Safe world

September 4, 2006 at 2:29 pm · Filed under Arabisms, Seriously

It seems unreal that the world was ever safe. A distant memory of my pre 2002-life; me walking into a mall without having to be frisked, of going into the compound without having my ID claimed temporarily, of not having to look nervously when a bearded man walks by, of parking right outside the hotel’s entrance rather than before barracks of stones, of not considering terrorism as a part of the reason to not go to certain places and certain cities.

The memory is distant, and true to a science-fiction-armageddon-style epic, the person I am today is also different from the person I was then. Some would say age took its toll, but I know it wasn’t only that. Some pull. I push. Today I’m a cynical person.

But that’s beside the point. When I hear about the crazy tourist sniper, I feel sad rather than shocked. He apparently yelled Allahu Akbar. I feel the same way when I hear about the videos showing British extremists threatening to behead Muslims in European countries and tear their guts out on YouTube.

But the quotes from here and there are amusing. “There is no question there has been an increase in attacks on mosques and Muslims,” said the chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission. You think?

When my grandmother is aggrevated from hearing obscene news she always yells “Allahu akbar!”




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  • http://www.thearabobserver.blogspot.com/ The Observer

    It is horrible! One can’t feel safe going out of his home anywhere in this world these days!

  • http://zozo2k3.blogspot.com Yazan

    You know whats intersting to notice, the value of an individual human life, it seems as if the more an individual human means or value rises for some people [i dont wanna say some parts of the world, cuz its obvious, its not that anymore], it sinks for others… it’s an intersting paradox.
    especially if u look at history, u’ll find that at a certain point, [probably at the time of the crusades] there was “almost” an absolute tie between the major civilizations, or inhabitants of this world, be it in social order, economics, science, military… europe, middle east, north africa, India, the far east… it seems from that moment on, the all started again, some descend and some ascent…

  • Hani

    This is the price you and have to pay when the government turns Jordan into a paid-for torture chamber for the CIA and Israel.

    http://web.amnesty.org/pages/jor-240706-action-eng

  • no offence

    “having to look nervously when a bearded man walks by”…
    walla 3eib..
    you’re a muslim after all,you should know better.

  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    3eib willa mish 3eib, this is the truth.

  • Nick

    Hani – I very much doubt that that fanatics like this would stop their attacks if Jordan were to change its policy towards the Western powers. They’d simply move on to justify their violence in some other way. Remember that these peoples’ twisted mindsets are motivated by a hatred of Jordan’s modernity as much as a loathing of the foreign powers in the region. There is nothing rational behind any of this.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennashaw/ Jenna

    “But that’s beside the point. When I hear about the crazy tourist sniper, I feel sad rather than shocked. He apparently yelled Allahu Akbar. I feel the same way when I hear about the videos showing British extremists threatening to behead Muslims in European countries and tear their guts out on YouTube.”

    It’s a sad, sick game of tit-for-tat in which the ‘glory’ of ‘killing one of theirs’ is constantly shifted back and forth between the Muslim and non-Muslim world, via the medium of news headlines.

    I’ve heard and read every single effort of ‘justification’ imaginable, but I still can’t grasp how any person can be willing (so often enthusiastically) to take the God-given life away from another human being, in the *name* of the very same God/Allah/HaShem.

    “But the quotes from here and there are amusing. “There is no question there has been an increase in attacks on mosques and Muslims,” said the chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission. You think?”

    I think it goes without saying it’s a vicious circle. Muslims will be subject to further attacks in non-Muslim countries (see here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/5300378.stm), wheras ‘Westerners’ will understandably continue to fear for their lives when visiting the Arab world, lest they be shot and killed by some psycho with a warped outlook on exactly HOW ‘Allah u Akbar’.

    Sadder still, perhaps Westerners will decide that visiting the Arab world and absorbing what is has to offer simply isn’t worth the risk, and vice versa for Muslims contemplating visits and immigration to the US/Europe. And we can become isolated further from one another. Great.

    “Last year around 57,000 British tourists visited Jordan, which has a wealth of archaeological sites, including the world-famous ruins at Petra, south of the capital.”

    That figure pleasantly surprised me. That would make Jordan perhaps the second favourite Arab destination outside of Africa for us Brits (Second only to UAE, and Hajj visits notwithstanding). Sadly I see that figure drastically reducing in the near future. Personally, I’m looking forward to my first trip to Jordan later this month, and there ain’t a damn thing a ‘terrorist’ can do to quell that excitement :)

  • Pingback: Terrorism in Jordan, yet again… « Chronicles Of A Utopian Writer

  • http://arafat.blogspot.com arafat

    In America, there has been an overall increase in attacks on mosques and anti-Arab/South-Asian hate crimes and discrimination, unjustifiable no matter what. I don’t know about other places, but I believe it’s been the same in the UK.

  • http://www.fotozinnejbeczki.blox.pl/ brite

    If I could afford it, I would go back to Jordan right away. Such acts of mindless violence won’t change my opinion about your beautiful country.

    Be safe, be strong, people od Jordan, I believe in you.

  • Gilad

    At around 10:30 a.m this morning a terrorist identified as Nabil Jaourah, a Jordanian citizen of Palestinian origin from the town of Zarqa and shouting “Allahu Akbar”,killed a British tourist and injured two British women, one Australian woman, one New Zealand woman and a Dutch man – as well as their Jordanian tour guide

    Not good for tourism to Jordan.Reminds one of the terrorism committed at the wedding party at Radisson SAS Hotel,Grand Hyatt last year

    This makes overseas tourists think twice about visiting Jordan if their safety is in danger

  • Yousef

    Gilad, this guy killed one tourist, you and the state of israel killed hundreds of women and children in lebanon and palestine in less than a month.

  • Pingback: Random ::Gunman in Amman:: « Dragonsvamp the Lordess of Death

  • http://moey.wordpress.com Moey

    wondering where did my comment go, roba do this tag if u feel like it
    http://moey.wordpress.com/2006/09/05/whats-in-your-bag/

  • http://dontcallmesheikh.blogspot.com Basem

    Wallahi ya Roba “judging” from reading your blog (until recently at least, its been a bit dull lately) I can safely assume that you know better than being “fearful” of bearded men strolling by!

    Needless for me to stress the fallacy of such stereotypical perspective Roba, but for what it’s worth, if you ever feel repelled or being looked upon or treated by “others” in a profiling manner for being a woman, how you dress or what you try to represent, try to reflect at such junctures that you’re also at fault of the same unjustified ill treatment of others.

    Further, elaborating that this is “being the truth” doesn’t justify the disposition of yours! No offence meant, but as crude and sincerely as I’ve always been…

    On a brighter note, bearded men won’t sting you with the sharp end(s) of their beards, trust me on that one!

    More on this one:

    Veil versus English: Just as silly as you are by http://www.tololy.com ” rel=”nofollow”>Tololy.
    http://dontcallmesheikh.blogspot.com/2006/06/this-is-dogmatic-fallacy-o_114916115150137032.html ” rel=”nofollow”>This is the dogmatic fallacy of being a self-acclaimed “open minded” liberal/secular; my friend. by my humble self.

  • Gilad

    Apparantly this terrorist Nabil Jaourah, a Jordanian citizen of Palestinian origin from the town of Zarqa,who killed the British tourist in the center of Amman ,fired every round in his 9 mm. pistol and then tried to run away,but was caught be tourist police.

    The good news is that last week the Jordanian parliament approved anti-terror legislation that criminalizes a wide range of behavior as acts of terror, including financing, interacting with or recruiting for any terrorist group, and possessing, making, or transporting any material that can be used to produce chemical weapons.

  • Pingback: …My heart’s in Accra » Tourists shot in central Amman

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/9588418 Craig

    Hani,

    This is the price you and have to pay when the government turns Jordan into a paid-for torture chamber for the CIA and Israel.

    This is the kind of comment I’ve been seeing on Jordanian blogs for a year now. Terrorism is everyone ELSE’S fault. Not YOURS. That’s why Jordan’s exposure to terrorism is just in it’s infancy. By justifying the terrorism, you are supporting it. Enjoy.

  • Ecclesiastes

    Roba, the world was never safe. You were young.

    There was a time, not long ago, when you in all your innocence were but 30 minutes from nuclear annihilation. The world didn’t revolve around the middle east. Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran just weren’t all that important except as they were contested areas of US/USSR struggles.

    You can go to sleep with full confidence that the world *will* exist tomorrow.

    That’s got to be worth something, eh?

  • Lynnette

    “videos showing British extremists threatening to behead Muslims”

    And this is analogous with actually killing someone?

    No one likes extremists of any sort. But right now the extremists that are more dangerous are the ones who are actually the acts.

    “This is the price you and have to pay when the government turns Jordan into a paid-for torture chamber for the CIA and Israel.”

    No dear, this is the price you have to pay for keeping your head buried in the sand when it comes to the types of people you have in your country.

    Keep falling for the terrorist’s propaganda and that’s all you’ll have in your country!

    Yousef,

    “you and the state of israel killed hundreds of women and children in lebanon and palestine in less than a month.”

    You can thank Hezbollah and by extention Iran for that. Stop poking Israel and maybe she won’t bite back!

    And btw, very seldom do you see a country fighting a war where they warn people in advance where they are going to bomb. Remember that. Because that may not always be the case.

    It is also a courtesy not given by the suicide bombers used by Middle Eastern extremists.

  • Lynnette

    Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to do all that bold at the end.

    And this line:

    But right now the extremists that are more dangerous are the ones who are actually the acts.

    should have the word “committing” before “the acts”.

    Must have been where I screwed up on the end tag. That’s what happens when I get angry. In too much of a hurry to proof read correctly. :(

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