Al-Ahram Weekly | Opinion

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 28 Dec. 2000 - 3 Jan. 2001 Issue No.514
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Doing our bit
Sir- All the Palestinian forces engaged in the armed conflict are aware that they are striking Israeli strategy at the core. Can Israel afford protracted guerrilla warfare with many fatalities and maimed on a daily basis? The latest figures released from Israel emphasise that tourism has been crippled since the inception of the revolt. Foreign investments and reconstruction projects are at their lowest ebb. Security and peace of mind are now a distant hope. Even the economic siege on the Palestinians backfired against Israel. The inflection of Asian manpower into Israel added fire to fuel due to problems of accommodations and wages.
After rounds of fruitless negotiations and procrastination on one hand, and the latest political developments in America and Israel on the other, the Intifada had to step in to fill the vacuum in the Middle East. Palestinians rightly realised that only through a barrel of gun, not by stone pelting, would they acquire their rights. There is no other alternative.
To keep the revolt on track, we shouldn't allow the flames of enthusiasm to flicker or cool. Moral and practical support are sorely needed. Away from the implications and manipulations of politics, philanthropic societies, syndicates and other institutions could work wonders. Some schools arranged Palestinian resistance week, after which contributions were deposited in the bank account of the resistance.
My family, of course, can't lag behind. Before Eid Al-Fitr we decided to cancel our traditional festivities. No new clothes, pleasant trips, good food or even delectable kahk, but generous donations to the Palestinian heroes.
Mahmoud Elewa
Maadi

A repressed past
Sir- As I sit and read the news about the situation in "Israel," I am shocked by the loss of human life. I am a professor of religious studies, and I am amazed that in the new millennium we are still facing the problem of religious identity. Political decisions and games are played but innocent young lives are lost. Where are we? Are we in the time of the Crusades when religious killing was encouraged? Are we not yet secular? Have we learned anything?
A repressed past is a way of seeing ourselves as victims and creating another gruesome future of memories. I teach my students that we must learn something from the world wars, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, and Palestine. Yet I fear that it does not matter. We said "Let us not repeat the past," but we only repress it, and more murders are committed in an even more sophisticated manner than before. We see the Palestinians killed, but we are still on the political level of games. We must understand that not all games are fair, and perhaps at some point we must take the game seriously.
Do we want our generation to remember glory in fighting "other" religions and nations? Is it too much to ask ourselves: Who is this for? Why do we need to kill, and for what?
The ivory tower I speak from urgently needs to reflect on the real political actions that are being taken against nationality, race, and religious preference. I am sad, and my students apathetic; but I am hopeful nonetheless.
Mehnaz M Afridi Los Angeles, California, US

Fish or fowl
Sir- This week, to find something wrong, I was obliged to solve the crossword by Samia Abdennour.
Teal (13 down) is a bird, not a fish.
Paolo Lombardini
Zamalek

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