UK terror plot: Life imitates art

Is this just a coincidence, perceptive writing, or self fulfilling prophecy?

 

Doctors in service of terror

 

Egyptian author's story about Arab doctors' bomb plot turns into reality

 

Smadar Peri Published:  07.19.07, 07:56 / Israel Opinion

 

Six months ago a thick novel was placed on the shelves of Cairo bookstores and immediately began to sell like hotcakes. It was replete with sex, corruption, desperation and a series of particularly frustrating life stories. However, "Chicago", the fast-paced literary work by Egyptian author Alaa al-Aswani is not available in Hebrew.

 

Although his last bestseller, "The Yacoubian Building", was translated into 17 languages, al-Aswani is fiercely brushing off Israeli publishers. "Any contact with you will be deemed normalization," the dentist from Cairo announced, "and I oppose any form of cooperation with Israel."

 

From page one I couldn't put the 453-page book down. The style is coherent; the plot is gripping, and now the monstrous prophesy in the novel has fulfilled itself: The novel tells the story of seven top Egyptian medical students who have tired, each for their own reasons, of the harassments by the Egyptian security forces, the connection between capital and power, and the meager chances of earning a steady income or finding lodgings.

After being awarded a scholarship for further studies at an American hospital, the seven doctors set off to Chicago to realize their dreams. One of them escaped the grooms that were forced on her. Another fled a moment before being thrown into jail. A third specialist was fired from his job in favor of a relative of a top government official.

The literary success of Al-Aswani, who himself was trained in Chicago, reveals the everyday confrontation of young exiles in the estranged, materialistic US that alarms the Muslim world. This leads the female heroine to shroud herself in a veil while her friends find their way to the mosques. This is where the real problems begin: On the one hand they are imbued with hatred towards the values of American culture, and on the other they are seeking revenge against the Egyptian regime that made them flee.

 

No condemnation in Arab world

I am willing to swear that the author of "Chicago" never dreamed that the plot of his novel would turn into reality. Two weeks ago, seven Muslim doctors were apprehended in Britain for planning a series of terror attacks reminiscent of the 9/11 bombings. Had there not been a series of mishaps in the explosive devices planted in the vehicles, a terrible disaster would have occurred.

As in "Chicago," a Jordanian laboratory assistant - a doctor's wife - was apprehended in connection with the botched bombings. As in "Chicago," the heavily veiled image of the doctor's wife from Amman sparks animosity among neighborhood residents. The angels in white revealed their true colors, headlines in Britain screamed.

 

 
The satanic mind is hiding in Afghanistan. Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, hailed as a prodigious doctor who is also Osama Bin Laden's deputy and advisor, has ascended the monstrous path of enlisting doctors to the service of terror. He is not perturbed by violent methods of enlistment and is unconcerned about murdering children, even if they are Muslim. His wet dream focuses on carrying out a massive terror attack here in Israel.

It is disturbing that no one in the Arab world condemned the new trend of doctors being enlisted to the service of terror. On the contrary, this week in Algiers a 10-year-old boy was recruited at a hospital clinic to blow himself up along with an explosive device.

And what about "Chicago's" sales? The Arab edition of the book has been sold out since the London terror attacks were foiled.