تعليقي على أحداث نجع حمادي للجزيرة إنجليش : الوعي المصري
Wael Abbas comments on the recent sectarian violence in Nagaa` Hammadi on Al Jazeera English.
» Tantawi’s Trick Riyadat an-Nafs
More on how the recent Azhar fatwa that upholds Egypt's apartheid wall was entirely pre-planned.
Sectarianism as the exercise of authority | KABOBfest
"It is one of the characteristics of sectarian logic that it entices a sectarian response, a long list of what “they” did to “us” in the past, or why “we” are eternally righteous while “they” are eternally hell-bound. Certainly these issues are more complex and complicated than I can know, as I especially do not know much about the Egyptian context, but writing these cases off to timeless animosity as opposed to a product of the times seems to let everyone off the hook. Here it seems that the common thread connecting these incidents is the state and its control and influence over clerical institutions regardless of the religion."
The Israeli Experience Mystique / Borderline Crimes
"Israel always seems to be somewhere you can’t talk about unless you’re currently there. Because no one else, least of all American Jews, has enough experience to form an opinion. Maybe it’s time to explode this myth of Israeli Experience."
A different sense of belonging | Al-Masry Al-Youm
Article on political involement (or lack thereof) of Coptic Christians in Egypt.
Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Egypt bans Gaza aid convoys
... and just as they finally allowed Viva Palestina in, all aid caravans are now banned from entering Gaza and Galloway got deported (see: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/01/20101814494166953.html)
ei: Miss Palestine's mistaken rebellion
"The tragedy, here, is not only the transformation of women into fetishized commodities, but the belief that these events will create a sense of normalcy in Palestine. While both pageant organizers might mean well, their yearning for recognition and appeasement from the West only places them in a static and inferior space where they are devaluing the Palestinian struggle. If only we could convince them otherwise. This is why we must first decolonize the mind before we decolonize the land."
State is responsible for sectarian violence, says advocacy group | Al-Masry Al-Youm
"From the wider international perspective, it is precisely this western embrace of repressive and unrepresentative regimes such as Egypt's, along with unwavering backing for Israel's occupation and colonisation of Palestinian land, that is at the heart of the crisis in the Middle East and Muslim world."
Look Mommy, Brown People! Slum Tourism is Catching On - elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture
Good article on blogging trends in Egypt, though 1) Western journalists covering Egypt or Iran tend to over exaggerate the 'Twitter' craze; 2) the purple writing and excessive comments on how well her interviewees speak English is pretty patronizing and annoying.
Viva Palestina breaks Gaza siege « P U L S E
Good news: Viva Palestina finally makes into Gaza... but Galloway seriously needs to quit romanticizing Yasir Arafat and the joke known as Fatah.
The Palestine Chronicle: A Leading Online Newspaper on Palestine, Israel and the Middle East
"The ties between Egypt and Palestine are too rooted in history; the rapport is too personal, too familial to allow for material or temporary political interests to stand in the way between two ancient peoples with awe-inspiring histories. Now I fully appreciate why my father wept at the death of his Egyptian friend. And I believe that no steel wall is large or thick enough to undermine that moment; no government policies or self-seeking officials are wicked enough to dent the bond that link the peoples of Palestine and Egypt. I also believe that there should be no amount of money large enough to justify the imprisonment of a whole nation, especially one’s own “brethren.” "
BBC News - Land sales row mars Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem
"Palestinian Christian groups are boycotting celebrations of Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem, accusing their Church of selling land to Israelis.
At least 100 protesters gathered with banners saying: "The Holy Land is not for sale," ahead of festivities to mark Christmas Eve for the Orthodox Church.
They accuse the Greek Orthodox Church of selling and leasing land in the West Bank to Israeli organisations. "Danièle Obono, "The Left and Racial Domination in France: An Interview with Sadri Khiari (MIR)"
"I will cite you a paragraph of a typical essay in the blindness of the radical left (The Trouble with Diversity, Metropolitan Books, 2006, published in France under the title La diversité contre l'égalité, Raisons d'agir, 2009). The author, an American named Walter Benn Michaels, who by the way does not hesitate to deform our ideas, for the moment relies on a novel by [Native American writer] Leslie Marmon Silko, titled Almanac of the Dead. It recounts the story of a Cuban communist much like the radical left in France: ". . . [the Cuban] keeps telling them they're exploited and they should be fighting capitalism; [the Indians] keep telling him they're not respected, and they want to fight white people. So when the Marxist carries on once too often about the evils of private property and won't stop to listen to stories about their heritage (the massacres, the thefts, the forced assimilation), they hang him for 'crimes against [their] history'." I will clarify immediately: I am on the side of the Indian. Walter Benn Michaels, of course, is outraged by such ignominy. For him, these "savages" emboldened by "irrational emotions," such that they refuse to hear the voice of "reason" and shut down the words of a valuable communist, are "counter-revolutionaries." To me, this type of communist acts as a colonialist from the left."
"Asbridge has no doubt that the conflict was between the Franks and Levantines, rather than Christians and Muslims. "One fact is clear: in the Latin East, the primary division was not between Christians and Muslims but between Franks (that is to say, Latin Christians) and non-Franks (be they eastern Christian, Jewish or Muslim).""
Two Girls, One Tired Romantic Comedy: I Can’t Think Straight » Muslimah Media Watch
BBC News - Tougher US air screening for 'security-risk' countries
Brace yourselves for more airport harassment.
Saturday Diary: Up close and personal with a very distant and mummified relative
The author of this piece e-mailed this to me (Hoda) a while ago. I can relate a lot.
The World's Best Bookstores | Spot Cool Stuff: Travel
Why can't the US have one of these?
Al-Azhar Supports Israeli Apartheid | KABOBfest
Mubarak's House Muslims are at it again. And you call this regime a secular one? What secular regime needs a shoddy religious justification for its despicable policies? This standard goes for all religious institutions in Egypt, not just Al Azhar. Let's not forget that Pope Shenouda, the patriarch of the Coptic church, is also an outspoken supporter of Mubarak and his son's succession for the presidency.
Is Flying While Brown the New Driving While Black? | loonwatch.com
Personal testimony of a 65-year old Indian-born doctor who was subject to racial profiling on a Southwest Airlines flight in 2008.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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