ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: Among Eqbal Ahmed, Ibrahim and Noam Chomsky, Edward Said was one who had championed the Palestinian cause in the US with such effectiveness that he brought upon himself the fury of US establishment and all those who opposed peace and prosperity.

This point of view was shared by Prof Pervaiz Hoodbhoy while paying homage to Edward Said here at a local hotel on Monday.

Guest speakers include Dr Tariq Rahman, research professor of Pakistan studies and director; Adnan Kassim El Kol, department chief of Palestinian mission and Kishwar Naheed. The event was organized by Eqbal Ahmed Foundation and the Citizens Peace Committee.

Pro-Israeli circles in New York feared Edward Said and his close friend Eqbal Ahmed not just because they were passionate and eloquent defenders of Palestinian rights, but because their critique of Israeli actions came from a secular and humanist perspective rather than a religious one, Prof Hoodbhoy said.

“They argued that Palestine’s land must be shared equitably between both the communities that lay historical claim to it, Palestinians and Jews. Israeli supremacists find that terrorism is relatively easy to deal with, instead it is the immense moral power of such arguments that they fear,” Prof Hoodbhoy added.

Mr Said forcefully argued that Sharon’s plan, supported by the Bush administration, entailed nothing less than the obliteration of people by slow, systematic methods of suffocation, outright murder and stifling of everyday life.

He said as an American citizen, he spoke about his fellow citizens being fed an atrociously biased diet of ignorance and misrepresentation by the media that dwelt upon suicide attacks, but never referred to the hideous reality of an apartheid wall 25 feet high, five feet thick and 350kms long that Israel was building.

He said Edward Said lived two lives. One as a professor who played the piano and enjoyed the aesthetics of life. The other was that of a fierce critic of the US and Israeli policies.

“He was a Christian who took up the cause of the Muslims and Palestinians because he knew that issues of truth and justice were obscured.”

Prof Hoodbhoy said Edward Said was highly critical of Arab governments that had consistently failed their people, controlled resources and had investments in the West.

He said Mr Said had expressed his enthusiasm to come to Pakistan in May 2002 and speak at the invitation of the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation, of whose board he was a member. Tragically, his tryst with leukemia deprived Pakistanis from meeting and hearing this great scholar, a free spirit, and an unrelenting force for integrity.

Speaking on the occasion, political counsellor Adnan Kassim said Edward Said was one of the most effective advocates who brought truth to the people about the atrocities committed on the Palestinians.

He said disillusioned with Arafat and rejecting the Oslo Accord, Edward Said quit the Palestinian National Council. In his last days he was pessimistic and talked about a single state for both the Palestinians and the Israelis, Adnan Kassim added.

Dr Tariq Rahman stated, “what happens to the voice of sanity and reason when men like Noam Chomsky, Eqbal Ahmed and Edward Said leave the world”.

Kishwar Naheed said during her visit to the US she had witnessed the Americans urge the people that they were not as evil as thought. She said the American citizens asked to take into consideration the fact that Noam Chomsky and Edward Said were also one of them who believed in peace and morality. — Jamal Shahid