Society & Culture Archives

May 09, 2008

Get your Kicks / On Beirut / Sects' Dissects

An open thread for discussion of Lebanon at the crossroads . . . again. And who'd have guessed Nasrallah would provide the fireworks for Israel's 60th anniversary? Followup full posts from our expert team are welcome and encouraged, with removing the horrid tasteless lyrics allusion-pun above from its lead position as added incentive.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 12:26 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

May 02, 2008

Funny, She Doesn't Look Bahraini

Bahrain's possible new ambassador to the US has interesting demographics. Not all that amazing if one is familiar with the region outside of stereotypes and post-1948 tensions. Still the background of the former legislator(-tress?), if legislating is what the Shura Council does, might cause some to be unduly surprised.

MANAMA, Bahrain - The only Jewish woman lawmaker in Bahrain is a candidate to become this Persian Gulf kingdom's ambassador to Washington. . . . Huda Nono, a legislator in the Shura Council, said she was among people being considered for the post and referred further queries to the foreign ministry. . . .If Nono was appointed, Bahrain would be the first Arab country to send a high-level Jewish diplomat to Washington. . . . Nono is the first Jewish woman in the Shura Council, a 40-seat body appointed by the king that also has a Christian among its 11 female legislators. . . . Nono replaced her cousin Ibrahim Nono, who held the Shura Council seat for four years.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 05:33 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

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

April 02, 2008

A Brief Note on Zionism, Israel and the Nub of It

It being a little quiet around here what with all of us busy and/or lazy, I thought I'd spice it up by going against the usual, and quite healthy, distaste of most Aqoul principals towards wading into the Israel-Palestine morass. Especially as there are anniversaries and such coming up. Anyway, today's lesson comes from a column of Michael Gerson (not a fan, myself, usually) in the Washington Post. It tells of a speech at the Holocaust Museum by an old gentleman, a Mr. Traum, who was once a very young gentleman in Nazified Austria. He recalls various events especially around Kristallnacht in 1938-39. Below the break is a revealing nugget.

Continue reading "A Brief Note on Zionism, Israel and the Nub of It"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 01:37 AM | Comments (74) | TrackBack

March 08, 2008

MENA & Race

Worthy of discussion and comment, a comment by Nisreen Malik in Comment is Free (The Guardian) on Race & the Arab world, from a Sudanese perspective. The comments sadly are fairly unenlightening, but certainly the issue of "race" and colour in the Arab World (or perhaps the Arab & Islamic Worlds, etc) is worthy of some reflexion. Of course nothing there is "new" in a sense, but it is good to return to such tihngs now and again.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 08:19 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

March 07, 2008

Saudi Arapia? Hib-hob from the Land of the 2Moskz

Over at the Washington Post, Faiza Ambah tells the tale of a Saudi hip-hop crew who dream of stardom and self-expression. Unfortunately, their Saudi parents and kinfolk are not so enamoured of these kids now performing a real-life version -- allowing for musical genre differences -- of the movie Dirty Dancing (whose own star is, incidentally and sadly, fighting for his real life).

But even as they rap in praise of Islam and their mothers, and against the war in Iraq and terrorism, their biggest hurdle has been convincing family, friends and Saudi society that they are not simply trying to imitate a decadent Western lifestyle.

Continue reading "Saudi Arapia? Hib-hob from the Land of the 2Moskz"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 17, 2008

Whither Arab Sats? The 'Arab' (authoritarian dinos) broadcasting code

The Financial Times worthy article on Al Jazeerah's response to the Mubarek led censorship drive is worthy of some reflexion.

The key portion of the so-called media code is:

“The commitment to freedom of expression is a main cornerstone of Arab media activity, provided that the practice of this freedom should be informed by a sense of awareness and responsibility in order to protect the higher interests of Arab states and of the Arab nation,”

Of course the Arab states "higher interests" (never mind the polite outdated fiction of the 'Arab Nation') really means the interests of the dictators to provide turgid non-news. Now, taking Morocco as an example, with a relatively free-ish media under a media code that is perhaps nearly as potentially cretinous, it is true that application is as important as a law (above all in circumstances as obtain in MENA were law is more an expression of potential intent than binding law). But effects?

Continue reading "Whither Arab Sats? The 'Arab' (authoritarian dinos) broadcasting code"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:16 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

February 16, 2008

Dull, Duller, Dulles: Accents and Airports

A bit of a lighter subject than recent events call for, since our Lebanon Expert Panel colleagues are nowhere to be found even as Imad Mughniyah pulls a Matthew 26:52, with spectacular success. Anyway, some details of the following story are changed but the upshot actually happened some weeks back: person of MENA background says to me in D.C. area: "Am feeling sick. Can you pick up my favorite cousin flying in from Amman, Jordan today?" "Sure." Few minutes later, a follow up: "Um, it appears he's landed already, but he's in Dallas, Texas. Apparently, the travel agents over in Jordan heard him ask for Dulles Airport, and sent him on a plane to Dallas. " True story, anyone experience same or similar? And what's Arabic for "D'oh!"?

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 12:41 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

December 28, 2007

Sheikhs' Sure Booty: Your Empire At Work

Finally figuring out what anyone here could have told them years ago, US forces in Iraq have earned at least a B-plus in Empire-Building 101 -- not that that's a good thing, but it can salve a sore wound for an indefinite period. The principle is to use local power structures as your surrogates, basically by bribing them. This USA Today story details it well. (Thanks to a Klaus call, we have a link for the original stick-figure anti-insurgent plan offered by a later-killed US soldier here.)

Tribal sheiks . . . have seats on most of the city councils and the provincial council. . . . Many tribes run construction and trucking businesses and benefit from U.S. and Iraqi government reconstruction projects. The contracts with U.S. forces allow sheiks to hand out jobs, and thus maintain power.

Continue reading "Sheikhs' Sure Booty: Your Empire At Work"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 04:39 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 16, 2007

Competent Adults in Charge? The Iraq Surge's Non-Failure

Not often do I get to be more right than Jim Henley, but here I claim it though I can't document my earlier growing sense that The Surge would turn out better than we cynics first expected. (The last time he was wrong, which goes back years, so was I, as when he predicted that Ariel Sharon would not go through with the Gaza withdrawal.) But now he is surprised that violence has not rebounded in Iraq since The Surge in a way he has predicted. I am far less surprised however and, although I started as a Surge Cynic as shown here, I have come to feel after more information that there has been a good chance of some sustained suppression of the violence. More on why, below.

Continue reading "Competent Adults in Charge? The Iraq Surge's Non-Failure"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 12:58 AM | Comments (28) | 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

December 01, 2007

Spank me, I've been a bad girl

Marjorie, an expatriate blogger in Qatar who often tackles social and religious issues, brought my attention to that country's first survey of violence against women. Not only had nearly two-thirds of women polled been beaten, over two in five believed they deserved it.

Continue reading "Spank me, I've been a bad girl"

Posted by dubaiwalla at 10:41 AM | Comments (5) | 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

November 10, 2007

Infidel Review: Packaged Phobias

Yes, in in breaking news, the long-awaited mysterious review of Hirsi Magan/Ali has been sighted.

It is perhaps not off to share as well, The Financial Times very able critical review of a related genre of Islamophobic literature, that of the statistically illiterate "Eurabia" genre to which in many ways Hirsi Magan/Ali belongs.

Continue reading "Infidel Review: Packaged Phobias"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 04:45 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

November 08, 2007

Jasim & The Argot Naughts: Why That Name in Iraq?

I come up with naught when I search memories of Eastern Mediterranean Arabs and their dialects, patois, and argots, for Jasim and variants as personal names. Yet every single flippin' story from Iraq has someone named Jasim in it. What's the deal with that? (And yes, my worst allusion-pun ever.)

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 06:28 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

October 25, 2007

The Magic Kingdom

Last week, I decided it would be interesting to watch The Kingdom, an action movie that followed four FBI agents sent to Saudi Arabia to investigate a massive attack on an American housing compound. I went not because I expected it to be intellectually stimulating (it wasn't) or because I figured I'd learn useful things from the film (I didn't), but because I wanted to see how Hollywood portrayed Saudi Arabia. Save for the surfeit of British villains, Hollywood is a useful barometer of American perceptions of a particular part of the world; there is a reason so many bad guys were Russians during the Cold War.

Continue reading "The Magic Kingdom"

Posted by dubaiwalla at 11:40 AM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

October 21, 2007

Real Fascism Awareness Week: DC-area Holocaust Commemoration

Sunday October 28 from 6 to 8 pm in Sterling, Virginia, near Washington DC, a rather nice event for those interested and local. The All Dulles Area Muslim Society is organizing a presentation featuring a Holocaust survivor, called, perhaps unsurprisingly: Reflections on The Holocaust: A Story of a Holocaust Survivor, and designed for "all of Humanity to Remember and Learn the Lessons of the Holocaust." More info below.

Continue reading "Real Fascism Awareness Week: DC-area Holocaust Commemoration"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:56 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

October 20, 2007

Souq Heil: What's Up With This Cocked-Arm Gesture?

The sunbats are out doing their Islamofascism Awareness week hate-fest, with the usual bigotries and idiocies, but I do have to agree though on the reaction engendered by this photo (I've seen others like it) of what appears to be the Hizbollah 3rd Bandana battalion. Is it what it appears to be -- a militaristic fascist salute, or has it some other significance? UPDATE: With the aid of commenter M, we learn it is indeed a political-militaristic "Roman salute" but apparently a Fascist-era Lebanese custom that transcends sectarian lines (is that a good or bad thing?). Enjoy (thanks M) this collage of Lebanon's main Christian party, and chief Lebanese allies of Israel, doing the Teutonic taxi hail. (Cache it in, before they get hip and delete.)

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:06 PM | Comments (31) | TrackBack

October 07, 2007

Arabic and Technology: Reform or Die

The use of Arabic in technology has been one of my pet issues since, as a teenager, young Arab kids who didn’t start learning the Latin alphabet yet, used to come to my place during summer to play video games, and wouldn’t be able to enter the necessary commands to launch them. A few years later, I was trying to teach basic programming skills to Arab professionals and they were also facing serious hardship in associating the mnemonics of computer languages based on English roots with their functions. While I found programming very easy even as a child – after all, computer languages are just another language to express yourself in – this made me realize that computers as they are today could never be as easily accessible on average to an Arab as they are to a European, not to mention an American.

Continue reading "Arabic and Technology: Reform or Die"

Posted by Shaheen at 02:38 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

In Defence of Liberal Society & Hijabs, Fashionable or Not

A long delayed note, as I meant to write on this during the summer, but business intervened. Nevertheless, a moment of reflexion and a strange title perhaps, given my self-confessed dislike of the hijab (as all too often ostentatious worn on the sleeve religiosity - but not always, thus one reason for the note). However our dear site mistress's note on perhaps the need for showcasing fashionable (that is to say, not self-negating nunnish habits) hijabs and the like, and a coincidental bit of to do in blogosphere about hijabs provoked some reflexion (however tardy).

I should note that it was this rather stereotypical 'oh isn't liberating the girl took off her hijab' and 'oh isn't it oppressive she put it back on' comment from an English teacher formerly in Rabat. Stereotypical of course as its the typical Western (and very secularized MENAite elite) reaction. It is also near pure bollocks as such, mistaking something between religious choice - mistaken or not - and perhaps fashion, as indicative of "liberation" or not. Sadly, fairly typical imagery. Taking off the hijab, liberation. Putting it on, Male Oppression. [fixed the bloody link as well]

[Added Reference 8 Oct:: Worthy of some reflexion, Women of Birminghamabad find identity in FT relatively recently, from its ongoing and refreshingly non-hysterical Muslims in Europe series]

Continue reading "In Defence of Liberal Society & Hijabs, Fashionable or Not"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 05:13 AM | Comments (32) | TrackBack

September 26, 2007

Abu Aardvark on The Surge & The Sunni Leadership

A personal favorite political magazine's blog presents a personal favorite political institute's video of an Aqoul favorite blogger Marc Lynch, aka Abu Aardvark, speaking at a conference at the CATO Institute on THE SURGE. The professorial Father of Aardvarks opines about the recent Iraq Sunni insurgent-US military cooperation, but bases his insights on Arabic language media and internet communications of Sunni community leaders. The conclusions he arrives at are basically that the Sunni leaders are stating to their very anti-US constituency that cooperation with the USA is merely tactical and the result of insurgent victories which forced the US to assist them in certain common aims of fighting al-Qaeda and fighting some Shiite militias. They view the government and al-Sadr as "Iranian" and they eventually want the entire US occupation out. In addition, the conditions are such that further sectarian fragmentation is underway and no matter how long the US stays, it appears the conditions will remain ripe for sectarian war. Informed readers, have at it.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:48 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 13, 2007

Iran War On the Way: More Evidence

It appears that I may have been right to call attention to those saying a war on Iran is being rolled out by the Administration. An informed and expert source in DC affirmed it to me as well a few days back. And it looks like the usual suspect sources are now marketing it. (Love the part where we can mysteriously tell that the Germans really want us to attack even as they back away from sanctions against Iran. Saying "no" when they really mean "yes", those Teutonic teases!) Michael Ledeen appears to be the one whose job is to incite the converted; he who says that al-Qaeda and Iran are interchangeable terms and at one point called Dubai, an "Iranian colony". Man, all them dang camel jockeys are the same and interchangeable, and that thinking is how one manufactures a war. Anyway, Aqoulites and Aqoulite wannabes with Iran-specific knowledge are needed to weigh in, now and in the future.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:19 PM | Comments (19) | TrackBack

September 09, 2007

Quick Roundup of News on Roundups

{Sarcasm} Here's a headline you'd never expect to see. I'm shocked, shocked. . . . {/sarcasm} (Iraq)

Now here's a headline you'd really never expect to see. (Israel)

Here's an interesting roundup about al-Qaeda leader roundups. For a variety of reasons, this Abu al-Yazid guy seems the most interesting and dangerous , specifically as he reminds me in terms of his alleged internal likeability, technical profession (accountancy/fundraising), energy, and tactical sense of a rather successful violent insurgent of the past. Insurgencies can use good accountants and fundraisers.

And, just for yucks, bad news for anyone planning to have online virtual sex with Osama bin-Laden.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 06:04 PM | Comments (0) | 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

F**kin' Alif, Dude! Arabic School Opens in Brooklyn

The Khalil Gibran International Academy school has opened in New York, part of the public education system. Being a wacko libertarian, I have my reservations even about public schooling as a general concept, but allowing it to be a virtue and necessity, still what advantage is it to have a specialized school devoted to Arabic culture and language for kids in Brooklyn USA? Folks, there does exist a private education option for establishing such things, if felt needed. This has a Euro feel of separateness to it, combined with the related US cult of the Great God Diversity. But I thought we yanks had passed on the "separate but equal" thing in public schools. Naturally, of course, the Daniel Pipes squadrons of haters-of-all-things-even-appearing-Muslimish-and-socially-acceptable made an unbelievably laughably weird xenophobic stink over it (Pipes: "learning Arabic in-and-of-itself promotes an Islamic outlook"). They even got the first chosen principal fired for correctly explaining that intifada in Arabic means a shaking-off, thereby apparently establishing that a school that teaches the Arabic language should most definitely not teach it accurately.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 12:47 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

August 25, 2007

Syria's Consideration: A Realistic Travelogue in A Surprising Place

I must say something nice about the Washington Times, which normally has MENA-related fare along the lines of FoxNews and this type of swill. I saw this story a short time back of a travel-writer's visit to Syria in the dead-wood version, but not online. Now I see it is online. Amazingly, the writer actually seems to have taken note of the place and reported it and experienced what normal travelers there would notice, although one might find it too saccharine for its non-comments on the ubiquitous Leader & Family photos, or the pervasive poverty. Still, entitled sincerely and without guile The Kindness of Syrians, it is well done and refreshingly rooted in relevant reality; excerpts for you link-avoiders below the break. (Elsewhere on deeper questions of wealth and poverty, AbuFares has this to say; more on that at another time. Now back to the W. Times.)

Continue reading "Syria's Consideration: A Realistic Travelogue in A Surprising Place"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 29, 2007

Miss Arab World

Congratulations to Miss Bahrain who has just won the Miss Arab World beauty contest in Cairo.

It's wonderful to see how a modest glimpse of flesh can instantly bridge the East-West divide, as evidenced by the comment from Daily Mail reader Ken from Suffolk:

"So, behind the hijab's, niqab's and burqa's there are some very pretty ladies in the Arab world."

Purely for the research purposes of Aqoul's male readers, here are some of the other contestants (those whose monocles have already steamed up may click the images to enlarge):

I am sure many of our learned commentators will be able to draw significant political insight from this landmark event.

Posted by secretdubai at 06:07 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

July 22, 2007

Dubai's New Erection Penetrates Foe China Entry's Position

Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it. The internal structure of the new under-construction Burj Dubai tower has just passed the height of the rival entry in the world's tallest building competition, Taiwan-Republic of China's Taipei 101 tower. The Burj is now 1,667 feet (sorry, I don't do metric). The question: is there any value or significance to such structures? It looks horrible at this stage; is the final version decent? And no. The caption wrote itself. Grow up. (Update: Taipei 101 - I think it's ugly too.)

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 02:45 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

July 19, 2007

The Muslim Sartorialist

Ever heard of the Sartorialist? It's basically a photo blog done by a guy with a keen eye for fashion. He photographs people in trendy European and North American cities and adds little blurbs about why he thinks the outfits are interesting.

Now, I've always taken note of fashionable Muslim girls around me. They are masters of layering, texture and coordination. Whether it's at the mall, a pretentious cafe or even my gym (where one stylish muhajabat routinely schools me on the treadmill), these ladies are not held back by their headscarves. Unfortunately, most of the photos you find on news sites are of women wearing frumpy hijabs, dowdy overcoats and ominous-looking ninja getups (as Lounsbury likes to call them). Western media is inundated with photos of shapeless baby-blue Afghan burkas and Saudi niqabs, so it's hardly surprising that most non-Muslims think this style of dress is ubiquitous.

Continue reading "The Muslim Sartorialist"

Posted by eerie at 02:02 PM | Comments (40) | TrackBack

July 16, 2007

Next, We'll be Pledging Allegiance To Vishnu

They're taking over. Now it's the Hindus. First the Muslims will force my daughter to wear a burka, which I just learned is a Nazi symbol, now if it weren't for the voices of the intrepid zealots of the gospel heard in this video, soon the guy pictured here would take over, and the Senate cafeteria will have to remove hamburgers from next to the freedom fries. Even scarier, he looks like he might be the Pope (oops, wrong century's xeonphobia).

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 07:34 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 14, 2007

Muslim Integration in American Political Life

I'd just like to draw attention to a recent report on the subject, which draws some conclusions I'd hope would be common sense to anyone paying attention. A few that particularly struck me:

Continue reading "Muslim Integration in American Political Life"

Posted by evaluna at 05:16 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

July 12, 2007

Tunisia & Women's Rights: Real Developments?

I turn this issue over to a better-informed readership. A Globalist article argues that Tunisia provides a real regional model for a legislative and public policy system that would protect the rights and hopes of women in home and professional life, and do so consistent with religious sentiment and scholarship. "What really sets Tunisia apart from other Arab countries and most majority-Muslim states," Andrea Barron writes, "are its policies on marriage, divorce, child support, abortion, honor crimes and domestic violence. After all, what does it matter if a woman can attend university, own her own business and run for political office if she cannot choose her own husband and be free from violence perpetrated by her own family members?" So, are the benefits in Tunisian women's legal rights genuinely real; if so, have they been a cause or the effect of social changes? And where does the, ahem, not quite freedom-loving/democratic nature of the Ben Ali government fit in to all this, if at all?

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 11:21 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

June 30, 2007

UK apes Saudi Arabia, fears for your health

Maybe inspired by how there are no pubs in Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom decided to join this prestigious league and ban shisha, de facto sentencing shisha shops to closing business. The gullible souls could argue that while the UK government is motivated by public health concerns, the Saudis are trying to enforce some liberticidal moral code. The truth though is, alcohol does a lot more damage than shisha, and if the concern is really health, then alcohol should be banned in UK pubs and white baby milk should be served there instead. Don’t take my word for it; stand in an emergency department for a little while.

The opponents to this ban have approached it under the cultural angle so far. They miss the point. First, being perceived as a Muslim tradition, they shouldn’t expect much to be granted to the protection of this custom. Second, cultural or not, exceptions on public health issues aren’t made for cultural reasons. Try arguing for heroin on a cultural basis. Now, it should be demonstrated how the health concern is a fallacy, at least when other equally or more dangerous substances like alcohol are not banned.

Continue reading "UK apes Saudi Arabia, fears for your health"

Posted by Shaheen at 06:24 PM | Comments (7) | 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

June 16, 2007

Gaza Stripped: Two Demi-Quasi-States, One People

It appears the folks who rather justly complain of having no country, now appear to have two. Well, three, if you count the old Likudnik view of Jordan. Or in the negative numbers, if reality functions as a point of reference.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:59 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack

June 05, 2007

USS Liberty: Error? Probably. Reinvestigate? Certainly.

Among the Mideast Six-Day War's 40th anniversary issues will be the June 8, 1967 attack by Israeli military forces on the USS Liberty, an American naval intelligence ship. In international waters near Egypt's Sinai peninsula, the vessel was torpedoed by Israeli Navy vessels, following repeated strafings/napalmings by Israeli Air Force planes. A special remembrance was held at the Navy Memorial (7th and Penn) in DC on June 8. Despite my own newer conclusion that the incident was indeed a result of Israeli errors, rather than an assault with foreknowledge of the ship's American nationality, I do think the incident should receive long overdue U.S. public investigation and hearings .

Continue reading "USS Liberty: Error? Probably. Reinvestigate? Certainly."

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 11:43 AM | Comments (27) | TrackBack

May 30, 2007

The Curse of Spinsters

From Gulf News Express via The Emirates Economist - "Sad Spinsters: Lonely Hearts".

Dr Mohammad Wafeek Eid, a psychiatrist at Al Musa Medical Centre in Dubai, said most spinsters suffer from anxiety, depression and multiple psychosomatic complaints, including headaches, epigastric disturbances, abdominal gases and discomfort. "They tend to be suspicious and they make those around them uncomfortable. They are somehow viewed as abnormal because they do not go through motherhood – spinsters are the object of social pity. They feel they are unfulfilled, incomplete," he said.

None of the Emirati businesswomen interviewed in the article sound remotely sad or "incomplete". On the contrary they are probably enormously relieved to have escaped a matrimonial life sentence with the likes of Dr Eid.

Posted by secretdubai at 11:13 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

May 28, 2007

Sexy Abaya Fashion & Breathless American Journos

While not entirely terrible, the Washington Post arty For Cloaked Saudi Women, Color Is the New Black - indeed in some ways quite an interesting piece on new Abaya fashion - was moderately annoying. I suppose it's from the Saudi-centered vision (of course it is an arty about KSA, but given my experience that much of the non-Islamic world takes KSA as if it were the standard...)

Of course it does raise fond images of sexy Abaya fashion as seen outside KSA. Never mind the baroqueness of Maghrebine Caftans...

Posted by The Lounsbury at 02:18 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

May 19, 2007

I dislike racists and I dislike niggers even more

I was sitting with some bledars* who were introduced to me at a Moorish coffee place, and they were complaining about how racist many whites were. They had some pretty legitimate criticisms actually.

A few hookah puffs later, the ranting began over how their peaceful, wonderful and so civilized shithole of a village – one would wonder why they left it – was being invaded by those troublemaking, criminal uncivilized tourists from the neighboring country – but we love their money, don’t we.

To sum up, I became irritated and called them retarded bumpkins. As the Chinesian saying goes, Monkey on a branch pees on Monkey’s head on the branch below. Hopeless humanity.

(*) bledar: French slang (mostly used by French Maghrebis) for recent immigrants from North Africa. Pejorative, has a “yokel” connotation.

Posted by Shaheen at 06:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 30, 2007

Pakistan: booze, boobs and bullets

I was just sitting at this restaurant with this Pakistani American acquaintance when he asked:

“Don’t you feel lonely here sometimes?”
“No, why should I?” I answered.
“I don’t know, I miss partying, you know?”
“You can party pretty well here” I replied.
“No, it’s not the same”

Like me, Moe had moved around a lot and he hadn’t been here for long. Before coming to this city which boasts about the quality of its night life and the beauty of its women, he had spent a few years in Pakistan.

Continue reading "Pakistan: booze, boobs and bullets"

Posted by Shaheen at 02:38 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

April 11, 2007

Why didn't the Ottomans conquer the Americas?

There is little research as to why the Ottoman Empire, one of the major world powers of the Age of Discovery, didn’t try to pick its share of the New World. Digging a bit, I came up with the only three related articles I could find. They barely scratch the surface. To fully access those articles, you’ll probably need to buy them or get them from your nearest university library.

One of the articles deals with the Piri Reis map, the earliest record of America by the Ottomans. It doesn’t really deal with the issue, but it's a good academic overview of the map itself. America is marked as Vilayet Antilia, which might imply some intention, at least from Piri Reis, to annex it to the Ottoman realm. Vilayet – or Wilayah in Arabic – means governorate, or province.

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Posted by Shaheen at 10:11 PM | Comments (36) | TrackBack

April 06, 2007

My Inner Neocon & Iran's Shatt Across the Bow

No, I don't want us or Britain to go to war with Iran. Heck, I'm a "cut and runner" on Iraq from before it happened. But am I the only one not of neoconnish-hawkish outlook who is a little perturbed that uniformed professional British sailors and Marines, engaged in lawful patrolling and probable legitimate intelligencing, roll over and "confess"? (Side note to antiwar folks: the coalition presence is now lawful, regardless of other moral or prudential non-rectitude.) Civilians, I understand. Me, I'll give away your social security number when faced with a nail clipper. But what happened to stiff upper lip; name, rank and serial number? If they were tortured or threatened I won't judge, but at least I'd want to know. UPDATE: Rolling over does make a little more sense after these revelations of mock executions, etc..

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:49 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack

April 05, 2007

Well, Golly: Egyptian Finance Comes to Town

Youssef Boutros Ghali, Egypt's Minister of Finance, will be giving his take -- perhaps a bad choice of words -- on the economy of Nile-dom right here in Potomac River City, aka Washington D.C., on Thursday, April 12 (reserve at the CATO Institute by 11 April). Full details are below the break, and here, the most important of which is "Cato Forums and luncheons are free of charge." D.C area Aqoulites are required to go, if they are below 32 and in any kind of University. Meanwhile, informed comments from all on the subject, including from our own regional finance hyperinformed but Masrophobic resident Id, are welcome.

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Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:16 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

March 29, 2007

Next Year, Get Baked in Jerusalem?

One Israeli political party has announced that according to its interpretation of a rabbinical ruling, marijuana is not kosher for Passover, and so followers should abstain from its consumption during the upcoming holiday.

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Posted by evaluna at 10:28 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

March 14, 2007

Rock the Casbah bis: Casablanca Bombings

Unfortunately I still lack time to delve into the Casablanca bombing this past weekend, and must soon to airport make, however a quick round-up of some materials I think are decent:

1. Reuters - WP round up of the local Moroccan press indicating planning was perhaps more extensive than the initial event suggested. I'd note that I caught on the local Sat TV the Moroccan TV's images of the truck taking away the bombs. One rather big ass dump truck.
2. WaPo backgrounder on the bombers whose profile rather resembles that of the 2003 bombers.

My observation, which is a prelude to my long-overdue and incomplete post on Maghreb spillover and drivers for the problem is the Poli Sci 'wisdom' re poverty and economic frustration not being drivers for Islamist neo-Salafi terror is bollocks. Some portion of course is purely ideological and would exist without any economic-situ driven radicalisation, but it is clear to me up close that a significant and important portion is driven by economic factors, and socio-economic frustration. That some radicals, espeically leaders come from more wealthy backgrounds says nothing about causation, any more than the presence of wealthy Left radicals in the 19th and early 20th centuries disproved a general observation of radicalisation being driven by economic issues in that period, in Europe, etc.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 07:38 PM | Comments (32) | TrackBack

March 11, 2007

Arab music for dummies

A few years ago, Mother conceded total defeat against "The West" in my education when it came to music. She had been trying hard for years to introduce me to the subtleties of classical Arab music through Umm Kalthoum, Abdel Haleem and other such names, to no avail. To her great dismay, I wasn't even interested in the younger stars that other Arabs worship, such as George Wassouf or Kathem Essaher. And while she had hoped it was only a matter of maturity, and that as an adult, I would abandon that tasteless rock or electronic noise I tend to listen to in favor of the more refined Arab tones, here I was, a full grown man, still unable to name but the singers above without even identifying their music, let alone appreciating it.

Mother's sorrow could be alleviated though if she understood I made a few steps in her direction when I discovered alternative currents of Arab music, mostly born in the Diaspora. And this is where I invite the Matthew Hogan's of this world, whose impermeability to mainstream Arab music I share, to discover it by entering that universe through other gates.

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Posted by Shaheen at 01:55 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

March 07, 2007

Hala Sarhan and the Case of the Lyin' Prostitutes

Hala Sarhan is a talk-show host who it seems it is now obligatory to describe as the "Oprah of Arab TV", although in some ways she is closer to Jerry Springer or the old Geraldo talk show, alternating between interviews with movie stars and others in the entertainment industry and "social issues" shows that somehow always seem to focus on, well, sex. Now she's in serious trouble and threatened with prison time after three women she interviewed as prostitutes for a show on prostitution turned up, claiming to have been paid to read off of a script. The three claim to have gone public because the show disguised their features digitally, but did not do so for their voices, and they were recognized by their neighbors and relatives. A good English rundown of the story can be found here. Of particular note is that she is facing a prison sentence for criticizing (falsely, supposedly) an arm of state security, particularly the police - during the interviews, the three possibly-prostitutes claimed to have been paying protection money to the Egyptian police.

There's been a political edge to Sarhan's work in TV. When she was a vice president at Egyptian private station Dream TV, she was the one who invited Muhammad Hassanein Heikal to come onto their channel and give a speech in which he denounced the idea of Gamal Mubarak becoming the next president. Not long afterwards, Haykal was off to Al Jazeera, and Sarhan was off to music broadcaster Rotana, where her talk show became much more entertainment-oriented as she also took over responsibility for the broadcaster's Cinema Channel.

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Posted by tomscud at 11:15 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

February 23, 2007

The Jack Bauer Effect

Sometimes when I'm out with the girls, I'll get fed up of talking about fashion or relationships and say something provocative just to stir things up. Most of the time, it's just martini-fuelled commentary about our celebrity-obsessed culture, the impact of widespread economic illiteracy, the exploding market for self-help books, etc. Whatever pops into my head, really.

A few weeks ago, while the ladies were chattering about Britney Spears' latest meltdown, I tapped my fingers on the table and said, "Do you think Americans might be more accepting of torture because of Jack Bauer?"

Having long ago accepted my mercurial oddball tendencies, they shrugged and returned to their original conversation. I, however, became rather fixated on the idea and spent much of the evening muttering to myself about cultural icons and their ability to shape popular opinion.

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Posted by eerie at 03:12 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

Tarek Fatah on Little Mosque

For some more provincial comments from the Big North, Tarek Fatah's take on Little Mosque on the Prairie has some good points. While I disagree with his idea that there might be an agenda behind the lack of portrayal of liberal Muslims in the show, he definitely put his finger on something when stating that "the liberal, secular or progressive segments of the community – are conspicuous by their complete absence from the Little Mosque narrative."