The New York Times has a nice long article about a new production of the classic Azerbaijani opera “Layla and Majnun,” a collaboration between Azerbaijani musicians and the Silk Road Ensemble, Yo-Yo Ma’s “international music collective.”
Author: issandr
Arab erectile dysfunction ads
Hat tip Mango Girl for this Saudi ad for a Viagra type drug:
She has more videos too…
Gamal in DC again
This report in Masri al-Youm says Gamal Mubarak is planning to speak at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and at the Council of Foreign Relations this week. Some of the meetings are closed-door, apparently, so if any DC-based Arabist reader is attending, we’d love to hear of anything interesting Gamal has to say (anonymity guaranteed if desired!)
The background for this trip to the US is that adds to the long-term trend of Gamal taking a more active role in representing Egypt in DC, especially ahead of this month’s door-knock mission of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (an occasion for influential businessmen to lobby Congress on economic and political relations with Egypt) and the expectation that Hosni Mubarak could be making his first trip to Washington in five years as Egypt mends its political relationship with the new Obama administration. Of course, presidential succession is as ever the hot topic, but it’ll be interesting to see whether Gamal stakes out positions on regional and security issues as well as his more traditional economic turf.
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Links for February 28th
Links from my del.icio.us account for February 28th:
- Can Israel make peace with Syria without leaving Golan? – Haaretz – Israel News – In which the various previous tries and likely future attempts at achieving this are explained.
- Top Syria-based Hamas leader secretly visits Gaza – Did Egypt let Moussa Abu Marzouk into Gaza and back?
- Those two months made all the difference – Marc Lynch reminds us that not too long ago many were boo-hissing Obama's pullout of Iraq plan: "The process has really been amazing to watch. Obama consulted widely, commissioned a whole range of strategic reviews, and listened carefully to the commanders on the ground. And the result was that he built a wide internal and public consensus for essentially the same policy which not too terribly long ago was viewed in polite circles as irresponsible, naive, and reckless. The SOFA certainly helped in this regard, since it had already committed Bush and the U.S. military to the principle of withdrawal. But still, watching Republicans and the Washington Post editorial page falling over themselves to associate themselves with what is essentially the same Iraq withdrawal plan they used to savage is a sight to behold — if it was just two months that made the difference, think of all the trouble we could have saved ourselves."
- Think like an Egyptian – Haaretz – Israel News – Akiva Eldar, on a visit to Cairo, looks at Egyptian annoyance with Israel's weathervane government on the 'Giladayn' affair.
- Just like us they are born and die – The National Newspaper – Lalila Lalami on al-Tayyib Salih.
Links February 26th to February 28th
Links from my del.icio.us account for February 26th through February 28th:
- Inanities: Akunt – Sarah Carr's account of the dismal failure that was the Akon concert in Cairo.
- The Daily Star – Opinion Articles – A framework for an enhanced international role in Gaza – Ezzedine Choukri offers suggestions on how the international community should approach Gaza's reconstruction and push for Palestinian reconciliation.
- British author: Rabin asked Jordan to arrange secret visit with Saddam – Haaretz – Israel News – "In early summer 1995, a few months before his assassination, prime minister Yitzhak Rabin asked Jordan's King Hussein to approach Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on his behalf and arrange a joint visit by Rabin and Hussein to Baghdad, according to Nigel Ashton, author of "King Hussein: A political Life" (Yale University Press). "
- Cavafy read out on NYRB – Daniel Mendelsohn reads three selections from his new translation of Cavafy: "Nero's Deadline," "One of Their Gods," and "Myres: Alexandria in 340 AD." [MP3]
- Middle East and North Africa – Update on the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Arab Countries – World Bank sees return of migrant workers from GCC, weakening social safety nets in non-oil export high population countries, leading to rising social pressures on governments.
Noxious flies of Palestine
I am tempted to make a bitter comment on this, but will refrain.
tabsir.net » Lithographica Arabica 6: Rev. Wood’s Bible Animals, 3.
Links February 25th to February 26th
Links from my del.icio.us account for February 25th through February 26th:
- Why hasn’t America been attacked since 9/11? – By Timothy Noah – Slate Magazine – Slate series looks at different theories for why there has been no repeat of 9/11.
- CorpWatch : US: Bad Reception – Corruption at al-Hurra
- Jordan’s cabinet shuffle | Marc Lynch – Abu Aardvark does Jordan Kremlinology
- Muslim Publics Oppose Al Qaeda’s Terrorism, But Agree With Its Goal of Driving US Forces Out – World Public Opinion – New opinion poll on Muslim attitudes towards US, terrorism, Islamists. Interesting to note that in Egypt they were not allowed to ask the question on the acceptability of Islamist participation in politics (I believe polls must get security clearance first.)
- What’s wrong with America? Case in point: Richard Perle | Stephen M. Walt – "Richard Perle is a liar," says Walt. I like his very un-Washingtonian frankness.
- Washing machine timer used in Cairo bomb blast which killed French teenager | Mail Online – Method similar to homemade bombs used in Sinai bombings, typical of low-tech terrorism.
- Former peace negotiators urge world to engage with Hamas – Haaretz – Israel News – DeSoto, Ben Ami and other former peace negotiators say don't be stupid, talk to Hamas
- Why the diplomats are having a hard time explaining Dennis Ross’s job – By Laura Rozen | The Cable – More on the Ross appointment.
- Egypt investigating Hamas links to Cairo blast targeting Westerners – Most dubious.
- Baird wants US to reassess aid to Israel | International | Jerusalem Post – We need more of this happening.
- 362 – Greek To Me: Mapping Mutual Incomprehension « Strange Maps – Hard to explain, but fun.
- 10,000 Days – Ten thousand days of Mubarak as president!
- Debate Over Ross Title – POMED recaps Ross debate: "envoy" vs. "advisor", geographic reach…
- Dubai welcomes Israeli tennis star – They should have just not let him in – sounds like an awful game: "After he was met off his flight by armed guards, Ram was taken to his hotel and was not allowed to use his mobile phone. The 200 or so spectators arriving to watch the match, played on a court with seating at only one end, were required to leave their cameras and water bottles outside, undergo a search and pass through metal detectors, delaying the start by half an hour." He lost.
- PREVIEW: The Path of Realism or the Path of Failure – Elliott Abrams channels Bibi, gives Salam Fayyad praise he surely does not want, peddles Jordanian option and Gaza is Egyptian solution. Even the sabotage of the Bush administration was not enough for him!
- ‘I know it will be a fierce battle’ – The National Newspaper – Nadia Abou el-Magd interviews Ayman Nour.
“Enemy” Arab books in Israel
Interesting article on the difficulties of Arab book-sellers in Israel in getting Arab-language books published in Lebanon, Syria, etc. (countries still officially at war with Israel) into the country. The Israeli authorities recently invoked a British-mandate-era law called the “Trade with the Enemy Ordinance” to ban these books. The case is now in the courts. It’s important because it affects the cultural horizons of Israel’s million-plus Arab population.
Of course, as part of their ongoing cultural boycott of the state of Israel, I don’t think Arab countries let any books published in Israel in.
(Thanks, Sumita)
Links for February 24th
Links from my del.icio.us account for February 24th:
- Amnesty calls for arms embargo of Israel and Hamas – Calls on Obama to suspend military aid. Amnesty's got balls of steel, HRW tiny private parts.
- Kerry fears Hamas cooties | FP Passport – Hullabaloo over a stupid letter – US officials afraid to read Hamas missive.
- One Big Unhappy Family – The New York Review of Books – Fred Halliday reviews Steve Coll's 'The Bin Ladens': "To read Coll's book is to enter a universe of perpetual movement and deal-making, but one in which little, if anything, is recorded or written down, where power and money are distributed by means of kin networks, informal gatherings of influential Saudi males, and the mobile phone. The Bin Ladens is not so much a book about Osama bin Laden himself, or his terrorist network and political aspirations, as about the power structures of modern Saudi Arabia."
- Daily News Egypt – IN FOCUS: WHO IS BEHIND THE AL HUSSEIN BLAST? – Khalil al-Anani offers hypothesis on people behind recent Cairo attack being lone amateurs inspired by radical salafism.
- Le Figaro – International : Attentat du Caire : les amis de Cécile, 17 ans, traumatisés – On victim of Cairo bombing
- Dennis Ross appointed special U.S. adviser to Persian Gulf – Haaretz – Israel News – Ross, who is a skeptic to say the least on engaging Iran, to be Obama's pointman on engaging Iran.
Iraq National Museum re-opens
More than half of the collection is still missing. But:
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki pushed to reopen the museum, against the advice of his own Culture Ministry, as a sign of Iraqi progress. Symbol it was, and symbol it remains — not only of how much Iraq has improved, but of how far it has to go.