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February 1, 2010 Special Dispatch No. 2785

Arab Newspapers Debate Haiti Aid Efforts

February 1, 2010
Special Dispatch No. 2785

The international aid extended to Haiti following the January 12, 2010 earthquake evoked mixed reactions in the Arab press. While some articles criticized the Arab and Muslim world for extending only limited assistance to Haiti, others opined that the American relief efforts were not purely altruistic, but were aimed at reaping profit, economic and other.

It should be noted that 10 days after the quake, Saudi Arabia announced the donation of $50 million in aid to Haiti,[1] while other Arab countries pledged smaller sums, including Kuwait, which gave $3.5 million,[2] and the Qatari Red Crescent, which promised to donate 4 million Qatari riyals.[3]

Following are excerpts from several articles on the subject:

Palestinian Researcher: "The Absence of any Governmental or Non-Governmental Aid from the Arab and Muslim [Countries] to the Disaster-Stricken People of Haiti Is a Disgrace"

Palestinian researcher Khaled Hroub of Oxford University wrote an article in the daily Al-Hayat in which he condemned the Arab and Muslim countries for not rallying to Haiti's aid, describing this as a disgrace. He called on the Arabs to heed the plight of various nations around the world instead of focusing only on their own affairs:

"The absence of any governmental or non-governmental aid from the Arab and Muslim [countries] to the disaster-stricken people of Haiti is a disgrace in the fullest sense of the world. Most of the Arab governments displayed amazing impotence, and the rich Arabs inside and outside the Arab world, who spend millions on celebrations and silly shopping [sprees], were [likewise] absent [from the scene]... Even the Arab media... did not and does not ascribe enough importance to this disaster. [If it did], it could have increased public sensitivity to it and strengthened the feelings of solidarity and human [compassion for the victims]. After giving the burning news about the earthquake in the first few days, [it quickly stopped] reporting on the [quake] and its disastrous results."

"Our Twisted Religious Mind, [and Our Notions of Divine] Reward and Retribution, Have Inculcated [in Us] a Sick, Mechanical Way of Thinking that Leaves No Room for Any Human Feeling"

"[At that point], we started reading [instead] about the 'occupation' of Haiti by the U.S. military, which was sent there to protect the airport and help provide [the Haitians] with aid and security... Many Arab analysts [defended] Haiti's 'sovereignty' more zealously than the Haitians themselves or the [Haitian] government, which were begging for the help of the U.S. and the other world countries in keeping the country functioning, at least to a minimal extent, after the collapse that came with the quake.

"Readers on Arab news websites [wrote] sickening comments, [claiming, for example,] that Allah had punished this destitute country and its people for their corruption and debauchery... Our twisted religious mind, [and our notions of divine] reward and retribution, have inculcated [in us] a sick, mechanical way of thinking that leaves no room for any human feeling. This disgrace is merely [one characteristic] of what can be seen as our shameful Arab era..."

Interestingly, "All Those Who Wield the Sword against 'Imperialism'" Are Conspicuously Absent from the List of Aid Providers

"An interesting feature of the list [of countries that have extended relief to Haiti] is the absence of all those who wield the sword against 'imperialism.' Chavez, that fighting revolutionary, who speaks so much against the U.S. in Latin America, has not brought Venezuela into the list of countries offering aid... The help extended by Venezuela has been negligible, if not symbolic... The same is true for the symbolic aid extended by Iran... The absence of Muslim charity organizations in these [situations of] disaster is [likewise] a disgrace. All [we have seen] is some symbolic aid extended by charity organizations and semi-governmental organizations in Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, and Lebanon. These organizations' missionary and da'wa rhetoric is confined to helping Muslims, and they seem to respond only to Muslim pain. The pain of non-Muslims does not merit a reaction... The raucous statements and missionary and revolutionary rhetoric [of these organizations] seem to be in inverse proportion to their actions. The noise they produce comes to make up for their inaction...

"Some claim that the Arab aid should have been sent to Gaza, which is besieged from every direction, instead of to Haiti... This too is twisted logic that disrupts the [correct order of] priorities... The disaster that is the siege on Gaza, and the Arabs' role in perpetuating it, are a disgrace [in themselves]. The suffering of hundreds of thousands of Gazans under the Israeli and Western siege is [indeed] condemnable... The savage Israeli fire [directed against] Gaza in the recent war was the culmination of the oppressive siege, and it exacerbated the suffering of the Palestinians there. However, our solidarity [with the Gazans] must not eliminate our sensitivity for the catastrophes that befall others, especially when their plight is much worse than our own.

"The statistics show that there are 130 Haitians killed [in the quake] for every Palestinian killed in Gaza, and more than 200 homes collapsed in the quake for every home destroyed by the Israelis in Gaza. I have no intention whatsoever to belittle the suffering of the Gazans, but I do want us to open our eyes to the disasters of others [instead of] wallowing in sick, narcissistic feelings of victimhood. This is the same narcissism that characterizes the extremist right-wing Zionists, who trade in the Holocaust and want to confine the term 'victim' to Jews, so that nobody else may count as a victim..."[4]

Syrian Columnist: "[America's] Exploitation of the Haiti Earthquake to Gain Exclusive Control over the Fate of This Devastated Country Reveals Clear Colonialist Intentions"

A diametrically opposed view was expressed by columnist Dina Al-Hamed in the Syria government daily Al-Thawra, who accused the U.S. of trying to occupy Haiti and profit from the disaster: "America's announcement that it has committed half a billion dollars [in aid for Haiti], and its pressuring of its allies to provide [further] donations and aid through the Haiti Fund, supervised by George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, raise questions regarding the purpose of this aid and the way it is extended. It turns out that rescuing Haiti [is a lucrative business] for companies owned by or connected with American officials, which enables them to gain huge profits from this disaster-stricken land in the guise of saving [people] and helping them...

"The exploitation of the Haiti earthquake to gain exclusive control over the fate of this devastated country reveals clear colonialist intentions. The U.S. prevented ships and planes from all over the world, especially from Europe, from reaching Haiti – with the exception of the Israeli ships and planes that quickly arrived along with the American ones. Clearly, the goal is nothing but humanitarian, for the health and humanitarian situation [of the Haitians] is deteriorating, while human trafficking – especially trafficking in children – is continuing full force, and the acts of plundering and killing are multiplying, while the American troops deployed [in Haiti] do not lift a finger [to stop them]."[5]

Former Editor of Syrian Daily: "The Haitians Have Every Right to Fear the Armed American Aid that Has Landed [in Their Country] with Military Helicopters, Navies, and Marines"

'Issam Dari, former editor of the Syrian government daily Teshreen, wrote that he could understand the Haitians' fear of being occupied by the U.S.: "...The minute the residents of the White House heard the reports about the disaster that left tens of thousands dead and hundreds of thousands injured and homeless, they quickly cobbled together whatever they could, and sent [to Haiti] big planes full of armed soldiers, military helicopters, medical aid, and blankets. There was no choice but to undertake rapid 'rescue' operations, and that is why 12 military helicopters landed at the presidential palace, while [other] U.S. troops occupied the Port-au-Prince airport and 7,500 troops were deployed around the capital, the airport, and the sea port, in addition to 11,000 [other] troops that were deployed around the country...

"We find ourselves feeling empathy for these disaster-stricken people in their plight, and we completely understand their fears – because ancient, modern, and contemporary [history] gives all the peoples of the world cause for legitimate fears and concerns about the American military activity in this part of our planet. The saying that goes 'wherever the U.S. navy heads, there must be oil,' must be adapted to the reality of the 21st century, [because obtaining] oil is no longer the only goal of the American navy and army. The entire world is now their declared target.

"Before the start of the third millennium, American politicians and media used to say that 'the 21st century will be the American century,' [in which] the 'American dream' will come true. We have already seen the American Century ram Afghanistan, Iraq, Europe, etc., but all these [attacks] failed to achieve the goal in its entirety. Terrorism did not withdraw, the American-manufactured democracy did not spread throughout [the world], and security did not prevail in our planet. On the contrary, the outcome was exactly the opposite. Today's world is more [full of] threats and less safe, stable and prosperous, and terrorism has found fertile ground in which to thrive, grow and strike in every direction.

"Considering this frightening global scenario, the Haitians have every right to fear the armed American aid that has landed [in their country] with military helicopters, navies, and marines..."[6]

Endnotes:

[1] Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), January 26, 2010.

[2] Al-Jarida (Kuwait), January 28, 2010.

[3] Al-Raya (Qatar), January 18, 2010.

[4] Al-Hayat (London), January 23, 2010.

[5] Al-Thawra (Syria), January 26, 2010.

[6] Teshreen (Syria), January 26, 2010.

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