Arabic for "Secular": First Pray, Then Demonstrate

by Tuvia Tenenbom
November 1, 2011 at 3:30 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2551/arabic-secular-pray-demonstrate

The "King of Kings," Colonel Muamar el-Qadafi, is now buried in a secret place in the desert, just like the Biblical Moses. Who knows? Maybe the Colonel and the Law Giver -- one who supposedly couldn't talk and one who reportedly couldn't stop talking -- are even buried next to each another.

This fey fact gets on the nerves of an Egyptian I meet in Union Square. "At the end," he tells me, "they made him a hero. He could have never done it on his own."

He does not have to tell me who "they" are: Obama, Sarkozy and Cameron have been depleting their countries' Treasuries to get us to that point. Of course, they see nothing wrong with this picture. Actually, they brag about it quite often: they would like you never to forget that they have been spending billions at the very same time you are struggling to save every penny. The logic? They believe it will prove to you once and for all how heroic, brave and wise they are. Men. Macho men. Men with muscles. Tough men. Great men. Then, once you realize all these awe-inspiring qualities they possess, you will vote them into office again.

President Obama, in particular, cannot get enough of the Libyan war. He is bathing in it, enjoying his newfound image: manly Commander in Chief. A real Commander. And he loves to talk about it, ever and again. The way the Libyan war has gone, he brags on TV recently, "is a recipe for success in the future."

Muttering over his wise words, I reach the other side of Union Square, where I get to meet the "Women in Black," Jewish ladies who have a "tradition" of coming to Union Square and demonstrating for the Palestinians, against Israel.

"Why are you here?" I ask.

"To protest US government's support of Israel and demand, as a taxpayer, that the US stop giving money, my money, to Israel," they tell me.

"You are Jewish, right?" I say.

"Yes," they say. "We all are."

"Demonstrating against other Jews?" I ask.

"What is your problem?" says one of them.

I do not answer her directly. Instead, I tell her a story:

Not very long ago, I was interviewing a Lt. Colonel at the US Air Force. We were talking about the war in Libya and I ask how many people died in it.

"We do not give out enemy fatality figures," he replies.

"Well, how many civilians?" I ask him.

He suggests I go to NATO HQ; ask them.

"Correct me," I say, "if I am wrong here: We shoot Tomahawk missiles at the Libyans, right? Each one of the missiles, I read somewhere, costs between a million to a million and a half, right?"

"Yes," he nods. "Right,'

"So, tell me," I say, "could you please give me a casualty estimate?"

"You are asking me to give you the Formula?" he would like to know.

Formula? What Formula?

It turns out, apparently, there is a formula -- made of three variables: size of area, density of population and amount of fire used.

"Using the Formula, how many people get killed?" I ask him.

The Lt. Colonel immediately asks that his name not be used; the conversation must be off the record.

"Are we talking about tens and tens of thousands here?" I say. "Innocent people who get killed by us, for no reason?"

He nods again.

"How come nobody reports on this?" I persist.

"Ask your people," he shrugs. "You are the journalist, I am not."

"Can you give me exact figures?" I press him.

"I've spoken much too long," he says, looks down and goes away….

Now that I have shared my story with the Jewish lady, I ask her if she is willing to demonstrate with me against the US; demand that President Obama step down for committing crimes against humanity.

"Who are you!" she says.

I argue my case: "There were more innocent lives being lost in one month in Libya than all the Palestinians put together in the last God-knows how many years in Israel, Palestine, or whatever you want to call it." I tell her. "And those lost Libyan lives, the tens of thousands of them, were crushed out by direct US bombardments—"

She turns her back, she will not talk. Maybe she cares only about Palestinian Arabs. All other Arabs, as far she is concerned, can drop dead. Thousand, ten thousands, a million; why should she care?

To be honest here, nobody talks to me these days. Maybe they are angry with me. Why? Could be I was sharing with them? I thought Jews loved sharing. I ask them:

"Who is the biggest supporter of the Arab Spring, besides al-Jazeera?"

"Professors?" they tell me.

"Imams." I say. "And guess who else? The Muslim Brotherhood."

They say they do not believe me, but I go on: "Any idea what the battle cry on the streets of the Arab Springs is? 'Allah is Bigger!' Any idea where the starting point for all those demonstrations is? The mosques. First pray, then demonstrate. You call this 'Secular'? Any idea what 'Secular' in the Arab world is? A man who marries four wives, and that is not even a flat joke. Any idea what the first change on the first day of the "Secular" Libyan Spring is? The Freedom of every man to have four wives. Makes any sense to you why our president is so proud of this 'success'?"

It takes time, but I see at the end: Obama got it right and I got it wrong. With these people, he will be elected again. Not because he is smart or wise. He is not. But his voters are even less so.

I go back to the Egyptian, to discuss some more politics. We both agree that the president will not end up in a secret grave like the prophet or the king. Does not deserve it.

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