I didn’t want to enter this debate, but as a result of reading several emails, I
felt I need to say how I feel. First, I really hope Oprah will say the truth
about the situation. But, second, what is worrying for me is to see how Oprah
can become a savior in the imagination of Palestinians, and take so much of our
time and effort! Oprah is the product of a system that tells people to care only
about their career; about winning and how much profit they can make if they
serve those in power. And those who refuse to play this game will be either
kicked out or threatened. The history of threats against people who dared to
speak out the truth about Palestinians fills volumes. Capitalism, with all its
tools and political apparatuses, is the master; anyone who stands in its way
will be crushed or thrown out. All the power Oprah seems to have comes from the
fact that she serves this master.
Let’s assume that she does not know what has been happening for the past 60
years (an unlikely assumption), and suppose that Bishop Tutu convinces her of
the injustice that has inflicted Palestinians, at least since 1948, and helps
her see the truth. What then? We can’t forget that her career is somewhere
else. Those who invited her to Jerusalem have the power to threaten her career
if she says or does what would be perceived as against their interests. We need
to remember that Oprah is not Rachel Corrie…
Just to see what I am talking about: in a book entitled Public Intellectuals, by
Richard Posner, professor of law and chief judge, published in 2002, we read the
following: “The Independent Institute [a think tank] persuaded 240 academics to
sign a full-page advertisement in support of Microsoft’s defense without
disclosing to them that it was receiving financial support from Microsoft…
academics most of whom could not have been informed about the antitrust case…”.
Every one of those academics received an undisclosed amount of money to sign
(they called it a consulting fee, which in other countries would be called by
its proper name: bribe)! The same book cites other similar cases, one of them
the case of professors, among them W K Viscusi, a very prominent Harvard
University law professor, who in lieu of a consulting fee/ bribe, came to the
rescue of Exxon as a consequence of oil spill in ocean waters by its tanker
Valdez. Similarly, Oprah will obey who pays her and who can threaten her. It is
the nature of the beast (capitalism) and its tools (such as education, where we
learn that we are rewarded first and foremost for obedience to professionals
and officials)…
Two periods that stand out as extremely significant and inspiring (not only
locally but internationally) in recent Palestinian history are the decade of
the 1970s and the first intifada. They inspired the world not because they
convinced a public figure, but because they embodied what makes a real
difference in the world: every person during those two periods did what s/he
could do, with a spirit of mutual support. People were totally attentive to
what was happening and decided what each could do and went ahead and did it.
Their minds were not tied to institutions, texts, and screens that determined
their perceptions and limited their imaginations concerning what they could or
should do (there weren’t even leaders during those two periods). People did not
beg or look for public figures to present their case. Their actions were louder
than all the journalists and scholars that were paid to distort or cover up
what was happening.
Am I being unrealistic? Some may think that I am. Some would say that this
modern way of living (totally dominated by the consumption pattern in living,
propagated by education, mass media, and nation states) is there to stay and
there is no way out. I would respond by saying that people who think that there
is no way out are the ones who are unrealistic, because the world cannot survive
if we go on along this path. When I am in Amman and watch young people go out of
one mall to enter another (i.e. where malls form the limits of their
entertainment and what they could do, in a place where weather, for example, is
so beautiful most of the year), I see the corruption done to people by modern
life dominated by consumption.
In addition to the two periods mentioned above, what happened in Lebanon last
summer points to aspects that we need to remember. For me, most significant of
what happened was that humans can outwit technology and faith can overcome the
power of capital as well as it showed the importance, as a reference, what
people have (cultural, historical, social etc, rather than having the West as a
reference).
Just imagine the millions of hours wasted every day (not to mention the poison
contained in most of the news and programs) watching TV satellites! And what do
we get? We get minds and imaginations that become subordinate to screens! Just
imagine what we can do if each person does what s/he can do in the place where
they are…
Instead of satellites, we can know what people, outside CNN and Aljazeera, think
and do through web sites (like information clearing house) and through lists
like this one, because then we know what is happening to and by real people.
This is an important list and I thank Hazem Kawasmi (and others) who initiated
it. It is important, however, that we do not only write in response to
distractions propagated by dominant organizations; we can use this space to
tell each other what each one does, and what experiences and events inspire us…
and to tell stories and perspectives from places that can inspire and make us
see things clearer in the midst of all kinds of distractions. I am talking here
mainly about people and communities. A very inspiring people (that is relevant
to us) is that of the Zapatistas in Mexico (which tells the story of the
indigenous peoples – the Palestinians of the Americas – who have been enduring
and struggling oppression and settlements for 500 years!). It is important that
we regain the ability to see the world through our naked eyes and senses rather
than through corporations and experts… We can tell each other all what helped
us unplug ourselves from dominant perceptions and patterns of thinking and
doing…
Modern man, as Illich says, has been robbed of hope and, instead, was given
expectations. This is so true about the Palestinian experience. Prior to 1993,
we lived with hope; after 1993, we have been living with expectations. The
consumption pattern of living would have been impossible without this shift,
without expectations. The downfall of any person or community starts when
people trade hope for expectations. During the 1970s and the first intifada
people lived with hope. Living with expectations produces frustration,
laziness, anger, accusations, and dependence.
salaam
munir
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