Poetry and Conflict

Jim Lehrer New Hour had this report, which I found rather interesting. Take a look at the videos from both sides. There is an interview with three Palestinian poets and three Israeli poets. I especially found this interesting since poetry in particular carries much importance in the Middle East and poets have much more respect than they tend to have in the West.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/entertainment/poetry/middleeastpoetry/index.html

Can't judge a picture by its looks?

This picture was taken in August right after the war between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon. What do you think of it?



The photographer won an award with this picture for best news picture of the year. There was a varied reaction to this. Since it looks like the photographer was attempting to show the contrast between 'rich kids' in a 'poor neighborhood', it offended many. Most of those in the car are in fact from the neighborhood that was attacked- a Hezbollah stronghold. I recommend taking a look at the article, it's interesting to see the real story behind this photo! You can go to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6385969.stm

An Unheard Voice in Iraq

"The Sabian Mandaeans - one of the oldest religious groups in the world - are facing extinction, according to its leaders." -BBC




Islamic extremists in Iraq have justified either to forcefully convert or kill (not to mention all the torturing as well) off this group of Sabiean Mandaens. This is again another disaster that has been exacerbated by the war. Most have tried to escape and those who have remained (about 5,000) are hoping Western countries will take them in. To view the article go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6412453.stm

*Pictures from BBC

The Muslim Divide

Here is a program I heard on NPR a few weeks back explaining the division between the Shi'as and Sunnis. It's a nice brief coverage explaining the history, politics and it includes expert's comments. It's called "The Partisans of Ali" and you can find it online at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7346199


In addition, this article gives a good explanation of the story of this split in Islam. There is also an interesting discussion that follows if you are interested in this topic! The article called "Calling Out Idiot America" can be found at: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/03/24/49/
*Picture comes from the NPR website

In honor of (a belated) International women's day

Yes, I realize that this is coming up a bit late.... but I did want to post something for the holiday that passed on Thursday. Women have played a vital role in bringing peace to conflict areas and in helping promote social justice and development around the world yet it is clear that they still face worldwide discrimination. Although improvements have been made over the years, the balance is still drastically unequal. Here is a great link to an organization called 'Women's Leadership Partnership: for rights, development and peace': http://www.learningpartnership.org/

This NGO helps women in the Global South become leaders in their communities. They provide training on a grassroots level and help mobilize women to becoming activists promoting social justice. They especially do work in the Middle East. Countries they are present in include: Afghanistan, Brazil, Cameroon, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palestine, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe

A poll showing optimism in the midst of political turmoil

Just a little proof that most of the Lebanese don't believe in violence as the only way to solve conflicts as much as is thought. There is more belief in finding common ground between sects rather than the opposite. Here is an excerpt from a BBC article posted yesterday where they singled out Lebanon- one of the most optimistic countries:

"Doug Miller, president of polling company Globescan, said the results suggested that the world was not heading towards an inevitable and wide-ranging "clash of civilisations". [.....] He [...] but hailed the results from Lebanon, a country frequently caught up in conflicts. Some 78% of Lebanese strongly believed West-East tensions were politically motivated, while 68% felt common ground could be found between the West and the Islamic world."

For the full article go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6369529.stm

Back from Kazakhstan!

So, I'm finally back from my much anticipated trip to Kazakhstan. I went to attend a good friend's wedding. I went along with two friends from home- we all met in college. Many of you are probably very curious (as I was before going) about the country, especially after it's recent rise in reputation thanks to the Borat movie. Well folks, for those of you who have watched the movie, it's not at all as Borat portrayed it - as you can assume.

Central Asia is a region of the world where very little is heard of. I have to admit that before I met my Kazakh friend Jamilya, I knew nothing about the country! I had no clue that it was one of the largest countries in the world (I think it's the 9th largest), and that most of it's inhabitants speak Russian. As for my friend, she speaks Russian much more fluently than she does Kazakh.

During my time there, I stayed with my friend and her family in Almaty- the ex-capital. The current capital is called Astana. The name Almaty means "Father Apple" since that is where the apple originated from.

The country is still very Soviet-like, very gloomy and smoggy. The pollution is dense partially due to the fact that the city is surrounded by mountains which makes it difficult for the air to circulate much. People seem to be depressed- they don't smile much at all. In pictures for example, they aren't programed like we are to smile, or say "Cheese"- they usually just keep a straight face. Some thought it was a bit odd that we smiled so much in our pictures.

The most surprising thing for me was to see how mixed the population was! It's true that we were spending time in the most populated city in the entire country, however, for some reason I wasn't expecting it to be as diverse as it is. There is still a large population of Russians left over. Most likely they've lived their entire lives in Kazakhstan and therefore feel more Kazakh than they do Russian. Others just never felt the desire to return to Russia. There is also a large population of Korean immigrants, known to own many of the big businesses in the region. Chinese immigrants aren't uncommon as well as a mixture of people from the ex-Soviet regime, Indians, and Middle Easterners.

Because of my brief visit, which was mainly dedicated to my friend's wedding, we didn't venture out too much to different parts of the country. From what I hear however (and the few pictures that I've seen), it has an amazing landscape. We did go out to a ski resort about 45 minutes away from the city where it was much brighter than the city.

The food's focal point is meat! They are huge meat eaters, mainly due to the fact that they are traditionally a nomadic people, therefore they never had time to grow a garden and consume many vegetables and fruit. They've adapted much of the Russian cuisine, and I also tasted homemade pasta for the first time. Everyone makes their pasta at home apparently. Horse is one of the main meats eaten there. At the same time they admire their horses when it comes to riding them as well. They obviously breed them differently. Horse milk is also a much enjoyed drink in the region (although I have to admit that one must aquire a taste for it first). There are also these little condensed dryed-out horse milk balls that are sometimes eaten with the meal. Bread is also popular and of course tea! You aren't Kazakh if you don't drink tea- but just a small portion, otherwise if you drink it out of a large cup people will say that you are Russian. And tea is always accompanied with a large selection of chocolates and other sweets- yum!

Along with the meal is the very important tradition of toasting. This took us by surprise since we were expected to make toasts at every meal my friend's parents were present at. If we declined it, it would've been a huge offense! Most importantly, we were required to make a toast at the wedding since we were the guests who came from the farthest and we were good friends of the bride. Everyone at the wedding wanted to make a toast, and in a more traditional wedding apparently, most of the guests do get their turn to make one, some rambling on for a while (imagine how long it can last for a wedding even with just 200 guests!). As my friend's father explained to us "It is senseless to get drunk just from drinking, but if you get drunk because you drink off of toasts then it is sensible." That's reason enough for me :-) Vodka and whisky seemed to be the most preferred drinks.

Kazakhs are mainly followers of Islam. There is, in addition, a significant Christian population mostly due to the prominent presence of Russians meaning they are mainly Russian Orthodox Christians. I asked my friend if there were ever clashes between the two religions. "No, not at all" she responded- there is much more division among different clans. According to her there are three main clans in Kazakhstan and they are all rivals (but there is no violence, or at least it isn't something that causes a nationwide conflict). Someone can even be discriminated against, when applying for a job, based on their clan. I thought this was interesting since the same thing is true in Lebanon except based on religion, which I suppose acts more or less like a clan. People in Kazakhstan seem very discrete about their religion. One can assume this since it was forbidden to express it during the Soviet era.

All in all, I had an amazing little escapade there. The people were very friendly, accepting, and most appreciative of our presence there. They made sure everything we needed was provided for us. We were really treated like honored guests!

Here is the music video of our trip's theme song. The Kazakh band is called JCS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQCCzG-Epq4 And here's another video from them that shows a little more of the Kazakh scenery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPoUcf58mi8&NR


The 28 soldier's park in Almaty
Memorial for a massacre that took place in the 90's during a student protest:
Independence square













































This is the president of Kazakhstan













At the Opera:



A little outside the city:
Small ski resort where we stayed one night
A glimpse of the traditional huts
View of the mountains from the plane