
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 12, 1991                   TAG: 9104120931
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A/6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IT'S TIME AMERICA TOOK INTEREST IN OTHER TINY NATIONS

THE PLIGHT of the Kurds in Iraq brings to world attention the precarious existence of all the small peoples of the Middle East.

Although the area's overwhelming majority is made up of Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims, there are many smaller nations that have existed in that region of the world since time immemorial. Many like the Kurds - Armenians, Georgians, Lebanese Maronite Christians, Egyptian Coptic Christians, Assyrians (Iraqi Christians), as well as Jews, trace their history back to the days of the Bible. Others represent breakaway sects from Islam - the Druze, the Baha'is and the Shiites.

All these smaller nations and sects have been subject to persecution, second-class citizenship and even genocide. America fought to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi aggression. Now it is time American foreign policy takes an interest in these other small Middle Eastern nations whose very existence often totters on the brink of annihilation.

RABBI JEROME S. FOX

ROANOKE

by CNB