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Recent
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April
10, 2003
Zoltan
Grossman
The Perils of Occupation: the Easier
the Victory, the Harder the Peace
Uri
Avnery
The Night After
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The Telltale Signs of Empire
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Jacobs
Bush and Rummy's Drunken Drive-by
David Krieger
Before You Become Too Flushed with Victory, Think of Ali Ismaeel
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Brecher
What Can the World Do Now That Tanks Prowl Baghdad?
Robert
Jensen
The Unseen War
Geoffrey
Neale
Ashcroft's War on the Constitution:
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Jeffrey
St. Clair
Last Tango in Baghdad
Hammond
Guthrie
Rumors of War
Joseph
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Nately's Old Man
Steve
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War Web Log 4/10
Website
of the Day
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April
9, 2003
David
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Lummis
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Susan
Davis
The New York Times and the Peace Movement
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Smoking Gun? You're Watching It
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America's Sovereign Right to Do
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8, 2003
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Dr. Phil in the Trenches
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Brown
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FERC and Wall Street: Conversations
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Linda Heard
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Wallowing in Hypocrisy
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Gagne
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War Web Log 4/8
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April
7, 2003
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America is Not a Role Model
Diane
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Jules
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Remembering Deir Yassin
James Davis
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Robert
Fisk
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Slaughter on the Road to Dibagah
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War and Art
Seth Sandronsky
Wars and the Color Line
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War Web Log 4/7
April
5, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
The Iraqi Humanitarian Relief is
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Anne
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A Drowning in Salem
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Roadmap to Nowhere
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William
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Would You Have Sent Your Son (or Daughter) Off to War If...
Gila
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Joanne
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Civilian Deaths and Official Apologies
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War and Occupation
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April
4, 2003
Anthony
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Colin Powell's Shame
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Krieger
The Meaning of Victory
Tom
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The Mantra of the Troops: Support
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There Are No More Arguments
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The End of the Innocence
Mickey
Z.
Makes Me Sic (Sic): Copy Editing
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Tristam
War Coverage: a Dishonest Reality
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The Deadly Mihrab
Steve
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War Web Log 04/04
April
3, 2003
Uri
Avnery
A Crooked Mirror: Presstitution and
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David
Vest
Can You Hear the Silence?
Anthony
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Colin Powell Telemarketer
David
Lindorff
Takoma: the Dolphin Who Refused
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Michael
Roberts
War, Debts and Deficits
Ramzy
Baroud
Now That Iraqis Are Being Killed Is Israel Any More Secure?
Jo Wilding
From Baghdad with Tears
Anton
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Cluster Bombs on Babylon
Alison
Weir
Israel, We Won't Forget Rachel Corrie
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Jackson
Hating Wolf Blitzer's Voice
Eliot Katz
War's First Week
Steve
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War Web Log 04/03
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April 11,
2003
An
Alliance of the Occupied
From
Saddam to Uncle Sam
by
OMAR BARGHOUTI
Jerusalem.
I have to admit: I did feel a tinge of jubilation,
albeit soaked in the overall agony, bitterness and deep anger
that overwhelmed me when I saw that monstrous 6-meter icon of
Saddam falling. It was almost similar to those special moments
of unanticipated ecstasy that catch us by surprise, but not without
leaving us with an inexplicable feeling of guilt.
Being Palestinian, I am not quite sure
whether this odd blend of feelings is due to the fact that for
us, Palestinians, guilt is a sinister and inseparable companion
of happiness. When Palestinians laugh from the heart, they usually
say: "Allah yustor!" [God protect us from what might
happen afterwards].
Or perhaps being progressive can better
explain this emotional oddity. After all, there is nothing more
gratifying for all of us--progressives, liberals and democrats
in the Arab world--than watching one of our own repressive tyrants
fall. Actually, this is not very accurate. Making them go, through
our own toils, is the pinnacle of bliss. Watching them being
smashed by others is considerably less satisfying.
But, bearing witness to a cynical change
of guards, whereby our local tyrant is replaced by a global repressor,
a born-again colonist, is the absolute worst of all feelings.
It is like being saved from a stormy sea only to be dumped into
a tumultuous ocean. I can only marvel: why is it our miserable
fate to choose between native--well, almost native--dictators
and foreign occupiers?
This might be news to the likes of Thomas
Friedman, Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, but there is nothing
we--yes, we, genetically undemocratic sand-niggers--cherish more
than freedom, democracy and human rights, but we do not trust
you to deliver them to our doorsteps. Neither do we really envy
your peculiar flavour of democracy, especially given the pathetic
state of affairs your current administration has brought you
to. But, since we believe in fairness and ethical consistency,
we cannot but respect that only you, Americans, can address the
United States' own burning need for regime change and mental
emancipation.
We also jealously guard our inalienable
right to self-determination. We--like every other nation--love
to be masters of our own destiny, to topple our own dictators,
or born-again fundamentalists (hint, hint!), to elect our leaders,
to develop our culture, society and economy.
Thanks to you, our brethren in Iraq have
indeed lost their ruthless despot, but in the process they've
also lost their freedom. Your neo-conservative clan has made
good on its promise to lift Saddam's boot--which, incidentally,
has "Made in the USA" written all over it--from over
Iraqi necks, but only to place Uncle Sam's own boot in its stead,
on the same painful spot, lest they breathe freely and stand
up tall and dignified.
Today, the wretched Iraqis have joined
the very exclusive club of nations under occupation, with only
one other most senior member: the Palestinians. I therefore suspect
that they already share with us quite a few aspects of our ambition.
For we've always dreamt of the day when
we could reclaim our sovereignty, and we hovered over the thought
of being able to exercise our most fundamental right to lead
normal lives, to send our children to school without being anxious
about their safety; to work and be productive without the fear
that someone might usurp it or destroy it all; to have our morning
coffee, instead of our almost routine mourning coffee; to have
the luxury of reading the latest world news and the most provincial
local news, rather than having our dailies' front pages covered
with fresh names and photos of our most recent martyrs; to ensure
a dignified burial when we die; to be able to travel, to visit
relatives, to shop, to picnic, all without experiencing the humiliating
and degrading military checkpoints; to die of natural causes,
not of a bullet, or a piece of shrapnel, or depleted-uranium-related
cancer, or a heart attack caused by watching a loved one die
of either; to enjoy music, dance, theatre and literature without
feeling guilty or selfish; to have more faith that our children
will have a better life than ours; to curse at our leaders' corruption,
without being accused of high treason; to choose between political
parties; to choose which paper to subscribe to, which website
to surf; to demonstrate against poverty, joblessness and repression;
to feel whole again.
We really deserve to lift your boot,
and any other, off of our necks. We truly wish to feel whole
again.
Omar Barghouti
is a Palestinian political analyst. His article "9.11 Putting
the Moment on Human Terms" was chosen among the "Best
of 2002" by the Guardian. His articles have appeared in
the Hartford Courant and Al-Ahram Weekly, among others. He can
be reached at: jenna@palnet.com
Today's Features
Zoltan
Grossman
The Perils of Occupation: the Easier
the Victory, the Harder the Peace
Uri
Avnery
The Night After
Wayne Madsen
The Telltale Signs of Empire
David Krieger
Before You Become Too Flushed with Victory, Think of Ali Ismaeel
Abbas
Jeremy
Brecher
What Can the World Do Now That Tanks Prowl Baghdad?
Robert
Jensen
The Unseen War
Geoffrey
Neale
Ashcroft's War on the Constitution:
A Patriot Attack on America
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Last Tango in Baghdad
Hammond
Guthrie
Rumors of War
Joseph
Heller
Nately's Old Man
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/10
Website
of the Day
The
Third Page
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