Xenophobia

At the beginning of last year, and in this very room, my real contact with Europeans began. I was in the past looking at them with suspicion, considering that they are all spies who hide hostility, hatred and evil. I learned through my contact and my dialogue with them, that politics is Machiavellian, because it is concerned with the interests of a group of people, even at the expense of other groups, while thought is ideal because it is concerned with the problems of humanity as a whole. The intellectuals who raised the slogans of the French Revolution were different from the Machiavellian politicians. They distorted the slogans of the Revolution by their invasion and colonization. Scientists, inventors and human rights defenders have nothing to do with the greed of exploiters, mercenaries and arms merchants, or false intellectuals and thinkers who justify their actions. "The builders of civilization cannot destroy it", my uncle Laroussi always told me. There are persons who have the power of construction and others who have the power of demolition as if they belong to two different species. They exist in all nations, in all peoples and in all countries. The teacher's job is to promote nation-building power by instilling love and tolerance in the soul and by working for the development of science and the arts. They are able to withstand the force of demolition.

After a year of contact and dialogue with them, we bonded well while suspicion and caution gradually faded. As a teacher, I learned an important lesson; it is my duty to cooperate with teachers like me, in all countries, to build the future, and not to teach my students hatred of strangers in general “xenophobia”. Hating Westerners as enemies and spies is more dangerous than being dazzled by them. The dazzled man can one day wake up from his dazzling and use his mind to assess things objectively. However, the man who animosity planted in his heart and hatred anchored in his soul turns into a patient suffering from mental disorders and obsessed with suspicion. This disease is difficult to cure. The security guard needs suspicion and caution, and his task is to be constantly alert, but the teacher's mission is to plant the love of man and to trust him. The teacher is not acting as a safety officer, nor is the safety officer acting as a teacher.

Abdellah Khammar

Second Week: Hearts thirsty for love

An extract taken from the novel: Entry bell to class