Pearls (I) . ByTarek Heggy• An Egyptian friend told a Palestinian friend: Whenever I see a Palestinian gathering, distinguishable by its modern appearance and the participation of women, usually unveiled, I know that it is taking place in the West Bank . And whenever I see a gathering where most of its participants are long-bearded men and not a single woman is taking part, I know that it is in Gaza . How do you explain this phenomenon? The Palestinian friend's answer was thunderous. He said: My explanation of this phenomenon is that the West Bank has never been under Egyptian custodianship, while Gaza was, for almost twenty years starting in 1948. During these years, the Muslim Brotherhood established what was called 'the Muslim Brotherhood-Gaza branch;' the group became Hamas 20 years ago. To be succinct, Egypt exported the Muslim Brotherhood to us, which was the reason behind the 1967 Six-Day War and consequently the loss of the Arab identity of East Jerusalem . The Palestinian friend then paused for little while and mumbled only one word: "Thanks!"
• After the fall of the most important bastion of faith in Gaza one of the members of Hamas declared that the fall of the building was tantamount to the conquest of Makkah 14 centuries ago!! Once again I adjure Dr. Ahmad Ukashah and all the other psychologists and mental-health specialists to hasten their intervention and to buy a large number of straight jackets.
• Some call for the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate State. This is bad news for the upcoming caliphs, in light of the fact that three of the Orthodox caliphs, Umar, Uthman and Ali, were killed. In addition, the founder of the Abbasid Dynasty was known as "The Assassin." Harun al-Rashid, [the fifth and most famous Abbasid Caliph] left his dynasty to his two sons who killed each other! As time progressed through the centuries, caliphs who were similar to the Ottoman Sultan "Abd al-Majid" far outnumbered those who followed the pattern of Umar Bin al-Khattab.
• In 2004, there was an assassination attempt against Lebanese Minister Marwan Hamadah. Recently, Walid Idu, a Lebanese Member of Parliament, was killed. Between those two dates came the assassinations or attempted assassinations of Rafiq al-Hariri, Basim Fulayman, Elias al-Mur, Samir Qasir, Khalil Hawi, May Shidyaq, Jubran Tuwayni and Pierre al-Jumayl occurred. All of them belonged to the March 14 Alliance that resists Syrian involvement in Lebanon . Compare this to the opposite front, the March 8 Alliance which supports, and is supported by, Syria , and you'll note that not a single attempt to assassinate one of its members was made. We can consider this to be a mere 'coincidence,' if we can believe that the alphabet will fall to the ground, one by one, and form an unprecedented poem in a marvelous poetical meter.
• President Mubarak is an honest person ( As Brutus was an honorable man) . He frequently denies that he is preparing his younger son to succeed him as Egypt 's president. In one of his visits to the U.S. capital, Washington D.C ., he stated in an interview at Blair House [The White House Guest House] that "My son Jamal will not be the next president of Egypt ." That was a clear-cut and precise statement. So, why are people obsessed with this issue to the level of madness? I hereby call unto all of those who are haunted by this issue to be silent. I assure them that silence will be more 'useful'! Do you understand?
• His "Excellency" stood at a graduation ceremony in front of a group of university students to deliver the commencement address. His speech was long, boring, irksome, and monotonous, which proved that our fellow has no talent standing at oratorical pulpits. However, the interesting part was that His Excellency spoke about himself for more than half the time. He addressed the students less than half the time, during which he admonished them to not listen to the advice of anyone. What really surprised me was his poor English. I wondered who his speech writer was. The speech was a scandal in the full sense of the word, demonstrating that even one's mastery of a foreign language can be forged! After he finished 'reading' his speech, which was not improvised, a British professor working at that university told me, "Our fellow proved today that those who master a certain language are the only ones able to improvise in that language. As for reading a prepared speech, it proves nothing."
• It was a heated debate about Islamists and the principle of an orderly transition of power through popular participation, which is a cornerstone of democracy. The majority of the debaters reiterated their conviction that those who mingle religion and politics do not believe in the orderly transition of power. As for the minority, they insisted that 'only through experiments can the judgment be proven.' A person, who was silent the entire time, brought the conversation to an end when he said: "If only experiments can prove judgment, a sentiment with which I agree, the debate would be over, thanks to Hamas! A few days ago it proved that those who mingle religion and politics are not likely to leave power. They will always be willing to stay in power by force, justifying their actions with their assumption that 'God is with them.' In fact, those who accuse religious parties in the region of not believing in democracy should be very grateful to Hamas, because it proved that they were right and the other viewpoint is completely wrong."
• The Honourable Mr. M.H. Haikal: You do not like the countries that normalize relations with Israel . However, on Qatari land there is an Israeli embassy with the name 'Israeli Affairs Office.' You do not like countries that allow American bases to exist on their lands. However, the largest U.S. military base, outside of the American borders, lies on Qatari land. I have heard you describe mingling religion and politics as "nonsense" and you are right in saying so. Nevertheless, there are essential centers to mix religion and politics in Qatar : there are the Muslim Brothers, who fled from Egypt in 1954, led by al-Qaradawi, and the most important office of Hamas, outside of Syria and Gaza is there. Do you accept for Qatar what you do not accept for Egypt (Israeli embassy and U.S. military bases)? Have you expressed your opinions to the Qatari prince about such 'notorious' acts, according to your viewpoint? If so, why do you not write about your rejection of the American base and the Israeli Embassy in Qatar ? And why do you accept the Articles of Incorporation of al-Jazeera, which forbids handling any Qatari-related issues including these?
• Dr. Sa'd al-Din Ibrahim: A few years ago, we had an ideological debate over Islamists. The arenas of our debate were in strange scientific and research assemblies. You said that Islamists have evolved and are now able to practice democracy. I told you that you, as a visionary professor, were caught between reality and what you wished to see happening. As for me, I learned to mix knowledge with dreams. I know how to separate my thinking from emotions and desires. My thinking, which is based on substantive and realistic calculations, tells me that if Islamists reached power they would immediately destroy the ladder they climbed to get there. That ladder is, of course, democracy. I used to say that Islamists would be on the road to democracy when they accept that the theory of Hakimiyah [the inevitability of the religious leadership of the Islamic nation] is outdated and has no place in modern world. You were very enthusiastic about the Palestinian elections that brought Hamas to power. You went to meet with their leaders. Moreover, in a reckless move, you went to meet with leaders of other militias, in another country, who are determined to destroy this country. Today, I ask you dear, destructively-visionary professor, Dr. Sa'd: Do you still think that Islamists really believe in democracy, as you were saying, or they are manipulating democracy to reach power as many would say? What can you say after observing the crimes Hamas committed in Gaza a few days ago? O destructively-visionary professor, you have to know that the normal theatres of operation for professors are classrooms and not countries. I spent almost a quarter of a century in the largest economic institution in the world. One of the slogans of this multinational organization was that: "Beware of academics when they practice non-academic work, because the cost of their mistakes will be exorbitant." These words are perfectly applied to you and every other academic who was hired for a public post since the success of the Free Officers Movement 55 years ago.
• The appearance of the new Palestinian Government was very civilized on Sunday, June 17, 2007 as it included two female ministers. It was a very real, modern, civilized scene. I will leave the explanation of the 'modern civilized scene' to the acumen of the readers. |