SENSELESS
In a post a few days ago I mentioned the bombings in Dahab that occured over the last holiday (Easter + Sham El Nessim). Some people e-mailed me surprised by these bombings and surprised they had not heard about them. I guess I am not surprised people in N.A. did not hear about them or they didn't get much play-time. It seems in North America there is an attitude that this is commonplace in this part of the world and it is not a big deal. What does it matter if people are blowing each other up over here anyway. Well let me tell you for us living in Egypt it is a big deal.
First let me outline what life is like here and our connection to the bombings. We (my wife and 8 month old daughter) live in Cairo and have for the past three years. We love it here...the country...the people...the climate...etc. We have been here three years, have signed a contract for another two, and our daughter was born here. We were very reluctant in coming to a Middle Eastern country and it took us a while to feel comfortable.
Last year on October 6th we were with some friends camping in the desert. Our intention was to climb Mt. Sinai on the the morning of the 6th and then head to Nuweiba for the evening. That morning the Taba-Nuweiba bombings occured. We were an hour away from Nuweiba on our way. This past summer we were in Cairo and just considering going to Sharm El Sheihk for the weekend when the bombings there took place. This last holiday we were in Dahab with many colleagues from our school. We had relatives here and had to get them back to the airport to travel home. We had breakfast at restraunt on the boardwalk then headed back to Cairo. When we arrived at home we learned of the bombings in Dahab and that one had happened at the cafe we had breakfast.
Ironically, we feel safer in Egypt than anywhere we have been. Safer than many of our rural communities in Canada. violent crime is almost non-existent. If you were ever in any kind of trouble everyone would step in to try and help. So what's with the bombings. We are being told (from reliable sources) that it is a small group of disgruntled bedouins. A small group that are not happy with the government here. A small group that has been caught up in what is going on elsewhere in the world and feel this is the best way to get their point across. Unfortunately, again it seems they are only hurting their own people. It was mainly Egyptians (and mainly bedouins) killed in the last set of bombings.
So what is the solution?? That is the million dollar question isn't it. But I believe it is connected to some of our problems in schools at home and in society at home. People become disenfranchised. they lose their connection to the people around them and what is going on around them. The rest of society forgets about them, we don't try and deal with them. We don't try and reach out to them and find out why they are not happy. We don't try and find solutions to their issues so we can all get along. It doesn't take long before one of these kids takes a gun to school and makes himself heard, or a bedouin carries a bomb in to a resort and makes himself heard.
I believe somehow we have to start listening to people...ALL people.
In a post a few days ago I mentioned the bombings in Dahab that occured over the last holiday (Easter + Sham El Nessim). Some people e-mailed me surprised by these bombings and surprised they had not heard about them. I guess I am not surprised people in N.A. did not hear about them or they didn't get much play-time. It seems in North America there is an attitude that this is commonplace in this part of the world and it is not a big deal. What does it matter if people are blowing each other up over here anyway. Well let me tell you for us living in Egypt it is a big deal.
First let me outline what life is like here and our connection to the bombings. We (my wife and 8 month old daughter) live in Cairo and have for the past three years. We love it here...the country...the people...the climate...etc. We have been here three years, have signed a contract for another two, and our daughter was born here. We were very reluctant in coming to a Middle Eastern country and it took us a while to feel comfortable.
Last year on October 6th we were with some friends camping in the desert. Our intention was to climb Mt. Sinai on the the morning of the 6th and then head to Nuweiba for the evening. That morning the Taba-Nuweiba bombings occured. We were an hour away from Nuweiba on our way. This past summer we were in Cairo and just considering going to Sharm El Sheihk for the weekend when the bombings there took place. This last holiday we were in Dahab with many colleagues from our school. We had relatives here and had to get them back to the airport to travel home. We had breakfast at restraunt on the boardwalk then headed back to Cairo. When we arrived at home we learned of the bombings in Dahab and that one had happened at the cafe we had breakfast.
Ironically, we feel safer in Egypt than anywhere we have been. Safer than many of our rural communities in Canada. violent crime is almost non-existent. If you were ever in any kind of trouble everyone would step in to try and help. So what's with the bombings. We are being told (from reliable sources) that it is a small group of disgruntled bedouins. A small group that are not happy with the government here. A small group that has been caught up in what is going on elsewhere in the world and feel this is the best way to get their point across. Unfortunately, again it seems they are only hurting their own people. It was mainly Egyptians (and mainly bedouins) killed in the last set of bombings.
So what is the solution?? That is the million dollar question isn't it. But I believe it is connected to some of our problems in schools at home and in society at home. People become disenfranchised. they lose their connection to the people around them and what is going on around them. The rest of society forgets about them, we don't try and deal with them. We don't try and reach out to them and find out why they are not happy. We don't try and find solutions to their issues so we can all get along. It doesn't take long before one of these kids takes a gun to school and makes himself heard, or a bedouin carries a bomb in to a resort and makes himself heard.
I believe somehow we have to start listening to people...ALL people.
posted by Brawn of the Oasis at 2:40 PM
1 Comments:
Great post! And great insight into the issue. I remember being so mad when the bombings in Jordan happened because they targeted their own people! I mean really! My biggest beef with the media here is that they only hype up the bombings over there when it will paint just the right morbid picture of the region that they want to paint in order to breed fear among the masses.
Goodness. I could write a whole book on this subject. I guess studying International Affairs is the right place for me then. :) Thanks for sharing your "on the ground" observations.
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