Whatta?!

ADC Action Alert: Ad in "The Nation" Maligns Palestinians ADC Communicates Concerns, Will You? http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=8371286&type=CU Washington, DC, January 13, 2006 --This week, The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) sent a letter to "The Nation," expressing concern over an offensive and misleading ad in the January 2006 issue entitled "Arabian Fables (I)." ADC has received many complaints regarding the extremely troubling contents of the advertisement, placed in the magazine by the Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME). The ad, which claims, "the concept of Palestinians is [a] fundamental myth," goes on to list many outlandish and false statements, such as "Palestinian Arabs were in Berlin hatching plans with Adolf Hitler for world conquest and how to kill all the Jews." Especially outrageous is the racist implication that the Palestinians are inherently prone to violence and deception, and that there can be no peaceful or diplomatic resolution to the conflict. For example, the ad, which clearly represents a radical and bigoted approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, says Palestinians intend to "get as much land as possible carved out of Israel by 'peaceful and diplomatic means,' so as to make Israel indefensible and softened up for the final assault." To view the ad visit http://www.adc.org/PDF/ArabianFables.pdf ADC is disturbed by the standards that "The Nation" has exercised in accepting this ad. While we strongly respect the right to free speech, ADC believes that the ad, which presents an incredibly skewed and racist perspective of Palestinians and further reinforces stereotypes of Arabs as habituated to violence, constitutes hate speech. Ads and rhetoric like this condition people to resent and be frightened of Palestinians, and to believe that there can be no peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ADC understands that "The Nation" does not wish to infringe on the First Amendment rights of its advertisers. However, considering the continuing problems with hate crimes facing the Arab-American community, "The Nation" also has a responsibility to its readers, not to print ads that are racially offensive, and which may contribute to the worsening problem of racism and prejudice towards any ethnic group or minority, including Palestinians. After all, as mentioned in the founding prospectus, "The Nation" was founded on the principles of "bringing to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred." ACTION REQUESTED: ADC urges you to contact "The Nation" to express your concerns, and to request that the magazine reject future ads from FLAME, and other such extreme groups. Additionally, "The Nation" should issue a retraction regarding this matter. As policy, you should also urge "The Nation" to award equivalent space to Palestinian and Arab groups who may wish to articulate their points of view on the conflict. To Contact "The Nation" and express your concerns visit http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=8371286&type=CU While you may use any or all parts of ADC’s alert, please keep in mind that original letters carry more weight. You may also contact Katrina vanden Heuvel, the Editor and Publisher of the magazine, directly at: 33 Irving Place, 8th Floor New York, NY 10003 Tel: 212-209-5400 Fax: 212-982-9000 E-mail: letters@thenation.com _______________________________________________________________________ Celebrate ADC's 25 Years of Dedicated Service to Civil and Human Rights by: CONTRIBUTING TO AND/OR JOINING ADC https://www.adc.org/membership/ For more information, contact Siwar Bandar at: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) 1732 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, DC 20007 Tel: 202-244-2990 Fax: 202-244-7968 E-mail: media@adc.org www.adc.org