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Arabs fail even to win a wooden medal
Oh, well. Maybe someday they'll make "Blowing shit up" an Olympic event...Can't do that for the same reason softball is being dropped as an Olympic sport -- the winner is always the same ... In the Jordanian comic series "Collag," a guard stands at the gate of the 21st century and searches the identity cards of those who wish to access the modern age. The guard with a sense of humor asks a Japanese man "what did you do to deserve entering the 21st century?" The man answers that he invented many technological equipments and went to many wars and won some and lost some others, but recovered and offered many important contributions to human history. The scenario repeats with individuals from China, America, Canada, Europe, Australia and Africa; all reported what they accomplished in the twentieth century and their attributions to human history to deserve entering the new century an so on and so forth. Then came the turn of the Arab who walks up to the gate full with self confidence and the guard asks him the same question "what are the Arab contributions to human history over the past one hundred years? What did they invent? What did they create in the fields of Natural and Social Sciences?" After pausing, in deep thought, the Arab answers "nothing." The guard refuses to let him into the 21st century and kicks him from the gate and informs him that there is no place for him in the new age. The guard continues, saying that he is just a consuming being who cries and complains a lot and is useless for humanity. This guy writes for Ma'an? A similar answer would have to be given if the guard in the TV series asked what Arabs had contributed to the Olympics this year. We feel ashamed and disgraced that the Arabs did not get any gold medals except for two bronze for North Africa. The Olympics is a chance for world TV stations to film Arabs doing something other than carrying guns.
Neither did we win a medal for sword fighting, or horse riding or even any gymnastic event. The only Olympic quality gymnastics Arabs are performing these days are within various intelligence departments around the globe; doing the splits with one leg in the Jordanian service and the other in offices in Cairo. So, congratulations for the Arab leaders on their failure, congratulations to the Arabs on their weakness. We will always be stretching our necks hoping to win a golden medal while the Arab radio stations and their satellite channels are hailing ancient days of horse riding and sword fighting and claiming that they can still defeat the enemy. And we say to them, who live half in a rosy past: "shame on you... shame on you... enough with your hypocrisy and meaningless paranoia." Nasser Lahham is the Chief Editor of Ma'an News Agency in Bethlehem Posted by: tu3031 2008-08-22 |
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