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We remembered, Iraq, Beirut, Palestine, and the millions of Arabs Who perished under American-Israeli aggression over the last 50 years, and that bitter sweet feeling would come back “hell, let them feel one day what we were feeling for half a century because of them”, you would hear that everywhere, and above all places in your own mind.
We started wondering, “what is going on with us” and almost everybody would answer “ look how far did they bring us” everybody also said “ they were killing us, humiliating us and oppressing us for so long that we lost a part of our humanity, that part that cherishes human life unconditionally”. We tried to understand our reactions, why didn’t we mourn the dead, why didn’t we feel as terrified as the rest of the world did? Well maybe because, no one mourned our dead, no one stood even a second of silence for the half a million (and some say one million) Iraqi children slaughtered (albeit very neatly) by the American-British embargo. They taught us by killing us over and over again that human life is so cheap, that thousands and thousands of us scattered by their “smart” bombs are nothing but regrettable “collateral damage”, regrettable but acceptable.
“Make no mistake” we are no heart-bleeding softies wanting to save the dolphins, and we do not have a “turn the other cheek” value making us feel guilty whenever we don’t (Europe is so imprisoned in its guilt feelings since it NEVER turned the other cheek), our culture and religion both say “ you hit me on my cheek, I give you a blow in your face. You stay out of my way, I will not bother you”. But at the same time, we have a very deeply rooted value, both religious and cultural, that a “soul” is sacred and should never be killed unless in self-defense or when executing a criminal murderer.
Our nation was not build through a process of genocide and ethnic cleansing like the United States or Israel. So the value of mass murder is not own to our heritage. Our heroes are not Indian-killing cowboys, or criminals like Begin, Shamir and Sharon, and we would not give a medal to someone after burning a whole city with all its men, women and children with an atomic bomb.
So whenever criminals among us (because like any nation of humans, us Arabs have also criminals among us) commit a horrible act of genocide or even a small attack against civilians, we are unable to behave like Americans and Israelis and applaud it feeling that it is a heroic act. We might applaud it yes, because once again I remind you that we are humans, we bare grudges and we are vulnerable to the seduction of revenge. But while applauding we will be feeling bad, and knowing how terrible it is.
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