A recently uploaded Youtube video speaks to the frustration from the violence that has enveloped Iraq, Syria, Egypt and elsewhere. Check it out here.
MESAAS Graduate Conference 2014
For more information on this upcoming conference at Columbia University, click here.
THURSDAY 27
8.30 – 9.30 am: Registration (Knox Lobby) and Light Breakfast (Knox 207 and 208)
9.30 – 10.30 am: Welcome Remarks (Matan Cohen) and Plenary Address (Sudipta Kaviraj) – Knox 208
SESSION 1: 10.45 am – 12.45 pm
Scanning the Shelves of the African Islamic Library – Knox 207
Wendell Marsh
Reading Sudanic Africa in the Margins: the Perils of Commentary
Kimberly Wortmann
Intellectual Cartographies in the Medieval Western Sahel (c. 1464-1627)
Ariela Marcus-Sells
Spells and Prayers: Discussing Muslim Practice in Saharan Society
Lori De Lucia
On the Edges of Mediterranean History: Finding Evidence for Sub-Saharan African Narratives in the 16th Century Kingdom of Naples
Discussant: Mamadou Diouf
Moderator: Tommaso Manfredini Continue reading MESAAS Graduate Conference 2014
The Arab World Learning Barometer
The Brookings Institute has recently released an “Arab World Learning Barometer,” that includes information on education and youth in Yemen. Check it out here.
The Arab World Learning Barometer is an interactive tool developed by the Center for Universal Education at Brookings. Using the latest available data, the barometer provides a snapshot of the state of education and learning in the Middle East and North Africa.
The barometer measures the quality of education and learning by examining four areas: getting into school, staying in school, whether students are learning basic skills while in school, and the link between education and youth unemployment. The barometer brings together often scarce data for 20 countries in the Arab region. The data cover the 2001-2012 period and do not reflect setbacks due to recent conflicts in the region.
No Palestinian Idol at World Cup?
Palestinian Arab Idol Gets Booted From World Cup, and Shakira’s Response Was Perfect
by Milana Knezevic, PolicyMic, February 13, 2014
Palestinian Arab Idol winner Mohammad Assaf says he has been banned from performing at the World Cup opening ceremony this summer — and that Shakira is boycotting.
He said at a press conference earlier this week that he was supposed to sing at the show kicking off the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, but that because of some “countries” or “groups” — no one was specified — his record company was told this won’t happen after all. He also said that Colombian superstar Shakira, who sang the 2010 World Cup anthem “Waka Waka,” has refused to perform at the ceremony because of it.
Assaf rose to fame last year when he won the regional singing competition Arab Idol, and was especially lauded for his performances of traditional Palestinian music:
Hear the winning song on Youtube here
In the process, he gained some high-profile fans. FIFA President Sepp Blatter visited Palestine last summer, and said he would invite Assaf to sing at this summer’s World Cup.
It was reported then that Assaf and Shakira might sing together in Brazil, but now it appears both will be staying away from the festivities. Continue reading No Palestinian Idol at World Cup?
Jerusalem Filmed in 1896
There is a fascinating short video on Youtube of what is apparently the first filming done in Palestine. Check out the blog Hummus for Thought for the Youtube bounce but also for a transcription of the commentary. As the narration indicates, Jerusalem was an interfaith city. There is even a shot of a Jew wearing a tarbush at the wailing wall. At this time under Ottoman control, the population of the three districts that comprised Palestine was 85% Muslim, 10% Christian and 5% Jewish.
Syria’s war must end
By Stephen Hawking, Washington Post, February 14
Stephen Hawking is the author of “A Brief History of Time†and a former professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that the universe had existed forever. The reason humanity was not more developed, he believed, was that floods or other natural disasters repeatedly set civilization back to the beginning.
Today, humans are developing ever faster. Our knowledge is growing exponentially and with it, our technology. But humans still have the instincts, and in particular the aggressive impulses, that we had in caveman days. Aggression has had definite advantages for survival, but when modern technology meets ancient aggression the entire human race and much of the rest of life on Earth is at risk.
Today in Syria we see modern technology in the form of bombs, chemicals and other weapons being used to further so-called intelligent political ends.
But it does not feel intelligent to watch as more than 100,000 people are killed or while children are targeted. It feels downright stupid, and worse, to prevent humanitarian supplies from reaching clinics where, as Save the Children will document in a forthcoming report, children are having limbs amputated for lack of basic facilities and newborn babies are dying in incubators for lack of power. Continue reading Syria’s war must end
Luna of Cairo
An American woman who becomes a celebrated belly dancer on a Nile cruise boat out of Cairo in Egypt. Now there’s a plot. But it is full of as many twists as a belly vibrating to a dumbak. For the story of Luna in a graphic comic book format, check out her story here.
Prison Break in Sanaa
كش٠مصدر قضائي التهم المدان Ùيها 29 سجينا Ùرو يوم امس ÙÙŠ عملية خاطÙØ© يعتقد بوقو٠تنظيم القاعده وزرائها وقال المصدر بان من بين الÙارين من السجن اسماء قيادات خطرة من تنظيم القاعده ومØكومين بالاعدام وخاطÙÙŠ اجانب الاسماء مع التهم والعقوبات الصادرة :
.1 وليد Ù…Øمد Ù…Øمد العبشي -قاعدة Ù…Øكوم بالسجن 7 سنوات ÙÙŠ أكتوبر 2013 -متهم بأعمال إرهابية بأبين
.2. علي عبدالرØمن علي القباطي3. ÙŠØيى يوس٠مØمد Øيدره -قاعدة Ù…Øكوم بالسجن 6 سنوات بأكتوبر 2013 -متهم بأعمال إرهابية بابين
.4. عهد Ù…Øمد سعيد عامر -قاعدة Ù…Øكوم بالسجن 6 سنوات ÙÙŠ أكتوبر 2013 -متهم بأعمال ارهابية ÙÙŠ أبين
.5. Ø³Ø§Ù…Ø Ù…Øمد Ù…Øسن الشجري -قاعدة Ù…Øكوم بالسجن 6 سنوات بأكتوبر 2013 -متهم بأعمال إرهابية بابين
.6. عمر اØمد Ù…Øمد Ùضل الألاء -قاعدة Ù…Øكوم بالسجن 7 سنوات باكتوبر 2013-متهم بأعمال ارهابية ÙÙŠ أبين
.7. جميل يسلم علي شيخ -قاعدة Ù…Øكوم بالسجن 6 سنوات باكتوبر 2013 -متهم بأعمال ارهابية بأبين
8. وهيب علي عبدالله مهدي- تابع للقاعدة مسجون منذ 2008..
9 امين Ù…Øمد اØمد مشوص -قاعدة Ù…Øكوم بالسجن 6 سنوات ÙÙŠ اكتوبر 2013 -متهم بأعمال ارهابية ÙÙŠ أبين
Continue reading Prison Break in Sanaa