The Brecht Forum presents a special forum

Tunisia, Egypt....What Next?

a panel with Nizar Aboud, Younes Abouyoub, Talal Assad,
Norman Finkelstein and Fadhel Kaboub

Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 7:30 pm

at the Brecht Forum
451 West Street*
New York City

After the wave of democratization in the former Eastern
European countries, many scholars wondered why the Arab
World was still lagging behind. Some argued that that this
was due to cultural and religious factors that make Arab
societies a natural locus of the so-called "oriental
despotism". This panel will discuss the unexpected
uprisings which are shaking the Arab world, starting from
North Africa. What are the reasons behind these revolts?
Is there a domino effect after Tunisia and Egypt? Who is
leading these social movements? What are the regional and
global implications of regime change in the region? These
and other questions will be discussed by a panel of
scholars and journalists whose work focuses on the region.

Nizar Aboud, NYC correspondent for the Lebanese newspaper,

Al-Akhbar Younes Abouyoub, political sociologist, Columbia
University 

Talal Assad, anthropologist, City University of New York 

Norman Finkelstein, author and political scientist 

Fadhel Kaboub, economist, Denison University

Admission--sliding scale: $6/$10/$15

Reserve online at
http://brechtforum.org/civicrm/event/info?id=11864&reset=1

*****


Re: Inequality Drives Egyptians to Streets, But Ours Worse

It is true that inequality in  US is one of the highest in
the world where about 1 percent of the population has 99
percent of the wealth.But the wealth of most  Americans is
their home which gives them no political pocaower but
probably partially explains why Americans acccept  this
inequality plus a press that has forgotten the concept of
class. Class has been dropped from the poliitical
vocabulary after the right attacked it as "class warfare."
For the right, Republicans in our day -- tax breaks for
the rich, cuts in services for the middle class and no
mention that the poor even exist.This is class warfare not
in words but as national policy.

Cyril Robinson, professsor emeritus, 
Southern  Illlinois University,
Carbondale,


Re: "tiresome"

In response to Carl Davidson's comment that some of us
have issued tiresome criticisms of the peace and justice
organizations regarding the war policies of the Obama
administration:

A sure way to mute the criticism is to issue a call for
mass demonstrations in DC and leading US cities throughout
the Spring. Their main slogan "Out Now" should also
include proposals for sharp reductions in the military
spending and using the savings for a jobs program like the
WPA, a proposal advanced by Paul Krugman, among others.
Anything less is likely to provoke more criticism. Of
course, we should expect the coalition to include ALL
anti-war forces, not just those who are approved by the
leading groups.

Stanley Aronowitz

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