Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 16:54:11 +1000
To: <[log in to unmask]>
From: Phil Graham <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Fwd: Mahmoud Darwish: But then, nothing, nothing justifies
  Terrorism

>X-Mailer: Becky! ver. 2.00.07
>Date:         Fri, 21 Sep 2001 09:06:55 +0200
>Reply-To: Ron Kuzar <[log in to unmask]>
>Sender: Critical Discourse/Language/Communication=20
>Analysis              <[log in to unmask]>
>From: Ron Kuzar <[log in to unmask]>
>Organization: University of Haifa
>Subject:      Mahmoud Darwish: But then, nothing, nothing justifies=
 Terrorism
>Comments: To: [log in to unmask],
[log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>Enclosed by a statement written by Mahmoud Darwish and signed by
>Palestinian writers and Intellectuals such as: Hanna Nasser, Sari
>Nusseiba, Salim Tamari, Rema Hammai, I'zzat Ghazawi, Hasssan Khader,
>Hannan Ashrawi and many others.
>
>It was published in the Palestinian daily Al Ayyam on Sept. the 17th
>2001:
>
>You might notice that in this statement the term "State terrorism" is
>used in association with the Israeli occupation. This term did not
make
>it into the joint declaration I forwarded before. Even here it is
hedged
>by "practices which border on 'state terrorism'" and by the scare
quotes
>around "state terrorism".
>----------------------------------------------------------


>"But then, nothing, nothing justifies Terrorism"
>
>Mahmoud Darwish
>
>The catastrophe that hit Washington and New York has only one name -
the
>Madness of Terrorism. This catastrophic event was neither a dark
science
>fiction film nor was it the Day of Reckoning. It was terrorism that
is
>country-less, colorless, and creedless, no matter how many names of
gods,
>deities and agonies of man it may have enlisted in order to justify
>itself.
>
>No cause, not even a just cause, can make legitimate the killing of
>innocent civilians, no matter how long the list of accusations and
the
>register of grievances. Terror never paves the way to justice, but
leads
>down the shortest path to hell. We deplore this horrendous crime and
>condemn its planners and perpetrators with all the terms of revulsion
>and condemnation in our lexicon. We do this not only as our moral
duty,
>but also in order to re-assert our commitment to our own humanity and
>our faith in human values that do not differentiate between one
people
>and another. Our sympathy with the victims and their families and
with
>the American people in these trying times is thus an expression of
our
>deep commitment to the unity of human destiny. For a victim is a
victim,
>and terrorism is terrorism, here or there, it knows no boundaries nor
>nationalities and does not lack the rhetoric of killing,
>
>Nothing, nothing can justify this terrorism that melds human flesh
with
>iron cement and dust. Nor can anything justify polarizing the world
into
>two camps that can never meet: one of absolute good, the other of
>absolute evil. Civilization is the result of world societies
>contributing towards a global heritage. The accumulation and
interaction
>of which leads towards the elevation of humanity and nobility of
>consciousness. In this context, the insistence of modern-day
>orientalists that terrorism resides in the very nature of Arab and
>Islamic culture, contributes nothing to the diagnosis of the enigma
and
>thus offers no solution. Rather, it makes a solution more enigmatic
>because it becomes caught in the grip of racism.
>
>Therefore, when America searches for reasons to explain the animosity
>towards its politics (an animosity not held towards the American
people
>and their globally popular culture), it must distance itself from the
>concept of the "conflict of cultures". It should also dispense with
the
>need to identify an ever present enemy, necessary to test "western
>supremacy". Instead, it should move into a political arena, where the
>United States can meditate on the sincerity of its foreign policy. In
>particular it should reflect on its success in the Middle East, where
>the great American values of freedom, democracy and human rights,
have
>stopped functioning -- especially in the Palestinian context where
the
>Israeli occupation remains free from answering to international law
>while the U.S. provides it with what it needs of rationalizations and
>justifications for practices which border on "state terrorism".
>
>We know that the American wound is deep and we know that this tragic
>moment is a time for solidarity and the sharing of pain. But we also
>know that the horizons of the intellect can traverse landscapes of
>devastation. Terrorism has no location or boundaries, it does not
reside
>in a geography of its own, its homeland is disillusionment and
despair.
>
>The best weapon to eradicate terrorism from the soul lies in the
>solidarity of the international world, in respecting the rights of
all
>peoples of this globe,  to live in harmony and by reducing the ever
>increasing gap between north and south. And the most effective way to
>defend freedom is through fully realizing the meaning of justice.
>Security measures alone are not enough since terrorism carries within
>its folds a multiplicity of nationalities and recognizes no
boundaries.
>The world cannot be divided into two societies, one for the rebels
and
>the other for the officers of the law. But then, nothing, nothing
>justifies Terrorism
>
>=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>                  Dr. Ron Kuzar
>Address:   Department of English Language and Literature
>                  University of Haifa
>                  IL-31905 Haifa, Israel
>Office:       +972-4-824-9826, fax: +972-4-824-9711
>Home:       +972-2-6414780, Cellular: +972-5-481-9676
>Email:        [log in to unmask]
>Site:=FD          http://research.haifa.ac.il/~kuzar
>=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
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---
Opinions expressed in this email are my own unless otherwise stated.
If you have received this in error, please ignore it.
Phil Graham, Lecturer
Business (Communication)
University of Queensland

"Those who would trade liberty for security will get and deserve
neither."
Benjamin Franklin
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