You know, I have had it up to here with a left in the USA that cheers on Bashar al-Assad, who I find indistinguishable from Pinochet, Suharto, or the Shah of Iran. The only thing that keeps me going is the contacts I have made with the Arab left like this young Moroccan who just posted this comment on my article. All of you others hiding under your bed from Sharia law can kiss my ass.
--- Anas El Hawat commented on Semour Hersh and Richard Sale's senior moments It's interesting how a large body of interconnected knowledge on Syria had been created to vindicate the position of the mainstream left and justify their indifference. It reminds me of the first chapter in Said's Orientalism where he documents DeSacy being quoted by Nerval, and Nerval being quoted by Napoleon. At each turn, the field of Orientalism with its complex relations and imaginations is validated. Propaganda feeds on itself. And like the doctrine of Orientalism, it's sophisticated and, in my opinion, sophisticated propaganda for the Assad regime (from, say, Abu Khalil, Musa Al Gharbi, David Bromwhich) requires theoretical approaches to tear it down. Then there's the bourgeois longing for a romanticized old Damascus squares and nostalgia for the artifacts destroyed: all Orientalist curtain for repression that's been going on for decades in Syria and the destruction of people. By all means, I think you're doing a terrific job in documenting this travesty. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
