Last Tuesday, Al Jazeera’s The Opposite Direction with Faisal Al Qasem hosted Wafa Sultan and an Islamic cleric to discuss the reprinting of offensive cartoons of the prophet Mohammad. Sultan is pretty well-known for her strong anti-Islam opinions, which obviously made her an ideal participant in the fight club called The Opposite Direction, especially since she was up against an Islamic cleric.

Sultan expressed herself her usual way, and many Muslims watching the show were infuriated by her lack of diplomacy and insulting Islam and its figures. Then people demanded an apology of the station, Al Jazeera, because they accused the station of supporting anti-Islamism. Al Jazeera apologized, and the right wing everywhere rejoiced because it found another reason to diss Muslims and Arabs.

My opinion is as follows:

Al Jazeera had it coming. It really, really had it coming. A show like The Opposite Direction in particular should have been stopped a long time ago. It does not encourage dialogue but cockfighting. Al Qasem sits extreme opposites on one table and fuels their disputes. He ignites them if they calm, and he encourages screaming and name-calling under the guise of conversation. This show has always been on my hate list, and now I hate it more.

Since The Opposite Direction has FINALLY crossed some public red line, the show is now under scrutiny. The ‘normal’ people who used to watch it and cheer Al Qasem on are now rebuking him and saying the show is really no good. Unfortunately, they are not doing that for the right reasons (show achieves nothing but grow resentment, stupid fighting, etc.) but they are doing it anyway. They are also projecting what one show did (which they loved in the past, remember) on an entire station that they statistically still very much love.

Saying that Al Jazeera supports anti-Islamism is an old-new conspiracy theory which until now stood ungrounded. The Opposite Direction episode with Sultan gave reason for more people to believe it. Their logic is skewed, but so was their taste in the first place to admire a show like that.

Sultan is not a very diplomatic speaker when asked about Islam. I personally do not like her way of handling issues, and I think she does have certain biases and is not entirely fair. On the other hand, Al Qasem already knew this about her as he had hosted her previously and her videos are all over the internet. I am glad that finally Al Qasem received a wake-up call, albeit for all the wrong reasons.

What makes me sad is not what Sultan said, or what Al Qasem did, or anything related to Al Jazeera. What makes me sad is how some Arab people easily distort facts and call others ‘anti-Islam’ as simple as that. What’s Al Jazeera to do if it was hosting a debate about the prophet cartoons? Host two Islamic clerics and that’s it? It’s a ‘debate’ so it should have two or more different opinions! Why is the station itself being called anti-Islam? Must it always conform to one boring line of reporting taking the side of the majority?

I think part of the reason why some people easily accuse others when they are not 100% pleased with their ideas lies in our education and in the pressures that Arabs live under these days. Our education, for the most part, does not offer the ‘counter argument’ and if it does, it purposefully marginalizes it in favor of the more popular. The pressures on Arabs and Muslims in this day and age make them hypersensitive to anything foreign, as is to be expected, much like what happened in the United Stated after 9/11.

I find it fascinating how in this part of the world, people can still unite (almost) for a cause and can protest and make demands. It is more fascinating to me how they project their current internal problems on external threats, which may or may not be relevant. The uproars caused by the prophet cartoons and now Wafa Sultan have far outreached those caused, if any, by governmental corruption, high prices, bad planning, gender inequality, and any other day-to-day obstacle to progress in Jordan and the region. It makes me wonder about our real priorities because the heights these actions and reactions have reached are truly ridiculous.

Meh. The world is such a disappointing place with plenty of grey. What a sad, sad place to be.

To all commentators on a previous post who argued for and against comparing the Israeli atrocities to the holocaust, I found a relevant article:

A ‘holocaust’ for the Palestinians too

Hasan Abu Nimah

Israel and the Zionist movement have never permitted the word “holocaust” to be applied to any tragedy except that of the attempted annihilation of the Jews in Europe, perpetrated by the same countries that now look on indifferently at the suffering of the Palestinians.

Israel has tried to appropriate the debt rightly owed to Europe’s Jewish victims by their persecutors in the form of unconditional support and obedient silence, not only from the successor governments of those countries that harmed their Jewish citizens, but from everyone else in the world. In using the tragedy of European Jews for this manifestly narrow political purpose, the Zionist movement at the same time claims that keeping alive the memory of the Nazi holocaust and wider European collusion with it is a constant warning that such horrors should happen never again.

Thus, Palestinians who often complained that they alone had to bear the price of historical crimes that occurred in Europe early last century, including the destruction of their country and society, and the dispersal of the people into an excruciating exile, have been severely criticised if they ever dared to compare their own torment to that experienced by some of their Israeli tormentors at the hands of the Nazis.

Perceptions shifted suddenly, however, after Matan Vilnai, Israel’s deputy defence minister threatened the Palestinians with a “bigger shoah”, using the Hebrew word usually reserved to describe the Nazi holocaust. Immediately after that, Israel began a series of massacres, killing dozens of Palestinian civilians, as well as resistance fighters defending their beleaguered communities in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. At last it was an Israeli minister, a partner in crime, who gave Palestinians permission to refer to their tragedy as a “holocaust”.

For many, no other word can describe the debasement of human values, of common decency that allows Israel to treat the Palestinians like nothing more than millions of troublesome animals who must be kept in a zoo. Pity the world for what it has become, and for what still awaits its people!

It is painful, even revolting, in such dark times to reduce our concerns to mere haggling over what to call our calamities rather than to commit to halting and preventing them. How can we explain the shocking, damning impotence of the self-appointed “international community” as one of the mightiest armies in the world turns its full firepower on an occupied, refugee population, using tanks, fighter planes and missiles under the most ridiculous pretexts.

More…

مجلس النواب يدين المجازر الاسرائيلية فـي غزة

الاستنكارات تتواصل ازاءالعدوان الإسرائيلي على غزة

مجلس النواب يستهجن الصمت العربي إزاء أحداث غزة

دول العالم تدعو الى وقف العنف في غزة وتندد بسقوط الضحايا

I would also like to أستهجن و أشجب و أندد و أستنكر و أرفض و أدين this outrageous, inhumane, insufferable, unbelievable, atrocious, cannibalistic, internationally condoned, trivialized, Israeli operation in Gaza dubbed The Holocaust. You’d think a people who were so brutally oppressed and tortured and maimed and killed by the Nazis would not want to do the same to other nations. The fact on the ground says otherwise — they are doing exactly the same thing to another people. I suppose when a people are so profoundly maimed, they just have to take it out on others. Where is Freud when you need him, really?

The people who were killed in Gaza during the past few days were not all rocket-launchers. As a matter of fact, MOST of them were civilians, and many were children. The 116 dead, the 350 wounded, the 22 CHILDREN and 12 women dead and gone — did they all launch rockets targeting Israel? Of course not, but that is the classical Israeli excuse in global media. Collateral damage, that’s what they call them.

Bullshit.

Al Rai has graced its e-pages with a fascinating mix of science,90’s Jordanian culture, sexism, and mere retardedness courtesy of a certain Rania Tadrus.

Tadrus has sort of put together an article about smoking women in Jordan and how they are no longer embarrassed by the fact that they smoke, how they smoke in public and how they flaunt this once-taboo behavior with complete freedom.

So far so good. But then the article proceeds to quoting the most ridiculous statements such as these:

وتوضح ان الانفتاح وتوجه الفتيات نحو الدخان -سواء كان سيجارة أو ارجلية - يعود الى التأثر بالثقافات الاخرى، ويرتبط بعلو الأصوات التي تنادي بتحرر المرأة، خصوصا في ظل ثورة المعلومات .
وتتابع التدخين أمام العائلة خارج وداخل المنزل بات مؤشرا لاتجاه المجتمع نحو قيم وعادات غريبة بعيدة عن ثقافتنا العربية .

and

ولأخطر من ذلك وفق الدكتورة أيوب أن نضوج الفتاة يكتمل عند سن 25 عاما، فإذا بدأت التدخين في سن مراهقة متأخر تكون النتيجة حسب الدراسات العلمية، حدوث مشاكل في نضوج ونمو الجزء الأمامي من الدماغ، الذي يتحكم بالتصرفات والسلوكيات ،وطبعا هذا يفسر التصرفات غير المقبولة منهن .

and

ويحذر من خطورة الارجلية على أجسام النساء ويصفها بأنها موضة آخذة في الانتشار على نطاق واسع رغم خطورتها بسبب احتوائها على الملونات والأصباغ في المعسل وعدم الاحتراق الكامل ما يعد احد اسباب السرطانات

and the worst bit

اما مديرة مجموعة لينا للإبداع التربوي/ برنامج مكافحة التدخين ماويا حمّاد فتفسر إقبال النساء على التدخين لأسباب أساسية أهمها غياب التشريعات والعقوبات الفعّالة ،وكذلك سهولة الحصول عليها من حيث البيع وتواجدها في كل محل تقريبا ، إضافة إلى غياب القدوة الحسنة فالام تدخن مع بناتها وكذلك الأب عندما يطلب من ابنته اعداد الارجلية له

To sum it up, it turns out that smoking is a Western habit that Jordanian women are picking up, it causes them to behave in unacceptable ways if they pick it up before 25, it is a problem that is directly related to the increasing awareness of women’s rights, Narguile is a dangerous trend that is infesting women’s bodies with diseases, AND according to Mawya Hammad women who smoke do so because there are no regulations enforced to prevent them and because they have ready access to cigarettes coupled with lack of guidance.

I felt like I am living in the Middle Ages after reading that article, or perhaps back in the times where clerics and philosophers pondered the question of The Woman and if she has a soul. To have an article written by a woman, and featured like that in a national newspaper, is a scandal to Jordanian journalism I believe.

If the article is about smoking women in Jordan, who represent a 19% segment of our feminine population, then it should be unbiased and unsexist to say the least. Unless, of course, it aims to bash this segment, which it basically does.

I am amazed at the absence of a single word mentioning Jordanian male smokers. What is the percentage of that segment, do you think? (my guess is 50%+) How come all the negativity is directed at female smokers (Western habits, unacceptable behavior, no regulations, no guidance, etc) ?

Granted, smoking is not good for your health. I don’t care if you are a woman or a man or a goat, it will kill you eventually. I just find it absurd that this article would so portray women as if they are children who have been let out by accident and who are picking bad habits in the absence of parental control.

If an article of the same genre was written about male smokers in Jordan, would it have mentioned that they “have ready access to cigarettes” and “lack of guidance” and that they have adopted it as awareness of men’s rights started to emerge in Jordan, and with the same tone of this article? I very much doubt it.

It upsets me that even articles that fall under the “raising awareness” genre stoop to such a low level of sexism in this country. The sheer amount of bashing women smokers not because they smoke but because they are women who smoke in our society is outrageous. These articles mix science with witchcraft, so to speak.

These articles do not raise awareness as much as they raise anger and a feeling of inferiority in women. Why else would they be signaled out like that and a supposedly scientific article would mention their taboo behavior and quote people who say they are breaking with Jordan’s culture and traditions? I daresay the amount of anger this article has produced in me might push me to burn a packet today.

Now where’s that awareness it was supposed to raise?

Thousands of Turks marched towards Ataturk’s grave protesting a law draft that permits veiled Muslim girls to attend Turkish universities and colleges. The news is in English over here.

If I were in Turkey, I would not have marched with them. For a country to be truly respectful of human rights, and to be secular, it must not interfere with the religious practices of its people. Granted, the laws governing their lives should not stem from any particular religion or enforce religious doctrine, but to prevent someone from wearing a veil to school? To destroy a person’s educational prospects just because she chooses, or is forced to, cover her hair? That is the epitome of discrimination.

Let the girls in universities, Turkey! You can’t force them to discard their beliefs to get an education! Don’t become another right-wing France!

Perhaps the angry protesters fear the rise of political Islam in their country, and see that allowing veiled woman into universities will help spread it. But, news flash, Turkey is 99% Muslim! Obviously not every person tagged as Muslim is an actual one, but the situation in Turkey is ridiculous if only for this percentage.

I have long been amazed at the sheer discrimination, the phobia, many people have towards veiled women. I see that everyday through my experiences both as a veiled and a “sufoor” young woman in Jordan. Why doesn’t the world want to accept veiled women for who they are? Why not interact with them like normal human beings instead of looking down upon them as inferior, caged slaves? Read more about discrimination against veiled women here and also here.

This issue really upsets me beyond words.

I missed Beowulf at the movies, so in a trip to the DVD store I found it there and bought it some four weeks ago. When I got home, I discovered that I did not buy the correct Beowulf movie. I had purchased a movie called Beowulf and Grendel instead. But no problem, I thought, I will watch it anyway.

Beowulf and Grendel was released in 2006, as I later found out when I googled it. The scenery and cinematography were breathtaking but everything else was mediocre for lack of a stronger word. The minute I pressed Play I was lost. I could not understand the story, at all! Thankfully, I know the myth of the hero Beowulf and so knew what to expect, but even that did not really help much. The plot was jumbled, the dialogue unintelligible, and the order of events really, really, illogical. I could not follow.

But of course, I had to challenge myself and force her to watch for some time. I figured maybe things will get better and I will start understanding them. I reminded myself of the time I was reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, when I forced myself time and again to read through the first quarter of the book, denying that I just could not grasp what was going on, only to curse the book and discard it later. I distinctly remember that the following day, upon telling my wise Italian professor about this my ordeal, he smiled and said: “la vita è troppo corta per un libro brutto” — life is too short to waste on a bad book.

Likewise, I eventually gave up on Beowulf and Grendel.

Later on, I got Beowulf, the 2007 production featuring the genius Sir Anthony Hopkins. The movie was loads better than Beowulf and Grendel, I enjoyed it but I expected it to be more profound. Events picked up very quickly after Beowulf slaughtered Grendel, and his relationship with Grendel’s mother was not altogether clear until the end of the movie. The animation was brilliant, but I would have preferred the movie to be un-animated and played out by the actual actors (especially Hopkins).

All in all, Beowulf did not meet my expectations. If I were to rate it, I would give it a 6.5/10, and I am being generous because Hopkins was in it. Hello, Clarice.

I am so very disappointed after watching the finale of LBC’s World Bellydance Championship. The winner, Estelle, did not deserve to win in this episode as far as I saw. Layla, the Ukrainian dancer, did extremely well and she was outrageously discriminated against by the judges who kept on repeating the same old tired lines: she can’t speak Arabic, she doesn’t have the bellydance gene (supposedly this is born with Arabs, HAH!?), she didn’t sing with the song. Rubbish!!! Layla was stellar tonight, but unfortunately, the judges were too biased to notice.

Rana didn’t win, obviously, and neither did Fadwa although she got a very good result but as I expected she didn’t do well enough. Suffice to say that the jury was blatantly biased. What a shame to waste the value of a show like this in the very final episode! It’s a massive anticlimax; I am angry!

I also have a bone to pick with the producers of this finale. What on earth was Saeed Murad doing there? A DJ and bellydancers? What? I mean, seriously. I let it slip when they had the girls dance to some crazy African beat, but this, in the FINAL episode no less, was stupid. The final episode should have been about classical bellydancing, leave the revolutionary evolutionary humbug to other episodes. Not the finale. Ugh.

Here are two video clips showing the final bellydance duo faceoff:

Estelle vs. Rana:

Fadwa vs. Layla:

After tonight’s World Bellydance Championship (هزي يا نواعم) there remains only one prime: the finale. Five dancers were reduced to four tonight with Syrian Sandra leaving the show, finally.

When the show started off, I expected Sandra to get booted in the first prime because she could not dance if her life depended on it. But since she has a double-D bosom she remained, with Simon Asmar clearly indicating the generosity of her bodily features in every prime and giving her 6’s or 7’s on really mediocre performances. My theory is that they wanted to keep her in the competition because she was bringing them the most viewers. But tonight since only one prime is left, people will watch it anyway out of curiosity and Miss.Booby can leave, so they ditched her. That’s show business politics for you.

Here are my impressions of the four finalists:

Fadwa

I find Fadwa too aggressive for my taste, but she is a brilliant dancer nonetheless. She has never failed to impress the jury and is versatile enough to jive with any beat. I expect her to compete over first place. Ironically, I danced with her tonight, mimicking her every move, and to my astonishment I kept up with her. This means she needs to step her game up for the finale.

Layla

Never underestimate a foreign bellydance aficionado.This gorgeous Ukrainian dancer keeps getting better and better every week. Her last week’s performance (dancing on the darbukka, or tableh) was so passionate and beautiful and perfect. I have never seen something quite like it myself, and I have seen a LOT of bellydancing. Layla wants to learn Arabic, any volunteers?

Estelle

Estelle has many things going for her; the jury likes her, she’s tall, and she does exceptionally well in improvisation. I don’t know what it is about her though that I do not digest; maybe the height and skinniness, or it could be that I feel she’s more technical than passionate on stage, unlike Fadwa and Layla, for example.

Rana

I love Rana. She looks so nerdy when they do the small video clips of her before the dance, with her geeky glasses on and casual wear. But when she appears on stage she is a total diva. She’s very sensual and sweet and her dancing is fantastic and well-timed. I like her the best BUT I don’t think she will compete over first place because Estelle and Fadwa and Layla are way more aggressive than she is. Maybe she will give it her all next week, you never know. I would gladly become Rana’s best friend - call me, Rana!

Those were my impressions. I expect the show will have a sequel next season with many many more girls participating and a lot more respect from the general public. For now though, I can hardly wait for the finale!

It fascinates me how very extremely sexual the spam I receive has become. I always get emails asking me to “be better endowed” and revealing that “yes, size does matter” and that “she will never have enough of you.” Then they follow that the only way to be a healthy functional “man” is to purchase some penile performance enhancement drugs manufactured by a number of abused topless men in a sweatshop in Malaysia.

Who told these people I was a man anyway? I am fed up with receiving these types of messages on a daily basis, although I don’t even have to deal with them as they immediately get trashed in my spam folder. Still, it is disturbing to think that, in an age where spam has stood its ground (and more) and has become so intelligent as to bypass detectors, it still cannot detect the gender of its targets.

I mean gender is pretty obvious, yeah? It’s easy to judge who’s a man and who’s a woman, also who’s not man or woman but something in between. If it is so, then why can’t spam do that? Isn’t spam the Microbe of The Century, so invincibly intelligent it has magical access to all our emails and blogs and mail boxes?

Another point I am intrigued by in these sexual spam messages is the emphasis on “manhood” being almost entirely limited to one’s size. They also tend to emphasize that whoever has the Magical Pill will never, ever, have any relationship problems. It really must be magical because some people consider a relationship to be more than a prolonged erection that just won’t go away unless you see your doctor about it.

But when I think of it, if a certain percentage of spam messages did not achieve success, spam would not still be alive today. It makes me wonder really, who would buy a drug off their Spam folder from a message titled “No more being shy of your manhood” and sent by Lisa XxX?

Seriously, who?