The other cartoonish topic and in harm's way ..

First it was the Danish cartoons, and now it is the Afghani convert Abdulrahman! These are truely testing times for Muslims , or are they ?

I believe that the 21st century is going to be that of Islam, many Muslims have broken God's covenant and that is why we are in such deep trouble, but from the ashes of this destruction will rise a stronger and prosperous nation following the True Faith ( Gosh look at me I sound so pompous).

Ah but you do not have to take my word for it as I am no prophet . But Abdulrahman's plight which came into a conversation we were having my friend and I yesterday about the veracity of the injuctions for killing Muslims who leave Islam, and what happens if the West starts executing its citizens who convert to Islam as a sort if 'tit for tat' ? (sidenote if one entity is being unenlightened the others do not have to behave the same though right ?it would be like being back in kindergarten)

Hard questions at times are they not ? well I never shirk away from a lovely debate, the goal though is always to remain polite and respectful ( I hope I was :) and remain so).

So where did my thoughts wander ? my proposed theory was that although a person was born into a Muslim family it does not necessarily mean this person is Muslim. These are two different things, because he/she must possess Faith or 'Iman' in the first place, having the adjective signifies only that he/she has the 'generic' make up . Faith is in our hearts and mind i.e.in our soul and not a birth right. Remember the verse I mentioned here and which I tried to translate here ? I will post it again it is Sura 28 verse 56 (thank you AT to whom I got via Sandmonkey).

"انك لا تهدي من أحببت ولكن الله يهدي من يشاء"

"It is true thou wilt not be able to guide every one, whom thou lovest; but Allah guides those whom He will and He knows best those who receive guidance. [Surah 28 - Verse 56] "

Incidently my translation was not that bad either :)

Therefore Abdulrahman is free to do what he wants with his soul and he has only God to answer to.
But in terms of does Islam call for executing converts ? I don't think so but do go and read AT 's excellent argument on this issue in his post " Can you leave Islam" ( excerpts below) :

"The problem is, there's ample evidence in the Quran (which its authenticity is not even debatable by a Muslim) that indicate otherwise! Where's is the truth? Why is the Sunnah contradicting the Quran? To most scholars, it is not. They conveniently find explanations to reconcile (out of zeal to protect Prophetic tradition). I yet to find a convincing argument in favor of the ruling that converts should be executed. [...] Obviously the Quran is not silent about the issue, and in my opinion leaves no room for interpretation. Anything said, and attributed to the Prophet (PBUH), outside of the boundaries drawn by the verses above either must have an explanation that is inline with these verses with no exception, should be considered a narration out of context, or flat out unauthentic even if its in Sahih Al-Bukhary or Sahih Muslim; otherwise we have a schizophrenic religion, which is far from the truth.
Holding Islam hostage to narration that at best constitute "probable knowledge" and neglecting the Quran is just foolish because stories and sayings are seldom narrated in context, seldom preserved in a way that ensures beyond doubt certainty, and neglecting the possibility of human error is at best completely unrealistic. Add to that the sensitivity of the subject matter! We are talking about human lives here. We are talking about killing someone! Not debating whether a Muslim should ware silk clothing or not! [sic]"

Now for the rhetorical question "if Christian's start executing Muslim converts what would the Islamic world do ?"

In my opinion they would take it as one more sign that the 'Christian West' is trying to persecute Islam and it would convince them even more of the truth of their belief. Moreover, the killed western Muslims would be considered 'shuhada' or 'martyrs' in the service of religion, and in another twist, the ambivalent ones with poor judgment might rally around the bin Ladin and Zarqawi franchises message. Oh and what is more the families of the western people whose government would have executed them may voice their opinion perhaps louder than expected ? After all they would be 'white' ( I assume that is what the question implied ) and not Arabs or Asians who have quasi no legitimacy ? Plus it would belie all the slogans we hear about the West being the beacon of freedom and democracy. It will constitute a type of Spanish inquisition similar to when [" Ferdinand and Isabella appointed Tomás de Torquemada in 1481 to investigate and punish conversos: Jews and Muslims who claimed to have converted to Christianity but continued to practice their former religion in secret. Conversos were common in Spain. Some disguised Jews had been ordained as priests and even bishops. Detractors called converted Jews Marranos, a pejorative word that can also be translated as "pigs"] . It could also be a Muslim holocaust ( although I'm aware of what the original Inquisition was about ).

On another thought the West would have no problem on their hands apart from a a moral or ethical one if they killed the converts in secret. Would that constitute state terrorism ? This spiralled me into another branch laid out below :

Nowadays when you hear the term 'terrorism', the media and other unfortunate events make you associate it with Muslims, I found Haitham's post here "Arabs and Muslims are not terrorists" eloquent and well argued, and you have to read all 256 comments, because that is where I stumbled on Rachel from the Velveteen Rabbi who has embarked on reading the Qur'an with an open mind and no hidden agenda.... She is definetely going on my blogroll.These are the types of people we need more.

Moral of the story ? Excellent conversations enrich us all in our basic humanity, we find out that we have the same fears, the same wishes and the same goals. I will do my best to keep out of harm's way and still retain my integrity.

The Eclipse again , and Tunis

Well I was planning to go to Ojala for the event, my plan did not work meanwhile I will be in neighbouring Tunis . This time I'm hoping to meet the Tunisian bloggers. Ok you heard me guys and girls .

Blogging Libya ?

Well traveller Adam has created a blog specifically because he is soooooooon coming to Libya ( thank you for emailing Adam ). How soon next week inshallah ;) . The solar eclipse is really bringing a lot of visitors here. It's nice that Libya is getting this kind of hopefully good exposure. Anyway Adam's blog " a little trip to the south " ... of course why not he will be talking a lot about my favourite topic : LIBYA , no ? right !

Another eclipse tourist who is blogging is Joe Carr ( hattip Khadijateri ) .Check him out he seems to have gotten the VISA for Libya and made sound arrangements too .



Libyan blogger Zizo is also a newbie let's go and encourage him shall we ? you can't go wrong if you love football .......

Naughty stuff

To lighten things up after all the depressing reading , why don't we take this quizz ?

Are you good in bed ? Come on take a peek don't be shy .. you can be anonymous for today if you want ;)

while you are at it you can check the Bedroom Blog ..

My best friend and I were discussing that I got pretty 'tame' readers , so no one will dare to do the test. Well we shall see who will win the bet my friend or I .

Case 44/1999 revisited : Libyan AIDS children victims 0 - Bulgarian medics 0

I have been meaning to write a 'last' post about the Aids trial in Libya for over six months now , kept saving bits and pieces here and there. By now I have forgotten what I wanted to say. But I do recall writing two posts about this before. "Because of all its lobbying and political pressure Bulgaria has managed to make a big political issue about a malpractice crime and may have alienated many people in Libya " That was part I , click on it to read all before lashing out at me. And this is part II . "If they are innocent, they will walk out, if they are not they will be punished, and if a political settlement is reached well that happens too, look at all the court cases in the West. "

Well I read yesterday an interesting article by a Bulgarian journalist called Maya Dasin ( not sure about the spelling here ) in Arabic . she is basically giving a chronological recapitulation of the story since 1998, and how in her opinion the nurses and the Palestinian doctor have been framed and a merely scapegoats.

Well I'm going to state what I said before that Libyan hospitals were/are not in tip top shape so yes the disease could have been spread from there, but then pandemics happen even in the West. For example the superbugs in the UK . So I would not be surprised at hepatitis and Aids in Libyan healthcentres , but these were healthworker s and they should have paid more attention too.


As with regards to the Libyan judicial system , well if they have been tortured , then I hope that justice is done now that they have Bush on their side . But if they have survived so far to tell about it let them remember that others have not. If they are innocent I would like to remind them that the justice system in Bulgaria has not been that fair either sometimes on foreigners. Check what happened to a British 15 year old who was sentenced for 15 years for attempted murder . "As far as the Bulgarians were concerned, a local lad had been attacked and they wanted their scapegoat. " So even when the real killer confessed nobody wanted to listen at first . Life is not fair. The Bulgarian judge did what he wanted after all, and cut the speculation and story short . If all the accused had been executed ages ago this story would not have dragged .... but then maybe they ARE innocent ?

Anyway in December 2005 a retrial has been ordered, so death sentence is no longer hanging over their head . "They have always denied intentionally infecting 426 children with contaminated blood." It could have been most probably unintentional and I'm sure they will walk out free this time. But who will remember the children ? hope the Western media looks a little into their plight too as "[t] he children who are also the victims here have not benefitted from international exposure while everyone has been sympathasing with the health workers. "

Did I understand the US ports' story ?

While the US- Dubai port imbroglio was raging I let it be..why ? because it was futile , it was not going to happen and will not happen for a long while. The US was not going to hand out its ports to 'Arabs & Muslims', the result was so to speak written on the wall. The trouble was just how to blurt it out without sounding non-politically correct. Translation: without being racist and biased - despite my thiking that they did not have to do it with kid gloves. I'm sure many bloggers and journalists handled this issue but this article explains what many Arabs think has happened. It makes it sound like another conspiracy , which I'm sure it was not, people were just being themselves here .....
As usual it is the Jews' fault , however I'm finding that the points raised do make sense, Jews or other it's simply people wanting to look out for their best interests. It's all about big bucks .

Well here is the article anyway make up your own mind :

"The US Ports and their Concerns by Abdel Wahab Badrakhan Al-Hayat - 15/03/06//

The US ports management issue winded up in the withdrawal of the "Dubai Ports World - International" (DPW.YY) and the triumph of the reactionary and fanatic within the US Congress. These were not concerned with the security of the ports but with the interests of the Zionist-Israeli lobby, in addition to the interests of some US companies. This is the rule adopted in the stances of the members of the Congress and not the legal or economic - or of course ethical - principles with respect to the legislations submitted thereto. In fact, most of the arguments seemed to express the "US first" motto, akin to what we hear in some small nations.
Henceforth, the Americans could better confine their affairs to a pure US framework; rather to a WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) pit. They should not preoccupy the world with their President who went lame early on or with Hillary Clinton who initially conveyed fierce opportunism, in addition to the rest of the politicians working at the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee "AIPAC" or any other shop for racist incitement and hatred globalization. There is no need for the Americans to pretend that they are the masters, rather the pioneers, of the open business for everyone. They better announce beforehand the list of countries, individuals, and companies excluded from dealing with their transactions. This is the lesson that can be deduced from the ports story.
The problem does not lie in the fact that the "Dubai Ports World - International" (DPW.YY) or any other company lost one or another deal, since the world of business is wide-reaching, available, and free from the US intricacies and complexities. The problem lies in the fact that the Americans want to draw all the money of the world, especially the Arab world. In fact, they are exploiting politics to blackmail transactions; they even often resort to punish countries that dare to serve their economic interests with non-US partners. Businessmen, and the investing countries, are aware that, in one (legal) way or the other, they are compelled to pay a sort of masked "backhander" to a certain US party in order to ward off its evils. Despite everything that has been said in rejecting the criticism of the arguments opposing the conclusion of the ports deal, the blackmail approach will not stop because it basically stems from the tone of the same political arrogance. This in turn stems from the colonial legacy that still considers other peoples and countries at the service of the superpower.
The issue is not particularly, or necessarily, related to what is dubbed as the post-9/11 fears. We cannot deny the repercussions of this horrendous US event and the ensuing security obsessions. No country can be criticized for its security precautions. Moreover, it is better to say that the Americans are free when it comes to who operates their ports, but to show sympathy, admiration, and appeal to a "friendly nation" and then subject it to all kinds of criticism, defamation, and accusation; this is definitely inane. The Americans authorized those who are accusing them of what they are, as well as what they are not, i.e. the Iraqi who claims they are striving to trigger a civil war in his country is not utterly wrong, and the Sudanese who is exasperated by the flare-up of Darfour war because they did not welcome the oil deal between his country and China is not wrong either, not to mention what the Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Egyptian may say...
The utmost irony is what we are witnessing now, following the struggle to stamp out the UAE deal, after the US representatives got what they want, is that they are trying to justify the hysteria that afflicted them since the opinion polls showed an opposition to the deal ranging between 58 to 68%. These polls were undertaken when the representatives voiced lavish statements in order to wipe out the deal, and even attempted to harm their friends and defame their security reputation. In other words, the public opinion built its stance on what it heard. Some of them were so unstable to say that "we will not hand in our ports to the devil." Notwithstanding, some stark opponents said that their stances does not reflect hostile feelings vis-à-vis the Arabs. Those have just started they journey back to reality, hoping to please US categories that consider themselves afflicted, though morally, by the insults and sham during the past three weeks. These can duly be referred to as the French adage says, "they want the butter and the price of the butter."
In any case, the issue involves a significant lesson to those who want to come acquainted with the extent of the US seclusion and its inconsistency with the lectures it gives on economic globalization."

God's Justice

Check the article below and ponder...if only Justice was always so swift:

"A Saudi died while trying to steal the entire estate of his dead father, Al-Yaum daily reported. In order to do so, the son used documents that needed his father’s fingerprints. He hid the documents in his clothes and told the family that he wanted to be alone with his father’s body for a few minutes. He closed the door behind him and when he did not come out for a long time, the family became alarmed and knocked on the door but received no answer. When they opened the door, they found the man dead on the floor beside his father’s body. He had died trying to get his father’s fingerprint on a document in order to inherit the entire estate. "

Talk about INSTANT retribution , this is scary man but the bastard deserved it !

Freedom of speech, cross cultural differences & isolationism

I recently stumbled upon this article in Arabnews and thought it made an interesting point.
check it out :


"Freedom of Speech: Whose Freedom? What Speech?Abeer Mishkhas, abeermishkhas@arbnews.com

IT seems that the controversy over the Danish cartoons has opened the door on a non-stop discussion about freedom of speech. No matter where you go these days, there seems to be someone discussing what has been said and published and whether it is within the bounds of “freedom of speech.”
Recently the mayor of London was sued for what he said to a reporter. His words, if looked up in a dictionary, were not themselves insulting. He unfortunately compared a Jewish reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard and that is replete with all the wrong historical connotations.
The furor which followed his remarks centered on the use of certain words and how certain words are “out of bounds.” In another incident, a teacher in the US state of Colorado was suspended for comparing George Bush’s rhetoric to Adolf Hitler’s. We in the Arab world have a similar sensitivity concerning the word “crusade.”
It is loaded with centuries of hostility and bad feeling; the major uproar the word caused in the Arab world when George Bush used it after 9/11 is a good example of how sensitive language can get. Usually in our case, however, those protests never go anywhere; they just lie there, creating bad feelings that fester over time.
In the West, on the other hand, the words are not pushed aside and ignored; instead they are often punished. The interesting thing is that the words which provoke these reactions are so different. In the West, they seem to be references to Nazism, the Holocaust and gay rights that offend the most.
In the Arab world, on the other hand, the “emotive words” are totally different; they are usually related to religion since it is the most sacred — and most sensitive — element in people’s lives.
The dialogue that is going on now, and that we hope will continue, should aim at exploring how the “emotive words” and “untouchables” differ from place to place. The whole Danish cartoon business is seen in the West as a freedom of expression issue; it can legitimately be seen as such in the West but as the Muslim world sees things, it is a direct attack on religion.
Where, I wonder, do we go from here? During a recent British Council-sponsored seminar which dealt with translating from Arabic into English and from English into Arabic, one speaker made an interesting point.
He pointed out that one reason for the few translations in the Arab world is the lack of freedom of speech — and that this is the very issue that is so ‘hot’ today because of the cartoons.
Though he is absolutely right, what I wonder about is whether we have the same definition of freedom of speech. It seems to be an area that we need to go much deeper into.
After the lecture, I asked the speaker, “Are we, in the age of globalization, going to globalize the “untouchables?” In other words, is what one part of the world feels is freedom of expression going to be imposed on the entire planet?
So far the Arabs show no sign of overlooking the “crusade” or what they see as the defamation of religious figures any more than the West is going to give up what it feels is right. Given that this is the case, what is to be done.
The speaker could not help me much as he said he was opposed to all kinds of censorship — and he included his dismay at the sentence given to David Irving by an Austrian court.
In the end, I think my question will hang unanswered in the air. We need to agree to respect each other’s differences and to understand that they do exist and must be taken account of. We do not need to go further along the way of globalizing untouchables. "


I believe that the author's message should not go unnoticed especially by those holding extremist ideas among us ( in the West and in the Muslim world ). Dialogue and reach out are the only solution apart from total isolationism and when I say that I mean it literally: i.e no interaction with the Muslim countries, no travel over their airspace, no travel to them , no diplomatic representation, no business in both direction, nothing , no military bases, no sailing in their regional waters, no employees, consultants or anything in our world and vice versa, zero zilch as if we did not exist to each other. If you think that is possible then this would be a good policy of disengagement right ? forget globalization , just make the world village with those you want and can tolerate in your group.

* end of rant

Middle East Negotiations




Courtesy of Arab News No Comment

An Exxon Mobil recruiting advertisement in Libya

(My translation + added links )

"Esso and Mobil operated in the past with our Libyan partners and discovered the first oil well in Libya.

We produced more that one million barrels per day, built the first natural liquid gas plant in Libya, provided the use of modern technology, provided education to Libyan staff overseas, granted thousands of training hours to Libyan staff, built Marsa Elbrega terminal and employed more than one thousand individuals….

Today we have merged as Exxon Mobil, so imagine how large will the next achievements be ?"


I thought it was pretty cool ! Well anyway they are back in Libya in business.

Highlander : US Secretary of State 2008 ?

Following Ms. Rice's visit recent visits to the ME , Lebanese ( some claim Syrian) journalist Jihad el Khazen who writes in Dar Al-Hayat ( a Saudi owned paper) published the following open letter urging Dr. Rice to run for President .

Excerpts "[...] I support you for president. It would be wonderful if you win; you deserve it as you have more brains than George Bush and stronger morals than Bill Clinton, without delving deep into the American presidency. In addition, the presence of a woman at the head of the only super power in the world will be a boon to women in my world who are still short-changed of their rights. My third reason is that you are better than Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld."

His letter contains a lot of advice on US foreign policy towards the ME should she get into office.

El-Khazen is accused of being a pawn of the Saudis (thanks Vox), and from his numerous articles he is obviously fixated on the neo-cons. Yet though it gets boring in the end to beat on the same topics of anti-Bush, his style is always humouristic and fun to read and I do check him regularly as he gets one to think in 'other' directions.

So this is a great letter, I love it! ...

Now Dr. Rice if you run for President in 2008 I want to be on your team and run for US Secretary of State . Trust me having me on your side will give you prime seats in the ME. It's either that or I have to go to Team Hillary .

Ok it should be feasible I have about 2 years to carry out the plan ....right?

Of stolen and destroyed heritage

Ancient 13th century Islamic coins stolen by a Florida man from a shipwreck in the Red Sea are returned to Saudi Arabia by the US DHS and US customs.

“These coins are treasured artifacts that reflect the cultural heritage of humanity as well as Saudi Arabia’s unique history as an ancient trade center and as the birthplace of Islam,” said Saudi Ambassador Prince Turki Al-Faisal. “Their recovery and return to the Kingdom is an example of the deep friendship between Saudi Arabia and the United States and the respect the U.S. has for cultural heritage.”

This is such heartening news . I just hope the Saudi government, its zealots and greedy businessmen do not 'misplace' or deliberately destroy this heritage ( thanks Aya).

She is a Saudi blogger in the US currently. Check her posts about 'Respecting our History' , she has her theory about the 'real reason' for this wanton destruction of Muslim heritage : parts 1 & 2.

Isn't it ironic that so called 'infidels' preserve it while self professed 'righteous' Muslims don't?

First peace treaty document

According to this article ( hattip Damascene), "the document of the first peace treaty in the history of mankind has been found in Aleppo. It dates back to 2,400 years ago" .

The treaty was concluded between "the Hittite and Egyptian empires after the Battle of Kadesh c. 1280 BC. The battle took place in what is now modern day Syria, [...]recorded in two versions, one in Egyptian hieroglyphs and the other in Akkadian using Cuneiform script; fortunately, both versions survive. This dual language method is common to many subsequent treaties. What is rather different from other treaties is that the two copies were differently worded. Although the majority of the text is identical, the Hittite version claims that the Egyptians came to them asking for peace whereas the Egyptian version of the same text say it was the other way round [...].It contains many elements found in more modern treaties although it is perhaps more far-reaching than the simple declaration of the end of hostilities in later treaties. It also contains a mutual assistance pact in the event that one of the empires should be attacked by a third party, or in the event of internal strife. There are articles pertaining to the forced repatriation of refugees and provisos that they should not be harmed; this might be thought of as the first extradition treaty. There are also threats of retribution if the treaty is broken". (From Wikipedia)

and finally ...

"This treaty is considered of such importance in the field of international relations that a reproduction of it hangs in the United Nations headquarters". Wow Bravo !

I have a weak spot for history, and Syria being as a repository of historical gems is one of my favourite places. For more of my thoughts on Syria check this post here - just scroll down to the relevant topic.

Libyan-French nuclear deal

You are not hallucinating. Three years ago we give up our WMDs and what happens? we start to eat the carrots. Last year France offered to help us with nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. As of yesterday Libya and France have a signed agreement.

"This accord represents a qualitative leap in relations between the two countries and proves that Libya has transformed its weapons of mass destruction into constructive weapons," Public Works Minister Maatuk Maatuk said at the signing ceremony."

I don't know who is getting the better deal and where would be the limit?

The future of US bases in Iraq

“While the Bush administration has downplayed prospects for permanent US bases in Iraq, General John Abizaid told a House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday he could not rule that out.”

First he says : "No doubt there is a need for some presence in the region over time primarily to help people help themselves through this period of extremists versus moderates."

Very altruistic no ? Yes but….

“Abizaid also said the United States and its allies have a vital interest in the oil-rich region.

"Ultimately it comes down to the free flow of goods and resources on which the prosperity of our own nation and everybody else in the world depend," he said.


Resources & Vital interests – are the KEY words here folks …it was never 'solely' liberation and democracy. Which means that maybe we should not really expect the occupation/coalition bases to close that quickly in Iraq. After all they have invested a lot of money in them [the bases] did they not ? reaping the dividends is therefore expected.

Ok I’m sure many of you are pleased to see me back in my skeptical –cynical mood once more.

Arab stockmarkets woes

It is not only the Egyptian stock market which crashed this week ( thanks Sandmonkey), but also the Saudi one , and many Gulf markets are in trouble too.
However the Saudi stock market has had a good Samaritan to put it back in the green . Check out how Prince bin Talal infused Saudi stock just ‘as the Finance Ministry said it might allow foreign residents to invest directly’.

Is there someone to boost the Egyptian market too and help those whose lives are ruined.?

Camel photos - ( they increase popularity it seems )

Well if the donkey story did not make you feel good , hope this photo which I got by email today does (thanks B :)).

Bad Boss vs Good Boss or how to get even ?

Recently I've been thinking about a radical shift in career goals especially that in my place of work it looks like I've reached the highest level for that line of work, so unless there are other responsibilities which would enable to move upwards , this was the end of the road. I already got an offer from somewhere else , but I'll tell you all about it another time.

Anyway this thinking process has led me to the issue of managers. I was blessed since 2001 with a boss who can only be described as your worst nighhtmare. I mean what are your avenues if you won't sleep with guy, nor flatter him , nor be his little mouse , dorrmat or snitch ? Very very difficult situation ..threading on thin ice there.

So I used to read career advice online and collected the interesting stuff. I tested them on him at times, and finally my efforts started working. Unfortunately he has left a year ago, yet his bad legacy remains and will need a lot of patience to be got rid, because the others do not have the guts to do it. Which basically means I'm still kind of stuck in that limbo, and so I'm reading all those interesting links to strategise. he he he . Poor new boss does not know what will hit him.

"unless you’re independently wealthy, you’re probably not in a position to tell your boss to take this job and shove it. What can you do if you get a boss who’s the biggest obstacle to doing—and enjoying—your job?"

Well "survey results indicate that approximately 40% of employees have had to deal with a bad boss." There is a fantastic website which has grouped everything about your boss from hell, you can check theirr forum, comments, tips, support groups and so much more and it is appropriately named ' badbossology ' :

"Badbossology.com provides the latest news on bad bosses along with relevant resources to assist people in:
-Understanding and analyzing their boss to develop an action plan
-Protecting themselves safely
-Reducing their boss's power over them
-chieving career success in spite of their boss.
-The site is also relevant and useful to corporate and ".

Once I was so angry at my boss that I dreamed I had sent him a fake anthrax letter. I relished in my imagination how he would open the envelope and what would he think when he saw the powder. But I never got past the stage of imagination ...


Did you ever think of taking revenge from your boss?

The policy of selectiveness

Following his visit to India & Pakistan " President George W Bush has indicated the US has dropped its staunch opposition to a proposed gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan. "
How generous of him especially when we recall that :"The US had previously stated it was "absolutely opposed" to the gas pipeline, even indicating Pakistan and India could face sanctions if the project got under way. "
So we realise that nothing is absolute and everything is possible since the US government still needs Pakistan as an 'ally' on terror in the region therefore we cannot be surprised at this about face from the previous stance, as it [ the US] needs to keep Pakistan a little bit happy and calm India's energy fears. You get treated with respect when you are a nuclear country...at least that is what the layman sees.

"The $6bn project for the 2,600km (1,625 mile) pipeline will bring Iran revenue, Pakistan transit fees and India energy. "

Am I the only who finds it strange that the US even has a say on this matter? This pipeline is concerned with Iran, Pakistan and India right? It will run on their soil and not on the American continent....why oh why do 3 supposedly sovereign countries need approval to carry out a project from a 4th unrelated country unless there is something I have missed ( maybe they want the US to finance it in India and Pakistan?)...Would India have a say in any project that the US wishes to undertake in Canada or Mexico or even in New York ?

Donkey Story

Thank you MA for sending me this story , we all need to be reminded of the important things at times ...

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less

NOW --------

Enough of that crap . . . :)

The donkey later came back, and bit the shit out of the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected, and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON:

When you do something wrong, and try to cover yourself, it always comes back to bite you.

A visit to a Libyan saint or wali

It is spring, and my mother has decided to visit one of her favourite local saints : Sidi Asharef.

"Although the orthodox faith preached the unique and inimitable majesty and sanctity of God and the equality of God's believers, an important element of North African Islam for centuries has been a belief in the coalescence of special spiritual power in particular living human beings. The power is known as baraka, a transferable quality of personal blessedness and spiritual force said to lodge in certain individuals. Those whose claim to possess baraka can be substantiated--through performance of apparent miracles, exemplary human insight, or genealogical connection with a recognized possessor--are viewed as saints."

So five of us crammed into my car today and headed for the approximately 80km drive out of Tripoli. We packed lunch and outdoor games. The weather is gorgeous , sunny and not hot nor cold, such a change from last weekend's sandstorm - which was such a vision of hell that many thought was the day of judgment.

We first drove to the city of Gasr Benghashir the countryside was really worth seeing.Then we continued towards Tarhoona. I'm not good at directions but maybe the other Libyan bloggers could explain? Anyway I just wanted to enjoy the beauty of today, not give map coordinates.
So here we are driving through farmland, mountains, olive groves, arid places, since I'm going without a map or signposts (which are still very rare) it really is a feat to travel here. We stopped on the side road for a picnic and fun. I haven't done this for quite a while , why ? what is taking so much of my time that I forgot to enjoy the simple things ?

I asked twice for directions and finally 8km before Sidi Asharef's place I found a signpost..you can see his mosque below where his tomb is also.There is a Qur'anic school annexed to the mosque and we interrupted some men in their learning. There were still using wooden tablets as in old times. It was so peaceful like we stepped into another era. We prayed the Asr, sat down for a bit , enjoyed the scenery , the goats and the birds.... by 5pm we started to head home.

I'm one of those people who falls asleep in any vehicle, boat, train,car, bus, plane you name, and as expected I started to drowse...BUT I'm driving and my co-travellers realised that I was asleep at the wheel only when we almost hit a truck ..still there was not much traffic , and I did not allow myself to be bothered or ruin the mood, just put the music louder and opened the windows to breath in the fresh crisp air.

I don't know what is the story of Sidi Asharef, except that he was some kind of holy man, I'm not even sure what miracles are attributed to him , but I hope I can find out and if any of you know you are welcome to tell us about it in the comment section.

Please enjoy the photos below....

Olive trees

Qur'anic tablet

Sidi Asharef signpost (yay)

His tomb

The mosque on top of the mountain

A Libyan house

mountain view

Road

spring... farmland


Libya is so beautiful ...God bless her , sometimes we forget it sitting all day behind a computer desk .

Extra : excellent link about Libya.

Boyfriend Jokes

My old university classmates regularly hold a meetup online or try to as much as possible, we arrange to go on msn chat at a certain time ( whatever our time zones) and we exchange info and chat about what 's been going on in our life.
After our last chat , one of the girls sent us one of those forwarded jokes.. maybe it's a bit corny but I thought it was quite funny :P

Dear Help Desk,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed that the new program began making unexpected changes to the accounting modules,limiting access to flower and jewellery applications that had operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.
In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.9 but installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0 and NBA 3.0.
Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and House Cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.Please help!

Desperate.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Desperate,

Please keep in mind that Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.
Try to enter the command: C:/I-THOUGHT-YOU-LOVED-ME and then install Tears 6.2. Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications: Guilty 3.0 and Flowers 7.0.
But remember, overuse can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.
Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will create 'Snoring Loudly'WAV sound files. DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 or reinstall another Boyfriend program. These are not supported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.
In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. Consider buying additional software to improve performance.
I personally recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Lingerie 5.3

Help Desk.

Being 'hit on' in Libya

For the last 2 years I've been in and out of the country too often to the extent that I have almost forgotten our charming boys and their methods of showing appreciation of the female genre.

Yesterday my memory was jolted abruptly, and along it I admit my ego too although the man in question will not know it (he he he) and will remember my angry scowling face instead.
Now how did that happen ? I was driving back home, and I must have overtaken some guy unwittingly, anyway I look in my rear view window and notice that a huge car is switching on and off its front lights, so I just moved out of the way expecting it to pass on my left side and be off . But no the car actually continues to cruise next to me at my own speed. When this happens in Libya and you are female, please know that the guy in the next car is interested in you. I ignore him totally and just drive my normal route and normal way. Well if Khadija's hubby is wondering at how will she manage to drive in Libya now that she got wheels, I can assure you that using indicators for turning right or left is used sparingly here. Therefore when I used them correctly the guy in the car following me imagines I'm giving him some morse code to follow me, but hell I'm not changing my safe drive and defense driving methods just so the Libyan guys don't get ideas in their heads. So when I indicate that I want to turn on the right and being in a remote area , the guy in the car following me and who thinks I have fallen for him because he got a BMW ( this one but white colour ), start having colourful dreams and follows me to my street and to my garage door. When he realises that this is my house and not some fancy 'hwaza' or farm were he will get to fulfill his fantasies , he tries to call to me from his car. Of course yours truely ignores him and I savour the look on his face when my teenage neighbours start walking up to him and asking him what's up man ? "Is this guy bothering you sister" .. I just smile sweetly while the BMW drives away in the bumpy track road. I lurv my neighbour guys they sensed my problem without me even looking their way. That's why I know that with lechers like that man around , I will still find a hero if I wish to play the damzel in distress. ..

For a glimpse of how a Maltese expat in Libya sees the 'boys and girls' issue, here is a teaser from Cyberdigger : "I once witnessed a blonde girl walking on the pavement being kerb-crawled by no less than three cars. The combined six or seven drivers and passengers were all shouting suggestive obscenities and wolf-whistling " .
Khadijateri keeps finding these most incredible Libyan bloggers or bloggers in Libya. Another one which I have picked up from her blog ( though off topic) is Bengazeeya , she already has 2 degrees and is now studying medicine in Libya and getting married - mashallah. So go read Cyberdigger and Benghazeeya (or the girl from Benghazi) .

Of Places in the Heart, Arab-Americans and intercultural relationships: Analysis, morale , conclusion, discussion

Wow that's a long pompous title ...

If you have just landed on this blog by mistake or by coincidence then please be aware that I have been telling the readers the story of an Egyptian TV series which caught my eye in Ramadan 2005. If on the other hand you are a regular reader and had 'skipped' it then may I suggest you go back to reading it if you wish to comment on this topic, it's not long , only 5 parts.

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V


Allow me to reprint what I said two weeks ago when I started this saga: "In light of the recent events surrounding the so called Danish cartoons which have quickly evolved into a world crisis of economic, diplomatic and social proportions, this story is even more relevant, as it uncovers the tip of the iceberg of our fears (or in this case western fears) of the other, stereotypes, respect, Islamphobia and Arabphobia - but also vice versa I must admit. [...] Maybe we can brainstorm the significance of the subliminal message if any. Should I have a reason to be apprehensive?" .

I have not posted this story simply for entertainment purposes, or as a free publicity to the actors , director and producer, because I already said it was a humble production, and despite the fantasia and 'far fetched' part, I think it has a valid point and a morale. Of course every story must have a morale right ? so let's see what is the deal here ....

when the storie ends bad guy John Adams is killed in a hostage crisis and shoot out by the police. His wife Lina ( Amy) is exonerated therefore of the murder charges and especially the death sentence. This though has been at the cost of her best friend Margaret ( who had plotted against) dying, but also her best friend from jail dying at the hands of thugs influenced by the hate wave against Arabs and Muslims after 9/11. Lina herself has suffered because of that, as we have seen. We have noted how along the story Bakr and Mc Carthy gain a new respect for each other. The author wants to show us that despite Mc Carthy’s political agenda and his boss attempting to prevent him from re-opening the case, he does it because he loves the American Constitution freedom, ideals and what they stands for . Mc Carthy is impressed with Bakr ‘s endless search for Justice, not because Lina and him originated from the Arab world but because Bakr is in love with America’s ideals and believes they should be enacted and that the laws guarantee respect and a fair chance to all Americans irrespective of creed or ethnicity or when did they arrive in the US.
Bakr is finally taking his wife (Tracy) to court and is going to fight for custody of teenage Leila because first there is no use hiding from her the mess of the failed marriage but also because he believes in Justice and thinks he should not have feared Tracy in the first place, despite her threat of reporting him as a terrorist Arab Muslim, because fear breeds an unhealthy relationship which prevents justice.

The author also wants to show us how much the Arab Americans are stuck in a dilemna on one hand they are Americans and on the other they are treated as the enemy within.

"Within three days after the Oklahoma City bombing, more than 200 hate crimes were committed against Arab Americans and American Muslims. The same was true in the days following September 11."

He wants to show through this simple story how Arab Americans have been suffering following 9/11 and that this attitude and stereotyping are unjust because they are first and foremost Americans. We wonder why were not the Irish-Americans so badly treated every time the IRA made a terrorist attack in London or Belfast? WHY? Is it because the Irish are from European stock ? (Let's not forget that a large amount of the Aid money from the US people and charities went to fund the IRA also ) .
Do skin colour and religion make a difference in America despite what the Constitution states ? Are the slogans for Freedom a mere hypocrisy ? and only apply to Aryan types ( ok maybe I’m going overboard here so don’t trash me people- just explain to me and teach me) ? A lot of questions churning in the mind of Arabs from what they see and that is why I said that TV series was showing and discussing in a very simplistic and romanticized manner the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Have or have not Arab Americans (whether Muslims or Christians or atheist) been unjustly treated ? Some to the extent that they have Americanized their names ( even when they are Christians) just to have peace of mind. If my name is Jibril I’m going to change it to Gabriel it’s still the same but it is no longer Arabic . If my name is Yohana , I will make it John, Suliman will become Solomon, and so on and so forth, because I wish for peace of mind and not discrimination. Are these problems due to perceptions on both sides or is it really a clash of civilization?

"[...] We see a danger that this country, which has always been committed to the rule of law, will lose interest in preserving the rights of its minorities. We see a danger that this nation will cease to maintain the principles of freedom and justice for all—principles that it has fought half-dozen wars to uphold. If Americans—all Americans—are not vigilant to avert these evils, we may all lose what we love best about America[...]"

Maya, one of my readers said "relationships between people from different cultures are unstable. I know several such cases, and all but one ended with painful separations.I guess things are likely to be even worse when one of the partners has to convert, i.e. to abandon his self. I disliked Lina's story (if somebody is interested, I'll explain why), but one detail in it was interesting - the degradation of her husband after he renounced his self " .
I asked her to wait till the end of the story.

Maya, John supposedly stopped drinking not because he converted but because he had a problem with alcoholism this was discussed in the series but I brushed over it quickly. Before knowing Lina, John had shady dealings , he had a felony in another state but we only find about that later on, he was a gambler from the beginning . I don’t think these are good characteristics to be proud off whether as a Muslim or as a Christian or simply as a human being. So becoming a Muslim did not ‘twarth’ his style culturally speaking. Lina was wearing quite stylish revealing clothes in the series to the extent I would have thought she was a Baywatch babe. She simply made the wrong choice because she was in love. The media was hysterical and unforgiving asking for blood , not because they thought she was a guilty killer but because she was originally from a foreign land, despite having become a naturalized American. That is the problem, when do you stop being a foreigner in America, even if you are fully integrated?

This led me to think deeply and to be honest also be very afraid with regards to the following :

If an American male or female married an Arab male or female, would the American renounce his spouse and turn violent as soon as a terrorist attack (God forbid) takes place by some extremist nut at the other side of the world or even on American soil. Will the Arab spouse always have to be on guard if America declares war on the country of origin of that Arab spouse ? If the spouse is a Muslim will he /she be viewed with suspicion unless he/ she starts acting in total moral abandon and looseness? Does having conservative values hinder?
All this scares the shit out of me, I may be exaggerating , I maybe be mixing things up, but it seems no one stood by Lina except Bakr , ( Arab American) , his Jewish American assistant, the Latina secretary and the African American policeman, and even the mafia guy was Italian American, all these people look like minorities to me.There is a glaring lack of ‘white’ American. Is this true ? or just a dramatization ?

I’m gonna share a secret with you guys I had always been reluctant to marry a Libyan American or Libyan Canadian because I was not sure I would be safe as unfortunately I did not think they were capable of taking care of themselves let alone of their women abroad. At least in Libya, if the worst came to happen I’m home. I can go back to my father’s house, or my brothers and cousins could go beat the shit out of the Libyan guy in Libya if he mistreats me looooool. But abroad what would happen to me if my husband decides he can’t stand up for me if he is Arab -American? would it be safer then to marry a non-Arab.?

But after 9/11 are things really as scary as I imagine ? If you adopt a country you must be loyal to it. How would you divide your loyalties ? would your heart bleed for your adopted country when it is hurt and then bleed for your native country when your adopted country decides to erase it of the face of the earth… Am I just being melodramatic - after all the series ended on a positive note: that Justice does prevail even if it is a tortuous road. A good example from real life is this one "The US government has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by an Egyptian who was among dozens of Muslims detained after the Sept. 11 attacks"; which makes me not totally loose hope.

Should an Arab man or woman fear to marry an American? This brings us back to the discussion you readers started in the 'leap of faith' post about the relative success of intercultural marriages. I know we have NBA on the camp of intercultural marriage and Programmer_Craig too. What about the rest ? do you care to discuss ? Should political events affect a marriage?

I also have a few examples of successful marriages on the blogosphere: Leilouta, Khadijateri, Fatima, Alea, Reema ( those were the ones I could roll out on the spot ..but there are many more ).
So I believe that intercultural relationships could be a success if we want them to be, if we are honest , if we trust in our basic humanity. The focal point is to realise this. Here is a lovely example from war ravaged Sarajevo, a US soldier and an Iraqi woman, and Iraq again :"I’m Muslim and he’s a Christian. I’m Iraqi and he’s American. It just can’t happen. It did. Love can make miracles. I do believe this now.”

Finally , ‘Places in the Heart’ , refers to that special spot in our heart that we reserve for a special place or human being and which will no matter where and when make whatever or whomever we love spring to life before our eyes. It is the place which we cannot forget, where the past, the present and the future meet, the place where we take refuge and where LOVE is the sole king.

However, for those who asked what this verse meant:

"انك لا تهدي من أحببت ولكن الله يهدي من يشاء"

Here is my humble translation until I find the correct non-Arabic link for you , because the Arabs know what I'm talking about here and in which context this verse had come about.

"[oh Mohamed!] you cannot bring to the straight path those whom you love , but only God can bring those he wishes [or who wish]" If I have butchered it please lead me to the correct translation thank you.


This time I’m waiting for the participation of even the silent majority ( hattip Madcanuck) !

... don't disappoint me.


Additional link => check 'Muslim Life in America' by the US dept of state.

Places in the Heart : Part V

You've read so far ? ... we are almost done just a little bit more :)

….Meanwhile at the penitentiary the rival gang is planning another attack against Magda and Lina (Amy) who is now their enemy as well. They are using anti-Arab rhetoric with their co- inmates to stoke the fires of hatred and patriotism following 9/11. Though how could criminals be patriotic too I can’t fathom. . anyway they are able to buy the silence of the other prisoners , who will look the other way. These evil women are plotting to lock up Magda and Lina in the washing room with all the pressure equipment and set fire to that. So while Lina and Magda are quietly discussing what Magda would do once she served her sentence and is free to leave in a few days time, Lina is asking her to take care of Ahmad for her and make sure he is well brought up and loved. They both reminisce about Egypt and the beautiful memories there. Their rêverie is abruptly interrupted by the prison gangsters barging in and starting up a fight. They beat up both women almost to death, with everyone including some prison guards looking the other way, they then set the building on fire and lock the metal doors. The loud explosion brings the chief of prison and the guards to the site and by the time the fire brigade arrives the room where Magda and Lina are locked also explodes with the boilers . So the chief of prison is able to get in only to find two disfigured women wearing the same red overalls, one of them is still barely breathing and he calls her ‘Magda my love’ and asks her to hang on.

At this point I was crying and angry and frustrated because although I loved both characters I did not want Lina to end up dead. If one had to die it should be Magda, she did have some kind of history even though she had served her time. I was thinking about what kind of message the producer wanted to imply, was he fed up with the length of the series and wanted to shorten it ? Did he want to be politically correct ? Did he have a fight with the actress? Did he chicken out ?

Well Magda it turns out is alive, she is on the operating table and the doctors are looking at photos of her face to repair the damage. They tell her that they will be able to do it and hide most of the scars but her hands are beyond repair, they will get her the motion back but the scars are terrible..
The chief of police is happy since he has the gold locket in his hands now and hopefully Magda will make it. He comes to the hospital to visit Magda and tells her that she will be soon okay and that Lina did not survive. Magda asks him for the locket and he refuses to give it and so she tells him it was Lina’s but that she used to keep it for her ( as we had seen at the beginning of the series). They have an argument and he walks out with the locket. Bakr comes to prison administration to collect the body for burial and Lina’s belongings , he also visits Magda in prison and arranges for her repatriation after she heals since she will be out of prison anyway. He still can’t get to Ahmad and now he has no case since Lina is dead.
In a fit of conscience, the prison chief decides not to keep the locket after all since now he knows who its rightful owner is and he hands it also to Bakr. Magda is healing well but her voice is changed because her vocal cords were damaged. The police tell her that when she leaves hospital she must leave the US on the first available flight, she was persona non-grata after she served her sentence. She calls Bakr to tell him this as she is crying that she cannot fulfill Lina’s wish and take Ahmad with her to his homeland.
Bakr is drowning in trouble caused by his ex-wife Tracy, who has been dumped and cheated on by her last boyfriend and who in hoping to return to Bakr allows him to put her in an institution for the alcoholic to try and treat her. Bakr who is busy trying to find Ahmad and catch up with Magda about to be deported misses the visitation day with his daughter to Tracy. Leila has to ask her mum’s boyfriend to take her there. When Tracy sees that no Bakr arrived , and that her ex- is with a girlfriend and obviously happy she gets angry and discharges herself from hospital and takes her daughter Leila with her and goes to join this anti-Arab / anti Muslim group and totally prevents her daughter from contact with her dad. Tracy has now lost hope in getting back Bakr and only wants to get BACK at him.

Bakr is driving like a demented person to the airport to catch up with Magda, he asks the police escorting her to come in with her and they say no he is not allowed but that he can say goodbye at the entrance for a few minutes. So Magda comes over to him and tells him farewell and he gives her Lina’s locket .She hides it quickly and asks him to find and get her Ahmad, That’s how we find out that it was most probably Magda who died and not Lina. Especially that this girl’s hair is now blonde. Lina (Amy) with the face and name of Magda arrives in Egypt only to be arrested at the airport for the murder of her husband. Lina (Amy) is shocked to find that Magda had fled from Egypt as a suspected murderer so she has escaped the death penalty in the US only to be faced with it back home in Egypt and she is twice innocent.
Oh the cruel irony of faith.

When push comes to shove at the airport she declares her true identity and tells them she is Lina Adams and not Magda but that a terrible accident happened to her and this is how the surgeon made her face, they ask to prove it , but her fingerprints as we remember are burnt without recognition. So for all purposes she is Magda to the authorities until proven wrong. Her best friend and business partner Marwan is at the airport waiting for her, he is also a lawyer and gets her out on bail. The guy thinks she is Magda and we find out that there was more going on with him and Magda than meets the eye- they were lovers. She tells him that since her accident she has memory loss and cannot always remember every detail. Anyway as soon as she is settled in Magda’s home an old man demands to see her and talk to her in person. She lets him in as she realizes there are many darker aspects of Magda’s life she was unaware off. The guy explains to her that he has her confession on paper that she instigated the murder of her husband and that she has promised to pay him a million Egyptian Dinars to do that during a birthday party. The old man has been waiting all these years along with the lawyer who helped him make this shady deal and he wants his cut now that she is back, she asks him to bring the paper as she cannot remember making this deal at all she says. The old man shows her a photocopy and Marwan confirms it is her signature. So now they need to shut up the guy, because although she is suspected of murder they had never found any substantiating evidence. Meanwhile Lina/Magda is frantically calling Bakr to ask him to help , he gets in contact with the authorities and find they can prove who she really is with dental records just like they do in forensics. Which is what he does, and the authorities are satisfied that she is Lina and not Magda , even though she still has kept Magda’s name and face.
Marwan is not convinced and he tells her that she is the Magda he always wanted to have, the same face and body but with such a caring spirit. But evidently he comes round. With the threat of her imprisonment gone and Magda truly dead they manage to get the old blackmailing man and his partner arrested. Lina is now at least safe in Egypt, and has inherited Magda’s empire which was made before the murder of her husband.

On the other side of the world in Margaret’s household we find that she calls Ahmad, Peter and orders him to forget his name was ever Ahmad, we see that John look-alike is being pursued by the mob for debts and he asks Margaret to withdraw the money he put in trust for Peter from the bank because he needs it. She refuses as he already took her share , squandered his and she did not want him to take Peter’s money, as they paid dearly for all that. We find out that he is really John Adams , under a new name, he is a criminal, a thief, a gambler and mafioso, and also he beats Margaret and Ahmad.

Back in Egypt Lina contacts her family as Magda, she cannot face them as Lina because of her face. No one recognize her and she gets to check and visits her mum and sister and takes care of them as Lina’s best friend she also informs them that she is trying to get Ahmad out of the US back home. Her mum has a heart attack and needs surgery, her sister Marwa does not want to sign the release papers because it is a very delicate operation. But Marwa does not see the logic that anyway her mum is dying like this so might as well give her a chance. Marwa throws a tantrum and tells Magda ‘she is not your mum anyway’. But Marwa is a little confused because Magda has made some gestures that only Lina used to do when they were kids. Marwa is being arrogant and difficult, until Lina has to given and tell her the truth and prove it to her in many ways. Lina still cannot believe it, but they sign the papers and the mother is saved. Later when she is convalescing they tell her the good news and that restoring her with Magda’s face was the only to save her from an unjust death in America as she needs to live to get her boy and prove her innocence. Her mum tells her that she felt all along that she was her daughter but could not pinpoint exactly or believe it.
Things are getting more intense in the US. Bakr is booed and pelted at the political campaign rallies , after all Arabs are very discriminated against after 9/11. Bakr asks the prosecutor that he wishes to clear Lina’s name of the murder and needs to reopen the case. And the prosecutor tells him it is over since she died . Bakr reminds him that they have no body and that there is a guy with John’s face living with Margaret and Ahmed. That he believes in American judicial system and the US Constitution, that he is American and so was Lina by choice and marriage and that she is owed due process even posthumously.
The prosecutor tells him to stop bothering him with this case, and that unless he has a valid concrete proof that could stand in court he will not promise anything and he does not want to be involved if this is obtained but it has to be legal. Bakr tells him ‘trust me , as long as I have your promise , you will get your evidence’.

Lina tells Bakr she needs to get to the States to be near her son she cannot wait like this indefinitely, maybe she can try to talk to Margaret and convince her to testify and give John to the authorities. The problem is that Lina cannot be resurrected with a death sentence hanging on her head , and Magda cannot get in because she was deported. So they plan to take a risk and smuggle her in through Mexico. Bakr starts immediately with his team to plan this. Margaret has a job and she leaves the child with a nanny. So the nanny is taken care of and Maggie has to look for a new one. Bakr also enlist the help of the mafia boss whom John Adams cheated and who loved Magda very much as she used to work with him before. Alfonso ( the mafia boss) arranges to smuggle Magda ( he does not know she is Lina) via Mexico through his drug gangs. Lina arrives safely in the States and is greeted by Bakr and his team and taken to the city where Maggie ,Ahmad and John are living. She gets interviewed as a nanny after Bakr pulls some strings and is accepted so she stays close to Ahmad and works as the maid and also can search for concrete evidence in the house. Maggie starts to rely on her a lot as Lina is very helpful and good with the boy. Ahmad likes her a lot too and tells her that he is not Peter but Ahmad and that Maggie is not his real mummy , who died but that they are playing a game.
Maggie does not wish to yield to John’s demands for Ahmad’s trust fund and she gets beaten and is given an ultimatum. She also catches Lina looking around the house then Ahmad remembers that he had met Magda in prison with his mum and tells his dad and Maggie. John knows his game is up because Maggie can set the record straight in a trial. So he wants to run away but needs to kill Maggie and Magda and get his son who has millions of insurance money in his name. He is armed and dangerous. Lina convinces Margaret to testify and she finds evidence in the house which she hands to Bakr who gets the prosecutor to finally move and grant them a search warrant. Margaret leaves the villa to go and give herself up but is intercepted and killed by John on the way to the police. John owes tons of money to the local sharks again and they are breathing down his neck. John rushes to the villa, and cuts the phone cable. Lina has been waiting for a showdown with him for so long , to find out WHY he did this to her when they loved each other ?, she also needs to clear her name and can positively recognize it is her husband . Him being alive clears her of the murder conviction. So Lina tells Ahmad to run to safety to the villa across the road where team Bakr is camping, and faces John alone. John tells her how much he hates and despise her, that he needs Ahmad because he needs the money right now. He tells her that he had been cheating on her for a long time with other women and her best friend. That he married her because she was something exotic like a forbidden fruit and that it was fun at the beginning but now he got fed up Also that he always gambled etc….and he thought this scheme with Margaret to get the insurance money, it was easy to frame her as she was so gullible. Anyway the police and prosecutor ( who is called McCarthy by the way ) arrive at the scene just as John takes her as hostage. To cut a story short , the prosecutor by now has all the evidence he needs and it is being enacted live before him. John shoots at the police and hits some of them and they retaliate and kill him.
End of story? No …

Is he cheating on you?

While browsing for some info for the projected dating site on this blog ;) , I came accross a hilarious website and could not resist sharing it with you. Basically, if you're dating someone and wish to go one step more in serious mode then you can check him out on this site which hosts photos and info of men who had cheated on their women. i.e.a database of offenders I would say lol . The women get to post here with all the details . So guys maybe you wanna check you are not on THAT list eh ? ..maybe we could start such a website in Libya too ? but I'm afraid to see the results .

Anyway check out Don't Date Him Girl "DontDateHimGirl.com is changing the way women date! Browse our search engine of cheating men right now! This controversial site has been featured on MSNBC, the Today Show, ABC News and Entertainment Tonight! Finally, a way for women to check a guy out BEFORE dating, marrying or otherwise committing to him! Warn other women about the men who have cheated on you! ".

They even have a blog.

Maghreblog

The good folks over at the Maghreb Blog ( thanks Adib and Hannibal) have invited Highlander to be a member, and I accepted . However, I'm feeling really embarassed not to have written anything yet . I hope they would forgive me. It's not because I don't want to or am feeling lazy but only because I'm feeling inadequate. I mean it is a fantastic serious blog where I can't just rave and rant like I'm doing here . I need to participate with a good piece, well researched and well written , especially No typos and relevant toour beautiful Maghreb.

What is the Maghreb? Well "The Maghreb (المغرب العربي al-Maġrib al-Arabī; also rendered Maghrib or (uncommonly) Moghreb), meaning "western" in Arabic, is the region of Africa north of the Sahara Desert and west of the Nile — specifically, coinciding with the Atlas Mountains. Geopolitically, the area is reckoned to include Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, sometimes Libya, and rarely Mauritania. Apropos, the Arab Maghreb Union includes all of the territories listed above except, due to its political status, Western Sahara." ( source Wikipedia).

In their own words all the blog authors see side bar 'Auteurs' in the link here on the right say that : "Maghreblog.net est un blog collectif édité par des blogueurs maghrébins qui croient en le potentiel des blogs comme moyen de promotion des valeurs de tolérance, de fraternité, et de dialogue. Maghreblog.net se veut un espace de partage et de débats, et un pont de rapprochement des blogosphères maghrébines. "

Roughly translated : It is a collective blog , edited by bloggers from the Maghreb who believe in the potential of the blog as a tool of promotion of the values of tolerance, fraternity and dialogue. Maghreblo. net wishes to be a space for sharing and discussion and a bridge among the Maghrebian ( is that correct?) blogosphere . ( ok shaky translation but I'm sure you got the message) .

Please go see what is being discussed there as I'm sure you will find it a bridge not only between Maghrebians but also other cultures and other geographical areas , especially that they blog in Arabic, English, French and even Spanish. Bravo.

Itoot - thank you it's an honour

I'm pleased to be on 'Toot' especially that it came as a surprise to me when they sent an email a couple of weeks ago . Thank you guys.




To be honest I did not know how that works but Sandmonkey has a good explanation ;) which I'm borrowing - me so lazy :

"It's a website that acts as an aggregator and a presenter of some of the best that the arabian blogsphere has to offer (their words, not mine)." . his words ...

So this is great news for me :)

Places in the heart : Part IV

If you are not bored by now and still following please read on. If you are new these are the earlier parts : one, two, three, Olla .

Twosret just informed me that the person I’ve been calling Lina is actually Amy (short for Iman)– thanks Twosret yes her name in the series was Amy Adams and as I said in part one , I forgot the names and asked for help…so I’m asking the readers do you wish me to change them or is it ok for you guys to know that her name was Amy Adams and not Lina Adams ? Let me know…

Meanwhile ( back to the story ) …. Lina’s best friend Margaret gets temporary custody of Ahmad.

Bakr and his team still have a few tricks up their sleeves. In all his interviews and public appearances he insists on being called American (which he would be right ? ) and of calling Lina the ‘American’ wife of John Adams, because the people, press and court continue in calling her lawyer and her as ‘Ayrabs’. So he wants to appeal, or even do a retrial on grounds that there has been mistrial, and ( I’m not well versed in law) inadequate investigative procedures etc… in short stuff not according to the book -which might prove her innocence.

9/11 happens and it is a shock to America! If things had been previously bad for Arabs and Muslims now they are worse. Even his favourite Hindu restaurant is attacked by youth gangs.
In prison Lina meets a woman fellow Egyptian convict called Magda who was busted for drug dealing. Magda is the chief of prison’s girlfriend and he grants her protection from the prison gangs. There is a particular female gang in prison who have been a source of constant trouble and they pick on Lina. Lina seeks to befriend Magda who always rebuffs her because she wants no attachment as she is soon leaving prison. During break –time in the courtyard the gang corner Magda and try to stab her with a smuggled knife, Lina jumps in to help and takes the hit instead of Magda. She survives and they become friends. We learn that Magda married a rich Egyptian business man back home whom she used to work for, and that the guy was murdered and that she inherited his business but was arrested for drug dealing on a business trip to the US. She has one brother and a friend who is taking care of her business back home. While in prison her brother ironically dies of a heroin overdose. Lina who is sentenced to death and has no hope of respite decides to appoint Magda as Ahmad’s guardian to take him back to Egypt to his grandmother, since presumably John is dead and she will die soon so the kid will have no family. In an emotional scene they seal the pact and Bakr is supposed to take care of this side. When he tells Margaret to give him Ahmad. Margaret refuses saying Ahmad is hers now and runs away into hiding.

After 9/11 the situation towards prisoners of Arab origin (and Arabs in general) becomes even harder, and the public opinion does not help either. So the chief of prison cannot extend his protection to his girlfriend Magda or her protégée Lina anymore. Lina supposedly has kept a gold locket with John’s and Ahmad’s photo with her, so Magda keeps it safely with her because no one dares to touch her (I’m not really sure if in US prison people can keep their jewelry). Because the prison chief loves her, Magda and her buddy get the ‘clean’ chores such as washing the clothes in those big industrial size washrooms, not a tiring dirty job. The other non –Arab girls get the rest of the chores.

Bakr is hunting for evidence that Lina was framed, and that there was no due process. For example , blood test for drugging ? especially that she seemed dazed when apprehended. Also why did her husband pay with her credit cards for items bought just before reaching the chalet, one of them a large butcher knife ( what does he need a butcher knife from on a weekend), a bottle of wine which Lina does not recall, ropes….and why did the LAPD not arrive on the scene immediately after the crime was reported- yes the policeman actually went to hospital to check on his kid first then ½ an hour later later went to the house. Bakr now genuinely believes that Lina is not guilty. He sends a detective searching for Margaret and finds out she and Ahmad are living with a man in a large villa in another city. While surreptitiously trying to photograph her and Ahmad for proof that it is Margaret , he gets her boyfriend on film…who disturbingly look like John Adams……

oh Magda is being played by Taysir Fahmi and Bakr by Hesham Selim ( you can see Magda as a blond girl at the back too)

Sidebar

Announcement, the sidebar has been updated to include the weather forecast and time in Tripoli in addition to another of my favourite hangouts .

RIP to all victims of 'cartoon' riots

It's been a week since the allegedly Danish cartoons inspired riots in Benghazi turned deadly last Friday.

In Libya the death toll is put at 11 officially confirmed (while others say it is 14), and 69 injured.

I will have one final update about this whole thing to close this story.

May all those Muslims who died accross the world in relation to these cartoons find peace in the hereafter . Amen . ان لله وان اليه راجعون ربي يرحامهم

Microsoft in Libya : oops

On February 8, Microsoft's Vice President for Europe , ME and North Africa held a presentation at the Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, Tripoli. Although I was one of the guests I did not make it as I had another appointment. But my friends relayed to me his speech. The main point is that 'Microsoft is coming to Libya'.

Of course we had Microsoft products before but we bought them from other countries, now it seems among other developments we could import them directly from Microsoft.

You know what I'm thinking? someone is going to get rich with the licencing fees etc...but the majority of Libyans will be loosing . Why ? because we will loose the ability to use the pirate and cracked copies of MS software which makes ordinary people able to afford computer technology here. I know that's not very ethical but yep I'm seing all those businesses going bankrupt as well , since I'm sure MS will crack down on enforcing copyright laws. *sigh*
Plus it was more fun before..;)

Places in the heart - Lina

This is actress Olla Ghanem ( not as I wrote earlier Olla Ramy - sorry Mo it shows I'm so not up to date on the entertainment industry ;) ) and she plays Lina in this series.

She is a brunette but dyed her hair blond recently.

Libyan sandstorm

(see previous post which took me 12 trials to post....phones are so bad today)

Freak raging sand and rain storm in Tripoli



...this is my car windshield :) and I'm sitting in the car trying to drive ..

Sandstorms are usually a summer occurence in Libya, we call them the Ghibli. Intense heat of almost 60 degrees celcius in the shade, red sand everywhere.

It's Thursday here and the weather has been warmer in the last few days. so I was looking forward to a lovely weekend. However by 10 am the wind picked up, the sea got rough until by afternoon Tripoli was buried in sand fog, and strong winds. The cars were practically crawling and we had to use the high front lamps and even fog lights. If you drive fast you can get blown over. Then it started raining, big fat blobs. Now the sand is also mud. Tripoli at 3:30 PM looked like it was night. The wind is really strong now and I'm afraid our satellite dish will be blown away this time. The sand is gritty and sticking everywhere, I think the sitting room looks like it has enough sand to make a beach....don't know how we're gonna clean this mess. I'm trying to post this before my telephone line disapears. I got some photos for you but I'm not sure you will make out anything :) The red colour is exactly how it is outside.




For all those I cannot reach online, I will try as soon as I can.