Truth will triumph
Sir-- I met Edward Said several years ago at a conference on Palestinians held at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. We had lunch together with his wife, and a number of Palestinian intellectuals. I had been an admirer of his intellectual audacity and creative thinking. I am sorry that I never had the time to know him as well as others. We shared a deep concern for the restoration of the Palestinian people to their homeland. To me, his death signals a new direction in the struggle for justice in the Middle East, one that will be, I am sure, as creative and audacious as was his intellect.
I know that were he here to witness the final outcome of this long and painful quest for vindication and triumph, so imminent in its manifestation, he would feel that his work on behalf of his people was not in vain. I hope, too, that he would feel some satisfaction in the coming end of the struggle; how else could it end, if not in the triumph of a history over a myth? I am pleased that the power of right began to awaken in Palestine, as it had in South Africa, even in his brief life, and it now continues its inevitable accretions of power over evil in Palestine.
For the stars are brightest in the darkest night, right is might. Thus, mere human persistence teaches us a technique that is more powerful than any technology, or combinations of technologies, or the advantage of historical luck.
Now Edward Said has come to the end of his voyage, borne by the navies of silver's shining truth, the dawn's disembarkation in the dawning of Palestine.
Carl Senna
American author
Los Angeles, CA
USA
No other way
Sir-- With the death of Edward Said, it might be useful to put forward his long standing suggestion that the time may have come to dissolve the Palestinian Authority. It is of no use except to those officials who are drawing salaries from it. Even the most advanced Israeli proposals, as meretricious and insincere as they were, never envisaged or provided for a genuine Palestinian state with sovereignty (with defined borders over which it had control, its own foreign policy and military force, etc). Arafat knew this -- although Abu Mazen once said it took him a year to grasp it -- but seized the moment anyway out of egotism and the desire for the status of a head of state. This is why Said resigned from the PLO after the Oslo Agreement and became viewed as a dangerous radical.
This should only be done in concert with a vigorous and unrelenting campaign for full citizenship rights for all Arabs living between the "river and the sea". It is obvious from 50 years of obfuscation, mendacity, systematic murder and racist tyranny, that the Israelis have no intention of surrendering a single inch or a single right to the Arabs of Palestine, nor can they be forced to given their current military power and their grip on the government of the world's only superpower.
Realism suggests this is the only solution.
S G Briggs
New Orleans
USA
Always a way
Sir-- Tamim Barghouti's last quote in the article on the funeral service of Edward Said 'What are we waiting for assembled in the forum?' (Al- Ahram Weekly, 2-8 October) has left me deeply disturbed. We are all shocked and devastated by Said's death and I'm sure Tamim wrote these words feeling the same way.
Tamim wrote: "...with Edward Said's death, the Arab presence in the United States has lost even the small margin of articulate self-assertion that he provided. This has happened at a time when that margin of self-assertion is more needed than ever. As Edward Said is escorted to his final resting place, the margin narrows by the minute."
We have lost a great man, a mentor who has been our guide through his books, articles and countless other initiatives he has created to promote, first and foremost, humanity. He has given us so much, dedicated his whole life to help us think better and act accordingly, armed with the knowledge and awareness he has worked hard to give us.
The last time I saw Said was during a lecture at AUC last year, shortly before the invasion of Iraq. We were all feeling like we had hit rock bottom, as if we reached absolute darkness without any sign of hope. And then Said spoke, this vibrant, passionate man whose whole body moved as he talked to us, as if he was shaking us so hard to wake us up.
Slowly, he breathed life back into our shriveled spirits and made us realise it is never rock bottom, it is never the darkest point and there is always a lot of margin to use to make our voices heard. If one way is blocked, we find another and another and another. If we run out of ways, we make new ones. This is the legacy he has left behind. It would be sinful to act or think otherwise.
Said's daughter, Najla, spoke of her father's last words: "In his last days my father wept openly for Palestine and his loss of articulacy and energy to write and write and write. He encouraged me, from his bed, to 'continue the struggle, continue... get over your petty personal differences with your colleagues and write and perform and continue, continue unceasingly. It's in your hands.' This was meant for our entire generation and it is important for me to convey this to you because I certainly can't shoulder the burden myself."
Our only consolation after our tragic loss is to carry on Said's courageous and inspiring work. If we don't, the margin Tamim describes will indeed get narrower.
Ranwa Yehia
Cairo
Egypt
Loud and clear
Sir-- It fills me with great sorrow to hear about the sudden and tragic loss of a remarkable human being; a remarkable intellectual, who has been an inspiration for a lot of people like myself. I got to know about Mr Edward Said through the pages of your paper, and since then, I have been a vehement supporter of his views. I started to dig for his books and I got the chance to read his masterpiece Orientalism.
I can't find words that can match my deep sense of loss; one can only be relieved to know that he got his message out to the whole world -- he made our voice heard.
Mahmoud Sharara
Alexandria
Egypt
A great transition
Sir-- I enjoyed reading the various obituaries on the passing away of Edward Said and would like to add one more observation about Said's legacy.
Edward's work had double impact on this world. First, his counterpunch on classical studies of the East in the West, and second, and equally important, the transmission of liberal humanistic values to the Arab world. The latter, until recently, were perceived in the Arab world as exclusively Western values, yet what Said did was to show the world with its Arab and non-Arab citizens, the universality of the liberal humanistic tradition and, in contrast to popular belief, its false representation in Western thought.
Today, the very fact that we see a significant number of Arab scholars, students and intellectuals embracing Said's work and vision is a remarkable historical achievement signifying a great transition in modern Arab thought.
Sami Mahroum
Toronto
Canada
Noble thinker
Sir-- A man without a mask, a noble, honest, patriotic warrior. That is how I would like to remember Edward Said.
I knew him by his fearless words and powerful honest pen. I fear that by his loss, a huge gap between the East and the West was made wider and now it will be very hard to fill it. I call on anyone who read his words and was touched by them to share with me a minute of silence.
Dalia Yacout
Alexandria
Egypt
Maintaining the dialogue
Sir-- We have mourned the loss of one of the most influential intellectuals and great minds of the 20th Century. Edward Said has passed away after a long struggle with an illness that consumed his body but failed to blemish his spirit. His exile from his homeland, early life in the "island" of Zamalek, and education at cosmopolitan Victoria College, have nurtured his highly held principles of "uncompromising belief in universal justice, resigning from comfortable yet lazy categorisation of good and evil, and upholding debate as stables of humane living." His prominence within and outside the academic circles as professor in an Ivy League American university was complemented by incisive political analysis and unyielding efforts to expose the fallacies of the fictitious boundaries between the Self and the Other, between the Orient and the West, between Us and Them. He criticised this style of thought that simplifies and reduces "the exotic other", which may be exploited to justify exclusion, isolation, silencing, and even violence.
He was relentless in defending the Palestinian cause. In "Blaming the Victim", Edward Said has asserted that whenever a great power commits violence, it is shamefully inhuman to blame the victim. In "Representation of the Intellectuals", Edward Said reminded that the the values of justice, equality and human rights entail the guardianship of the intellectuals.
When speaking to power, Said recognises the difficulties of the intellectual's questions such as how does one speak the truth? What truth? For whom and where? But he doesn't excuse the modern intellectuals who have deviated from upholding that human justice is for every one, "not just selectively for the people that your side, your culture, you nation designates as okay." He speaks of the habits of minds that denature, neutralise, corrupt and eventually kill a passionate intellectual's life: "Nothing in my view is more reprehensible than those habits of minds in the intellectual that induce avoidance, that characterise turning away from a difficult and principled position which you know is the right one, but you decide not to take. You don't want to appear too political; you are afraid of seeming controversial; you need the approval of the boss or an authority figure; you want to keep the reputation for being balanced, objective, moderate, your hope is to be asked back, to consult, to be on a board or prestigious committee, and so to remain within the responsible mainstream."
Edward Said warns though of the danger of thinking oneself, one's views, one's set position as all too important. Thus he calls, along with universalism, for keeping an open space in the mind for doubt and for sceptical irony, particularly self- irony, since our convictions however absolute come from association with others, with intellectuals and with grass-root movements.
Edward Said has started a dialogue, and it is up to all of us to keep it alive.
Nagwa Al-Badri
Florida
USA
Standing tall
Sir-- Edward Said showed that people like Fouad Ajami & Co have no value or place in history. He was the only person who stood up to the American media (CNN, Fox, etc) at a time we needed him.
We will miss you always. Rest assured that your children will visit free Palestine soon.
Ahmad Almuteri
Kuwait City
Kuwait
Time for one state
Sir-- Given the current state of affairs of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the time has come for a new approach. The failed Oslo peace accords and more recently the collapse of the roadmap proves gradual steps just don't work. Instead, a final and comprehensive agreement must be the goal. However, the time has now come for the Palestinians to abandon the idea of a two-state solution and embrace a different kind of agreement.
The current Israeli government is fundamentally opposed to the creation of a viable Palestinian state. Ariel Sharon is instead bent on forcing the Palestinian people into an untenable situation where he decides how much land they get and on what terms they get it. Meanwhile, the Palestinians continue to fail in their ability to make their case in front of the court of world opinion. Suicide bombings certainly don't help. But the main reason for their failure is that they are being led by a failed and corrupt leader, who has brought nothing but misery and despair to his people over nearly half a century of misrule.
Therefore, the Palestinians should decide to liquidate the Palestinian Authority in an act that would simply formalise its current state of impotence and irrelevance. At the same time, the Palestinians should demand equal treatment under the laws of the State of Israel. This means the right to full Israeli citizenship and simultaneously the right to vote. The demographic reality on the ground speaks for itself. If Israel refuses, it will simply draw the world's attention to the fact that Israel is the "only true democracy in the Middle East" with an official policy of ethnic and religious apartheid.
One man, one vote.
Tamer Nassar
Cairo
Egypt
Who's what
Sir-- I do not agree with the EU putting Hamas on their list of terrorist organisations unless Israel (or at least a majority of its political parties) is placed on the list as well. That would only be fair. To be honest, I am fed up with all the people who have the well-meaning, but very hypocritical opinion, that we all have a moral obligation to support Israel because of the Holocaust. A lot of people will now think that I am a neo-Nazi and that I should be ashamed of myself.
I am not a neo-Nazi and I am not ashamed of myself. I am, however, ashamed of the twisted reporting about the Israel/Palestine conflict in most of the media all over the world under the pretence of being impartial and objective. I feel like throwing up every time I see news feeds saying "Jewish settlers have been attacked by Palestinian terrorists." From my point of view, these "Jewish" settlers are just as Jewish as the Pope.
I believe that calling a spade a spade is the best approach to solving a problem or a conflict. So here is the million dollar question: we know that Hitler and his arm-swingers 50-some years ago were the Nazis, but who are the neo-Nazis? Well, South Africa got rid of theirs, so except for small groups of bald men with small genitals around the world, I would say that Sharon and his political leadership is the group showing the highest degree of Nazi-like behaviour; apartheid legislation, harassment of other ethnic groups, total disregard of human rights and decency, manipulation of the public through restrictions on the press and propaganda, large undeclared chemical, biological, and nuclear arsenal, and the list could go on.
To top it all, the concept behind the settlements in the occupied territories and the erection of the wall that supposedly will protect Palestinians from blowing themselves up must be a cruel joke. It looks very much like a refined version of Theresienstadt (the ghetto in the former Czechoslovakia where Jews -- and I guess a few Zionists as well -- were incarcerated and starved before being sent to Auschwitz).
I do not condone the terrorist acts of Hamas, but isn't it time that we call the "Jewish settler" by his right denomination -- a Zionist. And while we are at it, shouldn't we call for the world to recognise the Zionists as the terrorists they are, and put them on the blacklist also?
Thomas S Nielsen
Budapest
Hungary
Judicious analysis
Sir-- 'Cleaning up America's mess' by Gamal Nkrumah (Al-Ahram Weekly, 25 Sept - 1 Oct) highlights for us Americans what our press does not care to highlight. Coverage of the UN was very one-sided, and I am grateful to Mr Nkrumah for his fine analysis.
Columnists here present President Chirac as a man whose only concern is collecting French investments in Iraq. What we saw and read in the US media makes George W Bush look like George Washington fighting the war of Liberation or WW III, and anyone who contradicts this belief, including the presidents of France, Germany and Russia, are standing in the way of freedom and democracy.
It is sacrilegious to say "French stinging rebuke" of President Bush. It is also taboo to relate Iraq to Israel, or say the "Israelisation of America". Thank you for presenting a judicious analysis of the role of UN, and what it can do to clear the mess.
We do not see this in our press.
Sara Morrison
Hershey, PA
USA
Alternative perspective
Sir-- Please keep up your journalism and continue your link throughout the world.
You ask wonderful questions and offer an alternative in times when Western media can be very single-minded.
Stephan Gyory
Sydney
Australia
Whose master plan?
Sir-- Your article 'Inconclusive evidence' by Diaa Rashwan (Al-Ahram Weekly, 25 Sept - 1 Oct) raised some really interesting points. In many ways the idea that a secret service organisation, rather than an Islamist terrorist organisation, was behind the attacks seems to fit the facts better. If you can believe anything Bin Laden says -- a really difficult proposition -- he denied the attacks immediately after they occurred in a way that made it sound like he wasn't even sure who did carry them out: "I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation." It would also be consistent with the capabilities of a secret service organisation to mount an operation with complete secrecy and security.
If any of this speculation is correct than the question is what country was behind it? The last sentence of your article appears to imply it may have been an American organisation, which is completely over on the goofy side of the spectrum. But if the facts suggest a secret service link, then we could start with a list of countries that have a serious problem with US foreign policy. It seems to me that the list would include, Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Afghanistan, and Libya. Since another characteristic of secret service organisations is to look two or three steps down the road and pursue ends that are not immediately obvious, you could ask what country would have wanted the overthrow of the Taliban, or at least a war in Afghanistan?
Steve Foote
Arlington, TN
USA
More information
Sir-- 'Inconclusive evidence' by Diaa Rashwan (Al-Ahram Weekly, 25 Sept - 1 Oct) is a cogent analysis of the situation. I would very much like to hear Mr Rashwan's theory on what intelligence group(s) planned the attacks on the Towers and the Pentagon.
I hope he writes a Part II or follow-up column on the subject.
Stephanie G Wall
Cape Cod, MA
USA
No hurry
Sir-- Your very interesting article on 'Loan in waiting' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 25 Sept - 1 Oct) actually poses no mystery. The loan should be kept waiting indefinitely, because its acceptance poses major risks to the Egyptian economy. First, before the World Bank can provide a fast-disbursing loan, the IMF has to have a programme with the country, or at least have no objection to the loan. For Egypt, the IMF wants two main conditions: (a) no interference with the floating exchange rate, ie a further depreciation; and (b) a reform of the banking sector, involving the privatisation of at least one of the four biggest public sector banks.
Second, the World Bank, for its part, wants a trade "reform", meaning a lowering of protection, chiefly through lower import tariffs. The effects of these demands will be the following: (a) the further depreciation of the exchange rate will severely worsen the existing inflation; (b) the banking "reform" will sell prime Egyptian assets to the private sector, including the foreign private sector, for very low prices (given the state of the stock market); (c) the tariff reduction will destroy Egyptian industry and also lose revenue for the government, which it will have to replace by raising taxes.
Do any of these look attractive to the average Egyptian? The World Bank representative in Cairo can say what he likes about the usefulness of the loan -- it is his job to sell it. But Egyptians should not be so foolish as to buy either his spurious arguments or his loan. Keep it waiting, indefinitely.
Jack Johnston
Washington, DC
USA
Back home
Sir-- The letter by A Capriani 'US gifts' (Al- Ahram Weekly, 31 July - 6 August) raises a serious issue for the nationals of US and Britain. There is a perception in the Middle East that everyone in the US and Britain is wealthy. This is not surprising given the impact the media has including, in particular, TV shows and films. However, there is another side to both countries. Millions of people are suffering, as are so many in the Middle East.
In Britain alone, over a million children suffer from abject poverty, many with malnutrition diseases, and 16 million people out of a population of 53 million live below the poverty line. In the US the situation is far worse. Yes, our nations are wealthy but that wealth -- as in other nations -- is not fairly distributed. Were we poor nations it may be understandable, but in fact with the wealth our nations have, it is not. Our poor do benefit from the infrastructure missing in some nations elsewhere, but otherwise there is so much in common. It is a tragedy for us all that our leaders are more interested in pushing international agendas at the cost of billions of US dollars whilst they cannot tackle the suffering of their own people only a few miles away.
I did not support this war, and marched against it. But now we must be prepared to stay to see the Iraqi people housed, fed, secure and given the medical care they need within a truly democratic structure built by the people of Iraq with our support.
My concern is having failed to ensure these basic necessities in their own nations, I am not at all convinced either leader of the US or Britain is capable of achieving such goals in another country with the background of insecurity and fear which exists. Nor do I believe we can address the issue of terrorism, the reason we supposedly went into this war, until the real issues -- inequality and injustice -- are tackled throughout the world.
Charmaine Morgan
Lincolnshire
UK
Correct bio
Sir-- Thank you for your kind mention of Tamara Dey in 'Pack of Cards' (Al-Ahram Weekly, 31 July - 6 August) at the Cairo International Music Festival.
However, I would just like to bring to your attention that Tamara is not Belgian (although born there); she is actually South African, born of an Italian father (native of Belgium) and South African mother (myself). She has lived in South Africa since she was 11 months old.
Susan Dey
Johannesburg
South Africa
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