Al-Arabiya.net Hacked - and Overview of the Cyberfitna

ALARABIYA - QARDHAWI - QARDHAWI'S SON - IRANIAN GOVERNMENT - SUNNI/SHIA - CYBERWAR
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In a triumphant escalation, Shia hackers won a major battle by taking down the website of Saudi al-Arabiya.net, this is the most high-profile yet on a war that seems to be growing bigger and bigger by the day, looking around Shia websites it seems to me that there are many who view al-Arabiya.net as hostile to Shia, even the very balanced EyeRaki has the view that "Al-Arabiya has not stooped down to the (very low) standards of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera but it has broadcast its fair share of sectarian-laced reports and anti-Shia rhetoric", he's partly right, as al-Arabiya seems to have the sole interest of advocating not necessarily anti-Shia views but whatever views that promote the Saudi agenda at the time in a polished fashion that might suit their American sponsors, while al-Arabiya often uses headlines such as "Shia Pilgrims Invade Damascus" or something to the effect, they often use sensationalized headlines regardless of the content, in particular some silly The Insider-style content that can only be described as 'sleaze' (the Noor marketing), still, their anti-Hezbollah stance on the Lebanese crisis was very obvious, and even more obvious was the way they handled the ongoing Sunni-Shia cyberfitna and its associations, for example regarding the related incident with the son of Qardhawi, they ignored the whole deal until they got a denial from head of Egyptian Shia, Mohammed al-Durayni. and they promptly published the denial front and center. After al-Arabiya vehemently denied Yusuf's Shiism, he promptly issued a statement on his website denying that he had talked to any newspaper and that those speaking are not speaking in his name or with his consent. All this suggests to me that the man had indeed converted but is having a hard time with it.

But you might ask, how does al-Qardhawi's Son fit into all this?

QARDHAWI

It all started last Ramadhan when the popular and mainstream Sunni cleric Yusif al-Qardhawi decided to launch his usual tirade of criticisms against Shia and their invasion, al-Qardhawi is the most prominent Sunni member in the Sunni-Shii Worldwide Reconcillation Effort, he's also had a televised debate at one point with former Iranian president Hashimi Rafsanjani that led nowhere of course, in general, I think al-Qardhawi's position on Shiis, like the entire reconciliation effort, was always one of pensive frustration, such efforts always boil down to the overconfident Sunnis repeatedly urging the Shia to stop several fundamental Shia practices with the Shia as usual dodging and trying to hand-glad with issues like unity against Israel. al-Qardhawi has criticized the Shia several times before, he even criticized Hassan Nasrallah (calling him "an extremist Shia like all of them") when he issued a statement of lukewarm support during the Lebanon war, but this time he went stronger, calling them 'heretics' and actively protesting proselytizing in Egypt.

al-Qardhawi's comments unleashed a fury among the Shia, with the semi-official Iranian MAHR agnecy accusing him of 'promoting Zionist goals' and proudly boasting about the truth of the Shia creed as proven by those wanting to convert to Shiism who al-Qardhawi is not so happy about.

HACKERS

A few days after al-Qardhawi incident, 300 Shii websites were taken down, those websites ranged from heavyweight Ayatollah official websites (Sistani, Khoei), Iranian religious websites, and even an Iranian file sharing service. The message that appeared on all of these websites carried the typical arrogance of Wahhabi takfirism, which suggested that this group is relevant within the sizable and very organized anti-Shia activity on the Internet.

The Shia retaliated a few days later, but their signature carried some distinct images, first EyeRaki saves me the trouble of the journalist bit:

an extremist Sunni group called GroupXP attacked several Shia websites...all the websites show the same message. The website of the "Zoroastrian Safavid" has been hacked with the "help of Allah". The word "Shia" isn't even used once, instead they are referred to as rejectionists, descendants of Ibn al-Alqami, Zoroastrians and "sons of the Persians". typical language used by Salafis who do not consider Shias within the realm of Islam. Following the attack on hundreds of Shia websites, some Iranian Shia decided to pay back in kind by hacking Sunni websites. A picture of the 'Persian Gulf', a face painted with the Iranian flag and an Israeli flag torn in two come up as the homepage for these sites. The hacking was justified by using part of a verse from the Quran [2:194] "...And one who attacketh you, attack him in like manner as he attacked you..." Some sites however show a picture of two hands interlocked with the phrase "Oh Muslims, Unite Unite" with a tongue-in-cheek message at the bottom that reads "Because of Eid-el-Fetr , some of your sites will be returned to you in the next 24 hours".

There are several things to notice about the counter-attack, there is a strong Iranian bent, and the conciliatory stance implied by the tongue-in-cheek message heavily suggest to me that this is the work of somebody affiliated with the Iranian government. there is a general air of cagey carefulness that is a trademark of Iranian foreign policy, note that the targeted websites were mostly not regular Sunni websites but specifically targeted sites that are anti-Shia (including the most high-profile one, D-Sunnah.net), in effect saying that we have no problem with nice friendly Sunnis but only anti-Shia Sunnis, I don't think many normal Shia would react similarly (I don't know Persian, and Arab Shia would be naturally more timid, but for example check out some of the comments on ShiaChat.com, they are as murderous as any Wahhabi gathering), their choice of words in the rebuttal to the frothing Sunni attack doesn't seem likely to be the work of a normal religious zealot. I mean if someone attacked my creed so viciously I wouldn't turn the other cheek to him without signifying one bit of criticism like that (and there are many), blaming the Zionists is also another trademark Iranian policy, and everybody knows that the most vicious anti-Shia polemics came nowhere near the Zinoist Entity, Perhaps the Sunni attack itself is in some way linked to the Saudi government, (and indeed, some of those extremely anti-Shia websites are run by well-known sheikhs, not underground movements) which is why perhaps the Iranians eventually attacked the very official al-Arabiya.net, maybe they know better. (before al-Arabiya.net, there were several attacks against other Saudi, Kuwaiti and Emirati governmental affailiated websites)

QARDHAWI'S SON

Where does al-Qardhawi's Son fit into all this? Ali al-Korani, a Shia cleric with a talk-show on TV first said that al-Qardhawi's anger was because his son, Abdulrahman Yousif, converted to Shiism, many Shia websites circulated the news item and some pointed out to a Sunni mufti in Palestine, Mahir Humood, as the source ; Humood currently has a statement on his website denying this and saying that he only 'criticized al-Qardhawi and was only speculating when he said it was probably due to some conversion amongst his family members.'

Abdilrahman Yusuf, who is al-Qardhawi's third son, is miles away from his father, he is handsome for starters, a few years ago he changed from an Islamic chanter to a furious Pan-Arab poet, there seem to be several things about him that might have alluded to this conversion to Shiism, he made a visit to southern Lebanon following the war and his recent output strongly saluted Nasrallah, plus his most famous poem, which features the most enjoyable and scathing attacks on Husni Mubarak (al-Hatiku Bi Amr-Allah (The Violatior In The Name of God) mocks the Abbasid Caliphs tradition of adopting titles with 'Allah' in them) all this suggest a possible frustration with corrupt dynastic rulers and a strong infatuation of people like Nasrallah, which is something he might have found to stem from Sunni and Shii systems of government.

CONCLUSION
So where does this take us? To me, al-Qardhawi's frustrated statements reflect an honest portrayal of Sunni-Shia relations, or lack thereof, indeed, politically it was a very stupid thing to do, and he has been soundly criticized by other prominent Sunni scholars such as al-Awa, on the overall cyberwarring, the Shia who never had as powerful an Internet presence as the Sunnis (at least in Arabic language sources) proved to be capable of conducting major reprisals and scored high by coming out as the wise sages who are reining in the childish Sunnis and reminding them repeatedly of the greater enemy ; Israel, something that reeks very suspiciously of organized government work to me. I don't see this ongoing war as some child's play at all, and with a prominent site such al-Arabiya being hacked things risk further escalation, although I think by now both sides have been proven as strong and they will see things pointless in the long run.

NOTE: The war seems to have a far larger scope than I thought, countless forums and websites have been destroyed. (Shii websites only)

Yitzhak Nakash: Reaching For Power - Shia In The Modern Arab World

I shall write soon about the 5th Anniversary but I wanted to postpone that until the 9th of April, in the meantime I'll review this book since I just finished it.

Like me, Nakash is a non-Shi’i (Iraqi Jew) who seems to have developed a fascination with Shi’ism, he’s written a number of books on the subject, including the solid The Conversion of Iraq’s Tribes to Shiism, a book I found thoroughly researched, sourced and balanced, which led me to pick up this book, making it the second Naqash book I read.

The book is essentially a very informative country-by-country overview of Shia conditions beginning from the nation-state period in the Arab world, it outlines in painstaking detail the relationship between the state and Shi’i community in four gruesome chapters, beginning by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, briefly touching on Kuwait [which it praises as the most Shia-tolerant], then jumping headlong into the informative Iraq and Lebanon chapters, before finishing with a brief opinion-recommendation.

One of the more fascinating aspects of this book is the illuminative insight it provides in the role different sects played in shaping current nation-states, before reading this book, I voiced the opinion on this blog or some other blogs that the clash between the Ba’ath and the Shia in the 1980s was in essence a clash between the tyrannical secular state and Pan-[Shi’i] Islamic theocracy, with the Sunni-Shia dimension being only secondary in the conflict. I can tell you now that this view is bullshit, the only definitive fixture in the struggle in Iraq is the Sunni-Shi’i dimension, but it often hides behind other ideologies, for example, while the Sunni ruling elite espoused Pan-Arabism, the Shia by and large were more than fearful of compromising their majority-status in Iraq by joining a Pan-Arab domain in which they will be marginalized as a minority, hence their own choice to embrace a modern ideology was the Communist Party, which I believe has less to do with any appeal of Marxism in the Shia community than it being the only modern ideology (as were the trends of times) strong enough to repel Pan-Arabism at the time ; thus, you can understand the amount of reverence the Shi’i community hold for Abdilkarim Qassim (the face-on-the-moon hoax was actually invented by Thawra (Sadr City now) residents after he was executed), the minority-status of the Sunnis compelled them to stress their Pan-Arab ideology so as to embrace their co-religionists and balance their number, often harping on the cultural ties of Shia with Persia, while the Shia preferred an isolationist policy that maintained their advantage and emphasized general Arab and Tribal values, which was what the Communists preached.

Ironically, the very same Pan-Arabism the Shia of Iraq found unappealing was doted upon by their Saudi co religionists, who sought to counterbalance the ideology of the Saudi state’s Pro-US Pan-Islamism (yeah) which had a strong adversary in Nasser’s Pan-Arabism at the time, basically, the Saudi Shi’is embraced any ideology that promises reform and change, here we see that the choice of ideologies in the Middle East was inspired not by the actual principles of said ideologies but the degree of adaptability they offer to persist the rights of respective communities.

Even more interesting is that while the notion in Pan-Arab Iraq was that the Shia are the separatist traitors, in Lebanon, the Sunnis were the ones labeled traitors to Lebanon because Lebanon was the isolationist country the Shias of Iraq desired ; the Christian-minority Maronites went out of their way to forge Lebanon against the demands of Sunnis to unite it with Syria, they designed Lebanon as a Phoenician non-Arab oasis of the oppressed in the sea of Islam, in fact, there are several eye-opening accounts of several botched president Bshara al-Khori projects, including siding up completely with Israel and resettling all the Shia of Jabal Amil in Iraq in order to increase the numbers of Christians.

The book is largely concerned with the modern politics, it doesn't explain for example why the Shia feel so estranged from the Sunnis when they're both Arabs, History-wise, it's informative and recommended, if anything, the reference index is a treasure trove of Arab-only books on the subject. Where it falls short is when Naqqash advocates his upbeat and optimistic opinion, Naqqash views the ascendancy of Shia as a potential reform palette in the Middle East, reading this book, sometimes you might be persuaded to think of Muqtada as a sharp, intelligent grand strategist, not a confused Nasrallah-wannabe with bad oral hygiene, Naqqash says that Shias have moved from confrontation to accommodation regarding the West, he adds that the only reason theocracy rose in full force is because of the lack of a civil alternative, and he doesn’t invest much in Iran or the idea of its possible dominance through the guise of Pan-Shi’ism, instead describing it as a country very persuaded by democracy and civil rights, he mentions the possibility of Iraqi civil war in a single line amidst his love-fest, of course, this book was written in 2005, so he might be excused a little in that regard. Personally, while I do believe that it is absolutely necessary for any meaningful democracy of any sort to emerge out of the Middle East that the oppressed sects get their say, I don’t see Shias as any better than Sunnis in the field of understanding the grasp of pluralism and multiculturalism, they can be just as barbaric, backward and resilient, if not more due to their history of oppression which forced them to go inward, if Shi’is were the majority and Sunnis were the minority, the results would be quite similar, as long as sentiments in the Middle East adopt a method of discourse that consists of dominating everything at all costs, then it’s hopeless.

The only way Shiism could stand a chance at being a platform for accommodation is the same reason why the Shia Ismaili Fatimid state in Egypt [which ruled a Sunni population] exhibited a larger degree of religious tolerance in its times, that is, self-conscious recognition of their own status as a minority, which prompts them to encourage freedom and liberty as necessary for their survival, in this case too, it is a fake democracy aimed only at escaping persecution and not genuine belief in equality and modern citizenship values.

الضمير العربي صوت و صورة مجانا حصريا بدون اشتراك

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إليك جريمة أخرى يرتكبها إعلامنا العربي و حكوماتنا أجلها الله في تغييب و تسطيح العقول, جريمة أبصرت نتاجها بأم عيني عندما كنت في العراق حيث يفجر الشباب العربي المسكين نفسه وهو قرير السريرة بما يفعل بعد ان أقفل عقله , جريمة أدرك تماما مفعولها فهي جرعة أخرى من الجرعات التي ما تبرح تتلقاها في كل مكان حيث إني كنت يوما ما احد مستسيغيها و متذوقيها. و لكن رغم هذا و ذاك فيجب ان أقول اني شاهدت هذا العمل بأمل تشوبه مرارة شديدة bittersweet, فعلى الرغم من إني أعيش في دولة عربية خائفا أترقب وقد لقيت من العرب كرما حينا و ذلا أحيانا, إلا ان رؤية العرب متحدين في أمر ما – على الرغم من مسرحيته و عدم جدواه – هو لأمر يبهج المرء رغما عنه. والحق يقال فالعمل الطويل هذا – 40 دقيقة – كفيل بإستدرار عواطفك من المحاجر ؛ فهذه اللطمية الغنائية مستوعبة تماما مفهوم فن الرثاء البالغ التأثير في النفس العاطفية العاربية, وخاصة تصوير فاجعة قتل القديس من قبل الشياطين بأدق تفاصيلها البشعة ؛ و ذلك درس يمكنك إدراك قوته اللاعقلانية إن جربت يوما أن تكون في مجلس عزاء حسيني حيث يجري دمعك رغما عنك حتى لو كنت ملحدا زنديقا مثلما حصل لإيهاث هنا , و لا مراء ؛ فسيصعب عليك ان تهزأ و انت ترى سلسلة من صور المذلة و المهانة في وصلة ليس فيها أي مسحة من الأمل, تحزن صادقا حتى وأنت تعرف ان هؤلاء القومجية الذين صنعوا هذه اللطمية هم أنفسهم السبب الرئيسي في إماتة القلوب و تحويل أفكار النضال و المقاومة الى مفردات سخيفة مضحكة نسخر منها سرا في عراق أبو الليثين و سوريا الأسد حيث أفترق القول و الفعل وشتان بين التنظير و التطبيق: وهنا ينبري الجزء الثاني من مؤامرة التسطيح و التغييب على العقل العربي و هم الإسلاميون القعقاعيون بصرختهم القطيعية الموحدة "الإسلام هو الحل" فيسبون و يشتمون الناصريين و العفالقة و ملابس الفنانة كذا التي كانت سببا في انحلال الكرامة عند المسلمين (بالإضافة طبعا الى المركبات الكيميائية الدؤوبة لمنع الشهامة التي يضعها القرد-الخنزير في العلكة و البركر كنك و كل شيء وكأن هذا هو السبب الوحيد في السحل المتوالي الذي لقنوه إيانا على مرار الخمسين سنة المنصرمة) والواقع المرير هو ان أهل السبح و اللحى هؤلاء هم أتعس من سابقيهم لإن الإعتراض عليهم هو الإعتراض على المقدس بينما هم الذين يسيئون الى هذا المقدس أكثر من غيرهم – فليس العيب لا في الإسلام و لا في القومية – إذ إنك لو نظرت الى أدبيات عفلق تجدها مشرقة بيضاء تسر الناظرين, ولكن الخلل في هذا و ذاك هو التطبيق الديكتاتوري المسرف الذي لا تأخذه لومة لائم وهذا تراه نفسه بين الفريقين بتطابق مضحك في تحشيد الجماهير ديماغوجيا ضد العدو الخارجي الغاصب (وهذه كانت وسيلة هتلر الأولى) بينما يكمن سبب الفشل الأول الذي يجب ان يسب و يلعن يوميا في الداخل. وهم في هذا أشبه بالعراقيين الذين يعيرون دوما بانهم اهل الشقاق و النفاق وانهم هم الذين قتلوا الحسين و يمشون بجنازته (وذلك صحيح) ؛ فمثلما يلطم الشيعة اليوم على أبو اليمة و هم الذين كانوا السبب الرئيسي في مجزرته متناسين دورهم الفظيع هذا وملقين باللوم على مؤامرة جنجلوتية سرمدية حملت سيف السقيفة الذي ذبحت به الآل, فعطل الفكر وغيب المقصد و نتج عن ذلك "روتانا لطمية" تؤسس و تشجع التنويم المغناطيسي الشامل حيث تحولت روح الثورة على الظلم التي كانت محرك التشيع القديم الى مجرد طقوس و شعائر مشخصنة إنتهت الغاية و المقصد عندها فالظلم مقبول ما دام الظالم يصلي على محمد و آل محمد و ينصر ولده و يلعن عدوه مقتدى مقتدى مقتدى, فينهمك الرعيع بتأدية الشعائر و يتفرقون و كأن شيئا لم يكن فأذعنوا أخيرا بطبيعة البشرية بعدم قدرتها على إيجاد مجتمع فاضل فعلا و دخلوا فيما دخل فيه الناس من ملء الأرض بالظلم و الجور– فمثل هؤلاء يقوم القومجيون و الإسلاميون أيضا بإنتاج هذه المراثي التي لا ضير منها ما دام الجبت و الطاغوت (أمريكا و إسرائيل) هم وراء كل الفتن ما ظهر منها و ما بطن و الباقي كله صحيح صافي 24 قيراط ؛ نعم, أنا لا أنكر أن أمريكا و إسرائيل هم سبب في كثير من هذه الجرائم ولكن هذه هي وظيفتهم في الحياة فهم خصومنا, وان قدرتهم على نيل مرادهم بذكاء و حنكة لا يعني ان هناك مؤامرة خنفشارية تكالبت عليها كل أمم الأرض ضدك هي السبب في فشلك المتوالي, فالسبب واضح جلي و ما عليك سوى ان تنظر في المرآة لتدركه و ان تتوقف عن العيش منكرا واقعك in denial.

فنيا فان شعور الإحباط في هذه اللطيمة واضح الى حد الإشفاق, وكأن كاتب كلماتها قومجي أصولي بائس على وشك مغادرتنا إنتحارا , وقد أبرع المخرج في تحشيد كل ما أفجع و أصاب من أرشيفات الحروب و السجون (الأمريكية و الإسرائيلية حصرا طبعا ) و من أشد ما آلمني فيه كانت هذه المصلاوية الصارخة المستنهضة التي لا يسعني رؤيتها خجلا و مشهد الكلب الذي ينهش فلسطينية في النهاية, ولكن رغم هذه العاطفة الجياشة فستظل مجرد فقاعة غنائية جميلة مخدرة لا تسمن و لا تغني من جوع, وجل أملنا فيها هو ان تلين قلوب العرب شعوبا تجاه بعضهم بعضا. نستودعكم الله بانتظار إنبعاث صلاح الدين الأيوبي ليملأ الأرض حبة سودة و فلفل و بهارات كما ملئت تويكس و باونتي و كيت كات جنكي , والى ذلك الحين فلنردد : ماتت قلوب الناس, ماتت بنا النخوة, والله افلح من طبر.

I am a Pan-Arabist, but a cynical one anyway ; I still hope Pan-Arabism someday won't be a synonym for tyranny. But for now, let us daydream and blame our horrible factionalism on the outsider occupation in this 40-min beautiful "Arab Conscience" piece, at least it's better than the last Pan-Arab collaboration "the Arab Dream", there are two Iraqi singers there (Majid and Ridha - both I'm not a big fan of) but there's also my lady Syrian Asala Nasri as well, in addition to those, 100 Arab singers and actors united for this work, a rare solidarity moment.

لطيفـــــــــــــــــــــــــــه (تونس)
انا عــــــــايزة العــــــالم كله يمد كفوفه ســـــــلام
والســــلم العربى يكون ســــلام مش استســــــلام

هــــــــانى شـــــــاكر (مصر)
انا عربـــــى ورافض صمى وكاتم احساس جوايا
والشعب العربى فى صـــفى هقول ويردو ورايــــا

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


نانـــــــسى عجــــــــرم(لبنان)
يا صــــــاحبى يا انســــان هنــا او فى اى مكـــان
ببعـت رسالتــــى ليك تطـــــــوى بها الاحــــــزان

الشــــــــاب خالــــــــــد (جزائر)
نبــــــــنى مع المـــــــلاين بالعدل والايمـــــــــان
ياللــــــــه انا وانت نبنى العـــــــالم امـــــــــــــان

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


شيـــــــــــــــريــــــــــن (مصر)
اصل البشر انســــــــان كل الرســـل اخــــــــوان
موســـى وعيســـى ومحمد بيرفضــــو العــــدوان

صــــــابر الربــــاعـــى (تونس)
وبيرفضــــو زلنــــــــا وبيمجـــــــدو الانســــــان
الله هو المحبــــــــه دينـــــا هو الســـــــــــــــــلام

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة

رضـــــا العبـــــــــــدلله (عراق)
قلنـــــا شعاع النـــــــور فى حلمنـــــــــــــا الاول
يوصـــــل سمـــــا وبحــــور يا لاسف طـــــــول

امــــــــــال ماهــــــــــر (مصر)
طــــــــول لان اللـــــيل خلى الضـــــمير ابكـــــم
لو باقــــى فينـــا يــــوم لابد ان نحلـــــــــــــــــــم

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


خــــــــالد سليـــــــــــــم (مصر)
مات الاحساس جوانـــا ولا احنا اللى امــــــــوات
ولا ضـــمير العالم خلاص احســـــاسه مــــــــات

احـــــــــــــــــــــــــــلام (إمارات)
وســلاح الشجــــــب معانا شايلينو للازمــــــــات
والناس بتعــــانى معانا بدايات من غير نهايــــات

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


ديــانــــا كـــــــــــرزون (أردن)
قــــــــم يا اخـــى بالدم واستنهض الهمـــــــــــــــه
واصـــــرخ وقل بالفم ما غاب فى القمـــــــــــــــه
عبــــــــدالله الرويشـــــد (كويت)
سنقـــاوم مهما قالو ارهابــــــــــا او عـــــــــدوان
لن يهدأ قلـــب فينا حتى ننتقى الجـــــــــــــــولان

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


وعـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــد (سعودية)
انا رافضــــــه هيمنتك تحت ستـــــــار الحريــــه
انا رافضــــــه رايك نصـحك بإسم الديمقراطيــــه

ايهـــــاب توفيـــــــــــق (مصر)
الحــــريه مش منـــحه تتفــــــــــضل بيها عليــــه
ارادتنا تمحى المحــــنه إصحى يا امه يا عربيــــه

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


مصطـــــفى محفـــــوظ
عمر الســــلام ما كان احـــــلام بنشوفها منــــــــام
الظـــلم فى كل مكـــان يانـــــــاس كفايه كــــــــلام
امـــــل حجــــــــــــازى (لبنان)
حــــربك ضد الارهـــاب عنوان ظــــالم كــــداب
مفهــومك للحريه ضد حقـــــــــــوق الانســـــــان

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


وائـــــل جســـــــــــــار
اطفــال شيـــوخ نسـاء تصرخ وما حدش سامـــع
اشـلاء دمـاء شـهداء و ضمــــــير العالم ضايـــع

امنـــيـــــــــــــــــــــــــه
يا امه صــــحى الهمه وصــــلى صوتك للكــــون
قتلو رمــــــــوز الامه ولا حــــرك فيهم سكــــون

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة

عمــــــــــــــار حســـــن
هـى عادة فينـــا نرعى حقـــــــــــوق الجـــــــــار
هذه الشـــــــــعوب غدت عزمـا بغير قــــــــــرار

اصــــــاله نصــــــــرى (سوريا)
نبــــكى ودمع الناس دمع بغــــــــير رثــــــــــــاء
فإذا غــفى الاحساس ماذا يفيــــــــد بكــــــــــــــاء

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة

الشـــــــاب جيلانـــــــى (ليبيا)
عذرا رســــول الله فى حـــــــــــرمه الاديــــــــان
لو لــــى مدى احيـــــاء فســــــأطلب الغفـــــــران
نانســـــى زعبــــــلاوى (مصر)
فبــــعزة التـــــــوراة ومحبــــــــه الانجيــــــــــل
بحكــــمه القــــــــران تبقى الاديان دليــــــــــــــل

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


مــــــاجد المهنــــــــدس (عراق)
غـــــزة بغـــداد بيــــروت الحزن فى كل مكــــان
عزيمتنا لا ما تموت راح تقوى بالايمــــــــــــــان
امنـــــــه فاخــــــــــــــر (تونس)
كلنا اخوان فى الازمه ايد واحدة على العـــــــدوان
كلنا واعيين للفتنه كلنـــــــــــــــا ملك الاوطــــــان

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


لطـــــفى بوشنــــــــــاق (المغرب)
لعبــتهم هى الفتــنه ولازم نكــــون صــــــــاحيين
للفتــنه ونــار الفتــنه لازم نكون واعـــــــــــــيين

يـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــارا (لبنان)
لا تقـــول مســـلم ومســيحى كلنا واحد إخــــــوان
لا تقول سنـــى وشيــعى كلـــــنا اسمنا لبنــــــــان

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة


عمــر عبــد الـــــــلات (أردن)
ياخـــويا يا عــــربى احنا بقينـــــــا اغــــــــــراب
يا صـــــمتنا العربى انطـــــق كفايه غيـــــــــــاب

نــــوال الكـــــــــــويتيه (كويت)
ارفــــــــع جبينك فــــوق خلى الكـــــلام فعـــــال
يا ضمــــــيرنا يا عـــــــربى محال موتك محــــال

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة

نـــــــور مهـــــــــــــنـــا (سوريا)
الله يا الله عـــــــاذت بــــــــــنا الاعـــــــــــــــداء
نـــــاديت يا لله ما خــــــاب فيك رجــــــــــــــــاء

فاتـــــــن هـــــــــــــلال (المغرب)
ايقـــــــظ ضـــــــمير الامه رجع لها الاحســــــاس
يا رافع الغـــمه صحـــــــى ضــــــمير النـــــــاس

ماتت قلوب الناس ماتت بنا النخوة يمكن نسينا فى يوم ان العرب اخوة

مـــــؤمن احــــــــــــــمد
صـــــــحى قلوب الناس صـــحى بها النخـــــــوة
اصــــرخ بكل احساــــــــس ان العرب اخـــــــوة

Norman Finkelstien: Israel Has To Suffer A Defeat

Although I don't fully agree with this guy but I must say I'm pretty impressed.

Egypt Wins African Cup

Aside from our usual export of terrorism, we seem to be dominating the world in another, unpredictable category.

Left: Iraqi captain Younis Mahmood holds the 2007 Asian Cup after blasting Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final, Egyptian captain Ahmed Hassan does the same to the African 2008 cup after soundly bashing Cameroon 1-0 yesterday.

The two finals were eerily similar, both Iraq and Egypt dominated their games against serious contenders before the effort finally translated into a frenzied lone goal in the last quarter of the game.

What is different, is the after-party, at least in Amman.
After Iraq, the Iraqi diaspora in Jordan, some 500,000 (750,000 in some estimations) squeezed in the upscale Rabia district of the capital and danced their life off, for about 20 minutes ; before the efficient Jordanian batons made short of their gathering, I was present there, and I still remember the vicious ruthlessness of the masked black-clad men, (is it our fate to be always chased by masked black-men?) many young men were arrested, and anyone who simply carried the Iraqi flag was at least reprimanded.
Yesterday, when Egypt won the cup, some 700-800 Egyptians gathered in the Sowaylih district, they weren't as much, but they closed down the traffic all right. I had a small argument with a taxi driver who insisted that the reason was that the Iraqi started 'breaking stuff', whatever, the true reason, of course, is the social anxiety against Iraqis in Jordan, as explained by Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey during his visit to Jordan in 2006. Of course, Sandmonkey offers the cliched Jordanian view of the stinky rich Iraqis who are heavily investing in the small poor country, which is half-true, but I believe a large share of the antagonism can be fairly blamed on this guy, who cared more about his Pan-Arab image than his own citizens:
More on that later when I have more time, for now, congratulations Egypt. I am a big fan of Egypt and will always be one. I do realize that Iraqis have a lot to resent from their fellow Arab brethren, and how incredibly damaging tyrannical and shallow approaches to Pan-Arabism have been to the Middle East in general, but I still believe that Pan-Arabism can one day be married to less violent interpretations, even though I feel incredibly alienated and estranged from Jordanians, my philosophy will always be:

بلادي و ان جارت علي عزيزة وأهلي و ان شحوا علي كرام

Sandmonkey seems to have made good friends with Jordanian bloggers, they seem to be an okay bunch, I really liked the way the Jordanian-Iraqi brawl about the Queen Alia international Airpot ended, maybe I should try and be more connected with them ; unfortunately for me, my only experience was with an immature Jordanian blogger who confirmed those hostilities Sandmonkey talked about.

The concept of 'Gheera'

The iraqi-arabic word 'gheera' is hard to translate, an offspring of the distinct Middle Eastern mentality, the closest Western word to it is 'honor', but it lacks many of the connotations that makes it different from 'sharaf' which is the literal 'honor' in Arabic.

The Iraqi 'Gheera' comes directly from the classical Arabic 'ghayoor', I haven't heard it being used in other Arabic dialects, it stems from the same human feelings of 'pride' and 'honor' but it is also much more than that, perhaps the 'gheera' has its roots in the Beduoin-descendant importance of protecting the family, especially the women. a 'ghayoor' or an 'abu il gheera' is the proud, honorable William Wallace type of person.

The dilemma of translating 'gheera' came to me when I was trying to translate the following poem, I normally consider patriotic Iraqi songs hypocritical, but apparently, everything can be great if it's done well. and this performance have never failed to stir me, even the over-the-top, bullshitty parts, Hussam al-Rassam, currently Iraq's favorite singer, did an especially good job here, somehow I feel every word and actually the first two times it literally brought tears to my eyes on the 'children sleep on their empty stomaches' line, as you can see in the video, I was not the only one feeling this way, not to mention the way he lays down his issues with our Arab countries in a tone that conveys despair, pride, majesty, sadness all at the same time. It's almost flawless, except for the smiling bimbo at 3:30, but oh well.
This performance is actually a medley of three different 'mawaweel', in short a mawal is a small vocal performance of a poem Iraqi (and maybe Arab) singers perform before jumping headlong into a song, the mawal is usually painful and exquisitely worded, but the subject matter of the mawal and the song can be totally unrelated, for example, you can sing a mawal about the pain and suffering you feel when torn away from your country and then jump headlong into a song about stolen chickens.

Other things of note is that translation often fails to preserve the direct essence and brilliance of the mawal, especially if there is wordplay, for example the first verse which ends with 'dates', 'command' and 'pass us by' is in Iraqi-Arabic 'tamurna', 'timurna' and 'tumurna'. a wordplay often used in Iraqi mawaweel. I have tried however to convey its meaning to the best of my humble capability as someone who earns his bread by translation.

Enjoy it, it's really important.

Fair and well for those who our dates they eat
and we obey your wishes when us you command
for entirely the Basra leans when us you pass by
and Shatt al-Arab greets thee heartily...

May the Lord ails you, my country, O the cradle of civillizations...
I embrace you even if thou embrace the knives themselves....
For I wish to speak, and who is he who believes my fables...
and you, O beloved, bear the anecdotes of Sultans..
The Bread-maker, why do you give your neighbors
while your children sleep on empty stomaches?
And your walls are used but for the slogans, many are the
slogans, few are the walls...

and here you cry alone, and no one shares you tears...
For you need not a tear shed without honor (gheera)
When the horses broke into stride, you calmed their fears
and preserved them, their thrones, kings, and tribes.
Who has not quenched from Kirkuk's oil?
but who invites me on his table today?
I address he who drank Irbil's yoghurt
and he who ate the bread of Sowayra
and he who consumed Thi-Qar's masguf
and he who uttered but the single utterance
and I bemoan for Saladdin isn't present
nor is the Qaqa, nor is Ibn al-Mugheira!
O Sa'ad, do you see Rustam, at the doorstep?
On the Euphrates, his rank and file march
I address those who slept by Abu Nuwas
Lo! How the Tigris remains captive today!
O Ali! O Father of al-Hasan! Dulfiqar is sheathen, and of your
dome the cowardly chips a stone?
I remember when they clinged to my clothes
and yesterday when the peninsula preserved its pride
Yesterday, when my helmet rebound a thousand bullets
the Arab Gulf is my sea, and I didn't flee
I hold thee accountable for all that happened to me
and everyone's sin lies in the corner of his eyes
for I am Iraq, and my name shatters the heavens.

*The poet who wrote this, Samir Sabah, was imprisoned by Jordanian authorities shortly after its release, he was only released after human right organizations intervened, ironically, this concert was in Jordan.

Iraqis: The Biggest Hypocrites

I have been reading articles here and there saying questioning the 'Iraqi' identification, saying that Iraq is really a bastard country formed of three separate Ottoman states in the early 20th century: Basra, Mosul and Baghdad. Such articles struck me as heavily unrealistic, great nations often come out of unholy marriages, case in point, world's current greatest nation, the United States of America. I came into life with a clear cohesion about the 'Iraqi' citizenship.

But after a while I began to understand where these un-Iraqi sentiments came from, with bloodbaths performed by supposedly authentic Iraqis against their own kinsmen, the social fabric is being quickly ripped apart, people first started throwing the worn-out conspiracy theories about how all these are orchestrated by the 'occupation and the jews', but they know deep down inside that it is not so, the fabric is quickly uncovering the great hypocrisy of the Iraqi nationalism. And it is time to say it out loud to the world.

The sense of Iraq's unity is a paradoxical, dare I say nonexistent thing, I used to think of myself as someone who loves his country, but slowly I became to understand that this was an illusion, like the slogan "Raise your head, you're an Iraqi." Exactly what Iraq has done, from the day it was created to the day that I am writing this to you, that should make me proud? We are a generation who practiced hurling out terms like 'the victorous, proud, chivalrous Arab nation' while in reality we suffered major defeats, exactly like the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, which was another disastorous loss where the descendandts of Monkey & Pigs, Jews (Arabic trademark phrase) almost captured age-old Isalmic capital Damascus. We heavily borrow from our ancestors glories to gild our miserable defeats, Iraqi Ba'ath propaganda was never absent from a direct reference to the invention of the wheel, the glories of Nebuchedanezzar, or the linking of the Iran-Iraq war to the 7-th century Qadissiya, etc). We as citizens, would greet our president with cheers and kisses and sworn allegiances, only to shed them the minute we are safe inside our homes. This practice has severely damaged all pride, we are a nation of cowards, tyrants, and morons.

Some people point out to people like us, who left Iraq, saying look at these cowards, we are not cowards, we are realists. The love of the 'country' is a hypcrisy formed by years of living under oppression and refusal to admit defeats. There is nothing that my country has done so far, and I am speaking too for all Arab states, that makes me proud of the fact that I am of its citizens. You can see how this is evident by how people are killing for the sake of sect, religion, their areas, their families, but never their country. Some people, mostly Baathists and their sympathesizers, continue their own bullshit about the 'patriotic Iraqi resistance' and how we are fighting for 'Iraq', shut up, you are fighting for the lost thrones you had. There is no such thing as an Iraqi resistance, and there never, ever was. It was al-Qaeda and Baathists all the way, I don't hate Mes'ood Barazani as much as I hate Saddam Hussein, because the first guy is a motherfucker who's at least frank about it, but the latter, Saddam ibn al kahba abu el gawad Hussein, is a hypocrite who can still make people follow him out of mere cowardice to admit how pathetic we all are, continuing an idiotic routine of hypocritic national identification.

There are some things that could hint of a national identification, for example, when you go outside Iraq and u feel like a total stranger, you try hard to find other Iraqis like you, forgetting how incredibly hateful they were back home. There are bonds that are evident in places like gameshows, soccer matches, but they are also incredibly hypocritical, they don't amount to anything more than that and precisely that, as long as the more effective political hypocrisy is in effect, all other identifications are merely so that we won't be "caught with our pants down" in the face of the world.

This is why many Arabs support Osama bin Laden, because he is a guy who doesn't bullshit around and actually does something, I think Bin Laden is a big criminal and a great danger on Islam because of that precise fact, he's a person who understands Arabs need to stop hypocrisy with action.
Wherever i go in Jordan, I look at phrases like "Jordan First", I watch Egyptian movies where the ultimate cause is "the country of Egypt", but Maybe countries like UAE have something to be proud of, but these are money-bought flourishes that are brittle fronts that will be demolished with a few hammerings here and there. Iraq is particularly a good example of Arab hypocrisy, becuase all its glories are lies while its people degenrated into morons, some people want Saddam back, you monkeys - at least psychologically, do u want to return to a stable, but paradoixcal state of glorifiying Saddam's farts and belches? Some people said this is because of Saddam, well he's gone now and look what have you done to the country? IT IS YOU. YOURSELVES. this is why we must stop the hypocrisy of identifiying with "Iraq" in its current meaning and be brave enough and say how much of a losers we all are. I do not hate my country, but I don't really care for it that much, I'd love to see it flourishing and stable, but I wouldn't die for it, so it's not enough - the difference is that I'm brave enough to say it. I only love my family, my friends, and recently my area (as a post-effect of the sectarain civil war), but I don't really love my country. In fact, I think it's a big shame that people are dying becuase of such a stupid, hypocritical lie. I would cut my arm and hand it to you on a plate if you can find me a single Iraqi who'd die for his own country. There's just no such thing. Islamism is real, Shiism is real, Iranianism is real, al-Qaeda is real, but al-Ba'ath party is the true example of Iraqi patriotism: fake identifications with a myth of glory that is based upon truer past achievements that we had nothing to do with.

I leave you with the words of an Iraqi writer on the Internet which has greatly moved me, I have added a few of my own here and there:

"I write these lines with big sadness and grief because I belong to this country of cowards and tyrants, this is the truth that many of you are trying to hide, how we are people who are divided into many factions, most importantly of which is the one of cowardice and the one of overlords, you are killed by the thousands in your areas, villages, streets, houses, in the middle of your families, you are slaughtered and you cannot even lift a finger in the face of your killers, what a bunch of losers, you see your brothers and sons killed and you scatter like mice trying to protect yourself and shouting slogans in the air, knowning fully well how much of a bullshit are you promoting and that your turn is next, that you will die not of honor, but of shame, when a tyrant comes to the throne you bow to him without a word, which is what you desrve. I am an "Iraqi" like you, I am not a Baathist, not an Islamist, not a Saffavid, not a Persian, not a Shiite, not a Sunni, I am a person who stands up and says it like it is, listen to the truth, you are people who have created new idols for themselves, idols not made of stones like the "Sadr Martyr" who a great deal of people worship now, let a person curse Allah in front of you and you will leave him be, but let him curse Sayyid al-Sadr and you will race for killing him and spilling his blood. Die, Suffer, Move, get kidnapped, burn in vain for you and all you who claim to be Iraqis.
As for the tyrants, who are people who understood how cowards are driven by the same fake wordplay and have adapted to leading them, he who says that Saddam is the tyrant i say to him that a great deal of Iraqis are potential tyrants.
I stand here believing these words until the final moment of my life and I will try to shed this ugly disgusting skin of Iraqism that you are proud of at public but privately shun and spit at until I become of the nothingness of this universe."

To be "hip" (lol) with the times, I will quote an 8th century speech by a famous Iraqi tyrant, al-Hajjaj bin Youssif al-Thaqafi, who is often compared with Saddam, in which he desrcibes Iraqis, the speech is famous and the line : "people of shikak and nifak" (land of division and hypocrisy) is an insult that is used until today, rightfully so - While this speech greatly insults the Great Iraqi People, I think today it applies to all Arabs in general, but particulalry Iraqis:

"O People of Iraq, I see that heads have bloomed and it is time to pick them, and I am their picker. By Allah, It is as if I am looking at the blood between the turbans and beards, By Allah, O People of Iraq, the Caliph Abdul-Malik has looked amongst his leaders, and found me the most bitter and the most severe, so he made me rule over you, O People of Iraq, O People of Shikak and Nifaq, and the worst of Akhlaaq (manners), You have long embroiled in division, and have fallen to the climate of the deception, By God I will smite u by hammers, and beat u like sheep. You are people who were safe and had a plenty of God's gifts, but you rejected the virutes of God, so he unleashed his promise that he promised for all cities upon you. Be moderate, do not lean, obey and cheer me."



"Allah does not change what has befallen people until they change what is in themselves"
- Holy Quran

Lubnaan*

This post took some time to write, exactly why, because it is so confusing to be an Arab these days.
If something happens, you have to think very carefully what is your reaction to it.

Case in point: Hezbollah kidnaps 2 Israeli soldiers, Israelis cut the crap and whip they cracked.

and whip they cracked!

For three weeks now Israeli planes have wrecked havoc and destruction over the Lebanon, destroying many civillian buildings, killing women and children, moving about hundreds of families, havoc and destruction in all of it.

The Arabs(c) portrayed the usual crippled-man condemnation and aid funds, tricking themselves by listening to patriotic songs and the US entered gung-ho as usual with long-time fellow bedders and Nasralallah is pretty strident on the fight, with all his usual slurred 'r'.

Now, I wish I could say I am honestly touched, I wish I could say I feel your pain, my fellow brothers and sisters, but I would be a lying sonovabitch deep in the mud if I say that, of course, my heart occasionally contracts when a middle-aged blind man appears shocked and helpless, with his wife and kids while he half-sobs about how they were dragged out under the hells cracking above, or when I see real disturbing pictures that could drive your night ass-crazy when thinking about it


But then again, my remorse is little beyond the usual human sympathy for humans in distress, I am not genuinely touched and I know it - I have learned this from painful expereince: When three of the four dead friends were killed first, they were well-known and we had a big funeral march for them inside the college, it was terrible, with loud suffocaing shrieks and tears from many people, but when the fourth died a week later, nobody gave a shit, I particulalry remember a scene when Caesar of Pentra was in half-shock, crying, while a girl the deceased Saif (who was a fellow blogger, he managed to write two posts of the hapless variety before the unforunate incident) had the hots for walked by and laughed her mouth off.

So Lebanese people, long-known in the Arab world as masters of sexually liberated singers, you are on your own I am afraid. a Palestinian taxi-driver told me that he feels no sympathy for Lebanon because 'they get their money from being a collective whore's house'.

Stargazing Arabs at times like these like to talk about a story of al-Mu'tassim, an Abassid caliph, who changed the course of his army after a woman walked all the way from the city of Something to call for his help against the Crusades, he went back and liberated the city of Something.

I am not sad, but I wish I can, because if I am truly sad - then I would start to try and do something for my fellow people - this is a perennial problem with the Arab pattern of thinking, we have grown comfortable in our ostrich pillows of condemnation.

But this incident is different from the timeless one of Palestinians getting squached
,there is some extra math that must be done:

Given: Hezbollah is the brainchild of Iran in Lebanon.
Suggestion: Either Hezbollah strictly follows Iran's religious thinking or feels it helps to achieve a goal.
Now, Hezbollah is fighting Israel
Suggestion: We must support it.
But: Iran is perhaps the largest havoc-wrecker in Iraq.
Suggestion: Either we must not support Iran (e.g. not support Hezbollah, given that they are Iran's far-reaching finger), or Iran is not the Mulla-Frankenstein they be so mouthin about.
-----------------------------
See? it totally wrecks your system! you can't really make up a unified, universal law that applies to everyone and everything, we can do this all day with Hamas, Harith al-Dhari, al-Sistani....you name it.


While Nasrallah's rhetoric presents a more nationalistic, approchable take on the average Shi'ite Religious Leader, much better than al-Hakim's self-flagellating antiques or al-Sadr, who'd rather spend the day playing PS2, Hezbollah (nice name for a heavy metal band, btw) is a sidekick for Iran before all, who I am saddened to say follow a very members-only Shi'ite path to heaven, they will not all in all fit the Arabian Dream extravaganza.

Another way to go about it like some people did back in the Iraqi Invasion back in April 2003, they said : 'I ain't fighting for Saddam, I am fighting for Iraq', For the sake of all the women and children dead, and boy, don't these picture stir up the dangerous extremist shred in the hearts of Arabs? don't it tickle the Bin Laden in you?! Where is your pride? What happened to those who fought bravely before you and all that? O Mu'atiasim?!?

Of course, a good reaction is that we are now in the face of a common enemy, and by uniting in the face of it we will unite so help us God, however, it is wrong to cheer to someone just because he is attempting to achieve a common goal, this is just like how the Arabs, particulalry Palestinains, defend Saddam to death as an Arab hero - the moustached man knew how to manipulate them, throwing rockets at Israel with so sucky coordination that suggests he was training with marbles, so if Hezbollah fights Israel, my opinion is that we shuold not support them.


The problem first and foremost lies in us, The Arabs, don't blame the security council or the UN or all these World Policers, they only follow their own interests, wake up! They would only give a shit when you are THE shit. At the time being we do not have the ethical component neccessary to win, we do not have the driving inspiration of the nomadic Arabs who lived in the mainlands and who went about and ass-kicked two empires, the key solution first must be civil and domestic, we must regroup, restructure, we are weak and helpless, prefering to pursue worldly desires.

Forget sectarian differences, we should not support Hezbollah because, plain and simple, any violent struggle these days, will not solve or achieve anything.

Sayyed Qutb, the misunderstood Muslim Brotherhood Islamic thinker and writer who is often incorrectly described as the man behind the philosophy groundwork for fundamentalist groups such as al-Qaeda says: "After careful consideration, I come to conclude that any military efforts on the part of Islamic groups to create and Islamic society is fruitless and brings reverse results, the most correct approach is to attempt to reach out to the mainstream community, corrupted by Western (Jahililya) values and ideals, and attempt a civil and social reform."

Hezbollah deserves to be blamed for this war, their cause may be just and noble, but ultimately they have dragged a country and a nation that is not ready for this kind of confrontation, what has the resistance in Iraq achieved so far? did we gain anything from al-Falluja and ar-Ramadi? it only complicated matters.


The holy prophet (p) said : 'War is a trick', and Arabs must know how to trick, they must know who and when to fight, not just go mouthing off slogans they can't stand up to and pretending to be the all-conquering nation they once were.

*Lubnaan is the Arabic pronounciation of Lebanon.