American ...again and at last!

The years of my childhood were marked by shortages in the then socialist, self-reliant Egypt; by patriotic songs; by adults fearful of arrests; by stories of torture so everyone watched carefully what was said. The wars with Israel were also very dominant in my childhood, with the thunderous sonic booms of the Israeli planes and the horror of hearing them, after the bombing of an elementary school not far from Cairo by the Israelis, which killed some 250 kids just like me. In the seventies Sadat lifted Egypt from the soviet sphere and the October 1973 / Yum Kippur war with Israel restored Egyptian self confidence. The backlash against the failed socialist experience of Nasser and the complete defeat by Israel in 1967 came in the shape of an overwhelming “return to religion”. Islam became the solution and the fights of the girls in families shifted from being allowed to wear shorter skirts to being allowed to take up the headscarf. Universities saw a rise of fundamentalism. Islamist run student unions banned parties and cancelled concerts and, by the end of the seventies, Egypt was out of state imposed socialism and into the beginning of societal imposed fundamentalism.

I came to California almost 28 years ago. I loved the spirit of America, the easy going nature of the people and the diversity and tolerance. I had a well paying job before I came to America and was lucky enough to have been able to afford my first car, paid for with my own money earned before I came to America. I was not an economic migrant. As a twenty something, I waded into California’s young culture of the 80’s. I admired Ronald Reagan’s toughness on Russia and rejected big government but I hated Reagan’s shenanigans with Iran Contra and Robert Bork. I loved Reagan, still do, but I wanted the truth out as I later listened to the Iran Contra hearings on NPR and Pacifica Radio. Amnesty International was the first charity I contributed to. The stories of torture have always had an impact on me and the work of Amnesty International to stop it meant a great deal to me; still does.

In the late eighties I moved to Ohio and became an American. In the citizenship interview the examiner questioned my belonging to Amnesty International which I defiantly defended. The examiner had made a comment about Amnesty International helping illegal immigrants in Arizona and I still remember telling him that Amnesty International volunteers work on behalf of people in other countries not their own. I was relieved when he smiled and said: no problem. A few months later, I went to a big ceremony; I became an American; I registered Republican; I wore the flag pin and was truly proud to be an American. Being an American to me was a choice … it was not my country right or wrong. I had my idea of what America was and I was happy to belong to that, I bought in and I wanted to be an American.

I married another immigrant, from a different culture, and she too became an American. We eventually settled in Massachusetts, except for periods when I lived and worked in Asia and Europe. Mostly, my family remained at home. Yes, home, the US became home fully in every sense of the word. My Egyptian identity was always there and my ties with Egypt and family were always strong but America was my adopted country and I was comfortable with an Egyptian American mix and my kids growing up American with British & Egyptian heritage.

September 11, 2001 changed America for the worse. The American flag as a symbol changed for me. Foreign owned gas stations and restaurants put many American flags everywhere to protect themselves from backlash. I became more active in the Arab and Muslim American communities to help those less fortunate than I am. I wrote, I spoke at schools and churches, played a small part in revitalizing a community organization and became even more active in dialogue across faith and race. Gradually, I saw America change to something I liked less and less. The double speak of the 1960’s in Egypt was arriving in America ...the religious fundamentalism was taking over. I was horrified by the media and ordinary people maneuvering to avoid using the word “occupation” in Iraq. I was scolded by my wife and kids for going on a flight wearing a T shirt that said American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee in Arabic on a flight from Boston: I saw joy in the face of waiter in New York serving me coffee and commenting on the T Shirt in Arabic.

Most of all I was dismayed by Bush altering his job description from defending the constitution of the United States to defending the people of the United States and using this as an excuse to damage the constitution. The torture, the illegal detentions, the horrible practice of sending people to be tortured overseas given the clinical name “rendition”, the double speak, the racism. The damage to the US flag, the petty patriotism of my country right or wrong! The standing up in baseball games to sing God Bless America. The frightening religious fundamentalism that is mixed up with this fake patriotism to justify acts that can’t be of God or of the Constitution, all of this gradually led me to ask one big question of myself …do I still want to be an American? Is this me? Gradually I took refuge in my part of America, Massachusetts, New England and the North East which has pretty much remained sane as massive swathes of the country got caught up in phony, damaging, religious patriotism with racist and supremacist undertones.

I was very hopeful with Howard Dean and then John Kerry in 2004 but was deeply saddened when the reactionary anti constitution (and thus truly Anti American) wave took over and Bush won the popular vote by some 3 Million votes. Then a new face arrived on the scene, a black man even more articulate and intellectual than John Kerry and Howard Dean energized the masses in 2007 and 2008. This sounded very promising, there was hope again. I voted for Obama in the primary and, while he lost in my Massachusetts, he won my city. The era of adoration for the “Forrest Gump for President” could be coming to an end. Obama did not need to wear a US flag lapel pin to show that he loved America. Obama is not afraid of showing that he is an intellectual. Obama understands, admires and respects the constitution ….hallelujah and Allah Akbar...Finally someone I relate to has a real shot at winning.

I never much liked John McCain, but his choice of Sarah Palin was brilliant for my purposes …this election could really help me solve my identity crisis. Palin’s addition to the ticket made the choice very clear between Obama and Biden on the one hand and McCain and Palin on the other. Will America choose tolerance, freedom and democracy in action or will it choose this pseudo religious, supremacist patriotism? Will America vote on hope or fear? Will America vote for intellectual power and knowledge or a folksy inward looking hockey mom? I very much wanted Obama to win but most of all I wanted the result to be clear … a clear win for either side.

Americans born in America are more American than I am in certain respects and less in others. For them the process maybe is more emotional and possibly a tad tribal, for me the process must have a bigger intellectual side to it. I chose to be an American, not because I didn’t have another choice, not because of economic or other factors … I chose America because of what it meant to me 28 years ago, because of my memories and because of its spirit. I don’t believe that America is always right and that America is exceptional just because God blessed it. America is only exceptional by its tolerance and by the people’s rejection of tyranny and totalitarianism. Reagan’s words of freedom being “one generation away from extinction”, invoked by Sarah Palin in her debate with Biden, are so true, but wrong sided coming from her.

I voted and went back to work in Europe. I found a big election night party in Paris, so off I went and was in the middle of hundreds in a massive street party. Me wearing the official Obama campaign shirt and lots of French people and few Americans, the results came pouring in...PA goes for Obama and North Carolina and Ohio are leaning this way... I jumped in a taxi and went back to my hotel and as I watched CNN in my hotel room with more returns coming in, the tears rolled down from my eyes. America is back... Americans had a choice, a clear choice and have chosen a law professor who talks in complete sentences and nuances over folksy charm and supremacist ideas. For the first time since 2001, I will get my flag out again …. It is a proud flag that represent ideas of peace, of equality, of tolerance, of progress not the flag of conformance that says: don’t torch my gas station, America the beautiful not America the ugly. I went to work, in a suit and tie with my eyes red from lack of sleep, clutching my sweaty Obama shirt and showing it off... I am again truly happy with my choice of being an American.

Later in the evening as I watched the news and saw Jesse Jackson in tears I realized that the intensity of my feelings was nothing compared to those of the great grandsons and granddaughters of slaves. I can only imagine what it must feel to black Americans and I am thrilled for them. I remember in 1983 going to a country club in Montgomery, Alabama for a dinner and after sitting down the host suggesting we go elsewhere. Later my colleague explained to me that it was because of my non whiteness that the host decided to go elsewhere, after receiving looks I had not noticed. I looked down on the peasants from Montgomery and was not very bothered ….with the passing of the years, I recalled this experience again and my tears flowed again in happiness for Jesse Jackson and for black America... For me America is back but maybe, for some, America has finally, at last, arrived. One day I hope the words “Founding Fathers” will also include Martin Luther King because surely it was his dream that we are all witnessing now!

AA

November 9, 2008

Japan immersion beautifully created, but with too much denial!

book review of : The Street of A Thousand Blossoms

by Gail Tsukiyama

This is an outstanding and highly creative literary work; wonderful storytelling of the life of a Tokyo family pre, during and post the Second World War. Two brothers, two sisters, elderly grandparents, a sad mask maker and few other interesting characters are thrown into the mix. Sumo wrestling is the passion of the older brother and also of his grandfather, so there is a lot to know about Sumo, its rituals, history and mystique. A bit less of the Japanese Noh theater and its traditions and especially its masks which are to become the passion of the younger brother. The periods of the story covering the war were truly griping the portrayal came across very real, astonishingly real in its detail and giving the reader the real texture of life those terrifying days of hunger and fear. Tsukiyama's description of the damage to Tokyo from the firebombing, the grey everywhere and the emergence of a little green life months later was masterful.

I could not help feeling that Tsukiyama had exaggerated the anti war feeling amongst ordinary Japanese especially in the period leading up to the war. Virtually every single character we are supposed to care about was against the war...I wonder how representative this was of the Japanese society then! Were the Japanese essentially against the war and only their misguided leaders and those few self serving hypocrites that formed this image of a fanatical nation? I wonder but I am not convinced.... It is wonderful to see a sympathetic account of the lives of those ordinary human beings who just happen to have been on the side of the aggressor nation; it is also a cause for a re-examination of the justice and the morality of the horrors of the firebombing and the atomic bombing of Japanese cities ...I am not sure though that an exaggeration of the anti war feeling helps even though it makes the characters more sympathetic. Somehow this single but crucial point colored my enjoyment of this beautiful novel and made me often feel that the story lose some of its genuineness, its integrity to a certain extent.

While Tsukiyama had attempted to give us complete three dimensional characters, I felt that none of the characters were really sufficiently developed save perhaps for the master mask maker. Indeed there were the weaknesses, faults and difficult traits in everyone but these were somehow just very small shadows on otherwise two dimensional personalities; the strong brother, the sensitive artistic brother, the all wholesome granny, the responsible sister ..etc.

Still despite of these two important defects (antiwar sentiment and character development), Tsukiyama totally immersed me in a different time and culture. Tsukiyama style is wonderful in its detail and texture, her use of Japanese words always enhanced the book rather than detracted from the flow, she is, in particular, incredibly talented in creating a vivid picture of the scenery and place, you will feel that you have really witnessed Japan first hand. As someone fond of most things Japanese, I loved being there while reading The Street of A Thousand Blossoms!

AA

September 18, 2008

Who is more Egyptian?

Egyptians & Identity

In a post colonial world, an Egyptian living in the west suffers from the negative stereotypes attached to Arabs: a feeling of shame and anger at being labeled ‘Arab’, ‘Arab’ with petrodollars and hypocrisy, ‘Arab’ who oppress their women and lust for other women, ‘Arab’ trapped in traditions of betrayal and double talk. Naturally, facing such an ugly stereotype, one would attempt to disassociate from such images as much as possible. This is even more the case given the tension between Egyptians and Arabs under both Nasser (Arabs seen as reactionary) and Sadat (Arabs seen as rejectionist). Yet a better understanding of the negative stereotypes, save for the petrodollars, will show that their roots lie not really in Arabia but rather in Egypt. In his book Orientalism, Edward Said used a huge body of work by Orientalists to discuss Egypt more than any other culture. In fact, Arabia was only referenced in Said’s analysis of the writings of D. H. Lawrence. So much of the negative attributes assigned to the “Arab” are really based on a collective but erroneous Orientalist view of Egyptians rather than of Arabs!

The negative image of the Arab that prevails today in the west is the sum total of a long process that began with Lane’s detailed account of the customs of the Egyptians moving on to the lusty scheming King Farouk and continuing today in anti-Arab, racist movies ranging from Disney’s Aladdin to the Raid On Entebbe. Today, the negative image of ‘Arab’ has deepened to include the terrorism and petrodollars as new chapters in the same old book.

So what does an intelligent and proud Egyptian do in response? Does he go in and fight the unfair negative stereotype and the racist hatred or should he attempt to squash those stereotypes and distance himself from them? Indeed, Edward Said suggested that the process of Orientalism saw the transfer of all of the negative stereotypes associated with Shakespearian Jews to the Arabs in our time. Could a new Egyptian image, free from all of these horrible, negative stereotypes but largely built on Egypt itself be possible? An image dependent on Egypt’s ancient history and borrowing heavily from Christian Jacq’s portrayal of the wisdom and glory of that culture: Egyptians who lived by the Law of Ma’at until they were then invaded and defeated by the horrible hordes of Arabia! The problem now is Arabism, we want out!

Cultivating this image is totally incompatible unless one adopts an aggressive stance towards Arabism and in doing so, the bright young man or woman does not know that Arabism itself is but a product of colonial orientalist discourse. Indeed Arabism is no more than the very same attempt to gain distance from the negative image of Egypt that was painted by Orientalists and extended, unjustly, to cover not just all Egyptians but also other Arabic speaking and Moslem countries. Could it be that Arabism is just the other side of the coin of the neo-Egyptian nationalism?

Alas, we turn and look at Egypt, we find that the people there have many common backward links with the looked down upon Arabs. So what do we do? We de-Egyptianize them! We happily move forward with the concept that these people are Arabs, or at least mixed breed, while we Egyptians are progressive and forward looking.

Regardless of this argument and logic, one or two Million or even ten or twenty million cannot usurp the right to being Egyptian nor are they more Egyptian than the other 65 million who are there now. Egyptian is what Egypt is today and those seeking an alternative definition for what Egypt is today are better advised to look for another label for themselves, not for what Egypt is and Egyptians are today.

We are stuck with our fellow countrymen, poor, prejudiced, backward and suffering the ravages of corruption and ignorance. They are our people, we can’t deny them or de-Egyptianize them because it does not suit our self-image. We have to work to improve their lot in Egypt and we have to confront the stereotypes created by Orientalism. To subscribe to and aid in Orientalist thought is a matter of naive self-gratification, intellectual dishonesty and betrayal, but certainly not treason!

One day an Egyptian identity could remerge. If and when this happens, I hope it will be one that is based on what Egyptians have in common, on what makes them a unique people. If and when this happens, I hope the Egyptian identity will not be built on false, even laughable and defensive self-gratification against Arabs or others. I hope an emerging Egyptian identity would be wider than a narrow religious or ethnic affiliation. I hope for an Egyptian identity at peace with itself, accepting its own people for what they are now, striving for a better future for Egypt and not one stuck with ancient Egyptian glories.

Ayman S. Ashour

(An Egyptian nationalist fighting the superimposition of Arabism on Egypt and an Arab American fighting the negative stereotypes of Egyptians known through Orientalist ignorance as “Arabs”)

Originally Written March 13, 2003

I Think of You ...Book Review

Brilliant collection of Short Stories by Ahdaf Souief. I bought the book thinking it was new but as the stories felt familiar. After a while I realized this is just the American publishing of Ahdaf’s short stories from her very first book Aisha and also from Sand Piper.

As I read or re-read these stories, I thoroughly enjoyed them. Most of the characters were resurrected in Ahdaf Souif’s masterpiece “In the Eye of the Sun”.

What I love about Ahdaf Souief is the most, is that she appear to write mostly for herself, she is not a marketing oriented author, she is not writing to be accessed by as large an audience as possible. You need to want to get into her own world; you need to try to understand her language, her pace and her approach. The reader needs to work at it to get to see the beauty of the language, the characters and ultimately the novel. I have never read anyone better than Souif when it comes to a true and genuine bi-cultural sensibility, her skill with the language and her intelligence in writing are truly remarkable.

21 July 2008

On Obama by American Muslim High School Student

What Obama and McCain owe American Muslims
by Mohammed Hussain
Mohammed Hussain will be a senior at Lincoln-Sudbury High School this fall.

Over the past few weeks, the national media has focused on the relationship between the presidential candidates and one minority group - that of American Muslims. Articles and opinion pieces in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the LA Times, with titles such as "Muslims Detect a Snub from Obama," "Let Muslims share the stage," and "Obama and Islam," have focused specifically on the Democratic candidate.

Although many American Muslims see Senator Obama's historic candidacy as hope for change, they are also troubled by the distance he seems to keep from them. Volunteers at a rally moved two Muslim women wearing hijab, the headscarf worn by many Muslim women, from behind him, his aides turned down offers to campaign from Representative Keith Ellison, a Muslim, and, despite many invitations, Obama has yet to publicly visit a mosque. Senator McCain's record may be worse. Now, many Muslims themselves are questioning their place, or lack thereof, in the American political system and in the ongoing campaign.

If one is to look only at principle, Senators Obama and McCain should acknowledge the importance of Muslims as voters, be it by a symbolic visit to a mosque or whatever. Obama has stated that he does not oppose Islam and accepts Muslims, many of whom strongly support him. But he has not acted beyond the podium. By intentionally avoiding a group, its opinion, and its collective support, at least in public, after accepting it as part of the American fabric, Obama and McCain are being undemocratic, sidestepping the people so they can play the political game. A politician cannot consider it right to ignore a group who, if elected, he/she will be obligated to represent.

Unfortunately, public perception prevents both candidates from recognizing the political role of American Muslims. As a result of the scare tactics and wedge politics used today, the candidate who associates with Muslims will be penalized. While some fight against these methods, they do so to change the political system, rather than to support the civic rights of a group.

Misunderstanding still reigns as many Americans are unaware that mainstream Muslims, including national organizations such as the Muslim Public Affairs Council, have for years and years publicly denounced terrorism in the strongest language possible. However, the media has diverted Americans away from this truth, creating the current image and political climate of fear and suspicion. If Obama or McCain tries to alter the American public's perception of Muslims, he will most likely lose. Even if we desire it of him, Obama should not reach out to Muslims merely to "rock the boat" - even if the boat has already capsized. We, as Muslims and Americans, hope for change, for a sway toward understanding, but until that happens, those running for office will not politically associate with us.

As Muslims, it's frustrating to have our voices ignored by a candidate many of us support, because his opponents will rely on the public's ignorance to attack him and because he does not have enough public support to defend himself or the truth. Unfortunately, we, and Obama, know the consequences if he does act to involve us. If Senator Obama tries to work against public opinion now, he may lose the election and the opportunity to change public perception and policy as president. Does one accept injustice in order to bring about greater justice later? I would not like to think so, but it looks as if that is the only option now for American Muslims.

Mohammed Hussain will be a senior at Lincoln-Sudbury High School this fall.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/sudbury/news/lifestyle/columnists/x379984722/Hussain-What-Obama-and-McCain-owe-American-Muslims

The Israel-Palestine Quiz?

By Jeffrey Rudolph

18 June, 2008
Countercurrents.org

http://www.countercurrents.org/rudolph180608.htm

The Israel-Palestine conflict resonates deeply with many people. Opinions are sharply divided and generally unchangeable. However, as a member of a mainstream Israeli peace group, I often encounter opinionated people who are ignorant of many basic facts. And, while much concerning the conflict remains disputed, there are important, undisputed facts which must underlie any coherent opinion.

Therefore, in the spirit of Senator Daniel Moynihan of New York, who used to remind people that “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts,” I have designed the below quiz which may lead some to re-examine their misconceived opinions. (Indeed, I will deem the quiz a success if it merely reduces the number of times I hear the common refrains of: “the land was empty before the Jews came” and “Barak made a generous offer at Camp David.”)

While it is undoubtedly true that carefully selected facts alone do not constitute an informed opinion, answers to the following questions should not be ignored if one is to understand the Israel-Palestine conflict. And, while a strong commitment to a cause can blind some people to contrary facts, I appeal to such people through the words of the famous British Economist, John Maynard Keynes: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”

THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE QUIZ QUESTIONS:

1. Who wrote the following in 1891? “We abroad are used to believing Eretz Yisrael is now almost totally desolate, a desert that is not sowed, and anyone who wishes to purchase land there may come and purchase as much as he desires. But in truth this is not the case. Throughout the country, it is difficult to find fields that are not sowed. Only sand dunes and stony mountains that are not fit to grow anything but fruit trees – and this only after hard labour and great expense …”

Answer: Ahad Ha'Am: Liberal Russian Jewish thinker and a leading Eastern European Jewish essayist

2. Who declared the following in 1930? “Land is the most necessary thing for our establishing roots in Palestine. Since there are hardly any more arable unsettled lands in Palestine, we are bound in each case of the purchase of land and its settlement to remove the peasants who cultivated the land so far, both owners of the land and tenants.”

Answer: Dr. Arthur Ruppin: Head of the Zionists’ Land Settlement Department and the foremost land expert of the Jewish Agency.

3. Who, in 1919, wrote the following, in a secret memorandum submitted to the British Cabinet? “For in Palestine we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country [i.e., we do not accept the principle of self-determination for the Arabs of Palestine] … the four great powers are committed to Zionism. And Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long traditions, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land …”

Answer: Lord Balfour: As British Foreign Secretary, he was responsible for the Balfour Declaration in 1917 which promised Zionists a national home in Palestine.

4. According to Mandatory Palestine’s first modern Census, conducted in 1922, approximately what percentage of the total population were Jews?

Answer: 11%.

5. Approximately what percentage of Mandatory Palestine’s inhabitants were Jews in 1947?

Answer: 37%.

6. Approximately what percentage of Mandatory Palestine’s land was allocated for the Jewish state by the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan (which supported the division of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state)?

Answer: 56%.

7. Approximately what percentage of Mandatory Palestine’s land was owned by Jews at the time of the 1947 UN Partition Plan?

Answer: 7%: Perhaps Arab rejection of the Partition Plan is more understandable when it is recognized that 37% of the population was given 56% percent of the land of which they owned only 7%.

8. Which state, the Jewish State or Arab State, was to include Jerusalem according to the 1947 UN Partition Plan?

Answer: Neither.

9. During the 1948-49 War, approximately how many Arabs fled or were ejected from the areas that became the Jewish state?

Answer: 700,000. Only 150,000 Arabs remained in Israel at the war’s end.

10. After the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli War, approximately what percentage of Mandatory Palestine’s land was part of the Jewish state?

Answer: 78%.

11. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, what percentage of Mandatory Palestine’s land was part of, or occupied by, Israel?

Answer: 100%.

12. Which future prime minister of Israel wrote the following in October 1937? “My assumption is that … a partial Jewish state is not an end but a beginning … and it will serve as a powerful lever in our historical efforts to redeem the whole of the country.”

Answer: Ben-Gurion, in a letter to his son, Amos.

13. From Israel's victory in the 1967 War to the Likud's electoral victory in 1977, approximately how many Jewish settlers migrated to East Jerusalem and to the West Bank and Gaza Strip?

Answer: 38,000.

14. At the time of the signing of the Oslo Declaration of Principles in September 1993, approximately how many Jewish settlers lived in East Jerusalem and the West Bank?

Answer: 267,000.

15. When the Camp David Summit began in July 2000, approximately how many Jewish settlers lived in East Jerusalem and the West Bank?

Answer: 365,000: Yet, the Oslo 2 Accords specified that “neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations.”

16. In 2007, approximately how many Jewish settlers and how many Palestinians lived in Hebron?

Answer: 500 and 170,000, respectively.

17. Approximately what percentage of West Bank land is consumed by Israeli settlements and related infrastructure such as a separate road network for Israeli settlers and the Wall?

Answer: 40%.

18. Approximately how many Lebanese civilians were killed by Israel during its 1982 invasion of Lebanon?

Answer: 10,000.

19. Approximately how many cluster sub-munitions (bomblets) were dropped by Israel on Lebanon in the last few days of the 2006 Lebanon confrontation?

Answer: Four million bomblets were contained in hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs. The following was stated by the UN humanitarian Chief, Jan Egeland, soon after the war ended: “What is shocking and completely immoral is 90% of the cluster bomb strikes occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict, when we knew there would be a resolution …” According to the UN mine action coordination centre for South Lebanon, by Dec 19, 2006, 18 people had been killed and 145 injured since the ceasefire in August.

20. Who said the following in 1998? "If I were a young Palestinian, it is possible I would join a terrorist organization."

Answer: Ehud Barak: Prime Minister of Israel from 1999 – 2001.

21. Who wrote the following September 18, 1967 Top Secret memo, concerning Settlement in the Administered (or Occupied) Territories, to Mr. Adi Yafeh, Political Secretary of the Prime Minister of Israel? “As per your request ... I hereby provide you a copy of my memorandum of September 14, 1967, which I presented to the Foreign Minister. My conclusion is that civilian settlement in the Administered Territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

Answer: Theodor Meron: One of the world's most eminent international jurists; and in 1967 he was a legal adviser at the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Meron's clear recommendation was that the prohibition was "categorical and aimed at preventing colonisation of conquered territory by citizens of the conquering state."

22. Who wrote the following passage, in an article in one of Israel’s leading newspapers, in 2002? “The Six-Day War was forced upon us; however, the war's seventh day, which began on June 12, 1967 and has continued to this day, is the product of our choice. We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the Occupied Territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities. Passionately desiring to keep the Occupied Territories, we developed two judicial systems: one - progressive, liberal - in Israel; and the other - cruel, injurious - in the Occupied Territories. In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the Occupied Territories immediately following their capture. That oppressive regime exists to this day.”

Answer: Michael Ben-Yair: Israel's Attorney-General, 1993-1996.

23. Who wrote the following passage in his 2006 book? “For, regardless of party loyalties and according to most studies, the overwhelming majority of Israelis would support a peace settlement that is based on the Clinton parameters--two states, withdrawal from territories, massive dismantling of settlements, two capitals in Jerusalem--but they trust neither their political system nor, of course, the Palestinian leadership to come to an accommodation on that basis. Which may explain the results of a poll conducted in 2002 by the Steinmetz Centre for Peace at Tel Aviv University indicating that, convinced of the incapacity of their political system to produce solutions, 67% of Israeli Jews would support an American effort to recruit an international alliance that would coax the parties into endorsing such a settlement.”

Answer: Shlomo Ben-Ami: Israel’s Minister of Public Security in 1999, Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000-2001, and Israel’s top negotiator at Camp David and Taba negotiations.

24. Who stated the following on Democracy Now! a news program, on February 14, 2006? “…Camp David was not the missed opportunity for the Palestinians, and if I were a Palestinian I would have rejected Camp David, as well. … But Taba is [another matter] …”

Answer: Shlomo Ben-Ami: As Israel’s lead negotiator at the negotiations, he should know.

25. Who said the following? "One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail."

Answer: Rabbi Yaacov Perrin: Stated at his eulogy of Dr. Baruch Goldstein, the American Jewish settler who, on February 25, 1994, entered the Tomb of Patriarchs in Hebron and opened fire on Muslim worshippers praying. Twenty-nine Palestinians were killed and many more wounded. In the riots that followed the massacre, another 9 Palestinians were killed.

Jeffrey Rudolph was the Quebec representative of the East Timor Alert Network in the 1990s, and presented a paper on its behalf at the United Nations. He is currently a member of Canadian Friends of Peace Now.

Poem by Ahmed Fouad Negem

Egyptian Through & Through and Proud

by Ahmed Fouad Negem

First the original Egyptian Arabic original, followed by translation by AA (revised) 

أنا مصري إبن مصري وليـّا الشرف

أحمد فؤاد نجم

أنا مصري إبن مصري وليّا الشرف

برغم المهانة

برغم القرف

برغم الزبالة اللي مالية

الشوارع

برغم الفساد اللي بيّه

أعترف

سمو معالي رئيس

الوزارة

نتيجة موظف بسيط

انحرف

برغم المجاعة اللي داخلين

عليها

وفينا اللي عايش حياته في

ترف

برغم البطالة في أوضة

وصالة

برغم أنّ آخر جنيه

اتصرف

برغم طابور الصباح

السخيف

وكل مُنايا يا دوب

كام رغيف

برغم أسايا لمنظر

عشايا

وأقول مش مهم يا واد

نام خفيف

برغم إني شايف بلاوي

وساكت

وعايش مطنش

كأني كفيف

برغم وزارة

رئيسها حرامي

وشوفوا البجاحة

يقولوا نظيف

برغم السلام اللي

غرقت بناسها

برغم العيال اللي ساكنة

الرصيف

برغم حكومة شعارها

الكلام

ورغم رئيسنا

عليه السلام

ورغم أنّ كله يا

عالم بيغلي

إلا كرامتي بترخص

قوام

برغم إني عايش في بلدي

فريسة

ووجبة شهية لبعض

اللئام

برغم أن كل تاريخك

يا بلدي

فعهد جنابه كلام

فوق رخام

برغم ده كله يا مصر

بحبك

وطز فيهم وده آخر

كلام

Egyptian through & Through and Proud

By Ahmad Fouad Negem

Egyptian through and through ...and proud

despite insults ...

despite disgust ..

despite the streets with garbage...

full!

despite corruption ...

his excellency the premier 

acknowledged ..

due to simple employee

strayed!

despite the famine we're to

live in

and those of us living in

opulence!

despite being on the dole..

in a tiny place!

despite the last pound ..

spent!

despite standing in annoying

long lines each morning

to get few loafs ..

despite the pathetic

dinner ..

I just say to myself ..

light food best!

despite the scandals I see ..

I'm silent!

ignoring it all ..

minding my business

despite a government ..

its premier a thief..

named Mr. Clean!

despite the ship

drowned of people ..full!

despite the street kids

homeless!

despite a government with a ..

talk talk theme

and our president...

peace be on him

despite all prices...

going up and up

only my dignity quickly ..

is cheaper!

despite my living in my country ..

like prey..

delicious meal for ..

scoundrels!

despite all of your history ..

O’ my country!

his excellency’s era ..

is talk not heard..?

despite it all O' my Egypt ..

I love you ..

they can go to hell

and that is that ...

============================

AA, revised December 8, 2013

Selling Out in Boston

I am sitting at a large table covered with nice white cloth, laid out for three course dinners for ten guests. Only eight of us are at the table and two empty seats are to my left. A cheerful man comes and sits to my left and introduces himself in English. Even though this is an Arab American gathering, perhaps the vast majority doesn’t actually speak Arabic, many are second and third generations, few are even fourth and fifth generation. We are in Boston, the roots of the Arab American community run somewhat deeper than many may believe; Boston had more Arabic language newspapers in the 1890’s than most cities in the Arab speaking Middle East.

The cheerful man is from Lebanon originally, must have been in the US for at least twenty years. I am never very good judging age but he could be anywhere between thirty five and forty five with graying hair and a constant smile with a very friendly demeanor. We speak of Lebanon I tell him of my time in Beirut as a child pre and in the very early days of the civil war. For three years, I spent my long summer holidays and sometimes also winter breaks in Beirut where my father worked at the time. I mostly have very fond memories of Lebanon. The Israeli sonic booms were scary, the PLO or other factions check points were even to me then as a child not so scary but strange. With my Egyptian Arabic language giving my origin away easily, I felt that I had to bear the brunt of Egypt’s disengagement agreement with Israel in 1974, it got better when I learnt to sound more like the Lebanese.

Back to Boston, so I am chatting with my new neighbor about the “old country”, always a favorite topic in a gathering like this for both immigrants like two of us and even those who have known no other country but the USA. He asks, have you been to Lebanon recently? I said I have not, but I have such great memories, I used to walk all over the city and I recite several names of districts and other landmarks. I then mention that going to Tel Aviv and Haifa earlier this year somehow reminded me of Beirut a lot. This was the end of the chit chat and we plunged deep into a political discussion.

My new friend, while not a Palestinian, is not about to “sell” the Palestinians “out”. Wham ..here, it comes, so my visit to Israel is “selling out” Palestine? My friend came to the dinner with progressive Jews who did not “sell out”. He is Lebanese, he could just ignore Palestine and “sell out”. Well my friend, I feel deeply for the suffering of the Palestinian people and for the justice of their cause, but my main way of expressing a commitment to this cause is through dialogue and engagement. There is enough propaganda out there, from both sides; while grossly uneven in the main stream with a general bias always in favor of Israel, this is not how I wish to express my commitment.

There are many progressive Jews, I know, some are my friends, but they are not the ones I am looking for a dialogue with! Why not? … Because I want to understand what the mainstream Israelis and Jewish Americans think, I want to know where they are coming from. ….. Do I try to convince them of the justice of the Palestinian cause? Well …my friend in a dialogue, a true dialogue, at least the way I try to practice it, I focus on expressing my own ideas and narratives rather than trying to form or manipulate the opinion of the other. So, you just sit and talk as normal as if no issues with Palestine? I too could just “sell out”? I tell my friend that if through my dialogue I help one or two people every year look at things differently, then I am satisfied. He insists but what do you talk about? Do you just accept their story? No I don’t, I give them my narrative and listen to theirs. I tell my friend, I am not really interested in spending my energy getting the average Joe away from his Celtics game to talk to him about the justice of the Palestinian cause. Joe Average will vote many other issues before this issue become central to him, if he votes at all and I add jokingly I am Lakers fan anyhow. Wham again; I am not sure which is worse being a Lakers’ fan or having visited Israel. My friend is getting to the point where he is losing patience with me.

Justice, basic dignity for the people of Palestine will happen with peace; peace will happen when enough Israelis and American Jews feel that peace is a serious possibility and believe that peace is a genuine goal for the Palestinians and their supporters, not just a short term step on the path of more war. In my dialogue, I am seeking to know the “Zionist Enemy” directly and I want them to know me; because I believe peace is really possible and with it justice for the people of Palestine. Turning all Israelis into progressive Jews is not a realistic path to peace, we need peace with those we disagree with on very fundamental and difficult thorny issues, we need peace with the “enemy”; yes this is indeed possible!

The first award for the gathering is to radio program on Palestine broadcast on Boston College Radio on Sunday mornings. I think my friend is part of this program or affiliated with it somehow. This program has created so much hostility and a lot of people have tried unsuccessfully to take it off the air, a big round of applause. The Palestinian voice is being “heard” in Boston, or should I say it is being broadcast in Boston …not everyone is a sell out! And the Celtics are winning too!

AA

July 14, 2008