How would you react?

[Jedrzej Polak]

Part I

You are an unbiased, well-educated nice person. You go to France for your
summer holidays. Your neighbors down in Languedoc are  very nice, too: he is
a nice retired policeman from Marseille, she is a nice homemaker. You invite
them to dinner. He tells you funny stories  about Germans coming to the
village, stealing all golden watches from the villagers' pockets  and his
tricycle in the process. Then you start discussing politics. You realize
they hate Arabs. You think:
a) fucking racists;
b) you agree Arabs are no good;
c) you don't give a flying fuck.

Part II

You go to Paris to celebrate the advent of the new Millennium. You see
crowds of young Arab males doing Chechen dance on Champs Elysees for no
apparent reason. You think everyone has his  and his brother's way of
celebrating the New Millennium's Eve, but you avoid getting too close to
them, just in case this nice retired policeman was right after all. You
stand under the Vieile Dame, though it's raining like hell. After midnight
you cross the river in the crowd and start climbing the stairs of Palace
Chaillot. The crowd is huge, but orderly. You even see a policeman. Suddenly
you see it happening: a wedge of young Arab males hits the crowd. Nothing
can stop them. Not the policeman you saw. You hear women screaming. Young
Arab males got to their crotches. But they pass. You manage to move on. You
stop to take a breath. You realize your cell phone is gone. You think:
a) fucking thieves;
b) you agree Arabs are no good;
c) you don't give a flying fuck.

Part III

You travel by coach through Brussels. It's late and the inept driver lost
his way. Suddenly you realize he can't make a right turn on a very narrow
street in the middle of the Arab district. You see a group of young Arab
males watching. The drivers tries to make a turn anyway. It's impossible.
The coach is a huge one. Suddenly you see it happening: they put their Arab
bandanas on their faces and make it to the coach's lockers. One is open.
Young Arab males try to steal your luggage. You think:
a) fucking thieves;
b) you agree Arabs are no good;
c) you don't give a flying fuck.

Part IV

September 11th. You drive to work in NYC. You see the first plane crashing.
You stop, then try to pull over. You can't. You stand on an intersection.
You wait. Suddenly you see it happening: a second plane crashes into the
South Tower. People are speechless. There are crowds on the street. You hear
sirens. You try to move away from the intersection. Suddenly you don't know
what's happening. You don't believe what they say on the radio.   You see
him coming. He unbuttons his fly. He pisses on your car. He says: "You've
got what you deserve". His skin is tan, almost olive. You think:
a)
b)
c)

It all happened in reality, folks. This is not my invention. Part IV was
broadcast today  on a public radio here in Poland. The lady who drove the
car is Polish-American. We are not Arab haters, mind you. We rather don't
give a flying fuck.

I'm not that much keen on American global policy. I think I understand why
poeple from the Middle East living in the West find it diffcult to
assimillate,  but it's beyond my powers of reasoning to even try to imagine
the cultural differences involved in committing such mindless acts as
desribed above. I think  Samuel P. Huntington was right anticipating at the
turn of the centuries that from now on  we would have to deal with the clash
of cultures, rather than economic or military powers. Which - quite sadly -
takes us back to the Middle Ages in  our tribe-vs-tribe and
religion-vs-religion understanding of human civilization.

I'm with all those innocent people who got killed on American soil, and WILL
get killed in the wake of this tragedy  when  America  retaliates. But  this
will go on, and on, and on... Three days ago we all woke up on a different
planet.

jp