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This is another great picture from Abdo. Unfortunately it did not have a description with it but I believe that it depicts Bedouin troops taking a breather. Once again, thanks Abdo! [The image enlarges on click.] |
The other day, I had a chance to meet face-to-face with the infamous, the one and only Egyptian blogger Sandmoneky. We met in downtown DC, where we talked mostly about the political mayhem that engulfs our volatile region. Blogging in the Arab world was also another topic of intensive discussion. As expected, Sandmonkey is smart, very funny, extremely friendly and tremendously well-informed. This is a proof, ladies and gentlemen, that blogs do provide a realistic picture of their authors.
As a huge fan of the Sandmonkey blog, meeting the man was certainly a real treat! Last month, Roba wrote a compelling post about the blogging culture and how, in addition to expressing themselves online, bloggers are actually forming their own communities off-line. I must agree. I will end this post with a great quote by "power blogger" Ethan Zuckerman:
Become a blogger and you’ll never have to have coffee alone again.
The Christian Science Monitor published a brief update today on efforts to get Jill freed:
Vigorous efforts are under way on many fronts –- by the Monitor, many media organizations, and government forces in Iraq -– to locate and secure the release of Jill Carroll, the freelance reporter kidnapped January 7 in Baghdad while on assignment for the Monitor. No one has yet claimed responsibility for her kidnapping
Meanwhile, blogger Riverbend has a moving post about Jill’s translator who was killed during the ambush in Baghdad on Saturday January 7, 2006. Here is an excerpt:
Everyone knew him as simply ‘Alan’, or "Elin" as it is pronounced in Iraqi Arabic. Prior to the war, he owned a music shop in the best area in Baghdad, A’arasat. He sold some Arabic music and instrumental music, but he had his regular customers – those westernized Iraqis who craved foreign music. He was a Christian from Basrah and he had a lovely wife who adored him- F. We would tease him about how once he was married and had a family, he’d lose interest in music. It didn’t happen. Conversations with Alan continued to revolve around Pink Floyd, Jimmy Hendrix, but they began to include F. his wife, M. his daughter and his little boy. My heart aches for his family- his wife and children..
Iraqi blogger Fairuz is organizing an online donation campaign to collect money to support the translator’s widow and I’ve run across an aggreagate of most if not all of Jill’s CSM articles. The picture shown here is of Jill at our place one day before my wedding.
I recently finished Suad’s Amiry short book Sharon and My Mother-in-Law. The book is based on Amiry’s daily doings and escapades in Ramallah in the West Bank. It is an engaging book that sheds some light on life while living in the West Bank under occupation. It uses humor to take the reader inside the lives of Ramallah residents that must endure curfews, incursions and travel restrictions. Sharon and my Mother-in-Law is written in an informal and sardonic manner that brings the challenges suffered by Amiry and her family closer to the reader’s heart.
I must admit, however, that although the book can be extremely amusing at times, I found the writing to be too informal. I am someone who appreciates a simple yet elevated writing style. The continually informal tone turned me off a number of times and stood in the way of my completely enjoying the book.
The book also doesn’t provide enough historical background of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and it jumps between the years, failing to fill in the gaps. As a concerned observer of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, I had no trouble following Amiry’s portrayal of historical events, but I would have to assume that someone less familiar with the conflict would find the book hard to follow. All in all, the book is an easy and amusing read. I would give it 6.5/10.
Meanwhile, it has been seven days since the kidnapping of my friend Jill and still no news! Sigh!
For the last two days, both the husband and I have been extremely stressed out, worried about the fate of our dear fiend Jill. We are still very hopeful that she will make it, primarily because she speaks Arabic and has been in the region for more than three years. Maybe her understanding and love for Arab culture will be a key to her getting out of this horrible ordeal.
She is the sweetest, most caring, most honest person you could ever meet. What kind of a person would want to hurt Jill? Will the kidnappers have any mercy left in them for her? We are hoping and constantly praying that they will. As this story has developed, so have the reactions from the blogosphere. Here are a few thoughts from those that knew her personally. This from Baghdad Treasure:
She was in love, but not with a man. She was in love with Iraq and its people. She always felt that she belongs to this country. It was obvious in her eyes. once, I had hamburger for lunch. "What is this?" she said sarcastically. "You leave all this delicious Iraqi food and eat a Hamburger?" she used to come to the office when she has time and we spend great time altogether. I wonder what she is doing now. It’s cold. Is she covered well? She was kidnapped wearing her light black abaya. She used to call it a "bullet-proof abaya" but it seems she was mistaken. I am afraid that she might die out of the shock seeing her translator, the friend, killed in front of her.
On the blog 24 Steps to Liberty a fellow reporter in Baghdad relates:
She loved this country and its people. She sympathized with its sufferings and committed to tell the truth. When I talked to her about how the Iraqis live, she always cried. She cried for the sufferings of Iraq more than Iraqis. She has the nicest heart in this world. When I blamed Iraqis for what is happening in the country, she said "don’t blames the Iraqis. You should blame the governments for what they do." I remember once we were chatting and I asked her, "so where is home for you?" And without hesitation or a moment to think, she said "This is home. Iraq. Why? What’s wrong with that?" and as the chat goes on, at some point she smiled and said "I know my fate is in Iraq."
NBC News Correspondent Richard Engel highlighted the story on the MSNBC blog, pointing out how:
The small community of reporters in Baghdad (shrinking by the month) has pulled together around the kidnapped journalist Jill Carroll in a way I have not seen here before. It could be because she’s friendly, always smiling, or because we respect her ambition – young and gutsy…but I think it’s mainly because she was alone and vulnerable.
The picture included here is one I took of her nearly three years ago at a restaurant in Amman. There is nothing that we can directly do to save her and it is driving Jeff and I crazy. We just have to keep hoping and praying. From my part, on this blog, Jill’s ordeal will be given top priority. Her story will never be buried. I’m going to start a countdown of the number of days she has been in captivity. So far she has been kidnapped for five days! For those interested in her reporting, here are a few links to two National Public Radio stories with Jill in Real and Windows Media formats. Please God, bring her home safely.