Said was a part of my educational growing up. I happened to be in Beirut (Sabra and Shattilla) on the day of his funeral and the memories of that are still fresh and haunting
2008/9/23 Afthab Ellath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > *Remembering Edward Said Five Years On * > > *By Stephen Lendman* > > 22 September, 2008 > *Countercurrents.org* > > *B*orn in West Jerusalem in 1935. Exiled in December 1947. Said was > diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 1991, a malignant cancer of > the bone marrow and blood. At 6:45AM on September 25, 2003, he succumbed (at > age 67) after a painful courageous 12 year struggle. Tributes followed and > resumed a year later. In a testimony to his teacher, Professor Moustafa > Bayoumi called him "indefatigable, incorruptible, a humanist and > devastatingly charming....leav(ing behind) legions of followers and fans in > every corner of the world. I am lost without him....I miss him so." > > Chomsky called his death an "incalculable loss." A year later, Ilan Pappe > said "his absence seems to me still incomprehensible. What would have > happened if we still had Edward with us in this last year....another > terrible (one) for the values (he) represented and causes he defended." > Tariq Ali referred to his "indomitable spirit as a fighter, his will to > live, (my) long-standing friend and comrade," and described his ordeal: > > "Over the last eleven years one had become so used to his illness - the > regular hospital stays, the willingness to undergo trials with the latest > drugs, the refusal to accept defeat - that (we thought) him indestructible." > Leukemia kills, and in response to Ali's questions, his doctor said there > was "no medical explanation for (his) survival." No doubt Dr. Kanti Rai made > a difference. Said spoke of him reverentially - of his "redoubtable medical > expertise and remarkable humanity" that kept him going during his darkest > times, and there were many. He later described months in and out of the > hospital, "painful treatments, blood transfusions, endless tests, hours and > hours of unproductive time spent staring at the ceiling, draining fatigue > and infection, inability to do normal work, and thinking, thinking, > thinking." > > Yet, as Ali recounted, in the end the "monster (overpowered him), devouring > his insides (but when) the cursed cancer finally took him the shock was > intense." Palestinians had lost their "most articulate (and powerful) > voice....(he's) irreplaceable." > > Veteran Palestinian-American journalist Ramzy Baroud agrees. He called 2003 > a bad time for Palestinians to lose one their iconic best and described him > like many others: He "stood for everything that is virtuous. His moral > stance was even more powerful than (his) essays, books and music (as critic, > scholar and consummate artist)....He was an extraordinary intellectual, > thoughtful....inimitable" and never silent or compromising in his beliefs or > virtue. No "wonder he....was adored by (his) people (and) detested by the" > forces he opposed. > > Phyllis Bennis called him "one of the great internationalist intellectuals > of our time....a hero of the Palestinian people (and) the global peace and > justice movement as well....(my) great mentor, a challenging collaborator, a > remarkable friend....his passion, vision, wit (and fury against injustice) > will be terribly missed." > > Daniel Barenboim called him a "fighter and a compassionate defender. A man > of logic and passion. An artist and a critic....a visionary (who) fought for > Palestinian rights while understanding Jewish suffering." In 1999, they > jointly founded the West-East Divan - an orchestra for young Arabs and Jews > who collaboratively "understood that before Beethoven we all stand as > equals....Palestinians have lost a formidable defender, the Israelis a no > less formidable adversary, and I a soulmate." > > Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia > where Said taught for nearly 40 years as a Professor of English and > Comparative Literature. He called him "a man of vast erudition and learning, > of extraordinary versatility and remarkable (interdisciplinary) expertise." > We've lost "one of the most profound, original and influential thinkers of > the past half-century (and) a fearless independent voice speaking truth to > the entrenched powers that dominate the Middle East." > > On September 30, 2003, Columbia University paid tribute as well. It mourned > the passing of its "beloved and esteemed university professor." Called him > one of the world's most influential scholars, and said "the world has lost a > brilliant and beautiful mind, a big heart, and a courageous fighter." > > When he learned of his illness and its seriousness, Said decided to write > (from memory) a biographical account of his childhood, upbringing and early > years in Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt. Titled "Out of Place, A Memoir," he > called it "a record of an essentially lost or forgotten world....a > subjective account of (his life) in the Arab world" of his birth and > formative years. Then in America where he attended boarding school, > Princeton for his bachelor's and master's degrees, and Harvard for his > doctorate. > > He began "Out of Place" in 1994 while recovering from three early rounds of > chemotherapy and continued to completion with the help and "unstinting > kindness and patience" of the "superb nurses" who spent months caring for > him as well as his family and friends whose support helped him finish. > > He recounted a young man's coming of age. Of coming to terms with being > displaced. An American. A Christian. A Palestinian. An outsider, and > ultimately the genesis of an intellectual giant. An uncompromising opponent > of imperialism and oppression, and an advocate for his peoples' struggle for > justice and self-determination. No one made the case more powerfully or with > greater clarity than he did - in his books, articles, opinion pieces, and > wherever he spoke around the world. He made hundreds of appearances and > became a target of pro-Israeli extremists. They threatened him and his > family. Once burned his Columbia University office, but never silenced him > or ever could. Nor did the FBI in spite of over 30 years of surveillance the > way it monitors all prominent outspoken activists and intellectuals and many > of lesser stature. > > Said's great writings include Orientalism (1978) in which he explained a > pattern of western misinterpretation of the East, particularly the Middle > East. In Culture and Imperialism (1993), he broadened Orientalism's core > argument to show the complex relationships between East and West. Colonizers > and the colonized, "the familiar (Europe, West, us) and the strange (the > Orient, East, them)." > > His writings showed the breath of his scholarship, interests and activism - > on comparative literature, literary criticism, culture, music and his many > works on Israeli-Palestinian history and conflict - combining scholarship, > passion and advocacy for his people in contrast to the West's one-sided view > of Arabs and Islam. He championed equity and justice. Denounced imperialism, > and believed Israel has a right to exist but not exclusively for Jews at the > expense of indigenous Palestinians. > > The 1967 war and illegal occupation changed everything for him. It > radicalized him. Set the course of his intellectual career and activism, and > made him the Palestinians' leading spokesperson for the next 37 years until > his death. He advocated a one-state solution and wrote in 1999: "The > beginning is to develop something entirely missing from both Israeli and > Palestinian realities today: the idea and practice of citizenship, not of > ethnic or racial community, as the main vehicle of coexistence." > > In a lengthy January 1999 New York Times op-ed he elaborated: "Palestinian > self-determination in a separate state is unworkable (after years earlier > believing otherwise). The question (now isn't separation) but to see whether > it is possible for (Jews and Palestinians) to live together (in the same > land) as fairly and peacefully as possible. What exists now is a > disheartening...bloody impasse. There is no way for Israel to get rid of > Palestinians or for Palestinians to wish Israelis away....I see no other way > than to begin now to speak about sharing the land that has thrust us > together, sharing it in a truly democratic way, with equal rights for each > citizen." > > This diminishes life and aspirations for neither side. It affirms > self-determination for them both together in the same land where they once > lived peacefully. But it doesn't mean "special status for one people at the > expense of the other." For millennia, Palestine was the homeland for many > peoples, predating the Ottomans and Romans. It's "multicultural, > multiethnic, multireligious." There's no "historical justification for > homogeneity" or for "notions of national or ethnic and religious > purity....The alternatives (today) are unpleasantly simple: either the war > continues (with its unacceptable costs)" or an equitable way out is found, > obstacles notwithstanding. > > Oslo wasn't the answer, and Said denounced it in its run-up and weeks later > in a London Review of Books piece titled "The Morning After." In stinging > language, he referred to "the fashion-show vulgarities of the White House > ceremony, the degrading spectacle of Yasser Arafat thanking everyone for the > suspension of most of his people's rights, and the fatuous solemnity of Bill > Clinton's performance, like a 20th century Roman emperor shepherding two > vassal kings through rituals of reconciliation and obeisance (and) the truly > astonishing proportions of the Palestinian capitulation." > > For him, Oslo was plainly and simply "an instrument of Palestinian > surrender, a Palestinian Versailles," and worst of all is that a better deal > could have been had without so many "unilateral concessions to Israel." The > same goes for the 1978 Camp David Accords and every "peace" negotiation to > the present except the "permanent status" 2000 Camp David "generous" and > "unprecedented" offer that Arafat turned down and was unfairly pilloried for > spurning peace for conflict. > > Said was on top of everything to the end as reflected in "The Last > Interview" - a documentary film less than a year before his death. After a > decade of illness, he agreed to a final film interview at a time he was > drained, weakened and dying, yet found it "very difficult to turn (himself) > off." It was a casual conversation between himself and journalist Charles > Glass reflecting on his childhood, upbringing, writing, scholarship, > involvement with Yasser Arafat, and strong opinions and activism on > Palestinian issues. > > It was in all his writings and outspokenness - so powerful, passionate, > virtuous and a testimony to his uncompromising principles. He described > "Sharonian evil." His blind destructiveness. His terrorism in ordering the > massacring of children, then congratulating one pilot for his great success. > The patently dishonest media. Its one-sided support for Israel. Its > suppressing other views. Its turning a blind eye to the grossest crimes > against humanity, day after day after day. Of relegating public discourse to > repetitive official propaganda. Of subverting truth in support of power and > privilege. > > Of turning Palestine into an isolated prison. Suffocating an entire people > of their existence. Of impoverishing, starving and slaughtering them. Of > attacking defenseless civilians with tanks and F-16s. Of blaming victims for > their own terror. Of creating a vast wasteland of destruction and human > misery. Of sanctioning torture and targeted assassinations as official > policy. Of committing every imaginable human indignity and degradation > against people whose only crime is their faith, ethnicity, and presence. > Whose only defense is their will and redoubtable spirit. Of enlisting world > support for the most unspeakable, unrelenting campaign of terror and > genocide. > > Of pursuing an endless "cycle of violence" and consigning Palestinians to a > "slow death" in defense of imperial interests and the national security > state. Of pursuing peace as a scheme for "pacification." Of placing the onus > for it "squarely on Palestinian shoulders." Of "putting an end to the > (Palestinian) problem." Of placing huge demands on Palestinians and making > no concessions in return. Of calling resistance "terrorism" while ignoring > oppressive occupation as the fundamental problem. Of seeing Palestinians > endure and survive in spite of every imaginable assault, affront and > indignity. Of piling on even more and seeing an even greater will to survive > and prevail. > > Said was passionate on all this and more. He was uncompromisingly anti-war > and denounced America's "war on terror." The country "hijacked by a small > cabal of individuals....unelected and unresponsive to public pressure." The > Democrats supporting them "in a gutless display of false patriotism." The > entire power structure characterizing Muslims as enemies. Passing repressive > laws. Creating the obscenity of Guantanamo and other prisons like it. > > Their self-righteous sophistry of so-called "just wars" and evil of Islam. > The near omnipotence of the Zionist Lobby, Christian fascists, and > military-industrial complex. Their hostility to Arabs and claim to be "on > the side of the angels." Their inexorable pursuit of war and power. The > media in lockstep supporting "hypocritical lies" masquerading as "absolute > truth." The silencing of dissent. Of mocking and betraying democracy. Of > making a total sham of decency, humanity and justice. Of letting a few > extremists create their own "fantasy world" to run the country for their own > corrupted self-interest. > > Said said it all, and ended one opinion piece as follows: "Jonathan Swift, > thou shouldst be living at this hour." But even he might have blanched in > disbelief considering the current state and potential horror of its > consequences. Said understood. He's sorely missed when we need him most. > > *Stephen Lendman* is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on > Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at * > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Also visit his blog site at* sjlendman.blogspot.com* and listen to The > Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Mondays from 11AM - > 1PM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests. > All programs are archived for easy listening. > > > > -- Bobby Kunhu http://community.eldis.org/myshkin/Blog/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
