The Middle East: A place with a lot of laughs, very bitter laughs

An old (and very popular) verse of old poetry that reads as follows in Arabic:

" كم ذا بمصر من المضحكات ---------- لكنه ضحك كالبكا "

It is translated from Arabic somewhat similar to the following:

For, in Egypt, there is a lot to laugh about ...

... but your laughter will sound more like crying.

This is not the case in Egypt only. The whole Middle East is a fulfillment of that centuries-old poetic verse. Many of the world's nations are filled with stupidity, poverty, greed and abuse. But the Middle East is special: it is where the depressing state of affairs goes hand in hand with the delusion of grandeur amongst the mighty rulers, and total despair amongst the people.
That despair is what immerses people is material hedonism or religious fatalism, and in some cases, a weird mix of both.
And with total thought control over everything, political cartoon and street-wise jokes have traditionally been the only venues for anything resembling expression of opinion.
The British Guardian Online has published a collection of political cartoons by several eminent cartoonist, and below is a small selection that I found very thoughtful, and painful. to see the full collection, please check the Guardian Online web site.

The comments next to the pictures are mine.

This will resonate with a lot of people here (in the US), as much as in the middle East.

You can easily apply this to most of the Arab world countries.

The next 2 cartoons are from Palestine: both are very deep and very sad.

The Graduation Party.

And finishing with this one:

To see the whole collection click here.
And for an article about it, click below:

Through a cartoon darkly
An exhibition of cartoons on the Middle East exposes the corruption, torture, venality and oppression common to region. By Ian Black for the British Guardian.

'Hussein' may end up being a popular middle name after all

Is something wrong with being a Muslim??
We all know by now how the dirty republican-initiated email campaign against Barack Obama tried to use his middle name, Hussein, as part of their scare tactics. Many Muslims and even non-Muslims, felt he should have been more forceful not only denouncing using his Muslim middle name as part of a scare tactic, but also making it clear that he would have been as happy, as proud, as American even if he were a Muslim. Basically, declaring that nothing is wrong with being a Muslim.
He did not come out personally saying it that strongly and most Muslims are familiar with the realities of life in the public arena especially when you want to make it to the oval office. SO, they are not holding grudges against him.
But something good is still likely to come out of the horrible 'smear attempt' using his own middle name against the Democratic presidential nominee. Their dirty tactics may have backfired!

A lot of Obama's fans and supporters are younger, more diverse, more tolerant and inclusive than many of the traditional 'hard-core conservatives' whose claim to conservatism is not their fiscal and governmental ideals, but their exclusiveness, xenophobia and racism.

The New York Times online today had an article titled Obama Supporters Take His Name as Their Own.

Emily Nordling has never met a Muslim, at least not to her knowledge. But this spring, Ms. Nordling, a 19-year-old student from Fort Thomas, Ky., gave herself a new middle name on Facebook.com, mimicking her boyfriend and shocking her father.

Out of support for Obama, and I think as they believe that inherently nothing is wrong with having a Muslim name, some younger people are adopting Hussein as a middle name. As a Muslim, I really admire what they are doing. They do not only talk the talk -- they also walk the walk.

“I am sick of Republicans pronouncing Barack Obama’s name like it was some sort of cuss word,” Mr. Strabone wrote in a manifesto titled “We Are All Hussein” that he posted on his own blog and on dailykos.com.

The result is a group of unlikely-sounding Husseins: Jewish and Catholic, Hispanic and Asian and Italian-American, from Jaime Hussein Alvarez of Washington, D.C., to Kelly Hussein Crowley of Norman, Okla., to Sarah Beth Hussein Frumkin of Chicago.

It is one thing to say that it is a shame to pick on someone because of their Muslim name, but it is a whole different ball game when you put yourself literally on the same fire line that they face. I am certain many of those brave young souls are expecting getting hard time from their families, teachers, and even others they may not know.

Jeff Strabone of Brooklyn now signs credit card receipts with his newly assumed middle name, while Dan O’Maley of Washington, D.C., jiggered his e-mail account so his name would appear as “D. Hussein O’Maley.”
Alex Enderle made the switch online along with several other Obama volunteers from Columbus, Ohio, and now friends greet him that way in person, too.

This is not the first time non-Muslims have walked the extra mile in Muslim's shoes. Nearly two years ago a young Muslim student was harassed on her university campus for wearing the Islamic head cover (Hijab) and her scarf was pulled of her head by some racist Islamophobic idiots on campus. In support of that young lady, non-Muslim young women decided to have a 'Wear a Hijab to School' day. They put themselves on the line to see and feel for themselves what a Muslim woman may go through facing bigotry sometimes on daily basis.

Unfortunately that also reminds me of how we, Muslims, sometimes hide our affiliation with Islam as if it were a spot of shame. Many workers in public venues 'abbreviate' their Muslim names for the 'convenience' of their customers. And we all know Muslims with 'anglicized' nick names used in work places. I have seen Muslims that are regular at mosques, yet would not dare to have a car sticker that says 'Muslims Denounce Terrorism'.
A good friend of mine was chastised by attendees at his own mosque when he tried to take some pictures at an event we organized at a St. Louis mosque for an online report on the event. Mature adults Muslim who happened to be in the general direction of where the camera was pointing was afraid of having his face among the audience in a public event at a mosque he attends regularly.
Incidents like those, and the fear that some of us live in, motivated me to call for a community wide Muslim Visibility Campaign that was the beginning of my online effort a year ago. Like most of our Muslim community based campaigns, it did go far (see here for a report on the kick off event that ended being the one and only event.

Sorry for digressing. Any way, back to NYT article:

Some Obama supporters say they were moved to action because of what their own friends, neighbors and relatives were saying about their candidate. Mark Elrod, a political science professor at Harding University in Searcy, Ark., is organizing students and friends to declare their Husseinhood on Facebook on Aug. 4, Mr. Obama’s birthday.

My great respect goes to those young and old non-Muslims who are willing to take a stand for what they believe in.
And one more time I will pray for our community to mature, and maybe one day we can do that too.

Khaled

Links:

• Obama Supporters Take His Name as Their Own - The New York Times.
• 'Muslims denounce terrorism' - the campaign logo. (I still have many of those sticker if any one is interested!!
• Muslim Visibility Campaign - A little essay I wrote on the need and rationale of a community wide Muslim visibility effort.

Coexistence and mutual respect: it is never too early to teach them

By Khaled Hamid

Special to the Post-Dispatch

As a father I know I can never be sure if my children are going to adopt my religious beliefs or not. I am praying that they would see the beauty in my religion, Islam, as much as I see it. But in the end they will have to find their own path. This is the way I want them to be anyway. Being part of a religion just because you were brought up within that religion does not make you a believer. Making your own informed, free-will decision to actively subscribe to a belief system is what you will be rewarded for, as least to my simple mind.

The one thing that I definitely believe that parents succeed in ‘indoctrinating' their children in -- mostly subconsciously -- is the concept of coexistence, tolerance and respect for ‘the others'. The early-age teaching of, and more importantly practicing and living, those principles would have a more lasing impact that would transcend any religious dogma you impose on you children.

This is not to say that learning to respect and tolerate others cannot be learned at an older age, but it is amazing how easy it is to gain it, or lose it, early on.

These thought came to me after a family friend of ours showed be a book called My Muslim friend: A young Catholic learns about Islam. This is a beautiful book, esthetically and content-wise. It is written by Sister Donna Jean Kemmetmueller, FSP (Daughters of Saint Paul) and forwarded by Reverend Canon Francis V. Tiso, Ph.D., Associate director of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

It is a fairly short book that teaches a tremendous amount of facts about Islam, Christianly and Catholicism as part of a simple story of friendship between a Muslim girl, Aisha, and her Catholic friend, Mary.

The scope of facts and concepts covered by the book is amazing. The content is likely to have more information than most of us have ever known about another religion, and sometimes about our own. Yet, the language is simple and would easily be understood by children as young as 7 or 8 years. I bet, younger kids can understand most of it too if it is read to them by a parent of a teacher.

Presenting serious facts about two great religions, their roots, many core beliefs, rituals, similarities as well as differences, in the context of a simple friendship between two adolescent girls is likely a high yield platform to get the young ones into the proper mind set; not just ‘tolerating others' but actually ‘accepting them' as friends, neighbors and as brother and sisters.

The book is dedicated by Sister Donna to "Randa Kuziez, my Muslim friend". Randa is wonderful young lady that the Muslim community of St. Louis is lucky to have. She is a dedicated and talented person with strong history of activism, locally and nationally. I am proud to have been a co-guest with her on Don Marsh's St. Louis On The Air in September of 2007. The interview is still on KWMU site. Take a look at it to get a feeling how impressive that young lady is.

The forward, by Reverend Canon Francis V. Tiso, is worth reading on its own. It starts with this paragraph:

"There is an old proverb that states, ‘those who fail to study the past will be condemned to repeat it.' Less known, but equally neglected, would be the reverse side of that proverb: ‘Those who fail to plan for the future will have none.'"

It also concludes with this simple and elegant prayer:

"May this small book be for our children a first step on a hopeful journey."

Amen to that.

Khaled

A simple 'Search & Replace' would have changed the Iraq war outcome!

This is one situation where I wish history repeated itself.
After the bloody battles of the World War II, the US took over total control of the conquered nations, namely Germany and Japan. Less than 2 decades after the war, both countries were truly democratic, and moreover, both were formidable economic forces that looked like they would rival their occupier, the USA.
How the USA handled the defeated nations that killed hundreds of thousands of American, and caused the loss of tens of millions of civilian lives everywhere they ventured, is an example that, unfortunately, modern day America could not bother to follow in Iraq or Afghanistan.
A previous post of mine presented and article by Brian O'Malley in the Washington Post that showed how George Washington instructed his military leaders on handling occupied people. The article I am presenting below is a more recent one from the time of WWII.
Recently, the National Archives declassified a secret memo that had been prepared for FDR’s Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, titled “Observations on Post Hostilities Policy Toward Japan".
Peter F. Schaefer, in an article for Foreign Policy magazine writes

"Had U.S. decision makers read it before invading Iraq, the present mess might well have been different."

The declassified paper outlines suggestions for handling post war Japan. The author of FP article simply includes the text of the original document, replacing the word "Japan" with "Iraq", "Allied Military Government" with "COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY", etc.
The result sadly revealing: every recommendation for post-hostilities Japan would have contributed significantly to the success of Americans in Iraq, and to the wellfare of the Iraqi people. Unfortunately, the arrogance of the neocon hawks that ran the war as f it were a private enterprise did not have much tolerance for opinions different from their's. Their approach, frequently referred to as hubris was along the line of: we have bigger guns, therefore we can shoot first and think about it later.
I will present the text of the declassified document here. Please take the time to check the original article.

1. To be realistic, post hostilities policy toward Japan IRAQ must be based upon:

a. Recognition of the probable reaction of the American public over a period of time. A policy which does not win the continuing support of the American public is doomed to failure.

b. Recognition of the lessons taught by history with respect to relations between the conqueror and conquered.

2. The most important points to be noted in connection with a and b above would appear to be the following:

a. The American public will unquestionably become restive under a prolonged occupation of Japan IRAQ by American Forces. It will not wish to assume the burdens of governing Japan IRAQ over an extended period. Demands for withdrawal are likely to begin within 6 months after the surrender of Japan IRAQ and thereafter to build up increasing political pressure to that end.

b. Even under the most just and equitable administration, resentment against a conquering nation exercising direct political and military control over a vanquished nation inevitably tends to increase over a period of time. Difficulties arise which present the ruling nation with the alternative of either extending and tightening control or withdrawing without accomplishing the desired objectives.

c. The conquering nation cannot impose its form of government, ideals, or way of life upon a conquered nation except by permanent military occupation and immigration.

3. The formulation of our policies toward post hostilities Japan IRAQ, therefore, requires the highest degree of statesmanship. We must look forward as well as backward. We must:

a. Avoid to the maximum extent possible policies dictated by current war hysteria which subsequently the American public will repudiate or which will involve commitments which the American public will be unwilling to fulfill.

b. attempt to accomplish the maximum degree of progress towards the regeneration of Japan IRAQ in the minimum amount of time. Our degree of success in accomplishing this objective will depend upon the intelligence with which we approach the problem or the relations between the victor and the vanquished.

4. It would appear desirable in the light of the above:

a. To retain the civil administration.

b. To set up a supreme authority in the country which would function and issue its directives through the regularly constituted government.

c. To give every encouragement to the Japanese IRAQIS to undertake under their own leadership the development of democratic institutions and the elimination of the spirit of military conquest.

5. The following arguments are advanced in support of such a program as compared with the establishment of a Allied Military Government COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY in place of the Emperor CIVIL AUTHORITY:

a. Allied Military Government THE COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY is bound to be bungling, undiplomatic, and inefficient. We must give full recognition to the fact that we do not have sufficient personnel with the proper vision, training and ability to carry out the task effectively.

b. The continuation of the Imperial IRAQI rule with the Allied Control Commission COALITION remaining in the background should reduce the possibilities of friction and disturbance to the minimum and permit the earliest withdrawal of Allied Occupation COALITION Forces, and of the Allied Military Council. The Allied Military Government COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY, particularly with the quality of personnel available, would almost inevitably create situations that would require a more protracted military occupation than the American public will accept.

The author believes that we, as the only superpower remaining, are bound to venture in similar wars in the future, for one reason or the other. He has this advice to conclude his article:

"We will never know how Iraq might have turned out had the Bush team made all the right moves from day one. But one thing is certain: Before the next war, those in charge had better listen to the wisdom of their predecessors"

Jon Stewart on AIPAC parade of presidential candidates

It was nauseating watching the circus/charade by American presidential candidates before the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Obama's show was particularly heart-breaking to many progressives (see this and this)
It is sick that ALL those who want to serve in high office in the AMERICAN government have to prove their loyalty, friendship and dedication to the interests of a foreign power.
This is not new in American politics though, and it will not change anytime soon. So, do not hold your breath.
What is new is that more and more voices are having the courage to speak up about the problem. Progressive Jews in the USA and in Israel are more active than ever trying to counter the ill-advised and harmful loyalty that our politicians have to show to right wing Jews and pro-war Israelis.
Progressive American Jews - have taken on this difficult task at many levels from blogs by professional journalists (see those of Richard Silverstein , Antony Leowenstein, and Phlip Weiss as examples) to pro-peace organizations (Combatants for Peace and Women in Black) and pro-Palestinian activism (e.g., Anna Baltzer on the Middle East and Madison Rafah Project) , all the way to establishing a new Jewish Lobby that almost specifically is trying to balance the fanatic pro-war stance AIPAC (Check J-Street for more info).
The latest of those that joined the vocal group is no less than Comedy Central's Daily Show Jon Stewart himself.

This video is hilarious - a must see, especially the last minute.



Click on the links below to see the commentaries of Richard Silverstein and Philip Weiss on this segment.
Jon Stewart Takes on AIPAC - Richard Silverstein

Jon Stewart Calls AIPAC 'Elders of Zion' - Philip Weiss