Middle East Focus: Google Earth, a Greedy Gulf Ruling Family, and Overflowing Peace in Palestine, no Cat’s Meow……….

Arabia Deserta

Google Earth, a Greedy Gulf Ruling Family, and Overflowing Peace in Palestine, no Cat’s Meow……….

Walking on water

“GOOGLE EARTH: While Facebook has gotten all the face time in Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain, don’t forget Google Earth, which began roiling Bahraini politics in 2006. A big issue in Bahrain, particularly among Shiite men who want to get married and build homes, is the unequal distribution of land. On Nov. 27, 2006, on the eve of parliamentary elections in Bahrain, The Washington Post ran this report from there: “Mahmood, who lives in a house with his parents, four siblings and their children, said he became even more frustrated when he looked up Bahrain on Google Earth and saw vast tracts of empty land, while tens of thousands of mainly poor Shiites were squashed together in small, dense areas. ‘We are 17 people crowded in one small house, like many people in the southern district,’ he said. ‘And you see on Google how many palaces there are and how the al-Khalifas [the Sunni ruling family] have the rest of the country to themselves.’ Bahraini activists have encouraged people to take a look at the country on Google Earth, and they have set up a special user group whose members have access to more than 40 images of royal palaces.”…..”

Perhaps predictably, I liked this particular part from Friedman’s column. He also goes on to make a pitch for the Palestinian Authority which is fighting political and other battles against both its fundamentalist tormentors: the Hamas rival and the Israeli right-wing in power. Not to mention allegations of corruption lingering within its own ranks. He singles out Salam Fayyadh (Overflowing Peace is what his name means in Arabic) for praise. The problem beyond the short-term is that Fayyadh was never elected by anyone, may never get elected by anyone, or maybe he will. Not that free elections are big on the agenda of many ‘legitimate’ Arab regimes (from Syria to Saudi Arabia, and beyond). No mention of Mahmoud Abbas though, which is curious since a few years ago he was considered “the cat’s meow’ in the rapidly-shrinking Palestinian territory.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com