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June 2006 Archives

June 28, 2006

Putin Issues Hit on Diplomat Murderers in Iraq

Russian President Vladimir Putin is quite steamed at the moment over the recent murders of four Russian diplomats in Iraq, apparently committed in retaliation for Moscow’s behavior in Chechnya. In a further geographic expansion of his Chechen campaign, he has vowed to have Russian Special Forces knock off the diplomats’ killers , who had demanded that Russia withdraw from Chechnya. Some think Putin is but full of sound and fury on this one, but they may be forgetting his KGB past.

Iraqi sovereignty be damned, apparently - but then circumstantial evidence suggests that if Putin follows through, it wouldn’t be the first time that Russian nationals acted in their official capacity to violate a Middle Eastern country’s sovereignty in order to settle a Chechen separatist score.

Continue reading "Putin Issues Hit on Diplomat Murderers in Iraq"

Posted by evaluna at 10:58 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Iraq War , Op-Ed

June 27, 2006

Denouncing the 'Islamofascists': Ambivalence & Rhetoric

As any regular reader knows, I rather despise the idiotic term "Islamofascist" as both technically inaccurate (at least for Sunni Islamists) and aesthetically displeasing. A bad, clumsy and frankly dim attempt to dredge up the misty memories of WWII and the 'good fight' against the Nazis. I'd have preferred if its pimps (notably Sullivan, who is often dim in this area) had chosen say a Commie reference, which given Arab Socialist influences on Islamist thinking in areas like economics, would at least have had some relevance to reality.

However, I noted that the controversial Moroccan French language weekly, Tel Quel has in its recent edition adopted the same sort of discourse as illustrated in its cover "The New Fascists".

Continue reading "Denouncing the 'Islamofascists': Ambivalence & Rhetoric"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 03:47 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Islam & Politics , Media , North Africa , Op-Ed , Political Development

June 25, 2006

Muslim Europe - Silent or Not?

A quick note to draw attention to what struck me as a well written article on Muslims in Europe and silence (or not) with respect to recent radicals terror attacks in Europe: Muslims address silence on Europe attacks.

The core commentary may be summarised as "these Terrorists aren't our folks and we're busy with our lives" with an undercurrent of "speaking out gets one shunned as taking sides."

Overall, I think the arty captures the various streams of reaction in the European Muslim communities (at least those I am familiar with). The seperate question is, are the reactions reasonable. I'd say on some level yes, although there is certainly a weakness in not admitting the "circle the wagons" reaction is not good enough.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:20 AM | Comments (17) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Ethnic Minorities , Op-Ed

The Goofy Florida US "Muslim" Cult

I have caught some limited coverage of this.

I have to say that while American authorities were doubtless justified in arresting these retarded gits, the circus announcement and characterisation as some kind of Muslim terror cell linked to al-Qaeda, that Sr. authorities such as Gonzalez indulged in, is either mendacious or retarded itself. First, the Moorish Science loons are hardly Muslim at all, and second, the plot itself bordered on the comical. A bunch of unemployed whanker loons is not something to make a huge deal out of (although for political reasons, I suppose, although it does tend to piss away street cred). Doing so smells of fairly short-termist scare-mongering politics and pandering to Islamophobia.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:17 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Terrorism

June 23, 2006

Unity and Division in Islamic Discourse

Abdullah tells Saudis they must accept diversity By Khalid al-Dakhil

Khalid al-Dakhil's excellent article picks up on a speech made by King Abdullah in Buraidah, the main city in the conservative Nejdi province of Qassim.

Continue reading "Unity and Division in Islamic Discourse"

Posted by yinshuisiyuan at 07:32 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Islam & Politics

June 21, 2006

Anger as Analysis: Part III

[Editor's Note: A warm welcome to Shaheen, our newest contributor]

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I thought it would be interesting to have a French/Maghrebi take on our series of articles about media-savvy Muslim women hailed as reformers by Western media. France's Muslim reformist hero is Fadela Amara, a French feminist of North African descent.

Continue reading "Anger as Analysis: Part III"

Posted by Shaheen at 08:59 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Ethnic Minorities , Gender Issues , Religious Minorities , Society & Culture

June 19, 2006

Hariri's Clever Scheme

Or, where the Lebanon debt crisis came from in the first place.

So I see that Executive magazine finally has their web edition up (disclaimer: they give me money, but not to blog), which means I can point to this Nick Photidiates article on the Lebanese national debt and how the banking sector is tied up in it. According to him, it all came down to decisions Rafik Hariri made when he originally took power.

Continue reading "Hariri's Clever Scheme"

Posted by tomscud at 08:23 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Economic Policy , Levant

June 18, 2006

Somalia: Islamic Courts & Women's Progress

A quick note on a interesting arty in The Washington Post on the role of women in backing The Islamic Courts movement that seems to be well on its way to taking power in Somalia and displacing the "secular" warlords.

If there is one item that most at once irritates and amuses me about Western and American commentary specifically is the weird gullibility in the usage of "secular" versus "Islamist" - although in a sense it is relavatory of why secularism has or is failing in the MENA region and many parts of the Islamic world - where "secular" seems to mean "any corrupt bunch of idiots presently in power who are not overtly and ostentatiously 'Islamist' in political orientation."

If this is the "secularism" being offered, and indeed backed by the West and America specifically, does anyone think it should be suprising that, whatever bitter individuals like Hirsi Ali Magaan say for the consumption of the fearful Westerner, secularism is losing ground?

Posted by The Lounsbury at 04:36 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack
Filed Under: EU Foreign Policy , Gender Issues , Islamism , MENA Region General , Op-Ed , Terrorism , US Foreign Policy

June 14, 2006

MyGreenCard.com

Using MySpace.com, a young Jericho, West Bank gentleman managed to win the affections of an American girl, aged 16, and invite her over to be married. But before the young lady finished her unapproved journey to Israel-slash-Palestine-slash-Holy Land-slash-West Bank-slash-Judea&Samaria, she was intercepted by US authorities in Amman, Jordan, and returned to sender. Her parents had stopped her. Now, the story of this Internet romance suggests, in a bit uncommon form with the unusual youth of this girl, a too-prevalent reality among intercultural adults in a similar situation where the active ingredient, at least for one, is sadly not an Arabian Nights romance, but an all-too-common hidden-agenda romance of a certain piece of non-erotic laminated paper.

Continue reading "MyGreenCard.com"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:27 PM | Comments (28) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gender Issues , MENA Region General , Society & Culture

More Football

It would be very easy to watch the match between Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, the only two Arab teams in the World Cup, and to essentialize based on it. To begin with, no one in the Saudi squad plays for a foreign club - the players do rather well for themselves in their domestic league, which has low standards. The European teams have always been streets ahead of the Arab ones, and even the Sub-Saharan African teams have come impressively far, while the Arabs have lagged behind. Indeed, one would be surprised if the analogy didn't extend to loads of people secretly (or not-so-secretly) hoping the Americans would fail miserably.

Continue reading "More Football"

Posted by dubaiwalla at 12:51 PM | Comments (29) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gulf , North Africa , Political Development , Society & Culture

June 13, 2006

Summer Reruns: Nomad Fatwas Blog Carnival

Some of you may have noted a distinct lack of activity on 'Aqoul corresponding mysteriously with the World Cup. Since all of our lazy authors are watching football, feeling sick or feigning sickness to watch football, I'm going to showcase Nomad Fatwas, a blogging alliance set up by Ali Eteraz.

Continue reading "Summer Reruns: Nomad Fatwas Blog Carnival"

Posted by eerie at 10:45 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Site News

June 06, 2006

Corner on Niqab: Saudi Women Face Off on Veiling

(The title pun was nearly "Sartorial Spleen Tour", so don't complain) Faiza Ambah, a few days back in the Washington Post, provided a profile of Saudi women, including professionals, who are emphatic in their preference for the unusually high restrictiveness -- even by conservative Muslim standards -- in the dress code mandated in their country.

UPDATE (6/10): Jennifer on Henley's blog has some related thoughts ("Modest Invisibility") on an overlapping subject, inspired by devout Egyptian woman Magda Amer's explanations of women's clothing choice and standards.

Continue reading "Corner on Niqab: Saudi Women Face Off on Veiling"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 11:09 AM | Comments (48) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gender Issues , Gulf , Society & Culture

al-Mondiale

It's that time again, as evidenced by the open month discussion turning towards football. As the civilised world's attention turns to Germany, Lebanon has started to sprout an international collection of flags that would do the United Nations (or at least the EU) proud. Although there are three MENA clubs in the field, Lebanese flag-bearers prefer the front-runners: I've probably seen more Brazil flags than any others, followed by France, Italy, and a surprising number of Germany flags, along with a few each England and Sweden and one solitary Argentina flag. No Saudi Arabia, and no Iran or Tunisia flags that I can recall.

Continue reading "al-Mondiale"

Posted by tomscud at 07:03 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Filed Under: MENA Region General , Society & Culture

June 05, 2006

Anger as Analysis: Part II

Moorishgirl’s recent article in The Nation and a followup comment by our man Whitaker have compelled me to revisit the issue of telegenic female Islam critics and continue our Anger as Analysis series. My first installment focused on Irshad Manji and her inability to examine Islam objectively due to negative childhood experiences in her minority Twelver community (Uganda and Canada). Part II is a reflection on Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her controversial approach to critiquing Islam and its adherents.

Continue reading "Anger as Analysis: Part II"

Posted by eerie at 10:09 PM | Comments (112) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gender Issues , Islam General , Society & Culture

June 04, 2006

Muslim Women as Victims - Lalami's "Missionary Position"

[Crossposted from The Lounsbury]

In a rather longish piece in the American Leftist dinosaur paper, The Nation, expatriate Moroccan author Laila Lalami takes a whack at one of eerie's favourite topics, Muslim Victim Women Reformers in an arty entitled "The Missionary Position".

While I am not normally inclined to read such things as The Nation, the highlighting by The Arabist were enough to induce a read.

I cannot say that I am a fan of such hackneyed phrases as "supporters of empire", above all when used seriously, but what can I expect out of literary types?

Continue reading "Muslim Women as Victims - Lalami's "Missionary Position""

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:49 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Filed Under: MENA Region General , Political Development , Society & Culture

Saudi Cyber-Vigilantes effect first Saudi blog ban

In MENA, blogs are increasingly becoming part of the political sphere. Blogs serve as conduits for information and debate and link people from various regions who are interested in a certain topic. In recent times, bloggers have increasingly been vocal in politics as well and regional governments have responded - as exemplified in the cases of the two Egyptian bloggers Karim and Alaa. In Saudi Arabia, however, bloggers do not have to fear the government but rather a self-styled "official" blogger group that appears to aim for the "ethical cleansing" of the Saudi blogosphere.

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Posted by raf* at 12:07 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Gulf

June 02, 2006

'Strategic Victimhood' in Darfur: Opportunities Lost and Lessons Learned

'Strategic victimhood', not a term one often hears in relation to Darfur, any remotely realistic and undramatic approach to the issue has been met with accusations of cynicism and apathy towards a 'genocidal' campaign rivalled only by Rwanda and Burundi. Thankfully, some voices of reason have recently managed to dodge the simplistic black or white perspective and treat the issue as something other than a good vs. evil classic morality tale.

Continue reading "'Strategic Victimhood' in Darfur: Opportunities Lost and Lessons Learned"

Posted by Meph at 06:44 AM | Comments (13) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Ethnic Minorities , North Africa , Political Development

June 01, 2006

Rambling Thoughts on Public Space, Community, and Culture in Dubai

Dubai has long been the commercial capital of the Gulf. But much as it would like to pretend otherwise, most of what little culture it contains has been imported, and anything that looks historical only does so by virtue of a good façade. The rulers have always focused first and foremost on attracting business, and have been rather successful at this; most of the city's population has moved there from somewhere else for money. It thus differs in many ways from its next door neighbor Sharjah, whose ruler has put far more of an emphasis on retaining traditional and Islamic values, and where there is a 'decency code' and a prohibition on all alcohol.

Continue reading "Rambling Thoughts on Public Space, Community, and Culture in Dubai"

Posted by Top Secret Anonymous Guy at 06:34 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Business, Private , Economic Development , Gulf , Op-Ed , Press Freedom , Society & Culture

New Month Open Discussion

In keeping with tradition, a thread for all manner of whanking and whinging. Feel free to introduce yourself, comment, complain and/or ask our venerable authors inappropriate questions.

Posted by eerie at 10:17 AM | Comments (91) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Site News