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 »
August 13, 2007 – 12:18 pm
For many young writers, activists, and journalists, the internet has revolutionized communication strategies, especially in countries where most media outlets are state-owned. Middle Eastern people in particular have never had the opportunity to voice their opinions freely, which is precisely why blogging is so attractive.
Its main purpose is interaction. For the very first time, we have a media outlet that we can rely on and lead. It is an exceptional source for alternative news and information. This is why bloggers are also commonly referred to as “citizen journalists,” who not only comment on existing media reports but also play a very big role in creating them. Read More »
August 13, 2007 – 11:57 am
(This article was first published in Jordan’s Living Well magazine)
Before I reveal to you my ambitious proposition to end human strife and achieve world peace, allow me first to share with you an unusual personal condition from which I’ve been silently, yet painfully, suffering for at least two years now. Today, I believe the time has come to speak out and seek counsel, and perhaps even find a cure. Although I know this is not a help-line for my ailments nor is it the right venue for such private complaints, I still feel the need to blurt it out in public. Maybe, just maybe, I would feel a little better somehow by talking about it. So please excuse my selfishness if you can, but here it is, my mysterious disorder: I cannot read, hear or watch the news anymore. Read More »
(This article was first published in Jordan’s Living Well magazine)
I’ve had it with the deceptions of the media. Perhaps my face doesn’t show it, but I am pissed-off angry. And here, for once, I’m not talking about the political side of things. I’m not talking about how docile news organizations in the West capitulated to their governments and, without a shred of resistance or an atom of intellectual integrity, accepted the barrage of blatant lies that linked Iraq to WMD’s and to Al-Qaida, thus facilitating the most unprovoked and unforgivable invasion in modern history. I’m not discussing how these misinformation organizations let their political leaders literally get away with murder of hundreds of thousands of people so that a few multinational corporations can add billions upon their trillions of ill-gotten wealth.
Let’s leave all that aside for now – along with the uncontainable mayhem coming out of the Pandora’s box that was irresponsibly opened in Iraq. In this episode of my road chronicles, I’m referring to other more mundane, yet equally irritating, aspects of the daily bombardment of lies and half-truths that I am subjected to every single day by an advertising industry gone berserk. Whether it’s when I’m out soaking up one billboard after the other, or sitting peacefully at home reading a magazine or watching TV, I am fed up with being taken for a ride. Read More »
February 22, 2007 – 11:29 am
I have never been a great fan of the collective “Arabs.” It assumes a level of homogeneity I as an “Arab” have not felt. Yet there are broad brushed tendencies that can safely be assumed when looking at our people. Our polarized worldview is one such proclivity which renders us immune to noting gradations and more inclined to be extremist in our views. A phenomenon, event or person must be entirely good or bad.
Words like always, never, all, terrible, excellent, good, bad, are staples of our everyday language when life mostly falls in that middle ground where outlooks, moral and otherwise, reflect the limitations of personal perspectives, at least in my opinion. A corollary of all of this is a culture of dissent characterized by the same tendency which ebbs and flows depending on the political environment. In the face of turmoil, stances are usually hardened, sentiments are heightened and the bounds of acceptable political discourse are automatically narrowed. Read More »
It seems that the majority of people in Amman have made the connection between so-called “massage parlors” and prostitution. Yet the comments being made in favour of closing down these establishments betray a lack of understanding of what’s really happening. Public figures relish the chance to harp on about the “destruction of the moral fabric of society,” making the prostitutes scapegoats and keeping real issues of poverty and injustice obscured beneath a pile of self-righteous rhetoric.
It’s no secret that Jordan wishes to continue to attract more tourists with money to spend. Both its location and comparatively liberal governing establishment make it an optimal vacation spot, especially for rich Saudi men sorely in need of a break from strict social norms. If anything, the flesh market in Jordan is going to grow, not subside. And while the Jordanian economy (hopefully) continues to expand, trafficking of women from poorer countries is going to grow. Read More »
September 5, 2004 – 11:39 am
Not that there is any tangible left or right these days in the pathetic political arenas of the despotic Arab regimes, but I will try to steer through the muddy waters. A discernible phenomenon is the unprincipled alliance forged by some of the desperate Arab leftist trends with Islamist movements in the Arab world.
What a shame, for the comrades.
Here is an example of the unfortunate consequences when such an unnatural marriage takes place.
A venerable Lebanese writer and political activist who often appears on Arab satellite stations is as secular as they come. However, she also chose to become a columnist for “Assabeel.” Her choice of newspaper is symbolic of this unholy alliance. Read More »
March 30, 2001 – 11:52 am
I was watching an episode of “Diplomatic License” on CNN the other Sunday. It was hosting one of those supposedly fair and evenhanded discussions on the Palestinian Uprising (the “intifadah”).
Of course, each side was represented: on the right corner, you had the two debating champs representing the Israeli point of view, one of whom is the editor of one of the leading “current affairs” magazines in the US, and the other the head of one of the myriad Israeli lobbies. And for the Palestinian side, you had two protagonists (how admirably neutral of CNN): one was a spokesman for an Islamic organization that is as famous in the United States as the author of this article, and another who heads a Jerusalem Studies Centre that must have been established on the day on which “Diplomatic License” was recorded! And so the debate raged on and on.
Richard Roth, the program’s presenter and debate arbitrator par excellence, presided over the proceedings and portrayed an image of utmost impartiality. Equal time was given to each side to air its views, Richard acted graciously, both sides raised their issues, and the program concluded with a quote from Kofi Annan’s speech before the recent Arab Summit in Amman. Kofi Annan, god bless him, was of course a picture of justice and righteousness. His quote had something for both sides – yes, the Arabs had every right to be miffed by the continued occupation of Palestinian territories, but Israelis had a right to worry for their security.
On the other side of the world, on the same day, Slobodan Milosevic was being arrested. Read More »
