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Thread ID: 7102 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2003-06-03
2003-06-03 19:59 | User Profile
Commentary: Chevron-Texaco Refuses Comment on Controversial Letter
A high-ranking employee at Chevron-Texaco made pejorative references about Jews in a strong antiwar letter sent to Insight, and the company refuses to say whether the letter writer's views represent those of Chevron-Texaco. Amy Wheeler, a technical editor who works in government and public affairs at Chevron-Texaco's corporate headquarters in San Ramon, Calif., blasted rock star Gene Simmons as a "Jewish kibbutzer" in an e-mail sent to Insight over the company Web server, ChevronTexaco.com.
The May 2 letter, the full text of which is reproduced below, criticized as "slanted" a story Insight ran about the fates of entertainers who were for and against the war with Iraq [see "Antiwar Singers Out of Tune With Public"]. Simmons, cofounder of the heavy-metal band KISS, was a supporter of the war. He noted how his mother had been liberated from a Nazi concentration camp by American forces in World War II, and argued that once again the United States had saved people from oppression.
But to Chevron-Texaco's Wheeler, the war simply meant that "the U.S. can devastate a virtually defenseless enemy." Wheeler concluded the letter with the phrase, "Mazel tov," apparently a sarcastic use of the Hebrew expression for "Congratulations."
Cliff May, president of the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), was shocked by the sentiments expressed in the e-mail. "This seems to me to be fairly obviously anti-Semitic and fairly obviously anti-American," May tells Insight. "It defends Saddam Hussein by characterizing him as a 'virtually defenseless enemy.' It bears a remarkable resemblance to the hate mail we have received here." May says Chevron-Texaco should take action to dissociate itself from the viewpoints expressed in the letter by an editorial employee from its offices. But company spokeswoman Bonnie Chaikind refused to criticize the e-mail in response to Insight's queries. "We will not comment on whether this e-mail is acceptable under our policy," Chaikind replied.
Stephen Schwartz, a senior policy analyst at May's FDD and author of the book The Two Faces of Islam, said he is not surprised that a top official at Chevron-Texaco would hold these views because, he alleges, the company has been at the forefront of defending Wahhabism, the extremist Islamic movement that is dominant in Saudi Arabia. Ironically, he says, while leftists claim the war is about oil, many oil-industry honchos from Chevron-Texaco and other oil companies apparently feel quite comfortable dealing with fanatical Arab regimes. The company and its predecessor, Chevron, have "supported Wahhabis to defend their [oil] holdings," Schwartz claims. "They have carried on a 70-year disinformation campaign with the message that Wahhabism is a harmless form of Islam. It continues to this day."
Schwartz adds that retired Chevron executives have attacked his book for criticizing Wahhabism and Saudi leaders.
Text of letter from Amy Wheeler:
Gee, this certainly is a SLANTED story, written before recent reports that the Dixie Chicks are selling out their U.S. tour and that their record sales are once again soaring. But by having quotes only from a Jewish kibbutzer and a leader for the American Conservative something or other, what is this story supposed to mean? KISS has been a has-been for many years, and no one has ever hear [sic] of Christian whomever. If you wanted incendiary pro-war comments, Dennis Miller would have been your boy. Except to print Dennis Miller's comments would put the lie to your comment that he's "thoughtful." And of course, Dennis Miller couldn't even keep his Monday night football gig.
From an entertainment angle, this story has nothing going for it except that some people are against the attack on Iraq and some people are apparently surprised, happily, that the U.S. can devastate a virtually defenseless enemy.
Mazel tov!
Amy Wheeler San Ramon, Calif. [url=http://www.insightmag.com/news/437969.html]Link[/url]