Graphic Middle East 2008- In Search of Political Humor In a Sad Time of Surly Gods- Of Old and New Battles in Arabia
Man of the next four years? Why not?
Arab media intellectuals as selected by Elaph. They, the media types, may be the only kind of intellectuals available in the region these days, the only kind the petroleum barons and the other oligarchs are willing to patronize, i.e. pay for their 'services'.Webster's New World Dictionary: Intellectual (intellectualis), 1)of or pertaining to intellect. 2)appealing to the intellect,
3)requiring or involving the intellect, 4)guided by the intellect rather than feelings, 5)having or showing a high degree of intellect;having superior reasoning powers. That last one clinches it: back to the drawing board.
Dominatrices of Arabia: one out, two new ones in. Just another jackass?The not-so-potent potentates will may get two new bosses.
Bubba of Arabia Holy Angela Merkel ! Our milkshake is better 'n yours
Bush of Arabia .....and Africa......and Beijing
Political Humor 2008:
I was interested in humor, wanted to see if it has improved in the Middle East during this fading and sad year, by looking through newspaper political cartoons. I found some, but there was little real humor in most of them. Fear of the censor has made the artists timid, or maybe all the good ones are dead: I know of at least one who was silenced with a bullet in London.
Looked through newspapers from Iran, Syria, and Israel online: I was surprised that I could not find any cartoons that are even mediocre. I can understand that many Arabs and Muslims have lost their sense of humor long ago, if they ever had any- but Jews? And I thought Jews had a good sense of humor- at least in the USA they have the best sense of humor around. Maybe in Israel their sense of humor has been Arabized or Islamized, or maybe it was their traumatic European experience.
What is worse: I was unfortunate to find some cartoons in Jordanian newspapers, but I found their sense of humor rather surly, in a way that only Jordanians can be surly. No humor there. It convinced me that there is something worse than not to have a sense of humor, and that is to have a Jordanian one. Come to think of it: I have never seen a picture of King Abdul (de Jourdanie) when he is not grimacing. I expect most of his loyal people follow his lead. Maybe it is possible to find some humorous side to surliness, but it requires an effort.
I tried the North African media, but I already knew what I would find. The Algerians I already knew for certain to be a humorless people, and they did not disappoint. Ditto for the Libyans. That left the Moroccans and Tunisians, who do have some sense of humor, although it is heavily accented with the Maghreb dialect and I would not fully understand it anyway. Besides, they tell their best jokes in French and in private: their major newspapers are in Arabic.
Egyptians have traditionally been the kings of Arabic humor- actually the only Arab people with any real sense of humor that I noticed over the years. But I have concluded, sadly, that after 27 years under the stagnant and stifling rule of Husni Brezhnev Mubarak and his security agents they have lost much of their sense of humor. They are moving dangerously closer to the sense of humor of most other Arab countries, which bodes ill for everyone. An element of surliness is creeping into the Egyptian character as well, something I can never forgive old Husni for.
As for the Gulf GCC states, my native land, where I was born and raised, well, the good Lord must have been in a real bad mood that day- if indeed it was only one day. Maybe His mood was not as surly as when he dealt with places like Jordan and Algeria. But that is not really saying much: any people that takes itself too seriously, and as unjustifiably so as my fellow Gulfies do, is doomed to a mirthless life.
A Battle for Saudi Arabia 2008:
Saudi media, relatively more liberal than the ruling classes, even if it is mostly controlled by them, tried hard to force some change this past year. Not political change, that is a no no: but some reduction of the long-standing claustrophobic social atmosphere that pervades the country. A war for the ‘social agenda’ of Saudi Arabia has been waged by the media, led by offshore newspapers and television channels, and clearly supported by part of the ruling family. Part of that has also been a rather slow and lukewarm war for the educational system. That one is a tougher battle: the Wahhabi ulema shaikhs, long political allies of the al-Saud family, will not easily relinquish control of the minds and hearts of the young. The media excerpts below are indicative of the general thrust of the attempts at reform:
“The Organization for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV?) has closed a women-only private park that opened only last September. The religious police used the regular police and four prison wardens to vacate the park and close it. A leader of PVPV claimed that the governor ordered the closure, that the park was closed because the sound of music and tambourine was heard from it and that it annoyed the neighborhood. The owner said she ran a pious park, with a religious library and hosted religious lectures every week.” Alarbiya.
“Saudi cleric Shaikh A. al-Abeikan issued a fatwa allowing women to travel alone, without a father, husband or brother, provided she feels safe for her person and her ‘honor'. He said that in the old days women were exposed to ‘assaults’ when travel was risky. These days, he says, travel by airplane is safe since a woman can’t get assaulted because of the cabin crew who will protect her…..” al-Hayat. “An increasing number of Saudi women are risking driving on the streets of some major cities, even though they are not allowed and can risk punishment…” “Saudi judge refuses to divorce eight-year old girl forced to marry man in his fifties….” “Saudi cleric opposes ban on marriage of young girls to older men. He says there is no age limit to marriage of a girl, as long as she can ‘bear’ the physical side of it.” “King Abdullah to reform the judicial system…” “Famous Saudi writer calls for disbanding the Organization for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice…” A Battle for Iran 2008: It looks like one battle for Iran has ended before it started. The war of words over Iran’s nuclear program has calmed down in recent months. The prospects of a real shooting war have also dimmed, probably because a few bombing sorties are unlikely to achieve the desired results. They may give the mullahs a bloody nose, but that would be about it. There are other methods. The other battle for Iran has not started seriously, yet. During 2008, as president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has continued to put his foot in it, embarrassing the country and screwing up the economy, rivals from both the 'moderate' and ‘reformist’ parties have pounced on him. Public figures like former presidents Rafsanjani (more active on the domestic and Gulf levels) and Khatami (more active internationally) have led the criticism. Elections are set for June, and Ahmadinejad may be in trouble if one of those decides to run against him. Historically high petroleum prices helped him offset the effects of his mismanagement of the economy last year- just like in the rest of the Gulf oil states. But the high oil prices are gone for now: he will have to use extensive deficit spending, or get the central bank to cooperate in expanding money supply. And Iran has an inflation problem. Normally not a good thing for an incumbent during an election year. Unless the extreme right-wing mullahs, the clerics, can manage to save his hairy hide. Unfortunately they have the power to do it.
“The war of ‘King’ Hassan Nasrallah’s of the Iranian Hezbullah on Egypt…” Asharq alawsat, chief editor. I didn’t realize that the title ‘king’ is considered derogatory in the Saudi press. “A season of attack on Egypt” Another Saudi editor of Asharq alawsat. “How did Hamas miscalculate: Hamas says that it did not expect the attack, and the Israelis boast that they win by surprise…?” Yet another Saudi editor of Asharq alawsat. “It is useless to demand from Israel self control and cessation of aggression. It is useless looking at the America of Mr. Bush or Mr. Obama to pressure Israel. There is a decisive and available mechanism to stop Israel. In summary: the solution lies in Europe……Europe has a much political and, especially economic leverage on Israel…” Lebanese columnist in Asharq alawsat. And what he says here makes some sense. “A Gaza Christmas: Israeli generosity insists on presenting the Palestinian people with special Zionist gifts labeled ‘Made in Israel’. The gift was delivered on Saturday, the Sabbath, and against all rules of the Torah…” Columnist in al-Hayat. Cheers and Happy New Year mhg
A war of words has erupted between various Arab parties, especially between Egyptian and Saudi Arabian leaders, suspected by some of complicity in the Israeli attack on Gaza, and the Lebanese Hezbullah leaders. Saudi media are back to slamming Hassan Nasrallah for criticizing the Egyptian government.
Asharq alawsat, the leading Saudi newspaper, has focused its “Saudi” editorials almost exclusively on criticizing Hamas and Hezbullah, while the task of criticizing Israel is left for some of its foreign Arab writers.
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