COMMON SENSE
By: Hassan Al-Haifi
It is probably inconceivable that we can expect the Arab States as they stand now to face up to a menacing enemy like Israel, in view of their lack of faith, not only in themselves, but in the cause that once gave them greatness. The Al-Mighty has made it clear that they simply have no verve without. Yes, it is Islam that gave this nation its greatness and made the master of the world and surely it is only Islam that can ever restore its dignity, which it has lost to a Zionist mob that has no ethics, except the ethics of muscle and power.
Look at Sharon having a good time in Palestine, and 200,000,000 Arabs are watching their brothers being slaughtered left and right by a cowardly enemy that is begging that its victims stop throwing pebbles at them. What a paradoxical world we live in, as the victim is labeled the terrorist and the butcher is viewed as a defender of its rights and freedom!
Israel is celebrating its independence, they say. We ask: independence from what? Or, is it that they have the independence to carry on mercilessly against a people who initially told the early Jewish vagrants (as opposed to migrant), sure you are welcome in the Holy Land, after all it is the land of peace and God's blessed land for three monotheistic faiths. If we assume that the independence was from the British, then one wonders how ungrateful these vagrants are to their early sponsors and cause d'être, the British, who gave them the foothold they needed to come and cause havoc and disruption to the land of peace by a bloodthirsty menace, who turned the Holy Land into a continuing slaughterhouse for the indigenous population of the Good Earth.
So the Arabs were told, if you do not want to be put in the list of unwanted terrorists, you just have to make peace with your new masters in the area. The Arabs gullibly said: "All right, we are ready to make peace, after all peace is a beautiful word and it is what we always greet people by. In fact, our religion insists that if anyone makes peace with you, extend your hand and respond willingly." Yes, we extended both hands and said: "We are willing to make peace with the thieves of our land and the killers of our children, but for heavens sake tell your cronies in the stolen land of Palestine that peace needs some give and take from all sides. You can't steal and be given full amnesty and continue to think that peace is a license to continue to steal forever."
They say, "They are not stealing anything new, they are only protecting what they previously stole with our blessing".
For God's sake, what does the destruction of the homes of armless families, and olive trees have to do with protecting stolen land and the safety of thieves? That is the question that is bothering Arabs everywhere from the Atlantic to the Gulf? We see it everyday, tanks followed by wrecking equipment and armed thugs showing off their muscle against helpless old ladies, begging their fellow Arabs to come to their rescue, as is expected from any chivalrous blood brothers. But alas now, neither blood nor chivalry have any meaning in the land of Araby. Years ago, when the women of the land of Araby called out to their brethren to come to their rescue, armies would come from all over the land of Araby heeding the call and letting the enemy know that nobody gets away with the murder and rape of our blood sisters. But unfortunately, today when a Palestinian woman cries out to her brothers to rescue her, instead her fellow Arabs come out with a proposal that will help protect the aggressor and insure that he does not fall victim to the revenge of angry Arabs, who are getting fed up at the lack of manhood in their leaders, who have bled and raped their own people for so many years and made their people fall victim to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund economic policies - policies that have yet to show any success anywhere in the world in relieving the victims of the corruption of their leaders and a cutthroat enemy like Israel.
So, when the world starts hearing what it is really all about out of Teheran, the likes of Sharon start calling wolf and tell their friends, like the united Jewish Appeal, in New York, get America to sound the alarm, the terrorists are coming after us. What happened? Teheran gathered the representatives of the people of some 37 Arab and Moslem nations, who told the world plainly and openly that what ever our "leaders" say, we want this Zionist menace in the Holy Land to be taught a lesson he will never forget. This enemy has far gone beyond what can be stomached by most of the inhabitants in the area and all God-fearing people, Moslems Christians and Jews, want this debauchery to end if there is ever to be any peace. Of course the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and anywhere where people are allowed to be slaughtered mercilessly is genuine, legitimate and blessed. There is nothing wrong with people resorting to the defense and liberation of their stolen land. But the United States has been convinced by the United Jewish Appeal and the Anti Defamation League of B'nai Brith that such talk is terrorism and thus what came out of Teheran does not exist in any American or Israeli dictionaries, and must be viewed as unacceptable by people who owe their existence to the robbery of land that belongs to the timid and the weak of the Earth. But, is it not the Lord Al-Mighty, who insists that it is the meek who shall inherit the Earth? Who is right the UJA, the ADBB, Colin Powell or the Lord Al-Mighty? In Teheran, they plainly said that it is the latter who is right. We agree.

DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
By Sharif Akram
Sometimes I ask myself, "Am I the only one who sees the wrong things around here?" What is wrong with my people? If they
feel the same way that I feel why nobody talks about it?
Today I would like to speak out about the USS Cole incident and ask the authorities why we, the people of Yemen is kept away from the results of the investigations?
Since the day that the incident happened (12 October 2000) we have been hearing rumors about every kind of involvement to the attack (Osama Bin Laden, Supporters of Sharia, Islamic Jihad, etc.) but on the other hand as far as I know, there is no direct evidence that can prove that these groups or somebody else is responsible for the attack. I can understand that some information is classified for the sake of the investigation, but still don't we deserve any kind of satisfactory explanations that can make us understand what happens in our country.
People, who are claimed to be suspects, are being taken into custody since the investigations started and our authorities always claim that the trial will start soon, but nothing happens! How long are those suspects will stay in jail? What is the maximum time that we can keep a person in jail without a court order? Why there has been no case up to now? I understand that it is rather a complex and a difficult issue, but still it has been more than 6 months since the incident happened, and there is no result yet?

I believe that it is about time that our new government should make an announcement and explain the developments about the matter. Our new government is formed by capable people who love their country.
I would also like to ask many questions to our human rights and democracy champion friends, the Americans? How long can you hold an American citizen in custody without a trial? Why your internationally accepted human rights are not applied in my country, ain't my people enough human beings as yours? Why the hotel you stay is closed to Yemenis? If one of our government vehicles were attacked in the US, would we have the same immunities to investigate the matter? Could we be able to hold the US citizens 6 months in custody without a court order? What are you doing in Aden and when are you going to leave my country?

Note: Taking this occasion I would like to congratulate all the members of our new cabinet and our wise President appointing all these wonderful people for their posts, moreover I wish all the best in their future work. We really expect a lot from them.

Tawfeek al-Sharaabi
Yemen Times
There is no doubt that workers are an important pillar of any society. They play an essential role in the development process. However, their conditions are not as good as the work they do. In our country, workers' conditions have deteriorated remarkably in the past ten years. Due to many external and internal reasons, they have reached terrible condition. External reasons including the returning of 1 million Yemenis from the Gulf countries and ceasing support from many Arab and foreign countries. Internal reasons include the civil war of 1994, a deplorable economy, laying off workers due to privatizing many public establishments, high unemployment rate, corruption, etc.
The 1st of May is well-recognized as International Labor Day. All countries are celebrating the day viewing achievements they have accomplished to improve workers' conditions. Moreover, they devise plans and set goals to be achieved in the future. Yemen, too, is going to celebrate as we celebrate other international days. The the only difference is that we celebrate for the sake of celebrating, nothing more, nothing less.

Workers' from Pillar to Post:
Workers' conditions have been deteriorating considerably to the extent that most of them can hardly make both ends meet. The deplorable economy and economic reforms, embarked upon by the Yemeni government in collaboration with the IMF and WB since 1995, have increased the number of people below the poverty line. According to official statistics a survey showed the number of people below the poverty line was 30% in 1999, though other sources indicate that it is far more. Citizens annual income per capita has also decreased to $342, meaning less than one dollar a day. Job opportunities are limited. Employers, on the other hand, has exploited this situation by offering small wages to their employees. They, furthermore, oppress them and put more restrictions on them.
In fact, workers have been going from pillar to post. They are ignored and shrugged off as they are the weak section of the society. Who will claim their rights? It is true that Yemen is a signatory of many international treaties and conventions that proclaim and emphasize their rights. However, these remains nothing but rhetoric far from reality.
Conditions of these illiterate who take to manual handicrafts or labor are the most heartbreaking. They, from early hours in the morning, gather in common markets and streets looking for anything to do to obtain living. Marks of weakness, humiliation and indignity are clearly seen on their faces. They may find work for one day and remain unemployed the rest of the week.
This happens at a lamentable absence of syndicates that claim their rights, nor can they themselves be able to form any groups to ask for them. Should we celebrate that they have no rights to call for, no hopes to cherish and no dreams to realize.
As things stand now, it seems that their suffering will be intensified, especially as the government is determined to go on with the economic reforms that have their greatest impact on them. Moreover, policies and strategies adopted to help relieve side effects of these reforms have come out as utter failures Mainly because they were not sincere and did not directly target them. The new government has to take this issue seriously and leash tangible efforts and policies to relieve them of their misery. They have a responsibility to do that. It is not just what they want or need. It is their responsibility.

Crystals
By Mohamed Kadery
In his essay titled "Moderate Proposal", Jonathan Swift, the famous Anglo-Irish writer and outstanding prose satirist, of the 18th century, drew some salient social and economic proposals. He was, of course, not aware of how his proposal might be relevant nowadays!
Swift sympathetically considered his Irish society's miserable living conditions. He had described how street-passers used to feel broken-hearted to see gatherings of beggars, especially females, standing helplessly with their children on shoulders and others in their arms; while others sat at the mother's feet wearing torn clothing. Some of them found a way out to chase tourists.
Deeply distressed by the scene, Swift found that there were no source of income for the women. The state, no doubt, was unable to offer any. The plight of children, was really pitiable. They managed to make less money than their expenses required. A child less than twelve, would certainly fail to hold up a few pounds of weight. They, therefore, were not recruited by employers, and if recruited were paid very little.
Swift had to be honest in offering a national solution. He suggested for poor families, especially for those compelled to stand in streets and beg, to sell their children to the country's slaughterhouse. Yes, these children would provide the markets with huge quantities of fresh meat; rich housewives would easily purchase soft meat especially those of infants; and hence would show off of preparing palatable dishes for their invited guests. Moreover, meat professionals could debate on the 'qualities'!
Swift also had to consider the VIPs affairs and indicated how fortunate they would be to have shoes made out of easy-wearing real leather. In addition Swift had to care how the government would benefit and obtain revenue for the state budget. The commodity was local and its exportation was possible, too!