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<div>Randa,<br>
<br>
Thank you for the precious words... Finally someone spoke up defending Robert Fisk.<br>
I am really disappointed how sometimes we stab the person who defends us and speaks<br>
for our right in the back.... <br>
<br>
Best wishes,<br>
<br>
Rania.<br>
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<div style="clear: both;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br>
Rania Mekary, Ph.D.<br>
Harvard School of Public Health<br>
Nutrition Department<br>
655 Huntington Avenue, Building 2<br>
Boston, Ma 02115<br>
Voice mail: 617-432-6343 <br>
Fax: 617-432-2435<br>
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/researchers/rmekary.html<br>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
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<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: rhartm1@yahoo.com<br>
To: philippesaad@gmail.com<br>
Cc: lebanon-articles@mit.edu<br>
Sent: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 1:16 AM<br>
Subject: [LCM Articles] We love you Robert Fisk!<br>
<br>
<div id="AOLMsgPart_3_23a3e6f3-37cb-45a5-b103-a0d46d5d1e57">
<br>
I believe that you've misinterpreted Robert Fisk's sarcasm in the way he phrased his comments. <br>
I can be almost certain of that, because I've attended <br>
2 talks he'd given at MIT and one in New York City, <br>
and
I can see that his writing and verbal styles aren't much different. But
when he talks, his body language and variations in his voice make the
message unequivocal.<br>
<br>
For one thing, he is NOT a racist; this is
a man who publicly talked about his father (who was with the British
Army all his adult life) as being --disgracefully-- racist. <br>
And in
general, his opinions (as expressed in his new book) on how the British
Empire handled affairs in its colonies would leave you without a doubt
that he's not <br>
a racist.<br>
<br>
So this is what I think he meant to
convey: He talked as if he was one typical racist westerner who thinks
that the Arabs are primitive, stupid illiterate, with ugly and spooky
physiques... so different from his superior self..., <br>
and who now sees that lebanese people don't fit this stereotype, <br>
so
he wonders how come so little is being done to help them, although they
aren't any different from the superiors of the world. <br>
In other
words, that the Lebanese shouldn't trigger racism in the westerners (as
they're not "different" from them), yet that they're being treated by
the westerners in a racist-like way. Which he finds nonsensical
and unacceptable of course!<br>
--Randa<br>
<br>
<br>
<b><i>Philippe Charles Saad <philippesaad@gmail.com></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> This a shame!<br>
What does this "they don't look like the Arab world" mean? Are Arabs Animals? 2nd degree human being? <br>
what is this racizm?<br>
What's wrong with the Arab world?<br>
If we are sophisticated, educated, cosmopolitan... how does this tie to the fact that "we don't look like the Arab
world"<br>
Aren't we tired of those cliches?<br>
Ohh yeah Lebanese are not Arabs... what is all is nonsense! I won't even mention the whole stupid discourse of phoenicians!!<br>
Who cares who we are Arabs, Phoenicians, meditteraneans, Greeks, maybe
we have Romans, crusaders, kurdish or Indian blood! <br>
Guys who cares, trade was all over the place and people were mixing all through teh ages<br>
<br>
If Robert Fiske did a good job reporting about the situation all a long
the years of war, this does not mean that all what he says is sacred!!
come on guys a little critical sense, a little pride.<br>
Stop escaping
what you are and mirror yourself to what you are not because
Europeans or Americans have engrained in you the fact that they are a
better race than Arabs, than chinese, than indians. No one is better
than any other one.<br>
<br>
And now instead of all standing together and seeing our differences as a richness to stop Israel from bombing, we are abiding
by the argument that Lebanese are not like the Arabs.<br>
What a shame, <br>
I am disgusted....<br>
<br>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 7/20/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Rabih Zbib</b> <<a href="javascript:parent.ComposeTo('rabih@mit.edu');">rabih@mit.edu</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div>We
are infinitely greatful for our dearest friend Robert Fisk for the
privilige of elevating us to the rank of full human beings, much
different than those other Arabs!<br>
<br>
<span style="font-style: italic;">It
amazes me -- I mean, living here in Beirut, as I have for 30 years.
Here are the Lebanese people, sophisticated, educated, cosmopolitan,
people who don't look like the Arab world, they look like us; I mean,
people who could be quite at home on the streets of Paris or New York
and London, and some of them are; people who read, who are very well
educated; people who speak English fluently, French beautifully, and
fluent Arabic, as well, of course; and who, when they die in such large
numbers, the best we can produce is a call for restraint by the State
Department and a claim by the British, our own dear Tony Blair, that
the Israelis are using disproportionate force. </span><br style="font-style: italic;"> <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/19/1345257" title="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/19/1345257" target="_blank"> http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/19/1345257</a></span><br>
<br>
<br>
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<br>
<br>
</blockquote> </div>
<br>
<br clear="all"><br>
-- <br>
Philippe Charles Saad<br>
473 Adams Street, Apt 1<br>
Dorchester, MA 02122<br>
+1 617 230 6670<br>
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