Baby Arab Dabke - how cute!

A dear friend, who is herself pregnant with a baby girl, just sent this. How cute is this? … Watch and enjoy. It will make you smile, esp. if you have ever tried dancing dabke yourself. Click on image below (in center) to play the video.

NPR debates: The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

This is bound to be an interesting discussion on the nature, role, and power of the Israel Lobby in the USA. Lots of very harsh and extreme charges flying either way. But American democracy and freedom of speech at its best…

You can listen online at your convenience.
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http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/09/20070905_a_main.asp

Debating ‘The Israel Lobby’
Aired: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 10-11AM ET
By host Tom Ashbrook:

A-list scholars Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer are out with a new book that has sparked furious denunciation. It’s called “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.” It says the deep U.S. embrace of Israel is no longer in America’s national interest, but goes on anyway because of a sprawling, well-funded, well-placed world of pro-Israel lobbyists. It says that lobby drove the U.S. to war in Iraq.

These are incendiary charges. The authors have been denounced as sloppy, defamatory, and anti-Semitic. They’ve also been credited with airing a tough issue.

This hour On Point: Walt and Mearsheimer make their case and former chief Mideast envoy Dennis Ross pushes back.
=================
GUESTS:
. Stephen Walt, professor of international affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and co-author, with John Mearsheimer, of “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy”
· John Mearsheimer, professor of political science and co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago
· Dennis Ross, Middle East envoy for presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, currently a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and author of “Statecraft: And How to Restore America’s Standing in the World” (2007)
· Aaron David Miller, advisor to six U.S. secretaries of state on Arab-Israeli negotiations, currently a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington and author of the forthcoming “America and the Much Too Promised Land: The Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace”

Mother’s Day: Mothers of the World Unite for Peace

It is Mother’s Day this Sunday, at least in the US. Like most others around me, I am also thinking of my mother, Ammi as I call her. I wish her health, comfort, and happiness - which I know partly comes from her knowing that not only are her children safe and healthy, but that they are also successful and with characters that she can be proud of.

I have always been amazed by the inner strength and courage that my mother has always shown in some of the most difficult times. It sounds cliche, but she has really been the backbone of our little Pakistani family. Our father left to work in the Middle East soon after she had just given birth to their 4th child, and the first girl. She brought up 4 kids on her own for more than 8 years, in a city where crime rates were high and external hired help was expensive and hard to come by. She bravely fought back her tears when her kids left one by one to study abroad for she knew it would bring them far greater success than she could provide for them in Pakistan, and she single-handedly managed an entire family’s transformation from an orthodox, conservative existence to a more liberal, open-minded, inquisitive nature when her children themselves learnt to question and probe all things she had been brought up to take for granted.

But most of all, I have been amazed not just by her courage and fortitude, but also by her patience and calmness. Her calmness is like a cloud cover that I take shelter under when tides are rough and high. She reminds me that this life, and our struggles, are but a part of a marathon and not a sprint to some finish line. She tells me stories of how great people overcome the difficulties by finding inner strength and with their faith in God. She reminds me in difficult circumstances only the ones with determination, goodwill, and honesty succeed in finding support around them. Her lessons to me in finding inner tranquility and righteousness transcend beyond her own family. When 9-11 happened, I was a bit scared of what would follow. So I called her. I told her to pray for all who perished, and for those who may have to pay a high price because of their religion or the color of their skin. And her response: “Allah knows all, He watches everything. Never lose trust in Him. He is always there to support the innocent, even when it may not seem so obvious. Have faith in His judgment, in His mercy and your honesty. Be brave, but don’t be stupid, and remember that if all else fails, we will always be there for you. Let’s all hope peace will prevail and this madness will come to an end”.

As I write this, I realize how profound her thinking was (and is), despite not having any medical, juris, or philosophical high degrees. She was thinking from the pit of her womb, where life itself took shape. She was thinking like a life-giver, a mother. She knew what pain was, and she knew what it meant to endure the pain (of birth) because life itself got birth when mothers did that. She wants peace in this world, more than anyone else. Not only for the welfare of all the children of this world, but most importantly for her own children. No one else could be more genuine about that. No one.

I share below an essay from Queen Noor of Jordan that just appeared on CNN. She brings up the same thing. I could not agree with her more:

Let’s reclaim Mother’s Day for peace

By Queen Noor
Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan is an international humanitarian activist, a leading voice on issues of world peace and justice, and honorary chair of Rediscover Mother’s Day, which celebrates the role of women as peacemakers.

AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) — In 1982, during a period of dangerous stalemate in the Middle East peace process, I gave a speech at Georgetown University about the critical need for a more engaged and balanced role for the United States in the region.

The newspapers the next day covered my handbag, my rings, and my dress. When asked about the substance of my message, one U.S. Senator said, “It’s a great public relations weapon to have an attractive queen.”

Twenty-five years later, the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East still reflects some of the most pressing global challenges confronting the contemporary world — the stagnant Palestinian/Israeli peace process, the increasingly dangerous conflict in Iraq, the escalation of extremism, the debate over emerging democracies — all point to the need for visionary and transformative leadership. I firmly believe that peace will only come to the region when mothers find their voice and say of the violence, “Enough is enough!”

Mother’s Day — whether it is the U.S. tradition of celebrating mothers on the second Sunday in May, or on the first day of spring, when we observe the holiday in Jordan — is universally meant to be a tribute to motherhood and the blessings of peace. In fact, in America the holiday was originally called “Mother’s Day for Peace.” It was proposed over a century ago by Julia Ward Howe, the famous abolitionist and suffragist, after she witnessed first-hand the terrible bloodshed of the Civil War in America and the Franco-Prussian War in Europe. Howe hoped that the powerful maternal desire for security could shape world events, and she called on mothers of the world to unite against war.

Howe’s vision and her call to action could not be more relevant today. As a mother, stepmother and grandmother, nothing is more important to me than the safety of my family. I am not alone. Studies show that women’s priority, when given either money or opportunity, is the well-being of their families. They invest their time and devote whatever resources they have to reducing poverty and hunger, improving maternal, child and general health and promoting educational opportunity. That is why the position of women is the best marker of a country’s development and stability.

Mothers prove every day, all over the world, that peace and security require cooperation and compassion. Having traditionally occupied a paradoxical position at the heart of society but on the fringes of power, women often bring unique strengths, talents, and perspectives to the quest to resolve conflict and establish freedom. They are willing and able to cut across ethnic, religious and tribal barriers, and break through obstacles through peace in order to do what is best for their families.

It is no coincidence, then, that so many of today’s leading peacemakers are themselves mothers. All of us must do everything we can to support their efforts. People like Swanee Hunt, who served as the United States Ambassador to Austria and has spent her life advocating for peace and for the inclusion of women in the peace process through her work and by creating Women Waging Peace. Or Trish Malloch Brown, who travels the world advocating for people affected by war and conflict on behalf of Refugees International. Or Lisa Schirch, the director of the nonprofit 3D Security Initiative, who uses development projects like building schools and water wells to disarm conflicts from Lebanon to Ghana.

But the day has come for something more than individual efforts. Millions of mothers from Nablus to New York and from Baghdad to Beersheba must begin to find common cause in peace and work together to give their quiet power a louder voice. We need a movement of what Naila Bolus of Ploughshares Fund calls “global security moms,” who can work within their families and communities, and in national and international arenas to temper extremism and to hold their leaders accountable for decisions that escalate the cycle of violence rather than address underlying problems. Such a movement of mothers would be impossible for our leaders to ignore, and would be more powerful than all the tanks and suicide bombers combined.

So from one mother to many others, let us be silent no longer in the face of war and violence. May all mothers and families around the world be blessed with a happy Mother’s Day for Peace.

Palestinian Dabke: at Harvard

L started doing Dabke quite a few years ago in Boston. She and her friends in Boston formed a Dabke troupe called Zeitoun and they did several performances. Zeitoun has not performed together for a while, but one former Zeitoun member, Zaki, has done an awesome job teaching this traditional Palestinian (and Arab) dance to some new students at Harvard. Below is a video of his amateur troupe performing at Harvard last weekend. It is really nice to see Palestinian culture being celebrated and participated in by people in Boston.

Dabke is a beautiful dance! It is a folk line dance, performed by either just men, just women, both together. Its is als a communal dance, done at wedding, celebrations, and other occasions. It was the most popular dance at my wedding! It is a performance dance, as well as a participatory dance. While it is performed all over the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia), I have most experience watching the Palestinian version of this dance. Some of the most famous internationally famous dabke troupes today include Ibdaa, Sareyyet Ramallah, and El-Funoun (see a short video below - I have seen them perform and they rock), all based in Palestine.

Dabke music is so awesome, so rhythmic, so powerful - and then the stomping of the feet in rythm. I love it! It just so happens that Zaki also chose one of my favorite Dabke music to perform to…

The leader plays an important role in Dabke (which Zaki did for his troupe). According to a post in Wikipedia:

The Dabke leader is supposed to be like a tree, with arms in the air, a proud and upright trunk, and feet that stomp the ground in rhythm, emphasizing their connection to their land. The meaning of “dabke” in Arabic is “stomping of the feet,” and stomping, as well as jumping and kicking, are moves that characterize the dabke in a unique manner. The leader, called raas (meaning “head”) or “lawwih” (meaning “waver”), is allowed to improvise on the type of dabke being danced, and he or she would also be twirling a handkerchief or string of beads known as a masbha (similar to a rosary), while the rest of the dancers keep the rhythm. The dancers also use vocalizations to show energy and to punctuate the rhythm. Many learn dabke as children, while others perform it as part of professional dance troupes.

Beirut

One of my favorite Pakistani bands (Strings) just released a video and song dedicated to Beirut (or more appropriately dedicated to the shattered dreams of a city that had just begun to open its arms to the world).

The track is called Beirut, but it could also be dedicated to Baghdad, Gaza or any other part of the world where innocents continue to be oppressed by state sponsored terrorism.

Watch the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPaO_q6v508&eurl= or by clicking below:

-Bilal

Date: the Ramzan fruit

It is Ramzan once again, an exciting part of the year for Muslims around the world. I have experienced Ramzan (also called Ramadan in some non-Urdu speaking countries) in many cities in many countries, and one thing that has always remained the same is the ritual of breaking fasts with dates (Khajoor). I have had dates at Iftar since childhood and now if dates are not available at Iftaar, I feel empty inside (in more ways than one). If I know that I may be traveling at Iftar time, I pack a few dates to go with me.Dates are considered a delicious addition to confectioneries and food around the world. I have consumed dates in more ways than just popping one as is in my mouth . Palestinians make excellent cookies with dates. Afghans add dates and figs to their cakes. I have had scrumptious khajoor ka halwaa in Pakistan, and my mom would sometimes leave dates and almonds in milk overnight and give them to us in the morning. As a kid, I loved eating Khajji, which I understand to be a non-ripe date, but if you know more about it, please do elaborate. Oh, and what about Chouharay, which are ceremonially distributed after a Nikah ceremony. They are just dried khajoors, no?

Palestine - A great new song!!!!

This new, unplugged single called ‘Palestine‘ is simply awesome. These guys The Sound of Reason out of Montreal, Canada are pretty darn good! Check ‘em out here.

They have the songs, pics, videos, blogs etc online.

Here’s from their website on MySpace:

About thesoundofreason

From the depths of Canadas music scene comes an explosive new sound the industry has been craving to hear. Since they burst on the hip hop/R&B scene in early 2004 Francis and Ku better known as TheSoundofReason have been turning heads with their harsh honesty and opinionated lyrics setting themselves up as musics next big hype. Fed up with having either great sounding music with no message, or a solid message accompanied with poorly produced beats TheSoundofReasons filling that void preaching consciousness and political awareness with melodies and instrumentals hot enough to sell themselves alone. In a very short time TheSoundofReason have already started to make a name for themselves. The duo have appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers and television channels such as CBC, A-Channel, and CTV Television tackling tough issues such as politics, faith and the state of music in general. Meeting in high school, Francis and Ku began using music as a means of addressing important issues that concerned them. With their ability to write and produce their own material the two realized at a young age how much of a difference they could make in the world. With a common goal they chose to call themselves TheSoundofReason, a name which reflected a meaning behind their music in a time where musical reason was nowhere to be heard. With their fearless attitude, infectious personalities and all out showmanship they have quickly become one of the fastest growing movements to hit the Canadian music scene in years. In their short time TheSoundofReason have made themselves into not only one of the industries brightest talents but a movement in itself with its followers believing that not only the music, but the world has to change. Image defining tracks such as Living to die, Palestine and the politically savvy Rise prove the duo can maintain credibility with any genre. The new sound of the next generation is here and it is being ushered in by none other than TheSoundofReason.

Press Clipping(s): Friendship when peace may seem far

A recent article in Washington Post reminded me so much of my dear friend O, who also was my room mate for several years in grad school. I remember him because as a Jewish Israeli (albeit a rather secular moderate), he certainly stood out among my other friends (many of whom happen to be Arab and/or Muslim). I met him in my first year of grad school and to date we stay as close friends. There were many nights when we had heated political discussions, but there were more nights when we would just watch movies, have friends over for parties, or grab food in the Cambridge, MA neighborhood.

Through him (and a few other Israeli friends), I got to know the peaceful, moderate side of the Israeli society — and also how Israeli men love cooking food to impress their dates! – and I hope through me, he learnt that while many of us are passionate about the issue of Palestinian identity and freedom, we also hope for peace and tranquility for the Jewish people. I don’t want to romanticize this friendship because through him I also realized how different and obliquely slanted the common Israeli perspective on the conflict is from what I believe to be the historical truthbut nevertheless we agreed that humanity needed to triumph in the face of adversity. My single most important lesson learnt in his friendship was the realization that even when politics were depressing, and made me angry from within, our friendship and our respect for each other would enable us to triumph over all the negative feelings. When our guards were down, we were (and are) just two people who are happy to know each other and keep each others’ company….In the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, perhaps the two sides will never agree to a common perspective on what and who carried a greater responsibility for the 6+ decades long tragedy, but maybe I can look forward to when the two nations will learn to live side by side, next door to each other, just like O and I. And if they have to share a common living space (ahem… Jerusalem!) they can also learn about that from us. Hey O - if you are reading: thanks for all those invites to that Cambridge Pub  (Phoenix Landing) :). I still love you despite refusing to join you.

This article by Susan Kinzie in the Washington Post describes an interesting class co-taught at the University of Maryland by Palestinian and Israeli professors. Read the original article here.

Every detail had to be negotiated when an Israeli and a Palestinian started team-teaching a class on the Middle East. They haggled over the syllabus, the readings, the maps, even the words used: Was 1948, when Israel was formed, the War of Liberation — or the Catastrophe?

Kaufman, a longtime professor at Hebrew University, lectures on the Israeli version of events. Then Hassassian tells the Palestinian side. Both speak as scholars, analyzing the official rhetoric; both are moderates.

Still, the first summer was tense and adversarial, Hassassian said, as each tried to score points in class.

Hassassian is angry. Kaufman is worried.

If a cease-fire doesn’t happen soon, “the hatred that is mounting among these people will continue forever,” Hassassian said. It’s essential to ensure that people in the United States hear all sides, he said.

“It’s very tough. You lose your hope sometimes,” Kaufman said. The class is worth it, “but it is such a small drop in the ocean, it is really frustrating.”

After class late that night, they drove home to cook dinner. Lisa Kaufman was peeling squash. Edy Kaufman sliced onions. Hassassian brought ice to the table, and they sat down to a family dinner, passing the couscous from hand to hand, telling stories.

A small thing. But there it is: a peaceful coexistence.

NEWS: Israel has just halted aerial attacks on Lebanon after the killing of 60 civilians in the Lebanese Village of Qana, where Israeli bombing killed 106 people in 1996 as well. Maybe there is a ray of hope that this craziness will end and sanity will prevail a bit more?

Arna’s Children. Palestinian lives and their struggles.

L, R and I got together last night to watch Arna’s Children. It was not long before we lost any interest in the popcorn or the chocolates around us. We sat silent through most of the movie, in shock, as reality from Jenin (and the rest of Palestine) played out before us on the screen. This is the most real and up close footage that I have seen from Occupied Palestine and the effect was chilling, indeed. There were several moments in the movie when tears almost bubbled to the surface for me, but in the company of two Palestinian females I somehow managed to suppress them.

The film is made by Juliano Mer Khamis, the son of Arna Mer Khamis, who is a legend from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. Arna, a Jewish woman who initially celebrates the founding of Israel in 1948, and later marries a Palestinian Muslim comrade from the communist party and founds a theatre education group in the Jenin refugee camp, is the central character of the movie - but not really - soon one realizes that the Palestinian children whom she had taught to express their anger through theatre and music are really the central characters.

Arna started the theatre group on a the top floor of a house, space donated to them by the family of one of the boys who joins the theatre. The theatre was established with the money Arna received for her Alternative Nobel prize by the Swedish parliament, and taught young children born and living in the middle of a terrifying conflict to express their anger, frustrations and beliefs actively via theatre. The movie is about children in that theatre, a recollection of short movie clips made in the history of several children over a period of 8+ years, who join Arna’s theatre to deal with their grief and emotions, and later, after Arna dies, get caught up in the tragedy during the Jenin massacre of 2002 (by Israeli armed forces). It is a reflection on what young men in Palestine go through every day. And what griefs and emotions Palestinians have to overcome just to want to live.

The movie is real, it is a real life story, and is made with real life video footage taped by courageous people who were interested in documenting the lives of kids that Arna had so loved and held close. Arna’s son Juliano, director of this film, was also one of the directors of Jenin’s theatre. With his camera, he filmed the children during rehearsal periods from 1989 to 1996, and then he goes back after the massacre of 2002 to see what happened to those kids that he had taught and helped learn about dealing with life. We learn about Youssef, Nidal, Ashraf, Alla and others. Ashraf Abu-elhaje, shown here in the childrens’ theatre of the Jenin refugee camp in 1996, was its most impressive student. At the time he dreamed of a future as the Palestinian Romeo! Six years later Ashraf led a large group of fighters in the battle of Jenin. He was killed by a rocket fired from a helicopter….I won’t describe the story here in detail, but I will just ask you to watch it (you can get it on Netflix). The Palestinian life, the struggles of their youth to find some pride and dignity, and the story of the Jenin tragedy will become known to you.

For more info:
http://www.arna.info/Arna/movie.php
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/arnas_children/
http://www.un.org/peace/jenin/

Press Clipping(s): Gross Happiness Index of a nation.

Just read this interesting news tidbit about what nations are happiest in the world on SouthAsiaBiz blog by Razib Ahmed. It is an interesting story, not because Pakistan lists last in the happiness factor among South Asian countries :(, but because Bhutan, one of the poorest countries, ranks highest. An investor in my firm has visited Bhutan recently and he had some interesting and remarkably similar stories to tell. Bhutan is probably among the poorest countries of the world, so how come its happiness ranking is so high? Do they value other things more than things money can buy? Or are people happy in their poverty for some other reasons? An interesting finding of the report is that the happiness factor of USA(28. is even worse than that of Pakistan(39). Shucks - I am screwed whichever country I live in. Jordan(42) and Palestine(52.6) are pretty darn good, but UAE is just 28.2.

Some interesting findings of the report include:

• It is possible to live long happy lives with a smaller environmental impact
• Countries with same ecological footprint can produce lives of greatly differing length and well-being
• Countries similar in other ways can differ enormously in life satisfaction
• Island nations score well above average.

Well, read the blog post yourself and read the report to understand its indexing system. The blog also lists 15 reasons why Bhutan is happier than USA:

‘Happy Planet Index’: South Asia is Happy but not Rich by Razib Ahmed July 22, 2006

‘The Happy Planet Index’ published The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has caused some uproar in the cyber world. If you like then you can download the full report at free of cost from this link. According to NEF this report is: “An index of human well-being and environmental impact’, moves beyond crude ratings of nations according to national income, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to produce a more accurate picture of the progress of nations based on the amount of the Earth’s resources they use, and the length and happiness of people’s lives.” In the report, a list has been provided about the ranking of the countries.

Let me give you the ranks of South Asian countries:
Bhutan :13
Sri Lanka :15
Maldives :39
Bangladesh : 41
Nepal : 54
India : 62
Pakistan : 112

It seems that except Pakistan, people of the all the other South Asian countries are doing well in the happiness index. You may get surprised to see Bhutan having such an impressive position but do not forget that Bhutan is the only country in the world that has placed more importance to increase Gross National Happiness (GNH) than Gross National Product (GDP). It is always an interesting matter to me to think that South Asian countries are doing so well in the happiness index but are still very poor. Yes, money cannot always bring happiness but happiness should bring some money. Don’t you think so?