Following are excerpts from an interview
with exiled Algerian journalist Yahya Abu Zakariya,
which aired on Al-Alam TV on June 14, 2009.
Yahya Abu Zakariya: Whenever a
Palestinian or a Lebanese requests political asylum, there is an Israeli
Mossad officer next to the Norwegian or Danish officer. If they see
that somebody is loaded with information, they threaten him, so that
he will cooperate with them: "If you work with us, we'll grant
you a residence permit, and take care of all your needs." That
way he becomes part of the Western-Israeli security apparatus – you
know about the alliance between them.
[...]
After 9/11, some scientific departments
were closed to Arabs, like nuclear physics, designing nuclear bombs,
and converting uranium to a radioactive substance. Secondly, they do
not let you study any field of science. When you research Europe with
your diplomas, you must first qualify socially. They do not recognize
you. You must obtain a driving license once again. Your Ph.D....
In Sweden, I was an advisor on Arab culture in the Ministry of Cultural
Affairs, and I went for a job interview. I brought her a pile of Ph.D.
certificates – in shari'a, in law, in media, in political science,
but she put them all aside, and said: "These belong in the garbage
bin." She asked: "Where is your certificate of such and such?"
I had it, because I had studied at a university there too. I said to
her: Shame on you for disgracing the entire Arab culture. It is beneath
me to be among you, you idiots."
[...]
I was invited by the Swedish Foreign
Ministry to give a lecture in Alexandria. The lecture was on a high
level, and people clapped. Then the Swedish deputy foreign minister
intervened, and what did he say to the Arab audience? He said: "Look
how Sweden exports golden minds to you." I said to him: "Shame
on you. I am not a product of Sweden. I am an Arab and Muslim product."
The Arab mind is shaped in Arab universities, but the [Europeans] attribute
this knowledge to themselves. They are thieves and robbers. They stole
America from the Indians.
[...]
We have frightening, blood-sucking Arab
rulers, who are not content when they see citizens who are too happy.
[...]
I am someone who has suffered. My children
died along the way, and I have suffered greatly. One day, they put me
in an Arab prison because of an article. A cockroach came to me, and
I picked it up and said to it: "My dear sir, you can be free. Why
are you locking yourself up?" I released him under the door. I
am an Arab intellectual who has suffered greatly, but I will remain
here.
