Syrian Arab Writers Association chairman ‘Ali ‘Uqleh ‘Ursan, wrote in an
editorial of the association’s mouthpiece Al-Usbu’ Al-Adabi (Damascus,
September 15, 2001) about his feelings after the terror attacks in the US.
Following are excerpts from his article:
…The deaths of the innocent pain me; but the eleventh of September – the day
of the fall of the symbol of American power …
reminded me of the many
innocents whose funerals we attended and whose wounds we treated…
I remembered the funerals that have been held every day in occupied Palestine
since 1987…
I remembered Tripoli [Libya] on the day of the American-British
aggression, and the attempt to destroy its leader’s house as he slept; then, his
daughter was killed under the ruins…
I remembered the oppression of the peoples in Korea and Vietnam…
My soul was inundated by tremendous bitterness, revulsion, and disgust
towards the country that, in the past half-century, has racked up only a black
history of oppression and support for the aggression and racism of the Nazi
Zionists and for apartheid in South Africa.
The American government had contaminated my humanity, and I began to say
to myself, when I saw the masses fleeing in horror in the streets of New York
and Washington, ‘Let them drink of the cup that their government has given all
the peoples [of the world] to drink from, first and foremost our people…’
When the twin towers collapsed and the New York skyline, which had been
obstructed by them, was revealed to me …
I felt deep within me like someone
that was delivered from the grave; I [felt] that I was being carried in the air
above the corpse of the mythological symbol of arrogant American imperialist
power, whose administration had prevented the [American] people from
knowing the crimes it was committing…
My lungs filled with air and I breathed in relief, as I had never breathed before.
A few minutes later, I again thought about the people under the ruins, and I
began to say to myself: ‘What sin had these innocents committed?’ I was sorry
that my humanity had been contaminated by Zionist America and by world
Zionism…
But, a few minutes later, the media informed me of new facts: ‘Arabs
and Muslims were blamed, and were even threatened by retaliation.’
This brought me back to the spiritual tomb, in which I am overwhelmed by the
aggression, the arrogance, the racism, and the distortion of facts. Inner
strength, that saves me from drowning, has helped me to again breathe above
the surface of the grave: we will return, we will live, we will win, and we will
realize justice for the world, because we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for
rights, justice, and the humanity of the world…
The American people must awake and see the image of [its] policy…
a filthy policy that dishonors its owners…
That hour on September 11 should be
significant for the American decision makers; it must lead to a reexamination of
[American] ideas, policy, and strategy. It may be that [this event] will also reach
the American mind, whose real humanity has been blocked by military and
economic might…
The symbolism of penetrating the Pentagon, the destruction of one of its sides
[that is] 60 meters long, and the killing of up to a thousand people who were
inside it is greater by far than the fact that it continues to exist, and continues
its aggression against the peoples, and its threats against Afghanistan and bin
Laden. What the [destruction of the Pentagon] means is that the will of one
man, who chose to die to defend his honor, his rights, his people, his
civilization, and his faith, is enough to realize his goal, even against a
superpower and even on its own turf.
[This attack means that] if the peoples awake, if they have this kind of will and
willingness, and if they choose to resist the tyranny, the despots, and the
racism that exhale hatred, arrogance and imperialism…
what will happen then?…
Something collapsed in the US, and I maintain that this is the beginning of the
collapse of the US as the only dominant superpower in the world. With this
collapse will come the building of a new foundation for the victory of the
oppressed and wretched peoples. The voice of the nations will rise in a
beautiful dawn and say: ‘Oppression will not survive; every tyrant’s end is
destruction; power is vanquished by power; there is no limit to the human will
when it decides to take on the arrogance of power…’
Nevertheless, I cannot hide my sympathy towards the innocent Americans, who
fell victim, first and foremost, to the policy of their own government.
I can swear that among the victims in and around the World Trade Center are
some who do not deserve mercy, because they belong to the suckers of the
blood of the peoples. But a man cannot rejoice at the misfortune of others, or
hate in light of the loss of life. My humanity, that the American and Zionist
policy tried to numb and contaminate, ultimately conquers the hatred and
enmity, and stands by mankind…
