The Policies of Getting Heard

Few weeks ago I have been reading an article in Al Jadid magazine. The article talks about the Arab-American writers and the problems they face in getting their works published. I remember that the article was entitled by (the policies of getting published). I think the article would have been more expressive it as entitled by –the policies of getting heard.

The Arab American writers who are supposed to know more about themselves and their world “what ever that means” and so They should be more capable of representing their world more correctly. They only problem those people have is that they are not getting hear and published. Surprisingly enough other books with crazy titles like the (subjection of women in the Middle East) are the best sellers’ books in the country. Libraries make sure that such books are place in the front shelves and magazines make sure that every one knows about them. Of course I am not saying that women in the middle east are all having good time and all they do is partying because they are not. The west has always been interested in speaking on behalf of the rest and making sure that the east doesn’t speak back.

The same way men have been interested in talking on behalf of women and associating them with certain attributes such as weakness, sensitivity. The west have been interested in speaking of behalf of the other and giving them certain attributes such as exotism ,sensuality.. Such attributes justified all the horrible things of colonialism. Indeed it is up to the colonized ,(not the ex-colonized) to speak on behalf of themselves and say what they think about themselves and how they should be viewed.

                                                                                            Ouhemmou Mohammed