“We are captives, even if our wheat grows over fences and the swallows rise from our broken chains. We are captives of what we love, What we desire and What we are.” Mahmoud Darwish Palestinian poet AS the sun rises and sets over the Mediterranean waters and hills of the Occupied Territories of Palestine, and … Continued
All eyes, especially in the Arab world, were focused this week on US President Barack Obama, and the leaders of the six, influential Gulf states who were invited to the US at the presidential compound in Camp David, primarily to discuss the upcoming talks with Iran on its nuclear ambitions.
But the unexpected absence of King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia has sparked an exaggerated political storm on the eve of the all-important session that many suspected had indicated a rift between the Obama administration and the Saudi monarch. The two sides rejected this misinformation, partly pointing to Saudi Arabia’s entanglement with the deteriorating political and security conditions in neighbouring Yemen.
The relationships between Saudi Arabia and the US is noteworthy for the US sale of more than $50 billion (Dh183.9 billion) of weapons over the past few decades. Now, however, there has been a noticeable decline in US import of oil from the Arab kingdom since American oil resources have lately expanded. Actually, the Saudi king is represented by his Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef, who reportedly has strong ties with the US political and security establishment, as well as Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, the king’s son, who also serves as the Defence Minister.
Although the Saudi government has not expressed any public misgivings about the ongoing talks between Iran and the P5+1 (US, Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany) there is general disappointment in the Arab Gulf region about US silence over growing Iranian influence in the Middle East — especially in Syria, Iraq and even Lebanon.
On the other hand, for Obama, it is reportedly significant that he can tell his opposition within the US Congress that the anticipated Iranian deal has broad regional support from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. The deal with Iran is expected to be finalised by June 30. Additionally the hosting by the US Fifth Fleet by Bahrain is an achievement.
Despite Obama’s focus on Iran, a commendable step, his reluctance to crack the whip on Israel’s continued expansion into the Occupied Territories, including occupied East Jerusalem, remains a black spot on his record. Regrettably, no mention has been made at this unprecedented session with the Gulf states on this other crucial Middle East issue, namely Israel’s defunct policies that have resulted in a weakened cabinet this week, whereby it has a majority of just one in the Knesset — a status that can be toppled by any member going to the bathroom, as has been observed elsewhere.
Much as the mild reproach this week by the US of Israel for building new homes for Jews in occupied East Jerusalem — a similar development had embarrassed Vice President Joe Biden five years ago during his visit to occupied Jerusalem — is commendable, it is still high time that the Obama administration voice more serious objections rather than expressing “disappointment” and “concern” over this Israeli action.
Likewise, a statement a week ago by Wendy Sherman, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, in which she warned that if the new Israeli government does not demonstrate its commitment to a two-state solution, America would have a difficult time continuing to assist its efforts to halt international initiatives on the Palestinian issue at the United Nations (as reported by Haaretz).
Adding insult to injury, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, reportedly a likely Republican candidate running for president, is now visiting Israel as “a traditional primary step”, according to Haaretz. “But if you want to know what he’s up to in Israel,” the paper continued, “you would have to follow the Republican Jewish Coalition’s executive director on Twitter.” The trip is being funded by Our American Revival and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Obama needs to act fast before the end of his presidential term next year. Otherwise, such immature political aspirants could help ruin America’s reputation worldwide.
George S. Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com
Source: gulfnews.com
Scenes from the Arab Spring flash across the screen at the start of the new documentary “Shake the Dust.” But this film isn’t about politics or a revolution.
“Our story doesn’t make front-page news,” says the young narrator, a 12-year-old named Karim who grew up in a Kampala slum.
Images of violence dissolve to reveal a different sides of war-torn and poverty-stricken worlds. Weaving through the streets and ghettos of Uganda, Colombia, Cambodia and Yemen — where filming took place days before mass protests and rioting broke out in the Middle East — the documentary depicts the lives of b-boys and b-girls who share a universal culture of hip hop. These are kids and young adults who have lost their parents, who were born with easy access to drugs and gangs and who have witnessed poverty firsthand. But for them, director Adam Sjoberg says, breakdancing isn’t an escape; it’s a way of life.
“For some of them, it substitutes religion in a good way. For some of them, it’s a way of feeling empowered. For some of them, it’s a way of self-identifying, of saying ‘I came from this place that most people think of as this terrible slum, but I also come from this beautiful culture called hip hop.’”
Source: www.pbs.org
“Where do you go for good Lebanese?” I ask my discerning Lebanese friend. “My mom’s,” she replies. When I roll my eyes, she gives me an answer the masses can enjoy: “Me Jana.” I smile in recognition and head to Arlington to reacquaint myself with the attractive dining room watched over by the dashing Rabih Abi-Aad.
Within minutes on a Saturday afternoon my table is crowded with seared cheese sweetened with sliced pears and dates, nubby falafel arranged on tahini sauce and smoky eggplant puree, which I scoop up with pita that’s hot from the oven and presented with crushed herbs, thick yogurt and shiny olives. The mezze, including doughy spinach pies, are dropped off by a server who acts as if we’re the only customers in the place, when in fact the front of the house is filling up with what looks like a family reunion. “I used to work at Mama Ayesha’s,” the waiter shares, referencing the Middle Eastern dowager in Adams Morgan. Without our asking, he brings more of the blimp-shaped bread to eat with our feast, which includes fried kibbe, whose cracked-wheat shell breaks open to reveal a meaty center sweet with cinnamon, and garlicky kebabs of ground lamb and beef shored up with fluffy rice, parsley-onion salad and a drift of whipped garlic. (A little dab will do you.)
Source: www.washingtonpost.com
Food aficionados can explore Lebanese cooking and baking with cookbook author Maureen Abood at “The Art Of: Lebanese Cuisine” on Friday.
Abood will appear as part of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum’s “The Art of…” series, initiated to show just how much the term “art” can contain.
Her recently released cookbook, “Rose Water and Orange Blossoms,” features both traditional Lebanese recipes and fresh ideas using her inventive blend of Middle Eastern flavors.
Recipes include whipped hummus with minced lamb and suma, roasted leg of lamb with black cherry-pomegranate salsa, yogurt marinated chicken skewers with Toum garlic sauce, fava beans and chickpeas with garlic, lemon and olive oil and walnut baklava diamonds.
Source: www.lansingstatejournal.com
President Obama said Tuesday he sees a “difficult path forward” for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
The president said he will “never give up on the hope” of Israeli-Palestinian peace but that there are “serious questions about overall commitment” to establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel.
“It’s no secret that we now have a very difficult path forward,” Obama said in an interview with Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. “As a result, the United States is taking a hard look at our approach to the conflict.”
Obama’s comments come just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a new conservative government. The coalition includes the Jewish Home Party, which supports expanding settlements in the West Bank and opposes a two-state solution.
The president previously said it would need to “reassess” the U.S.-Israel relationship in the wake of Netanyhau’s pre-election promise to oppose a two-state solution as long as he is in power. Netanyahu later walked back his comments.
Obama said he would look to both the Israelis and Palestinians to show they are serious toward working toward a lasting peace.
“We look to the new Israeli government and the Palestinians to demonstrate — through policies and actions — a genuine commitment to a two-state solution,” he said. “Only then can trust be rebuilt and a cycle of escalation avoided.”
Both sides will need to address reconstruction and development in Gaza after last year’s conflict and better integrating the territory with the West Bank, among other issues.
The president spoke to the newspaper ahead of a summit with leaders from Persian Gulf monarchies who are concerned about the U.S.’s nuclear negotiations with Iran and the threat posed by Islamic State militants.
Obama said he would speak to Gulf leaders about deepening security cooperation and sell them on a nuclear pact with Iran.
“Our meeting is rooted in our shared interest in a Gulf region that is peaceful, prosperous, and secure,” Obama said. “I’ve made it clear that the United States is prepared to use all elements of our power to secure these interests.”
Source: thehill.com
With the Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but dead and buried, a growing chorus of countries and international bodies are moving toward recognizing Palestinian sovereignty in an attempt to push the Israeli government to make concessions toward their Palestinian rivals. On Wednesday, that effort received a powerful boost when Pope Francis announced that the Vatican has concluded a treaty recognizing the state of Palestine.
The move, a Vatican spokesman told the Associated Press, indicates a “recognition that the state exists.”
Following the collapse of U.S.-brokered talks to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestine has begun circumventing Washington by applying for membership at several U.N. bodies. It recently joined the International Criminal Court, where it’s lodged complaints over what it says are Israeli war crimes. The United Nations upgraded Palestine to a “non-member observer” in 2012, perturbing Israel, which faces increasing international isolation because of its continued occupation of Palestinian lands. Repeated fighting in the Gaza strip between Hamas militants and Israeli forces has further galvanized world opinion against Israel.
While many argue that the Vatican’s statement Wednesday has no legal significance, it does have important symbolic weight. The Vatican’s move can be seen as part of a growing movement to apply pressure on Israel to facilitate progress in the peace process. Following the re-election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the United States signaled that it will re-evaluate the diplomatic protection it has offered Israel in the international fora where Palestine is now pursuing its claims to statehood. There is a growing movement at the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution outlining a roadmap for future peace talks.
The Vatican statement is also the latest major diplomatic move by Francis, who since assuming the papacy in 2013, has emerged as an enormously popular champion of the global poor and other progressive causes. He has become a major diplomatic player, helping to broker the recent rapprochement between the United States and Cuba.
Wednesday’s announcement is not Francis’s first foray into Israeli-Palestinian politics. Francis expressed support for recent U.S.-backed talks and hosted then-Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican last year for a prayer meeting for peace in the Middle East. When he visited last year the Israeli-built wall that separates Israeli- and Palestinian-dominated territories, he lamented the “tragic consequences of the protracted conflict.”
Source: foreignpolicy.com
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis will bestow sainthood on two Palestinian nuns on Sunday (May 17), a move that’s being seen as giving hope to the conflict-wracked Middle East and shining the spotlight on the plight of Christians in the region.
Sisters Maria Baouardy and Mary Alphonsine Danil Ghattas are due to be canonized by the pontiff along with two other 19th-century nuns, Sister Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve, from France, and Italian Sister Maria Cristina dell’Immacolata.
The coming canonizations have been described by the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, as a “sign of hope” for the region.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
Afshan Ahmed The National Even as the award-winning virtuoso Malek Jandali took the stage to become the first Arab-American to perform for an international audience at New York’s Carnegie Hall this year, the suffering of children affected by the continuing civil war in his native Syria weighed heavy on his mind. The music Jandali composes … Continued
Randa Jarrar’s debut novel, A Map of Home, tells the story of a young Arab-American girl, Nidali, her uproarious journey through childhood, and the many homes she inhabits during those years.
Although A Map of Home treads familiar territory, such as the hardships of the immigrant experience, Jarrar infuses Nidali with enough wit and humour to make the narrative fresh and exciting.
My favourite scenes are those depicting family life; the constant bickering between her parents frequently elicits a genuine laugh-out-loud response. However, it is the seductive prose and the elegance with which Nidali’s sexuality unfolds that makes this novel a success and a must-read for Arabs and Americans alike.
Jarrar’s father stopped talking to her after reading the novel. He claims that by writing about sex, Randa dishonoured the Jarrar clan of Jenin – the very clan that he says defeated Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 at Acre.
As far as novels go, it brings to mind Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Bukowski’s Ham on Rye, David Mitchell’s Black Swan Green – and definitely A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by Joyce.
Jarrar is one of a new generation of Arab-American writers, including such talents as Hisham Matar, Rabih Alameddine, Diana Abu Jaber and Rawi Hage to name but a few.
They inherit the literary legacy of those Arab writers who paved the way for working directly in English – the Egyptians Waguih Ghali, who published Beer in the Snooker Club in 1964 (before tragically taking his own life in London five years later), and the internationally acclaimed Ahdaf Soueif.
Last year, Randa wrote what proved to be a highly controversial essay in Salon, titled Why I Cannot Stand White Belly Dancers. The essay went viral online and sparked a wide-ranging discourse that gained Jarrar a mixture of fame and notoriety.
Jarrar argued that white belly dancers were engaging in cultural appropriation of the act of Raqs Sharqi, the classical Egyptian style.
Such performances, she said, objectify and denigrate the sanctity of the Raqs Sharqi art among Arab women. Arab women are free and independent, and don’t need to be saved by Western women, she argued.
Jarrar’s prose is much like her – funny and lively. She throws back at life whatever life throws at her, in the most humble and spontaneous of ways, writing with a uniquely candid voice.
In May of 2014, Jarrar won a Provost’s Award Recipient for Promising New Faculty at CSU Fresno.
If there is one gift that I would give her, it would be The Secret History of Wonder Woman. I think her pink suitcase should have a huge Wonder Woman sticker.
Source: www.alaraby.co.uk
Abdulaziz Al-Azem grew up in Jeddah then moved to Beirut to study interior architecture at the Lebanese American University (LAU). While in LAU, Al-Azem developed a fascination for the relationship between light and architecture. “How architects shape their buildings in order to allow daylight to penetrate different spaces creating an amazing play of shadow and light,” according to him.
Therefore, Al-Azem took up a minor in Islamic architecture. While growing up in Jeddah, he would work at his family’s lighting retail business (Technolight). At Techolight, Al-Azem learned how to develop lighting designs as how to match themes and atmosphere for each building to fit in different spaces’ interior and exterior, e.g. fast food joints, mosques, high-end restaurants, retails shops and corporate offices.
After graduating from LAU, Al-Azem took an apprenticeship in Germany at the lighting consultancy office of Kardorff. The experience there was eye-opening, as it was the first time where Al-Azem was allowed the opportunity to put his theoretical knowledge in practice. He worked on presenting innovative lighting concepts to clients in the Gulf region. His mentor, Volker Von Kardoff, highly recommended that he pursues a Master’s program at Hochschule Wismar, where Al-Azem learned how to manipulate physics to be creative with light. Al-Azem’s thesis was titled Sacred Nour; a visual treatise in the theory of lighting of mosques and other Islamic structures.
In order to write his thesis, Al-Azem travelled to Cairo, Istanbul, Damascus, and Tripoli (Lebanon) and spent so much time in mosques during the day. “Islamic architecture is very rich and varied” maintains Al-Azem. In Damascus, he spent time in Umayyad Mosque, Al-Athem Palace, and Khan Asaad Pasha Al-Azem. In Tripoli, he spent 12 hours observing and tracing the light rays at the Grand Mosque of Tripoli, while in Istanbul, he dwelt in the Suleymaniye Mosque, pondering Mimar Sinan’s genius view of the concept of light. Al-Azem was attracted to the ascetic architecture of mosques in Cairo and Istanbul. His thesis was received with such acclaim from his mentors and peers. Upon repatriating in Saudi Arabia, he launched his lighting design business Design Tech Services, headquartered in Riyadh.
Design Tech Services took on many projects in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dubai. One of the earlier projects was the mosque in King Abdullah Financial District in 2010 in Riyadh and Al-Jaleel Mosque in Jeddah.
Source: almahhart.com
ROME — The Vatican said Wednesday that it had concluded a treaty to recognize Palestinian statehood, a symbolic but significant step welcomed by Palestinians but upsetting to the Israeli government.
Formal recognition of a Palestinian state by the Vatican, which has deep religious interests in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories that include Christian holy sites, lends a powerful signal of moral authority and legitimacy to the efforts by the Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, to achieve statehood despite the long paralyzed Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Israel has grown increasingly alarmed about the increased international acceptance of Palestine as a state since the United Nations upgraded the Palestinian delegation’s status in 2012 to that of a nonmember observer state. A number of European countries have also signaled their acceptance of Palestinian statehood.
A statement from a joint commission of Vatican and Palestinian diplomatic officials, posted on the Vatican news website, said “the work of the commission on the text of the agreement has been concluded,” and that it would be submitted for formal approval and for signing “in the near future.”
Hanna Amireh, head of a Palestinian committee on church affairs, said the treaty was a broad one regarding the Vatican’s interests in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, including the standing of churches and church courts and taxes on church charities, institutions and lands, as well as other cultural and diplomatic matters. He said it had been under negotiation for about a year.
“The Vatican is the spiritual capital of the Catholics, and they are recognizing Palestine, that’s the chief importance,” said Mr. Amireh, who is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee. The move counters an image of Palestinians as militants or terrorists, he added, as a “recognition of the Palestinian character that has a clear message for coexistence and peace.”
A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under diplomatic protocol, said Israel was “disappointed to hear” about the Vatican’s use of the term “state” in its new treaty.
”This step does not advance the peace process and pushes the Palestinian leadership further away from returning to a direct and bilateral negotiation,” the official said in a statement, echoing Israel’s reactions to a series of recent parliamentary resolutions on Palestinian statehood in European nations. “Israel will study the agreement and consider its next steps accordingly.”
Pope Francis, the leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics, has long signaled his wish for a Palestinian state. For the past year, the Vatican had informally referred to the country as “state of Palestine,” in its yearbook as well as in its program for Francis’ 2014 visit to the Holy Land.
During that visit, Francis gave an additional boost to Palestinian sovereignty by flying directly to Bethlehem from Amman, Jordan, rather than stopping first in Israel as his predecessors had done. Francis later hosted the Palestinian and Israeli presidents in a prayer for peace.
It is not the first time Francis has shown a willingness to offend political sensitivities in the name of doing what he thinks is right. Exactly a month ago, for example, the pope angered the Turkish government by calling the 1915 slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks a genocide. Turkey recalled its Vatican ambassador in response.
A Palestinian spokesman, Xavier Abu Eid, said 135 nations now recognize Palestine as a state.
Jamal Khader, rector of the Latin Patriarchate Seminary in Jerusalem, said that Pope Francis and his secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, had worked closely with the Palestinians and noted that the treaty was finalized just before the canonization of two Palestinian nuns — the first Arabic-speaking saints — scheduled for Sunday. Mr. Abbas is scheduled to attend that ceremony.
Cardinal Parolin “wants to help create a new reality in Palestine here — in the diplomatic way of the Vatican, of course,” Father Khader said in an interview.
“The wider Arab world often thinks that it’s a Christian West against a Muslim East, so this is an important step from the Catholic Church to show that, no, it is standing with the rights of Palestinians, and with the right to a state of Palestine,” he said.
Neville Y. Lamdan, a former Israeli ambassador to the Holy See, said the main importance of the Vatican recognition of Palestinian statehood was the “moral authority and weight” it confers.
“The real question is why the Vatican came round to this step,” Mr. Lamdan said. “It certainly would be a very deliberate and carefully weighed decision; there’s nothing accidental about it.”
Rabbi David Rosen, international director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, downplayed the significance of the term “state” in the new treaty, noting that Francis had already used it himself.
“I don’t think it was meant to be something dramatic,” Rabbi Rosen said. “Francis deeply cares about the peoples of this land, and he would very much like to see a peaceful reconciliation, but I don’t see he’s made any changes in terms of Vatican policy.”
As for Israel’s relationship with the Vatican, which officially began with a similar agreement in 1993, Rabbi Rosen said it was “far too strong for it to be hurt by a designation or a terminology.”
Source: www.nytimes.com
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