Salute to the Flagman!

by Doc Jazz · August 21, 2011

We live in very difficult times … we live in a time where sowing death and destruction with the most horrendous weaponry upon civilians is deemed acceptable by leaders in the Western World and elsewhere, who dress up in suits, attend fancy banquets and diners, and proudly brag to one another about their refined ‘civilization’.

Gaza is being bombed with utter savagery, and those heartless leaders are deeply satisfied by the carnage. They are cheered upon by the ignorant, selfish and materialist masses who hail these hate-mongering scoundrels as rescuers, and who have bought into the lies on which they have built their ‘War of Civilizations’.

Nevertheless, the real lessons in civilization still come from the East. And this time, yet again, they come from Egypt. Who will forget the awe-inspiring rising of the masses on Tahrir Square in February 2011, that left an unforgettable impression, and showed how beautiful, dignified and justified People Power can be? And our latest lesson comes from a brave Egyptian, now known as the ‘Flagman’.

The new lesson from Egypt is a lesson of bravery. The soulless self-worshiping ‘realists’ of the 21st century are bound to call it foolishness, but that is merely through lack of understanding. And this impressive bravery comes from one man, Ahmad Shahata, who had the courage to climb up against a 21-floor building in Cairo that houses the Israeli Embassy. He climbed up there, took down the Israeli flag, and replaced it with the Egyptian flag, watched by a crowd of thousands of astonished and exhilarated supporters. After he took down the flag of the Zionist state, it was burned by the protesters, and he was carried around on the shoulders of his admiring fellow protesters.

For the first time in my life, I too was in a way a live witness to these happenings, through Twitter. I will never forget how I was checking my Twitter page, and was following the Tweets coming from protesters who were present at the Israeli Embassy demonstration.

Suddenly I saw posts appearing like: Oh My God, someone is climbing up the building! From then on, mesmerized and hypnotized, we all started tweeting posts about this brave man, and he was given the nickname Flagman, and the hashtag #flagman was being tweeted all around until it started trending worldwide. It really almost felt as if one was witnessing the event! And yes, that wonderful moment came, the Israeli flag came down: mission accomplished!

Within minutes, another astonishing feat: the Flagman got an Arabic-language Facebook page by fans, which literally drew over one thousand likes in a matter of less than 20 minutes after he had taken down the flag. Shortly afterwards, he told Al Jazeera: “I do not fear anyone. This is something that millions of Arabs were dying to do”.

I have not been as awed by acts of heroism from a single individual since our Iraqi shoethrower Muntathar Al Zaidi threw his shoes at George Bush! Such inspiring acts of bravery teach us that People Power is alive, and that brave men and women will still continue to lead the resistance against the corrupted protectors of Zionism. Please join us in spreading the example of this wonderful man, Ahmad Shahata (see pic here):