The *FREE ARAB VOICE* August 24, 2000 In this issue of the Free Arab Voice (FAV) we present: An Honorable American Protests Sanctions on Iraq ================================================ " I am so disappointed with all your foreign policy in the Arab World that I will never again renew my American passport". That is what an American citizen from Kansas, Ann Dabbas, told the U.S. Government in a letter that she recently sent to the American Ambassador in Amman, Jordan. Mrs. Ann Dabbas is NOT an Arab-American. She is not even a Muslim. But she is an honest American with a vibrant conscience who has been living in Jordan since she married Dr. Hashim Dabbas about four decades ago. At a time when the whole world is being Americanized through the process known as globalization, Mrs. Ann Dabbas has elected to protest against the sanctions and the bombing of Iraq in a quite extraordinary way. She tells the U.S. Ambassador in Amman: "The US & UK are still committing the most horrendous crimes on the COUNTRY of Iraq". Therefore, the full-blooded American from Kansas states: "I am ashamed to tell people I am American". She adds that "the imposition of the sanctions on Iraq is purely for the benefit of the Zionists", and warns America that its policies in the Arab World is costing the discontent of millions of Arabs. Thus, Ann Dabbas makes the linkage which many opponents of the sanctions refuse to make. Namely, she emphasizes the connection between the political interests of the Zionists in the Arab World and the continuation of the sanctions and the bombing on Iraq. While citing the illegitimacy of no-fly zones and the use of depleted uranium, Mrs. Dabbas does not reduce the issue of the sanctions to the single dimension of humanitarian concerns. She urges Americans to seek alternative sources of information and to shake the hold of Zionists on American policies in the Arab World since the 1967 war. Hence, she situates the cause of lifting the sanctions in its proper political context, not just in the ethereal space of well-intentioned idealism. To truly work towards lifting the deadly sanctions on the people and the COUNTRY of Iraq, one must confront the Zionists in America. That theme runs like an uninterrupted thread in Mrs. Dabbas's letter to the U.S. Government, without forgetting to draw a clear distinction between Jews and Zionists on the side. Furthermore, this honest American has set an example for all to follow, if not in the specific method of protest she has chosen, at least in the attitude behind it. The Free Arab Voice has obtained a copy of Mrs. Ann Dabbas's letter to the U.S. Ambassador to Amman. She writes from the heart without a political agenda or calculation as will be obvious to anyone who might read her words. The editors of the Free Arab Voice have elected, however, not to post her letter due to the sometimes aggressive language that Mrs. Dabbas uses. When a white Anglo-Saxon American says those things to other Americans, that's one thing. But when we post them, we might be misconstrued as anti-American when in fact we're anti-Zionist and anti-American Government. In short, a copy of Mrs. Dabbas's letter to the U.S. Ambassador in Amman is available upon request. If interested in receiving a copy, please email us. The Free Arab Voice ################################################ The Free Arab Voice is an alternative newsletter that comes out only in cyberspace. For other FAV issues, please visit: http://www.freearabvoice.org/favPrevIssues.htm Sign a real right of return petition at: http://www.freearabvoice.org/A-RealRightOfReturnPetition.htm Check out a special slide show on Palestine at: http://www.freearabvoice.org/RememberPalestine.htm Read the In Response to Defeatist Thought series at: http://www.freearabvoice.org/InResponseToDefeatistThought0.htm To read on Arab contributions to civilization, click on: http://www.freearabvoice.org/arabCivilMain.htm For Palestinian Poems in English, go to: http://www.freearabvoice.org/rhythmsOfTheStorm.htm The Free Arab Voice welcomes your comments, suggestions, and submissions. If you do not wish to be on FAV's mailing list, please indicate as much by writing to us.
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