Ghada Karmi: The Strength of Palestinian Narrative in the Face of Violence

Its interesting to see how the Israeli have rationalized their response to Suicide bombers that they get people to remove their clothes before they can pass the checkpoint.

And the Americans have taken a lesson from the byegone Germans and the Russians by imposing the fingerprinting routine for visitors from overseas.

amit #19

I am glad you note the pragmatic offer by Barak which was refused by Arafat. But that will not be mentioned in the article. Notice instead the ludicrous insistence that suicide attacks are the norm for frustrated people (NOT !). There is no attempt to understand the monumental lunacy of Arafats refusal or how that ultimately led to Sharon being considered a ``moderate`` by israelis.

Why? Because the palestinian case has been transformed into a really noble thing. A jihad against the infidel !! Much more exciting and worthwhile ! Blowing up civilians is OK too according to these ``thinkers``. After all, a just cause....

Therefore, practical reality has nothing to do with it anymore. As long as the Saudis are willing to pay for martyrs and not for setting up IITs in palestine (ok, PITs) , there will be more and more. Instead of territorial compromise we have a clash of civilizations.

Eerily reminiscent of our own Indo-Pak Kashmir story isn`t it? A small indian minority group wants more autonomy and flexibility. But why deal with it like that? Murder and violence is much more exciting in the pursuit of some unrealistic dream of teaching the kafirs a lession....

americanexpress #14:

struggles are also fought in the propoganda arena. expecially now, suicide bombers create little sympathy in places that matter. due to the opposing side`s mastering of propoganda, such brutality justifies harsher brutality.

strategy i suppose should take into account present day realities- and they are that sharon doubled his popularity in last week`s elections. i`m no political strategist, but in the absence of any chivalrous stance being taken by the arab brothers after seeing their palestinean brothers get killed, one can be forgiven to conclude that these suicide bombing tactics are all wrong. who do they appeal to? sure you and i can say `oh, they`re brave men and women`. what does that achieve? but i don`t even sympathise anymore because i find such appeals superficial to take up.

are you and i willing to join them in their voilent struggle? or are you and i just clapping as because suicide bombers provide good entertainment for us? on the other hand, wouldn`t we more likely join them if they persisited with such non violent means such as sit ins, and marches and civil-disobedience tactics around the world? that would appeal to me. it would appeal to hundreds of times as many people.

Re: Amit # 19 & tahmed32 # 17

I agree with both of you and the points, which you have made.

My only worry is that this sensible solution, as suggested by both of you, will not work till the Israelis are also made to realize their policies are proportionally increasing the spirial of violence. Pressurizing the Palestinians to agree to stop the levels of violence, without asking Israel to do the same, will only led to a Palestinian appeasement of the Israeli policies. The Palestinians cannot be reasonably asked to stop the violence if Israel is allowed to commit violence at will. Israel also has to be asked to stop using violence as a means to settle a political problem. In both cases, for the Palestinians and the Israelis, the ends do not justify the means!

This is where the perceptional inequities of the crisis becomes a stumbling block to an effective solution. It is this lack of an even handed approach to the problem, which breeds anger, resentment, and frustration all echoing the calls for revenge. This in turn creates an instinctive dislike for Pax Americana and in return, the American failure to understand the basic causes of this crisis and its consequences, prompts it to punish the world for its own ignorance! On the other hand, any criticism of the Israeli policy is seen in the colors of anti-Semitism by the Jewish state and as Amit suggested cogently, world`s guilt assoicated with the Holocaust is used to deflect any criticism of Israel. Pity!

Ciao

FBI in Pakistan



A news item in your daily (Jan 24) says the FBI is now going to keep track of three million Pakistanis. Doesn`t this also mean that the FBI`s departure from Pakistan will be delayed by half a century or even by a longer period?

The question is: to whom amongst us is such an exercise and FBI`s long-term presence acceptable?

Z. A. Kazmi

Karachi

///the above is from dawn of today. I am happy to know that at least FBI believes in my assertion, the output from the 200,000 madrassa are the key factor, irrespective of whether they have received arms training or not. It is that urge to become a shaheed is the key factor, once being primed with this world view, it just a matter of time. 3 million jihadists, well one has to think of economics of sending them to heaven.

HOPE OF PAKISTAN,

Today there is an explosion in pak oil HQ. Last week, for the first time gas pipe lines were blown up, precisely when pakistan was offering iran india pipe line.

At last the jihadists are expressing their political opinion, first pakistan has to become a true jihadic country. They are talking about making friday holiday. No talk about investments, trade nothing.

It is time for pakistanis to forget about one sleach and focus on the substantive infrastructure built by Zia.

Pakistani student detained in US


By Our Correspondent

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 2: A Pakistan student with a valid visa was arrested at the Houston airport while returning after vacations. Ms Samina Faheem, National Coordinator of American Muslim Alliance , a leading organizations of American Muslims with about 100 chapters in 34 states, said that Mr Ahsan Farooq, who was enrolled at the Tomball Community College, Houston, Texas, was detained while returning after vacations.


///so much of talk about the suffering of the muslims, not even a single article to denounce jihad and kafir killings.

amit #19 I think the point you make about the ends not justifying the means is not only morally sound, it also is a good guide for practical actions. And the reason for the latter is that the ``ends`` to which someone is focussed are not the only option, and alternatives - often far better in the long run - are available. In case of palestine this means that palestinians should think of substituting confrontation with israel `` (and ``confrontation`` itself means different things to different palestinians I am sure), with a different ``end``, namely the ``educational and economic betterment``. This means required for this end (i.e. development resources) are available in abundance and do not require making enemies or violence of any kind.
Land is increasingly irrelevant as a factor of production anyway, while knowledge is increasingly relevant.

American Express #18 I agree with you that both Israel and Pakistan should remain separate states. However, I think it is academic to say, as you do, that both share the same (religious) basis for creation and that is why both have a ``right``. However, the reason I agree is because these states are already there. Any attempt to undo either of the two states would cost human life. And the life of a single human being is worth more than any political boundary. Political boundries may peacefully dissolve through the willingness of populations concerned (as is happening in Europe). But it is criminal, I think, to try to change them through violent means. Since there is nothing sacred about nation-states despite all the bs that one reads on chowk between ``Indian`` and ``Pakistani`` patriots. And there is plenty sacred about human life.

Excellent reportage Bina.

I don`t think anyone, including religion, is in a position to give sanctimonious shitt to Palestinians about whether suicide bombings are moral or not. It is not a failure of Palestinian morality, it is a failure of us as human beings for we are responsible for their misery.

Re:tahmed32#17
I think Palestinians need to realize that ends do not justify the means, irrespective of how legitimate their objective is. Setting off suicide bombs in populated cafes and causing civilian deaths is no way to achieve any kind of political goal. It cheapens the struggle and creates a demonic image that the Israelis have successfully exploited. So the Palestinians need to stop using these means, not as a strategic cease fire, but as a fundamental change in strategy.
What is really tragic is that the Palestinians actually have a very strong case. They have lost most of their original country, become refugees and are occupied in the small amount of land that they inhabit. Their conditions would have generated a lot of sympathy in the west, were it not for the collective guilt felt by the west about the holocaust against jews. The determination to see Israel survive and succeed comes from this guilt, which currently outweighs the sympathy for Palestinians. So, the best the Palestinians can hope for is that both Israelis and Palestinians are viewed with the same level of sympathy. Essentially that means, settling for a compromise, along the lines proposed by Barak and Clinton. If the Palestinians are smart, they can get quite creative in this matter. For e.g. get their own state on West Bank and Gaza and demand a ``green card`` for living and working in Israel, in exchange for permanent peace.

Bina: I think we Pakistanis should have nothing to do with the Palestinian politics. They (Israelis and Arabs) have been killing one another for fifty years, and they will keep on doing so until one of two things happens: (a) One side militarily prevails and the other side is defeated - this is not going to happen from all indications. The whole thing is a military stalemate - the only likely thing militarily is that the Israelis throw all the palestinians out of the West Bank and Gaza. They are capable of doing that militarily, and the Arabs are incapable of stopping them. But Israel cant go further than that, I think, even if it wanted too. And the Arabs simply lack the capacity to do anything more than murder civilians. (b) The Arabs come to their senses, and realize they have been banging their heads against a brick wall. And also realize that there is enough room in the middle east for both arabs and israel. What is driving the palestinians is frustration, anger, pride. Not rational calculations.
They say a fool does the same thing as a wise man, but only after much time and suffering. With no disrespect meant for the palestinians, I think therefore that (b) is what will happen sooner or later.
If the Pakistan government really cares for the sufferings of the palestinian people, it would seek to promote (b), rather than encouraging palestinians to continue their senseless course of action. Unfortunately with friends like those in Pakistan and in Arab countries, the palestinians do not need any enemies.

cheese,

``no efforts made in this vein..why bhai?``

that would make sense, you see. we can`t have that happening, silly girl!

attended one of her lectures yesterday...i thought karmi wasnt a particularly powerful orator but what she had to say made sense... suicide bombing is tragic, she said repeatedly... instead of being labelled monstrous and horrific every time it happens, why dont the people with so many eons old civilizations try figure out in all their wisdom why its happening? no efforts made in this vein..why bhai?

I would just like to point out that Palestinians term themselves as Arabs and always appeal to Arab unity raher than Muslim. This is because both Muslim and Christian Palestinians are fighting for their just cause alongside each other. Hence, bringing religion would be detrimental to their cause.

I just wanted to mention this because Pakistanis castigate Palestinians on their lack of support for a `Muslim` Kashmir in turn for Pakistan`s support for them.

Again, Palestinians, Pakistanis and Kashmiris need to fight for their cause on diplomatic and media front, as most of the wars are being fought and won in these arenas these days.

Re: Bina

Jihad is not going to solve the Palestinians` problem. If one moves beyond the emotional appeal to the problem, it soon becomes clear that root of the problem is multi-natured. There is no legitimate representation of the Palestian cause; there is the acute frustration from the Israeli occupation; there is no economic hope for the territories; there is the feeling of being ignored by the world and being the orphans of the Muslim world.

Israeli policies are not without blame and Ariel Sharon`s policy towards the problem is only increasing the cycle of violence. The need is to end the violence, but for that to happen the methodology of jihad, as a political leverage, has to be discarded. Isreal has to deal with the immediate and pressing problems of the territories and both sides have to realize and admit that violence is not the answer to their problems. The daily humilatations of the Palestinians has to end, otherwise a new generation will simply adopt anger and resentment as an expression of their frustrations. Both the Palestinians and the Israelis have to start the slow process of re-humanizing each other and stop demonizing each other. Empathy for the other`s legitimate concerns will have to be created and more than, a level of tolerance will have to found, which allows meaningful dialogue which addresses the causes of this problem. Like another crisis, in another part of the world, the solution does not lie with the politicans, but with the ordinary people. Politics is a part of the problem in the region and not a solution, but ironically this a political crisis and it will be only solved through secular politics.

Violence has to be rejected in its totality and in all its manifestations, regardless of its justifications.

Ciao