Comments on: Comments on 13447

Post number 13447

Postroad — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 06:13:00 -0800

A Plea For Realism This is the first time I have seen an on-line or paper eminating from the Arab states and serving the Arab/Muslim community suggest a new approach that is peaceful for bringing about a resolution the the chaos that has marked this past year in that area of the world.

By: laz-e-boy

laz-e-boy — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 08:00:50 -0800

It's good to see this, but this approach is not new. Several others (Faisal Husseini among them) have advocated a Gandhian non-violent approach to ending the occupation. I believe there is even a center for the study of non-violent resistance to the occupation in or near Jerusalem.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 08:39:31 -0800

New or not, it beats defeatist violence. And the longer the intifada continues, the more hopeless will seem the economic situation of Palestinians, the angrier will be the youth, and the stronger will be groups like HAMAS. Which, I suspect, is really the point.

By: Mack Twain

Mack Twain — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 10:50:00 -0800

And in the Fox News tradition of 'fair and balanced' there is this story from the Arab News: were the 9/11 hijackers really Arabs? (thru Rantburg).

By: Wong Fei-hung

Wong Fei-hung — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 11:14:22 -0800

It's not that the approach is new, it's that it is the only way the Palastinians can hope to win any kind of equality in a way that is practically and morally (by my morals anyway) superior to everything that happened between Oct. 2000 and today. What really bothers me is why there is no discussion about this. A few posts in a few hours, ugh. Does anyone know why a non-violent strategy isn't being adopted by the Palastinians?

By: waffleboy

waffleboy — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 11:31:09 -0800

Does anyone know why a non-violent strategy isn't being adopted by the Palastinians? My guess is it's a hormonal thing - too much testosterone and adrenalin.

By: nickmark

nickmark — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 12:13:19 -0800

Didn't Tom Clancy play with this idea in one novel or another? As I recall, it ended up leading to terrorists setting off a nuclear bomb at the Super Bowl. Which may be conclusive evidence that it's a good idea.

By: bobo123

bobo123 — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 12:46:04 -0800

Does anyone know why a non-violent strategy isn't being adopted by the Palastinians? Probably because it's doing so shitty for the Kurds and the Tibetans right now. Like China is really feeling pressure from the Beastie Boys, or Turkey really cares about Kurdish protestors setting themselves on fire in front of embassies or going on hunger strikes.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 13:30:33 -0800

There is a Palestinian poet named Mahmoud Darwish who I think described best why there will continue to be a violent response to the occupation. Identity Card Record! I am an Arab And my identity card is number fifty thousand I have eight children And the ninth is coming after a summer Will you be angry? Record! I am an Arab Employed with fellow workers at a quarry I have eight children I get them bread Garments and books from the rocks.. I do not supplicate charity at your doors Nor do I belittle myself at the footsteps of your chamber So will you be angry? Record! I am an Arab I have a name without a title Patient in a country Where people are enraged My roots Were entrenched before the birth of time And before the opening of the eras Before the pines, and the olive trees And before grass grew My father.. descends form the family of the plow Not from a privileged class And my grandfather..was a farmer Neither well-bred, nor well-born! Teaches me the pride of the sun Before teaching me how to read And my house is like a watchman's hut Made of branches and cane Are you satisfied with my status? I have a name without a title! Record! I am an Arab You have stolen the orchards of my ancestors And the land which I cultivated Along with my children And you left nothing for us Except for these rocks.. So will the State take them As it has been said?! Therefor! Record on the top of the first page: I do not hate people Nor do I encroach But if I become hungry The usurper's flesh will be my food Beware.. Beware.. Of my hunger And my anger!