Through Abu Aadvark, I discovered that one of my favorite Arab columnists, Mona Eltahawy, has been banned from writing for the Saudi-owned Al-Sharq Al-Alawsat daily. The reason is unclear, says Abu Aaadvark, who also wondered if it could be Egyptian pressure. "Perhaps she offended the wrong Saudi? She wasn’t officially told she was banned nor given any reason, but there you go. She’s just gone," he said.
I’m assuming she was banned simply because of her enlightening, yet unorthodox opinions. It is too bad, really. Until when are we going to be stuck with writers babbling the same old rhetoric that we grew up listening to? It really is sad and very frustrating. Her writing renewed my hope in Arab media.
I feel lucky that this past March I had a chance to meet her when we both took part in a panel discussion on reporting in the Middle East that was organized by the University of Wisconsin. In person she is just as impressive as she is in print. She is very smart, very articulate and extremely passionate. I will reiterate now what I said back then: The Arab world definitely needs more Mona’s.
The good news, though, is that she is still writing for a number of international publications. You can also read her articles on her website. She’s also writing for Jordanbased Maktoob. She will never be silenced. Al-Sharq Al-Awsat really made a very poor decision.
Walak
Usama bin Laden is a filthy rich Saudi bastard. Don’t give me the crap that the US is making him do anything. He is just an extremist and he is as bad as Ariel Sharon or any of the Israeli extremists.
No one is condemining the Palestinians’ rights to defend themselves from the occupation. I wish they can do it via a different method rather than suicide bombings. We are losing too many lives.
“It is sad that extremists use the Palestinians as an excuse to do whatever the hell they do”
WRONG!!! what the US and Israel inhumanity turns normal people into extremists. have you every heard of suicide attacks in Iraq at such a scale before the americans invaded and unleashed their brutal nature? have you heard of suicide attacks in palestine before the jews invaded? fact is, palestine is NOT an excuse, Israel and US violence, cruelty, and racism are the biggest catalyst for instability and violance in the region and recently in the world. Fact is, any normal human being will crack under the weight such sustained inhumanity. so lets start putting the blame where it belongs and stop repeating nonsensical cliches.
dm “Honestly, the fighting between Palestine and Israel has been going on for so incredibly long that I don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong.”
There is nothing honest about this statement. the fact is, you are ideologically not inclined to see an Arab victim in the palestinian-israeli conflict, and the hyphen was ment to equalize. this is like saying the Jewish-Nazi conflict or the British-Indian conflict, or the…Despite the UN resolutions, and despite the common sense that says you can’t steal someone’s property at gunpoint (looting) and then thru them out in the desert (ethnic cleansing) still you can’t see who is right and who is wrong. what a twisted mind.
“Walak, you’re full of hate. ”
Natalia, you are full of ignorance, callousness, and violence. Add to that clinical narcissism. I am not the one doing the killing and the looting, yet here you are demonstrating one of the greatest american traits, which you share with israelis, playing the victim.
I can see you Natali accusing a bleeding Iraqi child of hate. you are twisted. as i said, you are a nation in need of psychiatric attention. but most serial killers felt victimized.
“many American’s who DID NOT vote for Bush”
But most did vote. And most did not ask for impeachment. And most did not take to the streets. And most did not do anything to stop the war. Many is NOT most, if you know anything about statistics 010. that’s grounds for generalizations.
dm
I appreciate your comment. I realize that you along with many Americans don’t know much about the Israeli Palestinian situation and honestly you and many other Americans probably could care less. But what I do ask of you and others is to do a bit of research and see where all your tax money is going, I think that would be of great interest to you. I won’t tell you where or what its being used for but I really think you’d be shocked and interested to know. Try the research if you can’t find it let me know then I’ll give some hints.
Anon,
I respect where you are coming from. I threw out Israel there because it is apparent that Walak is full of so much rage. My main focus on my comment was his unjustified hatred for all Americans though.
Honestly, the fighting between Palestine and Israel has been going on for so incredibly long that I don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong. I just wish there could be a peaceful resolution. How that could happen is beyond me, because if you talk to a Palestinian, they say that Israel is at fault and if you talk to an Israeli they say that the Palestinians are at fault.
I’ll admit, I don’t even know fully about what’s going on over there, so I am not at liberty to take any sides. I don’t think that anyone fully understands unless they live it daily or have otherwise seen it first hand, which unfortunately many do. Either way, I didn’t mean to compare the hatred towards Israel with the hatred towards America. That was hardly my intention so I do apologize if that’s the message I sent.
Walak, you’re full of hate. There’s not point in carrying on a conversation with you.
To dm
Having hate towards Israel is not the same thing as having hate towards the US. Israel stole our land. I don’t have hate towards them, I resent them. However, for the sake of peace I accept a peaceful solution of 2 states side by side and when I say peace I mean real peace not a piece, a peace that is built on justice not a Palestinian state dictated by a superior Israel, not a Palestinian state that is humiliate when it excersizes its basic freedoms such as selecting its own government.
The bottom line is that we have a state, we have a flag, we are a people, we have a government, for too long we have been demonized. But isn’t amazing that regardless of the numerous attempts by Israel to elminate the Palestinian people, they have failed.
It is sad that extremists use the Palestinians as an excuse to do whatever the hell they do. It is sad that the US uses freedom as an excuse to occupy a country and humiliate its people and cause that country to become a heaven for terrorists.
The peace of the world depends on peace and justice for the Palestinians
dm, a big ditto to what you wrote. Very nicely put. I agree with everything you said