How do you stay so fit?
I work out, I usually do lots of kick boxing, lifting weight, jogging. I also do yoga, I do pull ups and push ups, it keeps me fit and I’m on a healthy diet, I don’t eat junk food.
We saw you punching a tree the other day in front of ‘Falafel el quads’, is boxing your favorite sport?
Yes it is! I like punching and kick-boxing! What I started to do is, bring a picture of my enemy, mostly a picture or an image I draw of my enemy, then I imagine it coming to attack me, one punch of mine can smash the damn mirror to particulars, and now I don’t have any mirrors cause I smashed all of my mirrors, I have to go and buy some more. What you see here (in the picture) is the sponge filling of a sofa I had, I’ve written the word ‘enemy’ on it!
Are you aware that you’re unusual in our society?
No, I’m not unusual, I believe i’m like any other person in this society, but everybody chooses how to dress and carry themselves. I also believe I saw many males and females wearing shorts and i-shirts like me, so why is it forbidden for me to wear them now? That dumb police officer told me once ‘you dress up like that? I can arrest you and take you to the attorney general’, so I told him to come and arrest me, I told him “this a freedom of choice, of wearing clothes,” he didn’t arrest me for dressing up like that or take me to the attorney general!
How do you deal with a lot of negativity around you?
I always say “Be patient over their entries and withdraw away from them in the most noble manner”, and that’s the best manner, cause the police are not doing anything, the police actually are the ones who assist the criminals to increase their transgressions on me, because when I call the police, they lie to me! They say they’ll come in 2 minutes, but they don’t come, and these people (bullies) hear him; I sometimes open up the speakers so they can hear and don’t think I’m lying about calling the police, or be like ‘oh he’s not calling them’, so when these guys see that the police men didn’t come or show up in 2 minutes, like they said, obviously, the police are assisting to increase the crime and starts transgress me, and now I have to deal with them! I went to the district attorney office and I said listen ‘you either give me license to kill, so I can be an attorney general and a judge, and I’ll choose what crime they are doing to me and I’ll penalize them, or you prosecute them yourself. The attorney general, and judge, he said “Michael, what do you want us to do? Open a court for you?” I’m doing my duty as a human being when someone tries to aggress on me, I usually go to the law! So why when these bullies go to the law and file false charges against me, the police come within 3 minutes and arrest me and throw me in jail and prosecute me, but when I have a real tangible evidence, look (he points to the bruises on his legs and arms)… they do nothing?!
That’s from the police?
No, that’s from 3 transgressors came to my dwelling and attack me with an iron stick! So when I complained to the police, they didn’t arrest them, yet, and my ankle were swollen and covered in blood! When the attorney general asked me “what is that?”, his co-worker replied, “obviously that the guys who assaulted Michael want to break his leg”! Now I can’t bend my leg like the other one!
Why do you think these people attack you?
They want to expel me from my dwelling like they’re doing now in Rainbow St.! Several guys came up to me and said “you can’t come here” Even one of the police officers told me that, “you can’t come here”! So I went and filed a complaint against him, and on the same night, one captain came, took my complaint and filed it to the operation office in Jbaha, and told me that “this police officer will be punished”. I told him, I’m just like any other human being here, I walk on the street, I’m not doing any crime, so if I’m not doing any crime why stop me from coming here?
But still, why do these people attack you? Do you provoke them? Do you talk to them?
Yes, as I said, they want to expel me from my dwelling and from Rainbow St., they say I can’t stay here! I told the police officer, even if they chop my body to pieces, I’ll still come back, dressed the same! I’m coming here, so you either kill me, or I’ll keep coming here! A lot of the guys around come and ask me “what am I doing?” and I know that these guys are not blind, so sometimes I bring my English book to study, or my drawings and designs, so he comes and ask me what am I doing? So I reply “Obviously you’re not blind, cause you’re harassing the ladies on the street, and I see what you’re doing to them! So why do you come and ask me that question?” (Then he continue talking in Arabic), “did you ask that rude question to the rest of the people on the street? Why did you intend to hurt me and ask me that kind of question?”. So from all the people here, why did you choose to ask me that question? In their religion, the prophet said “one of the best characteristics in a Muslim person is not to interfere in things he has no business with or whatsoever!” and he also said “God hates for you to say this and that and asking too many questions!”, so what I’m doing here on Rainbow St. and in any other place is none of your business. If I commit a crime, all you have to do is call 911 and report me to the police.
We see you draw a lot, are you an artist?
I am, I charge these people who come up to me to draw their pictures 1000$, cause they usually waist my time, and my time is precious! So obviously when I’m talking to a guy, I’ll make my own conclusions about him, if he’s serious or not, even the ladies. So if you want me to draw you, you put the money on the table and I’ll do it, but if you want to ask me too many questions and play games, I don’t have time for that!