NOT IN MY NAME: A RESPONSE TO AN OPEN LETTER FROM AN
AMERICAN TO THE ARAB PEOPLE
By Chadi Serhal
On Jan. 27, 2002, the Free Arab Voice published a piece by a Kevin Walsh
entitled 'A Letter from an American to the Arab People on how to Empower
the Anti-War Movement in America'.
I, as well as colleagues who read this article, found certain statements
made by the author very problematic. And by agreeing to publish this
piece the way it is, the Free Arab Voice editorial board did not take
into account the collective voice of the Arab people it claims to
represent by its title and logo.
When we talk about supporting the Intifada in Palestine, we talk about
supporting the human struggle for dignity and social justice over the
repressions of imperialism and occupation. We, who do not live in
Palestine, try our best to proclaim support for our comrades who
live under the occupation.
We know that it is not we who call the shots because no matter how we
try, we just cannot live the occupation like the people inside Palestine do.
But the people in Palestine have no choice; they do not choose to be
occupied and humiliated. They choose to struggle.
When we talk about the struggle of the Arab people in general though,
we must realize that we are able to call the shots because we are the
people who can take a stance and make our voices heard. We live in an
occupation ourselves. Maybe not a military occupation with tanks,
checkpoints, and F-16s; our occupation is mental and commercial.
But we have a choice. We choose to fall captive to modern-day
imperialism. We choose to be humiliated.
Yet, many of us try to scapegoat others for our defeat and anger.
Instead of resolving how we could mobilize and change the dire
political and socio-political circumstances we live, we tend to
blame those who are oblivious or misled by their governments and
controlled media. We neglect that a very enlightening, alternative
site as FAV could have an impact on American and non-Arab opinion
if it uses its voice properly. Condoning statements to kill these
people does more harm if not complete harm to the cause and the
aim of gaining the American people's support and mobilization to
'empower the anti-war movement in America'.
The difference between the Arabs and those who are oblivious and
misled by their governments and controlled media is that we are
not oblivious; we know. And we are not misled; we are just idle,
afraid or surprisingly indifferent.
The author of the disputed article said:
'As politically incorrect as this may sound, that is why I rejoiced
when I heard about the actions on the morning of 11 September 2001.
It was not just that I despised the Jewish financial center of New
York City and the pro-Zionist imperialist government in Washington...'
'The fight to imperialism is to the death. By failing to fight to
the best of your ability, you [the Arabs] will only get your own
people killed needlessly. Kill as many of us [Americans] as you can...'
'I'll do my part, poor though it may be. You must do yours. Let's
break the New York-Tel Aviv axis from both ends!'
Although the overall message in the piece above urges the Arabs to
stand up for their dignity and fight imperialism, certain views are
not just 'politically incorrect', they are just callous and irresponsible.
Regardless what we all think of imperialism and capitalism, the bigotry
and racism in statements like 'despising a Jewish financial system' have
no place in the hearts of people who put the fear of God into them, as
the author advocates in the same article. This is not a war between Arabs
or Muslims and Judaism or Jews so let us not fall into the trap of
pinpointing religion instead of ideology.
The Free Arab Voice has no right in representing the collective ARAB
voice by endorsing and publishing statements like 'let's break the
New York-Tel Aviv axis'. Instead of having name-calling, perceivable
'terror-enticing' material, why can the Free Arab Voice not be a
reasonable, sensible voice that would appeal to readers across the
globe, without coming across as the voice of 'extremist' or 'fascist'
'Arab terror'?
I have a problem believing that any American anti-Capitalist, anarchist,
leftist, anti-imperialist or anti-Zionist, would outright utter statements
as 'kill as many of us as you can'. But regardless, I will tell the Arabs
and their supporters: NOT IN MY NAME! I ask you not to make statements
under the map of the land where I come from or in the name of Arabs by
calling the site the Free ARAB Voice [single voice].
Although the Free Arab Voice places a disclaimer on top of the "reader's
corner" page, which claims that it distances itself from pieces therein;
this disclaimer does not apply to this piece. First of all, the editorial
board of FAV usually corresponds with each author tirelessly to ensure
that the information published is of credible and quality standard. If
this process does not apply to the pieces under the "reader's corner"
section, then one would assume that the FAV editorial board at least
approves of the general article since the website is a moderated one.
Had this been applied to this piece, irresponsible and unprofessional
statements like that should never have been allowed. Moreover, Mr. Muhammad
Abu Nasr wrote an after-word/ comment on this piece, i.e. representing
FAV's editorial board and even arguably, its opinion, contrary to the
statement the disclaimer makes on top of the page.
On the other hand, statements as the ones quoted above do not take into
account those whose names appear on FAV, and whose personal and professional
names and images could be severely hurt by contributing to a site that
publishes a blatant call for killing a group of people. Most importantly,
this fails to consider those who live in the 'West' and who may allegedly
be affiliated with a site that calls upon 'killing as many as one can',
let alone calling on Arabs to 'kill as many as they can'.
If Kevin Walsh is an American citizen, I cordially ask him not to make
such statements in the name of the Arab voice.
On the other hand, I cannot hide my disappointment from the editorial
board of the Free Arab Voice who allowed such material to be published
in the first place, and in the name of the Arab voice first and foremost.
Furthermore, I would like to add that the declared principles of most
international papers and journals stipulate that readers' letters be
posted, given that they are not racist, sexist, xenophobic, or homophobic.
Most importantly, the blunt call for Arabs to '[kill] as many as [they]
can' would definitely not help 'empower the anti-war movement in America'.
That, I can assure you.
---------
A Note from the Board of FAV:
We believe that it should be clear to everybody that
positions expressed in the Readers' Corner of FAV do
NOT necessarily coincide with the positions of the
editorial board. We tend to be very open on the type
of material we publish here.
Mainly we strive to be the voice of those who are not
afforded a forum to speak out in a world where
Zionism, steel, and fire have turned justice mute.
While we frequently do not agree with many of the
things that contributors write, we don't think that
they should be denied a forum because we disagree with
them. We only censor overtly or covertly pro-Zionist
and pro-imperialist stuff, including defeatist
material. Otherwise we urge our readers to send us
their comments and articles, which we will publish,
especially if they include quality criticisms of our
posts. That's how "irresponsible" we are!
As for the allegation that we illegitimately claim to
speak for the Arabs, we never made such a claim that
anybody else couldn't also make, including those in
the official Arab media who toe the American line or
the line of Arab regimes, or those speaking for the
Arab opposition.
In the specific instance to which Chadi Serhal
referred, in fact, Kevin Walsh is not even an Arab. He
was speaking TO the Arabs, not for them. The title of
his letter makes that amply clear.
In any case, the issues raised in the Readers' Corner
should be subject to rational discussion, not
summarily pre-empted out of fear of persecution by
security agencies in the West or the Arab World, or
out of a reluctance to offend liberal "progressives"
in Europe and North America.
The Board of FAV
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