Casey Kasem, the voice of Shaggy and Robin, and possibly the most prominent Lebanese American vegan in broadcast history, has called it quits from all manner of countdowns. Keep reaching for the stars, Casey, and we'll try not to piss you off.
posted by ericbop on Jul 7, 2009 - 58 comments

Wafa Younis is an Arab Israeli musician who organised a youth orchestra in the Jenin refugee camp. She recently brought her orchestra to play for Holocaust survivors at an Israeli old age home. The performance was strongly criticised by Palestinians as a hostile political act. Now the orchestra has been disbanded, its performance space sealed, and Ms Younis has been expelled from the West Bank. [more inside]
posted by Joe in Australia on Apr 2, 2009 - 49 comments

In an attempt (flash) to provide Muslim and Arab youth with homegrown heroes, The 99 puts out comics and builds theme parks with a twist. [more inside]
posted by gman on Feb 16, 2009 - 12 comments

Staining the nails, skin and hair with henna is the favorite way of enhancing beauty amongst women in the Middle East. It is used as a hair treatment as well as a dye to make decorative designs on the skin. The art is known as mehndi. Henna markings remain on the skin for about twenty or thirty days. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Aug 13, 2008 - 36 comments

"Hundreds of thousands of Americans have endured tours of duty in Iraq. They are returning home with a new word on their lips. It will have an impact on the American Experiment, inshallah."
posted by Firas on Dec 7, 2007 - 52 comments

Seeing Only Evil: An Interview with Retired CIA Agent Robert Baer, Author of See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War Against Terrorism.
posted by exlotuseater on Feb 5, 2006 - 21 comments

In 1975, over 4 million people attended the funeral of Um Khaltoum who was the dignified voice of female Arabic music. Flash forward thirty years, and the times, they are a-changin'. Unsurprisingly, some consider Nancy an unsuitable role model. Meanwhile, Arab youth are being asked the crucial question, Coke or Pepsi? (Comments more serious than mine appreciated)
posted by IndigoJones on Nov 12, 2005 - 20 comments

Al-Qaeda, Meet al-Salsa Salsa music is sweeping the arab world, especially as played by Amr Diab, hailed by an Abu Dhabi taxi driver as "the Ricky Martin of the Arab World." But unlike Ricky Martin, Amr Diab combines Latin rhythms in an appealing mix with guttural Arabic lyrics. It's the type of cosmopolitan fusion that might now be welcome in Iran's growing but barely-tolerated music scene.
posted by teaperson on Oct 6, 2005 - 21 comments

Made-in-Israel Paper Cups Used in Local Hospital.
posted by mosch on Sep 1, 2005 - 147 comments

They hate Flickr for it's Freedom. An ISP (and government controlled monopoly) in the United Arab Emirates has decided to ban access to Flickr for it's citizens, apparently due to the complaints of a couple of UAE expats in the UK and Canada. Of course, said blockage won't apply to them. Most interestingly, they blame the rest of the world's non-flesh-fearing photographers as opposed to their ISP (and by proxy their own oppressive government.) Now Flickr joins Skype, AtomFilms, Friendster, AOL, and anything from Israels top-level domain, as outlawed content and services in the UAE (related study here). Well, if they don't care, why should we? Via linkfilter.
posted by rzklkng on Jun 22, 2005 - 28 comments

Israeli Pro-Palestinian activist Tali Fahima to remain in custody. Tali Fahima grew up in a conservative desert town in Israel and voted Likud for years. As the second intifada erupted she read about the brutality of the occupation on the Internet and eventually travelled to Jenin refugee camp where she met Zakariyeh Zbeideh, a local leader of the terrorist organization and Fatah offshoot, Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade. She was arrested and jailed in Israel, accused of translating a document for Zbeideh into Arabic. that allowed him to warn fighters marked for Israeli assassination.

Fahima has been under arrest nearly six months. Her case has gained prominence not just because she is an Israeli Jew supporting Palestinian resistance but because she is a Mizrahi, a Sephardic or "Arab" Jew. This group has historically formed a solid bloc of support for aggressive policies against the Palestinians. [MI]
posted by By The Grace of God on Jan 30, 2005 - 30 comments

A View from the Eye of the Storm. An Arab intellectual in Europe ponders on the Muslim world and comes to some interesting conclusions. Israel is a sideshow. Iran is the most dangerous country in the world.. in the long run the only way for us (the West) to win the war of terror is to force the problem nations to reform both politically and culturally.via Steven Den Beste weblog
posted by stbalbach on Jun 25, 2004 - 45 comments

The Alexandria Declaration. Between March 14 and 17, 2004, intellectuals, scholars, economists and activists from around the Arab world met at the new Alexandria Library in Egypt for the Arab Reform Conference. Among the recommendations of the conference was that all Arab governments should ratify "all international conventions on the rights of women providing for the abolition of all forms of discrimination against them."
posted by Ty Webb on Mar 29, 2004 - 5 comments

A place where light rain makes the news. An Arab country where, according to the CIA World Factbook, 50% of the population is actually of South Asian descent. And a place that could really use a better flash intro.
posted by namespan on Jan 28, 2004 - 8 comments

Rebellion brewing in Saudi city The tiny city of Sakaka in the remote al-Jouf province that borders Iraq may seem an unlikely setting for the beginning of a revolution against the ruling al-Saud family. But one does not have to spend too long here to realise that this is what is happening.
posted by Postroad on Jan 28, 2004 - 44 comments

Thumbs Up? Anal insult or USA A-Number 1? Via the Riddler. Defense Language Institute:

This gesture, expressing connotations of “I am winning,” historically is offensive to many Arabs. After the Gulf conflict, however, Middle Easterners of the Arabian Peninsula adopted this hand movement, along with the OK sign, as a symbol of cooperation toward freedom.

That's what you think, GI Joe.
posted by hairyeyeball on Apr 5, 2003 - 14 comments

English-friendly Arab web portal: For those who want to better understand what Arab news agencies are printing/broadcasting or if you want to be able to read any web site published in Arabic, the Ajeeb portal has a free translation service. It translated Arabic to English more clearly than how I've seen babblefish handle other languages. However, one should approach any translation with circumspection, especially in light of current events.
posted by Modem Ovary on Mar 23, 2003 - 5 comments

Reactions from the Arab world Meanwhile Israel gets more financial aid from the US further angering Muslims and contributing to Zionist/US conspiracy theories. Sadly, Bush seems to have found how to pay for this war by not supporting the troops.
posted by skallas on Mar 21, 2003 - 34 comments

in another thread someone asked "What maniac are we creating right now?", reading this article i this morning - i asked myself the same question. [nytimes]

"The founder of Maon Farm, Yehoshefat Tor, says he still thinks the bombing was a good idea. ''The Torah says we should kill all the Arabs,'' he told me. ''Not just Arabs who maybe help terrorists. Everybody.''"
posted by specialk420 on Feb 16, 2003 - 14 comments

100 Questions and Answers About Arab Americans. While researching the Middle East conflict, I happened upon this journalist's guide from the Detroit Free Press containing background on Arab-American culture, language, and religion. Many of the questions are simplistic (some might even say moronic) and the answers obvious, but I found I learned a thing or two.
posted by VelvetHellvis on Nov 12, 2002 - 21 comments

Talk about culture clash -- the personal opinions of a U.S. military attache/observer concerning Arab military practices. See also the EgyptAir Flight 990 investigation. Big question: how can we make some progress here? [courtesy aldaily.com]
posted by apollo3000 on Aug 29, 2002 - 3 comments

The light at the end of the tunnel? The findings from a panel of Arab intellectuals on the state of the world's 280 million Arabs, in a Friedman's commentary (NYT). A Palestinian argument against suicide attacks, published June 19 in the Arabic language newspaper Al Quds and signed by 55 prominent Palestinian intellectuals and politicians. "Out of our national responsibility, and due to the gravity of the situation the Palestinian people is in, we, the undersigned, wish to hope that those behind the military actions aimed at [harming] citizens in Israel will reconsider [their acts] and cease pushing our youth to carry out these operations, because we do not see them as leading to any results except for increased hatred, enmity, and hostility between the two peoples, deepening the chasm between them, and destroying the possibility of both peoples living alongside each other in peace in two neighboring states."
posted by semmi on Jul 3, 2002 - 6 comments

Why Europeans And Arabs Hate America And Israel: In this brash, provocative essay for The Weekly Standard, good old David Brooks blames what he calls bourgeoisophobia. He may have gone too far in his desire to make his point, but there's something in what he says. Is it envy? Is it anti-semitism? Is it hypocrisy pure and simple? There's definitely a ressurgence of the pushy, garish, ostentatious and arrogant "ugly American" stereotype after September 11. Apart from the conservative Daily Telegraph and Spectator, it's becoming more and more difficult for Atlanticists such as myself to avoid ritual America-bashing in the European mainstream press. What in the hell is going on? My feeling is that Americans themselves are going out of their way to reaffirm their way of life and reinforce those prejudices. It's as if you vont to be alone. Or is it, as I suspect, just us? [More inside]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Apr 14, 2002 - 84 comments

The best solution I've heard so far to end the mess in Israel. A Saudi Prince suggests plan that trades occupied land in return for the Arab world recognizing the Israeli state. Is it a viable plan? Will Barak have the courage to give it a shot? Could the Arab nations ever recognize a Jewish state? Could Palestine and Israel coexist peacefully next to each other?
posted by aacheson on Feb 26, 2002 - 28 comments

Arafat's duplicity revealed on video. His call for an end to terrorism, published in The NY Times suggests peacful intentions. This article claims he has made videos which suggest to Arab audiences that his talk is merely strategic and he has the elimination of the State Of Israel as his goal
posted by Postroad on Feb 4, 2002 - 35 comments

UAE Information Ministry calls for greater freedom in the Arab World 'In my view, religious extremism that begets terrorism will not recede without a review of Arab and Islamic conditions," he said. "We cannot speak of stamping out extremism without revising the educational system and without rethinking our political state of affairs and economic problems." Encouraging?
posted by RobertLoch on Jan 4, 2002 - 2 comments

PAX AMERICANA IN THE ARAB WORLD A calm voiced and knowledgable description with excellent links by Fouad Ajami, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
posted by semmi on Nov 9, 2001 - 3 comments

From the Sunday NY Times comes an article detailing an unprecedented roundup of Arabic people living in the US, some as naturalized citizens, but most under varying types of visas, (oftentimes lapsed). And release bonds are but non existent The gov's strategy seems to be to try to cast a wide net and scoop up as many "likelies" to put a wrench in "The Base's" homeland terror machine. Calling it "widescale racial profiling" like the well documented Japanese internments of WW2, defense lawyers and civil libertarians are getting constitutionally antsy about the roundup, which they say accellerated noticably after the 9/22 warnings of imminent attack. Is their alarm well founded or reflexive and hollow?
posted by BentPenguin on Nov 4, 2001 - 24 comments

Better a handful of dry dates and content therewith than to own the Gate of Peacocks and be kicked in the eye by a broody camel. what?!?!
posted by ggggarret on Oct 27, 2001 - 5 comments

Mohamed Heikal, the Arab world's foremost political commentator, talks to the Guardian. This comes from the secular Arab perspective. It is worth reading... Excerpt: When I hear Bush talking about al-Qaida as if it was Nazi Germany or the communist party of the Soviet Union, I laugh because I know what is there. Bin Laden has been under surveillance for years: every telephone call was monitored and al-Qaida has been penetrated by American intelligence, Pakistani intelligence, Saudi intelligence, Egyptian intelligence. They could not have kept secret an operation that required such a degree of organisation and sophistication."
posted by talos on Oct 13, 2001 - 42 comments

Bush plan for Palestinian state in the works First he did not want to get involved. Now he needs Arab support. Might be nice though if he told all concnered (Israel and Arab states) at the same time and when and only when he had the plan made final rather than suggesting and hinting at what might be included. O am I old fashioned in this?
posted by Postroad on Oct 12, 2001 - 20 comments

Christian Fundamentalism Inspiring Radical Muslim Theology? Arab fundamentalists long ago woke up to the potential of European anti-Semitic literature such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Now, in a truly bizarre piece of cultural miscegenation, they are turning to the Bible belt for inspiration.
posted by tpoh.org on Oct 2, 2001 - 12 comments

Ignoring for a second that he is probably a mass murderer, do you think that Bin Laden's fight is a just one? I'm not asking about his method, that is obviously appalling, what I am asking you is whether you think that his cause is fair/right/just. Try putting yourself in Arab or Muslim shoes, then consider whether you would support his general plight. (the commentary on Bin Laden starts next to the paypal icon on the left, so scroll down if you are busy, otherwise don't as the rest of the article is quite a good crack.)
posted by Wet Wednesday on Oct 1, 2001 - 89 comments

comment of "the superiority of Western civilisation" have provoked outrage in Arab countries not such a smart or nice thing to say right now.
posted by m2bcubed on Sep 27, 2001 - 43 comments

Arab-Americans kicked off NWA flight. Three Arab-Americans from Utah have been kicked off a flight from Minneapolis because the other passengers refused to fly with them.
posted by kittyb on Sep 21, 2001 - 73 comments

Racist America voices its concerns in a new poll: The Gallup Poll not only found that 58 percent of Americans backed more intensive security checks for Arab plane passengers and 49 percent supported special IDs, but also that 35 percent said they trusted Arabs living here less and 32 percent think Arabs living here should be put under special surveillance as were Japanese-Americans following Pearl Harbor.
posted by skallas on Sep 19, 2001 - 31 comments

New Yorker profile of bin Laden from Jan '00 Interesting background information on bin Laden from over a year ago.

"In a country that is obsessed with parentage, with who your great-grandfather was, Osama was almost a double outsider. His paternal roots are in Yemen, and, within the family, his mother was a double outsider as well—she was neither Saudi nor Yemeni but Syrian."

In his [bin Laden's] mind, the United States had become to Saudi Arabia what the Soviet Union had been to Afghanistan: an infidel occupation force propping up a corrupt, repressive, and un-Islamic government.

...that the more serious threat bin Laden poses to the interests of the United States lies in his ability to destabilize friendly Arab governments, such as Saudi Arabia's, whose support is geopolitically crucial to us.
posted by gen on Sep 18, 2001 - 6 comments

the map of terrorism An Israeli commentator shows that there are many Arab states and not all are terrorist or so inclined. Regarding all is over simplification.
posted by Postroad on Sep 16, 2001 - 1 comment

Anti-Arab violence going in Australia: It's not just in the US - In Brisbane, a schoolbus packed with Islamic children was damaged by stones and bottles and there had been abusive calls to mosques. In Perth a mosque was defiled with human faeces and obscenities were shouted from a car doing wheelies in its carpark. The Australian Arabic Council today said a hotline for people to report racist attacks had been swamped by calls. Unconfirmed attacks included children being physically harmed and racially vilified at school. Muslum women being spat on and had their veils pulled off.
posted by Jase_B on Sep 13, 2001 - 22 comments

Arab Americans, like all Americans, are shocked and angered by such brutality... American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee posts press release about the attacks. Have you witnessed increased racism towards Arab appearing folks today? What have you done about it?
posted by daver on Sep 11, 2001 - 21 comments

Most Arab country net traffic headed for porn sites... I'm not surprised. But not for the same reason's that are put forth in the article... More inside. [Via ObscureStore]
posted by silusGROK on Apr 24, 2001 - 20 comments

If Only It Was Arafat. Good. If he was who they say he was, he deserved it. Keep Playing Hardball. The Israelis should play this kind of hardball for a few years. Then the rocks will stop, things will settle down, perhaps the Palestineans will stop claiming Jerusalem, get some kind of real government, and then, perhaps their own little state. Then again, since no Arab state comes close to being a democracy, perhaps that will never happen.
posted by ParisParamus on Apr 5, 2001 - 12 comments

Business as usual. "Children, the weakest link in our society, are raped, battered, shot, tortured and murdered, while their tormentors go unpunished. Pedophiles roam the globe in search of countries where their offense is viewed as tourist entertainment. Women are beaten and abused without recourse on a daily basis; the cruelty of parents and employers is often dismissed as disciplinary measures necessary in the home or the work place; wars are waged in which women and children are the main victims. We look the other way, or, at best, applaud the launching of well-meaning organisations expected somehow to ease our feelings of guilt at the havoc wrought on innocent and helpless people's lives."

While I find this author quite provocative, I see that later in the article she mentions an alleged lynching that may or may not have taken place. Is this Cassie Bernall revisited?
posted by ethmar on Dec 11, 2000 - 20 comments

"Fellow citizens, Arabs everywhere, the National and Regional Commands of the Arab Socialist Baath Party, the Central Command of the Progressive Democratic Front, People's Assembly, Council of Ministers, the Armed Forces Command, Vocational Syndicates and Popular Organizations in Syria, the children of the great who departed, Bashar, Maher, Majd and Bushra, the Assad and Makhlouf families, announce to the Arab Nation..." Man, I wish we American peons could get obituaries like this!
posted by aaron on Jun 10, 2000 - 0 comments