Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two were martyred in an initial toll of the Israeli drone strike that targeted the al-Asira neighborhood in the city of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone strike targeted the al-Asira neighborhood east of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are the greatest resistance. Know that 'Israel' will fall because it embodies aggression, crime, and occupation; victory is truly yours
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: The value of what you are doing despite your wounds is immense, and here you are, treading the path of the Master of Nation's Martyrs and the leaders
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are moving forward with insight deeper than sight itself. The enemy sought to eliminate your role in the battle, yet you remain steadfast and continue the fight
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors one year later: You are healing from your wounds and rising above them. You have successfully passed the test
Palestinian media: Reports of stabbing operation in occupied al-Quds.
Israeli media: Sirens blare in Arava in South, near Ramon Airport.
Egyptian PM Mostafa Madbouli: Egypt is targeted in plans to redraw regional map
AEOI Chief Mohammad Eslami: Our presence in IAEA General Council and fact-checking helped in preventing unilateral rhetoric that aims to portray Iran as an unregulated country

A letter to President Bill Clinton

  • Bouthaina Shaaban Bouthaina Shaaban
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 4 Nov 2024 23:06
  • 2 Shares
3 Min Read

As I watched you in complete disbelief giving your terribly miscalculated statement, which does not at all befit your statesmanship, you reminded me of the English Poet William Wordsworth...who tore up his best work later in his life.

Listen
  • x
  • I know that our narrative, i.e. the Arab narrative, does not reach you; so allow me to say that the atrocities
    I know that our narrative, i.e. the Arab narrative, does not reach you; so allow me to say that the atrocities "Israel" is perpetrating against us can only be compared to the genocide of Native Americans. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Mahdi Rtail)

Dear President Clinton,

As you were bidding farewell to late President Hafez al-Assad at the door of the presidential palace in Damascus, you told him, "I regret having to leave without seeing the city of Damascus; this historical city that I dreamt of visiting since I was a kid." Yesterday, Mr. President, "Israel" shelled the Lebanese city of Baalbek, which is like Damascus, a UNESCO World Heritage site that represents 9000 years of human history; its grand structures reflect Phoenician and Roman cultures. Israeli airstrikes recently struck Tyre in Lebanon and the historic Markets of Nabatieh, raising alarm about a deliberate attempt to erase the region's past.

Dear Mr. President,

You were the custodian of many negotiation rounds both in Washington and in Shepherdstown and you saw how the Israelis didn’t even allow the border committee to meet. President Hafez al-Assad described you as the most even-handed American president, and the most serious in pursuing a peace deal between the Arabs and the Israelis. That is why I was so surprised to see you at the campaign of Kamala Harris shying away from facts and equating the murderer with the victim when you said, "I will do everything I can to convince people that they cannot murder their way out of this." It is not people, Mr. President, who are murdering their way out of this, but the Israelis armed with American bombs and missiles who are murdering hundreds of thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians.

Related News

Together for Palestine: Troubling questions about the organisers of this huge event

Regional peace with the occupation a recipe for disaster

You must have heard Netanyahu saying, “We want to finish the job,” describing this war as an existential war. What he meant by finishing the job is to kill as many Arabs as possible and to erase their culture, history, and identity as he has been doing daily in both Palestine and Lebanon for the last 14 months.

Dear Mr. President,

When you met with the late President Hafez al-Assad in Geneva, in January 1994, you both talked for hours about people in the region and the need to make peace, and in the closed meeting, you bonded with him beautifully, talking about your late mothers. I am sure you will be shocked to know that "Israel" has killed in the last year tens of thousands of mothers in Gaza, Palestine, and Lebanon, tens of thousands of infants and children, hundreds of journalists, and hundreds of medical doctors and staff and patients, not to mention the destruction they wrought on all hospitals in Gaza. I know that our narrative, i.e. the Arab narrative, does not reach you; so allow me to say that the atrocities "Israel" is perpetrating against us can only be compared to the genocide of Native Americans and the Aborigines amid a total collapse of the international system and international humanitarian law.

Dear Mr. President,

As I watched you in complete disbelief giving your terribly miscalculated statement, which does not at all befit your statesmanship, you reminded me of the English poet William Wordsworth, who at an advanced age tore up his best poems in a reevaluation of what he wrote, not knowing that he was destroying his best heritage and depriving himself of his most honorable legacy.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Bill Clinton
  • Palestine
  • Lebanon
  • Gaza
  • Hafez Al-Assad
  • Syria
  • Damascus
Bouthaina Shaaban

Bouthaina Shaaban

Arab Intellectual

War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

All
Why is Choose Love using a firm with British and US intelligence connections to run a pro-Palestine musical event? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Together for Palestine: Troubling questions about the organisers of this huge event

  • Opinion
  • 17 Sep 2025
UKLFI’s latest faux pas, like "Israel’s" recent failed attempt at regime change in Iran, is unambiguously indicative of a flailing entity on the verge of extinction. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Zionist lawfare operation facing collapse?

  • Opinion
  • 13 Sep 2025
In the immediate aftermath of Parubiy’s slaying, claims emerged he had months earlier requested formal protection from the SBU, only to be rebuffed. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

The Ukrainian neo-Nazi who knew too much?

  • Opinion
  • 5 Sep 2025
The West Bank is on the verge of catastrophe

The West Bank is on the verge of catastrophe

  • Opinion
  • 9 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
Finishing the job!!!

Finishing the job!

Between concept and identity

Between concept and identity

"However, unfortunately as many serious philosophers have noted, Walzer is also unwilling to fully apply his own analysis to Israeli behavior, especially towards the Palestinians." (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Ali Al-Hadi Shmeiss)

'Every Person is a universe' Ibn Arabi

Spring flowers turn into fruits in the fall

Spring flowers turn into fruits in the fall

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS