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Dahr Jamail for the World Crisis Web
"Two weeks ago the Americans came and asked me to give them names of resistance fighters. I don?t know any resistance fighters. We were always against Saddam here. They roughed me up some, then said they would come back in a week and I?d better have some names. They came back a week ago, sent my family outside and locked the door. I told them I don?t know any names, so they tied my hands, put a bag over my head, and took me away in an armored vehicle. They beat me on my head, neck, shoulders and chest. They kicked my legs. Then they took me home and told me they could kill me. I told them I just don?t know anyone they are looking for, because I?m not in the resistance. They said they would come back.”
Hannah Allam and Tom Lasseter
Whispers of “revolution” are growing louder in Baghdad this month at teahouses, public protests and tribal meetings as Iraqis point to the past as an omen for the future. Iraqis remember 1920 as one of the most glorious moments in modern history, one followed by nearly eight decades of tumult. The bloody rebellion against British rule that year is memorialized in schoolbooks, monuments and mass-produced tapestries that hang in living rooms. Now, many say there’s an uncanny similarity with today: unpopular foreign occupiers, unelected governing bodies and unhappy residents eager for self-determination. The result could be another bloody uprising.
Dalia Bedair
After the catastrophe of 9-11, and the subsequent “war on terrorism,” the media?s ability to sway public opinion proved detrimental to American Muslims. The American media?s influence and corruption infiltrated every aspect of news coverage, shaping the nation?s opinion of Muslims. News anchors speculated about terrorist networks. Radio programs propagated false information about the tenets of Islam. Newspaper articles questioned the ulterior motives behind Muslim activism in America. In the end, the media successfully put a face to the vicious enemy behind the destruction of 9-11. Muslim Americans were blamed collectively for the attacks, rather than placing accountability on the few, deranged terrorists that transgressed.
Sarah Whalen
The USA claims it wants to establish a fair, responsible and democratic system of government in Iraq. Traditionally, this would mean a speedy election of Iraqis, by Iraqis, and for Iraqis. The Bush administration has something different in mind, but in delaying truly democratic elections in Iraq, the USA reveals how far removed it has become from its own democratic origins, which commenced not with the colonial revolution or its 1776 Declaration of Independence, but much earlier - 1620, to be precise, when a small group of conservative religious fanatics, hated and reviled in their own European countries, crossed the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean and arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
George Bisharat
It is a tragic irony that, more than 55 years ago, one desperate people seeking sanctuary from murderous racism decimated another - and continue to oppress its scattered survivors to this day. Today, many assume that to achieve Middle East peace, we Palestinians must surrender our right to return to our homes and homeland. Millions of Palestinians - with memories and photographs of our stolen properties, keys to our front doors, and an abiding sense of injustice - are expected to swallow our losses in order to facilitate a “two-state solution.” But it’s not that simple.
David R. Hoffman for the World Crisis Web
A popular saying proclaims that there are three types of criticism. The first, and most welcome, is positive criticism. The second, and equally welcomed, is negative criticism, since it confirms that one’s work has been noticed. The third, and worst, is no criticism at all, because it signifies that one’s work is irrelevant or unworthy of being critiqued. But before an individual becomes too elated by positive criticisms, or too deflated by negative ones, it must first be determined whether such criticisms are legitimate or illegitimate. The essential question to be asked is, “Are the critics acting with sincerity and integrity, or are they motivated by agendas that make their words biased at best and hypocritical at worst?”
Dahr Jamail for the World Crisis Web
This morning, a huge blast shakes my hotel, rattling my windows, as a bomb explodes at the front entrance of the CPA, killing 23 Iraqis, 2 Americans, and wounding at least 180 others. One thing I?ve noticed since I?ve been here is to be wary of the periods of relative calm; for they are inevitably followed by extreme violence in one form or another. Each time I?ve allowed myself to become lulled into a sense of feeling that the resistance is slowing down, there are fewer attacks now, blah blah blah, a terrible strike like this morning occurs to remind me. To remind me that the USA has no idea what it has gotten itself into here. That they are swimming as hard as they can just to keep their nose above water.
Muslims in America Post 9-11
First, it was the Indigenous Americans. They were forced off their own land in an unimaginable genocide, their way of life altered forever. Then came the turn of the African Americans. Forced into slavery, they became part of an enduring cycle of social oppression, which continues to this day. The Japanese became the target of choice during World War II. Their internment was merely another log in the burning fire of racial discrimination practiced by the government. As thousands of Muslims sit behind bars without due process, we come to the painful realization that now, it’s the Muslims’ turn?
Hamza Hendawi
A 22-year-old Shiite cleric wields vast power in the impoverished Iraqi city of Kut, overseeing a network of social and security services, collecting taxes and even administering a court of law - all independent of the U.S.-backed local government. Abdul Jawad al-Issawi is an example of the eroding influence of the U.S.-led coalition and of how Shiite clerical power is spreading outside the mosques, partly to fill that gap. It is a pattern that is taking hold in other Shiite Muslim areas as the religious establishment challenges U.S. plans for transferring power to the Iraqis.
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