Mick Hartley

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Talking Turkey

From a debate – a heated debate – last week on Al-Jazeera TV between Egyptian liberal Sayid Al-Qimni and Islamist nutcase Hani Al-Sibai, head of the London-based al Maqrizi Center for Historical Studies [!]:

Hani Al-Sibai: What has become of Kemal Ataturk’s Turkey? Go to Europe, and you will see. Most of the Turks here are drug dealers, outcasts. Moreover, the English here have a custom. On Christmas, they eat what they call “turkey.” Imagine, they call it “turkey,” and they serve it as food at the table. This shows the kind of hatred that is deeply rooted in the West – they serve the Turkish, Ottoman, Muslim man as food at the table, for entertainment and as a sign that they have slaughtered him.

Christmas lunch as Orientalism? I’ll admit it’d never occurred to me before. Not even Edward Said saw that one.

It doesn’t end well.

Sayid Al-Qimni: This man uses filthy and nauseating language. To hell with him.

Hani Al-Sibai: “My tongue is sharp, and has no flaw, and my sea is too vast for your buckets,” Qimni.

Sayid Al-Qimni: You are completely insane. Go away. Go. What, all the garbage dumps were closed and they had to go to the sewage to get you?

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5 responses to “Talking Turkey”

  1. Dom Avatar
    Dom

    And sometimes we cook food in Greece! (Grease, get it?) And we serve it on China! Imagine, we eat Muslims after cooking them in Greek body fluids, and serve them up on stiff Chinese cadavers!

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  2. Julien Avatar
    Julien

    Let’s hope nobody tells Al-Sibai about Turkish Delight.

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  3. Julien Avatar
    Julien

    Also, Al-Sibai’s insights have made me realize that Baked Alaska is proof the West has a deep-seated hatred of Alaskans.

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  4. Noga Avatar
    Noga

    Disambiguation:
    “Turkey, a soverign nation spanning Southeastern Europe (Rumelia) and western Asia (Anatolia).
    Turkey (bird), a large gamebird, native to North America.”
    Why was it named turkey?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_%28bird%29#Naming
    Furthermore, I believe it is the Americans who eat turkey on festive occasions, most notably on Thanksgiving. However, there is a British connection:
    http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/turkey.asp

    This level of intellect in the matter of naming from the head of the London-based al Maqrizi Center for Historical Studies is not as jaw dropping as it needs to be. Consider Joseph Massad from Columbia U, and his take on the name “Zion”:
    “…the professor, while making the argument that Zionism is a male-dominated movement, told students that the Hebrew word zion means ‘penis’.”
    http://www.martinkramer.org/home.html

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  5. DaninVan Avatar
    DaninVan

    She was a fish-monger, but sure ’twas no wonder
    For so were her father and mother before
    And they each wheeled their barrow
    Through streets broad and narrow
    Crying cockles and muslims, alive, alive-O!
    Alive, alive-O! alive, alive-O!
    Crying cockles and muslims alive, alive-O!
    [Comment moved to correct post courtesy of the management]

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