The only thing that trumps my muhajibah infatuation is a woman who can throw down on an instrument. While frame drums, like the duff and tar, have long been the domain of women throughout the MENA you don't see so many women killin' on the tabl baladi or darbukah. For some reason, there does seem to be a lot of great female tombak players though. In that regards the Iranians win...
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, seen here raising a finger during her April visit to Qatar, may have used her visit to stick up for Shimon Peres' hurt feelings. (What kind of a weird flicking-off that is, and more significantly why the AFP posted this as their main closeup of Livni is beyond me.)
There are other possibilities though. Livni may also have been aiming the sentiment at Hamas, which is "controlling Gaza by weapons, training and money," apparently from Iran. (Of course not because they won the last election fair and square-- democracy anyone?) Or she was giving it to all the Gulf people who would rather excuse themselves to go barf than see formal ties, or worse, sit in a room with Israeli government officials.
The following is an internal discussion on the significance of the Qatari and Omani reception of Livni. As Chaim protested, "Why do you D-bags host these conversations on this listserv, take it to the blog!"MHMD: Hey what do you guys make of this? Well, there really isn't much to make of it, I'm not surprised-but is there anything left to say about the Qataris and Omanis meeting so openly with Livni?
Emily: I had an argument with a friend recently. He's from Bahrain and was thinking of coming to Jordan, and I suggested that we meet there. I also said oh maybe I'll bring my friend along from Shefa Amr! She's never been to Jordan!
At which point he seriously took the conversation off the record and was like "wait... she's... israeli?" He didn't want to hang out with her in Jordan (a Muslim Arab Palestinian citizen of Israel) because of her Israeli passport. He was like, there's a boycott. I have to stick to my principles.
I think I spent a half an hour typing like a madwoman about all of the violations against Palestinians in Israel even though they are "Israeli." And furthermore pulled up the call for boycott and sanctions and sent him the actual text of it- 'institutional boycott' etc etc.
Anyway I'd like to post about this and the context of Livni's visit. I thought Qatar was like the rest of the Gulf states in that people with Israeli passports can't travel there? Or is it the one exception or something?
MHMD: Well, Qatar's always been the most openly friendly Gulf state with Israel-if I recall correctly they were the first to allow an Israeli Trade Office to open there. As far as I know, the ban on Israeli passport holders in the gulf is one bigass myth-Israelis travel freely to the UAE and Qatar, and I'm sure they do to Bahrain and Oman too. The Omani FM said one of the purposes of his meeting with Livni was to discuss the reopening of the Israeli Trade Office in Muscat.
Furthermore, I recently saw a news report on MBC quoting several Israeli and US studies that reveal there are up to 220 Israeli companies active in Iraq now. The Arab boycott is just one big joke.
Chaim: Why do you D-bags host these conversations on this listserv, take it to the blog! And use my title: LIVNI LAVIDA LOCA... I just wanna see it in print cause I'm so proud of it :) Or do a round-table burn... KABOBfest hasn't done one of those in a great long while.
Emily: Maybe it can be on what constitutes a violation of the boycott: Qatar and the gulf countries giving Israeli businessmen free reign when there's a boycott going on, or me working for a Palestinian org that is actually an Israeli org inside of Israel, or just talking to Palestinian citizens of Israel (as many regular gulfi people seem to think- I have more examples)
Is my working in Israel a violation of the boycott of Israel for all people of conscience?
Does the boycott include the exclusion of Palestinian people with Israeli passports otherwise known as Arab ISRAELIS?
I'm pretty sure we all agree that Qatar talking to Livni is hypocrisy... or do we?
MHMD: Livni accuses MP Tibi of trying to sabotage two-state solution That should be useful too.
Nimr: I strongly disagree, actually. I hate it when US pundits blast Obama for saying he would meet with the leaders of Iran, Hammas, Venezuela, N. Korea or whoever (well, I actually think there should be "high level" conversations first. Meeting the pres. should be the carrot for substantive talks). I feel I would be the hypocrite to criticize Qatar for talking with Livni.
I see no harm with welcoming and meeting with Livni. It's not like they are going to let Israel bury nuclear waste there (see: Mauritania). For the record, I think the academic boycott is dumb and counterproductive too. Heck, I think the travel restrictions in general are silly as well. If any Americans are going to boycott Israel, you better be ready to get your ass boycotted 300x over by the rest of the world too.
Also, let's be clear. As Mohammed pointed out, the rules about travel prohibitions are not universally followed. UAE "unofficially" lets all kinds of people who visit Israel and/or are Israeli citizens come there for business (lots of diamond, tech and finance). That might be open for criticism. Alternately, Yemen allows their own Jewish citizens to visit Israel for family and/or religious reasons, they just do it super on the DL. I applaud that. Syria might not have suffered the loss of its Jewish population if they could have come and gone as they pleased.
Lastly, to put the visit in context, Qatar is very much trying to position themselves as players on the international stage. This kinda thing is probably more about them posturing as players than caring so much about Israel, Palestine or the peace process.
The boycotts and restrictions ultimately do much more to hurt "us", financially, culturally, symbolically and politically than them.
My 2 cents
Emily: So are you against boycott, academic institutional etc? What about monetary divestment campaigns? I really don't think any boycott, academic or institutional, would cause much actual harm to the boycotting organization itself unless it depends on funds from Zionist orgs or people.
That's a really good point about Syria and Yemen. It's stupid to not let people travel. It's just dumb.
I think that boycott is in fact a decent tool to get Israeli organizations and institutions to take notice of what is happening. I'm here and I don't see people really having to notice much in their everyday lives. Life goes on as usual while 10 minutes away people are under occupation. I think that for many educated people who want to be part of the global community (Tel Aviv University, for example), if they got responses when they tried to make a conference saying people won't participate because of the occupation, it would make them have to notice. I've heard Pappe stand on a podium, spread his arms, and say "please! boycott me!"
But the way it happens, it is carried out all wrong. people are not allowed to travel. That is stupid. Businessmen instead make a ton of valuable connections over everyone else's heads, and don't feel a thing even though there's a 'boycott'.
Fadi: I think isolation will work. I think boycott, whether academic, cultural, or economic, advances such isolation. Whether doing away with a certain type of boycott (such as academic) will harm the mission of isolating Israel, I don't know. Maybe the academic boycott is not necessary. Maybe it is. I think the reward (saving Palestinian - and Israeli - lives) is worth the risk. I think isolation will work. I understand the arguments against its practicality, or that it harms civilian infrastructure. I'm fairly certain that refusing to publish papers by Israeli academics, or cutting off grants or joint research (much of it on military and arms research) is not going to starve Israelis to death. I think isolation will work, this has been empirically established (for example, South
Africa). Those willing to argue against boycott of Israel, I think, must also argue against the boycott of Apartheid South Africa. If you're not willing to do that, then there's a double standard being applied.
Nimr: I would be interested to see any empirical data on isolation working as a strategy. Most of the data I have seen shows, 1) isolating other countries rarely works and 2) the connection between isolating S. Africa and the end of apartheid is anecdotal, and most probably part of a matrix of many other factors (which may or may not exist in Palestine).
Andrew Mack and Asif Khan have analyzed UN sanctions and their conclusion is that results have been mixed at best. They point out that sanctions work well as a tool of policy, but not as a policy. Look at the disaster of isolating Iraq under sanctions, Cuba, Hammas, Burma, Iran etc. Attempts to isolate them failed, and tended to strengthen the targeted elements, not weaken them. Also, it is almost impossible to isolate any country, this didn't even work with S. Africa (otherwise DeBeers would not be facing anti-trust issues in the USA). Israel and others kept strong relations with apartheid S. Africa.
This is further complicated by the particular governmental structure of Israel where small fanatical parties have disproportionate influence (domestically and in the USA). Attempts to isolate Israel will only strengthen their power and influence, as it will prove their narrative. (which would lead to more death and land appropriation)
I think the more apt analogy for Israel is the United States, not S. Africa. Like I said if we expect people to start boycotting Israel, culturally, politically, economically and/or academically, we must be prepared to suffer the same treatment in spades. As an American, I feel that the actions of my gov't do not represent my values. In spite of that lots of people die directly and indirectly from my gov't's actions. The same could be said of countless Israelis.
It gets complicated really quickly too. The US allowed black S. Africans to come to the US to attend college for instance. Should we not allow Arab-Palestinians? If we do, should we not allow progressive Israelis? If we do....
I think the divestment campaign makes sense, but only so long as this is on an org by org, individual by individual basis and not gov't policy. I am all for not collaborating with Israel on any research that has military focus and/or biased scholarship (i.e. propaganda), but a sweeping boycott is counterproductive. Some of the best most critical scholarship of Israeli policy comes from Israel.
Specific targeted sanctions (high tech, weapons, etc) are vital parts of foreign policy, but isolating countries/groups seems to have a fairly dismal track record.
Will: I saw this research a long time ago... I think they also argued that if it does not work at the stage of threats, it won't work. Also, democracies are much more responsive to the threats of isolation, theoretically. Hard empirical analysis would be hard to do because the sample size is probably pretty damn small.
We can assume sanctions against Israel would work if the whole world stood behind them. So we should ask, how realistic is this, on what basis, and would do the prospects of good relations with the Arab world mean?
I would not say Qatar is hypocritical, since they have not exactly been touting anything but a soft position, anyways. I do not think the Arab boycott has truly existed since Egypt got off board in the late 1970s. So asking if it is legitimate is hypothetical. If it existed, it would be, though.
In principle, I am against normalizing Israel until it has clearly defined borders, a clear demarcation of its polity, and lives up to its obligations under international law -- in the context of a just and viable solution with the Palestinians. Until then, recognizing Israel without its recognition of the Palestinians is one-sided and
legitimizing criminality.
I do not see how accomodationism could bring about peace. Eretz Yisrael is a non-negotiable ideological strain, first, and the settlements are internalized in the Israeli public's worldview. Accommodation means accepting these fundamentals, which strike at the heart of Palestinian rights.
Emily: What about the fact that Palestinian civil society has called for boycott/divestment/sanctions? I for one think that we should be listening to what they are saying, and doing our best to implement where we can, for the mere fact that they are the ones calling for it. This probably does not translate to the govenrnmental level, at least not at this juncture. However there are many areas where resolutions can be passed and where choices not to participate/invite/invest can be made and publicized.
That said, I am working in Israel. Does this violate what I'm saying above?
Fadi: That's right, I think sanctioning dictatorships (eg. Iraq, Cuba) or populations that were never in a position of prosperity to revert to (HAMAS) is clearly different from boycotting governments that are accountable to a people that are benefactors of a system that oppresses others. The Apartheid regime in South Africa, like that in Israel, does have a population that it is accountable to. I'm not sure why you would bring up Iraq or Cuba, I think we can agree that their dictators don't care about their constituents and are not accountable to their constituents - so there's a good chance isolation will not work there. Despite your opposition to boycotting Apartheid South Africa, you can't dismiss the isolation of South Africa that led whites there to realize that "ok, we can no longer benefit from Apartheid, let's choose a new path." If we can agree on isolating Israel as a means to liberate Palestinians, then we can discuss the
details (such as travel restrictions on Palestinian citizens of Israel).
But i do think that Qatar and other Arab states are hypocritical. If there are no official policies on boycott in a certain Arab state, I do think these dictators do frequently evoke the Palestinian cause, and express support for Palestinians, to their people. They do not support the Palestinian people, they exploit the Palestinian people. The regimes care about filling their pockets and insulating themselves (e.g.., by strengthening themselves politically in the global arena);
engaging in economic deals with Israel is not something done out of necessity - or at least a morally pure necessity (maybe they think they need to do it in order to retain their authoritarian rule). I would not see them as hypocrites if they normalized relations with Israel while not pretending to be strong supporters of the Palestinian struggle.
Maybe some disagree, but I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. policy of sanctioning HAMAS and punishing the civilian population will lead to some shift in the next election, if there ever is one. That is, I wouldn't be surprised if that policy works. It's a disgusting policy, and it's a much different situation, and certainly isolating Israel will not lead to a humanitarian crisis such as that which exists in Gaza (and existed in Gaza before Hamas, before Fatah, before the PLO) or that which existed under Iraq's dictatorship during the sanctions.
CLICK HERE FOR:
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel
Palestine BDS Campaign
Divestment Support Committee
The charter, signed by information ministers in Cairo, bans broadcasting material seen as undermining "social peace, national unity, public order and general propriety", criticizing religions or defaming political, national and religious leaders.Yeah, that's not gonna get abused.... It has been great to see a hearty condemnation of the charter by groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Al Jazeera network.
I do enjoy the occasional puff piece human interest story about the Middle East, but it is all the more aggravating when they a done so terribly. In an incredibly cliche article the Times Online profiles the rock obsessed son of the King of Bahrain, Abdullah bin Hamad al Khalifa. He seems like an interesting enough guy who is really trying to do something he cares about in his country. I have my problems with the government there (see: treatment of the shia, migrant workers, lack of democracy), but compared to the rest of the region they are making strides. Back to Abdullah... I think it is commendable that he is trying to add some culture to the country and diversity to the economy, but despite his protests, this seems like just another royal pet project. I could only imagine if the rich traditional arts in Bahrain (including a few amazing radio stations) received a 1/10th of the funding it took to house MJ for a year or start 2 Seas Records. Plus, how sustainable is it to pay a bunch of brits to run everything? I seriously doubt there is a training component to help some youth from the shia villages learn new tech skills.
Lastly, this reporter is an idiot. He raises the possibility that he felt he was being lured to Bahrain so he could be killed. I exaggerate, but only slightly. I guess it would have been silly to do a bare modicum of research on the country before going, huh? The article has more cliches than you can shake a stick at. The broader story about cultural-economic projects in the Gulf is an interesting and important one, but this article adds little to several others that have been written over the past year. Plus the story quickly degenerates to a "dish on MJ in Bahrain" piece. Better luck next time!
One of the big differences between the US military involvement in Iraq and other places has been how difficult for soldiers on the ground to have meaningful contact with the locals. Picking up the language has also been a constant stumbling block and some have argued that this has been made more difficult by the G.I.'s not being able to easily have local girlfriends. However, when those points of contact do occur the results can be interesting. The Youtube videos of US soldiers, insurgents or any other group in Iraq are a dime a dozen, but I prefer the funny ones. The Telegraph profiles this phenomenon, which has US soldiers speaking in Arabic, dancing and singing (complete with video links). One of the classics (there are several variants) pokes fun at Muqtada al Sadr, which has elicited a wide range of responses:
"Shame on you to liken Moqtada al-Sadr to a penguin and humiliate him in front of all the world," says a poster named Wisam on the penguin clip. "It is indeed a shame," agrees a poster named Abdul. "He and his donkeys are far worse than penguins."
Damascus:Her decision to sing in Damascus, however, has caused a split in her huge fan base in Lebanon between those arguing that Fairouz should not perform before the rulers of a country blamed for a string of assassinations in Lebanon over the past three years, and others who maintain that the Lebanese diva is above politics and should sing wherever she wishes.
Still, for most ardent fans, Fairouz is a symbol of unity rather than division and her standing will doubtless outlast the current quarrel. As the famous Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani once wrote: "When Fairouz sings, mountains and rivers follow her voice, the mosque and the church, the oil jar and loaves of bread. Through her, every one of us is made to blossom, and once we were no more than sand; men drop their weapons and apologize. Upon hearing her voice, our childhood is molded anew."
The Yemen news agency reported a blast at a "qat market" in Sa'dah. This is hilarious when you consider that Saada is basically one huge open air arms market, but it was probably the qat, right?: Witnesses said the explosion was caused by a cannon shell mishandled by a man trying to sell it at the al-Talh arms market...
You know, as opposed to the proper way to handle a cannons shell in the middle of a crowded market. I do have to say, the gold plated AK-47 I saw from al Talh was kinda pimp. FYI, if you are buying an anti-aircraft gun, I recommend the fourth stall on the left. Tell 'em Nimr sent ya!
Sa'dah is a fascinating place. To this day it has a fairly vibrant Jewish community and was an important center of the Zaydi sect. The region has also recently produced armed resistance (often linked to al Qaeda and pals) against the national government in Sanaa. All this in a country which some estimate as having the second highest private gun ownership in the world...let alone all them dang jambiays. Good times.
You might say my title is insensitive (and you are probably right, people died after all), but Yemen has a terrible track record with slogans. The national air-carrier's slogan used to be "irkab Yemenia", which in slang would roughly mean "Go screw a Yemeni woman!"......nice.
Getting back to the qat, the Dictator President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh has decided to stop chewing, or makhzin, literally "storing", due to health concerns (the English word magazine, comes from that word). Similarly the government is trying to ban the cultivation of qat in the most fertile land to promote food agriculture. Yemen, which should be a food exporter, has to import food due to so much of its airable land being used for qat cultivation. Yemen is totally nutty, but also an extremely beautiful country...
Looks like the Polisario is engaging in a little more saber rattling if negotiations don't get more substantive with Morocco. Interestingly enough, Senegal is trying to put some of the pressure on Rabat that France and the US are unwilling to do.
Also, for those unfamiliar with the conflict Reuters recently published a good rough time line. Check it out, here.
It is no surprise that Bethlehem gets a lot of press this time of year, even if it feels like a prison from what I hear. As it is the obvious, if important, story I appriciate it when other dimensions of the Palestinian-Christian community receive some attention. I recently came across two such examples. The first about Christians in Gaza, preparing for their first Christmas under Hamas rule and the second about the W. Bank Christian village of Taybeh and its Christmas concert:
...an unlikely group of fine musicians – including Christians, Jews and Muslims – ventured through the darkness and winter cold last Wednesday to converge on this hilltop town to perform a Christmas concert of baroque music against a backdrop of sadness and war – sadness because Christians are fleeing the Holy Land in disturbing numbers and war because this is the Middle East, where armed conflict seems as deeply embedded in the rocky soil as olive trees, religion and tombs.Although it may irk some, it is worth remembering that a lot of the renaissance music trotted out for Christmas easy listening has strong roots in the musical traditions of Arab-Andalusia. Of course, another reason Bethlehem has gotten a lot of attention is the "Santa's Ghetto" art show. Project like this are what Iraqi artist Qasim Sabti, might describe as "engaged art":But on this night there was song, and it was song that brought a Canadian visitor here, on a winding, starlit drive through deep canyons and over lofty ridges, past an Israeli military checkpoint and into Taybeh, an ancient community where Jesus once sought refuge from his enemies.
During the widespread looting in the wake of the invasion, "more than 5,000 books from the Academy of Fine Arts were stolen and destroyed," the former professor of the institute explained."I found many badly damaged books, partly burnt with their pages torn out, scattered throughout the neighborhood. I collected them up with a heavy heart and asked myself what I should do with them," he said.
"Then I got the idea to do this series of art works, using the bindings of the ruined books. They clearly show what has become of my city under American occupation; a place where culture has disappeared; a place where weapons and religion are everything."
For his homepage and examples of his wonderful art check out his website. While on the 
subject of art, it is worth noting the passing of one of the Muslim world's best, Amin Ismail Gulgee who was murdered in his home in Pakistan. Gulgee was a master of figurative, abstract and calligraphic art. I couldn't find one webpage that did him justice, but a few examples can be found, here.
PopMatters, gave the Arab world some love by putting two albums on its Best World Music of 2007 list.
The first artist is Nawal from Comoros Islands (Myspace link). Her music is actually not that similar to a lot of the Arab-E. African taarab music that you might hear from Comoros, Lamu or Zanzibar, instead she seems at times to have more in common with any number of African-Arab-French artists. Although all her publicity pics seem to have her holding the torbi (sometimes called the 'ud saghir, or small lute), one of my favorite instruments, I don't really hear it in any of her songs. Although she has a great voice and I enjoy her music, she seems to be catering to the world music as mystical fusion narrative a bit too much. Plus, are people from Comoros really Arab? Their democratically elected leader owns a mattress factory that he still lives above. That kind of lack of gross corruption is simply not going to cut it if they are trying to assert their A-rab bona fides.
The second artist on the list, Syrian Omar Souleyman, has no pretensions about mysticism or international status. He brings it raw, frenetic and shaabi. Enjoy the classic video:
The label, Sublime Frequencies, that re-issued these local (probably cassette) recordings is very much worth checking out. Their catalog includes some great examples from W. Sahara, Palestine, Choubi from Iraq and other great Arab and World music.
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Although probably released too late to make the top
ten list for hip-hop albums, I have been really impressed by the new Lupe Fiasco album, The Cool. His song "Little Weapon" (is that an Arvo Part sample?) delves into suicide bombers, video games, school shootings, and child soldiers. Here is a youtube link for the audio and lyrics, but not the video. Yeah, I dunno.
"We had a big debate yesterday over negotiations," Khadad, a senior Polisario official who is also the conference spokesman, said by telephone from Tifariti.
"The military people said 'We can't keep negotiating idenfinitely. We need to assess the situation ... We should propose resuming armed struggle."
"Others said 'No, No, we should continue negotiating because we have a third round of talks just coming up in January."
"We will vote on this on the 18th at the end of the conference," Khadad said.
Rabat says most Sahrawis are unhappy with Polisario speaking in their name and are ready to accept limited autonomy.If Morocco really wants to be a liberal democracy they should be encouraged to go all the way. The US and France should definitely not coddle them so much either. If these guys could get their act together things could get better really quickly. The wind and solar power of W. Sahara, Morocco and Mauritania could supply enough energy for most of Europe and the fish and phosphate reserves could provide a lot of money for development if exploited properly. Nah, dragging on this interminable conflict to the detriment of the voiceless masses is much more fun!!
"Morocco has never been so glorious as it is today at the national and diplomatic level. The international community supports Morocco," Errachid said. "Polisario just wants to muddy the waters."
No country officially recognises Morocco's rule over Western Sahara but the U.N. Security Council is divided over a solution, with some non-aligned states supporting Polisario but France and the United States backing Morocco.
Recently I have been enjoying Amartya Sen's Identity and Violence, which eloquently argues against simplistic identity formations:
“Indeed, the world is increasingly seen, if only implicitly, as a federation of religions or civilizations, thereby ignoring all the other ways in which people see themselves. Underlying this line of thinking is the odd presumption that the people of the world can be uniquely categorized according to some singular and overarching system of partitioning.”When we are involved with this kind of discourse we do damage not just to those we push away, but to ourselves. Fortunately, the reactionary pundits and politicians (the world over) who are proponents of this world view are not the only ones out there. Kabobfest has profiled many of those whose very existence refutes the overly simple world view, that Sen critiques so well, from poetry to rap to rock.
Led Zeppelin's self-described "tight but loose" musical philosophy had a special impact on us. In blues, rock, and jazz, the drummer and bassist's function is primarily to lay down a tight groove over which the front men can let loose. Rarely does the rhythm section have the space to take the music to a higher dimension.
But Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham did just that. The interplay between all four musicians linked Zeppelin to the great chain of Sufi-inspired improvisers, from the Gnawa slaves of the Maghreb, across North Africa and the Middle East still to the Qawwali of North India.
It was this pedigree
that separated Led Zeppelin from the rest of the rock 'n roll universe, reminding those with the right ears of a time when the distinctions between East and West, Islam and Europe, were still fuzzy--often productively so. It's no wonder the band was signed by a Turkish music impresario, Ahmet Ertegun, in whose honor they are reuniting once more.
For some other thought provoking examples to think about:
* No matter what the Iranian government declares "obscene" (although I agree that 50 cent is at least lame, if not obscene) people will push open the cracks and when given the chance, raise their voices.
* We should remember that artists, the world over, are often taking a great risk by doing what they do. A great example is the fate of the Iraqi rock group, Acrassicauda, which is also a great case study for the plight of moderates in Iraq and their fates as refugees.
It is important to remember that although the arts are often some of the clearest ways to deconstruct the "us" vs. "them" mentality, there is ample evidence against this thesis in the way we live our daily lives.
Now let's be clear, I don't mean to say religion is unimportant. Christians and Yazidis sadly continue to be targeted in Iraq. It is this kind of senseless persecution that is leading to changes in the Arab Christian community as well (I always think about Jesus when I see BMX bikes). It is my fear that these kinds of changes will only lead to more rifts in the region, which is probably the least productive option. I keep hearing about "new" media savvy Muslim preachers, but I am still waiting to see how this movement shakes out before I get too excited.
It is a sad statement that, even not including the Palestinians, the Arab world is home to more than its share of stateless persons, even when the leaders of those stateless groups say really stupid things. Yet another sign that whether the constructed difference is based on religion, race or ideology, it is usually innocents who suffer the most.
"Yo son, what you sporting these days?"
"Well, you know how I do; I got me some gators, 22s, and a single-digit license plate number-ya herrrrd!"
That's right, big pimpin' in the Arab world has taken a life of it's own. Because of the general level of wealth enjoyed by Khaleeji national community (and corrupt monarchy-sustained elites in other Arab countries), a couple of imagined commodities have taken the respective countries by storm as a means to distinguish individuals from the pack; many centered around "Low" and "Good" numbers.
Low and nice numbers go beyond being a representation of material wealth, they represent that of symbolic wealth, of the kind of power one can wield for accessing and possessing exclusive imaginary commodities. And what are these imaginary commodities specifically?
License plates: The lower the number the more well-connected you are to government-unless of course you bought one off of some enterprising sheikh for beaucoup bucks.
Cellphone and home numbers. The "good" numbers are basically the "nicer sounding" ones. From what my informants have told me, the "nicer" sounding connotes easy memoryability (remember I'm a budding anthropologists, I'm allowed to make up words), which usually means there are repeating or symmetric numbers in the sequence.
Here are some ads on an UAE-based ebay-like classified site called Bazaar.ae that sell "good", "nice sounding" cellphone and home numbers-some at undisclosed prices and others that will cost you a pretty dirham: Here, here, here, and oh yes, HERE.
The following are KABOBer reactions, highly-opinionated comments, sensationalist stories and titillating hearsay about the low and nice numbers phenomenon in the Arab, but mostly Khaleeji, world:
Maytha: I have been informed by my cousins who live in Abu Dhabi that low numbers on license plates are considered the 'it' thing in UAE. So, Sheikh Maktoum having a "1" as his license plate number basically means that homeboy is the biggest balla in Dubai.
Assouli: License plate numbers are also big in Jordan. the king has number 1. i remember Abdulmajid Shoman had a 5. people are very proud of their license plate numbers. poor poor people have nothing else to be proud of in Jordan. generally, it's gotta be 5 digits to be cool, unless it's 5 digits on a shitty car, which just means the person got it a long time ago. 4 digits is unheard of for anyone other than the closely connected Jordanian or the very wealthy. people pay a premium for the numbers and any repetition in numbers is hip such as 11145. then apparently there are numbers that show some connection to the mukhabarat (intelligence services) and that supposedly grants you immunity from traffic tickets without having the moustache and the Bedouin accent...
By the way, same thing for cellphone numbers... you're cool as hell if your number is 677-7776 or something... buying a SIM card you can expect to pay a healthy premium above the price of an ugly number like 648-5210, although that 210 at the end is bordering on hot!
That's pretty much what's going on in Jordan in a nutshell...
Nimr: To add my 5 cents, it is not just Jordan. In Qatar and Bahrain I heard of guys buying these "good" numbers for thousands of dollars for their cars or phones. there were even speculators and re-sellers. talk about an imagined commodity.
Omar: It's not just hearsay about people willing to pay thousands for "cool" phone numbers and license plates. When I was in Saudi my brother had a really easy number to remember and constantly kept getting calls from people who wanted to buy it. I think the highest offer he got was around ~$3500. Come to think of it, I don't know why he didn't just sell it.
I also heard of people willing to pay millions for license plates.
Diana: In Palestine, numbers are also hot too but we don't have to pay big money for them: you just have to pay an additional $5 when getting the number. Sometimes you luck out - like me - with a cool number. But I get a weirdo from Gaza always calling me thinking that I am his wife. Cars are different, of course, due to apartheid-incentiving Oslo: only PA officials get red coloured licence plates with four digits. Arafat was the only person with a 0001. The licence plate has been retired. Abu Mazen's car is now: 2000. Here the cool thing is with PASSPORT NUMBERS: PA guys get super cool numbers: A011111 (used to be the Passport Number of Abu Mazen).
All these decades later, destiny or providence or something has delivered Mr. Feldman and Mr. Bayyari to the same acre of land at the bottom of one of Fayetteville’s many hills. There Mr. Bayyari, now a general contractor, will build the first permanent temple for the Reform Jewish congregation in Fayetteville, of which Mr. Feldman is president. And Mr. Bayyari, a Palestinian-American Muslim, is doing the job at no charge. Without his sacrifice, the congregation probably could not afford the project at all.Who knew there were that many Jews or Muslims in Arkansas? I knew a great Muslim guy from Little Rock, hearing him talk about the Deen in his drawl was great. This article was good for me, I don't know that much about the South I guess. Here is my favorite bit from the article:
Isolation, though, was not tantamount to prejudice. With his thriving construction business, Mr. Bayyari wound up serving on a regional planning board, joining the Rotary Club and even having an elementary school in nearby Springdale named for him. While he heard one accusatory comment after the Oklahoma City bombing, in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, he said, he received many calls from friends making sure he had not been insulted or attacked.I wonder if the principle of Fadil Bayyari Elementary School got fired right before it opened?
A few excerpts from a very interesting editorial by Mark LeVine:
Unlike Islam, Americans and Europeans have few if any negative stereotypes to overcome when engaging the Buddhist world of Southeast Asia. If we can't translate sympathy into political action in Myanmar, if Chinese, Indian and European investors continue to scramble over the bodies of the hundreds of dead protesters and President George W Bush once again backs enlightened rhetoric with toothless policies, what chance is there that the West, or the world more broadly, will do anything to support democracy or peace activists in Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine and other Muslim countries?LeVine astutely points to the Palestinian resistance as example of what can happen when non-violent resistance is suppressed. Let's hope that those working for non-violent resistance keep working in spite of the failure of the International Community to step up and support them, be they monks in Burma or those trying to carry the torch of MLK in Palestine.
From his cave in the no-man's land of the Hindu Kush, Osama bin Laden is surely cheering on the generals in Yangon. He knows that the monks are a far greater threat to al-Qaeda than the CIA. Across the Middle East and Africa, al-Qaeda is regrouping and growing, fed not merely by an irrational hatred of the United States and the West more broadly, but by the rational assessment by millions of Muslims that they will never win freedom or justice through non-violent means, because the world's powers will continue to put their economic and strategic interests - which are tied to the existing system and its local leaders - ahead of supporting the systemic transformation of the world's economy and political system that would be necessary to bring about real democracy and peace.
As I wrote about recently, there have been some positive, albeit tentative, movement in regards to the rights of migrant workers in Gulf State. I was even more encouraged when i found an article about a public awareness campaign in Saudi asking them to "be nice to your maid". However, as I read further in the article I found this little gem: Riyadh police teamed up with the Sri Lankan embassy in September to rescue a Sri Lankan maid who had telephoned the Arab News newspaper to say she had been imprisoned, abused and unpaid by her woman employer for at least seven years. Charge d'affaires at the Sri Lankan embassy W.S.M.S. Wijesundera told AFP the housemaid had reached a settlement with her employers under which they will pay more than 5,000 dollars and buy her a ticket home. Now, the story does not go into the details about the veracity of the Sri Lankan national's claims, but if they were even in the ballpark, a mere $5k for seven years of abuse and forced labor! Zero jail time! I don't care if that is a lot of money in her country, that is just wrong. I want to see the upside that the Arab News and the Riyadh police took action (they often don't), but really? $5k and a ticket? Wort of all the Saudi government has the temerity to downplay the situation and accuse Human Rights Watch of "exaggerating". With "penalties" like that, no wonder those Saudis with no morals are not exactly worried about the repercussions of their inhumane actions. In self defense, some domestic workers have resorted to witchcraft to make their employers like them (Translation: The husband got caught sleeping with the maid and this is the best explanation he could come up with).
I have been happy to see musicians like Kareem Salama, the Muslim country singer, and TIMZ, the "Chuck Norris is gonna get schooled" rapper getting some love in the media. Even Sami Yusuf's important work on Darfur is getting a fair amount of attention in the Muslim world and the West (as is co-headliner at the Muslim Live 8 concert Outlandish). There are however, stories that fly under the radar.
Pop and hip-hop stars can sometimes have a rough go of it in the Arab/Muslim world, but the criticisms are usually from fringe conservative elements and center on artists being too sexy or the artists being
