Emirati author Omar Ghobash explains how his father’s assassination shaped his life – News

Omar was just six years old when his father Saif Ghobash, the UAE’s first foreign minister, was shot dead

One could not miss the grief in the eyes of Emirati diplomat Omar Saif Ghobash 44 years after his father was assassinated in a terrorist attack at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Omar was just six years old when his father Saif Ghobash, the UAE’s first foreign minister, was killed by a bullet that targeted his guest, Syrian foreign minister Abdel Halim Khaddam, in 1977.

The trauma, he reveals, has haunted him ever since.

“I was an aggressive, violent and angry child. I didn’t know why,” says Omar, Deputy Minister of Culture and Public Diplomacy of the United Arab Emirates, speaking about his upcoming novel at the Emirates Airline Literature Festival.

The novel, tentatively named 10/25 – the date of his father’s death – imagine the late diplomat’s last hours in first person, up to the moment he was shot, and imagine his vision of today’s events from the afterlife in a mixture of satire and fiction.

The second book of Omar, after Letters to a young Muslimcaptures his ability to cope with the grief, trauma and pain of loss, and depicts the profound impact the loss of his father had on shaping his character today as a diplomat, author and man business.

The father of four knew the choices available to him early on, and building a better future for himself, his family and his nation was part of it.

Leading a long and successful career in diplomacy as a former Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to France and Russia, Omar is distinguished by the depth of his character, his intellect and his defense of the arts, culture and literature.

His subtle humor, humility and effortless ability to connect with different cultures stand out in his public appearances. Raised in a mixed-race family, tolerance and acceptance of differences are at the heart of his character.

Calm and relaxed, he brings a charismatic presence and wisdom to his words, often imbued with a subtle emotion that wells up in the form of tears in his eyes as soon as the subject of his father’s disappearance is broached, when he is 50 years old. year.

Writing, Omar says, served as a means by which he channeled his anger and dipped into his trauma.

“The desire to forget the past is rooted in Arab culture. We always want to move forward, but I fear that if we don’t look to the past, rethink and recover, we are not building the future.

“For me, being able to piece together an account of what he did gave me immense satisfaction.”

In a way, it made him more compassionate, he says.

“People always talk about compassion and empathy. But if you don’t immerse yourself in your own trauma and that of others, how real is that? »

Turning points

Growing up with a Russian mother and four siblings – three brothers and a sister – Omar says a tug of war at school and placing last in class were the first incidents that transformed his path.

“In the weekly rankings at the International School of Choueifat, where I studied, I came last. I got 3/20 on an exam and my colleague who got 18/20 was deeply upset. That’s when I started studying hard to get to the top five in my class.

He was 25 when he began writing about his father’s last day – an attempt to better understand his father’s life and the choices he made.

Saif Ghobash’s death came at a critical juncture in his son’s life and the nation’s journey. The country announced the union six years earlier and Ras Al Khaimah, his hometown, joined the federation in 1972. Saif had big plans and ambitions for his nation when he died at the age of 43.

“At the time, I thought 43 was old, but when I turned 43, I realized life was just beginning for me,” Omar recalled.

Birthdays marked Omar’s life. At 43, he released his first book, Letters to a young Muslim, which has been hailed for its thought-provoking stance against the growing threat of Islamic extremism. It was dedicated to his son, whom he named Saif, after his own father.

Now 50, which he celebrated just months before the UAE’s Golden Jubilee, Omar reflects on the power of choice in his new novel through his father’s imaginary life, taking it as motivation to continue the mission.

“[The novel] is about how short life is, told through the choices my father could have made. He wanted to be a man of justice, not a politician, and he defended those values ​​and those choices.

“I suspect he would say that I would have liked to focus on myself rather than the company which is already heading in a certain direction.”

Joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in his mid-thirties as ambassador to Russia in 2008 was a failing for Omar.

His father’s journey as a diplomat inspired his own career, a process he reflects on in his new novel as he uncovers fragments of his father’s life he hadn’t known before.

“I have always been intrigued by how quickly it [father] rose through the ranks to be part of the ministry after returning penniless from abroad to the United Arab Emirates in 1969. The novel traces his own view of his childhood until he reached this stage.

Omar’s role as a father

Acknowledging how much the loss pushed him to work to be a better father, Omar says, “Growing up without a father, I had no concept of boundaries. I gave boundless love to my sons. Very often children interact with you [as a parent] to get something out of you. They instinctively expect pushback, and as a father, I’ve never given that pushback.

Letters to a young Muslim captures her efforts to raise her children with the ability to think for themselves and demand respect for the identity they choose to have.

As he watches his children grow, he is determined to ensure a better future for them. “I have two daughters now four years old. When they’re 20, I’ll be around 70,” he says.

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Omar has taken several steps to honor his father’s legacy. He established the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation and is on the advisory body of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence at King’s College London.

He regards the new novel as “what I owe to my father” and as “a work of art that immortalizes him before moving on”.

The last image of his father will always remain with Omar. “We had a two-story staircase and my mum was standing downstairs looking at it. It shone with a halo around it. It stuck with me that it was the last image of him before he went to work.

Ghobash’s next novel is expected to be published in the coming months.

sherouk@khaleejtimes.com