Arab Observers - Current Events

Dancing with the stars

2006-11-16T15:21:00.000-08:00

Europe's muslims

2006-10-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

Interesting editorial in yesterday's issue of the Washington Post about the failure of european countries to integrate their muslim minorities:

Europe's Muslims

A year after the French riots, their alienation is growing.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006; Page A16

AYEAR AGO this week, riots erupted in mostly Muslim suburbs of Paris and other French cities, underlining the alienation of a subculture that makes up 8 percent of the country's population but has suffered from chronic unemployment and discrimination. One year later, that alienation -- and the threat of violence that comes with it -- appears to have worsened, not only in France but across Western Europe. French police are facing what some call a "permanent intifada" in Muslim neighborhoods, with nearly 2,500 incidents of violence against officers recorded in the first six months of the year. Some of these now take the form of planned ambushes: On Sunday a gang of youths emptied a bus of its passengers, set it on fire, and then stoned the firefighters who responded.

In Britain, the London bombings of 2005, which were executed in part by native-born Muslims, have been succeeded by this summer's arrest of another group of native extremists who allegedly plotted to blow up airliners. Two Lebanese residents of Germany were accused of trying to bomb passenger trains. The threat of violence by Muslims angered by perceived insults, whether from the German-born pope or the director of a Mozart opera, has become more frequent.

Europeans are slowly growing more aware that a major part of the global struggle against Islamic extremism must take place in their own countries -- and not just in faraway Afghanistan or Iraq. But their governments, media and political elites still appear to be a long way from coming to grips with the challenge. Rather than seeking to address the larger alienation of mainstream Muslims, European leaders often appear to do the opposite -- by challenging the culture of Muslims and defending gratuitous insults of Islam.

One recent but hardly isolated example came from Britain's House of Commons leader, Jack Straw, who criticized Muslim women for wearing veils and said he asked those who visited his office to remove them, on the grounds that they impede "communication." It's hard to believe that veils are the biggest obstacle to communication between British politicians and the country's Muslims; and it's even harder to imagine Mr. Straw raising similar objections about Sikh turbans or Orthodox Jewish dress. True, the Labor Party MP was reflecting -- or maybe pandering to -- the concern of many in Britain about the self-segregation of some Muslims. But veils -- which are also under government attack in France and Italy -- are not the cause of that segregation, much less of terrorism. Attacks on Muslim custom by public officials are more likely to reinforce than to ease the community's alienation.

Mr. Straw and other European politicians could contribute far more to combating radical Islam if they focused on those who actually foment intolerance among European Muslims -- as well as those in the mainstream community who promote prejudice against Arabs and South Asians and their descendants. Muslims in Europe should be invited to embrace the countries where they live on their own terms. They should be expected to respect laws and freedoms. But politicians would do better to work on dismantling the barriers Muslims face in getting educations and jobs rather than those that distinguish Islam from the secular majority.

Le monde a l'envers

2006-10-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Il y a quelque temps, un ami a moi qui observait les tendances sectariennes anti-chiites d'intellectuels arabes lors de debats au sujet de la guerre en Iraq sur certaines chaines de television satellitaires arabes (ou ces intellectuels soit-disant "eclaires" n'avaient d'autre souci que d'essayer de discrediter la majorite chiite gouvernant l'Iraq de l'apres-Saddam comme etant servile aux Ayatollahs iraniens), avait predit qu'un jour viendra ou les leaders arabes se mettront a genoux pour demander a Israel de les proteger de l'Iran. A vrai dire, je n'avais jamais pense qu'un tel jour viendrait aussi vite:

أفادت صحيفة يديعوت أحرونوت أن رئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي إيهود أولمرت التقى خلال الأسابيع القليلة الماضية مسؤولين سعوديين كبارا في القصر الملكي الأردني في عمان، في لقاء نظمه كل من العاهل الأردني عبد الله الثاني ورئيس جهاز الاستخبارات الإسرائيلي (الموساد) مائير داغان.

وأوضحت الصحيفة أن أولمرت نقل في مروحية إلى العاصمة الأردنية ليلا برفقة مدير مكتبه يورام توربوفتيش والملحق العسكري الجنرال غادي شامني. وقالت إن الاجتماع الذي استغرق عدة ساعات تناول الأخطار الناجمة عن محاولة إيران امتلاك سلاح نووي وانتشار "الإرهاب الشيعي" في المنطقة

Joyeux ramadan a tout le monde...

About the iranian president

2006-09-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

Is the president of Iran really the radical islamist hate-monger who wants to "wipe Israel off the map", as he is often portrayed in western media these days ? Click here to find out.

Jewish rabbi against zionism

2006-08-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

Interesting interview of a jewish rabbi who calls for the dismantlement of the state of Israel. Watch the clip here.

How Jonathan Cook found himself with the "Islamic Fascists"

2006-08-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Very touching article by Jonathan Cook...

"As we approach the fifth official anniversary of the "war on terror", the foiled UK "terror plot" has neatly provided George W Bush, the "leader of the free world", with a chance to remind us of our fight against the "Islamic fascists". But what if the war on terror is not really about separating the good guys from the bad guys, but about deciding what a good guy can be allowed to say and think?

What if the "Islamic fascism" President Bush warns us of is not just the terrorism associated with Osama bin Laden and his elusive al-Qaeda network but a set of views that many Arabs, Muslims and Pakistanis -- even the odd humanist -- consider normal, even enlightened? What if the war on "Islamic fascism" is less about fighting terrorism and more about silencing those who dissent from the West's endless wars against the Middle East?

At some point, I suspect, I joined the Islamic fascists without my even noticing. Were my name different, my skin colour different, my religion different, I might feel a lot more threatened by that realisation.

How would Homeland Security judge me if I stepped off a plane in the US tomorrow and told officials not only that I am appalled by the humanitarian crises in Lebanon and Gaza but also that I do not believe the war on terror should be directed against either the Lebanese or the Palestinians? How would they respond if, further, I described as nonsense the idea that Hizbullah or the political leaders of Hamas are "terrorists"?

I have my reasons, good ones I think, but would anyone take them seriously? What would the officials make of my argument that, before Israel's war on Lebanon, no one could point to a single terrorist incident Hizbullah had been responsible for in at least a decade? Would the authorities appreciate my comment that a terrorist organisation that doesn't do terrorism is a chimera, a figment of the President's imagination?

Equally, what would they make of my belief that Hizbullah does not want to wipe Israel off the map? Would they find me convincing if I told them that Israel, not Hizbulalh, is the aggressor in the conflict: that following Israel's supposed withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000, Lebanon experienced barely a day of peace from the terrifying sonic booms of Israeli war planes violating the country's airspace?

Would they understand as I explained that Hizbullah had acted with restraint for those six years, stockpiling its weapons for the day it knew was coming, when Israel would no longer be satisfied with overflights and its appetite for conquest and subjugation would return? Would the officials doubt their own assumptions as I told them that during this war Hizbullah's rockets have been a response to Israeli provocations, that they are fired in return for Israel's devastating and indiscriminate bombardment of Lebanon?

And what would they say if I claimed that this war is not really about Lebanon, or even Hizbullah, but part of a wider US and Israeli campaign to isolate and pre-emptively attack Iran?

Thank God, my skin is fair, my name is unmistakenly English, and I know how to spell the word "atheist". Chances are when Homeland Security comes looking for suspects, no one will search for me or be interested -- not yet, at least -- in my views on Hassan Nasrallah or the democratic election of a Hamas government for the Palestinians.

My friends in Nazareth, and those Pakistani neighbours I never knew in High Wycombe, are less fortunate. They must keep their views hidden and swallow their anger as they see (because their media, unlike ours, show the reality) what US-made weapons fired by American and Israeli soldiers can do to the fragile human body, how quickly skin burns in an explosion, how easily a child's skull is crushed under rubble, how fast the body drains of blood from a severed limb."

To read the whole article, click here.

George Galloway on the war in Lebanon

2006-08-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already seen the interview of George Galloway on Sky News about the Lebanon war, you definitely should immediately do so. You can either try this link, or, better still, this one. Here is someone who is not a racist, and who has the courage and moral integrity to stand up for justice and for truth:

"You don't give a damn! You don't even know about the Palestinian families! You don't even know that they exist! Tell me the name of one member of the seven members of the same family swatted on the beach in Gaza by an Israeli warship! You don't even know their name, but you know the name of every Israeli soldier who've been taken prisoner in this conflict because you believe whether you know it or not that Israeli blood is more valuable than that the blood of Lebanese or Palestinian! That's the truth! And the discerning of your viewers already know it!"

A farcical resolution

2006-08-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Excellent analysis of the draft UN resolution on the war in Lebanon in Sunday's edition of Counter Punch. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the so-called "New World Order", the UN has turned into a mouthpiece of western interests, with no regard for international law or for moral decency whatsoever...

Another interesting analysis of the same resolution can be found here. Enjoy!

Lettre ouverte de Salim el-Houss, ancien premier ministre libanais, aux dirigeants arabes

2006-08-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

"صاحب الجلالة، صاحب السمو، صاحب السيادة، صاحب الفخامة، حفظكم الله للألقاب الفارغة، حفظكم الله للمناصب الزائلة. أمام ما نواجه في لبنان من مآس وفواجع كدنا ننسى أنكم موجودون. أنكم تشهدون بأم العين الأطفال يسقطون تحت نيران العدو الهمجي، وكذلك النساء والشيوخ والعجزة، ولا تبدون حراكا.

سمعنا منكم لوما على أسر جنديين إسرائيليين، أما ما كنا دوما، كل يوم، نتعرض له من اعتداءات إسرائيلية، فلم يكن يلقى منكم أي اعتراض أو احتجاج أو تحرك. أما أن تكون أرض لبنانية ترزح تحت الإحتلال خلافا لقرارات الشرعية الدولية فلا يعنيكم.

أما أن يكون في معتقلات العدو أسرى لبنانيون فلا يستحق منكم التفاتة. ''حزب الله'' أسر جنديين على أمل مبادلتهما بأسرى لبنانيين. لو استجابت إسرائيل لما كان كل ما كان من إبادة ودمار في بلدي لبنان. وإسرائيل لها تاريخ طويل في مبادلة الأسرى بالأسرى والأسرى بجثث. كانت عمليات تبادل مع لبنانيين ومع فلسطينيين. أنتم لا تكلفون أنفسكم عناء التساؤل: لماذا يا ترى أجازت اسرائيل التبادل مرات وحرمت التبادل هذه المرة فقط؟

ألا يوحي هذا إليكم يا أصحاب العروش والقصور والدواوين أن أسر الجنديين لم يكن سوى ذريعة مكشوفة، ولو لم تكن لاختلقت إسرائيل سواها، فتدمير لبنان وإبادة شعبه هو مشروع مبيت ومعد مسبقا بالإتفاق بين العدو الأصغر إسرائيل والعدو الأكبر الإدارة الأميركية، ولا نقول الشعب الأميركي الذي نحن على يقين أنه ما كان يجيز ما ينفذ من جرائم ضد الإنسانية على أرض لبنان لو كان على علم بها. كدنا ننسى وجودكم أيها الحكام العرب لو لم يذكرنا بكم أيهود أولمرت، رئيس وزراء الكيان الصهيوني إذ قال ما حرفيته في 1/8/2006 ''إنه يرحب بالدعم الدولي غير المسبوق وبمساندة الدول العربية التي اتخذت للمرة الأولى في إطار مواجهة عسكرية بيننا وبين عرب، موقفا ضد منظمة عربية''. وكان هذا الوحش المسعور قد ذكر في الأيام الأولى من هذه الحرب الطاحنة، هذه الحرب التي تطحن الإنسان في بلدنا وكل معالم الحياة، أن أحدكم أيها الحكام العرب كتب إليه يشجعه على عدم التوقف حتى القضاء علينا.

أنتم جبناء إذ تأخذون بمبدأ ''الحق للقوة''، وكان يجب أن تدركوا من واقع تجاربكم مع العدو الغاصب أن هذا المبدأ إنما يعني أن الحكم هو للقوة ولا مكان للحق، أنتم جبناء، فلا تتجرأون على عدم الإمتثال لأوامر، لا بل لإملاءات، الدولة العظمى. فهي لم تسمح لحكامنا في لبنان بتقديم شكوى ضد إسرائيل على كل اعتداءاتها علينا، ولا حتى على شبكات التجسس التي زرعتها في أرضنا فارتكبت أبشع الجرائم. وهي لم تسمح لكم بمطالبة مجلس الأمن باتخاذ قرار بوقف اطلاق النار ووضع حد للمجازر التي ترتكبها إسرائيل، ربيبة الدولة العظمى وشريكتها في جرائمها في حق الإنسانية. لا بل لم تسمح لكم بعقد مؤتمر قمة للاعراب عن وقوف الأمة إلى جانب لبنان في محنته واتخاذ ما ينبغي من خطوات عملية وجدية لنجدته وإنقاذه. أنتم جبناء. ونحن إذ نطلق عليكم هذا الوصف إنما نتوخى أن ندرأ عنكم نعوتا أخرى يكيلها آخرون إذ يتهمونكم بدعم العدوان أو التواطؤ معه. كفرنا، في غمرة المحنة التي تلفنا، بالقيم الحضارية والإنسانية التي تتشدق بها الدولة العظمى، إذ تتغنى بالحرية والديموقراطية والعدالة وسائر حقوق الإنسان. محنتنا أبلغ شاهد على زيف هذه القيم التي باتت مجوفة من معانيها. ولكننا مهما فعلتم، كيفما تصرفتم، مهما تخاذلتم، مهما تواطأتم، فلن نكفر بعروبتنا. فالعروبة تبقى أعز القيم على أنفسنا. والعروبة هي هدف المشروع الذي تتبناه القوة العظمى التي ترهبون والتي تدينون لها بالولاء لا بل بالطاعة العمياء. ما يسمى الشرق الأوسط الجديد إنما يرمي إلى القضاء على العروبة نهائيا وتسليط إسرائيل على المنطقة بأسرها. وأنتم، في تخليكم عن لبنان في محنته، شركاء في هذا المشروع المشؤوم. سامحكم الله، لا بل هداكم الله. حكم التاريخ لا يرحم، وكذلك حكم الشعوب. ستندمون ولات ساعة مندم'

Cana: then, and again

2006-08-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

Then: Cana, April 12, 1996

Cana: 102 Faceless Dead

We killed 170 people in Lebanon, most of whom were refugees, during the month of April, 1996. Many of them were women, old people and children. We killed 9 civilians, one a 2 year old girl and one, a centenarian, in Sahmour, on April 11th. We killed 11 civilians, including 7 children, in Nabatyeh, on April 18th. In the UN Camp in Cana, we killed 102 people. We made sure to inflict death from a distance. In a very secular manner, without the archaic idea of sin, without the antediluvian worry to consider man in the image of God, and without the primitive proscription, "You shall not kill!"

Our solid alibi is that we are responsible for nothing, that the responsibility falls on Hezbollah. A most doubtful alibi. For when we decided to launch a massive attack on the civilian region of South Lebanon (while Israel ran no vital risk), we decided, ipso facto, to spill the blood of X number of civilians. When we decided to drive half a million people out of their homes and to shell those who remained behind (while in Israel, we did not have one single victim), we decided, in fact, to execute several dozen of them. This (alibi) allowed us to make such cruel decisions without seeing ourselves as rotten.

We killed them because the increasingly wider gap between the sacrosanct character that we attribute to our own lives and the more limited character we give to theirs, allowed us to kill. We believe, in the most absolute manner, with the White House, the Senate, the Pentagon, and the New York Times on our side, that their lives do not have the same weight as ours. We are convinced that with Dimona (Israel's atomic site), Yad Vashem and the Shoah Museum in our hand, we have the right to compel 400,000 people to evacuate their homes in 8 hours. And we have the right, at the end of 8 hours, to consider their homes as military targets. And we reserve the right to rain 16,000 shells on their villages and their populations. And we reserve the right to kill without any guilt feelings.

But all this cannot alleviate the gravity of the massacre, Israeli style, and our responsibility for its execution. For it is perpetrated, in general, in places to which we give free range to immoderate violence.

The shelling of Cana was executed according to the rules, orders and objectives of operation, "Grapes of Wrath." There is something wrong in these rules, orders and objectives. Something that is no longer human. Something that touches on the criminal.

And all of us, without exception, were an integral part of this machine. The public supported the media, who supported the government, who supported the Chief of Staff, who supported the inquiry officer, who supported the officers, who supported the soldiers who fired the three shells that killed 102 in Cana.

Nothing can prevent Cana from becoming an integral part of our biography. Because, after Cana, we did not denounce the crime, we did not want to subject the affair to the eyes of the law, we merely wanted to deny the horror and go on with our current affairs. That is how Cana is part of ourselves -- like one of the features of our face.

As the massacre perpetrated by Baruch Goldstein (in the Cave of the Patriarchs on Muslims while praying) and the crime committed by Ygal Amir (like the reactions to them) were manifestations of rotten seeds in the heart of the national-religious culture, the massacre of Cana is no less extreme a grain of rottenness in the heart of secular Israeli culture: its cynicism, brutality, instrumentalism, egocentrism of the powerful; this tendency to blur the frontier between good and evil, between permitted and prohibited; this tendency not to require justice, not to care about truth.

The manner in which contemporary Israel has functioned during and after Cana shows that modern, rational Israeli life conceals a terrifying aspect.

Ari Shavit/Haaretz/New York Times Syndication.
Ari Shavit is a writer and columnist of the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz. He lives in Jerusalem. (Translated from Hebrew in "Liberation" of May 21, 1996.)

... and again: Cana, July 2006

القاتل يعيد ذبح ضحيته

غسان شربل الحياة - 31/07/06

يولد الجنوبي لينتظر موعد استشهاده. تزغرد أمه في استقباله وتخفي خوفها من رائحة الوداع. لكل طفل يولد قذيفة تولد على اسمه في الضفة الأخرى من الخط الأزرق. قذيفة تنتظره وتسأل عنه. وهي آتية وإن تأخرت. قد يذهب الى المدرسة لكن ليودع رفاقه. قد يذهب الى العمل لكن ليلوح بيديه. قد يذهب الى الحقل لكن ليشم رائحة قبره. لكل طفل يولد قذيفة جائعة الى لحمه.

خطأ ان تولد في لبنان. خطيئة ان تولد في جنوبه. ومن الوقاحة ان تقيم هناك. وأن تبني سقفاً وتتوهم انه يحميك. وان تزرع موسماً كأنك ستقطفه. هذا ليس جنوب الوطن. انه حقل رماية. على المدافع ان تظهر دقتها. على الطائرات ان تثبت تفوقها. يحتاج حقل الرماية الى اهداف مثيرة. اطفال في احضان الأمهات. صغار تحت عريشة الدار. مدنيون مكدسون في الطابق الأرضي يتوهمون انهم خدعوا الطائرات وضللوها.

كم جثة طفل يحتاج الضابط الصغير ليصبح جنرالاً. كم ليتراً من الدم يلزم لصناعة وسام. كم جنازة يحتاج رئيس الوزراء المدني ليجلس في نادي حراس الهيكل. حظهم سيئ اطفال قانا. لم يكن ايهود اولمرت محارباً لحظة ولادة الدولة. لم يرتد يوما بزة الجنرال. لا احتل أرضاً ولا أنقذ الكيان. كيف يجلس قرب اسحق رابين؟ كيف يخاطب ارييل شارون؟ كيف يحدق بأوسمة ايهود باراك؟ تلزم لهذا الرجل مذبحة غير عادية. يحتاج سلماً من الجثث الصغيرة ليتسلق على حبال الدماء الى كتب التاريخ. حظهم سيئ اطفال قانا.

يتمشى اولمرت في مكتبه. لبنان بلد يستحق القتل. لبنان بلد معاد. تركيبته. ديموقراطيته. قدرته على التحريض. من جامعاته جاء جورج حبش ووديع حداد. عاصمته احتضنت ياسر عرفات وابو اياد وابو جهاد. وحين اقتلع «جيش الدفاع المخربين الوافدين» نبت من التراب اللبناني جيل أشد وطأة وهولاً. لبنان حالة ميؤوس منها. لا علاج لهذا المريض غير قتله. وهو سيقتله جسراً جسراً. سيغطي الخريطة بالركام بعد تقطيع أوصالها. لن تفلت قرية من رائحة الموت. لن ينجو شريان. هذه حربه ولن يترك جنرالات اليوم يتحسرون على جنرالات البارحة. يتمنى لو يستيقظ شارون لبعض الوقت ليبلغه كم دفع لبنان حتى الآن ثمن خطف جنديين وثمن التطاول على هيبة اسرائيل. ليبلغه ان المدنيين ايضاً يجيدون السباحة في دم اللبنانيين.

يتمشى اولمرت في مكتبه. هذه ليست قصة جنديين. سكان حيفا يلازمون الملاجىء. بعضهم يتحسس جوازات السفر. الصواريخ تصيب المدن وتثقب الهيبة. ولواء غولاني ينهمك بإخلاء قتلاه ثم ينسحب. وأحمدي نجاد ينصح سكان «الورم الخبيث» بحزم حقائبهم. ستكون الف قانا بعد قانا. غداً ينسى العالم صور الجثث الصغيرة وبيانات الاستنكار. تقول التجارب ان للعالم ذاكرة تنسى.

كم جثة طفل يحتاج مجلس الأمن لعقد اجتماع. كم نهراً من الدم يحتاج لتدبيج قرار وقف النار. كم شعباً من المقابر تحتاج الإدارة الأميركية لتحتفل بولادة الشرق الاوسط الجديد.

يولد الجنوبي لينتظر موعد استشهاده. العمر جسر معلق بين جنازتين. البر غدار والبحرغدار. كلما ولد طفل ولدت قذيفة لاصطياده. البر دبابات والبحر بوارج والسماء مثقلة بالطائرات. يتوجع العالم برصانة قاتلة، يتوجع ببطء شديد. هذا لحمنا المهروس تحت الركام. هذا لحمنا يتطاير في كل اتجاه. هذا العالم موحش. هذا العالم متوحش. بعد عشرة أعوام عاد القاتل إلى مسرح جريمته وأعاد ذبح ضحيته

Funny cartoon in today's issue of al-Hayat

2006-08-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

The so-called "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" in the UN's trash bin... Come on! Al-Hayat's cartoonist must be very naive if he ever thought that the UDHR applied to him. In fact, the UDHR has never been anything else than a declaration of the white man's rights. As for the rest of us thugs, well, we now know our worth...

Israeli peace activist on the war in Lebanon

2006-08-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

Today, I give you two lucid articles analyzing the events in Lebanon by the israeli peace activist Uri Avnery. I personally subscribe to many, if not all, of the author's points of view in the first article, but I only hope that events will prove him wrong (regarding Syria) in the second one.

Règles pour mieux decrypter les infos

2006-07-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Voici, en exclusivité, des règles que tout le monde doit avoir à l'esprit lorsqu'il regarde le journal televise le soir, ou quand il lit son journal le matin. Tout deviendra simple.

Règle numéro 1 : Au Proche Orient, ce sont toujours les arabes qui attaquent les premiers et c'est toujours Israël qui se défend. Cela s'appelle des représailles.

Règle numéro 2 : Les arabes, Palestiniens ou Libanais n'ont pas le droit de tuer des civils de l'autre camp. Cela s'appelle du terrorisme.

Règle numéro 3 : Israël a le droit de tuer les civils arabes. Cela s'appelle de la légitime défense.

Règle numéro 4 : Quand Israël tue trop de civils, les puissances occidentales l'appellent à la retenue. Cela s'appelle la réaction de la communauté internationale.

Règle numéro 5 : Les palestiniens et les libanais n'ont pas le droit de capturer des militaires israéliens, même si leur nombre est très limité et ne dépasse pas trois soldats.

Règle numéro 6 : Les israéliens ont le droit d'enlever autant de palestiniens qu'ils le souhaitent (environ 10000 prisonniers à ce jour dont près de 300 enfants). Il n'y a aucune limite et les israéliens n'ont besoin d'apporter aucune preuve de la culpabilité des personnes enlevées. Il suffit juste de dire le mot magique "terroriste".

Règle numéro 7 : Quand vous dites "Hezbollah", il faut toujours rajouter l'expression « soutenu par la Syrie et l'Iran ».

Règle numéro 8 : Quand vous dites "Israël", il ne faut surtout pas rajouter après : « soutenu par les Etats-Unis, la France et l'Europe », car on pourrait croire qu'il s'agit d'un conflit déséquilibré.

Règle numéro 9 : Ne jamais parler de "Territoires occupés", ni de résolutions de l'ONU, ni de violations du droit international, ni des conventions de Genève. Cela risque de perturber le téléspectateur et l'auditeur de France Info.

Règle numéro 10 : Les israéliens parlent mieux le français que les arabes. C'est ce qui explique qu'on leur donne, ainsi qu'à leurs partisans, aussi souvent que possible la parole. Ainsi, ils peuvent nous expliquer les règles précédentes (de 1 à 9). Cela s'appelle de la neutralité journalistique.

Règle numéro 11 : Si vous n'êtes pas d'accord avec ces règles ou si vous trouvez qu'elles favorisent une partie dans le conflit contre une autre, c'est que vous êtes un dangereux antisémite.

About the war in the Middle-East

2006-07-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

"Words fail; ordinary terms are inadequate to describe the horrors Israel daily perpetrates, and has perpetrated for years, against the Palestinians. The tragedy of Gaza has been described a hundred times over, as have the tragedies of 1948, of Qibya, of Sabra and Shatila, of Jenin -- 60 years of atrocity perpetrated in the name of Judaism. But the horror generally falls on deaf ears in most of Israel, in the U.S. political arena, in the mainstream U.S. media. Those who are horrified -- and there are many -- cannot penetrate the shield of impassivity that protects the political and media elite in Israel, even more so in the U.S., and increasingly now in Canada and Europe, from seeing, from caring.

But it needs to be said now, loudly: those who devise and carry out Israeli policies have made Israel into a monster, and it has come time for all of us -- all Israelis, all Jews who allow Israel to speak for them, all Americans who do nothing to end U.S. support for Israel and its murderous policies -- to recognize that we stain ourselves morally by continuing to sit by while Israel carries out its atrocities against the Palestinians."

To read more of Kathleen Christison's article, click here.

Mrs. Christison is a former CIA analyst, and an outspoken critic of US policies in the Middle-East and of the war in Iraq. I had a chance to hear her speak at a conference a couple years ago, and she gave me the impression of a widely read, sharp-witted lady. I very much enjoy her writings.

For more about the Israeli tactics and long-term strategies in Lebanon and Gaza, I recommend Gideon Levy's opinion piece that appeared in last Sunday's Haaretz (I got this link thanks to Ibn Kafka, who by the way has an excellent coverage of the war and the reactions to it on his blog), and this other one by an Israeli jew. See also this piece by Mike Whitney on the silence of the mainstream media in Europe and the US.

The most troubling thing in all of this was when the Saudi government gave carte blanche to Israel to do whatever it wants in Lebanon! There was a time where we wondered why arab leaders kept silent in the face of israeli agression. Now, we just wish they would shut up.

Arrogance

2006-07-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

A quite good analysis by Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, assistant professor of political science at the Lebanese-America University, on the last crisis on the middle east.

Act 1: Ghaza, 1 (one) soldier is captured. Israel’s reaction is demolishing homes, killing and imprisoning hundreds of civilians.

Act 2: A couple of soldiers are captured by Hezbollah. Israel’s reaction is demolishing airports, homes, roads, and killings civilians.

Targetting civilians and still claiming fighting terrorism.

How beautiful!

Ghassan Sharbal on the Iran question

2006-04-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

Excellent editorial by Ghassan Sharbal in yesterday's issue of al-Hayat on Iran's nuclear ambitions, and how these might affect neighbouring arab states. Happy reading!

On the destruction of islamic landmarks in Mecca and Medina

2006-03-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

Interesting article in the current issue of Islamica Magazine about the systematic destruction of islamic historical landmarks at the hands of wahabi zealots and real estate speculators. Enjoy!

On the attack on the shrine of shii Imams

2006-02-27T09:37:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday was a very sad day for millions of Iraqis, both shia and sunni, and millions of shia muslims worldwide. A major shii shrine in the city of Samarra has been blown up in a horrific attack that transformed the beautiful golden dome that used to adorn the city's skyline into shambles [click here for pictures of the shrine before and after the bombing, and here for a overview of the history of the shrine]. Despite calls from Grand Ayatollah Sistani for restraint, angry shii gunmen have reportedly attacked sunni mosques, killing several dozen people. (According to the author of the Iraq the Model blog, angry shia mobs targeted mosques that are known to be attended by takfiri/wahabi/salafi groups, and did not harm mosques belonging to the more traditional iraqi sunnis.)

An image that will remain in my memory for a long time: the one of Abdulghafour Samarrai, a sunni sheikh, leading a protest in Samarra after the explosion, weeping. Thank you sheikh. Your tears came from the heart and gave a good example of how genuine solidarity between fellow muslims across the sectarian divide expresses itself during difficult times. I am sure that, in the absence of salafi zealots [part1, part2], who inflict atrocities on iraqi shia almost everyday, Iraq's problems would find a straightforward way to peaceful settlement.

Update, February 28: Interesting article by Jihad al Khazen in today's al Hayat on the situation in Iraq after the shrine bombing.

Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad : the controversy goes on

2006-02-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Before I go to sleep, a quick update: the editor in chief of Jyllands-Posten, Carsten Juste, has written a public apology [english, arabic] for the offending cartoons of Prophet Muhammad published by his newspaper last September. While the cartoons have been reprinted by several European newspapers, the Editor-in-chief of the Frech daily France soir has reportedly been fired by the newspaper's owner, Egyptian magnate Raymond Lakah.

I now have to go to bed. More to come tomorrow. In the meantime, you are welcome to post any thoughts or comments you might have :-)

Update - Friday, Ferbruary 3, 2006
[I had written this update yesterday, but for some reason it did not get published :( - sorry for the inconvenience]

The uproar over the offending cartoons now has spread to most of the Islamic world (click here for a slide show on protests that took place in Asia). In Gaza, gunmen burst into hotels in search of westerners to take as hostage, reports the Associated Press. For its part, the U.S. State Department has condemned the drawings and urged for tolerance. And while Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said EU leaders have a responsibility to "clearly condemn" insults to any religion, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy with his usual, despicable arrogance said that he preferred "an excess of caricature to an excess of censorship".

On the religious side, Sheikh Youssouf al-Qardawi has issued a statement calling on arab countries to put pressure on the Danish government so as to ensure that such insults do not take place again in the future. On the other hand, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has issued a statement calling on muslims to react to these odious caricatures which debase our most fundamental beliefs. The statement acknowledged that the actions of a devious minority of extremists have given non-muslims a very bad picture of Islam, and has provided the bigots with an excuse to distord the truth and bash this religion of peace and justice. I personally found this last statement to be very balanced, as it did not shift all the blame on the West, but put part of the responsibility on the muslim extremists as well.

And last, but not least: two opinion pieces I found interesting. The first one is by a western political activist, and the second one by a Syrian diplomat. Happy reading!

Second Update - February 7, 2006

So now, after angry rioters have set the Danish consulates in Beirut and Damascus ablaze, in an ironic twist of events it incumbed to the Syrian and Lebanese governments to present their apologies to the Danish people, not the other way around.

Today, an iranian newspaper has indicated that it will hold a contest on cartoons about the holocaust, to see whether the West can uphold the same standards of freedom of speech in its attitude toward this historical event as it did with the offending cartoons. I think we already know what will the reaction of the west be, one that is full of contempt and hypocrisy.

And, according to Jihad al-Khazen, these same muslims who are reacting so violently to these cartoons have missed out when it came to reacting to the organized campaign of islamophobic propaganda waged against them and their governments in the West. Muslims: waaaaaaaaaaaake upppp!!!

Prominent Jewish leader condems the offensive caricatures about Prophet Muhammad

2006-02-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

In today's issue of al-Hayat, an interesting article by Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, about the offensive caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which appeared in a Danish newspaper a couple weeks ago. The caricatures had sparked outrage from the muslim community in Denmark as well as from muslims all over the world. In his article, Mr. Bronfman argues that freedom of expression should not be used in a malicious way to ridicule or insult the religious beliefs of others, especially when those targeted are in minority status. While I might disagree on Mr. Bronfman's position on the middle-east conflict, I think this article is a noble moral gesture of support for the muslims in these difficult times, and as such is worthy of respect.

On Mona Eltahawy

2005-12-27T13:03:00.000-08:00

Mona Eltahawy is a bright, young, female egyptian journalist who lives in New York. I knew her primarily through the weekly article she writes for the panarab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, and I found most of her articles to be pretty mature for her relatively young age (she was born in 1967). She also writes in english, and I found some of the articles she published in western journals to denounce extremism in our midst [sample no. 1, sample no. 2], or to promote a better understanding of Islam in the West [sample no. 3] to be pretty good. (In some instances, I also found that she missed the mark, like here - but that's an other story.)

So much for the introduction. Recently, I learned that Mona Eltahawy has got herself in trouble after she published a coureageous opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune, in which she expressed sharp criticism of the elections in Egypt. Ms. Eltahawy was summoned to a meeting with egyptian officials, during which she was told that her actions are being monitored by the egyptian government.

Two thoughts about this incident. First, the egyptian government, by taking this step, actually lends credence to Ms. Eltahawy's assessment of the status of democracy and civil liberties in her country. Second, I think that the Egyptian government must feel in a position of force that enables it to do this, and sentence Ayman Nour to five years in prison for some rather dubious forgery allegations, without fearing an international uproar. In my opinion, this is evidence that Egypt is still being needed as one of Washington's key allies in the war on terror. Thus, in this particular case, we may again conclude that the threat of terrorism has only served to further strengthen a repressive arab regime and western ally, not exactly what the extremists sought.

Miscellanea

2005-12-19T20:41:00.000-08:00

In yesterday's issue of the International Herald Tribune, an interesting article on the occasion of the centenary of the law separating the Church and the State in France. I especially liked the passage where the author likens the French interpretation of secularism to a new "state religion", which in my opinion is a fairly accurate characterization. France's brand of secularism is a self-centered, intolerant ideology that severely limits people's religious freedoms. What is worse is that, despite the recent riots and despite all the tensions that traverse French society because of it, the French people are not prepared to do anything about it.

There were also some disquieting comments by the iranian president. After eight years of conciliatory policies under former president Mohammad Khatami, Ahmadinejad is trying to revive the revolutionary zeal of the early days of the revolution, and his fiery comments are attracting growing suspicion from neighboring countries as well as from the West. I don't like bragging, and I find Ahmadinejad's bragging about Iran being the standard-bearer of "true islam" a little offensive. True islam, Mr. President, will shine through your actions, not just through your words. When your actions will measure up to the fairly high standards of your religion, people will notice, even if you don't say a single bragging word about it. This ideological bragging makes all the difference between Ahmadinejad and someone like Khatami. For while both were devout muslims, Khatami never bragged about it, or about his nation being at the forefront of "the struggle for Islam": he just let his actions speak for him. I am afraid that Ahmadinejad's comments will only invite trouble for his country and for the whole region.

[Note added: after I wrote the above, I discovered that Ghassan Sharbal has an opinion piece just about this in today's issue of al-Hayat. Take a look: it's a great read, as usual ;-) ]

"The French Democracy"

2005-12-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

C'est le titre d'un "film" qu'Alex Chan, un jeune parisien issu de l'immigration (ses parents sont des immigres chinois), a produit au sujet des recents evenements de violence dans les banlieues francaises. Le film, qui a ete applaudi aussi bien par les internautes que par la presse internationale, dure a peu pres 13 minutes, et peut etre visionne avec Windows Media Player.

Pour voir le film, cliquez ici.

Pour lire des articles sur le film et son producteur, cliquez ici, ou bien ici :-)

Avian flu: is it a hoax ?

2005-12-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

Wanna know more ? Click here, and read on :-)

On Mohamed El-Baradei

2005-12-11T15:54:00.000-08:00

In today's al-Hayat, there was a short biography of Mohamed el-Baradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who was this year's recipient of the Nobel peace prize.

Apparently, el-Baradei has declared that he would offer half his share of the prize money to support orphans in Egypt. A humane gesture worthy of great respect.

My sincere congratulations to Mr. El-Baradei, and to the egyptian people. The Egyptians now have four Nobel laureates. Very diplomatic and hard working, they definitely deserve their title of leaders of the arab world.

Un grand peuple

2005-12-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

Alain Peyrefitte raconte dans ses memoires que le General de Gaulle, lors de son premier voyage en Allemagne de l'ouest apres la deuxieme guerre mondiale (c'etait en fait a la fin des annees 50, il s'etait rendu en RFA pour rencontrer le chancellier allemand Konrad Adenauer et sceller la reconciliation franco-allemande), etait tellement impressionne par la rapidite avec laquelle les allemands etaient entrain de reconstruire leur pays qu'il s'etait exclame a haute voix dans sa cabine de train: "Quel grand peuple !" Venant d'un leader nationaliste dont le pays avait ete envahi et occupe par les allemands, et qui avait combattu l'allemagne au cours d'une guerre specialement meurtriere, cette exclamation admirative etait pour le moins surprenante.

Je n'ai pas pu m'empecher de penser a de Gaulle et a sa fameuse exclamation quand, hier matin, j'ai lu dans un article du New York Times qu'un jury a Tampa avait disculpe un professeur palestinien de l'accusation "d'association avec un groupe terroriste" sur laquelle il avait ete demis de ses fonctions et emprisonne pendant de longs mois (certains ont vu dans son emprisonnement une volonte d'intimider les activistes pro-palestiniens, l'accuse ayant lui-meme ete un ardent activiste de la cause palestinienne aux Etats Unis). Dans l'amerique du "Patriot Act", des americains ordinaires donnent une lecon de justice et de liberte d'expression a leur gouvernement, et montrent encore une fois que ce sont en fait les gens ordinaires qui tiennent le plus aux ideaux d'egalite et de justice sur laquelle cette nation a ete fondee.

Malgre toutes ses contradictions et toutes ses tares, le peuple americain reste un grand peuple. Et il le demeurera tant qu'il y aura des gens comme les membres de ce jury de Floride pour croire a des ideaux que les politiciens ont depuis longtemps repudie.

Dennis Prager: Five questions non-muslims would like answered

2005-11-29T20:51:00.000-08:00

In a recent LA Times article, radio talk show host Dennis Prager has addressed five provocative questions to the US muslim community that, he contends, non-muslims would like answered. The questions are as follows:

(1) Why are you so quiet? [i.e. : in the face of all the terror committed in the name of Islam]

(2) Why are none of the Palestinian terrorists Christian?

(3) Why is only one of the 47 Muslim-majority countries a free country?

(4) Why are so many atrocities committed and threatened by Muslims in the name of Islam?

(5) Why do countries governed by religious Muslims persecute other religions?

After having asked the above questions, he goes on to explain his motives:

"As a member of the media for nearly 25 years, I have a long record of reaching out to Muslims. Muslim leaders have invited me to speak at major mosques. In addition, I have studied Arabic and Islam, have visited most Arab and many other Muslim countries and conducted interfaith dialogues with Muslims in the United Arab Emirates as well as in the U.S. Politically, I have supported creation of a Palestinian state and supported (mistakenly, I now believe) the Oslo accords.

Hundreds of millions of non-Muslims want honest answers to these questions, even if the only answer you offer is, "Yes, we have real problems in Islam." Such an acknowledgment is infinitely better — for you and for the world — than dismissing us as anti-Muslim.

We await your response."

Now, here is a chance to explain our side of the story to somebody who is willing to listen. Any ideas on how one may, in an honest and objective way, address Mr. Prager's questions?

الرجل الثالث

2005-11-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

In yesterday's al-Hayat, another great opinion piece by Ghassan Sharbal about the situation in Iraq: lucid and to the point.

Looking at the situation from afar, it seems to me that sunni arabs, being the great losers of the current war, have a very hard time agreeing on the new rules of the political game in Iraq, rules that are dictated by demographics and by the sheer numbers of non-sunni arabs, i.e. of shias and kurds. On the other hand, the shia and the kurds were so oppressed by successive sunni governments (not only by Saddam) in the last 40 years (in fact since the fall of the monarchy in Iraq, the latter having reportedly been more lenient toward them) that they won't trust sunni arabs anymore. The fact is, the situation in Iraq is far more complex than what most arab commentators will dare to admit, and as Ghassan Sharbal is explaining in his essay, it will take a lot of wisdom and of goodwill from all sides in order to achieve some sort of peace in Iraq and avoid the terrible specter of a civil war that has been looming on the country's horizon since the toppling of the Baath regime back in 2003.

On the fate of al-Khalil's palestinian population

2005-11-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

In yesterday's al-Hayat, an interesting article about the palestinians of al-Khalil (Hebron), and how they were coerced into fleeing their homes in the past decade:

أكد تحقيق صحافي نشرته صحيفة «هآرتس» أمس ان المستوطنين في محافظة الخليل وبدعم مباشر من جيش الاحتلال الاسرائيلي كانوا وراء إرغام نحو 30 ألفا من سكان المدينة على الرحيل تاركين وراءهم ممتلكاتهم وبيوتهم ليستولي عليها المستوطنون ويسكنوا بعضها ويدمروا أخرى ويعيثوا خراباً في ما تبقى.

وكتب الصحافي ميرون ربابورت بعد جولة قام بها في المنطقة المعروفة بـ «اتش 2» التي ما زالت تخضع للاحتلال الاسرائيلي ان الجيش الاسرائيلي يبرر ما حصل للفلسطينيين بأنه «فصل بين اليهود والعرب،» فيما يصفه الفلسطينيون بـ «الترانسفير» ويطلق عليه قائد قوات المراقبين الدوليين في المنطقة «تطهيراً». وأضاف الكاتب تحت عنوان «مدينة أشباح»: «تحت ضغط مزدوج من المستوطنين والجيش الاسرائيلي فرغ مركز مدينة الخليل من سكانه الفلسطينيين. لم يحصل مثل هذا الأمر منذ العام 1948. لم يبق من المواطنين الـ30 ألفاً سوى قلائل، والشوارع بدت خالية حتى يوم عيد الفطر».

To read the full text of the article, click here.

In memoriam

2005-11-14T21:07:00.000-08:00

Mostafa Akkad, 1933-2005

Great Arab movie director, killed, with many others, in an ugly act of mass murder in a Jordanian hotel while attending a wedding.

May your sole rest in peace. Amen.

Enemies of Life - Al-Hayat article (english)

Al-Hayat (arabic): مصطفى العقاد نشر رسالة الاسلام سينمائياً وسقط ضحية التطرّف

Asharq al-Awasat (arabic): عرس الدم: بطولة مصطفى العقاد

A few thoughts about the Mehlis report

2005-11-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

Now that the initial dust has settled, here are a few thoughts about the Mehlis report:

1. First, as most observers have noted, the report did not identify any single suspect. Instead, it has hinted to several possible leads, with only fragments of proof here and there, and no material evidence a prosecutor can build a case on, as of yet.

2. There has been a lot of fuss in the media (especially western media) about the role played by Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, and hence about a possible involvement of the Syrian government. Particular emphasis was put on the short but tense meeting between then Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and Syrian President Bashar Assad, where Assad bluntly told Hariri that Lahoud's mandate was to be extended for an additional term, or else to be prepared to incur Syria's wrath. As a good friend of mine pointed out to me, all this happened in August 2004, and Hariri has backed from his position (which was never publicly known anyway) and bowed to Assad's demand, and Lahoud's extension passed. Now, here is my question: how do these events constitute a motive for the assassination ?

3. In fact, there is nothing new in these elements: any observer even remotely familiar with lebanese affairs knew before the Mehlis report that Syria had a lot of influence in Lebanon, to say the least. The fact that a Syrian official (in this case the deputy foreign minister) has lied to the Mehlis commission cannot reasonably be considered as tangible proof of official Syrian involvement in the assasination. As my friend told me: "What did you want the Syrians to say ? That "yeah, we interfered in Lebanease affairs..."? Or that "yeah, we were running the show behind the scenes"? Of course they lied, as all other powers do every single day... Is that a reason to invade or embargo a country? If it is then there are many western democracies which should be invaded and embargoed in the first place." He may not be totally wrong.

4. Obviously, Syria's involvement in Lebanon was well-known to western governments, but not to the western public at large. In constitutional democracies, a certain degree of public support is needed in case a war is to be waged. It thus appears that the Mehlis commission was set up so that Syria's abuses in the Lebanon could be exposed in western media for later use by the war propaganda machine.

5. Of course, the Syrian government is a brutal dictatorship, which is capable of acts worse than this one. Yet, in this particular case, a clear motive for syrian involvement is lacking. Syria has not benefited in any way from Hariri's murder, and it is somehow difficult to believe that the syrians, which have played their lebanese cards so intelligently in the past, may have (mis)calculated that they would reap any benefit from the crime. Of course, I am not trying to absolve the Syrians, but sometimes, one has to look for the culprit in the most unexpected places.

To read more:

Jihad al-Khazen, on the possible role played by the sect of the Ahbash: The International Investigation and Old Security Files

Hazem Saghieh, on how Baath's ideology has driven Syria to the current impasse: Sacrificing the Baath to Rescue Syria

Mohammad Sayed Saeed, on what might be next for Syria: اختيارات صعبة بعد تقرير ميليس

Abdulwahab Badr Khan: الجميع كان يعرف

Dawood Shirian, recounting a meeting with Syrian Defense Minister before he "commited suicide": This is how I saw Ghazi Kanaan

On Saddam's trial

2005-10-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Read, today, a very good opinion piece by Gassan Sharbal, editor in chief of al-Hayat, about the trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Check it out when you get a chance: it's just excellent.

In my personal opinion, Saddam is someone who deserves the death penalty not only once, but a million times. And yet, for the sake of justice, he must have the right to a fair trial, with due process and access to legal counsel.

A friend of mine jokingly told me: "If it was for me, I would just let him go." Then he added: "On the condition that he takes home in some popular (i.e. modest) neighborhood of Baghdad."

I bet there are a lot of shia in Sadr City (and elsewhere) who would love to have him as a neighbor :)

Saddam Hussein and the town of Dujayl

2005-10-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

In today's Los Angeles Times, a very sad story about the atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein, more specifically about the revenge he took on the people of Dujayl, a shii dominated small town 40 kilometers north of Baghdad, after a failed attempt on his life by someone there. The story is a little long, but certainly worth a read:

DUJAYL, Iraq — Once a torrent of water coursed through this central Iraq town, which takes its name from Nahr Dujayl, the Little Tigris River that for centuries nourished its lush palm groves and orchards.

Now, only raw sewage flows through open gutters along the city's unpaved alleyways.

Inside a mud-brick home, an old man chokes back tears as he recalls his three sons. They were killed, prosecutors say, as a result of then-President Saddam Hussein's vengeful fury following a 1982 assassination attempt.

"One by one, my sons were taken from me," said Ali Hossein Mussawi, a 68-year-old onetime farmer. His humble living room is filled with fading photographs of the three young men. "Saddam took away my sons, he took away half of my heart."

Hussein's Sunni Muslim-dominated regime unleashed a wave of retaliation within hours of the July 8, 1982, attack in the Shiite-majority city, Iraqi officials, prosecutors and witnesses say. At least 148 were rounded up and executed, an Iraqi prosecutor said. Some estimate three times that many were killed. Prosecutors allege that almost 400 men, women and even children were in custody for years.

The small river running through the town, which gave it life and prosperity, was cut off, plowed over and eventually turned into an asphalt road. The date palm groves and gardens where residents earned their livelihoods were bulldozed or left unwatered until they died too, according to prosecutors and townspeople.

Few Iraqis were brave enough to speak about events in Dujayl. Days after the botched assassination, the state-controlled newspaper Thawra sardonically hailed plans to "redevelop" and upgrade the town.

But as soon as Hussein fell in April 2003, people began speaking out. "If someone tries to kill the president, you should arrest the suspects," said Jawad Massoud, 38, a produce wholesaler and Dujayl native who lost relatives. "Why destroy everything? Why punish everybody?"

To read the full text of the article, click here.

On Turkey's prospects for joining the EU

2005-10-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Read, yesterday, an interesting article in Al-Ittihad by a Lebanese intellectual about Turkey's candidacy for membership of the EU, and what this entails for both Turkey and western Europe:

استطاعت تركيا بفضل مساعدة بريطانيا (أو بالأحرى الولايات المتحدة) الفوز بالدخول إلى مفاوضات العضوية الكاملة مع الاتحاد الأوروبي· وهذا الانتصار الذي عملتْ له تركيا سنواتٍ وسنوات له حدودٌ طبعاً بقدْر ما لهُ من آفاق· حدودُهُ تتمثل في طول المدة التي تستغرقُها المفاوضات على العضوية الكاملة: عشر سنوات! وحدودُهُ التشكيك من جانب دولٍ أوروبيةٍ عديدة في طليعتها فرنسا(!) في إمكان انتهاء المفاوضات بالعضوية· أمّا الآفاقُ فبعضُها مُدّعى أو مأمول، وبعضُها الآخَر تحقّق أو هو في طريقه لذلك·

أولُ المتحقّق وأَهمُّهُ: تغيير وجهة تركيا، من دولةٍ شرقيةٍ وعسكرية الطابع، إلى أُخرى أوروبية أو غربية حديثة· والأمر الأول ما بدأ اليومَ، ولا مع الدخول في المفاوضات مع أوروبا قبل ثماني سنوات· إنما بدأ بدخول تركيا في حلف الأطلسي عشية نشوب الحرب الباردة أواخرَ الأربعينيات· وقد ترتبت على هذا الدخول تغييراتٌ استراتيجيةٌ كبرى أهمُّها تحوُّلُ تركيا إلى دولة مواجهة على حدود الاتحاد السوفييتي، مما رفع من قيمة موقعها من جهة، وعرَّضها لمخاطر من جهةٍ ثانية· وعلينا أن لا ننسى أن تركيا شاركت عسكرياً في كل مواجهات حلف الأطلسي: من الحرب الكورية عام 1951 وحتى حرب أفغانستان عام 2001/·2002 بيد أنَّ الدور البارز للعسكريين الأتراك في السياسات الداخلية خلال عقود الحرب الباردة، عرّض الدولة الوطنية التركية لخضّاتٍ وتعطيلات للدستور وللنظام ذي الطابع الديمقراطي، والذي تحول لأكثر من عقدٍ في ما بين الخمسينيات والثمانينيات من القرن الماضي، إلى نظامٍ عسكري، استتر حيناً بالعلمانية، وأحياناً بضرورات الانتظام الداخلي والاستقرار

To read the full text of the article, click here.

All Moroccan schools to have internet connection in three years

2005-09-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

Morocco is launching a project aiming at equipping all schools with Internet connections within three years, which will benefit six millions students. The cost, it is said, is only about US $133 millions. This is certainly a good move, and might help our future youth to use the Net in other ways than chatting, which is by far the activity of choice of today’s Moroccans. Besides that, such a decision means, logically, that Morocco should hire a large number of computer application teachers and IT technicians. Logically. Wait and see!

On a different, albeit related, topic, there are 100,000 Moroccan subscribers to Internet, 60% of which using the ADSL. Although the price for having such a service is slightly higher than, say, in the US, and although salaries are by no means comparable between the two countries, it is quite interesting that many people in Morocco assert that ADSL is not expensive. Getting used to expensive life might explain such a difference in price appreciation!

Robin Cook, a man of dignity

2005-08-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

"We would have made more progress against terrorism if we had brought peace to Palestine rather than war to Iraq".

These were the words of Robin Cook, who has suddenly passed away this weekend, while he was hiking in the Scottish Highlands. He was a man of great political integrity and "one of the most principled and eloquent politicians of our time", according to The Independent. One of his articles, published in the aftermath of London’s terrorist attacks, is in one of our previous topics.

If we had a sufficient number of politicians of his caliber, we sure would have been living in a better world.

On defining terrorism

2005-07-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

Isn’t it ironic that "terrorism", a word in everyone’s mouth now, and arguably the most debated issue over the last five years, has yet to be explicitly defined? Neither the United Nations, nor less prestigious institutions, - let alone individual nations- have ever dared to propose a concise definition of the word “terrorism”.

Owing to the recrudescence of terrorism in the recent weeks, Kofi Annan looks more eager to convince all the protagonists on a single and clear definition. According to this article, he seems to have convinced Amr Moussa the head of Arab League for accepting this definition: Terrorism is "any intentional maiming or killing of civilians as terrorism, regardless of cause". Amr Moussa’s reaction "This is a definition we can agree on", certainly under the pressure of the last bombings in London and Charm Sheikh, is not in line with that of the Arab states, who are not reluctant for condemning terrorism per se but do not want this definition to be applied to Palestinian suicide bombings, because, they say, this should be seen as a "right of national liberation movements to fight foreign occupation".

In my view, this attitude, in addition of being morally unacceptable, is defensive and counterproductive. If anything, it is only fueling the misunderstanding between Muslim and Western civilizations. What are Arab States expecting when they show reluctance to back such a clear statement as "intentional maiming or killing of civilians is terrorism, regardless of cause", other than a further alienation of Muslims and Arabs from the rest of the world? My guess is that Arab leaders fear the anger of the Arab “Street” that a condoning of Annan’s proposal might entail. They will be seen, they think, as “selling the Palestinian cause” and acting as a proxy of Western imperialism. This is nonsense and the kind of things, which are preventing us from moving ahead.

Instead of adopting a hardly defendable stance, Arab states should be much more offensive. They should condemn any Palestinian suicide bombings targeting civilians. They just can’t hide behind the eternal excuse of resistance. After all, Bin Laden and company, use this very argument to justify terrorism, which, they claim, is a response to injustices done to Palestine, Iraq and other Muslim lands. By offensive, I mean they should not only accept without questioning Annan’s proposal, but go beyond. They should say, that yes, Palestinian suicide bombings against Israeli civilians is terrorism. They should insist, moreover, that the definition of terrorism stated above should be as protective of civilians as possible. By this, I mean that any excuse by somebody (or some entity) killing civilians that he (it) intended to kill some “enemy” that happened to be close to them is unacceptable. In this case, any bombing of an enemy is some urban street or place should be considered as terrorism. Accordingly, Sheikh Yassine and Rantissi assassinations should be declared as terrorism because along with them many civilians were assassinated. Otherwise, the definition of terrorism above will be useless. Any suicide bomber might also claim that killing those civilians in Israel was intended to kill the military personnel that happened to be 30 meters away… The moral of the story is that, to effectively fight terrorism, we shouldn’t play games with coherence. Either we decide once for all to be coherent either we must admit that we are fooling ourselves and are acting irresponsibly.

The Tharwa project

2005-07-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

Diversity is a notion that is not sufficiently appreciated in the muslim world these days. Today, I want to share with you a website that is dedicated to increasing the muslim people's awareness of the rights of minorities within their societies and of the benefits of cultural and ethnic diversity. The website bears the name of "Tharwa", or wealth. Its motto says it all: "Difference is Wealth" (The arabic version of the website says: "الإختلا ف ثروة") This is a international initiative, with financial support provided by several NGOs from across Europe, and with a diverse advisory committee, with such serious academics and journalists as Saad Eddine Ibrahim, Gilles Kepel, or Brian Whitaker. The mission statement of the Tharwa project states that it is " an independent initiative that seeks to provide a free platform for the discussion and dissemination of ideas that can contribute to raising the standards of civic awareness in the Broader Middle East and North Africa Region".

The goals of the project include:

• Facilitating the occurrence of a constructive dialogue between the various communities inhabiting the Broader Middle East and North Africa Region.

• Supporting ongoing processes of democratization in the Region, especially local independent initiatives.

• Supporting ongoing peace-building initiatives in the Region.

• Providing a more objective and balanced coverage of developments in the Region, specifically those with potential implications for inter-community and gender relations as well as youth issues.

• Creating a network of organizations and individuals interested in raising the standards of civic awareness and involvement in the Region.

• Engaging in activities and programs meant to help empower the Region’s youth movements.

• Helping in bringing greater understanding to gender-related issues in the Region.

• Assisting in monitoring and assessing developments with potential impact on the Region’s physical environment.

• Remaining committed to and helping promote the basic principles of human rights and dignity outlined in such charters as the International Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, among others.

I invite you to have a look at the Tharwa website [english, arabic], it's worth the detour. Happy reading!

Best and worst articles on London attacks: Jallal's selection

2005-07-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well, here is my own list of the top ten articles (in decreasing order) regarding the terrorist attacks in London. This post will be edited in order to add new entries and update the ranking according to the quality of the articles. I might also add a list of worst articles.

Top Ten Articles

1. Khaled al-Harrub, Palestinian writer and London resident, in al-Hayat.

2. The struggle against terrorism cannot be won by military means, by Robin Cook.

3. The reaction of Tariq Ramadan, in English et en Français.

4. Ken Livingstone's statement

5. So who was it? First impressions, by Jason Burke

6. Al-Qaida: Wrong answers to real problems, by Soumayya Ghannoushi

7. We rock the boat, by Dilpazier Aslam

8. Challenge to civic society, by Leader (The Guardian). This is a highly respectable reaction to the shocking announcement that the suicide bombers are likely to be four British-born youngsters.

9. The Sun and the terrorists: an unholy alliance, by Oscar Reyes.

10. The label of Catholic terror was never used about the IRA, by Karen Armstrong

Worst Articles

1. Nothing surprising, Why here and why now? by Anthony France (The Sun).

2. Sans surprise, Pascal Bruckner : «Gare à la rhétorique de l'«apaisement !»

3. Du sang et des larmes, par Alain Hertoghe

4. Needless to even mention the likes of Ann Coulter, D. Pipes, Scarborough, Savage, O’Reilly, Bill Maher and many others. I stopped watching/reading them a long time ago.

On today's terrorist attacks in London

2005-07-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

As I arrived to work this morning, and went online for my usual tour of newspapers and media outlets, I discovered, to my horror, that the London subway has been the target of terrorist attacks. In the words of Ken Livingstone, mayor of London: "This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty or the powerful, it is not aimed at presidents or prime ministers, it was aimed at ordinary working-class Londoners," he told reporters. "Black and white, Muslim and Christian, Hindus and Jews, young and old," he said. It was an "indiscriminate attempt to slaughter irrespective of any considerations for age, class, religion -- whatever."

In these sad moments, my thoughts and prayers go to the victims and their families.

Today's cowardly attacks show one more time the ugly face of ignorance combined with religious fanaticism. Let's face it: muslims today are in a state of deep moral crisis, and the large majority of them do not even know it. The day the muslim ummah will realize how much the religious discourse of certain currents within it has deviated from Islam's ideals of humanity and justice, we will have gone a long way toward eradicating this evil among us.

On the outcome of the Iranian presidential elections

2005-06-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

In yesterday's al-Hayat, an interesting and quite balanced opinion piece on the Iranian presidential elections:

درس في الديموقراطية

جهاد الخازن الحياة - 28/06/05

نتائج انتخابات الرئاسة الايرانية صدمت الولايات المتحدة وفاجأتنا، وأعطت الجميع درساً في الديموقراطية

كانت الادارة الاميركية قررت سلفاً ان الانتخابات الايرانية غير ديموقراطية، وتبعها "صوت سيده" البريطاني، الا ان الحقيقة الناصعة هي ان الانتخابات كانت ديموقراطية جداً، على رغم استبعاد معارضين ونساء، وهي قد تكون اقل ديموقراطية من الانتخابات البريطانية، الا انها في مستوى ديموقراطية الانتخابات الاميركية حيث اجد شائبة غلبة عنصر المال من مستوى استبعاد ناس عن الترشح في ايران.

اذا كانت ادارة بوش تريد فعلاً ديموقراطية وحرية في العالم كله، خصوصاً الشرق الاوسط، فعليها تحمل نتائجها كما رأينا في ايران، حيث فاز مرشح متشدد قريب جداً من مرشد الثورة الاسلامية على مرشح لم يكن اصلاحياً اصلاً، وانما هو احد رموز الثورة منذ قيامه

To read full text of the article, click here.

If you'd rather read something in English, I would strongly recommend this thoughtful post on Jawad's blog, or this article from today's Slate. Both make the case, rightly I think, that domestic issues played a decisive role in the iranian elections (for the record, the NY Times ran an article with basically the same analysis). Finally, an insider's opinion: an interview on today's al-Hayat of an iranian cleric and director of a "strategic studies" center in Qom, Iran. The interview, in my opinion, shows that iranians have attained a degree of political maturity that is still unparalleled in most muslim countries (with very few exceptions, such as Malaysia and Turkey), even though they still have quite a long way to come to achieve true democracy.

On the upcoming presidential elections in Iran

2005-06-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

In today's New York Times, an interesting article on the presidential elections in Iran this coming Friday:

Iran's Giant Question Mark: To Vote or Not?

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

TEHRAN - With just days left in Iran's short presidential election campaign, the reformist camp finds itself facing a fork in the road: to vote or to boycott the ballot.

Iran's reform movement emerged full-blown after the surprise triumph of President Mohammad Khatami in 1997. After he defeated the chosen candidate of Iran's mullahs by a wide margin, hopes soared among many Iranians that he could usher in greater political and social freedoms. But hard-line clerics retained control over the powerful police, judiciary and intelligence agencies, reining in demonstrations, shutting down outspoken newspapers and disqualifying reformist candidates for office.

To read full text of article, click here.

I have always thought that boycotting an election was a very counterproductive form of political activism, and that is why I very much respect and support the position of Dr. Mostafa Moin, the reformist candidate, who refused to heed other reformists' demands that he withdraws from the presidential race. I also always thought that a more liberal Iran, with genuine democracy, solid institutions and true constitutional checks and balances, can be of great positive influence on islamist movements on a global scale, and can help shape the islamist political discourse in the arab world. So let us hope that the Iranian elections of this coming Friday will bring to power the right person who can deal with the pressing social and economic issues facing iranian society and at the same time negociate a better share of power for the office of president of the Islamic Republic.

Patrick Seal on the prospects of democracy in the middle-east

2005-06-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

Patrick Seal is undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable european specialists of the middle-east, and one of the foremost advocates of arab issues in the West. Today, I would like to share with you an opinion piece by him that has appeared in today's al-Hayat on the prospects of democratisation in the arab world (I think I read somewhere that he has perfect command of arabic, and I would not be surprized if what you will actually read was written directly in that language):

أي أمل في ديموقراطية العرب؟

باتريك سيل الحياة 2005/06/3

هنالك في العالم العربي اليوم ظاهرة لافتة تتمثل في شعور السأم ونفاد الصبر يكاد يبلغ الثورة على الوضع الراهن. فالتعطش إلى التغيير أصبح ملموساً، والعرب من المحيط إلى الخليج - عدا بعض الاستثناءات النادرة - مستاؤون من سياسات حكامهم ويسود شعور في بعض الدول بأن هناك انفجاراً قريباً.

وحين يصيح المصريون مرددين «كفاية»، فإنهم يعبرون عن مزاج من التحدي والتمرد يكاد يعم، بصورة أو بأخرى، العديد من المدن العربية الكبرى.

وربما كانت الشكوى الرئيسية التي تغذي هذه الظاهرة تكمن في الطبيعة القمعية للأنظمة العربية. فالنخبة الحاكمة تتشبث بالتمسك بالسلطة وبالامتيازات الاقتصادية حتى لو كان في ذلك محذور دمار البلاد. فالفساد في حالة اجتياح وتوزيع الثروات غير عادل والفقر منتشر في كل مكان، والمعارضة مخنوقة، وأما الحوار فيندر التسامح معه. كل ذلك أدى إلى خلق خزان ضخم من الظلم يهدد بالتحول إلى عصيان.

ولعل أحد عوائق التغيير هو ازدواج السلطة السياسية بالمكاسب الاقتصادية. فإذا كان فقدان السلطة سيؤدي إلى فقدان الثروة - وربما إلى فقدان الحياة - فلن تتخلى النخب الحاكمة بمحض إرادتها عن السلطة. وأما المصدر الثاني لنقمة الجماهير فهو عجز الدول العربية عن حماية نفسها من الأعداء الخارجيين. ورغم الموارد النفطية الضخمة فإن الأنظمة العربية تبدو عاجزة عن إنشاء أنظمة مسلحة فاعلة. فلا تزال إسرائيل تتابع تدمير المجتمع الفلسطيني من دون أي عقاب. في الوقت الذي هاجمت أميركا بكل صلف واحتلت ودمرت بلداً عربياً كبيراً من دون أي اعتراض أو استنكار من جانب الأسرة العربية

To read the full text of the article, click here.

The author seems to believe that democratisation of the middle-east is inescapable, and that it is only a question of time before change takes place, and on this I tend to agree (even though the pace of change is much slower than what one would hope for). He also pleads in favor of nonviolent means to achieve democratisation, and I also agree on that, even though I fear that the situation in many places is getting so explosive that it may well run out of control.

Saad Hariri triumphs in Beirut vote

2005-06-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, Saad Hariri, the son of assassinated former Primer minister Rafik Hariri, was known only as a young highly successful businessman in Saudi Arabia, taking care of the empire built by his father. Today, he is on the verge of becoming next Lebanon’s prime minister, nothing less! The bloc of candidates he led won all City of Beirut’s seats in the first elections held in Lebanon after Syrian troops left the country.
As this article points out, Saad Hariri’s list was a strong one. By including among others such prominent forces as Hezbollah and some Christian parties, the chances of losing were quite slim. This kind of coalition built around a wide spectrum of political and ethnical parties shows that this country is much ahead in the Arab world as far as the game of politics and democracy is concerned. The war that devastated the country is certainty one of the reasons for that. Less flattering though, is the fact that Hariri’s campaign rhetoric was mainly an emotional one, being heavily associated with his father “martyrdom”. Worse, the fact that Saad Hariri is keen in becoming the prime minister, although he is a novice in politics, without any experience whatsoever, and the fact that the nation does not seem to oppose what would be an amazing shift in Saad’s career, shows, in my opinion, the fragility of Lebanon’s democracy.

هل يجوز للمرأة أن تقود السيارة؟

2005-06-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

Read, today, a very interesting article by the Saudi political scientist Khaled al-Dakheel on the "debate" currently taking place in Saudi Arabia on whether women should be allowed to drive cars:

تعود للمرة الرابعة, وربما الخامسة, قضية قيادة المرأة للسيارة موضوعا للجدل في المجتمع السعودي. والجدل الساخن, بل والحاد أحيانا. ما يميز بروز القضية هذه المرة أن الجدل بدأ من داخل مجلس الشورى, وعلى يد الدكتور محمد آل زلفة, عضو المجلس. ومن هناك انطلق موضوعا للأخذ والرد على طول المجتمع وعرضه: في المجالس, والصحف, ومنتديات الإنترنت عدا طبعا التلفزيون السعودي الذي عادة ما يتعفف عن الدخول في مواضيع أو نقاشات تتسم بالحيوية والسخونة, وذات علاقة بهموم الداخل.
لا يمكن بأية حال أن يستمر منع المرأة السعودية من القيادة إلى الأبد, وأظن أن هذا أمر بديهي وواضح. لكن لا بأس هنا من إيراد الأدلة على ذلك. أبرز هذه الأدلة وأكثرها مباشرة يتمثل تحديدا في إلحاح المشكلة على البروز بشكل مستمر, وضاغط على المجتمع. قبل ثلاثين سنة على الأقل لم تكن المشكلة مطروحة. والسبب بسيط وملحوظ لمن يريد أن يتعامل مع الواقع. آنذاك لم يكن المجتمع في حالة تجعل من قيادة المرأة إشكالية تتطلب المواجهة. أما الآن فقد أضحى الوضع على العكس من ذلك تماما. أصبحت قيادة المرأة مشكلة, ولا أحد ينكر ذلك, خاصة المعارضين لقيادة المرأة. كلاهما, المؤيد للقيادة والمعارض لها يعترف بوجود المشكلة الآن, لكنهما يختلفان حول الحل الناجع لها. بل إن المجتمع ككل اعترف بوجود المشكلة, إلا أنه بدل مواجهتها اضطر للهروب منها باعتماد فكرة السائق الأجنب

To read the full text of the article, click here.

Given the impact that Saudi Arabia has on muslims and on the image of Islam worldwide, it is to be hoped that saudi society will evolve toward a more reasonable and mature interpretation of islamic teachings. Salafism, in its current form, is definitely not the answer.

One year after the Abu Ghraib scandal: the humiliation of muslim detainees continues

2005-05-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

[The following are excrepts from a statement of Human Rights Watch - click on the link below to access full text of the statement.]

Human Rights Watch said that the dispute over the retracted allegations in Newsweek that U.S. interrogators had desecrated a Koran at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has overshadowed the fact that religious humiliation of detainees at Guantánamo and elsewhere has been widespread.

Newsweek was not to blame for the damage inflicted in the riots, Human Rights Watch said.

“The damage in the riots was directly caused by violent protestors and poorly disciplined Afghan police and troops, not by Newsweek’s editors,” said Reed Brody, special counsel for Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch noted that the Newsweek story would not have resonated had it not been for the United States’ extensive abuse of Muslim detainees.

“If the U.S. government wants to repair the public relations damage caused by its mistreatment of detainees, it needs to investigate those who ordered or condoned this abuse, not attack those who have reported on it,” said Brody.

Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions, which sets out minimum requirements for the treatment of persons in armed conflicts, requires detainees to be treated humanely without adverse distinction based on religion or faith. Outrages upon personal dignity are prohibited, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.

On improving the image of Islam in the West

2005-05-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

On today's Wajahat, a very interesting article on what muslims can do to improve the image of their religion in the Western hemisphere. I won't comment much on the article, it doesn't really need any comment. Read and see for yourself, it's well worth a few minutes of your time :)

في إحدى ضواحي شيكاغو تقع منطقة سكنية لا يقيم فيها سوى أميركيون سود من أصل أفريقي. وفي قاعة الكنيسة الميثودية- الأنجيلية- التي امتلأت بالمؤمنين رجالاً ونساء وجدت أن أفضل ما يمكن أن أبدأ به حديثي إليهم هو رواية قصة الأمير عبد الرحمن؛ لقد كان أميراً أفريقياً, درس في مدينة تمبكتو - مالي اليوم- عندما كانت واحة للعلم في أفريقيا جنوب الصحراء. وفي تمبكتو عرف الأمير بإصابة زائر أيرلندي يدعى الدكتور جون كوكس بمرض شديد. فاهتم به واستضافه في بيته وسهر على علاجه حتى شفي تماماً. ثم ساعده على العودة إلى بلاده آمناً سالماً. غير أن الأمير عبد الرحمن وكان عمره 26 عاماً سرعان ما وقع بعد ذلك في أسر تجار الرقيق الذين نقلوه مع مئات آخرين من أبناء تمبكتو بحراً إلى الولايات المتحدة حيث اشترته إحدى العائلات الأميركية في ولاية مسيسيبي. في عام 1807 وبعد أن ضربت المجاعة أيرلندا، هاجر الدكتور كوكس إلى الولايات المتحدة واستوطن فيها. وشاءت الأقدار أن يلتقي صدفة في سوق الخضار في بلدة "ناتشه" بالأمير - المستعبد - عبد الرحمن. حاول مساعدته دون جدوى. فالسيد الذي اشتراه من سوق النخاسة كان يتمسك به ويرفض المساومة على التخلّي عنه. بعد مرور 25 عاماً على استعباده وجد الأمير طريقه إلى الحرية، فعاد إلى بلاده حيث وافته المنية بعد ذلك بوقت قصير

To read full article, click here.

اللهم احمنا من حمقى المسلمين، قبل أن تحمينا من حمقى غيرهم

2005-05-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Interesting article on al-Ittihad of today by a Saudi writer, about the irresponsible behaviour of some religiously observant people with superficial understanding of the tenets and ultimate purpose of their religion. I found the article to be a little comical, although in a sad way. Have a look:

أتذكر صديقاً متديناً في السعودية توقف عند عامل آسيوي كان يعمل في بناء منشأة جديدة، بين الأذان والإقامة، فنزل إليه وقبل أن يسأله لمَ لمْ يتوجه للصلاة؟ أو لمَ لمْ يتوقف عن العمل إن لم يكن مسلماً؟ فإذا به يهوي على وجهه بصفعة اهتززت لها مع أني لم أكن صافعاً ولا مصفوعاً! غني عن القول إن صاحبنا الصافع كان قبل بضع سنوات من الحادثة أحد من تتمنى قوات الشرطة القبض عليهم نظير احترافهم "التفحيط"، وهي عادة شبابية تنتشر عند شباب الخليج بالذات، يقوم صاحبها بالتمايل بالسيارة كما لو كانت لعبة وسط حضور مشجعين، كلهم من المراهقين، مقامراً بحياته، وحياة من حوله، دون توفر أدنى أسباب السلامة في المكان أو الهواية، فكيف بتوفر نظامية التصرف من الأساس

To read full article, click here.

At long last: Koweiti women gain political rights

2005-05-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

Encouraging news today: the Kuwaiti parliament has voted to give women the right to vote and to run for office. It is to be hoped that other states in the region will follow in Koweit's footsteps, although in ultraconservative places like Saudi Arabia, that may prove difficult.

I previously had thought that the process of granting women political rights in Kuwait would take a long time. I was wrong, and I hope future will prove me wrong in the case of Saudi Arabia too!

Arab-Latin American summit

2005-05-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

Lula, the first leftist president ever of Brazil, is striving, since he was elected a couple of years ago, to help third world and emerging countries to rise up and counter the hegemony of the superpowers on world’s economy. The task is certainly a tremendous one but Lula is showing his pairs that such an endeavor is worth it. He has multiplied visits to Arab states and is organizing now a summit between Latin America and the Arab world. Arab countries would be much inspired if they follow Lula’s steps and look for alternatives markets instead of continuing to be closely tied to the same partners. The latter are certainly not keen on changing the status-quo.

Jallal

Ghassan Sharbel on the uneasy transition in the Middle-east

2005-05-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Read, today, an outstanding analysis by Ghassan Sharbel (al-Hayat's editor in chief) about the difficult transition many middle-east countries are now facing:

لا غرابة في ارتباك دول المنطقة وشعوبها. المهمات المطروحة استثنائية فعلاً. ما كان ممكناً قبل أعوام صار متعذراً أو مستحيلاً. لم يعد إقفال النوافذ يجدي في إبعاد الرياح. انها تتسلل بلا استئذان عبر شاشات الفضائيات والانترنت والشروط الجديدة للعلاقات الدولية وعبر العلاقات الاقتصادية ايضاً. لم يعد الجمود ضمانة للاستقرار والاستمرار. تحول عبئاً ينذر بمضاعفة الصعوبات والمخاطر. لا بد من التحرك إذاً لحماية الاستقرار بالتغيير. وهنا يطرح السؤال عن الاستعداد والقابلية والضغوط والقدرة على التكيف والبوصلة. كل الملفات المؤجلة انفتحت دفعة واحدة.

To read the full text of this article (which I strongly recommend to anyone interested in middle-east politics), click here.

Moderation

2005-04-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

Each new day which passes convinces me a little more of the great political maturity of the shia leadership in Iraq. While, a few days ago, the sunni leader and vice-president Ghazi al-Yawr was asking for seven ministries for the sunnis in the new iraqi government (despite the fact that sunni arabs are a tiny minority in the newly elected parliament), today, there was a report in al-Hayat that Grand Ayatollah al-Seestani has advised the prime minister to offer ten ministries to the sunnis as an effort of goodwill to appease the fears of shii hegemony of their sunni brethren. I am decidedly very impressed by the Grand Ayatollah's moderation.

Is Hamas becoming another Taliban?

2005-04-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

In today's Wajhat, an interesting opinion piece by the Palestinian coulumnist Khaled Al-Harroub about an incident in Gaza where, allegedly, armed islamists from Hamas killed a Palestinian woman while she and her fiancee were having some intimate moments in a car near a beach in Gaza:

مقتل الشابة الفلسطينية يسرى العزامي في سيارة خطيبها على شاطئ غزة يوم 10 إبريل برصاص مسلحين منسوبين إلى حماس وبوازع "الردع الأخلاقي ومحاربة الفساد"، وضرب خطيبها وإسالة دمائه، هو جرس إنذار خطير وأكثر من أن يكون حادثة عابرة لا تستحق التوقف عندها. خطورة هذا الحادث تتجلى في كونه ليس حادثاً فردياً بالشكل الخالص للكلمة، بل تم التخطيط له من قبل جهة أو لجنة مهمتها "مكافحة الفساد الأخلاقي"، وتضمنت سيارة وعدة مسلحين وغير ذلك (كأنه عملية عسكرية!). معنى ذلك أنه قد يكون واحداً من حوادث عديدة لكنه وصل إلى الإعلام بسبب بشاعته وولوغه في الدم. على حماس أن توضح هذه النقطة وتقول للناس فيما إن كانت لديها أي لجان منوط بها "مراقبة أخلاق المجتمع"، وإن كان لديها أي شيء من هذا القبيل عليها أن تعلن حله مباشرة وبلا تردد. فسواء أكانت تلك اللجنة/ اللجان موجودة فعلاً أم أنها هلامية التشكل أو غير ذلك فإن الخطورة في كل ذلك تكمن في تعزيز المناخ الطالباني المتطرف في محافظته الذي قد يتطور ويعتاش على مناخ إقليمي أوسع ومواتٍ يتلاقى فيه التطرف البوشي مع الطالباني على برنامج واحد وهو تأخير هذه المجتمعات وسد آفاق المستقبل أمامها.

ليس من حق "المقاومة"، أي مقاومة، أن تبتز المجتمع الذي تدافع عنه ضد عدو خارجي بفرض رؤية اجتماعية محددة عليه باستخدام القوة والتهديد. لا يجوز استخدام "الرأسمال المقاومي" الذي يحظى بتأييد وإعجاب شرائح واسعة من المجتمع واستخدامه لترسيخ الرؤية الاجتماعية الأيديولوجية (أو الأخلاقية الدينية والثقافية) التي تتبناها أية حركة مقاومة. خاصة عندما يتم ذلك في وقت وعلى حساب مجتمع ليست شرائحه كلها متدينة، ولا يمتد تأييدها لبرنامج المقاومة الذي يتبناه تنظيم معين ليشمل البرنامج الاجتماعي الأيديولوجي (الديني هنا) لذلك التنظيم. فهنا وقع وما زال يقع التوتر بين ما هو "مقاومي" وما هو "اجتماعي" فيما تطرحه حركات التحرر عادة. وحماس تتورط الآن في نفس الصيرورة التي مرت بها حركات كثيرة قبلها، عندما تقدم أو توازي أو حتى تقرب برنامجها الاجتماعي (لأسلمة المجتمع) من برنامجها المقاومي. ويجب أن تعلم أن الأول قد يخسرها بسهولة ما تكسبه عن طريق الثاني بصعوبة

To read full article, click here.

Although Islam views intimacy between unmarried men and women to be immoral and unlawful, and although Islam also prescribes forbidding "evil" as a duty on every muslim, there are several reasons one should condemn incidents such as the one this article is talking about. The author of the above article cites the need for Hamas to focus on the palestinian issue, and argues that to impose a very conservative religious view on a society that is not uniformly religious may eventually lead to a loss of support of Hamas, which will inevitably be discredited in the eyes of a large portion of the Palestinian population. We may add to the above that no one person or movement should be allowed to take the law in his own hands: the responsability of "forbidding evil" in Islam falls onto the ruler of the islamic state, who, through judicial courts should establish without the shadow of doubt that an illegal or wrongful act has been committed before administering the proper punishment which should be equally shared by the two partners, not only the woman (the fact that the woman was killed while her partner only molested shows the machismo of islamists and their strong misogynic bias against women). The murder of this poor Palestinian girl cannot be justified from an islamic point of view under any circumstance, and this incident is nothing but another sad manifestation of the extremism that permeates through the culture of sunni islamist groups nowadays, which I think should be opposed and condemned in the strongest possible terms.

At long last!

2005-04-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

It seems that, at long last, women can now (or will soon be able to) apply for a Driver's License in Saudi Arabia. I didn't read anything entirely dedicated to this momentous piece of news, but this is what this article on women's rights in the muslim word seems to convey. Hmmm! I'll wait until it actually happens to really believe it!!!

Islamophobia in Europe: alive and well

2005-04-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Lu, Vendredi dernier, les declarations de la reine du Danemarque sur Islam Online ou elle estimait que l'Islam representait une menace a l'echelle planetaire ("global threat"). Excuse-me ? Meme les ultraconservateurs d'amerique n'osent pas dire pareil au sujet de l'Islam en tant que religion. S'il etait question d'al-Qaeda, ces propos seraient bien sur parfaitement justifies, mais accuser la vaste majorite de musulmans a tort et a travers me semble etre une grave erreur de jugement. Apres des siecles de lumieres, d'humanisme, et d'etat de droit, ces propos xenophobes nous replongent dans les tenebres moyenageuses de nouveau: on se croirait au temps des croisades, presque, ou le sentiment dominant etait cette haine viscerale de tout ce qui est musulman. A quand les buchers, l'incarceration de tous les musulmans du Danemarque dans des camps de concentration, et le lynchage public des imams incultes?

Note added April 19: A Dane friend just told me that the queen came under heavy fire from the media in her country for her xenophobic declarations. Bien fait pour elle!

On John Paul II

2005-04-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

It has been a little while since John Paul II left us. Here is an intimate and quite revealing testimony by a lebanese sunni muslim who had the opportunity to meet him personally:

أول مرة التقيتُ البابا يوحنا بولس الثاني كان في عام 1987 أثناء زيارة رسمية كان يقوم بها إلى مالطا. كنت في ذلك العام أشارك في مؤتمر دولي في العاصمة فاليتا. قدمني إليه أسقف المدينة مع عدد من الأصدقاء المشاركين في المؤتمر من دول عربية مختلفة. وعندما ذكر له اسمي واسم الدولة التي أنتمي إليها، استوقفني البابا وأمسك يدي بكلتا يديه وقال: مِن لبنان؟.. ماذا تفعلون للبنان؟. وكان ردّي على الفور: بل ماذا تفعلون انتم من أجل لبنان؟.

يومها كانت الحرب اللبنانية الداخلية تمرّ في إحدى أسوأ مراحلها المدمرة. كان الضحايا يتساقطون في الشوارع، وكانت البيوت تنهار على من فيها من شدة القصف، وكانت المزارع تحرق بما فيها من ضرع وزرع.

فوجئ البابا بالجواب، وعلت على وجهه حمرة شديدة وقال: سوف ترى ماذا نفعل للبنان.. إن الوقت ليس مناسباً الآن لكلام أكثر

To read more, click here.

Let us only hope that the Catholic Church will chose someone as enlightened as Jean Paul II as its next leader.

Welcome to our Current Events section!

2005-04-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

Quoi de mieux pour commencer cette section traitant des faits d'actualite qu'un article sur la proliferation des blogs dans le monde arabe?

حسمت الشهور الأخيرة مسألة انتشار المذكرات الالكترونية بين الاجيال الشابة في العالم العربي. فقد أعرب العديد من الشباب عن توجههم الجديد بتأسيس صفحات البلوغ الخاصة بهم بعد ان أعلنوا تمردهم على المنتديات التي استقطبتهم مع بداية علاقتهم بالشبكة. "والقليل المفيد منها" كما يقول احد البلوغرز في سورية، مختف في أعماق قلاع محصنة تحميها اشتراكات وكلمات سر وتسكنها غيلان القص واللصق وأشباح قرصنة البرامج والآداب ووحوش التوقيعات الملونة ذات الصور المتحركة". ولم تفته الأشارة الى سيطرة مديري نظم المنتديات من خلال رؤيتهم الشخصية للرقابة.

وعزا الشباب إقبالهم على النشر، بهدف التواصل مع الآخرين، عبر المدونة الالكترونية، الى حلول الرقابة الذاتية مكان مقص الرقيب، في الهيمنة على الفكر والرأي، سواء في وسائل الإعلام التقليدية او في المنتديات الإلكترونية

Pour lire la version integrale de l'article, cliquez ici.

Les prix d'internet au Maroc ayant considerablement baisse ces derniers mois, on est en mesure d'esperer que de plus en plus d'internautes marocains deviendront des adeptes du blog, qui peut ainsi devenir un espace important de debat et d'echange d'idees.

Arab Observers - Current Events

Dancing with the stars

Europe's muslims

Europe's Muslims

A year after the French riots, their alienation is growing.

Le monde a l'envers

About the iranian president

Jewish rabbi against zionism

How Jonathan Cook found himself with the "Islamic Fascists"

George Galloway on the war in Lebanon

A farcical resolution

Lettre ouverte de Salim el-Houss, ancien premier ministre libanais, aux dirigeants arabes

Cana: then, and again

القاتل يعيد ذبح ضحيته

غسان شربل الحياة - 31/07/06

Funny cartoon in today's issue of al-Hayat

Israeli peace activist on the war in Lebanon

Règles pour mieux decrypter les infos

About the war in the Middle-East

Arrogance

Ghassan Sharbal on the Iran question

On the destruction of islamic landmarks in Mecca and Medina

On the attack on the shrine of shii Imams

Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad : the controversy goes on

Prominent Jewish leader condems the offensive caricatures about Prophet Muhammad

On Mona Eltahawy

Miscellanea

"The French Democracy"

Avian flu: is it a hoax ?

On Mohamed El-Baradei

Un grand peuple

Dennis Prager: Five questions non-muslims would like answered

الرجل الثالث

On the fate of al-Khalil's palestinian population

In memoriam

A few thoughts about the Mehlis report

On Saddam's trial

Saddam Hussein and the town of Dujayl

On Turkey's prospects for joining the EU

All Moroccan schools to have internet connection in three years

Robin Cook, a man of dignity

On defining terrorism

The Tharwa project

Best and worst articles on London attacks: Jallal's selection

Top ten opinion articles on London attacks: Karim's picks

On today's terrorist attacks in London

On the outcome of the Iranian presidential elections

درس في الديموقراطية

جهاد الخازن الحياة - 28/06/05

On the upcoming presidential elections in Iran

Patrick Seal on the prospects of democracy in the middle-east

أي أمل في ديموقراطية العرب؟

باتريك سيل الحياة 2005/06/3

Saad Hariri triumphs in Beirut vote

هل يجوز للمرأة أن تقود السيارة؟

One year after the Abu Ghraib scandal: the humiliation of muslim detainees continues

On improving the image of Islam in the West

اللهم احمنا من حمقى المسلمين، قبل أن تحمينا من حمقى غيرهم

At long last: Koweiti women gain political rights

Arab-Latin American summit

Ghassan Sharbel on the uneasy transition in the Middle-east

Moderation

Is Hamas becoming another Taliban?

At long last!

Islamophobia in Europe: alive and well

On John Paul II

Welcome to our Current Events section!