Monthly Archives: May 2008

Hezbollah.. The Ugliest Picture

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Lebanon, Shi'a

By Tariq Alhomayed, Asharq alawsat, 11/05/2008

Exposing falsehoods and uncovering deception; it is indeed true that a picture is worth a thousand words.

In his speech after the coup on Lebanon and its infrastructure, Hassan Nasrallah claimed that millions of dollars were spent in an effort to defame him and distort the image of the “divine party.” However it was the actions of his party that exposed the armed resistance lie and the falsehood of Hassan Nasrallah’s enthusiasm for Lebanon and the unity of its composition.

How horrible were the images carried by international news agencies, which showed Hezbollah’s gunmen and Amal forces stomping and burning pictures of the late Rafik Hariri, and then replacing them with a portrait of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

No less hideous were the images of handcuffed and blindfolded pro-government Lebanese citizens paraded in front of “Al Manar” cameras, the television channel that propagates Iran and Hezbollah venom. Moreover the images came across as if these were Israeli captives fallen in the hands of Hassan Nasrallah and not fellow Lebanese brought together by one homeland, of which the most important guarantee is that everyone has the right to live. Continue reading Hezbollah.. The Ugliest Picture →

STAND UP for Muslims Comics

Humor and Satire, Islam and Christianity, Islam in America, Journalism and Media

America at a Crossroads, PBS, May 11, 2008

It’s an age-old American tradition: immigrant groups take up comedy to fight against discrimination. One path to understanding is to make people laugh. Now Muslim-Americans have come forward to help dismantle the stereotypes and hatred that have surged since September 11, 2001.

STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age is the story of five comedians: Ahmed Ahmed, Tissa Hami, Dean Obeidallah, Azhar Usman and Maysoon Zayid.
Tissa Hami

Each of these artists felt the aftershock of 9/11 personally. At a time when people of Middle Eastern origin were advised to lay low, they all chose to stand up — and tell jokes. This film explores how they are responding to 9/11, each in a different way, but all using humor to define who they are.

STAND UP is the story of Ahmed’s battle to get beyond playing “Terrorist No. 4.” It’s about Obeidallah’s journey to discover his Arab heritage. It’s about Zayid’s resolve to turn being “a Palestinian Muslim woman virgin with cerebral palsy from New Jersey” into a career asset. It’s about Usman’s quest to become the Muslim comedy role model he himself never found. It’s about Hami’s determination to challenge American conceptions about Muslim women. Continue reading STAND UP for Muslims Comics →

Mean Girls

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Humor and Satire

Shhhhhhh!!! A rare opportunity to explore the intrigues of USA High School beckons. Quietly listen in, while Tiffany, Brittany, and Stephanie discuss the latest news (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3897414.ece):

Tiffany: “Did you hear what Bobby Malley did?”

Stephanie and Brittany, together: “No!”

Tiffany: “He works at International House of Pies on the weekend, and he delivered a pizza to Sammy Haniyeh’s party Saturday night.”

Brittany and Stephanie gasp. “Sammy Haniyeh? EWWWW!!”

Tiffany: “I know! He and his friends are so scruffy and obnoxious!”

Brittany: “What’s his problem? He’s always ragging on Zionsville High!”

Stephanie: “I heard it was because Zionsville beat his father’s team for the state championship in 1948.”

Brittany: “1948?? But that was, like, [pause]. . .a hundred years ago!” Continue reading Mean Girls →

I Read It in the TLS

Books You Should Read, Humor and Satire, Literature, Orientalism, Teaching Resources

A very positive review of Daniel Martin Varisco’s recent book Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid (University of Washington Press 2007), appears in this week’s issue of the prestigious Times Literary Supplement. In his examination of the evidence and logic of Edward Said’s argument in his classic book Orientalism, first published in 1978, Varisco provides an evenhanded exploration of the subject, thirty years on.

Aside from minor quibbles concerning Varisco’s tendency to pun (a common trait, regretfully, among scholars associated with the University of Chicago’s Anthropology Department), Robert Irwin, the Middle East editor of the TLS, praises the book’s careful research and insight. “Varisco’s book,” he concludes, referring in part to its magnificently detailed and informative footnotes, “makes for exhilarating reading.”

Given the tendency of right-wing pundits to claim that contemporary academe has fallen for Said hook, line, and sinker, what is one to make of a thoughtful and sensitive critique from within? Could it be that the field of contemporary Middle East Studies is no more homogenous and globally misguided than the field Said himself identified as “Orientalism”?

Yemen: Fighting in North Hampers Humanitarian Work

Huthis, Terrorism Issue, Yemen, Zaydi


Yemeni soldiers patrolling in Saada, 150 miles north of the capital, Sana’a. A Yemeni Member of Parliament accused of being a leader of a deadly three-year uprising by the Zaidi minority in the northern mountains warned in remarks published on Feb. 25 that rebels might widen their campaign. (Photo: Khaled Fazaa / AFP-Getty Images)

Integrated Regional Information Networks, United Nations, May 6, 2007

The I.C.R.C. and Red Crescent came under attack in the Saada region of northern Yemen. (Photo: Afif Sarhan / IRIN)

A humanitarian aid convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross (I.C.R.C.) and the Yemen Red Crescent Society came under heavy gunfire on May 2 in the governorate of Saada, north Yemen, the I.C.R.C. has reported.

The incident took place in al-Saifi area, 18 kilometers north of Saada city.

Fighting between government forces and followers of rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in Saada governorate is still going on, causing thousands of people to leave their homes, said aid workers. Continue reading Yemen: Fighting in North Hampers Humanitarian Work →

A Turkmen Dismantles Reminders of Old Ruler

Architecture, Central Asia, Contemporary Art


Statue of Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan’s former president, soon to be removed

by By DAVID L. STERN, The New York Times, May 5, 2008

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — A 246-foot tall, rocket ship-like monument to the late ruler of Turkmenistan, topped with a golden statue of himself that rotates to always face the sun, will be removed from the center of the Turkmen capital, state news media there have reported.

A decision by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov to move the monument was his latest step in dismantling the personality cult of Saparmurat Niyazov, whose often bizarre decrees turned the isolated, energy-rich country into the punch line of a bad international joke.

The president had already reversed Mr. Niyazov’s order renaming the days of the week and months of the year in honor of himself and his family. He had also ended the bans on opera, ballet and the circus, which Mr. Niyazov had decreed un-Turkmen, and lifted restrictions on the Internet. Continue reading A Turkmen Dismantles Reminders of Old Ruler →

Sanaa’s Grand Mosque stands for 1400 years

Architecture, Islamic Rituals, Sanaa, Yemen, Zaydi

by Mohammed al-Qiri, Yemen Observer, April 8, 2008

The Grand Mosque of Sana’a is considered to be the oldest in the Islamic world. It was built by order of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) in the sixth Hijri year, corresponding to 627 C.E.. It is located in the Bathan garden, between Ghamdan palace and the Malmlamah rock.

Over the course of history, there have been many additions made to the original building. The mosque was extended in the eighth century by the Amawi Khalif al-Walid ibn Abdulmalik (705- 715 C.E.) and at the beginning of the Abasi dynasty in the eighth century C.E., doors were added by Governor Omar ibn Abdulmajeed al-A’dawi, in addition to other overhauls in 745 C.E under his watch. Continue reading Sanaa’s Grand Mosque stands for 1400 years →