The eunuchs rule Arab politics

The case of the insane Arab man who castrated himself to spite his wife is most probably a natural outcome of the political, social and state of psychological castration that has prevailed in the Arab world since the setting of the Arab sun in Andalusia.

The sun rises in the West now and until judgement day. But judgement day for the Arabs came more than a century ago. Since they met their own judgement day, the Arabs, once the slave masters, have become the slaves, mere servants in the palaces of the great and powerful.

I say this now as I reproach our Andalusian and Ottoman ancestors for the crimes they committed against their slaves, those they bought and those they captured in war or raids, castrating them - as was the custom for male slaves that served in the households of the wealthy and in the royal court.

That is how they preserved the honour of their wives, daughters and female house slaves. I do not care what those kings and Sultans accomplished or what they conquered.

It is said that one cannot make an omelette without breaking some eggs. But I do not acknowledge the accomplishments of these tyrants, as any "progress" has been based solely on breaking eggs - the very creation and manipulation of human misery. Their accomplishments soon shattered and broke too, becoming a history we are reminded of whenever we look at the severed organs of our political impotence.

Autocastration

Arabs still practise castration, not on their slaves, but on themselves. This can be clearly seen in the political relations between Arab regimes and their so-called oppositions, and even more seriously within the opposition itself.

That Arab who castrated himself to spite his wife most probably knew that politically he had been a eunuch since birth.

Under the broken egg rule, some opponents castrated themselves to spite opponents. This happened in Egypt when nationalist and left-wing opposition movements, known for their deep hostility towards the Mubarak and Sadat regimes, allied with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi - the spiritual and political heir of Mubarak and Sadat - to spite Islamists who had defeated them in presidential and parliamentary elections.

They were willing to politically castrate themselves, abandoning the principles and convictions for which they were tortured, purely to gloat over their opponent - formerly their partner in struggle, their cell mates in prison and their brothers in revolution.

Instead of supporting their partners while they were being crushed by the military, we saw them wearing army uniforms and cheering on the new military strongman crushing his opponents.

Their Islamist "opponents" are no exception to the broken egg rule. Other Islamist parties have allied with Arab regimes known for their tyranny - which goes against Islam's principles of tolerance - to spite nationalist and leftist parties.

They have levelled wrongful accusations against leftists, from atheism to incest, adultery or the consumption of alcohol. These Islamists forgot - or ignored - the fact their tyrannical allies were the ones who brought these sins to the Islamic world.

Arab regimes have been the only real beneficiaries of this orgy of opposition "self-castration". They schemed to castrate those political actors who remained intact, by taming them and giving them privileges - a stake in the system, perhaps allowing them access to their private harem or a similarly useless position, such as railways minister, in a country that hadn't ever seen a train.

Eunuchs who serve these regimes do not know that they are in fact in the company of other eunuchs, serving in the palaces of other international powers. These regimes were castrated by Sykes and Picot before they were themselves shoehorned into their own cardboard palaces, unable to achieve unity, liberation or progress for their countries.

Milking billy goats

The idea of a eunuch seeking refuge under the wing of another eunuch is like trying to milk a billy goat. The new eunuch will not be able to remain in the old eunuch's palace, as the latter will kick him out as soon as he makes sure all possible opposition in the country has been safely castrated.

That "insane" Arab who castrated himself to spite his wife most probably knew that politically he had been a eunuch since birth, since Arab rulers castrated their populations, held in modern-day slavery, removing any inclination to defend their dignity or rebel.

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the original author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of al-Araby al-Jadeed, its editorial board or staff.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.