Sunday, June 26, 2005
Cairo-Iraq war-March 22, 2003
On my TV on this third day of war around 2 p.m.:
• Fox News: Reports that Saddam Hussein’s body may have been taken out of a bunker on a stretcher. Reports that Iraqis are kissing the hands of their “liberators.”
• BBC: An in-depth analysis of statements made by Donald Rumsfeld that have been proven to be inaccurate and the erosion of Western credibility. This debate is interspersed with photos of the bombing from Friday night in Baghdad, surrendering soldiers and injured women and children in a Baghdad hospital. Reports that the coalition forces are targeting Iraq’s major forms of communication.
• Dubai’s Channel 33 (major Arab channel): “Animal Miracles With Alan Thicke.”
• Middle East Broadcasting, Channel 2 (also out of Dubai; a news channel): “Saved By the Bell 2” and a commercial for “Beavis and Butthead do America” — to be shown next week.
• Iraq TV (state-run, only channel in the country): Covered-Iraqi women dancing, smiling, chanting, waving guns, knives, soup ladles and even a cheese grater. After this “show,” Iraqi TV showed scenes of my city, Cairo, yesterday. The most extensive footage I have yet seen of hundreds of men (not a woman in sight) flooding the streets near Al-Azhar University and mosque and being beaten and bloodied by the Cairo police. I watched as the injured were being dragged from the scene — both bodies of protestors and of police.
The protests in Cairo yesterday were intense for sure. We knew it was likely to happen. The warning signs were everywhere. Thursday I had to take a taxi from my office to downtown. I must have passed some 400 riot police waiting to “quell” any protestors. Earlier in the week, I experienced the first harsh words directed at me. I was a couple of blocks from my apartment when someone said “Hey you American…you better be careful.” A pretty benign statement really. Fridays are prayer days and from what we heard from Egyptians, the sermons would be about war and American aggression. Davin’s appointment to get his computer repaired on Saturday — by one of the few locals in the country who work on Sonys — was cancelled because we are American. The guy said he wanted to make a stand and refused any business from Americans, Canadians and Englishmen. (Even the Canadians aren’t off the hook).
It’s hard to comprehend the protests, honestly. Why aren’t they protesting here, in my very American neighborhood? Why aren’t they looting the American- and British-owned shops and businesses? As it is, it is Egyptian vs. Egyptian. The common man vs. the government. The only comparison I can think of is the LA riots and how the anger there resulted in internal damage. It was supposed to represent anger vs. the white man and the establishment, yet the protestors looted and destroyed their own neighborhood. Why does this seem happen with the frustrated and disenfranchised? Is it ignorance? Or is it misplaced anger? Is it possible that the Egyptian protestors, like the LA rioters, are truly angry with themselves, at their leaders, at their own inability to change their station in life? Do they feel angry with each other for taking it? For not trying to change things?
Perhaps the most frustrating part for us, being here, in the middle of a city violently opposed to what is going on, is the lack of good, reliable information. As you can see from above in my intro, the lack of news from the Egyptian community is appalling. If this were an American city, news crews would be crawling all over the place, offering minute-by-minute updates on which streets were blocked and which neighborhoods are safe and which are not. The Egyptian government — at least on the English-language channels — is pretty much ignoring the war and the internal situation. I realize the government wants to retain control of the city and will crush any riots, and maybe they think that rumors — as opposed to real news — helps their situation. Rumors, always more dramatic than actual events, inevitably grow and mushroom. Maybe it’s by design then. The government realizes the effect the escalated rumors of protestors being beaten and subdued will have on the population so why would they bother elucidating the truth?
March 28
I wrote the entry above last weekend but I never sent it because I was waiting. Waiting for the war to be over by now. Waiting for some major development to change things for the better. Waiting to be able to defend my what country is doing.
I am still waiting. And things have only gotten worse. The casualties are growing. Incidents of “friendly fire.” The murdering of civilians. The capture of American soldiers. The injuring of thousand on both sides. The damage of misinformation. The irresponsibility of the media on both sides. Rising oil prices. The war’s enormous economic price tag. And so on.
My grandmother sent me an email inquiring about my thoughts on the war and asking me to send an objective diary about it. I can’t. I wish I could. But as I said to her, no one can be objective in a war.
Here’s how I responded to her request: “Surely you must understand that no one can be objective in the face of war. No one wants war. And here, in the Middle East, I can see the boiling undercurrent of future problems stemming from this US-led attack. No country wants to be told what to do. Period. No country wants the “benevolent” aid that comes at a high price from the US. We are surely ignorant to think that the Iraqis have forgotten how we broke promise after promise in 1991. Do you really think the Iraqis see the US as “liberators?” The Iraqis are not stupid people. Of course they hate Saddam and with good reason, but having the US bomb their cities, kill their people and then control their government? All under the guise that we are just doing them a favor and that it has nothing to do with oil? No one in the Middle East is that naive. And no matter how much TV airs photos of US soldiers bringing in food and medicine, etc., no one in this part of the world will ever believe that the US is not a self-serving country with illusions of grandeur and imposing its will by force.... I wish it were different, but trust me, it’s not. These people will only hate the US even more after the end of this war.”
Like the rest of the world, we are just waiting to see what happens. And we are very afraid of what’s next. So to answer the one question I seem to get constantly from Americans: Yes, starting on March 20, 2003, I started to feel uncomfortable in the Middle East, the day the US declared itself God.
******
The following is completely off topic, but nonetheless an interesting tale, and will maybe make up for the depressing nature of my war entry. When I started my job at Business Today magazine, our office had a sweet, older receptionist named Madame Selwa. Madame Selwa was a complete sweetheart, always ready with a smile — but was completely incompetent. At least once a week, she would mess something up, lose something or be caught leaving two hours early or whatever. These episodes lead to more lost productivity as inevitably, tearful crying/shouting sessions followed whatever scolding she received.
She was finally let go, but not without drama. There was lots of yelling and crying as she was escorted out of the building. Since that day, we have had no less than four secretaries in and out of our doors. Each of them — young, some covered, some not — quit for similar reasons. One said her parents would no longer let her work so far from home (about 35 minutes from home); one said her family didn’t like her working so late (until 4:30 p.m.); the other two said they got better jobs that were closer to home. These girls were all “good Muslim girls” — conservative and presentable. One of my American colleagues jokingly said, “It must the curse of Madame Selwa.” The Egyptians in the room all looked at each other with big nervous eyes and one of them said, “Um, Madame Selwa did put a curse on the company.”
Our fifth receptionist started last week. Her name is Jasminta. She is the first Egyptian punk rocker I have ever seen. She has a nose ring, multi-colored braids in her hair and that bored look of teens and punks the world over. I guess management decided to fight eccentricity by more eccentricity.
• Fox News: Reports that Saddam Hussein’s body may have been taken out of a bunker on a stretcher. Reports that Iraqis are kissing the hands of their “liberators.”
• BBC: An in-depth analysis of statements made by Donald Rumsfeld that have been proven to be inaccurate and the erosion of Western credibility. This debate is interspersed with photos of the bombing from Friday night in Baghdad, surrendering soldiers and injured women and children in a Baghdad hospital. Reports that the coalition forces are targeting Iraq’s major forms of communication.
• Dubai’s Channel 33 (major Arab channel): “Animal Miracles With Alan Thicke.”
• Middle East Broadcasting, Channel 2 (also out of Dubai; a news channel): “Saved By the Bell 2” and a commercial for “Beavis and Butthead do America” — to be shown next week.
• Iraq TV (state-run, only channel in the country): Covered-Iraqi women dancing, smiling, chanting, waving guns, knives, soup ladles and even a cheese grater. After this “show,” Iraqi TV showed scenes of my city, Cairo, yesterday. The most extensive footage I have yet seen of hundreds of men (not a woman in sight) flooding the streets near Al-Azhar University and mosque and being beaten and bloodied by the Cairo police. I watched as the injured were being dragged from the scene — both bodies of protestors and of police.
The protests in Cairo yesterday were intense for sure. We knew it was likely to happen. The warning signs were everywhere. Thursday I had to take a taxi from my office to downtown. I must have passed some 400 riot police waiting to “quell” any protestors. Earlier in the week, I experienced the first harsh words directed at me. I was a couple of blocks from my apartment when someone said “Hey you American…you better be careful.” A pretty benign statement really. Fridays are prayer days and from what we heard from Egyptians, the sermons would be about war and American aggression. Davin’s appointment to get his computer repaired on Saturday — by one of the few locals in the country who work on Sonys — was cancelled because we are American. The guy said he wanted to make a stand and refused any business from Americans, Canadians and Englishmen. (Even the Canadians aren’t off the hook).
It’s hard to comprehend the protests, honestly. Why aren’t they protesting here, in my very American neighborhood? Why aren’t they looting the American- and British-owned shops and businesses? As it is, it is Egyptian vs. Egyptian. The common man vs. the government. The only comparison I can think of is the LA riots and how the anger there resulted in internal damage. It was supposed to represent anger vs. the white man and the establishment, yet the protestors looted and destroyed their own neighborhood. Why does this seem happen with the frustrated and disenfranchised? Is it ignorance? Or is it misplaced anger? Is it possible that the Egyptian protestors, like the LA rioters, are truly angry with themselves, at their leaders, at their own inability to change their station in life? Do they feel angry with each other for taking it? For not trying to change things?
Perhaps the most frustrating part for us, being here, in the middle of a city violently opposed to what is going on, is the lack of good, reliable information. As you can see from above in my intro, the lack of news from the Egyptian community is appalling. If this were an American city, news crews would be crawling all over the place, offering minute-by-minute updates on which streets were blocked and which neighborhoods are safe and which are not. The Egyptian government — at least on the English-language channels — is pretty much ignoring the war and the internal situation. I realize the government wants to retain control of the city and will crush any riots, and maybe they think that rumors — as opposed to real news — helps their situation. Rumors, always more dramatic than actual events, inevitably grow and mushroom. Maybe it’s by design then. The government realizes the effect the escalated rumors of protestors being beaten and subdued will have on the population so why would they bother elucidating the truth?
March 28
I wrote the entry above last weekend but I never sent it because I was waiting. Waiting for the war to be over by now. Waiting for some major development to change things for the better. Waiting to be able to defend my what country is doing.
I am still waiting. And things have only gotten worse. The casualties are growing. Incidents of “friendly fire.” The murdering of civilians. The capture of American soldiers. The injuring of thousand on both sides. The damage of misinformation. The irresponsibility of the media on both sides. Rising oil prices. The war’s enormous economic price tag. And so on.
My grandmother sent me an email inquiring about my thoughts on the war and asking me to send an objective diary about it. I can’t. I wish I could. But as I said to her, no one can be objective in a war.
Here’s how I responded to her request: “Surely you must understand that no one can be objective in the face of war. No one wants war. And here, in the Middle East, I can see the boiling undercurrent of future problems stemming from this US-led attack. No country wants to be told what to do. Period. No country wants the “benevolent” aid that comes at a high price from the US. We are surely ignorant to think that the Iraqis have forgotten how we broke promise after promise in 1991. Do you really think the Iraqis see the US as “liberators?” The Iraqis are not stupid people. Of course they hate Saddam and with good reason, but having the US bomb their cities, kill their people and then control their government? All under the guise that we are just doing them a favor and that it has nothing to do with oil? No one in the Middle East is that naive. And no matter how much TV airs photos of US soldiers bringing in food and medicine, etc., no one in this part of the world will ever believe that the US is not a self-serving country with illusions of grandeur and imposing its will by force.... I wish it were different, but trust me, it’s not. These people will only hate the US even more after the end of this war.”
Like the rest of the world, we are just waiting to see what happens. And we are very afraid of what’s next. So to answer the one question I seem to get constantly from Americans: Yes, starting on March 20, 2003, I started to feel uncomfortable in the Middle East, the day the US declared itself God.
******
The following is completely off topic, but nonetheless an interesting tale, and will maybe make up for the depressing nature of my war entry. When I started my job at Business Today magazine, our office had a sweet, older receptionist named Madame Selwa. Madame Selwa was a complete sweetheart, always ready with a smile — but was completely incompetent. At least once a week, she would mess something up, lose something or be caught leaving two hours early or whatever. These episodes lead to more lost productivity as inevitably, tearful crying/shouting sessions followed whatever scolding she received.
She was finally let go, but not without drama. There was lots of yelling and crying as she was escorted out of the building. Since that day, we have had no less than four secretaries in and out of our doors. Each of them — young, some covered, some not — quit for similar reasons. One said her parents would no longer let her work so far from home (about 35 minutes from home); one said her family didn’t like her working so late (until 4:30 p.m.); the other two said they got better jobs that were closer to home. These girls were all “good Muslim girls” — conservative and presentable. One of my American colleagues jokingly said, “It must the curse of Madame Selwa.” The Egyptians in the room all looked at each other with big nervous eyes and one of them said, “Um, Madame Selwa did put a curse on the company.”
Our fifth receptionist started last week. Her name is Jasminta. She is the first Egyptian punk rocker I have ever seen. She has a nose ring, multi-colored braids in her hair and that bored look of teens and punks the world over. I guess management decided to fight eccentricity by more eccentricity.
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