Again, Arabist by trade. I have read Edward Said. My take: Orientalism has been internalized by insider and outsider alike, as it kept the wheels greased and tr

Again, Arabist by trade. I have read Edward Said. My take: Orientalism has been internalized by insider and outsider alike, as it kept the wheels greased and trains running on time. Turning that back will take a long time, whether western powers try to fix it out I'd guilt or locals do of their own accord wholesale. Egypt has many ills. As a young man I tried blogging in Arabic and said to any listening audience: focus on improving education and economics to fight Israel since because the Saudi Qatar spat, on paper, that was the existential threat and money talks, and if you're serious that's how you'll win a war with the west on your side, o Egypt, not with silly peace settlements and weapons stockpiles. Official rhetoric talked of outside threats, not inside ills (build a wall anyone? My time there informed a lot of my extreme cynicism about US domestic politics). Random people would come out of the wood work and label me a Zionist agent and because I said put Egyptians first. I was amused and realized I should give my opinions to myself. I stopped soon after. Want to read someone real? Look up Abderrahman Munif: the other Saudi aside from a few like Bin Laden stripped of citizenship; a hardcore Baathist who was an oil minister in Iraq, became jaded, left politics, and became an artist and social activist. Only one book translated and his Cities of Salt magna opa was the prophecy that part of the world snubbed about western nations devouring them complicity. It will be ironic to read him. And Egyptology doesn't pay bills for locals. He has a story about that. Come find me in my profile if you're interested, since no one remembers that book. Lol