Readers' corner
Opposite of Chomsky
Sir-- Re 'Requiem for an overweight' ( Al-Ahram Weekly 5- 11 February), Davos is a reputed Alpine retreat where invalids are sent to recover. So it was appropriate that these severely bruised top business and political leaders of the world should meet there, take a break from their woes and recover... and presumably reinvent themselves and find a cure for the crisis they created. Noam Chomsky writes: "The ways that Western countries are approaching the crisis entirely contradict the model that they enforce on the Third World when there is a crisis. So when Indonesia has a crisis, or Argentina and everyone else, they are supposed to raise interest rates very high and privatise the economy, and cut down on public spending, measures like that. In the West, it is the exact opposite: lower interest rates to zero, move towards nationalisation if necessary, pour money into the economy, have huge debts. That is exactly the opposite of how the Third World is supposed to pay off its debts." I wonder if these World Economic Forum "glorified sages" bothered to discuss or even comment among themselves the above contradiction pointedly made by Chomsky.
Giorgio Malti
Rome
Italy
Up and down
Sir-- There's one big difference that also needs to be borne in mind ('Carter redux' Al-Ahram Weekly 29 January-4 February). During the Cold War, the world had to prop the US up because it needed it. Now, precisely because of the bullying you mention, the world's interest is to see the US go down, at least to the point of no longer being able to project power beyond its own borders. That will suit Obama's FDR ambitions, but it will not suit his Israel lobby masters.
Michael Kenny
Florida
USA
He told him so
Sir-- In conversation with a former British ambassador to Egypt, I was told that Ariel Sharon informed him face to face that he wanted all Palestinians out of the West Bank. I see no evidence that Zionist policy has changed. I would suggest, therefore, that Mahmoud Abbas is wasting his time, and there was never serious consideration of a two-state solution on the Israeli side. The tragedy is that the so-called friends of Israel offer it no warning that there is no future for its apartheid policies, and that for the present, history is on the side of Hamas and Hizbullah.
Robert Anderson
London
UK
This for that
Sir-- I've seen cartoons in your paper portraying Jewish religious symbols, including the last issue, in a way that would never be allowed if they were Islamic. No doubt you and your defenders say it is legitimate because of how the Jewish state acts, yet that could also be a valid excuse to portray Muslims in a negative light.
Jane Likwich
California
USA
Change the focus
Sir-- Stop glorifying resistance and replace it and talk about coexistence.
Shula Gracy
New York
USA
Iran be cool
Sir-- Egypt being the only big country in the region, besides Iran, please request the Iranians to calm down, in all aspects, for the benefit of the whole world.
Per Larsson
Gothenburg
Sweden
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