From Tahrir to Switzerland ..the Oracle physician turned hero!

I just returned from Lucerne (Luzern) Hospital here in Switzerland after spending few hours with Dr. Ahmed Ghareeb, a wonderful hero of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Ahmed is a physician who later studied IT and became an IT specialist with Oracle in Cairo. January 28th was one of the most violent days of the Revolution; Ahmed was trying to stop a Republican Guard armored truck from delivering what looked like tear gas canisters to the police. Ahmed thought the vehicle was regular military; he was confused as to why, when the Army was generally neutral or protecting the protestors, this particular vehicle was attempting to aid the police. Apparently the Republican Guards look like Army but receive orders directly from the Presidency. After trying to plead with the officer in charge not to aid the police, the officer, agitated, shouted “I will kill you mom’s boy!”; the vehicle ran him over. Ahmed lost consciousness immediately and was taken to a hospital. Eight days later Ahmed finally opened his eyes, he did not recognize his own mother. Following intensive treatment in Cairo hospitals during February and thanks to the support of Oracle, Ahmed’s family and many friends he was moved to the care of a specialist team in Lucerne on March 4 where he has been undergoing extensive tests and evaluations since his arrival.

I met Ahmed for the first time today, he is now able to use his laptop for short periods , talk coherently, but still not able to concentrate and has very serious damage to the left side of his face, left eye, and has lost hearing in his left ear. He will need a battery of surgeries to fix extensive nerve, bone and blood vessel damage, followed by attempts to fix hearing and repair of the damage to the eye. Ahmed’s first surgery is scheduled next week and could last up to 17 hours. Today, Ahmed was upbeat, positive, amazingly strong, courteous and so full of grace.

Ahmed Ghareeb is typical of the young people of Egypt who protested against the brutal oppressive regime of deposed President Mubarak. People from the middle and upper classes of Egypt rose for their dignity, out of a belief that Egypt deserves better than a thuggish torture ridden police state. Geeks, bloggers, employees of Oracle, of Google, university professors, dentists, writers, lawyers, singers and eventually all of Egypt rose peacefully for freedom and human rights; they made Egypt proud and the world looked on in admiration.

As Ahmed and I talked today, we discovered a common bond, our love for the Sinai Peninsula our love of the desert and Red Sea. Ahmed spoke to me about his passions with a wonderful sparkle in his right eye. Ahmed promised to show me the remains of giant whales 400 km inland in Egypt’s western desert in Wadi Hitan; a beautiful spot that Ahmed loves to camp in. I can’t wait for him to show me his favorite desert spots. With Ahmed’s determination, the support of his family and friends from Egypt and Oracle worldwide and the wonderful team of doctors who have cared for and will care for Ahmed, this will be soon, I am sure.

Ayman S. Ashour
March 18, 2011

On Minerates, Switzerland, Egypt, America and Saudi Arabia too!

The new Swiss Law is nothing new! The reason only four Minerates exist in a country of over four hundred thousand Muslims is that the Swiss Cantons have refused for many years to grant building permits for mosques; only four minerates have managed to get through. Of the four minerates that exist one or maybe two qualify for a "real" minerate, the others are like a small rises, accidental architectural feature that few people would recognize as Islamic. Before the referendum, this was one of the main reasons I personally decided not to move my primary residence to Zurich despite my commuting back and forth to Switzerland since 2003. Once, I had sought a mosque near me for the Eid prayers at the end of Ramadan and stumbled across a lot of information about the problems with the planning permits; I was shocked, saddened and hurt. It is good that the referendum finally brings out much publicity, so this shameful issue is finally out.

Switzerland, a country I do very much love, has never been a bastion of political correctness on issues of freedom and equality; its brand of referendum based democracy means that it is often out of step in its laws. Swiss women had the right to vote over fifty full years after their Egyptian counterparts. In some Cantons in Switzerland women got the right to vote in 1990's ...so being in the heart of Europe does not necessarily mean being free and progressive. While Egyptians male and female have had the vote for decades, they continue to await for the these votes to count through free and fair elections, only then will we Egyptians be able to show what racism, bigotry and small mindedness really mean. My American side has an insurance policy against such stupidity, known as the United States Constitution. So, when Americans vote freely to mix church and state or vote their racist prejudices, sooner or later, the courts overturn such votes in favor of a more equal and tolerant society. In short, the Swiss are no more racist than others, arguably a lot less. The liberal party in Switzerland is indeed racist; it gathered the signatures to bring the minerates issue to a referendum and very few people actually bothered to vote. I hope that sooner or later, not only would the referendum be overturned but also the planning permit issue at the Cantonal level will get better.

Saudi Arabia is often brought into this discussion; Islamophobes point to Saudi Arabia’s abhorrent restrictions on religious freedom as a way to explain away newly imposed restrictions on Islamic expressions in different parts of Europe and Saudi apologists argue that laws such as the minerates ban are a vindication for Saudi’s stance. I have heard the argument that Muslims can’t be expected to give churches and synagogues the same level of freedoms that Muslim demand for mosques in the West. An argument of “unequal and we mean it!” or “no reciprocity and deliberately so!” The argument is based on Islam believing in Christianity and Judaism while Christianity and Judaism have no theological space for Islam. Such arguments trouble me as much as the original Swiss Cantonal planning restrictions did. Saying that Muslims believe in Christianity is misleading, Muslims believe in their own versions of Christianity and don't believe that the Christians beliefs practiced today are valid. In short, Muslims do not believe in Jesus being the Son of God or that Jesus was crucified for the salvation of mankind and those who believe in him. Muslims can define Christianity as we wish but that is not Christianity as seen by its adherents.

Some Egyptians have used the Swiss Minerates referendum to argue for more (or less) freedom for the Coptic Churches. In down town Boston Muslims hold their Friday prayers at the basement of a Church. In the aftermath of 9/11, the archbishop of Catholic Church in Boston along with leaders of many Protestant churches came to our Wayland mosque and prayed and kneeled with us in solidarity, this would never happen in Saudi for now certainly not Switzerland nor Egypt.