Do read and listen to this interview of Seymour Hersh on Democracy Now : http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/21/seymour_hersh_propaganda_used_ahead_of
[youtube http://youtu.be/EKz7-jZHv_E?]
Jillian C York
A consummate activist, let’s hope my friend’s belief in the power of people is well placed and helps secure her freedom
Jillian C York · 05/12/2011 · guardian.co.uk
Razan Ghazzawi, a Syrian blogger, has been arrested. Photograph: Jillian C York
I got an urgent instant message from my good friend Razan Ghazzawi last Tuesday night. Having tweeted and blogged against the Syrian regime for the past several months under her real name, from inside Syria, Ghazzawi was concerned that she had become a target.
Always prepared, she sent me her contingency plan: close her online accounts. Syrians who have been arrested and detained over the past nine months have reported having their passwords demanded by authorities. Though closing her accounts wouldn’t help her, it could protect her friends – that’s the kind of person Ghazzawi is.
Those close to her say that she was on her way to a workshop in Jordan organised by her employer, the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, when she was arrested. Though it’s difficult these days to understand anything the Syrian regime does, her blog may have been the impetus for her arrest, or it may not have, but in either case her outspoken writing could very well make things worse for her.
By birth, Ghazzawi is an American citizen – though she would undoubtedly resent the idea of that being used to free her. In any case, it is unlikely that the US government could have any pull with the Syrian regime at this point.
I met Ghazzawi in 2008 at a conference in Europe. We only connected briefly – she was working on her master’s thesis – but we kept in touch and when I visited Syria the next year, reconnected. She is a consummate activist, never content to let something slide, always thinking, sometimes too much. She is passionate about LGBT and gender rights, Palestine and, of course, her beautiful Syria.
Though Ghazzawi had blogged under her own name for several years, at the start of the Syrian revolution she had a change of heart, changing her name on Twitter and locking down her Facebook account. I never asked, but I assumed she was scared. She left for a while for Lebanon, then Egypt, but ended up back in Syria soon after; I can only assume she felt compelled to return.
Eventually, she decided against anonymity, returning to her former outspoken nature and tweeting, her opposition to the regime coming across loud and clear.
What I appreciate and respect the most about Ghazzawi (and what I suspect is what irks a lot of other people about her), however, is her honesty and humanity. Though a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights, she has denounced the double standards of Palestinian resistance groups that have expressed support of the Syrian regime. She has not been afraid to speak up against those she disagrees with, even her friends. For that, she is among my heroes.
She has also been pragmatic, sceptical even, of the role of social media in Syria and throughout the region, consistently claiming that “online activists are overrated”. Bemused, annoyed even, at all of the invitations she’s received to represent Syrian digital activists at conferences, she has taken a pragmatic approach to the effect of digital tools in Syria, where access to the internet hovers at around 20% and DSL is mostly unavailable outside of Damascus.
Last time I saw her, at the Third Arab Bloggers Meeting in Tunis, she drove the point home: after learning that Palestinians had been denied visas to attend, she slapped a sign on her back that read: “OK, [Palestinians] denied entry. Let’s not just tweet about it!”
It is ironic then, that her own online outspokenness may be the cause of her arrest.
In respect to the Syrian opposition, Ghazzawi has been thoughtful, nuanced, writing about her love of Syria and her desire for a simultaneously free and peaceful Syria. On her blog, she recently wrote:
“Colonisation made us all a bunch of nationalists [fighting] for a label [rather] than for a value. I want to be living hand in hand with all of you, and this cannot be done if we see ourselves as ‘majorities’ and ‘minorities.’ The foundation of this logic lies in nationalism.”
But if there is one thing that represents Ghazzawi more than anything, it is her belief in the power of people – not politicians, not parties, but individuals. “It’s time for people’s self-determination to rule the region, you just wait and watch,” she wrote in October. Let’s hope that her prophecy is correct.
[youtube http://youtu.be/Jbnvxyd2jkw?]
I have only recently had the chance to watch the al Arabiyah interview with Rifaat al Assad, Bashar’s uncle. Rifaat is widely believed to be responsible for the Tadmur prison massacre, as well as with the Hama massacre during the regime’s battle with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in the eighties. Throughout the interview, an uncharismatic Rifaat is trying to portray himself as some sort of statesman. His solution to the current “crisis” is that a strongman from within the regime is needed, one who knows the threats to the regime, how to manage it, and who also knows “the people”. He rules himself and any of his children out, and he is clearly uncomfortable when asked how he amassed his enormous personal wealth.
Regarding the massacres, he points out that he was not responsible, and then says that there are “documents” on the internet that will prove who did so. He makes an interesting reference to an Islamic bourgeoisies – meaning the Muslim Brotherhood and their sympathisers.When he is challenged about the killings, he denies being involved with the Syrian presidency, and says that he was always against the law which sentenced members of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood to death automatically. Surprisingly, he says that the killings were carried out under an article of the Syrian constitution, and as law they were to be carried out without question. Somehow I don’t think the International Criminal Court will find that a sufficient defence. Ludicrously, he says that he was never a leader of the notorious Defence Companies, and that such companies never existed! His excuse is that people mistakenly referred to some armed defence unit with that name and it stuck ever since.
What a silly man, and I am still amazed that he can live freely in Europe and that nobody has ever charged him with crimes against humanity. Watching this interview makes me realise just how delusional, secretive and out of touch this corrupt and brutal regime is with the Syrian people. To the world, they lie, lie and lie, through their teeth. What goes on within their inner circle, I’d love to find out one day. Remarkable
[youtube http://youtu.be/8QEkk2LJfXA?]
[youtube http://youtu.be/pWKPRC-_oSg?]
Alternate Focus interviews Nurit Peled-Elhanan, author of the forthcoming book Palestine in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education. Nurit Peled-Elhanan argues that the textbooks used in the school system are laced with a pro-Israel ideology, and that they play a part in priming Israeli children for military service. She analyzes the presentation of images, maps, layouts and use of language in History, Geography and Civic Studies textbooks, and reveals how the books might be seen to marginalize Palestinians, legitimize Israeli military action and reinforce Jewish-Israeli territorial identity.
Friday, December 2, 2011 at 8:04AM Gilad Atzmon
Most solidarity activists in this country would agree that the PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) is potentially an invaluable institution. Yet, the National Office, under its current leadership, has made some serious mistakes.
The PSC’s task is not easy. We all operate in a Zionised environment and we’re subject to constant pressure and abuse. Moreover, it’s not always clear what we should do for Palestine. It is obvious that Palestinian resistance is more than just single political perception or a vision of conflict resolution. Palestine is basically a dynamic discourse of negation with Palestinians themselves divided on different issues to do with their struggle and their fate. Consequently, Palestinian solidarity is also far from being a rigid or monolithic discourse. Furthermore, the enemy also is far from being any obviously singular identity or monolithic political discourse. The Jewish national project is a varied discourse, driven by many conflicting thoughts such as Zionism, Israeli patriotism, Israeli escapism, Jewishness, Jewish messianic militancy, pseudo-peaceful propaganda, pre-traumatic stress and so on. So it makes sense that Palestinian solidarity must encompass many voices reflecting the immense complexity of the conflict and its possible resolution.
Initially, the PSC was an attempt provide an umbrella for diverse intellectual and political thoughts, ideas and tactics. However, because of internal political struggles and a relentless internal Jewish campaign, its national office has become a policing operation, engaged mainly in restricting the discourse and stifling freedom of speech, thought and expression. The organisation that was founded to fight for the rights of the expelled Palestinians, has itself, started to expel and abuse its most notable and dedicated activists and thinkers.
I believe that the PSC should never attempt to dominate the discourse. Anyway, it lacks both the political power and the intellectual capacity to do so. It should instead facilitate a wide debate that would transform this solidarity movement into a mass movement.
Instead of suggesting what is ‘right’ and who is ‘kosher’, the PSC should come up with a single, short, incisive but inclusive statement.
“WE ARE ALL PALESTINIANS”
Dominated by a Zionist power structure and ideology, with 80% of our leading party’s MPs being Conservative Friends of Israel (CFOI), our media editorials being controlled by BICOM, and our country having been involved in criminal wars to serve Israeli interests – we are indeed, all Palestinians. So, like Palestinians, we also need to be liberated.
Our solidarity with Palestine should start, right here at home. We could begin by exposing our local MP who is more than likely to be a CFOI, LFI or Lib Dem Friends of Israel member. It’s about time the British public grasped that we have far too many ‘Friends of Israel’ in our government but nowhere nearly enough friends of Britain.
We live in unique times. Yesterday’s ideologies and political institutions are crumbling. We are living in a post-ideological and post-political age. Thanks to the internet and the social networks, each one of us is an independent broadcasting outlet. Each one of us is capable of disseminating information at the speed of light – wider and faster than any institutional media corporation. People are now free to choose who they follow and what they believe. In sum, this technology offers us a unique opportunity to democratise the realm of thoughts, ideas and action. It’s a window of opportunity and we’d better make the most of it.
To some extent the PSC – just like the JC, the Guardian, the Trade Unions the parties – belongs to the old world, the world of stagnation and political power games. Perhaps this explains why the PSC leadership is so desperate for the approval of the JC, the Guardian and Parliament.
Instead, the PSC should communicate with the masses and proclaim far and wide that same, vital, humanist message:
WE ARE ALL PALESTINIANS
But, as ever, there’s some good news. The old Red Commissar is dead and so are the ‘liberal’ newspapers, radio and TV. Politics, as we knew it has become a meaningless activity. McCarthyism, witch-hunting and other Talmudic forms of excommunication and general abuse, they also belong to the past. Change is in the air and the PSC National Office had better get used to it – and fast. If it doesn’t, it will, quite simply and unfortunately, disappear.
The Wandering Who-A Study of Zionist’s and AZZ’s tactics – available on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
Saturday, November 26, 2011
It pains me to see people that I thought were principled in their commitment for justice and outspoken in their support for the Palestinians, ignore the plight of the Syrian people and dismiss what is happening there as some Western conspiracy. Those same people will accept “insights” from “sources” in Bahrain, publish Youtube videos of demonstrations in Saudi Arabia’s Qatif, and yet criticise al Jazeera for relying on anonymous sources, or Youtube videos in Syria, knowing well that all foreign media have been banned from operating there. They afford full respect to the Bahraini protesters, and relish the opportunity to use their plight as a way to highlight Western and Arab hypocrisy, and yet they waste no opportunity to ridicule coverage of Syria, and to argue about semantics or demonstrate their critical thinking and scepticism about any story that comes out of Syria. Yet at the same time they would never dream of applying such high standards of scrutiny for the same standard of stories, allegations or speculation if it came from Bahrain or, for that matter, Gaza. The opposite is true for those who conveniently ignore what is happening in Bahrain and cry crocodile tears for the Syrian people.
Shame on them all, completely and utterly. I support the people of Bahrain and all the Arab revolutions. I find no contradiction in this support, and I’m not waiting for somebody from the corrupt oppositions, the Muslim Brotherhood, or the stupid “resistance” demagogues and populists to remind me of my human duty.
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