Tariq Alhomayed, Editor-in-Chief of the Saudi Arabic daily Asharq Alawsat, points out that the Arab media is being manipulated by the newsmakers who not only make news, but provide analysis for it as well. The dangerous thing is that those doing so are all extremist. ‘Where are the moderates?’ he asks.
Analysis is More Essential than the News
Tariq AlhomayedObserve the Arabic-language media in all its forms and notice who the speakers are and those that justify their words, and others who analyze the news to ensure that the train runs on the tracks of their choice. Undoubtedly, we can be certain that they are Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah.
Hassan Nasrallah and Khaled Meshaal’s speeches, the statements issued by Walid al Muallim and Manouchehr Mottaki, and their followers are currently monopolizing media coverage. These parties, or figures, are not satisfied with broadcasting the news but analyzing it as well – and analyzing news is more imperative than publishing it.
No sooner is a news item published in any given source that skeptics emerge to doubt it, attempt to scrutinize or invalidate its content. It is not enough that the news is broadcast; to simply present the truth to the people – when the arrow is shot, although it lacks propaganda support, it still continues to gain momentum until it reaches its target.
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While the Saudi government has played an active role in trying to resolve the problems of Darfur, the issue clearly takes second seat to the Palestinian conflict. Arab News tries to draw attention back to Sudan with this editorial. It sees the Sudanese government making the situation worse. This is a conflict that needs to be resolved.
Darfur seems to be an inexhaustible source of bad news. The latest is that it will take much of this year before the planned 28,000 joint UN-AU force (UNAMID) can be deployed. Meanwhile, though UN negotiators are putting a brave face on it, talks with the Sudanese authorities on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) are dragging out —— and this makes everything dangerous.
Khartoum has rejected any non-African contingents. While at one level it is easy to understand why Sudan would be reluctant to have Western troops within UNAMID, its insistence on exclusively African troops looks thoroughly contrary. If the AU was unable to put together sufficient forces to make its original mission successful, how can the same countries now be expected to furnish soldiers for what is supposed to be the UN’s largest-ever peacekeeping force? Why shouldn’t the Omar Bashir administration welcome contingents from elsewhere in the world, particularly from Asia and the Indian Subcontinent?
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Arab News carries the story of a father’s quest for justice for his son. It’s too late to save the boy: he was beheaded last spring for a murder he allegedly committed when he was 13/14 (depending on which calendar is being used). The boy’s father and his attorney claim that numerous Saudi laws were broken, from the start to finish of the case. This is a truly pitiful story.
Father Seeks Justice for Son’s ‘Wrongful’ Execution in Jizan
Samir Al-Saadi, Arab NewsJEDDAH, 30 January 2008 — The father of a 16-year-old boy — who was executed last year following his arrest three years ago at the age of 13 in connection with the death of a young boy in Jizan — is seeking justice claiming his son was unjustly killed.
Hussein Al-Hakami said his son, Mueed, was interrogated, convicted and beheaded, without the presence of an attorney or family member, for allegedly killing a young boy named Fadel Nabeel in July 2004.
“I want justice. I will not rest until I get it,†Al-Hakami told Arab News, speaking about his son who was beheaded on July 10 last year. To add to his pain, Al-Hakami only learned that his son had been executed a few days later and till this day does not know where his body is buried.
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Interesting op-ed in Middle East Times from Naif Al-Mutawa, creator of the Islamically oriented The 99 comic book series, on the role of illustration in religion. He takes to task ‘the idolatry of the word’ which he believes improperly constrains Islam.
Incidentally, the Washington, DC area-based ‘The Muslim Link’ runs an interview with Al-Mutawa: The 99: A New Page in Comics.
Art, the universal language of religion:
Naif Al-MutawaAll art is at once surface and symbol. Those that go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art mirrors. – Oscar Wilde
KUWAIT CITY – It is neither a secret nor a surprise that the first manifestation of religion was in art form. Cave drawings and hieroglyphics shine a light on the mind of early man seeking meaning in life. The abstract pictorial representations were gradually solidified into idols, and idolatry was born. But when the Abrahamic tradition took center stage, idolatry was abolished throughout most of the world. Or was it?
Art is the only language that all humans share in common. Anyone can look at art and tell you what they think it means. A word can be written in hundreds of languages but each word only makes sense to those few of us who understand that specific language. Even then, words within a language can have various meanings based on the context.
Take the word “iqra” in Arabic. Iqra is credited as being the first word revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the Holy Qur’an. Ask most Arabs and they will tell you that iqra means “read.” They will also tell you that the Prophet was illiterate. And when asked why God would order an illiterate man to read, most will just shrug their shoulders. Why? Idolatry of the word iqra.
When people first communicated through the use of images, idols were – well, idolized. As methods of communication improved, the written word – in the form of holy books – often took the place of these idols. The more concrete the interpretation of a word, the more the actual image of that word is being idolized. Words communicate a depth and breadth of meaning that transcends the sum of their letters. For example, it just so happens that the word iqra can also be defined as “to spread,” as in spreading a message or a religion. In essence, then, a rigid interpretation of God’s words by man is nothing more than idol worship.
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I’m pointing out this AFP article, not because I think there is an equivalence between the ways in which various nationalities treat their domestic servants, but to note that every nationality has its aberrant individuals. (See also Modern-Day American Slavery.)
I think the problem lies in people who, for whatever reason, believe themselves to be superior to others and feel the need to continually demonstrate this superiority. They forget that their religions and their cultures do insist on equality of individuals, no matter their social station, their religion, their nationality,or their gender.
Hollywood couple sentenced in maid ‘slave’ case
A former top Hollywood studio lawyer and his wife were on Monday sentenced by a Los Angeles judge after admitting to mistreating their Filipino maid in a case of “modern-day slavery,” a court heard.
US District Judge Dale Fischer ordered James Jackson, 53, a former vice-president of legal affairs at Sony Pictures to perform 200 hours of community service for admitting a charge of alien harboring.
Jackson’s wife Elizabeth, 54, was given a three-year jail term after pleading guilty to a charge of forced labor.
In passing sentence, Fischer said Elizabeth Jackson had treated the victim, former schoolteacher Nena Ruiz, worse than her dog.
Ruiz was forced to eat three-day-old food and to sleep on a dog basket after working 18 hours a day. Over the course of several months’ employment between 2001 and 2002 she was paid only 300 dollars.
“These defendants subjected their victim to what amounts to modern-day slavery,” said Justice Department prosecutor Wan Kim after the Jacksons pleaded guilty in August last year.
In a related civil lawsuit, Ruiz said Elizabeth Jackson regularly slapped her and pulled her hair.
The Jacksons also threatened to turn her over to immigration authorities if she left them, Ruiz said. Ruiz finally fled the Jacksons after she was hit in the mouth with a water bottle in February 2002.
Elizabeth Jackson said in a letter read out in court on Monday that she took full responsibility for her actions.
“In my life I have always tried and strived to do the right thing,” she said. “I failed in this case.”
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The Saudi government ordered the cull of millions of chickens following an outbreak of avian flu H5N1 virus last year, even extending the cull to ostriches and other fowl. As a result of its efforts, claims this Saudi Gazette article, they avoided a spread of the disease as well as its ‘leap’ to humans.
Whether these actions led to increases in the price of poultry and eggs on the market is being debated. (See Egg Prices up by 30%.) In any event, it did lead to a marked increase in the amount of frozen poultry being imported into the Kingdom.
Bird Flu contained, No Human Infection
Mohammed Al-KinaniJEDDAH – The Ministry of Health confirmed Monday that no deadly bird flu (H5NI) cases among humans have been detected in the Kingdom so far.
Yasser Al-Ghamdi, director general of Infectious Virus Department at the Ministry of Health, told Saudi Gazette that their plan in fighting the virus has resulted in seeing no transmission of the virus to humans.
“We have visited several farms to make sure that workers were not infected with the virus. As a preventive measure, samples were taken from each worker but none have revealed any successful animal to human transmission of the virus,” he said.
Joint efforts with the Ministry of Agriculture revealed no cases tested positive for bird flu in the last 40 days.
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Acting largely in response to inflation—brought about in part by higher oil prices—Saudi Arabia is giving a pay increase/cost of living adjustment to government employees. It’s also reducing the taxes collected as import duties and increasing social security payments.
As several commenters have noted here, these increases do not generally go to expat workers. This issue of Saudi Gazette does note, though, that those working in at least parts of the medical professions will be getting raises of 15%-60%, depending on qualifications: Salary Raise Ordered for Expat Docs
RIYADH – The government on Monday slashed port duties by 50 percent for a period of three years, raised government-staff salaries by 5 percent for the same time frame and increased social security allocations by 10 percent as part of a slew of measures announced to offset the spiraling cost of living in the Kingdom.
Additionally, King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, ordered government to bear 50 percent of the fees for renewal of passport, traffic license, resident permits of house-help and transfer of property ownership.
The measures were taken by the Council of Ministers, chaired by the King, based on recommendations made by the Consultative Commission for Economic affairs at the Supreme Economic Council to counter rising prices for several essential commodities.
The 5 percent “cost of living” allowance will be added to the salaries of civil servants, including pensioners.
Besides, subsidies will continue for essential commodities and these will be revised after three years.
The 50 percent cut in port duties will help lower costs of imported commodities to benefit consumers.
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Saudi Arabia, as the major oil producer state in OPEC doesn’t want to see the US (or global) economy fall into a recession. But neither does it want to have a lot of oil sitting around waiting to be shipped as demand lightens. This Reuters piece, here cited from The Washington Post, notes that production from the cartel is likely to remain stable, with a small chance of it decreasing as the producers watch what happens elsewhere.
Saudi Arabia, with over $1 trillion invested in the global economy, will suffer from a recession, no matter how much oil it produces. While it doesn’t want to exacerbate a recession, it will not willingly incur excess costs of production and storage, either.
OPEC set to resist pressure for more oil
Alex LawlerVIENNA (Reuters) – OPEC is widely expected to resist consumer calls for more oil when it meets on Friday, worried by a slowing U.S. economy and the onset of seasonally lower demand in the spring.
Oil has fallen to around $91 a barrel from a record $100.09 on January 3, easing pressure on OPEC to pump more. The group could even start to trim supply as heating demand eases in the northern hemisphere, analysts say.
“Why on earth would they want to raise production when there is a lot of concern about economic growth and oil demand growth?” said Mike Wittner of Societe Generale. “I think they’re going to roll over the formal quotas.”
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Due to distractions at the time, I missed this piece when it first came out. The New York Times ran an article earlier this month, a discussion with Al-Arabiya TV’s Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, former Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Alawsat. In it, he talks about Al-Arabiya, the way it has changed Arab TV, his anti-terrorism views, and how he has to face political pressures. Not earth-shaking, but an interesting piece.
Drawing a New Map for Journalism in the Mideast
ROBERT F. WORTHDUBAI, United Arab Emirates: IT has been almost four years since Abdul Rahman al-Rashed set out to cure Arab television of its penchant for radical politics and violence.
It was never an easy task. But as the director of one of the leading satellite channels in the Middle East, he thinks he has made a difference.
“You have to remember, it was television that made bin Laden into a celebrity,†says Mr. Rashed, an affable, soft-spoken 52-year-old, as he sat back in the ultramodern glass and steel offices of Al Arabiya, a network here. “That made Al Qaeda, and its recruiting, and this is how violence spread throughout the region.â€
Mr. Rashed does not directly accuse Al Jazeera, his main competitor, of these sins. But it is clear enough what he has in mind.
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Gulf News reports on the progress of GCC plans for a unified, nuclear energy grid for the Arab Gulf States, with a study to be released in the near future. All of the Gulf States are heavy users of electricity, for uses from water desalination to air conditioning to industry. Rather than burning petrochemicals—both oil and gas—to produce that electricity, the countries are looking toward nuclear power generation. While a GCC-wide grid—expanded to include Yemen—is one goal, the various countries are also working on individual plans in case a regional grid doesn’t pan out.
Study on joint nuclear plan will be ready in a few months – officials
Barbara Bibbo’Doha: The study on a joint nuclear programme of Gulf countries may be ready within a few months, Gulf officials said here on Sunday.
“We are in the very first stage of the study on the joint Gulf nuclear programme. It could be completed within a few months to be handed over to a technical team for further follow up,” Khalid Bin Ganim, secretary general of the Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Reserves, told Gulf News.
Officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, announced at their last summit in December a decision to go ahead with a shared nuclear programme with peaceful intentions under the umbrella of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
A committee appointed to conduct a preliminary study is currently meeting in Doha to set the terms of reference of the programme, which will be forwarded later to a technical team, Al Ganim said.
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Here’s an interesting, if confusing, piece from Saudi Gazette. It reports the publication of the second edition of the ‘Code of Judicial Rulings’, records of court cases which appear to be considered binding precedent for similar cases in the future. While this might serve a useful purpose in cutting down on the sometimes random-appearing judgments coming from some of the courts, it does not really substitute for definitive codification of laws and penalties.
There are some encouraging items here, though, including the granting of a divorce to a woman after only two months, instead of the multi-year process usually involved.
RIYADH – The Saudi Ministry of Justice recently issued the second edition of the Code of Judicial Rulings.
Despite the difficulties encountered by the ministry’s documentation team, several rulings have made it into the new edition, which will serve as a precedence and which reflect a novel approach in addressing controversial cases.
One ruling in the new edition, on women and family, garnered the loudest comments, annulment and drew further evidence of kinship rulings. However, women prevailed.
In that ruling, Judge Naif Al-Hamad had granted a woman divorce for no other reason than her detestation for her husband. The ruling had been made within a short period of two months of filing for divorce.
Other rulings including two women of different nationalities who complained that their respective spouses were away for extended periods of time without justification – they were granted divorce.
A Moroccan woman who filed for divorce from her Sudanese husband was shocked to learn from the judge that her husband had contracted AIDS, as stated by police.
This illness allowed Judge Ibrahim Al-Atiq to pronounce the divorce ruling, establishing the principle that either spouse may annul the marriage contract if the other has contracted a terminal disease, even if the disease was contracted after consummation of the marriage.
Divorce of a young woman whose husband went for jihad in Iraq brought into focus adjudication of divorce for jihad-related purposes and the subsequent absence of the husband.
The code also featured a number of rulings in kinship cases where women were accused of incest or gave birth to children who were not recognized by the father.
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A nice Asharq Alawsat piece from Mshari Al-Zaydi recalling the history of the Sunni-Shi’a split and how it continues—perhaps even grows—in importance today. It certainly provides an easy hammer with which to pound ‘the other’, compounding the political problems that continue to rend the region.
The Age of the Sects
Mshari Al-ZaydiThe world recently witnessed Shia Muslims taking part in congregations and marches in remembrance of the Battle of Karbala in which Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed and son of Ali Bin Abi Taleb and Fatima Zahra, was murdered.
This commemoration of the battle and its leading figures who were murdered, most prominently Hussein, is not a new phenomenon. In fact it is a distinguishing factor of Shia Muslims. What is new however is the level of crossover between politics and the religious rituals of this event.
The significance of the Battle of Karbala, as one Orientalist said, exceeds its military description. “The importance of the battle of Karbala is not simply about the battle itself: it was a small battle that lasted for one day and resulted in the deaths of tens of casualties.†This small battle transformed into something inspirational as a result of the catastrophic murder of Hussein. After the Battle of Karbala, Hussein came to be perceived as a “symbol in Islam and a slogan; the essence of this slogan is struggle for righteousness and the truth and the martyrdom of every fighter for the sake of achieving justice.â€
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