My Journey to Identity

Reflections of a Polish convert

2006-11-07T09:56:00.000-05:00

Tareq Salik is a 25 year-old from Olsztyn, Poland . He was born into a Catholic family but converted to Shia Islam when he was 18. He has a B.A. in English Philology from the University of Warmia and Mazuria in Poland. He moved to Birmingham about 15 months ago and is currently studying in my class at Al-Mahdi Institute.

Since Tareq is a convert, he has researched about Islam in great depth and most of time, he knows more about the religion than most of us in the class. I enjoy talking to him about his life, his beliefs, goals & challenges and decided to write about some of what we talk about. Why he converted is not the focus of this entry – we have heard many of those stories before. Instead, I've chosen to emphasis some of the challenges he has faced and continues to face as a convert.

Many times, Tareq feels that some born Muslims don't completely accept converts into their communities. Many born Muslims he has come across will outwardly praise him for converting out of his convictions rather than following a faith he was simply born in. Yet, they still act as if they are better Muslims and even try to find fault with his practices, for example while performing wudhoo (ritual ablution).

Most of Tareq's challenges have been what he calls "community related." Shiaism is usually practiced by the Lebanese, Iranians, Iraqis, Indian, Pakistanis & Khojas. Since many Shia communities are divided along ethnic lines, they tend to be very exclusive. This problem becomes a huge obstacle when it comes to spouse selection. Female converts usually marry born Muslims and easily find spouses, but this is not the case for men.

Tareq finds that although many born Muslim women are willing to marry converts, they are unable to do so due to family or community pressure. Since most parents check a potential husband's family background, many male converts find it challenging since their families are not Muslim and may not be considered a "good family." Thus, for many male converts, the criteria for finding a wife have completely changed: instead of looking for compatibility, religiosity or attraction, they look for women whose families will accept them.

For Tareq, it is equivalent of saying that these girls cannot marry Salman Farsi – a close companion of Prophet Mohamed (SAW) who was a convert of Persian origin. He feels that by discriminating against converts on such matters, Muslims are not living up to the standards of Islam.

Many converts that Tareq knows end up marrying non-Muslims or Muslim women that are not religious or come from non-traditional families. In his experience, many converts are disappointed to find out that the concept of "Muslim brotherhood" is only in theory and not actually practiced. He wonders what the point of spreading Islam to non-Muslims is if converts are not accepted into Muslim communities.

At the end of conversation, I ask Tareq what he intends to do when he is ready to look for a spouse. He didn't answer. He just smiled.

Greetings from Birmingham!

2006-10-08T10:36:00.000-05:00

Salaams all!

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve sent anything out, so here’s my first update from Birmingham. I’m studying at the Al-Mahdi Institute here & for the first semester, the classes that I have are: Arabic, Theology, Logic, History of Islamic Law and Hadith Reading. I really enjoy what I am learning & it is inspiring to finally meet Muslim scholars who think on the same wavelength that I do. They come from various backgrounds but most of them have studied in Iran and have combined their interests with degrees from UK universities. We are only about 10 students in the first year class which allows us to have intimate discussions. Although we’ve only had a month of classes, I think my teachers already recognize me as the student who asks the most questions in class!

I live in a house with 7 very interesting women whom I really like and most of us share rooms. My room mate is a Sunni from London of Bengali origin. Most of the other girls are from the UK too while one is from Tanzania & one from Pakistan. Three of the girls are Syeds (descendants of the Prophet). Since we are all from such different religious & cultural backgrounds, we work hard to create a harmonious atmosphere at home.

My neighborhood is primarily South Asian and I really enjoy having halal food & Asian groceries so easily accessible. The women in my neighborhood dress up pretty conservatively, so many times I end up wearing a black abaya over my clothes in order to avoid stares from people. Sometimes I feel like I’m back in Dubai & forget I’m living in the UK because I hardly ever interact with Birmingham natives, which I do find disturbing.

I miss DC a lot more than I expected. None of my house or class mates are particularly political and on many issues regarding the United States, I get really defensive. For example one of the senior students here once asked me bluntly, “How do you feel about belonging to a country that is responsible for so many deaths worldwide?!”

Ramadhan has been interesting – the Khoja mosque that I attend is very traditional and very split on several issues, so I haven’t really found my niche within the community yet. Other than that, I’m just trying to adapt to my new life and trying very hard not to get influenced by the Birmingham accent!

I hope you all are doing well & are enjoying the spiritual goodies of this blessed month. Laters!

What you can do for Lebanon

2006-08-01T17:59:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have been crazy in the Middle East. What has been the scariest thing to me is what is my duty in all of this. What can I do to help so that future generations will not point a finger at me & blame me for failing to assist the people in the current crisis.

I don't need to go into details of what has been going on in Lebanon and I'm sure like me, you are frustrated. But there are things you can do to help. We don't want people from future generations to point fingers at us & say we failed to help people during this crisis. Don't wait - the time to act is NOW & here's how:

1. Don't underestimate the power of word of mouth - tell your friends, neighbors & co-workers. Many of them are not aware of the issue - talk to them & educate them about the situation. It is our duty to do so. Send them new sources from www.bbcnews.com & other news sources you find relevant.

2. Write a short letter to the editor of your newspaper. It doesn't have to be long or controversial - just talk about how lives are being lost on both sides for no reason and the U.S. needs to work with other countries to stop the violence. If you liked a particular piece you read, refer to it to support your argument. Even if it doesn't get published, you tried & you can always e-mail it to friends & family! Or like me, you can blog about if you have one.

3. There is a dire need to mobilize resources for relief operations in Lebanon. Below are contacts for international and local organizations that are helping Lebanon through this humanitarian crisis.

Please circulate!!

http://www.relieflebanon.org/
http://www.saveleb.org/
www.unicefusa.org/donate/lebanon
www.mercycorps.org
www.icrc.org
http://www.islamic-relief.com/SubMenu/Appeal/palestine.htm

Youth empowerment at the United Nations

2006-05-09T22:06:00.000-05:00

"No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off its youth severs its lifeline."
~ UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

From a young age, both my parents were instrumental in instilling a sense of concern for the environment - be it recycling or conserving electricity and water. So, last year, when my colleague introduced me to SustainUS - a US network of youth working on sustainable development, I was immediately interested. What is sustainable development you ask? It is a process of developing (land, cities, business, communities, etc) that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Every year, the UN holds a conference on sustainable development (the Commission on Sustainable Development) where government officials, young people, NGOs and other people from all over the world can participate & make their voices heard. This year, I was privileged to be chosen as a delegate youth leader for SustainUS and spent all of last week at the UN participating in the conference.

There are are so many things to share: flashing my UN badge to go past the tourists, sharing a room & bathroom with 10 other youth delegates, 5-hrs of sleep a night, hilarious statements by oil-producing countries, addressing the delegates from around the world on sustainable consumption & fair trade, the laughter & tears, being inspired by the youth from around the world, the frustrations and successes. It's impossible for me to write about it all, so I have decided to focus on 3 things that were definitely highlights of my week:

1. Children and Youth are recognized as one of the major groups & thus have a seat on the UN floor just like any government would. This means we have a right to intervene & share our thoughts on the suffices being discussed at any given time. Last Wednesday, we were asked to present a 3-minute statement on an issue that we wanted to share. So, a few of us gathered to craft the statement & believe it or not, it took us more than 6 hours because it had to be crafted so carefully.

In the end, we decided to focus on a local environment-friendly hydro-electric project that one of the Nepalese youth delegates had started in his country. It was interesting to see his excitement because he probably had never imagined that he would be asked to represent the youth at the UN just two weeks after he had participated in the pro-democracy demonstrations in his country. As we worked on our statement, we could see a change in him - he felt more empowered & in the process, he empowered all of us. Having lived in America for so long, I have forgotten how abundant opportunities are in this country & how rare it is for other people around the world, esp those from developing countries. His statement on the UN floor was so inspiring, it moved all of us. The best part was when he was approached by a German delegate to discuss possible funding for his project!

2. This year, I was honored to meet some people from the Appalachian valley who have been significantly affected by mountain-top coal mining. One of the women who talked to us talked about how their water was contaminated & affecting her family & community. What she said next brought tears to my eyes: before she came to the conference, she didn't think anyone cared about her community, but after seeing how we were all working to make a difference, she realized that there were people who cared about their plight.

After having spent a long time in the halls of the Capitol or the UN and schmoozing policymakers, it is sometimes easy for me to forget that in the end, it isn't about the perfect words on a piece of paper, but about people. That there are actual human beings that are affected by the decisions we make & I'm so grateful for that reminder.

3. A bunch of creative people from the youth caucus made hundreds of windmills from origami that we could all pin on our shirts to remind everybody the importance of renewable energy. We also put them up on a world map where we all wanted to see more wind energy being produced. The powerful visual said more than words could convey & was definitely a lot of fun!

I was amazed at how organized, articulate, inspiring & pragmatic all the youth delegates were no matter where they were from. There was no way governments could ignore us! Last week also made me realize how American I felt - I knew I had no credibility to approach the Tanzanian or the UAE delegation so I approached the American delegation with my colleagues.

Our message was pretty simple: We will live the consequences. We will breathe the air & drink the water you leave us. Let the support you lend to us be the legacy to us. Don't gamble with our future.

Arab, Muslim silence on Darfur conflict is deafening

2006-04-13T20:54:00.000-05:00

From The Daily Star:

First person Fatema Abdul Rasul

For the entire Muslim and Arab world to remain silent when thousands of people in Darfur continue to be killed is shameful and hypocritical. On March 28, 2006, the Arab League held its annual summit in Khartoum but failed to effectively address the crisis in Darfur.

Earlier in March, the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council had extended its mission in Darfur until September 30, and the League has decided to financially support the AU mission from October onward.

Considering the urgency of the situation in the region, the response of the Arab League is inadequate. The money is needed now.

"This is medicine after death," said Baba Gana Kingibe, the head of the AU mission in Sudan. "We need the assistance now in order to be able to resolve the crisis."

The Koran clearly states: "O ye who believe! Remain steadfast for Allah, bearing witness to justice. Do not allow your hatred for others make you swerve to wrongdoing and turn you away from justice. Be just; that is closer to true piety." (5:8)

Yet, the Arab and Muslim world has failed to condemn the violence in Darfur or assist any efforts by the international community to protect the innocent civilians - most of whom are Muslim.

Arab and Muslim leaders have never hesitated to condemn the killing of innocent civilians in Iraq or the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Yet, none of them have spoken out against Khartoum's policies in Darfur even though the number of Darfurians killed surpasses those in the other two conflicts.

During the past two and a half years, over 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur while more than two million people have been uprooted from their homes. The Sudanese-backed Janjaweed militia has routinely raided villages, executed adult males, raped adult women and girl children, burned homes and crops, stolen livestock, and kidnapped children into slavery.

Although United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has declared the situation in Darfur as the world's worst current humanitarian crisis, the international response to Darfur so far has been half-hearted. Currently, the African Union (AU) has about 7,700 personnel deployed in the region but lacks a robust mandate and adequate resources to protect civilians. This has lead to an escalation of violence and deterioration of the situation in the region.

Recognizing the need for an urgent solution to the crisis, President Bush along with other world leaders recently agreed that a UN peacekeeping force should replace the fledgling AU mission in order to stop the killings in Darfur. However, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi have strongly rejected this proposal hindering efforts to solve the crisis.

Even oil-rich countries in the Persian Gulf have barely reached into their deep pockets. Saudi Arabia has contributed about $3 million while Qatar and the United Arab Emirates combined have contributed less than $1 million to the crisis in Darfur. In contrast, Canada has pledged more aid than all the Arab countries put together.

In fact, the Arab League has consistently supported the Sudanese government. For example, in 2004, the Arab League rejected sanctions and international military involvement regarding Darfur.

The Arab League's indifference over the crisis in Darfur makes it appear that any country can commit gross violations of human rights and still go about business as usual.

However, the international community disagrees. Last September, more than 150 heads of state - including several Arab and Muslim leaders - gathered at the United Nations for an historic summit and endorsed a principle known as the "Responsibility to Protect."

This principle states that no nation can hide behind the veil of sovereignty while it conducts or permits crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing. It also implies that other countries cannot turn a blind eye when these events occur beyond their borders just because it does not suit their narrowly defined national interests.

The need to end the crisis in Darfur is a golden opportunity for the international community to mobilize around this principle.

Organizations such as the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conferences should embrace this initiative instead of obstructing action at the United Nations.

In addition, Arab and Muslim leaders should constructively engage in the peace talks between rebel movements in Darfur and the Sudanese government.

For instance, appointing a high-level Arab or Muslim envoy would send Khartoum a clear signal that the Arab and Muslim world is committed to end the violence. This individual should be empowered to meet with all parties, from tribal leaders in Darfur to the heads of strategically important governments.

If Arab and Muslim leaders want to prove to the international community that they are truly committed to respect for human rights, justice and accountability, it is imperative for them to stand up against the genocide in Darfur.

Fatema Abdul Rasul is an Edward Rawson Fellow for the Peace & Security Program at Citizens for Global Solutions, a lobby group in Washington working for improved American foreign policy.

It's the little things that matter

2006-03-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned the last time, I haven't been blogging in a while – I don't know why but I just haven't felt like it. I dread up waking up every morning because I wonder what will pop up on my BBC homepage. In the past few months, I just feel like everything that can go wrong in the world is going wrong & we might as well blow ourselves up. I know – it's not a very inspiring message nor does it portray my usual can-do attitude, but I can't help it.

Last week, I was working on a report on Darfur when it really hit me that yes, the international community is allowing a genocide to occur – again. For those of you who are not aware of the issue, Darfur is located in the western region of Sudan. Since 2003, the government-sponsored militia has killed about 140,000 people based on their ethnicity. Most of the victims are Muslims and what kills me is the silence on part of the Muslim & Arab world, although the number of Darfurians that have been killed surpasses those killed in Iraq and Palestine.

I don't remember the genocide in Rwanda or the Balkans in the last decade, so for me genocide has always been a chapter in my political science book – a historical fact that I had to study. Having to work on one that is actually occurring while I write is still very new to me and honestly, overwhelming. However, after working in DC for a year on Darfur, what I have realized is that genocide is stoppable. For people who want to learn more information about the issue – please visit www.globalsolutions.org/darfur and feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Although I have been mulling about the issues mentioned above for a while now, there is one person who inspired me to write this particular entry: my 13-yr old sister. Why you ask? Well, a few weeks ago, her Qur'an teacher mentioned the drought in East Africa this year and how she and her friends could fund raise money for a well in Tanzania. Taking her advice, my sister and her two friends got together & started to sell baked goods during various events at the mosque. Their enthusiasm & commitment to the cause has allowed them to raise over $1000 in just a few weeks. Words cannot express how proud I am of these three girls.

Their courage to make a difference in this world has given me much needed hope. We are all empowered to create change – we just have to be willing to act & think beyond our comfort zones.

As we near the end of Muharram and Safar, we need to take stock of what we have learned from mourning the tragedy in Karbala. Our beloved Imams and Bibis endured severe hardship for their cause, but they didn't allow themselves to be victims. Men and women of all ages in the holy household stepped up to the plate because they realized how high the stakes were.

The stakes are high today too. Are we going to step up to the plate or are we going to sit back while another shrine blows up? The choice is yours.

Silent No More

2006-02-20T22:15:00.000-05:00

""I learnt from Husayn how to be wronged and be a winner."
~Mahatma Gandhi

I know it has been a while since I’ve blogged but I guess I kinda had a blogger’s block if you will. It has taken me a while to write this piece as I mulled over all the thoughts in my head. This year marked my 2nd Muharram experience in DC and it has been significantly different from last year. This year, I have many more Shia friends and actually was able to go the various mosques in the area. I have never been “mosque-hopping” before & it was definitely an interesting experience.

Since I have always been so strongly rooted in the Khoja community & most of our mosques function similarly (just like Wal-Mart!), it was weird not knowing my way around the mosque or what to expect. The two mosques I ended up going to were South Asian and it was the first time I was the minority within the broader Shia community: the traditions at Idara Jafaria in Maryland was pretty similar to what I am accustomed to but the Mohammadia Center in Virginia was just fascinating. Firstly, since this community is in the process of building a permanent center, the majalises were held at a “Chutney Banquet Hall” which I found pretty amusing. The one thing that was intriguing for me is how the members of this community would place a huge variety of South Asian sweets & desserts by the alams & replicas of the shrines and then pass it around for everyone to taste. And whenever I refused for the fear of gaining weight during the 12 days, the ladies would disapprove because it was seen as refusing “blessed food.”

This Muharram, I was surrounded by people whose last names were: Naqvi, Rizvi, Shirazi, which clearly indicated that their families have been Shias for centuries. Although my ancestors have not always been Muslim and converted to Shiasm a few centuries ago, it made me appreciate my Shia heritage even more and regard the legacy of Imam Husayn (AS) & Bibi Zainab (AS) as a gift to our community.

Although I did gain new information at the lectures in both mosques, I was disappointed by the content most of the time. Unfortunately, I have given up the hope of expecting to be inspired by speakers at any of the mosques I attend – it seems to me that most of them are completely disconnected from political or social reality and the issues affecting the community. What also bothers me is how the role of women in Kerbala is not emphasized enough. For instance, it irks me when lecturers stress that Bibi Zainab’s (AS) courage came from her father Imam Ali (AS) & her grandfather Prophet Muhammad (SAW) while ignoring the fact that her resilience was also due to her amazing mother Bibi Fatema (AS) & grandmother Bibi Khadija (AS).

This Muharram, my friends & I also discussed the role of traditional azadari (mourning) such as matam & zanjir in today’s society. We debated whether it was relevant & helped convey Imam Husayn’s message to the rest of the world. I grew up in a very traditional azadari-oriented community & it has always been a huge part of my life. I’ve always wondered whether my non-Shia friends & colleagues would cringe at the red marks on my chest caused by my engagement in matam or self-flagellation – would they consider it “barbaric”? After all it is not a normal reaction to grief – it is a learned behavior that I cannot explain but is truly an expression of raw grief that I feel when I remember the tragedy in Karbala.

I’m not prepared to debate whether such expressions of grief should be abandoned but I do believe we need to create alternative forums for Shias & non-Shias to learn more about Imam Husayn and why his sacrifice is relevant today. After all, his message is not one that should be preserved in a time capsule or wrapped up in rituals - truly, every day is Karbala & every land is Ashura & it is incumbent on us to stand up to all forms of oppression in the world today.

Note: The Qunoot Foundation will be holding its second conference on April 1 entitled "Beyond Tears: Examining the Remembrance of Imam Husayn."

Eureka!

2006-01-22T12:34:00.000-05:00

Since I'm still not feeling a 100% well, I've been making up excuses for not blogging. But the truth is, I really don't have anything useful to say at this moment. From Iraq, to Palestine, to the United States, I just am so weary of everything that is being going on. While I was in Minnesota, I tried to put my finger on what it was that was bothering me and there were several reasons I came up with:

1. Darfur. As a student, I was used to working on a project or paper and once it's done at the end of the semester, you hand it in and recive a grade. Period. However working on Darfur the past year has been so disheartening because the situation has worsened and I didn't have anyway of gauging how affective my work has been. The New Year started off badly in the region with tensions escalating and for us at work to come up with new strategies for the year. I guess it's just a part of growing up.

2. Religion. For some reason, I feel so emotionally & religiously empty - as I glance at all the debates raging about religion, I'm at a lost to know what I believe anymore. I have so many questions and have no one to turn to and it has been really frustrating.

3. Purpose. While I was in Minnesota, I was glad to be amongst my huge family and community members and was t a lost as to what to say when people asked me when I was coming back. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that there was a reason I had left in the first place and that has not changed. But while I was at the airport, my heart felt heavy & I wasn’t so excited to come back to DC. While the plane was landing at Reagan National Airport, I caught a glimpse of the Washington Monument and smiled. I was home. I know that at this point in my life I need to be here but I also feel like I’ve lost touch with reality. Living in the beltway exposes you to a completely different lifestyle. Not only that, it really bothers me that I have not left the United States since I came back from Jordan two years ago. I know I can’t help my financial or passport situation but it’s really bothering me and I’m yearning to cross the Atlantic again. I want to go to a developing country – while I was walking around Union Station a few days ago, it really hit me that I had been surrounded by luxury for two years and it made me sick. I want to be amongst people who have nothing & directly work with the people who I’m trying to help out in the policy world.

So if I don’t post in a while or write really poor entries, it’s because I’m trying to figure things out. That’s all.

Tell President Bush: Remember Darfur in the State of the Union!

2006-01-19T13:11:00.000-05:00

Nearly 17 months have passed since the Bush Administration labeled the crisis in Darfur "genocide." This is the first time since the days of the Holocaust that the United States has called on-going atrocities genocide.

Unfortunately, the gravity of this statement has not been mirrored by action. Finding a solution to the on-going atrocities has taken a back seat on the political agenda.

The State of the Union Address at the end of the month presents the ideal opportunity for the president send a clear message that the United States will not stand by while genocide is being committed.

TAKE ACTION >>> Click here to send a letter to the president to let him know a solution to the genocide in Darfur must be included in his address to the nation.

A small victory for Palestine

2006-01-17T22:14:00.000-05:00

I haven't been blogging because I've been sick & am still recovering from a cold & cough. And as sick people often do, I was watching TV last night & ended up watching the Golden Globe awards. I've watched a few of the movies that were nominated such as Munich, Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck. I haven't watched Walk the Line or Brokeback Mountain - both bagged a few awards last night.

But the best part of the evening was when Paradise Now from Palestine won the award for foreign films. I was ecstatic. It almost seemed unbelievable that an American film award panel would recognize the Palestinian struggle - seeing the director on the stage talking about that made me cry. Not only do awards recognize good movies, they're also a marketing tool that help distribute films far and wide, which is why I'm so happy Paradise Now got the award. I have to admit I haven't watched it yet because it was released during a time last year when I had way too much going on in my life. But everyone I know who has watched it has given it a thumbs up and I can't wait for it to be released on DVD.

Laters

A beautiful blog post on Eid-ul-Adha

2006-01-11T21:05:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't blogged in a long time, but I promise to in the next few days. I just got back in town from my vaction on Sunday night and my week has really been busy getting back into the groove of things.

For now, enjoy this beautiful post by my dear friend Zahir Janmohamed, co-founder of The Qunoot Foundation along with Mohamed Sabur.

Eid Mubarak!

I learned a long time ago that that is a good way to start a story. And so begins this story.

I text message during eid namaz. I know its bad but really, when subjected to such a bad khutba, is there any other recourse?

Today's khutba was definitely text worthy. Sadly that’s what I have come to expect from khutbas here in DC. If the khateeb is not insulting Shias (sadly a more prominent theme these days), the khateeb is trying to show how much he loves America(ns).

Ironically when they talk trash about Shias at least it comes from the heart—which I find in a twisted way to be refreshing (albeit still troublesome). Today’s khutba just seemed forced: “Brothers (did he forget about sisters?) we should obey this government because we love Americans” or something like that. It was like airplane food—its really no use talking about how bad it was.

I will resist temptation here to wax nostalgic about Cali khutbas about the Matrix or Calvin and Hobbes. They spoiled me for life, I admit, and they will always be my gold standard.

I was blessed to perform Hajj in 1999. I even performed the qurbani, something I never imagined I could stomach given my morbid fear of blood (mad props to you MDs!). But I was in a state of ihraam and I felt lifeless--an empowering feeling that gave me a chance to reflect on my mortality, my deeds, and the loves of my life (those loves being all things good, bad and in between including family, friends, and yes, material/worldly trappings like possessions, ego, etc).

I loved sitting with the hujaaj in Saudi and asking them about their pilgrimages. Each had his/her own story and his/her own miracle. I remember people used to ask me if I felt any miracle on Hajj.

But really what is a miracle? If it’s enough for me to count as special, is it wrong to consider it a blessing from Allah?

For me, it was praying fajr and hearing Shaikh Sudais recite my favorite Sura Al Buruj. I just love how that Sura uses the word “Al Wadud” (the loving). The other miracle was staying with Pakistani taxi drivers on Hajj—something that profoundly changed how I view the Middle East, Pakistan and human rights.

Sometimes I wish Muslims would speak more anecdotally. Khateebs often need not to dig through books of hadith, tafseer or fiqh for material. Tell us something that moved you, that inspired you and speak with humility--chances are it will move us too.

For me, Eid al Adha has always been tied to our beloved Imam Husayn (as). On the day of Arafah on Hajj, I remember reciting the Dua of Imam Husayn (as). It’s a moving dua and its also moving that we had to recite our prayers in a hushed voice so that the Saudi religious Gestapo would not stop or beat us.

For me, Eid Al Adha has always been tinged with sadness because I am forced to think of what happened to Imam Husayn just weeks later. I have always maintained that the tragedy of Kerbala is not that Imam Husayn died but that he had to die—that the community had reached such a nadir that it required his shahadat to breathe life back into it.

As a Shia, I think the question becomes not only would we brave like Prophet Ibrahim (as) but would we journey like Imam Husayn (as)?

Sometimes it’s a question too weighty to consider.

Merry/Happy [Insert holiday]

2005-12-22T23:22:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that it's been over a year since I graduated & almost a year since I moved to Washington, DC. Over the past year, I have amassed many memories & have developed a bittersweet relationship with the city. So, as 2005 draws to an end, I've decided to share some of the things I've learned this year!

Living in DC has made me a professional jaywalker
Even if you have never suffered from allergies before, you will develop them in DC
It's great living in a city with a good public transportation system so I don't need a car
Washingtonians freak out when it snows 2 inches, which causes many accidents and federally issued delays
The city is extremely transient which makes it hard to make long-term friends or establish a community because people are always either coming or leaving
Women in the city like to wear high heels even if they are uncomfortable - so when they walk to and from work, they will wear sneakers or flip-flops even if it looks ridiculous with the suit they have on
Transitioning from being a student to working a 9-5 schedule can be challenging; but I love that I don''t have to worry about papers & exams in the evenings & during weekends
You are surrounded by politics 24/7 and it's not impolite to talk about political issues over dinner
Living so close to the center of power can be overwhelming & empowering at the same time
It feels horrible to have worked on an issue (in my case Darfur, Sudan) for a year & knowing that the situation has become worse
"The bill has moved out of HIRC and is still in SFRC" is a part of the English vocabulary because it is very common for people here to speak in acronyms
Two popular sayings in politics: "It produces strange bed follows" and "there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies - just permanent interests."
Most people in power are white middle-aged Christian men
When Republicans & Democrats work together, a lot can be achieved
Not everyone who works for the government or in the military supports the Bush Administration - I've met amazing government & military officials who strongly disagree with many of the government's policies
It is easy to develop an elitist culture within political circles - after a while, people are just "preaching to the choir." Thankfully, organizations like the one I work in work really hard on reaching out to the general public & empowering Americans
When youth are given an opportunity to create change, they can do amazing things
Art, music, films & pop culture are great avenues to talk about important issues & affect social change
The diversity within Muslims has taught me so much about Islam
"The Daily Show" by Jon Stewart is a great way to unwind at the end of the day
I'm surrounded by some of the most amazing people in the world who work really hard to make a positive difference in this world & inspire me to be a better human being
And my favorite one of all: "In our increasingly interconnected world, countries need to work collectively to solve global problems that no nation can solve alone."

And to get you all in the holiday spirit, I want to share something one of my co-workers passed on to me – enjoy! http://www.reuters.hu/card_dom/index_content.html

I head out of town tomorrow to spend Christmas with Catherine & her family in NY & then off to Minnesota with my family until January 8th. I'll try to blog when I'm away, but if not, I'll see y'all when I return.

I hope you all have a great Holiday/Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/New Year/whatever else you celebrate! May this year bring you all much happiness & peace.

Ameen.

Historic Peacebuilding Commission established at the UN

2005-12-22T11:58:00.000-05:00

From Citizens for Global Solutions:

On December 20, 2005, the UN Security Council passed an historic resolution establishing the Peacebuilding Commission. The Commission will identify states on the verge of collapse, provide assistance to prevent such collapses, and sustain efforts of the international community in post-conflict peacebuilding, especially after global attention wanes from the crises. It will also provide a forum in which major stakeholders can share information about comprehensive post-conflict recovery efforts that take into account political, security, development and economic spheres. The Peacebuilding Commission will work on:

-Improving coordination of all relevant actors to mobilize necessary resources for early recovery and medium- to long-term financial investment;

-Advising on integrated strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding and promoting sustainable development;

-Focusing attention on reconstruction and institution-building;

-Developing best practices;

-Helping to ensure predictable financing;

-Extending the period of attention the international community places on post-conflict recovery.
The Organizational committee of the Commission will consist of 31 members:

- 7 members of the Security Council: the five permanent members – China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States – and 2 non-permanent members;

-7 members of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC);

-5 of the top 10 financial providers;

-5 of the top 10 top providers of military personnel and civilian police to UN peacekeeping missions;

-7 additional members elected by the UN General Assembly to ensure regional representation and give a say to countries with post-conflict reconstruction experience.

In addition, a representative of the Secretary-General, the World Bank (WBG), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other institutional donors will be invited to all commission meetings.

The concept of a Peacebuilding Commission was introduced in December 2004 in a UN High-Level Panel Report and gained momentum in March 2005 when Secretary-General Kofi Annan released his report, In Larger Freedom.

In the report, Annan noted a “gaping hole” in the UN’s efforts to help countries recovering from war build a lasting peace. Currently, half the countries emerging from violent conflict slip back into instability or violence within five years. Since no part of the current UN system is directly responsible for helping countries rebuild quickly after a conflict ends and establish peace, the Secretary General proposed creating a permanent Peacebuilding Commission.

This proposal was given the green light by over 150 heads of state that came together in September for the largest gathering of world leaders in history. The creation of this commission is an important step toward creating space for countries to come together and work cooperatively in solving global problems.

The "African" in me

2005-12-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

A few months ago when I found out that I had to get a new Tanzanian passport, I groaned. This is the 2nd time in about 10 years I've had to get a new passport due to fraud - what does that mean you ask? You see, all the information in the current Tanzanian passports are written in. No, you read it right - they are written in - with a pen.

About a month ago, I sent a $10 money order to the Tanzanian Embassy so they could post me an application form. It arrived a month later - all in Swahili. So, I had to call my dad & get him to translate the form over the phone while I filled it out.

As per the instructions on the embassy's website, I got 5 passport photos with a sky blue background, colored copies of my passport, a $40 money order and set an appointment to come in and give my documents and get finger printed.

Today at about 10:45, I walked into the embassy at Dupont Circle & told the lady at the main desk I had an appointment at 11. She checked off my name & asked for my documents, which I handed over to her. She looked at them and started to speak to me in Swahili. When I interrupted her to tell her that I don't speak Swahili, she glared at me. The differences in our ethnicities were pronounced by the fact that I was wearing a desi kurti while she had a leopard print jacket on & a beautiful matching head dress.

"The form asks you to fill out the information in capital letters which you have not done," she said. "Here's some white out - just refill the forms."

I proceeded to the waiting area & painstakingly refilled my form and handed it over to her. She asked me to go back into the waiting room and well, wait, which I did for about 15 minutes. While I was in the room, I caught phrases of Swahili while she explained to one of the officers that I could not speak the language. A few minutes later he came into the room saying "Habari!" I know enough Swahili to understand that he was saying hello but did not have the confidence to respond in the same manner and just said "Hi!"

"Where were you born?" he demanded.

"Dubai," I said.

"Which of your parents is Tanzanian?"

"Both!" I replied defiantly.

"How are we supposed to help you if you don't understand Swahili?" he asked.

I didn't respond but I could not understand what the big deal was since the whole conversation had taken place in English! I told him that the forms had already been filled, so he headed back into his and asked me to wait.

I think it was about twenty minutes later that the first lady I had talked to told me that because my form had been messed up with the white ink, I would have to purchase another application form. Thankfully, I had $10 on me. She then proceeded to fill the form for me while other people (mostly black Tanzanians) looked on. When she was filling my mom's birth information, she asked me where my mom was born. "Arusha," I replied. "WHERE in Arusha?" she demanded. I was tempted to tell her that my mom probably did not know that herself! I asked her to wait while I called my dad.

As I spoke to him in Katchi (the language of my ancestors), I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I can understand the frustration and maybe even resentment they felt that I speak an Asian language, not Swahili although I am a Tanzanian citizen. I just wanted to explain that I wish I did, but it's not my fault that my forefathers decided that the native language was not as important as the language of our ancestors.

I jotted the information down my dad gave me but must have misspelled it because the lady at the desk couldn't recognize the name of the street. There were people in the room who knew the area I was talking about & provided her with the correct information. She was quick to point out that I was lucky that those people knew what I was talking about.

As I completed my forms, the lady at the desk looked up at me and said "You should be ashamed of yourself that you can't speak Swahili although you're a Tanzanian." I was so shocked I didn't know what to say to that.

It was soon my turn to go into a room for finger printing and was introduced to another officer this time. As soon as I entered the room, he also started speaking to me in Swahili. I told him that I didn't speak the language.

"How can you call yourself a Tanzanian?" he demanded.

"I was born in Dubai," I replied.

"Well, I was born in China," he shot back.

By this time, I was so frustrated that I just remained silent. He then asked me what my profession was. A "Fellow at a non-profit organization" was not acceptable. When he found out I had a B.A. in Political Science, he told me to fill in "Political Scientist" as my occupation. I did as I was told.

I had to wait a few minutes before everything was ready & I could leave. As I was leaving, I asked the lady at the desk if she needed anything else. "Just learn Swahili sweetheart," she said. "It's not my fault. Happy Holidays!" I responded sweetly.

I walked out of the embassy into the freezing weather and did not quite know how to feel. I was angry because I had been humiliated about something I had no control over. I am proud of my African heritage because it is a part of me but I don't feel Tanzanian in any sense since I was not born in Tanzania nor have I ever lived there.

My memories of Tanzania are blurry because I was 11 the first & last time I visited the country. I can't wait to go back to visit, to see where my parents lived, to travel the beautiful country and connect in some way to the country of my forefathers. However, the fact remains that no matter how many times I visit Tanzania I will never be Tanzanian. To me, it's just a legal status because the world requires me to have a passport. And that's ok.

People wonder why I want to become an American citizen and this is why: I am tired of being treated like I don't matter. In the UAE, I was not good enough because I'm not Arab; for Tanzanians, I'm not quite African because I'm Asian and I can't really consider myself an Indian. People may argue whether the US is a melting pot or a salad bowl; but for me it is just a place where I can retain parts of all my identities and still be an American. Not to mention that it will be a lot easier for me to travel and I will be eligible to vote!

Cost of new passport: $60

Cost of humiliation at the embassy: Priceless

When victims become victimizers

2005-12-07T16:48:00.000-05:00

The concept of individuals or a people who have been victims of oppression or injustice becoming victimizers has always fascinated me - don't ask me why, I'm just weird that way! Although I don't know much about the history of Liberia, it is interesting that the liberated African Americans that moved to the country to settle began dominating the indigenous people who they considered inferior.

For me, the most glaring example is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However,I get really annoyed when people compare the treatment of Palestinians to the Holocaust which is ludicrous because one is oppression, the other is genocide - two very different things. Nevertheless, since the collective history of Jewish people has been of oppression, I find it very interesting that Israelis and non-Israeli Jews are not phased by the oppression of Palestinians.

So you'd expect Palestinians to understand & not inflict the same on others right? Wrong. A news article today talks about how Iraqis living in Jordan have been facing discrimination after the Amman bombings in November. Here is one example from the piece: "When a taxi driver recognised my Iraqi accent, he forced me to get out, shouting that I was a terrorist," said Sundus Ahmed, an Iraqi resident of Amman. This one is even worst: "My friend said that Iraqis should all die because we killed their Jordanian brothers," said Jamal Salah, an 11-year-old student in a private school in the capital. "I'm just a child, but I'm paying for the acts of bad people."

And since almost 50% of the population in Jordan is Palestinian, I find this report really frustrating. Palestinians of all people should know how it feels to be collectively punished & stigmatized for something they did not do!

6 yrs and counting...

2005-12-04T22:59:00.000-05:00

Today, at 4:09pm, I marked my 6 yrs in the United States - 5 of them under President Bush!

I love you...although you are of inferior birth!

2005-12-04T22:53:00.000-05:00

I finally watched Pride & Prejudice on Friday night with Zahir, his die-hard fan wife, Saba and some of their friends. All of them had watched the 6-hr BBC series & kept on comparing the two versions which was amusing. I personally really enjoyed the movie - it is beautifully made & Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfayden) is really cute. He only smiles about 3 times in the movie & looks amazing when he does! It's always hard to make a movie about a book that covers so many issues & in such depth, and for a 2hr movie trying to pack all that info, I think it was a good production. The only thing that was annoying is the last scene, which is cheeezzzy & almost embarrassing! It is a kissing scene that is very un-Victorian and did not flow with the movie at all. Apparently, the scene was added to the American version to please American viewers! My favorite pick up line ever is (not direct quote): "I love you...although you are of inferior birth!"

I read Jane Austen's classic last year for the first time & loved the book. I find the issues about educated women, marriage, the role of women & class particularly relevant to me. Although I love the story, I still find it hard to believe in falling in love with Mr. Right. No, I'm not a cynic, but once I hit 22, I just decided it was in my best interest not to expect my knight in shining armor to sweep me off my feet & ride into the sunset! For my commentary on educated Muslim women and marriage, check out my entry How can something that feels so right be wrong?

A Bollywood version of Austen's book was released earlier this year called Bride & Prejudice. I was really disappointed by it although I had really enjoyed the director, Gurinder Chadha's, first film, Bend it Like Beckham. I think Chadha could have done a lot more with the movie & explored the issues that Austen does in her book, in more depth with an Indian focus. Instead, the movie was catered more towards the regular Bollywood movie-goers with the regular song & dance routine which was unfortunate. A Bollywood version true to Austen's message would have gone a long way.

Random musings

2005-12-04T20:35:00.000-05:00

So I'm finally feeling better after I suddenly came down with a cold last Sunday, which means I haven't been able to work out in about a week and feel really pudgy with all the fatty holiday food around me all the time!

One thing I've realized about DC is that people talk about politics 24/7 & after a while, it gets overwhelming & draining. Sometimes I just don't want to talk about religion, culture or politics! And although I realize that my blog is meant to be a political one, this entry is going to be a random commentary of things I have done or things that have been on my mind in the past few days.

1. Yesterday, two of my friends & I went to Starbucks & while they wrote Christmas cards, I worked on my cross-stitching that I've been working on for about a year! Most of my friends both Muslim & non-Muslim find it funny that I love Christmas. I love the festivities, the lights & decor, the colors, the music, the spirit - all of it! And of course Starbucks holiday specialties - for instance, yesterday I had a Soy Eggnog Chai & it was good! But my all-time favorite remains the gingerbread latte.

Most people wonder why I like the holiday season so much & I am really not sure. However, I do remember that back in Dubai, malls were decorated during Christmas more than they were during Eid and my dad would take us to see the trees, the decorations & Santa Claus & it was always so much fun! Unfortunately, I think Eid can be so boring some times because there have been times I've gone to work or college on Eid or we don't decorate - although my host family in Jordan did. In addition, Christmas always falls during Winter Break & Ive always just associated it with the end of exams & a chance to chill. And the fact that I love churches, church music & Christmas songs just adds to the spirit! Not to mention that living in Minnesota, I am a big fan of WHITE Christmases! This year, I'm going to spend it with my dear friend Catherine & her family in upstate New York, which should be fun. On the 26th, I fly to Minnesota & will be home for about 2 weeks which will be a nice break from DC.

2. Last night I went to the Council on American-Islamic Relations annual banquet. Although it was pricey, my friend & I decided to go for the experience - ater all, how many times do we get a chance to be at a CAIR event in DC right? Well, it was an experience for sure - most of my Muslim, friends were there which was fun, but the event was really loooooong. There were way too many speakers who went on & on &amp; on & on & on - you get the point. By the time, it was time for the Muslim hip-hop group Native Deen to perform, most people had left or were too tired to pay attention! Moreover, I tried to be a Washingtonian & bought these cute high-heeled shoes on sale & my feet were killing me. I definitely won't be wearing those very often - I have no idea why women put themselves through that!!

I was particularly impressed by a video message by King Abdullah II of Jordan - he specifically addressed the diversity within Islam & actually mentioned Shias, which I appreciated. One thing that did upset me about the event was that one of the sponsors of the event was the Sudanese government. I understand that other sponsors like Saudi Arabia and Egypt also oppress their people, but the difference is that Sudan is openly committing a genocide & we need to make a statement that we won't comply with that government whenever we can.

3. Since I've been in DC for almost a year, I no longer plan touristy or fun visits to the museums, monuments or just a lot of the other places this city has to offer. So today, my Dutch friend & I visited a used bookstore & an interesting records store in Adams Morgan - I had never seen a record player in my life, so it was pretty exciting! We ended up eating at a Dutch falafel & fries place - something that is apparently very popular in The Netherlands!

Well, this is a longer entry than I anticipated - I will be back blogging on politics soon!

On this fateful day...

2005-11-30T14:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the International Day of Solidarity for the Palestinian people to mark the partition of Palestine and the creation of an independent Jewish state...

I am recovering from a cold so I will be back to blog again soon.

Greetings from Iraq I

2005-11-25T11:46:00.000-05:00

An acquaintance of mine just moved to Iraq to work & will be e-mailing her regular updates on her experiences. With her permission, I will post her e-mails on my blog. Here's her first one:

I am in Iraq, having arrived on the 16th early am. Got delayed in Amman for a couple of days which allowed me to catch up on my sleep in very lovely room, worked out at great health club in the hotel.

Flew to Baghdad Nov 18 and am working at the IRI compound -a protected area in a residential neighborhood comprised of about six houses- then to Erbil on 25 -my new home away from home. A few hours before I arrived, Friday morning a car bomb blew up near our compound which is a few blocks from Al Hamra hotel (believed to be the target) where we had people training Iraqis. It blew out some windows in our compound. Exciting start. On our street we have a sheik and a wealthy member of the Janabi family so their 24-hour guards in addition to IRI's, my new employer, keep us quite safe.

I am being briefed in depth on the programs I will implement in northern Iraq along with about 10 local Iraqis. In addition to running the IRI office for northern Iraq (which includes the 5 northern governorates - the three major cities are Erbil, Kirkuk, Suleymania, and Mosel, I will be responsible for political party development to which I very much look forward. I will conduct trainings on how to build and grow political parties and develop plans to implement on how to encourage more Iraqis to become involved in the political process. We will also be working with civil society organizations, teaching them about the political process and government oversight. Very transferable skills from my many year career in government and public affairs.

I am very happy thus far and am quite optimistic that my expected 1-1 1/2 years in Iraq working on democracy building will be rewarding and fulfilling. The weather in Baghdad is perfect with temps much like Washington DC fall- quite a change from the summer where temperatures got up to 135 F. The North is a little cooler.

I give thanks...

2005-11-24T10:36:00.000-05:00

I love Christmas, but I also believe that Christmas season starts the day AFTER Thanksgiving. Although I enjoy Starbucks gingerbread lattes, what's up with all the holiday decor & music before Thanksgiving?! As one of my friends put it, "Why the rush to start thinking about the holiday all about splurging & forgetting the holiday to give thanks?"

In ths spirit of this holiday, I give thanks to God for....

...the continued support & love from my family....
...the safety of a warm house and stable living conditions....
...the opportunity to learn about this world & work on issues that I care about...
...the circle of friends who are a source of joy and comfort to me....
...the Mercy & Love of God in guiding & supporting me in my endeavors....

Happy Thanksgiving

On the light side, check out this great spoof on the turkey holiday by American Greetings!

Dear Amman...

2005-11-20T23:20:00.000-05:00

On November 9th, when I heard about the triple bombings in Amman, Jordan, I did not know quite how to feel. In many ways, it just seemed surreal. For the next few days after the bombing, I felt very much at unease, but could not quite place my finger as to what was bothering me. Last week, it finally hit me: since I have moved to DC, my sense of coherence – both physically & emotionally – has been shattered in many ways.

Firstly, since it has been a few years since 9/11, I had finally acquired a sense of security that has been broken many times this year from the bombings in London to the latest one in Jordan. In addition, although moving away from home and living in the nation's capital has been exciting & eye opening, it has been an emotional year for me, and I am just beginning to realize it. Last year, although I had not yet graduated & did not have a job, I had established a lifestyle and a comfort zone that made sense to me. However in the past few months, things that were so clearly "right" or "wrong" before seem a lot more ambiguous. And although I cherish my experiences in DC, I am craving for the coherence about my world that I seemed to have just a year ago.

Below, is how I decided to deal with my sadness about the tragic bombings in Amman….

Dear Amman,

It's been a while since I have written you. How are you? I hear you got sick with the bug that has been going around for a while now. I was hoping you would not catch it, but I guess in my heart, I knew it was only time before you were affected by it.

As soon as I heard that you had been hurt, my mind went to all the people I know who live with you and I frantically text messaged them praying they were all okay. I was relieved when they responded saying they were shaken but safe.

In the past, whenever I thought about you, my face would light up with a smile as I remembered the fond memories I have of you. It was during my stay with you that I learned the true meaning of independent traveling, Arab hospitality and delicious Arab food other than hummus and shawarmas.

However, now, whenever I think of you, I am filled with sadness and my eyes swell up with tears. My friends and I used to talk about how living with you was so safe that we sometimes forgot you live so close to Israel, Palestine, Syria, Iraq & Saudi Arabia. It is hard for me to believe that the streets I walked on, the weddings I attended and restaurants I visited are now considered fair targets of terror.

I once learned that before you were named Amman, you were called Philadelphia – city of brotherly love – and it makes me feel better. It gives me hope that all the people who were affected by this horrible incident will come together and seek to heal their wounds collectively. I am sure you're going through a really rough time and I hope you feel better soon.

As I end this letter to you, I can still hear the sound of prayer from the mosques, the honking of the taxis, the smell of fresh bread in the morning, the blaring notes by Amr Diab and the sound from the gas trucks announcing their arrival.

You will always hold a very special place in my heart. And I pray that the disturbing pictures I saw of you recently that are stuck in my head will be soon replaced again by the happy memories I have of you.

Take care.

Luv 'n' regards,
Fatema

Responsible gifts for the holiday season!

2005-11-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

I did not grow up in a wealthy family and thus learned from an early age to be very frugal with my money. In my adult life, this has translated into responsible spending but also a sincere urge to differentiate my "wants" and "needs." One of the many things that bothered me about my community back in Minnesota, is how many of them have become affluent suburban residents, without a thought of the affects of that kind of lifestyle on the environment, economic & social justice or just the unsustainable nature of it.

That is why when my friend & colleague Scott Paul introduced me to SustainUS, I fell in love with the whole concept of sustainable development right away. I attended the retreat in August & Scott has recently persuaded me to head up the organization's policy process. After some thought, I agreed & am really excited about it!

As we approach the holiday season and are bombarded with ads to buy everything under the sun, I'd like to propose that we buy gifts that are not only unique but also fair trade & more! Check out the OneWorld U.S. Holiday Gift Guide

The Qunoot Foundation in the Washington Post

2005-11-20T12:19:00.000-05:00

All I can say is Yaay!!

From the Washington Post:

Shiite Muslims in U.S. Stay Silent on Problems

A new survey shows that Shiite Muslims in the United States are unlikely to report anti-Muslim hate crimes or other forms of discrimination.

Nearly 80 percent of American Shiites who were victims of "post 9-11 discrimination" reported the incidents either to family members or no one, according to the nationwide survey. The survey was sponsored by the Qunoot Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit group that released its findings Nov. 12 at a conference.

The survey found that few American Shiite victims reported such incidents to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national advocacy group that seeks to represent all American Muslims.

While there are an estimated 6 million Muslims in the United States, no one knows how many of them are Shiite. Worldwide, Shiites account for 10 percent to 15 percent of the Muslim population.

The survey also reported that 47 percent of American Shiites said they experienced overt or subtle forms of discrimination when attending Sunni-dominated mosques.

Conference participants -- mostly American Shiites in their twenties and thirties -- debated vigorously about whether to form their own national advocacy organizations or to try to make existing, Sunni-dominated ones, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, more responsive to their needs.

-- Religion News Service

US vs. ICC

2005-11-17T22:54:00.000-05:00

I wish it didn't have to be the U.S. vs. the International Criminal Court, but unfortunately, this is the route this Administration has chosen to take...

Citizens for Global Solutions has conducted an in-depth analysis of this provision in an effort to ascertain its impact on U.S. relations with its allies in strategic regions such as the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The amendment in question would cut Economic Support Funds (ESF) to all countries that have ratified the International Criminal Court (ICC) but have not signed a Bilateral Immunity Agreement (BIA) with the U.S.

We like shooting white powdery stuff...

2005-11-17T22:43:00.000-05:00

For some reason, while I was contemplating the recent allegations that the US military used white phosphorus against Iraqi civilians in Falluja last year, I was just hit by the gravity of the fact that this country's at war. You may feel like rolling your eyes or says "DUH" but I mean it. Since I've been so engaged in the policy & activism side of things, I haven't been able to take a step back as an ordinary US citizen & grapple with the horrible reality that we are at a war & will probably be at war for a few years to come.

The more I think of it the more it depresses me that my life in the US has mainly been shaped by 9/11 and the Bush Administration's policy that followed the tragedy. I moved to the US in December'99 and the next year was election year, so Clinton was hardly in the picture. And less than a year after the 2000 elections, we had 9/11, and after that, as the cliche goes, the rest was history for me.

I have been thinking a lot about how my sister's generation (she's 13 yrs old) will view the war or how my children will study about it. Although I think Vietnam & the war in Iraq are different in many ways, check out this interesting NY Times piece Vietnam Archive Casts a Shadow Across Decades.

Although Pentagon or Washington scandals no longer surprise me, I still find them very disturbing. I feel like this country has lost its soul & we need to help it find it back.

So, what's with the new name?

2005-11-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

To be honest, when I first created my blog, I was still relatively new to politics & I was tempted to title it "An Opinionated Khoja Girl." But for some reason, I just chose "Progressive Muslim Thoughts" because that's what I thought I was trying to be - a "progressive Muslim". Over the past year and a half, I have learned that the word progressive means so many different things to different people and honestly, I don't even know what to term myself.

All I know is that I'm a Shia Muslim on a journey trying to figure out who am, what my beliefs are and what I want to do with my life. The new title of my blog is actually what I titled my honors thesis where I explored the heritage & identity of the East African Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri community.

In addition, on Saturday, I was grateful to be part of The Qunoot Foundation's first conference, which was titled "Exploring the Layers of Our Identity" which was a great success alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah). I was so proud of the co-founders Mohamed & Zahir who are my dear friends because they created a crucial platform for Shias & Sunnis to come together & talk about some really tough issues that don't take place in public spaces. I thought it really went well and my sentiments echo what most people probably fell. However, I will truly know when I compile the responses from our evaluation forms.

Yesterday, I was re-arranging stuff on my bulletin board, and most people are disturbed by what I have on it: the Balfour Declaration, a bloody picture from Iraq, Palestine, something on genocide & poverty. But I now have 2 new additions that make me smile and give me hope: the blue program from Saturday's event & the post card for the Qunoot Foundation's next conference in April on Imam Hussein - who the Shias revere as a 3rd successor to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

I regard Zahir, who is one of ther co-founders as a brother, friend, mentor & more. Through Qunoot, I have become close to amazing people like Mohamed (my friend from Minnesota & the other co-founder), Saba (Zahir's wife), Zuleqa & Khizer Bhai (one of the cutest couples I know) & Shenaaz (Zahir's sister). And in a way, they all fill up a small part of the gaping hole in my heart, for which I'm very grateful.

These past few weeks have been really overwhelming for me because the more I learn & interact with different people, the more I realize how much I don't know who I am and what I want from life & it's really emotionally draining. Since I moved to the US almost 6 years ago, so much has changed in my life & I feel like the ground under me is constantly shifting & sometimes, I crave for it to stabilize. Ah well, Inshallah (if Allah wills), I will pass through this phase of my life smoothly.

To my loyal readers: thank you for the support you have given me this past year & I hope you will continue to tag along with me on my journey.

"The spiritual path ruins the body, but subsequently restores it to health.
It ruins the house to reveal the treasure, and with that treasure it builds better than before." ~ Rumi

Eid Mubarak - in advance!

2005-11-02T19:49:00.000-05:00

As mentioned before, I will be in New Mexico for my organization's annual conference. It is entitled GLOBAL SOLUTIONS, LOCAL CONNECTIONS: making the global local one activist at a time! I hate the fact that I will miss spending Eid with friends here in DC but I'm pretty pumped about the conference. It's my first business trip and the first time that I'll be moderating a panel.

I don't know whether Eid will be tomorrow or Friday - I believe Saudi Arabia has already declared Eid on Thursday. For more on my rant on moon-sighting politics, check out my entry on the first of Ramadhan.

May Allah (SWT) accept our prayers and efforts this Ramadhan and give us an opportunity to experience the holiness of this month next year. Ameen.

Eid Mubarak!

Ramadhan in Washington, DC

2005-11-01T00:40:00.000-05:00

This Ramadhan was my second away from my family & community. However, two years ago, I was in Jordan and was amongst Muslims, so this was the first time for me alone in the US. The first week, I was extremely homesick: having spent most of my Ramadhans as part of the Khoja community, I missed the familiarity of qur'an-khani, iftars at the mosque on weekends, duas, etc. But I was determined to make this Ramadhan special, so I made sure I attended the free iftars that were being offered by the Muslim Student Associations (MSA) at the universities in the city. This allowed me to bond with the few Muslim friends I have made over the past few months. I am very grateful that my Muslim friends come from very diverse backgrounds and experiences because mingling with them has forced me to come out of my comfort zone and dispel any stereo-types I held about "other" Muslims.

When I was living in Minnesota, one thing that I found disturbing is how many Muslims,have institutionalized religion. For many, Islam only exists within the compounds of the mosque and although we may practice various acts of worship in our personal lives, Islam had begun to feel a ritual for me rather than a vital aspect of my life. What I find fascinating about my Muslim friends in DC is that as students or young professionals working in various non-traditional fields, we are all seeking a nearness to Allah but are willing to explore different avenues of spirituality and explore religion in ways that we probably did not "back home." This included deep conversations about life, women, politics, Islam, the Qur'an, history, culture and the future of Muslim Americans over Desi, Ethiopian, Arabic, Mexican and Italian iftars.

A few months ago, the MSA at Georgetown University had initiated a Seerah class that focuses on the life of Prophet Mohamed (SAW). The class meets every week and is taught by two young students who pour over tons of historical material so that we can have a better understanding of the Holy Prophet. Although the class is taught via a Sunni narrative, it has been so refreshing for me to learn about Islam right from its origins and in personal way, start all over again without the cultural baggage that I was brought up with. During Ramadhan, we were fortunate enough that by coincidence, we were studying about the first revelation of the Qur'an, and tried to experience what the Prophet, his family and followers must have experienced when the first few ayats were revealed more than 1400 years ago

Although the number of Shias in DC are few, we are definitely growing in number and during the 21st and 23rd nights (very important nights for Shias), a bunch of us got together at a friend's house and recited our dua's (supplications) and a'amals (specific prayers for the nights) in a circle over some yummy manadazi, makati and chai. We also ended up talking about what it means to be a Shia, the challenges we face within our own communities and the broader Muslim and American community.

For me, this Ramadhan has been like none other and over the past few weeks, I have established relationships that I know will last a lifetime. I have been able to bond with people - both Sunni & Shia - that in the past, I would have labeled as different and probably even ignored. Nevertheless, they have taught me so much about Islam and made me appreciate the rich diversity that exists within Islam.

As we near the completion of this holy month, I find myself questioning what exactly does a "community" mean? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a community is defined as people with common interests living in a particular area. As a Khoja, for me, it always meant that I belonged to a Khoja community. However, these past few weeks, I haven't been part of one, yet I feel a sense of connection with all the Muslims I have befriended. I find myself wondering whether it is possible to create a Muslim community or a pan-Shia community that is not based on language, nationality or ethnicity but rather on the common goal of understanding Islam and serving Allah (SWT). My honest answer is I don't know. What I do know is that this month has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life and I am willing to give it all I have to establish such a community.

"Guide us on the straight path, the path of those whom You have blessed, not the path of those who earn your anger, nor of those who go astray."

~Surah Fatiha, The Opening [1:6-7]

Busy, busy, busy

2005-10-30T15:46:00.000-05:00

When Ramadhan began, I had no idea that my schedule would take a life on its own. I just thought I'd go for the free iftars (breaking the fast) on the Georgetown or GWU campuses and spend the night by myself reciting prayers and dua's (supplications). However, this month has been a flurry of activity which included tons of iftars of various cuisines with friends, praying together with other Muslims, deep conversations about life & Islam and introspection about what Islam & Shiaism in particular means to me.

I've hardly been at home & next week, I'll be heading out for my organization's conference Global Solutions, Local Connections: making the global local one activist at a time. Although I'm really excited about it since it will also be my first business trip, it'll be during Eid (the festival celebrating the end of Ramadhan), so I'm sure I will be a little homesick since I won't be celebrating it with my family or my Muslim friends. The most ironic thing is that on eid night (Thurs night) I will be at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport on transit!! Of all, the itineraries to New Mexico, it is weird that I will be at MSP on transit - it's really weird for me since Minnesota has always been an end point - HOME - for me.

When I get back on the 6th, I'll only have a few days before I have to attend another conference called "Exploring the Layers of Our Identity" by The Qunoot Foundation. The organization was created by my dear friends Zahir & Mohamed for three reasons: create opportunities and scholarships for American Muslims, organize youth driven forums and produce articles, podcasts, and research on issues relating to the American Shi'a Muslim community. I'm also very excited about this conference but in some ways, I feel like my November is already gone with these conferences & new exciting challenges at work! I guess, it's better to be busy than bored!

I always feel very sad about the last few days Ramadhan. To many this may seem weird because we can't eat or drink during the fast, but I will miss the spirit of this holy month. I have been able to get closer to the Muslim community in DC, which I am very grateful for, but I also wonder if I made the most of this month. This month is like a huge sale - everything is at least 50% off & all we have to do is take advantage of the bargains. Allah promises forgiveness and blessings during this month and I just hope I've been able to get a small portion of His bounty...

"In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful

I seek refuge with the majesty of Your gracious self

from the passing of the month of Ramadhan,

or the appearance of the dawn of this night,

while I still have a duty that I have not carried out,

or a sin that You may punish me for"

My opinion on the comment by the Iranian president

2005-10-30T15:07:00.000-05:00

On October 27th, at a conference entitled The World without Zionism, Iranian president Ahmadinejad stated that Israel should be "wiped off the map." His statement is not surprising. In fact, it probably resonates with how many people feel due to Israel's continued atrocities & injustice towards the Palestinians & violation of international law.

How do I feel about it? I think it's an inappropriate remark on many levels:

1. It's immoral: Israel is not a non-living entity. It is a country that consists of innocent people who did not choose to be born there and now find themselves embrolied in a decades-old conflict just like the Palestinians. It is like saying “Death to Israel” and does not really make sense. Muslims don’t like to be regarded as “terrorists” due to the actions of a few extremist Muslims, and I think it is unfair to judge all Jews and Israelis based on the actions of a few political and religious leaders.

2. It's a bad political move: this statement is the last thing that Iranian administration needed when President Ahmadinejad is already facing international pressure about its uranium enrichment program. Secondly, it doesn't help Muslims and Arabs in the West who are trying to portray Islam in a positive light and working to live a normal life; nor does it help activists working on Muslim or Middle Eastern issues because they may now be required to respond or explain the Iranian president’s remark.

3. It's not pragmatic: I can understand if people don’t support the Zionist ideology or the initial creation of Israel. However, the country was established more than 50 years ago and it is apparent that it is not going away. Therefore, we need to accept this fact & move on. Instead of looking back, our efforts must be focused sincerely on the future of the Palestinians and creating a situation that provides them with a normal life sans the oppression they have suffered for so many decades.

This piece from a BBC article captured how I feel about the issue:

"What we need to be talking about is adding the state of Palestine to the map and not wiping Israel from the map," he said. (Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat).

"In principle, we are way beyond this type of political rhetoric that shows the weakness of the Iranian government," said an official at the Egyptian embassy in London.

A humble request

2005-10-17T20:24:00.000-05:00

My friend Shenaaz who worked in Pakistan over the summer has created a Relief Tent Drive for her friends working with NGOs in Pakistan to purchase local supplies and the much needed tents.

Normal donations are right now blocked by red tape and logistics on the groundWith the piercing cold and soon approaching snow, time is of the essence . She will be arranging the first wire transfer by mid week - so please donate now right here, and help to spread the word.

From BBC: Tents crisis hits quake victims. Also from The Times Online Bank red tape stops British cash reaching quake victims

I have been really busy with Ramadhan related activities & have been unable to blog. Will be back soon....

A test for all

2005-10-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

"Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.

Verily, with every difficulty there is relief."

Holy Qur'an 94:5-6

Whenever a new disaster strikes, people get bombarded with requests for donations. Like me, I am sure others wonder that with so many things going wrong around the world, how much more can we really give & how do we choose what to give to? I understand completely. The lastest earthquake in Pakistan hit me hard because I grew up with Pakistanis and have many South Asian friends. But for those of you who haven't yet pledged any money, this is how I decide:

$10: I can probably sacrifice 3 Starbucks lattes for a week
$25: I can probably sacrifice a few lattes & make my own lunch from home instead of going out
$xxx: I can't put a price to what you can afford, but this a disaster of enormous scale and every bit you give will give a long way to help those affected.

May God bless you and those affected during this holy month of Ramadhan. Remember them in your prayers....

Islamic Relief
www.islamicrelief.com

Association for the Development of Pakistan
www.DevelopPakistan.org

Kashmir International Relief Fund
http://www.kirf.org/

Action Against Hunger
www.actionagainsthunger.org

American Red CrossInternational Response
www.redcross.org

American Refugee Committee Rapid Response
www.archq.org

CARE
www.care.org

Food for the Hungry
www.fh.org

Habitat for Humanity International South Asia
www.habitat.org

International Rescue
www.theIRC.org

Mercy Corps Pakistan Earthquake Fund
www.mercyusa.org

Oxfam AmericaGlobal Emergencies Fund
www.oxfamamerica.org

Save the Children USA
www.savethechildren.org

U.S. Fund for UNICEF
www.unicefusa.org

World Vision
www.worldvision.org

World Food Programme
www.wfp.org

The myth of Yitzhak Rabin

2005-10-10T20:52:00.000-05:00

An interesting perspective from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz:

Yitzhak Rabin is now also a community. Three weeks ago, the cornerstone was laid for Tsur Yitzhak, a new community on the seamline that will bear the name of the late prime minister. Another community, Givat Rabin, in the Lower Galilee, has been in the planning stages since 2001. After all of the schools, streets and roads, a hospital and city squares, a musical production and power station, trauma center and monuments, a community will also be built, and perhaps a city, too, before long.

Next month, on the tenth anniversary of Rabin's assassination, the country will again be inundated with memorial festivals, and the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies, with its megalomaniac presence of world notables. This new center cost $30 million to build ; while the government allocation was recently reduced, it still stands at NIS 7 million annually. Even the Jordanian child,Yitzhak Rabin, received temporary resident status from Israel\'sinterior minister recently only by virtue of his name.

And if this were not enough, about a year ago, the non-profitorganization for perpetuating Rabin\'s memory petitioned the High Court of Justice to instruct the government and Trans-Israel Highway Company to name the road for him. Thus, maybe we will have a Rabin Highway linking the communities named for Rabin, in which there are dozens of schools and streets named Rabin.

There is no doubt that a prime minister who was assassinated while in office, who signed the first agreement with the Palestinians, and who was an army chief of staff wreathed in glory, deserves to be remembered forever. But after a decade of commemoration enterprises,one can surely ask: Haven't we exaggerated? Hasn't this wholesale commemoration cheapened it? And above all, was Rabin in real life indeed similar to the mythological figure that has been constructed around his memory?

It is not by chance that Israel loves so much to commemorate Rabin. For Israel, the living Rabin embodied the best of its secret longings. He was the man who proved that you could have your cake and eat it too - waging war and making peace; issuing commands to break the bones of Palestinians and sitting with them at the negotiating table; building settlements and condemning the settlers in scathing terms; signing an accord with the Palestine Liberation Organization and refraining from evacuating even a single settlement; deliberating with Yasser Arafat and expressing physicalrepugnance for him; ready to travel to Gush Etzion with a visa but not doing a thing to advance this issue; shocked by the massacre carried out by Baruch Goldstein and afraid to evacuate the Hebronsettlers.

Perhaps truly on that night, when he refrained from evacuating theHebron settlers, an important characteristic of his was expressed, a characteristic that is not mentioned when speaking about "Rabin'slegacy" (a vague term than no one knows how to define): On that night, Rabin was revealed to be a cowardly statesman. If he hadevacuated the Hebron settlers then, when an excellent opportunityfor doing this arose, he would have prevented the development of themonster that grew in the city and has already succeeded in drivingtens of thousands of terrified residents from their homes.

In the Oslo Accords - the crowning glory for Rabin, the man of peace- he also did not dare to do what a much smaller "man of peace,"Ariel Sharon, did 10 years later. Rabin did not dare to put theevacuation of settlements on the agenda, even from the Gaza Strip,despite his conviction that at least some of them should beevacuated. The failure of Olso must therefore be attributed, amongother things, to a lack of courage on Rabin's part. Even if thePalestinians themselves, for some unclear reason, were wary of beingtoo adamant in demanding the evacuation of settlements, a statesmanlike Rabin could have been expected to recognize the Israeli interest in such a move. He should have initiated an evacuation inorder to strengthen the agreement.

The decision to recognize the PLO and sign an agreement with it wasindeed a courageous act, but while appreciating this, all of thelong years of refusal that preceded the move should not beforgotten. During these years, Rabin refused to recognize theorganization representing the Palestinians and Israel wastedvaluable time. If Rabin and his colleagues had recognized the PLO in time, perhaps this would have prevented the bloodshed of the first intifada and the entire course of history that followed might havebeen different.

But the first intifada did break out, and the violent and brutal waythen defense minister Yitzhak Rabin dealt with it cannot be erased from his "legacy" or the way his portrait is depicted. It isimpossible to just remember the statesman who signed a peace treaty with King Hussein, an agreement that did not demand a price fromIsrael and only provided captivating photo opportunities with a king who had European manners and great personal charm.

Rabin believed in interim agreements. He thought that the abyssbetween the Palestinians and us could be traversed in stages. Hewanted peace but, like most Israelis, did not agree to pay theprice. For a leader who is portrayed today as a bold seeker ofpeace, he did not have enough courage to reach into the flames andtry to extract a solution. Before the first intifada, thepossibility of reaching a solution was greater than it is today,with over 200,000 settlers in the West Bank.

All of this should be taught to pupils at the many memorial assemblies that await us. We should tell them the full truth aboutthe prime minister who became beloved and revered after his death: He was assassinated on the "altar of peace," but what he did forpeace was too little and too late.

Surprise, Surprise

2005-10-10T19:59:00.000-05:00

Naval Officer John Gay shot this photo of a US F/A-18C Hornet breaking the sound barrier over the Pacific Ocean. At sea level a plane must exceed approx. 741mph to break the sound barrier, or the speed at which sound travels. The change in pressure as the plane outruns all of the pressure and sound waves in front of it is heard on the ground as an explosion or sonic boom. The pressure change condenses the water in the air as the jet passes these waves. Altitude, wind speed, humidity, the shape and trajectory of the plane-all of these affect the breaking of this barrier. (Photo: John Gay/US Navy)

From Electronic Intifada:

"Oh my God, not again!" Shouted taxi driver Abu Omar while sharply parking his car on the side of one of Gaza City's traffic-jammed streets. A thunderous explosion echoed throughout the city, as Israeli fighter jets broke the sound barrier over the Gaza Strip.

The old man's hands were shaking as passengers tried to calm him down and reassure him that it was only a loud sound. "I couldn't sleep well when it happened last night," sighed the Abu Omar. "This is simply unbearable."

It all started with an explosion on September 23, at a military rally for the militant Palestinian movement Hamas - its last before declaring an end to all weapon displays in the streets of Gaza.

The rally, which included thousands of Hamas members and supporters, was in progress at the packed Jabaliya refugee camp when an explosion shook the place and sent a large pillar of smoke in the air.

... click on the link above to read the whole article

A visit to the UAE embassy in DC

2005-10-09T23:49:00.000-05:00

Last week, I visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) embassy in Washington, DC, for a lecture on the economic development of the country. I went partly because I am interested in the topic, but partly because as a former UAE resident, I was curious to see what the embassy looked like.

The place is a beautiful fort-like structure with a dome. As I entered, I was greeted by the familiar smell of strong Arabic perfume. When I looked around, I was tempted to roll my eyes because the interior was decorated with fake palm trees and looked like one of the many malls in Dubai - very reflective of the opulence common in the UAE.

Once we entered one of the rooms, we were served food, which some of us refused since we were fasting. Our hostess was a young woman named Reem, who was born and raised in Dubai. As someone who is UK/US educated in economic development, her role is to promote UAE's trade policies, in particular a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. She gave all of us an impressive overview of the development of the UAE since the country's independence in 1971. The presentation focused on the rapid growth of this tiny "miracle Gulf country" and how Emaratis are rising as entrepreneurs and experts in various sectors.

Most people who are not familiar with the UAE are amazed by the Burj-ul-Arab hotel, the palm tree islands, and tourism & shopping in Dubai. What they usually do not know is that expatriates make up more than 50% of the population of the country. It is these non-natives that have built the country in the past three decades but are not recognized as citizens of the country. It does not even matter if a person is born in the UAE and is granted citizenship of her/his parents. They are not privy to benefits such as subsidized health care or cannot own their own homes (which is slowly changing).

During the Q&A session, my question to Reem was how the country was planning to move forward with the third generation of "expatriates" who are a vital part of the country, even consider the UAE as their home but are not recognized as citizens.

To my surprise, she was very open and frank with her response. She admitted that it was the expatriates who have built the country in the past few decades but because of the exclusive nature of the Emarati society, all the different communities end up living in their own silos. She explained that unlike the United States, citizenship to Emaratis was not about an attachment to an ideology but a particular lifestyle, culture and set of values. Moreover, as a tiny minority in their own country, Emaratis are unwilling to give up this privilege. She also pointed out that because the UAE was a constitutional monarchy, no one was missing out any political rights.

However, Reem emphasized that expatriates live in relative peace and comfort compared to other countries in the region and enjoy a privileged life. I agree that the UAE is peaceful but completely disagree with her latter point.

Many people wonder why my attitude towards Dubai is so unfavorable. I want to make it clear that UAE is in no way a dictatorial country like many Arab countries. I will also not deny that some people do strike the pot of gold and earn a revered status in society, but for those who do not, life can be harsh.

I tell people that while I was growing up, I saw Dubai through the eyes of my parents and saw how difficult their life was. I remember how laws in the UAE changed dramatically in the 90's - the rush towards capitalist economics resulted in the erosion of affordable housing and health care, creating a living standard that many expatriates can no longer afford. Many former migrants will talk about the charm of the "old Dubai" and how it will never be the same again.

I know how it feels to be insulted and treated as a second-class citizen but unable to do anything about it. When I was eleven, my uncle showed me the UAE visa on my Tanzanian passport driving home the fact that without it, I was truly nobody. And when I moved to the US about six years ago, I remember staring at the word "Cancelled" on my visa amazed at how 17 years of my life were erased by a mere strike of a pen.

Once the lecture was over, I stopped to talk to Reem and told her that I grew up in Dubai. It may seem ironic to many, but most people who live in the UAE, do not speak in Arabic - although Hindi/Urdu are not my native languages, I learned how to speak them due to the dominant South Asian community in Dubai. In my entire life, Reem is the second Emarati woman I have had a civil conversation with. Most Emaratis in the UAE I came in contact with were in bureaucratic positions, behind visa counters, or in shopping malls - an unfortunate indicator of how Emaratis and others live parallel lives in the UAE.

I was really honest about my feelings and told her that although I lived in Dubai for 17 years, it is the US that I considered my true home. In my opinion, I did not reject the country of my birth - it rejected me. As a Muslim woman, I was proud of Reem and the fact that Arab Muslim women were making strides in their career and asserting their rights as much as their male peers. At the same time, I was resentful of the fact that although we were born in the same place, she "belongs" to the UAE because she can trace her ancestry in the country and I cannot. Reem was frank about how she does not think this policy will ever change. She is probably right. But I will always hope that one day, non-natives will have the same claim to the country they are born in as natives do - so when we sing the national anthem and say "Biladi, biladi, biladi (my country, my country, my country)" it will ring true.

We had a great conversation and towards the end, she looked at me and sincerely said how sorry she was that I felt the way I did about the UAE. Then, she gave me a hug and insisted I take some of the leftover food home for my iftar.

When I stepped out, I had a smile on my face and a plate filled with delicious Arabic food - a token of something I cherish the most about Arabs - their hospitality.

Ramadhan Mubarak & more!

2005-10-03T19:20:00.000-05:00

Shalam (I read this somewhere & really like the way it combines the Jewish & Muslim greetings),

Well, the most important month for Muslims is finally here, where millions of Muslims will fast for a whole month - from dawn to dusk. Unfortunately, every year, different Muslim scholars and communities within the US & around the world politicize the whole concept of moonsighting (to determine the start of the month) & rarely, do Muslims end up starting it or ending it together. To me, it's a real pity & a disgusting take on the state of Muslim communities today - even when we have technology to determine astronomical accuracy.

In Dubai, it was rare for Shias & Sunnis to celebrate the first of Ramadhan or Eid together - mainly because UAE would follow what Saudi Arabia had to say and we would go according to Iran or Bahrain, since we don't trust the Wahabi government - for a good reason! Even when I was in Jordan 2 years ago, I was surprised that Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon & Egypt celebrated Eid one day while the rest of the Arab world chose another day.

Although I understand that moonsighting is interpreted differently according to the various jurisprudence and it also depends greatly where you live, there is only one moon for crying out loud! For great commentary on this check out A united Ramadan? Shut yo mouth! and Luna(r)cy.

Despite all the politics, it's my favorite time of the year because of the spirit, the holiness of the month, the togetherness of Muslims, the beautiful prayers and of course, the great food! :o)

It will be interesting to see how this month goes for me as I spend it away from my family and my community - but I'm still excited because I have made so many new Muslim friends in DC, and I'm sure it'll be a great spiritual experience and a lot of fun trying out a whole new way of celebrating the month. What I am also looking forward to our all the iftaars (when we break our fast) esp since GWU & G'town will be offering free ones during the week!

Click here for a great resource on Ramadhan.

Tonight is also a special night for Jews as they begin their High Holy Days: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. So, for all of you celebrating those events, I wish you a blessed holiday too.

Global Solutions, Local Connections: Making the Global Local One Activist at a Time

2005-10-03T19:04:00.000-05:00

On the evening of Friday, November 4th, from 7:30 to 10:30, Citizens for Global Solutions will hold its first film festival at the Lensic, Santa Fe's newly renovated performing arts center. Short films covering topics on energy, the environment, global health and civil conflict will be shown and discussed. Local and national poets will also share their relevant work. Individual admission is $20. Students are admitted for $10.

The film festival is part of a larger conference, Global Solutions, Local Connections: Making the Global Local One Activist at a Time, and will feature Gov. Bill Richardson, Author Salons, local and national artists and activists, and much, much more! The conference will seek to raise awareness about global problems that have local impacts, while communicating to people how they can take action in their own communities to alleviate some of these problems.

Never before in the history of our world have so many global problems desperately needed our attention – and you need to be part of the solution. Join us in this rare opportunity to meet and learn from high-caliber experts and activists working hard to solve some of the world’s most vexing problems.

Join us to learn how global issues have local impacts. Learn how you can raise awareness in your own community. Learn how you can take action. And have fun doing it! Come and make this a weekend to remember!

A Sense of History - on ABC!

2005-09-28T22:14:00.000-05:00

So, I just finished watching a tape recording of the new ABC show Commander-in-Chief. The main story is that Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis) is the first female vice-president of the United States. The catch is she is an Independent and was selected by the President to reach a wider voting bloc to get him elected. Well, Mr. President has a stroke, which makes her the President according to the Constitution unless she chooses to resign. Although the President and the Speaker of the House (who becomes President if VP resigns) didn't wanted Mackenzie to resign, she chooses not to.

Overall, I enjoyed the first episode. It's fun to watch a show that is centered in DC because I live here and can relate to the city & the politics of it all a lot better.

Secondly, I believe it's time for US president that is not a white male, so if I have to live with a sense of history on TV, so be it! I strongly believe that more women are needed in leadership positions and it has always amazed me that the United States has not had a female president, when many other countries that are considered "backward" like India, Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan and many others have had female leaders.

There were two things in the show that irked me:

1. The first issue that is being dealt with in the show is the case of a Nigerian woman who is going to be stoned for committing adultery, which is a violation of the Islamic legal code or "sharia" of the country. Madame President ends up deploying the US military to exert pressure on the Nigerian government to allow the woman to seek political asylum elsewhere.

I have said this before in my blog that I respect Islamic laws, which means I do consider adultery a sin. Many of my Western friends disagree with me that "having sex" should not be a punishable crime, and I guess I haven't made up my mind yet. Because, I believe every country has its own identity in terms of religion & culture. And if that means having sex out of marriage is considered illegal, then, we have to accept that fact. I think what annoys me is when Western countries try to impose a Western notion of "democracy" and "freedom" on other countries - not only is it ineffective, it creates a lot of resentment and many times even harms the minimal progress towards reform that a country is making. Check out this NY Times article where Karen Hughes (senior Bush administration official charged with spreading the American message in the Muslim world) is taken aback after meeting Saudi women who challenge her notion that they are oppressed. Although I'm not a big fan of Saudi's policies on women, I think it goes to portray how the other side always sees things.

However, what I am against is how most of the time, only women end up being accused. In addition, many times, these cases are based on false evidence just because the woman is powerless and doesn't have many rights. So, in this instance I would want to know wo the guy was who had sex with the woman and got her pregnant too - it should be a joint punishment. Also, I don't agree with stoning as a punishment. I haven't studied Islam to the extent where I can make an educated analysis on how a Muslim state should deal with something like this.

I guess most of the time, Americans hear about things like that through the media without any context, which makes Islam look like a barbaric religion and that is what annoys me.

2. My other pet-peeve from the show is a line in Mackenzie's speech, where she said something like "Freedom is America's gift to the world." To me, that sounded very arrogant & is actually inaccurate because it assumes that civilization & freedom were born in the United States, when this country is only a little more than 200 years old. I'm not saying that freedom is not a big component of what the US stands for or that it has had no impact on the world. Nor am I denying that there are countries that have no respect for human rights, but the US does not have a perfect track record either. Moreover, with the Iraq debacle, most people don't want to be gifted by American democracy & freedom!

I just think it exacerbates the ignorance amongst Americans when they don't realize that Africa, Asia & other civilizations made huge progress way before Europe ever did, especially during the "Dark Ages." For instance, the Muslim World contributed greatly to the birth of the Renaissance period in Europe, which has greatly influenced the United States.

Other than that, I definitely plan to watch the show every week!

Shias in Iraq

2005-09-27T19:54:00.000-05:00

As a Shia, one thing I haven't been able to bring myself to write about is the deliberate attacks on Shias in DC. The carnage of civilians in the past few weeks, mostly, Shias, has been horrifying. I vividly remember being skeptical about the possibility of a civil war in Iraq, but I'm not so sure anymore. Not because I think sectarian violence in Iraq was inevitable, but because both the British and American military forces failed to secure the porous borders. The foreign infiltration of fighters from other countries, especially those that believe in the annihilation of Shias, could have been avoided.

My co-worker who works on International Law & Justice is actually working on writing a piece about how Zarqawi's comments that call for the complete destruction of Shias are genocidal in nature, when one compares it to the Genocide Convention. Once that piece is made available, I'll definitely post it.

The lack of coverage the sectarian violence in Iraq has received is indeed troubling. And it is not surprising to see no condemnation from neighboring Arab countries or more a louder voice about this even amongst Muslims in the US. As a co-director of The Qunoot Foundation, my friend Mohamed wrote a really touching post about Sunni-Shia relations on his blog. It is also definitely refreshing to see a press release by the Muslim Public Affairs Council:

MUSLIM SCHOLARS MUST CONDEMN IRAQI SECTARIAN VIOLENCE

(Washington, DC - 9/27/05) -- The Muslim Public Affairs Council condemns the heinous and seemingly endless barrage of anti-Shi'a attacks taking place in Iraq on a daily basis. In the span of the last three weeks alone, over 1,500 Iraqis have been killed in a series of terrorist attacks that have crept from public spaces into holy sites and mosques.

Yesterday, insurgents dragged five Shi'a Muslim schoolteachers and their driver into a classroom, lined them against a wall and gunned them down. Elsewhere, a suicide attack and roadside bombings killed 10 Iraqis. On Sept. 14, more than a dozen explosions ripped through the Iraqi capital in rapid succession, killing at least 152 people and wounding 542 in a series of attacks that began with a suicide car bombing that targeted laborers assembled to find work for the day. The one-day death toll was believed to be the worst in the capital since major combat ended in May 2003. Also on that day, at least 112 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded in the heavily Shi'a neighborhood of Qazmiya where day laborers had gathered shortly after dawn. The Qazmiya district also was the site of a bridge stampede involving tens of thousands of Shi'a pilgrims on Aug. 31 that killed 950 people.

Earlier this month, al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, allegedly declared "all-out war" on Shi'as and vowed to kill anyone participating in the Constitutional referendum. Such Muslim-on-Muslim violence is a betrayal of the teachings of the Qur'an, which state, "But whoever deliberately slays another believer, his requital shall be hell, therein to abide; and God will condemn him, and will reject him, and will prepare for him awesome suffering" (4:93). Iraqi politicians, including deputy speaker of the National Assembly Hussain al-Shahristani, as well as Sunni and Shi'a religious religious leaders in Iraq have denounced the attack as "barbaric and gruesome." However, internationally-recognized Muslim leaders and scholars have been startlingly silent. MPAC calls once more upon on all the religious leaders, regardless of their denominational persuasions, to demand that adherents of Islam -- in unambiguous terms -- not commit such a heinous crime in the sight of God.

For their part, the U.S. government has done little other than issue warnings that Sunni Arab insurgents are likely to increase their attacks ahead of the Oct. 15 national referendum. As the occupying force, the U.S . military holds a non-negotiable responsibility to secure the lives of all Iraqi citizens. A failure to do so only further undermines the Administration's claims that this war is being waged in the pursuit of peace, freedom and democracy.

[CONTACT: Edina Lekovic, 213-383-3443, communications@mpac.org]

Thoughts on the anti-war protest

2005-09-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning, my friend & I were out appartment searching when we saw tons of war protestors on the metro, which was jammed. No, I did not go the anti-war protest held in DC although I live here.There are two main reasons for this:

1. I am not a protestor kind of person. Although I believe protests have played a huge role in history in affecting change, I didn't think this one did.

2. I don't feel like I can support the "Get out the troops now" mantra. Although I'm vehemently against the American policy in Iraq, I feel like things would get a lot worse if the Americans left. I feel the sectarian violence will blow up into a civil war & the chaos will worsen. Do I have a solution? Unfortunately, not.

But I was surprised to read Juan Cole's take on the protest & agreement that the troops should be withdrawn. I have always respected his opinion but I don't know how I feel about this one.

How can something that feels so right be wrong?

2005-09-25T00:26:00.000-05:00

Note: This piece of writing is completely based on my own opinions & experiences. Although I can't speak for all Muslim women, I've had this discussion with enough girls to be comfortable using "we" in some cases. In addition, even though I am mostly familiar with the Khoja community, I know that this debate isn't unique to us. I also realize that this may offend some people, for which I apologize.

Last summer, during a "sister's circle" at my mosque, the topic of discussion was marriage and education. As more and more young Muslim women are pursuing education be it a Bachelor's degree or beyond, this subject matter is a huge point of contention.

As the debate progressed, the discussion became education vs. marriage, presenting the two as irreconcilable aspects of life rather than a productive conversation about how the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Since a good friend of mine and I were the only two "older" girls that had pursued education and were not married, we both were inevitably highlighted.

Some women started talking about how educated girls are "too picky" or "too fussy" when it comes to accepting a proposal. Some even insinuated that girls pursuing their education or career were giving those goals a higher priority than marriage.

In many Muslim communities, once a girl turns 18 or 19, community members start giving her the "look" expecting that any day, her engagement will be announced. For girls who are in their early-mid twenties without a diamond on their finger, we are sometimes even considered by many as "old maids."

All Islamic seminars that I have attended on marriage emphasize that both guys and girls should be careful about choosing a partner based on compatibility, etc. But then why is it when a guy presents certain criteria that he is not willing to compromise on, he is considered responsible. But when a girl does the same, she is being anything from too "idealistic," "picky,' "fussy" or even "un-Islamic."

The most frustrating thing is the assumption that women pursuing an education or career don't want to get married, when in many cases, that is simply not true. We just haven't found the right guy. Honestly speaking, finding the guy you want to spend the rest of your life with, is just not as easy as picking out your favorite kurti from the closet and trying to find a matching hijab.

My biggest pet peeve is when people talk about how important it is for Muslims, especially women, to get an education and get involved in various activities; but when it actually comes to supporting them, the buck stops right there.

Although I've had to deal with this issue from elders of my community before, what has been really exasperating is to see a similar attitude by some young Muslim guys. I've heard many guys talk about how they're glad when they meet independent women who are ambitious, have already embarked on their career and considered a "breath of fresh air." However, when it actually comes to committing and supporting women in their career or educational goals, many of them are unwilling or scared to take that leap. I'm in no way implying that all guys are like that or that some of them are not sincere because I know many who are not that way. But unless more guys actually say, "I do," it is just going to seem like lip service to many girls.

The most hurtful part for me has been is that I question my career choice all the time. I wonder if it was a mistake not to choose something that was more "marketable."

But then I try to remind myself why I chose to do what I do in the first place: after 9/11, I decided that more Muslim voices were needed in politics, and I felt the best way for me to serve God was by serving His people. My education and my work has allowed me to explore the diversity of humanity and the world we live in, which makes me feel close to Allah and proud of Islam like never before.

Many of my Muslim female friends – no matter what their career choice is – feel the same way. So then why is the core of our very being attacked? Why are we so ostracized? Muslim guys – of all ages – need to start being comfortable with women who can talk about Brad Pitt one minute, the future of Palestine the next and a chicken recipe the minute after that.

When Napoleon said, "The hand that rocks the cradle rocks the world" he had a good point. We need to realize that educated Muslim women are crucial for the healthy growth of Muslim communities, especially if Muslims want to prove to the world that we too have a lot to offer humankind. It is time we recognize that educated women are assets to Muslim communities, not liabilities.

The Qunoot Fall Conference

2005-09-24T23:02:00.000-05:00

I know the organizers of the conference pretty well, so I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I'm pretty excited about it because this is one of the first - if not THE first - conference organized by young Shia students and professionals to ensure that the voices of both Sunni & Shia youth are heard. As a co-director of The Qunoot Foundation, my friend Mohamed wrote a really touching post about Sunni-Shia relations on his blog.

The Qunoot Foundation presents:

Exploring the Layers of Our Identity
Saturday, November 12, 2005
George Washington University Law School
Lerner Hall, Room L201
200 H St NW, Washington, DC, 20001

Schedule of Events:
8:00-9:00 AM
Registration and Coffee/Snacks

9:20-9:40 AM
Welcome and Introduction
Mohamed H. Sabur, Co-Director, The Qunoot Foundation

9:40-10:00 AM
The Concept of Du'a and Qunoot in Islam
Irfaan Nooruddin, Islamic Studies and Research Association
TBD

10:00-10:45 AM
Being a Minority within a Minority
Najam I. Haider, Doctoral Candidate, Princeton University , Adjunct Professor, New York University
Moderated by Svend White

10:45-11:45 AM
Negotiating an American Identity Post-9/11
Dalia Hashad, Arab, Muslim, South Asian Advocate, American Civil Liberties Union
Arsalan T. Iftikhar, National Legal Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations
Moderated by Zehra Naqvi, J.D. Candidate, American University, Washington College of Law

11:45 AM-12:15 PM
Presentation of American Shi'a Muslim Survey Results
Abbas Kanji, Strategic Planning Initiative, The World Federation of KSIMC
Ali Abbas Qureshi, Survey Analyst, American Shi'a Muslim Survey

12:15-1:30 PM
Dhuhr/Asr prayer and lunch

1:30-2:30 PM
Imagining a Tolerant Muslim Community
Sayyeda Mirza, Project Manager, Middle East Leadership Program, EastWest Institute
Shahed Amanullah, Editor-in-Chief, alt.muslim, Founder, Halalfire Media Network
Shenaaz Janmohamed, Master's Candidate, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor School of Social Work
Moderated by Mona Mafi, J.D. Candidate, George Washington University Law School

2:30-3:30 PM
Examining Gender Disparities
Saba Ghori, Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor
Jihad Saleh, Master's Candidate, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
TBD
Moderated by Zuleqa Husain, Muslim Public Affairs Council

3:30-3:45 PM
Break and Snacks

3:45-5:15 PM
Creating a Space: Getting Involved in MSAs and National Muslim Organizations
Mohamed H. Sabur, Co-Director, The Qunoot Foundation
Ahmed Younis, National Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council
TBD
Moderated by Amin Al-Sarraf, Muslim Public Affairs Council

5:15-5:45 PM
Maghrib/Isha prayer

5:45-6:45 PM
Town Hall Forum: Where Do We Go From Here?

6:45 PM
Dinner and Open Mic Poetry Reading
Moderated by Khizer Husain
(To submit a poem or art piece/photo you would like to present, please e-mail us at info@qunoot.org.)

--The Qunoot Foundation
http://www.qunoot.org/
info@qunoot.org

How to write a Thomas Friedman Article

2005-09-24T22:58:00.000-05:00

I found this really amusing - no offence to any Friedman fans out there!

- - - -
C R E A T E Y O U R O W N T H O M A S F R I E D M A N O P - E D C O L U M N :
DISORDER AND DREAMS IN [COUNTRY IN THE NEWS]
BY MICHAEL WARD
- - - -
Last week's events in [country in the news] were truly historic, although we may not know for years or even decades what their final meaning is. What's important, however, is that we focus on what these events mean [on the ground/in the street/to the citizens themselves]. The [media/current administration] seems too caught up in [worrying about/dissecting/spinning] the macro-level situation to pay attention to the important effects on daily life. Just call it missing the [desert for the sand/fields for the wheat/battle for the bullets].

When thinking about the recent turmoil, it's important to remember three things: One, people don't behave like [computer programs/billiard balls/migratory birds], so attempts to treat them as such inevitably look foolish. [Computer programs/Billiard balls/Migratory birds] never suddenly [blow themselves up/shift their course in order to fit with a predetermined set of beliefs/set up a black market for Western DVDs]. Two, [country in question] has spent decades [as a dictatorship closed to the world/being batted back and forth between colonial powers/torn by civil war and ethnic hatred], so a mindset of peace and stability will seem foreign and strange. And three, [hope/freedom/capitalism] is an extraordinarily powerful idea.

When I was in [country in question] last [week/month/August], I was amazed by the [people's basic desire for a stable life/level of Westernization for such a closed society/variety of the local cuisine], and that tells me two things. It tells me that the citizens of [country in question] have no shortage of [courage/potential entrepreneurs/root vegetables], and that is a good beginning to grow from. Second, it tells me that people in [country in question] are just like people anywhere else on this great globe of ours.

So what should we do about the chaos in [country in question]? Well, it\'s easier to start with what we should not do. We should not [ignore the problem and pretend it will go away/lob a handful of cruise missiles and hope that some explosions will snap [country in question]\'s leaders to attention/let seemingly endless frustrations cause the people of [country in question] to doubt their chance at progress]. Beyond that, we need to be careful to nurture [the seeds of democratic ideals/the fragile foundations of peace/these first inklings of a moderate, modern society]. The opportunity is there, but I worry that the path to [peace/stability/moderation] is so [narrow/poorly marked/strewn with obstacles] that [country in question] will have to move down it very slowly.

Speaking with a local farmer on the last day of my recent visit, I asked him if there was any message that he wanted me to carry back home with me. He pondered for a second, and then smiled and said, "[Short phrase in indigenous language]," which is a local saying that means roughly, "[Every branch of the tree casts its own shadow/That tea is sweetest whose herbs have dried longest/A child knows his parents before the parents know their child]."

I don't know what [country in question] will be like a few years from now, but I do know that it will [probably look very different from the country we see now/remain true to its cultural heritage], even if it [remains true to its basic cultural heritage/looks very different from the country we see now]. I know this because, through all the disorder, the people still haven't lost sight of their dreams.

Yet another missed opportunity

2005-09-18T12:13:00.000-05:00

I was attending a terrorism conference last week and all the speakers kept on talking about how Katrina proved that the US is ill-prepared of dealing with disasters and how we don't capitalize on opportunities that are presented to us. For instance after 9/11, the unity amongst Americans and the sympathy we received from the world was squandered by the invasion of Iraq. The terrible ongoing violance in Iraq, the carnage of innocent Iraqis is not winning the US any brownie points either.

Hurricane Katrina has provided us with other opportunities: some that we have taken such as talking about the status of the poor, especially minorities in this country and how they were affected the most. The ineffectiveness of FEMA and incompetency of the Bush Administration has also been discussed in great detail. What we are not talking about is global warming or climate change. Although, one cannot make a direct correlation about the effects of climate change & Hurricane Katrina, it is fair to say that global warming causes temperatures of seas to rise which causes unstable weather & hurricanes become more frequent.

I have been taking my time because I've been trying to figure out how to express my feelings on the 4th anniversary of 9/11, the worsening situation in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina. Today, I got the opportunity as the UN concluded on Friday.

This summer was filled with hope & optimism about the UN summit - it was termed as a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity as the UN celeberated its 6oth anniversary. America was united in its hopes for the United Nations. “There’s no doubt that this is an organization that needs updating and reforming in order to be effective,” said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. “And we are a founding member of the United Nations. We shouldn’t abandon it. We should make it a stronger instrument.”

Drawing on proposals from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a task force led by Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Democratic former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, and his Administration’s own ideas, President Bush assembled an ambitious agenda for the UN. The Administration promoted a restructured Human Rights Council that excludes human rights abusers, a Peacebuilding Commission to prevent and resolve conflict in war-torn areas, meet the threat of global terrorism, and restructure the UN’s oversight capacities to make it more efficient.

At the end of July, the U.S. was well on its way to achieving all of these truly groundbreaking proposals. The draft Outcome Document for the Summit included all of them, and U.S. negotiators were well on their way to hammering out the details. The chief obstructionists, Cuba, Venezuela, Egypt, and Pakistan, were increasingly isolated, and ready to fold on key U.S. priorities. We were winning.

Yet, in the end, we lost. The statement signed by Heads of State this week makes little progress toward U.S. goals. In fact, the draft document released six weeks ago would have advanced the U.S. agenda much, much further.

This diplomatic defeat not only stings because of its significance, but because of the ease with which we could have won on many, if not all of our priorities. We need look no further than our own Mission on New York to assert responsibility. Ambassador John Bolton – hailed by the Administration during his confirmation hearings as a crusader of management reform at the UN – could not achieve even that, despite overwhelming momentum on his side.

Within weeks of his appointment and less than a month before the Summit, Ambassador Bolton proposed hundreds of amendments to the draft document, throwing negotiations into turmoil. He outraged developing nations by attempting to remove any mention of the Millennium Development Goals, when merely defining the term would have sufficed to cohere with official U.S. policy. And he then conducted an all-out assault on a provision reaffirming rich countries’ commitment to allocate 0.7% of their national incomes to help poor countries lift themselves out of poverty – even though the Bush Administration affirmed it twice in 2002.

Our point isn’t that the 0.7% target is necessarily a cure-all for the world’s problems; our point is that in part by fighting a relatively harmless provision that the Administration had affirmed in the past, Bolton lost the strong momentum toward important changes at the UN that he inherited upon his appointment. In short, Bolton took his eye off the ball.

The result was a toothless document that satisfied neither developing countries nor the U.S. Thanks to Bolton’s blunder, we have no assurance that the UN will be able to exclude egregious human rights violators from its human rights institutions. We lost out on a definition of terrorism that would pull the moral rug out from under terrorists masquerading as “freedom fighters.” We even lost out on the basic management reforms so high on the U.S. agenda. And the maddening part is that all of these victories were easily within in our grasp.

None of these agenda items are dead, but without the spotlight of the World Summit to expose the obstructionists, it will be much, much harder to move them forward. The lessons from the Summit are clear. Sticks don’t work without carrots.

There is every reason to believe leaders and people of good will are prepared to continue their efforts to renew the UN. The founding principles of the United Nations– greater freedom, deeper cooperation, and respect – bear the distinctive mark of U.S. leadership. Sixty years after the UN’s founding, it needs our leadership again to be stronger and more effective. And to meet the challenges of a new century, we will surely need a strong and effective UN.

Will be back soon...

2005-09-07T21:14:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in almost a week but I was in Minnesota & have been swamped catching up at work. However, I attended a conference yesterday & today on terrorism put up by New America Foundation. It was attended by about a 1000 people & featured prominent speakers like Sens. Biden & Hagel, Gen. Wesley Clark & former Secretary Madeline Albright. The other speakers came from diverse political, journalistic & diplomatic fields - since their presentations have been archived online, I would urge you to to check them out.

Laters!

Got tolerance?

2005-08-30T10:35:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, my friend invited me to go to her to the Pakistani embassy to celeberate the country's Independence Day. I was surprised at how political the event was - there was a panel with several Pakistani authors talking about tolerance, democracy in Islam, etc. I found it very ironic that one of the authors talked about how democracy is compatible with Islam at the embassy when Gen Parvez Musharraf came to power through a coup!

The highlight of the event for everybody crammed in the small room was Junoon's Salman Ahmad - one of the most popular Paki rock stars. He talked about his experiences as a Paki-American & then sang some of his songs too (I have a pic with him to prove it!). While I was at the embassy & looked around the room, what I found was a room of people who have lived in the US for a long time but are so proud to be Pakistani. And I felt jealous. Most Khojas experience an identity issue due to our diverse background but I think it is even more difficult for people who were born in the Gulf but are not recognized as citizens of the country we’re born in. I truly don't feel like I have one home. In my life, I have sung everything from Dil Dil Pakistan to UAE's national anthem to Vande Matram to a Palestinian liberation song to humming the Star Spangled Banner. In a world that is increasingly asking people to pledge allegiance to a country, flag or an ideology, I feel like I have none – whether it will change when I become an American citizen is yet to be seen.

The friend I went with is someone I term as "liberal Muslim." And most of the people at the Pakistani embassy fell under that category because they belonged to an elite class and many of them were probably even secular. As I have been exposed to different Muslims and Shias in DC, I have realized how shielded I have been as a Khoja Muslim. Muslim women who don't wear Hijab are not new to me. But Muslim women who dress as liberally as Westerners are and it has been a test of my faith as I spend my time around them. Some of them are devout Muslims while others have a different set of beliefs.

The same goes with my non-Muslim co-workers. I love my colleagues because we share the same drive for making a difference in the world but it's been a challenge not to judge them by their dress code or lifestyle. You may think that living in the West, all of us face the same issue so why am I making such a big deal about it. That is true, but this time has been different for me because for the first time, I don't come back home from work or school to a Muslim family or Muslim friends where I can set aside my discomfort. On some Friday nights, many of my friends go dancing or drinking late into the night. I'm surrounded by people who are different than me with lifestyles that I am very uncomfortable with and I find myself homesick longing for the comfort of my circle of friends in MN.

As I question my identity as a Shia Muslim in the US, the more pressing issue for me has been the whole concept of tolerance. What does it really mean to be tolerant? Honestly, I’ve never liked the word because it sounds like I have to put up with something or somebody has to put up with me. In a post-9/11 world, the word is in-vogue & Muslims use it liberally to describe Islam as a religion of "tolerance." But does that mean that as a Muslim, I am nice to people different than me on a superficial level and make a face behind their backs?

I spend all of last weekend with some of the most amazing young people for a conference on sustainable development in NY. We stayed over at an eco-friendly lodge with composting toilets (it's environmentally friendly because they don't use water but all the waste gets sucked into a huge hole similar to the ones in airplanes to be decomposed - no really, it wasn't gross!). I met people who worked in science, trade, environment and development and had one of the most enriching experiences in my life because it was inspiring to see so many young people working to make a difference in the world. But I was not always comfortable around them because they interacted or dressed in a way that was against my set of beliefs. On the drive back with a bunch of American girls, this topic actually came up & I admitted how uncomfortable I am around girls who dress what I consider liberally and they really appreciated my honesty.

The reason I'm bringing this up is because I have been given so much by people who have a different set of values and beliefs than mine: from air high-fives because I don't like interacting physically with na-mahram (mahram=father, father-in-law, brothers, maternal/paternal uncles, grandfathers, sons) to accommodating my prayer schedule to embracing my need to eat halaal or vegetarian food. They have taught me so much about life and have not simply "tolerated" me but embraced me. In the past few months, it is these people who have come through for me when I've been sick or just having a bad day. And I want to give back - wholeheartedly, without reservations or being judgmental. It may sound like "duh" for many people, but it has been really hard for me to do and something I struggle with every day.

I guess it's because all my life, good and bad has been presented as black or white. That is if a person does a, b or c, he/she is automatically x, y, or z. And it's not necessarily true. When we get together for multi-faith or multi-cultural dialogues, we tend to talk about the common features of our faith or lifestyles. Although this is crucial to bridge differences, I feel like we also need to talk about our differences because they exist and have a significant impact on how we interact and live. And if we ignore them or pretend they don't exist, they have the potential to become ugly.

I may be wrong or just over reacting. But what I do know is that I don't have all the answers to all the questions I have but it is how I feel at this point in my life. I came across a beautiful poem by Rainer Maria Rilke that really resonated with me: “…have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

Thank you, Romeo

2005-08-22T21:07:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday night, my friends and I went to watch Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, a movie that chronicles Romeo Dallaire's experience in Rwanda, which is based on his book. Dallaire is a French Canadian who was the commander of the weak peacekeeping force sent to Rwanda in 1994.

As all hell broke loose in Rwanda and Western nations pulled out turning a blind eye to the genocide, it was Dallaire who did not give up despite the lack of support he received. In the movie, he talks about his despair as he saw horrific massacres, the silence of Western nations and his disappointment for the Belgian government who pulled their troops out (Belgium was a former colonial power in the country causing much of the rift between the Hutus and Tutsis). He also talks about how he feels like he let the people of Rwanda down wishing he could do more.

After he returned from Rwanda, he suffered from depression and alcoholism as he became suicidal. It took him ten years to get over his ordeal and decided to visit Rwanda as the country commemorated the genocide's 10th anniversary last year. He actually visited the University of Minnesota, along with Rwandan president Paul Kigame last year, but I was unable to attend the event.

As I watched the movie, I have nothing except for immense respect for this humble man who could have given up but held on and was responsible for saving many many lives during the chaos. I was also amazed at how strong his wife was as she helped him through the years and even visited Rwanda with him. I first read about Dallaire in a Human Rights class in Samantha Power's book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. I am so grateful for Dallaire's honesty and courage to write this book so that we can learn from it. There's a verse in the Holy Qur'an that states for on no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear (7: 42). Obviously, God trusted Dallaire a great deal to place such a huge responsibility on him!

His book and movie show the importance of a strong United Nations, so the promise of Never Again does not ring hollow. As I have been working on peacekeeping issues and the need for a 21st century UN, I have learned so much about concepts like the responsibility to protect which states that "no state can hide behind the concept of sovereignty while it conducts or permits widespread harm to its population. Nor can states turn a blind eye when these events extend beyond their borders, nor because action does not suit their narrowly-defined national interests."

This principle is actually on the agenda for the General Assembly as world leaders meet for the largesgatheringng of world leaders in history from September 14-16. Not only is it the UN's 60th anniversary but also a historic opportunity for the world to collectively strengthenhen the United Nations for the 21st century. I have mentioned this before an will bring this up again because I think it is important to keep in mind: no matter how critical one may be about the United Nations, international law and the response of the international community to genocide, we are making progress.

This is coming from someone who has been working on Darfur since February & have been frustrated by the failure to do more. Although we will probably look in 10 years again and see Drafur with regret, it is not Rwanda - it is different because the level of engagenment by civil societies and several governments is at a greater level. This is not to say, we can't do more, but I guess I always try to look at the glass half full rather than empty because that's the only way I can keep going.

For a great guide on the upcoming summit & resources, chek out our UN21 resource guide. I also want to provide this transcript of a speech by Romeo Dallaire at an event held by Brookings Institute in 2003.

Salaams to Najaf

2005-08-19T11:43:00.000-05:00

Tonight is an important night for Shias as we celebrate the birth of Imam Ali - the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohamed. And as Shias believe, he is the first and rightful successor after the death of the Prophet, it is an occasion that has always been celebrated with much joy in my community. It is times like this, I miss being in Minnesota with my community attending the services in the mosque instead of blogging about it by my lonesome self at home!

However, the more I think about it, over the past few years, I mostly went to the mosque for socializing rather than enhancing my spirituality. I started becoming annoyed with the mere ritualistic and cultural facets of our worship and celebration and I craved for more. My friends & I tried a lot to change some aspects and introduce new events but had little success. The pace of progress is slow and, so when I decided to move to DC after graduating from college, I didn't regret my decision. I really needed to get away from the exclusive and narrow minded approach of my mosque on global, political and social issues and work somewhere I could actually make a difference and feel valuable.

I am very disappointed with most Muslim leaders/preachers due to their lack of intellectual rigor when talking about religious issues & how to connect the dots between religion and other ideologies or issues that Muslims face. These are not things that I grew up thinking about because I took my religion for granted. Most of my friends were Sunni Muslims - however, I've always maintained a strong Shia identity and knew that I was "different."

Moving to the US , having studied abroad in Jordan and now living in DC has changed everything. I have been exposed to Muslims from all walks of life, but most importantly, I have met different Shias - some that are more liberal than I am. It's not something I am entirely comfortable with because it requires me to look at things from a very different perspective and has made me judgemental in many ways. I am at a point in life where I'm very confused about my faith and have tons of questions. But what I do know, is that being a Shia is a personal choice - I love my religion and am very proud to be a Shia even if I don't exactly know what it means completely at this point in time.

I came across this today & thought it was very apt for how I feel - it's from Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet: "…I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

Imam Ali's shrine is located in Najaf, Iraq. Last August, when the shrine was in danger of destruction as fierce fighting was going on, I remember my dad couldn't even watch the news on TV. He has visited Iraq for pilgrimages twice & was distraught. And so were many of my community members. One woman I interviewed for a research said that even if one tile of the shrine had been destroyed, she would have personally felt violated. Even at that time, I wasn't sure how I felt. Although it was heartbreaking to see the religious site under seige, I kept wondering whether religion & spirituality is something that can be enshrined in a particular location...

On that note, I pray for the safety of all Iraqis, a sustainable peace in the region & a sincere plea to God that I will one day visit Najaf & Kerbala (burial site of Imam Ali's son, Imam Hussein and his family and companions). Inshallah (God willing).

You can also read more on Imam Ali's miraculous birth and his famous sermons.

As Khojas say on occasions like this, Khushali Mubarak!

Oh how I wish I could be in Gaza now!

2005-08-15T19:11:00.000-05:00

Like many people, I have been following the Israeli plan to withdraw from Gaza pretty closely. I've been trying to figure out how I feel about it, and I am really not sure. As I read the hopes of Palestinians to gain the little freedom of movement they may attain after decades of occupation, I choke up. I feel like as if I should leave my pessimism aside and be happy that the settlers will be gone in a few days. Today, a friend expressed that she felt sorry for the settlers who have come to call Gaza their home and now are being forced to leave. Yes, I understand that, but then I feel like it was never their's to begin with. It is sad that they have been used as pawns in this conflict, but then what about the thousands of Palestinians who live as refugees on their own land? What about how they felt when they fled or were kicked out in 1948?

I'm also wondering whether Sharon will be hailed as a hero for withdrawing from a land that has been illegally occupied, while he consolidates his power on the West Bank. I wonder whether just as the Oslo peace process didn't grant political automony to the Palestinians, the same will be replicated in Gaza. What about Hamas - will they change their strategies at all or will they see this as a victory for their violent tactics?

It is a sad conflict, because no one will come out as a complete winner here - all I could do today was wear my locket that is shaped like Palestine (all of it) with the cartoon character Hanzala, created by Naji al-Ali, a Palestinian cartoonist who was killed in 1987. The little boy appears as a spectator in each of his cartoons. I once watched a documentary on his life on World Link TV, and was inspired by how he expressed his frustrations, sadness and hope so beautifully through his cartoons. If only I could be in Gaza now to know how it feels to be on the ground with people from both sides and experience this historic moment with them...

For some reason, my thoughts have been with the Palestinian kids who were from low-income families that I taught English to in Jordan. The first thing that most of the kids wanted to know was how to write Palestine in English - when my friends & I started teaching the first day, we were greeted with students who welcomed us with a patriotic Palestinian song! Although all the kids were dear to me, there are these 2 kids that particularly stick in my mind: one was Mohamed, a shy, curious to learn, yet hot-tempered boy. He would argue with me that although he was born in Jordan, he was Palestinian and not Jordanian. The other was an intelligent rosy cheeked girl named Bushra. On my last day in Jordan, I visited her family and met her mom. When I told her mom how smart her daughter was, she looked at me saying "Do you thing she'll get an opportunity to study like you?" I didn't know what to say except "Inshallah" because I wish I could say yes. It kills me that these kids have so much potential but may never get the opportunity to do more. As the world focuses its attention on Gaza, my thoughts are with you kids because you taught me so much with your infectious love and smiles - thank you.

From Electronic Intifada, Slicing off Gaza is just a diplomatic nose job:

A teenage soldier in Tapuah, a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, shot to death four Palestinian citizens of Israel and injured several others last Thursday on a bus in Shafa'amr, a quiet Arab town in the north of Israel where I work. Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, denounced the shootings as an act of "terrorism" designed to "harm the fabric of relations among all Israeli citizens", and threaten Israel's "stability as a democracy". For Palestinians living in Israel, however, his words were of little comfort.

Relations between Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel and their Jewish counterparts have already been harmed by over five decades of state discrimination against them, much of which was led or supported by Mr Sharon. The Shafa'amr attack was not only an attempt to sow ethnic hatred and division among the citizens of Israel, it was also the fruit of the deep-seated racism cultivated by successive Israeli governments over many years.

Since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, the indigenous Palestinian Arabs who remained within what became the borders of Israel have been treated as second- or third-class citizens, enduring extensive violations of their human rights. Currently, over 20 Israeli laws discriminate against the Arab minority which comprise approximately 20 per cent of Israel's citizenry. Israeli politicians, such as the Finance Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who resigned from the government yesterday, have incited prejudice against these citizens, over one million in number, by labelling them a "demographic problem".

For Palestinian citizens of Israel, the shooting deaths on Thursday recalled not only the massacre of Palestinians at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank town of Hebron committed by Baruch Goldstein, another Jewish settler fanatic in 1994, but also the killing of 13 unarmed Arab citizens of Israel by state security forces during the protest demonstrations of October 2000. The demonstrators were protesting against Mr Sharon's provocative visit to the Muslim holy site of Haram ash-Sharif in Jerusalem. Not a single individual has yet been charged for the Arab deaths. If the state can act this way towards its Palestinian citizens - and do so with impunity - is it any wonder that armed fanatical opportunists will also view ethnic minority members among their fellow citizens as legitimate targets?

Just as the wishes of the 1.4 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip play no part in the public debate being waged in Israel over the withdrawal, the fact that Palestinians have now become the disengagement's first victims has been lost amid a sea of blue and orange ribbons, representing the current competition between Jewish and ultra-Jewish nationalism.

Since there are no ribbons for civic equality and human rights, Jewish Israeli society and the international media remain transfixed by the pornography of the disengagement. Attention is focused on the alleged trauma of the government's decision to sponsor the relocation of approximately 8,000 Jewish Israelis from the Gaza Strip and a few hundred others from four West Bank colonies to homes within their state. Such is the absurdist theatre of the disengagement that the histrionic settlers even have the audacity to compare their protests to the civil rights campaign led by Martin Luther King Jnr.

These theatrics serve Mr Sharon's agenda well, adding drama to the staged representation of a Jewish nation on the brink of civil war. Far from its portrayal as a traumatic operation of historic significance, the disengagement is in reality a superficial, cosmetic operation. As UN Special Rapporteur Professor John Dugard reported in March 2005, the dismantling of Jewish settlements in Gaza does not mean that Israel will cease to be considered an occupying Power in the Strip under international law. Moreover, following the completion of Israel's annexation Wall, over 350,000 Israeli settlers will illegally remain on the West side of the Wall in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, plans to encourage the intensive Jewish settlement of the Galilee and Negev regions within Israel, where large numbers of Palestinian citizens of Israel live, are also being pursued. Slicing off the Gaza Strip from Israel's conscience thus amounts to little more than a diplomatic nose job.

As if to further prove that the state is not going soft on Palestinians, a week before the Shafa'amr attack, Israel's parliament worked with marked efficiency to enact two pieces of racist legislation within a single day. Israeli Members of the Knesset voted to exempt Israel from paying compensation to Palestinians in the occupied territories for deaths and injuries caused by Israel's military. Illegal Jewish settlers, of course, retain such a right to a remedy for any harm. That same day, they also voted to extend a law, with minor amendments, banning family unification within the Jewish state for Palestinians from the territories married to citizens of Israel, thereby violating both Israeli and international law.

If the government of Israel were sincerely concerned about racist attacks on its Arab citizens, it would not only disengage from Gaza, but also from discrimination. That means a withdrawal from the entirety of the occupied territories, and a departure from the attendant colonial mentality. Under those circumstances, Israelis and Palestinians could truly begin to prepare for peace.

The writer is a human rights advocacy and development fellow with Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. This article was first published in The Independent newspaper (UK) on Monday 8 August.

Frustrations galore!

2005-08-09T23:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, so on Sunday, I'm at the American Indian Museum and joined a tour group, so that we could get the highlights of the place. As we moved to a dark room & our guide was explaining what it meant to be an Indian, I suddenly felt weird. I couldn't figure out whether it was just stress, the different environment, the fact that we were discussing the unfair treatment towards Native Americans, but I was not feeling well. Thinking I was probably de-hydrated, I reached for my water bottle in my purse, but unfortunately never got to it. The next thing I remember is my head hurting like hell while a security guard asks, "Ma'am, can you hear me?"

Yes, for the first time in my life, I passed out. It was a very scary experience because I can't remember falling, rolling over & hitting my head pretty hard on the wall - I have a colorful bruise on my forehead to prove it! I am fine, but 3 days later, my head has still been hurting. Some of my friends have been scaring me suggesting I may have internal bleeding. Why don't I just go to the doctor? Well, I have insurance issues. What do I mean, you ask?

I have a $250 deductible on my health policy, which expires next week. If I do go to the doctor, it is very likely, I will have to get a CT scan amongst others, which will cost me more than $250. And unfortunately, when I renew my insurance on the 20th, anything I paid in my previous policy won't matter, which means I'll be stuck with the $250 deductible again.

Yes, I know my life is more important than money, but the reality is, I just can't afford it. And, fortunately for me, I know I will be okay coz I have been functioning perfectly at work and even attended my step aerobics class today without incident.

What makes me sick is the fact that there are thousands of people in this country, especially children, with more serious health issues that face this problem. It's disgusting that we have to make a choice between money and the need to visit a doctor. I don't care what fiscal conservatives have to say but health care is a right. And as for those who say the only people who can't afford good health care are the unemployed or lazy people, because in case you haven't noticed, I'm neither. I work hard but I can't help it that I'm a recent college graduate, so my dad's insurance doesn't cover me anymore and that my fellowship offers me minimal coverage. What makes me even angrier is when Christian conservatives don't support a more universal form of health coverage because their current stance is so contrary to religious beliefs - I really liked what Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times once said in an editorial: after all, Jesus was about curing lepers, not slashing Medicaid.

Do I have a solution for our messed up health care system? No, but I am glad that I have a dear friend who works on health policy at Families USA!

One of my big peeves is how Republicans have claimed religion when many of their policies regarding war, aid for the poor, education, etc., are contrary to religious beliefs. So, how do Democrats get back the moral platform? It looks like Jim Wallis, a Christian leader for social change, and author of God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, seems to have the answer. Check out his editorial in the NY Times entitled The Message Thing. He talks about how progressives have failed to frame their issues better - something the right has invested heavily in for the past three decades. My organization does a lot of work on this vis-a-vis international issues, working closely with the U.S. in the World - Talking Global Issues with Americans guide - check it out!

Laters,
Bumpy Forehead

A different perspective on King Fahd's death

2005-08-07T19:41:00.000-05:00

I, for one, honestly don't have an opinion on what King Fahd's death means. My main reaction was he has not really been ruling since 1995 anyway & I doubt anything will change in the Kingdom. My friend, Zahir Janmohamed interviewed Ali Al Ahmad who is the founder of the Gulf Institute, who offers an interesting perspective.

From alt.Muslim:

Can you please describe to us the significance of King Fahd's death. Will his death translate into any changes in Saudi Arabia?

Ali Al Ahmed: There won't be many changes in the policy in Saudi Arabia because the country is run by the Al Saud family and the death of one person in that tribe is not going to change their monopoly on power in the country.

There might be more clamor for power within the tribe and there might be a rise in tension between the factions.

His legacy is a mixed legacy. He instituted a campaign of Wahhabisation (sic) of Saudi Arabia and he spent millions building mosques and Wahhabi centers around the world. He spent billions financing wars in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq which of course led to more disastrous results and millions of lives lost.

Internally he has failed to use the massive oil funds to build schools and roads. We have more mosques yet the infrastructure is crumbling and Saudi now has fewer universities than many developing countries.

Another thing about his legacy is that oil prices rose so society changed from a country of simple towns to an opulent place for many.

I have no good memories of his legacy during his reign. I was arrested when I was 14 years old with my parents, brothers and sisters. Two of my cousins were shot by Saudi police for protesting. My brothers were arrested again and among all of us, we spent a combined 10 years behind bars. And for nothing—we did not demand a change in government or incite violence and this is true to many Saudi families and my family is an example. I cannot travel. My passport has been seized and millions like me have similar stories.

He was an oppressive dictator.

Can you speak for a moment about the developments in Saudi Arabia such as the municipal elections, the creation of a Saudi human rights commission. Many see this as a positive step towards a more democratic, transparent society while others see these as overtures to the West. Can you speak then about two things: first the human rights situation in and second the status of free speech? Will there be more rumblings in Saudi Arabia now that King Fahd is dead?

AA: I think people are more willing to criticize but at the same time the human rights situation has deteriorated in the past two years. The acts of terrorism have been used to silence and to arrest peaceful writers and reformers. We have thousands of people who have been fired, harassed or imprisoned.

To say that Crown Prince Abdullah is a reformer is far-fetched. You do not expect an 80 year old man to wake up and change his mind. That's wild as they say in America.

It's a PR campaign and some US officials are buying it but the reality is not towards reform. Just a few years ago, I heard that Abdullah was upset that women were driving golf cars in the hospital. If he will not allow women to drive even in the hospital, how can we expect him to give women the right to vote?

Another example is that Abdullah has never incorporated Shia in the National Guard or promoted Shias to any position in the army even though this is in his power.

I do not expect anything good coming from him unless we have the US and the European Union telling him what to do but I do not see that happening.

You touched on the subject of Shias. I would like you to elaborate on that, given that you are from the eastern province of the Qatif and that the subject is very personal to you. Can you give us a little background on the conditions of Shias and some demographic info about Shias. Has there condition either improved or worsened given the rise of Shia political power in Iraq?

AA: The Shias of Saudi Arabia are Arabs who are indigenous to the eastern province. They are the majority in the eastern province although the Saudi government has tried to encourage Sunnis to move to the eastern province to outnumber Shias by giving them jobs while qualified Shais were denied.

For example, two days ago I read that the two of the three highest students in Saudi Arabia were not accepted into college because they are Shia.

Saudi Arabia has systematically denied Shia by denying them access to education, work, and basic human rights. Even those members of the royal family who are portrayed as progressive and modern, like Princeton graduated Prince Faisal, has never allowed a Shia to serve as ambassador despite the significant percentage of Shia in the country.

There is a sense that Shia are under occupation. And the situation is getting worse. There was a plan written by a Wahhabi cleric named Nasir al Omar who wrote about converting Shias to Sunni Islam or else face execution.

Unfortunately it's at a social level now as well. The hatred of Shia is so intense that killing of Shia civilians is widely accepted.

But wait. Some say the situation for Shias has improved. I mean you've got municipal elections in the Eastern (ie mostly Shia) province, you've got warmer relations between Iran and Saudi, and for the first time Shias can now hold their Muharram procession. What do you say to people who say that their situation is improving?

AA: I use the word elections with great hesitation because women were banned. These elections were held for less than half of the seats in the municipal power and that too for a municipal body that has little power. I mean North Korea has elections. Is it a democracy?

Four months after these elections, there has not been a single move to form these councils. These elections were done like fireworks—just for show. We might not see these municipal councils ever.

On the issue of Shia, allowing someone to have a procession is not a change in policy. The true test for religious freedom is to allow Shias to serve in religious, military, academic, or government posts—this is the true test. In Riyadh, Shias can not even open a mosque.

And now the Saudi foreign minister talks about the marginalization of Sunnis in Iraq. The Sunnis in Iraq are of equal percentage of the Shia in Saudi yet in Iraq Sunnis hold positions in the new government. In Saudi, they do not. It is shameful.

What we can do in the US to address these human rights problems that you have outlined?

AA: I think what can be done in America is to speak about these issues and to not allow (the US) administration to overlook these issues. For example in one breath we see Condoleeza Rice criticize the Iran elections but remain silent about Saudi elections despite the obvious fact that women could not vote in Saudi.

We have to hold Saudi Arabia to a higher standard. Write to your member of Congress and tell that that Saudi Arabia is not reforming and that for women, Shias, foreign laborers, and ordinary people, Saudi Arabia is an oppressive government.

The irony is that people of Saudi Arabia are instructed to follow the "divine" rule of the Saud family but their conditions are inhumane. I urge people to free the people of Saudi Arabia.

Zahir Janmohamed just learned that RSS is, in addition to an extremist group in India, a fancy internet syndication service. To listen to the complete interview with Ali Al Ahmed, check out Janmohamed's podcast Qunoot on iTunes or read his blog at www.falloficarus.blogspot.com

Ok, so Bolton got in!

2005-08-04T21:04:00.000-05:00

Citizens for Global Solutions launched http://www.stopbolton.org/ on March 15, 2005, to illustrate the critical nature of the U.S.-UN relationship, show the need for effective UN reform, and make the case that John Bolton is the wrong man for the job.

Ok, so Bolton got in - but we still considered his recess appointment as a victory coz our goal had been not to get him confirmed by the Senate & he didn't! I have to admit, when we decided to launch the campaign, I was very skeptical that we would get as far as we did. I, truly wondered how we as a small NGO were going to make a dent in what Bush wanted. But all the dedication, strategic thinking, and hard work did pay off. Having seen all the advocacy work in action has reinstated my belief that we CAN make a difference, even if it means one baby step at a time! :o)

Also check out what John Stewart from The Daily Show had to say about Bolton's recess appointment on The Vetting Crashers.

Below is what our President & CEO had to say - enjoy!

From the Washington Note:

Charles J. Brown: Winners, losers, lessons

President Bush's decision to appoint Bolton this morning only denies those fighting the nomination closure - but not much else. We may have lost the Bolton battle, but it sure looks like we won the war. The events of the past five months, taken together, represent a big victory for those promoting global solutions to and cooperative efforts on those problems that no nation can solve alone.

In addition, the Bolton battle is a model for future efforts to engage the American people on international issues. Those who challenged the Bush Administration stayed on message, supplied timely information, praised allies at every opportunity and avoided berating or denigrating opponents.

As a result, the movement for a constructive, pro-engagement foreign policy is both stronger and more effective. A lot of folks on both sides of the aisle found their backbones over the course of the past five months, and thus are more likely to stand firm on similar questions in the future.

Our opponents, who expended enormous amounts of political capital just to keep the Bolton nomination alive, emerge much, much weaker.

The Bolton battle also has been an inclusive effort, one that has brought many unlikely players into the fray. I can't say enough about the importance of the Steve's efforts and those of our NGO partners, the field organizers, and other friends and advocates who independently contributed their time, energy, and resources to this effort above and beyond their jobs. We have all made a difference. As this blog has demonstrated over the past week, this was a battle that crossed ideological and partisan divides.

Let me sum up by offering a list of heroes, villains, and lessons. Let's start with the heroes:

Senators Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Barbara Boxer, and the rest of the minority members and staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who refused to let this nomination be the slam-dunk the Administration wanted.

Senator George Voinovich, who courageously stood up to his party and his President to oppose Mr. Bolton due to his strong belief that Mr. Bolton represented everything America did not need at the UN.

Senator John Thune, who also bucked partisanship to oppose Mr. Bolton.

Senator Chuck Hagel who, despite supporting Bolton, made it clear that the issue of making the UN more effective was in now way should be made contingent on said support.

John Whitehead, Deputy Secretary of State during the Reagan Administration, and Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor during the Ford and first Bush Administrations, who worked quietly behind the scenes to convince Senators of the wrong-headedness of Bush's choice.

Carl Ford, who stood up to John Bolton both during Bolton's tenure as Undersecretary of State, and during the SFRC hearings.

And last, but certainly not least our own Steve Clemons, who did much to connect the dots and keep the matter in the press and the public eye.And a list of heroes wouldn't be complete without a list of those who have lost something:

President Bush, who expended far too much of his precious second-term political capital on what was originally intended to be a cheap throwaway appointment to please a rabid segment of his base.

John Bolton, who will not be able to accomplish what he wanted at the UN.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who must now live with the consequences of having Bolton on her team. Now the question is whether she will honor her promise to fire Bolton if he goes off the reservation.

Senator Lincoln Chafee, who has become a model of craven indecisiveness and inaction in the face of integrity. As one Washington Post report put it, when Sen. Voinovich stood up, Sen. Chaffee looked like he was going to cry.

Senator Richard Lugar, who seemed to forget his position and authority as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and allowed the White House to strong-arm him into supporting the Bolton nomination in return for... well, to be frank, apparently nothing at all.

The clearance process within the State Department.

Any junior Foreign Service officer who has the temerity to challenge or question Amb. Bolton over the next fifteen months.Let me also suggest some of the key implications of the Bolton battle:

Amb. Bolton's tenure is half what it would have been without our work. He is so damaged and unpopular in the Senate as to make it highly unlikely that he can ever be confirmed for this or other positions in the future. Furthermore, this administration has not renominated for political positions those to whom it gave recess appointments (see Otto Reich). And the Senate has refused to confirm those renominated for judicial positions after a recess appointment (see William Pryor).

The controversy over Bolton's misstatements may go away for a while, but it's unlikely to disappear entirely. Should the Inspector General come out with a report that in any way implicates Bolton in the misuse of intelligence, he'll be fair game again and may even be pressured to resign.

Everyone - the press, the UN, NGOs, even late-night comedy talk show hosts - will be watching everything Bolton says and does. If he becomes inflammatory, screams at people, or makes outrageous statements, it will be noticed.

Amb. Bolton is damaged goods in ways that the administration can't like - the poster boy for everything we don't want in a diplomat, as George Voinovich put it, and quite literally the new national symbol of what it means to be the boss from hell. And to paraphrase Jon Stewart, he has the most famous "angry moustache" since Yosemite Sam.

Perhaps most importantly, the American people are reengaged on the issue of the UN in a way that they haven't been for years. And it's clear that a large majority of Americans support a more effective and dynamic UN. If the Administration -- in the person of John Bolton -- screws things up, it will be noticed and it will be controversial.

And finally, as I noted earlier, Bush had to expend extraordinary amounts of political capital to make this appointment happen - and today he has angered Senators on both sides of the aisle.

They'll remember this the next time a controversial international appointment comes, and perhaps vote him or her down. It may even have an impact on the Roberts nomination, as the Administration's refusal to release documents AGAIN means that Bolton offered a test run on the issues of Senatorial access and privilege.Clearly, the recess appointment was an outcome we did not want, but we should not forget that Bolton's opponents went into this regarding their chances of winning as the longest of long shots. And ultimately, if they (we) didn't get the desired result, they (we) changed the debate in extremely important ways.

So let us not fail to celebrate what we have accomplished. Congratulations and thanks to everyone. It's been a real honor and a privilege.

"Taxation without representation"

2005-07-31T23:39:00.000-05:00

One thing I think is really interesting about DC are the license plates coz they say, "Taxation Without Representation." DC which stands for "District of Columbia" is just that, so it's not considered a state and thus has no representation in Congress, except for an appointed delegate in the House of Representatives that can debate on issues but can't vote. Thus, people who live in the city pay taxes but are not represented, which I think is really unfair! So, while the District's official motto is "Justitia omnibus" (Justice to all), the words "Taxation Without Representation" were added to DC license plates in 2000 and there is a current movement to the add the words "No Taxation Without Representation" to the DC flag - the DC flag is one of the few things under direct local control without requiring approval from Congress.

Since it's the nation's capital, all the states have streets named after them in the city. I have not had the chance to visit Minnesota Avenue yet, which is also a metro stop. I'm really fortunate that my dorm is located right on Capitol Hill by Constitution Avenue, so I get to see the Capitol building everyday on my way to work. I have to admit, that no matter how many times I see it, I'm still awed by its beauty. Living here has allowed me to see politics in action which is really fascinating especially witnessing the rare moments when Republicans & Democrats work together on some issues. I'll never forget something that one of my professors once said: no matter how bitter & deeply divided the 2000 & 2004 elections were, the transition of power was still peaceful. This may sound cheesy, but it makes me grateful that I live in a country where that is possible.

I also get a chance to walk by the Supreme Court & the Library of Congress daily - when I think of how it was this Court that was responsible for things like giving women the right to vote or enforce de-segregation in the South, it is a very humbling experience & makes me realize that I'm a mere blip in this country's history. The city's architecture is beautiful - most government buildings are designed in Greek & Roman styles. What I love looking at are the residential homes because unlike in suburbs, they all look different. Some of them were built in the 1800 & 1900's, so they're really old - my favorite ones are red brick homes, and as I walk past these houses, I know they all have a story to tell & wonder what kind of historical treasures lay within them.

A favorite hangout in my neighborhood on the weekends is Eastern Market. Basically, it's like a bazaar where people put up stalls selling everything from fruits and vegetables, to African jewellery, to Indian shirts, to candles and flowers. There is a flea market every Sunday where you can browse through some cool antique furniture or old posters or junkie collector's items. I love the festive atmosphere here and enjoy the shopping more than in malls because many times, the items you buy are hand made or fair trade - yes, I know I'm a geek! A few weeks ago, my friend & I stumbled upon this really cute used old bookstore in an old house that was stacked with books all the way to the ceiling, even in the bathroom! Although DC has it's share of the usual corporate stores and restaurant/coffee shop franchises (a Starbucks at almost every block!!), there are many local options to explore too, which is refreshing & fun.

I think it's really ironic that I wrote my post on realistic idealism a day before the London bombings. I have to admit that after that incident and the violence in Egypt, I have been really down & just feel like crying sometimes - at times, I'm so confused & have a million questions but don't know who to turn to, which can be really frustrating. At a moment when I thought things could not get any worse, they did. The fact that the London bombers were British was disturbing but also proves something I have said many times - many Muslim communities lack visionary leaders who can foster political, social and economic means to address problems & frustrations. It's sad that it takes tragedies like these to serve as "wake-up" calls that these are not problems that happen "somewhere out there" but can hit close to home.

But not all is lost - I hope that just as many American Muslims were propelled into political activism after 9/11, the same will be true for British Muslims. I was at a Muslim Student Network banquet last week & it was heartening to see so many Muslims interning or working for a variety of organizations in the city. It was really cool to have two special keynote speakers - one, an elected Muslim council member from Texas & the other, our very own Congresswoman McCollum from MN's 4th District (Go Betty - thanks to Mohamed Sabur).

Last week, I also had an opportunity to visit the National Cathedral to listen to the National Symphony Orchestra play. The cathedral is a beautiful Gothic structure that reminded me of Westminster Abbey in London. I don't know whether it was the sonorous notes from the organ, the breathtaking architecture or the serenity of the place, but as I marveled at the magnificence of God, for a brief and rare moment, my mind was at peace...

Happy Anniversary

2005-07-30T13:21:00.000-05:00

Today marks the one-year anniversary of my blog - I can't believe it has been so long! All I can say is that it has truly been a pleasure to be part of the blogging community. My blog has been through several changes, and I'm going to make one more: although the colors will remain the same (purple for personal notes, red for copied text), I'm going to bring down the font to normal size instead of the large it is at now). Enjoy!

Harry Potter & the "War on Terror"...

2005-07-28T20:57:00.000-05:00

... or whatever the new name the Bush Administration has concocted!

I started reading Harry Potter in March because after a rough day at work, I was looking for some light reading. I have to admit, I got hooked and borrowed the rest of the series from my dorm mates and am now a big fan! I think Rowling is a brilliant writer and really admire her for her creativity in writing about a world that does not exist. I also am impressed by her foresight because as I read her later books, I realized that she had dropped hints about a particular situation in the first or second books.

Anyway, the plot in her books started getting a lot darker from the 4th book onwards. As I was reading the 5th & 6th ones, I remember thinking, "Wow, this sounds a lot like the political situation in this country today - people being detained in prisons without being charged, personal mail being screened, rules being passed violating civil liberties and familes being torn apart which side to support!" So, this morning, I get to work and my supervisor tells me the exact same thing & found this interesting article that was written on Slate a few days ago on When Harry Met Osama:

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort takes up terrorism. The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters—who had gained strength in the earlier installments and have finally arrived in force—use their newfound power to spread fear in familiar ways. They destroy bridges. They murder innocents. They compel children to kill their elders. (They're also behind a magical and destructive hurricane. Does J.K. Rowling know something we don't?)

The response of the wizarding world also rings a few bells. The Ministry of Magic issues pamphlets on "Protecting Your Home and Family Against Dark Forces." Fred and George Weasley's shop makes a mint selling Shield Cloaks, which protect their wearers from harm. The new Minister of Magic jails an innocent man, hoping to stave off panic and create the impression that he's taking action. And Harry, Hermione, and Ron greet the morning paper with a familiar sense of dread: "Anyone we know dead?"

What is J.K. Rowling up to here? Is she criticizing the War on Terror or simply using it as a plot device? In some scenes, she does take jabs at the Bush and Blair administrations. The Ministry of Magic's security pamphlet, for example, recalls the much-scorned TIPS program: "Should you feel that a family member, colleague, friend or neighbor is acting in a strange manner, contact the Magical Law Enforcement Squad at once." And Harry has a telling confrontation with the Minister of Magic, who thinks that in the battle against Voldemort, perceptions matter most. "If you were to be seen popping in and out of the Ministry from time to time," he tells Harry, "that would give the right impression. ... It would give everyone a lift to think you were more involved." Harry refuses. He doesn't want to endorse the ministry when it's sending innocent men to Azkaban—the wizard penitentiary that becomes, in this installment, a stand-in for Gitmo. "It's your duty to check that people really are Death Eaters before you chuck them in prison," Harry says.

These moments elicit grim smiles of recognition and have led some bloggers to label Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince an anti-American screed. But close reading of the book suggests that Rowling's motives are more authorial than political. She's not using Harry to make points about terrorism. She's using terrorism to make points about Harry. Rowling culls the scariest elements of modern life and uses them as a kind of shorthand, a quick way to instill fear.

In many ways, this strategy makes sense. Half-Blood Prince is 200 pages shorter than the installment that preceded it, in part because Rowling does not spend as much time inventing bogeymen and describing how they frighten us. Instead she uses small touches here and there—the dismal tidings in The Daily Prophet, the escalating instances of parental panic—to evoke a fear that her readers have already felt. This new approach is powerful. In 1998, when the first Harry Potter book came out, Voldemort was a fantastical villain, a symbol of evil in the abstract. Today, however, as we substitute for our abstract fear of Voldemort the very real fear we've felt in our own immolated cities, the new book resonates in ways that the old ones have not.

It is hard not to wonder, though, whether making the books more timely will make them less timeless. Critics have been atwitter about Harry Potter lately. Some believe the books belong alongside the classics of children's literature. Others scoff that Hogwarts is no Narnia—that the world Rowling has imagined is narrowly conceived and filled with too many cheap references to our own. Reading the Half-Blood Prince today, Rowling's references to terrorism don't feel cheap. They feel terrifying. But how will they read in 50 years?

In the long run, Rowling may wish she hadn't relied so much on current events. Because the book plays on a very particular set of fears, it may begin to seem dated as time goes by. Which is a shame, because Rowling is more than capable of creating enduring villains. Her best are the soul-sucking dementors that first appear in The Prisoner of Azkaban. These ghouls are vividly drawn and very scary. "Get too near a dementor," she writes, "and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. ... You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life." With the dementor, Rowling managed to make a convincing thug out of depression itself. It is inspired creations like these that win readers over and make books last. Let's hope—for Rowling's sake, if not for Harry's—that it is she, and not Osama Bin Laden, who scares our pants off in the final installment.

Julia Turner is a Slate associate editor. You can e-mail her at

The bias against Madressahs

2005-07-28T20:20:00.000-05:00

I found this BBC article very interesting as it tries to give an insider's view on what some madressahs are really about - although, I wish they had interviewed some women (unless unavailable) and I do think that religious education is not enough and needs to be balanced with education from all the sectors of life - something Islam strongly recommends as indicated by various verses from the Holy Qur'an and the sayings of the Holy Prophet & his family. I went to a Shia madressah in Dubai for about 10 years and think I turned out pretty ok! I'm not saying that there aren't any out there that teach very extremist views, but not all of them should be branded as evil. It was funny but I have been expressing some interest in attending Al-Mahdi Institute - an Islamic academic learning center in Birmingham, UK, that focuses on high level Islamic education with a Shia focus. When I mentioned this to one of my dorm mates, she looked at me and said something like, "That's great as long as you don't become a fanatic or anything!"

From BBC Online:

Attention has fallen on the role of madrassas, or Islamic religious schools, following evidence that one of the London bombers may have attended one.

Five young Muslims attending madrassas in Pakistan and Kashmir spoke to BBC Urdu Interactive about studying in the religious institutions and how they compare to secular education.

HAFIZ RAHMANULLAH, Shamshtoo refugee camp, Peshawar

I am Afghan but have been living at Shamshtoo refugee camp for the last 18 years.

When former USSR forces invaded Afghanistan, our family migrated to Pakistan and stayed at Shamshtoo camp, about 30km east of Peshawar City.

I recently completed Hiffaz [learnt the Koran by heart].

The seminary I attend was founded by famous Jihadi leader Maulvi Younas Khalis, the chief of Hizb-i-Islami, many years ago. More than 200 students, all Afghans, are studying with us.

Besides Hiffaz, the madrassa offers other Islamic subjects such as Islamiyat, Arabic grammar [surf wa nahoo], Usool-e-Fiqa, Hadith, Usool Hadith, Muntaq [logic], mathematics and English.

All these subjects are studied at a detailed level but English and mathematics are only learnt partly.

The religious seminaries in Pakistan are accused of being centres of terrorist activities and producing anti-Western and anti-American clerics.

But these accusations are totally baseless, unfounded and highly exaggerated.

There is no truth in these reports. We have even no time to spend on these useless things.

I have been in Hijrat madrassa for eight years and I swear that I have never noticed any special sermon or other activities against the West or America.

MUHAMMAD HASHIM, Madrassa Tajweedul Quran, Hangu

I am 13 years old. I come from Bagato village a few kilometres away from Hangu city. I was admitted to the Madrassa Tajweedual Quran two years ago.

The Holy Koran is comprised of 30 chapters and I have learnt seven chapters by heart so far.

My father is a mullah and he wants me to become a mullah like him.

I have a religious background. My grandfather was a mullah of Bagato village. He taught my father religious education and he is now the imam of a mosque in our village.

Our family is made up of three brothers and two sisters. My older brothers are studying in regular schools but my father has taught them the basics of an Islamic education.

I have also learnt about computers which is a very useful thing but unfortunately there is no computer in our madrassa.

I want to become a computer expert.

My father says that school education is now becoming necessary for madrassa students because the world is rapidly progressing and Muslims are far behind in some present-day subjects.

We have to answer for all our actions before God, so we should lead a peaceful life and obey orders of Allah Almighty and teachings of the last Prophet Muhammad.

Muslims will remain in decline if they do not stand together on one platform.

SHAKIRUR RAHMAN, Daraul Uloom-e-Islamia Hunfia, Peshawar

In the world today Muslims are being targeted everywhere. Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq are the places where innocent Muslims are being massacred and defamed.

I do not support the terrorist attacks.

Just take the example of Guantanamo Bay. A few copies of the Koran were put in the toilet.

I think desecration of any holy book whether it is of Christians, Jews or Muslims is an act to be greatly condemned.

I lived in the Eastern Ningarhar province, Afghanistan. Our family has four bothers and three sisters. My father is a government official at Jalalabad.

Learning the Koran by heart was my desire. My father is not a cleric but he is a religious-minded man and he supported me when I expressed a wish to be religiously educated.

Now restrictions are being imposed on religious seminaries. No one will oppose these changes if the outdated system is replaced with a new and modern one.

Seminaries should be required to register and a regulatory authority should set up to monitor their work.

But will any government assure that America and other Western powers refrain from anti-Muslim activities?

ABDUL BASEER, Leepa Valley, Kashmir

I quit the regular school in Class Nine. I believe my life at regular school was without any aim.

There was no respect for others.

I had even given up showing respect for my parents.

However, after joining this seminary, Islam gave me a lot. Here, I learnt to respect humanity, to respect my parents and other elders.

I believe that the seminary students have a far more positive attitude towards their country and humanity compared to the students of regular schools.

I am learning the Koran, Hadith [teachings of the Prophet of Islam other than the Koran], Fiqqah [study of Islamic jurisprudence] and many other Islamic subjects. I also regularly play sport.

I am in the fourth stage here and have to study for four more years before getting a degree.

This seminary is dearer to me than my own home - I have my friends here.

I would like to get a degree in law from the International Islamic University in Islamabad after completing my education here. Then I will go back home.

I come from a very backward area and the people do not know much about religion. I will try to introduce a system of learning in my village which caters for both religious and secular education.

We, the students of religious schools, have a positive attitude towards world affairs.

Just because I do not watch television does not mean I do not know anything about global events.

Our seminary has newspapers, computers and the internet and the students all discuss world affairs.

SYED TAJAMMUL ISLAM JILANI, Leepa Valley, Kashmir

I had a regular education up to the fifth class. Then I quit that school and learnt the Holy Koran by heart.

I felt that the education system in our country was very outdated and not capable of creating good human beings. The system could make a man literate but not a good human being.

I joined a religious school to become a good human being.

After completing my education here, I want to introduce a similar education system where my family comes from so students can receive both religious and general education.

We are learning different subjects here - the more important being the study of the Koran and Hadith.

Our seminary also teaches computer studies and I have learnt the basics of computer science.

You might have come across newspaper reports saying that graduates commit suicide because of unemployment. But you would never hear that about a seminary graduate. This is because God helps them and they are never reduced to starvation.

All our politicians and political leaders are highly educated but they have given nothing to the country - most of them are involved in corruption.

However, if they had been trained as religious scholars those people would not act in a corrupt manner.

I can explain the Koran to the world in a very effective way.

This education has given me confidence.

My present course lasts for eight years and I have to study for three more years to complete it.

The type of education we are getting here is not meant to give us a big post. Rather, it is aimed to make us capable of serving the people.

I will set up my own institute to educate poor children.

U.S. Muslims issue anti-terrorism 'fatwa'

2005-07-28T20:17:00.000-05:00

From Yahoo News:

Top U.S. Muslim scholars issued a "fatwa," or religious edict, against terrorism on Thursday and called on Muslims to help authorities fight the scourge of militant violence.

The fatwa was part of efforts by U.S. Muslims to counter perceived links between Islam and terrorism and avert any negative backlash after this month's bombings by suspected Islamic extremists in London and Egypt.

"Having our religious scholars side by side with our community leaders leaves no room for anybody to suggest that Islam and Muslims condone or support any forms or acts of terrorism," said Esam Omeish, president of the Muslim American Society, one of the groups which announced the fatwa.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said it was the first time Muslims in North America had issued an anti-terrorism edict, although they had repeatedly condemned such acts of violence.

American Muslims this month launched a nationwide advertising campaign in which they declared that those who committed terrorism in the name of Islam were betraying the teachings of the Koran.

Muslim organizations say they have not so far detected any widespread reaction against their community after the most recent bombings.

Hooper said Thursday's religious ruling, issued by the Fiqh Council of North America, said: "We clearly and strongly state (that) all acts of terrorism targeting civilians are 'haram' (forbidden) in Islam."

"It is 'haram' for a Muslim to cooperate with any individual or group that is involved in any act of terrorism or violence, and it is the civic and religious duty of Muslims to cooperate with law enforcement authorities to protect the lives of all civilians," he quoted the ruling as saying.

The Fiqh Council is an association of Islamic legal scholars that interprets Islamic religious law. Hooper said it was the only one of its kind in North America.

Some 130 North American Muslim organizations and leaders have signed and endorsed the fatwa.

Similar anti-terrorism fatwas have been issued by other Muslim communities. After the bombings in London religious leaders from about 500 British mosques issued such an edict and presented it to local politicians.

According to Islam, only responsible, religious authorities which are recognized by a Muslim community may issue fatwas. Many Muslims say extremists such as Osama bin Laden have given these edicts a bad name in the West because they have used them without authorization and to call for acts such as murder.

Because Islam is not based on a world-wide hierarchical structure, the edicts are not globally binding, and only affect the community whose religious leaders have issued the rulings. (additional reporting by Caroline Drees)

All Ears for Tom Cruise, All Eyes on Brad Pitt

2005-07-26T12:30:00.000-05:00

From NY Times:

Some of us in the news media have been hounding President Bush for his shameful passivity in the face of genocide in Darfur.

More than two years have passed since the beginning of what Mr. Bush acknowledges is the first genocide of the 21st century, yet Mr. Bush barely manages to get the word "Darfur" out of his mouth. Still, it seems hypocritical of me to rage about Mr. Bush's negligence, when my own beloved institution - the American media - has been at least as passive as Mr. Bush.

Condi Rice finally showed up in Darfur a few days ago, and she went out of her way to talk to rape victims and spotlight the sexual violence used to terrorize civilians. Most American television networks and cable programs haven't done that much.

Even the coverage of Ms. Rice's trip underscored our self-absorption. The manhandling of journalists accompanying Ms. Rice got more coverage than any massacre in Darfur has.

This is a column I don't want to write - we in the media business have so many critics already that I hardly need to pipe in as well. But after more than a year of seething frustration, I feel I have to.

Like many others, I drifted toward journalism partly because it seemed an opportunity to do some good. (O.K., O.K.: it was also a blast, impressed girls and offered the glory of the byline.)

But to sustain the idealism in journalism - and to rebut the widespread perception that journalists are just irresponsible gossips - we need to show more interest in the first genocide of the 21st century than in the "runaway bride."

I'm outraged that one of my Times colleagues, Judith Miller, is in jail for protecting her sources. But if we journalists are to demand a legal privilege to protect our sources, we need to show that we serve the public good - which means covering genocide as seriously as we cover, say, Tom Cruise. In some ways, we've gone downhill: the American news media aren't even covering the Darfur genocide as well as we covered the Armenian genocide in 1915.

Serious newspapers have done the best job of covering Darfur, and I take my hat off to Emily Wax of The Washington Post and to several colleagues at The Times for their reporting. Time magazine gets credit for putting Darfur on its cover - but the newsweeklies should be embarrassed that better magazine coverage of Darfur has often been in Christianity Today.

The real failure has been television's. According to monitoring by the Tyndall Report, ABC News had a total of 18 minutes of the Darfur genocide in its nightly newscasts all last year - and that turns out to be a credit to Peter Jennings. NBC had only 5 minutes of coverage all last year, and CBS only 3 minutes - about a minute of coverage for every 100,000 deaths. In contrast, Martha Stewart received 130 minutes of coverage by the three networks.

Incredibly, more than two years into the genocide, NBC, aside from covering official trips, has still not bothered to send one of its own correspondents into Darfur for independent reporting.

"Generally speaking, it's been a total vacuum," said John Prendergast of the International Crisis Group, speaking of television coverage. "I blame policy makers for not making better policy, but it sure would be easier if we had more media coverage."

When I've asked television correspondents about this lapse, they've noted that visas to Sudan are difficult to get and that reporting in Darfur is expensive and dangerous. True, but TV crews could at least interview Darfur refugees in nearby Chad. After all, Diane Sawyer traveled to Africa this year - to interview Brad Pitt, underscoring the point that the networks are willing to devote resources to cover the African stories that they consider more important than genocide.

If only Michael Jackson's trial had been held in Darfur. Last month, CNN, Fox News, NBC, MSNBC, ABC and CBS collectively ran 55 times as many stories about Michael Jackson as they ran about genocide in Darfur.

The BBC has shown that outstanding television coverage of Darfur is possible. And, incredibly, mtvU (the MTV channel aimed at universities) has covered Darfur more seriously than any network or cable station. When MTV dispatches a crew to cover genocide and NBC doesn't, then we in journalism need to hang our heads.

So while we have every right to criticize Mr. Bush for his passivity, I hope that he criticizes us back. We've behaved as disgracefully as he has.

The killing of Jean Charles de Menezes

2005-07-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

Although I understand the pressures that security officials are under in trying to catch suspected terrorists, I find it hard to support that killing innocent people is acceptable "just in case." In some ways, the argument is no different than the one to torture prisoners for information that may lead to information about other terrorist activities. I thought about Jean Charles today as I took the subway today carrying my bulky gym bag...I honestly was nervous. Will people think I'm a suspect? Will a security official stop to search me? BBC Online had a great article on this where minorities in London weigh in how they feel & have been treated on the Tube. I'm not saying it's easy, but as democracies that value human rights, actions such as these are simply unacceptable in my opinion.

From Electronic Iraq:

Since news broke that London police cornered a young man on the floor of an Underground train, and, in full view of other passengers, pumped five bullets into his head as he lay on the ground, I have been following the reports with increasing anger and sadness. The four bomb attacks on London on July 7 caused enormous carnage and fear. The attempted follow-up attacks the day before the subway shooting only added to the tension.

In this context, reactions to the killing were muted even after it became known that the dead man was a 27-year-old Brazilian immigrant named Jean Charles de Menezes totally unconnected with any terrorist plot. This caution then seems understandable, and that is prescisely the problem. The fact is that in Western societies, collective guilt for brown people is second-nature. We hardly notice it. There are always plenty of people ready to justify, to understand the "difficult" position of the police. But I just can't believe that all things being equal, de Menezes would be dead if he had blond hair and blue eyes. Perhaps if he had emerged from his house looking like David Beckham, one of the officers would have said, "hang on, are we sure we are watching the right house?" Someone might have asked one additional question that would have stopped the chain of events that ended with five bullets in a young man's head.

As soon as de Menezes' identity had been revealed, various British officials expressed sorrow and regret. But within hours the main theme turned to self-justification and rationalization. The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Ian Blair, expressed "regret," but said that such a shooting could happen again.

The director of the human rights group Liberty called for a "comprehensive" investigation into the killing, but even she urged the public to remember that police had to "make split second decisions" with "life-long consequences." Jack Straw, the UK Foreign Secretary, said on BBC Radio: "It is obviously deeply regrettable but what we have to appreciate is the very intense pressure under which the police officers have to work." Straw added, "We have to ensure that clear rules are operated but we also, tragically, have to ensure that the police do have effective discretion to deal with what could be terrorist suicide outrages about to take place. That's the dilemma."

The director of the human rights group Liberty called for a "comprehensive" investigation into the killing, but even she urged the public to remember that police had to "make split second decisions" with "life-long consequences." Jack Straw, the UK Foreign Secretary, said on BBC Radio: "It is obviously deeply regrettable but what we have to appreciate is the very intense pressure under which the police officers have to work." Straw added, "We have to ensure that clear rules are operated but we also, tragically, have to ensure that the police do have effective discretion to deal with what could be terrorist suicide outrages about to take place. That's the dilemma."

The prevailing "split-second decision" thesis, which has dominated UK press reaction, might be more reasonable if the police had received serious, credible information that de Menezes was a suicide bomber a short time before and really believed they were in hot pursuit of him on his way to carry out an attack. But the claim that the police officers only had a split second to act is contradicted by what is already known. The Observer reported on 24 July that de Menezes' "address in Tulse Hill was identified from materials found inside the bombers' unexploded rucksacks on Thursday and was immediately put under surveillance. When Menezes, dressed in baseball cap, blue fleece and baggy trousers, emerged from it at around 10am on Friday, he was followed. When he headed for the nearby tube station, officers decided to arrest him. An armed unit took over, ordering him to stop. He did not. His unseasonally thick jacket apparently prompted concern that he had explosives strapped beneath."

What is already known, therefore, is that almost 24 hours before they saw de Menezes emerge from his house, police had put it under surveillance based on information they found at the scene of one of the attempted bombings at lunchtime the day before. If the overriding goal of the police is to prevent further attacks, why did they not raid the house right away? They might have discovered sooner what they found out too late -- that de Menezes was totally uninvolved in any terrorist plot. The police clearly had more than a "split-second" to act and they need to explain why they did not act.

Yet, something made the police suspicious between the time de Menezes left his home on Friday morning and the time he ran from an armed squad drawing their guns on him. What was it? Surely de Menezes can't have been the only Londoner to leave his house on Friday morning heading for a Tube stop. We are told that it was his fleece jacket that was "unseasonably thick." Here in Chicago, a thick jacket in July would almost surely be unseasonable, although I often take one out at this time of year because I find the airconditioning in most buildings excessive. But in London? I have frozen through many northern European summers in my life, but perhaps the weather has been hot lately. So far as we have been told, all previous bomb attempts in London, like those in Madrid, were carried out with rucksacks, not suicide belts. Did the police have any reason other than de Menezes' appearance that morning to suspect a change in tactics? Had they searched his house when they had the chance, they might have satisfied themselves that he owned a fleece, but no explosives, without needing to kill him.

There is one crucial fact that has been stunningly absent from all the analysis. De Menezes was a brown man. He could have passed for an Arab or perhaps a Pakistani. To those who pursued and killed him, he must have looked the part of a suicide terrorist. After all, it doesn't appear the police knew anything else about him, even though they had almost 24 hours to find out.

In the United States we have many examples of the police making "split-second decisions" to protect the public. There was Amadou Diallo, shot 41 times by four New York City police officers in 1999, while standing at the door of his house. The officers, who were acquitted of any wrongdoing in Diallo's killing, claimed they thought he had pulled out a gun. Amadou had in fact pulled out a wallet. LaTanya Haggerty, a 26-year old Chicago woman, was shot dead during a routine traffic stop the same year because the officer who killed her said she saw her grabbing a gun. What the officer -- who was also black -- thought was a gun, was a cell phone. Chicago has a long, sad history of such "split-second decisions" and what they all seem to have in common is that the victim was not white. Somehow a wallet, a cell phone or a bunch of keys looks more like a gun in the hands of a black person, and a thick jacket looks more like a suicide belt on a brown man.

The police, in any country at any time, whatever strain they must be under, cannot simply be given a blank check. In London, this is the same police force that was famously called "institutionally racist" by the Macpherson Inquiry carried out after the force's incompetence and negligence meant that the perpetrators of the racially-motivated murder of black British teenager Stephen Lawrence got off scot-free. The 1999 report which found widespread racism at every level of the police, was seen as a turning point in inter-ethnic relations in Britain. While acknowledging some progress, one of the inquiry's advisors, Dr. Richard Stone said in 2004, "In some areas things have got a lot worse, random stops of young black men are now twice as likely as they were five years ago. Today a black man is eight times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police, this is definitely not progress." This is the same police force that shot Jean Charles de Menezes.

As the authorities fighting the "war on terror" claim more and more leeway, Muslim communities feel greater pressure. It is now de rigeur to demand that Muslims living in the west "do more" to root out extremism. Yes, we must all do our part. But it is not clear to me why a British Muslim, who works as a nurse, a bus driver or an accountant, has a greater responsibility or ability to fight Muslim extremists than an ordinary white British youth has to fight the rising tide of racism from groups like the British National Party. The responsibility ought to be the same, and yet it isn't. Muslims are increasingly held collectively responsible for whatever any other Muslim says or does, while members of the dominant society are always allowed their individuality and autonomy. White youths who get involved in anti-racism campaigns are sometimes lauded, but the vast majority who don't are certainly not condemned.

On June 28, an Israeli soldier was convicted in the killing of Tom Hurndall, an unarmed 23-year-old British peace activist, shot while he was assisting Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip in April 2003. Hurndall's death was only a rare example of hundreds of such killings by the Israeli army to lead to a trial and conviction. Initially, Israel lied that Hurndall had been armed. "It took months and months and a lot of pushing by the Hurndall family and the British military attaché before [the investigation] got going," said Jessica Montell director of the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. The problem is that Israel is a country where the tactics of the army are widely justified and rationalized as being the necessary actions of hard-pressed soldiers loyally protecting the country against ruthless terrorists. And the army is allowed to investigate itself. When the victim of these actions is a young westerner like Tom Hurndall, rather than a faceless, nameless Arab, the balloon of impunity can be briefly punctured.

Over the weekend, the Brazlian foreign minister Celso Amorim arrived in London to add his government's full weight to the demands for an independent investigation of de Menezes' killing. It remains to be seen whether the British government will demonstrate the same accountability they demanded of Israel, or whether the attitude that a state defending its citizens against terrorism is entitled do anything it wants with impunity has already sunk in too deeply.

Ali Abunimah is a co-founder of Electronic Iraq.

Bollywood's Good Girls Learn to Be Bad

2005-07-24T21:11:00.001-05:00

Coming from a person who enjoys Bollywood movies once in a while, I totally agree with this article. I always wonder why I still watch them & there are several reasons:

1. I love the language and Hindi movies allow me to retain it
2. I enjoy the music
3. I enjoy the light nature of most Hindi movies
4. It's fun to watch parts of my culture screened in films

However, it is rather disturbing how sexualized Hindi films have become in the past decade. A lot that is featured in the films is not representative of Indians or Indian culture, but I guess the same can be said for Hollywood films too. I distinctly remember of how the social culture around me changed in Dubai with the advent of satellite TV. Most Hindi films revolve around fluffy love stories, although a lot of that is changing with new young directors trying to explore new topics. Is this good or bad? I honestly don't have enough brain cells to analyze that at this moment!

From NY Times:

HALFWAY through "Aitraaz" ("Objection"), a Bollywood take on Barry Levinson's "Disclosure," Sonia grabs hold of Raj. Once upon a time, they were lovers. But when Sonia, an ambitious model, opted for an abortion instead of child and marriage, Raj left her. Now she is his boss. Sonia starts to undress him, whispering, "Show me you are an animal." When he refuses and walks away, she screams: "I'm not asking you to leave your wife. I just want a physical relationship. If I don't have an objection, why should you?"

The actress Priyanka Chopra had a difficult time playing this scene. A former Miss World, Ms. Chopra was a sophisticated, globally feted celebrity and she had prepared for her role by studying the calculated seductiveness of Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct." But on the day that scene was shot, Ms. Chopra broke down and cried. The directors, brothers who go by the hyphenate Abbas-Mustan, had to spend a few hours convincing her that she was only playing a character. Filming didn't start until late afternoon.

Ms. Chopra wasn't just being dramatic. She is a Bollywood actress, and as such, trained to play the role of a virginal glam-doll, not a sexual aggressor. By tradition, a Bollywood heroine is a one-dimensional creation who may wear eye-popping bustiers or writhe passionately during a song in the rain. But she is unfailingly virtuous. Whether girlfriend, wife or mother, she is the repository of Indian moral values. In the ancient epic "Ramayana," the hero Lakshman draws a furrow in the earth, the Line of Lakshman, which represents the limits of proper feminine behavior, and requests that his sister-in-law Sita not step outside it. As if heeding his exhortation, Bollywood heroines have rarely stepped out of line, even for a kiss.

But a decade-long cultural churning has overturned stereotypes in India. In 1991, the threat of fiscal collapse forced the government to introduce wide-ranging economic reforms and allow multinational corporations to operate in India. The same year, satellite television arrived. Today, consumerism, globalization, the proliferation of semiclad bodies in print and television, and the emergence of a more worldly audience have redefined the boundaries of what is permissible. Sex has been pulled out of the closet and actors have become more willing to experiment with their images. The latest Bollywood heroines seem to be taking a page out of Mae West's book: when they are good, they are very good, but when they are bad, they're better.

Mallika Sherawat, 24, a statuesque actress, needed little convincing to step out of the stereotype. Ms. Sherawat made her leading-lady debut in 2003 with "Khwahish" ("Desire"), which grabbed headlines for its 17 kisses. Her follow-up was even steamier. "Murder," released last year, a rehash of Adrian Lyne's "Unfaithful," had her playing a lonely housewife in Bangkok who has a passionate affair with an ex-boyfriend. Ms. Sherawat pushed the edge of the sexual envelope as far as the Indian Censor Board would allow. The lovemaking scenes featured bare backs, cleavage and passionate kissing.

Bolder still was the idea that a respectable upper-middle-class woman could have sexual desires and cheat on her husband - and get away with it. "Murder" made back its investment, approximately $750,000, several times over. Ashish Rajadhyaksha, a senior fellow at the Bangalore-based Center for the Study of Culture and Society, said the film established Ms. Sherawat as an Indian "postfeminist icon." The self-anointed "kissing queen of India" now has bigger ambitions. She plays an Indian princess in a coming Hong Kong movie, "The Myth," starring Jackie Chan. After making a splash on Mr. Chan's arm at the Cannes Film Festival, she is, she says, negotiating with Creative Artists Agency for representation.

Ms. Sherawat's journey from a traditional small-town nobody to an international sex symbol is a modern-day fairy tale that has already had an impact. (For Ms. Sherawat, it also has a downside: She says her father refuses to speak her.) Film studios here in Mumbai are overrun with starlets fiercely trading on their sexuality, and even established actresses are now taking chances. In "Fida" ("Crazy"), released last year, Kareena Kapoor played a scheming hedonist who beguiles her besotted lover into robbing a bank for her. Ms. Kapoor, a fourth-generation star, is Bollywood aristocracy. Her great-grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor was a leading man in the 1940's, and her grandfather (Raj Kapoor), parents, uncles and sister are famous actors. There were audible gasps from audiences when her true character was revealed with a dramatic flourish in "Fida": she steps out of the shower with a man who is not her lover.

Heroines aren't just discovering sex, they are positively reveling in bad behavior. In a forthcoming, still-untitled film, Sushmita Sen, a former Miss Universe, plays a protagonist who "enjoys being negative," she said. "She cheats, lies, sleeps with men, even kills them and gets away with it all. I want to give this bad woman a tremendous conviction. You have to fear her."

Aishwarya Rai also hopes to induce fear. Her ethereal good looks have been immortalized in wax at Madame Tussauds in London. In the July issue of the British magazine Harpers & Queen she is listed as the ninth most beautiful woman in the world. But in "Dhoom 2" ("Cacophony 2") to be shot later this year, she is to play a vamp. Ms. Rai won't comment on how badly her character will behave. "In this film, you can't define heroes and villains, but it's a character I've never played before," she said. "Why get pigeonholed?"

The good-girl heroine isn't the only standard Bollywood type to be transformed. The vamp, Hindi cinema's designated bad girl, was traditionally just as important a part of the typology. She did things that upright Indian girls weren't supposed to do - drink, smoke and have sex - and was usually seen on the villain's arm in garish dens or smoke-filled bars, wearing feather boas and revealing outfits. But in the 70's, a slew of more Westernized actresses appropriated the vamp's glamour for heroines by adopting more flashy clothes and more sexually assertive body language. By the 80's the vamp had disappeared.

A decade later, globalization further scrambled neat moral divisions. "The heroine," says Gyan Prakash, director of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies at Princeton University, "now dressed by a fashion designer and placed in a consumerist mise en scène, was liberated. She could appear in a club and wear revealing clothes without being coded."

But though she was sexy, she wasn't necessarily having sex. In the last five years, however, the heroine has come full circle and outvamped the vamp. Even the good-girl heroines are becoming more complex. One of the year's biggest is "Bunty aur Bubli," a sanitized "Bonnie and Clyde" about two small-town con artists who go on a looting spree across India. The woman, Bubli, unapologetically uses her sexuality to cheat people. But she is not evil or predatory; she's just looking for a good time. Her disdain for the housewife role she is forced to play is comic: "If I have to make mango pickle one more time, I'll die," she tells the police officer who arrests the couple.

Interpreting the Hindi cinema heroine's latest avatar as a feminist, however, may be stretching the truth a bit. Earlier films like "Hunterwali" ("The Woman With a Whip," 1935) and "Amar Jyoti" ("Eternal Flame," 1936) featured more powerful female images - a whip-wielding, crime-fighting action heroine, and a female pirate who keeps men in captivity.

The scriptwriter Bhavani Iyer dismisses present-day heroines as "naïve attempts to portray reality," but admits that they are preferable to the deified women in earlier films.

They are, in any case, just a beginning. At present, Lakshman's line may be bent out of shape, but it is still visible. The box office occasionally applauds the sexual daring of a Mallika Sherawat, but as the director Karan Johar, who has made several wholesome, family-centered blockbusters, put it, "In Bollywood, the No. 1 position will always be reserved for the girl you can take home to Mom."

That's why most actresses are hedging their bets. Ms. Chopra got rave reviews and awards in "Aitraaz," but she has followed up with good-girl acts. "I'm not sure I can play such a sexually aggressive character again," she says. "My family and friends were very shocked."

Got morality?!

2005-07-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

So, today I spend a good part of my day just clearing my Gmail account - I have successfully got my e-mail count from 80 to 9! Most of the e-mails had to do with the Middle East, the problems in the Muslim world & the London bombings. At this moment, my head hurts because I, myself am not sure what the problems are and how to solve them. As a practicing Muslim, I usually feel compelled to know all the answers to all the social ills in Muslim societies so that I can answer my friends and co-workers. But the honest truth is, sometimes, I simply don't know. Like everyone else, I can guess what compelled the 4 British Muslims to blow themselves up in London, but in the end, only God knows what the exact reasons were.

These past few weeks have been particularly emotionally draining for me as I question my identity as a Muslim, what it means and how to work to create ideal Muslim communities. Although I truly believe there is no compulsion in religion, I also believe that Islamic rules & regulations should be enforced in Islamic countries - now, I understand that the various and often misconstructed interpretations have created the problems we face in Muslim countries today, esp the treatment towards women; however, I don't believe that means, we should toss out all our values just to appease a Western approach to "reform."

What makes me say this is a conversation I had with a non-practicing but well-informed Muslim co-worker. She said that if people want to have rampant sex, they should be allowed to because you can't legislate "morality". I disagree. We already legislate moral issues such as murder, theft & other "moral" issues, so who decides which issues should be legislated or not. Even if one doesn't accept irresponsible sexual behavior as a moral issue, what about consequences: physical, psycholgical, social & economic? Again, I don't have the perfect answer but I am not going to accept that people should be able to do as they please because as humans, we err & need rules, else we end up causing much harm.

The response of British authorities in response to the terror acts are as expected, scary - the loss of an innocent life in the "shoot to kill" policy is truly tragic. From the flood of e-mails I receieved on the bombers & the reasons for the attacks, this is one I wanted to share - from The Independent:

That fine French historian of the 1914-18 world conflict, Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, suggested not long ago that the West was the inheritor of a type of warfare of very great violence. "Then, after 1945," he wrote, "... the West externalised it, in Korea, in Algeria, in Vietnam, in Iraq... we stopped thinking about the experience of war and we do not understand its return (to us) in different forms like that of terrorism... We do not want to admit that there is now occurring a different type of confrontation..."

He might have added that politicians - and here I'm referring to Lord Blair of Kut al-Amara - would deliberately refuse to acknowledge this. We are fighting evil. Nothing to do with the occupation of Palestinian land, the occupation of Afghanistan, the occupation of Iraq, the torture at Abu Ghraib and Bagram and Guantanamo. Oh no, indeed. "An evil ideology", a nebulous, unspecified, dark force. That's the problem.

There are two things wrong with this. The first is that once you start talking about "evil", you are talking about religion. Good and evil, God and the Devil. The London suicide bombers were Muslims (or thought they were) so the entire Muslim community in Britain must stand to attention and - as Muslims - condemn them. We "Christians" were not required to do that because we are not Muslims - nor were we required as "Christians" to condemn the Christian Serb slaughter of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica just over 10 years ago. All we had to do was say sorry for doing nothing at the time. But Muslims, because they are Muslims, must ritually condemn something they had nothing to do with.

But that, I suspect, is the point. Deep down, I wonder if we do not think that their religion does have something to do with all this, that Islam is a backward religion, un-renaissanced, potentially violent. It's not true, but our heritage of orientalism suggests otherwise.

It's weird the way we both despise and envy the "other". Many of those early orientalists showed both disgust and fascination with the East. They loathed the punishments and the pashas, but they rather liked the women; they were obsessed with harems. Westerners found the idea of having more than one wife quite appealing. Similarly, I rather think there are aspects of our Western "decadence" which are of interest to Muslims, even if they ritually condemn them.

I was very struck some years ago when the son of a Lebanese friend of mine went off to study for three years at a university in the south of England. When I passed through London from Beirut, I would sometimes bring audio tapes or letters from his parents - these were the glorious days before the internet - and the student would usually meet me in a pub in Bloomsbury. He would invariably turn up with a girl and would drink several beers before setting off to her flat for the night. Then in his last term at college, he called home and asked his mother to find him a bride. The days of fun and games were over. He wanted Mummy to find him a virgin to marry.

I thought about this a lot at the time. He was - and is - a most respectful, honourable man who has passed up much wealthier job opportunities abroad to teach college kids in Beirut. But had he been a weaker man, I can imagine he might have quite a few problems with his life. What was he doing in Britain? Why was he enjoying himself like "us", only to turn his back on that enjoyment for a more conservative life?

Take another example - though the two men have nothing in common - that of Ziad Jarrah. He lived in Germany with a Turkish girlfriend - not just dating but living with her - and then on 11 September 2001, he called up the girl to say "I love you". What's wrong, the young woman asked. "I love you," he said simply again and hung up the phone. And then he went off to board an airliner and slash the throats of its passengers and fly it into the ground in Pennsylvania. What happened in his brain as he heard the voice of the girlfriend he said he loved? His father, whom I know quite well, was as stunned as the parents of the London suicide bombers. To this day, he still cannot believe what Ziad Jarrah did. He is even waiting for him to come home.

It's not difficult to be cynical about the way in which Arabs can both hate the West and love it. In Arab capitals, I can read the anti-Bush fury expressed in the pages of local newspapers and then drive past the American embassy where sometimes hundreds of Arabs are standing round the walls in the hope of acquiring visas to the US. The Koran is a document of inestimable value. So is a green card.

But from the many letters I receive from Muslims, especially in Britain, I think I can understand some of the anger generated among them. They come, many of them, from countries of great repression and from lands where the strictest family and religious rules govern their lives. You know the rest.

So in Britain - and even the Muslims who were born in the country often grow up in traditional families - there can be a fierce dichotomy between their lives and that of the society around them. The freedoms of Britain - social as well as political - can be very attractive. Knowing that its elected government sends its soldiers to invade Iraq and kill quite a lot of Muslims at the same time might turn the "dichotomy" into something far more dangerous.

Here is a land - Britain - in which you could live a good life. Pretty girls to go out with (note, we are talking about men), or marry or just live with. Movies to watch - no snipping of the nude scenes in our films - and, if you like, a beer or two at the local. These things are haram, of course, wrong, but enjoyable, part of "our" life. Most British Muslim men I know don't actually drink alcohol and they behave honourably to women of every religion (so please, no angry letters). Others enjoy our freedoms with complete ease.

But those who cannot, those who have enjoyed our freedoms but feel guilty for doing so - who can be appalled by the pleasure they have taken in "our" society but equally appalled by the way in which they themselves feel corrupted (especially after a trip to Pakistan for a dose of old-fashioned ritualised religion) have a special problem.

Palestine or Afghanistan or Iraq turn it incendiary. They want both to break out of this world and to express their moral fury and political impotence as they do so. They want, I think, to destroy themselves for their own feelings of guilt and others for the crime of "corrupting" them. Even if that means murdering a few co-religionists and dozens of other innocents. So on go the backpacks - whoever supplied them is a different matter - and off go the bombs. Something happens, something that takes only a second, between saying "I love you" and then hanging up the phone.

The Iraq War is Over, and the Winner Is... Iran

2005-07-24T20:20:00.000-05:00

By Juan Cole:

Iraq's new government has been trumpeted by the Bush administration as a close friend and a model for democracy in the region. In contrast, Bush calls Iran part of an axis of evil and dismisses its elections and government as illegitimate. So the Bush administration cannot have been filled with joy when Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and eight high-powered cabinet ministers paid an extremely friendly visit to Tehran this week.

The two governments went into a tizzy of wheeling and dealing of a sort not seen since Texas oil millionaires found out about Saudi Arabia. Oil pipelines, port access, pilgrimage, trade, security, military assistance, were all on the table in Tehran. All the sorts of contracts and deals that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney had imagined for Halliburton, and that the Pentagon neoconservatives had hoped for Israel, were heading instead due east.

Jaafari's visit was a blow to the Bush administration's strategic vision, but a sweet triumph for political Shiism. In the dark days of 1982, Tehran was swarming with Iraqi Shiite expatriates who had been forced to flee Saddam Hussein's death decree against them. They had been forced abroad, to a country with which Iraq was then at war. Ayatollah Khomeini, the newly installed theocrat of Iran, pressured the expatriates to form an umbrella organization, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which he hoped would eventually take over Iraq. Among its members were Jaafari and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. On Jan. 30, 2005, Khomeini's dream finally came true, courtesy of the Bush administration, when the Supreme Council and the Dawa Party won the Iraqi elections.

Jaafari, a Dawa Party activist working for an Islamic republic, had been in exile in Tehran from 1980 to 1989. A physician trained at Mosul, the reserved and somewhat inarticulate Jaafari studied Shiite law and theology as an auditor at the seminaries of Qom. His party, Dawa, was briefly part of SCIRI but in 1984 split with it to maintain its autonomy.

Iraq has a Shiite Muslim majority of some 62 percent. Iran's Shiite majority is thought to be closer to 90 percent. The Shiites of the two countries have had a special relationship for over a millennium. Saddam had sealed the border for more than two decades, but throughout centuries, tens of thousands of Iranians have come on pilgrimage to the holy Shiite shrines of Najaf and Karbala every year. Iraqis likewise go to Iran for pilgrimage, study and trade. Although neoconservatives like Paul Wolfowitz maintained before the Iraq war that Iraqis are more secular and less interested in an Islamic state than Iranians, in fact the ideas of Khomeini had had a deep impact among Iraqi Shiites. When they could vote in January earlier this year, they put the Khomeini-influenced Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq in control of seven of the nine southern provinces, along with Baghdad itself.

It was not only history that brought Jaafari to the foothills of the Alborz mountains. The Iraqi prime minister was attempting to break out of the box into which his government has been stuffed by the Sunni Arab guerrilla movement. Jaafari's government does not control the center-north or west of the country and cannot pump much petroleum from Kirkuk because of oil sabotage. Trucking to Jordan is often difficult. The Jaafari government depends heavily on the Rumaila oil field in the south, but lacks refining capability. Iraq lacks a deep water port on the Gulf and needs to replace inland "ports" like Amman because of poor security. An initiative toward the east could resolve many of these problems, strengthening the Shiites against the Sunni guerrillas economically and militarily and so saving the new government.

The last time Iran and Iraq had really warm relations was the mid-1950s. Iraq then had a British-installed constitutional monarchy, and Prime Minister Nuri as-Said was fanatically pro-Western. The CIA had put Mohammad Reza Shah back on the throne in 1953, deposing the democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh (who had angered the United States when he nationalized the Iranian oil industry). In 1955 Said and the shah both signed on to the Baghdad Pact, a U.S.-sponsored security agreement against the Soviet Union and Arab nationalist Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt. The pact proved ill-fated, however. A popular revolution overthrew the Iraqi monarchy in 1958, and Nuri's corpse was dragged in the street. Another popular revolution overthrew the shah in 1979. In 1980-1988, Iran-Iraq relations reached their nadir, as Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and Khomeini's Revolutionary Guards slugged it out on battlefields of a dreary horror not seen since World War I. Jaafari's visit was designed to erase the bitter legacies of that war.

Iraq's Eastern Policy does not come without at least symbolic costs. On Saturday, Jaafari made a ceremonial visit to the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini, on which he laid a wreath. In a meeting with Supreme Jurisprudent Ali Khamenei on Monday, according to the Tehran Times, Jaafari "called the late Imam Khomeini the key to the victory of the Islamic Revolution, adding, 'We hope to eliminate the dark pages Saddam caused in Iran-Iraq ties and open a new chapter in brotherly ties between the two nations.'" The American right just about had a heart attack at the possibility (later shown false) that newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been among the militants who took U.S. diplomats hostage in 1979. But the hostage takers had been blessed by Khomeini himself, to whom Jaafari was paying compliments.

When Jaafari met the head of the Iranian judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, on Tuesday, the two discussed expanding judicial cooperation between the two countries. Shahrudi said that cooperation with Iran's Draconian "justice system" has had a positive impact on other Muslim countries. He called for Iraq to coordinate with something called the "Islamic Human Rights Organization" -- an Orwellian phrase in dictatorial Iran, a state that tortures political prisoners and engages in other acts of brutality. And he urged the Iraqi government to put greater reliance on "popular forces" (local and national Shiite militias) in establishing security.

Jaafari was probably only indulging his clerical host, but his Dawa Party certainly does hope to have Islamic law play a greater role in Iraqi society. The New York Times revealed on Wednesday that the new draft of the Iraqi constitution will put personal status matters, many of them affecting women, under religious courts.

For his polite forbearance as his Iranian hosts boasted of the superiority of their Islamic government and grumbled about all those trouble-making American troops in the Iraqi countryside, Jaafari was richly rewarded. Iran offered to pay for three pipelines that would stretch across the southern border of the two countries. Iraq will ship 150,000 barrels a day of light crude to Iran to be refined, and Iran will ship back processed petroleum, kerosene and gasoline. The plan could be operational within a year, according to Petroleum Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, whose father is a prominent Shiite cleric.

In addition, Iran will supply electricity. Iran will sell Iraq 200,000 tons of wheat. Iran is offering Iraq use of its ports to transship goods to Iraq. Iran is offering a billion dollars in foreign aid. Iran will step up cooperation in policing the borders of the two countries. Supreme Jurisprudent Khamenei has called for the preservation of the territorial integrity of Iraq. In fact, Iran is offering so much for so little that it looks an awful lot like influence peddling.

The previous week, Defense Minister Saadoun Dulaimi had made a preparatory trip to Tehran, exploring the possibility of military cooperation between the two countries. At one point it even seemed that the two had reached an agreement that Iran would help train Iraqi troops. One can only imagine that Washington went ballistic and applied enormous pressure on Jaafari to back off this plan. The Iraqi government abandoned it, on the grounds that an international agreement had already specified that out-of-country training of Iraqi troops in the region should be done in Jordan. But the Iraqi government did give Tehran assurances that they would not allow Iraqi territory to be used in any attack on Iran -- presumably a reference to the United States.

Iranian leaders pressed Jaafari on the continued presence in Iraq of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian terrorist organization with ties to the Pentagon, elements in the Israeli lobby, and members of the U.S. Congress and Senate. Saddam had used the MEK to foment trouble for Iran. Jaafari promised that they had been disarmed and would not be allowed to conduct terrorist raids from Iraqi soil.

Not surprisingly, the warming relations between Tehran and Baghdad have greatly alarmed Iraq's Sunni Muslims. They know that Iranian offers of help in training Iraqi security officers, and Iranian professions of support for a united, peaceful Iraq are code for the suppression by Shiite troops and militias of the Sunni Arab guerrilla movement. Many Iraqi Sunnis believe that the Sunni Arabs are the true majority, but that millions of illegal Iranian emigrants masquerading as Iraqi Shiites have flooded into the country, skewing vote totals in the recent elections. This belief, for all its irrationality, makes them especially suspicious of Shiite politicians cozying up to the ayatollahs in Tehran. A recent BBC documentary reported that the Sunnis of Fallujah despise Iraqi Shiites even more than they do the Americans, in part because they code them as Persians (in fact they are Arabs).

Although officials in Washington felt constrained to issue polite assurances that they want
good relations between Iraq and Iran, the U.S. State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and hawks in the Bush administration all have a grudge against Iran, and would as soon overthrow the mullahs as spit at them. But thanks to the Iraq debacle, that is no longer a viable option. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack revealed the true amount of influence Washington has in Baghdad when he admitted that the Bush administration has not "had a chance" to discuss Jaafari's trip to Iran with the prime minister.

The Iranians hold a powerful hand in the Iraqi poker game. They have geopolitical advantages, are flush with petroleum profits because of the high price of oil, and have much to offer their new Shiite Iraqi partners. Their long alliance with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani gives them Kurdish support as well. Bush's invasion removed the most powerful and dangerous regional enemy of Iran, Saddam Hussein, from power. In its aftermath, the religious Shiites came to power at the ballot box in Iraq, bestowing on Tehran firm allies in Baghdad for the first time since the 1950s. And in a historic irony, Iran's most dangerous enemy of all, the United States, invaded Iran's neighbor with an eye to eventually toppling the Tehran regime -- but succeeded only in defeating itself.

The ongoing chaos in Iraq has made it impossible for Bush administration hawks to carry out their long-held dream of overthrowing the Iranian regime, or even of forcing it to end its nuclear ambitions. (The Iranian nuclear research program will almost certainly continue, since the Iranians are bright enough to see what happened to the one member of the "axis of evil" that did not have an active nuclear weapons program.) The United States lacks the troops, but perhaps even more critically, it is now dependent on Iran to help it deal with a vicious guerrilla war that it cannot win. In the Middle East, the twists and turns of history tend to make strange bedfellows -- something the neocons, whose breathtaking ignorance of the region helped bring us to this place, are now learning to their dismay.

More than two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, it is difficult to see what real benefits have accrued to the United States from the Iraq war, though a handful of corporations have benefited marginally. In contrast, Iran is the big winner. The Shiites of Iraq increasingly realize they need Iranian backing to defeat the Sunni guerrillas and put the Iraqi economy right, a task the Americans have proved unable to accomplish. And Iran will still be Iraq's neighbor long after the fickle American political class has switched its focus to some other global hot spot.

Fatah vs Hamas

2005-07-24T20:15:00.000-05:00

From Al-Ahram Weekly:

After marathon talks, mediated by Egypt, that lasted till well past midnight on Tuesday the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas agreed to end their armed showdown in the Gaza Strip. At a press conference in downtown Gaza, Nizar Rayyan, a Hamas leader, and Sufyan Abu Zaydeh, PA minister for prisoners, announced that all fighters had been ordered to return to their homes.

"Nothing should compromise our unity against our enemy," said Rayyan.

The two sides agreed to continue dialogue and never again resort to violence in settling their differences, to end all forms of incitement and revive the "Cairo understandings".

However, early Wednesday Hamas fighters attacked the homes of the head of the Palestinian security services and the head of Fatah in Gaza, with seven injured in the incident. Conflicting reports emerged, each side blaming the other.

Earlier on Tuesday clashes between Fatah and Hamas fighters at the Jabalya refugee camp, and later in Beit Lahya in northern Gaza, had left more than 20 injured. The fighting between Hamas and Fatah alarmed a broad cross-section of Palestinian society, prompting civic and religious leaders as well as NGOs to call on both sides to stop the fitna, or divisiveness.

The deputy chief of Egyptian intelligence, Mustafa El-Beheiri, had held several meetings with PA and factional leaders in an attempt to persuade them to accept a draft agreement maintaining the "quiet", ie the fragile de facto cease-fire with Israel.

During a meeting with the Egyptian delegation on Monday night Hamas leaders agreed to end the "battle of declarations" with the PA and their demands for the sacking of Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Youssef.

According to informed sources, Hamas continues to hold grudges against Youssef who, in the mid-1990s, led a campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip during which dozens of activists -- including Mahmoud Al-Zahar, the movement's current leader in Gaza -- were arrested and tortured.

The enduring mistrust between the PA and Hamas deepened last month when the PA decided to postpone till further notice the legislative and local elections it had promised during the meeting of factions in Cairo only months earlier. In return for the elections, and for PA promises to take action against corruption and nepotism within its ranks, Hamas agreed to abide by the cease-fire. Yet the PA has effectively reneged on all its promises.

Hamas' frustration was exacerbated as rumours circulated in the Strip that the PA leadership was planning to reward its cronies with plots of land in the soon-to- be-vacated settlements. Despite PA denials, simmering resentment finally exploded when a missile was fired on an Israeli settlement outside Gaza earlier in the week. While officially Hamas claimed the attack was in retaliation for the killing by Israeli troops of a Fatah fighter a day earlier in Nablus, many insiders say it -- and subsequent missiles -- was a result of Hamas' indignation and frustration vis-à-vis the PA.

The situation further deteriorated Friday, 15 July, when armed men from both sides exchanged fire in central Gaza, killing two boys, with Hamas claiming the PA was implementing Israel's agenda, and the PA accusing Hamas of undermining national unity and acting as a state within a state.

When, on the same day, Israeli air forces began a series of assassinations, killing 12 Hamas members, the PA faced the embarrassing possibility that Palestinian public opinion would see it, and Israel, as fighting the same enemy.

By mid-week, with Israel threatening a ground offensive against the Gaza Strip, Abbas vowed to do his utmost to stop the firing of missiles on Jewish settlements and beyond the green line. The missiles, he argued, were threatening to delay the Israeli withdrawal and undermine Palestinian national interests.

Abbas also urged the EU and the Bush administration to exert pressure on Israel to exercise self-restraint, arguing that a fresh Israeli rampage through Gaza would "spoil everything".

His efforts bore fruit when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned her Israeli counterpart, Silvan Shalom, Sunday, asking him to refrain from authorising incursions in Gaza. Rice is due to arrive in the region this weekend in an effort to encourage a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the Strip.

For its part, Hamas reasserted its commitment to the cease-fire on condition of Israeli reciprocity. "We are committed to the 'quiet' on condition of reciprocity. This means that if Israel doesn't respect the cease-fire we won't," said Said Siyam, one of Hamas' leaders in the Strip.

That reciprocity is clearly not on Israel's agenda. Siyam was assassinated by Israeli sniper fire on Sunday, 17 July. And on Tuesday, while El-Beheiri was meeting with the leaders of Palestinian factions in Gaza, the Israeli army entered the town of Al-Yamon in the northern West Bank, destroying a number of homes and killing at least two members of the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. Medical teams were reportedly denied access to the town.

Despite El-Beheiri's efforts the tug-of- war between Hamas and the PA is likely to continue, threatening the possibility of intra-Palestinian conflict. For that possibility to be avoided, Egyptian mediators must seek a long-term rapprochement between the two main forces in Palestinian society, which means ending PA attempts to marginalise its rival.

Many many apolgies

2005-07-20T21:52:00.000-05:00

I apologize for not blogging in a while, but I have been swamped at work trying to catch up with work & sifting through both my work & personal e-mails since I was away for a week. I promise I'll be back to blog this weekend on politics & my NY trip. For those of you looking for alternative analysis on the latest ongoings in both Iraq & Palestine, check out:

Informed Comment

Electronic Intifada

IRIN News

Keep connected!

Off to NY!

2005-07-08T18:09:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let y'all know that I'm heading off to New York tomorrow for a week, where I'll meet up with my family. I haven't taken a vacation since I've come to DC, so I am really looking forward to the break, although I'll probably be very broke by the end of the week!

I hope you all have a great week - will be back to blog later!

Peace

It's a sad sad day...

2005-07-07T22:25:00.000-05:00

I was having breakfast this morning when I found out about the terrorist attacks in London. My first thought went to my dad's family - I txted my cousin because the lines were busy & was relieved when he responded saying they were all ok.

When I got to work, the Programs Team, which is where I work didn't really feel like doing anything. We all sat around for a while remembering how we all felt on 9/11 - 2 of them were in DC while one was in NY - we also talked about how sad it was that the attacks may derail some important items like climate change and Africa from the agenda.

For me it was a surreal experience - almost like watching a movie but knowing there is no happy ending. I left work early because I just couldn't focus after a while & went to the gym to workout where I watched a complete BBC report on today's tragic events. When I came back home, I just prayed, recited Dua-Kumayl (a popular Shiite supplication usually recited on Thursday nights) and cried my heart out because I am so sad and confused...I don't know what to think or how to feel...

I still haven't come to terms with the fact that London has been attacked by terrorists, most likely from Al-Qaida. I feel so angry at the loss of innocent lives, and scared at what the political retaliation will be by Blair. I fear that some British people will turn against their Muslim peers similar to the aftermath of 9/11 in the U.S. I'm worried that this will give Bush an excuse to continue his reckless foreign policies in the name of the "War on Terror"...what I do know for sure is that this has strengthens my resolve to do continue what I do because no one has the right to take away my hopes & aspirations.

As countries re-examine their security strategies, I hope they will keep UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's speech in mind when he was in Madrid in March to mark the anniversary of the bombings in Spain:

"terrorism is a threat to all states and to all peoples, which can strike anytime, anywhere. It is a direct attack on the core values the United Nations stands for: the rule of law; the protection of civilians; mutual respect between people of different faiths and cultures; and peaceful resolution of conflict.

So of course the United Nations must be at the forefront in fighting against it, and first of all in proclaiming, loud and clear, that terrorism can never be accepted or justified, in any cause whatsoever.

By the same token, the United Nations must continue to insist that, in the fight against terrorism, we cannot compromise on the core values I have listed. In particular, human rights and the rule of law must always be respected. As I see it, terrorism is in itself a direct attack on human rights and the rule of law. If we sacrifice them in our response, we are handing a victory to the terrorists.
...
There are five elements, and I shall call them the ive D's. They are:

first, to dissuade disaffected groups from choosing terrorism as a tactic to achieve their goals; second, to deny terrorists the means to carry out their attacks;
third, to deter states from supporting terrorists;
fourth, to develop state capacity to prevent terrorism;
and fifth, to defend human rights in the struggle against terrorism.

Also from Informed Comment:

What was the aim of this particular terrorist attack?
"The Al Qaeda ideology believes that the Muslim world is weak and oppressed and dominated by the wealthy capitalist West. And that this West uses things like the establishment of Israel or the setting of Muslim against Muslim in Iraq or Afghanistan as a way of keeping the Muslim world weak. Ideally, all the Muslims should get together and establish a United States of Islam, which would revive the Caliphate. (In medieval Islam the Caliph was a kind of pope figure, a central spiritual authority.) Under the Caliphate, you'd have the wealthy Egyptian writers and engineers and you'd have the wealthy oil states come together to make the Muslim world into a united superpower.

Does that dream spring specifically from Salafi theology?
No, you could be a Salafi and not share that particular ideology.

So where does the idea come from?
It goes back to the 19th century. The Ottomans, when they were facing British and French incursion, put together this idea of pan-Islam back in the 1880s. They think that for the last 200 years or so, since Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798, Europe has been invading their countries, raping their women, subjecting their men, and stealing their wealth.

So they have a two-fold plan. In order to establish a united Muslim country, you'd have to overthrow the individual secular regimes that now exist -Algeria and Egypt, and so forth. Then you'd have to unite them all und er Salafi Islam. And every time they've tried to overthrow the Egyptian government, they're checked, in part because the Americans back [Egyptian President] Hosni Mubarak.

So then they put forward the theory in the 1990s of hitting the foreign enemy first. Basically there are two major impediments to their plan. One is the local secular military governments, which resist being dissolved into this Islamic state. The other is the Western superpowers that back the military regimes. So they became convinced that in order to go forward with their plans, they would have to find a way of pushing the United States and the other powers out of the Middle East - make them timid about intervening, make them pick up stakes and go home, leaving Mubarak and others to their fate. So the attack on London is part of this strategy -getting the British out of Iraq and Afghanistan, weakening British resolve for having a strong posture in the Middle East a la supporting the United States. Having gotten rid of Western dominance, they believe, they can then polish off the secular enemies and go forward with their plans for a revolution of the global south.

If the West pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan, would that end the terrorism or slow it down?
The people who already hold these ideas are unlikely to have their minds changed. They look around and see Western influence everywhere. Certainly the U.S. occupation of Iraq is a great recruiting tool for al Qaeda. They can go to the mosques and find unemployed angry young men and say they are oppressed by Westerners and say, Look what they're doing in Fallujah. So the images are very good recruitment tools.

Why do they think terrorism will work, since it's unlikely Britain will change its policies?
The British were already planning to draw down their troops from 9,000 to 2,000 in the next nine months. I think the British will do that, and these bombings will not change British policy. The British have been bombed before and have not been timid; they've soldiered on in their activities. I don't think Spain withdrew from Iraq mainly because of the Madrid bombings, either. The Iraq war had always been enormously unpopular - 92 percent of the population didn't want it.

But these people don't do these bombings for immediate political purposes. Sacred terror has a lot to do with symbology. They're like big theatrical events. As I said, they couldn't even operate in Cairo; they would be arrested. So they feel very powerless. All the powers in the world are against them, and they feel very sure God is with them. What do you do if you're a tiny fringe who is completely right and indeed only if your plan succeeds is the world saved? And you're opposed by all of these massive states and powers? One of the things they're doing is giving themselves heart. They're saying we can make a difference, we can intervene in history, the enemy is not invulnerable, and we can strike it . . ."

Celebrating Independence Day in DC

2005-07-06T22:32:00.000-05:00

Washington, DC in many ways is the most unique city in the country because very few people are really from here. Therefore, I have had a chance to meet people from all over the country who bring their own traditions, accents and experiences to add to the city’s diversity. Living here has made me even prouder of being a Minnesotan esp when people make fun of me for saying “pop” instead of “soda”! However, I feel Washingtonian enough to get annoyed by tourists who block the way at the metro or walk at a leisurely place while you’re trying to get to work!

Living in a woman’s dorm has also been a very interesting experience for me - the discussions at dinner or in the TV room range from topics of health care to judicial nominees to Christian Bale (Batman) to makeup to education to shopping to health care to social security to Iraq! This has not only given me an opportunity to make a lot of friends but also humanize Republicans because many girls come from the South and are pretty conservative. Most of the time we avoid talking politics and even if we do talk about sensitive issues, we don’t debate but try to understand the other perspective. However, this is not to say that I have not met whacky girls who think liberals are just evil!

Celebrating the holiday in the nation’s capitol was definitely interesting. The security was really tight & our bags were checked - my friends & I spend the whole day at the National Mall (where the Smithsonian museums & Washington monument are located) with thousands of people. DC hosts an annual “Folklife Festival” at the Mall & this time one of the countries featured was Oman. It was interesting to see Omani locals showing off their traditional food, music, culture & attire. For a brief moment, I was reminded of the old Dubai I grew up in before the city lost its soul and became decadent in my opinion. After the fireworks were over, although most people were unaware of this, security officials carried out a mock evacuation plan – the largest since 9/11, so it was interesting to try to get out as fast as possible, minus the panic of course!

Many people have asked me what is it I exactly do in DC & why, so I’ve decided to give a brief synopsis. My office is located in a house & my desk is cramped with some of my co-workers in the newly re-done basement. This is better than before when my desk was located on the 1st floor right next to the kitchen & bathroom! I work on peacekeeping issues in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and UN reform. It has been really fascinating to work on Africa and I completely agree with PM Tony Blair that helping Africa is the “moral challenge of our time.” I’m sure most of you must have heard of the Live 8 concerts across the globe this past weekend based on the ONE campaign in order to raise awareness and pressure the powerful countries to do something about Africa this week when they meet.

On the local front, I have mentioned before that homelessness in DC is prevalent, thus I decided to volunteer at a homeless shelter. The place is located by a sewage treatment plant, which gives out a bad smell that carries its odor all the way to the shelter. This probably means the water is contaminated at this place. The water in the city is known to have a high lead content, so most of us drink bottled water that we bring to the shelter when we volunteer. It’s really upsetting to see kids who have experienced a lot of trauma in their lives and tend to be pretty feisty & angry but loving at the same time.

I call myself a realistic idealist because although I believe it is possible to make the world a better place for humanity, I also acknowledge reality. The organization I work for and many others don’t just protest and ask for lofty unrealistic “pie in the sky” goals but work with the system to bring about viable and realistic change. The one thing I have learned from my professors, friends & co-workers who work in politics is how to see beauty & hope despite the suffering & pain we have to deal with through our work. Not to say that I don’t get depressed once in a while, but the one thing that keeps me going every morning is knowing I’m not alone. There are thousands of other people working on a variety of issues & slowly we produce the ripples that will create the wave of change we desire.

For those of you wondering whether I have a life beyond politics, the answer is YES! Living in DC is great because there are always cheap or free events to attend. I have also become an official Harry Potter fan – I’m still on the 5th book trying to catch up before Rowling releases her new book this month…I think more adults read her books than children!

On that magical note, I’m going to bid you a good night.

Take care,
Ma’salam (With Peace)

A realistic idealist

Sharon-Abbas summit ends in deadlock

2005-06-26T13:23:00.000-05:00

I'm not saying I'm surprised, but I am still disappointed. Every talk boils down to how the Palestinians have failed to curb violence despite what the Israelis may have done. What really amazes me is how Sharon is increasingly going against what the US wants - in this case, Secretary Rice had pressed for substantive agreements but to no avail. History repeats itself but it doesn't look like the US governments ever learn - I have a feeling that our blind support for Israel will come to haunt us one day just as some of our other past actions have....

From The Guardian:

A rare meeting between Ariel Sharon and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, ended in deadlock yesterday after the Israeli prime minister said there could be no political progress, or even gestures, "so long as terrorism continues".

The Palestinians described the first meeting of the two men since February's ceasefire declaration as "difficult" after the Israeli prime minister said "this is not the time for concessions" following a series of attacks by armed Palestinian factions that have killed two people, and a failed attempt to send a female suicide bomber to blow up an Israeli hospital.

At the beginning of the talks, a microphone picked up Mr Sharon telling Mr Abbas: "We are still taking casualties."

Mr Abbas appealed for practical concessions that would bolster his support among Palestinians increasingly sceptical about the real intent of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza this summer and the value of cooperation with Mr Sharon.

He also called for Israel to fulfil a commitment made in February to withdraw from five Palestinian cities, to lift roadblocks that restrict travel through the West Bank and to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

The Palestinian leader also appealed for a return to peace negotiations shortly after Israel completes its Gaza withdrawal, and demanded an end to the continued expansion of Jewish settlements.

Mr Sharon said he is prepared to hand over control of two Palestinian towns, Bethlehem and Qalqilya, to release some prisoners and to grant an additional 39,000 permits for Palestinians to work or trade in Israel in an effort to ease economic hardship. Israel also said the international airport and sea port in the Gaza strip might be permitted to reopen once Jewish settlers had left.

But Mr Sharon's spokesman, Raanan Gissin, said it was all conditional on the Palestinian leadership doing more to "end terror", including disarming armed groups.

"None of this can be accomplished as long as terrorism continues to run rampant, as long as the Palestinian Authority does not take the steps necessary to stop terrorism," Mr Gissin said. "It is not only Abu Mazen [Mr Abbas] who has problems. If the public does not support [Mr Sharon's] plan, the whole thing will fail."

Mr Sharon said continuing Palestinian attacks, led by Islamic Jihad, are helping to weaken public support for the Gaza pullout.

The Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, who also attended the talks, said the meeting achieved little."There were no positive answers to the issues we raised," he said.

Hours before the summit Israeli forces arrested 52 Islamic Jihad activists in its first big sweep against the organisation since the ceasefire declaration.

Israel's defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, said the military would no longer show "restraint" toward the armed Islamist group because the Palestinian Authority had been "ineffectual" in confronting it.

"When we found out that the Islamic Jihad was carrying out acts of terror and wasn't adhering to the truce ... then there was no choice but to take resolute action," he said.

But Mr Abbas's national security adviser, Jibril Rajoub, said Mr Sharon's unwillingness to make further concessions was complicating the Palestinian Authority's attempts to rein in the armed factions. "Without help, without cooperation from the Israeli side, without the Israeli side treating him as a partner, as a neighbour, I do not think [Mr Abbas] can do anything," he said.

Israel is demanding that Islamic Jihad, Hamas and similar groups be confronted and disarmed. Mr Abbas has sought to draw them into the political process by offering the prospect of electoral legitimacy in return for abandoning the armed struggle.

G8 for Dummies

2005-06-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

Since there has been so much talk about the upcoming G8 summit next month in Scotland, my organization has created an easy G8 for Dummies guide to explain what the G8 is & what the meeting will be about - enjoy!

What is the G8?

The G8 stands for the ‘Group of Eight,’ which is comprised of the world’s leading industrialized nations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was initiated as the G6 in 1975 by the President of France, who convened a meeting with leaders from the U.S., UK, Germany, Japan and Italy to discuss the global issues of the day. Since then, it has grown to eight members and has become an informal but well-established group that meets every year to form a common agenda for tackling the world’s most formidable challenges. It is not a legal body and has no formal rules or procedures. Since the United Kingdom holds the rotating presidency of the G8 this year, the Summit is scheduled to be held in Perthshire, Scotland, from July 6-8.

Why is the G8 important?

In today’s interconnected world, threats are not confined to national borders and require national, regional and global approaches to solve problems. The G8 Summits provide a forum for the leaders of the world’s most powerful countries to meet and discuss how to work together on issues such as terrorism, non-proliferation, poverty, disease, trade, and climate change.

What is on the G8 agenda for this year?

In order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has designated three main agenda items for this year’s G8 Summit: debt relief, increasing aid to Africa, and climate change.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed to in September, 2000, are ambitious but attainable targets for the year 2015 in the global effort to address poverty, hunger, disease, and other development challenges. In the report he published in March, Secretary General Kofi Annan emphasized that “humanity will not enjoy development without security, or security without development.” The Secretary General has long held that countries must commit 0.7% of their gross national incomes in order to achieve the MDGs. Donor countries reaffirmed their commitment to increase their Official Development Assistance (ODA) at the 2002 Financing for Development conference in Monterrey.

Increasing aid to Africa:

Of the 20 poorest countries in the world, 18 are in Africa. Prime Minister Blair has urged G8 members to double aid to Africa to help people on the continent lift themselves out of poverty, an effort he calls the moral challenge of our time for all of us. The world is too small for us to ignore the impact of poverty around the world on the U.S. Trans-border threats such as terrorism, disease, and illegal drugs flourish in countries where lawlessness and despair prevail. Helping responsible governments get stronger and offering their people hope for a better future is a smart investment in our security.

U.S. position: The Bush Administration has incrementally increased aid to Africa but has refused to match the commitment level of our G8 partners or a level sufficient to achieve the MDGs.

Investing in Debt relief:

Another item at the forefront of the agenda is investing in debt relief. Many poor countries spend more in interest on old loans from foreign governments and banks than on health and education for their own people.

Canceling loans for countries that are committed to good policies and responsible governance can make a huge difference. For example, $3 billion in debt relief is helping Tanzania send 1.6 million children to school. Its neighbor, Uganda, used the money it saved through debt relief to make primary education free for every child, which it couldn’t afford before.

On June 11, G8 finance ministers agreed to write off $40 billion in debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. With more resources at their disposal, millions of Africans will be provided the right mix of tools and resources to invest in education, health care, jobs, businesses and economic stability.

U.S. position: The Bush Administration supports this initiative.

Climate change:

Scientists agree that human pollution of so-called greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide, is causing significant shifts in global climate patterns. These shifts are increasing the frequency and danger of extreme weather events, reducing agricultural output in certain areas, and causing sea levels to rise. Prime Minister Blair is one of many world leaders who recognize the grave threat that climate change poses to humanity.

In spite of U.S. opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, which all other G8 countries have ratified as a first response to the problem, Prime Minister Blair is attempting to forge a new consensus for a long-term agenda on climate change. He is offering a wide range of options for the discussion.

U.S. Position: The Bush Administration questions the importance of human activity in climate change and refuses to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. The Administration also invests very few resources in climate change research or technological solutions.

Other Issues:

Other agenda items taking lower priority at the G8 Summit include counterterrorism, non-proliferation, and following up on past G8 initiatives like the Broader Middle East.

Key Recommendations

· The United States should increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) substantially in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

· The Bush Administration should actively engage with the international community to develop a long-term, comprehensive strategy on climate change.

· The G8 agenda should address critical security and human rights issues that affect the course of sustainable development in Africa. These include Charles Taylor’s criminal activities in West Africa, human rights violations and democratic failures in Zimbabwe, the ongoing conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo, and the crisis in Darfur.

· The U.S. should maintain a firewall between aid pledges and our commitment to debt relief.

Abizaid: Insurgency still strong

2005-06-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

From the directly contradicted recent statements by the vice president and the secretary of defense. Canada's Globe and Mail reports that Gen. Abizaid "conceded yesterday that the Iraqi insurgency is as strong as it was six months ago, countering declarations by Vice President Dick Cheney that the revolt is 'in its last throes.' "

"In terms of the overall strength of the insurgency, I'd say it's about the same as it was," he said, declining to specifically criticize Mr. Cheney's upbeat assessment of the continuing conflict.

Gen. Abizaid also said that there are more foreign fighters entering Iraq today than there were six months ago. On Wednesday, a classified CIA document that was leaked to the media showed that the war in Iraq is becoming a urban warfare training ground for many of these foreign fighters. He also recently said there would be a surge in violence in Iraq, particularly against "soft targets" such as civilians and aid workers, as insurgents try to disrupt elections slated for September, but that the process would go ahead regardless of attacks.

When asked to explain the contradiction between his earlier statements and those of Gen. Abizaid. Mr. Cheney told CNN it all depends what you mean by "throes."

"If you look at what the dictionary says about throes, it can still be a violent period, the throes of a revolution," he said. "The point would be that the conflict will be intense, but it's intense because the terrorists understand that if we're successful at accomplishing our objective – standing up a democracy in Iraq – that that's a huge defeat for them.

Abizaid raised another key issue - public support of the war in Iraq. The Boston Globe reports that he warned that troops are starting to worry about public support for the war. The general "implored political leaders to engage in a frank discussion about how to keep the country behind a mission that the armed forces believe is 'a war worth fighting.' "

A recent CNN poll shows that public support for the war it as low as it has ever been - 39 percent of Americans still believes the US should be fighting in Iraq. The Globe and Mail also reports that US politicans are starting to see evidence of this swing in support even in solidly "red" states.

"Public support in my state is turning," said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, part of the heartland of Bush support. "People are beginning to question. And I don't think it's a blip on the radar screen. We have a chronic problem on our hands."

Cheney, in Thursday's CNN interview, said the Bush administration doesn't "pay much attention" to poll showing support for the war fading.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other US military commanders tried to assure a fractious Congressional hearing that things are not all that bad in Iraq. The Detroit Free Press reports that Gen. George Casey, commander of multinational forces in Iraq, "told lawmakers that the insurgents represent 'less than one-tenth of 1 per cent of the Iraqi population.' He expressed confidence that the insurgency would be defeated, although he added that the solution lay in the political process."

Rumsfeld and Gen. Casey say Iraqi troops now number 170,000, but declined to say how many have been fully trained. Rumsfeld also told the hearing that the US is "not losing the war in Iraq."

Salon writer Mark Benjamin details the "return of the body counts." For the first time in the Iraq war, and in direct contradiction to prior statements by top US military leaders, commanders in the field are now reporting the number of insurgents killed.

An extensive review of combat accounts from military commanders reveals that regular reporting of body counts appears to have begun with the battle for Fallujah in November 2004. US Marines' assault on the insurgent stronghold, launched immediately after the US presidential election, was considered critical to showing progress in the war. The Pentagon estimated 1,200 to 1,600 enemy fighters killed - though at the time the media noted a large and "mysterious" discrepancy in the body count reported following the battle.

If history offers any clue, counting dead insurgents is a misleading endeavor that can destroy trust in the Pentagon and ultimately lead to atrocities on the battlefield. During the Vietnam War, historians say, inflated body counts that sometimes included civilians shattered the Pentagon's credibility with the American people and undercut support for that war. Former soldiers from that era say that relying too much on body counts can drive soldiers in the field to commit atrocities in order to achieve a high number of kills – though there is no indication that is happening in Iraq.

The Guardian reports on a bold attack earlier this week by insurgents against Baghdad's largest police station, and the effect it had on inhabitants of the city.

Residents said their confidence in the government and security forces was severely dented. A rash of graffiti has spread across the area: "We will be back." One taxi driver, a Shia who loathes the mostly Sunni Arab resistance, shrugged. "Yes, they will."

Finally, CNN reports that a new poll taken by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that the image of the United States "is so tattered overseas two years after the Iraq invasion that communist China is viewed more favorably than the US in many long-time Western European allies." The polls were taken in 16 countries, including the US, from late April to the end of May with samples of about 1,000 people from each country.