Crisscrossing Borders

Syria: An Ethical Uprising

2011-04-08T23:25:00.004+04:00

The news on the uprising in Syria has been difficult for me and Syrians around the world to absorb. It has been even more difficult for me, as a Syrian, to write about. But these words by Ilyas Khoury must be shared. They describe Syria's role in shining the spotlight on the ethical aspect of the Arab World's revolutions. You can find the original Arabic article here. What follows is my translation of a few select paragraphs of his work.

Tunisia gave birth to the now famous slogan: “the people want to overthrow the regime.” Egypt set the foundation of “Liberation Square,” balancing the powers of the army with that of the January 25^th revolutionaries. Syria, where the people’s revolution is bursting amidst blood and fear, added a new slogan to the streets of revolution: “the Syrian people cannot be humiliated” …

The people cannot be humiliated, and they reject humiliation …

The use of the word “humiliation” means that people are crying out against the deepest of wounds. The word “humiliation” is one of the most savage and chaotic words in the Arabic language, to the extent that Ibn Manthour found no synonym for it in the most complete Arabic dictionary, Lisan al-Arab. The definition he offered was this: “humiliation is the opposite of respect and honor … humiliation is raggedness, subjugation.”

Ibn Manthour could not explain the meaning of humiliation except by citing its opposite. This is because “humiliation” in Arabic brings together “subjugation” and “shame,” includes the abuse of honor, and leads to the feeling of a loss of humanity.

The Tunisians and Egyptians raised political slogans in their revolutions. Syrians, however, fashioned the ethical slogan for the revolutions sweeping across the Arab World. This uprising is, at its core, an ethical uprising: it is a call for regaining individual and national honor.

Not a Failure: Saudi Arabia Before and #AfterMarch11

2011-03-14T21:07:00.003+04:00

Originally published on KabobFest.

They called it a failure. But the white robes that filled the streets of the Saudi capital yesterday show another side of the story. Two days after the March 11 Day of Rage that no one but police officers attended, small protests sparked in Riyadh. These developments suggest that despite analysts’ claims that March 11 was a “non-event,” there is evidence that proves otherwise. Taking a closer look at the event reveals that, rather than being a failure, March 11 was in fact a success.

But this begs the question: how can a protest that no one showed up for be considered successful? To answer that we must look at what happened not on March 11 itself, but on the days before and after it.

March 11’s first stroke of success before the actual Day of Rage was with its online media campaign. In the days leading up to the event, the Facebook page calling for the protest had over 35,000 members, with hundreds of comments on some of the posts put up by the administrator. Twitter was abuzz with tweets marked by the #march11 hashtag. Bloggers and online journalists published article after article on the event, wondering if this could really be the beginning of a revolution in the Kingdom. By the evening of March 10, the whole Kingdom knew about the protests planned for the next morning.

The movement’s second success lay in the extreme measures the government took against it before the so-called Day of Rage. After hearing about the planned protest, the government put out a statement indicating that protesting was illegal, and that all means necessary would be used to stop protesters from gathering outdoors: police force, lashes, and heavy jail sentences included. Soon afterward, the highest level of Saudi sheikhs issued a fatwa claiming that protesting is haraam, or religiously forbidden.

And on top of these formal measures, the Saudi populace was bombarded with text messages that the government is believed to be the source of: text messages claiming that the movement was Shi’i and that the government was going to deport any protester, among other things.

Although there was no turnout when March 11 finally came, the Saudi people had been watching and learning. They saw how a message could be spread through the whole country almost instantaneously. They saw that the government, despite King Abdullah’s amiable public character, was willing to use force against them. Most importantly, perhaps, they also saw that the government was afraid of them. The Kingdom’s heavy-handed reaction to the protests indicated how powerful the government itself believed these popular movements could become. Saudis took note. With anger over government corruption and the lack of freedom rising, these aren’t lessons that the Saudi people will soon forget.

And they didn’t. Yesterday, just two days after the so-called “failed revolution,” several protests began in the capital. One was outside the Interior Ministry building, with protesters calling for the release of political prisoners. Another was a general strike by the employees of STC, Saudi Arabia’s largest (and most corrupt) telecom company. STC employees put together a Facebook page demanding the ousting of CEO Saud al Duwaysh, who they have labeled “the number one man in violating employees’ material rights.” They also asked for increased employee benefits, and an increase in pay to match the rising prices due to inflation. Instead of listening to their demands, however, the Kingdom responded by sending out security forces to restore order.

The Saudi government must be careful. While it may seem that they were the victors on March 11, what happened on the days bookending the event seems to tell a different story. With the Saudi populace becoming increasingly literate in online civil society, the days of sam’an wa ta’a – listen and obey – are over. And with new research from Palo Alto-based Inside Network indicating that over 418,900 Saudi users have joined the 3.5 million Saudis already on Facebook in the past month (just under Egypt’s 455,160 addition to its 5 million Facebook users), the number of people no longer willing to listen and obey, as stressed in last week’s Friday sermon, is rising.

Immediately after the grand turnout of zero on March 11, Saudi Arabia’s tweeters created an #AfterMarch11 hashtag. Using that tag as their starting point, they shared what they learned from the protests, and discussed new ways to push the revolution forward using other hashtags, including #saudimataleb.

It is not certain which direction Saudi Arabia will move in. What is certain, though, is that the Saudi people are learning to mobilize, and after years of corruption and social repression, the government must start to seriously consider the protesters’ demands. The country #AfterMarch11 is not the same country they knew before March 11.

Two Flags, One Hope

2011-03-13T13:18:00.003+04:00

I turned and saw it at just the right moment.

My TV screen was showing Al Jazeera Mubashar, where a recording of Al Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan Al Jaber's funeral was playing. Al Jaber was on his way back to Benghazi yesterday when he was shot and killed by forces believed to be backed by Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. Analysts believe this is part of a wider campaign Qaddafi is waging against Al Jazeera, which has put the spotlight on his brutal suppression of the Libyan people.

Al Jaber, one of the Al Jazeera employees working to help the world witness Qaddafi's iron-fisted dictatorship, was Qatari. He had no connection to Libya, other than the common hope of ending tyranny and establishing justice, freedom, and democracy. His way to work towards that hope was to show the world the truth about Libya, and for doing that, he was killed.

This was not lost on the Libyan people. At his funeral procession, they came out in droves, calling Al Jaber a hero. And then, the moment that stopped me in my tracks as I was cleaning the living room table after breakfast:

A man was hoisted up onto the shoulders of the crowd, waving the new Libyan flag as expected - but beside it, waving the flag of Qatar.

The Libyan people, through this act, were acknowledging the ultimate sacrifice of a man not from their country, an Arab who crossed the lands known in our imagination as al-Watan al-Arabi - the Arab Nation - to support them in their quest for freedom and justice.

The Libyans were also recognizing the Qatari government's support of Al Jazeera, a truly pan-Arab network uniting Arabs across the region in these days of revolution by being the voice and vision of the oppressed and downtrodden.

I stood there, sponge still in hand, watching the Libyan and Qatari flags flutter together in the night's wind. A shiver ran down my spine as the reality of what I'd been reading about for the past two months hit me: these protests were the beginning of a new Arab experience, a new Arab unity based on the values of freedom, justice, and openness.

Just a few months ago, we Arabs were butchering each other over the results of a regional football game. Now, we are willing to die to help each other overcome the shackles of dictatorship and reach out to a future bright with freedom and progress.

With those thoughts still floating in my head, I went back to cleaning my breakfast table, wondering which flags will rise together in the winds of tomorrow's Arab night.

Libya: Learning from a Rhyme

2011-02-25T00:20:00.001+04:00

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." This children's rhyme rings particularly true as we watch Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi massacre his people en masse in the dusty streets of his North African country.

Over the last few days, the international community witnessed an outpour of words against the news of foreign mercenaries shooting and raping the Libyan populace, the wholesale bombing of civilian neighborhoods, and Gaddafi's outright threats to burn the whole country down. As the Libyan government's violence against its people escalates, it is clear that these words have not ended Gaddafi's massacres or pushed him out of power. The power of words against Gaddafi has faded. Recognizing this, the international community must now move from words to action.

Although the U.S. finally stated today that it will impose some form of sanctions on the current Libyan government (even though what these sanctions will actually mean is unclear), most of the international community is hesitating to take similar or stronger stances. Sadly, this is because of one major reason: Libya is the first major oil-producing country to be swept by the last two months' waves of Arab pro-democracy protests. Since Libya sends 85% of its oil to Europe, unrest threatens European countries' current access to this fossil fuel.

But as Libya represents only 2% of world production, Western nations with oil interests in the region are more afraid of the domino affect Libya could start in Arab oil-producing nations. Unrest in the Middle East has pushed oil prices to two-and-a-half year highs, and oil-consuming nations fear further unrest could send those prices even higher.

But is international paralysis towards Libya warranted? The winds of change are blowing in the Middle East, whether the region's dictators or their interest-driven supporters like it or not. Eighties-style dictatorship is simply not sustainable anymore, and the Arab people will push to set up democracy in this outdated political system's place.

The international community can either help speed up this process so that political and economic relations with the region improve sooner than later, or it can stall the process through inaction. If it chooses the latter, it will ensure that instability will fester longer than necessary in the region. And it will have Arab democracies run by populaces furious with the international community's backing of brutal dictatorships that deprived them of their most basic rights for decades. Try having good political and economic relations with these states then.

International leaders must recognize the above reality. That recognition, coupled with their own admissions of horror at the atrocities taking place in Libya, must lead them to act against Gaddafi.

Over the past few days, the UN's high commissioner for human rights declared that widespread and systematic attacks against civilians "may amount to crimes against humanity." German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Gaddafi's speech was "very, very appalling" and "amounted to him declaring war on his own people." And finally, the UN human rights head publicly stated that reports of thousands of people killed in the violence in Libya are highly likely.

What more do we need to know before acting against Colonel Gaddafi? His speeches over the last several days gave the green light for more massacres to occur, and rumors say that he is considering blowing up Libya's oil pipelines.

As the classic nursery rhyme tells us, words against this man are useless. The whole international community must take direct action against Gaddafi in the form of sanctions, the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya to end the bombing of civilians, and the severing of all ties with his regime. These are the sticks and stones that can break the bones of one of the Middle East's most notorious dictatorships and establish the beginning of a democracy there, benefiting both Libyans and the world at large.

The Vocabulary of Freedom

2011-02-20T13:35:00.006+04:00

Sometimes, it's hard to look past the corruption and injustice facing people here in the Arab World. Especially since these two adjectives, "corruption" and "injustice," describe almost a century of this region's history.

But now, Arabs are writing a new history for themselves, with a whole new vocabulary. First in Tunisia, then in Egypt, then who knows where tomorrow, the words surrounding "defeat" and "oppression" are making way for "freedom," "equality," "prosperity" - and finally, "happiness."

The number of people pouring out into the streets of the Arab World, speaking the vocabulary of freedom, is rising. The new words they learned to say out loud in the streets of Tunisia and Egypt are echoing everywhere between Morocco and Bahrain. These words have more power than any found in the old vocabulary of defeat. That is why rulers' calls to end protests in the name of "security" and "stability" are falling on deaf ears. These words and phrases have long been the shackles used to keep a corrupt elite in power. They've been much too overused, and so, like any over-played song on the radio, have lost their effect.

Blogger Osama Romoh's amused surprise at Arab leaders' thoughtless parroting of this old vocabulary, even after the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, brought a smile to many a reader's face. "It looks like 'some' Arab leaders learned nothing," he wrote humorously, describing how these leaders are acting in a way that is making the new wave of Arab protests across the region follow the footsteps of their Tunisian and Egyptian predecessors. "I'm starting to doubt their mental abilities," he ended, thinking that perhaps their inability to comprehend the changes sweeping the Arab World signals that they should all go in for I.Q. tests.

It looks like the vocabulary piecing together today's new Arab history is incomprehensible only to some leaders whose interests lie in the old order. Everyone else not only understands the new vocabulary, but uses it too. And not just on the streets in protests. This new vocabulary is getting into the very heart of Arab culture, making itself heard at the dinner table, at the office, and in the songs celebrating the newfound sense of Arab freedom.

In fact, Arabic music probably shows one of the clearest examples of this shift in vocabulary. Once infamous for it's shallow "habibi, habibi" pop, Arabic music is now addressing peoples' hopes, fears, and questions about the future - like real art should.

I leave you with a song composed, performed, and produced by a group of young Egyptians who were in Tahrir Square. It is called "The Sound of Freedom."

Enjoy the sweet ring of this new vocabulary.

The Revolutions Continue

2011-02-19T18:00:00.001+04:00

It's hard to be all the way out here in Dubai while pro-reform and pro-democracy demonstrations are taking place just about everywhere else in the Arab World. Like Wael Ghonim said, we're living an ideal life here. We've got the nicest houses, the nicest cars. All the world's greatest restaurants and hotels are just a short drive away. In a lot of ways, living here is like living in a dream.

But the protests and the demonstrations in the rest of this region are still going on. Reports of 84 dead in Libya and at least 5 dead in Yemen show that the autocratic authorities in the Middle East will not let their hold on power loosen easily.

And in the midst of all this, I was on vacation in Oman for the last two days, enjoying the view of pastel-colored mountains and ocean set against the sky. Is that fair?

Revolution is brewing, revolution is brewing. And I find myself here, sitting helpless at my computer.

From Egypt to Bahrain

2011-02-15T10:40:00.002+04:00

As Egypt tries to return to daily life, protests in the rest of the Middle East are bubbling up. The protests in Iran and Yemen over the last few days are getting lots of media attention. Let's hope that media spotlight keeps the protesters safer than they would be otherwise.

Bahrain, however, is given less air time. The protests that took place on February 13th and 14th, the second of which was called the Gulf state's "Day of Rage," have left at least 3 people in critical condition and 1 man dead. A video of the protests is spreading through Twitter. Watch it here:

To quote @JustAmira, "Look at how they shoot at close range. Please spread this video."

This is a protest that needs to get more media attention - at least to keep the security forces marginally more timid about attacking demonstrators.

Take a look at the pictures below, courtesy of Al Jazeea English.

Please share, and start talking about the protests in Bahrain. That is the first step towards a global discussion on the issue. And by starting this global discussion, we can keep the people of Bahrain safer than they would be otherwise.

Mabrouk, not Mubarak

2011-02-13T23:57:00.004+04:00

For the last thirty years, Egypt has been defined by the name of its leader, Mubarak. Now, three days after the ousting of this man and its streets still full of victorious protestors, it's defined by the Arabic word for congratulations, mabrouk.

Mabrouk, Egypt. After three decades of corruption and state terror, you came out on top. We're all praying that you stick to the path you're on, and become the first (or second, after Tunisia) real Arab democracy.

I think the best way to highlight this special moment is to share the experiences of an Egyptian friend who celebrated the fall of Mubarak with her fellow citizens at Tahrir Square.

Here is a note Yasmin Nouh wrote on her Facebook profile earlier today. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

If you want democracy, you will find it in Maydan Tahrir
First, May God reward the Egyptians with a smooth transition into democracy and a just leadership. Second, this post is a little overdue.

--- Parts from a day in Tahrir -- Wednesday, February 9, 2010

Although the entrance was lined with tanks and gun-clad soldiers, I felt like I was entering a sanctuary. A group of young men welcomed us with cheery chants, rhythmic drumbeats and warm smiles.

If you want democracy, you will find it in Maydan Tahrir – free, open and safe. I had entered a realm that did justice to one of the revolution's slogans: 2eed wahid. One hand. I found myself among artists, poets, doctors, engineers, farmers, the rich, the poor, families, children, Christians, Muslims, youth activists and those who were previously indifferent, the secular and the religious, all united against injustice.

As one poster in the square put it, "May God forgive you Mubarak. You made us Egyptians all love one another."

The people entering the square were divided into two areas – one where the men searched men and the other where the women searched women.

I was searched at three different checkpoints, one after the other upon entering the square. I was searched not by the army, but by the protesters. My broken Arabic made the first two women smile.

“I forgot my ID at my house,” I said.

The lady at the last checkpoint laughed at me, and said the same thing as the first two women.

“It’s fine. It’s fine. Not a problem. Just bring it next time, okay?” After a pat down, I was let through and entered a world completely different from the Cairo I had been living in. Clean, vibrant, and for the first time, I saw smiles emanating a fight for hope instead of a sorry acceptance of loss.

--------

Inside Tahrir, you will find a makeshift medical clinic near the entrance. It wasn’t located in the center of the square, because the fights between the pro-democracy protesters and the pro-Mubarak thugs took place near the entrance.

You will find multiple memorials honoring the 300+ revolutionary martyrs who died during the clashes.

You will find a large poster of the youngest martyr – a boy of nine – hung up behind the main stage area, along with many other signs with revolutionary chants written on them.

Outside Maydan Tahrir, in the rest of the city, you will find enormous piles of trash on the streets and their corners. Inside, you will find young men and women picking up newspaper remnants, garbage and plastic bottles, separating wastes from recyclables. They will ask you whether you have any trash, substituting the word trash for Mubarak.

“Do you have any Mubarak you would like to throw away?”

No. I had nothing on me, not even a small scrap. I looked at the ground to find a piece of newspaper, anything to throw away the regime, but there was nothing.

You will find men and women in sleeping bags nestled at the foot of a few army tanks.
"So they don't move," they explained to passerbys. And the tanks did not move - neither them nor the people camped underneath.

And when the time for prayer came, thousands formed into straight rows. And around them, others locked arms to protect those who prayed from the overwhelming crowd of people. Chainsmokers locked arms with Muslim scholars, and businessmen with villagers. Christians, even though they weren’t praying with the Muslims, would repeat the Imam’s takbeerat*, because it was so noisy, to help the Muslims in the back rows follow the prayer.

Inside Tahrir, you will find children on their fathers’ shoulders, waving shiny Egyptian flags, leading chants among the protesters. I saw one boy, maybe no more than 10 years old, with a bright face, but an aged voice.

“Ya Mubarak Ya Khasees, dem al-Masri mish rakhees.” (Oh Mubarak, You betrayer, the blood of an Egyptian is not cheap).

You will find women in niqab yelling at the top of their lungs, “Mish hanimshee, huwa yimshee.” (We’re not going away. He is going away). They broke stereotypes imposed on them (by the West and East alike) in minutes. They were not quiet nor meek and the only thing that had been oppressing them was their government, not the veils wrapped across their faces.

You will find women walking in business suits, some were foreign journalists and others were Egyptian workingwomen.

You will find vendors selling bread and traditional Egyptian desserts.

“Want Kentucky?” Some of them would jokingly ask.

(Some people claimed on Egyptian state television that the protesters were being paid and receiving free meals from KFC to protest against Mubarak).

You will find young men carrying bags of cheese and meat sandwiches, asking people in the crowds if they had eaten lunch. They would do the same thing later on for dinner.

You will find people selling red, white and black headbands - the colors of the Egyptian flag.

You will find white-bearded men side-by-side with youth chanting underneath a large Egyptian flag “Al-sha3ab yureed isqat al-nitham.” (The people want the order to fall down).

You will find groups of men and women with anger in their eyes, sitting down in the middle of the square and staring out into the crowds. You will find others with their heads down, reading the Egyptian newspapers. And others jogging across the square screaming chants.

You will find an old fala7i (villager), selling his shoes for seventy billion pounds (the same amount that Hosni Mubarak allegedly holds in his assets).

You will find groups of young women, who, for the first time, looked safe, in the place that was once infamously known for incessant cat-calling and hoot-hollering from men who had nothing better to do.

But now those same men had something better to do. They finally had an outlet, a way to express their frustrations in a dignified manner, instead of through self-demeaning cat-calls.

You will find a city of tents, where people of all different classes, ages and colors camped out, and were being served tea and sandwiches. Some looked calm and content; I could hardly see what the past 30 years had done to them. Others looked apprehensive and worried, waiting to revive a strong memory of better days that were too far behind them (Egypt used to be known as the Paris of the Middle East).

At the main stage area, a group of well-known Egyptian academics and leaders from various opposition parties spoke, ending each speech with a revolutionary chant. And although they were prominent and well-respected, it was clear who the real leaders on stage were - twenty and thirty-something year olds directing the stage, announcing updates in between speeches and paying close attention to the crowds' movements.

Right before maghrib prayer, a man from an opposition party said something I can never forget: "They say we can't have a democracy. They say we don't know what democracy is." He paused and pointed at the crowd. "We say, look at Tahrir sqaure. Look at everyone in Tahrir square, and right here is where they'll find the real democracy."

His words were immediately followed by cheers and then the mantra for the day echoed throughout the crowd, "2eed wahid. 2eed wahid." One hand..one hand..

The Friday of Martyrs

2011-02-11T13:00:00.003+04:00

Yesterday's eagerly-awaited speech by Mubarak was a complete let-down. After the military came out and issued "Communique #1," everyone thought that a military coup was about to take place. That wasn't what Egyptians wanted - they are protesting to create a secular democracy, not a military dictatorship. But it was a step forward. Mubarak was at least going to step down. And that was something to celebrate.

And celebrate they did. Egyptians filled the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, and other cities, laughing and dancing and waving flags. The days of Mubarak - who was the only leader many of the under-30 demonstrators knew - were coming to an end.

Then Mubarak spoke. And the demonstrators knew that this was no end. It was the beginning. The beginning of another period of sacrifice and struggle against this man whose ego is so big it is covering the reality that sits in front of his eyes. The people of Egypt have had enough of 30 years of corruption, paternalism, and state terror. Raising their shoes as he spoke (the ultimate insult in Egyptian culture) they made it clear that they have had enough of Mubarak. He has to go. And the Egyptian people are willing to let their blood spill to make that happen.

Blood may well spill. Today, after Friday Prayer, Egyptians had planned what they called the "Friday of Martyrs." This march is supposed to be a memorial for the over 300 men and women who died in the last 18 days of revolution. But with Mubarak's denial to step down and his promise to punish those who caused "disorder" in Egypt, today's "Friday of Martyrs" may be named after all the protesters who will die as they move to surround (and perhaps storm) the palace, the parliament, and the state-owned television and radio building. With the army stationed there to protect those areas, it is unclear what will happen.

In fact, the army is the tipping point in this revolution. The big question on the streets and news stations is: where does the army's loyalty lie? Th army's "Communique #1" and it's promise that the protester's demands will be "fully met" made people believe that a coup had taken place yesterday. It seems that was not the case. Was the army just helping Mubarak play his last trick on the Egyptian people? Or is there some sort of power-jockeying going on behind the scenes, with the army's "Communique #1" an attempt at pressuring Mubarak to step down?

Today, we will find out. As one Arab commentator said, the people will test the army this afternoon. This highly-regarded institution can no long make vague statements that allow it to sit on the sidelines. The Egyptian people will make its true intentions come to light as they march on the symbols of Mubarak's regime. Either the army will unite with the people, making this "Friday of Martyrs" a celebration of the freedom people have died for, or the army will back Mubarak, making this day live up to its name with horrifying amounts of blood spilling and bodies falling to the ground.

It is up to the army now. We can only pray that this instutution so highly treasured by Egyptians lives up to their, and our, expectations.

The New Arab

2011-02-10T12:15:00.002+04:00

Young, worldly, passionate, internet-savvy, and fearless. This is the new Arab face that the political developments of the last few weeks have unveiled to the world. First in Tunisia and now in Egypt, millions of young Arabs have taken to the streets. Their demands for governmental overhauls are fueled by liberal democratic values, their marches are organized through Facebook and Twitter, and their chants for change ring out in both Arabic and English. A far cry from the image of downtrodden people and reactionary terrorists, this is the globalized Arab generation that is stepping out onto the world stage.

The recently released Wael Ghonim is now perhaps the most famous representation of this new Arab face. Senior Google executive by day, he is pro-democracy activist by night. The 30-year-old’s Facebook page, “We are all Khaled Said,” detailed the brutal murder of a young man by Egyptian police and became one of the engines that drove Egypt to its “March of Millions.”

Ghonim gained international fame when he was kidnapped by Egyptian security on January 27th as he made his way to Tahrir Square. After his release from detention twelve days later, he gave an emotional interview in which he cried openly for the Egyptians who died in the protests but stressed that Egypt had to keep moving forward.

Having no affiliations with any political groups or ideologies, Ghonim represents the independent, average young Egyptian. This, combined with his bravery in confronting the government, has made him a favorite to lead the so-called “Youth of the Revolution.” A Facebook page asking him to lead the young demonstrators has, at this writing, already gathered over 124,000 supporters.

Down in the streets of Egypt’s major cities, the protesters inspired by the work of Ghonim and other activists are also reflecting the spirit of the new Arab. Aware of the need to cooperate with the international community, they decided to officially make their protests bilingual “for the sake of the international news agencies” that were covering the event, as one man on a megaphone announced to the thousands chanting after him. Immediately, the crowd switched from the Arabic chant “hurriya!” (“freedom!”) to English, saying “Mubarak has to go! Game over, game over!”

But the protesters didn’t stop there. Aside from international sensitivity, their incarnation as the new Arab displayed impressive courage and organization. While some lay down just inches away from the wheels of tanks so that the army could not enter Tahrir Square, others set up a “trash-collecting party” to keep the area clean. Elsewhere in the square, protesters set up everything from a hospital to a comic strip exhibition in the tents they had set up. According to various Tweets, they were even working together to come up with new ways to go to the bathroom without leaving the Square. Interviews with protester after protester showed that they were determined to stay highly organized to ensure that they could live up to their promise: “we’re staying here until the President leaves.”

While Ghonim and his compatriots have captured the world’s attention, young Arabs across the Middle East are beginning their own transformations into the new Arab. Away from the international lens, activists in Algeria, Syria and Saudi Arabia are stirring the local waters – quite literally, in the Saudi case. After a recent storm drowned the city of Jeddah for the third time in as many years, furious citizens raged against the government’s unwillingness to rebuild the city in countless YouTube videos and online articles. The average Saudi’s frustration spilled onto the street, with around fifty protesters leading a peaceful march through Jeddah. Terrified of what such marches could lead to, the Saudi government quickly dispersed the protesters – but only those operating outside cyberspace.

The face of the new Arab is quickly emerging in the Middle East. Autocratic Arab governments are terrified of it, while the international community is slow to recognize it. But this new Arab face, with its dedication to freedom, focus on democracy, and fluency in the technology that binds us all, will soon overcome its challengers and win the affections of its global peers. Then, it can step up to the international stage as a positive, progressive partner. With the Middle East so central to world politics, that can’t happen soon enough.

Egypt - Breaking the Silence

2011-02-08T10:05:00.007+04:00

The events happening in Tunisia and Egypt are helping Arabs in the Middle East and around the world speak out even louder against the autocratic regimes that have kept the region in stagnation for so long.

Arabs are shocked, nearly unable to believe that this inspirational surge towards freedom is coming from their own people. And they are proud, very proud, to be living this historic moment. Those of them who have long been speaking have raised their voices, and those who said nothing are now breaking their silence.

As the protests in Egypt and the developments across the Arab World unfold, my months-long online silence comes to an end. Sitting back and merely watching these events is no longer an option. It is time to act. Anyone dreaming of a better Middle East must act now, using whatever opportunity or talent they have to add fuel to a movement that is changing the face of the region forever. Painters, singers, protesters, news anchors - now is your time.

As for myself, I love stringing words together. So I will write.

Links:

10 things that happened in 2011 that make me proud of being Arab (Roba Al-Asi)
Egyptian security shoots unarmed protester (YouTube)
Arab-American hip-hop artists' Egypt tribute video (YouTube)

The Quran Project - Conclusion

2010-10-31T23:02:00.003+04:00

This post brings an end to my overview of Fazlur Rahman’s book, Major Themes of the Quran. After going through all eight chapters of the book, I feel that I’ve learned a lot. I hope you did too. There are many things he says that I agree with, and others that I don’t. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback on how you guys have felt about Rahman’s opinions, and that feedback ranges too.

I’m glad. Sharing Rahman’s work with you has started off lots of different discussions, all of which are important regardless of our religions or backgrounds. The Quran constantly tells us that it is a message to those who think, question and ponder. Let’s continue doing these things in order to better understand our lives and our selves.

Thanks for taking this small journey with me through Rahman’s Major Themes of the Quran. If you’re interested in finding out more about the Appendix sections I didn’t summarize, please get your hands on a copy of his book. It’s definitely worth reading.

Looking forward to sharing more with you in the future!

The Quran Project - The Emergence of the Muslim Community

2010-10-31T22:51:00.004+04:00

With the call to Islam, or “submission to God,” the Muslim (“submitting”) community began to form. Before this community could form, however, there needed to be a desire for this community from the people. The prerequisites for this community to form and the foundation that it was formed on are what Fazlur Rahman discusses in this chapter. He focuses particularly on: the Arab search for God, the concept of One Community, and the emphasis on “true” monotheism.

The Arab Search

“And they swore with all their strength that if a warner should come to them, they would be better guided than any other community.” (35:42)

Long before Muhammad began experiencing the revelations of the Quran, the Arabs were longing for God to speak to them. They were already feeling that their polytheistic faith was empty. A few looked towards Judaism and Christianity, but the majority did not find what they needed in those religions. They continued their search. This was a time of struggle for the Arab people, but it was necessary. Only by wholeheartedly searching for God will anyone eventually be able to find Him.

One Community

“Say: I believe in any and every Book that God has revealed.” (42:15)

When Muhammad began receiving revelation, he realized that he was in contact with the same Force that inspired Judaism, Christianity, and the earlier religions. Because of this, one of the Quran’s greatest calls was for the creation of one community. If God is one, and the message He sent to all His prophets is one, then all of humanity should be one.

This new One Community would include everyone that believed in God – regardless of gender, ethnicity and religion. Religion was something the Quran was particularly progressive about. Politics aside, all faiths are in the end islam, merely the Arabic word for submission to God. Once people realize that, they can begin to create the One Submitting (Muslim) Community. That is the Quranic ideal that Muslims, along with people of other faiths, struggle with until today.

The Straight Religion

“So set your face to the religion as a true monotheist; this is the primordial religion on which God has originated mankind … This is the straight religion.” (30:30-31)

The One Community that Muhammad worked to establish was based on what the Quran calls “the straight religion.” What that describes is the “true monotheism” of Abraham, who worshipped only God and nothing else. This is the original faith that all religions are based on, but the Quran’s claim is that other faiths deviated from this original call. What the One Community would try to do is go back to this original, primordial faith. By submitting ourselves to God and no one or nothing else, we become liberated from the problems and politics of this world, and are able to walk a path that leads us to our utmost potential.

The Quran Project - Satan and Evil

2010-10-31T22:40:00.004+04:00

What is Evil, according to Islam? Where did all forms of evil come from, and what role does it play in the life of humankind? Fazlur Rahman answers these questions in this chapter of his book, Major Themes of the Quran, by dealing with the following topics: the creation of Satan and Adam at the same time, Evil’s master strategy in this world, and the concepts of self-destruction and choice.

Created with Adam

"When We told the angels, ‘Bow down before Adam,’ they all bowed. But not Iblis, who refused and was arrogant: he was one of the disobedient." (2:34)

It is interesting to note that in the Quran, Evil (personified as “Satan”) doesn’t come into existence until Adam comes to existence. Before Adam’s creation, there was simply a spirit (jinn) named Iblees. Once God created Adam, He asked all of the beings in heaven to bow down to this new creature made from dust. Only Iblees refused to do so, and by disobeying God’s orders he became Satan. It was at that moment that Evil was created.

So the story of Evil began with the story of humans. Evil will live along with humans, since Satan promised to try to make humans stray from God until the Day we all come back to Him. Only with the end of the human story will Evil too come to an end.

Evil’s Master Strategy

"Satan has caused to look attractive to them the [evil] deeds they had been perpetrating." (6:43)

So if Evil will always exist as long as humans exist, we need to understand how it works to protect ourselves from it. Satan, the being that represents Evil, has a very simple “master strategy.” This strategy is to make the passing, temporary things in this world look much more attractive and important than they are, and to make the truly central and productive things in our lives look less attractive, less important and feel more of a burden. If we are able to recognize that, we can overcome the evil in ourselves and in our lives.

Self-Destruction and Choice

"Eat of that which God has given you as [good] food, but do not follow the footsteps of Satan for he is clearly your enemy." (6:141)

But what’s the problem with Evil? Why do we make such a big deal about it? An act is not evil because God just decided to call it evil for fun. An act is evil because God knows that this act eventually leads to our own destruction. If we are all allowed to steal or kill, we will lead to both the destruction of our moral selves and the destruction of our civilization. There will be no way for life to go on smoothly without such acts being denounced as Evil.

If evil leads to self-destruction, though, how can Satan be free to roam around and make us do his Evil? Well, he can’t. All he can do is tempt us towards evil by using his “master strategy” – making the good look bad and bad look good. We ourselves chose whether or not to “follow in his footsteps.” That is the test we face in this lifetime: whether we will fall for Evil’s passing tricks or chose what is lasting, which eventually leads us to success and to God.

The Quran Project - The Day of Judgement

2010-02-03T16:40:00.001+04:00

According to the Quran, there will be a Day of Judgement. On this day we’ll all be raised from the dead and face the consequences, both good and bad, for the deeds we did in our lives. The Quraysh, the powerful Arab tribe that Muhammad was a part of, found this part of his message one of the hardest to accept. Like many people today, they were extremely secular and thought of religion as one big fairy tale. To address this issue, Fazlur Rahman mentions three points: the need for the day of judgement, being made “public”, and the remaking of this world in the hereafter.

Need for Day of Judgment

“When the great cataclysm comes, that day man will recall what he had been striving for.” (79:34-35)

The end of the world is mentioned by many names in the Quran. One of these names is “The Hour.” This implies a moment when all human beings that have ever lived will suddenly become aware of each of their deeds. They’ll “remember” everything they did in their life, including everything they could have done but didn’t do. All actions have consequences, whether good or bad, and on the Day of Judgment (another name for The Hour) these consequences are revealed.

So the Day of Judgment isn’t just a time when some harsh God doles out the fates of poor, unsuspecting people. It’s a state of heightened consciousness, where we humans begin see much more than the limited things we could see while we were caught up in our lives. We recognize what our actions really mean, and because of that we have to move towards their consequences. It would be impossible not to, at that state of consciousness.

Being Made “Public”

“And the day when the foes of God shall be gathered towards the Fire … their own ears and eyes and skins will give evidence against them of what they knew.” (41: 19-20)

One the Day of Judgement, every thought and action a person has or does during their lifetime becomes public. The Quran says that people’s own bodies will be making these thoughts and ideas public if the people themselves do not chose to. The reason for this, according to Rahman, is to make humans conscious of their every thought and action in this life. If you know your thoughts and actions will never stay private, then you will want to ensure that those thoughts and actions are good. This is what taqwa (consciousness of God) is all about: being conscious of both your public and private acts, and bringing the separate public and private spheres together to have a character that this holistically aiming to be and do “good.”

The Hereafter – Remaking this World

“All praise to God Who has kept His promise with us and has given us the earth as inheritance; we will make our abode in its Garden wherever we will – what an excellent reward for those who do good!” (39:74)

At this point in the chapter, Rahman makes a very interesting statement. Most Quranic verses talk about the destruction of the world on the Day of Judgement, with God alone remaining indestructible. But Rahman says that in these verses, the universe as a whole isn’t being destroyed – only the contents inside it are. He then cites several other verses that seem to be saying that this world that we live in now will be transformed into The Garden (the Quranic name for Paradise). We humans, and the whole universe we live in, will be transformed into “the next creation” (29:20, 53:47).

I’m not sure why, but this section of the chapter shocked me. I’d always thought that Paradise was some place completely removed from this universe we live in – something much more elevated than this “lowly” world. But I like this idea of Paradise coming from the transformation of this very world we live in. It gives this world such a higher status, and a new respect in my eyes. And it gives you hope: in this very imperfect world is the potential for perfection. It won’t come without the help of the All-Merciful and All-Powerful, but it will come.

And what is this “next creation”? Obviously, it involves us humans being in a higher state of consciousness, as stated above. But what else? And if Islam doesn’t believe in reincarnation, why is this the next creation? Will there be more?

Well, that’s enough questions to keep one wondering for a long time.

Till the next post!

The Quran Project - Prophethood and Revelation

2010-01-16T14:41:00.003+04:00

Prophethood has been witnessed all over the world. It is a universal phenomenon. The Quran recognizes this, saying that it only mentions a small group of the countless prophets that existed in other times and other lands.

But who exactly were the prophets? And what is the nature of this “revelation” from God they claimed to receive? In this chapter of his book, Major Themes of the Quran, Fazlur Rahman discusses three things: prophets in general, Prophet Muhammad in particular, and the nature of revelation.

Prophets in General

“[We have sent] apostles who brought good news to mankind and warned them…” (4:165)

The prophets were extraordinary men (and women, according to some) who were extremely sensitive to the injustices of the world. They received Divine Messages that shook people from passively accepting injustice into actively rejecting it in their hearts and surroundings. They were fully human, and made mistakes. But their average conduct was so good that they serve as worthy models for humans to follow.

According to the Quran, although the Messages sent to each of the prophets were meant for the specific communities they lived in, they were also meant for humanity as a whole. All of the prophets preached the same general message: that there is One God who alone should be served, worshiped, loved and feared. Everything else in the world is a servant of that One God, and under the power of His law and command.

Muhammad*

“Even so did We inspire you with a spirit of Our Word; you did not know before this what the Book is, nor Faith – We have made it a Light whereby We guide whomsoever We will.” (42:52)

And who is Muhammad among the world’s prophets? According to the Quran, he is the last human to directly receive a Message from God – making him the “Seal of the Prophets.” His Message is the same as the Messages of the other prophets, but it is the Final Message, and goes out to all of humanity for the rest of time.

Muhammad was a shy and quiet man. He used to reflect on the injustices of his society, but preferred to meditate on those injustices in a mountain cave instead of involve himself in the politics of his people. That’s why he and his contemporaries were shocked that God’s Revelation came down on him of all people. He never expected it. In fact, a lot of times he found it a very heavy burden to carry.

Muhammad’s life, after first receiving God’s Revelation, became pretty tough. He was suddenly pushed into actively denouncing the injustices of society, which were based on worshipping false gods (like the idols that represented money and power) instead of the One God of the whole universe. Because this threatened the position of many powerful people in Meccan society, Muhammad and his small band of early followers were persecuted. Muhammad himself was accused by the high members of society of being crazy or possessed by an evil spirit. But through his reputation as “The Trustworthy One” (a title he’d earned among his people before becoming a prophet), his patience and his perseverance, Muhammad was able to eventually show the Arabs the Message God had sent him.

The Nature of Revelation

“Do they say the he [Muhammad] has forged [the Quran] as a lie upon God? If God wills, He shall seal up your heart [so that there will be no more Revelation].” (42:24)

In reading the Quran, it becomes clear the revelation is both internal to and separate from the prophet it is revealed to. What does this mean, exactly?

The Quran was internal to Muhammad because even though God sent it down from heaven, He sent it into Muhammad’s heart. And only after it came from Muhammad’s heart was it something that all humans could understand. Here, the Meccans’ accusation that Muhammad was possessed by an evil spirit is an interesting one. Because although the Quran strongly denies this, it does say that a “Spirit” (often called Gabriel) was involved in transporting the Message from God to the Prophet’s heart. It seems that God put this Spirit in Muhammad’s heart, and then Muhammad spoke the Quran in moments when he was inspired by this Spirit.

But just because the Quran came from Muhammad’s heart and lips doesn’t mean it’s from Muhammad. As the Message of God, the Quran is also separate from him, taking on its own “personality” and unfolding itself in a way that Muhammad sometimes did not like. In moments when he was weak, the Quran scolded Muhammad for not having faith in the Almighty. And at times when Muhammad wanted to make compromises with the unbelieving Meccans, the Quran pushed him to be uncompromising in his push for justice.

It was the powerful and overwhelming force of this Revelation that turned one of the most corrupt and unjust societies into a unique model of social goodness and justice. And it is this same Revelation that continues to capture the imagination of over a fourth of the world’s population today.

Thanks for reading. Till the next post!

*I’ll be writing “Muhammad” instead of “Prophet Muhammad” because this blog is both for a Muslim and a non-Muslim audience. And I’m not putting in the traditional “Peace Be Upon Him” after Muhammad’s name because, although its respectful, it’s not necessary. The earliest writings on Muhammad’s life did not have “Peace Be Upon Him” written after his name – this was a tradition that was created later. I mean no disrespect in doing either of these thing. I’m just trying to make what I’m writing more accessible to all readers of this blog.

The Quran Project - Nature

2010-01-12T20:20:00.003+04:00

The Quran gives us very little information on how and why the world we live in today was created. All it says is that God brought the world and everything in it into existence with the command, “Be.” It also hints at God “unfolding” the universe in stages – a process that took “six days” (but of course “days” here mean a different span of time than our 24 hour days), after which God went up to His Throne.

What the Quran does talk a lot about is nature itself – meaning the universe or the whole world around us. What does it say about nature? Fazlur Rahman, the author of Major Themes of the Quran, mentions three points worth reflecting on: how nature functions, nature as God's ultimate sign, and nature in relation to humans.

How Nature Functions

And the sun moves [along its course] to its resting place – that is the measuring of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing. And for the moon We have appointed certain stations, until it returns like an old curved stick. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor for the night to overstrip the day, each coursing in its own orbit.” (36:38-40)

When people try to explain how the universe we live in functions, they usually offer one of two explanations. Some people say that God makes the universe and the world we live in work through His direct commands, like a sergeant moving soldiers in an army. These people call themselves “religious.” Other people say that the universe we live in moves according to its own system of laws, usually labeled “Mother Nature” or “natural selection.” These people call themselves “scientific,” or “modern.” Today, there is a huge gap between these two explanations of how the world works, and they are often considered opposites: you either accept one or accept the other.

The Quran doesn’t see things in this way. In fact, it unites these two views, bringing together faith and science. On one level, the Quran acknowledges the impressive natural system that moves the world. The world works according to regular and reliable natural laws that create what seems like a self-sufficient system. But on another, higher level, God is always at work in nature. How? By creating the very laws that move nature in the first place. When God created the world, He also created the laws that make it function.

The best way to explain this is through an example. Imagine planting an apple seed. God isn’t peering over a fluffy white cloud, thinking, “Ah, she put the apple seed under the soil. Now, oh seed, I command you: grow into an apple tree!” According to the Quran, God created the world, and created the law that when apple seeds are put into the soil in the right conditions, apple trees will grow. The natural processes that allow apple trees to grow, that we call “science,” are respected. But the source and constant support of these laws, of science in general, is God.

Science and faith don’t contradict each other here. Science, or the natural law that moves the world, is a part of the system God created – it is God’s miracle, as we’ll see next.

Nature as God's Ultimate Sign

“Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the succession of day and night are signs for people of wisdom.” (3:190)

People belittle or rebel against the idea of God because they see nature as a complete, self-supporting system. When they want proof of God’s existence, they usually want to see “miracles” that somehow break the laws of nature. What they don’t understand is that nature (including its laws) is itself the miracle. It’s the sign that “proves” God’s existence – or, more accurately, the sign that points to the Creator and the Sustainer. The universe we live in didn’t have to exist. There could have just been nothingness. That fact that it exists, that we exist, is a miracle.

Nature, in the Quran, is considered the ultimate “sign” of God. If we really examine the world we live in, see the complex system of laws and processes that keep it functioning, we can only come to the conclusion that some great force is behind it, moving it. In fact, this sign is so great that the Quran seems to imply that if we as humans had paid attention to what nature was showing us, we wouldn’t even have needed revelations. God’s revelation, while of course divine, is merely “the clarification of the signs” seen in the universe around us.

Wow. Talk about giving nature and science (a.k.a. the study of the laws of nature) a high standing.

Nature in Relation to Humans

“It is He who has created all that is in the earth for you.” (2:29)

As I wrote in an earlier post, God gave us humans a mission when He created us: to establish a moral, or “good,” society. Nature, and the world we live in, was created as a resource for us to be able to fulfill that mission. We can’t function in nothingness – we need a place to live in, a place where our actions can take form. According to the Quran, that’s what the world was created for. We also need a place that sustains us, that gives us food, shelter and tools to be able to create a functioning society. Again, that’s why God created the world in the way He did. The world is here not to be abused by us, but to be respected as a gift from God that allows us to fulfill our divine purpose and live a good life.

Hope this made you see nature in a new, interesting light. Till the next post!

The Quran Project - Man in Society

2010-01-09T23:55:00.000+04:00

Commanding good and forbidding evil. This phrase, repeated constantly in the Quran, is the foundation for the moral society that the Quran says humans are destined to create. What are the characteristics of such a society? According to Fazlur Rahman, a society that commands good and forbids evil has many key characteristics, including: justice, a legal framework, and the promotion of active goodness.

A Just Society

For a society to be moral, it must also be just. One of the most basic ways to do this is create a society where people have equal rights and opportunities.

In the Quran, economic and social inequalities are sharply condemned. Wealth, although not a bad thing in itself, shouldn’t be hoarded by the rich – in fact, the Quran says that the poor and the needy actually have a right in the money of the rich. In order to protect society from economic inequality, usury was forbidden and zakat (a 2% tax meant to redistribute money to the state and the poor) was established. In addition, unjust social practices, like female infanticide and slavery, were either outlawed or began to be restricted in the Prophet’s time.

In reading the Quran, Islamic scholars and jurists stated that there were four rights that had to be protected in a society that commanded good and forbid evil: life, religion, property, and dignity. However, these rights also came with responsibilities – claiming rights without fulfilling responsibilities would lead to social decay and eventual corruption.

A Legal Society

In order for a society to function, it needs laws. The Quran’s views on creating laws is focused on principles. Whenever the Quran set down a law, it also explained (whether directly or indirectly) the reasoning behind that law, describing the principle that law was supposed to achieve. The principle is what matters, and the law set down by the Quran only stands as long as it establishes that principle. If at a later point in time the law set in the Quran no longer establishes the principle it was revealed to establish, then the law must be changed.

I love this concept because it shows how dynamic Islamic law is. It isn’t stuck in the past – in reality, it should always be changing to accommodate the new problems and issues society is facing. Of course, there are certain aspects of Islamic law relating to purely religious issues that don’t change. But the majority of Islamic law deals with societal issues – and the laws governing these issues should be always open towards revision.

It’s sad to see that many traditional Muslim scholars didn’t stick to the principles of the Quran’s laws, and instead stuck to the laws themselves. This made Islamic laws static, and unable to respond to the new needs of society. I hope we can see that changing in the future.

An Actively Good Society

According to the Quran, societies rise and fall according to morality. A society rises when it’s people are driven to doing good, and falls when people become corrupted by wealth and power.

How to prevent the fall of a society, and keep it just, moral, and prosperous? By taking the concept of taqwa (consciousness of God and our actions) to the social level. People in society shouldn’t just be good within themselves. They have to spread good and actively work to “prevent the rot” of society. There is little separation between the individual and society in the Quran, as neither can survive without the other. So when a person is good, they should spread that goodness in society. If that person doesn’t do so, and watches evil influence society without intervening in some way, that person is not considered “good.” According to the Quran, being good means spreading goodness to others.

That’s all for this post. More coming soon!

The Quran Project - Man as Individual

2010-01-07T16:45:00.003+04:00

At various points in its text, the Quran tells stories about the nature of humankind, and in describing this nature, shows how we humans can make the best of it. Reading through Fazlur Rahman’s chapter on “Man as Individual,” three major points in the Quran’s discussion on human nature are apparent: (1) fitra, (2) human weakness, and (3) the Middle Road and taqwa.

Fitra

According to the Quran, God gave all people a mission when He created them. This mission is called “The Trust”, and it’s the attempt to create a moral social order on Earth. In order to fulfill this Trust, God created all people with a basic nature that knows what is Good and aspires to create goodness in the world. This basic nature is called fitra. And although it can’t be destroyed or altered, it can be at least temporarily disturbed.

The Basic Weakness of Humans

How is this fitra disturbed? By one major weakness in people: the inability to see “the big picture.” People often find it hard to see beyond what they are doing now, or what they are experiencing now. People’s pettiness (da’f) and narrow mindedness (qatr) make them hasty, panicky, and unable to see the long-term consequences of their actions and reactions to the world.

This makes people jump between two extremes: either (1) having a sense of complete power over themselves and the world, which leads to pride and self-destructive selfishness, or (2) having a sense of no control and total powerlessness, which leads to despair and lack of self-reliance. Actually, people tend to fluctuate regularly between these two extremes, one day feeling like they’re on top of the world, and another day feeling like all is lost. The Quran calls this the “unstable character of man,” and it the cause of all our problems here on Earth.

The Middle Road and Taqwa

This unstable character of man isn’t a problem that the Quran tries to make sense of theologically – it’s a problem that the Quran tries to help us deal with in a practical manner. The Quran states that the key to living a positive, successful and moral life is in staying away from the extremes noted above. It is in taking what the Quran calls “the Middle Road.”

The Middle Road is a metaphor for living in balance in between the extremes of our unbridled power and utter helplessness. Living this balance is described in the Quran as taqwa – a word that is usually translated as “fear of God” but which better translated as “conscience” or “consciousness of God.” The root of the word literally means “to guard or protect against something,” and in the context of the Quran it implies protecting ourselves against the harmful or evil consequences of our actions.

Rahman says that the best way to understand taqwa is to say that although we chose our actions, the consequences and judgment of those actions are outside of our control. When we are fully aware of this as we act, we have true taqwa. So to live with taqwa is to live with conscience, being attuned to the world around us and always aware of what comes out of our actions. It is living in harmony with the laws of the universe (created by God), and only by doing so can we prosper in the long run.

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or thoughts, don’t hesitate to comment.

Till the next chapter!

The Quran Project - God

2010-01-03T13:05:00.003+04:00

According to Fazlur Rahman, the Quran’s main task is to open our eyes and hearts to God. If that is achieved, everything else is achieved, because everything in Islam (which literally means “surrender” to God) follows from the belief in God. However, the Quran doesn’t try to philosophically prove God’s existence. It offers reminders of God in signs that point to Him. These signs, though, can only be seen by those who have opened up their minds and hearts and are willing to see them.

In going through the first chapter of Rahman’s book, I was able to come across three major points that summarized the discussion of God: the necessity of God, the difference of God, and the mercy of God.

[Note: I’ll be using the male pronoun “He” to refer to God, as this is what has been traditionally used to imply gender neutrality. But this in no way associates God with the male gender. God is above gender.]

The Necessity of God

“The only straight path leads to Him – all other paths are deviant.” (16:9)

Why should we have the concept of God? This is the question Rahman poses at the beginning of his chapter. Why not just nature and the universe? Why complicate things with talk about a God?

Rahman answers this with the following.

According to the Quran, all of nature (meaning the universe) is one system. It works according to laws, which make it seem to exist on its own without outside support. But where do these laws come from? How were they put into place? In fact, where does nature itself come from? Although nature exists, it doesn’t explain its own existence. Citing the Quran, Rahman says that thinking about how nature originally came into being forces you to “find” (rather than prove) God.

The role of God in the Quran, according to Fazlur Rahman, is “strictly functional” – God exists because He must exist as the creator and sustainer of the world.

The Difference of God*

“Everything thereon is vanishing, there remaining only the Face of Your Lord.” (55: 26-27)

When we “find” God and recognize He exists, there are certain consequences that immediately arise from that conclusion. The most immediate and important of these show the difference of God.

God, by definition, can’t be an existent among other existents – or, as Rahman says, “an item among items.” According to metaphysics (the study of being and knowing, or the study of what is beyond physics) the Original and the Creator can’t share “being” with the borrowed and the created. This means that God is not a being that exists – that would make Him like us, which is shirk (“assigning partners with God”), the greatest sin to commit in Islam. Existance, as we understand it, is a human quality.

I found this last point jarring when I understood it properly. I always understood that God is not a person, or an animal, or a tree, or anything that I saw around me in the world. But as humans, we can’t understand God without using some human qualities to describe Him. So God, in my mind, was always some thing out there, to communicate with and experience. Some thing that existed out there, beyond the borders of the world. But God is not a thing, and God does not exist (at least in our understanding of existence). Being a thing and existing are qualities of this created world. God is above that.

So if God is not a thing, and does not exist, then what is God? Rahman says that God can best be described as a “dimension that makes other dimensions possible.” He gives meaning and life to everything. He is the all-enveloping, the infinite. He is “with” everything. According to Rahman, God is “the very meaning of reality.”

The Mercy of God

“He has imposed the law of Mercy upon Himself.” (6:12)
“My mercy comprehends all.” (7:156)

All of the above focuses on God’s majesty, greatness, power, and lordship over the world. But God, according to the Quran, is no distant bundle of power. God is much more intimate, “closer to [man] than his jugular vein.” How? Through His mercy.

God’s lordship and power over the world is expressed through His mercy. In fact, Rahman says that the Quranic worldview implies that God’s power, creation and mercy are the same one thing.

God’s mercy is exercised through creation, the sustenance of creation (especially man), and recreation in new forms. Creation is the most basic expression of God’s mercy, because it gave us existence, the greatest gift. (What we make of that existence later is up to us.) In addition to creating, God sustains His creation – in the case of man this sustenance is physical (providing the Earth as a source of food, shelter, etc.) and metaphysical (guidance and revelation). As for recreation in new forms, one example is how God returns to creatures who had purposely separated themselves from Him but now want to be reconciled with the source of their being.

Personally, I think that the idea of expressing power and ownership through mercy is something worth noting. We often think that when we have something, it’s our right to have it because it’s ours – and that’s that. But to really own something, according to the Quran, you have to care for it and nurture it – be it a house, a relationship with a friend, or your own body. True power and ownership is deeply connected to mercy and care. (Sounds a bit like feminist ethics to me!) With all of the wars and violence we see today, I think we could use a lot more of this understanding of power.

So that’s all for the first post. I hope you enjoyed it. Till next time!

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*Some readers have claimed that this section of the post is problematic and may need to be to be reworked. Please read the comments for clarification on the issue.

The Quran Project - Introduction

2009-12-31T13:20:00.001+04:00

The last few months away from my blog have been a busy time of learning. One of the things I've learned about is the concept of taking on "small projects" - transforming little enjoyable activities into ventures that you can consciously benefit from. Another thing I learned about is the benefit of sharing your doubts, questions and ideas with others - no matter how you think they might be perceived. As long as you address things respectfully, you can discuss any topic and get a lot from that discussion.

One thing that I've long avoided blogging about directly is Islam. I'm no scholar on the subject, so I was afraid that I would say things that I would later regret. Or that I would tread on peoples' toes. But I realized that things like that shouldn't be an issue as long as respect and a true intention to learn form the foundation of my writing. Which, hopefully, they are.

So with that in mind, I thought it would be appropriate to take on an Islam-related project during these three weeks of vacation that I have before my last semester of college. I've been wanting to read Fazlur Rahman's Major Themes of the Qur'an for a few months now, and my plan was to read it during this break. But instead of keeping this a solitary activity, I thought I could share it with all of you guys.

Enter The Quran Project. I figured that by turning my reading into a project, several things could happen at once: I can reinforce what I've read by summarizing it; anyone interested in knowing more about the Quran can hopefully get an interesting fact or two from what’ll be posted here; and most importantly, we can all gain from the different ideas that we share in any conversations that come out of this.

But why do I want to read Fazlur Rahman’s Major Themes of the Qur'an? Because of Rahman's unique approach to Islam's foundational text. Instead of trying to analyze the Quran on a verse-by-verse basis (as most traditional Muslim scholars have done) or focusing on the historical factors that may have influenced the Quran (as most modern Western scholars have done), Rahman tries to approach the Quran's actual text with a holistic view. This, he believes, is the best way to understand the message of the Quran. He offers a study of the Quran based on its major themes, and presents each theme by bringing together the different verses relating to it and discussing them in one chapter.

What I hope to do here is summarize the major points of each chapter into a single post. For the sake of time and efficiency, I'll try to stick to no more than three points per chapter. (Of course, if there's a fourth point I just have to talk about, I won't be shy and will indulge.) I'll also include some of my thoughts on the points; ideas I'd like to get other peoples' opinions on instead of have them floating around aimlessly in my head.

Then it's your turn. If you guys have any questions or ideas of your own that you'd like to share, please leave comments. Don't be shy. Whether you’re Muslim or not, whether I know you or not, whether you know a lot about the Quran or haven't ever touched it before, please feel free to join in. And invite your friends too! This is an open forum for discussion. All I ask is that we be respectful. Freedom of speech implies power, and as Spiderman’s (wonderfully quotable) uncle said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” If you do want to join any discussions that come out of this, please keep those words in mind.

So here's the list of Quranic themes I'll be going through over the next three weeks, divided by chapter:

God
Man as Individual
Man in Society
Nature
Prophethood and Revelation
Eschatology (Concerning Death/Final Judgement.)
Satan and Evil
Emergence of the Muslim Community
The Religious Situation of the Muslim Community in Mecca (Appendix I)
The People of the Book and Diversity of Religions (Appendix II)

I'll be posting up a chapter summary every few days, inshallah. I'm not too sure whether or not I'll have time for the appendices, but I'll try to get them in as well.

I look forward to getting started and seeing what comes out of this. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I will.

Till the next post!

Breaking Bread and Sharing Faith

2009-10-07T19:23:00.002+04:00

(Originally published on WireTap.)

For the 1.8 million Muslims living in America, last week marked the end of the holiest month of the year, Ramadan. During this month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, Muslims across the country recharged their spiritual connection to God in order to learn how to better live in accordance with the values of mercy, justice and peace.

The end of Ramadan brought an opportunity to apply those values immediately. Last week, a convergence of the Muslim and Jewish calendars brought together the holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Rosh Hashana, and the American adherents of these two religions found themselves celebrating their faith on the same weekend. This overlap of holidays has happened for the last four years, but due to calendar differences this may be the last time that Ramadan and Rosh Hashana come together for decades.

Recognizing the significance of the event, Muslim and Jewish students at Butler University organized an interfaith dinner where they could share in food, conversation and celebration. The night's agenda was simple: introduce the basics of each holiday to both communities, and open the floor for questions about the two faiths.

Speaking about the event, campus Rabbi Aaron Spiegel at first critiqued the general trend that characterizes interfaith dialog. "We in the religion world use the word interfaith much too often. And in my opinion, most of what passes for interfaith dialogue is not dialogue at all -- it's a lecture about why I'm right and you're wrong."

Yet at Butler University, Rabbi Spiegel felt that he had witnessed a true attempt at interfaith dialogue. "On the surface, the conversation seemed light and conversational. Yet, the exchange was profound. These young Jews and young Muslims genuinely shared with each other. There was no attempt at making nice; they genuinely liked talking to each other. There were no overt attempts at finding commonality; it was inherent. They recognized the humanity in one another."

This attempt to recognize the humanity in one another, to try and bridge the gaps created by prejudice and misunderstanding, is crucial for a country as diverse as America. By coming together to do so, American youth of these two faiths were making a statement. They would not let "political conflicts dressed in religious clothing" keep them from forming a community based on the values central to all faiths: peace and brotherhood.

The reports of a new bomb threat that have been unfolding over the last week are a critical reminder to all Americans of the importance of these values. As Muslims and Jews mark a new period on their calendars, let us hope that the activities of their representatives at Butler University remind us how to create the understanding necessary to nurture a nation that provides peace, liberty and justice for all.

For America, Malaysia Matters

2009-08-14T22:06:00.001+04:00

(Originally published on WireTap.)

What is Malaysia? A country at the edge of the map? A place with funny foods and foreign accents? A really green plot of earth, famous for.. rubber?

About two months ago, I landed an internship that dropped me into the heart of the Malaysian capital, stripping away these stereotypes to reveal a complex and dynamic Southeast Asian state. Between train commutes, Friday prayers at the National Mosque and dining like the locals at cheap food stalls known as mamaks, I got to speak to people, particularly youth, about their views of their country and how it relates to the United States. The answers I got to my questions were as interesting as they were surprising. These answers, from university professors to taxi drivers to young activists, made one thing clear at the end of my stay last week: for America, Malaysia matters.

As an American Muslim with an interest in international affairs, I already knew that Malaysians (60.4 percent of whom are Muslims) have reputations as moderate, peace-loving people. What I didn't know about was the deep cultural affinity Malaysians have with America — making it an opportune ally for the United States in the region. Malaysians' profound faith in democracy, as well as their unabashed admiration of the United States, surprised me at a time when the internationalization of democracy was losing ground and praise of the United States was rationed out with blushes and flustered excuses.

In my conversations, it became clear that what Malaysians like most about America is what they described as its culture of openness, the confidence it inspired in its citizens, and its legal foundation for democracy and equality - all things that they hoped to see more of in their country and around the world. What they didn't admire about the United States, of course, was the hypocrisy often witnessed in relation to these principles, usually manifested in racism towards minorities and foreigners.

As a majority Muslim country, Malaysia also represents a modern, “moderate” Islam that many Muslims around the world admire. Local groups, such as the Muslim Professionals Forum or their youth spin-off the Young Muslims Project, work to reconcile Westernization and modernity with Islamic values that stress tolerance, openness and acceptance. In this context, a positive American relationship with Malaysia will achieve two goals: first, it will show Muslims around the world that America is not anti-Islam and is open to cooperation with the Muslim world; second, it will help promote the environment needed to support the growth of the modern, moderate Islam seen in Malaysia.

Now is the best time to focus on deepening American-Malaysian ties. A partnership with Malaysia will give America a solid ally in Southeast Asia, as well as improve American standing in the Muslim world. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has already invited President Obama, who has well-known ties to the region, to visit Malaysia. What both leaders chose to do with this potential relationship will impact not only their two countries, but the greater international community.

Funny foods, foreign accents and colonial-era rubber are a thing of the past. It is now more important than ever that America makes high-potential partnerships with countries like Malaysia matter.

The Mamak Chronicles

2009-06-18T15:52:00.003+04:00

Ok, ok, forgive me. The new blog is finally up. Khalisah Stevens and Nour Merza are now writing of their Malaysian adventures exclusively for Minority Dreams!

The title of the blog is "The Mamak Chronicles." Wanna know why? Check out our first post, "Welcome to the Mamak," and you'll find out!

The second post is out too. Read and comment away!

The Mamak Chronicles at Minority Dreams.

On Home Turf

2009-06-08T07:36:00.004+04:00

We finished our third day in KL yesterday. I realized that it’ll be impossible for me to go over everything we do every day we’re here, so I’ve decided to dedicate each post to a particular theme related to what happened to me during the day. It’ll give my posts a bit of structure – which I’ll of course end forgetting about as I write and go off on random tangents. Khalisah and I are still trying to figure out how to get this two-person blog together, and we’re each doing our own thing until we do. We’ll see how this works out. (Her version of our Malaysian adventures can be found here.)

So this post: all about our neighborhood. Here we go.

Khalisah and I are living with Winnie, one of Khalisah’s Chinese cousins. Malaysians, by the way, usually come from one of three ethnic groups: the Malays, the Chinese, and the Indians. This is a pretty general outline, and since race is a major (and sensitive) issue here, I’ll have to address it more fully in another post. For now, I’ll just say that Khalisah’s family is Malay-Chinese, and leave it at that.

Anyways, Winnie’s apartment is one of the many apartments that line the streets of her neighborhood. At the ground floor of all these apartments is occupied by some sort of shop: laundries, internet cafés, mini-grocery stores. It’s great because anything that we need is literally just a few steps away from home. On our second day in KL, we wanted to explore the neighborhood a little bit, so we went around to different shops and discovered an internet café with pretty good rates. One Chinese man stopped us while we were passing by his store and asked us where we were from. “Sini!” Khalisah and her sister Amani told him. “Here!” He was shocked, because Khalisah and Amani are half Malaysian, half Caucasian, and I’m Syrian-Circassian-American. Not your average Malaysians. The poor guy, we left him horribly confused.

As we were trying to find our way around the neighborhood, we stopped at the mamak we’d eaten at earlier to ask for some directions. A mamak is a little restaurant that sells local Malaysian fare. Mamaks are pretty basic, they’re usually the size of a small café, but without any of the fancy trappings of your local Starbucks. The furniture is usually nothing more than fold-up tables and plastic chairs, and most mamaks are open-air with nothing but a few poles and an awning that keeps potential rain away. Cats walk between tables and customers’ legs, hoping for a few scraps of food. A few people run around taking orders and making the food and drinks – mamaks are usually family-run. Most of these places sell the same standard fare, but they all have their special touch. According to Khalisah, “each greasy little mamak has something to offer.” The one on our street is made of beautiful dark wood, stands on stilts, and has electric lamps all along its parameter, so it looks some fancy restaurant you'd find on a beach. We love it.

Walking around our neighborhood every day is such a great experience. I have this theory that you can never really connect with a place until you walk its streets. You have to feel the sun on your back and the wind on your face; smell the exhaust when cars zoom by; bump into people who are going to work or school or the grocery; get to know your local laundry man; and memorize the different trees that line the street and the cracks that crisscross the pavement. Only then are you really a part of the place you’re in. It’s this process of interacting with a place intimately and appreciating its details that transforms it from being just another building or set of streets to being something sacred: sacred because it is now part of your consciousness, part of your life.

We’ll be going up and down these roads every day for the next few weeks, so I can’t wait to be more acquainted with this neighborhood, this city, and this country. I’m sure they have endless stories to tell.

Building Ourselves in America

2009-06-08T07:33:00.002+04:00

(Originally published on Minority Dreams.)

As far back as I can remember, my family’s life has stretched across two parts of the world: America and the Middle East. We tore our hearts in two and buried them on opposite ends of the globe, traveling between them as we chased after a higher cause my dad labeled i’mar al-ard. Although the phrase doesn’t translate very well in English, it means something like “building the world,” and was my dad’s way of dedicating his life to doing something – anything – that would leave a positive impact on this planet he called home.

As he taught us later, building the world was a simple cycle in which we learned as much as humanly possible about the world we were in, while simultaneously working to make that world a better place. It was a wonderfully vague life plan that could adapt to any dream, take root in any soil. It would propel us around the globe, where we would meet all colors of people, and would (at least I hope) make us quite colorful as well. But my dad would never have dreamed, as he lay on his balcony in Syria watching the sky like a teenage Ché Guevara, that it would take him and his future family to America.

In preparation for his bit of building the world, my father spent his youth chasing knowledge the way he used to chase soccer balls in the alleys of Damascus. From the clutches of his family he ran to college in neighboring Halab. From a war that rained bombs in Halab he ran to Saudi Arabia to explore the uncharted territories of computer science. When machines didn’t satisfy his curiosity about the world, he set his sights on a place across the globe that was said to have enough libraries to satiate even Averroes. He and his wife packed all of their belongings in two suitcases, grabbed their two infants and jumped across a few continents and an ocean before landing in the middle of Chicago. They had nothing but those two suitcases, three thousand dollars in their wallets, and countless prayers to God – who they called by His Arabic name, Allah – that things would turn out alright.

My parents, when they set out, had no idea what was waiting for them in the country that was home to Hollywood and the White House. They would have been shocked to hear that they were going to stay there for over a decade, rather than the five years they had envisioned. They couldn’t foresee the Muslim communities that would take them in as long-lost cousins, my mom’s discovery of teaching and addiction to Burger King, my dad’s multiple lives as student, car dealer and activist, or their children’s mastery of English at the expense of the language of the Quran.

They didn’t know that a few years later they would make another life-changing trip, this time halfway across the continent, after my dad discovered an unmatchable political science program and a liberal Islamic Center in Los Angeles. They would fall in love with the San Fernando Valley, which eased the pain of homesickness with of all the Muslims it held in its lap and with its mountains, sisters of the mountains that encircled Damascus. I only understood what they were talking about years later when I drove through Damascus for the first time, and felt a sudden pang for the LA home I’d left when I was fifteen.

By the end of my freshman year of high school, we had decided to move to the Middle East, this time to Dubai. With two master’s degrees and a PhD under his belt, my dad felt that the time for his formal education was over. It was now to be the era of building. Building bridges between the two parts of the globe dearest to him. And as for us kids, it was time for us to formally meet the other half of our hearts – the annual summer trips we’d taken back to the Middle East were not enough to make us Middle Easterners. So we carted ourselves off to Dubai, not knowing whether to laugh or cry the whole way there.

Years later in the Middle East, my family is still under the spell of i’mar al-ard: that endless cycle of learning and working. And we’re still torn between our two halves. My dad makes trips back to the U.S. once or twice a year, my brother and I are doing our undergrad at a local American university with our eyes on New York for work and grad school, and my mom is a lover of all things organic in the best tradition of California culture.

But while we’re each busy trying to build our own world, it’s important to stop and recognize what built us. Among the many forces in our lives, America had no small role in helping us with our i’mar al-nafs, our “building the self.” It is the privileges, challenges and pleasures of American life that made us who we are today. And from the many lessons America taught us, perhaps the most important one is this: new worlds can always be created from those already existing. It’s a lesson we hold tight to, no matter what part of this Earth we find ourselves in.

First Day in Malaysia!

2009-06-06T08:23:00.002+04:00

Here's a quick entry from my Malaysia journal. A whole blog about this will be going up soon. Keep an eye out for it!

June 6, 200912:50 a.m. (Kuala Lumpur)

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon at 2. Kay and I thought that we’d finally feel that we’d made it to Malaysia once we got out of the airplane. But in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, we were in the same plastic bubble that airplanes enter and exit in every major city around the world. Signs warning of swine flu were the newest addition to the airport since I’d last been there, but they were also sprouting out in sister buildings around the world. Once we got outside, managed to stuff our in-Dubai-everything-bigger-is-better-sized luggage into Winnie’s tiny beige car, and were on the road to the city, we managed to finally feel that we were in
Malaysia at last.

The country is beautiful, and it’s my exhaustion after a long day that began with the end of two uncomfortable hours of sleeping in an airplane seat that keep me from describing it in the way it deserves to be described. It’s green, green in a way that a desert can never dream of being. The short mountains and shallow valleys that marked the whole road home were so saturated with trees that not a spot of brown dirt or grey stone could be seen. Even when we got into Winnie’s apartment, which was in the middle of the industrial neighborhood of Subang Jaya, trees grew everywhere.

We dumped our stuff in Winnie’s tiny sky-blue apartment, then lounged there for a little while before heading off again to get some necessities for survival – shampoo, towels, etc. After that, we went for a pre-midnight snack at a little restaurant on stilts next to Winnie’s house, where we had satay, nasi ayam, and Milo Ice (a cold chocolate drink that’s very popular locally). Earlier that afternoon, on our way home from the airport, Winnie stopped at a nice rest-stop where I had my fist Malay meal of the trip. It was nasik lemak, which was coconut soak rice with anchovies, chilli, peanuts, and other fillings wrapped in banana paper. Delicious, but halfway through the meal I realized that my body might not by ready for Malaysian street food, and worried that I’d have to pay for that tantalizing meal for the next few days with some indigestion or something. Thankfully, I’ve been having Malay street food all day and I feel perfectly fine. Inshallah things’ll stay that way.

I wanna stay and write about all the details of going to the rest-stop, the mall, and the restaurant. How I could feel so many people staring at me, and how I was suddenly very conscious of being blue-eyed and white. I look different enough from everyone around me to seriously stand out. It’s pretty funny. But I can do that tomorrow, when I can actually think after a full night’s sleep. We’ll be going to the Central Market tomorrow too, so that’ll give me lots of material to work with.

But one thing before I go, because it was random and interesting and I might forget it. When the Maghrib adhan went off, Winnie got up from the sofa we’d been lounging on while watching Malay dramas to close the apartment door that had been since we’d arrived. All the flats in her apartment have two doors, one regular door like most apartments around the world have, and then a few steps outside that metal bars surrounding the flat entrance like a cage, with a bulky silver lock hanging heavily from it. That metal cage door is kept closed when we’re inside the flat, but the door is left open so air can circulate and neighbors can communicate (or spy on each other) more easily. It’s an interesting way of living, keeping yourself physically connected to the outside world even while in your home.

Anyways, at the Maghrib adhan, Winnie got up and closed the apartment door. Then she closed all the windows in the house. Why, I asked? “Because spirits roam mountains, forests, and apartment corridors at sunset, so you have to close your homes to them so they don’t try to come in,” came the answer. I’d heard a similar story from a Pakistani friend, and here I was hearing it again from a Malaysian. Pakistani women even cover their heads at maghrib so that the spirits don’t seep into their hair and then get tangled in it forever. Malaysians just try to stay home at maghrib, Winnie told me. It’s safer that way. Some cameras even captured the images of these spirits as the sun set, especially as they made their way across the threshold of a house. Stay inside, lock the doors and windows. It’s better.

Now it’s almost 2 a.m., and the air as sticky as honey spread across my body. Better get some sleep. Gnite.

"Milos" by Anis Mojgani

2009-05-29T00:50:00.002+04:00

If everyone could hold tight onto feelings like these, all those yucky things that blot the world - war, greed, you know the rest - would be gone.

Breaking Through Poverty: Chicken a la Carte

2009-05-25T22:50:00.001+04:00

Originally published on WireTap.

A little girl digging in a trashcan for spaghetti.

I couldn’t erase that image from my mind after a friend recently showed me a film on the poverty and hunger caused by globalization. Directed by Ferdinand Dimadura, the film Chicken a la Carte is a six-minute tour of the world of an impoverished Filipino community that lives in stark contrast to its country’s urban elite. Whereas well-off teens dine at the biggest international food-chains, this community lives off of the scraps left behind in trashcans after closing time.

This isn’t just happening in the Philippines, the film reminds the viewer in the end. Scenes like this can be found all over the globe, from the streets of Los Angeles to the slums of Bangladesh. Around the world, we have 25,000 people dying of hunger every single day. 25,000 people. What’s more scary is that this statistic is probably outdated, since Dimadura made the film back in 2005. With a global economic crisis on our hands, how much further will this number climb?

The whole economic crisis facing us today came about because of one very old human problem: greed. People in key decision-making positions wanted just another car, or just another house, or just the pleasure of knowing they have an extra million or so set aside. So they let things spiral out of control.

And let’s face it, this crisis is partly our fault as well. Those of us who live in a culture of consumption that doesn’t separate want from need, that throws aside the barely bought for the just released, and expects nothing less than free refills with our supersized meals while people are living off of a piece of bread a day. We are not innocent.

But it’s not because we’re evil. We all care about our kids, our neighbors and our friends. Heck, we even care about those people in far-off parts of the world that news broadcasts and films like Dimadura’s thrust in our faces every once in a while. We feel sorry, wish we could do something, and then drown back into our own lives until we are reminded of them again. A vicious cycle.

But one we can break. Although this global economic crisis is making things more difficult for a lot of us around the world, it also gives us an opportunity to reevaluate the culture of consumption we’ve awoken to find ourselves in. This is a culture that provides relative luxury for a minority at the expense of an impoverished majority. It is also a culture with a built-in time-bomb: things can only go so well for so long before the system implodes on itself. And when that happens, the circle of privilege shrinks even further, throwing many of us out to join those already in the fields of global poverty.

As we work towards a solution for our current crisis, we have the chance to recreate the culture we have found ourselves in.

But will we take that chance?

If we do, we have the power to transform films like Dimadura’s from stark portrayals of our current reality into fading images of a distant memory.

Religion Rising

2009-05-19T23:55:00.004+04:00

"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive."

These are the words of Joseph Campbell, one of America's most famous mythologists. A quick glance at the daily headlines or a look around your classroom or office reflects the truth written in the lines above. People, no matter where they are or what they are doing in the world, want to feel that their life has worth. That it is happening.

In our world of scientific discovery, we have emphasized science and reason at the expense of the aspects of ourselves that give us a sense of wholeness, meaning and "happening." Unlike civilizations before us that made matters of the material and spiritual realms compliment one another in a way that made us whole, we have pushed ourselves to the edge of where reason can take us while keeping us sane.

Maybe that's why there seems to be a rise in the number of people "defecting to faith," as reported in a New York Times article a few weeks back. Such people, in choosing to turn to God and religion, affirm their belief that "[w]e are more than cells, synapses and sex drives. We are amazing, mysterious creatures forever in search of something greater than ourselves."

An increased emphasis on the mythical and the spiritual will no doubt change society. But it will only be a change for the better if we free ourselves from our traditional ways of viewing religion, God, and our relationships with one another. Otherwise, we may well have a crisis on our hands.

Link:

"Defecting to Faith" - New York Times

This is America

2009-05-10T09:40:00.002+04:00

Mos Def's New York-inspired intro, followed by Beau Sia's "Asian Invasion," followed by Jason Carney's "Southern Heritage."

Enjoy.

Bahrain Working for Workers?

2009-05-07T09:50:00.001+04:00

Bahrain is the first Gulf country to finally bring an end to its sponsorship system. Under this system, foreign workers who come into the Gulf states are almost completely under the control of their employers. Workers can't enter or leave the country, or even switch jobs, without the employer's consent. This has led to lots of abuses over the years, and to countless cases of exploitation. It's good to finally hear that the Gulf states are making a move on this issue.

Interested in reading more? Here are some links:

"Other Gulf States may also scrap the sponsorship system" (Gulf News)
Bahrain to end "slavery" system (BBC)
Bahrain to end labor sponsorship by employees (Forbes)

Falling Back in Love With America

2009-05-06T00:40:00.000+04:00

(This is a delayed article, originally posted on WireTap.)

"Why do they hate us?"

These are no longer the words that come to most Americans' minds when talking about the world beyond the borders of the United States. After President Obama's first trip overseas, Americans can breathe easy when their leader goes to represent them in the cities of Europe or the Muslim world. Because instead of getting a pair of shoes thrown at him, this American president had endless cheers and seas of admirers following his every move.

President Obama has indeed charmed his way around the world. From Strasbourg to Istanbul, huge crowds came out to greet him, waving flags and hoping to shake his hand. In Prague alone, over 30,000 people waited for hours just to catch of glimpse of him and the First Lady before he gave a speech on nuclear proliferation. The president delighted European youth with a taste of home-grown American politics when he held town hall-style meetings in which he gave them - and not the ever-inquisitive journalists - the chance to ask questions about everything from American-European relations to the economic crisis. The Obama couple even (quite literally), “touched” the British royalty, with the President presenting an iPod to Queen Elizabeth, and the First Lady embracing her – an act that could have been a major breach of protocol. But instead, for the first time in her public career, the British monarch returned the embrace.

President Obama can’t seem to go wrong.

But despite his popular reception by most Europeans, there are many at home and abroad who are critical of the President’s first trip overseas. "I think there was relatively little coverage of policy, partly because no one wanted to shatter the dream," says Adam Boulton, the political editor of UK-based Sky News. Just like in America, critics are saying, people around the world are projecting their hopes onto President Obama – often at the expense of seeing the real man and his very real policies before them.

While such criticism isn’t unfounded, and is even necessary to keep the new American administration on its toes, it doesn’t acknowledge President Obama’s major achievement: this one man has managed to infuse people around the world with a renewed belief in … themselves. And that’s why the President is so popular outside the U.S. He doesn’t just signify a shift in the foreign policy of the world’s major superpower. He embodies the potential that all countries’ leaders and citizens have to steer their countries towards change and improvement.

The world has entered into a love affair with the new American president. Some are warning that it could end in heartbreak if his administration doesn’t deliver on his promises. But from what we’ve seen, the benefits from this relationship are worth the risk.

Breaking Homes and Hearts in Jerusalem

2009-05-03T01:05:00.003+04:00

(This article is also available on Minority Dreams.)

If home is where the heart is, then the hearts of countless Palestinians are being shattered as Israel continues to demolish Palestinian homes in Jerusalem.

Last Friday, the United Nations released a report on Israel's demolition plans for another 1,500 homes in East Jerusalem, based on Tel Aviv's claim that the homes were built without permits from Israel's Jerusalem municipality.

There are lots of issues with Israel's claims about what it calls a "planning crisis" in East Jerusalem. First of all, Israel's control of East Jerusalem itself is not recognized by the international community, as it illegally annexed the city after the 1967 war. But although Israel's control of East Jerusalem is unlawful, Palestinians have to deal with the facts that it created on the ground, applying for permits to build their homes on land that has belonged to their families for generations.

This brings us to the second issue: the Israeli authorities have only set aside 13 percent of East Jerusalem for Palestinian residents. Much of that area is already crowded, and with the Palestinian population jumping from 66,000 in 1967 to 250,000 today, Palestinians have been forced to build their homes "illegally," according to the Israeli government. And finally the third issue comes along, namely that few Palestinians who apply for permits within the designated Palestinian area of East Jerusalem are actually able to obtain them.

If the Israeli government goes ahead with its plans for solving its "planning crisis," at least 28 percent of all Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem are at risk of demolition. That's at least 60,000 Palestinians at risk of becoming homeless. Recognizing the situation that could arise from these plans, United Nations has called on Israel to immediately halt its demolitions, and provide real solutions for the housing crisis in the Holy City.

The international community must put pressure on Israel to end this inhumane eviction of Palestinians from their traditional home. It is both illegal and a serious obstacle to any progress on the peace process. Arab newspapers like the secular, pan-Arab al-Quds al-Arabi are calling Israel's actions in East Jerusalem "ethnic cleansing," indicating the level of anger felt on the Arab street. Similarly, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called the demolitions "unhelpful," and EU diplomats have described them as illegal and said they "fuel bitterness and extremism."

The Palestinians have fought, and continue to fight, for their rights under the state apparatus of Israel. But this is one fight that they cannot win on their own. All those who claim to support human rights and international law must rally together to bring an end to Israel's unlawful demolition of Palestinian homes. That way, the Palestinian people can focus their energies not on picking up the pieces of their shattered hearts, but on working towards the peace that both they and their counterparts in Israel so desperately need.

Links:

End Palestinian demolitions in Jerusalem, UN tells Israel (The Guardian)
U.N. Seeks End to Razing of Homes in East Jerusalem (The New York Times)
UN calls on Israel to end evictions (Al Jazeera English)
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions

Day 101

2009-04-29T01:00:00.004+04:00

President Obama's first 100 days in office are now comfortably settled in that untouchable realm called the past. Funny to think that just a few months ago, we didn't even know if we'd be getting these 100 days.

What do you think of the U.S. President's actions since his inauguration? Organizing for America (run by the Democratic National Committee) set up a website where you can review the changes the Obama Administration has implemented during his first 100 days in office. Take a look at them at the link below and judge for yourself!

Foundation for Change, by Organizing for America.

Discovering What's Truly Asia

2009-04-27T01:30:00.003+04:00

We've all seen those "Malaysia, truly Asia" commercials. My family saw them so much on T.V. a few years back that we decided to actually visit the country to get a taste of a completely different part of the world. We'd seen Europe, America and the Middle East, but Southeast Asia was a place we'd never really had exposure to.

So we whisked ourselves off to Malaysia for about a week to see what it was all about. We stayed mostly in Kwala Lumpur ("KL" for us cool people who know the local lingo), so we didn't get to see as much of the country as we wanted. But even though the capital city is nothing like the rest of the country according to my lovely Malaysian-American friend, even being in the most globalized part of the country was a shockingly "Asian" experience for us.

For one thing, it rained almost every hour or two. It was really weird having to carry an umbrella around in the summer - tropical weather was something completely alien to us. But that's probably why the country was so green. After years of living in deserts (LA and Dubai), seeing all that foliage made us dizzy. In a good, I'm-drunk-on-nature, type of way. Then there was the food. Sweet and savoury - together?! That was completely bizarre to my family's Arab palate. But delicious. Then of course, there were the people, effortlessly friendly and speaking the most interesting language. Their words bounced around like little rubber balls - nothing like the rhythm of English or Arabic. Or French. Or Spanish. Or any other language I'd been exposed to, for that matter. I loved it.

So, I spent a week in Malaysia - I mean KL. That means I now officially knew all about the region. Right?

Gwahaha, I laugh at such foolish thoughts.

Over the last few weeks, I've been getting more "Asian" exposure than I've ever had in my American- and Middle Eastern-dominated world. Just speaking to some friends, attending a lecture, and flicking through random websites - nothing too intense. But even doing that revealed a whole other world operating outside my realm of consciousness. I mean, I know there's a lot I don't know about. But to be almost completely ignorant about a whole region? Wow. Thank god I have a whole lifetime to learn. I'm pretty excited to get to know that part of the world.

Wanna join me? Here's a map to get you started.

And here are some links!

Southeast Asia on Wikipedia (The not-so-original, but easiest, place to start.)
The Southeast Asia section of Asia Times
The Malaysian Insider (Since this post featured Malaysia, a Malaysian newspaper would be good to mention. Check out the Opinion page, it's seriously cool!)

National Cleavage Day?

2009-04-07T00:30:00.002+04:00

I was going through the pages of Alternet when I came across an article on something I'd never come across before: National Cleavage Day.

The blogger who was writing about this was furious. National Cleavage Day (which took place on April 3rd) was a "holiday" being promoted by Wonderbra as a form of female empowerment.

The Wonderbra website explained the campaign with the following:

WONDERBRA has won a firm victory for social upliftment. Their NCD [National Cleavage Day] Party, whose constant, non-discriminatory support policies assure that both the left and the right remain empowered and uplifted, will now be in effect immediately.It was only through this extensive campaigning for a woman´s right to be wonderful, that NATIONAL CLEAVAGE DAY, on Friday 3rd April 2009, has now been declared a PUBLIC HOLIDAY.

Now, I won't deny that Wonderbra's public relations and advertising teams are good with words. That's not my issue here. They're paid to make anything sound good.

What I don't like about this whole campaign is how it attempts to cover up purely commercial interests with flimsy claims of female empowerment. I'm all for a woman's right to choose what to wear (or not to wear), but the way Wonderbra is using women's bodies to sell their products completely contradicts what their National Cleavage Day is all about. Women's movements have long been trying to desexualize the female body in public, and all National Cleavage Day does is promote highly sexualized images of women in the public sphere.

I thought the way the author of the Alternet post presented the issue was rather telling.

I shit you not.
A quote from the sponsor's spokesperson (Wonderbra's Samantha Peterson): "It gives women a chance to be beautiful and glow in the furtive, yet appreciative, glances their cleavage evokes from men," she said.
Male gaze ruled crucial! Film at eleven!
Sigh.

At its core, National Cleavage Day isn't about female empowerment. It's just another campaign following the not-so-ancient adage, "sex sells."

Here are two links to other women who've blogged about this:

What Rush Limbaugh and Al Qaeda Have in Common

2009-03-28T15:50:00.001+04:00

Originally published on WireTap.

Many forms of extremism exist in today’s world. Islamic extremists, the group with the most airtime in the “extremist community,” are perhaps the most obvious example. Vehemently opposed by mainstream Muslims, these people use Islam to promote archaic and often outrageous ideals about society, and commit atrocious acts of violence and bigotry. But extremism doesn’t stop there. It can cloak itself in other garbs, and it isn’t limited to the world beyond America’s borders.

Within the United States, the form of extremism recently getting the most attention is the infamous Rush Limbaugh’s version of Republicanism. Earlier this month, neoconservative journalist David Frum wrote a Newsweek article slamming Limbaugh’s brand of GOP politics:

"And for the leader of the Republicans? A man who is aggressive and bombastic, cutting and sarcastic, who dismisses the concerned citizens in network news focus groups as "losers." With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence—exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we're cooperating! Those images of crowds of CPACers cheering Rush's every rancorous word—we'll be seeing them rebroadcast for a long time."

Limbaugh’s years as the voice of American conservatism have seen him combat environmentalism, ridicule feminism, and dismiss the Abu Ghraib torture scandal as “emotional release” for soldiers. And that’s just for starters. The single-minded promotion of his ideals and aggressive attitude he holds towards people and policies not deemed “conservative” enough (including Republican ones) have colored every part of his political and ideological campaign.

Now, it’s obvious that Limbaugh’s shade of extremism doesn’t present the same threat of violence and destruction as Al Qaeda’s, for example. But what it does have in common with extremist ideologies around the world is the following: it reduces complex realities into black and white caricatures of right and wrong, good and evil. It refuses to understand, or even acknowledge, other ways of viewing the world, setting the stage for what may be unnecessary clashes of ideology.

As the world grows smaller, extremism becomes increasingly dangerous. With distances shortened by the communication revolution we’ve witnessed over the last decade, extremists have access to a wider audience than ever before. And in times of difficulty, extremism gains further appeal. The insecurity fostered by the war on terrorism and the global economic crisis drives people around the world into the arms of extremists, who offer simple solutions for problems that seem beyond our control and comprehension. These solutions, however, are based on a narrow understanding of reality that can only lead to conflict.

Extremism then, in all its forms, must be stopped. But before that can happen, it must be recognized as extremism. In the Islamic case, both Muslims and non-Muslims acknowledge that the values and actions of militants and ideologues speaking in the name of Islam are a form of extremism that cannot be accepted. Similarly, the boorish and ignorant positions promoted by the likes of Rush Limbaugh in the name of the Republican Party must be rejected as extremism, not given increased airtime and newsprint by a media culture that relishes loud slogans and easy entertainment.

In this case, Frum’s article is a step in the right direction. But how willing is America, along with its peers in the international community, to leave behind the undemanding cookie-cutter solutions offered by extremists, in favor of the more complex answers that can form the basis of lasting peace and security?

"Closed Zone" - Opening a Door for Understanding

2009-03-12T16:00:00.001+04:00

People say that Israelis and Palestinians will never come together for peace. Well, it seems that those people haven't come across initiatives like Gisha.

Meaning "access" or "approach," Gisha is an Israeli not-for-profit organization whose goal is to protect the freedom of movement of Palestinians, especially Palestinians living in Gaza. It is run by a group of Jewish and Arab activists and legal practitioners who are working against the Israeli army's legal and military efforts to turn Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, into ghettos.

Recently, the group launched a 90 second animated video on the closure of Gaza. You can read about the animation, "Closed Zone," on the group's website here.

Sound interesting? Watch the video below. By allowing us to understand and empathize with one another, maybe groups like Gisha can show us that peace isn't completely elusive - even in the Holy Land.

Can America Learn from Iran?

2009-02-24T09:00:00.001+04:00

Originally published on WireTap.

It’s not often that we see the words “America” and “Iran” in the same sentence – at least in a context not relating to friction or war. For the first time in years, however, we have reason to put the names of these two countries in sentences that allude to cooperation and mutual respect. Why? Because former president Mohammad Khatami, the major proponent of reform in Iran, is running for a third term in his country’s elections later this June.

For most Americans, the Iranian political experience has been nothing but a series of failures after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. To say that Americans can learn from Iran therefore seems counterintuitive. However, a closer look at Khatami’s attempts at reform in Iran provides a lesson for all of us in the United States, particularly for the Obama Administration and its supporters.

To start with, the parallels between Khatami and the current U.S. president are rather striking: both men have experience living in foreign countries and mixing with other cultures, are considered progressive reformers within their country’s political spectrum, and entered their first presidential races as the underdog. Defying all expectations, both men won their elections and went on to lead their nations. At the start of Obama’s term, hopes are extremely high, just as they were at the beginning of Khatami’s.

However, it is here that Obama and his supporters must take heed of Khatami’s story.

A gradualist like Obama, Khatami wants to promote progressive change without overthrowing the system his country is founded on. During his earlier terms in office, he advocated democracy, freedom of expression, civil society and the greater inclusion of Iranian citizens in the political decision-making process – but all without overstepping boundaries that he believed would cause a backlash in the conservative circles that controlled most of the country. If he offended too many conservatives on too many issues, he could have easily been removed from power, which would have undermined the whole reform project he had in mind for Iran.

His followers, however, wanted immediate change. What Khatami saw as calculated political moves, much of his supporting base saw as timidity and compromise on the ideals of freedom and reform. After a number of Khatami’s reforms were undermined by conservative hardliners, many of these supporters became disillusioned with him. Because of this, they did not come out to vote in the subsequent elections, allowing a conservative president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to come into power.

What Obama and his supporters must take from this story is that change takes time. Sometimes a leader has to balance between that and stability to ensure that change does take place. Iranians learned this the hard way, and after four years of conservative leadership, they are now struggling to get the very same man they had thrown aside back into the center of power.

Can America learn from Iran instead of repeating its mistake, so that the foundation it is setting for progressive change does not fizzle out within a generation? And, if elected, will Khatami be able to strike a more effective balance between continuity and reform? If the answer is “yes,” both American and Iran can show the world that change, anywhere, is possible.

Excuses + a Philosopher

2009-02-21T22:10:00.000+04:00

I know I've been gone for a week now, but my workload managed to somehow triple itself in the last few days. I've hardly had a chance to even glance at the news. But I'm back! The only thing is, I might be posting at a slower pace than I've been these last few months, so apologies in advance. Working on balancing out my schedule.

I want to leave you with something, though, before I log off. I'd been hearing about Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher, for a while now. Yesterday, I decided to finally take a look at his most famous work, Meditations. The text is divided into 12 different sections, or "books," so I thought I'd read the first one to get an idea of what it was about.

The last thing I'd expected was to get hooked. After going through the first book, I read the second one. Then the third. Before I knew it I had read all 12 books, and the afternoon I was supposed to be studying for my midterms in was gone. But it was worth it.

I was really drawn to two of his major topics: the unity of the world and his views on human conduct. He seemed to be leaning towards some sort of pantheism, if I understood his work correctly, or at least arguing that we are all part of one single entity. And his ideas on responsibility towards society and one's self were pretty inspiring. He holds high standards for individual human beings. I'd come across similar standards in different scriptures, but seeing it so beautifully laid out by this "mere mortal" was a surprise.

Interested? Check him out for yourselves. Here's the link I read his work at:

The Meditations, translated by George Long

Till the next post!

Entering Persepolis

2009-02-11T19:40:00.003+04:00

My "wacky history professor" (as he likes to call himself) recently gave me a copy of the graphic novel, Persepolis. Written by Marjane Satrapi, it's about Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution as seen through the eyes of the author in her early teenage years.

At first, I was a little sceptical about the novel's historical accuracy. I didn't know much about it, except that it had been turned into a film that won the Jury Award in the Cannes 2007 Film Festival. I also knew the author was from a family of dedicated Marxists, so I was weary of the book having strong ideological leanings. I wanted as unbiased a view of Iran's Islamic Revolution as possible.

Reading the novel, it's obvious what Satrapi's biases are. She pokes fun at the veils she and her classmates are suddenly forced to wear, suggests that all religious Muslims are fundamentalists, and equates Marx with God further in the book. But that's part of what makes Persepolis what it is: the novel is her story. It is Iran, Islam, the West, and society all seen through her eyes.

Regardless of whether or not readers identify with her world view, they are able to appreciate her version of history. And what is history if not the conglomeration of people's individual stories? You listen to as many of these stories as you can, then try to create a version of the story based on what makes most sense to you.

Satrapi's version of Iran's Islamic Revolution is not to be missed. It is a passionate, insightful view of the turbulent events that took place in the early years of the Revolution. Read the novel or watch the movie, and you'll have one insider's story of Iranian politics and society at the time. It's another view of the world to keep in mind while trying to figure out what happened in our recent collective history, and where that history is taking us today.

Hamas's Humiliating Blunder

2009-02-07T20:50:00.000+04:00

The Gaza crisis of last January did something unprecedented in the Arab World: it unified almost all Arabs in support of Hamas. Prior to the crisis, opinions on Hamas were divided in the region, but since then, almost all Arabs came to see the group as a legitimate armed resistance against the Israeli army.

This last week, however, Hamas made a mistake that has seriously harmed their image in the Arab World. They seized international aid supplies that were coming into the Gaza Strip through the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). After their stores were raided at gunpoint for the second time in the last few days, UNRWA announced that it is suspending its aid to Gaza until its supplies were returned and it had assurances from Hamas that such actions would not be repeated.

Hamas's move has come under fire from various quarters, particularly in the Arab World. Al-Quds al-Arabi, for example, recently published an editorial called "Hamas made a mistake, and must rectify it." In the article it bashed the armed movement's actions, saying that they seriously undermined the lifeline of aid that trickled into Gaza. International aid agencies are sorely needed in Gaza, and pushing them out of the Strip through such selfish action did not help ordinary Palestinians living there. The newspaper stated:

وربما يفيد التذكير بان ممثلي وكالة الاونروا كانوا اكثر ايلاما لاسرائيل من صواريخ المقاومة، عندما تصدوا بشجاعة للعدوان الاسرائيلي، وفضحوا جرائمه في حق الاطفال والنساء، وتحدثوا بطرق مؤثرة عن معاناة ابناء القطاع تحت
الحصار التي هزت الرأي العام العالمي بأسره.

It may be important to remember that UNRWA's representatives were more harmful to Israel than the resistance's rockets: when they courageously confronted Israeli aggression, exposed Israel's crimes towards the rights of women and children, and spoke passionately about the suffering of Gazans under the blockade in a way that shook international public opinion to its core.

The article acknowledged that Hamas has long been aggitated by UNRWA's refusal to help a wider range of Palestinians in Gaza - the agency only distributes aid to those with the status of "refugee." Hamas rightly states that most Palestinians in the Strip are facing the same problems, whether or not they have the refugee label. al-Quds al-Arabi, however, reminded its readers that UNRWA is, by definition, an agency created to aid refugees and refugees only. Hamas can't make the agency violate its own laws according to the Palestinian group's whims.

In the face of similar public pressure, Hamas has apologized for its seizure of UNRWA supplies. Hopefully, they won't resort to such tactics again. It's only through cooperating with international institutions like UNRWA that they, or any other groups, can improve the situation of those in Gaza - or indeed, any other part of Palestine.

A Turkish Tangent

2009-02-05T01:20:00.002+04:00

Some have claimed that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had no right to take the position that he did in Davos earlier this week. They cite Turkey’s past relationship with Armenians, Greeks and Kurds, even going back to the Ottoman Empire to bring up evidence of blemishes on the “Turkish” record of human rights.

While the present Turkish government, or indeed the Ottoman Empire, aren’t perfect, the claims mentioned above overlook the current situation in Turkey and the recent efforts by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to address such issues. They also overlook the dynamic grassroots movements across all sectors of the country that demand the government revise its official position on issues from free speech to the Armenian genocide.

Turkey is in a stage of transformation at the moment, and it’s important to remember that change takes time in these types of situations. The AKP, and Erdogan, can’t overturn decades of official policy relating to issues like that of the Kurds overnight. Why? Because those policies are deeply rooted in the Turkish military’s “secular” and “nationalist” ideology. The military has held a dangerous amount of power since the country was established, overthrowing various governments that it did not deem “nationalistic” enough. To achieve any of the positive changes they’ve set out in their charter, Erdogan and the AKP need to stay in power. And doing that involves a risky political dance around the military’s sensitivities.

Despite that, the AKP has managed to make some strides in issues that have long been considered taboo in Turkish politics. Below are some random excerpts from two articles that discuss Turkey’s stance on the Kurdish question. Read the articles themselves, and do some more research, if you’re interested in getting a better understanding of the shift in Turkish politics regarding issues such as this one.

Turkey raises hopes of peace with Kurds - The Guardian (2007)

As well as securing a national victory on Sunday, Mr Erdogan scored a remarkable triumph in the Kurdish south-east, doubling the vote of his AKP or Justice and Development party in mainly Kurdish areas to win an absolute majority of the vote with 52%.

"The AKP beat us. The government now has complete power and legitimacy," said a Kurdish official in the regional capital of Diyarbakir.

Having received such a vote of confidence from the Kurds, Mr Erdogan is unlikely to alienate them ...

In addition to the AKP's electoral success in the Kurdish areas, the main Kurdish party in Turkey, the DTP, took 23 seats, putting it in the new parliament for the first time since 1994. The DTP is seen as the political wing of the PKK. The Turkish election system is stacked against it by setting a 10% national threshold for representation in parliament. The DTP beat the system by running candidates as independents.

"That will make a difference," said Hizsar Ozsoy, a Kurdish analyst in Diyarbakir. "There's definitely a chance for a political opening."

The Erdogan camp has been trying to open political channels to the Kurdish leadership in Iraq for months, but has been stymied by the military top brass and the outgoing hostile president of Turkey.

Behind Major Changes for Turkey's Kurds - Canada's Embassy Magazine (2009)

Many of the changes percolating within Turkish society are linked to the electoral victory of the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AK) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which came to power in 2002 and was re-elected with a sweeping majority in 2007.

Despite widespread distrust of the AK Party's Islamic background, especially amongst ultra-nationalists and the military, Mr. Erdogan initiated a series of political and social reforms that permitted greater protection for basic human rights, including for minorities. (He was also receptive to Greek efforts to lessen tension between the two NATO allies over territorial disputes and Cyprus.)

... [R]ecent actions directed against Erdogan have diminished his commitment to promote further reforms in order to appease opponents, especially the military, perceived as wanting a tougher line towards Kurdish militancy and PKK insurgents based in northern Iraq's Kurdistan province.

Whereas many within the global community are convinced reforms and meaningful changes are necessary to deal with the current problems confronting various societies, in Turkey, change can be a highly divisive issue with no one sure where that country's current changes will ultimately lead.

Showdown in Davos

2009-02-03T00:50:00.000+04:00

Earlier this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a televised interview with Israeli Prime Minister Simon Peres. After listening to Peres justify the killing of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, Erdogan said that he needed to reply to his Israeli counterpart's remarks. The moderator only gave him a minute or so to speak before cutting him off. Erdogan protested, saying that Peres had been allowed to speak about the Israeli point of view of the Gaza crisis for 25 minutes, while he (Erdogan) was allowed only half that time to speak earlier in the interview. When the moderator continued to interrupt him, Erdogan said that he wouldn't be returning to Davos again, got up and left the stage.

Normally, I would say that Prime Ministers should hold themselves up to a higher standard of conduct. But the fact that it was the Turkish Prime Minister who acted this way makes me think twice before saying anything of the sort. Turkey, after all, has long had a peaceful relationship with Israel - in fact, it has perhaps been the friendliest Middle Eastern neighbor to Tel Aviv.

On March 28, 1949, the Republic of Turkey became the first Middle Eastern country to recognize Israel. Since then, the two countries have cooperated militarily, politically and economically, and they became trade partners due to their geographic proximity and friendly ties. In addition to all this, Turkey has been a driving force for peace between Israel and many states in the Arab world. Most significantly, it was conducting indirect peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, two countries that have been on a collision course for decades.

The fact that this longstanding Israeli ally is outraged by Israel's operations in Gaza, and the Israeli Prime Minister's subsequent justification of his country's actions, is perhaps a reflection of the world's growing impatience with Israel's conduct in the Palestinian territories. For 60 years now, Israel has violated all forms of international law in its occupation of Palestine, from expansion through the creation of illegal settlements, to the subjugation of Palestinians to what some have called apartheid-like policies. And the loss of life witnessed under the Israeli occupation is a whole other issue in and of itself.

Last month's attack on Gaza reminded the world of the violence and death that have resulted since Israel's creation in 1948. Six decades on, it seems that people are beginning to say enough is enough. The Palestine/Israel Question must be answered, and soon. Before any more lives are lost. Justifying an attack like the one on Gaza does not get us anywhere closer to a solution, and that seems to be the message Prime Minister Erdogan hoped to send through his decision to leave Davos.

It seems like many of us across the world have listened up. Let's hope that the Turkish Prime Minister's message will be taken to heart by those who are in the position to change the course of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Only then can this period of bloodshed come to an end.

Read the transcript of the interview here, and watch the video of Erdogan's comments just before leaving the Davos interview below:

Some reactions to Erdogan's move:

Mixed reactions to Erdogan's Davos showdown - Sunday's Zaman
Erdogan hailed as 'new world leader' after Davos walkout - EurActive.com
EGYPT: Erdogan hailed as a hero - Babylon and Beyond (LA Times Blog)

Obama Engaging (and Embracing?) the Muslim World

2009-01-28T23:25:00.005+04:00

President Obama looks like he's starting his term by keeping at least one of his campaign promises: reinventing engagement with the Muslim world.

In the first nine days of his presidency, Obama has moved to show evidence of the new attitude he hopes his new administration will take towards the Middle East and Muslims around the world. Rob Reynolds, Al Jazeera English's senior Washington consultant, notes several examples of the U.S. president's new position on the Muslim world:

Just minutes after taking office, President Obama extended a hand to the Muslim world by asking to create a relationship based on mutual respect. Later, he made his first telephone call to an international leader: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In addition, Obama has spoken about the humanitarian cost of the Gaza crisis "as a concern in and of itself, rather than a product of Hamas provocation." Finally, Obama is now calling on both Palestinians and Israelis to "return to the negotiating table" - emphasizing that both sides must be willing to make difficult compromises to achieve what has been an elusive peace.

But Reynold's analysis doesn't even cover it all. Obama recently gave his first interview as president, with none other than the Arabic news network Al Arabiya. In doing so, he sent a clear message to the citizens of the Arab and Muslim worlds - stating that the United States is ready to address them, not as pawns in some political game of Middle Eastern conquest, but as full human beings, as equals whose hopes, needs and dreams matter. He also sent Middle Eastern and Muslim governments messages of their own: their interests will be considered more fairly in the U.S.'s new foreign policy, and the time has come for a paradigm shift in American-Middle Eastern relations .

As Steve Clemons of the Washington Note said, Obama "has provided a new punctuation point in American foreign policy," and these acts of "humility" towards the Middle East can provide the basis for a completely new relationship with the region.

Not bad for the new President. But there is still a long way to go.

Israel's fresh assault on Gaza through its bombing of the Rafah tunnels - a lifeline for ordinary Gazans unable to access basic necessities like bread because of Israel's economic sanctions - will be the first practical test for Obama's policies towards the Middle East and Muslim world. How he handles this situation may indicate just how seriously the President will take the promises he has made to the people of those regions. That, in turn, will affect the extent to which the world's 1.5 or so billion Muslims will be willing to cooperate with the U.S. President on building an international community based on peace, trust and reconciliation.

Watch President Obama's Al Arabiya interview below, and read the full transcript here.

Speaking of War Crimes...

2009-01-26T23:40:00.005+04:00

Words, as well as the meanings and connotations attached to them, will be extremely important in the coming weeks as the international community attempts to try Israeli soldiers for war crimes in Gaza.

I was reading Saree Makdisi's book this morning, Palestine Inside Out, when I came across a quote that reminded me of just how powerful words are in conflicts like that of Palestine-Israel. Makdisi is a scholar of English literature, and in the course of his studies has become fascinated by the use of language in the realm of politics and propaganda.

My scholarly interests have served me well in reading and writing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which the interplay of language and politics has a special, almost unique importance. Whether the barrier that Israel is constructing in the West Bank is conveyed as a "wall" or a "fence"; whether Israeli housing units in the occupied territories are described as "neighborhoods," "settlements," or "colonies"; whether various personalities or movements are represented as "moderate" or "extremist"; whether violence directed against civilians is thought of as "terrorism" or "collateral damage": all these distinctions are both linguistic and political. Simple word choices both express and - more importantly - generate political effects. Language and politics are inseparable in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and it is virtually impossible to understand what is happening without paying particular attention to the ways in which language is used.

With this in mind, institutions like Amnesty International (or any other groups demanding justice for those devastated by the Gaza crisis) must be extremely careful with the language and definitions they use as they attempt to bring Israeli soldiers to court.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has long been a battle, not just of weapons, but of words. And in an international culture based on the instant spread of information, the wrong word, in the wrong place, at the wrong time can undermine the best of ideas and intents.

The First Steps Forward

2009-01-21T23:35:00.001+04:00

President Barack Hussein Obama.

Just his name signals a transition in American history.

Like most other people, I'm excited. But, also like many others, I'm wary of all this excitement. After months of poetic rhetoric, the time has come to actually start getting some work done. And work takes time. That's something I'm afraid will upset some of us. People seem to think that once President Obama gets settled in office, he'll wave some sort of magic wand and solve all our problems. Well, that's not happening, and we have to keep reminding ourselves that. The President himself reminded us of it again and again in his inauguration speech.

President Obama's speech felt rather symbolic of his coming term. People had such high expectations for it, but it fell kind of flat. Not that it was a bad speech - it covered all the necessary points in clear, organized prose. It also had some poetic parts, as when President Obama described "why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."

But rather than the expected pomp and splash, the President gave a restrained, almost somber speech. Whether this was by design or a failure on the speech writers' part, I think it was pretty appropriate. It signaled a sense of maturity. The time of waving banners and speaking in slogans is over. Reality must settle in: there's a lot of work for us to do, and it'll be hard work.

But it'll be worth it.

Already we're seeing, on an international level, how President Obama is starting to usher in change. As an Arab-American, I've been keeping up with the Arab news, seeing how Arabs are gauging this Presidential transition. And the Arab World, while still struggling to recover from the horrors of the Gaza crisis, is generally optimistic about America's new president.

Al Quds Al Arabi, a relatively independent, secular, and aggressively Arab nationalist newspaper, just published an editorial about how the election of President Obama is restoring faith in the democratic system in the Middle East.

Speaking of America's democracy in light of President Obama's inauguration, Al Quds Al Arabi's editors said:

صحيح ان هذه الديمقراطية تعرضت للخطف من قبل عصابة المحافظين الجدد، ومن ثم جرى توظيفها لخوض حروب وارتكاب جرائم في حق الانسانية، مثلما حدث في العراق وافغانستان، ومساندة مجازر اسرائيلية في حق العرب في لبنان وفلسطين ومصر... ولكن الصحيح ايضا انها نجحت في ان تحول بلادها المكونة من مهاجرين من مختلف الاعراق والاديان الى الدولة الاعظم في التاريخ.
"It is true that this democracy was abducted by a gang of neoconservatives, and then used to engage in wars and commit crimes against humanity, like in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to back Israeli massacres against Arabs in Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt ... But it is also true that this democracy succeeded in transforming its country, made up of immigrants of different races and religions, into the most powerful nation in history."

This is just the beginning of what President Obama can do for America's foreign policy, as well as the country's image in the international community. Demonstrating the spirit and practical results of true democracy - not a paper maché democracy used to advance U.S. interests - is the first step towards building international relationships based on mutual trust and respect. And that is the only way towards any sort of peace and stability we hope to have in the future.

These next few days, weeks and months will show how President Obama will handle the challenges he now faces as the most powerful man in the world. They will also unveil the plans he has for the American people these next few years.

Until then, let us keep in mind the new President's words:

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

Lead the way, Mr. President. The world is watching.

Introducing Karen Armstrong

2009-01-19T22:45:00.002+04:00

Most of you who know me personally have some idea of my interest in philosophy and religion. Those of you who know me very well have probably experienced one of my endless questioning rants on God or mysticism or religious tradition. So it is probably no surprise to you that I'm very intrigued by Karen Armstrong, an ex-Catholic nun who left her order and went on to become one of the greatest scholars on world religions.

I'm currently reading Armstrong's Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, which is a very scholarly, balanced and insightful book. I've also read and listened to some interviews with her online, which have helped me see a new way to approach religion and myth.

At the moment, I can't find much to say about Armstrong's ideas. I'm still absorbing everything, seeing where they fit in relation to all of the other stuff I've been reading. So instead, I'll let Armstrong speak for herself.

"Going Beyond God" - An article outlining some of her ideas, mostly in the form of an interview, from Salon.com.
"The Freelance Monotheism of Karen Armstrong" - A radio interview with her, hosted by American Public Media.

Below, I leave you with some of Armstrong's own words.

Religion is hard work. It's an art form. It's a way of finding meaning, like art, like painting, like poetry, in a world that is violent and cruel and often seems meaningless. And art is hard work. You don't just dash off a painting. It takes years of study. I think we expect religious knowledge to be instant. But religious knowledge comes incrementally and slowly. And religion is like any other activity. It's like cooking or sex or science. You have good art, sex and science, and bad art, sex and science. It's not easy to do it well.
* * *
Sacred texts have traditionally been a bridge to the divine. They're all difficult. They're not a simple manual -- a how-to book that will tell you how to gain enlightenment by next week, like how to lose weight on the Atkins diet. This is a slow process. I think the best image for reading scripture occurs in the story of Jacob, who wrestles with a stranger all night long. And in the morning, the stranger seems to have been his God. That's when Jacob is given the name Israel -- "one who fights with God." And he goes away limping as he walks into the sunrise. Scriptures are a struggle.
* * *
[O]ur theology, I think, should be like poetry, a work like the Qur'an...
Now a poet spends a great deal of time listening to his unconscious, and slowly calling up a poem word by word, phrase by phrase, until something beautiful is brought forth, we hope, into the world that changes people's perceptions. And we respond to a poem emotionally. And I think we should take as great a care when we write our theology as we would if we were writing such a poem, instead of just trotting out an orthodox formula, or an orthodox definition of God, or a catechism answer, so that when people listen to a theological idea, they feel as touched as when they read a great poem by, say, Milton or Dante.
We should take as great care with our religious rituals as if we were putting on a great performance at a theater because ritual — and theater, indeed, was originally a religious ritual designed to lead us to transcendence instead of just mechanically going through the motions of our various rites and ceremonies, trying to make them into something absolutely beautiful and inspiring, because I do see religion as a kind of art form.

So What Exactly Do I Call You?

2009-01-17T14:50:00.001+04:00

History has a funny way of changing names, labels, identities and realities as time goes by. A group once considered "terrorists" can morph into "freedom fighters" and "patriots" in legends and schoolbooks if the right side wins. The British, for example, considered those fighting in the American colonies upstart terrorists, but now we hail those same people as the righteous fathers (and mothers) of the United States of America.

I wonder how history will treat Hamas further down the road. Because already, almost all Arab television networks call Hamas "the resistance." Before the Gaza crisis, there was a degree of controversy about the group - but now, in the face of Israel's merciless onslaught against Gaza, there is a general consensus in the Arab World about Hamas's role as fighters for justice and liberators from oppression.

Also interesting to see will be how history treats Israelis who speak out against Israel's policies regarding Palestinians, including what some are calling the Israeli army's genocide in Gaza.

What got me thinking about all of this was Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise movie about life at the end of the German Reich. The film is about the German resistance against Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. It's fascinating to see how those trying to undermine Hitler were vilified at the time, whereas now they are honored.

There were fifteen German attempts on Hitler's life while he was in power. Fifteen. And we hardly know anything about them, or more importantly the people behind them, because of how thoroughly they were crushed by the Nazis. But it's at least somewhat heartening to know that history gave those resisters some recognition for their efforts a few decades down the road.

I wonder how history will treat the "terrorists" and/or "resistance fighters" we find in all parts of today's world, from China to Spain, later on.

Until we find out, I guess we can entertain ourselves by watching a bunch of Tom Cruise films. Here's the trailer for Valkyrie. Enjoy!

Dubai DOES Care!

2009-01-14T23:40:00.001+04:00

Living in Dubai can be a pretty strange experience. You share just over 4,000 sq km of space with over 2 million people of hundreds of different nationalities, for one thing. That's enough for a lifetime of continuous culture shocks, mixes and clashes.

But another thing you notice in Dubai is the extreme wealth that lots of people parade around. Most of the white-collar expats who come to the emirate are here to make a few quick bucks and head back home in a few years. They're here for money, so broadly speaking, making and spending money becomes almost all they do. BMWs and Mercedes Benzes are a common sight on Dubai's roads, as are Ed Hardy hats on guys' heads and Chanel bags on women's arms.

In this (in)famously materialistic city, you sometimes feel like your very soul is being sucked out of your body. There's almost no real sense of community, almost no form of civil society.

Almost.

Today, I saw another side of Dubai. Dubai Cares, a UAE charity organization, set up what they called the "Gaza Aid Package Project". They need about 150 volunteers every day for the next week to help package school kits and hygiene kits to send to the children of Gaza. They put up the event on Facebook, asking people to help in any way they could, for any amount of time they could spare.

The response was overwhelming. Today was the first day, and at least 300 people showed up. The hall we were in was packed with people unloading boxes, sorting school supplies, and stuffing bags with pencils and notebooks. Walking from one area in the hall to another took some serious maneuvering if you didn't want to run into people or get plowed down by a cart of boxes.

The participants were truly representative of Dubai: they were from all over the world. We had Spaniards, Japanese, Americans, Egyptians; Muslims, Christians, Hindus, atheists; and the list goes on and on. We had kids in their school uniforms, businesspeople coming in straight from the office, and couples with their newborn babies.

Everyone was so excited to be there. The atmosphere was electric. People were yelling greetings across the hall, chatting brightly as they packed bags at different tables, hugging friends they would randomly bump into, and cheering after every announcement the organizers made. The experience was completely different from anything I've ever seen or done in Dubai.

And because of all that excitement, we worked at top speed. The volunteers did their job so efficiently, in fact, that the organizers ended today's session an hour early. I even heard that because we worked so hard, we packed almost all of the bags that we were originally supposed to pack over the course of the whole week. I don't know how true that is, but it must be at least somewhat representative of the work we did. Anyways, the organizers are ordering in a lot more supplies so that we don't run out of work to do over the next few days.

It is so encouraging to see people in one of the richest places in the world taking an personal interest in having a positive impact on those less fortunate than them. I don't know how much effect our efforts will really have on the kids in Gaza. But seeing all those people from across the globe together in that hall today, trying to do something, was wonderful. Even if it doesn't change the situation in Gaza, it's definitely changing something inside of us. Being exposed to that sort of atmosphere can plant seeds of greater efforts for change in the future.

Dubai, I must say - I am proud, impressed and inspired.

Thanks to all of those who were out there today. And for anyone who is interested in joining us, here is the location and the timings in which you can volunteer:

January 14 - 20, 2009
Venue: Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) – Emperor Hall
Location: On Sheikh Zayed Road, behind Emirates Towers
Weekdays: 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Friday January 16, 2009: 2:00 -6:00 p.m.
Saturday January 17, 2009: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

See you there!

"Riding on Fire" - The Life of a Gaza Paramedic

2009-01-12T22:15:00.001+04:00

An excerpt from Ewa Jasiewicz's account of life as a paramedic in Gaza over the last two weeks:

Yesterday around 1am we were called out to a strike in the Moaskar Jabaliya area. The area was pitch black, our feeble torches lighting up broken pipes streaming water, glass, chunks of concrete and twisted metal. ‘They’re down there, down there, take care’, people said. The smell of fresh severed flesh, a smell that can only come from the shedding of pints of blood and open insides, was in the air. I got called back by a medic who screamed at me to stay by his side. It turned out Id been following the Civil Defence, the front line responders who check to see if buildings are safe and put out fires, rather than the medics.

The deep ink dark makes it almost impossible to see clearly, shadows and faces lit up by swiveling red ambulance lights and arms pointing hurriedly are our guides for finding the injured. ‘Lets get out of here, lets get out’ say the guys, and we’re leaving to go, empty handed, but straining to seeing what’s ahead when a missile hits the ground in front of us. We see a lit up fountain of what could be nail darts explode in front of us. They fall in a spray like a thousand hissing critters, we cover our heads and run back to the ambulance. One of the volunteers inside, Mohammad, is shocked, ‘Did you see? Did you see? How close it was?’

Read the whole article here at Counterpunch.

Rapping the Revolution

2009-01-10T23:55:00.001+04:00

It's amazing how people can take the worst situations, and turn them into art.

Ramallah Underground is a band that does just that. Based in Ramallah, the male trio that makes up this bank are forging a new sound that they hope can give a voice to Arab youth in Palestine and the greater Arab World. Moving past the mostly mindless pop of mainstream Arabic music, they combine the despair often felt in this part of the world with messages of hope and raw energy that urges the youth in this part of the world to fight on for a better life.

All this, combined with good, good music - what more can you want? Here is one of their songs, "Nateejeh Bala Shughul," meaning "Result Without Work."

Enjoy.

Reading While the Bombs Still Drop

2009-01-07T10:40:00.003+04:00

Gaza's still happening. You can find it all over the news.

This post, though, I want to step back from the horrors of what's going on there (I'm lucky enough to be able to do that) and look at the more general issue of Palestine.

In between work and keeping an eye on the news in Gaza, I've been reading a book by Raja Shehadeh, called Palestinian Walks. The book documents seven walks that the author took in the hills of Palestine over the last few decades. Shehadeh describes the land he's spent his whole life living in, which serves as a bridge into his memory and his Palestinian identity.

It takes very little to trigger the shift in Shehadeh's thoughts. On one walk, he comes across a qasr, a traditional stone dwelling of Palestinian farmers. This takes him back to memories of his grandfather's cousin, Abu Ameen. On another, Shehadeh is looking for a tree under which he can read, and a whiff of pine tree odour gets him started on a mental conversation about the emergence of modern colonialism in Palestine.

I think what I like most about Shehadeh's book is how he tries to show us Palestine for what it is, not as some imagined place that he read or heard about. He describes this idea better than I could hope to. I leave you with excerpts of Shehadeh's Palestinian Walks (pp. xii-xiv) below:

Palestine has been one of the countries most visited by pilgrims and travellers over the ages. The accounts I have read do not describe a land familiar to me but rather a land of these travellers' imaginations. Palestine has been constantly re-invented, with devastating consequences to its original inhabitants. Whether it was the cartographers preparing maps or the travellers describing the landscape in the extensive travel literature, what mattered was not the land and its inhabitants as they actually were but the confirmation of the viewer's or reader's religious or political beliefs. I can only hope that this book does not fall within this tradition ...
I like to think of my relationship to the land, where I have always lived, as immediate and not experienced through the veil of words written about it, often replete with distortions.
And yet it is in the unavoidable context of such literature that I write my own account of the land and of the contemporary culture of 'fear and blood, crime and punishment' that blot its beauty. Perhaps many will also read this book against the background of the grim images on their television screens. They might experience a dissonant moment as they read about the beautiful countryside in which the seven walks in this book take place: could the land of such perpetual strife and bloodshed have such peaceful, precious hills? Still, I hope the reader of this book will put all this aside and approach it with an open mind. I hope to persuade the reader how glorious the land of Palestine is, despite all the destruction that has been wrought over the past quarter of a century.

Two Views of Gaza

2009-01-03T22:00:00.001+04:00

I was planning on putting up an interesting video I found online, but YouTube is down because of some cut cable somewhere out in the ocean. Funny how connected everything is in this world.

But yes, because of some cut cable miles and miles away, I can't give you YouTube links. So instead, I found articles on reactions to what's happening in Gaza from two very different online publications: Electronic Intifada and Haaretz.

Israel's rightous fury and its victims in Gaza (Ilan Pappe, EI)
If you (or I) were Palestinian (Yossi Sarid, Haaretz)

Dive in.

Giving to Gaza

2008-12-31T14:50:00.003+04:00

Okay - after a post of moaning and groaning, it's time to actually do something.

For those of you in the UAE, the UAE Red Crescent Society has set up a relief fund for Gaza. You can donate money through the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank by sending whatever you can to account number 20000417.

If you're interested in sending donations in the form of clothing, etc. please call 800-733. A representative from the Red Crescent Society will call you back within 48 hours to arrange when they can come by your home and pick up your donations.

For anyone who knows me personally, I'm collecting money for Gaza to send to the Red Crescent Society. If you want to donate money but don't have time to go through the procedure of sending money to the organization's bank account, feel free to contact me. I'll be collecting donations in an envelope for the next few days, and you can leave your donations with me to pass on to the organization.

For those of you outside the UAE, contact your local Red Cross/Crescent to see what donation programs they have going on for Gaza.

And for something a little unconventional, check out FreeGaza.org. This is a group of human rights observers, aid workers, and journalists from around the world who are trying to break the siege of Gaza. Read through their mission and find out what you can do to help.

I know that what's going on in Palestine seems too big an issue for any one of us to be able to affect on our own. But just in the UAE, hundreds of people have called to donate whatever they can for those in Gaza. And around the world, there have been all sorts of protests and drives for the people of Gaza, from Saudi Arabia to England to Arizona. If each of us does something, no matter how small, all of our actions can add up and actually make a difference.

Now, one last thing. I was reading an article by Nir Rosen on Al Jazeera English, called "Israel's Failure to Learn". I don't know how much of it I agree with, but I found it very interesting and definitely recommend it to everyone reading this.

Below is an excerpt I found particularly good. Enjoy!

Terrorism is a normative term which is used to describe what the 'other' does, not what 'we' do.

Powerful nations such as Israel, the US, Russia or China will always describe their victims' struggle as terrorism.

However, they fail to acknowledge as acts of terror the destruction of Chechnya, the slow slaughter of the remaining Palestinians, the repression of Tibetans, and the US
occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Normative rules and what is legal and permissible are determined by the powerful. They formulate the concept of terrorism in normative terms and make it appear as if a neutral court derived such definitions instead of the oppressors.

For the weak to resist becomes illegal by definition.

This excessive use of legal jargon actually undermines the fundamentals of what is truly legal and diminishes the credibility of international institutions such as the UN. The law becomes the enemy of those who struggle.

Gaza.

2008-12-28T23:00:00.002+04:00

It's all over the news: Gaza is being pounded into rubble by the Israeli army.

The statistics: over 230 targets hit by Israeli air strikes, over 275 Gazans dead (including women and children), over 600 injured, over 150 in critical condition, and unknown numbers of people lying beneath the carnage.

Everyone around me is angry. Furious. I was in the mall with my family this morning and ran into some old Emirati friends: everyone replaced the customary small talk with a torrent of exclamations about Gaza. Back at home, we got a phone call from our Palestinian neighbors: they asked us to pray for their family members, who were cowering in their apartments in Gaza. I spoke to some friends and family: they were cursing the Zionists left and right, asking God to "punish the unjust aggressors." I logged on to Facebook: nearly all of my friends had some sort of tribute to Gaza on their profiles. Some had replaced their profile pictures with images of Gaza, others had updated their status to mourn the dead, and still others had written notes describing their horror and anger at the massacre that was taking place in the city.

But me? How do I feel? I'm numb. There's this little scratchy feeling deep in my chest somewhere, but other than that, I can't really feel anything. I should be riled up. Angry and furious like the rest. But I'm not. Maybe its because I feel that this keeps happening in Palestine, that everything is just hopeless, that to get angry is to hope for a solution that could extinguish that anger when I don't see any solution coming for a long, long time. Maybe I've given up.

All this and I don't even live in Palestine. I have so much respect - so much respect - for the people who live under occupation there, day in and day out, and still manage to have hope. I'm here in Dubai, living in complete comfort, with final exams my biggest worry of the day. I cannot imagine being walled in Gaza, with rockets raining over my head, and still be able to stand and fight for my survival, much less for my land and my people.

Palestine is an open wound in the hearts of many. Not just Arabs and Muslims, but people all over this planet who see a balanced reporting of both sides of the conflict. And this is the biggest bloodbath Palestine has witnessed since the 1967 war. Words, or at least my words, cannot come close to describing what we as a group are feeling.

As I write this, I'm realizing that I do feel something: immense sadness. Anger is there too, just bubbling slowly away under the surface of that sadness. I don't know what to do with that anger yet, or where to direct it, so I'm just letting it simmer for the moment. Writing is all I can do, so I'm doing it.

Right now, I'm turning you over to a person much more qualified to speak about the bombings in Gaza than I am. It's Mohammad, a writer on KABOBfest. As a resident of Palestine, he's experiencing all of this in a way most of us can only imagine. The passion and clarity in his post are extremely impressive. But most of all, it is the hope that underlies those things that gets me. If he didn't have hope for a solution to the problems of Palestine, he wouldn't be spending hours writing articles like this up:

Gaza: the slaughter of a people.

Thank you Mohammad, for keeping a flame burning for Palestine, while you wait for the rest of us to have the courage to do the same.

A Quick Peek at Poetry

2008-12-25T13:40:00.004+04:00

It's exam week now, so this is going to be a quick post. A friend of mine came across some older poetry I published online that she said she enjoyed, so I've decided to share those poems with you.

They're three poems: Nalchik Headline, Double Entendre, and Snow Globe. (At the moment, I'm very much identifying with Snow Globe.)

Here's the link at Unlikely Stories.

I hope you guys enjoy them!

Oh, and happy holidays to you all!

The al-Zaidi Follow-up

2008-12-18T23:45:00.002+04:00

Several news reports are saying that Muntadhar al-Zaidi has been beaten and possibly tortured while he was in custody after the shoe-throwing incident. This morning, I read reports that he has written an apology for his "ugly act." People are saying that the apology was written under the threat of further torture.

This is in no way tolerable. I don't personally agree with al-Zaidi's act (although I understand and sympathize with why he did it), but getting harassment like this is much, much worse. If I was saying that the power that comes with freedom of speech should be checked by responsibility, then what is there to say about the power that comes with physical and military might?

My last post, by the way, caused a huge comment war on my Facebook account. I was really impressed with all the different opinions people articulated - it's great to get conversations like this going. But on the other hand, I hope that we (myself included) don't get too sucked up in the media frenzy over flashy stories like this and forget about all the other things going on in Iraq.

There are lots of other, underreported incidents happening in the country that deserve the same attention, if not more. Just check out Haifa Zangana's City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance. That book shows you what's going on in Iraq from a mature and articulate Iraqi point of view - something you don't get to see too often in the mainstream media. Her articles in the Guardian are just as interesting.

What's important as we try to understand what's going on in Iraq is some form of balance and objectivity. Only then can we possibly work at creating solutions for the problems that have ravaged the country since (and before) 2003.

Flying Shoes = Resistance?

2008-12-15T23:40:00.002+04:00

I just read that an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President Bush at a press conference earlier this morning. President Bush was on a surprise visit to Iraq, and had said that the Iraqi war was not over, but "it is decisively on its way to being won." An infuriated journalist, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, jumped up calling the President a dog and yelling "this is the end." The President ducked just in time as the man's shoes flew over his head.

Watch a video of the incident here:

al-Zaidi was detained, but thousands of Iraqis are demonstrating for his freedom in Baghdad today. They claim that al-Zaidi's detention is a violation of the freedom of expression that the U.S. had promised it would bring into Iraq. Hundreds of lawyers, including various Americans and the man who defended Saddam Hussein, have offered to defend al-Zaidi for free.

Freedom of expression is important, yes. And, of course, the atrocities that have been committed in Iraq are horrible. But freedom is part of a package that includes responsibility. People who have the freedom to do and say what they want must be mature enough to act in a way that does not abuse that freedom. Muslims and Arabs should be the first people to support this statement, especially with their enraged reactions to the Danish cartoons. They can't demand that the West keep its freedom of expression within the boundaries of respect then turn around and support something like this.

I understand that the Bush administration has abused its power in Iraq, and that Iraqis have suffered tremendously because of the U.S.'s actions in the country. But that doesn't mean Iraqis must resist through pure insult. Doing so does not further the Iraqi cause or improve the image of Iraqi citizens in any way. It only makes it more difficult for them to legitimately resist U.S. presence within their borders.

Eid Is Over, But Movies Aren't

2008-12-13T22:19:00.006+04:00

Since I'm on the topic of movies, let me bring your attention to another film I recently heard about: Salt of This Sea. It's a story about a American of Palestinian descent who goes back to Palestine to rediscover her land and her identity. There, she meets and falls for a Palestinian man who wants nothing more than to get out of Palestine.

I haven't actually seen the film, so I don't know what happens next. But I have seen the trailer, and it looks pretty interesting. Salt of the Sea seems to mix politics, romance and self-discovery into a movie definitely worth watching. It gives the Palestinian issue a human face.

And that fact that it's a film by one of my favorite poets, Suheir Hammad, makes it all the more exciting.

Check out the trailer below:

Eid Mubarak!

2008-12-08T16:30:00.000+04:00

It's Eid everyone! Go have fun! If you're in the mood for a movie, check out Traitor. It's about an Islamic "terrorist," but is actually one of the best film portrayals of Islam that I've ever seen. Plus, it's a great movie - which is always good.

A Question of Culture

2008-12-03T23:00:00.003+04:00

The United Arab Emirates is growing at an incredible pace. This tiny country spans just 83,600 square kilometers (an area slightly smaller than the state of Maine), but holds 5.6 million people - 85% of whom are expatriates. With the country's rapid industrial and economic development, as well as an influx of foreigners from all across the world, there is a fear that local UAE culture is becoming diluted and in danger of dying out.

Making up just 15% of the country's population, UAE nationals are trying to fight back against the erosion of their traditional culture. One way they're trying to salvage an Emirati identity is through Watani, a social development program aiming to engage Emirati youth in the preservation of local culture.

The program has done some interesting things in the three years since its inception. Among other things, it has hosted Ramadan iftars, set up summer camps promoting UAE culture among Emirati kids, launched a comic book series centering on an Emirati superhero, and created an Emirati version of YouTube to spread Emirati culture.

As the world moves towards becoming a global village, the question of identity is on many people's minds. Although any given culture is always changing, the speed at which that is happening today is causing alarm around the world. Usually it took generations for major changes in culture to become evident, so people within that culture did not feel that they were loosing a major part of themselves during their lifetime. This is no longer the case.

Experiments like Watani are interesting examples of where we will draw the line between keeping some semblance of our local identity and merging with the international community.

Obama and Clinton?

2008-12-01T20:50:00.001+04:00

Obama has officially nominated Hillary Clinton as the U.S.'s Secretary of State. I don't really know how I feel about this. On one hand, I'm afraid of the baggage that Clinton will bring with her into the new administration. But on the other hand, the U.S. needs to have a government staffed by people with experience, as well as by people who come from all parts of the political spectrum. And I think that Obama is fulfilling those needs quite well with the appointments he's making for his national security team.

It's a tough balance to keep. I just hope Obama can bring all these different people into his administration without loosing sight of the direction he wants to steer America towards.

Some links:

Hillary Clinton's Disdain for International Law - Change We Can Believe In? (Alternet)
Obama-Clinton in 2009 (Globe and Mail)
Questions Linger Over Bill Clinton's International Work, Luger Says (ABC)

We Can Give Thanks After Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T13:05:00.000+04:00

Okay, so this post is two days late - but I've had a hectic week turning in term papers, and as soon as that was done, I was cleaning the house and packing to leave for Saudi Arabia. But now, I'm in Jeddah, and although I still have more papers to do for school and articles to write for work, there's a full two weeks ahead of me to get it all done. So I can breathe again.

As I try to get myself back on track with all this work, keep yourself busy by reading this article I came across online: 17 Reasons To Give Thanks.

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

ObamaTube

2008-11-22T19:55:00.002+04:00

I love that President-elect Obama is using YouTube. Yesterday he gave his second weekly address on his website, Change.gov. Here it is:

I personally preferred Obama's first address. He was more natural in it, he felt emotionally closer to the viewer, and was actually looking directly into the camera. In the second address, it seemed that his staff was trying to make him look like a more authoritative Commander-in-Chief.

But I dunno, see for yourselves. Here's the first address so you can compare it to the second:

What About Now?

2008-11-17T23:20:00.000+04:00

The news we usually get in the media is nothing like the spoof New York Times paper I wrote about in the last post. All it shows us are the problems we have in today's world, and how those problems just seem to be getting bigger and bigger.

So seeing people take action to help bring an end to these problems is refreshing. It's a reminder of the capacity we have, each one of us, to make a difference.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Daughtry's "What About Now".

A Dream Paper

2008-11-15T20:20:00.001+04:00

"War in Iraq Ends." "U.S. Patriot Act Repealed." "All Public Universities To Be Free." "Court Indicts Bush On High Treason Charge."

How would you feel if you saw those headlines splattered across your local newspaper? Well, Americans who got a spoof edition of the New York Times earlier this week can answer that question for you.

On November 12th, a group that calls themselves The Yes Men distributed fake copies of a New York Times paper across the country. The paper was dated July 4, 2009, and had articles that described the future as most of us would wish to see it.

The Yes Men, pranksters claiming to work in the service of humanity, used a blend of satire, political criticism, and utopian ideals to create a paper that makes you want to both laugh and cry. But if anything, the taste of seeing those headlines in print makes you want to turn them into a future reality.

July 4, 2009? Maybe that's a little over-ambitious. But a couple of years down the line, that's not too bad, is it?

Here's an article on the spoof NYT paper.

And for those of you outside the U.S. that couldn't get your hands on a copy, here's the spoof NYT website:

http://www.nytimes-se.com/

Enjoy!

"10 Minutes" in Sarajevo

2008-11-12T09:45:00.001+04:00

I was doing research on the Bosnian War for a law project yesterday, and I came across this. It's a film about how differently 10 minutes can be experienced by a Japanese tourist in Rome and a Bosnian family in Sarajevo.

10 Minutes, by Ahmed Imamovic, actually won the 2002 award for Best European Short Film. Watch it when you have the time - it's so worth it. The Bosnian War may be over, but this film is timeless in that war is always happening, and we very often make our way through life forgetting that.

The Beginnings

2008-11-10T10:00:00.003+04:00

"Never allow a crisis to go to waste. They are opportunities to do big things."

These are the words of Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s new chief of staff. Almost week into Obama's election, things are already starting to look up. The President-elect is already putting together a new staff, although he doesn't need to do so until January. And this staff is pushing forward with the same spirit that made Obama America's 44th President.

I, along with the rest of the world, am so excited about what changes this new term can bring. But patience, I keep reminding myself, nothing can happen overnight.

Check out the article below to see how Obama and his staff plan to ride out this transition.

Obama Team Weighs What to Take On First - NY Times

We Did It!

2008-11-05T10:50:00.005+04:00

I woke up in Dubai this morning to the sounds of cheers from halfway around the world. My mom had the TV on, and Barack Obama had just been announced America's next president.

I don't know what to say, really. I've been pretty mellowed-out this election, afraid (along with millions of others) that what happened in 2000 with Bush could happen again. But it didn't. Ladies and gentlemen, we are finally in the White House.

Now, I know that Obama is no saint. But, to quote Jamilah King,

The election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States is an absurdly exciting historical moment. I can't get over the fact that for the first time in my life, I can actually be proud to call someone my president.

I know that the Democratic Party may not be as progressive as a third alternative like the Green Party, but having Obama in the White House amounts to light years of progress from the Bush Era. As Obama was giving his acceptance speech, all the people cheering and crying in the crowd showed that America felt the same way.

Okay, so we won. But now the real work begins. America, we can't forget that change takes time, and Obama is only one man. Change will not happen overnight, and there will be resistance by those who benefit from the current system. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. I can't wait to roll up my sleeves and get going.

But for now, we celebrate. Check out Obama's victory speech here.

Yes we can!

Outvoted by the Electoral College

2008-11-03T11:05:00.001+04:00

After coming home from voting at the U.S. consulate yesterday, I was really excited about exercising my political rights as an American citizen. I jumped online and started looking up how the voting system works, and I was - surprised, to say the least.

Basically, the United States is a representative democracy, not a direct democracy. That I had known. But just how it was a representative democracy was what got me. There is a process in the U.S. system called the Electoral College. What happens in this process is that people elect a state representatives called "electors," and these electors are the people who actually choose who becomes president.

The system was supposed to be a compromise between writers of the Constitution who wanted the president to be elected by Congress and those who wanted the president to be elected by popular vote.

The problem is, although the electors pledge to vote for a particular candidate when voters are choosing them, they can always change their mind. And even scarier is the fact that a candidate who loses the popular vote but manages to win the electoral vote will still become president. That's what happened with George W. Bush in 2000.

Lots of people want the system to be changed, but so far none of the constitutional amendments that have been proposed on the issue have been passed.

Weird, no?

Some links:

Q&A: The US electoral system (Al Jazeera)
Overhauling the US voting system (Al Jazeera)
What is the Electoral College? (The National Archives)

And here's a funny video on how the American elections work:

We DON'T Need School?!

2008-11-01T22:45:00.001+04:00

Anyone who's ever woken up thinking, "man, I wish I didn't have to go to school today," is going to love this article I'm posting about.

"Against School," by John Taylor Gatto, talks about why the modern system of education is not necessarily the best way for people to gain knowledge. This quote from H. L. Mencken (one of the most influential American writers in the first half of the 20th century) that Gatto cites in the article gives a general idea about the direction Gatto aims to take the reader. According to Mencken, public education does not aim

to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States... and that is its aim everywhere else.

Gatto continues by stating that the foundation of our modern education system is based on the Prussian military system. Yes, you read that correctly. The Prussian military system.

I'm not calling for a revolt against public education here. But as a woman who has had her fair share of days feeling constricted by the high school system, I think it's important to note that the now internationalized system of public education is far from perfect. By recognizing that and understanding where the foundation for public education came from, maybe we can work towards adjusting the system so that it works better to accommodate the coming generations.

There's always room for improvement.

Links:

Here's another very interesting article by Gatto in YES! Magazine.
Want to see all these ideas in action? Check out George Wythe University.

Waiting for the Great Leap Forward

2008-10-30T09:45:00.002+04:00

Yesterday, a couple of friends and I were sitting outside under the stars, lamenting the sorry state of the world, but staying hopeful and wondering what role we could play in trying to make it all better. It was a really nice conversation, one of those that keeps you thinking for a long time afterwards. On my way back home, I had my iPod on shuffle in the car, and an old song I hadn't heard in forever came on.

How appropriate, I thought. It was Billy Bragg's "Waiting for the Great Leap Forward." I kept it on repeat all the way home, and enjoyed it so much I wanted to share it with you.

And here are the lyrics, if you're interested.

Enjoy!

America Did Do It

2008-10-27T20:30:00.000+04:00

The U.S. took credit for the attack on Syria. And Middle Eastern countries are not happy. Here are some reactions:

And for those interested, here's a timeline on attacks within Syria at Al Jazeera English.

U.S. Quickie in Syria

2008-10-27T10:20:00.005+04:00

It seems that the rumors are true: The U.S. appears to have staged an attack on Syrian territory late yesterday.

The attack took place in the border town of al-Sukariyah near Iraq. According to eye-witnesses, two American helicopters landed on Syrian territory and 8 U.S. commandoes disembarked, killing at least 9 people and injuring 14 others, all of whom were civilian builders at their jobs. The American troops then boarded the helicopters and left.

Okay, this is completely bizarre. What is going on? How can American troops just enter Syria, kill a bunch of civilians and leave? Even if the attack was close to the Iraqi border. And no matter what stories come out about terrorist bases or whatnot on the Iraqi side of the border (which they already have), this does not excuse an attack on civilians, not to mention a U.S. act of aggression in a sovereign state.

Imagine this had been an attack by a foreign state on Americans near Mexico, with the excuse of trying to root out the drug trade on the border. If just one person had been killed, the U.S. government would have gone wild over another state killing its civilians and violating its sovereignty.

But never mind. These are just 9 nameless Syrian villagers. And Syrian sovereignty rights? What rights? Syria's just another one of those Middle Eastern countries that are always messy anyways.

We have a serious problem here. If the U.S. wants to be at all respected in the Middle East, which is necessary for peace in the region (and around the world), then it has got to stop randomly entering and attacking other states at its every whim. And an attempt at shaking up the elections doesn't make for a good excuse to do that either.

Here's a really good post at the LA Times' Middle Eastern blog, Babylon & Beyond that asks:

Syria: What's behind the U.S. raid?

I'll put up any updates if and when they come along.

Reading Iran Through Shirin Ebadi

2008-10-22T22:55:00.002+04:00

This has been a crazy two weeks. With midterms and papers all due at the same time, I feel like I've hardly had any time to breathe. But in the few moments I have off in times of chaos like these, I like to escape from my world by reading about someone else's life - be that "someone else" a fictional character in a novel or a real person.

Right now, the life I'm reading about is Shirin Ebadi's. A judge, an Iranian, a woman, and a Nobel Prize winner, I couldn't pass up the chance to learn about her. I don't know much about her work, but I do remember coming across articles she wrote this summer urging the U.S. not to attack Iran.

Ebadi's book, Iran Awakening, is eye-opening. It's nice to see the mainstream media promoting an Iranian woman who is objectively critical of certain aspects of Iranian society without bashing Iran altogether. She refuses to paint topics like the Islamic Revolution or Iranian traditions with a single brush of cliches, but rather exposes the complexities of Iranian society that lead to their creation.

I bought this book as a small present for myself on Eid. And what a good choice it was. Have I piqued your interest enough? Good. Get your hands on a copy and read it, ASAP. We need balanced information like Ebadi's to get a better understanding of Iran, especially as it's taking a position of greater and greater importance on the world stage.

Go on, grab a copy of that book. You won't regret it.

Merhaba, Security Council!

2008-10-18T00:50:00.000+04:00

Turkey just won a two-year term on the UN Security Council!

The UN Security Council is the part of the United Nations that maintains international peace and security, and can be likened to a state government's executive branch. There are 15 seats on the Security Council: 5 permanent members (the U.S., UK, France, Russia, China) and 10 rotating members.

The rotating members are chosen according to the number of seats allocated per region (i.e. Europe, Asia, Africa). The Turks, along with Austria, beat Iceland for the Security Council's European vacancies.

Having Turkey on the Security Council could not have come at a better time. Both "Western" and "Eastern," the country can play a major role in mediating between the two regions. Issues like Iran's nuclear program, for example, could potentially be more easily resolved through a Turkish mediator.

I'm not in any way implying that Turkey is perfect here. The country, like all countries, has certain setbacks and blemishes in its history. But it also has incredible potential. So seeing it in the Security Council after so long (the last time it had a seat there was 1961!) is pretty exciting. And it's definitely a bonus for EU membership.

Can't wait to see what Turkey does with its new role on the international stage. But for now, I'm celebrating with some Turkish coffee and Turkish delight.

Çok güsel, Türkiye!

Angry at the Economy

2008-10-12T09:50:00.000+04:00

So to continue my survey of the coverage on the economic crisis, I've picked out an article that's both a little scary and ridiculously amusing.

The writer, David Michael Green, is angry. He's angry at the situation America and the world are in, he's angry at unrestrained capitalism, he's angry at greedy leadership, he's angry at America's generations of an insatiable appetite and shirked responsibilities.

And he lets you know it through an onslaught of sarcasm that doesn't fail to entertain.

For your reading pleasure, I present: "This Just In: Greed Is Not Good," by David Michael Green.

And if you enjoyed his article, check out his website at www.regressiveantidote.net.

Another Economy Explanation

2008-10-09T09:40:00.000+04:00

Oh! I just came across a pretty good article that tries to explain the economic crisis - by comparing it to a casino! I kept hearing about this whole "casino economy," and now I finally get it.

Here ya go:

"This Sucker Could Go Down," by Peter Constantini.

And here's an older, but interesting article by Ali Khan from Counterpunch (a leftist magazine, by the way) that critiques the economic crisis from the perspective of Islamic financing: "Meltdown in American Markets."

God, things look like they keep getting worse and worse. I wonder how bad this "Crash of 2008" is going to be by the time it's over.

Occupation 101

2008-10-08T00:20:00.001+04:00

I just finished watching a GREAT documentary on Palestine called Occupation 101. But man, it left me depressed.

We sit around in our villas and apartments, with our couches and TVs, eating popcorn and chugging down cans of soda while watching people living a couple thousand miles away suffering in places like Palestine.

Their houses are being demolished, they're getting shot at, their culture is being eroded, and their children are suffering so much that psychologists are only beginning to understand the toll living under occupation and constant threat is having on them.

In the comfort of our secure homes and prosperous cities, it's hard to connect to something like that.

But connect we must. Because that's the only way we can feel enough empathy to help people who don't have the luxuries most of us have because we happened to be born in a particular place and time.

I know we might not be able to save the world at this very moment. But we can talk about wanting to save it. And if we do, maybe we can inspire others to do the same. With each additional voice, we'll get louder and louder. Loud enough, maybe, to actually make a difference.

Race!

2008-10-05T23:40:00.001+04:00

So I just discovered something pretty shocking in my anthropology course:

Race is culturally constructed.

It has nothing to do with biology. It's all cultural! Call me ignorant, but that was totally new to me.

The American Anthropological Association even has a whole website about it. Check it out!

http://www.understandingrace.org/

America Celebrates Eid

2008-10-04T14:50:00.001+04:00

American? Yes. Muslim? Yes.

You can be both. People have been doing it for generations.

Wanna get a tiny glimpse of Islam in America? Check out the Empire State Building lit green for Eid!

Daisy Khan's open letter to America in the Washington Post reflects exactly how I felt when I heard about the Empire State Building going green. It is beyond exhilarating to feel my fellow Americans recognizing one of the most important days on the Muslim calender. Muslims across the country have been working so hard to enter mainstream America, and this is a small tribute to that effort.

Right here is another one of those "I love America" moments.

Eid Mania in Dubai

2008-10-02T02:10:00.000+04:00

Eid in Dubai is just a little short of crazy. You're in the middle of a desert, so any outdoor activity is pretty much out of the question. What happens, then, is that everyone goes to malls and hotels. The streets are packed with cars trying to get to some air-conditioned destination, and once you get to that destination, you can hardly move because of the sheer numbers of human beings crammed into that space.

I was at Festival City today and yesterday, and I was nearly climbing over people to get to my seat in the restaurant or to move to another part of the mall. There were so many kids - screaming, laughing, crying, jumping around, showing off their new presents. Being stuck at university all the time, it's sometimes shocking to see so many people under the age of 18 at once. But despite the headaches that I got from all the noise (oh God, I sound like my grandmother), it was a nice change.

I guess that's what Eid, or any major holiday, is all about. Breaking out of our daily routine and submitting to life's blissful craziness. These are the days that stay with us when we get old and look back at our lives. So we might as well enjoy them!

Eid Mubarak!

Not Syria!

2008-09-27T17:40:00.003+04:00

What?! A car bomb went off in Damascus?

Syria is a gorgeous country, with a fascinating culture and heritage, but it's not exactly in a greatest place in the world pecking order at the moment. If it has any political advantage over its neighbors, though, that would be security. Unlike the often jittery streets of Lebanon, Palestine and even Jordan, Syria is ridiculously safe. Go out at nearly any time of day or night and you won't have anything to worry about.

But now we have this car bomb going off near a Shiite shrine and a government security checkpoint in Damascus. Where in the world did that come from? I'm going to be keeping an eye on this story and see what develops.

Check out this AFP article for a more in-depth look at the story, including political decisions that were made days before the attack and reactions of various world leaders to the attack.

And click here for a timeline of terrorist attacks in Syria.

17 people, all civilians, dead. And during the last ten days of Ramadan, the holiest days of the Muslim calender. Why do people do this to each other?

The Global Financial Crisis for Dummies

2008-09-22T23:30:00.000+04:00

Let me say here and now that business and economics have never exactly been my favorite subjects. But following all the craziness that's been going on in the financial world since last week, I felt like I had to do at least some reading on the subject.

Jumping from website to website, I tried to work my way through the economic jargon to figure out just what was going on. For a more literary-minded person like me, all this "money stuff" had to be seriously dumbed down.

And then I found it. The easiest, most readable article on the global financial crisis. Courtesy of Al Jazeera English. Enjoy.

How the financial bubble burst, by Rob Reynolds

If anyone has any other really good articles on the subject, please do put up a link to it in the comments section. Thanks!

The Institute for Policy Studies - A Nour Obsession

2008-09-16T23:14:00.000+04:00

I've been looking up internships lately, and I came across a D.C. think tank called the "Institute for Policy Studies" (IPS). The organization is .. amazing, for lack of a more sophisticated word. Calling itself "Washington's first progressive multi-issue 'think tank,'" it focuses on providing alternative policies in three areas: peace, justice and the environment.

Founded in response to the Vietnam War, IPS devotes itself to helping pave the way towards social justice. A quick quote from their website gives you a small taste of what IPS is all about:

Washington is awash with dealmakers who pursue narrow, short-term interests. But who looks out for future generations? Who is responsible for the stewardship of the planet? Who seeks to go beyond temporary peace to a future without the possibility of war? Who says, “Let’s try an approach that protects human rights, meets human needs and that our resources can sustain over decades and centuries, not election cycles”?
The Institute for Policy Studies is the counterweight to the dealmakers. We work to reclaim democracy. We collaborate with grassroots movements to foster the conditions for long-term change. We promote relationships, linking activists and public officials who share our belief that a better world is possible ...

Who wouldn't want to work for an organization like this? The site's homepage is full of insightful articles on the issues IPS is currently working on. If you find them interesting, you might want to sign up for the IPS newsletter, "Unconventional Wisdom."

Anyhoo, that's my blurb today. If you found IPS as fascinating as I did, spread the word about it! We need to get these alternative news sources and organizations out there - ASAP!

Anis Mojgani - Good, Good Poetry

2008-09-15T12:15:00.000+04:00

I love Anis Mojgani. And I want to share him with you.

Check out this interview to find out all about him.

Seven Years (and a Day) On

2008-09-12T23:55:00.001+04:00

Another 9/11 anniversary passed yesterday. I always have such conflicting feelings on that day.

2974 innocent people died, and millions more were traumatized when the Twin Towers fell. Horrible, I know, but what about the thousands that die every day from ongoing wars and diseases and lack of basic resources like shelter, food and water? And what about the countless people who’ve died as a result of the U.S.’s post-9/11 war on terror? Why doesn’t the world recognize the suffering they go through like it recognizes the suffering of America? Just because all those people don’t come from the most powerful country in the world doesn’t mean they hurt any less.

Here’s an article I came across on Counterpunch.org about “The Other 9/11” – one in which the U.S. was the bad guy. Kinda puts things in perspective.

The "I Love America" Post

2008-09-09T11:58:00.001+04:00

Whenever I discuss issues that show America in a bad light (like in my last post), I always have this urge to censor myself. Lately in America, it’s been very difficult to critique the status quo without being branded anti-American or “unpatriotic” (I’ve always had a problem with that word). Add in being an Arab-American who is very visibly Muslim into the mix, and you suddenly have national security risk potential.

I love being American, but I hate having to reassure people of that fact. Believe me, I’ve had my fair share of Thanksgivings, Halloweens and Fourth of Julys. For me, an In-N-Out Burger is the best comfort food and Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth.

But love doesn’t replace justice and truth. Those are separate things. Just because I love America doesn’t mean I’m going to let its (often gigantic) mistakes slide. (Iraq, anyone?) If anything, loving America makes me hold it to a higher standard than someone who doesn’t care much for the country might.

I believe strongly in the ideals America was founded on. But, like most of my fellow countrymen (and women), these last eight years have made me very, very frustrated.

I know I keep tooting the Obama horn. But change, change, change. We need it. The whole world needs it. And it can’t come soon enough.

The First Middle Eastern Coup: The U.S. Starts It All in Syria

2008-09-07T22:40:00.002+04:00

I'm right in the middle of looking for a topic write about for my "American and the Middle East" research paper. And I came across something... interesting.

Apparently, in the 1940s, the United States wanted to undertake a project called the Trans-Arabian Pipeline (TAPLINE). The enterprise, which would transport oil from Saudi Arabia to Europe and the eastern United States via Lebanon, was created to save millions of dollars in terms of oil transport costs. The pipeline’s route went through Jordan, over the Golan Heights in Syria, and ended at Sidon in Lebanon, rather than snaking along the original, significantly longer, transport route through the Persian Gulf and Suez Canal. It was the greatest industrial project of its time.

The terms of TAPLINE, however, weren't in the interests of the Syrian government. There was a democracy in Syria at the time, and the Syrian leaders collectively refused to support TAPLINE. Around that time, a magical coincidence occurred. A military coup by Husni al-Zaim overthrew the resisting Syrian government, replacing it with one much more compliant with American interests in the Middle East. The first act this new government took was to approve the pipeline, and construction went ahead through Syria.

Recent studies on America and the Middle East have shed light on the events that led to the al-Zaim coup. It now appears that the CIA was involved in this first coup in Syrian and Middle Eastern history. CIA agents Miles Copeland and Stephen Meade, acting military attachés in Damascus, helped al-Zaim orchestrate the event and sparked the necessary fires in domestic Syrian politics that allowed the coup to take place.

It was the beginning of Syrian-U.S. relations that would later turn very sour.

I can't wait to find out more about this early stepping stone in Syrian-American relations. With Damascus gaining ground on the international stage, studying Syria is becoming crucial to understanding just how the Middle East ticks, and how America has historically tried to deal with the region.

I'll post up any interesting updates as I make my way through this research paper over these next few weeks.

A Taste of Iftar

2008-09-05T11:45:00.002+04:00

Fifteen minutes to go and I’m rushing around the kitchen. The food is still cooking in pots, the radio isn’t tuned to the Quran station, and I haven’t put out dates or even incense. Thank god I had the sense to dress ahead of time, I think to myself as I lunge to tame a pot of boiling soup. They’ll be here any minute!

An alarm clock clangs to life on the other side of the kitchen. The scent of my finished cheese pastries floats through the air, hypnotizing. But I have no time for mulling over them. The moment I pull them out of the blazing oven, I hear a cackling back on the stove. In a flurry of skirts, I’m at the side of my burning rice. I manage to save the day by dumping it all in a porcelain bowl and scraping off the burned black layer.

All is not well for long. On my way to light the incense in the dining room after turning on the radio, the sizzling of chicken reaches my ears. I dart back into the kitchen, and take a sip of the chicken’s sauce. Just as the liquid scorches my tongue, I remember with a start that I’m fasting. Sunset is still five minutes away! I sprint to the sink and spew out the sauce.

Back in the dining room, I fumble with a wooden match that refuses to light until I get a green cigarette lighter that does the job. The spicy sent of the lit incense floats through the air, reminiscent of old bazaars and temples. I smile and stop for a moment to survey the room.

The dark mahogany chairs are arranged around a table heavy with set silver and the prospect of food. Soft light floats through the open window, from where I can see the sun, a large yellow cracker, dipping into a soupy orange sky. Quranic passages from the radio hover through the room, leaving behind traces of tranquility.

The doorbell rings. I walk swiftly to the kitchen, get the tray of dates and water waiting on the counter, and then place it on the dining table. All is set. I go to the door and turn the knob, letting in a drove of greetings and guests, followed by the sound of the call to maghrib prayer, signaling the end of the day’s fast.

-----------------------------------------

Originally published in TimeOut Dubai.

Ramadan Rambles

2008-09-03T00:00:00.000+04:00

I love Ramadan. Sleepy suhoors before sunrise, lavish iftars at sunset, taraweeh prayers every evening at the mosque. This month really has its own unique atmosphere.

Even the fasting is enjoyable when you know that the people around you are doing it with you. You really feel a sense of community. There's nothing like sitting with friends around a table in the last few minutes before sunset and hearing the call to prayer go off. In those first few moments of eating dates and drinking water or coffee, you're all the happiest people in the world. It's an experience that becomes even better when you do it surrounded by the people closest to you.

While Ramadan food gets a lot of hype, it's not what makes this month so special. Ramadan is really a social event. You get to see people you haven't seen for ages (probably since last Ramadan), and almost every day there's someone inviting you to their house or out to a restaurant. Collective tarweeh prayers at the mosque give you a chance to meet new people or catch up with old friends. You're almost always with someone doing some thing or other.

And then, of course, there's the spiritual aspect of it all. Ramadan offers a time to step back from the whirlwind of daily life and consider your place in this universe we find ourselves in. Between all the religious traditions of Ramadan, there are those rare and special moments when everything falls in to place. It's as if all the planets align or something. You feel the universe fall at your feet, and you are One.

That's what Ramadan is really about, in the end. Those moments.

Wishing you all a blessed month.
Love it while it lasts!

Palin Doesn't Wow the Women (or the Men)

2008-08-31T00:13:00.001+04:00

After a beautifully orchestrated acceptance speech at the Democratic convention last Thursday, it looks like nothing can stop the Obama campaign. McCain tried to shake things up by selecting Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, but apart from the initial surprise she caused, it doesn't look like Palin can do much to stand in Obama and Biden's way in the long run.

Palin was definitely a smart choice for the McCain campaign. She is young, sexy and charismatic. More importantly, perhaps, she is a woman, and a mother of five at that. By being some of the very things McCain is not, Palin might help him pull in select groups of voters he would otherwise be sure to lose to the Democrats.

But despite the above points in her favor, I (like many others) am surprised at McCain's choice of Palin as his running mate. To me, this choice shows how desperate he is to win. Just how prepared is Palin for the office of Vice-President? McCain seems to only have picked her to shock people into talking about his campaign again.

I would love to see a woman holding the office of President or Vice-President. But not if she's unqualified for the job. Pushing aside the better qualified candidates for one who satisfies a gender preference would be discrimination, let alone just plain stupid.

And it looks like a lot of women agree with me.

Obama, you're not perfect, but you're the best hope we've got right now. March on!

Arabic, Arabic, Arabic

2008-08-27T00:30:00.004+04:00

Two days ago, I made a resolution to finally get my act together and become fluent in Arabic. After years of merely dipping my toes in the language, I decided that enough was enough. How can I claim to care about the Middle East and not master it's most widespread mode of communication?

I made my resolution a few days ago, but it was only tonight that I realized how important it was. I attended a concert by a musical group called "Drums of the World" at my university, which brought together a mishmash of musicians from around the world - from Ghana to Afghanistan.

As always, I fell in love with all the different cultures on display. Because of my American/Syrian/Circassian background, I don't identify with one particular culture (like most Third Culture Kids), and I'm constantly on the hunt for the perfect culture that I want to adopt. But I've never found one. I've had periods in my life where I've been very fond of certain cultures: there was a general European phase, a Turkish phase, an Iranian phase and now I'm slowly sliding into another general Latin American phase.

But as I watched and heard the "Drums of the World" musicians up on stage, I realized that I'm never going to settle on one particular culture. I love too many people and places to make up my mind on which culture to adopt.

But what about the question of identity? Where, or to what group, do I belong?

And then it hit me. There I was trying to find myself in exotic languages and countries when I had a background in three very different cultures that could accommodate all the different aspects of my personality. I realized that I had to stop running away from myself and start immersing myself in those three cultures.

Arab culture is one of those three.

The problem is, you can't "immerse" yourself in a culture without knowing the language. So mastering Arabic is key in this new quest. And the beauty of mastering Arabic is that not only will it help me get closer to who I am, but it's a tool that'll help me on one of my original goals: working for the benefit of the people in the Middle East.

My first step in mastering Arabic has already been taken: I signed up for a Contemporary Arabic Literature course, taught completely in Arabic. Now I just have to take the next steps: to survive all the pages upon pages of reading, and actually do well in the course.

This is going to be one interesting semester.

Getting Prepared

2008-08-25T15:13:00.002+04:00

Ack! Back to school already! In between add/drop week's hectic running from class to class, here's a quick link to the news on the release of Palestinian prisoners being released. Just like we're preparing for a new semester, Israel's making it's own preparations for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arrival.

Al Jazeera English - Israel frees Palestinian prisoners

'Tis Biden!

2008-08-23T14:50:00.002+04:00

So Obama finally picked Joe Biden as his running mate.

It looks like the Obama campaign is trying to steady its balance as it nears the final length of the 2008 elections tightrope. Biden is a well thought out choice for vice-president, filling in what some consider "gaps" in Obama's presidential resume. In addition, Biden's more "old school" background makes the Obama-Biden ticket appeal to a much wider range of voters.

Let's see just how Biden adds to the Obama campaign:

Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That's the experience that Republicans claim is lacking in the Obama campaign.
Biden is well-acquainted with Congress and the D.C. world. Obama, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer to Washington.
Biden is 65, and a seasoned lawmaker. He is someone the Obama campaign can trust to step in as president should the need arise.
Biden is a white Roman Catholic of a working class background. (His father was a car salesman.) He can appeal to blue-collar workers, something Obama has struggled with throughout the campaign.

It does indeed seem that, as Democratic strategist Toby Chaudhuri said, "the Obama-Biden ticket has a ring to it."

But hey, don't take it from me.
Check it out for yourselves at these links:

Joe Biden: Barack Obama's running mate (The Swamp)
Obama Picks Sen. Joe Biden (Marc Ambinder's blog at The Atlantic) - Interesting view of Biden as a tough rather than a comfortable choice for Obama.
Obama Chooses Biden as Running Mate (NY Times)
Bidon named as Obama running mate (Al Jazeera English)

Philosophical Name-Calling

2008-08-21T16:50:00.000+04:00

Ramadan's coming up and I'm fasting my last day of make-up fasts for this year. Fasting from sunrise to sunset isn't usually a problem for me. It's just a few hours with no food and water. But today, I'm beat. Maybe because I've been reading Sophie's World all morning. Too much philosophy in one day can really knock you out. Especially when you can't take in any form of nourishment for another few hours. How do all those monks and hermits do it?

Anyways, as I was reading Sophie's World I noticed something that the author, Jostein Gaarder, kept doing in the book. Whenever he mentioned Western philosophy, he did not limit it to Greek and Judeo-Christian philosophy. He purposely included Islamic philosophy under that label.

The categorization of Islamic philosophy as "Western" struck me. In the mainstream media and much of today's popular culture, Islam and the West are represented as the negations of one another. They are opposites destined to do no more than clash and destroy one another.

More enlightened individuals and groups have showed that this "clash of civilizations" theory doesn't have to take place. Instead, they focus on the shared culture, values and heritage of Islam and the West, subjects which cover an area far greater than the differences between the two identities. (For example, check out Michael Morgan's Lost History.)

After getting over my initial surprise, I realized that Gaarder's classification made sense. Islamic philosophy has so much more in common with Greek philosophy than, say, Buddhist or Hindu philosophy. Muslim scholars and philosophers have endlessly borrowed, preserved, and added to Greek philosophy. (Unfortunately, some classical theologians, like their counterparts in the Church, even adopted Aristotle's rather unflattering views of women.) So it makes more sense to call Islamic philosophy "Western" than "Eastern."

But wait. Should all these Western philosophies even be called "Western" in the first place? They all came, after all, from the Mediterranean region -a region that scholars from northern and western Europe later claimed as the basis for their own intellectual heritage.

Pshsh, all this categorization and claiming seems like we're making too big a deal out of this. It's back to Edward Said's essentialism. How about we just say that these ideas are of human origin and belong to all of us? But people tend to resist that. We all like to clearly mark out who we are. An often impossible, not to say dangerous, feat.

Or maybe I'm just an idealist that needs to be fed, ASAP.

"The Art of Written Works"

2008-08-19T16:21:00.001+04:00

One of my goals this summer was to read as many books as was physically possible before the start of the next semester of college. During school, I get lots of reading done, but it's almost always readings that have been assigned by someone else, on subjects that may or may not interest me. So this summer, I cut myself loose - raiding my university library, borrowing books from friends and relatives, and rediscovering old treasures on my bookshelves at home.

I read about nearly anything: Iranian history, American politics, Islam, Christianity, theology, feminism, orientalism, philosophy. But then, about a week ago, I read Gabriel García Márquez's recently published autobiography, Living to Tell the Tale. It was the first piece of literature I'd picked up all summer. And suddenly, everything changed.

Márquez's masterfully written autobiography let me live another life. I ran through the corridors of his childhood home, suffered with him through law school and smoked his endless cigarettes while writing away the day's hours at his typewriter. I shared in his obsessive hours of Kafka readings, and sat next to him at the daily literary circle he attended. With him, I loved and fought with his family, pushed for his independence and later sent a monthly "lifeboat" to keep his parents and siblings out of the marshes of poverty.

I did and learned so much in just one book - whereas in the other, more academic books I read, I was confined to a single subject or discipline. Finishing Living to Tell the Tale, I recognized something I had known as a kid, but had forgotten in my college attempts to aquire grown-up knowledge: stories are the essence of life.

Now, don't get me wrong. Specialized, academic writing is definitely important. But reading a single academic book takes you down a single, well-defined path. You pick up a book on anthropology, you learn about anthropology. Literature, on the other hand, (what Wikipedia calls "the art of written works") opens up worlds. Pick up a book like William Golding's Lord of the Flies, and you get so much more than a story about boys stuck on an island.

Part of the reason I sank so deeply into Márquez's story was that some aspects of it mirror my own. Like Márquez, I've always wanted to be a writer. My childhood dream was to be a novelist. And like Márquez, journalism and more academic writing sort of just "happened" to me. I never thought I would consider working for a news agency or writing academic papers on the history of women in the Middle East. But, once again like Márquez, I've decided to use my writing experiences in other fields to hone my skills for the ultimate dream: literature.

So for now, I've decided to include a lot more fiction and poetry in my reading schedule. And to continue writing with a greater goal in mind.

On to the next book.

Bedtime Stories

2008-08-17T20:26:00.002+04:00

Ghosts in my bedroom tonight.
A sliver of silver light slips through
Curtains Mama put up years ago,
Shows them click on the stereo.
Airwaves crackle the radio man to life -
Always a man on this station.
Thunderstorm. My eyes milk-white
Watch the rain crawl down like black
Widows from cloud webs. The ghosts
Wait for radio man's voice to pop words
Like firecrackers. I shut my eyes.
"A funny, scrawny looking thing.
We have to hide her from the
Bears. Her hair glows, copper."

The ghosts pull the blanket
Soft against my skin like a body,
Whispering I'll be ready to hear
Him die tomorrow.

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Some shameless self-promotion. =)
Originally published on Moondance.