Author William T. Vollman was talking on NPR’s ?Morning Edition? Thursday regarding his coverage of the ?quiet horror? of the Fukushima fallout ? a piece he has written about in Harper?s ? and in that interview host David Greene asked Vollman what makes him put himself into such danger getting the scoops he needs for his writing. Vollman responded:
?Well, one time, I read an E.O. Wilson book about the ants?. And he says that it’s common in ant colonies for the older female ants to take more and more risks. They’ve already reproduced and if they don’t come back it’s no real loss to the ant colony. And I’m an older person. I’m 55. I’ve reproduced. I’m going to die in any event. So I have less to fear. And, I would really like to try to do some good in the world before I die. And, you know, if I get cancer as a result, it’s no real loss.?
That certainly must be part of what gives one elderly Syrian woman so much courage that she berated ISIS militants on the street recently, telling them repetitively in the midst of her tirade to ?turn back to God.? What’s more, the incident was caught on film, uploaded to YouTube, and has been sweeping across the Arab world.
In the video below, originally entitled, ?In Syria, an Old Lady Teaches Daesh a Lesson They Will Never Forget,? the woman can be heard allegedly telling the ISIS militants that they are ?evil? and do not represent Islam, assuming the subtitles are honest and accurate. Initially, the video had been posted sans subtitles, but after being viewed more than 100,000 times in very little time, an English version with subtitles and a new title was released.
According to an article in the Daily Mail, the term ?daesh? ?has negative overtones, as it sounds similar to Arabic words which mean ?one who crushes something underfoot? and ?one who sows discord.??
?The woman recites poetry and verses from the Quran to the militants during an angry tirade. ?Oh, you devils!? she screams. ?Turn back to God. What you are doing is forbidden.? She says at the rate fighting is going, neither ISIS nor President Bashar al-Assad will win. She says now that ISIS has ?money from America and weapons of America,? they want to murder each other.
?The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers,? she says, citing the Quran.?
The woman also recites a bit of poetry to them, and by the looks of it, one would have to assume it contains a hearty moral lesson in it, as well. The ISIS militants respond:
?O granny is a poet.?
In the end, fed up with the woman, the ISIS member filming from within the vehicle in which the militants are sitting lets her know they have had enough, but the woman won’t have it. Instead of being dismissed, she gives them another stern warning:
?God is watching what you’re doing.?
Clearly, we humans have much more in common with the animals of the world than we may think, even the tiny ant.
Check out the video, below:
H/T: deadstate.org & vocative.com | Featured image: via YouTube screenshot & WikiMedia
