I agree with you as long as this outcome is not unexpected AND the strategy includes winning the war, not just the battles. That may in fact be the case, but as someone not very familiar with all this, I just can’t tell. Is that the case?

gary

if a single battle is won, have we really furthered the greater cause?

I may have misunderstood: are you asking, is it good to win a battle, if the enemy’s defeat will cause him to escalate his tactics? Yes, it is. You must expect the enemy to become more brutal as he becomes more desperate. However restrained his tactics may be now, the more successful you are in pushing him towards defeat the more viciously he will fight back.

The only way to avoid enduring the very worst your enemy can throw at you is to lose before that time.

I may have angered some of you for even asking such a question, but consider this first:

“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”
– Sun Tzu’s “Art of War”

I would say the same principle applies to social struggles. Analysis should not be neglected.

gary

And yeah, he may be considered suicidal for doing that. But it takes a lot of guts to do this knowing the risks, and doing it so openly that he puts his pictures, phone number, full name and address for the world to see, including the Egyptian authorities which obviously came with a big price.

This is not the first time he gets arrested and he knew it was going to happen again, that’s probably why he wrote as frequently as he did. To know his story in more detail read Mohamed Fadel’s document about him, where Kareem is interviewed. Anything and everything you need to know about Kareem is both in this document and on the campaign’s website. Familial details can be found in Fadel’s article (15 pages long, by the way.) It will help you explain why Kareem wrote about Islam and the political system in the manner that he did.

In any case, Kareem’s experience is an example of how REAL freedom seekers fight. This is why you all should campaign for his freedom. He’s not your average blogger and activist.

His words (and more importantly, his actions) show a person of great courage: did he choose to remain and be jailed to illustrate his point about the lack of free speech?

Esra’a, then the USA should have never been mentioned at all in this thread.

There is no reason why it shouldn’t be mentioned in this thread at least in passing.

It significantly supports Egypt, which is ruled by a dictatorship. It is thus playing a role in these crimes. It is not actively voicing concern or support for the increasing human rights violations happening there. All we are saying is that for the sake of decency, this is what it should do if it truly cares about human rights and political stability in the region. Unfortunately, it does not. This is what our exchange was about, no one was blaming what is happening in Egypt on the USA which is what you implied, and what I already addressed in another comment within this thread.

Also, I am talking about the filtering that occurs within each of us. Not this forum.

Anyway, I am not fighting you.

and my questions are what are we doing right now to secure his release

I linked our campaign for a reason, for those who want to read about what we are doing to secure his release the site has extensive information on how and what people can do in order to help.

As for the relevance of what I wrote, it wasn’t me who mentioned the USA and who is supporting Egypt. Look further up this thread. You can’t throw something out there and expect nobody to comment. We all can’t just filter out what we want to hear from the other comments.

It is factual information. The USA does support Egypt, the USA does supposedly support “freedom,” all the while supporting a dictatorship that puts the lives of innocent civilians in serious risk. However, and as the of the title entry suggests, this is about Kareem Amer’s letter. Not the USA. One little comment should not hijack an entire thread.

Secondly, no one is filtering what they “don’t want to hear.” I just simply want to stick to the topic I specifically raised, and no one seems to respect that right now.

As for the relevance of what I wrote, it wasn’t me who mentioned the USA and who is supporting Egypt. Look further up this thread. You can’t throw something out there and expect nobody to comment. We all can’t just filter out what we want to hear from the other comments.

Anyway, ma’asalama.

Esra’a, don’t get warped. If my comment rattled you, it shouldn’t. You asked me to bring something to the table and share my insights with the group, and I did. If you feel I am apathetic, then tell me so. I don’t mince words to curry favor or to stay in a postive light. Nothing was ever achieved by having a bunch of “yes” people who all agreed on the same things. Americans by and large do want peace in the Middle East, but I am sure that my statements of such are falling on deaf ears. Your feelings of America being self-serving and apathetic, it’s hard to separate the government from the people.

I don’t see the relevance of this to my comment, or actually this entire thread in general. I didn’t even imply that you were apathetic, but I would rather talk about Kareem right now than clarify what I think is already clear enough.

Not a single person in this thread with the exception of Murad actually referred to Kareem’s letter, which is what this thread is all about.

Did anyone here even bother reading it?

If America wasn’t supporting Egypt with billions of dollars each year, no one would care about America nor would anyone target it for help. But it does financially support Egypt, and it’s hypocritical for their administration to attack Iraq in the name of “freedom” when in fact it does not care for freedom at all.

I think that’s the paradox of US foreign policy. I do believe America cares. It does. However it ultimately cares about its own interests more than anything else. It’s contradictory but I’m not surprised.

Egypt will eventually be a country which completely embraces human rights – it’s only a matter of time. History will judge harshly anyone who stood in the way.

(My wife and I spent our honeymoon in Egypt – an amazing place! I only hope I can someday show my children Egypt. Here’s a pic from our trip: http://www.cliffhouseproject.com/pyramid.jpg)

gary

gary

Yeah, I hope Kareem writes again so that we can discuss how we can effectively get him out. The White Rose… I didn’t know anything about until I read about it here. That was some bravery for you!

Let’s hope Kareem writes again soon, so we can have another great discussion about the US!

For those who hadn’t heard of the White Rose until now, their wikipedia entry is quite good and completely accurate, so far as I can tell.

Esra’a, don’t get warped. If my comment rattled you, it shouldn’t. You asked me to bring something to the table and share my insights with the group, and I did. If you feel I am apathetic, then tell me so. I don’t mince words to curry favor or to stay in a postive light. Nothing was ever achieved by having a bunch of “yes” people who all agreed on the same things. Americans by and large do want peace in the Middle East, but I am sure that my statements of such are falling on deaf ears. Your feelings of America being self-serving and apathetic, it’s hard to separate the government from the people.

I think I’ve said enough on my point of view. As for Kareem, I will work with people for his release, even if it amounts to nothing.

My answer to your question (1) is: No and No. The ignorance and apathy on foreign policy issues is as vast as our Grand Canyon. And it spreads “from sea to shiny sea”. Americans tend to be much more knowledgable about sports and Hollywood gossip. At least this is my unscientific experience. And mind you, I live in one of the more progressive parts of the nations (San Francisco bay area).

——————————————————–

Dawoud,

Again Esra’s reply said it best. My own comment is this…

Think about it, if the USA stopped funding Egypt, what do you think would happen?

I’m fully aware of the consequences. I still want my own country to do the right thing, regardless of what other countries do. If that means losing business and political influence, so be it. In the long run doing the right thing, championing human rights, will gain us influence. And respect. Wow…we’re a long way from that, aren’t we…

gary

Think about it, if the USA stopped funding Egypt, what do you think would happen?

It’s out of the question, I don’t think anyone here is naive enough to believe that the USA wants peace in the Middle East. It’s not getting involved with our governments for peace, nor is it paying dictatorships to spread the ideas of freedom and human rights. It’s all about money, political security, natural resources and private gains. It isn’t and has never been about us, the people. We’re just chess pieces for the masters at play.

Why else did so many activists already give up? The leaders won’t listen, the people are too scared to talk and the risks are too huge to face. It’s sad and it’s dangerous, but at the end of the day someone’s gotta do it. No one says we’re trying to be heroes, but apathy is a disease and is in dire need of a cure within the Middle East. Everyone has to act, and if enough people do, positive change will really be achieved.

1. Gary this question is for you… Is your view popular amongst Americans? Are they generally aware of where their tax money is going?

2. I just read all of Kareem’s letters from prison, the ones in Arabic only, I really admire his courage for continuing his fight. It can’t be easy but he’s doing it despite all the risks involved. I wonder if he will remain this active 3 years from now?

gary

As for America not doing enough for human rights issues, America is not to blame for everything.

If America wasn’t supporting Egypt with billions of dollars each year, no one would care about America nor would anyone target it for help. But it does financially support Egypt, and it’s hypocritical for their administration to attack Iraq in the name of “freedom” when in fact it does not care for freedom at all.

It is very important that I emphasize this:

We are not blaming America for what happened to Kareem – we are suggesting that they stop supporting dictatorships if they really wish to support our human rights in this region.