Month: October 2006

Tunisia threatens Moncef Marzouki

The following is a translation of a message by Tunisian rights activist Moncef Marzouki, sent to me by my friend (exiled Tunisian activist) Kamel Labidi:

Communiqué

On 14 October, I appeared on Al Jazeera to discuss the situation of complete deadlock in which Tunisia has been for years, under the ruthless grip of an ever-worsening police state. I said that the only possible answer for a population tired of repression and corruption is to begin a civil resistance movement using all peaceful means available to demand its rights and its freedom.

I also also announced that I would return to my country on 21 October to be with my fellow Tunisians in their struggle for democracy.

Yesterday the Tunisian authorities delivered to my (empty) home in Sousse, and to my brother, a subpoena to present myself in front of a judge on 21 October to face a grotesque accusation: incitation to violence.

It is clear that this subpoena (the latest of many) seeks to punish me for the position I have taken and especially to intimidate me so that I will return home.

After much thought and consulting with friends, I have decided to return to Tunisia on 21 October as planned, to take all risks, to continue my call to Tunisians to refuse to submit to a regime that has deprived them of their liberties and their fundamental rights.

Dr. Moncef Marzouki
President of the Congress for the Republic (banned party)

I will be out of internet reach on 21 October, but will post a follow-up as soon as I can.
Continue reading Tunisia threatens Moncef Marzouki

Blunkett backed strike on Al Jazeera in Baghdad

I haven’t followed this story, but got this in my inbox yesterday from Al Jazeera:

Press Release
For Immediate Release

Al Jazeera Denounces former British Home Secretary’s Statements

DOHA, QATAR – October 18th, 2006: It is with great disappointment that the journalists and staff of Al Jazeera have received statements made recently by former British Home Secretary, David Blunkett. In an interview with Channel Four, Mr Blunkett – who was a member of the war cabinet during the Iraq invasion – admits that he advised Prime Minister Tony Blair to attack Al Jazeera’s Baghdad office.

Mr Blunkett justifies his position by saying that “I don’t think that there are targets in a war that you can rule out because you don’t actually have military personnel inside them if they are attempting to win a propaganda battle on behalf of your enemy.” Al Jazeera Network is outraged at such an attitude toward the free press. We are troubled by the fact that the former Home Secretary’s advice came only two weeks before the actual bombing of Al Jazeera’s Baghdad office, which resulted in the death of our reporter, Tareq Ayoub, and the destruction of our facilities.

As an international news organization, Al Jazeera Network is obliged by law to address its employees’ increasing concerns for their very lives. We find Mr. Blunkett’s allegations and position to be irresponsible and dangerous not only for Al Jazeera but for the freedom of media everywhere in the world. Given the weight of Mr. Blunkett’s statements we strongly urge Prime Minister Blair for a clarification of this matter in alignment with the tenants of freedom and democracy which they advocate. Al Jazeera is in consultation with its lawyers and pursuing next steps in the matter.

What this doesn’t say is whether Blunkett’s advice was heeded by Tony Blair, or whether Blair or Bush personally approved an attack on Al Jazeera’s office in Baghdad, which killed several people.

What’s the difference between Shia and Sunni?

Several readers have emailed in this NYT story about how many US officials involved in the Iraq operations and the Global War on Terror (or is it Extremism these days?) are unable to answer the question, “what’s the difference between Sunni and Shia?”

Well of course it is rather worrying that, at this stage in the game, many people who should don’t seem to have even a basic inkling of what the fitna is all about. Even if it’s a complicated topic, you would assume they would at least know about where each kind is found, some basic differences in the way they are organized, and a little historic background about early Islam. No one’s asking them to memorize the name of the twelve imams.

But it seems to me that concern about what they don’t know is rather besides the point compared to the idea that you need to have a lot of competent managers who know these things. The United States and its officials should not be trying to run an empire in the Islamic world, and these officials should not be expected to have intricate knowledge of the natives in the same way that a British colonial officer in India might have in the early 20th century. They should not be putting themselves in that position in the first place.

Gamal on wasta

I am hearing that a couple of days ago, when Gamal Mubarak was hosting his Geel al-Mustaqbal (Future Generation) NGO iftar, he urged young people to fight against the phenomenon of wasta, i.e. connections used to get jobs or favors.

I say lead by example.

BBC poll: One third support torture

A BBC survey in 25 countries on the usage of torture showed some depressing results. One third of those surveyed insisted torture could be used in prison on circumstances.

More than 27,000 people in 25 countries were asked if torture was acceptable if it could provide information to save innocent lives.

In Egypt, according to the poll, 65% voted against employing all sorts of torutre, while 25% saw it legitimate under “some circumstances.”

Egyptian citizen from Arish, Mohamed Sharif, tortured and sexually abused by police 2006

And surprise, surprise:

Israel has the largest percentage of those polled endorsing the use of a degree of torture on prisoners, with 43% saying they agreed that some degree of torture should be allowed.

You can read the full BBC report here.

Related link: Egyptian police abuse videos

a plague upon them

One of the little devices that helps me get through the month is ticking up how many stories in the Atlantic Monthly annoy me. When I hit a certain number (yet to be determined), I’m going to cancel my subscription.

This piece scored a tick.

Headlined “Carriers of conflict� it outlines one of the unpleasant side effects of America’s most recent military adventure: the mass movement of people out of Iraq.

Now, there’s some interesting factoids in the piece. 700,000 Iraqi refugees now in Jordan? A quick Google doesn’t make it clear where this number comes from. UNHCR? Right. A year ago apparently they had recognized 800. Last year the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants put the number at 450,000 and noted the inflow was increasing. But anyway, there’s a hell of a lot of them.

The annoying part comes in the intro, where authors Dan Byman and Ken Pollack pontificate on the root cause of instability and violence in the Middle East:

where large numbers of refugees go, instability and war closely follow… Palestinian refugees, who with their descendants number in the millions, have been a source of regional violence and regime change for decades.

Ouch! According to the Byman and Pollock, these wanton troublemakers:

helped provoke the 1956 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars [then] turned against their hosts and catalyzed a civil war in Jordan (1970–71) and in Lebanon (1975–90) [and, like that wasn’t enough shit disturbing] … contributed to coups by militant Arab nationalists in Egypt, Iraq, and Syria.

Wow. Busy little pests those Palestinians. I think they caused the plumbing in my building to get all gummed up last week as well.

Oddly, Israel is mentioned only once in the discussion of Palestinian refugees (as a victim of Palestinian aggression!) and the US is never mentioned at all in the discussion of Iraqi refugees.

But on second thought, it’s not really odd is it?

Make that two ticks.

the politics of offense

London.jpg
Jack Straw mentions the palpably obvious—that, in London, covering your body from head to toe in an impenetrable black gown and peering at the world through a slit the size of a pack of cards tends to separate you from those around you—and is characterized as a racist anti-Muslim bigot.

The irony, of course, is that the niqab is intended to separate.

But that aside, the hullabaloo is a bit hard to understand at first, at least when you’re reading this stuff in Cairo.

Here, where the idea of freedom of religion is a sour joke unless you’re a Sunni Muslim, where racism (anti-black, anti-Jewish primarily) enjoys easy acceptance and where turning up to a demo to denounce a government figure will get you a date with a frustrated little man in Lazoughly who thinks a rolled up magazine is sex toy.

Now, Britain is replete with pasty-faced racists with angry little mouths who still spout the modern equivalent of “the WOGs begin at Dover.” (“They hate our freedom” being one of the more popular these days).

And maybe leaders like MCB General Secretary Muhammad Abdul Bari, who characterized Straw’s remarks as part of a “barrage of demonization,” see sparking a vigorous public debate on minority rights as a healthy way to define their constituency’s position in a modern multicultural society and a contribution to making sure that Great Britain doesn’t become as antagonistic to diversity and dissent as, say for example, Egypt.

But maybe, sadly, it’s just that they’ve finally learned something from the ADL and AIPAC: take offense early, take offense often.

The Cairo Trilogy on BBC Radio

A big thank you to reader Marwa for alerting me to a BBC Radio rendition of Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy, featuring the great Omar Sharif and my friend Ihab Sakkout (he’s also great):

The Cairo Trilogy, part 1 of 3

By Naguib Mahfouz, dramatised by Ayeesha Menon

Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawab, a prosperous shopkeeper, is a tyrant at home who terrorises his wife and two daughters and keeps them in strict seclusion behind the house’s latticed windows. But outside the home he is a serial womaniser with an appetite for plump, middle-aged singers.

The First World War is ending, and then there is a popular uprising in March 1919, when the eldest son Fahmy joins the nationalist cause.

Recorded entirely in Cairo.

Old Kamal …… Omar Sharif
Young Kamal …… Karim Fouda
Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawab …… Ihab Sakkout
Amina …… Caroline Khalil
Fahmy …… Mena Reda
Yasin …… Tamer Nasrat
Miriam …… Ola Roshdy

Music by Sacha Puttnam; producer/director John Dryden.

I’ll try to record them and post them for iPod enjoyment.

Update: 68MB MP3 file available here. Not great quality, unfortunately. Min babak?

52 Ain Shams University workers on strike

Fifty two civil servants and workers are currently on a sit-in at the Ain Shams University Campus, after the administration’s decision to cut down their basic monthly salary from LE220 (US$38) to LE134 (US$23.3), according to Kefaya’s website.

The workers tried without success to meet the University’s dean, so they went on strike, and are refusing to leave the campus despite threats from the security.

Journalists, detainees’ wives demonstrate in Cairo

Dozens of wives of Islamist detainees demonstrated today in front of the Lawyers’ Syndicate, Downtown Cairo, to protest their husbands continuous detention by the Interior Ministry. Some of them have been in jails without trial since the 1980s.

Detainees' wives demo (Photos by Nasser Nouri)

Meanwhile, a handful of Muslim Brothers journalists demonstrated in front of the Press Syndicate, protesting the closure of the group-affiliated paper, Afaq Arabiya, seven months ago by the government. The journalists posed as vegetable sellers, to symbolize their financial difficulties. “We are left with nothing but selling vegetables ya hokouma,” they were shouting.

Afaq Arabiya Journalists' Demo

Recommended Book:
Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam