إحراج !!

أخي الكريم ،

ضع أوراقك جانباً

ارفع قلمك

(دع الحبر يجفّ)....

و اسمعني

أخي الكريم ،

استغربت ... من أفعالك

أزعجتني .. أزعلتني

و الان لا أطلب منك سوى

أن تسمعني

أخي الكريم ،

استمع إليّ .. فأنا أعرف ما هو العدل

احكم عليّ ... بالإعدام ؛ الشنق اذا أردت

أو ارفعني ... فوق عرش من ذهب

إن أردت .. لا يهمني

** فقط اسمع **

أخي الكريم ،

انظر إليّ...و لا تكن من الظالمين

إن المرء ليس دائماً كما يبدو... (أنت كذلك)

ويلٌ للمنافقين

و ألف ويل للمنافقين

أخي الكريم ،

عُد في كلامك ، فقد أخطأتَ ..

لا حرج في أن تعتذر

لمن ظلمته

ويلٌ للظالمين .. و ألف ويل للظالمين

أخي الكريم ،

يقولون أنه من الأدب

أن احترمك .. أن أقدّرك

أن ألبّي طلباتك (إلى حدّ ما)  !..

و أقول لك : لا أدب في الذي فعلته لي

أخي الكريم ،

يؤسفني أن أقول

(بعد الكثير من التفكير)

(و بعد أن حاولت مناقشتك)

أنك تصرّفتَ .. بقلة أدب !!

إحراج لك ، أخي الكريم .. إحراج لك ..

الحسرة على المحرجين يا أخي .. الحسرة على المحرجين

In retrospect, growing up in the United Arab Emirates was an insightful social, political, economical, cultural, and religious experience. In my opinion, nationalism is the major overarching factor that connects all of these experiences, and I will begin this series of blog posts with some comments on it. I will try to lay out how I feel nationalism in the UAE shapes, and was shaped by, such things as politics, money, population changes, culture, and other social factors. In the end, I hope to shed some light on my opinions regarding what I like to call "the problem with the UAE".

Education and Nationalism

I started third grade in the UAE, in the city of Al Ain to be precise. I attended Al Sanawbar School for eight years, a private, bilingual school established by Lebanese expatriates in the early 1980s. The elementary, middle, and high school experience in the UAE was wearisome. The first lesson in every Arabic textbook for every grade year taught a few Quranic verses, immediately followed by a lesson that promoted "love for the country" and nationalistic ideology. Such lessons talked about the greatness of the UAE and its leader Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, and had titles such as "Our Dear UAE", "The Emarati Youth", and "Father Zayed". The lessons glorified the UAE's independence (from British imperialism- which was never mentioned), and the ascending of Sheikh Zayed to the throne, and stressed the importance of al ittihad or unity among the seven principalities, called Emirates, that constituted the country. The lessons never probed deeply enough the political forces that made way for the UAE to become a nation state, and the country itself was never put into a global perspective, leaving the students with a very narrow conception of what the UAE  had actually been, what it had really become, and what place it came to occupy in the international arena. All we got out of the lessons, as students, was that the UAE was the most wonderful country ever to grace the history of nation states, and that Sheikh Zayed was the most wise, strong, noble, generous, and kind leader who was loved dearly, not only by his own people, but by the world at large. 

This school experience was crucial in shaping how we thought about the country, its people, and its leaders. The curriculum was intentionally designed, as in most countries, to promote patriotism and loyalty to one's country. However, the Emaratis, like many formerly-colonized countries, took this to the extreme, and the nation-wide school curriculum became a very explicit means by which students' hearts and minds were pumped full of nationalistic sentiments. It did not matter that none of the teachers I ever had were UAE nationals themselves; teachers of the Arabic curriculum, regardless of their own nationalities, were carefully instructed by the ministry of education to keep in mind the purpose of the lessons, and to make sure that their students came out of class each day with deep love for "our precious UAE". Interactions between the students illustrate some of the effects of these lessons: any child who uttered a slight remark, even jokingly, about either the UAE or Sheikh Zayed was immediately faced with intense anger, ridicule, and even threats to" be thrown into jail"  by fellow brain-washed Emarati classmates. Critical thinking about anything was actually discouraged by the books and the educators who taught the curriculum. The end result is obviously problematic. 

The above-discussed problems in schooling become manifested in society when students graduate and attempt to enter the workforce, or go on to higher education. How so? It is not that these students with narrow conceptions and fierce, almost blind nationalism, who also lack critical thinking skills find themselves incapable of integrating into a competitive, healthy job environment and university life, at least in the UAE. Rather, the answer to the question I posed leads to a necessary discussion of yet another of the UAE's problems.

--- More to Come iA ----

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