Left: Iraqi captain Younis Mahmood holds the 2007 Asian Cup after blasting Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final, Egyptian captain Ahmed Hassan does the same to the African 2008 cup after soundly bashing Cameroon 1-0 yesterday.
The two finals were eerily similar, both Iraq and Egypt dominated their games against serious contenders before the effort finally translated into a frenzied lone goal in the last quarter of the game.
What is different, is the after-party, at least in Amman.
After Iraq, the Iraqi diaspora in Jordan, some 500,000 (750,000 in some estimations) squeezed in the upscale Rabia district of the capital and danced their life off, for about 20 minutes ; before the efficient Jordanian batons made short of their gathering, I was present there, and I still remember the vicious ruthlessness of the masked black-clad men, (is it our fate to be always chased by masked black-men?) many young men were arrested, and anyone who simply carried the Iraqi flag was at least reprimanded.
Yesterday, when Egypt won the cup, some 700-800 Egyptians gathered in the Sowaylih district, they weren't as much, but they closed down the traffic all right. I had a small argument with a taxi driver who insisted that the reason was that the Iraqi started 'breaking stuff', whatever, the true reason, of course, is the social anxiety against Iraqis in Jordan, as explained by Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey during his visit to Jordan in 2006. Of course, Sandmonkey offers the cliched Jordanian view of the stinky rich Iraqis who are heavily investing in the small poor country, which is half-true, but I believe a large share of the antagonism can be fairly blamed on this guy, who cared more about his Pan-Arab image than his own citizens:
More on that later when I have more time, for now, congratulations Egypt. I am a big fan of Egypt and will always be one. I do realize that Iraqis have a lot to resent from their fellow Arab brethren, and how incredibly damaging tyrannical and shallow approaches to Pan-Arabism have been to the Middle East in general, but I still believe that Pan-Arabism can one day be married to less violent interpretations, even though I feel incredibly alienated and estranged from Jordanians, my philosophy will always be:
What is different, is the after-party, at least in Amman.
After Iraq, the Iraqi diaspora in Jordan, some 500,000 (750,000 in some estimations) squeezed in the upscale Rabia district of the capital and danced their life off, for about 20 minutes ; before the efficient Jordanian batons made short of their gathering, I was present there, and I still remember the vicious ruthlessness of the masked black-clad men, (is it our fate to be always chased by masked black-men?) many young men were arrested, and anyone who simply carried the Iraqi flag was at least reprimanded.
Yesterday, when Egypt won the cup, some 700-800 Egyptians gathered in the Sowaylih district, they weren't as much, but they closed down the traffic all right. I had a small argument with a taxi driver who insisted that the reason was that the Iraqi started 'breaking stuff', whatever, the true reason, of course, is the social anxiety against Iraqis in Jordan, as explained by Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey during his visit to Jordan in 2006. Of course, Sandmonkey offers the cliched Jordanian view of the stinky rich Iraqis who are heavily investing in the small poor country, which is half-true, but I believe a large share of the antagonism can be fairly blamed on this guy, who cared more about his Pan-Arab image than his own citizens:
بلادي و ان جارت علي عزيزة وأهلي و ان شحوا علي كرام
Sandmonkey seems to have made good friends with Jordanian bloggers, they seem to be an okay bunch, I really liked the way the Jordanian-Iraqi brawl about the Queen Alia international Airpot ended, maybe I should try and be more connected with them ; unfortunately for me, my only experience was with an immature Jordanian blogger who confirmed those hostilities Sandmonkey talked about.
8 comments:
catharsis huh? hm. suits you kid.
annie
ooookay. i should have read the previous thread prior to commenting. i meant no disrespect referring to you by your old name, although hey, nothin wrong w/being a kid.
so, abbas it is. hang in there. btw, i was just over @ your youtube home watching your friends. sometimes i just like to watch that video. over and over.
a
I watched this game. Haha Cameroon were so pissed off at loosing, and they had to stand around for ages afterwards!Poor guys.
Well done Egypt.
Do you mind me asking what your philosophy بلادي و ان جارت علي
عزيزة وأهلي و ان شحوا علي كرام translates as?
Yay us!! Indeed, it was a night to remember! Much like the day the Iraqi team won! You should have been here during the celebration, it was crazy! :)
Good thing about being a halfie, I get to cheer/celebrate the winning of 2 teams! XD
إذا كان الأردنيون يكرهون العراقيين فما رأيك لو تعامل الأردنيون مع العراقيين بمثل ما تعامل به العراقيون مع الفلسطينيين في السنوات الأخيرة، فقط من أجل بضعة شقق بناها لهم صدّام؟ ماذا سيكون موقف العراقيين لو أن عشرة في المئة من سكان العراق وثلث سكان بغداد صاروا أردنيين أو فلسطينيين؟ أظن لا داعي أن أقول الإجابة. أنا أكتب لك لأني أراك رجلاً منطقياً وتتجنب تبسيط الأمور ويمكن التفاهم معك، بخلاف معظم أصحاب المدونات. وسامحني على الكتابة بالعربية لكني أكره أن يشمت فينا زوارك الأجانب. سلام.
Thanks for the traffic & calling me names... eh?
اذا كان الأردنيون يكرهون العراقيين فما رأيك لو تعامل الأردنيون مع العراقيين بمثل ما تعامل به العراقيون مع الفلسطينيين في السنوات الأخيرة، فقط من أجل بضعة شقق بناها لهم صدّام؟
ذلك صحيح, والسبب يا سيدي ذو شقين, اولا ان صدام حسين وذلك بشهادة عراقيين و فلسطنييين , كان يوفر للفلسطينين شتى الخدمات الصحية و التعليمية المجانية و ذلك شيء لم يكن يوفره لهم اي حاكم عربي - و قد كان العرب وليس الفلسطينيين فقط بل حتى اليمنيين مثلا كانوا يعيشون عيشة جيدة وذلك ما ولد شعورا بالمهانة لدى العراقيين عند عيشهم في الاردن و مقارنة ما يحصل لهم بما حصل للفلسطينين في العراق,
اضف الى ذلك طبعا ان من في السلطة الآن ينظرون الى الفلسطينيين كتبعية لصدام (وذلك ايضا صحيح) وانت تعلم كم يكرهون صدام
ثانيا ان الكثير من العراقيين الذين قدموا هنا كانوا من الذين نهبوا الجمل بما حمل و كانوا اغنياء فعلا و اعتقد انهم قد تصرفوا بعنجهية ولذا فمن الحق ان يسببوا شعورا بالاحتقان, ولكن هناك الكثير من العراقيين حالتهم ليست كهؤلاء
عموما فالمسألة شائكة و معقدة و انا لم احكم على الأردنيين جميعا بذلك على العكس فانا احب عربيتي و أتمسك بها و يسعدني ان ارى اي نوع من التقارب ولقد أشرت على بعض المواقف الطيبة للأردنيين و الفلسطينيين معي في عدة اماكن من مدونتي
لك مني السلام
Kid,
The jordanian blogger Ruba had a nice post about the wining of Egypt , in which she mentioned Iraq too. she put the same photos. Are you the same kid who is a fan of Asala Nasri and Metallica? Have you heard that Alqaida in yemen thretened to kill her recently if she performed in Yemen?
To Anon1 who talked about the way palestenians were treated after Saddam : It wasn't only for few houses as you said , it was also for the role many palestenians played in opressing iraqis through their work in the iraqi intelligence and security services . What made things worse was the killing of hundards( if not thousands) of iraqis at the hands of eager palestenian and jordanian suicide attackers and the approval of both peoples for those massacres.
Personnaly am still a strong supporter of palestenians and their cause ( not violence)and still feel for them despite everything that happened. Also i believe many iraqis feel the same way i do .
You can write in english Anon 1 , arabs BROTHERLY feelings for eachother are no secret to anyone.
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