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CounterPunch
January
29, 2003
Watching TV
in Cairo
From Sharon's
Election to Bush's Speech
by EMILY ZITTER-SMITH
Cairo, Egypt.
Watching the dancing at Likud headquarters
as the Israeli exit polls come in sickens me far more than watching
Palestinians celebrate September 11th did. That there are actually
people in the world who are not merely resigned to Sharon, or
voting for Sharon because of unthinking visceral fear, seeking
familiarity, but are actually DANCING because they "won"
the grim Israeli elections--who are these people?
I'm listening to the polemic on BBC from
each party and if I pay attention to the tone rather than the
words, I can't actually tell which side is talking. Everybody
holds forth in a manner very similar to the tone taken by the
Friday sermons in the mosques here. Vehement.
Lyse Doucet (BBC World) is back on the
tube, telling us that Likud crushed Labor. But I can hardly
be more disappointed in the country of my fellow co-religionists.
Its increasingly hard to think of a reason to care anymore what
is going on in Israel. No matter how impermanent the current
regime is, another six months of Israeli atrocities is hardly
a reason to celebrate.
Now I'm listening to a Likud MK spout
off about the mandate Sharon has won and the importance of respect
for the Israeli national identity.
Thank you Lyse Doucet for cutting the
bastard off.
Nabil Shaath is now 'live' from Gaza
City. Very funny. I'm pretty sure that there is no life in
Gaza City. If there is, you can be sure that the IDF has its
top people working on snuffing it.
Later, I'm back with BBC and their depressing
Israeli election special. My boyfriend called a few minutes
ago and I realized that I was so distraught it was hard for me
to articulate to him what exactly the returns were.
He's over spending the night with his
adopted Egyptian family, doing more for cultural understanding
by his actions than I will ever do with words. Just as well
that he won't be here for me to drag out to the tube at 4:15
am to watch the State of the Union.
I chat online with an old friend of mine
who finds himself (somewhat to his surprise) a member of the
Washington press corps. He will actually be at the state of
the union address tonight. We weigh in on the Israeli elections.
I tell him about the dancing.
CY says:
I can't picture Sharon dancing, but there's plenty to celebrate.
After all, there are plenty of Palestinians who haven't been
uprooted or shot yet. And nothing buys votes in Israel like
shooting Arabs. Sharon fails my Vote of No Conscience.
EM says:
It wasn't him dancing, it was his staff and supporters. I frequently
forget how grossly fat Ariel Sharon is.
CY says:
He looks exactly like the Penguin from Batman returns, only grosser.
and, he's killed more people.
Despite his cynicism, which comes from
being generally well informed, Israeli politics aren't all that
important to my friend. His cynicism can be casual. Not because
he doesn't care, but because he, as a person who has been in
Washington for more than five minutes, knows that it doesn't
matter a tinker's damn in America what happens with the Israeli
elections because we have Israel so firmly in our pockets.
I'm still naïve enough to look for
something subtle, some ray of hope here. Ha.
Things are about to get really interesting
here in Cairo. Of course, I could be paranoid because I've been
reading about Egyptian fundamentalism. We have been able thus
far to be pretty open about being American, and haven't taken
any crap from anyone (for instance from the enterprising restaurant
owner who last night gave us three day old bread and cold leftover
fish while charging us tourist prices--my boyfriend bitched him
out and got the apology), but as opinion continues to shift,
it will be more important to keep an extremely low profile.
Even now I haven't the heart to argue or bargain too much.
Times are hard enough already.
CY says:
Are you worried about rioting or something?
EM says:
We're laying in a supply of food and water just in case it would
at some point be a better idea not to out for a few days.
I guess I'm not worried about the fundamentalists
as such. One of the main points of what I'm reading, actually,
is that the vast majority of Egyptians consider themselves to
be good Muslims already, and don't like to be scolded by angry
hooligans--self-appointed Islamic scholars--saying that Egyptians
are not good Muslims. This is one of the many reasons why fundamentalism
has and will continue to fail in Egypt.
But Egyptian identification with Islam
and the correctness of Islam is generally strong (as my book
says and my observations bear out). And they wonder at the US
willingness to kill or allow to be killed so many Muslims, from
Afghanis to Iraqis to Palestinians. I think they wonder when
their turn will come to be at the other end of the gun barrel.
Or smart bomb, as the case may be.
More to the point, Egyptians aren't stupid,
and even if they were it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to
deflate the assertion that Iraq's flaunting of the UN is unique
in history. Egypt has a much closer, indeed immediate, neighbor
that is the all time chart topper of flagrant UN flaunting.
Egyptians are angry about this. I'm
angry about this. It's the basis of much cultural understanding.
I have an ongoing discussion with my
local grocer about how I voted for Al Gore, as did the majority
of Americans. This has progressed to the point that when I walk
in the store he will announce to other customers that I'm a Democrat,
that I agree that Bush is in the wrong on Iraq, and that I'm
one of the good Americans. I back this up with a hearty 'shame
on Bush' and rapid departure.
In a discussion with our landlord before
we moved in, he expressed the opinion that the 'dark woman' was
running the country. This was extremely puzzling until I realized
he was talking about Condaleeza Rice. I submitted that Cheney
was helping out here and there. This same landlord, a very decent
fellow with a huge callous on his forehead from praying so often,
took the time to explain to us that as part of the rental process
he needed to copy our passports and visa to file with the local
officials (we were already familiar with this requirement) but
that he would have to do so for any other foreigner, be they
Arab, Muslim, or otherwise. He hoped we wouldn't take offense,
as none was intended, and he wanted to make sure we didn't feel
singled out as Americans.
Granted, we are paying him a goodly amount
of rent. But I'm tired of being American. I'm tired of being
ashamed. A sentiment apparently echoed elsewhere in the news.
Fox News, the world's worst and most
irresponsible news organization, reported earlier today that
Bush 41 responded angrily today to the comments of an bishop
who said that he was tired, as he goes around the world, of having
to apologize for being American. The bishop said the world loathes
us, with good reason. Its unclear to me why this is controversial.
Given the precision with which we offend everyone on the planet,
there almost has to be a plan to do it, right? I mean how could
we piss so many people off by accident.
It must, incidentally, be one hell of
an editorial dilemma for the Fox folks when the political right
knocks heads with the religious right. Whom do they rudely cut
off first?
I'm truly tired of being a Jew as well.
Indeed it is difficult for me to decide which culture I feel
more alienated from. My anti-Israeli bent has been solid for
years, ever since I went to Israel and learned how an apartheid
state works. This was many years ago. I would like to say its
ironic, but actually its merely sad that Israel was so offensively
racist back then, at the height of the peace process.
It is also merely sad that I've gone
from being an enthusiastic bat mitzvah and JCC camp counselor
to a person who would cheerfully dance on Ariel Sharon's grave.
I once thought it was my religious and cultural duty to defend
Israel. At one time I would have emigrated to Israel and taken
up arms to do so. Now I feel that people who contribute even
one cent to the vile sewer of Israeli misdeeds is morally reprehensible.
My alienation has been honed through
the years, as people I love and others I used to respect try
to convince me and the world that Israel is just responding to
a universe stacked against them. My parents, thankfully, are
not among the loved ones with their heads up their asses, or
I don't know what I would do.
EM says:
Poll: Likud 36. Labor 18, Shinui 14, Shas 13. Now Mitzna is
exhorting Shinui not to join a coalition with Likud.
CY says:
Shinui? aren't those the guys that sprayed sarin into the Tokyo
subway a few years back? I confess you're going a little over
my head here.
EM says:
Mitzna is saying that Labor won't be a whore to Likud in order
to get cabinet positions,
CY says:
I endorse that.
EM says:
and he's asking Shinui to join him in not whoring.
CY says:
It's all so ugly. makes me want to hop in Ghadaffi's rocket car
and just drive, drive, drive.
EM says:
Well you wouldn't get very far in Libya before you hit a landmine
from one conflict or another, or a border.
CY says:
That's presuming the car actually runs. by the way, I'm sorry
to tell you it's not rocket powered after all. just rocket shaped,
as you guessed. Bummer.
EM says:
Now the Labor HQ is singing the dirge which is the Israeli national
anthem.
In our first class meeting yesterday,
my professor taught us more than I ever knew about Islamic jurisprudence.
He did so while controlling he fundamentalist tendencies of
some of my classmates beautifully. By fundamentalist tendencies
I don't mean there are militant Islamists attending my class
at the American University in Cairo (they wouldn't be able to
afford the tuition). I mean the more simplistic and categorical
thinking of some of my classmates. Their tendency to simplify
down to fundamentals. The professor would ask a question, and
essentially get back an answer that boiled down to 'because God
told Mohamed and that means its right'. The worst of these was
an Egyptian girl wearing skintight clothing, made up to the gills,
hair styled out to here, the whole deal. Hot pants and
a tank top would have been more subtle.
My professor captivates me just by scratching
the surface of the amazing complexity of Islam. He challenges
the Muslims to examine the intellectual interstices of their
faith. One could only wish that authorities in my religion would
do the same. I take 4 pages of notes. Naturally he is preaching
to the choir with me (after all, I'm here in Egypt specifically
to study this) but who wouldn't be interested in this civilization
and its development? A millennium ago, Muslims were founding
law schools, whereas my ancestors were resolving their disputes
by pouring boiling oil on one another.
Come to think of it, we haven't advanced
very far.
I approach the professor after class
to enquire about some administrative details and explain briefly
who I am and what I'm doing here. He gets a very warm but slightly
wicked smile, and tells me he's looking forward to 'this'. I'm
guessing that 'this' is going to be our discussions. I can hardly
wait for class tomorrow, except that I'm going to be exhausted
because I'm waiting up until 4 am for the State of the Union.
EM says:
Sorry, I'm just disheartened to the point of ranting. And not
looking forward to seeing how much of an ass our president makes
of himself tonight.
CY says:
At least his being an ass won't be a surprise. I mean, how could
be top "axis of evil"? "lever of pain"?
EM says:
It's just so embarrassing. If we (USA) are going to be mean,
could we at least appear to be intelligently mean?
CY says:
I think 'axis of evil' was pretty boldly insulting. they had
to know how much they would anger people.
EM says:
I thought 'axis of evil' was of less import when he said it last
year. But knowing now what a Christian fundamentalist Dubya
is
CY says:
He's got trouble appreciating shades of gray.
We brainstorm the possibilities for a
phrase to top 'axis of evil'.
dominions of doom
alliance of meanness
confederation of jerks
coalition of crassness
bloc of badness
league of losers
gaggle of godless
coven of cravenness
EM says:
(warning, I hear a neighbor coming home, so we may be abruptly
cut off)
CY says:
Are your neighbors spying on you?
EM says:
No, remember we share our phone line with the flat opposite and
when they pick up the phone I'm dumped off the internet.
CY says:
Just in case: WE ARE PRO PALESTINE!
EM says:
Oh, we've been quite clear about that. Though I can practically
hear the tape recorder click on when I'm talking with my dad
online.
Truly, I am much more afraid of my own
government than I am of the neighbors or my Egyptian hosts.
Its 2 am here, and I have the TV muted,
but in the interlude before the State of the Union (and, sadly,
the immediate state of the world) I can see that the good old
BBC is reminding us in some way that there are children starving
in Africa. I don't know how much more of this I can handle.
I think I need to take a nap so I can rest my brain and get
it ready to decode the fragmented speech of our illustrious leader.
I was going to read a bunch of articles I had downloaded to
peruse offline, but I suddenly feel as though I've had enough
of the ills of the world, and especially the misdeeds of my nation,
for a couple of hours. I close all the article windows.
I'll be back in a bit to listen to Sheriff
Bush (on behalf of his posse) tell me how the world is going
to look for a long time to come. I wonder when my thoughts on
this subject are going to become a hangin' offense.
Emily Zitter-Smith is living in Cario. She can be reached at: ebzitt@wm.edu
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