Last week's media round-up

Here is a sample of what I've been reading in the news during last week.

1- Saudi Arabia on UAE ID cards:

http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/nation/10346497.html

Irena and the pursuit of renewable energy: The UAE is shooting itself in the foot and any success it achieves in this area will undermine the strategic role and value of oil.

" The nuclear programme: The UAE has gone it alone and has agreed to very aggressive terms in signing its nuclear deal. This has created an unfortunate precedent for any future negotiations that other Gulf States may embark on.

" Security and the Central Bank: The economic openness of the UAE has attracted many shady characters (members of the intelligence services, mafia, thieves, etc.) and this is the reason why the Gulf Central Bank cannot be hosted in the UAE.

The words of: Dr Kamal Bin Mohammad Al Asbahy, adviser to the Department of Developmental Projects, Decision Making and Problem Solving in Saudi Arabia.

2- The Jewish jumper:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8241631.stm

"She never came in the shower with us, so we thought she was a little weird, but I had absolutely no idea she was actually a man." - contemporary of Dora Ratjen.

"I thought it would be a much better thing if a Jewish girl can show she can compete with anybody in the world." - Dora Ratjen

3- October 1st - Arab Israeli citizens strike

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090909/FOREIGN/709089850/1184/enewsletter

"The increasingly harsh political climate in Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government has prompted the leadership of the country’s 1.3 million Arab citizens to call the first general strike in several years.

The one-day stoppage is due to take place on October 1, a date heavy with symbolism because it marks the anniversary of another general strike, in 2000 at the start of the second intifada when 13 Arab demonstrators were shot dead by Israeli police."

from The National.

4- Sheikh Zayed's Advisor:

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090906/LIFE/709059970/1188/enewsletter

"Dr Zaki Nusseibeh is as excited as a child with a new toy. The ­latest hi-tech audio equipment has just been installed in his elegant drawing room, giving him access to his massive collection of classical ­music at the touch of a button. Two space-age silver and black speakers stand like slimline ­Daleks, ready to pour out his ­beloved ­Wagner so perfectly that it sounds as if the Bayreuth Symphony ­Orchestra is in the room.

...

When Jerusalem was occupied in 1967 his father, who knew Sheikh Zayed, suggested he come here. And although he started his career as a journalist, Nusseibeh’s linguistic skills (he speaks Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian) soon made him an indispensable member of the court.

Today, he serves as an adviser at the Presidential Court and interpreter for Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE. He founded Abu Dhabi’s two classical music festivals, serves as vice chairman of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage and is a member of the board of the Sorbonne University."

from The National as well.

Emarati Blogosphere

It's delightful to be mentioned in The National on 31/Aug/2009. The printed edition is beautiful, but the online edition is available below and written by Ed Lake:

Blogosphere of influence

If you want something slightly shorter and with a bit of a kick, please have a look at Tom Gara's blog post below:

http://blogs.thenational.ae/beep_beep/2009/08/the-emirati-blogosphere.html

If The National is prepared to cover Arab blogs more regularly then they should look at the blogs by ABIT, Moryarti, DJ, GrapeShisha, etc to name but a few. There are many other amazing ones out there, but sadly they do not blog anymore.

A final word. About this twitter thing. I think it's a lovely new technology, but twitter is no match to blogger because you can make your blog posts 140 characters long if you want. You can follow people through google connect or reader and it's much more customisable. It's just that twitter is dumbed down a bit more so it appeals to those who would like things to be simple, and I can understand that. However the reason why I stick to this blog is because of comments. I'm not here to write as much as I am here to listen to your opinions and to debate in a constructive manner. I am also happy to provide a platform for those with strong views on anything to voice them on the relevant posts that I write on. You can even suggest a new topic if you feel I should cover it. It's all about the readers and less about me.

Happy reading and thanks for all the support.

Two things to get worked up about

One of the reasons I decided to re-open the blog is because I was frustrated from being silent when all sorts of bad things are happening around us. We have a saying in Arabic that says "if you see evil and you don't speak up, then you're like a silent devil". Preferring to be a vocal devil, I present you with the following. I hope to adopt a short-and-sweet style rather than the old ways which involved more text than meaning.

1- EGYPTIAN STABBING AND GERMAN RACISM

You must have heard of the stabbing of Marwa Sherbini. The BBC has it, and the Swedes are even talking about it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8141130.stm
http://www.thelocal.se/discuss/index.php?showtopic=23457

How come our Arab media and blogs have been so silent about it? Maybe there is something I don't know. Anyway, this is wrong. Germans are a great people and we have a lot to learn from them, but they also happen to contain some racists. I've experienced this first hand when we were there a few years ago.



2- KILLING OF PRESIDENTS

This blog is going to be a problem for Zionists, but maybe not today. Today Mahmood Abbas is my problem. There are reports of him working with the damned Zionists to poison the great President Arafat. Gulf News has a good piece on it here:

http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10333146.html

Fatah shut down Al-Jazeerah's offices for 4 days because of this. Something really smelly is going on. I demand we investigate.

For all of Arafat's ills and mistakes (Siding with Saddam, Ruling Lebanon, not condoning terrorism in his youth, etc) he was a great man and a superb leader because he put Palestine firmly on the world map. No one has been able to fill his shoes yet. Allah yer7amak Abu Ammar. RIP.