Monthly Archives: June 2011

How appalling, Mr. Naipaul

Gender and Sexuality, Jordan, Literature, Palestine


Diana Abu-Jaber is the author of five award-winning books, including the forthcoming novel Birds of Paradise

From One Writer To Another: Shut Up, V.S. Naipaul

by Diana Abu-Jaber, NPR, June 3, 2011

Dear V.S. Naipaul:

You recently remarked, “I read a piece of writing and within a paragraph or two I know whether it is by a woman or not. I think [it is] unequal to me.”

I was sad to read this, to realize that you’re apparently unable to think beyond schoolyard rankings and peevish comparisons, that you’re incapable of recognizing grace and power from unexpected and unfamiliar places, such as a woman’s experience.

But what worries me more is your comment that that women write with “sentimentality, the narrow view of the world,” because, “inevitably for a woman, she is not a complete master of a house, so that comes over in her writing too.”

Your use of the word “master,” is chilling. Continue reading How appalling, Mr. Naipaul →

Ali Abdullah Salih and Yogi Berra

"Arab Spring", Ali Abdullah Salih, Journalism and Media, Yemen


The picture chosen by The Washington Post for its lead article today

The speculation about the health and future of President Ali Abdullah Salih of Yemen is wild today. On Friday he was wounded by a rocket attack on his compound that killed several others. I first heard about this when someone called me and mentioned that in Pakistan they were saying he had been killed in the attack. When he only gave an audio message afterwords, and that with a clearly heavy breathing voice, it was still not clear what his injuries were. Since government sources are certainly not believable and no reporters were on the scene, all kinds of rumors spread easily. Now it is known that Salih with a number of family members and some of the other wounded are in Saudi Arabia for treatment.

So what next? The BBC takes a cautious approach with the headline “Yemenis rejoice as Saleh leaves but fighting continues” while The Washington Post is more optimistic, leading the headlines with “Yemeni crowds cheer as Saleh transfers power,” and stating “The departure of Yemen’s president for Saudi Arabia raises the prospect that a key U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaeda has lost his grip on a nation tumbling into chaos.” Over at Waq al-Waq Gregory Johnsen reflects the hopes and fears of the situation:

“My guess is that his wounds are much more severe than Yemeni officials have let on, as Salih was well aware that leaving Yemen would make it incredibly difficult for him to return. Continue reading Ali Abdullah Salih and Yogi Berra →

The al-Ahmar Family: Who’s who

"Arab Spring", Yemen


Sadiq al-Ahmar and Ali Abdullah Salih before the shelling started

by Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq, June 3

The news is coming fast and furious out of Sanaa. Not much is known for certain and it will likely be a while before we have all the details, but here is the broad outline:

Today, following Friday Prayers, forces loyal to President Salih opened shelling directed in the general direction of Hamid al-Ahmar’s house in the wealthy Sanaa suburb of Hadda.

Making things more complicated is the fact that Ali Muhsin, the defected general and head of the 1st Armored Division, is Hamid’s next door neighbor. And given how inaccurate Yemeni troops can be at lobbying shells towards a target it is unclear which one of the two enemies of Salih they were aiming at. Maybe both.

Shortly after that two shells hit the mosque inside the presidential palace, reportedly wounding a number of top officials – although the information at this point is mostly contradictory rumors, so I’ll hold off speculating on the identities of the injured.

What I would like to do, instead, is to give a quick run down of the al-Ahmar family, particularly the four eldest. Continue reading The al-Ahmar Family: Who’s who →

Ali Abdullah Salih wounded

"Arab Spring", Ali Abdullah Salih, Yemen


Reports just coming out of Yemen indicate that President Ali Abdullah Salih was wounded today in an attack on his compound in Sanaa. After the attack he was apparently treated for injuries. He later issued an audio statement which can be heard here. Both the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament were said to have been injured. The attack happened with major demonstrations after a funeral for those recently killed in violence. More details are available at the BBC and Al Jazeera. For more details in Arabic, click here.


map showing areas of conflict in Sanaa

These ‘virginity tests’ will spark Egypt’s next revolution

"Arab Spring", Egypt, Gender and Sexuality


Egyptian women protest in Tahrir Square, Cairo. A general has admitted that women detained during protests in the square a month after Mubarak’s overthrow had been subjected to ‘virginity tests’. Photograph: Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP

by Mona Eltahawy, The Guardian, June 2, 2011

There’s a thin line between sex and politics, and it is nonsense to keep repeating the mantra that Egypt’s revolution “wasn’t about gender”. What revolution worth its salt can be fuelled by demands of freedom and dignity and not have gender nestled in its beating heart – especially in a country replete with misogyny, religious fundamentalism (of both the Islamic and Christian kind) and which for 60 years has chafed under a hybrid of military-police rule?

If the “it wasn’t about gender” mantra is stuck on repeat so that we don’t scare the boys away, then let them remember the state screwed them too, literally – ask political prisoners, and remember the condoms and Viagra found when protesters stormed state security headquarters. Continue reading These ‘virginity tests’ will spark Egypt’s next revolution →

With Marechaux in Yemen

Photography, Yemen

The news out of Yemen continues to be dismal. There are reports of several thousand Hashid tribesmen arriving at the gates of Sanaa. The day-to-day nightmare continues. Such ugliness in such a beautiful country. The scenes of blood-soaked bodies are available on several Arabic websites, but our thoughts must also be with those who live. Here are two pictures from the superb French photographers, Pascal and Marie Maréchaux.