It was a fashion statement then, now it is a symbol of oppression, the hijjab is not the problem, it is who is wearing it!!
The golden age of hijjab
Category: Uncategorized
Lynching Culture
The Lynching of Mr. Musalem
On Thursday, April 29th, Mohammed Musalem, a 38-year-old Egyptian was lynched by Lebanese mob at Ketemaya village in southern Lebanon, according to police reports. He was accused of allegedly killing four members of a Lebanese family after they refused his request to marry their daughter. According to the report, Mr. Musalem was in police custody when the Lebanese mob snatched Mr. Musalem from them, stabbed him to death and then hanged him from a butcher’s hook from a pole in the village square. The police hadn’t gathered any evidence to prove that Mr. Musalem had actually committed the crime. How, I might ask, did these average villagers turn into monsters so quickly? How did this crowd transform into to mobs and killers that easily? How did Mr. Musalem’s friends, neighbors and coworkers became silent bystanders and “watch as the body was hung in the village square in Lebanon” as was reported in the news. According to the historian Al Sandine, any unusual incident can bring a crowd, but in order to turn a crowd into a mob, people need to feel that their community are threatened and have one united enemy. What was threatening Ketemaya village community? Was it Mr. Musalem, who never even had his day in court. The Qura’an demands of Muslims to verify any tragic news, or rumor to avoid civil unrest. Al Sandine, explains again: when a community is in shambles and its social organizations are collapsing, mob crowd can work as a unifying force in the community. Who was Mohammed Musalem? What was he like? What was he doing in a small village in Lebanon? Was he in love with the young Lebanese woman? Did he have the same images that most Egyptians have of Lebanon with their lovely attractive women? How many times was he told of the wonderful life one could have in Lebanon? How many times did he watch on Arab satellite TV about the glamour of the capital, Beirut, the Paris of the Arab world. The Lebanese police claimed that Mr. Musalem confessed to his crime. What else did Mr. Musalem confess to? Was his body trembling with fear as he was confessing? Did he have a chance to hear his crime? Did he know the names of his accusers? What was his last moment like? Did he make eye contact with any of his killers? Did he plead for his life? The crowd was the judges, jurors and the executioners. Were they absolutely sure of his guilt, without any reasonable doubt? Did they read him his crime and the verdict too? What was the last word he uttered to these monsters before his lips stopped moving? Was there any descent in the angry crowd? Did anyone know his real name? Did his name mean anything to them? Musalem means peace loving. Did they lynch him because Mr. Musalem was a cold-blooded criminal, or because he was, a stranger, an Egyptian , or a Sunni trapped in predominately Shiite village? In his hometown in Egypt, Mr. Musalem’s father wondered if those villages would have done the same horrible thing to his son if he was an Israeli. What did Mr. Musalem think or feel when he heard the crowd chanting “Allah Akbar,” God is greater? Did Mr. Musalem wonder about their “Allah”–why did they need his help. Was the chanting as painful to him as the stabbing? Mr. Musalem was already dead, and God had already taken custody of his soul, only his mutilated body was left for the rage orgy. The Lebanese bystanders were casually talking on their phones as they were watching the lynching of Mr. Musalem. Young men and women were taking snapshot pictures of his hanging naked body. Who were they calling? What did they say? How did they tell the story of Mr. Musalem’s lynching to their friends and family? Did the crowd think about any consequence? How much shame, and disgrace would they have after the rage fizzled away? How much sorrow would they feel after the screams vanished, and how much self respect would they have left after the crowd dispersed? How many memories would they keep for their children to share? Most off Mr. Musalem’s rights were denied and taken away from him on that fateful day. However, there is one right that Mr. Musalem is entitled to now, and that is for those who couldn’t help and save him from the angry mob and its lynching culture, to work hard and find out what really happened at Ketamaya village in south Lebanon that day!
Ahmed Tharwat 5/5/2010
Arabs are going back to this era:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr6kaFZxMM8&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Obama visit to Egypt… going East young man
Go East Young Man
Just a whisper after his first 100 days in office, President Obama has decided to visit the biggest and most important Arab Muslim country, Egypt. On June 4th, the American president will deliver a speech from Cairo to the so-called Muslim World. (Every time you hear “the Muslim world,” you should seek shelter.) “Go east young man” breaks away from the most sacred American political tradition in years. It is more customary for newly-elected politicians to visit Israel once they get to their office; even the first Muslim elected into Congress, Brother Keith Ellison couldn’t break that political chain. Usually American presidents visit the Arab/Muslim world only when they are leaving office or in trouble–from Nixon’s visit to Egypt in his final days of the Watergate crisis, to Clinton’s visit to the Middle East as he was leaving his stained office, to recent President Bush’s secret visit to Iraq in his last days and President Carter waiting until leaving office to visit. But Obama, on the 4th of June, will visit Egypt just shortly after taking office sending a message to the Arab/Muslim world after sending another message to the Non-Arab Muslims from Turkey during the G20 meeting. On his visit to Egypt, Obama need not repeat the bowing business that was comically performed before the Saudi king in Europe. The Egyptians know better. According to Wikipedia, “Bowing to other human beings is frowned upon in Muslim cultures as all human beings are considered equal and bowing is only supposed to be done to God in Islam”; however, back to Wikipedia, “ It is most prominent in Asian cultures but it is also typical of nobility and aristocracy in many countries and distinctively in Europe”. Egyptians are very peaceful and simple people; however, they are great experts on social hypocrisies, some learned during the Ottoman era in Egypt, where everyone is “Basha” (Pasha), “Bey”, Raiis (President), and Istaz (Mr.), as their ways of sniffing their meaning and status out of these hyper social labels, and are sensitive to foreigner visitors who tinker with their social hypocrisy codes. The French leader Napoleon tried during his invasion of Egypt in 1798; he declared his admiration of Islam, and some went as far as claiming that the French general converted to Islam and called himself Al Haj Bonaparte. He was a frequent visitor to the AlAzhar Mosque, and dressed in the traditional Islamic clothes; however, he drew the line and asked to be spared the circumcision business. But this didn’t fool the Egyptians and Napoleon had to escape from Egypt frantically undercover of a woman dress. Before drafting his message to the so called Arab/Muslims world, Obama needs to understand that the Arab/Muslim world has no reverence for political speeches or gestures. They are barraged with them daily from their own corrupt leaders; political speeches are just that, “Kalam fudi,” or hallow words. On June 4th, even if Obama declared (as some conservative Americans may already fear), he is a “closet Muslim” under the name Hussein, this wouldn’t change how the Arab/Muslims feel about America. Before the Arab/Muslims would change, America needs to change their behavior in the Muslim world. Stopping dropping bombs on its citizens would be a good start.
Ahmed Tharwat/ Host
Arab American TV show BelAhdan
Airs Saturdays on MN Public TV
