Detainees were not allowed to talk to each other, but we enjoyed looking at each other. The punishment for talking was hanging the detainee by his hands with the feet barely touching the ground.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the human desire for connection even in oppressive circumstances.
In this quote, Mohamedou Ould Slahi conveys the deep-seated need for interaction and connection among individuals, even when they are under severe restrictions. The harsh punishment for talking among detainees highlights the oppressive nature of their situation, yet the act of simply looking at each other suggests a shared humanity that persists despite confinement and suffering. It underscores the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of companionship in the face of adversity.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about the importance of camaraderie in difficult times.
Everything a detainee says is classified. Detainees cannot talk to you. They cannot talk to anyone. They cannot challenge, in a meaningful way, their detention. All that is left is for people who survived Guantanamo Bay to speak for people who are left behind, and speak for those who are in so many Guantanamos, plural, in my part of the world.
I have never felt as violated in myself as I had since the DoD team started to torture me to get me admit to things I haven't done.
It ought to be considered a great misfortune, not only for individuals, but also for Houses and Congregations, to have everything in conformity with their wishes; to go on quietly, and to suffer nothing for the love of God. Yes, consider it certain that a person or a Congregation that does not suffer and is applauded by all the world is near a fall.
That God does not exist, I cannot deny, That my whole being cries out for God I cannot forget.
That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time.
But now that I am old, moving every year closer to the end of my life, I also feel closer to the beginning. And I remember everything that happened that day becasue it has happened many times in my life. The same innocence, trust, and restlessness; the wonder, fear, and lonliness. How I lost myself. I remember all these things. And tonight, on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, I also remember what I asked the Moon Lady so long ago. I wished to be found.
Prayer joined to sacrifice constitutes the most powerful force in human history.
Religion is a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality, such as we find nowhere else but in a state of blissful hallucinatory confusion. Religion's eleventh commandment is "Thou shalt not question."
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