...Or Does It Explode?

A Blogger Interviews Baghdad Catholic Priest

Blogger Fayrouz, a native of Basra now living in Texas, presents an interview with Father Yousif Thomas, a Dominican brother in Iraq who is planning to build a new Catholic open university in Baghdad. Quite bold. Father Yousif apparently speaks eight languages, and responded to Fayrouz's questions in excellent English. Here's one example:

Q: How is the project of the Open University going?

A: Our Project of Open University was to help questioning this generation; our Logo is based on a phrase of Archimedes 230 BC: "Give me a place to stand and with a lever and I will move the whole world." In my opinion culture is this lever which can move our world, and I hope we who want to stay, because it is our vocation to save the people we can; and we must do it...

Q: What are the largest challenges for the Iraqi Catholic Church to overcome in the next decade?

A: Immigration doesn't help the society, it helps individuals only. This is a big challenge to us; and being spread all over the world makes us so tiny and weak. We have something to give and we say we carry behind us a glorious past, a rich history; but nothing is done by our expatriates. Look at the 200,000 Iraqi Christians who are outside. Do they have schools? Universities? Important Media? And the most dangerous for them is to be dissolved in the new context. The big challenge is to be a bridge between generations, religions, communities, and may be individuals, to help each one to become aware of his identity.

Two Sisters Who Ensure the World Does Not Forget

A few weeks ago, we noted the unveiling of the Omid database - a website memorializing the civilians killed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The site was profiled by Francis Fukiyama in the Wall Street Journal:

Eventually, Iran will have to come to terms honestly with the moral legacy of its 1979 Islamic revolution -- just as former dictatorships in Chile, South Africa and El Salvador have done. The date of this reckoning has been put off indefinitely. But we have, in the interim, an important effort to set that record straight, in the form of Omid, a Web site that comes online today and documents the individual stories of the victims of the Iranian regime.

Omid (which means "hope" in Farsi) is the work of a team led by two sisters, trained as historians in France, Ladan and Roya Boroumand. Their father, Abdorrahman Boroumand, was a lawyer who worked closely with Shapur Bakhtiar, the short-lived prime minister of Iran appointed at the end of the Shah's rule who sought to liberalize the monarchy. When Bakhtiar was forced out by Ayatollah Khomeini, he and Boroumand went into exile in France. Both men were assassinated by agents of the Iranian regime in Paris in the early 1990s. Omid started as an effort to memorialize not just them, but all of the victims of the mullahs' regime.

...Browsing through the database is a remarkable experience. The victims come from all religions, nationalities and walks of life. There is the young girl who, by swimming in a bathing suit in her pool at home, was found guilty of "causing a state of arousal" in a neighbor and was lashed to death.

Read the whole thing. Also, check out the profile of the Boroumond sisters in the Washington Post:

The project that endangers them is also one they found psychologically necessary. "When you are a witness to something terrible and you don't do anything about it, you are ashamed," explains Ladan. "How many nightmares I had: My father is in prison, and I cannot get to him, I cannot bring him food. . . . Since we started this project, I feel calmer." They believe that thousands of Iranians are consumed by the same shame and will want to help build this online archive -- or even someday, in a democratic Iran, a real victims' archive.

In their more optimistic moments, the Boroumands also hope that the mere act of participating in the project will remind Iranians that even in a totalitarian society, people are not entirely powerless. They can remember crimes, they can name the perpetrators and they can try to hold them to account.

The Boroumond sisters have produced a momumental memorial. Merci! and Mubarak!

Scene from a Saudi Book Fair

Saudi Jeans offers a fascinating eyewitness report from the Riyadh International Book Fair. The whole post is worth a read, but apropos yesterday's post on gender segregation at King Saud University, here are a few choice excerpts:

Last night I went to a panel on cultural diversity, and I have enjoyed a very good discussion. The panel was done the Saudi style, with the only female speaker Dr. Khairia Al-Saggaf talking from another room, where we could not see her but only listen to her voice. This made Dr. Warner Dawm, the German speaker, says he wishes Dr. Al-Saggaf was sitting with them on the same podium. She did not comment on that, but one of the audience later told the German guy to respect our culture and traditions. I did not think he was being disrespectful, and I'm glad that he did not apologize.

There was a lot of extremists in the audience, who insisted that anyone different from us is an infidel, and that we have to deal with him on this principle. I liked it when Dr. Faisal Al-Muammar, the moderator of the panel, stopped the same man from talking in an offending manner about Shiites, describing them as rafidha. Shiites were the subject of a hot debate at the end of the panel, when Dr. Khaled Al-Dakheel said that Shiites are part of us. This was the point where the panel went out of control. Before Al-Dakheel was able to complete that sentence, a Sheikh from the first row interrupted and told Dr. Al-Dakheel that Shiites are not Muslims, and that he has to say this...

Few minutes after the beginning of the panel, Dr. Mohammed Al-Zulfa, member of Shoura Council who called for the right of women's driving, came and sat next to me. I could not talk to him, even though I really wanted to do that. But after the panel was ended, the same people who were gathered around Al-Dakheel came and stood around Dr. Al-Zulfa and started talking to him. They were telling him to stop calling for women's rights, and that he has no right to talk about such issues because they should be only tackled by Sheikhs and scholars. Al-Zulfa refused to obey, and asked what's the difference between him and these sheikhs. “Is it something with my clothes? I can change my clothes, you know,” he told them.

Ironic that all this and more went down at a panel on diversity.

Rear View at King Saud University

The separate women's entrance, as seen from a passing car. Separate but equal?

A Most Unlikely Free Press Martyr: Yemen's Muhammad Al-Asaadi

It almost sounds like a joke. The latest journalist hauled into court by the Yemeni regime's extended crackdown on the independent press is... the editor of a government-backed newspaper, the Yemen Observer. Muhammad Al-Asaadi now finds himself in a prison cell with 15 other reporters because he dared to re-print the infamous Danish cartoons, albeit with a big X over each one.

The unusual twist was evidently wacky enough to interest the international media. Newsweek magazine this week runs an interview with Al-Asaadi from jail. Evidently someone passed him a cell phone so the Newsweek reporter could interview him. It's worth reading the whole article, but here's an excerpt:

How are the accommodations?
I'm in a temporary prison, awaiting a hearing, so it's not so bad.  It's a basement, and we have to buy everything we need, even bottled water. There are 15 of us sharing one big room and one toilet, but the others aren't common criminals.  A couple are journalists, because it's the prison of the prosecutor for press and publications.

You mean to say the government has a prosecutor dedicated to the press, and that prosecutor has a dedicated jail?
That is one of the characteristics of the Yemeni government, putting journalists in jail to stop us from telling the truth to the public. 

This is a different sort of case though.  Tell us how it came about.
When we ran our article on the Danish cartoons, it was all about how the Prophet should be honored, with quotations from famous people about what an important figure he was, and a news story on Yemeni protests. We reprinted the cartoons but blacked them out.  Unfortunately by an innocent mistake in the production process, a thumbnail of the cartoons appeared on the front page—only 1.5cm [0.6 of an inch] by 2cm [0.8 of an inch], you could hardly read it. 

...Your newspaper has been closely identified with the government, so is this the result of some sort of factional dispute within it?

The Yemen Observer has an independent line, and while it's true that our CEO is close to the government, when  he hired me he granted me complete editorial independence.  He had no say over what I published.

Do you regret now the decision to run the cartoons, however censored, given the climate?  There are plenty of religious fanatics in Yemen, even if they're a minority. 
We had a meeting to discuss this before we published them, so it wasn't an accident.  And we felt that these cartoons had already been shown on Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya [satellite TV] and millions of Muslims had seen them.  And I personally believe these cartoons should be published.  If we make it unlawful to look at them, we give them an importance they don't deserve, as if there's something holy or special about them. We should be able to discuss them openly, which is what we did.

...The article as a whole discussed Islam and particularly the Prophet in reverential tones.  So why the government reaction?
Most of these extremists don't read English, they just saw the pictures. And the article was accompanied by an editorial, saying the cartoons were terrible, but we should accept the apologies of the newspaper that published them and move on, not continue running through the streets...

How have you adjusted to imprisonment?  How's your family taking it? 
I've been very encouraged by all the support I've had from my colleagues, in Yemen and elsewhere, as well.  I have tens of visitors a day, so the jailers are very respectful.   It's boring, it's still a prison, but there's a lot of time to read and write, so that's good.  I asked my wife not to come, it would just be too upsetting for her.  And she's told my [three] daughters that I'm just on a trip, that I'll be home soon.  The oldest is only 5; it would be hard for them to understand why their father is in jail.

Kudos to Newsweek for profiling Al-Asaadi, an act that may in and of itself guarantee his release, as the Yemeni regime does not like this kind of a spotlight shone on its abuses. Now let's see more profiles of arrested journalists and reformers in jail across the region. International attention is their lifeline.

Tehran Bus Boycott - and Solidarity Rallies for Striking Drivers

It's a fascinating new grassroots campaign that's quietly gathering steam and picking up international support: the Tehran Bus Boycott.

The essence of the story is a strike by Iranian bus drivers and the subsequent crackdown on them by the Iranian regime. The 17,000-strong Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (the "Sherkat-e Vahed," which is not recognized by the government) called a strike on January 28 to protest the arrest of the union's President, Mansour Osanloo, who was arrested in late 2005 during a union meeting. At the strike rally, Iranian authorities arrested hundreds of the striking bus drivers. (See background here and here.)

Now the international labor unions are picking up their cause. For example, the US Teamsters Union is getting involved, joining a protest rally last week outside the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, DC:

Dozens of Teamsters participated in an International Day of Action at the Iranian Interest Section to demand the release of hundreds of imprisoned Iranian bus drivers. The drivers were arrested after police brutally cracked down on a planned January 28 strike.

“We call on the Iranian government to recognize the bus drivers’ right to form a union,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “We demand that the Iranian government release imprisoned union members and return all fired drivers to work immediately and unconditionally."

So in Damascus it's the poultry workers protesting, in Benghazi it's rioting youth fed up with Libya's "Pharaoh," and in Tehran it's the bus drivers. Behind the headlines, the region is bubbling in all sorts of unlikely places. Now it would be good to see more solidarity rallies like last week's labor protest in DC.

Tooting Our Own Horn

We are honored to have been selected as a contributing blog for the upstart Toot network. There are lots of talented, insightful bloggers in the network, and it's humbling to be asked to join them. Also, the Toot folks get points for giving a platform to a diversity of views on the Middle East. Not to mention, they do it all with a good dose of self-deprecating humor and light-heartedness. Check out the Toot scene (and their funky bilingual logo).

Libyan Youth Declare Qaddafi "Pharaoh"

Benghazi is still smoldering from Friday's riot, as a mob of hundreds attacked the Italian consulate. Initial reports described the melee as a reaction to t-shirts printed by an Italian government minister featuring the Muhammad-with-bomb-turban cartoon. But there are now suspicions that the rioters targeted the Libyan regime as much as the Italian government. The AP reports:

"Benghazi is still out of control," said [Italian ambassador] Trupiano, who was speaking from Tripoli. "The situation can precipitate any minute. "In Benghazi, Islamic radicalism has joined forces with domestic opposition."

The accounts from Libyan witnesses, who refused to be named fearing retribution, said Libyan anger over the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad had been conflated with widespread outrage about the political and economic neglect of Benghazi residents.

...The witnesses also said the killings during the Friday riot... had fueled anger and prompted continuing violence over the weekend. The witnesses said anti-government demonstrators attacked the headquarters of the state security service in the coastal city as well as government buildings and police stations.

We are now able to share a firsthand report from inside Libya that seems to confirm this account. It comes as an email in Arabic sent by a Libyan to a contact of ours in North Africa. The email includes the names of those killed by Libyan security forces. Rough translations follow the Arabic originals:

First: Names of the people who were killed!
م): وتوا حنوريك اسماء الشباب الى ماتو .........اسماء شهداء بنغازي 1-الشهيد عبدالرحمن الارناؤطي 2- الشهيد فرج حميده عبد السلام المسماري 3- الشهيد رجب نوري رجب كشلاف 4- الشهيد احمد جمعه مفتاح 5- الشهيد سالم عاشور محمد صالح الترهوني 6- الشهيد شهوب محمد فرج الطقطاق 7- الشهيد عبد الله سعد صالح العبيدي 8- الشهيد محمد انيس محمد 9- الشهيد ونيس رعيض رعيض 10- الشهيد ابراهيم عبد الله عبد اللطيف. الي جنة الخلد يا ابطال وريهم لدنيا
Abdul Rahman Al Arna-outi; Faraj Hmida Abdul Salam Al Mismary; Rjab Nouri Rjab Kashlaf; Ahmed Jomaa Moftah; Salem Ashour Mohamed Saleh El Tarhouni; Shahoub Mohamed Fraj Al Tagtagi; Abdullah Saad Saleh Al Ebidy; Mohamed Anis Mohamed; Wanis Reed Raeed Ibrahim Abdullah Abdul Latif

THEIR REACTION: م): الكلام هضا واحد كاتبه فى موقع ..........هذه فرصتنا نحن شباب بنغازى للانقلاب على هذا الطاغيه ها هيا الفرصه التى ننتضرها من زمن قد جاءت الينا لن نسكت حتى نطيح بفرعون هذا الزمن
This is what a young Libyan wrote in one of the sites: "We, the youth of Benghazi, this is our chance to revolutionize against this pharoah. This is the chance we have been waiting for since long ago ages. It came to us and we will not calm down until we bring down the pharoah of this age.
لا احد يريد الفوضى ولكن الفوضى فرضت نفسها
Nobody favors disorders, but disorder has been forced on us.
الاحتجاجات هي للأنتباه الى
اوضاع الشباب الذي ضاع فعلا لا تعليم لا تشغيل لا فلوس لافرص الا رؤية السراق والقوادين والفساد والدخلاء في افخر واحدث السيارت وبناء الفيلات للأمناء والأستيلاء على الاراضي لا تلومهم فهم مظلومين واصبحت الدنيا لاتعني الاالقهر والظلم لديهم.
The demonstrations are for the attention to the sitiuation of the youth - the youth that have been lost. No education, no work, no money, no opportunity... We only see the thieves and the corrupted in the newest and most luxurious cars They build villas and take people's property. Don't blame the youth... they are oppressed... and to them the world only means oppression and aggression.

Or does it explode, indeed.

Tunis from Above

First Chickens, Now Judges

On Friday, Ammar broke the news about the Chicken Revolution - a demo outside the Prime Minister's office by hundreds of Syrian poultry workers. Now he points to another Elaph article on a large protest by Syrian judges (read the whole thing). As he notes: "The regime’s dirty laundry continues to be hung in public for all to see."