Monday, December 04, 2006
Kamel Nsirat--Youssef Gishan & Me
You probably are familiar with these two columnists because Jordan Planet publishes their columns on a daily basis or every time they enter new column on their personal blogs. I like the way these two columnists interact with their readers, for one thing they obviously are professional journalists since both of them write for major Jordanian daily newspapers, but more than that they communicate with the every day language without adding the jargons that are normally used by other columnists such as Fahed Alfanek of Alrai or Mohammad Aburumman of Alghad Jordanian dailies. So why am I writing about these two gentlemen since I’m fully satisfied with their work and fully acknowledging their competency in their field of their expertise! The reason is that they remind me of my own lousy style of writing and how much do I need to change my style in order for the average reader to begin comprehending what the hell is it that I’m trying to communicate to him or to her. I have been writing since 1981, that is longer than many of Jordan Planet personnel being on this earth, throughout all of these years I was under the mistaken impression that the harder the language, the more difficult the vocabulary, the better the topic will sound. Lately, and since I started reading for these two Jordanian columnists I realized that the opposite is true, and only scholars and academics are the only people on this earth that care for rhetorical language otherwise the every day language is fine and dandy with the majority of the people, as a matter of fact, the simpler the language the better that it will sound and more audience will be attracted to it-- as opposed to the pedantic language which will only attract the select few who in the first place don’t have the time or the desire to browse through personal blogs. I’m writing today to extend my sincere apologies for all of those readers that had difficult time reading through my thoughts or found the language too rhetorical and abandoned the reading after the first paragraph. I pledge that from here forward I’ll stay away from any difficult vocabulary or phrase that I think it couldn’t be understood by an average person with a high school diploma. I have perhaps over the years offended many people with the usage of unnecessary difficult words that I probably could have used dozen other words to express my thoughts in a more translucent way but elected to use the intricate route. I still don’t understand why I was doing that! Generally speaking I’m not a show off person and for those of you that know me up close know what I’m talking about is the honest truth, but why did it take me over 25 years to realize that my writing style is too lousy and in need of major overhaul, I have no idea. I have been told over the years by many readers on too many different occasions that I’m using incomprehensible words and phrases and I’m in dire need of restraining my rhetoric but to no avail. Only today did it occur to me that I must change and of course the credit goes to Messrs Nsirat & Ghishan, I learned from them what is it like to be humble & what is it like to communicate in a way that is understood to every reader and not just to the select few of the elite or affluent group of people. I’m going to do my best to stay away from all of the jargons that provoke nothing but anxiety in the readers mind. I’m going to pick new smooth easy to read style free from any complications from beginning to the end of every essay long or short or anything in between. The era of flexing the vocabulary prowess is over and done with. My new writing style will be user friendly full of clarity and transparency. So help me God.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
America surprassed three hundred million
This morning 10/17/06 around 7:00 am Chicago time, the population of the United States of America surpassed the 300 million people mark. China and India are the only other world countries that have more people than the United States.
No one exactly knows who is the lucky person that made the count reach 300 million, s/he could have been born some where in the United States or could have been an immigrant arriving from another country.
If we are to guess who that person might be it would have to be a white nonhispanic -since the whites still represent the majority of the people living in this country.
The census bureau reports that one new person is born every 11 seconds in the United States. In 1967 the United States population was only 200 million, and by the year 2043 the population is expected to go up to 400 million Americans.
The birth rate in this rich country is much greater than that of many other European countries, Americans are very optimistic about having babies, the fact that fathers are willing to pitch in helping with household chores and with raising their children makes it that much desirable for American women to want to have babies.
Faith is another contributing factor that helps American women to consider having babies, Americans are church goers, and the more devout the person is the more hope the person will have & believe in better future, and the more that will push the women to have babies.
Space is one more factor, most new born Americans have plenty of space to live in, more often than not, every one have their own bed room. In other countries the space is very limited and usually a bunch of children are crammed living in one room, a very depressing and discouraging sign for moms. On the average American woman produce 2.1 children per family..
Considering all of these factors combined, the question then that needs to be answered is : Can America cope with the increasing population and the immigration by people from other countries, the answer is yes, yes, and more yes.
America is a very rich country, it has a vast fertile land, and plenty of natural resources, it can accommodate many more people than what it already has. Although there are many people living in America which are still considered poor, the average family is still enjoying a relative comfortable standard of living compared to other countries around the world.
The economy is good, the unemployment is relatively low, and the interest rate is leveling off. All of these factors are very encouraging signs for moms not to worry about the future and about having more future babies that will grow up in this blessed country.
No one exactly knows who is the lucky person that made the count reach 300 million, s/he could have been born some where in the United States or could have been an immigrant arriving from another country.
If we are to guess who that person might be it would have to be a white nonhispanic -since the whites still represent the majority of the people living in this country.
The census bureau reports that one new person is born every 11 seconds in the United States. In 1967 the United States population was only 200 million, and by the year 2043 the population is expected to go up to 400 million Americans.
The birth rate in this rich country is much greater than that of many other European countries, Americans are very optimistic about having babies, the fact that fathers are willing to pitch in helping with household chores and with raising their children makes it that much desirable for American women to want to have babies.
Faith is another contributing factor that helps American women to consider having babies, Americans are church goers, and the more devout the person is the more hope the person will have & believe in better future, and the more that will push the women to have babies.
Space is one more factor, most new born Americans have plenty of space to live in, more often than not, every one have their own bed room. In other countries the space is very limited and usually a bunch of children are crammed living in one room, a very depressing and discouraging sign for moms. On the average American woman produce 2.1 children per family..
Considering all of these factors combined, the question then that needs to be answered is : Can America cope with the increasing population and the immigration by people from other countries, the answer is yes, yes, and more yes.
America is a very rich country, it has a vast fertile land, and plenty of natural resources, it can accommodate many more people than what it already has. Although there are many people living in America which are still considered poor, the average family is still enjoying a relative comfortable standard of living compared to other countries around the world.
The economy is good, the unemployment is relatively low, and the interest rate is leveling off. All of these factors are very encouraging signs for moms not to worry about the future and about having more future babies that will grow up in this blessed country.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Open Memo
This memo is an open response to Mr. Ghariebeh's column http://www.alghad.jo/?article=4847 appearing in the Jordanian daily Alghad newspaper issue dated October 11, 2006.
Sir,
I beg to differ, if you think that the Jordanians that write in the English language suffer from great deal of deficiencies then I invite you to take a look at the writings of some of the following bloggers on Jordan Planet :
1) Tololy
2) Roba
3) Khalidah
4) Naseem
5) Khalaf
6) Ahmad
7) Batir
8) Firas
9) Hala
10) Hamzeh Nassif
11) Laith Zraikat
12) Lina Ejeilat
13) Ohud
14) Philip
Most of these Jordanian bloggers are in their early to mid twenties, they speak, read, and write the English language as good as the native English speaking people do and most of them do it much better than many of the natives. To suggest that the Jordanian English speaking and writing crowd is shallow and superficial is a stilted opinion.
And while I'm talking about the topic of writing, allow me to tell you something about your own writing : While I must say that to a cursory reader you appear to be an excellent writer but for some one that methodically traces your articles on day to day basis, one will notice that you write in a convoluted fashion, you should stop for a moment and take a look at the way veteran columnists such as Fahed Fanek write their columns, your job as a columnist must be to communicate your words, phrases and sentences in a very simplified fashion that is readily understood to the average fourth grade reader, your job as a columnist doesn't call on you to exhibit your prowess in every single column that you write. The terms that you use are very complex and require pages upon pages of illustration in order for these terms to be simplified and understood to the average reader. You must realize that the average reader doesn't have more than thirty seconds to one minute available at their disposal to decipher whatever it is that you are trying to say, and at any time the reader realizes that he doesn't comprehend whatever it is that you are going to communicate, he/she will skip reading your column and go on to read somebody else's column, and therefore, you lost one more reader. You must realize that in this era of fast moving technology people have too much information to decipher, the time that is allotted to the daily reading is shrinking every single day, so the readers are no longer looking for articles that reflects the classic way of writing, the modern readers want something that goes with the fad, with trends, with contemporary stuff that is readily and effortlessly understood. That is why you thought that those Jordanian writers that write in English are shallow. In essence, all they want to do is to communicate to the average reader, they don't want to delve into complicated matters that require plenty of their time, something readers are always short on.
Sir,
I beg to differ, if you think that the Jordanians that write in the English language suffer from great deal of deficiencies then I invite you to take a look at the writings of some of the following bloggers on Jordan Planet :
1) Tololy
2) Roba
3) Khalidah
4) Naseem
5) Khalaf
6) Ahmad
7) Batir
8) Firas
9) Hala
10) Hamzeh Nassif
11) Laith Zraikat
12) Lina Ejeilat
13) Ohud
14) Philip
Most of these Jordanian bloggers are in their early to mid twenties, they speak, read, and write the English language as good as the native English speaking people do and most of them do it much better than many of the natives. To suggest that the Jordanian English speaking and writing crowd is shallow and superficial is a stilted opinion.
And while I'm talking about the topic of writing, allow me to tell you something about your own writing : While I must say that to a cursory reader you appear to be an excellent writer but for some one that methodically traces your articles on day to day basis, one will notice that you write in a convoluted fashion, you should stop for a moment and take a look at the way veteran columnists such as Fahed Fanek write their columns, your job as a columnist must be to communicate your words, phrases and sentences in a very simplified fashion that is readily understood to the average fourth grade reader, your job as a columnist doesn't call on you to exhibit your prowess in every single column that you write. The terms that you use are very complex and require pages upon pages of illustration in order for these terms to be simplified and understood to the average reader. You must realize that the average reader doesn't have more than thirty seconds to one minute available at their disposal to decipher whatever it is that you are trying to say, and at any time the reader realizes that he doesn't comprehend whatever it is that you are going to communicate, he/she will skip reading your column and go on to read somebody else's column, and therefore, you lost one more reader. You must realize that in this era of fast moving technology people have too much information to decipher, the time that is allotted to the daily reading is shrinking every single day, so the readers are no longer looking for articles that reflects the classic way of writing, the modern readers want something that goes with the fad, with trends, with contemporary stuff that is readily and effortlessly understood. That is why you thought that those Jordanian writers that write in English are shallow. In essence, all they want to do is to communicate to the average reader, they don't want to delve into complicated matters that require plenty of their time, something readers are always short on.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Jordan is having rude awakening
I wonder whether the gripe by the federation of the labor unions is something that will have some grave consequences on the long run, or is it going to end up being just a tempest in the tea pot.! Getting wrangled in legal proceedings can be very arduous thorny & costly process. I'm not even sure that Jordan has the wherewithal to withstand standing up to these giant labor federations and their highly paid elite lawyer.
We all know how much it cost the Arab Bank to defend its position against an alleged accusation of transferring money to illegal Palestinian organizations.
While there is no parallel between the two cases still, litigation especially coming from the USA can be very costly and time consuming.
I hope that Jordan would do something quick to extricate itself from this legal mess. Being a member of the free trade organizations may end up being a liability rather than an asset for Jordan.
These people mean business they use the law to its fullest extent. Repeated violations of the labor laws will not be tolerated by them and what may be acceptable working conditions in Jordan may not even meet the minimum standards required by the federation of labor unions.
In the place where I work we have been negotiating with the union officials for over a year and a half just to remove one paragraph from the contract and to adjust the labor re-numerations by less than fifty cents over a three year period.
Jordanian official need to wake up and smell the coffee if they want to continue with this free trade thing and with importing laborers from poor Asian countries and working them all kinds of hours with very little benefits and lousy work conditions.
I'm almost sure that if this litigation is allowed to proceed before any quick amicable solution is found, Jordan will be stymied and would have to make a lot of concessions before the working conditions of the laborers can be corrected and brought up to a standard acceptable to the global community.
Some bloggers were quick to point that other parts of the world are still practicing slave labor and no one is bothering them, while this may be true but remember that those countries are probably not members of the free trade organization and not governed by the same standards, in addition, that no one of these people have come forward to lodge a complain the way the guest workers in Jordan did.
I'm not going to speculate about the upshot but in my opinion it doesn't look good at all.
We all know how much it cost the Arab Bank to defend its position against an alleged accusation of transferring money to illegal Palestinian organizations.
While there is no parallel between the two cases still, litigation especially coming from the USA can be very costly and time consuming.
I hope that Jordan would do something quick to extricate itself from this legal mess. Being a member of the free trade organizations may end up being a liability rather than an asset for Jordan.
These people mean business they use the law to its fullest extent. Repeated violations of the labor laws will not be tolerated by them and what may be acceptable working conditions in Jordan may not even meet the minimum standards required by the federation of labor unions.
In the place where I work we have been negotiating with the union officials for over a year and a half just to remove one paragraph from the contract and to adjust the labor re-numerations by less than fifty cents over a three year period.
Jordanian official need to wake up and smell the coffee if they want to continue with this free trade thing and with importing laborers from poor Asian countries and working them all kinds of hours with very little benefits and lousy work conditions.
I'm almost sure that if this litigation is allowed to proceed before any quick amicable solution is found, Jordan will be stymied and would have to make a lot of concessions before the working conditions of the laborers can be corrected and brought up to a standard acceptable to the global community.
Some bloggers were quick to point that other parts of the world are still practicing slave labor and no one is bothering them, while this may be true but remember that those countries are probably not members of the free trade organization and not governed by the same standards, in addition, that no one of these people have come forward to lodge a complain the way the guest workers in Jordan did.
I'm not going to speculate about the upshot but in my opinion it doesn't look good at all.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Audible Jordanian Voices
What does Randa Habib, Ayman Safadi, Ahmad Humeid, and Marwan Muasher have in common ? You might say that they are all Jordanian citizens, and the first three are journalists while the fourth one is a former Jordanian government official. Perhaps so but that isn't the purpose of my lumping them together. For one reason or another they were selected to comment on the fifth anniversary of the spectacular September eleven attack on New York and Washington. I heard them speaking one at the time on national public radio station while driving from my work toward my house. I don't know who reached out to who, whether the media correspondents in the USA reached out to them or whether it is the other way around, but no matter who reached out to whom it is a good forward thinking and it is about time that we hear the voices of the Jordanians reaching all the way into the United States of America. Over the past ten years or so I have grown accustomed to listening to one and only voice of Rami Khoury, he was always the one and only Jordanian appearing on US media apparatus. He always does a good job explaining the situation whatever it might have been, I would even say that there were instances when he did an exemplary job responding to tough questioning by experienced veteran US Journalists, but again how much one person can do and no matter how different ideas he had, eventually the listeners begin predicting what exactly Rami is going to say about a given situation. That is why I was both surprised and exhilarated when I heard the voices of those other Jordanian presenting fresh views about terrorism, blogging, and Arab & US relationships. For the most part they all did a good job expressing their views & echoing the sentiments of the Jordanian streets pulse. The point I'm trying to make here is that the Jordanian must make a concerted effort to reach out to the US media, it is the only way to raise the awareness about Jordan and the people of Jordan, the US media loves to talk to local native people no matter how important or unimportant these people are. I'm not sure why the people of Jordan tend to want to stay away from the media lime lights, no body knows more about Jordan and the Jordanian people as much as the people living in Jordan do, why then don't they reach out to the US media and try to grant them interviews just like the ones mentioned above, and they don't have to wait for an occasion such as the fifth anniversary of September 11, they can and should do it all year around with and without occasion. They should express themselves in the most professional manner with the best way they know how in a transparent fashionable way. The US media loves to hear from them especially when Jordan is highly representative of epic center of both war and peace.
Monday, September 11, 2006
I'm Ashamed
I can't believe that the national flagship news agency for the Kingdom would make a flagrant mistake like this one http://www.petra.gov.jo/nepras/2006/Sep/10/18000.htm , a native English tongue reading the report would definitely get the impression that the valorous awards are given for an act of insolence. I don't understand how did that egregious mistake slipped through the proof readers working for Petra News agency ? Aren't they supposed to read those news releases prior to posting them for the rest of the world to read them. I tell you, I'm ashamed of Petra News Agency for calling those valiant individuals audacious. There is really no excuse for it, this is elementary stuff, the translator or whomever did that should have instantaneously recognized that the word "audacity" had a negative connotation to it and should have never been used in this particular instance, but in any event : To whom the bells toll ! I guess if you didn't notice it no would would have bothered noting it either. In my opinion a correction and retraction are in order, they should be made to the readers and to the heroes that risked their life to save the other tourists and rush them to the hospital, but when was the last time you noticed the Petra news agency admitted making and error or issuing an apology ?. I'll leave the answer for your imaginations.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Mohammad Salah
For those of you unfamiliar with the case at hand , you will be much better served by first Googling the name Mohammad Salah and then read the post below.
Mr. Mohammad Salah will not get a fair trial the same way Mr. Sami Alarian before him didn't get a fair trial, so is Mr. Mazen Alnagar, and Musa Abu Marzooq, and Ghassan Baloot and many others . The list goes on and on. When the evidence is so frivolously minute to nonexistent, the government resorts to trumped up charges that could never be proven under the law of the land. That is why the government resorts to bigoted incredibly phony witnesses such as Judith Miller and other secret informants that no one is able to confront or cross examine due to the fact that they are kept incognito. Mr. Salah's case is no case, and so is Mr. Alrian and some of the others, these are passionate people set out to help the impoverished amongst their people, they raise funds for charitable contributions to help the families that lost their bread winners fighting the occupation forces of their countries. They aren't by no means aiding or abetting terrorism, they don't support killing of innocent civilians, they don't raise funds for the purpose of purchasing military hardware, they can be considered in western interpretations as if they are philanthropists, humanitarians, altruists, or whatever. How could such actions be so wrongfully interpreted as aiding or supporting terrorism or terrorist organizations. Mr. Salah is being accused of being the front man for Hamas, the bagman as Mr. Grossman described him, what does that really mean ! The money is being disseminated for charitable causes period. By contrast, Mr. AlArian was accused of being the front man for the Islamic Jihad, he too was raising funds for charitable purposes but due his hostile stand against Israel the occupier of his ancestors and his own land, he was accused of aiding terrorism and terrorists in the Islamic Jihad organization. Neither one of the two men can never be proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt, their cases are purely political, they are intended to be as teaching lessons to other activists in the Arab and Muslim community in the United States-- implicitly warning them so to speak to refrain from raising charitable funds to help their people back home in Palestine, they are also intended to appease the Jewish Americans who are constantly pressuring the government through their lobbyists and special interest groups to subjugate Arab and Muslim activism in the USA even if the situation necessitates concocting trumped up charges. Salah and AlArian should have never spent one day in jail. On the contrary, they should have been rewarded for their courage to go out and stick their nick trying to raise funds to help their people deal with the abject poverty that they have been living and still currently living through for many years. I don't believe that Salah's case or AlArian's case should deter those of us that are determined to help their families and friends back home in Palestine to improve their financial status or at least be able to secure the daily nutrition to sustain normal living which they are currently lacking. Salah is probably going to jail due to extreme bias --the recent events which will no doubt prejudice the jury decision. Mr. Salah's under torture confession, plus five years in an Israeli jail, plus the years that have gone by since the early nineties should render his case null and void and dismiss him outright to go home-- under the statute of limitation. Sadly though and knowing what we already know about the penchant of the government to tag any Muslim with terrorism charge would give us the inevitable ominous notion about the outcome of Mr. Salah's fate. I wish him well but I'm really standing on the cusp of hopelessness.
Mr. Mohammad Salah will not get a fair trial the same way Mr. Sami Alarian before him didn't get a fair trial, so is Mr. Mazen Alnagar, and Musa Abu Marzooq, and Ghassan Baloot and many others . The list goes on and on. When the evidence is so frivolously minute to nonexistent, the government resorts to trumped up charges that could never be proven under the law of the land. That is why the government resorts to bigoted incredibly phony witnesses such as Judith Miller and other secret informants that no one is able to confront or cross examine due to the fact that they are kept incognito. Mr. Salah's case is no case, and so is Mr. Alrian and some of the others, these are passionate people set out to help the impoverished amongst their people, they raise funds for charitable contributions to help the families that lost their bread winners fighting the occupation forces of their countries. They aren't by no means aiding or abetting terrorism, they don't support killing of innocent civilians, they don't raise funds for the purpose of purchasing military hardware, they can be considered in western interpretations as if they are philanthropists, humanitarians, altruists, or whatever. How could such actions be so wrongfully interpreted as aiding or supporting terrorism or terrorist organizations. Mr. Salah is being accused of being the front man for Hamas, the bagman as Mr. Grossman described him, what does that really mean ! The money is being disseminated for charitable causes period. By contrast, Mr. AlArian was accused of being the front man for the Islamic Jihad, he too was raising funds for charitable purposes but due his hostile stand against Israel the occupier of his ancestors and his own land, he was accused of aiding terrorism and terrorists in the Islamic Jihad organization. Neither one of the two men can never be proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt, their cases are purely political, they are intended to be as teaching lessons to other activists in the Arab and Muslim community in the United States-- implicitly warning them so to speak to refrain from raising charitable funds to help their people back home in Palestine, they are also intended to appease the Jewish Americans who are constantly pressuring the government through their lobbyists and special interest groups to subjugate Arab and Muslim activism in the USA even if the situation necessitates concocting trumped up charges. Salah and AlArian should have never spent one day in jail. On the contrary, they should have been rewarded for their courage to go out and stick their nick trying to raise funds to help their people deal with the abject poverty that they have been living and still currently living through for many years. I don't believe that Salah's case or AlArian's case should deter those of us that are determined to help their families and friends back home in Palestine to improve their financial status or at least be able to secure the daily nutrition to sustain normal living which they are currently lacking. Salah is probably going to jail due to extreme bias --the recent events which will no doubt prejudice the jury decision. Mr. Salah's under torture confession, plus five years in an Israeli jail, plus the years that have gone by since the early nineties should render his case null and void and dismiss him outright to go home-- under the statute of limitation. Sadly though and knowing what we already know about the penchant of the government to tag any Muslim with terrorism charge would give us the inevitable ominous notion about the outcome of Mr. Salah's fate. I wish him well but I'm really standing on the cusp of hopelessness.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
لاحياة لمن تنادي
آراء القراء
الأميركيّون والإسلام - سميح المعايطة
لاحياة لمن تنادي
- hatem abunimeh
الولايات المتحدة الأميركية - habunimeh@yahoo.com
مع انني اشاطرك براءيك من حيث المبدا باءننا لا نكرس جهدا كافيا يعكس صورة واضحة المعالم عن سمعة العرب والمسلمين في الغرب الا ان هنالك عوامل اخرى يجب التنويه اليها واهمها استمراريت دعم الحكومة السعودية في الغرب وخصوصا الولايات المتحدة على تدريس مناهج مدرسيه مناؤه للأديان السماوية الأخرى وتعيين اءمه متشددين في اراءهم وحثهم المستمر للمصلين على ضرورة عدم انتماءهم وعدم الاءنخراط فى حياة الغرب الاءجتماعيه ضف الى ذلك كله الاءسواط القويه والجمعيات المنظمه والمناوءه للعرب والمسلميين عندها تجد ان الجواب اصبح واضح المعالم حاتم ابونعمه
http://www.alghad.jo/?article=3911
الأميركيّون والإسلام - سميح المعايطة
لاحياة لمن تنادي
- hatem abunimeh
الولايات المتحدة الأميركية - habunimeh@yahoo.com
مع انني اشاطرك براءيك من حيث المبدا باءننا لا نكرس جهدا كافيا يعكس صورة واضحة المعالم عن سمعة العرب والمسلمين في الغرب الا ان هنالك عوامل اخرى يجب التنويه اليها واهمها استمراريت دعم الحكومة السعودية في الغرب وخصوصا الولايات المتحدة على تدريس مناهج مدرسيه مناؤه للأديان السماوية الأخرى وتعيين اءمه متشددين في اراءهم وحثهم المستمر للمصلين على ضرورة عدم انتماءهم وعدم الاءنخراط فى حياة الغرب الاءجتماعيه ضف الى ذلك كله الاءسواط القويه والجمعيات المنظمه والمناوءه للعرب والمسلميين عندها تجد ان الجواب اصبح واضح المعالم حاتم ابونعمه
http://www.alghad.jo/?article=3911
Friday, May 26, 2006
To whom the bells toll
http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/ElaphWriter/2006/5/151095.htm
To Whom The Bells Toll
Dr. Nabulsi forecasts a very conscionable initiative proposing the promulgation of a synchronized union to look after the educated & persecuted ones in the Arab communities; but to whom the bell toll !
The educated are the least paid in the Arab world, they lack the financial means to form a lobby or pressure group to stand up to the strong arm of their authorities skewed laws.
The fear of reprisal by the authority personnel , or pay back by the interior ministries watch dogs-- casts a shadow over over the heads of every citizen be that the learnt one or the illiterate.
Iraq during Saddam Hussein reign of terror is a prime example of the lack of freedom for anyone to express even a hint of dissension, or opposition to anything and everything the government enacts on a daily basis.
The media apparatus is fully controlled by the government agencies, heck, even the human rights agencies are controlled by the governments in the Arab world. People do care and want to do something on behalf of the oppressed but the fear of persecution, the fear of starvation, and the fear of corporal punishments discourages even the most courageous one amongst us to even think, let alone act against a decree or an edict promulgated by one of the Arab regimes.
So refraining from lodging protests doesn't stem from the absence of plethora of material to talk about, it doesn't stem from lack of skills or resources amongst the educated group, it simply stems from the fear of punishments, the grave consequences toward the protesting individual and his entire family.
Western regimes aren't anything like Arab regimes, Our regimes are still behaving like fascist regimes of the past, some even still living in the era of feudalism. We can't compare our selves to those organizations in the western societies, Why? because we have no freedom to freely speak out, our laws are very unfriendly, and our regimes are very tyrants.
Absence of Freedom of speech, Absence of freedom of expression, low wages, fear of punishment, as well as the dire poverty, are all motivating factors standing as a wedge between the educated group and the formation of an organization similar to the one proposed in your article.
So how are we supposed to act when we don't have the basic tools or instruments that will propel us to where we want to be, until such time comes, we will be in for the long haul, and continue our preachments about the should've, would've, and could've, but didn't.
To Whom The Bells Toll
Dr. Nabulsi forecasts a very conscionable initiative proposing the promulgation of a synchronized union to look after the educated & persecuted ones in the Arab communities; but to whom the bell toll !
The educated are the least paid in the Arab world, they lack the financial means to form a lobby or pressure group to stand up to the strong arm of their authorities skewed laws.
The fear of reprisal by the authority personnel , or pay back by the interior ministries watch dogs-- casts a shadow over over the heads of every citizen be that the learnt one or the illiterate.
Iraq during Saddam Hussein reign of terror is a prime example of the lack of freedom for anyone to express even a hint of dissension, or opposition to anything and everything the government enacts on a daily basis.
The media apparatus is fully controlled by the government agencies, heck, even the human rights agencies are controlled by the governments in the Arab world. People do care and want to do something on behalf of the oppressed but the fear of persecution, the fear of starvation, and the fear of corporal punishments discourages even the most courageous one amongst us to even think, let alone act against a decree or an edict promulgated by one of the Arab regimes.
So refraining from lodging protests doesn't stem from the absence of plethora of material to talk about, it doesn't stem from lack of skills or resources amongst the educated group, it simply stems from the fear of punishments, the grave consequences toward the protesting individual and his entire family.
Western regimes aren't anything like Arab regimes, Our regimes are still behaving like fascist regimes of the past, some even still living in the era of feudalism. We can't compare our selves to those organizations in the western societies, Why? because we have no freedom to freely speak out, our laws are very unfriendly, and our regimes are very tyrants.
Absence of Freedom of speech, Absence of freedom of expression, low wages, fear of punishment, as well as the dire poverty, are all motivating factors standing as a wedge between the educated group and the formation of an organization similar to the one proposed in your article.
So how are we supposed to act when we don't have the basic tools or instruments that will propel us to where we want to be, until such time comes, we will be in for the long haul, and continue our preachments about the should've, would've, and could've, but didn't.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Memo To Nas
Sorry Nas but you didn't provide us with any statistics or references or quotes or sources or polls of any kind to demonstrate how the people feel or don't feel, believe or don't believe, or anything of that sort.
Your entire essay is based on pure speculation on your part and little bit of figment of your imagination. It would have been a lot more digestible had you stated that what you are presenting is merely an opinion or a dramatization of a fictional situation rather than presenting your text as if it was a proven fact beyond any reasonable doubt.
Please don't go too far and misconstrue my intent, I know that you always mean well and I do like many of the things that you write about, but for some odd reason and once in a blue moon you just can't resist the urge to take a jab at the Palestinians, especially those Jordanians of Palestinian origins such as myself.
I'm not really sure what is required of us to prove our patriotism to our birth place ( Jordan). We have been pledging our allegiance to the Hashemite throne ever since we have come into existence, we pay our taxes, we invest our money, we serve in the armed forces, we contribute to the countries economic growth, we participate in charitable contributions, we vote, we full fill our civic duties, and we seek matrimonies from the native Jordanians and the native Jordanians seek matrimonies from us.
If this isn't sufficient to demonstrate our love, allegiance, and devotion to the nation of Jordan and its armed forces and security apparatus, I don't know what is. Your selective comment about the Palestinians not believing their government is uncalled for, I think that the time has come for us to bury the hatchets and move beyond this tribalism mentality, especially for someone like you who was raised in liberal democratic western society.
I bet you there are a lot of Jordanian of native origins that don't believe or aren't going to believe what the government explanation about the weapon cache is going to be, how come there was no mention of this group and was either unwittingly omitted from your essay or was deliberately remained in clandestine status!
I'm fed up with having to time and again prove my loyalty and dedication to Jordan, and I do take issue when someone that tries to question my loyalty to Jordan. More than half of the population in Jordan born after the 1967 Arab Israeli war, they have no link with anything west of the river Jordan, and this statement wasn't made by me, it was made by the king of Jordan, Abdullah II
I resent the notion about your assumption that the Jordanians be that natives or of Palestinian origins not learning from 11/9 experience, I think that it touched and continues to touch all of us until our present day.
I think that simplest solution to resolve an intricate problem such as the one referenced in your text is for the government to be more transparent, more open to the media correspondent, issue more frequent news releases, allow more officials to be interviewed immediately while the story is still brewing, but to shift the blame on hapless and helpless population who are toiling to secure daily bread and butter for their families is a pure cop out or pseudo catharsis.
Your entire essay is based on pure speculation on your part and little bit of figment of your imagination. It would have been a lot more digestible had you stated that what you are presenting is merely an opinion or a dramatization of a fictional situation rather than presenting your text as if it was a proven fact beyond any reasonable doubt.
Please don't go too far and misconstrue my intent, I know that you always mean well and I do like many of the things that you write about, but for some odd reason and once in a blue moon you just can't resist the urge to take a jab at the Palestinians, especially those Jordanians of Palestinian origins such as myself.
I'm not really sure what is required of us to prove our patriotism to our birth place ( Jordan). We have been pledging our allegiance to the Hashemite throne ever since we have come into existence, we pay our taxes, we invest our money, we serve in the armed forces, we contribute to the countries economic growth, we participate in charitable contributions, we vote, we full fill our civic duties, and we seek matrimonies from the native Jordanians and the native Jordanians seek matrimonies from us.
If this isn't sufficient to demonstrate our love, allegiance, and devotion to the nation of Jordan and its armed forces and security apparatus, I don't know what is. Your selective comment about the Palestinians not believing their government is uncalled for, I think that the time has come for us to bury the hatchets and move beyond this tribalism mentality, especially for someone like you who was raised in liberal democratic western society.
I bet you there are a lot of Jordanian of native origins that don't believe or aren't going to believe what the government explanation about the weapon cache is going to be, how come there was no mention of this group and was either unwittingly omitted from your essay or was deliberately remained in clandestine status!
I'm fed up with having to time and again prove my loyalty and dedication to Jordan, and I do take issue when someone that tries to question my loyalty to Jordan. More than half of the population in Jordan born after the 1967 Arab Israeli war, they have no link with anything west of the river Jordan, and this statement wasn't made by me, it was made by the king of Jordan, Abdullah II
I resent the notion about your assumption that the Jordanians be that natives or of Palestinian origins not learning from 11/9 experience, I think that it touched and continues to touch all of us until our present day.
I think that simplest solution to resolve an intricate problem such as the one referenced in your text is for the government to be more transparent, more open to the media correspondent, issue more frequent news releases, allow more officials to be interviewed immediately while the story is still brewing, but to shift the blame on hapless and helpless population who are toiling to secure daily bread and butter for their families is a pure cop out or pseudo catharsis.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Whimpers
Word of the day [ whimper ]
It is another word for [ whine ] and [complain] it has been on the march lately. People in Jordan complain about the rising fuel cost, people in the United states complain about the immigration laws, people in Iran complain about the united states prohibiting them for acquiring nuclear technology, people in Palestine complain about the world not recognizing their government & about funds from donations not being reaching them. People in Lebanon complain about the President of their country and about why he shouldn't be a president, people in Egypt complain about the the reinstitution of the emergency law and about the slow pace of governmental reforms, people in Tunisia complain about the jailing of the Tunisian journalists, people in Morocco complain about why the western Sahara residents shouldn't have their own self determination. People in Saudi Arabia complain about the monarchy in their country. People in Turkey complain about the Kurdish separatists in the border areas between them and Iraq, people in Iraq complain about the occupation, the lack of security and over all miserable lack of basic services.And so on and so forth, you do get the picture; don't you!
Are all of these complaints legitimate and worthy complaints or are the people inherently born complainers ? At what point in time the person is allowed to complain without being labeled a whiner or a whimper ? Does complaining help solve any issue or is it just another form of catharsis ?
I'm not much of a complainers at all, I consider myself super tolerant individual, I can take a lot of heat before I utter one word that would give the appearance of a complaint. Why not try to deal with the issues in whatever manner deemed appropriate to you without complaining to your parents, to your spouse, to your boss, or to your friend, or to your government.
We aren't living in the state of nature any more, most of the problems that people face on day to day basis have simple solution, some intermediate and advanced problems may require some standards of procedures that need to be followed, such as forms that need to completed or fees that need to be paid, but still even those should never turn into a complaint provided that the individual had exhausted all means available at his disposal prior to lodging a complaint.
Most complaints are like the juice that gets spilled on the carpet, if you get it up in time and wipe it with a dry clean cloth and then follow it up with a damp cloth and wipe it one more time, it will vanish without any trace. By contrast, if you ignore the juice and hope that your maid will at some point in time notice it and gets it wiped off, it may turn into a permanent stain before it gets removed and then you will need to replace the entire carpeted area with new carpet.
I guess what I'm saying here is that people should take heed of whatever it is that they are complaining about. For instance, my secretary has been complaining about her wages for the past two years, I have been able to get her three raises so far but she is still complain about how low her wage is and how expensive life requirements are, what am I supposed to do? Pay her part of my own salary!
My wife always complains about me not giving her enough love, not giving her enough gifts, not getting her what the other husbands get for their wives, and so on. What am I supposed to do for her! I go to work every single day, I rarely spend any money on any of my personal items, I don't have anything personal that I consider to be luxury, I spend all of my salary on the house without saving anything, yet, it is never enough.
My son complain about me putting him in in public university instead of putting him in private university that has a better curriculum and better faculty and has prestigious name.
My ten year old daughter complain about not finding any topic to talk about on Monday morning for her speech class because she hasn't done anything on the preceding week end that is worth talking about. She means going to picnics, to museum, zoo, botanic gardens and so forth.
My neighbor complain about the grass area that separate his house from my house and how the weed is flying from my side of the grass and ruining his beautiful lawn, my family in Jordan complain that I don't call them very frequently and that I'm a negligent person and should call more often to see how things are going.
My partner in an apartment building complain about the tenants not paying their rent on time and about the ever rising real estate taxes, the pharmacist where I get my medicine from complain about the health maintenance organizations and how difficult it is to get them to approve the list of medicine that they have and sell to their clients.
What is going on with all of these whimpers? When will they realize that they have to take matters in their own hands and stop complaining, or better yet do something about whatever it is that you are complain about.
I can't take it anymore, sometimes I feel like I want to go somewhere where I don't have any contact with any other human being on this earth. Is there an end in sight for all of these complainers around me? Why do they enjoy complaining to me? I don't have any sign on my door stating that I Have a complaint shop! I have had it with these people.
Whatever it is that is bothering you do something about it. Stop complaining for God sake as complaining will never lead you to no where except more and more misery on top of the misery that you already have.
It is another word for [ whine ] and [complain] it has been on the march lately. People in Jordan complain about the rising fuel cost, people in the United states complain about the immigration laws, people in Iran complain about the united states prohibiting them for acquiring nuclear technology, people in Palestine complain about the world not recognizing their government & about funds from donations not being reaching them. People in Lebanon complain about the President of their country and about why he shouldn't be a president, people in Egypt complain about the the reinstitution of the emergency law and about the slow pace of governmental reforms, people in Tunisia complain about the jailing of the Tunisian journalists, people in Morocco complain about why the western Sahara residents shouldn't have their own self determination. People in Saudi Arabia complain about the monarchy in their country. People in Turkey complain about the Kurdish separatists in the border areas between them and Iraq, people in Iraq complain about the occupation, the lack of security and over all miserable lack of basic services.And so on and so forth, you do get the picture; don't you!
Are all of these complaints legitimate and worthy complaints or are the people inherently born complainers ? At what point in time the person is allowed to complain without being labeled a whiner or a whimper ? Does complaining help solve any issue or is it just another form of catharsis ?
I'm not much of a complainers at all, I consider myself super tolerant individual, I can take a lot of heat before I utter one word that would give the appearance of a complaint. Why not try to deal with the issues in whatever manner deemed appropriate to you without complaining to your parents, to your spouse, to your boss, or to your friend, or to your government.
We aren't living in the state of nature any more, most of the problems that people face on day to day basis have simple solution, some intermediate and advanced problems may require some standards of procedures that need to be followed, such as forms that need to completed or fees that need to be paid, but still even those should never turn into a complaint provided that the individual had exhausted all means available at his disposal prior to lodging a complaint.
Most complaints are like the juice that gets spilled on the carpet, if you get it up in time and wipe it with a dry clean cloth and then follow it up with a damp cloth and wipe it one more time, it will vanish without any trace. By contrast, if you ignore the juice and hope that your maid will at some point in time notice it and gets it wiped off, it may turn into a permanent stain before it gets removed and then you will need to replace the entire carpeted area with new carpet.
I guess what I'm saying here is that people should take heed of whatever it is that they are complaining about. For instance, my secretary has been complaining about her wages for the past two years, I have been able to get her three raises so far but she is still complain about how low her wage is and how expensive life requirements are, what am I supposed to do? Pay her part of my own salary!
My wife always complains about me not giving her enough love, not giving her enough gifts, not getting her what the other husbands get for their wives, and so on. What am I supposed to do for her! I go to work every single day, I rarely spend any money on any of my personal items, I don't have anything personal that I consider to be luxury, I spend all of my salary on the house without saving anything, yet, it is never enough.
My son complain about me putting him in in public university instead of putting him in private university that has a better curriculum and better faculty and has prestigious name.
My ten year old daughter complain about not finding any topic to talk about on Monday morning for her speech class because she hasn't done anything on the preceding week end that is worth talking about. She means going to picnics, to museum, zoo, botanic gardens and so forth.
My neighbor complain about the grass area that separate his house from my house and how the weed is flying from my side of the grass and ruining his beautiful lawn, my family in Jordan complain that I don't call them very frequently and that I'm a negligent person and should call more often to see how things are going.
My partner in an apartment building complain about the tenants not paying their rent on time and about the ever rising real estate taxes, the pharmacist where I get my medicine from complain about the health maintenance organizations and how difficult it is to get them to approve the list of medicine that they have and sell to their clients.
What is going on with all of these whimpers? When will they realize that they have to take matters in their own hands and stop complaining, or better yet do something about whatever it is that you are complain about.
I can't take it anymore, sometimes I feel like I want to go somewhere where I don't have any contact with any other human being on this earth. Is there an end in sight for all of these complainers around me? Why do they enjoy complaining to me? I don't have any sign on my door stating that I Have a complaint shop! I have had it with these people.
Whatever it is that is bothering you do something about it. Stop complaining for God sake as complaining will never lead you to no where except more and more misery on top of the misery that you already have.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Eerie Silence
وأخيراً نَفَثَ الطوطم الأعظم سُمَّه! GMT 18:06:48 2006 الثلائاء 2 مايو
Eerie Silence
By Hatem Abunimeh
In this day and age, the entire problem with the Muslim and Arab world be that the Liberals or the conservatives amongst them is their continued silence in the face of all sorts of hypocrisies that are taking place before their very own eyes on a day by day basis.. Most ordinary Arab citizens do not speak out against their own governments, or against terrorists like Ben Laden Zawahiri, and Zarqawi. Modern history taught them that they have neither the right nor the ability to to change the status quo. The Arab citizenry has been collectively numbed into a sad state of affairs. They have inherently turned into helpless, powerless spectators. The liberals are trying to introduce new improved formula to offset the ingrained radicalism but it isn''t working, Ben Laden and company are still finding many sympathizers and many others willing to lend a docile ear for their poppycock. In sum, the Arab and Muslim world is still about a hundred years behind modernity.
http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/ElaphWriter/2006/5/145292.htm
Eerie Silence
By Hatem Abunimeh
In this day and age, the entire problem with the Muslim and Arab world be that the Liberals or the conservatives amongst them is their continued silence in the face of all sorts of hypocrisies that are taking place before their very own eyes on a day by day basis.. Most ordinary Arab citizens do not speak out against their own governments, or against terrorists like Ben Laden Zawahiri, and Zarqawi. Modern history taught them that they have neither the right nor the ability to to change the status quo. The Arab citizenry has been collectively numbed into a sad state of affairs. They have inherently turned into helpless, powerless spectators. The liberals are trying to introduce new improved formula to offset the ingrained radicalism but it isn''t working, Ben Laden and company are still finding many sympathizers and many others willing to lend a docile ear for their poppycock. In sum, the Arab and Muslim world is still about a hundred years behind modernity.
http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/ElaphWriter/2006/5/145292.htm
Friday, April 28, 2006
Stop Worrying and Start Living
This post is dedicated to Khalaf, Omar, and Khader. I have read all of their posts and comments and back and forth incendiary replies. I was originally planning to comment underneath Khalaf's post but then my post has gotten so large, therefore, I decided to make an entry out of it and this would be my first post in about a month and a half.
I think that it is too early to predict whether the newly elected Hamas government will succeed, fail , or remain as a lame-duck for the reminder of their 4-year term. Winning the office isn't an end by itself it is the beginning.
Some people get upset when someone criticizes Hamas for one reason or another, those people should know that dissent and constructive criticism are the highest form of patriotism.
Neither Hamas nor the Palestinian authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas are immune from criticism, they stuck their head out there by accepting the positions that they have been privileged to be in, now they have to put up with what the rest of us have to say about them.
They are put in that position to serve and protect the Palestinian people, when the Palestinian people aren't being served or protected, then neither Hamas nor the Palestinian authority deserve any pats on the back.
Grant you Hamas is still going through its honey moon, but the honey moon is fast drawing to an end, and there is really no time for on the job training. Some people are saying that Hammas wasn't expecting to receive the stunning victory that it received and thus wasn't prepared to take full fledged responsibility from the get go, in my opinion this is a spurious excuse, if you aren't ready then why run in the first place.
Hammas says that it was counting on a national unity government, well, a national unity government is no where in sight, now what will Hamas do about it. There are salaries that need to be paid, garbage that needs to be hauled to the land fill, and bills for water and electricity that need to be paid.
Is Hamas ready to shoulder that kind of responsibility or is it going to continue griping about how the others are being critical of their governing structure and how they are tirelessly working on thwarting their schemes.
To put it more bluntly, does Hamas have a practical plan [ political as well as economic] to work with the situation as is ? If so then what is it ? Having said that they will only recognize Israel after the Israelis leave the West Bank and Gaza isn't a solution at all.
Israel will continue to act in a unilateral fashion as it please whenever and however the situation may accommodate its needs. Hamas in my opinion needs to put up or shut up.
Even if Jordan ,although I have no proof one way or another, drummed up the story about the weapon cache, so what! Even if Egypt refused to meet with Hamas's foreign minister, so what! it is all part of the job, and they must keep on going dealing with the problems as they come up.
I'm not necessarily pro Palestinian authority, pro Hamas, or pro the Jordanian regime, what I'm presenting here is an independent thought free from any prejudice or bias.
I think that Hamas has a lot of problems that need to be ironed out and I think that the Palestinian authority has a lot of problems as well, and unless they straighten out their act very quickly this dispute is going to become ugly and may even turn into full scale civil war, something that Israel has been yearning for for many years.
Let us hope that the cool heads would stop butting heads and start working for the best interest of their people without laying the blame on Jordan, the United States, and Israel, although these countries have a lot to be blamed for but what is the blaming going to do! It will aggravate the situation rather than mitigating it.
We need to help Hamas and help the Palestinian authority to get back on track to refocus their attention on the main issue of checkpoints, prisoners, border crossings and so on and so forth.
Bickering and tearing one another apart is going no where except the dead end. Both sides need to accept the outcome and live with the situation as it is depicted today.
Hamas won, fine, get over it now. The Palestinian authority personnel stole all that money, fine, get over it as well, no body is going to be prosecuted for whatever happened in the past, so the only course left is to move on and move on now before it is too late.
I think that it is too early to predict whether the newly elected Hamas government will succeed, fail , or remain as a lame-duck for the reminder of their 4-year term. Winning the office isn't an end by itself it is the beginning.
Some people get upset when someone criticizes Hamas for one reason or another, those people should know that dissent and constructive criticism are the highest form of patriotism.
Neither Hamas nor the Palestinian authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas are immune from criticism, they stuck their head out there by accepting the positions that they have been privileged to be in, now they have to put up with what the rest of us have to say about them.
They are put in that position to serve and protect the Palestinian people, when the Palestinian people aren't being served or protected, then neither Hamas nor the Palestinian authority deserve any pats on the back.
Grant you Hamas is still going through its honey moon, but the honey moon is fast drawing to an end, and there is really no time for on the job training. Some people are saying that Hammas wasn't expecting to receive the stunning victory that it received and thus wasn't prepared to take full fledged responsibility from the get go, in my opinion this is a spurious excuse, if you aren't ready then why run in the first place.
Hammas says that it was counting on a national unity government, well, a national unity government is no where in sight, now what will Hamas do about it. There are salaries that need to be paid, garbage that needs to be hauled to the land fill, and bills for water and electricity that need to be paid.
Is Hamas ready to shoulder that kind of responsibility or is it going to continue griping about how the others are being critical of their governing structure and how they are tirelessly working on thwarting their schemes.
To put it more bluntly, does Hamas have a practical plan [ political as well as economic] to work with the situation as is ? If so then what is it ? Having said that they will only recognize Israel after the Israelis leave the West Bank and Gaza isn't a solution at all.
Israel will continue to act in a unilateral fashion as it please whenever and however the situation may accommodate its needs. Hamas in my opinion needs to put up or shut up.
Even if Jordan ,although I have no proof one way or another, drummed up the story about the weapon cache, so what! Even if Egypt refused to meet with Hamas's foreign minister, so what! it is all part of the job, and they must keep on going dealing with the problems as they come up.
I'm not necessarily pro Palestinian authority, pro Hamas, or pro the Jordanian regime, what I'm presenting here is an independent thought free from any prejudice or bias.
I think that Hamas has a lot of problems that need to be ironed out and I think that the Palestinian authority has a lot of problems as well, and unless they straighten out their act very quickly this dispute is going to become ugly and may even turn into full scale civil war, something that Israel has been yearning for for many years.
Let us hope that the cool heads would stop butting heads and start working for the best interest of their people without laying the blame on Jordan, the United States, and Israel, although these countries have a lot to be blamed for but what is the blaming going to do! It will aggravate the situation rather than mitigating it.
We need to help Hamas and help the Palestinian authority to get back on track to refocus their attention on the main issue of checkpoints, prisoners, border crossings and so on and so forth.
Bickering and tearing one another apart is going no where except the dead end. Both sides need to accept the outcome and live with the situation as it is depicted today.
Hamas won, fine, get over it now. The Palestinian authority personnel stole all that money, fine, get over it as well, no body is going to be prosecuted for whatever happened in the past, so the only course left is to move on and move on now before it is too late.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Oriana Fallaci
In her new book, "The Force of Reason" Italian journalist and novelist Oriana Fallaci , faults Muslims for the fact that "they breed like rats"; for requiring their meat to be slaughtered in a "barbaric" manner she says is similar to kosher butchery; for having their own schools, hospitals, and cemeteries; for immigrating; and for wanting accommodation of their religious holidays and Sabbath in schools and workplaces.
So as you can see from the above mentioned book, there are people out there that hate Muslims not for their alleged extremism and occasional terrorism, they hate them for the way they are, and in my opinion this kind of hatred is very hard to deal with, as a matter of fact, it probably doesn't have any kind of solution at all.
So as you can see from the above mentioned book, there are people out there that hate Muslims not for their alleged extremism and occasional terrorism, they hate them for the way they are, and in my opinion this kind of hatred is very hard to deal with, as a matter of fact, it probably doesn't have any kind of solution at all.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Time for the last post
In this article appearing in the Financial Times http://news.ft.com/cms/s/384be1be-9eb1-11da-ba48-0000779e2340.html The writer argues that blogging is already a virtual tomb for a billion posts, he adds, blogs are superabundant and often irrelevant because we suffer from a glut of data. By 2005, 56 new blogs were starting every minute. As I type this sentence, there are, according to technorati.com, 27.2 million blogs. By the time you read this sentence, there surely will be many more.
Read on if you are interested in learning about the immediate fate, and long term goals for your own blog.
Read on if you are interested in learning about the immediate fate, and long term goals for your own blog.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Writers, Artists, Maestros.
The following text is a translated article from Arabic into English, it was translated by Hatem Abunimeh
Creative rituals for the artists and scholars : The strange methods of invoking the revelations are closer to insanity.
The American novelist Mark Twain used to look for a bed before he starts writing, he considered the bed a special condition that has cerebral images similar to a dream.
When the German poet Schiller wanted to be creative, he adhered to the smell of apple, he used to preserve rotten apple in his office to establish the voluptuous relationship between him and the creativity..
Many creative people find themselves hostages to habits that appear to be strange and amusing to others, this is especially true during the moment of translating creativity into written material. The creative people practice different tricks in order for them to explode their inner energy and activate their thoughts.
Some of them live under the auspices of addictive habits and conditions and surround themselves within, and thought it they feel that they will get the inspiration to hover over the world of writing.
That is what pushed the Lebanese novelist Ameen Mallof to abandon his family for years escaping to an island dedicated for things he wanted to author. And made the Algerian writer Ahlam Mustghnemi to change her telephone number, live in isolation, then travel to a new country where no one knows her so she can be saved by her novel "Bed crossing"
Those that are concerned about these rituals consider them unorthodox, the creative person seizes the moment to get out the real motive behind the idea that is causing the crazy condition in order to snatch himself from the prevailing anxiety that precedes writing.
Some psychologists classify writing as if it is " cerebral action" and see it for many as " a saving action from a deadly melancholy" . In a dossier published in the French magazine " Leer" , the psychoanalyst Christopher Andrea, confirms about the writing rituals amongst the creative and the Maestro that " Authentic relationship between phobia and creativity", as both have symptoms of excessive sensitivity, as writing on one hand is a success and on the other is a failure.
Failure insofar as to adapt to the performance, and success in finding a suitable alternative. And in this sequence, the writer Fakhri Kawar confirms that writing the story necessitates a place outside ones home if it is available, however, if it isn't then writing begins after all the family members go to sleep.
I shut the television set off, and the radio off, and then try to reach to the highest degree of silence. Fakhri stated. He adds, the writer love for attentiveness, precision, makes us lean towards slow careful thinking in every word, in every expression, and in every discussing sentence, and in every stand.
He points out that writing the newspaper article takes place during a period of television broadcast, during the presence of a guest, or during answering the phone : "We don't feel the pressure of writing newspaper article the same way we feel it when we write a novel" there is a vast area or long distance between creative work and journalistic work.
The narrator Jamilah Amayreh professes that for every writer "a special mood" that imposes itself and its conditions on its owner, she finds in quiet and in isolationism important conditions to fashion her creativity. According to Amayreh, " all the seasons before creativity are the same" but she is content with writing in the early morning, and defers any creative work for that time.
The novelist Hashem Gharaybeh confirms that he writes whenever he finds desire for writing, without putting himself in any particular ambiance or specific rituals. He prefers to translate his creative work sitting by the kitchen table, especially during winter season, as the coffee and tea requirements are within reach, and the place is warm, and he adds music as a permanent companion in the house. In that type of atmosphere, I'm able to write much more effectively. Commonly, Gharaybeh writes his thoughts or ideas that quickly dissipate on a note paper, it could go away but he quickly retrieves them. Ten years ago, Gharaybeh used to have penchant for writing with a pencil on yellow paper, according to him, but after using the computer he started using the paper utensils for notes only.
I don't get discouraged by interruption, noise, muddling, and my thoughts don't get downgraded and I continue with it irrespective of the outside influences. He confesses that his production in winter is more than in the summer, I don't know why. He clarifies. It is possible that winter gives me the warmth and inspiration to write, and its long nights gives me enough time to contemplate.
The following is the original Arabic text, it was published in today's edition of Alghad newspaper. 2/28/2006.
طقوس الإبداع لدى الأدباء والفنانين: استحضار الإلهام بطرق غرائبية أقرب إلى الجنون
28/2/2006
كوكب حناحنة
عمّان- كان الروائي الأميركي مارك توين يبحث عن سرير قبل أن يبدأ الكتابة، وكان يعد السرير حالة خاصة تتمثل فيه الصور العقلية الشبيهة بالحلم، في حين التصق الابداع لدى الشاعر الألماني شيلر برائحة التفاح وكان يحتفظ بتفاح متعفن في مكتبه لاقامة تلك العلاقة الحسية بينه وبين الإبداع.
ويجد الكثير من المبدعين أنفسهم أسرى عادات قد تبدو بالنسبة لسواهم غريبة وطريفة، وخصوصا لحظة ترجمة الإبداع على الورق، إذ يمارس المبدعون حيلا مختلفة في سبيل تفجير طاقاتهم الداخلية وتنشيط افكارهم.
ومن هؤلاء من يعيش في كنف عادات أدمنها وشروط أحاط نفسه بها يتلمس من خلالها حالات من الإلهام للتحليق في عالم الكتابة. وهذا ما دفع الروائي اللبناني أمين معلوف ليهجر عائلته سنوات هاربا إلى جزيرة نائية ينقطع فيها للتأليف، وجعل الكاتبة الجزائرية أحلام مستغانمي تغير أرقام هواتفها وتتقوقع في عزلتها ثم تقرر السفر إلى بلد جديد لا يعرفها فيها احد كي تنجو بروايتها "عابر سرير".
ويصف مهتمون هذه الطقوس بأنها تعبير عن ظروف غير تقليدية، يسرق فيها المبدع من حالة الجنون الدافع الحقيقي للفكرة لينزع حالة القلق التي تسيطر عليه قبل الكتابة.
ويصنف بعض الأطباء النفسيين الكتابة على انها "فعل عصابي" ويرون انها للكثيرين "فعل إنقاذ من سوداوية قاتلة".
ويؤكد المحلل النفسي كريستوف اندريه في ملف نشرته مجلة "لير" الفرنسية عن طقوس الكتابة عند المبدعين والفنانين ان "العلاقة وثيقة بين الابداع والفوبيا"، كما أن الاثنين من عوارض الحساسية المفرطة، "فالكتابة هي من ناحية فشل ومن ناحية أخرى نجاح. إنها دليل فشل في التكيف مع الفعل ونجاح في ايجاد التعويض المناسب".
وفي هذا السياق، يؤكد الكاتب فخري قعوار بأن كتابة القصة تحتاج إلى مكان خارج المنزل اذا كان متوفرا، واذا لم يتوفر فالكتابة عنده تبدأ بعد نوم أفراد الأسرة كافة، وأثناء ذلك "أغلق شاشة التلفزيون والمحطة الاذاعية، وأحاول الوصول إلى أعلى درجات الصمت".
ويزيد" إلا أن محبة الكاتب للدقة والمواظبة على سلامة الشخصيات والوقائع، تجعلنا نميل الى التباطؤ والتفكير في كل كلمة وفي كل عبارة وفي كل جملة حوارية وفي كل موقف.
ويشير إلى أن كتابة المقالة الصحافية تحدث أحيانا بوجود أحد الضيوف وأثناء البث التلفزيوني، وأثناء الرد على الهاتف، إذ "لا نشعر أن كتابة المقالة تحتاج لمثل هذا التركيز الذي تتطلبه كتابة القصة، لأن الفرق بين العمل الإبداعي والعمل الصحافي يكاد يكون بينهما مساحة شاسعة أو مسافة طويلة".
وتقر القاصة جميلة عمايرة بـ "أن لكل كاتب مزاجا خاصا" يفرض حالته وشروطه على صاحبه. وتجد في العزلة والهدوء شروط مهمة لصياغة إبداعها.
وبحسب عمايرة فإن "كل الفصول أمام حالة الإبداع سواء، ولكنني أكتفي بالكتابة في ساعات الصباح الباكر، وأؤجل أي فعل ابداعي إلى هذا الوقت".
ويؤكد الروائي هاشم غرايبة بأنه اذا وجد الرغبة في الكتابة يكتب، من دون أن يضع لنفسه جوا خاصا وطقوسا معينة. ويفضل اثناء ترجمة ابداعاته الجلوس على طاولة المطبخ، وبخاصة في فصل الشتاء،"حيث أدوات القهوة والشاي في متناول يديّ، والمكان دافىء". ويضيف "الموسيقى رفيق دائم في البيت، وبهذه الأجواء أستطيع الكتابة بفعالية أكثر".
وعادة ما يدون غرايبة خواطره وأفكاره التي تمر سريعا على قصاصات من الورق، "لكنها قد تختفي لكنني سرعان ما أسترجعها".
وكان غرايبة وقبل عشر سنوات، كما يقول، مولعا بالكتابة على الورق الأصفر وقلم الرصاص، ولكن بعد استخدامه جهاز الكمبيوتر اضحى يستخدم هذه الأدوات لتدوين الملاحظات فقط. وفي غضون ذلك، "لا تضيرني أجواء المقاطعة والتشويش او الضجة، ولا يطاح بأفكاري واتواصل معها من دون التأثر بالمؤثرات الخارجية". ويعترف بأن نتاجه في فصل الشتاء أكثر من الصيف، موضحا" لا أعرف لماذا؟ قد يمنحني الشتاء الدفء والإيحاء بالكتابة، وقد يمنحني ليله الطويل وقتا كافيا للتأمل"
Creative rituals for the artists and scholars : The strange methods of invoking the revelations are closer to insanity.
The American novelist Mark Twain used to look for a bed before he starts writing, he considered the bed a special condition that has cerebral images similar to a dream.
When the German poet Schiller wanted to be creative, he adhered to the smell of apple, he used to preserve rotten apple in his office to establish the voluptuous relationship between him and the creativity..
Many creative people find themselves hostages to habits that appear to be strange and amusing to others, this is especially true during the moment of translating creativity into written material. The creative people practice different tricks in order for them to explode their inner energy and activate their thoughts.
Some of them live under the auspices of addictive habits and conditions and surround themselves within, and thought it they feel that they will get the inspiration to hover over the world of writing.
That is what pushed the Lebanese novelist Ameen Mallof to abandon his family for years escaping to an island dedicated for things he wanted to author. And made the Algerian writer Ahlam Mustghnemi to change her telephone number, live in isolation, then travel to a new country where no one knows her so she can be saved by her novel "Bed crossing"
Those that are concerned about these rituals consider them unorthodox, the creative person seizes the moment to get out the real motive behind the idea that is causing the crazy condition in order to snatch himself from the prevailing anxiety that precedes writing.
Some psychologists classify writing as if it is " cerebral action" and see it for many as " a saving action from a deadly melancholy" . In a dossier published in the French magazine " Leer" , the psychoanalyst Christopher Andrea, confirms about the writing rituals amongst the creative and the Maestro that " Authentic relationship between phobia and creativity", as both have symptoms of excessive sensitivity, as writing on one hand is a success and on the other is a failure.
Failure insofar as to adapt to the performance, and success in finding a suitable alternative. And in this sequence, the writer Fakhri Kawar confirms that writing the story necessitates a place outside ones home if it is available, however, if it isn't then writing begins after all the family members go to sleep.
I shut the television set off, and the radio off, and then try to reach to the highest degree of silence. Fakhri stated. He adds, the writer love for attentiveness, precision, makes us lean towards slow careful thinking in every word, in every expression, and in every discussing sentence, and in every stand.
He points out that writing the newspaper article takes place during a period of television broadcast, during the presence of a guest, or during answering the phone : "We don't feel the pressure of writing newspaper article the same way we feel it when we write a novel" there is a vast area or long distance between creative work and journalistic work.
The narrator Jamilah Amayreh professes that for every writer "a special mood" that imposes itself and its conditions on its owner, she finds in quiet and in isolationism important conditions to fashion her creativity. According to Amayreh, " all the seasons before creativity are the same" but she is content with writing in the early morning, and defers any creative work for that time.
The novelist Hashem Gharaybeh confirms that he writes whenever he finds desire for writing, without putting himself in any particular ambiance or specific rituals. He prefers to translate his creative work sitting by the kitchen table, especially during winter season, as the coffee and tea requirements are within reach, and the place is warm, and he adds music as a permanent companion in the house. In that type of atmosphere, I'm able to write much more effectively. Commonly, Gharaybeh writes his thoughts or ideas that quickly dissipate on a note paper, it could go away but he quickly retrieves them. Ten years ago, Gharaybeh used to have penchant for writing with a pencil on yellow paper, according to him, but after using the computer he started using the paper utensils for notes only.
I don't get discouraged by interruption, noise, muddling, and my thoughts don't get downgraded and I continue with it irrespective of the outside influences. He confesses that his production in winter is more than in the summer, I don't know why. He clarifies. It is possible that winter gives me the warmth and inspiration to write, and its long nights gives me enough time to contemplate.
The following is the original Arabic text, it was published in today's edition of Alghad newspaper. 2/28/2006.
طقوس الإبداع لدى الأدباء والفنانين: استحضار الإلهام بطرق غرائبية أقرب إلى الجنون
28/2/2006
كوكب حناحنة
عمّان- كان الروائي الأميركي مارك توين يبحث عن سرير قبل أن يبدأ الكتابة، وكان يعد السرير حالة خاصة تتمثل فيه الصور العقلية الشبيهة بالحلم، في حين التصق الابداع لدى الشاعر الألماني شيلر برائحة التفاح وكان يحتفظ بتفاح متعفن في مكتبه لاقامة تلك العلاقة الحسية بينه وبين الإبداع.
ويجد الكثير من المبدعين أنفسهم أسرى عادات قد تبدو بالنسبة لسواهم غريبة وطريفة، وخصوصا لحظة ترجمة الإبداع على الورق، إذ يمارس المبدعون حيلا مختلفة في سبيل تفجير طاقاتهم الداخلية وتنشيط افكارهم.
ومن هؤلاء من يعيش في كنف عادات أدمنها وشروط أحاط نفسه بها يتلمس من خلالها حالات من الإلهام للتحليق في عالم الكتابة. وهذا ما دفع الروائي اللبناني أمين معلوف ليهجر عائلته سنوات هاربا إلى جزيرة نائية ينقطع فيها للتأليف، وجعل الكاتبة الجزائرية أحلام مستغانمي تغير أرقام هواتفها وتتقوقع في عزلتها ثم تقرر السفر إلى بلد جديد لا يعرفها فيها احد كي تنجو بروايتها "عابر سرير".
ويصف مهتمون هذه الطقوس بأنها تعبير عن ظروف غير تقليدية، يسرق فيها المبدع من حالة الجنون الدافع الحقيقي للفكرة لينزع حالة القلق التي تسيطر عليه قبل الكتابة.
ويصنف بعض الأطباء النفسيين الكتابة على انها "فعل عصابي" ويرون انها للكثيرين "فعل إنقاذ من سوداوية قاتلة".
ويؤكد المحلل النفسي كريستوف اندريه في ملف نشرته مجلة "لير" الفرنسية عن طقوس الكتابة عند المبدعين والفنانين ان "العلاقة وثيقة بين الابداع والفوبيا"، كما أن الاثنين من عوارض الحساسية المفرطة، "فالكتابة هي من ناحية فشل ومن ناحية أخرى نجاح. إنها دليل فشل في التكيف مع الفعل ونجاح في ايجاد التعويض المناسب".
وفي هذا السياق، يؤكد الكاتب فخري قعوار بأن كتابة القصة تحتاج إلى مكان خارج المنزل اذا كان متوفرا، واذا لم يتوفر فالكتابة عنده تبدأ بعد نوم أفراد الأسرة كافة، وأثناء ذلك "أغلق شاشة التلفزيون والمحطة الاذاعية، وأحاول الوصول إلى أعلى درجات الصمت".
ويزيد" إلا أن محبة الكاتب للدقة والمواظبة على سلامة الشخصيات والوقائع، تجعلنا نميل الى التباطؤ والتفكير في كل كلمة وفي كل عبارة وفي كل جملة حوارية وفي كل موقف.
ويشير إلى أن كتابة المقالة الصحافية تحدث أحيانا بوجود أحد الضيوف وأثناء البث التلفزيوني، وأثناء الرد على الهاتف، إذ "لا نشعر أن كتابة المقالة تحتاج لمثل هذا التركيز الذي تتطلبه كتابة القصة، لأن الفرق بين العمل الإبداعي والعمل الصحافي يكاد يكون بينهما مساحة شاسعة أو مسافة طويلة".
وتقر القاصة جميلة عمايرة بـ "أن لكل كاتب مزاجا خاصا" يفرض حالته وشروطه على صاحبه. وتجد في العزلة والهدوء شروط مهمة لصياغة إبداعها.
وبحسب عمايرة فإن "كل الفصول أمام حالة الإبداع سواء، ولكنني أكتفي بالكتابة في ساعات الصباح الباكر، وأؤجل أي فعل ابداعي إلى هذا الوقت".
ويؤكد الروائي هاشم غرايبة بأنه اذا وجد الرغبة في الكتابة يكتب، من دون أن يضع لنفسه جوا خاصا وطقوسا معينة. ويفضل اثناء ترجمة ابداعاته الجلوس على طاولة المطبخ، وبخاصة في فصل الشتاء،"حيث أدوات القهوة والشاي في متناول يديّ، والمكان دافىء". ويضيف "الموسيقى رفيق دائم في البيت، وبهذه الأجواء أستطيع الكتابة بفعالية أكثر".
وعادة ما يدون غرايبة خواطره وأفكاره التي تمر سريعا على قصاصات من الورق، "لكنها قد تختفي لكنني سرعان ما أسترجعها".
وكان غرايبة وقبل عشر سنوات، كما يقول، مولعا بالكتابة على الورق الأصفر وقلم الرصاص، ولكن بعد استخدامه جهاز الكمبيوتر اضحى يستخدم هذه الأدوات لتدوين الملاحظات فقط. وفي غضون ذلك، "لا تضيرني أجواء المقاطعة والتشويش او الضجة، ولا يطاح بأفكاري واتواصل معها من دون التأثر بالمؤثرات الخارجية". ويعترف بأن نتاجه في فصل الشتاء أكثر من الصيف، موضحا" لا أعرف لماذا؟ قد يمنحني الشتاء الدفء والإيحاء بالكتابة، وقد يمنحني ليله الطويل وقتا كافيا للتأمل"
Professor Sami Al-Arian
http://www.usforacle.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/02/20/43f9b8cbba683#vfeedback
Topic: Al-Arian reflects on past three years
Name: Hatem Abunimeh
Email: habunimeh@yahoo.com
Location: University Of Illinois
Occupation: Associate Director
Comment: I'm not sure whose interest is being served by keeping Dr.Al-Arian in jail ! The American people Tax dollars arebeing wasted on litigation that is totally and completelybaseless.When 10 out of 12 jurors rule that the defendant isn'tguilty, I don't know how much more needs to be said aftertha! t. Trying the case once again for the residual chargesis another attempt at wasting more time and money fornothing.The American Justice system is a fair system, it willeventually prevail no matter how long the case will last.The same way Dr.Al-Arian was found not guilty the firsttime around, the same way he will be found not guilty thesecond time.I have always maintained in my mind that this man isinnocent, there was no way on earth that he wouldjeopardize his academic career, or trade his stablefamily life in return for aiding terrorism, the factsdon't add up and the circumstances are highlysuspicious.Being pro Palestinians is not against the law, helpingpoor people isn't against the law, and speaking upagainst injustices toward the Palestinian people isn'tagainst the law either.That is what Dr.Al Arian was all about : He is an avidPalestinian rights advocate, who amongst us that isfamili! ar with all the injustices that are beingperpetrated against the Palestinian people on a dailybasis isn't going to stand up for them !?Dr.Al Arian is a good law abiding citizen, he is a goodfamily man, he excelled in his professional as well ashis academic lives, his proven track record ofaccomplishment speak for itself.A charge against him of guilt by association isn't goingto cut it, so what the guy knew an acquaintance of histhat turned up to be Jihad organization leader? How manypeople that turn up to be criminals and have theirpictures taken with current Presidents and formerPresidents? Just because someone knows someone that turnup to be criminal doesn't mean that they are accomplicesor partners in mischief.The government ought to save our tax payers dollars andset Dr.Al Arian and his codefendants free. The longer helingers in jail the more that he will be deprived of hisright to life liberty ! and the pursuit of happiness, thebasic fundamentals found in our constitution.Something that we take for granted and something that wedon't wish for any American to be deprived of, be thatDr. Al Arian or anyone else. The America that I know, theland of the free should set Dr.AlArian free without anydelay.We all are familiar with the cliché : If it walks like aduck, quacks like one...and you know the rest. Dr. AlArian innocence is just like that duck, it is written all overthe place but for some reason our beloved governmentchose to look the other way.
Hatem Abunimeh
University of Illinois
abunimeh@uic.edu
Topic: Al-Arian reflects on past three years
Name: Hatem Abunimeh
Email: habunimeh@yahoo.com
Location: University Of Illinois
Occupation: Associate Director
Comment: I'm not sure whose interest is being served by keeping Dr.Al-Arian in jail ! The American people Tax dollars arebeing wasted on litigation that is totally and completelybaseless.When 10 out of 12 jurors rule that the defendant isn'tguilty, I don't know how much more needs to be said aftertha! t. Trying the case once again for the residual chargesis another attempt at wasting more time and money fornothing.The American Justice system is a fair system, it willeventually prevail no matter how long the case will last.The same way Dr.Al-Arian was found not guilty the firsttime around, the same way he will be found not guilty thesecond time.I have always maintained in my mind that this man isinnocent, there was no way on earth that he wouldjeopardize his academic career, or trade his stablefamily life in return for aiding terrorism, the factsdon't add up and the circumstances are highlysuspicious.Being pro Palestinians is not against the law, helpingpoor people isn't against the law, and speaking upagainst injustices toward the Palestinian people isn'tagainst the law either.That is what Dr.Al Arian was all about : He is an avidPalestinian rights advocate, who amongst us that isfamili! ar with all the injustices that are beingperpetrated against the Palestinian people on a dailybasis isn't going to stand up for them !?Dr.Al Arian is a good law abiding citizen, he is a goodfamily man, he excelled in his professional as well ashis academic lives, his proven track record ofaccomplishment speak for itself.A charge against him of guilt by association isn't goingto cut it, so what the guy knew an acquaintance of histhat turned up to be Jihad organization leader? How manypeople that turn up to be criminals and have theirpictures taken with current Presidents and formerPresidents? Just because someone knows someone that turnup to be criminal doesn't mean that they are accomplicesor partners in mischief.The government ought to save our tax payers dollars andset Dr.Al Arian and his codefendants free. The longer helingers in jail the more that he will be deprived of hisright to life liberty ! and the pursuit of happiness, thebasic fundamentals found in our constitution.Something that we take for granted and something that wedon't wish for any American to be deprived of, be thatDr. Al Arian or anyone else. The America that I know, theland of the free should set Dr.AlArian free without anydelay.We all are familiar with the cliché : If it walks like aduck, quacks like one...and you know the rest. Dr. AlArian innocence is just like that duck, it is written all overthe place but for some reason our beloved governmentchose to look the other way.
Hatem Abunimeh
University of Illinois
abunimeh@uic.edu
Monday, February 27, 2006
Encroachment On Press Freedom
In a decision that couldn't be justified by politics, common good, or logic, an unknown governmental side ( we don't know who made the decision) prevented the press yesterday from covering the return of the Jordanian citizen Mahmoud Saidat to Amman after the state succeeded in liberating him from his captors in Iraq as a result of an exhaustive effort that deserves lauding.
The governmental side allowed only the official governmental media representatives to cover the event. However, the other private journalists waited in front of Marka Airport, only to return to their news rooms empty handed.
The decision to prohibit the journalists from covering the event; which is of paramount importance is wrong, and an encroachment on the right of the press to pursue events that are tied to the common good.
It is a decision that is incongruent with the government's declared position in wanting to cooperate with the press and remove the obstacles before them, so in order for the press to be able to pursue its work truthfully and professionally.
How will this decision to prohibit endears the governmental declared position of open state institutions for media apparatus. In addition, what would the government had done had the daily papers refused to cover the event as a result of the encroachment on its rights, it would have gotten angry, blame the press, and accuse them of not fulfilling their duties toward the society.
But the newspapers didn't do that, the newspapers fathom the rights of their readers, and the rights of the nation on the newspaper, sort of not to let them down. The country have the right through its media to celebrate the saving of a citizen from the imminent danger of gaping death, saved only by unique performance of his majesty the king with the help of of other state institutions that were able to pull it off.
Because of that, the Jordanian press gave the event of safe return of Mr. Saidat to his family and his country the diligent pursuance and the coverage it deserves. The government is requested to stop making arbitrary and heavy handed decisions in its discourse with the media means.
The government needs the media as much as the media needs the government. The mutual relationship between the two of them must be built on objective professional frame, governed by law, and by practices that adheres to the principal of democracy, and the exigencies of respect, and the right of the press freedom to retrieve the information without hindrance, and passing the information to the reader without hindrance too.
2006/02/26
Ayman Safadi
Translated from Arabic by Hatem Abunimeh.
It isn't my intent to translate any positive or negative piece, I like to translate whatever it is as accurately as possible, based on the way it is written. I don't necessarily agree with the content appearing in my translations. I don't seek to influence anybody, nor do I speculate about the motive of the original writer. What I do in terms of translation is strictly a hobby of mine I like to exercise it on an ongoing basis. I don't get paid for my translation work, nor do I receive any funding from any organization or corporation. All the translation work is solely based on my own endeavor. Hatem Abunimeh.
تجاوز على حرية الصحافة2006-02-26
في قرار لا تبرره سياسة أو مصلحة أو منطق، منعت جهات حكومية (لا نعرف من اتخذ القرار) الصحافيين أمس من تغطية عودة المواطن محمود السعيدات إلى عمان بعد أن نجحت الدولة في تحريره من خاطفيه في العراق إثر ما بذلته من جهود مضنية تستحق التقدير.
لم تسمح الجهات الحكومية المعنية إلا لممثلي الإعلام الرسمي بتغطية الحدث. أما ممثلو الصحف ووسائل الإعلام الأخرى، فقد انتظروا لساعات أمام مطار ماركا، ليعودوا بعد ذلك إلى صحفهم بخفّي حنين.
قرار منع الصحافيين من تغطية حدث بتلك الأهمية خاطئ وتجاوز على حق الصحافة في متابعة الأحداث المرتبطة بالشأن العام. وهو قرار لا ينسجم مع موقف الحكومة المعلن في التعاون مع الصحافة وإزالة العوائق أمام تأديتها عملها بمهنية وحرفية وصدقية.
فكيف ستكون الصحافة مهنية ومقنعة لقارئها ومشاهدها وهي تحرم حقها في متابعة الأحداث؟ وكيف يمكن لقرار المنع هذا أن يعزز صدقية القول الحكومي المؤكِّد دائماً انفتاح مؤسسات الدولة على وسائل الإعلام؟
اضافة إلى ذلك، ماذا كانت ستفعل الحكومة لو قررت الصحف اليومية عدم تغطية الحدث في ردة فعل على تجاوز حقوقها؟ كانت ستعتب، وستغضب، وستتهم الصحافة بعدم القيام بواجبها تجاه المجتمع.
لكن الصحف لم تفعل ذلك. فلقارئها عليها حق. ولوطنها عليها حق. للقارئ حق الحصول على المعلومة من وسائل إعلامه. وللوطن على الصحافة حق الاحتفال بإنقاذ مواطن من خطر موت محدق من خلال أداء متميز تابعه جلالة الملك وتعاونت كل مؤسسات الدولة المعنية على انجازه. بسبب ذلك، أعطت الصحافة الأردنية حدث عودة السعيدات إلى أهله ووطنه ما يستحق من تغطية ومتابعة.
بيد أنه مطلوب من الحكومة أن تتوقف عن اتخاذ قرارات اعتباطية وفوقية في تعاملها مع وسائل الإعلام.
فالحكومة تحتاج الإعلام بنفس القدر الذي يحتاج فيه الإعلام الحكومة. ويجب أن تتسم علاقة الطرفين بوضوح مرتكز إلى أطر مهنية موضوعية محكومة بالقانون والممارسات الملتزمة بالعملية الديمقراطية وما تتطلب من احترام حق الصحافة في الوصول الى المعلومة بحرية، ونقلها للقارئ، أيضا بحرية.
The governmental side allowed only the official governmental media representatives to cover the event. However, the other private journalists waited in front of Marka Airport, only to return to their news rooms empty handed.
The decision to prohibit the journalists from covering the event; which is of paramount importance is wrong, and an encroachment on the right of the press to pursue events that are tied to the common good.
It is a decision that is incongruent with the government's declared position in wanting to cooperate with the press and remove the obstacles before them, so in order for the press to be able to pursue its work truthfully and professionally.
How will this decision to prohibit endears the governmental declared position of open state institutions for media apparatus. In addition, what would the government had done had the daily papers refused to cover the event as a result of the encroachment on its rights, it would have gotten angry, blame the press, and accuse them of not fulfilling their duties toward the society.
But the newspapers didn't do that, the newspapers fathom the rights of their readers, and the rights of the nation on the newspaper, sort of not to let them down. The country have the right through its media to celebrate the saving of a citizen from the imminent danger of gaping death, saved only by unique performance of his majesty the king with the help of of other state institutions that were able to pull it off.
Because of that, the Jordanian press gave the event of safe return of Mr. Saidat to his family and his country the diligent pursuance and the coverage it deserves. The government is requested to stop making arbitrary and heavy handed decisions in its discourse with the media means.
The government needs the media as much as the media needs the government. The mutual relationship between the two of them must be built on objective professional frame, governed by law, and by practices that adheres to the principal of democracy, and the exigencies of respect, and the right of the press freedom to retrieve the information without hindrance, and passing the information to the reader without hindrance too.
2006/02/26
Ayman Safadi
Translated from Arabic by Hatem Abunimeh.
It isn't my intent to translate any positive or negative piece, I like to translate whatever it is as accurately as possible, based on the way it is written. I don't necessarily agree with the content appearing in my translations. I don't seek to influence anybody, nor do I speculate about the motive of the original writer. What I do in terms of translation is strictly a hobby of mine I like to exercise it on an ongoing basis. I don't get paid for my translation work, nor do I receive any funding from any organization or corporation. All the translation work is solely based on my own endeavor. Hatem Abunimeh.
تجاوز على حرية الصحافة2006-02-26
في قرار لا تبرره سياسة أو مصلحة أو منطق، منعت جهات حكومية (لا نعرف من اتخذ القرار) الصحافيين أمس من تغطية عودة المواطن محمود السعيدات إلى عمان بعد أن نجحت الدولة في تحريره من خاطفيه في العراق إثر ما بذلته من جهود مضنية تستحق التقدير.
لم تسمح الجهات الحكومية المعنية إلا لممثلي الإعلام الرسمي بتغطية الحدث. أما ممثلو الصحف ووسائل الإعلام الأخرى، فقد انتظروا لساعات أمام مطار ماركا، ليعودوا بعد ذلك إلى صحفهم بخفّي حنين.
قرار منع الصحافيين من تغطية حدث بتلك الأهمية خاطئ وتجاوز على حق الصحافة في متابعة الأحداث المرتبطة بالشأن العام. وهو قرار لا ينسجم مع موقف الحكومة المعلن في التعاون مع الصحافة وإزالة العوائق أمام تأديتها عملها بمهنية وحرفية وصدقية.
فكيف ستكون الصحافة مهنية ومقنعة لقارئها ومشاهدها وهي تحرم حقها في متابعة الأحداث؟ وكيف يمكن لقرار المنع هذا أن يعزز صدقية القول الحكومي المؤكِّد دائماً انفتاح مؤسسات الدولة على وسائل الإعلام؟
اضافة إلى ذلك، ماذا كانت ستفعل الحكومة لو قررت الصحف اليومية عدم تغطية الحدث في ردة فعل على تجاوز حقوقها؟ كانت ستعتب، وستغضب، وستتهم الصحافة بعدم القيام بواجبها تجاه المجتمع.
لكن الصحف لم تفعل ذلك. فلقارئها عليها حق. ولوطنها عليها حق. للقارئ حق الحصول على المعلومة من وسائل إعلامه. وللوطن على الصحافة حق الاحتفال بإنقاذ مواطن من خطر موت محدق من خلال أداء متميز تابعه جلالة الملك وتعاونت كل مؤسسات الدولة المعنية على انجازه. بسبب ذلك، أعطت الصحافة الأردنية حدث عودة السعيدات إلى أهله ووطنه ما يستحق من تغطية ومتابعة.
بيد أنه مطلوب من الحكومة أن تتوقف عن اتخاذ قرارات اعتباطية وفوقية في تعاملها مع وسائل الإعلام.
فالحكومة تحتاج الإعلام بنفس القدر الذي يحتاج فيه الإعلام الحكومة. ويجب أن تتسم علاقة الطرفين بوضوح مرتكز إلى أطر مهنية موضوعية محكومة بالقانون والممارسات الملتزمة بالعملية الديمقراطية وما تتطلب من احترام حق الصحافة في الوصول الى المعلومة بحرية، ونقلها للقارئ، أيضا بحرية.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
diametrically opposite
Notwithstanding the extra ordinary zeal, Jordan isn't Palestine and Palestine isn't Jordan. The Isalmists had their opportunity to capture the legislative branch during the 1989 election, long before the current election law was put in place, all they were able to accomplish was a meager 12% of the vote, even if we double that number to fit the current set of circumstances it would give the Islamists a 24% of the vote, well short of what they received in Palestine.
Jordan is an independent and sovereign state, it has a constitution and well established governmental institutions, Palestine on the contrary is still under occupation and doesn't enjoy and of the privileges that exist in Jordan.
The leadership in Jordan differs from that in Palestine, the Hashemites are widely popular and they enjoy the traditional tribal support, the perks that the people receive from the government outweigh the risk of doing away with it.
The Islamists of Jordan are an integral part of the regime and not a separate renegade mavericks seeking to change the regime, in Palestine Hamas was out to defeat Fateh because it wants to tip the balance in its favor.
While nepotism and corruption are present in Jordan it isn't as rampant the way it was festering in Palestine. The people of Palestine do want change, the people of Jordan including Islamists don't want any change, they are very comfortable with the status quo.
They do want reform which is half of the equation but they don't want the change which is the other half of the equation. Unlike the people of Palestine the people in Jordan don't feel the tremendous occupation pressure.
Jordanian citizens are free to do just about anything they want without the fear of being prosecuted and persecuted for it. They come and go as they please, they import and export, they open up business and travel abroad, and build properties, and so on and so forth. These taken for granted conditions don't exist in Palestine, one can't go from village to the next village without encountering all kinds of obstacles.
Even if free, fair, and transparent elections were to be held today in Jordan, the Islamists aren't going to score big the way the did in Palestine, the two sets of circumstances are diametrically opposite from one another.
It is naive to think that just because Hamas won in Palestine it is going to win in Jordan, there is no evidence to support this claim none whatsoever.
Jordan is an independent and sovereign state, it has a constitution and well established governmental institutions, Palestine on the contrary is still under occupation and doesn't enjoy and of the privileges that exist in Jordan.
The leadership in Jordan differs from that in Palestine, the Hashemites are widely popular and they enjoy the traditional tribal support, the perks that the people receive from the government outweigh the risk of doing away with it.
The Islamists of Jordan are an integral part of the regime and not a separate renegade mavericks seeking to change the regime, in Palestine Hamas was out to defeat Fateh because it wants to tip the balance in its favor.
While nepotism and corruption are present in Jordan it isn't as rampant the way it was festering in Palestine. The people of Palestine do want change, the people of Jordan including Islamists don't want any change, they are very comfortable with the status quo.
They do want reform which is half of the equation but they don't want the change which is the other half of the equation. Unlike the people of Palestine the people in Jordan don't feel the tremendous occupation pressure.
Jordanian citizens are free to do just about anything they want without the fear of being prosecuted and persecuted for it. They come and go as they please, they import and export, they open up business and travel abroad, and build properties, and so on and so forth. These taken for granted conditions don't exist in Palestine, one can't go from village to the next village without encountering all kinds of obstacles.
Even if free, fair, and transparent elections were to be held today in Jordan, the Islamists aren't going to score big the way the did in Palestine, the two sets of circumstances are diametrically opposite from one another.
It is naive to think that just because Hamas won in Palestine it is going to win in Jordan, there is no evidence to support this claim none whatsoever.
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