November 13 2003

We’re All EYES For You Iraq… Sorry

“People will continue to suffer and will continue to live in those bad conditions for 100s of years due to this war”.
I heard this on Radio in the news bulletin on my way to home. They were talking about IRAQ. Iraqis are already suffering from terrible life conditions. No drinking water available, they’re drinking polluted and dirty water. No healthy food, low life standards. More people are killed on daily basis, and that’s all because of three little letters:
W A R !!!
War that was “supposed” to “help” Iraqis and provide them with a “better” life.
War that aimed at giving them “Freedom”. War that wanted to put a “smile” on the face of every Iraqi child.
I guess war did exactly what it always does anytime and anywhere. Nothing but destruction, more ruins, more pollution, worse food… if any that is! Awful injuries, corruption, fear, instability, insecurity, chaos, more homeless people, and an endless list of both old and new diseases that will keep on torturing their victims for years and years to come, with no budget to afford medicine.

What makes me feel so “proud” is the fact that everyone is WATCHING… as usual! Most of us don’t even think of helping in any way possible. We forget, or better say WE CHOOSE TO FORGET that every member of every society no matter how old or young, no matter what they do in life, we can all do something even if it was so small or considered to be useless.
Other than “thoughts”, which seems to be the only good thing we can all offer in such situations, there are clothes, medicine, money, food… ANYTHING! They don’t need anyone watching in front of TV with 100s of Klenix next to them and going like: Oh look at the blood… God poor kid, he’s crying… Oh, they’ve cut the poor woman’s head in front of her children!! Ah, all that shooting, how can they sleep?! Hey sweetie turn around I don’t want you to watch those disgusting scenes and have nightmares afterwards… THEY DON’T NEED THIS!!
A single plaster might help ease the pain of a wounded person and make him tolerate his pain till it’s his turn to be checked by a doctor. A milk bottle could feed one or two little babies and save them from starving to death. Some seeds could give hope to farmers and help them produce food, trust me on that.
We can do anything. But we prefer being ignorant, for we’re safe; for we keep on forgetting that a simple help can make a difference, and because we keep on forgetting that there is nothing to guarantee our safety for a lifetime. We could become victims of war any minute in such a time when negative power is thought of as the solution for all our problems.
But that’s the way it is I guess. We’d only feel sorry for others, as long as we’re far away from danger.
Once we’re the ones in need, things suddenly change.
Iraq and Palestine before it, we watch them both burn in front of our own eyes. We sigh and might cry as well every time we watch some live broadcast of what’s happening over there, but the minute our favorite comedy series begins, it all blows away, our houses are filled with loud laughs, and we’re too busy with our huge invitations to think of the “poor people”. As if nothing has happened at all.
Just a quick reminder: first it was Palestine, then Afghanistan and now Iraq… Any idea who’s next?!

Category: Arab Societies, General, Media, International | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 6 2003

Fasting For Body And Soul

A lot of Muslims think that if they stop eating and drinking from the break of dawn till sunset then it means they’re fasting the right way in the holy month of Ramadan. This is completely wrong, for fasting isn’t only for the body. It is meant to be for our souls and minds as well.
Our minds should fast, they should stop thinking of any bad thoughts, destructive acts or negative manners. We should be clean inside-out. We mustn’t curse or say bad words to each other, even if the other person doesn’t hear us.
We must think of our poor neighbors and all those people in need. We should try our best to help them, if not with money then at least with sharing. Sharing meals, extra or old clothes. We should help them find a job or anything we could offer. A sweet word to cheer them up, a “good morning” from the heart, and even a kind smile makes a difference to them, and shows them that they’re not totally forgotten.
Just like when you fast and stop eating for a period of time in Ramadan they feel that you share them a bit of their suffering and that all Muslims remember them.
What’s so funny and yet sad at the same time is how most of the people create an unbelievable kind of chaos in the streets and start driving crazy when “Iftar” time comes (Iftar is the time of sunset when Muslims are to end their fasting). How they’re in such a hurry and have angry faces and rush everything in a very weird way.
It’s all because they don’t want to be late one minute for food. They forget that the main reason God wants us to fast is to teach us patience and tolerance. To make us feel with the poor. And at the time tables stuffed with every kind of most delicious food are waiting for us, the time when our hunger will come to an end and our thirst will be finally quenched, they forget that the poor will still be starving and will continue to be thirsty.
The main point of fasting was never to be on yours nerves or fulfill your duties badly or maybe don’t fulfill them at all. NO! Fasting was never meant to spend large quantities of money on shopping to serve most expensive food on your table. NO! Fasting was never the cause of uncontrolled temper and chaos. NO!
Fasting was and shall always be the way to unite all Muslims of the world, make them feel for each other, make them patient, and help them tolerate tiresome days and fulfill their jobs the best way they can. They should stop being materialistic and for once put money and food in the end of their “priority-list”. If they’re late for Iftar, never mind, at least they know that there is food awaiting them. When they’re tired, it’s ok, they know they can rest. If they face a problem, they know that having faith and never giving up will solve it for them.
So to all Muslims who believe fasting was meant for their bodies only, PLEASE be fair to fasting. When you’re wrong, admit it’s your fault and stop blaming it on Ramadan. Prove to yourself that you’re free from materialism, and that your strong will can help you take your responsibilities the right way even if you were tired and hungry. You should be tough to survive, but yet you should be full of tender feelings towards your fellow humans.
Ramadan is a holy month in which our love to our humanity should grow stronger. The month in which our relationship with God should become real by fasting, praying and knowing more about our religion.
Ramadan is the reminder of some people, who are almost forgotten. Ramadan is tolerance, help, love, care, freedom and commitment…
Words that are crossed out of our dictionaries, where there is space only for materialism and interests… and where good manners no longer exist!

Category: Arab Societies, Religion | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 6 2003

A Clap For Palestine & Jordan

Both Palestine and Jordan have shown a very successful performance in “Carthage Theatrical Days Festival” in Tunisia.
“Best Play” went to Palestine who deserved winning as their play was so beautiful from script to acting to music and everything.
As for Jordan, they got the “Best Actress Performance” which is so impressive.
Both gave a great impression about theatrical talents in their region. Their participation is considered a step forward in the future of theatre in both countries, and their success makes all of us proud.
Actually a lot of plays were really good, and they all deserve admiration. And what I really loved about “Carthage Theatrical Days Festival” is the fact that all Arab countries gather to join in it. Tunisia gives a great chance for all talents to show what they’ve got and participate, not only this, but it also gives the chance for those talents to reach a worldwide audience with the help of media coverage.
Congratulations on a job well done for all participants, wishing them a non-stop improvement.

Category: Arab Societies, Art & Literature, Jordan, Palestine, Tunisia | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 4 2003

Names

One of the things I really love about the Arabic language is that each Arabic name a person is called with has a beautiful meaning. There is no one who is called with a name without a meaning, something impressive. I mean it’s really great to have a meaning for your name, something that is related to a special even your parents went through, or something precious to the one who called you. Having a meaning to your name adds a special touch and relates you to your being in a nice way. I find it a lot better than having a name without meaning.
Arabic names can mean name of flowers, like Warda, Yasmine, Zahra or Fulla; they could mean a good smell of flower, e.g. Areej or Abeer. There are names that mean the singing of birds, like Taghreed, or the voices of Pigeons like Hadeel. You find names that mean the name of a sword, e.g. Saif, Mohannad or Hosam; or ones that are the synonyms of one of the names a lion is called with (since in Arabic you can find more than one word to address one thing with the same meaning), for example: Laith, or Dorgham. An Arabic name can mean a diamond, e.g. Masa; or a pearl, e.g. Lolwa or Dana; or a planet, like Qamar, Shams or Kawkab,; or even a star like Najma. There are names that mean a high level like Sana’a or Ola. You can find names that express a certain feeling such as Sahar, Gharam or Hayam. There are ones that show appreciation like Shokran, Rida or Irfan, ambition like Monia, Amani, Ahlam and many other beautiful characteristics like Jamal, Lutfi, Karam, Joud or Baha’a. Some name express light like Nour or Diya’a.
Other than that there are people who are named after prophets’ names such as Mohammad: means the praised, Mustafa: means the selected, Ahmad: means I thank. There are the names of countries like Falasteen (Palestine) or Sorya (Syria), and there are the names of continents like Asia.
Some names are actually the names of months, such as Ramadan, Sha’aban or Rajab. Or even names of days like Khamees or Joma’a. One other interesting thing about names in Arabic is the fact that there are 99 names for God. Each name has its own meaning that expresses a certain characteristic of God. Like Al Salam (peace), Al Rahman and Al Raheem (merciful), Al Mo’oti ( he who gives), Al Mohyi (he who gives life), Al Kareem (the generous), Al Mo’een (he who helps), Al Nour (the light).
By the way, there are names found like Kareem, Mo’een or Nour, that are without the “Al” which equals “the” in English, only few names can be used as names for people without using the “Al”, for the “Al” is only used for addressing names of God.

Some names are considered old, some are somehow modern, but it’s sad to see a lot of Arabs start to give up their great meaningful names and use ones that come from other cultures and other languages, believing it’d be cooler that way.
My name for example is Eman which means faith. It’s used a lot, not a unique name, but I’m still proud of it 🙂

I find this topic a very interesting one, and I can’t get enough of researching the meanings of names in Arabic. But I’ll stop here I guess…

Category: Arab Societies | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 10 2003

A Wonderland Called Tunisia :)

It’s been already one year since I left Jordan and came to Tunisia to live in it for good. I must admit that it’s a very beautiful country indeed. Once you set foot in the national airport of the capital Tunis you find posters and ads about Tunisia, most of them are in French and German. An expression I noticed in those ads and posters repeatedly was the one saying that Tunisia is the “Country of Light”, unfortunately I arrived at night so I couldn’t understand what that meant! But next day in the morning I got it! The light is so strong and shining, you can barely keep your eyes open during the day, even if you were pointing your eyes to the ground, you do need sunglasses or at least a cap! And with such a strong light you can see the beauty of colors clearer and you could enjoy its reflection on the sea waves in a magnificent way. And no matter if it was summer or winter, the light is always so strong, with one difference that the clouds in winter might not cause your eyes to drop water if you were lifting your head up high!
Other than the beautiful landscape, the sea, mountains, green fields, and the desert, there is something that is a Tunisian specialty, something that shocked me when I knew it and couldn’t understand right away, it’s their Arabic!
We all know that there are always 2 ways to communicate with people in any country using their own language, you either speak the formal or informal language, so you either speak the Official or the Slang English, you either speak the Hochdeutsch or the German Dialekt, you either speak the Fos’ha (formal Arabic) or simply the used dialect! Now before going to Tunisia I knew that they have a dialect that is so much DIFFERENT than all the spoken dialects in the whole Middle East countries. I got somehow prepared for that and I was counting on the Fos’ha if I reach a dead end with any Tunisian citizen I’d be communicating with. My first surprise was when I went to the mini market near home to ask for some stuff, I didn’t know all the words in their dialect, so I had to use the dialect of the Middle East Areas, and oops, I noticed that a lot of the words in the Middle East normally and really BAD and impolite ones when used in Tunisia so I had no other choice but to get back to the Fos’ha, and still the woman didn’t understand and she started asking me for details, she was speaking 2 words in the Tunisian dialect and 20 other in French, lol, I only know some basics in French, I didn’t understand what she was talking about, and we ended up talking in signs, I point to something and she gets it to me. As for the things I couldn’t find by myself, I had to forget about them till I either learn them in their dialect or in French…which aren’t that much different by the way. For instance, I got cold and went to the doctor one day, a Tunisian doctor, I explained to him that I’m not Tunisian and started explaining what was wrong with me, I used Fos’ha, no use, I tried my own dialect, it got even worse, I used English, no one listening, I tried to explain using some words of their dialect, and all I got was a mixed face looking at me as if I was kind of a retarded or something. Sign language was my only savior. And after pointing at my throat, nose and head, he was like: AAAAAAAh, you’re suffering from what we in TUNISIAN call BRONCHITE!!
I thought bronchite sounded a little bit FRENCH!! And it turns out to be a French word but is one of the French words that are now used in the Tunisian dialect, so it’s Tunisian as well!!
After a while when I understood 85% of their dialect and while I was having a discovery walk in the neighborhood I saw some words written on billboards, on the busses, metro stations and almost everywhere, I knew that was Arabic, but it was neither Fos’ha nor dialect, and only then I realized that Tunisians have their own Arabic Fos’ha that they use in advertising, radio, tv, and in official ceremonies!!! That was the FIRST time EVER I hear those words, loool, I mean in the Middle East and the Gulf Areas as well as Egypt they all use the same Fos’ha, but in Tunisia they use something totally different. The thing is, Arabic language is a very rich one, you could find more than 3 words for one meaning, and Tunisians chose the “least used, or the never used” words and built their own Fos’ha that is so similar to the Fos’ha of some other countries like Libya, Morocco and Algeria. But talking of the dialects, the Tunisian and Libyan dialects are easier and slower than those of Morocco and Algeria, who depend on a mixture of 97% French and 2% Arabic mixed with barbarian, I assume 😛
Anyway, after a whole year, I can say that I understand the Tunisian dialect and their own Fos’ha 99.5% and can speak them both fluently 😉
Another lovely thing I experienced here is the antique shops, the ones selling in those shops are unbelievable. I was visiting those shops and I couldn’t but be shocked of how each and every one working there is ready to speak at least 3 languages fluently!! So you find someone asking a German group: “Komm herein, bitte, wir haben neue Sachen da drinnen… (please come in we have new stuff inside)”, and then two American tourists walk by his shop, so he tunes to English: “hi, welcome, come and take a look over here…” and then he suddenly speaks Italian and French…etc.
Not only in such shops, but even in tourists’ areas and in restaurants, it’s amazing and I like it 🙂
Tunisia is a beautiful country with all languages available to communicate with tourists, and someone with 3 languages is supposed to find a job so easily… that does not apply to me though!

Category: Arab Societies, Just Personal, Tunisia | LEAVE A COMMENT