1. From the brilliant Bosnian film "No Man's Land" (Danis Tanovic, 2001) - when the journalist was berating the UN officer:
"Neutrality does not exist in the face of murder. Doing nothing to stop it is, in fact, choosing. It is not being neutral."
2. And for the more erudite among you, a quote from Elie Wiesel:
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe."
That, and if you can only think in realpolitik terms - know that people remember those who stood by their side, and those who didn't.
PS - I haven't blogged since the Revolution and I apologize - I've been writing compulsively for the press. I'll post some links - and a long blog post. Promise!
3 comments:
but then you have to identify your victim and oppressor..
questions: could it be said in the ME that the people themselves neglected their own self development.. acquiessed for too long to the warped regimes.. and failed to drive progress at any level..
i am all for reform.. but (without judging in any way) i wonder what the people of egypt actually achieved by ousting moubarak in such a total way.. and whether or not they had otehr options that may have maintained higher levels of stability in their own country as well as the region.. or whether they suddenly became intoxicated by their suddenly discovered power and massacred the baby while they tipped out the water..
as was the case with tunisia when egypt errupted.. now that libya has stolen the lime light i hear little about egypt..
Right on! Was wondering why you weren't blogging a lot more on what's going on. Please post the links to your writings.
Ya Mohammed, I have been reading your blog for the past couple of years from over here in the US.
How great to see your commentary running in the NY Times! Keep it up!
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