Katrina and Lessons in Humanity

Since the hurricane came hurtling into the Gulf area on Monday , my feelings of despair and doom have not abated and they have proven to be right once again.

Almost simultaneously we got these news from Iraq ( amid the usual grim dispatches from there this was even more terrible). But as it has been established that Iraq is in a huge mess which has finally 'officially' escalated to sectarian war and must therefore run its natural course, so I'll leave this specific story alone for today as this post is mostly about the natural disaster and its unfolding drama in the USA.

In my eyes the aftermath of Katrina's trail of destruction is worse than 9/11, because 9/11 was a sudden and unnatural tragedy. Katrina, on the other hand was expected and announced. I will not talk about the defensive measures not undertaken, nor about the levee system , the federal budget or the alleged ineptitude of the governement. It is not my place to criticize especially in these hard times while people are dying, suffering, starving and have lost everything , and especially that I am ignorant in basic economics.

As an Arab and an African I think that stories of disasters and violent deaths have become the norm in my part of the world and after while your senses become dulled. But though you feel pain and cry in your soul nothing really shocks you anymore. However, watching the unfolding stories about the state of affairs in New Orleans and the rapid descent into chaos is unbelievable : anarchy ? urban warfare? looting ? and even shooting at rescue helicopters?
I cannot fathom that this is actually happening in the USA; these scenes are straight from Africa and Asia -from the so called Third World countries....I think that is why we are all so shocked. In only a couple of days we have discovered that people can suffer even in America.

So here am I in my little corner of the world, crying with the desperate devastated city , gropping at the proverbial straw and praying for their safety and feeling relief at some miracles also as reported from there by blogger Loki de Carabas .



This tragedy and ensuing looting of the city has brought to my mind another looting of another ancient city Baghdad . In April 2003, I felt shame that Iraqis were supposedly looting their own country and though there were many rumours and reports that the looters were Kurds protected by the Kurdish militia and that some of them were even brought in from Kuwait. I was still angry that the US army stood by and only protected the ministry of oil. Although I' m not Iraqi I felt ashamed at the pictures of the looting even of Saddam's palaces which were beamed into every household worldwide. While not Iraqi, I had to face the dilemna that I felt ashamed that an Arab (or Kurd they are the same to me by the way) would be looting ...Stealing food if you are hungry I could understand , but museums, palaces and national treasures I could not, even if I was into conspiracy theory mood . But today I have come to terms with this feeling , it is allright people will be people everywhere in the world, there are good and there are bad, tragedies have a way of bringing out these feelings in us and some will be heros while others become evil. Katrina has provided me at least with this closure , I do not have to feel ashamed when an Iraqi was looting in his own country after being invaded by the strongest ( currently) military force on earth.

It was also eerily comforting to find out that after last year's Tsunami there was looting in Sri lanka and strangely enough looting even took place in European homes of Tsunami swedish victims. This I thought was very callous because even the supposedly terrorist Free Aceh Movement in Indonesia has ordered a ceasefire to facilitate aid reaching the victims in Aceh.


This stranded blogger cobalt green suggests (today - it seems to be already Saturday in New Orleans) the following solution to get quicker help in the city :

"OK everyone... we must think outside the box to get help into our city! Here's what I propose we do to get a government response faster:
1. Announce they are giving late term abortions down at the Convention Center
2. Spread the rumor that they're thinking about disconnecting the feeding tube of a (white) woman in a coma at one of the hospitals still standing.
3. Ask a calm, mourning, middle aged woman to camp out for peace along Canal Street.
(PS... I already dread hearing Bush's BS after his visit today!) "

I'm glad to say there is still a sense of humour in desperate times. For more of live input from survivors go to this blog Katricanacanes Friends and follow the links to other live journals.


So Katrina has thought me several lessons about humanity, one of them is that even the strongest nation on earth cannot always cope. There are no superheros. I am left wondering as to why is it that the poorest part of America is suffering so much? and why are the majority of victims I see on TV African-Americans? Is it just a question of the demography of the area ? I'm truly asking questions because I am ignorant of so much and willing to learn. I don't wish to be bogged down by political issues of who did what when or whose fault it was. I want to think about going forward and finding solutions to alleviate this pain to Nola which has obviously become a dependent society.

The least I could do is pray .

But please accept my heartfelt condolences for this national tragedy.

The Black Hole

...another nightmare ....feeling gutted... plunging into a major depression and a sea of blackness...for the time being I'm brain dead ...even blogging or reading my favourite blogs is not helping........hopefully the climb up shall be merciful . Amen

Usually the only solution is closed- circuit, high- volume, non-stop , mega-bass playing of Gary Moore's " Still Got the Blue" while driving the car with the foot firmly on the gas pedal till you hit the floor until you no longer know where you are... just make sure you have plenty of fuel to come back..... unfortunately I can't do that right now ...too far away from my car .....the next best thing is to listen here / now and pray that the neighbours DO NOT complain or get me arrested for disturbing the peace....but tonight I can't make me up my mind if 'Parisian Walkways' is more fitting ? Man that guitar high pitch screaming is enough to let the hair stand up on my skin and wake up the dead or cure any blues....

Ladies and Gentlemen I give you Gary Moore's Still got the Blues

Used to be so easy to give my heart away
But I found out the hard way
There's a price you have to pay
I found out that love was no friend of mine
I should have known time after time
So long, it was so long ago
But I've still got the blues for you
Used to be so easy to fall in love again
But I found out the hard way
It's a road that leads to pain
I found that love was more than just a game
You're playin' to winBut you lose just the same
So long, it was so long ago
But I've still got the blues for you
So many years since I've seen your face
Here in my heart, there's an empty space
Where you used to be
So long, it was so long ago
But I've still got the blues for you
Though the days come and go
There is one thing I know
I've still got the blues for you.

Brazilian reader

This is a private post to one of my Brazilian readers.

Hi F . :) you asked me to send you a snail letter from Libya a few months back as you are a stamp collector and I agreed to do so.
Well I posted this letter over a month ago from Tripoli and I emailed to inform you about it and asked you to please let me know when you have received it. To this day I still have not received any confimation from your side although there are a few IP addresses from your city on my blog.

Would you please let me know what happened, it would also tell me how long does an ordinary letter take from Libya to Brazil ;).

I have taken a digital photo of the enveloppe before mailing it but I do not wish to post it now online just in case you wish to remain anonymous .
All the best ...
H.

The Lover

My Iranian best friend called today to share the news that he finally was reunited with his ( دوست داشتن ) - ' dost dashtun' . I know he will be reading this blog so Dhafer, this post is dedicated to you and E.....

I remember all the times we spent in high school, then later over capuccinos or talking on the phone and emailing back and forth ;) that was crazy man - at last you got your wish...Here is a toast to a bright future.

با همديگر
تا ابد ....

You know what I want to say right ? we go a looooooooooooooooooong way. Hope I did not botch up the Parsi but I'm really doing my best.

The Lover by Iranian poet Baharak Sedigh ( English translation of course ..it is much more beautiful when you hear it in Parsi )

The true lover has everything to lose.
So, he fears nothing.Without acceptance, relationships become work.
As religion without faith is just an obligation.
Success without passion remains empty.
As love without trust -- just a restriction.
A life lived without love --
A life lived without love is just noise and commotion.
And we're capable of so much more .................................

* Dear readers, enjoy the break, I'll resume with the serious stuff in a few days time (I hope)....there is something I need to take care of.

The Purpose of Blogging (attempted essay)

If you've been following my blog than you know what this post is about, if not then here is a summary, this is basically a reply to a questionnaire by a western journalist .

Why do people blog? or more specifically why does Highlander blog ?
Obviously as I stated in one of my first posts, I got into blogging because I wanted to create a website with a good friend of mine. We never got round to doing that. Then I read about Salampax, contacted him, toyed with the idea then started blogging. My primary aim was to reach a western audience to show a small glimpse of Libya, but through our interaction I hoped to eventually learn more about myself and who I am. So you can say it is a personal trip with an agenda of dispelling some strange impressions about my country.

I’m flattered when people read and interact with each other or with me on the blog . That makes it enriching and shows that my words have reached someone, even if they [the someone] react negatively I still appreciate that they took the effort to write about it. It means, as one reader said in her email that my words 'somehow echoed true in their innermost psyche and they had to lash out the only way they knew how'.

Sometimes I offer my ideas, at other times alternative ideas; if you have read all my posts you will see that for yourself. I think my main point is that on the whole this blog has been fair and objective to many subjects and thorny topics. Usually I spend about three hours daily on blogs, reading/commenting, including on my own blog.
Friends and family (those who know), enjoy seeing me happy and having my own little garden plot to tinker my writing in.

I believe that blogging has a lot to offer, the least being fresh opinions from a region traditionally mysterious, misunderstood and misrepresented in the media. Through blogging, the rest of the world could learn and make friends with teenagers, professionals, grown ups or whomever, without the need for go betweens, ‘au naturel’ sort of. The special challenges you refer too could mostly be technical. I’m not worried about my blogging because I believe that I have managed to present a calm and well balanced image of Libya or other countries in the region as you say.

You could officially call me a ‘news –addict’, as soon as I open my eyes and switch on the PC, I immediately turn to the news online. My choices are varied but that is how one forms an opinion I think. Reading several European, US , African Asian and Arabic websites is my daily stop. The reputable ones allow you to judge for yourself and make your deductions about the mainstream media. It has by all means influenced my desire to blog, in the sense of having my personal podium.

Blogging is definitely real; bloggers are revealing incredibly intimate details to the whole world so it must be real to them. Through this experience I met a whole lot of people who had similar interests and came from all over the world. I even became good friends with many of my virtual acquaintances, and the dialogue has moved to the ‘real’ dimension. However, I would venture to say that when one is sincere, then there is a dialogue, be it online or in our world as we know it.
I’m impressed by the sheer number and quality of Arab bloggers. It is thriving. The Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese, Egyptians, Tunisians, Bahrainis, Saudis, Kuwaitis, Moroccans, and the Iraqi of course- and all the other Arab countries I did not mention- blog in many languages, French, English, Arabic . This is fantastic. There are even a few Libyan blogs out there now, which I’m trying to collect. Also blogging has allowed Arab expatriates to meet with their compatriots who remained home. Another aspect is meeting up with bloggers' it is a wonderful opportunity to dissect our common interests or disagreements even more.

Anonymity gives you the freedom to be who you are without the usual clichés attached to you by the people who might know you, and so you can let go of your creativity. On the other hand sometimes you wish to stop being anonymous to totally share events and experiences.
I don’t see why is it relevant what my attitude towards America is , why did you not ask me if I was pro- Australia or anti –EU for example. Do you wish to impart by this question that only the US counts? Still I will answer you, it is ‘neither’. I consider myself a citizen of this world and hence all countries matter to me including America.
[...]

Shoot to kill !

Remember the Brazilian guy who was killed by police in the London underground?
Apparently someone leaked a document which contradicts the earlier version of how he died.

Basically he was NOT running away, he did not know he was tagged, he did not jump the gate and was shot 11 times ( 8 of them in the head) inside the tube. I saw a partial photo of the guy in one of the paper dailies here in London this morning .

"There was no suggestion that this person was a suspect in any way, that he was running from the police".

Moreover, for those readers in the comment section who disputed about whether the policemen were wearing a recognizable unifom ....please read this :

'But had the normal procedures taken place in which a warning is given and officers wear specially marked clothing then this young man may not have been killed.'

In summary the guy was not a terrorist and hence no one was saved by murdering him point blank. Sad isn't it?
Therefore 'shoot to kill policy' is not such a good idea after all, and the 'threat of terrorism' is no @#@@#@ excuse.

Blogging in the Arab world

This post has been brewing in my mind for a while now. A couple of months ago, I received as usual an email from a journalist requesting an interview. I never thought that my rantings & musings deserve any kind of recognition let alone an interview. But I do understand that being Libyan is probably what makes me so ‘interesting’ in their eyes especially that Libya is so ‘mysterious’ in a way. So I usually either politely refuse, or honestly admit that I have no way of answering the questions they want from me even thoughI try to find what they are looking for.

For this purpose I always tried to put the links to each blog that comes out by Libyans which could perhaps answer those questions better than I would as each Libyan blogger, whether residing home or living abroad, forms a part of this kaleidoscopic puzzle.

However, this last request did not get my usual treatment. The reporter was very clear about what he wanted and followed up with a questionnaire. He was doing an article on Arab bloggers, and why were they blogging. I thought that sounded cool and for the first time I actually wanted to reply. I was allowed a free hand about how much info I wished to divulge, the only request was that I send my reply before the deadline for publishing.

Here is what happened. I wrote my passionate essay about blogging , then I just left it into the draft box to give myself the chance to reconsider. I was thinking that once my words were out I could not collect them back anymore, and that was difficult for me to accept because I like to be in control. I mean look at it this way , I had no way of controlling what would this gentleman do with my words ? Isn’t it a bit silly to think that I was so important lol. Who cares about a Libyan blogger after all . aaaaaaaah the grandiose ideas we hold sometimes he he he.

Anyway, this guy goes on vacation and sends me an email with his private email address in case I want to contact him there. So after a few weeks of deliberation with myself , plus I had other important personal stuff to do anyway, I finally send my email two weeks before the deadline, with a last prayer that things would be allright…..
Well, I don’t hear any news from the guy nor about the other things we discussed by email, so I write to ask what happened with those other things in which I was kind of interested and also that I would like to read his article. See I’m bad I’m curious after all.
Anyway, this gentleman kindly replies that the article was published but because I was late, I was not included. Phew , I sigh with relief and thank my lucky stars ,saying that this was a clear sign from God … I really had hesitated before sending that email. Then I go and read the article only to realize that it was although very nice, not scary or threatening as I thought it would be. I found it similar to many other articles about Arab bloggers. It actually containing nothing of the in-depth study I had expected from the questionnaire sent to me but only the usual stuff ;) ….

Here is the said article in which several of my favourite bloggers are mentioned "Attack of the blogs" by Nicholas Nesson. I would like to congratulate them again. And if you are interested you can read here ( in Arabic) and here ( Arabic) and "Blogs for everyone" only a little of what is said about Arab bloggers in the media.

Tune in for Part II soon as I've decided to post my ‘essay’ The purpose of blogging . So the readers will have to put up with it I guess , and this will ensure all my words come through.

Oh and lest I forget, I would like to thank all the journalists, reporters and film producers who got in touch with me over the years thank you each and everyone, it was really flattering but a difficult choice for me as I am not used to that kind of attention.

Hiroshima Mon Amour...

On the topic of Hiroshima, I watched a DVD last night of the famous French movie called 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' made in 1959.
It is about a "A French young woman[who] has spent the night with a japanese man, at Hiroshima where she went for the shooting of a film about peace. He reminds her of the first man she loved. It was during World War II, and he was a German soldier. The main themes of this film are memory and oblivion."

I thought it was quite short and poignant and wished the end was different but accepted that this is life and it cannot be otherwise. In the flashbacks we get to see how horrible the effects of the nuclear bomb were , makes you wish never to survive an atomic attack. Death would be preferrable.
Here is the New York Times review about this much decorated movie. Go watch it en Francais, it is very easy to understand and stronger, for the lazy ones there are subtitles of course!

Personally I loved the actor Eiji Okada ( who died in 1995) including his broken French accent and jet black hair( simply gorgeous).

Hiroshima, in commemoration RIP ...No more innocent victims ?

Vigil

In commemoration of the victims of terrorism (of all faiths) worldwide and in solidarity with Sandmonkey , Big Pharaoh and the rest of those who are holding their own silent vigil because of today's canceled event ( you know who you are ) .

These are verses from the Koran we use for praying for the souls of those who have passed away:

Surah One . The Opening (Al-Fatiha)

1. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
2. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds;

3. Most Gracious, Most Merciful;
4. Master of the Day of Judgment.
5. Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.
6. Show us the straight way,
7. The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.

It is worth noting that others in Bahrain and Jordan ( hat tip Chan'ad) had also staged a vigil after the London bombings.

LOVE ...

While on the subject of memes, well here's another one from red_enclave this time ;) and it's all about love hmmm...actually I'm thinking these memes are quite revealing at times as they get you to open up to supposedly innocent questions on the surface and you end up divulging a lot of stuff he he he .. anyway here it is :

1- What does Love mean to you?
Love of God, parents and country.
2- What does Marriage mean to you?
A contract, you get a best friend + lover.
3- Do you believe in love at first sight?
Yes.
4- How many children would you like?
One probably.
5-If given the opportunity, what song would you sing for me on my wedding day?
Hello by Lionel Richie
I've been alone with you inside my mind
And in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times
I sometimes see you pass outside my door
Hello, is it me you're looking for?
I can see it in your eyes
I can see it in your smile
You're all I've ever wanted, (and) my arms are open wide
'Cause you know just what to say
And you know just what to do
And I want to tell you so much, I love you ...
I long to see the sunlight in your hair
And tell you time and time again how much I care
Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow
Hello, I've just got to let you know '
Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely, or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven't got a clue
But let me start by saying, I love you ...
Hello, is it me you're looking for?
'Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven't got a clue
But let me start by saying ... I love you
6- What is your favorite holiday destination?
Beirut.
7-What are three qualities you would look for in a man?
(1) Intelligence, (2) Culture/Education (3) physical attractiveness as in here ;) . The character played by Chris North in "Sex and the City " epitomizes all these qualities ...*sigh* ...
8- What are the three qualities and three bad habits that you have?
Pluses: Integrity, diligence, patience.
Minuses: Hard headed, rashness, procrastinator.
9-Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Living on a farm with in-laws, screaming kids and surrounded by pets ;).

Can't tag Khadija as she already has kids etc... hmmmm, ok sorry folks it will be Sandmonkey again , and Tareq and Alan : an all guys cast !

Of course I would be more than delighted to have the readers' input too ;) to spice things up a little.

Pet meme...

Khadijateri tagged me last month , I promised to do it and somehow ended up not, well Khadija it is up now ..so hope you'll forgive me ;) and thank you for remembering me .

1. What is your favorite type of animal that you have had as a pet?
Cat
2. What is the strangest/most different name one of your pets has had?
Calling one of the budgies "tutut"
3. Describe something bizarre that one of your pets has done.
The cat would enjoy toying and torturing cockroaches to death then putting them next to his plate every morning as if to show me what a good boy hunter he was.
4. Have you ever eaten dog biscuits? (or other pet related products?)
Never.
5. Have you ever let your pet sleep with you?
Always
6. Do you take your pet on vacation with you?
No.
7. Have you held memorials for your pets?
Are you kidding ? no we do not do that, though I cry everytime I look at photos or videos of my dead pets
8. Have any of your pets worn clothing?
No :)
9. Do you feed your pets before you feed yourself?
Yes always.
10. Does your current pet resemble you physically or temperamentally?
Absolutely not he is so cool and gorgeous ;)

I am taggind Alan, Sandmonkey and Tareq...

Libya doing it's bit for Darfur

In its NEWS RELEASE of 25th June 2005 ( hat tip Dr.Ibrahim) "The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) [..] welcomed Libya’s agreement to help cover the costs of its airlift of food aid to western Sudan’s Darfur region, where up to 3.25 million people will require its assistance. [...] The Government of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has agreed to waive tariff increases on jet fuel for this humanitarian cargo. Without this help, the UN agency would have been forced to suspend the airlift this month because jet fuel was set to rise from 13 to 33 US cents per liter, costing WFP an additional US$1.5 million a month to maintain the airlift operation. [...] Since August [of last year], Libya has a provided a crucial transportation corridor which allows for substantial deliveries of WFP food aid to be moved by truck and air from the Libyan port of Benghazi into eastern Chad and the three Darfur states in western Sudan. The airlift began on 7 May with an Ilyushin-76 aircraft carrying the first 38 metric tons of food from Al Kufra to Darfur. There are currently two daily flights to the North Darfur capital of El-Fasher and the South Darfur capital of Nyala. To date, the airlift has delivered a total of 5,623 tons of food – enough to feed almost 150,000 people for two months".

Kudos to Libya for that and hope that more efforts are done to also stop the genocide of Darfurians and the the talks and meetings going on about that in Africa are successful.

Terrorism and Iraq


Iraq has been occupied/liberated(choose your prefered verb) by the US led coalition forces for a little over 2 years now, and thus we have gotten used to the atrocious news from there on a daily basis to the point where unfortunately they hardly register anymore. IMO it has turned like Palestine and Lebanon during the civil war, no matter how many horrible acts of violence are committed it is there in the background for most of us. Yes we care, but we don't know what to do anymore to show how much we care. It is evident, that without a miracle , Iraq will continue to be the hell on earth it is now. With the current world state of affair and my own nightmares this will not be anytime soon ( may God prove me wrong).

In my humble opinion , and I'm not lecturing to anyone here, just brainstorming for my pleasure, the problems in Iraq are multilayered.

First you have a foreign western occupation ( call it what you wish, for me it is still occupation, because it is still people who are not your own who are running the show in your country), the presence of these troops is exacerbating and humiliating, no matter what you think, and no matter what our wonderful Iraqi bloggers say ( no offense to anyone as I respect and enjoy reading them all). Absolutely no-one likes foreign armies on their land : a good example is Lebanon, the Syrians were begged to come and bring the peace 30 years ago during the civil war, the two countries are practically indistiguishable in language, food, ethnicity, etc yet after their job is the done the Syrian army is felt like a thorn in the side, because it has become a foreign army regardless of historical ties. We all know what happened this year !

But I' m digressing, so we have established that foreign armies are unwelcome, even when they come as saviours ( I am not comparing with the great job the US army did in Europe in WWI and WWII thanks Michael). The coalition forces on the other hand did not come as saviours , but now they are portrayed to be , I am not going to go again into the whole WMD, Saddam scenarios, it's been covered too much , feels like a broken record, what's done is done , this is reality now and we have to deal with it. So if many want to think of them as 'saviour' so be it, it will maybe get them out of Iraq faster? And if indeed they wish to be the saviours then they have to work on that image.

The problem is that we have to deal with the following issues:
(a) coalition forces -mostly US-: killing/torturing Iraqis
(b) insurgents/terrorists: killing/kidnapping Iraqis/foreigners
(c) insurgents/terrorists/freedom fighters : killing US /coalition soldiers
(d) it's a free for all mass killing spree , with shia, sunni, kurds, and foreign arab fighters, civilians, ex-baathists, thugs, heros, warlords and mercenaries .
(e) the arab /muslim foreign fighters are subdivided into basically 2 groups, those who are of the terrorists mindset and those that have genuinely listened to their heart and naively come to fight -not the 'infidel or the heathen' - from Iraq , but an invading occupying army (in their opinion)...only to discover to their dismay how things are messed up there and not quite like they thought.
(f) you also have new Iraqi police and security:killing/torturing Iraqis .

In my opinion, everyone in Iraq has the right to kill/destroy the coalition forces by any means necessary if they want, that is not terrorim and not murder, that is legitimate self-defense and freedom even though it is stupid and suicidal. (just in case someone thinks this is a message of hatred, no it it not, it is directed at those in Iraq who profess that they are killing to free Iraqis) . The point is if one wants it then to get it done by not sacrificing your fellow Iraqis, otherwise it's murder. So if someone blows himself up in a US base that's legitimate struggle, and I believe all the people will help. But blowing a market full of Iraqis, or a queue of Iraqi job seekers, sorry that's terrorism.

What is going on in Iraq is terrible, it is a civil and regional war with onlookers, cheerleaders, entities and people settling scores.It's just that nobody wants to utter the horrible looming sentence Civil War, because that would even demonstrate more that this latest meddlesome adventure in the ME is not a 100% success.

I wish the US would leave and let the players settle their scores no matter what the toll, they have been wanting to do that for 30 years anyway. At least the toll would be less, in time, deaths and money then a prolonged war stiffled beneath the surface by the US forces. Iraq needs to burst its abscess and westerners are cramping its style. You cannot democratize by force but you can point in the right direction, educate and eventually create a correct civil society. The society will not decide of it's own to stop and start behaving in a controlled manner. It has to fight it out first.

The fact is no matter how much I sympathise with the plight of Iraqis, I can't really say anything, only my personal opinion, since I don't live there nor have been through what they have, this goes as well for those Iraqis who have not been to Iraq for years ( or to any Arab country for that matter).

What is the point of this post you ask ? hmm let's see. Oh yes , what I wanted to say is that in the middle of all this, no killing of any Iraqi should be undertaken in the name of religion or ideology, as the only fair target in Iraq should be the foreign forces so if the Arab fighter who went there with visions of struggle for freedom cannot kill a foreign soldier then they better go home or else pull up their sleeves and help rebuild Iraq. As for the Iraqis killing each other, that's civil war, however just senseless pointless explosions that is TERRORISM. While Iraqi authorities killing. imprisoning/torturing their own, that's business as usual with tacit approval from coalition forces.

So while the recent London and Sharm El-Sheikh attack may have deflected a little attention from Iraq recent attacks and spate of terrorism. Iraq has not been forgotten and the innocent victims of terrorism are also remembered dearly, may they RIP.

On another sad note....

I retract my words about the non-hysterical behaviour of Londoners , while yes most Londoners did not go on a rampage , the police on the other hand have sadly shot at point blank someone who was running on the underground, well as I thought discussing this subject on Red_enclave's blog ( how intelligent are intelligence ?)this guy was plain frightened or just in a hurry to get on the train or plain cold coming from a warmer country. His ill luck was his colour which made him Asian i.e Paki to the London policemen... well gentlemen it seems you just murdered the wrong person and innocent bystander... and a tourist most probably it seems he is Brazilian according to the BBC article just mentioned above :( oh boy the terrorists are having such a laugh at us...

This has frightening repercussion , because that means that if you come from another climate and are not half naked in the cold British summer while you are visiting London you risk being suspect on the tube and even shot at point blank range by the police ...better restrict your travel till this dies out a little because you may not get the time to explain you are not a terrorist but only cold .... or in a hurry to catch a train...scary

23/7 Sharm El Sheikh bombing

Updated ! (please scroll down)
Many have probably heard by now of the horrible bombings which took place in the beautiful seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. The death toll has been horrific, double that of the London 7/7 while the injured are also by the hundreds. What is more terrible is that there is not enough coverage of it on western TV , and I see that lamented on several blogs, it is not enough that even the Egyptian governement is not announcing the real figure as Sandmokey says; but that the western media somehow does not see fit to show that the Egyptian count as much as the Londoners?
I must admit that some comments on the blog were heartwarming , but still that is so little from the collective brouhaha which happened with regards to London victims.

Anyway I would like to offer my condolences to the the people of Egypt and my friends , and also to the families of the tourists to. Some Egyptian bloggers spurned by Karim are going to try and hold a protest tomorrow ( see details here). This is Karim's message :

Stop complaining about others and realize your own apathy. Tomorrow the 24 of July at 5:30pm on the 6 of October bridge between Zamalek and Tahrir. There will be banners available but you are encouraged to bring your own. It should last until sunset.

This is not for foreign media. This is to send a message to elements in our own communities. We need to tell these bastards that they are not welcome here.

Wear white tee shirts

I would like to add that you don't have to be Egyptian to show solidarity with them I think , and I'm sure you will be welcomed . So if you are currently living in Egypt or visiting go to their meeting point as per the instructions and say 'No to terrorism!'. I hope someone gets a camera to record the event. I 'm not currently anywhere near Egypt but I'll be thinking about you guys !

Update: 27-7-05

Well here is the story of the protest at Sandmonkey's part I and part II ( with photos) and at Big Pharaoh's ...makes a helluva a read.

London, Iraq, petitions and banners

It seems there is no running away from the prerequisite post about the London attacks since on the second anniversary of 7/7 a copycat bombing took place today in London. Like all decent people in the world be they atheists of believers , one must condemn such atrocity, and offer one's condolences to all those who lost loved ones . I admire the Londoner's spirit and stoicism . It was business as usual and there was no great panic or hysterical behaviour unlike 9/11 ( of course I'm aware that the scale was less enormous but death is death ).

On this same vein then , every life is precious, be it on a London bus , or on a Baghdad street, and I wish that the Iraqi victims of terrorism ( be it Western, foreign, state sponsored or homegrown) are remembered as well.

A collective RIP to victims all over the world.

Getting back to the London attacks, it seems that perpetrators of 7/7 were local British boys of Pakistani and Jamaican ( does not even have a Muslim name) ethicities , this is an internal problem that the local authorities should solve, if they are Muslim that does not mean that billions of Muslims worldwide should apologize. It's like saying that all Christians should apologize for the IRA bombings ?

So I shall not get apologetic and start talking how Islam is all about peace, the British have dealt with that admirably and they have not gone berseck and started stabbing Arabs or Sikh , or women with headscarve.

What I will do though is this petition wich I received by email today, I already signed and sent it , you can do the same as well. No matter how wrong the British or US policy has been in the Middle East, senseless murder of ordinary citizens is not a solution ( even though occupation forces have been guilty of that in Iraq). So here it is :

Today, I call upon all my Muslim brothers and sisters to stand up and be counted. We must tell these so-called Muslims (if what has been claimed by a group on an al-Qa'ida-related website is true) that they do not represent Islam or Muslims. We Muslims must shout out loud and clear:
"NOT IN MY NAME! "THIS PETITION IS GOING TO THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT AND THE BBC TO SAY, WE MUSLIMS DONT BELIEVE IN KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE.

http://www.petitiononline.com/gb999/petition.html

PLEASE FORWARD THE LINK TO ALL THE MUSLIM IN YOUR CONTACT LIST TO SIGN THE PETITION

On a similar note I found this post by Iraqi-Canadian blogger Ihath quite fitting please read it here : Degrees of linkedness .


Karim Elsahi who seems to have a good head on his shoulder has come up with a nice idea, world wide prayer for peace , he calls it Pray 4 Peace . Please go check it and join if you wish. My friend T. was saying today' that if enough people prayed for peace toghether, something good should come out of it '

Karim also has a blog please also go check it at One Arab World and support his effort.


Mustapha from Beirut Spring has some great banners . Go and choose yours. I 've chosen this one. Congratulations Mustapha!












This banner from another site common dreams.org is also great you can order a whole bunch, go check their choices.



I must conclude the post as I started it, with the London blasts. When I was in Tripoli last week , all the Libyans I spoke with friends, neighbours colleagues, were pained about the attacks and immediately reached out to their foreign friends and colleagues, and many of them said a prayer for the victims. In Islam we believe that the prayer will reach the dead even if one is miles away. However, since I was in London , I decided to pay a visit to the memorial that has sprung up at Kings Cross and pray for the dead souls in person on my behalf and that of my Libyan compatriots. It was heartening to see all sorts of people and sobering to see so many messages of love. Here is one of my photos.

Safe and Sound

I know I've been silent for a week now, sorry about that , this is a short post to thank all my friends, family, loved ones and bloggers who texted, phoned or emailed me. It seems I have a knack for premonitions, why did I go watch a play about terrorism in London ? talk about Karma....hmm

What happened was tragic, that is all I can say, and I kept thinking that Russel square is my favourite place and I always take the tube from King's Cross :(

Anyway for all those wondering about me, no I was NOT in London today. I've been back home for the last few days, I'm just busy with some personal issues. Your prayers and good wishes are needed.

'Talking to Terrorists'



For this trip to London I went to the theatre last night to watch the play 'Talking To Terrorists' .
This play has received a lot of wonderful reviews , check the BBC here and the New York Times here and a bunch of others here ; so my curiousity has been duly tickled and I booked my ticket a few days ago before arriving in London.

What could I say more than all those critics and journalists? I loved every minute of the play. Ir was fascinating to watch the actors change characters and accents each time, to the point that I was convinced they were different people and was looking for clues in their faces. The only expected aspect was the usual representation of Muslims, however I'm not taking umbrage as I can see now that this is mostly how the Asian Muslim community talks and behaves in the UK ( no offense to anyone meant, they behave rather differently than the Arabs).
All in all it was a successful night and a great idea.

Has any of you seen the play and wishes to share their thoughts about it ?

Libyan bloggers update

Blogging is fascinating, new Libyan blogs keep cropping up this year. Ladies and gentlemen please welcome Tareq, who is blogging all the way from Arizona. He has a pet cat named Leo , he has internet overdose (i.e. it's becoming boring hmmm). Well anyone who loves the feline species is okay by my book. Tareq : Happy blogging , wait and see you'll make tons of friends!

I'm still waiting for E. who does not want to disclose her blog..please E if you read this your blog is wonderful and it's a pity not to let others share your emotions with you. I've reserved a link for you on my side bar called 'undisclosed'...allow me to change it ;)

English or American English ?

Found this cute quiz at red-enclave , thought I'do it for fun. Here are my results.

Hmmm no wonder the sales rep in the shops in Europe keep thinking I'm American and I have to insist that 'no sorry I'm Libyan' ( could never understand why they asked in the first place, petty conversation?) ....and here I was all this time thinking I had a British accent :) and now I learn it's yankee *sigh* where on earth did I pick that up !

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

30% Yankee

10% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

Try it ! What kind of American Engish do you speak?


PS Khadija I'm working on that pet -tag thanks :)

The Escort Business

Do you recall my earlier post about an Iraqi blogger saying she was working as a 'mistress' ( euphemism for prostitute)? This post generated an interesting discussion especially by DM who said that if she had dressed more modestly she would not have been lured into that business. I still maintain that she had to do this in order to survive. And because of the rigid code of honour in the Arab world, she has gone down that path because nothing else was available anymore ( I'm not condoning this ok -so please spare me the blows). However, I found a disturbing post about the rising number of teenage girl Iraqi prostitutes in Syria , who had run from the war and who are the only breadwinners for their families, sometimes their own brothers acting as pimps . Because of the war on Iraq, these girls have resorted to this kind of work instead of going to school. Please remember that like I said earlier there are hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Syria. Many complain that they do not get assylum visas anymore because their country is 'free and democratic' now so they have no excuses. Another human tragedy of this crazy war I guess. please read the article here on Joshua's blog and remember the issue is NOT Syria but the consequences of war forcing young Iraqi girls to become prostitutes and break all these taboos to feed their families despite their newfound freedom and liberation in Iraq.

Mohammed from Libya cycling around the world

I found this interesting story recently, I'm thinking how come it was not mentioned in our media earlier ? Anyway according to LJBC.net, Mohammed started his cycling for peace in 1999 and hopes to return to Libya by 2008. Read the whole story and see photo here .
Good luck to him and I'm really impressed, because the longest bycicle trip I made was to the bakery or supermarket

Interesting blogs

I've been wanting to share these blogs with you for some time, so here I go:

Welcome Myst who has an alternative eye opening spin on current affairs, if you're fed up of mainstream media tune into Damned Empire .

Also

The alluring Baghdad's Mistress , whom I first came accross at Iraqi Bloggers Central. Baghdad's Mistress, calls herself an Iraqi mistress, by that she means prostitute not school teacher or headmaster. You will love her story and attitude. On her blog she is recounting how she got into the escort business to survive even though she is a straight A university student. It breaks your heart to find out that she had to do this after being orphaned and divorced. Baghdad Mistress has a cool wit and a sense of humour, however along with the sleazy details the careful reader will notice that her posts all have a purpose and a moral at the end; she's got some sharp political slant too; this is no 'madam'. What's more she knows how to keep us in suspense !

Aliens

Aliens and alien abduction stories are a recurring fad; witness the latest Star Wars series and Dr. Who. However, this is not the stuff of Hollywood or books, there are ordinary people out there like you and me who claim they have been 'abducted' or have met aliens or ETs.

I'm not ready to dismiss them all toghether because I'm thinking that it would be boring if there was only us out there. Moreover, the Qur'an decribes God as 'Lord of the worlds ' not Lord of the world so I'm open minded to the theory that perhaps there are other worlds out there..... or maybe the 'worlds' are the different dimensions of zoology, virology, bacteriology,and all the other '..logy'.

Usually people who have had this experience are denigrated and asked to put tinfoil caps on etc..
Yet one professor saw their need and reached out to them and did a study about that.
John Mack " turned the academic community upside down because he wanted to publish his research in which he said that people who claimed they had been abducted by aliens, were not crazy at all. Their experiences, he said, were genuine. " Please see the rest of the BBC article here. He died last year .

The world 'alien' is also used to depict a foreigner in the USA, I was surprised at this word when I first saw the ID ( or residence or driving licence I think) of a French friend of mine which said ALIEN... :) I felt it relegated foreigners to the status of that beast Sigourney Weaver was fighting. But that is an offside note

So has anyone of you had any 'close encounter' of the strange kind and if so do you want to share it with us here ? What about the others what's your take on that ? I'm really curious as this has always been a fascinating topic for me .

...and NO I'm not an alien!

A book meme (what next !)

First MaGdee then Sandmonkey tagged me for this book meme. Thank you both. I also have to thank DNA for its definition :‘chain email for blogs thingy’.
I thinks what we read says a lot about the person. Moreover, I noticed that one more thing we Arab bloggers have in common ( apart from English language skills) is we READ a lot. So welcome to my world .

Total number of books owned:- Let us say that I had to have them professionally catalogued last year, and to order made to measure bookshelves. Also my mum has threatened to build a 'penthouse' ( read send into exile) on top of our home to ban me and the books if she sees one more book lying on my bedroom floor - oh and I'm very possessive about them seriously.

Last book bought:- Between God and the Sultan by Vikor Knut and Hugh Miles' : Al-Jazeera

Last book read:- L'islamisme en face by Francois Burgat - highly recommended. For non French speakers you can check the English version here.

Five books that mean a lot to you:- Well I am placing the Holy Qur'an out of any competition that goes without saying ( my personal opinion). So here are my top 5.

(1) The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand; since I discovered it at the age of 14 in my uncle's library I fell in love with the main character Howard Roark - no man has measured up to this fictional hero yet ;)
(2) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig
(3) Sun Signs - Linda Goodman
(4) The Bible, The Qur'an and Science - Maurice Bucaille
(5) Dictionary of Chemistry

Tag five people to continue this meme:-
(1) Khadijateri(2) Red_enclave(3) Iraqispirit(4) AK_Land(5) Wired Temples .

Wanted to tag Sandmonkey but someone beat me to it. Also Twosret was on my list but she was already tagged.

Of course readers are invited to share their favourite books etc....Please do.

I'm back

To all of you who emailed me, sent comments or phoned to ask about me:

A BIG THANK YOU !!!!!!

Sorry had to be away, and now I have a lot to catch up on in the blogosphere ( and other spheres ;) ) .

Is there such thing as 'humanity' or are we all 'monsters'?

Over at DNA's blog - prompted by all the horrors that we have been witnessing in the news - he was asking himself and the readers : ' Humanity : forward or backward?' , a topic which generated an interesting debate, especially from Egyptiansandmonkey who says - please read his complete post here - as the following is only an extract :

'People are monsters, the majority are evil, and we are all doomed. [...] We are not more civilized, we just learned how to hide our brutal nature better.It’s like political correctness[...] We ignore the disease, and instead we fight to suppress the symptoms.But the question arises: how do you fight the disease when you yourself are the disease?I mean, sure, we all think ourselves to be good, but just give us some power and tell us that there will be no consequnces to our actions and just watch what kind of monsters we turn into.I don’t need philosophy to tell me that man is evil, i know he is. Anyone who reads the news knows what kind of horrors we human can unleash on eachother, and you can’t help but marvel at our efficiency to destroy as opposed to our inability to heal or rebuild. But did anybody ever think that maybe we are suppsoed to kill each other off? That maybe earth’s only hope in survival is for humanity to wipe itself out? [...] Or maybe it’s because every religious book i’ve read told me that the end of days scenario involves the outnumbering of evil people to the good ones and how it’s all part of god’s plan.[sic]'

I'm wondering whether because of our inherent cruelty we have been sent religion to learn to unlock our humane side?

The 'birth' of a new STAR

A little bit of humour for a change, here is an Arabic cartoon ( thanks B. for sending it to me), critical of how today's (Arab) female pop star become a success. It shows the various process of transformation from an ugly duckling to a 'sex goddess'. You've got the cleaning up phase, the silicone and collagene phase, the liposuction and lifting phase, the slimming phase, the 'painting' and make up phase, and the straightening phase ( hair). The dustbin shows the script or song which seems to be irrelevant, then you have the video clip :).

Today's star all seem to be a little bit 'unnatural' and like in the western press, speculation about whether they had plastic surgery or some extra stuff are ripe especially those before and after photos which can be really embarassing . Enjoy.

Highlander in Japanese ? (cute)

Somebody sent me this link, I want to thank those reading me in Japan for the effort they made in translating this post :). Thank you, I did not know some Japanese people where interested in what I had to say, but I appreciate their interest in Libya. We love Japan too.

Taqnya 2005

This is the name of this year's annual telecom and communications exposition in Libya. There are lots of business and venture opportunities in that sector and it seems many people have signed up. If I can make it I will try and visit next week.

Meanwhile , it seems we shall be soon getting broadband in our homes at affordable prices, and not just in the business sector anymore. I can hardly wait as although I am grateful for the dial up system it does have its quirks.
Internet is very popular here, and though there are supposedly only 28,000 dial up subscribers in homes, we have so many internet cafes ( who have mostly leased lines internet which is faster than dial up as you probably know) you wonder how they make profit since these lines are expensive while that prices per hour have gone down. You will find all sorts of people in these cybercafes, youth playing online games, chatting with friends, people doing research for homework, foreigners getting in touch with their families and friends, Libyan families calling their loved ones in the US and Canada ( it's cheaper than a phone call) , and even Libyan businessmen sending a quick email. It's become a part of our life - like everywhere else in the world.
Also, now I know why my line keeps disconnecting . We live 300 m from the beach folks, it is pretty humid.

Moving on

I did not think that my loyalty to a childhood friend and wanting to find out her fate could unleash such a torrent of to put it mildly 'strange' emails. Is it unusual to want a reunion with old classmates ?
As promised this will be my last and hopefully final update on this story, obviously it is important to me since I dedicated 3 posts to it.
Well since I found A. last week, we've exchanged some emails, in which she plainly said that she had chosen to stop writing to me for a couple of reasons among them is that she did not get some replies from me ( but hello A. I told you we have sanctions , that means letters take months to arrive and may get lost as well). But the most important reasons was that all those years ago she felt that we had nothing to say to each other anymore on acount of her maturing and me supposedly not ;) and had decided to break the correspondence.
Well that is fine my dear, it would have been more brave to just say it 10 years ago . "Hello Highlander, I think we have outgrown our friendship and should each seek our life. Wish you the best blabla bla . " It would have been so honest, civilised and mature, than to stop writing abruptly. Still no hard feelings, that is not all the story; I gathered it seems something did happen in between the time she broke our correspondence and my getting in touch with her again, because there is a bitterness in those letters and there is allusion to the world of current affairs, to Iraq, to 9/11/ to Islam , to the West . That is what I don't understand. All these things where not part of our world as children. I'm really sorry A. that you have a problem , if you can't voice it , no one can help you. Anyway she was clear at not wanting anything to do with me at all. That is fine , no classmate's reunion I guess :). I accept her choice and I close the chapter on this story, with proper goodbyes. But guess what? The tables have turned and she won't let go. A is demanding answers and bombarding with emails to things which are unrelated to me .I am thinking that I got the wrong person or that I have ended up in a mental hospital. ? It is so painful to loose your childhood memories, now everything is tainted and there are no certainties anymore. So the sanctions have only accelerated a doomed friendship ( I had no idea it was doomed). It is better to know late than never. C'est la vie and it is time to move on. Let us all wish her[A] happiness.

Update on lost friendships

If you are interested to hear what happened , after my post on lost friendships , what did A. do with my email ? Here is the story. Though I'm happy that she has survived and is well, the end is not happy I guess after all. Below is a translation of part of her email, I know this is personal stuff but maybe by sharing it with the whole world I would be able to grasp what exactly happened to necessitate this response. Plus it's good therapy.

" I was wondering when would I hear from you again? After all this time..you see, your phone call was not really a big surprise. I expected it in a way, one day..without knowing when or how, because that is the nature of things , to try to reach out again after a long silence.
But my reply has not changed.
You see our paths had crossed at a certain time, but our ideals ( ideologies?) were different, the way we saw life was different. I chose the path of wisdom, at least what I think is wisdon. While for you it was the path of action , which probably has another aspect due to your philosphy in life. That is good , that is fine. To each her belief, and to each her destiny. I am not here to judge you. I think I even understand you , even though you probably don't need my understanding . I bet that is what you will tell me [and she ends by saying] I have not forgotten the good old days. A"

I have no idea what she is talking about and I feel that this letter is full of innuendos. We were kids so what, faith and philosophy is she talking about ? our sole concerns were , if that guy or the other fancied who, pop music, films, books. Not Hegel, Marx, or Kissinger.
I thought she was pretty condescending with the 'not judge you ' and I got the impression that she purposely stopped writing maybe because she thought I did not reply to a particular letter which I have never received. If you recall we had sanctions. Any brilliant ideas out their, do you see something I don't?

Fair & Lovely

Sandmonkey from Egypt brought up this topic among the things that he hated , he reminded me that I need to write about " Fair & Lovely" ( Thanks Sandmonkey).

I am so angry at that, it is still being marketed in the Middle-East, African countries and some parts in the Far east , while it is strictly forbidden in the west and Europe. I will ignore the racial thingy and just concentrate on chemistry. Do you know why it is not marketed in Europe even though the package says Made in UK ( that is the most expensive version, the UAE and Lebanese ones are cheaper). Because it was pulled from the market as the main component hydroquinone which is to de-pigment the skin is carcinogenic and harmful to the skin. Usually hydroquinone is given in extreme cases by a prescription from your dermatologist and not over the counter! Look at all the derivatives sold in Africa alone, we have a lot of them in Libya as our African guest workers love to buy this cream and unfortunately some of the Libyan girls do so as well as they are being told it is a sunblock !.

First time users will experience a lightened skin tone which they will appreciate and so continue but in a few months their skin becomes greyish/blueish and crinkly and more prone to burning in the sun anf they will need to keep using this product (a vicious cycle).

Over the counter products containing this chemical in Europe and US, ex: Fade Out (Fade Out Original Skin Lightening Cream 2oz - that was the one which began to be sold in Europe in 1992 and is still around repackaged for the 21st century) have considerably reduced the % content and clearly tell you to ask your doctor, make a test patch , preferrably to use it on scar tissue not your face etc...aahhhh I'm so angry..everytime I tell one of my friends, they ignore my advice , thinking I'm just jealous of their even toned fairer skin, 6 months later they start crying !This is a tragedy.

A quiz from a blogger

There is a interesting quiz going around in the blogosphere my friend Alan has kindly nominated me for this (thanks Alan :)), he calls it the 'round robin' ..I'm not familiar with this word but for you out there quiz fans hope you enjoy it . The Rules in Alan's words are as follows:

Pick 5 occupations and complete the sentence.Add some more occupations.Pass it on to at least 3 other bloggers.Have Fun! (That's a rule!)

The List:If I could be a scientist...If I could be a farmer...If I could be a musician...If I could be a doctor...If I could be a painter...If I could be a gardener...If I could be a missionary...If I could be a chef...If I could be an architect...If I could be a linguist...If I could be a psychologist...If I could be a librarian...If I could be an athlete...If I could be a lawyer...If I could be an innkeeper...If I could be a professor...If I could be a writer...If I could be a llama-rider...If I could be a bonnie pirate...If I could be a service member...If I could be a business owner...If I could be an actor...If I could be an agent...If I could be video game designer...If I could be a comic book artist...If I could be a hooker...If I could be a crack addict...If I could be a porn star...If I could be a mime...If I could be a domestic engineer...If I could be a chimney sweep...If I could be a masseuse...If I could be a taxi driver...If I could be a priest...If I could be a window cleaner...If I could be a gynecologist...If I could be a world leader...If I could be a healer...If I could be a proctologist...If I could be a carpenter...If I could be a amusement park ride operator...If I could be the manager of an adult bookstore...If I could be Pat Benatar...If I could be a hermit...If I could be a social parasite...If I could be an X-Man...If I could be Paris Hilton...If I could be a movie director...If I could be a super model...If I could be the new pope...

Bills additions:If I could be a neurosurgeon ...If I could be a playwrite ...If I could be a Belgian ...

Alan's addition:If I could be a Astronaut/Cosmonaut ...If I could be a Time Traveller ...If I could be a Dragon ...

My additon: If I could be a fighter pilot..., If I could be a sailor..., If I could be a dolphin.....

My answer: If I could be an actor, I'd want to be Angelina Jolie to have Brad Pitt's attention 24/7. If I could be a world leader, I would choose to be the President of the US to have a mighty power behind me to be able to force my will on others. If I could be a healer, I would be able to help all the people with strange diseases for free. If I could be a time traveller, I would want to go back to the time of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) and live in those days with him. If I could be an athlete I'd be a professional swordswoman.

Now for the hard part, nominating only 3 bloggers is very difficult because I want to send it to all of them so I will nominate 3 Libyan bloggers ;) and I'm going to ask all my other blogger friends to help themselves and be my guest ( hope that does not break the Karma of the game ;) ). Ok here we go : smokey_spice , FatimasLibya, Khadijateri. It's your turn now ladies .

Desecretating a religious book

The accusations that the US soldiers in Guantanamo have flushed the Qur'an down the toilet have sparked anger around many parts of the Muslim world and caused several deaths in Afghanistan on its own. Now in an effort the save face it seems Newsweek will be scapegoated as it has issued an apology for ' erroneously ' reporting that story.

Now why am I not surprised? It does not matter if Newsweek apologises or not, or if the US authorities are 'investigating' these allegations or not. The soldiers and their superiors at Guam are simply doing their job; you did not expect them to be an icon of innocence did you? of course they are going to use every means to 'torture' the fellows there. That's the game of war and a large part of it is won psychologicaly by breaking the person you consider an enemy. Usually if physical abuse and sexual abuse -as was amply demonstrated - doesn't work that well, vilifying what many Muslims hold most sacrosanct is the next step. Why do we think the US investigators would be above such tactics? Still I could be wrong.

Happy slapping ..

This is a very disturbing article on the BBC , the idea of happy slapping is to creep up to someone slap them and take their photo with your cellphone then send it to everyone and to the internet to publish the person's humiliation. It is to be fashionable in a few western states, sort of like a very sadistic candid camera thingy. I don't know what will bored sick people come up with! Disgusting . In my opinion the perpetrator should be put in prison and pay a hefty compensation to never think again about hurting another human being.

Libyan Blogs encore , and comments section

Thank you to all those who sent me links to other Libyan blogs in the last few days :)

First of all there is the family man Bobraislibyaa , Bobrais means lizard in Libyan so I know this guy could only be a compatriot he he he. I'm glad this blog tempted you to have yours, if you've read I already commented on your first post, but I don't know what have you been up to because none of your links show now. So please put it/them back up again. 3amalt ili 3alaya !

The other is a Libyan satirical blog in Arabic, so here you are the enigmatic mindamir , you seem to be very mysterious (no profile), wish you all the best as well.

COMMENTS Sections : To all those readers who left comments on older posts, for a reply please check the relevant posts. I try my best to reply as regularly as possible. Thank you for your participation.

Libya tightens rules on foreign workers

About time I say , the rules were always there, it's just that they have been taken with a bit of laxity shall we say. According to these news from an official website from now on they are supposed to be applied :

“Any one or any company who employ foreign workers must plan and coordinate their work according to the law, and they must bring their authorized papers to the Secretariat of Training and Man-Power.”
The Secretariat of Public Security said it will take appropriate legal action against anyone, even foreigners and people smugglers who violate the legislations, including a prison sentence of more than a year, and a fine of more than LYD 2000.



No offense meant to anyone...but they should not have been relaxed in the first place, as greedy entrepreneurs only abused the law to get illegal cheap immigrants or very expensive foreign 'consultants' where a European secretary could be employed as a 'computer technical specialist' ( whaaaaaaaaat? ) to bypass the law while a Libyan who could do the job just as well would not be employed ( I know the Libyan girl wants to go home and cook for her husband and not stay and work till 10 PM, but I'm sure if the company pays her the same salary as for the foreigner she would stay at work and hire a housekeeper;) ). Still I think the essence of the idea is good but the implementation leaves a bit to be desired, because the first thing that went was that the majority of the shops that employed Arab workers were closed, in the last 2 days. That means even bakerie etc.. Many Libyans do not like to do what are considered 'menial' jobs but I did notice in the last few years that they do not bulk at them anymore, except that foreign labour ( not experts) is cheaper. But I'm not sure at the rumour that "Arab md’s (medical doctors) are being thrown out of hospitals and clinics". That would be a tad too drastic, those people have valid contracts... plus who is going to man all those hospitals, unless I suspect we are going to be flooded with EU doctors. It's speculation time I guess, but I don't think this drastic approach is going to solve the rising unemployment issue.

The Libyan Children's AIDS crisis - Update II

Last month I brought up this case and the foreign and Libyan staff implicated in it here and a possible boycott of trade with Bulgaria here . Well the Libyans have been placated by the visit of the Bulgarian Minister of Economy who states his visit was unrelated with the case ( can't be sure). Meanwhile the nurses celebrated Easter Mass on 1st May weekend in prison where a Greek priest was attending and they got to talk to their families on diplomatic cell phones ( I wish Libyan inmates had that luxury). The trial has been postponed once more until August, whilst the kids' death toll has reached 50 now. The parents have sent letters to the UN and the Bulgarian Ambassador in Tripoli, in which they basically say that the children who are also the victims here have not benefitted from international exposure while everyone has been sympathising with the health workers. That in my view smacks of 'selectivity' by the international community don't you think so? Do you have to be 'white' to qualify for humanitarian care? I've already voiced this in my previous posts, still I'm amazed at the world's hypocrisy in this regard.

Read an excerpt of the letter here or go to the above link for the full article ( and ignore the not so perfect translation):

' While we are stressing to you our strong pride and great respect for the friendly Bulgarian people - as part of the Libyan people which is proud of these relations - we also express our strong disappointment at the treatment of this case by the media institutions of your friendly country, which ignore the facts and the truth currently dealt with by the court. They also fail to respect the independence and the fairness of the court. There is also a complete absence of any serious attitude or a positive view on the part of your official institutions with regard to our children who are the real victims of this tragedy and the ones who are suffering.'

Yes I want justice to be served and before you attack me and say that the health sector in Libya sucks , I would like to say I'm aware of it, I live here you know, still malpractice can and does happen. I cannot confirm that the health workers- Libyan and foreign- did it on purpose ( at this point probably only God knows) but if the court proves they did , then it is the death penalty - nothing less in my book. If it is malpractive well compensations should be negotiated on a par with Lockerbie/UTA or any malpractice victim in the US or Europe ( very lucrative business, ask the lawyers). If they are acquitted well they should be compensated as well. And the children are the most important here, and a program should be set up to take care of them and to ensure this never happens again - regardless of the outcome of the trial. Unfortunately poor babies we will witness their funerals in the coming years as their light going off one by one.

* End of rant. Life is not fair.*

Fuel Price Hikes in Libya

Yes you read right, this happens in an oil rich country as well. Last week we had our petrol prices increased. Benzene went from 11.5 piastres to 15 piastres per litre and engine oil from 130 piastres to 135 piastres a can (thanks DM) a 30% increase some say here but I'm not sure how this is calculated.
I guess we are being slowly weened from the subsidised goodies. The last rise in prices was back in the early 90s. Of course it is still low compared to big oil consuming countries but it is starting to reflect world prices and the 'liberalised' market economy.
Coinciding with this increase, the Ummah Bank has recently issued a prepaid card for refueling at the pump to *gasp* 'spread banking culture' they say, see here .What the heck? Makes us sound like a bunch of morons..I'm seriously offended now! Okay the article has redeemed itself by saying it is basically to get rid of liquid money, but the problem is we don't have much metal coins in Libya as prices are rounded off to the nearest decimal. We do not have the 99p syndrome which we see in the rest of the world. Well since the article was not originally in English I'm going to be magnanimous and asume the translator has botched it and forgive them.

However although this plastic card seems to be popular I am not getting one. I still prefer to be served at the pump.Hey we girls get to sit in the car while the attendant fills the tank and returns the change, guys have to serve themselves. I refuse to come out in that hot sun no way with or without tons of SPF 60 sunblock.

On the other hand our Maltese neighbours have really felt the brunt of high oil prices since last year 'Gone are the days when we bought crude at subsidized prices from Libya' they lament.

Suffering is relative I guess.

Brother of Cairo bomber caught in Libya (link corrected)


The title of the Reuters article says "Suspect in Cairo bombing caught in Libya", I am not going to count him as a suspect because the Egyptian authorities are rounding up families, neighbours and friends of last week's Cairo bomber Ihab Yousri Yassin. See Egyptiansandmonkey's take on it and Magdee 's input, that is just a sample of Egyptian bloggers.

'Libyan authorities have arrested and handed over to Egypt the brother of the bomber who wounded seven people when he blew himself up with a nail bomb in Cairo about a week ago, an Egyptian newspaper reported.
Al-Ahram, quoting a senior Egyptian security source, reported in Sunday's edition that Mohammed Yousri, the brother of the bomber, had been found hiding with an Egyptian who worked as a cook in a hotel in Libya, Egypt's western neighbour.' Full article here .
I have not seen the Al-Ahram article , the one online does not mention anything yet so maybe someone in Egypt can confirm this for me.

Whilst I deplore all the tragic attacks that occured in Egypt, I still hope that this guy won't be tortured if he is innocent, the problem is how to know if he is guilty or not before it is too late. I mean if kids have been arrested, nothing is guaranteed anymore. *sigh*.

Haj Hamad's letter from Germany to his wife Ghazelle ( Libyan humour) + Translation on 8-5-05

I just got this cartoon by email, Haj Hamad is a comic social critical cartoon in Libya something like the Simpsons but with no 'alternative' ( * wink* at Egyptiansandmonkey)families. We get to watch his and his family's antics every Ramadan on Libya TV . This guy is hilarious.

Anyway some kid made these drawings at the expense of Haj Hamad and posted them on the internet, I'm not sure everyone will understand the jokes as they are in typical cultural Libyan linguo ( not classical Arabic) and therefore are not meant to be offensive to anyone. Still I want to share them, if any one wants to volunteer to translate fine ..if not- I'll try and do it later. Or ....wait ! I have a better idea!! lets play this game for those who can't read Arabic, tell me what you think Hamad is telling his wife Ghazelle in this letter while he was in Germany? And I'll provide the translation in a few days :) Come on make an effort!



8th May 2005

Well Kudos to Khadijateri for getting it right :) - that was awesome my dear, I've copy pasted it here for all to see:
"1 - How are you Ghazella? 2 - How's the kids? 3 - How's your mother? (the snake-hehe) 4 - I heard your always going out and running around.5 - Oh! If I get home!6 - I slaughter without putting you in the direction of the Kaabaa.7 - Your Husband, Haj Hamed in Germany"

My tiny linguistic adjustments: How are you Ghazella, How are the kids, How's your mother ( good symbolism mothers- in- law are snakes in all cultures- why?), I heard you're always going out and running around, Oh wait till I get home, I'll slaughter you without putting you in the direction of the Kaabaa (basically I'll show you who's boss), Your husband , Haj Hamed in Germany.