(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
4. June, US President Barack Hussein Obama spoke to the world here in Cairo. Obama stands out as a person from his predecessor, George W. Bush. Obama seems more human.
But politics and economic interests have nothing to do with humanity. We live in a world ruled by a capitalist-patriarchal-religious system. Power dominates our world, not justice. Politics in such a system is a game based on how to use beautiful words to cover up ugly actions, how to pick out verses from holy books to hide double morals and contradictions, how to kill people and plunder their land, and then ask them to forgiveness with tears in the eyes. In the Egyptian-Arabic language, we call such "crocodile tears".
In Cairo, Obama spoke to 2500 Egyptian men and women, invited by the Egyptian and United States governments, in the large hall of Cairo University, surrounded by 13.000 policemen. We are 80 millions in Egypt, so the Egyptians who applauded passionately 30 times during Obama's 50 minutes long speech do not make up all of Egypt. They are only "the chosen ones."
They applauded strongly when he said that Muslim women should wear the veil if they choose to use it. As if veiling (or nudity) is something you choose! As if suppression is something they suppress. It is like saying that girls and boys should be circumcised if they choose to be circumcised (because they do not want to be different than others), or as saying that the poor should be poor, if they choose to be poor (because of their laziness) ). During the Gaza massacre, I read that the Palestinians chose to be killed (or to kill their children) so that they appeared as victims and gain sympathy from the rest of the world.
I have observed how Obama speaks with his hands, eyes and lips. His lips and hands look less evil than George W. Bush's. His color is more attractive, neither black, white nor yellow – but a mixture of human blood, as if he has evolved into a more sophisticated human being.
Obama is a creative actor on stage, he has learned his replicas by heart so they don't sound like replicas. He is well trained in being spontaneous. Few people are creative enough to understand this kind of creativity: how some political leaders hold what is called charisma. The Germans applauded Hitler, the Russians loved Stalin, the Americans chose George W. Bush more than once. President Anwar Sadat (1970-81) in Egypt won all the elections with about 95 percent of the vote.
The most dangerous political leaders are the most charismatic. They make you sing "Killing me softly". You sacrifice your blood for them. One of the selected Egyptian men in the hall shouted during his speech: "I LOVE YOU! ". Obama replied: "Thank you."
Democratic Saudi Arabia
Obama paid tribute to the King of Saudi Arabia in his speech, sketching a picture of him as a hero for the dialogue between religions! Is this theocratic kingdom, which breeds extremism, democratic?
A dictator allied with the United States can thus be transformed into a democratic hero. But Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden were once also referred to as freedom fighters.
Obama paid tribute to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by calling him intelligent. He did not describe any Arab leaders as intelligent, nor Egyptian Hosni Mubarak, who sat next to him.
He did not mention Mubarak's name throughout the speech. Did he want to distance himself as a person from the role of US President? Would Obama reveal or hide his double personality? He is sophisticated and understands what in psychology is called "the philosophy of the moment, how to indulge in the moment, but not to indulge in the moment".
Obama's body language looks natural. He comes bouncing down the flight of stairs with his hand near his chest. Like a happy schoolboy, on his way to meet his girlfriend. This is not the US president, but Barack Hussein Obama.
I heard his speech on television, and read it twice more, to discover some improvements in American politics. General humanistic, beautiful words picked from three sacred books. He sounded like the Pope when he spoke in Jordan a few months ago and paid tribute to the three religions.
Obama used his middle name Hussein to speak to Muslims, but he also knows how to hide it as a malformed body. Muslims who listened applauded passionately as he read verses from the Qur'an. They did not notice that Obama misinterpreted the "Al Israel" acid. It does not say that the three prophets Moses, Christ and Mohammed prayed "Lilat Al Israel" together. Egypt's Christian Copters applauded when he spoke of minority rights in Egypt.
Germany as the homeland of the Jews
And Israel applauded when Obama affirmed that the United States and Israel are eternally connected, and when his voice cried while talking about the Holocaust. He talked about the six million Jews who burned in Germany, their eternal sufferings, their right to have a homeland.
But he did not say that this homeland should have been in Germany, the country that burned them, or in Europe or the United States, or another place where there is no people to kill, and no home and country that can be looted with military force. He did not ask Israel to stop the violence against Palestinian children. He only asked the Palestinians to stop their violence against Israeli children. He did not mention the many Palestinians who have been tortured and killed by Israel over the past 60 years.
Obama did not ask Israel to respect previous UN resolutions, he merely asked Israel to stop building new settlements. What about old settlements, which expelled thousands of Palestinians from their homes? What about settlements that will now be built under the so-called "Natural Growth"?
He asked the Palestinians to forget the past and look ahead. A few days ago, he asked people in his own country to forget about past torture crimes and look ahead. But what is the function of the Law, if it is not for investigating and punishing criminals?
Obama moved smoothly from ethics to political interests, as if there were no contradictions. He said the United States has no interest in Iraq's resources. He forgot the oil law, which was imposed on the Iraqi government and which subordinates Iraqi oil to US monopoly companies 30 years in the future. Obama mentioned the danger of Iran having nuclear weapons, but he did not mention the danger of Israel's nuclear weapons.
Obama's goal
The real goal of Obama's speech was to mobilize the Muslim countries against Islamic extremists, to open the Islamic countries' markets to American goods, and to safeguard Saudi and American interests in the so-called Middle East.
But Egyptians suffered because of Obama's visit to Cairo. The Egyptian government spent $ 3,5 billion on security around Obama. 10.000 policemen and hundreds of police cars. Egyptians were ordered to stay home. No one was allowed to be near Cairo University while Obama was speaking, except for 13 American men and women who were allowed to demonstrate at the university gate. They urged Obama to visit Gaza. On that day, these Americans formed the opposition in Egypt, while the real Egyptian dissidents were imprisoned.
Politics is a game played by all parties. Just 30 minutes after Obama's plane took off, the poor Egyptian workers were out in the streets again, removing the artificial flowers and trees. They had been deployed everywhere to receive the world's demigods.
Translated from English by Anita Mathisen
Nawal El Saadawi (77) is a trained physician and has worked for women's rights in Egypt for over 50 years. She has published several fiction books and has been imprisoned for her opinions.
She writes exclusively for Ny Tid.
The "Without Borders" project continues in memory of Anna Politkovskaya (1958-2006), New Time columnist from February 10 to October 7, 2006.
