7 - 13 February 2002
Issue No.572
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 7 - 13 February 2002 Issue No.572 |
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Credit for balance
Sir- Re Ibrahim Nafie's "Insults of the imagination" (Al-Ahram Weekly, 31 January - 6 February): I agree that the Egyptian government has not received enough credit for the work they have done to restrict terrorism. The Western press treats Egypt unfairly, I think because of some of the actions of expatriate Egyptians, not realising that they have been driven from Egypt because of their actions.
I enjoy reading your paper because it gives the views of the Middle East to an American who feels that generally both sides of an issue can be true.
I thought Nafie's story illustrated a real effort at being fair and balanced about a topic so many, East and West, find it very difficult to deal with impartially. Thanks.
Charles W Stewart
Hannibal LaGrange College
US
No clear policy
Sir- I commend Mohamed Hakki for his recent "No more excuses" (Al- Ahram Weekly, 31 January - 6 February) and his numerous thoughtful and frank opinion pieces. As a former senior professional staff member of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, I share his concerns about current US foreign policy.
On one hand, Secretary of State Powell and his professional team at the Department of State is the best I have seen in two decades.
As part of a small group of journalists, I had the opportunity to meet with the secretary and the top leadership in early November 2001 for two days of intense briefings. It was clear to me, at that time, the department's position was to seek a just solution to the Palestine question, and to not exclude out of hand the possibility of developing some path toward a modus vivendi with the more controversial states in the region.
On the other hand, "domestic politics" may well be interfering with White House policymaking. This should come as no surprise to Egyptians who might recall a wily Egyptian ruler in ancient times who bought the Roman Senate.
Even before President Bush took office, there were indications that White House policy would be to focus initially on certain controversial states and to make the Palestine question a secondary matter. This was not a prudent course of action, as events have shown the world, and a just solution to the Palestine question must be placed at the top of the regional agenda.
It would appear that the White House, despite a strong professional State Department team and unparalleled intelligence capabilities, continues to lack a clear and coherent policy with respect to the Middle East.
This is hard to explain as we do not lack experience in the region. The United States has had constructive relations with the Arab and Muslim worlds since our first treaty with Morocco was signed in 1787. At that time, President George Washington himself exchanged friendly letters with the ruler of Morocco.
The United States, it is true, has also had to put its foot down from time to time. President Thomas Jefferson had to deal with the depredations of the Barbary pirates, and President Eisenhower had to deal with European and Israeli neo-imperialism during the Suez Crisis.
The White House today would do well to reflect on the words of George Antonius, who once wrote that the United States was one of "two foster- parents of the Arab resurrection." Arab and Muslim dismay over current US policy can be understood in this context.
And so can the dismay of many Americans, who are neither Arab nor Muslim, be understood.
C A Kiracofe, PhD
Washington, DC
US
Look to the East
Sir- The article "On the home front" (Al-Ahram Weekly, 31 January - 6 February) was very sobering and probably more crucial to the Egyptian people than anything else in the newspaper. It appears that Egyptian industry is not prepared to withstand the onslaught of international competition -- Egyptian consumers prefer foreign (East Asian) products that are better made and less costly than domestic ones.This prompted me to check some statistics:
South Korea, with a population only two-thirds that of Egypt, has an economy three times the size of Egypt's. Thailand, with a population about the same as Egypt, has an economy twice as large. Tiny Singapore, with only four million people, produces goods and services equal to half the Egyptian population!
I think there is something very important here that is being obscured by the debate over the "clash of civilisations" between the Islamic world and the West. I agree that US foreign policy is wrong on issues like Palestine. However, one simply cannot blame the West for all the ills in the Middle East.
If looking West is too fraught with past history and cultural minefields, perhaps by looking East, Egyptians and others can find examples of combining modernity with traditional ways. Without this, I fear for the Egyptian people.
Dan MacLeod
New York
US
The right model
Sir- Aziza Sami's article, "Improving aid prospects" (Al-Ahram Weekly, 24-30 January) was enlightening. What caught my attention was the question that reporters asked the USAID representative about South Korea. They wanted to know why Egypt hasn't become the South Korea of the Middle East. The answer lies in Egypt's recent history. Remember that Egypt followed the Soviet Union politically and militarily until the early 1980s. But Egypt clung to the Soviet/Marxist economic model until recently. You didn't begin to change the model until just a few years ago, and the changes have been minor. Today, most of Egypt's economy still follows the old Marxist model.
As an economist who has specialised in economic development, it's heartbreaking to see the devastation that Marxism has caused in places like India, most Arab countries, African countries and Eastern Europe. There is hope for improvement, but Egypt will need the right perspective in order to stick with the programme long enough to see results. To begin with, Egypt should not compare itself to South Korea because that country adopted a form of capitalism right after the Korean war, and it has a lot of problems. China is not a good example, either, because of its size and because it abandoned Marxist economics, but not politics, in the early 1980s. China is also very large and has a huge population of wealthy expatriates who invest in the country.
Egypt should look to the former communist countries of Eastern Europe for guidance and examples of what works and what doesn't, as well as examples of how quickly you can expect living standards to improve. Poland is probably the best example in the group.
Most of all, you shouldn't compare Egypt with Europe or the US. It took us 300 years to get where we are. Unfortunately, economic development is a very slow process for anyone. Even at China's growth rate of seven or eight per cent per year, per capita income will only increase at about five per cent per year, which means that it will take about 20 years to see incomes double, and that is if you don't have any setbacks like the current one. So look for it to take about one generation for a doubling of per capita income, which is the true measure of the standard of living.
I wish I could be more encouraging, but it's important to be realistic. Hang in there and Egypt will see its standard of living improve, if you don't get weary and give up.
Roger D McKinney
Tulsa, Oklahoma
US
Vote for non-violence
Sir- It is so upsetting to me as a citizen of the United States that we seem to be thinking of expanding our search for "terrorists" around the world. And to think that I heard just today that Bush has a 90 per cent popularity rating!
Some of us locally, however, are beginning to unite around the issue of non-violence. At least it will be something positive to do in what seems like an insane world.
Jane Vitale
Pocatello, Idaho
US
Unjust asylum
Sir- Although Australia is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol, and as such has agreed not to punish asylum-seekers for arriving without proper documentation, the Australian government has implemented a policy of detaining what it calls "illegals" (those without valid passports and visas). Such detention breaches the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, because it is arbitrary, being applied to all without their being tried by a competent court or tribunal. Some of these people, including children, have been detained for years and, under Australian law, are not entitled to any judicial review of their situation.
Australia is the only country in the world to treat asylum-seekers in this way. Currently, many of those in the detention centres are involved in protests by engaging in self-mutilation such as sewing their lips together, hunger strikes or attempted suicide.
The Australian government reasons that the drastic measures it uses are necessary to deter the "flood" of illegal immigrants it says are just waiting for their chance to come here. The fact is that the on-shore asylum-seekers, mostly from the Middle East and/or Muslim, are vastly outnumbered by other illegals -- white people who overstay their visas or breach their visa conditions, but who are not subjected to such harsh treatment.
In short, Australia's policy on asylum-seekers is racist, unjust, and shameful. Please express your disgust by contacting the Australian Prime Minister at:
www.pm.gov.au/your_feedback/feedback.htm
or the Minister for Immigration at:
www.minister.immi.gov.au/general/contacts.htmChris Connors
Kalapa, Queensland
Australia
Continue the campaign
Sir- Please ask Mr Marwan Barghouthi to continue his campaign to tell the world about Israeli torture, occupation, discrimination, and their brutal occupation and suppression of the indigenous people of Palestine. The truth must be told about one of the most racist, discriminatory, and unfair regimes ever to receive US support. Thank you.
Les Pauls
Des Plaines, Illinois
US
Human, all human
Sir- As a journalist I enjoy your views on matters pertaining to the Middle East and the situations in this region (culture, politics...) -- one of the most interesting and greatest civilisations in the world.
We must all learn more from each other and accept differences of opinion, learn and move ahead to progress and improve our lives for the good of mankind.
Religion and politics should never be an issue. What matters is that we are humans.
Werner Gessner
Miami Beach, Florida
US
Use press freedom
Sir- The commentary by Marwan Barghouti "Want security? Give the Palestinians freedom" (Al-Ahram Weekly, 24-30 January) was very enlightening, and as we would say in the US, publishing this in Al- Ahram is "preaching to the choir."
As intransigent as US foreign policy can seem, it is very much moved by public opinion. This is a good commentary to be sent to a major American paper.
Believe it or not, most Americans believe in fairness and equality and would be quite moved by Barghouti's desire for peace, especially in light of his own ordeal of imprisonment and torture.
Palestinians and Arabs in general have grown more sophisticated in recent years in presenting their case in the US media. What is called for I believe is an all-out media campaign. Barghouti and similarly articulate, compassionate, and well reasoned Palestinians might be surprised what power they could wield in changing US foreign policy.
Under US constitutional law, there is a fundamental principle of notice and opportunity to be heard before the government takes any decision that significantly affects a citizen's rights. This basic principle has been especially problematic in light of the US's superpower status and the fact that our foreign policies often affect people who have no legal right to receive notice or be heard from before we act.
But we do have a free press, and I urge you to make use of it often.
Valerie Corzine
Colorado
US
Sound argument
Sir- Both the tenor and content of Mr Hani Shukrallah's article "A cultural thing" (Al-Ahram Weekly, 31 January - 6 February) appear to me so attractively mature in outlook and sound in argument that I felt compelled to write you.
A splendid piece of writing, especially its first few paragraphs.
John Mandalios
Griffith University
Australia
Forward to Bush
Sir- You are to be congratulated on your choice of collaborating columnists: I have yet to read, anywhere in the media world of East and West, a better report on a subject any one of you has tackled...
Hani Shukrallah's column, "A cultural thing" (Al- Ahram Weekly, 31 January - 6 February) is so to the point that I had to forward it to my friends and acquaintances at the college, in my church, to our local mosque and one of our three synagogues. Thank you, Mr Shukrallah... By the way, re "torturing prisoners" (I mean "Muslim detainees"), even the (in- )famous Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz found it necessary to come out in favour of torturing prisoners in "some cases" -- even before US Attorney General Ashcroft advocated sending "Afghan detainees" to friendly countries whose (tyrannical) leaders are known to use torture efficiently and effectively: Long live the rule of law. Pitifully, though, all this absurd verbal manipulation of the noun "terrorism" is done to the satisfaction, according to "polls," of the majority of us, US voters, even Floridians...
And many thanks to Mr Hakki on his article about Israel biting the hand that has been feeding and alas arming it (I haven't touched the New York Times or the Washington Post in years and, on radio and TV, I try to enjoy music, plays and documentaries dealing with the world outside Dar Al-Islam.
But I do read you, The Nation and The Guardian and I've forwarded full articles and many quotations from all three great publications to President W Bush (president@whitehouse.gov) and to Secretary Powell (secretary@state.gov).
Khalil I Semaan
New York
US
The Egyptian perspective
Sir- Thank you for publishing the articles under the canopy of "Endgame" (Al-Ahram Weekly, 24-30 January).
Those of us who lived through those years and read the articles can learn so much that we did not know before. Being a New Zealander, I obviously only read the English account of those events. Now, with more than 80 years of life behind me, I learn a different perspective and can fashion a more balanced understanding. The brilliant 18th-century American J L M Curry expressed it perfectly in his Legal Justification of the Southern Secession, saying: "The conquerors write their history. Power in the ascendant not only makes the laws, but controls public opinion."
May we please see a continuation of these fine articles.
Norman R Winterbottom
North Shore City
New Zealand
Terror, not religion
Sir- Undoubtedly, there is no religion that advocates terrorism. However, after the 11 September attacks on US, many Western countries have directed their anger against Islam, Muslims and the Arab nation in general, and this attitude has unfortunately been encouraged by some Israeli politicians who warned the world against what they term "Arab Islamic terrorism."
If this kind of terrorism is named Islamic or Arab, then how should we refer to the planned assassination operations carried out by various organs of the Israeli government; can these acts be labelled Jewish terrorism? And what of the terrorist incidents witnessed in the United States in the past 10 years, including the Oklahoma City bombing; can they be called Christian terrorism? How can we ever link these disgraceful crimes to divine religions that have brought mercy to humanity?
This misunderstanding of Islam, which is to the core based on ignorance and a vision of others as intrinsically evil, does not constitute a healthy atmosphere to find a fair solution to the Palestinian cause. No doubt, the Arab League is first and foremost responsible for raising awareness in the West of the core of Islam.
General Mohamed Mesbah
Maadi
Egypt
Bush's apocalypse
Sir- The stage appears to be set for the killing of Yasser Arafat by Israel, an action you don't expect to occur without the permission of President Bush. A few days ago Ariel Sharon said that Arafat should have been "eliminated" in 1982. Arafat has begun talking publicly of his death and asking to be photographed reading the Qur'an. Leaders across the Middle East have begun speaking of Israel's need for Arafat in negotiating peace. It is evident, however, that Israel and Sharon do not want peace. And it is equally evident that President Bush does not respect the right of the Palestinian people to live in a state of self-respect and self-determination, and their right to fight for that right. For me, the administration's unprecedented tilt toward Israel since 11 September is clear evidence of President Bush's failure to understand the roots of terrorism and the causal influence of Israel's systematic aggression against the Palestinian people.
Israel is possessed by the paradigm that its security is a function of aggression. It has brought about the terrorism it experiences now at the hands of the Palestinians by driving Palestinians into despair and hopelessness, the root psychic causes of the terrorist state of mind. President Bush and his administration fail to understand that allowing Israel's aggression against the Palestinian people increases terrorism. Sharon is acting so as to turn every Palestinian into a terrorist and our naive president is supporting him.
If Israel and America wanted peace in the Middle East, they would be working to create a Palestinian state free of despair and hopelessness, a state in which the Palestinian people feel that justice exists and their rights are respected. But aggression is Israel's aim, not peace. And President Bush is embedded in a militaristic world view. Osama Bin Laden's dream of apocalypse in the Middle East is materialising at the hands of President Bush.
David Hallock
Washington, DC
US
Role models
Sir- I am surprised that in the article "Who owns the past?" (Al-Ahram Weekly, 31 January - 6 February) you haven't mentioned the praiseworthy work done by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in restoring the heart of the Old City of Cairo.
When role models are eagerly sought, why not look at the work of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and its many agencies and programmes, such as the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
For your convenience, here are some links to assist you in your research.
The Azhar Park Project in Cairo and the Conservation and Revitalisation of Darb Al-Ahmar (available in Acrobat PDFs):
www.akdn.org/agency/aktc_hcsp.html
www.akdn.org/agency/aktc.html
www.akdn.org/agency/akaa/eighthcycle/page_05txt.htmAzeem Maherali
Ottawa
Canada
Hiding the truth
Sir- It is indeed a disturbing development to learn that Al-Jazeera has been concealing information from its viewers. There was a time when people outside the Arab world thought that Al- Jazeera was the only Arab media outlet that could be trusted to give full and unbiased coverage. Now we find that there are no such outlets.
If Al-Jazeera, an ostensibly "independent" station, would go so far as to falsely claim that it had no knowledge of Osama Bin Laden's taped confession to charges of terrorism (as witnessed by an Al-Jazeera journalist -- not easy to blame this one on CIA editing machines), I shudder to think how far state-owned media like Al- Ahram will go to save readers from the truth.
Arab media have done a great disservice to the Arab people by acting as voluntary propaganda machines, exaggerating those elements of the truth that are "helpful" to the Arab cause, and hiding those elements of the truth that are embarrassing. Is it not enough that we live in a world where the Western media heed ridiculous government requests not to air video of the world's most wanted terrorist (although the Western media at least printed transcripts of the earlier videos so we could read Osama's words)? Now we find that Arab media have contributed to the glorification of Osama Bin Laden by flatly refusing to reveal known evidence about who he really is.
What does Al-Ahram know that you're not sharing with your readers?
Walter Gottlieb
Bad Bergzabern
Germany
No place like home
Sir- Much has been said about the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden. Some say that he is dead, others say that he is still in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
If I were Osama Bin Laden, I would not hide out in either of these places. In Afghanistan, there is too much attention. Bin Laden would stand out in Pakistan, because he is tall and pale, while the Pakistanis tend to be short and darker coloured. The best place for Bin Laden to hide is Saudi Arabia. He would be shielded by a friendly government that has obstructed American investigations into the Khobar towers bombing, and more recently funded Arafat's Karine A arms fiasco. He would have access to the most modern medical technology for his alleged kidney ailments. Finally, he would be shielded by family. There's no place like home for a terrorist.
Herbert Kaine
Berkeley, California
US
Mutual favours
Sir- Why is it so difficult to understand US foreign policy?
On one hand, the US wants to stand out as a defender of democracy and human rights and asserts that these ideals permeate its foreign policy. On the other hand, the US cooperates with some of the world's most undemocratic regimes without criticising their violations of human rights. How is one supposed to understand and explain the contradictions in American foreign policy?
Maybe nobody has managed to answer this question better than the present US ambassador to Egypt, David Welch. On 28 January, Welch delivered a speech at the American University in Cairo on "US Foreign Policy in the Middle East," in which he focused on the need for economic reforms in Egypt but was less enthusiastic about putting pressure on the Egyptian government when it came to human rights issues. David Welch said Egypt was a friend, "and we do not put pressure on our friends."
The speech is not only a revelation of the secret behind American decision-making in the Middle East. Welch is also sending a clear message to the governments of the Middle East. His message is: As long as you cooperate with us, you are allowed to violate human rights.
Salam Kamel
Cairo
Egypt
Stop, world
Sir- What on earth is happening? Religions used as an excuse to kill, 11 September the beginning of the end, Sharon the vampire, Bush the cowboy, and the world is slipping into never-never land. Arafat: what is he up to? What are human beings? Worthless creatures of a destructive nature? What is civilisation -- is it hell on earth? What is democracy? What is good for me but not for you?
Stop, world, stop, you animals with brains, stop, oh democrats, stop religion, stop civilisation, stop bleeding your world, trying to prove that you and only you are the best, the most righteous, the most civilised. Stop, and look around you. What has man made of man? What has man done to Mother Earth? What have we made of God?
Amira Nour
Cairo
Egypt
True favourites
Sir- I want to express my admiration for all the articles published by your distinguished paper, but mainly I enjoy and always look forward to reading two of them: Pot Pourri by Fayza Hassan, and Sufra Dayma by Moushira Abdel-Malek. The first is always so entertaining, light and alive, when I read it I don't want to miss a single line. The second is written so simply and thoroughly that I can follow the recipe and be sure that it will be successful. The ingredients are always easy to measure, affordable and on market shelves.
My compliments to both those ladies.
Please keep it up.
Mona S Bawab
Heliopolis
Egypt
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