MER Article Abu Iyad The assassination of Abu Iyad (Salah Khalaf), together with two others, in Tunis in mid-January, was unquestionably an event of great moment for the PLO and for the historic leadership of Fatah which has dominated the organization for over two decades. Abu Iyad was the fifth of the 15 members of Fat (Author not identified) • 1 min read
MER Article From the Editors This issue of Middle East Report is about power, intent, imagery and deceit. We begin with a brief consideration of the impact of the first two weeks of the “allied” air war on civilian populations in Iraq. The antiseptic briefings from the Pentagon and from Gen. Schwarzkopf’s headquarters in The Editors • 2 min read
MER Article Message of National Churches of Christ on Gulf Crisis A MESSAGE OF NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN THE USA ON THE GULF AND MIDDLE EAST CRISIS, NOVEMBER 14-16, 1990 [Excerpts] We stand at a unique moment in human history, when all around us seemingly impregnable walls are being broken down and deep historical enmities are being healed. And y (Author not identified) • 5 min read
MER Article Cooke, War's Other Voices Miriam Cooke, War’s Other Voices: Women Writers on the Lebanese Civil War (Cambridge, 1988). Barbara Harlow • 4 min read
MER Article Beinin and Lockman, Workers on the Nile Joel Beinin and Zachary Lockman, Workers on the Nile: Nationalism, Communism, Islam and the Egyptian Working Class, 1882-1954 (Princeton, 1987). Robert Vitalis • 9 min read
MER Article Editor's Bookshelf Egypt has been central to providing an Arab cover for the US-led military expedition to the Persian Gulf, in addition to Saudi Arabia. As of December 1990, Egypt’s 15-20,000 troops constituted the third largest force confronting Iraq, after the United States and Saudi Arabia itself. Joint military e Joel Beinin • 4 min read
MER Article Al Miskin The first “instant book” on the Gulf crisis has already reached stores across the United States. In his October 22 column in The Nation, Alexander Cockburn related how Judith Miller of the New York Times sought unsuccessfully to induce Samir al-Khalil, the pseudonymous author of Republic of Fear, to Al Miskin • 4 min read
MER Article Human Rights Briefing Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait has highlighted both the brutality of the regime in Baghdad and the double standards of the US and its allies. Western countries that armed and equipped Baghdad as the Baath terrorized Iraq’s population through murder, torture and mass killings of civilians now profess shock Ömer Karasapan • 4 min read
MER Article Washington Watch House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Lee Hamilton (D-IN) offered the first criticism by a Washington insider of the Bush administration’s handling of the Gulf crisis when, on September 18, 1990, he blamed Assistant Secretary of State for Near East and South Asian Affairs John Kelly for not sending Fred Halliday • 4 min read
MER Article Satanic Verses in Detroit Ayatollah Khomeini’s death sentence of February 14, 1989 continues to affect the lives of people far removed from its original target -- author Salman Rushdie. More than a year later, in Dearborn, Michigan, local sympathizers of the ayatollah within the Arab American community disrupted a talk on Ru Nabeel Abraham • 5 min read
MER Article Iraq's Military Power: The German Connection Even before the current confrontation in the Gulf, Iraq was an extremely militarized country, preoccupied with internal and external “security threats. ” When I traveled to Iraq in early 1990, I was struck by the extent of militarization in parts of the country. The whole of Iraqi Kurdistan was cove Jochen Hippler • 14 min read
MER Article The US in the Persian Gulf The scale of the US military deployment in the Persian Gulf -- half of all US combat forces worldwide -- is something of a shock, even to the Pentagon. “Nobody ever thought they’d be free to commit all those forces,” one military official said. Martha Wenger, Joe Stork • 8 min read
