Friday, May 15, 2009

The Three Rings of Honor



خواتم الشرف الثلاث






من العشرية – The Decameron



لجيوفاني بوكاتيو

Giovanni Boccaccio




اليوم الأول – القصة الثالثة



ملخص القصة






يحكى أن السلطان صلاح الدين في سبيل حروبه المتعددة قد أنفق أموال الخزانة، وأراد أن يقترض بعض المال من أحد المرابين اليهود من الأسكندرية، ولكنه كان يعلم ببخله، ولم يكن صلاح الدين براغب في أن يجبره على إقراضه، فأراد أن يستخدم الحيلة معه.






استدعاه السلطان وسأله، أي من الأديان الثلاثة على الحق، الإسلام أم المسيحية أم اليهودية؟ أدرك المرابي وكان رجلاً حكيماً واسع الاطلاع أن السلطان ينصب له فخاً، فاحتال أن يفلت منه.






قص المرابي الحكيم على السلطان قصة رجل من النبلاء، يمتلك الجواهر والمال، ولكن أعظم كنوزه تمثل في خاتم ثمين، وأن هذا الرجل قد أعلن أن من يحوز ذلك الخاتم من أبنائه وقت وفاته، يرث ماله ومراتب الشرف ومقاعد النبالة التي يتبوأها.






فانتقل الخاتم من يد ليد ومن جيل لجيل وسط أحفاده، إلى أن وصل لرجل له ثلاثة أبناء، وكان الرجل يحب أبناءه جميعاً بنفس الدرجة، فلجأ لصانع ماهر اجتهد في صنع خاتمين مماثلين للخاتم الأصلي، حتى أصبح من المستحيل التمييز بين الخواتم الثلاثة. أعطى الرجل لكل من أبنائه أحد تلك الخواتم، وعند وفاته، ظلت قضية الوارث الشرعي له قضية غير محسومة ليومنا هذا. وهكذا شأن الأديان، كل منها لديه الكلمة والأوامر الإلهية، لكن حسم المسألة يبقى ليوم الدينونة.




أدرك صلاح الدين حكمة اليهودي، واعترف له بغرضه الحقيقي، فأقرضه اليهودي المال عن طيب خاطر، وبعد أن سدد صلاح الدين لليهودي دينه، بعث له بالهدايا الثمينة تقديراً لحكمته وفضله.









From the Decameron



THE THIRD STORY



Day the First



MELCHIZEDEK THE JEW, WITH A STORY OF THREE RINGS, ESCAPETH A PARLOUS SNARE SET FOR HIM BY SALADIN




Neifile having made an end of her story, which was commended of all, Filomena, by the queen's good pleasure, proceeded to speak thus: "The story told by Neifile bringeth to my mind a parlous case the once betided a Jew; and for that, it having already been excellent well spoken both of God and of the verity of our faith, it should not henceforth be forbidden us to descend to the doings of mankind and the events that have befallen them, I will now proceed to relate to you the case aforesaid, which having heard, you will peradventure become more wary in answering the questions that may be put to you. You must know, lovesome[46] companions[47] mine, that, like as folly ofttimes draweth folk forth of happy estate and casteth them into the utmost misery, even so doth good sense extricate the wise man from the greatest perils and place him in assurance and tranquillity. How true it is that folly bringeth many an one from fair estate unto misery is seen by multitude of examples, with the recounting whereof we have no present concern, considering that a thousand instances thereof do every day manifestly appear to us; but that good sense is a cause of solacement I will, as I promised, briefly show you by a little story.



Saladin,—whose valour was such that not only from a man of little account it made him Soldan of Babylon, but gained him many victories over kings Saracen and Christian,—having in divers wars and in the exercise of his extraordinary munificences expended his whole treasure and having an urgent occasion for a good sum of money nor seeing whence he might avail to have it as promptly as it behoved him, called to mind a rich Jew, by name Melchizedek, who lent at usance in Alexandria, and bethought himself that this latter had the wherewithal to oblige him, and he would; but he was so miserly that he would never have done it of his freewill and Saladin was loath29 to use force with him; wherefore, need constraining him, he set his every wit awork to find a means how the Jew might be brought to serve him in this and presently concluded to do him a violence coloured by some show of reason.



Accordingly he sent for Melchizedek and receiving him familiarly, seated him by himself, then said to him, 'Honest man, I have understood from divers persons that thou art a very learned man and deeply versed in matters of divinity; wherefore I would fain know of thee whether of the three Laws thou reputest the true, the Jewish, the Saracen or the Christian.' The Jew, who was in truth a man of learning and understanding, perceived but too well that Saladin looked to entrap him in words, so he might fasten a quarrel on him, and bethought himself that he could not praise any of the three more than the others without giving him the occasion he sought. Accordingly, sharpening his wits, as became one who felt himself in need of an answer by which he might not be taken at a vantage, there speedily occurred to him that which it behoved him reply and he said, 'My lord, the question that you propound to me is a nice one and to acquaint you with that which I think of the matter, it behoveth me tell you a little story, which you shall hear.



An I mistake not, I mind me to have many a time heard tell that there was once a great man and a rich, who among other very precious jewels in his treasury, had a very goodly and costly ring, whereunto being minded, for its worth and beauty, to do honour and wishing to leave it in perpetuity to his descendants, he declared that whichsoever of his sons should, at his death, be found in possession thereof, by his bequest unto him, should be recognized as his heir and be held of all the others in honour and reverence as chief and head. He to whom the ring was left by him held a like course with his own descendants and did even as his father had done. In brief the ring passed from hand to hand, through many generations, and came at last into the possession of a man who had three goodly and virtuous sons, all very obedient to their father wherefore he loved them all three alike. The young men, knowing the usance of the ring, each for himself, desiring to be the most honoured among his folk, as best he might, besought his father, who was now an old man, to leave him the ring, whenas he came to die. The worthy man, who loved them all alike and knew not himself how to choose to which he had liefer leave the ring, bethought himself, having promised it to each, to seek to satisfy all three and privily let make by a good craftsman other two rings, which were so like unto the first that he himself scarce knew which was the true. When he came to die, he secretly gave each one of his sons his ring, wherefore each of them, seeking after their father's death, to occupy the inheritance and the honour and denying it to the others, produced his ring, in witness of his right, and the three rings being found so like unto one another that the true might not be known, the question which was the father's very heir abode pending and yet pendeth. And so say I to you, my lord, of the three Laws to the three peoples given of God the Father, whereof you question me; each people deemeth itself30 to have his inheritance, His true Law and His commandments; but of which in very deed hath them, even as of the rings, the question yet pendeth.'



Saladin perceived that the Jew had excellently well contrived to escape the snare which he had spread before his feet; wherefore he concluded to discover to him his need and see if he were willing to serve him; and so accordingly he did, confessing to him that which he had it in mind to do, had he not answered him on such discreet wise. The Jew freely furnished him with all that he required, and the Soldan after satisfied him in full; moreover, he gave him very great gifts and still had him to friend and maintained him about his own person in high and honourable estate."






The above English text is taken from John Payne's translation of The Decameron, originally published in a private printing for The Villon Society, London, 1886.








Ten a Day

The Shift to a Man-Centered World





Giovanni Boccaccio's




The Decameron


Tales of plague and death
But out of despair Love is Born
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The shift from a God-Centered world of perfect moral pretenses
To a Man-Lived experience of conflicting interpretations and perceptions
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Giovanni Boccaccio's master-piece, the Decameron
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English Translation
Of the 100 tales of Great Italian Prose
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Ten a Day


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The Decameron Web

First Novella
Full Text



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** Irrational Reactions to the Swine Flu pandemic presents us with an opportunity to re-reconsider the relationship between science and mythology in our daily lives and the way we think of things.



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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Post Realism 7



After 30 Years on Camp David Accords



Will the Mountain Come to Mohamed?








The Egyptian humiliating defeat of 1967 was a hard blow to an era of unrealistic dreams. Unearned dreams, really. An era of Romanticism and seemingly great ideals. Ideals which sadly turned out to be hollow. The 1979 treaty of Camp David between Egypt and Israel put an official end to that era of Romanticism and signified an era of Realism.


The era of Realism recognized that power and military might alone shall reign supreme in our world. With total disregard for justice, legitimacy and other “hollow” ideals. Justice became like a thin shell or a mask. The substance inside is power. And without that internal substance, justice would be easily cracked. It would not stand a chance in the “real” world. Justice is there only to protect the rights of the strong. As for the weak, justice is blocked by lobbies and vetoes. The “weak” is not meant to demand, or even request, justice.


But Realism without Justice, Honor or Vision, led to the events of Sep 11th 2001 and what followed. The irony is that the strong started to use the terms of "International Legitimacy". International Legitimacy became a hard currency. Marred with double standards, past failures and a tall pile of UN SC vetoes, an effective International Justice system was nowhere to be pointed at. The world was just not designed to work in that way.




On Sep 11th 2001, the world entered into a new era, without even realizing what it was. Some called it the “War on Terror” which was more like a “War of Errors”. Errors of diagnosis and judgment. Instead of realizing that military power alone, without justice or legitimacy had given birth to hatred, extremism and terror, therefore shifting focus to designing a new International Justice system to resolve pending conflicts, George W. Bush did the exact opposite, initiating new wars, creating more enemies and fueling more hatred and extremism.


Instead of seeing past Realism to Post-Realism, the Neocons continued the same deadly path towards clash and global conflict as if working towards the old self-fulfilling prophecy of Armageddon. But as Iraq turned ugly, Iran more radicalized, Hezbollah rising in Lebanon and Hamas reaching power in Palestine, the entire world, perhaps except Bush and a few of his supporters had realized the failure of the NeoCons strategy. The old wisdom of “Realism”, that power alone can impose peace or security, even for the strong, turned out to be false. Values like justice, legitimacy and the rule of law, started to regain weight and thickness. This is a terrific opportunity to work towards ending all conflicts. Not with the old idea of negotiations which would still favor the strong, presenting only a temporary solution and a short-lived peace that would sooner or later break as violence and conflict erupt, but through International Justice. Arbitration. International Courts of Justice, existing or to be erected.


Signing the Camp David Accords in 1979 solved a key problem for Egypt, restoring sovereignty over Sinai and ending a quarter-century state of war, which was meant to pave the way for development, prosperity and democratic transformation. But the key problems were not solved by 1979 agreement. The key conflict was about the Palestinians and not about Egypt or Sinai. Israel, and the world, thought that they could do by neutralizing the biggest Arab country, Egypt, through Camp David. That signing a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel will buy security and peace. But that was a mistake. The core problem remained and the conflict worsened.


I do not think that Egypt needs to demand amendments to Camp David Accords. Israel will soon demand such amendments! The peace treaties to come, if and when they come, will automatically impose new game rules and mandatory changes on the Camp David terms. This time the mountain might just come to Mohamed.







Friday, May 08, 2009

My Right to Write

One Day


You Shall NOT Like What I Write


Depending on what you day you meet me, you will either love me or hate me. If you met me on the day when I wrote about religious bullying of little Christian school children in Egyptian schools by none less than their own country’s ministry of education which forces them to study Quran, the Muslim’s holy Book with their Arabic language curriculum, then you will think that I must be Christian or lobbying on behalf of Christians. If you met me the day I wrote about American soldiers in Afghanistan abusing the rules of engagement and proselytizing the Christian faith, then you will think that I am defender of the Islamic faith. If you met me on the day when I coined the idea of Post-Realism and how Israel is pushing the world towards chaotic global confrontation by stalling peace negotiations and trying to bully the Palestinians to accept less and less while Israel delivers nothing and continues to build settlements and confiscate land, then you would think I am totally siding with Palestinians.


Many people meet me and warm up to me thinking that I am really on their side. They befriend me and praise my writings and then a few days later, when I happen to talk about something they do not like, a fall out occurs. I had to put it in my Facebook status: “I promise you that one day you will not like what I write. But I will always say what I think to be right.” It does not mean that I believe that I am always right. I make errors in judgment just like the next guy. But I really try to be objective and that does not seem to suit the general public. Someone gave me a valuable piece of advice. Look at your audience and decide which segment you will suck up to. It is possible in politics to choose your segment and design policies which will maximize your appeal amongst your voters. But when I write, I am not looking for popularity or any one’s approval. I just write what I believe to be right. It is not necessarily your cup of tea, but yet again, you do not have to read what I write.

So, I tell you this in advance to spare you the disappointment. You are most certainly going to dislike what I write one day. But it is OK. We do not always have to agree. We can still be friends while you absolutely hate what I write!





I write, I write and write.


It does not mean that you are wrong or that I am right.


I just write, write and write.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Toxic Assets

TOXIC ASSETS







In all of the US government measures to face the economic crisis, I have not seen an action taken against what seems to be the main reason standing behind the global meltdown; the Credit Default Swaps (CDS). Why haven't the US government or the Fed issued new regulations which would either remove or greatly diminish the size of the CDS market?

In my view, the CDS is a highly toxic instrument which was largely responsible for the global meltdown. The size of CDS market is 60+ trillion dollars while US total GDP is some 13 trillion dollars (20% of the CDS market). This means that any small drop in real-estate prices can result in huge losses in the CDS which largely back mortgages (toxic assets rising), a blow which the United States economy can not withstand or easily absorb because of the huge size of the CDS market. It is just too much exposure with unnecessarily enormous degree of risk. It is like someone who makes $100K a year yet goes to Vegas and gambles with $500K ! Huge leverage which is good if one wins, but is catastrophic when one eventually loses.

Perhaps CDS should only be traded on regulated exchanges directly involving the bond owners themselves as Soros had suggested? I am afraid that the US government is pumping money to only treat symptoms while the roots of the problem remain untackled.


Post-Realism 5

Racing Against Time

as the

World Heads Towards Chaos



By:
Wael Nawara




An eventual rift between the new US administration and the right-wing Israeli government may be inevitable. The Obama administration wants to be seen as reclaiming back its right to set the US foreign policy in the White House and the State Department and not in the halls and corridors of AIPAC conventions. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an American lobbying group, has advocated for pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive for more than five decades, often against, many would argue, American interests. Obama delayed his meeting with Netanyahu as not to coincide with AIPAC's gathering in a symbolic gesture that the American agenda is no longer at the mercy of the strong pro-Israel lobby. The lobby which had hi-jacked US foreign policy for decades is slowly being realized as a threat to US interests and indeed, although no one will dare to say that, to World Peace and Global Security at large. When Netanyahu meets Obama on the 18th May, he will have to present an Israeli vision towards peace, if indeed a serious one exists.

It is fair, yet unpopular, to say that the situation in Palestine and Israeli discourse for the past few decades fuels, if it is not directly responsible for, the chaotic situation in Pakistan, Iran, Gaza, Egypt and the developing worldwide clash between the West and Muslims. The West is seen to have blindly supported Israel with no regard to the indigenous people of Palestine, its neighbors and the Arab and Muslim worlds as a whole. With the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the bad situation in Iraq & Iran, Obama's administration is racing against time as the world heads towards chaos.

Israel itself faces a very uncertain future if it does not quickly resolve the Palestinian issue. Israeli negotiators have been too smart for Israel’s own interests, as they stalled for decades always demanding more from the defenseless Palestinian side while successive Israeli governments strived to change realities on the ground by building more settlements, erecting apartheid walls, confiscating homes, lands and seizing water resources such that the window for a viable two-state solution now has almost disappeared. The table will turn around soon and Israel will have to give many concessions in land, water, labor arrangements and other resources to resuscitate the dead embryo of a Palestinian State back to vitality.






Also See:














Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Hunt them for Jesus

القوات الأمريكية في أفغانستان


لمحاربة الإرهاب أم للتبشير؟





كشف فيلم بثته الجزيرة عـن أن القساوسة التابعين للجيش الأمريكي في أفغانستان يطلبون من الجنود توزيع الأناجيل المترجمة للغة الباشتو و لغة الداري وأن يجتهدوا في التبشير للمسيح وسط الأفغان. وعلى الرغم من أن التعليمات الميدانية الخاصة بالجيش الأمريكي واضحة وتمنع هذا كلية، فقد ظهر في الفيلم قساوسة برتب عسكرية مختلفة ينصحون الجنود الأمريكيين بإعطاء الهدايا وببث "الكلمة" للأفغان بالتحايل على التعليمات التي تمنع ذلك صراحة. وكانت إحدى كنائس الإيفانجليكان قد قامت بجمع تبرعات لطباعة الأناجيل المترجمة وإرسالها للقوات الأمريكية في أفغانستان. ويظهر أحد الضباط الأمريكيين وهو يحكي عن تجربة مشابهة في العراق ويقول أن العراقيين كانوا "يتحرقون شوقاً وجوعاً" لسماع "كلمة الله". كما يظهر رئيس الأساقفة وهو يقول: "الجنود يطاردون الرجال. نحن أيضاً كمسيحيين نطارد الناس بالمسيح حتى ندخلهم في مملكة الجنة. هذه هي مهمتنا."!

وفور إذاعة الفيلم الذي تم تصويره منذ حوالي عام أعلن البنتاجون أن التقرير يأخذ كلمات القس الكولونيل "جاري هنسلي" رئيس أساقفة البعثة العسكرية خارج السياق، فقامت الجزيرة ببث الفيلم كاملاً دون مونتاج، وقام مخرج الفيلم "برايان هيوز" وهو أمريكي سبق له الخدمة في الجيش الأمريكي بإصدار بيان صحفي أكد فيه أن الفيلم يعبر عن الواقع الذي صوره كما رآه.


















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