Washington Watch Articles From 1997
ROBERTSON: BIGOTRY AGAINST ISLAM
In late October 1997, Pat Robertson, a prominent leader of the fundamentalist Christian right wing movement, speaking on his national televised “700 Club” program, launched into an ugly diatribe against Islam.
ISRAEL MUST BE PRESSURED
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed up empty handed for his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright.
THE DECEMBER 17 DEADLINE
The Middle East peace process is approaching yet another fateful deadline. United States Secretary of State Madeline Albright has given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu until December 17 to present a specific proposal for redeployment of the West Bank.
A CASE OF CONCERN TO ALL AMERICANS
Sometime before the end of December, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) will formally appeal an immigration judge’s decision to allow Imad Hamad to remain in the United States and become a U.S. citizen.
SMEAR CAMPAIGNS MAR TODAY’S POLITICS
The story alleging that the Clinton Administration sold burial plots in Arlington National Cemetery surfaced, gained national prominence and was proven false last week.
A REASSESMENT IS UNDERWAY
As events of the past few weeks have made clear, the twin pillars of U.S.-Middle East policy (the Arab-Israeli peace process and the dual containment of Iran and Iraq) are in trouble.
THE SADDAM PHENOMENON
Dr. Ron Walters, a professor of political science at the University of Maryland and one of the leading African-American intellectuals, was once asked to explain the “Farrakhan phenomenon.” Minister Louis Farrakhan is the current leader of the movement in the U.S. known as the Nation of Islam.
NO PEACE, NO BUSINESS
The negotiating positions that the Israeli side brought to Washington last week, and one might add, the fact of the negotiations themselves, stand in stark contrast to the very logic supposedly underlying the fourth Middle East/North Africa (MENA) Economic Summit due to take place in Doha.
ARAB AMERICANS ANDTHE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON HATE CRIMES
Despite significant progress in race and ethnic relations in the U.S., problems still remain.
ARAB AMERICANS IN THE 1997 ELECTIONS
Although 1997 is considered an off year for electoral politics, Arab Americans are deeply engaged in key campaigns across the U.S.