Whatever. Maybe you’ll actually do something when you get off your ass and not expect those who were the “loudest for Kareem” to do it.

I’m done with this thread.

And don’t give me this “pro” or “anti” shit. You’re the one making up a whole world of “West” vs “East” by claiming why the West supports one prisoner and not the other while of course, you never even started a campaign for those you think deserve the attention. Don’t you think that’s just a bit laughable? Do you even try?

2) What? This doesn’t even make any sense.

3) I think the fact that I dismiss these accusations pretty clearly shows my attitude towards them. I wouldn’t care about them if I didn’t think they were totally false. I was NOT justifying it, and it is because of accusations like this thrown out by you that even talking about the issues I raised is becoming a crime. This is a logical mistake by you in thinking that I am justifying these accusations.

4) No, I am not widening any gap at all. This is pure bullshit on your part, and I don’t know how you came up with that absurdity. Nor can I understand how it’s not glaringly obvious that support from foreign governments is shady and should not be accepted at face value. You think that government, whichever it might be, whether it’s Saudi Arabia talking about Palestine or the US talking about Karim, is actually doing this out of the goodness of its heart? Come on, this is the kind of naivety that will lead to disasters.

Of COURSE we are all human rights activists fighting for one cause, and I am NOT basing things on race and ethnicity AT ALL. But it is a HUGE and problematic mistake to pretend that nobody acting in this field can have other interests. Do you actually buy a single word that George Bush says about human rights and democracy?!? Are we so under his spell that we can’t add 2 and 2 together to see what is actually happening?

It seems that you’ve split the world into only 2 categories of “pro-Kareem” or “anti-Kareem.” I am saying that there are many more categories, and it is important and useful to look at all of them. Why you’ve decided to start this huge attack on me for things I haven’t even said is still a mystery to me. Seriously, calm down. This animosity is totally uncalled for and will be unproductive.

I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN, OR ABOUT KAREEM, I AM TALKING ABOUT ITS RECEPTION.

That is a direct result of the campaign and thus you are talking about the campaign and discrediting it from the work it does.

You are trying to make a false statement here saying “the free kareem campaign was received this way because….” NO. For the bajillionth time no one ever gave a shit about Kareem until people began forcing this case down the media’s throat until it reported it. THIS is why it was well received and widely publicized, NOT because of what Kareem said which IS the implication you are trying to make.

Here are the other ridiculous and baseless assumptions you make.

In the following quote you are expecting those who were the loudest for Kareem to do something about this professor while of course you yourself refuse to. So, we, the loudest for Kareem’s cause, are supposed to do something you are not willing to do yourself? We have THAT much time and energy? You think we are some damned NGO running around trying to free every political prisoner in the world? You said in the past you didn’t expect us to do this – yet here you are in this very post saying it.

Loudest for Kareem…. SILENT for another prisoner…. does that mean we have to be the loudest for all, even for cases some of us never heard of or could personally relate to?

At the same time, those who have been the loudest about Abdelkarim Soliman have managed to remain silent regarding the case of Professor Sami al-Arian, a Palestinian-American academic who has been in prison since 2003, despite being acquitted of all but two charges in 2005, the other two voted on by the jury 10-2 in favor of his innocence. All of this, in America.

Here’s a hint – start a website for him?

Another assumption -

And yet, those cases must earn the sympathy and attention of those who think themselves supporters of human rights and proponents of just societies, at all times. Otherwise we run the risk of being tools, willingly or unwillingly, rather than catalysts for change.

What did you do to earn the sympathy of the world? How do you expect these cases to ever earn the sympathy and attention of human rights activists worldwide if you yourself aren’t doing anything to mobilize them? Can you tell me? Do you think you magically gain an audience rather than earning it?

For one, the international and partisan component of these campaigns make it very easy for domestic opposition movements to be accused of the regimes of being pawns of foreign governments.

So instead of correcting these bad assumptions – you are actually justifying it and not making an attempt to prove that these aren’t “Western” or “Zionist” agents rallying for the cause of justice and not just for Kareem himself. Kareem in many ways speaks for all of us.

You are stating this comfortably, while those of us, Arab activists, who attend conferences worldwide are the ones being insulted, mocked, threatened and targeted because we are being accused of something that YOU are justifying, that YOU are telling us to feed. No, I will not feed these people’s stupidity by implying that anything remotely supported by Western NGOs is Western. I know you don’t believe it, but by saying “ignore this” instead of “fixing it” you are helping this mentality grow. I will not “localize” my campaigns and make them “for Arabs only.” This is for anyone who gives a shit about free speech. Everyone at all, no matter who or where or what your political background is, we accept all kinds of support and this is precisely what led to our success.

For activists, these discrepancies mean that the mobilization of international support or solidarity should not be considered a success or an end in and of itself. In fact, it seems that international solidarity–especially when it comes from foreign governments or others with vested interests–only complicates their situation.

Pure bullshit. You are widening the gap between “East” and “West.” Us and them. Enemies and victims. We are successful because we made our point, no matter what you think. They should be considered successful because they are widely known and Kareem’s case is mobilizing many Arab activists to speak up for justice and human rights. Yet here you are – implying that anything gaining international recognition and support is doomed to an “ideological failure” of some sort. Bullshit, this is a horrible way of thinking. You should never limit your audience or staff, ever. Involve the world in your struggle. This is how it should be.

Can you for once second admit that we are all human rights activists fighting for one cause (ensuring human rights for all) rather than basing things by race and ethnicity? Or would you rather promote racism and “US” vs. “THEM”? As well as shutting the outside world from our world?

I never accused the Free Kareem movement of being Western or of having a Western agenda. This is more defamation about what I’ve written and what I’ve suggested. Please show me one line from this post where I even HINT that the Free Kareem campaign is Western or serves a foreign agenda. Please do it. In fact, I say the complete opposite, and for the millionth time, I will clarify it one more time since reading is now a challenge: I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN, OR ABOUT KAREEM, I AM TALKING ABOUT ITS RECEPTION. Is that clear now?

Finally, I have NEVER said that people are justified in their beliefs, or that they have a point. I am explaining why they feel a certain way. If you are incapable of seeing the value of this exercise, then you live in a hopeless world where you can never interact with anybody that has a different perspective on the world than you do. How do you expect to convince somebody to change their mind if you don’t even understand their mind right now and why they have their beliefs? This step is so important when trying to argue to somebody–it’s almost fundamental. I’m amazed that you think this constitutes “justification.” I would repeat my earlier request for you to show me anything that I have written that says people are “justified” in entertaining conspiracy theories.

“Western”

And then you complain about the generalizations that people place upon Arabs. Because, obviously, all Western media outlets want one thing and are under the same political umbrella.

People have no reason to believe that this campaign has a “Western” agenda because a)

It’s not Western. It’s global, and b)

It’s led and is being funded by Arab-Muslims. So tell me what reason do they have not to believe this? Tell me why I shouldn’t blame them for being utterly blind and if I may add, stupid?

So there is no reason, and there is no justification for their beliefs, don’t try and cover up their stupidity by claiming that “they have a point,” I know you think they’re wrong but you should realize the fact that they are also misled.

I am sick and tired of these associations and even more sick of people trying to justify others having them. There is no reason to believe these things.

I realize you are in an uncomfortable position campaigning on behalf of somebody with very unpopular views in his country, and that you’re fed up with people accusing you of being Western agents or whatever else you’re hearing these days. But you have to understand that there is a reason why people are accusing you of those things (AND THEY ARE WRONG, OF COURSE), and that is because of the selective attention people in the West pay to prisoners and others in the Middle East. Read my post again. This is what I am talking about when I say that politicized solidarity is DANGEROUS because it poisons the discourse about prisoners and the campaigns surrounding them. Nobody who is genuinely working for human rights, like yourself, wants to be called a traitor, or a spy, or an agent, or something like that, when they are working to protect their freedoms. You know that this happens because you are experiencing that right now. I am suggesting it happens in part because of the politicization of the West’s attention. For example the State Department and other spokesmen issued condemnation after condemnation last week while the ‘elections’ were held in Syria–but you can be sure that few people took this seriously. “What does the White House have to say about elections in Saudi Arabia and Jordan,” they will ask, even though what was said is true (in both cases). This is the reality of the way people behave, and you should realize that. You cannot look at these things and ignore their context, because their context does have a meaning and an effect, today and in the future. All I am asking is that we pay attention to it.

That aside, a lot of what you have said is also wrong. Kareem’s case gained attention because of your efforts–which I agree with you are completely unique–but I was looking at the secondary question of why his case even has that potential. Do you really think the Muslim Brotherhood can get the same sympathy from the same people in the West as Abdelkarim even if your campaign is replicated? It is not just a matter of getting the information out there. People in America hear about Iraq all day long on the news, but everybody pretty much ignores this. As widely distributed as that information is, there is no cause attached to it. Even when people get information, like about Abdelkarim, they choose on their own what to accept and what to act on. I am asking why people in a completely foreign setting with no connection to Egypt whatsoever want to act on Abdelkarim and not others. Actually, it’s even more specific than that: it is not simply why they DON’T act on others (which is completely acceptable, you can’t handle every single issue in the world singlehandedly so there are many legitimate explanations for this) but why they WON’T.

That aside, I have no pretensions about the lack of effort and work I’ve put into supporting the Free Kareem campaign and others, or even the little progress I’ve made on my projects for those reasons and others. This is unfortunate, but at least I recognize it. I am not satisfied with the “stupid causes on some website” that I’m behind, but neither do I think that this is actually enough action.

Anyway, I don’t have much else to say about this. I just hope that you will take what I have written to be sincere and will re-read my original post to see that I haven’t said almost anything that you’ve attributed to me, nor does it fall into the conspiracy theory categories. Also, I hope that whatever is troubling you right now will pass soon and everything will return to normal.