Amidst the United States’ continuous world hunt for Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, a musical satire by a Jordanian-Palestinian makes fun of the Saudi militant and his vision of Islam.
According to BBC reports, the show, being performed twice a week in Amman, was written by Hisham Yanes, who has previously impersonated Arab leaders and taken on other sensitive matters.
Bin Laden, according to Yanes, vows that the Americans will not eat pizzas in peace until the Palestinians can eat their own national dish, musakhan. He tells the audience that he is ready to travel to Washington to hand himself over to the U.S. President, however, under one condition, “You come with me and I fly the plane!”
In addition, in the last scene of the play, Osama has to pull out of the Arab version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” because he can't answer a question on whether a 25 million dollar reward might tempt someone to surrender him.
“I make fun of him so that no one takes him seriously,” explains Yanes. “Some people here see him as a kind of saviour but he isn't. What he wants is dangerous. He wants to divide the world into camps and he has a vision of Islam that I don't want my daughter to grow up with.”
However, not everyone in Jordan believes Bin Laden should be the subject of ridicule. An Islamist Sheikh has said Yanes deserves 80 lashes for his treatment of the Saudi born dissident.
Nevertheless, with regards to the show’s popularity, Yanes says, “Seventy per cent laugh”, however, “others say the man is a religious man. I reply that he is a politician. They say that he defied America.”
Yanes replies that Osama is not doing it in the right way. The playwright acknowledges that Bin Laden’s popularity derives from such issues as Arab frustration over the situation in the Palestinian territories, poverty, Arab disunity, and the legacy of colonialism.
“Now people are waiting for a messiah, a liberator, a Jesus, a Saladin,” admits Yanes”. “Bin Laden is playing with their dreams.” (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
