Posted by Lilly from libsci111.library.Vanderbilt.Edu (129.59.152.111) on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 at 11:41AM :
In Reply to: Re: ask Edward Said posted by Nahrain from DNab4078e2.Stanford.EDU (171.64.120.226) on Monday, June 17, 2002 at 6:46PM :
: If a Islamic Palestinian state were to exist, would the Christians in the area be "second class citizens" as they are and have been in other Arab nations? Just wondering.
xxx So, perhaps, if leaders of Hamas & Islamic Jihad were to come into power, Palestine would become an Islamic Palestinian state. One thing I always wondered was why the leaders of these groups were never suicide bombers themselves... instead they seem to enjoy manipulating anxiety-filled & hormone driven youths into becoming their foot soldiers. & most of these suicide bombing youths have lost hope - they have not known what life would be like without an occupying force subjecting them to constant humiliation & hardship. They see no "light at the end of the tunnel" for themselves or the people they love, you know? I do not think these suicide bombing young adults see the magnificent potential they could have in a different, less cruel world. Or that there are many other ways one can resist, show righteous & just anger, & fight back.
xxx However, I do not think that Said is pushing for an Islamic Palestinian state - he is pushing for democratic reform by & for the people, the majority of which happen to be Muslim. Said himself is Christian, so I do not think that he would wish himself to be viewed as a second class citizen in the future Palestinian state. When he states,"... our society has been nearly wrecked by poor leadership and the insanity of thinking that suicide bombing will lead directly to an Islamic Palestinian state," he is neither condoning nor glorifying the leadership or the suicide bombings - he is merely pronouncing judgement on these 2 things.
-- Lilly
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