February 24, 2011

Left and right, they are all trying to understand.
Attempting to apply political analysis and knowledge to comprehend this overwhelming and allegedly "shocking" collective Arab uprising. But to no avail.
What we are witnessing in history is beyond science, it's beyond sociology, way beyond economics and class dynamics.
It's occurrences like these that are utter bafflement to analysts but ultimate elation to historians.
The irony is that we're so efficient at studying power struggles and ego trips, yet we're nowhere near close to understanding raw nationalist sentiment.
Most would not know how to give you a satisfactory definition of patriotism yet they are very capable of filling pages and pages on the science of control and authoritarianism.

There's no possible way of determining how these series of revolutions were ignited. Our only option is the metaphysical and the emotional. Faith, justice, frustration, vendetta, dignity, and humanity.

Arabs at this moment in history Arabs are collectively fearless. This is not about breaking stereotypes or proving ourselves to anyone. This is a matter of pure human dignity. Things that core nations take for granted and easily manipulate. Most "Western" nations cannot grasp the concept of being or having a member of their family incarcerated for years upon no criminal/civil indictment while suffering humiliation well beyond human threshold.
We complain about debt, responsibilities, work. They complain about suffering a back injury from a rocket-propelled grenade while hiding from mercenaries them down in hospitals. For the sole reason of speaking.

See, these people don't have the luxury of "complaint". They are not entitled to reprimanding their government representatives for federal budgets or health care.
You speak? You get ostracized, raped, beaten, killed.

Two days ago, Libyan protesters in Eastern Libya were killed with acid by the regime.
Dry charred residues of former selves, they were put on display on the streets of Benghazi to send the rest of the protesters home.
Yet the protesters' reaction is the zenith of revolutionary art.
They don't budge. They get even deeply moralized. Martyrdom further fuels purpose. It's a constant reminder of what it is that sent you to the streets in the first place.

Aside from politics, victory of Tunisians and Egyptians magnifies divine ethereal blessing. The drive of this revolution is more than human. It's beyond us yet it pulls us.

Most are hungry to witness Muammar Qadhafi suffer the savagery similar (if not harsher) to the very one he has been orchestrating upon Africans as well as his people for the past four decades. As much as I would love to see nothing but him be indicted in international court, no method of purgatory will be comparable to what he will suffer the day the sun rises from the West.

Us and Them.

I've been awestruck by the world's audacity to still manage to attack Islam at times like these.

If you are a loyal viewer of Fox News or supporter of the likes of Robert Gibbs and Glenn Beck please skip this entry.

I'm speaking as a Muslim Egyptian living in the USA for almost two years now.

Americans have become absolutely terrified by my people. We have been stigmatized beyond belief. Simply due to our belief system and ethnicity.

I won't go into Islamophobia right now, that's not why I'm writing this.

Throughout the last couple of days, all I can hear on CNN and from the White House is the unbearable trepidation caused by the Muslim Brotherhood possibly taking Mubarak's place post-regime.

It's absolutely ludicrous the amount of panic the word MUSLIM produces.

I want to make one thing very clear - the world needs to understand.

What you are witnessing in Egypt right this very moment is pure Egyptian nationalism. Right now, there is no prominent political denomination. What you are seeing on the streets on the news are Egyptian men, women, children, and the elderly. No hidden agendas. No strategy. No religious divide.

Is it any wonder that Muslims and Christians are collaborating despite the Alexandria Church explosion just a couple of weeks back?

Maybe the West can't get over the possibility of the non-existence of partisan interest in this revolt. But that's exactly what is taking place.

They can't wrap their minds around the patriotism we have that they have started lacking.

Just because some don't know what being American really means, doesn't mean Egyptians suffer the same ailment.

The Muslim Brotherhood did NOT spark these protests. Egypt's political future has not been determined yet, but one thing is for sure -- it is the people themselves that will shape it according to principles of social justice, equality, and fairness.

We are united and adamant.

We have surpassed petty divisions and partisan ego-trips.

We are Egyptians and we don't emulate any other nation. Stop trying to take us under, we will not budge.

Tunisia has led the way, and we are closely following up. This is the people's time.

We know what nationalism is, we know who we are.

We are not you, America.