AMERICAN taxpayers may be unaware that their hard-earned dollars are playing a highly visible role in the Arab-Israeli conflict. But graffiti painted on Israel’s “annexation wall” clearly spells it out: “Apartheid Wall Paid for With U.S. Tax Dollars.” U.S. aid to Israel also has been used to construct checkpoints and commercial crossings that have strangled the Palestinian economy.

by Delinda C. Hanley

By Delinda C. Hanley

JOURNALISTS FROM around the world gathered at the Intercontinental Hotel in Doha, Qatar on July 13 and 14 for the first world forum hosted by Al Jazeera Channel. The Doha forum, on "Changing Media Perceptions: Professionalism and Cultural Diversity," opened with a provocative discussion of the ethics involved in live telecasts of armed conflicts. This topic was vital for the network, which has been both criticized and lauded for transmitting pictures of human suffering and death from conflict areas. Attendees also examined the peculiar relationship between media and governments, particularly in regard to war coverage in Iraq.

Ironically, three weeks later, Iraq's interim government ordered Al Jazeera's Baghdad office closed for a month, charging that by showing images of hostages in Iraq, the TV network incites violence and hatred. Conference participants spent much of their time discussing this same issue, trying to delineate where freedom of information turns into incitement, and where omission becomes censorship. Unfortunately, there was no representative from Iraq's interim government to hear the views offered by journalists from many nations.

By Delinda C. Hanley

AFTER 9/11, growing numbers of Muslim Americans turned to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to safeguard their civil rights and to keep abreast of political issues. These days CAIR, established to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America, finds its work more essential than ever. In addition to its Washington, DC headquarters, CAIR now has 23 chapters across the country, and its membership has tripled since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

by Delinda C. Hanley

After serving nearly 18 years in an Israeli prison-11-1/2 of them in solitary confinement-Mordechai Vanunu should be a free man on April 21. Now 49 years old, he has spent the prime of his life locked in a 6-foot by 9-foot cell in Ashkelon prison for blowing the whistle on Israel's secret nuclear arsenal.

Vanunu's friends and enemies alike worry about what will happen next.

As his release date nears, Vanunu is said to be in good spirits. He knows he did the right thing by telling Israelis and the rest of the world what his country was up to, and he looks forward to a new beginning-perhaps moving to the United States, where his adoptive parents live, and becoming a history teacher.