Lithographica Arabica 4: Rev. Wood’s Bible Animals, 1

Animals, Bible and Holy Land, Lithographs, Orientalism, Palestine


Rev. John George Wood, author of Story of the Bible Animals

Fascination with Bible Lands was so keen in the 19th century that illustrated volumes of scenes and objects were always in high demand. One of the treasures, in a figurative sense, of this age is the work of Rev. John George Wood (1827-1899), an English cleric and writer of popular books on natural history. One of the books passed on to me several years ago is Wood’s Story of the Bible Animals (Charles Foster Publishing Company, 1886), one of several editions of this popular work. The illustrations in my copy are not of the highest quality, but they can still mesmerize across their faded and fraying pages. Continue reading Lithographica Arabica 4: Rev. Wood’s Bible Animals, 1 →

Security authorities launch massive sweep for al-Qaeda

Osama Bin Laden, Terrorism Issue, Yemen


Yemeni security forces have apprehended thirty terrorist suspects over the course of ten days as part of a massive security sweep.

Security authorities launch massive sweep for al-Qaeda

Abdul-Aziz Oudah, Yemen Observer, Feb 3, 2009

The Ministry of Interior has announced a comprehensive campaign against all suspected al-Qaeda hideouts, following last week’s declaration of the appointment of Nasser al-Wahishi, who has been wanted by Yemeni security since 2006, as the new Amir for Arabia. His compatriots include the former Saudi Guantanamo detainees, Saeed al-Shihri and Mohammed al-Aofi, who escaped Saudi Arabia several months ago.

The manager of the security section at the Ministry of Interior, General Mohammed al-Qosi, said security authorities are observing sites where the organization is likely to be hiding, indicating that public cooperation has been helpful in locating these hideouts. Al-Qosi added that the al-Qaeda threat is not something new in Yemen, but rather has been present for many years. Continue reading Security authorities launch massive sweep for al-Qaeda →

These Sons of Adam

Animals, Books You Should Read, Humor and Satire, Lithographs, Palestine, Travel


Arnaut Blowing Smoke at His Dog by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1882.

In two previous posts, The Immovable East and An Unbelievable White Man, I published excerpts from the first-person narrative by Philip J. Baldensperger, published in 1913 about experiences in Palestine during the last half of the 19th century. His sense of humor was acute. Here are the words he imagined that a dog would bark out about life as a canine in an Arab village.

“The sons of Adam disdain dogs, but in many places they raise us up and utilise us. Thus, in the camp where I lived, there were shepherd dogs, with thick fur, and watch dogs, with a smooth coat all over, and the tall, thin greyhounds which are raised for hunting the gazelles on the broad plains of Philistia, near my first home.

I was born in camp, south of Beersheba, and belonged to a family of Azazmeh Arabs. On account of my jet black fur the called me Lail – Night… Continue reading These Sons of Adam →

Another President Elected … in Somalia

Somalia

Al-Jazeera, January 31, 2009

New Somali president sworn in

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has been sworn in as the new president of Somalia just months after his Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) signed a peace deal with the transitional government.

The ceremony in neighbouring Djibouti on Saturday came after Ahmed, who also led the Islamic Courts Union, won a run-off parliamentary vote.

The new president’s Islamic Courts movement ruled Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia for six months before being ousted by the Ethiopian military at the end of 2006.

Ahmed easily defeated Maslah Mohamed Siad, son of ex-president Mohamed Siad Barre, in Saturday morning’s second round of voting, winning 293 votes to Siad’s 126.

“My government will bring an adequate plan to overcome the difficulties the nation is facing,” he said in a brief inauguration speech. Continue reading Another President Elected … in Somalia →

Lebanon …Without A Daily Star Until Further Notice

Journalism and Media, Lebanon

Lebanon …Without A Daily Star Until Further Notice

By Thair Abbas, Asharq Alawsat, 30/01/2009

Beirut.
The Lebanese English-language newspaper The Daily Star has been temporarily shut down since the middle of January due to a financial lawsuit between the newspaper and Standard Charter Bank. The newspaper was the only source of internal Lebanese news for many of the Lebanese “orphans” living abroad and for foreigners living in Lebanon, who would use it to follow the news of Lebanon which is rife with contradictions, events, and crises.

This is not the first time that The Daily Star has been “temporarily” shut down, indeed the newspaper has been closed down three times since its foundation, but it returned to print each time as a result of the market’s need for a publication to fill this niche. Continue reading Lebanon …Without A Daily Star Until Further Notice →

The Sultan of the East

Humor and Satire, Lithographs, Orientalism, Orientalist Art, Poetry


Illustration of his poem by Palmer Cox, 1882


The Sultan of the East
by Palmer Cox

There was a sultan of the East
Who used to ride a stubborn beast;
A marvel of the donkey-kind,
That much perplexed his owner’s mind.
By turns he moved a rod ahead.
Then backed a rod or so instead.
And thus the day would pass around,
The Sultan gaining little ground.
The servants on before would stray
And pitch their tents beside the way,
And pass the time as best they might
Until their master hove in sight. Continue reading The Sultan of the East →

Picturing the Exodus

Archaeology and Antiquities, Bible and Holy Land, Egypt, Maps, Orientalism, Palestine

The ubiquity of GPS threatens to leave the old printed map out of the picture. This is a pity, for there is much to be learned from the way maps frame the world. As J. Z. Smith once remarked, map is not territory. True enough, but maps are the way we imagine not only territory but our place in it. When Edward Said wrote his critique of Orientalism in 1978, he cited novelists, travelers, poets and academics, but no mapmakers. But in a way Holy Land maps are what put the Holy Land on the map. Maps not only illustrated what was thought to be the lay of the land, but what people imagined was there.

A splendid example of this is an 1856 pictorial Bible map of the Journey of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. I reproduce the image above, but if you
click here you can get a greatly enlarged view to see the details. Mind you, this was 1856, when few of the archeological discoveries in Bible territory had come to light. This is evident in the depiction of the “Chief God of Egypt,” (left side of map) who looks like a cross between an Assyrian and a Viking.

Continue reading Picturing the Exodus →

Disproportional suffering

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Bible and Holy Land, Israel, Palestine, Photography


Residents returned to their homes around Gaza City on Friday. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Gaza is not history, nor is it likely to be soon. The bombs may have ceased on both sides, but the human toll presages a bleak future. Both sides have grievances, but the grief from death, maiming and sheer destruction of property and homes is incredibly disproportional. Even Independent observers must acknowlege this:

Up to 10 times as many Palestinians were killed as Israelis. The Palestinian Ministry of Health says 1,314 Palestinians were killed, of whom 412 were children or teenagers under 18, and 110 were women. On the Israeli side, there were 13 deaths between 27 December and 17 January, of whom three were civilians killed by rockets fired from Gaza. Of the 10 soldiers killed, four were lost to “friendly fire”.

Even if the Palestinian figure is disputed, it is clear that the death toll was massively higher for Palestinians than Israelis. Proportionality is not simply a matter of numbers, however. Continue reading Disproportional suffering →