Category Archives: Yemen

Tuning into Tunisia

"Arab Spring", Anthropology/Sociology, Egypt, Journalism and Media, Terrorism Issue, Tunisia, Yemen

The recent revolution in Tunisia has exploded across the blogosphere, with pundits talking about a popular tsunami that may promote democracy out of the ashes of a lifelong dictatorship. In yesterday’s New York Times, Roger Cohen provided an optimistic view from his journalistic perch in Tunis: “These are heady days in the Arab world’s fragile democratic bridgehead.” Cohen, and others, are wondering aloud if Tunisia can become the new Turkey, a more or less secular democracy in which the “Islamists” are moderate members of a political mosaic. If so, then he warns that the “tired refrain of all the Arab despots that they are the only bulwark against the jihadists will be seen for the self-serving lie it has become.”

Perhaps, but one does not have to go far back into the regime of Saddam Hussein to realize that his Ba’athi party did not tolerate religiously motivated sectarian violence. Brutal as it was, his regime was a bulwark (if such a metaphor really makes sense politically) against the continual round in “liberated” Iraq of sunni killing shi’a and vice versa. But then Saddam was not brought down by a popular street uprising. Continue reading Tuning into Tunisia →

An Adeni Artist

Aden, Contemporary Art, Yemen

One of my most admired paintings by a Yemeni artist is the painting shown above by the Adeni artist Abdulla al-Ameen. I purchased the painting a decade ago at an exhibition sponsored by Yemen’s Ministry of Culture. Al-Ameen received an M.F.A. in 1984 from the Fine Arts Academy in Moscow. In addition to illustrations in books, he has designed stamps for the Yemeni government. In 1987 he received Kuwait’s “Golden Dhow Medal” for his artistic achievements.

What’s Cooking in Yemen 2

Folklore and Proverbs, Food and Drink, Yemen

In a recent post on Yemeni cooking the steps for making barley bread were illustrated. One of the staple dishes of the Yemeni highlands, and one that I enjoyed while living in a rural setting in al-Ahjur in the late 1970s, is the sorghum porridge called ‘asîd. The recipe is above and the steps illustrated below. Sorghum flour is available in the United States, most easily at Indian food stores, but also on the Internet. Continue reading What’s Cooking in Yemen 2 →

Discovering fashion and identity in Yemen

Gender and Sexuality, Photography, Yemen


Photographs by Boushra Al-Mutawakel

by Yazeed Kamaldien, Yemen Times, December 16, 2010

A packed crowd swarmed around the Sana’a Styles: Fashion and Identity photo exhibition and artworks event earlier this week, when it opened at the House of Culture on Al-Qasr Street in Sana’a.

Striking photographic essays plastered the venue walls. Large color portraits of Muslim women wearing the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, photos showing women in black veils surrounded by contemporary fashion and snapshots of ordinary Yemenis making a statement with their everyday clothes.

Photographer Sophie Elmenthaler showed a series of photos under the title ‘Hijab and High Heels’. These pictures showed fashion for women that would reveal skin if worn in public, but that Yemeni women would only wear in private. The images included clothes labeled the “cheapest goods from China and India” sold in Sana’a.

A short film showed Yemenis talking about the clothes they wear and what motivates their sense of style. Another series of photos showed women in various uniforms and cultural dress, commenting on how clothes ensured that individuals became part of the communities where they live.

“People with a strong sense of assertiveness accept identities of their social group,” reads the statement from this series of photos. Continue reading Discovering fashion and identity in Yemen →

Loving Yemen

Afghanistan, Development, Journalism and Media, Osama Bin Laden, Terrorism Issue, Yemen


Yemen is not quite the desert journalists dream up

The journalistic war talk on terror took a sidestep over the past week or so as commentators sought to tweak the Wikileaks for all they could be imagined to be worth. Here was cable-ready proof that diplomats do not believe exactly what they say in public, that rulers are not always stable and “secret” communication may be secret for a reason. Ah, yes, diplomats with no clothing. But now it’s back to Al Qaeda. In a recent commentary for The Christian Science Monitor, a former senior international correspondent for CNN, Walter Rodgers, weighs in on Al Qaeda in Yemen.

The result is a prime example of run-of-the-treadmill sinthetic (spelling intended) reportage. All the right people are quoted, those who actually know something about Yemen. This includes a former ambassador, Barbara Bodine, a historian, Bernard Haykel and a young political scientist, Gregory Johnsen. Each is granted a short quote, although the reader has no idea what the full context of each comment was. So Ambassador Bodine at some point said “The issue is geography,” which clearly needs explanation. Unfortunately Rodgers flunks his geography lesson. Yemen is not “nearly all mountainous desert.” The only true desert areas in Yemen are along the coast and entering the Arabian desert, not in the mountain valleys and plateaus.

The journalist’s geographical blunders are equaled by his historical ignorance. Continue reading Loving Yemen →