the net)!ihnp4!ihuxb!reza (312)-979-1040 P.S. I once received a very nasty response to an article I posted to net.religion a while back. Somehow I thought that you sent it, and unfortunately can't find it now. If, as you claim, you did not know of my existence before, then I really blew it and will send you my first-born as soon as I get home tonight. But if you did, then I've gotten my foot in my mouth twice in one week. First by attacking you, then by apologizing for it.
norskog@fortune.UUCP (Lance Norskog) (02/13/84)
Or, to put it another way, why doesn't the New
York Times report on page 1 the contributions from Zionist
organizations to candidates?
Mike Kelly
..!ihnp4!tty3b!mjk
Because there is bloody big difference between accepting money from
domestic political activists, and from foreign governments. I haven't
seen it mentioned whether or not Jackson or PUSH are in trouble for not
registering as agents of a foreign power. (The Reagan Administration
is hardly in a position to cavil about this sort of thing , Richard
Allen was a registered foreign agent during the Carter years...)
Lance C. Norskog
Fortune Systems, 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City, CA
{cbosgd,hpda,harpo,sri-unix,amd70,decvax!ihnp4,allegra}!fortune!norskog