Spring 2020 Issue 1: Aftermath

Aftermath

Editorial Note We often tend to make decisions without thinking of the consequences that will follow.

We tend to make the assumption that things will proceed to our liking, and instead we are presented with an a ​ ftermath​where we reap what we have sowed. At other times, it feels like we don’t make decisions. Instead, decisions are made for us, either based on uncontrollable instinct, fear, or the propagation of false information. In this issue, we are discussing triggers and consequences... The ​aftermath​ of all that has and continues to impact our lives. We analyze these impactful consequences in order to avoid them happening again.

Editor in Chief Youssef Fahmy

English Managing Editor Mahmoud Fadel

Managing Director Mariam Said

Associate Managing Editor Omar Abo Mosallam Merna Ahmed

Associate Managing Director Farida Tarek Operations Director Merna Ahmed Graphic Designer Head Fatma Farrag Social Media Manager Seif ElDein Ahmed Arabic Managing Editor Abdurrahman Radwan Associate Arabic Managing Editor Amr Abdelazeem

Graphic Designers Alhussain Shaker Amr Remah Rawan Shaheen Abdelmoneim Hany Editors Habiba Elhadidi Jonas Rowan Karim Kadry Lia Abdelwahab Mahmoud Fadel Naomi Burjorjee Yasser Osama Youssef Fahmy

Writers Ahmed Fayed Ali Tohamy Arwa Hezzah Asmaa Elnagar Eisha Afifi Hanya Captan Kareem Younes Laila El Refaie Nour El Captan Omar Auf Rory Davis Yasser Osama Faculty Advisor Dr.Sanaa Makhlouf OSL advisor: Rania Nafie

TABLE OF CONTENTS Afermath in Retrospect Aftermath of the Arab Spring Egypt’s Transition from Liberalism to Conservatism Beyond the Spectacle: Aftermath of Economic Reform in Egypt A Consequence of Location: AUC and its Campuses You Cancelled Them... Now What?

04 06 10 12 14

Art and Aftermath The Art of Resistance Exodus (1960) Where are the People Out Strolling on Sunday?

Sticks and Stones

16 18 20 22

The Ugliness of Aftermath The Assault on our Imagination The Apocalyptic Happiness The Epidemic Encore

24 26 30

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Aftermath of the Arab Spring Writer: Omar Auf

Editor: Jonas Rowan

Omar is a self-proclaimed jack of no trades. He’s interested in questions of language, identity, and policy and development

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he revolution in Egypt was a time of hope and uncertainty. Bearing much resemblance to the popular revolution of 1919, the Egyptian people were, for a brief 18 days, united. But the story does not end there; protests continued against the Supreme Council of Armed Forces until Egypt’s first ever democratic elections. Protests returned again following newly-elected Mohamed Morsi’s attempt to usurp power in 2012, and after the Tamarod petition demanding Morsi resign was signed by 22 million citizens, another milioniyya came to life. An ultimatum was given by the military to an unwavering Morsi, and he was removed. Since then, President Abdelfattah El-Sisi was almost unanimously elected and re-elected. Economic conditions reached near-crisis levels and the poor were hit badly.

Civil War

Egypt’s trajectory is rather benign compared to other countries who experienced the Arab Spring.

In Yemen, Libya, Syria, and Iraq, civil wars erupted, resulting in famine, terrorism, a refugee crisis, and more. A brief overview of the situation will put the ongoing aftermath of the Arab Spring in its context.

In Libya, Colonel Qaddafi’s uncompromising response was to hunt down protesters “house by house, room by room, street by street, person by person.” The situation degenerated into an all out civil war, leading to Qaddafi’s assassination by the end of 2011. Disagreements over the 2014 elections led to the Second Libyan Civil War, which has only escalated since.

In Yemen, President Saleh was ousted in 2012, but the security situation deteriorated after attacks by Houthi rebels plunged the country into civil war. A Saudi-led blockade resulted in one of

history’s worst famines, with 20 million, or 70% of the population food insecure.

Over in Syria, major protests started against President Bashar Al-Assad in March of 2011 and continued with brutal suppression by security forces for several months. An armed opposition started forming from the defection of military personnel, sparking a civil war that became the greatest catastrophe of the Arab Spring. International involvement severely escalated the conflict, making Syria a proxy war for world and regional powers.

The Civil War left mayhem which spawned terrorist groups such as ISIS and saw numerous unpunished uses of chemical weapons. Besides 5 million refugees seeking shelter abroad, there are over 6.2 million more internally displaced within Syria. The sheer destruction on the ground cannot possibly be described.

The Arab Winter

Such a grim outlook on the period brings us to the so-called Arab Winter. A cold, harsh period where authoritarianism and conflict reign supreme after a few fleeting moments of revolution. The Arab Winter is everything mentioned; it is civil war, it is the reign of ISIS, it is the regression of freedom, economic deterioration, political collapse, it is a long winter with no end in sight and no warming morning to make peace with the cruel night, if only momentarily.

The goals of the revolutions, freedom, economic recovery, and an end to corruption, were simply not met. Democracy cannot be consolidated during a time of war. Sustainable growth can’t be met in a state of turmoil. And one would be hardpressed to find some sort of social justice in the threat of terrorism. The Arab Winter is the direct aftermath

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and failure of the Arab Spring—the withdrawal of hope.

The “New Arab Spring”

Yet it seems spring has come again for some. The “New Arab Spring” is a revival of the spirit of the old revolutions. Countries like Lebanon, Algeria, Iraq and Sudan, calm during the first wave, have been shaken by newfound popular rage. In Lebanon, Prime Minister Saad El-Hariri resigned because of mass opposition to corruption. In Sudan, President Omar El-Bashir was ousted by the military, who have agreed to co-opt the civil society in a transitory government. In Algeria, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned and will not pursue a fifth term. Things are looking brighter from the outset this time around. While the Arab Spring did not leave much democracy in its wake, it seems that it planted a notion of democracy and reform in the minds of the people, because it dared to dream.

Arab citizens can now envision a future where the ballot is supreme for the first time in history.

the longer it’s resisted, the likelier it is to violently impose itself; look at all the deposed governments: authoritarian regimes with a hawkish security apparatus, suppressed political scene, and sad lack of freedoms. The fiercer the regimes fought back, the more desperate the situation became–compare Syria and Libya to Egypt and Tunisia. Mubarak was ousted so quickly, and relatively peacefully, because the army wouldn’t attack protesting civilians, whereas Assad’s repression added fuel to the fire.

Forceful change comes in the form of a revolution or a coup d’etat. While a coup is much more likely, it wouldn’t quite be the Arab Spring if a series of coups had swept the region. It would just be the Middle East being the Middle East. To fully embody the Arab Spring, it had to be a series of revolutions. This was bound to arrive eventually, given the poor economic conditions combined with the rise of new communication technologies which allowed protesters to be one step ahead of the regimes.

Tunisia

In the end...

Tunisia is the country which started it all, forming a strong civil society and pioneering the ideas of democracy in the region. Indeed, there was a time where its future was uncertain, with growing economic discontent and the assassination of a string of politicians in 2013. If not for the effective intervention of civil society, which brokered talks between competing groups on the political stage, the country would have descended into chaos.

Tunisian democracy managed to preserve itself through the revolution. In late 2019, Kais Saied, a non-affiliated anti-establishment candidate won the presidential election in a landslide victory against an influential businessman and media figure, demonstrating the will of the Tunisian people to end stagnation. While the future of Tunisia is still unclear, its people’s commitment to democracy and free institutions is as clear as day. This is how the Arab Spring was supposed to be. In the midst of the heart-wrenching aftermath that has overshadowed most of the region, one can find solace in a country seeing through its revolution. God bless Tunisia for that.

Many speak of the failures of the Arab Spring yet neglect the tremendous odds overcome for it to come into existence. It is like witnessing a rare solar eclipse and complaining that it is too dark. Just as the moon passes and our eyes meet familiar skies so the pages of history turn to be written anew with endless waves of calm and rage.

Just as the Arab Spring turned into the Arab Winter, Spring will follow once more. The Arab Spring has left us a legacy of both hope and despair, and it is up to us to decide how to live with it.

A Deterministic Approach

Nobody could have predicted how the Arab Spring unfolded, but its occurrence is beyond question. In fact, one could put forward the argument that the Arab Spring was unavoidable.

Change is at the core of the human condition, and

I, for one, choose hope.

Sources: “10 Million Yemenis ‘One Step Away from Famine’, UN Food Relief Agency Calls for ‘Unhindered Access’ to Frontline Regions | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, news.un.org/en/story/2019/03/1035501.

Deutsche Welle. “Opinion: Is the Middle East Seeing a New Arab Spring?: DW: 08.11.2019.” DW.COM, www.dw.com/en/opinion-is-the-middle-east-seeing-anew-arab-spring/a-51112968.

“Internally Displaced People - UNHCR Syria.” UNHCR, www.unhcr.org/sy/internally-displaced-people.

“The Election of Kais Saied Gives Tunisians Something to Cheer.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/10/17/the-election-of-kais-saied-gives-tunisians-something-to-cheer.

Wolff, S. (2018, February 20). From Egypt to Syria, this could be the start of the Arab Winter. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/from-egypt-to-syriathis-could-be-the-start-of-the-arab-winter-17335

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ef Fahmy

med Writer: Ah

N. Fayed

uss Editor: Yo

In a trending YouTube video from the 1950s, the audience bursts out with laughter at Gamal Abd al-Nasser’s statement that the the Muslim Brotherhood wanted him to force all Egyptian women in the streets to wear a scarf; Nasser’s remarks would probably make no one laugh today. Many young girls and women in Egypt are constantly being told what to wear and are judged for it. More than sixty years after that Nasser speech, Egypt has turned into a more radically conservative society. A plethora of political and social conservative stances of xenophobia and ostentatious religiosity have taken root since then. But how did a once liberally-thriving society become so conservative in 60?

The 1919 revolution formulated liberal thought in Egypt with the Wafd party rising as a political force. Wafd was considered the first liberal party in Egypt, taking over the Egyptian parliament in the early 1920s and setting what could be described as the anti-colonial, radical era of enlightenment in Egypt. However, the Muslim Brotherhood emerged as an ideological, opposing force to Wafd in 1928, championing Islamic conservatism. In more details, the antiliberal thought in Egypt was part of a broader local rebellion against economic, political, and cultural elites. The figureheads participating in this uprising belonged to the same generation of Egyptians that discovered politics through deepseated extra-parliamentary movements during the 1930s. The Muslim Brotherhood, specifically, participated in student and labor activism during the 1940s, and further cheered the 1952 military coup at its beginning. Additionally, the spread of the Wahhabi thought in Egypt, through the Salafist Da’awa movement and the Egyptian immigration to the Gulf, formed the current complex identity of a conservative Egyptian society.

Ahmed Fayed is a writer with interests in politics, society, culture, and arts.

The political forces in Egypt during the 1950’s shared the view that the political elites, who emerged out of the 1919 revolution, had failed to deliver on the promises that garnered them legitimacy to achieve modernization and independence. The rising social forces of the time, the Muslim Brotherhood and Abd alNasser’s Free Officers, saw that the Egyptian elite are becoming more comfortable with British colonialism and designated them as a local enemy. These social forces demonstrated how this elite group had contributed to an unbearable status quo by catering to British interests through hesitant support of the national cause. After dethroning political liberals of the monarchy reign in 1952, and at the epoch of Nasserism, the Muslim Brotherhood noted the exclusion of the Islamist project from official decolonization narratives. This was mainly due to Nasser’s ideology, which represented Arab history as characterized by an “incommensurable divide” between Islamism and secular nationalism.

In response to Abd al-Nasser’s nationalistic, secular narrative, the Muslim Brotherhood formed a united front in what they viewed as the battle against corruption and social injustice. The Muslim Brotherhood, executing the Islamists’ ideology on ground, adopted a mission of achieving what they referred to as a “clean culture.” For their part, Islamic thinkers initiated an endeavor and constantly surpassed one another in condemning what they saw as a moral decline in the film industry, nepotism in literary publications, the roles given in the newly established secular economy, and insignificance amid Egyptian famous writers.

Therefore, Islamists viewed their ideology as a feasible solution to Egypt’s cultural, political, and social issues. Contrary to the backdrop of an intensified global fight between Communism and Capitalism as solutions to rebuild the world’s economic and social status after World War II—

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and to heal the ills of Egypt—Islamism had a definite advantage of “authenticity.” Described

by Islamist intellectuals as more significant to enhance the lives of “the masses”, Islamists showed the promise of effective reform. More considerably, its local backgrounds were held to guarantee both individual spiritual liberty and the emancipation of the mind. Islamists started working towards fulfilling their clean culture goal by denouncing what they believed to be social indifference and cultural corruption. This was not restricted to only literature, but also in popular cultural trends of the time such as music and cinema. A case in point is how Islamists raised their calls for censoring pop songs based on being branded as immoral, adjusting the radio repertoire to include more religious programs is another example. Additionally, figurehead leaders of the clean culture initiative criticized the film industry for its frivolity and called for a ban on certain acts like belly dancing; meanwhile, a big number of films tackled issues of political and social significance.

Islamists gained real momentum, though, with the rise of political, social and economic factors in the late Sadat and Mubarak’s era.

Sadat, in particular, felt that the Brotherhood would counterweigh his combined opposition of leftists and Nasserites. Islamists welcomed this alliance in return for a greater margin of freedom of expression and organizational movement within Egyptian society. Sadat gave the Brotherhood freedom of Islamic preaching and Da’awa within society as long as they refrain from reviving their underground militia, or appear as opponents on the political arena.

Another major social factor during the Sadat era was the rise of Saudi Hanbali-Wahhabism as a prominent radical Islamic ideology. This had an impact on a liberal Egypt due to the mass flow of Egyptian immigrants to Saudi Arabia, because of the oil-rich country’s emergence as a land of opportunity for the collective Egyptian psyche.

The millions of Egyptian workers in the extremely conservative Saudi Arabia were exposed to diametrically different working conditions than those of Egypt at the time. Egyptians were forced to adapt to the Saudi culture of absolute segregation between men and women in workplaces, formal and factual subjugation to a Saudi patron and an overwhelmingly conservative social environment. Additionally, they were obliged to respond to the calls for prayer, including attending the Friday sermons

which were lectured by Wahhabi imams.

Furthermore, mixing of sexes in the streets was prohibited, and women were forced to cover their full body. Rather than rejecting the Saudi cultural model, returning Egyptians workers adopted it. This was primarily due to the model’s economic strength being interpreted as result of its religiosity, a materialistic view of Egyptian immigrants towards their Saudi patrons and, most importantly, the formative social role of returnees in changing the Egyptian social dynamic by becoming motors of development once they returned home. In fact, the conservative returnees largely contributed to the Egyptian economy of the time, and of today, through starting businesses and charities with effective social benefits.

Finally, the question of Egyptian identity is open-ended; the strive for actual liberalism can be viewed as an endless struggle. Clear individual freedom requires uncertain individual duty. The urge to give up one’s freedom to another who ‘knows better’ will always be there, whether that ‘other’ is a parent, a patron, or a ruler. Liberalism, specifically social and political liberalism, must always be championed.

Egyptians today are more likely to follow a social order that is used by the ruling powers to divert society from real political issues. The passing regimes would mostly efface individual identity within rubrics of religious collectivities marching towards “clean culture”, “glory” or “progress” or similarly empty platitudes. In short, Egyptians still have a lot to do in their pursuit of a solidified identity, and change is an inevitable necessity.

Sources: Nasser’s video: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=OWCJnFu9gF0 ‫ماذا حدث لملرصيني – جالل امني‬ Ismail, S. (1998). Confronting the Other: Identity, Culture, Politics, and Conservative Islamism in Egypt. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 30(2), 199-225. doi:10.1017/ S0020743800065879 Hibbard, Scott W. Religious Politics and Secular States: Egypt, India, and the United States. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. Project MUSE., Arab Studies Quarterly Vol. 4, No. 1/2, The Islamic Alternative (Spring 1982), pp. 75-93 (19 pages)

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Beyond the Aftermath of Econo

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Writer: Kareem Younes Editor: Yasser Osama

Kareem Younes Is a writer with interests in politics, economics, law and history; focused mainly on Middle East and Africa “In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation.”

– Guy Debord

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iberal economic reform was initiated in Egypt in 1974. This initiation involved a transformation in both state-society relations and transformations within the society itself. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to this transformation using an understanding of the “the spectacle”. The term spectacle will be utilized to represent two different meanings necessary for the argument made here.

The first meaning relies on the spectacle to describe raw violence; it is an act that aims to control the population through randomized terror. This form of violence aims to operate on the bodies of detainees and those forcefully disappeared in order to mark them as representations of violence. This can be seen through the focus on the violence associated with random arrests and exceptional courts. While this type of violence is a product and a consequence of economic “reform”; this type of violence post economic “reform” conceals within it a much larger use of violence.

The second use of the term spectacle in this article is associated with the absolute belief in the value of certain economic indicators. This blind faith in the validity of the figures; in that they tell a lived story is associated with the rise of liberal Egyptian economic reform. I argue that in the spectacle of reform, lived realities are overshadowed by moments of ideological fixations. In this manner, certain economic spectacles of reform operate as a deceitful distraction that blinds everyone to the consequences of daily repression on the economic front. Therefore, I feel it is necessary that we reword “liberal economic reform” into “liberal economic repression”. Egyptian economic reform had always come with a price, this was echoed in a parliment that was free of opposition and the rise of torture

cases in the 1990s. But the use of violence towards individuals to mark them as a consequence to those who protest the “reform” has always been present in Egyptian history. Consider the 1977 bread riots, or the 20th of September protests in 2019. The first included a retraction of price increases, and the latter led to 1.8 million users back on food subsidies.

Both events were followed by spectacles of random violence that targeted the population. However, the main focus of this article is not on the spectacle of violence associated with random arrests and torture.

It is concerned with another form of repression that is also a product of liberal “economic reform”. Another form of the spectacle that hides behind the “science” of economics.

During the 1990s; Egypt underwent an “economic reform” program; Egypt’s experience with “reform” was often cited as a success story, as a model to be followed. In fact, some even today still claim that the “reform” program was “successful”.

The reality is that this narrative is based on faith and supported by a selective use of figures and numbers. Those figures and numbers are spectacles that represent a deceitful success. Whenever the word “economic reform” comes to mind; what are the figures or indicators that come to your mind? Do you think of GDP growth, the value of currency, the amount of debt servicing, budget surplus, or rates of poverty and unemployment? It could be that you rely on all of the above, or you can rely on some of them. In any case, they tell a story, this story is then believed based on faith in those figures.

The aim here is not to question the entire validity of indicators and figures, but how we interact with them. Our interaction is selective, and this selectivity is hidden behind a faith in the totality of economic science. In a way, our interaction with the indicators distorts their meaning. Let me give you three examples that show both the limits of the figures and our selectivity in dealing with them when it comes to “economic reform”.

Spectacle: mic Reform in Egypt

Firstly, during the 1990’s “success story”, the purchasing capacity of households to purchase basic nutrients decreased; it would seem that Egyptian poverty during that period increased from 21% to 44%. In many ways we attempt to conceal the violence of starving the population through a focus on some indicators. Second, while some will focus on the sheer criminality associated with the privatization in the 1990s (in squandering public money). It is worth focusing on the environmental element of economic repression. In short, privatization and expansion of state-owned factories and entities was supporting a pollutive industry that would quite literally take years away from the population’s lifetime. A clear case of this is the cement industry. A sector that due to the 1990s reforms had expanded, at one period after the “reforms” it was mostly controlled by foreign entities and corrupt elite. The pollution associated with sacrificing Egyptian lives for profit was perhaps most manifested in the real estate advertisements at the time; some were titled “No Factories No Pollution No Problems”. For example, on average 40,000 people die annually because of pollution; on average children located near smelters producing lead lost 4.125 in IQ. It is no wonder that Cairo now is one of the most polluted cities in the world. The new cities, including the one hosting our own campus, have been built on the graves of those the reform deemed dispensable.

Third, while the indicators can be useful to track how much pollution the reform has ignited, they are also limited in utility. Consider a poverty indicator that does not account for the nutritional needs of the population, or an unemployment indicator that does not account for those who gave up looking for work simply because there are no viable alternatives. Even GDP growth is taken as a whole with no focus on where increases in production have occured and whether they are desirable or not; as is evident in the case of the pollutive and cartelcontrolled cement industry. The mysticism regarding

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those indicators transforms them into economic spectacles that represent progress and improvement of life.

At this moment, we can see that the nature of “reform” did not yield any success beyond the focus on indicators such us currency stability or GDP growth. If anything, the “reform” required a sacrifice, and this sacrifice was Egyptian lives; this is the consequence of “reform” and that is why it should be labeled as repression. In reality those indicators serve as deceitful spectacle that symbolizes progress, the consequence and the aftermath of that progress is human sacrifice.

In conclusion, repression has always been a part of Egyptian governance, however, with liberal economic reform this repression expanded in insidious ways. It significantly decreased the well-being of the population while masquerading as a “success story” or “serious reform”. With the decline in living standards, it is paradoxical to claim that reform has ever been successful. In fact, calling it reform is an illusion, it is nothing but repression conducted in the economic sphere; and what is worse is hidden behind fallacious spectacles and narratives that claim neutrality and objectivity.

Sources: UN Environment programme “Cairo’s bad breath” https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/ story/cairos-bad-breath

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A Consequence of Location:

AUC and its Campuses Writer: Hanya Captan

Editor: Mahmoud Fadel

​Hanya Captan doesn’t stand for much... She’s usually sitting down.

The journey of The American University in Cairo began in the city’s former cultural hub and heart of the city–Downtown Cairo.

This historically rich district has been at the epicenter of each paradigm shift within Egypt throughout the centuries. As Egypt evolved and changed socially, politically, and culturally, each passing epoch would leave its own mark on the architectural landscape of Downtown, thus adding to its dynamism and eclecticism. As a result of this, generations upon generations who had the luxury of rose tinted nostalgia would flock to Downtown to harness its vibrancy by association. With this general air of affinity towards Downtown, AUC’s placement within its very heart seemed apt; after all, what better place to hone and harness youthful liveliness than in a physical space that was equally dynamic.

AUC’s sudden departure from Downtown to the barren deserts of a then greatly underdeveloped New Cairo, signified a symbolic departure of a certain strata of Cairo in favor of novelty. AUC’s relocation to the aspiring suburbs of Cairo was more than opportune real estate, it was symbolic of a greater shift in the institution’s relation to the city.

The placement of AUC’s Downtown campus in relation to the structures that surround it is highly symbolic. The first site of note is undeniably Tahrir Square, which is adjacent to the old campus. Forever synonymous with revolution, AUC and Tahrir would become intricately intertwined when AUC’s wall on Mohammed Mahmoud street would serve as an artistic canvas for activists during the 2011 revolution. Just past Tahrir Square stands the Nile Hilton hotel, an emblem of Western and Egyptian culture intersecting in the form of

hieroglyphs adorning the exterior of an American chain hotel. Next to the hotel stands the Egyptian museum showcasing priceless ancient Egyptian artefacts that are thousands of years old, thus reacclimating the ancient history of the city into its modern urban space. Lastly the Mugamma’ building which, I will not even remotely try to romanticize, but will instead harken back to its initial symbolic significance when it was first built. As described by Yasser Elsheshtawy in a journal article analyzing the architecture of Nasser’s post-1952 Cairo, Mugama was “built on what had once been the garden of the residence of the British commissioner, the principal agent of Egypt’s colonization”. The sites described are a mere sample of the countless historical buildings that compose Downtown, but they serve to represent that such a diverse history can not only be condensed within the singular space surrounding Tahrir square, but that AUC was very conveniently and comfortably tucked in their very midsts.

AUC’s decision to relocate from the historical city center to the outer developing suburbs of New Cairo is indicative of a general movement among Egyptians whereby financial success leads to a desire to relocate to the suburbs.

Though this decision could be condemned as being founded purely on consumerist greed and the pursuit of luxury over sentiment; relocation to the suburbs isn’t necessarily a totally reprehensible act. By virtue of how densely populated the city is, chaos in all its forms can be guaranteed, be it traffic, noise, or pollution.

If whole stratas of Egyptian society made the decision to relocate, what would make AUC any different? In that same vein, it should be noted that AUC didn’t wholly abandon its former

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campus in Downtown, as the campus itself is still intact and being actively used. As such, couldn’t AUC’s relocation be viewed as the transplanting of one component of the old city to its novel counterpart?

Once AUC moved out to the then barren deserts of New Cairo, it maintained two notable elements from the old campus–it’s architectural style and its impressive library. Now, in the case of the former, this is significant as it emphasizes the uniqueness of the campus amongst the several modern structures that surround it.

Furthermore, as the architectural style itself is reminiscent of a past Cairo, it also serves to bring a former part of the city to this new space. The relocation of AUC’s library, which includes its rare books collection, serves more than the pragmatic purpose of providing students with academic resources, but also symbolizes the movement of AUC’s history and intellectualism into this novel space. A question often posed with regards to AUC’s relocation deals with whether or not being in the company of “gated communities” also makes AUC a gated community of its own.

In response to this, consider a simple fixture that can be found in practically all university campuses--security turnstiles. A certain type of exclusivity has always existed when it comes to universities in that, a clear distinction is made between the “university space” and the “public space”. AUC somewhat amended this by having the old campus serve as a space for hosting cultural events that are open to the public, and the new campus is exclusively the“university space”.

The ultimate consequence of AUC’s relocation is the question it poses with regards to how it can be defined now. To that, I draw your attention back to my initial description of the structures surrounding AUC’s Tahrir campus.

Each was erected in its own right as a beacon of its own era’s aspirations. Each believed itself to be standing on the precipice of eternity. Kamal Ismail did not design the Mogamma’ with the knowledge that, it not only would be deemed the ugliest building in Cairo, but also one that would be abandoned almost 70 years after it was built. Ismailia Square would not know of its imminent name change to ‘Tahrir Square’, and how that which once stood as a symbol

of a Westernized Egypt would soon become symbolic of its liberation. The Nile Hilton would simply become yet another Western chain hotel located in the city. Lastly, the Egyptian Museum would gain a competitive counterpart in the form of the new “Grand Egyptian Museum” that is set to open in one of the new developing areas of Cairo. All this is to say that, how we define these areas gained depth with time, history, and perspective.

The AUC New Cairo campus, along with the very district it relocated to, are both still in the relatively early stages of their development.

The interpretations that could be made of Downtown and its buildings were founded on decades worth of history; with New Cairo, as the name suggests, all is still in a relatively early stage. Maybe someday we’ll look back at the New Cairo campus in a similar vein to the way we viewed Tahrir campus. Maybe they’ll always be separate entities. Regardless of what the future may hold for AUC, an undeniable fact is that it didn’t totally abandon its past, just merely changed it.

Sources Elsheshtawy, Yasser. “City Interrupted: Modernity and Architecture in Nasser’s Post-1952 Cairo.” Planning Perspectives, vol. 28, no. 3, 2013, pp. 347-371.

Abaza, Mona. “Post January Revolution Cairo: Urban Wars and the Reshaping of Public Space.” Theory, Culture & Society, vol. 31, no. 7-8, 2014, pp. 163-183.

Osman, Tarek. “Young Egyptians: Their Society and Future.” Social Research, vol. 79, no. 2, 2012, pp. 299-322.

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YOU THEM.. NOW WHAT? WRITER: RORY DAVIS EDITOR: YASSER OSAMA

Many 21st century social and political movements have their origins online. These movements, like #MeToo and the Arab Spring, expose social media’s positive potential. But with opinions en masse, the platform of social media can also become an unproductive echo chamber. As individuals we often disregard our responsibility in these larger processes and lose the definition of productive social media activism.

Left unchecked, once positive liberalist trends can deteriorate and even facilitate movements opposite their intentions. Cancel culture is the ultimate example of this process and shows how once productive social media trends deteriorate because popular momentum pulls them past defined goals. At first, cancel culture targeted powerful people who faced allegations of sexual assault but evaded persecution because traditional institutions failed. But as cancel culture grew, cancel-worthy offenses became all-consuming. Now, as a result, one politically incorrect comment cancels an individual and leaves them without a chance of rectification, whether personal or within popular discourse.

Before entirely cancelling cancel culture, we must understand the reason it developed.

For some, the platform of social media allows forms of political representation lost elsewhere.

With social media, the oppressed can express, document, and empower themselves and each other without physical organizing.

Today, because of this, social media is the primary method for exposure and justice when the traditional systems of justice fail.

The development of #MeToo as response to established rape culture in the U.S. exemplifies this phenomenon well. In the U.S., many victims feel the established judicial system will not help them as the institutions for prosecution of sexual

assault and sexual discrimination are embedded in a patriarchal system and rarely yield equitable results. For instance, only five perpetrators out of a thousand sexual assaults (reported and unreported) go to jail or prison.2 Using Tarana Burke’s hashtag #MeToo, victims of sex-based crimes called on others to read and acknowledge their experiences on all social media platforms.

Of course not all victims could safely join the #MeToo movement, but #MeToo was successful in exposing the judicial system gaps, power imbalances (especially in the entertainment industry), and the enormous prevelance of sexual assault and sexual discrimination. According to Vox, 250 plus allegations of sexual assault from powerful people, such as celebrities, politicians, or CEOs, were communicated. And though some underwent legal trials, many of these powerful people faced social justice. Compared to legal justice, social justice covers larger areas. For example, Harvey Weinstein, now a convicted serial rapist, lost his career and awards before his legal proceedings even began because of the high number of #MeToo allegations against him. Like the victims of Weinstein, many people using #MeToo gained their own form of justice much faster and more effectively than through traditional routes. By the beginning of 2018, the hashtag #MeToo had been used 12 million times. This number shows the incredible power social media holds within activism and populist movements.

However, after the initial sexual assault and gender equity focus of #MeToo, individuals continued to call out other injustices online.

But the momentum began to envelop actions outside the realm of prosecutable offenses. As the definition of “cancellable” crimes deviated from traditional crimes, political incorrectness

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became a main focus. However, this created many problems as the popular definition of politically correct versus incorrect changes constantly. Using the most recent iterations of political correctness as a guideline for cancelling insinuates individuals cannot change or have not realized their mistakes, especially in instances of retroactive cancelling. Rather than focusing on universal definitions of political correctness I.E. promoting inclusivity and multiculturalism, the momentum of previous cancelling pushed users to “call-out” all instances of perceived political incorrectness, no matter how small. This change in targets underscores performative nature of “call-outs” which evolved because of social media’s reliance on likes and popularity. Under the productive framework of #MeToo, callingout sexual assault and discrimination was the the first step in a larger restorative process. Yet, the platform of social media helped make one “call-out” of political incorrectness the ultimate authority on who deserves acceptance and furthered cancel culture assimilation rather than a deeper interrogative of norms and values. Therefore, instances of cancelling grew but no solutions to the deeper societal problems emerged.

Without breaking “call-out” cycles, individuals navigating political correctness are pushed to cowardice instead of being allowed to learn from their mistakes. Or worse, those unfamiliar with current definitions of politically correct speech resist the liberal values behind cancel culture. In one sweep, the potential for representative and diverse discourse dies and the partisan divide widens. The trial of Brett Kavanaugh exemplifies this combination of social media cancel culture, social realities, and politics. In 2018, President Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, but during his confirmation hearing, a letter detailing an accusation of rape surfaced. The Washington Post revealed the accuser to be Christine Blasey Ford who detailed Kavanaugh sexually assaulting her at a high school party.8 After Ford, two more women brought accusations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. Unfortunately, the prominent case of Dr. Ford bordered on already hazy definitions of successfully-persecutable rape in the U.S.. In the end, Kavanaugh became a patron for those fearing the power of cancel culture. Few will side with rapists outright, but these individuals, felt so trapped by cancel

culture and political correctness, that they supported a rapist for US Supreme Court Justice.

So should we never hold people accountable for their actions because it could spawn opposition? Absolutely not. But rather than cancelling, we should discuss what it means to “get justice” since justice is the prevailing liberal ideal behind cancel culture. Recently, the field of restorative justice has explored what it means to find justice outside of the traditional jail sentence. It focuses on repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior including fostering change in the criminal themself.9 Instead of current cancel culture justifications based on traditional legal persecution, applying the restorative justice mindset to social media would give perpetrators of minor discrepancies, such as politically incorrect comments, a path towards growth while also providing the victim justice. For example, a celebrity who used discriminatory language in an old interview would not be shunned from society so far as they took responsibility for their mistake and took steps to understand it’s negative impact. The latter frequently involves a direct apology to hurt parties and a line of dialogue for the victim to voice their suffering. In traditional crime narratives, the restorative justice approach leads to a significant drop in the number of perpetrators who reoffend because the perpetrators are forced to recognize the harm they have caused.

Of course, the distinction between major and minor discrepancies is personal. And if after all this you still want to cancel someone over being politically incorrect, you have that right. But always acknowledge your role in larger trends and strive for productive solutions to societal problems. In most cases, this entirely discredits cancelling as it impedes long-term societal growth and only furthers problematic herd mentality online.

Sources 1. https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system 2. https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system 3. https://www.vox.com/a/sexual-harassment-assault-allegations-list 4. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/12/harvey-weinstein-interview-allegationsmisconduct-times-up 5. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/15/me-too-founder-tarana-burkewomen-sexual-assault 6. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-27-ca-57683-story.html 7. https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2018/10/politics/timeline-kavanaugh/ 8. https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2018/10/politics/timeline-kavanaugh/ 9. https://why-me.org/what-is-restorative-justice/

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The Art of Writer: Arwa Hezzah

Editor: Naomi Burjorjee

Arwa Hezzah is a writer for Avant Garde. She is a Junior at AUC, majoring inPolitical Science with minors in English Literature and Theatre.

Art has always been a form of expression, whether it is used to portray one’s feelings and emotions or to secretly convey certain messages the artist wants to put forth. No matter what it is used for, art in all its forms has always been a crucial weapon. For centuries, art has been used as a means to control or defy. Not only does art have the ability to affect all people differently and evoke different emotions, but its informality makes it a form of communication that is easier to relate to than typical forms of exchange like newspapers or political speeches. Particularly over the last decade, art has been used in many areas across the world as a form of rebellion and a means of propaganda. The use of art by dictators or defiant citizens ultimately sways the masses and shapes society’s perspectives. For this reason, it is important to take a look at how such changes take place in the aftermath of art’s dissemination.

The use of art as a means of influence took place in society as early as the Middle Ages, perhaps even further back in time. During Medieval times, especially with the rise of Christianity, church officials would come together to organize theatrical performances which would later be shown to the people. Through these performances, the church would introduce religious ideas to its citizens, setting notions of how they needed to behave to appease God. Because of the popularity of theatre, these plays were used to sway the people when political issues came into play. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the Protestant Reformation essentially targeted theatre in an attempt to curb any allegiance to Rome and the Catholic church. In that sense, the church, which was the main authority of one of the most popular artforms at the time, used the arts to direct the opinions of the people.

With this in mind, we can begin to move forward in time to see how art has been further used by rulers to influence their people. One of the most notorious places where propaganda was used as a means of manipulation was in Nazi Germany, after the first World War. In 1937, the Third Reich, headed by Adolf Hitler, hosted two art exhibitions in Munich. The first was labeled the “Great German Art Exhibition”, which included works of art reflective of Hitler’s epitome of the Aryan society. The second exhibition, which Hitler called “degenerate art,” featured abstract works painted by Jewish people, communists, or anyone opposed to the Reich’s rule. In this exhibition, art was presented with disparaging labels describing the supposedly wretched people behind the pieces. By doing so, Hitler and his Reich manganged to buttress the majority of society’s views about the Jewish community, fortifying the idea that Jews were the enemy.

By calling their art degenerate, he was able to implement the idea in people’s minds that anyone of Jewish descent was ultimately “lesser than”, which thus helped uphold his case against them. This is only one of the ways through which Hitler controlled art and artists within Germany, knowing full well how big of a role art could play in the success of a dictatorship.

Art has not only been used by leaders or dictators, but it also was and continues to be used by the oppressed to speak up about their struggles. Taking a look at more contemporary occurrences, we can examine how much art has come into play in acts of resistance. One such example is Naji al-Ali, a Palestinian cartoonist, and his expressive cartoons. The drawing of a young boy, known as Handala, often standing with his back turned to his viewer, became a very significant figure of Palestinian resistance in the years following 1973. The character was depicted as ten years old, the age the artist

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Resistance was when he was expelled from his home in Palestine with the establishment of Israel, often watching over some form of maltreatment of the Palestinian people. Through this simple work of art, al-Ali was able to show the world the struggles of those in Palestine, all the while resisting the transgressions occurring against his people.

Al-Ali’s cartoons became so influential, in fact, that he was assassinated in 1987 in the United Kingdom by an unknown culprit. Nonetheless, the character continues to be an exemplary symbol of identity and defiance not just in Palestine but across the Arab world. Naji al-Ali himself stated in a conversation with Egyptian novelist Radwa Ashour that, “[Handala] was the arrow of the compass, pointing steadily towards Palestine. Not just Palestine in geographical terms, but Palestine in its humanitarian sense— the symbol of a just cause, whether it is located in Egypt, Vietnam or South Africa.”

or even online memes mocking the president. All across the country, evidence of silenced art can be seen. Not only does this help maintain the image of the country’s leader, but it also helps him ascertain his power to subdue his defiers.

The power art has over people is undeniable. In the political sphere, it can symbolize the rise and fall of regimes, help the oppressed have a voice, or even aid dictators in influencing the minds of their people. Though art can be a critical weapon, it is still a doubleedged sword. A single piece of art has the ability to glorify or berate a dictator. Thus, although art has often been used to aid a leader’s power, it can just as easily help weaken his perceived strength. For these reasons and many others, the arts and their significance needs to be wellperceived and kept alive by all. Art is and always has been a tool of expression and dissemination, but it will also continue to be a powerful weapon used over the masses.

The creation of art, though, is not the only way in which art can be utilized. The destruction of certain forms of art has also been employed as a method of resistance or silencing. In 2003, for instance, Iraqi rebels draped an image of Saddam Hussein in an American flag and took it down in rebellion against his regime. Here, the destruction of a work of art was used as a form of rebellion. Similarly, in 2011, Libyan rebels showed their dissatisfaction with the regime by tearing down a famous monument in Tripoli of a golden fist destroying an American fighter plane. This work of art was considered a symbol of Muammar Gaddafi and his regime’s power, since the leader had often shown its significance by being photographed in front of it.

With that in mind, the destruction of art can also still be used as a means of silencing the people. For example, since the 2011 Egyptian revolution, works of art that poorly represented the Egyptian leader have been torn down or censored in some form or another. Whether it’s graffiti on the walls of public buildings, pieces of writing that show dissatisfaction with the regime,

Sources: https://www.christianheritageedinburgh.org.uk/category/ arts/the-history-of-theatre-and-the-church/ https://www.mic.com/articles/1683/how-art-reflectsdictatorships-and-revolutions https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/opinion/whyauthoritarians-attack-the-arts.html https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3379-murder-of-najial-ali-to-be-reinvestigated

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(1960)

Exodus Writer: Ali Tohamy

Editor: Youssef Fahmy

Ali Tohamy is a writer interested in history, cinema and propaganda.

Exodus is an American film produced in 1960 and is based on a book by the same name from author Leon Uris; it highlights a seminal period in the process of the creation of Israel as a nation-state. It tells the story of Jewish holocaust survivors that are held by the British at an internment camp in Cyprus. The survivors are eager to escape this camp in order to move into Palestine to get their independence with the help of Captain Ari Ben Canaan, a Haganah rebel who was part of the Jewish Brigade of the British army during World War II. From then we move into Palestine where we see the difference between the methods of the Irgun and the methods of the Jewish Agency, a Kibbutz (Jewish communal settlement) and some historical moments like the bombing of the King David hotel. The film was able to drum up much needed support for the Israeli state and help reshape Americans opinions on the then controversial state. Exodus was able to portray the fight of Zionists of that of freedom and inequality and relate this to the biblical sense of the Old Testament and the American idea of freedom.

Each character in the film represents a certain aspect of the overall Palestinian conflict. Ari, the main protagonist, is portrayed as as Jewish hero who leads his people to independence, while Nurse Kitty Fremont is the outsider who is sympathetic to the cause (also an American!). We are also introduced to a young Danish-Jewish girl named Karen, who lost her father during the war, which was a recent memory to the audience at the time, and is

searching for hope in the Zionist movement and Israel. As the film progresses it becomes more obvious that Karen is the daughter of Israel, and is symbolized by the young generation of Jewish people escapingWorld War II. In Palestine, we are introduced to Kibbutz Gan Dafna, named after Ari’s old love interest who was killed by Arabs, one of the few portrayals of Arabs in the film. The original book was published in 1958 and one of its biggest fans was David Ben Gurion, who was the 1st Israeli prime minister.

Ben Gurion praised it as the best piece of propaganda written about Israel and this is not a coincidence. Leon Uris, the author of Exodus was purposely sent to Israel by a PR consultant to write a book that could establish a more pleasant view towards Israel. The book became America’s biggest bestseller since Gone With the Wind; and 40 years later, Edward Said still credits the book as the producer of a dominant narrative towards the Arab-Israeli conflict in the USA.

In order to understand the historical setting, we need to look at both the British and the Arabs. The British in the film are depicted as an obstacle to the Zionist project. They prevented the immigrants from reaching Palestine and were attacked by both Jewish and Arab fighters in the 1920s and 1930s due to them being viewed as oppressors, and this was due to the infamous “White Paper” that sought to restrict Jewish immigration into Mandate Palestine, which angered many Jews and Zionists alike, while Arabs saw the British as foreign occupiers. In addition, Arabs are not represented except for

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Taha, who donated land to the Jews and Arab fighters fighting against Israel, providing a onesided perspective that we still see to this day. All that we learn about Arabs who are not Taha is that they are against establishing a Jewish nationstate. Eventually, Taha is hanged by Arabs in a scene for aiding the Jews and has the word “Jew” and a Swastika marked on him. This felt like an implication that Arabs who aren’t Taha are like Grand Mufti Mohamed Amin al Husayni, the infamous Grand Mufti who had meetings with Adolf Hitler during World War II and was pretty influential when it came to the “Final Solution” for Jewish people. The historicity of some aspects in the film could be questioned, but the film still has connections with historical currents of Zionism. Seeing that the film is about the birth of Israel and the armed process at times, there are shades of radicalism within it, particularly from Zionist thinker Ze’ev Jabotinsky, who stated that Israel can only be established through violence and the armed struggle and claims that the Arabs are the main instigators of violence. A historically accurate point in the film is about the Zionist-British relations as it is true that the British wanted to restrict Jewish immigration by 1938 with the White Paper. It is also true that some Jews fought for the British during the war and like Ari contributed to the birth of Israel.

One aspect of the film is the comparison between Jewish and Arab leadership. The Jewish have two main factions of different ideological thought, but unified goal: The Haganah and the Irgun. The Haganah are depicted as a less radical faction, who believe that the creation of the state of Israel can only come through Jewish migration to Palestine while the Irgun believe that Israel must be created through direct violence against the British and Arabs. While different in thought, in Exodus, they reconcile against the Arabs as the film nears its end, depicting a “riding off to sunset” scene that was appreciated by many Americans who are fans of such clichés. On the other hand, Arabs were depicted as Nazi supporters (even featuring an SS officer, which is hugely inaccurate and only serves as a fictional threat by portraying Arabs as Nazis), backstabbers, and ununified. This is blatantly expressed in a scene featuring the Haganah trying to break their comrades out

of the Acre prison; while some members saw that this will free many Arabs and Jews alike, our protagonist Ari simply dismissed as: “600 Jews will go into one direction, and that is with us. While 600 Arabs will go into 600 different directions.” The film even depicts an American woman who would become Ari’s lover and Ari would take her into the mountains and share with her biblical stories and how he appreciates Christianity as they share similar beliefs.

You could imagine that this will not sit well with an American audience. With Exodus scoring high reviews and box office revenues worth an impressive $28 million dollars, one can imagine that films like Exodus have portrayed Arabs into views similar to that of the present day: backwards, “undemocratic”, divided, and prone to autocratic tendencies; a view that is still commonly seen today. The rhetoric of films like Exodus and any other future “historical” films must be carefully examined to avoid films having imperialistic or propagandic tendencies that can affect international politics and even generations into dangerous fallacies and stereotypes.

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Writer: Nour El Captan Editor: Habiba El Hadidi

Where are Out Strolling

Nour El Captan is an author with interests in creative writing, movies, musical theatre, and FC Barcelona

O

n the day I got the call saying that you’d passed, it was raining. The rain was with me while I packed a bag and ordered a cab to take me to the airport. It pounded at the car’s windows the entire way and drenched me and my luggage as I stumbled into the airport. I think that was the most rain I’d ever seen in my life.

I saw my uncle when you were being carried underground. He was sobbing, just as everyone else was. It was just me who couldn’t cry. I caught a glimpse of you, docile and horizontal and wrapped in white cloth. My head turned away of its own accord. Some part of me felt sick, another terrified. Was this the first time that I’ve ever seen a corpse up close? It must have been. When you called me, we talked about wanting to see each other soon. You said something about me coming during Spring Break and I said I would think about it, even though I knew that I already had travel plans with my friends. I really did want to see you, though. But I didn’t think it would be like this.

That entire plane ride, I was numb. I hadn’t shed one tear, even though I felt like I should. It didn’t make sense. You talked to me yesterday, something about a Liverpool game and how you weren’t feeling well. But not feeling well didn’t mean passing away.

It hadn’t even been twenty four hours since I’d last heard your voice and now I was being told that I I stayed at my uncle’s place during the few would never hear it again. This made no sense. I days leading up to your funeral. I was unaccustomed couldn’t remember the last words you said to me. to Egyptian death rituals but through imitation, I got used to it.

When the plane landed in Cairo, I was picked up by your brother. It must’ve been him who had I put on the black like everyone else did and I called and told me about you but I couldn’t remember. learned the responses to every form of condolences I When I visited a couple of months ago, it was you who received. I learned that you don’t get any alone time had picked me up and we hugged for a long time. to grieve because the entire family – all one hundred Now this man in black, practically a stranger to me, relatives – are just always there. I learned that over speaking to me in broken English about how we have there, death tastes and smells like fatta and sounds to hurry to the burial. like a mix of wailing and Quran.

A little over a year ago, you arrived at this same airport after you had decided it was time to go home and leave me behind with Mom, a woman that neither of us could love anymore. And the woman who didn’t give a fuck when I told her about your passing and about me having to fly here. I don’t think I have forgiven you for leaving but now, I suppose that I must. Did you know, then, as you were getting on that last plane to Egypt that you were going home so you could be buried there?

I could’ve gone on never knowing this and would have been perfectly content.

At the burial, when I had looked around and seen all the cousins crying, I was struck with the truth about the immense amount of people who had truly loved you and I wondered how anyone would ever get past this. But two days later at the funeral, it seemed like everyone already had.

the People on Sunday?

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I sat alone next to the door of the funeral hall’s women’s section, listened to the same Quran that had been playing consistently over the past two days, and greeted everyone who came in, even though I didn’t know most of them. They hugged me with grave looks on their faces, offered condolences, and took a seat next to someone they knew. As soon as they were done hugging me, I saw their faces light up with smiles as they greeted their friends or their family.

My plane home was scheduled to leave the day after the funeral. My uncle stopped by before I fell asleep to say goodnight.

Alone at the door once again, I suddenly saw red. There was nothing inside of me but anger. Anger at all the people who were already over you and anger at those who were still crying. Most of all, anger at myself for my inability to shed a single tear when it was me who had been orphaned and not any of those people who had embarrassed themselves with the way they had sobbed and slobbered and snivelled all over the place.

That last night, I saw you. You looked like you always did, but a bit angrier. I kept holding on to you, refusing to let you leave the house, and you kept saying that you had to. It wasn’t until I broke down in tears that your face finally softened and I threw my arms around you. Again and again, I said the words that I don’t think I ever said to you when you were alive. I love you.

That night, I forced myself to relive every memory that I had had with you. I kept remembering the day that you told me that you were going to live in Egypt again. We were having caramel sundaes. I haven’t been able to enjoy one since.

But you remained silent, even as you hugged me close, not saying anything back.

I stepped out of the hall and into the night air as I waited for this night to end.

Everyone went back to my uncle’s house after I woke up, still feeling your arms around me, the funeral. There was a match playing and I sat and feeling so full with all of the tears I couldn’t shed. and watched with them even though my head was somewhere else.

As I waited for the plane to take off and listened to my music, I got a text from a friend back

Someone turned to me and said, “this is home. As I replied and went to turn my phone off, Zamalek, your dad’s favourite team.” my eyes fell on my chat with you. You had texted me something and I had never texted you back. When As if I didn’t know that already. the flight attendant approached me and told me to turn my phone off, I couldn’t see her through the

The match went on. and I sat among these sudden tears blurring my vision. strangers in black as they cheered for strangers in white, wondering why Zamalek was even playing if When the plane took off, I covered my eyes Baba wasn’t there to watch them. with my sleeves but they were soaked through immediately as I shook with the strength of my sobs.

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&

Sticks

Writer: Laila El Refaie Editor: Lia Abdelwahab

Laila El Refaie is an author and editor with interests in philosophy, history, and literature.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

A

n old adage recited repeatedly in children’s classrooms to repel bullies. Victims of vicious verbal abuse and name-calling have used this phrase to combat their assailants, as if to say: “do your worst. I don’t care.” Indeed, there is something empowering in denying those who cause us harm the satisfaction of having their desired effect. But while it is important for children to hear what they need to feel stronger, we must be aware of the ways in which we deceive ourselves as adults. Unfortunately, while sticks and stones may indeed break our bones, words can also cause severe emotional and psychological harm. As such, I seek to show you how this process takes place at the most basic level. In order to do that, it is necessary to select a framework within which we can analyse this often neglected phenomenon.

It is important to first establish that, for the sake of this article, I will synonymise sign with word or phrase. While the implications of signs are far deeper, it is nevertheless more simple to focus on the signs that lie within our speech and writing. Charles Sanders Peirce, in his own convoluted fashion, defines a sign as something that stands in for a concept to someone in a certain way. For example, the word “tree” stands in for the concept of a tree to most people. How, then, can we use this to understand the power that words have over us? Surely a mere sound attached to a concept can’t inflict so much harm… But it can.

Let’s say you’re speaking to your significant other. You get into a heated argument over something they said (say: “I’m bored,” which you understood to imply that they find you boring), and they insist wholeheartedly that what you understood was definitely not what they meant. A common occurrence, right? This happens because the sign, or word, they used is attached to a different concept to you than to them. You attach

the word “bored” to the concept of being bored by or of something else; in other words, boredom must have a clear cause or source for you. Your partner, on the other hand, attaches it to the concept of feeling an internal state of boredom, regardless of external stimulation. In this situation, “bored” stands in for one thing for you, and another thing for them.

Because they assumed that you would share their understanding of the word, they used it and didn’t add in a definition. You don’t see someone say: “I’m bored, and this is how I define boredom within the scope of my own experience and understanding.”

This misunderstanding instigated an argument between you and your partner. Now imagine if these miscommunications happen between diplomats, politicians, or representatives of groups. Would it not be simple to see one misunderstanding snowball into a large-scale war or genocide?

While some physical violence may stem from misunderstandings, much of it has roots elsewhere.

Violence begets violence, and this applies equally to linguistic violence. Think of bullying, name-calling, or gaslighting. When someone calls you an idiot, or passes you off as insane for criticising them, you begin to resent them. It hurts to be called these things, because regardless of the details, they stand in for negative notions for each of us. While the term “insane” may allude to a horror film for one person, and to a personal history of psychosis for another, both experiences and concepts are inherently negative. The words that stand in for them thus also adopt their negative quality. This becomes more confusing when there is a shift in the association for one person, but not another. Take the word “r*tard.” For some, this word humourously stands in for “silly or foolish person.” While it stands in for something negative, the negativity is outweighed by the positivity of the humour. For others, on the other hand, the word carries offense because it stands in for mental illness, and is situated in a context where the way in which it looks at mental illness is inherently derogatory, mostly due to its connection to a painful and traumatising past. What some label as “PC

&

Stones

culture getting out of hand,” is rather the coming together of those for whom the term stands in for a state of trauma.

This notion applies further to slurs. A key example is the word “f*ggot,” which has been used to refer pejoratively to gay men in particular. In denying them the right to be referred to as “person,” “man,” or even “gay man,” the oppressor succeeds in dehumanising the gay man and thus justifying years of abuse, persecution, and murder. “F*ggot” came to stand in for the concept of the gay man, and because this is a term attached to identity, it created a circumstance under which the gay man has his identity imposed upon him. This echoes, and indeed runs alongside, Frantz Fanon’s notion of epidermalisation, where the Black man’s identity becomes rooted in their blackness. In reducing the gay man to a bundle of sticks (the original definition of the word) intended for burning, the repeated usage of the term grows to justify the murder and burning of gay people. After all, they are no longer people, but rather just bundles of sticks.

Nevertheless, there have been movements to reclaim dehumanising slurs used against minorities.

During the civil rights movement, for example, one of the main arguments was against the N-word.

Black people pooled their voices and shouted their rejection of the slur, because it did not stand in for their identity for them. Here, the word became outlawed as a way for others to refer to Black people. If you wish to address or speak about a Black person, you have to refer to them as a person.

This is of immeasurable significance, even today, because it prevents the linguistic (and thus realistic) dehumanisation of the Black man from happening again. To take it a step further, the reclamation of the N-word by the Black community is a means of exercising power over the word as a descriptor. Not only do they deny the non-Black individual control over this potentially dehumanising way of referring to them, they also situate the term within their own community as a word with positive connotations,

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like friendship. The fact that non-Black people can’t use the word is both a means of protection, and a means of empowerment for the Black person, whereby they are given control over their own descriptors.

As such, while the consequences of our language can vary from miscommunication to deliberate dehumanisation, one fact remains: words continue to impact our lives, and our words have power. We must consider the ways in which others may understand our word choices, and not take it for granted that the words we choose will stand in for the same things to them as they do to us. As our meanings for words shift and grow, we must keep in mind that while stocks and stones are the weapons of tradition, words can cause significantly more severe damage.

Sources: Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. (1952).

Fasoli, Fabio, et al. “Not “just words”: Exposure to homophobic epithets leads to dehumanizing and physical distancing from gay men.” European Journal of Social Psychology. (2015).

Grinberg, Emanuella. “Ending the R-word: Ban it or understand it?” CNN. (2012) Munroe, Celidhe. “The Power of Six Letters.” Rennie Museum.

(2018).

Peirce, Charles Sanders. “Logic as Semiotic: The Theory of Signs.”

Philosophical Writings.

Dover Publications (1902).

Peirce, Charles Sanders. “What is a Sign?” (1894).

Schwab, Manuel. Personal interview. 12th February 2020.

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The Assault on our Imagination Writer: Yasser Osama Editor: Karim Kadry

Yasser Osama is a graduating senior majoring in Philosophy and Mathematics. His main interests are Social and Political Philosophy and Critical Theory

A familiar conversation when discussing politics with a friend or a family member often runs into an impasse of realism. Being critical, for example, of a system that favors profitability as millions suffer from poverty and disease means that you are being unrealistic. You are then met with excuses of how politics is complicated.

Accusations fly around decrying how unrealistic— or even dangerous—it is to demand more from the world you live in. These rebuttals are uttered in the same breath that contains unwavering support for democracy or free speech as conducive elements to progress. The answer to this apparent contradiction as you call for progress lies in what I would argue is an assault on our imaginative capacity when it comes to political questions and problems; an assault on our political imagination.

Psychoanalyst and political philosopher Julia Kristeva argues that there is a loss of desire to revolt in the late twentieth and the twenty-first century and that this loss is a malady of our time. This loss is not merely the loss of revolutionary action against oppression.

More critically, there is also an internal loss of the capacity to imagine different political and economic conditions. According to Kristeva, this loss is due to a diffusion of power, in the sense that the source of oppression and the target of revolution is not as clear in public life as it has been before. The isolation of modernity, is also a causal factor behind this loss as our political imagination is ultimately tied down to our plural existence or the existence of others. A danger of such loss is more than just the incapability of enacting social change, but according to Kristeva, this also is accompanied by a loss of our capacity to create meaning. One need only to think of the rampant meaninglessness felt at every level of our lives.

Examples of this meaninglessness are not only found

in the rampant nihilism or deep existential dread. Itis also made clear in the cynicism some feel towards politics to the extent of even identifying themselves as apolitical —a privileged political position in itself.

A good approximation of the assault on our political imagination to the nearest unimaginative—but popular—political concept is that of electability in electoral politics. In states that uphold some democratic principles, a nominee whose policies you favor is the one you should want to succeed— theoretically. In practice, however, the concept of electability, defined as voting for the candidate who is perceived as most likely to win, is self-enforcing. The actual change people long for, limited as it often is, is compromised for the lesser of two evils. This surely moves the lesser of two evils closer and closer to full-on evil, which is most often a shift from centrist politics to right wing demagogy. This evil, which lies in the suffering inflicted by “pragmatic” politics is left obscured under the banner of detached debate and bipartisan politics. The counter-productive notion of electability reveals this lack of imagination and how it is enforced by the mass refusal of any other political existence.

Another familiar example is the loss of hope towards revolution under authoritarian regimes caused by mass illiteracy and brainwashing. A previous—usually middle class revolutionary—would view an entire population as unworthy of his attempts at revolution since they clearly do not know what’s best for them.

What this faux revolutionary misses is that the poor and the homeless are crushed even more harshly under the economic and authoritarian forces of their government that maintain illiteracy and false consciousness. The people’s political imagination is, thus, shut down and the possibility of revolution foreclosed.

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What also escapes our imagination is the very concept of democracy. In a quasi-democratic nation, where democracy is limited to values such as freedom of speech and a right to vote, limits the possibilities of democracy as well. A more radical conception of democracy would give the people autonomy over their own lives and involvement in aspects that are critical to their survival and aspirations. Our workplace, living spaces, and communities must grant us our autonomy in lieu of a fight for basic needs; in other words, we need a direct democracy. We need only to look at those affected by poverty, hunger, disease, or homelessness to understand this need. We need to understand how their lives are conducted, under the mercy of private ownership of wealth, food, medicine, and shelter with wage labour as their only option. In that nightmare, there is little choice and little they can do with voting and free speech. Working conditions can be hazardous, they are underpaid, cannot escape their poverty and they do not enjoy the autonomy of how to sell this labour or to whom to sell it. All the while a privileged class of people reap the benefit of their labour and the benefit of having the working class compete for survival. We live in an era of capitalist realism, where this economic system is deemed to be the only possibility for political organization and any other alternative is dismissed. It is justified as the inevitable result of human nature, and perfumed with pseudo-scientific “facts” or economic justifications that presuppose it as the only possibility.

In her latest work, The Force of Non-violence, Judith Butler argues against the sentiment of viewing radical alternatives to our political existence as unrealistic. She argues that this sentiment forecloses much needed possibilities in our lives. In that regard, there is an ethical obligation to be unrealistic, since the capacity to at least imagine the unrealistic will open up the possibility of such change. The people will recognize their unrealistic imagination in others imagining a different reality as well and it opens up the possibility of political organization. More importantly, however, the climate crisis we are facing, which is expected to reach catastrophic escalations, will be left unhandled due to the withering away of political imagination. We are bound only to an individualistic discourse of managing

consumption habits. We are unable to face the fact that private ownership of the means of production and the emphasis on profitability is the cause of this crisis and that an alternative is much needed. The lack of ability to imagine a different political organization will let us watch passively or act in aggression as more people are displaced or affected by this capitalist made disaster, not the responsibility of individuals.

There is hope in restoring our capacity to create meaning in our lives and imagine different political circumstances; what Kristeva terms “intimate revolt”.

What people can imagine changes with time, something of which we are short of in our current political climate. It has not always been the case that capitalism was seen as the only form of organization.

Being able to imagine is, therefore, the first step towards a much needed change; and imagination in itself, against the forces that stifle our imagination, is a radical and revolutionary act.

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The Apocalyptic Happiness Writer: Eisha Afifi

Editor: Karim Kadry

​Eisha Afifi is an editor and writer who’s interested in social theory, philosophy and rhetoric.

A salient feature of 21st century societies is the premium they place on happiness. Becoming happy and enjoying oneself has become a social duty; as much as it is a personal concern. The degree to which one’s happiness spreads to those around them has turned it into an obligation; because when one individual fails to be happy, this detracts from the happiness of society as a whole. In the system’s attempt to maximize the happiness of societies, a full-fledged consumer culture has emerged, laced with promises of satisfaction and a happier life.

Contemporary consumer capitalism emerged in an attempt to satiate consumers’ hunger for consumption. In simpler, noncapitalist societies, individuals could obtain benefits, especially in terms of life satisfaction, off social recognition by contributing to the needs of their community (like in traditional Bedouin communities, for instance); however, in capitalist societies, where the twin snakes alienation and isolation are reinforced by work culture, individuals are confronted by their need to belong to society, which they tend to using a golden tactic: consumption.

Consumerism has a central role in reproducing social order in late capitalism-- this emerging society of commanded enjoyment is not concomitant with capitalism in general; it characterizes, in particular, late capitalism.

The pathways to happiness were redirected with the emergence of mass production and consumer culture. Happiness, which was once seen as abstract, intangible even, has become calculable. Commodities, in a system of capitalist relations, are not simply ordinary things. Instead, they are turned into objective, abstract entities, with values attached to them, to be exchanged in the market.

Marx sees this configuration, the shift in the relationship of individuals with objects-from objects being products of labor to objects becoming sovereign of their makers, as what he calls a ‘reversed relationship’. An ‘estranged

relationship’ between workers and consumers, and between workers and their products, forms. Through such development, a process of substitution occurs. Products of labor become commodities, things that are simultaneously objective and imperceptible. In an attempt to substitute for the denial of integrated social identity by cultural or economic limitations, individuals resort to the unchecked consumption of commodities. Happiness-driven consumption, in other words, is predicated upon lack. It seeks to fulfill the desire individuals have for coherence and meaning in everyday existence, which are elusive under capitalism, by acting as a psychological mechanism that reproduces the consumption of commodities, and enables the perpetual creation of new needs. Commodities, thus, become involved with the makings of social identity, and promise psychological and emotional fulfillment.

French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan believed that humans hadn’t begun deriving happiness through consumption post-World War II, instead, he saw enjoyment as something at the heart of human subjectivity, and hence society. The symbolic Other, according to Lacan, is “the social world of linguistic communication, intersubjective relations, knowledge of ideological and conventions, and the acceptance of the law”. For Lacan, located in the realm of the symbolic Other is desire-- as an individual deals with their anxiety by accepting the prohibiting function of society, they become a desiring machine. According to the psychoanalyst, this desiring machine is made up of the divided subject (who, according to him, can never have a full identity), and the object of the desire, which is always unattainable.

Brands promise customers a wide range of exciting experiences, making happiness seemingly attainable, merely requiring the purchase of their latest products. Yet, once the customer buys the commodity, they realize that the commodity cannot satisfy this burning desire they have, which had, at one point, seemed

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possible. The purchase of a pair of Nike trainers, for example, comes with a gamut of promises.

Once the customer buys the trainers, however, they realize they cannot jump as high as ‘Air Jordan’. This failure, though, doesn’t prevent individuals from believing in the power these commodities possess. Lacan calls this unsinkable desire fantasy-- contemporary capitalism has been successful in providing a system onto which individuals’ anxieties can be transferred, fostering a set of fantasies for individuals to believe in.

the social relations festering between capitalists and exploited laborers. In the words of Guy Debord—‘it is not just that the relationship to commodities is now plain to see—commodities are now all that there is to see, the world we see is the world of the commodity.’ The commodity is everywhere; we cannot unsee it. It is constantly being produced and reproduced at a variety of different levels of reality and representation, overshadowing social relationships between people for those between things.

According to Lacan, a fundamental lack will always be present at the heart of the Other. He calls this lack: jouissance. Jouissance, in Lacanian understanding, is an enjoyment that goes beyond the pleasure principle (the instinctive seeking of pleasure and avoiding of pain to satisfy biological and psychological needs), what Lacan described as “backhanded enjoyment”. This lack is characterized by the vulnerability of producers-- brands are always vulnerable, as we can see from perpetual resistance campaigns encouraging boycott; a good example would be Israeli made products under the BDS movement. With producers so radically sensitive, contingency and the possibility of change are introduced. While this possibility of change keeps producers’ marketing machinery going by introducing new fantasies for consumers to believe in, it is also this lack that points to the realization that every fantasy has to break down at some point.

Marx sees capitalism as a manifestor of destruction-- a spoiler of jouissance. Lacan believes the opposite to be true. While capitalism has succeeded in creating a desiring machine which gets individuals out of bed, takes them to work, shopping, etc; it has excluded what Freud calls the ‘death drive’. Individuals are now willing to pay the ultimate price to enter a new life characterized by promises of happiness.

Though capitalism may seem all-encompassing, it is important to recognize that at the heart of it is a fundamental lack. This struggle over and for jouissance, for happiness, is ongoing. And while capital has successfully managed to curb some of that burning desire by creating the desiring machine, it has not successfully managed to put it out completely-- the lack needs to be consistently filled. Hence, it is this lack that needs to be understood as a struggle for enjoyment; and the outcome of consumption, unpredictable.

For Lacan, capitalism is all about the capture of jouissance. ‘Something changed,’ he explains, when, ‘surplus jouissance became calculable, could be counted, totalized. This is where what is called the accumulation of capital begins.’ For Lacan, capitalism starts with the attempt to calculate, account for jouissance, or enjoyment, that has hitherto been simply unaccounted waste.

Fantasy is a construction that corners individuals into perpetual cycles of consumption by stimulating their desire to achieve jouissance.

Within the frameworks of fantasy and jouissancedriven consumption, individuals tend to overlook the human relationships that they’ve substituted commodities for. In an endless repetition of the consumption cycle by which individuals attempt to satisfy their emptiness and desire, their knowledge of the world beyond the commodity nearly ceases to exist-- it is only the commodity they’re fixated on. The commodity serves as a reproducer of the alienation consumers go through, by allowing them to completely forgo

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The Epidemic

Encore

Writer: Asmaa Elnagar Editor: Jonas Rowan

Asmaa Elnagar is an editor and writer for Avant-Garde. She is interested in psychology, biology and is a creative writer.

Egyptian restaurants, like Genghis Khan Chinese Restaurant in Maadi, have started banning Chinese people from their establishments supposedly out of some misplaced concern for safety, but most likely because of the simple racism that has penetrated Egyptian society.

The coronavirus epidemic has taken the media by storm and it has hit Egypt, with one case reported as of the writing of this article.

Epidemics, widespread panic, and misinformation usually cause two major problems that have to be addressed—racism and xenophobia. These two problems are making their encore with the coronavirus and no matter how uncomfortable it is it must be addressed, in order to prevent the severe discrimination that happened with SARS happen again with this epidemic.

We have been to a certain extent raised to see ourselves as superior to other people, which is why racism and xenophobia have and always will be around. Everytime a new epidemic arises, or any crisis that originates from a country that is not dominated by white people, or have a different culture that is ‘not normal,’ people with racist and xenophobic views use those crises as justification for their views. The coronavirus epidemic is no different. With epidemics come quarantines to control the disease, regardless of whether the mass hysteria that ensues is racially fueled. The method of quarantining diseased areas was first developed in Venice in 1370, to keep the bubonic plague at bay by banning any ships coming from infected ports from entering Venice. Over time racism merged with quarantines when they were used to separate

people considered to be dirty or undesirable like Asians. Another example of how quarantines are racially fueled is seen in 1900 when the San Francisco authorities responded to a bubonic plague epidemic by quarantining buildings in Chinatown mostly occupied by Chinese immigrants. It should be noted that they did not quarantine native-born Americans who lived directly across the street. Some doctors claimed the plague was a disease of “rice eaters”, not “meat-eaters”, referring to Asians and White Americans, respectively.

Now, history is repeating itself. One French newspaper had on its front cover in capital letters “Yellow Alert” next to an image of a Chinese woman wearing a face-mask. Another headline in the same paper read “New Yellow Peril?” above an article about the coronavirus outbreak. “Yellow Peril” was an old racist ideology that targeted East Asians in Western countries. The phrase is a racist colour-metaphor describing East Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. The phrase embodies the worst of anti-Asian fears and stereotypes, which have plagued immigrant communities.

To invoke the term now, in a story about death and illness in Asia is blatantly racist. Such slurs are returning because of the mass hysteria that people and the Media are spreading over the internet either for clickbait or to use it as evidence to justify their twisted views.

Media in all its forms, ranging from news outlets to Facebook, have spread and are spreading what amounts to propaganda, displaying widely racist and inaccurate images of Chinese people as unclean, uncivilized, immoral

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people that threaten society. Media companies are indulging in this because world-ending headlines attract far more readers, thus creating profit. These companies, along with anyone with a device and an internet connection, are causing inaccurate information to mix with information coming from expert organisations such as WHO and the CDC making their job of trying to save humanity from this epidemic that much harder.

People who are fanning the flames of racism are ignoring the science that challenges their twisted premise that COVID-19 (the official name of the coronavirus) is only targeting Asians. Back when SARS broke out, and again now with COVID-19, scientists have pointed out that most effective protection against contracting SARS, coronavirus, or even the flu virus is frequent hand-washing, not racism and xenophobia.

York University Professor of Environmental Studies Roger Keil, who studied the racialisation of SARS, put it best when he tweeted: “Racism is a weapon of mass infection.” It takes just one comment or one person to spread a piece of misinformation which causes mass hysteria to hit, and infects more people than any epidemic. Because while epidemics come and go, unfounded views for a culture different than one’s own mainly white culture remain like a cancer. Governments all over the world lie on an extremely double-edged sword: balancing the need for warnings against the prevention of global panic. Increasing readers and profits are not worth the mass hysteria and panic that media and misinformed people are creating.

DOES HUMANITY NOT LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES?

To see the effect that the media has on people’s views, look no further than the SARS outbreak and how it was covered. Almost as soon as SARS emerged, it was racialised within the popular imagination and inextricably linked to images of the Asian body. Media outlets writing about the SARS outbreak frequently illustrated their stories with images of Chinatown buildings or Asian people wearing face masks, even when the images being displayed had little to no connection to the contents of the story they were presenting. Due to this and taking information out of context, people along with the indirect help of the media created the dangerous stigma that Asians and SARS go hand in hand; with some people even go as far as blaming the Asian population for SARS epidemic since officials did

not notify the public in time, allowing the virus to spread as it did. This is now happening again with the coronavirus outbreak. Even now, to further prove that history is repeating itself, a majority of articles and media outlets who are covering the coronavirus outbreak frequently use images of Chinese people wearing facemasks or have clickbait headlines that can simply be taken out of context fueling the mass panic that has already hit people because no one can understand this virus. This should not be the case.

In the face of such an infectious and deadly disease, people should be coming together and aiding each other, and yet humanity keeps giving in to its worst nature.

People of Asian descent should not be treated as walking pathogens and avoided like the plague. We should not be refusing to sit next to them on buses and we most certainly should not be stopping them from entering our places of business and not going into theirs. We are all humans, we are all the same.

WE SHOULD NOT BE LETTING HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF.

In short, history is filled, and will always be filled, with people using some of the world’s worst moments to justify their twisted and sick views about people who they view to be inferior to them. Even so, one obvious fact should be made clear: Diseases DO NOT discriminate along racial lines—but too often people do. People cannot give in to their worst natures and fears, they need to critically think about where they are getting their information from and most importantly not to give in to panic.

Despite the terrifying nature of diseases and the hysteria that will inevitably accompany it, embracing racism and xenophobia is not the solution, level heads and learning from our mistakes are.

Sources: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ outlook/2020/02/04/2003-sars-outbreak-fueled-antiasian-racism-this-pandemic-doesnt-have/ https://nationalpost.com/news/chinese-canadians-facinghate-racism-for-coronavirus-outbreak-much-like-thesars-outbreak-in-2003 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/31/asia/wuhancoronavirus-racism-fear-intl-hnk/index.html https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/ PIIS0140-6736(20)30379-2/fulltext https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/opinion/chinawuhan-virus-quarantine.html

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‫‪19‬‬

‫الكاتب‪ :‬عمرو عبدالعظيم‬ ‫املحرر‪ :‬عبدالرحمن رضوان‬ ‫قليل وتشعر بالحنق والكراهية يف خطابه‪ .‬لكن من‬ ‫فلم يكن الهدف هو إعالء مبادئ اختيار املصري والحرية‪ .‬بل جامحة ً‬ ‫كان الهدف هو إرغام أملانيا صاغرة عىل تقبل النظام القائم‪ ،‬غريه ينظر إليك ويقول لك أن الظلم مر! وأن السكر الذي‬ ‫وأي أمم لها الحق أن تكون إمرباطوريات‪ ،‬ذاك النظام التي وعدوك به إن عشت منل ًة مر! وأن القضية التي حاربتام لها‬ ‫حاولت اإلمرباطورية حديثة العهد أن تتحداه‪ .‬فكان الهدف سوية ملا يربو عىل األربعة أعوام قضية عادلة بحق! من غريه‬ ‫ينظر ويقول لك أن اإلنجليز والفرنسيني جبنا ٌء كاذبون!‬ ‫دب الخوف يف نفوس ذاك الشعب وفرض خطاب سيايس‬ ‫معني يقول أن أملانيا هي رأس الفساد يف أوروبا‪ .‬فإن كنت فمن تراه يلتف حوله املظلومون املغلوبون عىل أمرهم؟‬ ‫ذاك الرجل املدعو أدولف؟ أم ذاك السيايس الخسيس الذي‬ ‫رجل أملان ًيا فأنت ال تضمن قوت يومك‪ ،‬وتعلم أن ذاك‬ ‫ً‬ ‫يقول لك أن ترفع قبعتك للمحتل الخسيس بعد أن كانت‬ ‫الجندي اإلنجليزي املتمركز قبالة بيتك يأكل من خريات‬ ‫قذائفك تدب الرعب يف صدره؟‬ ‫وطنك وعملك رغم أنفك‪ .‬والويل كل الويل إن اعرتضت!‬ ‫فذاك الجندي عىل أتم استعداد أن “يؤدبك” ألنك املذنب؛‬ ‫لعل “ماذا سيحدث؟” ليس السؤال األفضل هنا‪ ،‬فنحن‬ ‫بل وستجد بعض املتخاذلني من بني وطنك يرغمونك عىل‬ ‫الصمت ألن البطش سيطالهم أيضً ا‪ .‬كان حريًا بك أن تضج! نعلم ما حدث بالفعل‪ .‬أما السؤال األفضل هو أتراه الشعب‬ ‫األملاين كان ليلتف حول أدولف هتلر إن مل يحاول الحلفاء‬ ‫ال سيام أن ذاك الخطاب هو الذي يعتمده رجال الدولة‬ ‫أن يسحقوه تحت وطأة الذل؟ أترى يف وطن يحرتمك ويقول‬ ‫نيابة عنك‪.‬‬ ‫لك أن تعرب عن رأيك ال تخىش فيه أن تبوح بأفكارك ستجد‬ ‫الجاذبية ذاتها يف كالم رجل يحدثك عن سيادة ال ِعرق؟‬ ‫فها أنت‪ ،‬فتى من “الجيل الضائع”‪ ،‬حملت زيك وأحالمك‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫وذهبت إىل الخنادق‪ ،‬تحارب عا ًما وراء عام‪ ،‬عانيت القذائف فالعارف بتاريخ أملانيا يعلم جي ًدا أن نظرية السيادة العرقية‬ ‫والغاز والقادة األغبياء الذين يدفعون بك إىل موت محقق‪ .‬مل تكن ذات الشعبية الجارفة قبل الحرب العاملية األوىل‪،‬‬ ‫عىل األقل مل تكن ذات شعبية بني األملان أكرث منها بني‬ ‫أعوام من الربوباجاندا التي تدفعك‬ ‫عدت إىل وطنك بعد ٍ‬ ‫الفرنسيني أو اإلنجليز‪ .‬فإين أعوذ بالله من غلبة الدين وقهر‬ ‫إىل خوض الحرب لنرش الثقافة والقيم األملانية يف العامل‪.‬‬ ‫الرجال‪ ،‬فال يدري الرجل املغلوب عىل أمره إىل من يلجأ‬ ‫زارك القيرص وأعطاك غليونًا ونيشانًا وأخربك أنك تحارب‬ ‫ألجل قضية عادلة‪ .‬واليوم؟ اليوم يقول لك الرئيس فريدريك سوى ذاك املتطرف الذي ال يخىش لومة الئم ويقول له مبلء‬ ‫صوته “أنت محق”! فوالله ليتبعنه الرجل حتى وإن طلب‬ ‫إيربت أنه مل يقهركم عدو يف امليدان‪ .‬ويقول قادة الجيش‬ ‫منه أن يلقي نفسه يف اليم‪ ،‬فاملوت محقًا عزي ًزا ألذ من‬ ‫أن الهزمية كانت ألن الديار قد خذل الجند‪ .‬ماذا إذن؟ مل‬ ‫الحياة مذلولً خائفًا‪ ،‬بل وألذ من السكر!‬ ‫يقولون يل يف الشارع والحانة ما يعادل الجملة الدارجة يف‬ ‫العامية املرصية‪“ :‬عيش منلة‪ ،‬تأكل سكر”!‬ ‫وأخ ًريا دعني أحدثك عن رجل ٍ‬ ‫عنيد صعب املراس يقال له‬ ‫ثم يأيت ذاك الرجل ذو الكاريزما‪ ،‬كان مثلك شابًا يف الخنادق‪“ ،‬يا أبا فراس”‪ .‬أما أبو فراس هذا فعلك تعلمه عزيزي القارئ‬ ‫رجل عيص الدمع‬ ‫الرومانيس الذي يرسل الشعر لحبيبته بأنه ٌ‬ ‫يذكر رعب القصف والغاز‪ .‬يصيح بأعىل صوته أن ما حل‬ ‫بكام ظلم! يعدك أن ينتقم من أولئك الذين سددوا الطعنة شيمته الصرب‪ ،‬وما للهوى نهي عليه وال أمر‪ .‬وتعلم أيضً ا أنه‬ ‫إىل ظهورنا من الديار‪ .‬ما حاربنا سويًا ليجلس ذاك الفرنيس مشتاق وذو لوعة ولكن ‪ -‬مثله ‪ -‬ال يذاع له رس‪ .‬أما أنا حني‬ ‫الخسيس يأكل من قوتنا‪ ،‬وكانت قضيتنا عادلة! لرمبا ظننت أذكره أذكره حني قال‪“ :‬ونحن أناس ال توسط عندنا‪...‬لنا‬ ‫أن ذاك الرجل يتحدث بشيئ من السعار والجنون‪ .‬فنظرياته الصدر ‪ -‬دون العاملني ‪ -‬أو الق ُرب”!‬

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‫ت‬ ‫أ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ش‬ ‫� يع� � ة‬ ‫�ن أ� مل�‬ ‫ت‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ولا �� ل ا سكر‬

‫علنى أذكر من أيام ِ‬ ‫الصبا حني أجلسنى أىب إىل جواره‬ ‫ودفع إىل بكتاب قديم هو ديوان املع ّرى‪ .‬وعلنى أذكر‬ ‫صوته الرخيم يتشدق بقوله‪ :‬تقفون والفلك املسخر دائ ٌر‪...‬‬ ‫وتقدرون فتضحك األقدار‪ .‬فيستوقفنى مشهد من التاريخ‬ ‫كلام مررت به أذكر ذاك البيت وهو مشهد تتويج فيلهلم‬ ‫رصا إلمرباطورية أملانيا يف قاعة املرايا بقرص فرساي‬ ‫األول قي ً‬ ‫بفرنسا‪ .‬وكان تتويج قيرص أملانيا بفرنسا نتيجة النتصاره‬ ‫املهيب ىف الحرب مع فرنسا عام ‪ ١٨٧١‬وكان ذاك أيضً ا‬ ‫تتوي ًجا ملكائد مستشاره “بسامرك” السياسية وحنكة قائده‬ ‫“فون مولتكه األكرب” العسكرية‪.‬‬

‫ولكن لعل ما مل يتوقعه القيرص فيلهلم األول حينها أن بعد‬ ‫ما يقارب نصف قرنٍ من الزمن سيشهد قرص فرساى ذاته‬ ‫تحلل إمرباطوريته بعد أن دفع بها فيلهلم الثاين (وهو حفيد‬ ‫األول) و “فون مولتكه األصغر” (وهو قائد الجيوش و ابن‬ ‫أخي فون مولتكه السابق ذكره) إىل حرب مل يسبق للعامل‬ ‫أن شهد مثلها‪ .‬راح ضحيتها الكثريون‪ ،‬قامت دول ودويالت‬ ‫وتفككت امرباطوريات وهلك أباطرة‪ ،‬ويف هذا كله مل يضحك‬ ‫أح ٌد سوى األقدار‪.‬‬ ‫وكانت بنود معاهدة فرساي مجحفة بحق! حتى وصفها‬ ‫األملان بالخطة القاتلة‪ ،‬ووصفها فريق من اإلنجليز بأن‬ ‫سالم فرساي كسالم روما مع قرطاجة‪ ،‬وال داعي للخوض‬ ‫يف قصة ذلك السالم‪ .‬فقد تم تفكيك اإلمرباطورية‪ ،‬و ُو ِز َعت‬ ‫ممتلكاتها ميي ًنا ويسا ًرا لدول وليدة األمس تارة و للدول‬ ‫التي حاربتها أملانيا يف الخنادق تارة أخرى‪ .‬وتم تحجيم‬ ‫جيوشها حتى أصبحت قشور من مجدها السابق؛ فمنعوا‬ ‫امتالك أملانيا للغواصات وقد كانت فخر البحرية األملانية‬ ‫يف الحرب‪ ،‬ومنعوا امتالك أملانيا لسالح طريان بعد أن كانت‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫عقوبات‬ ‫طائرات القيرص تحكم السامء‪ .‬وفرضوا عىل أملانيا‬ ‫مالي ٍة مجحف ٍة تقسم الظهر ألن أملانيا هي “املذنبة” يف هذه‬ ‫الحرب وحدها‪ .‬وإمعانًا يف الذل ألزموا أملانيا بتقبل احتالل‬ ‫قوات الحلفاء ملناطق منها لضامن التزامها باالتفاقية مع‬

‫وعد بانسحاب قوات الحلفاء يف غضون خمسة عرش عا ًما‬ ‫فقط‪.‬‬

‫حني حاول رئيس الحكومة األملانية حينها أن يتفاوض يف‬ ‫بضع بنود من االتفاقية وصله رد الحلفاء رسي ًعا أن االتفاقية‬ ‫احتالل‬ ‫ً‬ ‫لن يتغري منها يشء! أقبل االتفاقية كام هي أو واجه‬ ‫شامل يف غضون أربعٍ وعرشين ساعة! ومنحوه وقتًا‬ ‫كامل ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫للتفكري‪ ،‬فام كان منه إال أن رفض الذل وخرج عىل الناس‬ ‫وخطب فيهم واستقال‪ .‬فأىت خليفته وقبل توقيع االتفاقية‬ ‫مرغم وبعث إىل الحلفاء رده صاغ ًرا‪ .‬وتم توقيع االتفاقية يف‬ ‫ً‬ ‫الذكرى الخامسة الغتيال األرشيدوق فرانز فرديناند‪ ،‬وكان‬ ‫ذاك االغتيال هو الجمرة التي أشعلت الهشيم‪ .‬ويف هذا كله‬ ‫مل يضحك أح ٌد سوى األقدار‪.‬‬ ‫ومل تكن بنود املعاهدة كالصفعة تحتملها ومتر‪ .‬بل كانت‬ ‫كصخرة سيزيف ‪ -‬ذاك امللك املاكر الذي يدفع صخرته إىل‬ ‫أبد اآلبدين عقابًا عىل مكره ‪ -‬قابعة عىل صدور األملان عا ًما‬ ‫وراء عام‪ .‬وما كان الكساد العظيم الذي ذاقت ويالته دول‬ ‫القارة العجوز كلها‪ ،‬منترصوها قبل مهزو‪W‬موها‪ ،‬بالحمل‬ ‫الهني عىل دول ٍة قابع ٍة تحت هذا الظلم‪ .‬فوصل التضخم‬ ‫حينها لدرجة أنك كنت قد تدخل املطعم وبحوزتك رزمة‬ ‫من الفرنكات لتشرتي طعام يومك وال تدري أتكفي نقودك‬ ‫يومها كام البارحة أم ال‪ .‬باختصار شديد‪ ،‬كان الهدف من‬ ‫هذه املعاهدة هو كرس شوكة أملانيا بال رجعة‪ .‬ولكن‬ ‫القارئ ‪ -‬الجيد والسيئ ‪ -‬للتاريخ عىل حد سواء يعلم أن‬ ‫فشل ذري ًعا يشهد التاريخ عليه‪ ،‬بل‬ ‫هذه االتفاقية فشلت ً‬ ‫وأصبحت االتفاقية تتصدر قوائم أسباب الحرب العاملية‬ ‫الثانية بال منازع‪.‬‬ ‫ولكن الحالة التي مرت بها جمهورية أملانيا حينها ليست‬ ‫حالة خاصة وليست مقترصة عىل األباطرة املهزومني‪ .‬فالنظر‬ ‫إىل معاهدة فرساي يوضح للناظر أن بنود املعاهدة التي‬ ‫قبلها األملان تحت التهديد كانت قمعية من الطراز األول‪.‬‬

17

‫‪16‬‬

‫باسم اإلله الشعب‬ ‫رب املنبوذين‬ ‫الكاتب‪ :‬هشام زيدان‬ ‫املحرر‪ :‬عبدالرحمن رضوان‬ ‫تلك القصة عن رحا ٍل زار قري ٍة صغري ٍة فوجد كل أهلها‬ ‫إليكم إخواىن املنبوذين قد جئت عاري الصدر‪ ،‬وخاوي‬ ‫يرددون “ذلك الخنزير موران” يف جميع مناسباتهم‪.‬‬ ‫عساي ألقاه عىل‬ ‫الروح‪ .‬جئتكم باحثًا عن الصدق‪ ،‬وأين‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ف َعجب لهم‪ ،‬وحني استفرس عن هوية ذاك املنبوذ الذي‬ ‫غري دروبِكم العطرة‪ .‬دروبكم التي وصموها بالخزي‬ ‫فالح َمر بقريتهم منذ‬ ‫لغري قدرتهم عىل سلوكها‪ .‬يرجونها ويستّعلون‪ ،‬يشتهونها يتلذذ أهل القرية بإهانته وجد أنه ٌ‬ ‫أعوام عدة‪ ،‬فأُعجب بفتا ٍة إىل حد السحر ومل يتاملك نفسه‬ ‫ويتمنعون‪ ،‬يسلكونها ويتأففون‪ .‬جئتكم بعد أ ْن حاولت‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫كل من يف‬ ‫ولثًّمها قُبلة عىل خدها‪ .‬فلطمته الفتاة ورضبه ُ‬ ‫محاول منحكم‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مواجهة مخاويف‪ ،‬ولكنني خفت! جئتكم‬ ‫بعض اإلنصاف الذي تستحقونه‪ .‬فلوالكم أنتم ملا كانوا‪ ،‬ملا القرية وطردوه منها ُمهانًا‪ .‬ومنذ ذلك اليوم أمىس موران‬ ‫معنى للرش وملا استعلوا لكونهم أخيا ًرا‪ ،‬فخريهم ال رم ًزا للزنادقة الخطائني يف تلك القرية‪ .‬وتستمر أحداث‬ ‫وجدوا ً‬ ‫رشكم‪ .‬إىل الشيطان‪ ،‬إىل يهوذا‪ ،‬إىل صديقى القصة ليتعرف ذلك الزائر بالفتاة التي هام بها موران‪ .‬ثم‬ ‫بدون‬ ‫قيمة له‬ ‫ٍّ‬ ‫أحبها ذلك الزائر وأقام معها عالقة‪ ،‬لكنهام مل ينسيا موران‬ ‫الخنزير موران‪ ،‬إىل كل من نُبذوا يف تاريخ بني اإلنسان‪.‬‬ ‫بدون هؤالء الذين نلعنهم ليل نهار‪ ،‬ملا شعرنا بأننا أفضل‪ .‬فكانت له اللعنة عىل فراشها بعد كل عالق ٍة يقيامنها‪.‬‬ ‫وكذلك كان حال أهل القرية‪ ،‬قُوتهم الفواحش وخبزهم‬ ‫فإ ّن لذكر نجاساتهم وخطاياهم عىل ألسنتنا رنّ ًة محبب ًة‪،‬‬ ‫لذ ًة خفي ًة تخربنا بأننا األفضل مهام بلغت آثا ُمنا من قذارة‪ .‬املعايص‪ ،‬كالمهم النفاق وفعلهم الغش‪ ،‬لكنهم مل وال ولن‬ ‫يغفلوا عن لعنة موران؛ فالبطبع مهام فعلوا لن يضاهوا‬ ‫كام نستعيل عىل الشيطان لكونه مارقًا خالف أم ًرا ِمن‬ ‫قُبح فعلته!‬ ‫أوامر ربه‪ ،‬لكونه رافضً ا للسجود لغري خالقه‪ ،‬فنستعيذ‬ ‫فإىل َمن نُبذوا قبلنا‪ ،‬إىل َمن سوف يُنبذون من بعدنا‪،‬‬ ‫منه ونحن نعيص م ْن نستعيذ به منه‪ .‬أتظنون أ ّن لوال‬ ‫إبليس لكنتم اآلن ىف الجنة؟ يالطهارة قلوبكم! لوال إبليس إلينا نحن َمن سبقنا َمن بعدنا ولحقنا مبن قبلنا إىل أرض‬ ‫فش األجناس‬ ‫ملا قطف آدم التفاحة‪ ،‬كان آدم لَيقطف من تلقاء نفسه‬ ‫املنبوذين‪ ،‬طوىب لكم إن نُبذتم وأنتم الطُهار‪ُ َ ،‬‬ ‫األفاقون بيننا‪.‬‬ ‫تفاحتني‪ .‬لكن دعونا ننشغل عن ما كسبت أيدينا من‬ ‫ذنوب بلعنة إبليس‪ ،‬ذلك النجس الرذيل‪ .‬أما نحن فال‬ ‫بأس بنا‪ ،‬لن نصل لفعلته مهام لوثنا أيدينا بالذنوب‪ ،‬نحن‬ ‫“أنا الصويفُّ والشهوان عشا ًقا ومعشوقا‬ ‫الطُهار‪ ،‬نحن الربرة‪ ،‬الجنة مصرينا‪ ،‬فاللعنة عىل سرية َمن‬ ‫قديس وإنْ حسبوه زنديقا”‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫بقلب‬ ‫نُبذ منها‪.‬‬ ‫أسري ِ‬ ‫ودعونا ال ننىس يهوذا يف سبابنا‪ ،‬ذلك الذى طُبعت اللعنة‬ ‫أحمد بخيت‬ ‫عىل سريته أينام َحيت‪ .‬قد خان املسيح مقابل ثالثني‬ ‫قطع ًة من الفضة‪ .‬فدعونا ننبذ سريته ونحن بيننا اآلالف‬ ‫ِم َمن كانوا لَيبيعوا املسيح مقابل ما ابتاعوا به يوسف من‬ ‫قبل‪ .‬فالسالم عىل يهوذا املنبوذ‪ ،‬وتبًا لكل يهوذا مل يُنبذ‪.‬‬

‫أضرار‬ ‫جانبية‬

‫‪15‬‬

‫الكاتبة‪ُ :‬ينى موىس‬ ‫املحرر‪ :‬عمرو عبدالعظيم‬

‫ٍ‬ ‫معلومات عن أسامء و أماكن دفن الضحايا‪ .‬و إىل يومنا هذا‪،‬‬ ‫ال يعلم الكثري من أبناء الضحايا و أحفادهم عن أماكن رقود‬ ‫سقوا عند الوالدة‬ ‫ذويهم‪ .‬باإلضافة إىل ملفّات األطفال الذين ُ ِ‬ ‫من ذويهم و ا ّدعى األطباء أنهم ماتوا‪ .‬ال تعلم األمهات‬ ‫التابعات للمعارضة يف فرتة حكم فرانكو عن حياة أطفالهن‬ ‫حتى اآلن‪.‬‬

‫حالة الزهامير العامة قد تكون مفهومة أو حتى مربرة من‬ ‫قبل الدولة‪ .‬لكن ماذا يحدث عندما ينىس بعضنا أن ينىس؟‬ ‫مطالبة األجيال الجديدة من أحفاد ضحايا فرانكو بامللفات‬ ‫التي تتضمن أماكن دفن اجدادهم هوجمت من قبل الناس‬ ‫و السلطة عىل ٍ‬ ‫حد سواء‪ .‬هاجمهم البعض منكرين وجود‬ ‫اتفاقية أصال و اتهمهم البعض اآلخر بإثارة بلبل ٍة ستعيد‬ ‫من الوقاحة و السذاجة إذًا اختزال معضلة العفو السيايس إنتاج العنف و الظلم املاضيني‪ .‬و هنا تتضح حالة اإلنقسام‬ ‫و ما يرتتب عليها تحت مسمى األبيض أو األسود‪ .‬فام‬ ‫يف صفوف األفراد التي تستفيد منها الدولة‪ .‬فعندما ت ُص َدر‬ ‫يكاد‬ ‫بني التعايش و توريث الظلم مساح ٌة رمادي ٌة كبرية‪،‬‬ ‫قوان ٌني تفرض النسيان‪ ،‬يصبح القابض عىل ذاكرته مجر ًما‪ .‬و‬ ‫جل ًدا‪.‬‬ ‫ينصهر فيها معنى أن يكون الفرد ضحية و أن يكون ّ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫النتهاكات ظل تأثريها رغم رحيلها‪،‬‬ ‫ِعوضً ا عن مناقشة حلو ٍل‬ ‫لكن املوضوع يف حالة إسبانيا يزداد تعقي ًدا عندما نضع‬ ‫يدور النقاش حول صحة التاريخ من عدمه‪ .‬الذاكرة‪ ،‬إذًا‪ ،‬هي‬ ‫يف الحسبان استغالل الدولة ملساحات الرأي الرمادية ليك‬ ‫السالح األخري يف وجه انتهاكات السلطة‪ ،‬و شعار “لن ننىس”‬ ‫يستمد‬ ‫تستويل عىل ذاكرة الشعب‪ .‬فرغم كونه تابع للحدث‪،‬‬ ‫هو األمل الوحيد الباقي لحق من مل يبقو‪.‬‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫صفحات طويل ٍة من‬ ‫النسيان سلطته من تأثريه املمتد عىل‬ ‫كتب التاريخ‪ ،‬خاصة النسيان بقرا ٍر من الدولة‪ .‬و ال تعتقد يف مرصنا الحبيبة‪ ،‬نتعلم منذ الصغر أن نتجرع النسيان مع‬ ‫عزيزي القاريء أن تجربة إسبانيا يف استحواذ الدولة عىل‬ ‫الحليب كوسيلة للتعايش‪ .‬تُل ّون الجدران واألبنية وتُخلَع عنها‬ ‫مييز‬ ‫الذاكرة الجمعية هي فريدة من نوعها‪ .‬ال شك أن ما‬ ‫حكايات كل من عاشوا و تاريخهم‪ .‬تُرمم األرصفة فتُستبدل‬ ‫اتفاقية النسيان اإلسبانية هي عالنيتها و اسمها الفج‪ ،‬لكن رائحة الدماء برائحة األسفلت الجديد‪ .‬تُش ّيد األبراج‬ ‫بأسا من‬ ‫النموذجية فوق العشش العشوائية فتَهرِس معها حيوات‬ ‫هنالك حولنا اتفاقيات نسيانٍ أكرث ورمبا أشد ً‬ ‫اتفاقية إسبانيا‪ .‬تلك االتفاقيات نجحت يف ما فشلت اتفاقية املهمشني حتى تشاء األقدار أن يتذكر بعضنا أننا نسيناهم‪.‬‬ ‫إسبانيا فيه أال و هو البقاء تحت األغطية‪ .‬فقد يأيت العفو‬ ‫قريب ج ًدا و مخيف‪ .‬حاالت االستسالم ل”الزهامير”‬ ‫النسيان‬ ‫ٌ‬ ‫السيايس يف أشكال شتى‪ :‬عفو بطعم التعايش‪ ،‬عفو بطعم‬ ‫الدولة تزداد مع الوقت و تطاردنا كل يوم‪ .‬آخر ىشء ذكرين‬ ‫االستقرار‪ ،‬عفو بطعم التقدم‪ ،‬و عفو بطعم التغيري‪ .‬قد‬ ‫بالنسيان هو رؤية املسلة الجديدة يف ميدان التحرير‪ .‬فكرت‬ ‫يأيت يف هيئة ملفات ُم َدمرة‪ ،‬شوارع بأسام ٍء مختلفة‪ ،‬افتتاح لنفيس أنه قري ًبا سيصبح امليدان رم ًزا الفتتاح املتحف املرصي‬ ‫واغالق ملحطات املرتو‪ ،‬تغيري مسميات العطالت القومية‪ ،‬و الكبري ولتاريخ مرص “الفرعوين”‪ .‬كحالة الغبار الذي يغطي‬ ‫تجديد املساحات العامة و محو ما ترمز إليه من الذاكرة‪.‬‬ ‫ذاكرتنا و أرصفتنا‪ ،‬النسيان لونه رمادي…و للرمادي أرضار‬ ‫جانبية‪.‬‬

‫للرمادي‬ ‫‪14‬‬

‫النسيان له معانٍ كثرية‪...‬اختلفت أسبابه جذريًا أو تقاربت‪،‬‬ ‫يظل النسيان محتفظًا بنفس الحيز من الوعي البرشي‪ ،‬حيز‬ ‫ال “ما بعد”‪ .‬فهو كالظل املوارب‪ ،‬تابع للحدث و ناد ًرا ما‬ ‫يكون حدث ًا بحد ذاته‪ .‬عالق ٌة منتهية‪ ،‬ذكرياتٌ مؤملة‪ ،‬واق ٌع‬ ‫عذاب مىض‪ ،‬كلها أحداث قد يعيشها الفرد منا و عاد ًة‬ ‫مرير‪،‬‬ ‫ٌ‬ ‫ما تسبق النسيان‪ .‬بالرغم من كونه حالة ملتوية األركان و‬ ‫الظروف‪ ،‬قد يكون النسيان من أكرث تجليات الحرية شيو ًعا‪،‬‬ ‫فذاكرة الفرد منا ٌ‬ ‫ملك له و التخيل عن جزء منها غالبًا ما‬ ‫يكون ناب ًعا من الداخل‪ ،‬واع ًيا كان الواحد منا أو غري وا ٍع‬ ‫بذاكرته و شظاياها‪ .‬لذلك و جب علينا التوقف والتأمل‬ ‫حينام يكون فقدان الذاكرة حالة تفرضها الدولة‪.‬‬ ‫اتفاقية النسيان‪ :‬هذا هو االسم الذي اتفقت عليه األحزاب‬ ‫السياسية يف إسبانيا عام ‪ ١٩٧٧‬لقرار العفو السيايس الذي‬ ‫تبع موت الديكتاتور فرانسيسكو فرانكو‪ .‬توج فرانكو نفسه‬ ‫ملكًا إلسبانيا بعد الحرب األهلية (‪ )١٩٣٩‬وتربع عىل العرش‬ ‫حتى وفاته عام ‪ .١٩٧٥‬أما عن االنتهاكات ضد املعارضة‬ ‫تعذيب‪،‬‬ ‫يف عهده فحدث وال حرج‪ .‬اختفا ٌء قرسي‪ ،‬سج ٌن‪،‬‬ ‫ٌ‬ ‫إعدا ٌم‪ ،‬خطف و قتل أطفال املعارضني تحت اعتقادات‬ ‫اليوجينيا‪ .‬بعد موت فرانكو‪ ،‬خاف أتباعه ممن يف السلطة‬ ‫من االنتقام الذي ينتظرهم عىل أيدي املعارضة اليسارية و‬ ‫سيايس يتضمن‬ ‫ضحايا النظام‪ ،‬فاتفقوا عىل مترير قانون عف ٍو‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫اليمني و اليسار ٍ‬ ‫بحد سواء‪ .‬فأُطلِق رساح أرسى فرانكو و‬ ‫الجلدون أنهم لن يعاقبوا عىل ما فعلوه‪ .‬بعي ًدا عن‬ ‫ضَ ِمن ّ‬ ‫تداعيات الظلم املدفوس تحت دعوى التعايش التي نادى‬ ‫رشعون اإلسبان يف ذاك الوقت‪ ،‬اختيار االسم تجسي ٌد‬ ‫بها امل ُ ّ‬ ‫واضح آلليات السلطة يف امتالك ذاكرة الشعوب‪ .‬أسلوب‬ ‫“الكنس تحت السجاد” الشهري بل و املتوقع من السلطة‬ ‫ليس هو املحور هذه املرة‪ .‬الصادم هو اعرتاف الدولة‬

‫الرصيح أنها متلك أن تقول ما هو مسموح لك أن تتذكره و‬ ‫ما يجب عليك أن تنساه‪.‬‬ ‫عىل الرغم من كونها رد فعل للخوف الذي ولّده موت‬ ‫فرانكو‪ ،‬تدعونا اتفاقية النسيان للتعمق أكرث يف العفو‬ ‫السيايس كمعضلة فلسفية‪ .‬وفق ما تنرشه وسائل اإلعالم و‬ ‫ما تعلمناه من أمثالنا الشعبية‪ ،‬ينقسم الناس إىل فريقني‪:‬‬ ‫ظامل و مظلوم‪ .‬لكن األمر ليس بهذه البساطة‪ ،‬فال يعيش‬ ‫الجالد وضحيته وحيدين يف الحياة‪ .‬لكل منهام عائلة و أحباء‬ ‫يجدون أنفسهم يف منتصف النزاع و ينتهي األمر بوضعهم‬ ‫تحت نفس التصنيف دون أدىن فعلٍ منهم‪ .‬فابن الظا ِمل ظاملٌ‬ ‫املظلوم مظلو ٌم‪ .‬لكن ماذا يحدث‬ ‫يف أعني املظلوم‪ ،‬وابن‬ ‫ِ‬ ‫حني يقرر املظلوم أن ينتقم و يأخذ حقه من الظامل؟ هل‬ ‫فعل‪ ،‬أم تُخلَّد الدائرة املفرغة بني الضحية‬ ‫تتحقق العدالة ً‬ ‫والجلد؟ من أبرز املشاكل التي تواجهنا يف محاورات ما بعد‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫العنف مشكلة تحديد العقاب‪ .‬فالهدف األسايس من هذه‬ ‫تحقيق العدل‪ ،‬لكن عاد ًة ما يؤول األمر إىل‬ ‫املناقشات هو‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫إعادة إنتاج نفس الحالة تحت رعاية تبادل األدوار‪ .‬اليوم‪،‬‬ ‫معظم ضحايا فرانكو يف فرتة الحرب األهلية و ما بعدها قد‬ ‫فارقوا الحياة‪ .‬لو َسمح لهم التاريخ بأن يأخذوا حقهم لكانوا‬ ‫عىل األغلب طالبوا بأن يُف َعل بأتباع فرانكو ما فُ ِعل بهم‪.‬‬ ‫لكن هذا كان سينتج جيالً جديدا ً من الضحايا‪ :‬أوالد و أقرباء‬ ‫أتباع فرانكو الذين س ُيحرمون من أح ّبائهم‪ .‬من هذا املنطلق‪،‬‬ ‫اتفاقية النسيان هي دعوة للتعايش السلمي حتى يضمن‬ ‫التاريخ عدم إعادة نفسه و حتى نضع حدا ً لدائرة الظلم‪ .‬و‬ ‫مع ذلك‪ ،‬األجيال الجديدة التي تركها ضحايا فرانكو ورائهم‬ ‫يؤمنون أن الظلم ُو ِّرث لهم‪ .‬فبنا ًءا عىل اتفاقية النسيان‪،‬‬ ‫ليس من املسموح ألحد النبش يف الجرائم القدمية لنظام‬ ‫فرانكو مبا يف ذلك ملفات القبور الجامعية مع ما تحمل من‬

13

12

‫يابو بندقية‬

‫‪11‬‬

‫ويقام سنويًا إحيا ٌء لذكرى املذبحة يف عدة دول أوروبية منها أال تتطرق لذكر تركيا وال العثامنيني بالطبع‪ .‬وإذا اضطرتك‬ ‫فرنسا‪ .‬وال زال األرمن يعانون يف شتتاهم مام فعله األتراك‪ .‬الظروف وساقك الكالم للحديث فاذكرهم بالرش‪ .‬كأن تسب‬ ‫مثل أو لتهني حكمه! أو لتفعل كام يفعل املرصيون‬ ‫ألردوغان ً‬ ‫وتسب تدخله السيايس العسكري يف ليبيا‪ .‬أو لتغني أغنية‬ ‫عند تحليل تلك الواقعة التي يتمنى األتراك أن تسقط‬ ‫الراحل الشيخ إمام‪“ :‬يا رشكيس يابو بندقية‪ ،‬ال دين ال ذمة‬ ‫بالتقادم‪ ،‬سنستنتج بسهولة أن األتراك مدانون؛ فام فعله‬ ‫ال إنسانية‪ ،‬كرباج يف ايدك‪ ،‬والناس عبيدك‪ ،‬والفردة حتى‬ ‫األتراك تم توثيقه يف صحفهم القومية وقتها ومن السهل‬ ‫بالجالبية”‪.‬‬ ‫إيجاده يف أي مستند رسمي حينها‪ .‬ولكننا أيضً ا سنجد أن‬ ‫الدول الغربية قد تكون بالغت يف تقدير األحداث؛ ففي‬ ‫أما عن الصديق األرمني‪ ،‬فهي مرينا رشبتجيان ‪،‬أرمنية‬ ‫عرف الحروب‪ ،‬مييل املنترص قواعده عىل املهزوم‪ ،‬وهو ما‬ ‫فعلته الحلفاء مع املركز وستظل تفعله دامئًا‪ .‬ولكن السؤال مقيمة بلبنان وتدرس يف الجامعة األمريكية بالقاهرة‪.‬‬ ‫هنا‪ ،‬هل ستكون النهاية بأن تعرتف تركيا باملذبحة؟ ومن ثم‬ ‫يكون الغفران السيايس مرشوطًا عىل إعطاء األرمن ما لهم‪.‬‬ ‫أم أن تركيا ستامطل مجد ًدا يف االعرتاف‪ ،‬عىل أمل أن تسقط‬ ‫اإلدانة بالتقادم؟ وهل تسقط مثل تلك الجرائم بالتقادم؟‬ ‫ففي عامل يسوده االنفتاح االقتصادي والتجاري‪ ،‬من الصعب‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫احتكاك باألتراك أو الخدمات‬ ‫عىل األرمن العيش دون أي‬ ‫وخصوصا أنهم جريان‪ .‬فمن الصعب عىل‬ ‫الرتكية االقتصادية‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مثل أو يتعامل مع‬ ‫أرمني أال مير عىل تركيا ك “ترانزيت” ً‬ ‫األتراك عىل أساس العمل‪ .‬وفىي كل هذه السياقات سيتذكر‬ ‫األرمني ما حدث ألجداده وأدى إىل تهجريه‪ ،‬سيتعامل عىل‬ ‫أساس هذا الكره الدفني‪ .‬هل كل القيم التي كانت تغرس‬ ‫فينا كأطفال من تسامح ومحبة وتقبل لآلخر ستطبق هنا؟‬ ‫تأمل أيضً ا عزيزي القارئ ردة فعل األتراك ‪-‬أعني األتراك‬ ‫الحاليني منهم عيل األخص‪ -‬فهل عليهم أن يحملوا أوزارهم‬ ‫وأوزار أجدادهم؟ هل ما فعله أجدادهم يف نظرهم باطل؟‬ ‫رمبا ال نعرف اإلجابة عن السؤال ولكننا نعرف بالطبع ماذا‬ ‫أحس األملان عندما تحملوا عواقب الحرب العاملية األوىل‪،‬‬ ‫والذي آل بهم إلشعال الحرب العاملية الثانية‪.‬و أنه من غري‬ ‫املستبعد عيل األتراك أن يفعلوا نفس الشئ اآلن‪.‬‬ ‫ففي املرة القادمة التي ستجلس فيها مع هذا األرمني‪ ،‬تذكر‬

‫‪10‬‬

‫يا شركسى ‬

‫الكاتب‪ :‬عبدالرحمن رضوان‬ ‫املحرر‪ :‬مصطفى املغريب‬

‫بينام تجلس مع صديقك األرمني الذي يقطن يف إحدى مدن األرمن من مدنهم إىل خارج الدولة‪ .‬وما لبث أولئك األرمن‬ ‫أن ُه ِّجروا يف الصحراء السورية إال ورسعان ما ُحرموا الطعام‬ ‫الشام عىل أحد مقاهي القاهرة القدمية‪ ،‬إذا بك تقول –‬ ‫وحاشاك إن أخطأت‪ -‬أنك تنوي الذهاب إىل تركيا يف إجازة والرشاب وتعرضوا للنهب والرسقة واالغتصاب‪ ،‬مام أدى إىل‬ ‫موت معظمهم‪ .‬مبحاذاة ذلك‪ ،‬كان األطباء األتراك يعملون‬ ‫ربيع العام‪ .‬وال تفيق من خياالت الصور حول متحف أيا‬ ‫عىل نوع آخر من اإلبادة عرب تجربة أدوية جديدة عىل‬ ‫صوفيا (كنيسة أيا صوفيا سابقًا) إال عىل صوت صديقك‬ ‫البعض‪ ،‬و إعطاء جرعات زائدة من املورفني لألطفال والكبار‪.‬‬ ‫األرمني معنفًا لك بشتائم وسبات شامية ال تعرف عنها‬ ‫شيئًا سوى أنه تم ذكر أحد أفراد أهلك فيها‪ .‬تقف مشدو ًها إىل أن استقر الناجون يف شتات حول العامل فيام يعرف‬ ‫وتسأله عن ماهية امتعاضه؛ ليجيبك أنه يكره تركيا واألتراك بالشتات األرمني املامثل متا ًما للشتات اليهودي القديم‪ .‬بينام‬ ‫حصل البعض بعد معاهدة سفري‪-‬وهي إحدى املعاهدات‬ ‫والخطوط الجوية الرتكية ولحم الديك الرومي ألن اسمه‬ ‫التي حدثت بعد الحرب العاملية األويل‪ -‬عىل ما يعرف حال ًيا‬ ‫“الرتيك” باإلنجليزية وكل هذا ألنهم كانوا السبب يف فرار‬ ‫أجداده من أرمينيا قد ًميا واستقرارهم مبدينة ليست مبدينتهم بأرمينيا‪.‬‬ ‫وال متت ألصلهم بصل ٍة‪ .‬وال تنفك تكركر بدخان األرجيلة‪-‬‬ ‫اليوم ‪-‬وبعد أكرث من مائة عام عىل بداية اإلبادة‪ -‬تتباين‬ ‫كام نعتها صديقك‪ -‬وهو يذكر لك ما فعله أولئك الجنود‬ ‫األتراك ‪-‬الرشاكسة أو الجراكسة اصطال ًحا يف اللغة املرصية‪ -‬اآلراء حول ما إذا كانت تلك الواقعة إبادة جامعية أم ال‪.‬‬ ‫فرتكيا –الوريث الرشعي للدولة العثامنية‪ -‬تأىب أن تعرتف‬ ‫املتوحشون فيام يعرف باملذابح األرمنية التي يتوافق‬ ‫بالفاجعة‪ ،‬بل وتنتقي من إرثها ما هو غري مثري للجدل‬ ‫ذكراها‪-‬وسبحان الله‪ -‬مع تاريخ سفرك‪ .‬ومن ثم تنفخ يف‬ ‫وجهه دخان الشيشة وتقول‪“ :‬الحول والقوة إال بالله‪ ،‬خالص وال مثري للدم؛ فاعرتاف تركيا باملذبحة سيؤدي إىل خسارة‬ ‫يف أراضيها الحالية لصالح األرمن وخسارة مادية يف صورة‬ ‫ياسطا هروح لبنان”‪.‬‬ ‫دعني عزيزي القارئ أعطيك ملح ًة تاريخي ًة بسيط ًة عن تلك تعويضات التي سيجب عليها أن تدفعها لهم‪ .‬ناهيك عن‬ ‫الخزي الدويل و عار الدم الذي ال زال يالحق األملان والذي‬ ‫املذابح‪.‬‬ ‫سيالحقهم هم أيضً ا بالتبعية‪ .‬أما عن الدفاع الرتيك‪ ،‬فيكمن‬ ‫يف القول بأن املصطلح نفسه متت صياغته بعدما وقعت‬ ‫حدثت مذابح األرمن بني عامي ‪ ١٩١٥‬و عام ‪ ١٩٢٣‬بحق‬ ‫املسيحيني األرمن من قبل حكومة تركيا الفتاة خالل وإبان املذبحة‪ ،‬وبالتايل –وبتفكري علمي دقيق مدروس وممنهج‪-‬‬ ‫الحرب العاملية األوىل‪ .‬ويعتربها املؤرخون أول إباد ٍة عرقي ٍة فإنه من الخطأ نسب األحداث السابقة لهذا املصطلح بأثر‬ ‫رجعي‪ ،‬و بهذا‪ ،‬فإنها حادثة حرب فقط‪ ،‬تم خوضها در ًءا‬ ‫حدثت يف التاريخ الحديث‪.‬وحدثت تلك املذبحة يف حق‬ ‫للدماء العثامنية‪ ،‬وحفاظًا عىل الهوية اإلسالمية من الضياع‪.‬‬ ‫املتمردين األرمن أنفسهم ‪ ،‬مؤدي ًة إىل وفيات قُد َرت عامل ًيا‬ ‫بحوايل مليون ونصف املليون حسب الرابطة الدولية لعلامء وعىل الصعيد الدويل تقبع الدول األوروبية والغربية‪ ،‬حيث‬ ‫اإلبادة الجامعية‪ .‬هذا عندما بدأ األتراك بتهجري ‪ ٢٣٥‬مثقفًا اعتمد الربملان األمرييك االعرتاف باملذبحة واعتبارها أول‬ ‫إبادة جامعية يف التاريخ الحديث عام ‪ .٢٠١٩‬وتعمدت‬ ‫وقائ ًدا مجتمعيًا أرمنيًا من إسطنبول إىل العاصمة أنقرة‬ ‫الدول األوروبية الضغط عىل تركيا لتعرتف باملذبحة بعد‬ ‫بدعوى‪-‬و يا للمفارقة‪-‬إثارة الشغب‪ .‬ثم أخذ طلعت باشا‬ ‫أن وضعت االعرتاف رشطًا لرتكيا لدخول االتحاد األورويب‪.‬‬ ‫وأنور باشا ‪-‬رجال الداخلية األتراك‪ -‬اإلذن برتحيل جميع‬

‫‪9‬‬

‫حاسم اتخذه السادات‬ ‫األمم والشعوب لحظات يتعني فيها عىل هؤال ِء عن الهوية‪ .‬أصبحنا نرى موقفًا‬ ‫إن يف حياة ِ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫الذين يتصفون بالحكمة والرؤية الثاقبة‪ ،‬أن ينظروا إىل ما بشأن القضية‪ .‬يا تُرى ماذا تغيري خالل عام واحد؟…‬ ‫وراء املايض‪ ،‬بتعقيداته ورواسبه؛ من أجل انطالق ٍة جسور ٍة‬ ‫ويف نهاية الخطاب يعرض لنا السادات تصوره التفاقية‬ ‫نح َو آفاقٍ جديدة‪.‬‬ ‫سالم ونرى ُه ّوات ما بني اإلتفاقية يف الخطاب واالتفاقية يف‬ ‫الواقع‪ ،‬وكأمنا وضعه التاريخ ليسخر منه وم ّنا! فيستعرض‬ ‫وهؤالء الذين يتحملون‪ ،‬مثلنا‪ ،‬تلك املسؤولية امللقاة‬ ‫عىل عاتقنا‪ ،‬هم أول من يجب أن تتوافر لديهم الشجاعة الرئيس املرصي اتفاقه املصور ورشوطه‪:‬‬ ‫التخاذ القرارات املصريية‪ ،‬التي تتناسب مع جالل املوقف‪.‬‬ ‫يجب أن نرتفع جمي ًعا فوق جميع صور التعصب‪ ،‬وفوق أولً إنهاء إحتالل أرايض ‪ .١٩٦٧‬ثان ًيا ضامن حقوق شعب‬ ‫خداع النفس‪ ،‬وفوق نظريات التفوق البالية؛ فمن املهم أال فلسطني مبا فيه حق إقامة دولته‪ .‬ثالثًا ضامن حق معيشة‬ ‫كل دولة يف حدودها بسالم مع الضامنات‪ .‬راب ًعا عدم‬ ‫ننىس أب ًدا أن العصمة لله وحده”‪.‬‬ ‫اللجوء إىل القوة‪ ،‬وحل النزاعات عرب املنافذ الرشعية‬ ‫خامسا إنهاء الحرب‪.‬‬ ‫والقنوات السلمية‪.‬‬ ‫من املمكن أن نعترب تلخيص الخطاب بأكمله كامن يف‬ ‫ً‬ ‫تلك الفقرة‪ .‬يف رأيي إن تلك الكلامت ذات طابع تاريخي‬ ‫حقيقي‪ ،‬ومن أعظم ما نطقه السادات‪ ،‬سواء نُفذ بالشكل ومن ثم يعيد التامسه لإلنسانية والسالم والسمو ويختم‬ ‫املخيل أم مل ينفذ‪ .‬فلرنى أوال رؤيته للسالم‪ ،‬لرنى ما ُحصد خاطبه‪.‬‬ ‫من مثار هذا الخطاب وما مل يحصد‪.‬‬ ‫“والسالم عليكم‪“ .‬‬ ‫“السالم الدائم العادل” عبارة ُر ِد َدت كث ًريا عرب الخطاب‪ .‬يف‬ ‫قوله السالم الدائم فهو يخاطب إرسائيل التي كانت تتوق هكذا أعطانا السادات دعو ًة للتسامح واإلنسانية‪ ،‬وأعطانا‬ ‫لتأمني حدودها املتوسعة من عداء العرب‪ ،‬ويف قوله السالم موقفًا قويًا متمسكًا بحقوق فلسطني وشعبها‪ ،‬وأعطانا‬ ‫رؤية شاملة للسالم يخاطب فيها العدو والصديق واملشاهد‬ ‫العادل فهو يخاطب العرب الذين مل يريدوا التفريط يف‬ ‫م ًعا‪ .‬من املفرتض أن نجد إرث ًا وف ًريا فعل ًيا لهذا الخطاب‪،‬‬ ‫ش ٍرب من األرايض املحتلة‪.‬‬ ‫وبالفعل نجد روح هذا الخطاب يف بعض األماكن وبالفعل‬ ‫فطرح الرئيس املرصي طرحني يف غاية األهمية‪ .‬أولهام أنه نجد حالة سالم بني مرص وإرسائيل‪ ،‬لكن عدم تطبيق‬ ‫مل ِ‬ ‫يأت ليك يعقد اتفاقًا منفردا بني مرص وإرسائيل وأن حل الخطاب ‪-‬من السادات نفسه‪ -‬له عواقب خاصة‪ .‬يكفينا أن‬ ‫ننظر إىل رشوط سالمه املصور ونقارنها مبا يحدث‪.‬‬ ‫املشكلة الفلسطينية هو الطريق الوحيد للسالم الدائم‬ ‫العادل‪ .‬ثانيهام هو أنه ال يسعى لسالم جزيئ أو وقف نا ٍر‬ ‫مؤقت‪ ،‬بل يسعى التفاقية شاملة‪ .‬كان السادات يف خطابه أولً مشكلة القدس مل تحل أبدا وكذلك الجوالن‪ ،‬وتوسعت‬ ‫متمسكًا بحقوق الشعب الفلسطيني والدولة الفلسطينية إرسائيل عرب مستوطنات مخالفة للقانون الدويل‪ .‬ثان ًيا‬ ‫فلسطني ما زالت ال تحمل عضوية األمم املتحدة وبالتايل‬ ‫يل كاملٍ من‬ ‫رصا عىل‬ ‫متسكًا ً‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫انسحاب إرسائي ٍ‬ ‫كامل وكان م ً‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫األرايض املحتلة وإنهاء زحف الدولة اإلرسائيلية عىل أراض ال تحمل كامل حقوق دولة‪ .‬ثالثًا اندلعت حروب بني لبنان‬ ‫وإرسائيل وعداء متواصل بني فلسطني وإرسائيل‪ .‬وراب ًعا‬ ‫عربية‪ .‬فيقول إلرسائيل “إن عليكم أن تتخلوا نهائ ًيا عن‬ ‫تم القصف بني إرسائيل وحامس يف غزة بشكلٍ متواصل‪.‬‬ ‫أحالم الغزو وأن تتخلوا عن االعتقاد أن القوة من خري‬ ‫وخامسا الحرب بني مرص وإرسائيل إنتهت بالفعل‪ ،‬وهذا‬ ‫وسيلة التعامل مع العرب” و”لن يجديكم التوسع شيئًا”‬ ‫ً‬ ‫يُحسب للسادات‪ ،‬لكن الفلسطينيون ما زالوا يحاربون من‬ ‫و”أرضنا ال تقبل املساومة”‪.‬‬ ‫أجل حقوقهم‪.‬‬ ‫فيسأل السادات‪ :‬ما هو السالم بالنسبة إلرسائيل؟ يجيب‬ ‫ويقول أن السالم إلرسائيل هو أن تعيش مع جريانها العرب وقد رصح السادات أنه ال يريد اتفاقية سالم ثنائية مع‬ ‫إرسائيل لكن ذلك ما حصل عليه بالتحديد…‬ ‫يف أمان و وأن تحصل عىل كافة الضامنات الدولية من‬ ‫“القوتني أو إحداهام أو الخمسة الكبار أو بعضهم” وتلك‬ ‫رغم التخاذل عن تطبيق الكثري مام ورد يف خطاب‬ ‫النقطة األخرية رسالة واضحة للخارج أن مرص مستعدة‬ ‫السادات‪ ،‬كان الخطاب نفسه تاريخ ًيا ومؤث ًرا يف العامل‬ ‫للسالم‪ ،‬بل ومستعدة لتوسط أمرييك ورمبا سوفييتي‪.‬‬ ‫كله‪ ،‬فيجب أال نهمل روح الكلامت املخطوبة التي تنشد‬ ‫بإنسانية عليا‪ ،‬لكن يف نفس الوقت يجب أال نغض البرص‬ ‫بعد جوابه ملا هو السالم يسأل السادات نفسه والعامل‬ ‫كيف يُحقق‪ ،‬وهنا يعطي رشوط إلرسائيل ومنها اإلنسحاب عن الفروقات الشاسعة بني ما قيل وما طُبِق عىل أرض‬ ‫الواقع‪ ،‬فهكذا كان سالم رجل الحرب والسالم…‬ ‫الكامل من األرايض املحتلة عام ‪- ١٩٦٧‬مبا فيها القدس‬ ‫العربية‪ -‬وضامن استقرار سكانها‪ .‬فيصف السادات القضية‬ ‫املصادر‪:‬‬ ‫الفلسطينية ب”جوهر القضية” التي ال ميكن تجاهلها‬ ‫خطاب السادات يف الكنيست اإلرسائييل‪١٩٧٧ ،‬‬ ‫و “ال ميكن للسالم أن يتحقق بدون الفلسطينيني” وأن‬ ‫البحث عن الذات‪ ،‬أنور السادات‪١٩٧٨ ،‬‬ ‫مطلب تخيل الفلسطينيني عن األرض هو مطلب التخيل‬

‫‪8‬‬

‫سالم رجل‬ ‫الحرب والسالم‬ ‫تحليل لخطاب السادات في الكنيست عام ‪١٩٧٧‬‬ ‫الكاتب‪ :‬عمر عوف‬ ‫المحرر‪ :‬بشار أبو رمضان‬

‫محمد أنور السادات ‪-‬مثل جامل عبد النارص‪ -‬شخصية‬ ‫من الشخصيات التي وصفها التاريخ لكن مل يصدر حكم‬ ‫قاطع له أو عليه‪ .‬أنا أصدق (بقدر ملحوظ من السذاجة)‬ ‫فكرة صفاء نية عبد النارص والسادات تجاه هذه الدولة‬ ‫رغم اختالف وجهات نظرهام وطريقة إدارتهام للبالد‬ ‫استمتعت‬ ‫ورغم تعرثهام يف الكثري والكثري من األوقات‪.‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫بقراءة مذكرات السادات “البحث عن الذات”‪ .‬حىك فيها‬ ‫عن طفولته يف قريته الصغرية وحياته يف القوات املسلحة‬ ‫وتنظيمه الغتيال أمني عثامن وحياته بالسجن و دواخل‬ ‫الحكم بعد ‪ .١٩٥٢‬ما أحزنني كان إنتهاء السرية يف ‪١٩٧٦‬‬ ‫أي قبل مفاوضات كامب ديفيد‪ .‬اتفاقية سالم كامب ديفيد‬ ‫هي يف رأيي ما أفسدت معظم ما عمله السادات‪ ،‬ليس‬ ‫ألنها كانت تيسء ملرص‪ ،‬بل عكس ذلك حيث أنها أرجعت‬ ‫سيناء ورفعت مكانة مرص الديبلوماسية أمام العامل‪ ،‬لكن‬ ‫سالم كامب ديفيد مل يهتم بفلسطني بالقدر املطلوب وكأمنا‬ ‫هرعت مرص بسالمها وتركت فلسطني أسفل وادي الذئاب‪.‬‬ ‫خطاب السادات يف الكنيست كان خطابا تاريخيا بكل‬ ‫املقاييس‪ ،‬فمجرد ذهابه إىل هناك كان له عواقب وردود‬ ‫أفعال‪ .‬كان هذا الخطاب آخر ما تناوله السادات يف سريته‬ ‫الذاتية وسيكون ما نتناوله اليوم‪.‬‬ ‫أىت هذا الخطاب عام ‪، ١٩٧٧‬أي بعد حرب أكتوبر بأربعة‬ ‫أعوام‪ .‬عندما كان يتكلم السادات كان يكلم ثالث جهات‬ ‫عىل األقل‪ ،‬أولهم الحارضون أمامه وهم اإلرسائيليون‪،‬‬ ‫ثم يوجد املرصيون وسائر العرب الذين كانت تراودهم‬ ‫الشكوك بشأن هذه الزيارة الجريئة‪ ،‬ويف النهاية كان‬ ‫يخاطب أيضا العامل الخارجي‪ ،‬أي القوات العظمى‬ ‫واملجتمع الدويل‪ .‬يجب أال ننىس أن هذا الخطاب أىت‬ ‫يف سياق الحرب الباردة‪ ،‬وأىت يف وقت كان يتالعب فيه‬ ‫السادات بتوازن املنطقة فيام يخص التحالفات وتوازن‬ ‫القوى‪.‬‬

‫املعروفة ويواجه أربع ميكروفونات بإمكانهم إستدعاء‬ ‫الحرب أو السالم يف ثوانٍ عدة‪ .‬ينظر إىل أوراقه ثم يبارش‬ ‫بالخطاب‬ ‫“السالم عليكم ورحمة الله‪ ،‬والسالم لنا جمي ًعا‪ ،‬بإذن الله”‬ ‫“السالم لنا جمي ًعا‪ ،‬عىل األرض العربية ويف إرسائيل”‬ ‫وهكذا‪ ،‬كُتب التاريخ بتلك الكلامت التقدميية ذات املعاين‬ ‫الكثرية‪ .‬نعم‪ ،‬قد رصح السادات منذ ‪ ١٩٧١‬أنه مستع ٌد‬ ‫أن يدخل سال ًما مع إرسائيل‪ ،‬لكن قوله تلك الكلامت أمام‬ ‫الربملان اإلرسائييل له أهمي ٌة خاصة‪ ،‬فإنه يرصح للعامل كله‬ ‫أن السادات ‪-‬وبالتايل مرص‪ -‬قد تعاىل عىل الحقد ومستعد‬ ‫للسالم‪ ،‬بل ويضع األمر الواقع أمام العدو‪ .‬وهذه رسالة‬ ‫خطابه الكامل‪.‬‬ ‫وبجانب نية السالم‪ ،‬يوجد ترصيح آخر يف كلامته‬ ‫التمهيدية وهو اعرتافه بإرسائيل كدولة رشعية‪ ،‬وهذه‬ ‫كانت واقعة أوىل من نوعها ترمز لبداية حقبة جديدة‬ ‫للعالقات العربية‪-‬اإلرسائيلية (والعربية‪-‬العربية حيث‬ ‫قاطعت العرب مرص بعد كامب ديفيد)‪ .‬فأعلن بالفعل‬ ‫“نقطة تحول” يف العالقات‪ .‬وهي قد كانت كذلك‪ ،‬لكن‬ ‫أكانت كام تصورها السادات؟ لرنجع إىل الخطاب لنعرف‪.‬‬ ‫يعلن السادات رسالته اإلنسانية من البداية بوصفه‬ ‫للحروب املدمرة التي “يصنعها اإلنسان ليقيض بها عىل‬ ‫أخيه اإلنسان‪ .‬ويف النهاية‪ ،‬إن املغلوب الحقيقي هو‬ ‫اإلنسان”‪.‬‬

‫من ثم يقتبس السادات غاندي الذي يصفه ب”قديس‬ ‫السالم”‪ ،‬وهذا إختيار غريب بعض اليشء نظرا أن كل‬ ‫أمثلته األخرى اتخذت طاب ًعا دين ًيا‪ .‬رمبا يكون يتحدث إىل‬ ‫الغرب يف تلك اللحظات‪ .‬ففي الخطاب لهجة دينية مهمة‬ ‫يستعرض بها السادات طبيعة القدس كمجمع لألديان‬ ‫وأيضً ا طبيعة مهمته للسعي للسالم التي يرى أنها ُوكلت‬ ‫واآلن… إىل الكنيست‪:‬‬ ‫له من الله‪ .‬ثم يأخذ لحظة ليلتقط أنفاسه وتثقل اللحظة‬ ‫يقف السادات عىل املنرب‪ ،‬وقد يكون أهم منرب يف العامل يف بحمل الكالم‪ ،‬ويبدأ السادات مجد ًدا‪:‬‬ ‫ذاك الوقت الذي كان يقف عليه‪ ،‬وينظر إىل األمام بنظارته “‪...‬أيها السيدات والسادة‬

‫‪7‬‬

‫وتنرشها الدماء املسفوكة أم ًرا منه‪ .‬ولننظر إىل محمد كاظم‬ ‫رشيعتمداري الذي كانت له من األفعال الثورية التي تجعل‬ ‫له من القدر وال ِعظَم حظًا واف ًرا يف أعني الناس‪ ،‬ولكن ذلك‬ ‫مل يشفع له عند الخميني فقد أمر مبداهمة مقامه القرسي‬ ‫بُغية قتله وقتل أتباعه فقط ملعارضته لفكرة والية الفقيه‬ ‫الشيطانية‪ ،‬وله نهاية مأساوية كنهاية هؤالء الذين أبوا‬ ‫التفُّض إبَّان التشيع الجربي الفاريس العام يف عهد الصفويني‪.‬‬ ‫َ​َ‬ ‫وال يتبني ملتحري البيان والبينة غري أن والية الفقيه ما هي‬ ‫إال بدعة ابتدعها رجال راغبون يف الرياسة والنفوذ‪ ،‬وسائوا‬ ‫هم من رجال‪ ،‬معطني ألنفسهم صالحيات أشبه ما مر عىل‬ ‫البرش لها هي السلطة الكنسية التي أعطتها الكنيسة لنفسها‬ ‫وهي التحدث باسم السامء‪ ،‬والقول بأن والية الفقيه شبيهة‬ ‫بتلك الظاهرة املسيحية وليست نسخة منها حسن ظن بها‬ ‫ال غري‪.‬‬ ‫إن فقهاء إيران ‪ ،‬يف طيات نظامهم السيايس‪ ،‬لهم باع يف كره‬ ‫العرب وبغضهم ما يجعلهم يف بعض النواحي كالصهاينة‬ ‫اليهود‪ ،‬ودليل ذلك ال يحتاج توضيح وال تلميح‪ .‬الوضع‬ ‫باليمن والعراق وسوريا مشتعل اشتعاال ال يضاهيه يشء‬ ‫وذاك شاهد عيان عىل بغض النظام لالستقرار العريب‪ .‬ومن‬ ‫غري إيران يرعى الغوغاء يف حروبهم عىل العرب بادعاءات‬ ‫فعل ينرصون بفعلهم‬ ‫غريبة تخلو من الصدق والصحة‪ .‬هل ً‬ ‫فعل بأفعالهم تلك‬ ‫هذا آل البيت األطهار ومذهبهم؟ هل ً‬ ‫يفيدون اإلسالم واملسلمني؟ إن كل جندي عريب ميوت به‬ ‫يحيى جندي صهيوين مخنث‪ ،‬وكم من جنود العرب‪ ،‬ومن‬ ‫املسلمني من غري العرب حتى‪ ،‬ماتوا يف حروب خيضت ضد‬ ‫إيران أو ضد من ترعاهم إيران‪ .‬وإن السوريون املقتولون‬ ‫املغربون والعراقيون املقتولون عىل الحدود العراقية‪-‬‬ ‫اإليرانية كفى بهم دماء أريقت وكفى بهم لنا أحزانًا وآال ًما‪.‬‬ ‫ومتى تنطق أرض العراقني وتنعي موىت روت دمائهم وديانها‬

‫وسهولها وتحذر الظلمة من يوم ينزلون إىل بطنها وما‬ ‫يخرجون إال ملالقاة العدل املنتقم الجبار! وقد ذكر الدكتور‬ ‫موىس املوسوي أنه عندما عقد العزم عىل خوض انتخابات‬ ‫ما‪ ،‬ظهر من الناس من يقول بأنه هاشمي ينتمي إىل الرسول‬ ‫(صىل الله عليه وسلم) وبذلك يكون عريب فال يُنتَخب‪ ،‬ومن‬ ‫هؤالء الناس من‪ ،‬حني يراه‪ ،‬يقبل يده تربكًا به النتامئه للنبي‬ ‫(صىل الله عليه وسلم)‪ .‬وذلك من األفعال العنرصية التي‬ ‫أنتجتها والية الفقيه والفكر الخميني والفكر الصفوي اللذان‬ ‫يسعيان العادة أمجاد فارس‪ .‬ومن مضاعفات تلك العنرصية‬ ‫القومية الفارغة‪ ،‬أن املحاربني اإليرانيني وهم يُقتِّلون يف‬ ‫نظرائهم من أهل النجف وكربالء العراقيني وهؤالء اإليرانيون‬ ‫يبكون عند سامع أسامء تلك املدن‪ ،‬وهم يقصفون تراب‬ ‫العراق وتراب العراق مصالهم الوحيد؛ فهم ال يصلون إال‬ ‫عىل تراب كربالء‪ .‬تناقض أفعالهم أقوالهم كام أجربهم من‬ ‫يناقضون أقوالهم بأفعالهم من الفقهاء‪.‬‬ ‫ختا ًما‪ ،‬وليت اختتام قويل فيهم ختام حقبة تسلطهم عىل‬ ‫الناس‪ ،‬يتبني ملن يرى ويتضح ملن يعي وينصت ويتهيأ ملن‬ ‫يفقه ويفهم أن الثورة بإيران أخرجتهم من ظلامت ظلم‬ ‫الشاه إىل غياهب ظلم املاليل محبي الرياسة والتسلط‪ .‬وليت‬ ‫شعري ملا انهك عيل رشيعتي نفسه هو وجالل آل أحمد يف‬ ‫نرش الوعي بني الشباب إذا كان مصري ذلك الوعي الرسقة‬ ‫الخمينية واالستعباد باسم الدين‪ ،‬فمن يتكلم باسم السامء‬ ‫حقيق عىل الناس أن يكونوا عبي ًدا لديه والزمرة الخمينية ‪-‬‬ ‫كام وصفهم املوسوي ‪ -‬يترصفون عىل هذا األساس‪ .‬العواقب‬ ‫وخيمة وتحملها اإليرانيون وغريهم عىل حد سواء‪ .‬وإن‬ ‫العواقب التي تنهال عىل أهل املرشق األدىن ال يظهر لهم‬ ‫منها فرج قريب وأغلب الظن أن كربهم باق ومقرت ٌن بقاءه‬ ‫ببقاء الفقهاء وال ًة إليران‪.‬‬

‫والية الفقيه‬

‫‪6‬‬

‫إن الظواهر الحياتية واملظاهر الدنيوية التي يراها الرجل‬ ‫منا يف هذه األيام لتجعله ٍ‬ ‫آس كثري الحزن والقلق‪ .‬عند قويل‬ ‫‘الرجل منا‘ أشري إلينا نحن سكان الرشق و ُم َع ِّمرِيه‪ ،‬وأخص‬ ‫بالقول معمريه؛ ألن هادميه ومريدي الرش له ك ُ ٌُث كزبد‬ ‫شكل وال مضمونًا‪ .‬ويا حزناه‬ ‫البحر ال يصح نعتهم بالرجال ال ً‬ ‫عىل كرثة أذيتهم لكيان الرشق اإلسالمي العظيم‪ ،‬ويا حزناه‬ ‫عىل ضياع ع ٍز قد بناه رجال وهدموه هم‪ .‬وإن الفقهاء ‪-‬‬ ‫والة إيران ‪ -‬ملن أكرث الناس تدم ًريا ومتزيقًا لهذا الكيان‪ .‬نرى‬ ‫منهم ما ال يرس وال ينفع‪ ،‬ونسمع منهم ما يرض وال يفيد‪،‬‬ ‫ويطرحون أفكارا سامة ال شافية وال راوية‪ .‬وإن النقد الذي‬ ‫يطولهم ال يقترص عىل من هم من غري الفرس‪ ،‬وإمنا بُ ِعثَ‬ ‫لهم من أنفسهم من ينبههم إىل الضاللة الذين هم يقيمون‬ ‫يف غياهبها‪ .‬من الفرس العجم الذين صدحوا بالحق فيام‬ ‫خص والية الفقيه هو الدكتور موىس املوسوي وهو خريج‬ ‫نظام التعليم الحوزوي النجفي الشيعي وحاصل عىل درجة‬ ‫االجتهاد من زعيم حوزة النجف آنذاك وهو الشيخ محمد‬ ‫الحسني آل كاشف الغطاء‪ .‬يف طيات هذه املقالة يُ َرى جل ًيا‬ ‫تطور والية الفقيه مع بيان مبدأها ونظرياتها الفقهية‪،‬‬ ‫وتتضح بدون مغالطات مسقطات صحتها‪ ،‬وتُ َرب ُز مظاهر‬ ‫سوء نيتها وفساد عواقبها وآثارها التي استحالت أن تحمد‬ ‫وامتنعت من أن متدح‪.‬‬

‫الكاتب‪ :‬خالد حمزة‬ ‫املحرر‪ :‬محمد الجبزي‬

‫استياء الناس من حكم البهلويني‪ .‬وقد أصدر كتابه (والية‬ ‫الفقيه)‪ ،‬وكان‪ ،‬كام وصفه موىس املوسوي‪ ،‬سالسل ربطت‬ ‫حول أيدي الشعب اإليراين بفقهائهم وعوامهم وكادحيهم‬ ‫وأغنيائهم باسم اإلسالم وباسم الوالية العامة والنيابة عن‬ ‫اإلمام املهدي الغائب‪ .‬وهم يقولون عند ذكره قولهم‪“ :‬عجل‬ ‫الله فرجه”‪ ،‬وإن كان قدومه وظهوره قريب فهالكهم ُم َحتَّم‪،‬‬ ‫فاألوىل بأال يقولوا قولهم هذا عند ذكرهم إياه‪.‬‬

‫نرى‪ ،‬حني سقوط فارس وحواليها يف فوهة التشيع الصفوي‪،‬‬ ‫ابتداء أول تارة يستحل العجم فيها تولية فقيههم أمرهم‬ ‫وجعل طاعته واجبة ومن أمور املرء امل َُسلَّ َمة غري املشكوك‬ ‫فيها‪ .‬وذلك استنا ًدا إىل املظاهر التي جعلوها لزا ًما لغيبة‬ ‫اإلمام املهدي من اجتهاد واستحكام للعقل‪ .‬إن والية الفقيه‬ ‫هي‪ ،‬يف طياتها وخفاياها‪ ،‬ادعاء نيابة اإلمام الغائب يف عرص‬ ‫الغيبة الكربى القائم من عام ‪٣٢٩‬هــ حتى لحظة كتابة تلك‬ ‫أساسا عىل أوامر الله (جل‬ ‫الحروف‪ .‬ووالية الفقيه تستند ً‬ ‫ذكره) يف سورة األنفال‪ ٥٩ ،‬بطاعة الله والرسول وأويل األمر‪.‬‬ ‫أولو األمر حسب تفسريهم هنا تقع عىل اإلمام عيل (كرم‬ ‫الله وجهه) وبعده من األمئة من أوالده (عليهم السالم)‪،‬‬ ‫لكن بغيبة آخر األمئة توكل إىل النواب وهم الفقهاء وتلك‬ ‫يف منظر قديم األثر‪ ،‬بعيد املَقَر‪ ،‬ال يوصف إال باملنظر األغرب‪ ،‬النيابة تتيح لهم ما يسمونه بالوالية العامة‪ .‬وذلك فهم‬ ‫نرى استيالء إسامعيل الصفوي عىل أقطار فارس وعراق‬ ‫مغلوط جيل غلطه‪ .‬عند التعرف عىل معنى كلمة الفقيه‬ ‫العجم واتخاذه من تراب تلك األرايض ما يُنبِت فيه‪ ،‬إكرا ًها والتعرف عىل حدود صالحياتها املوضحة يف آيات أخرى من‬ ‫ال اقرا ًرا‪ ،‬بذور التشيع األسود امل ُ َح َّرف‪ .‬فتشيعت خراسان‬ ‫القرآن‪ ،‬يَرى ذوو العقول السليمة أن الفقيه ُح َّددت واجباته‬ ‫وطربستان وفارس وعراق العجم وأذربيجان بعدما كانت‬ ‫مبوجوبات امل ُنذر‪ ،‬فال ترتقي واجباته التي أحلها الله له‬ ‫غالبيتهم من غري الشيعة‪ .‬الساللة الصفوية تلك تنتسب‬ ‫إىل مرتبة واجبات سياسة الناس‪ .‬والفقيه يف معنى الكلمة‬ ‫إىل أحد طرق الصوفية الشيعية ومقرها أردبيل بأذربيجان‪ .‬العام يشري إىل كل من كان قاد ًرا عىل استنباط أحكام من‬ ‫وبحكم ذلك النسل فإن الشاه إسامعيل كان له قدر ديني‬ ‫القرآن والسنة وكالم األمئة إن كان شيع ًيا‪ ،‬وبتلك اإلشارة ت ُرى‬ ‫مع اعتباره نفسه قطبًا صوفيًا أقام دولة للشيعة مل تقم‬ ‫إمكانية وجود غري واحد من الفقهاء يف نفس اآلن‪ .‬وهنا‬ ‫جبل‬ ‫مثلها القوائم‪ ،‬زيادة عىل ذلك فقد جاء بكبار علامء‬ ‫يطرح ٌ‬ ‫سؤال نفسه عن أي الفقهاء أحق بالوالية ورأي من هو‬ ‫عامل بلبنان‪ ،‬وهم من أقدم املجتمعات الشيعية‪ ،‬لتحكيم‬ ‫الذي يرسي مسار رأي ويل األمر؟‬ ‫الدعائم السياسة للشاه الشاب وقد أجاز الكريك العاميل لهذا إجابة ذلك السؤال عند الخميني‪ ،‬املؤسس للوالية الفقيهية‬ ‫الصفوي الحكم والجلوس عىل تخته آم ًرا ناهيًا‪ ،‬معطيًا له‬ ‫الثانية‪ ،‬وعند إسامعيل الصفوي‪ .‬لينظر ناظر إىل استحالل‬ ‫فارس‬ ‫من صالحيات تلك الوالية العامة‪ .‬و كان استيالئه عىل‬ ‫الصفوي دماء رعيته من غري الشيعة إذا أبوا سب من عظم‬ ‫وحواليها وإسناد نظام حكمه لدليل فقهي هيأه له الشيخ‬ ‫قدرهم وشهدت لهم الشواهد بالتقوى والصالح من الصحابة‬ ‫التفُّض والتشيع‪ .‬وقد‬ ‫الكريك العاميل من أول مظاهر والية الفقيه‪ .‬وثاين تجلياتها وكيف أن املوت كان مصري رفض َ َ‬ ‫كانت بظهور الخميني عىل الساحة الثورية بإيران إبَّان‬ ‫عرض الخميني من اإلجابات الكثرية التي تحويها سجونه‬

‫‪5‬‬

‫مؤمن‬ ‫ــضية؟‬ ‫هل أنت فاقد كرامتك إذا اخرتت السالم؟ أنا ال أعلم‬ ‫اإلجابة‪ .‬لكن أيا كان الخيار‪ ،‬عليك أن تتحمل النتيجة‪.‬‬

‫سيموت العديد من الناس‪ ،‬ستتحطم العديد من القلوب‪،‬‬ ‫ستندثر العديد من الذكريات‪ ،‬ستشتعل نريان الحقد أكرث‬ ‫فأكرث‪ ،‬ال تتوقف‪ ،‬عليك أن تكمل املسرية‪ ،‬عليك أن تحمل‬ ‫ثقل األرواح جميعها و تتقدم‪ .‬ال مجال للبكاء و ال مجال‬ ‫للرتاخي‪.‬‬

‫الكاتب‪ :‬بشار أبو رمضان‬ ‫املحرر‪ :‬يحيى سعد‬

‫‪4‬‬

‫هل أنت‬ ‫بالق ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ ـ‬

‫كل خطوة وقرار نتخذهام يحددان االتجاه الذي سترسي إن اإلجابة عىل تساؤيل املتعلق بتمسيك و الكثريين‬ ‫بالقضية هو االستنتاج اآلىت‪ :‬إن من يقاتل‪ ،‬ال يقاتل من‬ ‫حياتنا به‪ ،‬أواثق أنت بأنك ستتحمل عواقبهام؟‬ ‫أجل القضية فحسب‪ ،‬بل من أجل أال تندثر ذكرى من‬ ‫أحب ممن بذلوا أرواحهم من أجل ذات القضية‪ .‬يف القتال‪،‬‬ ‫ما الذي نضحي بحياتنا من أجله؟ بالتضحية هنا أعني‬ ‫يحافظ عىل الرابط بينهام‪ .‬و بالتاىل‪ ،‬يصبح الدافع ليس‬ ‫العزم الواعي عىل بذل وقتنا من أجل هذا اليشء و قد‬ ‫يتطلب دفع أرواحنا يف بعض األحيان؛ اإلحساس باإلنجذاب القضية و حسب‪ ،‬بل أخذ الثأر ملن قتل‪ .‬قد تنىس مع مىض‬ ‫إليه و كأننا يف مجال جاذبية ثقب أسود‪ .‬إنها القضية‪ .‬إنها الوقت لِ َم أنت تحارب يف األصل‪ ،‬و لكنك تحارب‪ ،‬تحارب و‬ ‫كأمنا أصبحت طبيعة ال إرادية‪.‬‬ ‫الوسيلة التي مننح من خاللها معنى لحياتنا‪ .‬و ال بد من‬ ‫اإلشارة إىل أن كل شخص يقع تحت وطأة احتاملني؛ إما أن‬ ‫تُفرض عليه القضية التي يضحي من أجلها أو أن يختارها‪ .‬و إذا كنا أدركنا هذه الحقيقة‪ ،‬نصبح أمام خيارين‪ :‬أن‬ ‫نُوقف القتال‪ ،‬و بإيقافه أعني التوجه نحو السالم‪ ،‬ف ُنعفي‬ ‫العديد من األرواح من مالقاة نفس املصري‪ ،‬و لكن نتخىل‬ ‫شخصيًا‪ ،‬لطاملا آمنت بأن كل شخص يختار املعارك التي‬ ‫يخوضها إىل أن نظرت إىل املكان الذي ولدت فيه و تفكرت عن ذكرى و آمال من أحببنا‪ ،‬أو أن نكمل القتال‪ ،‬فرنيق‬ ‫أكرث فأكرث‪ .‬أنا مل أخرت املكان الذي ولدت فيه و مل أخرت تلك املزيد من الدماء ونحيي ذكراهم و قد يأيت اليوم الذي‬ ‫يكمل فيه أحدهم ذكرانا بنفس الطريقة‪ .‬لعلك تفكر يف‬ ‫القضية‪ .‬فتساءلت يف قرارة نفيس‪ :‬ملاذا أنا منجذب نحو‬ ‫قضية مىض عليها من الزمن العقود العديدة و مل تُحل و ال قرارة نفسك بأنه من املمكن أن نوقف القتال من خالل‬ ‫السالم و أن نبقى عىل ذكرى من نحب‪ ،‬لكن بالتوقف أنت‬ ‫يبدو أن هناك حل لها يلوح يف األفق؟‬ ‫تقر بأنهم ضحوا بأرواحهم من أجل قضية ليست مبستحقة‬ ‫عليك أن تدرك عزيزي القارئ بأن هناك رصاعات تتطلب التضحية‪ ،‬و تقر بأنهم أضاعو حياتهم سدا‪.‬‬ ‫أن تراق الدماء‪ ،‬كام هو الحال يف فلسطني‪ .‬العديد من‬ ‫ما أعلمه و أدري به دراية كاملة أننا علينا أن نتحمل‬ ‫األرواح التي بذلت من أجل القضية‪ ،‬اآلالف املؤلفة من‬ ‫الناس يف مقتبل أعامرهم و ريعان شبابهم ضحوا بحياتهم عواقب خياراتنا و أفعالنا‪ ،‬ال مجال هناك للندم‪ .‬عليك أن‬ ‫تتخذ القرار و أنت مستعد ملواجهة العواقب‪ .‬ال تتهرب‬ ‫من أجل القضية‪ .‬أنهار من الدموع سالت و آالف من‬ ‫و ال تتخاذل‪ .‬إذا كنت اتخذت القرار بأن تكمل مسرية‬ ‫القلوب تحطمت‪ ،‬و ها هو الرصاع مازال مستمرا‪ ،‬مزيد‬ ‫القتال‪ ،‬فلتدرك بأنك مسؤول عن الدماء التي سرتاق وأن‬ ‫من الدموع تسيل و مزيد من القلوب تتحطم‪ .‬أموات‬ ‫كانوا أم شهداء (واإلختالف يف الكلمة املستخدمة ال يفسد دماءهم التي ستسفك أنت من تتحمل ذنبها‪ .‬و إذا كنت‬ ‫للود قضية) ال يهم‪ ،‬املهم أننا فقدناهم من أجل القضية‪ .‬اتخذت القرار بأن تتوقف عن القتال‪ ،‬فلتدرك بأنك تقر‬ ‫بأن من سبقوك قد ضحوا بأرواحهم من أجل معتقد و‬ ‫حلم اعتقدوا بأنك شاركته معهم‪ ،‬فلتعلم بأنك تقر بأن‬ ‫لكن‪ ،‬ملاذا هنالك إرصار من الكثري عىل املتابعة يف نفس‬ ‫القضية التي ضحوا من أجلها خارسة‪ .‬ال تحاول التهرب من‬ ‫الطريق؟ و ملاذا ال يتجهون نحو السالم حتى تقف إراقة‬ ‫مسؤوليتك‪ ،‬سواء كانت تعني املزيد من الدماء أو السالم و‬ ‫الدماء؟ إذا كان املرء يعلم بأنه شاء أم أىب سيموت‪ ،‬فام‬ ‫النسيان‪ ،‬عليك أن تكملها عىل أتم وجه و أنت عىل دراية‬ ‫الفرق بني أن ميوت عىل رسيره أو يف أرض املعركة وملاذا‬ ‫مبعنى اختيارك‪ .‬هل أنت فاقد آلدميتك إذا اخرتت الدماء؟‬ ‫يستمر يف القتال؟‬

‫ل‬ ‫م تح� ت‬ ‫و�ا�‬ ‫ا ي‬ ‫هل أنت مؤمن بالقضية؟‬ ‫والية الفقيه‬ ‫سالم رجل الحرب والسالم‬ ‫يا شركسي يابو بندقية‬ ‫للرمادي أضرار جانبية‬ ‫باسم اإلله الشعب رب المنبوذين‬ ‫أن تعيش نملة وال تأكل السكر‬

‫‪04‬‬ ‫‪06‬‬ ‫‪08‬‬ ‫‪10‬‬ ‫‪14‬‬ ‫‪16‬‬ ‫‪18‬‬

‫ة ئ ل�ت‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫كلم� ر س ا ر ي ر‬ ‫عادة التخاذ القرارات بدون التفكیر في تبعاتها‪.‬نمیل ٕالى افتراض ٔان األمور ستجري كما نرید‪ ،‬وعلى‬ ‫نمیل ً‬ ‫ٔ‬ ‫ٔ‬ ‫ٔ‬ ‫النقیض نواجه العواقب ونحصد ما زرعنا‪ .‬في اوقا ٍت اخرى نشعر اننا ال نتخذ القرارات‪ .‬بل تُ تخذ القرارات لنا‬ ‫نیابة عنا‪ً ،‬‬ ‫الالارادیة‪ ،‬الخوف‪ٔ ،‬او ٕانتشار المعلومات المغلوطة‪ .‬في هذا العدد نناقش األسباب‬ ‫بناءا على الغرائز ٕ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ٔ‬ ‫والتبعات‪...‬عواقب كل ما اثر وما زال یؤثر فینا‪ .‬نحلل هذه النتائج المؤثرة لتجنب تكرارها‪.‬‬

‫رئيس التحرير‬

‫مساعد مدير تحرير اللغة العربية‬

‫المدير العام‬

‫مدير تحرير اللغة اإلنجليزية‬

‫يوسف فهمي‬

‫عمرو عبدالعظيم‬

‫مريم سعيد حبيب‬

‫محمود فاضل‬

‫مساعد المدير العام‬

‫مساعد مدير تحرير اللغة‬ ‫اإلنجليزية‬

‫فريدة طارق‬

‫مدير العمليات‬

‫ميرنا أحمد‬

‫رئيس تصميم الجرافيك‬

‫فاطمة فراج‬

‫مدير وسائل اإلعالم‬ ‫اإلجتماعية‬

‫سيف الدين أحمد‬

‫مدير تحرير اللغة العربية‬

‫عبد الرحمن رضوان‬

‫عمر أبو مسلم‬ ‫ميرنا أحمد‬

‫مصمم جرافيك‬

‫الحسين شاكر‬ ‫عمرو رماح‬ ‫روان شاهين‬ ‫عبدالمنعم هاني‬

‫الكتاب‬

‫بشار أبو رمضان‬ ‫خالد حمزة‬ ‫عمر عوف‬ ‫عبدالرحمن رضوان‬ ‫يمنى موسى‬ ‫عمرو عبدالعظيم‬ ‫هشام زيدان‬

‫المحررون‬

‫يحيى سعد‬ ‫محمد الجبزي‬ ‫بشار أبو رمضان‬ ‫مصطفى المغربي‬ ‫عمرو عبدالعظيم‬ ‫عبدالرحمن رضوان‬

‫العواقب‬