Recientemente, a consecuencia de un artículo firmado por Peter Banham en el digital ‘Conflict and Security’, publicado en el grupo ‘Conflicts and Studies’ de LinkedIn, acerca de la situación política y religiosa producida en Egipto tras el golpe de estado contra el expresidente Morsi, se han enviado una serie de comentarios por parte de tres personas: Una española, un norteamericano y un etíope. Creo que estos comentarios que no traduzco porque perderían su esencia, ponen de manifiesto diversos ángulos o puntos de mira de una situación. Luego los comentarios van cambiando de tema, del religioso al estrictamente político de la acción que se avecina sobre Siria. Algunas de mis opiniones difieren de las de Gary sin ser discrepantes. Luego he visto otro artículo en el digital ya mencionado sobre la ‘intervención humanitaria’, el rol de la ONU y el posible de la Comunidad Internacional. Tesfaye escribe en un inglés africano que se entiende perfectamente.
Teresa Fernandez Herrera • Arab and post Arab spring. To expect democracy overnight from systems that were never based on democratic principles is to expect the impossible. They are moslem, the ones and the others and when a supposed to be democratic election is won by radicals it means that the country’s majority is radical and then everybody blesses a military coup d’état, (Egypt). About Syria that in less than 48 hours will be under the charitable bombing of USA & allies. Who sold the Syrians chemical weapons? The same as many years ago did to Iraq? Will these ‘democratic’ bombs not kill Syrian civilians, children included? Once more the story is repeated: Avail or not avail from the UNO, Big Brother sets up himself as the world’s moral conscience…to kill far from home.
And in this framework, what do other religious minorities have in store? Difficult times, they become a target for the majorities radicalized by the fanatical fight for power or does anybody believe at this point that Syrian or Egyptian oppositions are true democrats?
Jesus continues being crucified in the 21st century…
Gary Hallford • There is a significant difficulty in understanding a region which gave birth to all of the Abrahamic religions, but are Hell-bent on destroying each other over inconsequential issues of doctrine. There is a similarity between huge car companies fighting each other over for market share—Who has the sexiest styling, et al….
I agree with Teresa Fernandez Herrera over the duplicity of the sanctions after [we?] sold them the arms to begin with. How do you justify the initial action, while damning the customer[s]? When did hypocrisy become a sanctifying ideology? What is the end result of intervention? Ignoring reality?
The sole responsibility lies with the profiteers who are more than happy to make huge amounts of money from the destruction of untold others. There is an appropriate term in German: schadenfreude. This is where you get almost orgasmic pleasure from the misfortune of others. I am sad to see this coming into play, not that it hasn’t been part of our historical background, but in the post-Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission world, corporations have attained near Godhood. This might fatten the wallets of a select few, but it destroys the lives of the other 99% of the population….
Today is the 50th anniversary of of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s «I Have A Dream» speech. From the results of these last few decades, I fear the dream is dead….
Tesfaye Melaku • I think you have a bad opinion on the relationship between Arab and Christian and Arab and Muslim. I think you have an intention to relate Arab only on Muslim. This is really wrong conclusion. The Arab land is the land of both Muslim and Christina. The owner of the Arab Spring is not only Islamic People but also Christian. Therefore, unless you want to bind your attitude or information about this,always the Fate of Christian in the Middle East is not differentiated from the Fate of Muslim in the Middle East.
Teresa Fernandez Herrera • Dear Tesfaye, you are right, Arabs were there before Christianity & of course Muslim, may I remind you that Christians were there 622 years before the Prophet went to Mecca? You are right, Arab land is the land of both. And it is a fact that both religions have been fighting each other for centuries for the sake of a power based on religious preeminence. That’s history, a history that continues upto today…Aren’t Copt Christians persecuted right now in Egypt by the Muslim Brothers because they joined Morsi’s opponents? Tesfaye it’s not a matter of bad opinion, not at all, it’s facts.
Gary Hallford • It appears that the personal opinion[s] take prominence over matters of political, social, and religious history. All three of the primary religious sects in the region are mostly in an odd dichotomy between what their teachings dictate, and the human compulsion for protection o of what we’re comfortable with. Perhaps the most functional prophet in the region has been Muhammad, because he helped to bring a solid rationality within his own extended community. However, in order to make these decisions, he had no choice but to alienate members of other sects who were not ready to listen to his interpretation of reality.
I personally am a Buddhist, so tend to look upon these Abrahamic religions as more of an outside observer than trying to find fault with one, or sanctify the other[s]. As such, it never ceases to amaze me just how entrenched some of these doctrinal differences are, and to what extremes one group or another will go in order to demonize the thoughts, actions, and beliefs of their challenger.
All have a certain amount of traditional validity, but they each are ensconced with a huge level of hypocrisy and duplicity. In order to peacefully coexist, they must each accept the other’s right to choose certain aspects as predominant, while refraining from the practice of other tenets. This will not occur within my lifetime, but there must be some hope for the future. Any other result will be disastrous….
Tesfaye Melaku • Wow , Teresa do you think that Muslim and Christian in Egypt will not leave together. The opinion of Muslim Brother members, not the party even, is not the opinion of Egypt’s people. So, christian in this world will continue with their friends as usual. Attacks in Church of Cairo is not an indicator of conflicts between the two. Because there are hundred mosques attacked by the same people who have no goat for their uprisings.
Teresa Fernandez Herrera • Yes Tesfaye, people have always survived wars and riots and even become stronger out of them. But what about the suffering, the losses, the killings right now in the 21st century as it were centuries ago? Haven’t we learnt anything about respecting each other’s ideas, beliefs? It is so sad, but you know it’s something in human’s gens. Sadly we’ve got the gen of violence. Men are wolves for men
Tesfaye Melaku • Dear my friend Teressa, I am the human right activist in Ethiopia. I respect the right of an individual and groups, I expect politician to do so. And I struggle for that but both Muslim and Christians right must respect by those bad political leaders. The rights of people are violated by both governing and opposition bodies.
Gary Hallford • Pay attention to Syria…
Teresa Fernandez Herrera • Yes Gary, the bombing is closer every minute. Chemical weapons are unbearable, the rest of weapons that for two years have massacred Syrians on both sides seem to be quite respectable ones.
Tesfaye, as an African you must be quite aware that with few exceptions politicians & army high officials are absolutely corrupt, the richer the country the worse, it is there where foreign predators are part of the team.
Congratulations for being a human rights activist. As so don’t ever forget African women are the first victims of the situations on those countries. I’m friendly with some women activists. Do yo know Annie Mbutu from CDR?
Gary Hallford • I really hate to «beat a dead horse», but the primary issue in every sector of humanity is the overt greed and self-centeredness overtaking common sense (or decency). Most of the current, past, and future conflicts, only benefit a small minority of people, while being a pox upon the rest.
How many working class folks want war? Since they are almost always the first to be called upon to defend the realm, after a few centuries (or millennia…), of being ignored by those you have fought for, what is the expected response? Blindly follow the dictates of the 1% profiting off this madness?, or rise up in defiance and be called traitors?
My natural father was a highly decorated Green Beret in Vietnam. I never had the chance to meet him, but tend to think he was just a healthy kid who wanted to escape the probability of being sucked into the West Virginia coal mines. Might as well grab a gun and go kill people who’ve not done him wrong, rather than join the mine workers and die early from «Black Lung» disease. Making that choice does not make him a hero, simply trying to survive the insanity surrounding his circumstances…
The same can be said of almost every other divisor in the current conflicts: «I may not agree with X, but they provide a better alternative to Y or Z…» This is the dilemma in the Middle East. The West, particularly Americans, want things to be simply linear: Yes or No; Up or Down; Right or Left; ad infinitum…, when most of the rest of the planet is not that stupidly obtuse.
Go to any paint store, and try to pick a shade of GREY. Simple? Take a 5 gallon bucket of White, and drop in 1: 100,000,000,000% Black. Is it still White? Same goes for the bucket of Black. HOW MANY SHADES OF GREY ARE THERE???
In the current crises, there is no definitive «right» or «wrong», because to make such a judgment involves negating the social, cultural, religious, political, ethical, and such a wide variety of other variables we rarely consider, that NOONE IS SATISFIED. Only one constant remains: USE OF CHEMICAL & BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CANNOT BE ALLOWED ANYWHERE. (period)
Gary Hallford • ADDENDUM: As is noted in many of my Facebook postings, there are certain things where «I’d rather be homosexually raped by a rabid rhinoceros than…», and in the case of waging war (full-scale or limited), I believe Barack Obama feels the same way. Of all his accomplishments, nothing makes him look like a «hawk».
Conversely, as a matter of MORAL and INTERNATIONAL LAW[S], he has no choice but to respond to these reports of chemical weapons being used against civilians. I’m confident that he has hoped and prayed for almost any other alternative than to launch yet another combat operation, anywhere on the planet. BUT HE HAS NO FUCKING CHOICE IN THE MATTER!!! FDR knew of Auschwitz, but stayed out until Japan forced him into WWII. He may well have been the best POTUS ever, but he lacked the moral conviction to speak up when absolutely necessary. Obama would prefer an option, but is a sufficiently adequate history scholar to know better….
I do not believe in God, but if I’m wrong, may he/she give appropriate guidance and solace to all involved parties…
Teresa Fernandez Herrera • The problem Gary is not really who uses chemical & biological weapons, but who creates them and who sells them. Why such weapons should exist? Because this is a fucking capitalist obsolete system. That’s the main point. We know the world has always produced psycopaths who attain power and use it perversely. Sometimes they are even elected democratically. But there are a few powers with the capacity of producing all kind of weapons and many others with the only capacity of buying them!
I’ve ever been fond of B. Obama but allow me so say that this issue is not only his, he is under tremendous pressures. I’ve heard him saying «I, as world leader, cannot allow the use of chemical weapons. World leader…? And what’s then the UNO there for? Just to skip rules over because you are powerful? Believe me, the world is just fed up of such self appointed American role.
But right now the Empire is somewhat cracking and there is a need to demonstrate power in order to be respected as such. Just as the Godfather did. US doesn’t care a bit about Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and all the etcs we all know. US cares about interests. Period. The whole world knows that, maybe except Americans.
Then, «a limited campaign from the air». «We don’t want to fire Ashad out». Fantastic! Does that make any sense? A campaign from the air is the most possible coward action for it causes a total defencelessness. And bet civilians will get killed no matter how «selective» the bombing is intended to be. That without considering the probability of wider unwanted consecuences.
Who’s responsible for the world caotic situation? That 1% you mentioned in your comment. Ridiculous!
See what happened in England. Cameron had to withdraw because the Parliament was opposed to joining the action.
