Egypt: Atta’s Father Praises London Bombs

Following 9.11, the father who refused to accept that his son was one of the leading culprits often lied. Like when he claimed his son had telephoned him from another country soon after the fatal attack. We forgave him in respect of his grief. Then his anguish became anger: he began blaming conspiracies –guess which kind- for killing his innocent boy. If anyone ever told him he would not loose his face by accepting the horrible truth, he didn’t listen.

Now, the poor man is clinging to a newfound pride: Maybe the boy knew better than his old man, after all. If his son was right in his thinking and doing, there are no bad boys or bad fathers in the picture any longer. There is no one to blame. Away goes the shame. And if his son indeed is a martyr, who he be to condemn him, or those who are following his path? Indeed, wasn’t it the evil forces of the west that pushed his son towards radical actions anyway?

Most of us will be spared from this man’s trauma. But millions like him live in societies where honest introspective thinking simply is not valued as much as public appearance. The tools for this thinking and for mending our wounded minds and hearts that our education has provided us with are tools that most people in the world never received. Those who wish to understand why the same questions generate such different sets of answers around the world, have to begin with this fact.

(Pray for Ayman Mohyeldin too).