Mukhabarat
Ask any Arab,
from Morocco to Iraq,
and they would surely know.
“How does the dictator stay in power?”
“What are you afraid of?”
They would tell you,
if they knew you well
and trusted you,
and only after inspecting
their surroundings
to see who else is around.
Al-Mukhabarat—
The other ears listening
when you are on the phone.
The ones who read your mail,
open every letter
and do a sloppy job resealing the envelope.
They are the wooden characters
at the table next to yours
drinking tea and smoking sheesha
just like you.
When they take you away,
you don’t just go to jail.
You go to “your aunt’s house”.
That is what people say.
They speak in code in hushed voices.
They pray for your return
fearing the worst.
No one knows
exactly where “aunt’s house is”
or for how long the “missing” will be gone.
How damaged they’ll be when released.
Some disappear
never to be heard from again.
Those who do return,
months or years later,
speak of sadistic abuse, beatings,
electrocutions,
torture that put Abu Ghraib to shame.
Filthy tiny cells in the bowels of Earth.
Months on end deprived of sun
and fresh air.
Men and women of all walks of life
accused of being Communists,
religious activists, reform advocates,
and Human Rights supporters.
Coerced confessions extracted.
All the Mukhabarat needs against you is suspicion.
Word of a neighborhood snitch.
Being a friend of one who passed out flyers
for a cause not theirs,
even a candlelight vigil.
The leader smiles,
waves to the bused crowd.
Flags and government-made banners abound.
He speaks of freedom, patriotism
and sacrifice.
Al-Mukhabarat watches the crowd
looking for those
not clapping hard enough…
© Lahab (Assef) Al-Jundi
Comments
This is going to continue… despite the smiley faces we see, no matter the country and no matter the people. All of us will be the subjects looked after from having a mind, from speaking with it from the heart… all of us headed to ‘our aunt’s house.’ Incredible writing! Incredible truth.
Thank you, Russell
Much truth in what you wrote…
I am more optimistic than pessimistic after the peaceful people’s revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt that toppled long entrenched dictators and their “Mukhabarat” squads. No matter how small and vulnerable we may seem to tyrants and their terror apparatus, we are stronger when united!!
Of course, there is no “happily ever after” without being smart and vigilant. We have witnessed the rise of “Big Brother” in Western democratic societies- a more modern, more devious version, of dictatorships. They are getting smarter, and we have to also…
Glad you survived the attack on the USS Liberty (I don’t know if have heard the entire truth about that attack yet). I remember that!!!
That is one so called “democracy” that has gone out of control!!
Amazing coincidence- Liberty Square in Cairo; USS Liberty!!
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
great flow in this write. excellent work.
Many thanks….
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
TYRANTS, DICTATORS, POLITICIANS A POX ON ALL THEIR HOUSES! EGYPT IS BEGINNING ITS FIRST STEPS TO.." DEMOCRACY " I WISH YOU WELL! HOWEVER, DEMOCRACY IS A LESS THAN PERFECT SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT….PEOPLE.." DISAPPEAR " OR GO TO THEIR AUNTS’ HOUSE IN A LOT OF SO-CALLED DEMOCRACIES…RUSSIA, CHINA, AMERICA, ETC….WE ARE ALL ONLY AS FREE AS WE ARE ALLOWED TO BE..POWERFUL WRITING…SALAAM!
Thank You, Raymondo
Like I told Russell (above)I am encouraged and inspired by the people of Egypt and Tunisia.
People who live under brutal dictatorships, such as those that existed in Tunisia and Egypt, and those that still exist in so many countries, are more than willing to exchange what they have for a “less than perfect democracy”!!!
Your point is well taken though… Any system is only as good as the people living under it! No substitute for enlightenment!!!!
Peace~
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
So well put Assef. Unfortunately I know well too well through direct experience what you’re writing about, albeit a communist regime was at the core of all this.
Interestingly enough is how the oppressor get’s his “people” — and so many of them: for just a piece of whiter bread and the threat of hell for them and their families if not obeying orders. And while they watch others, they are watched too… the “World Wide Web” of terror was invented by such regimes many centuries ago and will continue to live under one form or another, “democracies” included.
The infinite thirst for power and control is such.
Thank you very much my friend for sharing of your thoughts and experience…
The evil of those who crave power, and want to control others, seems to be a common shared theme in the comments so far…
Good, decent, peaceful people have to be smart, alert, and informed. And just like there is W.W.W. of terror, we are more than capable of rallying around our W.W.W. of peace and enlightenment…
On this Valentine’s Day eve, we have to believe in the power of love in the face all insanity!!!
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
We in the West think we “know how it is”…but your well-phrased and straighforward writing is more frightening then any faux reality we think we know. Thank you!
Thank You…
Appreciate your open heart, and your kind words…
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
Dear Lahab, I was not on the U.S.S. Liberty… but the equipment that she carried I worked on… on the vessel I was on. The attack on the U.S.S. Liberty happened one day before Israeli troops went into the Golan Heights, and I believe they did not want anyone to know… not even an ally they would willingly attack to be sure. Thanks again Lahab.
Thank you for clarifying…
All the best~
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
genre: Writing/paint,pen,pencil ~ February 2011
Dear Linaji,
Thank you very much for honoring me and my poem…
Extra happy this particular poem is featured in “Vavoom” because it is a truth many people are afraid to utter (I was for years!).
Knowing the extent of this terror, helps us understand what people are going through, and gives us a fuller appreciation of the bravery of the people of Egypt and Tunisia, who finally had enough, confronted, and defeated oppression..
Grateful..
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
One of life’s truths that needs to become a fairytale…excellent writing, my friend.
Thank you…
Yes, tragic & sad truths, that need to become part of an embarrassing and shameful period of human history…
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
When I read this I was thinking about all my Arab family and friends and the changes rippling through their lives right now.. how full of renewed hope they are to see something they never thought could happen.. I pray for them to continue the fight and hold to their dreams so things don’t go the wrong way (wrong according to their wants, not according to outsiders). I was also going to comment on how those of us in the West have our own type of mukhabarat, but you also mentioned this in your comments.. at least those in places like the Maghreb or Middle East are aware they are being watched, as opposed to those in my own country who feel so safe and superior, and yet their lives are uber-controlled by the media and the ‘watchers’. So false is their security.
But the thing to always remember is that the human spirit will always prevail. Beautiful writing my friend, so poignant and strong. Peace be with you.
Yes, change is “rippling through” many lives, in many countries in the region. Hopefully it will continue to do so till all of them are free…
Nothing compares to a mother’s anguish not knowing where her son or daughter is, and knowing that if they are still alive they surely are being tortured.
Being “watched” and “controlled by the media”, as bad as it is, is light years away from that…
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts, and expressing your aspirations…
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
That is fucking scary man. Excellent writing and good on you for having the balls to do so.
Yes it is. I can tell you that even when those citizens leave to go live in the West, they carry that fear with them…
The ones with “balls” are those young people in Tunisia and in Egypt who took it upon themselves to confront tyranny, and demand freedom…
They inspired me.
Thankful…
– Lahab Assef Al-Jundi