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April 23, 2008
Another Good Conspiracy Theory Down the Drain
Al Qaeda says an Israeli conspiracy didn't do 9/11. And, it adds, Iran started the Israel conspiracy rumor. Is that itself a conspiracy rumor?
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 02:43 AM | Comments (13) | TrackBack
Open Thread on Carter, Hamas, and Stuff
Belaboring, distatefully, the last general subject area, we turn to Jimmy Carter's statement that Hamas was ready to accept Israel at some point in some way. Hamas itself seems to disagree. To me, it appears to be a conflict of spin. Hamas will not, for ideological reasons, recognize Israel but they appear to be willing to accept a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, and say they would accept a popular referendum to honor a truce to go no further. With spin, that can be seen as de facto acceptance of the Palestinian Authority's current or future recognition of Israel. Sounds alot like China and Taiwan, actually. (Which situation can erupt at any time, but probably won't as long as mutual prosperity keeps rearing its ugly head.) Anyway, unlike the previous thread where I had a strong opinion and not much time or interest to engage, as I was asserting something obvious, here I am inactive because I have no strong opinion or time, so it is just an open thread for those interested.
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 01:15 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
December 27, 2007
Sindhs of the father: Benazir Bhutto dead thread (open)
Benazir Bhutto, ex-Pakistani prime minister, is now an ex-person. Have at the whole set of issues in this open thread, o dear readers. Others of the Aqoul team may post more detailed entries on this most unpleasant passing of the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. (BTW, I don't know who those people are who say 'why do Muslims never go out in the streets venting their anger when al-Qaeda or other extremists* do a terrorist act?') Well, clearly, they sometimes do.
Continue reading "Sindhs of the father: Benazir Bhutto dead thread (open)"
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 06:22 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBack
December 24, 2007
Holiday Fuzziness, Algeria, Al Qaeda and Iraq
As fuzzily cheery such news as interfaith warm and fuzzy declarations (which have their utility although as I consider them rather normal in my experience, I find them boring), of rather more interest perhaps is an uncharacteristically interesting commentary from NYT via the FT on one of the Algerian suicide bombers from last months bloody nonsense in Algiers which is interesting reading paired with FT's Quent Peel's commentary on the "socialist timewarp" that is Algeria, and the Kremlinesque opacity of its political sphere.
Continue reading "Holiday Fuzziness, Algeria, Al Qaeda and Iraq"
Posted by The Lounsbury at 02:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 02, 2007
Prediction: Teddy Bear Thing Started As Spite
This sentence is in one story: "The row erupted after a secretary at the school complained to the Sudanese authorities about the naming of the bear." I cannot find it but somewhere I came across a reference to the Teddy Bear Teacher as having apologized to a faculty member who was offended. Prediction: this will turn out to have started as a spite attack by someone in the school staff who, for whatever reason, did not personally like that teacher and found an issue to attack her on that would get the dopey and the offenderati riled up. Could be wrong here, but the spidey senses are starting to tingle as this kind of information trickles in.
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:38 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
November 27, 2007
Hirsi Ali: Ideological Chameleon
First, I curse SP for pointing out this latest interview with the infuriating headline: Ayaan Hirsi Ali: My life under a fatwa. Boys and girls, we've been over this before. A fatwa is not an ummah-wide execution order, it is a ruling issued by an Islamic scholar in response to a specific legal question. I wrote about this distinction almost two years ago, when Wafa Sultan told the New York Times that Dr. Ibrahim al-Khouli had issued a "fatwa" when he called her an atheist during a TV interview.
Listen, you credulous glurge-sucking Western journalists, just because some idiot Ayatollah lobbed one at Rushdie almost two decades ago doesn't make every random statement by a Muslim (scholar or fanatic) a fatwa. Nor is a fatwa binding across the universe (else a lot of Muslim women with plucked eyebrows are going to hell). Of course, the f-word does score a lot of publicity amongst the chattering classes, which is why every faux reformer wants one.
But let's get on to the actual article, shall we?
Continue reading "Hirsi Ali: Ideological Chameleon"
Posted by eerie at 09:44 AM | Comments (31) | TrackBack
September 07, 2007
Bin-Laden Versus Bin-Laden, same day
Osama bin-Laden on Sept. 7 2007* -- "19 young men were able, by the grace of [God], the Most High, to change the direction of [America's] compass."
Osama bin-Laden on, um, Sept 7, 2007 -- "burning living beings is forbidden by our religion, even if they be small like the ant, so what of men?"
In addition to terrorist, criminal, fanatic, and other filth-and-foul words, we can now add "what a fatuous dick".
Continue reading "Bin-Laden Versus Bin-Laden, same day"
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:11 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 05, 2007
After Leb tarts and March 14, Moroccan babes and the PJD
Many Western bloggers were struck by the beauty of some of the female supporters - Leb tarts to cut it short - of the Lebanese March 14 movement. In a moment of human weakness a few of them admitted to letting their newly found sensitivity to gender issues determine their support for the Hariri/Ja'ja/Jumblatt block, in view of the perceived lack of competitive edge from the Hezbollah camp.
Continue reading "After Leb tarts and March 14, Moroccan babes and the PJD"
Posted by Ibn Kafka at 01:44 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
August 12, 2007
Blacklisting little tiny radical groups
The first thing that came to mind in reading that that the Americans have "blacklisted" a little radical group in a Leb refugee camp was "oh my, I guess they won't be able to launder any assets through buying discounted mortgage assets.... Well, actually that's not true, my first thought was "why do they bother?"
I have no doubt it took more expenditure on the part of the Americans to go through the process, than this little marginal group has ever seen. Freezes their assets.... for a group of flea-like importance relative to US interests. In the Americans fixation in a Comintern / Soviet type threat, they descend into comical acts; wasteful as well.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 07:45 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 05, 2007
Honor Off Her: Fadlallah Fatwas Honor-Killing Out of {Shia} Islam
The practice of hyperpatriarchal societies of murdering suspect sexually-impure females, known as honor killing, and prevalent in the MENA region, in the ME far more than the NA parts, has been ruled unIslamic by Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah, Lebanon's leading Shiite Muslim figure. (This has appears to me a bit underreported, though to their semi-credit the story is noted by the creepshow bigots at Jihadwatch who then go on to argue that a fatwa against honor killings isn't really a fatwa against honor killings, because well, you know, it, um, well , it, anyway it makes sense to ignorant hate-spewers who claim to "get it" about Muslims, unlike us poor "dhimmis".) The fatwa, as some coverage notes but others in comments report differently, is not replicated much in Sunni circles to date. An analogy may be to southern American Christians who accomodated race-segregation even when some religious were not in favor, out of fear of public prejudice in favor of the practice. In any event, the fatwa's a cool thing, and it did not require the efforts of Irshad Manji. As far as I can tell, no comment by Ayaan Hirsi Ali on this, possibly because it doesn't compute?
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:48 PM | Comments (37) | TrackBack
July 03, 2007
UK Muslims & Reaction: A voice of reason and not whinging victimhood
Very briefly given limited time, I draw attention to a very good arty by Asim Siddiqui in The Guardian that very properly takes on the mealy mouthed response and whinging victimhood whining of rather too much of the UK Muslim community (and professional Muslim activists - of course I am generally contemptuous of activists as a general matter). [Added: I would also recommend this: My plea to fellow Muslims: you must renounce terror]
Some particular highlights that I think key:
The events of the last few days have been sobering for us all. The response from some UK Muslim groups (influenced by Islamist thinking) is still largely to blame foreign policy (undoubtedly an exacerbating influence but not the cause), rather than marching "not in my name" in revulsion against terrorist acts committed in Islam's name. By blaming foreign policy they try to divert pressure off themselves from the real need to tackle extremism being peddled within. Diverting attention away from the problems within Muslim communities and blaming others - especially the west - is always more popular than the difficult task of self-scrutiny. ... so long as the world is presented as one where the west is forever at war with Islam and Muslims there is nothing we can do to appease the terrorists and those who share their world view. Instead it is this extremist world view that must change.
Continue reading "UK Muslims & Reaction: A voice of reason and not whinging victimhood"
Posted by The Lounsbury at 08:34 PM | Comments (88) | TrackBack
June 24, 2007
Foregoing their Commission? Saudi Virtue/Vice Cops on Trial
D'apres this Washington Post story, it seems that the Saudi Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the morality cops, are on trial. Some of Saudi's finest face charges for brutality, including killing, of suspects detained for, I don't know, flirting, willful shimmying, being within six meters of unbearded non-familial genitals, or whatever it is they arrest folks for. But whatever may be the foibles and popularity of enforcement of extremely conservative mores, there does seem to be a popular line in the sand (MENA stereotype imagery, sorry) being drawn against arbitrariness and in favor of due process. Procedural due process is a good thing in itself. {Note to the over-self-righteous: Of course, (adopting superior cultural tone here), we never have such things here as "vice squads", general alcohol bans, or police killing old ladies in places where consenting informed adults are merely alleged to be consuming or distributing a vice-inducing product.}
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 02:20 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
June 18, 2007
Ayaan Anti-Hirsute Ali: Son of Deuteronomy of Gath
Monty Python's Life of Brian meets real life as this woman gets to speak in public as if she knows what she is talking about. Saracen-slayer Ayaan Hirsi Ali was speaking at the National Press Club and I accidentally heard it on the radio. At first I didn't know who it was until a stream of simple-minded inanities about Islam versus the West narrowed it down fast. No transcript available, only memory, but I had to belly-laugh and nearly spew as she explained Islam's rigidly came from the fact that it takes its Scriptures as literal and divinely authored unlike, um, Christianity. In the Christian Scriptures, she explained, the books are not fixed as being written by God, but are said to be written "by people . . . like Paul . . . and Deuteronomy." (That's exactly what I heard, folks.) What an expert guide for us on religion and progress! O, why did I have to be a Monty Python fan?
Continue reading "Ayaan Anti-Hirsute Ali: Son of Deuteronomy of Gath"
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 11:30 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack
May 23, 2007
Keep your Sunni side up: Lebanon conspiracy theory #637
Seymour Hersh propounds this conspiracy theory of sorts regarding the rise of Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon. I don't buy it offhand, but there's plausibility in a Saudi role in promoting Sunni anti-Shiite counterweights, with US winks and nods. Any takers?
What I was writing about was sort of a private agreement that was made between the White House, we're talking about Richard -- Dick -- Cheney and Elliott Abrams, one of the key aides in the White House, with Bandar. And the idea was to get support, covert support from the Saudis, to support various hard-line jihadists, Sunni groups, particularly in Lebanon, who would be seen in case of an actual confrontation with Hezbollah -- the Shia group in the southern Lebanon -- would be seen as an asset, as simple as that....There is a supreme overwhelming fear of Hezbollah and we do not want Hezbollah to play an active role in the government in Lebanon and that's been our policy, basically....
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:23 PM | Comments (42) | TrackBack
April 14, 2007
Maghreb Madness: Reflexions on the Return of Al Qaeda
Shamefully late, as I began working on this (as some of the articles will indicate) in February. Pity I got busy, as it would have been useful to be ahead of the curve. But better late than never. (NDLR: this was written before the bombings in Casablanca 14 April, and has been updated and modified) Today and earlier in the week were grim days.
First, some general reflexions.
The developments in the Maghreb, Morocco and Algeria, are of course personally disturbing as my brief is North Africa, but beyond this personal business obsession this is a sign of reconstituted risk, and that the simmering frustration of the slums has not gone away. As our friend Ibn Kafka wrote on his blog several days ago with respect to Casablanca earlier this week, this is not merely electoral propaganda to check the Islamist parties. As he says, "The spectre of 16 May 2003 has returned among us." His post is well worth reading, and I will return to a key point later.
[nb: fixed link issue on WP article below]
Continue reading "Maghreb Madness: Reflexions on the Return of Al Qaeda"
Posted by The Lounsbury at 05:41 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
April 12, 2007
Algeria / al Qaeda in the Maghreb: Bombing & Open Discussion
Per Antiquated Tory's request on the New Month entry, an open thread for discussing Algeria and the implications of recent events in North Africa.
Continue reading "Algeria / al Qaeda in the Maghreb: Bombing & Open Discussion"
Posted by eerie at 12:31 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
February 11, 2007
What the Mecca Agreement could mean for the future of Palestine
The Mecca Agreement, signed by the leaders of Hamas and Fatah on 9 February, elicited much hope: that it will end the mini civil war in Gaza, which had begun to spread to the West Bank; that it will lift the international sanctions on the PA government; that it would force Israel to return to the negotiation table.
So far, the first target seems to have reached as the fighting has stopped. Of course, only in a few weeks will we know if the cessation of violence is permanent and can be sustained.
On the second and third targets the verdict is still out. The agreement has been received very cautiously, with the general comment being "Let's first see if the new government will conform to all demands by the International Quartet." The main, thorny issue is that of recognition of Israel and all agreements signed by the PLO.
One thing that hasn't been talked about is just what the new "government of national unity" means for the Palestinians ruled by it, and what the distribution of ministries will mean for the role that both Hamas and Fatah can (& cannot) play in Palestine.
Continue reading "What the Mecca Agreement could mean for the future of Palestine"
Posted by MSK at 04:24 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 07, 2006
Mr Straw & The Niqab
It appears that Foreign Secretary Straw's comments on the Niqab, the face veil, have set off a bit of a storm. From The Financial Times to The Times coverage of his original comments regarding prefering women not wear the face veil as divisive through to coverage of The Poodle's craven and inconsistent pandering (the sooner he is gone the better, I await with impatience) and The New York Times (but "British Official", come on, how about [former] British Foreign Secretary? [mea culpa, I entirely forgot about Beckett's very existence]).
I am not sure if that is good or bad, but it bears some commenting on. First, when I first saw the comments I wasn't sure if he meant the hijab, which would have been annoyingly tedious, or the niqab, which I agree with. I am pleased to see it is about the covering of the face. There is a vast and important difference between the ninja get-ups that are so very Saudi Wahhabite neo-Islamic rot, and a woman covering her hair with a scarf.
Continue reading "Mr Straw & The Niqab"
Posted by The Lounsbury at 12:58 AM | Comments (17) | TrackBack
September 10, 2006
They'll Estonia When You Try to Trade Some Goods: Transition Model?
Estonia, the Model? (Title apologies to Bob Dylan.) It seems everybody must get Estonia'd. In this excerpt of a behind-the-firewall op-ed by John Tierney in the New York Times, we learn of the transtion from an economically totalitarian society to a free market one in the ex-Soviet state of Estonia. Assuming -- and tragically some you don't, I know -- that a free market-based state and economy is a generally good thing, does Estonia provide an example for MENA (Mideast North Africa) states, and if so which ones? Alas, our main economics contributor in the region is currently bailing out sinking enterprises so the expert answer may be harder to come by. Meanwhile, I suspect Estonia fails as a model.
Continue reading "They'll Estonia When You Try to Trade Some Goods: Transition Model?"
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:14 AM | Comments (20) | TrackBack
August 23, 2006
Barbuphobia: Clerics, Beards, Pre-Judgment, Piety & Stuff
Egyptian author Mona Eltahawy confronts her own presumptions about Les Barbus, presumptions derived from her experiences growing up in Saudi Arabia. By les barbus, I refer of course to a nickname used elsewhere for those conservatively pious, sometimes Wahhabi, Muslim gents who tend to sport long beards. They are often presumed -- can we say profiled? -- to harbor intolerant or reactionary social and religious views (not to mention explosives). The author herself concedes holding such statistically valid presumptions presupposing judgmental viewpoints on the part of conspicuously beadred Muslim men. But she soon comes to discover that such presumptions aren't always a reliable guide to each individual, especially after encountering a new person of the barbus type who turns out to be worth getting to know as a three-dimensional being in his own right, during meetings they had in and around a conference in Copenhagen on modern Muslims .
Continue reading "Barbuphobia: Clerics, Beards, Pre-Judgment, Piety & Stuff"
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 01:24 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
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
May 24, 2006
You Say You Want A Revolution? Chechen Sufism vs. Islamist Terrorism
In a hilariously ironic turn of events, it seems that the Russian Federation central government is now encouraging Chechens to return to observance of their indigenous flavor of Sufism , after 200 years of official anti-Islam policy ranging from denial that observant Muslims even existed to active persecution of believers. Well, I suppose that if you think your alternative is acceptance of a line of thought held by the charming folks who held a theater full of innocent civilians hostage, anything must seem like an improvement.
Continue reading "You Say You Want A Revolution? Chechen Sufism vs. Islamist Terrorism"
Posted by evaluna at 09:59 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
May 13, 2006
Ahmadinejad's 1953 Reference: The Skeleton in the Regime's Closet Reaching Out?
As a followup to discussion of Mr. Ahmadinejad's love letter to George Bush, I want to note a specific reference he made in the letter. That reference is to the 1953 coup by the Iranian military that restored the Shah of Iran. That coup ousted Mohammed Mossadegh, a nationalist figure who had forced the Shah to retreat to exile, and who had led the nationalization of British oil-company operations in Iran. It is no secret that the US CIA played a heavy part in the events of the 1953 coup.
Continue reading "Ahmadinejad's 1953 Reference: The Skeleton in the Regime's Closet Reaching Out?"
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 01:06 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack
March 15, 2006
Fatwas and Wafa Sultan
Responding to a comment on my sarcastic 7-step guide to becoming a Muslim reformer, it occured to me that most Westerners have no idea what constitutes a fatwa, and that Wafa Sultan has used this misconception to her advantage in the New York Times.
First, the comment about my entry:
Crooning “Oh, oh, I’m under a death sentence, oh, oh, they’re coming to chop off my head, oooooh I’m so scaaaared” is lame snotty mockery when the target of your mockery actually is under a death sentence and people actually are getting killed.
I admit my comments were flippant and not intended to trivialize the problems faced by people who are intimidated and threatened by both secular and Islamist entities in the Middle East (such as the lovely and very brave journalist, Mona Eltahawy). Still, the ensuing debate has uncovered a number of popular and dangerous misconceptions, which will be cleared up here and there as I find them.
Continue reading "Fatwas and Wafa Sultan"
Posted by eerie at 12:52 PM | Comments (49) | TrackBack
February 19, 2006
On Morocco, Investment & Islamist Promotion
Without further comment In Morocco, a Gray Area for Growth, by Hoagland, a not bad op-ed (if superficial factually) that at least poses challenges to some of the more simple minded phobia with respect to Islamism.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 16, 2006
Democracy as a Weapon
Recently there has been a fair bit of handwringing over both the Hamas victory in the Palestinian territories and the Muslim Brotherhood’s strong showing in Egypt’s parliamentary elections. US policymakers are likely not pleased by the fact that Islamist MPs outnumber secular ones by nearly two to one in Iraq, and that early hopefuls such as Ahmad Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress bloc failed to secure a single seat in recent elections.
In this context, it is mildly disturbing to see Farhat Asaad, a Hamas spokesman, point out this uncomfortable truth:
"First, I thank the United States that they have given us this weapon of democracy. But there is no way to retreat now. It's not possible for the U.S. and the world to turn its back on an elected democracy."
Continue reading "Democracy as a Weapon"
Posted by eerie at 09:02 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
February 14, 2006
Cartoons & Protest: Context, Hariri's Commemoration as a Benchmark
A brief comment if I may, on the cartoon controversy and benchmarking - in the context of the over-heated characterisations of the Islamic world and the protests against the Danish cartoons.
Among the items that have most annoyed me has been the lazy characterisations that had protests of mere hundreds or a handful of thousands as reflecting 'mass Muslim anger.' Mere hundreds is not mass anger.
I'd like to take Lebanon and the Rafiq Hariri Memorial demo as a benchmark for real mass movement: as one can gather from The Washington Post and better from the image with al Hayat's coverage, even allowing for large Xian and Druze participation, more than a few hundred Lebanese turned out.
I would hazard the opinion that one has a benchmark for what really is bringing people out, and what is not.
It strikes me that again and again, the largest demos one sees are not the ones supporting the radicals in the region. However, the radicals are good at turning out their troops more often, smashing things to get attention and generally bleating rather loudly claiming to speak on behalf of all. The squeeky wheel, as it were.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:44 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
February 12, 2006
Morocco: Democracy, Facile Journo Idiocy on Moderation and Islamism
As a general matter, English language materials on the Maghreb almost never fail to annoy me. Here The Washington Post manages to do so: Feud With King Tests Freedoms In Morocco.
Having long had ... how to put it? Contact? Yes, contact with the group in question (long story, goes back a long ways), Adl wal Ihsane and been familiar with the Yassines, I have rather mixed feelings about the conflict described in the article. On one hand, being generally in favour of bringing Islamist groups into politics, I am generally in favour of engagement with Adl wa Ihsane. On the other hand, this particular dispute and the disingenous spin the Yassines are using rather annoys - well more the gullible lapping up of the same in certain anglophone quarters rather annoys.
Continue reading "Morocco: Democracy, Facile Journo Idiocy on Moderation and Islamism"
Posted by The Lounsbury at 03:41 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 06, 2006
Cartoon Outrage: Salafist Entrepreneurial Behaviour, Manufacturing Incidents & the Problem of Moderation [Updated]
There seems hardly any reason to provide links to this ever-escalating cycle of utter contemptible idiocy, so let me make this more or less purely opinion and my own personal analysis. I would be remiss, however, if I did not pimp our very own summary page on the Danish – Mohammed Cartoon Controversy.
I also would like to point to a fine round up of online commentary as well as highlight our dear Raf Bey’s contribution: “Why do the Syrians burn embassies but the Iranians don't?” In addition, to return a citational favour well-deserved, I point to Clive Davis’ blog commentary, and in particularly this most recent summary of rational commentary on the riots. One has to agree with his observation that the commentary he cites is “more helpful than one of Christopher Hitchens' thunderbolts on "the case for mocking religion".” Juvenile exercise of expression, but then we should be used to Hitchens being a cretin with regards to the MENA region.
Onward, then.
The Lounsbury Discussion on the Issue
[Update: reading Wikipedia I found an online link - no longer working - to the/an Arabic dossier on the cartoons written by the Denmark group of Imams. Having given it a speed read, it appeared to me that while the dossier was written post-facto to their official meetings, its Arabic text did clearly indicate the incendiary 'extra cartoons' were not published, but were ones received by certain unidentified protest leaders, post their public protests in Denmark. That makes the provence of the cartoons less doubtful to me. The dossier was not inherently unreasonable in tone, although certainly disputable, and clearly reflected an agenda, one which I continue to think reflects the Salafist extremist fringe]
[Update II: A very interesting note thanks to Clive's comment, Danish paper rejected Jesus cartoons; they were apparently offensive and unfunny. Ahem. Well. In other notes re the same article, someone desperately needs to give Muslim activists a lesson in marketing: the European Committee for Prophet Honouring just sounds... silly.]
Posted by The Lounsbury at 12:04 AM | Comments (17) | TrackBack
January 29, 2006
Democracy, Liberalism, Consequences
The election of Hamas has set off quite a lot of overdone hand wringing with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and with respect to 'democracy promotion.'
I am going to ignore the I-P conflict as an endless toothache, although frankly in the medium term this is probably a boon as Hamas seems likely to be a more effective player than the corrupt and broken PLO/Fatah.
Rather, a few words on democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa.
The first words are, I am no fan of it, and frankly largely do not believe in it on the terms that it is pimped to the general public, etc. However, the handwringing post-Hamas victory requires some comment.
Continue reading "Democracy, Liberalism, Consequences"
Posted by The Lounsbury at 02:03 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
January 27, 2006
The greatest delight, the greatest terror
Salman Rushdie's recent claim that fear of women's sexuality motivates Islamic extremism has sparked a range of reaction from agreement to derision.
While at first glance Rushdie's theory seems outlandish, it must be acknowledged that that there is a disproportionate amount of focus given to controlling women (and men) and their sexuality, and curtailing women's freedom among extremist Islamists. Which is comparable to mad US "Christian" policies that will only fund abstinence-based AIDS prevention programmes, attempts to prevent teenage girls from receiving STD vaccines, and the huge focus on gay marriage and abortion compared to jobs, welfare, defence spending, and so forth.
We know that Islam per se is not particuarly fearful of sex - quite the contrary. The Qur'an and many hadiths frankly shame Roman Catholic doctrine with their openess and encouragement of (lawfully wedded) marital pleasures. And yet at the extreme end we get scholars pronouncing that nakedness between married couples is haram. Why?
The question is perhaps this: why does the human race have this bizarre terror of free sexuality and empowered females, and homosexuals, that drives it to find ways to curb them through extremist religion?
And when we have answered it, if we can, how can we remedy it?
Posted by secretdubai at 03:33 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
January 26, 2006
Palestine: Hamas
The results appear to give Hamas a strong electoral position, which is not surprising if one had one's ears to the ground - despite the Bush Administration apparently sad and Johnny come lately intervention on the side of the sick old man, Fatah.
Here is the rub made clear, really democratic elections are going to produce these kinds of results. If one is going to pimp simple minded democracy, than one has to ive with them. I have met enough Hamas people to suspect that they can in fact be dealt with. It's better optics in the end to try and fail, the exclude which merely feeds into Hamas cycle of popularity.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 01:53 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
January 25, 2006
Maghreb & Islamic Liberalism: Superficialities & Hope for a Liberalising State, Islamic Feminism, etc
Returning to commentary, although forewarning this is post chemo and may lack a certain clarity:
Via Daniel Drezner's post on That's some interesting Islam in Morocco, I found this article from Der Spiegel on Morocco - one of my favourite countries in the MENA region - discussing Mohammed VI's efforts to modernise the socio-political culture:
The Quiet Revolution: Morocco's King Aims To Build a Modern Islamic Democracy
by Helene Zuber.
Compare, by the way, to this article from almost six years ago:
New Hope, Old Frustrations - Morocco: the point of change
by the ever Left Ramonet.
An interesting, but rather flawed article I would say.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 07:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 20, 2005
The Semi-Bogus Dilemma of Democracy versus Mosque & State
[A long and boring essay, written with all the arrogance I could muster out of being male, foreign to the region, and American.]
A "Semi-bogus" dilemma, I call it, because the issue of what type of rulers might emerge from real democratic processes in MENA is a fair question. My real target for discussion is more the Western progressive, since those are my own people (though I am more right wing “libertarian” than progressive). I speak about their fears and those of many MENA-ites as well, who express endless reservations about MENA democracy. They do so because democratic empowerment has a real risk of empowering retrograde Islamist/traditionalist forces, e.g. the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. To give away the ending, my message below is basically: shut up and get over it.
My more complex message directed towards MENA-ite advocates of liberal or social democracy is derived from reflections upon the insightful work of Mona Eltahawy regarding Egypt's last election rounds, and the harassment of the Coptic minority. This ugly American’s (meaning me) more complex message to MENA-ites is: don't shut up, but do get over it. . . for now, at least. The following is a look at why.
Continue reading "The Semi-Bogus Dilemma of Democracy versus Mosque & State"
Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:53 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBack
November 13, 2005
Love & War
Cross posted with permission from a secret blog from arabia....
As the sarcastic saying goes, within these two aspects of life; Love and War are the epitome of fairness and justice. Of course the reality is totally different. Al Qa3da have been fighting on ‘behalf’ of us Muslims for the Love of God and our Prophet for several years now, in a way that has been totally unacceptable. Unfortunately we as an international minority have been complacent about it. Sure, whenever there is an attack on European or American soil there is always a quick condemnation of the assault throughout our community that is rarely covered in the western media. This unfortunately leads to the typical accusation of us (the Muslims) being 'silent' on the issue.
Our perceived silence of the killing of non Muslims seems all the more evident when we woke up to the news of the Jordanian family slaughtered on their own children’s wedding day. Suddenly the whole middle east appeared to be more vocal on their hatred of Al Qa3da. Where was this out cry before?
The Muslims cannot allow America to fight this war on terror, because it is in essence a war against us. It is the Muslims who need to wage jihad against Al Qa3da ,because America and the West are incapable of differentiating between civilians and combatants or Islam and terrorism. We cannot blame them for this confusion because it seems like our own Ummah (the entire Muslim population)cannot tell the difference either.
Posted by secretdubai at 07:19 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
October 11, 2005
Ramadan TV & Terror
Of interest to the media, terror and culture people here, a fine little story on a Ramadan soap that I have been following (or rather, am forced to follow unless I hole myself up in my office) on MBC: Syria launches terror-themed soap for Ramadan.
I caught this referenced online somewhere, but had actually been watching the series without knowing where it was going, although the last episode (10 September on MBC) gave the game away with the somewhat dime Khaliji character getting brainwashed by a ultra-Salafi takfiri type activist. That and the chica who is the implied wheel-chair bound narrator pulling or slipping back her hidjab to show nasty scarring.
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Posted by The Lounsbury at 08:11 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
September 06, 2005
Ideological Rifts
One of my more bizarre side-projects involves keeping track of fatwas released by Muslim scholars on the subject of terrorism and the proper conduct of jihad in the service of Islam. Shortly after the London bombings, a number of Muslim groups in Western countries rapidly issued fatwas and/or press releases condemning terrorism and suicide attacks against civilians. These carefully-worded rulings revealed a broad spectrum of opinions in Muslim communities, perhaps even a deep divide between conservative and “liberal” Muslims (see my earlier entry on Canadian Muslim groups).
Last week, Asharq Al-Awsat published an article about a controversial ruling issued by Abu-Basir al-Tartusi, a prominent Salafi ideologue living in London:
London-Based Salafi Scholar Issues Fatwa Prohibiting Suicide Operations
Syrian ideologue Abd-al-Munim Mustafa Abu-Halimah, also known as Abu-Basir al-Tartusi, said on his website under the headline "A Word of Warning About Suicide Operations: "I have received 1,000 questions about these operations, which are for me closer to suicide than martyrdom. They are haram (Forbidden) and impermissible, for several reasons." Al-Tartusi, who lives in London, cited in the fatwa that he issued the day before yesterday some of the (Prophet Muhammad's) sayings, among them: "Anyone who harms a believer has no jihad." He said this is for someone who merely harms a believer, so imagine if he kills him, and kills him deliberately." He also cited the saying of the Honorable Messenger: "One who kills a non-Muslim does not find the winds of paradise; its wind is to be found from a 70 years walk"…
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Posted by eerie at 01:20 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
September 05, 2005
Willing. Unwilling. The Pretension of Interest in Democracy & The Middle East
From our dear friend Pratike, who made the error of going to Egypt and Cairo specifically to learn Arabic and thus condemn himself to speaking with a bufoonish accent for the rest of his day, a note on the 'elections' and the pretension that the US Administration is interested in democracy in the MENA region:
His quote from a Washington Post op ed:
Perhaps there is concern that too much pressure on Mubarak might produce a victory by the Muslim Brotherhood, the most popular Egyptian opposition party that has been outlawed by the government. That's a risk, of course, but if the Bush administration isn't willing to let Islamists, even radical Islamists, win votes in a fair election, then Bush officials should stop talking so much about democracy and go back to supporting the old dictatorships. It was precisely that kind of logic -- that friendly dictators are preferable to potentially radical alternatives -- that helped produce so much radicalism during the Cold War and, more recently, a healthy movement of Middle East terrorists.
Well, welcome to reality children. What news.
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Posted by The Lounsbury at 07:30 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Yorkshire Bombers - British Muslims shocked
An item worthy of attention:
British Muslims Shocked by Video of Bomber
Well, this makes the denial and the excuse making coming out of the mouths of what we might call "the usual suspects" unsupportable (although certain deluded and or mendacious elements will continue to do so, just as they do in regards to 11 Sep).
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Posted by The Lounsbury at 07:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 26, 2005
Economist - a fine arty on Jihadis as Anarchists
A bit late I admit, but I get my Economist a week late, and very much prefer the print edition to online reading. Being primative.
The article in question:
For jihadist, read anarchist
I very much enjoyed this as this is something that I have been making as a point in several conversations online, in regards to the neglected similarities to the radical anararchist movement of the end of the 19th century in Europe and the Americas.
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Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:48 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 06, 2005
Who Speaks For Islam in the West?
After doing a bit of follow-up reading on secretdubai’s discussion of UAE government control over mosques, I came across an interesting article in the Globe and Mail (linking to Google results to avoid registration prompt, just click on the first result):
Leaders clash over who speaks for Muslims in Canada - July 29, 2005
As a small group of conciliatory Muslim leaders met with Prime Minister Paul Martin last night, a war of words broke out between two other leaders whose irreconcilable world views stand as bookends to the diverse opinions of nearly 600,000 Canadian Muslims.
"Imams like Aly Hindy are holding the entire Muslim community as a hostage. A vast number of Muslim Canadians don't want to have their leadership from almost medieval imams," Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress told the CBC yesterday.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hindy -- who has given more than 20 news media interviews this week urging Muslims not to co-operate with Canadian security agencies -- once again took to the airwaves to say that people like him, and not Westernized Muslims like Mr. Fatah, are the true voice of Islam in Canada.
The controversial imam defended his decision not to put his name on the recent sheaf of signed statements from Islamic leaders condemning recent terrorist strikes in the United Kingdom. "We've already condemned terrorism, this is obvious," Mr. Hindy said. "Why don't the churches, for example, condemn terrorism done by George Bush and Tony Blair?"
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Posted by eerie at 03:47 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack
July 28, 2005
Fatwas Against Terrorism
From the State Department:
Muslim-American Scholars Issue Fatwa Condemning Terrorism
The Fiqh Council of North America has issued a fatwa against terrorism:
The scholars based their ruling on several Quranic passages, including the verse, “Whoever kills a person [unjustly]… it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Quran 5:32)
I mentioned this verse a while back, to make a point about terrorists in Iraq "justifying" their behaviour by using apostasy as a loophole. That loophole was closed by a group of clerics in Jordan, one day before the London bombings.
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Posted by eerie at 10:11 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Terror & Ideology - A Resume
We've been talking quite abit about this, naturally given London, Sharm esh-Sheikh and the like. I think a small wrap up, as well as a compare and contrast, especially with some recent reports and editorials, may be useful. So, below the fold I think the expression goes, a longish commentary and perhaps a slight Lounsbury-ish rant:
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Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:52 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
July 26, 2005
Combating Terrorism, Part II, or: Why Do They Still Hate Us?
Why Do They Hate Us? Not Because of Iraq
In a recent New York Times op-ed piece (free registration required), Olivier Roy questions the nature of the relationship between Islamic terrorism and the Israel/Palestine conflict; after all, many of the splashiest Islamic terrorist acts of the past few years have taken place either on the periphery of the parts of the Islamic world that have traditionally drawn Western attention (e.g. Afghanistan, Chechnya), places that haven’t been part of the Muslim world for several centuries (Spain), or places which only recently have experienced an influx of Muslims (England, the U.S.)
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Posted by evaluna at 10:28 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
July 23, 2005
Combating Islamist Terrorism: Policy Approaches
Militant Islamist ideology is not a recent phenomenon, the concepts have been around for decades. It was popular with Muslim youth in the 1960-70s, particularly after Sayyid Qutb published Signposts on the Road, a bestseller in the Islamic world that continues to influence Islamist ideology today. At the time, enthusiasm for nationalism was waning and writers like Qutb were disgusted with the corruption of secular authoritarian governments and the perceived erosion of Islamic principles in Egypt and across the Middle East. The answer was of course a return to religion, and a firm rejection of jahiliyya, the state of ignorance and barbarism that occured in the absence of Islam (historically, this term refers to the pre-Islamic period).
So why has this sort of thinking been adopted more recently by a segment of young European Muslims? What is the source of their disenchantment and frustration and how can European (and North American) governments address this issue without compromising ideals such as tolerance and multiculturalism?
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Posted by eerie at 12:04 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
July 17, 2005
Everyone's an Apostate
...When you’re Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Zarqawi says Qaeda forms wing to fight Shi'ites
Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said his group had formed a new armed wing to fight the Shi'ite militia Badr Brigade, according to an audio tape attributed to him and posted on the Internet on Tuesday.
"We in al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq announce the formation of a military brigade named Omar Brigade, to cut off the symbols and factions of the treacherous Badr Brigade," said the voice on the audio tape which sounded similar to previous recordings attributed to Zarqawi.
Badr Brigade is the military wing of the Shi’a SCIRI (Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq) party. It claims to have transformed into a purely political organization, but most Iraqi Sunnis remain unconvinced.
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Posted by eerie at 02:31 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
July 14, 2005
e-Jihad
In this week's Economist (subscription content, unfortunately), the notion of "Radicalism by Internet" was brought up as a potential explanation for how disaffected second- or third- generation Muslim youths seek out and discover online mentors who possess both the ideological and practical skills necessary for orchestrating terrorist attacks in Western countries:
As an incipient extremist group grows more obsessive, and its weaker brethren fall away, hard-core members often withdraw from the mosques. Indeed, a big recent trend in European Islam, says Mr Roy [Olivier Roy is a noted scholar in this field, not as cool as my favourite Frenchman Gilles Kepel, but this is just my opinion] is the mass withdrawal by militants from mosques that are under surveillance. This has made extremism even more elusive, and the internet’s influence even greater. To a large extent, “the internet has replaced Afghanistan” as a source of training and inspiration for militant Muslims, says Stephen Ulph, a scholar working for the Jamestown Foundation, an American think-tank.
Posted by eerie at 04:41 PM | Comments (5) |