Category Archives: Countries

Exercises in Struggling with Loneliness

Poetry, Yemen


Shaqi Shafiq, Adeni poet

Exercises in Struggling with Loneliness

by Shawqi Shafiq, Translated by Sinan Antoon, Banipal

Rub the heart’s ring

rub it well

to erase the dust of depression

Rub it again carefully

so that the wall of forgetfulness shines

or

draw a circle/put a dove, or two, inside it/watch the wings move (that is if there are any)

You will ask: What if the circle crumbles?

What if the dove flies away

or if I am bothered by the wings’ noise

I will say to you: erase the circle

for all the traces to disappear

or put a fresh woman

instead of the dove

to seek revenge

for the aridity of an apartment

devouring your mouth

Trouble in Turkey

Film and Video, Luke R. E. Publican, Turkey, YouTube Watch

Anyone following the news the past couple of days may have noticed that the current government of Turkey has arrested a number of former military offices and accused them of plotting a coup. Consider this report on the al-Jazeera website today:

The action over the alleged plot, known as Operation Sledgehammer, has seen Turkey’s largest-ever crackdown on the military.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, said on Friday that no one should consider themselves “above the law”, in what was seen as a warning to the army.

“Those who make plans behind closed doors to crush the people’s will must see that from now on they will face justice,” he told a gathering of his Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“No one is above law, no one has impunity,” he said.

At a time when Turkey is trying to show that it’s Asiatic geography and Islamic polity overlay do not block entry in the EU, this may be a political move to show that democracy has trumped the long history of secular military hegemony. Why Turkey would still want to join the EU, given the debt crisis in neighboring Greece, is another issue. But I can think of several reasons why Turkey should be given top priority for entry into the regional entity that the Ottomans never fully conquered. There but for a successful capture of Vienna goes a different history, as even Martin Luther knew at the time. I think the best rationale is that modern Turkey is just as crazy and mixed up as the diverse nations currently allied in the EU. If you want proof, I suggest you look no further than Youtube. Check out the final scenes of the Turkish made-over version of Star Wars here on Youtube. But first check out the trailer. Eat your heart out, Flash Gordon fans…

Luke R. E. Publican

Yemen – the return of old ghosts

Aden, Maps, Terrorism Issue, Yemen


The British Residency Office, Aden

YEMEN – THE RETURN OF OLD GHOSTS

by Adam Curtis, BBC blog, January 8, 2010

What I find so fascinating about the reporting of the War on Terror is the way almost all of it ignores history – as if it is a conflict happening outside time. The Yemen is a case in point. In the wake of the underpants bomber we have been deluged by a wave of terror journalism about this dark mediaeval country that harbours incomprehensible fanatics who want to destroy the west. None of it has explained that only forty years ago the British government fought a vicious secret war in the Yemen against republican revolutionaries who used terror, including bombing airliners.

But the moment you start looking into that war you find out all sorts of extraordinary things.

First that the chaos that has engulfed the Yemen today and is breeding new terrorist threats against the west is a direct result of that conflict of forty years ago.

Secondly it also had a powerful and corrupting effect on Britain itself. To fight the war both Conservative and Labour governments in the 1960s set up international arms deals with the Saudis. These involved bribery on a huge scale which led to the Al Yamamah scandal that still festers today. Continue reading Yemen – the return of old ghosts →

What do Pakistanis want?

Ethics, Pakistan, Terrorism Issue

Secularism vs Islamism

By Iqbal Akhund, Dawn.com, 22 Feb, 2010

In a recent TV debate on this subject, the applause meter would have given the win to Islamism. The debaters, three on each side, faced a small mixed audience — quite a few girls, many wearing hijabs, also young men in jeans and a handful of beards.

The ‘secularists’ appealed, in measured tones, to the intellect, made references to European history, called for tolerance, pluralism and progress. The ‘Islamists’ were assertive, emotional and received applause when they spoke of the ‘moral decadence’ of the West and condemned, to louder applause, the West’s aggression against Muslims in Palestine, Chechnya and Iraq.

So do the people of Pakistan want an Islamist state? Well, yes and no. Continue reading What do Pakistanis want? →

Panorama in Palestine

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Israel, Palestine, YouTube Watch


Bedouin from Bir Nabala village near Jerusalem

The controversy over displacement of Palestinian Arabs from Jerusalem is the subject of a British program called “Panorama.” This is available on Youtube. It is also enlightening to read the comments posted on the website.

Note: As a reader discovered recently, the episode has been removed from Youtube; it is available from the BBC Panorama website but only for viewing in Britain… However, an excerpt is posted at The Palestine Center.

Madrasa in Sufi Hands

Sufism, Terrorism Issue, Yemen


Students at Dar al-Mustafa in Tarim, Hadramawt

The image of the Islamic madrasa is severely tainted in the West. One of the oldest educational institutions in the world, and a pedagogical system that had influence on the evolution of colleges in medieval Europe, is generally portrayed in the media as a reactionary base for hateful anti-Western propaganda. Now that Yemen has surfaced as yet another “terrorist haven,” the idea of Islamic education in Yemen is likewise viewed negatively. One of the most important historical centers of Islamic education in Yemen remains Tarim in the Hadramawt valley. Yes, indeed the very Hadramawt from which the ancestors of Osama Bin Laden migrated. But Tarim has an international focus that many people are not aware of. For centuries Hadramis, including Sufi missionaries, have established strong ties with the people of India and Indonesia. The largess of Hadramis abroad has led to substantial support for schools back in Tarim. These are not backward enclaves with firebrands but devout Sufi masters who have long preached tolerance and the quest for spiritual truth. There is a video report posted on Al-Jazeera by Hashem Ahelbarra on “Students in Yemen fight Stereotypes” that is worth watching. For more information on Dar al-Mustafa, which is featured in the video, click here.

Alger Postcard

Algeria, Photography, Travel

While looking over the postcards my grandmother saved from the start of the last century, I came across a beautiful street scene in Algiers, reproduced above. The card was sent from Italy in July, 1914 so it was obviously printed before then. It was addressed to my grandmother’s aunt, whose papers my grandmother inherited. The message itself is interesting in large part because it is so ordinary. The message reads:

Rome, 7/19/14
Dear Ida,
We have had a safe and happy journey so far, enjoying the beautiful stars en route. Went thro’ an Arab St. like this. I have bought some statuary which is being sent home to your address, and of necessity the duty, 75 cents about, must be paid at that end of the line. Am sorry to ask you to do it, but see no other way. We have seen some of the wonders of the “Eternal City.” Move on to Pisa and Florence tomorrow. A. K. Joy