If you put your feet on British soil, I suggest that you go to the British Museum in London. Once there, have a look around the sections of the museum which are devoted to the looted artifacts of the Arab and Islamic world. Begin with the section on Pharaonic works and then move on to the works of Chosroes in Iran, followed by Assyrian and Babylonian works, and ending with a myriad of Islamic inscriptions. You will see with your own eyes the overwhelming proof of how these artifacts were obtained without the countries of origin being able to say a word! Or perhaps you will go to France. You raise your head and you see the Egyptian obelisk where it stands grandly in the most famous square in Paris. It was not enough for imperialism to loot the riches of other countries but it insisted on taking possession of the remains of even the history of past civilizations in all the countries of the world. Now we are faced with the American/British arsenal on the ground in Iraq.
Archaeologists have expressed fears that the archaeological remains in Iraq will be exposed to damage and that the country’s archaeological treasures will be subject to looting. It is as if the infantry were interested in destroying the remains long after they have died.
I do not know if an Arab individual still has the right to be sad once his right to talk inside his own country has been confiscated. But I know without doubt that sadness has become a crime to be punished in this stone age in which our consciences, along with our morals, have been shackled and hanged in the public squares. Yes, all of us know that our history is filled with tragedies and that Arab countries have always been exposed to the greed of others. Even so, the Arab people have been incapable, even in our time, of uniting in our sadnesses, casting aside our differences and bringing together our scattered parts. The pains we feel are divided between those who support the strikes on Iraq and those who oppose them. It is as if the nation of Arabism were forbidden to become a unified entity. There is embarrassing indecision at work inside every Arab about which path to follow after the lines have been drawn, the doors have been closed and the eyes have been blinded. However, in regard to the case of Iraq, it is clear that the cards have been mixed: There are those who support the viewpoint of the confused governing regime in Iraq and those who support the viewpoint of the conquered people of Iraq who have suffered from sanctions and starvation for more than 12 years. There are more than four million Iraqis living in exile who are searching for security and shelter. Who among us is not aware of the crimes this regime has perpetrated against the right of its own people? And who among us has not blamed Iraq’s aggression against its neighbors? Who among us has not shed tears for those killed in the war in Kuwait and the Kuwaiti prisoners of war who are still held in Iraq?
But the Iraqi regime is one thing and aggression against a sovereign state and people is something else. I refuse to export our pain. I decline to trade in our sadness. In our Arab world, we can find corrupt and repressive organizations whose unfair policies have helped to impoverish its people and have resulted in the scattering of Arabs from one end of the earth to the other. And this at a time when Allah has granted us much wealth! Do not these scenes litter the landscape in a number of our Arab countries? I am sorry but I refuse the very idea of liberating Arab countries from their tyrannical rulers if it requires the dropping of magnetized cluster bombs and the spilling of the blood of thousands of human beings and the destruction of everything both green and living. Nor do I have any confidence in the protection of Western governments, all of which are looking out only for their own interests from beginning to end. For how long will the West claim to be our saviors? For how long will non-Arabs ignore our pains? For how long will strangers pretend that they are sowing the seeds of freedom and democracy in our lands? That is our right and by doing so, they are attempting to perpetrate falsehood. It is a cheap goal behind which they hide under the pretense of pursuing noble ends. It is a dirty illegal war for swallowing up an entire country. The soldier who raised the American flag at Umm Qasr and then received orders to lower it did not make a mistake. He knew that whatever happens the goal is to occupy Iraq militarily and to gain control of its riches!
I need not pretend to be neutral because people all around the world, including the people of the West, have poured into the streets condemning the American policy and attacking the governments which support the war on Iraq, repeating the beautiful phrase “Not in my name!” The ghost of the war even hovered over this year’s Oscar ceremonies. Some of the artists raised banners of protest while others openly announced their opposition to the war. Yes! There is still hope so long as courage lasts and the idea can stir people. So long as the vocal chords of the people hold out and the Arab streets, like the streets in the West, are filled with protesters, uniting their voices in shouting “No” to tyranny and oppression, confirming in fact that they are more grieved than their governments and that it is vital to take a close look at what is actually happening in Iraq. The people of Iraq are resisting the American presence on their land. History confirms that defense of the sanctity of the nation motivates a man because he is fighting for his own plot of land. Witness the wickedness which overwhelmed Vietnam, Somalia and others. This is what has caused the US government to distribute caffeine to the soldiers participating in the Iraq war.
I encourage you to see the film “Blackhawk Down.” It is the story of an American pilot taken prisoner of war when American forces were stationed in Somalia See the film in spite of the fact that the American soldiers are shown as doves of peace while the Somalis are shown as blood-thirsty savages. I was not sympathetic to the American prisoner of war but I found myself amazed at the power of the people who fought the biggest and strongest country in the world with primitive weapons until they obliged the overwhelmingly strong to leave. It is a film which tells a true story about the defense of a nation — and remember that defense always requires sacrifices. When she saw me troubled by what is going on in Iraq, one of my friends said to me: “My friend, do not be depressed. It is a moment of truth which has come to ask them: Must our Arab societies be treated with such disdain? And must their dignity be wounded for all the world to see? Must they be exposed so that the Western world will be able to see the full extent of their failings and defects? My friend, do not cry over spilt milk even though there are neither cows nor goats in reserve! Why do we always run around in the same closed circle? Why, in our weakness, do we not try to find a bolt hole through which to escape? The rewards have begun to be distributed. All have begun to take their places in line waiting to receive their share as the trifling price for their position on the war on Iraq. Do you still think that some good will result from the stances that the Arab have assumed?”
She answered herself confidently: “Tomorrow is not so far away! It is impossible for values and morals to die forever. That is against the law of nature.” The words of my friend continue to ring in my ears and I am waiting.
(Zainab Hafni is a Saudi journalist based in Jeddah.)
Arab News Features 5 April 2003