Issue No. 612
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14 - 20 November 2002 Issue No. 612 Readers' corner |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
From coast to coast
Sir-- I have been a frequent reader and admirer of your publication. I am writing with regard to the article entitled 'Worldwide protests' (Al- Ahram Weekly, 31 October - 6 November), which was a very short article. I wanted to point out, however, that there were also tens of thousands of protesters in San Francisco, California, on 26 October which was the same day as the Washington DC protest. It is estimated that there were about 80,000 people who participated in this West Coast protest. As one of these protesters, I just wanted to get the word out to your readership. There are many people in the US who will not stand for this racist war.
Peace be with you all.
Carissa DiGiovanni
San Diego, CA
USA
Bush's kingdom
Sir-- I was reluctant to write this letter because I love and respect my country, but as an American, I not only have the right to criticise but it is my duty. My honourable discharge from the Marine Corps and my Purple Heart for wounds received in Korea on 18 August 1952, give me special rights.
President Bush is too eager to send American men and women into harm's way. If he had gone to Vietnam instead of avoiding that duty by joining the Texas Air National Guard, he might be less prone to dash into war. His conduct of late resembles that of a king rather than a president. His request for war powers would make the great mean who founded our nation turn over in their graves. And Mr Bush's clever use of Clinton-type words to twist the Constitution in his favour is juvenile. I hope that Congress has the good sense to restrict this man's ideas of power.
The fuse that resulted in the terrible explosion on 11 September was lit when President Bush's father sent American troops to defend Kuwait. Kuwait needed help, but that assistance should have come from nations in that part of the world and/or the United Nations. Every terrorist act that has occurred in the last 12 years can be traced directly to American involvement in the Middle East. Osama Bin Laden did not wake up one morning and say, "I think I shall hate America from now on." His hatred was and is the direct result of American interference in the internal affairs of Middle Eastern countries. If I were to list all of these intrusions, I would need a book about as thick and long as War and Peace.
And now, King Bush wants to do it all over again. If I hear him or Prince Rumsfeld use the expression "weapons of mass destruction" one more time, I'll start to spit nickels. No one who was sober, drug-free and had gone beyond eighth grade in public school could possibly argue in favour of pre-emptive strikes. Their logic with regard to such weapons is childish at best. Russia, China, France, Britain, North Korea, India, Pakistan and God knows who else, all have such weapons. Does the king intend to make pre-emptive strikes against them too? If this man, this president, this king had been running the country during the Cold War, most of the world would have gone up in smoke.
William F Pittenger
Garden City, Idaho
USA
Missing the point
Sir-- I am writing this letter to take issue with the opening statement in the article 'Protocols, politics and Palestine' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 7-13 November). The writer, Amira Howeidy, opened her article by saying: "The Bush administration, Israel and the Jewish lobby in the US are unknowingly doing Egyptian actor Mohamed Sobhi a huge favour." The implication in this statement is that this drama series lacks in substance and artistic value, and that the only thing that raised it to prominence was the "fuss" raised by the Bush administration, Israel and the Jewish lobby.
I would have had no problem with this idea had the writer been able to prove that the drama series had no artistic merit. She didn't. Throughout the article she quoted other writers, thinkers and actors but never gave her own point of view that asserts her opening statement. I find this very unprofessional and frankly inexcusable coming from a great institution as Al-Ahram.
I would respectfully ask you to make sure in the future that writers substantiate their statement by logical arguments.
Ahmed Attia
Fairfax Station, VA
USA
To speak or not to speak
Sir-- In the face of Horseman Without a Horse, the Jewish community and Israel had only two options. First, not to respond to the terrible accusations and stigmatisation of the Jewish people as being ruthless, aggressive, domineering, conspiring etc. But when they ignored these accusations in the past they experienced pogroms and Holocaust. Not to answer the "horseman" would have only confirmed the accusation.
Thus, the only option they were left with was to respond to the terrible lies, although fair Egyptian journalism should have been more effective in telling the truth. However, journalism in Egypt -- which prints many anti-Semitic cartoons -- cannot rise to this level of honesty. This is why a lot of us believe that it is time for democracy to happen even in Egypt. Moreover, if Egypt wants peace in the Middle East then the masses should be well informed and educated to accept Israel with emphasis on co-existence. I expect Al-Ahram Weekly to start this move.
Isaac Barr
Michigan
USA
Switch channels
Sir-- I find it strange, sad and ironic that the US is always accused of demonising Arabs and Muslims, yet the people in your country have decided that watching Nazi propaganda like Horseman Without a Horse is how they want to spend their sacred Muslim holiday. That is sad and seems to confirm that Muslims are determined to blindly continue to make themselves look like fools to the world.
Kari Beinholf
Los Angeles
USA
Fabricated literature
Sir-- News is circulating around the world that a privately-owned Egyptian television station is going to give a prominent favourable presence to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a work of fiction concocted by the secret police of Czar Nicholas II, in a 41-part series dealing with the history of the Middle East from 1855-1917.
If anything is going to help the Zionist cause and divert world attention away from the crimes of Zionism against humanity, it is presenting The Protocols as an authentic historic document which has a history with which historians are well familiar.
Danny Keren noted in an essay posted on alt.conspiracy on February 10, 1993:
"The direct predecessor of the Protocols can be found in the pamphlet 'Dialogues in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu', published by the non-Jewish French satirist Maurice Joly in 1864. In his "Dialogues", which make no mention of the Jews, Joly attacked the political ambitions of the Emperor Napoleon III using the imagery of a diabolical plot in Hell. The 'Dialogues' were caught by the French authorities soon after their publication and Joly was tried and sentenced to prison for his pamphlet.
Joly's "Dialogues", while intended as a political satire, soon fell into the hands of a German anti- Semite named Hermann Goedsche writing under the name of Sir John Retcliffe. Goedsche was a postal clerk and a spy for the Prussian secret police. He had been forced to leave the postal work due to his part in forging evidence in the prosecution against the Democratic leader Benedict Waldeck in 1849. Goedsche adapted Joly's "Dialogues" into a mythical tale of a Jewish conspiracy as part of a series of novels entitled Biarritz, which appeared in 1868. In a chapter called "The Jewish Cemetery in Prague and the Council of Representatives of the Twelve Tribes of Israel", he spins the fantasy of a secret centennial rabbinical conference which meets at midnight and whose purpose is to review the past hundred years and to make plans for the next century.
This is the raw material out of which The Protocols were concocted. Only morons, idiots, knaves and dupes take The Protocols seriously.
Robert Nordlander
Menasha, WI
USA
Bad protocol
Sir-- I'm utterly shocked by what I heard about the propaganda made in Egypt to uphold The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Being your affectionate reader, I hope that your newspaper will take the lead in criticising this shameful fact. As an African, I think that upholding libel literature even against Zionism is self-harming for all peoples of colour, and harmful for the cause of the liberation of Palestine .
As much as I'm shocked by the portrayal of all Arabs as terrorists in the Western media, I cannot accept my own people doing the same.
Felix Rutagengwa Ndayitabi
Bologna
Italy
Undermining the cause
Sir-- As one of the great many Americans on the Palestinian "side", I am shocked and disappointed that Egyptian television would present a TV series bolstering the anti-Semitic and sheer fabrication, Horseman Without a Horse. In America, one of the biggest tools in the Zionist armoury is to say that criticism of Israel, and even more of Zionism, is nothing but anti- Semitism in disguise. What this series does is throw anti-Zionists in the West on the defensive. Zionists are already constantly pointing up this TV series as a confirmation of their propaganda about the Arab world. A series bolstering The Protocols is a gift and blessing to Zionism; even more and worse, it is hate-mongering and racist.
There are miles of factual history about the Zionist takeover of Palestine and avowed permanent expulsion of the Palestinians, from which TV can create dramas and documentaries. When the straight path of truth and justice are mainly on the Palestinian side, why does Egyptian TV resort to the crooked detour of senseless and self- defeating hatred and fraud ?
James Adler
Cambridge, Massachusetts
USA
Bad fall
Sir-- In your article 'Protocols, politics and Palestine' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 7-13 November), the writer states that "Respected historians like Abdel-Wahab El-Messeri, author of the magnum opus Jews, Judaism and Zionism, an eight-part encyclopaedia, believe The Protocols are probably fake." Probably? My word! I am astonished that you chose to use this weasel word, one that leaves open the possibility that yes, this racist tract might indeed contain "some" truth. Do we really need to go over the history investigating the origin of this utter fabrication? Sadly, judging from the rest of the piece, it's not surprising you couched the phrase in such a way.
The author seems to point more blame at the US and the world Jewish community for raising their voices in anger, rather than concentrating on the core of the problem. It is also sad and surprising that the Egyptian government, which has shown no hesitation to block the distribution of articles or films even remotely critical of Islam, thus decides to get on its high horse (no pun intended) to justify the series by turning this into a case of defending artistic freedom.
Racism is wrong, pure and simple. Sirs, you are in the wrong.
Delvin McDowell
Dublin
Ireland
Staying connected
Sir-- I love reading your newspaper online. Being away from Egypt, I have the opportunity to see the daily news. Thank you for that and to all of those who work with you. I feel closer to home now.
Nyjah Chasez
New York
USA
Lock, stock and barrel
Sir-- At this juncture in history my fellow Americans must look outside our self-proclaimed homeland of democracy to the recent Islamist JDP landslide in Turkey, to remind us that the voice of the plebiscite can still be heard. It heartens me to see people employing the democratic process to smite a corrupt system that had become horribly transparent in its brazen policy toward its citizenry. In contrast, the recent mid- term elections in the US has left American progressives wanting for any hope of regime change in Washington. In the past few decades, the incident of the incumbent's return to office in America has been more certain than of Soviet politicians during the height of their one-party communist system.
Good luck to the Turkish democrats whether they are religious or secular, and take a minute to grieve for your American brothers and sisters who are now living under the largest corrupt political environment ever known.
Scott Dennis
Long Beach
USA
Bad behaviour
Sir-- I am an American of Iranian ancestry. My parents immigrated to America in the 1950s and my family's religious affiliations are Muslim. I would like to state that I fully support Israel's right to exist, and that I do not believe very much of what Mr Mattar has to say about Israel or America in 'The wrong go-betweens' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 7-13 November), although I was once considerably more sympathetic to the Palestinians' political aspirations, that was when I was willing to accept that the latter were really determined to strike a compromise with the Israelis.
After the Oslo Accords, I was, like many people, convinced that Arafat had changed his ways and had stopped being just another Arab Islamic killer. However, last year's campaign of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, and the nauseating attempts by Arab apologists to rationalise these acts, have convinced me that neither Arafat nor the Palestinians have changed at all. They are still bent on the destruction of Israel. This is why I believe the Israelis have no choice but to adopt a policy that is militant and defiant not only towards Islamic extremists in the Arab world, but also towards those "moderate" Arabs who perhaps do not personally engage in terrorism, but do not hesitate to spout excuses for it, especially when the victims are Israelis or Americans. No one in America with an ounce of common sense doubts that if Israel were not armed to the teeth the Arabs would not hesitate to destroy her. You have already attempted it in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973.
In sum, it is not American movies and television that demonise the Arabs and "send the wrong message" to the American people, as Mr Mattar dishonestly proclaims. It is the actual behaviour of the Arabs that achieves this undesirable goal. It is the mendacity of Arab governments and their propaganda machines that do this. It is the continual blaming of America or Israel or the West for the internal problems of Arab societies that do this. Hostility toward the Arab world today is not proportional to our ignorance. Quite the contrary, the more Americans learn about you, the greater is the hostility that they feel. It was after 11 September, 2001, that hatred of Arabs spiked upward and continues to grow. No Hollywood movie could bring about a result like that.
Keyvan Rafii
Chicago
USA
Hand in peace
Sir-- Gamil Mattar's arguments in 'The wrong go-betweens' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 7-13 November) are acknowledged, but I believe that his inferences and conclusions that the American populace blindly support Israel and care little or nothing for Arabs are erroneous in the extreme. Furthermore, to suggest that the US would stand by in the event of an Israeli violation of Israel's peace with Egypt, is an insult to all Americans without justification -- our current administration notwithstanding.
I speak only for myself, but believe that the majority of Americans are of a like mind. We do want peace in the Middle East; we do want Arabs to be our brothers and sisters in that peace; we are willing to stick our necks out to accomplish that peace; and we need your help to do it. Arabs and Jews live in peace here, they can do the same anywhere if they will cleanse their minds and hearts of years of hatred and bitterness, and start anew.
You have our sympathy and understanding, but you must learn how to use them; and help us to learn to do the same.
Perry Chappano
Mingo Junction, Ohio
USA
Glimmer of hope
Sir-- Regarding 'The perverse logic of slogans' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 7-13 November) by Abdel- Moneim Said. I believe it was beautifully thoughtful and incisive. Maybe there is hope in a world that allows him to speak, and I only wish he were speaking to more of us. The Internet may yet help all of us come to grips if only we listen to each other, and come to terms with the fact that hate accomplishes nothing but polarisation, more hate, terror and war.
Lana Johnson
Graham, WA
USA
Time for change
Sir-- I would like to thank Professor Ilan Pappe for the far-sighted and enlightening article on the Middle East deteriorating situation entitled 'Beyond the air lock' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 7-13 November). One can see that he is an intellectual who lives the events and who is aware of the political and historical dimensions of this tragedy. I hope that more honest and wise people can help change the one-direction understanding of our world today, East and West.
Nagwa Hedayet
Los Angeles, CA
USA
Dream team
Sir-- I just finished reading your article 'Dream's wake-up call' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 7-13 November) regarding the shows aired on Dream TV Channel, and would like to express my view regarding the issue. I have been watching Dream TV since early 2001 and have very closely observed the huge steps of confident growth of the channel, and sensed the added success it gets among its viewers on a daily basis. I believe that Dream TV viewers have grown in number, to exceed the audience of other satellite TV channels.
It is immediately obvious that the components of this attained success simply lie in a carefully chosen team, high calibre and a creative staff. The team is steered by a highly qualified and extremely intelligent TV presenter, to whom I believe Dream owes most of its success and unique style, Dr Hala Sarhan.
What Dr Hala Sarhan presents in her talk show are highly important issues which we need to openly discuss and confront. Guiding people to the right and proper ways of expression, helping them to disclose their fears and taboos is something that we should start doing. We should encourage the young generation to open their hearts and minds, whether what they say makes sense to us or not.
Sue Hafez
Cairo
Egypt
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