Links

Progressive News Sources and Commentaries

… There is a wealth of critical material available on alternative websites. Here are links to some general, useful, and generally reliable sites (specific articles from some of these sites can be found in our "commentaries" section):

The Nation Magazine www.thenation.com (first-hand reporting in New York; US political analysis; commentaries)

Z Mgazine's Z-Net www.zmag.org/ (excellent source for critical analyses of the roots of terrorism, the political economy of SW Asia, hard-headed analyses of US foreign policy, anti-racism, etc.)

The Independent Media Center: http://www.indymedia.org/ (an excellent compilation of reports from around the world; perspectives that are hard to find in the mainstream media)

Common Dreams: http://www.commondreams.org/ (a progressive news source, mostly North American; commentary from progressive writers)

Alternet: (www.alternet.org). An excellent source of analyses and commentaries on the implications of the attack - and of the changed political landscape.

A good general clearinghouse for Left and Progressive resources is Jay's Leftist and Progressive Resources Directory (http://www.neravt.com/left/index.html) run by Jay Moore. Jay's commentary in the wake of the event's is particularly good (and can be found on our commentaries page).

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (www.rawa.org) has been fighting against fundamentalism and for social justice for more than a decade.Ý This sight is a must for anyone wanting to understand why gender is so absolutely crucial to the struggle for social justice in Afghanistan (and beyond) ñ and for the reconstruction of Afghanistan after the current war ends.

Like many universityís Cal State Long Beach has held teach-ins on issues related to the 11 September attacks.Ý Materials from the teach-in and a useful compendium of links to other materials may be found at http://www.csulb.edu/~mcginnis/sept11.html. A news article reporting on the teach-in may be found at: http://www.ptconnect.com/archive/news/1001/11/new05.asp.

An excellent source of opinions and analysis about the ìwar on terrorism,î especially as it relates to the war in Afghanistan is Media Workers Against the War based in Britain: http://www.mwaw.org/

… The attack on New York and Washington cannot be divorced from the long history of US involvement in Middle Eastern politics and economy. A number of sites are useful for understanding this on-going history:

The National Network to End the War Against Iraq: (www.endthewar.org) provides analyses of, and means to work against, the on-going war against Iraq. It provides information on issues that the US media has long-since stopped covering. It also provides a series of commentaries by Arab, Arab-American, and peace activist groups in the wake of the attack.

The Atlantic Monthly (www.theatlantic.com) has run a series of articles over the years that many teachers have recommended. In particular, the following seem especially useful: "The Roots of Muslim Rage" (1990) traces the history of Islamic Radicalism, and hatred of the US: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/90sep/rage.htm

• "Blowback" (1996) looks at the effects of CIA funding of Mujahadeen in Afghanistan, and traces the links from the CIA to terrorism around theworld: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/96may/blowback.htm
• "The Lawless Frontier" (2000) examines social and political conditions in Afghanistan (focusing on the Afghan-Pakistan border region), and the radicalism of the Taliban in the wake of the Afghan wars of the past 20 years or so: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/09/kaplan.htm
• "Islam Rising" (1999) is an interview with the writer Mary Anne Weaver on the rise of militant Islamists in Egypt.: http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/bookauth/ba990217.htm

An indispensable source of information on US policy and the actions of the security apparatuses of the US state ñ recommended by Josh Lepawsky of the University of Kentucky ñ is the National Security Archive housed at George Washington University: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/

… American Muslims and Arabs (and people presumed to be these) have been the object of attack in the wake of the September 11 tragedy. Organizations representing American Arabs and Muslims include:

The Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (http://www.adc.org/) seeks to promote and protect the rights of American Arabs. It provides an excellent bibliography and set of links for issues related to Arab Americans and the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Hafed Al-Ghwell of The World Bank has put together a collection of links to articles and web-sites that provide information on Arabs, Arab-Americans, Islam, and the reaction of Muslims, Arabs, and Arab-Americans to the 11 September attack.Ý Some of the links are to the New York Times and other organizations that are once again requiring registration or a sign-in to access their materials.Ý