Letters

...And wait by your mailbox for the next issue of The Progressive...

...I still don't know what would have been the perfect solution—if there was one...

...Give the reader a break...

...The right-wing Israeli parties, such as Likud and Te-hiya, propose maintaining Israeli rule in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank...

...Part of what makes your .magazine so special is the intelligent use of art which so clearly does just what your articles are meant to do: to inform, to shed new light, to offer a fresh perspective, and...

...The Soviets bear full responsibility for the horrors inflicted upon Afghanistan by their invasion...

...Stations on these frequencies can yield remarkable insights on local and regional activities...

...Lisa Iglesias Miami, Florida Puzzle Paranoia Until recently, I have managed to stay sane in these paranoid times...

...The organizing committee chose not to yield to such pressure and political blackmail...

...Austin C. Wehrwein St...

...Despite action by the State Department to revoke Kahane's U.S...

...The following points should help The Progressive's readers make up their minds about why the feminist meeting did not allow the faveladas in...

...And I recognize that without its appealing design and startling illustrations, I for one might not pay it as much attention...

...I appreciate The Progressive's articles, essays, and editorials, but I'd like to see more satire, more humor, and a little good news, too...

...She also ignored the hundreds of signatures gathered in support of the organizing committee's decisions...

...But don't be intimidated by this or any other disturbing development of our times...

...During the same period the ADL initiated, as Theodore Freedman reports, a media program in Israel to oppose racial bigotry...

...Now consider Rabbi Kahane's plan: The Arabs of Judea and Samaria, as well as those who are Israeli citizens, would be encouraged to emigrate, with compensation, to the destination of their choice...

...For me, a real show of strength would have been to say, "Yes, these women can participate because they are here, but we need to think about the type of place we want to hold our next meeting so that this does not happen again...

...These poor black women took the initiative to get to the meeting because, tired of hearing other feminists speak out in their name, they wanted a chance to speak for themselves...

...It only means that Kahane, like other would-be dictators before him, is an astute politician who must not be underestimated...

...I'm old enough to remember the trite New Masses genre—usually a huge steamroller crushing hapless poor people—and I'm aware of the modern equivalent...

...He termed the bombing of Nablus mayor Bassam Shaka, in which the mayor lost both legs, a "holy deed...

...Many pitched in, and we gathered enough to pay five admission fees—a fact Bloch completely omitted...

...But I think the design turns people off and is simply counterproductive...

...Donald Currie 4006 25th Street San Francisco, California '94114 The editors welcome correspondence from readers on all topics, but prefer to publish letters that comment directly on material previously published in The Progressive...

...Paul, Minnesota Your neo-Weimar illustrations are wretched, contorted attempts to convince by dragooning taste, and their trendiness is schizophrenic...

...He shouts that the Arabs are "multiplying like rabbits" and bent on seducing Jewish women...

...By standing firm, the committee set an example...

...Walter Ruby New York, New York Riding the Shortwaves Gerry L. Dexter's comments in "Riding the Shortwaves" (Media, December issue), were right on the mark...

...And the beauty of art is that it often does these things more immediately and effectively than print...

...I'm a Latin American journalist living in New York City, with no connection to the Conference's organizing committee and no ax to grind...

...In a complex and ever-changing world, plans and programs for peace and social justice quickly become rigid systems of oppression without the living flexibility of compassionate wisdom...

...So why the two-page sympathetic account ("Man Without a Country," January issue) of his relatively comfortable life in Havana...

...Craig W. Corson San Francisco, California The graphics in The Progressive are always so negative and hopeless that I am sure they must turn off many readers...

...Those who disdain the artwork seem to have strayed in some way from the enlightened values they otherwise espouse...

...And they certainly do not absorb a great deal of what they do read...

...However, when Kahane addresses his followers, he adopts quite another tone: He screams from the podium, launching streams of invectives against his political opponents and demanding that Arab "dogs" be expelled from Israel forthwith...

...The PLO proposes a "secular, democratic Palestine" in place of Israel...

...there are twenty-two surrounding countries where the official language is Arabic, the official religion is Islam, and the culture is Middle Eastern...

...Howard Bray Washington, D.C...

...I had more money in my wallet than he had probably seen in months, and I had given him nothing...

...Kahane has openly praised the actions of Kach members and other Jewish extremists who have been convicted of bombings and shootings of West Bank Arabs...

...However, despite Freed-man's contention that American Jewish organizations have opposed Kahane all along, it was only after the dramatic rise in Kahane's popularity in the past several months that the major Jewish organizations saw fit to issue a common statement denouncing Kahane...

...True, that would be an outside shot...

...But the faveladas insisted we admit all or none, which is not a truly democratic attitude...

...The ADL agrees that Israeli democracy is a value that must be fortified in the face of the challenge to it from Kahaneism...

...I attended the meeting, and I had some misgivings about it...

...Some shortwave listeners knew of the KAL007 downing a full day before the U.S...

...And aside from drawing attention to the print itself, illustrative art does very strongly affect our thinking about the subjects of the articles it accompanies...

...As I wrote in my article, Kahane's call for the expulsion of the Arabs is in many ways a more coherent prescription for dealing with the terrible problems that have come about due to the occupation than are the muddled programs of Likud and Labor...

...We had the chance to act in a creative way and prove that women/feminists are trying to cope with problems of race and class...

...Take your vitamins...

...R. Ben-Chaim uses the tone in his letter that Kahane himself often resorts to when speaking with journalists and intellectuals—that of a reasonable, pragmatic leader following in the tradition of David Ben-Gurion or Chaim Weizmann...

...Robert Treamann Minneapolis, Minnesota Count me as one of the loyal readers who find your art/illustration style a real downer—gloomy, off-putting, mostly pointless...

...But the fact does not turn Kahane into a statesman...

...You even imply that the reason the Soviets are still in Afghanistan is because of our aid...

...Israel's New Right Regarding Walter Ruby's article, "Israel's New Right" (December issue), allow me to correct one error of fact...

...and 18744 kHz...

...In 1948, Ben-Gurion vetoed a proposal that the victorious Israeli army occupy the West Bank and Gaza Strip, stressing that to occupy those heavily Arab-populated areas would do Israel more harm than good...

...Rabbi Kahane's proposals should be judged not by the reasons Israelis give for supporting them, but rather on their own merit...

...They agreed to continue to sleep on the beach and to use the money collected to pay for food, which was cheaper outside the campground...

...It might be appropriate for the ADL to focus some of the resources it has expended on its pro-democracy program in Israel on working to convince Jewish institutions in the United States of the moral inadmissibility of opening their doors to a person like Kahane, who preaches a noxious version of Jewish supremacy...

...The left-wing parties propose a surrender of all the territories...

...But in the long run, this is the only plan that can put an end to Arab-Jewish bloodshed in Israel...

...I didn't buy any of it...

...But I don't think that by refusing to let these women participate, the commission set a positive example...

...But I accept and welcome such change because it forces me to keep looking, to keep reassessing my concepts of visual information, beauty, and the role and possibilities of art...

...Michael Michalczyk Glastonbury, Connecticut Not only am I weary of the criticism you receive on the art that appears in The Progressive, I am also extremely perplexed by it...

...Ruby suggests, in the opening and closing paragraphs of his article, that American Jewish organizations "tend to focus on Israel's external enemies...

...All of these materials highlight the themes of democracy, tolerance, multi-culturalism, and the evils of prejudice...

...Both Weizmann and Ben-Gurion believed strongly that Palestine should be partitioned into Jewish and Arab states...

...Not blind embracing, but thoughtful consideration...

...It is important to remember, however, that shortwave stations are not above using disinformation as well as outright propaganda to further their causes...

...Doing the puzzle can give you a sense of mastery in a world where your candidates lose time after time and where despair sits like an unwelcome guest at your table...

...no doubt some would resist...

...This is simply not true...

...Over the years, I have delighted in The Progressive...

...The moderate-left Labor Party proposes surrendering most, but not all, of the territories to Jordan...

...Therefore, how does Kahane's solution compare to the alternatives...

...For reasons we all know, people simply do not read everything they mean to...

...The Department of Energy, for example, operates a Nuclear Transport Safeguard Network on 5750 and 7700 Khz...

...Clue C stated: "There's a remote chance for Sue to do this cryptic...

...Susan Forthman Northridge, California Ifly Enemy's Enemy' Your editorial, "My Enemy's Enemy" (Comment, December issue), condemns our government for sending military aid to the Afghan resistance...

...I continue to support you only because I force myself past the graphics to read the articles, which are always top-notch...

...citizenship (which is currently before the courts), Kahane continues to make frequent fundraising trips to the United States, where he speaks at synagogues and Jewish centers and apparently has been successful in raising many tens of thousands of dollars...

...If the rebels fighting for independence believe war to be the only effective means of forcing the Soviets out...

...As Huddie Ledbetter said, "Turn yo' radio on...

...I 'irginia Author's Query For a book of personal stories by people who are acting alone or in small non-structured groups to effect social change, I would like to hear from anyone who is taking an active stand in the areas of nuclear weapons, hunger, environmental issues (eco-saboteurs, especially), women, minority, gay, and workers' rights...

...Mercedes Sayagues New York, New York The author replies: Iagree that the organizing commission "was caught between a rock and a hard place" with the appearance of twenty-three poor women from the slums of Rio at the gates to the feminist meeting...

...this means that the 1.2 million Arabs in those territories would continue their fight against Israel...

...Oh, lest I forget—the rest of the magazine is good too...

...Box 56, Com-mack, NY 11725) list frequencies for toxic-waste operations, nerve-gas storage sites, nuclear plants, and other installations that need closer public scrutiny...

...Perhaps these are already in the magazine, but 1 can't see them because of the depression induced by your illustrators...

...The bottom line in assessing their merit, I would suggest, is the need to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict with the least amount of bloodshed...

...All letters may be edited for clarity and conciseness...

...Brazil has a long history of reactionary groups manipulating poor people and sending them to places where their presence might prove embarrassing...

...To be white and college-educated in Latin America does not necessarily mean to earn a huge salary...

...If you continue to subject us to a barrage of negative images, you will probably lose me as well as other readers...

...You may not get in touch with God, but there is life beyond AM and FM...

...I don't shy away from exposing and discussing problems within the feminist movement, but as a journalist I want them placed in context and perspective, and I want to get the facts straight...

...He just turned and left...

...No U.S...

...Charis Conn Harper's Magazine New York, New York Man Without a Country Michael Finney is twice a murderer, or an accessory to murder...

...Finney with others then hijacked a passenger jet to Cuba, unwilling to face trial for his crimes and unrepentant...

...I have also watched the stable of illustrators change, affecting the general look of the magazine both favorably, in my opinion, and unfavorably...

...The organizing commission stated that the presence of the twenty-three women was a "political act," yet these women were experienced leaders in their slum communities who arrived at the meeting to exchange ideas...

...Charles Graner New Richmond, Wisconsin Women Outside the Gates Iwas appalled by Jayne H. Bloch's report on the Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Conference held in Brazil last August ("Women Outside the Gates," Datelines, December issue...

...The Great Depression of the 1930s prompted millions of Americans to turn to the socialist or communist camps...

...From a professional publishing viewpoint, I do not think it works...

...media would run the story without Pentagon verification...

...American Jews have a special responsibility with respect to Kahane because his ideology is a home-grown American product...

...I asked, and when he nodded I said, "Well, give me your address and I'll mail you one...

...When in a panic, hug your teddy bear...

...It wasn't until I started my car that I felt my face flush with shame...

...Thank you, Cox and Rath-von, for giving me an experience of successful struggle each month...

...It is absurd to compare the fanatical demagogue Kahane with Ben-Gurion or Weizmann, pragmatic leaders who dedicated their lives to creating a Jewish state in the Middle East that would exist side by side with the Arab world...

...The test placed before the organizing commission was not whether it had the will power to resist political pressure but whether it had the flexibility to stretch rules and demonstrate feminine compassion and tolerance...

...When I paid for my lunch, I mentioned him to the hostess...

...Instead, they came up with a counterproposal: They would all be permitted to enter free and participate in the discussions and activities without any rights to room and board...

...The organizing committee was caught between a rock and a hard place...

...She shrugged and said, "He's just a poor old man...

...Tuning is slightly more difficult than for regular broadcasts but the technique is easily learned...

...The Federal Emergency Management Agency has two stations that have been heard regularly on 3379, 4780, 14886...

...how many readers of The Progressive would bemoan that trend as evil...

...I'll grant that some pieces can use this kind of mid-Weimar Republic angst...

...Before we can create a humane society, we must create a human center in our own hearts...

...Almost all American Jewish organizations have consistently, repeatedly, and forcefully condemned Rabbi Meir Kahane's anti-Arab and racist demagogy...

...Only when 1 saw Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon's January puzzle did I suspect anything was amiss within the boundaries of my mind...

...Jayne H. Bloch Sao Paulo, Brazil Jayne H. Bloch's "Women Outside the Gates" reminded me of something that happened to me several months ago...

...My lunch was interrupted by a foul-smelling individual who handed me a dirty piece of paper—a note explaining that he was blind and mute, a refugee trying to get back to his family in Cuba...

...The international shortwave bands are an excellent source for news, though one must remember that these broadcasts are often as jaded as our conventional news outlets...

...this is unacceptable to 95 per cent of Israelis, since it would leave Israel militarily indefensible...

...Bloch failed to report that once they came to understand that they were being used to divide other women, some of the faveladas chose to return to Rio...

...Next time, the conservatives will have to try something else...

...And it does all this in a matter of a few seconds...

...The program initiated by the ADL includes the production of television and radio spots, posters, and a broad range of educational materials for all of the "streams" in the Israeli educational system...

...Do you take checks...

...this would satisfy the Arabs, but the Israelis are understandably reluctant to surrender their national existence...

...What if the man was lying about his family in Cuba or even about his blindness...

...Instead of bemoaning this sad state of affairs...

...Although that statement is to be applauded, one might have wished American Jewish organizations had recognized the Kahane threat much sooner, before polls in Israel were^showing his Kach Party receiving as much as 10 per cent of the Israeli vote...

...Although the participants inside had raised enough money to pay the registration fee for five of the women outside, the twenty-three women refused to split up because they couldn't see using the money for unnecessary comforts...

...The illustrations are simply awful, and I tear off all the covers to avoid having to look at them...

...But the mere fact that a political movement is fueled by poverty, unemployment, or physical insecurity does not make it a bad movement...

...Ben-Gurion and Weizmann were not "fascists"—they were statesmen with foresight, and their views should be heeded by all lovers of peace...

...He and his companions were involved in killing two police officers...

...Our view of the inherent strength of democracy and democratic values in Israel may be more sanguine than Walter Ruby's, but we intend to act vigorously to ensure that the challenge to democracy represented by Kahaneism remains nothing more than a challenge...

...The point is this: Neither you nor I nor the Feminists of Latin America and the Caribbean will change the world unless we change ourselves first...

...Steve Collins H 'illiamsburg...

...No doubt some Arabs would be unhappy about this...

...But I like my facts straight, not biased...

...Theodore Freedman Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith New York, New York Walter Ruby correctly points out that the dramatic rise of support for Rabbi Meir Kahane can be attributed to discontent generated by Israel's various socioeconomic woes...

...These stations use single sideband transmissions which require a beat frequency oscillator (bfo), a relatively common feature even on lower-priced receivers...

...The United States deserves credit for standing firmly behind those who are willing to fight and die for their national independence...

...Frank Pagano Rockledge, Florida Except for Arnold Roth, all your illustrators seem to be on bad acid trips—sort of Ralph Steadmans on a particularly nasty day...

...then we must give support to these courageous men and women...

...The exchange wasn't very productive and, feeling rather irritated, I went out to lunch alone...

...Scary...

...For the listener who is willing to dig a bit deeper, there are more direct sources...

...That is why, at the 1937 World Zionist Congress, such Socialist-Zionist leaders as David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann spoke in favor of "transferring" 225,000 Arabs out of the Jewish state-to-be...

...R. Ben-Chaim Kach Movement Jerusalem, Israel The author replies: Ifound it heartening that in the latter part of 1985, shortly after I sent my article to The Progressive, the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and other leading LETTERS to the Editor American Jewish organizations did issue a statement denouncing Meir Kahane...

...Bloch mentioned that two black women asked for donations from the 75 per cent white, college-educated audience...

...it was heard first on the Pacific Air Controllers frequency, 5574 kHz, and then on Radio Moscow...

...In a discussion with pro-Reagan co-workers, I had been ardently advocating the need for "radical social reconstruction...

...The criticism illuminates the insidious tendency toward dogmatism, hypocrisy, and just plain closed-mindedness that perhaps not surprisingly afflicts people who like to think of themselves as progressive...

...Who leaked that information...

...Perhaps...

...Magazines such as Popular Communications and books available from places such as CRB Research (P.O...

...this will not satisfy the Arabs...

...The frequencies above the shortwave bands are usually covered by devices called scanners...

...Art is supposed to communicate...

...media broke the story...

...It is absurd to argue that assisting those people who are fighting Soviet tyranny is the cause of that tyranny...

...Terry O'Laughlin Madison, Wisconsin As an avid shortwave listener for the past seven years, I have continually been amazed at the stories having major impact throughout the world which have been totally ignored by the major media...

...An undeniable necessity in achieving the kind of world we would like is the constant availability, acceptability, and tolerance of totally new ideas, be they visual, aural, political, or social...

...It seems to me that closed-mindedness—on both the Right and the Left—is perhaps the single most pervasive impediment in our quest for change...

...An individual's ability to react in a thoughtful, open way to challenging new information which conflicts with long-held beliefs is a good barometer of how truly progressive he or she is...

...The other reason 1 welcome such surprising and changing styles and artists is that I find such a policy consistent with the magazine's and my own basic world view...

...sometimes to shock...

...But how did they know that I have such a tough time with the anagrams...

...and] ignore the more pernicious—and dangerous—enemy that lurks within...

...More to the point, the Anti-Defamation League is actively working to strengthen Israeli democracy in an attempt to counter the ideology of Kahaneism...

...The ADL not only states this publicly, but is engaged in activities that will directly contribute to this goal...

...The Progressive is one of the few publications on the Left to recognize and fully utilize the ability of visual materials to grab attention, crystallize issues, and make an often indelible mark on the reader's consciousness...

...As for people who are not "progressive"—they probably look at the graphics and toss the magazine aside...

...Israeli politics...