A toothless, lame tiger

When I watched Yusri Fudha's documentary on going to Iraq, there was one scene in particular which Yusri described as being most painful for an Arab to watch, particularly an Egyptian. Next was a scene of a young Egyptian man in an American army uniform, insulting and interrogating a man at a checkpoint. Hearing someone with your own language and wearing an American uniform was something my senses rebelled against..the familiarity of the accent and the mannerisms were twisted and warped.. this is not a warm and chatty Egyptian about to crack a joke or burst out singing and clapping, this is an American who speaks Arabic fluently. He's occupied Iraq. It left a feeling of betrayal and sadness within me..

I felt the same when I came across the blog by this man. His articles are well written and thought upon, but he is wrong. Not factually, but wrong in his overall direction and leanings. His anger at the state of the Arab world has led him to reject any and all aspects of it, religious, cultural and political. Yes, the governments are corrupt and treat the citizen like an animal. Yes, there are fanatics and extremists who chop peoples heads off for being different. Yes, there is underdevelopment and backwardness. But you cannot cure a sick person by excising all his diseased organs wholesale and transplanting foreign organs. The person's body will reject these ultimately and die. To cure the sick body, presuming you want that person to live, you must take your time curing that person, mentally first, physically second. Nurturing and strengthening her so she can better withstand attacks to her system and so she can be strong and healthy again. Mr Abdulhamid has instead decided to ally himself with the influenza virus and wants to kill our patient rather than cure her.