SPRING COMING TO PALESTINE

B E Y ON D T H E S I L E N C E OF S H A ME | M A R D I 1 5 M A I 2 0 1 2

More than 2000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are demanding respect for their dignity, their innocence, and their humanity. Many have been arrested on mere suspicion ; others for no valid reason. Administrative detention has become accepted practice (as have enhanced interrogation techniques) in Israels fine and exemplary democracy. Women, men and even children can be arrested without charge, without warrant and held for six months, renewable indefinitely. Thousands have been languishing in jail for months and years (20% of the total population of the Occupied Palestinian Territories has experienced incarceration) when nothing can justify their arrest and the degrading treatment inflicted on them by the Israeli administration, which has perpetuated the methods of British colonialism exacerbated by the systematic denial of the humanity of the Palestinians. A splendid democracy indeed ! As the Arab peoples rise up, crying out for liberty and justicefrom Tunisia to Egypt by way of Yemen, Libya, Syria and Bahrainin a spirit of non-violence and human dignity, the Palestinian prisoners are echoing their unarmed resistance. Two thousand are refusing all food to force the end of the degrading treatment they are subjected to day after day. The hunger strikers are Palestinians, some of whom have no idea why they are in prison. But the Israeli government, invoking the fight against terrorism, has imposed a reign of terror and violence, both symbolic and real. Two of the captives, Bilal Diab (age 27) and Thaer Halahla (34) are at deaths door after weeks of fasting. The government is confused, unsure of what to do. It cannot predict the consequences of their death, or that of eight other hunger strikers whose health has seriously deteriorated. The life or death of Palestinians is of little concern to the Israeli authorities (the elimination of Palestinian civilians has become the norm in a society that depicts itself as a victim) ; no, they are worried about eventual media repercussions. How to justify the deaths of nonviolent hunger strikers who have been left to rot in prison, and never brought to trial. Perhaps most shocking, revolting and unacceptable of all, is the silence of the international media on the Palestinian movement and the hunger strikers. There are two thousand of them, some of whom will die, and their noble, non-violent resistance is ignored or even denied. It is as though Israel, the Wests unconditional ally, enjoys special consideration and the Palestinians themselves part of the Arab springwarrant only passing attention. The media laud the courage of the Tunisians, the Egyptians, the Libyans and the Syrians in their resistance to dictatorship (that the United States and Europe so long supported) but ignore the seemingly infinite determination of the Palestinians as they stand up against a self-styled democracy that behaves exactly like a colonial-era dictatorship. When they voted for Hamas, the Palestinians proved themselves to be bad democrats ; today they are bad Arabs as they resist the demeaning treatment inflicted on them by the Wests Israeli ally. They will always be wrong ; Israel will always be right in dispossessing, torturing, imprisoning and colonizing them, slowly but surely. Meanwhile, the world looks on in silence. The silence of shame. The politicians, the intellectuals and the journalists who remain silent while claiming to be specialists in Middle Eastern affairs, bring shame to their respective professions. And the Arabs among them who crave only respectability in the eyes of the West by forgetting the oppressed of Palestine, are doubly contemptible. History will certainly judge them harshly. Indeed, there exists in human memory an informal Court of cowards, traitors and historic sell-outs. But Palestine will one day have its day in the courtroom of dignity and justice : for History, in History. That court case, Israel has already lost.

American President Barak Obama recently changed his mind on the question of homosexual marriage after a conversation with his wife and daughters. He said he realized that History was moving in their direction and that, sooner or later, such marriages would become widely accepted. Did he not discuss with his family the indignity of keeping individuals in prison without charges and without trial (for both in allied Israel and in the United States, dozens of widely recognized innocents remain behind bars) ? Did his wife and daughters not help him understand that History cannot absolve states that legalize arbitrary arrest and torture. Time has come for the West and for Israel to pay heed to the lessons of History : the oppressed who resist, like the Palestinians hunger strikers who demand justice and dignity, are, despite appearances, the true victors, in fact and in law. As for the silence of the powerful, it is nothing but another name for their cowardice and their future defeat. Source : http://gulfnews.com/opinions/column... Nous informons tous les internautes que seuls les messages de dbat sur le fond seront diffuss ; toute attaque personnelle ou message sans rapport avec les articles sera systmatiquement supprim.

LA MODERATRICE

Spring Coming to Palestine15 mai 22:57, par Youssef Daoudi

Assalam Ou Alaikoum, thank you for above subject ! you speak the truth , and shame on us . DIscussions has resulted in no solutions Petitions have been unheard on the other side of the table . Politicians are playing the game ... Our Poor Arab Leaders , yes very poor, as they have completely lost the importance of being an Arab , a Muslim , and a leader, be courageous, and lead by example. Instead of finding ways of hiding and hoping nothing happens to them, they could get back their pride and their peoples love if only they think deeply about it .... Now whats left for us to do ?? 1. An international Petition asking all the governments for a military incursion into Palestinian territory, yes military, as chatting has finished . Its main objective would be the security of our fellow brothers and making sure we get back to 1948 bordures. 2. International call for all Arabs and Por Palestinians to meet in Egypt and march peacefully towards ma3bar Rafa7 and make sure we dont get back until we enter and Palestine gets back its freedom.

Middle Eastern Studies

Volume 18, Issue 3, 1982 Special Issue:

Egypt and the general Islamic conference of Jerusalem in 1931

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DOI: 10.1080/00263208208700514 Thomas Mayer pages 311-322 Available online: 06 Dec 2006

Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions Volume 10, Issue 1, 2009 Special Issue:

Rejoinder to Ana Soage

View full textDownload full text DOI: 10.1080/14690760903142235 Mehdi Mozaffaria* pages 17-18 Available online: 09 Jul 2009

Middle Eastern Studies Volume 6, Issue 2, 1970 Special Issue:

Book reviews
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DOI: 10.1080/00263207008700149 J. B. Kelly, Ernest Gellner, Rose Louise Greaves, P. J. Vatikiotis, Malcolm H. Kerr & Clement H. Moore pages 215-236 Available online: 06 Dec 2006

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Abstract
Oman Since 1856: Disruptive Modernization in a Traditional Arab Society. By Robert Geran Landen. Pp. xvi+488. Tables, maps, bibliography, index. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press; London: Oxford University Press. 100s. Oman: A History. By Wendell Phillips. Pp. xiv+246. Illustrations, maps, appendices, index.London: Longmans, 63s.

British Interests in the Persian Gulf. By Abdul Amir Amin. Pp. vi+164. Map, appendices, bibliography. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 36 guilders. Lords of the Atlas. The Rise and Fall of the House of Glaoua 1893 1956. By Gavin Maxwell. Pp. 318. Longmans. 1966. 50s. Britain and the Persian Gulf, 18941914. By Briton Cooper Busch. Pp. x+388. Appendices. Index.University of California Press London: Cambridge University Press. 83s. Islamic Reform, The Political and Legal Theories of Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida. By Malcolm H. Kerr. Pp. 223, bibliog., index. University of California Press. London: Cambridge University Press. 42s. Political and Social Change in Modern Egypt. (Historical Studies from the Ottoman Conquest to the United Arab Republic). Edited by P. M. Holt, Pp. xx+400, index. Oxford University Press. 70s. The Surest Path: The Political Treatise of a NineteenthCentury Muslim Statesman. By Leon Carl Brown. Cambridge, Mass.; Harvard Middle Eastern Monograph Series XVI. Pp. 188. Harvard University Press. London: Oxford University Press. 34s.

Indonesia Circle. School of Oriental & African Studies. Newsletter Volume 11, Issue 32, 1983 Special Issue:

A preliminary statement on the dialogue established between the reform magazine alManar and the MalayoIndonesian world
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DOI: 10.1080/03062848308729564 Jutta E Bluhma pages 35-42 Available online: 01 Aug 2007

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Summary During the period of its publication (1898 to 1936), alManar, under the editorship of Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida, received correspondence sent from the MalayoIndonesian world for publication in its volumes. This correspondence consists of some 134 requests for legal opinions and 26 articles in the form of: announcements; letters commenting on various matters related to the homeland; letters commenting on previous articles published in alManar; and letters requesting and furnishing advice and information on specific questions. This correspondence throws light on the dialogue established between the Egyptian reform movement, whose mouthpiece was the magazine alManar, and the reform movement of the MalayoIndonesian world in the early decades of this century.

The International History Review Volume 32, Issue 4, 2010 Special Issue:

Debating the Caliphate: Islam and Nation in the Work of Rashid Rida and Abul Kalam Azad

View full textDownload full text DOI: 10.1080/07075332.2010.534609 John Willis* pages 711-732 Available online: 14 Dec 2010

British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Volume 21, Issue 2, 1994 Special Issue:

Three approaches, one idea: religion and state in the thought of Abd AlRahman AlKawakibi, Najib Azuri and Rashid Rida
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DOI: 10.1080/13530199408705599 Eliezer Tauber pages 190-198 Available online: 25 Feb 2007

Arabic & Middle Eastern Literature Volume 3, Issue 2, 2000 Special Issue:

Rashid Rida's autobiography of the Syrian years, 18651897

Download full text DOI: 10.1080/13666160008718238 Elizabeth Sirriyeha pages 179-194 Available online: 28 Mar 2007

Islam and ChristianMuslim Relations Volume 21, Issue 3, 2010 Special Issue: Islamic reformism and Great Britain: Rashid Rida's image as reflected in the journal Al-Manr in Cairo PreviewView full textDownload full text DOI: 10.1080/09596410.2010.487684 Umar Ryada* pages 263-285

Available online: 27 Jul 2010 The present article intends to trace the images of Great Britain promoted by the Syro-Egyptian Muslim reformist Muhammad Rashid Rida as reflected in his well-known magazine Al-Manr (The Lighthouse). It goes beyond his political attitudes towards Britain as a colonizing power in the Muslim world by analysing his impressions of the British people, ethics, religion, education and culture. Despite his limited encounters with Englishmen and only a very short visit to Europe in 1921, Rida was able to formulate specific ideas on English life. Rida coupled his enthusiasm about England's high level of ethics, progress and society with his understanding of the reformation of certain Islamic ideals. The article argues that Rida's idealization of the British way of life and progress was also intertwined with a certain degree of fear about foreign domination. The heirs of Islamic reformism are currently showing a similarly mixed attitude in their critique of global jihad and embrace of democracy, while attacking American and British policies in the Middle East.