Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

The "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs" is a magazine published 9 times per year in Washington, D.C. that "focuses on news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S. policy in that region." [http://www.washington-report.org/aboutwrmea/index.htm "About "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs","] accessed February 20, 2007.]

Political position

The "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs" states that it does not take partisan domestic political positions, and that as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it endorses U.N. Security Council Resolution 242´s land-for-peace formula, supported by seven successive U.S. presidents. According to its web-site, the Washington Report "supports Middle East solutions which it judges to be consistent with the charter of the United Nations and traditional American support for human rights, self-determination, and fair play."

Publisher

It is published by the American Educational Trust (AET), founded in 1982, which is a 501(c)4 non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, D.C. and was established by retired U.S. foreign service officers. [http://www.washington-report.org/aboutwrmea/index.htm] AET's Foreign Policy Committee has included former U.S. ambassadors, government officials, and members of Congress, including the late Democratic Senator J. William Fulbright, and Republican Senator Charles Percy, both former chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. According to AET, members of its Board of Directors and advisory committees receive no fees for their services.

Criticism

The "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs" has been characterized by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America as "virulently anti-Israel," [ [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=64 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs] , Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, Media Analyses. Retrieved Dec 1, 2006.] as "bitterly anti-Zionist" and "the most conspiratorially-minded of the anti-Israel forces" by the "Middle East Quarterly", [Lewis, Michael. [http://www.meforum.org/article/372 "Israel's American Detractors - Back Again"] , "Middle East Quarterly", December 1997, Volume IV Number 4.] as "a journal known for its strong anti-Israel bias" by Honest Reporting, [ [http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/critiques/Blaming_Israel_for_Abu_Ghraib$.asp Blaming Israel for Abu Ghraib?] , Honest Reporting, May 10, 2004. Retrieved Dec 1, 2006.] and as "an anti-Israel publication that frequently serves as an apologist for Muslim American groups advocating anti-Semitism and support for terrorism" by the Anti-Defamation League. [ [http://www.adl.org/main_Israel/wheels_of_justice.htm "Wheels of Justice:" A Biased View of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict] , Anti-Defamation League, November 6, 2006. Retrieved Dec 1, 2006.] Canada's "National Post" has also described the magazine as "anti-Israel," ["National Post's CBC Watch I", "National Post", May 08, 2004.] the Jewish Virtual Library has stated that the "WRMEA publishes many articles that are considered to be anti-Israel and anti-Zionist", [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/kerryrecord.html Legislative Record of Senator John Kerry] , Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved Dec 1, 2006.] the "Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles" notes that critics view it as "guilty of frequent factual distortions" and "an unrelenting polemic against Israel", [Ballon, Marc. [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=15287 "Libraries: The New Mideast Battlefront"] , "Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles", Jan 20, 2006.] and Jonathan Tobin, executive editor of "The Jewish Exponent" has described the publication as "the guidebook to the Arabist lobby in the United States" that "specializes in defaming Israel." [Tobin, Jonathan. [http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/tobin091500.asp "The Friends of our Foes"] , "Jewish World Review", Sept. 15, 2000. Retrieved Dec 1, 2006.]

Contributors

The "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs" is published mainly by retired U.S. foreign service officers and it features writers of multiple ethnicities and religions and across the political spectrum. Paleoconservatives, leftists, secular IsraelisFact|date=August 2007, JewsFact|date=August 2007, Muslims and Arabs.

Notable contributors

* James Abourezk
* James Akins
* Uri Avnery
* Eugene K. Bird
* Pat Buchanan
* Andrew Cockburn
* Jonathan Cook
* James Ennes
* James Ennes Jr.
* John Esposito
* Paul Findley
* Robert Fisk
* Neve Gordon
* Ran HaCohen
* Leon Hadar
* Chris Hedges
* Elaine Kelley
* Andrew I. Killgore
* Alfred Lilienthal
* Michael Lind
* Pete McCloskey
* Norton Mezvinsky
* Donald Neff
* Mohammed Omer
* Victor Ostrovsky
* Ilan Pappe
* William Pfaff
* Charley Reese
* Sheldon Richman
* Scott Ritter
* Paul Craig Roberts
* Edward Said
* Israel Shahak
* Alison Weir
* Alan Weisman

Notes

External links

*" [http://www.washington-report.org/ Washington Report on Middle East Affair] " Publication website.