gdp's Comments

KABOBfest : Sourian Nationalism Must Overcome (Part 1/4)

Thu, 4 Aug 2011 14:38:39 +0000

While I am sympathetic to "Souria," making it a political project requires being an asshole -- telling everyone they must possess a different identity than what they currently have.

KABOBfest : Favorite Palestinian Dessert

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:27:30 +0000

I vote kunafe, done right. Good question raised above: there's a KF Festival? There should be one, ha ha.

KABOBfest : My Personal Challenge to Niveen Rasheed

Fri, 3 Jun 2011 13:03:03 +0000

The point is obvious -- the media make such a big deal out of Arab-Jewish friendships when they are simply NOT newsworthy. Only the ignorant think they are novel. The reality is that Palestinians do not overly-personalize the political to the extent that they would never refuse to befriend a Jew -- a hardcore Zionist is a different story. This is only newsworthy if you have little knowledge of this reality. Very simple point that cuts against the dominant thinking. Your real angle here is you hate the politics so you attack the writing, which is why your critique that there is no point is so obviously inaccurate.

KABOBfest : 6 Types of Arab Mothers in Law

Thu, 12 May 2011 16:18:21 +0000

We know you did, and we do accept it. I did laugh at the list, though (if you dish, you should take). Thanks for the kind apology. Can we block your IP too?

KABOBfest : 6 Types of Arab Mothers in Law

Thu, 12 May 2011 15:13:36 +0000

That's actually super funny Yasser. ha ha. I am half #2 (but older) and half #5.

KABOBfest : 6 Types of Arab Mothers in Law

Thu, 12 May 2011 15:12:32 +0000

Corrected (the grammatical error that is). Thanks!

KABOBfest : CAPTION CONTEST: Mahmoud Abbas

Wed, 11 May 2011 13:21:04 +0000

Get on your knees boy and beg for a state... BEG!

KABOBfest : Challenging the Narrative on Bahrain

Fri, 6 May 2011 15:42:34 +0000

Thought-provoking post, but at the base of the Bahrain issue, for me, lies the facts of essentially minority rule, a monarchy, and violence used against civilian protesters. It's hard not to see that at the core. And if Saudi backs your regime, you're automatically hard to trust. The regime clearly needs deep reform to become a government for all Bahrainis and increased protections for foreign workers.

KABOBfest : Your OBL open thread

Mon, 2 May 2011 16:00:04 +0000

http://links.visibli.com/share/41ccdc US never tried to capture bin Laden. They were ordered to kill. So, yeah, it was an assassination, probably to avoid the crazy show trial that would lead to. And so much for belief in the ability of harsh interrogation tactics to secure valuable information. Or does the US see OBL was spent and marginalized within a dying network?

KABOBfest : Your OBL open thread

Mon, 2 May 2011 14:48:49 +0000

OBL's death is like Elvis's. He was a has-been when he went. The difference was that Elvis could still fill a stadium with fans. Arab politics took a new exciting spin that has no room for the brand of bin Laden's murderous militancy. His far jihad doctrine was refused by the mainline Muslim parties and organizations. He was a failure in that sense. Unintentionally, he may have led to the weakening of the US in the region. Like a madman, it invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, thereby alienating pretty much everyone. It took out Iran's closest enemies, boosted Iran's influence, which led to Turkey getting regional player status. It's failure to match deed with words against Israel had it looking like a dog with no teeth. And now there is the rise of Qatar, which the US seems to be making a pillar to replace Egypt in hope of boosting its leverage in the region. OBL's workings may have shuffled things around a bit so that the US had some loss of standing, but the basic dynamics are unchanged overall. And all the changes OBL could take any credit for pretty much settled in his lifetime. So his death comes off as pretty inconsequential at the level of big politics. Some Al Qaeda wannabe's and other leaders in that fragmented network of killers sharing the same organizational name and ideological underpinnings may try to carry the banner forward, and may even try to take vengeance in bin Laden's name, but his killing feels like the murder of a war on terror relic. And importantly, the US will not cease its move towards a security state. It may try to generate some sort of vindication from this, but it's hard to see this -- even if we consider it "justice' for 9/11 -- as being worth the lives of tens of thousands of Afghans, Pakistanis and young Americans, not to mention the hundreds of billions of dollars that America could use right now. I hear constantly that 9/11 changed everything in terms of the security-first mindset in America. Killing Osama bin Laden will change nothing in those regards. I would like to think Obama could use this as a pretense to leave Afghanistan, but that seems unlikely before the elections because of the risk posed by a Taliban resurgance.

KABOBfest : KABOBers

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:08:19 +0000

email kabobers@gmail.com

KABOBfest : How to Boost an Israeli Prison Guard's Morale

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:22:09 +0000

A friend's cousin just got out from two years in an Israeli prison. He's got scars on his back from the Israelis trying to get him to confess to other crimes. He was locked up by Israel because his grandfather kept a pre-WWI rifle, a family heirloom, in their home, and he took the fall for his grandfather (who passed away while his grandson was in prison). On a positive note, he was taught to read and write, and the history of Palestine, by other prisoners. Unbelievable. Someone tell the NRA (ha!).

KABOBfest : Limbo in Yemen

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:12:38 +0000

No. I think it's from London.

KABOBfest : Stephen Harper and Perogies

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:43:37 +0000

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/1rn7/

KABOBfest : Single Fellas, Meet Sana...

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:19:08 +0000

send an email: KABOBsforTWO@gmail.com

KABOBfest : Mona Eltahawy is Wrong

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:47:48 +0000

I actually am somewhat torn on this question. I would say that she is not *fundamentally* wrong or manipulative. It is wrong to define her essence in that way. She does come off as opportunistic, and tries to insert herself as the public face of movements that would rather not have her. However, at times she was on point, in alignment with the mass sentiments, especially in Egypt, even if she was riding the coattails. I would say Egypt needed US-based spokespeople to help push public opinion away from a US ally. One could argue that this would have happened without her intervention and that she exacerbated her role in things to give herself prominence. That is fair enough. But as an Egyptian, she certainly has purchase on that issue. So to say she was fundamentally wrong or manipulative is an exaggeration. I agree that her tactics and strategy in general are, as Sami points out, not productive. She has an inability to deal with nuance and is quite automatic in her dismissal of others. She talks very eloquently, but listens not at all -- and that is symbolized in her refusal to hear what women who wear niqab have to say, putting her as the mirror image of the deaf male chauvinist. At the same time, she conflates arguments and distracts, such as when she tweeted that many of the men who argue for personal choice in defense of the niqab wouldn't grant that to homosexuals. That is her classic tactic. She has a point there, but frankly it's a distraction from the real issue at hand. The question is whether niqab-wearers should have a right to, not that everyone who makes this argument has to apply the same principal to every other matter. That is a poor argument, and pure rhetoric. I also think she has inserted herself as a spokesperson into causes she should not be, such as her J Street tirade, which she thought was the greatest thing since ice cream. It was as if she thought she was now one with Arab public opinion and would defend Palestinians after years of lukewarm-loving for Israel (when that seemed the best entree to publicity). It was naive of her to think the statement was so powerful, when it was weak and its setting of liberal zionists was even weaker. I do admire her productivity and generally agree with her value of secularism, though not the dictatorial French-like version she seems to adhere too, but the American version that allows for freedom of religion. Even if I think there was some exaggeration in this critique, it is more important that public figures like Mona be critiqued. There are no formal checks on self-proclaimed spokespeople so public criticism is the best accountability there is. Whether or not the public figure is reflexive or open-minded is a whole other question. Mona has showed the ability to adjust her positions, yes, but she has done this in ways that seem to benefit her rather than speak for a larger community. And that's fine, but that just makes her another pundit, and those are a dime a dozen.

KABOBfest : Single Fellas, Meet Kate...

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:02:51 +0000

ha ha... sand buggying? Camel-racing would have worked too.

KABOBfest : Single Fellas, Meet Kate...

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:52:55 +0000

I think I know why you want to keep your right arm... ha ha

KABOBfest : 8 Arabs Who Can't Find a Mate

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:06:12 +0000

Very good point... they are hopeless.

KABOBfest : The Syrian Regime's Savagery

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 19:50:11 +0000

ckeeler, Thanks for the response. You make a good point about resistance to reform being under-reported, and I did not get into the economic reforms as well as you have in the comments. I do think Egypt also had those who resisted the protesters and were vested in the status quo -- they however did not have the visibility of the protesters in the capital and Alexandria. They were just as if not more under-reported in Egypt as well. This highlights for me the absence of protesters in the capital and the other major city, Aleppo, which supports your larger point. I would add to your comments that Assad has the support of many arch-secularist Syrians who see many of the protesters as representing religionist politics. I also think this is not discussed enough. That said, I cannot see how Syria can come out of this with out serious political reforms. It may not happen immediately so as not to fuel protesters, but eventually the regime would realize it's a house of cards. You make an excellent point though and I could very well be wrong -- they could just as easily think they were not repressive enough and go in the other direction. Will