Zuhdi Shubeitah
العربية

A Flight of Fancy

A first-person, dreamlike account of being asked to open an account called "Authority...1948" at "Bank of the People," discovering subsidiary accounts and passwords, and reflecting on the overlap of auditing and politics.

العربيةRead the Arabic original

English translation, prepared and reviewed before publication. The Arabic text is authoritative.

Zuhdi ShubeitahBanking executive (former)
Published
Reading time
4 min read
Photo of Zuhdi Shubeitah

31-8-2018

-        Someone asked me...and I do not know him at all...to disclose an account...in the name of "Authority...1948" ..in a bank called "Bank of the People"....I asked this strange person...since when was the account opened...in this bank..he told me on the date...13-9-1993......so I searched on my electronic computer...(the laptop)...and I found that this bank had also been opened on that date... and I noticed that its capital was 12 million units..and stamped on it...قلب.....

-        I was surprised to myself..because this number equals the number of Palestinian people in the world.....so I returned to him to ask...and do you have an authorization to view this account...he said yes I have the password...by which I can deposit and withdraw and request account statements..and this password-word - the password - is "العودة"...and there are also sub-accounts, this strange person wants me... to give him statements for them...and they have another password ...which he gave me....and it was "1948"....and I was surprised by this stranger's self-confidence..so I asked him..what do you work in, you...he said to me "Coordinator"..... I said to him coordinator of what, you...he answered me.."General Coordinator" and my job number is "1967.".....I told him it seems you work in politics...obviously ... he replied...no I am a religious man...but the custody of this account opened at "Bank of the People" was entrusted to me by higher authorities...you want statements...for a period of twenty-five years...past....to present them to a senior external auditor...and he added saying...that the name of this external auditor...is "Watan Office...for Auditing and Accounting" ...I was surprised by the name of this colleague auditor whose name I had not heard, and I am a licensed statutory auditor...he said to me this stranger...that this auditor ...has been licensed since long ago...for centuries..and his name changed...repeatedly..and it settled on this name... I asked him does he hold a local or international license...he answered that he holds a UN license...its number "1947"......I grew tired of listening to him, as he flew into a wide space ...mixing numbers ...with politics...and as an auditor I do not like politics to intrude into the world of economy and finance....that is how we were taught...and during the beginnings of our banking work which lasted 31 years in the service of banking...

-        However this strange person...the coordinator...insisted that I open the laptop, and give him the statements..and I expected the pages to be numerous... and I began to use the passwords...that he had given me..so I revealed the main account..."Authority ..1948"... and found that the account was dormant...and had no balance...in Bank of the People...and I browsed the subsidiary accounts....and found many accounts ..I do not remember them all..but I looked at a subsidiary account...named "Achievements..." and found that the account was disclosed..., then I looked at another subsidiary account....named "Coordinations...", and this subsidiary account had 10 types of other sub-accounts..I was able to find..9 accounts...of them ..."Coordination..m2" and "Coordination...m3"...up to account "Coordination ..10"...but I did not find account "Coordination ..1" ...and the accounts....had carried forward balances to an account..whose name I did not know..only written carried forward balance.....as for account "Coordination ..1" I did not find it except after using a password as the coordinator helped me with this information...and this password to view the account that seemed to me difficult to locate...was the password for this account..."الحياة مفاوضات"...and I was surprised...by this password composed of two words and that was it..

-        I used this password.... and found in the statement nothing but the phrase....the balance transferred to other....accounts...I tried to find what these accounts are ...and this phrase was written on every page...of the account statement pages amounting to 25 pages....and I felt that I became dizzy...and I tried to shout...and I shouted..after I woke from my sleep ....as I was trembling from this dream...and my wife ...on top of me..with a woolen blanket her neighbor had knitted long ago from sheep's wool....and she tells me she heard me say I am disclosed....cover me... and brought me a glass of water ..to restore my calm, and the blood pressure pill that I take which is of type Exforge..5/160.... and I told my wife..thank God...the world is still fine..despite this disturbing dream.....and I revisited my doctor...he told me that this is the subconscious...I told him "اللي في قلبي على راس لساني"..according to our dialect it does not say..he told me it seems that you follow the Deal of the Century...and Oslo 1993 a lot ..so he advised me ..to stay away from politics..because politics has its people.... I told him no your words, doctor, are inaccurate..everyone of us is political, and each of us puts his two cents in all the region's problems..he said my advice to you...O Abu Hassan..and I know that your bachelor's specialization at the University of Jordan was in political science... and he told me following politics does not put bread on the table.... .stay with auditing, click-clack..on it...! I told him...and the dream..he told me.that the dream is true... but it is better covered...!!!

-        And God is the one behind the intention...

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Zuhdi Shubeitah, “A Flight of Fancy” (English translation of «شطحة», originally published 20 September 2022), https://www.zuhdish.co/en/articles/a-flight-of-fancy

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