On May 26, 2008, the liberal website Middle East Transparent [1] posted an article by Kuwaiti liberal Khalil 'Ali Haidar criticizing the culture of war in the Arab and Muslim world and the slogans that perpetuate it.
The following are excerpts from the article:
"Half a Century of Conflagration - Wars and Struggle in Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, North Africa, Iraq and the [Persian] Gulf"
"Forty, 50, 60 years of bloodshed and tanks, of wars and resistance, of destroyed buildings and lost ideals, of weeping and wailing, of the murdered and the displaced. Over half a century of wars, demonstrations, shops set on fire, airplanes blown up, revolutions… Glory to the Arabs and disgrace upon their enemies.
"Over half a century of compulsory military service, of the allocation of millions [of dollars] for weapons that will never be used - and if they are, then only to add to destruction. [Over half a century] of neglecting all aspects of civilian life, political stability, and economic development for the sake of defending the honor of the nation, foiling enemy schemes, facing conspiracies, and thousands of other false catchwords.
"Half a century of conflagration - wars and struggle in Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, North Africa, Iraq and the [Persian] Gulf; wars that last many years and claim tens and [even] hundreds of thousands of victims; wars that end quickly but cause losses of millions and billions [of dollars]. The youth of the nation are called to arms, and the mind of the nation is enchained by the demands of struggle. All [other] countries progress and develop, while the Arabs and the Muslims move from one war to another, from one crisis to another, from one terrorist act to another, from one front to another, from one jihadist and Islamist group to another...
"The Moroccan [man] slaps in his own face with the bombings in Casablanca. A bereaved Algerian woman weeps over her sons and brothers, who were murdered by da'wa and jihad groups and thrown into a bottomless pit. Egypt oscillates between [heeding] a call for war and a call for peace, between those who want to build tens of thousands of schools and factories and those who want to send tens of thousands of jihad fighters to Lebanon.
"Sudan has ended the war in the south and is already embroiled in the Darfur war… Righteous resistance is destroying Iraq's future, as terrorist forces become [increasingly] expert at blowing up markets and murdering people. Dozens of highly dangerous organizations threaten various Gulf states, Iraq, Egypt, and the entire Arab world. [And all this is] in spite of international forces, which are combating terrorist activities and monitoring [the movements of] thousands of Arabs and Muslims."
"Lebanon Used to Be a Lovely Rose, a Blooming Oasis in the Desert - Overnight, It was Transformed Into a [Wasteland] Of Ruins, [Running With] Blood and Tears"
"Lebanon used to be a lovely rose, a blooming oasis in the desert. Overnight, it was transformed into a [wasteland] of ruins, [running with] blood and tears… The Arabs and the Muslims ignored the destruction, war, and death in Lebanon. To them, the most important thing is the honor of the nation, its solid position, the resistance, the struggle against the new Middle East plan, and a thousand other false new slogans. This is what the Arabs and the Muslims shouted in 1948 in the face of sensible Palestinians, in 1974 to the sane among the Egyptians, in 1990 to the Kuwaitis, in 2003 to the Iraqis, and today are shouting to the Lebanese. At demonstrations everyone is yelling: We don't care about destruction; we don't care about death, let the war continue another ten or even a thousand years."
"Ours is a Nation That Has Engraved Its Name in Death, Bloodshed, and Gunpowder"
"Ours is a nation that has engraved its name in death, bloodshed, and gunpowder. The truth is that we have an enormous quantity of these [commodities], and for some time now, we have been dealing them out to others and exporting them to Europe and the U.S.… I would like to say that I want to surrender my weapon to the nearest [center] for the collection of weapons and ammunition. I want to say that people in the Arab world and in the countries of the Muslim world have had enough bloodshed, violence, murder, scenes of explosions and destruction, and of wailing women, striking themselves [as a sign of mourning].
"I would like to shout to the Arabs and the Muslims: Oh, people! Enough! Oh, [champions] of war, struggle, jihad, and honor! Enough! Life in our homeland has been destroyed. By the doors of the embassies of the French and British, against whose colonialism we fought, stand crowds of young people belonging to the new generation, who are applying for entry visas. The U.S., whose flag we burn at every demonstration, is the one safeguarding peace in the countries of the Arab and Muslim world, as well as in many Third World countries…
"We do not want to stand firm on the resistance front.
"We do not want to have our lives destroyed, our homes reduced to ruins, our children killed, our bridges torn down, our wives widowed, our blood spilled in your incessant wars, which you launch rashly and from which you withdraw without having learned any lessons."
"We Want Peace and Quiet to Prevail in Our Country for the Next Fifty Years"
"We want peace and quiet to prevail in our country for the next 50 years; we will try to live in tranquility, security, and peace. We want our seedlings to grow, [our cattle's] udders to be filled with milk, our trees to yield fruit, our products to sell. We want our youth to have higher education, our schools, universities, and banks to burgeon, our cities and markets to grow, and us to enjoy life. We want to restore our cultural honor and our reputation as seekers of peace and wellbeing, which was trampled by your riders and your chariots [of war].
"We want no war, no warfare, no death and destruction; we don't want a blood-soaked, exploding world. Oh, [champions] of war, jihad and resistance! We don't want this blood-soaked, exploding world that is oozing misery, adversity, and destruction - a world where at every corner one can hear the wails of bereaved women, the screams of frightened children imploring for help, or the groans of the wounded who are about to die. We do't want it, we don't want it…
"We don't want [it anymore]!"
Endnote:
[1] www.middleeasttransparent.com, May 26, 2008.
