In the early sixties, I visited London for the first time and, to my surprise, I came across a man in Oxford Street holding a large sign that says: "Repent. The End Is Nigh." I found out later that similar signs were held in many western cities.
To me, the end of the world is a kind of caricature, where reality becomes worse than any criticism. Are we at the end of the world? My answer to this question does not necessarily involve the destruction of the world, but rather a mental exercise in which the world, as we know it, ends. No longer can a writer criticize or mock, because there are events that leave nothing to be desired.
There are signs of this. According to Zionist Christians, these signs take the shape of a few sentences in the Book of Revelation, whereby people will follow a false Christ, to be later saved by Jesus, while the others are doomed to perish.
However, I do not want to go into another religious debate today. My signs to the end of the world are different. Switzerland, the country with no coastline, wins America's Cup, the most prominent yacht race in the world. America kept the title since 1870. No wonder then that the race was named after it! Yet, in 1987, it lost the title to Australia, only to retrieve it later. Then New Zealand snatched the title and, in 2003, the race ended with a resounding victory for Switzerland. A win that the European country repeated last year.
Another sign of the end of the world is that the best golf player, Tiger Woods, is a black man though this sports is restricted to the white, particularly to the rich.
I decided that one of the signs of the end of the world was having George Bush as President of the United States. The president of that country is president of the "Free World" (a world that I find free of humanity and ethics, as in the case of Palestine and the war on Iraq). However, Bush loses his way in an elevator and does not know how to lead a thirsty horse to water in his own ranch. Yet, he is supposed to lead the world.
He undertook a mission five years ago and proclaimed that he accomplished it. He is still accomplishing it to date. He speaks of success over the bodies of hundreds of thousands of murdered Iraqis. Yet, Arabs still deal with him. They exchange visits with him and even welcome the Mossad agent, Tzipi Livni.
A writer cannot find more reasons worthy of criticism than the real caricature of Bush's policy. I imagine Saddam Hussein will blame him one day when they meet at the gates of Hell. As Saddam used to kill Iraqis far more efficiently, he will ask Bush why he toppled him to proceed himself with the killings?
Are we at the end of the world or at the end of the ability to criticize, because the caricature goes beyond the writer's imagination?
The problem does not have to do with George Bush only. At least George W. did not trick anyone. There are people like Bush everywhere.
Arab countries are not democratic. Many of them do not allow political parties and some of them have one ruling party, which makes it difficult for any other party to thrive. The government fears the mounting influence of religious parties. It fights extremism and extremists, as well as those who are lost and deceived.
With the last paragraph used as a background, the thoughtful reader will notice, just like me, that every major Arab city has a thousand mosques. The greatest majority of believers is good-natured and goes there to pray. However, there is still this lost category, which is small in number but huge in its harmful effect. This category is the one that holds a political rally in the mosque every Friday. While the government knows the danger of extremism, it gives space for extremists and focuses on political parties that do not jeopardize its existence; then it wonders why it is not popular.
Other signs of the end of the world are that the Palestinians discovered the best way to fight back Israeli occupation and proclaim an independent state over 22 percent of their land: their division into two factions. As a result, the Palestinian cannot achieve his national ambitions either by resistance or negotiation, while Israel kills every day. After the death of every martyr, we hear threats of a destructive retaliation. This reminds me of what we experienced in Beirut: Lying on the floor with his opponent beating him to death, the man screams: "Move him away before I beat the hell out of him."
Israel is no better example for the end of the world. Nazi survivors and their descendants established the only nation in the world that is carrying out Nazi practices today.
I conclude with Colonel Moammar Gaddafi of Libya who is about to celebrate his 40 years in power. He used to talk in Arab Summit conferences, while other leaders smile expecting him to say something odd (he did say a very smart thing in the Damascus Summit when he warned other leaders that the only thing they have in common was the conference room).
Arab situations are bad and getting worse. I used to see in the words of the Colonel a kind of "comic relief," which is a well-known western literary genre mastered by Shakespeare. When the drama scene becomes incredibly tense, a humorous character appears often to relieve tension.
Arab policy is Greek tragedy far worse than the sorrows of Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello. Yet, without anyone to make it lighter - since the Colonel lost his touch - we are at the end of the world.
Picture: Colonel Moammar Gaddafi of Libya. He told the Arab leaders in Damascus " we all hate each other and the only thing we have in common is the conference room. Lebanon was the only Arab country that boycotted the summit
Tags: Lebanon, Libya, source: Al Hayat, US
