Jeff St. Clair
Craig Brown wrote:
> 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.
>
> This story ran on page A23 of the Boston Globe on 09/01/99.
> © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
>
> -----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