20 - 26 December 2001
Issue No.565
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 20 - 26 December 2001 Issue No.565 |
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Three feasts
Eid, Christmas and my birthday are upon us at the same time. Yet I feel no inclination to celebrate anything, alas. The year has left me emotionally drained, what with the tens of thousands of innocent people dying in Afghanistan and Palestine, the latter having suffered 34 years of occupation, the former undergoing gratuitous attacks.
And this is not to mention those who died in the US, among whom there were plenty of Arabs and Muslims who left their countries simply to earn a decent living; nor those whose death has been an inseparable part of the daily news, the Chechens and many others across the world. With all this violence and injustice in the world, I feel, there is less to celebrate than to mourn.
How, if you please, might one summon up a festive mood in the midst of all this? How might one celebrate?
The coincidence of all three occasions should be cause for optimism, a good omen; but I only remember Candide, that delightful critique of the philosophical optimists. One cannot turn a blind eye to misery and misfortune, if you ask me. And the only possible good omen would be news of an end to war, an end to the mindless murder of innocent civilians in these troubled parts of the world. Then we might celebrate. Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
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