[-empyre-] Crusades, guests and many other things

["Ana Valdes" <agora158@gmail.com>]

Hi, Empyre crew! First of all I want express my gratitude to Crhistina
MacPhee, who has being generous with her time and helped me along the
preparations for this month's topic.
My fascination for the Crusades was born when I read the book written
by the Lebanese writer Amin Malouf, "Crusades Through Arab Eyes". In
his book Malouf "reads" the Crusades from the Arabic historical
sources and find atrocities and crimes done in the name of the "true
God", the Christian God.
As many of you who have been reading my posts know I was a political
prisoner in Uruguay during the 70:s. We were tortured and beaten in
the name of the Christian values (for a further reading on the subject
I recommend an article written by the physician Manuel García Jr,
published in Counterpunch,
http://www.counterpunch.org/garcia03282006.html).
I have also been several times in Palestina, together with one of
Empyre guests, my dear friend and colleague Cecilia Parsberg,
http://this.is/Parsberg.  We were in Jenin the same day the Israeli
army left the camp, after a siege of ten days. The pictures Cecilia
took and my texts are still online, on the website
http://this.is/Jenin.
I found a red thread between the crimes and the conquest done by the
first Crusaders, who took the city of Jerusalem in the year 1099 and
slaughtered tens of thousands people, Jews, Oriental Christians,
Armenians and Arabs and what happened me and my comrades in
Latinamerica and what it's happening today in the Middle East.
The only way I know to fight the Fundamentalism of all religions and
political ideologies is the way we, intellectuals, scholars, artists
and activists, act. For me are Literature, Art and Activism related
and give me a platform to work for a change and to work for peace and
dialogue.
I want with this introduction launch the topic and welcome all the
guests to the discussion!
Loretta Napoleoni, scholar specialized in terror networks and economy,
is the first to participate with a text about Crusades and Jihad.
Ana


--
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you
will always long to return.
— Leonardo da Vinci