Footnotes: What's Really Wrong with the Middle East

Introduction

  1. Doha Debates: ‘This House believes that Arab governments are not interested in genuine reform’. 13 October 2004. http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/debate.asp?d=31&s=1&mode=transcript.
  2. Kassir, Samir: Being Arab. London: Verso, 2006. p. 4.
  3. Nakba (“catastrophe”) is the term used by Arabs for the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians when Israel was created.
  4. Statement by Condoleezza Rice to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 18 January 2005. http://foreign.senate.gov/testimony/2005/RiceTestimony050118.pdf.

1. Thinking inside the box

  1. Author’s interview in Cairo, June 2008. Mounir is not his real name.
  2. Author’s interview in Cairo, 26 April 2008.
  3. Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) 2003: ‘Building a knowledge society.’ New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2003. p. 3.
  4. AHDR 2003. pp. 53–54.
  5. Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) 2004: ‘Towards freedom in the Arab world.’ New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2005. p. 147.
  6. The Road Not Traveled: Education Reform in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, 2008. p. 88. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMENA/Resources/EDU_Flagship_Full_ENG.pdf.
  7. Valverde, G, et al: ‘An exploratory analysis of the content and expectations for student performance in selected mathematics and biology school-leaving examinations from the Middle East and North Africa.’ Paper prepared for the World Bank, 1995.
  8. The Road Not Traveled. p. 89. 
  9. This problem was was described to me by a senior education official in Egypt.
  10. Author’s interview in Paris, 1 February 2009. For a report of the suicide see: ‘Suicide d'une femme à Mohammedia avec ces trois filles’ Casafree.com, 20 November 2008 (in French). http://www.casafree.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=30266&forum=13. Morocco had recently introduced a new law intended to discourage polygamy which required husbands to obtain permission for their first wife before marrying another, and this case highlighted the limited effectiveness of the law. See: ‘New law limits polygamy, says expert.’ Adnkronos International. 27 May, 2008. http://europenews.dk/en/node/10519.
  11. Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) 2002: ‘Creating opportunities for future generations.’ New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2002. p. 3.
  12. ‘Education for girls.’ Saudi Ministry of Education website. Retrieved 16 November 2008. http://www.moe.gov.sa/openshare/englishcon/About-Saud/Education6.htm_cvt.html#Table.
  13. AHDR 2002. p. 94.
  14. The Road Not Traveled. p. 138. 
  15. Collelo, Thomas (ed.): Syria: A Country Study. Washington: Library of Congress, 1987. http://countrystudies.us/syria/37.htm.
  16. Basic Law, 1992. Article 13. http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/sa00000_.html.
  17. AHDR 2003. p. 53.
  18. Miller, Gerald: ‘Classroom 19: A Study in Behaviour in a Classroom of a Moroccan Primary School,’ in Brown, Carl and Itkowitz, Norman (eds.): Psychological Dimensions of Near Eastern Studies. Princeton, NJ: Darwin Press, 1977. pp. 142-153. Cited by Pollack, Kenneth: ‘Arab culture and Arab military performance: tracing the transmission mechanism.’ Paper presented at the Ideas, Culture and Political Analysis Workshop, Princeton University, May 15-16 1998. http://www.ciaonet.org/conf/ssr01/ssr01af.html.
  19. Author’s interview in Cairo, 27 June 2008.
  20. Metz, Helen Chapin (ed.) Saudi Arabia: A Country Study. Washington: Library of Congress, 1992. http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/31.htm.
  21. Abdulkareem, Saleh al-: ‘Education development in Saudi Arabia.’ Retrieved 17 November 2008. http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/25384/Researches%20and%20Studies%20in%20English/Summary%20of%20Education%20Development%20in%20Saudi%20Arabia-Historical%20Project.doc.
  22. ‘Kuwait disowns Bin Laden aide.’ BBC website, 14 October, 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1599088.stm.
  23. Author's interview with Bishara and Mubarak, Kuwait, March 2002.
  24. Landis, Joshua: ‘Islamic education in Syria: undoing secularism.’ Paper prepared for ‘Constructs of Inclusion and Exclusion: Religion and Identity Formation in Middle Eastern School Curricula.’ Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, November 2003. http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/Islamic%20Education%20in%20Syria.htm.
  25. International Religious Freedom Report 2008: Syria. US State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2008. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108493.htm.
  26. ‘Islamic education’ grade 12 textbook, p. 149. Cited by Landis, op cit.
  27. ‘Islamic education’ grade 12 textbook, p. 150. Cited by Landis, op cit.
  28. Landis comments: “To Syria ‘s credit, it must be stated, that no other Arab country, as far as I can tell, expressly states in its Islamic classes that Christians will go to heaven. Saudi Arabia , by contrast, condemns Christians to damnation and categorises them as unbelievers (kuffar).”
  29. ‘Islamic education’ grade 9 textbook, pp. 66–67. It is likely that these views of Jews are coloured to some extent by the political situation. Recovering the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, is one of the main planks of the regime’s policy. The two countries are still notionally at war and this undoubtedly has some bearing on the way Jews are presented in school textbooks. Landis points out that although some Syrians are careful to draw a distinction between Zionism and Jews, this is not a distinction made in Syria’s school texts. For example, the tenth-grade textbook says: “The Jews took advantage of Muhammad’s forgiveness in the old days. They exploited his forgiveness in order to deceive the Muslims and this is a characteristic of traitors and betrayers in every time and place. This is an indication of the evil enemy characteristics that are imbedded in the personality of the Jews. This confirms that it is dangerous to live with or near them. This danger threatens the existence of the Arab and Islamic world with destruction and disappearance.” (Grade 10, p78) However, Landis notes that the fifth grade textbook, newly written in 2001, “discusses the Jews, their prophets, and the Torah in a respectful manner (Grade 5, p20). It contains three chapters on the prophet Moses, which describe how he helped his people (banu Isra’il) escape from Pharaoh’s Egypt and which stress how Muslims must have faith in all the prophets equally without discriminating between them (Grade 5, p59).” Interestingly, though the Jews are portrayed as an oppressed people, the book does not mention that Moses was delivering them to the “Promised Land”.
  30. The Road Not Traveled. pp. 84–85.
  31. AHDR 2003. p. 163.
  32. AHDR 2003. p. 70.
  33. AHDR 2003. pp. 70–71.
  34. McGann, James: ‘The global “go-to think tanks”.’ Think Tanks and Civil Societies Programme, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Philadelphia. 2007. http://fpri.org/research/thinktanks/mcgann.globalgotothinktanks.pdf. As part of this study, a large panel of experts identitied 228 “leading” think tanks from around the world, of which 12 were in Arab countries: Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies (Egypt), Arab Reform Forum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt), Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches en Sciences Sociales (Morocco). Centre for Strategic and Future Studies (Kuwait), Centre for Strategic Studies (Jordan), Centre for Sudanese Studies (Sudan), Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (UAE), Gulf Research Centre (UAE), Gulf Strategic Studies Institute (UAE), King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies (Saudi Arabia), Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research (West Bank), The Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies (Lebanon). 
  35. Based on McGann 2007, with population figures as in the table of internet use in Chapter 4 of this book.
  36. AHDR, 2003. p. 56.
  37. AHDR 2003. Table 3.2, p. 73.
  38. Levy, Frank, and Murnane Richard: The New Division of Labor: How Computers Are Creating the Next Job Market. Princeton: Princeton University Press and the Russell Sage Foundation. 2004. Cited in The Road Not Traveled. pp. 86–87.
  39. The Road Not Traveled. p. 87. This is not to suggest that the need for routine tasks will disappear but that businesses which manage knowledge well will be generally more productive, with consequent benefits for the whole workforce. 
  40. ‘Man Nahnu’ (‘Who we are’). Capmas website in Arabic, retrieved 26 November 2008. http://www.msrintranet.capmas.gov.eg/pls/fdl/frm202?lang=1&lname=0.
  41. ‘About Us.’ Capmas wesbite in English. Retrieved 26 November 2008. http://www.msrintranet.capmas.gov.eg/pls/fdl/frm_capmse?lang=0&lname=.
  42. Reading between the ‘red lines’: the repression of academic freedom in Egyptian universities. Human Rights Watch, June 2005. http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/06/08/reading-between-red-lines-repression-academic-freedom-egyptian-universities.
  43. ibid. 
  44. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Polls apart.’ Guardian website, 4 March 2002. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4367628,00.html.
  45. Muqaddima li Dirasat al-Mujtama al-Arabi, published in 1975.
  46. Author’s interview in Amman, 6 July 2008.
  47. AHDR 2003. p. 74.
  48. AHDR 2003. p. 75.
  49. The Effect of Islamic Legislation on Crime Prevention in Saudi Arabia. Proceedings of the symposium held in Riyadh, 16-21 Shawal 1396 AH. Crime Prevention Research Centre, Ministry of Interior, 1980. pp. 531–535.
  50. Quoted by Iqbal, Muzaffar: Science and Islam. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 2007. p. 157.
  51. Ziadat, Adel: Western Science in the Arab World: The Impact of Darwinism, 1860–1930, London: Macmillan, 1986, p. 94 Quoted in ‘Muslim Responses to Darwinism.’ Islam Herald website. Retrieved 27 November 2008. http://www.islamherald.com/asp/curious/evolution/muz/muz-part3.asp.
  52. ‘Darwin’s theory of evolution in Sudan.’ Undated web page, retrieved 27 November 2008. http://www.thefileroom.org/documents/dyn/DisplayCase.cfm/id/189.
  53. Shanavas, T O: Evolution and/or Creation: An Islamic Perspective. Philadelphia: Xlibris Corporation, 2005. 
  54. Majid, Abdul: ‘The Muslim responses to evolution.’ Islamic Research Foundation International. Retrieved 27 November 2008. http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_151_200/muslim_responses_to_evolution.htm. 
  55. At the beginning of 2009, IslamOnline’s internet traffic placed it among to top 200 sites in Yemen, Sudan, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It was among the top 400 sites in Qatar, Libya, Oman, Syria, Kuwait, the UAE and Iraq. http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/islamonline.net.
  56. ‘Darwinism from an Islamic perspective.’ IslamOnline. Retrieved 27 November 2008. http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503543966.
  57. ‘Darwin’s theory of evolution in Sudan.’ Undated web page, retrieved 27 November 2008. http://www.thefileroom.org/documents/dyn/DisplayCase.cfm/id/189.
  58. Campbell, Duncan: ‘Academics fight rise of creationism at universities.’ The Guardian, 21 February 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/feb/21/religion.highereducation.
  59. Birch, Nicholas: ‘Turkey: scientists face off against creationists.’ Eurasianet.org, 24 May 2007. http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav052407.shtml.
  60. Atlas of Creation. Available online at: http://www.harunyahya.com/books/darwinism/atlas_creation/atlas_creation_01.php.
  61. For example, in 2004 a group of Muslim students in biomedical sciences at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam were reported to have uncritically copied text from “Islamic creationist” websites for an essay assignment on “Man and evolution”. See: Koning, Danielle: ‘Anti-evolutionism among Muslim students.’ ISIM Review, Autumn 2006. http://www.isim.nl/files/Review_18/Review_18-48.pdf.
  62. Edis, Taner: ‘Cloning Creationism in Turkey.’ Reports of the National Center for Science Education, vol. 19 no. 6, pp. 30–35, Nov–Dec 1999.
  63. See, for example, Rafiq, Amjad: ‘The Qur’an and modern science.’ Islam 101 website. Retrieved 27 November 2008. http://www.islam101.com/science/qur’an_sc_tv.html.
  64. Qur’an 18:90, Al-Kahf (Pickthall’s translation): “Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom.” See also Salmawi, Ashraf: ‘Life on Earth.’ Submission.org website. Retrieved 27 November 2008. http://www.submission.org/life.html.
  65. Qur’an 21:30, Al-Anbiya (Pickthall’s translation): “Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We parted them, and we made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe?”
  66. Qur’an 6:2, Al-Anaam (Pickthall’s translation): “He it is Who hath created you from clay, and hath decreed a term for you. A term is fixed with Him. Yet still ye doubt!”
  67. Qur’an 71:14, Nuh (Pickthall’s translation): “When He created you by (divers) stages?”
  68. Charfi, Farida Faouzia: ‘When Galileo meets Allah.’ New Perspectives Quarterly, Winter 2002. http://www.digitalnpq.org/archive/2002_winter/charfi.html.
  69. Koning. op. cit. 
  70. Hassab-Elnaby, Mansour: ‘A new astronomical Qur’anic method for the determination of the greatest speed C.’ IslamiCity website. http://www.islamicity.com/Science/960703A.SHTML. Retrieved 26 Janaury 2009.
  71. Charfi, op. cit.

2. The gilded cage

  1. Barakat: Halim: The Arab World: Society, Culture and State. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993. p. 118.
  2. Email correspondence with the author.
  3. Aisha is a pseudonym. Author’s interview, May 2008.
  4. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Censor sensibility.’ The Guardian, 19 May, 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2003/may/19/comment.worlddispatch.
  5. Hofheinz, Albrecht: ‘Arab internet use: popular trends and public impact’, in Sakr, Naomi (ed): Arab Media and Political Renewal. London: I B Tauris, 2007, p. 57.
  6. Barakat, op. cit. pp. 100–101.
  7. AHDR 2004. p.146.
  8. Barakat, op. cit. pp. 101–102.
  9. Author’s interview in Cairo, 26 June 2008.
  10. Barakat, op. cit. p. 117. An interesting case of the God/ruler imagery is the Moroccan “trinity” where stones are laid out on hillsides to spell “Allah, al-watan, al-malik” (God, homeland, king) in a triangular shape with God at the apex.
  11. Sharabi, Hisham: Neopatriarchy: a Theory of Distorted Change in Arab Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. p. 7.
  12. Cunningham, Robert and Sarayrah, Yasin: Wasta: the hidden force in Middle Eastern Society. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1993. p. 2.
  13. Author’s interview, 14 May 2008. Salam Pax came to international attention with his chronicle of life in Baghdad before, during and immediately after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. His blog was later published in book form: The Baghdad Blog. London: Atlantic Books, 2003. Also published in the US as The Clandestine Diary of an Ordinary Iraqi. New York: Grove Press, 2003.
  14. Author’s interview in Paris, 1 February 2009.
  15. For a comparative discussion of care of the elderly in Arab and western countries see Malik, Nesrine: ‘What shall we do with grandad?’ Comment Is Free, 19 November 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/19/socialcare-family.
  16. ‘Naturally, She’s An Extension of Myself!’ Question and answer, IslamOnline. http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1175008866280&pagename=IslamOnline-English-Parent_Counsel%2FParentCounselE%2FPrintParentCounselE.
  17. See, for example, ‘Live Dialogue’. IslamOnline, 25 June 2005. http://www.islamonline.net/LiveDialogue/English/Browse.asp?hGuestID=190glN#.
  18. Barakat, op. cit. p. 24.
  19. Allen, Mark: Arabs. London and New York: Continuum, 2006. pp. 44–45.
  20. Sharabi, op. cit. pp. 30–31. 
  21. Sharabi identifies five kinship categories: nuclear family (usrah), extended family (a’ilah), clan or lineage (hamulah), subtribe (ashira) and tribe (qabilah). Sharabi, op. cit. p. 31.
  22. Ahmed is a pseudonym, Author’s interview, February 2008.
  23. Allen, op. cit. pp. 46–47.
  24. Peteet, Julie: ‘Male gender and rituals of resistance in the Palestinian intifada: a cultural politics of violence.’ In Ghoussoub, Mai and Emma Sinclair-Webb. Imagined Masculinities: Male Identity and Culture in the Modern Middle East. Saqi Books, London, 2000. pp. 109–110.
  25. Having a family member who is known to be gay can also affect the marriage prospects of siblings. A young man from a prosperous and respectable Palestinian family who have lived in the United States for many years described to me his problem: “Of course, my family can see that I’m not macho like my younger brother. They know that I’m sensitive, that I’m effeminate and I don’t like sport. They accept all that, but I cannot tell them that I’m gay. If I did, my sisters would never be able to marry, because we would not be a respectable family any more.” Whitaker, Brian: Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East. London: Saqi Books, 2006. p. 27.
  26. Comment by ‘Ieuan’ (No. 991686) in ‘Party time’, Comment Is Free, 14 December 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/dec/14/partytime?commentid=0fb85645-d270-4c68-be3b-69ea5461d488.
  27. Bahgat, Hossam and Afifi, Wesal: ‘Sexuality Politics in Egypt’ in Parker, R, Petchesky, R and Sember, R (eds): SexPolitics – Reports from the Front Lines (e-book). Sexuality Policy Watch, 2007. http://www.sxpolitics.org/frontlines/book/pdf/capitulo2_egypt.pdf.
  28. Sharp, Heather: ‘Cairo youth break sex taboos.’ BBC, 25 December 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4708461.stm.
  29. Kandela, P: ‘Egypt’s trade in hymen repair.’ Lancet vol. 347, issue 9015, June 1996. p. 1615.
  30. Sharp, op. cit. 
  31. Shahine, Gihan: ‘Illegitimate, illegal or just ill-advised?’ Al-Ahram Weekly, issue 417, 18–24 February 1999. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/417/li1.htm.
  32. ibid. 
  33. Lutfi, L: ‘Atfaal bila Wujood … wa-Nisaa Yahmilna al-Sakhr’ (Children with no presence … and women carrying heavy weights). New Woman Publication. No. 16, December 2005, pp. 18–19. Cited by Bahgat and Afifi, op cit.
  34. Bahgat and Afifi. op. cit.
  35. Rashad, Hoda et al: ‘Marriage in the Arab world.’ Washington: Population Reference Bureau, 2005. http://www.prb.org/pdf05/MarriageInArabWorld_Eng.pdf.
  36. Complaints of brides’ families demanding excessive dowries are common, particularly in the more traditional Arab societies. In 2008 a $50,000 dowry was reported in Yemen. See: Kholidy, Majed Thabet al-: ‘Do you believe a $50,000 dowry?’ Yemen Times, 28 February 2008. http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1133&p=community&a=3.
  37. Diane Singerman and Barbara Ibrahim, “The Cost of Marriage in Egypt: A Hidden Variable in the New Arab Demography,” in the New Arab Family, Cairo Papers in Social Science 24 (2001). Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2003, p. 106.
  38. ‘Why should I marry?’ http://www.inter-islam.org/Lifestyle/marry.htm#Mastb.
  39. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Making sure the young can marry.’ Guardian website, 8 September 2000. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4061057,00.html.
  40. ‘Young Saudis beat inflation via group weddings.’ Reuters, 25 June 2008. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Young_Saudis_beat_inflation_via_group_weddings/articleshow/3165091.cms.
  41. In 2006, the the Jeddah-based Islamic Fiqh Academy, an affiliate of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, issued a fatwa declaring misyar marriages valid. See: Hakeem, Mariam al-: ‘Misyar marriages gain popularity among Saudis.’ Gulf News, 25 May 2006. http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/05/25/10042261.html. In the opinion of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the prominent Qatar-based scholar, misyar marriages are “Islamically valid” but their social acceptability is questionable. See: ‘Misyar Marriage.’ IslamOnline fatwa bank, 6 July 2006. http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503544160. In Shi‘i Islam, mut’ah marriage has a similar social function to misyar, though the nature of the contract is different. Mut’ah is essentially a fixed-term marriage which is automatically dissolved when the time limit expires, without the need for divorce.
  42. Jabarti, Somayya: ‘Misyar marriage – a marvel or misery?’ Arab News, 5 June 2005. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9&section=0&article=64891. 
  43. Rashad, Hoda, et al., op. cit.
  44. ibid.
  45. Jabar, Faleh and Dawod, Hosham (eds): Tribes and Power: Nationalism and Ethnicity in the Middle East. London: Saqi, 2003. pp. 7–8.
  46. Author’s interview, 14 May 2008.
  47. Khatib, Jamal: ‘Ala Madhbah al-Hukm. Amman: Dar Majdalawi, 2008.
  48. The Quraysh were the dominant tribe of Mecca at the time of the Prophet’s birth, and included numerous clans.
  49. Author’s interview in Amman, 6 July 2008. 
  50. AHDR 2004. pp. 145–146.
  51. AHDR 2004. p. 17.
  52. AHDR 2004. pp. 145–146.

3. States without citizens

  1. Author’s interview in Beirut, 17 July 2008.
  2. Author’s interview, 26 April 2008.
  3. AHDR 2004. p. 129.
  4. The Moroccan king, for instance, is officially described as “the protector of the rights and liberties of the citizens”; he “guarantees the independence of the nation and the territorial integrity of the kingdom”. See: ‘Le Roi.’ Official website (in French). http://www.royal-maroc.net/index.php?/famille/informations/le-roi/id-menu-38.cfm.
  5. The current king, Abdullah, has made a particular point of this, preferring to be addressed by his religious title rather than “your majesty”. See: Whitaker, Brian: ‘Straightforward is the word most often used to describe him, but it is not always meant as a compliment.’ The Guardian, 24 March 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/mar/24/saudiarabia.brianwhitaker.
  6. ‘King Abdullah.’ Royal Hashemite Court website. http://www.kingabdullah.jo/main.php?main_page=0&lang_hmka1=1.
  7. Saudi Basic Law, article 5(b). http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sa00000_.html
  8. See: Herb, Michael: All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies. Albany: State University of New York, 1999.
  9. Constitution of Oman, 1996. Article 6. http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/mu00000_.html
  10. For an English translation of the letter see http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/jordan/hussein99.htm. 
  11. Constitution of Morocco (1996), Article 20. http://www.al-bab.com/maroc/gov/con96.htm.
  12. Saudi Basic Law, article 6. http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sa00000_.html.
  13. Herb, Michael: All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies. Albany: State University of New York, 1999. p. 36.
  14. Herb, op. cit. pp. 36–37.
  15. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Kuwait mourns after emir dies.’ The Guardian, 16 January, 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/16/brianwhitaker.mainsection.
  16. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Kuwaiti paper calls for ruler to step down.’ The Guardian, 21 January, 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/21/brianwhitaker.mainsection.
  17. He died just over two years later, on 13 May 2008.
  18. Constitution of Kuwait, article 60. http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/ku00000_.html.
  19. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Royal hush.’ The Guardian, 23 January 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/23/worlddispatch.brianwhitaker.
  20. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Kuwaiti MPs declare emir unfit for office.’ The Guardian, 25 January, 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/25/brianwhitaker.mainsection.
  21. Sturcke, James: ‘New “Bin Laden” tape posted on website.’ The Guardian, 16 December 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/dec/16/alqaida.saudiarabia1.
  22. Zambelis, Chris: ‘Morocco cracks down on Islamist opposition group JSA.’ Terrorism Focus, Vol. 3, 22 (June 2006). http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=811.
  23. Author’s interview in Riyadh, December 2005.
  24. AHDR 2004. p. 129.
  25. Kuran, Timur: ‘The Vulnerability of the Arab State.’ The Independent Review, Vol. III, No. 1, Summer 1998, pp. 111–123. http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_03_1_kuran.pdf.
  26. Lebanon is the most notable exception because of the power-sharing system established after the civil war.
  27. I have often heard this said of both Saddam Hussein and Hosni Mubarak. Saddam was widely admired for standing up to the Americans. Mubarak was a bomber pilot who rose to become an Air Chief Marshal.
  28. Concise Oxford Dictionary.
  29. Adams, Julia: ‘The Rule of the Father: Patriarchy and Patrimonialism in Early Modern Europe,’ pp. 237–266 in Camic C, Gorski PS and Trubek DM (eds): Max Weber’s Economy and Society: A Critical Companion. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2005. http://research.yale.edu/sociology/faculty/docs/adams/adams_ruleFather.pdf.
  30. ibid.
  31. ‘Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments.’ CIA online directory. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
  32. Schlumberger, Oliver: ‘Statehood and Governance: Challenges in the Middle East and North Africa.’ Briefing Paper 4/2007. Bonn: German Development Institute (Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik), 2007. http://www.die-gdi.de/CMS-Homepage/openwebcms3_e.nsf/(ynDK_contentByKey)/ADMR-7BMJHX/$FILE/4%202007%20EN.pdf.
  33. Novak, Jane: ‘Ali Abdullah Saleh Family in Yemen Govt and Business.’ Armies of Liberation blog, 8 April 2006. http://armiesofliberation.com/archives/2006/04/08/ali-abdullah-saleh-family-in-yemen-govt-and-business/.
  34. Adams, op. cit.
  35. Quoted by Jonathon Gatehouse: ‘Syria's next trick: a bargain for power.’ Macleans magazine, 3 August 2006. http://www.macleans.ca/world/global/article.jsp?content=20060814_131615_131615.
  36. Quimpo, Nathan Gilbert “Trapo Parties and Corruption” KASAMA Vol. 21 No. 1, January–February–March 2007. http://cpcabrisbane.org/Kasama/2007/V21n1/TrapoPartiesAndCorruption.htm.
  37. Quoted in ‘The unlovable Saudis’. Undated article on The Guardian website. http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles/page/0,,2095803,00.html. Two pages of the document are reproduced at: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2007/05/29/ch04doc01.pdf.
  38. Author’s interview in Damascus, October 2003. See: Whitaker, Brian: ‘Syrian whispers’. Guardian Unlimited, 28 October, 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/oct/28/syria.worlddispatch.
  39. ‘Rami Makhluf designated for benefiting from Syrian corruption.’ US Treasury statement HP-834, 21 February 2008. http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp834.htm.
  40. Author’s interview in Cairo, 30 June 2008.
  41. Blanford, Nicholas: Killing Mr Lebanon. London: I B Tauris, 2006. pp. 60–61.
  42. Blanford, op. cit. p. 61.
  43. Blanford, op. cit. p. 44.
  44. For details of these, and other criticisms, see: Ohrstrom, Lysandra: ‘Solidere: “Vigilantism under color of law”.’ Daily Star, 6 August 2007. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=25&article_id=84354.
  45. AHDR 2004. p. 152. The AHDR’s figures for European taxation appear to be wrong. See: “Taxation trends in the EU”. Eurostat news release 89/2007. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/docs/page/pgp_prd_cat_prerel/pge_cat_prerel_year_2007/pge_cat_prerel_year_2007_month_06/2-26062007-en-ap.pdf.
  46. Arab Monetary Fund: AI-Taqrir al-Iqtisadi al-’Arabi al-Muwahhad (Joint Arab Economic Report 2007). Chapter 6, appendix 2. In Arabic. http://www.amf.org.ae/amf/website/Weblisher/Storage/Uploads/Docs/ECONOMIC%20DEPT/JOINT%20REPORT%202007/CHPTR-6.pdf.
  47. ibid.
  48. AHDR 2004. pp. 152–3.
  49. The Qatar Foundation is a non-profit educational organisation founded by the emir and chaired by his wife, Sheikha Mozah. http://www.qf.org.qa/.
  50. Doha Debate: ‘This House believes that oil has been more of a curse than a blessing for the Middle East.’ 15 November, 2005. http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/debate.asp?d=23&s=2&mode=transcript.
  51. For a detailed study of rentier states in an Arab context see Beblawi, Hazem: The Rentier State in the Arab World. London, Routledge 1987 and Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. 
  52. Smith, Benjamin: ‘Oil Wealth and Regime Survival in the Developing World: 1960-1999.’ American Journal of Political Science, 48:2 (2004), pp. 232–246.
  53. For a more sceptical view of the negative connection between rents and democracy see Herb, Michael: ‘No Representation without Taxation? Rents, development and democracy.’ Georgia State University, 2003. http://www2.gsu.edu/~polmfh/herb_rentier_state.pdf.
  54. Smith, op. cit.
  55. Burkeman, Oliver: ‘America signals withdrawal of troops from Saudi Arabia.’ The Guardian, 30 April 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/apr/30/usa.iraq.
  56. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Saudis tiptoe to democracy.’ Middle East International, 18 February 2005. http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/artic/mei108.htm.
  57. ‘National Dialogue chief says no boundaries in forums.’ Saudi-US Relations Information Service, April 26, 2007. http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/articles/2007/ioi/070426-national-dialogue.html.
  58. http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/reform/alex2004.htm.
  59. http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/reform/sanaa2004.htm.
  60. http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/reform/doha2004.htm.
  61. http://www.weforum.org/pdf/ABC/ABC_R1.pdf.
  62. ‘Muslim Brotherhood submits own initiative for reform.’ IslamOnline, 4 March 2004. http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-03/04/article04.shtml.
  63. Opening speech by President Hosni Mubarak to the Arab reform conference in Alexandria, Egypt, 12 March 2004. http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/reform/mubarak2004.htm.
  64. Yacoubian, Mona: ‘Promoting Middle East Democracy II, Arab Initiatives.’ Special Report 136, United States Institute of Peace, May 2005. http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr136.html. The USIP is a non-partisan American organisation funded by Congress. 
  65. ibid.
  66. Speech by President George Bush to mark the 20th anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy, in Washington on 6 November 2003. http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/reform/bush2003.htm.
  67. Lush, Julian: ‘Emerging Democracies Forum.’ British Yemeni Society Journal, 1999. http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/lush99.htm.
  68. Roth, Kenneth: ‘Despots masquerading as democrats.’ Human Rights Watch 2008. http://hrw.org/wr2k8/introduction/index.htm.
  69. Kuran, Timur: ‘The Vulnerability of the Arab State.’ The Independent Review, Vol. III, No. 1, Summer 1998, pp. 111–123. http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_03_1_kuran.pdf.
  70. Resende, Madalena and Kraetzschmar, Hendrik: ‘Parties of Power as Roadblocks to Democracy – The cases of Ukraine and Egypt.’ Centre for European Policy Studies, Policy Brief No. 81/August 2005. http://aei.pitt.edu/6624/01/1258_81.pdf
  71. Kuran, op. cit. 

4. The politics of God

  1. Author’s interview in Cairo, 28 June 2008. According to the traditions of the Prophet, a group of men from the ‘Ukl tribe came to the Prophet and embraced Islam. The climate of Medina did not suit them and they became ill. The Prophet ordered them drink the milk and urine of camels – after which they recovered. A number of Muslim websites make extraordinary claims about camel urine’s medicinal properties. It is also said to be good for the hair. See, for example: ‘Yemen: Camel urine trade flourishing.’ AKI news agency, 11 July 2008. http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.2330334132
  2. In Alexa’s list of the most popular Arabic-language websites, the ranking of Islamway is 18, Islamweb 23 and IslamOnline 60. From a worldwide perspective, this is unusual. No religious sites appear among the top 100 websites in English or most other languages. http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=lang&lang=ar (retrieved 3 October 2008). Note: Alexa’s system appears not to distinguish between Arabic and Farsi; the list includes at least two Farsi websites.
  3. Author’s interview, February 2008.
  4. Author’s interview, 26 April 2008.
  5. Qur’an 13: 11, Al-Rad (Pickthall’s translation). For repeated use of this verse see, for example, Amr Khaled’s message ‘To the Youth of the Muslim Omma’. http://english.islamway.com/bindex.php?section=article&id=263.
  6. Author’s interview in Cairo, 30 June 2008.
  7. Author’s interview in Paris, 1 February 2009.
  8. The report accompanying the poll did not attempt to explain its findings in Lebanon and Egypt. However, Lebanon has a large Christian population and is also highly sectarian. Lebanese Muslims tend to identify themselves by sect rather than simply as “Muslim”. Egypt also has a substantial number of Christians and popular awareness of its long pre-Islamic history dating back to the Pharoahs may mean that the sense of nationhood is stronger in Egypt than in other Arab states.
  9. ‘Arab Attitudes Towards Political and Social Issues, Foreign Policy and the Media.’ Poll conducted jointly by the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland and Zogby International, May 2004. 
  10. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Cartoons herald return of cinema to Saudi Arabia’. The Guardian, 19 October 2005. The availability of videos was one factor mentioned by the chargé d’affaires in 2005 following the announcement of the first public film screening in the kingdom for 20 years – a one-hour programme of cartoons for an audience of women and children. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/19/film.saudiarabia.
  11. Mutaqqun Online: ‘Male hijab according to Qur’an and Sunnah’. http://www.muttaqun.com/malehijab.html.
  12. Mutaqqun Online: ‘Beard according to Qur’an and Sunnah’. http://muttaqun.com/beard.html.
  13. IslamOnline: ‘Men wearing silver chains’. http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503548602.
  14. ‘Malaysian Conf. Probes How Muslim Astronauts Pray.’ Turkish Weekly, 20 April 2006. Reproduced at http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2006-04/19/article04.shtml.
  15. ‘Malaysia issues guidebook for Muslims in space.’ Reuters, 6 October 2007. http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSKLR33337720071006.
  16. Worth, Robert: ‘A haircut in Iraq can be the death of the barber.’ New York Times, 18 March 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/18/international/middleeast/18barber.html?ex=1268802000&en=898f35fbd97d012c&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland.
  17. ‘Al-Qa’eda in Iraq alienated by cucumber laws and brutality.’ Daily Telegraph, 11 Aug 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/2538545/Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq-alienated-by-cucumber-laws-and-brutality.html. Impositions such as this were said to be a major reason for al-Qa‘ida’s declining support among Iraqi Sunnis.
  18. Soage, Ana Belén: ‘Faraj Fawda, or the cost of freedom of expression’. Middle East Review of International Affairs, Volume 11, No. 2, June 2007. http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2007/issue2/jv11no2a3.html.
  19. Johnson-Davies, Denys: ‘Naguib Mahfouz’ (obituary). The Guardian, 31 August 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1861412,00.html.
  20. Diab, Khaled: ‘A banquet for conservative’. Diabolic Digest, June 2000. http://www.diabolicdigest.net/Egypt/banquet_conservatives.htm.
  21. .’From Confiscation to Charges of Apostasy’. Center for Human Rights Legal Aid, September 1996. http://www.wluml.org/english/pubsfulltxt.shtml?cmd%5B87%5D=i-87-2619.
  22. Weaver, Mary Anne: ‘Revolution by Stealth’. New Yorker magazine, 8 June 1998. Reproduced at http://www.dhushara.com/book/zulu/islamp/egy.htm.
  23. Abou El-Magd, Nadia: ‘When the professor can’t teach’. Al-Ahram Weekly, issue 496, 15-21 June 2000. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2000/486/eg6.htm.
  24. ibid. 
  25. Author’s interview in Leiden, 25 April 2008.
  26. See: Abootalebi, Ali: ‘Islam, Islamists, and democracy.’ MERIA Journal, Volume 3, No. 1, March 1999. http://meria.biu.ac.il/journal/1999/issue1/jv3n1a2.html.
  27. Mabruk, Muhammad Ibrahim: al-’Almaniyyun (The Secularists). Cairo, 1990, pp. 148–9. Cited by Najjar, Fauzi: ‘The debate on Islam and secularism in Egypt.’ Arab Studies Quarterly, Spring 1996.
  28. For the discussion of Arab constitutions in this chapter the following sources are used: Algeria (1996): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/ag00000_.html; Bahrain (2002): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/ba00000_.html; Comoros (2001): http://www.chr.up.ac.za/hr_docs/constitutions/docs/ComorosC%20(english%20summary)(rev).doc; Djibouti (1992): http://www.pogar.org/publications/other/constitutions/dj-constitution-92-e.pdf; Egypt (1980, with amendments): http://www.misr.gov.eg/english/laws/constitution/default.aspx; Iraq (Interim Constitution, 2004): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101201450.html; Jordan (1952): http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/constitution_jo.html; Kuwait (1962): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/ku00000_.html; Lebanon (1990): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/le00000_.html; Libya (1992): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/ly00000_.html; Mauritania (1991): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/mr00000_.html; Morocco (1996): http://www.al-bab.com/maroc/gov/con96.htm; Oman (1996): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/mu00000_.html; Palestine (Draft Palestine Constitution, 2003): http://www.mideastweb.org/palconstitution.htm; Qatar (2003): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/qa00000_.html; Saudi Arabia (Basic law, 1992): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/sa00000_.html; Sudan (1998): http://www.sudan.net/government/constitution/english.html; Syria (1973): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/sy00000_.html; Tunisia (1991): http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/ts00000_.html; United Arab Emirates (1996): http://www.helplinelaw.com/law/uae/constitution/constitution01.ph; Yemen (1994): http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/gov/con94.htm. Somalia is omitted because at the time of writing it had no effective government.
  29. Algeria: Article 178; Morocco: Article 106.
  30. Article 5.
  31. Preamble to the Fundamental Law (2001).
  32. Syrian constitution, Article 35.
  33. Djibouti: Articles 1 and 3; UAE: Article 25.
  34. CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/su.html#People.
  35. Article 16.
  36. Yemen: Article 3; Egypt: Article 2; Oman: Article 2.
  37. Bahrain: Article 2; Kuwait: Article 2; Syria: Article 3; Qatar: Article 1.
  38. Article 2.
  39. Syria is one of the more secular Arab states, though its regime is dominated by adherents of the minority Alawi sect. According to Joshua Landis, “In 1973 Hafiz al-Asad was forced to give Islam an integral place in the new Syrian constitution. Pressured by widespread popular protests, the government included the controversial article that the president of the republic had to be a Muslim. Hafiz al-Asad conceded to the majority demand … but he did so while pursuing an aggressive policy of redefining the Alawites legally and socially as Muslims. In essence, Alawis have sacrificed their religion, or perhaps more correctly, they have converted to mainstream Islam as the price for political power and full inclusion in the nation.” Landis, op. cit. 
  40. The relevant articles in the constitutions are: Algeria 71(1); Mauritania 23; Syria 3(1); Tunisia 38; Yemen 106.
  41. Jordan (article 28e): “No person shall ascend the Throne unless he is a Muslim, mentally sound and born by a legitimate wife and of Muslim parents.” Kuwait (article 4.5): “The Heir Apparent shall have attained his majority, be of sound mind, and a legitimate son of Muslim parents.” Oman (article 5): “It is a condition that the male who is chosen to rule should be an adult Muslim of sound mind and a legitimate son of Omani Muslim parents.” Qatar (article 9): “The Heir Apparent must be a Muslim of a Qatari Muslim mother.”
  42. Whitaker, Brian: ‘War on witches.’ Comment Is Free, 5 November 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/nov/05/waronwitches.
  43. ‘Saudi executes Egyptian for practising “witchcraft”.’ Reuters, 2 November 2007. http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003981.html.
  44. ‘Saudi unrest blamed on “sorcerer”.’ BBC website, 25 April 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/725597.stm. For a more detailed discussion of the treatment of Ismailis of Najran and the accusations of ‘sorcery’ see: The Ismailis of Najran. Human Rights Watch, September 2008. http://www.hrw.org/en/node/75197/section/1.
  45. For the text of the Act see: http://www.hulford.co.uk/act1736.html.
  46. ‘Virtue Commission’s Special Wing Fights Charlatans.’ Arab News, 27 October 2007. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=102889&d=27&m=10&y=2007&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom.
  47. Qusti, Raid: ‘Virtue Commission Members Are Not Above Law: Al-Ghaith.’ Arab News, 25 March 2007. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=94140&d=25&m=3&y=2007.
  48. ‘Black Magic: Rulings & Remedy.’ IslamOnline, fatwa bank. http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503543818
  49. Najjar, op. cit. 
  50. Tamimi, Azzam: ‘Democracy in Islamic Political Thought.’ Paper based on a lecture given at the Belfast Mosque in October 1997. Tamimi is a Palestinian-born academic with close connections to Hamas. http://www.iol.ie/~afifi/Articles/democracy.htm.
  51. Esposito, John (ed): The Oxford History of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 300.
  52. Discussing the etymology of ‘almaniyya, Najjar says: “According to the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo, the term is derived from ‘alam (world), and not from ‘ilm (science), as some think, thus giving the wrong impression that science is opposed to religion. Some writers suggest the Arabic term ‘alamaniyya in order to avoid the confusion. Others prefer dunyawiyya (worldly) in contrast to dini (religious).” Najjar, op. cit. 
  53. Najjar, op. cit. 
  54. De Ley, Herman: ‘Humanists and Muslims in Belgian Secular Society.’ Centrum Voor Islam in Europa (CIE) 2000. De Ley appears to be referring mainly to North Africa or perhaps those areas that came under French influence. http://www.flwi.ugent.be/cie/CIE/deley10.htm.
  55. Binder, Leonard: Islamic Liberalism: A Critique of Development Ideologies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988. p. 129. For a detailed discussion of Abd al-Raziq’s book, see Chapter 4: ‘Ali Abd al-Raziq and Islamic Liberalism: The Rejected Alternative’.
  56. Binder, op. cit. p.131.
  57. Binder, op. cit. p.132.
  58. Binder, op. cit. p.129.
  59. Tamimi, op. cit.
  60. Binder, op. cit. p.131.
  61. The Madina document, often described as a constitution, provided a means for coexistence among the various tribes, including Muslims, Christians, Jews and pagans. The original document has not survived but several versions exist from early Muslim sources. See: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Medina_Charter.
  62. Author’s interview in Leiden, 25 April, 2008.
  63. An-Na’im, Abdullahi Ahmed: Islam and the Secular State – Negotiating the Future of Shari’a. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2008. pp. 53–54.
  64. An-Na’im, op. cit. p.53.
  65. Author’s interview in Leiden, 25 April, 2008.
  66. Qur’an 9:29. Yusuf Ali’s translation.
  67. Dawoud, Khaled. Al-Ahram Weekly, 17–23 April 2007. Not available in the paper’s online archive but cited by several online sources, including: https://www.strategicnetwork.org/index.php?loc=kb&view=v&id=777&fto=594&.
  68. Morqos, Samir: ‘Bridging the divide.’ Al-Ahram Weekly, 10–16 November 2005. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/768/op11.htm.
  69. An article in the New York Times magazine describes some of the Brotherhood’s other compromises. Among other things, it quotes Magdy Ashour, a member of the Brotherhood’s parliamentary bloc, as apparently accepting the sale of alcohol in hotels on the grounds that “there is a concept in shari’a that if you commit the sin in private it’s different from committing it in public”. See: Traub, James ‘Islamic Democrats?’ New York Times magazine, 29 April, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/magazine/29Brotherhood.t.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all.
  70. An-Na’im, op. cit. p. 4.
  71. An-Na’im, op. cit. p.1.
  72. Packer, George: ‘The Moderate Martyr.’ New Yorker, 11 September 2006. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/09/11/060911fa_fact1. See also: Tangenes, Gisle: ‘The Islamic Gandhi.’ Bitsofnews.com, 11 September 2006. http://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/3856/42.
  73. An-Na’im, op. cit. p.4.
  74. An-Na’im, op. cit. p.10.
  75. An-Na’im, op. cit. pp. 29–30.
  76. An-Na’im, op. cit. p.p38.

5. Vitamin W

  1. http://www.youtube.com/user/TarSniper.
  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8RgWRmRtUc. The incident can be seen approximately 2min 9sec into the clip.
  3. ‘Morocco’s “video sniper” sparks a new trend.’ menassat.com, 12 November 2007. http://www.menassat.com/?q=en/news-articles/2107-moroccos-video-sniper-sparks-new-trend. What happened to the Targuist Sniper is unclear. He stopped publishing videos and there were rumours that he had been arrested. According to TelQuel, several young men, including the Sniper, were interrogated by the police who said they were treating them as witesses. The MAP news agency quoted an official source saying that “the authors of the videos denouncing acts of corruption have been identified and have been invited to make a statement. They will appear as witnesses in the judicial procedure.” 
  4. Loum44 (in French): “Vous vous acharner sur des petit gendarmes qui prennent des 20 dh car la vie est dure ce qu’il faudrait c’(est des sniper pour les gros voleur qui prennent le gros pactole sans se faire sniper voila ce qu’il faut.” http://gratis.download-de-videos.com/video/pzieMrb4Smc/gendarmes.html.
  5. Author’s interview in Cairo, 30 June 2008.
  6. Confidential letter to David Owen from the British embassy in Jeddah, ECO/121/3(E), 3 May 1977. http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2007/05/28/ch04doc04.pdf.
  7. Leigh, David and Evans, Rob: ‘The unlovable Saudis.’ The Guardian, 8 June 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jun/08/bae46
  8. AMX 30. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMX_30#History.
  9. Leigh, David and Evans, Rob ‘Ali Reza.’ The Guardian, 8 June 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jun/08/bae19.
  10. Letter from Antony Acland, Arabian Department, to Sam Falle, British Ambassador, 11 June 1970. British National Archives, WO S2/20748. http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2007/05/29/ch04doc18.pdf.
  11. ‘Briefing for the prime minister’s meeting with Prince Sultan’. Ministry of Defence, 25 September 1985. http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Politics/documents/2006/10/27/PJ5_39BriefforThatcherSept85.pdf.
  12. Leigh, David and Evans, Rob: ‘BAE accused of secretly paying £1bn to Saudi prince.’ The Guardian, 7 June 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jun/07/bae1.
  13. Robinson, Michael: ‘BBC lifts the lid on secret BAE slush fund.’ BBC website, 5 October 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3712770.stm. Leigh, David and Evans, Rob: ‘BAE chief linked to slush fund.’ The Guardian, 5 October 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/oct/05/saudiarabia.armstrade. 
  14. Leigh, David and Evans, Rob: ‘BAE accused of secretly paying £1bn to Saudi prince.’ 
  15. ‘Saudi prince “received arms cash”.’ BBC website, 7 June 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6728773.stm.
  16. AHDR 2004. p. 137.
  17. The survey was published in March 2000 by a non-governmental organisation, Kulluna Massoul (“We Are All Responsible”). See: Blanford, op. cit. p. 60.
  18. Corruption Perceptions Index 2008. The Palestinian territories were not included. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2008. 
  19. Transparency International: ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007/faq. For a critique of the index’s methodology see Thompson, Theresa and Shah, Anwar: ‘Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index: whose perceptions are they anyway?’ World Bank, March 2005. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWBIGOVANTCOR/Resources/TransparencyInternationalCorruptionIndex.pdf.
  20. For the data see: http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi2007/.
  21. AHDR 2004. pp. 140–141. For detailed figures see p. 214.
  22. Transparency International: ‘Report on the Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2007’. Berlin, Transparency International 2007. p. 13. http://www.transparency.org/content/download/27256/410704/file/GCB_2007_report_en_02-12-2007.pdf.
  23. ‘Most important news.’ Local news summary issued by the US embassy, Damascus, June 2006. http://damascus.usembassy.gov/uploads/images/zQPAAizRteCrjYg8Ql0cnw/Monthly_Report_-_June_06.pdf.
  24. Author’s interview, 27 June 2008.
  25. ‘Egypt school exam cheats jailed.’ BBC website, 9 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7606062.stm.
  26. Nkrumah, Gamal: ‘Tricksters go academic.’ Al-Ahram Weekly 902, 19–25 June 2008. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/902/eg7.htm.
  27. Frisch, Dieter: ‘The effects of corruption on development.’ The Courier ACP-EU, No 158, July-August 1996. pp 68-70. http://www.euforic.org/courier/158e_fri.htm.
  28. ‘Honesty in financial dealings.’ IslamOnline, 23 June 2004. http://www.islamonline.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=740.
  29. Qur’an: 4.29. ‘An-Nisa’. http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/qur’an/004.qmt.html.
  30. Naomani, Moulana Manzoor: ‘Honesty in Monetary Dealings.’ Islam For Today website. http://www.islamfortoday.com/honesty.htm.
  31. Ninteenth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, Session of Peace, Interdependence and Development. Cairo, 31 July–5 August 1990. Cited by Pope, Jeremy: TI Source Book 2000 – Confronting corruption: the elements of a national integrity system. Berlin: Transparency International (TI), 2000. p. 6. http://www.transparency.org/publications/sourcebook.
  32. AHDR 2004. p. 136.
  33. Author’s interview, 6 July 2008.
  34. Author’s interview, 26 April 2008.
  35. Author’s interview, 26 June 2008.
  36. This is the definition now adopted by Transparency International (TI) and others. A more traditional definition is “the misuse of public power for private profit” but TI considers this too narrow. “Entrusted power” includes the private sector as well as public and “private benefit” extends beyond the person misusing the power to include his or her family and friends. See Pope, op. cit. pp. 1–2 and relevant footnotes.
  37. Secretdubai: ‘The wonders of wasta.’ Aqoul blog, 9 July 2005. http://www.aqoul.com/archives/2005/07/the_wonders_of.php. In Arabic it is referred to as “fitamin waw” – waw being the name for the letter W.
  38. Author’s interview, 14 May 2008.
  39. A survey in Jordan by the Arab Archives Institute in 2000 found that 66% said they would use wasta for “anyone who asks”; 27% said they would use it for relatives and 17% for friends (question 22). Full results were published in Sakijha, Basem and Kilani, Sa’eda (eds): Towards transparency in Jordan. Amman: Arab Archives Institute, 2000. pp. 103–114. The authors state that the survey used a stratified random sample covering various parts of Jordan. Four hundred questionnaires were distributed and the results were based on replies from 360 of them.
  40. Al-Ra’i February 17, 1992, cited by Cunningham, Robert and Sarayrah, Yasin: Wasta: the hidden force in Middle Eastern Society. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1993. p. 7.
  41. Kilani, Sa’eda and Sakijha, Basem: Wasta, The Declared Secret: A study on nepotism and favouritism in Jordan. Amman: Arab Archives Institute, 2002. Electronic edition, page 21. http://www.alarcheef.com/studies/wasta.asp.
  42. Al-Ra’i, 23 January, 2001. Cited by Kilani and Sakijha (2002), p. 21. 
  43. The two studies were: Cunningham and Sarayrah, op. cit., and Kilani and Sakijha (2000).
  44. Al-Rai, 16 January, 2001. Cited by Cited by Kilani and Sakijha (2002), p. 7. 
  45. Kilani and Sakijha (2002), p. 10. 
  46. Kilani and Sakijha (2002), pp. 10–11. 
  47. Al-Hadath, 6 August, 2001. Cited by Kilani and Sakijha (2002), p. 52.
  48. Kilani and Sakijha (2002), p. 11. 
  49. Sa’ad Eddin, Nadia: ‘Cronyism, nepotism and wasta.’ Al-Aswaq, 10 July, 1999. Cited by Kilani and Sakijha, op. cit. p.42 42. 
  50. Kilani and Sakijha (2002), p. 41. 
  51. Al-Arab al-Yawm, 28 October, 2000. Cited by Kilani and Sakijha (2002), p. 42. 
  52. Cunningham and Sarayrah, op. cit. p. 155.
  53. Kilani and Sakijha (2002), p. 12. 
  54. Sakijha and Kilani (2000), pp. 104-114. The authors state that the survey used a stratified random sample covering various parts of Jordan. Four hundred questionnaires were distributed and the results were based on replies from 360 of them.
  55. It is sometimes suggested that people may use wasta because dealing directly with a bureaucracy can be humiliating or involve a loss of face – important factors in Arab society. However, the small number of people citing “social standing” in this survey as their reason for using wasta implies that it is a relatively minor element.
  56. Ad-dustour, June 20, 2000. Cited by Kilani and Sakijha (2002), p. 27.
  57. Author’s interview, 5 July 2008.
  58. For the list of signatories, see the website of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/signatories.html. For the full text of the convention see http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/index.html#textofthe.
  59. For a discussion of the convention’s provisions, see Schultz, Jessica: The United Nations Convention against Corruption – A Primer for Development Practitioners. Bergen: Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, 2007. http://www.u4.no/themes/uncac/introduction.cfm.
  60. ‘Former Syrian PM commits suicide.’ BBC website, 22 May 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/757960.stm.
  61. Al-Quds al-Arabi, 12 May 2000. Cited by Gambill, Gary: ‘Syria’s night of long knives.’ Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 2 No. 5, June 2000. http://www.meib.org/articles/0006_s1.htm. The article notes: “This was only the third time that a high-ranking member of the Ba’ath party had been publicly disgraced in such a fashion (the only precedents being Rifaat Assad in 1998 and former deputy prime minister Muhammad Haidar in 1999).”
  62. The suicide explanation was greeted with scepticism in some quarters. In 2005, the Syrian interior minister allegedly shot himself in a similar manner. See: Whitaker, Brian: ‘Syrian state inquiry finds minister killed himself.’ The Guardian, 14 October 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/14/syria.brianwhitaker.
  63. ‘Syrian official “arrested for corruption”.’ BBC website, 25 June 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/804759.stm.
  64. ‘Two former ministers convicted, imprisoned on corruption charges.’ Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 11, November 2001. http://www.meib.org/articles/0112_sb.htm.
  65. For a discussion of this case and other corruption allegations involving Airbus, see: ‘Airbus’s secret past.’ The Economist, 12 June 2003. http://www.transparency.org.au/documents/Economist12.6.pdf.
  66. Gambill, op. cit.
  67. ‘Three Syrian MPs to be tried for stealing public funds.’ Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol 2 No 6, July 2000. http://www.meib.org/articles/0007_sb.htm.
  68. Corruption Perceptions Index 2008. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2008.
  69. The other members of the GCC are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Corruption Perceptions Index 2007. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007.
  70. Glass, Amy: ‘Saudi bribery cases surge, despite crackdown.’ Arabian Business, 20 February 2008. http://www.arabianbusiness.com/511762-saudi-bribery-cases-surge-despite-govt-crackdown-?ln=en.
  71. Abdul Ghafour, PK: ‘Eight health officials accused of graft.’ Arab News, 30 July 2008. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=112252&d=30&m=7&y=2008&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom.
  72. Al-Hakeem, Mariam: ‘Saudi health ministry exposes bribery attempt.’ Gulf News, 13 August, 2008. http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/08/14/10236963.htm.
  73. The transfers were recounted by Prof Aida Saif al-Dawla during an interview in Cairo (30 June 2008). For details of the blood bags affair see Maged, Ahmed: ‘Contaminated blood bags implicate member of parliament.’ Daily Star Egypt, 10 January 2007. http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4892 and Shalabi, Ahmed: ‘Public prosecutor files a notice of appeal against acquittal of Hani Surour in the case of contaminated blood bags.’ Al-Masri al-Youm, 11 June 2008. http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=108839. The court proceedings were unresolved at the time of writing.
  74. Author’s interview, 1 July, 2008.
  75. Author’s interview, 5 July 2008.

6. The urge to control

  1. Kassem, Hisham: ‘How the Cairo Times came to be published out of Cyprus.’ Chapter in World Bank: The Right to Tell: The Role of Mass Media in Economic Development. Washington: World Bank Publications, 2003.
  2. The English-language Cairo Times was published for seven years and established a reputation for tackling stories that other papers were reluctant to touch. In 2004, after its closure, Kassem established the Arabic-language daily, al-Masri al-Youm.
  3. Author’s interview by telephone, 1 October 2008. The website of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law is http://www.icnl.org/.
  4. In January 2003, Crown Prince Abdullah had held an unprecedented three-hour audience with 34 Saudi critics of the regime. The group was drawn from 103 signatories of a “national reform document” which called for “basic rights in justice, equality, and equal opportunity”. 
  5. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Saudi king agrees to human rights panel.’ The Guardian, 8 May 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/may/08/saudiarabia.brianwhitaker.
  6. ‘Free detained advocates of reform.’ Human Rights Watch press release, 8 February 2007. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/02/08/saudia15287.htm.
  7. Malo, Hoshyar Salam: ‘The Future of Civil Society in Iraq.’ The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, Vol. 10, Issue 4, August 2008. http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/ijnl/vol10iss4/special_1.htm.
  8. ‘What is civil society?’ Centre for Civil Society, London School of Economics, 1 March 2004. http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CCS/what_is_civil_society.htm. Some definitions also regard political parties as part of civil society. In the Middle East, tribes and clans are usually considered as “family” and therefore excluded.
  9. http://www.annd.org/.
  10. Abdel Samad, Ziad: ‘Civil Society in the Arab Region: Its Necessary Role and the Obstacles to Fulfillment.’ The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, Vol 9, Issue 2, April 2007. http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/ijnl/vol9iss2/special_1.htm.
  11. ‘Guidelines for Laws Affecting Civic Organizations.’ New York: Open Society Institute, 2004, p9. www.soros.org/resources/articles_publications/publications/lawguide_20040215/osi_lawguide.pdf.
  12. Reasons for this weakness are discussed by Abdel Samad, Ziad: ‘Civil Society in the Arab Region: Its Necessary Role and the Obstacles to Fulfillment.’ The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, Vol. 9, Issue 2, April 2007. http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/ijnl/vol9iss2/special_1.htm.
  13. ibid.
  14. http://www.presidency.gov.eg/html/the_first_lady.html.
  15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asma_Assad and http://www.syrianembassy.us/first_lady_of_syria.htm.
  16. http://www.queenrania.jo/default.aspx.
  17. http://www.mozahbintnasser.qa/output/page1.asp.
  18. ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2007’. US State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 11 March, 2008. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/. See section on UAE: ‘Freedom of association’. Unregistered organisations do exist, depending partly on the nature of the organisations and how strictly the law is enforced. Kuwait, for example, has numerous unlicensed civic groups, clubs, and unofficial NGOs. The law is also applied loosely in parts of the Emirates.
  19. Abdel Samad, op. cit. 
  20. A number of laws relating to Arab NGOs and other not-for-profit organisations can be found on the ICNL website: http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/library/index.php.
  21. ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2007.’ See relevant country sections. 
  22. http://www.helem.net.
  23. Author’s interview with Georges Azzi of Helem in Beirut, 4 July 2008.
  24. ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2007.’ See section on Tunisia, ‘Freedom of association’: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100607.htm.
  25. Bahrain: Decree No. 21 (1989): Law of Associations, Social and Cultural Clubs, Special Committees Working in the Field of Youth and Sports and Private Institutions. Article 11. Oman: Sultani Decree No. 14/2000: Issuing the Civil Associations Law. Article 11
  26. ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2007.’ See section on Qatar: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100604.htm.
  27. Law No 84/2002 on Non-Governmental Societies and Organisations. Cairo: Middle East Library of Economic Services. www.egyptlaws.com.
  28. Egypt: Margins of Repression – State Limits on Nongovernmental Organisation Activism. Human Rights Watch, July 2005. http://hrw.org/reports/2005/egypt0705/.
  29. Hossam Bahgat, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). Quoted in Egypt: Margins of Repression.
  30. ibid.
  31. Author’s interview by telephone, 1 October 2008.
  32. Law on Societies 2008. For English text see: http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/library/browseSearchResults.php?countrytosearch=Jordan&languagetosearch=English&subCategory=4.
  33. Shutting out the critics: restrictive laws used to repress civil society in Jordan. Human Rights Watch, December 2007. http://hrw.org/reports/2007/jordan1207/.
  34. ‘The legal reality for non-profit companies – penned by Dr Mahmud ‘Ababina.’ al-Ra’i newspaper (in Arabic), 12 February, 2006. http://www.alrai.com/pages.php?news_id=80412. Quoted in Shutting out the critics.
  35. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Cartoonist gives Syria a new line in freedom.’ The Guardian, 3 April 2001.
  36. World Press Freedom Review 2003. International Press Institute. http://www.freemedia.at/cms/ipi/freedom_detail.html?country=/KW0001/KW0004/KW0105/&year=2003.
  37. Country reports 2007: Qatar. Freedom House. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&country=7256&year=2007.
  38. The situation with terrestrial broadcasting is more complicated because the number of available frequencies is finite and a means has to be found to allocate them to broadcasters so that they do not cause interference with each other.
  39. For more information see Harrison, Stanley: Poor Men’s Guardians: A Record of the Struggles for a Democratic Nespaper Press, 1793-1973. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1974. For a briefer summary see: ‘Taxes on knowledge’ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRknowledge.htm.
  40. Press and Publications Law 1990, Article 103. http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/gov/off4.htm.
  41. Country reports 2007: Kuwait. Freedom House. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&country=7209&year=2007.
  42. ‘Qui utilise l’avion de la présidence de la République Tunisienne?’ Astrubal’s blog (in French), 29 August 2007. http://astrubal.nawaat.org/2007/08/29/tunisie-avion-presidentiel/.
  43. Gharbia, Sami ben: ‘Ta’ira al-ra’asa al-Tunusiyya: man yast’amalha?’ Fikra blog (in Arabic), 30 August 2007. http://www.kitab.nl/2007/08/30/tn-president-plane/
  44. See: ‘Caught in the net: Tunisia’s first lady.’ Foreign Policy Magazine. January–February 2008. p. 104. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/users/login.php?story_id=4090&URL=http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4090.
  45. Author’s interview in Cairo, 27 June 2008.
  46. Wael Abbas’s blog is Misr Digital, also known in Arabic as Al-Wa’i al-Masri (‘Egyptian Consciousness’) http://misrdigital.blogspirit.com/. He is also on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/waelabbas) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/waelabbas).
  47. ‘Sexual harassment laws weak, say activists.’ Reuters, 9 November 2006. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/24325c62bf2e6037a957768ef3df9165.htm
  48. Sandels, Alexandra: ‘Policemen sentenced to three-year prison terms in high-profile torture case.’ Daily News (Egypt), 5 November 2007. http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=10130.
  49. Author’s interview in Cairo, 29 June 2008. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information’s website is http://anhri.net/.
  50. AHDR 2004. p. 131.
  51. Registration of Political Parties Act 1998. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/ukpga_19980048_en_1.
  52. Law No. 66 (1991) Governing Parties and Political Organisations. Article 8. http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/gov/off3.htm.
  53. ibid. 
  54. Law 177/2005, article 4.2-3.
  55. ‘Monopolising power: Egypt’s political parties law.’ Human Rights Watch, January 2007. http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/egypt0107/index.htm.
  56. ibid.
  57. Ayubi, Nazih: Over-stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East. London: IB Tauris, 1995. p. 447.
  58. Ayubi, op cit. p. 450.
  59. See: ‘Anger at Egyptian ferry verdict .’ BBC website, 27 July 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7527652.stm and Nasr, Octavia: ‘Grief and outrage in Egypt.’ CNN website, 31 July 2008. http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/middle.east/blog/2008/07/grief-and-outrage-in-egypt.html.
  60. Ayubi, op cit. p. 449.
  61. Ayubi also referred to a third category: the “fierce” state which “is so opposed to society that it can only deal with it via coercion and raw force”. Iraq under Saddam Hussein would rank mostly as a “fierce” state, and probably Syria under the late Hafiz al-Asad too.
  62. MacFarquhar, Neil: ‘Cairo Journal: Egyptians Tighten a Seat-Belt Law Till It Hurts.’ New York Times, 26 January 2001. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E2DF143FF935A15752C0A9679C8B63.
  63. Author’s interview in Cairo, 1 July 2008.
  64. Harding, Luke: ‘Iraq extends al-Jazeera ban and raids offices.’ The Guardian, 6 September 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004/sep/06/iraq.broadcasting.
  65. Author’s interview with Jihad Ballout in Doha, January 2003. 
  66. I observed one of the debates from the control room during a visit to al-Jazeera in January 2003.
  67. Author’s interview with Faisal al-Qassem in Doha, January 2003. 
  68. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Old guard faces crisis as heat turns on Syria.’ The Guardian, 18 April 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4650792,00.html.
  69. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Weakening grip.’ Guardian Unlimited 1 July 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/jul/01/worlddispatch.egypt.
  70. ‘This House believes that the Arab media need no lessons in journalism from the West.’ Doha Debate, 31 January 2006. http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/debate.asp?d=21&s=2&mode=transcript#109.
  71. Karam, Imad: ‘Satellite television: a breathing space for Arab youth?’ In Sakr, Naomi (ed): Arab Media and Political Renewal. London: IB Tauris, 2007. p. 83.
  72. ibid.
  73. ‘Internet in 2007.’ Reporters Without Borders. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20844.
  74. ‘Internet usage statistics.’ Internet World Stats, retrieved 30 October 2008. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm.
  75. The internet in the Arab world: a new space of repression? Cairo: Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, 2004. http://www.anhri.net/en/reports/net2004/index.shtml.
  76. ibid.
  77. ibid.
  78. ‘Saudi internet rules, 2001.’ Council of ministers resolution, 12 February 2001. http://www.al-bab.com/media/docs/saudi.htm.
  79. http://www.isu.net.sa/.
  80. Lee, Jennifer: ‘Companies compete to provide internet veil for the Saudis.’ New York Times, 19 November 2001. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DEFDC103BF93AA25752C1A9679C8B63.
  81. ‘Introduction to Content Filtering.’ Internet Services Unit website. http://www.isu.net.sa/saudi-internet/contenet-filtring/filtring.htm. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
  82. Qur’an 12: 33-34, Al-Rad (Pickthall’s translation).
  83. Lee, op. cit. 
  84. Miller, Robin: ‘Meet Saudi Arabia’s most famous computer expert.’ Linux.com, 14 January 2004. http://www.linux.com/articles/33695.
  85. Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia in 2004. OpenNet Initiative, 2004. http://opennet.net/studies/saudi.
  86. ibid. 
  87. Ba-Isa, Molouk: ‘No common sense in censorship bid.’ Arab News, 12 August 2008. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=11&section=0&article=112734&d=12&m=8&y=2008.
  88. ‘Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia in 2004.’ 
  89. ‘The old User Survey results.’ http://www.isu.net.sa/surveys-&-statistics/user-survey.htm.
  90. ‘User’s survey: internet performance.’ ISU website, undated. http://www.isu.net.sa/surveys-&-statistics/new-user-survey-results-4.htm. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
  91. Qusti, Raid: ‘Most of kingdom’s internet users aim for the forbidden.’ Arab News, 2 October 2005. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=71012&d=2&m=10&y=2005.
  92. Miller, op. cit. 
  93. Balawi, Jameel al-: ‘Hackers for hire.’ Arab News, 3 November 2001. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=10277&d=3&m=11&y=2001
  94. Various techniques for accessing forbidden websites are explained in ‘Everyone’s guide to by-passing internet censorship.’ The Citizen Lab, University of Toronto. September, 2007. http://www.nartv.org/mirror/circ_guide.pdf.
  95. ‘Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia in 2004.’ OpenNet Initiative, 2004. http://opennet.net/studies/saudi.
  96. Noman, Helmi and Zarwan, Elijah: ‘Middle East and North Africa.’ OpenNet Initiative. http://opennet.net/research/regions/mena. Retrieved 2 November 2008. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Iran also filters broadly and Israel not at all.
  97. Miller, op.cit.
  98. Zittrain, Jonathan and Palfrey, John: ‘Internet Filtering: The Politics and Mechanisms of Control.’ In: Deibert Ronald, et al (eds): Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008.
  99. ‘United Arab Emirates.’ OpenNet Initiative, 9 May 2007. http://opennet.net/research/profiles/uae.
  100. Author’s interview in Cairo, 27 June 2008. Hamalawy’s blog is at http://arabist.net/arabawy/.
  101. http://tortureinegypt.net/.
  102. ‘Egypt blogger jailed for “insult”.’ BBC website, 22 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6385849.stm. For more background see: ‘Condemn the four-year sentence of Egyptian blogger Karim Amer.’ Amnesty International, USA. http://www.amnestyusa.org/all-countries/egypt/background-condemn-the-four-year-sentence-of-egyptian-blogger-karim-amer/page.do?id=1041113.
  103. ‘Campaign for release of Saudi blogger.’ BBC website, 2 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7167936.stm; ‘Saudi blogger released from jail.’ BBC website, 27 April 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7369768.stm. 
  104. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Where comment is not free.’ Comment Is Free, 9 June, 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/jun/09/wherecommentisnotfree.
  105. Williams, Daniel: ‘Wary of dissent, Tunisia makes war on the web.’ Washington Post, 22 December, 2005. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122101981_pf.html.
  106. The group was called “6 April”. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22033161578. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  107. ‘What to make of the “general strike”.’ Arabist blog, 7 April, 2008. http://arabist.net/archives/2008/04/07/what-to-make-of-the-general-strike/.
  108. ‘Egyptians ignore Facebook strike call.’ Associated Press, 4 May, 2008. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/04/news/Egypt-Strike.php.

7. A sea of victims

  1. Author’s interview, 12 May 2008.
  2. Doha Debates: ‘This House believes that Arab governments are not interested in genuine reform’. 13 October 2004. http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/debate.asp?d=31&s=1&mode=transcript.
  3. Author’s interview in Beirut, 15 July 2008. 
  4. www.helem.net.
  5. Author’s interview in Beirut, 11 July 2008.
  6. www.eipr.org.
  7. Female judges in Egypt are now allowed to sit in family courts, but not criminal courts.
  8. Author’s interview in Cairo, 29 June 2008 
  9. Jureidini, Ray: ‘Sexuality and the servant: an exploitation of Arab images of the sexuality of domestic maids living in the household’ in Khalaf S and Gagnon J: Sexuality in the Arab World. London: Saqi Books, 2006. pp. 130–151.
  10. ibid.
  11. Author’s interview in Beirut, 15 July 2008.
  12. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. UN General Assembly resolution 217 A (III), 10 December 1948. http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html. The Arab contribution to the document is often overlooked: one of the key figures involved in the drafting process was Charles Malik, a Lebanese Christian. 
  13. Constitution of Jordan, article 6 (i). http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/constitution_jo.html.
  14. Constitution of Yemen (1994), article 24. http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/gov/con94.htm.
  15. Abdel Fattah, Moataz: Democratic Values in the Muslim World. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2006. p. 46.
  16. In the religious area, fitna is often applied to the succession struggle over the caliphate which led to the Sunni-Shi‘i split.
  17. ‘Syrian forces clash with Kurds in north’. Reuters, 16 March 2004. See also: Whitaker, Brian: ‘All together now’. Guardian Unlimited, 29 March 2004.
  18. Lowe, Robert: The Syrian Kurds: A People Discovered. Chatham House briefing paper, MEP BP 06/01, January 2006. http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/3297_bpsyriankurds.pdf.
  19. ibid. 
  20. A report by Amnesty International in 2005 said: “While the authorities do appear to tolerate the circulation of a small number of Kurdish-language publications and music, and, particularly in rural villages, the practice of some Kurdish cultural activities, promoters of and participants in Kurdish cultural and linguistic activities continue to risk harassment, detention, torture and ill-treatment, and imprisonment.” The report included details of a number of arrests. See: Syria: Kurds in the Syrian Arab Republic one year after the March 2004 events. Amnesty International report MDE 24/002/2005, 10 March 2005. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE24/002/2005.
  21. ibid. 
  22. The Silenced Kurds, Human Rights Watch, Vol. 8, No. 4, October 1996. www.hrw.org/reports/1996/Syria.htm.
  23. Lowe, op.cit.
  24. The Silenced Kurds.
  25. ibid. 
  26. Lowe, op.cit.
  27. Another factor in this was the withdrawal of Syrian support for the PKK’s agitation against the Turkish government. See: Brandon, James: ‘The PKK and Syria’s Kurds’. Terrorism Monitor (Jamestown Foundation, Washington) Vol 5 Issue 3, 2007.
  28. ‘Syria: Investigate Killing of Kurds’. Human Rights Watch press release, 24 March 2008. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/24/syria18332.htm.
  29. AHDR 2004. p. 91.
  30. The government maintains that it needs to know citizens’ religious beliefs because Egypt has a faith-based system of family law where different rules apply for different religions. However, human rights organisations have pointed out that there is no need to record this information on ID cards because “a person’s religion is maintained with other data in the central Civil Registry and the registry could be consulted, as the need arises, to determine or confirm the proper jurisdiction”. See: Prohibited Identities: State Interference with Religious Freedom. Human Rights Watch/EIPR, November 2007, p. 7. http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2007/11/11/prohibited-identities.
  31. Report by Abdelfattah Amor, special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, to the Commission on Human Rights, 60th session, 16 January 2004. E/CN.4/2004/63, para. 42. http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G04/103/43/PDF/G0410343.pdf?OpenElement. 
  32. ‘The Baha’í Faith in Israel.’ Baha’i International Community website. http://info.bahai.org/article-1-6-5-1.html.
  33. Prohibited Identities, p. 18.
  34. ‘Court overrules Baha’i right to register.’ Egyptian Gazette, 17 December 2006. http://www.mfa.gov.eg/MFA_Portal/en-GB/Press_and_Media/Economic_Press_Reviews/EP17122006.htm.
  35. Hamalawy, Hossam: ‘Bigotry and sectarianism par excellence.’ Arabawy blog, 16 December 2006. http://arabist.net/arabawy/2006/12/16/anti-bahaais-bigotry-and-sectarianism/.
  36. ‘Court denies Bahais legal recognition.’ Arabist blog, 16 December 2006. http://arabist.net/archives/2006/12/16/court-denies-bahais-legal-recognition/.
  37. ‘Freedom of Religion and Belief in the First Quarter of 2008.’ Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, April 2008. http://www.eipr.org/en/reports/FRB_quarterly_rep_apr08_en/2904.htm.
  38. Prohibited Identities, pp. 8–9. 
  39. Article 46.
  40. Prohibited Identities, pp. 54–55. 
  41. Prohibited Identitie, p. 76. 
  42. Prohibited Identities, p. 78. Yusif Fandi is a pseudonym.

8. Alien tomatoes

  1. Tarabichi, Georges (Jurj Tarabishi): Min al-nahdah ila al-riddah: Tamazzuqat al-thaqafah al-Arabiyah fi asr al-awlamah (‘From Arab Renaissance to Apostasy – Arab Culture and its Discontents in the Age of Globalisation’). Beirut: Dar al-Saqi, 2000. Translated extract: http://www.boell-meo.org/download_en/tarabichi.pdf.
  2. World Bank: ‘What is globalisation?’ Briefing paper. PREM Economic Policy Group and Development Economics Group, April 2000. http://web.archive.org/web/20000824105740/www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/pb/globalisation/paper1.htm.
  3. World Bank: ‘Poverty in an Age of Globalisation’. October 2000. http://www1.worldbank.org/economicpolicy/globalisation/documents/povertyglobalisation.pdf.
  4. ibid.
  5. Tarabichi, op. cit. .
  6. Za’za’, Bassam: ‘Arab Speakers See Threat to Culture by Globalisation’. Gulf News, 21 March, 2002. http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/cultural/2002/0321arab.htm.
  7. Baroud, Ramzy: ‘Arabs and globalisation’. Al-Ahram Weekly, Issue 722, 23–29 December 2004. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/722/op12.htm.
  8. Balqaziz, Abdel-Ilah: ‘Globalisation and Cultural Identity,’ in Globalisation and the Arabs, Center for Arab Unity Studies, Beirut 1998, p. 24. Quoted by Tarabichi, op cit.
  9. Safadi, Mutaa: ‘The Role of Globalisation in the Imperialism of the Absolute,’ Al-Wifaq al-Arabi, issue 2, volume 1, August 1999, p. 24. Quoted by Tarabichi, op cit.
  10. Audah, Mohammad: ‘Americanisation, Not Globalisation’ at the seminar Anti-Globalisation, in a supplement of Sutur, issue 33, August 1999, p. 49. Quoted by Tarabichi, op cit. Although serious questions have been raised about globalisation and the future of the Arabic language, Khawli’s claim that the west is intent on destroying the language of “our holy book” seems particularly bizarre coming from and Egyptian. Any Egyptian who used classical Arabic in everyday conversation would be ridiculed.
  11. BP Statistical Energy Review 2008. http://www.bp.com/productlanding.do?categoryId=6929&contentId=7044622.
  12. For details of Arab investments in Britain see: Mayer, Andrew: ‘Who is buying up Britain?’ BBC website 31 July 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7534852.stm and Bill, Peter: ‘The $300 billion Arabs are coming.’ Evening Standard (London), 30 May 2008. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23488244-details/The+$300+billion+Arabs+are+coming/article.do.
  13. Laurance, Ben and Armitstead, Louise: ‘Rising power of the sovereign funds.’ Sunday Times, 28 October 2007. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article2752048.ece.
  14. Friedman, Thomas: ‘Port controversy could widen racial chasm.’ New York Times News Service, 24 February 2006. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635187293,00.html.
  15. ‘Nuclear Reactors Top Dubai Ports’ Cargo List.’ NewsMax.com, 23 February 2006. http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/2/23/230611.shtml.
  16. King, Neil and Hitt, Gregg: ‘Dubai Ports World Sells US Assets.’ Wall Street Journal, 12 December 2006. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116584567567746444.html. For general background and links to additional sources see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_Ports_World_controversy.
  17. ‘How many Muslims are in the US and the rest of the world.’ http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_numb.htm.
  18. Cohn, Barbra: ‘Organic spices.’ Conscious Choice website, May 1998. http://www.consciouschoice.com/1995-98/cc113/organicspices1103.html.
  19. In September 2005 a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published a series of critical cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad and this caused a furore in a number of Muslim countries. Several years later shops in parts of the Middle East were still refusing to sell Danish products. See: ‘Q&A: The Muhammad cartoons row.’ BBC website, 7 February 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/4677976.stm.
  20. ‘Excerpts: Bin Laden video.’ BBC website 29 October 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3966817.stm.
  21. Ramkumar, KS and Adawi, Hassan: ‘Three Die in IKEA Stampede.’ Arab News, 2 September 2004. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=50867&d=2&m=9&y=2004.
  22. Athanasiadis, Iason: ‘From Asad to Asad: The Transfer of Power in Contemporary Syria.’ BA dissertation, St John’s College, Oxford, 2000. Khaddam resigned from the vice-presidency in 2005 and went into exile in France. After making various public allegations against the Asad regime he was charged in his absence with treason.
  23. Dawoud, Khaled and Whitaker, Brian: ‘Sainsbury’s on Egyptian boycott list.’ The Guardian, 7 December, 2000. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/dec/07/israel1.
  24. ‘Sainsbury’s pulls out of Egypt’. BBC website, 9 April, 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1268099.stm.
  25. Ghannoushi, Soumaya: ‘Damsels in distress?’ Comment Is Free, 18 December 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/dec/18/damselsindistress.
  26. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Distorting desire.’ al-bab.com, 2007. http://www.al-bab.com/arab/articles/text/massad.htm.
  27. Whitaker, Brian: ‘ “Gay party” guests face hormone treatment.’ The Guardian, 30 November 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/nov/30/gayrights.brianwhitaker.
  28. Sen, Amartya: ‘How to judge globalism.’ in Lechner, Frank and Boli, John: The Globalization Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. p. 17.
  29. Barber, Benjamin: ‘Jihad vs McWorld.’ Atlantic Monthly, March 1992. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199203/barber.
  30. ibid. 
  31. For a brief survey of international issues relating to the Euphrates see: Whitaker, Brian: ‘One river’s journey through troubled times.’ The Guardian, 23 August, 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2003/aug/23/water12.
  32. Barber, op. cit. 
  33. ‘Al-Mithaq’ (The Charter). League of Arab States (in Arabic) http://www.arableagueonline.org/las/arabic/details_ar.jsp?art_id=133&level_id=114. This version omits the preamble quoted here. For an English translation, including the preamble, see: ‘Pact of the League of Arab States,’ 22 March, 1945. Avalon Project, Yale Law School. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/arableag.asp.
  34. In the official Arabic version: wafqan li nudhumiha al-assasiya.
  35. Article VIII.
  36. ‘Guide to Egypt’s election.’ BBC, 2 September 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4192438.stm.
  37. ‘European Parliament resolution of 17 January 2008 on the situation in Egypt’ (P6_TA(2008)0023). http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P6-TA-2008-0023&language=EN.
  38. Shahine, Gihan: ‘Too true to be refuted.’ Al-Ahram Weekly, 24-30 January 2008, Issue No 881. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/881/eg3.htm.
  39. Essam el-Din, Gamal: ‘NDP up in arms.’ Al-Ahram Weekly, 24-30 January 2008. Issue No 881. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/881/eg2.htm.
  40. Shahine, op. cit. 
  41. European Commission External Relations: ‘The EU-Egypt Association Agreements.’ http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/egypt/eu-egypt_agreement/index_en.htm.
  42. ‘Euro-Mediterranean agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their member states, of the one part, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, of the other part.’ http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/egypt/aa/06_aaa_en.pdf.
  43. Statement by the European Union. Second meeting of the EU-Egypt Association Council, Luxembourg, 13 June 2006. http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/egypt/aa/eu_dec_0606.pdf.
  44. Lijnzaad, Liesbeth: Reservations to UN Human Rights Treaties: Ratify and Ruin? Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff, 1995. p. 3.
  45. For the full text of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination see http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cerd.htm.
  46. For details of the Yemeni reservations and the objections to them, see: http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&id=319&chapter=4&lang=en. The reservations remained in place after North Yemen’s unification with the south in 1990.
  47. Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 31 July-18 August 2006. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/CERD.C.YEM.CO.16-new.pdf.
  48. Reservations to CEDAW. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/reservations-country.htm.
  49. ibid.
  50. Mayer, Ann Elizabeth: Islam and Human Rights – Tradition and Politics. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press 2007. p. 3.
  51. Mayer, op cit. pp. 53–54.
  52. ‘Jordan Islamists slam women’s rights convention.’ Agence France Presse report in Khaleej Times, 5 August 2007. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2007/August/middleeast_August54.xml&section=middleeast&col=. The American religious right fulminated in a similar fashion against US ratification of CEDAW. According to one Christian activist, the treaty served a “frivolous and morally corrupt agenda” and it would “legalise prostitution and open the door for the homosexual agenda”. See: Goldberg, Michelle: ‘Yes to the Bible, no to the treaty.’ Salon.com, 22 June 2002. http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/06/22/women/index.html.
  53. For the puporses of prayer, qibla calculators work out the precise direction of Mecca from any point on the globe.
  54. Zoepf, Katherine: ‘Bestseller in Mideast: Barbie With a Prayer Mat.’ New York Times, 22 Sepember 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/22/international/middleeast/22doll.html.
  55. Three books by Gary Bunt examine the development of internet use by Muslims: Virtually Islamic: Computer-Mediated Communication and Cyber Islamic environments, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000; Islam in the Digital Age: E-jihad, Online Fatwas and Cyber Islamic Environments, London & Michigan: Pluto Press, 2003; and I-Muslims: Rewiring the House of Islam, London: C Hurst & Co, 2009.
  56. Tarabichi, op cit.
  57. ‘About Us.’ http://www.islamonline.net/English/AboutUs.shtml.
  58. ‘Speech of Shaikh Qaradawi.’ http://www.islamonline.net/English/Qaradawi/index.shtml.
  59. Burke, Jason: ‘A globalised import.’ Comment Is Free, 30 November 2007. http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jason_burke/2007/11/a_globalised_import.html.
  60. Tarabichi, op cit.
  61. Tarabichi, op cit.
  62. ‘Arabs, Arab-Americans and Globalisation.’ Speech to the Association of Arab-American University Graduates’ 30th annual convention at Georgetown University, 31 October–2 November, 1997. Reprinted in al-Hewar, Nov/Dec 1997 issue. http://www.alhewar.com/HGANasser.htm.
  63. Cowen, Tyler: Creative Destruction – How Globalisation is Changing the World’s Cultures. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002. p. 5.

9. Escape from history

  1. Radical History Review 2003 (86). Editors’ introduction, p. 2. http://rhr.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/2003/86/1.pdf.
  2. Greaves, Rose: ‘Gordon, General Sir Thomas Edward.’ Encyclopaedia Iranica (online edition). http://www.iranica.com/newsite/index.isc?Article=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v11f2/v11f2031.html.
  3. For further information about the emergence of the term “Middle East”, see: Roger Adelson, London and The Invention of the Middle East: Money, Power and War, 1902-1922. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1995.
  4. Kassir, op cit. p. 70.
  5. Britain had a Middle Eastern command for its wartime North African operations, though it remained unsure about the Middle East’s boundaries. Iran was included in 1942, while Eritrea was excluded in 1941, only to be returned to the fold a few months later. 
  6. When the Pentagon established its Near East and South Asia (NESA) centre in 2000, an official was asked which countries it would cover. “I believe we have 21 what we would call core countries,” she replied. “And if you look at the geographic, sort of, piece of real estate that we have included as core countries here, we start from Morocco, we go along north Africa through the Levant and all the way across to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.” DoD News Briefing – Alina Romanowski, DASD (Near Eastern & South Asian Affairs), 7 December, 2000. http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=1875.
  7. http://www.centcom.mil/en/countries/aor/. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  8. It seems to have originated with the publication of a book: “Allies Divided: Transatlantic Policies for the Greater Middle East” (edited by Robert Blackwill and Michael Sturmer and published in the US in 1997). This extended the Middle East into the Caspian basin and, as the title suggests, viewed the region in terms of US and European policies towards it. 
  9. State of the Union Address, January 20, 2004. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040120-7.html.
  10. http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/international/gmep2004.htm.
  11. For the origins of this conflict see: Invisible civilians: the challenge of humanitarian access in Yemen’s forgotten war. Human Rights Watch, 19 November 2008. Part III: Background. http://www.hrw.org/en/node/76086/section/5.
  12. ‘Young Arab opinion.’ Poll by Zogby International, September 2006. http://www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org/learn/articles/bdafinalzogbyreport_10106.pdf. 
  13. Speech by the president marking the 20th anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy, 6 November 2003. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031106-2.html.
  14. Ledeen, Michael: ‘Creative destruction: How to wage a revolutionary war.’ National Review Online, 20 September, 2001. http://www.nationalreview.com/contributors/ledeen092001.shtml. 
  15. Mersereau Adam: ‘Why Is Our Military Not Being Rebuilt? The case for a total war.’ National Review Online, 24 May 2002. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-mersereau052402.asp.
  16. Speech by the president marking the 20th anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy, 6 November 2003. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031106-2.html.
  17. ibid.
  18. Roth, Kenneth: ‘Despots masquerading as democrats.’ Human Rights Watch 2008. http://hrw.org/wr2k8/introduction/index.htm.
  19. The claim that democracies do not fight each other was previously made by President Bill Clinton in 1996. See: Baden, John and Noonan, Douglas: ‘Democracies don’t fight – except over fish.’ Seattle Times, 27 November, 1996. http://www.free-eco.org/articleDisplay.php?id=242. For further discussion of the claim’s accuracy, or otherwise, see: ‘Do democracies fight each other?. BBC website, 17 November, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4017305.stm. Wikipedia has further discussion of the question. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_possible_exceptions_to_the_democratic_peace_theory.
  20. Whitaker, Brian and Younge, Gary: ‘A scandal, but not a story.’ The Guardian, 10 May 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004/may/10/mondaymediasection2.
  21. Roth, op. cit
  22. BBC website: ‘Timeline: Algeria’, 12 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/811140.stm.
  23. Whitaker, Brian: ‘Saudis tiptoe to democracy’, Middle East International, 18 February 2005. http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/artic/mei108.htm. Because political parties were not allowed it is difficult to be specific about the results, though according to the consensus of opinion, Islamists had the upper hand.
  24. General Elections Commission – Palestine: ‘The final results of the second PLC elections’, 29 January 2006. http://www.elections.ps/template.aspx?id=291.
  25. Council of Europe: ‘Elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council show the level of democratic development of Palestinian society.’ Press release, 28 January, 2006. https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=PR047(2006)&Sector=secDC&Language=lanEnglish&Ver=original&BackColorInternet=F5CA75&BackColorIntranet=F5CA75&BackColorLogged=A9BACE.
  26. Erlanger, Steven: ‘US and Israelis are said to talk of Hamas ouster.’ New York Times, 14 February, 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/international/middleeast/14mideast.html?_r=1&ei=5094&en=d28cff5caa1702fa&hp=&ex=1139979600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin.
  27. Bradley, John: Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharoahs on the Brink of a Revolution. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. p. 66.
  28. Bradley, op cit. p. 67.
  29. Roth, op. cit.
  30. Kaye, Dalia Dassa et al: ‘More freedom, less terror? Liberalisation and political violence in the Arab world.’ Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2008. pp. 175–176. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG772.pdf.
  31. MEPI Standing Program Announcement, 4 May, 2004. http://standing-program-announcement-beginning.idilogic.aidpage.com/standing-program-announcement-beginning/06-30-2004.htm. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  32. US State Department: ‘Mission and Goals’. http://mepi.state.gov/c10120.htm.
  33. Sharp, Jeremy: ‘The Middle East Partnership Initiative: An Overview’. CRS Report for Congress, RS21457. February 8, 2005.. http://www.italy.usembassy.gov/pdf/other/RS21457.pdf.
  34. Carothers, Thomas: ‘A Better Way to Support Middle East Reform’. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, February 2005. http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/PB33.carothers.FINAL.web.pdf.
  35. Yerkes, Sarah and Wittes, Tamara Cofman: ‘The Middle East Partnership Initiative: Progress, Problems, and Prospects’. Brookings Institution, 2004. http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2004/1129middleeast_wittes.aspx.
  36. USAID: ‘Summary of FY 2007 Budget and Program Overview’. http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2007/summary.html.
  37. Levinson, Charles: ‘$50 billion later, taking stock of US aid to Egypt’. Christian Science Monitor, 12 April 2004. http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0412/p07s01-wome.html.
  38. Levinson, op. cit.
  39. USAID.Egypt: ‘Program Overview’, http://egypt.usaid.gov/Default.aspx?pageid=367.
  40. Levinson, op. cit.
  41. Arabist blog: ‘A quick guide to publishing in Egypt’, 4 June 2004. http://arabist.net/archives/2005/06/04/a-quick-guide-to-publishing-in-egypt/.
  42. Levinson, op. cit.
  43. Walker, Edward: “American economic assistance program to Egypt”. Testimony before the House Committee on International Relations, 17 June, 2004. http://www.mideasti.org/transcript/american-economic-assistance-program-egypt.
  44. For further discussion of this see Whitaker, Brian: ‘Opposition attracts.’ Guardian website, 10 March 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4622132,00.html.
  45. For the 2008 scores see: http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=410&year=2008. For methodology see: http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=351&ana_page=341&year=2008.
  46. ‘The Forms and Impact of Human Trafficking.’ US State Department, 12 June, 2007. http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/82809.htm. 
  47. Trafficking in persons report, 2008. US State Department, 4 June, 2008. ‘Tier Placements’ section. http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/105383.htm.
  48. ‘Qatar studies new law to tackle human trafficking.’ Gulf News, 12 June 2007. http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/06/12/10131776.html.
  49. ‘A secure Europe in a better world.’ Strategy document approved by the European Council, Brussels, 12 December 2003. p. 8. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/78367.pdf.
  50. ‘Alliance of Civilizations.’ Report of the High-level Group. New York: United Nations, 13 November 2006. p. 17. http://www.unaoc.org/repository/implementation_plan.pdf.
  51. Sen, Amartya: Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny. London: Penguin Books, 2007. pp. 13–14.
  52. See, for example, Tony Blair’s statement to parliament on the London bombings, 11 July 2005. http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page7903.
  53. Sen, op cit. p. 77.
  54. McLoughlin, Patrick: ‘Swedish imam says Islam forbids female circumcision.’ Reuters, 10 November 2003. http://www.islamawareness.net/Circumcision/swedish.html. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  55. Ali, Kecia: Sexual Ethics and Islam. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. 2006. p. 97.
  56. Ali, op cit. pp. 98–99.
  57. Author’s interview in Cairo, 29 June 2008. 
  58. Among those Bahgat cited was Abu Abdullah al-Qurtubi (1214–1273).