Clichés and Corny Lines

November 28, 2007 – 6:06 am

Look up bosom buddies

In the dictionary

[revised edition, 1962] Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in arts and literature, cancer, muslim women, romance | Comments (1)

Misperceptions between Muslims and Non-Muslims

November 25, 2007 – 12:10 pm

The following article explains misperception between Muslims and Non-Muslims. It uses an adapted form of Robert Jervis’ 14 points on the “Hypotheses of Misperception” as published in World Politics, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Apr., 1968), pp. 454-479.

With the advent of the MySpace, Orkut, Facebook and other social networking websites onlinethe Muslim population of the world has increasingly come in contact with the outside world and vice versa. Though Western culture has been ever present in most Islamic countries in the form of movies, media and other cultural-communicative mediums, there has been a lack of actual interaction between Muslims and Non-Muslims en masse. This has changed recently. But will this change the way people actually relate to each other?

Through 3rd party mediums like Al-Jazeera, state run propagandist TV channels like Pakistan’s PTV, ultra-conservative news agencies like FoxNews and even ideologically “progressive” newspapers like the Washington Post, stereotypes as to the other side were established in the minds of the viewers. The images this sort of media creates exemplifies their differences to the degree of making the “other side” look almost alien in their basic values and beliefs. While these perceptions may hold varying degrees of authenticity, the overall impression both sides have of each other – to put it mildly - can not be called accurate. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in religion, society | Comments (4)

Russia, My Russia: Part I

November 22, 2007 – 12:58 am

”A riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma” – these are a few words that Churchill used to describe the many faces of that continent of a country called Russia. That riddle has always, always made me curious. The tickle became an itch that soon turned into an obsession to know more and experience what Russia has to offer.

I just had to pack and explore that massively huge country spanning half of the globe, encompassing hundreds of ethnicities, religions, and languages. A country that pioneered the space age and made great leaps in medicine and other fields of science, while its still-existing shamans practice their own medicine. A place that has historically believed itself as the successor to the great Byzantine Empire and eastern orthodox Christianity yet has a Muslim minority of about 20 million strong, not to mention Jews, Buddhists, Pagans, and Animists. A nation that contributed to the human civilization countless works of art, literature and music, science, the spirit of discovery and that colonial drive that put Europe in the lead for the last two centuries of human history. An empire that died and disintegrated then regenerated and reinvented itself over and over again. Who could resist? Not I. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in russia, society, travel | Comments (4)

Motorcycle Diaries Part VIII

November 4, 2007 – 11:56 am

    Motorcycle Diaries Part VII was deemed too “local” for our tastes, but we do hope you enjoy the triumphant return of the series in Part VII.

(This article was originally published in Jordan’s Living Well magazine)

I lost my gloves one day in a coffee shop in Geneva, and I tell you, it’s difficult to ride without them when it’s really cold. So as I was paying for a new pair with a credit card, the salesman, whom I knew was from Israel, tried to start some small talk by asking me what my family name means. I told him that it relates to the city of Nablus where my family is originally from.

Suddenly, the most bewildered look was plastered on his face. “Where is Nablus?” he asked, “I’ve never heard of it.” Then, after realizing that I knew he was bullshitting me, he pretended to remember, “Ah, Shkheim you mean?”With my insistence not to learn these ugly names that the deranged Zionists have dug up from oblivion to erase our identity, that name certainly didn’t ring a bell. But now it was my turn. Although I knew where he was from, I asked “And you’re… from?” As he smiled while reminding me, I replicated the same look on his face moments ago. “Israel? Where is that?” Then after a brief pause, “Ah, the land of Canaan you mean. Palestine”. Read More »

By Zaid Nabulsi | Posted in entertainment | Comments (0)