Arabisk – The Arabic Bloggers Ken

The following is an abbreviated translation from some of the Arabic-language blogsphere.

Music…

Amal, in her latest cartoon:

WaWa

“See my Wawa, kiss my Wawa.” The Wawa is the little tiny hurt “ouch”..

In this cartoon; a poor bleeding Palestinian child is begging from a wealthy Arabian man who seems not giving attention and busy listening to one of the most famous, yet currently the most seductive singer in the Arab world, Haifa Wahbi.

Quoting the late Ghassan Kanafani (a famous Palestinian novelist, revolutionary journalist and writer), Amal writes:

اننا نرفض أن تكون الاغاني التي تقدمها اذاعتنا هي وجهنا الفني، و نعتبرها اهانة تنزل بنا : شعبا و حضارة و ذوقا، نعتبرها تشويها متعمدا و مقصودا لقيمنا و مستوانا، و استبذالا لكل ما هو خير و جميل و نبيل في حياتنا، بكلمة اخرى : مؤامرة خطيرة على جيلنا الفتي ، و تسليط دكتاتورية رخيصة على اخلاقنا، افسادنا و تشويهنا، و تحكيم حفنة ممن لا يمثلون قيمنا في اثمن ما نملك
غسان كنفاني – 1968
We refuse to be tagged by this type of radio songs, and we consider it an insult assailing us, our people, our culture and taste. We consider it to be deliberate and intentional distortion of values, and repulsive to what is good and beautiful and noble in our lives. In other words; a serious conspiracy against the young generation, and a cheap dictatorship against our morals, an arbitration by a handful who do not represent the values of our most precious and valuable assets.
Ghassan Kanafani – 1968

Speaking of the Wawa, Iyas and Laith has produced the Jordanian version of the Wawa song (MP3). On the other hand, Haitham wrote a funny quick tutorial of the Wawa and how to treat it supported by seductive photos of the famous singer, Haifa Wahbi.

Iraq…

During the past few days, an application form has been widely distributed in many cities throughout Iraq urging past Ba'ath party members to rejoin the Ba'ath party. A news report by Al-Basra Net said that the form was distributed among the Iraqi-Sunni's only.

Imad Khadduri disaffirm this news. He said:

وأنا مواطن عراقي من كربلاء أثارني الخبر وأقلقني لأنه خبر مدسوس غرضه التغطيه على حقيقة أنّ الأستمارات تّمّ توزيعها ليس فقط في مناطق الأخوة السنة بل في المناطق الشيعيّة الصرف وحتى تلك التي تهيمن عليها ميليشيات ايرانية للسيد الحكيم. فأنا أعيش في مدينة كربلاء وأؤكد أنّ الأستمارات تمّ توزيعها في كربلاء. وأنا بنفسي رأيت الأستمارات عند أصدقاء وأقارب وتحدّثت معهم وهم يسكنون في ثلاثة أحياء في كربلاء. هذا ما عرفته شخصياً. أما ما لا أعرفه فبالتأكيد أنّ الأستمارات تمّ توزيعها في أغلب الأحياء. وأنتم تعرفون أنّ كربلاء تحت سيطرة الظلاميين الأيرايين.
I am an Iraqi citizen from Karbala; irritated by the news and disturbed because its purpose is covering the fact that the forms were distributed not only in areas of the Sunni brothers, but in the Shiite areas and even those dominated by the Iranian militia of Mr. Hakim. I lived in the city of Kerbala and confirm that the forms were distributed in Karbala. I myself saw the forms with friends and relatives and they live in three districts in Kerbala. This is what I have known personally. What I do not know certainly if the forms were distributed in most neighborhoods or not. You know that Karbala is under the control of the oppressive Iranians.

Away from war and conflicts, Tara, loves life. She lists here some of the reasons:

-لانها تمنحنا أناس رائعي الرهافة والاحساس (مثل الكثير الكثير من المدونين، مثل ما قالت رات) يعيدوا الامل عند قراءة كلماتهم.
-لان فيها أناس مثابرين جدا ليكونوا قدوة لنا في صعودهم من القاع (مثل اوبرا وينفري !)
-لان الظالم فيها يقع في المصيدة في نهاية المطاف و يعرف العالم حقيقته.
-لان الله يديرها.
-لانها ما تزال تمنحني مفاجآت رغم اني غسلت ايدي منها .
– It gives us people of delicate sense (such as a lot of bloggers, as Rat said) who brings us hope when reading their words.
– Because of the very people who persevered to become role models in ascending from the bottom (such as Opera Winfrey!)
– Because the unjust falls at the end and the world will know the truth.
– Because God is in administration.
– It still gives me surprises despite the fact that I washed hands from it.

Democracy…

In Kuwait; democracy is heading towards a new brink. This evening, the ‘Orange Protest‘ will go out in streets protesting the new government proposal to change the number of election zones.

The protests already started few days ago. On Tuesday, Zaydoun had a foreigner guest from Dubai who is in business trip to Kuwait. When he saw the protest in front of the Kuwaiti parliament during the day, he insisted that he would like to join the protest that was going to take place a the same night.

Zaydoun then said:

لم يصدق عينيه عندما رأى الحشود وسمع الخطابات والهتافات ولخص المشهد بجملة بسيطة.. دبي لديها العمران والبهرجة لكن الكويت لديها الروح. قلت له الروح الكويتية كانت موقوفة طوال سنوات من الإحباط و السلبية وعدم الإكتراث لكنها خرجت الآن بقوة وعزم وصوت مسموع…
He (the guest) could not believe his eyes when he heard the crowd cheer speeches, then the guest summed up the scene by simply saying; Dubai has the construction and showy adornment, but Kuwait has the spirit. I told him that the spirit of the Kuwaiti was suspended throughout the years of frustration and negative indifference, but now emerged strongly and resolutely voice …

A lot of photos from the last few days protests can be found here and here. Note the font colors of the blog like many other Kuwaiti blogs, turned orange.

That was on the peaceful side of protest in the Arab world. The rocky one still continues at Egypt.

The government issued a decree banning street protests.

Wa7da Masrya post short press release by “Journalists for Change“, which says:

تعليقا على تحذير وزارة الداخلية للصحفيين والمراسلين بشان تغطية أحداث يوم الخميس 18/5/2006 تحمل حركة صحفيون من اجل التغيير الرئيس حسني مبارك بشخصه وبصفته المسئولية عن أية انتهاكات أو دماء تسيل على أيدي أجهزة الأمن .. وتناشد الصحفيين المصريون والأجانب كافة ممارسة واجبهم المهني في تغطية الأحداث. وترى أن هذا التحذير بمثابة ترخيص لأجهزة الأمن لارتكاب المزيد من الجرائم ومخالفة القانون والدستور سواء ضد حقوق المواطنين في التجمع السلمي او حرية تدفق المعلومات .
Commenting on the warning the Ministry of the Interior for journalists and reporters about the coverage of the events on Thursday, 18 May 2006, Journalists for Change Movement holds President Hosni Mubarak personally and as responsible for any violations or blood at the hands of security forces. The Movement appeals to the Egyptian and foreign journalists to exercise their professional duty in covering the events. The Movements sees that the government warning is a license for the security forces to commit further crimes and violation of law and the Constitution, both against the rights of citizens to peaceful assembly or freedom of information flow.

Ahmed is even more pessimistic. He publishes the Egyptian flag, but upside down and writes:

فِي العُرْفِ العَسْكَرِيِّ، رَفْعُ العَلَمِ مَقْلُوبَاً هُوَ دَلالَةٌ عَلَى الكَرْبِ وَ المُصِيبَةِ وَ طَلَبٌ لِلِعَوْنِ وَ المَدَد
In military tradition, the flag upside down is a sign of distress and the catastrophe and request for help.

Zarqa Alyamama even call it occupation:

بس هو دلوقتى المقروض نتعامل مع مصر على انها دولة محتلة ونطالب باستقلالها
او على الاقل نطالب مثلا بالحكم الذاتى
يعنى احنا السكان الأصليين لمصر نطالب فى مجلس الأمن بالحكم الذاتى
لا بجد كفاية بقى اللى بيحصل ده
We should deal with Egypt as an occupied land and demand independence, or at least ask, for self-governance. We are the indigenous of Egypt and we ask the Security Council call for our autonomy. Really, enough of what is happening.

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