19 May 2011
I'm annoyed
I’m annoyed by them. And by them, this time, I’m not talking about the regime here. I’m talking about a different group that’s annoyed me for quite some time.
A group that is hard to define but I see them every time I get on line. They annoy me now just as they annoyed me when I was in the US. They seem to be all over the world …
Who are they?
Well, I do think they probably mean well but from where I stand (well, sit), that’s not what comes across.
I’m talking about the people who have these kneejerk reactions to the events here and in the broader Arab nation. Everything is seen by them solely in how it plays in Washington or in Tel Aviv.
And I’m not talking right now about those other guys, the ones who are all about the power of the mighty IDF or the power of the mighty USAF. Those guys annoy me a lot; the neocons, ultra-militarists, Zionists, American exceptionalists, imperialists, colonists, racists, genocidalists, all of them … so please don’t get me wrong, I really dislike them!
Whom I’m talking about are the people who claim to be for human rights, pro-Palestinian, pro-democracy, pro-Arab and whatnot.
Them, they annoy me.
I see people outside who condemn us for standing up against this regime; they rally to Assad as he’s a ‘hero of resistance’ just as they have rallied to Ahmadinejad and Qaddafhi before. Believe it or not, I got an email a while back from a list I was on back in the States inviting me to a rally to support Qaddafhi! I almost threw up, I was so sickened.
But I wasn’t surprised. I’d seen that attitude in the US. People who claimed to be ‘progressives’, to be for the Palestinians, for the Iraqis and so on. I went once when I was younger to one of their rallies; I saw Palestinian flags among the red banners and thought that ‘hey maybe these are friends’. But then I listened closely. They weren’t pro-Palestinian; they were anti-American. Reactionaries. If the US President, whether Bush or Obama or who knows who, says ‘we’re for this’, they are against. If in his speech tonight, Obama says ‘the US is for one Palestine, complete, from the river to the sea, an Arab state’, those same folks (and you know who I’m talking about) will be waving blue and white flags and asserting that they stand with Israel now. Stalinoids in thinking, reactionary at heart. They are not our friends and never were but would use us for their games.
We are objects to them with our quaint and ‘authentic’ customs and ways of life; we are the benighted ones in our culture who simply need a mighty whitey, a hero from amongst them, to come to us and teach us about our oppression and lead us into the promised land.
I don’t have time for them and never did. They show their colors all the time. Willing to fight their domestic political opponents to the last Arab. We are as objects with no volition.
I wore hijab to one of those big rallies in Washington; “Stop the War” or whatever it was called. I was told I wore a symbol of my patriacrhal oppression, I was talked down to, I was pushed forward as a token. I am no one’s token, I am no one’s dupe. When you treat us like we are stupid, like we do not know your game, we know you are not our friends.
I see apologists for Assad now heartened by Obama; if America is for something, they are against. Why not make it clear we are just objects?
I remember once when Israel bombed Lebanon; a fundraiser for a purportedly pro-Arab group was to be held. I got invited and planned to go, bringing with me a number of friends. I wrote to them asking if it was possible for it not to be a boozefest … my friends, covered Arab muslimas, and I wanted to support the people in the South of Lebanon dying for their religion. Our families in Damascus were taking in refugees, as many as they could; the least we could do in America was to show our support and get in touch with whites who felt the same. But suggesting that, if you want to support Muslims, you might want to make it possible for them to show up at your events was met with a clear “Screw you buddy.”
It was for them never about solidarity with the oppressed but about making themslves feel good; they were the radical hipsters, more radical and hipper than thou. What did mere Arabs or mere Muslims know?
We in Syria – just like those seeking freedom in Libya or other places before – are at best, fools in their reckoning and distractions from the real goal … of being the most radical coolkids on the block … distracting from the ‘real’ issues of building a movement in the west to … get young hipsters laid.
They sing praises of the Palestinians, but please don’t confuse them with what actual people might really want. That isn’t cool …
And they serve as useful idiots for Assad. Distracting the world from the reality.
So, yes, I’m annoyed.
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7 comments:
Fucking hipsters.
They should die in a fire of space AIDS.
Yes, "reactionaries" seems a very apt description of these people. I was astounded at all the liberals in the US that compared the intervention in Lybia to Bush's invasion of Iraq and hysterically criticized it. I wish they could take 5 minutes to find out what the people of Lybia think about the NATO airstrikes, especially the citizens of Benghazi and Misrata. I generally identify with the liberals in the US (certainly more so than with the friggin' Republicans) but many liberals have recently displayed a profound ignorance of how the world works.
I do not see why a religious Muslim cannot go to a fundraiser because alcohol will be served. I am pretty sure that no one at the fundraiser who is not interested in drinking would be forced to do so. If you want to know why secular people have a problem with Islam, it’s not because they are Islamophobic. It’s because they do not need other people telling them how to live their lives.
Yes, suggesting that people should actually try and work with the people they claim to support is ever so evil of Amina. I think you make her point for her.
Realpolitik is an ugly thing.
It exists solely to feed the egos, agendas and pocketbooks of anyone who adopts a cause.
Most people are remarkably reasonable when you can finally get them to sit down with each other.
Neighbors who are 'different ' from each other can and do live next door to each all over the world, certainly in free and democratic societies.
For the radicals on either end of the spectrum the truth that people can and do get along is a terrifying prospect. Why? Because they are out of business if that is so, They become irrelevant and unimportant. They would have to live and contribute like everyone else. They would actually have earn their 'special' status. Like the rest of us, they would be judged by their actions and not simply by their causes and agendas.
Further, huge sums of money are raised by these 'agendistas' and the leaders of these groups live very well. I know from experience if another opportunity for greater money or greater media exposure is offered, 'agendistas' will jump ship faster than you can change your shirt.
Veganovich, you might be mistaken in your assessment.
Muslims can indeed go to any function and participate without partaking in alcohol or food that is haram to them. It happens everyday, all over the world. Business meetings, gatherings, lunches and dinners are all part and parcel of a plural society.
While I cannot speak for Amina, I suggest she was referring to a gathering, ostensibly under Muslim auspices. Imagine for a moment a gathering of vegetarians where burgers would be served or a Jewish religious gathering where pork is on the menu. Hardly appropriate.
Its not just in the US. In Canada too, there were people protesting in favor of Qaddafi, against intervention, and claiming that it was all part of some incredible western plot. *facepalm* At the same time, these people were claiming to be pro-human rights. and whenever you'd challenge them, they'd talk down to you.
the nato bombing campaign
is an act of neocolonialism and have
nothing to do with humanitarian
question. The fact that gheddafi is a butcher (and he is) but not "our son of bitch"
don't mean that we have to
support and applaud this crime.
I'm sorry if that bothers you but western media are full of propaganda( we are manipolate in a more sophisticated way that Iranians, Chinese, Arabic and Russian in general ).
Peace and Love or better:
"all we are saying is give peace a chance"
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