No Past.. No Future. Not even Present!

By: Ahmed M. ElNahhas – Pisa, July 22^nd 2015.

The traditional/conventional, yet liberal, environment in which I was raised, has been the crucible where  the fundamental social and religious values melted together to forge the person I have become. Values like family, love, tolerance, respect, integrity, honesty, mercy, loyalty, solidarity, independence and reason; have outlined, among others, the untouchable boundaries of my mind’s Liberty and Freedom. Accordingly, we (my generation and I) lived by the code: my liberty ends where yours begins.. Simple and practical.

Today instead, things have drastically changed.. Every known value to my aging brain has turned into its precise opposite, and I can’t recognise my stand anymore, because the gap separating Conventional from Modern is dangerously widening.

Every decade new standards are being set and re-set to establish new modifications to the existing measures. Why? To meet the new Demand.. The frequent modifications could be justifiable in the fields of scientific research and discoveries; but not in moral, ethic and ideal Principles and Values.

Example: the Medical Society can modify in + or – the parameters measuring the diagnosis and therapy for a certain pathology, but only as a result of a thorough scientific research, or in light of new discoveries, not based upon a debatable Market Research.

Also the decreasing of an established measure of pollution for political reasons cannot be justifiable or even acceptable, because it affects negatively the health standards of a given population against the positively growing benefits of an industrial lobby.

Things became worse when such modifications began to show on moral, social and political Values and Principles.. A trend which started earlier in the 17^th and 18^th centuries  as a Populist Demand to conquer and defeat the Absolutistic dominion of Monarchic and Religious Institutions over every aspect of the commons’ daily life; but soon after the Great Revolutions that trend turned upon the essence of existence itself: Family and Gender.

Only in the past seven decades, terms like Freedom and Liberty have suffered the consequences  of many modifications, procuring them the kind of elasticity, and flexibility, that allowed them to include Dissoluteness, Disintegration, and Libertinage! Thus, in today’s New Globalised World Order, sacrosanct Conventional values as Freedom of Expression and Civil Rights became the safe haven for Pornography, Civil Unions, Same Gender Union and Marriage, Free Safe Sex, Abortion.. Etc.

When Modern became synonym to Progress, the Conventional and Regress became one!! Henceforth, everything became appetisingly feasible and acceptable with no limits or barriers of any kind: Moral, Ethical, Social, Traditional, Political, Economic or Religious. Because all of these have been absorbed by the term Modern Civilisation.

Conventional as I am, I refuse that Civilisation.

Pass On The Word.

It’s time to throw away the crutches.. Forever.

By: Ahmed M. ElNahhas – Castelfiorentino, July 17^th 2015.

The western Judeo-Christian civilisation, have always treasured fear and doubt from a possible re-unification of the Muslim World; therefor it has done everything in its might to keep the Muslims divided and torn apart.. Due credit must be acknowledged to the Muslims themselves.

Ever since the age of the Great Discoveries and the rise of Colonial economies, the Western Empires have spared no effort to further inflame every type of political, social, tribal, religious, cultural, sectarian or ethnic differences, even rivalries.. The examples are numerous and mostly are of public dominion and rather easily traceable.

It must have been Dr. Martin Luther King who said: “No one can ride on your back unless it is bent”!!

Hence, I see fit and coherent to the subject, these coming lines extracted from my book “Requiem For The Dream – A Cry for Indignation calling for Commitment”:

>>>>>QUOTE<<<<<

Two years before the bloodiest massacre in recent history, known as “The Great War” (otherwise commonly referred to as WWI) could come to an end; just few months before the secret meeting took place, in which the first draft of the “Sykes & Picot Accords” was presented, for approval, before the British Crown’s Prime Minister and his French counterpart; and perhaps even unaware of the two empires’ plot to define their proposed spheres of influence, and to equally split the Provinces (Welayat) of the Ottoman Empire (the last official Muslim Caliphate); precisely in January 1916, T. E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence Of Arabia) described, in an intelligence memo, the Arab Revolt as “beneficial to us, because it marches with our immediate aims, the break-up of the Islamic ‘bloc’ and the defeat and disruption of the Ottoman Empire, and because the states [Sharif Hussein] would set up to succeed the Turks would be … harmless to ourselves … The Arabs are even less stable than the Turks. If properly handled they would remain in a state of political mosaic, a tissue of small jealous principalities incapable of cohesion”.

Michal Korda, Lawrence’s biographer, while analysing the outcome of 1919’s Paris Peace Conference, wrote:

“Indeed, it is typical of Lawrence that he managed to get Prince Feisal, the leader of the Arab Revolt, and Chaim Weizmann, the Zionist leader, to sit down together in January 1919 and sign an extraordinary agreement (largely drafted by Lawrence himself) that would have created a joint Arab-Jewish government in Palestine, with unlimited Jewish immigration. Feisal conceded that Palestine could contain 4 million to 5 million Jewish immigrants without harm to the rights or property of the Arab population, a number not greatly different from the number of Jews living in Israel today”.

>>>UNQUOTE<<<<<

I don’t know why the issue have suddenly overtaken my thoughts the very moment I saw the untactful act, yet spontaneous, by which Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, tried to comfort the weeping Palestinian child fearing deportation.

Is it because the hawkish New Conservative Right is winning grounds every moment all over the globe, and crushing along its path every Human & Civil Right; using new tools like Financial and Economic hegemony to break, conquer and colonise the ‘Other’?

Perhaps even the way Germany’s deep sense of guilt, combined with Jewish chronic paranoia, have always seasoned most of Europe’s political and economic decisions?

Or maybe is it that we, the Arab/Muslim populations, were unable, or just reluctant, to question our choices?

One reason equals any other.. The bitter fact is that we have been hanging the tragic consequences of our choices on ignorance and poverty - and using them the way a differently able person stands only bearing upon crutches - though knowing that they are only excuses.. Forgetting that the very few moments of glory which sparked for a short while through our long history, have shone bright when the ultra-majority of us were ignorant and poor.

Pass On The Word.

PS: This morning (July 18^th) German media reported a high level governmental official saying that the Palestinian child is speaking perfect German language and seem well integrated within the society, and it is for such individuals that the emigration laws and asylum norms must be reviewed. Some are interpreting this as an official PR spot to clear Angela’s much criticised act.

EU Nav For Med.

By: Ahmed M. ElNahhas – Montopoli, June 29^th 2015.

On May 27^th , under “Humanity? A hopeless case”, I wrote: “Parliaments and Governments do not hesitate for a glimpse of an eye while voting for a war; and their financial and logistic contributions are ready at a moment’s notice.. But when it comes to saving lives (others of course) they take all the time in the world, and the topic on top of their agendas’ priority list becomes Domestic Unease and Security Hazards”.

Desperate refugees at large.. Circled in red are the floating corps of the dead. 

Today, while trying to put some order into my study, I stumbled over several pencil written notes dated 23^rd of June – apparently left to remind me of topics that I should follow on yet, for a reason or another, they were doomed to sink deep in my fading memory – reporting the headlines of some important news about EU’s debates over its urgent issue of the moment: REFUGEES!

To my astonishment, that day I surprisingly discovered, that 14 nations of the European Union have decided to unsheathe their swords to defend I don’t know what from the “Clear and Present Danger” called: REFUGEES! They are deploying their submarines, battleships, missile launchers, helicopters, and drones; all under the command of Italy (with its Hospital Ship and one thousand infantry soldiers)!

Commenting on that decision, Mr. Furio Colombo said that it’s an operation with scarce fantasy typical of European Vertices; and going through the recent history of that Biblical Exodus, caused by the twelve conflicts roaring about every corner of the region and bleeding its already lamed economies; he examined the steps that, over the past few years, Italy (alone without EU help or support) has taken to face the refugees phenomena:

Ø  First it was operation “Mare Nostrum” aiming to save lives of human beings fleeing danger and crossing the Mediterranean on fishing boats, tenders and fortune vessels.. It saved about 5000 souls!

Ø  Opposed by the Right block in Parliament, the operation was aborted leaving the floor to another plan code named “Triton” that didn’t count at all and saved no one.

Remained the question of what to do regarding those who have already landed and, whom against their own will, were obliged to be locked up surrounded by high fences in the ‘Housing Centres’ (the cool name for concentration camps) waiting for the outcome of useless endless talks and negotiations inside the corridors and counseling rooms in Brussels and Luxemburg; out of which Italy got nothing.

So, there is nothing left but to make war.. Not against the Human Traffic Lords on both sides of the sea.. Not against the corrupt officials here and there in Africa, Asia, and Europe who are lubricating the gears of their new ‘Gold making Business’.. Instead, Europe’s deployed fleets did not cast to plough the Mediterranean waters to save the refugees lives, but to sink the boats that transport them!!!

And the submarines??? Maybe their commission is to verify the collective deaths by drowning!!!

But how to justify a combat naval fleet and why the command to Italy? Colombo answers:

“On one hand, assigning the command to a conceited Italy, who obtained nothing in the first place, leaves the impression that it won everything; even Italy’s Minster of Foreign Affairs declared that the decision is a success.

And on the other, it specifies between the lines of many communiqués that: a) Libya will not be attacked if it doesn’t want to!! b) No war shall be launched if the UN will not give the go!!! c) It is allowed to make the bolds in open sea in order to hit the traffickers!!!!

Indeed, but the traffickers are never at sea.. Only the sailors.. Yes, but they are as well criminals, and we will sink them.. And the refugees? Either will go down with boat along with its sailors (an event verifiable by the submarines); or they will survive and land on Italian soil so that we’re back to square one.

It is a pity that the image of Italy is used for such a macabre game”.

Furio Colombo’s argumentations, though sarcastic, are much convincing and I agree with him. To conclude, I will quote myself repeating what I said two days ago:

>>>>>QUOTE<<<<<

As today’s world is swerving towards ‘Right’, and National Parties from every colour are winning grounds all over the globe; dividing and discriminating entire populations has become a cultural vogue rising over many racial, ethnic, sectarian and religious perceptions all commonly blinded by the “US vs. THEM”  spotlights; unable to see the fading “TOGETHER” candlelight.

Therefor, an inevitable “Regression Backward” is likely the most logic opposed reaction to cripple our existence. I think that many tangible present facts do support this conclusion of mine.

>>>UNQUOTE<<<<<

Pass On The Word.