Justified outrage
February 6, 2006
I've been in Qatar for the last week attending Al Jazeera's forum, about which I'll write later, and flew back to a storm of outrage and protests. Like many people (or so I hope), I am outraged by the real disgrace of the past few days and furious that human tragedy should have been practically ignored while mere images became the focus of an increasingly organized fury. Anyone concerned with the condition of Muslims should have been taken by the tragedy of the Egyptian ferry which sank in the Red Sea. I will mention the other issues in a later post.
It is unthinkable that some 1,000 people could die so anonymously as an amorphous mass, after having spent years toiling abroad (probably like slaves) because their own country could not provide a chance for dignified employment. It is outrageous that thousands of anxious relatives should be treated like potential troublemakers and made to face riot police in full gear, instead of being cared for and treated with kindness. It is shocking that instead of gathering heartbroken people in small groups and attempting to ease their pain and their trauma, Egyptian authorities made them endure a slide show (a slide show!) parading the numerous corpses so that identification could be made.
This poor Egyptian woman, waiting for a ferry that will never come, should have been given all the compassion and respect due to a distressed human being. Like her partners in grief, however, she suffers alone.
The miraculous rescue of Mohamed Hassanein, a 5-year old boy who spent some 36 hours in the water after having lost his whole family, is the only heart-warming picture we can take away from this tragedy.
