December 15, 2003
Humiliation
This phenomenon will be our toughest obstacle in striving to live in peace with the Arab world.
Al-Jazeera repeated that video a hundred times in that hour. I don't know what got into me but I really felt sorry for the man. For the first time in years he looked so human. He was just a typical helpless 66-year-old Iraqi at that moment. I stared hardly at his eyes and tried to convince myself that this was the same man who destroyed Iraq and sent millions to their deaths. I found myself talking to the screen "Why did you have to do this to yourself?", "Why did you have to put us into all of this?", "Why didn't you fight back or at least kill yourself to spare us these images?".
I had no reason to, but I felt humiliated. I sank into an overwhelming depression and sadness, and I had a desperate need to get terribly drunk. I should have felt joy but I didn't. And I'm still dissapointed with myself.
What is it about this culture that makes it hyper-sensitive to perceived humiliation; why is it humiliating that Saddam is captured?
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The humiliation theme is repeated and repeated. This translation from the BBC
It was a shock to us and a disgrace to millions of other Arabs as they followed the TV shots of the Iraqi president submitting to the disgraceful American medical check up. We had hoped that he would resist to the last and in the process fall as a martyr, as his two sons and his grandson did, or take Hitler's way out by shooting himself in the head or swallowing poison.
President George Bush emerged like a peacock on TV screens celebrating this big victory, and his ally Tony Blair did the same in solidarity. But this might be a temporary victory, just as the celebrations over the fall of Baghdad evaporated quickly because of the operations by the Iraqi resistance.
From Al Jezeera"I felt extremely humiliated," said Egyptian writer Sayyid Nassar, who interviewed Saddam three weeks before the US-led invasion of Iraq on 20 March. "I felt it was not only a humiliation of Arabs but of all humanity.
"By shaving his beard, a symbol of virility in Iraq and in the Arab world, the Americans committed an act that symbolizes humiliation in our region, where getting shaved by one's enemy means robbing him of his will," he said.
From Reuters:For many Arabs Saddam Hussein's meek surrender to U.S. forces marked the total humiliation of a man who portrayed himself as a champion of Arab rights and the reincarnation of the 12th century Muslim warrior Saladin.
Repeated broadcasts of close-up footage of Saddam submitting to medical exams at the hands of U.S. soldiers were seen with disbelief, shame and disgust...
..."I was expecting a more honourable end for him like shooting himself," said Lebanese student Salam Berri. "But he was just a typical Arab leader; (they) stay in power forever and then give their countries and themselves up to their worst enemy."
From the Arab TimesArabs shared little of the world's joy over Saddam Hussein's capture, with many bitter Sunday over another victory for an "arrogant" pro-Israeli United States...
...Mahmud el-Azzazi, 29, another patron, said: "It's the end of the Arabs. There will be a domino effect. His fall will lead to that of other Arab leaders who displease the Americans."
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According to Angry Arab, al-Jazeera was getting criticized in the Arab world for showing the Saddam video which was causing all this humiliation.
You may have hit a point too many people ignore. Part of the basis of Palestinian militancy lies in the fact that Palestinians feel they must win their own state rather than be given one. The refrain that Arabs must win their own democracy without outside pressure also floats through intellectual circles.
What to do? I don't think having a culture that places value on honor is necessarily a bad thing. It would be nice, however, if the honor were not always focused on various nationalisms and if it didn't so often get in the way of discussing the social problems everyone admits are there. Sadly, in most countries both trends are usually encouraged by the Arab political leadership.
You should read Zeyad's latest comments.
I think that what he meant was that he felt shamed by the fact that, after all, Saddam just turned out to be a normal man, but that it took a foreign army to rid the Iraqi people of him.
This seems to me to be an understandable emotion, borne of trauma and the grief that can only express itself when one's tormentor is finally caught.
Cool comments program, btw.
That is not to say that I disagree with the larger point regarding the problem of "shame culture" in the Arab world. It is a difficulty, but I think that the only reasonable long-term solution is to push for the creation of accountable civic institutions in that part of the world. This is basically what Bush is trying to do.
When your "honor system" is based upon subjugating and humiliating your women, your "shame culture" flipside is bound to be ugly, because damn near anything will shame you.
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According to Angry Arab, al-Jazeera was getting criticized in the Arab world for showing the Saddam video which was causing all this humiliation.
You may have hit a point too many people ignore. Part of the basis of Palestinian militancy lies in the fact that Palestinians feel they must win their own state rather than be given one. The refrain that Arabs must win their own democracy without outside pressure also floats through intellectual circles.
What to do? I don't think having a culture that places value on honor is necessarily a bad thing. It would be nice, however, if the honor were not always focused on various nationalisms and if it didn't so often get in the way of discussing the social problems everyone admits are there. Sadly, in most countries both trends are usually encouraged by the Arab political leadership.