Readers' corner
Never forever
Sir-- I am very happy that the Tunisian people won their freedom without any foreign intervention. I am also happy that they gave a lesson to Arab dictatorships around the Middle East, that you may control people by oppression and torture for 10 years, 20 years, but not forever. People will wake up one day and get their freedom back. Tunisia has proven that.
The Tunisian revolution has left everyone stunned. No one in the world ever thought that a dictator like Zein Al-Abidine bin Ali, who ruled the country by force and torture for decades, would run like a cat begging one country after another for political asylum.
Bin Ali's regime was pro-Western and was supported by both the US and major European nations, including France, the former colonial power. Under Bin Ali Tunisia cooperated in Washington's "war on terror" and was praised by the neoconservative folks for waging a continuous and largely successful battle against Islamic radicalism. Western countries were backing the dictatorship in Tunisia and giving it financial and media support. Tunisia was being presented by the West as a model of a free society.
The US State Department had earlier said that America was committed to working with Bin Ali and his government. Now though, with the man which the State Department was committed to working with having left the country, the West is having to change tack. President Barack Obama has praised the courage and dignity of the Tunisian people, and called on the Tunisian government to respect human rights, and to hold free and fair elections in the near future that reflect the true will and aspirations of the Tunisian people. What a turnaround.
Ahmed Abdel-Tawwab
Cairo
Egypt
No apostrophe
Sir-- In Pack of Cards (20-26 January Al-Ahram Weekly ) you make reference to the new show Arabs' Got Talent on MBC 4. I appreciate their attempt at using the 'apostrophe' in the right place. But, it is a grammatical mistake. There should be none at all. Let me explain. For example, they are trying to imitate the title of America's Got Talent. Here, the apostrophe is correct, as it means, America (Has) Got Talent -- therefore, America (is singular tense) and its apostrophe (') replaces the S in Has, and is in the right place. But, if you write, Arabs Got Talent, then you do not need an apostrophe, because the plural form of has is have. In other words, the (') is not required and is grammatically wrong, if added, whether before or after. So, it should really be, Arabs Have Got Talent. On the other hand, if you say, These Artists Have Got Talent, it is correct. Just as if you write, This Artist's Got Talent (where you can use the singular form of has, and put the apostrophe instead) is also correct.
Hoda Nassef
Cairo
Egypt
Same story
Sir-- Re 'How green is your deen?' (6-12 January, Al-Ahram Weekly ) interestingly, all of this is very familiar to anyone who went to Catholic school. The terminology is different, that's all. The Catholic Church also condemns both unbridled capitalism (the struggle of individuals) and Marxism (the struggle of classes), and much of its social teaching is also essentially socialist. Indeed, when you separate socialism from Marxism and communist fascism, it becomes a very natural world view.
Michael Kenny
New York
USA
History says so
Sir-- It is probably offensive and in poor taste to call the bombing of a church and the murder in cold blood of innocent worshippers a blessing in disguise ('This nation's fragmented soul', 13-19 January, Al-Ahram Weekly ). But it may very well be. We read that the government and the ruling National Democratic Party are "moving to address long-standing Coptic grievances".
The easing of restrictions on building and/or restoration of churches is certainly a step in the right direction, but it is a drop in an ocean of Coptic grievances. Discrimination against a fellow Egyptian is in my opinion caused by ignorance of our own history. I venture to say that the vast majority of Egyptians are unaware that seven century Egypt was a Christian country at the time of the Arab invasion. Such an integral part of our history is amazingly not taught in schools. It is also not generally known that the majority of Muslims are not at all of Arab Muslim descent. They are as Egyptian as the Christians are; their ancestors elected to convert to Islam many centuries ago. We are the same people who lived together for thousands of years before Christianity or Islam. As one people we built a civilisation the like of which the world has never seen. Together, we fended invaders and fought wars. We are neighbours, colleagues and friends, and we should know better.
Fikri Boulos Salib
Connecticut
USA
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