Culture, UAE

Woodstock in Abu Dhabi: Kumbaya and a Love-Fest on the Gulf………

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“Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya
Someone’s singing Lord, kumbaya….
Someone’s laughing Lord, kumbaya…….
Someone’s praying Lord, kumbaya…..
Someone’s sleeping Lord, kumbaya…
Oh Lord, kumbaya……..” Pete Seeger (and others)

“The Poetry Academy of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) published selected poems by the late Emirati poet Hamad Khalifa Bou Shihab which were dedicated to the founder of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God bless his soul. The new release comes as part of the Academy’s publication of Bou Shihab’s whole works in a number of poetry series. The poetry selection was first published in the late 1980s and its second edition was released in 1991. ……. All the poems in the selection expressed deep emotions of love and loyalty to the founder of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who is credited with the development of the country and numerous achievements both at the local and Arab levels. At the introduction of the book, the poet wrote: “Sheikh Zayed of goodness has, by the will of God, united our nation, and brought about a brotherhood among our leaders. Sheikh Zayed of goodness is a perceptive man who transformed the barren desert into fertile gardens, whose fruits are easy to pick by everyone. To him I dedicate these sparking poems from one heart of many of the people of UAE who hold for him only the highest forms of love and respect.”……..”

Told ya, they’re all getting along, practically singing Kumbaya in the UAE. The place is a love-fest, except for anyone silly enough to dare and speak out for freedom of speech and democracy, etc. Like those academics and bloggers who are in prison on charges of trying to overthrow the regime by speaking out.

To put it succinctly (I have loved this term since my first day in graduate school): it is a fucking latter-day Woodstock in Abu Dhabi, just don’t breathe d too deep. As for the really nasty places like Manama or Riyadh or Tehran…….
(FYI: I suspect the nasty and unpopular sons of Zayed keep parading out their late father mainly because he was more popular than they are. Hell, anybody can probably be more popular, including a former executive of Blackwater).
Cheers
mhg


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