Al-Ahram Weekly | Opinion | Letters to the Editor

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 15 - 21 February 2001 Issue No.521
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Blind faith?
Sir- As we sit and watch the Israeli elections from the US, and see the inexorable massacre of Palestinians, there is nothing we can do. I want to take into account all the wonderful strong articles written in Al-Ahram Weekly about the unrelenting situation in Israel these past 50 years, but especially the last few articles, about what the future will be for the Palestinian people. As Edward Said wrote (Al-Ahram Weekly, 8-14 February), "every Israeli triumph has been a symmetrical Palestinian loss." One has to gasp at the profundity of this statement in terms of war/peace. I would like to point out that the "peace" the international community is talking about is unequal. When two parties exchange or negotiate, it has to be symmetrical power, otherwise there is no outcome. Said has written about Israelis living in an "invisible" Israel, and this blindness is overwhelming especially since we know that even Oedipus the King had to gouge out his own eyes to "see" what it was like be "blind" -- an oxymoron, but very much an illustration of today's situation in Israel.
Let us imagine the following: Edward Said and Elie Wiesel sitting in a café in Paris, sipping coffee and talking about "peace." Both these men have been dispossessed and have experienced a loss of identity, either through displacement or the stripping of humanity. Why can we not imagine them together? The reason is simple: inequality. Elie Wiesel has two "homes": New York, and Israel. Said has two "homes": New York and the forgotten Palestine.
These two scholars are contemporaries who have spoken out against atrocities and discrimination. Is it possible that their perspectives can be shared at a bleak moment for the Palestinians? I do not know. But if we don't start to look at warring communities radically in terms of equality then there is no hope. A sadness overwhelms me as I look at my bookshelf and I see Elie Wiesel's Night and Edward Said's The Politics of Dispossession. Is it wrong to have learned something valuable from both men, even if they don't agree? I wonder.
Mehnaz M Afridi
Los Angeles, California
US

War on asymmetry
Sir- What is always missing from Hani Shukrallah's writings is symmetry. You won't print this of course, but someone should point out that when Shukrallah says that Israelis killed "129 Palestinians, 23 of them children" since the last Intifada, he omits how many Israeli civilians -- including children -- were killed by Palestinians. This includes people killed while innocently shopping or riding on a bus in terror bombings which took place on many occasions in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Netnaya and elsewhere.
This selective reporting in the Arab world breeds hatred, and will lead to war.
Gregg Stevens
Boston, Massachusetts
US

Forever young
Sir- Ramadan is over, and the television topics we discussed fiercely in those days are old matters now. In a few months, the studios will start the new production for next Ramadan, and maybe it would be wise to revise the programming for the holy month. I think most Egyptians would welcome something new, just for a change.
Still, while waiting for new productions, I can't forget some remarks I read about soap operas in the newspapers, especially about Wagh Al-Qamar, because I think they really overstep the mark. It is good that "major" actors accepted to act in a soap opera. Faten Hamama, Gamil Rateb and Ahmed Ramzi were fascinating and believable -- and we can't say that about many young actors, can we? Sometimes, "old Romeos" are just better. And if you dislike them, or prefer to remember them forever young, just switch off the TV -- they're not competing for the Oscar, after all. There is no need to be offensive. Laura Callegari
6 October City

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