About hate

Layla Anwar has a blog on Blogger called ”An Arab woman blues. Reflections in a sealed bottle…”

Here is an article she posted on March 14, 2008 and one of the 151 comments she received, followed by her own answer to this particular comment.

Please note that I totally disagree with Layla’s point of view while I endorse anonymous writer’s comment.

Here it is:

A brief Hate statement…

I hate America, Americans, their culture, their ways, their accent, their politics, their arrogance, their stupidity, their ignorance…
I really can’t stand Americans. I can’t stand their men, their women, their country, everything they represent…

I truly, deeply, sincerly hate them.

I will elevate this hatred to an Art form.

What colors do you think I should use ? I love colors and I find them to be a colorless people…

So what colors should I use ? Gray, Black or Red ?
Or maybe just White ?

I have this idea of taking an old sheet, a dirty sheet…burn the edges, stab it with knifes and make holes in it, over a million holes, then throw in some bright red, like rain drops…

At other times, I fantasize about using the Abu Ghraib excrements and smudging the sheet with it, then collectively wipe your faces with it. Wipe your faces with the shit of the detainees you tortured.

Sometimes, my fantasy takes on a perverted twist, you must be a contagious lot with your perversity.

So I imagine a dirty sheet, covered with semen from forced masturbation, and have a few penises dangle on the corners, the penises you castrated, have them dangle there…and then give it a few brushes and strokes of hemorrhaging blood from the wombs of the women you raped. And this will be your new American flag.

Then you can all gather under that flag and we will take pictures of you. Don’t forget to say cheese, will you ?

You know something, all the Americans I come across, the ones who are polluting the Middle East like some bacterial disease, they all know how much we hate you deep down…

They invariably start their sentences with “I’m an American, I hope you don’t hate me”…And we give you the same stuff over and over…” No of course not, we have nothing against the American people”…”It’s your government.”

A lie…

Can you really blame any of us? What is so likeable about you ? After all you are nothing but a bunch of cold, indifferent, murderers…murderers of an innocent people. A people you have totally destroyed, destroyed right down to its fibers…

Your Bush, your Clinton, your senile Congress, your Senate…and you….All to be flushed down the toilet. But then, even the sewages of the world will vomit you out.

Of course if you are eager to hear words of praise, you really should not be visiting this blog. You can go to other Iraqi bloggers who have developed the expertise of kissing your ass for a “symbolic fee”. Inside and outside the Green Zone.

But then deep down, you have contempt for these bloggers…They are too slave like. What you really secretly long for, is someone to tell you the Truth about you, about your moral degenerateness. And I shall not spare you. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever…

The most fascinating part of it all, is that I am very comfortable with this feeling I harbour towards you. It does not bother me, does not eat me up, does not cause me any guilt trips…It is so natural, so free flowing…

So what do you think ? What is the most appropriate expression for me to show you how much I really hate you ?

P.S: Brits may apply too. But you may get the leftovers…After all you have become a leftover yourselves.

Painting : Iraqi artist, Sina Ata, 2007 “Farewell to Baghdad”.

Posted by Layla Anwar at 14.3.08

Anonymous said…

Layla, I am so sorry for you that you allow this hatred to fill you and, ultimately, destroy you. You have reason to be so anxious, but hatred is not the answer. I am an American woman. There is nothing I can do about that any more than you can change the circumstances of your birth. If my taxes were used to support this war, I can do nothing about that short of stopping to work and letting my family become homeless.

You are grossly oversimplifying this situation in your rage and condemning innocent people, presuming to judge that you do not know, and not acting with but the shallowest of motives. I can understand that and, Layla, I would die for you and the others who suffer, and not just in your country but in sub-Sahara Africa and countries everywhere that are enduring suffering, often beyond your own. My own country oppresses me. It is a reality of life that bullies everywhere seek to dominate the masses (you had Saddam, we have our current administration, and we could go on and on from there, from neighborhood gangs to whole nations). We can only overcome them by joining forces and find ways to resist and depose. That is, we must fight with our intelligence and not with harsh words and raw emotion, by letting blind hate cloud our minds, by turning on each other. We really are all one community and, as women, I believe we have a long overdue obligation to join forces and bring balance to this male-dominated world, with all the excesses that implies. I’m an idealist and I don’t expect to see this happen, but I also am pragmatic enough to know that it could. It’s all about capturing a larger vision. And never giving up the effort.

You may hate me if you like, if that will somehow make you feel better, although you don’t know me and I dare say you would love me if you really did. However, reaching for a larger solution and vision would be better for you and I believe that this is where true religious belief, that based on real spirituality, will aid and abet, comfort and guide.

I do not hate you, Layla, though I could for the mutual atrocities that have occurred. Why would I blame you for something of which you are innocent? that you would not perpetrate? No, I empathize with you and I hear your frustration, fatigue, anguish, loss of hope. Nothing will ever be the same again, dear Layla, so imagine how you can make a different life that will still give you some measure of pleasure and satisfaction. Or maybe life just isn’t worth living. I’ve been there in my mind (I have suffered a whole lot in life). Death is also an option. But continuing the hatred that boils from you – that is not a workable option, Layla. Not for you and not for anyone else. You are part of the problem and not part of the solution, and that doesn’t serve you well at all. And it is a slow, ugly way to die, first spiritually, then psychologically, than emotionally, finally physically.

You are a very intelligent woman. Set your sights higher, project into the future, idealize what you want, and stop compromising your values. No one controls your mind but you. You have the power to be a force for good, if only to yourself. I speak from grim experience. We are much more alike than we are different. Only our circumstances are different. I have been as bitter as you.

And I am offended that you would hold me responsible for what this imbecile and his cartel did to your country, just as you would not want to be held responsible for the heinous crimes and injustices of Saddam. But if you must paint me with that brush, then paint yourself too. You cannot have it both ways, Layla.

Get a grip. Steady yourself. Find a way out of the dark hole into which you have sunk (and understandably so – I am not without compassion). Use your intelligence and voice for good. Spread a message of love. Save yourself.

And note that this is an election year in America and there is vital interest in this election because of this so-called war, which was never supported by the American people in spite of the terrible lies that were told to us to gain support and fan the flames of fear. We will almost certainly have a president who opposes the war, but I hold no illusions that this will instantly change your circumstance. It is much more complex than that. However, the will of the people regarding your situation will be expressed in this election and that is all we can do in a democracy. After we have voted our will, we are at the mercy of the elected officer and his/her choice of teammates to execute our will as they see fit. I believe it is fair to say that most Americans are exercising their right to vote with great consideration this year, more than ever in their lives, and I guarantee you that ending the war and occupation in your country is at the top of our priorities. It has been financially devastating and all of us are paying an enormous price for it personally. Most of us opposed this, so you can imagine how galling this is to us. Your blog only reminds us of the terrible consequences of this ill-chosen, testosterone-driven, ignorant and arrogant action.

And if, perchance, we have a president who supports this idiocy (given his generations of military indoctrination and brainwashing), I don’t want to be held responsible for that because I vehemently oppose it. But I live in a democracy. Think about what democracy means in that context. I don’t believe it is the best system of government, but I don’t see another that is better, do you? So imagine with me a better system.

I am on your side. You should at least consider mine. We make better allies than enemies and I would like to think that you are not so superficial and hate-driven as to ignore the obvious strength in our cooperation.

Or maybe I have over-estimated you.

A World Citizen, living in America
4:44 PM

Layla Anwar said…

anonymous, holier than thou moralistic preacher,

I am so sorry I wasted my precious time reading your junk. Next time I need a sermon, I’ll call you up and you can give me the address of your racist local church.
2:45 AM

26 mars 2009 | Categories: Moyen-Orient, société | 1 commentaire »