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Gaza: A Fundamentalist’s Guide to Gravity

November 20, 2012 By Firouzeh Afsharnia Leave a Comment

A few years ago I was traveling through Africa and found my self in a rickety cab. As I bounced up and down in the lumpy back seat, shifting spots to avoid the broken springs and whatever was festering in the exposed paddings, another passenger got in and sat in the front seat.  He was in a jovial mood and had just passed some sort of certification exam.  “I passed! I passed!” He declared.

First I thought it was a college exam, or some life changing professional achievement.   Turns out it was an HIV/AIDS test.   And if you know anything about Africa, you know the importance of such a test.  Conversation rolled from AIDS to lack of employment, poverty, state corruption, war; then the passenger sighed and said.

“You know, I really admire Ben.” The driver agreed.  “Oh yes. Ben. He is a great man.   We need somebody like him here in the Congo.”

I wondered who Ben was.  I had lived in the country for months, and not heard of anyone by that name.  “Sorry — Ben?  Who is Ben?”  I interjected from the back seat, shifting over the lumps and bumping my head violently on the ceiling as the cab cleared another pothole.

“Ben!  You don’t know Ben?  Madame!  He is very famous.  Il est Genial.”

“Ben what?  Who are you talking about?”

“Laden.”  Both men chimed. “Bin Laden!”

Amazing! Here I was in a Christian country.  The Moslem population in Congo is miniscule, and yet Bin Laden represented something of a hero – a symbol of resistance to a higher injustice.

I have traveled almost ten years in Africa.  On this continent, the narrative often goes like this:  Bin Laden was a hero, Ahmadinejad should be admired for standing up to the West, Ghaddafi will be remembered for the many mosques and schools he built; and the Palestinians – well, Palestinians are the very embodiment of suffering; the equivalent of Jungian archetypes for victims of all things unjust, unfair and hypocritical; the ultimate evidence that the lectures on human rights by the masters of the world, and all that talk of democracy are nonsense. Palestinians are the very essence of pain and resistance with whom anyone from any corner of space and time can relate to and stand with in solidarity.

In Africa, most people are only too familiar with hopelessness, lack of recourse, lies, oppression and co-opted systems in which they have no part. They are also familiar with the basic reality that desperate people beget desperate actions.  And when all other options fail, in the absolute vacuum of hope, the most radical elements will emerge to reinvent their own brand of justice to right all the wrongs that cannot find recourse in alternate forums.

This week as rockets fly overhead, the headlines on the 24 hour news cycles focus on the terrorist strikes at the urban centers of Israel. Newly elected Barack Obama who has evidently forgotten that he has nothing to fear from AIPAC anymore, releases his stale clichés on Israel’s “right to defense” even as he stands with his Nobel Prize counterpart and lectures the Burmese Junta on the rights of dignity and equality for all people.  The narrative in the U.S. focuses on “terror” in Israel and the 90% Israeli support for the attacks on Gaza.   Indeed the CNN poll shows that 57% of our own citizenry are in favor of the strikes, evidence of the complete disconnect from context at the confluence of selective reporting, ideology and middle class consumerism.

That the Jerusalem post has printed an op-ed to the effect that entire communities should be flattened in Gaza, left without water, electricity and basics has not triggered outrage in this country, nor has it made a dent in the absurd notion that Gaza has had self-determination since 2005. America’s mainstream stands with Israel.  Congress stands with AIPAC. And Operation Pillar of Defense plays out as a bad sequel to Operation Cast Lead – as if the obscenity of the title in itself is not an outrage.

The casualty figures at the bottom of the TV screen in fact tell the whole story.  Day 6 of the conflict. Gaza: 107 dead; Israel: 3 dead.

Israel maintains it is only pursuing “terrorists” and the rest are unfortunate collateral losses. They even go so far as to say that casualties are results of a deliberate Hamas strategy of employing civilians as human shields, thereby disassociating the reality of the cause of the militants from its fundamental connection to the perpetual anger of a humiliated people – one, an inevitable consequence of the other  — like gravity.

Mr. president – for all the talk of not wishing to lead from behind and being a force for good; for the $1.4 trillion spent to date in pursuit of jihadists; and for the thousands sacrificed in the fight for what has been summarily dismissed as mindless terrorism, how about walking the talk of justice and focusing on the oldest grievance in the Middle East.

How can you pretend to push for human rights by upholding a six-decade Cuba policy while washing your hands from the crushing Israeli blockade of Gaza.

How can you reconcile your crippling sanctions on Iran for possible breach of NPT commitments, while vetoing any measure that would condemn Israel’s continued occupation in violation of International law.

How can you rise up in defense of Libyans and Syrians while staying mum on the continued aggression against Palestinians.

How can you rationalize your national outrage responsible for waging two wars in pursuit of one man culpable of killing 2900 Americans in 9/11, without on some level understanding the outrage against decades of Palestinian humiliation, displacement and occupation and the need to avenge it.

How can you expect to further the cause for democracy and peace if you don’t play the part of the unbiased advocate for dignity for all people.

How do you expect to hold back the wave of anger against the U.S. and the creation of a new generation of activists every time you opt to read from the “unconditional support” script, brandish the lone veto on the Security Council and value the Israeli life over that of a Palestinian.

Gravity is a fact. Those who pretend to live in a void may never fully grasp its meaning. But they are no less susceptible to its effects.

Filed Under: Africa, Can We Talk?!!, Congo, Israel, Politics, Conflict, Africa, Middle East Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Existential Threats and Trayvon Martin: The bumper sticker politics of fear.

April 14, 2012 By Firouzeh Afsharnia 4 Comments

The first season of the Trayvon Martin reality show is finally over. George Zimmerman is behind bars 45 days after the shooting of an unarmed African American teen-ager which snowballed into a national soul searching crisis as to whether Americans are closet racists.

Activists, celebrities and ordinary citizens stepped up to express their outrage and demand justice. Tweets from Justine Beiber and Spike Lee along with thousands of irate phone calls flooded the airwaves; and civil rights politicians like Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson came out to denounce the act as an egregious example of racial hate crime.  The Rainbow Push coalition held hands, singing “We Shall Overcome” and the “Million Hoodie March” rallied in cities across America.   In a short period of time, over 2 million signatures petitioned for the arrest of George Zimmerman who continued to invoke self-defense under the “Stand-Your-Ground” law, which expands the rights of citizens to use deadly force in any public space if they feel threatened – albeit by a small framed, unarmed, skittles chewing minor like Trayvon.

The law which has been promoted by the National Rifle Association and Republican politicians have now been passed in 25 States and since its enactment in 2005, “justifiable” murders have increased several fold – 36 in Florida, up from 12 just 5 years ago.  Had the other 24 been literally getting away with murder before the law, or are we getting jumpier as a nation?

Mayor Bloomberg says it is clear that the law has undermined the integrity of the justice system, made the country less safe, and that it is promoting a culture of impunity.  Others call it “kill at will” or “shoot first”.   The national debate is curiously timely considering the broader global context.

In the past ten years, since the attacks on the twin towers, the U.S. has been increasingly basing its foreign policy narrative on the concept of preventive and pre-emptive attacks.  Dick Cheney even went so far as to make a case for action with as little as one percent probability of a threat clearly ruling out leaving his house in case of encounter with a discarded banana peel – a fear many of us wish he had heeded. Over the course of the past decade what started as a deadly attack by a handful of non-state loosely aligned actors in New York City, has lead to the invasion of several countries, the death of hundreds of thousand, and the displacement of millions in the Middle East and beyond as America consistently “stood its ground”.

George Bush rightly stressed his war on terror was not anti-muslim; no more than the Trayvon Martin case is anti black.  Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and the proxy wars we wage in the horn of Africa and beyond are not about hate as much as they are about fear — fear that continues to get packaged and sold for political and economic gain by an increasingly violent America which uses violence as its principal currency as sure as it does its greenback.  We use violence as currency for entertainment, casually feeding it to our children in ever more brutal video games and demanding more of it in our movies — more than our European counterparts who seem to prefer sex – thanks to their Mediterranean DNA; and we use it as the prime currency to define ourselves as individuals whether at home, in our neighborhoods; or on the world stage by “standing our ground”, resolute and uncompromising no matter how asymmetric, intransigent and one sided our demands.

We nurture violence through the exploitation of fear by the right wing with links to a multi billion dollar arms industry which brings jobs to constituents who fund their Washington representatives to preserve their livelihoods; by the political machinery where each side postures as the more patriotic by being hardest on crime – hardest on terrorism; and mostly we nurture fear and violence by a disconnected public who gladly consumes the messages of a lazy and complicit media who mostly amplifies the conventional narrative of power without trying to reframe the conversation.

The Iraqi WMD wild goose chase quickly became “support our troops”; a multi billion dollar military expansion across the globe was sold as “peace through strength”; and the “war on terror” became the catch all phrase for the pursuit of all things evil by our heroic forces whose patriotism bars them from asking why.

The result is a polarized world with a clear “us” versus “them” narrative framed by fear, resolved through force. As the Trayvon Martin story plays itself on an endless loop on national channels, another round of “negotiations” to stop Iran from enriching uranium is taking place so that we may get over the election hump before bombing yet another country. Who knew election season could be so hazardous to your health.

As others more astute than myself have observed, and Mark Twain’s powerful reminder we choose to ignore, the rhetoric rhymes alarmingly with the argument for the Iraqi invasion – the mushroom cloud was it?  It is ironic how asymmetric “strength” can in fact lead to conflict rather than peace.  Even more ironic that the citizens of the strongest, most powerful country should be so ruled by fear that they should seek to eradicate even the smallest, most minute possibility of harm to the point that they would be scared out of their wits by a hoodie, or see a country with no evidence of a weapons program an existential threat to themselves and their ally who, between them, own over 8,000 nuclear warheads.

Barack Obama has successfully fended off an Israeli attack for the moment even as he embarks on non-starter negotiations, demanding the unreasonable even as he ratchets up “crippling sanctions” against 70 million Iranians.  Israel for its part is preparing for a strike by securing bases in Azerbaijan and unleashing AIPAC on the U.S. congress.

Following the tsunami of outrage against the injustice in the Trayvon Martin case, Mr. Obama finally broke his silence and offered this measured response:  “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin.”

Mr. president, in this election season as you walk the fine line between your Nobel Peace Prize and your second term, consider seeing beyond color – beyond borders, to see every child, every where, as your own.

Filed Under: Can We Talk?!!, Elections, Iran, Israel, Middle East and Beyond Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

From Yemen with Love

November 2, 2010 By Firouzeh Afsharnia 2 Comments

CNN BREAKING NEWS!! International security alert!! Two suspicious packages aboard a cargo plane from Yemen to the U.S. trigger global response.

I sat at my favorite juice bar in Los Angeles, watching the slow descent of the Emirate Airlines cargo flight toward JFK airport on one of the seven large screen Televisions that was strategically mounted so as not to escape the momentary distractions of the generous portions of tempeh Kale burgers and acai detox shakes being served by the young and fit waitresses.

The real time broadcast was interspersed with interviews, analysis and minute-by-minute report of the obvious, infused with inferences to possible targets and the ongoing contagion of terror to Yemen and beyond by the newly acronymed AQAP – Al Quaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. After all, one cannot get new funding in Washington if one does not have a new acronym.

“If Yemen becomes a failed state,” said one analyst, “this will be a problem for the whole region.”

“Yes, if President Saleh cannot tackle this problem in his own country, then the US will just have to take other measures.” The anchor zeroed in on one of the six analysts whose grave and concerned faces checker boarded over the screen as the plane finally landed.

What was the motive of this cargo? How did our security measures fail? Who was to blame? And what possible courses of action should the US consider – a code word for more overt and covert military response.

The news was intercepted by a top alert that President Obama would momentarily address the nation to soothe their nerves and to reassure the as-yet-undecided voters of this week’s elections, that the democrats are every bit as tough on terror as their gun cuddling predecessors. On this last note – I for one do not need any convincing considering the ramp up of efforts in Afghanistan in the past two years – efforts that independent reports concede have been an utter failure by “every available metric”.

Contrary to the administrations press releases which continue to claim progress, there is evidence that the U.S. is losing the war on the ground and that there is no military solution to this conflict, leaving only a political exit – one which is now promoted under the guise of “reconciliation” – a position touted by the administration as a result of the success of the surge which has supposedly made the Taliban amenable to negotiations with the Karzai make believe government.

“We’ve always acknowledged that reconciliation had to be part of the solution.” Defense secretary Robert Gates’ announcement curiously smacked of the final strategy in search of a graceful exit before the U.S. joins the cemetery of great powers archived to history in Afghanistan.

This week two un-imbedded investigative journalists who spent time with tribal leaders, Taliban and civilian population in the Pashtun heartland, described the reality of the U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.

They spoke of increased insecurity, more Taliban controlled roads, more black districts, and a terrified and traumatized civilian population who is shifting support to the Taliban. Most alarming – they spoke of the emergence of a new generation of Taliban – more radical, more ruthless – who are no longer accountable to the old Taliban. Indeed the winds of nostalgia could soon be blowing for the old Taliban, as they have been for their ancestral origins – the Mujahaddin pussycats. Is anybody connecting the dots of transformation which traces the legacy of foreign occupation to the constantly modulating resistance that looks more like the Borg in medieval times than the weakened adversaries touted on mainstream news ready to have afternoon tea at the negotiating table?

CNN broke in once again with a line up of back-to-back reports and yet more analysis on the trajectory of the packages from Yemen as they replayed the plane landing in slow motion. There were discussions of the emotional state of the Jewish community in Chicago where the packages were headed; an interview with an ex-cargo plane pilot who was to offer his perspective on I am not sure what; and the possible future impacts on the operations of Fedex and the UPS. What is for certain is that, across various post 9/11 agencies, authorities are already devising new measures including that of making the dizzying security checks at the airports even more ridiculous.

But consider this: In the past 90 days, in Afghanistan, there have been 500 night raids conducted as part of the targeted assassination campaigns against the Taliban. These attacks come at night, women are herded to one side, children blindfolded, men humiliated, hooded and taken prisoner or killed. According to the reports, some families have lost their entire male lineage to the American forces. There are scores of orphaned children, tearful, traumatized — some in catatonic state, others reciting the names of their loved ones killed by U.S. special forces.

Contrary to the U.S., where every potential offensive against its citizenry is instantly mitigated by the response juggernaut of its government, state presence in a typical terrorist breeding ground is either non-existent or viewed as an American puppet installation. They not only cannot protect, they are often complicit with the occupying power, further delegitimizing themselves in the eyes of their people leaving Allah as the only elected official.

The fact that the white house is now considering the use of armed CIA drones against militants in Yemen, allowing the U.S. military to operate without the explicit approval of the Yemeni government, raises questions as to whether the decision making process itself is on an unmanned drone.

If we take a “Sanity” cue from the rally this weekend in D.C. and decide to put 2 and 2 together for ourselves, it would be a great exercise to observe our reactions next time a threat heads our way and ask this question: If we in the U.S. feel so jolted by a single violation of our airspace so as to mobilize every resource against a perceived enemy, what then is a reasonable reaction of one who suddenly finds himself the lone survivor of an unmanned drone attack or a midnight raid, standing amidst the wreckage of his home.

Back on CNN, the counter terrorism experts offered their musings on the printer cartridge. Was it a “dry run” to discover the vulnerabilities for a later strike, was it an extortion tool for a political purpose; a ploy to deal a blow to the cargo industry — or perhaps just a Hallmark special from AQAP to wish us a Happy Halloween!

Regardless, one thing is for certain. For my part, I can already imagine my next cross continental flight where I will likely be asked to take off my bra as well as my shoes.

Filed Under: Afghanistan, Can We Talk?!!, Middle East and Beyond, Yemen Tagged With: , , , , ,

Nine Years Later…

September 14, 2010 By Firouzeh Afsharnia Leave a Comment

A sigh of relief as the sun finally sets on this anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York.

Nine years ago as the smoldering images of the twin towers played over and over, we watched the world come together in grief and horror — from the streets of Tehran and Cairo to the white picket fenced middle class neighborhoods of American suburbia; men, women and children stood as one, lighting candles, holding vigils and mourning the victims. Some of us wondered if after decades of global conflicts, this could be the moment of transformation, the one catalyst that would make everyone stop and reflect what part they each played to make it possible.

Nine years later, as the steady crescendo of nonsensical rhetoric built up against the construction of a “Victory Mosque” and culminated in the organizing of the first “International Burn the Koran Day” by a Pastor of the DOVE World Outreach Center of all people, this year’s events were more reminiscent of a Carnival of the absurd featuring the likes of John Bolton, Sara Palin, Glenn Beck and other right wing crazies one of whom parachuted in from Holland at the last minute ostensibly to extol the virtues of Dutch tolerance by evoking the medieval language of the crusades pitting Good versus Evil, East versus West, Islam versus Christianity and Patriots versus … Liberals?

“No Mosque Here…” He chanted, still jetlagged from his trans-Atlantic flight.
“No Mosque Here…” The crowd repeated like sheep.

“We are opposed to the establishment of the Sharia law … replacing our constitution,” a matter of fact protestor earnestly explained as an Israeli flag flapped in the background.

“If they want a mosque here we should have a catholic church in Saudi Arabia,” was the logical conclusion of one who obviously knew nothing of the history of colonialism and the role that missionaries and churches played as the pioneers of western occupation all over the developing world.

“Go back to Mecca!”… “Kill them all!”

The entertainment value was simply superb – reality TV at its best. But I think we can safely conclude the catalytic moment of nine years ago has been squandered on a very different sort of transformation.

As protests turned violent in Afghanistan and Islamic centers were attacked in California, Texas and Tennessee, it became abundantly clear that no single group in fact had a monopoly on stupidity – each side one-upping the other, even as they invoked the name of God –- who, if he exists — must at this point be truly disheartened at how lowly he is regarded by his flock, who see him so powerless as to think he needs morons like them to protect his honor.

To be fair, masses will be masses; whether they rage in Persian, Pashtun or English, they can be deftly maneuvered against their best interests by leaders who — for reasons of political gain, misguided national interests, or more likely due to the prime time nexus of politics and media — create the context which creates divisions to make violence possible.

And so, for all the reasons above which collectively spell OIL and ELECTIONS, our elite — opportunists and politicians masquerading as journalists and patriots — found it more expedient not to take the 9/11 event as a soul searching exercise. Instead, they opted for a path of denial, fear mongering and self-aggrandizement; discounting any scrutiny, branding and packaging an existential war waged on a phantom empire that translated into a $75 billion a year massive intelligence counterterrorism escalation. With a name like the Patriot Act, dissent was conveniently institutionalized as un-patriotic. Bush and entourage could not have been clearer when they said, “You are either with us or against us.” How is that for fostering global understanding and cultural bridge building?

“Go back to Mecca!!”… “No Mosque on Ground Zero!!”… “New York will never become a new Mecca!” shouted the would-be mourners and protestors — an ironic stance, in light of the heavy U.S. military presence in Moslem lands and elsewhere. There are now over 1,000 military bases across 130 countries with a defense budget of $700 billion, placing the U.S. as the number one intrusive presence that would try the patriotic sentiments of any self-respecting sovereign citizen.

“This is not gonna be a religious Mosque. It’s gonna be for terrorists to learn how to do wrong to this country,” said an aging veteran with a visible look of pain, wearing a cap that said “Forever Proud”.

The question is: if a simple community center can be construed as a den of insurgency, what then are the hundreds of full blown U.S. military bases with thousands of troops behind surveillance cameras in barbed wire compounds in Pakistan, Iraq or Afghanistan; as seen through the eyes of their citizens.

Mr. Obama and his predecessor have been reaffirming that “America is not at war with Islam”. Maybe. But perceptions are everything — the causes for resentment many.

The following morning as the fallout from Koran-gate continued around the world, the news broke that three Palestinian farmers were shot dead by an Israeli tank in Gaza. Among the three were an old man of 91 and his teenage son. The Israeli forces said they were responding to “terrorist” threats. “Terrorist” — that post 9/11 “Communist” under whose cover scores are settled, land is usurped, rights are abused and injustices perpetuated, a process by which is created — real terrorists.

As I listened to the news, I wished for the same “unequivocal condemnation of a disgraceful act” that Hillary Clinton voiced for the Pastor’s actions, without that quick follow up that reasserts Israel’s inalienable rights to security and pledges unconditional support for the enduring “special relationship” of the US and Israel. Who knows. Maybe that would prove more effective than our multi billion dollar anti-terror campaigns. Maybe there is still time to make next year’s tenth anniversary a very different one.

And as far as the mosque goes — build it I say. And make sure to call it a Mosque. Don’t build it two blocks away, build it at the top of the World Trade Center once it is complete. Considering the crazy reaction to the burning of a few Korans, this could be the best insurance policy yet to protect against any further attacks.

Filed Under: Afghanistan, Can We Talk?!!, Middle East and Beyond Tagged With: , , , , , ,