Post a question for Chomsky
Ok here it is. Post your question to Noam Chomsky and he may answer it on December 16. I will only consider questions, considering I am interviewing him for Egypt Today, that relate to Egyptian, Middle Eastern, or Arab issues. Please only post questions on this thread.
I have noticed that, for some reason most people prefer to email me and you are more than welcome to but personally I would prefer them be put here on this one.
I am also tapping eight individuals to post questions directly. Three of them are well known Egyptian journalists; Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Ibrahim Saada, and Mona Eltahawi. The rest are well known bloggers you may know; Baheyya, Alaa, Haitham, Sandmonkey, and Amr.
I aim on adding a few questions from this thread to theirs and mine.
Enjoy.
How does one balance what one sees as the good of his country with the desires of its people.
Will Egypt’s first democratic election be its last? Many feel that though a democratic process can help a group running on a religious platform attain power, the resulting conflict between said group’s baseline and democracy will prevent it from continuing such a process further than the election it won in a way almost parasitic in nature. How does one deal with such a predicament or, as some see it, paradox? Since this all done under the strife for democracy, is there a democratic, democratic process that can prevent such an occurrence?
Ideas anyone?
Karim (Comment this)
2-Do you think Arab states should start dealing with Israel, (eg.Egypt-Israeli QUIZ agreement), if not, dont you think it would benefit the poor in the Arab states more than it would benefit the developed nation of Israel, therefore helping poor people, instead of just making a statement.
3-You are constantly talking about the harmful aspects of Globilization, yet most analysts say that it is indeed inevitable, dont you think you should join the club, atleast then you would be working on tweaking the system to benefit the people in Africa??(E.g: Cutting down subsidies in rich nations, can curb the seemingly large, unjust trade gap), or, are you so vehemently against Globilization that you would never be a part of it, if so, well i guess its a stance, but no one will be waiting on you to make any change....
Thanks Kimo (Comment this)
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archives/007060.shtml
http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/calendars/iop.nsf/index.html?ReadForm (Comment this)
You should check out the comments at Solomon's site, especially from the person who was there, pretty interesting.
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archives/007060.shtml
I can't wait till the archived video link goes up. (Solomon just wrote in his comments section that it is apparently now up)
(Comment this)
1. Noam Chomsky, has been regarded as "guru of the Left" for many years, by many people around the world. Yet, he has been the only "Left intellectual" to have
free access to the media anywhere - zionist media along with pro-Palestinian media, bosses media along with workers media, Left media along with right media.
Why ? And how he did that?
2. Is ending the occupation of Palestine a dead hope? If not, then don't you think that it is realistic for Palestinians to resist the military occupation of
Palestine, by arms? If not, then why do the Israelis have the right to use the arms?
3. Since you believe in Israel right for self defense, so would it be acceptable if the Wall was built on the 1967 Green Line? (Comment this)
2. Is ending the occupation of Palestine a dead hope? If not, then don't you think that it is realistic for Palestinians to resist the military occupation of
Palestine, by arms? If not, then why do the Israelis have the right to use the arms?
Again, it's like you think you're talking to Dershowitz and not Chomsky? In the Arab world is Chomsky actually posed in papers as a 'pro Israeli' academic? LOL.
3. Since you believe in Israel right for self defense, so would it be acceptable if the Wall was built on the 1967 Green Line?
He has bashed the wall regardless of where it were to be built. And when has the guy actually said Israel has a right to self-defense? lol (Comment this)
After losing significant popularity and having to deal with intense infighting at every maneuver, Sharon left the Likud party which he helped form in order to form Kadima. Pares, after losing leadership of the Labor party, also quit his party of forty years to join Sharon. Many believe Sharon is the only one in Israel capable of delivering peace. Do you think there is any real hope that this Old Guard will deliver of a viable peace offer or are these merely political maneuvers aimed at their legacy and the continuation of the status quo? (Comment this)
I am very disappointed as Hiekal is a man I very much admire. (Comment this)
I was addressing my prior commment to the guy who asked it. I assumed he is a reader here?
In regards to this comment/question -
After losing significant popularity and having to deal with intense infighting at every maneuver, Sharon left the Likud party which he helped form in order to form Kadima.
Sharon hasn't lost any popularity. His popularity in Israel might be at its peak right now. If he was referring to it within the Likud, it is very very likely that Sharon would have easily won the Likud again.
Pares, after losing leadership of the Labor party, also quit his party of forty years to join Sharon.
Peretz asked him to stay in Labor several times. And Sharon invited him as soon as he left (publically probably before in private I would imagine) In the beginning it looked like Peres would stay with Labor.
Many believe Sharon is the only one in Israel capable of delivering peace. Do you think there is any real hope that this Old Guard will deliver of a viable peace offer or are these merely political maneuvers aimed at their legacy and the continuation of the status quo?
No offense but isn't the more relevant question is can anyone on the Pali side deliver? The answer is likely a big NO.
"Legacy" is nonsense. Sharon doesn't care what "foreign writers" think of his "legacy". I think the guy only cares about 1 thing - future and security of Israel.
Of the two Peres likely cares more about his "foreign legacy" and appeasing Eurocrats.
Chomsky's answer is obvious if you've ever seen him speak or watched the Dershowitz Chomsky video. He not only dislikes Sharon he still refers to Peres as one of the greatest war criminals equivalent to Idi Amin...
I couldn't MAKE that up either.
(Comment this)
Question for Professor Chomsky:
"If you were presented with all the evidence of the human rights abuse, colonialism, and conquest that has taken place in the Middle East and North Africa since 1967, but without knowing anybody's national, political, ethnic, or religious identity (whether perpetrator or victim), please prove to us that you would still wind up focusing as much energy as you currently do on Israel compared to many of her neighbors.
Essentially, I'm curious about the ethics of your own behavior, Professor, which is labelled in defense of human rights, because it appears that you neglect much suffering and conquest in the Middle East that do not fit into your own agenda, and I am having a hard time understanding how it all translates into social justice.
Basically, I would appreciate it if you would please demonstrate that a thoroughly color-blind study of Middle East human rights abuse and colonialism, in which there are no demographic data available, would still show, categorically, that Israel's crimes are OBVIOUSLY far more egregious than are those by nations perpetuating forced Arabization, thereby justifying your generally singular Middle Eastern focus over the past decades. Thank you in advance. I'll be sure to pass along your response to my friends in Kurdistan, Kabylia, and sub-Saharan Sudan." (Comment this)
Karim (Comment this)
(Comment this)
Do you want that Palestine will be free?
If your answer is yes, I recommend you the following home page:
http://www.alah.hu
"This image shows the future. A minaret-form skyscraper rises from the
mass of the buildings in New York, the most densely populated city of the
United States. The building is the Tower of American-Islamic Friendship.
It symbolizes two things: on one hand there are a growing number of Moslem
people in the U.S.; and on the other hand it shows that the U.S. is in
alliance with the Islamic countries. Due to the new friendship America
does not provide any more financial or military aid to Israel, which leads
to the weakening of Israel and consequently, the freedom of Palestine."
Sincerely,
Zoltan Biro (Comment this)