MERIP Media Resource List, June 27, 2004

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS on the following topic:

- Democratic National Convention

JILLIAN SCHWEDLER

Jillian Schwedler is assistant professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland and chair of the board of directors of the Middle East Research and Information Project. Commenting on the Democratic National Convention, Schwedler said: “With few exceptions, the Democrats have failed to distinguish themselves from the Republicans in key areas of Middle East foreign policy. This not only endangers a viable Democratic challenge in November but also risks a more general repeat of the past four years where the Democratic Party has lent support for some of the most dangerous elements of Republican policies, including the war in Iraq.”

SARAH EL-TANTAWI

Sarah El-Tantawi is a writer and activist living in New York. She attended the Democratic National Convention where she briefed delegates on Muslim outreach and spoke about Palestine at the Boston Social Forum. Commenting on the Democratic Platform, El-Tantawi said: “Despite lukewarm support for a Palestinian state, the Democratic platform fails to deliver the promised alternative to the Bush administration's disastrous Middle East policy. The unequivocal support for Israel in such statements that ‘all understand that it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final-status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949’ not only violates international law but contributes to anti-American sentiment in the region. The Democrats are therefore embarking on the same counterproductive course that the Republicans have charted for the last four years.”

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