No logic
Sir-- Regarding 'Halt the invasion, not the Intifada' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 27 February - 5 March), I am continuously amazed at the perverse, upside-down logic of people such as those who act as though they are victims although they are the perpetrators of the problem between Israel and the people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. After World War II, Israel was allowed to have the tiny piece of land which they had lived on long before there were Muslims. In the 1900s, many states were established such as Jordan for the Palestinians. After Israel was made a state, its neighbours attacked it a number of times, always trying to eject its people; Hamas is one group which is still trying to do this. It is better for these Israeli haters to go to neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon or Egypt.
Israel and the US are not anti-Muslim, but are only against the extremist Muslim Arabs who will not give up their goal to push the Israelis into the sea. One other thing that amazes me is the propensity to have young boys throw things at the Israeli military. It is another perverse logic which is hard to understand, and while Arabs may think it is strategic, it is not. The last thing I cannot understand is Arab schools' insistence on demonising the Jews.
Richard Greenblatt
Los Angeles, CA
USA
In hindsight
Sir-- I do not believe what Israel is doing is right or fair, but I think you have left out one major issue in your article 'Halt the invasion, not the Intifada' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 27 February - 5 March). Three years ago, Israel offered Arafat almost everything he wanted and he turned Israel down. This will go down as one of the dumbest things done by any one leader of a country at any time in the world's history. Instead of being three years into a peace agreement, there are still Palestinians and Israelis dying every day for no reason. Groups such as Hamas should be told to shut up and leave as they do not help since they only bring more devastation on Palestinians and give the Israelis the supposed right to do it. The Palestinian leadership needs to wake up and work on what was offered to them three years ago. It may not have been perfect, but it is a million times better than where you are today.
Scott Tofil
Atlanta, GA
USA
Eye-opening coverage
Sir-- Thank you for showing the real struggle in Palestine in the article 'Halt the invasion, not the Intifada' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 27 February - 5 March). These days, people search for what is going on in Palestine, but instead they find articles by Zionists about "Palestinian terrorism" and "Palestinian suicide bombers". I thank Sherine Bahaa for this interview and ask her to continue unveiling the truth about Israeli aggression and Palestinian oppression, in the hope that one day the world will realise who is invading and attacking, and who is defending themselves.
Mohammed Ahmed
Doha
Qatar
Time is flying
Sir-- I am fed up with watching my Palestinian brothers and sisters die each day, month after month and year after year. Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan all invaded the lives of the Palestinians as much as Israel did. It's time that all Arab countries stand together to force a settlement from outside the region. There should be no help of providing the US with bases in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, oil trade with the West should be halved, Arab nations should withdraw from the UN and Arab leaders must declare that there will be no recognition of Israel without the creation of Palestine.
If Arab countries don't push for this now, they may lose all hope of saving the region. Time is running out for everyone in the Middle East.
Gary Welsh
Scotland
UK
Here to stay
Sir-- Prime Minister Sharon gave the various Palestinian liberation groups, who met in Egypt to discuss a cease-fire, a fair ultimatum: A cease-fire or total war. What the IDF is doing in Gaza is a result of a conscious choice on the part of the Palestinian groups for war with Israel. Personally, I think Israel's reluctance to use a heavy hand during Sharon's first government with Peres was, once again, misconstrued by the Palestinian leadership as a sign of weakness. Now there is no Peres to keep Israel from defending itself from suicide bombers, Kassem rocket attacks, and other acts of terror.
It seems a bit strange that the Palestinian leadership is crying foul now, especially after the constant gloating whenever totally innocent Israeli civilians are slaughtered. At least the IDF targets specific armed members of the opposition, not innocent non-violent civilians.
Israel is becoming stronger militarily, more accepted politically, and is leaving the rest of the Middle East in the dust when it comes to economic development. What is it going to take to convince the Arab world that Israel isn't going anywhere?
Shep Fargotstein
Memphis, TN
USA
Fallen invaders
Sir-- Some of the American readers of Al-Ahram Weekly seem to misunderstand the point of view of most Arabs and Muslims towards Israel and the West. They should know that we will not be swayed by the weasel words of Sharon or Rumsfeld. We will never accept the theft of our land or the occupation of our Holy Sites, be they Muslim or Christian. The conquest, occupation and colonisation of our land in Palestine and Syria's Golan Heights by the Zionists is the same crime as that perpetrated by the Crusaders almost a thousand years ago.
The enemies of the Arab nation would do well to remember that the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem only existed for 99 years before it was destroyed and our holy city and land were returned to us. The Zionists have already had 54 years of their State of Israel. God willing, it is doomed to have the same fate as its predecessor.
Selim Mustafa
Giza
Egypt
Palestinian ghettos
Sir-- When I read about the conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip today, I cannot avoid to see the similarity to the European ghettos in Warsaw and other parts of Eastern Europe before the deportation of the Jews to the camps. Even the Nazi Germans allowed a certain internal self-rule in the Jewish ghettos. When writing about the Palestinian cities and places, why not call them by a fitting name, such as the Ramallah Ghetto, The Jabaliya Ghetto, The Khan Younis Ghetto and so on. May be some Israeli and American readers would then start to reflect and see the similarity.
Gunnar Flatland
Oslo
Norway
Helpless victims
Sir-- Regarding 'No to war... No to tyranny' (Al- Ahram Weekly, 27 February - 5 March) by Mohamed Sid Ahmed, I very much agree. The culprit spawning unrest in Arab nations is not Iraq, it is Israel and Palestine. Until a just resolution is reached, our entire world will remain in conflict. It is clear that Israel is bent on the complete annihilation of the Palestinians. On an obviously simple level, it appears the Israeli government is identifying with the aggressors of the Holocaust that they themselves experienced; and I helplessly watch them playing this out against the Palestinians. It looks like the Palestinians are defending themselves completely alone while their surrounding countries look away.
Grayson York
Oklahoma
USA
America's doubletalk
Sir-- It is not surprising to hear a (non-elected) president (Bush) saying that he "respectfully disagrees" with popular public sentiment in carrying out his "public" duties. Stating that "democracy is a beautiful thing" while in practice going against the majority world and home opinion, amply proves that the so called "democracy" that is talked about often in support of US foreign policy, is merely a popular propaganda slogan for rulers as they serve their minority elite interests. A similar thing is witnessed when Turkey is rebuked for following a democratic process, and when the US talks with the Turkish military directly while going around its democratic leadership
Iraq's military strength is about a third of what it was in 1990, the US military capabilities are 10 times stronger than they were back then. How can Iraq be a greater threat now? Second, Iraq flouted UN resolutions, not for over a decade, as the president said, but only when it saw no end in sight for the economic sanctions and their removal. On the other hand, Israel has been flouting UN resolutions for the past five decades including Resolution 673 that deplored Israel for not cooperating with it, and Resolution 517 that "censures" Israel for failing to obey UN resolutions. It's a joke that Israel not only flouted the UN resolutions for over five decades, but also those that asked it not to flout the resolutions.
By starting unnecessary "oil wars" to "protect" us from nonexistent threats and buying "greed" time by setting up commissions to study environmental depletion without doing anything to fix the problems caused by such depletion -- even though experts have proved that the problems of environmental depletion exist at an alarming level -- those who claim to protect us, show once again by their actions, that our protection is the last thing on their "real" agenda.
Contrary to the official Bush position, what makes the UN irrelevant is not the Iraq case but the fact that certain select nations have been given the "birth right" to veto majority world opinion. It makes absolutely no sense for a nation that has used the veto against majority world opinion time and again and which has still not paid its dues to the UN, to talk about its irrelevance.
M Asadi
Springfield
USA
Bargaining chips
Sir-- War is nigh. Duct tape is running out in supermarkets, borders are closing and ambassadors are going home. In Europe and the rest of the world, discontentment with the US position is rife, epitomised in Blair's lonely stand within the Labour Party. In Israel, conveniently, the most right- wing ruling coalition ever is in power, and 15 dead Israelis are promptly avenged with similar numbers of dead Palestinians.
As the cacophony of Bush, Blair, Blix and El- Barad'ie becomes almost too much to bear and some scurry to clobber together the fractures in the architecture of the heretofore Western alliance, one wonders if there is room for lateral thinking. Could France, Russia, China and Germany put forth a bargain? Could they capitalise on the expectation for compliance to UN resolutions the US has for Iraq, to move a milestone toward getting Israeli compliance to resolutions around the Israel- Palestine conflict?
It seems obvious that the US would get much moral and political capital and win a lot more of the negative public opinion, if it supported UN efforts in Israel. Conceivably, France, China and Russia could make their support of this inevitable war -- by promising to abstain rather than veto the second resolution -- contingent on getting US support in compelling Israeli compliance to stop building settlements in the occupied territories, and extracting a US commitment to lead peace negotiation in a post-Saddam Middle East.
Clearly, amid all the pre-war clamouring and the panic, the statements made from moral high grounds and the whispers of fear, a window of opportunity is slamming shut. The US will once again employ double standards to embarrass the UN, while hiding behind the UN's lack of implementation capacity. The rest of the world will rant about the 68 UN resolutions that Israel has flouted, and then detachedly observe events cut into the war scenes, unaware that an opportunity slipped them by.
Lydiah Bosire
New York, NY
USA
All are expendable
Sir-- I wonder if the rest of the world realises how much disregard the current Bush administration has for its own populace. While spending billions on overseas operations to wage a war for strategic control of a region rich in oil, we have poverty, crime and high unemployment here at home. We are told that by using duct tape we can seal barriers against contaminated air in case of a terrorist attack. I wonder why our government would not use at least some of the technology and money they are spending overseas on free safety kits for the citizens at home?
The USA needs to clean up domestic issues before expanding its grand vision of "empire", but perhaps our elected officials are too busy spending our share of the wealth on expensive hideaways away from the peasants and building high-tech bunkers for themselves and their cronies. The ugly and hypocritical politics of war, money and religion are merged together and rely on a net of ignorance, one that allows people like Bush to be elected into office by citizens who cannot or refuse to see how their actions have international consequences.
It appears to me that we enjoy liberties in this country only to an extent when it suits our (mis)elected officials. Remember that American or not, we are all expendable victims in times of war.
Myra Sun
California
USA
Show him the door
Sir-- It is obvious that the people of the world are opposed to Bush and his war, and the United Nations has refused to endorse Bush's war. Even the Pope has come out against Bush's war. Last week, in a move that has garnered the respect and admiration of the entire world, the Republic of Turkey rejected Bush's shameless bribe of $26 billion and refused to allow Bush to use their land as a springboard for aggression against Iraq. Turkey is poor, but they are not whores. They held their heads high and conducted themselves with dignity and self- respect. And despite the most intense heavy- handed, unremitting, massive propaganda campaign in history, Bush has not been able to muster a credible mandate among his own people for his war; Bush is clearly politically bankrupt.
Recently, he arrogantly engaged in snarling defiance against the United Nations. This is unacceptable; no organisation can tolerate that kind of behaviour. Bush should be suspended from the UN and I hope Egypt supports the motion for Bush's suspension, despite Bush's heavy-handed, shameless bribes. The future of world peace depends on it.
Jerry Greenberg
El Dorado
USA
The other half
Sir-- The Muslim world now finds itself confronted with a disaster that it has brought upon itself -- pariah status as a weak and ineffectual hotbed of murderous, faith-based insanity. And now, as that disaster crystalises into the sad certainty of a US invasion of Iraq, it has apparently begun to occur to a few thoughtful people that the ball really is in the Arab world's court.
I have been assured by educated Muslims that the actions of terrorists are counter to the essential teachings of Islam, and I am prepared to believe that -- but it would be much easier to do so if Muslims the world over were actively denouncing and fighting the bombers, the poisoners, the Qur'an-thumping misogynists who now represent the public face of Islam, and chalk up their wretched behaviour to the will of God. If Muslims decide to resurrect their faith and culture in a mould that will admit the Muslim world into the modern world on an equal footing with the West, there will be an up side to an otherwise gloomy picture. Better late than never that fixed ideas bow to reality; and if mortal danger is the catalyst needed to prompt vital change, then it is a thing to be welcomed.
But if not, the world of blue jeans, micro chips, space travel, tall buildings, rap music and critical thought will go on, although unfortunately minus the input of a substantial and valuable part of the human race. The value that the West places on the sanctity of the individual human life and mind has made it possible for the West to throw everything it has into a fight to which its opponents have chosen to bring only half of what they have. And that omission will be fatal. In the name of Islam, the Muslim nations of the world have systematically deprived themselves, for centuries, of that half of their available supply of mind and talent that is tied up in their women.
For all the evil that is likely to come of a war with Iraq, there is one possibility in this situation that I can only hope that the Arab world will grasp: that ultimately, the solution (not unlike the Spirit of God) lies within.
Linda Johnson
Texas
USA
Egypt boycott
Sir-- We had planned to visit Egypt, but we changed our mind because we do not want to spend our money in a country where the government is not permitting its citizens to express their opinion in the street. Protests on Palestine and Iraq are not allowed because there is no democracy in Egypt. Hence, there will be no trip by the six of us to your beautiful and historic country.
Paul Roi
Montreal
Canada
Looking beyond
Sir-- Overall, I found your article 'Wolfowitz's America' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 27 February - 5 March) very inciteful. I am very worried about what will happen over the next year, since I believe that Bush is heedless in his rush to war. A lot of people agree with him, and I worry that here in America people have never given much thought to whatever happens overseas. We see ourselves only as a force for good and ask why can the world not see that we only wish every one the best. We ask why do they hate the good we bring and we only see the hurt to ourselves not to anyone else. We see Europe as owing us for past help, forgetting about any help Europe (France) has given us in the past. Because we only do good, it is disloyal to disagree with us.
I wish you the best of luck in breaking through this feeling without the need for horror and war. I am also trying the same.
Bernd Schnitker
Worcester, MA
USA
Deceptive silence
Sir-- Despite the enormous media coverage of the anti-war (anti-America and Anti-Bush) demonstrations, there is a large majority of Americans who understand the need for a war against the current Iraqi regime (if Hussein will not leave) and who support our president. This is not because we are war-mongers or "Imperialists", but, rather, because we understand what the perils of passivity are if we do not defend our nation's citizens.
I use the term "defend" rather than "attack" because the United States has been attacked by Muslim terrorists in a series of events starting in the 1980s. Finally, we have a president who is courageous enough to tell the world enough.
For those who choose to really research the facts, they will find that a vast majority of Americans are still standing behind and beside President Bush. It is unfortunate that we choose not to march and avail ourselves of media coverage -- we are historically known as the "silent majority". But please be assured that we are very solid and very vast in our support.
Please also understand that Americans are deeply offended by the insulting remarks said about our president and about us as a people -- especially when these remarks come from countries which owe the United States their status as sovereign nations, such as France and Great Britain. Citizens of those countries may easily forget gratitude, but America's citizens understand and remember gratitude and ingratitude.
Suzanne Burnette
Washington,
DC
USA
I will never
Sir-- I will never surrender to the will and ambitions of the US. I will never be bought, bribed, pressed or threatened by the US. I will never be an accomplice to the US's sordid policies. I will never accept US assassinations of nations and peoples. I will never respect, facilitate, support, participate or follow US decisions about the world. I will never agree to UN resolutions imposed by the US.
We need to denounce unequivocally and without pardon those in the region who will allow the US and Britain to use their countries to assassinate the Iraqis. We are talking about a monstrous act that will kill/wound thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands. It is not a video game or a Hollywood film; it is people with flesh and bones, children, women, men and the elderly who haven't done harm to anyone.
It is completely beyond my comprehension why some countries in the region are "willing" to be accomplices to the massacre of Iraqis. I have searched and I cannot find an acceptable reason to throw the Iraqis into the diabolic arenas of death and destruction. No friendship, wishes to please the mighty, any sum of money, political influence, etc are worth the elimination of Iraqis.
Joaquim Soares
Stockholm
Sweden
Campaign of distraction
Sir-- If President Bush's main area of concern is to protect the American people from terrorists, then it becomes my job, as a responsible American citizen, to protect the American people from President Bush; to alert my fellow citizens before it is too late about the destruction of the American way of life as planned by Mr Bush. Bush's agenda, if allowed to proceed, would do far more damage to America than all the terrorist attacks we could imagine. His programmes are a blueprint for disaster in economics, health, social security, protection of civil rights, democracy, foreign relations, education and the environment. His administration has failed miserably in all of these areas, and its answer to these failures is to beat the drums of war in order to distract us from its inability and unwillingness to govern.
More insidiously, the Bush administration is dominated by big oil and big defence contractors, all of which, including Mr Bush and Mr Cheney, are already greatly profiting from high oil prices and the prospects of war. They will gladly exchange American blood for Iraqi oil and run to the bank smiling. For them, winning elections and making money are far more important than the well-being of America. Real terrorism are the lies which the government feeds us through the willing media, and the economic, social and legal erosion of America will hurt us far more than all the imagined attacks from Al-Qa'eda and Saddam Hussein.
The Bush administration has really only two issues: war and taxes. They have managed to create a false enemy in the figure of Saddam Hussein in order to justify going to war, while concurrently ignoring the real and dangerous threat posed by North Korea.
As for taxes, this reduction in taxes, for 95 per cent of us, is just a scam. Yes, some federal taxes will be reduced (for the richest of Americans), but for most of us our local property, city, county and state taxes will rise correspondingly to compensate for the reduction in federal assistance to education, health, transportation and the environment. Does this sound fair and patriotic, as the Bushes have declared, or can we be just a little smarter than their relentless and well-financed propaganda?
Juan V De la Sierra
Sarasota, FL
USA
