SHIFAA

Fair and Balanced: American Politicians react to the Middle East Crisis

2009-01-13T01:20:00.000-08:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Throwing Shoes: A Childish Act

2008-12-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, an Iraqi "Journalist" threw his shoes on President Bush in Baghdad. The latter was conducting a news conference with Nur Almalky; the Iraqi PM inside the fortified green zone in Baghdad. The "Journalist" was instantly called a "hero" for his courageous act by Arab people from Moroco to Jedda and the incident drew tens of thousands of Iraqis to the street today demanding his release.

The story also drew attention on all Arab media networks. On Monday, al-Baghdadiya, the network where Mr. Zubidi works, suspended its normal programming and played messages of support from across the Arab world. Aljazeera recieved more comments on the Journalist story than any time before. "Iraq considers Sunday as the international day for shoes," said a joking text message circulating around the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Palestinian journalists in the West Bank town of Ramallah joked about who would be brave enough to toss their shoes at Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, another U.S. official widely disliked in the region

Personally, I have never been a fan of President Bush. I actually criticized his administration continuously on this blog; however I think that the incident is childish and regretable to say the least. I wish the "Journalist" used his words as an adult instead of his hands. Unfortunately, I also believe that the incident will continue to reinforce the "angry Arab" image around the globe.
From a logistical point of view, I do not know if the incident will change the way that news conference will be held in the future; not that we had many of those. May be from now, we will see foreign visitors or even governmental officals standing behind a wall of glass when they answer questions from Journalists. One more barrier for free speech and democracy.

رسالة من أوباما

2008-11-28T07:50:00.000-08:00

I got this poem from one of my friends. I thought it is interesting. The poem; written by Ahmad Mattar is titled "Letter from Obama" and is sent to the Arab people discouraging them from having high expectations from his administratoin. The poem also took a swipe at Arab regimes that were described as authortarian. It is funny, interesting but invokes helplessness and hoplessness. Let us hope the poem to be wrong.

رسالة بالبريد المستعجل
أحمد مطر

مِن أوباما..
لِجَميعِ الأعرابِ شُعوباً أو حُكّاما:
قَرْعُ طَناجِرِكُمْ في بابي
أرهَقَني وَأطارَ صَوابي..
(افعَل هذا يا أوباما..
اترُك هذا يا أوباما
أمطِرْنا بَرْداً وسَلاما
يا أوباما.
وَفِّرْ للِعُريانِ حِزاما!
يا أوباما.
خَصِّصْ للِطّاسَةِ حَمّاما!
يا أوباما.
فَصِّلْ للِنَملَةِ بيجاما!
يا أوباما..)
قَرقَعَة تَعلِكُ أحلاماً
وَتَقيء صَداها أوهَامَا
وَسُعارُ الضَّجّةِ مِن حَوْلي
لا يَخبو حتّى يتنامى.
وَأنا رَجْلُ عِندي شُغْلٌ
أكثَرُ مِن وَقتِ بَطالَتكُمْ
أطوَلُ مِن حُكْمِ جَلالَتِكُمْ
فَدَعوني أُنذركُمْ بَدءاً
كَي أحظى بالعُذْر ختاما:
لَستُ بِخادمِ مَن خَلَّفَكُمْ
لأُسِاطَ قُعوداً وَقياما.
لَستُ أخاكُمْ حَتّى أُهْجى
إن أنَا لَمْ أصِلِ الأرحاما.
لَستُ أباكُمْ حَتّى أُرجى
لأكِونَ عَلَيْكُمْ قَوّاما.
وَعُروبَتُكُمْ لَمْ تَختَرْني
وَأنا ما اختَرتُ الإسلاما!
فَدَعوا غَيري يَتَبَنّاكُمْ
أو ظَلُّوا أبَداً أيتاما!
أنَا أُمثولَةُ شَعْبٍ يأبى
أن يَحكُمَهُ أحَدّ غَصبْا..
ونِظامٍ يَحتَرِمُ الشَّعبا.
وَأنا لَهُما لا غَيرِهِما
سأُقَطِّرُ قَلبي أنغاما
حَتّى لَو نَزَلَتْ أنغامي
فَوقَ مَسامِعِكُمْ.. ألغاما!
فامتَثِلوا.. نُظُماً وَشُعوباً
وَاتَّخِذوا مَثَلي إلهاما.
أمّا إن شِئتُمْ أن تَبقوا
في هذي الدُّنيا أنعاما
تَتَسوَّلُ أمْنَاً وَطَعاما
فَأُصارِحُكُمْ.. أنّي رَجُلُ
في كُلِّ مَحَطّاتِ حَياتي
لَمْ أُدخِلْ ضِمْنَ حِساباتي
أن أرعى، يوماً، أغناما !

Jordanians prefer Obama

2008-11-03T05:44:00.000-08:00

A new poll published yesterday showed that almost 67% of Jordanians prefer Obama to be the next president of the United States over John McCain who receives only 11 % of Jordanians votes so to speak. Jordanians believe strongly that a McCain administration will continue the American's involvement in Iraq indefinitely and will create more trouble and wars in the region.
The poll showed as well that almost most Jordanians do not predict any change in the American policy toward Israel and the Palestinians which perceived by most Jordanians to be biased toward Israel with either of the presidential candidates after the election. Jordanians cited the strong Israeli Lobby in Washington and shared strategic interests between Israel and the US as the top reasons for that. On the positive side, Jordanians believe that Obama has a better sense of the world and would restore America's image around the world; an image that has been damage significantly with 8 years under the Bush administration.

One more day and I can not wait for this election to come to an end; hopefully a happy ending this time.

How similar is King Abdullah to Obama?

2008-07-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

Like Obama, King Abdullah is a youthful overachiever who represents a bridge across generational and demographic divides in his country. Both men are 46. They both love Mercedes. Following his meeting with King Abdullah II, the Democratic presidential nominee got a lift to the airport from none other than the monarch himself and in a royal Mercedes.

Obama's buzz hits Amman

2008-07-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Jordan is not a swing state in a White House campaign but surely it looks like it today. US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama had a news conference at the Amman Citadel, an ancient Roman landmark, in Amman. He also had a long meeting with the King who offered an impressive unprecedented welcome to a presidential candidate ever. According to the Associated Press,the king had cut short a trip to Aspen, Colo., especially to fly back to the palace. And that it was the Jordanians who had requested a one-on-one meeting between the king and Obama before they are joined for dinner by Reed, Hagel and others.

Apparently the King who has an unmistakable political intuition believes somehow that Obama is going to be living in the White House for the next 8 years and he wanted to build a working relationship with him. Two things that come to mind here. First, Jordan apparently is becoming more important to the American policymakers regardless of their political orientation or party affiliation. John McCain the presumptive Republican nominee made a similar trip last month to Amman and met with the King as well. Second, Jordan is positioning itself as an asset to both parties. On one hand, Jordan is increasingly becoming a keystone player on the national security front to the US and its war against terrorism; a value that Republicans embrace. On the other hand, Jordan continued to play the diplomacy card with its relationship with different regional players in the Middle East such as Israel, Syria, Saudi Arabia as well as Iran; a value that held dearly by the democrates.

In political terms, Obama's- trip is designed in part to boost Obama's image inside the United State. With all of that it is a good trip for Jordan for the above mentioned reasons.

Embarrassing Mugabe: A dictator under pressure

2008-07-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

On Jews in the Arab world and appointing the first Arab Jewish envoy to the US

2008-05-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

Jews in the Arab world have been diminishing in number since 1948 either because of forces of voluntary immigration or political persecution or a combination of both. The conflict with Israel has undoubtedly been a major factor in their immigration to Israel. Most Arab Jews whom estimated number is 8000 live in few countries; Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco and Tunisia. There not have been many report about these minorities in the news but recently there were two articles that I personally found to be very interesting and encouraging.

Today Bahrain's king appointed a Jewish woman as the country's ambassador to the U.S.today. The new ambassador; Houda Nonoo who is 43 years old is a lawmaker in the Shura counsel and had served three years in that capacity before being transfer ed to Washington for her new assignment. It is noteworthy to mention that the small gulf island is ruled by the Sunni minority. Most Bahrainis are Shiite but according to a new report re lased by the BBC, Bahrain has one of the world's oldest and smallest Jewish communities, at about 50 people.

The other news article comes from the Tunisian island of Djerba, home to one of the world's oldest Jewish communities. An American researcher went there to ask the resident of that island whether Jews, Muslims and Christians can live together in peace? A common myth claims they can't. Americans are told, falsely, that Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting each other "since time immemorial," and that their conflict will never end; that they can't agree on anything, so why bother? and that peace is impossible. The article mentioned that Jews and Arabs lived and have been living in that island for centuries and that they get along just fine.

It is my hope that these two examples will have a domino effect on the current situation in Israel and Palestine. May be peace is just around the corner.

Jordan in the presidential race

2008-05-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Not that many care but I have not been able to blog for a while. I am overwhelmed with different projects at this point in my life but I was struck yesterday to see my blog entries decrease to almost non-existence stage. And since blogging has been therapeutic to me to say the least I decided to get back to the game and write more. So what have I been doing? Writing my dissertation, working on project with one of my buddies and spending time with family and friends but more on that I have been consumed for the last months with the democratic presidential primary this year. On many occasions, I was tempted to write and comment but since most of the people who read this blog are from the other part of the globe,so to make this entry interesting enough for you to read. I want to comment on that fact that Jordan came up few times on the presidential debates and the race. So here is the record:

First, Huckabee; a republican candidate mentioned at one debate that the unfound WMD were hidden in Jordan. When he was confronted by Hardball Chris Mathew of the MSNBC, Huckabee seemed to confuse Jordan with Syria. Ya.. that is the person that American should have elected to be in charge of its national security.
Second, John McCain or McSame as many like to call him here in the US for his current association with the unpopular Bush presidecy, made sure to stop by Jordan and meet the King in his attempt to tout his foreign policy experience. Ironically, John McCain and in a press conference in Amman confused Sunni with Shiite and had to be corrected by his buddy Joe Lieberman who by the way ran as a democrat in in the last two presidential races.
Third, HRC which stands for Hillary Rodham Clinton who ran on the pulpit of her assumed 35 years experience made sure to meet with the King when he was in Capital Hill. Hillary made sure to mention his majesty by name to remind the American public that she really has forign expereince.

And finally, Obama is the only candidate who does not mention Jordan by name and I did not expect him to mention anything about Jordan or any Arabic countries between now and November. The reason for that is because 33% of the American people think that Obama is either Muslim or they are unsure about his faith.

Now who candidate will be the best for Jordan? I will leave that for you to decide.

"Yes We Can" May God Bless America

2008-02-04T16:02:00.001-08:00

My 3 years old son has a new favorite phrase; Rack Obama. Signs fill the street in the way to my work. My favorite so far is "My Mama for Obama". Another sai d: "Tired from this drama: Vote Obama!" The presidential hopeful who is half Kenyan-half American is beyond inspriation. Along the years,I heard powerful speeches, sermons and poems but this man is in a different league. He is a combination of Martin Luther King, Ronald Regan and Oprah Winfery. His list of endorsers include talk show hosts like Oprah, athletics as Abdel Jabar, dynasity like the Kennedys and most of the Hollywood gangs. His political support comes from the left and the right. In a brief, he is a transformative figure.

Unlike other politicans who use fear(Bush), hate(Clinton)and partisan division in their tactics, he empowers people with a hopeful message. "Hope is the rock of any nation," the junior senator of Illinois says. People are more simialr than what they think and Yes We Can as his speech said get along together, work together and live together. The senator from Illinois is expected to crush the Clintons tommorow. Keep crossing your fingers.

God Bless America for allowing a skinny guy with a funny name to reach all of his potential. The joke in the streets of Mombasa where Kenyans slaughter each other and where Obama's father was born goes "it is easier to a Kenyan to become the president of the US than Kenya" and for that God Bless America. Barak Obama is good for America, good for the World

Somebody needs a nap!

2008-01-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how many Jordanians follow the American primaries but it is getting interesting out here. If you are a news junki like me, you will know that "interesting" is a another term for "nasty" in politics. Take for example, Bill Clintion; the former president who is heavily involved by assoication in the current election because his wife. Bill complained consistently that his wife has been treated unfarily in the media. Lately, he has been increasingly seen as irritated, passionate and contraversial depends on whom you are for in this election. Regardless, the former president whom is known for being calculated finally lost it today. The incident happaend when he answered few questions to a reporter.

In several occasions, I thought that he is going to immitate Zidan and his head kick in the last World cup finals. He gets closer to the reporter few times. His facial expressions appeared intense, his face turned red and his thoughts were incoherent. I always liked Bill Clinton but when my 3 years old kid act in the same manner, I tell him that it is "time for a nap."

Funny snapshots from Jordan's parliamentary election

2007-11-29T08:44:00.000-08:00

Till now, the Ministry of Interior Affairs refuses officially to post all the number of votes that losers in the last election got. Security and order concerns might have compelled the Ministry to do so, as well as the "save face" concept. A cultural concept that is well-established in our tribal society where winners do not brag about their victory and give a space to losers to gather their pride again in the eye of the public.

However and according to Alquds Alarabi, there has been a leak aboutthe number of votes that losing candidates gained in the last election and some of the results are really funny.
Take for example Mohamed Alqaran who had 0 votes. Another word, the guy did not vote for himself! We had a similar experience in the municipality election but the candidate was a woman and she did not need any votes to be elected according to the quota system. So what Mr. Qaran was thinking? I mean one can write a PH dissertation in psychology to explore why would someone run to the election and refuse to vote for himself.
Other results are puzzling as well and need to be studied by sociologists whom by the way might need help themselves to understand the complicated Jordanian culture. Take for example Dr. Sari Naser; a well known sociologist and well known author. Dr. Naser received only 125 votes. Well, may be Dr. Naser should have known better our society by now. That could be another book to publish Dr. Naser.
On the celebrity side, Aroub Soboh; a young beautiful TV host, who is well known in Jordan and the Arab World for her children TV shows. Unfortunately, Aroub did not get more than 250 votes. Too bad children can't vote; otherwise, Aroub could have been our new Prime Minister. And finally, Naser Ghandour, the previous gallkeeper of Al-Wihdat club and the National Soccer team. Ghandour had 259 people voting for him. Unfortunately, the huge popularity of Wihdad club did not help much. May be he should have run when Al-Wihdat club was preforming better in the National League. Anyway, there is no such thing as losing. To all the losers out there. The bottom line is this. If you spent a lot of money, your labor is not in vain and you helped distributing the wealth equally in the Jordanian society. If you did not spend any money, you did not really lose.

Jordan's Parliament Election: Lessons and implications

2007-11-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

The election is over and the major two lessons for the day are "It is the "TRIBE" stupids," and the golden days of the IAF might be over. The Islamic Action Front (IAF); the political wing of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, which had 17 seats in the previous parliament lost 11 seats as only 8 out of the 22 IAF candidates succeeded to win a seat this time. The IAF was fielding 22 candidates, including one woman in the elections and was hoping to win most if not all of these seats. As expected, the IAF issued a statement blaming irregularities in the election and the government for its astounding defeat; however most observers believe that the election was fair and smooth this time.

The truth is that I have never been a big fan of the (IAF),and part of me is thrilled for its astounding defeat, but may be it is time now to rethink and renovate Jordan's electoral system. Currently, most of the seats in parliament come from constituencies in rural tribal areas, not from the cities where most Jordanians live, meaning that the tribal districts are over-represented. Most lawmakers elected in a rural constituency such as Ex-prime minister Rawabdeh with only 2,000 to 3,000 voters to win, while each member of parliament from the capital represents about 95,000.

One of the best option about renovating the system comes from the director of the Amman-based al-Quds Center for Political Studies Oraib al-Rantawi, who advocates a mixed system, combining district-based constituencies with party- or coalition-based proportional representation. These structural changes might be what we need to strengthen Jordan's political parties and help invigorate its civil life. At this last election, candidates did not bother to join political party or to come up with an agenda because if the tribe is your shortcut to the parliament, why the hell would anybody care.

On the bright side, good news came from Madaba yesterday, where former MP Falak Jamaani claimed victory after getting 3,301 votes to be the first woman to win a Lower House seat without resorting to the women’s quota since 1989. Good for her and us.

Hamas' era of rule and justice

2007-11-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

The news from Gaza is heading from bad to worse(watch vedio). A rally by the rival Fatah movement commemorating Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ended tragically when Hamas security forces opened fire on the crowd. Six Palestinian people were killed and hundreds were injured. Hamas which would typically revenge for the death of the Palestinian martyrs on the hand of the Israelis acted differently this time as its officials accused Fatah movement of provoking the violence for not submitting to Hamas' regulation of barring large public gatherings.
Apparently, protesting is a violent act according to Hamas' dictionary while suicide bombing is not! Surely, we live in interesting time watching the unfolding of the new era of justice and Islamic rule which finally has arrived to Gaza.

Interesting intruder

2007-10-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

When the "Wife" told me that a fox was going through our backyard a week ago, I thought that she was going crazy. Apparently she is not and this photo is the medical proof for her "sanity". I could not believe my eyes seeing it wandering through my son's toys. It must be very lonely. Good thing that we do not have chickens around; otherwise this encounter could have been bloody.

Should "Al-Wihdat" leave Abdullah Deeb go free?

2007-10-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

Abdallah Deeb, a 20 years old brilliant Jordanian soccer player who was among the Youth National Team in the last World cup is causing a stir between Jordan and Bahrain. The player who plays with Al-Wihdat and Jordan national team arrived to Bahrain last month with his father and signed for Al-Rifah Club without taking permission from his team. Rumors circulated that the player received $100.000 in cash for signing the contract and apparently Al-Wihdat wants to get his piece of this sum of money. Last year, Al-Ahli soccer team from the UAE approached AL-Wihdat regarding Deeb but its offer was turned down. Deeb and other genius Jordanian players are becoming main bank-rollers to poorly funded soccer teams in the Kingdom; many of them hope to sell their players to rich clubs particularly in the Gulf area.

According to FIFA regulations, what the player did was legal since he is an amateur and not a professional player. Therefore, he can sign professionally with any team that he likes to join. Taking in a surprise, Al-Wihdat decided to suspend the player for a year and threatened to take the case to FIFA. The (JFA)Jordanian Football Association did not comment on the case so far. Deeb is supposed to join the National team in their first match against Kyrghastan next month. Meanwhile, Deeb does not seem to be affected psychologically with all this drama. He played yesterday for the first time for his new team and he was impressive. I say let Abdallah Deeb be free.

Dividing Iraq

2007-10-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

In a strong rebuff to the Bush Administration policy on Iraq, the American Senate approved a nonbinding resolution by presidential candidate Biden(D) that essentially calls for breaking Iraq into three sections: Kurd, Sunni, and Shia. The vote which enjoyed a rare bipartisan consensus in DC clearly indicates a shift within the Senate against the administration's war strategy. Back in the Middle East, the vote was condemned publicly by most Iraqi politicians and news media as well as most Arabic neighbouring countries but one might wonder what those politicians think behind close doors.

Personally, I believe that the vote is symbolic and means nothing especially as it is the Iraqis who should and will determine the future of their country. The real question however remains if Iraqis still believe in the idea of a unified Iraq. In the December 2005 national elections, Shi'ites voted overwhelmingly for Shi'ite religious parties, Sunni Arabs for Sunni religious or nationalist parties, and the Kurds for Kurdish nationalist parties. Fewer than 10% of Iraq's Arabs crossed sectarian lines. The Kurds voted 98.7% for independence in a nonbinding referendum and the Kurdish flag flies over the land of Kurdistan for decades now.

One of the chronic Arabic problems is that we never take initiative. We always cornered ourselves in the reaction corner to condemn, reject and refuse. Here something to think about; how about coming with an alternative plan!

Should Al-Absi be buried in Jordan?

2007-09-03T04:25:00.000-07:00

The news from Beiurt today indicates that Shaker Youssef Al-Absi, the fugitive leader of the Fatah al-Islam militants was killed as he was trying to flee the Nahr el Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. Now his brother Abdel Razzak el-Absi, a surgeon in Amman is asking the Jordanian authorities to allow the family to bury this martyr in Jordan.

Al-Absi family's request is unlikely to find a listeing ear in Amman especially as Al-Absi was high on Jordan's most-wanted terror list. A military court sentenced him to death in absentia in July 2004, along with al-Qaida in Iraq leader, Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for their roles in the 2002 slaying of a U.S. diplomat in Amman. Additionally, Al-Absi was also implicated in other planned terror plots in Jordan. Six months ago, Jordanian police engaged in a gun battle with two militants in the northern city of Irbid, killing one and arresting another. The arrested militant later confessed that al-Absi had sent the pair to carry out terror attacks in Jordan.

So why would Jordan want to allow Al-Absi's body to buried in Jordan? For humanitarian causes his brother thinks. “My brother has chosen the strict Islamic way because he was desperate and depressed", Abdel Razzak said. On the other hand, one might wonder whether Shaker Al-Absi was humanitarian enough when he and his group started the conflict with the Lebanese Army by attacking and slaughtering 27 soldiers during their sleep, or when his organization Fatah al-Islam bombed 2 buses and killed 3 innocent Christian Lebanese and wounded another 20 in the Ain Alaq town of the northern Metn province in Mount Lebanon, or when Fatah al-Islam robbed a Lebanese bank the night before the conflict started and stole $125,000. So who was Shaker Al-Absi? Was he "martyr" or a "murderer"? If he was a "martyr" as his family believes then there is no doubt that Jordan should let him be buried in its holy soil, however if he was a murderer then the last thing that we need is another fanatic misguided symbol for our youth to remember.

On the government's decision to keep the prices of fuel derivatives at their present levels

2007-08-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

The government yesterday announced that there will be no new hike in oil prices and decided to delay any potential increase till after the end of the winter season prompting the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ziad Fariz.

Mr. Fariz who was described by some parliament members as the "World Bank's son" pressed for price rises to save the state’s finances. When his call fell dead on the government's ears he had no choice but to submit his resignation. Apparently he did not want his name to be associated with the financial disasters that will follow the government's popular decision.

In numbers, the 2007 budget deficit was earlier forecast to reach JD 385 million($600 million) but with the price of oil in the international market jumping to over $70 per barrel and yesterday decision to delay any hike in prices till the end of the winter season the deficit is expected to rise to JD710 million(over $1 billion)this year! This deficit is expected to be covered by new loans that future generations have to deal with them at one point.

In a defense for the government's decision, the 7% inflation rate is a little bit high and the poor class in the country with the upcoming cold season, Ramadan holy month and the start of the new school year is in a financially strained place and might not be able to survive a new hike in oil prices. However, since it is the upper and middle classes members who consume most of the oil bill in this country , then I believe that there could have been a better decision to help the poor class without hurting the economy.

Instead, the the government who suffered lately of a series of embarrassments that started with the water and shawarma poisoning, a tensed political atmosphere especially with the IAF and finally the fishy municipal elections seem to be more concerned on scoring some points in its approval rating over doing the right thing.

Does Democracy bring Human Rights?

2007-08-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

Before exploring the relationship between democracy and human rights, one should identify the latter. To put it simple, there are two types of human rights; positive and negative. Negative rights such as freedom of speech, property and worship. These rights do not require the government to spend any of its resources to provide them to its citizens. Take for example the freedom to worship. How much does it cost the government of Saudi Arabia to allow Christians or Buddhists to worship freely in the kingdom? The answer is nothing. On the other hand, positive rights such as providing an access to public education, health care, social security or a minimum standard of living take effort, finances and time to be spent by the government. So in terms of positive rights poor countries might have an excuse explaining their inability to provide these rights(privileges) to their citizens. However, this is not the case in almost all of the Arab World as governments generally are afraid and hesitant to provide any kind of negative rights for their citizens fearing instability, fundamentalism or other labels that are used accordingly.

So what is the relationship between democracy and human rights and does the existence of one lead automatically to the other? The answer is yes. Basically those who lack the necessary health or education to play an effective role or secure any means of livelihood are unlikely to have the capacity for democratic agency. It is also true the other way around. Just look at Europe today, where the history of the past century has shown social exclusion among Arabs and Muslim immigrants led to civil and political alienation on the part of those excluded and provides a breeding ground for political intolerance, violence and terrorism.

Does democracy brings wealth?

2007-07-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

My previous post in response to Marc Lynch and his Talking about Jordan post generated quite a burst of responses on this blog and his. It is always exciting to see some passion rising up in the conversation, however a R-rated passion must be tamed whenever a few crosses the line of decency and convert the debate to make it personal attack against the writer or another commentator. With all things considered, I was excited and embezzled a little bit by some of those who responded in favor of democracy. Not in terms of its necessity and applicability in the Middle East and particularly in Jordan, but more in terms of the economic benefits that some people think that comes naturally along with it.

Somehow, some commentators got the idea somewhere that a full-functioning democracy is essential for economic growth and equality among the citizen of the society. This wishful thinking has some truth to it but the relationship between democracy and economic growth is way more complicated than a proportional linear one. The real question is for researchers and readers of this blog to determine whether democracy brings wealth or the other way around?

Unfortunately for democracy activists, research in the field of development indicates that economic development typically creates democratic changes and not the other away around. That the distribution of wealth in the society will typically create a large enough middle class which is needed as the social basis of democracy. Additionally wealth usually increases the level of education in the society to facilitate democratic changes in the political arena. That is also questionable at least by some of commentators on my previous post who believe somehow that Western-educated Jordanians are those who mostly opposed to any democratic changes. Some even named this group the "neo-liberals" hinting to another group of thinkers "neo-conservative" which is infamous and unfortunate these days in Washington DC. However; the argument for education basically support the idea that an educated citizenry is likely to be more knowledgeable about the political process and aware of their rights. So is the relationship between wealth and democracy a direct and a linear one? The answer is not that simple.

Adam Przeworski and Fernando Limongi found that wealth has a measurable effect on the survival rate of democracy, but not on the emergence rate of democracy. In other words, to the extent wealth is an independent variable, poor democracies are more likely to collapse than wealthy democracies. The bottom line is that you can be all for democracy and for its benefits on the society but do not associate wealth directly with democracy. The presence of first does not mean the presence of the latter. A sobering example is China, which enjoyed the most growing economy for the last two decades where its government still governs its people by blood and fear.

On another topic. What is the relationship between democracy and human rights? Now that will require another post so stay tuned.

On Abu Ardvark (Marc Lynch) ridiculing Jordan

2007-07-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Mark Lynch, a political professor in George Washington University and the author of the "Abu Ardvark" blog had an interesting post "Talking About Jordan" last week. Mr. Lynch's post emerged as a result of a social gathering that he had talking about the "confederation option" and other current issues with several of his Jordanian journalists friends. Marc made me laugh when he refused to divulge the identity of those journalists as if the "confederation issue" is a taboo and was not discussed by tons of Jordanian journalists in almost all daily and weekly Jordanian newspapers or as if those journalists are going to be hanged for meeting with him.

After talking about the "confederation issue", Mr. Lynch remembered suddenly that he needed to spice up the conversation so he started to ridicule the Jordanian political system pointing out that there is no clear line of succession in Jordan if (God forbids) something happens to the King. He reminded us all that the King abolished the position of the Crown Prince and finally suggested few names to run the country if a crisis hits, particularly mentioning the name of the current head of intelligence; a subtle indication that Jordan survives and thrives on people like Dahabi who rules by fear and intimidation.

After reading his post, I discovered why America is doomed these days in Iraq. It is people like Lynch and other bureaucrats in Washington DC who keep interpreting the events in our warm part of the world from their air-conditioned offices using their western mindset. Those bureaucrats might know how to read and write Arabic to impress their audience but do not have any clue about the Arabic mind and culture. The truth is that democracy in its westernized version might not be the best option for running a government in the Middle East. We are all tired and can not afford to keep trying ideas succeeded in the West. The only three democratized countries are Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. If this what democracy is all about then to hill with it.

It is stability that we are all after in the Middle East; that is why the Palestinians are dying to have a confederation with Jordan after fighting against it for decades. It is about having a central and unifying figure who has the legitimacy (Being a Hashemite; a descendant for the prophet's line for e.g.) who can bring the tribes that make up the fabric of the collectivistic community together. That is why Jordan is stable and strong but thanks for Mr. Lynch's concerns. Mr. Olmert and Netanyahu before him expressed theirs concerns about the future of Jordan. Their genuine empathy and concerns had an underlying motive and that to keep America to stay in Iraq which is quite understandable. What I do not understand is Mr. Lynch underlying motives?

And, oh by the way Mr. Lynch, There is a navigation system in Jordan to determine the line of succession. The late King Hussein talked about it ten years ago when he established a royal counsel with a purpose to meet and determine the best to run the country but thanks any way for the list of candidates that you've mentioned. I am not sure Jordan needs it.

On President Bush being called to testify in front of a Jordanian court

2007-07-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

The defending lawyer of two suspected Islamists accused of plotting to assassinate US President George W. Bush in Jordan last year asked both President George W.Bush and the American Ambassador to the Kingdom to testify in front of the court. Nidal Momani, Satam Zawahreh and Thrawat Mohamed from Zarqa were accused of having unauthorized weapons and plotting to assassinate the President in his last visit to the Kingdom few months ago.

President Bush who recently claimed executive privilege and refused to comply with a congress' subpoena is unlikely to come to Jordan to testify, still if you are a lawyer and want to make a name in the news these days then all of what you need is to act as idiot and associate your name with a president or a previous president. Now, this is not the first time that a Jordanian make an uproar in the news by suing or asking American presidents to stand in front of a Jordanian court. In the nineties, a funny Jordanian man whom name was "Baddy" wanted to sue President Clinton for naming his dog with a similar name. Buddy; Clintion's dog is spelled and pronounced a little bit differently but it was close enough for Mr. Baddy to attempt to sue the President. Baddy claimed that his life endured emotional damage and ridicule from the public because of his name association with Clinton's dog; Buddy. Associating with a dog is an insult in the Arabic culture. In that case and as I remembered, Baddy asked President Clinton to rename his dog differently and compensate him financially for his suffering. Unfortunately The story was resolved tragically and out of court when Buddy the dog was killed by a car accident. This current court case might end similarly but in a different way. This time the plotted assassins might be the ones who ended up dying. Let's wait and see. Obviously we are living in interesting times.

The last 48 hours "of Gaza" leading to the civil war

2007-06-18T05:45:00.000-07:00

"What events happened in the last 48 hours in Gaza that led to the Palestinian civil war and who to be blamed for it?" will remain a task for historians to be determined. Now, "History" is typically written by winners but this might not be the case this time. An independent reporter Charles Levinson has an interesting blog called "Conflict Blatter" and he reported the events in Gaza that led to the civil war step by step:

Here is a timeline of events in the 48 hours leading up to civil war as relayed to me by a close adviser to the Commander of the now dissolved Presidential Guards:

SATURDAY 10:30 a.m. - A family closely tied to Hamas’ armed wing the Ezzedine al Qassam Brigades sets up a checkpoint outside the Abu Jihad Al Wazir mosque on the beach road about two km south of Abbas’ compound in Gaza City. Within minutes they kidnap a Presidential Guard soldier whose brother is the bodyguard for senior Fatah official Abdel Hakim Awad.

11 a.m. - The joint faction committee is alerted regarding the crisis. The committee has representatives of all the Palestinian factions, all the security forces, and the Qassam Brigades, and was established for the very purpose of resolving disputes peacefully. Hamas assures the committee that they aren’t holding the kidnapped guardsman. It’s just a family dispute they say.
Shortly after 11 a.m. - Another presidential guardsman is kidnapped. This time the kidnapped soldier is a nephew of the General in charge of the Presidential Guards.
The family of the second kidnapped soldier, the Al Buhaysi family, immediately kidnaps a member of the Qassam brigades before any attempts at negotiation have begun.

Checkpoints spring up all over the central and northern Gaza Strip.
A series of tit-for-tat kidnappings continue as Fatah and Hamas members are picked off at enemy checkpoints.
Samih al Madhoun kidnaps a doctor and Hamas member who is attending his brother’s graduation from the Presidential Guards training academy. He kneecaps him and dumps him in street.

SATURDAY evening - Fatah grabs a high value Qassam member who confesses information regarding a past assassination in the Gaza Strip. (no more details on either the kidnapped Hamas member or the nature of his confession are provided).
Hamas is suddenly willing to negotiate and agrees to a prisoner exchange.
Prisoner exchange takes time as Fatah leadership tries to reach all the disparate Fatah factions that are holding prisoners. Hamas is unhappy.

SUNDAY 2 a.m. - Presidential Guard officer Moataz Abu Shanab is found in the streets having been kidnapped by Hamas and kneecapped.
Around noonish - Force 17 soldier Mohammad al Suwerky is kidnapped and thrown bound and blindfolded from the roof of the 18 story Al Ghifary tower.
Samih Al Madhoun and Force 17 each go on kidnapping spree.

By 9 p.m. on SUNDAY every security force soldier is armed, carrying no less than six extra ammo clips on his body and on high alert.

MONDAY morning reports start pouring in that Hamas is beginning to surround security bases in the Gaza Strip and civil war erupts Monday

A new aggressive strategy by Islamists in the Middle East

2007-06-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Embolden by Hamas'victory, Hezbollahi fighters detained a Lebanese police patrol yesterday in Southern Beirut and held them for "entering a Hezbollah security zone." The timing of the incident which was described as the first of its kind clearly was chosen to send a direct warning to the Lebanese Army to watch out and learn lessons from the fate of their colleagues in Gaza. Other analyst read that as a manifestation of an preemptive strike to warn the Lebanese Army from any future attempt to disarm Hezbollah militia.

Surely we are living in interesting times these days. These latest developments in the region represent the rising of a new phenomenon in the region. In the past, and apart from Algeria, where the Islamic (Jabat Al-Inkath) chose a bloody route to establish a radical Islamic rule, most Islamic parties in the region declared a peaceful commitment to transform societies gradually to adopt Islamic Sharia through dialogue and education. The recent shift to establish a "state within state" entities indicate that supporters of the peaceful approach within those parties are loosing ground to a radical element within those groups pushing more for aggressive approach. It also might indicate that the peaceful approach is more lengthy and inefficient.

Regardless of the various theories out there, the new approach which has been adopted so far by Islamists in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq (Mahdi Army) seem to be working faster in terms of spreading ideology and propaganda; this time by force. As Hamas spokesman Islam Shahwan triumphantly told Hamas Radio,``The era of justice and Islamic rule has arrived." For most moderates in the region like "me" who love to see the region one day endorsing "democracy" as a political system; my deepest fear is that Hamas, Hezbollah and Mahdi Army presented the essential vision of Islamists shorn of all caveat, compromise or apology. Let us all hope that I am wrong.

A two-state solution: Gaza and Palestine

2007-06-14T10:19:00.001-07:00

The coming news from Gaza is disturbing to say the least. Gaza is almost and for the first time under complete control of Hamas forces. As a senior Hamas leader stated: "Gaza has been re-liberated;" apparently this time from Fatah control. So what is the implication of Hamas' control of Gaza? Many.

Now the Palestinian unity government may be dissolved under a proposal being considered by Fatah leader and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A decree from Abbas will appoint an emergency Fatah-led government that will run the territories till a new election will be arranged in the future. This of course will affect Hamas leadership who has been enjoying unprecedented protection from Israel retaliation because of their diplomatic status. Additionally, this will prevent the money that Hamas led-government receives from some Arab nations such as Qatar and others to reach to the hand of Hamas which has been obviously used to boost its military and power and presence.

On the other hand, Israel has expressed concern about the possibility that Gaza could be solely controlled by Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday if Hamas gains control of Gaza it would have "regional implications" and he called for an international force to patrol the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent Hamas radicals from importing new and more powerful weapons into Gaza. Hamas spokesman in Beirut immediately rejected such an idea and declared that any international force will be considered as a new occupation for the liberated Islamic "Gaza"

The military rise of Hamas is also bad news for moderate Arab states such as Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia and another indication of the rise in the influence of Iran in the region. All of these countries have an Islamic radical element within their borders that might be inspired by the victory of Hamas. For Jordan, the last development indefinitely delays any kind of conversation about a potential confederation between Jordan and Palestine; since as of today there are two states in Palestine(one in Gaza that has a green flag and another in the West Bank that raises the previous one (black-green and red) flag).

The expected scenario in the next hours will probably include the dissolution of the government, a revenge course that already started in the West Bank against Hamas' military and political presence and more cooperation between Fatah and Israel to finish Hamas politically and military. Saying that, previous attempts to eradicate Hamas in the past ended in failure and was counterproductive. The question is that whether this chapter of Hamas' reign will be the first or the last of their destiny?!The answer of this question is unknown at least for now, but surely we are living in interesting times.

The "Confederation for Peace" formula

2007-06-10T11:19:00.000-07:00

70 prominent Palestinian professors, business leaders, and members of the legislative councils were invited last month to attend a meeting at the port of Aqaba, Jordan. The meeting was initiated by Ex-prime minister Dr. Majali; the main man behind the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, to discuss the dead peace process in the region and the future political relationship between the upcoming Palestinian state and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The timing of this invitation was very interesting since it was almost 40 years ago that the West Bank and East Jerusalem, fell out of Jordanian hands into Israeli control in the course of the Six-Day War. Surprisingly the idea of a potential confederation between the West Bank and Jordan surfaced again when many members of the Palestinian delegation raised it with the King.

Call it “Karma” or whatever but the idea of the West Bank rejoining the Hashemite Kingdom to form some kind of confederation will reshape the geopolitics of the region to look almost exactly like the pre 1967 era:the West Bank under Jordanian control and the Gaza Strip under Egyptian stewardship. Moreover, it makes the words of the song “War what is it good for?” to be true and prophetic.

Interestingly, the idea of forming some kind of federation or confederation is gaining traction on both sides of the Jordan River. Even hotheaded Netanyahu who stalled the peace process for over three years when his Likud party gained power in the Mid nineties and who is currently the most popular politician in Israel is excited about it. “Some kind of federation or confederation between Jordan and the Palestinians would enhance peace prospects in the region,” Netanyahu said in an interview with the Financial Times last month.

So is the so called “federation/confederation” a viable and doable option? May be is the answer. Some Jordanians are concerned about the kingdom’s stability, which after generations of being flooded with Palestinian refugees is now hosting up to a million Iraqi refugees. Khalaf, a Jordanian blogger warned against any attempt to replace the Israeli tanks by Jordanian ones to enforce order in the Palestinian cities and suggested that this confederation to happen between the concerned parties:Israelis and Palestinians since they share the same land. Khalaf was referring to a one-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Moreover, many Jordanians point out that while Jordan has ancestral ties to the West Bank, a more distant and violent Gaza looks ungovernable. On the Palestinian side, and to add logistical skepticism to the idea, ones might wonder if Hamas who has a troublesome relationship with the Kingdom might be interested in such kind of an arrangement.

Till now the official Jordanian position is that no Jordanian-Palestinian confederation will be established before there is an independent Palestinian state. However and as everybody knows in the Middle East: nobody says what he means and nobody means what he says. When the king himself was asked about this old new/old idea, he clearly indicated that it is premature to talk about confederation at this point of time, however some people think that things might change if the US and EU gave up on the direct negotiation between the Israelis and the Palestinians and endorse this option.

Apart from the practicality of this idea, the main question remains for most Jordanians to be simple and made of two words: why now? The previous marriage between the two people ended up in a divorce when the latest King Hussein of Jordan decided to disengage from the unity with the West Bank in 1988 even though the Palestinians along with all Arab nations under PLO pressure wanted to break up with the Kingdom since 1974. So it is very interesting that the remarriage proposal to come from the Palestinian side this time.

For me, it seems that Palestinians’ sudden interest in the confederation option is related to the economic and political benefits that they may gain by joining the Kingdom. The question is: what happens if those benefits do not last. What happens if the international community fails as usual to deliver the expected aid to help this new confederation? Are the newly remarried parties willing to stand by each other in sickness or health, for better or worse till God sets them apart. What do I know, I am neither a minister nor a marriage counselor but an old couple once told me that “getting married is not about choosing the right person, it is about being the right one.”

The torture factor

2007-05-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

Conservative commentator and breast cancer survivor Laura Ingraham caused a stir when she told 24's creator David Surnow that watching torture scenes on his hit show 24 was therapeutic relief from her chemotherapy treatments. In case of you don't know what I am talking about so far, Laura was referring to the Emmy award-winning Fox new work drama 24. The drama features counter-terrorsim agent Jack Bauror confronting terrorism plots typically orchestrated by Arabs or Eastern European terrorists in the span of 24 nails-biting hours. The question that ruminates in my little mind is: What kind of world are we living in these days? and why would Ms. Ingraham make such an inflammatory statement?

The sad reality is that and since the September 11th terrorist attack, the number of torture TV scenes increased to more than 100 a year, which indicates that our collective conscious as a society is increasingly becoming tolerant to this abomination. In my opinion, torture whether was glorified, rationalized or minimized has no place in a pluralistic democracy or in God's plan for human kind. The difference betweem me and Ms. Ingraham is that MS ingraham is more honest with herself and others. I along with the other 14 millions people who turn to Fox network every Monday to watch the show condemn state-torture in the day but end up as addicts watching it on our sitting room in the night. Who said that truth does not hurt?

In Daddy's Arms

2007-04-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

"in daddy's arms i am tall
& close to the sun & warm
in daddy's arms

in daddy's arms
i can see over the fence out back
i can touch the bottom leaves of the big magnolia tree
in Cousin Sukie's yard
in daddy's arms

in my daddy's arms the moon is close
closer at night time when I can almost touch it
when it grins back at me from the wide twinkling skies

in daddy's arms i am tall
taller than Benny & my friends Ade & George
taller than Uncle Billy
& best of all
i am eye-ball-even-steven with my big brother Jamal

in my daddy's arms
i am "Liam" strong & dark like him & laughing
happier than the circus clowns
with red painted grins
when daddy spins me round & round
& the whole world is crazy upside down
i am big and strong & proud like him
in daddy's arms
my daddy"

—folami abiade

Shams Vs. Bush

2007-03-25T05:11:00.001-07:00

Singing for political leaders is not a new phenomenon in the Arab World. In a matter of fact, 20% (my guess) of all produced songs typically glorify the wisdom of various Arabic heads of states. These songs are typically state-sponsored and broad-casted by the state controlled media. However it seems that we are entering a new era with Ahlan Ezayak (how are you doing in Arabic). The song is Egyptian but American-produced. A whole cast, of technicians and artists, was brought from France and other European countries to take part in the video-clip.

Shmas, a beautiful Arabic woman is debating weather she should accept President Bush's proposal for marriage, which is a symbolic figure about embracing the new American initiative to democratize the region. So as any typical Arab girl, she tries to check his values, reputation, credentials and deeds. The first problem is that she can not tell who (he really is) as his face features continue to change. His(American)ideals of liberty, democracy and human rights are checked out and discovered not to be so different from others(Arabic dictators)' marriage proposals. Bush, according to the song descended from one of two well-known serial killers (Raya and Skinna),two sisters who terrorized Egypt and the Arab World by killing thousands of innocent people while living in a building just behind the main police station.(while other dictators discended from the other one).
The song has a social message as well. In a boxing arena, Shams as an Arab woman faces Rice in a boxing match, and tells her that she better leaves. This specific scene ridicules the Western concept of feminism and women empowerment as it shows an Arabic woman with a boob job, hinting to what Arab women had got so far from this movement. The song is causing a media uproar, not only in the Arab world, but around the world and clearly presents another bad news for this American Administration and its effort to change its tarnished image in the region. The vedio clip ends with Shams dumbing Bush and marrying Naji Al-Ali, the immortal Palestinian Cartoonist; a solid advocate of the Palestinan refugees' right to return to Palestine. This end indirectly hint to Bush, who was the first U.S. President to tell Palestinians refugees to forget about ever returning to their ancestral homes.

Few years ago, people' eyes would shine when they hear words as "democracy and liberty", but nowadays those exact words ended up being the butt of the joke in the streets of the Arab World. "Do not piss of America, otherwise it will punish you with democracy," a famous bump-sticker says. This vedio-clip might be just a song, but for me it is more that that. It is another proof, that the Arab World is in a much worse place with the "March for Freedom" agenda. What bothers me the most is that great values such as democracy and liberty which many moderates in the Arab World have fought for being associated with foreign interference, capitalism and imperialism. The lesson of the day is: True democracy is served by INFORMED consent and INFORMED dissent.

Israel recalls its "naked" Ambassador

2007-03-12T13:41:00.001-07:00

Israel and El Salvador has no diplomatic crisis; however, the first decided yesterday to recall its ambassador. The decision to call the envoy ranks among the most bizarre reasons for recalling an ambassador ever. The Israeli envoy to El Salvador was discovered on the streets of the capital drunk and tied up — wearing nothing except for bondage gear, officials have said.

According to a police report, officers noted that the ambassador had his hands bound, his mouth gagged and appeared to be with accessories that suggested sado-masochistic acts. The Ambassador; however, was very smart enough to identify himself to the police as Israel's ambassador to the central American nation — a role which, following the incident, is no longer his :-)

This incident is not the first embarrassing one, where an Israeil ambassador was caught in the act. In 2000, Israel's ambassador to France died of cardiac arrest in a Paris hotel under circumstances the Foreign Ministry refused to publicize. Media reports said he was with a woman who was not his wife at the time. Also last year, Israel replaced its ambassador to Australia, Naftali Tamir, after he said Israel and Australia are “like sisters” because both are located in Asia and their peoples don't have the Asian characteristics of “yellow skin and slanted eyes.”

Apparently, "the wrong man for the job," is not only an Arabic phenomenon.

On electing a Christian in Jordan Islamic group (IAF)

2007-02-19T19:51:00.001-08:00

According to the UPI, Jordan's Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, elected the first Christian to its leadership. The IAF said on its Web site Monday that Aziz Masaadeh, 44,who joined the group five years ago has been chosen in the administrative board of its branch in Amman. Mr. Masaaded will run on the third circle Christian seat on behalf of the IAF.

Whether this move reflects a change in the IAF's primary mission to establish an Islamic state that follows a strict rule of Al shariah law to all citizen of Jordan, or a "PR" attempt to boost the organization's image as being one that is tolerant enough to accommodate non-Muslims, one can only speculate!

My take on the IAF, is that it has a non Jordanian Agenda. For the last two decades, the IAF almost always chose to be in the wrong side against Jordan's national interests. The list includes the crisis with Hamas, Iran, Zarqawi and others to say the least. I also despise the IAF's sets of priority as they care more for their Muslim or ideological non-Jordanian brothers who live thousand of miles away form them over their non-Muslims or secular Jordanian citizens who might live across the street from their homes and offices.

The problem with this move in my opinion can be summarized with the fact that Mr. Massadeh who I do not know much about does not understand the idea behind the quota system. In my opinion, the quota system which was established in the first place to give minority groups (women, ethnic or religious groups) a voice, opinion and representation in the parliament so that their rights can be protected from the majority. Now I am not sure if this minority who happens to be Christian and lives in that geographical area would appreciates the fact that their representative assimilated too far to join a group that would endanger their rights to worship and thrive. Call me biased but Freud was right when he said," the best prediction of the future is the past," and so far the IAF's past records toward minorities in general was not the brightest.

"Bombed-out Beirut" image wins

2007-02-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

This picture won the World Press Photo of the year Award. It shows a group of young Lebanese driving through a South Beirut neighbourhood devastated by Israeli bombings. The photo which was taken by US photographer Spencer Platt captures the magnititude of complexity of the Lebanese society.

"It has the complexity and contradiction of real life, amidst chaos. This photograph makes you look beyond the obvious," Jury chair said in a statement announcing the winners. The image contrasts a group of friends against a background of the wreckage of a collapsed building. Tellingly, one woman grimaces as she uses her mobile phone to send a text message to a friend, while another, wearing sunglasses, covers her nose with a handkerchief.

The Ministry of "healthy death"-Only in Iraq

2007-02-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

The Iraqi Health Ministry, which is controlled by "Al-Sadr group; an extreme Shiite militia" has changed its mission from healing the sick to killing them, and NO I am not talking about euthanasia or "mercy killing for the terminally ill patients." I am talking about killing the healthy ones.

This week Iraqi special forces, backed by U.S. troops, stormed the Health Ministry complex in downtown Baghdad, detaining Deputy Minister Hakim Zamili, a Sadr loyalist. This "little devil," who dresses as an Angel managed to transfer the Ministry of Health over the last year into a house of horrors where health officials disappear on their way to meetings, never to be heard from them again. According to media reports, Sunni Arabs have been abducted and killed while trying to retrieve the bodies of slain relatives, forcing many families to leave their loved ones behind and violate Islamic rules on burial. The deputy also is accused of using the ministry's ambulances to transport fighters and use the ministry budget to fund Almadi Army terror activities. Even U.S. officials who typically travel in cocoons of security abandoned visiting the Ministry citing that the threat level is too high.

Of course this move to detain this "little devil," I mean "official" sparked a strong reaction within some people in the Shiite community and some Arab media agencies who described this action as an unlawful kidnapping by the "Greatest Devil" and an attack on the "dignity of all Iraqis." Well... may be not all Iraqis!

Funny shaikh on "Ikbis"

2007-02-06T16:54:00.000-08:00

"Ikbis," which is for Arabs what "Youtube"is for the Western World features a hilarious vedio of a funny shaikh on a talk show that appeared on "Aljazeera."
Honestly, I can not remember the last time that I laughed so hard after watching a video, but this was absolutely funny. Somehow, I think we tend to internalize a fixated image of religious clerks as very serious and miserable folks who do not joke and take this life very seriously. However, clearly this shaikh proves that one can have it both ways; be religious and funny. Enjoy the vedio.

Jordan and the torture allegations

2007-02-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

Jordan was in the news last week. A U.N. human rights investigator stated that torture is both widespread and routine in Jordan, especially to extract confessions from terror suspects. The report also stated that security forces enjoy total impunity. The report which was written by Manfred Nowak, a United Nations special rapporteur for torture, called on the Jordanian government to investigate and prosecute all allegations of torture and ill-treatment and also make changes to domestic laws including the constitution.

Although, I reject the practice of any form of torture, the report was fishy to say the least. For example, Nowak's report demanded from the government of Jordan to desolate Al Jafr facility in the south. He called the latter "a punishment centre" which should be "closed without delay" due to extremely harsh conditions and routine torture practices. What Mr. Nowak did not know was that His Majesty the King actually ordered the closure of this facility in December last year and directed the authorities to transform it to a "rehabilitation center".

The report also failed to mention that Jordan was the only country in the region to provide an access to the UN to conduct its investigation. On that regard, Nowak's report was based on interviews with more than 40 detainees and senior officials in Jordan, and is to be examined by the U.N. Human Rights Council. The 47-member state forum opens its next four-week session in Geneva on March 12.

On the other hand, the government's response to the report was unprofessional and embarrassing to say the least. The Minister of foreign affairs denied the allegations immediately. Instead of promising an investigation or even studying the report, the government jumped to defend its policies and practices. The question of the day is if the Government will ever have a smart spokesman/woman to defend the country's interest and image.

Muqtada and the Mut'ah marraige

2007-01-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine passed to me a very interesting letter that was allegedly written by Muqtada Al-Sadr. The letter added puzzlement to my confusion about this very controversial figure. First, the young Mullah who rationally is supposed to back the US forces as they get rid of Saddam Hussein; the man who killed brutally his father and Aunt many years ago chose instead and immediately to fight the U.S. and Iraqi forces demanding an immediate withdraw of all US led coalition forces; the same forces who gave him a voice and brought him to power. However this is not what I want to write about today because I was puzzled and distressed by this letter(to your left) which was written from the young mullah and addressed to a woman about the "Mutah marriage".

For those who do not speak Arabic, The document showed two letters( click on it read it clearly). The first from a woman asking Al Muqtada to give his opinion about group sex party(Mutah marriage sttle) between women and male members of his Mahdi Army. The alleged letter from Al muqtada answered the woman request by allowing these parties as long as these parties are exclusive to his men. The letter also demands that one fourth of the financial compensation that these women will get from his men should be given back directly to the Al mahdi Army(basically to him) to help in buying weapons and other needed items for those men.

First, I am not sure how authentic is this letter. It has the official signature of Al-muqtada. It cites other Islamic scholars who oppose this practice, however I am going to discuss this new old matter in our world. First, Mut'ah is an Arabic word that means "enjoyment." Actually, it has a deep religious connotation and draws a line of demarcation between the Shi'ahs and the rest of the Muslim Ummah, According to Dr. Ahmad 'Abdullah Salamah: "The books of Hadith and Fiqh written by Shi'ah scholars define mut'ah as "a temporary marriage contracted for a fixed period in return for a compensation." The belief in the sanctity and virtues of mut'ah is an integral part of the Shi'ah faith." In contrast, the rest of the Muslim Ummah considers mut’ah as prostitution, however another type of marriage "Al misyar" is gaining popularity among Sunnis in countries such as Saudi Arabia.

So what do I think of these so called marriages? I believe that marriage is a legal and spiritual contract that was established by God himself. It should be built on commitment, intimacy(sexual and intellectual) and passion. Therefore these forms of so called marriages not really but a legal form of prostitution and form of abuse toward a vulnerable population in our part of the world. Clearly this abuse is allowed within our culture which is heavily dominated by men making the rules for everybody else is often one of the only options for older spinsters, divorcees and widows who often struggle to find husbands in a society where they are stigmatised.

Should the Government intervene with these practises if there was a consent of both parties, the blessing of the woman's guardian, the presence of witnesses and a state marriage official? I think they should. As a centrist, I typically believe that any government should generally stay away from the bed room and the board room, however I believe that it is the duty of the government to protect all of its citizens equally and prevent any form of abuse. In order to do so, I think that governments, social services and media agencies should join hands together to change the real roots of these practices which emerge from the cultural stigma of being a woman and single in the Arab World. How about billboards diplaying messages such as "I am a single woman and I am okay"?

Body obsession

2007-01-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

Soad Nasr, a famous Egyptian actor died today after she went into a long comma(one year) while undergoing a cosmetic plastic surgery for removing excess fats operation. This sad news comes as physique obsession becomes a new phenomena in the Arab World. Traditionally plumpness has been considered attractive and associated with fertility and caring. However things are changing rapidly, many thanks to the contagious Hollywood culture that passes it now as we speak to Cariowood. Cario is considered to be the Hollwyood of the Arab World.

Typically, Eating disorders are divided into two important syndromes: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

• Anorexia nervosa. For a definite diagnosis, all the following are required: body weight maintained at least 15% below the level expected, the weight loss is self-induced, there is body image distortion and widespread endocrine disorder.

• Bulimia nervosa. For a definite diagnosis, all the following are required: persistent preoccupation and craving for food, frequent attempts to counteract the fattening effects of food and a morbid fear of being fat.

Parents watch out for your daughters when you see any of these symptoms. Early intervention is essential for effective treatment.

Revenge or Justice?

2006-12-29T19:48:00.001-08:00

Whether you were pro the execution of Saddam Hussein or against it, his execution today will mark a historic moment in the history of Iraq and the Arab World. This is the first time ever in modern Arabic history, where an Arab President found guilty by a national court and executed by his own fellow men after standing a lengthy trial. The question whether the execution resembled the prevalence of justice or pure revenge is to be answered in history books. However I was saddened to hear the news. The truth is that I have never been a fan of Saddam. I always thought of him as a brutal ego-maniac dictator who percieved himself as a living God. A harsh God figure who did not hesitate to commit herrondus acts in the name of protecting his own glory, power and fame.

While Hussein was in power, his statue guarded the entrance to every village, his portrait watched over each government office and he peered down from at least one wall in every home. His picture was so widespread that a joke quietly circulating among his detractors in 1988 put the country's population at 34 million — 17 million people and 17 million portraits of Saddam.

But I just can not celebrate the death of a human soul. I believe in redemption and I thought Iraq would and will be better if Saddam could have stayed behind bars. His excution, I argue will only divide Iraq across a sectarian line. In few months and as memories of his crimes fade in many Iraqis' minds, his status will be elevated to the martyrdom status particularly by Sunnis who will miss his and their golden era.

His excution will only then fulfil his wish for his name to be inscribed alongside those of the Kings Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar, not only as the builder of modern Iraq but also as "Saddam the Martyr." This of course will only help to recruit more fanatics In Iraq and our region and keep the "conspiracy theory" believers in our part of the world well and strong.

Saddam was 69 when he was hanged early this morning. He did not live to see 2007.

Bush's Visit

2006-11-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

Conflicted media reports had circulated all day long from Amman. We do not know yet if the trilateral meeting will be held as scheduled between the King, Bush and Maliki. Media agencies stated that the meeting had been cancelled since the King met already with AL Maliki earlier today. However the timing of this announcement was accompanied with a new memo written by the National Security advisor;Stephen Hadley. The memo which had been leaked to the media this morning outlines steps the United States could take to strengthen al-Maliki, including sending more U.S. troops to boost security in Baghdad but also questions the Prime Minister's ability to lead in Iraq. In brief, America is losing confidence in him. He is weak home and overseas and with the current security situation in Iraq, all indications point out that his time in office will be very short.

Along with the visit, thousands of Jordanians are planing to protest Bush's visit to the kingdom. Bush's unpopularity in Jordan does not surprises anybody including him, but Jordanians need to understand that with two or potentially three civil wars erupting closely to its borders, the US financial and military support is essential for our national security. If "Jordan is first"; a slogan that we all believe in, then all these protests should be civil and peaceful. Jordan's image and reputation as a secure and hostpitable state are tested today and the government should protect this image with all means. May be Mahmoud Abbas was right after all when he said that bread comes before democracy.

Security first

2006-11-16T17:08:00.000-08:00

France and Spain presented a brand new Peace plan. The new initiative aims to replace a long list of failed agreements between Israel and the Palestinians that include: Madrid Peace conference, Oslo agreement, the road-map, the Arab league peace initiative and others which I can not remember now. The new initiative has five parts: an immediate cease-fire, a Palestinian unity government that can gain international recognition, an exchange of prisoners — including the Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked the war in Lebanon and fighting in Gaza this summer — and an international mission in Gaza to monitor the truce.

Unfortunately, the new ambitious plan did not mention the "S" word. Now do not go for away with your sick mind, I am talking about the word "security". Obviously without security you can not achieve any of the above mentioned goals. Take the situation in Iraq for example. Currently the Americans spend 1 million dollars/hour on rebuilding Iraq however Baghdad residents still suffer from electricity and water shortage for the fourth year in-a-row.

Particularly, the security situation in Palestine is heading from bad to worse, since Hamas ascended to power. October has seen a sharp rise in clashes between Hamas and Fatah-aligned fighters in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Things are not getting better any time soon as Hamas announced this week its plan to establish a new executive force in the West Bank.

Abbas, Israel and the US can do more to help the Palestinians. Abbas needs to stop being a lame-duck president. There has been a good indications that things might change and Abbas might step up to his responsibilities. He said recently that "Bread is more important than democracy" and that a decision needs to be made to establish "a loyal Palestinian government that will enjoy international recognition, will enable the embargo against our people to be lifted" and allow the creation of a Palestinian state.

Israel has a stake in Abbas' success. For the last two years, the Israeli government refused to listen to Jordan to allow Bader Forces; a professionally trained Palestinian forces that is based in Jordan to get into the occupied territories. Fortunately, the Israeli government is getting it finally. The Israeli government spokeswoman hinted last week the odds of allowing these forces to get into the territories to embolden Abbas' authority is high.

Back to Abbas. He has repeatedly displayed caution in confronting Hamas trying to avoid direct conflict. Apparently he believes in the saying, "If you ain't never pick up the sword, you ain't never have to worry about fallin' on it." How long can the Palestinians afford practising "avoidance" as a strategy, only time can tell.

"Manual-phobic"

2006-11-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipdia, the "garbage disposal" or garburator (Canadian English) is an electrically-powered device installed under a kitchen sink between the drain and the U-bend. It shreds food waste into very small pieces so that they can be passed through the plumbing without clogging.

Now as far as I remember, I do not think that we use these strange devices in Jordan or in the Arab World, however things might have been changed by now. Well, we have one at home and the stupid device suddenly stopped working yesterday. Apparently I should not have dumped some papers clips into it!! and that basically took almost all of the weekend.

On the sad portion of the news, I had to put my pride aside to sit down and read the device manual, which is an "anathema" for most men and more so to Easterners men in particular. I do not know how that happened but somehow most Eastern men got the idea on a subconscious level that you are "stupid" if you read a manual. The "I don't need a piece of paper telling me what to do, I'll figure it out myself" attitude is deeply embedded in our inner psyche which is perplexing to say the least.
On the bright side, the mission was accomplished with the help of God, the Wife, and some luck. However, I must admit that the process was difficult and was interrupted with scattered anger tantrums that were associated with some inappropriate language. Additionally, it led to several bends in the Kitchen's wall!! Now, fixing that will be another project, but for now I am celebrating my success with throwing few rotten oranges into the InSinkErator PR333.

The little boy and his sister are dead!

2006-11-11T05:10:00.000-08:00

Apparently the little boy is dead
In Beit Hanon, his house was made to a rubble by a missile
his stricken sister laid besides his tiny head

His foot dangles by a thread
Tanks, F16 and cluster bombs
That is to say the little boy and his sister are dead

His face , as if in sleep becalmed but red
his mother rocked him in her arms, the final bed
soon his little pure body will be
wrapped by green, black, white and red

"Israel is sorry," Olmert said
The World:"Israel has the right for itself to defend
Look, if you dare!See? The little boy and his sister are dead

The 1st Mulsim member of Congress

2006-11-08T07:38:00.000-08:00

It was not a gigantic Democratic tidal wave but it was big enough for the Dems to gain the House and possibly the Senate. With that all said, the most interesting news item of the day is Democrat Keith Ellison, who was elected as America's first Muslim member of Congress.

Ellison who is an African American did not run on a religious propaganda as one can expect but his victory is something that we all need to celebrate. According to the AP, Muslims Americans followed his camp ion closely and were thrilled to hear about his victory. Some Muslims leaders like Mahdi Bray compared an Ellison's victory to Edward Brooke's election in 1966 as the first black senator since the 1870s.

The truth is that Ellison victory could not have been achieved only by Muslims votes. Christians, Jews, Buddhists and others supported his campaign wholeheartedly because he and unlike other politicians focused on what people have in common that in difference. He even won the endorsement of Minneapolis Jewish newspaper and that is the beauty of the American political system. You can really win people's hearts if you manage to join them together: may be that a lesson that all politicians including those in our part of the world can learn from.

Tomorrow is near

2006-11-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how many people in our part of the World follow the mid term American election, but I can not wait for tomorrow. I had it today with all those negative ads. Particularly, I was disgusted early today by a flyer that was distributed by Dennis Hastert reelection campaign. The title of the flyers says " Mideast Jihad leaders urge Americans to vote Deomcrat". In brief, the flyer sited Aaron Klein at WorldNetdaily.org claiming that any potential withdrawal for the American troopfrom Iraq; a stand that many Democrats endorse will embolden jihadists to destroy Israel! How did Israel get into the midterm election, only God knows!?

On the lighter side, I could not help but to laugh at President Bush today. Apparently, he went to support a Republican candidate who is running for a governor of Florida. Well, the guy who I can not remember his name now did not show up for the rally. The incident reflects clearly how Bush is losing his popularity among the American people even within his own party. He really became a liability than an asset and everyone is trying hard not to be associated with him.

The last item of the day is about Saddam Hussein. Well, I am against the death penalty for any human being regardless of his alleged crimes, however I am very skeptical about the timing of the announcement. I believe that Republicans hoped that this news will help to sway voters who are getting clearly disillusioned with the war in Iraq and with Bush's state of denial. Till now, most polls show that the news of Saddam had no impact and that the GOP (Grand Old Party) Republican party will lose the House and possibly the Senate as well. Clearly and as you can tell, I am biased in favor of the Democrats' ideology (pro human rights, minorities, diplomacy, etc). But besides that, I really hope that they will win tomorrow as it is always good to have the political power divided between parties.

Amr Khaled's Evangelical roots!

2006-10-30T08:49:00.001-08:00

There is an interesting article about Amr Khaled, the super-cool Islamic preacher. For those of us who never heard of Amr Khaled before; Amr is claimed by many to be the most popular Islamic preacher in the Arab World and beyond. Many in the West refer to the young Mulsim reformer as "Billy Graham of Islam". The article claimed that the 37 years old preacher's style and content were influenced heavily by Evangelical preacher Dr. Sameh Mouris. Dr. Mouris(showed in the photo to the right) is the Senior Pastor at Qasr Al-Dobara Evangelical Church in Cairo. Apparently, Amr who attended the church for many years managed to adopt and integrate some Christian Evangelical elements into his new version of Islam; a version that strongly emphasizes the main message of "God is Love" and encourages the faithfuls to build a personal relationship with God.

The new emerged approach which invokes the Protestant work ethic and self-awareness considered by many within Islam as very controversial to say the least. For example, the well-known Muslim Brotherhood call Khaled's version of Islam as "air-conditioned Islam". Other critics pointed out that Khaled's approach is mainly tailored to meet the needs of the trendy young of Cairo or Alexandria through a religious discourse that talks of the values of self-realisation, a concept that was firstly introduced by Psychologist Maslow and considered by many as the basic bloc for liberal modernity.

Copying the style of the US televangelists, Khaled focused on connecting with the soft human part of his audience in contrast to other traditional Islamic preachers who leaned heavily on fiery sermons that leave their audience at an "angery" state of mind. In order to do so, Khaled preaches using soft Egyptian dialect that is easily understood by the average ordinary person in the street instead of using typical classic Arabic. This new trend is another clear break up with the classic Salafi style of preaching. Khalid modern style is also reflected in his way of dressing. The young televangelist prefers to wear suit and tie instead of a white galabiyya.

Khaled's impressive success did not go unnoticed by many scholars. According to Patrick Haenni and Husam Tammam, "The secret of his success was that he positioned himself outside the rivalry between political and official Islam, by offering a religious product compatible with the modern expectations of the urban middle classes: a worldly religion that talks about inner peace and spiritual well-being, and rejects religious observance in which rite is an end in itself. It refuses to see Allah as a God of retribution."

Regardless from where Khaled got his ideas, his style is working. Khalid's sermons are now protected by copyright. He also became the religious adviser to the Saudi firm Iqra and in demand on the boards of directors of Islamic banks. Interestingly and according to Patrick and Husam Tammam; "the LBC, the chain founded by Christian Lebanese militias, unhesitatingly sacrificed its religious loyalties to the god of profit: last Ramadan, it broadcast Khalid’s Islamic chat show, Wa Nalqa al-Ahibba (Meeting the Loved Ones), to its audiences in the Gulf states in order to maximise its advertising revenues."

The pragmatic version of Islam is also another form where Khaled distinguished himself from other traditional Islamic schools. To the contrast of Sufisim, Khaled embraced good living and wealth. He told his followers: "I want to be rich so that people will look at me and say ’You see, rich and religious’, and they’ll love God through my wealth. I want to have money and the best clothes to make people love God’s religion." In order to do so, Khaled preaches the importance of time management, defining goals in life and value ambition and success.

The question of the day is: whether Khaled is an ever-lasting reformer or a media product phenomenon that is doomed to fail? The answer to that is...only time can tell.

On wearing Hijab

2006-10-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

Jack Straw the former UK Foreign Secretary caused controversy last month when he revealed that he had asked Muslim women to remove their veils at his constituency meetings. This week, Tony Blair stepped into the new-old debate about hijab stating that women wearing hijabs put unnecessary obstacle in front of building a healthy community. Britain which has a large Muslim community is not the first European country that feels unease about this traditional practise. France for example took an an extreme measure few years ago by prohiting wearing any religious symbols at schools. The genius French believed with the old arabic saying: "if injustice applies on everybody, then it becomes just". The French of course are not the first to prohibit wearing hijab. Ironically Turkey and Tunisia, both Islamic nations have law prohibits the wearing of hijab in government buildings, schools, and universities. On the other hand, in Saudi Arabia and Iran women must wear the national version of Islamic dress or face punishment by religious police.

The question of the day is whether wearing hijab is a civil right issue? And if women wearing hijab should be exempt from general laws or rules for religious reasons?

Honestly I believe that there should not be any general rules installed by the government to create problems for religious behaviors and that is applicable on forcing women to uncover. On the other hand, Muslim women should not under no absolute obligation to wear head scarves. I am not an Islamic scholar, I am not even a Muslim but what I read in the Koran and other literature only indicate that women are supposed to dress modestly, which some interpret as requiring head coverings but others interpret as a modest dressing. I think most moderate and educated scholars will present the position that this is a matter of personal religious conscience, not general religious obligation.

Saying that, I also believe that there should be no legitimate reason to exempt people from general rules or laws for religious reasons if the exemption extends only to religious reasons. Few years ago, A Muslim women in Florida demanded authorities to take her driving licence photo wearing a hijab that showed only her eyes, which of course does not make any logical sense. Since any one can use her driving licence and hide her/himself behind a headscarf.

I believe that any exemptions, if they are to exist at all, must be available generally to anyone who finds compliance to be a sincere violation of their conscience or religion obligation (which wearing Hijab is not) and make no potential harm to the community. What if a cult demands the authorities in Britain to allow its members to walk naked in public places? How would the Islamic community respond to that in a western nation? Wearing Hijab is not a part of a campaign by the West to attack Islam as many people in the Arab World think. It is a very complicated matter in nations that value religous freedom.

What Armenian genoncide?

2006-10-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

France has made it a crime punishable by a year in jail to deny the Armenian Holocaust. The French bill which could still be blocked by the senate was read in furious Turkey as a sign that France was now permanently opposed to Ankara’s bid to join the EU. If you've never heard of the genocide, do not be harsh on yourself. There is no mentioning to this tragedy in the history curriculum at our school system.

The bill refers to the Armenian genocide which took place between 1915-1917 inside the Ottoman Empire. The massacre happened as the Christian Armenian population, much like the Jewish population in Christian Germany in the 1930's, was tolerated but looked at with suspicious eyes by Islamic Turkey. Apparently, the Ottomans who were defeated by the Brits and French at the end of the first World War found an easy target in their quest for internal strength. The rest is history and 1-1.5 millions Armenians were brutally killed including women and children by the Turks in the eastern province of the Ottoman Empire known as Armenia. Many Armenians fled their country and moved to other surrounding countries, some of them ended up in Jordan and still living there till this day.

Unlike Germany which apologized for the Holocaust and reimbursed the Jewish victims and their families, Turkey and after almost 100 years of this tragedy continued to live in denial of the occurrence of this event. Last year, a Turkish novelist was persecuted for writing a fiction novel hinting indirectly to the occurrence of the event.

On the other hand, France has changed considerably since all those cars got burned last year by disfranchised Muslim teens. Apparently, the French love their cars over multiculturalism. They’ve started taking extreme measures such as deporting controversial imams

In my opinion, the latest development is another chapter folding in the clash of civilizations that even exists between the most westernized Islamic nation and Western Europe. Each party is still determined to change the other. At this point, it seems that Turkey needs Europe more than the other way around. Therefore, I have an advice to our Turkish friends who suffer from an identity crisis. My advice to Turkey is to stop acting childishly and take responsibility of this dark period of its history. Secondly, the Turkish Parliament can do something else as well such as passing a bill denouncing centuries of French colonization and its inhumane consequences that still impact adversely our planet today.

One more thing, I suggest that each party should stop trying to change the other and accept once and for all one of the most basic truth in this life. "You can't change the other, you can only change yourself."

Shame

2006-09-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

"Interesting" can only describe the State of Qatar's latest decision to break ranks and vote against the Jordanian candidate running for the post of the UN Secretary-General position. I say "interesting" because even though the council of the Arab League unanimously backed Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra'ad candidacy, tiny Qatar decided not only to break with the unanimous Arab position, but even campaigned for the South Korean candidate against Jordan. Once again, Arabs representatives meet in Cairo to discuss issues and spend hours and days coming up with decisions and at the end of the day, it is all but a sad joke. The Arab League with its unbinding decisions is nothing but a painful joke.

Personally I believe that Qatar has the right to do what ever is right for its interests, however I am irritated because ones can only see here a consistent pattern of a tiny state practising pure hypocrisy as a result of a paranoid ruling family that feels inferior and desperate to present their tiny emirate as an independent regional power. The Qatari representative in the Arab league, who I could not find his first name knowing that his last name must be Al-Thani, attended that silly meeting, nodded his empty head and gave a false impression that his tiny state which unfortunately holds a non-permanent seat in the security counsel, was going to endorse the Arab league's choice, only to stab Jordan in the back behind closed doors. What a shame?!

The intolerant Pope in the eyes of tolerant Arab and Muslim Scholars.

2006-09-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

Apart from the two churches in the West Bank that were hit by firebombs Saturday, protests in the Muslim World have been peaceful. All this come as a reaction to Pope Benedict XVI, who at Regensburg University invoked outpourings of loathing from Jakarta to Jeddah after quoting the 14th-century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus at a seminar that he was giving there.

For me, I believe that the new Pope should have stayed away from any remarks that might be explained or received differently by other religions. However I can not help but to be mesmerized by observing the beauty of the "doublethink" mentality that is not even remotely recognised by many Arab and Muslim scholars and leaders.

Take for example Tasnim Aslam, a spokeswoman for the Pakistani foreign ministry. She came out out with this little piece of doublethink beauty: “Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence." So while the Pope's remark was insensitive and intolerant, violence in return is excused. In Egypt, the “moderate” Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi (pro death penalty for homosexuals, female circumcision, suicide bombings against Jews and other similarly tolerant stuff) has insisted the Pope must apologise for his intolerant remark. In Turkey, the Turkish ruling party likened the pope to Hitler and Mussolini and accused him of reviving the mentality of the Crusades. However, the Turkish leaders who are yet to return to Christian denominations the land it has confiscated from them centuries ago, allow the Christian churches to open seminaries (which they are barred from doing at this time), and make it easier rules to build new churches did not mention any of their intolerant deficiencies

Again, I do not really think that the Pope was smart or sensitive enough to quote that story in his speech but when I look at the reaction in our part of the world, I can not help but to think of the words of Heinrich Heine, a German poet who once said:
"Be entirely tolerant or not at all. To stand at the crossroads requires more strength than you possess."

Jordan limits "Fatwas" abuse

2006-09-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

This week, the lower house approved a measure that would only allow a state-appointed council to issue fatwas, "Arabic for religious edicts", a move that clearly targeted radical Islamic groups in the kingdom from abusing religion to obtain political advantages and spread propaganda and extreme ideology. As expected, the new measure passed by a vote of acclamation. And yes there was a heated debate in the 110-seat Chamber of Deputies, where some Islamic hard-liners accused the government of bowing to Israeli and U.S. pressure.

The measure, approved by the lower house of Parliament on Wednesday, will expected to become a law since nobody expects the upper house"appointed by the King" to veto it and will be signed by the king soon. The move will be another hard blow to the Muslim Brotherhood and probably will escalate the current tension between them and the government. In the recent months, the house passed legislation that gives the government the authority to choose mosque preachers, enabling it to prevent Islamists from using the country's pulpits to spread extremist ideas. It also approved anti-terrorism legislation that imposes severe penalties for involvement in terror acts.

According to the AP, "The proposed legislation would restrict fatwas only to a state-appointed council," which basically means that there won't any kind of controversial fatwas demonizing Nagib Mahfouz, banning new movies or prohibiting men from being naked while having sex with their wives.

For me, the interesting part was not the ban itself but the extreme stand that the new legislation takes. For example, the legislation makes it illegal to anyone to criticize fatwas issued by a government-appointed council, whose members have yet to be named but will likely include top Muslim clerics and scholars. In another words, the new counsel will represent God on earth. Is it only me, or does this sound medieval?

The "Nasrallah" hit song

2006-09-10T02:37:00.000-07:00

At the height of the Israel-Hezbollah war, the Palestinian "Northern Band" wrote new lyrics, in praise of Nasrallah, for an old tune. The "Hawk of Lebanon" song tapped into Nasrallah's huge popularity among Palestinians and became an instant hit within the Palestinian society. The lyrics of the song goes like this: "I hail thee, O Hawk of Lebanon/ Welcome Nasrallah/ Here you come, one who has become victorious with the help of God/ Nasrallah, you brave man/ You have responded to our call for revenge/ as the Arab blood became hotter and hotter."

Today, the song is being played on Al-Manar station which is owned by Hizbullah, used as a ring tone for cell phones, passed around on e-mail and distributed on pirate CDs and tapes. Music stores in the West Bank have trouble keeping up with demand, in part because Israeli soldiers have confiscated some Nasrallah tapes and CDs at checkpoints.

According to CNN, "Lead singer and manager Alaa Abu al-Haija, 28, said he gives the audiences what they want to hear. "I see people turning toward Islam, so I have to sing to that," said Alaa, sitting in the living room of his family's two-story house in the northern West Bank village of Yamoun. The band which was unknown to most Palestinians enjoys the recent rise in popularity. However since most CDs and Audiotapes are pirated in the West Bank with no exisiting rules protecting owners' royalty, the band is not getting any financial gains from the sale in return.

The translated lyrics are online at The World Globat Hit and you can listen to the song Here.

To me, it seems that Palestinians who are getting increasingly hopeless and apathetic toward the current dead peace process or any future peace initiative, are looking for a new military hero to sing to. In 1991, Palestinians sang for Saddam after he managed to hit Tel Aviv with Scud missiles. Now and as Saddam is gone out of the map, his place is replaced with a new hero, Nasarallah of Lebanon.

Being Tagged!

2006-09-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Khalaf last week to answer a personal survey. I tried my best to type the answers in Arabic but my typing skills is rusty to say the least. After spending 15 minutes trying to find ذ, I decided to quit and type the answers in English. So here we go

هل أنت راض عن المدونة شكلا و موضوعا
No I am not happy about the design of it, however I was inspired by Khalaf’s blog, which is very simple. He focused on the quality of his posts and I am walking on his footsteps.

هل تعلم أسرتك الصغيرة بأمر مدونتك؟
Unfortuantely, my wife knows about it. She complained all the time that I love her less than the blog which is of course not true. I like them both the same. Just Kidding.

هل تجد حرجا في أن تخبر صديقا عن مدونتك؟ هل تعتبره أمرا خاصا بك؟

I do not like to brag about it. Besides I am a very insecure person. What if they do not like it?!

هل تسببت المدونات بتغيير ايجابي لأفكارك؟ أعطي مثالا في حالة الإجابة بنعم

I am not sure. For me, blogging likes journaling to me. Besides the title of my blog is Intelectual Nonsense so I am not hoping for any positive change in me or those who read it. No expectations...no disappointment.

هل تكتفي بفتح صفحات من يعقبون بردود في مدونتك أم تسعى لاكتشاف المزيد

I try to do both when I can.

ماذا يعني لك عداد الزوار ؟ و هل تهتم بوضعه في مدونتك؟

I used to worry about it at a certain point. I think that I do not care now as much as I used before. Of course it is very nice to check the stat to see that at least 1 or 2 read my posts that day.

هل حاولت تخيل شكل أصدقائك المدونين؟

I can not go public with this information. I am a married man:-)

هل ترى فائدة حقيقية للتدوين؟
Yes, Blogging is another avenue to practise my dysfunctional obssessions so I think of it as a relief.

هل تشعر أن مجتمع التدوين مجتمع منفصل عن العالم المحيط بك أم متفاعل مع أحدا

Blogging is another world. I do not know any person personally who blogs on a continuous basis.

هل يزعجك وجود نقد بمدونتك أم تشعر أنه ظاهرة صحية؟

NO I love to be criticized. To be rejected by someone is better than to be ignored.

هل تخاف من بعض المدونات السياسية و تتحاشاها؟ هل صدمك اعتقال بعض المدونين

No, I did not hear about any Jordanian who has or had been arrested because of blogging.

هل فكرت في مصير مدونتك في حال وفاتك؟
I do not know if anyone will notice my absence, may be except my credit collectors.

من تشعر أنه يشبهك من المدونين؟

I like bloggers who tend to be intellectual and do not feel pressured to post just because they have to. My philosophy is that if you do have nothing to say then do not say anything.

تحب تسمع إيه؟
Amr Diab, Nancy Ajram when I have time

أكتب أسماء خمسة مدونين ليقوموا بهذا الاستقصاء بعدك
Natasha, Jameed, Rebecca, Lammoush:

Did the Arabs invent slavery?

2006-09-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Last week, I received a very interesting response from a reader insinuating that "Arabs introduced racial slavery to Europeans, who spread the practice to America." To prove his point, the anonymous reader pointed out that even today (2006), Arabs still call people of African descent "Abd, Abid, Abeed" = Slave." He went on and finished his email with a racial remark wondering what anyone can expect from such a people?

So did the Arabs introduce the slavery practise to our World as we know it? It is true that the Arab Slave Trade began in the 7th century AD as Arabs and other Asians poured into Northern and Eastern Africa coasts converting the African societies they came upon. Saying all that, slavery can be traced to the earliest records, such as the Code of Hammurabi, which refers to slavery as an already established institution. Additionally, slavery was part of the economic system of the Roman Emperor at Jesus time. It was estimated that one third of the Roman Emperor were slaves. Those slaves came from different races and ethnicity. Slavery was some how equivalent to the bankruptcy system of our time, so that someone becomes a slave when he/she loses the ability to pay for his/her debt.

But how did Arabs get involve with this trade? It seems that Arabs/Muslims first had a very good relationship with their Black brothers. As Islam spreads, there were many Black important historical figures such as Bilal, who is regarded as a "third of the faith." Also, Dhu'l-Nun al-Misri, born in Upper Egypt near Sudan, is regarded as the founder of Sufism. Today Sufism's greatest stronghold is in Southern Egypt and Sudan. However things started to change later on as evident with this poet which was published late 600 AD "The children of a stinking Nubian black---God put no light in their complexion!" .

So did the Arabs practise slavery? Yes they did. Did they invent it? No and any tendency to suggest and insinuate that Arabs passed into the Europeans is ridiculous.

Bouncing billies in the Jordanian Parliament

2006-08-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

The Lower house of the Jordanian Parliament suspended operations yesterday briefly after a debate over "money laundry" legislation broke down into a bitter argument that could have been escalated to a fist fight between deputies Abdul Karim Dughmi (Mafraq) and Abdul Hafiz Breizat (Madaba, Second District), who disagreed over whether the anti-money laundering bill should be referred to the Financial Committee or the Legal Committee for review. Al-Dugmi backed by Rwabda suggested referring the money laundry act to the Environment Committee. Al-Dugmi joked that since money launderers typically contaminate the Environment then it was very natural to refer the act to the Environment committee. Any how the joke was not received well by Breizat.

According to the Jordan Times, "the two elected officials exchanged insults before Breizat hurled a bottle of water at Dughmi, ignoring repeated calls for composure from Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali. The tussle escalated as both deputies attempted to hit each other, but were stopped by colleagues."

Personally and "I am not joking here" since that I am afraid that my joke might not be received well by others, I wonder if physical fitness should become a requirement for all those Jordanians who consider running for the upcoming Parliamentary election. If a deputy wants to prove his/her point, then he/she must show muscles not a bouncing billy. It is really embarrassing to look at the photos of the fight. Finally, there was one positive outcome of the fight as indicated by the sudden increase of PMs' attendance from an average 56 to 75 deputies. This is interesting also becuasue it shows the "human" side of those elected officials. People live and thrive on testosterone. Way to go.

When poweful men cry

2006-08-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

Powerful men do not cry. He was a manly man, and crying and other emotions were not his forte. He was taught to hide his feelings if he had them, and so he had no desire to share them. Today. he is a man who has fears and doubts. Fathering a nation under attack is a big burden. He has fears of the coming unknown. The future, destiny and wellness of his beloved country fall heavily on his little shoulders. How can a destiny of a nation lie solely and heavily on a one person. How can he play the balancing dance between an external enemy that waits to take advantage of his tiny country while keeping his country's internal political front intact? He does not know, so he decides to cry.

He cried in front of the cameras twice today. For a second, his jaw clenched. His stomach tightened, his heart sped up as his distinguished guests started to clap, his palms grew moist with sweat so he cried.

Powerful men do not cry, Daddies do.

On Condoleeza Rice being pregnant with a monkey

2006-08-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Condoleezza Rice had described the plight of Lebanon as a part of the "birth pangs of a new Middle East" and said that Israel should ignore calls for a ceasefire. Now a cartoon in the Palestinian Authority (PA) controlled Al-Quds depicted Rice pregnant with a monkey. A caption read, "Rice speaks about birth of new Middle East." In a previous article by Al Hayat Al Jadida, Rice is described three times as the "black woman," and her father, who was an ordained Presbyterian minister, was called the "black clergyman [who filled Rice's head with Bible stories]." The article warned, "Beware of this 'black spinster,' we don't want to say 'the black widow' out of respect for her femininity and her intelligence."

Personally I was appalled by the cartoon. I strongly disagree with Rice's perspective on the situation in the Middle East. However, there was no point of discriminating against Rice only because of the color of her skin. That is wrong, evil and pure racism. Sadly we still have a long way to go to learn how to disagree with someone without dehumanizing them.

Qatar's hypocricy

2006-08-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Qatar's Foreign Minister accused some Arab states of supporting the Israeli offensive on Lebanon to dismantle Hizbullah. The frank Minister refused to call these countries by name, however every body knows that he was shooting at the governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. What provoked the Qatari minister to do so is unknown. However, one might guess that Qatar which very much like to play a bigger political role than its tiny size, was disappointed for not being invited to Rome's conference even though that it currently holds a seat in the Security Counsel.

The truth is that I was not surprised with the Minister's statement, however I must admit that I was a little surprised with the new Qatari's approach. Typically, the Qataris use "Aljazeera Channel" to attack and accuse other countries in the region of unloyalty to the Arab cause. This time things were different. His Highness approach was a direct and I believe that he deserved a credit for his frankness and honesty. The irony of the matter is that His Highness did not explain to us his government's position to allow the US government to use Al Udeid air base which is located in Qatar, to supply Israel with "bunker busters," which aim to end the plight and existence of Hizbullah!

Personally, I believe that Qatar has the right to decide what is best to protect its interests, however my grandmother has a sincere advice to his Highness: "if your house is built out of glass, do not be the first to throw a stone to your neighbour's house."

Qana makes Ameirca irrelevant in the Middle East

2006-07-30T02:32:00.000-07:00

To understand why America is not invested in stopping the fighting between Israel and Lebanon, one needs to understand the political philosophy of neoconservativism. The neoconservatives who had been in power for the last six years in Washington DC survive and thrive on crisis moments like the one we currently have in the Middle East. These moments provide a pretext intervention for a wishful and everlasting impact on the ground that promote and sustain a long-term American interest. Remember Iraq! "If we changed the political climate, circumstances, economy system then democracy will thrive in any part of the world", the neoconservatives argue. So when Hezbollah captured the two Israeli soldiers, the neoconservatives in Washington seized the moment as an opportunity to get rid of Hezbollah once and for all and create a new Middle East, where Israel will be safe, and Syria and Iran will be more isloated than ever. Even when it comes to Lebanon, the unfortunate Foad Siniora, the Prime Minister of Lebanon was welcomed a year ago as a hero by the neoconservatives for standing up against the Syrians. However things have changed in DC since then and Siniora himself had changed quite a bit today.

Fouad Siniora, the soft speaking gentleman politely said last week that President Bush is sincerely involved in ending the conflict. The Prime Minister which could not afford last week to lose the Americans has had today. After an Israeli raid that left over sixty dead people mainly children and women in Qana, the PM asked impolitely from Condi Rice to put off her visit to Lebanon. "There is no place on this sad morning for any discussion other than an immediate and unconditional ceasefire as well as an international investigation into the Israeli massacres in Lebanon now," the Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told a news conference in Beirut.
Seniora was not the only Arab Leader who seems to be losing patience with the Americans. In Jordan, King Abdullah called the airstrike an “ugly crime” and urged an immediate cease-fire. Egypt and Saudi Arabia both blamed Hezbollah of starting the crisis are expected to change their allegiance as well after this crime.

Seinora did rightly so when he turned the table on those neoconservatives in DC. The neoconservatives in American wanted to isolate Hezbollah, Iran and Syrian. Today and "with too little, too late" approach that aims only to buy time for Israel to wipe Lebanon from the map, America managed to isolate only itself.

Mr. Seniora... we salute you for making us feel proud today.

Al-Manar TV station

2006-07-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

So far there is no direct winner of the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. Only Al-Manar TV station, which survived several air strikes by the Israeli and managed to get back on air almost immediately seemed to score points with the Arab audience to become a must see channel in the Arab World.
Al=Manar which is owned and operated by Hezbollah, was established just after the Israeli pullout from Lebanon six years ago. One member of Hezbollah then said, "in this way, our jihad will continue." Typically, the channel carries an odd mix of children's programming, anti-Israel game shows, and militant propaganda. Interestingly, the controversy of this channel crosses the Arab World borders. Last year, Al-Manar was banned in France, and declared a terrorist outfit by the United States.

The question is whether Al-Manar offers a factual news or pure propaganda? And the answer for that is both. On the factual side, the station gained credibility by managing to survive all Israel attempts to shut it down and by reporting before any other news agency the story of the Israeli war ship that was hit by Hezbollah. Additionally, the channel was the first source to counter the Israeli's claim that Nasrallah might have been killed in an air strike, which shows clearly the strategic value of this news outlet to Hezbollah's survival.

Today, Nasarellah went on Al-Manar stating that he is planing to take the war deeper into Israel and beyond Haifa. Few months ago, Nasrallah proved every body else wrong and managed to fulfil his promise to capture Israeli soldiers. At that time, many people laughed at his words. Today, Arabs and most Israelis seem to take his word to the market. If Nasrallah manged to keep his word this time, then the war will enter a new stage. It might truly spin out of control to burn other political players in the region such as Syria and Iran. If that happens then we can all pray to God to have mercy on us all.

Only the Saudis can stop the Israeli's violence

2006-07-16T21:24:00.001-07:00

Correction: the oil embargo happened in the year 1973 and not in 1967. Thanks for Khalaf and Zaid for noticing that and telling me about the mistake.

Amr Mousa, the secretary of the Arab League mentioned the possibility of using the "oil weapon" to pressure Israel to stop its aggression against the Lebanese State. Mousa was referring to the year 1967 when five oil-producing Arab countries used what they called the "oil weapon" and cut off supplies to the United States and its European allies, after Israel attacked its Arab neighbors in the Six-Day War.

This is how this weapon operates. The Arabs can use the oil weapon, by trimming exports to jack up oil prices and holding the world economy hostage. This of course will bring influence, concessions and, if handled well, it might cost the USA and other industrial countries tens of billions of dollars without any direct military conflict.

The question of the day is whether the Arabs, particularly the Saudis are willing to go that far to help their Lebanese brothers. At this point, the Saudis made it clear that they are blaming Hezbollah for the latest escalation of violence in the Middle East. This stand which surprised many, makes it unlikely for the Saudis to use this weapon to convince the Americans to pressure Israel to halts its aggression on Lebanon. However, if they decide to do so then that only will attract the attention of Mr. Bush and his administration to the misery of the Lebansese people.

Bush in the middle

2006-07-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Bush and Rice, who were jubilant about the Cedar revolution last year, and once rolled out the red carpet to the Lebanese PM Seniora in the White House, turned a cold shoulder today to his cry for them to pressure Israel to halt its attack on Lebanon. Instead of calling on Israel to stop, Mr. Bush expressed his concern for Lebanon's "fragile democracy," which basically means nothing. The problem is not that Mr Bush does not know the solution for the crisis, the problem here is that he does not understand the problem. After 6 disastrous years of the life of his administration, Bush and his neoconservative buddies in DC got it wrong. It is Jerusalem and not Baghdad that holds the key to stability and democracy in the Middle East.

However, I believe that there is another reason for Mr Bush's indifference. US influence and standing in the region is at historic low point, partly because of Iraq. The Iraq war brought Shi'ites to power in Baghdad who are deeply allied with Iran, increasing the influence of the Iranian regime across the region. Now, Israeli officials say that Iran is striking at Israel through Hezbollah, which it has long supported with funding and weapons. So basically Israel is paying the price of Mr. Bush's miscalculated adventure in Iraq.

Welcome to the Middle East; a land of mystery.

Zidane's head-butt inspires a hilarious summer song

2006-07-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

Coup de Boule, the French translation for head-butt, is a song that was written last Tuesday and just went incredibly fast in France. The song was written after France's defeat by the three associates of Plage Records, a small label specialising in advertising music. You can hear the song here.
The chorus goes like this "Zidane, il a tape" ("Zidane, the hit man"). The song is an immediate hit worldwide, particularly in France where many considered it as a cure to their post-defeat disappointment. I tell you, it just addictive. I have been listening to it for the last two days :-)

In another expected development, Zidane spoke finally to the French cable TV and apologized to all children who watched his violent act on TV screens. However, he stated clearly that he did not regret hitting Matarzi. He added that if he regretted that then Matarazi was right! So the expected apology was really a half one. He refused to repeat Matarazi' hurtful words, but stated that he cussed his mom and sister.

Zidane could be stripped of the Golden Ball Award

2006-07-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

CNN reported today that FIFA is thinking of stripping Zidane of his Golden Ball award. The award is given by an international commission of journalists and not by FIFA. However, Joseph Blatter stated that," FIFA's executive committee has the right, and the duty, to intervene when faced with behavior contrary to the ethic of the sport."
Now I can understand that Blatter has to comment on the event, but clearly he is putting here his nose where he should not. The Golden Ball is an award that supposed to be granted to the player that showed the best performance by an independent committee, and any attempt by FIFA to intervene in this independent process is doomed to fail and take any meaning of the Award itself.

Zidane the terrorist

2006-07-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

Dirty Materazzi

The saying that "winners write the history" seems to be inapplicable on Italy's triumphant victory of the World Cup. Analysis of Zidane's behavior dominated the news today. While the BBC speculated that Materazzi cussed Zidane's mother, the anti-racism group SOS Racism issued a statment on Monday saying that Marco Materazzi(who is typically called dirty Materazzi for his aggressive playing) called Zinedine Zidane a ‘dirty terrorist'. On the other hand and according to Brazilian TV Rede Globo, a lip-reader claimed that Materazzi twice called Zidane's sister a prostitute. By the way, Zidane speaks Italian since he lived there for many years playing for Juventus. Jokes joined rumours to explain the bizarre behavior as blogger Samir Kurdi had another interesting theory that you might want to watch.

The question remains if Zidane's behavior will be excused once we all know the details of real story. Probably not, however it might be understood. Every one seems though to agree that he made a mistake. Even my friend Providence, "who worships Zidane" believes that Zidane made a big mistake by punching Materazzi on the chest instead on the face. For me, as my profile's title says, "I am human and nothing human is foreign for me." At the end of the day, we are all made of a bunch of nerves and vessels and capable of doing and saying awful things. However and till the Maestro decides to break his voulntary silence, we can all continue to speculate. But for now, Zidane seems to have the whole world on his hand.

Why did Zidane act this way?

2006-07-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

Update:
Zidane, was named today by football's governing body as the outstanding player of the tournament, which seems that he still has many fans in the professional and local football level arround the world.

Why did Zidane act this way?

Zidane did not speak with reporters after the game tonight. Jordanfirst drew my attention to this vedio on youtube where Materazzi seemed to be holding Zidane's nipples. One might wonder if Zidane was justified in retaliating for the nipple tweak, a move which has its place in the bedroom but one which I'm yet to experience of the football field. With all of that said tonight, it's really hard to imagine there was anything that Materazzi could have said or done that would justify Zidane's action.

A sad ending for a legend.

2006-07-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

In 1998, Zinedine Zidane scored twice with his head to seize the hearts of a nation and France's first World Cup. At the end of the championship, the leader of France's right-wing National Front party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, issued a statement declaring that day as a dark one in France history; that an immigrant kid led La France to its glory.
Well he was wrong then. Today, however was a sad day for the immigrant grown up kid. The Maestro played, scored, entertained the World finally to lose control over his hot temper and to get himself and France out of the championship. To the disappointment of all of his worshipers, the Maestro ended his sport career on a sad note. Only 12 minitues separated him from adding his golden name besides other legends such as: Pele, Maradona and Beckenbauer. What a sad ending?!

A divided heart between Italy and Zidane

2006-07-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, the French Prime Minister labeled the newly immigrated disfranchised youth as the "scum of his nation". Today, he and the Republic of France might want to think again, since it is clear that those newly immigrant kid, who are led by the Arabian genius Zidane, are the ones who are bringing the glory to the Republic. All these thoughts were running in my little head as the camera was going through the faces of the French players, which ironically is made up of a diverse group of players (mainly immigrants). My heart is divided between my love for the elegant Italian style and my passion for the greatest of all players, Zizou. I only wish that he played on the blue team.

Why?

2006-07-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

Two quotes came to my mind when I saw this very sad story-telling photo. "It is not that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem," by Ghesterton. The other quote is by Abba Eban: "History teaches us that nations and men behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives."

At least the German beat those Girly men from Argentina!

2006-07-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

Style overcomes power and speed tonight as Italy upset Germany in the 119th minute to advance to the final World Cup. The elegant Italians proved again that you can be a metrosexaul and still win in soccer. If there was any good news for the host country, at least the German beat those girly men from Argentina.

Happy 4th of July everyone

2006-07-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

It is a big event here in the US. The 4th of July; marks the independence day from the English domination and control. Typically, the day is celebrated with parades in each town as a starter and ends with a magnificent firework finale. The bigger the town is, the more sophisticated and expensive its firework show.
Today, I took the Wife along with Laith and watched the Parade in our local town. I was surprised to see all those politicians walking in the Parade, including the Governor of Illinois, who by the way is currently running for a reelection this coming November, shaking hands with adults and kissing little babies; a classical diplomatic show to present his human side to undecided voters before the upcoming election. Unfortunately, we could not stay long as Laith was getting cranky.

Happy Independence America, hope to celebrate another long-waited Independence Day for Palestine sometime soon.

Who is winning the public relations battle in the Israeli-Palestinian current crisis?

2006-07-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

Jon Snow confronts Dep. Israeli Ambassador on Israeli terror

Ohoud drew my attention today to another kind of battle that is currently fought behind the scenes between the Israelis and the Palestinians; the public relation one. The video shows an incredible interview by Jon Snow from Channel 4 with the Dep. Israeli Ambassador regarding the latest crisis. When the diplomat was asked to identify the logical reason behind Israel's bombardment of the Electricity Plant in Gaza, the poor guy stated that it is a preventive measure to prevent Palestinian militants to smuggle into Israel:-) Which of course does not make any sense, since it is easier for them to smuggle in the darkness. His response was clearly noticed and pinpointed by Jon, an experienced news anchor.

I believe that the Israelis started to lose some of the international(except the US) public sympathy that they gained after Hamas ascended to power. At least until Hamas commits another stupid diplomatic act.

Why Hamas should release the Israeli kidnapped soldier?

2006-07-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

Since each single Israeli male or female serves for a period of two to three years of military obligatory service, freeing the Israeli soldier easily had become a cause for all Israeli to rally around. The Israeli public who is made of (fathers, mothers and brothers and sisters) personally related and identified with the kidnapped solider by realizing their own personal stake that this young solider could have been theirs, and therefore gave the hawkish voice within the Israeli government the green light to destroy Gaza in the process of finding and freeing the kidnapped soldier. The question is not for the Israelis to answer. Clearly the consecutive Israeli governments never had the record, the gut and the will to be kind to their Palestinian neighbours. So it is back to the Palestinians and particularly Hamas-led government to answer the golden question of the day. What is the strategic value of keeping this soldier? The official answer is freeing the Palestinian prisoners held in Israel's Jails, some of them have been there for years without trials in the democratic state of Israel. A sensitive and emotional cause for the Palestinian public, however when this cause offers an opportunity to Israel to raid Gaza, then the national priority should shift to keep safe what the Palestinians already have. Besides it is clear that Israelis won't give up to these demands and have unfortunately the power as an occupation force to jail thousands of other Palestinians if they wish. So may be it is in the best interest of the Palestinians to free the guy for the sake of the Palestinians children and women who will potentially die through this military conflict. It is not the perfect scenario and it would have been nice to see thousands of these Palestinian prisoners reunite with their own families, however the message have been received clearly by all Israelis. That there is no unilateral diplomatic or military solution to this conflict, that they are vulnerable (even their soldiers) and can not live in peace without recognizing the rights of the Palestinians to live independently.

Zidane, the old man

2006-07-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

History repeated itself today as France knocked out Brazil again. In 1998, Brazil fell to France in the World Cup Final thanks to a pair of goals by Zidane. In brief, the gigantic Brazil was pathatic. They could not pull themselves together till the last 5 minutes of the game which apparently was too late.
Again, Zidane was the man of the show. As a play-maker, he managed to guide his teammates to beat the defending champion. Who could have guessed that England and Brazil would leave the tournament today? As the saying goes, there is no big to the rounded ball. My apology for my previous post. There will be no other Ronaldo, only the one the C. Ronaldo.

The other Ronaldo

2006-07-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

With his Incredible control over the ball and his ability to step up to the pressure while keeping a consistent smile on his childish face, C. Ronaldo is the man of the day. One also needs to give a credit to Ricardo, the Goal keeper. He must be a PKs speacialist. He moved to the right direction in every Penalty kick which shows that he reads the striker's body movement (particulary the direction of the knees)early on to do so. I thought that was impressive.

Regarding the result, it is always true that the best prediction of the future is the past. Portugal never lost a game by PKs in the World Cup while England had always a horrible record when it comes to that. So again the future always seems to love to repeat itself. As my friend Gary puts it, it is clear the English are too good to win by PKs. Saying all that, it stinks that such awesome games end by PKs. Flipping a coin would have been less traumatic for those players and their fans. In closing and regardless of the result, Ronaldo is the prince of his nation today. Good luck for him next week against the other Ronaldo, the fat one!

Fury in Egypt over Ghana's Israeli flag waver

2006-06-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

The controversy over Painstil did not subisde even after an official from the Ghanaian Football Association issued an apology calling Painstil's behavior a naive one. The strongest reaction came from Egypt. Here what the (AFP) reported today:

The ignorant and stupid Paintsil, who spent 20 days in Egypt during the last African Nations Cup, plays for Hapoel," sports commentator Alaa Sadek wrote in Monday's edition of the daily Al-Akhbar, explaining to baffled Egyptian audiences Painstil's link to Israel "Egyptians supported the Ghanaian team all the way until the 82nd minute, and regretted it after the Israeli flag (waving)," screamed a bold red headline in the independent daily Al-Masry al-Yom.

"As soon as the referee blew his whistle to start the match, Egyptians were out enthusiastically, almost hysterically supporting Ghana, until defender John Paintsil took out the Israeli flag," read the paper's front page article. The live commentator on the Arab satellite channel broadcasting all World Cup matches in the region abruptly cut short his trademark "goooaaaaaaal" when Paintsil brought out the flag.

"What are you doing, man?" the bewildered commentator said.

The main question on Egyptian lips after the match was "why?".

Some papers described Paintsil as a "Mossad agent", others said "an Israeli had paid him to do it" but the most elaborate theory was offered by the top-selling state-owned daily Al-Ahram.

"The real reason," sports analyst Hassan el-Mestekawi wrote, stems from the fact that many Ghanaian players go through football training camps set up by an Israeli coach who "discovered the treasure of African talent, and abused the poverty of the continent's children" with the ultimate goal of selling them off to European clubs.

"The training program for these children starts every morning with a salute to the Israeli flag," Mestekawi claimed.

FIFA said they had taken note of the flag-waving and that although there was nothing in the rules to prevent it, they hoped not to see a repetition.

Egyptian football fans who were out supporting Ghana on Saturday's match were equally rattled when the player took out the Israeli flag and dubbed him "the Israghani" (Israeli-Ghanaian).

"We were totally supporting Ghana and we were so excited by how well they were doing," Ashraf al-Berri, who watched the match with a dozen friends told AFP.
"We were screaming with joy, but the whole room went quiet when Paintsil took out the flag. We didn't really know how to react," he said.

"As an Egyptian I am very sensitive when it comes to Israel," Osama Mohy, who watched the match at a friend's house, told AFP."If Mido scores, would he wave the england flag? and if he did everyone would hate him for it," he said refering to Egyptian striker Mido (Ahmed Hossam) who plays for England's Tottenham Hotspurs.

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Personally, I criticized what the guy had done but I think that the Egyptians are taking this, way too far. For me, the sad part about that article is that the "conspiracy theory" mentality is driven surprisingly by Journalists who are supposed to be intellectuals and not by ordinary uneducated people. I've always thought that it is the other way around. Besides, when are we going to be mature enough to be able to become angry without being prejudiced? Also make sure to read the Beirut Spring who had another interesting post about Arabs' reaction to this incident.

Some Ghanaians are not happy about Pentsil waiving the Israeli flag!

2006-06-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

I tried hard to take a hiatus from the world of politics to dive into a new exciting world, the World Cup. But as the saying goes, you can take the boy out of politics but you can not take the politics out of the boy. For a week now, I have been receiving overwhelming number of responses and hits regarding the Israeli flag controversy in the World Cup. The controversy started when Ghanaian soccer player John Pentsil celebrated the goals scored by his teammates against the Czech Republic at the World Cup on Saturday by waving the Israeli flag at the stadium in Cologne. The responses varied: Salam called it unethical, Abu-Shreek threatened to boycott the World Cup, Hamzeh wished that other players would raise the Palestinian flag, Hareega believed that Penstil must be a new immigrant to Israel, Imad declared that the Israeli flag resembled humanity, freedom and democracy and ridiculed other Arabic countries' flags which resembled dictatorship in his opinion. On the other hand, Mordchai, an Israeli fellow who served in the IDF wished that the Middle East would become like Europe in the near future; borderless for people to travel freely. Finally, the most interesting comment came from a Ghanian fellow:

Hi all. I'm from Ghana. I just wanted people to know that many people here are upset by what Painstil did. As you know, Ghana is neutral about Israel and Pentsil doesn't in any way represent what we stand for. It is noteworthy to note that Ghana also has a large Muslim population and hardly any Jews. Something to think about.

The truth is that sports and politics shouldn’t be intermingled. Although no two topics are more fervently discussed among men, they are both critically important to be seprated for the sake of the sport itself and the survival of nations.

Ronaldo: when your weight becomes a national debate!

2006-06-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

Remember the saying: Bad publicity is a good one and there is no such thing as bad publicity, well it might have worked with Paris Hilton but not with Ronaldo. Ronaldo, the Brazilian famous striker found himself in an endless controversy last week. The controversy started a week ago when Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva joined the Brazilian national debate over Ronaldo's weight by jokingly asking if the striker was fat during a video conference with the team. Apparently, his joke was not received well by the famous striker who stated that the President had been led astray by a bad publicity. To end the controversy, Ronaldo's official website said he had received a letter from the president stating that he did not intend any offence with the comment and he continued to be a fan of the player.

Ronaldo acknowledged the problem with his weight, however he said that the rumours no longer bother him and that he laughs them off, which really means that they were bothering him at one point. So is Ronaldo fat? The real question is not really Ronaldo's weight. This is a personal matter between the striker and his lovely wife. The underlying concern that initiate the whole national debate is whether his current weight has something to do with his lacklustre performance in the tournament. To add salt to the wounds, his performance brought a stream of jokes and funny comments all over the news. Columnist Juca Kfouri said "With him on the field, Brazil were playing with 10 men", while Andrew Downie wrote a column with the title "From hero to big fat zero."

With all of that said, ones might wonder how long the striker can fast from scoring before Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is forced to replace permanently with other younger and more talented strikers. Brazil is what are we talking about here and there is no such lack or shortage of genius players waiting patiently to write their golden names in the history book.

Togo persuaded not to boycott match

2006-06-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

It just gets better in the World Cup. Yesterday an idiot player carried the flag of another country as he was celebrating the victory of the other country that he plays for. Today another controversy. According to the ASSOCIATED PRESS, FIFA ensured Togo's team would not become the first to boycott a World Cup match Sunday in the latest twist in the African nation's pay dispute with its players. "There were rumors that they did not want to travel and play tomorrow," Herren said. "This prompted us to open all contact channels to them to appeal to them to think of their responsibility to football and themselves and their country.

The players threatened to leave their tournament on financial complaints. The players, most contracted to small European clubs, wanted $200,000 each to play in the tournament, plus $39,000 each per win and $20,000 per draw. That is a fortune in a coffee-and-yam-growing country where the average income is less than $400 per year.

Herren said if Togo had boycotted the match, it would have been disqualified from the World Cup and faced further sanctions from FIFA's disciplinary committee.

With all this ongoing drama, players and coach Otto Pfister alike insisted that morale was high and the team was determined to upset the Swiss. Ironically, Coach Pfister quit the team three days before the first match against South Korea, saying he could not work properly if players kept boycotting training. Pfister only rejoined his team hours before the opening match. Good thing that soccer players play only for the national pride and not for money!

Ghana's victory and the Israeli flag?

2006-06-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

What is up with Ghana player "John Benestil"? This player, and as Ghana scored the second goal to stun the Czech Republic waived the Israeli flag. Nobody knows where did he get the flag from and why did he carry an Israeli flag instead of a Ghanaian one? I am not sure, may be he has a different agenda, just as the IAF! Just kidding.

Magnificant preformance by the US soccer team

2006-06-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

It is true: players lose games, coaches win games, and referees ruin them. Magnificent performance by the US team especially after its poor showing against the Check Republic last week. Saying that, the game was primarily ruined by an idiotic referee. He showed off red cards like no mans business. Not that I am taking sides but, the 2nd red card was not needed for sure. A yellow card could have taken care of the tackle, besides it was late tackle after all.

My hope that this match will be his final one to refree in this World Cup. Interestingly, this same refree was eliminated from the previous World Cup for showing so many irregularities in his decisions. May be it is time for him to go home along with his national team players; back to Paraguay.

The "Syrian Bride"

2006-06-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a chance to watch the "Syrian Bride"; a movie that blew me away. I have heard about the movie before however I never had a chance to watch it. Mona, the Syrian bride of the title, is a Druze woman from the occupied Golan Heights is engaged to marry a Syrian television star whom she has never met. The story, however, pivots around Mona's family as her family struggles with losing her (as once she crosses the Syrian border, she can never come back to the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, many thanks to the democratic policies of the state of Israel) but also with their own complex relationships and problems.

The movie also tackles women rights in the Arab World. Mona's sister, Amal,is ambitious and independent, but her husband will not allow her to go to university. On the other hand, Mona's father was in jail for several years because of his opposition to the Israeli occupation, and will not be allowed by Israel to the border for Mona's wedding. Mona's brother, Hammad, married a Russian woman several years before and since has been estranged from the family. Another brother, Marwan whom I liked the most is a party guy and a sleazy entrepreneur with a gap in his teeth and a fondness for foreign women.

The family reunites at Mona's wedding. Their troubles are far from over, however, when they face bureaucratic difficulties with the passport officials on both sides.
In brief, a gorgeous film about real ordinary people who are trying hard to make the best of their lives even under the occupation. Three cheers to the Israeli's director "Eran Riklis", who exposes his country's inhumane treatment of the Druze and its brutal occupation that divided these families across the occupation border.

...Defending the IAF

2006-06-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

It is good to have Mr. Ziad Abu Ghanimeh as a fellow blogger on the Planet. There are not many people out there who are currently defending the IAF these days, at least not in public, however Mr. Abu Ghanimeh did. Before commenting on his posts, one should introduce Mr. Abu Ghanimeh to those of us who do not know the man. Mr. Ziad is a famous veteran Islamic writer who used to write for Alrai, Sheehan, and Al-Anbat. He also appeared on several famous talk shows on Al jazeera. Interestingly, Mr. Abu Ghanimeh used to be a member in the IAF before his membership was provoked after he wrote several coloums about the IAF in Alrai newspaper; coloums that were received then negatively by the IAF leadership.

Mr. Abu Ghanimeh, who believes that the current campaign against the IAF is orchestrated by the government has an interest take on the current conflict between the government and the IAF. On one hand, he called Al zarqawi as a martyr for fighting the Americans in Iraq. On the other hand he does not agree on some of his tactics and operations, particularly Amman hotels' terrorist attack that killed around 60 Jordanian citizen.

Regarding the IAF, Mr Abu Ghanimeh believes that the IAF should issue an apology, however he insists that the visit by the IAF members was a friendly visit that should not be interpreted far from that. Finally, Abu Ghanimeh called on the government to stop this aggressive campaign against the IAF as if the government started it, indicating the need to sustain Jordan's internal national unity against external enemies, without naming those enemies(probably the US and Israel).

Basically, Mr. Abu Ghanimeh wants the IAF to apologize, however, he is not sure why and what they should apologize for. As I was reading Abu Ghaniemeh's posts, I remembered an interesting quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton. Chesterton once said: A stiff apology is a second insult... The injured party does not want to be compensated because he has been wronged; he wants to be healed because he has been hurt.

Mr. Abu Ghanimeh, your posts do not make much sense, however, it is good to have you on the Planet.

Arresting the (IAF) MPs is a step in the wrong direction

2006-06-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I wrote that the ball is in the IAF's court. Facing growing resentment among average Jordanians, the IAF had to choose between two tough solutions: either risking to upset its faithful base that strives on any confrontation with the government by issuing an apology statement and disciplining its 4 members, or refusing to apologize and isolate itself further politically and socially from the general public. Today the IAF is out of the hook, many thanks to the government for arresting those idiotic MPs.

According to the constitution, no member of the legislative branch (lower and upper house) of the government can be arrested or put on trial without the lifting of parliamentary immunity. Legislators are granted parliamentary immunities, such as freedom of speech and, with some qualifications, freedom from arrest. They can be deprived of their membership in the assembly by the decision of an absolute majority of its members. In order to do, the government which should always abide by the constitution should have gone through the legal protocl, which is by the way possible and doable since the government has enough votes in the house to do so.

Why did the government choose to arrest those MPS instead of keeping the pressure on the IAF? I do not know. In brief, the IAF is out of the hook. Instead of issuing an apology to the government and the people of Jordan, the IAF will enjoy its "victim status" and might well ask for an apology and explanation from the government for abusing the constitutional rights of its Parliament members.

Update and correction: apparently and since the Parliament is not in session, the government did not need the requirement of the lift of the parliament immunity to arrest those MPs. Saying that, I am still convinced that arresting those idiotic MPs is a wrong political step. Additionally, I was right about the IAF. Today the IAF issued a statement in which it emphasized its "victim status" and described the arrest as a part of a governmental campaign targeting the Islamic movement.

Families of the victims of Amman's terrorist attack demand a public apology from the IAF

2006-06-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

The IAF members' controversial visit to Al-zarqawi's family continued to dominate the local news in Jordan, as families of the victims of the Nov, 9th terrorist attack issued a statment demanding a public apology from the Islamic Action Front (IAF). The families threatened to take all necessary legal and tribal actions to gain this apology. With this new development, the ball is clearly in the IAF's field. Will the IAF issue an apology?

There are two scenarios here. First: It will, if the moderate faction within the IAF, particularly the new moderate-sounding chairman who was elected this last February manages to convince the IAF's board of directors,(bunch of hardliners) that it is in the best interest of the group not to isolate itself further from the public and the government. However many believe the new chairman who was elected after Hamas' victory next door was simply a figurehead whose presence is intended to calm anxieties in the government and really has no power over the board of directors.

In that case the IAF will refuse to issue this apology and allow for the controversy ball to keep rolling. By doing so, the Islamists in Jordan hope to set the stage for their future major upcoming confrontation with the government over the election law. No one should forget that Jordanians are going to the polls in 2007 to choose a new parliament, and that the IAF wants to push through a reform that would fully legalize political parties -- and could dramatically increase the Islamist representation. By refusing to issue an apology the IAF might hope to galvanize their base of supporters and help to unite Islamists and other sympathizers to wrap around the party in the coming election. In doing so, the IAF hope to achieve it ultimate objective of establishing an Islamic government in Jordan similar to what their brothers Hamas achieved in Palestine.
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Update: According to Alghad newspaper, the 4 MPs who offered their condolences to Alzarqawi's family have been arrested today.

The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood and Zarqawi's death

2006-06-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

Fellow blogger Khalaf criticized yesterday a statement that was issued by Hamas mourning the death of Zarqawi. The statment anounuced Zarqawi to be a martyr of the (Muslim Arab) nation. Surprise...surprise, Alghad newspaper reported that 3 MPs from IAF, the political front of the Mulsim Brotherhood group visited Alzarqawi's family in Zarqa and offered their condolences to his family. Ali Abu Alsukar, Mohamed Abu Fares and Ali Al-Mashoukhi, all Jordanian Parliament members described their visit as a religious obligation to a Muslim fellow. However, Abu Fares went farther yesterday in his weekly Friday sermon when he called Al Zarqawi by Mujahid; someone who is active and fights for Islam. Abu-Fares who is becoming increasingly a controversial figure in Jordan made me laugh when he said that," We(Muslim Brotherhood) are not in a place to pass judgment onto other people categorizing who is a believer and who is not." Give me a break man, this what you do for living.

Apparently, the visit was not received well in the media or by some Jordanian families who lost beloved ones in Amman Hotel's terrorist attack; an attack to which Al-Zarqawil calimed responsibility and never apologized for.

This public visit clearly shows that the radical element within the IAF is bold and getting bolder, and not afraid to take side in public against the interests of their fellow citizens or their own country. If this radical element within the IAF wins, Jordan has so much to worry about.

Zarqawi's death: good news to Jordan and potential bad news to Iraq

2006-06-08T16:17:00.001-07:00

The death of Zarqawi have been greeted mainly with joy in Iraq, Jordan and the US. But what are the ramifications of his death on these countries? For me I like to be and stay in the best state of mind: causious optimism. Why cautious?

The removal of leaders can also have dangerous unexpected consequences. When U.S. officials thought that the capture of Saddam Hussein would deal a major blow to the Iraqi insurgency, they were dead wrong. His capture actually inflamed the insurgency since insurgents no longer were seen as fighting to restore a brutal dictatorship but rather to liberate Iraq from the United States.

The death of Zarqawi is bad news to the Iraqis. A new jihadist leader will surely succeed Al Zarqawi. Most probably, he will be an Iraqi, making him better able to unite together the causes of of jihadism and nationalism. And unlike Zarqawi, who also actively plotted attacks outside Iraq particularly into the Jordanian territories, a new leader may focus his struggle on targets within Iraq. All these scenarios might develop to potential nightmares for Iraqis longing to have a peaceful life. On the other hand, and even as someone might think that his death will disturb Al Qaida's operations in Iraq, one might argue that his impact might well be minimal. Unfortunately, the Iraqi insurgency proved itself to be highly decentralized. And so the loss of any individual leader might mean nothing to fanatic members ready to strike with or without their commander's knowledge or approval

For Jordanians, this news is good ones since Zarqawi, who is a psychopath had a neurotic fixation on targeting his original country and the regime. Zaraqawi will always be remembered in Jordan as the mastermind behinds the attack on the Jordanian Embassy, killing Jordanian nationals working in Iraq and finally the attack on Amman's hotels. Additionally, I also believe that the news of the Jordanian active involvement in the operation will make it harder for any American Congress whether ruled by Democrats or Republicans to cut or decrease economic or military aid to the kingdom:an aid that is badly needed right now. Blogger Khalaf talks about the emergence of a new role to Jordan in the building of the Iraqi political process, I doubt that this will ever happen.

God bless the Chinese

2006-06-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

Here it is finally installed. Ladies and Gentlemen, please meet our new fountain. Yesterday we bought this tiny fountain from Lowe's Store.

Today, I forced myself to read the owner's manual which by the way was not as bad as I thought. And guess what, I managed to put it together and install it.
Besides reading the manual, it was essential for us to take advantage of Laith who fell asleep with his baby toys on the swing.

Once upon the time, having a fountain was exclusive to the rich, nowadays anyone who can afford to pay $ 50, can have a fountain in his house. God bless the Chinese.

Hamas' insanity

2006-06-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

Finally, Hamas announced its own vision of peace and coexistence with Israel. The Palestinian new Prime Minister Mr. Hanieh eloquently stated last week that "Hamas is willing to engage in a long-term hodna with the Israelis as long as Israel agrees to return the West Bank and grant millions of Palestinians the right of return to their land." In order to do so, Hanieh believes that that there is no need to acknowledge the existence of the state of Israel. Additionally, he believes that there is no need to sit on the negotiation table to obtain these demands.

Of course. Mr Hanieh did not explain why would Israel which refused to accept those demands for half a century would suddenly accept them without getting anything in return. He also did not explain what would Hamas do if Israel refused to accept these demands? Basically, Mr Hanieh wants to return the Palestinian cause back to 1960s when Arabs believe that chanting fiery statements will wipe Israel out of the map.

The question of the day is whether the Palestinian people who have been suffering for the last 50 years will believe any further insane statements that won't take them anywhere any time soon. It is time to stop the insanity. There is an old saying that the definition of insanity is, "Doing the same thing over and over again expecting the outcome to change"

My struggle with the Lawn Mower

2006-05-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Growing up in the desert, we never had to mow the lawn. Frankly, there was no grass in Mafarq at that time, and I do not think there is any nowadays. Besides only few people had a big yard and none was willing to waste money and water on planting grass. For us, we lived in apartments as long as I remembered. So when I moved to live in the United States, mowing the grass has been a personal interesting expereince that embraces fun and struggle in the mean time.

On one hand, mowing the grass is a good opportunity to work out and lose some of those extra pounds on my growing belly. Many thanks to McDonald's and KFC. On the other hand, I hate it whenever I had a problem to fix this stupid appliance. The problem with the lawnmower started last year when I tipped the lawnmower upside down to clean it before winter, which is apparently a no no thing to do with lawn mores. Why did I do that?

As a typical Arab man I never liked to read the owner's manual. I do not know why Arabs do not read manuals. May be we feel inferior everytime we think that we need help from others. The Wife had always instructed me to do so but all of her attempts went in vain. So this week, I tipped the lawn mower again to check it out. Well now, I am stuck with a broken lawn mower and long embarrassing grass. I better go and talk to my neighbour and see if he can borrow me his. Wish me luck. For the wife, I have a good advice to you dear. May be, you should get me the Dummies book next Christmas,Mowing Your Lawn the Right Way

On Jordan's announcement of Al Qaeda's Leader's Arrest

2006-05-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

Security officials in Jordan finally identified the identity of the man who said to be a key aide to Iraq's most wanted militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Iraqi, Ziad Khalaf Raja al-Karbouly, was detained by Jordanian intelligence agents and special anti-terrorism forces, according to a government announcement on Jordanian TV. It said he worked as a customs clearing agent on Iraq's border with Jordan, where he handled stolen goods under direct orders from Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders.
So is capturing this terrorist worth it? And is this going to be a new Jordanian policy of bringing terrorists who were engaged in terrorist acts against Jordanian citizens to justice? I believe that answer is resounding yes to the policy and the cause.
Bringing terrorists to justice is not about them, it is about us. It is about those little fatherless kids who will miss their father, who was brutally killed by this criminal, every day for the rest of their lives. However, we should not be carried away with our natural desire for revenge. We could find these criminals and kill them. We could capture them and bring them to secret detention centers, where we beat them to death. And while those both serve the preventative purpose of ensuring that those particular people don't engage in further acts of terror, they are tactically part of a losing strategy.
This criminal should face a fair and just trial, be treated well, and pay for his evil acts according to our laws. The reason for this humane treatment is because we can not defeat terrorists by becoming like them.

Democracy in the Arab World and civil unrest.

2006-05-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

What do Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine have in common? There are the only three countries in the Arab World that have truly democratic and elected Governments, however there is another thing that share as well. All of the three mentioned countries are on the verge of a civil war. On an average day, 70 Iraqis are brutally killed in Iraq. In Palestine, the latest bout of Palestinian infighting, mainly over control of the security forces, has raised fears of civil war. And finally in Lebanon, the country has plunged deeper into a political crisis that has paralysed the Government and divided the country along sectarian lines.

May be we are not ready for democracy yet. The truth is that and in order for democracy to take root in the Arab World, a solid foundation should be established first. This solid foundation is made of an educated middle class in each country, generally open economies reliant on trade, growing prosperity, a lively press and some experience with free elections and pluralism, at least at a local level. At this point not a single one of those criteria exists, therefore, to force people into choosing a democratic political process and lifestyle is immature and unsustainable in my opinion. The good news of the day is that democracy is rising in the Arab World, the bad news is that it is not working... Not now.

World faiths call conversion basic religious right

2006-05-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

A conference grouping an array of world religions, including Christians, Jews and Muslims said on Wednesday everyone should have the right to convert to another faith. This topic flared up a month ago, when an Afghan man that converted to Christianity faced potential death penalty for choosing a religion different from Islam. I realize that conversion was discussed several times on the blogosphere, however it seems that it is finally getting the needed momentum worldwide. Last Monday, Pope Benedict called particularly the Muslim World to ease up its rigid legal restrictions regarding conversion. The Pope also called that the Christian minorities in those countries should enjoy reciprocity -- or the same rights Muslims generally have in Western countries

It is worthy to note that the 2006 list of the world's worst violators of religious freedom includes only Islamic and communist countries. The list include: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Vietnam, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In our part of the world, Saudi Arabia bans public expression of non-Muslim religions, and sometimes arrests Christians for worshipping privately. In Iran and some other Muslim countries, converts to other religions or to humanism -- like controversial Dutch Somali-born politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali -- are condemned as "apostates" and can be executed if they refuse to repent.

My personal opinion is that religion should stay a private matter between the creator and His creation. No government should have the power to interfere in this sacred relationship. If God does not force people to worship Him in a certain way or approach then we should not do that either.

The two golden rules of buying gifts

2006-05-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, was "Mother's day" in this part of the World. As a typical man, I struggled quite a bit to find a suitable gift to the "Wife" since she is a mother as well. Laith and Myself wrote a cute card and that was the easy part of the deal, however, buying a gift was a different story. We went shopping in several places. Finally, Laith who is not 2 years old yet, lost interest suddenly when he saw the balloons. I hate it when they decorate shopping malls with balloons. First, they serve no purpose and second baloons just make life more difficult for parents trying to keep children under their control.
Finally and after few hours of search, I remembered the golden rule of buying gifts according to men; the "Play it safe " rule so I decided to buy her jewelry. I heard on the radio last week, that gold is hot these days in the fashion world, and that most women are addicted to jewelry. Luckily, a lot of gold jewelry in the US are made of 14 karat which made purchasing the necklace soft on my wallet. To come to think of it, I do not even believe that there is such a thing as 14 karat in the Middle East. So God bless America for that.
Well, the necklace was beautiful according to the "Wife" and she liked it. Apparently I passed the test. However I was surprised to discover that there is another golden rule for buying gift which is embraced by women across the globe. The golden rule according to my wife is that the "woman who has gold, rules". Good thing that men and women are so different. If we are the same then one of us will be unnecessary.

On... women pleasing their men!

2006-05-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

Remember the movie "what women want", where a chauvinistic executive (Mel Gibson) gains the ability to hear what women are really thinking and wanting from men? So how about men, any one interested to know what they really want from their women? To answer this question, 500 hundreds men were asked to come up with a list of things that make them very pleased with their women.

The first item on the list was not sex as many might imagine. Only, 9% of men mentioned sex as the most pleasing act performed by their spouses. So what is no #1 item? Winning an argument, Bingo! 25% of men in the study indicated that they are pleased the most with their women when they let them win an argument. So it is " You are right"s and not " I love you"s that men like to hear. However, one might argue that this would be more common in an egalitarian marriage where man and woman have an equal status and power. In our part of the world, that might not be the case since most marriages are hierarchical in their nature and men usually have the final say. How about the women list? that is another post!

The new Human Rights Counsel!

2006-05-10T10:59:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the governments of Saudi Arabia, Cuba and China for wining seats on the new Human Rights Counsel. Apparently you do not need any qualifications to join this club. To say the least, the three countries have an indistinguished human rights' records and clearly human rights protection is not a cause that they really do care about. So why to join the Counsel? My guess is that it might become harder now for anyone to criticize an elected member of the of the Human Right Counsel on human rights charges. Besides, the new membership is a nice title to add to these countries' resume.

Last year, I lost faith on the whole idea of the Human Right Counsel. I still believe that it is a beatuiful idea but may be only on papers. Last year, the government of Sudan which practises systematic genocide against its own southern citizens in Darfur won a seat on the same Counsel. Immediately and after winning that seat, Sudan criticized the United States for mistreating prisoners in Abu-Ghareib and Guantaamo! You know, it is not a bad idea to look at yourself on the mirror every now and then.

There are two types of Human Rights; positive and negative ones. The positive ones are those rights that required some kind of resources in order to the government to provide it its citizens, such as providing an access to health. Typically, nobody criticizes governments for positive rights especially in poor countries unless the money was used for other unnecessary reasons. On the other hand, the negative rights are those which do not require any effort or money from the government's resources, such as the freedom of speech right. Well good luck, to these governments for winning these seats. I am sure that the World and the Human Rights counditions worldwide will be in good hands!

Banning the Da Vinci Code in Jordan is just primitive

2006-05-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

Jordan and Lebanon, each claimed to be the most democtic nations in the Middle East banned the Da Vinci Code book and its upcoming movie. According to the official Petra news agency, the Council Secretary General Mr. Hanna Nour said the movie, based on a best-selling novel by Dan Brown “has been previously banned from publication in Jordan and Lebanon because it directly harms Jesus.” He went further to explain that the book and its movie are direct insults on Christianity and Christians. Ladies and Gentlemen...Welcome to the Middle East, and yes we live in the year 2006.

Even though that I do not agree hardly with anything mentioned in the Da Vinci Code, I am not sure that church leaders should have asked the government to intervene in banning it. Personally, I do not think that any book or movie should be banned period, and Mr. Hanna should know better. Actually, banning books and movies only make them thrive in the black market and add validation to their claims. Besides, I found the ban to be offensive and a direct insult on my intelligence as a person. The ban sends a message that my judgment can be trusted, therefore, I should only listen to what others tell me to read.

Besides what the is big deal about the book and why everybody is afraid to tackle it? The well-written book by Dan Brown focus on Constantine, the first Christian emperor. Dan Brown claims that Constantine used his power and influence to silence other influential parties within the early church at Nicene. He also claimed that those other versions of Jesus'story regarding his birth, life, death and resurrection from among the death were silenced to promote the Christianity version, the way we know it today. In my humble opinion, Dan Brown claims are bogus, since from the 302 church fathers who met in Nicene to write the creed, only two disagreed with the majority that Jesus had a similar nature with the Father. Now, Dan Brown used those two and built his conspiracy case stating that that there were a huge diversity in the early church who disagreed with the creed, a claim that is rejected by secular and Christina historians alike.

Back to the Jordanian Christian counsel, and its attempt to protect the Bible. Well, may be the Counsel should remember that the Bible sustained its truth, reputation and legitimacy over the last two thousands years. Accusations of corruption by Muslim scholars, intolerance by postmodernists, banning by Marxists and manipulation by right-wing christian fundamentalists; all failed to bring it down or to stop its circulation around the globe. The Book which was translated to 1700 language, is still the best seller book today and has been in the history of human kind. Mr. Nour and his friends should not worry about the Bible, because It stands for itself. In fact the only book that outsold the Da Vinci Code in the last two years is the Bible. May be the Counsel should be worried about another ban, the one against the Bible itself in many Arab countries particularly the Gulf states.

Banning books is just primitive. First because it does not work, and second becuase it is an insult to our collectivistic intelligence.

Oil prices and Democracy!

2006-05-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Thomas Friedman is back, not with a book this time but with an interesting law. The name of the law is "the law of petrol politics," and this how the law works. Friedman believes that there is a negative cor-relationship between the price of oil and the advancement of freedom, democracy and human rights process in oil-exporting countries. As oil prices increase, regimes which run these rich oil countries feel less pressured by the international community to perform any internal reform. The law makes sense as these regimes also feel more powerful with having a huge surplus in their GDP.
Friedman who seems excited about his new discovery cited Bahrain as an example of this law. The tiny kingdom in the Arabian Gulf has the most advanced democratic systems among its sisters in the Gulf league particularly because it has the least amount of oil reserves in that region. May be after all oil is not a bliss as we think it is. Good thing that Jordan does not have any!

Exporting Security

2006-05-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

"Invest your money in the Kingdom of Peace", a slogan that is widely advertised in Jordan these days. The slogan which gears to encourage Arab Nationals to invest in the country, is one of many brilliant ideas that King Abdullah brought with him since his ascendence to the throne. This week, the slogan has its share of a global exposure as Mayor Daley of Chicago visits the Kingdom to learn firsthand about security and anti-terrorism measures from Jordanian experts. The obvious steps taken by the Jordanians, like barricades and metal detectors at the big hotels, may seem impractical in the US, a country preoccupied with civil liberties. But Mayor Daley says, after a meeting with Jordan security officials, that things change and so do people's attitudes.

Interestingly and for many years, Israelis bragged about their security system and measures. The saying "AlAl is the safest airline and Ben Gurion Airport is the safest airport" is widely circulated around the globe. However, it seems that we might be pulling the red carpet out from under their feet as Jordan's security apparatus gained more attention in the media lately. It is not uncommon these days to hear about Jordan's reputation in combating terrorism in TV shows and movies. The only thing that one can say is "Way to Go". It is just nice to hear the name "Jordan" associated with something good and professional.

Jordan and the nuclear option!

2006-04-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

It seems that the confrontation between Hamas and Jordan is heading toward the worst. While each party remains firmly committed to its version of the story, other parties in the region are getting involved in this confrontation upgrading it to become a potential regional political problem. Yesterday, Syria backed Hamas, declaring that there is no such thing as the presence of militant Hamas leaders living on its soil. On the other hand, moderate Palestinian President Abbas sided with the Jordanian government last week before issuing this week his first warning to Hamas to change her political agenda or expect to be changed.

So far, the government's response to this crisis is ambivalent at best. On one hand the government seems to be at unease with the growing relationship between Hamas and the IAF. By sending a clear message to Hamas and implicit message to the IAF, it hopes that these two parties will understand that any alliance that potentially might harm Jordan's strategic interests won't be tolerated. On the other hand, it feared the ramifications of isolating itself locally and in the Arab World, where Hamas has overwhelming sympathy toward its stand. Thanks to Naser Judeh's poor performance.

If the worst comes to be the worst, Jordan might consider using the nuclear option by declaring Hamas as a terrorist organization. This option will be devastating to the Hamas leadership especially as Hamas officials won't be able to travel outside of the West Bank. This declaration will please the US, UE and Israel and will ensure the continuation of the financial and economic assistance that the kingdom received annually. But how about the political price that Jordan is willing to pay for taking such an action? At the end of the day, it is all about defending your interest and counting your risks. The only risk that one can think of is a local one since Jordan hardly receives any financial help from its Arabic brothers. Let us all remember that all politics are local. Jordanians might perceive their government as a tool in the hands of the West. Till now, we did not reach the non-returning point with Hamas. However, Hamas has the ball in its court and the future of the next scenario will be revealed soon.