Feminists, Concubines, Middle East Political Eunuchs………..
“The King ordered the judge to drop the flogging sentence against the reporter Rozana al-Yami…….”
“My guardian knows best what is good for me…….. My leader knows best what is good for me”
The last one is the slogan of a website sponsored by a group of Saudi woman, including at least one princess. Their aim is to stem the tide of what they see as attempts to force changes in women’s status in the kingdom. Other Saudi women are taking the opposite side. Change, what change? Not any change I can believe in.
This slogan goes beyond women issues. It extends to the whole Arab society, where people are encouraged to look up to the leader, the chief oligarch. In some countries, newspaper writers often refer to the leader as “wali ni’emati: my/our provider of sustenance”: this is especially true in the petroleum states where the leader controls the spigot.
In ancient Egypt, all the way through the Ptolemic Period, they used to raise eunuchs for service in the palace of Pharaoh or the king. These eunuchs were picked from among the children of the aristocracy, castrated and trained in subservience and trained in absolute loyalty to the ruler. They were trusted within the harem of the palace because they could do no “damage to the royal merchandise”. But they substituted political intrigue for sexual intrigue. They were notorious conspirators and power brokers. The Romans put an end to all that after the Battle of Actium. But only for a few hundred years.
In present day Arab Middle East, eunuch-ism is not physical anymore, it is political. They are not created as the result of a surgical operation. They are trained from childhood to be political eunuchs looking to the oligarch or dictator for guidance, inspiration, and sustenance. The educational system and the controlled media are the main instruments of that.
Cheers
mhg
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