My Brother

ماى براذر

بقلم أسامة فوزى
 

تورطت بعد أسبوع واحد من وصولى الى أمريكا عام 1986 فى مشروع تجارى خاسر التقيت على هامشه بسمسار عقارات باكستانى الأصل كان يخاطبنى بكلمة (براذر) من باب التحبب ولما قلت له انى مسلم معتدل، لا أحمل السلم بالعرض، قال لى انه مثلى تماما، بل واضاف - على سبيل النفاق - انه لايتردد على المسجد الا لاصطياد الزبائن!! فقلت له (مصوباً) ان الاعتدال الذى أعنيه لا يعنى النصب

وبعد أن أصدرت العدد الأول من عرب تايمز التقيت في مدينة هيوستون بولاية تكساس بـ (براذرين) كانا يملكان محلا لبيع اللحم الحلال، كان (الورع) يبُظ من أعينهما بظاً الى أن باعا المحل لـ (براذر) آخر، وكانت المفاجأة حين وقف أحد الاخوين فى المسجد تبرئة للذمة - كما قال - وذلك حين اعترف ان اللحوم فى محله الذي باعه (لا حلال ولا بطيخ)... وأضاف: كنا نشتريها من المسلخ الامريكي ونبيعها على انها حلال بعد ان نقرأ عليها الفاتحة

كان (البرذران) يبيعان كيلو اللحم (الحلال) بثلاثة أضعاف سعره فى السوق ( الامريكاني )، وهما لم يعترفا بعملية النصب باسم الاسلام لتبرئة الذمة - كما زعما - وانما فقط من أجل (خوبرة) المشترى الجديد و (تخريب بيته)!! وهو عربي ومسلم و ( براذر ) مثلهم

وشاءت الأقدار أن يعمل معى فى الجريدة (براذر) من طراز عجيب... كان يقضى أوقاته بـ (القبقاب)، يطرقع به ممرات العمارة التى تضم مكاتبنا كلما ذهب الى الحمام أو رجع منه بحجة الوضوء، كان (ماى براذر) يقضى ثلاثة أرباع (وقت العمل) على هذا النحو، وكان - يوم الجمعة - يهرب من العمل بعد العاشرة صباحا بحجة الرغبة فى أداء صلاة الجمعة ( جماعة ) مع باقي البراذرات  ولا يعود الى المكتب الا قبل انتهاء الدوام بدقائق حتى يوقع ويقبض ... لاكتشف بعد ذلك ان (ماى براذر) كان فى الواقع يقبض مرتبه منى.. ويعمل خلال أوقات الدوام الرسمى لغيرى من البراذرات

وفى السنة ذاتها التحق بنا (براذر) من جريدة عربية يومية معروفة ( الاهرام ) ليعمل كمخرج للجريدة، فأكرمناه وأسكناه فى شقة مفروشة، ولما قرر العودة الى بلده ، حملت حقائبه على ظهرى وأوصلته بسيارتى الى المطار، ولما طالبته (اللوفتهانزا) بدفع غرامة مقدارها (600) دولار بسبب الزيادة فى الوزن، سارعت الى دفع الغرامة بالنيابة عنه وودعته الى الطائرة بمصمصة الخدود على الطريقة البراذرية العربية... لكنى لما عدت الى الشقة المفروشة لتسليمها الى أصحابها، اكتشفت ان (البراذر) سرق كل أثاثها، وحمله فى الحقائب التى (عتلتها) له على ظهرى ودفعت غرامة الزيادة فى وزنها 600 دولارا.. ولم أصب بالدهشة - بعد سنوات - حين نشرت احدى الصحف المحلية فى بلده مقالاً ضدى تبين لى بعد ذلك ان كاتبه لم يكن الا (ماى براذر) الذى سرق الشقة المفروشة وهرب بها

فى السنة الماضية، رن جرس الهاتف فى مكتبى وكان على الطرف الآخر (براذر) من التابعية الباكستانية يعمل فى مهنة المحاماة، طلب منى أن أنشر اعلانه فى الجريدة لانه (براذر) مثلى على ان اعطيه سعرا خاصا لانه ( براذر )، فلم أخيب ظنه.. نشرنا اعلانه بسعر التكلفة، ومنذ ذلك التاريخ لم يدفع البراذر فواتيره، بل وطنش كل رسائلنا وهواتفنا مما جعلنا نلجأ الى القضاء، وستنظر المحكمة قريبا فى دعوانا ضده، وسيقضى بيننا قاض امريكي ليس من (البراذرات) على أى حال، وأقصى ما أطمح اليه فى الدعوى المرفوعة على (ماى براذر) هو أن أعرف وفق أى قاعدة فقهية أجاز لنفسه أن يأكل حقوق (البراذرات) الآخرين ... مثلي

فى رمضان الماضى، اخترت (براذر) من التابعية الايرانية لدهان منزلى، وقد اخترته من بين عشرة أشخاص لأنه قدم نفسه لى على انه (براذر) مثلى و (صائم) مثلى ولشدة ثقتى به سلمته الأجرة (نقداً) مقدما بل وتركته وحده فى المنزل ليعمل على راحته، ولما عدت مساءً لم أجد (البراذر)... لقد طار فجأة وطارت معه كاميرا فيديو وجهاز تسجيل وبعض الأدوات الكهربائية وشوية (كاش) وغرفة النوم والصالون والمطبخ.. وحتى أكون صادقاً وعادلاً أقول ان (ماى براذر) لم يسرق كل شىء فقد ترك لى صابونة الحمام ورزمة من ورق التواليت وبشكير أمسح به (.......) قبل أن يهرب ليلحق بموعد الافطار حتى لايفوته (المدفع) فيلحقه اثم كبير

لماذا لايريد (البراذارات) أن يفهموا ان (الدين المعاملة) وان الدين لم يكن يوما لحية ومسبحة وعنزة مخنوقة فى مسلخ هيوستون الحكومى يبيعها (البراذرات) لبراذارات مثلهم بثلاثة أضعاف سعرها فى (راندلز) و (كروغر) و (فياستا) وغيرها من المحلات الأمريكية المحترمة التى لايمتلكها

 والحمد لله - البراذارات

Full Speed Ahead .. !

Get the popcorn, defrost the Coke, and grab a seat and tune to Twitter: cause today was the day we were waiting for Saudi women to make history ! A campaign was started on Facebook asking all Saudi women to drive their cars in the streets of Saudi Arabia as an objection to the ban on driving, making Saudi Arabia the only country in the world that doesn't allow women to drive.

FYI, this isnt the first time that brave Saudi women took to the streets. This happened in November 1990 when 47 brave women drove their cars in Riyadh. Nothing happened of corse and it only got worse for these poor women, passports were confiscated, businesses closed, and husbands and fathers were ridiculed and taunted as not being able to "control their women" !

After watching closely the tweets unfold the action through the hashtag #women2drive , it seems nothing has changed much since the last incident 21 years ago except that the reaction was less fierce and only included a slap on the wrist, signing a pledge not to drive again, and a traffic ticket:

Which was a lot less than what Manal Al-Sherif suffered when she was detained for many days, not even allowed to go out to visit her sick hospitalized son!

My personal opinion to not acting strongly today was the pressure the USA and Human Rights have recently been putting pressure on Saudi Arabia regarding allowing women to drive. Let's wait and see if tomorrow will bring more light on the goverment's reaction.

The Western media had a great time with this story. BBC were looking for people to talk to over the radio , TIME , SKY News ,  and even Al-Arabiya (being a Saudi owned news channel) had a report about today. So congratulations Saudi women, you have been heard and seen and the world is now behind you. Lots of countries even started a "Honk for Saudi women" campaign and published many videos on Youtube, including American racer Leilani Munter !

Lots of Saudi men (surprise, surprise!) were not happy about that. Saying that the reason women dont drive is of respect to her and that she is like a "diamond" and that the delicate society and its customs dont allow this. Personally, I dont think it has to do with any of that but to the fact that Saudi women are becoming more successful and more intelligent day by day, which of course translated to power. This power is threatening to these men who were raised and grew up that a man is "flawless" and is above the woman and that she has to listen and obey no matter what. Well guess what, those days are gone and if you want to be respected and obeyed you have to earn it. The same way Saudi women have built their own respect and power over the past 30 years or more.

Am I sounding too feminist? I hope I'm not turning into Mona El-Tahawi who - FYI - I hate and she irritates the shitt out of me! Everywhere I go or turn or read she is there with her sly smile preaching about the Arab rise and Arab women rights. To me, she is just a power parasite who is just attaching herself to whatever hot topic there is to gain more spotlight. Anyway, let's not drift off I just wanted to put in this "I hate Mona El-Tahawy" anywhere.

To wrap this up, I am going to throw in my 2 cents worth here. Which may not appeal to many (or some) of you. I don't think that allowing women to drive right away is the right solution at the moment (I hear gasps everywhere). For such a closed community, suddenly allowing this burst of freedom will cause chaos everywhere. I am not Saudi but I lived there for 32 years and I KNOW how it is. I have lived in both Jeddah and Riyadh and understand allot about the way of life and how people think.

How can you allow women to drive when you still ban singles from entering malls in fear that they will turn into werewolves and harass the women inside? How can you allow them to drive when you still dont allow cinemas which can be a great time waster for guys instead of cruising the streets and chasing cars? Things have to come gradually. If you stop viewing the Saudi youth as Testosterone crazed humpers , start placing fierce laws for cat calling and harassment, and allowing people to interact and function normally at public places like malls, then we might have a chance to ease the society into accepting women to drive without causing a stir.

I now leave you with videos posted today showing these brave Saudi women who took to the streets to show and say "YES we can".

God have mercy on our youth

This is an actual conversation that happened between 3 young Saudi girls on the day of Ashoraa ... lets call girl 1 "L" , girl 2 "B" , and girl 3 "M"... Note that M is fasting, while L & B are having lunch...

L: Hey M, you want some of this salad?
M: No thanks, I am fasting
B: Really? Why?
M: Today is day of Ashoraa, dont you know??
L: nope, so why are you fasting it?
B: Dont you know that if you fast this day, Allah forgives your sins for the past year? Whats wrong with you girl?
L: And like... is this "guaranteed"?
B: Of corse its guaranteed! Allah said so didnt he??!! It's guaranteed, right M?
M (smiling in denial of what she's hearing) : yes of corse... hope you girls make it next year...
B: yeah of corse
L: yeah, I bet we got alot we want to be forgotten (L&B start laughing)

I would just like to add that M is only 18 years old, while B & L are in their mid 20s... I would like to leave the comment to you guys, tell me who's fault is this? And how can we build a strong Mulsim Nation with such ignorance of basic Islamic knowledge and teachings? Really, may Allah have mercy on us all...

No end to the horror that is Guantanamo

By Andrew Buncombe in Washington and Andy McSmith (The Independent)

Published: 09 January 2007

When the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo in January 2002 they were handcuffed, shackled and wearing hoods. The reason for these exceptional measures, explained the then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, was that the prisoners were highly dangerous. "These are the sort of people who would chew through a hydraulics cable to bring a C-17 [transport plane] down," he claimed. "They are very, very dangerous people."

Five years later none of these "worst of the worst" have been brought to trial. Just 10 have been formally charged while hundreds of others have been returned to their own countries and released. Meanwhile, three have committed suicide, at least 40 others have tried to do so and there are concerns about the mental health of most of the 400 or so remaining prisoners.

"It is remarkable that Guantanamo still exists five years on," said Clive Stafford Smith, legal director of the British group Reprieve, which represents three dozen inmates. "But what is also remarkable is that Guantanamo has distracted attention from other secret prisons the US has. As of August last year we know there are 14,000 prisoners in US custody around the world."
Critics say the low point of the past five years perhaps came in June 2006 when three prisoners - Ali Abdullah Ahmed, 28, from Yemen, and Saudis Yassar Talal al-Zahrani, 21, and 30-year-old Mani Shaman Turki al-Habardi Al-Utaybi - hanged themselves using torn sheets. Lawyers said they did so out of desperation but the base commander claimed it was "an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us". Controversy had previously been stirred in December 2005 when it emerged the US military was strapping prisoners into "restraint chairs" to force-feed those who had gone on hunger-strike.

General Bantz Craddock, head of the US Southern Command, defended repeatedly inserting feeding tubes into prisoners' throats and nostrils, saying: " Some of these hard-core guys were getting worse." There have been numerous reports of abuse, humiliation and torture. Prisoners have allegedly been held in stress positions, locked in solitary confinement not permitted to sleep and been smeared with fake menstrual blood.

Three Britons who were held for more than two years before being released without charge - Asef Iqbal, Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul - claimed they were repeatedly punched, kicked, slapped, injected with drugs, hooded, photographed naked, subjected to body searches and forced to endure sexual and religious humiliation. Mr Ahmed said he was questioned by a British interrogator while a gun was held to his head.

One of the more unusual reports was the so-called Harry Potter torture. Visiting US legislators watched through a one-way mirror as a woman interrogator sought to wear down a prisoner's resistance with a non-stop reading of the adventures of the boy wizard, which reportedly lasted for hours.

Campaigners believed they had achieved a breakthrough last June when the US Supreme Court ruled that the Bush administration's use of military tribunals was unconstitutional. It also ruled that each of the prisoners had the right to have their cases heard in court.

But though Mr Bush said at the time he wished to close Guantanamo, just three months later he was successful in getting Congress to pass new legislation that circumvented the Supreme Court ruling and opened the way to proceed with the tribunals. It also backed the administration's decision to refuse prisoners the right to see the evidence used against them.

Last May the UN Committee on Torture called on the US government to close the facility immediately. The same month the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, also said the prison's continued operation was "unacceptable" . Tony Blair called it an "anomaly". But the Government refuses to help eight British residents who are still being held at the prison even though the US has sought their repatriation.

In October the High Court in London ruled that the men did not have the right to be treated in the same way as British nationals. The Foreign Office claims it has no power to intervene on behalf of foreign nationals, even if they were long-term residents of the UK.

The numbers that shame America
1825 Number of days that Guantanamo has been open
400 prisoners are currently detained at Guantanamo
20 detainees arrived on 11 January 2002, the day the detention centre opened. They were hooded and shackled
8 per cent of detainees accused of fighting for a terrorist group
300 prisoners who have been released back to their own countries since 2002
86 per cent captured by the Northern Alliance or the Pakistani authorities for US bounties
70 prisoners who President Bush's administration plans to charge in military courts
10 prisoners who have already been charged
0 number of detainees brought to trial

President Bush reacts to Supreme Court ruling that Guantanamo military tribunals are unconstitutional.

And this is the briefing the President received on his way to the conference...