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English Translation of Interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy on the Role of Labor/Unions in the Egyptian Revolution
![[Image from Jadaliyya interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy]](/content_images/3/sm_Hossampart1.jpg "[Image from Jadaliyya interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy]")
[Below is both the English translation and the video of the interview. The interview was conducted by Bassam Haddad, then translated and transcribed by Christine Cuk. It was also reviewed by Mohamed Aly and Bassam Haddad. Thanks to Christine and Mohamed for volunteering to make this interview available to English readers, per their many requests] Jadaliyya is hereby presenting the first (deliberately belated) installment in a series called "A Portrait of a Revolutionary," featuring interviews with an Egyptian journalist and activist who was at the forefront of the Egyptian protest movement, Hossam Hamalawy. Below is the first part of the ...
Keep Reading »ثوار تحت الإحتلال: الإنتفاضة العراقية 2011 [Revolutionaries Under Occupation: The Iraqi Uprising of 2011]
![[متظاهرون أمام نصب الحرية في ساحة التحرير. المصدر غير معروف]](/content_images/3/sm_baghdaddemo.jpg "[متظاهرون أمام نصب الحرية في ساحة التحرير. المصدر غير معروف]")
في تغطيتها للإحتجاجات في العراق، نشرت مجلة الإكونومست مقالاً تحت عنوان "حتى بلد تعم فيه الديمقراطية غير مصون من الإحتجاجات." والمقالة تصف العراق كبلد يتمتع بحكومة منتخبة، ومع ذلك فان التظاهرات تعمه بسبب فشل الحكومة في توفير الخدمات الأساسية. وتعكس هذه المقالة إتجاهاً عاماً في فهم الوضع العراقي في الصحافة السائدة. فالمظاهرات في العراق -إن تم تغطيتها أصلاً - تصور على إنها ضد إخفاقات الحكومة في توفير الكهرباء والأمن والخدمات فقط. وهذه الصورة تغفل حقائق جوهرية تتعلق بالعراق والإحتجاجات. فمن مطالب العراقيين الأساسية: إنسحاب القوات الإميركية الفوري من العراق وإسقاط نظام المحاصصة الطائفي. وهذا الإغفال ليس إعتباطياً أو سهواً. فعدم الإشارة الى ...
Keep Reading »Syrian Petition for Political Change: A Dramatic Missed Opportunity
![[Image from unknown archive.]](/content_images/3/sm_renaudsyria2.jpg "[Image from unknown archive.]")
Given the atrocities currently committed in Syria and the spectacularly bad press this generates for the regime, one would think that issuing an effective petition calling for political change in this country would be an easy task. All such a petition needs to do is to jump on the bandwagon of rapidly mounting protests and express the deeply felt anger across large sections of the Syrian population. In addition, any serious public appeal would demonstrate that there is a viable alternative to the regime; by way of clever proposals for political change and in reference to an impressive list of signatories from Syria’s brightest and most respected minds. Yet somehow the ...
Keep Reading »The Arab Uprisings and US Policy (Panel Video)
![[Image from screen shot of video broadcast]](/content_images/3/sm_vidimage.jpg "[Image from screen shot of video broadcast]")
On Thursday, April 28th, 2011, the Middle East Policy Coucil held a one-day conference on Capitol Hill in Washingtong D.C., "featuring a discussion of the populist movements sweeping across the Arab world, their regional and global consequences, and how they are impacting U.S. interests and policy choices." Jadaliyya Co-Editor Bassam Haddad was one of the speakers at the conference, as were Anthony Cordesman (Center for Strategic International Studies), Barak Barfi (New American Foundation), and Karim Merzan (American Studies Institute). To view the video, click here. Transcript of Bassam's talk is below. All transcripts can be found ...
Keep Reading »Declaration of Municipal Elections Boycott by Group of Saudi Writers and Intellectuals
![[Provinces of Saudi Arabia. Image from mena-electionguide.org]](/content_images/3/sm_ksaksaksa.jpg "[Provinces of Saudi Arabia. Image from mena-electionguide.org]")
[The following statement was recently released in Arabic by a group of Saudi writers and intellectuals in regards to the upcoming municipal elections in the Kingdom. The Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs announced on March 22, 2011, that municipal elections would be held on September 22, 2011. Translation by Ziad Abu-Rish. The Arabic version of the statement can be found here.] Announcement of Boycott of the Saudi Municipal Elections After the experience of the 2005 municipal elections and the postponement--without explanation--of the elections that were supposed to be held in 2009, it was announced that municipal elections would be held by the end of this ...
Keep Reading »Culture II
This is the second week of Jadaliyya's culture section. The first week included four pieces and can be viewed here. This week's bouquet includes: "A Damascene Diary" by Samar Yazbek "Memoir and Mythology" by Mimi Kirk "The Meaning of My Prayer" by Sargon Boulus We welcome your contributions, support, and feedback. For more information, read our Call for Posts, or contact us at Keep Reading »
"The Meaning of My Prayer" by Sargon Boulus
“Ma`na Salati” (The Meaning of my Prayer) appeared in Sargon Boulus’ posthumous collection `Azma Ukhra li-Kalb al-Qabila (Baghdad and Beirut: Dar al-Jamal, 2008). The Meaning of My Prayer Perhaps this is what I prayed for at times This is what I saw in moments of despair my eyes half shut sleepless until dawn That garden (Its leaves, from childhood, still glisten at noon washed by a sun no longer visible) A handful of trees A time not stained by the hand of days Summer, swarming with bees Not a sound about this cold country Not a word about the north, which will cover things, with its cold shadow Even though I have a fire, and my lamp overlooks a ...
Keep Reading »What is Sharia?
![[Sharia For Dummies. Image From Unknown Archive]](/content_images/3/sm_sharia_dummies.jpg "[Sharia For Dummies. Image From Unknown Archive]")
This question has animated scholarly, religious, and political debates for centuries. These debates have been lively, at times contentious, and have been held (under different circumstances and leading to different results) in different parts of the Muslim majority world as well as in parts of the world with few, if any, Muslims. More recently, it seems that the question “What is sharia?” has become a pressing concern in Western countries with growing Muslim minorities who continue to be unevenly incorporated into the imagined image of the “French”, “Swedish”, “German”, or “American” citizen. Central to this uneven incorporation (and at times, explicit discrimination) is ...
Keep Reading »Who Killed Vik?
![[Vik in Gaza. Image from unknown archive]](/content_images/3/sm_Vik1.jpg "[Vik in Gaza. Image from unknown archive]")
I never knew Vittorio “Vik” Arrigoni before his tragic death in Gaza City on 15 April 2011. I won’t pretend to piece together who Vik was or what lay behind his passions. But before he slips from the headlines to the footnotes, it is worth attempting to make an accounting of this terrible death that has shocked the Palestinian movement. His death cannot be allowed to pass without considering what it tells us about ourselves, our movement and our collective future. While it would be premature to draw conclusions before a full disclosure of events surrounding his assassination has emerged, it is evident that Vik’s death raises larger questions of accountability that ...
Keep Reading »Statement by Mother of Vittorio Arrigoni
![[Vittorio Arrigoni. Image from unknown archive.]](/content_images/3/sm_Vittorio-Arrigoni.jpg "[Vittorio Arrigoni. Image from unknown archive.]")
[The below statement was originally issued in Italian by Bretta Arrigoni, mother of Vittorio Arrigoni. Translation by Sabastio Nascirmento.] One has to die to become a hero, to hit the headlines and to have TV crews around the house, but does one have to die to stay human? I recall Vittorio in the Christmas of 2005, detained and incarcerated in the Ben Gurion Airport, the scars left by the handcuffs that cut his wrists, the denial of any contact with the consulate, the farcical process. And I recall Easter that same year, when just across the Allenby Bridge at the Jordanian border the Israeli police blocked his entrance in the country, put him on a bus and, seven ...
Keep Reading »غنائم البارون ماكس فون آوبنهايم: الآلهة السورية إنبعثت من جديد في برلين [The Baron's Trophies: Syrian Gods Resurrected in Berlin]
تعود تماثيل الآلهة الأثرية لمملكة تل حلف السورية مرة أخرى إلى الحياة في متحف بيرغامون للحفريات التاريخية بعدما كانت قد تعرضت للقصف في برلين عام 1943 وتحطمت إلى 27 الف قطعة. سجل معرض «الآلهة الناجية من قصر تل حلف» في الأسابيع الثلاثة الأولى منذ إفتتاحه في شهر كانون الثاني ( يناير) حضوراً مميزاً تجاوز خمسين ألف زائراً، بالإضافة إلى اهتمام إعلامي ألماني واسع. عند الدخول إلى الصالة الأولى في جناح المعرض يفاجأ الزائر بألواح خشبية تتناثر فوقها حجارة من مادة البازلت. والهدف هو التذكير بحال هذه المعروضات الأثرية ...
Keep Reading »مزمور
مزمور ”إلى شهداء سوريا" لا يذهب الشهداءُ إلى الجنّة فأبوابها مغلقة منذ قرون والتجّار الذين اشتروا أنهارها ينظرون من الشرفات العالية إلى الطوابير الطويلة وحشود المشرّدين في الخارج
Keep Reading »Special Bodies, Speculative Personhood: Bradley Manning and Mohamed Bouazizi
He was very sincere. We are like soulless bodies since he left. –Basma Bouazizi, sister If Brad Manning, 22, is the Collateral Murder and Garani massacre whistleblower then, without doubt, he’s a national hero. –Wikileaks He may be a mutilated trunk dismembered all about, the spirit removed all around and separated from the limbs, yet he lives and breathes the vital air. –Lucretius, De Rerum Natura Bradley Manning and Mohamed Bouazizi’s names have become known because they ...
Keep Reading »الشعب يريد عجلة إنتاج أخرى [The People Want Another Mode of Production]
هاهى عجلة الإنتاج تتصدر الصورة السياسية فى مصر مرة أخرى، بعد أن أخلت فزَّاعة إنهيار الاقتصاد مكانها مؤقتا لفزَّاعات السلفيين والإخوان وغياب وعى الجماهير. جميع النخب تحدثنا الآن عن هذه العجلة السحرية: الشيخ محمد حسان يدعو لفض الاعتصامات ودفع عجلة الإنتاج، سمية الخشاب: عجلة الإنتاج الفنى أصيبت بالشلل، نائب رئيس الوزراء يحيى الجمل: أطالب بعودة عجلة الإنتاج سريعاً، صفحة على الفيسبوك عنوانها: الشعب يريد إستمرار عجلة الإنتاج، حملات إعلانية مكثفة فى التليفزيون وفى الشوارع وفوق الكبارى تمولها شركات كبرى، ...
Keep Reading »After Syria's "Great Friday": Al-Jazeera Interview with Bassam Haddad (conducted on April 23)
Below is Al-Jazeera's interview on Syria with Jadaliyya Co-Editor Bassam Haddad after the events of "Great Friday" on April 22nd, the bloodiest day that Syria witnessed since the beginning of the uprisings. In this interview, conducted on Saturday April 23rd, Bassam discusses the events as a turning point in the confrontation and the prospects for cohesion on all sides. He also addresses the role of the media, and media wars.
Keep Reading »A Damascene Diary
This account of events in Damascus, Syria, on Friday April 1st 2011 was originally published in Al Quds al ‘Arabi on April 7th, 2011. *** I will infiltrate the dreams of the killers. I will ask them: did you look into their eyes when your bullets closed in on their chests? Did you glimpse the hole of life? Before Damascus’ sky darkens, why don’t you look at the smooth red circles around their foreheads and stomachs, where our eyes will come to rest? Here in Damascus, the killers’ eyes will soon be ...
Keep Reading »Memoir and Mythology
Facts aren’t the only thing that should be checked in Three Cups of Tea The recent uproar over Greg Mortenson’s immensely popular nonfiction book Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission To Promote Peace... One School at a Time has centered around the question of whether the account is factual, and whether Mortenson is siphoning money from his $20 million-a-year charity, the Central Asia Institute (CAI). Three Cups of Tea is the ostensibly nonfiction narrative of Mortenson’s efforts to build secular ...
Keep Reading »[The Military Council Approves Egypt's Additional Emergency Law] المجلس الأعلى يقر قانون طوارئ إضافي
رزحت المجتمعات العربية لعقود عدة تحت وطأة القوانين الإستثنائية المقيدة للحريات السياسية. لذلك ما أن قامت الثورات والانتفاضات العربية الأخيرة حتى تعرضت هذه القوانين (وخاصة قوانين الطوارئ ومحاكمها التي تعرف في مصر بإسم محاكم أمن الدولة طوارئ) إلى هجوم عنيف في كافة أرجاء العالم العربي، ما أدى إلى إلغاء قوانين الطوارئ في عدة دول من بينها الجزائر وسوريا، وإلغاء عدد من الترتيبات المقيدة للحريات في كلا من تونس والمغرب. لكن بغض النظر عن جدية هذه الإصلاحات، ظلت مصر بعيدة كل البعد عن هذا المسار الإصلاحي؛ فلم ...
Keep Reading »Radical Islam in Gaza
[Below is the latest from the International Crisis Group (ICG) on the Gaza Strip. For the full ICG report, click here.] Radical Islam in Gaza Executive Summary The recent Israel-Hamas escalation returns a spotlight to Gaza and the Islamist movement’s relationship with more militant organisations. Gaza arouses multiple concerns: does Hamas seeks to impose religious law; has its purported Islamisation stimulated growth of Salafi-Jihadi groups; and will al-Qaeda offshoots find a foothold there? Hamas ...
Keep Reading »Interview with Bassam Haddad on Developments in Syria (Conducted by Sharam Aghamir)
AUDIO PLAYER BELOW A wave of protests have been shaking Syria since nearly the middle of March.The protests that began by calling for political reforms,escalated after the security forces opened fired on demonstrators in the southern city of Dar'a. Shahram Aghamir of Pacifaca's Voices of the Middle East and North Africa spoke with Bassam Haddad about the nature of these protests, the response of the Syrian Regime to them,and their regional implications. This interview was conducted on Wednesday, ...
Keep Reading »Infomous
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