From: "Xavier Pons" <pons-AT-univ-tlse2.fr>
Subject: RE: Tuesday's event; poco epistemology
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 21:25:17 +0200


Dear Bruce,
Much as I respect your opinion, I have to take issue with your post. I don't
think postcolonialism can be characterized as a period description, if only
because the phenomenon of colonialism, and its aftermath, are very much with
us today. Of course this is hard to realise when you're a citizen of the
only superpower left and everything seems OK with the world, until the
explosions start.
Yes, there is a definite connection between postcolonialism and an ideology
of resistance - that is the very point of postcolonial studies. You talk of
normalcy, and I guess normal here means Western, American. Sorry, but for
millions of people this is hardly normal (is it normal to have to live on
less than $2 a day? Is it normal to have a foreign army invade your town,
tear down your house,destroy your olive trees, your very livelihood, and
shoot your children because they dared to throw stones at the oppressor?
Hardly, I should think).
To move on to the subject of evil: of course the terrorist attacks were
evil - I'm not denying that. They cannot be condoned but we should try to
understand why the US became such a target, such an object of hatred.
American arrogance and selfishness, its putting its own, narrow interests
ahead of the interests of the rest of the world (do I have to go through the
litany - Kyoto, anti-personnel mines, the rights of children, racism, etc.?)
surely played a part in this. I think the Western world  (and in this I
include France, my own country) owes the Arab world an apology. We colonised
them, exploited them, used them as cannon fodder, and all they got out of
this was contempt, a reputation for animal savagery, and fanaticism, not to
mention being left to the tender mercies of despots deemed acceptable as
long as they served Western interests. Small wonder they feel they owe us no
thanks. I'm not of course blaming the victims of the attacks (by the way,
who coined the phrase 'collateral damage'?); I am truly appalled at the loss
of innocent lives. Justice must be done - but will justice be done by
reducing Afghanistan to rubble? Justice should take into account the
provocations under which the Arab world has had to live - and I mean the
Palestinians in particular. I cannot agree with your description of Edward
Said as someone full of 'vicious hatred' towards the US, Jews and Israel (if
only because a number of Jews agree with his view that what Israel has done,
and keeps on doing, to Palestinians, is tragically unfair).
Self-righteousness will get us nowhere. It is high time we started admitting
the West is not always right
Prof. Xavier Pons
Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail
pons-AT-univ-tlse2.fr <mailto:pons-AT-univ-tlse2.fr>





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