Reflections on 9/11 from Egypt to America: Man’s destruction of Man
by Imane Fawzy Nofal
Article was sent on Sept 09, 2011
Scenes of fire on TV have really succeeded in damping my mood this afternoon. I entered the house a couple of hours ago after a nice family outing, the taste of those delicious cinnamon rolls still in my mouth and was greeted by news of the today’s demonstrations at the Tahrir Square in Egypt which had turned violent, culminating in a violent attack on the Israeli embassy and gangs rushing to police stations, setting cars on fire. Who would perpetuate such savage acts?
Although I am no fan of Israel’s, I would never cheer for acts of destruction. I would have applauded playing hardball with the Israeli ambassador if it was done by the government, but not this. To see a group of thugs deforming the Egyptian image in front of the world was so unacceptable!
I couldn’t stand listening to news analysis by those so called world activists on whether this was a plot by the military supreme council to apply ‘Martial laws’; or just a group of so called liberty activists; unruly demonstrators or thugs hired to defame the revolution, etc, etc, etc … I know by now that these discussions always end in one thing: chaos.
I thought to seek refuge from Facebook, where I would meet some friends and maybe discuss these developments. I read great comments like “Black days coming ahead, yay…“, “God please help us through this hardship…“, and “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are, it’s our choices…” Some of the comments made me laugh, others I meditated on.
I also decided to read a couple of articles, the first written by Mona Al Tahawy for the Guardian, and the other by Debbi Al Montasser for the Daily News. They are both American Muslims sharing their thoughts on the challenges of being Muslim post 11/9 drawing from their personal experiences, as the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center approaches — all to prove their love for America. The main message in these articles was that Islam is not what happened on 11/9.
I loved what they wrote because that which is personal always has its way into the heart. I was touched. I was after wards shocked by the comments left by some readers; for example: “why are you a Muslim?“, “… if you want to do America a good thing, Leave” … etc.
Let’s be objective — just as I cannot say that those savages who attacked the Israeli embassy represent all Egyptians, I won’t say that these offending comments reflect all Americans. I just feel sorry and sad for the human race. The question I keep asking is: if Egypt has the excuse of being a confused, developing country in need of time and direction as it becomes a democracy, what is the reason for such blatant bias against Muslims in a developed country like America?
I am reaching out for no logical explanations or defense — I don’t think they exist. I need not be philosophical because philosophy would do us no good. What was burnt in fire has already turned into ashes.
In Plato’s depiction of Utopia, everything was supposed to be perfect, there was to be no evil. Was it because Plato failed to include devils in his city? Or did he miss that Man himself is the essence of all evils?
Imane blogs at Express It 2 Live It
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