tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19217808334020463462024-03-19T11:15:05.305+02:00Woman from Yemen"You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?" Jalaluddin RumiAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.comBlogger222125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-17593487473989098422016-02-08T22:12:00.005+02:002016-02-09T14:47:38.161+02:00Moving to a new blog<span style="font-size: large;">Dear readers,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Thank you for your time, your feedback and your honesty. They have been invaluable. After many years, I'm afraid I must move to a new blog as I felt it's time to change the layout a bit. Unfortunately, I can not transfer the comments to the new blog, but I have moved all my blog posts to the new site, exactly as I had written them in the past, and I even resisted the urge to edit. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Thank you for being part of my life, and hope to hear from you on my new blog.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://atiafalwazir.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">https://atiafalwazir.wordpress.com/</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">See/talk to you soon,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Atiaf</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com81tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-47497014772305288212015-10-28T17:51:00.002+02:002016-02-03T14:53:03.515+02:00I Just Can't Understand You<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iXYDQVf1dOY/VjDtxGjHc5I/AAAAAAAAeEU/q5lCbHMxbJ4/s1600/Photo%2Bby%2BRaymond%2BLidal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="365" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iXYDQVf1dOY/VjDtxGjHc5I/AAAAAAAAeEU/q5lCbHMxbJ4/s400/Photo%2Bby%2BRaymond%2BLidal.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Photo by Raymond Lidal, May 2013 in al-Haima al-Dakhliya</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">First published in <a href="http://muftah.org/i-just-cant-understand-you/#.VjDrVWRVikp" target="_blank">Muftah</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Every night in my dreams<br />I see you, I feel you,<br />That is how I know you go on</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Celine Dion’s nasal serenades were competing with the gruff voice of the mu’athin across the crowded café terrace. No one seemed to pay attention to either of them. Everyone was immersed in conversation except for Ahmed. He was sitting alone, waiting for her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He looked up at the large beige umbrella that emerged from a hole in the center of the table. He remembered the first time he’d entered this fancy establishment and seen one of these large parasols.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It was two years after his father passed away. He had been working at an electronic store on Sakhr Street in Sana’a. One day, he’d met a client who had offered him some work fixing some computers and phones. The client had asked him to deliver the equipment to a café with a name he couldn’t pronounce. Arriving at the café with the large orange English sign, the security guard standing at the door stopped him from entering because he was chewing qat.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Aren’t we in Yemen where everyone is chewing qat?” he had asked the guard.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, but not here.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Why not?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“The owners don’t want the place to be dirty.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ahmed had spat out the qat and placed the chewed up green lump in a bag to save for later. He had, after all, only begun chewing an hour earlier. He remembered looking around, feeling out of place in this fancy space where stylish men and women sat comfortably together, sipping drinks and eating cake. He’d felt his oversized blazer and brown sandals were unsuitable, maybe even offensive, to the people around him. He had wanted to leave as soon as possible but the client was running late, so he had sat at an empty table waiting for him. A waiter gave him a menu. Though he’d turned it around, he could not find the Arabic version.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“My brother, do I look like a tourist?” he had asked the waiter.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“What do you mean?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“You gave me the tourist menu.” He pointed at the laminated two-sided paper. “Give me the Yemeni one.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“We only have one menu.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Why is it all in English?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Ask the owner…”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Just give me tea.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When the tea arrived, Ahmed had realized he had paid four times the usual price. The tea had been worse than usual; it was just water and a Lipton tea bag without any coriander seed, black peppercorns, green cardamom pods, cloves, or cinnamon. He could not believe how people could be so fooled into paying so much for something that cost nothing. <i>I would be so rich if I sold real tea outside this place</i>, he had thought to himself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That was four years ago. Since then, Ahmed had become wealthier, but not from selling tea. The customer he dreaded meeting had helped him obtain two scholarships, one to learn English at a local organization, and another to pursue higher education abroad. When he returned to Sana’a, armed with an impressive British diploma, employment opportunities opened up. The more his social standing increased, however, the greater his family and social obligations became.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now, Ahmed had become a regular customer at the same place he’d vowed he would never return. His white spotless <i>zannah</i>, so crisp and a perfect length – not reaching his foot, and not too high above his ankle- was covered by an expensive blazer, and complimented with black shiny dress shoes. His trimmed goatee and expensive SUV exuded a rich man’s confidence. Very few people could see his insecurities. Amal was one of the few who could.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He was anxious to see her. He knew she wouldn’t like what he was going to ask her, but she would just have to understand. He rolled a <i>Kamaran</i> several times between his index finger and thumb. The smoothness comforted him. These cigarettes were among the few things that could. <i>If we can make these perfect cigarettes locally, why can’t we perfect everything else?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A piercing scream startled him back to reality. He smiled and shook his head as he saw Amal clumsily getting up from the floor, pulling up her balto all the way to her knee, and shaking the dust off the black dress covering her clothes. He smiled as he watched her climb up the three steps to the café terrace. <i>Is she crazy, or am I the crazy one to be in love with her?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She began walking towards him. He looked down, sniffed his shirt. He smelled like a mix of sweat, cigarettes, and Christian Dior’s Fahrenheit Absolute. They shook hands and she sat down in front of him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“I wish we could hug in public!” he confessed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Me too,” she said with the same innocent yet mischievous smile that made him fall for her. Amal pulled a pink flower from her bag and put it behind his ear. “I love your goatee, please don’t ever shave again.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Trust me, I won’t. You should hear the amount of criticism I received from everyone. By the way, I’m sorry I couldn’t come to watch the play with you. I had so much work to finish. How was it?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amal shrugged. “It was ok, I guess.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“It sounds like you didn’t like it?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Well…it was annoying. The gender roles were reversed—the wife was too masculine and the man not masculine enough—and that simple fact was supposed to be hysterical. It was the basis of all the jokes. ‘How can we have two men in the same house’ the lead character said at some point.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Oh is this that play, Kun Rajaal?” Ahmed asked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Yeah.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“The title is ‘Be a man’. You should’ve known!”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“But Mohammed Hassan was directing it! The so-called progressive artist, and his very liberal team of actors and actresses. That’s what shocked me the most.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“They’re catering to society,” Ahmed said.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amal looked at him. “But isn’t the purpose of art to question reality – to push us to think?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“It’s just a comedy, don’t over analyze it.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Akhhhhh you don’t get it because of that thing that dangles,” she pointed between his legs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A friend interrupted them. Ahmed got up and kissed him once on the right cheek and countless times on the left. The two men held hands, their fingers intertwined like two trees whose branches have grown together. The waiter appeared with a tray and two mugs. Like a pruner, he separated the two entangled hands. Ahmed sat back down and his friend went inside.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The waiter placed two mugs on the table. “One Cappuccino for our favorite customer and an Americano for my brother with the thick-lensed glasses.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“I’m their favorite customer,” Amal said teasingly.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“A brother is closer than a customer,” Ahmed responded, sticking his tongue out. He quickly looked around in case someone caught a glimpse of his unacceptable childish behavior. Men don’t stick out their tongues! He remembered his mother scolding him as a kid. Ahmed turned his attention to Amal’s delicate long fingers, covered with silver rings, as she carefully placed a spoon of sugar into the heart shaped foam of the Cappuccino. She was stirring it with such devotion, as she did with everything else. He admired her passion. She was enthusiastic about everything. He wished he were more like that. Suddenly Amal looked up.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“What?” she asked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Nothing, can’t a man admire a beauty?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Oh please, you and your cheesy lines. I look like crap today.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“You can never accept a compliment. When I’m sensitive and romantic you hate it, when I’m not, you tell me I’m too insensitive.” He extended his hand and took hers in his. “Make up your mind woman!”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“We’re in public!” she pulled her hand away in a panic, spilling coffee on her black robe.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“My clumsy woman!” he laughed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Say that again and you’ll be the one washing it,” she smirked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Behind them, the throaty sounds of a guitar began. Amal and Ahmed turned towards the music. A young man with long hair, a striped blue, pink, and white t-shirt, and faded jeans held a red electric guitar and was jamming to his own tunes. Ahmed looked at Amal as she watched the man play. He enjoyed watching her expressions change. He envied her ability to express every emotion. To be free to smile, laugh, and cry whenever and wherever she wanted. Society did not necessarily accept that she was so open about her feelings, yet she still was.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A man’s loud voice ruined the moment. “When will you cut your hair, you look like a woman!” the man yelled to the musician.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Actually, he looks like a villager from Marib,” another man interrupted, laughing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“So what? Neither of those two are a bad thing!” Amal exclaimed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Laughter filled the outdoor section of the café.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Amal, why do you always do that?” Ahmed said in a hushed voice.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Do what?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Why do you feel the need to always respond to everything?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“I don’t, but that was just so rude,” she snapped, giving him an irritated look.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“It’s between them,” he said, his voice beginning to rise. “It has nothing to do with you!”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ahmed pulled out a cigarette from the blue and white <i>Kamaran </i>packet in front of him. He lit the cigarette and watched it burn. There was a familiarity to the flame. He pulled the cigarette closer to his mouth and inhaled it deeply. His lungs felt tight and alive.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amal was staring at him. Finally she spoke.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Seriously, what’s the matter with you these days? You’re full of contradictions. All our female friends come to you for advice, and you encourage them to continue doing what they are doing and even push them to challenge the status quo. But with me, you hate it when I’m outspoken in public. Maybe it’s because you worry I’ll be as ‘loud’ or opinionated with your family?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Here we go again!” he said, with a sigh.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Just admit it. It upsets you that I am the way I am.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Oh, shut up!”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amal pushed her chair back and half stood up. Ahmed glared at her, aggressive and self-assured. She sat back down.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Amal, you accuse me of having contradictions, but look at you. Remember that day when the young man cursed at us in the street and I just walked away?” He looked at her intensely waiting for an answer. “I didn’t do anything to him, and you resented me because of it. It’s like you somehow felt betrayed or disappointed that I didn’t assert my authority or fall into a blind rage. If I had, you would’ve found me sexy, but because I didn’t I was a sissy in your eyes.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Silence filled the space between their coffee mugs. His almond shaped eyes drooped like those of a sad dog. His dark eyebrows pinched together, revealing the wrinkles of a man with a much older soul. The pink flower placed gently on his right ear brought out his hazel eyes. Amal extended her hands to the <i>Kamaran</i> packet, looked inside for a cigarette to smoke, and then tossed the empty packet back on the table. Ahmed was relieved he’d finished the last cigarette. He didn’t want to have <i>that</i> fight again. There was something more urgent he needed to discuss with her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“I’m sorry habibati, I didn’t mean to be rude,” he took her hands in his. This time she let him. Her fingers gently squeezed his.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amal was quiet for a moment. Finally she sighed. “I just can’t understand you.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“The truth is…” he paused. “I’m scared about how our marriage might impact my family.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“What do you mean?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Well, you’re on television. My entire family is already mocking me for not ‘controlling’ my fiancée. They say if you have no shame to be on television and work with men, then….” He stopped himself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Right…”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Listen, of course I don’t believe that shit. But you know what people say. It impacts me. It impacts my family. Do you know that a man who proposed to my sister retracted his proposal after he found out that you are my fiancée?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Well good riddance” she waved dismissively. “You don’t want her to be with that kind of a man anyways.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ahmed shook his head.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“You know I can’t quit my job,” Amal said angrily.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“I didn’t ask you to quit—”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Yeah, but you will…”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“I just don’t see how this will work out unless you do,” Ahmed admitted.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Give me a fucking break. You pretend you’re a hero saving your family, just because you give them money every month. But in reality you’re a coward. You’re unable to confront them, to confront our traditions, and worse, to confront yourself.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Look, I told them you’re not quitting your job, but can you see how you working would make people think that I can’t provide for you?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Who exactly will feel like that?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Your family. My family. Society.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Look at your life—financially and socially—and look at mine,” Amal said. “I don’t own a car, I take public buses all the time, and I have a salary that pays peanuts. You, on the other hand, have an expensive car, an apartment in a rich neighborhood, and you wear ajambiya worth hundreds of dollars just to prove your manhood!” She took a deep breath. “And yet, you think I am the one who needs to have a rich guy?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Sure, but you come from a rich family, that’s why you can accept this lower paying job. You have a sense of security if something goes wrong. I don’t. Neither does my family. I have to be rich enough so that I could support us the way you are used to, but also continue to help my family.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“You’re not Superman. That’s almost impossible, especially if I stop working.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“I have obligations as a man in this society.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Are you seriously telling me, a woman, that it can be difficult to be a man?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Have you not heard anything I just said?” Ahmed slammed his fist on the table.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amal looked at him with sad eyes. “It’s true what they say, a man thinks the sun rises just to hear him crow. What happened to you? What happened to us? Why have we become so disconnected?” She took off her ring and placed it on his right palm. “Ahmed, I love you. But that’s not enough.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amal stood up, and this time she kept on walking, leaving Ahmed alone, a pink flower behind his ear, under the large beige umbrella shielding him from the midday sun in a western café in the old city of Sana’a. He grabbed the <i>Kamaran</i> packet, crushed it and threw it on the floor.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-30334929189346624892015-07-15T00:30:00.005+02:002015-07-15T18:03:19.419+02:00War Rant - Part 2: War Awakens Burried Prejudices<span style="font-size: large;">After a year and a half of being inactive or semi-active on social media, mainly due to a phase of reflection and depression, I began to tweet from time to time after the start of the war. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">While some of my views my had shifted a bit, the core remained the same. I continued to firmly stand against Saleh for the same reasons I joined the revolution in 2011 (and was outspoken about it long before). My secular views contradicted the conservative Houthi thought, and my anti-imperialist views made me staunchly anti-intervention by any side. Did I feel the need to reiterate this "stance" every single time I tweeted? No. Did people pressure me to do that? Yes, because, apparently if you don’t, baseless accusations hail on you. <br /><br />The war has awakened buried prejudices. As psychologists note, in order to make sense of the world around us, we tend to sort information into mental categories. Unfortunately, if we are not careful, our inner stereotypes may emerge in the process. This has been very much visible during this war. The prejudices that were buried deep down came to the surface and blinded even the closest of friends and family. <br /><br />Based on my discussions with some people, many of them don’t even realize they are being discriminatory. So, I thought I would highlight some examples of what prejudice in this context could look like:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The assumption that someone takes a certain position or formulates a certain opinion not based on their own beliefs, research, knowledge etc, but based on their city of birth, region, school of thought (sect), family name or lineage. These of course shape a person's upbringing, especially people who do not reflect on their own priviledge, but to assume that all people with the same background think in exactly the same way is discriminatory.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">A statement such as “resistance fighters in the South are all ISIS in disguise” is generalizing an entire population. The Resistance in the South is a mix of different groups with different ideologies. Some may be linked to AQAP, some to Hadi, and majority to neither, simply fighting against the occupation of the South. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Believing that your lineage somehow makes you above everyone else! How are you still stuck on this ancient idea?</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Thinking that all Zaydis or Hashemites are "Houthis in disguise," or using the terms interchangeably as if they are synonyms. Not all Zaydis or Hashemites are pro-Houthi, and not all pro-Houthis are Zaydi.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">“I would rather an Arab hegemony than an Iranian one. Persians are just different than us!” Some Arab nationalists have gone too extreme! Can we just please say no to hegemony and intervention from ALL sides! We don’t have to pick either/or. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">When you deliberately single out one person from an entire group and ask, “What do YOU think of so and so crime? Or why haven’t you condemned it?” We see this a lot in the West, where Muslims are constantly asked to justify their position, and many have now refused to so, or do it sarcastically under <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/muslim-apologies-hashtag_n_5874840.html" target="_blank">#MuslimApologies</a>. Now I see the same thing happening at a local scale in Yemen. Some people are constantly singled out and asked to “explain their position” on certain issues. When they refuse on matter of principle and ask, “Why should I?” the response is often “as a Hashemite and/or as a Zaydi, you must explain your stance publically or condemn it.” This is the same line given to many, even those who have never identified themselves as such. Should my grandmother apologize for AQAP simply because she’s a Shafi’i? Of course not! In the same manner Muslims don’t have to apologize for every “terrorist” activity, Yemenis don't either.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-size: large;">“Somali Mercenaries are being sent to Yemen to fight, like in Libya. These black people are so blood thirsty!” Really? Really? WTF! Where can I start! </span></li>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My fear is that prejudice has become normalized even within activist and academic circles. When disagreements emerge, or when people stray away from the dominant war narrative, the response is not to discuss political differences but rather to judge and retreat to discriminatory and prejudicial reasoning.<br /><br />Sadly, for the first time in my life, I’ve felt I needed to “filter” my friends because I no longer have the patience for discrimination and bullying. The level of narrow-mindedness has shocked me to a point where I’ve felt so disconnected from the community of activists I once held so dear. Conforming to these new disturbing social norms means more activists will adopt such behaviors unless we begin to question this publically. The finger pointing has closed a door on dialogue, and made it impossible to work together. Let us change that.<br /><br /> </span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LvnNfU3RhDw/VaWDgd8Am7I/AAAAAAAAd9M/FtlfOh3CGdo/s1600/5fbc5ee9bcb9ecd34a07b7b485fe9ad8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="427" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LvnNfU3RhDw/VaWDgd8Am7I/AAAAAAAAd9M/FtlfOh3CGdo/s640/5fbc5ee9bcb9ecd34a07b7b485fe9ad8.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br />See <a href="http://womanfromyemen.blogspot.com/2015/07/war-rant-part-1-war-narrative-and-death.html" target="_blank">War Rant - Part 1: The War Narrative and the Death of Philosophy</a><br /><br /> <br /><br /> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-13297039637792736302015-07-15T00:30:00.003+02:002015-07-15T11:36:16.336+02:00War Rant - Part 1: The War Narrative and the Death of Philosophy<span style="font-size: large;">Let me start off by saying this is NOT a research paper. It’s simply the first part of a longer rant. I want to get all the negative energy out of my system and into the wild (sorry universe!).<br /><br />Gone are the early days of 2011 when no question and no theory were off limits. We argued and we disagreed in a community where we felt safe without judgement or prejudice. Today, we are living a different time. A time where thought is frowned upon, where mere questions are unwelcome. A time where even academics became reductionists, generalizing, and placing people in boxes.<br /><br />Politics without knowledge has become the sport of the nation. We’ve become a group who no longer looks back, and does not look into the future. We reduce everything to one word answers, and we don’t have the patience to listen to deeper discussions. We exchange insults with those we disagree with, we trade punches with a total disregard for one another.<br /><br />Here are four war narratives we are told we shouldn’t question – because after all, why should we use our brain?<br /><br /><b>The war-coalition is there to protect democracy, legitimacy and the people </b><br /><br />Just like Saleh used the pretext of democracy and "constitutional legitimacy" to attack protesters in the 2011 uprising, President Hadi in exile, is using "legitimacy" to attack his people, despite the fact that his term had ended and he had no popular support among Yemenis, including very few amongst the Southern resistance. <br /><br />It goes without saying that the people in Aden are suffering from two wars, an external and internal one, with rampant diseases and lack of humanitarian and medical aid. We should not by any means diminish this, but in almost four months of bombing, war is still ongoing. The Saudi-led, US/EU backed war coalition has not succeeded in its supposed mission to win the war against Houthis or in “restoring hope” like promised. <br /><br />In addition to the numbers of deaths and wounded, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtcY3Q-6_4w">catastrophic humanitarian situation</a>, the apparent destruction of Yemen’s already very weak infrastructure, and the targeting of civilian structures including bridges, hospitals, wedding halls, wheat and dairy factories have been hit, in addition to a chicken farm etc, is a clear sign of the war coalition’s deliberate intent to destroy what little remains of the country’s infrastructure and force Yemen [not just Houthis] into total dependency. <br /><br /><b>There is only one group to blame for the war </b><br /><br />It is common sense that in a war, all sides participating will be responsible for civilian casualties. While there are layers of issues involved here, layers of responsibilities, the war narrative insists that everyone must focus only on one group. <br /><br />Depending on how far back we go, we could blame different people and groups. A historian for example might go back to 1926 when Imam Yahya declared himself king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, and blame his harsh, theocratic and </span><span style="font-size: large;">discriminatory ruling. We could fast forward to the Saleh/Ali Mohsin era of corruption, poverty, neglect, lack of institutional building, centralized powers, and vicious wars in the South and north. We could blame Saudi for its long hegemony and funding of extremist center throughout Yemen since the 1980s - with the blessing of Saleh/Ali Mohsin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />We could blame the spread of Wahabi ideology for the spread of AQAP and US for its failed war on terror that only exacerbated militants. We could blame Qatar for all the money pouring in. We could blame the Islah party for hijacking the revolution and the weakness and/or tacit support of the other “opposition” parties including the Socialists. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> We could blame the transitional government for their focus on power grabbing, neglecting dire issues facing the people, and relying on the west for legitimacy rather than their own people. We could blame the UN, EU and US for their insistence on calling the transitional process a success and hence refusing to address the obvious issues. We could blame the IMF for pressuring Hadi to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/yemen-imf-loan-idUSL6N0JQ2QI20131211">lift all fuel subsidies</a>, increasing prices by 60 to 90 per cent overnight, without prior notice or measures to absorb the shock. We could blame Houthis for violently expanding throughout Yemen. We could blame Iran because like Saudi, it sees Yemenis as pawns in a political game to be supported and abandoned as and when it suits them.<br /><br />It’s clear there are many actors to blame and it's important to discuss these points. I'm sure the opinions will be as diverse as the people. The blame will shift, depending on personal analysis. But let's keep the door of discussion open, because a sickness must be diagnosed properly in order to find the cure. <br /><br /><b>Those who focus on foreign intervention don’t care about the civil war in the South</b><br /><br />Civilians in the end of the day don’t want to be casualties of any war, local or foreign. Murder is murder, by a bomb or a bullet. Yet just because people focus on one advocacy strategy, such as focusing on the foreign intervention, does not mean that they are prioritizing a death over another or disregarding what is happening in the South. Some chose to focus on the civil war, while others chose to focus on the foreign intervention. Both are necessary.<br /><br />Why have some activists decided to focus on the international intervention?<br /><br />1) The Saudi-led war coalition is supported by UK and US. These countries are directly involved in logistics, arms trade and in providing intelligence. Raising awareness to citizens of these countries that their governments are involved in yet another war, is very important.<br /><br />2) The fact that Saudi is a leading buyer of weapons from US, France, UK means that it is in the interest of western powers to keep a war going. Arms trade keeps economies afloat, in fact makes them prosper. This is about the power and policy of those who drop bombs (the Saudi government) and those who profit from them being dropped (the US/UK). This is not simply about Yemen but about the military industrial complext as well.<br /><br />3) The “international community” has time and again condemned the Houthis, and even the UN Security Council resolution (<a href="http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc11859.doc.htm" target="_blank">UNSCR 2216</a>) only condemned Houthis/Saleh. Except for a statement by the <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2F%2FEP%2F%2FNONSGML+TA+P8-TA-2015-0270+0+DOC+PDF+V0%2F%2FEN" target="_blank">EU Parliament</a>, they have not done the same for the foreign intervention, hence why advocacy in this area is necessary.<br /><br />4) Focusing on the bigger picture of the war is a way to connect the movements for social justice throughout the world, because while the struggles may take different forms, they all, share the need for a new world order. <br /><br /><b>'Objectivity must be maintained'</b><br /><br />Noam Chomsky once <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEUn2cYkzKc">said</a> “there’s a very high ideal that’s celebrated by the elite media, and that’s to maintain objectivity – objectivity has a very different meaning in media culture – it means repeating accurately anything that’s said within the beltway [Washington, DC]. If you do that, it’s objective, if you go beyond that it’s bias, it’s subjective, it’s emotional and so on and so forth.” </span><span style="font-size: large;">In the case of the war on Yemen, we also hear calls for objectivity but the truth is it’s all bullshit!</span><span style="font-size: large;"> It just means do not question the war narrative.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Today for example we see some of the same people who were against drone strikes because of their impact on civilian casualties, now cheering for bombs by coalition airstrikes. When we question this shift, we are labeled as subjective. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />When we ask a simple question such as, why doesn’t the media write “Saudi backed Yemeni government in exile” but insists on writing “Iran-backed rebels” we are immediately ‘judged’ on the wrong side. </span><span style="font-size: large;">While both are competing now for influence,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> the fact is </span><span style="font-size: large;">Saudi has been directly involved in Yemeni internal affairs for much longer than Iran and yet there is no mention of Saudi hegemony in the dominant narrative. [I know I will be trolled for this!]</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />This objectivity “bully” has pushed people towards </span><span style="font-size: large;">virulent </span><span style="font-size: large;">self-censorship. In the private sphere, people message me and share many thoughts. It seems many are afraid to be open about their own feelings. Some of my friends in the South for example who are staunchly against Houthi takeover are also against the Saudi intervention, but they feel they cannot say this publically. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I personally feel the same urge to self-censor, and hence by writing this I hope to shake this feeling away. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />The above four war narratives are just some examples of many. I highlight them because unfortunately some activists have fallen in the trap of pushing others towards a ruthless demagogic take on the war narrative. <br /><br />In our effort to constantly blame those who have a different strategy, we become blind to the fact that we’re actually on the same side. This I believe is intended to divide us and in order to weaken the civil voice. Instead of focusing on what we all agree on – peace - we’re too busy pointing fingers at each other.<br /><br />If only we (myself included) cared less about our "online" image or our "activist brand", and focused more on real life activism and collaboration, maybe we would’ve gotten somewhere. In the end of the day, we should be working together. Let's not let the war narrative dictate who our enemies or friends are. <br /><br />While Yemen is drowning in interventions, let's free our own minds. Let's maintain our mental independence. Let’s ask questions, let’s think out loud, let’s argue, and let’s debate. <br /><br />See <a href="http://womanfromyemen.blogspot.com/2015/07/war-rant-part-2-war-awakens-burried.html" target="_blank">War Rant - Part 2: War Awakens Burried Prejudices</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-79405260012632243292015-05-24T18:41:00.001+02:002015-05-25T06:30:00.313+02:00Living is Resisting<div style="text-align: center;">
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"<i>To rich people it must seem that the ordinary little people -- perhaps because their lives are more rarefied, deprived of the oxygen of money and savoir-faire -- experience human emotions with less intensity and greatest indifference..... it was given that death, for us, must be a matter of course, whereas for our privileged neighbors it carried all the weight of injustice and drama.</i>"
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- Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As a war continues to ravage Yemen, mainstream media focuses mostly on the political leaders, and often neglects the majority of the people or the looming catastrophic <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-shocked-human-suffering-yemen" target="_blank">humanitarian crisis</a>. Information is provided about the war without a human context. Victims are introduced as numbers without souls. It is as if the people don't exist, as if their lives don't matter. They are deemed irrelevant in the discussion of the war that affects them the most! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What is also missing from the media discourse is the focus on survival mechanisms and the resilience of the people. Yemen has always possessed exceptional social survival skills. There is a side in Yemen that is focused on winning battles, but there is a side that is focused on winning life. In the midst of the undeniable misery that the war - both internal and external - has caused, we see the thirst for life. We see the strength of the people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Despite the lack of electricity, gas, food shortages, bombings, and street battles, they try to continue their daily routines as much as possible. They find creative ways to gather water and live without electricity. In the midst of war, comedy has also thrived, from daily jokes on WhatsApp, to satirical songs, videos and Facebook groups.<br /><br />
This post is not meant to undermine the dire humanitarian situation that is looming and destroying the lives of millions across the country especially those outside major cities, but rather it's an attempt to shed light on another aspect of the war. Here are twelve examples illustrating life itself as resistance:
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kj2g2Zyid1Y/VV9Mxgut5DI/AAAAAAAAd1w/FWPfbomcqu4/s1600/10982244_10205872803597048_4898133269297077475_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kj2g2Zyid1Y/VV9Mxgut5DI/AAAAAAAAd1w/FWPfbomcqu4/s640/10982244_10205872803597048_4898133269297077475_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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Man taking a selfie using the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/frameyemen">FRAME Yemen</a> background. The flag on the public wall is made of shards of glass found on the streets of Sana'a after a massive explosion (For more info <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/destruction-and-creativity-war-torn-yemen-1680505362">click here</a>). Photo by Bushra al-Fusail, (<a href="https://twitter.com/734555200">@734555200</a>), 20 April 2015.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9VZS_eWNXt8/VWCiXFTZjHI/AAAAAAAAd28/VXUXxj8XvgU/s1600/CB_7SeVUgAAlbYM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9VZS_eWNXt8/VWCiXFTZjHI/AAAAAAAAd28/VXUXxj8XvgU/s640/CB_7SeVUgAAlbYM.jpg" /></a></div>
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Children playing on top of a tank in Aden. The photo was widely circulated in social media on 7 April 2015.<br />
Photographer and exact date unknown.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w36UmdVwIVM/VV1iY7e7rmI/AAAAAAAAd0M/8MZJK7GY_jM/s1600/_83094786_girlsonbikes2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w36UmdVwIVM/VV1iY7e7rmI/AAAAAAAAd0M/8MZJK7GY_jM/s640/_83094786_girlsonbikes2.jpg" /></a></div>
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Defying cultural taboos, women in Sana'a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yemeni-Women-Bike/814442908652151" target="_blank">rode bicycles</a> as a solution to petrol shortages and demanding the right to movement. This cause a fury of emotions, with many supporters, and some <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-32797265" target="_blank">opposed</a> to this initiative. Photo by Bushra al-Fusail (<a href="https://twitter.com/734555200">@734555200</a>), 16 May 2015.
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2_PMb5TVxw4/VWEMsUNOjtI/AAAAAAAAd3o/4kh30j0zcdw/s1600/IMG-20150523-WA0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2_PMb5TVxw4/VWEMsUNOjtI/AAAAAAAAd3o/4kh30j0zcdw/s400/IMG-20150523-WA0002.jpg" /></a></div>
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Weather in Yemen - shared on social media.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ayHSZv9bJiQ/VV9L5Oau8iI/AAAAAAAAd1Y/wppSJYD-nhI/s1600/11015211_10205114673199591_618222394683095610_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ayHSZv9bJiQ/VV9L5Oau8iI/AAAAAAAAd1Y/wppSJYD-nhI/s640/11015211_10205114673199591_618222394683095610_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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Mustafa Sabeha, a resident of Sana'a, posted this photo of his uncle on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205114673199591&set=a.3668366500900.2153732.1026942187&type=1&theater">Facebook Page</a> and wrote: "<i>It's impressive how Yemenis love life, no matter what they face still, they are determined to live each day with a smile. This is my happy uncle who has 25 happy males and females. Having as much children as he can is the ultimate happiness for him.</i>" 20 May 2015.
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Young man at restaurant: "<i>We don't stop, it's weird how people get hungry all the time these days!</i>"<br />
Photo by Thana Faroq (<a href="https://twitter.com/Thanafaroq">@ThanaFaroq</a>), 29 April 2015.
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Don’t mess with my charger! Video uploaded on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/brsteegking/videos/1057301254302888/?__mref=message_bubble">Facebook</a> by Yemeni comedian Khaled al-Bahry, 19 May 2015.
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"Crazy about life" is how these young men described themsevles. In this photo from Taiz, they show us the proper way to use a tank. Photo by Ahmed Al-Asbahy.
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Escaping war life to take a moment and read on the street. These street book vendors are very common in many cities throughout the country. Photo by Thana Faroq (<a href="https://twitter.com/Thanafaroq">@ThanaFaroq</a>), 10 May 2015.
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">"The WhatsApp emoticons under bombs" - shared in social media.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2DYuHxZ4klQ/VWEqmnCls2I/AAAAAAAAd4s/uItIL0I6NVw/s1600/Murad%2Bcampaign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2DYuHxZ4klQ/VWEqmnCls2I/AAAAAAAAd4s/uItIL0I6NVw/s640/Murad%2Bcampaign.jpg" /></a></div>
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New <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206945993274873&set=a.1584167250646.2080342.1429702374&type=1&theater">street art campaign</a> by Murad Subai entitled 'Ruins' to beautify walls in areas destroyed by the wars. Photo by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/majd.fuad?fref=ts" target="_blank">Majd Fuad</a>.
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"<i>We are alive and staying put- The dream will continue.</i>" Graphic by Ahmed Jahaf (<a href="https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af">@A7medJa7af</a>), 17 May 2015.
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-8892087029271759922015-02-24T23:04:00.004+02:002015-02-24T23:04:55.401+02:00ساحة التغيير<div style="text-align: right;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">في فبراير ٢٠١١، نصب المحتجون خياما خارج بوابات جامعة صنعاء مطالبين “بإسقاط النّطام”. يوما بعد يوم تضاعفت الخيام، وسمّيت هذه المناطق التي سكنوها بميادين وساحات التغيير والحريّة.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">هذا<a href="http://www.lavoixduyemen.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ChangeSquare-AR.pdf" target="_blank"> الكتاب الفوتوغرافي</a> هو محاولة بسيطة لنتذكر وقتا كان الأمل فيه حيّاَ؛ وقتا آمن فيه أناس عاديون بأن مواهبهم وقوتهم وإبداعهم ومرونتهم ستخلق التغيير.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">إن الحفاظ على هذا الوعي الجماعي أمر ضروري ليس فقط لتجسيده في التاريخ بصورة دقيقة وحيّة، وإنما أيضا لكي يكون مصدر إلهام للأجيال القادمة. ومثلما كانت ثورة ٢٠١١ امتدادا لنضال سنوات ماضية من المقاومة فإن حفظ مستقبل اليمن في الذاكرة الجماعية المشتركة لثورة٢٠١١ هو حفظ لاستمرار الأمل الموعود.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">الصور التالية تغطي سنة واحدة من فبراير ٢٠١١ إلى فبراير ٢٠١٢. لم يتم التلاعب بالصور و تم اختيارها بعناية لقدرتها على التقاط الحياة داخل الثلاثة كيلوميترات من ساحة الاعتصام المعروفة باسم “ساحة التّغيير” في صنعاء، بدلا من خصائصها الفنّية و التقنيّة.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">كما تم ترتيب الصور من فئتين: مدينة الخيام ، والمظاهرات.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-44142720211543663002015-02-24T23:02:00.000+02:002015-03-04T12:13:47.581+02:00Remembering Change Square<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Do you remember Change Square? We certainly do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Four years ago this month, protesters set up tents outside the gates of Sana’a University, demanding “an end to the regime”. Day after day, the tents multiplied and the areas they occupied throughout Yemen became known as Change and Freedom Squares.<br /><br />This modest <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Change-Square-Benjamin-Wiacek-Alwazir/dp/1320906745/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425463911&sr=8-1&keywords=atiaf+alwazir" target="_blank">photo book</a> </b>also available for free as <a href="http://www.lavoixduyemen.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ChangeSquare-ENG.pdf" target="_blank"><b>a pdf</b></a> recalls a time in Sana’a’s Change Square when people dared to dream, a time when they did extraordinary things because they believed in their own strengths, talents, creativity, and resilience.<br /><br />The preservation of this collective consciousness is essential not only for an accurate portrayal of history, but also to sustain hope and inspire future generations. Just as the 2011 revolution was an extension of previous acts of resistance, the future will surely build on the shared memories of that year.<br /><br />The following photos were taken over a one-year period, beginning in February 2011 and ending in February 2012. Without any manipulation of the photographs, the images were selected primarily based on their ability to capture a range of activities inside the square, rather than their artistic qualities or technical composition.<br /><br />To illustrate life inside the three-kilometer area, the photos are organized around two main themes: tent city and peaceful demonstrations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hope you enjoy it.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-42122649941830985552015-01-28T20:57:00.000+02:002015-01-29T14:35:46.238+02:00It's not a Sunni- Shi’a Conflict, dummy!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Last week, my young cousin in the second grade ran inside after an explosion shook the windows. “I don’t mind when the house shakes, I just don’t want to die in it,” he said out of breath. “You won’t.” I reassured him. He then went back to play. I followed him outside to find a group of children playing a political game: President Hadi v. Abdulmalik Al-Houthi. Their mission was to free the cats held hostage. As I sat there watching this game unfold, I heard them throw many terms around: democracy, justice, national dialogue conference etc. The words Sunni or Shi’a, were never mentioned. <br /><br />This is not surprising given the fact that affiliation to a madhab (religious school of thought) rarely comes up in conversations in Yemen. This is slowly changing, and many fear that this historic diversity and tolerance might become something of the past.<br /><br />To say there are no sectarian tendencies or cleavages in Yemen is incorrect (<a href="http://www.merip.org/mer/mer204/clash-fundamentalisms">as Dr. Shelagh Weir explained</a> from the 1980s), but the oversimplification of explaining the current power struggle entirely on historic theological differences between Sunnis and Shi’as is incorrect as well. <br /><br />This is incorrect for a variety of reasons that I will summarize here.<br /><br />First, while no statistics have been collected on the composition of Ansarullah, commonly known as Houthis; it is believed that many of their members are Zaydi but also come from various religious schools of thought in Shi’a and Sunni Islam, including Ismaili, Shafiʿi, and Ja’afari. Many Sunni tribesmen and soldiers have also joined the Houthis and fight along their side. In fact, prominent Shafi’i leaders like <a href="http://www.yementimes.com/en/1810/news/4240/Houthis-expand-their-presence-in-the-capital.htm">Saad Bin Aqeel</a>, a Mufti of Ta’iz, are amongst Houthis’ leaders and in fact presented a Friday sermon at one of the sit-ins prior to their advance into the capital. <br /><br />Second, Zaydis share similar doctrines and jurisprudential opinions with Sunni scholars. As Helen Lackner, author of Why Yemen Matters? <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/helen-lackner/introduction-to-yemen%27s-emergency">stated</a> “this has little, if anything, to do with theological differences or a Sunni/Shi’a split, but is based on issues of social cohesion, including tribal allegiance, power, control and (the absence of) development and social security funding for an increasingly impoverished and suffering population.” <br /><br />Third, socially speaking Yemenis have lived and continue to live together without segregation. Muslims in Yemen, from the various schools of thought, whether Sunni or Shi’a, pray side-by-side, people intermarry without any special procedures or “conversions,” and communal violence based on confessional membership has been rare. <br /><br />Fourth, according to Houthis’ their actions do not aim “exclusively or even primarily at establishing a Zaydi political order” as Stacey Phillbrick Yadav, Associate Professor and author of “Islamists and the State: Legitimacy and Institutions in Yemen and Lebanon” <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/09/25/the-limits-of-the-sectarian-framing-in-yemen/">states</a>. She adds, “Similarly, the fact that Islah’s membership is predominantly Sunni doesn’t mean it is working to reestablish the caliphate.”<br /><br />Fifth, not all Zaydis are Houthis. Well-known Zaydi scholars and religious centers have been divided on their stance towards the Houthis. <br /><br />Sixth, missing from the analysis is the link between rural deprivation and wider political contestations, and conflicts. The longer the transitional government ignored people’s grievances, the more the ranks of the discontented swelled. Last straw was when the government lifted the fuel subsidies overnight without warning in 29 July 2014, increasing the price of fuel and diesel by <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/yemen-protests-erupt-after-fuel-price-doubled-2014730144324121143.html">60 and 90 percent</a>. Mass protests erupted, and Houthis capitalized on these grievances, and by so doing, gained a significant number of new membership from various bacgrounds (not only Zaydis) which helped them expand. <br /><br />Seventh, while sectarian cleavages are becoming exploited by various groups, such as when al-Qaeda uses the rise of Houthis to recruit more people to defend “the Sunnis," it is important to remember that those fighting al-Qaeda are not all Shi’a nor are they all Houthis.<br /><br />Eigth, if this was a sectarian issue, Saleh (who is technically Zaydi) would not have engaged in six wars with the Houthis from 2004 - 2010. It appears that today’s former enemies have formed a temporary alliance. This indicates that these conflicts are political in nature.<br /><br />Ninth, there is no sectarian dimension to the victims of the violations by the Houthis such as the detention of activists and journalists in recent protests.<br /><br />Finally, while the geopolitical tensions between the various political camps of course impacts what is happening on the ground, it is incorrect to explain the political dynamics in the country as simply foreign interference. In addition, narrowly framing the ongoing issue as sectarian absolves the transitional government from their duties as it helps them blame everything on foreign actors, rather than making them accountable for the localized grievances found throughout the majority of Yemen. It also absolves Houthis from the violations they have committed blaming their actions on theological differences instead of political aspirations. <br /><br />As these ten points demonstrate, the issue cannot be reduced to a theological war. Analysis must include these nuances in order to better understand the ongoing political dynamics. Without a proper understanding, policies will continue to be flawed and no solutions will be formulated, which would perpetuate the cycle of violence.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </span> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-23692677281930665242014-12-20T21:01:00.000+02:002015-02-06T14:24:13.496+02:00صنعاء سمفونيّة خالدة - Sana'a an Immortal Symphony<div style="text-align: right;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">صنعاء سمفونيّة خالدة، يستلهم الناس نشيدها الخالد على مختلف أذواقهم: علماء، شعراء، فنانون. دائما تعطي، ودائما تمنح في أي ظرف كان نعيما أم بؤسا، يسرا أم عسرا. صوتها يظل يعزف ألحانه، فيجدد أزمانه، وينسي أحزانه، ويبعث الأمل من جديد. فصوتها لا يصمت، ونورها لا يخفت</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">- زيد الوزير</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Sana'a is an immortal symphony which constantly inspires a diversity of people: scholars, poets and artists. She always gives from herself, during misery or bliss, during times of fortune, or times of calamity. Her voice continues to play familiar tunes, renewing life, dismissing pain, and reinvigorating hope once again. Her voice will not be silenced, and her light will not dim." - Zaid Alwazir</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-66918627182569383522014-12-13T15:03:00.000+02:002014-12-15T18:34:22.074+02:00We Miss You Ammo Mohammed <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Come with me,” said my father after he got ready and changed into his grey pants and oversized black blazer. On the way, my father didn’t tell me anything about the man we were visiting, except that he is a “dear brother in the struggle.” <br /> <br /> The first thing I noticed about <a href="http://dralmutawakel.net/">Dr. Mohammed Al-Mutawakel</a> was his childlike sincere smile that magically forced even the grouchiest person to smile back creating an instant connection. <br /><br />I had met many of my father’s friends before, including intellectuals, scholars, poets etc., but Ammo [uncle] Mohammed was different. Despite the fact that I was young, he acknowledged my existence, and addressed me as an individual. Throughout that first visit he spoke to us both. <br /> <br /> The topics he brought up were daring and provoking. They pushed me to question my own beliefs and thoughts. At one point, I hesitantly turned to my father and with my eyes asked, <i>Can I answer this honestly</i>? My father understood and replied nodding his head.<br /> <br /> Throughout the years, and despite the continued challenges, Ammo never gave up. His hopeful aura, his encouraging demeanor, his modesty and his genuine belief in what he does were unique. He generously gave so much of his time to others. He met with almost anyone who would ask for a meeting. I remember seeing him many times in Change Square in 2011 sitting in various small tents giving lectures on Human Rights in Islam, gender equality etc. <br /> <br /> When we disagreed politically, Ammo patiently listened. This tolerance is truly amazing, and it is projected in his relationship with his children, who have sometimes expressed vary different opinions in their writings and political affiliations. These differences were almost theatrically expressed on Friday lunches when their entire family met. Those times, Ammo would smile, sometimes interject with an opinion or just get up and serve us some tea. <br /> <br /> “You see these?” he would point to the family portraits on the wall. “People ask me why I place my daughters’ photos publically, I tell them why not?” <br /> <br /> The last time I visited Ammo Mohammed was in April 2014. While fixing the black and white shawl on his head, he proudly pointed to the wall of photos once again. This was a man who gave his life to Yemen, and was content because he knew that his wonderful five children and their partners, his grandchildren, and countless mentees would surely continue his path of peaceful resistance. <br /> <br /> Today marks the 40th day since his cold-blooded assassination. Too many great people have been taken away from us recently. With every death, pieces of our souls have slowly chipped away. I don’t want death to become our only constant in this changing Yemen. We need doses of Ammo’s optimism and hope. We must keep his spirit alive. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-43985659369598919092014-09-25T17:39:00.002+03:002014-09-25T17:45:30.512+03:00The Yemeni public, and its diverse reactions to recent events<span style="font-size: large;">There is an array of reactions to the recent events in Yemen. While it is difficult to generalize how people feel, this is an attempt to demonstrate (briefly) the various reactions by ordinary Yemenis. <br /><br /><i><b>We’re just confused</b></i>: the majority of people are simply confused. With rumors flying around, and facts very difficult to verify, confusion looms and anxiety escalates. President Hadi added to that confusion by calling the events a “conspiracy” only after he signed the U.N. brokered peace deal.<br /><br /><b><i>What the.... just happened?</i></b>: they were shocked at how fast the situation changed in a couple of days. They do not know what to expect and believe that time will tell. They are generally happy that some iconic elite who are said to block the transition process are out of power, and are content with the reconciliatory language in the national agreement, and in Abdulmalik Al-Houthi's most recent speech . Yet, they remain skeptical and hope that these words carry real intent and are not merely ink on paper. They fear that while the Houthis have legitimate grievances and were oppressed, some of their recent actions are worrisome and questions their peaceful rhetoric. <br /><br /><i><b>Yay</b></i>: those who are very happy about the recent events, they feel that the Houthis revived hope in a “hijacked revolution” and gave them a sense of pride in a movement that has challenged the grip of the elite, and controversial GCC initiative. They are also happy that after being neglected by all major political power groups, the Houthis have imposed their demands for basic rights and inclusion on the political establishment.<br /><br /><i><b>They are the devil</b></i>: those who believe that the Houthis are merely “Iranian agents” dominated by foreign agenda. They believe that the Houthis never had any grievances and that the Saleh regime was right to start the war in 2004.<br /><br /><b><i>Don’t violate our Rights!</i></b>: this group fears that Sanaa may now be run by a radical religiously conservative armed group that bans personal freedoms, most notably related to freedom of expression, art and women’s rights. They also want the Houthis’ armed militia to retreat from the capital as soon as possible. They feel depressed thinking that all groups in power have so far continued the same practices. This feeling was exacerbated by the closure of Suheil channel and storming of homes of some notable Islah leaders. <br /><br /><b><i>As long as we live..</i></b>: this group is mostly apolitical, and their focus is on access to basic services. If Houthis can guarantee that, this group would surely support them. The increase in electricity, and the general perception that Houthis will protect the area has increased their support for the group.<br /><br /><b><i>Civil war is coming</i></b>: many people are simply afraid of a potential civil war. For example, those in Sanaa who recently witnessed dead bodies rotting in the streets, slept through nights of loud and ongoing explosions, and had their daily life briefly came to a halt are terrified. They fear the unknown and the potential of a civil war, due to potential increase of retlation by AQAP, especially since the Houthis vowed to fight them.<br /><br /><b><i>Bye bye Ali Mohsin!</i></b>: Some, such as many in the South, are simply ecstatic that General Ali Mohsin, known for his bloody and corrupt past, is forced out of power. Everything else seems irrelevant to them. <br /><br /><b><i>Saleh's plot</i></b>: this group is worried that former President Saleh is behind the Houthi’s rise to power, and that Yemen would go back to square one.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-24259152422440576462014-09-04T20:27:00.002+03:002015-09-05T11:52:58.198+02:00Everyday is a 5th of September<span style="font-size: large;">Dear Ibrahim,<br /><br />Yesterday my phone beeped while I was having dinner with a group of people. <br /><br />“It’s in two days…” read the SMS from one of our close friends. <br /><br />I looked at it intensely then put down the phone and listened to the array of complaints hailing on the table about mobile service providers. <i>Focus on this</i>, I tried to convince myself. My stubborn mind however would not listen to me. It drifted far away, beyond the reach of any mobile network. <br /><br />The truth is, I wish it mattered whether your “death anniversary” was in two days or fifty. Since you left us a year ago my dear friend, you have been constantly on my mind. Sometimes you make me laugh, like when I imagine you suddenly standing between two clashing groups, raising both of your hands and yelling, “BOO.” I imagine the reaction of the armed men, their confusion, and I smile thinking of your gift. Sometimes tears roll down my face. Other times I wish you would give my mind a break.…then I take it back quickly.<br /><br />Why do we feel the need to remember the exact moment of death? I personally try not to remember that specific dreadful day. I try hard to erase the details from my memory, but they cling to my thoughts like shiny leeches to my skin. I don’t want to remember how weak, helpless, and distraught I felt. I don’t want to remember how many times I wished I could’ve used my so-called conflict resolution “skills” to engage in a long dialogue with Mr. ‘Izrail. I would’ve pleaded with the Angel of death to release your soul, explaining that we really need you here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Please Mr. ‘Izraeil, we need his childlike laughter to replace the darkness we feel inside. We need his “Tablet” with its infinite lectures and books so he can read to us what Albert Camus says about life, and what Ahmed Matar says about Arab regimes in ways we can’t...Yemen needs him because.....” </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But you would interrupt us and with a smirk say, “Your words won’t work on him Atiaf.” I would turn back to you and say, “they did!”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />I guess, we can all dream, but eventually we will have to wake up to the nightmare of reality. In the real world, I didn’t have superpowers to bring you back from the dead, nor was I able to convince ‘Izrail to keep you here with us, for us, and for Yemen. <br /><br />Speaking of dreaming, I was just joking when I asked you guys to “visit” me in my dreams if any of you died, but thank you for remembering. It’s nice to see you from time to time. <br /><br />This is not a tribute to you, for no words can do you justice.... Why I’m posting this publically today is still a mystery to me, but maybe I would like to join the crowd, and maybe, just maybe, releasing this short message to the universe will mean it will reach you, somewhere, somehow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I hope you are not offended if I don't do anything special tomorrow. To me, everyday is a 5th of September......<br /><br />I miss you, but you already know that.<br /><br /> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-79942424397270401752014-08-03T21:58:00.003+03:002014-09-08T23:48:11.543+03:00We're All On The Stairs...<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">"We are all on the stairs, my friend; some of us are going down, </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> - Mehmet Murat ildan </span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo I took in the suburbs of Tunis</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TAG2G5GisnM/U9j_67oiLaI/AAAAAAAAPGg/y-vH3VJYKIU/s1600/20140728_213515_6714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TAG2G5GisnM/U9j_67oiLaI/AAAAAAAAPGg/y-vH3VJYKIU/s1600/20140728_213515_6714.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Eid "gift" to Yemen this year was the reunion of former President Saleh, seen here kissing current President Hadi (who used to be Saleh’s vice President) with the blessing of Military General Ali Muhsin. This was taken at Eid prayer held in Saleh’s $60 million mosque.<br /><br />Two days later, subsidies for fuel were cut, and the prices have increased once again. Since early 2011, the price has increased by 269% (when leaded petrol was still used).<br /><br />Not sure how we can look at the families of the martyrs, what are we supposed to tell them:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Viva la Revolution?!</span></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-73877905862721737832014-07-29T17:22:00.000+02:002014-09-08T22:40:57.293+03:00عيد.. بأي حال عدت يا عيد؟<div dir="rtl" lang="ar">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lz3rIryOa30/U9e5663Jd0I/AAAAAAAAPCI/H_gFbRpBCh0/s1600/20140728_213515_6714.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lz3rIryOa30/U9e5663Jd0I/AAAAAAAAPCI/H_gFbRpBCh0/s1600/20140728_213515_6714.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">استيقظت يوم العيد وكلي حنين لليمن، حلمت بأطفال حارتنا الذين يدقون أبواب بيتنا من الصباح الباكر مطالبين حقهم "بالجعالة والعسب". </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">وبعيون نصف مفتوحة مسكت بهاتفي وتصفحت بعض الرسائل التي وصلتنا على الوتس أب، وتذكرت العذاب الذي يمر فيه كثير من أطفال اليمن و غزة وسوريا والعراق في هذا اليوم، فشملني حزن كئيب، وفجأة فتحت رسالة فيها صورة عجيبة. حدقت فيها مليا ولم تصدق عيني ما رأت، وقلت في نفسي لعلي ما زلت في نوم عميق. ولكنها كانت الحقيقة، التفت إلى زوجي وعرضت عليه الصورة:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"يشبه علي عبد الله صالح ، أو لا مه ؟</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">أمسك بها وتمعّن في الصورة "عزيزتي.. هذا علي عبد الله صالح!".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"مستحيل.." قلت ناهضة من الفراش</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"نعم انه هو حتى شوفي علي محسن في الصورة ايضا"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"أيوا علي محسن اتعودنا نشوفه مع الرئيس هادي.. بس صالح هذا جديد. اكيد عملوا فوتوشوب وغيروا الصورة."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">قمت بالبحث في الانترنت ووجدت انها صورة حقيقية. صورة مِما سمّوه بـ "عيد المصالحة" كما عرض على قناة اليمن.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> ففي يوم العيد أدى الرئيس هادي صلاة العيد بجامع الصالح، وعلي يمينه الرئيس السابق علي عبد الله صالح وعلى يساره مستشاره العسكري علي محسن الأحمر. أقاموا الصلاة في نفس الجامع الذي قدر تكلفته حوالي ٦٠ مليون دولار في بلد يعد الأفقر في المنطقة وهو نفس الجامع الذي حاصرته قوّات عسكرية قبل أسبوعين معززة بمدرعات وأطقم .</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">ولكن كان هذا قبل اسبوعين.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">يوم العيد نقلت وسائل الإعلام الرسميّة بأن العيد "جاء بالجديد" كما وقد دعا الخطيب كما يبيّن هذا <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YhNkE_5exI" target="_blank">الفيديو</a> إلى ضرورة التكاتف والاصطفاف الوطني خلف الرئيس هادي للخروج من الأزمات التي يتعرض لها الوطن.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">ولكن هل فعلا جاء هذا العيد بالجديد؟ الحكومة الانتقالية ليست "بجديدة" فأغلب اعضاءها من النظام القديم، وهذا بالتحديد السبب الأساسي الذي جعل أغلب النشطاء المستقلين يكونون ضد المبادرة الخليجية التي كرّست النظام القديم في إطار تغيير "تجميلي" ولكن الجوهربقي نفسه. وبالتالي السؤال الذي يطرح نفسه.. كيف ستخرج اليمن من الأزمات مادام صانعو هذه الأزمات هي الحاكمة. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">الذي يعرفني سيعرف انني من قبل ثورة ٢٠١١ كنت ضد النظام العسكري القبلي الذي طالما حكم اليمن. وفي ٢٠١١ انضممت إلى الثورة ، وخلال الأيام الأولى الجميلة التي قضيناها في الساحة خلقنا شبكة من النشطاء الذين يؤمنون بالمواطنة المتساوية، الحرية، والعدل وآمنا بان "اذا الشعب يوما أراد الحياة فلا بد أن يستجيب القدر" ولكن يبدو أن الشاعر أبو القاسم الشابي لم يعش في زمن البترودولار.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">وبينما كانت الصورة مفاجئة خصوصا بعد المعارك السياسية بين جبهة هادي وجبهة صالح إلا ان بعض المحللين لم يستغربوا من التوقيت فقد جاءت المصالحة بعد سقوط عمران بيد أنصار الله (الحوثيين) ومقتل قائد أكبر الوية الجيش العميد القشيبي (المقرّب من علي محسن) وبعد زيارة الرئيس هادي الى السعودية .</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">يسأل الكثير هل هي مصالحة حقيقية؟ ولكن ما معنى المصالحة عندما تكون فقط انتصارات سياسية بعيدة كل البعد عن أمال ومتطلبات الشعب. المصالحة يجب ان تكون مصالحة مع الشعب تبدأ بتلبية الحد الأدنى من متطلباته من ماء وكهرباء ووقف العنف وصرف صحي الخ. ولكن المصالحة لن تعني تلبية للحقوق الأساسيّة وإنما تعني بأن الحكومة تقسم الغنائم فيما بينها </span><span style="font-size: large;">وهذا التحالف الجديد رمز لانتصار الثورة المضادة.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> لا أدري كيف سننظر إلى وجوه أهالي الشهداء.. ماذا سنقول لهم؟ عفوا خذلناكم؟</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">صدق المتنبي عندما قال: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> عيدٌ بأيّةِ حالٍ عُدتَ يا عيدُ بمَا مَضَى أمْ بأمْرٍ فيكَ تجْديدُ
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-38595417256426243332014-07-16T02:37:00.002+02:002014-09-08T22:40:57.246+03:00عقدة "الأجنبي" عند السياسي والمواطن في اليمن<div dir="rtl" lang="ar">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>عقدة "الأجنبي"</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">بداية، أود أن أستهل موضوعي بذكر السبب الذي جعلني أتطرق لهذا الموضوع. ذلك أني شاركت ليلة أمس في وقفة احتجاجيه في تونس تنديدا بالحرب الصهيونية في غزة. كانت الوقفة أمام منزل السفير الفرنسي في احدى ضواحي العاصمة التونسية، وتزامنت هذه الوقفة مع احتفال السفارة الفرنسية باليوم الوطني الفرنسي، وكان السفير الفرنسي قد دعا عدة شخصيات من المجتمع التونسي بما فيهم دبلوماسيين وصحفيين ونشطاء إلى الحفل، غير أن العديد من النشطاء قاطعوا الحفل احتجاجا على ما صرح به الرئيس الفرنسي هولوند من مساندة لإسرائيل وعدم التنديد بالحرب القائمة في فلسطين. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">كانت هذه هي المرة الأولى التي أشارك في وقفة احتجاجية في تونس، وقد كانت شبيهة بكافة الوقفات والمظاهرات التي شاركت فيها في عدة دول في السابق، ولكن لفت انتباهي شيئان: الأول: قرب الوقفة من بوابة منزل السفير الفرنسي في تونس بينما يستحيل هذا الإقتراب في اليمن حيث أصبحت بعض السفارات ومنازل السفراء محوطة بأسوار كبيرة، والشوارع اليها مغلقة بنقاط عسكريّة كأنها حرس الحدود. كان الله في عون من إحتاج الى تأشيرة سفر لان الوصول إلى السفارات بحد ذاته مرهق، إضافة الى الكميّة الهائلة من المستندات المطلوبة والإهانة النفسية التي يلقاها بسبب المعاملة السيئة إن استطاع الدخول إلى السفارة، ففي عدة حالات أشتكى الكثير بأن السفارة الفرنسية مثلا تطلب من البعض الانتظار تحت الشمس في خارج مبنى السفارة، ولا يسمح لهم حتى بالجلوس في قاعة الانتظار. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">الثاني والأهم الذي أثار انتباهي هو: ردّة فعل المتظاهرين عندما خرج مسؤول تونسي من سيارته ومشى إلى بوابة منزل السفير. في هذا الوقت تناهت على المسؤول أصوات العتاب والصراخ. هذا الموقف جعلني أفكّر في حالنا في اليمن، وفي المرض الذي أصاب الكثير منا: عقدة الأجنبي التي هي حالة نفسية عامة لدى الشعوب التي عانت من الإحتلال الأجنبي.. وهي عبارة عن تغلغل الإحساس بالنقص والدونيّة أمام "الأجنبي". فاليوم مثلا نجد بأن المواطن في مجتمعنا دائما يعطي صورة مثالية عن الشخص الأجنبي ويلحق به جميع الصفات الحميدة من إالتزام وصدق وأمانة، و في المقابل يقلل ويهين بمصداقيّة كل ما هو وطني سواء أكان منتج أم فكرة أم كفاءة فنجد البعض يكيل كل الصفات الذميمة لليمنيين مثل الخيانة والكسل وسوء الأخلاق. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">أسباب هذه العقدة عدة منها الأبعاد الثقافيّة للإستعمار الذي بدوره زرع الإنهزام الفكرة والمعنوي في كافة البلدان المحتلة وهذا التفكير أدى ومازال يؤدي بدوره لقتل الفكر الحر. كما قال فرانز فانون في كتابه معذبو الأرض "إن أوّل شيء يتعلّمه السكّان الأصليون (أنا وأنت) هو أن يلزموا أماكنهم، ألا يتجاوزوا الحدود." وبالفعل هذا ما نلاحظه في اليمن اليوم بعد أن قامت ثورة مجيدة استطاعت قوى كثيرة تغيير مسار الثورة وتحريفها وإلزام السكان الصمت إما بالتهديد أو التخوين أو التكذيب. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">ليس من شك بأن اليمن اليوم تعيش تحت ما يمكن أن نسميّه بـ "الوصاية الإقليميّة والدوليّة". جمال بن عمر ومجموعة سفراء الدول العشر الراعية للمبادرة الخليجيّة وهم: السفراء في اليمن عن الدول ذات العضوية الدائمة في مجلس الأمن الدولي (الولايات المتحدة الأمريكيّة، روسيا، الصين، المملكة المتحدة، فرنسا)، وسفراء مجلس التعاون الخليجي (ما عدا قطر التي انسحبت من المبادرة الخليجيّة) يتولون مهمة "رعاية المبادرة الخليجيّة" أو بمعنى أصح هم من يحكمون اليمن حاليا ويتحكمون، وما على الحكومة الانتقالية إلا تطبق ما يطلبونه منها فقط. ومن المؤكد أن توقيع المبادرة الخليجية هي من كرست هذه الوصاية وجعلتها "قانونيّة" وأدت أيضا الى توزيع ملفات اليمن على كافة الدول الحاكمة لتدير الشؤون الداخلية. فمثلا أمريكا مسؤولة على الملف العسكري ، فرنسا مسؤولة على الدستور (وهناك حساسية بين فرنسا وألمانيا في هذا الجانب) والأمم المتحدة مسؤولة على الحوار الوطني. أصبحت هذه الدول تنذر وتبشر في كافة الأمور الداخليّة حتى أن السيد جمال بن عمر أعلن عن بعض التعيينات قبل أن يعلن عنها الرئيس هادي. إستطاعت هذه الدول أن تحكم اليمن بإطار أممي إستنادا إلى فكر مستشرق مبني على أن اليمنيين لن يستطيعون الوصول إلى حل بدونهم. وكأن اليمني "همجي لا عقلاني يعجز عن التفكير المنظم والتحليل، شاذ وبليد ومتعصب."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1921780833402046346#_ftn1">[1]</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">أثناء وقت الإنتخابات "بالتزكية" الممولة دوليّا سألني دبلوماسي غربي رفيع المستوى: "هل ستذهبي للإنتخابات؟" فقلت له: "لا." سألني: "لماذا؟" فرديت عليه: "لو كان هناك مرشح واحد في بلدك هل ستنتخب؟" رد علي بإبتسامة وإستعلاء: "الناس في بلدي لا يحاولون قتل بعضهم بعضا." بالطبع ليس كل الدبلوماسيين يفكرون بهذه الطريقة، لكن لسوء الحظ هذا التفكير هو الذي يجعل المجتمع الدولي يتوقع بأن اليمنيين يجب أن يقبلوا بأنصاف الحلول بل بأن يحتفلوا بها أيضا. وبالفعل فقد قبل الكثير بهذه "الحلول" وتم الترحيب والاحتفال بها. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">عندما أتحدث عن الوصاية الدولية فأنا أتحدث عنها كمسألة سياسيّة بحتة تدخل في نطاق توجيه السياسة الخارجيّة لليمن لمصلحة هذه الدول وليس لمصلحة اليمن. فالمجتمع الدولي همه عدم إخراج اليمن عن السيطرة مادامت المنطقة الجغرافيّة مهمة له، ولذلك تم التركيز على بقاء النظام السابق على حساب متطلبات التغيير الحقيقي والأساسي. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">نعم جزء من اللوم يقع على الحكومة الانتقالية في ترحيبها الواسع بهذه الوصاية وسماحهم بالتدخل في شؤون البلد بشكل مباشر إلا أن اللوم الحقيقي يجب أن يقع على الجمهور المتفرّج: المجتمع المدني الصامت. من المفترض أن يكون المجتمع المدني مراقب لأداء الدولة، ولكن للأسف أصبح كثير من أعضاء المجتمع المدني جزء من الدولة إما من خلال دخلوهم كأعضاء في الحوار الوطني مما جعلهم يبتعدون عن الشارع اليمني ومطالب الساحات الثائرة، أو تعيينات أخرى. ولذلك أصبحت لهم مصالح يجب ان يحافظوا عليها. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">في إحدى الاجتماعات التي رتبتها أحد المنظمات المانحة الأجنبية تحدثت أنا وزملائي خارج قاعة الاجتماع عن ما هي أهم الرسائل التي نريد ان نوصلها لهم. ركز الكثير على أهمية الحديث عن "أولويات الدعم" وأن أولويات المانح كثيرا ما تختلف عن أولويّات اليمن. أتفقنا جميعا وعندما دخلنا الاجتماع صعقت لان ما قلناه خارج الاجتماع اختلف تماما عن ما قاله بعض زملائي للمانح. عندما سألت زميلي عن سبب المجاملة -لم أتجرأ ان اقول الكذب-، رد علي: "عيب هو ضيف" من أجمل ما في اليمن اننا شعب يكرّم الضيف ولو حتّى على حساب نفسه ولكن هل نسينا المثل الذي يقول: "يا غريب كن أديب"؟ </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">عند انتقادي لهذه العقدة الشنيعة لا أعني أبدا ان أقول ان "اليمنيين أفضل من كل الناس" أو العرب أفضل من غيرهم فأنا لا أؤمن بالتمييز الوجودي والمعرفي بين "الشرق والغرب" ولا أؤمن بفكرة "نحن" أو "هؤلاء" و هذا بالضبط هو ما عمله المستشرقون في الشرق الأوسط عندما كرّسوا فكرة أن أوربا وأمريكا هما "المألوف والطبيعي" و الشرق هو الغريب والمستغرَب. ولكن أؤمن بانه ما زال هناك محتل وإحتلال بأشكال مختلفة و أؤمن بأن الدول الإمبرياليّة (كانت عربيّة أو أجنبيّة) بحاجة إلى أن تفكك العالم إلى قسمين قسم حاكم وقسم محكوم. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">في ثقافتنا الشعبية قضايا ومواقف تستحق المراجعة والتمحيص بشكل موضوعي ومنها تأثير الإمبراليّة على اليمن وعقدة الأجنبي. علينا ان نتذكر ما قاله المفكر فرانز فانون الذي جمع ما بين التنظير والممارسة من خلال مشاركته في حرب التحرير الشعبيّة بالجزائر:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"ليس نجاح الكفاح وحده هو الذي يهب للثقافة قيمة وصدقا وقوة، بل إن معارك الكفاح نفسها تنمي، في أثناء إنطلاقتها، مختلف الإتجاات الثقافية وتخلق إتجاهات ثقافية جديد."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> فلذلك علينا أن ندرس ما يحدث بشكل موضوعي وعلينا ان نناضل من أجل المطالبة بالحقوق الأساسية ولكن في نفس الوقت يجب التعامل مع هذا الموضوع بحذر شديد لأننا لا نريد أن ننشر ثقافة الكراهيّة بالاخر او شيطنة "الأجنبي" فهذا ليس هدفنا لأن المقصود كما قلنا الأنظمة الامبراليّة وليس الشعوب خاصة وأننا في عالم العولمة الذي يعيش فيه الانسان متنقلا من بلد الى اخر وأصبحنا لا نعرف الان من هو المواطن ومن هو الأجنبي وأصبحت شعوب العالم تناصر بعضها بعضا ضد الإمبراليّة العالميّة. فالمطلوب اذا أن نبني على هذا الفكر الجميل وان نتحدى الضغوط التي تعمل على تقسيم البشر في شكل زائف، والعودة إلى النظر للإنسان كإنسان. </span><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1921780833402046346#_ftnref1">[1]</a> المفكر الراحل إدوارد سعيد كتب بأن المستشرق يصف "الشرق" بأنه "همجي، لا عقلاني، يعجز عن التفكير المنظم والتحليل، شاذ، بليد ومتعصب.."</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-4015434168315789792014-07-13T03:25:00.002+02:002014-09-21T19:20:29.494+03:00Online References in English on Yemen's Transition<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some people have asked me for helpful references on Yemen. So, here is a list of some <b>free electronic</b> </span><span style="font-size: large;">academic, advocacy or policy oriented </span><span style="font-size: large;">reports on Yemen's transitional period in English.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The aim is to provide researchers with easy access to online materials that might help in the research process. Of course I advise you to also read historical analysis in order to have a more comprehensive comprehensive understanding of the current situation. [I hope to list some book recommendations in a future post]</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">This list is a work in progress, I will periodically update it and add new material. Please feel free to recommend other online publications, or if any of the researchers want to make their work public, feel free to send it to me and we can upload it on the cloud and link it here. [thanks to those who already did that].</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>GENERAL INFO ON TRANSITIONAL PERIOD</u></b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Adra, Najwa, <a href="http://www.najwaadra.net/tribalmediation.pdf"><i>Tribal Mediation in Yemen and its Implication to Development</i></a>, (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften/Austrian Academy of Sciences, Volume 19, 2011). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Akhali, Rafat, <i>T<a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/The_Challenge_of_Federalism_in_Yemen.pdf">he Challenge of Federalism in Yemen</a></i>, (The Atlantic Council, May 2014). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Falahi, Ashraf, <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/index.cfm?fa=show&article=55496&solr_hilite=Yemen"><i>Yemen’s Fraught Constitution Drafting Committee</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 2014). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Madhaji, Maged, <i><a href="http://www.arab-reform.net/federalism-yemen-unasked-questions-and-uncertain-solutions" target="_blank">Federalism in Yemen: Unasked Questions & Uncertain Solutions</a></i> (Paris: Arab Reform Initiative, August 2014).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Muslimi, Farea, <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2013/06/20/surmounting-southern-stalemate/gb6g"><i>Deadlocked Yemen</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 30 June 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Alviso-Marino, Anahi, <a href="http://www.ibraaz.org/essays/100/" target="_blank">Making Stories Visible, A Yemen Art History</a>, (Ibraaz, 9 September 2014)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Alviso-Marino, Anahi<i>, <a href="http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2013/street_art_yemen" target="_blank">From Street Politics to Street Art in Yemen</a></i>, (Nafas, July 2013).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Alviso-Marino, Anahi, <i><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8DO2TTbUqQoLXZCemdFenNjcVU/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Oralpresentation: The Politics of Painting in Public Spaces: Yemeni Street Artas Device for Political Action</a></i>,
(Symposium at university of Pennsylvania: 9 April 2014).<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Carapico, Sheila, <a href="http://www.merip.org/new-green-zone-sanaa"><i>A New Green Zone in Sanaa</i></a>, (Middle East Research and Information Project -MERIP, January 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Dingli, Sophia, <a href="https://www.academia.edu/2075835/Is_the_Failed_State_Thesis_Analytically_Useful_The_Case_of_Yemen"><i>Is the failed State Thesis Analytically Useful? the Case of Yemen</i></a>, (Politics, 1 November 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Durac, Vincent, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8DO2TTbUqQoc2tLUVpFMDJUVkU/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Yemen's Arab Spring - Democratic Opening or Regime Maintenanc</i>e</a>, (Mediterranean Politics, 2012) p. 161-178.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Durac, Vincent,<i> <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8DO2TTbUqQoc2tLUVpFMDJUVkU/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The European Union in Yemen: the Triumph of Pragmatism Over Normativity</a></i>? (European Foreign Affairs Review, 2010), p. 645-661.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Elham Manea, <a href="http://yemen-alaan.com/en/art23673.html#sthash.vE5RSSdL.dpuf"><i>The Perils of Yemen’s Cunning State</i></a>, (Norwegian Peace-building Resource Centre, September 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Elham, Manea, <a href="http://yemen-alaan.com/en/art23673.html#sthash.vE5RSSdL.dpuf"><i>Yemen’s Contentious Transitional Justice and Fragile Peace</i></a>, (Yemen-Alaan, March 2014). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Haddad, Saleem and Joshua Rogers, <a href="http://www.saferworld.org.uk/resources/view-resource/601-public-protest-and-visions-for-change"><i>Yemen: People's Peacemaking Perspectives</i></a>, (SaferWorld, November 2011). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Havoshki, Mostafa, <i><a href="http://www.ejbss.com/Data/Sites/1/vol3no3june2014/ejbss-1390-14-barriersofpoliticaldevelopmentinyemen.pdf" target="_blank">Barriers of Political Development in Yemen</a></i>, (European Journal of Business and Social Science, June 2014), p.54 - 60.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Heinz, Marie-Christine, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21534764.2014.920190#tabModule" target="_blank"><i>On ‘Gun Culture’ and ‘Civil Statehood’ in Yemen</i></a>, (Journal of Arabian Studies: Arabia, the Gulf, and the Red Sea, 2014).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Hill, Ginny, Peter Salisbury, Léonoe Northedge, and Jane Kinninmont, <a href="http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/public/Research/Middle%20East/0913r_yemen.pdf"><i>Yemen: Corruption, Capital Flight and Global Drivers of Conflict</i></a>, (London: Chatham House, September 2013).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Schmitz, Charles, <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/files/building_better_yemen.pdf"><i>Building a Better Yemen</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Sharqieh, Ibrahim, <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2013/02/11-yemen-national-reconciliation-sharqieh"><i>A Lasting Peace? Yemen’s Long Journey to National Reconciliation</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: Brookings Doha Center, February 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Sharqieh, Ibrahim, <a href="http://www.ecfr.eu/page/-/IJP_Yemen.pdf"><i>International intervention, justice and accountability in Yemen</i></a>, (European Council on Foreign Relations, November 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Thiel, Tobias, <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/reports/pdf/SR011/FINAL_LSE_IDEAS__YemensArabSpring_Thiel.pdf"><i>Yemen’s Arab Spring: From Youth Revolution to Fragile Political Transition</i></a>, (LSE Ideas Special Report, 2012) Thiel, Tobias, <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2014/03/03/yemens-negotiated-transition-between-the-elite-and-the-street/"><i>Yemen’s Negotiated Transition between the Elite and the Street</i></a>, (LSE Middle East Centre, 2012). </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>2011 UPRISING</u></b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Alwazir, Atiaf, <a href="http://www.arab-reform.net/square-change-sana%E2%80%99-incubator-reform"><i>the Square of Change in Sana’a: an Incubator for Reform</i></a>, (Paris: Arab Reform Initiative, May 2011). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Bonnefoy, Laurent, <a href="http://moulayhichamfoundation.org/sites/default/files/LAURENT%20BONNEFOY_Yemen.pdf"><i>From Street Mobilization to Political Mobilization</i></a>, (Moulay Hicham Foundation, September 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Laurent Bonnefoy and Marine Poirier,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><u style="font-size: x-large;"><i><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8DO2TTbUqQoSF9EQm10NzB4WjQ/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The Structuration of the Yemeni Revolution - Exploring a Process in Motion</a></i></u><span style="font-size: large;">, (Revue française de science politique, May 2012).</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>HUMAN RIGHTS </u></b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Watch (HRW), <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/09/11/classrooms-crosshairs"><i>Classrooms in the Crosshairs: Military Use of Schools in Yemen's Capital</i></a>, (11 September 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Watch (HRW), <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2014/05/25/yemen-s-torture-camps"><i>Yemen's Torture Camps: Abuse of Migrants by Human Traffickers in a Climate of Impunity</i></a>, (25 May 2014). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">International Crisis Group (ICG), <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iran%20Gulf/Yemen/125-yemen-enduring-conflicts-threatened-transition.pdf"><i>Yemen: Enduring Conflicts, Threatened Transitions</i></a>, (July 2012).</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>RULE OF LAW</u></b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Zwaini, Laila, <a href="http://www.hiil.org/data/sitemanagement/media/QuickScan_Yemen_191212_DEF.pdf"><i>The Rule of Law in Yemen Prospects and Challenges</i></a>, (HiiL’s Rule of Law Quick Scan Series, September 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Amnesty International,<i> <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE31/008/2014/en">Yemen: Lack of Investigation into Human Rights Violations Entrenches Impunity</a></i>, (20 June 2014). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Watch (HRW), <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/02/12/unpunished-massacre-0"><i>Unfinished Massacre: Yemen's Failed Response to the 'Friday of Dignity' Killings</i></a>, (12 February 2013).</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>The JMP</u></b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Durac, Vincent, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8DO2TTbUqQoTXVsRmp1Y2RERzg/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>The Joint Meeting Parties and the Politics of Opposition in Yemen</i></a>, (British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, December 2011), p. 343–365. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Yadav-Philbrick, Stacey, <a href="http://merip.org/mero/mero102111"><i>Tawakkul Karman as Cause and Effect</i></a>, (Middle East Research and Information Project-MERIP, 21 October 2011).</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">AL-HIRAK AL-JANUBI / SOUTHERN MOVEMENT</span></b><br />
<ul type="disc">
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Day, Stephen, <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/2010/03/23/political-challenge-of-yemen-s-southern-movement/1v3a"><i>The Political Challenge of Yemen’s Southern Movement</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2010). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Dingli, Sophia, <a href="https://www.academia.edu/2626169/The_Politics_of_Re_Unification_Lessons_from_Yemen_for_Cyprus"><i>The Politics of (Re)Unification: Lessons from Yemen for Cyprus</i></a>, (14 February 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Watch (HRW), <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/03/09/days-bloodshed-aden-0"><i>Days of Bloodshed in Aden</i></a>, (9 March 2011). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">International Crisis Group (ICG), <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iran%20Gulf/Yemen/145-yemen-s-southern-question-avoiding-a-breakdown"><i>Yemen’s Southern Question: Avoiding a Breakdown</i></a>, (September 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">O'Neil, Brian, <i><a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2012/09/06/aden-s-port-in-storm/feht">Aden's Port in the Storm</a>,</i> (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 6 September 2012). </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>ANSARULLAH/HOUTHIS </b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Boucek, Christopher, <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/files/war_in_saada.pdf"><i>War in Saada: From Local Insurrection to National Challenge</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 2010). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Brandt, Maraike, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21534764.2013.802942#.U_scGbySy5M" target="_blank">Sufyan's Hybrid War: Tribal Politics During the Huthi Conflict</a>, (Journal of Arabian Studies, the Gulf, and the Red Sea, 2013)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">International Crisis Group (ICG), <a href="http://www.observatori.org/paises/pais_64/documentos/86_yemen___defusing_the_saada_time_bomb.pdf"><i>Defusing the Saada Time Bomb</i></a>, (Middle East Report N°86, 27 May 2009). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Neubauer, Siguard, <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/index.cfm?fa=show&article=53246&solr_hilite=Yemen"><i>Tensions at the Saudi-Yemeni Border</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, October 2013). </span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Youth</span></u></b></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Dawsari, Nadwa, <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/marib-youth-and-political-transition-in-yemen"><i>Marib Youth and Political Transition in Yemen</i></a>, (The Atlantic Council, 31 March 2014).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Alwazir, Atiaf, <a href="http://www.arab-reform.net/%E2%80%9Cyouth%E2%80%9D-inclusion-yemen-necessary-element-success-political-transition"><i>Youth Inclusion in Yemen: a Necessary Element for Success of Political Transition</i></a>, (Arab Reform Initiative, December 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Chatham House, <a href="http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/public/Research/Middle%20East/0512summary_yemenyouth.pdf"><i>The Role of Youth Activists in Yemen’s Process</i></a>, (May 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Qasem, Alaa, <a href="http://www.saferworld.org.uk/resources/view-resource/785-five-barriers-to-youth-engagement-decision-making-and-leadership-in-yemens-political-parties"><i>Five Barriers to Youth Engagement, decision-making, and leadership in Yemen’s political partie</i>s</a>, SaferWorld, (December 2013).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Yemen Polling Center (YPC), <a href="http://www.csfyemen.org/upfiles/csf-p3817.pdf"><i>Policy Brief - Supporting Youth Activism in Yemen: Challenges, Priorities and Needs</i></a>, (November 2013).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Yemen Polling Center (YPC),<i> <a href="http://www.csfyemen.org/upfiles/csf-p1860.pdf">The Youth Movement and its Activists</a></i>, (December 2013).</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">GENDER</span></u></b></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Hamdani, Samaa,<i> <a href="http://fikraforum.org/?p=3850">Yemen's Quota: Success for International Community or Yemeni Women</a>? </i>(Fikra Forum, 27 September 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Sakkaf, Nadia, <a href="http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/09434.pdf"><i>Yemen's Women and the Quest for Change: Political Participation After the Revolution</i></a>, (Frederich Ebert Stiftung, 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Heinze, Marie-Christine, and Sarah Jamal, <a href="http://www.yemenpolling.org/Projects-en/English-YPC_Policy_Report_June2013.pdf"><i>Integrating Women's Security Interests in Police Reform in Yemen: Some Suggestions for Structural Reform</i></a>, (Yemen Polling Center -YPC, June 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Watch (HRW), <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/12/07/how-come-you-allow-little-girls-get-married"><i>How Come You Allow Little Girls to Get Married? Child Marriage in Yemen</i></a>, (8 December 2011). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Hurst, Miranda, <a href="http://architecture.brookes.ac.uk/research/cendep/dissertations/MirandaHurst2012.pdf"><i>Expanding Yemeni Women's Participation in Public Sphere</i></a>, (September 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Pandya, Sophia, <i><a href="https://www.academia.edu/6966192/Religious_Flexibilies_of_Older_Yemeni_Women_in_Sanaa" target="_blank">Religious Flexibilities of Older Yemeni Women in Sanaa</a></i>, (Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 2014), p. 52-79.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Wameedh Shakir, Mia Marzouk and Saleem Haddad, <a href="http://www.saferworld.org.uk/news-and-views/news-article/581-strong-voices-yemeni-womenas-political-participation-from-protest-to-transition-"><i>Strong Voices: Yemeni Women's Political Participation from Protest to Transition</i></a>, (SaferWorld, 12 July 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Yemen Polling Center (YPC), <a href="http://www.yemenpolling.org/Projects-en/English-YPC_Policy_Report_June2013.pdf"><i>Towards a Gender Equality Department at MOI</i></a>, (June 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Yemen Polling Center (YPC), <a href="http://www.yemenpolling.org/Projects-en/%28English%29_Jan14-Women%27s_Voices_in_the_New_Yemen.pdf"><i>Women's Voices in the New Yemen</i></a>, (February 2014).</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">CONFLICT/SECURITY</span></u></b></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Dawsari, Nadwa, <a href="http://www.mei.edu/content/popular-committees-abyan-yemen-necessary-evil-or-opportunity-security-reform"><i>The Popular Committees of Abyan, Yemen; a Necessary Evil or Opportunity for Security Reform</i></a>? (Washington D.C.: Middle East Institute, 5 March 2014). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Al-Dawsari, Nadwa, <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/04/24/tribal-governance-and-stability-in-yemen/aghk"><i>Tribal Governance and Stability in Yemen</i>,</a> (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Alwazir, Atiaf, <a href="http://pomed.org/pomed-publications/alwazir2012/"><i>Achieving Long Term Stability in Yemen: Moving Beyond Counter-Terrorism</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: Project on Middle East Democracy -POMED, 18 May 2012). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Gaston, Erica and Nadwa al-Dawsari, <a href="http://www.usip.org/publications/waiting-change"><i>Waiting for Change: The Impact of Transition on Local Justice and Security in Yemen</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: US Institute for Peace -USIP, 9 April 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Watch (HRW), <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2014/02/19/wedding-became-funeral-0"><i>A Wedding That Became a Funeral: US Drone Attack on Marriage Procession in Yemen</i></a>, (20 February 2014). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Watch (HRW), <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/10/22/between-drone-and-al-qaeda-0"><i>Between a Drone and Al-Qaeda: The Civilian Cost of U.S. Targeted Killings in Yemen</i></a>, (22 October 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">International Crisis Group (ICG), <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iran%20Gulf/Yemen/139-yemens-military-security-reform-seeds-of-new-conflict.pdf"><i>Yemen’s Military Security Reform: Seeds of New Conflict</i></a>? (April 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Lucas, Winter, <a href="http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/conflict-yemen?print"><i>Conflict in Yemen: Simple People, Complicated Circumstances</i></a>, (Washington D.C.: Middle East Policy Council, 2011). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Soudias, Dimitris and Mareike Transfel, <a href="http://www.yemenpolling.org/index.php/component/content/article/68-ypc-news/167-mapping-popular-perceptions-local-security-insecurity-and-police-work-in-yemen">M<i>apping Popular Perceptions: Local Security, Insecurity and Police Work in Yemen</i></a>, (Yemen Polling Center – YPC, 9 July 2014).</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">MEDIA LANDSCAPE</span></u></b></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Watch (HRW), <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/09/19/life-threatening-career"><i>A Life-Threatening Career: Attacks on Journalists under Yemen's New Government</i></a>, (19 September 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Reporters without Borders (RSF), <a href="http://en.rsf.org/yemen-journalism-getting-more-dangerous-30-04-2013,44500.html"><i>Journalism Getting More Dangerous in Yemen</i></a>, (30 April 2013). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Reporters without Borders (RSF), <a href="http://en.rsf.org/yemen-journalists-constantly-harassed-13-03-2014,45992.html"><i>Journalists Constantly Harassed and Attacked in Yemen</i></a>, (13 March 2014). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Yemen Polling Center (YPC), <a href="http://www.yemenpolling.org/Projects-en/Anwar-Policy_Brief_(English).pdf"><i>Policy Brief - Media and Parliament in Yemen: Challenges for Reporters and Possible Solutions</i></a>, (December 2013).</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-57395500473794287292014-07-03T03:44:00.000+02:002014-09-08T22:40:57.268+03:00Throbbing Agony<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Sharp pieces of glass slice my insides</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For years and years,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Excruciating pain never subsides</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Time does not halt the ache </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My mind just takes pity, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Giving me a break</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div style="display: inline !important; text-align: center;">
<div style="display: inline !important; text-align: center;">
<div style="display: inline !important; text-align: center;">
<div style="display: inline !important; text-align: center;">
<div style="display: inline !important;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Throbbing agony pulsates through my body</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Flowing through my blood,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Making me feel empty</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Why?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Why?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Why? </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">There will never be answers </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We will just continue to be actors</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h0qz0vIbd4U/U7S04PbmtZI/AAAAAAAAM8o/oq0SXsJFuZY/s1600/image_t6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h0qz0vIbd4U/U7S04PbmtZI/AAAAAAAAM8o/oq0SXsJFuZY/s1600/image_t6.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-89892952498194213442014-06-07T22:43:00.000+03:002014-09-08T22:40:57.312+03:00Freeze the Moment<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g5-dsy-uSzI/U5Nqmixd8kI/AAAAAAAAM8o/dbZZrz0aMKw/s1600/28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g5-dsy-uSzI/U5Nqmixd8kI/AAAAAAAAM8o/dbZZrz0aMKw/s1600/28.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/smanography/3056487326/" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman';" target="_blank">Shermee </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I woke up on the wrong side of the bed,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Miserable,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">From the thoughts in my head</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">But a voice echoed in my ear,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Freeze the moment, </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Remember you are still here</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Exhale,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Be thankful for your breath</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Rejoice,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
You temporarily escaped death<br />
<br />
It is the greatest blessing,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Simply to be here<br />
***</div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-27899665334797816012014-05-17T00:08:00.001+03:002014-09-08T22:40:57.234+03:00Are you sure there are no more journalists in Yemen?<span style="font-size: large;">“Instead of deporting militants, our national security deported a journalist. What a shame” wrote Yemeni journalist Hani Al-Guneid on Facebook. Similar sentiments were widely expressed by activists and writers on May 9th, when journalist Adam Baron was wrongfully <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0508/Yemen-deports-Adam-Baron-a-Monitor-and-McClatchy-correspondent">expelled from Yemen</a> without an explanation. Until today, messages continue to spread condemning this attack on freedom of expression and some even felt obligated to apologize on behalf of their unelected government. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The reactions to his deportation have highlighted a number of interesting points. It exemplified the reality that race/nationality/or passport matters in today’s media.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Three days prior to Adam’s deportation, journalist Saeed Thabit Saeed sent a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/saeed.t.saeed.9/posts/786973904648736">letter of complaint</a> to the minister of interior, which he then published on Facebook. In it, he accused passport control, and later national security, of maintaining and using the same “black list” that Saleh’s government previously used against journalists and activists. Saeed explained that he is often interrogated or detained at the airport upon arrival or departure from Sana’a. His passport was confiscated that day, and after some phone calls were made he was finally able to enter his own country.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Saeed is not the first journalist to complain of such harassment. A number of local journalists have been targets of intimidation tactics, violence, imprisonment and abuse. According to a March 2014 <a href="https://en.rsf.org/yemen-journalists-constantly-harassed-13-03-2014,45992.html">report</a> by Reporters without Borders,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Two years after Abd Rab Mansour Hadi became president, the situation of freedom of information in Yemen continues to be very worrying, especially as regards violence against media personnel.” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">While it is very important that Adam’s deportation made headline news, it is as important to speak out against the numerous attacks on local citizens. The last two years witnessed numerous violations including, the murder of <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/justice-for-hassan-will-show-if-yemen-has-really-changed">two young</a> innocent boys, a <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/01/15/yemen-publish-findings-funeral-attack">military attack on a funeral</a> service of members of the Southern Movement in a public school courtyard killing 15 people, a <a href="http://hunaaden.com/news/11443/">one-year jail sentence</a> and fine of 100,000 Yemeni Riyals imposed on journalist Majed Karout, and continuation of patronage through the $11.3 million allocated to the Tribes’ Affairs Authority in the <a href="http://www.mof.gov.ye/budget/general-budget.html">2014 budget</a> despite the rising poverty. Sadly, it was none of these events that made the international community question the practices of the current government. Why does it take a western journalists’ unfortunate deportation to make others see that “there might be something undemocratic” about this internationally supported government?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The second observation regarding Adam’s deportation is that while journalists have thankfully continued to unite in support of their colleagues, some have unfortunately used it as an opportunity to market themselves. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">After announcing Adam’s deportation on twitter, a journalist was quick to immediately mention that there’s now “only one foreign journalist” officially in Yemen. Her tweet, taken out of context, implied to many that she was the only one left to report in the land of chaos. I’m not a stranger to the hardships of freelancing, as my husband was one for quite sometime, yet this is no excuse to use this inappropriate time to market oneself. In fact, if anyone had the right to over-hype the issue it was Adam, but he did not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I will not go into the semantics of what defines “official” in the dictionary, and what defines “official” in Yemen; yet I will say that the documents needed for western journalists to operate in Yemen are the following: WHO KNOWS? Journalists have come to Yemen in a number of different ways. Yes, technically it could help if you have a journalism visa, but most of the time it is irrelevant. In fact, Adam Baron was deported even though he was “officially” working in Yemen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today, there are other journalists “officially” working or have worked in Yemen with very different residency papers/work permits. Some have a press card from the ministry of informaiton without a journalist visa, some are on a journalist visa, and others with neither. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Even the ones here without a press card work with the full knowledge of the Yemeni government, and in fact, many were officially registered as journalists during the 10-month National Dialogue Conference. In addition, they continue to be invited by government officials to attend “official” events. Even the journalists without proper documents have traveled all over the country, met and continue to meet with high level officials, and publish their work under their name.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is obviously not an ideal way to operate, as the government could easily deport them using the excuse that they do not have a valid visa, which the government did in 2011 when it <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/14/yemen-expels-four-foreign-journalists">deported four western journalists</a>. Then again, the government can deport anyone with no excuse such as the case of Adam. For this reason and many others, members of civil society and journalists continue to demand media reform in Yemen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A third reflection is that it was curious how stressing “foreign” journalist based in Yemen was very important to distinguish one’s self from “local” as if it is necessarily correlated to credibility. Yes there is category of media professionals known as foreign correspondents, but majority of Western reporters in Yemen are not staff reporters. They are freelancers and work exactly like the local freelancers. In addition, there are Western journalists with Yemeni origins who are often not included in either the “foreign” or “local” journalist categories. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Foreign analysts and journalists should continue to travel and write about different countries including Yemen, as it can help provide a fresh perspective on things. Yet, their analysis should not be taken as the only credible voice in a country of 24 million people!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is not the nationality that makes a journalist, but rather knowledge of the country, language skills, objectivity and professionalism. Whether the person is a foreign or local journalist should not be the basis for judging whether someone is a credible source.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is important to remember the following: there are Yemeni journalists who report to international media, and Yemenis, like any other people, can also be credible, can also be objective, and can also relay the truth. Why are local journalists in the west credible enough to report their own news, while it is not the case in Yemen? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, while it’s admirable that some journalists leave the luxuries of their homes to work in less comfortable societies, it is important to remember that this is entirely their choice, and they do get something in return. What you may wonder? Well, where else could a new freelancer meet the highest government officials only two weeks after their arrival? This of course helps boost their careers in addition to their reputation. Once someone lives in “dangerous” Yemen, he/she is automatically given the “brave” award. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So my dear journalist friends, with all due respect, I admire your passion and your hard work, but please don’t make us feel like you are doing us a favor by being here. Please give us the respect and spare us the brave altruistic hero persona. It is not a favor you are bestowing on us to be living here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> I realize some of my journalist friends might be upset with this post, but I am sure that those who know me well enough will know that my intention is merely to give another side to the hype of last week. While the government may not be friendly towards journalists, Yemeni people are. In fact, in almost every travel article, book or website, the one constant characteristic about Yemen is the description about the hospitable and friendly people of the country. Let us work together to show the world what Yemen is really about.<br /></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-46190503300450035462014-05-06T16:23:00.001+02:002014-09-08T22:40:57.262+03:00A Silent Roar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vinpe2Gkh0I/U2jvWu5T9xI/AAAAAAAALpY/rB_ryV-yhe4/s1600/everything_is_in_your_head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vinpe2Gkh0I/U2jvWu5T9xI/AAAAAAAALpY/rB_ryV-yhe4/s1600/everything_is_in_your_head.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes my head hurts</span></b></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes my thoughts scream in silence</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I am the prison guard</span></b></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I try to suffocate them</span></b></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Their whispers escape the chains</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The creeping noise haunts me</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">I can’t find the mute button</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">So I run</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">I occupy myself with everything</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">I occupy myself with nothing</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Today, there is nowhere to escape</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">I am surrounded by </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><b>infinite </b></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">emptiness </span></b></span></b></div>
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It's time to release the prisoners</div>
</span></b></span><b><br /> </b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-55610484988635717242014-04-05T15:26:00.004+02:002014-09-08T23:05:15.421+03:00Yemen's 'Muwaladeen': The struggle for equal citizenship-<div>
<b>First Published in <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/04/yemen-muwaladeen-struggle-equal--20144415253333236.html" target="_blank">Al-Jazeera English</a> </b></div>
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Yemenis who are born to foreign parents face institutional discrimination because of their perceived lack of 'purity'.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A Yemeni activist and I were talking while walking in downtown Sana'a one hot morning. An old man kept turning back to look at us and eventually asked him with curiosity: "where are you from?" my colleague simply responded with a smile. "Ethiopia, Somalia?" asked the old man.<br /><br />Anyone who has navigated the streets of Yemen will ultimately experience the friendly curiosity of its inhabitants. People are often inquisitive, welcoming, and honest. Political "correctness" does not exist here.<br /><br />So the question that the man asked can be seen as an example of this curiosity. Yet for 37-year old Khaled Shanoon, who was born in Sana'a to a Yemeni father from Mareb province and an Eritrean mother, questions like these are often accompanied by negative connotations and memories of numerous incidents of discrimination. <br /><br />Despite the long history of Yemeni traders travelling abroad, immigrating, and forming cross-cultural families, the term "Muwalad" is still used today to describe children born to one parent of another nationality.<br /><br />The term itself is defined in an <a href="http://www.almaany.com/home.php?language=arabic&lang_name=%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A&word=%D9%85%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AF">Arabic dictionary</a> as "an Arab who is not purely Arab." While the term applies to children of Yemeni-Russian, Yemeni-Vietnamese, or Yemeni-Egyptian couples, it is most often used for children of an African parent or a parent with African descent. According to an <a href="http://www.lavoixduyemen.com/ar/2013/09/23/children-yemeni-immigrants-suffer-exclusion-in-own-country-ar/5029/">article</a> by activist Hussein Musleh this term is used for humiliation, as a way to remind the person that he/she is not "pure" Yemeni.<br /><br />Such attitudes are exacerbated by today's obsession with light or white skin in the Arab region, which is in sharp contrast to the famous poetry and music where artists and poets wrote and sang about tan women. <br /><br />Today, Arabic satellite channels broadcast the very negative "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCsnS4aJ-cY">Fair and Lovely"</a> commercial, that insinuates that the darker you are, the less successful/beautiful you are.<br /><br />Unfortunately, in Yemen such attitudes to skin colour have recently moved from bad TV commercials to state institutions through the passing of the a decree on citizenship rights. <br /><br /><b>Relationship between Yemen and the Horn of Africa</b><br /><br />Arabian-African relations date back to ancient times, when the kingdom of Axum, ruled both the southern Arabian Peninsula and Ethiopia (also called Abyssinia). Because of the two civilizstions' integration over the years, intermarriage resulted in Yemeni and Ethiopian mixed blood.<br /><br />In modern times, Yemen provided a safe haven for Ethiopian refugees and Ethiopia in turn accepted Yemeni immigrants during times of political upheaval or seeking a better economic future. For example, many Yemenis remained in Ethiopia since Italy's 1936 invasion, when they were brought by the Italians to work as builders and became rich.<br /><br />Dr Hussein Fouly, an Ethiopian researcher specialising in Yemeni-Ethiopian relations <a href="http://www.ethiopianreview.com/index/2340">explained</a> that Yemenis and Ethiopians intermixed first because of "Yemenis' ability to integrate and second, because of the Ethiopian civilisation's welcoming attitude toward foreigners in their land throughout the 20th century".<br /><br /><b>Strangers here and there</b><br /><br />Children of Yemeni immigrants who have returned from the horn of Africa often share positive memories of nations that treated them well. Yet despite how welcoming many were, some complain that they never felt either purely "African" or purely "Yemeni". <br /><br />Locals in both countries often treat them as citizens of the other country. They have deep connections in both places but do not fully belong to either country. "When I'm in Djibouti I'm called the Yemeni, and when I'm in Yemen, I'm referred to as the Djibouti," said a 26- year old artist with whom I spoke recently. <br /><br />This lack of belonging is a common feeling that many children of mixed backgrounds feel around the world. The late novelist Mohammad Abdul-Wali, a Yemeni diplomat and a prominent writer of Ethiopian descent who died in 1973, tried to portray these feelings in his novel They Die Strangers where he wrote: "Yes it is us, we are in search of a nation, of citizens, of hope. You do not know how it feels to be a stranger."<br /><br /><b>Social and cultural discrimination</b><br /><br />Yemeni citizens with links to the Horn of Africa often face cultural and legal discrimination on a daily basis in Yemen. Whether it is the name calling they encounter at schools, the obstacles they face when wanting to marry a "pure" Yemeni, or the daily struggles to convince authorities of their "Yemeniness".<br /><br />If they can, a majority of children and adults hide the fact that one of their parents is from the Horn of Africa because of the "shame" or ridicule it could bring them. AT the same time, children from a Russian or Western parent would often boast about their "beautifully light" family. <br /><br />"I ignored my grandmother for ten years when I was young, I wanted to disassociate myself from her," remembers Khaled sadly. "When I grew up, I visited her in Eritrea and quickly felt ashamed of my actions as a child. She's an incredibly kind woman. I wish I could write a letter to all the African mothers to apologise that we were once embarrassed from them," he added.<br /><br />Khaled has transformed his regret into a positive campaign by creating the first NGO in Yemen, Sons of Immigrant's Organisation, which seeks to promote equal citizenship by highlighting discrimination against the Muwaladeen and demanding equal rights.<br /><br /><b>Government responsibility</b><br /><br />While cultural and social discrimination are unfortunately found around the world, many Muwaladeen feel that discrimination complaints often fall on deaf ears. In fact, Muwaladeen accuse government officials of institutionalising this racism.<br /><br />Many complain that the state often neglects them and only uses them before an election. "Yemen only recognises us when they need our voice in the election, which means we are Yemeni citizens for only two days in seven years," wrote Ali Salem in article published in <a href="http://daharchives.alhayat.com/issue_archive/Hayat%20INT/2007/5/28/%D8%A7%D9%94%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%94%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A8%D8%B3%D8%A8%D8%A8-%D9%84%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%85.html">Al-Hayat</a> newspaper.<br /><br />These Muwaladeen are often denied identity cards or passports by officials arguing that they do not have sufficient "evidence" to prove their "Yemeniness" due to their darker skin and sometimes-imperfect Arabic. They are also sometimes looked at as "newcomers" in the country they were born and raised in, and hence treated as such.<br /><br />Recently, this type of discrimination was legalised. On March 3, 2014 a decree was passed by the Civil Status Authority, which stated:</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copy of decree by the Civil Status Athority</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zXgoT2UX5nE/U0AD-dFr2OI/AAAAAAAALnY/j8YlNe8LZY8/s1600/1899807_10152285345008701_2015018626_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">"1) It is strictly forbidden to grant identity cards for Muwaladeen born outside Yemen, especially to those born in the Horn of Africa, who do not have proof of Yemeni nationality. 2) Excluded from this, are Muwaladeen born in the Gulf countries, Europe and Asia, provided that their parents are born in Yemen…"</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While it goes without saying that proof of citizenship should in fact be a requirement to obtain an identification card, the mere fact that the decree differentiates between people from the Horn of Africa and others, illustrates the innate racism in government institutions against "black" people.<br /><br />On January 25, 2014, Yemen's National Dialogue Conference concluded and resulted in a 300-page document filled with recommendations, many of which emphasise demands of equal citizenship and justice.For example, recommendation number four of the state-building working group states, "All citizens shall be equal in rights and duties before the law, without distinction based on sex, race, origin, colour, religion, sect, doctrine, opinion, or economic or social standing." <br /><br />Yet the recent decree that was passed after the end of the NDC makes citizens worry that these recommendations will merely remain ink on paper.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-24592681573943289762014-03-20T11:41:00.000+02:002014-09-08T23:05:15.399+03:00Yemen's "Airplanes of the Sick"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9NpaqXYKm3s/Uyq2f-MAA8I/AAAAAAAAM8o/kNmgCd2Kke0/s1600/yemen-qaeda-abuses-650_416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9NpaqXYKm3s/Uyq2f-MAA8I/AAAAAAAAM8o/kNmgCd2Kke0/s1600/yemen-qaeda-abuses-650_416.jpg" height="408" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Photo of a Yemeni hospital, via http://al-shorfa.com/ar/articles/meii/features/2012/12/07/feature-01</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Airplane of the Sick" is what employees at Cairo Airport call the Yemenia plane that arrives from Yemen. Why? because on that plane, there are often a number of sick people arriving for medical treatment. <br /><br />Anyone who flew on Yemenia, from Yemen to either Cairo or Jordan will notice the high number of sick patients on the plane, some even laying down in critical condition. On several occasions, patients have died on the plane.<br /><br />Despite the progress Yemen has made to expand its health care system, it remains severely underdeveloped and therefore many try to seek medical treatment abroad. <br /><br />Of course the rich can afford to travel to the Gulf, Europe and the U.S. for yearly checkups and medical examinations. In fact, former President Saleh himself had to fly out of the country when the Presidential palace was attacked and he was severely wounded. In the 33 years of his rule, his regime did not even invest in one decent hospital where he could have went for treatment!<br /><br />The "lucky" ones in Yemen, manage to borrow money or sell what they can to travel to India, Jordan, Egypt or sometimes Lebanon for medical treatment. <br /><br />However, for the majority of society, clinics and hospitals are rare, overcrowded and expensive. In fact, only 25 percent of rural areas (where majority of population resides) have health services as compared to 80 percent of urban areas.<br /><br />Even basic cases such as giving birth can be deadly in Yemen. It is unbelievable for example that <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report/70560/yemen-eight-women-die-giving-birth-every-day">eight women die </a>giving birth every day. <br /><br />Most people have to travel quite a distance to get to a clinic or hospital. When they do, it is often extremely expensive. With no health insurance, if a life threatening disease infects someone, or an accident occurs, people have to either borrow money to pay for the expenses, or accept the harsh reality that they can not afford the treatment and therefore must wait to die. <br /><br />My relative was lucky, she has a large family who helped with her expenses. Six months ago, Ina'am, a young school administrator in her late 20's suddenly became sick. When she went to get a blood test she fell in a coma for a couple of months. When she woke up, she could not speak or move, but she was aware of her surroundings. The doctors could not identify the cause of the problem, and therefore, as is often the case, they recommended that she seek treatment abroad. <br /><br />After sending her medical file to India and Egypt (where costs are relatively affordable and there are no problems with visas for Yemenis) doctors there did not accept her case. Doctors in Saudi Arabia accepted her case but she could not get a visa. Then finally, a hospital in Jordan accepted her case, and because Yemenis do not need a visa, she was able to go there. Her family borrowed money and sold some things so they could afford to pay for two round-trip tickets, housing rental, and of course medical costs.<br /><br />When they arrived in Jordan, the doctors examined her and said in front of her (she was conscious and could hear): "why did you bring her here? this is pointless! did you bring her to die in Jordan or what?!"<br /><br />This careless cruel way of speaking was extremely hurtful, disrespectful and unprofessional. <i>Ina'am</i> returned to Yemen and miraculously got better, she even began speaking. Little did we know that it was the body's way of rejuvenating itself to allow her to say goodbye to the family. She passed away three days ago without a proper diagnosis.<br /><br />In our efforts to promote change in Yemen, lets not only focus on political rights, but also on basic rights such as demanding our right for affordable and accessible health care.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-70215724352835969332014-03-12T08:56:00.003+02:002014-09-08T23:50:00.272+03:00Yemeni woman sings about the Perils of "WhatsApp"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">WhatsApp is a phone application that allows users to send and receive messages, photos, videos, recordings from all over the world for free. You can send information individually, or create a group of friends and/or family.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It has become a very popular tool all over the world, and in Yemen. Yet, this Yemeni woman sings about the perils of WhatsApp and how it is impacting her relationship.</span><br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="100" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/139165438&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are the translated lyrics: [again i'm not a translator, so it won't have the appropriate rhymes, i'm just trying to relay the message:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"oh what a strange world, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">after all his love to me, he suddenly changed,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If only you know the reason, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">the damn WhatsApp,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">He no longer listens to anything I say,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">or shows that he cares,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">He screams for the stupidest reason,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">all because of the damn WhatsApp,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Dinner, breakfast, and lunch,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">if he disappears one second, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">he becomes depressed,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">all because of the damn WhatsApp,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If I tell him enough is enough,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">it's as if I shot him with a gun,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I become like [Abu Lahab],</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">all because of the damn WhatsApp,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">oh how wonderful he used to be,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">a well behaved gentleman,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">who today answers me with "shut up",</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">all because of the damn WhatsApp,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">He wants a Galaxy S4,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">to keep answering until dawn,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If I tell him get up, he falls,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">all because of the damn WhatsApp"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362382593160552549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921780833402046346.post-3904921606926742242014-03-11T17:55:00.000+02:002014-09-08T22:40:57.255+03:00Fear is fear, no matter where you are from<span style="font-size: large;">Earlier this month, I spoke at a panel in Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond. During the talk, I showed a photo of a young Yemeni boy in the province of Mareb (which was hit by five drone strikes this month), demonstrating how he ducked in his school as soon as he heard the sound of a plane. He was not sure whether it was a drone or a fighter jet, but he has become used to ducking this way ever since his village was hit and his friend hit with a shrapnel.<br /><br />The next day, I received an e-mail from <a href="http://davidswanson.org/">David Swanson</a> who was on the same panel. He pointed out that the photo of the Yemeni boy reminded him of the photo below, of children in the US in the 1950s ducking in schools for fear of a nuclear explosion.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tcVwoANi_o4/Ux8w1Ldn0eI/AAAAAAAALkI/QAtnhHhD-VQ/s1600/Duck+&+Cover+US+Yemen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tcVwoANi_o4/Ux8w1Ldn0eI/AAAAAAAALkI/QAtnhHhD-VQ/s1600/Duck+&+Cover+US+Yemen.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">photo on left via David Swanson from http://airminded.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/brighton-tech-1942.jpeg, photo on right by Atiaf Alwazir, taken in Mareb on Feb 28, 2013 </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">The two photos are strikingly similar, both children ducking to save themselves from bombs that kill, wound, and displace people. From the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War, the US government taught "duck and cover" to generations of school children and adults as a method of personal protection in the event of a nuclear war. <br /><br />In 1951, the American Civil Defense film, "Duck and Covered" geared towards children, portrayed the act of ducking and covering by Bert The Turtle. Wouldn't it be ironic, if we use the lyrics of this American film to teach children in Yemen today how to "duck and cover" from American planes?! </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RJIMjHMT7mU/Ux8ml7eQ-5I/AAAAAAAALjw/s6Wt-T26yEs/s1600/Bert2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RJIMjHMT7mU/Ux8ml7eQ-5I/AAAAAAAALjw/s6Wt-T26yEs/s1600/Bert2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">A Duck and Cover movie poster, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Bert2.png</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">BERT THE TURTLE [THE DUCK AND COVER SONG] </span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"></span></b><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"There was a turtle by the name of Bert </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>And Bert the Turtle was very alert</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>When danger threatened him he never got hurt</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>He knew just what to do</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>He’d duck and cover, duck and cover…”</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>“Now, you and I don’t have shells to crawl into like Bert the Turtle, so we have to cover up in our own way.”</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"Sundays, holidays, vacation time, we must be ready every day, all the time, to do the right thing if the atomic bomb explodes. Duck and cover!”</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>“First you duck, then you cover. Duck and cover tight. Duck and cover under the table.”</b></div>
</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Yemeni children living in areas of conflict have the same feeling of fear that has engulfed millions of children around the world. Their own government has also abandoned them. No films are being made to teach methods of self protection, no warnings given before US and Yemeni planes strike, and when wounded or when their houses are demolished, no apology or compensation is given.<br /><br />It shouldn't matter where the person is from, where he/she is living, what religion they follow or don't; human lives are equal, and they all deserve a chance to live in peace and with freedom to move and enjoy this earth that we call home.</span></div>
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