The following letter was sent to the editors of The Nation on May 16, 2001. No reply was received. The same message was sent to National Public Radio and The Oregonian's Public Editor, Dan Hortsch, on 5/26/01. No reply from that source either. Copies were sent to the Oregon Congressional Delegation and numerous media lists. No explanation of the failure of the media to cover the issue has been forthcoming.
To Editors of The Nation:
In your editorial "Rogue Nation" (5/28/01) you list 19 more or less specific affronts to the international community which you claim led to the ouster of the US from the UN Human Rights Commission. You include the US opposition to low-cost drugs for HIV/AIDS, a universal right to food, a moritorium on the death penalty, the US rejection of the Kyoto accords, and cutting off family planning aid to NGOs in much of the third world - plus several other objectionable US positions.
However, like the rest of the US press, you left out the most obvious, egregious, example of US "unilateralism": our categorical protection of Israel against UN enforcement of Resolutions 194, 242, and 338. In instance after instance the US has stood alone in the face of world condemnation of Israel's occupation and illegal actions against the Palestinians. Our nation has shamed us in the eyes of the world by repeatedly abusing our veto in the UN Security Council, preventing redress by the international community for Israel's illegal behavior.
The Nation is not alone in failing to acknowledge the US's shielding Israel as one of the probable causes of negative reactions in the UN. I have yet to find any mention of Israel by several major papers and mainstream mags in their extensive coverage of the lost UN seat. National Public Radio did not utter a syllable about Israel. Is this just coincidental oversight? What is going on with the US press and coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian struggle? Is this issue just too hot for the US press? Is the US press unwilling to hold Israel responsible and offend American Jewry?
Thanks for any response you'd care to make,
Carl Reynolds
reynolds@spiritone.com
http://www.quixote-quest.org/