“Discharging the pus”

  

Last week’s article has stirred a strong argument about diversity in the Arab communities in general and Egypt in specific… the Egyptians were keen to keep the unity of their national composition with its religious, cultural and other diverse aspects… however, that has never prevented that Egypt has been through times when many forces, or one can even say forces that exploit certain circumstances of deterioration, hit such diversity of our united national composition… in such regard, many researches were written and tens of seminars were held as well… I do not believe that anyone can disagree to the fact that there are adverse circumstances that hit and are still hitting the Egyptian society… and of course, those forces we mentioned did not miss the chance to make use of such circumstances in order to dismantle Egypt.

I do not exaggerate if I say that the most dangerous and menacing – I apologize for using the superlative form here – of such deteriorated circumstances is the insistence of some forces of those who use slogans and mottos of political Islamization claiming to adopt religious principles, to regard the Egyptian Christian Copts as a minority and practice the ugly cultural, social, sectarian, and religious discrimination against them… while, in the same time, Egyptian Christians insist they are Egyptian citizens and that no one and no awful circumstances will drive them to do any practices, calls, or even adopt ideas that will get them out of the very composition of the national structure.

I received many comments on last week’s article that I would like to publish some of them here, however, that does not mean that I underestimate the significance of other comments.

The friend and prestigious scientist in Cardiology, and expert in Arab language and literature Charles Beshri Megally wrote: “dear sir… this article goes into the heart of what we live today like we always expect of you… however, I may allow myself to comment on the part concerning the case of the Christian Copts in Egypt since I am a Christian Coptic burdened and interested in the public affairs of my country… Copts here represent a special case… away from undesirable bragging and empty boasting, everyone knows that the Egyptians have one origin that goes back to the Coptic descent entrenched since the time of Pharaohs and maybe before that…”

“… Many branches, due to geography and history, were added to the Egyptian tree, including the Arab branch… however, we Egyptians all belong to one origin… that is why I claim that there is not a single Christian in his normal state away from temporary passive emotions he may have due to the systematic discrimination practiced against Christian Copts – and which no one can deny -… I say I claim there is not a single sage Christian who even thinks of this nonsense of separation that some conspirers suggest as part of the creative chaos project and the Arab autumn…”

“… No one of us, Christian Egyptians, thinks of a special status for Christians as we know that all Egyptian people are Copts who descended from the Pharaohnic origin… some of them chose to divert to Islam when it entered Egypt while some others stayed adherent to Christianity which they defended with blood throughout different eras suffering from persecution, especially in the Roman era… the dominating genetic element is the long-in-time Coptic Pharaohnic origin of the Egyptian people… while the number of those coming from the Arabian Peninsula was few compared to that of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country… and so, the actual effect of the genes coming from the Arabian Peninsula was small in reality as proved and still is proved by scientific researches…”

“… Therefore, there is no way here to talk about the “two elements of the nation” as we all, due to history, belong to one origin… when hit by discrimination or poverty, the Egyptian Christian Copt may think of migrating to other countries where human rights are respected or even immigrating to it… but his heart remains attached to his homeland feeling pity for it and for every memory he lived in it… he may have some bitterness towards some of his country folks who were unfair to him but he can never think of separating from them as long as he lives in his country…”

“… I claim – and of course I wish – that our beloved country will overcome this fake barrier that stands between its sons in the near or the relatively far future when we overcome this civilization gap that separates us from other developed countries where asking someone about his religion or belief is considered a flagrant breach of his privacy and rights… I believe this day is coming no way due to globalization and the spread of human rights values in this small world that became a mere small village… by that time, talking about the “two elements of the nation” will only be history…”

“… I apologize for my lengthy comment but you stirred up sorrows as they say my thinker friend”.

My long-time friend Soliman Shafiq, also the prominent leader in al-Tagamou party wrote: “I was and still is one of those who belonged to a generation that was brought up on the principle that Israel is the main enemy to us in the region… I am proud to have joined the Palestinian Liberation Movement (PLO) Fath in the first flush of youth… I am also very proud of being Arab and to be one among others who warned of denying the issue of minorities, religions, ethnicities, diversity… to the end of this… I even participated to a study which confirmed that one of the most important reasons of the Arab unity is denying the rights of those belonging to those minorities…”

“… I believe the biggest part of the responsibility lies on Baathist and Arab-national leaders like late Saddam Hussein and Hafez al-Asad… before we condemn what Barzani did, we have to discuss the reasons that made him collaborate with the enemy without taking precautions… with all my respect to all who talk about the one national composition and alloy, the Coptic Egyptian citizens are suffering from discrimination practiced against them by the state and persecution practiced against them by the hardliner groups… the thing that drove them to have their prayers in the streets after security agencies close their worship places…etc…”

“… You have seen how some Coptic intellectuals signed a statement in solidarity with Al-Aqsa but now the Copts themselves are subjected to discrimination but no one says a word!!!... I here ring the bell… if any Coptic communicated with Israel or the United States, do not blame but yourselves… it is a message I deliver to you sir before it is too late… my sincere wishes to you sir”.

Mr. Hussein Shammon wrote: “the divisions being created on the media and intellectual levels… in the west or in Israel… are diverse and spreading on a wide scale… unfortunately, we see that the Arab media, either deliberately or unintentionally, has adopted such divisions and are now being dealt with as axioms… expressions like Sunni states and Shia ones became normal in many of that media outlets… moreover, they started dealing with minorities in any society as independent components that have their own civilization and cultural concepts separated from the rest of this societies’ components.

“… Therefore, I, personally, believe that the real conflict taking place in reality in the Arab world is the one going between two projects… the first is the division-based project… such project is led by Israel since it adopts the principle of being the Jewish state like you mentioned before sir… its legitimacy depends on such principle… as to the second project; that is the project of the national state with the cultural national dimension that takes in all the diverse civilization aspects that once contributed to all the historical phases of the nation…”

“… I believe such project – despite I believe it is right and mandatory as a guarantee to the future of our societies – needs re-launching based on the lessons learnt from past experiences and with the aim of reaching a new clear modern concepts that can explain the political, cultural, and social visions targeted… as it is in no way that we can achieve any progress in intermittent courses and goals if the final target is not clear… otherwise, all efforts will be in vain”.

We shall continue publishing other comments about the same issue later.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on August 31, 2017.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2017/08/blog-post_31.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #Copts #Christians #minorities

Kurds and the issue of minorities

I thought it is gona be easy to hold my pen and write extensively about Mahfouz Abdelrahman; the thinker, creative writer, and rare friend… then I discovered it is better to wait… as it will not be appropriate to write an eulogy that includes praise and detailed memories… specially that this space in Al Ahram newspaper witnessed a heated debate around drama and history… and the difference between scenario writer and historian… that debate was about the TV-series al-Gama’a, his writer, and the historian who supervised this piece of work… and so, I postpone writing about my friend; the elite figure Mahfouz Abdelrahman.

Instead, I will write about a cause I believe is common to both of us… not only for the cultural and intellectual beliefs we both had, but also because the late dear friend was burdened with the issues concerning Egypt and the whole nation even when he was in deep need of looking after his health… that issue is about the Kurds and the heated political debate concerning their separation from Iraq in preparation to establish the Kurdish state.

Few days ago, I saw a footage filming a party welcoming Mulla Masoud Barzani in the Zionist state of Israel… the Israeli announcer of the party went expatiating the close deep relation between Kurds, and Israel and Jews… he also went expatiating the cons of Arabs, Turks, and Persians… hailing the Kurds and Jews… encouraging Barzani to go on separation and establishing the Kurdish state… and that Israel is going to strongly support them… the Kurdish reaction in the party came thankful, affirming that the relation will continue and that Kurds will go ahead with the referendum and consequently separation!

I believe many have seen all these incidents already; however this introduction does not mean I accuse Kurds of treason or of collaborating with the Zionists… otherwise the definite condemnation would be the result… as it is well known that there have been Israeli-Kurdish relations since the time of Mulla Mustafa Barzani and his colleague Talabani.

However, it is also known that the issue of minorities in the region in general is worth adopting a proper immediate stance… specially that such problem is spread everywhere in our Arab world from the far north-east to the far south-west… as doctrinal, religious, and ethnic minorities are present everywhere in the Arab countries, Iran, Turkey, and Ethiopia… and maybe one can find a human group in a certain country that represents a doctrinal, religious, or ethnic minority… here, it is important that we should pay attention to the sub-cultures that form part of the total cultural composition of a certain country or state.

It is a recurring old matter that will go more on flames despite that the American, Turkish, and Iranian stance regarding the Kurdish case opposes their separation and establishing a Kurdish state… however, this stance, which may develop into standing practically against any separatist step, will not cure or alleviate the problem as it got more complicated throughout history after the majority – if one can use such term – including always the ruling authority, has neglected “the rights of the minorities” as it is called in today’s international language of politics.

I may have the right to call it, from another perspective, the respect of doctrinal, religious, and ethnic diversity… and hence the cultural diversity inside the society and the necessity to pay attention to all sub-cultures… and the reflection of such thing in education programs, media, and services as well… also in the ruling authority and its bases in state institutions… as the absence of such respect was practically one of the reasons that led to the spread of terrorism in the name of religion… as we all know that the backbone of the terrorism ideology is denying and contempt of other parties… and even denying them existence altogether, either by killing or alienation… or even uprooting their abstract existence religiously, culturally, and intellectually.

In such regard related to the Kurds in Iraq, I look for an answer to the question asking: why does the United States refuse one of the approaches that the American administrations sought to implement until that administration that designed and applied the so-called wave of “Arab Spring” came to power?... I here mean the approach of working on enflaming doctrinal, religious, ethnic conflicts and the social ones as well… and dismantling the civilization-sophisticated entities like Iraq, Levant, and Egypt into mini-states or cantons… for the state of the Jewish minority to have the upper hand in the region and remain the more advanced and stronger model to follow.

Back to the case of the situation of what is called “minorities”, due to having diversity in a society like the Egyptian one… also, due to history and civilization… all these factors prevent us from talking about minorities in the conventional meaning of the term… however, and despite such unique national cultural civilization diffusion, we were and still are suffering from absence of paying respect to our diverse cultural components… also, our curricula in the tertiary and university education systems still ignore and neglect many of our cultural, civilization, and historical components.

In such regard, many wrote about such thing and many seminars and conferences were held… also, group communities and commissions were formed… but we did not achieve a noticeable improvement in such direction… moreover, the relation between some “minorities” and the Zionist state was in the first place for the sake of looking for a regional support backing the political movements representing the minorities… and of course the Zionist state did not miss the rare chance to poke its intelligence fingers that work on weakening the Arab countries facing it, including Iraq whose some of its ruling regimes, especially during the time of Ba’ath party of Saddam Hussein, tried to deal with the Kurdish case properly, even if on the formal level… and so, they had a vice-president of the Kurds in addition to what looks like an autonomous governing… despite all this, here is the Kurdish problem exacerbates again and moves fast towards separation and afterwards the state that will have the Iraqi land – in case it was established – as the first part of it… then it may extend to include the big Kurdish state stretching in Iran, Syria, and Turkey… and I think to some other areas in Asia.

I do not want to go on talking about what was called the Amazigh case… along with the issue of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro… also, the issue of South Sudan and the eastern region of the Saudi Kingdom… and even here in Egypt, we have to admit the situation of the Christian Copts in Egypt that sometimes goes on fire.

The issue of minorities is not easy… unless efforts are dedicated to guarantee a full and on-the-ground respect for doctrinal, religious and ethnic diversity and cultural mix, the consequences will be grave.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on August 24, 2017.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2017/08/blog-post_24.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #minorities #arab_world #diversity #kurds #Iraq