Oops I ate it again!

 

Inspired by recent and ridiculous events…I thought it was time for a refresher on religious studies, my last religious education lesson was back when my nipples were still inverted and I didn’t have to fast, but my memory is a bit fuzzy now, when I drill into it, I keep getting flashing images of “2 Unlimited” NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO THERE’S NO LIMIT ….curious!

In my re-findings, the 5ive pillars of Islam are listed in a particular order, I was most interested in the observance of Ramadan and prayers and how they link the person observing them to God, how it is a personal responsibility and relationship between God and his subject and them alone.

But in certain “democratic” republics, fasting seems to have become a public affair and a responsibly of the state;

Public consumption during Ramadan is considered a crime, an offence punishable by law, here I am, thinking it was a sin, apparently it’s both since you get arrested and taken to court on charges of eating in public. This is terrible; think of how many people are hurt with every bite, the blood shed!!

Women might have it easier, if apprehended for public consumption, you will be asked for your “papers” so to save time, pull out a tampon with your identity card to be on the safe side or your diabetes card or your antibiotics or whatever protection you need from humans, because it offends them more than it does God evidently.

Praying on the other hand, which holds the same if not a higher rank than the observance of Ramadan seems to matter less to people, nobody prosecutes you (in between meals) or judges you for not praying, it is considered a personal choice and is usually left alone. Because??

It might be that we’re over thinking it and it’s simply a case of the old “if I have to do it…everybody else does too” or is it considered cheating just like doping in the Olympics? Maybe they think it’s a national duty? Who knows what they teach them nowadays!

In other countries, fasting is considered archaic and ignorant, some fast in secret, some flaunt it like an Olympian flaunts his medal, whilst others eat without being prosecuted and some might even gain respect for the perseverance and strong will.

Some fast out of fear of what people would say, others fast to loose weight, and others fast despite their dubiousness because it’s easier to fast than to stand up and object especially when you don’t have the arguments.

Some cling on to every scientific proof showing the positive effects of fasting, mostly to convince themselves they’re starving for the right reasons. The link to a certain BBC program is passed around like a faith touchstone and a sort of “I told you so” to the non fasting friends.  But there are the few who do it out of sheer faith and never mind the judgment.

The Non-fasters hunt is now open;

The streets are policed and whistleblowing is endemic;

Quick call 999 I saw someone drinking water!

Ridiculous you say?

One word: where I come from they call it Kwada*

As a concerned citizen, I’d like to know is it an Islamic republic or a democratic one? Charia or Not charia? Your business or my business? And where is Boutefilika? Do you think HE fasts? What do you think the self-righteous, toothless creep who alerted the “authorities” on the drinking criminals was doing at the time? £100 he was either wanking or steeling.

What about non-Muslim citizens? Do they also have to observe the fast? Or simply not eat in public? Who is making the laws here? A hungry judge who missed his S’hour(1)? And what of freewill, human rights? And Periods?

I find it utterly unbelievable that the majority’s beliefs are forced upon the population as whole and unconformity and differences are punishable by laws that are uncertain, unfounded and irrelevant especially to the minority who could be Jews, Christian or simply choose not to do it.

Apparently 2 Unlimited had it all wrong! Or have they?

Massayminch (2) – That’s how they roll

Dz-chick… does not much care for snitches and the self-righteous!

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(1) Meal before sunrise and resuming fast

(2) not fasting

* Ooops I did it again

It's a Ramadan Miracle everybody!‏

The excitement is palpable and the wait is over, four years of waiting for the prestigious games to hit our screens again, to hit our streets and our neighbourhoods, London is buzzy and excited and we are all united in that.

Largest and multiple small flags acquired, jerseys stolen purchased and betting tables started, as for tickets they’re an investment in their own right, and we’re celebrating our modest delegation with high hopes of glory and sporting miracles.

Just 48 hours ago, Algerian fans were plunged into despair after their last hope for a medal was taken away following Makhoufi being thrown out of the games, we thought the only way we can get our hands on a medal was if we casted the bronze ourselves. In fact it was so bad, we thought about claiming the Egyptian medal as our own– “droit de sol” was it?

But today, today is a different story, Algeria celebrates its First and probably only Gold medal won yesterday by Makhoufi after he was reinstated in the games, in what was labelled a very controversial affair. And Algerians everywhere, across the world celebrated proudly and loudly the victory of this young man who worked so hard and came so far to become an Algerian Olympian Champion.

The Algerian celebration and pride of the one medal was more important than that of the Brits with their 48 medals. It makes you think, what one medal, one victory could achieve, the tingling feeling inside, the pride, the tears, the inspiration and the joy.
So great big congratulations to our Champion and to the Algerians. It’s all a nice story.

However,

Let’s not give the credit to the government, this is a self made athlete who applied himself and committed to his sport in the same way Morceli, Mere and Boulmerka did the first time they astonished the world, and he followed suit in that too. 

And let’s try not to forget please, that our Olympic delegation is made up of 39 athletes and  some good elements,volleuses volleyeuses African Champions and 4^th world ranked Boxer etc…the rest remain relatively unknown, or frustratingly irrelevant, but amongst this group, Makhloufi has managed to shine, supersede and excel, whilst the others were too busy getting disqualified.

After watching with immense frustration, loss after disqualification after “too unfit to finish”, carrying on watching and supporting Team DZ, will take a bigger person or a more patriotic one than I am.

Our athletes are sent to the slaughter, some unprepared, some unfit and completely unmotivated and some seem to suffer from a syndrome I call “al mouhim al moucharaka” (1), where it seems the only achievement celebrated is coming to the Games itself and visiting Big Ben, so they do an act of presence and take it easy, rely on others to land the medals, maybe the Boxing team will get a couple and we’ll be off the hook!

But that’s the thing though, there’s no hook, if you win a medal you’ll get a car or some other insignificant reward, if you don’t manage a win, you still took part and represented your country “proudly” and that’s enough!

And besides, there’s always another breed of Algerians across the pond, who can take the relay and play for Algeria, it seems the standards are lower south of the Med.

Watching inspiring athletes like Phelps and Sir Chris Hoy, Ussain Bolt and Bradley Wiggings makes you wonder what makes them champions, hard work, dedication, support, funding, commitment, we all know this, we apply the same principles to anything we undertake in life, a 10k run, a triathlon or our day to day job which is what these guys do, they apply themselves to their jobs. 


If you play spot the differences, from a platform a mile away, in the dark, with smudgy glasses, you can see the contrast with our athletes, physically and performance-wise, apart from a few who make us proud and make their opponent tremble. let me not start on the laughing volleyeuses who giggled their way through to disqualification and gettting their asses kicked by the novice Brits.


Algerian Sport has been in the dark for years, a huge shortfall in infrastructure, of large scale sports politics, of talent-spotting competitions, funding and scholarships is to blame for the degradation of the sporting spirit and the aspirations to go beyond qualifiers.

Makhloufi’s near miss is a true testament to the Algerian federation disorganisation and incompetence, he might have been reinstated but this win is tarnished by controversy and polemics though this will eventually be forgotten, his gold will forever remain in the annals of Olympic history, and hopefully overshadow the controversy of how he got reinstated (deservedly) into the race. 

Where the Olympic Games inspire generations, make you cry with pride and tingle with excitement; our home athletes make us cry out of angst and frustration and disappointment, but last night here in London, the Algerian National Anthem resonated in the Olympic Stadium and made every Arab (allegedly) and Algerian out there proud, maybe even made some people over at the Daily Telegraph* tremble with fear at the tempestuous** tune.

Dz-Chick…..always going for bronze! 
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(1) it’s the taking part that counts

* the Daily Telegraph listed the 10 worst National Anthems at the Olympics, Algeria is 5^th


**Big word init