Second time around in Nairobi this year.
The deluxe Akamba bus from Mombassa to Nairobi takes five hours and is
quite comfortable. I didn't really need to buy two seats, but at a mere
$7.50 each the added wiggle room seemed a bargain. Back in a familiar city
I headed directly to the centrally located Sixeighty Hotel. At a bargain
$40 per night I enjoyed first world comfort, CNN television, a 24 hour
guard at the elevator of our floor and incomparable views of the downtown
cityscape for four nights. During the daytime I visited some of the sights
I'd missed the first time around, foraged for food, took naps and watched
TV. I spent the one full day wandering the market areas and taking
more pictures of mosques and cyber cafes. In the evenings I worked at a
cybercafe ($1.50/hr), watched TV, foraged for food, and spied on the
homeless street kids now less numerous than on my last visit a few months
earlier.
Arrangements made for a rescheduled flight to Legos Nigeria had me
leaving on 12 September 2001. Departure time for Kenya Airways Flight #432
would be 07:30 which meant I needed to leave the hotel at 05:30 under
ordinary conditions. But as every American knows, something happened on 11
September 2001 that effected airline passengers everywhere in the world
including Nairobi, American or otherwise.
Dozing with CNN in the afternoon of 11 September in my
Nairobi hotel room at about 14:00, the weather commentator interrupted his presentation
for a "breaking news" announcement. Jerking myself up from the
pillows where I'd been listening I studied the images of the two World
Trade Center towers, one clearly on fire about two thirds of the way up.
"What a horrible accident" I thought. As I watched in disbelief, suddenly the announcer blared: "something
is happening!" and I saw what looked like a "special effects
explosion" in the other tower. Slowly the reality of the situation
sank in and I like everyone else in the world watched in disbelief as the most horrific
act of terrorism against the United States played it's ugly self out. I
knew instantly thousands were dying as first one and then both towers
collapsed in on themselves. The scope of the massacre disoriented me. As
soon as the second plane hit its target I knew these were intentional acts
of violence. All too soon the Pentagon crash underscored the obvious.
I could not help thinking about the "enemy warriors" who had
volunteered for this suicide mission and what had been so important that
they would knowingly go to their deaths to accomplish their objective.
President Bush called the perpetrators cowards, and while I deplore the
carnage and feel deep compassion for the victims of this atrocity, I must
conclude that we are facing a formidable enemy who's soldiers are anything
but cowardly! And, they are not stupid; judging from the extraordinary
planning required to pull off such a brazen attack. But, they have made
one serious mistake. No one seems to know precisely what point they have
tried to make; what social ill they want redressed; what inequity they
want re-balanced. In the past, terrorist acts have always been designed to
focus attention on some perceived ill the existing power structure has
been unwilling to correct.
Osama bin Laden is on everyone's short list of prime suspects, just as
he was a few years earlier when the U.S. Embassy building here in Nairobi
crumbled into rubble after the explosion of a truck bomb detonated by
terrorists.
After hours at the television set I finally went down to the hotel
lobby for something to eat. Every television set in the hotel's public areas showed
the same CNN coverage. Africans conversed quietly in small groups wherever
I looked. A well dressed black businessman spoke to me: "Did you see what happened in New York? It
is terrible." After a quick meal I dashed back up to my room to watch the still
unfolding drama; a fourth plane hijacked and crashed... assumed to be part
of a larger conspiracy.
Though I usually think of myself first as a
citizen of the world and second as a member of the specific nation in
which I happened to be born, today I felt like an American... and felt
saddened that an extremist religious fringe group had demonstrated how
much they hate those ideals we Americans cherish. Though I had an early
flight booked for Lagos the next morning, I remained propped in front of
the TV for most of the night.
Christian religious right extremists also have committed acts of
terror... the abortion clinic bombings and doctor murders come to mind. In
earlier times holy wars raged between Christian crusaders and Muslim
zealots. In modern times though, it is only Islam that teaches believers
to kill non-believers - infidels... as well as any unhappy believer who
decides to abandon his Islamic faith for any one of the thousand other
religions practiced around the world.
My own reading of the Koran leaves no doubt that such actions are not
only sanctioned, but encouraged by the Muslim's "holy book," a
fact often played down by apologists and other well meaning leaders who
want to encourage religious tolerance. Not all Muslims are radical
conservatives, of course. I've met scores of devout Muslims in Turkey for
example, who believe a literal interpretation of the Koran to be an anachronism; words
written 14 centuries ago for desert tribes struggling with one another in
their march toward civilization. The well-educated Turks with whom I've
spoken consider their more liberal interpretation of the Koran to be the
"right one" and the narrower interpretations attacking other
religions to be a perversion of the true spirit of Islam. But those
Muslims predisposed to bigotry have no trouble finding support in their
holy book any more than do ultra conservative Bible thumping Christians inclined toward a
literal interpretation of their holy book. Rather than a war on terrorism,
it seems to me the world would better use its resources in a war on
bigotry and religious intolerance, especially that inclined toward violence.
As my Kenya Airways flight was scheduled to leave the next morning I
called the American Embassy to see what information and advice they might
have. It was after the normal service hours and no one answered the phone!
It just kept ringing. The airline offices all were closed, too. Ambiguous
reports on local television channels hinted that airline schedules out of
Nairobi were being "adjusted," though no flights had been
cancelled.
The next morning I went on out to the airport and discovered all flights
were being delayed. Mine left four hours late. Preflight check-in security
appeared normal as far as I could tell... no unusual body searches, no
discussion of the American hijackings the day before.
On board, the stewardess explained our flight had been overbooked and
seat assignments had been scrambled adding to the delayed departure time.
Another passenger sat in my seat and after a good deal of acrimonious
discussion the Head Purser arrived and escorted me courteously toward the
front of the aircraft and into a First Class seat. Days later it dawned on
me that my nationality might have played a role in determining who would
get the upgrade on this day of widespread sympathy for the American
people.
Peace,
Fred Bellomy 11 September 2001
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