by Natasha Tynes | Mar 14, 2005 | La Revolutione, Weblogs
Lebanese blogger Raja, writes passionately about Nasr Allah shattering the Lebanese dream of unity. His post is worth highlighting:
My impulse tells me that Nasrallah is responsible for this division. He is responsible because he made the decision to not join the opposition’s ranks. Thus far, all we can do is speculate what his rationale behind that decision was. I hope it was a good one though … because he is responsible for shattering the illusion of unity. For although it was an illusion, it had strength; and in the future, when we all look back to this moment in time we’re going to say: "oh that was a frightening stage in our history… a stage where sectarian animosity spilled out into the streets."
Had Nasrallah made a different choice, we might have looked back on these past few weeks and said: "those were the glorious days… the days when Lebanese forgot about their sectarian animosities and united behind a single message." Nasrallah … why??? was it worth it??? You shattered our dream!
I don’t think I have the right to rant about the politics of Hizb Allah, as I’m just a Jordanian voyeur. But if I was Lebanese I probably would have felt the same as Raja. Watching from afar, I think Nasr Allah is making a huge mistake opposing the "people power" that took to the streets. I’m a believer in the school of thought that says Hizb Allah should be disarmed. They don’t need arms after liberating the south. Well, I’m just a voyeur. I’ll leave the punditry on this to folks like Raja.
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 14, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, Media watch, Political mayhem
Well, many interesting developments have taken place following the publishing of an inflammatory article in al-Ghad. First, Iraqi Shia protested the involvement of the Jordanian bomber in the blast.
Hundreds of Iraqi Shias have staged protests in Baghdad and Karbala against the alleged involvement of a Jordanian in a devastating bombing in al-Hilla two weeks ago. Crowds gathered outside the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad on Sunday shouting: "No, no to Jordan, close your embassy, we do not want to see you here."
They urged the government to file charges against the family of Raed al-Banna. They also demanded compensation for victims from Amman, which rejected the accusations against it and insisted it condemned the al-Hilla bombing, the worst single attack in Iraq since the US-led invasion in
March 2003.
Also, AFP is reporting that the father of the bomber is denying his son might have been involved in the attack:
"He [the father] said he received a phone call on 3 March from someone speaking with an Iraqi accent telling him his son had become "a martyr." Al-Banna’s family says it had not heard from him since mid-February when he went to Saudi Arabia and called them to say he had found work in the oil-rich kingdom.
His relatives say he was a devout Muslim who became more religious about six months ago, but denied that he had links to Jordanian born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, blamed for attacks in the violence-torn
country.
Meanwhile, the Jordanian government is denying claims that Jordanian-Iraqi relations are "threatened under Iraqi bloodshed." Shia religious leaders in Iraq issued a statement saying they were surprised by the Iraqi interim government’s "silence over Jordan’s interference in Iraq’s internal affairs by instigating violence and hatred among Iraqis … and sending their terrorists to Iraq."
Al-Ghad, on the other hand, published a statement (in Arabic) from the Iraqi embassy in Jordan saying there were no Americans killed in the attack as the paper previously reported. In addition, King Abdallah visited the paper yesterday, urging the press (Arabic) to "denounce violence."
I have also noticed that over the last two days al-Ghad has been running a series of editorials from different writers denouncing the attacks on civilians in Iraq. Very interesting no? It seems that the paper is learning from this huge mistake.
I’m still hoping, however, that the paper publishes a formal apology. What is interesting here is that in this day and age, media — primarily Arab media — cannot get away with publishing half-truths. Now, in this world connected by the Internet, satellites and blogging, everything reported is being scrutinized and analyzed. The media can no longer get away with publishing inflammatory articles. People are always watching!
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 13, 2005 | Jordan, my nation
His Majesty King Abdallah gave a very interesting interview to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. I encourage everyone to read it. Here is an excerpt :
We’re going to do something in Jordan that has not been done before in the Middle East. And it’s serious. I had my first meeting with a very small group, and I said, "You all understand when we start the process, we’re talking about true democratic political reform. Once we start this, there’s no going back, and it’s comprehensive, and it’s long term."
This looks promising. King Abdallah always makes me proud.
Via: [Friends of Micronesia]
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 12, 2005 | Jordan, my nation
Enough bad news for one day, here is something to cheer us all up. This is the success story of yet another empowered Jordanian woman. Journalist Rana Husseini deserves credit for pursuing this, providing news that can keep us hopeful that positive change is taking place, slowly but surely.
Jordanian female pathologist champions cause of victims
AMMAN — After over two years on the job, the Kingdom’s first and only female pathologist Isra Tawalbeh said her vocation had deepened her convictions and strengthened her character. Tawalbeh, 33, was appointed as the first female resident forensic medicine specialist at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (NIFM) in January 2003.
“I feel that my experience in this field has deepened and I have gained a lot of confidence since my first day at work,” Tawalbeh told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.
Since her appointment at the NIFM, Tawalbeh has performed over 500 autopsies, visited dozens of crime scenes and attended two executions. Tawalbeh believes that her field experience has reflected positively on her work with victims of domestic violence, who she tries to emotionally empower because “all human beings are born with guaranteed rights.”
Source: [The Jordan Times]
(more…)
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 12, 2005 | Media watch, The Disturbing
I still can’t get over the inflammatory article I read yesterday. I e-mailed the editor-in-chief of the paper and complained. I encourage everyone else to do so as well. As somebody who has worked in different newsrooms over the last seven years, trust me when I tell you that feedback has an impact. Also, upon hubby’s suggestion, I translated the article into English for those who couldn’t read it in Arabic. Part of the article is below, the rest is in the extended section of this post.
Al-Banna family in al-Salt received greetings for son Raed’s martyrdom in an Iraqi resistance operation
Al-Banna family in al-Salt organized a martyr’s wedding yesterday for their son Raed Mansur al-Banna who blew himself up in an explosive-laden car that he was driving in Baghdad in al-Hilla on March 1.
The father of the martyr proudly received the well-wishers in the tribe’s reception hall in central Jada in the center of the city of Salt. The story of Raed is similar to that of many youth from the city that left for Jihad across the globe. Raed’s appointment with martyrdom came on March 1, when he blew himself up inside an explosive-laden car that he was driving in al-Hilla in Baghdad that resulted in the killing of over 133 people, the majority of whom were Americans.
(more…)
Hundreds of Iraqi Shias have staged protests in Baghdad and Karbala against the alleged involvement of a Jordanian in a devastating bombing in al-Hilla two weeks ago. Crowds gathered outside the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad on Sunday shouting: "No, no to Jordan, close your embassy, we do not want to see you here."
