Pro-Israel Hawks and the Second Gulf War
Egypt Struggles to Control Anti-War Protests
Turkey’s Dangerous Game
Irrelevance Lost
“Free People Will Set the Course of History”
As the Bush administration struggled to find a justification for launching an attack on Iraq, churning out sketchy intelligence reports about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and links with al-Qaeda, Washington wordsmiths produced their own grist for the war mill: the prospect of a democratic pax americana in the Middle East. The importance of the pundits’ contribution to the war machine should not be underestimated. As the task of swaying public opinion grew more difficult, rhetoric around freedom and democracy has become ever more central. In the weeks after September 11, 2001, George W. Bush did not talk of remaking the Middle East.
Targeting Muslims, at Ashcroft’s Discretion
Editor’s Picks (Spring 2003)
Ahmad, Aisha and Roger Boase. Pashtun Tales: From the Pakistan-Afghan Frontier (London: Saqi Books, 2003).
Alem, Raja. Fatma: A Novel of Arabia (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002).
Alnasrawi, Abbas. Iraq’s Burdens: Oil, Sanctions and Underdevelopment (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2002).
Baroud, Ramzy. Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion (Seattle: Cune Press, 2003).
Bishara, Marwan. Palestine/Israel: Peace or Apartheid (London: Zed Books, 2002).
Letters (Spring 2003)
Palestinian Debate
Lori Allen is to be congratulated for tackling head on the thorny issue of uses and abuses of violence in the Arab-Israeli conflict (“Palestinians Debate ‘Polite’ Resistance to Occupation,” MER 225). But she has missed the mark in crucial areas.
Last Efforts of Iran’s Reformers
Student demonstrations in December 2002 revealed yet again the depth of public sentiment favoring political and economic reform in Iran. But the loose coalition of reformists under the leadership of President Mohammad Khatami has been unable to harness this “reserve power of revolution” to push its program through to fruition. Crises engendered by the conservatives, a persistent sense of encirclement by foreign enemies and the reformists’ own failures have all contributed to the Iranian impasse.
Advice and Dissent in Kuwait
In sharp contrast to the diplomatic ineptitude that has characterized the Anglo-American march to war against Iraq, military preparations have been systematic, extensive and inexorable. As the military buildup has progressed through the autumn and winter of 2002 and into the succeeding spring, the feelings of Kuwaitis about what virtually all see as an inevitable war have become more and more — ambivalent.
Unsettling the Authorities
Boycott Fever in Jordan
Sipping coffee in downtown Amman, a friend just returned from a three-week stay on a scholarship in the United States surprised me by saying, “I don’t know if I should smoke.” Had she fallen victim to the American anti-smoking frenzy? Not exactly, she continued: “You know, I’m boycotting American products, and there are only Marlboros [for sale] here.” Marlboro cigarettes are but one target of a movement sweeping Jordan and the entire Arab world calling for the boycott of American and British companies which deal with Israel.
More Than a Mob
The “Street” and the Politics of Dissent in the Arab World
Groundswell
From the Editors (Spring 2003)
Sanctions and the “Moral Case” for War
A Saudi Dissident’s Agenda for Democratic Reform
From Washington to the Arab summit, there has been much discussion lately of reformism in Saudi Arabia, but few have heard from grassroots voices within the pro-democracy movement itself.
The United States has acted as though it were introducing reform notions where they previously did not exist. But the truth is that for decades there have been intellectuals and citizens within Saudi Arabia pushing tirelessly and against great odds for change.
Anti-War Thinking: Acknowledge Despair, Highlight Progress on Moral Preemption
It is difficult not to feel despair and powerlessness at this awful juncture. Millions in the world fought with all their hearts and minds to avoid violence in Iraq. Inevitably, when bombs fall, there is a deep and emotional void that is opened.
Many will pray. Others will simply reflect. Countless numbers will continue to take to the streets. But all will worry over the extent of destruction to come and the scope of its repercussions.
We have seen dark moments before. Slavery, the holocaust, the Vietnam War — man’s inhumanity to man is not to be underestimated.
Israel, the US and “Targeted Killings”
Six Hamas militants killed in a car explosion on February 16 were assassinated by Israel, Hamas claims. While Israel denies involvement in the deaths, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on February 17 that Israel will assassinate other members of the military wing of Hamas as part of its planned lengthy incursion into Palestinian-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip to avenge four soldiers killed when Hamas blew up a tank near the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. Israel’s assassination policy is openly declared.
