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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Several Arab Writers Criticize Arab Hypocrisy About Prisoner Abuse |
| 2004-05-20 |
| In an editorial, in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, editor-in-chief Ahmad Jarallah wrote: "Dr. Buthayna Sha’ban, who is ’revolted’ by the torture of the Iraqis, should be the last to express her revulsion – because the kinds of torture carried out in the prisons of the regime of which she is a part and in whose services she acts are too numerous to count. No atrocity surpasses the kinds of torment and torture [in the Syrian regime] except those that the former East German ruler [Erich] Honecker [used] against his political rivals, and those by [Nicolae] Ceausescu against his citizens in Romania
"We have gone overboard in our talk of the Abu Ghureib torture scandal
We tried to unite the world against the perpetrators of the torture at Abu Ghureib. None has dared acknowledge that the U.S. behaved properly in uncovering [this] scandal, for having sufficient courage to apologize. It could have remained silent, or denied it – as is the custom of some Arab regimes that torture, assassinate, bury alive, rip out fingernails, and dissolve [people] in pits of acid, and appear before the world like innocent children with angels’ wings, using denial and falsehood." ============= Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, former editor-in-chief of the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, wrote: ".... A crime is not a crime unless it is committed by a foreigner. Torture is [carried out] by the Arabs with the consent of the Arab press, which is always silent about it. When someone tries to bring this up, he is accused of damaging the Arabs’ good name, and of acting for the Zionist camp! "No one is acquitting the Americans of what a group of jailers did to Iraqi prisoners. It is a crime. .... Our media raised a ruckus about a hate-filled [American] soldier who urinated on an [Iraqi] prisoner. [But] the thieves of [our] food and medicines urinated on an entire nation, and the [Arab] media doesn’t care about their crimes; it awarded medals to some, and kept silent about the others. ...... the Arab media close their eyes on the issue of hundreds of Arab prisons and the actions of thousands of Arab jailers over many years – and exclusively focus on the Abu Ghureib case because the jailer was American. "This reminds me of a sight that shocked me during a visit in Tunis with my colleague Mr. Salleh Al-Qallab. [11] We visited the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, which was situated there at that time. In the office of one official sat a Palestinian with a sad face. During a conversation [with him], he said he had recently been released from an Arab prison, after years of living in one of the dark basements through which sewage flows. The man stood and showed us his foot with a defect. He related that the [jailers] used to chain him tightly, which wore away his flesh and broke the bone. I asked him, ’Why don’t you sue for this crime, or why aren’t you exposing it to the media?’ He answered: ’We don’t want to make the situation worse.’" ============= Columnist Ahmad Al-Rab’i wrote in the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al Awsat:"Since the Abu Ghureib prison crime was exposed, the biggest discussion group in the Arab world has been [discussing] human rights, and this is a fine thing. The subject of human rights, freedom, and the state of the prisons has taken over every conversation [in the Arab world], after many years when the Arabs talked little about the value of the individual and the severity of the torture and killing. .... Millions of Arabs do not know about ... the prisons and detention centers in their countries. Only rarely do we hear of an Arab group demanding the release of prisoners arrested for expressing an opinion, or of an association that wants to visit an [Arab] prison. Furthermore, this is the first time that the Arabs have seen television cameras inside the prisons. .... The one who built Abu Ghureib prison is the dictatorship of the Arab leader named Saddam Hussein; the one who exposed this prison is an American television station. Had [these secrets] been exposed, we could [also] have known about the thousands tortured and killed in Abu Ghureib over the past 30 years, about whom no one knew or asked. "I remember that after the liberation of Kuwait [in 1991], the torture instruments used by Saddam’s army were collected in one place and pictures of them were published. We tried to cry to some of the Arabs: ’Look, [this is] a serious crime!’ But no one listened. It would be interesting to know how many Abu Ghureibs exist the length and breadth of the Arab world. [It would also be] interesting to know the number of people tortured and killed in secret, and the number of those who left prison with the marks of torture on every corner of their bodies, but who preferred to hold their tongues out of fear of death." ============= Syrian columnist Hayan Nayouf wrote in the liberal Internet daily Elaph: "After the scandal of the torture of Iraqi prisoners by American and British soldiers, the Arab media handled this affair in a way arousing ridicule, proving that the Arab media and intellectuals possess everything but objectivity, transparency, and disclosure of the truth and the facts. ... The American president, the president of the most powerful country in the world and the most developed with regard to science, art, culture, and democracy, apologized for the deeds of the American soldiers, and all the Americans also apologized for this shameful deed. And then the Arab intellectuals came, with their mocking, idiotic, and illogical media, and ridiculed this apology. "The question arises whether Saddam or any other Arab leader [ever] apologized. Did Saddam apologize to the Iraqi people for burying a million Iraqis in the ground, for expelling millions of Iraqis, for murdering innocents in his prisons, for his crimes in neighboring countries, for invading Kuwait, and for murdering the Kuwaiti prisoners? "Enough of your foolishness, Arabs! Hundreds of Kuwaiti prisoners fell victim to Saddam’s crimes. Where were the Arab satellite channels, and why did no Iraqi official apologize? Anyone who reads the Arab media [can get] an attack of madness. Had it not been for American democracy and the uncovering of the torture scandal by the American media, would the Arab media [ever] had heard about it? [Why?] Because [the Arab media] is preoccupied [with encouraging] ethnic [discord] and incitement to violence and terrorism!" |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #7 This is one of the best articles, that I've seen, to come from the Muslim world. It's gonna be wild then the most important thing we will have done in Iraq is simply apologize for our most grievous error. Think, what are we trying to do in Iraq? Bring democracy? Fugitibowdit! We're trying to enculturate(? Read: civilize) them. WE don't even have a democracy. We have a constitionally established rule of law. What makes it work, is our commitment to MAKE it work. The style of governance is not as important as the social compact. GWB showed one of our most important cultural values: the responsibility of those in authority. Name one other 'empire' whose leader takes the rap for the deeds of miscreants he's responsible for. That's mature stuff. Heck, the Democratic party doesn't even 'get' that. They actually believe that shucking the blame works in the long run. Do I believe that the Islamic world is gonna adopt our values? Not in this lifetime. But at least they've seen what we're made of. And some of them have noticed the difference. |
| Posted by: scott 2004-05-21 12:25:46 AM |
| #6 Not sarcastic at all. Abu speakes the mind set I hear from Arab journalist about Arab majority. This guy Ahmad puts his balls on the line, way to go. But I'm not ready to stand up and say, "hey they get it." Because until we saturate their minds the way their media saturates their minds, it's still a dirty, stinky, bloody hot war. I hate them!!!! Freaky thinkers! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-05-20 11:17:30 PM |
| #5 My surprise meter just went straight off the scale. Could they be getting a clue? It's a start, anyway, although Lord knows we've had plenty of false ones, usually because of Arab customs or something. |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-05-20 4:00:31 PM |
| #4 ex-lib, I believe Lucky was being sarcastic. Beyond that I think its very encouraging to see Arab editorials expressing these sentiments. I wonder how long the authors will live after this? |
| Posted by: Dakotah 2004-05-20 12:34:37 PM |
| #3 Lucky, you are being completely strange. Sheesh! What's wrong with you today? Reread the article. Hayan Nayouf, Ahmad Al-Rab’i, Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, and Ahmad Jarallah are THE GOOD GUYS. They are HEROES! They're telling it like it is--a very, very rare thing in the Moslem world. These men are incredibly brave to be telling the truth, when doing so may mean they will be assassinated by some stupid Islamic psuedo-man who deserves to die. Kudos to them! And may they be kept safe from harm. Interesting that we don't hear this kind of dissent against terrorism and support for America coming from the American press. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-05-20 12:02:26 PM |
| #2 Interesting article, and these folks are editors/columnists - impressive. Someone gets it. Does anyone know if we're doing a VOA into Iraq? That's what I'd put some cash into if I had the authority. Start an Arabic channel that actually tells about the true stuff going on. The average Arab would watch, whethed they'd admit it or not is something different. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-05-20 7:14:41 AM |
| #1 This Guy Abdul Abu whatever is a fool. Islam forbids bad. Only good. Muslims value the good manners and hospitality. He should be gutted, by god, and left to die in the fields. "What say you Abu?" "Death to America, Lucky! Thank you for that Mr Lucky, you are such a gentleman. May I offer you some sweets, dainty puffs, you look so young, and fit, I love your hair, may I be at your service?" |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-05-20 1:16:31 AM |