Double Identity…

Over “Mansaf”, a traditional Jordanian dish, a heated debate of the Palestenian conflict, the Iraqi conflict and the general situation in most Arabic countries took place…This is not uncommon Arabic conversation generally, but in this house it was!! I was invited with a friend of mine to this Palestenian Lady house, a young mother & wife of an Arabic American military and Muslim marine, whose family were Palestenian in origin. The ladies were three Palestinians, me and a Jordanian friend…The fact that the hostess defended heartedly with all strength her values, cultures and occupied country contradict greatly with the fact that the family lived on the wages of her husband, a military man who served his country’s agenda of occupying and controlling Arabic lands…I just sat quietly listening to the debate and the suggestions of the guests & hostess of how Arabs can be re-united to regain control and power on their own countries…I liked the lady a lot and I heard that her husband cares a lot about his fellow Arabs and students and doesn’t hesitate to offer help & support whenever needed, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking how strange all this seemed, who would’ve thought that we would talk heated politics in the house of a US marine?…We Arabs are full of contradictions, we’re just normal people in extremely abnormal situations!!

Tolerance…Does such a concept exists?…

Tolerance is the capacity for, or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others…. or simply the unbiased treatment of a person in a community…In reality, this is a concept that can’t really exist except with certain degrees of limitations, and someone’s rights if he/ she is from a minority group will always be on stake since no one system can be satisfactory enough for all people religious beliefs & ideologies, this is especially true in Islamic system as understood and promoted by the scholars, Islamic rulings doesn’t fit with most worldly accepted practices…That’s why I sympathesize with the secular system promoters although many religious Muslims are against it… The secular system seems to be the only system that consider the rights of all people without bias against any minorities where all citizens are equal in front of the laws…Questions would then arise as to which kind of laws would the country apply in sentences, laws & judgments and in promotion of identity? would it be the International laws of human rights? then, for example, women & men would be allowed to enter relationships as long as done in consent and abortion would be a woman’s right? this means that the Islamic punishment system of sexual acts by stoning to death or 100’s lashes, or the amputation of organs of thieves and corrupted people wouldn’t be applied, Practices of religion as fasting & prayers at mosques will not be enforced and religious studies in schools and universities will not be obligatory but optional, so it doesn’t really give a society it’s Islamic identity, Turkey did achieve the secularization’s of their country, making it easily inhabited by various cultures and sometimes Turkish of non-Islamic life style, you can still find religious people in Turkey but they became a minority …There will be pros and Cons in each system, whether Secular or Religious, but the one pro of a secular system is to allow free expression of viewpoints and the disclosure of true beliefs & identities of people without having to hide for fear of prosecution or punishments…So which system is better? religious or secular? “The truth is evident by comparison” as goes the Russian saying…

On Life & Death…

The story of Hadeel, the blogger who went in a coma didn’t end as I expected…I was somehow assuming that the efforts in finding her a bed and praying for her return from her fellow bloggers would sum up in something beautiful and she would be back eventually and thank everyone on her blog with a heartfelt and impressive post…But then she passed away…I tried calling her father to express my condolences but his phone was turned off, and then I get to reflect on death, the end of the road for all the living, and how it would come unexpectedly to claim the most vivacious lives, they would disappear as if never existed…My demons were always old age and sickness and not having someone loving beside me on my death bed…But is death as ugly as we think of? a young lady sighs & cries on a TV show still haunt my memory when she called the show to inquire about her dead mother…She was still crying in despair as if it happened just now while her mother had passed away several months ago…The lady guest of the show soothed the girl and explained that death is a new journey and not as awful as we think of, she said it resembled transcendence and shouldn’t be thought of as an ending…It is really a mystic subject and no words can quite describe it’s true nature and consequences, The only lesson of death is that Life is short and we better make something worthy out of it, as for Hadeel, the blogger whom I never met but introduced to her story by her friends, I would say that a beautiful soul has just left us and we would terribly miss her loving & caring words…

Getting lost on the highways with a GPS…

Equipped with my brand new GPS, I decided to venture into the road, so I picked up a faraway department store & drove…There were two possibilities, either I don’t have any spatial intelligence at all (I really didn’t have to use it ever in my previous life), or the store just vanished!!!…I swear I’m following the voice prompts, the nice feminine voice of the GPS kept on saying like a broken record “arriving at the store” over & over until I got so furious & shut it off, I kept looking around but the store is no where to be found, I pulled over & asked a lady about the store, and it turns out that it’s not at that location at all…What’s going on? that damn GPS is supposed to help me and not add to my confusion!! and why was it so sure that the store is there?…Three whole hours of getting lost and circulating around highways, I even had to refill my gas and couldn’t open the cover, a nice guy saw me twisting & pushing the poor thing repeatedly & decided eventually to lend me a hand, I didn’t even say thank you…needless to say that the safest thing left was to return home, so much for a road trip…God I hate technology!!!

My Top 10 Saudis List…

It’s a lovely idea inspired by Ahmad Al Omran post of top 10 Saudis he would like to meet (Stolen in other words), my list however, would include Saudi living people who succeeded in creating a positive change in people lives within their community…. So, here goes my list (arranged randomly):

1. Mohammad Hassan Alwan, a young novelist & columnist of an impressive depth and artistic writing.
2. Ali Saad Al-Moussa, A columnist & a University professor, for his outspoken courageous words & frank expressions of opinions
3. Dr. Sami Anqawi, An architect and a former minister, for his dedication to youth enlightening via his Scholarly weekly gathering in his open to public home in Jeddah “Al Makkeyya”.
4. Turki Al-Dakhil, The journalist & TV host of Idha’at, for the high numbers of viewing for his show & the distinguished list of guests he invites to the show. (I personally don’t like his somewhat offensive attitude with the guests).
5. Ibrahim Al-Mugaiteeb, the political activist & the first person to launch a human rights organization in Saudi, he was jailed, detained & followed for his activities but still promoted his mission to journalists & foreign agencies despite all that.
6. Hamza Al-Muzaini, a University professor & writer, for his frank expressions against traditional school of thoughts and his challenge of strict religious views.
7. Iman Al-Qwaifly, an unemployed science graduate and a writer at Al-Watan newspaper, for her deep insight and analysis of cultural challenges and stereotypes.
8. Dr. Maha Al-Muneef & Dr. Inaam Al Rubooey, Physicians who carried among themselves the development of a national campaign to spot & report domestic violence & child abuse.
9. Abdullatif jameel & His family, business men & philanthropists who were committed to reduce the unemployments among men & women by offering educational & vocational opportunities to youth.
10. Dr. Mohammad Al-Qnaibet, an economist, Parliament council member & a writer for his continuous activity to improve economical awareness and enlighten people about the deterioration of the market (rumor that he was relieved from all his posts and jailed).

The salad bar religion…

We have an Islamic center in the University run by some residents and students, I went there few times before but stopped later due to my anti-social nature… Last Friday, my friend asked me to go with her so I went out of courtesy, The Friday speech, presented by a Moroccan professor, was somehow random in ideas & composition but I found an amusing thing about it, he symbolized the attitude of Muslims who pick & choose certain practices of Islam while leaving others by those sampling from a salad bar (something indicative of his elite status), he indicated to the crowd that religion is a whole (package)… There are things in religion that I can’t bring myself to practice and I don’t know if I am sampling by this or not, I think since God created humans with certain differences, some levels of variations in practice surely must exist…I couldn’t really stop my self from smiling despite the serious faces around me!! Something about his choice of expressions & words is funny…Differences did appear on the faces of those around me, they were indeed different in race, age & culture, let alone their practice & endurance…

On Saudi Women…

Saudi women life is a hot topic, they don’t enjoy the same life style as any other woman on Earth and they are always under the ruling of some male relatives until they die… What make them unique though is not religion but a twisted understanding of religion and a passive attitude created by many years of oppression & fear…they are the daughters of Arabic countries residing -by will or force- under unjust occupation &/or ruling for so many years and sometimes for centuries out of fear and helplessness, lonely cries for more rights and independence are faced with iron hands that shut them before echoing in other ears and gathering more support and compassion…Most of these women are contented with male guardianship since it’s a divine doctrine -as they were taught- and if they were miserable and suffering here on Earth they would surely be rewarded handsomely on life after…The latest human rights watch report on women in Saudi showed the extent of the problem if a guardian did not pay attention to the woman’s best interest, he can certainly go away with it and no one would interfere on his divine right…This is where women should stand against to create a better future for themselves & their daughters!!! Read more about it here:

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/21/saudia18598.htm

Women friendly!!!

A newly converted Muslim friend who comes originally from Thailand talked to me about her impressions of Saudi men…She said although she met some good Saudis, she didn’t feel at ease around the men, she said one Saudi colleague did something in a class room to her that she would never forget (physical harrasement) and she was so shy to object because she thought it was unintended, but then he did that again!! That man was married with children -I have this observation that married men are more arrogant and shameless than single men- I couldn’t deny that, her remark was an obvious truth…Saudi men score a bad reputation around the world… The Saudi Cultural bureau keeps on sending warning emails about the violations & misconduct done by Saudi students and how it caused them to be expelled…What prompt this strange offensive attitude toward women? as if they don’t seek a woman consent at all in making any gesture or move…Is it caused by lack of knowledge of women?… did that stem from the complete segregation?.. Or the inferior status of women in society?… What makes these men perceive women as passive entities in any relationship? What makes them think that they have every right to impose? it’s confusing for new Muslims & for Muslims from other countries to understand this attitude from Saudis since they perceive them as the real representatives of Islamic teaching, it’s quite a challenge to figure out why Muslim men from other countries are much safer when dealing with women compared to Saudi men…I think women should rate men according to their safety level starting from “women friendly to biohazard to women”, and I guess I already know in which category most women would place Saudi men…