It’s now been a few days since I arrived back home from Oslo, Norway, where I attended and spoke at the Oslo Freedom Forum alongside Libyan blogger, Ghazi Gheblawi, Tunisian digital activist, Lina Ben Mhenni and the courageous Bahraini human rights activist, Maryam al-Khawaja.
The four of us were on a panel called “Dawn of a New Arab World” which was introduced by Wael Ghonim and moderated by Philippa Thomas from BBC.
Here’s my full speech
~*~*~
Now as you can perhaps recall, I’ve been to numerous conferences throughout the past few years (yay the perks of being a blogger), some of which I’ve written about like the CSIS-organized conference that happened in Washington DC in 2007, and the transformative Second Arab Bloggers Summit that happened in Beirut in late 2009. Each was unique in its own way, and the Oslo Freedom Forum is no exception.
Amongst the speakers and attendees were former presidents, Nobel Peace Prize winners, renowned human rights and democracy activists and many inspiring personalities.
Simply put, it was quite a profound experience with a number of memorable highlights, all of which I’ll tell you about soon in a few days when I update this post… updated, erm… after a month, thanks to my unexpectedly busy schedule, which is still packed and busy. Sooo… rather than write a long post, I’m going to ask you to check out this round up of the event nicely written by Jay Nordlinger.
~*~*~
On a final note, I’d like to highlight the speech that moved nearly everyone at the Oslo Freedom Forum to tears. It’s by none other than the amazing Palestinian doctor, Izzeldin Abuelaish, and it’s called “Transcending Hate”.
Dr. Abuelaish grew up in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and has practiced extensively in both Israel and Gaza, including one of Israel’s main hospitals. In 2009, during Israel’s 22-day attack on Gaza, the Israeli Defense Force shelled Dr. Abuelaish’s home, taking the lives of his three daughters and niece. Instead of letting hate overcome him, Dr. Abuelaish’s message is one of courage in the face of tragedy
Observe how he weaves his speech with phrases and sentences inspired by Koranic verses. I bow to him in respect and adoration.
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Enjoyed watching your speech man, very well-said
You’re right, we should catch up soon!!
i wonder why u singled out Turabi and made a snide remark about him, i do oppose him but for an 80 years old i was raised in a way not to use word like “filth” on him …
ME,
Al-Turabi represents virtually all that is wrong with the Arab and Muslim worlds’ politicians. Someone corrupt, uses and abuses religion for political purposes, incompetent, dictatorial, deceptive, self-serving etc.
As for my use of the word “filth” it was not directed at him as a person, but rather his remark in response to Bin Laden’s killing, in which he said “all Muslims are sad today”.
I find that to be an utterly filthy remark, hence the word.
Again, Turabi is not the only sudanese who sympathized with Bin Laden, and also not the only muslim who is sad about him getting killed and not the only sudanese politician who is corrupt, uses and abuses religion for political purposes, incompetent, dictatorial, deceptive, self-serving etc, hence the “shock” at your attack on him. Sudan issues are deeper and more complex than how you presented them. The dynamics are shifting fast and quick towards the disintegration of the sudan we know , new “sudans” will emerge and hopefully they all stay from a disease called “Arabs” and finally get back to where sudan belong, AFRICA.
Do you know where can I find the books of mahmud muhammad taha? could you also suggest me bibliografy to learn more about the Sudan’s history? thank you
ME,
You can only explain so much in just 7 minutes. And it’s funny how you point out my use of the word “filth” yet you have no problem calling Arabs a “disease”. Lovely.
Badr,
You can learn more about him here:
http://www.alfikra.org/index_e.php
So the wrong of me using the term “disease” makes the wrong of your word “filth” right?….amazing…
get off your high horse and admit the fact that you are wrong in using such word despite how good your speech was which i thoroughly enjoyed.
The difference is: I used the word “filth” to describe a reprehensible idea, but not the person who uttered it. You on the other hand used the word “disease” to describe an entire people. See what I mean?
Anyways, whatever, I’m glad you thoroughly enjoyed the speech.
Interesting take on the current situation in Sudan specifically and the Middle East generally, and i would be dishonest if i failed to mentioned that i agreed with you on a few points. However, 7 minutes is not nearly enough time to thoroughly analyze and explain the history and subsequent state of the region.
For example, you presented Mahmoud Mohamed Taha as an infallible progressive who was merely a victim of authoritarian, brutal dictatorship. However , you fail to mention that Mahmoud Mohamed Taha eventually did begin claiming inane ideas, culminating in his bold declaration of divinity.
I appreciate your efforts in shedding light on the anomaly that is Sudan, but please leave your dispositions aside when reporting to a largely uninformed audience.
Hi Haris,
Thanks for commenting. You’re right, 7 minutes was too short. It was actually supposed to be a 5-min speech only and I went overtime.
Regarding, Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, I find it strange that you perceive I presented him as “infallible” - I did clearly mention that some of his ideas were too provocative so I’m not at all trying to paint him as some perfect person. Nonetheless, regardless of some of his inane propositions, he’s a towering humanitarian who truly believed in democratic values, even if he expressed them using religious language. I consider him the Sudanese Ghandi and MLK.
good speech
and thank you for presenting the sudanese example
i would think however, that sudan’s past experiences would give evidence towards pessimism. There are great counter forces that eliminate the aspirations of these Arab Spring revlutions:
1) domestic shortcomings — as you eloquently pointed out about sudan
2) external intervention — as will be the case with western powers working behind the scenes to keep the islamists out of control of the egyptian political helm
the sudanese example is the most peculiar and interesting one because we have never seen an example of an African-Arab nation push its own native Arabic language democratic expression. Also, the Sudan Islamists are a domestic manifestation. they were not created by the West. They’re purely our monsters.
also, relatively successful democracies in the Africa are primarily English speaking and I can’t think of any successful democratic French speaking countries.
Leave a Comment