"People like you should be burnt alive"

Al Arabeyeh reports that an Egyptian court sentenced five Egyptian men to three years in jail for being homosexual. (The news of the arrests and sentencing were reported elsewhere in February). Two of the men are HIV positive.

Since the Egyptian law has nothing explicitly about homosexuality, the men were convicted on charges of habitual "debauchery," which now covers sex between consenting adult men (I'm sure they will extend it to women when the national security of the state demands it). The men were beaten in prison and were subjected to forensic tests to prove their homosexuality (they are so advanced about these things in Egypt. They watch so many CSI episodes). They tested them for HIV without their consent. Not only that, but they tied them to their hospital beds while they were at it. I guess they were worried they might run around the hospital wards biting the good citizens and infecting them. You know, like vampires.

One prosecutor told one of the men when he was informed that he is HIV positive: "People like you should be burnt alive. You do not deserve to live."

If Egypt is going to throw in jail all Egyptian men who have sex with men, they will need many more prisons.

The criminalization of homosexuality will be a black spot on Egypt's history. Just like the long bread lines. Many Egyptian organizations condemned the arrests and bad treatment of the men. That is a bright spot in the fight against injustice.

The criminalization of AIDs is a disaster!!! Othering and demonizing patients who are HIV positive or have AIDS will not help protect Egyptians. But this is not about protecting Egyptians at all. It's about the state scapegoating the weak to consolidate its power uber alles.

Back to School

Nujoud Mohammad Ali, a Yamani eight year old, had won a law suit against her father and husband. The judge agreed to annul her marriage to a 30 year old man on the basis that she was not of age yet (I take that to mean that she's not menstruating). Nujoud complained that her husband would beat her up and have sex with her by force. She would chase her from room to room.

She was assisted by Yameni feminists and human rights' advocates.

Her father, who is unemployed with five daughters, said he married her off to protect her from men who might kidnap her.

After winning the suit, Nujoud said she is looking forward to going back to school. She's a second grader.

One Red Light And You're Out

If you drive through a red light in Kuwait, and you happen to be a resident as opposed to a citizen, you are out!!!

Of the country.

"Life is Good" with Coca Cola

Ronald Reagan's Words of Wisdom (I never thought I'd ever write this)

Update: As anonymous in the comment section indicates, the quote is phony. Reagan never said it. Check

http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/kinsley.asp

Which means that I am still to agree with anything that Ronald Reagan said.

In his diary entry for May 17, 1986, Ronald Reagan had the following to say about George W Bush:

"A moment I've been dreading. George brought his n'er-do-well son
around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the

political one who lives in Florida; the one who hangs around here all
the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and
has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New

Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or
something. That looks like easy work."

From the REAGAN DIARIES------entry dated May 17, 1986.

Film: The "Other" Threat

A trailer of Bassam Haddad's new film: The "Other" Threat on Muslims in Europe.

How Do You Say 3itab in English?

The video below is of Abdel Halim and Shadia in"Balash 3itab" from their film The People's Idol.

The other day I was trying to translate the word "3itab" to an American friend and was stumped.

It refers to that state/exchange that may follow, or precede, a fight between lovers or friends. Most likely it should result in a resolution of the conflict, but sometimes it can lead to further discord. The lover who is engaged in "3itab," Halim in this video, would express his disappointment or hurt. He may blame the beloved for one thing or another. But he does it gently. Otherwise, it's not 3itab but a good old fight.

3itab is not arguing. It's not groveling. It's not "talking things over." It's not "guilt-tripping" and it's not a form of passive aggressiveness. It has hints of all of these meanings without being any of them.

So what is it?

Of course, in the song below Halim is telling her let's not engage in 3itab, then spends the next 10 minutes performing a classic example of it.

Womenandchildren

Now everybody and his mother in law, in this particular instance Al Thawaheri and his mother in law, are so damn concerned about women and children. He supposedly chastised Hamas for firing their missiles at Israeli women and children saying that such an act is forbidden by religion.

Al Thawaheri? Of Al Qa'eda?

In response, a Hamas spokesman emphasized that Hamas does not target women and children.

A spokesman for the Israeli government also denied (as usual) that Israel ever targets women and children. He explained that the children allegedly killed in Israeli raids on Gaza were really malnutritioned militants and that the women who allegedly died were terrorists in drag.

What is it with this "womenandchildren" mantra anyway? Isn't it still illegal and unethical (please don't laugh) to kill men? The point is not to target "civilians" and last I checked civilians included men as well as womenandchildren.

Hayati

By the inimitable Algerian Souad Massi

The Sheikh and the Poet

The Egyptian menace called Sheikh Yousef al Badri has made it his mission in life to terrorize Egypt's writers and intellectuals. His latest assault is against the poet Helmi Salem whom he is accusing of insulting the Divine Being in one of his poems. When the poet was awarded one of Egypt's highest literary prizes, so Badri decided to sue on behave of ... God.

Guess what?

He won!! Again.

An Egyptian court agreed with him that the poet was "rude" to God and therefore the prize has to be rescinded. This is the third victory over writers that al Badri, God's defender on Earth, has won. Al Badri wants more; he wants the poet on trial. Again, on behalf of God.

"Rude to God?" Did God complain to these people? Do they have a hot line open between them and God? Who appointed them guardians of virtue? Who said they could read and interpret literature?

Here's the offending excerpt (with my translation below):

"ليس من حل أمامي.. سوى أن أستدعي الله والأنبياء.. ليشاركوني في حراسة الجثة.. فقد تخونني شهوتي أو يخذلني النقص.. الرب ليس شرطيا حتي يمسك الجناة من قفاهم.. إنما هو قروي يزغط البط ويحبس ضرع البقرة بأصابعه صائحا: وافر هذا اللبن.. الجناة أحرار لأنهم امتحاننا الذي يضعه الرب آخر كل فصل قبل أن يؤلف سورة البقرة.. الرب ليس عسكري مرور.. إن هو إلا طائر.. وعلى كل واحد منا تجهيز العنق.. لماذا تعتبين عليه رفرفرته فوق الرؤوس.. هل تريدين منه أن يمشي بعصاه في شارع زكريا أحمد.. ينظم السير ويعذب المرسيدس".

"I have no other solution ... except to call God and the prophets...so they can help me guard the corpse..for my desire may overwhelm me ...God is not a policeman who grabs criminals by their buttocks... He is a peasant who coos to ducks and milks cows, saying: much milk here...The criminals are free because they are the test that God imposes at the end of every class before he writes the Cow Verse. God is not a traffic policeman... he is a bird and each of us has to prepare the neck. Why do you blame him for flying over our heads? Do you want him to walk with his stick in Zakarya Ahmad street...to control traffic .....

Helmi Salem joins other Egyptian intellectuals vilified by the religious establishment. Nasr Hamid Abu Zeid had to leave the country after a court decided to divorce him from his wife by force as punishment for his writings. And there is the poet Ahmad Abdel Mu'ti Hijazi and Nawal el Saadawi and many others.

These attacks on intellectuals have a chilling effect. Not only do they hurt the individual writer concerned, but they intimidate and silence the others. When ignoramuses like Badri are allowed to scrutinize every simile, every metaphor, every analogy a poet makes, there will be no poetry.

Imagine a world with no poets. Imagine a world with only Badris and Qaradawis.

Imagine and cringe.

Running in Beit Hanoun

Imagine training for the Olympics in Beit Hanoun! Yes, as in Beit Hanoun of Gaza, where shelling is the main contact sport. That's what Nader al Masri, a Palestinian runner and an Olympic hopeful, tries to do while waiting for a permit from Israel to exit the prison called Gaza. You can watch a short video about him here.

Unlike Zubeidi (see post below,) Al Masri does not declare the end of the Palestinian people. I wonder why!

Have the Palestinian People Ended?

Zakariya Zubeidi, a former leader of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, gives an interview to Ha'aretz in which he declares the end of the Palestinian people. His point is that they are torn now by the Fateh and Hamas factionalism and the total failure of the Intifada. Ha'aretz made that statement about how we have "ended" the headline of the article, as if bringing good tidings to its readers.

Zubeidi continues to idealize Arafat and his wisdom, refusing to see how what we are harvesting now was sowed by Arafat and his leadership. But some people love sacred cows and Arafat is one of them.

Zubeidi's narcissism comes through: what he's saying is this: "I have failed, my group has failed, my leadership has failed, therefore, the Palestinian people have ended."

I do like his pointing out the absurdity of the "They are traitors" language used by Fateh and Hamas against each other. As he says, the result of that is branding 80% of the Palestinian people "traitors."

The Joubran Brothers

Palestinian Torture

An independent committee appointed by the head of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, and consisting of non-Fateh or Hamas members, concluded that the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the death of Majd Barghouti, a Hamas member, who died in prison. The committee said that there were marks of physical abuse on Bargouti's body and that the report of the independent doctors they relied on contradicted the official medical report that said the prisoner died of heart problems.

The group demanded punishing all those involved in the torture and death of Bargouti and an end to all torture against prisoners in Palestinian jails. We can all dream, can't we?

It is sad, painful, and disgusting to see victims using, in this case against their own, the same methods that are being used to humiliate and torture them. But the Palestinians are not the first or the last to do so. History, alas, is full of such examples.

Crunching Numbers

After a while not posting, I needed a juicy, dramatic item to write about to make up for my absence these past weeks. And here it is:

Israel removes 10 chocking points from the West Bank.

Now we only have 518 more to go. This means we need C Rice to make 53. 3 trips to the region.

There is hope for the weary!