Dear Selma, Real good article every word therein is true. Keep up the good works.
Regards Tony, Maria Fernandes On 3/17/09, Carvalho <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > --- On Mon, 3/16/09, Mario Goveia <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Doesn't this take the cake? A woman coming to the > > defense of Arabs, most of whom would consider her a second > > class citizen, and have up to three more like her in the > > wings. > -------------------------- > First of all Goveia, you can't speak of Arabs as if they were some > MacDonald's homogenised hamburgers. There are the Levantine Arabs whose > history and culture is very different from the Peninsular Arabs. Then there > is what used to be Mesopotamia. If you call an Iranian, an Arab, he is > likely to take you gently to a corner and show you atleast one of his > several fingers. > > For the sake of brevity, and because I've spent a good many years in that > part of the world, let me comment about the Peninsular Arab. The idea that > these Arabs are suicide bombers who would like nothing more than blowing > themselves up at the drop of a hat is laughable. The Peninsular Arab is a > mercantile-trader, he loves to sit across a big, wide, mahogany table and > tell you all about his wily deals. What these states have achieved within 60 > years is unparalleled in history, at least not without colonizing entire > continents or having an army of slave-labour pick cotton for them. (For the > sake of historical accuracy, let me state that the Arabs were notorious > slave-traders, and made regular incursions into Zanzibar, Mozambique and > Uganda for this purpose, but they didn't build their 20th century wealth on > the slave-trade). The reason these countries are so successful is not only > because of oil but because that wily horse-trader who used to ply to India > to exchange horses for rice, knew a thing or two about deals. > > Secondly, is this idea that women lead reprehensible lives in the Muslim > world. On any given day, you are likely to find a fair, Arab maiden spending > her time, shopping at the mall, having her hands painted in henna, buying > the latest clothes at Marks&Spencers and generally wondering why women > around the world are clamouring for liberation. > > All this is not to glamourise life in the Gulf nor to gloss over the > problems that exist there. But which society doesn't have deep-seated issues > that need to be worked on? One thing I've always felt strongly about is the > undue censorship of books and the media, which in the end will create an > intellectually numbed society. But on the flip-side I can also argue that a > free-press and unbridled freedom of speech does not always manage to create > a fully-informed society. > > Let me also state that there is anger within the Muslim world, and a lot of > it stems from the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict; a mess created by > the British Empire and perpetuated by the Americans. How it will resolve > itself is anyone's guess. > > Lastly, let me say, it is reassuring that Gulf Goans feel compelled to > defend the Gulf, just as UK Goans defend Britain, Canadian GOans, Canada and > so on. We have managed to muster a certain amount of loyalty to the > countries we reside in. Yet, we are fundamentally Goans, and that in the end > is the essence of being Goan. If you ask a third-generation US-German to > find Germany on the map, they'll be hard-pressed to do so. But for Goans, > there is something in our spirit that remains essentially in celebration of > our ethnicity. Whether that has something to do with leading our lives in a > cultural vacuum or because we have a distinct sense of our own identity > (something FN might deny), is something to ponder on. > > Best, > Selma > > > >
