Adam Shatz' most comprehensive essay on the situation in Palestine in the London Review of Books. A MUST read!
The old Arab order was buried in Tahrir Square. Young revolutionaries rose up against a regime which for three decades had stood in the way of Palestinian aspirations. It seemed too good to be true and some pundits in Palestine wondered whether it wasn’t an American conspiracy. But it wasn’t, and Palestinians began to re-examine what had been one of their most disabling convictions: the belief that the US controls the Middle Eastern chessboard, and that the Arab world is powerless against America and Israel. ‘There has been a kind of epistemic break,’ a young Palestinian said to me. The excitement among Palestinians sometimes seems to be mixed with unease, even envy: the spotlight has been stolen from them. As a Hamas councilwoman in Nablus put it, ‘For 60 years they were watching us. Now we are watching them.’ But Palestinians have prided themselves on being the vanguard of protest in the Arab world and they will not be content to remain spectators for long.
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Did some Palestinians really believe that the "US" controls the middle east? :LOL:
ReplyDeleteThe US has less than a fifth of global income with its share dropping fast. America hs a smaller share of global wealth than global income because America loves to borrow from foreigners.
In most of the world people laugh at how Americans greatly exxagerate American influence and power.
Regarding Egypt, what influence has America ever had on Egypt? Didn't the Egyptian security establishment try to murder the Iraqi Security Forces, Government of Iraq and MNF-I in Iraq between 2003-2006?
On what planet was Mubarrak a US ally?
This is one of many crimes Egypt has committed against Americans and America's friends.
Mubarrak was furious at President Bush for calling for his overthrow [via elections and freedom.] I don't like Cheney [an Amy Goodman, Gore Vidal, Ann Coulter type figure], but I think Bush was an idealist.
You don't get it, do you? The US may well be not all too powerful, but they have the right to veto and they've been using it quite successfully over the years to spare Israel any inonvenience at the UN. Having to remind you of this crucial fact bores me to DEATH!
ReplyDeleteAs an American -- who pays attention to what is going on in the world -- it was apparent to me that the US wasn't pulling strings when the Arab uprisings jumped off back in December and January. They (Obama, the whole political class and media) were caught totally off guard. They were attempting to lead from behind. Every day their pronouncements changed based on political calculations over how best to salvage some influence in the region.
ReplyDeleteAt first what was going on in Libya looked like the same revolutionary movement. In retrospect, it looks like some of it was popular rebellion and some was stoked by CIA/ France/ who knows what else. Of course the US & other western interests would seize the opportunity to put another puppet government into the region and be able to disrupt the progress in Egypt and other places. IMO, they have been partially successful in putting the brakes on the revolution. But I am hopeful that human progress will prevail.