Spreading Democracy or Hypocrisy?

Why is this the type of Democracy that we are showing the world we support? I mean, who are we to fool? How can we be taken seriously when we say we are trying to spread democratic values in the Middle East and only support those countries who are on their way to becoming more democratic, and then we constantly backup countries like this? How can we truely be respected? I guess money talks when it comes down to it. How sad.

Here is a story written by one brave woman in Saudi Arabia who decided to speak out:

The Things They Do in the Name of Male Guardianship

Mody Al-Khalaf

Standing in line at the airport as we wait to leave the country, I watch as the officer in charge of stamping passports argues with the family in front of me. An elderly woman in a wheelchair is trying to convince the man: “But officer, this man here is my son.” The officer shakes his head and says: “But he is not your legal guardian. Your legal guardian is your other son. I cannot let you go without written permission from him.” The woman’s son pleads with the officer, asking him not to put the old lady through the trouble of going home, making new plans and returning another day. The children who are with them begin groaning loudly at the idea of having to postpone their trip.

[To continue reading, follow the link]

http://www.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=53970&d=5&m=11&y=2004&hl=The%20Things%20They%20Do%20in%20the%20Name%20of%20Male%20Guardianship

Need a little Europe in your life?

Check out Cafe Babel.

Here's a great way to keep in touch with what's going on over there. You can join discussions on politics, economics, culture, world affairs, what ever you're in the mood for!

http://www.cafebabel.com/en/macro.asp?Id=12

Learn more about the candidates for 2008

For those who are interested. (Check out the snowman! :-))

http://www.youtube.com/debates

Enjoy!

Do we need more arms???

Does the US really need to arm its "enemy's" neighbors to the tee? And at this time? In the Middle East? Have we not learned yet that military intimidation does not make things better? I have to say that getting up this morning to hear about this oh so generous donation of weapons and military aid given to Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states did not make me think the administration was starting to make steps to ameliorate the situation in the Middle East.

I can understand that states are fearing Iran's increasing threat in the region, but how can these policy makers think that threatening Iran even more with 'bigger and better' guns will make them want to stop? Uhhh, didn't we learn this in grade school scenarios? Do they not see that doing this will just help them further justify their cause? And one also wonders if these weapons and other military aid are not to help support these countries against other causes. Maybe they're planning for Israel to have another war with Hezbollah? Maybe these benevolent acts are just ways of better controlling these governments? Maybe they fear that the economical gains from the arms market is diminishing as the war in Iraq is showing signs of dwindling down? Or do they really think that flexing their muscles even more will gain them more respect from countries who are already scared to death of them and are trying to increase the momentum to resist in any way what they see as an evil empire usurping their region, whether coercively or not?

Whatever the reason was behind this, I'm deeply disappointed yet again by this administration's decision. Instead of spending on other resources that could contribute to such things as say, human or social development in the region (something that is more time consuming, but much more sustainable and guarantees security), it only makes the world less secure. We all know that these weapons ultimately end up destroying innocent civilian lives and causing more hatred- something that the US really does need more of right now.

Ishmael Beah: A child soldier from Sierra Leone

I highly recommend his book as well!

Do you know the real meaning behind Mother's Day?

Did you know the American Mother's day was in fact a proclamation for peace?? Neither did I until recently. Mother's day has been celebrated throughout history by nations all over the world and for different reasons. Dating back to Roman and Greek history when it was associated with the Gods. In Greek history it was an occasion dedicated to Cybele, the great mother of gods and in Roman history is was to honor the goddess Juno in a celebration called Matronalia, where all mothers where given gifts.

The origin of mother's day in American history it rather unique to that of any other culture. The original Mother's Day Proclamation was made in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, a prominent abolisionist, activist and poet who was best know from writing the lyrics to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" during the American Civil War.

Julia Howe encouraged mothers to rally for peace since she believed that mothers were the most effected by the result of the deaths war brought around them. It is unfortunate that today the traditional meaning of the American Mother's Day has been forgotten. The following are excerpts from the Mother's Day Proclamation that she made in the aftermath of the Civil War calling for disarmament and peace:

"Arise then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be of water or of tears!

"Say firmly: 'We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience. We women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own, it says "Disarm! Disarm!" The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.'

"As men have forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after his time the sacred impress not of Caesar, but of God.

"In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace."

VA Tech Massacre: 'The Tragedy that Changed the Face of the Nation'

Will we finally be able to say that about this worst massacre in U.S. history? Or will we have to wait for the next worse one to occur? It has been about a decade now since the Columbine shooting and there have been many others who have fallen victim to such type of crimes in our nation. Have we not had enough wake-up calls? Why has so little effort been put into trying to find a solution? We did quite well and reacted quickly enough to bring down a dictator and who was falsely accused of having Weapons of Mass Destruction as well as bring down his entire nation. Can't we instead focus a little more attention on our own nation's ills?

Just about an hour before I heard about the shooting at Virginia Tech, a friend of mine at work and I were talking about violence. She was asking how I could cope living in Lebanon with such violence and insecurity around me. I told her that although I did get a little frightened at times, it wasn't much less insecure than here in the US- it's just a different type of danger. There it's bombings for political reasons, usually targeting politicians and here it's random crimes- and you'll never know when you'll be the next victim. She had never really thought about it that way and started telling me how disgusted she was about the level of crime in this area. Next thing we know..... a gunman on Tech's campus!! I could not believe it! Many people from here go to that university and I had several friends graduate from there- thank God I know no one who has been directly affected by it.

I pray for all those who are affected by this horrible event. Especially for the parents of the gunman, who must be devastated to know that their son was responsible for such a crime which has caused pain in the hearts of so many people. I'm sure they came to this country in search of a better life not only for them but mainly for their children. Although I am deeply saddened by this I also am hopeful that it will motivate people to wake up a bit and do more to help solve this problem. Even if it's just a little contribution to improving the society in this country. Little steps at least lead you somewhere. After so many repeated incidents, I think it is time we find a cure to the illness. I feel as though we have been cultivating a culture of war, violence, and at times too much individuality and competition which causes people to feel lonely, secluded and stressed. I can't say those are the only reasons this happened, but I think they are contributing factors. It is a fact however, that the U.S. has the highest (or at least one of the highest) rate of depression in the world. And as we all know, depressed people can sometimes act in unpredictable ways.

Watching the list of students and professors that fell victim to this crime last night made me think about all those who have fallen victim to wars around the world- most notably the Iraq war. Can you imagine if each day since 2003 the media would dedicate a few seconds to every person (American and Iraqi) who died that day? Telling their age, comments from friends and loved ones about them etc? Can you imagine the stir it would have caused? I think we would maybe not even still be there right now. My point is that as we are shocked to hear about these deaths, let us not forget those who have to go through this everyday! As Bush said in his statements regarding this incident, schools should be a safe haven, a sanctuary- does that apply only to the US? Kids risk their lives all the time when they want to go to school in Iraq. Many stopped going all together. Many who have gone are now dead. I'm not in anyway trying to undermine what happened earlier during the week. I'm trying to note that what we feel today, all the sympathy, all the pain, all the questions asking 'why did this happen?' should be related to any such tragedy. Maybe we should take peace education a little more seriously. Maybe we should also think a little more about gun-control. Any thoughts?

Balata through children's eyes

Teaching kids in disadvantaged areas photography so they can document their lives? That's exactly what an American photographer named Matthew Cassel did when he travelled to a refugee camp in the West Bank called Balata. There are almost 25,000 residents living in Balata, which is less than one square kilometer large. To listen to an interview with Cassel which includes details on the creation of the project and background information on the children participants listen to: http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Program_WV_Segment.aspx?segmentID=9984. You can also take a look at the kid's work on the photo galleries at: http://www.picturebalata.net/

The following is a short video taken from the website:

Remembering the past in hopes of improving the future

Painful recollections, measured words define Civil War remembrance day
Victims, activists and students gather to discuss lessons of conflict

"BEIRUT: Mona al-Ali was just 11 years old when she became one of the first victims of a war that was to last 15 years and claim thousands of lives. On April 13, 1975 - which would come to be remembered as the first day of Lebanon's Civil War - Ali was returning from the theater with her family. On the way back to their home, in the Beirut neighborhood of Barbir, masked gunmen opened fire on their car." Continue the article at.... http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=81426














Will remembering the past really help prevent future repetitions of the same human catastrophes occuring another time? Who knows, but it can't hurt to keep in our mind how painful these experiences were as long as we can remember them without spite toward who was the enemy and instead move beyond this. Instead realize how it doesn't bring you any closer to your goal and only brings more misery. Now, over 30 years after the civil war in Lebanon, the country is again showing signs of sliding back into the same hell hole. Let hope that the slogan "Remember it, don't repeat it" will stick in the minds of the people. The coming generation is the first generation not to have experienced the war firsthand, this makes it a very delicate time to pull through because the young generation has nothing to compare to and instead can tend to glorify war especially when hatred is still present between different sects and further agitated by current political trends. Despite this, I have hope that part of the youth as well as those who did go through the war and realize the big mistake, are waking up and ready to make a change. It is important to support them and give them a chance for their voice to be heard- after all, that's what democracy is supposed to facilitate, right? I'm glad they had a ceremony for them to express themselves at such a crucial time.


*First picture from 'People's Daily Online' second one from 'country-data.com'

Planet of the Arabs

Here is a short (9 min) documentary on Hollywood's portrayal of Arabs and Muslims. It shows clips from various movies in the past century. I first saw this a few months back at a conference which spoke about Arab-Americans and this was to show us how dehumanized they have been through Hollywood movies. Apparently, out of 1000 films that have Arab & Muslim characters (from the year 1896 to 2000) 12 were postive depictions, 52 were even handed and the rest of the 938 were negative. Please feel free to share your views on the clip. This may also make you pay closer attention not only to the portrayal of Arabs, but also other ethnic minorities in main-stream media. It was a selection of the Sundance Film Festival 2005 and was based on a book by Jack Shaheen. Click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r49-9lMU9w

Scamming the Congolese: An environmental disaster in Congo

Despite the clear illegality of the situation, the village chiefs whose community depend heavily on the forests, are no match for the World Bank who has been blamed for not rectifying the deal. It is hard to imagine that after everything Africa has suffered at the hands of the "developed" world, it continues to be sucked of its riches. Several million of the poorest people in Africa depend on its forests according to the article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/congo/story/0,,2054203,00.html

Saying "No" to say "Yes"? Saying "Yes" to say "No"? Let's just say it's saying a 'positive-No'!

Here is a radio segment of an interview with William Ury, the author of "Getting to Yes." As a mediator and director of the Global Negotiation Project at Harvard University, he has written numerous books and dicusses here his latest one called "The Power of a Positive No: How to say NO and Still Get a YES."

http://www.wamu.org/programs/kn/07/03/08.php#13099

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