Fight or Flight الكر و الفر – Making Numbers Humans جعل الأرقام بشر (Part 1: Our role as European Arabs)
I have been reticent to start writing again since my return from Jordan. The repercussion of the experience was unfolding slowly yet constantly during the past few months and it has taken me longer than expected to process this year and do it justice. In addition, this reflective process was both overshadowed and pressured by the turn events are taking on European grounds, where the refugee question is dominating the headlines.
When I left Europe in August 2014, I was immersed in the study of the phenomenon of foreign fighters that I purposefully chose as my dissertation topic given its highly topical and relevant nature – at the time. Coming back in July 2015, however, I found it to be entirely superseded by this new issue: newspapers and radio stations were rattling off news about refugees drowning in the Mediterranean and crossing the border into Europe through the Balkans and about states and their peoples going berserk because of the heightened influx of refugees into their cherished lands.
Adapting to these new circumstances has been a challenge, especially in the position I suddenly found myself in. The misery that had consumed me on many levels during my endeavours in Jordan would not remain confined – neither in time nor place – to Jordan. Instead, while still examiing the role I could play remotely in alleviating the suffering of my people, it fell right into my lap. As European Arabs*, we have a responsibility to be not only active but proactive in offering a helping hand to those countries – who once upon a time provided our families with a safe haven – in absorbing the massive number of refugees seeking help and safety on our continent.
The comfort and safety we have grown used to may have distanced some of us mentally from our roots. But now is the time to switch gears and redirect our efforts towards re-establishing those lost ties and connections. Now is the time to step up to the plate and accept this duty that is incumbent upon us as hybrid ambassadors to our respective countries, as nexuses between these two worlds, the oriental and the western. Yes, indeed: sometimes, your purpose chooses you.
In this portfolio or collection that I choose to name “Fight or Flight” I would like to take the right to tell stories. Stories about the people I had the privilege to meet during my time in Jordan; people who, faced with the plethora of dangers resulting from dwindling power structures post-2003, were forced to leave their homes behind for a temporary shelter in the Hashemite Kingdom. My stories will encompass not only personal anecdotes but also my opinion on a number of issues related to disaster relief and development aid that I consider worth sharing with those who take the time to read this.
Through those writings, I aim to accomplish one simple objective, which is to *make numbers humans again. * In an age where we are bombarded with figures and statistics, it is vital to keep in mind that, eventually, what we are talking about are human beings: women, children, and men who, until recently, were living their lives like we are living ours and whom we should grant at least this so trivial yet essential right to be considered humans the same way we consider ourselves humans.
**NB: I usually refrain from labelling groups of human beings. In this case, I only consider it adequate because of a clear and exclusive connection to the role I am attributing to them. *