: missing pieces. As you should expect by now, stunning in every way.
Archives for September 2001
Caterina Fake
: “From my friend Maura, a letter from Tamim Ansary, an Afghani-American writer.” A very important piece to read.
From Parliament Hill in Ottawa
: At times like this, Canada and the US are, “not only like neighbours, but like family.”
Dave Winer
: Palestinians.
My quirky translation: These are tragic, frustrating times. It’s also an opportunity to do right by our neighbours – all of our neighbours. The stakes? As I wrote elsewhere:
History will judge the perpetrators of this, as will (likely)
military or other action judge them. What has happened is horrific, and deeply
sad. And without justification in any way.But history will also judge us all, as individuals and collectively,
in our reactions. If we start painting all arabs or muslims with the
terrorist brush – we will, and should, be judged harshly for that. If
we let mindless aggression get the better of us, whether in our
governments or as individuals – we will, and should, be judged
harshly for that.
Tom Coates
says it’s not enough simply to mourn. I wish it were otherwise, but I agree with him entirely on this point. We are in the midst of a period of extreme danger, and thinking, feeling people must gather up the strength to fight all forces who would use this for their shallow, fundamentalist, outrageous political goals.
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have already blamed this on gays and lesbians and a general moral lassitude in the US (and presumably in the West in general). This is absolutely wrong, and although we may hurt, we cannot just let objectionable, fundamentalist views such as that to slide without remark.
Many people (Jish being but one) are reporting mistreatment of people who are or are taken to be Arabs. This is unconscionable, and if you’re a thinking person, you know it’s unacceptable. Do something about it, if you are a witness to such behaviour.
As we speak, politicians are meeting to discuss serious curbs on speech that are certainly unwise and arguably unconstitutional. Like the Son of Star Wars in the military arena, laws such as this would do little do deal with any security problems leading up to a tragedy such as the one this week – and yet, liberty will likely come under attack though little, if any, evidence has been or will be put forward to justify these laws.
It is a time to mourn and grieve. It is also a time to speak out, and to act.
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