For Freedom of thinking creatively
by Nawal El Saadawi 23 June 2007
Dear friends who are gathering here in Paris to defend the freedom of creative thinking , I thank you all for your efforts to support my case against Al Azhar insitution in Egypt who accused me of heresy because of my piece for theatre called : God Resigns at the Summit Meeting , Al Azhar in Egypt was always against creative thinking and the well fare of Egyptian people , why ? Because creative thinking unveil the minds of the oppressed , women and men , who are explioted by political - religious ruling powers , every where not only in Egypt , Al Azhar is composed of religious men , who used to support the British colonizers and the corrupt King Farouk against the well fare of the Egyptian people , While we ( young students ) were demonstrating during the forties and early fifties ( against the British invasion of Egypt and the corrupt ruling class ) Al Azhar men were supporting them , even they prayed in Mosques every Friday asking God to let the King live eternally and rule Egypt for ever , after the fall of the king in July 1952 they prayed for Nasser to rule for ever , after the death of Nasser in September 1970 they prayed for Sadat to rule for ever , after the assasination of Sadat in October 1981 they prayed for Mubarak to rule for ever , They are used to support external and internal ruling powers in Egypt against us the people , women , men and children , They are used to condemn creative thinkers and writers , women and men , They veil our minds with their own backward interpretation of religion , God for them is not justice , freedom and love but a book or printed verses on which they have the monoply to interpret , We should not submit to their power which they think is divine , they think that they represent God on Earth , that any body who differ with them is an infidel , or Satan or heretic , and should be banned or eradicated by any means ,They banned my play totally , but this is not enough for them , they want to silence me totally , They are supported by global and local capitalist patriarchal racist powers , But people who have a living conscience , who fight for justice and freedom , in any part of the world , women and men who are gathered here today in Paris , are saying No to all these religious political powers , No more deception and lies and killing under the name of God , no more banning of creative works and torturing creative thinkers , Your demostration today say that we can change this world to the better , that another world is possible but is necessary , this is our hope , and hope is power , and our unity today is power , We are winning our battle for freedom , and peace .There is no peace no freedom without justice , And there is no justice without creative thinking
Thank you Nawal El Saadawi
Source: http://www.nawalsaadawi.net/oldsite/news/07/07campaign/paris-demo.htm
Posts
