From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Wed 22 Oct 2003 - 09:00:38 GMT
Panic in Khartoum: Foreigners Shake Hands, Make
Penises Disappear
http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD59303
During September 2003, mass hysteria spread through Khartoum,
the capital of Sudan, which was ultimately quelled by police
intervention and statements made by the health minister. The
panic was caused by rumors of foreigners roaming the city and
shaking men's hands, making their penises disappear. The rumors
were spread rapidly by text messages on cellular phones, and
diverted the public's attention from a breakthrough in
negotiations in Kenya between Sudanese Vice President Ali
Othman and SPLA leader John Garang. [1]
Several versions of the story circulated and not all involved
foreigners: Initially, it was claimed that the perpetrators belonged
to a Sudanese tribe; according to another version, one West
African man was responsible; later, the one man was replaced in
the rumor with a group of West Africans.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi correspondent Kamal Hassan Bakhit, who
was the first to report on the affair outside Sudan, wrote that "the
source of the horror is a foreign citizen from a West African
country who is roaming through the city marketplace and
draining men's virility via a handshake" and that "people are
refusing to shake hands with anyone they don't know." Bakhit
reported that police had received numerous complaints about
someone called 'Satan's Friend,' and that they had launched an
investigation and arrested a foreigner who had in his possession
scarves, books on sorcery, and two million Sudanese pounds
(about $1,500). [2] The following are excerpts from articles
which discussed the issue:
Victims Tell Their Stories
Two of the "victims" agreed to tell their story to the London-
based Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi. One of them, fabric
merchant S. K. A., said that a man from a West African tribe
came into his shop to buy fabric, but an argument quickly
developed between the two. Then the West African shook the
store owner's hand powerfully until the owner felt his penis melt
into his body. The store owner became hysterical, and was taken
to the hospital. [3]
While the majority of accounts involved handshaking, another
victim, who refused to give his name, said that while he was at the
market, a man approached him, gave him a comb, and asked him
to comb his hair. When he did so, within seconds, he said, he felt
a strange sensation and discovered that he had lost his penis. It
was also claimed that once "'Satan's Friend' drains a man's
virility," he demands that his victim pay him over four million
Sudanese pounds (about $3,000) to get it back. [4]
Police Investigate, Government Steps In
The Sudanese, unsure how to handle the affair, arrested 40 people
who filed complaints along with some 50 other people on
suspicion of sorcery and fraud. Many West Africans were brought
into police stations for questioning, amid attempts by groups of
people to assault them. The police were forced to devote a great
deal of effort to dispersing rioters.
The country's top politicians and health officials stepped in to try
to calm things down. Attorney-General Salah Abu Zayed said
that all complaints had been brought before a special investigative
committee and that the first claimant would be tried for disturbing
the peace since doctors had determined that he was perfectly
healthy. [5] However, another report said that those who filed
complaints were suffering from "neurosis" and "suggestion." [6]
High-ranking policewoman Dr. Nour Al-Huda said: "We met
with the suspects and discovered that they were in fact the
victims. They were accused of something they knew nothing
about... One of the accused had been informed by his wife that his
daughter was suffering from sharp pains and that she was going to
be operated on. He rushed to the hospital, but on the way stopped
to ask a man where the operating room was “ and was surprised to
discover that this man was accusing him of being one of those
who were causing impotence via handshakes. He found himself
under suspicion at a time when he was hurrying to reach his
daughter in the operating room¦
"In our opinion, what is at issue is not sorcery or magic. The many
young men who complained were under the influence of
suggestion. Since they were prepared [mentally] for this to
happen, they honestly felt that they were ill."
Prominent Sudanese psychiatrist Prof. Taha Ba'asher said that
the phenomenon was similar to cases of women who imagined
themselves to be pregnant. [7]
Dispelling the Rumors
Chief Criminal Attorney-General Yasser Ahmad Muhammad
told the Sudanese daily Al-Rai Al-A'am that "the rumor broke
out when one merchant went to another merchant to buy some
Karkady [a Sudanese beverage]. Suddenly, the seller felt his penis
shriveling as a result of sorcery. It was the first complaint
regarding the matter. Afterwards, the matter reached the media
and this caused sensitivity among many." He added that all the
persons who filed complaints were sent to the hospital. In all
cases, the medical reports said that their penises were normal and
that they suffered no atrophy or pain.
"Twenty percent came the next day to court and withdrew their
complaints, claiming that they had recuperated. But some of them
persisted with the charges."
Sudanese Health Minister Ahmad Bilal Othman said that the
hospital directors had reported to him, in an emergency session on
September 23, that no cases of impotence with the
aforementioned background had been admitted to the hospitals.
He said that the phenomenon was "scientifically" groundless, and
that it was sorcery, magic, or an emotional problem. [8]
The pundits paid a great deal of attention to the issue. Al-Rai Al-
A'am published cartoons on the subject; one showed a man
extending a prosthetic hand to shake hands with another man and
saying, "Prevention is better than cure," [9] and another one
showing a man with both hands amputated telling a friend,
"Thank God, I don't shake anyone's hand and no one shakes
mine." [10]
In the Press
Dr. Abd Al-Latif Al-Buni wrote in the Sudanese newspaper Al-
Sahafa that the lessons of the affair could be extrapolated to
Sudanese politics: "The situation has reached the point where a
wife accompanying her husband to the front door at home bids
him farewell by saying, 'Be careful not to shake hands with men,
but you can shake the girls' hands as much as you want.'¦ Out of
fear of losing him, she has agreed to share [her husband with other
women], even if this is a forced partnership. The same goes for
the peace [negotiations] underway in Kenya. There must be
concessions so that we do not lose Sudan altogether. If the wife
conceded to her husband and allowed him to approach others of
her gender, then the politicians can forgo political gain." 11
Ja'far Abbas, a Sudanese columnist living abroad, expounded
further on the matter in two articles, one in the Saudi daily Al-
Watan and the other in Al-Rai Al-A'am. In his Al-Watan article,
Abbas wrote: "Even though what I write today will harm 'tourism'
in Sudan, I consider it my duty to warn anyone who wants to
come to Sudan to refrain from shaking hands with a dark-skinned
man. Since most Sudanese are dark-skinned, he had better avoid
shaking hands with anyone he doesn't know¦"
Focusing on the report of the Sudanese man who lost his penis
after contact with a comb, Abbas wrote: "No doubt, this comb was
a laser-controlled surgical robot that penetrates the skull [and
passes] to the lower body and emasculates a man!!
"I wanted to tell that man who fell victim to the electronic comb:
'You jackass, how can you put a comb from a man you don't know
to your head, while even relatives avoid using the same comb?!'"
It Is a Zionist Plot
In conclusion Abbas wrote: "That man, who, as it is claimed, is
from West Africa, is an imperialist Zionist agent that was sent to
prevent our people from procreating and multiplying¦" 12
In his Al-Rai Al-A'am article, Abbas wrote: "I had planned to visit
Sudan over the Id Al-Fitr holiday, and I saved as many dollars as I
could for this purpose¦ But I heard and read about 'Satan's
Friend' who shakes your hand and then you discover suddenly that
you're 'not a man.' Is it conceivable that a reasonable man would
choose to visit a city gripped by the horror of castration?!¦
"I pay [taxes] to the government, I bring money to my family
[from abroad], and then I also need to pay a man who robs me of
the thing I hold most dear and demands that I buy my stolen goods
[back from] him?...
"¦Our women dominate in public services and university classes.
[In my opinion], men in Sudan today have a right to found an
Association for the Rights of Sudanese Men; all that remains of
our masculinity are our most prominent biological features, and
now someone wants to rob us of them!"
Abbas wrote about the "comb incident" in this article as well:
"What will probably lead me, nevertheless, to proceed with my
daring plan to visit Sudan is that one of the men whose
'equipment' was confiscated said that the confiscation occurred
when one of them gave him a comb and asked him to comb his
hair¦ That is, we are not speaking of coercion. The victim could
have refused to comb his hair.
"If I ever meet this beast, I will ask him how he could put
someone else's comb to his head!!! It is true that we are a crazy
people, [and] 10 of us use the same towel, and every home has
several combs. But, alas, [the combs] are all disappearing, and all
that remains is one comb, dripping grease, used by all. But this
usually happens within the family. That is, we do not usually use
the combs of people we do not know, except at the barber!
"Let none of you claim that you can guard against emasculation by
avoiding shaking hands with anyone whose appearance indicates
he is West African “ since it has transpired that the ones who
perform these wonders and miracles are West Africans! What
does a West African look like? Black? Is there even a single white
Sudanese?¦" 13
[1] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), September 24, 2003.
[2] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), September 22, 2003.
[3] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), September 22, 2003.
[4] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), September 22, 2003.
[5] Al-Rai Al-A'am (Sudan), September 23, 2003.
[6] Al-Rai Al-A'am (Sudan), September 24, 2003.
[7] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), October 9, 2003.
[8] Al-Rai Al-A'am (Sudan), September 24, 2003.
[9] Al-Rai Al-A'am (Sudan), September 26, 2003.
[10] Al-Rai Al-A'am(Sudan), October 1, 2003.
11 Al-Sahafa (Sudan), September 23, 2003.
12 Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), September 24, 2003.
13 Al-Rai Al-A'am (Sudan), September 29, 2003.
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