by Sabria S. jawhar
The saudi Gazette
Jeddah
On Thanksgiving Day, among the rest of the things on his list, an American friend of mine sent me an e-mail to congratulate me on the occasion. He told me as a joke that President George W. Bush has forgiven his turkey this year. I laughed but deep inside I wished the same idea was carried out in Iraq and everywhere else. I wish that people would learn how to forgive during holidays no matter if it’s forgiving a bird or a human being.
It did not take long, however, to find out that the big bird’s soul was more precious to President Bush than that of a Muslim or an Arab in the Middle East.
I woke up Saturday to witness, like millions of Muslims all over the world, pilgrims performing their ritual of Hajj while others were celebrating Eid.
Moving from one Arabic satellite channel to another, a crawler on the screen attracted my attention. “Saddam Hussein executed. He was hanged after he was convicted of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shia villagers in the town of Dujail.”
At that time a quick image of Bush’s forgiven bird came to my mind. Also another image of Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) when he flung his son Isma’il down upon his face and was about to put the knife on his neck when Allah stopped him. Instead, he was asked to scarify a ram, which had been sent to him, as ransom for Isma’il.
Since then Muslims were asked as a commendable duty to offer thanks to Allah by slaughtering animals in His name. Watching Saddam facing his death calmly made me wonder whether he was the ransom for Bush’s bird. Otherwise why was he executed on that particularly momentus?
According to Islam, thanksgiving is performed on the 10th, 11th and 12th of the month of Dhul Hijjah, and no other days of the year. To me only this fact justifies the rush in the execution of Saddam on such a great day without any respect to Muslims’ feelings.
Saddam Hussein has never been anything but a dictator who was responsible for horrific, widespread human rights violations. But those acts, however brutal, cannot justify his rushed execution on Eid. It was cruel and inhuman punishment. Could not those who were behind his execution wait until after the Muslims finished their celebrations?
The timing of hanging Saddam will bring no peace to Iraq. Moreover, it will never end a dark era or form a milestone in the Iraqi history, as Bush has said. On the contrary, it would drown the entire Middle East in a bloody civil conflict.
Convicting Saddam and hanging him by a court that lacks competence, partiality, and works under pressure from an occupying force will not serve justice. A United Nations group warned earlier that the Dujail trial didn’t meet “international standards” because it violated provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – a binding international treaty and cornerstone of human rights law – to which both Iraq and the United States are parties.
Justice would have been served better if Saddam were tried and convicted under the ICC like Slobodan Milosevic and other dictators. Besides, the 5 million Baathist army and the Sunni resistance groups would find justification to start turning the life of all those who approve of Saddam’s death sentence into living Hell.
The killing of more than 60 people on the day of his execution is the best proof.
No matter what Iraqi officials said or will say about the trial and the execution, Muslims will always perceive it only as a face-saving act dictated by the Bush administration.
Bush went to war in Iraq in search of Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. But when that turned out to be nothing but a big lie, he found himself in a position where he must justify the unnecessarily spending millions of dollars of American taxpayers’ money that went to an illegal war. He must also give reasons for the 3,000 lost American lives. Saddam must die. But unfortunately the scenario and timing of his death have made him a martyr. Whether it is Shiite or Western justice, both groups will pay in the days and years to come because the execution occurred during a holy period for Sunni Muslims and the message sent was that of pain to be felt not only by Saddam followers but by all Muslims.
The question remains: Where are those who went with Saddam to war? It is obviously that some people do not want to bring to light those who backed his brutal acts and gave him support that confirms that Saddam was not hanged only for the killing of Shiites but also for the interest of other allies whom only history will uncover.
However, it is still sad that the Iraqi government could not do it with more consideration for human dignity. Not for Saddam as individual, but as a former president and, above all, a human being. It was also sad to allow national television to broadcast scenes of people dancing, cheering and insulting him publicly. Those acts are undignified and portray his executioners as less than civilized. It made it appear as if the only one with any dignity in this whole farce was Saddam, thus reflecting badly on the new government.
That scene will have a devastating impact on Iraq and will inflame the already volatile sectarian divisions.
The saudi Gazette
Jeddah
On Thanksgiving Day, among the rest of the things on his list, an American friend of mine sent me an e-mail to congratulate me on the occasion. He told me as a joke that President George W. Bush has forgiven his turkey this year. I laughed but deep inside I wished the same idea was carried out in Iraq and everywhere else. I wish that people would learn how to forgive during holidays no matter if it’s forgiving a bird or a human being.
It did not take long, however, to find out that the big bird’s soul was more precious to President Bush than that of a Muslim or an Arab in the Middle East.
I woke up Saturday to witness, like millions of Muslims all over the world, pilgrims performing their ritual of Hajj while others were celebrating Eid.
Moving from one Arabic satellite channel to another, a crawler on the screen attracted my attention. “Saddam Hussein executed. He was hanged after he was convicted of crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shia villagers in the town of Dujail.”
At that time a quick image of Bush’s forgiven bird came to my mind. Also another image of Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) when he flung his son Isma’il down upon his face and was about to put the knife on his neck when Allah stopped him. Instead, he was asked to scarify a ram, which had been sent to him, as ransom for Isma’il.
Since then Muslims were asked as a commendable duty to offer thanks to Allah by slaughtering animals in His name. Watching Saddam facing his death calmly made me wonder whether he was the ransom for Bush’s bird. Otherwise why was he executed on that particularly momentus?
According to Islam, thanksgiving is performed on the 10th, 11th and 12th of the month of Dhul Hijjah, and no other days of the year. To me only this fact justifies the rush in the execution of Saddam on such a great day without any respect to Muslims’ feelings.
Saddam Hussein has never been anything but a dictator who was responsible for horrific, widespread human rights violations. But those acts, however brutal, cannot justify his rushed execution on Eid. It was cruel and inhuman punishment. Could not those who were behind his execution wait until after the Muslims finished their celebrations?
The timing of hanging Saddam will bring no peace to Iraq. Moreover, it will never end a dark era or form a milestone in the Iraqi history, as Bush has said. On the contrary, it would drown the entire Middle East in a bloody civil conflict.
Convicting Saddam and hanging him by a court that lacks competence, partiality, and works under pressure from an occupying force will not serve justice. A United Nations group warned earlier that the Dujail trial didn’t meet “international standards” because it violated provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – a binding international treaty and cornerstone of human rights law – to which both Iraq and the United States are parties.
Justice would have been served better if Saddam were tried and convicted under the ICC like Slobodan Milosevic and other dictators. Besides, the 5 million Baathist army and the Sunni resistance groups would find justification to start turning the life of all those who approve of Saddam’s death sentence into living Hell.
The killing of more than 60 people on the day of his execution is the best proof.
No matter what Iraqi officials said or will say about the trial and the execution, Muslims will always perceive it only as a face-saving act dictated by the Bush administration.
Bush went to war in Iraq in search of Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. But when that turned out to be nothing but a big lie, he found himself in a position where he must justify the unnecessarily spending millions of dollars of American taxpayers’ money that went to an illegal war. He must also give reasons for the 3,000 lost American lives. Saddam must die. But unfortunately the scenario and timing of his death have made him a martyr. Whether it is Shiite or Western justice, both groups will pay in the days and years to come because the execution occurred during a holy period for Sunni Muslims and the message sent was that of pain to be felt not only by Saddam followers but by all Muslims.
The question remains: Where are those who went with Saddam to war? It is obviously that some people do not want to bring to light those who backed his brutal acts and gave him support that confirms that Saddam was not hanged only for the killing of Shiites but also for the interest of other allies whom only history will uncover.
However, it is still sad that the Iraqi government could not do it with more consideration for human dignity. Not for Saddam as individual, but as a former president and, above all, a human being. It was also sad to allow national television to broadcast scenes of people dancing, cheering and insulting him publicly. Those acts are undignified and portray his executioners as less than civilized. It made it appear as if the only one with any dignity in this whole farce was Saddam, thus reflecting badly on the new government.
That scene will have a devastating impact on Iraq and will inflame the already volatile sectarian divisions.
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