They get around.
"On the partition of Sudan a lot can be said. Yes, the Arab North (with Soviet and later, US support) has dealt with the South with a combination of neglect, racism and cruelty. However, Israeli hands have been present in the southern rebellion fom the start. In fact, there has been no secessionist movement in the Arab world in which Israel has not been heavily involved, either in support of the government (as in Oman) or in opposition to the government (as in Iraq, Sudan, Lebanon, etc). The referendum is a sham. This one of the most illiterate areas in the world. The US creates an artificial mark for voter turnout level as a criterion, and then spends lavishly on a PR campaign in favor of secession. No matter how bad successive Sudanese governments have been (especially that of the US puppet and kook, Ja'far Numayri), the point I'm making is that this is all cooked up by the US. Also, there is something very fishy about the behaviour of the tyrant, Omar Bashir. He suddenly accepted the referendum and his ambassador even said that if the South wanted to establish relations with Israel, it was their business. Bashir has received political and/or financial payment from the US for his silence. For a corrupt ruler like Bashir, anything is possible. And what can be more annoying than when he dances with a cane? Oh, and would Obama and Carter have been in favor of a referendum of the US South prior to the Civil War? Just asking." (As'ad AbuKhalil, angryarab.blogspot.com, 10/1/11)
"The Sudan was a part of Israel's extended periphery strategy as early as the 1950s. In 1956, Israel developed contacts with the pro-Western Umma Moslem Party of Sudan. The Umma Party, one of the two traditional leading parties in the Sudan (and winner of the 1986 elections), has always been nationalist, leaning away from close relations with Egypt. Israeli interests in supporting it were quite clear.
"But Israel's most serious intervention in the Sudan took place in the 1960s, and was part and parcel of other Israeli involvements. It was the secret operation in support of separatist rebels in southern Sudan. 'The southern Sudanese, like the Kurds in the Middle East, are a minority ripe for manipulation by more powerful forces in the course of regional power politics'. The southerners, 6 million out of a population of 15 million, are black and mostly Christians, while the northerners are Arabs and Moslems. The south is much poorer. Since the 1960s, frictions between north and south have led more than once to open war. Israel was involved in the civil war in southern Sudan in the late 1960s. The southern rebel movement, Anyanya, was supported by an Israeli military mission, which supplied training and arms, the arms presumably captured during the 1967 war.
"Israeli involvement in southern Sudan was in evidence as early as 1963, through contacts with Israeli embassies in Uganda, Ethiopia, the Congo, and Chad. After 1969, the Israeli support took the form of arms, advisers, and training. There was an Israeli mission in Torit, and 30 Anyanya men were trained in Israel. The Israeli ambassador to Kampala, Uri Lubrani, was in charge of the Anyanya connections. The mercenary Rolf Steiner, who fought with the Anyanya, testified in August, 1971 before a military tribunal in Khartoum that Israel reached an agreement with Uganda in 1970 regarding the use of Ugandan territory to aid the Sudanese rebels. Steiner also stated that Israel was the only effective source of aid to the rebels. Others state that these covert operations were coordinated with the United States.
"The Addis Ababa Agreement on Southern Sudan of 1972 ended the southern rebellion and the Israeli intervention. Between 1972 and 1985, during the regime of Gaafer al-Nimeiry, Israeli contacts with the Sudan were rather friendly, though mostly secretive. The end of the rebellion in southern Sudan led to closer relations. The Mossad has had a station in Khartoum since then. There have been extensive contacts between the Mossad and its Sudanese equivalent in the 1980s. Mossad activities in the Sudan have been coordinated with the CIA, as many sources indicate. In public, Mr Nimeiry was one of the few Arab leaders to support the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979. The coup in Sudan on April 6, 1985, ended the cooperation between Nimeiry and the Israeli government. The new military regime headed by General Abdel Rahman Siwar al-Dahab has been cool toward the United States and has developed closer ties with Libya and Ethiopia." (The Israeli Connection: Whom Israel Arms & Why, Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, 1987, pp 47-49)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Upstart Nation
What is going on at Fairfax these days?
On Saturday, it was a full page promo of the Israeli ambassador Yuval Rotem (See my 8/1/11 post Media Tart).
Today, it's a fair whack of the opinion page given over to a promo of an Israeli book called Start-Up Nation*, the underlying premise of which is that because young Israelis live in an Upstart Nation and are all given a taste of Shoot-Up in the Israel Defense [sic] Forces, hey presto, Israel's Higher Up the Nasdaq tree than the Arabs (A lesson on employment courtesy of Israeli army, Neer Korn, Sydney Morning Herald).
Now I know the Fairfax papers are doing it tough, and advertising revenue is vital if they're to keep going, but why aren't these promos labelled as such?
[* See my 23/4/10 post Creative Destruction on this little gem.]
On Saturday, it was a full page promo of the Israeli ambassador Yuval Rotem (See my 8/1/11 post Media Tart).
Today, it's a fair whack of the opinion page given over to a promo of an Israeli book called Start-Up Nation*, the underlying premise of which is that because young Israelis live in an Upstart Nation and are all given a taste of Shoot-Up in the Israel Defense [sic] Forces, hey presto, Israel's Higher Up the Nasdaq tree than the Arabs (A lesson on employment courtesy of Israeli army, Neer Korn, Sydney Morning Herald).
Now I know the Fairfax papers are doing it tough, and advertising revenue is vital if they're to keep going, but why aren't these promos labelled as such?
[* See my 23/4/10 post Creative Destruction on this little gem.]
Confused
Just when I'd gotten used to this particular Israeli talking point...
"According to Ya'ari... Palestinian Christians have fled the region in great numbers and he said there are now more Palestinian Christians living in Santiago than in Bethlehem." (Ehud Ya'ari talks to the media, jwire.com.au, 11/6/09)
... along comes this one:
"The only country in the Middle East in which Christian communities are growing in number is Israel." Peter Wertheim, Council of Australian Jewry, Sydney (Letter, Sydney Morning Herald, 10/1/11)
"According to Ya'ari... Palestinian Christians have fled the region in great numbers and he said there are now more Palestinian Christians living in Santiago than in Bethlehem." (Ehud Ya'ari talks to the media, jwire.com.au, 11/6/09)
... along comes this one:
"The only country in the Middle East in which Christian communities are growing in number is Israel." Peter Wertheim, Council of Australian Jewry, Sydney (Letter, Sydney Morning Herald, 10/1/11)
Casual Cliocide (to Oud Accompaniment)
Clio was the Greek muse whose job it was to watch over history. To suppress, destroy, rewrite, deny or otherwise mess with history is to commit cliocide. With respect to the history of the Middle East in particular, in the mass media of this country alone, acts of cliocide are perpetrated on a daily basis without let or hindrance. The perpetrators are liable to pop up anywhere, at any time, and despatch poor Clio in the most casual manner imaginable, even while engaged in the most relaxed conversation, and no one, not even their interlocutor, even blinks an eyelid. Scariest of all - even the perpetrator is generally completely unaware of what he's doing. A case in point:
In the context of an interview on ABC Radio National's Breakfast yesterday, the young Australian oud virtuoso, Joseph Tawadros, mentioned that his family were of Egyptian Coptic origin. Unfortunately, however, by way of explaining who the Copts are, he committed an act of cliocide. Today's Christian Copts, he said, are the "descendents of the ancient people of Egypt," the "original inhabitants" of the country. "The Arabs came later."
The implication being, I'm afraid, that Egypt's Muslim majority are one and all direct descendents of the Muslim Arab invaders who conquered Egypt in the 7th century AD, and therefore, not the descendents of the ancient Egyptians, not indigenous to the country, and so not real Egyptians like the Copts. This, of course, is complete rubbish and I'm blowing the whistle:
"Today there are more people in the tiny Nile delta than in the vast area of the Arabian peninsula. In the 7th century, the population of Egypt probably exceeded that of all the peninsula. Yet, as we have seen, the people of Arabia at that time were not only engaged in Egypt, but also, and simultaneously, in Persia, Iraq, Syria and Palestine. Soon they were to spread over North Africa also and up into Spain and France. Thus, at the time of the [Arab] conquest, the number of the inhabitants of Arabia were quite inadequate to effect much change in the population of a country like Egypt. Moreover, at that time the Arabs who migrated were almost entirely bedouin tribesmen, to whom the deep, muddy soil, innumerable water channels and damp enervating heat of Egypt were utterly uncongenial. Such tribes, in certain cases, turned southwards into the desert towards Sudan, or crossing the Nile, migrated westwards into Libya. The bedouin from Arabia today will find it difficult to understand the dialect of of the delta, but in Libya and the Northern Sudan will recognize many of the terms of speech in familiar use in his own tribe in the peninsula.
"The principal source of intermixture of Arab blood in Egypt after the conquest would doubtless arise from the garrison of Fustat. According to the social customs of the time, the Arab troops would acquire many Egyptian wives and concubines. The offspring of such unions would, of course, claim to be Arabs as their fathers were, but would themselves marry Egyptian wives in the like manner, so that even the descendants of the Prophet's Companions would, in a few generations, be very nearly pure Egyptians. In addition, however, the historians tell us that at the time of the ratification of the treaty concerning Alexandria [642], many Coptic Christians decided to adopt Islam, thereby not only securing a lighter system of taxation but also social equality with their formidable conquerors. Such as became Muslims tended to be regarded as Arabs, a confusion of thought between race and religion." (The Great Arab Conquests, John Bagot Glubb, 1963, pp 246-247)
I wish that were the end of it as far as Joseph is concerned, but it isn't. An ignorance of history can trip one up terribly. The same young oud player and composer, whose ignorance of 7th century Egyptian history seems to extend to modern Palestinian history, has reportedly fallen victim to a certain dodgy siren call, prompting the following letter from Australian Artists Against Apartheid:
"Dear Joseph Tawadros, We are writing in advance of your planned performance in the apartheid state of Israel, which we hope you will cancel. The Red Sea Winter Jazz Festival (RSWJF) is sponsored by the Israeli government, which additionally sponsors the dispossession of Palestinians from their homes, and many laws discriminating against 'non-Jews' in a segregated and undemocratic apartheid system. State-culture propaganda initiatives, such as the RSWJF, serve to brand Israel to the world as a 'vibrant cultural hub', while it continues its profitable human rights violations and colonialism on the ground. In response to decades of oppression under Israeli apartheid, coupled with the failure of international institutions to support their quest for equal rights and justice, the Palestinian people have called for Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) until Israel is in compliance with international law and human rights conventions. Given Israel's extensive use of cultural propaganda, the BDS movement includes a campaign for cultural boycott. A multitude of artists, including renowned musicians such as Elvis Costello, Gil Scott-Heron, and Santana, have heeded the boycott call and cancelled planned performances in Israel. All international artists appearing at the RSWJF would violate two key criteria of the cultural boycott of Israel: (1) By performing at a state-sponsored event and (2) By performing at an apartheid venue in Israel. Please cancel your upcoming appearance at RSWJF and help to realise equal rights and justice in Palestine-Israel. By heeding the Palestinian call for international solidarity we can stop entertaining apartheid." (justiceforpalestinebrisbane.org, 29/12/10)
In the context of an interview on ABC Radio National's Breakfast yesterday, the young Australian oud virtuoso, Joseph Tawadros, mentioned that his family were of Egyptian Coptic origin. Unfortunately, however, by way of explaining who the Copts are, he committed an act of cliocide. Today's Christian Copts, he said, are the "descendents of the ancient people of Egypt," the "original inhabitants" of the country. "The Arabs came later."
The implication being, I'm afraid, that Egypt's Muslim majority are one and all direct descendents of the Muslim Arab invaders who conquered Egypt in the 7th century AD, and therefore, not the descendents of the ancient Egyptians, not indigenous to the country, and so not real Egyptians like the Copts. This, of course, is complete rubbish and I'm blowing the whistle:
"Today there are more people in the tiny Nile delta than in the vast area of the Arabian peninsula. In the 7th century, the population of Egypt probably exceeded that of all the peninsula. Yet, as we have seen, the people of Arabia at that time were not only engaged in Egypt, but also, and simultaneously, in Persia, Iraq, Syria and Palestine. Soon they were to spread over North Africa also and up into Spain and France. Thus, at the time of the [Arab] conquest, the number of the inhabitants of Arabia were quite inadequate to effect much change in the population of a country like Egypt. Moreover, at that time the Arabs who migrated were almost entirely bedouin tribesmen, to whom the deep, muddy soil, innumerable water channels and damp enervating heat of Egypt were utterly uncongenial. Such tribes, in certain cases, turned southwards into the desert towards Sudan, or crossing the Nile, migrated westwards into Libya. The bedouin from Arabia today will find it difficult to understand the dialect of of the delta, but in Libya and the Northern Sudan will recognize many of the terms of speech in familiar use in his own tribe in the peninsula.
"The principal source of intermixture of Arab blood in Egypt after the conquest would doubtless arise from the garrison of Fustat. According to the social customs of the time, the Arab troops would acquire many Egyptian wives and concubines. The offspring of such unions would, of course, claim to be Arabs as their fathers were, but would themselves marry Egyptian wives in the like manner, so that even the descendants of the Prophet's Companions would, in a few generations, be very nearly pure Egyptians. In addition, however, the historians tell us that at the time of the ratification of the treaty concerning Alexandria [642], many Coptic Christians decided to adopt Islam, thereby not only securing a lighter system of taxation but also social equality with their formidable conquerors. Such as became Muslims tended to be regarded as Arabs, a confusion of thought between race and religion." (The Great Arab Conquests, John Bagot Glubb, 1963, pp 246-247)
I wish that were the end of it as far as Joseph is concerned, but it isn't. An ignorance of history can trip one up terribly. The same young oud player and composer, whose ignorance of 7th century Egyptian history seems to extend to modern Palestinian history, has reportedly fallen victim to a certain dodgy siren call, prompting the following letter from Australian Artists Against Apartheid:
"Dear Joseph Tawadros, We are writing in advance of your planned performance in the apartheid state of Israel, which we hope you will cancel. The Red Sea Winter Jazz Festival (RSWJF) is sponsored by the Israeli government, which additionally sponsors the dispossession of Palestinians from their homes, and many laws discriminating against 'non-Jews' in a segregated and undemocratic apartheid system. State-culture propaganda initiatives, such as the RSWJF, serve to brand Israel to the world as a 'vibrant cultural hub', while it continues its profitable human rights violations and colonialism on the ground. In response to decades of oppression under Israeli apartheid, coupled with the failure of international institutions to support their quest for equal rights and justice, the Palestinian people have called for Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) until Israel is in compliance with international law and human rights conventions. Given Israel's extensive use of cultural propaganda, the BDS movement includes a campaign for cultural boycott. A multitude of artists, including renowned musicians such as Elvis Costello, Gil Scott-Heron, and Santana, have heeded the boycott call and cancelled planned performances in Israel. All international artists appearing at the RSWJF would violate two key criteria of the cultural boycott of Israel: (1) By performing at a state-sponsored event and (2) By performing at an apartheid venue in Israel. Please cancel your upcoming appearance at RSWJF and help to realise equal rights and justice in Palestine-Israel. By heeding the Palestinian call for international solidarity we can stop entertaining apartheid." (justiceforpalestinebrisbane.org, 29/12/10)
Monday, January 10, 2011
Here's looking at you, Greg
Well I never! Greg (Jerusalem Prize) Sheridan, foreign editor of The Australian, this country's most vocal Gentile Zionist, and lover of 50s American sitcoms ("I wasted a lot of time on TV."*), is off in exotic Morocco, rocking the Casbah and bothering the locals something terrible.
"... [Moroccan MP] Abdel-wahed Radi somewhat shocks me... by saying he thinks the Israel-Palestinian dispute is the main cause of Islamist terrorism internationally." (Optimistic Morocco reaches out to the West for friendship, 8/1/11)
But Radi's shocking assault on the key Israeli PR talking point that Israel's wiping of Palestine (and Palestinians) off the map, is not, repeat not, driving Islamist terrorism internationally, simply cannot be tolerated. So:
"I take this up later in the day with Ouzzine Mohammed, the sleek, smooth Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs... Surely, I ask, this view is hard to sustain when you consider the vast multiplicity of issues and disputes, from Western pornography to Kashmir to Iraq to American troop presence in the Middle East to the murderous sectarian Sunni-Shia disputes and a million other things that have been used to justify Islamist violence?"
How to get a jihadi going? Let me count the ways...
"Moreover, Osama bin Laden himself barely mentioned Israel in his first several years of terrorist operations. His chief initial grievance was the presence of US troops on sacred Islamic soil in Saudi Arabia. Ouzzine replies, in part, 'Just because Osama bin Laden says something is no reason to believe it'."
If only Sheridan could tear himself away from those re-runs of Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver, he might actually have twigged that the Wily Oriental Gentleman's statement, Just because Osama bin Laden says something is no reason to believe it, was actually polite diplomatic code reserved for just such an occasion as he describes. What the WOG meant was: Shit, not that garbage again! Please don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining, Zionist dupe.
But no, there's no stopping our Greg. Israeli talking points are gospel. So:
"That surely is true enough, but must be the oddest argument yet for the centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute to global terrorism. Instead I take these Moroccan sentiments to mean that this is more or less what an Arab government has to say these days, even if it knows how analytically weak the proposition is."
So Palestine was never part of the Big O's justificatory repertoire at the beginning of his jihad, eh? Well, we've been here before with The Australian's editorialist (was that you, Greg?),** but here we go again:
"Bin Laden, who had been living in exile in Sudan since 1991, was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in the spring of 1994. According to his own account, the repression of the sahwa [Saudi dissidents] was the chief motive for the creation of the 'Advice & Reform Committee' (ARC) that he set up in the summer of 1994, based in north London. His open letter to [Chief Mufti, the foremost juridical authority in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia] bin Baz was issued through the London office of ARC 5 months later, establishing his credentials as a scholar of the moral intent of Islamic law, one able to speak on behalf of the spirit and not just the letter of the law. The background to the letter is a repudiation of the corruption of the Saudi dynasty, and the collusion of bin Baz with the degeneration of its rule - illustrated by the spread of usury in the kingdom, the failure to uproot communism in Yemen, the imprisonment of devout scholars. But the specific object of bin Laden's protest, in his first major public declaration, is bin Baz's endorsement of of the Oslo accords of August 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) - 'your latest astonishing juridical decree', a betrayal of the word of God and of the community of the faithful, 'clearly a response to the political wishes of the regime'. The letter makes it plain that Palestine, far from being a late addition to bin Laden's agenda, was at the centre of it from the start." (Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, edited & translated by Bruce Lawrence, 2005, p 4)
[* The Forum, Weekend Australian, 8/1/11]
[** See my 6/3/09 post Don't Mention the War Criminal 2]
"... [Moroccan MP] Abdel-wahed Radi somewhat shocks me... by saying he thinks the Israel-Palestinian dispute is the main cause of Islamist terrorism internationally." (Optimistic Morocco reaches out to the West for friendship, 8/1/11)
But Radi's shocking assault on the key Israeli PR talking point that Israel's wiping of Palestine (and Palestinians) off the map, is not, repeat not, driving Islamist terrorism internationally, simply cannot be tolerated. So:
"I take this up later in the day with Ouzzine Mohammed, the sleek, smooth Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs... Surely, I ask, this view is hard to sustain when you consider the vast multiplicity of issues and disputes, from Western pornography to Kashmir to Iraq to American troop presence in the Middle East to the murderous sectarian Sunni-Shia disputes and a million other things that have been used to justify Islamist violence?"
How to get a jihadi going? Let me count the ways...
"Moreover, Osama bin Laden himself barely mentioned Israel in his first several years of terrorist operations. His chief initial grievance was the presence of US troops on sacred Islamic soil in Saudi Arabia. Ouzzine replies, in part, 'Just because Osama bin Laden says something is no reason to believe it'."
If only Sheridan could tear himself away from those re-runs of Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver, he might actually have twigged that the Wily Oriental Gentleman's statement, Just because Osama bin Laden says something is no reason to believe it, was actually polite diplomatic code reserved for just such an occasion as he describes. What the WOG meant was: Shit, not that garbage again! Please don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining, Zionist dupe.
But no, there's no stopping our Greg. Israeli talking points are gospel. So:
"That surely is true enough, but must be the oddest argument yet for the centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute to global terrorism. Instead I take these Moroccan sentiments to mean that this is more or less what an Arab government has to say these days, even if it knows how analytically weak the proposition is."
So Palestine was never part of the Big O's justificatory repertoire at the beginning of his jihad, eh? Well, we've been here before with The Australian's editorialist (was that you, Greg?),** but here we go again:
"Bin Laden, who had been living in exile in Sudan since 1991, was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in the spring of 1994. According to his own account, the repression of the sahwa [Saudi dissidents] was the chief motive for the creation of the 'Advice & Reform Committee' (ARC) that he set up in the summer of 1994, based in north London. His open letter to [Chief Mufti, the foremost juridical authority in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia] bin Baz was issued through the London office of ARC 5 months later, establishing his credentials as a scholar of the moral intent of Islamic law, one able to speak on behalf of the spirit and not just the letter of the law. The background to the letter is a repudiation of the corruption of the Saudi dynasty, and the collusion of bin Baz with the degeneration of its rule - illustrated by the spread of usury in the kingdom, the failure to uproot communism in Yemen, the imprisonment of devout scholars. But the specific object of bin Laden's protest, in his first major public declaration, is bin Baz's endorsement of of the Oslo accords of August 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) - 'your latest astonishing juridical decree', a betrayal of the word of God and of the community of the faithful, 'clearly a response to the political wishes of the regime'. The letter makes it plain that Palestine, far from being a late addition to bin Laden's agenda, was at the centre of it from the start." (Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, edited & translated by Bruce Lawrence, 2005, p 4)
[* The Forum, Weekend Australian, 8/1/11]
[** See my 6/3/09 post Don't Mention the War Criminal 2]
Here We Go Again
We couldn't let Christmas 2010 come and go without a little pressie for our nearest and dearest now, could we? No bloody way!
So, on 24 December, Australia voted in the UN General Assembly, with Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Netherlands, Palau, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the UK and the US, against the authorisation of a third UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) (dubbed Durban III) planned for September 2011.
The vote was 104-22 in favour, with 33 abstaining.
For the sorry saga of Australia's part in undermining last year's WCAR on Israel's behalf, simply click on the 'Durban II' tag below and read, in particular, Australia Dumps on Durban (20/4/09) & ADoD 2 (23/4/09).
Comedy Corner: I thought you might like to know what the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (what about the minor ones?) in the US had to say about the coming Durban III, the prototype of which, according to the CPMJO, was inspired by none other than everyone's favorite caveman, Osama bin Laden:
"The vote of the UNGA... sets the stage for a celebration of the outrageous events that took place during Durban I, which were permeated by manifestations of bigotry and hatred. The event is scheduled to be held shortly after the 10th anniversary commemoration of September 11th. It is hard to imagine a more insensitive action, recalling that the attack on the World Trade Center that killed thousands was carried out by those influenced by the same hateful ideologies that Durban I came to represent." (Durban III: Lines are drawn, virtualjerusalem.com, 29/12/10)
So, on 24 December, Australia voted in the UN General Assembly, with Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Netherlands, Palau, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the UK and the US, against the authorisation of a third UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) (dubbed Durban III) planned for September 2011.
The vote was 104-22 in favour, with 33 abstaining.
For the sorry saga of Australia's part in undermining last year's WCAR on Israel's behalf, simply click on the 'Durban II' tag below and read, in particular, Australia Dumps on Durban (20/4/09) & ADoD 2 (23/4/09).
Comedy Corner: I thought you might like to know what the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (what about the minor ones?) in the US had to say about the coming Durban III, the prototype of which, according to the CPMJO, was inspired by none other than everyone's favorite caveman, Osama bin Laden:
"The vote of the UNGA... sets the stage for a celebration of the outrageous events that took place during Durban I, which were permeated by manifestations of bigotry and hatred. The event is scheduled to be held shortly after the 10th anniversary commemoration of September 11th. It is hard to imagine a more insensitive action, recalling that the attack on the World Trade Center that killed thousands was carried out by those influenced by the same hateful ideologies that Durban I came to represent." (Durban III: Lines are drawn, virtualjerusalem.com, 29/12/10)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Tunisian Intifada
Nothing at all has appeared in the Australian ms media about the intifada underway in Tunisia.* If this were Iran, on the other hand...
Sudanese-born Briton, Nesrine Malik, writes eloquently in The Guardian 0f 31 December about Tunisia's inspiring rebellion:
"There are few moments in the political atmosphere of the Middle East that fill me with genuine pride. While eyes have long been fixed on opposition movements in Iran and Egypt, suddenly Tunisia has provided one of the most inspiring episodes of indigenous revolt against a repressive regime. Following the self-immolation of an unemployed man, riots and demonstrations have swept through the country. Lebanese journalist Octavia Nasr wrote on Thursday: 'I never thought this day would come. Certainly not in Tunisia. To be quite honest, out of the Middle East region, I thought such a rebellious act would come from Egypt where the opposition to President Mubarak's regime is so fierce and vocal that public demonstrations of anger and dismay have become a routine'.
"Despite the depressing reports of security forces shooting demonstrators dead, the events are heartening, not necessarily as a harbinger of transformation in the region, but as an indication that it is possible. Change is sometimes more likely to happen when people know what it looks like, when the first person dares to point to the emperor and say that he is naked.
"I am generally wary of lumping Arab countries together in terms of political climate, but in this case it is more or less valid. From the monarchies of the Gulf, to the hereditary presidencies of the Levant and North Africa, bar the odd military coup, there has been little evidence of potential regime change. Those who espouse slow, gradual and incremental progress argue that the attrition of globalisation will eventually lead to an organic transformation. But in my own lifetime I have seen regression in places, and globalisation either selectively sampled, or co-opted in the effort to subjugate citizens.
"The complication in many parts of the Arab world is that it is never really simple brute oppression; it is a sophisticated system of stick and carrot, of fear and incentive, to maintain the status quo. In Tunisia itself, there existed a system of subsidies of strategic commodities which granted the state some legitimacy and political allegiance, but even that has crumbled. Whether it is the laudanum of oil-wealth in Saudi Arabia, the parallel systems of bribery in Egypt which subsidise income, the alliances of patronage with powerful tribal leaders in Jordan which underwrite the monarchy's legitimacy, or the pact with the military in Algeria, there are several factors, underscored by support from the state's security forces, which douse the flame of rebellion.
"In addition, there is a tendency to downwardly compare miseries with other Arab countries. Those in oil-rich states comfort themselves that at least they are safe from the relative poverty of North Africans, who in turn seek solace in that they enjoy relative freedom of dress and intermingling of the sexes. And all can take comfort that at least they are not Sudan.
"Although Tunisia is relatively remote from mainstream Arab culture and popular media, which is dominated by Levantine and Gulf elements, the events on Tunisia's streets are being watched on satellite TV throughout the Arab world.
"Not that outpourings of passion are rare on Arab streets, but they are usually related to the latest events in Palestine, some random perceived insult from the West - or football. It's the rage of an easily slighted dignity, and it's rarely directed against the primary local culprit: the government itself.
"In a detailed analysis, the Moor Next Door blog says: These riots are important because they challenge the dominant discourse on Tunisia's politics (or lack thereof) in Western writing and reporting. Tunisia is by far the most politically stable country in North Africa, and arguably the one with the healthiest economy. But this is all relative to its neighbours and must be considered in the regional context. If things are going the way they are in Tunisia, what does this mean for other geriatric regimes on the verge of power transitions?'
"Even if nothing comes of the Tunisian revolt, it is proof that resignation is not an inevitability, that it is not hardwired into our DNA, that the 'Arab malaise' is not terminal."
To feel the rage of the Tunisian intifada, view the video Inspiration from Tunis at pulsemedia.org.
[PS (13/1/11)* The first reports on Tunisia (AFP) have finally appeared - in The Australian of January 11 & 13.]
Sudanese-born Briton, Nesrine Malik, writes eloquently in The Guardian 0f 31 December about Tunisia's inspiring rebellion:
"There are few moments in the political atmosphere of the Middle East that fill me with genuine pride. While eyes have long been fixed on opposition movements in Iran and Egypt, suddenly Tunisia has provided one of the most inspiring episodes of indigenous revolt against a repressive regime. Following the self-immolation of an unemployed man, riots and demonstrations have swept through the country. Lebanese journalist Octavia Nasr wrote on Thursday: 'I never thought this day would come. Certainly not in Tunisia. To be quite honest, out of the Middle East region, I thought such a rebellious act would come from Egypt where the opposition to President Mubarak's regime is so fierce and vocal that public demonstrations of anger and dismay have become a routine'.
"Despite the depressing reports of security forces shooting demonstrators dead, the events are heartening, not necessarily as a harbinger of transformation in the region, but as an indication that it is possible. Change is sometimes more likely to happen when people know what it looks like, when the first person dares to point to the emperor and say that he is naked.
"I am generally wary of lumping Arab countries together in terms of political climate, but in this case it is more or less valid. From the monarchies of the Gulf, to the hereditary presidencies of the Levant and North Africa, bar the odd military coup, there has been little evidence of potential regime change. Those who espouse slow, gradual and incremental progress argue that the attrition of globalisation will eventually lead to an organic transformation. But in my own lifetime I have seen regression in places, and globalisation either selectively sampled, or co-opted in the effort to subjugate citizens.
"The complication in many parts of the Arab world is that it is never really simple brute oppression; it is a sophisticated system of stick and carrot, of fear and incentive, to maintain the status quo. In Tunisia itself, there existed a system of subsidies of strategic commodities which granted the state some legitimacy and political allegiance, but even that has crumbled. Whether it is the laudanum of oil-wealth in Saudi Arabia, the parallel systems of bribery in Egypt which subsidise income, the alliances of patronage with powerful tribal leaders in Jordan which underwrite the monarchy's legitimacy, or the pact with the military in Algeria, there are several factors, underscored by support from the state's security forces, which douse the flame of rebellion.
"In addition, there is a tendency to downwardly compare miseries with other Arab countries. Those in oil-rich states comfort themselves that at least they are safe from the relative poverty of North Africans, who in turn seek solace in that they enjoy relative freedom of dress and intermingling of the sexes. And all can take comfort that at least they are not Sudan.
"Although Tunisia is relatively remote from mainstream Arab culture and popular media, which is dominated by Levantine and Gulf elements, the events on Tunisia's streets are being watched on satellite TV throughout the Arab world.
"Not that outpourings of passion are rare on Arab streets, but they are usually related to the latest events in Palestine, some random perceived insult from the West - or football. It's the rage of an easily slighted dignity, and it's rarely directed against the primary local culprit: the government itself.
"In a detailed analysis, the Moor Next Door blog says: These riots are important because they challenge the dominant discourse on Tunisia's politics (or lack thereof) in Western writing and reporting. Tunisia is by far the most politically stable country in North Africa, and arguably the one with the healthiest economy. But this is all relative to its neighbours and must be considered in the regional context. If things are going the way they are in Tunisia, what does this mean for other geriatric regimes on the verge of power transitions?'
"Even if nothing comes of the Tunisian revolt, it is proof that resignation is not an inevitability, that it is not hardwired into our DNA, that the 'Arab malaise' is not terminal."
To feel the rage of the Tunisian intifada, view the video Inspiration from Tunis at pulsemedia.org.
[PS (13/1/11)* The first reports on Tunisia (AFP) have finally appeared - in The Australian of January 11 & 13.]
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