A better tomorrow
Sir-- I would like to thank you for your very informative article "Facing up to fitna" (Al-Ahram Weekly 25-31 December).
As you say, the Western press has very little idea of the domestic structures in Iraq. They always seek a simple explanation, as their readers are often ill-informed and understand little about other cultures. In a bid to over-simplify the matter, they somehow report it inaccurately. I do, however, fully support the liberation of Iraq by the coalition forces. The people of Iraq will also appreciate the removal of such a tyrant as Saddam Hussein in due course. But a democratic, or at least semi-democratic system must be in place before the departure of these forces. Iraq cannot be allowed to fall back into a one- party state or a theocracy if Iraq, and the rest of the world, is to remain safe.
The Iraqi people do not deserve that destiny again, they deserve the hope of a future of freedom and prosperity that only democracy brings.
James Cheetham
London
UK
A disheartening assault
Sir-- It was disheartening to see the assault on the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, not only because the assault took place in one of the holiest Islamic sanctuaries, but it was also perpetrated by Palestinians, for whose cause Egypt has suffered so much for so long. Perhaps it was an isolated incident, but it is clearly a symptom of an acute disorder that warrants serious attention. There should have been no doubt about Egypt's genuine intentions to achieve a just peace. In fact, for millennia, Egypt has taken the momentous task of settling perpetual disputes between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Understandably for the past half century Egypt has been more sympathetic with the Palestinians. However, knowing the Egyptian psyche, if the situation were to be reversed, that is, if the Palestinians were to be the oppressor and the Israelis were to be the oppressed, Egypt would undoubtedly be more sympathetic with the Israelis.
To maintain a balanced approach is a delicate task indeed, because of Egypt's historical, cultural and geopolitical ties with both the Palestinian and the Israeli people. Yet, it is the most promising approach, for the benefit of the whole region, considering the alternatives.
Now, a few pressing questions arise: how far will Egypt go in pursuit of peace however elusive it seems? What are the Arab countries willing to offer other than charity and rhetoric? What are the Palestinians and the Israelis really willing to offer? Although the latter question has been debated for decades, the answer is still ambiguous at best.
Clearly, the United States as the world's only superpower holds the key to peace at this moment in history, but only genuine collective action, not solitary backdoor deals, of the Arab countries along with Egypt can persuade the US to take practical steps to make peace in the Middle East a reality. The US can only help people help themselves. Attacking peacemakers in holy places does not help.
Mohamed Ibrahim Frederick
Maryland
USA
Troubled thoughts
Sir-- As an Egyptian I was troubled by the news of the beating of our foreign minister outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
What was even more disappointing was our government's reaction to the matter as if nothing of great significance had occurred. This assault should act as a cry of alarm for Egypt to revise its policies of complete bias in support of the Palestinians in their conflict with the Israelis, for that is obviously what we get in the end.
Kareem Hammam
Cairo
Egypt
The others
Sir-- Regarding your article "Unveiling France" by Jeremy Landor (Al-Ahram Weekly 25-31 December) reporting on the Muslim world's denunciation of the French proposal to ban Muslim women from wearing head- scarves in public, I wonder why the same people do not denounce Saudi Arabia which bans all non-Muslim religious displays? Can a Christian wear a cross in public in Riyadh or even go to a church?
This incident reminds me of when Egypt and Jordan administered Gaza and the West Bank; no one referred to them as "occupiers", but when Jews did the same, suddenly they were wrong. Why do Muslims think they have the right to do as they please but when others do the same, they are immediately denounced for the exact conduct?
David Chet
New York
USA
The hard way
Sir-- It is with a blind eye and much hand wringing -- consistent with much of the self-indulgent Arab press -- that Mustafa Barghouthi writes the article entitled "Sharon must be stopped" (Al-Ahram Weekly 25-31 December) about the plight of the Palestinians living on the West Bank. That their condition is desperate is not to be disputed, but that they share the lion's portion of their own fate is beyond argument. The complexity of the conflagration that is called the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is far more devilish than simply Ariel Sharon and his view of a greater Israel.
The process on the surface is surreal: a corrupt and misguided man -- Yasser Arafat -- leads his people to a dark alley, finds that he is slowly being made superfluous while thugs employed as "freedom fighters" rise to challenge the aging and corrupt old guard. The so-called freedom fighters reap little assistance from their putative Arab allies -- nor the rest of the world for that matter -- and find themselves slowly turning in the wind, the product of a furious response from the Israeli military and their own wrong doings.
Nothing outside of the conflict mitigates the parties' hatred. I believe it is about time for both the Palestinians and the Israelis to rid themselves of their leaders in order to find the right politicians who would walk the hard road to peace.
Richard Koplin
New York
USA
Longer than Vietnam
Sir-- By the end of the year 2003, we (the Americans) would have conducted the longest bombing in history, that of Iraq which lasted from 1991-2003.
It is even longer than our bombing of Vietnam.
Alfonso Garcia
Houston
USA
A people's leader
Sir-- Agreeing with Salah Hemeid's article entitled "Remains of History" (Al-Ahram Weekly, 18-24 December); indeed the question has to be on the minds of the Arab political elite. One of them has just bitten the dust and is imprisoned by his past masters while no one would, nor can, lift a finger to help him.
This is certainly the fate of those who ally themselves with foreign powers at the expense of their own people. If you don't have popular legitimacy as a cushion to support you, your fall from grace becomes fatal.
I hope this is a lesson to all those regional leaders to heed the call of reason and turn the reigns of power over to their people for answers and wisdom. No one leader should be imposed on any regional state by means of coercion, rights of birth, and/or wealth. Only ethical deeds, integrity and commitment to the public welfare ought to be the credentials of any leader.
People around the world have to look inward to define their own national interest and decide what is best for their future. Once the goal is clearly defined, choosing a leader would be an easy task, for it will be based on criteria which do not compromise the people's prosperity and welfare; one that only depends on the country's best interests. When a nation is clear about its aims and desires, nothing can break its will, conquer it, nor for that matter wantonly steal and destroy its patrimony.
The signs are ominous and, as I have previously observed from the regional media and my personal take on the unfolding events, the populations, or the masses, are usually the ones to bear the consequences of any assault on their sovereignty. Therefore, it is incumbent on these same populations to be directly and solely involved in visualising, and enacting, their policies; defining and protecting their national good; and ultimately electing legitimate leaders whose deeds are checked and balanced by the true masters -- the people.
In closing, whether we feel this way or that way about the fate of Saddam Hussein, the important lesson to be gleamed from this episode is the need to have a clear understanding of our domestic and international positions, and elect those leaders who truly represent us [the people] under our guidance and supervision. Only then can the region become independent, and impervious to external pressures.
Now, why is this so hard to see and why is it taking so long to engage, prolonging the misery of the people?
Hadj Maaradji
Los Angeles
USA
Treasures
in abundance
Sir-- Youssef Rakha's review of "Season of Migration to the North" (Al-Ahram Weekly 20- 26 November) is highly commendable. The statement that "Season of Migration to the North was, and remains, banned in Sudan" is, however, factually incorrect, as it is found in abundance on the book shelves of Khartoum's bookstores.
Please continue such rare delves that examine a non-political or war-related Sudanese theme, with Sudan regarded as a "contemporary", as opposed to a "corollary". Sudan has a plethora of variety in the cultural, historical and literary spheres not found anywhere else in the world.
Salah Haj El-Nour
Dundee
Scotland
A tramp?
Sir-- With respect to your special issue 669 (Al-Ahram Weekly 18-24 December) dedicated mostly to the capture of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, I've been told by an informed news source that the person that was caught recently was not Saddam at all but a vagrant look-alike from Los Angeles, California.
According to the source, one day an unemployed actor and shopping cart repairman Fred Kazinski was preparing for another depressing Christmas when he was contacted with the good news. Federal agents woke the LA vagrant early one morning at his home, a homeless shelter on the outskirts of Hollywood, with the good news. Fred was notified that he had won a free trip to Baghdad, $750,000 in cash, and a starring role in an upcoming Pentagon production. Kazinski had shown up at a casting call six months ago at the west coast division of the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans in hopes of being cast as an extra for a made-for- TV movie of the week. He was told at the time that he wouldn't be needed but he gave authorities the address of his shelter in case the casting director needed any more extras.
Kazinski got lucky a couple of weeks ago when a casting director saw Fred's photo in the Pentagon database and thought he would be perfect for the lead role in The Tribunal, a new TV series about a deposed Middle East dictator on trial for war crimes. The show will be filmed on location in Baghdad and production will begin immediately.
Nazmi Nolimetangere
Montana
USA
The missing part
Sir-- Mustapha Kamel El-Sayed's article "The other face" (Al-Ahram Weekly 25-31 December) left me with an incomplete feeling. The writer starts out fine with the assertion that the Western and Eastern worlds are not necessarily monoliths in perpetual opposition to each other. However, the rest of the article is almost exclusively devoted to arguing that the Western world has exhibited concrete examples of support for "Arab" causes.
What are we to conclude? That the Eastern world is, in fact, united in its condemnation of the West? That the writer had intended to write more but ran out of space and time before addressing examples of political diversity in the Arab world? Maybe the writer sought such examples and was unable to find them? It remains a mystery.
How fitting.
Steve Foote
Tennessee
USA
Refusing hate
Sir-- Thanks for your article entitled "The other face" (Al-Ahram Weekly 25-31 December) highlighting the important perspective of solidarity in East/West relations, often sidelined and downplayed. Despite the US/UK leadership choosing to studiously ignore millions of their citizens protesting the war, the significance of the phenomenal outcry should not be underestimated.
Being unable to prevent the US-led attack on Iraq in itself was a huge wake-up call for many who believed we lived in societies based on just and democratic principles. It brought the true nature of our leadership into disturbingly sharp focus, and helped expose the imperialistic aims behind the moral trumpeting. For many, it strengthened our resolve to resist the US Zionist warmongering.
The "war on terror" is fuelled by a mixture of neo-con corporate and political greed, and incitement of fear and hatred among the masses. When we (Western/Arab, Muslim/Christian) allow ourselves to be seduced into the fear trap of demonising and dehumanising the "other", we become no more than the obedient fuel which fires the madness.
Alternatively, by dialogue and solidarity we open up a range of options for solving our problems. The article did not mention another ally from an unlikely source. Recently 13 soldiers from Israel's top commando unit publicly refused to serve in the occupied territories in protest of Sharon's brutal policies against the Palestinians. Their names are added to a growing list of around 500 reservists (many currently jailed) who have refused to serve for the same reason.
Israel's government knows how to deal with Palestinian martyrdom operations, in their endlessly familiar language of assassinations, bombings, demolitions and closures. However, growing dissent in their own ranks (particularly from their finest) leaves them confused and confounded.
We -- civil society of East and West -- should remember the best cards are in our hands. When enough of us say "we, the ordinary people refuse to be enemies" the warmongering machinations of the neo-cons will slowly but surely grind to a resounding halt.
Lesley Whiting
Cairo
Egypt
New map
Sir-- I wonder how the map of the Middle East will look like in 10-20 years from now. Will Israel extend its hegemony to include the land it violated in 1967? The new order as I visualise it constitutes of a wider plan to relocate the Palestinians to Iraq since the new Iraqi government is obviously seeking cheap labour who would help in reconstructing the country.
It goes without saying then that the Palestinians would resemble the best choice, that based on work in exchange for accommodation. Is this a joke or a myth? One would wonder, however, who would have believed in the early 1960s that the current situation would be the fate of many countries of the Middle East. It is time we [Arabs] understand that there is a plan that is in progress whether we decide to live it or leave it.
Tony Rashdani
London
UK
Bad fall
Sir-- I am writing this as a Turk who lives in Britain since 1980. Anyone who is happy for the fall of the government in Iraq by the West is either stupid or a spy. We should never be happy for the destruction of any country by the West. Beginning in Spain, when Arabs were happy for the fall of other Arab rulers, and their stupidity continued when they chose to end their unification in 1914 by joining the West and the establishment of Israel in 1948.
From a historic point of view, I might be happy if Iraq fell at the hands of another Iraqi such as in 1958 and 1963 or by being occupied by another Arab country.
Mehmet Dugan
London
UK
Morbid prospects
Sir-- The end of the "Ba'thist revolution" is the end of the Arab nation. From now on each country is on its own since the Arab League is nothing more than a social club.
But who is to blame? Not Israel, not the West, but the Arab leaders, the national organisations and the Arab people who went to sleep in September 1970, and in the 1980s when Israel went into Beirut, and during the 1991 Gulf War.
The Arabs in Spain is history, the Ottoman Empire is history, and Arab culture and unity will follow.
Emina Alexander
Paris
France
Struggles in Iraq
Sir-- The arrest of Saddam Hussein caused so many reactions in and outside Iraq. His dark history and blood-drenched hands cast their shadow whenever we hear his name; and his arrest, no doubt, gave President Bush a push in his coming elections. This shameful end has endless significance and numerous lessons.
The first point to consider is that oppression and arrogance lead to humiliation in the end. It can be taken for granted that Saddam served the goals of the US in the Middle East like no one ever has in history. He fought Iran for years, claiming groundless causes, which put the region in ever-lasting disturbance. With his foolish conquest in Kuwait, he gave the Americans a chance to be based militarily in the region.
Reactions inside Iraq were mixed. Many were euphoric with happiness, others were silent and puzzled, while some Iraqis protested against his arrest. I have one remark regarding the last instance. Saddam was so generous in using his gun in the past against his own people that hundreds died by it. Why didn't he use this gun against his own head when being captured, to die in honour rather than be caught like a rat in a trap?
The answer may be because he does not deserve to leave as a hero after living as a villain. It seems to me that he was hiding not only from the Americans but also from the Iraqis themselves. Yet, the worrying question remains unanswered. Will the Americans go home after arresting the bogeyman, especially that it doesn't seem that he has any direct links with the resistance in Iraq?
Ali El-Sharkawy Omar
Mansoura
Egypt
Good analysis
Sir-- 'Hardly alone' is a fabulous article by Azmi Bishara (Al-Ahram Weekly, 18-24 December). It is very deep and he brings up very interesting points about the current situation in Iraq and the world.
Claudia Faerber
California
USA
Illegal departure
Sir-- Your article "Fighting for Ali" by Gihan Shahine (Al-Ahram Weekly 25-31 December) failed to mention that in the first place, Ali was "illegally" taken out of the United States by his father and brought to Egypt. In the US it is not uncommon to learn of children kidnapped by their Middle East-born mothers or fathers who are married to foreigners, once problems evolve or they are separated.
These parents are confident that once the child is brought to a Muslim country, the other parent has no chance of obtaining legal custody of the child through this country's legal system.
I am sorry to hear that El-Bastawisi or any of his family members were injured. However, I am happy that Ali's mother took her child back. It's about time that people like El-Bastawisi and other Middle Eastern parental abductors feel what it is like to be on the receiving end.
In the end, Ali returned to the US the same way he departed.
Steven Potempa
Arizona
USA
