Jacoby Smears Said

Wed Sep 1 07:56:47 PDT 1999

A rebuttal of sorts...
Craig Brown
www.commondreams.org

>From today's Boston Globe
http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/244/oped/They_can_t_will_the_Palestinians_o
ut_of_existenceP.shtml

They can't will the Palestinians out of existence
By Hussein Ibish, 09/01/99

Edward Said, the most prominent Palestinian-American intellectual, has often
written about the precariousness of Palestinian identity in a world that has
no place for Palestinians: ''Do we exist? What proof do we have?'' he
famously asks. An article just published in the intensely pro-Israel
magazine Commentary that questions Said's own status as a Palestinian and
claims that he ''fabricated'' his childhood, once again demonstrates the
lengths to which some will go to call this existence into question.

The article, ''`My Beautiful Old House' and Other Fabrications by Edward
Said'' claims that as a child Said did not live in Jerusalem but lived only
in Cairo and has hidden this fact, that his family did not own a house in
Jerusalem, and he did not attend school there. The clear implication is that
he, the leading spokesman for the Palestinian cause in the West, is not
really a Palestinian but a fraud.

In some extraordinarily shoddy and irresponsible journalism, these claims
have been repeated and embellished by several well-known American
newspapers. But, as even a cursory glance at the record shows, it is his
accusers, not Said, who are inventing fabrications.

The facts are these: Said has always clearly stated that, as a son of
Palestinians living in Egypt, his childhood was spent traveling between
''the Cairo-Jerusalem-Beirut axis, which is the one I grew up in,'' as he
puts it. He spent a good deal of time in Jerusalem and went to St. George's
School there. His family did indeed own the ''beautiful old house,'' which
was legal property of his father's sister. This house and the family
business were seized from Said's family after 1948 through the notorious
''absentee property law'' by which Israel took all the property belonging to
Palestinians who fled or were ''ethnically cleansed'' by Israel.

Moreover, all of Said's extended family, including aunts, uncles, cousins,
and grandparents, were expelled by Israel, and he and all his relatives were
no longer allowed to live in their homes and homeland. All of this is easily
verifiable by any honest investigator, and the details are spelled out in
Said's forthcoming memoir ''Out of Place'' (Knopf).

As for the core allegation, that Said has concealed the fact that he was a
Palestinian living in Cairo for much of his childhood, one need only point
to the countless articles, interviews, and speeches over the past decades in
which he has not only mentioned, but thoughtfully reflected on this
condition.

For example, in a 1989 interview that concludes the book ''Edward Said: A
Critical Reader'' (Blackwell), Said says, ''To go back to the early years of
my awareness of Cairo: I grew up there, spending a large part of my youth in
the place, but strangely not as an Egyptian.'' As a Palestinian living in
Cairo, Said adds, ''I always felt that I wasn't of the place.'' Hardly the
words of a man concealing this chapter of his past, and only one example
among many such remarks. Said was never directly contacted by Commentary
about the details of his childhood.

The question is not whether Commentary's preposterous allegations are true,
since they clearly are not, but rather why anyone would make or repeat them.

This brings us back to the point that Said and other Palestinian
intellectuals constantly make - that there is an imperative for many
supporters of Israel to will the Palestinians out of existence and deny
their collective experience. Since only Israelis have a right to Palestine
and Palestinians are usurpers and interlopers, so the thinking goes, then
their collective and individual narratives must be frauds and their
spokespersons liars.

Commentary's pathetic attempt to ''debunk'' Said's unquestionable
Palestinianness harkens back to Golda Meir's notorious assertion that
''there is no such thing as the Palestinian people.''

The rights of the millions of Palestinian exiles and refugees have acquired
an urgent relevance because this is supposed to be a major issue in the next
phases of the peace process.

In the wake of the Kosovo war, which was fought in the name of the right of
refugees to return to their homeland, the immorality and inconsistency of
denying Palestinians their right to return has become harder than ever to
defend. Commentary's attack on Said's narrative of exile openly aims to
challenge his championing of these rights, thereby calling them into
question.

But if their history proves anything, it is that no matter the odds against
them, the Palestinians are not going to allow themselves to be bullied out
of their human rights and national identity.

As usual, Said put it best when he observed that ''I have never met a
Palestinian who is tired enough of being a Palestinian to give up
entirely.''

Hussein Ibish is communications director of the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington, D.C.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
[mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of William S. Lear
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 1999 10:12 AM
To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
Subject: Re: Jacoby Smears Said

On Tuesday, August 31, 1999 at 08:00:49 (+0000) Jeffrey St. Clair writes:
>[Boston Globe edit page returns to ignomy.--jsc]

I had to endure Jacoby's lunatic ravings in the Globe while living in
the Boston area many years ago.  It seems that the Boston branch of
the New York Times has decided to maintain their level of integrity by
keeping him on board.

Jeff, if you see a rebuttal to this, would you pass it along,
please?

Bill