In spite of major advances in life and the appearance of dozens of
children oriented cable channels, the traditional and class
Is Barack Obama a prince who will rescue
Muslims?
According to Haytham
Abu Khalil of Egypt's Amal
Al
Ummah, thinking so is nothing
but a delusion.
Amal
Al Ummah, Egypt
Prince Obama and
His Muslim Cinderella
"Oh our Arab and Muslim Ummah [Nation]! You should not expect a good fairy to get you to the prince. Are not all fairies evil? Will they not all take you to hell? ... Resist ... move ... restore your freedom ... your dignity ... the capabilities of your own country ... then Obama will kneel and ask for your approval."
A souvenir vendor in Cairo: As Barack Obama prepares for what one might call the Mount Everest of speeches - to the Muslim World - is it possible that people are getting a bit carried away in terms of expectations?
Although life has evolved a
great deal and dozens of major child-friendly satellite
channels have emerged, we still read traditional classics the likes of Kalilag and Damnag
and OneThousand and One Nights
to our children. And that would include the story of Cinderella - the girl whose mother died
when she was a child and whose father remarried an evil and unforgiving woman
who abused and humiliated her, turning Cinderella into a servant of her stepsisters.
Cinderella lived under oppression,
deprivation and injustice, without the goodness of a father that others enjoyed
right in front of her.
What a tragedy until the
good fairy came along and fulfilled her wishes. Cinderella then attends the
prince's reception where he falls for her. She has to leave the reception in a rush
[at midnight], but the prince keeps looking for her until he finds her thanks
to her slipper (it seems that slippers and shoes have some historical
life-changing significance in our culture just as they did in the life of Cinderella
- and the lives of Muntazar al-Zaidi and George W.
Bush!) And we know the rest of that story ...
In fact, after I grew up I
found Cinderella to be a lousy role model - she is the victim who has
surrendered and does nothing to end the injustice of her life of terror and
persecution, and to restore for herself some semblance of dignity - much like Ali Baba did at the expense of the forty thieves
[reference to the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.]
The truth is that I was quite
shocked by Cinderella because of my work in the field of human rights. Extricating
oneself from such a situation depends on the strength, resilience and persistence
of the victim. Unfortunately there are many people like Cinderella who have
acquired a taste for the role of victim - and seem to have no objection to living
and dying, a victim!
I recall the theme of Cinderella
very strongly these days, as our nation prepares for the visit of the prince - I
refer to U.S. President Barack Obama. Some are betting that during the
reception (or his eight hour visit), he will notice all of the oppressed
people, his heart will break and he will be liberated from his evil stepmother -
and here I refer to the system that rules over him.
I don't know what would
attract Prince Obama's attention when the people aren't as beautiful as Cinderella
- and there's no good fairy who can magically transform mice into horses and a
pumpkin into a carriage, who can turn beans into wheels and a broken carriage
into a car capable of carrying them to the ball to enjoy seeing the prince and having
their voices heard. [Editor's Note: Fava beans are the average Egyptian's staple
food].
Oh
Cinderella May Allah forgive you!
Why didn't you revolt against
the injustice and observe civil disobedience inside the house. Your house. Your father's house
Oh
Oh Cinderella Why insist on swallowing all that pain because of the claim
that you're helpless?
You were the worse example
and followed the worst path which was handed down generation after generation
and fed to children like breast milk. Generations grew up dreaming of the
prince who would come from across the ocean to pull them out of poverty, oppression
and injustice - and even to repair the state of their countries.
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ADDRESS TO THE WORLD'S MUSLIMS
Obama speaks at Cairo University on Thursday. In the
ancient seat of Islamic learning and quoting the Quran,
the President called for a 'new beginning between the
Do you see the extent of your
sins, Cinderella? Idleness has taken hold in the people, and they expect a
handful of outsiders to resist, to bring change and even reclaim
their own countries for them!
Every citizen is saying, me
first. As for the country they say, let it burn - why should I care? They seem
unaware that it is they who will be fuel for the fire.
Oh our Arab and Muslim Ummah [Nation]! You should not expect a good fairy to get you
to the prince. Are not all fairies evil? Will they not all take you to hell?
Resist move restore your
freedom your dignity the capabilities of your own country then Obama will
kneel and ask for your approval.
[Editor's Note: The name of
this publication, Amal
Al Ummah, means, The
Hope of the Nation, and is the official newspaper of the Muslim
Brotherhood. According to Wikipedia, the Muslim
Brotherhood is a "trans-national Sunni movement and the largest political
opposition in many Arab states, particularly Egypt. It is the world's oldest
and largest Islamic political group, founded by Egyptian schoolteacher Hassan
al-Banna in 1928. During
parliamentary elections in 2005, Brotherhood members - who must run as independents
since their political party was outlawed in the 1950s, won 88 seats in the
national legislature (20 percent of the total), to form the largest opposition
bloc.]
