Juan Cole goes "Harry Potter" on Us....what is he thinking?

[KoKo]

Saturday, September 05, 2009
Guantanamo Reading List: Harry Potter, Don Quixote, and Obama's Dreams from my Father

Journalist Besan Sheikh recently visited the Guantanamo Bay prison facility run by the US, where al-Qaeda and other prisoners from Bush's 'war on terror' are held. (Many of the prisoners appear to have been sold by the Taliban or swept up indiscriminately in the vicinity of a battlefield). Sheikh told the pan-Arab London daily, al-Hayat , that the facility's library now has 13,500 books.

What are the three most requested titles by the remaining 229 prisoners?

1. The Harry Potter novels

2. Cervantes' Don Quixote

3. Barack obama's Dreams from my Father.

No reason was given for these choices, which are followed in popularity by Muslim religious volumes. (Though see this In these Times 2007 article about reading Harry Potter at Guantanamo.)

Do they think Guantanamo is a little like Hogwarts Academy and that their torturers were Lord Voldemort?

Do they know that Miguel Cervantes fought at the second Battle of Lepanto in 1571 in which the Holy League defeated the Ottoman empire at sea, and that later on his ship was captured by the Algerians and he spent 5 years imprisoned and enslaved in Algiers before being ransomed-- thus reversing an element in their own biographies?

They are said to be fascinated that the new president of the United States has African and Muslim roots.

Although the prisoners receive newspapers, all violent incidents are torn out of them, so they know nothing of the Huthi revolt in Yemen, e.g.

I'm still thinking about the idea of John Yoo as Voldemort.

http://www.juancole.com/2009/09/guantanamo-reading-list-harry-potter.html

[Demeter]

1. Ah, No. Bush/Cheney Together Comprise Voldemort

Or maybe Bush represents Dumbledore, the bumbling dotty one, while Cheney is the psycho.

Harry Potter is a world-wide phenomenon, ignored only by those who believe in Satan and those who think they are above popular culture. Harry Potter has reshaped the world, in a grassroots way, perhaps not as much as Star Trek--but it's too early to tell. The potential to become that "Star Trek" kind of cultural force was there, until the misbegotten 6th and even worse 7th and final book in the series shot it all to hell...

Cervantes was a man with vision and no capacity to carry it out, and yet his story has lasted 400 years. He subverted the fascists of his time.

Barack Obama came on the same cloud of glory as these two, but it's beginning to feel more like Oz: "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" Trouble is, there doesn't seem to BE any man behind that curtain, even.

All three show a desire to understand more of western culture and historical trends. What are the three top choices for Joe Sixpack? Oh, that's right, Joe doesn't read.

[bemildred]

2. Nice to hear from Mr Cole. nt

[KoKo]

4. It was...and I'm figuring he's trying to put a lot of "Evil Stuff" into context for us...

I'm not sure it works as a Piece...but it was an interesting read.

[On the Road]

3. That's Pretty Interesting

it really humanizes them. And I had no idea about Cervantes.