Back in 2009 I reacted with some disgust to the stupid imprisonment of a poet for writing a poem that was viewed as reflecting negatively on Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak. I think at this time when Hosni Mubarak may well be on his way out...or on the verge of a really violent repression, to revisit the story of the man who pissed off Hosni Mubarak and my intentionally insulting (if not very good) poem in Mubarak's "honor."
From Culture Kitchen in 2009: (the link at the end of the post is particularly relavent today)
Egypt's dictator, Hosni Mubarak, must be one frightened, over-sensitive little wuss. Seems he is so frightened of criticism, that a man was thrown in jail for three years for writing this fairly lame, very tame poem referring to Mubarak:
Shine, shine whom you shine on all of us
Shine, shine whom you shine wherever you go
No one can shine like you shine
You made people feel confused and lost
You made people feel happy and lost
(Verse from LA Times Blog). I suspect the poem sounds better in the original, but let's face it...if Mubarak feels it necessary to jail a man for these lines, he is one of the wussiest dictators on the planet. Hell, I've been attacked far worse than this and wound up being friends with those who insulted me. Mubarak should now be called Egypt's Supreme Wuss.
From the BBC article:
A civil servant in Egypt has been jailed for three years for insulting President Hosni Mubarak in a poem, according to newspaper reports.
Moneer Said Hanna's family said he wrote satirical poetry for fun, to entertain his work colleagues, and never meant to hurt anyone...
The Arab Network for Human Rights says it will appeal against the sentence.
It says Mr Hanna, who worked as a civil servant in a small town in upper Egypt, was tried without being given access to a lawyer...
Under Egyptian law, insulting the president can land the offender in jail for up to three years.
Well, Hosni Mubarak, I will insult you and call you the world's wussiest and most cowardly dictator if you can't take a few lines of mild criticism from some pencil pusher. And you know what? There's not a damned thing you can do about it. In fact, here is my little mediocre poem criticizing Hosni Mubarak (written in 5 minutes for your amusement):
Mubarak Mubarak Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Call him names and he cries...
Cries cries cries like baby Mubarak
What country can be led
By a child like Mubarak?
You call him names and he cries...
And all Egypt hangs its head in shame.
One Egyptian writes a poem
And Mubarak cries like a baby.
One Egyptian poet must sit in jail
Just so baby Mubarak won’t have to cry.
And baby Mubarak can't stop me from posting that poem for all to see.
For those who want to fight this kind of bullshit from the likes of Wuss Mubarak, here is a link to the Arab Network for Human Rights.
Now I know full well that the revolution that has swept the Middle East has potential to be exploited by radical Islamicist factions. But I also know full well that these military dictators like Hosni Mubarak can be such pitiful cowards, afraid of even the tiniest word or poem. The revolution sweeping the Middle East HAS to happen. I just hope it winds up going in a positive, democratic direction. But wherever it goes, history has to unfold and Hosni Mubarak failed to see history coming. He thought locking up a poet would save his skin. But it wont.