الخان المصري

نص شهادة المشير طنطاوى في محاكمة مبارك

2011-09-26T07:21:00.001Z

لا لحظر النشر.... دي ثورة مش فيلم سكس... يعني الشعب لازم يعرف كل حاجة......

نص المشير حسين طنطاوي، رئيس المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة ف قضية قتل المتظاهرين أثناء ثورة 25 يناير المتهم فيها : الرئيس المصري المخلوع حسني مبارك، ونجليه علاء وجمال، ووزير الداخلية الأسبق حبيب العادلي، و6 من كبار مساعديه

س١ : حصل اجتماع يوم 22 يناير، هل ورد إلي رئيس الجمهورية السابق ما دار في هذا الاجتماع وما أسفر عنه وما كان مردوده ؟

ج1 : الاجتماع كان برئاسة رئيس الوزراء واعتقد أننه بلغ

س2 : بداية من أحداث 25 يناير وحتي 11 فبراير هل تم اجتماع بينك وبين الرئيس السابق حسني مبارك ؟

ج2 : ليست اجتماعات مباشرة ولكن يوم 28 يناير لما أخذنا الأمر من السيد رئيس الجمهورية كان هناك اتصالات بيني وبين السيد الرئيس ؟

س3: ما الذي أبداه رئيس الجمهورية في هذه اللقاءءات ؟

ج3: اللقاءات بيننا كانت تتم لمعرفة موقف القوات المسلحة خاصة يوم 28 وعندما كلفت القوات المسلحة للنزول للبلد ومساعدة الشرطة لتنفيذ مهامها

ج٣-2: كان هناك تخطيط مسبق للقوات المسلحة وهذا التخطيط يهدف لنزول القوات المسلحة مع الشرطة وهذه الخطة تتدرب عليها القوات المسلحة

ج٣-3: القوات المسلحة بتنزل لما الشرطة بتكون محتاجة المساعدة وعدم قدرتها علي تنفيذ مهامها وأعطي الرئيس الأمر لقائد القوات المسلحة

س4 : هل وجه رئيس الجمهورية السابق المتهم محمد حسني مبارك أوامر إلي وزير الداخلية حبيب العادلي باستعمال قوات الشرطة القوة ضد المتظاهرين؟

ج٣-4 : أعطي الرئيس الأمر لقائد القوات المسلحة اللي هي نزول القوات المسلحة لتأمين المنشآت الحيوية وهذا ما حدث

س٤-2: استعمال قوات الشرطة القوة ضد المتزاهرين بما فيها استخدام الاسلحة الخرطوش والنارية من 25 يناير حتي 28 يناير ؟

ج4 : ليس لدي معلومات عن هذا واعتقد ان هذا لم يحدث

س5 : هل ترك رئيس الجمهورية السابق للمتهمين المذكورين من أساليب لمواجهة الموقف ؟

ج5 : ليس لدي معلومات

س6: هل ورد أو وصل إلي علم سيادتك معلومات أو تقارير عن كيفية معاملة رجال الشرطة ؟

ج6 : هذا ما يخص الشرطة وتدريبها ولكني أعلم ان فض المظاهرات بدون استخدام النيران

س7 : هل رصدت الجهات المعنية بالقوات المسلحة وجود قناصة استعانت بها قوات الشرطة في الأحداث التي جرت؟

ج7 : ليس لدي معلومات

س8 : تبين من التحقيقات إصابة ووفاة العديد من المتظاهرين بطلقات خرطوش أحدثت إصابات ووفيات..هل وصل ذلك الأمر لعلم سيادتك وبم تفسر ؟

ج8: إنا معنديش معلومات بكده.. الاحتمالات كتير لكن مفيش معلومة عندي

س9 : هل تعد قوات الشرطة بمفردها هي المسئولة دون غيرها عن إحداث إصابات ووفيات بعض المتظاهرين ؟

ج9 : إنا معرفش ايه اللي حصل

س10 : هل تستطيع سيادتك تحديد هل كانت هناك عناصر أخري تدخلت ؟

ج10 : هيا معلومات غير مؤكدة بس اعتقد ان هناك عناصر تدخلت

س11 : وما هي تلك العناصر ؟

ج11 : ممكن تكون عناصر خارجة عن القانون

س12 : هل ورد لمعلومات سيادتك ان هناك عناصر اجنبية قد تدخلت ؟

ج12 : ليس لدي معلومات مؤكدة ولكن ده احتمال موجود

س13 : وعلي وجه العموم هل يتدخل الرئيس وفقا لسلطته في ان يحافظ علي أمن وسلامة الوطن في إصدار أوامر أو تكليفات في كيفية التعامل ؟

ج13 : رئيس الجمهورية ممكن يكون أصدر أوامر - طبعا من حقه ولكن كل شئ له تقييده المسبق وكل واحد عارف مهامه

س14: ولمن يصدر رئيس الجمهورية علي وجه العموم هذه الأوامر ؟

ج 14 : التكليفات معروف مين ينفذها ولكن من الممكن ان رئيس الجمهورية يعطي تكليفات مفيش شك

س15 : وهل يجب قطعا علي من تلقي أمر تنفيذه مهما كانت العواقب ؟

ج15 : طبعا يتم النقاش والمنفذ يتناقش مع رئيس الجمهورية وإذا كانت الأوامر مصيرية لازم يناقشه

س16: هل يعد رئيس الجمهورية السابق المتهم محمد حسني مبارك مسئول مسئولية مباشرة أو منفردة مع من نفذ أمر التعامل مع ألمتظاهرين الصادر منه شخصيا?

ج16 : إذا كان أصدر هذا الأمر وهو التعامل باستخدام النيران أنا اعتقد ان المسئولية تكون مشتركة وأنا معرفش ان كان أعطي هذا الأمر أم لا

س17: وهل تعلم ان رئيس الجمهورية السابق كان علي علم من مصادره بقتل المتظاهرين ؟

ج17: يسأل في ذلك مساعديه الذين ابلغوه هل هو علي علم أم لا

س18: وهل تعلم سيادتكم ان رئيس الجمهورية السابق قد تدخل بأي صورة كانت لوقف نزيف المصابين ؟

ج18 : اعتقد انه تدخل وأعطي قرار بالتحقيق فيما حدث وعملية القتل وطلب تقرير وهذه معلومات

س19: هل تستطيع علي سبيل القطع والجزم واليقين تحديد مدي مسئولية رئيس الجمهورية السابق عن التداعيات التي أدت إلي إصابة وقتل المتظاهرين ؟

ج19 : هذه مسئولية جهات التحقيق

س20: هل يحق وفقا لخبرة سيادتكم ان يتخذ وزير الداخلية وعلي وجه العموم ما يراه هو منفردا من اجراءات ووسائل وخطط لمواجهة التظاهرات دون العرض علي رئيس الجمهورية؟

ج20: اتخاذ الاجراءات تكون مخططة ومعروف لدي الكل في وزارة الداخلية ولكن في جميع الحالات يعطيه خبر بما يخص المظاهرات ولكن التظاهر وفضه ولكن التظاهر وفضه هي خطة وتدريب موجود في وزارة الداخلية

س21 : وهل اتخذ حبيب العادلي قرار مواجهة التظاهر بما نجم عنه من إصابات ووفيات بمفرده بمساعدة المتهمين الاخرين في الدعوى المنظورة وذلك من منظور ما وصل لعلم سيادتك ؟

ج 21 : معنديش علم بذلك

س22 : علي فرض إذا ما وصلك تداعيات التظاهرات يوم 28 يناير إلي استخدام قوات الشرطة آليات مثل اطلاق مقذوفات نارية أو استخدام السيارت لدهس سيارات لدهس المتظاهرين..هل كان أمر استعمالها يصدر من حبيب العادلى يصدر من حبيب العادلى ومساعديه بمفردهم ؟

ج 22 : ما أقدرش أحدد اللي حصل أيه ولكن ممكن هو اللى اتخذها وأنا ما أعرفش واللى اتخذها مسئول عنها

س23: هل يصدق القول تحديداً وبما لا يدع مجالاً للشك أو الريبة أن رئيس الجمهورية السابق لا يعلم شيئاً أو معلومات أيا كانت عن تعامل الشرطة بمختلف قواتها أو أنه لم يوجه إلى الأول سمة أوامر أو تعليمات بشأن التعامل والغرض أنه هو الموكل إليه شئون مصر والحفاظ على أمنها ؟

ج23 : أنا ما أعرفش اللى حصل أيه لكن أعتقد إن وزير الداخلية بيبلغ وممكن ما يكونش مش عارف بس أنا ما أعرفش

س24 : هل هناك اصابات أو وفيات لضباط الجيش ؟

ج 24 : نعم هناك شهداء

س25 : هل تعاون وزير الداخلية مع القوات المسلحة لتأمين المظاهرات ؟

ج 25 : لأ

س26 : هل أبلغت بفقد ذخائر خاصة بالقوات المسلحة؟

ج26: مفيش حاجة ضاعت لكن هناك بعض الخسائر في المعدات واتصلحت ومفيش مشكلة

س27: هل أبلغت بدخول عناصر من حماس أو حزب الله عبر الأنفاق أو غيرها لإحداث إضرابات ؟

ج27 : هذا الموضوع لم يحدث أثناء المظاهرات واحنا بنقاوم الموضوع ده واللي بنكتشفه بندمره وإذا كان فيه حد محول لمحكمة فهذا ليس أثناء المظاهرات

س28: هل تم القبض على عناصر أجنبية في ميدان التحرير وتم إحالتهم للنيابة العسكرية ؟

ج28: لا ..لم يتم القاء القبض على أى أحد

س29: فى الاجتماع الذي تم يوم 20 يناير هل تم اتخاذ قرار بقطع الاتصالات؟

ج29 : لم يحدث

س30: بعض اللواءات قالوا طلب منا فض المظاهرات بالقوة..هل طلب من القوات المسلحة التدخل لذلك ؟

ج30: أنا قلت فى كلية الشرطة في تخريج الدفعة إن أنا بأقول للتاريخ إن أي أحد من القوات المسلحة لن يستخدم النيران ضد الشعب

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انتهت الشهادة و لكن لي تعليق واحد و هو ان في الرسالة 52 للمجلس الأعلى و الخاصة بما قاله المشير في كلية الشرطة (اجابة سؤال 30) اكد انهم "رفضوا" و الرفض لا يكون إلا لأمر و بالتالي مين الي اعطى الأمر و ليه المشير غير كلامه؟ الرسالة 52 تحت للي عايز يقراها و حسبي الله و نعم الوكيل.......

حضن جبل

2009-10-27T12:43:00.001Z

كان يوماً شبه مشمساً، يوم من تلك الأيام التي تظهر فيها الشمس حيناً ثم تختفي أحياناً أخرى خلف السحب المتناثرة. تلك السحب المتناثرة التي تتراوح ألوانها بين الأبيض الناصع البياض و الرمادي الداكن المنذر بقدوم الغيث. و على السواء بيضاء كانت أم رمادية كانت السحب كثيفة و ذات أشكال عشوائية و كلها تتسابق في أن تُخفي الشمس خلفها فتخلق عن دون قصد إضاءة هادئة لا تُضطر معها أن ترخي جفونك كي تتجنب أشعة الشمس المباشرة.

كنت متأخراً على الميعاد المتفق عليه بالرغم من قيامي مبكراً و كان لابد أن أُسرع و أتحرك من منزلي الواقع على أحد التلال الثلاثة التي تحد مدينة تونس من الشمال و تحديداً كان منزلي أعلى تلة "قمرت" التي تجاور تلتي "سيدي بوسعيد" و "قرطاج" و يطلون مجتمعين على البحر من ناحبة و على المدينة الممتدة بطول الوادي من الناحية الأخرى.انطلقت بالسيارة نحو وسط البلد حيث مكان اللقاء المتفق عليه بجانب فندق "أبي نواس" و قد تعودت كل يوم عند الخروج من البيت على إلقاء نظرة سريعة على البحر كي أتابع تغير لونه على حسب تغير لون السماء و أحوالها. كانت تلك السحب المبعثرة قد استطاعت أن ترسم على البحر الهادئة طباعه لوحة مكونة من مساحات من الأزرق الشديد القتامة و مساحات أخرى من اللون المرمري الشفاف الذي يكاد يكشف عورة الرمال تحت صفحته، طبعت تلك اللوحة أثرها في نفسي على مهل قبل أن أدرك أني لابد أن أسرع إن كنت أريد أن أصل قبل ميعاد التحرك.

يوم الأحد صباحا تكون الطرق شبه خالية من السيارات و قد ساعدني ذلك في طي الطريق بين الدار و شارع محمد الخامس حيث الفندق في حوالي ربع الساعة. توجهت إلى المرفأ حيث وجدت بقية المجموعة و قد وقفوا إلى جانب سياراتهم يتكلمون و يتناقشون في ترتيبات بقية اليوم. لم أكد أترجل من السيارة حتى أقبلت عليَ و في عينيها نظرة حاسمة لكن حنونة...

- هل كان الحلم ممتعاً؟

- أي حلم؟

- الذي أخر صحيانك

- لم يكن الحلم الذي أخرني

- ماذا كان إذن؟

- البحر المتغيرة أحواله

- عذر أقبح من ذنب

- و لكنني لست آخر الحاضرين فرأيسة المجموعة نفسها لم تصل بعد

- و هل يعفيك هذا؟

- لازلت مذنبا إذن!

- و لكنك المذنب المفضل إليَ

ابتسمت عيناها قليلا و بادلتها الابتسام ثم هتف يناديها أحد أفراد المجموعة فانطلقت نحوه و انشغلوا في تقسيم الماعون الذي تم تجميعه طوال الأيام الفائتة من المتبرعين بين السيارات التي تم اختيارها كي تقودنا إلى الجبل، لم تكن سيارتي من بين تلك السيارات حيث فضلت تركها بالمرفأ لكونها عهدة من الشركة التي أعمل بها. قمنا بتقسيم أنفسنا بين السيارات و لم تكن هي في نفس السيارة التي كانت من نصيبي.

كانت القافلة متجهة إلى مدرسة نائية تقع في وسط الصحراء وتم اختيارها للزيارة و المساعدة بسبب شدة فقر مواردها و عدم اهتمام الدولة بها و لبعدها عن مساكن الأطفال المسجلين فيها، كان لموقعها دور في سوء أحوالها حيث الطرق شديدة التعرج و التلال كانت تقف حائلا بينها هي و القرية المجاورة لها و التي تسمى "الرقبة" من جهة و بقية الحقول و الامتداد السكاني من جهة أخرى. الهدف كان أن نمضي اليوم مع الأطفال كي نرفع من روحهم المعنوية ثم نعرج على الإدارة كي نرى كيف يمكن مساعدتهم في المستقبل.

بدأت رحلتنا على الطريق السريعة و كانت السحب قد بدأت في إرسال دفقات من الأمطار الخفيفة و لكن ذلك لم يحول دون رؤية المناطق الفارغة المرمرية في جسم السحب التي بدت و كأنها تلملم من نفسها استعداداً لما يبدو أنه أكثر من دفقات خفيفة. كانت "الرقبة" تبعد حوالي مائتي كيلومتر عن العاصمة في اتجاه الغرب التونسي و لم تكن تقع على الطريق الرئيسة بل اضطررنا إلى سلوك طريق آخر صغير فرعي يمتد وسط الحقول. بعد فترة من السير في هذا الطريق تكشف أمامنا منظر خلاب خطف حواسي عن كل ما حولها و حتى عن صوت فيروز التي كانت تشدو للقدس العتيقة.

كان الجبل أسمراً شامخاً وسط السحب و محاطاً ببعض التلال الصفراء و البنية التي تنم عن فقر الزرع و ندرته و كانت لحظة انكشافه مبهرة و بدت التلال المجاورة له و كأنها الخدم الساهر على خدمة سيده العليَ شأنه. منظر الجبل لم يوحي بأنه يوجد من يسكن أو يتعلم في ثناياه فهو من تلك الجبال التي تعتقد أنها وُجِدت فقط كي تكون نِداً للزمن و شاهداً عليه دون أن تنال منها أكثر من رؤيتها و التملي بجمالها.حاولت أن أحيط بهذا الجمال بكاميرتي الفوتوغرافية و لكني فشلت في قنص ذلك الجمال الذي تملكني و جاءت الصور منقوصة... و بدأت أفكر فيمن سيساعد من و تعجبت، أنساعدهم نحن بالماعون أم يساعدونا هم بالسماح لنا بالنظر إلى جنتهم.

انتهت الطريق الصغيرة و دلفنا إلى الصحراء و كنا لنزال على مسافة غير قليلة من "الرقبة" المختفية وراء الجبل، السيارات كانت تشكل صفاً يسير رويداً بسبب وعورة مسلكنا و على جانبنا سار عدد من الفلاحين ممتطين لدوابهم و قد غطوا رؤوسهم بقبعات من الخوص التي عرفت فيما بعد أنها من عادات الفلاح التونسي.رفع أحد الفلاحين بجوارنا يده مُرحباً و كأنما كنا مقبلين على باب داره فبادلناه التحية، و مضينا في طريقنا و أخذت الطريق ترتفع شيئاً فشيئاً فوق التلال إلى أن بدأنا نرى أطفال متشابكي الأيدي يسيرون في نفس الاتجاه و كانوا يصارعون وعورة الطريق بأقدام صغيرة و لكن بخفة و مهارة ثقلتها الخبرة فتارة يتقدمون بالقفز و العند و تارة بالتروي و تخير موطئ القدم. كدت أشعر بالأسف لقسوة الطريق على أجسامهم الصغيرة لكني فكرت أن الطريق الوعرة مدرسة في حد ذاتها و ربما ما يتعلموه فيها كل يوم هو أخير و أقيم مما نتعلمه نحن في مكاتبنا المكيفة. ظهر في الأفق مبنى أبيض (ناصع البياض في بعض أجزاؤه) يبدو عليه حداثة البناء على الرغم من الدهان المتهالك لبعض الحيطان. اقتربنا من البوابة و إذا بنا نجد جحافل من الطلبة خارجها و لاحظنا أن كلهم تقريباً من الأولاد و جميعهم أكبر سناً من أطفال المدرسة و عرفنا بعد ذلك أنهم من نفس القرية التي أتى منها الأطفال و لكنهم من المدرسة الإعدادية البعيدة عن هذا المكان و لكنهم أتوا بعد أن سمعوا بالزيارة ليظفروا ببعض الهدايا مع أخواتهم

الصغار.

كانت المدرسة من الداخل في شدة البساطة و لكنها كانت نظيفة، كانت مكونة من ثلاثة أضلاع متعامدة من المباني التي تحيط بحوش متسع يوجد في منتصفه هيكل أشبه بالنصب التذكاري و يرتفع فوقه علم تونس. المدرسة كانت في حضن الجبل و كانت رؤية التلال من المدرسة سهلة جداً (أيها التعساء الصغار... آه لو تدركوا الجمال الذي يحيط بكم... ستكبرون يوماً لتجروا جري الوحوش و تتنافسوا فيمن يخرج من هذه الجنة إلى جحيم العاصمة). كان معظم الأطفال في الفصول في انتظارنا و كنا قد بدأنا في سماع أصواتهم و رؤية وجوههم المطلة من الشبابيك و الأبواب و كانوا كحبات الهواء في الماء المغلي منتشرون في كل أنحاء المدرسة و في حراك مستمر، تحرك زملائي في اتجاه الفصول إلا أنني لم أذهب معهم و وجدتني سارحاً أتجول في المدرسة إلى أن أصبحت وحيداً و استوقفتني لوحة بليدة الشكل و لكن عظيمة المعنى مرسومة على أحد حوائط المبنى و كانت تقول:

"العلم يبني بيوتاً لا عماد لها ، و الجهل يهدم بيوت العز و الشرف"

كانت تلك أول مرة أقرأ فيها هذه المقولة و حتى الآن لا أعرف قائلها و لكني عجبت أني تعلمت شيئاً جديداً في تلك المدرسة البعيدة كل البعد عن مسار حياتي فصرت مثلي كمثل هؤلاء الأطفال و هم يقرءوها لأول مرة. أخذت أفكر في المقولة و شدة دقتها و تعبيرها عما نمر به و كأنما قد عرف قائلها بما سيحدث لنا يوما... ً و بينما أنا سارحاً مع أفكاري و متأملاً للحائط ذي المقولة إذا بها تربت على كتفي.. التفت إليها لأجد ابتسامة رقيقة قد ارتسمت على شفتيها....

- لماذا تقف وحدك؟

(أشرت إلى الحائط أمامي ثم نظرت إليها بطرف عيني و قلت)

- جميلة.. أليس كذلك؟

- من قائلها؟

- لا أدري

- هل ستبقى؟

- و لماذا أبقى في "الرقبة"؟

لمحت ذرات غضب في عينيها و توارت البسمة المعهودة ثم قالت في اقتضاب

- تفهم قصدي

- نعم أفهم

- حسناً... هل ستبقى؟

- لا توجد أرض عربية تستطيع أن تحتويني

- أغرور هذا أم ثقة زائدة بالنفس؟

- بل خوف من عذاب لا مفر منه إن بقيت

- أي عذاب؟

- ضيق التنفس... أتعرفينه؟

- نعم أعرفه.. أسبابه عندي تختلف.. و لكني بعد لم أفهم

- قسموا أرض العرب و لم تنتج القسمة عن جزء يكفيني فكلهن صغار عني...

فإما أن أبقى و أتعذب أو أرحل و أتنفس..

و أنتِ...

هل ستبقين؟

- مقاسها يناسبني

- ماذا تعنين؟

- لا أفضل الملابس الفضفاضة

- فهمت... و لكن ماذا ستفعلين؟

- أفتش في ثنايا تلك الأرض

- هي مليئة بالكنوز... حتى في حضن هذا الجبل.. أليس كذلك؟

- بلى

التفت إلى منظر التلال الماثلة أمامي و هي لازالت بجانبي و قد تبعتني عيناها و أحسست بأصابعها و قد لامست أصابعي في وهن قبل أن تسحبها لتزيح بعض من شعراتها المتطايرة على وجهها بفعل النسيم ثم مالت بشفتيها على أذني و همست..

- اختلفت الطرق و اتفقت المنى!

- قد نلتقي

- ربما... سأسأل عن أخبارك في كل حال

- لا أستطيع أن أعد بالمثل

نظرت إليَ باستغراب و قالت..

- و لم لا؟

- لست قارٍ بعد و لا أعرف متى أستقر و لا أين

- و ما يمنع المرتحل من الوصل؟

- أتعرفين حسن بن محمد الوزان؟

؟Jean-Leon de Medici-

- هو ذاك... و هو كذلك يوحنا الأسدي الأفريقي

- و ما صلته بسؤالك عتي؟

- أشعر أني سأنتهي على حاله..

ولد بمدينة و قذف منها إلى أخرى...

و ارتحل مجدداً... ثم سيق إلى أقصى الأرض..

فكثُرت أسماؤه و صفاته...

فتجدينه في بعض أنحاء المعمورة الغرناطي و بأخرى الفاسي..

و في أخرى الأفريقي...

و في ترحاله سُلِب حق الوصل..

حتى استقر حيث أسكن في "قمرت"

أخشى أن أصير مثله....

و الرحالة لا يملك وعده.

تدفقت من عينيها ملامح الحزن و سرعان ما فاضت على وجنتيها و شفتيها ثم رويداً تبدلت ملامحها فصارت أكثر دفئاً و قالت

- أتعرف ماذا كان يكفيه في ترحاله؟

- ماذا تعتقدين؟

L'amour, c'est suffisant-

لم تمنحني فرصة للاختلاف بل اقتربت مني في هدوء و مالت برأسها عليَ و أحسست بحرارة وجهها قرب أنفي و بملمس أصابعها فوق كتفي ثم أطبقت بشفتيها بقبلة على خدي و أحسست بطرف شفتيها و قد لامس طرف شفتاي عن دون قصد منها....

بنفس الهدوء تراجعت قليلاً حتى تلاقت عينانا لحيظات قليلة و لكنها كانت كافية لكل واحد منا كي يلقي للآخر بحبات وجده..

تركتني و انسحبت بهدوئها المعهود من محيطي (و حياتي) و وجدتني أرجع بنظري إلى الجبل و تلاله المحيطة و وددت لو أنه ضمني إلى حضنه الدفيء....

هممت بالعودة للمجموعة و لم يكن أحد قد لاحظ غيبتي و كانوا قد بدءوا يتوزعون على الفصول و في أثناء سيري فوجئت بشيء يصطدم بجسدي بقوة و اندفاع من الخلف، التفت خلفي في دهشة لألمح طفل لا يتعدى الخامسة من عمره يرتدي فانلة بيضاء و سترة كحلية و قد سقط على الأرض بفعل ارتطامه بي قبل أن يثب واقفاً و كأن شيئاً لم يكن ليعاود جريه. أمسكت به قبل أن يعاود الجري و كانت على وجهه ابتسامة المنتصر و تطل من عينيه علامات الذكاء الحاد و نظراته تنم عن فطرة عربية بدوية نمت في حضن هذا الجبل. سألته عن اسمه فجاوبني هاتفاً و قال "مالك" ثم حاول الفرار من بين يدي و كأنما يريد الهرب من شيء ما أو الإسراع لاقتناص شيء ما. كانت حركات يده و جسده تزخر بطاقة لا تُستنفذ و لم تستطع قبضتي أن تبقيه أكثر من ذلك حيث انطلق مجدداً ليرتطم تلك المرة بمدير المدرسة الذي ظننت أنه سيعاقبه و لكنه اكتفى لدهشتي بملاطفته و مداعبته قبل أن يدعه كي يذهب إلى فصله.

عندما لحقت بالمجموعة اكتشفت أنه تم توزيعي على فصل الأطفال الأصغر سنا و عند دخولي الفصل وجدته يموج بحركة عشوائية و الأطفال يصيحون بلا سبب و بلا توقف و أخذ بقية زملائي يحاولون تهدئتهم حتى يقوموا بتوزيع الهدايا عليهم. اقترح أحدنا أن نقوم برسم أشكال على السبورة و نسألهم عنها و نعطي لمن يجيب بالصواب أحد الهدايا و بالفعل بدأنا و كان من الواضح أن "مالك" و طفل آخر (أتضح فيما بعد أنه ابن ناظر المدرس) هما قائدا هذا الفصل فبعد أن جلسا و استقرا في درجيهما تبعهما بقية الفصل. بدأ الرسم و التخمين وقام زميلنا برسم شمس على السبورة و سألناهم عنها فهتف ابن الناظر أولا و تبعه الآخرون و هتفوا "سمشون" فصحح لهم زميلي قائلا " شمسٌ " فبدا الاستغراب على وجوههم الصغيرة قبل أن يعيدوا الكرة و يهتفوا "سمشون" و كأنما غير مقتنعين بما قلنا... أوقفتنا أحد بنات المجموعة و قالت إن الشمس تُعرف في تلك الأنحاء من تونس باسم "سمش" فصرنا نحن جهلاء "الرقبة". آثر زميلي السلامة و بدأ برسم الفواكه و الغلة حتى يضمن أكبر قدر من الاتفاق بيننا و بينهم و بدأ برسم بعض من أصابع الموز و على الفور صاح ابن الناظر ولحق به الآخرون "بناناتون" و كان عودٌ على بدء.

شعرت بالحنين للجلوس إلى الدرج و تذكرت أيام مدرسة الفرير بالكربة و در وجها التي احتضنتني و وجدتني أتجه نحو آخر الفصل لأجلس بأحد الدروج و إذا بالطفلتين الجالستين أمامي تلتفتان إليَ بابتسامة خجولة... حييتهما فإذا بهما تضحكان و تتهكمان على لهجتي الغريبة على أذنيهما، سألتهما عن اسميهما و قالتا "هالة" و "هناء"... رددت قائلا أنا "أحمد" فقالتا شنوا الأحوال سي أحمد.....

تركتهما للمسابقة و الجوائز و أخذت أفكر..

فكرت في كل تلك الثنايا التي تملأ تلك الأرض التي ورثناها..

أليست هي المصدر و الممول لتلك الحضارة؟

تحت كل ثنية أرض و في حضن كل جبل و وادٍ عالم كامل يزخر ببنات أفكار تلك الحضارة...

فإذا ظننا أنها صارت أرضاً بور فاجأتنا من حيث لا ندري بجديد مثري...

و تبدأ القصة من جديد....

إنها أرض تستحق الخدمة .... و العودة.

و كما قال أعرابي "غفلنا و لم يغفل الدهر عنا، فلم نتعظ بغيرنا، حتى وُعِظَ غيرُنا بنا، فقد أدركت السعادة من تنبه، و أدركت الشقاوة من غفَل، و كفى بالتجربة واعظاً"

القاهرة المقهورة

2009-10-27T12:29:00.000Z

هذا هو المنظر من جامع قلاوون في وسط القاهرة. اطلال بيوت و بقايا حكايا لأسر بسيطة تركت منازلها

ناصر و مقاومة الإمبريالية بجامعة لندن

2006-10-31T23:06:00.000Z

طالعتني أسوار جامعة لندن اليوم بمنظر لا أظن أن أحدا من جيلي قد عايشه قبل ذلك. منظر ذكرني بقصص الخمسينيات و الستينيات التي ألفت أن أسمعها من أبي و أمي و نبرات الشوق تتخلل صوتهما... وددت لو كانا معي و لكني لا أظن أنهما كانا سيغالبا الشوق فالشوق على المشتاق أغلب. ملصقات متناثرة على الأسوار تحمل صورة الرجل الذي طالما ألهب مشاعر المصريين... "ناصر" .... تطلعت حولي و فكرت.... أتلك كانت هيئة أسوار القاهرة في العهد الذي مضى؟

أما عن الملصقات فتلك حكايتها

يعلن حزب "رسبكت" بكلية العلوم الشرقية و الأفريقية بجامعة لندن عن محاضرة بعنوان

أزمة السويس....ناصر و مواجهة الإمبريالية

بعد مرور 50 عاما على الأزمة التي قزمت الإمبراطورية البريطانية و أكدت المكانة البطولية لناصر في العالم العربي نلقي نظرة على تلك الأحداث و على أوجه تطابق تلك الفترة مع الأحداث الجارية و أخيرا على ناصر و ذكراه

المتحدثون

المهندس كمال بيومي

فدائي بحرب السويس

الأستاذة آن ألكساندر

مؤلفة كتاب .... ناصر: قصة حياة

الأستاذ سامي رمضاني

محاضر و كاتب بجريدة الجاردين

و ذلك يوم الخميس الموافق 2 نوفمبر بقاعة الطلبة العامة بالكلية

Hasta La Victoria Siempre!

2006-10-08T20:42:00.000Z

Nasser & Guevara

both dead...

their ideas & hopes are still alive...

"The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall."Guevara

الخائفون لا يصنعون الحرية و المترددون لن تقوى ايديهم المرتعشة على البناء"جمال عبد التاصر"

صرخة جيفارا
جيفارا مات..... جيفارا مات .....اخر خبر فى الراديوهات.......وفى الكنايس.......والجوامع وفى الحواري........والشوارع......وع القهاوي وع البارات ..... جيفارا مات واتمد حبل الدردشه......والتعليقاتمات المناضل المثال ياميت خسارة على الرجال مات الجدع فوق مدفعة جوه الغابات جسد نضالة بمصرعه......ومن سكات .. لا طبالين يفرقعوا.....ولا اعلانات ما رايكم دام عزكم ياانتيكات يا غرقانين فى المأكولات...والملبوسات يا دافيانين......ومولعين الدفايات يا محفلطين يا ملمعين.....يا جيمسنات يا بتوع نضال اخر زمن فى العوامات...ما رايكم دام عزكم جيفارا مات لاطنطنة...ولا شنشنه ولا اعلامات واستعلامات عينى عليه ساعه القضا ** من غير رفاقه تودعه يطلع انينه للفضا يزعق...ولا مين يسمعه.. يمكن صرخ من الالم من لسعه النار ف الحشا يمكن ضحك...او ابتسم او ارتعش....او انتشى يمكن لفظ اخر نفس كلمه وادع....لجل الجياع يمكن وصيه...للى حاضنين القضيهفى الصراع....صور كتير ملو الخيال....والف مليون احتمال لكن اكيد....اكيد اكيد ولاجدال...جيفارا مات موتة رجال ياشغالين ومحرومين يا مسلسلين رجلين وراس خلاص خلاص....مالكوش خلاص غير بالبنادق والرصاص..دا منطق العصر السعيد عصر الزنوج والامريكان...الكلمه للنار والحديد والعدل اخرس او جبان...صرخه جيفار يا عبيد في اى موطن او مكان مافيش بديل مافيش مناص...يا تجهزوا جيش الخلاص يا تقولوا على العالم خلاص

أحمد فؤاد نجم..1967

Farewell...

2006-08-30T22:29:00.000Z

"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.” Naguib Mahfouz

His imaginary characters imposed themselves as a reality on my life... umm... 'imposed' is not the right word... i happily embrassed them into my world... or maybe they embrassed me to their world... actually i can no longer differentiate between my world and their world..... i saw myself residing within all his stories and his characters belonged to the world around me. His words filled many gaps in my vocabulary, his sentences carried the essence of my relationship with Egypt's air... with its soil... with its buildings...

i lost a teacher....

a teacher of life... of history... and of humanity...

Send a note of appreciation and admiration to the family that helped this man nourish us with his words, thoughts, and dreams. If you feel there is something you want to tell them or there is something you want to thank them for -wherever you're living and whatever your nationality is- then put your note as a comment below before the 15th of September and it will be sent as part of a letter from all those who are thankful for his family for helping him give us the best of his intellect. This is the very least we could do.

Please include your email in the note to be notified upon the delivery of the letter.

HizbAllah Flags Flying high in the heart of London!

2006-07-31T19:37:00.000Z

I was sad and did not really know what to do... did not believe the demo would really help stop the suffering of the Arabs in Lebanon but i just felt i did not want to be sad and alone... maybe joining others would make it softer... those are random images i took of the demo..... no particular pattern.... just follow the photos...

HizbAllah flags flying high in the heart of London.... Some people said that it was only Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), Salah Al Din, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and now Hassan Nasrallah who captured the hearts and minds of the Arab streets... i don't recall any other Arab leader whose picture was carried or whose name was chanted by the people in the street..... we're lucky to have lived and seen one of them I suppose....

Her little beautiful eyes invited me to capture her look... seeing the camera in my hand she gently pressed her little goat against her heart and looked directly at me.... her mom standing at the back with a photo of one of the Arab children who were burnt by the Zionists... what are her eyes trying to say?

the demo was attended by around 8,000 participant who represented many organisations like Stop the War, Musilm Association of Britain, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Socialist Worker Party, in addition to lots of independant journalists and artists.

Elhanan is a Jewish Rabbi from a Jewsih group called Neturei Karta..... he gave me his card and on it i read "The Torah-true Jews who out of loyalty to the Jewish faith strongly oppose Zionism and it's outcome".... we talked for a while and i was astonished to know how opposed he and his group are to the establishment of the state of Israel.... the tag he is wearing in this photo reads "Judaism rejects Zionism".... he told me that they are here today to support the Arabs in demanding their rights...

Speakers I recognised

Husam Zumlot - PLO Political representative in the UK. Husam is originally from Haifa as I remember and he used to be a student at LSE.

Robert Fisk read some really moving words.

and here are some other random photos......

Some quotes just make it to history... i think this is going to be one of them.... !

so .... "FOKOO!!"

I never knew that you can actually get HizbAllah flags in London, and I never realised that it would be accepted and recognised to wave the yellow flags in London.... it proves once again that when you feel and know that you are right then lots of taboos fall down.....

Egypt's Future: Bright or Bleak - Discussion

2006-07-02T22:55:00.000Z

Activism is starting to grow day after day in London and Egyptian activists are starting to exchange ideas, create common grounds, and try to make use of their presence in London. This time it was a discussion among some activists who wanted to attempt to question what they think Egypt's future over the coming period would look like and what chances does the establishment of real democracy had in Egypt. At many points in time the discussion hit the question "what can we do to share our part of the responsibility towards the calls for democracy in Egypt?", this was driven by the sense of responsibility and thirst to participate that was filling the air... there were many attempts to answer that question, many of them have been recorded below.

Dr Yahia El Kazzaz (member of the Kefaya Coordination Committee) kicked off the discussion by asserting that Egyptians activists abroad should focus their efforts in connecting with the activists inside Egypt and understanding their situation before communicating their message to the civil society in Europe to get them support in their quest for democracy and justice. Kazzaz stressed that activism in London will break the barrier of "fear" that was created over time among the Egyptians abroad from taking part in the struggle for their national causes and it will challenge the generalised lack of trust of any effort that came from outside the borders. He stressed that activists abroad should play a very vital role in exposing the brutality of the security forces and the government against reformers and it soliciting support to the cause from the civil society.

Dr Kazzaz then talked about the Kefaya experience in Egypt and how it followed the same scenario of challenging the perceived fears that were created by the government when it started organising demos in Cairo streets without getting the ministry of interior's permission for the belief that unlike the government propaganda protesting is an integral part of our rights that does not require a permission to be exercised. He pointed out however that the movement is only 2 years old so it is in the very beginning and people's expectations should take into consideration how young the movement is.

Dr Mostafa Abdel Al stressed how the importance of not perceiving the inheritance of presidency in Egypt as 'fate' or something that cannot be opposed and rejected. He said that if Gamal manages in inherting power then this would take us back to the royal times which we revolted against. On a more practical level, the Egyptian cause should be explained and our role is to communicate with the civil society in the UK to convy this cause. He stressed that youth will be the bridge between the older generation living in the UK and the organisations that constitue that civil society as they would be more active and more capable of communicating with them.

Inas then stressed on the importance of communicating with the Egyptians abroad especially in the UK and trying to get them involved, and if not possible then at least make sure they know and understand what is happening in Egypt; this way we could be really adding value to the cause.

An important question was raised with regards to the US Aid and how it became so important to the government. Dr Kazzaz noted that stopping the aid at any point in time would be a disaster to the government as the whole regime would be completely exposed financially and economically. The finances to the securtiy appartus would be strongly affected as well.

Nariman pointed out that the efforts, meetings, and demos that already started in London should carry on and that we should focus more on bringing about a change without going into the details of what the poiltical and social systems to follow would look like as this would cause lots of deviations and different opinions depending on the ideologies and beliefs. She believes this could be discussed through a national dialogue under the umbrella of a democratic system.

Guy Tailor who was attending as an observer from Globalise Resistance which is an English NGO campaigning against globalisation said that it would be very important for any campaigning effort in the UK to network with the different NGOs, Trade Unions, and student networks in order to get public attention to the cause. He gave an example with the Marxism Conference that would be taking place from the 6th to the 10th of July in London, there will be 2 workshops during the conference that will be tackling Egypt and democracy in the Middle East. He said that those workshops play a very important role in raising awareness about the situation in the Arab World.

Mr. Kamal Bayoumi told us that the spirit in the air resembled what they used to feel as young men before the 1952 revolution, spirit and enthusiasim are not the only resemblence he says, he saw and remembers the same kinds of slavery and torture that prevailed during the time of the King. He said that the ugly face that used to be there before the revolution is back again and is even worse.

Omar said he'd play the devil's advocate for the sake of uncovering what we could have missed. He pointed that there is still no mass movement or mass demand for change in Egypt, all the calls for change are coming from a very limited and small class of intellectuals and activists who do not necessairly represent the nation. Omar said that none of those movements could mobilise more than few hundreds to a demonstration for example. The only group that can actually mobilise thousands is the Muslim Brotherhood but he is not sure if it represents the majority of the people. Dr Kazzaz however noted that Kefaya managed in 'initiating' the recent struggle and this is a very important value added that is not related to the numbers of those who support you but to what you have actually achieved and he believes that the very first anti regime demo that Kefaya organised was a very new aggressive step.

Mr Kamal Bayoumi wanted to end the discussion with practical suggestions, he said that any campaigning effort in the UK should depend on targeting three main groups if it wants to achieve something. First is the Egyptian youth studying and living in the UK, second are the Egyptian Senior citizens who are already settled in the UK, and thirdly the British Civil Society.

In order to translate that into actual practical steps, the attendees agreed that the proper starting points would be:

form discussion groups that would always meet to discuss the current developments and give a chance for more people to listen and learn about what's happening.
inviting more people to attend the discussions
compiling names and contacts of the Egyptian activists in the UK and putting them in contact together as well as coordinating their efforts
writing to newspapers about the situation in Egypt as this is a very effective method in the British society
organisin exhibitions, publiuc meetings, demos about what is happening in Egypt to attract attention to the cause.

UK Journalists Supporting their Egyptian Colleagues

2006-06-05T21:18:00.000Z

The Cause is getting more attention.... more and more of the civil society organisations worldwide are starting to notice what is happening in Egypt and the calls for democracy are finding more and more ears to listen. This time it was the National Union of Journalists in the UK (NUJ) that organised today's demo in solidarity with the Egyptian Journalists Dina Gamil and Dina Samak that were attacked by the Egyptian Security forces on May 25th while kidnapping Sharkawy and El Sha'er, both Dina(s) were not beaten however their car was badly damaged by the Police Thugs.

The Demo was attended by around 30 protestors who represented some of the active organisations in the UK like Stop the War, Globalise Resistance, The Cairo Conference, Media Workers Against War, The Egyptian Committee in Support of the Egyptian Judges, and The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theater Union (BECTU) . The demo was in the heart of Central London in front of the BBC building and it lasted for around an hour.

Arwa is a young Egyptian jounralist who is a member of the NUJ and she was one of the reasons behind the succcess of this demo. Arwa managed in getting the support of the NUJ for the cause and she submitted a letter to the Egyptian Emabssy on the May 25th demo that was signed by the Sec Gen of the NUJ.

There were three speeches given by a representative from the NUJ then by Chris Nineham from Stop the War then Arwa read a final statement from the NUJ.

The NUJ representative said that both Dina Gamil and Samak were NUJ members so the demo is not simply a stand in support to fellow journalists but it is in fact a stand against an attack on the NUJ itself.

Chris Nineham talked about the support the USA government is giving to dictatorships though it always cliams to be supporting democracy. He also pointed out the brutality with which the Egyptian police dealt with the recent peaceful demos.

Arwa read a final statement by the NUJ that condemned the attacks on journalists in Egypt. You can read the full Press Release by the NUJ far below.

It is very important to note that all the thanks should go to Somaya Zadeh, an Iranian member of BECTU who manaed in getting them to issue a statement condemning the Police Brutality, Somaya is currently working on a Campaign against War on Iran. (Somaya is in the white shirt with shirt hair - 2nd from right in the photo below)

There were some Arab journalists who attended in solidarity with their Egyptian colleagues as well, some of them are working with the BBC Arabic service.

In the photo below you'll find from right to left John Rees (Vice President - Cairo Conference) , Chris Nineham (Stop the War Coalition) and Guy Taylor (Globalise Resistance). The three of them have attended the last Cairo Conference.

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IMPORTANT NOTE: after you finish reading this report please make sure you watch th video available at the link below, it is a video of the latest "Al Hakika" program by Wael El Ebrashy. This episode is very important as the guests are Ahmed Bahaa Shabaan (Kefaya) & Abeer El Askary on one side and Mohamed Abdel Fatah Omar & Nabil Luka Bebawy on the other (both Bebawy and Omar are current members of Parliment and former High Rank Police Officers). The episode is a very true bitter reflection of our reality. You can find it here.

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Find below the Press Release that the NUJ issued few days before the demo:

NUJ calls demonstration after Egyptian journalists attacked

The NUJ is to hold a demonstration outside Bush House, London, on Monday (5/6) in support of two BBC producers - both NUJ members - who were attacked after covering a meeting of the General Assembly of the Journalists’ Syndicate in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The attack on Dina Samak and Dina Gameel (who had been covering the event for the BBC Arabic Service) took place at 5pm on May 25 as they were leaving the syndicate's garage, accompanied by another journalist from a weekly newspaper, Gihan Saaban, and a young trainee Karim Al Shaer.

The security agents outside the building pointed at their car and in less than a minute a taxi turned up, blocked the way, and about five thugs got out and surrounded the vehicle. Around 15 to 20 more thugs came from both sides of the street and started hitting the car, breaking the windscreen and a side window while swearing and shouting.

They tried to drag Dina Samak out of the car and succeeded in grabbing Gihan Saaban. While Karim Al Shaer was shouting and trying to defend her they took him out of the car, beat him in the street and put him in a police car. At this moment, a number of judges and journalists rushed out of the building and the thugs left.

On the advice of the Journalists’ Syndicate, the journalists went to file a complaint at the Maarouf police station in Cairo. They were kept waiting for over two hours and when they finally were seen, police refused to register their complaint. On 27 May, the Journalists Syndicate lodged a formal complaint with the Attorney General about the entire incident
This is not the first time that a BBC correspondent in Egypt has been attacked - Mohamed Taha was once attacked while covering parliamentary elections. And a number of journalists are still in detention after being arrested while covering, or taking part in the demonstrations in solidarity with reformist judges.

Journalists in Egypt are now targeted not because of their political views but because of the very fact that they are journalists. Dina Samak's husband, a journalist, was arrested more than a month ago and is still held without a charge.

May 25th - International Solidarity

2006-05-25T21:56:00.000Z

First : London

The Demo in London gathered around 76 activists from Egypt and all around the world, they all had a very 'active spirit' which was reflected on the chanting that rarely stopped.....

Speaking of the chanting, it was led at most of the times today by the outstanding Belinda..... though Belinda is originally from Mauricius she showed extreme passion while leading the chanting that people were asking who is this young passionate Egyptian girl with this unfamiliar accent... ??..... Find below a photo of Belinda leading one of the chants....

The guy at the embassy who was video taping last time was there this time as well, still from behind a curtain... this time though all the young Egyptians led by Khaled started singing "Shayfeenak.... Shayfeenak..... Shayfeenak....." . What is more surprising is that every time they sang "Shayfeenak" this guy shyed away and disappearred behind the curtain.... this was then followed by cheering and clapping.... (he's showing his hand and the video cam on the top right window in the photo) and below is a photo of the protestors cheering after he shyed away behind his curtains....

Remember the Old English Lady I told you about from the Public Meeting, she came to the Demo... I knew that behind her old face there is a wonderful story...... It is Chanie Rosenburg, a lifelong activist and anti-Zionist. In her youth she and her husband, Tony Cliff (founder of the Socialist Workers Party of the UK) fought to unite Jewish and Arab workers in Palestine. After Cliff was imprisoned by the British mandate authorities they fled to London (in 1947).She now sepnds her time monitoring Israeli checkpoints. Next to Chanie is Heba who is a young Egyptian activist who was doing volunteer work in Pakistan before returning back to the UK... she was one of the dynamos during the past few days.....

Heba was not the only one from the Egyptian community in the UK to actively participate, Ramy was supportive and helpful, he has outstanding hand writing that he used to make many of the banners (together with Yassin & Ashraf who have exceptional Arabic hand writing). Ramy was doing volunteer work in Palestine before returning to the UK. He is the guy in the photo below....

Kefaya was represented by Mr. Kazaz, the active movement sent Mr. Kazaz as a representation to show their support for our campaiging effort..... next to Mr Kazaz is Ashraf who was a great help during the last few days as well with his handwriting....

Arwa Assem, an Egyptian member of the NUJ (National Union of Journalists) came with a letter signed by the Secretary General of the Union. The letter was directed to the Egyptian ambassador and it expressed solidarity with the pro-democracy demonstrators, detainees, and movements. It also condemned the brutal attacks on the Journalists in the Cairo streets while they were covering the demonstrations. Photos below shows Mr. Kamal Bayoumi and Araw giong to the embassy to hand in the petitions and the letters to the Ambassador.

Hoda read some translated parts of the letter that was sent by the female detainees (Rasha, Asmaa, Nada) from their prison in Qanater.

Tarek came from Cambridge and Nadia came from Paris (as she missed the Paris Demo) to participate in the demo....

Mr. Kamal Bayoumi talked about the developments in Egypt and the mistakes that were done in dealing with the increased opposition.

Nik Rack from the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers gave a speech on behalf of the Haldane Society, they signed the petition that was handed to the embassy. He talked about their solidarity with the demands for democracy in Egypt.

Guy Taylor spoke on behalf of the Globalise Resistance Movement....

Chris Nineham spoke on bahalh of Stop the War coalition....

There were representatives from the University of East London as well who came in solidarity with the Judges and the detainees.....

and here are some more photos of the demo....

Second: Seol:

Here are parts of a report by CJ Park and photos are below.....

Dear friends,

Here is a short report of yesterday's protest in Seoul.

On May 26, 1:00PM, around 50 Koreans in support of Egyptian democracy activists gathered in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Seoul . Last time anti-war and human rights activists stood in front of the Egyptian embassy was on 9 June 2005 to protest against the government＊s vicious attack against the Kifaya movement on 25 May, 2005, now dubbed as the ※Abu Ghraib prison on street.This time the protest wraps up for now the 3 day international day of action originally called by the Assembly of the Social Movements which met in the2006 European Social Forum in Athens, Greece. A series of internationalprotests begins in Paris on 24 May and continues on to London, New York,Washington DC, Chicago, Athens, Montreal, Toronto, Beirut, Hague, Cairo on25 May and ends in Seoul on 26 May. Truly it is international solidarity atits finest.At the gathering point, I saw familiar faces and new faces. People who came last year showed anger that the situation in Egypt has gotten worse.However, everyone cheered when they heard news reported by Socialist Workers in UK that a victory was made among political detainees held in the notorious Tora prison outside Cairo. The detainees released a statement condemning prison authorities for their treatment and launched a hungerstrike. After one day the governor relented. They are now free to move between cells and prison authorities have supplied them with food, medicinesand newspapers..

.....As a closing, a representative from Catholic Human Rights Committee readloud the solidarity statement that resolves anti-war and human rights activists in South Korea to continue to spread the words to all circles of Korean society and building solidarity with democracy activists in Egypt. As a human rights activistsaid, "Victory for Egyptian democracy is a major defeat for US imperialism,This means it is a victory for Palestinians, Iraqis, and South Koreansfighting against US imperialism."

Third: New York:

By Shehab Fakhry
Here are more photos of the New York demonstration:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sadooka/album?.dir=fb55re2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=

&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sadooka/my_photos

The photographer is Sherif Sadek from Akhnaton films [http://akhnatonfilms.com/].

Forth: Montreal:

video of the demo at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7EcZHWebnE

Preparations for London Demo

2006-05-25T00:35:00.000Z

NEVER in my life have I felt so MOTIVATED, INSPIRED, and PROUD.....!!!!

The members of the Egytian Committee in Support of the Egyptian Judges got together at the University of London (no.. not at all.... the University is not part of the demo, but universities here are opened to activists of all sorts to prepare for their demos, have meetings, debate, discuss, argue...etc. so it is very natural that it attracts activists from all over the country who spend their time there getting the best out of their minds and enslaving their talents for their causes..... a big THANK YOU to the 9th of March group who are trying to revive the same concept in Egypt.... we will prevail one day... i'm sure)

I will not say much... i will leave the talking to the photos.... we were sitting at the Students Common Room ... students from all around the world came to us and asked about what we were diong and why, we kept on explaining... clarifying... answering.... they tried reading our Arabic banners and we translated.... they seemed to like our English Banners.....

No words would be enough to describe how dedicated and passionate those guys were: Ashraf, Heba, Hoda, Inas (she distributed flyers from one street to the other), Ramy, Rania, Salah, Tamer (also distributed flyers in the rainy London Streets) and Yassin. We missed however the efforts of Omar, Sherif, Dina and Nariman who would be joining us tomorrow at the Demo...... chapeau to the wonderful committee.....

anyways..... check out the photos.....

And here are some of the banners.......

Let's hope we would be capable of making something out of May 25th...

Hands Off our Judges!

Release Our Detainees!

Democracy & Justice Now!

London Demo - May 25th

2006-05-23T19:41:00.000Z

Called for by the Egyptian Committee in Support for the Egyptian Judges (London - Chicago). Supported by Stop the War Coaliation, The Cairo Conference, Globalise Resistance, and Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers

The Story of The London Public Meeting

2006-05-22T22:06:00.000Z

Believe it or not but there were more people attending this meeting that the demo, I have a feeling we are actually getting our voice across.... we were around 65 this time.....

We got this comment from Heba Moussa (she was one of the attendees of the Public Meeting) and I thought I'd share it with you:

"Everyone it was FANTASTIC and INSPIRING to see all of you today at Lancaster Hall meeting..I got a massive rush of adrenalin having so many like minded people and voices packed into one room..it was really great, I don't know how come I never knew about all of you before...I've obviously been looking in the wrong places! Will see you Wed and Thursday!'If you think you're too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito!. Heba Moussa "

anyways.... more about the meeting itself....

Just 2 weeks ago if anybody had told me that we'd be standing in front of the Egyptian Embassy in London voicing our anger about the government actions I'd have definitly said this is way too optimistic for me.... Now... I found us not just remembering stories about the beautiful Saturday 13th of May when we deicded to break this barrier of fear and take an extra step towards freedom..... but also remembering this night when we felt that we are not alone.....

The idea of campaigning for the Egyptian cause among the British public never seemed an attractive one for me... I always thought how we should concentrate our efforts in only making sure we get all the Egyptians here and back home to have a common stance against the government.... now I can tell you that I was definitly wrong.. and I was not only wrong because it is important to explain to the "Public Opinion" world wide what is happening in Egypt, but more importantly (at least for me) I felt that I was not alone and that there were others who really understood what we were talking about.

Take a look at the old English lady in the Photo below, I do not really remember her name but I'd definitly never forget what she had to say.. I remember very well that while Mr. Kamal Bayoumi was talking about how many of the English activists marched in protest in the streets in 1956 against the British Government for teaming up with France and the Zionists and attacked Egypt she looked at another old fellow and simled gently at him as if saying "do you remember that time?" .... I automatically guessed she was there, after we finsihed our speeches she raised her hand in enthusiasim as she had something to share. She told us about her trips to the Cairo Conference and how at the first year she attended the conference it was difficult to get to the meeting place because of the 'tanks' and the armed soldiers who were everywhere around it.... (i looked at her old age and realised how stamina is not really related to an age, it is a matter of a lively spirit and cause to live for).... she then talked about the last Cairo Conference she attended (the forth) and how she was impressed with the totally different of young men and women protesting outside the conference venue because of the closure of a newspaper... she wondered .. where did the soldiers go? and she was very proud those young protesters managed in occupying this space from the armed soldiers. (my dear lady... the soldiers are trying to take it back from us.... ). She spoke of how this new spirit that is filling the Cairo air will change the whole of the Arab World....

Captions from the Meeting.....!!!

not intending to go in order but just wanted to mention the parts that made me think or things worth mentioning.....

The Story of a Regime

Mr. Kamal Bayoumis (Egyptian Committee in Support of Egyptian Judges) started the meeting by narrating the story of the regime that started since the assassination of Sadat, he talked about how the way the regime was functioning facilitated the concentration of nearly all of the authorities in the country in the hands of one man. He spoke of how this unprecedented concentration of authority was a tool that was used afterwards to crush whoever stood in the way of the executive power and how it is the Judges, the students, the protestors, the prfessors, the engineers..etc. are the one who are paying for it at the moment. He spoke about the current dynamism that is spreading through the Egyptian society fueled by the unmatched brutality of the regime that is fighting for its life in what seems to be its last fight.

Yvonne Ridley

Yvonne is a British journalist who was kidnapped in Afganistan a while ago, she returned bacl to the UK with a lot to tell about her experience. She is currently presenting "The Agenda" program on the Islam Channel which is one of the most progressive channels in the UK. Yvonne was chairing the session and she talked about the history of the Egyptian security forces in using brutal and violent means in dealing with the regime's opponents. She said that she will make sure she talks about the Judges cause at her program to give her viewers a better understanding of what is happening in Egypt.

Blogging the Egyptian Resistance

I really had nothing to say, so I decided I would tell them about my experience with blogging and how it opened up so much for me in terms of getting to know more people, and in getting more exposed to the real Egypt that is far beyond the official newspapers. The oppression that youth is suffering from pushed them away from the normal places where they could voice their opinions to the virtual world whrere the government had less control and where their identities could be kept safe if they wanted to. This oppression pushed them to make the best out of their blogs to express what they want to say and to reflect the reality of their lives in Egypt... the result was a huge Egyptian blogsphere that contained blogs talking about all sorts of topics from politics to poetry to economics to story telling to culture...... The youth managed in devicing a new form of resistance that the authorities are still trying to catch up with but the witty bloggers are not easy to catch just like the mercury slipping off your hands. I still remember how I worked with a group of bloggers after the May 2005 demo in collecting and documenting all the testimonials and stories about the government brutality of that day, the result was a document that reflected many of the encounters of that horrible day in Egyptian history. Though I never saw nor met them before we got closer and I started feeling that I became part of a larger group that is tied together by its love for its country. I STILL have not met any of them but we are always in touch and they had their contribution to our London demo (whether by sending flyers or by publicisng the demo on their blogs).... so long live Egyptian bloggers who managed in taking the fight to where the government is helpless. WE WILL NOT FORGET OUR 6 DETAINEES!!

Ahmed Orabi

Anne Alexander (Stop the War Coalition) told us abot a story from our history that I find very interesting. She told us that the Egyptians are from the very first nations to fight Imperialism, and they did not just do that locally in Egypt but they actually gained international support even in the UK itself. She told us about Ahmed Orabi and how he was popular in the UK and how the Egyptian cause was viewed as a Just cause at that time.... his popularity was to the extent that English lawyers volunteered to travel to Egypt to defend him against the Imperialist British occupation. This story proved to me once again that when your cause is 'just' it automatically attracts the support of all those who believe in justice.

The Road to the Cairo Conference

John Rees (Vice President of the Cairo Conference) talked about his journey with the Cairo Conference and how it started with visits to Cairo that invloved meeting with small groups of activists that gradually grew until it reached its peak with the huge demo that occupied El Tahrir square after teh invasion of Iraq. He said that the current movement pro democracy movement materialised when the national movements agains the war on Iraq realised it stood on the opposite side of the government who did not strongly oppose the war on Iraq. At that point the question of how 'real' is the reflection of the government of the true hopes and fears of the people are, this was the first spark that initiated the current movements. The Cairo conference now has become a gathering for many international and national organistions that oppose the violent aggressions on both Iraq and Palestine by the Americans and the Zionists. It also includes those organisations that oppose globalisation with all its threats to the welfare of the people.

Egyptian Youth in the UK

A very important discussion was sparked e has by a question that Ramy (photo above) had asked. Ramy was wondering why the Egyptian youth living in the UK was not involved in the campaign and why Egyptian youth in general was not interested. Many dismissed Ramy's comments and said that the Kifaya movement depends largely on the support and activites of its young members, and in the UK many of the members of the Egyptian Committe in Support of the Judges are from youth. Ramy has a very strong point however as the Egyptian community in the UK is the second biggest Arab community and thus the participation of the Egyptian youth should have been much more. It is still the beginning however and maybe Ramy's note whould be a motivation for us to stretch our targets and try involving more and more Egyptian youth in the UK.

Dynamos behind the Scenes

There were lots of dynamos behind the scenes that participated one way or another to the day and the coming demo on Thursday.

Guy Taylor (Globalise Resistance), Chris Ninehaim (Stop the War), and the Egyptian Committee members: Rania El Malky, Alia Mossallam, Dina Soliman, Sherif El Sayed, Omar Massoud, Inas Ismail, Hoda Baraka, Nariman Youssef, Dina Soliman.... Finally a thank you to Somaye Zadeh the Iranian girl who managed in getting the endorsement of her syndicate (BECTU) on an announcement condeming the current police attacks on the protestors.

Public Meeting - May 22nd - London

2006-05-18T07:11:00.000Z

The Story behind the London Demo...

2006-05-14T00:20:00.000Z

Just before I start telling you about the day and how it changed lots of the perceptions I had about us (us means Egyptians in the UK or London specifically) I just want to share with you the feeling i had upon seeing 2 situations that summarised a lot of what was giong through my mind:

1. This young fellow in the photo above is the son of Osama Roshdy who is one of the active people around here and he really helped a lot in setting the day, I found him giong to the police officers (who were dispatched by the local government to set up the place where we should stand, protect us, and see if there is anything we need) and he started talking to them, i did not really understand what was giong on until i realised that the blue banner he is holding is the one that has all the torture pictures of last Thursday. He was trying to tell the police officers about why we are here and about what is happening in Cairo, he was trying to tell him how the word "Police" has a totally different meaning where he comes from than here in the UK. Upon seeing that I realised that this is what we are really trying to do.. we want to get the message across to Europe, we want them to know about our Judges, our cause, our government, our suffering.

2. Mr. Kamal Bayoumi was one of the "Fedayeen" working against the English occupation of Egypt before the revolution, he then lived and experienced the 1952 revolution, the 1956 war, then he participated in the buliding of the High Dam in Asswan, afterwards he saw the 1967 defeat and the 1973 war. "Beat the Judges... Arrest the Journalists... WE will Previal" is the sign that Mr. Kamal held up high in front of the embassy, it suddenly came to me how it is a very true represetation of what he went through and of the stamina that stands behind his ever calm ever refreshing face. He fought the Imperialists, the Zionists, and now Dictatorship... he participated in building the High Dam and now he is supporting us to build our High Pride. It is so fascinating to have those kind of people who bind all your history together around you, it is so fascinating to always feed on their support, passion, encouragement, and stories... to always feel that you are a continuation of a strive for a dream that seemed so many times very close to be fulfilled but then suddenly disappeared. Those people teach us the meaning of how to "pursue" what you believe in no matter how many times you get disappointed, they teach us how to grow and tame a resilient "stamina" that would carry us forward and help us defy what might be impossible obstacles... and so Kamal Bayoumi carries on with his fight and we start ours.

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How it all began:

We are a group of Egyptian young professionals, students, journalists, doctors, activists who are currently living permanently or temporarily in the UK. Most of us are very active participants in the cultural, political, and social scene in the UK and specifically London. We represent nearly all of the political spectrum in Egypt but it was never really reason for disagreements, rather, this diversity always exposed us to different ideas, approaches, and it really helped us in creating a very active social shpere that overlapped with other Arab and English communities in the UK. Like so many other Egyptians living abroad we are still very well connected with Egypt either on a personal level or through following up with its news and events. Still like so many other Egyptians we feel like we have a country that we are losing to somebody else who might carry the same nationality as ours but not the same values that we were taught our nation represents. Realising that there is a lot that we can add to convey the voice of the Judges and their supporters to the world we decided not to be marginalised again and to make sure we do make use of our contacts, resources, and talents. The result was "The Egyptian Committe for Support of the Egyptian Judges - London".

The intention is not a one off demo that reflects a sudden enthusiasim that would die away after a while, it is rather a sustained international campaign that engages with the different influential social and media circles in Europe that would help present the views of our Judges to Europe and specifically the UK. We aim at creating more awareness of the Egyptian cause and offering a counter argument to the official version that is usually propagated by the government abroad. We aim at making the support that the current UK government shows to the Mubarak regime a liablility and a burden through increasing the English public awareness to the consequences of that support and how it negatively affects the lives and security of Egyptian civilians who have to deal with the bruitality of the Police thugs. We aim at strengthening the point that there is a lively movement calling for freedom in Egypt that seeks to achieve democracy without the need for any intervention from the Western governments, a movement that is currently standing shoulder to shoulder with its Judges against thugs.

London Demo - May 13th 2006 - Minutes of the day

Release Our Detainees!

Hands Off our Judges!

I arrived at 11:55 with 3 banners that i prepared the night before as well as some flyers that were contributed by the Egyptian Bloggers who supported us. People started arrivying at 12 pm in front of the embassy, we were not that many in number yet however so we decided to stand on the corner untill enough people arrive, by 12:15 there were around 25 of us so we moved towards the entrance. To my surprise we found out that the police (whom we had takesn permission from previously to demonstrate in front of the embassy) had come and arranged for us the place where we will demonstrate (an instant comparison comes to mind with our honourable thugs), they put some iron barriers to identify where we should stand, some signs to re-direct the traffic and then five polic officers stayed with us for protection and help if needed.

One of the embassy staff was outside the entrance delivering some stuff to the inside of the building while we were gathering, when he saw us starting to gather he made a phone call and then two other diplomat looking guys came out (casually dressed) and took a glance at us before making some other phone calls. By the time it was 12:35 Dr. Kamal El Helbawy (Ex Ikhwan Speaker in Europe) had arrived with so many plackards that he prepared for that day. Mr Mohamed Abdel Hakam Diab (Journalist at Al Qods El Arabi) arrived while we were still gathering as well and he handed out to us the statement that would be delivered to the ambassador that we prepared the night before (he did some editing to it and removed the word "Excellency" or in Arabic "Sa'adat Al Safeer" from addressing the ambassador because he said it is against the Egyptian constitution) Sherif El Sayed arrived with some more packhards that he and some other friends prepared the night before. Some other Egyptians who we did not know from before arrived and they said they knew about the demo from the email chains that were going around.

A quick count of the numbers at around 1:00 showed that we were slightly over 50 demonstrators. At that point, Anne Alexander the representative of the Stop the War Coalition (her photo below while giving an interview to the BBC correspondant Inas Ismail)asked me if she could deliver a small message to the people from the coalition. Anne started speaking in a very clear Egyptian Accent Arabic about her time in Egypt studying Arabic at Alexandria University then she talked about the support the Coalition is going to give us over the coming period, she asked us to continue with the pressure on the government and to start thinking about contacting other NGOs and movements to build up support for the Judges. She pointed out the importance of working towards organising a demo on the coming May 25th to further support the judges.

Embassy Security

While we were standing we noticed that at one of the balconies of the building just next to that of the embassy (it is probably the residence of the smbassy staff) there was a man shooting us with a video camera from behind a curtain. Some people from crowd started shouting "Camera.. Camera".... and then suddenly without prior coordination from those demonstrating they all picked up their video cams and their cameras and started taking photos and shooting the guy. The coward then hide himself behind the curtains and stopped shooting, the people started laughing and clapped in a celebration of their petit victory. (In the photo below it is the second window from the left in the red building next to the brown embassy building, he was gone by the time i took this photo... i was not quick enough.)

Ahmed El Azzazy

There are some rumors in London now that Captain Ahmed El Azzazy from the Central Security Force (Amn El Dawla) who was a key figure in the May 2005 demonstrations as he was one of the main torture machines of those days demos has been transfered to the smbassy in London as a reward for his efforts back in Cairo. You can find the Kefaya accusation against him and other security officers here (he is number 7 on the list). It is said he was transfered to London to heat the competition between the rest of the thugs back in Cairo (definitly all of them would prefer the luxurious life of London to the dirty job of beating up those stupid angry protestors... the more the kicking of the protestors chests the higher the chances of a transfer to London or who knows.... maybe New York). This information will still be verified and if proved true then we will see the possibility if he could be legally pursued here in the UK for his crimes.

Above are protestors from whithin the area permitted by the police and below is Mrs. Safa El Sawy the Ex President of the Arab Club in the UK.

Speeches

There were some speakers at the end of the demo that ended with some cheering and the chanting of the Egyptian National Anthem, below is a brief of the speakers and what their speeches were about:

Mr. Ahmed Nasser: He talked about the current situation in Egypt and specifically about the recent events that involved the public torture of protestors in the streets of Cairo. He attacked the Mubarak regime fiercly and pointed out the panic attack that it must be going through at the moment.

Dr. Khadeeja Safwat: she is a Sudanese Ex Professor of Political Economy at Oxford University. She talked about the current political situation and its reflection on the Sudan. Dr Khadeeja stressed that the politics of both countries are strongly intermingled, and she confirmed her support for the Egyptian Judges in their cause.

Mr. Mostafa Abdel Aal: He is an Egyptian Liberal living in the UK, he talked about the importance of our efforts and about the feared Presidential Monarchy. He was synical of the fact that 70 million Egyptians were waiting for a president's son to be born, riased, and trained to be a president as if they do not have one single person who is qualified to take over.

Mr. Mohamed Abdel Hakam Diab: He is a Journalist with Al Qods Al Araby newspaper and one of the founders of the Egyptian British Cultural Forum. He talked about the importance of participation of the younger generations in the current movements. He stressed the fact that current brutality manifested by the regime is a sign of irrational decisions and confusion.

Dr. Kamal El Helbawy: he is the Ex Speaker of El Ikhwan in Europe, he talked about the importance of coordinating our efforts and making sure we inform the public in the UK about what is happening in Egypt.

Finally

One more step beyond the borders of fear, one more step towards freedom.....

Wait for us on Thursday May the 25th. (more information to follow soon).

London Demonstrations to Support Judges

2006-05-11T19:39:00.000Z

In Support of an Independant Egyptian Judicial System...
In Demand for the Immediate release of the detainees....

In Demand for Democracy

The Egyptian Committe for Support of the Egyptian Judges - London

is organising

A Demonstration in front of the Egyptian Embassy in London
Saturday 13th of May
12pm - 2pm

26 South Street, Mayfair, W1Y 6DD
Nearest Tube Station: Green Park

محاولة قتل "16" واستمرار تعريض حياة "23" آخرين للخطر

2006-05-10T23:05:00.000Z

نحن المختطفون من أمام نادي القضاة ودار القضاء العالي والمحتجزين بسجن محكوم طره نكرر تضامننا التام مع القضاة، ضمير مصر، في كل مطالبهم، وندين استمرار نظام مبارك في تعسفه معهم وتمريره المتوالي لحالة الطوارئ.. وتصعيده لأساليبه القمعية ضد التحركات الإصلاحية.
ونؤكد أننا رغم ترحيبنا بدفع جزء يسير من ثمن حرية شعبنا، فاننا نؤكد في نفس الوقت تمسكنا بأبسط حقوقنا الإنسانية، ولو كأسرى حرب، ونعلن إضرابنا عن الطعام لحين تحقيق مطالبنا آلاتية

التحقيق مع ضباط امن الدولة والبلطجية الذين فضوا إعتصامنا بوحشية وأهانوا علم مصر وداسوه بأقدامهم.. بأوامر

مباشرة من الضباط وليد الدسوقي

.
التحقيق مع ضباط امن الدولة الذين حاولوا قتل "16" مختطفاً مننا، بحشرهم مكبلين الأيدي في عربة تراحيل مُحكمة الإغلاق وإيقاف شفاطات التهوية، عقب التحقيق معهم بنيابة امن الدولة في مصر الجديدة، ولست ساعات كاملة، من التاسعة مساء الخميس 27-4-2006 حتى الثالثة فجر الجمعة 28-4-2006، وترك السيارة بهم على الطريق السريع بطره، مع علمهم بخطورة ذلك على حياة المختطفين

وقف تعريض حياة "23" مختظفاً مننا للخطر بإستمرار إحتجازهم وسط السجناء الجنائيين، والتحقيق مع إداراة السجن في تجاهلها

لبلاغنا الرسمي بتاريخ 4-5-2006 عن إنتشار تجارة المخدرات والأسلحة البيضاء في هذه الزنازين.

التحقيق مع ضباط أمن الدولة الذين إختطفوننا من شوراع وسط القاهرة، على رأسهم وليد الدسوقي، بتهمة سرقة المتعلقات الشخصية لنا، والتي تتمثل في كاميرات تصوير واجهزة محمول ومبالغ نقدية، والتحقيق في تجاهل إدارة السجن لبلاغتنا في هذا الشأن مما يكشف خضوعها التام لتعليمات امن الدولة بالمخالفة لقانون الطوارئ نفسه.. وللائحة مصلحة السجون

التحقيق في تهديد مندوبي أمن الدولة لنا في السجن بالتعذيب الوحشي.. كما يفعلون مع الجماعات الإسلامية على حد تعبيرهم.

السماح لنا بأداء الصلاة في المسجد وإدخال الصحف والمجلات كما تنص لائحة السجون.

التحقيق مع إدارة السجن لتميزها للسجناء الأثرياء وأصحاب النفوذ، بفتح زنازينهم طوال النهار ومعظم الليل، وبدون رقابة، في حين يتعرض السجناء الفقراء للإذلال الدائم.

توقيعات

نداء القوى الوطنية للتضامن مع القضاة

2006-05-10T22:34:00.000Z

تدعو القوى الوطنية المصرية الموقعة على هذا النداء جماهير الشعب المصري للتضامن مع قضاة مصر الشرفاء في مطالبهم الخاصة بإصدار قانون استقلال السلطة القضائية المقدم من نادي القضاة، وبالإشراف القضائي الكامل على كافة الانتخابات، وبإلغاء إحالة القضاة الشرفاء إلى المحكمة التأديبية.وتطالب القوى الوطنية بالإفراج الفوري عن المعتقلين من كافة التيارات السياسية المتضامنين مع القضاة في مطالبهم المشروعة.نعم لاستقلال القضاءلا للاستبداد والطوارئعاشت الحركة الوطنية المصريةشارك في المظاهرة الجماهيرية تضامنا مع القضاة يوم الخميس الحادي عشر من مايو في العاشرة صباحا أمام دار القضاء العالي

الحركة المصرية من أجل التغيير - كفايه

الحزب العربي الديمقراطي الناصري

الحزب الشيوعي المصري

الحملة الشعبية من أجل التغيير - الحرية الآن

جماعة الإخوان

حركة 9 مارس لإستقلال الجامعات

.حركة أدباء وفنانون من أجل التغيير

حركة الشارع لنا

حركة صحفيون من أجل التغيير

حزب الاشتراكيين المصريين - تحت التأسيس

حزب التجمع الوطني التقدمي الوحدوي

حزب الشعب الاشتراكي

حزب العمل

حزب الغد

حزب الكرامة

شباب من أجل التغيير

منظمة الاشتراكيين الثوريين

نقابة الصيادلة

نقابة الأطباء

Same Enemy.. isn't it?

2006-05-07T13:53:00.000Z

You could talk forever about the problems that exist between Christians and Moslems in our society. Some of them are true, others exaggerations, and some are mere imaginations. We never tried 'responsibly' facing our problems and discussing it... a mistake.... this is true... and now we're paying for it. Our common enemy is more intelligent and knew how to buld upon it... we're like two captives fighting together and never realiszing their own strength..... Naji El Ali saw it 20 years ago ... it is so striking how a joke 20 years ago still applies... do we ever grow? do we ever learn?

Our Courts .... Our Right!

2006-04-17T22:23:00.000Z

For an Independant Judicial System

The Hebrew Class – The teacher and the mates! – An Arab in Diaspora- Part 3.

2006-02-06T00:24:00.000Z

How can you feel the beauty of the sea if you do not understand the language of the waves? How can you unravel the mysteries of the sky if you cannot read the signs of the stars? I snatched those two thoughts from the imaginary life that I created for myself to escape to whenever I feel lonely and I returned to the ruthless land of ours where the sky is never clear and where the sea is always distant. What would happen if I decide to apply the rules of my imaginary world here at home? Maybe there is wisdom in imagination that could help me survive the strident reality around me. Breaking the boundaries of prudence was never one of my traits but my imagination fueled the last attempt to cross the stringently controlled boundary.

How can I understand the reality of my diaspora if I do not speak all the languages needed to find my way? How can I solve a problem if I do not grasp its logarithms?

I will learn Hebrew….

The Jewish Cultural Center

“Ah!… You are with Vaghdit!”… said the receptionist after looking for my last name among dozens of lists that were laid haphazardly on her desk. She was in her mid forties with wrinkles starting to dig their way through her face. Her reddish brown hair reminded me of the old women I used to see walking outside my school in Korba back in Cairo; and it gave me an idea as to how they looked twenty years before I started attending my school. My classroom was down in the basement, and right before I descended the stairs I passed by a white broad table where plenty of flyers and brochures were displayed. I grabbed one of the brochures and a flyer as I wanted to know more about the center activities, I put them in my copybook and I started looking for class “LG3”. The classroom door was opened; there were few table put together in the form of a rectangle around a desk that stood in front of a white board that was not properly cleaned. Around the tables there were around nine students, I noticed a man in his fifties with a nineties style pair of glasses, a young skinny blond girl, a brunette with long curly hair, a young European with a light beard and a Jewish scull cap (Kippah) covering the upper tip of his head, and a young guy who looked Greek or Arab. I sat at one of the corners of the rectangle with all the ones that I have noticed directly in front of me and I did not really care who was sitting next to me.

As soon as I settled in my place I decided not to look at the others and I heard them starting to have silent conversations about the assignment they had to do and the teacher who they obviously liked (I had missed two classes as I was traveling so I was attending starting the third session after the beginning of the course). While waiting for the teacher I tried to make myself busy with the brochure and the flyer that I grabbed few minutes earlier. The brochure contained the different activities and courses offered by the center, there was a whole department about the holocaust, some music classes, Jewish history, Yiddish (Eastern European Hebrew), and some current affairs courses. At the end of the brochure there were biographies of the teachers and I looked for the biography of my teacher Vaghdit; it read “Vaghdit Goldman, was born in Israel and has completed an MA in American Studies. She also taught Hebrew at Andrews College”. The flyer was even more interesting, it read…

Hidden Gentile (Christian), Hidden Jew
Thursday Mornings, 10:30 am starting Thursday 19th November
Lecturer: Jonathan Lich

The Jewish empire known as Hollywood was born to a Jewish mother called Creativity and a Jewish father called Paranoia. This uneasy marriage of talent and fear begat a bundle of hyper-kinetic children called motion picture studios, where movies were made by Jews for the Gentile world outside. This was a pretty straightforward business known within the gilded shtetl as “goyim nachis”, which paid huge financial dividends for all concerned.
There was only one constant negative amidst all these scrambled golden eggs. There was a veritable Jewish battalion working in every off-screen capacity at every studio, but what to do with the Jews, both real and imagined in front of the camera? The Jewish studio heads did not want to upset their Christian meal tickets by showing either characters or actors who looked and/or sounded too Jewish. Nobody wanted Cossacks stampeding through Beverley Hills. Then as now, their answer to their problems, whenever possible, to have Gentiles play Jews (Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur, Alan Bates as Yakov Bok in ‘The Fixer’ Jessica Tandy as (Driving) Miss Daisy, etc…) and to have Jews play Gentiles (Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes, Edxward G. Robinson as Rico ‘Little Caesar’. Kirk Douglas as Spartacus, etc...). Has Hollywood succeeded in masking its Jewish predicament?
By discussing the frenzied machinations and viewing the results, HIDDEN GENTILE HIDDEN JEW, provides an answer.
8 weeks: ₤88

I did not really get a chance to think about what I read in the brochure or in the flyer, as my thoughts were interrupted by Vaghdit’s entrance. She was a very tall well built woman in her thirty’s with long wavy dark hair. Her footsteps were loud enough because of the effect of the finely pointed heels of her boots on the wooden floor. An air of initial seriousness suddenly prevailed through the room before she greeted us with a stretched smile that eased the prevalent tension. She turned her head towards me and looked me directly in the eyes saying “who’s the new face?.... will you introduce yourself?”, she said it with an obvious eastern accent. As soon as I mentioned my name and profession I noticed signs of interest on her face which prompted me to the nature of the forthcoming question, it was what I expected… “where are you from?” she said. “Egypt” was my reply, to my surprise the effect of the word did not just appear on her face but on the faces of the two sitting beside me, I had not noticed them before but I could not avoid them after they completely starred at me with a very welcoming smile (I wonder why?) one of them (sitting right next to me) was a woman who looked in her late forty’s with dark hair and semi closed brown eyes, the other a very young girl with light brown hair and wide brown eyes (unlike with the woman sitting between her and myself). Why would they suddenly be interested in me as soon as I referred to Egypt? What connection or relation do they think they have with me? I decided to leave the question unanswered believing that I would find out very soon. My attention shifted back to Vaghdit who bombarded the next logical question in the series of I am impressed mode that she suddenly acquired “and why do you want to study Hebrew?”…. I had rehearsed million of times the answer for that question and many other questions that I had anticipated to make sure I do not look tense or worried when crossing the barrier of prudence. My answer came out in a very dull, traditional, and monotonous tone “learning more languages makes you more capable of understanding others, besides, living in my part of the world you become more exposed to the current conflict, thus, learning Hebrew would give me access to more resources.” Vaghdit’s reply was very dull and traditional as well, but for some reason it annoyed and disgusted me “I hope we had more people like myself and Ahmed in this world” she said (you do not even know who I am? I do not even know who you are to wish for my name to be grabbed with you in one bucket. I thought she was being very hypocritical and abused the fact that I am Egyptian.).

Vaghdit explained to me that I would be slightly disadvantaged because of the fact that I missed the previous two classes and thus I needed to take a private lesson with her to make up for those two classes. She was talking in front of the whole class which gave me the impression that this was part of the center policy with students who missed classes. I noticed a strange move at the exterior corner of her eyes as she was telling me about the private lesson as if she was giving me a hidden message, this contributed to my initial discomfort towards her. She started the lesson by reviewing what they did last session, so we started by asking each other where we are from. “Meh eifoh atah?” (?התא הפיא מ)“Ani meh Angleya?” (הילגנאמ ינא) (where are you from? I am from England), these two sentences kept on wandering around the table from one tongue to the other with each one of us putting the name of his country until I realized we had a good combination from Slovakia, Cyprus, England, Scotland, and Sweden. We kept trying to refer to the alphabets and the text to make sure we are up to speed with the reading. It was very interesting to “unlock” a new dimension that I never experienced before. It was my very first time to read Egypt in Hebrew and to listen to it being said (Metsraym : םירצמ), why did it create such a feeling of cold nudity to read or listen to the word Egypt in Hebrew? What kind of experiences, thoughts, perceptions steering within me that created this feeling the resembled the making of the cold breeze on a sweating body? I trembled while scripting the Hebrew letters that spelled Egypt in my notebook and I suddenly realized I might be on the right step towards unraveling the mystery of my diaspora.

While reading Vaghdit stopped at one word and asked if we knew how to read it, her body movements were always sudden and violent when she got excited and that was the attitude with this word which made me wonder what kind of a word it was. She said explicitly actually that this was her favorite word in the whole language, our failure to decode the word and her lack of patience pushed her to say loudly with enthusiasm “Israel!” (לארשי). I did not have the textbook yet so I had to share with someone, the brown eyed woman on my right offered to share her book with me (she still sustained the very intimate warm smile on her face which further provoked my curiosity to what she thought we had in common or what she liked about me). The girl sitting on her right intervened every now and then with few words or with pointing her finger at the words we could not read nor find in the textbook. I felt both of them had decided to take some sort of responsibility towards me and I was wondering if it had to do with the brown color that had flooded our six irises.

We went for a break at the center’s café, Vaghdit had insisted that we all go to the café so we would have the chance to spend some time together talking. On our way to the café I was approached by one of the class mates. Bill decided to learn Hebrew because his son was married to an Israeli and he wanted to get closer to his grandchildren. I assumed from what he said that his son had migrated to Israel and I decided to ask him more about his son, however, we were interrupted by the young brown eyed girl who started talking to me ignoring Bill who was telling me about the previous two classes. “My father loves Egyptian movies” she said, “he used to explain them to me as I do not understand Arabic”… so I found myself asking “are you an Arab?” and she went “my father is originally Yemeni and his mother is Iraqi, they migrated to India when he was young then to Israel, he lived there for a while before migrating to the UK and marrying my mother who is English, so you can say I am half Yemeni, half Iraqi, and half English”. I was impressed with the combinations but kept thinking of the reasons behind all of the moves in Rachel Hafaz’s father, and what were the intentions, plans, and hopes behind each move. I always viewed Israel as the final destination for the Arab Jewish migration but obviously there were some other routes that I did not know about. Rachel then told me about her trips to Egypt, the food she liked and the cities she enjoyed most, she carried on about her plans to visit Yemen to see where her family originally comes from. She was studying medicine and the reason she is learning Hebrew is that she was preparing for her year abroad in Israel. Bill had already left us and started a conversation with Vaghdit who loved gathering more and more people around her to listen to her stories that she told with a very loud voice, I felt guilty for getting carried away with Rachel’s explanations and ignoring Bill’s presence. While I was talking with Rachel the woman who was sitting next to me approached us and Rachel smiled at her, they obviously had already known each other. Serena Goodman was an Iraqi Jew who was kicked out form Iraq in the early seventies, her family moved to the UK and settled there, some of her relatives however migrated to Israel and that is why she is learning Hebrew, she wanted to be more capable of communicating with the second generation that was born in Israel as she frequently visited Israel to visit the other branch of the family. While looking at Serena’s face I noticed that her lips, eyes, and head movement showed a systematic tension reflected in a sudden mild contraction that occurred while she was talking (I wonder what kind of experiences had had left its scar over her nerves?). Serena told me her family (including herself) was imprisoned in Iraq before being expelled, she said it was a very tough experience, however, she still has lots of good memories in Iraq. She told me that her family was very off and very well educated so they did not have to migrate during the fifties nor the sixties, it was only the poor Jewish Iraqis who migrated because they had limited options and saw it as a chance for a better life. Her family however did not want to leave the country until they were forced to migrate after the six day war. She still had traces of Arabic on her tongue and she told me about the scenes she remembered from Egyptian movies. The break was over and the three of us went back to the class together and I realized they had put me with them in the “Arabic Clan” of the classroom, I felt they had decided that our brown colored eyes and the Arabic blood that ran through our veins was an enough reason to put us together in one category in front of the others, I felt it made them more secured as if they were looking for somewhere to belong and they finally somehow found refuge in me. The initial friendliness was explained but I needed to know more about the motives that were rooted at a deeper level than the color of the eyes or the origin of the blood.

The Sephardim among us….

Vaghdit started the class by asserting the difficulty of the phonetics of the Hebrew language…. “there is one exception to us here in the class and there is one person who is going to be capable of pronouncing the letters tha way they were intended to be pronounced, it’s Ahmed…” I knew I would have an advantage in learning the language due to the resemblance between the Arabic and Hebrew letters, however, what Vagjdit said afterwards struck me in the face…. “the reason why Ahmed has an advantage over us in pronouncing the letters is because he is a Sephardi”, (I was in complete shock to what I heard, what the hell was she saying? I am not even a Jew? Why on earth would she apply their own internal classifications on me?), she then continued “we the Ashkenazi people have a difficulty in pronouncing the ‘h’ in Ahmed’s name because we did not have it in our Yiddish nor Polish nor the other European languages we spoke before we moved back to our land.” (at the point I realized I might have discovered a potential reason why Rachel and Serena might have connected to me, we are all Sephardim after all, wait a second, I am not a Sephardim! Am I?). Vaghdit (noticing my surprise) then told the whole class “Ahmed looks like a typical Jew anyways… whether you like or not he looks like a typical Jew from Tel Aviv!” (what? A typical Jew? What does a typical Jew look like in the first place? If I am not mistaken Jews were as diverse as any other religion on earth, the Moroccan Jew did not look at all like the Polish Jew, it is true they all came from Beni-Israel but there diaspora introduced so many other races into their blood. I felt I was being kidnapped from my own skin! Now I am not just Sephardi but I looked like a typical Jew as well). Later that day Serena told me how the first waves of the Sephardim migrations to Israel were put into camps to isolate them from the Ashkenazi population. They were less educated, cultured, and exposed, Serena added that they were even given regular showers as they were perceived as less clean that the Ashkenazi. The image of the Sephardim did not improve except after the later waves of migration during the fifties and sixties which included the more educated of the eastern Jews. The Ashkenazi (Western Jews) did not however teach their children how to pronounce the letters correctly and the easy Western pronunciation remained generation after the other as a difference between both clans.

At the very end of the class I found myself classified as a Sephardi who has this special talent of pronouncing funny letters due to his eastern origins. This Sephardi formed with two others of his type the Arabic clan of the class. The inner feeling inside me was totally in compassion with the Sephardim as if I was really one of them and not just falsely put into the same category with them. It was my very first time to be directly categorized based on my stock. Categorization stood very firmly in my mind against what Sayed Darwish had taught me, I then realized that he had given the Sephardim (would it be wrong if I say ‘us’?) more rights than what was given in Israel, the words he sang in the name of three anchors of our society (Moslems, Christians, and Jews) strived to stand in front of the categorization that swept through my mind.

The Private lesson….

Vagjdit had indicated during the class that she needs to sit with me for two to three hours to cover what I had missed during the first two sessions. I was very hesitant as to whether I should go for the private lesson or not, I had a discussion with Alia and I told her honestly that I was not comfortable about meeting up with Vaghdit, after telling her about what happened during class she wondered why I never expressed my disagreement with Vaghdit regarding the categorization she imposed on me, I told her that this is not my battlefield and I am not willing to go to any side arguments, I was there only to learn and I should be very clear about that with myself or else I would not get the benefit I wanted from the course, my battlefield was somewhere else after I grasp the language. After thinking of what I really wanted from the course I decided I would go for the private lesson, I called Vaghdit and we agreed to meet in a café beside her house. The café was very crowded and we were sitting on a very small table, it was the very first time in my life that I sit that close to an Israeli, actually, to be more precise, it was my very first time to sit with an Israeli on the same table, I had contradictory feelings of pride & guilt, I was proud of my effort to understand but I felt guilty for the fear of not being qualified to handle such a situation properly. She excused me to get a cup hot chocolate and asked me if I wanted anything to drink, I explained that I was fasting that day so she apologized for having to drink the hot chocolate in front of me. She started by explaining the Hebrew alphabets and how to write and pronounce them, in my mind I was relating every letter and every word with its equivalent in Arabic, I was very fascinated by the resemblance and for the very first time I felt I was getting stronger and stronger with every new letter I was learning. I had intended to keep the two hours session only to Hebrew but Vaghdit insistence on opening up discussions led to some political and social discussions. I tried to be vague as much as I can with what I think and what I really believe, I was reminding myself all the time that this was not my battlefield; I was only there to learn. Vaghdit was the kind of a person who loved giving speeches and I think she noticed I was very reserved when it came to discussing political and social matters so she decided to take it upon herself to tell me all about herself and her political thoughts, she told me about her experience with the army and how it is a very important contributor to building characters, and about the constant tension she was experiencing in Israel due to the usual unrest before she moved to the UK six years ago. When it came to politics I had commented of how I though negatively of Sharon so she explained that he was a father of the nation and a very strong political leader who was capable of pulling Israel out of its tough times. She was a witty woman, I had the feeling that she sensed my resentment of her pride so she uttered a sentence that was very out of the context of what she was talking about, I think she was trying to give a warning…. “we are there to stay!” she said …. “and we will remain there!” …. I wanted to answer back saying “but you left!” but I reminded myself that this was not my battlefield and I just looked at her and smiled. I wonder what made her make it a point to make this statement, what feeling did I convey that made her feel the need to assert her stances?”

Izkor

After some classes Vaghdit became known among us for her military attitude with us, she acted as if we were soldiers and she was our commander. Her repetitive stories about how she loves to eat meat contributed to how she was perceived among a class that had high inclinations towards vegetarianism. I personally liked meat but I was very much offended every time she referred to her eating and it contributed to how I perceived her. I could not put into perspective however how she became to be perceived as the commander until I saw a documentary by Eyal Sivan called ‘Izkor: Slaves of Memory’ (Izkor is the Hebrew word for remember). The documentary talks about the Israeli educational system and how it promotes victimization as a part of the children’s awareness of their existence. It reminds them of their slavery in Egypt and how they escaped it, it reminds them of the holocaust in Europe and how they escaped it until they became free men and women. Songs with children raising their heads from the floor upwards while chanting how they fought for their freedom until they attained it from their enemies were shown. The main theme of the documentary was the fact that this victimization they planted within children had become later the ‘excuse’ they used to slaughter others, it was the excuse the whole society used to justify the injustice done to the Palestinians, the documentary challenged the idea of the Jew as an eternal victim. During the documentary the director tried to challenge the teachers about the concepts they were conveying and that’s when I noticed the resemblance between the way I perceived those teachers and the way I perceived Vaghdit, the same unchallenged self confidence, the same adherence to untested ideas, the same refusal to discuss, the same strictness, the same strive for domination, and finally the same loud voice with the sharp tone.

At the end of level one of the course Vaghdit decided that we should have a gathering and she proposed a well known Jewish restaurant. I was very adamant about getting involved with any kind of social relationships with Vaghdit nor with any of the classmates as I was not sure about the value added from socialization. It was very easy to come up with an excuse for not going, Vaghdit however refused to hear the word ‘no’ and she added my name to the list without my consent, I made it very clear that I would not be going but to my surprise she told me that I would come. I was very annoyed with the attitude and it further asserted my perception of the commander in charge who would not take no as an answer.

The Book & The Food… stripping me naked!

When I finally bought the textbook I was very excited about exploring it, I wanted to get a strong hold of each and every word in the book. Perfecting the language for me became like the art of sculpture, I wanted to mold the clay in my hand in whichever way I desired, it was the key to the castle.

The prologue to unit one of the book had a map, the map was titled Israel and it showed a complete undivided land extending from the Golan heights in the north to Elate in the south and from the river of Jordan in the east to Rafah in the west. I was furious! it was a public robbery! According to which law or according to which concept was all that space engulfed? I checked the back of the book to see who published that book and it read as follows “ Academon, The Hebrew University Students’ Printing and Publishing House. Jerusalem 2000”. I felt I was stripped naked of my clothes., how could it be so easy to draw maps? How could it be so easy to draw lines that would reflect your domination over others? How could it be so easy to alter reality? It is true I felt helpless, but it gave me a stronger reason to learn the language. The same feeling occurred again during class when Vaghdit spoke of the Israeli Shawarma, the Israeli Hommous, and the Israeli Falafel. It was a killer however when she asked us to follow her to the café yelling “yalla”.

For the very first time in a long time I felt I was moving in the right direction; it seemed the diaspora is manageable, but I knew what I was doing was not enough, I had the key but I did not know where the castle to be opened is.

Next time I will tell you about the castles I found… but will I find an end to my diaspora in any of those castles?

Once upon a time.......

2006-01-29T21:30:00.000Z

Living on my Feet.... I hope!

2005-12-11T16:03:00.000Z

"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!"

Emiliano Zapat

picture from Arna's children web site.

The trip to Bethlehem – An Arab in Diaspora! - Part 2

2005-11-20T03:13:00.000Z

“We must return to values and honesty of discussion. There can be no military solution to what ails us, Arabs and Jews alike. This truth leaves only the power of mind and education to do the job that armies have been unable to accomplish for over half a century” Edward Saiid (2001)

is it?

I wondered….

But did I have a choice?

I don’t think I did….

(Long ago during my childhood, I watched on TV the story of “The Green Chicken” “El Katkoot El Akhdar”. Unlike all its yellow feathered brothers it had green feathers. They lived and fed together in their beautiful little cage and everyday a beautiful little hand would slowly sprinkle corn over their heads until they wake up and start eating, dancing, and playing. Until one day The little Green Chicken decided to leave the cage. He wanted to see more, to know more, he did not want to wait for the corn sprinkled every morning by the little beautiful hand. He left the cage to discover a whole new world that I discovered passionately with him. I still remember and feel how he felt when he visited the scientist, the carpenter, the peasant, the worker, the engineer and the doctor. I still remember how he used to sing and dance after every visit celebrating his “new discovery” and celebrating the few millimeters added to his little red comb that stood elegantly on top of his head. I still remember how he felt when he decided to go back to visit his brothers in the little beautiful farm and they still waited for the little hand to sprinkle the corn every day. I still remember how it felt seeing they did not grow any red combs on top of their heads unlike my heroic Little Green Chicken. I remember deciding to take the path of the Little Green Chicken.)

Just like a blind man lost in the desert I was willingly accepting any guidance on where I should go. Dazzled by all the thoughts I did not have a clear vision of what I should do. A map in my hand of a land I never set my foot on, a wisdom of an old man resonating in my mind, and a big question waiting to be answered… “what should I do to end my diaspora?”

Queensway… a nice West London neighborhood known for its Arab restaurants and bookshops. The usual tiny London streets that are slightly louder than the rest of London but not as loud as Edgware road. Arabic is frequently heard and falafel is always few shops away. Its spirit is always fueled by an endless supply of immigrants coming in search of money, food, freedom, and beauty. Each searching for what is lost at his part of the Arab land, each believing in the London promise of providing what is longed for.

There in Queensway…. One night….. few months ago…. I attended a lecture by Abdel Bari Atwan (Editor in Chief of Al Qods Al Araby newspaper). He was talking about the usual “Arab – Israeli” conflict (it feels like a compulsory topic that each and every writer, politician, professor…etc. should “talk” about – it’s always the “talk” that annoys me, that frustrates me, my diaspora started because of a “talk”, it prospered through “talk”… it is living the age of the “talk”). It was a chance to take my questions, my concerns, my feelings…. Maybe he knows a way…

As usual…. Endless supply of words, comments, opinions, debates, disagreements but it all had the very same theme of “what’s happening there” (oh my God… there… I wonder what is Emilia doing there now) and “what we should about them”. But what is “there” and who are “them”? do I really know? Do I really understand? And why do I always have to listen to “talk” about “there” and “them” and why do I always have to be a prisoner of discussions, debates, and words? Will I be another yellow feathered Chicken waiting for words to be sprinkled on top of his head every morning? Did it really save me from my diaspora? The thoughts wandered in my mind for a while then I realized that I never asked the right question and I never asked the right people and that lecture was another proof. I went to that lecture carrying with me the wrong set of questions and the worst of mindsets. It felt like playing tennis with a rock, in the same manner the rock couldn’t bounce off the court my questions couldn’t bounce off his mind. Instead, it just fell to the ground… motionless.

“Why can’t I go to Jerusalem and Bethlehem?” I asked him. “if I have a claim there how can I just talk about it and not go there and claim it back?” I continued. “How can we leave it completely in their hands with our families under their control without even the attempt of being there?” …. “isn’t my physical existence there in itself a claim of my ownership?”… “isn’t my mere existence among the besieged Arabs a support?” ….. “What is preventing me from going there?” ….. “is it just a visa stamp that carries a six pointed star?” ….. “is that it?”….. “is that all?”….. “is this why I’ve been deprived of my there and of my fellow them?”…. “why can’t I just go to help?” …. “why did Emilia my Jewish friend had the right to go and help while I’m stuck in your words?”……

While I was letting it all out, and while all the questions were hitting him one after the other I noticed his eyes…. They were moving quickly, once to the right and once to the left (I wondered why?)… his eyes were sensitively reacting to every sound and every move in the hall (did he hear me?)….. he probably heard my question…. (but did he listen to it?)……

Those confused eyes suddenly focused on one target… my face…. And they started getting narrower and narrower, and then he waved his hands with disapproval and spoke to the audience with extreme wonder… “From all the cities of the face of this Earth you don’t want to visit except Jerusalem and Bethlehem!!” he said with apparent resentment. “Can’t you just hold yourself back for a while from tourism until we get our rights back?” I felt so betrayed by his apparent lack of concentration, I felt so misunderstood, I kept on trying to correct his misunderstanding but his dominating sharp voice and his violent body language stood firmly in the way of my hopeless shouts.

And it was over…. Or …. I thought it was over……

Few minutes afterwards she raised her hand…. I met her one time before and we had a brief chat. I never really read any of Ahdaf Soueif’s books but I read some of the articles she wrote in “Mezzaterra”, I was not a fan of very long novels and I generally preferred politics so “Mezzaterra” was the my perfect read for her as it was a compilation of political essays she wrote in different occasions. She raised her hand and it seemed everybody was wondering what would her question be…..

“First of all!” she said “I’d like to clarify the point of my Egyptian colleague who was asking about visiting the occupied land, I think what he meant was related to activism and volunteering to help the Palestinians and Arabs living in the occupied territories. Lots of our youth are deprived of the opportunity to be exposed and involved in the conflict and a great part of this deprivation comes from the fact that it became socially and politically unacceptable for them to go to the occupied land.”

“Second of all!” (and I did not really concentrate with the second of all as I was so much under the effect of the nausea of the ‘first of all’ … I felt ‘understood’ and ‘appreciated’). I felt a smile slowly taking control over my face while I was looking towards her with appreciation. As soon as she finished her comments she turned around and looked at me then tilted her head downwards a bit with her eyebrows moving upwards as if to draw a question mark while murmuring a word that I imagined would be “tamam keda?” I left the answer for my smile to take care of and obviously my smile did the right job of saying “thank you” as she turned her smiling face away again swiftly in approval as if to say “anytime!”

Unlike with my questions, his wandering eyes were focused this time on Ahdaf and showed extreme interest and concentration. Her comments were of course followed by approval and affirmation by Atwan who did not find anything wrong with what she said. (I guess it was my fragmented thoughts reflected in my bombarded questions that prevented him from understanding what I really wanted to say….)

For some reason I came out from that lecture with a new understanding of the Edward Said words as if I saw it in a new light that I never discovered before. The extreme contrast between the Said liberal approach and the Atwan traditional use of vocabulary that is limited to phrases of praise and attack magically highlighted one word that was there all the time but I never really concentrated on understanding and implementing it ….. “Educating” …. This is the key …. “Educating” …. This is what I need at the moment…

From “Education” to Bethlehem…

Let my soul reside in my thoughts rather than in my body, let it be what I aim for, let my whole existence mingle with it in an eternal blend of satisfaction (I wish). However, I need to make my thoughts worthy of my soul; I need to make them comprehensive, deep, challenging, and mature. They will not be comprehensive unless I learn, they will not be deep until I think, they will not be challenging unless I question, and they will not be mature unless I communicate them to other souls.

Where can I do that? How can I do that? And the answer kept on climbing my brain cells from the deepest of my mind as if it was already there from long ago waiting for me to call upon it. “Go there!” suddenly took control of my reasoning and guided me to what I had to do next (there was this inner conflict that was tormenting me… do I want to do it only to prove to myself that I can? Do I want to do it only because I am jealous of Emilia? Do I have a strong argument of why I want to do it? Do I know its value added?…. I never really tried to answer any of those questions and I do not think I can, I just decided to make the best out of the energy that I have without looking at its origins, to use the flame without knowing its fuel. It is wrong I know, or ‘maybe’ it is wrong, but I guess I still have to learn more about the inner energy that moves me, is it jealousy? Adventure? Challenge? Cause? Belief? I realized that until I resolve my inner conflicts I just have to get the maximum value added out of what I had at the moment).

“Go there” had to develop to a plan, to a clear goal, to a maximum utilization of resources. I had to blend the inner energy not only with emotions but moreover with pragmatic reasoning (will I build thoughts strong enough to sustain my restless soul?). My starting point was my own personal qualifications and how I can relate them to “education”, what is it that I can have that could add value to others? What is it that I can “contribute” with? How can I become part of the solution and not just another ‘tourist’ of the problem? I realized I have a relatively good background with youth development and that this experience could be one of my tools to become an “agent of change” rather than a “tourist”. The starting point has got to be an “active participation” and I realized that Edward Saiid had put the proper framework for this “participation” (I hope he had been alive to talk to me but I did not think he would have wanted me to want to talk to him, ‘act upon what you believe in’ I imagine is what he would have advised me to do). This framework is “education” with all it carries of “knowledge” and all what it implies of “strength”.

Simple search on the internet was my path, keywords like “Palestine”, “refugees”, “camps”, “development”; “youth” were my hints. Few days passed with no clear result for my search, I found so many articles, analysis, reports, but it seemed there was nothing that would give me a chance to be an “active agent of change” as I wished to be. At the very end and after I consumed a great portion of my rather limited supply of patience I came across what I believed and still do believe would be my ideal ‘entrance’ to the problem. Not just to becoming part of its solution, but first to properly understand it and ‘relate’ to it in a manner that would make me look with a more ‘comprehensive’, ‘deep’, ‘challenging’, and ‘mature’ eye.

The location was Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. The organization was a youth run NGO that was established by the camp youth to actively encourage the refugees be part of the solution to their problem. They organized a yearly international camp for the refugees and international volunteers to maximize the exposure of the refugees and to show the international volunteers the ‘real picture’ they never really saw. “This is it…” I said to myself, and a complete clear picture of how I could contribute presented itself persistently in front of my eyes that it took control over my concentration to the extent that I could not be anymore the ‘multi-task’ person I am used to be and I had to put everything aside for a while until I deal with my ‘new discovery’. (I wish you were here my dear Little Green Chicken, I know you would have been proud of me)

Diab was one of the organizers of the camp and a member of the NGO, he was the first one I got to know from the team. I called him and explained all what I want to do. “A workshop about Self Development” I explained to him…. “two workshops actually… one for High School students and the other for university students… the final aim is to try to find out with the youth how is it possible to develop oneself in spite of the occupation, the curfews, the raids, and the limited resources”. I realized that my experience at university and during my volunteer work after graduation would be of great value added to those youth, I had a strong belief that they could find a lot of useful tools, thoughts, ideas, or maybe just hints within what I had to say. I strongly believed as well that self development is immune to the worst of circumstances and the toughest of challenges; I strongly believed that self development stems from a strong will, proper vision, and stamina. I wanted to share with them what I believe in and try to find out with them if it true or not. I sent a full proposal with all my ideas, intentions, hopes, and motivations. (Did I really understand what Edward Saiid wanted me to do? Am I really doing what he would have wanted me to do?)

They welcomed the idea very much and officially invited me to organize the workshops during the international camp in Bethlehem that was due to start in a month time from the day I sent the proposal. (How easy it was to leave the ‘audience’ and join the ‘struggle’! All it needed was a ‘motivation’, ‘action’, ‘idea’, and ‘patience’. How come I was always a prisoner of such a ‘thin’ barrier of ‘passivity’ that deprived me of doing what I really wanted to do and achieving my inner self? How come I was always a prisoner of others ‘words’, ‘opinions’, and ‘judgments’ that I lost the sense of what I really wanted to do? How beautiful it felt to realize how ‘thin’ this barrier is and how ‘invincible’ I used to perceive it with my old eyes? How encouraging it felt to replace one yellow feather with another green one)

The Six Pointed Star Visa…

Had my grandparents known that their grandson was planning to get a Six Pointed Star Visa in his passport they would have had prevented that even if it meant not planting the seeds of life to his parents. They would have probably preferred dying with no children at all rather than seeing their children giving birth to an Israeli Visa holder. I thank God they all died before having to witness that day and I thank God my only chance of meeting them is a promised heaven when I would have all the time to explain, elaborate, and challenge.

The procedure to get an Israeli visa from Egypt was very well known to me. Go to the Tahrir Complex; submit a request to get the Visa, issue a temporary Passport and deposit your original passport with the government, then finally apply to get the Israeli visa. However, I live in London and I could not go to Egypt during the month I had to get the visa before the camp, and this meant that my only chance was to get the Israeli visa from London (it still felt very humiliating though to have to get this visa to enter my land, it felt like the whole history of the struggle is to be summarized in the one stamp to be printed in my passport). There had to be an alternative procedure for those who live abroad I imagined, I had to check with the Egyptian Consulate to see what I should do in order to make sure I “Go There” following the proper procedure (I did not want to break all the taboos at one time, I still do not think I could take the sinister looks and attitudes if I do not follow the procedure)

Lina is a friend of mine who is working at the Egyptian Consulate, I explained to her all the usual procedure and I wondered if she could help me find out about the procedure that would apply from those residing abroad. She heard me with great admiration and a smile that never parted her face, I felt a sincere motivation to help and a real understanding of where my thoughts stemmed from. She promised she would check with the deputy and explain to me exactly what I should do.

and there was a surprise I never expected….

Lina called me the next day on my work phone from her office phone and told me that we cannot speak on that phone, she said would call me on my cell phone from her cell in a while (what? What is this? Is this a kind of a joke?). She called few minutes later on my cell phone (from her cell phone this time not her office phone) and she said “what I am going to tell you at the moment is not official” (her voice sounded embarrassed which made me feel she is carrying bad news). She then explained…. “There is no specific procedure for Egyptians living abroad to visit Israel, you normally have to go to Egypt to get security approval, however, I explained to the deputy your cause and what you want to do and the fact that you are going to a workshop in the occupied land. He told me ya Ahmed that the best you could do is to come to the consulate and tell us that you lost your passport then we would issue you a new one. You can then use this new passport to go and when you come back just inform us that you found your old passport and we will tear down the new one.” (Oh my God! This explains why this deputy did not want to give an official reply, this explains why they did not want the phone call to be recorded, this explains her embarrassment!) What the intelligent deputy did not understand however that every Egyptian living in the UK is carrying a Visa in his passport and to leave the country with an empty passport is a disaster in itself and this is besides the fact that I would have to use two Egyptian passports to travel. At that point I would have thought that I am just a victim of the usual ignorant deputy who did not know much about his job and about the regulations, however, a very interesting advice that he passed to me through Lina revealed more than just a lazy employee. Lina added “Ahmed, to be honest.. he asked me to tell you that what you are intending to do is not wise, he wanted to remind you that ‘what your home needs should not be given away to the mosque charity’.. you should rather try to help Egypt with its problems rather than trying to help the Palestinians”. She finally added “the deputy said that they are not going to be responsible for you in any away when you go there or if you face any problems in Egypt.”

I realized how easy it was for the deputy to justify for himself his passivity and to decorate the walls of his little prison of words with a nice frame carrying the “mosque charity” quote on it. It was not just the fear of helping or taking responsibility (this is very understandable in the case of government employees who are usually taught how to give up on abusing the capabilities of their minds or discovering new ideas with their senses) but moreover, it was the fact that he had to justify for himself what he said and decorate the little prison of “talk” and “words” they created for him with quotes that are wrongfully used for a fake cause. I thanked Lina very much for her help and we both realized that proceeding with the workshop meant that I had to go to the Israeli embassy directly without the consent of the Government and which would prevent me from visiting most of the Arab countries if I do get the stamp on my Passport and not on a separate paper (which they do sometimes).

It was such a painful experience to have to explain to Diab what happened and before that it was such a disgusting feeling to realize that you could be controlled by those who are less understanding, less tolerant, and less exposed. My father told me once what a colleague of his at the army used to say “Egypt will never progress as long as the most stupid are ruling the most intelligent.” But I do not think this is the case, rather, there will be no progress unless each and every person realizes his/her potential. The point in time when individual potential realization is achieved is the same point when progress naturally follows. Thus, intelligence is second to ‘will’, ‘tolerance’, and ‘education’.

I did not feel bad, and I still do not feel bad about what happened. It might have been annoying and oppressing for a while but I then realized that I had gained a new understanding of what Edward Saiid had wanted me to do, and I realized I managed to escape from the little prison they created for us, the little cage with their words sprinkled on top of our heads every morning while we eat, dance, and enjoy. Maybe I did not make it all the way through to where I want to go yet, and maybe I still do not know the way by hard; but at the very least I know I can make it.

I will “Go There” one day, maybe not now, but I will do it because I know I can and because the more I know the stronger I get and the less they can stop me.

For now, there is a brand new path to follow, I would have never imagined that the failure of this trip could have opened the door for this brand new path. A path I never imagined I would ever take to try end my diaspora. It is true a door was closed but I have a better understanding of my diaspora now and I stepped my foot unto a whole new path.

I will not give up and will pursue my new path till the very end, maybe it will save me from my diaspora, and if did not, I will take a new path with delight and hope.

Will tell you more about the new path soon.

When my friend migrated to Israel! - An Arab in Diaspora - Part 1.

2005-11-18T22:46:00.000Z

Make sure you empty your mind from any estranged thought….. make sure you use the deepest routes of your brain and the warmest veins of your heart to let my words pass through them, maybe you can help me, maybe you can guide me out of my diaspora…. Yes… diaspora…. And not just a physical one…. But a mental one as well…. A diaspora that was capable of provoking my thoughts all around me just like the Cairo March winds provoke the yellow dust and colors the sky with this light orange canopy that soaks the water out of your throat and leaves you in need of a single drop of water. So will you be my single drop of water?

I was not intending to tell this story until I find myself capable of doing something about it as it was totally occupying my existence and I was wholeheartedly sparked to defy my diaspora, the diaspora that Emilia helped me discover.

During one of those periods when a certain thought or mood completely controls you and shapes you inner self that you lose contact with the time dimension and leave the thoughtful dimension to rein your life for a while I experienced two incidents that changed how my soul sits within my body.

The first stroke…..

It all started back in Berlin when we were all gathered together to study philosophy, literature, and arts. From all around the world were our origins and thus were our dreams, hopes, and imaginations. it was eighty of us or maybe a bit more confined together in the largest of mindscapes and the smallest of landscapes. Two weeks into our experience the eighty started dividing into smaller and smaller groups until I ended with a nice but challenging group that never stopped asking, wondering, and comparing. It was my very first time to deal with a Jew on a personal level. Emilia was an American Jew who came for the very same reason that we all came for (or maybe we pretended to come for). Our talks took us from politics to religion to arts to philosophy to sports to jokes and for every story there was always a Spanish, an American, an Arab, and a German version. It was like the very first time I saw a white beam of light splitting itself into seven harmonious colors in our dark wooden school lab, the same excitement and the same anticipation with each one of us looking at the beam of light and trying to understand the works of nature and the wonders of God. I suddenly realized I was not the white light I believed I was, I turned out to be just one color of the spectrum and the world around me the rest of the spectrum. Our conversations were like the spectrum making a full turn and penetrating the prism from the opposite side to form a one strong beam of white light again. Only then that I saw the real white light.

Emilia and myself, two colors of the spectrums who I thought would be full of repulsive charges pushing them away from each other got closer and closer like any other friend I would have had back in Cairo. My interaction with her helped me understand the striking fact that I discovered before my travel to Berlin that a major Arab philosopher who lived in Arabic Spain called Moses Maimonides (Moussa Ibn Maimoon) was Jewish. It made me understand how it was possible for him to contribute to the “Islamic Philosophy” though by definition he was not a Muslim and when I say “understand” I’m just referring to the “feeling” associated and not the “thoughts” as our relationship was not that deep, it was a mere casual friendship at that point in time. We frequently talked about politics and of course it did include the Arab – Israeli conflict but it never reached the stage of opposition or extreme conflict as she never mentioned Zionism and I never mentioned my Arabism. Those discussions were hovering around the political situation at that time, certain events and misfortunes but it never went into the ideology. I always perceived our relationship as the healthy relationship that should exist between a Moslem and a Jew, and “healthy” in my mind meant a relationship between two human beings who enjoy mutual respect and always keen on extending bridges between their minds and wisdom between their hearts. It was my very first time to discover and enjoy the separation between Jewish and Zionist.

At the end of our studying program which lasted for around two months we became a close group and we vowed to meet again. Six months later it became possible for a brief reunion in Cairo that lasted for around a week as we were all attending a conference. I invited them to stay at my family’s place in Cairo as I thought it would be an outstanding chance for my family to meet my friends and particularly what I thought my precious discovery of the American Jewish friend. Our outings and tours of Cairo included lots of my Egyptian friends as well and it felt satisfying to expose them to what I was exposed to in Berlin.

Emilia stayed at our place for an extra three days after my other friends left and she spent lots of quality time talking to my parents (especially my father) and some other relatives. She integrated easily both inside the house and in the street to the extent that she knew where and when to bargain and she showed an outstanding capability of negotiating really low prices. My family enjoyed her stay and she left a nice memory.

During those three days it was the very first time that ideology came into the picture and it was the very first time that she realizes the Arab nationalist tendencies of my family and myself, she discovered that my father fought with the Egyptian Air Force in Yom Kippur (1973). I sometimes noticed the hidden shock on her face that she tried to hide and I sometimes wondered if her continuous questions were a reaction to the shocks she was getting from what she heard. She maintained a consistent silence however about her ideologies and I did not really bother to uncover anything she did not want to unravel.

After Emilia left we all stayed in touch through an e-group that gathered us together and sometimes through personal emails. We shared our thoughts, our stories, our development, our comments… etc. This e-group witnessed our enthusiastic reactions to what happened around us, sometimes it was a venue for action proposals, sometimes venue for projects, sometimes for the mere sharing of thoughts and ideas. It witnessed our travels as well from one country to the other and I was lucky to stay in touch though I changed countries 3 times during that period. The e-group maintained its role for around three whole years until a day that I would never forget.

It was a usual morning when I checked my email to find the usual messages from the different e-groups I’m subscribing to, I skimmed through the titles as I always do to see which one had a “no subject” title to check them first as I always think they carry surprises and because they provoke my curiosity to uncover their sender’s intentions and thoughts. Afterwards I skimmed through the senders and I found an email from Emilia to the group titled as I remember “Hello Hello”. The email seemed like a boring one with the usual beginnings of the “hellos” …. “kisses”.. etc. then there was a very brief paragraph that nearly read as follows:
“I decided to migrate to Israel, I’ll be working with the government on a social development project, I’ll be living in Jerusalem and will be waiting for all of you to visit… Shalom”

Up till this moment I failed in describing to others how I felt at that point in time because I couldn’t find the right words to draw the exact image of the feeling that were stirring within the inside of me. It was a very disturbing moment in terms of my sudden realization of a hidden aspect of a person I thought I knew well enough (or maybe a hidden development in the life of this person that I failed to notice). The other source of confusion was my sudden bombardment with “this is unfair” “what will I do” “do I tell others?” “do I tell my family?” “is the line I drew between what is Jewish and what is Zionist imaginary? Does it exist only in my mind?”

There was a feeling of “shame” a feeling of “helplessness” a feeling of “idiocy” a feeling of “weakness”….. but I never found the word to describe the combination of all of them together…. Maybe it’s “frustration” but frustration does not really reflect shame… maybe it’s “disgrace” but it does not really reflect weakness….. I’m just trying to find the word to convey it well to both your hearts and your minds……

How come a person I thought I knew so well is suddenly “on the other side?”

How come she has the right to go to the land I always dreamt of stepping my foot on and I can’t?

How come she gets to actively contribute to her cause and I can’t?

How come I’m left alone?

How come I feel so weak?

What will I do?

I then realized my defeat, I then realized my ignorance, I then realized I know nothing about myself when I claimed to know all about my enemies and my friends.

I’m an Arab in diaspora……. A diaspora of thoughts, a diaspora of will, a diaspora of imagination…… with no control over my present nor over my future…..

Emilia (my friend) is there right now adding value to the cause that I dreamt all my life of facing, challenging, and defying. I did not even get a chance yet to face the ideology but how can I do the same? Am I just reacting to her migration? Am I just reacting to this evident betrayal? So what!!!! Maybe it’s just a reaction but maybe I can build on it….. (how can I build on it when I don’t even know enough about myself, my history, my existence?)
Can I go there? I don’t think I can…
But have I tried….??? I never did…
Can I help without going?... I don’t know…..

This is not fair….. this is not right…… .

The second stroke…

And in the midst of my confusion and in the midst of my tension and as if I was doomed to be punished for my ignorance, indifference, and diaspora another arrow came straight across my existence. As I was watching the doomed “Al Jazeera” and during one of their reports from the holy sacred city of evil and dreams, the city of nightmares, the forbidden city by the laws of the cowards and the powers of the filthy….. Jerusalem…… they interviewed an Israeli academic who was commenting on the political aspect of the conflict (a mid fifties white man with light grey hair shining under the studio lights and a double chin slightly coming off his chemise as if to warn him of an expected fatness. He was wearing a metallic pair of glasses that further highlighted his apparent sophistication and a beige suit with a dark tie and a light blue chemise). As the anchor finished the question and during the usual silence between the question and the answer that reflects the usual “time difference” I was anticipating him to take a while until the translator finishes his job of pouring the words into his ears in Hebrew….. instead…… my whole existence was entirely shocked to find the respected expert replying in perfect Egyptian Accent Arabic….. a perfect colloquial Egyptian that reflects something further more than a shrewd student caring for the tiny details of a foreign language…… it reflected a perfected knowledge of a native….. yes …. A native….. oh my God…. This man is Egyptian….. no sorry… this man is Israeli…… no no… sorry…. This man is !!! is what?
Who is this man? One explanation arises from the bottom of my messy brain….. then it knocked on my head with a heavy hand…..

a migrant…..

this man used to be with “us”… among “us” …. Then suddenly he’s “on the other side”….. The side we knew so little about until we developed the fear of knowledge then the fear of knowledge ignited the fear of power….. then the fear of power expelled our brains into the diaspora….. and here I am an Arab in diaspora…..

Ooh my God.... I feel so weak… I feel so helpless….. I feel so alone….. I feel like I’m sliding off the slope of a magnificent mountain and I’m approaching the edge….. here it is coming…. Here it is coming…… there is nowhere to hold to the mountain…. Not a single crack to capture with my hands…. Not a single protrusion to hold to….. sliding strongly against the rocky slope and feeling the pain of each and every friction with the sharp stones….. with the provoked dust all around me… all inside me…. All within me…. No alternative to the free fall at the end of the slide….. no alternative to the deadly end of my diaspora….. until suddenly …..

A stick….. a wooden stick….. my hands caught a wooden stick hammered to the steep slope…. The wooden stick started shaking but it was strong enough to hold me ……. (where did it come from?) …….. it’s Salman Abo Setta….. he hammered the wooden stick to the sliding slope…. (will it hold me long enough)….. it is holding me strong enough…… at the very least up till this moment…….

Salman Abo Setta….. a magnificent man….. a shrewd geographer…. He offered me the very first hint to find my way out of my diaspora…… it took him ten years….. ten years to end his diaspora…. (But how long will it take me?)…. It is true he is still in physical diaspora outside of his own land… but at the very least he ended his mental diaspora….
“The Atlas of Palestine in 1948” was his route to salvation. He froze history, he gave me the very first hint to where I should go…. He unraveled all the misleading covers of reality.. he faced all the molesting of history… he showed us the place we left …. The place we left both mentally and physically…. He gave us the right name of the place to go back to… with all its villages, its towns, its tiny alleys, even its description….. Salman abo Setta was strong enough to endure ten years of extensive research.. his loyalty to the cause fed his stamina until he provided us with a map to where we want to go… until her provided us with a photograph that once seen nobody can take from us….. he provided us with “knowledge” and knowledge provided us with “Ownership”……
I met him in the House of Commons while he was talking about the ten years journey and he pulled me off the sliding slope (I still feel it won’t handle me for too long)… I came out of the lecture with one aim in mind….. to get a copy of the atlas of the truth… the atlas of the real Palestine as we left it…. (is it enough to sustain me? Do I just need the atlas?)….. I managed in getting one of the last two copies in London at that time…. I opened it and on the very first page it said:

“To the people of Palestine…. Past, Present and Future.”

Salman abo Setta, a mid sixties Palestinian whose face never complained from carrying this modest calm smile. A smile that inspired me to strive to end my diaspora… I look at the elegantly presented and comprehensive atlas and wonder….. what next? What will I do? Now I have the atlas in hand, I have the reality in hand, I know where I want to go back to…. But how will I go? Then…. A new realization came to mind….

It’s all about the starting points…… when “the other” actions always starting with a full thorough knowledge of those who happen to be “us” …. A full detailed knowledge stemming from the fact that many of them were once among “us” and stemming from the fact that the rest came from the “audience” of “us” and “them”….. whereas our starting point is always…… “observations”… “analysis” …. “studies” …… but never a direct exposure…. Never an “experience” ….. never a “certainty”…….

I will not give up to the myths and restrictions….. I will go to the land…. I will learn the language….. I will acquire the “knowledge”….. the Arab Nationalist guides did not help me… the Islamists promises did not satisfy me….. the Amr Khaleds of this world did not end my misery……

I will end my diaspora with my own hand…… and will tell you very soon about it…..
proudly so…..

Signed
An Arab in Diaspora

Tunisian thoughts

2005-11-18T17:20:00.000Z

Hello All,

Time to leave Tunis….. Suddenly I started thinking of what I’m taking with me and, of what changed deep inside within me. I wouldn’t really tell you what changed as I didn’t really realize it yet. I just hope it’s for the good. I could give you some hints instead and you figure out what could have happened.

Hint 1:
two years ago, walking into my hotel room shortly after my arrival, hungry, tired, opened the menu and chose lots and lots of dishes thinking I can eat their entire stock. Afterwards, I opened the door to find the waiter with a smiling face asking me if I was Egyptian, I go ‎”yup” then he goes “Om el donia, please remove 50% off the total price, I checked with my boss”.

Hint 2:
Walking in the street on my way to work. I found her firmly pointing to the cars to stop so that I could cross the road then she gave me a nice smile, I smiled back in gratitude. She is beautifully firm and standing in control of the whole square. Not a single driver could disobey her firm smile while she’s pointing her finger with an un-negotiable order to stop.

Hint 3:
Lunch time, in a restaurant. Moataz is in his late forties. He sat in front of me. He accused me of wasting it, but I didn’t, I swear I didn’t, it wasn’t there when I was born, it was lost before I came to life. They both died before I was born but he said it doesn’t need them to survive, it needs YOU to survive. “where did this beautiful singing go?” he said, “Egypt the great now listens to ruby and ihab tawfik after it listened to Om Kolthoum and Halim”. “It is not my fault” I go (could it be?) “I’m not responsible for what all the Egyptians do” (am I not?) “I just don’t listen to them”.

Hint 4:
Drinks, in a pub. Hind Sabry is a young Tunisian actress. We were sitting with some other friends. I told her “Tunisians don’t like you because you speak with an Egyptian accent, they say you are ashamed of your origin, the government spent lots of money on you to represent the Tunisian version of the Arabic culture but you ran after fame and started acting only using Egyptian accent.” She goes “tell them to go o hell, at least I speak in Arabic, they speak in French in their own Tunisia to show how sophisticated they are”

Hint 5:
At the office, Ahlem, my French professor said “What is this Arabic culture you are talking about, Tunisia is not an Arab country in the first place, we are a Mediterranean country, what we have in common with Italy is more than what we have in common with Libya or Algeria” I go “do you think the whole of Tunis is more Mediterranean than just the city of Alexandria?” she goes “no” , “I don’t think ya Ahlem that there is a Mediterranean culture, rather there are some Mediterranean properties that are in common between all the Mediterranean cultures or else Egypt would definitely be more Mediterranean than Tunisia whereas Egypt is an Arab country.”

Hint 6:
At the office, Nabil affirms “Ahmed, Tunisians are anything but Arabs, we just speak Arabic.” …. “Nabil, looking back at history I find that the major contributors to the Tunisian race if we assume you are not Arabs are first the Phoenicians who built Carthage and those originally came from Lebanon and their descendants are known as the Ghassasna who are a branch of the Arabs and second the Berber who existed in very small numbers and are not a major contributor to the current Tunisian race, thirdly and most importantly are Beni Helal who conquered Tunisia and they represent the major contribution to the current race, forth are the Spanish Arabs who moved from Andalusia 600 years ago. Putting aside the Turks, Italians and French who moved to Tunisia, I don’t think you could deny the Arabic genes in you but maybe you could argue that you don’t feel Arab.”

Hint 7:
Imed, my mentor…. “My older brother is a fan of Nasser, we have a big poster of him at home, he used to tell me about the times when they used to listen to his speeches in the radio and how they used to react to the speeches, he told me about the 1967 war and how people went to the streets and broke into the shops and bars of the Jews and started destroying everything. Most of the Jews left Tunisia then and those who stayed are now living in the Djerba island in the South and they have a monopoly of the jewelries trade, they started moving into land acquisitions.”

Hint 7:
Mme. Fawzeya, the wife of my landlord Dr. Mounir Hannablia “I can understand the Egyptian accent very well ya Ahmed but I can’t speak it, my husband prevented me from using it and from watching Egyptian movies, even the kids are not allowed to watch them. Mohamed my son has the complete collection of (Ragol Al Mostaheel) and he had to collect it discretely without his father’s knowledge.”

Hint 8:
Mokhtar, a work colleague “I saw the movie El Lemby, I am so shocked not just at the low quality of the movie and the acting but to the fact that the belly dancer was Egyptian talking with the Tunisian accent and was acting like a whore, is that how you represent Tunisian women?”

Hint 9:
Olfa, a friend from the Leo Club “ Youth are much more active in Egypt and they have much more exposure to the outside world. You have much more opportunities to express your opinions and interact together. Our interests have greatly shifted towards sports and cheap culture, added to that the fact that we don’t have a real civil society reduced the chances of our youth to develop. I wish we could have your opportunities.”

Hint 10:
Nabiha, our finance department secretary “Egypt, it is like a dream, it is the dream of every Tunisian to visit Egypt, we know it by heart through the movies and soap operas, it is part of our childhood and love stories.”

Hint 11:
A Café, sitting with Hagar, a graphic designer and her dad is a one of the powerful elite ruling the country “I’ve been to Beirut, I didn’t like it, I generally don’t like the East, your countries are so dirty and not organized, honestly I prefer Paris.” She then added “you have lots of veiled girls as well and I totally resent the veil and how you treat women in the East.” … so I go “but Hagar, regardless of whether you resent veil or not, women in the East and specifically Egypt have the freedom to choose to wear it or not but here you don’t” … she goes angrily “who said we need them to choose, Tunisian are not qualified to choose yet, they go only by the stick and that’s how they should be treated”

Hint 12:
Hagar Miladi, a friend who visited Egypt once with me “Ahmed, I have to be back from Egypt 3 days earlier than you and Hassan” …. “Why ya Hagar?” …. “Because I have to vote for the president” …. “What?? Do you really believe in the elections??” … “No I don’t but the democratic party called mama and told her she’s been nominated for the parliament and they won’t take her unless all of her family votes to the president and that’s why I have to be back… we have to vote for him or my mom won’t get into the parliament.”

Hint 13:
Reda, the son of my new landlord “why should I be back, I am a very successful lawyer in France and there are very limited chances in Tunisia. It is true that the country needs qualified people to develop but …… “ silence.

Hint 14:
AbdelBary Atwan, Editor in Chief of Al Kods Al Araby “ We need Egypt, we need this Giant to wake up and act.”

Hint 16:
Lamia El Jouini, a friend “We are planning to either call our baby Ryan or Adam, both names could go as Arab and European, we do not want our boy to have any problems when migrating to Europe if it’s known that he is an Arab.”

Hint 17:
A cheap restaurant, downtown, after paying the cahier did not have any change so he took a thick paper from in front of him (we use these papers to dry our hands after washing them) and he wrote on it “I hereby abide to either pay you or give you the value of 500 millimes in food. Siganture: Haj Mohamed. Tunis 10/05/2004”

Hitn 18:
The road to the beach, I got stopped by a policeman “You are not supposed to wear a t-shirt with Che’s photo on it, he was a dictator who encouraged youth to pursue violent acts.”

Hint 19:
Anonymous, “I love your president, he is so funny, I try to listen to his speeches as much as I can, he speaks in the same way we usually see Egyptians talk in soap operas. You can’t tell he is a president, you could easily confuse him for a regular guy.”

Hint 20:
The Egyptian Counselor in Tunisia “Egyptians are naturally attracted to four Arab countries Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Morocco. We have a lot in common and we are the most educated among all the Arabs”

Hint 21:
The Tunisian National Anthem
حماة الحمى يا حماة الحمى هلموا هلموا لمجد الوطن
لقد صرخت في عروقنا الدماء نموت نموت و يحيا الوطن
إذا الشعب يوما أراد الحياة فلابد أن يستجيب القدر
و لابد لليل أن ينجلي و لابد للقيد أن ينكسر

A Thought in Pain !

2005-11-17T00:37:00.000Z

my thoughts once complained to me......
during one of those nights when you're left alone with them and the darkness.....
they pop out of your head and start drawing colorful strings on the inner side of your closed eye lids......
you watch them move and try capturing them or at the very least explain what they mean and why they move in such an irrational manner forming different colorful objects that quickly change from one formation to the other...... triangles changing squares then to circles before suddenly bending into sprials that are moving very fast in random directions....
you start feeling your eyes' movement.... and you start realising that you're staring at nothingness..... you open your eyelids to expose your eyes to a bit of relaity away from your crazy thoughts... however.... your eyes are exposed to darkness that prevent it from seeing the reality around it and you're left again with your thougths and this time they haunt you with your eys fully opened and your attention at its peak.... nowhere to run.....
so at one of those nights.... they spoke to me..... they told me so many stories...... but i remember only one of them.....

a thought came to me and told me....
"once upon a time i was just an idea.... then you saw me with your eagle sharp eyes..... and in no time your whole existence was determined to capture me and transform into something bigger, and you did.... you captured the idea .... then you hosted me in your spacious mind long enough for it to feed on the values, principles, teachings, and morals that were kept there.....
the idea fed and grew steadily until it became a well built and mature "thought" waiting for a mid wife to deliver it to the world.... i kept waiting for so long to be delivered to the world but it just never happened..... i started knocking on your eyelids every night to remind you i'm still there... i'm alive... i'm waiting for a mid wife to pull me to the world......

and one day you decided to let go of me.... you decided to free me from your mind to the world of endless opportunities..... you started pushing..... and the mid wife started pulling..... and a new thought was about to be delivered to the world... a new thought was about to come and take the chance of changing the world.....

however.... the new thought (myself) came out deformed, weak and not capable of breating in the world of opportunities..... just like a fish jumping from the water to capture a bird in the air before falling on the shore with the bird in its mouth..... the bird eventually flies while the fish dies away...... "

i'm sorry my dear thought..... i killed you... i know i did..... i didn't give you a fair chance..... i raised you in my mind since your were an irrelevant idea until you became a mature thought and forgot to tell you that you can't breathe except arabic because that's where you lived and because that's how you matured...... you breathed arabic all the way through...... and when it was time to release you... i released you to the world where you can't breathe but english..... you choked, struggled, fought for a word of english that would express you the way you were intended to be..... but your efforts were all in vain... you became a prisoner of a language that wanted to define you in its own manner away from the way you were intended to be...... away from the way you wished to be..... you were born arab but forced to speak and act english......

forced?? no YOU ARE not.... no I AM not......

i'm the one who created the barriers... i'm the one who provided you with nothing but a foreign air to breather from..... i deprived you from the air you wished for... the air you were breating as an idea and as a growing resident of my mind..... i did not prepare for the exit.... i did not tell the mid wife where to take you to after she pulls you away from my mind...... and you were completely deformed.... with your character and spirit molested by the effect of the foreign storm....

London Blasts - An Encounter

2005-11-16T04:43:00.000Z

It was a very normal day except that i was a bit late to the tube station... As i approached the Balham station i noticed it was a bit cramed more than usual and then i saw one of the Tube staff standing facing a crowd at the station entrance (that was completely shut down) and telling the people that there is a signal fault on the northern line and we have to find alternative routs, (what the hell is this, everytime there is a siganl fault they allow us into the station and we wait a bit longer for the trains, why aren't they letting us in.??!) i call ibrahim my housemate.... he was 10 minutes ahead of me.. he got the Train instead of the Underground from the same station "Balham"..... i check the trains entrance and it is cramed with tens of londoners trying to get a ticket or trying to get through to the platforms..... checked the screens.... delays ... delays.... and none of the trains would go to Waterloo "the heart of london"...... then no alternative but the bus..... and the bus it is.... standing at the bus station, everybody is upset and annoyed.... eveyrbody is late for work.... people make the usual phone calls to their offices to inform their colleagues they were going to be late..... i call the office as well.... and got informed others said they'd be late..... (it looks like a horrible morning.... lots of deadlines to meet..... and i'm still at the bus station).... i waited for an hour... 2 buses passed by... fully packed.... first bus stopped but allowed only 2 people on board..... the second one did not even stop..... ( it seems the bus is not an option at the moment.... better head back to the station ) ... walking back to the tube station.... oh God... all cleared.... station opened again..... so i enter the station ..... take the escalators down to the plarform... the platfrom is packed ..... the electronic sign saying 2 trais r coming... everybody is cursing the underground system..... (thinking of the few trades to be missed, the deadlines to be compromised, the bonus to be wasted)..... suddenly... another announcement .... "no northern line service today..... please leave the station immediately"..... cursing... shouting...... people rushing again as they all realise they are thinking of the same thing ...... "the trains".... if the underground is not working the trains are the second best options all the time.....
we rush towards the train platform entrance..... all with bitterness towards the station staff... they stop us for a while... afterwards.. they let us in...... still no trains to waterloo..... trains going only to victoria..... i can just take the train to victoria and then take the tube to waterloo...... i got into the train with some others until it was completely packed..... then the usual stuff happened.... few started talking... few reading and few kissing..... finally we arrived vitoria after around 20 minutes in the train.....
victoria station.... huge.... busy..... in total chaos..... i got a phone call from sherif my housemate..... he stayed at home..... he spoke of some kind of explosions..... somethnig that has to do with "power surge" that caused fire in a tube station.... as i was talking to him on the fone.... i checked the victoria underground station.... it is closed...... sherif confirms...... the underground is entirely closed...... i looked around... confusion everywhere...... went outside the station... disasterous..... people, buses, cars, all occupying a very little space in front of the station.... all cramed in a very tight area in a "cario style" chaos..... so much not like london......
in the middle of all that i saw a bus with "waterloo" on its front.... i got in it... asked the driver if he is still going to waterloo.. he confirmed..... the bus was not that full though there were lots of people outside the station waiting to go to central london..... ("lucky me" i thought... but wait a sec... why didn't they take the buses?) ..... in the bus..... street is jammed still.... called sherif... he said there were explosions in variuos tube stations and then he mentioned an bomb on a bus..... a bus!!!..... it wa\sn't confirmed though..... i stare at the people around me..... should i tell them what sherif has just said?? .... not a good idea i thought... there is no need to frighten anybody...... a guy beside me started speeking to us.... he was wondering if we knew what was happening.... he turned out to be a reporter with financial times..... a lady beside him spoke about explosions in the tube..... (will she mention buses?) ..... we all start looking at eachother and ask each other where we r heading..... (will we get there?).... we start chatting and everything seems normal when a lady got a phone call and she says something about a bomb on a bus..... (shoudl i leave the bus?)..... we were approaching waterloo bridge...... about to get to the station but it was so crowded.... the bus stopped and the lady and few other left..... i stayed.... don't know why but i stayed..... it's probably a rumor about the bus just like the "power surge" ...... few minutes later...... the driver gets a message from teh central station .... we all heard the message very clearly..... "park your coach immediately, passengers should leave the bus at once, check if there are strange devices on board"..... the message was very clear..... we all looked at each other and started laughing..... (was it disbelief? or maybe a sudden realization of what could happen to us?).... the driver kept on driving.... we were starting to realise slowly our situation.... i started to realise that it could very well be the end..... just like it was the end of some others who took another bus confidently and felt very lucky they were not caught up in the tube...... and they just very simply ceased to exist in a fraction of a second.....with all their dreams, hopes and fears....
(will it explode? i kept thinking..... will it happen?..... will i be just one the images u see everyday on ur tv screen? will i just be another bloody piece of flesh mixed with some metal debrie thrown on the ground? will people know that there is a lot more behind me than just a rotten body? then i wondered... do i realise and feel those images on tv? do they transcend their "image" format in my mind to their "human" form?)..... brain squeezed...... others started to panic..... i felt cold..... i didn't want to die..... no no... i don't mind dying... it's a fact of life.... i didn't want to die in this way.... unnoticed.... unidentified...... just died in a blast!..... just a piece of flesh to be photographed from different angles and published in different newspapers without any care for my dreams, hopes, fears, ideas.....
but i had to reach a resolve.... at least until i get off the bus..... i don't care..... if it has to happen this way then i don't mind..... i didn't have a choice after all......
we left the bus at waterloo..... complete disorder everywhere..... have to cross the bridge to get to work.... a helicopter is flying over traflagar square..... a policeman with a machine gun right beside me.... (will it be a battlefield?)...... didn't want to go through the main streets..... preferred to get to work through the park..... for the first time since the morning things seemed in order..... the trees where they r...... doves seem not to be disturbed..... only thing left of the outside chaos is the police, ambulance and emergency sirens......

got to work..... everything seems perfectly ok... people a bit late.... but "business as usual"... deadlines not changed.... people trading... discussing.... arguing.... as if nothing happened...... "business as usual" is the rule and it reins as long as u r still breathing..... only a single interruption when blair delievered his speech..... afterwhich things returned to normal again.... except for some looks i got.... or some looks i thought i got.... (where they looks of wonder? or blame? or maybe questioning? or just my imagination and reaction to the situation? ... or maybe the "bat7a" on the head that i might have developed for being arab or maybe for being moslem... i don't know..... )

here i am..... stuck in central london still.... heard of some abuses of some arab looking pedestrians...... one options seems available to go home... the bus.... again..... (lucky me... lucky me)

إن شاء الله

2005-11-14T06:18:00.000Z

It's very sad how the laziness and irresponsibility that is currently in full control of our culture could have a major influence on the way we understand religion. It is very sad how this could affect how others see our religion through us. We become like rusty tubes conveying the waters of heaven, however beautiful and pure the water is it becomes a poison to anyone drinking it.

A Hungarian friend of mine who was a trainee in Tunisia through AIESEC asked me to attend one of her fights with the AIESECers. She wasn't paid by her company as the company transferred her salary for some reason to the AIESEC bank account. The AIESECers manipulated her for a while and were trying to give her the money in the form of installments. Anyways, she took me with her to the AIESEC local committee president and the following dialogue took place.

"I'm trying my best to get you the money but the transfer is taking too long"
"Transfers are the same everywhere in the world, they are not supposed to take that long"
"I know, I aslo need the signature of the AIESEC finance vice president and she is in the South now"
"This is not my problem, it is yours and you should solve it"
"I contacted her and she'll be here on tuesday, you should thank me, I'm trying to help you"
"When will I get my salary?"
"Wednesday inshAllah"
"Don't say that word again"
"What? What word?"
"InshAllah"
"Why?"
"Everytime you say it nothing happens"
"I can't, it's my religion"
"In my country things happen without using this word, it's enough that you give a word"

3 years ago it was just a "fish" and "shark"! can u believe it?

2005-11-10T22:27:00.000Z

Long ago I wrote the email below (i think it was 3 years ago)...... yup.... 3 years ago.....
i was going through my documents and apparently i was preparing a draft before sending it......
i read it now and i started laughing at how things dramatically changed.....
i felt myself so much a function of history......
so little and so irrelevant to how things develop.......
in my mind it was just a stupid game between some of the neo religious clerics ... the ones who carry the motto (heaven guaranteed or money back)... but now it's not just a "fish" and a "shark"..... it's a whole set of "wild life".....
how naive i was when i wrote those words! how come things were so different? yes.. they were different.... very different from what i see now around me.....
disoriented.... maybe.... i don;t know.....
all i need to say.... i learned how to pray my 5 daily prayers in a church...... !!! (i miss u Pere Jules! i wish u were here to help.. or maybe i need to help myself.... )
read below.......
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Hello everybody,

During my last stay in Cairo I noticed a very alarming phenomenon. I guess many of you might have guessed what I’m talking about from the subject, anyways, I’ll give a brief introduction for those living abroad who might not know what my title refers to.

Few years ago (I think 4 years ago), some churches started distributing some stickers to be put on the back of cars. The sticker is of a simple fish drawing. By asking my friends about the meaning of the sticker I got the following historical explanation. During the roman colonization of Egypt, Egyptians suffered a lot from the roman humiliation due to their belief in the new religion, they had to hide their conversion to the new religion as they were tortured whenever the occupiers knew about their conversion. Therefore, in order to identify each other and at the same time hide their identity from the Romans, our ancestors invented this logo that they used instead of the Cross. It was not doing the function of the Cross, it was just a mean to identify each other and fool the Romans.

Anyways, for some reason, somebody decided 4 years ago to start printing the logo and they started distributing it to the public through their offices. Without going into the reasons for doing so which I think is irrelevant as we can never know how were they thinking when they did so (to be honest, 2 possibilities came to my mind, first it could be something to remind of the past suffering to encourage youth to stay away from the bad doings or in other words to increase their attachment to religion just like the other Moslem stickers of No God but Allah and these sort of things, second I thought may be some extremists were trying to pass a message of ‘it is the second roman age of humiliation’). It did not really make a difference for me what the explanation was as I think that any religious stickers for whichever religion is very demeaning and reduces the value of this religion into a bunch of stickers. In other words, what would a sticker of a Christian or Moslem slogan or loge really add to the person who is using them? For me it just reflected the superficiality of those using them as it did not really have a value added to the person or the society, some were using it to say ‘watch out, I’m religious’ others (and those are the majority) were just the masses who follow without really thinking deep about it and our society is a very fertile land for those who just follow without questioning, those are the ones as well who are usually made to feel very guilty by extremists about matters concerning religion and therefore they usually follow in order not to feel the guilt planted by the extremists.

Anyways, the Moslem extremists saw a chance in this to get another message through. And they started using the same technique and distributing this time the logo of a shark (of course a shark, that’s how narrow minded our society is). The words No God but Allah is written on the shark. The message is clear, the shark eats the fish. Some stickers even have sharks with fish in their mouth (to portrait strength and superiority).

Therefore, our religions were reduced by some extremists (or to be politically safe let me say by some narrow minded cheer leaders) into some stickers and stupid slogans.

This stickers mania is now taking a new shape and it is abused by some extremists to try divide our society into teams and groups of different interests, I mean in the past I’d have refused it but I’d have understood the fact that most people are not really aware of it and they are just probably imitating others, but now, they have to understand how they are being manipulated by the narrow minded Christian and Moslem extremists.

Thinking with my friends about a way to counter attack the extremists, we found that the only way to do that is to deprive those logos of their meanings. The fish is no longer valid as it had a specific historical notion that does not exist (assuming the one who started them did not have an ugly idea in mind) and the shark is a very stupid imitation that reflects how empty minded its initiators are.

Therefore, we decided that we are going to put both stickers on our cars in order to send a clear message to all those proud of being a ‘fish’ or a ‘shark’. One of my friends volunteered to provide the fish stickers and another to provide the shark stickers. We discussed the fact that some idiots might think we are saying the shark is eating the fish if we put them side by side so we agreed to put one sticker on the right corner of the back of the car and one on the left corner.

The only disadvantage about this is that we have to use the stickers which is against our beliefs in the first place but we couldn’t think of a better way to reduce the meaning of the stickers to nothing.

I encourage you all to do the same or think of a better idea to face this flood of superficiality that is streaming though our society. If you need the fish or the shark let me know and I’ll give you the contact.

Awakening

2005-11-06T19:11:00.000Z

"It often happens in the history of nations that a conflict of opposing forces which seems destined inevitably to end in the triumph of the stronger party is given an unspecified twist by the emergence of new forces which owe their emergence to that very triumph." from The Arab Awakening by George Antonius

The Zamalek Artist

2005-10-30T03:12:00.000Z

Three years ago.... walking down 26th of July street in Zamalek. I saw him sitting in the street with piles of paper in front of him, the effect of a hard tough life was very apparent on his clothes, cleanliness, and body. However, his face emitted a beautiful smile as soon as he noticed me looking at him while passing by. The piles turned out to be paints... and he turned out to be an artist (how amazing it is to find the exceptional talents and exceptional beauty in the places we least expect to find it?). I looked at the paints... all with one theme... Egypt....
I loved this one and bought it for 5 pounds. Since that time it resided on the wall of my room back in Cairo. I wonder what happened to the Zamalek artist?

أسرى الكلمات

2005-10-18T17:28:00.000Z

أسرى الكلمات: الهدف من هذا الباب هو إلقاء الضوء على كلمات, عبارات, و تعبيرات انتشرت بيننا انتشار النار في الهشيم. تلك العبارات تحمل الكثير من القيم و المبادئ المغايرة و المتناقضة مع موروثاتنا الثقافية و الأخلاقية و الدينية. و كأي شيء يُقال على لسان المرء لفترات طويلة و مستمرة كان لهذه "الكلمات" تأثيرا مباشرا على نفسيتنا و تصرفاتنا العملية , مما أبعدنا مع الزمن عن إنجازات حضارتنا الفكرية التي ارتبطت بالقيم التي هاجمتها تلك "الكلمات".
"كلمات" قد يرى البعض أنها لا تضير أو على الأقل لا تستحق عناء البحث و التحليل و لكنها كان لها تأثير "المخدر" على ما تبقى من وعينا بقيمنا و مبادئنا.
فلنرى كيف كان لتلك الكلمات تأثيرا مباشرا و فعليا على سلوكياتنا و لنحاول أن نكتشف كيف أن تجنب استخدام تلك "الكلمات" سيكون له رد فعل مباشر على رؤيتنا للحياة و معالجتنا لمشاكلنا و تحقيقنا لأهدافنا.

العبارة الأولى: "المؤمن مُصاب" أو بالتعبير الدارج "المؤمن مِِِِنصاب".

كم من مرة كنت اسمع تلك العبارة في أفلامنا, مسلسلاتنا, و تجمعاتنا العائلية و أحاول أن افهم ما تعنيه و تقصده. توصلت إلى أن مجتمعنا و بيئتنا أرادت أن تصور الشخص المؤمن (و لنقل المؤمن هو الملتزم بدينه و المحافظ على مبادئه و الملتزم بمكارم الأخلاق) في حالة دفاع متواصل عن نفسه ضد قوى الشر التي تحيط به من كل جانب و التي تحاول النيل منه هو و مبادئه من اجل نصرة الشر. "مُصاب" جعلت من "المؤمن" الشخص "المجروح" "المنكسر" الذي عانى الويلات على أيدي تلك الشرور التي تحيق به, كيف لا و هو المدافع عن الحق المستمسك بمبادئه بالرغم من تلك المصاعب غير الهينة. غالبا ما كانت تلك العبارة تُقال في الأفلام أو حتى في تجمعاتنا العائلية بعد سماع قصة عن شخص (شاب أو شيخ, غني أو فقير) "غلبان" و "طيب" قد تلطَمَتَه الدنيا و تعرض له "أولاد الحرام" و تسببوا في قطع رزقه أو تشويه سمعته أو أي ضرر آخر تَسَبَب في "كسره" و "ذُله".

تركيبة تلك العبارة ومواضع استخدامها في مناقشاتنا خلقت نوع من "الرابطة" بين "المؤمن" و "الضعف" و حالة "الدفاع عن النفس" و روح "المذلة" أو بصورة أكثر بساطة جعلت من المؤمن (غنيا أو فقيرا) شخص "غلبان" أو شخص "لا حول له و لا قوة" يحاول قدر المستطاع التكيف مع تلك الدنيا "الحقيرة" "الشريرة" و تجنب "مقالبها" و العثور لنفسه على "ركن صغير" بعيدا عن تلك الحياة المضطربة يحتمي فيه من مخاطرها و يحافظ فيه على مبادئه و أخلاقه من الضياع و التعرض لشرور تلك "الحياة اللئيمة".

يبدو ذلك مبالغا كثيرا... أليس كذلك؟ بلى و لكنها الحقيقة و ما هو آتِ أنكى و أكثر غرابة فنمونا و ترعرعنا في بيئة تستخدم تلك العبارة البسيطة بصورة متكررة له ابلغ التأثير على إدراكنا للأشياء و المواقف فما هي "الكلمات" إلا "اللغة" و ما هي "اللغة" إلا "التواصل" و "الحضارة" و "الفكر". فلو كانت "الكلمات" و "العبارات" منحطة كان "الفكر" منحطا تالفا غير قادر على الإبداع و مواجهة مصاعب و تحديات حامله. فلو استخدمنا المنطق لبرهة لنرى كيف يمكن أن تؤثر تلك "العبارة البسيطة" على سلوك الأطفال عند سماعهم لها على أفواه الآباء و الممثلين, فالطفل سيتعلم نتيجة للتكرار و بطريقة طبيعية تجنب مواقف و سلوكيات الضعف و سيحاول تعلم و التشبه بسلوكيات "القوة" و لما كان "المؤمن مُصاب" فمن البديهي أن يريد قدر المستطاع أن يبتعد عن كل ما يمكن أن يقربه أو يوقع به في شرك "المؤمن" (الذي من الممكن أن يجعل منه مُطارد بقية حياته من قوى الشر). عبارة صغيرة و بسيطة مثل تلك استطاعت عن طريق ديمومة استخدامها و تنوع مواقفها أن تحول "قيمة جميلة" في حضارتنا إلى "نقمة" و بدلا من أن تحفزنا لنتصف "بالمبادأة" و "القوة" و "الإبداع" دفعتنا إلى الخنوع و اللجوء إلى "الركن" أو "الكهف" الآمن الذي نحمي فيه أنفسنا و مبادئنا, و أصبحت "القوة" و "الشر" وجهان لعملة واحدة بعدما كان "المؤمن القوي خير و أحب لله من المؤمن الضعيف".

لنتصور الآن تصرفات الشخص الذي يرى الدنيا من منظور "المؤمن مُصاب", فلو إفترضنا أن هذا الشخص يرى نفسه على أنه "مؤمن" أو لنقل "ذو مبادئ و أخلاق تتفق مع مجتمعنا" فستجده متوقعا لأن يكون "نقطة جذب" لشرور المجتمع و بالتالي سيكون متوقعا "للإصابة" و ستكون شيئا مألوفا و مقبولا بالنسبة له فهي نتيجة طبيعية للإيمان و بدلا من أن تكون الهزيمة أو الإصابة هي الاستثناء تصبح هي النتيجة المتوقعة و بالتالي يقل الاهتمام بتلافي الإصابة فهي نتيجة محتومة و مؤكدة و هي "ضريبة الإيمان". هذا الاعتقاد بالطبع هو كلام فارغ و غير صحيح و هو تبرير الضعفاء لضعفهم و المغفلين لغفلتهم ف"المؤمن" أو "ذي المبادئ" مدفوع بقيمه, قوي بمبادئه, صلب بمحاولاته الدائمة للوصول لهدفه.

الأخطر من ذلك هو الوجه الآخر لل"مؤمن مُصاب" فإن تلك الفرضية تحتم أيضا أن "اللئيم سالم" فهو القادر على إصابة المؤمن و الحد من قوته. إن تلك الفرضية في مجتمع يشجع مبدأ "المؤمن مُصاب" تمثل مصدر جذب لذوي النفوس الضعيفة للتحلي بتلك "القوة الزائفة" الناجمة عن اللؤم و بدلا من أن نشجع أفرادنا على التمسك بالمبادئ السليمة نجد أن المجتمع يدفعهم إلى تلك "القوة الزائفة" و يحذرهم من "العواقب" و "الإصابات" المترتبة على التمسك بالمبادئ. كما سبق أن أُشير فإن انقلاب الموازين يؤدي إلى "فساد الفكر" و هو أول خطوة في طريق الهلاك و بعد أن كنا قوما قال احدهم "العلم يبني بيوتا لا عماد لها و الجهل يهدم بيوت العز و الشرف" نكون الآن أجهل الناس بقيمنا و مصادر قوتنا.

لنتخيل الآن التخلي عن منظور "المؤمن مُصاب" و العودة إلى سابق عهدنا من "الاستماتة" في سبيل الوصول إلى أهدافنا و الوقوف في وجه من يحاول المساس بقيمنا و عدم تقبل "الإصابة" على أنها نتيجة طبيعية و حتمية للعمل الجدي الموجه لهدف مقبول. بالتأكيد ستقل "الإصابات", لن تنتهي بالطبع فالإنسان ليس معصوما من الخطأ و لكن تلك "الإصابات" ستتحول بتغير "المنظور" إلى "دروس" تكون دافعا "للابتكار". هذه نقطة شديدة الأهمية فالإصابة في حد ذاتها ليست خطيئة و لكن الإصابة حين تحدث في بيئة "المؤمن مُصاب" فهي النهاية الطبيعية لذلك "المختل" الذي تمسك بالمبادئ (و تلك هي الخطيئة) أما "الإصابة" في بيئة "الإيمان مصدر القوة" فهي "الدافع" للاستمرار و قبول التحدي.

مصر كلها سترتدي السواد الأربعاء 1 يونيو 2005

2005-05-27T16:38:00.000Z

دعوة من
رابطة الأمهات المصريات
مصر كلها سترتدي السواد الأربعاء 1 يونيو 2005

أيها المواطنون الشرفاء أبناء مصر

يوم 25 مايو -يوم الاستفتاء - تعرضت النساء والفتيات المشاركات في مظاهرات سلمية تطالب بالديمقراطية في القاهرة أمام نقابة الصحفيين في القاهرة للتحرش والانتهاك الجنسي في الشارع وعلى الملأ على يد بسطاء مأجورين من بلطجية الحزب الوطني وتحت إشراف من لواءات وزارة الداخلية. وقد قررنا نحن الأمهات المصريات اللاتي يحلمن بمستقبل أفضل للوطن وحياة أفضل لأولادنا أن ندعو الشعب المصري كله يوم الأربعاء القادم ا يونيو إلى الخروج من منازلهم كالمعتاد لكن وهم يلبسون السواد، في طريقهم مثل كل يوم إلى مصالحهم وأماكن عملهم أو قضاء حوائجهم اليومية، كل مواطن يستنكر ما حدث ولا يقبله مسئول أمام الله حتى لو لم يكن ناشط سياسي أو لا يهتم بالعمل العام، ندعوه فقط للخروج في هذا اليوم من بيته ليوم عادي لكن مرتدياً اللون الأسود.. وأن يخبر من حوله ويدعوهم ويشرح لهم أهمية هذا الاحتجاج العام الرمزي، وأما النشطاء فندعوهم في كل محافظة من محافظات مصر إلى تنسيق التجمع السلمي الصامت أمام نقاباتهم أو في حرم جامعاتهم أو في الأماكن العامة التي يتفقون عليها- صامتين في وجوم تام في ملابسهم السوداء.
الأمهات المصريات ليست حركة سياسية، إنها صوت الأغلبية الصامتة من النساء ربات البيوت والعاملات، لكنهن يدركن اليوم أن الداخلية قد تجاوزت كل الخطوط الحمراء، وأن الصمت اليوم جريمة ولا بد من وقفة صفاً واحداً وشعباً واحداً للدفاع عن المرأة والبنت المصرية.
مطلبنا واضح وهو مطلب واحد: استقالة وزير الداخلية.
مصر كلها سترتدي السواد في صمت وهدوء يوم 1 يونيو من أقصى بحري لأقصى الصعيد، رجالها ونساءها شبابها وكهولها، في شوارعها حزن وفي قلبها جرح، والمطلب الشعبي هو ببساطة استقالة وزير الداخلية، لقد وقفنا نشاهد ما يجري فترة طويلة لكننا قررنا أن نخرج الأربعاء القادم، لأول مرة، وبقوة، دفاعاً عن أعراض المواطنات المصريات من بنات وسيدات في أقسام الشرطة وفي الشارع وفي المظاهرات.
يوم 1 يونيو مصر كلها ستتشح بالسواد من أجل بناتنا اللاتي تم الاعتداء عليهن وتقطيع ملابسهن في الشارع لأنهن جرؤن على أن يقلن كفاية بدلاً من الصمت، سنخرج هذه المرة -ونحن لسنا من حركة كفاية- لنقول للداخلية التي كان دورها حمايتنا: اللعبة انتهت.
يوم حداد شعبي صامت ومطلب وحيد: استقالة وزير الداخلية.
إما أن نعود بعدها لبيوتنا وحياتنا اليومية في هدوء المصريات ونضالهن المعتاد من أجل لقمة العيش والأسرة والأولاد كما سارت الحياة منذ فجر هذه الحضارة وطوال تاريخ هذا الوطن المسالم الذي ينشد أهله الأمن، أو نفكر في خطوة تالية إذا لم يتحقق مطلبنا هذا.
إننا نؤكد أننا لسنا من حركة كفاية ولا ننتمي لأية قوة سياسية شرعية أو محجوبة، لكن حين تدفع المرأة المصرية ثمن مشاركتها السياسية حرمة جسدها وعرضها فإن كل أم مصرية بل مصر كلها ستخرج وهي ترتدي ملابس الحداد لتقول لوزير الداخلية:
نريد استقالتك..اليوم..الآن.
موعدنا جميعاً الأربعاء 1 يونيو.. يوم عادي.. لون ملابسنا أسود..في هدوء..وصمت مر..من أجل مستقبل حر..

مين هو المصري؟

2005-05-27T00:44:00.000Z

الإنتماء للوطن شيء كبير جدا و لا ينطبق بالضرورة على كل من يجمعهم مكان محدد حتى و لو كان دولة معينة يحملون جنسيتها. الوطن له معنى كبير جدا ينطوي ليس فقط على مكان و لكن على مكان و مباديء و قيم و أسس يتفق أهلها على الارتباط بها. و بالتالي مش كل الي عايش في مصر ممكن يتقال عليه مصري. ألي يدرك معنى الوطن الحقيقي هو ألي يكون مرتبط بالقيم و المعايير و المكان و الأسس ألي تمثل الوطن ده.

البلد ألي يكون ألي مسيطرين عليها من غير الفاهمين أو مرتبطين أو مدركين لمعنى كلمة وطن يكون بلد تحت الاحتلال ..... أيوة تحن الاحتلال.... الإحتلال مش شرط يكون من الغريب أو الأجنبي و الاحتلال مش شرط يكون من برة. الاحتلال معناه لما مجموعة من غير المنتمين لمباديء و معنى و مفهوم و احساس الوطن تسيطر عليه و على المنتمين الحقيقيين للوطن ده.... حتى لو كان ألي مسيطريين دول من ألي عايشين في البلد. مصر وقعت في أيديهم من زمان و أحداث القاهرة يوم 25 مايو كانت مجرد معركة من معارك الاسترداد.

حاسس إني محتل و عرفت قوي إزاي إن إحساسي قُريب جدا من احساس العراقيين لما شفتهم في حفلة المغني العراقي إلهام مدفعي هنا في لندن.... شفت إزاي كانوا بيغنوا و يرقصوا في حماسة شديدة و علم العراق مرفوع وراهم و كل البريطانيين الحاضرين منبهرين بالحماسة ألي جوة المسرح... و في الآخر غنوا النشيد الوطني العراقي كلهم معا بعض و غنيت معاهم و كنت فرحان جدا بس ما كونتش مدرك كلية لاحساسهم.... كنت حاسس إتهم بيقولوا "احنا لسة هنا..." "احنا موجودين..." .... "لسة ماموتناش...."..... دلوقتي حاسيت أكتر بمعنى الكلمة دي و دلوقتي حاسس اني عايز أقولها..... "احنا لسة هنا..." "احنا لسة هنا...." و هنرجع في يوم من الأيام و نستردها..... لازم الحق يرجع لأصحابه......

كان نفسي قوي أكون معاكو و أنتو بتدافعوا عنها... كان نفسي قوي أدافع معاكو.... لكن الوقت لسة مجاش.... لكن لما ييجي مش هتأخر سانية واحدة.... قولوا لهم إن في مصريين برة كتير حاسيين بيهم و بمصر و كانوا يتمنوا يكونوا معاهم و نفسهم يساعدوهم..... قولوا لهم البلد لسة بلدنا..... البلد دي بتاعت ألي فهمها و بس.... مش بتاعت ألي خدها بالدراع و البلطجة.... قولوا لهم أنتو مش لوحدكم..... قولوا لهم كلنا محتلين..... قولوا لهم..... رفعتوا راسنا......

تناسينا

2005-05-01T01:55:00.000Z

تغيرت الحياة و تناسيناهم..... عندما ذهبوا للحرب كانوا يحلمون بغد أفضل و مصر أقوى .... ذهبوا دون مقابل و حاربوا من أجلنا ..... نعم ..... من اجلنا نحن..... أنا و أنت ....... لم يرونا و لم يراهم الكثير منا ...... و مع ذلك.... كنا كل ما يفكرون فيه..... بل كل ما يحلمون به...... و عندما رجع من تبقى منهم وجدوا بلدا غير البلد..... و قيم غير القيم التي حاربوا من أجلها...... و وجدوا نصرا جنوه بحبات قلوبهم و استحقوه بدمائهم قد استُخدم أسؤ استخدام على يد الذين استكانوا و لم يحاربوا..... بل تفرجوا و هللوا .... ثم على المواثيق و الاتفاقات وقعوا.... و إلى أحضان الشيطان هرولوا...... و منهم من كان أدهى و أحنك ..... فانصرفوا عن التهليل والتصفيق إلى جني أرباح الحرب..... و بالتأكيد على حساب أصحاب الحرب.....

لم نرهم و منا من لم يسمع عنهم أو يرث كرامتهم و شرفهم..... و النتيجة.... ألله أعلم....

اقرءوا معي السطور القادمة التي كتبها "صنع الله إبراهيم" في "شرف" عن هؤلاء الذين تناسيناهم أو بالأحرى لم نسمع عنهم......

"أصحاب القبور في صوت واحد:

هذا هو ما جاء بنا...
نحن أربعين ألف قتيل؛
سقطنا في حروب 48؛ 56؛ 67؛ 73.
تاركين آباء و أمهات و زوجات و أطفال؛
و خططا طموحة للمستقبل.

واحد منهم:

أنا الجندي إبراهيم زيدان؛
أُصِبت في بطني؛
و خرجت أحشائي أمام عيني.
لكني تحاملت على نفسي؛
و ظللت أقاتل حتى استشهدت.

واحد آخر:

أنا النقيب إبراهيم الدسوقي.
في يوم 22 أكتوبر ظهرت لنا ثلاث دبابات في طريق سرابيوم؛
و خلفها سبعون دبابة أخرى.
كان لابد من تدمير الدبابات الثلاث لمنع تقدم السبعين.
و كنا شعلة من الحماس.
فقمت بتلغيم جسدي؛
و هجمت على دبابة المقدمة.
احتضنتها بجسدي؛
و انفجرنا نحن الاثنين.

ثالث:

اسمي لا قيمة له؛
فلم يُعن أحد بإحصاء عددنا؛
أو تسجيل أسمائنا.
نحن عدة مئات من الأسرى.
في 56 و 67؛
أجبرنا الإسرائيليون على حفر قبورنا؛
ثم أوقفونا على حوافها؛
و أمطرونا بالرصاص.
أما أنتم؛
فتجاهلتمونا كلية؛
عندما عقدتم اتفاقيات السلام؛
و تبادلتم الزيارات و الأنخاب.
رغم أن الصحف الإسرائيلية لم تخف الجريمة؛
التي تتنافى مع كل المواثيق الدولية.

ينسحب العسكريون الثلاثة و يختفون خلف شواهد القبور ثم يعودون فوق مقاعد متحركة.

معوق 1:

أنا المقدم حسين الشاذلي.
كُلفت بمهمة تعطيل الدبابات الإسرائيلية عند الثغرة.
نجحت في إيقاف رتل منها؛
و منع تقدمها.
و كان أن أصابتني قذيفة من طائرة؛
إصابة مباشرة.
و نتج عن الإصابة شلل نصفي في الجانب الأيمن؛
و لم أعد قادرا على الحركة.

معوق 2:

أنا الجندي عيد طه؛
من قرية بتمة؛ قليوبية.
اشتركت في العبور يوم 6 أكتوبر.
و في يوم 7 كلفوني بزرع ألغام على بعد عشرة أمتار من
شرق القناة.
و قبل فجر يوم 8 نجحنا في تحويل المنطقة إلى قطعة من
جهنم.
و في يوم 11 أُصِبت.
و كانت النتيجة شلل نصفي في العمود الفقري.
و أصبحت و أنا في الواحدة و العشرين؛
أعيش فوق كرسي متحرك.
و كانت مكافأة الدولة لي 1800 جنيه و عشرون قرشا؛
أنفقتها على علاج أمي من الصدمة.

معوق 3:

اسمي خلف قلدس؛
من قرية شطورة بطهطا؛ سوهاج.
أُصبت عند العبور بشلل نصفي أقعدني؛
و حرمني من الزواج و الحياة الطبيعية.
و بعد علاج سبع سنوات؛
وصلت إلى جمعية "الوفاء و الأمل"؛
إحدى الجمعيات التي تعهدت برعاية 61 ألف معاق؛
هو عددنا الإجمالي.
و كنا قد سمعنا عن التبرعات التي جمعتها باسمنا و لصالحنا؛
و منها مليونين من الجنيهات تبرع بها ثري عربي؛
من أجل شراء سيارات مجهزة لنا.
و عمارة قدمها لنا مقاول طيب القلب؛
لتوزع شققها علينا.
لكن المسئولين عن الجمعية أنكروا معرفتهم بالأمر.
و عندما أثرنا الموضوع في اجتماع مع السيدة الرئيسة؛
استشاطت غضبا.
و بعد أيام طردوا أربعة منا في الفجر.
ذهبنا إلى رئاسة الجمهورية و شكونا لطوب الأرض؛
فوضعونا في مركز تأهيل تابع للجيش.
و بعد سنة و نصف قرر المركز طردنا؛
بحجة إخلاء أماكن لمصابي العراق في الحرب الإيرانية.

الجميع:

عندما أصبنا؛
لم نشعر بأي ندم.
كنا نؤمن بأننا نؤدي واجبنا.
لكننا الآن نتساءل:
من أجل أي شيء كانت تضحياتنا؟

ينسحبون ثم يعودون بعد أن استبدلوا ملابسهم بأفرولات عمالية.
يتقدمون من المنصة.

جماعة العمال:

كالعادة أخطأتم في أرقام الضحايا؛
و نسيتمونا كشأنكم في كل مرة.
نحن أيضا سقطنا في المعركة؛
رغم أننا لم نكن خلف المدافع أو فوق الدبابات.
نحن ستة آلاف عامل؛
استشهدنا أثناء بناء حائط الصواريخ؛
الذي انطلقت منه قوارب العبور.
من حقنا أبضا أن نتساءل:
من أجل أي شيء كانت تضحياتنا؟"

تناسينا.

سلام....

كيف نصب الملك فؤاد على عرش مصر؟

2005-04-01T12:15:00.000Z

الانجليز نصبوا الأمير فؤاد ملكا على مصر لرغبتهم في شخص يحركونه كيفما يشاءون في عشرينات القرن الماضي.

ميدل ايست اونلاين

الاقصر - في الثامن من ديسمبر عام 1914 أعلنت بريطانيا الحماية على مصر وبعد أربعة وعشرين ساعة فقط من إعلانهم هذه الحماية تم خلع خديوي مصر عباس حلمي الثاني الذي كان في زيارة لتركيا أيامها وتنصيب الامير حسين كامل سلطانا على مصر وانتهى عصر الولاية العثمانية على مصر وظل السلطان حسين كامل على العرش حتى أصيب بمرض خطير وعلى فراش الموت رشح ابنه الامير كمال الدين حسين خلفا له.
وكان الامير كمال الدين رجلا زاهدا انطوائيا عازفا عن السلطة دائم الاكتئاب فاعتذر عن قبول منصب السلطان ورفض بإصرار تولى عرش مصر وهنا تفجر الصراع بين أمراء محمد على. كل يمني نفسه بالسلطنة ويطمع في العرش الخالي" الامير محمد على شقيق الخديوي عباس والامير يوسف كمال والامير حيدر فاضل والامير عمر طوسون والامير عمر إبراهيم والامير عباس حليم والامير إسماعيل داود."
وكان الامير أحمد فؤاد الاخ الاصغر للسلطان حسين كامل أخر من كان يمكن توليته عرش مصر فلم يكن له وزن بين الامراء وكان يتمتع بكراهية خاصة من المصريين ولم تكن له شعبية وكان يتكلم الايطالية أفضل من العربية وعاش طفولته وصباه في إيطاليا وظل أكثر من اثنين وعشرون عاما صعلوكا فقيرا دائم الاستدانة مائدته مليئة دوما بالنساء.
وكان إدريس الاقصري يعمل في معية هذا الامير وقال له ذات يوم أبشر "لقد حلمت بأنك ستكون ملك مصر وستلبس التاج وتجلس على العرش".
هنا نهض الامير فؤاد وضحك ووعد إدريس خيرا أن تحقق حلمه وكان حلما بعيد المنال وكان الانجليز وراء الكواليس يبحثون عن صعلوك يولونه عرش مصر ويدير دفة الحكم لصالحهم ووجدوا في فؤاد ضالتهم فهو الوحيد من وجه نظرهم الذي يمكن أن يخدم إمبراطوريتهم ويحركونه كما يشاءون فنصبوه في غفلة من التاريخ سلطانا على مصر ثم ملكا عليها وجعلوا الملك وراثيا في أسرته.
وتحقق حلم إدريس أفندي الاقصرى وكافأه الملك فؤاد أعظم مكافأة حيث وضع صورته على أول جنيه مصري من العملة الورقية يطبع باسم المملكة. والذي عرف بجنيه إدريس أفندي وهو من أندر العملات في مصر والعالم وزيادة على ذلك التخليد منحه لقب الباكوية وأصبح إدريس بك وظلت صورة إدريس الاقصري على العملة المصرية شاهدا على حكم عصر أسرة محمد على وعاش إدريس بك حتى شهد نهاية حكم فؤاد وفاروق واحمد فؤاد الثاني وعاصر ثورة يوليو التي وضعت سطور النهاية للملكية في مصر.

المجتمع الإسرائيلي – من يديعوت احرونوت

2005-03-06T14:53:00.000Z

إسرائيل هي الوطن الذي يجمع بين فئات من السكان تتميّز بتنوّع كبير من حيث الخلفية العرقية والدينية والثقافية والاجتماعية. المجتمع الإسرائيلي هو مجتمع جديد ولكن جذوره تعود الى الماضي البعيد؛ وهو يمر الآن بمراحل من التماسك والتطور. ويبلغ عدد سكان إسرائيل ٥,٥ مليون نسمة, منهم ٢,٨١ بالمائة من اليهود (اكثر من ٥٠ بالمائة منهم من مواليد البلاد, اما بقيتهم فقد قدموا من ٧٠ دولة مختلفة). ويشكل المواطنون العرب (معظمهم من المسلمين)
١,١٧ من السكان؛ وتشمل البقية – اي ٧,١ بالمائة المواطنين الدروز والشركس وطوائف اخرى صغيرة. والمجتمع الإسرائيلي ذو متوسط سن منخفض (٤,٢٦), ويعتبر هذا المجتمع عموما ذا التزام اجتماعي وديني, وايديولوجية سياسية, كما يتميز بمقدرة اقتصادية حسنة وميول خلاقة في المجالات الثقافية. ولا شك ان كل هذه الامور تساهم في اعطاء زخم ديناميكي لاستمرار تطور المجتمع.

المجتمع اليهودي

الطريق الطويل الى الوطن

تبعثر ابناء الشعب اليهودي, في اعقاب طردهم من ارض إسرائيل قبل حوالي ٢٠٠٠ عام, في اقطار العالم – وخاصة في اوربا وشمال افريقيا والشرق الاوسط. وقد اسسوا على مرّ السنين العديد من الطوائف اليهودية الهامة في اقطار مختلفة, وشهدوا فترات من النمو والازدهار ولكنهم عانوا ايضا من تمييز قاس وتعرضوا المذابح وحشية ولطرد جماعي او جزئي. ودعمت كل موجة من الاضطهاد والعنف ايمانهم بفكرة "جمع الشتات", وحدت بجماعات وافراد من ابناء الشعب اليهودي بالعودة الى وطن الآباء والاجداد. وحين تأسست الحركة القومية اليهودية-الصهيونية – في اواخر القرن ال-١٩, تحوّلت هذه الفكرة الى اسلوب حياة. وبعد قيام دولة إسرائيل تم سنّ قانون العودة الذي يمنح كل يهودي حق العيش في البلاد.

تكوين مجتمع جديد

ارسيت الاسس السياسية والاقتصادية والثقافية للمجتمع اليهودي الحديث في إسرائيل في عهد الانتداب البريطاني (١٩٢٢-٤٨). فقد طوّر المجتمع اليهودي في ارض إسرائيل, تحدوه الايديولوجية الصهيونية, مؤسسات اجتماعية وسياسية مارست صلاحياتها دون ان تدعمها السيادة, ووضعت نصب اعينها تحقيق التماسك والنموّ. وكان التطوع بمثابة العامود الفقري للنشاط السياسي, في حين كانت المساواة بمثابة الغراء الاجتماعي. نتيجة لتحقيق الاستقلال السياسي توافدت الى البلاد اعداد هائلة من القادمين الجدد فتضاعف عدد السكان اليهود خلال السنوات الاربع الاولى من قيام الدولة (١٩٤٨-٥٢), من ٠٠٠,٦٥٠ الى ٣,١ مليون نسمة – الامر الذي ادى الى تغيير مبنى المجتمع الإسرائيلي وتركيبه. اسفر هذا الامر عن تكوين اجتماعي يعتمد على مجموعتين رئيسيتين: اغلبية تضم بدرجة رئيسية المواطنين اليهود القدامى والقادمين الجدد الذين نجوا من براثن النازية في اوربا؛ واقلية كبيرة تضم القادمين الجدد من يهود الدول الاسلامية في شمال افريقيا والشرق الاوسط. وفي حين كان السواد الاعظم من السكان الذين عاشوا في البلاد قبل قيام الدولة ملتزما بقناعات ايديولوجية قوية وباسلوب حياة ديموقراطي- الى جانب الروح الطلائعية – فان الكثيرين من اليهود الذين عاشوا في اقطار عربية طوال قرون عديدة نشأوا في مجتمع يسوده الالتزام بالمؤسسات العلئلية, فوجدوا صعوبة في التكيّف لمتطلبات مجتمع ديموقراطي حديث وفي الاندماج في الاقتصاد الإسرائيلي سريع النمو.

في اواخر الخمسينات, كانت هاتان المجموعتان تعيشان جنبا الى جنب دون ان يحدث بينهما تفاعل اجتماعي او ثقافي. وعبّر اليهود القادمون من اقطار شمال افريقيا والشرق الاوسط عن تذمرهم وشعورهم بالغربة فمارسوا نشاطات احتجاجية مناوئة للحكومة. واتخذت هذه الاحتجاجات في الستينات والسبعينات شكل مطالب بزيادة المشاركة في العمل السياسي وتوفير المزيد من المصادر والطاقات لها والقيام بخطوات ايجابية محسوسة لتضييق الهوة بين هذا الجزء من المجتمع والاجزاء الاخرى ذات الامكانيات الاوسع. واضطرت إسرائيل خلال سنواتها الاولى الى العمل المتواصل من اجل تحقيق الاستقلال الاقتصادي والى الدفاع عن نفسها ازاء اعمال عدوانية من جانب دول عربية مجاورة. ومع ذلك فان القاسم المشترك المتين بين ابناء الشعب اليهودي, والذي تجلى في العقيدة الدينية والذاكرة التاريخية والتماسك القومي, مكن هذا الشعب من الوقوف امام التحديات التي واجهته.

مع بداية الثمانينات اصبحت الحركات الاحتجاجية التي كانت تتصدر العناوين ظاهرة هامشية, ونجحت فئات كانت موصومة اجتماعيا في التقدم على جميع المستويات. واصبحت نسبة كبيرة من الزيجات مختلطة, بغض النظر عن الخلفية العرقية. وقد اصبح المجتمع الإسرائيلي الآن, بعد نصف قرن من الاستقلال, مجتمعا مستقرا في جوهره. هذا الامر يدل على ثقافة سياسية تقوم على نوع من التفاهم بين مختلف الفئات الاجتماعية وعلى الالتزام بقيم اساسية: دولة يهودية في وطن قديم, حكم ديموقراطي, استيعاب القادمين الجدد, والسعي الى تحقيق السلام مع الدول المجاورة. ومع ذلك فان التباين العرقي هو من خاصيات المجتمع الإسرائيلي, وله تأثيره على جميع مناحي الحياة الثقافية والدينية والسياسية. واذا كانت التوترات الاجتماعية تبدو في الماضي وكأنها تهدد تماسك المجتمع في إسرائيل, فانها تساهم الآن في جعله مجتمعا تعدديا.

استمرار جمع الشتات

واصلت إسرائيل على مر السنين استيعاب القادمين الجدد الذين توافدوا الى البلاد في مجموعات كبيرة وصغيرة. وشملت آخر موجة من القادمين الجدد اعدادا كبيرة من يهود الاتحاد السوفياتي سابقا, الذين ناضلوا سنوات طويلة من اجل الحصول على حق الهجرة الى إسرائيل. وتمكن حوالي ٠٠٠,١٠٠ منهم من الهجرة خلال السبعينات؛ ومنذ عام ١٩٨٩ وصل اكثر من ٠٠٠,٦٠٠ منهم الى إسرائيل واستقروا فيها. ومن بين القادمين الجدد الكثيرون من المثقفين واصحاب المهن الحرة, وعلماء مشهورون وفنانون وموسيقيون ذوو مكانة مرموقة في العالم, وهم يساهمون مساهمة ملحوظة في المجالات الاقتصادية والعلمية والاكاديمية في إسرائيل.

وشهدت الثمانينات والتسعينات وصول موجتين من القادمين الجدد من ابناء الطائفة اليهودية العريقة في القدم في اثيوبيا, اذ يعتقد بانهم اقاموا في اثيوبيا منذ عهد الملك سليمان. ومع ان هؤلاء القادمين الجدد, الذين يبلغ عددهم ٠٠٠,٣٠ نسمة, يواجهون صعوبة في الانتقال من مجتمع زراعي الى مجتمع صناعي حديث, فان الجيل الناشئ يتوق الى الاندماج في المجتمع بسرعة, ولا شك ان هذه الطائفة التي كانت منعزلة عن سائر ابناء الشعب اليهودي ستنجح في نهاية المطاف في التغلب على الصعوبات.

المجتمع اليهودي والتدين

منذ العهود التوراتية اعتنق اليهود عقيدة التوحيد هي اليهودية, وهي تنطوي على مفهوم ديني وقومي في آن واحد. مع بداية القرن ال-١٨, كان معظم يهود العالم يعيشون في اوربا حيث كانوا منعزلين في جيتوات ولم يكن بينهم وبين المجتمعات القائمة حولهم سوى مدى قليل من التفاعل. وقد ادار اليهود شؤونهم الخاصة بهم في اطار الطائفة, استنادا الى الشريعة اليهودية (الهلاخا), وهي الشريعة التي وضعها وطوّرها علماء الدين اليهودي على امتداد مئات السنين.

في القرن ال-١٩ اجتاحت اوربا موجة من التحرر واليقظة القومية. واخترقت هذه الموجة اسوار الجيتو ايضا, فتولدت عنها مواقف اكثر ليبرالية ازاء التعليم والثقافة والفلسفة وعلم الديانات. واسفرت هذه الموجة ايضا عن تكون عدد من الحركات الفكرية اليهودية اتبع بعضها اتجاها دينيا ليبراليا, في حين تبنى بعضها الآخر ايديولوجيات قومية وسياسية. نتيجة لذلك, ابتعد الكثيرون من اليهود, ثم ابتعدت غالبيتهم عن التدين الصارم (الارثودوكسي). وحاول بعضهم الاندماج كليا في المجتمع الشامل.

يتكون المجتمع اليهودي في إسرائيل الآن من يهود متدينين وغير متدينين, يختلفون في مدى تدينهم. فمنهم الارثودوكس المتطرفون ومنهم من يعتبرون انفسهم علمانيين. على اي حال, ليست هناك خطوط تقسيم واضحة بين هذه الفئات. ويمكن القول ان ٪٢٠ من السكان اليهود ملتزمون بالفرائض والشعائر الدينية, وعلى هذا الاساس هم ارثودوكس. وهناك حوالي ٪٦٠ يلتزمون بقسم من الفرائض والشعائر, حسب ميولهم الشخصية وتقاليدهم. ويعتبر حوالي ٪٢٠ غير متدينين اطلاقا. ولكن, نظرا الى ان إسرائيل انشئت كدولة يهودية, فقد حدّد يوم السبت وجميع ايام العطل الدينية والمناسبات الاحتفالية كايام عطلة رسمية, يحتفل بها جميع السكان اليهود ويلتزمون بقدسيتها, كل حسب مدى التزامه الديني.

وهناك مقاييس اخرى يمكن استخدامها لتحديد مدى التزام جمهور معين باسلوب متدين, منها نسبة العائلات التي تؤثر توجيه اطفالها الى تيار تعليمي ديني, او نسبة الناخبين الذين يدلون باصواتهم للاحزاب الدينية. ومع ذلك فان مغزى هذه الاحصاءات ليس واضحا تماما, اذ ان عائلات غير متدينة قد تسجل اطفالها في مدارس دينية؛ كما ان الكثيرين من المواطنين الارثودوكس قد يدلون باصواتهم لاحزاب سياسية غير متدينة.

عموما, يمكن القول ان غالبية المجتمع اليهودي هي من اليهود العلمانيين الذين يتبعون اسلوب حياة حديثا, ولكنهم قد يلتزمون – بمدى او آخر – بالشعائر الدينية. وفي اطار هذه الاغلبية, يختار الكثيرون اسلوب حياة تقليديّا معتدلا, وينضم بعضهم الى احد التيارات الدينية الليبرالية.

ومن بين افراد الاقلية المتدينة, يجمع الكثيرون بين اسلوب حياة ملتزم بفرائض الشريعة اليهودية وبين المشاركة في الحياة القومية للبلاد. وهم يرون في قيام دولة إسرائيل خطوة اولى ممهدة لقدوم المخلص (همشياح), وبعث الشعب اليهودي في ارض إسرائيل.

خلافا لذلك, يعتقد ابناء الفئة المغالية في التدين (الحريديم) بان سيادة اليهود على ارض إسرائيل لا يمكن ان تتم الا بعد قدوم المخلص (همشياح). ويلتزم الحريديم التزاما صارما باصول الشريعة اليهودية, ويقطنون احياء منفردة, ويديرون مدارس خاصة بهم, ويرتدون لباسا تقليديا. ويخصص مجتمعهم, القائم في اطر محددة شبه مغلقة, دورا منفردا للرجل والمرأة. وفي هذه الفئة مجموعتان رئيسيتان: مجموعة صغيرة ومتطرفة, لا تعترف بالدولة وتعيش في معزل عنها؛ ومجموعة اخرى كبيرة تتبنى اتجاها عمليا, فتشارك في الشؤون السياسية, مستهدفة دعم الاتجاه الديني في دولة إسرائيل.

الديناميكية الداخلية بين الفئات اليهودية

نظرا الى انه لا يوجد خط فاصل واضح بين الدين والدولة, فان احدى القضايا المركزية التي تثير جدالا بين الفئات المختلفة هي: باي مدى يتوجب على إسرائيل ان تبرز هويتها الدينية. ففي حين تعمل زعامة اليهود الارثوذوكس على توسيع نطاق التشريع الديني ليتجاوز شؤون الاحوال الشخصية (حيث تنفرد المؤسسة الدينية الارثوذوكسية بالصلاحيات القضائية), يرى جمهور غير المتدينين ان في ذلك اكراها دينيا وتعدّيا على الطبيعة الديموقراطية للدولة. وتتركز احدى القضايا المطروحة باستمرار حول السؤال: ما هي العناصر المطلوبة حتى يتم تعريف شخص ما بانه يهودي. ويصر القطاع الارثوذوكسي على ان هذا التعريف يقتضي ان يكون الشخص قد ولد لام اليهودية. اما اليهود العلمانيون فانهم يرون ان المقياس لهذا التعريف يجب ان يكون القرار الفردي الذي يتخذه الشخص بالاندماج في اليهودية. نتيجة لهذا الجدال, ازدادت الجهود الرامية الى ايجاد وسائل قانونية تحدد الخط الفاصل بين الدين والدولة. والى ان يتم التوصل الى حل كامل, فان الجهات المختلفة تعتمد على اتفاق شفوي كان قد تم التوصل اليه عشية قيام الدولة, وهو الاتفاق المعروف بال-"ستاتوس كو" (اي الوضع الراهن), والذي ينص على عدم ادخال تغييرات جوهرية على الوضع القائم فيما يخص الدين.

مجتمع الكيبوتس

نشأ الكيبوتس كجزء من المجتمع الطليعي في البلاد في اوائل القرن العشرين, ثم تبلور فأصبح اسلوب حياة زراعيا مستقرا. ويعتبر الكيبوتس اطارا اجتماعيا واقتصاديا فريدا في نوعه, يقوم على مبادئ المساواة والمجتمع الجماعي. ونجح الكيبوتس على مر السنين في تأسيس اقتصاد متين, اعتمد في البداية على الزراعة وحدها, ولكنه اتسع فيما بعد ليشمل الصناعة والخدمات. وتميز الكيبوتس بمساهمة افراده الفاعلة في تأسيس الدولة وبنائها. وتولى الكيبوتس قبل قيام الدولة وفي السنوات الاولى لقيامها مهام رئيسية في مجالات الاستيطان والاستيعاب والدفاع. ولكن حين انتقلت هذه المهام الى الحكومة, تقلصت العلاقات بين الكيبوتس وسائر فئات الجمهور الإسرائيلي. كذلك تقلّص دوره الطليعي في مجال تطوير المرافق الاجتماعية والعامة؛ ومنذ السبعينات فقد الكيبوتس شيئا من نفوذه السياسي, بعد ان كان قد حظي بتمثيل سياسي يفوق ما يستحقه من الناحية العددية. على اي حال, فان مساهمة الكيبوتس في الانتاج القومي تفوق بكثير نسبة ابناء الكيبوتس من مجموع السكان.

واخذ الكيبوتس خلال السنوات الاخيرة يركز على انجازات الفرد وعلى التنمية الاقتصادية. ذلك ان تشغيل اشخاص من خارج الكيبوتس لم يعد ممنوعا, بل ان عدد العمال والمستخدمين الذين يعملون لقاء اجر آخذ في التزايد. وفي نفس الوقت يتزايد عدد افراد الكيبوتس الذين يعملون خارج اطاره, في حين تصرف اجورهم للكيبوتس.

الكيبوتس في وضعه الحالي هو حصيلة انجازات حققتها ثلاثة اجيال: المؤسسون الذين عملوا انطلاقا من ايمان راسخ وايديولوجية واضحة فأقاموا مجتمعا له اسلوب حياة فريد. وعمل الجيل الثاني, جيل الابناء, على تقوية الاسس الاجتماعية والاقتصادية والادارية للمجتمع الذي ولدوا فيه. اما الجيل الحالي, فقد نشأ في مجتمع مستقر ومزدهر, ووجد نفسه يواجه تحديات الحياة الحديثة. وينصب النقاش الآن على طبيعة العلاقات المستقبلية بين الفرد والمجتمع في الكيبوتس وحول توزيع المسؤولية بين الجانبين, وكذلك حول تأثير التطورات الاخيرة في مجال التكنولوجيا والاتصالات على حياة الكيبوتس. وهناك من يخشى ان يؤدي التكيّف للظروف المتغيرة الى ابتعاد الكيبوتس كثيرا عن مبادئه وقيمه الاصلية, في حين يعتقد البعض بان سر البقاء يكمن في المقدرة على التأقلم وعلى قبول الحل الوسط.

الحياة الاجتماعية في القطاع العربي

منذ بداية العهد الاسلامي في البلاد في القرن السابع الميلادي, كانت هناك موجات من الهجرة العربية الى البلاد, او الى خارجها. وتفاوتت هذه الموجات في حجمها, متأثرة احيانا بالظروف الاقتصادية. وفي اواخر القرن ال-١٩, مع ازدياد التطور وتحسن الاوضاع الاقتصادية, توافد على البلاد الكثيرون من ابناء الاقطار العربية المجاورة سعيا وراء مصادر الرزق والاجور العالية نسبيا والظروف المعيشية الحسنة.

وتعيش غالبية السكان العرب في إسرائيل في مدن صغيرة وقرى في اربع مناطق رئيسية: الجليل, بما فيه مدينة الناصرة, المنطقة الوسطى بين حديرة وبيتاح تكفا, النقب, والقدس. ويقطن قسم من السكان العرب في مدن مختلطة مثل عكا وحيفا واللد والرملة ويافا.

هناك عدة عوامل تساهم في المحافظة على الطابع الثقافي الخاص لكل مجموعة من الاقليات في البلاد, منها مثلا: استخدام اللغة العربية, وهي ثاني لغة رسمية في إسرائيل, وجود جهاز تعليمي خاص بالقطاع العربي والديني, وجود وسائل اعلام باللغة العربية, تطور النشاط الادبي والمسرحي؛ هذا الى جانب وجود محاكم شرعية اسلامية ومسيحية ودرزية تبتّ في الاحوال الشخصية.

ومع ان العادات والتقاليد تستمر في التأثير على مظاهر الحياة اليومية في الوسط العربي, فان هناك عوامل اخرى تساهم في تغيير وجهة النظر واسلوب الحياة التقليديين. من هذه العوامل تغير الاطر الاجتماعية التقليدية, وانتهاج التعليم الالزامي, والمشاركة في الحياة الديموقراطية في البلاد. في نفس الوقت طرأت تغييرات ذات مغزى على مكانة المرأة العربية في إسرائيل فاصبحت تتمتع بمدى اكبر من التحرر. كما ساهمت في تحسين اوضاع المرأة القوانين التي تحظر تعدد الزوجات وتحدد سنّا ادنى لزواج الفتيات.

ويعبر ابناء القطاع العربي في إسرائيل عن اهتمامهم الفعال بالحياة السياسية في البلاد عن طريق مشاركتهم في الانتخابات البرلمانية والبلدية. ويدير المواطنون العرب الشؤون السياسية والادارية في البلديات الخاصة بهم, كما يمثل الاعضاء العرب المنتخبون في الكنيست (البرلمان الإسرائيلي) مصالح القطاع العربي, ويعملون على دعم مكانة المواطنين العرب وزيادة نصيبهم من الميزانية. ومنذ قيام الدولة عام ١٩٤٨, اعفي المواطنون العرب من الخدمة الالزامية في جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي, مراعاة للروابط العائلية والدينية والثقافية القائمة بينهم وبين العالم العربي (الذي كان له نزاع طويل مع إسرائيل)؛ وكذلك بسبب احتمال حالات من الولاء المزدوج. من جهة اخرى, هناك امكانية للتطوع في الخدمة العسكرية, وبالفعل يختار جانب من ابناء الاقليات هذه الامكانية. ومنذ عام ١٩٥٧ اصبحت الخدمة العسكرية الزامية بالنسبة للدروز والشركس, بناء على طلب زعماء هاتين الطائفتين. وفي نفس الوقت يزداد عدد الشبان البدو الذين ينضمون الى جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي.

ديناميكية العلاقات العربية-اليهودية

يشكل المواطنون العرب في إسرائيل سبع مجموع سكان إسرائيل, كما يشكلون سبع الشعب الفلسطيني. وفي حين يعتبر عرب إسرائيل جزءا من الشعب الفلسطيني من حيث الثقافة والهوية, ويعارضون تعريف إسرائيل كدولة يهودية, فانهم يرون مستقبلهم مرتبطا بإسرائيل. وقد تبنى عرب إسرائيل على مر السنين اللغة العبرية كلغة ثانية, واصبحت الثقافة الإسرائيلية تحتل مكانا لا يمكن تجاهله في حياتهم. وفي نفس الوقت, فانهم يطمحون في تحقيق مدى اكبر من المشاركة في الحياة العامة, ومزيد من الاندماج في المجال الاقتصادي, ومزيد من الانجازات للقطاع العربي في البلاد.

ويلاحظ ان الفوارق القائمة بين القطاعين العربي واليهودي في البلاد من حيث العقيدة والقيم الاجتماعية والقناعات السياسية قد اعاقت حدوث تفاعل واسع النطاق بينهما. ومع ذلك, وبالرغم من هذه الفوارق, فقد تحقق على مر السنين نوع من القبول المتبادل بين القطاعين, حيث يعترف كل منهما بالصفات الخاصة المميزة للجانب الآخر وبتطلعاته, واتسع نطاق المشاريع المشتركة التي تشمل القطاعين.

التعددية والانغلاق

يعتبر المجتمع الإسرائيلي مجتمعا تعدديا, اذ يوجد بين فئاته تباين عرقي وثقافي وديني ولغوي. ولا توجد سياسة رسمية تفصل بين فئات المجتمع, الا ان بعضا من هذه الفئات ينتهج اسلوبا من الانغلاق ليحافظ على هوية ثقافية ودينية وعرقية – وربما على هوية ايديولوجية – متينة.

ولكن, بالرغم من وجود ظواهر لا يستهان بها من الانقسام الاجتماعي ومن الفوارق الاقتصادية, الى جانب جدال سياسي صاخب في كثير من الاحيان, فان المجتمع الإسرائيلي هو مجتمع متوازن ومستقر نسبيا. واذا كانت الاحتكاكات بين الفئات الاجتماعية المختلفة تظل محصورة – رغم الاحتمالات لاحتدام التوتر بينها – فان ذلك يعود الى كون النظام السياسي والجهاز القضائي يقومان على ضمان المساواة المدينة والمساواة امام القانون لكل مواطن.

من هنا يتبين ان المجتمع الإسرائيلي ليس بمثابة بوتقة انصهار, بل هو بالأحرى فسيفساء قوامه عدد من الفئات السكانية تتعايش في اطار دولة ديموقراطية.

حرية العبادة

تضمن وثيقة الاستقلال لدولة إسرائيل (١٩٤٨) حرية العقيدة للجميع. ويحق لكل طائفة دينية, من الناحية القانونية والعملية, ان تمارس عقيدتها, وتراعي ايام الاعياد والعطلة الاسبوعية, وان تدير شؤونها الداخلية. ولكل طائفة مجلسها ومحاكمها الشرعية المعترف بها قانونيا, والتي تتمتع بسلطة قانونية في كافة الشؤون الدينية والاحوال الشخصية مثل الزواج والطلاق. ولكل طائفة اماكن العبادة الخاصة بها التي تتميز بمراسم وطقوس تقليدية مميزة وبطابع معماري خاص تطوّر على مر العصور.

الكنيس: تقتضي مراسم الصلاة حسب اصول العبادة التقليدية لدى اليهود الاورثودوكس, تواجد عشرة رجال بالغين في الصلاة. وعلى المؤمن ان يؤدي الصلاة ثلاث مرات يوميا. ويجلس الرجال والنساء على انفراد في الكنيس, وعلى الجميع ان يحرصوا على تغطية الرأس. ويمكن ان يقود الصلاة حاخام او مرتل الصلوات (الحزان) او احد المصلين. والحاخام ليس قسيسا ولا هو بمثابة وسيط بين الانسان وربه, بل هو معلم. واهم مكان في الكنيس هو تابوت العهد, ووجهته جبل الهيكل المقدس في القدس. ويحوي هذا التابوت الاسفار الخمسة للتوراة. وتتم تلاوة جزء معين من التوراة كل اسبوع على مدار السنة. وتتخذ الصلوات شكلا احتفاليا في ايام السبت وايام الاعياد المقدسة.

المسجد: تقام الصلوات خمس مرات يوميا. ويصلي الرجال والنساء على انفراد. ويخلع المصلون احذيتهم ويتوضأون قبل الصلاة. ويؤدي المسلمون الصلاة ووجوههم تجاه مكة المكرمة, اي تجاه القبلة التي يشير اليها المحراب. ويقف الامام على رأس المصلين في المسجد. وفي يوم الجمعة, وهو يوم العطلة لدى المسلمين, تلقى خطبة الجمعة من على منصة المسجد.

الكنيسة: تختلف صورة الصلاة واوقات تأديتها على اختلاف الطوائف المسيحية, ولكن جميع المسيحيين يراعون قداسة يوم الاحد, وهو يوم العطلة, بطقوس دينية خاصة. ويقود الصلاة كاهن او قسيس. ويصلي الرجال والنساء معا. ويكون الرجال عادة حاسري الرأس, في حين تغطي النساء رؤوسهن. وغالبا ما تكون الصلوات مصحوبة بالعزف الموسيقي وبتراتيل الكورس. والكنائس المسيحية مبنية على شكل صليب, تمشيا مع التقاليد المسيحية.

الاماكن المقدسة:

تقوم السلطة الدينية المسؤولة لدى كل طائفة بادارة الاماكن المقدسة التابعة لها. ويؤمّن القانون حرية العبادة وحرية الوصول الى العتبات المقدسة.

يهودي: حائط المبكى – وهو ما تبقى من الهيكل الثاني – وجبل الهيكل في القدس؛ قبر راحيل في بيت لحم, ضريح الآباء في مغارة "المخبيلا" في الخليل؛ ضريح موسى بن ميمون (هارامبام) في طبريا, ضريح شمعون بار يوحاي في ميرون واماكن اخرى كثيرة.

اسلامي: الحرم الشريف, ويشمل عدة مبان اهمها مسجد قبة الصخرة والمسجد الاقصى في القدس؛ الحرم الابراهيمي في الخليل؛ جامع الجزار في عكا.

مسيحي: درب الآلام (فيا دلوروزا), غرفة العشاء الاخير, كنيسة القيامة واماكن اخرى تتعلق بصلب السيد المسيح في القدس؛ كنيسة المهد في بيت لحم؛ كنيسة البشارة في الناصرة؛ جبل التجلي, الطبغة وكفر ناحوم قرب بحيرة طبريا.

درزي: مقام النبي شعيب عليه السلام (ضريح يثرو, حمي سيدنا موسى) قرب حطين في الجليل.

بهائي: (عقيدة عالمية مستقلة أسست في ايران في منتصف القرن ال-١٩): المركز البهائي العالمي, معبد الباب في حيفا؛ معبد بهاء الله, مؤسس العقيدة البهائية, قرب عكا.

القراءون: هم فئة تعود جذورها الى القرن الثامن, وتؤمن بالالتزام حرفيا بالتوراة (الاسفار الخمسة التي أتى بها موسى) على انها المصدر الوحيد للتشريع الديني. ومع ان القرائين يعتبرون فئة في اليهودية, لا طائفة قائمة بحد ذاتها, فانهم يقيمون محاكم شرعية خاصة بهم ويميلون الى التزاوج داخل الفئة نفسها. ويعيش في إسرائيل حوالي ٠٠٠,١٥ من القرائين, معظمهم في الرملة وأشدود وبئر السبع.

السامريون: يعتبرون انفسهم يهودا حقيقيين, يؤمنون بالتوراة فقط وبسفر يهشوع. المكان المقدس لديهم هو جبل جريزيم, وهم يعتقدون بانه المكان الذي ضحي فيه سيدنا ابراهيم بنجله اسحاق, والمكان الذي اقام عليه الملك سليمان الهيكل المقدس الاول. ويعتقد السامريون بانهم من نسل الاسباط الإسرائيلية العشرة المفقودة؛ ويبلغ عددهم حوالي ٦٠٠ نسمة, وهم يعيشون الآن في مدينتين: نصفهم تقريبا في كريات لوزا قرب قمة "الجبل" (جبل جريزيم)؛ والنصف الآخر, وهم مواطنون إسرائيليون, يعيش في حيّ منفرد في مدينة حولون قرب تل ابيب. وهم يتكلمون اللغة العربية في حياتهم اليومية, في حين يستخدمون نوعا من اللغة العبرية القديمة في الطقوس الدينية. ويبدو انه لا يوجد في العالم سامريون سوى هاتين الفئتين.

*أخذت المعلومات من كراس لمركز الاعلام الإسرائيلي صدرت عام ١٩٩٧.

Martin Luther King - Letter from Birmingham Jail

2005-02-20T18:25:00.000Z

Martin Luther King's
Letter from Birmingham Jail
[ N. B. All typographical errors are from the original source and therefore have not been corrected. A PDF version can be found here. ]
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This response to a published statement by eight fellow clergymen from Alabama (Bishop C. C. J. Carpenter, Bishop Joseph A. Durick, Rabbi Hilton L. Grafman, Bishop Paul Hardin, Bishop Holan B. Harmon, the Reverend George M. Murray. the Reverend Edward V. Ramage and the Reverend Earl Stallings) was composed under somewhat constricting circumstance. Begun on the margins of the newspaper in which the statement appeared while I was in jail, the letter was continued on scraps of writing paper supplied by a friendly Negro trusty, and concluded on a pad my attorneys were eventually permitted to leave me. Although the text remains in substance unaltered, I have indulged in the author's prerogative of polishing it for publication.

April 16, 1963

MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:

While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here In Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I. compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

You deplore the demonstrations taking place In Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. We have gone through an these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation.

Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants --- for example, to remove the stores humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained.

As in so many past experiences, our hopes bad been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community. Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self-purification. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves : "Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" "Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?" We decided to schedule our direct-action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic with with-drawal program would be the by-product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the merchants for the needed change.

Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's mayoralty election was coming up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the run-oat we decided again to postpone action until the day after the run-off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct-action program could be delayed no longer.

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling, for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.

One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: "Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant 'Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we stiff creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dark of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you no forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.

You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may won ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there fire two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the Brat to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all"

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distort the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an "I-it" relationship for an "I-thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and awful. Paul Tillich said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression 'of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.

Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.

I hope you are able to ace the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fan in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with an its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.

I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: "An Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely rational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this 'hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to 6e solid rock of human dignity.

You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At fist I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best-known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil."

I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the "do-nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle.

If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as "rabble-rousers" and "outside agitators" those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black-nationalist ideologies a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides-and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: "Get rid of your discontent." Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist.

But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that an men are created equal ..." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we viii be. We we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremist for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime---the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jeans Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some-such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle---have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach-infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as "dirty nigger lovers." Unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful "action" antidotes to combat the disease of segregation.

Let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a non segregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago.

But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who 'has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of Rio shall lengthen.

When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leader era; an too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows.

In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.

I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: "Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother." In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: "Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern." And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, on Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.

I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious-education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: "What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Walleye gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?"

Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? l am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great-grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide. and gladiatorial contests.

Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Par from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it vi lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom, They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. They have gone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to jai with us. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.

I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, ham and all over the nation, because the goal of America k freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation-and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if .you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.

It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handing the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in pubic. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."

I wish you had commended the Negro sit-inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face Jeering, and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy-two-year-old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My fleets is tired, but my soul is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he k alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?

If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.

I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Quote by Ali IbnAbi Taleb

2005-02-08T16:41:00.000Z

"Do not be too hard, lest you be broken; do not be too soft, lest you be squeezed."

باب الشمس"- رؤية نهى سلام"

2005-02-07T22:10:00.000Z

Every time he is defeated, Younis stamps and announces Men el awwal and both the struggle and the narrative start over.

Bab El Shams - Al Ra7eel

A movie that offers a very human account of Palestinians. One that is panoramic in its scope, packed with narratives and counter-narratives, various perspectives on the same reality. One where references to notables are scant; political leaders appear merely as portraits on the walls of security offices. One that portrays peasants leading a peaceful life in a northern village called Ein Al Zaytoun in Al Galeel (very close to the Lebanese borders). They do not imagine a life beyond their village (at the village school, when the teacher asks the children, “What is our country?” they consistently reply, “Ein Al-Zaytun,” unable to imagine a nation beyond). When abandoned in the face of an overwhelming power, those peasants choose life over death. They have no refuge, no support. The Arab Army appears briefly, only to expose and ridicule itself (through a young officer who is busying himself with cleaning the canons and shouting at his soldiers and saying all the time "ma fee awamer, mafeesh awamer, mako awamer, and who commits suicide infront of the villagers out of helplessness to protect them). A movie about families caught between burnt out homes with a brutal force chasing them and shouting in microphones "This is a non Arabs zone, Arabs are not allowed here, Head north...head north, go to Lebanon" and unforgiving neighbors who see them as a burden and call them "qwat agnabeya 3ala al arady al lebenaneya"

The beauty of the movie is that it relies on individuals telling their story. It suggests that retelling is a form of rewriting history and introduces a new definition of heroism for the present generation, that is “by telling the story, owning their history and their memory”.

Choosing the small village in Al Galeel is very symbolic as the Israeli invasion to Lebanon was called operation "Al Salam fel Galeel". So in 1948 and 1982, securing the Israeli borders was used to carry on massive massacres. In both Arabs stood watching and the passing of almost 40 years has really changed nothing.

The magical tale of lovers meeting at the cave of Bab El Shams is a story in itself. It is when Younis sneaks into Palestine to meet his wife in secret, away from the Israeli forces. When they meet she tells him "I want you here with me, with us" then changes her mind on the spot telling him "You know, I do not want you here, here they will imprison you". It is when the freedom of our loved ones means more to us than having them with us. Each time they meet, she gets pregnant. Those meetings at the cave signify that Bab El Shams will remain a sacred ground that has not been violated by occupation—a space of love, magic and fertility. But not only the cave, inside each one of us there is a sacred place that has not and will not be violated by anything or anyone. That is how we survive painful experiences I guess....

The film is a beautiful individualistic human encounter of the Palestinian story, away from "al qadeyah". It made me reflect on a lot of things & events. For me it was very touching and at many points I found tears filling my eyes, not at the brutal scenes of burning the village or killing innocent unarmed people, for those I saw before in documentaries and read about in books, but at the tiny details that make everyday life and the sense of helplessness of those peasants. Of the most touching scenes that filled the film, I found those echoing in my head:

"ya set mesh ard men gheir dajaj a7san men dajaj men ghier ard" يا ست مش ارض من غير دجاج احسن من دجاج من غير ارضA group of Palestinian youth convincing a peasant to give them chicken so that they can exchange it for weapons from the Arab Rescue Army

"el 7ob wel watan, ma ben3refhom ela lama nefkedhom" الحب و الوطن ما بنعرفهم الا لما نفقدهم
The narrator commenting on Younis falling in love with his wife Nahila after he had to leave her and go to Lebanon to join the resistance

"benakol w benshrab, benam w bnefee2 wala sheey beytghayar" بناكل و بنشرب، بنام و بنفيق و لا شى بيتغيرAn old woman after settling in a refugee camp in Lebanon

"e7na mesh lag2een, e7na feda2yeen" احنا مش لاجئين، احنا فدائيينYounis shouting at a Lebanese officer in a refugee camp who was telling him that they are just guests and that they should be grateful that Lebanon took them

"sara2to dyarna w sharsh7touna, w hla gayeen te3lemoona el adab" سرقتوا ديارنا و شرشحتونا و هلا جايين تعلمونا الادبNahila to an Israeli interrogator when he was scorning her for admitting that she was a hooker

And finally the genius word of "Men El Awwal" that Younis keeps using after each defeat to reflect hope that things would change. It is just that we have to start tani men el awwal. After 1967, "men el awwal", after the 1970 Jordon massacres "men el awwal", after 1982 Sabra & Shatila "men el awwal", after Oslo "men el awwal", after Arafat died "men el awwal". And today in 2005, listening to Ms. Condy complmenting Abu Mazen on his courage to pursue real peace with Israel, I cannot think of a term better than "Men el Awwal"!!.

من اقوال المتنبي

2005-02-02T01:00:00.000Z

أَفـاضِلُ النـاسِ أَغْـراضٌ لَـدَى الزَّمَنِ يَخـلُو مِـنَ الهَـمِّ أَخـلاهُم مِـنَ الفِطَنِ

Quote by Edward Saiid

2005-02-01T00:45:00.000Z

In May 2003 Edward Saiid said
“ The gradual disappearance of the extraordinary tradition of Islamic Ijtihad has been one of the major cultural disasters of our time, with the result that critical thinking and individual wrestling with the problems of the modern world have simply dropped out of sight. Orthodoxy and dogma rule instead.”