A place called hope

'Saudi Arabia's peace plan for the Middle East was long considered stillborn by the West. Now the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is lauding it as "revolutionary."'

"Last week, the 22 government leaders of the Arab League renewed their commitment to the Beirut proposal. First, however, Abdullah, who has since become the king of Saudi Arabia, gave them a telling-off the likes of which has never been heard before at an Arab summit. He mentioned the bloodshed in occupied Iraq, the political deadlock in Lebanon, the "Arab meekness" in Sudan and the seemingly endless series of civil wars in Somalia. "The real blame should fall on us -- we the leaders of the Arab nations," he said." - Speigel story here

The hellfire in Iraq notwithstanding, a breakthrough in middle east seems possible. With Israel warming up to the Beirut peace plan put forth in 2002 by the then crown prince of Saudi Arabia. The realization of mistakes by both sides is important and maybe we could shed our cynicism for a moment, there could be peace and as some experts say,it could happen in the very short term.

And

Six months after the heart wrenching massacre, it is a new beginning for the students in Nickel Mines. Despite a tsunami in the Pacific, there are reasons enough this Monday morning to believe in a place called 'hope'.

Hail to the Chief !

Nouri Al-Maliki, had just finished explaining to the visiting UN chief Ban Ki Moon about the progress being made in Iraq. (28 sec video)



I don't understand Al Jazeera's arab commentary, nor Dubya's Iraq policy.

Where the Nile flows...

Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman, the Egyptian blogger from Alexandria was this week, sentenced to four years in prison for what he wrote in his blog. He was first arrested in 2005. A blogger and a law student in Al Azhar (world's second oldest operating University), Karim's blog was critical of the University which he termed "was promoting extreme ideas". Point to note is that he was a casual blogger who commented on issues around him occasionally. Karim's post accusing Muslims of savagery during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Alexandria in 2005 titled “The Naked Truth of Islam as I Saw it" created an uproar in the Sunni fundamentalist circles.

Excerpt :
"It is worth mentioning that although some people may think that this Christian-owned liquor store was particularly targeted because the owner is selling the forbidden alcoholic beverages that is forbidden in Islam, but another liquor store in front of the Christian-owned store happens to be owned by a Moslem merchant, and none of the thugs dared to attack, as they did with the Christian-owned store. Now you can see the hateful sectarian actions."

Karim's criticism of Papa Bear Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s president since 1981, "likening him to the dictatorial pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt" is cited as yet another reason to jail him - as criticizing the President put "National Security at a higher risk".

Egypt, an Enemy of the Internet is a long way away from individual freedom. A country where the supreme religious leader, the Grand Mufti is in favour of reconstructive hymen surgery for women who lost their virginity before marriage cannot be expected to be a beacon for secular progressive forces; and its not.

The fate of Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman does not bother me, if it bothers you, you might find something here. What bothers me is the fact that Egypt is arguably the cradle of human civilization, man and his intelligence has constantly worked wonders by the banks of the Nile.
If what Egypt implies is that individual freedom and human progress are not directly proportional to the age of civilization, then they should be products of certain choices the society makes as a whole. We need to find those choices; We need to make those choices; We cannot afford to be Egypt.

As for Egypt, USA's Man Friday in the region, you can wait by the Nile , looking upstream till Uncle Sam sends you a wooden basket down the river with Nile's gift of democracy. This will take some time of course and Egypt being obedient to US is not helping things at all. If you are obedient, you don't get the democracy gift - see Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan. All the prodigal disobedient kids got democracy - see Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan. The whole point is obedience.

Good Night and Good Luck !

Mid-East Explodes

"Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves... The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country" - David Ben Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel(1949-1963)

"We plan to eliminate the state of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. We Palestinians will take over everything, including all of Jerusalem" - Yasser Arafat

There would not be another place in the world about which so much has been written,explained and hoped for.Conflicts of apocalyptical proportions and overtones have swept across this region throughout the last one and a half millenia,be it the Arab-Persian conflicts or the Crusades for Jerusalem or the Sunni-Shia rivalries or the conflict we all have grown up with - the Israel-Palestine deadlock.

They fight and kill in the name of old rivalries and from every killing, a new rivalry is born.

A vicious circle.What is it with this land ? Centuries of exploitation for the abundant resources of the region ? The tribal underpinnings of their religion ? or a direct message to God that time is ripe for kingdom come !

Israel finds herself surrounded by nations and mass movements that deny its right to exist and would love to wipe it off the map.Its a very sad state of affairs . Imagine being an Israelite in Jerusalem.When Iraq was invaded by the Allies during the first Gulf war,Iraq hit Israel - which deliberately didnt take part in the war,with Scud missiles . If the US attacks Iran and if Iran has a nuclear weapon,its anybody's guess whos going to get nuked . Israel has been attacked by all nations surrounding it,every child born in those nations grow up in an environment thirsty for Israels blood.Israel cannot afford to be weak.

They withdrew from Gaza,parts of WestBank and were ready to negotiate on parts of Jerusalem,Sharon had driven out his own people to give the land back to the Arabs.But that move was arguably treated as a sign of weakness.Israel was attacked again and as I said Israel cannot afford to look ridiculous.Now we see her rage,as her well oiled war machine pounds the mid-east.Israel has changed the game,it has raised the price of attacking it,Beirut is paying.

Do we remember the random gunfire by Israel a couple of weeks back on a Palestinian beach,do we remember the helpless girl child crying out her heart in the beach sand while all her family lies there dead.If Arab world found that worthy of revenge,would they be asking for a little too much.

Wherever conflicts happen in the world,muslims get killed.Be it Kashmir , Karachi , Bali , Bosnia , Chechnya , Kabul , Baghdad , Gaza or Beirut.Can you name anyother place where unabated killings happen.Their resources are held hostage by global hawks and western corporations,consider the anglo-american military presence across middle east,even in countries with prevailing peace like Saudi and Bahrain . What should the Arab-muslim think about this,what can they do,what can they imagine as a way out of this .

At the end of this barren imagination,they become a suicide bomber . What goes inside the mind of a fidayeen ? will it be cluttered visions of a promised heaven which would any given day be a better bargain than the living hell they are in or will it be the heart wrenching cry of a eight year old girl?

One day,I hope,mothers and fathers and sisters and wifes from Iran and Israel,Iraq and Syria,Palestine and Lebanon will sit together and count their losses.Finally they would realise that they all have lost.Lost sons,husbands,livelihood and future.They would realise that at the end of each war they had only a handful of ash left,that they cant distinguish the blood on the mutilated corpses as Israeli or Sunni or Shia.Then they would cry,every one of them,it would be the swan-song of the senseless killings,brutality and exodus of thousands of years . At the end of it,the whole world will hear a loud silence from Mecca and Persia and Nazreth and Galile and Damascus and Jerusalem.That will be serenity,there would be peace.

Good Night and Good Luck !