MERIP
Media Resource List, October 7, 2004
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS on the following topics:
- Afghanistan's election on October 9
- Sharon advisor says "The significance of the [Gaza] disengagement
plan is the freezing of the peace process."
NAZIF SHAHRANI
Nazif Shahrani is a professor of anthropology and Central
Asian and Middle Eastern studies at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Shahrani has written on Afghanistan extensively, and has spent
time in Afghanistan during each of the past three summers.
Recent publications include "War, Factionalism and the State
in Afghanistan," American Anthropologist (September
2002). Commenting on the upcoming elections, he said today:
"Although Vice President Cheney claims that this election
is the first in Afghanistan's history, Afghanistan is not
a blank slate. The difficulties that beset the numerous Afghan
elections of the 1960s and 1970s are once again clearly evident.
The playing field is not level. Old structures and new US
policies favor the hand picked Karzai and his small circle
of Western educated Pashtun technocrats."
ZACHARY LOCKMAN
Zachary Lockman is professor of modern Middle East history
and director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern
Studies at New York University. He is a contributing editor
of Middle East Report . Commenting on Sharon senior
advisor Weisglass' statement yesterday, Lockman said: "The
statement by Weisglass is an accurate indication of the Sharon
government's real intentions. Sharon's hope is that withdrawing
from Gaza will eliminate pressure on Israel to engage in serious
negotiations with the Palestinians. By giving up Gaza, the
Israeli right hopes to keep the more important and heavily
settled West Bank. The 'road map,' which envisioned a cease
fire, restarting negotiations and moving toward a Palestinian
state, has been dead as a doornail almost since its inception.
The Bush administration intended to create only the illusion
of US interest in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
while it garnered support for the big show: the invasion of
Iraq."
CHRIS TOENSING
Chris Toensing is editor of Middle East Report and
executive director of the Middle East Research and Information
Project. Commenting on Weisglass' statement, Toensing said
today: "The comments by Weisglass elaborate upon an earlier
statement of Sharon's that the 'road map' is dead. Sharon
is taking advantage of the US presidential campaign to establish
a new benchmark Israeli position."
FYI: Sharon senior advisor Dov Weisglass' statement: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/485862.html
-------------
Return
to archive index
For more
information, contact Michelle Woodward, MERIP Media Coordinator,
at (202) 223-3677, or merip.media@merip.org.
Media Resource Lists are an initiative of the MERIP Media
Outreach Program.
Middle
East Research and Information Project (MERIP), 1500 Massachusetts
Ave, NW, Suite 119, Washington, DC 20005, Tel: (202) 223 3677,
Fax: (202) 223 3604, www.merip.org
|
