In a previous post I discussed two lithographs from the 1873 edition of Warren’s geography. One of the more fascinating illustrations is one explaining the desert mirage. Here is the discussion and image from the text.
to be continued …
Exercises in Struggling with Loneliness
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
Diversity and Perversity
Dr. Jamil Khader, Stetson University
A little more than a week ago a story was reported about an experiment at Stetson University by Professor Jamil Khader. The idea was for 15 coeds to wear veils and see the reactions of their fellow students. But that is only part of the story. First read the story, then check out the comments by the readers. The comments are somewhat chilling, demonstrating once again the extraordinary extent of Islamophobia out there.
Stetson students don veil for diversity experiment
By MARK HARPER, Dayton Beach News Journal Online, February 11, 2010
Education writerDELAND — For five days, Andreana Mangie wore a pink veil on and around campus.
At the student union, people stared at her. Another student in line near her told another, “Muslims aren’t worth anything.” She was denied entrance to a party.
“This needs to be thought about,” she told a group of about 150 students Wednesday. “This is a big deal.”
Mangie was one of about 15 Stetson University women to participate in the experiment dubbed “Veil for a Day” by Jamil Khader, a professor of English and gender studies. The women discussed their experiences as part of the DeLand school’s Town Meeting on Diversity.
The university canceled classes Wednesday so students could, for one day, go outside their comfort zone and learn about others. Other sessions touched on residence hall life, environmental justice and “How We Live Homophobia.” Continue reading Diversity and Perversity
Trouble in Turkey
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
Warren’s Geography #1
An Elementary Treatise on Physical Geography at the start of the civil war. While rummaging through old books and pictures of my late grandmother I found a copy of the 1873 edition of Warrens’ basic geography text which belonged to my great, great aunt, Ida Hoyt. There are several interesting lithographs in the text on Middle Eastern themes, which I show here.
Continue reading Warren’s Geography #1
Yemen – the return of old ghosts
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?
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
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.