was reading yesterday for the umpteenth times the classic book, Ma`na An-Nakbah, by Constantine Zurayq. It is one of the five most important political books written in Arabic in the 20th century. It is written for the average reader and carries a very strong message. It is amazing that he wrote it a few months after the loss of Palestine in May 1948. So many of what he said still applies, sixty years later. He refers to Zionism as the “greatest danger” facing the Arab world (p. 20). He recommends that Arab students be taught that day and night (p. 22). I urge Arab (and Western) readers to read it. I think that there is an English translation (or English translations of large chunks of it).
PS What a small world. In 1992, I was standing in the buffet line at a mountain resort in Virgina. There I see Constantine Zuraqy (in his 80s) at the buffet table. I don’t normally do that, but I had to since I never met him before: I walked up to him and said. You are Constantine Zurayq. It is enough for me that you inspired someone like George Habash. He looked at me and…filled his plate.
Posted by As’ad at 9:41 AM
I mean, I was reading a pile of New York Times. I mean, reading Nazila Fathi is now a joke, really. Every dispatch is based on opposition website, Jaras. Why not just print an invitation to readers to visit Jaras website, or provide verbatim translations from Jaras. That is all what she is doing, really. Oh, sometimes she also speaks to someone from Toronto who spoke to someone who spoke to someone in Iran, as in: “Mr. Taebi, who lives in Toronto, spoke by phone on Tuesday with Mr. Panahi’s son, Panah Panahi, who was not at home during the raid and was not arrested.” So she spoke to someone in Toronto (from her base in Toronto) and the person spoke by phone to someone in Iran, who did not witness what happened but nevertheless reported what happened, right? I mean, this is why people go to journalism schools for? Can you imagine if Taghreed El-Khodori writes a story about Israel using the same methods? Like “I spoke to someone in Tortonto who spoke to someone in Nablus who did not witness the arrest of the Palestinian but can report on it….” Taghreed would be fired on the spot.
