As’ad AbuKhalil is attacking Amira Hass here:
Amira Hass wants Egyptians to roll out the red carpet for her
“While In Cairo, I finally found out that Israel is an occupying state. This is thanks to all those people who refused to meet with an Israeli journalist. In this way, my three-week stay in revolutionary Cairo turned into an adventure of seek bypass routes, and not without a great deal of professional frustration.” Good for you, Egyptian people. (thanks Ali)
Everyone knows that the Israeli left is feeble. Everyone knows that Zionism is hegemonic amongst Israeli Jews. We also know that the Israeli radical left gets over-promoted, and that people, especially left-liberal Americans and Europeans, are quite desperate to hear rustlings of change from within Israeli society. They are not there yet. But I don’t see the point of this sort of attack. First, read Hass’s article. It’s excellent: running short of playing the ingénue, what Hass is trying to do is to show both why the dominant Egyptian anti-normalization discourse is the way it is, why it is heightened in the current atmosphere, as well as why in some respects it’s quite blinkered (or “dumb” as one Egyptian leftist rightly commented to me).
I have news for As’ad: we need cracks within Zionist hegemony. Big ones. They have nuclear weapons and plenty of non-nuclear weaponry, and we need forces within that society at some point who can stop it from going out with a bang. The seeds of those forces, no matter if they seem sterile at the moment, are in the Israeli radical left. Stop playing demagogue by ridiculing them. There are plenty of Israelis we can ridicule who richly deserve it.
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That depends on how you mean “lay off” Max…hehehe Just kidding. I would assume (hopefully not making myself an ass) that Mr. AbuKhalil is just weary of the endless accolades of some journalists and that nothing really changes. Of course, it may not be fair taking this out on Amira Hass, but than again is any of the current debacle including Israel and the surrounding regions servitude to the settler colonial state fair? After a while, even with good journalism everyone seems like a big buffoon. Egypt does not seem ready to welcome anyone from Israel with open arms, which means that they are possibly of the same mind of Mr. AbuKhalil…
They are. And in the current climate, that’s understandable. But the Egyptian anti-normalization extending even to Israeli anti-Zionists and radicals was never a good stance.
This is indeed a disgusting characterization by AA. “Roll out the red carpet for her”?? are you kidding me?? What is most enraging about this post is that, unlike the vast majority of the Egyptian people, Asad is well aware what Amira Hass stands for:
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-zio… http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2008/12/between-ham…
Yet that doesn’t stop him from commanding: “Good for you, Egyptian people.“
Regardless of how much we understand the necessity to battle Arab normalization with the Zionist regime this is in fact a green light by the high and mighty AA to spit in the face of any anti-Zionist Israeli jews as a essential part of the boycott and, in a nutshell, cursing anti-normalization activists from the other side.
So Egyptian weariness to normalization sometimes has negative consequences, it is unfortunate but an important campaign. for Mr. high and mighty AA though those are virtues and that’s what I find most disgusting.
The “peace” process never involved the Egyptian people
AA is a great blogger, and without his antipathy to The White Man wouldn’t be who he is. Nevertheless, he shows poor judgment in cases like this. He might be unneccsarily alientating an audience that would be sympathetic to his critiques.
Max perfectly diagnoses the biggest dumbass mistake of the perennially dumbass left: resisting any attempt to find cracks and divisions in the camp of the enemy, even potential traitors within it.
Where would the American ruling classes be today if they said something equally dumbass like, “Hey, why should we try to set white workers against black workers? After all, they’re all workers and objectively opposed to the maintenance of our class position!”? (Answer to rhetorical question): they would no longer be the American ruling class.
Plus, Amira is A-OK. Given the sectarian nuthouse they live in, she and Gideon Levy are forever risking their lives to declare solidarity with the Palestinians.
But AbuKhalil is absolutely right to attack the dyed-in-the-wool Zionist, Uri Avnery.
Check this out: http://mondoweiss.net/2011/03/egyptians-and-the-t…
Quite a hatchet job, quoted by the AA no less.
Although most of the article is dedicated to beating down straw men it’s not all bad. I agree that Hass’ pitting the Anti-Normalization campaign against the Palestinians is a misguided polemic weapon at best.
Yes I mean most of what Hawas says is right it’s just not really related to what Hass said.
thanks, this was a good and well argued response
Well said, Max and others. It is apolitical to attack all Israelis regardless and any opportunity to divide Zionists and strengthen the opposition, no matter how miniscule and numerically weak should not be ignored.
Yes, although at the moment I think I owe As’ad a post reading, “lay off the Angry Arab.” Although, he can handle himself.