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Tariq Ali on Political
Activism from Pakistan to Vietnam to Iraq
A conversation with writer and activist Tariq Ali on more than
four decades at the forefront of the antiwar movement. Ali has
written more than a dozen books on world history and politics as
well as five novels, and scripts for both stage and screen.
Broadcast - 04/14/05
- Tariq Ali, novelist, historian and political
activist. He has written more than a dozen books on world
history and politics, including, "Bush in Babylon: The
Recolonization of Iraq" as well as five novels, and
scripts for both stage and screen. He is one of the editors
of New Left Review. An updated edition of his memoir,
"Street-Fighting Years: An Authobiography of the
Sixties," is being published this month by Verso as
well as "A Sultan in Palermo," the fourth volume
of his "Islamic Quintet," an award-winning
collection of historical novels. A new collection of
interviews with David Barsamian titled "Speaking of
Empire and Resistance" was recently published by The
New Press. Website: TariqAli.org
Tariq Ali Profile
Tariq Ali has been a frequent guest on this program for many
years, analyzing US foreign policy, the attack against
Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq and critiquing
the so-called war on terror. But Tariq Ali is so much more than
an author and analyst - he has spent more than four decades at
the forefront in the global antiwar movement.
Tariq Ali was born in Lahore - in British-ruled India which
is now a part of Pakistan. He attended Catholic school before
going on to study at Punjab University. He was elected President
of the Young Students" Union where he organized public
demonstrations against Pakistan's military dictatorship. He was
eventually banned from participating in student politics.
His outspoken views were becoming dangerous in Pakistan and
he risked imprisonment. After graduating from university, his
uncle - then head of Pakistani Military Intelligence - told
Tariq's parents to send him abroad. He traveled to Britian to
study politics, philosophy and economics at Exeter College,
Oxford.
At Oxford he joined the University Labour Club and was a
committed member of its Socialist Group before becoming
President of the Oxford Union in 1965.
With the Vietnam war at its height, Tariq Ali earned a
national reputation through debates with figures like Henry
Kissinger and then-British Foreign Secretary, Michael Stewart.
He protested against the Vietnam War, led the now-infamous march
on the American Embassy in London in 1968, and edited the
revolutionary paper Black Dwarf, where he became friends with
numerous influential figures such as Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm
X, John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
40 years later, Tariq Ali continues his lifelong struggle
against US foreign policy across the globe. He has written more
than a dozen books on world history and politics as well as five
novels, and scripts for both stage and screen. He is one of the
editors of New Left Review. An updated edition of his memoir,
"Street-Fighting Years," is being published this month
by Verso as well as "A Sultan in Palermo," the fourth
volume of his "Islamic Quintet," an award-winning
collection of historical novels. A new collection of interviews
with David Barsamian titled "Speaking of Empire and
Resistance" was recently published by The New Press.
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