{"id":3441,"date":"2011-02-01T18:52:53","date_gmt":"2011-02-02T01:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bspcn.com\/?p=3441"},"modified":"2011-02-01T18:52:53","modified_gmt":"2011-02-02T01:52:53","slug":"a-guide-how-not-to-say-stupid-stuff-about-egypt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/2011\/02\/01\/a-guide-how-not-to-say-stupid-stuff-about-egypt\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide: How Not To Say Stupid Stuff About Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Written by <a href=\"http:\/\/sarthanapalos.wordpress.com\/2011\/01\/31\/a-guide-how-not-to-say-stupid-stuff-about-egypt\/\" target=\"_blank\">sarthanapalos<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The past few days I have heard so many stupid things from friends, blogs, pundits, correspondents, politicians, experts, writers that I want to pull my hair.\u00a0 So, I will not beat around the bush, I will be really blunt and give you a handy list to keep you from offending Egyptians, Arabs and the world when you discuss, blog or talk about Egypt.\u00a0 Honestly, I would think most Progressives would know these things, but let\u2019s get to it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cI am so impressed at how articulate Egyptians are.\u201d\u00a0 Does this sound familiar?\u00a0 Imagine saying this about a Latino or African American?\u00a0 You don\u2019t say it.\u00a0 So don\u2019t say it about Egyptians.\u00a0\u00a0 Gee, thank you oh great person who is of limited experience and human contact for recognizing that out of 80 million people some could be articulate, educated and speak many languages.\u00a0 Not cool.\u00a0 Don\u2019t say it.\u00a0 You may think it, but it makes you sound like a dumb ass.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cThis is so sad\u201d:\u00a0 No, sad were the thirty years of oppression, repression and torture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201d I loved Sadat\u201d:\u00a0 Mubarak was made of the same cloth of Sadat.\u00a0 Same repression, same ill-treatment of their people, yet you were all in love with Sadat.\u00a0 Hmm, where and when do you think the repression started?\u00a0 The State Of Emergency?\u00a0 Sadat was not loved by the Egyptian people.\u00a0\u00a0 Why do you love Sadat?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cWhat they did to the Mummies is horrible\u201d:\u00a0 Yes, but who did it?\u00a0 Think, Mubarak, for years has been playing the \u201cI am the stabilizing force\u201d.\u00a0 The one thing you know about Egypt, the stuff that was underground and from the past, you will be distraught and find the protestors to be disgusting.\u00a0 Yet it was not the protesters who did it.\u00a0 In Alexandria, the young people protected the library.\u00a0 Did anyone carry that story?\u00a0 Statement from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bibalex.org\/News\/NewsDetails_en.aspx?id=3128&amp;Keywords=&amp;fromDD=-1&amp;fromMM=-1&amp;fromYY=-1&amp;toDD=-1&amp;toMM=-1&amp;toYY=-1\">Director of the Alexandria Library<\/a>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><em>The library is safe thanks to Egypt\u2019s youth, whether they be the staff of the Library or the representatives of the demonstrators, who are joining us in guarding the building from potential vandals and looters.\u00a0 I am there daily within the bounds of the curfew hours.\u00a0\u00a0 However, the Library will be closed to the public for the next few days until the curfew is lifted and events unfold towards an end to the lawlessness and a move towards the resolution of the political issues that triggered the demonstrations.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cThe Muslim Brothers are Terrorists\u201d\u00a0 Maybe you should look at their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ikhwanweb.com\/\">English Website<\/a>, or try something easy like this link<a href=\"http:\/\/terrorism.about.com\/od\/politicalislamterrorism\/a\/MuslimBrothers.htm\"> Check this out<\/a>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><em>The Muslim Brotherhood is not on the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organizations list. It renounced violence in the 1970s and has no active militia (although a provocative <a href=\"http:\/\/www.coanews.org\/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=1603\">martial arts demonstration in December 2006<\/a> raised some alarm that they may be regrouping a militia.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Nevertheless, the Muslim Brotherhood or Ikhwan Al Muslimun in Arabic, is frequently mentioned in relation to groups such as <a href=\"http:\/\/terrorism.about.com\/od\/groupsleader1\/p\/Hamas.htm\">Hamas <\/a>and <a href=\"http:\/\/terrorism.about.com\/od\/groupsleader1\/p\/AlQaeda.htm\">Al Qaeda.<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cThe Twitter Revolution\u201d. No, this is the Revolution of the Egyptian people.\u00a0 Egyptians resisted for decades.\u00a0 They were tortured, jailed and repressed by the Mubarak and Sadat regimes.\u00a0 Twitter and Facebook are tools.\u00a0 They did not stand in front of the water canons, or go to jail for all these years to get the credit.\u00a0 There were demonstrations all summer long and for a several years through out Egypt but they are rarely covered, because we are worried about what Sarah Palin said, or some moronic Imam saying something stupid.\u00a0 Does it sound a bit arrogant to take credit for a people\u2019s struggle?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cThe women are so brave\u201d:\u00a0 Egyptian women have always been brave.\u00a0 If you want to know about Sadat\u2019s Egypt, read Nawal El Saadawi\u2019s memoir while in jail.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Memoirs-Womens-Prison-Literature-Middle\/dp\/0520088883\/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1296499465&amp;sr=8-3\">Memoirs from the Women\u2019s Prison<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cAl Jazeera has come to it\u2019s own\u201d: Al Jazeera has been on it\u2019s own, you just only noticed. .\u00a0 Do you think you believed the Bush administration spin about Al Jazeera?\u00a0 Just maybe you believed the bullshit?\u00a0 They must be doing something right if all the factions on the ground want to shut them down.\u00a0 The tyrants, the US and the Israelis.\u00a0 Hmm, maybe they are speaking truth to power?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cMubarak kept the peace treaty\u201d: So, what do you think, if the Egyptian people choose another government, they will go to war with Israel?\u00a0 Maybe they will demand a few more things from Israel in how they negotiate with the Palestinians.\u00a0 Maybe Gazans will get better treatment?\u00a0 Maybe the balance of power will not be tipped over to Israel?\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/world\/2011\/jan\/31\/israel-egypt-mubarak-peace-treaty-fears\">Egypt protests: Israel fears unrest may threaten peace treaty<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 Hmm, so we should support the oppression of 80 million Egyptians for a false stabilization?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cIf they get Democracy they will elect extremists\u201d.\u00a0 Imagine if the world said that about America.\u00a0 The Tea Party threatens world stability, as did the Bush administration.\u00a0 How would you like if others used that as a threat to support an autocrat who made all opposing parties illegal?\u00a0 In truth, US politics threaten world stability more than Egypt does.\u00a0 Second, the implication is that democracy is not to be trusted in the hands of \u201ccertain\u201d nations, people and religions is offensive, racist and ignorant.\u00a0 You do not claim to value human rights, democracy and freedom and then you make exclusions based on race, nationality and religion.\u00a0 Don\u2019t say this shit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cThe people are so nice\u201d:\u00a0 Yes they are, it\u2019s your ignorant self that assumed they are all terrorists and fanatics.\u00a0 What did you think?\u00a0 Glad you went to Egypt and found the Egyptians nice.\u00a0 After all, they do have a cosmopolitan civilization of over 5,000 years, yet you reduced them to \u201crag heads\u201d , \u201cjihadists\u201d, \u201cali babas\u201d, \u201cterrorists\u201d, the list is endless.\u00a0 Imagine saying this about African Americans?\u00a0 Asians?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 Just don\u2019t fucking say it.\u00a0 It\u2019s patronizing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s time Egyptians were heard.\u00a0 It\u2019s time the pundits and \u201cEgypt hands\u201d (old recycled western diplomats) were retired. These people were as good at predicting the current events as our economists were in predicting the economic calamity.\u00a0 I am glad you all got to see things from Egypt outside your comfort zone.\u00a0 Maybe now, you can give Egyptians and Arabs some respect.\u00a0 The people in Egypt are struggling for human rights, dignity and freedom.\u00a0 Like the rest of us, they want the economic means to care for their families.\u00a0 Break down those closed ideas that dehumanize the Arab and Egyptian people in general.\u00a0 That is all I ask.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bonus:My response whenever a theist asks me: &#8220;What if you&#8217;re wrong?&#8221; <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/svTep.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by sarthanapalos The past few days I have heard so many stupid things from friends, blogs, pundits, correspondents, politicians, experts, writers that I want to pull my hair.\u00a0 So, I will not beat around the bush, I will be really blunt and give you a handy list to keep you from offending Egyptians, Arabs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3441"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3441"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3442,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3441\/revisions\/3442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}