Are Egyptians and Muslims expecting too much from President Obama? Continuing with our Arabic coverage and with the excitement in Cairo at fever pitch, Egyptian columnist Haytham Abu Khalil, writing for opposition newspaper Amal Al Ummah, uses the Western fairytale of Cinderella to warn his people that ‘Prince Obama’ is not coming to their rescue – and in the process, he trashes Western heroine Cinderella as the ‘worst’ of all possible role models.
For Amal Al Ummah, Haytham Abu Khalil writes in part:
“Cinderella is a victim who has surrendered and does nothing to end the injustice of her life of terror and persecution, and to restore for herself some semblance of dignity – much like Ali Baba did at the expense of the forty thieves … Oh our Arab and Muslim Ummah [Nation]! You should not expect a good fairy to get you to the prince. Are not all fairies evil? Will they not all take you to hell?
Resist … move … restore your freedom … your dignity … the capabilities of your own country … then Obama will kneel and ask for your approval.”
By Haytham Abu Khalil
Translated By Nicolas Dagher
June 3, 2009
Egypt – Amal Al Ummah – Original Article (Arabic)
Although life has evolved a great deal and dozens of major child-friendly satellite channels have emerged, we still read traditional classics the likes of Kalilag and Damnag and One Thousand and One Nights to our children. And that would include the story of Cinderella – the girl whose mother died when she was a child and whose father remarried an evil and unforgiving woman who abused and humiliated her, turning Cinderella into a servant of her stepsisters.
Cinderella lived under oppression, deprivation and injustice, without the goodness of a father that others enjoyed right in front of her.
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