Suchergebnisse

This paper contends that the Zionist policies implemented by Israel had and continue to have a grave impact not only on the Palestinians in historic Palestine alone but also follows them in the diaspora, where some Palestinians have taken refuge. This article argues that Israel's apartheid regime, exposed by various international Human Rights Organizations, is not a recent discovery. Apartheid, the exclusion of the natives, and their racialization have accompanied the Zionist movement since its inception. Crucial questions raised in this paper include how Palestine and the Palestinians are conceived by Zionism, in and outside of Israel, and how they are perceived by the West, especially within the Canadian context. This paper pays special attention to comparing the experience of Palestinians with that of North America's Indigenous population, specifically concerning Israel's and Canada's colonial policies towards the Indigenous peoples. It also discusses the impact of Israel's policies of silencing and vilification that doggedly follow Palestinians into the diaspora: vilifications and silencing enacted by the Israel lobby through its various Zionist (Jewish) branches, whose primary role is to silence and vilify the Palestinians and curb criticism of Israel and Zionism. This policy, it is argued, is strongly supported by Canada, structurally, institutionally and through media propaganda.

This article provides a critical examination of Nawal El-Saadawi's work: work that articulates the academic, the activist, the experiential, and the literary production. It begins with my own positionality in the context of acquiring/accessing El-Saadawi's books, as I reflect on the education system I and over one and half million Palestinian citizens have and continue to endure, under Israel's settler colonial Apartheid regime. Living under a system of racialization, we, Palestinian citizens, were deprived of a decent education at home, and were prevented from any contact with our Arab heritage, in neighbouring Arab countries. This meant we did not have any access to books or any knowledge production, published in the Arab countries, especially if the products were critical of Israel. The irony is that the books we Palestinian citizens could not individually access were accessible at the University Libraries, hence, reaching much of the Arab literature relatively late. This article reviews El-Saadawi's writings within the social, cultural, political, and patriarchal structure of Egypt and the Arab Middle East. Two specific topics which El-Saadawi focused on, namely, infibulation and the veil will be focused on in this article. The discussion of these topics will be critically assessed within an anti-Orientalist, anti-imperialist feminist framework. ; N/A

Since September 11 and the war on terrorism, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the Arab world have acquired a special presence and weight, requiring critical analysis. The increase in NGOs just in the past few years—from an estimated 175,000 in 1995 to about 225,000 in 2003—has raised a number of issues and concerns among intellectuals and social activists alike. This is particularly true with regard to women's NGOs. Some of the issues raised relate to the rationale behind the mushrooming of this phenomenon, that is, whether it is a conscious product of local or national need or the result of external, more specifically, capitalist imperialist interest and pressures in the region, hence serving foreign agendas. At the macro level, questions are raised concerning the role of NGOs vis-à-vis the project of nation and state building, that is, whether this phenomenon plays a positive constructive or negative restrictive role in the nation-building project. In this context some authors perceive NGOs as a socially divisive force leading to the segmentation of the national movement, obliteration of the class struggle, and fragmentation of the social fabric, while others welcome this phenomenon and deem it an important contribution to national development and civil society and a tool for promoting citizenship rights. At a more local micro level of analysis, some concerns are raised regarding the function of the NGO, for example, as a project-driven organization with a limited, transitory role and hence with short-term goals and aims. Important criticisms raised at this level concern the social-cultural domain, where NGOs are seen as a tool of "cultural co-optation," a source of competition and social division vying for the same source of funding. Finally, the internal structure of NGOs, namely, the all-encompassing role of the "director," the lack of a grassroots base, and the absence of accessibility to ordinary people, constitutes another concern for some activists and academics alike. These are some of the ideas explored in this article.

A tribute to Edward Said's methodological & theoretical contributions of postcolonialism.