Friday, September 26, 2003
Hitchens on Said
Chris Hitchens truly lost his marbles after the 9/11 incident, though many will argue that he lost them a great deal earlier. Since 9/11 though, he made a fantastic transmogrification (or is that mugged by reality?) from left-liberal to neo-conservative. That doesnt stop him from writing well on occasion (though the occasions are few and far between) and this obituary of Edward Said is proof.
His feeling for the injustice done to Palestine was, in the best sense of this overused term, a visceral one. He simply could not reconcile himself to the dispossession of a people or to the lies and evasions that were used to cover up this offense. He was by no means simple-minded or one-sided about this: In a public dialogue with Salman Rushdie 15 years ago, he described the Palestinians as "victims of the victims," an ironic formulation that hasn't been improved upon.
His feeling for the injustice done to Palestine was, in the best sense of this overused term, a visceral one. He simply could not reconcile himself to the dispossession of a people or to the lies and evasions that were used to cover up this offense. He was by no means simple-minded or one-sided about this: In a public dialogue with Salman Rushdie 15 years ago, he described the Palestinians as "victims of the victims," an ironic formulation that hasn't been improved upon.
