Friday, June 20, 2008

Michael Slackman of the New York Times overdoes it here: way overdoes it. I mean he admits toward the end that: " That Mr. Issa is a Christian is evidence that the use of inshallah is not just a phenomenon of Egypt’s Muslims." And of all the stories in Egypt (strikes, hunger, oppression, religious fanaticism and book burning at Al-Azhar), he could not find a more worthy story? I mean, I don't like religious lingo, and it irritates me how many times people here say "Bless you" for every damn sneeze. Would the New York Times devote a whole article to that? Also, there are new words that have made themselves into colloquial Egyptian that are not religious: like ladhiz (comparable to "cool" in English) but do they warrant an article? Also, why do Western reporters love to talk to Ali (not Aly) Salim? I mean, for his literary contributions? The man is known for writing a script for a silly and stupid play in the 1970s that can compare to the Police Academy movies in the 1980s. Certainly, it is not his literary contributions but his support (in English only, in Arabic he still says anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic things) for normalization with Israel when he speaks at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy). Also, there are Muslims who say "Insha'allah" when drinking or gambling: so the word pretty much lost its religious connotation. Did you just sneeze, Mr. Slackman? Because of you have, I have a bevy of Americans who want to tell you: BLESS YOU.