Letters to the Editor
Moving on
Sir-- There is no denying that the postponement of the Arab summit came as a big surprise to all the Arab people who pinned big hopes on it. The postponement of this summit means that the Arab leaders of some countries are still finding difficulties in hosting summits, let alone solving complicated issues. There is no doubt that the first victim of this postponement is the Palestinian issue. The Palestinians hoped that this summit would come up with decisive decisions that can prevent the Israelis from continuing their brutal aggression against the Palestinian people.
Moreover, the postponement of the Arab summit caused Israel to gloat over us and belittle the abilities of Arab leaders. Now that Tunisia failed to host the summit, another Arab country should take the initiative and host it as soon as possible. I believe Egypt is worthy of doing so.
Hakim Rharbaoui
Rabat
Morocco
Action now
Sir-- I have all along, as have millions of Arabs within and outside the region, suspected that our leaderships didn't have the population's best interest at heart. Otherwise, how would you explain this mysterious motive that led the Tunisian government to prematurely postpone the summit, thus turning the Arab League into a bed-ridden patient? A patient that may go into shock, which may as well send it into an irreversible coma, perhaps even expiration.
Have these leaders forgotten what engines should be driving the process? Decisions of such importance should have been debated in public and in a timely fashion. This might go down in history as the cold that did us all in.
The Arab street, under constant assaults (ie Iraq, Palestine and domestic strife) may start taking matters in its own hands, devising ways to take back the reigns of power. What puzzles me still though, is the belief of the Arab elite that it can maintain such repressive structures in place indefinitely. We know many regimes in the region are buying personal protection while transferring a scarce national good into private transnational hands. Any sane person will tell you, however, that such a behaviour is not sustainable, and maybe harmful to all who take part in it.
One of the main issues taken up by the Arab League should have been Israel's murderous rampage against the Palestinians, and the assassinations of our old and young brethren. This one issue should have been enough to glue the whole of the Arabs together.
The people in the region know they have many tools at their disposal to deal with Israel; and some of the most potent tools available are the boycott of Israeli products and companies that do business with Israel; and second, Palestinians in the forefront should take to the streets in droves, if not daily then weekly, and bring about the glare of the media and the brunt of global public opinion to bare on the Israelis. This is the only way we, the Arabs, can reclaim our dignity and maybe even get our act together.
We have to multitask and keep parallel tracks of actions available to us to protect our common good. Our elite have had their marching orders long since, yet they fail us over and over again. I believe they ought to show cause for performance promptly or risk firing, and worse: restitution for past deeds.
I am for Egypt hosting the summit soon, to contravene and counteract the looming gloom and doom.
Hadj Maaradji
Los Angeles, CA
USA
Failing the Palestinians
Sir-- Muslims around the world are ashamed of Arab leaders for being so weak on the issue of Palestine.
We are all responsible in front of God because we left the Palestinians to fight on their own. We are many in numbers, but we are weak; we are rich, but we are greedy.
Hafis Mohd
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Defeating Sharon
Sir-- I felt extremely grieved when I heard no word of condemnation from the majority of the international community which looked the other way at the time of an aged and wheelchair- bound Palestinian sheikh, and other Palestinians, were slain in cold blood. Ignoring the repercussions of such an operation, Sharon appeared on TV in a ministerial meeting, unashamedly boasting of the success of the assassination operation. He ordered his men, and then step-by-step followed up the operation personally.
By doing so, he opened the door wide to violent attacks; the threats by Palestinian factions and groups are an incontestably logical outcome. The Middle East peace process I think, if not dying, is being purposely aborted. Such policy leads to nothing but much more violence and chaos, contrary to the Sharonic notion that the policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders and gunning down more and more Palestinian people is the only way by which Israel can achieve peace in the Middle East.
Not a bed of roses is the road. But Arab leaders and Arab foreign ministers should throw such obstacles from the road and formulate a pattern of reform in harmony with the interests of their people, instead of such acts as the indefinite postponement of the Arab League summit on which all Arab peoples pin a great host of expectations and hopes.
Mahmoud Shafik
Cairo
Egypt
Peace lost
Sir-- Fear, that is my instant reaction to the slaying of the old, quadriplegic man. Now that the Israelis have succeeded in killing Ahmed Yassin, they should not expect the other party to just bear and grin. Targeting Ahmed Yassin for so long and killing him is not yet the end of the tragic story that has been unfolding for over 50 years now. Killing the old man only means that the Middle East is in for yet another spiral of violence that will only spell more bloodshed and leave so many innocent people dead on both sides. There is no telling how bad Palestinians feel now that a spiritual leader like Ahmed Yassin, who used to live in their midst and was atuned to their needs, is killed in cold blood.
Will the killing -- or for the sake of political correctness, target-killing -- of Ahmed Yassin help establish long-lost dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians? Sadly, the answer is no. Ahmed Yassin meant a lot to the Palestinians and he was -- whether the Israelis like it or not -- a pacifying and calming force. Palestinians knew how transparent and honest the man was and wouldn't hesitate to ask his sound judgement on various issues. Now that the man is gone, unrestrained forces are set loose hijacking the whole Palestinian cause and jeopardising Israeli security in the process.
Does anybody, including the Israelis themselves, see any sense in what Sharon is doing? Talking about a unilateral pullout of Gaza today and tomorrow raiding it and killing as many innocent Palestinians as his ammunition stock can allow. Is that the peace he is lobbying for? What do his American friends think?
Forget political semantics, let's get to the root cause of the problem. Palestinians do not trust Sharon; in fact, nobody does in the Arab world does. He falls short of the image and spectacle of the very man he killed that dawn. He doesn't measure up to world expectations of him, and projecting an image of him as a peace-loving leader is a gross miscalculation.
Sameh Abdil-Galil
Al-Hassa
Saudi Arabia
Savage tenure
Sir-- Jonathon Cook's 'Sharon's shameful death' ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 25-31 March) did not mention another dimension of the strategy: Sharon was to be indicted for bribery within a few days of the Yassin assassination. Sharon should be expected to push the agenda harder and faster as his political tenure nears its end. Ultimately, Sharon and Likud want to achieve the most unsavoury points of their aggressive agenda before they lose their leadership in the next election. Also, Sharon and Likud know that they will not be able to pursue their current aggressive tactics towards the Palestinian Authority forever.
President Bush or his successor will not tolerate Sharon's policies when it will have negative consequences upon the legitimacy and authority of the new government of Iraq. The constituency of Iraq's new leaders will demand to censure Israel through national and international forums if Sharon's tactics continue. We can expect Sharon and Likud to step up their tactics in the coming months, then they will have to cease.
The Arab League should be proactive at their upcoming summit and anticipate the dialogue that would effectively address the issues which would be most helpful to Palestinian people. Sharon and Likud know their tenure is limited; let's think beyond them. The leaders of the Arab League need to demonstrate leadership now; let Sharon demonstrate autocracy.
Mel Gagliano
Kew Gardens, NY
USA
Good question
Sir-- Ha'aretz journalist Ze'ev Schiff recently asked, "Why are the American envoys returning to Israel?" Good question. Could it be that Israel's intentions are not very clear to anyone, including their closest ally, America? Schiff makes a comparison between Israeli Prime Minister Sharon (who, according to Schiff, "hasn't yet emerged from the fog that still shrouds his plan") and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz (who "felt there was no military sense in holding onto Netzarim and that disengagement from the Gaza Strip could reduce friction with the Palestinians"). The prime minister's disengagement plan is indeed a confused and vague plan, giving new meaning to old adages, like "speak with forked tongue" and "double-talk". No wonder everyone is confused.
Schiff gives us more pieces of the Sharon/ IDF/violence puzzle. "Nor is Sharon interested in having international peace-keepers enter the zone from which the IDF will withdraw. He has no confidence in such forces, which are apt to disrupt Israel's legitimate defensive measures against terror. This is why he estimates that terror will continue." We see Sharon and IDF are not interested in having "international peace- keepers enter the zone." Not wanting international peace-keepers brings up this point: if they are "legitimate defensive measures," as he says, then why isn't Sharon willing to allow the world to see? Why isn't the rest of the world being allowed to peacefully observe what is happening here?
Killing innocent children and building Apartheid walls is not good press, and since the US pays for all of it perhaps the guy holding the US purse strings also wants to know the answer to "Why are the American envoys returning to Israel?" Maybe he's suddenly become interested in what Israel is doing with the $3 billion tax dollars he sends every year.
Jerry Walker
St Louis, MO
USA
Drop the dollar
Sir-- Arabs/Muslims should float their own common currency or if their leaders cannot agree to that, at least stop doing business in US dollars. Use euros instead.
Rizwan Khawaja
Dallas, TX
USA
Clearly stated
Sir-- With reference to Dalia Yacout's letter 'Piece of cloth' ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 20-26 November), as I understand it, the French ruling on the veil is that it should not -- along with any other religious symbols -- be used in the public school setting.
I think Dalia Yacout is missing the point here. There is no room in the public school setting of a secular democracy for religious bigotry through the adornment of symbols. Plain and simple.
Raouf Zaidan
Broomfield, CO
USA
Ban the ban
Sir-- I applaud the Egyptian students who are voicing their opposition to the French ban on the hijab. The ban is cruel; whatever happened to "live and let live". Women should be allowed to wear whatever they wish -- whether it is a personal preference or indeed a religious preference. It is wrong to force others to conform to your ways -- whether this be viewed as backward or forward thinking. Personally, I feel it is the height of arrogance and a gross violation of women's rights. Live and let live is the only true freedom of expression.
Keep demanding that the French ban be removed; it is cruel and a violation of expression.
Doris Cadigan
Massachusetts
USA
The facts
Sir-- Salah El-Amrousi scores some important points about free trade in his article 'Thwarting progress' ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 1-7 April). He is correct that most Western countries didn't follow free trade policies until fairly recently. The philosophy called mercantilism, which promoted protectionism, dominated the West for over three centuries; but the West grew in spite of the lack of free trade, not because of it. Once they adopted freer trade policies, those economies grew even faster. Mr El-Amrousi is also right that free trade is no guarantee of success in economic development. The real engine of economic growth is the protection of private property, which motivates people to invest in new businesses and technology. The West excelled at private property protection because of its Protestant Christian influence.
However, Mr El-Amrousi makes a few mistakes. The reader will notice that he didn't mention the United Provinces, as the Dutch Republic was called. The UP was the only country for two centuries that advocated free trade during the reign of mercantilism, and it became the wealthiest, most powerful country in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Finally, Mr El-Amrousi confuses the Index of Economic Freedom with free trade. The index does have a component that addresses trade, but most of the factors that make up the index relate to the freedom of a citizen or businessman within a country. As a group, these indicators measure the degree to which a nation protects the private property of citizens from theft by the government or criminals. If Mr El-Amrousi wants to find the reason for Egypt's poverty, he should dig into those factors.
Roger McKinney
Broken Arrow, OK
USA
Power games
Sir-- Although I have a garbage man who collects the garbage every day for LE5 per month, I was forced to pay the same charge recorded on my electricity bill in the name of cleanliness bill.
When I decided not to pay this cleanliness bill, the electricity company threatened to cut the power from my flat. Now, I wonder, if there was a ruling prohibiting the payment of cleanliness charges as part of electricity bills, why isn't the government applying court rulings?
Ahmad Abdel-Tawwab
Cairo
Egypt
Bad sales
Sir-- It is very disappointing to hear that people are still selling Ancient Egyptian objects illegally, especially private collectors.
I think they should be returned to where they belong -- Egypt. Also, the government should not just sit back and do nothing, but instead take some action like buying the objects back from the market.
Jazzy Jia Le
Marsiling
Singapore
An end to sorrow
Sir-- I want to both congratulate and thank you for your article "A Nation State in Waiting" ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 18-24 March). It is the most complete, cogent and well thought out article on the troubles Iraq is experiencing that I have encountered anywhere. I will recommend it to others.
Inshallah the long-abused people of Iraq's sorrow will be soon over and they can contest power through elections and persuasion rather than through widow and orphan making, as too many seem to favour now.
James Thomson
Virginia
USA
Al-Ahram Weekly reserves the right to edit letters submitted to Readers' Corner for brevity and clarity. Readers are advised to limit their letters to a maximum of 300 words.
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