'Aqoul

Get your Kicks / On Beirut / Sects' Dissects

Fri, 09 May 2008 00:26:37 -0500

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.

Bread & Riots

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:46:51 -0500

If you follow MENA news (and indeed news generally) rising food prices, coupled with rising petrol prices, have provoked for the first time in years serious concerns about food availability to the poorer segments of the population. And demos and riots. And when mass demos occur in the Middle East and North Africa, fear of regime stability gets in the air. Serious challenges for a region where the emerging free(er) markets are yet fragile. Nevertheless, the FT's arty today Mideast reels as hunger outgrows oil earnings is bothersome.

Perhaps the lead is what is the most irritating

For years, food policy in the Middle East and North Africa was very simple: hydrocarbon exports paid for carbohydrate imports.

A quote that then segues into issues of the non-oil exporters. My irritation is always raised when all MENA is written about as if it were the Gulf. This is not merely sloppy, it leads people, even Sr. persons, to dangerously misconstrue developments.

First Full Week of New Month or Two Open Thread

Sun, 04 May 2008 15:31:39 -0500

Desperately performing CPR on an Aqoul, pre-Aqoul, and an Aqoul personal journal tradition, an open belated new month thread for general comments, etc. Given that the Site Goddess and Demon respectively are in professional life heavy hyper-activity, I'll set it up. All may have at it below, with no guarantee of reply or response, and hopefully our other posters will actually add new main entries to follow, to alleviate their torpor.

Funny, She Doesn't Look Bahraini

Fri, 02 May 2008 05:33:06 -0500

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.

Another Good Conspiracy Theory Down the Drain

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:43:22 -0500

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?

Open Thread on Carter, Hamas, and Stuff

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:15:21 -0500

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.

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

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 01:37:52 -0500

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.

Fear & Food - MENA Inflation (Open Commentary)

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:52:36 -0500

I have (as our site authors can verify) a draft on the issues of dating a month - an indictment of my writing time - on this issue (generally), but sadly this has to wait for more free time. At the same time this is a hot and frankly useful topic. Thus, while I haven't done up my proper commentary, an open note on this issue I think useful.

American Tantrums - Don't Talk to the Iranians

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:47:17 -0500

The Americans increasingly shrill tantrums about doing business with Iran strike me as entirely self-defeating. Rather like the Cuban sanctions, they are likely merely to give the regime a foreign enemy and scapegoat an excuse on which to hang the consequences of its own economic incompetence. Never mind they are likely to be as successful as those stunningly successful Cuban sanctions (whose main purpose seems to be preventing Americans from vacationing on the cheap, but no matter, all the better for the aficionados of non-tradable products Cuban).

Childish idiocy and tantrums, wishful thinking and gradiosity seem to be what one is in for until this current band of incompetents in the US is out of power. Nine long months, if the cretins don't drive themselves into a currency collapse.

Meanwhile, I would think the US Treasury has better things to do with its time than haranguing the world about the risks of doing business with Iranian financial firms. It might do well to worry about the risks of doing business with American financial firms

Blocked again: a blessing?

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:41:28 -0500

My personal blog, Secret Dubai diary, has been blocked once again by the UAE state censors. Etisalat, the TRA, the Dishdashes-That-Be: they are all the government, so it makes little difference who actually actioned this. Like the last time this happened, in July 2001, there has been no correspondence of any kind from UAE officials, no warning or request to remove content, and no reason given for the blocking.

Back then, my policy was to keep my head down and be ultra careful about posts and user comments for some time. I always had been careful, and my blog contained no "obscene" material and minimal direct criticism of the UAE or Dubai governments, which is probably why after some arcane internal review, it was unblocked.

Favouring Religous Minorities in Emigration - MENA, US, EU & Iran

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 13:39:00 -0500

An issue without an easy answer, with respect to "what is right" as such, raised by a Washington Post arty on US favouring religious minorities in emigration from Iran which to follow the article, has drained the communities.

The essential message from the article, in grosso modo, most Xian and Zoroastrians, etc seeking to leave have largely economic motivations. Hardly news, saw everywhere really. However, the community leaders see their people being drained away (and of semi-amusing note, to a land of immorality... US of A where gays can marry [ahem, well no, but...], horrors to the priest quoted). One wonders what would happen to Iranian Sunni communities given the same chances. What is right here? Rather like the priest, one has to say, well, given a chance...

MENA & Race

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:19:56 -0500

Worthy of discussion and comment, a comment by Nesrine Malek in Comment is Free (The Guardian) on Race & the Arab world, from a Sudanese perspective. The comments sadly are fairly unlightening, 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.

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

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:27:48 -0500

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.

Twilight Zone Analysis & Iraq

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:35:53 -0500

Reading this opinion piece from a former Bush Admin figure, I was almost impressed by the sheer, naked audacity of the argument:

If we continue to build on these developments, the Iraq war, once thought to be a colossal failure, could turn out be a positive and even a pivotal event in our struggle against militant Islam. Having paid a high cost in blood and treasure and having embraced the wrong strategy for far too long, we stayed in the fight, proving that America was not the “weak horse” Mr bin Laden believed it to be. Having stayed in the fight, we may prevail in it. The best way to subvert the appeal of bin Ladenism is to defeat those who take up the sword in its name.

We are a long way from winning in Iraq. It remains a traumatised nation and the progress made can be lost. But the trajectory of events is at last in our favour and a good outcome is within our grasp. If we succeed it will have enormously positive effects beyond Iraq.

New Month, Open Commentary

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:11:27 -0500

Sadly our ancient tradition, my own, was forgotten..... worse, I personally forgot this is a new month. Thankfully there are long suffering readers who are gullible enough to stick with us.... My apologies then, until I read comments I had actually not noticed we are in March.