COMMON SENSE
By: Hassan Al-Haifi
Dick: I thank you for your interest in Yemen and in the YT, in particular. I am inclined to believe that your letter was more like an attempt to suppress Common Sense for more ulterior motives rather an objective assessment of the commentary. Whatever the case, you are either reading Common Sense with an already well established position on the issues discussed or an apparently prejudiced perception of the author. You did not specifically pinpoint any matter raised in Common Sense that angered you so much.. Nevertheless, I welcome your views and appreciate your sustained follow-up of Common Sense. However I would like to clarify some very important points that you either failed to recognize or you overlooked, as you so diligently read the column for at least six months, as you said.
1) On my attitude towards the United States and Americans, it would be extremely rude and ungratefully disrespectful of me to ever attack either of them (I never did!). The US was home to me for 14 years and the place where I obtained my education (from Fourth Grade through Graduate Studies). You might be surprised to learn that most of the Common Sense material is derived from references and knowledge, which were or are being obtained from the US, and which is readily available to anyone anywhere in the world. My general honors academic achievement include a 96% result in the American History and World Background New York State Regents Examination, (the highest statewide was 97%, and incidentally by a fellow classmate!), which has its origin of which goes back to my fascination for the American experience in general. Thus, there is so much of the US that is a part of me – not to mention so many close American friends, crossing the ethnic lines. They include "WASPs" and other European backgrounds, Jews, Gentiles, Blacks, Whites, Orientals, Hispanics, as well as internationals crossing most of the continents, including one Israeli close friend, who ironically had more respect for my views than that shown in your letter. It is obvious that the criticism you may be referring to involved certain elements of American foreign policy discussed in Common Sense. I tend to believe, as any knowledgeable observer would also suggest, that such policy would, most likely, not be to the benefit of the US in the long run. Moreover, it may be deemed as inconsistent with the more responsible envisaged role of the United States as the sole Global Superpower. Being as I have visited the World Trade Center, I clearly pointed out my complete and uncompromising disdain for the attacks of September 11. I am also very inclined to believe that the strings culminating in the attacks do not end with Bin Laden and the Taliban. There just has to be something far beyond the sophistication and culture of either of them to mastermind such an attack with such deadly precision, or even contemplate doing it, while this does not rule out their involvement as more on the implementation side. Obviously, there is still a lot that has to be unraveled in the mystery.
2) I have never tried to distort any facts or make-up any baseless pertinent comments, if I was not confident that they are easily backed by a multitude of references, including American press sources, Zionist literature, United Nations reports, etc. But your diatribe never revealed any contradictions to what I specifically said or opined, but stuck to a general attack that went beyond any sort of real intellectual pursuit on your part. On the other hand, it is my fervent belief that the American people have a right to see the other side of the coin in any issue. This is especially true regarding the Middle East. I am fairly confident and have seen that the picture that is generally conveyed to them covers up a lot of tragedy and suffering, the victims of which are human beings, who are very much entitled at least to be given some hope for relief, which can only come from the United States (We gave up hope on the Arab states a long time ago!). Moreover, I am confident that with the American people more aware of the whole picture of the issues involved, the United States would be in a better position to broker a fair and equitable settlement and to alleviate some of this misery. We cannot overlook the fact that the latter is, in fact, the whole cause d'être of the problem. Even non-Arabs who know all the facts about the Palestine problem, will find themselves compelled by their conscience to advocate for some way of directing justice towards the continuing tragic plight of the Palestinians. The argument of Israel as being the "only democracy", does not belittle the fact that this should not be construed as sufficient grounds for the tragic way in which it was created. This creation came about at the expense of the millions of indigenous people, who were and are still continuously being systematically uprooted from the homeland they and their ancestors have dwelt in for generations (see Common Sense issue 59/2000). I am rather surprised that your visits to the region and your apparent interest in it have not driven you to try to understand the source of the sympathy that most Arabs – Moslems and Christian and even some Jews, who contest the Zionist philosophy on purely religious and moral grounds – have for their Palestinian blood brothers.
3) Never before and never after September 11, 2000, did I ever praise the Taliban for anything, let alone "for standing up to the West". Therefore, I am somewhat at a loss to understand how you arrived to such a conclusion. I am sure that if you had read my articles carefully, in this context, that your attempt to infer that I harbor any sympathy for the Taliban or their likes is an effort, with bad intent, to associate me with those who are being projected as the enemy of the international community, i.e., with the bad guys. I have always stressed that the Taliban and their likes pose a serious danger to the image of Islam and to the future of the Moslem World. I am also inclined to believe that their origin is simply non – Islamic, which is also true of their dogma and approach. My fears for Islam are only sedated by the knowledge that similar movements have appeared before in Islamic history. More often than not, they eventually became the victims of their own demise!
4) As for the author of Common Sense "telling lies", one can only be amazed at how you can come up with that accusation directly after you yourself conjured the lie cited in paragraph 3 above and some of the other innuendoes preceding it.
Going back to the Middle East, as much as you may believe to the contrary, being Anti – Zionist should never be misconstrued as "automatically" being anti – American. Otherwise, you would really make it difficult for millions of people all over the world to maintain hope in the United States wanting to obtain a just and equitable peace in the area. Making such a connotation would, in itself, be considered a serious intentional attempt to wrongly manipulate public opinion, especially that of the American public. I am sure you would agree that this would be unforgivable in any democracy or in any democratic forum.
For your information, Common Sense was the name of a publication that was issued by Thomas Paine. If you may recall, Paine was a leading American Revolutionary hero, who was not a native born American, but was among the first to call for American independence from Britain - his country of origin.
Common Sense commentary is made credible by illuminating an awareness of all the different perspectives of the issue being analyzed. To the other readers, we continue on the Islah Party in the next issue.

Nawar Al-Hadad
The big and deep effect of TV on people, especially the young is noticeable and tangible. This medium is armed with double edges that should be channeled carefully and constructively to contribute to the establishment of a cultured and distinct society. To achieve that, this medium must be independent not aped. But what is happening with Arab satellite channels is the opposite. They blindly imitate foreign channels in a lot of their programs, deforming the Islamic and Arab values.
A lot of foreign TV serials and films try to discuss ideas and demonstrate behaviors that are alien to the Islamic and Arab societies. There are also a lot of Arab singers who blindly imitate the westerners in their video clips. Big groups of shameless dancers with semi-naked bodies are utilized to help popularize their empty diction.
When I watch some Arabic channels I think they do not represent Arab and Islamic countries despite their Arabic tongue. Some of them call for freedom of youths through vulgar manners. Some other channels are all the time busying themselves covering dance and song parties, soirees and concerts as something essential and important to show how civilized they are and to attract a large number of the audience. I wonder why don't such channels allocate some time for presenting something Islamic. They seem to have forgot the basic and essential objective they are supposed to be concentrating on, which is building a sober generation based on respecting its Arab and Islamic identity.
They think that Islam calls for backwardness and is full of restrictions. But what is really happening is that they are helping divert the youths' attention from the most important cases that really concern them such as the Palestinian struggle for freedom and liberty. They engage the minds of young Arabs with trivialities and meaningless thought.
Islam was, has been, and will always be sufficient to educate the individual. But this education is perceived as a threat on the future of Israel. This may justify the continued attempts to debilitate the role of Islam in building up the Arab character.

Abduh Moqbill
Al-Sabri
The year 2001 passed and we still suffer from jeopardizing negativities in some aspects concerning the security of nations, among whom are the Palestinians whose issue occupied the minds of some true Arab and Muslim leaders. The year 2001 was characterized by bloodshed in which thousands of defenseless and powerless people were victimized in the occupied land, including infants, children, and the aged. They underwent, and continue to experience severe, constant suffering in the hope that they may get their legal right. 2001 was not the first and will not be the last for the Palestinians to suffer. We witnessed in 2001 a conspicuous Israeli criminality showing the fact that Israel is one of the oppressive countries practicing terrorism in all its forms.
Israeli devious policies are practiced as a part of accomplishing new strategies to occupy further land and impose more settlements. In this respect, Israel and all countries which support terrorism should be held accountable for such massacres and indiscriminate killings. The Arab countries failed to emphasize or at least to convince the international community that resisting terrorism is a legal right. It is a must practiced by all the nations of the world, which were colonized and occupied by other countries, including the Western countries.
With regard to the New Year, we hope that Arab countries will forget their disputes and difference. We hope sooner or letter that the Arab countries will adopt new means and decisions with the aim of forgetting their bygone times and establishing new relations. A certain kind of consolidation of interests and responsibilities should be established socially, culturally, economically and politically. The compass of the year should lead us towards establishing a very strong Arab community capable of encountering challenges, restoring its entire occupied land without concessions or renunciations, achieving an economic and social development and protecting our culture and heritage in front of the huge global changes.
We hope that the coming Arab Summit in March 2002 will be a starting point to achieve what the Arab citizen wishes. The summit will be our hope for real friendship and more cooperation not only from one side or two, but from all sides of the Arab nations. Our hopes and ambitions as Arab citizens are boundless. We have to build an equal international relationship based on true friendship. Frankly speaking, the Arab citizen doesn't accept the abyss of time or what he is given to him. The nations' interests and needs are the main pillar of any society. We as Arabs possess the potentials of success from gulf to the ocean. We possess the great unparalleled civilizations. We also possess the moral values, which can not be found in any part of the world. We can restore our entire occupied land and invest it to keep peace and comprehensive justice.
We congratulate our Arab Nations on the New Year.

Palestine: The Amazing Power of People

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, 
Director of the Health, Development, Information of Policy Institute in Ramallah

Last month hundreds of international observers responded to Palestinian calls for an international observer/ protection force to protest the ongoing Israeli occupation and serve as a witness to Israel’s military practices against the Palestinian people. Representatives of NGOs, churches, human rights groups, and concerned individuals from England, France, Italy and United States joined members of Palestinian people.
The internationals, including several European Union parliamentarians, were repeatedly subjected to tear gas, physical assault, and arrest by Israeli forces at various checkpoints and during peaceful protest marches. Their mission, though virtually unreported in the U.S, brought hope to Palestinians and encouraged the still vibrant civil society to continue its struggle against the military aggression of occupation and its struggle to achieve internal political reforms vital for an independent and democratic Palestine.

The Role of the International Observer Force:
Hundreds of people of various nationalities-including Italians, French, Belgians, Americans, Dutch, and British have responded to the call of Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for international observers.
For fifteen months now we have been waiting for an international observer/ protection force to be sent to the Occupied Territories to provide some kind of security for Palestinians. Every time one of the 32 people prevented form receiving medical treatment died, we called for international observers to be located at checkpoints in an effort to prevent the same thing from happening again. As the Israeli army mercilessly shelled civilian neighborhoods, opened fire without provocation on children at demonstrations, confiscated lan, destroyed tens of thousands of olive trees, and invaded areas under the Palestinean Authority (PA), we have called for an international protection force to be sent here.
Unfortunately, to no avail. The United Nations’ (UN) calls for observers to be sent here was vetoed three times by countries aware that Israel was not in favor of the resolution. In the meantime 934 Palestinians have died, 26.000 people have been injured, and still the international community has dragged its feet.
Members of Palestine’s vibrant civil society took the initiative and in coordination with foreign NGOs, churches and related institutions, aid agencies, solidarity groups, human rights activists, and concerned individuals decide to launch their own campaign for the protection of the Palestinian people.
The objectives were simple, non-violent, and peaceful: to protect the Palestinian people through the presence of international civilians as a means of deterring Israeli army and settler aggression; to concretely express solidarity with the Palestinian people and with those who struggle in Israel for a just and sustainable peace; to report on the experience and to raise awareness in their respective countries about the Palestinian- Israeli conflict; and to send a political signal to the international community and to the Israeli government demanding the deployment of a genuine international protection force, the implementation of UN resolutions, and an end to occupation.
The itinerary of the Grassroots International Protection for the Palestinian People (GIPP) activists, all of whom made the visit at their own expense, has been full: planting olive trees, attending lectures, visiting with grassroots organizations, and demonstrating. They were prevented from entering Gaza, and some were victims of Israeli military aggression, as a result of which one woman was hospitalized overnight. An entirely peaceful demonstration in Ramallah in which thousands of Palestinians and around 400 GIPP delegated demonstrated was met with typical Israeli violence when troops opened fire at the march with tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber-coated steel bullets. And now, after tearing down the Israeli checkpoint separating Ramallah from Birzeit, the Israeli army has, in its typical petty, malicious, and vengeful manner, erected a new checkpoint closer to Ramallah, meaning Palestinians have to walk an extra kilometer uphill.
The occupation is still here, the foreign delegates will leave in a few days, and the lives of Palestinians will, no doubt, continue to be difficult ad quite miserable.

Results and strategies:
So what has the visit demonstrated?
It has given Palestinians a huge moral boost by proving to them that there are people out there despite the denomination of Palestinians in the international media- who care about their cause, are aware of the inherent justice of their struggle and are concerned with what is happening to them. It has also destroyed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s efforts to isolate the Palestinians, to cast them in the “terrorist” mold, and to dehumanize them, enabling him to continue his war against the Palestinian civilian population. Moreover, their courage has been immeasurable in standing face to face with a ruthless army with no understanding of peaceful marches. They have shown the world that justice will prevail through the power and sheer will of the people.
Furthermore, not only did these people come, witness, and learn, they will now return to their homes, families, churches, political parties, social clubs and workplaces to tell others what they saw and experienced while they were here, slowly breaking down the wall of silence shrouding the Palestinian cause.
The delegates illustrated to the Palestinians the power of peaceful, non-violent resistance to the continuing military occupation, and have perhaps empowered them to use these very methods to abort Israeli efforts to subjugate and dehumanize them. Equally remarkable is the dynamism shown by Palestinian civil society, illustrating that there is an alternative voice.

Reforming the Palestinian Authority:
Last week 31 Palestinian intellectuals, human rights and democracy activists - all leading members of Palestinian civil society - published a petition demanding reform of PA. “The Palestinian public demands immediate internal reform which cannot be postponed or delayed, that will strengthen our struggle in the exceptional circumstances the Palestinian are living under. The reforms should be immediate,” The statement read.
The petition also called on the PA “to improve and fix official political institutions which have been weakened and paralyzed and to also ensure an independent justice system.” It went on to call for new elections to the parliament, a move that needs to be encouraged and is long overdue since elections have been postponed indefinitely since 1999.
Others have criticized the lack of respect for the law and the lack of separation of power between the executive, legislative and judicial branches, in the hands of a few, and executive branches lack of accountability.
This is the same civil society that has mobilized and united to bring the heroic GIPP delegates here and this mobilization and outspokenness show that there is a strong democratic political alternative in Palestine. This group of people believes that a democratic alternative is the only way to prevent a dangerous polarization between fundamentalism and autocracy that the future Palestinian political society appears to be facing. It also confirms that Palestinians struggle not only for a state, but also for a free and democratic state.
The overall significance of the presence of the GIPP delegates, as well as the recent petition, is of power and stead fastness. It is only through sustained steadfastness and survival in the face of the military aggression of occupation, and in calling for internal political reforms, that Palestinians can struggle to achieve freedom, injustice and democracy.