Interesting comments reader posted in a major non-us newspaper.
News "Cabinet rejects IDF call to expand war"
Talkbacks:
11. Politicians the problem
Darren - USA
07/27/2006 13:55
The politicians need to get out of the way and let the IDF prosecute this war. Sometimes the politicians are more the problem than the solution. Give war a chance!
13. Air Power and Civilians
Michael - USA
07/27/2006 14:00
Use the air power and bomb the village to smithereens. The civilians who remain are not more worthy of life than our boys. It is wrong to risk the lives of Jewish boys for the remaining civilians who hate us and wish us dead anyway. Bring overwhelming air power and blow the terrorists out of their lairs.
14. Do not send soldiers, strike form the air.
Mila - Finland
07/27/2006 14:02
IDF needs to strike this village from the air, not sending it's soldiers on the grownd. You try to rescue civilians and as the result Israely soldiers get killed. These civilians have taked the cide with hisbullah, that mens they need to pay the price. It is wrong to rescue the ones who take side with hisbullah and have Israely soldiers die on the ground.
15. security
catherine adam - USA
07/27/2006 14:04
Please do not commit the same mistake as the US did and does; not to follow the lesson learns during WWII: 'overhelming force'. If we are concern what the 'people' are saying Israel is doomed. Please be note, that we Jews will be hated anuhow. ONLY if we show strenght will be we saved.
19. Change the tactics
Rudik - Australia
07/27/2006 14:15
I do believe in trying to minimise the civilian casualties (so called collateral damage). And I really cannot describe my feelings when I learned that so many fine young Israeli warriors lost their lives during the battle, trying to avoid the Lebanese civilians being harmed at the expense of their own lives. What I do not understand is why Israel cannot do what it quite successfully performed in the southern Beirut - warn the locals of the imminent strike (a few times) and then
level the villages with all the terrorists in them.
24. Security Canbinet Opposes Expanded Ground Operation
Joe Farbowitz - USA
07/27/2006 14:50
When will Israel learn that the only way to make their Arab enemies understand and respect the IDF is to hit them hard, very hard, when given the opportunity to so. When a cancerous tumor exists it must be completely removed ( including surrounding tissue) or it will grow back-perhaps larger and more agressive. Hasn't 58 years of fighting the Arabs taught them anything?
25. This might be a major mistake
Bernard Ross - jamaica
07/27/2006 14:56
If Hezbullah is not soundly beaten before a cease fire is declared those htat died may have died
in vain. As civilians have been warned to leave south lebanon buildings should be leveled prior
to
IDF gioing into villages. It is important that the enemies of Israel see that Israel is willing
to
make massive retaliations causing great loss. Without great loss there will be no lesson learned.
The japanese became US ally after hisroshima.
29. Protecting Lebanese civilians costing Israeli lives
Bernard Ross - jamaica
07/27/2006 15:01
" Bint Jbail could not be attacked by air since there were still several hundred civilians there.
This is wrong, civilians have been warned, level the buildings first. Lebanese civilians are
hezbullah they are all one. They are sending rockets to kill Israeli civilians. The enemy cannot
be protected at expense of Israelis in order to satisfy the EU supporters of the murderers of
Jews.
36. THERE ARE NO "CIVILIANS" IN BINT JABAIL
Steve
07/27/2006 15:39
What is this reluctance in attacking by air. The civilians were given ample time and several days
to evacuate. Those that didn't are responsible for their persons, not us. Devastate the villiage
and spare our ground forces!
43. Civilians
Harold - USA
07/27/2006 15:54
You are receiving rockets on your civilian population and you're worried about the civilians in
Bint Jbail. The civilians in Bint Jbail are your enemy. Wake up.
44. Ari #21 and Uzi # 23 are right !
John from Northern Ireland
07/27/2006 15:55
Israel's leaders need to get real. They need to bring out everything in the arsenal to smash
Hezbollah. If that means carpet bombing Bint Jbail, so be it. Napalm the Hezbollah positions,
level the entire town - but stop wasting Israeli lives playing to world opinion.
49. dumb misstakes of idf
david - holland
07/27/2006 16:06
Damn, i don't get it! Why sacrifice our soldiers for some people who willingly serve as a shield
and are thus allies of hezbollah? Is that really true?? That idf deliberately sacrifices their
own
people to rescue this hezbollah allies? That's the most retarded tactics ever. And after that
they
shoot some UN people, to make sure that we do not only get killed, but get hated in the same
instance. I'd say do as the u.s. if you know where the terrorists are, flatten them from the air.
And civilians that die in the process, well i'm sure they'll be happy to meet the countless
virgins undoubtedly waiting for them
50. Delay at Israel's peril
Zachary Walusimbi - Uganda
07/27/2006 16:09
Russions tried the first time, failed with so may casualities in war against the Chechen rebels.
Second time, they had learnt. Take advantage of massive fire power against these international
lawness organisations. They won. Israel needs to do just that. Level villages and town after
warning civilians to free. Time is not on Israel's side as international pressure is mounting.
58. I agree with Mr.Ross
michael bergin - USA
07/27/2006 16:28
I completely agree with Bernard. While both Israel and the US continue to take civilian casulties
our enemies hide within civilian populations. In the case of the battle of Bint Jbail you drop
warnings and then you drop bombs. When the village is gone you move on to the next with the same
startegy not allowing IDF forces to be killed. By the time you get to the third village ... no
one
will be there as they will get the message. It sounds hash and inhuman but the enemy has no rules
and are fanatics willing and wanting to kill every citizen of Israel and the US. We are making
the
same mistake in Iraq with the same results. God bless Israel!
65. Tactical Mistake
Tadeu Mendes - USA
07/27/2006 16:42
With due respect to the IDF soldiers and their loss of life in this operation, I think it was a
mistake to send infantry troops to an area where the enemy is willing to die at any cost. If the
IAF bombed Beirut, why not carpet bomb Bint Jbail and then enter the area and finish the job.
69. Israel must obliterate Southern Lebanon
Hector-Michael - Canada
07/27/2006 16:45
By luring Israeli troops into their rat-holes, Hezbollah is scoring big time. Guerrilla warfare
is
the downfall of any army that follows an enemy into its ground turf. In the case of Israel in
Southern Lebanon, the enemy has been preparing deadly traps for years. Now it has lured Israel to
fight in the ground, and Israel has fallen for it. The results are Jewish lives been wasted in
death traps that can be bombed from the air. Why is Israel sending its soldiers into those traps,
is beyond me. Israel gave plenty of warning urging the civilian population to get out of the war
zone. If civilians are still there, it can be assumed they are part of what they call resistance.
That makes them the enemy too. Israel, your troops are the cream of the crop of Jewish youth.
Stop
wasting them for the sake of Muslim garbage. Hezbollah is cancer and will only be stopped by
annihilation. That s what they want for you. So give it to them now while you are in control! It
ll only take one bomb!
74. Change tactics. #19 Rudic
Kathy
07/27/2006 16:55
Rudic Well,they did warn the inhabitants and even with fliers. You must understand that they are
all part and parcel of Hisbullah also paticularly this town with I believe of 25.000 are all
Hizbullah followers.That is one of the reasons that our boys have encountered the fierce counter
attacks. Well,if that is the case,I think it is the life of our servicemen and our civilians
getting pounded daily by the missiles that should be concidered more importantly and if those
civilians who aid and abbet are killed is something that should not deter us from finish them
off!
Civilians or not,THEY ARE ALL TERRORISTS AGAINST ISRAEL. THIS SHOULD BE OUR OBJECTIVE AND DAMN
THEM TO HELL...
83. don't be so nice
n
07/27/2006 17:23
Israel has to learn something-the world hates us whether we act humanely or not. That being said,
it is time for the IDF to pick some towns that are hizbollah strongholds and turn them into
modern
day Dresdens, ala the Allied bombing there in 1945. Sure, the UN and all the other predictable
anti Israel, liberal coddle-the-terrorist-till-he-cuts-your-throat crowd will howl and scream,
but
maybe Hizbollah and their ilk will sit up and realize that we will destroy them even if they hide
behind women and children in hospitals and schools. And when the Arab on the street wakes up to
such a reality, watch how quickly they rise up and destroy terror from their midst and stop
bellyaching about how they can't take out the terror because of fear of a civil war.
86. Attack on all fronts
Rob - U.S.A.
07/27/2006 17:24
Israel has our full support. Attack by air and land. You must win this fight and eliminate the
ruthless enemy. Use tactics that will save Israeli soldiers regardless of the collateral damage.
Now that al-Qaeda says they support Hezbullah & will attack again, it is WW III. Take them out.
111. Destroy the enemy once and for all
Michael Walter - Canada
07/27/2006 19:17
I am a grade seven boy from Canada. My dad says it is okay for me to send you this letter. I love
Israel very much and would hate to see your soldiers die for the sake of stupid terrorists.
Israel, don t send your soldiers into a hellhole just to be killed by evil men full of hatred.
Your soldiers are the best in the world; no offense to America. Just drop a bomb in their place,
and problem solved! Blow those cowards out of their hiding places. God bless Israel!
118. Playing nice wont win wars
RA
07/27/2006 19:45
Israel needs to stop worrying about "civilians" and do the job right! As far as public relations
is concerned, it wont matter anyways. If Israel kills 10 civlians or 100000, Israel will always
have a negative PR in the antisemitic world. The IDF just needs to do the job no matter what.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Arundhati Roy on Palestinian / Israeli Conflict
An interesting & informative video.
http://www.weroy.org/video_middle_east.shtml
"Either way, change will come. It could be bloody, or it could be beautiful. It depends on us."
- Arundhati Roy
http://www.weroy.org/video_middle_east.shtml
"Either way, change will come. It could be bloody, or it could be beautiful. It depends on us."
- Arundhati Roy
On the US-Israeli Invasion of Lebanon -- Noam Chomsky
(http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20060819.htm)
On the US-Israeli Invasion of Lebanon
Noam Chomsky
Al-Adab, August 19, 2006
Though there are many interacting factors, the immediate issue that lies behind the latest US-Israeli invasion of Lebanon remains, I believe, what it was in the four preceding invasions: the Israel-Palestine conflict. In the most important case, the devastating US-backed 1982 Israeli invasion was openly described in Israel as a war for the West Bank, undertaken to put an end to annoying PLO calls for a diplomatic settlement (with the secondary goal of imposing a client regime in Lebanon). There are numerous other illustrations. Despite the many differences in circumstances, the July 2006 invasion falls generally into the same pattern.
Among mainstream American critics of Bush administration policies, the favored version is that “We had always approached [conflict between Israel and its neighbors] in a balanced way, assuming that we could be the catalyst for an agreement,” but Bush II regrettably abandoned that neutral stance, causing great problems for the United States (Middle East specialist and former diplomat Edward Walker, a leading moderate). The actual record is quite different: For over 30 years, Washington has unilaterally barred a peaceful political settlement, with only slight and brief deviations.
The consistent rejectionism can be traced back to the February 1971 Egyptian offer of a full peace treaty with Israel, in the terms of official US policy, offering nothing for the Palestinians. Israel understood that this peace offer would put an end to any security threat, but the government decided to reject security in favor of expansion, then mostly into northeastern Sinai. Washington supported Israel’s stand, adhering to Kissinger’s principle of “stalemate”: force, not diplomacy. It was only 8 years later, after a terrible war and great suffering, that Washington agreed to Egypt’s demand for withdrawal from its territory.
Meanwhile the Palestinian issue had entered the international agenda, and a broad international consensus had crystallized in favor of a two-state settlement on the pre-June 1967 border, perhaps with minor and mutual adjustments. In December 1975, the UN Security Council agreed to consider a resolution proposed by the Arab “confrontation states” with these provisions, also incorporating the basic wording of UN 242. The US vetoed the resolution. Israel’s reaction was to bomb Lebanon, killing over 50 people in Nabatiye, calling the attack “preventive” – presumably to “prevent” the UN session, which Israel boycotted.
The only significant exception to consistent US-Israeli rejectionism was in January 2001, when Israeli and Palestinian negotiators came close to agreement in Taba. But the negotiations were called off by Israeli Prime Minister Barak four days early, ending that promising effort. Unofficial but high-level negotiations continued, leading to the Geneva Accord of December 2002, with similar proposals. It was welcomed by most of the world, but rejected by Israel and dismissed by Washington (and, reflexively, the US media and intellectual classes).
Meanwhile US-backed Israeli settlement and infrastructure programs have been “creating facts on the ground” in order to undermine potential realization of Palestinian national rights. Throughout the Oslo years, these programs continued steadily, with a sharp peak in 2000: Clinton’s final year, and Barak’s. The current euphemism for these programs is “disengagement” from Gaza and “convergence” in the West Bank – in Western rhetoric, Ehud Olmert’s courageous program of withdrawal from the occupied territories. The reality, as usual, is quite different.
The Gaza “disengagement” was openly announced as a West Bank expansion plan. Having turned Gaza into a disaster area, sane Israeli hawks realized that there was no point leaving a few thousand settlers taking the best land and scarce resources, protected by a large part of the IDF. It made more sense to send them to the West Bank and Golan Heights, where new settlement programs were announced, while turning Gaza into “the world’s largest prison,” as Israeli human rights groups accurately call it. West Bank “Convergence” formalizes these programs of annexation, cantonization, and imprisonment. With decisive US support, Israel is annexing valuable lands and the most important resources of the West Bank (primarily water), while carrying out settlement and infrastructure projects that divide the shrinking Palestinian territories into unviable cantons, virtually separated from one another and from whatever pitiful corner of Jerusalem will be left to Palestinians. All are to be imprisoned as Israel takes over the Jordan Valley, and of course any other access to the outside world.
All of these programs are recognized to be illegal, in violation of numerous Security Council resolutions and the unanimous decision of the World Court any part of the "separation wall" that is built to “defend” the settlements is “ipso facto” illegal (U.S. Justice Buergenthal, in a separate declaration). Hence about 80-85% of the wall is illegal, as is the entire “convergence” program. But for a self-designated outlaw state and its clients, such facts are minor irrelevancies.
Currently, the US and Israel demand that Hamas accept the 2002 Arab League Beirut proposal for full normalization of relations with Israel after withdrawal in accord with the international consensus. The proposal has long been accepted by the PLO, and it has also been formally accepted by the “supreme leader” of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has made it clear that Hezbollah would not disrupt such an agreement if it is accepted by Palestinians. Hamas has repeatedly indicated its willingness to negotiate in these terms.
The facts are doctrinally unacceptable, hence mostly suppressed. What we see, instead, is the stern warning to Hamas by the editors of the New York Times that their formal agreement to the Beirut peace plan is “an admission ticket to the real world, a necessary rite of passage in the progression from a lawless opposition to a lawful government.” Like others, the NYT editors fail to mention that the US and Israel forcefully reject this proposal, and are alone in doing so among relevant actors. Furthermore, they reject it not merely in rhetoric, but far more importantly, in deeds. We see at once who constitutes the “lawless opposition” and who speaks for them. But that conclusion cannot be expressed, even entertained, in respectable circles.
The only meaningful support for Palestinians facing national destruction is from Hezbollah. For this reason alone it follows that Hezbollah must be severely weakened or destroyed, just as the PLO had to be evicted from Lebanon in 1982. But Hezbollah is too deeply embedded within Lebanese society to be eradicated, so Lebanon too must be largely destroyed. An expected benefit for the US and Israel was to enhance the credibility of threats against Iran by eliminating a Lebanese-based deterrent to a possible attack. But none of this turned out as planned. Much as in Iraq, and elsewhere, Bush administration planners have created catastrophes, even for the interests they represent. That is the primary reason for the unprecedented criticism of the administration among the foreign policy elite, even before the invasion of Iraq.
In the background lie more far-reaching and lasting concerns: to ensure what is called “stability” in the reigning ideology. “Stability,” in simple words, means obedience. “Stability” is undermined by states that do not strictly follow orders, secular nationalists, Islamists who are not under control (in contrast, the Saudi monarchy, the oldest and most valuable US ally, is fine), etc. Such “destabilizing” forces are particularly dangerous when their programs are attractive to others, in which case they are called “viruses” that must be destroyed. “Stability” is enhanced by loyal client states. Since 1967, it has been assumed that Israel can play this role, along with other “peripheral” states. Israel has become virtually an off-shore US military base and high-tech center, the natural consequence of its rejection of security in favor of expansion in 1971, and repeatedly since. These policies are subject to little internal debate, whoever holds state power. The policies extend world-wide, and in the Middle East, their significance is enhanced by one of the leading principles of foreign policy since World War II (and for Britain before that): to ensure control over Middle East energy resources, recognized for 60 years to be “a stupendous source of strategic power” and “one of the greatest material prizes in world history.”
The standard Western version is that the July 2006 invasion was justified by legitimate outrage over capture of two Israeli soldiers at the border. The posture is cynical fraud. The US and Israel, and the West generally, have little objection to capture of soldiers, or even to the far more severe crime of kidnapping civilians (or of course to killing civilians). That had been Israeli practice in Lebanon for many years, and no one ever suggested that Israel should therefore be invaded and largely destroyed. Western cynicism was revealed with even more dramatic clarity as the current upsurge of violence erupted after Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, on June 25. That too elicited huge outrage, and support for Israel's sharp escalation of its murderous assault on Gaza. The scale is reflected in casualties: in June, 36 Palestinian civilians were killed in Gaza; in July, the numbers more than quadrupled to over 170, dozens of them children. The posture of outrage was, again, cynical fraud, as demonstrated dramatically, and conclusively, by the reaction to Israel's kidnapping of two Gaza civilians, the Muamar brothers, one day before, on June 24. They disappeared into Israel's prison system, joining the hundreds of others imprisoned without charge -- hence kidnapped, as are many of those sentenced on dubious charges. There was some brief and dismissive mention of the kidnapping of the Muamar brothers, but no reaction, because such crimes are considered legitimate when carried out by “our side.” The idea that this crime would justify a murderous assault on Israel would have been regarded as a reversion to Nazism.
The distinction is clear, and familiar throughout history: to paraphrase Thucydides, the powerful are entitled to do as they wish, while the weak suffer as they must.
We should not overlook the progress that has been made in undermining the imperial mentality that is so deeply rooted in Western moral and intellectual culture as to be beyond awareness. Nor should we forget the scale of what remains to be achieved, tasks that must be undertaken in solidarity and cooperation by people in North and South who hope to see a more decent and civilized world.
On the US-Israeli Invasion of Lebanon
Noam Chomsky
Al-Adab, August 19, 2006
Though there are many interacting factors, the immediate issue that lies behind the latest US-Israeli invasion of Lebanon remains, I believe, what it was in the four preceding invasions: the Israel-Palestine conflict. In the most important case, the devastating US-backed 1982 Israeli invasion was openly described in Israel as a war for the West Bank, undertaken to put an end to annoying PLO calls for a diplomatic settlement (with the secondary goal of imposing a client regime in Lebanon). There are numerous other illustrations. Despite the many differences in circumstances, the July 2006 invasion falls generally into the same pattern.
Among mainstream American critics of Bush administration policies, the favored version is that “We had always approached [conflict between Israel and its neighbors] in a balanced way, assuming that we could be the catalyst for an agreement,” but Bush II regrettably abandoned that neutral stance, causing great problems for the United States (Middle East specialist and former diplomat Edward Walker, a leading moderate). The actual record is quite different: For over 30 years, Washington has unilaterally barred a peaceful political settlement, with only slight and brief deviations.
The consistent rejectionism can be traced back to the February 1971 Egyptian offer of a full peace treaty with Israel, in the terms of official US policy, offering nothing for the Palestinians. Israel understood that this peace offer would put an end to any security threat, but the government decided to reject security in favor of expansion, then mostly into northeastern Sinai. Washington supported Israel’s stand, adhering to Kissinger’s principle of “stalemate”: force, not diplomacy. It was only 8 years later, after a terrible war and great suffering, that Washington agreed to Egypt’s demand for withdrawal from its territory.
Meanwhile the Palestinian issue had entered the international agenda, and a broad international consensus had crystallized in favor of a two-state settlement on the pre-June 1967 border, perhaps with minor and mutual adjustments. In December 1975, the UN Security Council agreed to consider a resolution proposed by the Arab “confrontation states” with these provisions, also incorporating the basic wording of UN 242. The US vetoed the resolution. Israel’s reaction was to bomb Lebanon, killing over 50 people in Nabatiye, calling the attack “preventive” – presumably to “prevent” the UN session, which Israel boycotted.
The only significant exception to consistent US-Israeli rejectionism was in January 2001, when Israeli and Palestinian negotiators came close to agreement in Taba. But the negotiations were called off by Israeli Prime Minister Barak four days early, ending that promising effort. Unofficial but high-level negotiations continued, leading to the Geneva Accord of December 2002, with similar proposals. It was welcomed by most of the world, but rejected by Israel and dismissed by Washington (and, reflexively, the US media and intellectual classes).
Meanwhile US-backed Israeli settlement and infrastructure programs have been “creating facts on the ground” in order to undermine potential realization of Palestinian national rights. Throughout the Oslo years, these programs continued steadily, with a sharp peak in 2000: Clinton’s final year, and Barak’s. The current euphemism for these programs is “disengagement” from Gaza and “convergence” in the West Bank – in Western rhetoric, Ehud Olmert’s courageous program of withdrawal from the occupied territories. The reality, as usual, is quite different.
The Gaza “disengagement” was openly announced as a West Bank expansion plan. Having turned Gaza into a disaster area, sane Israeli hawks realized that there was no point leaving a few thousand settlers taking the best land and scarce resources, protected by a large part of the IDF. It made more sense to send them to the West Bank and Golan Heights, where new settlement programs were announced, while turning Gaza into “the world’s largest prison,” as Israeli human rights groups accurately call it. West Bank “Convergence” formalizes these programs of annexation, cantonization, and imprisonment. With decisive US support, Israel is annexing valuable lands and the most important resources of the West Bank (primarily water), while carrying out settlement and infrastructure projects that divide the shrinking Palestinian territories into unviable cantons, virtually separated from one another and from whatever pitiful corner of Jerusalem will be left to Palestinians. All are to be imprisoned as Israel takes over the Jordan Valley, and of course any other access to the outside world.
All of these programs are recognized to be illegal, in violation of numerous Security Council resolutions and the unanimous decision of the World Court any part of the "separation wall" that is built to “defend” the settlements is “ipso facto” illegal (U.S. Justice Buergenthal, in a separate declaration). Hence about 80-85% of the wall is illegal, as is the entire “convergence” program. But for a self-designated outlaw state and its clients, such facts are minor irrelevancies.
Currently, the US and Israel demand that Hamas accept the 2002 Arab League Beirut proposal for full normalization of relations with Israel after withdrawal in accord with the international consensus. The proposal has long been accepted by the PLO, and it has also been formally accepted by the “supreme leader” of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has made it clear that Hezbollah would not disrupt such an agreement if it is accepted by Palestinians. Hamas has repeatedly indicated its willingness to negotiate in these terms.
The facts are doctrinally unacceptable, hence mostly suppressed. What we see, instead, is the stern warning to Hamas by the editors of the New York Times that their formal agreement to the Beirut peace plan is “an admission ticket to the real world, a necessary rite of passage in the progression from a lawless opposition to a lawful government.” Like others, the NYT editors fail to mention that the US and Israel forcefully reject this proposal, and are alone in doing so among relevant actors. Furthermore, they reject it not merely in rhetoric, but far more importantly, in deeds. We see at once who constitutes the “lawless opposition” and who speaks for them. But that conclusion cannot be expressed, even entertained, in respectable circles.
The only meaningful support for Palestinians facing national destruction is from Hezbollah. For this reason alone it follows that Hezbollah must be severely weakened or destroyed, just as the PLO had to be evicted from Lebanon in 1982. But Hezbollah is too deeply embedded within Lebanese society to be eradicated, so Lebanon too must be largely destroyed. An expected benefit for the US and Israel was to enhance the credibility of threats against Iran by eliminating a Lebanese-based deterrent to a possible attack. But none of this turned out as planned. Much as in Iraq, and elsewhere, Bush administration planners have created catastrophes, even for the interests they represent. That is the primary reason for the unprecedented criticism of the administration among the foreign policy elite, even before the invasion of Iraq.
In the background lie more far-reaching and lasting concerns: to ensure what is called “stability” in the reigning ideology. “Stability,” in simple words, means obedience. “Stability” is undermined by states that do not strictly follow orders, secular nationalists, Islamists who are not under control (in contrast, the Saudi monarchy, the oldest and most valuable US ally, is fine), etc. Such “destabilizing” forces are particularly dangerous when their programs are attractive to others, in which case they are called “viruses” that must be destroyed. “Stability” is enhanced by loyal client states. Since 1967, it has been assumed that Israel can play this role, along with other “peripheral” states. Israel has become virtually an off-shore US military base and high-tech center, the natural consequence of its rejection of security in favor of expansion in 1971, and repeatedly since. These policies are subject to little internal debate, whoever holds state power. The policies extend world-wide, and in the Middle East, their significance is enhanced by one of the leading principles of foreign policy since World War II (and for Britain before that): to ensure control over Middle East energy resources, recognized for 60 years to be “a stupendous source of strategic power” and “one of the greatest material prizes in world history.”
The standard Western version is that the July 2006 invasion was justified by legitimate outrage over capture of two Israeli soldiers at the border. The posture is cynical fraud. The US and Israel, and the West generally, have little objection to capture of soldiers, or even to the far more severe crime of kidnapping civilians (or of course to killing civilians). That had been Israeli practice in Lebanon for many years, and no one ever suggested that Israel should therefore be invaded and largely destroyed. Western cynicism was revealed with even more dramatic clarity as the current upsurge of violence erupted after Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, on June 25. That too elicited huge outrage, and support for Israel's sharp escalation of its murderous assault on Gaza. The scale is reflected in casualties: in June, 36 Palestinian civilians were killed in Gaza; in July, the numbers more than quadrupled to over 170, dozens of them children. The posture of outrage was, again, cynical fraud, as demonstrated dramatically, and conclusively, by the reaction to Israel's kidnapping of two Gaza civilians, the Muamar brothers, one day before, on June 24. They disappeared into Israel's prison system, joining the hundreds of others imprisoned without charge -- hence kidnapped, as are many of those sentenced on dubious charges. There was some brief and dismissive mention of the kidnapping of the Muamar brothers, but no reaction, because such crimes are considered legitimate when carried out by “our side.” The idea that this crime would justify a murderous assault on Israel would have been regarded as a reversion to Nazism.
The distinction is clear, and familiar throughout history: to paraphrase Thucydides, the powerful are entitled to do as they wish, while the weak suffer as they must.
We should not overlook the progress that has been made in undermining the imperial mentality that is so deeply rooted in Western moral and intellectual culture as to be beyond awareness. Nor should we forget the scale of what remains to be achieved, tasks that must be undertaken in solidarity and cooperation by people in North and South who hope to see a more decent and civilized world.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
FW: Too much food, guilt to stomach
I find this article very interesting. It was good to hear his side of the story. I mean he is talking about his country (Malaysia) and I live way far from that. Yet it is very similar to the place where I brought up and to where I live now. So it's not just me, it's not just us. Folks there too have similar reality, interesting!
-x86
------------------------------------
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Wednesday/Columns/
20061004083413/Article/index_html
Zainul Arifin on Wednesday: Too much food, guilt to stomach
By Zainul Arifin
08 October, 2006
FOR Muslims, Ramadan is a month of prayer and solemn reflection. But the reality is, it is also a month of conspicuous consumption, which kicked off a month or so before with the nationwide officially-sanctioned annual Mega Sales Carnival. The rumblings in the tummy and the dry, parched throat are to remind us of the unfortunate. But they have also become convenient excuses to indulge, and not just in food.
Resistance is futile. The mind is weak and so is resolve when the body is deprived of what it is used to. Maybe we don’t try hard enough, or life generally does not try most of us hard enough these days. Hardship in Ramadan is running out of ice cubes during the breaking of fast.
Those who fast tend to spend much more, realising only too late that a dish here and another there, a kueh or two, the sugar cane juice, and suddenly it’s a third of your weekly marketing money gone.
It seems that because Muslims are deprived of food and drink during the day, they find it acceptable to splurge, and retailers know this very well.
Ramadan has also turned out to be the most profitable month in the year for hotel food and beverage outlets. It is no wonder they spare little when promoting their buka puasa fares, hence the extra tables in lobbies and walkways.
After all, the multi-coloured dessert and dishes of old have brought about the path of least resistance for the faithful to loosen the purse strings.
But looking at the amount charged and the food often left to waste, I can’t help feeling rather at odds with the feasting at sundown. I can think of a charity or two that could use some of the money spent.
At times greed has showed its ugly head in this holy month, too. I am not sure how much the prices of food this Ramadan had to do with the recent hike in fuel prices, but I am inclined to believe that a large part of it could also be attributed to greed.
A hawker in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, just lost a customer for the rest of the month when she refused to sell me RM1 worth of cooked vegetables. The minimum purchase she told me was RM2. I would have bought it but for the fact that there are only three of us; my daughter hates vegetables and I do not want to waste.
She declined my logical suggestion to halve the RM2 portion, so I walked off. It was 15 minutes to breaking fast and she had quite a lot left in her tray; still she refused. I suspect greed got the better of her.
We also break a lot of rules and regulations on food handling every Ramadan. Why are almost all food sold at pasar Ramadan uncovered?
Often located by the roadside and exposed to the elements, the makeshift stalls and their wares often bring hygiene issues to mind. But we do not seem to mind. In fact we are oblivious to it.
Also, I am not sure if the guys selling or handling food have been given jabs against communicable diseases, as required by our laws for food operators and handlers. There are no statistics to back my claim, but I do believe Ramadan has the highest number of cases of food poisoning compared with any other period in the year. This month, food is often prepared early. It is likely to turn bad by the time it comes to breaking fast.
Ramadan also makes me feel guilty about the number of plastic bags I bring home from the pasar Ramadan. I have to decline bags and return some of them since hawkers tend to put even a single kuih inside a single plastic bag. Apparently, we the consumers want it that way.
Meanwhile, I do believe that there should be at least some show of decorum even in the commercialisation of Hari Raya. I am not sure how it works, but shopping centres and department stores should not be playing Hari Raya songs in the first few days of Ramadan, which after all is a month of prayer and reflection.
But crass commercialisation has taken hold of us. As discomfited as I may have been over the weekend about the Raya songs played in the mall I was in, I could not resist humming to the tunes. I am after all hungry, and weak.
However, I am rather perplexed that I saw little reference, either visual or audio, to Deepavali, which will be celebrated a few days ahead of Hari Raya. Come on now, retailers and mall owners. But I digress.
I sometimes fail in my mission for a more meaningful Ramadan. I head to pasar Ramadan with a clear plan and strategy, but often leave with more food, drinks and guilt than I can nibble through.
---------------------------------------------
-x86
------------------------------------
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Wednesday/Columns/
20061004083413/Article/index_html
Zainul Arifin on Wednesday: Too much food, guilt to stomach
By Zainul Arifin
08 October, 2006
FOR Muslims, Ramadan is a month of prayer and solemn reflection. But the reality is, it is also a month of conspicuous consumption, which kicked off a month or so before with the nationwide officially-sanctioned annual Mega Sales Carnival. The rumblings in the tummy and the dry, parched throat are to remind us of the unfortunate. But they have also become convenient excuses to indulge, and not just in food.
Resistance is futile. The mind is weak and so is resolve when the body is deprived of what it is used to. Maybe we don’t try hard enough, or life generally does not try most of us hard enough these days. Hardship in Ramadan is running out of ice cubes during the breaking of fast.
Those who fast tend to spend much more, realising only too late that a dish here and another there, a kueh or two, the sugar cane juice, and suddenly it’s a third of your weekly marketing money gone.
It seems that because Muslims are deprived of food and drink during the day, they find it acceptable to splurge, and retailers know this very well.
Ramadan has also turned out to be the most profitable month in the year for hotel food and beverage outlets. It is no wonder they spare little when promoting their buka puasa fares, hence the extra tables in lobbies and walkways.
After all, the multi-coloured dessert and dishes of old have brought about the path of least resistance for the faithful to loosen the purse strings.
But looking at the amount charged and the food often left to waste, I can’t help feeling rather at odds with the feasting at sundown. I can think of a charity or two that could use some of the money spent.
At times greed has showed its ugly head in this holy month, too. I am not sure how much the prices of food this Ramadan had to do with the recent hike in fuel prices, but I am inclined to believe that a large part of it could also be attributed to greed.
A hawker in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, just lost a customer for the rest of the month when she refused to sell me RM1 worth of cooked vegetables. The minimum purchase she told me was RM2. I would have bought it but for the fact that there are only three of us; my daughter hates vegetables and I do not want to waste.
She declined my logical suggestion to halve the RM2 portion, so I walked off. It was 15 minutes to breaking fast and she had quite a lot left in her tray; still she refused. I suspect greed got the better of her.
We also break a lot of rules and regulations on food handling every Ramadan. Why are almost all food sold at pasar Ramadan uncovered?
Often located by the roadside and exposed to the elements, the makeshift stalls and their wares often bring hygiene issues to mind. But we do not seem to mind. In fact we are oblivious to it.
Also, I am not sure if the guys selling or handling food have been given jabs against communicable diseases, as required by our laws for food operators and handlers. There are no statistics to back my claim, but I do believe Ramadan has the highest number of cases of food poisoning compared with any other period in the year. This month, food is often prepared early. It is likely to turn bad by the time it comes to breaking fast.
Ramadan also makes me feel guilty about the number of plastic bags I bring home from the pasar Ramadan. I have to decline bags and return some of them since hawkers tend to put even a single kuih inside a single plastic bag. Apparently, we the consumers want it that way.
Meanwhile, I do believe that there should be at least some show of decorum even in the commercialisation of Hari Raya. I am not sure how it works, but shopping centres and department stores should not be playing Hari Raya songs in the first few days of Ramadan, which after all is a month of prayer and reflection.
But crass commercialisation has taken hold of us. As discomfited as I may have been over the weekend about the Raya songs played in the mall I was in, I could not resist humming to the tunes. I am after all hungry, and weak.
However, I am rather perplexed that I saw little reference, either visual or audio, to Deepavali, which will be celebrated a few days ahead of Hari Raya. Come on now, retailers and mall owners. But I digress.
I sometimes fail in my mission for a more meaningful Ramadan. I head to pasar Ramadan with a clear plan and strategy, but often leave with more food, drinks and guilt than I can nibble through.
---------------------------------------------
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
What’s happening and not happening in BUET?
What’s happening and not happening in BUET?
-------------------------------------------
August 14, 2006
We all know that authorities of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet)announced the university closed sine die following a violent student movement demanding deferment of examinations. Following that, we are having lot of discussion is going on in all sorts of BUET student and alumni forums all over the world. Here are some points that I believe worth our consideration.
1. Some argue that BUET academic system need to be changed. We need more distribution of marks that reflects in the final grade. Final exam have too much emphasis. It should not be more than 50%. Not that I disagree. But did you remember those all time super heroes in BUET? You know the famous “class test andolon” warriors? How about that? How much time buet students lost for that? BUET teachers knew this long ago but THEY did not let that happen. THEY were proud of that. And oh
yeah, we (means you & me) awarded them few seats in BUET “chatra songshod” for that. Did not we? Where are those heroes now? I believe some of them are actually in USA. Let’s draw a line from Silicon Valley to Austin and make them do a nake-khoth? Shouldn’t we? How about those teachers who were making every effort to make them & us understand? Should we make those HEROES eat the shoes of the teachers? I hope that some teachers are saving one of their old shoes for this very occasion. THIS needs to be done FIRST before we go to the teachers and ask for diversify the
grade.
2. You think all this is happens because we have 70-80% mark on final exam and BUET student chicken out. That’s funny. There was three months between the end of class and exam date. That was not enough? You guys are right; we must change lot of things in BUET administration. I mean, who admitted these morons in the first place? In my opinion this problem has nothing to do with 70-80% mark on final exam. I don’t go to school anymore, but my wife does. She never had a concept of PL here. She got two 50% weight final exams in the same day, back-to-back or 2 hour apart most of the
time. That gives you 50%+50% i.e. 100%. And oh yes, finals are on full syllabus of the class materials. They just had to obey the teachers & school administration. They never thought of an “andolon”. Her American classmates are not as democratic as BUET students are. Are you saying she is far more smatter than me? She will be flattered though. But all those students in USA school are smarter than BUET students? Students all over the world are smarter? Only we are stupid, hah?
4. If you are in Rome, do what Romans do. Well I am in USA. While attending school in USA, I knew and accept that I am in the class room for one and only one reason: get education. All my white, African American, Hispanic who are American citizen were there for the same reason. So I did what American did, which was get my study. American student were not there to change university policy, fix school exam schedule, decide or stop when the next batch of new student should be admitted. Me
neither. Hello?? Are those students in BUET trying to be more Christian than Jesus himself? May be my American classmates need to go visit BUET to learn "Democracy". I recently read some students response in Protom-Alo newspaper. They said that they had to do it to stop authority’s decision of admitting a new batch in next semester. Why that is concern of students? That’s none of your business. Students have no business on deciding this. If you like to influence those kind of decision, you batter finish your study as early as possible. Then join BUET as a teacher, get into
the decision making body. Who will make decision in a democratic society? Is it some democratic institute and entity with ability and responsibility or is it some kids with stone in their hand? We invested heavily to some how build a democratic society. But did we forget to tell these kids the definition of democracy? As a student in USA, we never have been in decision making of University. Why we should be in BUET?
5. BUET semesters; why can’t they be like any other world class university? Why can’t we have academic year 2006 exam in calendar year 2006? Why can’t we have one semester final in May and the other one in December? You know, like any other University in the world. Final exam of 1992-93 held in 1996? I must be a genius. Otherwise how could I explain this fact? What exactly happened in your country that make your academic calendar screwed for three years?
6. Some argue that BUET is not a distant island. BUET will go the same way education system in Bangladesh go. Well did you ever see that SSC exam of 2005 happened in 2006? How about HSC exam? How come we are okay to complete all the class 1-10 final exam by end of December and start new class in January? Are we were outside of Bangladesh all these time. Suddenly, once we get admission in BUET, we enter in Bangladesh? One current student told me “Hey we never knew that class could be skipped by taking so called auto vacation. We never knew that the final exam date
could be changed by mass movement. Who teaches us this? BUET teaches us this, isn’t it?” Well, good argument. But the point is that one batch made a mistake does not mean others have to repeat that mistake over and over. It needs to end, and NOW.
7. How can you explain some students hit and injured a teacher’s wife? How can you explain some students climb up to 4th floor in the teacher residence, kick and slammed the door, and call words like “haramzada”? No jobs after graduation, not enough TA, too much pressure in final exam, father kicked you out home, GF didn’t let you do it, Kala Farooq eloped with your mom, what else? Nothing, NOTHING is enough of a cause. This is beyond any imagination. THIS IS THE PROBLEM. We need to solve this, otherwise all bets are off.
8. If BUET authority punishes those who are responsible to those: Will we the Alumni stand farm on that decision? Will we be able to avoid dividing in party line and start criticizing them depending who is in power at that time? Will the current students be wise, and avoid having more loss of time & money with another andolon for reverting that decision?
9. “Campus a police keno, kortipokkh jobab chai”. I don’t know students use this phrase or not, now a days. But I was used a lot when I was a student. This resonated in the response of few students in prothom-alo. They said they only broke some glasses in cafeteria. And then police attack the students with no notice. They also said, VC will have to pay the price for using police. Let me tell you a story. I was doing my MS then. We lived in an apartment just attached to campus. One day, one of my friends wife, a neighbor, was listening to music, may be with little loud volume. Next thing you know, police is knocking her door. Her husband was not at home, and
she was crying. She (and we all) had no idea that police can come for this. Or police can come inside a campus in the first place. Later we found that city police department actually put a police station in the campus. Police car are visible in the campus road most of the time. Mostly they trying to catch you in fault and give you driving ticket. So she had to obey the policeman. All of us, the students were stood there; think how different things are hear. Back home, police in our campus? Our BUET? Oh boy. “Janta hate nia ashte hoito”. Does USA have democracy? Is it
really the free world?
10. In my opinion, diversifying marks too much is risky for BUET. We do not have infrastructure to support that. Hiring lots of TA will not solve the problem, rather make it worst. Girls (and boys of BUET) are behaving badly even with teachers. What about TA? Good luck on that. Beside, in BUET we are hiring fresh bachelors as teachers and give them lots of classes. They are in no way capable of handling USA style full control over grade distribution. It will leads to a complete disaster. In USA style teaching strategy, syllabus only has an outline and teacher decides what to
teach, how he divides the total mark, how the final grade is calculated, when will be the mid term exam, when will be the final exams, even a final exam is required at all or not. Sometimes they make the final exam optional. But to get to that level, all the teachers have to be either has a PhD or pursuing their PhD with few exceptions. BUET is no way close to that yet. Well, having said that, I believe this is where BUET Alumni can lend a hand. You guys need to go back to BUET and teach. I am sure BUET can make to the top 500 lists very easily. Give it a thought.
11. If we have teachers with PhD, than sure, in that case, we can hire graduate student as TA. Note that this TAs will have higher qualification than the fresh undergraduate that we are hiring today. Huge emphasis in the final exam is the only way BUET can survive without ex-faculty coming back with higher degree. (I know the reason & background behind that, but let’s not go there). Well may be we can have a similar style midterm exam. But than again PL for the midterm, movement for extension, oh boy, thing could get ugly down there. We don’t need to solve world’s problem in a school picnic. I am proud with the BUET standard and never felt that I wasn’t ready for higher education with the knowledge that I got from BUET. I like to congratulate our ex and current teachers and authority for maintaining the standard on final grades that a students receive from BUET with very little resource and experience. I am not saying that we should not change the academic system in BUET. In fact, I am for the change. But we need to evaluate the environment carefully and change such a way that we have infrastructure to support and sustain the changes.
And before making any rule, we need to find people who will obey that rule. That is true for any rule. If you not going to obey it, why bother making it? Change is an ongoing process. We always have to make change for making existing things batter. It will never be perfect, and it is okay to have dissatisfaction. But that does not mean we will disobey what ever there is and broke down every thing. There will be a proper way to make changes. There will be a proper responsible entity to make change. That will be part of already existing system. Without that proper channel
(way+entity), rest of the system must follow & obey the existing system. Breaking it will only make your progress slower.
12. You have to listen, in order to speak and expect that other will listen to you. When you are a leader, go ahead and lead. When you are not a leader, follow your leader. If you are in a deciding body, go ahead and decide. If you are not in a deciding body, accept the decision. It is okay to disagree. It is part of democracy. But there is a thing call “disagree and commit”. You express your disagreement with the decision, but than you accept the decision. Chaotic behavior and bring down the system attitude will only destroy what ever you already have. This is not specific to
BUET though. As a nation, we have this problem like cancer. You have to keep the cycle running, it will purify itself one step at a time. You have to keep the system standing, and use only the proper channel to make changes that will make it batter. It will not happen overnight. All the people will not be changed at a time. But it need to be started at some time, someone need to start it. Why can’t that be now? Why can’t that be BUET? After all, we BUET alumni think, we are the best of the best in Bangladesh. BUET is the top educational institute in Bangladesh. So why can’t BUET start it today, and rest of Bangladesh will follow it tomorrow? Am I shooting it too high?
Thanks,
-------------------------------------------
August 14, 2006
We all know that authorities of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet)announced the university closed sine die following a violent student movement demanding deferment of examinations. Following that, we are having lot of discussion is going on in all sorts of BUET student and alumni forums all over the world. Here are some points that I believe worth our consideration.
1. Some argue that BUET academic system need to be changed. We need more distribution of marks that reflects in the final grade. Final exam have too much emphasis. It should not be more than 50%. Not that I disagree. But did you remember those all time super heroes in BUET? You know the famous “class test andolon” warriors? How about that? How much time buet students lost for that? BUET teachers knew this long ago but THEY did not let that happen. THEY were proud of that. And oh
yeah, we (means you & me) awarded them few seats in BUET “chatra songshod” for that. Did not we? Where are those heroes now? I believe some of them are actually in USA. Let’s draw a line from Silicon Valley to Austin and make them do a nake-khoth? Shouldn’t we? How about those teachers who were making every effort to make them & us understand? Should we make those HEROES eat the shoes of the teachers? I hope that some teachers are saving one of their old shoes for this very occasion. THIS needs to be done FIRST before we go to the teachers and ask for diversify the
grade.
2. You think all this is happens because we have 70-80% mark on final exam and BUET student chicken out. That’s funny. There was three months between the end of class and exam date. That was not enough? You guys are right; we must change lot of things in BUET administration. I mean, who admitted these morons in the first place? In my opinion this problem has nothing to do with 70-80% mark on final exam. I don’t go to school anymore, but my wife does. She never had a concept of PL here. She got two 50% weight final exams in the same day, back-to-back or 2 hour apart most of the
time. That gives you 50%+50% i.e. 100%. And oh yes, finals are on full syllabus of the class materials. They just had to obey the teachers & school administration. They never thought of an “andolon”. Her American classmates are not as democratic as BUET students are. Are you saying she is far more smatter than me? She will be flattered though. But all those students in USA school are smarter than BUET students? Students all over the world are smarter? Only we are stupid, hah?
4. If you are in Rome, do what Romans do. Well I am in USA. While attending school in USA, I knew and accept that I am in the class room for one and only one reason: get education. All my white, African American, Hispanic who are American citizen were there for the same reason. So I did what American did, which was get my study. American student were not there to change university policy, fix school exam schedule, decide or stop when the next batch of new student should be admitted. Me
neither. Hello?? Are those students in BUET trying to be more Christian than Jesus himself? May be my American classmates need to go visit BUET to learn "Democracy". I recently read some students response in Protom-Alo newspaper. They said that they had to do it to stop authority’s decision of admitting a new batch in next semester. Why that is concern of students? That’s none of your business. Students have no business on deciding this. If you like to influence those kind of decision, you batter finish your study as early as possible. Then join BUET as a teacher, get into
the decision making body. Who will make decision in a democratic society? Is it some democratic institute and entity with ability and responsibility or is it some kids with stone in their hand? We invested heavily to some how build a democratic society. But did we forget to tell these kids the definition of democracy? As a student in USA, we never have been in decision making of University. Why we should be in BUET?
5. BUET semesters; why can’t they be like any other world class university? Why can’t we have academic year 2006 exam in calendar year 2006? Why can’t we have one semester final in May and the other one in December? You know, like any other University in the world. Final exam of 1992-93 held in 1996? I must be a genius. Otherwise how could I explain this fact? What exactly happened in your country that make your academic calendar screwed for three years?
6. Some argue that BUET is not a distant island. BUET will go the same way education system in Bangladesh go. Well did you ever see that SSC exam of 2005 happened in 2006? How about HSC exam? How come we are okay to complete all the class 1-10 final exam by end of December and start new class in January? Are we were outside of Bangladesh all these time. Suddenly, once we get admission in BUET, we enter in Bangladesh? One current student told me “Hey we never knew that class could be skipped by taking so called auto vacation. We never knew that the final exam date
could be changed by mass movement. Who teaches us this? BUET teaches us this, isn’t it?” Well, good argument. But the point is that one batch made a mistake does not mean others have to repeat that mistake over and over. It needs to end, and NOW.
7. How can you explain some students hit and injured a teacher’s wife? How can you explain some students climb up to 4th floor in the teacher residence, kick and slammed the door, and call words like “haramzada”? No jobs after graduation, not enough TA, too much pressure in final exam, father kicked you out home, GF didn’t let you do it, Kala Farooq eloped with your mom, what else? Nothing, NOTHING is enough of a cause. This is beyond any imagination. THIS IS THE PROBLEM. We need to solve this, otherwise all bets are off.
8. If BUET authority punishes those who are responsible to those: Will we the Alumni stand farm on that decision? Will we be able to avoid dividing in party line and start criticizing them depending who is in power at that time? Will the current students be wise, and avoid having more loss of time & money with another andolon for reverting that decision?
9. “Campus a police keno, kortipokkh jobab chai”. I don’t know students use this phrase or not, now a days. But I was used a lot when I was a student. This resonated in the response of few students in prothom-alo. They said they only broke some glasses in cafeteria. And then police attack the students with no notice. They also said, VC will have to pay the price for using police. Let me tell you a story. I was doing my MS then. We lived in an apartment just attached to campus. One day, one of my friends wife, a neighbor, was listening to music, may be with little loud volume. Next thing you know, police is knocking her door. Her husband was not at home, and
she was crying. She (and we all) had no idea that police can come for this. Or police can come inside a campus in the first place. Later we found that city police department actually put a police station in the campus. Police car are visible in the campus road most of the time. Mostly they trying to catch you in fault and give you driving ticket. So she had to obey the policeman. All of us, the students were stood there; think how different things are hear. Back home, police in our campus? Our BUET? Oh boy. “Janta hate nia ashte hoito”. Does USA have democracy? Is it
really the free world?
10. In my opinion, diversifying marks too much is risky for BUET. We do not have infrastructure to support that. Hiring lots of TA will not solve the problem, rather make it worst. Girls (and boys of BUET) are behaving badly even with teachers. What about TA? Good luck on that. Beside, in BUET we are hiring fresh bachelors as teachers and give them lots of classes. They are in no way capable of handling USA style full control over grade distribution. It will leads to a complete disaster. In USA style teaching strategy, syllabus only has an outline and teacher decides what to
teach, how he divides the total mark, how the final grade is calculated, when will be the mid term exam, when will be the final exams, even a final exam is required at all or not. Sometimes they make the final exam optional. But to get to that level, all the teachers have to be either has a PhD or pursuing their PhD with few exceptions. BUET is no way close to that yet. Well, having said that, I believe this is where BUET Alumni can lend a hand. You guys need to go back to BUET and teach. I am sure BUET can make to the top 500 lists very easily. Give it a thought.
11. If we have teachers with PhD, than sure, in that case, we can hire graduate student as TA. Note that this TAs will have higher qualification than the fresh undergraduate that we are hiring today. Huge emphasis in the final exam is the only way BUET can survive without ex-faculty coming back with higher degree. (I know the reason & background behind that, but let’s not go there). Well may be we can have a similar style midterm exam. But than again PL for the midterm, movement for extension, oh boy, thing could get ugly down there. We don’t need to solve world’s problem in a school picnic. I am proud with the BUET standard and never felt that I wasn’t ready for higher education with the knowledge that I got from BUET. I like to congratulate our ex and current teachers and authority for maintaining the standard on final grades that a students receive from BUET with very little resource and experience. I am not saying that we should not change the academic system in BUET. In fact, I am for the change. But we need to evaluate the environment carefully and change such a way that we have infrastructure to support and sustain the changes.
And before making any rule, we need to find people who will obey that rule. That is true for any rule. If you not going to obey it, why bother making it? Change is an ongoing process. We always have to make change for making existing things batter. It will never be perfect, and it is okay to have dissatisfaction. But that does not mean we will disobey what ever there is and broke down every thing. There will be a proper way to make changes. There will be a proper responsible entity to make change. That will be part of already existing system. Without that proper channel
(way+entity), rest of the system must follow & obey the existing system. Breaking it will only make your progress slower.
12. You have to listen, in order to speak and expect that other will listen to you. When you are a leader, go ahead and lead. When you are not a leader, follow your leader. If you are in a deciding body, go ahead and decide. If you are not in a deciding body, accept the decision. It is okay to disagree. It is part of democracy. But there is a thing call “disagree and commit”. You express your disagreement with the decision, but than you accept the decision. Chaotic behavior and bring down the system attitude will only destroy what ever you already have. This is not specific to
BUET though. As a nation, we have this problem like cancer. You have to keep the cycle running, it will purify itself one step at a time. You have to keep the system standing, and use only the proper channel to make changes that will make it batter. It will not happen overnight. All the people will not be changed at a time. But it need to be started at some time, someone need to start it. Why can’t that be now? Why can’t that be BUET? After all, we BUET alumni think, we are the best of the best in Bangladesh. BUET is the top educational institute in Bangladesh. So why can’t BUET start it today, and rest of Bangladesh will follow it tomorrow? Am I shooting it too high?
Thanks,
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