Blog archive all
4th February 2010
An intriguing clip from YouTube, apparently filmed at the home of Sheikh Tariq al-Fadhli, erstwhile jihadist and associate of Bin Laden, and now self-appointed leader of Yemen's southern separatists.
It shows the hoisting of an American flag in his compound with people standing to attention as the… Read more
3rd February 2010
Following on from my talk at SOAS last week about the "crunch points" in Arab society, a reader asks:
How do you explain the apparent contradiction between the authoritarian nature of all of these societies and the apparent (often shocking) lack of order and discipline, and an almost chronic… Read more
2nd February 2010
Eager to promote traditional family life, the Conservative party in Britain is promising tax incentives for married couples if it wins the next election.
But already Iraq has gone one better (and possibly two or three better) with financial incentives to promote polygamy, according to Al-Iraq al-… Read more
2nd February 2010
Yesterday's discussion of Arabic transliteration prompted several emails from readers. One pointed out that Junblatt – the Lebanese politician's name – is usually written as Jumblatt in English. This seems to be a case of phonetics taking priority over the written form: if you say "Junblatt"… Read more
1st February 2010
This Yemeni ceasefire business is getting confusing. Yesterday, the government appeared to reject the offer from the Houthi rebels. But now Yemen's National Defence Council says it "will have no objection" to ending military operations if the rebels abide by all six of the government-decreed… Read more
1st February 2010
A lengthy post by Kal on The Moor Next Door blog delves into the thorny question of how best to represent Arabic words and names in the Roman alphabet.
This has been controversial territory since 1926 (if not before) whenT E Lawrence's manuscript for Revolt in the Desert was sent to the typesetters… Read more
31st January 2010
Once again there is speculation about a ceasefire in the war with Yemen's Houthi rebels – though whether it will actually happen is anyone's guess.
The cause of the speculation is an audio recording by the rebels' leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, posted on the internet. In the recording, he says the… Read more
31st January 2010
A Saudi couple who were forcibly divorced more than four years ago have finally had their marriage reinstated by the Supreme Court, in a decision which is being hailed as a triumphfor individual rights over archaic tribal attitudes.
The family of Fatima ‘Azzaz, now 36, initially gave permission for… Read more
29th January 2010
Coinciding with the London conference on Yemen, Saudi Arabia announced that it had won its war with Yemen's Houthi rebels.
The fighting does appear to have stopped, at least for now, though it's not the first time the Saudis have claimed victory. In December, in a statement reminiscent of George… Read more
28th January 2010
There were a number of encouraging signs from yesterday's international meeting in London about Yemen. The first is that it didn't get too preoccupied with al-Qaida and recognised that the country faces "many urgent problems" (to put it mildly) which are inter-related and need to be tackled across… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
