Temporising
with tyrants
Editorial, Financial Times, August 27,
2002
The US this month blocked extra aid to
Egypt, a long-standing Arab ally, after
Cairo ignored its entreaties and jailed
a prominent liberal dissident. Is Washington
finally willing to encourage democrats
in the Arab world, the only region almost
entirely untouched by the wave of democratisation
that has rolled over much of the developing
world in the past two decades?
THE
INFINITE WAR AND ITS ROOTS
By Stan Goff, From The Wilderness, August
27, 2002
Most of the polemical resistance to the
so-called "War on Terrorism" has thus
far been based on ethics and morality.
And the moral dimension of the war is
important. But we must take a more critical
look at this war, at what is motivating
the war, and what are the likely outcomes.
While we can mount moral resistance to
the war, if we fail to critically engage
the real causes of it, we cannot mount
an effective political resistance, which
has to be an effective response to the
motive forces behind the war.
I
have a dream too
By Annie C. Higgins, Media Monitors Network,
August
Recently The Guardian published an inspiring
piece by Jonathan Steele echoing Martin
Luther King's speech, "I have a dream"
(20 August 2002). In gratitude to both
of them, I offer my dream. I have been
in Nablus and Jenin keeping step with
Palestinians in order to provide the protection
that internationals can. I like Jonathan
Steele's dream. We need progressive visions.
Unbuilding
Babel
By Marwan Bishara, Al-Ahram Weekly, August
22 - 28, 2002
To make sense of the conflicting voices
involved in the peace process, the international
community should impose a common language,
the language of law: It is evident from
recent statements coming out of Washington
that Palestinians, Israelis and the international
community speak three different languages.
As a people under occupation, the Palestinians
want a future free of Israeli domination.
As occupiers, the Israelis demand unconditional
surrender by all the Palestinians. The
American-led international community is
proposing a compromise that might bridge
their differences. However, instead it
is widening the gulf that separates them.
The
violence of curfew
By Sam Bahour, Arab News, August 29, 2002
AL-BIREH, Ramallah, 29 August —
“Oh God, please tell Sharon to end
the curfew by this Saturday so I can go
to school.” This is how my secular,
eight-year-old daughter, Areen, has put
herself to sleep for the last two weeks.
Areen, like so many others here, have
turned to the divine powers to intervene
in ending the five-month Israeli military
curfew that is imposed on Palestinian
cities, villages and refugee camps in
the West Bank. As post 9-11 global diplomacy
patiently deliberates about how to proceed
after the failure of the Oslo Peace Accords,
Israel is systematically destroying Palestinian
livelihood, and with it, any hopes for
a future reconciliation between the two
peoples.
Click
for Articles Archives
