Abused Donkeys and Exalted Elite Asses of the Middle East……..
This piece in Asharq Alawsat is in praise of donkeys (asses), especially the asses of the Arab world. The author notes that we ride the donkey because we are lazy and we beat him to make him go faster, yet w e call anyone we deem stupid an ass or a donkey. He complains that we are ungrateful because weforget the favors of asses toward us. He notes that the ass (or donkey) has a special status among Westerners. He writes that in Britain they have a Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Asses (donkeys), and that it has established hospitals and shelters for asses (donkeys) of the Middle East, especially in Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan (I can understand why these places particularly).
The writer notes that the ass (donkey) is a democratic animal because it is a good mount for simple and poor folks, while the horse tends to be aristocratic. The ass is also peaceful and non-violent: whoever heard of a knight waging war mounted on an ass (donkey)? He claims that this is the secret of the European love for the ass (donkey). They remember that Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem riding a donkey, a symbolic sign of humility and peacefulness. (I doubt that many Europeans are that religious).He notes that he often sees Englishmen and women rushing to befriend an ass (donkey) they encounter, petting it, kissing it, and sharing their food with it.
All this makes me wonder: what is the writer complaining about? In our region, asses (donkeys) have it good, better than in almost any other part of the world save Africa and Burma and North Korea. In the Middle East we have raised our asses (donkeys) to the most exalted positions in the land. Our asses (donkeys) rule the roost: they are the rulers and their retainers, those who control the destiny of everyone. Okay, they don’t control any destiny but they sure control the economic resources, the military, and the secret police, and that is enough (at least to keep them and their retainers in power). In fact the people whose resources allowed this writer to publish his entertaining views are among the very same asses (donkeys) in our region. And they are not alone.
Even the Israelis have managed to raise their asses (donkeys) to the highest positions through the election of the Likud and its partners who are arguably even more asinine than the Likud itself.
Cheers
mhg
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