[-empyre-] Forward from Horit Herman Peled

[Timothy Murray]

>Thank you, Renate and Tim, for inviting me to be a featured guest 
>this month on empyre, when such an important and highly topical 
>issue is being discussed.
>
>Here are some preliminary thoughts.
>
>The unfolding uprisings in the ME, specifically in Egypt, present a 
>constitutive event with earthquake force, radiating waves of angst 
>across the "enlightened" Western world.  Clearly, physical proximity 
>to ground zero plays a major factor in the levels of real anguish. 
>
>The Arab regimes in the ME by no means resemble liberal democracies. 
>Yet, for decades the US and European governments have supported 
>these undemocratic governments. For Israelis, one of the greatest 
>moments was the signing of the peace agreement with Egypt in 1979, 
>after two bloody major wars between the two countries. Immediately 
>after the peace agreement Israelis flocked to Egypt and were 
>captured by the Egyptian people's hospitality, surprised to learn 
>that there was no animosity on their part. However, Egyptians were 
>forbidden to travel to Israel and the peace was coined a "cold 
>peace."  The US has equipped the Egyptian control system with state 
>of the art weaponry, allocating nearly a billion and a half US 
>dollars for this purpose each year. One should ask, why? If the 
>state of belligerence between Egypt and Israel was over, who were 
>these weapons supposed to be directed at?
>
>Egypt's authoritarian leaders, Mubarak and his predecessor, Sadat, 
>practiced effective social control by suppressing any dissent and 
>freedom of speech. The notable role of digital media in 
>circumventing these restrictions is suggestive of the possibilities 
>for Western media artists to lend solidarity to our Egyptian 
>colleagues. Art originating in oppressed countries is shown and sold 
>in the established institutions of the Western art fields. Would 
>artists in these countries see their Western counterparts as part of 
>the oppressing regimes, or could there be a different avenue of 
>communication between us?
>
>Israel, considered to be a democratic state, also administers its 
>share of oppression in the West Bank and the Gaza strip, denying all 
>citizenship rights to the Palestinians living on those lands. Being 
>a citizen of Israel I chose digital media as my artistic tools for 
>engaging with this existence. One of my pieces, "Violinist at the 
>Checkpoint," http://www.horit.com/violin.htm has attracted wide 
>attention in Israel and abroad, but also resulted in threats and 
>attempts at intimidation.
>
>The early stages of the digital "revolution" echoed great optimism 
>in the potentiality of these tools, in the "promise" of empowering 
>the artist and undermining the commercial merits of the art field. 
>The discussion of this issue, as we know, has been exhausted by now 
>from almost every angle and perspective. However, to live in the ME 
>is to exist with continuous yearning and desire for basic human 
>rights for all human beings living in the region. Respect for these 
>basic rights, that are granted all citizens in the Western world as 
>a matter of course, is almost a utopian dream even in the only 
>"real" democracy in the ME.  
>
>There is no guarantee at all that the current uprisings in the ME 
>would lead through democratic elections to the fulfillment of this 
>utopian dream. Just like in Iran, decades of political repression 
>have resulted in fundamentalist Islamic movements such as the 
>Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood being the only organized political 
>forces outside the regime. What would the electoral victory of such 
>movements, in free and fair elections, mean for the freedom of 
>artistic expression? for the rights of women? for human rights in 
>general? Many Western liberals now believe that an Islamic takeover 
>of democratic Egypt is either not eminent or would not be harmful to 
>liberal freedoms. I'm afraid there is room for healthy skepticism in 
>this regard.
>
>No one knows the outcome of the events unfolding in front of our 
>eyes. But can we afford to be mere bystanders?
>
>
>
>
>Homo Sacer in Globalization 
>Free  Cooperation in an Occupied  Space
>Rupture in the Surface: Ethics of the Abject 
>bare life
>


-- 
>  >Renate Ferro and Tim Murray
>>Managing Co-Moderators, -empyre- a soft-skinned-space
>>Department of Art/ Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art
>Cornell University