A Family in Baghdad

Friday, December 17th, 2004
Good morning…
I am now in Amman. I returned from Cairo two days ago. And I admit that I didn’t leave Cairo by my free wish, but because we came to the end of the program about which we agreed with the touring company. I wish I could have stayed longer there, for this is the first time in my life that I loved a city like I love Baghdad…I found Cairo large and crowded, much larger than Baghdad, and more crowded, its people are very kind, like the Iraqis before the war, their words sweet, they respect visitors, and indulge them… each person I have saluted would smile and say: Welcome, revered Lady, How are you? May your day be as sweet as flowers…
And I would laugh, as if they have met me ages ago…
This is the first time I visited Cairo, I always wanted to go there, for years and years, but the family, the business, and the various circumstances of life wouldn’t let me fulfill that dream. Now, I am so happy with it.
When I stood at the Egyptian Museum, looking at the huge statues of the old civilizations, Egyptian and Roman, at the ground floor…I was amazed. It was a great civilization, in front of which I could not but stand in respect, even though I came from Baghdad, and the land of Mesopotamia…our great civilizations were the Babylonian, Assyrian, Kildani, and Sumerian, but my happiness and admiration of the Egyptian civilization was enormous. I appreciated the amazement of foreigners, and their eagerness to see Egypt and its civilization….
The museum, the area of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Khan Al-Khaleeli, the Citadel of Salah Al-Deen, and the old mosques were all crowded with foreign tourists from China, Japan, Italy, Spain, and other countries, with each group I used to see a guide, explaining to them, while they listened, then they took many photographs, in many places…buying small memorial artifacts.
At the Egyptian Museum, there was the exhibit of Tut-Ankh-Amoon, at the top floor, full of statues, crowns, thrones, golden coffins, covered with gold leafs, then some dark rooms, where the Mummies were laid in glass boxes, while the golden and colored coffins, in which the Mummies were found, were exhibited in another hall… there were chairs used by the pharos of those times, the beds on which they used to sleep, and the statues of various gods, in which they believed. In their graves many boxes were found, covered in gold, one of which contained the King’s heart, another housed his entrails, so he would be complete for his judgment, on the Day of Judgment. Around those boxes stood golden statues, as if they were guards for the safe keeping of the King’s heart, until the Day of Judgment.
There was a hall for the Kings’ jewels, rings, golden weapons bejeweled with noble stones, and their women’s jewelry.
I stood outside the hall, and smiled…they were sinking in blissfulness…rather, there was an over exaggeration of indulgence and pampering. Then, when I entered the hall of the bodies that were kept in glass boxes, the ones they called the Mummies, I contemplated those sleeping soundly, with frozen smiles on their faces, and asked them, while I smiled mockingly: Where are you now? What have you gained out of your lives, the gold, jewels, power, authority, and controlling the fates of weak, miserable people?
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In our Holy Quran, we have that Moses came to the Pharaoh, to inform him that there is a LORD, THE CREATOR of mankind, who should be feared, and obeyed, because the Pharaoh was unjust to the people on earth, and was a tyrant, but he got angry at Moses, and wanted to kill him… in our Holy Quran we have that the Pharaoh told Hamman, his minister, to build him an edifice with which to challenge the God of Moses…and I wonder, was that edifice the great pyramids that block the sun from the earth in front of it? That his miserable people spent tens of years to build?
Moses was sad because of the Pharaohs’ cruelty, and arrogance, so he prayed to GOD to seal his heart, so he wouldn’t become a believer until he sees the torment…meaning- his heart would be blocked from seeing GOD, until he meets his end. After Moses ran away, and the sea was parted for him, the Pharaoh and his soldiers followed him, to kill him, but they were drowned in the sea. In our Holy Quran, the Pharaoh declared to GOD that he has Believed, when his death drew near, so, GOD said to him: Today I shall save your body, to make you an example to people.
And here is the Pharaoh, lying in a glass box in the museum, for all the people to see, becoming an example, a miracle, astonishing the on lookers.
How did he remain thus, body, hair and bones?
GOD smiles from heaven, at the arrogance of people, and their foolishness…especially those who sit on the seats of authority, becoming unjust, conceited, making gods of them selves. The Pharaoh used to say to people: I am your god, so worship me….as was told in the Holy Quran.
In our speech, the word “Pharaoh” is a symbol of the cruel, tyrant, compelling ruler. As Saddam Hussein did to the Iraqis, for he was the Pharaoh of this age…but, where did he end up? What good did he get out of his palaces, his tyranny, and cruelty to people??
A wandering vegetable salesman, on the streets of Baghdad, or any other capital, is a lot happier than him, perhaps having a much more comfortable conscience than him.
But whoever comes after the Pharaoh, and sits on the throne, I mean, the seat of ruling, forgets what has befallen those before him, when they were unjust to the people.
I do not know what magic the seat of ruling and power carries, for it has a magic that makes whoever who sits upon it forget what is around him, the present, and the past…making him blind from seeing things, except by the way he wants to see them, believing it to be the correct way….
In a Holy Saying by The Prophet MOHAMMAD, (The prayers of GOD be upon Him, and HIS Peace)… recounting the characteristics of the people who will go to Paradise, because of GOD’S consent of them, for their good deeds; He counts, first : a Just Ruler…then, a Man Kind Hearted to people, then, a Poor man with many off spring, who is chaste…
And I always thought: why put the just ruler first?
Because there are plenty of kind hearted people, and chaste poor men, but, where is the just ruler? What is his percentage of existence, among the rulers on earth??
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Why did I love Cairo and its people?
Because I was surprised to find they have maintained their authenticity, and their distinguished Arabic-Islamic style…in spite of their contact with the west, and the west’s pressures on them, and on all the countries of the Middle East, but I found them still preserving their color and private identity, they did not take off their guise and put on that of another’s, by the pretext of progress…. As some other Arabic Capitals has done.
There is a big difference between introducing modernization into your city or life style (be modern), and between becoming western orientated (be western).
This point forms a topic referred to by many western thinkers, and Huntington also mentioned it in his works.
I respected the Egyptians more after I visited Cairo, for I found that they have not lost their history or culture, in front of a sweeping torrent of fear and hypocrisy, that is sweeping the world, especially the New World Order Theory, where America wants to make it self the center of the globe, the other countries being the minions.
I did not invent those words, I found them in a book by (Zbigniew Brezniski) I bought here, in Amman, by the title: The Grand Chess Board, written in 1997, while he was the American National Security Advisor, in which he speaks about the future of the American Policy in the world.
So, well, did they take his advice, the one in the book? Or is he speaking, clearly, simply, and confidently, about what America is planning, without shame, or hesitation.
What should they fear, or be ashamed of?
By GOD, I salute them, because they allow such books to be printed, and published…
But people are oblivious to their affairs…who reads, and who cares??
In and outside of America…people are running morning and evening to earn their daily bread. There is a small minority of people who has enough time to read books, think, and ask about what is going on, but the majority is oblivious, almost a sleep.
And they are wondering, for example: will America withdraw from Iraq after the elections? Do we want to occupy Iraq?
Most would answer naively: of course we do not have any cupidity in Iraq, we only want to give you freedom, making sure you will have a democratic government, then we’ll go out, my dear, do not worry.
Ha,ha,ha… I wish I could believe…
Then I found this book, to discover just how naïve some Americans are, haven’t they ever read these books? Haven’t they realized yet, how the manufacturers of the foreign American policy plan their moves?
They plan for tens of years ahead…and the steps needed to accomplish any goal accumulates, little by little, while people are unaware about them, then, some catastrophe strikes, like the war on Iraq, and the naïve and oblivious person would think it was a sudden occurrence…
And the truth of the matter would be; it is something that has been prearranged, along time ago…
No, it is not a conspiracy theory…but the notion that those people think, and plan, to secure their interests, for an on coming period of time. While the people are busy, with the thoughtless, daily details, not comprehending what is happening around them.
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At the hotel in Cairo, I used to watch the Oprah program on TV….in which she spoke about the suffering of the working mothers in America. She interviewed mothers and working wives, of course they were very tired, going out of the house since early morning…while the kids remain either at home with granny, a day-care employee, or by themselves…then the mother would come back in the evening to prepare dinner, see her children, and take care of them, while the husband is busy and tired all day long, like her…
This is the model of a family in which the father and mother both work to provide the daily life needs, and perhaps to secure their children’s future from any surplus income they can save. Well then, if the husband alone was working, he will get home very tired in the evening, and wouldn’t want to speak about any difficult subject with his wife and children. So, these families would wait for the weekend to go on a picnic, or visit relatives.
How much would families pay attention to the country’s foreign policy? Huh… who would care for such silly matters?
People enjoy talking about food, their children, the car breakages, computer, looking for a place that sells inexpensive spare parts, the stories of marriage, divorce, deaths, and perhaps; the TV series, cinema movies, and restaurants.

I think this is a sample of the families' lives in America, Europe, Canada, Australia, and some other countries...and even in our Arabian countries, when the country is in a state of peace and security.
And in a big country like America, a small minority of people, men and women, would spacialize in deciding the fate of the country's future, outlining its foreign policy, and of course, waging wars, sending armies and troops abroad, and manufacturing more arms, would be among the items in their programs.
And peopel would wake up suddenly from their slumber, and ask; what is happening? huh...and they would start listining to news... folowing up, and each would understand the matter according to his mood, and ability to comprehend. But there is a small faction of people, men and women, who understand exactly what is happening...and what will happen in the next steps, for the world in their hands is a chess game, for them to move its pawns in the directions they choose, deciding which peice shall move today, or tommorow, and which pawn shall be thrown out of the board, as was the case of Saddam Hussein...ha,ha,ha...
I wish you would buy the book and read it, or borrow it from a freind. There are alot more books like that one, speaking about America's vision of the world's future, and how it shall be manufactured. Thses books are not written by foolsh men, waisting their time in chit or chat, nor in empty tales, these peopel know how to think, and there are others who know how to implement these ideas...these books are written by men who form the theories for the American Administration, and whoever wants to understand America, I mean, understand the rulers of America, should read some of these books, for he might find answers for many mysterious questions.
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Translated by May/ Baghdad.