Wars on screen
Sir-- 'Casualty of truth' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 5-11 June) is an excellent article. During the Reagan administration, I suspected that maybe, because of his once having been the president of the Actors' Guild, Reagan might have had a hand in many of the movies that were supposed to make us proud to be Americans during his presidency.
These went from the fantasy that we could go back and finally win the Vietnam War, to a one-man Marine Corps blowing the hell out of beady-eyed Arab terrorists (sorry, that's how they made them look in most of the movies here in the States), with a sexy looking Israeli agent clinging to him. Therefore it does not surprise me that you make the comment that the Pentagon financially backed 2,000 of the war movies that have come out since World War II.
I can guess at movies like The Bridge Over River Kwai because of the corny ending about why we need to be fighting the North Koreans, but 2,000 is a lot of movies for the Pentagon to help pay for. And if so, we've got an even bigger problem than I imagined.
Keep up the good reporting; believe me, it's refreshing to be able to read news that's not completely biased.
Dominic Hix
San Francisco, CA
USA
Well stated
Sir-- 'Whose security' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 12- 18 June) is so well stated. I wish you could educate the American public.
Sutu Beck
Washington, DC
USA
Democratic unity
Sir-- 'Our summer of decadence' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 22-28 May) was quite an insightful article and confirms what every Arab feels in his heart. We should realise more than ever that each Arab country, on its own, is a cripple. Isn't it time for Arab unity to be revitalised and to gather momentum in order to unite our efforts in a vibrant and "creative" way that re- establishes the importance of genuine Arab unity and solidarity?
Egypt is the natural leader for such efforts because of its Arab, Islamic and African reserves of friendships and brotherhood. It is time to try a new approach for a democratic Arab Unity that leads the Arabs into cohesion that is built on bringing diverse Arab countries together, in accepting each country as it is, in promoting genuine democracy, and in developing a European-like market that eventually will lead to a confederation of some sort. It should be built on aligning all the positives and all the commonalties that already exist amongst the Arabs.
In a world with one superpower and one regional superpower, we should also learn to use a united Arab leverage system that acts in a pro- active approach that makes friends, not create enemies, around the world. We can do so and retain Arab integrity and gain Arab rights through standing together.
Awad Paul Sifri
Naperville, IL
USA
A Muslim world
Sir-- Your weekly newspaper is the best source I know of for intelligent commentary (and reporting) on the Near East from a Near Eastern point of view. One thing that I miss in the Islamic world generally, however, is a sense that you do comprise a world of your own just as the West does. After all, the Arab peoples are varied among themselves, the Iranians have a different history, and the Far Eastern Muslims are much in contrast. My hope is that the frightful assault on Iraq, whose one good thing was to topple Saddam Hussein, will awaken the sense of Muslim world among the peoples embracing your faith.
I have found illuminating -- not to take back what I have just written -- V S Naipaul's criticism of Far Eastern Islam for its having emptied out the native identity of the converted peoples, imposing instead an unnatural Arab identity. What Islam now certainly needs are good philosophers, interpreters whose range is as wide as religion is typically deep.
Ernest Werner
Trumansburg, NY
USA
Clear mapping
Sir-- Regarding 'Whose security' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 12-18 June). Why doesn't any Arab country print a map -- a real one -- showing the West Bank how it is in reality on the ground?
Where are the Palestinians, the Jews, the settlements, the roads, etc?
Luciano Motelli
Toronto
Canada
New thinking
Sir-- For the USA and Israel to try to sideline the Islamic resistance and 'hire' some other Palestinians to put the lid on it, is totally a foolish way of doing business.
Israel continues its policy of rude occupation and expansionism no matter what is taking place on the world stage. At the same time, the Palestinians finally found a weapon of choice that the USA and Israel do not control.
Some fundamentally new thinking has to be introduced before it is too late for that area of the world.
Tony Joseph
Watervliet, NY
USA
A real state
Sir-- 'Interim is forever' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 5- 11 June) by Dr Mustafa Barghouti is an ideal model for the real resisters in Palestine. I believe that all agreements which neglect the right of refugees to return to their homeland will fail, and the vicious circle of blood and killing will not only continue but increase. I am very proud of the spirit of optimism in the article and invite all our writers to adopt this point of view and invite also Dr Barghouti to increase the dose of his optimism in his future articles.
A comprehensive and just peace is all that the Arabs want, but we -- especially the younger generation -- will never accept the continuation of aggression, oppression and killing. We need a real state, with real borders, with its own army, land and sea. I believe this is the language of all real resisters; I cannot find any difference between these words and the words of Hamas spokesman Dr Al-Rantisi.
Mohamed Saad
Kafr Al-Sheikh
Egypt
Spokes of the wheel
Sir-- We have many different nationalities living in my town; there are Greeks, Italians, Germans, French, Chinese, Thai, as well as lots of different religions. We have all brought our roots with us in a suitcase -- along with our favourite recipes and rituals. We would love it if any Palestinian or Israeli families who are sick and tired of all the killing and people blowing themselves and others to death, would come and live among us -- you have to take your turn at the yearly barbecue, however.
Where is it written that an Israeli or a Palestinian state has to be in the same square feet you have lived in for 3,000 years? It sounds like a rut to me and is silly. There is a lot of empty space still left on the planet -- some with great opportunities. You don't have to be a martyr to anybody, not even God. That old idea is man- made, not God-made.
I met an Egyptian grandmother at the library recently, and we went to have coffee, looked at the sky and clouds and traded pictures and talked about how Fairuz sings like champagne tastes. By meeting this one person, I knew I would like all Egyptians. She also told me some good books to read by your authors.
My granddaughter tells me that the centre of the wheel is our Creator (pick your favourite name), the spokes of the wheels are all the religions; and the rim of the wheel are all of us holding hands. Without us holding hands, the wheel will not turn.
Anna Peters
California
USA
Anti-war contortions
Sir-- In 'Forging evidence' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 12-18 June), when you refer to "the propaganda tools and psychological warfare that had hoodwinked the American people into supporting the war," do you mean the unanimous vote on Resolution 1441 at the UN Security Council? Now that you've outted the UN as an American propaganda tool, maybe they've got a job opening for the Iraqi information minister (I admit, I love that guy).
Later that same month, 19 nations attending NATO's Prague summit, signed a statement backing Resolution 1441, which affords "Iraq a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations under relevant resolutions of the Council". That consensus held in the months leading up to war. With a few exceptions, disputes about Iraq centered not on whether Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, but on the best way to disarm him.
All of this is on public record. To believe Saddam Hussein's Iraq was WMD-free required logical gymnastics difficult even for the most limber of the anti-war contortionists -- that Saddam Hussein lied about his WMD programmes for seven years with UN inspectors in Iraq and then suddenly, when inspectors left, disarmed unilaterally. One also had to believe that after he got rid of these weapons -- weapons that led directly to UN sanctions that crippled his country -- he chose not to notify the international bodies who could have lifted sanctions if Iraq had demonstrated compliance.
I thoroughly enjoy reading foreign newspapers (especially those from the Middle East) on the web such as yours, in order to gain perspective on the issues that involve my country in significant ways around the world. I suggest you start doing the same because from where I'm sitting you're badly in need of a little perspective yourself.
Clay LeConey
New York, NY
USA
Blood money
Sir-- There were no weapons of mass destruction. We killed thousands of unarmed civilians and Iraqi soldiers who were rightfully defending their homeland from our unprovoked attack. We destroyed hospitals, structures providing water and electricity, etc. Then we had the audacity to destroy Iraq's currency and replace it with our own American dollars so we could control their economy.
And to make the rape complete we destroyed as much of their country as possible, then we will steal their oil to make money for the US to repair (at any over-priced cost we wish) the destruction we caused. Then we allow our soldiers to shoot into an unarmed crowd of protesters, and now Bush is allowing our soldiers to shoot in cold blood looters or anyone they think is committing a crime.
Bush did not bring democracy to Iraq; he is imposing Israel's sick version of democracy with absolutely no regard for human rights. With all my heart I want to apologise to my brothers and sisters in Palestine -- for years the American news made me a mushroom -- I was kept in the dark about the horrific crimes Israel committed and is committing in Palestine. I am sorry with all my heart for the thousands of your friends and families who were brutally murdered or permanently maimed or crippled for life by the Apache helicopters, the missiles, the M-16 machine guns, and all the weapons we gave to Israel to commit horrific slaughters of unarmed human beings every day in Palestine.
I am sorry for the billions of our dollars that were and are used by Israel to perpetuate their Holocaust on you and your loved ones. With all my heart I am sorry. I am protesting, handing out flyers, writing e-mails and praying that God will punish Israel for their horrific crimes against humanity and return your homeland to you.
Tikyra Angelique
Manchester, CT
USA
The charade
Sir-- The 'right wing' spin that even though Saddam hasn't been found, his existence cannot be doubted, so also the WMDs, reveals logical illiteracy. Saddam Hussein's existence wasn't the issue that provoked the war, the existence of WMDs and the "imminent threat" posed by them under the Saddam regime was. The administration claimed that they "knew" that the WMDs existed and that those WMDs were a threat to the United States, which made it their duty to attack Iraq to "protect the American people" and disarm Saddam (since he wouldn't disarm by himself).
The claims were tantamount to an elephant claiming that an ant is going to bite him (comparable military disparity), and recklessly stomping all over the place, and the media rallying the people to the "bravery" of the elephant and the "threat" it faced.
What the administration claimed they "knew" is now rightly being questioned because the WMDs have never been found. The administration also claimed, in the days before the war, that beefing up the UN inspection team and giving them more time wasn't the solution. I wonder why they are asking for more time and beefing up their own inspections team now?
What was Saddam hiding all those years when he disallowed inspections you ask? Well, has it ever occurred to you that inspections were linked with the removal of sanctions that were holding the entire country hostage, and that the inspectors were asked to leave only after the "removal of sanctions" part of the bargain wasn't being met because of US pressure? Let us also not forget that the US was blocking the return of UN inspectors to Iraq, even as the lifting of sanctions was being debated a couple of weeks back, and still is.
What has also not been resolved is why Saddam didn't use the WMDs (if they existed) when his very existence was threatened. If he didn't use them when directly attacked, how less likely is it that he would use them unprovoked -- as the "imminent threat" claim suggested -- given the fact that he was practically begging for peace in the days before the war? If Saddam wouldn't disarm by himself and the US had to go in to disarm him, why is the claim now being floated that he "might" have destroyed those weapons moments before the conflict? How funny that he would disarm and yet not publicise that disarmament, waiting for the US to march to Baghdad.
So what can be done now? If the war was illegal, as is clearly proven, the bill for the reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure of Iraq should be paid for by those who illegally attacked Iraq and not the Iraqi people or Iraqi oil revenue. If victims of terrorism can sue people who bring terror upon them and the government can forcibly freeze and extract their funds, so also should the victims of an unjust war. It is the very least that the US can do.
M Asadi
Springfield
USA
Welcome to the ranks
Sir-- I am writing to congratulate British and American citizens on their suspicion and consequent investigation of their respective leaders', Tony Blair and George Bush, on the issue of WMDs in Iraq. I am sure that Bush's vision of democracy in the Middle East is now much respected, considering the fact that he and his intelligence apparatus have been lying to their people to convince them of this unjust war.
It is obvious that there is a great lack of democracy in the Arab world, but that doesn't give Bush or Blair any justification to toy around with leaders according to their liking, on the basis that they are undemocratic. Bush, Blair, thank you for so conscientiously digging your grave with your bare hands.
Welcome to the ranks of the scum that rules 90 per cent of the world's populations.
Ahmed El-Orabi
Cairo
Egypt
Good exists
Sir-- The Western world is increasingly succumbing to the prejudice of "political correctness". More and more we live in a time and situation where pluralism and tolerance are irreconcilable with absolute truth, the highest values. Laws are constantly being changed or newly introduced in order to satisfy the will of citizens in lieu of and without respect for the "natural moral law". This can only lead to anarchy.
The universal good cannot be something ambiguous without also being relative. If it is relative one might justifiably speak, as did Heinrich Himmler, of the altruistic morals of the Nazi regime which is nonsense. The very fact that we discuss the common good proves that a criterion for the "good" ought to exist.
For the relativist, however, there is only tolerance. But why should tolerance count for anything unless it has as its foundation some other value. Such a tolerance that is "blind" ends up becoming a form of intolerance for that which actually gives tolerance its true value: convictions. Similarly, one's convictions would have no value unless they were oriented toward a higher good. Upon this reference to truth is based the dignity of the human person.
When a government or any democratic majority approves a law that marginalises some resisting minority as being "fundamentalists", it is the duty of every human being to oppose it. While claiming to be respecting of one's freedom of choice, such lawmakers are really only leading people away from the true freedom which the natural law provides.
If the dignity of the will is to replace the dignity of the human person it will even be possible to imagine, in the words of Dr Robert Spaemann, "breeding slaves, by genetic manipulation, who are fully in agreement with their condition as slaves". Far-fetched? Spaemann mentions that only recently it became known that a cannibal found an accomplice via the Internet who was willing to have himself killed and eaten. This took place according to mutual agreement and without any outside interference. He makes the important distinction that for the relativist this is not a crime.
Is this not a time for us all, especially lawyers and politicians to reflect on the concept of the natural moral law?
Paul Kokoski
Ontario
Canada
Preaching fixation
Sir-- Regarding 'A preacher's journey' (Al- Ahram Weekly, 5-11 June). I have no particular say on the airing or non-airing of Amr Khaled's programme, however one thing that keeps nagging me every time I see this young, eloquent, elegant preacher on TV is his obsession with male/female relationships.
While sitting before the black box, I can tell with terrible accuracy and predictability when this young man will point his finger to the subject of sexual encounters between men and women. Whatever the topic at hand, be it Islamic history or current affairs, Amr Khaled never fails to bring in his own little obsession about men and women meeting alone, romance, flirtings and seductions.
For me, as a sociologist and a psychologist, I cannot but conclude that Amr Khaled is airing his own obsessions about sex for all to see. Maybe a slightly more critical approach to these new preaching trends may simply unveil the crux of the matter behind each and every discourse -- namely the total fixation on women and women's bodies. Yet again, it seems to me that the sexual realm is also political and with the same predictability it is always incumbent on women (whatever their age or status or social class) to carry the banners of morality and virtues.
Mayada Akrawi
Geneva
Switzerland
Americanmakers on TV
Sir-- As I watch the Egyptian TV programme Starmaker, I wondered where I was living. One of the judges remarked that "We don't have singers like Shakira in Egypt or in the Arab world," and the young audience clapped in sympathy for the remark.
We are being invaded, similar to Iraq and Afghanistan, but not with F-16 jet fighters and the marines; rather the attack is coming from within society, against our culture, dress-code, music and attitudes. We are being Americanised, and therefore I urge producers of Starmaker to present our culture and our musical heritage of which we are proud. If they can't do that, then I suggest to change the name of the programme from Starmaker to Americanmaker.
Yasser Fouad Abdellah
Sohag
Egypt
Homage to Greeks
Sir-- I want to congratulate Emmanuel Malahias for his excellent letter 'Greek heritage' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 12-18 June). The author was very thorough and meticulous in his chronological details. I found many familiar names that brought to life many pleasant memories of our beloved Egypt. My gratitude and thanks goes to the author and the Greek community for all their countless contributions to our lives.
I recall growing up in Ibrahimiya, Alexandria, in the 1960s where we had several Greek neighbours. They were merchants, industrialists and just plain friendly folks. Even here in Canada, their contributions are every where you go.
Saad Alexan
Vancouver
Canada
Young talent
Sir-- Lubna Abdel-Aziz's article 'Tea and tears at five o'clock' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 12-18 June) was great; she made me feel everything she did. And her words are mature, yet so easy to understand.
But we do need a section at your respected newspaper that sponsors the new talents in music or any other field, because these people need to be heard and we need to hear about them. We are sick of hearing about the famous who might not deserve all that fame -- especially when they produce songs that are only good for playing at weddings and not for quality time listening.
Sherrie Fouad Borham
Cairo
Egypt
