There is a linguistic debate in the Arab press that goes beyond the shenanigans of semantics. There are those who want to have their say but are limited by what is “acceptable” to the censors.
There are others who simply will not confess to any truth beyond their own and use language to do a rain dance in print to feel “better” thinking they have convinced the whole world. A sizable majority is simply a hired pen or a pen hoping to be hired and paid handsomely. The most dangerous of the lot are those who come to the medium with this slogan: “What I tell you is the truth, and what you actually see, touch, and feel is nothing more than a vision projected on a screen put there by an Israeli plot.”
At the behest of a dear friend, I will attempt to put some guidelines for certain notions that are taken for “truths” around here while any intelligent person can see otherwise.
1. Our biggest enemy is not Israel or America. Our enemy is our dogmatic approach that leads us into more than temptation.
2. Our anger at the world these days is not justified since we are no more than crybabies who cannot get their visas on the same day we apply.
3. Israel is not wrong to build a wall; they are wrong in building it on other people’s land. We should know that since all our homes are walled in a way that makes the Israeli project silly in comparison.
4. It is not natural to employ suicide bombers to advance any agenda.
5. It is wrong to behead people in public to force others to do your will.
6. “Might is not right and neither is wealth.” That is direct quote from a learned source.
7. Saudis have no birthright to enslave expatriates only because they have the money to hire a maid or a cook.
8. You cannot have any sort of “election” in this day and age without women participating.
9. Those thugs on videos issued in Iraq and in the name of the Iraqi people, are not Iraqis. The accent says it all.
10. George Bush is not an inherent enemy. He is an “elected” official and should be held as such.
11. In spite of Okaz’s delirious reportage on Hail, there was no referendum on blowing the Barzan palace to smithereens. My Western readers will not understand the reference, but Saudis will. And I take full responsibility for this declaration.
12. Controlled elections, as we are promised to have, are a sham before they even take place.
13. Offering amnesty to thugs and murderers is wrong. And it won’t work.
14. The Saudi general public is not as stupid as the media around here thinks they are, and the American public is not as stupid as their media treats them.
15. A professor who cannot conjugate the verb “to put” should not be teaching English literature to students at our universities. (Name available on request).
16. Indians in this country are not sub-human. In fact, they are far smarter than we are and they have industries and educational institutions to prove it. They deserve our respect.
