No Coincidences -- Hasta Siempre !
I do not know about you, but I believe that "coincidences are when God wishes to remain anonymous"...
And for the past 48 hours, too many coincidences took place, too many for me to dismiss or ignore...
I know, I said I will not be writing anymore -- but I am (strongly) nudged, in a too obvious fashion to resume writing, whether I want, like it or not...And since my allergy to flagrant Injustices is greater than my fear, I am sitting here typing again...
I must admit that the many emails I received, asking me not to stop, gave me hope and made me realize that the hours and days of blogging in the obscurity were not wasted in vain...So for those of you who wrote to me - a big thank you. People like you make it worthwhile...but not only you.
A few others make it worthwhile..they are as anonymous as you are, maybe more so...and some of them have no fingers left to type, headless and no voices left to speak...and for them -- I shall continue...
Let me share with you the "coincidences" and you judge for yourselves...
Coincidence no.1
Ever since I was a young girl, I have been mesmerized by Che Guevara. When I reached puberty, and had enough pocket money, the first thing I did was buy a huge poster of Che, that I hung on my bedroom wall...while my female classmates were experimenting with different kinds of make up and some were still playing with Barbie dolls...
I was still immature to fully understand why I was so attracted to Che Guevara, but the magnet was there...and this attraction grew into a deep respect...
As a matter of fact Che Guevara, the man and the symbol have never left me...
So when I learned that a special program will be dedicated to him, I simply could not miss it. Someone had planted the seed...30 years ago. I think it was my late father. He never spoke to me of Che, but my father was the epitome of what I call a silent revolutionary. He was allergic to Injustice and I must have inherited this trait from him...My mother's allergy also greatly contributed...They were/are both revolutionaries in their own silent ways...Am I genetically wired to follow in the footsteps of the Che Guevaras -- Malgré moi?
Coincidence no.2
Yesterday, I was watching a program on Che Guevara. It was not really about Che Guevara alone, it was about all the Che Guevaras of this world...the dead, the alive and those about to be born...
For those who know nothing about Che, please go and read...I do not want to give you a historical biography here. Besides, I am assuming, if you are old enough to be reading political blogs, and you think you are so smart, then expand your knowledge instead of rotting away in mediocrity pretending you know when you know shit...
Suffice to tell you that Che's "physical" life stopped when the CIA aided by the Bolivians executed him in October 1967.
The program interviewed a couple of persons who met Che in person and it tackled the myth and symbol surrounding Guevara. Writers, musicians, politicians, activists, psychiatrists were interviewed for the program...It was clear that Che Guevara left a deep imprint on the political psyche of any man or woman striving for a just cause...striving for Justice - for Adl or Haq in Arabic. Haq also means Truth. And Truth MUST shine...It is in its nature to do so...
The chosen ones, chosen to carry the torch of Truth are not perfect precisely because they are humans. And there lies their huge responsibility, their weaknesses and their greatness...They are the revolutionaries, the martyrs, the sacrificers of the little self for the greater good...for Justice and for Truth. For Adl and for Haq. By the way Adl and Haq are two divine attributes from the 99 names of Allah /God, just in case you did not know.
And a common expression in Arabic and Iraqis have been using it a lot - hadha moo Haq - this is not Just/Right - this is not the Truth.
Back to the program...
Some likened Gamal Abdel Nasser to a Che, some called Sheikh Imam and Fouad Nejm
(two revolutionary artists from Egypt) a Che, some referred to Guevara Mahmoud Ahmed the Palestinian as another Che...Some said Mandela is a Guevara and others said the living Che in today's Arab world is Hassan Nasrallah (deep sighs).
Mum and I exchanged glances as our thoughts crossed in agreement - How come none mentioned Saddam Hussein in this program ?!
Why did this documentary from Al-Jazeera not mention Saddam Hussein and contented itself with ending the program with Hassan Nasrallah ? Shame on the Arab hypocrites. And there are so many of them...
Che was murdered by the Imperialists, so was Saddam. Che went to his execution with dignity, honor so did Saddam Hussein, Che was said to look "dreadful" by his capturers - the same was said about Saddam Hussein. Che asked for something to smoke in his final hours "Che held his head high, looked everyone straight in the eyes and asked only for something to smoke" so did Saddam in his last hours...
Moments before his execution Che was asked if he was thinking about his own immortality-- " No, I'm thinking about the immortality of the revolution." Che Guevara then told his executioner, "I know you've come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man." (for more-- click here)
And this is what the great Martyr Saddam Hussein said before his execution "Long live Iraq, Long Live Palestine, Long Live the Arab Ummah FREE..."
And minutes before his death - he replied ironically to his taunters, to Muqtada Al-Sadr and the rest of the traitors from Iran working for America - "Is this what manhood is all about ? Hiya hadhee el Rujula?"
Post-Execution : the body of Che was paraded around, naked, like the bodies of Saddam Hussein's sons and his own...paraded naked, photographed and passed around.
And just as the Imperialists could not kill Che even after his death, they found ways to market him, through portraits, t.shirts, mugs, lighters, flags, caps...and so they did with Saddam Hussein...When the same greed driven murderers produced -- toys, cartoons, films, baseball bats, punching bags, and the rest...carrying picture of Saddam...A way to ante up profits and denigrate, ridicule and commercialize the icons of Freedom, turning them into another consumer item...
And eliminating the Freedom fighters physically was not enough, they had to demystify them, debase them, erase their symbols, strip them of their meaning and what they stood for even after their physical death...and until this very day.
Some on the other hand described post-mortem Che as Christ like. Some described the execution of Saddam Hussein on the eve of the Muslim Eid, the ultimate self sacrifice as Christ like as well...
In Vallegrande, where Che is buried, till this very day, in the local churches, during Sunday mass, they pray for all the Saints and never forget to mention the Saint Ernesto. When they asked a local priest he said : "Saints died for the liberation of humans so did Guevara - so for us he is a Saint" And so did the martyr Saddam Hussein...
And did not Jesus say: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ?
And before I move on to coincidence no.3, Che described the Bolivian Communist Party as -- "distrustful, disloyal and stupid."
I do not know how Saddam Hussein would qualify the Iraqi Communist Party today, but seeing that they all secretly and not so secretly welcomed the American occupation of Iraq, voted and/or joined the mullahs parties like Al-Sadr and the Dawa parties, and/or aligned themselves with the butcher of Falluja like Allawi, would make them distrustful, disloyal and stupid too...Extend the latter qualifications to the Arab "leftists" "anti-imperialists", "revolutionaries" and the anti-war movement as well.
Coincidence no.3
I walked for over an hour today, and whilst wandering in the streets of this city, I was thinking about the program and Che and said to myself - Al Jazeera sucks so do the Arabs, no one mentioned Saddam Hussein. Pity, I can't write about that, now that am being silenced...with Death threats and the rest...
When I returned home, I opened my mail box only to find several pictures of Che attached to a beautiful mail from a loyal friend in Greece. The mail carried the following message :
"Stay with us.
Please don't give up. This is life. Some people love you, other people hate you.
You are "condemned " to win this battle.
I send you some Che photos, with his daughter...the Communist Parτy in Bolivia did not help him, in fact they handed him over to the CIA.
But he never dies. He lives in our hearts."
This mail sent shivers down my spine...that really was too much of a coincidence. This friend in Greece had not corresponded with me in ages...Why this ? Why now ? And along the same lines ?!
And this is when I decided to write this post. There were too many coincidences happening in two days...reminding me that my "little" concerns were unimportant and that I was to continue doing what am doing...with and despite all my imperfections, and in spite of all the rape and death threats that I have been receiving on a DAILY basis for the past months...And maybe this is also my own "little" way to say to my harassers -- Fuck you cowards, is this what "manhood" is all about ?
Coincidence no.4
From the time I watched the program and thought in my head -- it would be nice to write something about the parallels between Che Guevara and Saddam and while actually writing this post -- I took a few breaks and surfed around on youtube, trying to find a good version of the Sheikh Imam song in homage to Che Guevara. Could not find a good version of it, but I stumbled upon, through yet another coincidence on this fairly recent video that I had never seen before called "Guevara and Saddam" which seemed to echo my private thoughts, exactly...
This is starting to sound like some Paul Auster novel, but it is not...it is simply my corner of Truth to which I am gently and sometimes not so gently led to, again and again...
And while surfing for songs, I also discoverd an Oriental version of a homage to Che Guevara, which will be posted on my Uncensored blog.
There are definitely no coincidences. And Hasta Siempre can mean Farewell or Forever Your's...
And for the past 48 hours, too many coincidences took place, too many for me to dismiss or ignore...
I know, I said I will not be writing anymore -- but I am (strongly) nudged, in a too obvious fashion to resume writing, whether I want, like it or not...And since my allergy to flagrant Injustices is greater than my fear, I am sitting here typing again...
I must admit that the many emails I received, asking me not to stop, gave me hope and made me realize that the hours and days of blogging in the obscurity were not wasted in vain...So for those of you who wrote to me - a big thank you. People like you make it worthwhile...but not only you.
A few others make it worthwhile..they are as anonymous as you are, maybe more so...and some of them have no fingers left to type, headless and no voices left to speak...and for them -- I shall continue...
Let me share with you the "coincidences" and you judge for yourselves...
Coincidence no.1
Ever since I was a young girl, I have been mesmerized by Che Guevara. When I reached puberty, and had enough pocket money, the first thing I did was buy a huge poster of Che, that I hung on my bedroom wall...while my female classmates were experimenting with different kinds of make up and some were still playing with Barbie dolls...
I was still immature to fully understand why I was so attracted to Che Guevara, but the magnet was there...and this attraction grew into a deep respect...
As a matter of fact Che Guevara, the man and the symbol have never left me...
So when I learned that a special program will be dedicated to him, I simply could not miss it. Someone had planted the seed...30 years ago. I think it was my late father. He never spoke to me of Che, but my father was the epitome of what I call a silent revolutionary. He was allergic to Injustice and I must have inherited this trait from him...My mother's allergy also greatly contributed...They were/are both revolutionaries in their own silent ways...Am I genetically wired to follow in the footsteps of the Che Guevaras -- Malgré moi?
Coincidence no.2
Yesterday, I was watching a program on Che Guevara. It was not really about Che Guevara alone, it was about all the Che Guevaras of this world...the dead, the alive and those about to be born...
For those who know nothing about Che, please go and read...I do not want to give you a historical biography here. Besides, I am assuming, if you are old enough to be reading political blogs, and you think you are so smart, then expand your knowledge instead of rotting away in mediocrity pretending you know when you know shit...
Suffice to tell you that Che's "physical" life stopped when the CIA aided by the Bolivians executed him in October 1967.
The program interviewed a couple of persons who met Che in person and it tackled the myth and symbol surrounding Guevara. Writers, musicians, politicians, activists, psychiatrists were interviewed for the program...It was clear that Che Guevara left a deep imprint on the political psyche of any man or woman striving for a just cause...striving for Justice - for Adl or Haq in Arabic. Haq also means Truth. And Truth MUST shine...It is in its nature to do so...
The chosen ones, chosen to carry the torch of Truth are not perfect precisely because they are humans. And there lies their huge responsibility, their weaknesses and their greatness...They are the revolutionaries, the martyrs, the sacrificers of the little self for the greater good...for Justice and for Truth. For Adl and for Haq. By the way Adl and Haq are two divine attributes from the 99 names of Allah /God, just in case you did not know.
And a common expression in Arabic and Iraqis have been using it a lot - hadha moo Haq - this is not Just/Right - this is not the Truth.
Back to the program...
Some likened Gamal Abdel Nasser to a Che, some called Sheikh Imam and Fouad Nejm
(two revolutionary artists from Egypt) a Che, some referred to Guevara Mahmoud Ahmed the Palestinian as another Che...Some said Mandela is a Guevara and others said the living Che in today's Arab world is Hassan Nasrallah (deep sighs).
Mum and I exchanged glances as our thoughts crossed in agreement - How come none mentioned Saddam Hussein in this program ?!
Why did this documentary from Al-Jazeera not mention Saddam Hussein and contented itself with ending the program with Hassan Nasrallah ? Shame on the Arab hypocrites. And there are so many of them...
Che was murdered by the Imperialists, so was Saddam. Che went to his execution with dignity, honor so did Saddam Hussein, Che was said to look "dreadful" by his capturers - the same was said about Saddam Hussein. Che asked for something to smoke in his final hours "Che held his head high, looked everyone straight in the eyes and asked only for something to smoke" so did Saddam in his last hours...
Moments before his execution Che was asked if he was thinking about his own immortality-- " No, I'm thinking about the immortality of the revolution." Che Guevara then told his executioner, "I know you've come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man." (for more-- click here)
And this is what the great Martyr Saddam Hussein said before his execution "Long live Iraq, Long Live Palestine, Long Live the Arab Ummah FREE..."
And minutes before his death - he replied ironically to his taunters, to Muqtada Al-Sadr and the rest of the traitors from Iran working for America - "Is this what manhood is all about ? Hiya hadhee el Rujula?"
Post-Execution : the body of Che was paraded around, naked, like the bodies of Saddam Hussein's sons and his own...paraded naked, photographed and passed around.
And just as the Imperialists could not kill Che even after his death, they found ways to market him, through portraits, t.shirts, mugs, lighters, flags, caps...and so they did with Saddam Hussein...When the same greed driven murderers produced -- toys, cartoons, films, baseball bats, punching bags, and the rest...carrying picture of Saddam...A way to ante up profits and denigrate, ridicule and commercialize the icons of Freedom, turning them into another consumer item...
And eliminating the Freedom fighters physically was not enough, they had to demystify them, debase them, erase their symbols, strip them of their meaning and what they stood for even after their physical death...and until this very day.
Some on the other hand described post-mortem Che as Christ like. Some described the execution of Saddam Hussein on the eve of the Muslim Eid, the ultimate self sacrifice as Christ like as well...
In Vallegrande, where Che is buried, till this very day, in the local churches, during Sunday mass, they pray for all the Saints and never forget to mention the Saint Ernesto. When they asked a local priest he said : "Saints died for the liberation of humans so did Guevara - so for us he is a Saint" And so did the martyr Saddam Hussein...
And did not Jesus say: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ?
And before I move on to coincidence no.3, Che described the Bolivian Communist Party as -- "distrustful, disloyal and stupid."
I do not know how Saddam Hussein would qualify the Iraqi Communist Party today, but seeing that they all secretly and not so secretly welcomed the American occupation of Iraq, voted and/or joined the mullahs parties like Al-Sadr and the Dawa parties, and/or aligned themselves with the butcher of Falluja like Allawi, would make them distrustful, disloyal and stupid too...Extend the latter qualifications to the Arab "leftists" "anti-imperialists", "revolutionaries" and the anti-war movement as well.
Coincidence no.3
I walked for over an hour today, and whilst wandering in the streets of this city, I was thinking about the program and Che and said to myself - Al Jazeera sucks so do the Arabs, no one mentioned Saddam Hussein. Pity, I can't write about that, now that am being silenced...with Death threats and the rest...
When I returned home, I opened my mail box only to find several pictures of Che attached to a beautiful mail from a loyal friend in Greece. The mail carried the following message :
"Stay with us.
Please don't give up. This is life. Some people love you, other people hate you.
You are "condemned " to win this battle.
I send you some Che photos, with his daughter...the Communist Parτy in Bolivia did not help him, in fact they handed him over to the CIA.
But he never dies. He lives in our hearts."
This mail sent shivers down my spine...that really was too much of a coincidence. This friend in Greece had not corresponded with me in ages...Why this ? Why now ? And along the same lines ?!
And this is when I decided to write this post. There were too many coincidences happening in two days...reminding me that my "little" concerns were unimportant and that I was to continue doing what am doing...with and despite all my imperfections, and in spite of all the rape and death threats that I have been receiving on a DAILY basis for the past months...And maybe this is also my own "little" way to say to my harassers -- Fuck you cowards, is this what "manhood" is all about ?
Coincidence no.4
From the time I watched the program and thought in my head -- it would be nice to write something about the parallels between Che Guevara and Saddam and while actually writing this post -- I took a few breaks and surfed around on youtube, trying to find a good version of the Sheikh Imam song in homage to Che Guevara. Could not find a good version of it, but I stumbled upon, through yet another coincidence on this fairly recent video that I had never seen before called "Guevara and Saddam" which seemed to echo my private thoughts, exactly...
This is starting to sound like some Paul Auster novel, but it is not...it is simply my corner of Truth to which I am gently and sometimes not so gently led to, again and again...
And while surfing for songs, I also discoverd an Oriental version of a homage to Che Guevara, which will be posted on my Uncensored blog.
There are definitely no coincidences. And Hasta Siempre can mean Farewell or Forever Your's...
