The photographs here were taken of camels and people in Libya around 1957 by Dr. Virgil Clift.
[Tabsir Redux is a reposting of earlier posts on the blog, since memories are fickle and some things deserve a second viewing. This post was originally made on April 27, 2013]
There is a fascinating Tumblr website devoted to images of veiled Muslim women walking in front of things. The pictures are well worth looking at. As the two chosen here demonstrate, there is a cultural disconnect between walkways. The Yemeni woman above is wearing a sharshaf, introduced by the Ottoman Turks and at first an urban icon. It has now spread, through Salafi influence, to the whole country, even the blistering hot Tihama. The image below is revealing because the veiling is much more of a social statement against the grain in Western contexts where bare or nearly bare female bodies are easily viewed. Both demonstrate conformity, which most fashion dictates no matter what is worn or not worn, but the context, and thus the contrast, differs.
The extraordinary British actor Peter O’Toole died yesterday at the age of 81. His most famous movie, without question, was Lawrence of Arabia. But he made many other performances, including Becket (1964) with Richard Burton, a remake of Goodbye Mr Chips in 1969 and the hilarious spoof, The Ruling Class (1972). I had the privilege of meeting O’Toole at the Chicago Humanities Festival in 1997, when he gave a stirring reading of his latest autobiography. You will find numerous obituaries, but here is the one in The Guardian.
Egyptian satirist and television host Bassem Youssef is surrounded by his supporters upon he arrival at the public prosecutor’s office in the high court in Cairo
(AFP Photo)
by Bassem Youseef, al-Arabiya, December 13, 2013
In some sort of excessive selfishness, Egyptians are tending to see as victims only those with whom they sympathize. For example, if you voice your anger over the verdict to imprison the Alexandria Girls (they were later acquitted), a friend will send you a photo of the Kardasa soldiers who were unjustly killed and tell you: “If you’re sad over this verdict, then remember those soldiers.â€
If you express your grief over the killing of soldiers in Sinai, Muslim Brotherhood pages on social networking websites will publish photos of the dispersal of the Rabia sit-in and tell you: “If you’re sad over those soldiers, remember the protestors who were killed first.â€
National security officer Mohammed Mabrouk gets killed in a terrorist ambush, and instead of praying for mercy over his soul – since he is a human being – some rush to publish photos and names of those killed by Interior Ministry gunfire. It is as if Mabrouk is responsible for all those martyrs. Continue reading In Egypt, your empathy alone is enough
Bodies of Yemenis killed by a drone attack last Thursday
The use of drones in Yemen has received a lot of attention this year, even though there has appeared to be a lull in their use since the summer. It is reported in Yemen Press that an American drone killed 8 Al-Qaida suspects in Ahwar Abyan. No details are given in the article. Nashwan News, quoting sources from Yemen’s security forces, describes a different strike the same day in al-Bayda’ in which a top al-Qa’ida figure is said to have been killed. Or was it really a wedding procession, as reported in Al-Masdar Online, which describes a drone (known in Arabic as a ta’ira bidun tiyar) that killed 13 and wounded 30 others in hitting cars in a wedding procession (zifaf). Aden Online reports the number of dead as 17 and 32 wounded. Another source gives a range of 12 dead and wounded. The province of al-Bayda’ has seen a lot of resistance to the government. The drone struck at 4:30 pm on Thursday, hitting cars carrying men from two tribes. Two prominent tribal shaykhs were said to be wounded in the process.
The stories differ because the sources differ, some eager to justify any drone attack as effective and others unwilling to admit that the strike was successful in eliminating a terrorist. Clearly, however, as the horrendous photograph of the dead documents, whether or not al-Qa’ida lost a leader, there were quite a few other people who were killed. Even if the government thought it legitimate to go after one man, is it worth depriving so many citizens of life and limb? Once again drones serve as the best recruiting tool for terrorists in Yemen and drag the name of the United States even further into the muck. Continue reading Of Drones and Reporting
Men walk past anti-drone mural in Sanaa, Yemen, Nov. 25, 2013; photography by Juan Herrerro
Yemen’s New Ways of Protesting Drone Strikes: Graffiti and Poetry
by Tik Root, Time Magazine, November 30, 2013
An American drone hovers along a main thoroughfare in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. Not a real drone, but rather a 7 foot-long rendition of an unmanned aircraft spray-painted near the top of a whitewashed city wall. Below it, a stenciled-on child is writing: “Why did you kill my family?†in blood-red English and Arabic script.
Painted by Yemeni artist Murad Subay, the Banksy-esque mural sits beside three others also admonishing the United States’ use of drones in Yemen to track and kill terrorism suspects. This drone art is part of Subay’s latest campaign, “12 Hoursâ€, which aims to raise awareness about twelve problems facing Yemen, including weapons proliferation, sectarianism, kidnapping and poverty. Drones are the fifth and arguably most striking “hour†yet completed.
“Graffiti in Yemen, or street art, is a new device to communicate with the people,†says Subay, 26, who after taking up street art two years ago in the wake of Yemen’s Arab Spring revolution has almost single-handedly sparked the growing Yemeni graffiti movement. “In one second, you can send a message.â€
The anti-drone chorus in Yemen has grown louder since the Obama Administration took office in 2009. All but one of the dozens of reported drone strikes in Yemen have been carried out since Obama came to office (although strikes here and in Pakistan have been more sporadic in recent months). Operations are rarely acknowledged by American officials but have nonetheless stirred a global debate about the strikes’ legality, morality and effectiveness. Continue reading Yin and Yang over Yemen’s Drones
On Marriage by Khalil Gibran
The following is a response by Dr. Najib Sifri of Lebanon to the post and poem entitled “The Collapse of Tradition” by George Elhage.
كتت أعتقد٠انني لن أقرأ لجورج نقولا الØاج قصيدةً مثل ” عقدة الجنس ” بعدما Øملنا العمر ستة عقود٠من الاعوام واكثر . ولكنه يبدو ان شعر جورج كالنبيذ الغالي كلما تعتق ÙÙŠ خوابي السنين صار أطيب وارØب واكثر تأثيرا ÙÙŠ معناه ÙˆÙÙŠ مبناه ..
لقد Øملتني هذه القصيدة الى سنوات الشباب الثائر على التقاليد الجوÙاء وعلى الممنوعات السوداء وعلى المتاجرة بمصير النساء , وكأننا نعيش ÙÙŠ زمن٠غابر٠اكل الدهر٠عليه وشرب !
صØÙŠØÙŒ أنني وهو ÙÙŠ ذلك الزمن قد قطÙنا الرمان وتلذذنا بملمسه ومذاقه , ودخلنا Ùيما دخلنا اسرة الصبايا من كل نوع٠ولون٠وجنس٠ولعلنا كنا من الاستثناءات التي ساعدنا Ùيها كوننا درسنا ÙÙŠ مدارس مختلطة يجلس Ùيها هذا قرب هذه , وانتقلنا الى جامعة هي ايضا تقدس الØرية الشخصية لكل Ùرد رجلا كان او امرأة , اضاÙØ© الى اننا ننتمي الى طائÙØ© دينية غير متعصبة ونسكن ايضا ÙÙŠ امكنة لا Øجاب Ùيها ولا نقاب .
هذه القصيدة التي انشدها جورج ÙÙŠ القرن الواØد والعشرين تدلنا على انه Øتى ÙÙŠ ايامنا كان الامر اÙضل مما Ù†ØÙ† عليه اليوم , Ùبدل من ان يكون القول الى الامام سر Ø§ØµØ¨Ø Ø§Ù„Ù‰ الوراء در …
جورج من الذين يتقنون صبّ المعاني ÙÙŠ قوالبها Ùهو مهندس بارع ÙÙŠ سبك العبارة وتØميلها لصدر وعجز مناسبين تمام التناسب , وهو Ùنان ÙÙŠ ضبط الايقاع عدا انه مصور ماهر ذات خيال خصب وهذا ما يميز هذه القصيدة Øيث ان هناك كثيرين ممن كتبوا ÙÙŠ هذا الموضوع لكنهم اخÙقوا , ولعل كل بيت من أبيات هذه القصيدة ÙŠØتاج الى صÙØØ© اواكثر تدقيقا وتمØيصا وليس هنا المكان المناسب لهذا الامر , Ùليست هذه سوى رسالة شخصية لصديق يرسل الى اخيه خواطر من القلب الى القلب .
هي الثقة مشكلتنا ÙÙŠ هذا الشرق , Ùلا ثقة لام٠بابنتها , ولا ثقة لاخ٠باخته , ولا لزوج بزوجته , ولا بامة بنسائها , ولالرجل بنÙسه ,لان تواريخ الشعوب مكتوبة على وجه نسائها Ùأين تقع هذه التواريخ واين نجدها واكثر نسائنا تضع الاقنعة السوداء على وجهها رØمنا الله وهنيئاً لجورج الØاج …..
by Abbas Sarhan, Niqash, November 28, 2013
Only a few years ago a woman driving on the streets of Karbala was an unusual sight, one that some considered indecent and odd. But this has changed a lot, with more women driving and more locals considering it acceptable. And despite the city’s conservative ways, local authorities are now sending their female staff to driver education courses.
Local woman Ruqaya is proud that she was one of the first females, if not the first, to drive a car in the conservative Iraqi city of Karbala. She’s a school teacher and she was taking taxis to work every day. “This was costing almost one quarter of my salary,†she explained to NIQASH. “So I decided to buy a car. It was an old Daewoo and I bought it for US$3,000. In 2009, I sold it and bought a sportier model, a Kia.â€
That was in 2005. “It was strange to see a woman driving a car here,†she continues. “People often looked surprised or outraged when they saw it. And there were men who would make fun of female drivers and who made jokes about them.â€
Once when her car broke down, Ruqaya had to leave it next to a petrol station and she was jeered at by those who saw her predicament as she left the car.
Karbala didn’t have any actual laws forbidding women from driving and, unlike in some Gulf States, there has never been a fatwa, or religious edict, issued that forbids women from driving. Continue reading Karbala becomes Carbala