Letters to the Editor
The picture from Falluja
Sir--- I have just read Nermeen Al-Mufti's article 'Terrorists in Falluja', ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 21-27 October). It disturbs me that these types of articles do not make it into the Western media so that we can have a more balanced picture of the occupation of Iraq.
As the editor of a fledgling Australian social magazine, I would just like to convey my sympathy to the Iraqi people for the pain inflicted by a so-called American democracy. Similarly, it is important to note that although our recent federal election makes it appear that the population has agreed with Prime Minister Howard's commitment to the "coalition of the willing", there remain many Australians that detest his racist, opportunistic politics.
It is indeed unfortunate that the US has usurped the role of the UN and engaged in a 21st century empire project. International leaders should rally together and condemn the hollow politics of Bush's war and all who support it. His personal war of terror is only benefiting those least deserving of help -- arms manufacturers, career politicians and other creatures of that ilk.
Congratulations to your reporter and your paper for having the courage to print that which the West does not wish to acknowledge.
Barry Parsons
Bunbury
Australia
Media culpability
Sir-- Re: 'Terrorists in Falluja', ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 21- 27 October), the world has to bring America to court for its war crimes against humanity.
How can we get away with all this mass murder of innocent Iraqi people? We must be stopped and our top officials must be punished. Of course, I am voting for John Kerry but the horrible crimes our government has committed cannot go unpunished. So much of the responsibility belongs to the corporate media who covered up how we got into Iraq and what we are doing.
Half of the American people are not informed because they base their opinions upon the national news, which is nothing more than government propaganda. Eighty per cent of national news comes from the Pentagon and the State Department. Such networks need to lose their licences to broadcast and spend the rest of their lives in prison. Or actually, the severity of their crimes would demand the court to give a sentence of execution, the same as any average citizen guilty of murder and accomplice to murder.
Jean Jearman
Richmond, Virginia
USA
Against insanity
Sir-- Re: Nermeen Al-Mufti, 'Terrorists in Falluja', ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 21-27 October), crimes against humanity and war crimes are serious charges that I do not take lightly. The government of the United States nonetheless, stands charged. The preemptive war on Iraq is genocide and the United States stands charged. There are multiple hundreds of thousands of Americans that are in opposition to George Bush's insanity being waged on the Iraqi people. Our voices are effectively silenced. There are many more Americans that are in agreement with the Bush administration and their genocide. That is our national disgrace.
With the deaths of more and more innocent Iraqis, the sadness that I feel grows and the outrage that I feel intensifies. This madness "must" stop but, how does one make that happen?
The article by Al-Mufti will haunt me for a very long time. I can't get my country to listen and the frustration is like being mired in thick mud.
Why does the civilised world just stand and watch as mass murder and genocide are being waged in Iraq and in Palestine? Are we all simply caught in a sick fascination with death? I do not have an answer.
As an American, I offer my sincerest apologies to the world for the actions of my government. I do not know who these people are. They do not represent your basic everyday American. These madmen will be brought to account and no, I haven't figured out that part either, but somehow I will. These atrocities should not and cannot be allowed to continue.
Don Nash
Murray, Utah
United States
Conspiracy theories
Sir-- The tragic bombing of tourists in Sinai appeared momentarily in the US media. What has lingered on in the American press is wild accusations and hints taken from your own paper ( Al-Ahram Weekly, Sinai Bombings Special, 14-20 October), that Israel is the culprit in this terrorism.
Reporting the knee-jerk and anti-Semitic murmurs from the streets of Cairo may seem colourful to some of your journalists, but has detrimental effects on the image of Muslims worldwide.
As institutes here in Los Angeles such as the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab foundation and the Institute for the study of Jewish-Muslim relations struggle to come to an understanding between the two faiths, we hear radio reports accredited to Al-Ahram that have the effect of legitimising these ridiculous claims against Israel. As a Muslim convert I cringe every time I read another example of the Umma's addiction to the idea that Muslims are the victim of international Zionism.
Islam can easily negotiate from a position of strength and intelligence anywhere on the world stage, if we can purge ourselves of self doubt and the assertions of the uneducated.
Scott Dennis
Los Angeles
USA
Losing balance
Sir-- Re: 'Days of vengeance', ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 14-20 October) I don't believe the victims who perished in Sinai terrorist attacks, the majority of them Egyptians and Europeans, would be amused to read your classification of their murder as "vengeance" for the Palestinian victims of Israel.
They didn't commit any crime to be brutalised by the supposed avengers, and your premature judgement of the attacks even preempts any word from the official investigation into the matter.
And another thing, who are you to dismiss the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty as "unwarranted"? Millions of Egyptians took to the streets in jubilant reception of President Sadat as he returned to Cairo from his bold peace trip to Jerusalem.
It is an established fact that publications may lean to the right or to the left in accordance with their ideological directions in the political playing field. However your latest editorial has confirmed that your paper has leaned so far in one direction that it lost its balance, and tripped out of the country.
Kareem Hammam
Cairo
Egypt
Islamic renewal
Sir-- With reference to the interview with Tariq Ramadan, 'Europe's silent revolution', ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 21-27 October), Ramadan's work and mission remind me of another great Muslim thinker and true defender of the faith of his time Imam Al-Ghazali. As an Arab- American I can relate to his thoughts on both personal and practical levels.
A programme of Islamic renewal is essential to construct a social order compatible with modernity yet derived from within Islamic sources.
As Mr Ramadan repeatedly stresses in his writings, we can be both modern and faithful. A bottom up educational process is essential for the programme's success. A three-stage programme for the restoration of Islamic civilisation consists of education, political reform and strengthening the bond of Islamic countries along the lines of political models from, for example, the EU.
Political reform consists of introducing a one-person one-vote political system. The Muslim world deserves better rulers.
Islamic countries must, and to the greatest extent possible, integrate their economic, educational and political systems to form a unified political and military force.
Mahmoud Nasser
Houston
USA
Hebrew heritage
Sir-- I agree with the arguments made by your author, Jill Kamel in 'A proverbial heritage' ( Al-Ahram Weekly, 21-27 October), although I would like to correct her by saying that it was not King David who fled to Egypt (1 Kings 11: 14-22), but Hadad: "Yaweh raised an enemy against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, of the kingly stock of Edom." After David had crushed Edom, Joab, the army commander had gone to bury the dead and had slaughtered the entire male population of Edom. (Joab stayed there with all Israel for six months until he had exterminated the entire male population of Edom), but Hadad with a number of Edomites in his father's service had fled to Egypt.
Also, in the New American Bible, page 107, the (Roman Catholic) Church, referring to the sayings of Amen-n-Ope, writes that: "the inspired editor of Proverbs does not translate these, but uses their materials in constructing a similar collection of proverbs."
In addition to these statements, it is my long-held belief that the open-minded King Akhenaton "overheard" God talking to the Hebrew people and their prophets during their long sojourn in Egypt, and that he took it upon himself to declare God as God the Father of mercies and Creator of all things.
George Geoffrey Conwill
Gulfport, Mississippi
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