Muammar Gaddafi: 'Even Arab presidents write their letters in English'
- From: ano457@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: 12 Aug 2005 10:25:48 -0700
Muammar Gaddafi: 'Even Arab presidents write their letters in English'
>>From a speech given by the Libyan President at the Arab-African
Cultural Relations, Future Vision symposium, held in Sert, Libya
12 August 2005
We Arabs have no refuge but Africa. African Arabs speak Arabic;
however, Arabic is not a foreign language like English or French. It is
an African language. Only the élite speak the language of the
colonialists. African masses who inhabit the desert and the bush know
neither French nor English.
Every Arab broadcasting station displays its logo in English. Does CNN
or BBC give itself an Arabic name? Never. But we degrade ourselves.
Arabic newspapers have their titles in English for "reasons of
distribution". English papers are distributed here but their titles are
not written in Arabic.
Then we have sports. On Arabic television you will hear them saying the
German team beat the Italian team and some player moved to so and so
club. We Arabs do not know these clubs and their players. What does it
have to do with us if they beat each other or move anywhere?
Even Arab presidents write their letters in English and French, which
is an embarrassment. But when I receive a letter from the President of
Ethiopia or Eritrea, the return address is in their own local language.
I challenge any of those sheikhs who sit in television stations like
peddlers.If we bring forward words from the Koran and ask the sheikh
what they mean, he will not be able to answer. Why? Because they are
ancient words, which are now forsaken. If the current situation
persists, many words in the Koran will not be known in future.
These are great challenges which you must face. How could you permit an
Arabic television station to have its logo in English and an Arab
newspaper to have its title in English and an Arab president to write
his letter in a foreign language? How could you permit the coverage of
American and European sports events by Arab broadcasting stations. Does
this promote a culture?
African writers must write in African languages for the people of
Africa. You have a responsibility to address the issues of culture,
writing, heritage. The future is in your hands. You can be sure of my
support and solidarity.
We Arabs have no refuge but Africa. African Arabs speak Arabic;
however, Arabic is not a foreign language like English or French. It is
an African language. Only the élite speak the language of the
colonialists. African masses who inhabit the desert and the bush know
neither French nor English.
Every Arab broadcasting station displays its logo in English. Does CNN
or BBC give itself an Arabic name? Never. But we degrade ourselves.
Arabic newspapers have their titles in English for "reasons of
distribution". English papers are distributed here but their titles are
not written in Arabic.
Then we have sports. On Arabic television you will hear them saying the
German team beat the Italian team and some player moved to so and so
club. We Arabs do not know these clubs and their players. What does it
have to do with us if they beat each other or move anywhere?
Even Arab presidents write their letters in English and French, which
is an embarrassment. But when I receive a letter from the President of
Ethiopia or Eritrea, the return address is in their own local language.
I challenge any of those sheikhs who sit in television stations like
peddlers.If we bring forward words from the Koran and ask the sheikh
what they mean, he will not be able to answer. Why? Because they are
ancient words, which are now forsaken. If the current situation
persists, many words in the Koran will not be known in future.
These are great challenges which you must face. How could you permit an
Arabic television station to have its logo in English and an Arab
newspaper to have its title in English and an Arab president to write
his letter in a foreign language? How could you permit the coverage of
American and European sports events by Arab broadcasting stations. Does
this promote a culture?
African writers must write in African languages for the people of
Africa. You have a responsibility to address the issues of culture,
writing, heritage. The future is in your hands. You can be sure of my
support and solidarity.
.
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