Liverpool FC Forum

[metalhead]

have you ever been to an arab country






























psst.... what is democraky? or how do you say it dem-o-crasy? democracy! hah! 

[woof woof !]

have you ever been to an arab country

psst.... what is democraky? or how do you say it dem-o-crasy? democracy! hah! 

Does Saudi Arabia count ?

and whilst they're not "Arab" I've also been to Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Morrocco, Algeria, Syria and Jordan, it kind of gave me a feeling for the region.

[metalhead]

KSA - the most democratic country in the world

I heard Morocco is very open, but some areas are considered more conservative than others, and the women there are very clingy! (from experience I know they are, met few of them). Agreed about the others, mostly dictatorial rules in Syria and Jordan.

Thankfully, I come from a diverse country, but hampered by sectarianism and civil strife.

Now what about our army   

[woof woof !]

Met Thai Transvestites harder than that mob MH



ps On second thoughts, I think I've met some of them already.

[metalhead]

bugger   

Anyways, I'm a firm believer in Democracy and Liberalism, I might be a Muslim on paper, but I don't believe in conservatism to extremes that Saudi Arabia and Iran use. Some of the things that they actually practice is not even in the Sharia Law, but its more down to culture  dated back to pre-Islamic history. Democracy might not be most Arab nations cup of tea, however, many younger generations have become more aware and more declined towards conservatism and authoritarianism. Last year we had young, college Iranian students hitting the streets for more freedom.

[Judge]

you can pick up some cheap holidays now to Sharm. Heard Thompsons are offering 14 nights all inclusive at a 4star hotel for around £350 pp

sharm is 300 mile away from the troubles - should be ok

no it aint, mubarek is there in hiding...

[Ciggy]

Some boss headgear these Egyptians are wearing

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-64316.html

[dawson99]

got it sent to me earlier cigs, awesome!!!
 

[Ciggy]

got it sent to me earlier cigs, awesome!!!
 

In tears at the bread rolls     

[metalhead]

the bread rolls!!! well you need to have a snack one way or the other!

[metalhead]

The Arab awakening, for that is what it is, which began in Tunisia and is now gripping Egypt, has taken western powers, and indeed the world, by surprise. Yet it is the Arab people themselves, myself included, men and women of all ages, who have been most surprised by what is happening – perhaps even more than the region's dictators and regimes. Until now, it has been accepted and tacitly taught in Arab society that Arabs are weak, incapable of change, of holding their destiny in their own hands.

It is said that since the great Arab conquests of the first millennium and Saladin's victories, Arabs have known only defeats, decline and degeneration, a fate doomed to persist. What is happening today has great political significance: in one form or another, there will be political change in Egypt, which will affect the whole region. But this revolution is also cultural: bringing an incredible shift in Arabs' perception of themselves and what they're capable of achieving.

I am a Lebanese descendant of the generation that has seen the rise and fall of Arab nationalism. Carried by the idealism of the 1960s, we saw Nasser as the personification of those values of freedom, justice and dignity that spread across the world, from Cuba to Vietnam. But after his fall, and the defeat inflicted by Israel in the 1967 six-day war, the dreams of unity, self-determination and nationalism slowly disappeared.

Not until the late 1990s did a powerful and inspiring figure appear to Arabs in the form of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Shia resistance group Hezbollah. Through Hezbollah's ending of the 25-year Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, he became the Middle East's most popular figure. However, perhaps due to its Shia nature, its close relationship to Iran and Lebanon's complex politics, Hezbollah's victories failed to lift the morale of Arabs.

This, combined with the autocratic leaders, monarchs and dictators, created a lack of belief in us Arabs, that we could aspire to belong to countries in which freedom, justice, creativity and democracy prevail. We have been led to believe that these are not Arab attributes. Instead, we are mostly known for our dictators, oil, conservatism, religious fundamentalism, illiteracy rate and last but not least ultra-consumerism (that old Gucci outfit underneath the burqa).

This is the "Arab malaise", to use the expression of the late Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir in his remarkable essay Being Arab. It penetrates to our core, to our history, eating away at our pride, even to our relation with Arabic. In Lebanon, more and more people take pride in not being able to speak Fusha (classical Arabic) properly – because the degree of one's inability corresponds to how westernised (ie non-Arab) one is, which is seen as the aspirational goal. Parents address their children in English or French, leaving Arabic for school. As a result, for many young Lebanese, Arabic is not a language of the heart but a formal, impersonal language – only for TV news and old books no one reads. 

So the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt – the most populous Arab country and one-time leader of Pan-Arabism – are an incredible awakening for every Arab, a seismic shift in the way we perceive ourselves. How wrong I was to think that Mohamed Bouazizi, the young Tunisian who set himself on fire, was just another victim of Ben Ali's cruel regime. Little did I know he was a hero in the revolution to come. Gripped by my Arab malaise, my mind could not see that real change was happening, until the day Ben Ali fled the country. And how wrong I was, to feel sorry for those Egyptians who also committed self-immolation, how my disbelief persisted until just a few days ago.

The Egyptian revolution, though not yet over, has also taught us something about the Arabs that Kassir had clearly foreseen: "While the internet may be the prerogative of a new, albeit growing, elite, satellite channels, whatever their orientation, give the majority access to a visual and information culture, which thereby situates the Arab world in a composite global geography. This shows how, contrary to a fearful vision of Arab identity, cultural globalisation could be Arab culture's great chance."

And so it has been. It feels good all of sudden to be Arab these days.

It feels good to be Arab

--------------

well great read this (obviously for an arab), puts into perspective how the Arab world is changing.

[metalhead]

Anyone catching the news on whats going on in Libya and Bahrain!?

200 protesters killed in Libya   Gaddafi = Saddam Hussein

[burjennio]

Watchin the news at the moment, I dont understand how the UK and USA can be so quick to invade Iraq but can sit back while civilians are being brutally murdered by the armies of their oppressive government regimes. I saw a clip of a protest being gunned down by the army in Bahrain and read reports that the Libyan government took another protest out with a f*cking airstrike.

Politics is really sickening me at the moment, sometimes we dont realize how lucky we are in Western Europe and North America. We can complain about politics lying and taking bungs and the like but Jesus H the though of the Government bombing its own people because they arnt towing the party line well for me thats just terrifying .

Kelvin McKenzie is on Sky News atm, saying that Brown and Blair have as much blood on their hands as Gadaffi. I despise that slimy, lying, Murdoch blowing, neo-conservative b*stard

[metalhead]

Whats in it for the U.S government ? for the Israelis? they want this to happen, they want neo-fascist regimes to destroy their own people for their gains, its part of the ''new world order''- democracy that doesn't exist. If a dictator changes his point of view, BOOM off he goes. Ghadafi, Saddam Hussein, Mubarak, etc... all U.S government puppets in the past, Mubarak was until he was ousted by his own people because of the corruption and poor living conditions they had.

Why did U.S invade Iraq? to take out Saddam? it wasn't the main reason, was it WMDs? keep believing that, was it the war on terror? pffft.... we all know why.

North Africa and the Middle East went to when the UK government gave its land to Zionism, the problem started after WW2.