|
|
Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter! STABBED IN THE BACK Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year ! Meet & Debate (Perhaps Even Date) CPers Online at CounterPunch's New Facebook Page! |
home / subscribe / donate / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events / faq
Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter!
STABBED IN THE BACK
Eamonn Fingleton gives a stunning account of how the elite press – the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the New York Times and Washington Post - pilloried US autworkers while systematically concealing the hidden subsidies which have allowed Japan and Korea to destroy Detroit. All this with the connivance of the US government. Also in our latest newsletter: Michelle Obama comes to Merced. Bill Hatch, the Balzac of the Central Valley, gives an uproarious account of Michelle’s state visit to UC’s new campus. Get your new edition today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
How the U.S. Press Helped Destroy the Auto IndustryOrder CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
Meet & Debate (Perhaps Even Date) CPers Online at CounterPunch's New Facebook Page!
|
Today's Stories June 5 -7, 200 Alexander Cockburn Paul Craig Roberts Jennifer Loewenstein Franklin Lamb Missy Comley Beattie Farzana Versey Stanley Heller Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff William Blum Ernest Callenbach / June 4, 2009 Arno J. Mayer Mike Whitney Gareth Porter Ayesha Ijaz Khan Mouin Rabbani Jordan Flaherty Adam Turl Nikolas Kozloff Yifat Susskind Website of the Day June 3, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts Kathy Kelly Alan Farago Franklin Lamb Bill Hatch Nadia Hijab Dean Baker Binoy Kampmark Manuel Garcia, Jr. Remi Kanazi Behzad Yaghmaian Website of the Day June 2, 2009 Uri Avnery Robert Weissman Conn Hallinan Gideon Spiro Roger Burbach Dylan Quigley Dave Lindorff Ray McGovern Belén Fernández Martha Rosenberg Willie L. Pelote, Sr. Website of the Day June 1, 2009 Pam Martens Yitzhak Laor Mark Weisbrot Ramzy Baroud Saul Landau Eugenia Tsao Afshin Rattansi Debra Sweet Abdul Malik Mujahid Bill Quigley John Wright Website of the Day May 29-31, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Patrick Cockburn Vijay Prashad Gary Leupp Ray McGovern Rannie Amiri Bill Hatch Chellis Glendinning, Stephanie Mills and Kirkpatrick Sale Phyllis Pollack David Yearsley Jean-Christophe Servant Dave Lindorff James McEnteer Missy Beattie James C. Faris David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Adam Federman David Ker Thomson Mark Seth Lender Stephen Martin Joseph Nevins Sophia Mihic Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 28, 2009 Joan Roelofs Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Mouin Rabbani Joe Bageant James McEnteer Dedrick Muhammad Richard Morse David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Website of the Day May 27, 2009 Joanne Mariner Paul Craig Roberts Walden Bello Dave Lindorff Brian M. Downing Carlos Villarreal Nadia Hijab Adam Federman Laray Polk Isabella Kenfield David Michael Green Website of the Day May 26, 2009 Manuel Garcia, Jr. Mike Whitney Sharon Smith Marjorie Cohn Dean Baker Deepankar Basu Fred Gardner Jordan Flaherty Josh Ruebner Brian Cloughley Website of the Day May 25, 2009 Diane Christian John Ross Kenneth Hartman Uri Avnery Fred Gardner Cindy Sheehan Sen. Russell Feingold Sibel Edmonds Franklin Lamb Dave Lindorff Daniel Wolff Website of the Day May 22-24, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Michael Teitelman Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Sonia Cardenas / Clive Hamilton Conn Hallinan Fred Gardner Carlo Cristofori Dean Baker Rannie Amiri Andy Worthington David Macaray Nadia Hijab Franklin Lamb Ted Newcomen David Ker Thomson David Rosen Mark Weisbrot Robert Fantina Heather Gray Farzana Versey Chris Genovali Ron Jacobs Jay Diamond Dr. Susan Block Ben Sonnenberg David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 21, 2009 Jeffrey St. Clair / Paul Craig Roberts Chris Floyd Gerald Paoli Zach Mason Uri Avnery Andy Worthington Niranjan Ramakrishnan Norman Solomon Dave Lindorff Website of the Day May 20, 2009 Michael Hudson Gary Leupp Michael D. Yates Jonathan Cook Peter Lee Binoy Kampmark Peter Zinn William Loren Katz Gary Lapon Trudy Bond Website of the Day May 19, 2009 Kristoffer Rehder Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Vijay Prashad Mirjam Hadar Meerschwam Mustafa Barghouthi Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark John Walsh David Macaray Website of the Day May 18, 2009 Dave Lindorff Abdul Malik Mujahid Jonathan Cook Ben Rosenfeld Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader Stephen Soldz Eugenia Tsao Walter Brasch Roberto Rodriguez Charlotte Laws Website of the Day May 15-17, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair David Rosen Mike Whitney Bruce Page Jeremy Scahill Fred Gardner Tom Barry Mats Svensson Ramzy Baroud Mark Engler Mark Weisbrot Farzana Versey Ron Jacobs Hannah Wolfe Cal Winslow David Macaray Christopher Brauchli Mark Seth Lender Robert Fantina David Ker Thomson Stephen Martin Charles R. Larson Chase Madar Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 14, 2009 Michael Hudson Andy Worthington Paul Craig Roberts Jonathan Cook Ray McGovern Lance Selfa David Green Dave Lindorff Frida Berrigan Sue Udry Website of the Day May 13, 2009 Brian M. Downing Gareth Porter Robert Sandels Ricardo Alarcón Eric Walberg Dave Lindorff Deepak Tripathi William S. Lind Kevin Zeese Franklin Lamb Website of the Day May 12, 2009 Gary Leupp Richard Neville Wajahat Ali Dean Baker Franklin Lamb Norman Solomon Paul Craig Roberts Lisa M. Hamilton Bob Fitrakis / David Macaray Website of the Day May 11, 2009 Andrea Peacock Michael Hudson Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader John Kelly Saul Landau Dave Lindorff David Michael Green Anthony Papa Paul Krassner Website of the Day
|
Weekend Edition Exile and ExploitationLeaving TangierBy CHARLES R. LARSON Early in Leaving Tangier, Tahar Ben Jelloun’s eye-opening novel of Arab illegals crossing from Tangier into southern Spain, the author describes a cat that sneaks aboard a ship headed across the Straits of Gibraltar: “Even the cat was fed up: he, too, wanted something else from life, and needed tenderness, caresses, a kind family who would spoil him. The cat wanted to go away because he knew instinctively that it was better ‘over there,’ and he had his obsessions like everyone else, coming stubbornly every day to try his best to jump onto [a] vessel bound for Europe.” The cat is more likely to survive a crossing from Africa into Europe than are many men and women who take the plunge and risk their lives, aware that their chances of success are about one in ten. That’s the statistic if you agree to the smugglers’ terms, which also require a large sum of money. Yet, as one of Jelloun’s characters says, “One chance in ten? Better than nothing! A gamble, a long shot. On the other hand, if we just sit here is this café, nothing will happen to us, absolutely nothing, and we’ll still be here in ten years, drinking the same lukewarm café au lait, smoking kif, and waiting for a miracle! In other words: some work, a decent job—well paid, with respect, security and dignity.” There are other ways, of course, for North Africans to gain entry into southern Europe legally. In many instances they offer more risk (and certainly more humiliation) than being smuggled across the Straits. These are the concerns of Jelloun’s brutally honest narrative which focuses as much on innocence corrupted as it does on the perilous situation of illegals today: the situation of millions of young men and women in nations around the world trapped between idealism and economic reality. Too often, there are no jobs to keep them in their own countries, where they have been educated and then forgotten. Azel, Jelloun’s main character, has been to the university in Morocco and has earned his legal degree but can’t find any work. His sister, Kenza, who has acquired an education well beyond that of her female peers, is also stuck in a dead end. Both want to leave Morocco. As their would-be patron, Miguel, states, “When a country gets to the point that the ‘best’ of its children want to leave, it’s a terrible thing.” Yet, Miguel, who is Spanish, also takes advantage of their vulnerability, and it is in their exploitation that Leaving Tangier takes a darker turn, bringing up a largely forbidden topic in Muslim societies: homosexuality. Miguel will help Azel get a work permit in Spain in return for sexual favors. Azel is naive enough to believe that it’ll just be a matter of time before he’ll be able to dump his patron and stay on in Spain, returning to his previously heterosexual life. Azel is even happy for a while, still plotting to break away from Miguel, whom he convinces to “marry” his sister so that she’ll be able to gain legal entry into Spain. Both siblings believe that sometime in the future, they’ll return to Morocco rich and successful. It doesn’t take too long until Azel begins living a double life, sneaking away from Miguel--initially, to be with female prostitutes and then, eventually, developing a steady relationship with a woman, principally to convince himself that he’s still attracted to women. Intentionally, Azel becomes careless about these relationships, knowing that if Miguel learns of them, he’ll be hurt. More accurately, Azel wants to be caught because he wants to end his relationship with Miguel. Then, to his surprise, Azel discovers that he’s impotent with women. Jelloun treats these sexual issues unflinchingly, clearly knowing that they will trouble many of his Middle Eastern readers. He also mentions the earlier variant of trafficking in virile, young men—not just Moroccans, but also Senegalese, Cameroonians, even Turks who play lesser roles in his story, particularly in their relationships with Azel’s sister. Ironically, a pattern has been reversed. In the past, it was European men who settled in North Africa where they could enter more discretely into relationships with other men than they could in their own countries. Today, this is often reversed: African males go to Europe, where they can be more comfortable with their homosexuality than at home. And women? Their degradation is similar. There’s not a false note in Jelloun’s riveting story. I confess that I peeked ahead to the title of the final chapter (“Returning”) before I actually reached it. And I became a bit smug in my assumption that Jelloun was going to produce a happy ending for his bleak story. That was not the case, nor will I reveal more about his narrative, denying you the many interesting twists and turns of Jelloun’s often astonishing story. One important sub-plot, however, is the novel’s examination of Islamic fundamentalism, its attractiveness to restless youths in Moslem countries (and in Europe) who have little hope of economic success in a world often stacked against them. Close to the end of Leaving Tangier, Azel reflects on his situation: “I was ready to do anything to get out of Morocco.” How many young men and women in other countries feel exactly the same? What is their lot today during an international economic collapse? Not surprisingly, Tahar Ben Jelloun provides an answer to that question in an almost magical ending to his novel, an extraordinary story of a compelling social problem in today’s complicated world.
|
Now Available from CounterPunch Books! Spell Albuquerque:
Waiting for
Lightning
|
