To Joshua Hacohen: Two Wrongs Do Not Make A Right [Archives:2001/19/Focus]

COMMON SENSE
By: Hassan Al-Haifi
To start with, I would like to make it clear that what this column contains is solely the effort and thinking of its author and is not guided by any instructions, from either the owners of this paper or the Government of the Republic of Yemen. Moreover, this paper is well recognized for its independence and maverick reporting, and the Pulitzer Prize was given to it in recognition of its democratic idealism and independent coverage of events, without submitting to any influence, whether official or unofficial.
The YT also welcomes comments from its readers wherever they are and notwithstanding the informal official interest they have in “following comments on the political situations”, which to me sounds like obvious undercover work of some kind directly or indirectly linked to the International Zionist Establishment. Surely Mr. Hacohen’s response to the article “What Zionism is All About”, is not driven by “interest” alone, but rather a deep sense that what was entailed in the article mentioned touches the soft spot of Zionist hearts, if we can assume that such soft spots do exist in the Zionist mentality, which is based on hatred, arrogance and a lack of respect of all ethical and moral standards ordained over time.
While much of what Hacohen says should be considered hogwash, when viewed in the context of what Common Sense had to say, which Hacohen could not find any way of repudiating, except by delving into nonsense that was out of context and surely irrelevant to the issue dealt with by the Common Sense article.
On the other hand, we have heard all about the “wonderful democracy” that Israel likes to project itself as being. When such a democracy could only find a butcher like Sharon to rule it and a bigamist like “Rabbi Yousef to lead one of its important political parties, then we wonder how the claim to democracy and high moral standards comes from? In any case, we understand that the Common Sense article cited by Mr. Hacohen, was surely bound to be disturbing to the Zionist establishment because such material is not the kind of stuff that this establishment wishes to see in anything that can be read by Westerners, because it goes against all the lies and misrepresentations that the Zionist Establishment has depended upon to mislead the West in its views on Israel and the hogwash myths which the Israeli founders and supporters thrive on for their cause d’être.
On the other hand, we wish to assure our friendly foe that we in the Yemen Times need no prodding to express our disgust at the mischievous Zionist machine, and if there is any prodding that we are subjected to, it really comes from the Israelis themselves, by their continuous inhumane – not so neighborly treatment – of our brethren in Palestine, to say the least, which is now witnessed daily over the satellite television channels, and by the demagoguery preached by the likes of Rabbi Yousef, not to mention their naïve belief that they can go on lying to the rest of the world forever about their good intents and upholding of democratic ideals.
As for the situation in the Arab World, we can assure Hacohen that if he had been following Common Sense for some time, as well as the Yemen Times, he will find that we have no comfort as to where the Arab World stands politically and have been outspoken in this regard, without fear of repression or being silenced, even though such threats are ominous. We are professional journalists that are guided by principles and strongly advocate the cause of democracy and the establishment of democratic institutions to manage our country’s affairs, and are not in any way connected with the institutions of existing Arab political regimes, whether in Yemen or elsewhere in the Arab World, which has earned the Yemen Times its distinctive character of true independent journalism that takes into consideration only the public interest and the public aspirations of the Yemeni and Arab people, wherever they are, while at the same time not forgetting also our important spiritual links to all the Moslem Nation.
As for Yemen being “far away” from the “conflict zone”, that might be something you ought to be thankful for, for if Yemen and the Yemenis were near that conflict zone, I can assure you that the likes of Sharon and Rabbi Yousef will be having sleepless nights trying to figure out how to overcome the fighting spirit and stamina of the Yemenis and the inability of the Zionist machine to make any headway against a people who despise suppression and conquest, as history clearly showed, and who hold a strong sympathy for the suffering that their brothers in Palestine are undergoing by the Zionist mob that has been allowed to enter our midst. You should also bear in mind that had it not been for the blind support of the global superpower, Israel may not be where it is today, if not out of the map altogether. The American people are bound to question their position in the area, once the American people become aware that their government’s policy in the Middle East is worthy of a serious review, as their interest would dictate accordingly and in view of the lies and misrepresentations by which the creation and existence of Israel is being projected, not to mention that American tax dollars are being spent to support a demagogic bigamist machine that thrives on the blood of its victims and the arrogance of muscle, without any regard to moral implications, which is surely not in line with the paramount fundamental basis for advocating democracy and human rights.
If there is one thing that can be assured of, it is that in time the Arab World will not stay as it is and that the Arabs in the street have a whole different conception on how their affairs should be managed and how an enemy like the Zionist state should be dealt with than the perceptions of their rulers, wherever they are. In fact you might consider Israel lucky for the Arabs not yet being developed politically in keeping with the true aspirations of the Arabs at the grassroots level and it would not be far fetched to say that Israel and the Zionist lobby works diligently to insure that the status quo of the Arabs politically is maintained, for things would be quite different otherwise, both for Israel and the rest of the world.
Mind you these are the sole comments of the author and are indeed the reflections of his beliefs and visualizations of the situation in Palestine and in the rest of the Arab World.
Please do maintain your interest in Common Sense and the YT, and you will be surprised at how much we can say and what we can write.

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