AJ+ Art Show Arabic episodes

AJ+ Art Show Arabic episodes (opens on Facebook, make sure you turn on HD for better sound & picture)


2017

Jan 6 Dia Azzawi The Seven Odes (The Mu'allaqāt)
Jan 14 Mahmoud Hammad The Muslim Scientists
Jan 20 Faisal Laibi The Martyrs
Jan 27 Mona Hatoum Infinity
Feb 3 Inji Eflatoun The Visitors (Prison)
Feb 10 Abdullah Al-Muharraqi Oil Workers
Feb 17 Huda Lutfi Democracy is Coming
Feb 24 Mohsin Harraki Fossilised Education
Mar 3 Dia Azzawi Mission of Destruction
Mar 10 Manal Al Dowayan Suspended Together
Mar 17 Inji Eflatoun Massacre of Denshawai
Mar 24 Adham Ismail The Refugees
Mar 31 Afifa Aleiby War Painting
Apr 7 Walid Ebeid Outside Prisoners
Apr 14 Abdalla Omari Mediterranean (Bashar Al Assad)
Apr 21 Kamal Ishag The Zār (Exorcism)
Apr 28 Abdullah Al Muharraqi Eternal Tormet (Pearl Diver)
May 5 Naeem Ismail Commemorative Photograph of Lebanon
May 12 Kadhim Haidar He Told Us How It Happened
May 19 Gazbia Sirry Nubian Family


2016

Dec 30 Sami Mohammed Penetration sculpture 
Dec 23 Dia Azzawi Good Morning Beirut (Handala)
Dec 9 Dia Azzawi Sabra & Shatila (the "Arab Guernica")
Dec 2 Larissa Sansour Palestinaut
Dec 16 Jasim Al Zaini Our Epic Story (of Qatar)
Nov 26 Abdul Qader Al Rais Palestinian Refugees
Nov 18 Tammam Azzam The Kiss
Nov 11 Marwan Three Palestinian Boys
Nov 4 Can art be a form of resistance?
Oct 29 Charbel-Joseph Boutros From Water to Water
Oct 14 Profile of presenter Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi
Oct 21 Rafat Ishak Immigration Application
Oct 7 Nadia Ayari The Fence
Sep 30 Mohamed-Said Baalbaki Heaps (Luggage)
Sep 24 Trailer of Art Plus

The UAE should rethink its organ donation policy

It is ironic that if I die in Britain my organs will be donated to any person who may be in need of them, as per my expressed permission on my UK driving licence (I ticked the box). In what some may refer to as a "circle of karma", my elder brother is a seasoned blood donor and some of my relatives have benefited from cornea transplants in the USA.

The fact that the UAE along with other Middle Eastern states has yet to introduce an organ donation law – even though the Ministry of Health has been "mulling" doing so for as long as I can remember – is shameful. It should require only a few months to study the law, take it to the Federal National Council (and give them some much required work) and then present it to the country's President to sign in as legislation, should it be acceptable of course.

Until then, Emiratis will continue to travel to places like the Philippines and South Asia to seek organs. The reason for this delay can partly be attributed to the various religious edicts that cast a shadow of doubt on the concept of organ donation. Despite the fact that the Holy Quran is very clear on the value and the sanctity of life as expressed in the Al-Ma'ida Sura of the Holy Scripture: "Whoso saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind" (Chapter 5: Verse 32). Note that the verse highlights the value of human life in general and not just that of Muslims.

Recently, an Omani scholar stated: "Our body is sacred and a dead body is respected in Islam and there's no need to scavenge it for organ donations." The numbers beg to differ with the scholar. In neighbouring Muslim Saudi Arabia, there were 8,500 patients waiting for kidney transplants alone.

These sorts of fatwas lead to confusion in Islamic countries including the UAE, Egypt and Pakistan, where a study found that only 60 per cent of people were willing to donate organs while 73 per cent were willing to receive such donations.

In Israel, a country that, like the UAE, that has mixed feelings about organ donations due to confusing rabbinical edicts, the parents of Ahmad Khatib, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy who was shot dead in Jenin in 2005 by Israeli soldiers, donated his organs for use in Israel. The organs ended up saving the lives of five Israeli children and an elderly woman. This compassionate gesture was praised as remarkable by the occupying power's parliamentary speaker as the organs went to save the lives of Arabs, Jews and Druze.

One of the recipients, also a 12-year-old child from Israel's Arab minority, has been waiting for an organ for five years. "I feel that my son has entered the heart of every Israeli," said Ahmad's father.

The issue with the validity and the enforcement of consensual organ donation is not simply restricted to the developing countries of the Middle East. A study in the British Medical Journal in 2006 showed that 41 per cent of families in the UK blocked the harvesting of organs from patients who, when they were alive, had given written permission for them to be taken.

In fact, Britain has a surprisingly low ratio of organ donations, with only 16 in every one million persons per year donating their organs compared with more than double that ratio in Spain. The problem mostly was the 41 per cent – up from 30 per cent in the 1990s – of families who denied consent after their relative's death, with the ratio rising among the ethnic minorities.

There are several ways that governments can encourage organ donations, according to the UK's Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, the body in charge of issuing such recommendations. Amongst the POST's suggestions is to follow Spain's Presumed Consent, which means that a deceased person's organs could be taken for transplant unless he or she specifically "opts out"; of course this system can also be coupled with the family's permission.

The most common method is the Opt In system, where people fill in a form that indicates their wish to donate organs after death. Finally, there is the so-called Incentive Scheme, where priority for certain medical treatments is given to patients who are willing to be organdonors.

In June of this year, Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi owned sovereign wealth fund, invested more than Dh340 million ($92.6 million) in a hospital in Kobe, Japan that will specialise in organ transplants and regenerative medicine, where it will send doctors to acquire organtransplant knowledge.

The hospital is due to open in 2010, so let's hope that by the time it is ready the UAE's Ministry of Health will have done mulling and finally drafted the organ donation law. If it hasn't, Mubadala will have to find other uses for these valuable and well trained physicians – or maybe it will just send them to the Philippines.

Article was originally published in The National on Oct 11 2008.

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081011/OPINION/145508178

Video of Qatari blogger insulting Emir of Kuwait

By clicking on the following link I confirm that I will not hold the publisher of this blog responsible for sharing this video.  أقر بأنني لن أحمل صاحب هذه المدونه مسؤولية مشاهدتي الفيديو في هذا الرابط

Rough translation: God Curse Sabah Al Ahmad and curse the blue (Kuwaiti) passport over you. If the Emir of Qatar wants to hand me over to Kuwait he has to (inaudible/"throw me"?) in Qatar, my country, and not send me to Shia dogs (in Kuwait) they are all Shia (in Kuwait)"


*I, Sultan,  in no way whatsoever condone this filthy sectarian language.

On Ashraf Fayadh

Palestinian poet, curator, writer and artist Ashraf Fayadh has been jailed in Saudi for the past year without trail over blasphemy charges in his latest collection of poems "Instructions Within" and for having "long hair". It seems someone submitted a complaint in 2013 to the Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice which detained him over a year ago. He has yet to face trial.

I translate a part of his poem "Asylum" from his book "Instructions Within":

Asylum: To stand at the end of a queue..

To be given a morsel of bread.

To stand!: Something your grandfather used to do.. Without knowing the reason why.

The Morsel?: You.

The homeland: A card to put in your wallet.

Money: Papers that carry images of Leaders.

The Photo: Your substitution pending your Return.

And the Return: A mythological creature ... from your grandmother's tales.

End of First Lesson


اللجوء: أن تقف في آخر الصف..

كي تحصل على كسرة وطن.

الوقوف: شيء كان يفعله جدك.. دون معرفة السبب!

والكسرة: أنت.

الوطن: بطاقة توضع في محفظة النقود.

النقود: أوراق ترسم عليها صور الزعماء.

الصورة: تنوب عنك ريثما تعود.

والعودة: كائن أسطوري.. ورد في حكايات الجدة.

انتهى الدرس الأول.



1- Arabic report from London based Al Arab: http://goo.gl/975R6G Text

2- Interview with his father for France 24: http://goo.gl/MbJBVZ Video

3- Interview with Ashraf Fayadh on curating Jeddah art show http://goo.gl/pO4ccf Video

4- Global Voices report on detention (English) http://goo.gl/NASW9R Text

5- Catalogue of exhibition Ashraf Fayyadh co-curated as "first official Saudi collateral event" at the 55th Venice biennale in 2013 http://goo.gl/COhSfC English PDF

6- In February 2014 100 Arab intellectuals signed a petition for his release http://goo.gl/iqSrjF

7- Arabic poem "Frida Kahlo's Moustache" http://goo.gl/MFteTR

8- Report in VICE: The Saudi Arabian Artist in Jail For Having Long Hair http://goo.gl/fkKSOK

9- Op Ed on his arrest in Al Ittihad (UAE) http://goo.gl/CL4zwD

ht Mona Kareem

Interested in theatre?

I take this opportunity to inform you of a dynamic theatrical initiative, “Home Grown”, launched by my friend Badr Jafar.

This philanthropic program is a joint collaboration between The Middle East Theatre Academy and Kevin Spacey Foundation. “Home Grown” is a rare opportunity for selected youths aged 18-25 from across the Middle East & North Africa to receive a two-week training course by a professional team of actors including the two-time Academy Award Winner Kevin Spacey.

Message from Kevin Spacey: CLICK HERE

Video explaining “Home Grown”: CLICK HERE

The program will take place in Sharjah between the 11th and 25th January 2015, and all participant costs (including flights and transportation) will be borne by the sponsors. The culmination of this program will be a theatrical production by its participants based on an important regional theme, performed in front of an audience on the evening of Sunday 25th of January.

All audition applications must be received online on www.middleeasttheatre.org by 15^th December 2014 with further interviews to be conducted afterwards via Skype and where possible in person in the UAE.

Feel free to spread the word amongst your friends, family and peers, and visit their website and various social media sites listed below for further information.

Should you have any further questions, you may contact the Project Coordinator, Alicia White awhite@middleeasttheatre.org or submit your query online at the Middle East Theatre Academy.

* Email was sent to me from my friend Muna Al Gurg.

First article for CNN

The shifting soft power of the Arab world: "Perhaps no other city in the world, save for Hollywood, commands as much global soft power as Mecca."

Art Shows in Sharjah

Sharjah Art Foundation

- Wael Shawky: Horsemen Adore Perfumes and other stories

(SAF Art Spaces)

- Eduard Puterbrot: Between my East and my West

(SAF Art Spaces)

- Rasheed Araeen: Before and After Minimalism

(SAF Art Spaces)

- Abdullah Al Saadi: Al-Toubay

(SAF Art Spaces)

- Ahmed Mater: 100 Found Objects

(SAF Art Spaces)

- Susan Hefuna: Another Place

(Bait Al Serkal, Arts Area, Al Shuweiheen)

Sharjah Art Museum

"Untold Story" - a show by Emirates Fine Arts Society

Sharjah Calligraphy Biennial, sixth edition: "Testimonial Verses" Exhibition, features collection UAE Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Al Murk

Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization

"So That You Might Know Each Other"

(Vatican comes to Sharjah)

Sharjah Calligraphy exhibition. Works by Saudi artist Abdullah Al Sanea

Barjeel Art Foundation

"Tarīqah" Exhibition

Maraya Art Centre 

"Customs Made" - Quotidian Practices and Everyday Rituals

Maraya Art Park (Al Majaz Waterfront)

"Encounter" - Listening to the City

Sharjah Expo

‘1001 Inventions’ exhibition which highlights a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements during the Golden Age of Muslim Civilisation.

Compiled by Suheyla Takesh & Sultan Al Qassemi 

Responses to Gulf Cities as new Arab Centres of Culture & Commerce article

A recent article I wrote argued that some of the cities of the Gulf were transforming into cultural capitals of the Arab world as the traditional capitals of Baghdad, Cairo, Beirut and Damascus continue to suffer from civil strife. The article generated a number of critiques (as well as dozens of replies under the article itself) that deserve to be highlighted.

1- Dr As'ad AbuKhalil, professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus wrote a blog entry arguing, "If anything, the impact of that Gulf oil and gas culture has been quite corrosive on the entire Arab world and its culture." 

A heated Twitter debate also took place between Dr As'ad and UAE Pol-Sci professor Dr Abdul Khaleq Abdullah (I don't know how to link to it) (See Update 3 for link)

2- The Arabic Literature (in English) blog writes "Why would Gulf authors develop their literature in Arabic when so many of the institutions of higher learning teach in English?"

3- Maysaloon, a pseudonym of a Syrian writer and blogger wrote in Syria Deeply: "You can keep your “culture” and your cardboard cut-out cities, your history and your glorious past, good luck to you. I don’t want any of that when human beings can’t even live in our countries with the most basic elements of the human dignity that is their right."

4- My favourite response came from my friend Abbas Al Lawati who wrote in Al Monitor "In contrast with the traditional Arab centers that exported literature, art, science and ideas to the world, there is little in these Gulf cities that can be considered organic. They have produced few if any literary giants, scientists, academics or innovators."

Abbas cites late Arab literary giant Abdul Rahman Munif's "Cities of Salt" (read it) and argued that "it is unlikely that (these Gulf cities) will become any more than (economic centres) if their refusal to indigenize continues". This is similar to an argument I made recently (to much criticism) for granting citizenship to some expats in the UAE.

UPDATE 1

1- Michael C. Dunn, the editor of The Middle East Journal has a blog entry on the article here where he says "the contrasts between the old capitals and the new, the old culture and the new, are going to be features of the Middle East over the coming generation." 

2- By what seems a cosmic coincidence New York University is holding a seminar titled "Shifting Centers of Cultural Capital in the Arab World". No date is given for it. The intro (ahem) resembles that of my own article. (via Saqer Al Marri)

3- Also check out this Reddit discussion on the article posted by Beefjerking who writes "I posted this because I was upset about Sultan AlQassemi (whom I'm not a fan of) whitewashing Gulf history and pretending like it didn't exist until his masters created it out of thin air. I didn't expect a Shami/Egyptian mutual masturbation session." (via Abbas Al Lawati)

UPDATE 2

1- Dubai based ITP, publishers of Arabian Business have featured the issue here in Arabic.

2- BBC Arabic coverage of article in Arabic (check out the comments).

UPDATE 3

1- Bilal Ahmed, a writer and activist published a blog titled "Pimping the Persian Gulf" in which he argues "al-Qassemi is wrong, because his ideas about cities, and culture, are in the process of being exploded by the Arab Spring."

2- UAE Pol-Sci professor Dr Abdul Khaleq Abdulla published an article in support of my argument in Al Monitor. "The Gulf moment indicates that the Arab Gulf states are today the net exporter of soft influence as well as hard power" says Dr Abdul Khaleq. (Dr As'ad responds here)

3- Thanks to @peloneous who storified the heated debate between Dr As'ad Abu Khalil and Dr Abdul Khaleq which you can read here.

4- Predating my article is this one in Condé Nast Traveler by @SusanHack who shared it with me on roughly the same issue back in 2008. In it a UAE national is quoted as saying: "Why discuss the past?" he asks. "Cairo, Damascus—these are cities with thousand-year-old histories and cultures, but the people are tired and fed up. And where is the creativity? In Abu Dhabi, we're not just building museums and schools, we're building the future. What we are doing here brings hope."

UPDATE 4

1- Ursula Lindsey asks in The Arabist "(H)ow can cities without centers of their own become the centers of something bigger?"

2- Spanish translation of the Gulf cities article (via Nuria Tesón)

UPDATE 5

1- Asa Fitch of The Wall Street Journal featured the debate under "Culture Vs. Cultural Investment Stirs Debate in Oil-Rich Gulf"

UPDATE 6

1- Al Monitor featured the debate on the article as a headline story here.

2- @JoyceA321 wrote "Yet, the issue remains that unlike business and finance, culture is not simply a matter of tangible figures, statistics and pretty buildings"

3- Thabet Al Arabi of @Ikhras awarded me a "Shoe of the month" for the article saying "Alqassemi’s brand of Gulf chauvinism discards the Gulf’s role in the destruction of the culture of the Arabs his article insults"

4- Yasser Elsheshtawy writes, "Much of the criticism directed at the Khaliji city is that it lacks ingenuity, its population is transient, and that it only accommodates a service industry and is thus lacking the authenticity that its elder counterparts have. Such arguments would have been perfectly fine in the 20th century, but in the 21st century a new type of city is emerging — one that is globally connected, and forms part of a network of cities"

UPDATE 7

"‘But what are all of these people doing in those bland Gulf cities in the first place?’ shout the skeptics. ‘They flock to the money,’ they reply en masse. And to that I say – well, of course. How else did Cairo and Damascus and so many other cities around the world develop those unsightly layers of concrete urban sprawl but by urban migration?" - wrote Gaar Adams in Beacon (an interesting website for freelance journalists, check it out)

UPDATE 8

Thanassis Cambanis of the Boston Globe published an interesting report about the article here: Is Dubai the future of cities? A free version is accessible here.

UPDATE 9

I published a follow-up article on Gulf cities soft power on CNN: The shifting soft power of the Arab world

UPDATE 10

The New York Times new platform Voices asked me to curate articles on a topic so I picked The Rise of Gulf Cities.  I am also speaking at the Chicago Forum on Global Cities in June 2016. I pre-recorded this podcast for them.

امنحوا الوافدين فرصة الحصول على الجنسية الإماراتية

إن خلق عملية واضحة للتجنس أيا كانت صعوبة شروط هذه العملية أمر سيرحب به رواد الأعمال والمستثمرون والعلماء وأساتذة الجامعة والأفراد الخبراء في المجالات المختلفة من الوافدين المقيمين في الإمارات.

يتطلع بعض الوافدين المقيمين في الإمارات لفرصة للتجنس بينما يقلق الأمر ذاته بعض المواطنين الإماراتيين. ان إمكانية تجنيس بعض الوافدين المحددين الذين أقاموا في الدولة لفترات زمنية طويلة أمر له مؤيديه كما أن له المشككين فيه أيضا... ويأتي ادعاء احتمالية أن يفقد الإماراتيون هويتهم الوطنية من المخاوف الأساسية للمعارضين رغم أن الهوية الوطنية الإماراتية قد أثبتت مرونة وقدرة على استيعاب التغييرات المجتمعية والزمنية أكثر مما يتخيل البعض مع واقع كون الإماراتيين أقلية في الدولة من حيث العدد الكلي للسكان.

ان تعداد سكان دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة اليوم وفقا للبنك الدولي هو 9.2 مليون نسمة. وتأتي دراسة أخرى لمركز أبحاث كويتي بأن عدد السكان 8.5 مليون نسمة يشكل الوافدون نسبة 84% منهم. وإذا افترضنا قيام الدولة بتجنيس حوالي 1000 شخص ممن تنطبق عليهم الشروط سنوياً، فلن يتخطى عدد المتجنسين عدد المواطنين الإماراتيين بأي حال من الأحوال ولو بعد 900 عام من الآن وذلك الافتراض مبني على أنه لا زيادة في الأعداد في أي من الطرفين ويبدد ذلك المخاوف بأن يؤثر التجنيس على الهوية الوطنية الإماراتية الراسخة.

لقد اتخذت الدولة في الواقع بعض الخطى الجادة في هذا الشأن لأسباب تتعلق بحقوق الإنسان وأسباب ديموغرافية أيضاً حيث قام سمو الشيخ خليفة بن زايد آل نهيان رئيس الدولة بإصدار مرسوم إتحادي يسمح للأطفال من الأم الإماراتية والأب الوافد بالحصول على الجنسية الإماراتية ما فتح الباب أمام بعض الآلاف من الشباب والشابات ممن انطبقت عليهم الشروط.

وخلال أسابيع حصل حوالي ألف طفل ممن انطبقت عليهم الشروط على الجنسية مثل آباءهم الذين ساهموا بالتأكيد في تنمية الدولة. وصلت موجة من المهاجرين في أوائل القرن الماضي إلى أراضينا  من الجانب الآخر من الخليج العربي وتم استيعابهم  خلال جيل كامل واليوم دولة الإمارات أغنى وأثرى بمواطنيها كافة والذي منهم في الواقع أحفادا لأجداد وفدوا إلى الإمارات من منطقة الخليج العربي كمهاجرين.

توفر المملكة العربية السعودية – ولو كان نظريا فقط – نظاما وطريقا للتجنس. ولكي يصبح مواطنا سعوديا، يشترط في الوافد توفر عدد 23 نقطة مؤهلة على الأقل بجانب عدد من العوامل مثل اتقان اللغة العربية.

يمنح الوافد بعد الإقامة في المملكة لمدة 10 سنوات عدد 10 نقاط من النقاط المؤهلة، كما تمنحه درجة الباكلوريوس عدد 5 نقاط ودرجة الماجستير عدد 8 نقاط. وبعد ذلك يمكنه تقديم طلب التجنس.

كما تمنح المملكة العربية السعودية الجنسية للأطفال من الأم السعودية وتدرس الآن منح الجنسية لأهم الأكاديميين والعلماء الأجانب

يأتي جزء كبير من نجاح الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية نتيجة استمرار تيار المهاجرين إليها والذين يتجنسوا بالجنسية الأمريكية. وقد

 وجدت دراسة ل "The Partnership for a New American Economy

عن الاقتصاد الأمريكي  أن أكثر من 40 في المائة من ال500 شركة ومؤسسة الأغنى في الولايات المتحدة أسسها مهاجرين أو أبناء مهاجرين بما في ذلك أهم 10 ماركات في العالم مثل جوجل، ياهو، ايباي، جولدمان ساكس ، بروكتر اند جامبل، كرافت، كولجيت، بالموليف وماركات اخرى.

إن قائمة المواطنين الإماراتيين ذوي الجذور الأجنبية لهي وثيقة تعكس الدور الذي لعبه هؤلاء الأفراد في نجاح الدولة جنبا إلى جنب

 مع المواطنين الإماراتيين من مواليد الدولة. تتضمن هذه القائمة دبلوماسيين وأطباء ومستشارين لحكام الإمارات ورجال أعمال وأكاديميين. وبالرغم من ذلك لازال لا يوجد نظام يستطيع من خلاله الفرد أن يتقدم للحصول على الجنسية.

عملية واضحة

بات من المعتاد بين الوافدين العرب الذين قضوا سنوات طويلة في الإمارات أن يهاجروا إلى أوروبا أو أمريكا الشمالية (كندا على وجه الخصوص) لبعض سنوات من أجل الحصول على الجنسية الأجنبية ثم يعودون للإمارات بعد ذلك. وبالحديث مع بعض من هؤلاء وجدت أن جميعهم دون استثناء كانوا يفضلون الحصول على الجنسية الإماراتية من خلال عملية واضحة أيا كانت متطلبات تلك العملية.

وفي أكثر من حالة، وجد بعض رجال الأعمال الوافدين الذين أسس بعضهم شركات كبرى في الإمارات مدرجة في بورصة أبو ظبي وبورصة دبي ووفرت الآلاف من الوظائف للإماراتيين والوافدين أنفسهم مضطرين للحصول على جنسيات دول مثل جزر توركس وكايكوس لسهولة اجراءات الحصول عليها كما تسمح لهم بدخول دول الاتحاد الأوروبي دون اجراءات التأشيرة المعقدة التي يواجهونها حال استخدامهم جوازات سفر بلدانهم العربية.

 ولا أقول هنا أن حكومة الإمارات العربية المتحدة لا تفكر وتبحث عن حل لعملية التجنيس.

أخبر مصدر من الحكومة الإماراتية عام 2010 جريدة الشرق الأوسط اليومية ومركزها لندن  أن الدولة تتطلع إلى تبني استراتيجية لمنح الجنسية للأفراد بناء على تصنيفات تتضمن المعرفة والمهارات واجادة اللغة العربية. ورغم ذلك لم يتم اي اعلان عن الأمر بعد.

إن الإمارات العربية المتحدة دولة ناجحة لعدد من العوامل منها الحكومة والموارد الطبيعية والناس بالتأكيد بما في ذلك المواطنين والأجانب الذين قضوا في الدولة عقود من الزمن ولا يعرفوا وطنا غيرها.

ربما حان الوقت للتفكير في طريق للتجنس لهؤلاء مما سيفتح الباب لرواد الأعمال والعلماء والأكادميين وغيرهم من الأفراد المجتهدين الذين جاءوا للوطن ودعموه واعتننوا به كما لو كان وطنهم تماما.

ترجم المقال من نسخته الانجليزية الأخ ممدوح بدر * 

Possible new Qatari cabinet - Arabic

سمو الشيخ عبدالله بن حمد ال ثاني

نائب الامير

سمو الشيخ حمد بن تميم بن حمد ال ثاني

ولي للعهد

معالي الشيخ عبدالله بن ناصر ال ثاني

رىيس مجلس الوزراء

سعادة الشيخ محمد بن حمد بن جاسم بن ثاني

وزير للصحه

سعادة السيد خالد االعطيه

وزير الخارجيه

سعادة الشيخ سعود بن عبدالرحمن ال ثاني

وزير للرياضه

سعادة الشيخ عبدالرحمن بن حمد بن جاسم ال ثاني

وزير للاعلام

سعادة السيد عبدالله القحطاني

وزير الماليه

سعادة السيد محمد الساده

وزير الطاقه والبترول

سعادة السيده حصه الجابر

وزير الاتصالات والمواصلات

سعادة السيده عاشه المناعي

وزيرة الشوون الاجتماعيه

سعادة الشيخ احمد بن ناصر بن جاسم ال ثاني

وزير الداخليه

سعادة السيد فهد العطيه

وزير البلديه والتخطيط والبيىه

سعادة الدكتور علي بن فطيس

وزير العدل

Article in openDemocracy

The new generation and the future of the broader Middle East

Article in Al Monitor

"The Arab Gulf States may not admit it publically, but a schism is slowly emerging between these countries in the wake of the rise of Islamist powers in the region."

Article on Gulf News

"None of the Gulf states’ national museums tackle the role or even the existence of minorities and other ethnic and religious groups. For instance, none of the museums portray Shiite culture, life, beliefs and customs. In fact, the word ‘Shiite’ doesn’t appear anywhere, nor for that matter do photos or names of Shiite religious leaders or individuals.'

Al Jazeera failing one of its own

For the past 15 months Qatari authorities have detained the veteran journalist and former Al Jazeera Children Channel General Manager (sometimes referred to as the channel's "Director") Mahmoud Bunab without charges and without reporting it in the local media, including his former employer Al Jazeera Network. The Tunisian Journalists Syndicate says it has sent letters to the Qatari ambassador in Tunis as well as the Presidential Office to follow up on Mr Bunab's case. The Syndicate states that the Qatari Prosecutor General has informed them that the financial audit carried out on Al Jazeera Children's Channel did not show any financial criminal offences.

Last week the Arab Journalists Union meeting in Baghdad called on the Qatari authorities to "immediately release" the Tunisian journalist. Needless to say this has not been reported in the Qatari press which has previously ignored the sentencing of Qatari poet Muhammad al-Ajami, 36 to life for a poem in late November 2012. Al Jazeera English (not the Arabic channel) covered the case 48 hours later after a barrage of online criticism. I was informed by sources inside the channel that the good journalists there put up a fight with the channel's administration over the issue and finally were able to report on the appeal. (the same method of only reporting appeals and denials is employed in the UAE and other Gulf States, just Google "UAE denies" for fun).

The last mention of the Mr Bunab in official Qatari media was in August 2011 shortly before he was detained.

Photo from Qatar Tribune (PDF) dated May 30th 2011

Over the past two years Al Jazeera has developed a reputation as a "mouthpiece" of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood according to Alain Gresh, editor of Le Monde diplomatique and specialist on the Middle East.

Although Al Jazeera has let down its viewers before by propagating for the Muslim Brotherhood this time however it has let down one of its very own. This is another chapter that testifies to Al Jazeera Arabic's haemorrhaging of credibility. Perhaps if he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood Al Jazeera would have paid attention to him. 

Notes:

1- to the plagiariser from Al Arabiya (you know who you are) if you copy/paste this blog and make it to look like it's your own work I will sue you.

2- the Arab Journalists Union also called on the UAE authorities to "immediately release" Egyptian journalist Ahmed Labib Jafar.