Painful Truths

We are all Hamas!

Today the racist Zionist entity known as "Israel" launched a ferocious attack against the people of the Gaza Strip, the worst, we are told, since the 1967 war. At least 200 people have been murdered and 700 wounded as a result.

This is the latest in series of war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in general and the people of Gaza in particular. 

The raids on Gaza are the latest in a long series of war crimes committed by Israel against Gaza, in collusion with Britain, the European Union, the United States and some Arab countries such as Egypt. These crimes have included a deadly siege that has led to severe shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies, and widespread malnutrition and disease, especially among children.

The Israeli criminals and their foreign and Arab co-conspirators have made no secret of the motive for their crimes: to overthrow the democratically-elected Hamas government and replace it with a traitorous, quisling regime.

For Israel and its co-conspirators, Hamas represents a mortal danger that cannot be tolerated. It is squeaky clean, its cadres actually believe in what they say and do, and, most importantly, are willing to stand up and put their lives on the line for the sake of their beliefs. In a region whose rulers and ruling elites are made up of corrupt, amoral invertebrates, this is an intolerable breath of fresh air.

Hamas, in case you did not know, is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, who are the principal opposition in Egypt and Jordan, at least. For traitors like Husni Mubarak, this is enough to put his lot with the Israelis in order to oust Hamas, even if this meant exterminating those who voted for Hamas in   internationally-verified democratic elections in January 2006.

Personally, I am as far as one can be from the social and political beliefs of the Muslim Brotherhood. I am fiercely secular and I consider myself a progressive, non-doctrinaire socialist, pan-Arab nationalist. However, I cannot deny, and would not hide, my admiration for Hamas.

In this respect, today's Israeli massacre of my brothers and sisters in Gaza has brought me that much closer to Hamas. To Israel, Britain, the European Union and the United States I say this: we are all Hamas! And one day, one day you will have to account for your crimes.

Christmas with Ahmadinejad

It's Christmas Day, a day that I used to dread because of its deadly boredom, excessive commecialism and fake jolity but with which I have now come to terms, if only because it gives me some respite from work.

This Christmas is no different from any other. The sky is overcast and thoroughly grey, and it is cold and dark. We have no "family" visitors as my wife's relatives live several hundred miles away and my own are back home in an Arab country and, of course, do not celebrate Christmas anyway. As always, we have decided to give the traditional Christmas dinner a miss because neither of us likes eating turkey. Instead, we had a normal dinner at the usual time, in the evening.

This left us with the television, with its usual mix of children's programmes and repeats. This year, however, there was something slightly different on TV. 

Channel 4, which has a public service remit, normally broadcasts an alternative Christmas message to that of the Queen. This year it was given by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadijenad. In contrast to the ramblings of his detractors, his message was simple and dignified.

I know that some Sunni Muslims among my compatriots will immediately suspect that I am a Shi'i Muslim for praising President Ahmadinejad – or at least for not attacking him. Well, I am not. I was, in fact, born of Sunni Muslim parents, not that I give a damn about the difference between Sunnis and Shi'is. 

I will, however, say this. The Arab countries and Arab peoples, who are mostly Sunni, ought to look on Iran and its principal ally in the Arab world, Lebanese Hizballah, with admiration. Unlike the hirelings of the Arab world, Iran has withstood one conspiracy after another by the West and its Israeli masters. As for Lebanese Hizballah, they – and Hamas – are the only Arabs left with any courage. 

As we say in the Arab world, they are the only remaining real Arab men.

Ashamed to be an Arab

It is hard – almost impossible – not to despise the Arab governments and ruling elites, and it is even harder not to feel utter contempt for their listless citizens whose cowardice and acquiescence in their rulers' corruption, treason and arbitrariness must rank as the world’s worse case study of how low humanity can stoop. 

Today I read in the Washington Post that Arab Gulf states – and an Israeli tycoon – are among the biggest donor to Bill Clinton’s foundation. Yes, we are talking about the former US president and best friend of the supremacist Ehud Barak. The article is worth quoting at length. It said:

Former president Bill Clinton's disclosure yesterday that foreign governments and state-sponsored agencies have donated between $75 million and $165 million to his foundation highlighted a series of potential conflicts that  Hillary Rodham Clinton could face should she become secretary of state. 

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia made one of the largest contributions, between $10 million and $25 million... The William J. Clinton Foundation also raised more than $1 million each from the governments of Brunei, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.... 

The list – containing more than 200,000 donor names – shows the extent to which Bill Clinton relied on foreign governments, especially those of Middle Eastern oil states, to establish his foundation over the past decade... 

Other contributors include Friends of Saudi Arabia and the Dubai Foundation, as well as Saudi businessman Nasser Al-Rashid, each giving more than $1 million. Haim Saban, the Egyptian-born media tycoon who funds many Israeli initiatives, gave more than $5 million...

While the morons of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Dubai give away millions of dollars to one of Israel’s most notorious admirers, Gaza starves, Lebanon simmers, Somalia burns and Iraq bleeds. 

How long will the Arab people sit in silence while their rulers prostitute them to the world’s unworthiest? 

I feel ashamed to be an Arab.

Self-indulgence and pre-menstrual tension

At the risk of being labelled a misogynist, I shall say what I think, no matter how painful or objectionable to some that may be.

However, I'd like to state very clearly at the outset that I am not a misogynist by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, if I am to be labelled "anti" anything in this connection, then I opt for misandrist  rather than misogynist.

I have a big problem in trying to come to terms with the self-indulgence of native British women when it comes to the temporary insanity they undergo each month during pre-menstrual tension (PMT). 

According to a British medical organization, more than 100 symptoms have been associated with PMT. These include:

• anxiety
• mood swings
• irritability and 
• aggression.

Of course, one cannot blame others for what is beyond their control. However, my cross-cultural experience impels me to question whether the above-mentioned symptoms necessarily have to manifest themselves behaviourally. The logic behind this assertion is very simple: if a woman knows approximately when her period is due and, therefore, when she is likely to experience the symptoms of PMT, then she can suppress the outward manifestations of this syndrome, such as irritability and aggression.  

It may surprise some to learn that the first time I had come across the concept of PMT was in Britain. Throughout my entire life in my own country, I had never heard of PMT, nor had I ever witnessed women outwardly exhibiting the symptoms of this syndrome. 

There is only one conclusion that I can draw from this. Women who become irritable and aggressive during PMT are quite simply self-indulgent. They use PMT as a licence for otherwise unacceptable and inexcusable behaviour. 

Women who misbehave during PMT expect others to put up with their appalling behaviour just because they are on PMT. Unfortunately, British society has come to terms with this and, by and large, men are expected to put up with this monthly feminine psychopathic disorder.

Consequently, millions of people – husbands, boyfriends, brothers, fathers, children – suffer horribly each month because a mother or an adult sister or daughter has given herself licence to behave obnoxiously on the grounds that she has PMT.

I don't accept this and I am perplexed that anyone else does. Would, for instance, the state make an excuse for a woman verbally or physically assaulting a police officer just because she has PMT?

Despair for Africa

I don't hold much hope for Africa or Africans. 

 

I am not just saying this because of the "Zimbabwe effect", where Robert Mugabe has brought the country to its knees, starving and disease-ridden, while its neighbours look on. Nor am I saying it because of the economic regression of the continent, its primitive superstition, where voodoo-like practices, including child sacrifices, continue to flourish, or the total inhumanity with which many Africans treat one another. 

 I despair of any hope for Africa because many Africans appear to have become corrupted right to the bone. From chronic corruption among African officials to the fraud rackets run by Africans abroad, of which Nigerians have become most notorious, the comprehensive rejection by Africans of honesty as a norm and dishonesty as an aberration appears to lie right at the heart of the continent's problems.

 This isn't about race. I am not a racist and I believe that all humans are intrinsically equal and should treat one another as equals, irrespective of race, colour or faith. In fact, I am lamenting the current reality of Africa and Africans first and foremost as an African Arab. This is about a set of social and political circumstances, some a hangover from the colonialist past but most homegrown by Africans in Africa, that today link the typical African, from South Africa to Nigeria to Kenya and beyond, with fraud and corruption in the eyes of many non-African observers.

 Coincidentally, while I was writing this post, a friend telephoned me to share a frustrating experience he's been having over the past couple of days. He's been trying to sell an unwanted item on the online auction site Ebay. Three times he received attractive bids for his item only to be told by Ebay to ignore them because they were scams. In two cases the fraudsters were Nigerian and in the third they were South African.

 I rest my case, and I pray for Africa.