عن محاربة التطرف بأنواعه

هل تنجح الخطة الحكومية لمحاربة التطرف في هولندا؟
هذه هو عنوان مقال في " راديو نيزلاند وورلد وايد " والتطرف المقصود هو بالطبع التطرف الإسلامي. لكن - مع الاعتراف بوجود تطرف اسلامي - علينا ان نكون منصفين ونعترف أيضا بوجود تطرف ديني وعرقي مسيحي وابيض في هولندا. نقول هذا استنادا على تقارير هولندية رسمية؛ اصدرتها مراكز الأبحاث هنا في هولندا.
والتطرف اصطلاح مطاط وغامض، ظهر في القواميس السياسية،في العقود الأخيرة ، ليعبر بشكل ما عن "تعصب ديني وعرقي "ورفض للآخر المخالف والمختلف سياسيا او ودينيا او وعرقيا. رفض يستند غالبا على نصوص دينية وعلى نوازع قومية واثنية تنادي بامتياز وتفوق وخصوصية عرق على آخر وشعب على شعوب أخرى ولون على بقية الألوان ودين على بقية الأديان.
التطرف ضد التسامح وضد حقوق الإنسان وضد بعض نصوص موجودة في كل الأديان...ايضا!
لذا من الضروري حينما نبدأ بمناقشة التطرف في الدين الإسلامي علينا لكي نكون منصفين وموضوعيين ان نناقش التطرف في بقية الأديان؛ من خلال نصوصها المقدسة؛ تلك المعمول بها، او تلك المهملة.
هذا هو مفتتح لمناقشة التطرف تمهيدا لرصد اسبابه.
ونبدأ بالتهم المرسلة ( وبعضها حقيقي) ضد الشباب المسلم المقيم في هولندا والذي ينتمي لأصول مغربية مغربية على وجه الخصوص وعربية بشكل عام.
أثبتت الدراسات والأبحاث الرسمية الأكاديمية في هولندا حالة التمزق التي يعيشها هؤلاء الشباب. فهم يقيمون داخل كانتونات شبه مغلقة. فالبرغم من التحاقهم بنظام التعليم الهولندي الإجباري حتى عمر معين؛ وبالرغم من إجادتهم للغة الهولندية وحصول معظمهم على شهادات إتمام التعليم المتوسط ( نسبة ضئيلة منهم تواصل التعليم العالي والجامعي) فإنهم لا يجدون عملا بسهولة في سوق العمل الهولندي اسوة بزملاء دراستهم الهولنديين البيض ( المسيحيين ) والأسباب المعلنة تقول " عدم ملاءمتهم اجتماعيا " وهي اسباب مطاطة وغامضة في مجتمع رأسمالي يعتمد بالأساس على المهارات الفردية وعلى مبدأ التنافس. لكن السبب الحقيقي غير المعلن هو إحجام ارباب العمل الهولنديين من رأسمال خاص او رأسمال الدولة او في المناصب الحكومية والبلدية عن تعيين هؤلاء الشباب لأسباب عرقية بحتة لكنها مستترة. فالمجتمع الهولندي المدني ينكر بشدة وجود نوازع عرقية تتحكم فيه. هذا بالرغم من ان الدراسات الرسمية الحديثة بدأت تؤكد تواجد النوازع العرقية في المجتمع الهولندي الذي كان مشهورا في السابق بالتسامح.
تقلص التسامح في العالم بشكل عام وفي الغرب بشكل خاص له اسبابه المختلفة؛ لكن الشواهد على ذلك واضحة وأهمها؛ صعود اليمين السياسي- الديني متمثلا في أحزاب سياسية -دينية ترضي مشاعر الطبقات الوسطى والصغيرة في المجتمعات الغربية التي تخلصت من كابوس الحرب الباردة مؤخرا ومن مخاطر الغزو الأيديولوجي الماركسي، لتركز مخاوفها في الصراع الديني والثقافي بين الغرب المسيحي والشرقين العربي والآسيوي الإسلاميين.
ينظر لهذا الصراع منظرون غربيين اكاديميون ويحذو حذوهم منظرون شرقيين دينيون؛ تربط بينهم جميعا؛ مخاوف متعلقة بنظرية المؤامرة.
فالغرب يعلن تخوفه من سيطرة الأفكار الإسلامية على ما يطلق عليه "نمط الحياة الغربية " والشرق الإسلامي يعلن مخاوفه من مؤامرة الغرب المسيحي على ثقافته وعلى مقدراته الاقتصادية.
مخاوف متبادلة بعضها صحيح وأغلبها مختلق!
لكن بالنظر أيضا إلى مبدأ التعصب الديني في بلد واحد يدين اهله بالإسلام والمسيحية مثل مصر. نجد ان ثمة كراهية واضحة متبادلة " للآخر" الذي يتكلم اللغو نفسها وينخرط اجباريا في الجيش ويدرس في ذات المدارس والجامعات.
إذن فمن السخف ان نقول ان احد اهم اسباب التعصب هو جهل بثقافة الآخر او بنمط حياته او لعدم اتقانه اللغة الرسمية السائدة، او لتخلفه العلمي او لعدم موائمته اجتماعيا.
فالأقلية الدينية المسيحية في مصر تشكو من عدم تطبيق مباديء المساواة في العمل، تلك التي ينص عليها الدستور والقانون ومباديء حق التعيين في المناصب الحساسة في الدولة من جيش وشرطة وحكم.
ان حجة عدم الموائمة اجتماعيا، تلك المستخدمة في هولندا ثبت عدم دقتها في حال " محمد بويري " قاتل المخرج الهولندي فان خوخ، في القضية الشهيرة المتعلقة بإخراج فان خوخ فيلما اعتبره بويري وآخرون مسيئا للإسلام.
ان بويري هو النموذج الأكمل لحالة الشباب المغربي في هولندا: فهو يجيد اللغة الهولندية كتابة وقراءة، نثرا وشعرا . درس مباديء الصحافة وفشل في الحصول على عمل يناسب مؤهلاته. ارتكب بعض المخالفات الصغيرة التي ادت الى حبسه مددا قصيرة.في السجن تعرف على اصوليين إسلاميين وانتمى (او اسس ) خلية اصولية.
وبقية الحالة معروفة!
سوء الفهم والعنف المتعمد هنا موجود في الجانبين: المخرج والقاتل .
فما الذي يحدو بمخرج غير معروف على النطاق المحلي ان يفكر، ثم يعد ، ثم يخرج فيلما يهاجم به الدين الإسلامي ؟ ما الذي كان يهدف او يرجو تحقيقه؟
اليس عملا كهذا يعتبر عنفا موجها ضد جماعة دينية تنتمي عرقيا الى دين وعرق مختلف؟
هذه الجماعة الدينية العرقية تعيش - أيضا- في مشاكل هامة مختلفة؛ اهمها عدم قدرة اعضائها على تحقيق طموحاتهم المشروعة في الحصول على أعمال تتناسب ومؤهلاتهم المختلفة. احساسهم بتهميش متزايد في مجتمع ينتمون اليه بحكم الميلاد واللغة والتعليم.
وإذا كان الادعاء الهولندي ان مسلمي هولندا العرب لا يعرفون شيئا كثيرا او قليلا عن الهولنديين؛ فهل يعرف الهولنديون كثيرا او قليلا عن حياة مسلمي هولندا العرب سوى ما تمدهم به احهزة الأعلام التي لا تختلف كثيرا في جهلها وضحالتها عن جهل وضحالة المواطن الهولندي بشكل خاص واغربي بشكل عام عن الإسلام والمسلمين وعن العرب ؟!
رفض مبدأ الحوار والتفهم والتقبل والتسامح ليس مقصورا على " البويريين " فحسب ، انه المبدا السائد الآن في الثقافة الغربية.
وسيظل الباحثون والسياسيون يبحثون عن مخارج مختلفة تبدو لي مثل الأبواب الزائفة في المقابر الفرعونية ، تلك التي لا تقود إلى مخرج من المقبرة او لا تأخذك الى كنوزها.
سيظل الوضع هكذا طالما يتجاهل الغرب ؛ البدء بإصلاح موقفه من الأقليات الدينية - العرقية التي تعيش ؛ وستواصل العيش ، في الغرب .
هذا الموقف المستهجن والمتعالي والجاهل والرافض لكل ما تمثله ثقافات وديانات هذه الأقليات. ان ما حدث ويحدث في المملكة المتحدة من الجيل الثاني من المهاجرين الباكستانيين هل تنجح المسلمين؛ من رفض لأسلوب حياة وسياسة المملكة المتحدة ونتائج هذا المتمثلة في مذبحة مترو الأنفاق في لندن شهر يوليو منذ عامين، هو مثال من المؤكد تكراره في اماكن مختلفة في الغرب ، نتيجة لسوء الفهم والتربص المتبادل من الجانبين.

Madny in Arabic

Beginning of this month (September) our few readers in English will be fewer, because Elly our main English editor and co-founder is giving herself a long extending pause to reflect on other things (she's on holiday in France then Spain).
Arabic writings will be seen more frequently due to those changes.
Raouf

PERSEPHONE!!

...And Mother
When I was introduced to "what possessed me" through Elly I liked the Blog immediately because of its obsessions… and the way its writer presents her self witty and wicked talented lost Realistic orientlists (which she hates to be!)
I like and respect people who have obsessions...And I love them when they admit it : not as a sin but a virtue.
Then she decided to show another side of her obsessions : her thinking about her seventy years old Mum, her way to tell her - in front of every body- how she wants to be like her.
We all grow up trying to ignore our parents ,believing that we had the bad luck to be borne by such people , and how it would be better , that the moment we came to life that they should disappear , and not following us around , causing shame and anger.
Or… we would be tighten tongs in expressing to them face to face our rare nice feelings about them.
But Persephone , alias, Poulakie, decided to break the eternal role between parents and children and announce her NICE FEELINGS to her mother even she is still alive!
Ya Benty you are too good to be true.
i wish i had done the same. But it is too late now
raouf

Alhurra on Erotism !!

Alhurra
this is where i will have my debate next weekon Arabic Erotic Novel
Raouf

About Madny

About Madny
Without Elly there would be no Madny. She initiated the idea and has - and still - does the main work on it: correcting my English and guiding me to post my posts.
She gives Madny its taste and character: a mix in between many worlds, East and West. Politics and fun!
Shoukan ya Elly ya benty!
Raouf

My black Eros

My black Eros…-1-
Some days ago, I was writing something I do not know how to call yet but "night's situations" where I begin it by "I was laughing in my dream"
My idea is to let "my characters" to share the "situations" with me …
I spoke with "ET" and she agreed to read my drafts and to suggest and advise,
I send a draft to a main character in my last novel "Ithaca" which I published in Cairo last winter she is "Ierosa" in the book… a high priestess in former life, which initiates young boys and girls to their sexual life.
She reacted in nice and delicate way as her normal habits, in trying to let others understand what is talking about.
I was looking at my unorganized papers in my unorganized desk when I find an old letter from her to me, answering a letter from me telling her how much I owe her finding a solution for Ithaca, through finding her. She wrote that she is " very glad with her new name: "BLACK IEROSA" in your book and happy that I came one of your characters, which means, that I will follow you where ever you go"
What a writer wants more from a real person, who gave him special and happy moments in life and in writing?


ET in " laughing" responds in on other way: reserved but curios!the difference between the tow is large and Important : Ierosa is an African priestess and ET is European post graduate scholar!

Khamsa we Khmesa

A friend of mine told me about an advertisement that was looking for "active Arab people" - or something like this!
So I phoned them and said, "I am an active Arab person!"
Then I was - and still intrigued.
There is an origination called Mediamatic
It is interested in creating an Arab version of a big Dutch chain called "Hema"
And I went to see what is up.
I liked what I saw: young group of Lebanese and Arab boys and girls who are working in "Arabic Calligraphy", doing designs on Arabic alpha-batiks and a lot of other interesting things by other interesting people including henna and Arabic dance for men...
Is this a movement to bring the Dutch and Arabs together in dialogue even it has a commercial interest? why not!

Mediamatic.net - Photo by Marieke Bijster.

Mediamatic.net - Photo by Marieke Bijster.
It is interesting to look at this side
raouf

raouf

look at me!!

to Evy

A comment on a Comment
Anonymous said...
I am an Arab christian and I totally agree with Raouf.
As for those who posted comments, the idea is not to debate on religions;
it is simply to suggest that all 3 holy books could have similar backward statements,
no matter what the interpretation is, and therefore it is not logical to criticize
one religion and pretend that others are more "civilized" ones.
Raouf, you're my hero!
Can I translate your passage so I can send it to non English-speaking persons?
Evy
Raouf comments
Yes Evy!
I like the way you describe yourself as "An Arab Christian"... It took me some years to combine Arabism with Christianity. First I consider myself an Egyptian atheist... Then commoner, then social justice fighter!
I think - though I am not very sure - that I am still a social justice fighter (if there is something like that) and proud also of my roots which are mainly in cultures descending from the ancient Egyptians, to Hellenism to Coptic, to Islam and Arabism. Now I like to think of myself as a pot of identities: born in Sudan and still keeping deep and pleasant memories about the places and peoples... And I have travalled and walked in Sudan so many times lately. And in three of my books Sudan is in the background. I wrote an in depth 16-article story about Sudan published in "El Quds" (London -November 2000)
Most probably, you are feeling the same about your identities.
I would like to read more about this and about you.
Why you do not begin now?!

Back to Lebanon

Monday was a day of nice surprises.
I received a call on my mobile from an unknown number. I answered. A voice far away asked if am Oustaz Raouf. I said yes... he gave his name and said he is working for El Houra TV In Lebanon. I said Ahlan Wasahlan, what can I do for you?
The TV is holding a debate on the Erotic Arabic novel and writing; would I like to participate?
I agreed willingly and in my mind it would be over the phone, but he told me "no! We would like you to come to Beirut" I became suspicious, "Are you going to pay my ticket?" "Sure, and the hotel also, of course". "In that case" I answered happily "I will come".
I told my wife the good news. We both have a weak spot for Lebanon. We worked there before we met, or knew each other. We went together again almost 17 years ago when she was pregnant with Didi and our daughter Yara was three!. Still we both have friends there and keep in touch with them by phone and e-mail.
I felt good... feeling this urge to move, traval and debate on a topic I like, 'Erotic writings'.
Funny, that day I began writing the second part of the erotic story "I was laughing in my dream" from the point of view of "the Girl ET" (the main character) to whom I had sent the first part and she liked what I wrote. I contacted her and asked her if she could help me write the second part; she accepted and I told her about my plan. I will send her some questions and - also - some thoughts and short chapters, and she will comment on them .
I know it will not be easy for her because it should be as honest as much as possible. But she seems to like the idea. We already began speaking about ET in the third person.
It will be fun. I am sure!
Also going back To Lebanon!

The pen is mightier in Mutannabi Street, Baghdad

By Nabeel Yasin
Published in the FT Weekend: August 18 2007 00:19 Last updated: August 18 2007 00:19

On the first Monday morning of March this year a suicide car-bomber forced his way through the crowds on the meandering alleyway of Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad and parked outside a row of bookshops and street cafes. Minutes later he detonated his cargo of gas cylinders. Twenty-six people, including the driver, were killed and many were injured as shops, stalls, printers and the famous al-Shabender coffeehouse were destroyed. In the aftermath of the bomb, shreds of paper from thousands of books, magazines and journals came to rest amid the body parts scattered across the smoking waste.

This was not Mutanabbi Street’s first bomb. A package left in a bookshop exploded during the summer of 2005. In both cases, booksellers were back in business within days, their eclectic wares on display outside the shops. The brave browser can buy almost any book here - I have seen works by communist poets, martyred clerics and Lebanese astrologers alongside a selection of Haynes repair manuals.

The booksellers’ decision to stay open despite the attacks has been inspirational to many Baghdadis. But strikes on the “thinking quarter”, the alleyway named after the Iraqi poet al-Mutanabbi, have sent a message to Iraqi intellectuals: free-thinking liberalism will not be tolerated. This literary and intellectual haven is no longer safe.

This anger doesn’t spring from the sectarianism of modern Iraq, but from a much older tradition, a slavish adherence to a highly evolved Iraqi ideology of violence. This credo has long been at the heart of political life. After four decades of coups, counter-coups and dictatorships, people understand violence as the pre-eminent means of change. It is the only force that is universally proven to work.

The current precarious situation in Iraq at first appears to be the result of post-invasion insurgency and a revival in sectarianism. But the Iraqi belief that violence is the only response to the presence of US and other allied forces is simply how people there feel the culture should respond to any invasion. The occupying forces are being destabilised, but so is any Iraqi living in the name of peace, openness and freedom.

The origins of this allegiance to violence go back thousands of years. The history of the land of Mesopotamia, between the Euphrates and Tigris, is peppered with tales of invaders and conquerors. When the region became home to the three great monotheistic religions, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, their disputed sacred heritage made the place a permanent battlefield.

In the second half of the 20th century, the ideology of violence gathered a cultish momentum, becoming a doctrine that drove political change. In the late 1950s, Iraqi politics split out into Ba’ath, communist and nationalist factions, and violence erupted into the mainstream.

Violence was part of every young Iraqi’s experience. When I was nine years old, in 1959, I went with my brothers to join in the celebrations marking the first anniversary of the People’s Revolution when the monarchy was overthrown. For the first time I saw people dragged into the streets and stoned. My brothers and I were attacked with bullets and knives as we tried to escape.

Michel Aflaq, the founder of Ba’athism, wrote that to be a true Ba’athist a person should “be ready to annihilate his [enemies’] physical form”. Iraqi Ba’athists took this message to heart, and after a failed attempt to assassinate General Kassim in 1959, a successful 1963 coup led to lawless carnage across the country.

Untrained National Guard squads raided houses with machine guns and within weeks so many people had been rounded up that the new international sports stadium became a concentration camp. My brother was detained and tortured there.

The Ba’ath party made violence legal. Thousands were killed, and every Ba’athist leader was authorised to pursue power by any means. Saddam Hussein’s reputation as a remorseless torturer propelled him through the ranks of the party.

Once he was in charge, the leadership showed their loyalty by executing enemies (and filming it). State television then broadcast the beheadings, hangings and torture. It sent the message that if you were not with the Ba’athists, you were against them and a violent end was your natural reward. Two generations of Iraqis, some 60 per cent of the population, have been raised in the shadow of war, sanctions and the fervent belief that violent action is the only way to change the status quo.

Iraqis also see the carnage in their country as a direct continuation of the ancient traditions of hardship, war and martyrdom. The murderous vocabulary of thousands of martial poems, short stories, novels and speeches published during Hussein’s quarter-century in power still dominate thinking and – crucially – the wider artistic sphere. And little wonder. Forty years ago Iraqi students were free to read Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Shakespeare, travel to art galleries and exchange cultural ideas with the rest of the world.

One of Hussein’s first acts was to draft a cultural blacklist. Thousands of writers were banned, Arab poets such as al-Jawahiri and myself as well as western works including Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, Agatha Christie and Tin Tin.

Today’s insurgents have mixed the nationalist elements of old with those verses from the Koran that speak about the jihad. What’s missing is the culture and history that have been purged from mainstream Iraqi life.

Recently in Baghdad I met three survivors of the bookshop bombings who continue to ply their trade among the tobacco and tea stores still left. One of them said to me: “We have always respected the book’s power and we know it is a challenge to bring culture [to Iraq]. But literature must live to be a tool against terrorism and extremism.” It is hard to fault their vision, though their victories remain small. Many in Iraq are unaware there is another way to live. You can buy books, but the security situation means that most people don’t dare browse in bookshops or share opinions in cafes. Theatres, cinemas and playhouses are darkened and coffee shop culture has been almost killed off by curfews.

Many now use the internet to share ideas and discoveries, but even this lively forum for young Iraqis who don’t dare go out of their homes can only happen when the haphazard power supplies are running.

Online chat promises anonymity, but what really makes artistic communities viable and worthwhile is the buzzing, face-to-face artistic exchange that is so much a part of Baghdadi heritage. Iraqis can preserve and expand the rich culture of Mutanabbi Street. We have already seen this happen - the area experienced a brief renaissance after the fall of the Ba’athist regime (the booksellers had survived during the Hussein years by trading in approved pulp-military literature).

A revived booksellers quarter will give people a centre from which to debate philosophies, books, films and music in safety, knowing others are doing it too. If this happens I believe a new sense of culture and government will emerge.

Iraq needs help from the west, but Iraqi poets, writers and artists need to ignite a new set of cultural aspirations among the young. The older generation of (mostly exiled) writers needs to show faith in young Iraqis. I am organising a conference that will bring these groups together. From this conference we need to offer new artists public exposure; we need to publish, exhibit and stage their work.

I really believe that artistic endeavour, and the personal satisfaction it brings, offers genuine hope for a changed outlook. The act of creation harnesses the same passion that makes people chase a cause – even one of violence.

Nabeel Yasin is an acclaimed Iraqi poet who fled the country in 1979 with his family. He lives in the UK but has made frequent trips back to his homeland. ‘Nabeel’s Song’, by Jo Tatchell (Sceptre £7.99) is the story of his life.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

How to live with other people and respect their different rhythm?

Petty battles are indeed stupid, but if a person finds themselves unwittingly engaged in some through their own stubbornness or that of the other, perhaps if they resolved these battles they would not have to just ignore and eventually dismiss as 'stupid' the other person.

Indeed that person might learn to live with the other who does not follow the same rhythm in everything as they do.

Art of Living

Very recently I discovered what is a Blog. Rather recently I know how to deal with the Internet.
When I was almost 46 years old in 1983 I had my first car (old second hand Opel two doors!) bought in Cairo before I learned driving.
When I was in my mid-fifties I had learned for the first time to write and to learn how to deal with my computer which I wrote my first important book which gave me some fame!
In my sixty birth day my friends bought for me my first laptop!
Now am afraid of driving, my laptop is broke, lost some friends to death and/or to mutual arrogance and stupidity.
Moving by bicycle, writing in a second hand computer which some times refused to work and having three minor heart attacks... and being seventy and still writing and arguing, provoking and been provoked in important issues but run out from small battles which drain my energy:wants to continue doing so till the time of leaving.
Am trying to be patient and tolerant with people I like. People I do not like I ignore them.
I do not have time for small arguments and petty battles!

المسيحيون العرب في هولندا ضد الاسلاموفوبيا - اذاع

المسيحيون العرب في هولندا ضد الاسلاموفوبيا - اذاع
Hi Evy
this is the link
Raouf

Islam for my Son

About four years ago my son Didi who had at that time a Moroccan friend called Housni, said he would like to "make" Ramadan (that was his expression) so me and his mother said "ok why not". After some days we asked him why he is "making" Ramadan and he said "because papa is Moslem" so - again - we had to tell him the truth about 'papa': that he is not Moslem.
He was confused: "Can I continue to makes Ramadan?" and we - of course - said "sure"
We know then we had confused our children because we never brought them to church for the simple reason we are not believers.
We also did not explain to them who we are.
Then it hit me: Yes we are not believers but why our children be like us?! Then I decided to write a simple book about Islam and other religions for my son and for the kids like my children.
At that time I used to know professor Naser Hamed Abouzied, whom I followed his crises in Egypt and went with Dutch TV crew once to make a short "in depth" reportage about him and his wife.
He was living in Layden. I contacted him and explained what I wanted: a book, simple and easy to read on Islam mainly, but also on Judaism and Christianity in certain topics as "not accepting the others" and the punishment code in the three religious.
We worked about 8 months on the book which was called "Islam for my Son" but I had problems with the Dutch translator and the publisher because it was supposed to be published both in Dutch and Arabic. Also some problems with Abuozied who withdrew his previous agreement on the constriction of the book. It stayed two years in my drawer till last year I gave it to the publisher (in Morocco).
Why am writing I this? Because I got involved in this debate about the forbidding of reading the Qur'an in Holland by this silly local politician.
There is also a case in Egypt lately about a Christian who was converted to Islam and wants his children to be Moslems also... but they refused! And now it is a big debate in the media.
This debate shows how both sides cannot accept the idea of "choosing". This choice is related to the relationship between the individual and "his god"... and still every person wants to interfere!
The other mysterious question which is connected to what I wrote is: why do people want to do that?!

We are not All Africans

I had an impassioned argument with a friend in an Iranian restaurant, across from a table of Arabic-speaking men, who watched us in amusement before leaving while the two of us tediously continued as neither would back down.

We were arguing about prejudices and noble as the topic was, my take on it was not particularly so. Ever confrontational, I decided to provoke my friend's right-on-ness by just coming out with this: "You're anti-Jew", followed quickly by, "You're anti-Israeli." The first is clearly slander, the second is for some a compliment.

Either way I was trying stupidly perhaps to provoke him - piqued as I was by his dismissive attitude to all things and people Israeli. I don't need to reiterate here that the Israeli nation is a vicious cunt. Fine, understood. My point rather was two-fold and as follows: that as deeply flawed as the Israeli justice system was, it was the only one in operation in a state that has obligations to its Arab citizens and prisoners as much to its Jewish ones, so sometimes human rights lawyers have to work with it, and remind it of its obligations under international law, re. for example, the legality or not of 'targeted assassinations'. It is therefore tiresome, to listen to dismissive snorts about the Israeli Supreme court and how wicked and useless it is, when for some that is still their only chance for some kind of justice.

The other point is just about how individual prejudice is a slippery thing and once you have told yourself that you are not racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Arab, anti-West or whatever, you can be sure that your prejudice starts to slip out of your grip and slither in and out of your opinions without your awareness of it. So to not be prejudiced you have to start with this: I AM racist, I am anti-this or that, then keep a grip on it, think about the nature of your prejudice, why it is so pervasive, so tough to dislodge in a moment of anger or fear.

I sat on the bus yesterday and stared at three young black men, and thought how their blackness literally coloured all my ideas on them, how the absolute blackness one of them made him alien to me. I strained my ears to their conversation and tried to listen to what they were interested in. This is not only about race of course, this is about class. I'm sitting there alone with a copy of the New Yorker, and they are in a huddle and one of them says how schoolgirls these days will open their legs all day and all night... Cue my sense of outrage. And confusion. I don't like what they are saying, but I was actively listening to their conversation - observing them like some desperate anthropologist, trying to get a grip of another people. I feel like I don't know, but should, what gets these young working class black North London men out of bed each morning - is it like me, the need for the toilet/ the shock of another day where I must 'prove' myself (to who and why?)/ the fear of wasting time/ the need to 'get on'? When I tried to explain my instinctive reactions to my therapist, I thought I saw even she bristle at the implications of my comments: that I am 'a racist'. There are not only 'racists', there is racism and it is everywhere. Not purely as a source of white guilt, but as a real and divisive power dynamic that confounds and belittles our so-called best intentions.

The worse thing that can happen is that an intelligent white person can talk about how bad racism is, but react to a black person like they do to a grieving friend or colleague - they stay away for fear of saying the wrong thing, not wanting to deal with a potentially awkward and tiresome situation where their wit and interests might suddenly seem inappropriate. But racial division/mistrust, like death, is not just poetically tragic, it is ugly and messy and can bring out a lifetime of rage; it would be better to be there and get it wrong and offend each other and scream and cry if we are to make sense of it and be of any support to the other.

In the very same issue of the New Yorker there is a great review by Hilton Als of Amiri Baraka's 1963 play, Dutchman, set entirely in a subway carriage - a dance of desire and hatred between a black man and a white woman:

"Reading Baraka's script today is like watching an expert butcher at his bloody chopping block [...] take, for instance, Lula's characterisation of Clay, shortly after they meet: 'You look like you been trying to grow a beard. That's exactly what you look like. You look like you live in New Jersey with your parents and are trying to grow a beard. That's what. You look like you've been reading Chinese poetry and drinking lukewarm sugarless tea. (Laughs, uncrossing and recrossing her legs) You look like death eating a soda cracker.' Her analysis of Clay's pretensions is actually solicited by Clay: half-jokingly, he asks her to describe him as she sees him. Clay is complicit in his sparring partner's disgust. Would she express her contempt so gleefully if it weren't obvious to her - she is an animal who can instantly sniff out fear - that her whiteness and femininity matter more to Clay than his own 'lukewarm' manhood? ... Lula can claim her desire, but Clay cannot acknowledge his [because of the fear of the historically murderous response to miscegenation]. Lula has whiteness - which is to say, power - on her side... Still Hill [the director] overplays Clay's 'niceness', which does the role a disservice - or, more precisely, undermines what it could be... so that when, near the end of the show, he finally explodes at Lula ('I'll rip your lousy breasts off!) it feels more like am apologetic coda... than what Baraka intended: the outpouring of a soul filled with a rage that is too great to express or expel... Lula's performance is so profound an evocation of worldly disgust and self-disgust that one feels as if Hill were there, merely to feed her the lines. Whether she's eating an apple or taunting Clay or mocking his aspirations with bile and knowing ('You're an escaped nigger... you crawled through the wire and made tracks to my side') Lula tears into Baraka's blight, into the poetry he finds in the nightmare of being."

What Baraka chose to play not-so-nicely with in his prose, twisting the knife into his complacent audience, are the taboos of power, class, sexuality and human disgust, which is surely the only perspective from which we can seriously approach race. The writers who simply want to say, 'we' screwed over the blacks who we now find to be gentle, spiritual people, and we're sorry and must seek forgiveness and make amends is fucking us all over for a second time. That is not because the penitent stance of the 'we' is not felt to be genuine, but because it is not simply about confession of guilt and forgiveness and embracing the poor, it is about considering the profoundly reeking legacy of mistrust, contempt and resentment of the other. If we now say, but they are nicer people than us in the end it seems, then the long-standing resentment could finally be exposed as a form of cultural/racial envy - the flipside of superiority.

See July's Issue of Vanity Fair to get an idea of how Africans are now officially glamourous and soulful as well as starving and diseased. Thank God! Now we can place them, guilt-free, alongside Brangelina and adverts for anti-women's aging cream at $90 a 50ml pot. As two very good articles sent by our friend, Evy, make clear, the salvation of the white man or woman does not lie in the black people, nor does the 'black African' want to be saved by the self-consciously tough-speaking French president who declares he is no longer 'hung up' about the colonial past. This is yet another form of condescension.

From Uzodinma Iweala's essay, Stop trying to 'Save' Africa: "There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one's cultural superiority. My mood is dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy, white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head -- because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in the West's fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to ignore the West's prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems."

I know that some might respond with, "Well what the hell do we do then?!", the response is: talk like adults - trade insults and fears, fantasies and knowledge and expertise, then we can begin to see where we stand all of us in relation to the 'other'.

اسلاموفوبيا

رءوف مسعد - كاتب مصري يقيم في هولندا

تعليقا على طلب منع تداول القرآن في هولندا: مقال نشرته في الويب سايت لإذاعة هولندا بتتكلم عربي
13-08-2007

من الملاحظ في الآونة الأخيرة ولأسباب شخصية ولحسابات سياسية وحزبية ضيقة؛ تزايد وتيرة الاسلاموفوبيا التي كانت تحتكرها الصومالية السيدة إيان هيرسي علي، وورثتها بعض الشخصيات الهولندية الضعيفة سياسيا وحزبيا مثل خيرت فيلدرز الذي يملك حزبه تسعة مقاعد فقط في البرلمان الهولندي أو السيد المجهول للجميع احسان جامي مؤسس ما اسماه لجنة المسلمين السابقين .. وكلاهما يبحثان كما يبدو عن دور يقرباهما من الأضواء .. وليس هناك بالنسبة لهما من فرصة افضل من الإساءة المتكررة إلى الإسلام وتصعيد لهجة العداء لرموز الإسلام المقدسة مثل القرآن .

الفكرة السخيفة التي أصدرها فيلدرز بتحريم تداول القرآن إلا للأكاديميين باعتباره نصا يحض على الكراهية؛ هي فكرة حمقاء لأن فيلدرز تجاهل التوراة والأناجيل وهي أيضا تحض على كراهية الآخر هذا إذا ما تعاملنا مع الكتب المقدسة بحرفية النص .

فالتوراة تعلن مرارا وتكررا أن الله اصطفى اليهود ليكونوا شعبه المختار من دون بقية الشعوب بل ان اللقب الرسمي لله سبحانه وتعالى في التوراة هو " رب الجنود " أي جنود بني اسرائيل الذي يأمرهم قائدهم الإلهي حينما ينتصرون على شعوب وقبائل أخرى " لا تقطعوا معهم عهدا ولا تتحنوا عليهم ولا تصاهروهم ..بل ها ما تفعلون به تهدمون مذابحهم ،وتحطمون أصنامهم فأنتم شعب مقدس للرب إلهكم الذي اختاركم من بين جميع الشعوب التي على وجه الأرض " ( سفر التثنية - الإصحاح السابع - من الآيات رقم 2 وحتى رقم 7)

وفي موقع آخر في التوراة نجد موقفا تفصيليا من السكان الذين يستولي بني اسرائيل على أراضيهم حيث يخاطبهم الرب " وتكون مباركا فوق جميع الشعوب ويرد الرب عنك جميع الأمراض وكل داء خبيث بل يصيب به مبغضيك وتقضي على جميع الشعوب الذين يسلمهم الرب أليك الرب الهمك. لا تشفق عليهم "( التثنية الإصحاح 7 الآيات 14 حتى 16 ) ونجد أن النبي موسى يأمر بقتل " كل ذكر من الأطفال ( من السبايا ) وكل امرأة ضاجعت رجلا وأما الإناث من الأطفال والنساء العذارى فاستبقوهن لكم " وكان هذا الأمر خاص بسبايا قبائل مديان التي لم يقتلهم الإسرائيليون ( العدد - اصحاح 31 - آيات 13 حتى 19 )

أما في الإنجيل فنقرأ للقديس بولس " فلتصمت نساؤكم في الكنائس فلا يجوز لهن التكلم وعليهن ان يخضعن كما تقول الشريعة .فإن أردن ان يتعلمن شيئا فليسألن أزواجهن لأنه عيب على المرأة أن تتكلم في الكنيسة " ( الرسالة الى كورونثوس الأولى - الإصحاح 14 - الآيات من 34 حتى 36 ) وكذا " ايتها النساء اخضعن لأزواجكن كما تخضعن للرب " ( الرسالة الى افسس - إصحاح 5 الآيات 21 حتى 23)

وإذا كنا نتحيز ضد بعض الأئمة الذين يعادون المثليين الجنسيين فتعالوا نقرأ ما يقوله القديس بولس " فلا الزناة ولا عباد الأوثان ولا الفاسقون ولا المبتلون بالشذوذ الجنسي ولا السارقون ولا الجار ولا السكيرون يرثون ملكوت الله " ( المصدر السابق - الإصحاح الخمس - الآيات من رقم 9 حتى 11) أي ان كل هؤلاء لن يدخلوا الجنة.

السيد جامي يتحجج بأن الإسلام يعاقب المرتد، فعليه أن يقرأ ما أفتي به الشيخ جمعة مفتي مصر بأنه اعطي الحق للمسيحيين الذين أسلموا في الرجوع مرة اخرى الى ديانتهم السابقة. أو يقرأ في موقف القديس بولس من المرتدين المسيحيين ففي فصل بعنوان الارتداد عن الإيمان يقول " فالذين ُأنيروا مرة وذاقوا الهبة السماوية وصاروا مشاركين في الروح القدس ثم سقطوا يستحيل تجديدهم وإعادتهم الى التوبة .. فكل ارض شربت ما نزل عليها من المطر واطلعت نباتا صالحا للذين فُتحت من اجلهم نالت بركة من الله ولكنها إذا أخرجت شوكا وعشبا صارت مرفوضة تهددها اللعنة وتكون عاقبتها الحريق " ( الرسالة الى العبرانيين - الإصحاح الخامس والسدس الآيات من4 - 7 )

السيد المسيح له موقف من الآخرين غير اليهود ففي انجيل متى نجد حكاية المرأة الكنعانية التي توسلت إلى السيد المسيح ان يشفي ابنتها من الشيطان الذي تلبسها " أرحمني يا سيدي.. ابنتي فيها شيطان ويعذبها كثيرا " أما تلاميذه فقالوا له " اصرفها عنا " وأجاب يسوع " ما أرسلني الله إلا للخراف الضالة من بني إسرائيل " لكن المرأة واصلت توسلها " وسجدت له وقالت "ساعدني يا سيدي " اجابها " لا يجوز ان يؤخذ خبز البنين ويرمى الى الكلاب " فقالت المرأة " نعم يا سيدي ، وحتى الكلاب تأكل من الفتات الذي يتساقط من موائد أصحابها " ثم شفاها السيد المسيح ( انجيل متى الإصحاح الخامس عشر - الآيات من 21 حتى 28) باعتبار ان الكنعانيين اقل في القيمة الإنسانية من اليهود!

وهل نسينا الموقف الرسمي للفاتيكان حتى سنوات قليلة حينما كان يحمّل يهود اليوم ذنب يهود الأمس باعتبارهم سلالة قتلة المسيح مستخدما حرفية العبارة التي اطلقها اليهود وهم يطالبون الحكم الروماني بصلبه " دمه علينا وعلى أولادنا " انجيل متى الإصحاح 27 ألآية رقم 25)

نحن هنا لا نريد ان ندخل في جدل لاهوتي فليس هذا مكانه لكننا نريد ان نقول " إذا كان بيتك من زجاج فلا تقذف بيوت الآخرين بالحجارة "

يجب ان يُنظر إلى الكتب المقدسة جميعها في تاريخيتها أي برؤية تاريخية لمواقيت نزولها على البشر او كما يقول المفسرون المستنيرون الإسلاميون " اسباب النزول ".

تشترك الكتب المقدسة لليهودية و المسيحية والقرآن في مواقف معينة من المرأة والإجهاض والزنى: اليهودية هي من ابتدعت رجم الزانية والزاني ( التثنية اصحاح 22 من الآية 13 حتى 22 ) والمسيحية قامت بحرق الساحرات ولإنشاء محاكم التفتيش تطبيقا لنصوص دينية تعاملت معها الكنيسة بحرفيتها.

بالرغم من أن الدول المسيحية الغربية تطبق على مواطنيها القانون المدني إلا ان الآيات المتعلقة بالعقوبات الدينية ما تزال موجودة في الكتاب المقدس وآيات الكراهية ما تزال موجودة في العهد القديم .. لكنا لن نجد سياسيا مسيحيا او حتى مسلما ينادي بتحريم قراءة الكتاب المقدس او التوراة !

فالقرآن يحترم السيد المسيح والسيدة مريم العذراء ويعتبر المسيح " كلمة الله وروحه " !

اما بالنسبة للسيد احسان جامي وجمعيته اقول له : اقرأ الصحف العربية الصادرة اخيرا وتعّلم : فالمحاكم المصرية اصدرت احكاما جديدة تسمح للمصريين الذين كانوا مسيحيين وأسلموا ويرغبون مرة اخرى في ترك الإسلام الحق اذا رغبوا في العودة مرة اخرى الى المسيحية. اقول للسيد جامي : جمعيتك فاقدة المعنى والهدف خاصة هنا في هولندا وأوربا بشكل عام فلا أحد يهتم بمسلم تحول الى المسيحية او مسيحي يتحول على الإسلام اللهم الا اذا اراد ان يحصل على مكسب مادي او سياسي او شهرة ضيقة

اقول للسيد فيلدرز : نحن العرب المسيحيين نرفض بشدة اية اهانة للمسلمين والإسلام كما ندين أيضا بنفس الشدة أي اعتداء يحدث من مسلمين على غير مسلمين بسبب دينهم او او اية ممارسات أخرى .فأنا وغيري من المسيحيين العرب نعتبر القرآن جزءا أساسيا وهاما من تراثنا الثقافي والحضاري ونحترمه ونقرأه .وهل نسينا أن كتاب حكماء صهيون أصدره المسيحيون الغربيين الذين كتبوا فيه بان كهنة اليهود يخطفون أطفال المسيحيين ويذبحونه ويخلطون دمائهم بالقرابين ؟!

أقول للسيدين

إن الغالبية المسلمة في البلاد الإسلامية لم تفكر في تحريم تداول الكتاب المقدس المسيحي.. رجاء لا تبحثا عن الأضواء لكما من خلال إسدال الظلام على الآخرين !

كاتب مصري يعيش في هولندا



مصري مسيحي, 14-08-2007 -

اتق الله يا اخي ماذا تقول اذا كنت فعلا كاتب عريق كذلك اعتقد انة يجب عليك ان تاتي بالتفسيرات التي تويد ماذا تقول و اعتقد ان تفسيرات الكتاب المقدس كثيرة جداااا فاتي بالتفسيرات الصحيحة و ليس التي علي اهوائك الشخصية


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مصري مسيحي ولست عربي, 14-08-2007 -

الاستاذ اعتقد انك لست مسيحي واذا كنت مسيحي فانك عار علي المسيحين كيف تقول يا اخ انك عربي مسيحي هل تعني تلك العبارة ان كلمة العربية التي تتحدث عنها لست للمسيحين هل تعلم لماذا؟ لاننا قد فرضنا علي التحدث بالعربية والا القتل و قطع الالسنة


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رءوف مسعد, 14-08-2007 - هولاندا

السعودية مسموح لها يا سيدي في بناء المساجد في اركان العالم المسيحي الغربيكما ان القرىن الذي ت بعه السعودية بالملايين من النسخ يوزع مجانا في قنصليات اسعودية ومراكزها الثقافية . ثم سؤال لحضرتك وانت لم تنشر اسمك : هل انت مع منع تداول القرآن حسنا وماذا عن تداول التوراة التي تنادي بخصوصية الشعب اليعهودي بالنسبة لل× الذي يتهمني بالأسلمة فانا لا اتبرأ من الاسلمة لأن الاسلام جزء من تراثي الثقافي . ولعلك تتجاهل ما فعله الرهبان المصريون من تدمير لمعابد الديانة الفرعونية .. التي اصبحت معام سياحية يأكل منها اكثر من خمسين من ابناء الشعب المصري عيشهم. كلامك عن بني اسرائيل غير دقيق . اقرأ التوراة جيدا فأرض فلسطين ليست ارضهم بل اغتصبوها بقوة السلاح من شعوب اخرى


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قبطى ....ولست عربى مسيحى... فانا مسيحى فقط ..انت عربى مسـ...., 13-08-2007 - Nederland

الأستاذ كاتب المقال . هل لك تبريرأو تفسير لمنع دخول أو تداول الانجيل بالمملكة العربية السعودية? تقول فى مقالك ......اقول للسيد فيلدرز : نحن العرب المسيحيين نرفض بشدة اية اهانة للمسلمين والإسلام ......انا لااعتقد انك مسيحى فاذا كنت اسما مسيحى فالرجاء التعبير عن نفسك فانا أرى انك متاسلم متلك مثل جمال أسعد.


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قارئ, 13-08-2007 - مصر

الأستاذ كاتب المقال خانك التعبير فى عديد من الملاحظات لا مجال فى التعليق لشرحها مطولا لذلك سأوجز 1- كل ما أتيت به من أيات لم تضع له مصدر تفسير واحد بل تفسر حسب هواك، بينما كل ما يقال عن الإسلام يكون موضوع دليله من أية أو حديث ومعها التفسير الإسلامي المعتمد لديها 2- حديثك عن حروب اليهود لا يقارن بالإسلام، لأن اليهود لا يخرجون عن نطاق الأرض التى لهم، بينما المسلمون يستهدفون العالم أجمع 3- الأيات التى ذكرتها عن الردة فى المسيحية خاطئة، فالرسول بولس يضرب مثالا بالأرض، وليس معنى ذلك حرق المرتد، أو لتثبت حديثك بأن ترينا الشخص الذى يتظلم الأن من إقامة حد الحرق عليه لأنه إرتد عن المسيحية 4- إستشهادك لما قاله فضيلة المفتى عن الردة فى غير محله، فدار الإفتاء كذبت فتواه، ويمكنك الإطلاع على هذا الرابط لتشاهد هذا الحوار التلفزيونى لتفهم ما هو حد الردة فى الإسلام http://www.copts.com/arabic/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1103&Itemid=1 أعلم أنى لا أستطيع الإطالة فى التعليق أكثر من ذلك، لكن نصيحة منى أن تقرأ كتب التفسير المسيحية قبل الإستشهاد بأيات من الكتاب المقدس وشكرا


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London - Father, Didi & Elly

London with Didi & Elly.

His name is Diedriek: an old Dutch name but every person calls him Didi. I also call him the Kind Giant; he is 17 years old and 185 centimeter (I am 167cm almost!).
When he was 13 he came alone without his mother or sister to stay two weeks with me in Egypt...
This is our second trip together: father and son. I want to introduce him to a different group of my friends. We stayed at the "Hossam and Madieha" mansion in Wimbledon. Both are Egyptian doctors; I know them since 30 years ago
And to Elly whom I know 2 years ago.
Elly gave us her time and energy when we were hitting London. We are Amsterdamians - meaning we come from small city has two lines of underground, has two centers, we use our bicycles in moving around a city which has less than one million moving in and around it!
So we were not at ease in London plus Didi and myself cannot read maps and it was very difficult for us to understand what people are saying with their different English(s)
I gave him a reasonable summary of my friends. The first trip in the tube between Heathrow and Wimbledon was absurd but we arrived in one piece. Then we went to see Elly.
In London it was the first time for me and Didi to have a "drink" together. and for Elly and myself to have time talking face to face since we met very quickly in Cairo almost two years ago.
Three generations, trying to connect with each other. Elly and me were doing the big part. Didi was sitting listening, smiling and commenting from time to time... I am used to his silence (girls think he is cool!)
Father and son were moving between cultures (British museum, of course) Egyptian friends who speak English and Arabic, Elly who speaks English and worries about the state and future of the world, and British girls whom Didi thinks are more arrogant than Dutch girls.
Last night he began to loosen up and tease Elly! I was sitting back and enjoying both of them joking and relaxing.
When father and son were alone we talked about many things we did not have time to talk about in Amsterdam... he also took care of me helping me around (he used to ignore that before) and showing me the way around the Tube!
I thought I am a better father than my Father whom I loved but never had the opportunity to talk to him!
I also discovered some interesting qualities in Elly: her sense of hummer, her kindness and her willingness to give her time and energy to amuse and entertain others!
When we were at Heathrow again we did not mind the crazy security who ordered us to take our shoes off (as a lot of people were ordered too)... we even joked about it.
We were a happy bunch going to a small city which we can move around in with our bicycles!
I made Elly promise to come to Amsterdam, and ride a bicycle with me and Didi
Raouf

All about Didi

I keep hoping that I will open Madny and see a new post by Raouf.

Then I remember that he and his beautiful son, Didi, have spent most of the last five days with me in London sitting in overpriced cafes, pubs, bars, shisha joints and anywhere where we can recline and people-watch and laugh about the time Raouf got trapped in a car with a manic American woman in October city, Cairo, or bitch about the world and people less discriminating than us.

For the first few days Didi was silent and I had no idea what the hell to say to a 17 year old - let alone a good-looking, sweet, shy one. We admired his funky t-shirts that he purchased on Oxford st, and in Camden Market, and plied him with pints that seemed to make no difference to his absolute stillness and quietness. It was only on the last night - after having dragged the pair from cafe to restaurant to pub in the torrential summer rain - that we started to tease Didi - about his flashy watch he'd bought off some 'crook' in Camden Town, and what kind of girls he liked - as Raouf reminded me that not unlike one female friend of his, I am a cat that roots around in the garbage for my men. Five beers on Didi was laughing and as we ran through the rain to find their ride home, he shouted to me proudly how he was a great basket-ball player.

I was a horrible teenager - at least that is what I believe - maybe I was as sweet as Didi?

The prisons of Libya

Son of Libyan leader admits medics were tortured
Tripoli - The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has admitted that the confessions of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of infecting hundreds of children with the HIV-virus were obtained through torture. Said al-Islam Gaddafi says they were tortured with electric shocks and told something would happen to their families if they did not confess.

comment: sure!
I advise the American administration to send the prisoners in Guantanamo to the prisons in Libya
Raouf

Code of Punishment for Adultery in Iran

From the WLUML website
Adultery is a capital offense in the Islamic Republic of Iran and punishable by flogging, hanging, and stoning. The following is a translation of the articles of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran that pertain to the legal punishments for adultery. (Meydaan)

Translated by: Dr. Soheila Vahdati / Compared with the original text by: Gholam Hossein Raeesi, Attorney at Law

The Islamic Penal Code

Book II – Hodoud (Shari’a-based Punishments)

Section I – Shari’a-based Punishment for Adultery

Chapter 1- Definition and Reasons for Adultery Punishment

Article 63 – Adultery is defined as the intercourse between a man and a woman whose intercourse is inherently forbidden “haraam”, even if it is from behind, other than those cases where the person has had a doubt [i.e., mistaken identity].

Article 64 – Adultery is punished when the adulterer is mature*, sane, and acting by free will and is also aware of the offence and its punishment.

Article 65 – If a man or a woman is aware that the intercourse with the other party is forbidden, and the other party is not aware, thinking that the intercourse is legitimate, then only the party who has been aware that the intercourse is forbidden shall be sentenced to the punishment.

Article 66 – If a man or a woman who have had intercourse together claim mistake and unawareness, then in the case that the claimant deems honest, then the claim is accepted without oath and witness and the punishment is annulled.

Article 67 – If an adulterer claims that s/he has committed adultery under duress, her/his claim is accepted if the contrary is not believed to be true.

Chapter 2- Methods of Proving Adultery in Court

Article 68 – If a man or woman confesses to adultery four times before the judge, s/he will be sentenced to the adultery punishment and if they confess less than four times, then s/he will be punished by Tazeer. [Tazeer refers to the punishments that are not defined by Sharia’ and it is left to the Sharia’ Judge to specify it by sentence to imprisonment, cash fine, or flogging in which case the number of lashes must be less than Hodoud.]

Article 69 – The confession is valid when the confessor has the virtues of maturity*, sanity, willingness, and liberty.

Article 70 – The confession must be explicit or appear to be not inconsistent with the case.

Article 71 – If a person confesses to adultery and then denies it, if the adultery is to be punished by killing or stoning**, then the denial annuls the punishment of killing and stoning. Otherwise, with the denial after the confession the punishment is not annulled.

Article 72 – If a person confesses to the type of adultery that is punishable and then repents, the judge can either ask the Head of Judiciary for clemency or carry out the punishment.

Article 73 – A woman who does not have a husband, shall not be punished for becoming pregnant unless her adultery is proven by one of the methods mentioned in this law.

Article 74 – Adultery, when punishable by either flogging or stoning, can be proven by the testimony of either four just men, or three just men and two just women.

Article 75 – If adultery is punishable by flogging, then it could also be proven by the testimony of two just men and four just women.

Article 76 – The testimony by women alone or along with the testimony of a just man does not prove adultery but the witnesses will be subject to the punishment for false accusation (Qazf) as specified by the law. [Qazf: is defined as accusing a person of adultery or anal sex. It is punishable by 80 lashes. (Article 139)]

Article 77 – The testimony of the witnesses must be clear and without ambiguity and based on observation and testimony based on conjectures is not credible.

Article 78 – If the witnesses describe the specifics of the subject of testimony, there should be no discrepancy in their descriptions in terms of the time, place, and such. In case of discrepancy among witnesses’ testimonies, then not only the adultery is not proven but the witnesses will be sentenced to punishment for false accusation (Qazf).

Article 79 – The witnesses must testify one after another without any lapse of time. If some of the witnesses testify and then some other witnesses are not immediately present to testify or do not testify, then adultery is not proven. In this case, the witness will be subject to punishment for false accusation (Qazf).

Article 80 – The adultery punishment shall be executed immediately except for the cases described in the later articles.

Article 81 – If the adulterer repents prior to the testimony, then the punishment is annulled and if s/he repents after the testimony, then the punishment is not annulled.

Chapter 3 – Types of Adultery Punishment

Article 82 – The punishment for adultery in the following cases is killing and there is no difference between young and not-young and marriage-bound and not marriage-bound.
a. Adultery with “mahaarim” [“Mahaarim” of a person are the relatives by blood or marriage who are within the prohibited degree of marriage such as one’s siblings, parents, and in-laws.]
b. Adultery with step-mother which shall constitute the killing of the adulterer.
c. Adultery of a non-Muslim with a Muslim woman which will constitute the killing of the adulterer.
d. Adultery by force and duress that will constitute the killing of the forcing adulterer.

Article 83 – The punishment for adultery in the following cases is stoning.
a. Adultery of a marriage-bound man that is defined as a man who has a permanent wife and has had intercourse with her while being sane and can have intercourse with her whenever he so wishes.
b. Adultery of a marriage-bound woman with an adult man, a marriage-bound woman is a woman who has a permanent husband and the husband has had intercourse with the woman when she was sane and has had the opportunity to have intercourse with the husband, too.
c. Adultery of a marriage-bound woman with a minor constitutes flogging.

Article 84 – An old adulterer or an old adulteress who qualifies as marriage-bound shall be subject to flogging punishment prior to stoning.

Article 85 – Revocable divorce, prior to the end of the possible revoking period, does not disqualify a man or woman from being marriage-bound, but irrevocable divorce disqualifies them from being marriage-bound.

Article 86 – Adultery by a man or a woman when each has a permanent spouse but has no access to the spouse due to travel or imprisonment or similar reasonable excuses, shall not constitute stoning.

Article 87 – A married man who before penetration [into his wife] commits adultery shall be sentenced to flogging, having his head shaven, and one year of exile.

Article 88 – The adultery punishment for a man or woman who does not meet the marriage-bound conditions is one hundred lashes.

Article 89 – Repetition of adultery prior to executing the adultery punishment will not constitute repetition of the punishment if the punishments are the same, but if the punishments are of different types, like some constitute flogging and other constitute stoning, then flogging punishment shall be executed prior to stoning.

Article 90 – If a man or woman commits adultery several times and at each instance is punished, then will be killed upon the fourth instance.

Article 91 – During pregnancy and parturition bleeding the woman shall not be subjected to murder or stoning. Also after the childbirth if the infant has no guardian and there is a concern that the infant might die, the punishment will not be carried out, but if a guardian is found for the infant then the punishment shall be executed.

Article 92 – When a pregnant or breastfeeding woman is to be punished by flogging and there is concern for possible harm to the pregnancy or the breastfeeding infant, then the punishment will be delayed until the time that the punishment causes no such harm.

Article 93 – If a sick person or menstruating woman is sentenced to be murdered or stoned, the punishment shall be carried out but if sentenced to flogging then the punishment will be delayed until the sickness and menstruation is over.

Article 94 – If there is no hope for recovery of a sick person, or the Shari’a judge (hakeme shar’) deems appropriate that the punishment be executed during the sickness, then a bunch of one hundred lashes or whips will be inflicted once even if not all of them touch the body of the convict.

Article 95 – If the convict sentenced to punishment becomes insane or converts, the punishment shall not be annulled.

Article 96 – The flogging shall not be carried out in too cold or too hot weather.

Article 97 – The punishment cannot be executed in the land of the enemies of Islam.

Chapter 4 – How to Execute the Punishment

Article 98 – When a person is sentenced to multiple punishments, the order of carrying out the sentences must be such that none of them prevents another, therefore if someone is sentenced to flogging and stoning, first flogging and then stoning shall be carried out.

Article 99 – If adultery by a person, who meets the marriage-bound conditions, is proven by his/her confession, then at the time of stoning the first stone will be thrown by the Shari’a judge and then by others, and if the adultery is proven by the testimony of witnesses, then first the witnesses will throw stones, then the Shari’a judge, and then others.
Note – Absence or lack of action of the judge and witnesses in throwing the first stone shall not prevent carrying out the sentence and in any case the punishment must be executed.

Article 100 – The flogging punishment for an adulterer man shall be carried out as he is standing and wearing no clothing except to cover his genitals. Lashes must forcefully inflict his entire body except for his head, face, and genitals. An adulterer woman shall be flogged in a sitting position with her clothes bound to her body.

Article 101 – It is appropriate that the judge informs the public of the time of the punishment and it is necessary that a group of believers, not less than three people, be present when the punishment is carried out.

Article 102 – An adulterer man shall be buried in a ditch up to near his waist and an adulterer woman up to near her chest and then stoned to death.

Article 103 – In case the person sentenced to stoning escapes the ditch in which they are buried, then if the adultery is proven by testimony then they will be returned for the punishment but if it is proven by their own confession then they will not be returned.
Note – If the person sentenced to flogging escapes they shall be returned in any case.

Article 104 – The size of the stone used in stoning shall not be too large to kill the convict by one or two throws and at the same time shall not be too small to be called a stone.

Article 105 – The Shari’a Judge can act upon his own knowledge in the cases of [defending] the God’s Rights (Haghollah) and People’s Rights (Haghonnas) and carry out the punishment constituted by the God and it is necessary that he documents his knowledge. The execution of the punishment in case of God’s Rights (Haghollah) is not contingent upon anyone’s request but in case of People’s Rights (Haghonnas) is contingent on the owner of the right.

Article 106 – Adultery during the holy times such as religious festivities and Ramadan and Friday and at holy places such as mosques will constitute flogging in addition to the regular punishment.

Article 107 – The presence of the witnesses is necessary when stoning punishment is carried out but the punishment shall not be annulled due to their absence but it shall be annulled with their escape.


*Note by translator: A man is mature at the age of 15 lunar years, and a woman is mature at the age of 9 lunar years, given that the physical maturity is visible, too.

** Note by translator: Stoning in the Islamic Penal Code of Iran refers to stoning to death.

Source of the Original Code in Farsi (Persian): http://www.hoqouq.com/law/article363.html

Bedstemor and the Arabs

The story of the disappearance of four-year old Madeleine McCann in Portugal has dominated the front pages of newspapers for three months. Now, belatedly they have found traces of blood on the walls of her apartment bedroom.

Bedstemor (grandmother in Danish) has her own theory, however: they sold her to the Arabs.

By 'they', she means a half-Portuguese man, and by 'Arabs', she means the Bedouin types that she as a girl was cautioned to avoid as they stole young blond girls and kept them in a large tent-harem.

If she proves to be right, I will be humbled before her superior detective skills, if not, I will have to inform her that a number of blond-haired females now go willingly to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf for work of one sort or another, so less Westerner-snatching goes on these days.

Bedstemor has no balance. This means that she navigates her house with a sort of trolley in which she keeps a thermos of tea and Highland shortbread. In the kitchen she has a whole system that one deviates from at one's peril. Sitting on her chair she can simultaneously put on toast and wash up her bowl. Yesterday she taught me how to open a tin, throw away the top of the tin in the bin, empty the contents into a bowl, put it in the microwave, and punch in one and a half minutes. In that order. I foolishly tried to empty the creamed rice-pudding into the bowl before disposing of the tin and she started to flap slightly. I am now fully house trained and ready for marriage.

My grandmother was herself snatched by a handsome British Navy captain during the war in Copenhagen and brought back to England at the age of 19. We are told that as a child she played alongside Danish princes and princesses in the royal nursery, and her mother was a great beauty and well-known socialite, whose early death from a painful stomach cancer, sent her husband mad with grief and he ended his days gambling on the French Riviera. Bedstemor is ending her days in Hampshire playing Bridge and cared for by my mother. This weekend though, it was my mother who became ill and so one loving daughter looked after another dutiful daughter presided over by the grandest mother. It was an unnatural trio, as in many ways Bedstemor has never looked after her daughter, my mother, and my grandmother is not the cuddly sort. Mummy was brought up by a succession of nannies in European capitals and ate in the kitchen so as not to disturb the adults. These days my sisters eat quiety so as not to disturb their sleeping princesses.

The worst moments, when I had to contain my 'reactive' behaviour, were during phone calls from my concerned uncle, James. My mother's younger brother was not concerned about his sister but that his mother was being inconvenienced by his daughter's stay. My grandmother was persuaded to let mummy sleep in her house by my mother's French boyfriend jean who called from Nice, and insisted she should not be left alone in her new house which has yet to have a kitchen installed. It was inhaling wood preserver than poisoned my mother in the first place. Of course Bedstemor got it wrong on the phone to James and said loudly, "Victoria inhaled paint fumes". Mummy fumed in bed.

The opportunist Orientlists

Elly had put it very clear and correctly her understanding of the complicated relations between the Orientlists and "their subjects"
I tell you a real experience : a Dutch young student of Arabic language who came to Egypt to speak the language and learn in practice about the life and couture of the land .. he met some young poor Egyptians who are living in the slums of Emababa and studying in the university .. the took him to their homes and introduced him to their families and their life. He stayed with them . eat their food and learned to speak fluently. Returned back to Holland , got his master degree and wrote a best seller book in Dutch by the title: " good husbands in Egypt beat their wives twice a day " returned to Cairo as a correspondent of a wide spread news paper , lived in the tower in Boulaq looking over the Nile ..he is hiding his wickedness and opportunism in pretending generosity opening his flat for his ex Egyptians friend exposing them to his western colleges as his " subject"


Thy never know what he wrote about their fathers and mothers
He is consider here in Holland an expert in middle -east life and politics and have a weekly program in the TV!!
I Understand quite well your reluctant ( and PERSEPHONE) to be taken for grunted as " orientlists " and you and her and others prefer to do silly jobs far from your studies and leaving opportunists as the one I mentioned take over
That is also part of the problems of orientlists
Raouf

Bullet proof city-dwelling

Copan (São Paulo)
by Andreas Gursky, born 1955, Germany


Next weekend Raouf is coming to London and I will take him to the Global Cities exhibition at Tate Modern, London. Insha'allah.

I went today and I must go back. At first I believed it would not tell me anything I don't know: Cairo is one of the most densely populated cities in the world (36,500 inhabitants per km2); one-third of the planet's urban dwellers live in slums... and video installations are mostly shit. Then into the little dark rooms to sit on the bench with the other uncertain exhibition-goers to watch the screenings - possibly with no beginning or end - always starting from the middle.

I was humbled before a piece by Egyptian artist Hala Elkoussy: Peripheral Stories, 2005. Hala is a bit of a joker, and this keeps her work from being subsumed by its own pretentious overtones. Hala's is a serious message, but it springs from and plays with the surreal experience of living in modern-day Cairo, and its peripheral settlements - some exclusive and dull with their monochrome villas, and others with no rubbish collection and unsteady foundations. A series of narratives overlay the visual episodes: a boy strides in the dust swinging his bandaged arm that he wraps and unwraps as we are told the story of the boy who who fell from the microbus as it swerved over a bridge; the driver did not stop to pick him up because it was illegal for microbuses to be on that bridge; A succession of women - their heads bent backwards into the basin - eyes closed in willing submission - have shampoo massaged into their hair by a mustachioed male hairdresser; we hear that the president's wife interceded to stop the implementation of a religious decree that maintained it was 'haram', sinful for women to go to a male hairdresser. After all "only a man knows how to make a woman beautiful", the voice over tells us. The daily experience of the Cairene is far from culturally rich as the leaders put all their energy into making a mockery of the city people and none into providing them with the resources and recourses for a dignified life. The individual is culturally atrophied. Dizzy from the meaningless daily dance, he or she watches as the desert and piles of rubbish push at their door. And the army is always at the gates; snoozing perhaps, but they are there.

I wandered past the Mumbai screening, and popped my head around the door of the Sao Paulo video screening, and stayed, and stayed, although I had to leave to join my friends before the end of the 58 minutes. The Italian artist Francisco Jodice produced the documentary film, São Paulo - Citytellers during a residency in São Paulo, Brazil. It is the usual story in some respects: prosperity barricades itself against poverty; yet the details are compelling and horrible as they should be: so violent is street crime and so congested with traffic are the roads that the wealthy have built helicopter pads on top of high-rise buildings and there are more than 1,000 private helicopters that ferry businessmen and rich sorts to their appointments on the other side of the city, or for weekend jaunts to the coast. When not flying about, they move in bullet-proof cars.

This way problems are not solved, but people are divided absolutely.

Learning to love the banality of the other

I think I understand what you are saying Raouf. A few thoughts in answer to yours: the first answer is easy - learning a language for a few years and even living and studying the same number of years in one or several Arab countries does not make one an Arab expert, in the same way that I wouldn't consider myself an expert on Spain, although I learnt the language and lived, studied and worked there.

That is perhaps because when it comes to a Western country, one allows for greater complexity; how could I imagine that I would 'get' Spain and its people, even if I have Spanish cousins, and I like the food: I might study the history, the Catholic religion, the political system and chart the socio-demographic of the country - I might even live with an 'authentic' Spanish family, and still find myself far from qualified to speak at conferences on the 'Spanish mind' and the best way to deal with Basque Separatists. Then I might spend some months in Damascus or Cairo and find myself answering the following question from my well-meaning father:
What is the difference between Syrian women and Egyptian women?
Answer: The Syrian women wear tighter jeans.

My dad would be unlikely to ask me what the difference is between French and Spanish women, because a) they are not considered to be particularly downtrodden anymore, b) they are far too commonplace, and c) they are European so are likely to be annoyingly complicated, and anyway it depends if they are from Paris or a small Burgundian village, and if they are the doctor or a farmer's wife, and if they go to church regularly or attend private sex-orgies (this is big in Paris - according to Catherine M., but I never got invited). As for the difference between English and Scottish women; who cares?

Now I come to your second point, Raouf: let's entitle my answer: When the Arab lover turns Arab hater. It is about the nature of expectations and disappointment; because I think we must imagine that Bernard Lewis began his career as a young scholar, enamoured of all things Arab, Arabic and Islamic, and ends it embittered and hardened against them - determined to prove that the Arabs are all scoundrels.

It is no good going around saying that Arabs are all terrorists, but nor is it much good going around saying that Islam is a wonderful religion and Arabs are the kindest people on earth, for when you land in Cairo or Riyadh or even the home of the most perfect Arab 'victim', Gaza, you might find yourself confronted not only by the sweet and generous and dignified, but by the foolish, selfish hoards of humanity, lacking perhaps irony and taste and letting you down 'heartlessly' in small but significant ways, and little by little the love turns to resentment and mistrust.

The Westerner should never expect more of those 'others' - who unbeknown to them - we have desperately set aside to tend to our spiritual, cultural, and sexual salvation. Many travellers speak of the kindness they are met and treated with - a kindness that is so selfless and excessive that is can literally OVERWHELM. And yet there is precious little salvation outside of oneself, and where there is degradation and despair and poverty. We must carry with us our own reserves of joy or we will find ourselves yet more alone and bereft in an incomprehensible system that must be, we sadly conclude, stupid and evil.

The trouble with Orientalists

Commenting on what P wrote on Orientalism and Edward Said
I think Edward Said has a problem with the "others" and within himself. He seems to be a person with fixed ideas and that scares me a lot
He had his fixed ideas on orientalism which I think was mixed with a lot of unripe political ideas and theories of misunderstanding of his opposition to be "mo'alem" in the old meaning of the word and a political Guru.
His obsession with anti-Arafat policies especially after Camp David was an example of his misunderstanding of the movement of Palestinian politics and it's pragmatic way of people who live day by day under constant threat from Arabs and Israelis.
There is more than one issue - in my view of the mental concept and the understanding of scholars and amateurs who are interested in Arabs and the Orient.
All of them have a sort of Christian background (they are westerners) so they have these aggressive hostile ideas about Islam, like Bernard Lewis, and others, who think Islam is so fanatical and the Muslims are to be blamed for not being able to understand it!
This is the background and it is misleading, because Islam is not a religion - only - but a way of life: five times a day the Mo'azen would call for prayers, Ramadan and the craziness of it, all the Eids, the laziness, the siestas, the Insah'allhs, the Boukaras, and so on
Other 'young, inexperienced' orientalists are sensitive to how the Arabs are looking at and receiving them, because when they come face to face the first time with the language and the people they are disappointed, because they are rejected and scorned!
They come with the same ideas of the tradesman-missionary: Humble and pretending to want to learn from the natives, but at the same time they belive they are doing them a great favour by coming to them and living like they live.
I was astonished what P wrote about her knowledge of some sentences in Arabic: the insults.
I have followed some sad and frustrating experiences of young "orientalists"; how they exchange bad vibrations with the "natives" and return home empty handed except for bitterness and a feeling of emptiness.
Some Egyptian scholar - I think it was Hasan Hanfy - tried half seriously to invent the expression "westernalist el moustagrebon or El Estegrab, but it did not work, because the West is not only colonialism and imperialism and the hamburger .. it is more than that: it is music and its history connected with the church and the aristocratic classes and all the other things such as paintings, sculpture architecture and hundreds of big and small details.
Let me ask this aggressive question:
The Bush administration's ideas about 'democracy' - and enforcing it on the Arabs - as he understands is from his bible: and the secret hidden ideas of a lot of young people who spent years trying to study Arabic and THE ARABS; How much difference is there between them and Bush's ideas?!
I do not consider myself an "expert" on the West because I know some English which helps me to read and write, and I have lived many years in the West but cannot and do not want to claim any special knowledge about it (though my wife is from the west and my kids were borne in the west).
Does any Arab who masters the Arabic language become a reference on the Arabic culture or its people? no!!
So what is the problem then !
Can any person answer me ? Raouf

UNSPOKEN LOVE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Brain Whitaker, Guardian newspaper reporter in Lebanon, wrote a book about "unspoken love"
Love as a subject deserves this meditation; The Middle East does not stop talking about love; There is no word in Arabic for the word like ..

Love is the dominant terminology used. Love food, love the weather and the love of God and love the homeland. All songs are about love. What then is this love that dare not be announced that is written about by the Guardian correspondent that decided to make it public?
IT'S HOMOSEXUALITY!!
The term "Habib" IS masculine which is in most songs.
SO ...The seriousness of this book is because it declares what is known of Love and hidden in the Middle East,
the State represented by the police, overtaking gatherings of homosexuals and detaining them to bring them to trial on charges of "contempt of religion", and sentencing them with the harshest penalties amid applause by the community and the press, because homosexuality is considered a conspiracy of Western imperialism and Zionism.

The publishing house is the Arab "EL SAQI": headquarters in London. The book is subtitled (GAY AND LESBIAN LIFE IN THE MIDDLE EAST).

Homosexuality is a great Taboo!
Why? It affects the backbone of social relations in the Middle East: honour and the views of others according to this attitude.
Impunity in crimes related to the theme of honour are watched by everyone in all Arab societies with enthusiasm and interest. The lighter penalties are given for the killings on defending honour... Sometimes one year in Jordan, a few years in Egypt; Although the "normal" punishment for murder can be up to more than ten years.
Not only does the writer bring examples from Egypt and Lebanon; he provides examples on what happens in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and incidents of brutality by moral police in Iran and how the "Promotion of Virtue" guards in Saudi Arabia concentrate on homosexuals .

The writer mentions the special relationship between Muslim extremists living in the West, and the Christian hardliners in the "common struggle" against sexual relationships that deny interpretations of Islamic fundamentalism, such as "homosexual and abortion."

He gives the example of the statement on "Islam Online" of the opinion given by Sheikh Faisal Mawlawi, Deputy Chairman of the European Council for opinions and research that is in cooperation with non-Muslim issues outlawed by Islamic religion, sharing them with Westerners. Published on "Islam Online" is a fatwa from Sheikh Ahmed Alkotai that gives the possibility of cooperation with hardline Christians to "cleanse" the streets of homosexuals as a religious duty. He said: "We should not hesitate to cooperate with our neighbours who are non-Muslims, to make the streets safe from drugs, alcohol, prostitution and homosexuals. "

Raouf

Rencontre de la Communauté gay et lesbienne du Maroc

شَبكة تجمّع مِثليّ المَغرب

Rencontre de la Communauté gay et lesbienne du Maroc

I find this site and I like to put it in Madny Blog!
Raouf

وصف استجوابات الإخوان المسلمين في البرلمان بأنها "جنسية"
روائي مصري يدافع عن "الشذوذ" ويقول إنها "تهمة" لا تزعجه

القاهرة - السيد زايد

من المتوقع أن تثير عودة الروائي المصري رءوف مسعد إلى القاهرة الأسبوع الماضي بعد غياب ردود فعل جديدة في الأوساط الأدبية والفكرية والأزهرية تماثل تلك التي هاجر بسببها إلى هولندا قبل عدة سنوات، إذ أعلن أن سبب عودته هو تدشين روايته الجديدة "إيثاكا" التي يدافع فيها بحسب كلامه عن "النشاط الجنسي" لمن أسماهم "ضحايا الباخرة المصرية (كوين بوت) عام 2004". واعتبر مسعد في ذلك الوقت أن محاكمتهم غير قانونية لأنهم "لم يمارسوا الجنس مقابل المال" مساويا بذلك بين الشذوذ (المثلية) والجنس الطبيعي حيث أن السلطات الأمنية المصرية ألقت القبض آنذاك على ركاب تلك الباخرة النيلية العائمة في أوضاع شذوذ، وصدرت ضدهم أحكام قضائية بالسجن بعد محاكمة استمرت عدة شهور، ثم تم الإفراج عنهم إثر ضجة كبيرة أثارتها جمعيات مثليين في العالم، وبعض منظمات حقوق الإنسان.

انتقد مسعد ما أسماه بـ "النشاط الجنسي" لنواب الإخوان المسلمين في البرلمان المصري (88 عضواً)، قائلاً:إن المتتبع لأسئلتهم واستجواباتهم يجد أن نصفها على الأقل تنصب في موضوع الجنس. كان مسعد المولود في السودان عام 1937 والمقيم في أمستردام بهولندا منذ العام 1990، قد زار إسرائيل في تسعينيات القرن الماضي، وتم نشر آخر روايتين له في مصر بعنوان "بيضة النعامة" وهي جزء من سيرته الذاتية و"إيثاكا" عالج فيها قضايا لمثليين جنسيين. ومن مؤلفاته الأخرى "انتظار المخلص رحلة إلى الأرض المحرمة " و"يا ليل يا عين" و"مزاج التماسيح"، وكان مسعد واحداً من الناشطين السياسيين في الستينيات وتعرض للاعتقال والسجن منذ العام 60 وحتى 64 بتهمة الشيوعية، وعمل بالصحافة في مصر وبيروت قبل هجرته إلى هولندا. ويرى النقاد إن روايات مسعد هي نموذج لما يسمى بـ "الأيروتيكية العربية"، وهو نمط جديد في الأدب العربي المعني بالجسد والجنس إلا أنه مسعد يعمد فيها إلى كسر "تابو" الدين والجنس بجرأة بالغة.

حول الدافع الذي جعل الروائي رءوف مسعد يعتنق مزاج الكتابة المشغولة بالجسد يقول في حواره مع "العربية.نت" إن مهمتي ككاتب أن ابحث عن "الاختراقات" لعالم يبدو مجهولا وهو في الحقيقة غير ذلك، لكنه مسكوت عنه ولا يريد أي كاتب الاقتراب منه لأنه خطر ولأن من يقترب منه سوف يوصم بأنه من هذا العالم. ويضيف "إنني استخدم الجسد "كوسيط" لكي أناقش كل القضايا فالأعمال الأدبية عادة لا تخاطب العقل، لكنها تتعامل مع الخيال والفانتازيا". ويري مسعد إن الثقافة الشرق أوسطية هي ثقافة المخاتلة والرياء والمداهنة وإخفاء الحقائق والتظاهر بعكس ما تبطن، مؤكدا أن هناك مناطق كثيرة في مصر والدول العربية تمارس الجنس المثلي على نطاق واسع سواء بين الذكور أو الإناث، وتبرز بين وقت وآخر جرائم انتهاكات جنسية للصبيان في المدارس. ويضيف "إنها ثقافة تعتمد على السب من خلال الجنس و"إهانة" الذكر بأنه "امرأة" وإهانة الناس بأنهم يمارسون الجنس.
وحول رأيه في علاء الأسواني ورواية يعقوبيان يقول: شاركت في مؤتمر في باريس أبريل/نيسان الماضي تحت عنوان سلطة الرواية بورقة بعنوان "كاتب قمعي ومجتمع قمعي": قلت فيه إن الأسواني كاتب قمعي ويقمع شخصياته، وقد التقيت مترجم يعقوبيان للإنجليزية وقال لي أنه ترجم الرواية لكي يقول للعالم الخارجي أن هذه مصر. من ناحية أخري يقول مسعد عن علاقة الأدب بالأخلاق "أنا ضد الكتابة الأخلاقية لأن الأخلاق اختراع إنساني براجماتي، متسائلاً " ألم تتغير "أخلاق" العرب والمصريين خلال الربع قرن الأخير؟ هل من “الأخلاق" الحميدة تزييف الانتخابات المصرية مثلا؟.

سألته عن المخاوف التي تطارده خشية اتهامه بالشذوذ بعد كتاباته وزياراته وتردده على أندية المثليين الجنسيين في الغرب، فأجاب "لم تعد الاتهامات تهمني فحتى ما تطلق عليه أنت اصطلاح "الشذوذ" لا اعتبره تهمة ولست في معرض نفيه وإنكاره أو تأكيده، فالسلوك الشخصي للإنسان ونشاطه الجنسي هو أمر بالغ الخصوصية لا يحق للآخرين التدخل فيه. ويتساءل مسعد "هل تستطيع أن تقول لي ما هو الأذى الذي يسببه النشاط الجنسي للمثليين؟. في السياق ذاته يقول مدافعاً عن سلوك المثليين "إن السلوك المثلي أسلوب لحياة جزء من المجتمع حتى لو كان صغيرا، أليس النشاط الجنسي لضحايا الباخرة المصرية "كوين بوت" عام 2004، هو شيئا يخصهم، فلماذا إذا يحاكمهم القانون بتهمة اعتياد الفجور طبقا للمادة القانونية التي قدمتهم بها النيابة العامة للمحاكمة وهم في الوقت نفسه وطبقا للمحاضر الحقيقة للشرطة لم يتعاطوا الجنس مقابل المال.

وجهت إليه سؤالاً مضمونه، ألم تجد غير المثليين بصفتهم فئة مضطهدة للدفاع عنهم في وطن مليء بالمظلومين والمقهورين من فقراء ومعدمين ومهضومي الحقوق؟، فقال: دعني أوجه لك سؤالاً: ألم يجد المسلمون شيئا أكثر أهمية من الجنس يبذلون جهدهم في تقنينه، والمثال الواضح هو النشاط "الجنسي" لنواب الإخوان المسلمين في مجلس الشعب، فالمتتبع لأسئلتهم واستجواباتهم سيجد أن نصفها على الأقل تنصب في موضوع الجنس، الحجاب مثلا والزوبعة التافهة حوله، رواية وليمة لأعشاب البحر، أفيشات بعض الأفلام..الخ. ويضيف: إن الإسلاميين أسسوا تجارة رابحة وكبيرة حول "الممنوعات الجنسية والثياب الحلال".

وأنهي مسعد حديثه لـ"العربية.نت" مؤكدا أنه حينما ذهب لإسرائيل في تسعينيات القرن الماضي كان مقتنعا بما يقوم به وأنه لم يذهب من أجل التطبيع ولكن من أجل رؤية الآخر على طبيعته، مؤكداً أن الكثير من الناس أصبحوا يتقبلون التطبيع مع إسرائيل في السنوات الأخيرة بعدما خف التوتر العام حول القضية. وفي معرض حديثه عن المبدعين العرب الشباب قال إن الرواية العربية ستصبح رواية الانترنت والكمبيوتر والجنس والأكلات السريعة والعلاقات المتغيرة داخل الأسرة حيث تعددت مصادر الكسب وتنوعت. وعن الهواجس التي تؤرقه قال "اتفقت أنا وزوجتي علي أخذ حبة الموت الرحيم إذا تدهورت حالتينا الصحية وعجزت أجهزتنا الحيوية عن ممارسة وظائفها، أرغب في الموت بشكل لطيف وبكرامة، وحينما أحس أن وظائفي الحيوية توقفت عن العمل فمن الأفضل أن أرحل".
قناة العربية © 2006

chez moi & toi

Commenting on Elly's post about my post and on Persephone on Elly's cry about the injustice in her work which she is doing for free... I want to say:
I like and agree completely with what Persephone wrote about quitting silly work and working for yourself. I remember meeting Dutch people at parties in my early days in Holland when they asked me "where do you work or what do you do? and how I shocked them by saying "I work chez moi" or "work? I do not work... My wife supports me"
They left me immediately... I am dangerous
We need to be dangerous and scaring assholes people!

the crazy Qaddafi

The dramatic story of the Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor could only happen in Libya and it could only be done by a crazy officer from a lower rank such as Qaddafi of Libya
Let us Imagine the situation: dirty Libyan hospitals; suspicious unclean equipments; and blood...
Libyan children get sick with AIDS!
So who is the scapegoat? Some poor nurses from Eastern Europe and a doctor without a country!
Qaddafi, who is well known for his crimes (Lockerby and others), took the poor nurses and the doctor HOSTAGE and began a long process of alongside other rulers of the respected countries (!?) or they are like him: arseholes?
Raouf

Illegitimacy

I met my deadline and I feel miserable

I produced a good looking newsletter and I feel like shit.

I did what I had to do. And on time. Yet I feel worse than before.

Work is a terrible curse. Not least when like a fool you work hard, and as part of the team, but unlike others in the office - you are doing it for no pay. I am working for this organisation because 'I believe in it' and they have no jobs and I'm a martyr to a cause...

I walked home and found myself incensed and wretched. As I opened the front door to my sister's home, I began to cry. It was 9.30pm and I had been in the office since 10am. I had not stopped for lunch; I had eaten my chewy pork pieces and pasta at my desk like the heathen I am.

I produced the newsletter, and I get a special thank you in the Editorial, but my name does not come in the list of the ICO team, but with the other volunteers. And it hits me: of course, I am not actually 'part of the team' because I am not getting paid.

What an idiot I am; what a sucker. Always working, but with NO legitimacy.

And legitimacy is everything: the paper contract and the pay slip and the mortgage and the rental agreement and the marriage certificate.

I am illegitimate. Only my mother knows I have a birth certificate.

writing

Aim a writer but I think Aim also dyslectic! Funny isn’t it? Sure
All my life I have problem in READING... I read very quickly.. then I get stocked because I mixed lines together or I mixed letters ..but that did not stop me reading and enjoying what I read
For a dyslectic person wanted to be a writer is something beyond normal courage and beyond "normal talent"
To gather my courage EVERY day ,to write is a challenge: having questions as :is there any person wants or needs to read what I write? is what I write going to change any thing?and so on.
Writing in Arabic is still a problem for me (less now than before) because Arabic grammar is difficult at least for me... so I invented a new way of writing to avoid falling in mistakes : using simple style mixing it with "ammiea- local speaking " and readers like it !! but still make mistakes in spilling because of my eyes problems and the dyslectic thing. Elly is not happy with my English. She is right .She has the right to protect her language from deforming it by invaders like me

In addition, I have the right to write in any way I want, correct or wrong: because the most important thing -in my opinion- is do, I succeed to reach the reader or not?she corects my posts, and i drive her crazy(her experission)
I forget to say that I used to stutter until my thirties!
HA HA!!
Raouf