More politics, religion and dabka

Good day, my friends! I see that some have noticed my subtle, or not so subtle attempt to articulate political thoughts from my very limited perspective here in the Middle East. I never wish to insinuate I have a frame of great wisdom from having visited one country amongst many in the region (for only 2 weeks now). Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to hear stories and perspectives from a wide range of leanings, religiously and politically.

That being said, I wish to respond to a comment posted under yesterday's post. Granted, there have been some disturbances in this land caused by a multitude of factors through time. No one would deny that. The religious tapestry of the land adds an added level of pressure unseen anywhere else in the world. Yet, you would find not ONE soul in this very moderate country of Egypt that would conclude that their lives have or will not be impacted in some way by the American invasion of Iraq, for better or for worse. Most, I must say, for the worse. Egyptians, from rich to poor, from scholar to working man, are quite frankly scared out of their minds about Iran, and its potential to spread its influence throughout the Middle East. What seems to be lacking in the American evaluation of this region is a proper consideration of the variable factors that make this Middle East so complex.

This to say that the Middle East is a heterogeneous grouping of countries, all with different aims, goals and objectives. Some wish to continue the process of democracy, with greater transparency and free elections. Some regimes do not care for this. If America cared so much about peace and democracy, why do we find a flood of support for the Saudis, a regime which surely does not share such similar aims? America's concern with the Middle East seems to be with keeping the pot of water below boiling point. This is achieved by a myriad of ways, some of which include supporting non-democratic regimes, when it is the most politically feasible. Good old American pragmatism at its finest!

OK, so I haven't been angry all day. I'm not really angry here at all, lest I understand it may sound as such in my writing. Tonight, I had an incredible evening at the director's flat this evening. It was "guys night," where we invited 6 Muslim Egyptians to chat with us 12 Christian Americans. Very interesting. Our goal in the beginning of the evening was to explore the details of Muslim dating and marriages, for a greater understanding of the culture. It delved into religion, and off we went. Yesterday, I was reading a book about various Muslim beliefs as classified into groups on a continuum - from radical extremists, to traditionalists, to modernist, to secularists. These guys all fell on the modernist side of the scale, for their beliefs of the woman's role and the literal interpretation of the quran led me to believe. So I asked them a question about extremists: whether they had met them and how prevalent they were. The response surprised me: only 3 of the 6 had had substantial encounters with them, and it was strong in their relaying of the stories that it was a sect of Islam they wished to distance themselves with. It is the extremists and fundamentalists, they said, that gave a bad name to Muslims by their misinterpretation of the holy books and free latitude to create their own laws and fatwas. Though I have yet to delve into an intense study of Islam, I have already seen some of the direct verses that these friends pointed out condemning such usage of scripture. The evening concluded by exchanging phone numbers and addresses. I hope to see some of them again!

In other news, I danced tonight. Stop laughing... I'm for real! I signed up for lessons to learn dabka, a distinct Palestinian style of dance. The teacher is legit... a Palestinian who works at the embassy here in Cairo. Communication is a bit difficult for he knows little English. But the 12 of us all laughed and dabka'd our way through the night, with much delight. I couldn't believe that, by the end of the night, I perfected the simple routine. Anyone who knows me acknowledges of lack of rhythm and soul. But not tonight...

Salaam,

Tony