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Fiction
Dog Hunting
![Police dogs [image from www.owni.eu]](/content_images/3/sm_1-chien-police-defense-www.owni.eu.jpg "Police dogs [image from www.owni.eu]")
Many years ago on a day like today, a hard-faced young man sits reading the newspaper in a café in some small alley. He opens the page and a small headline catches his eye: Campaign to Round Up 15,000 Strays in Capital. The young man smiles and reads on: As part of a plan to improve the quality of life for residents of the capital city, and to bolster Tunis’ image as a premiere tourist destination, the City Council has embarked on a campaign to catch fifteen thousand stray dogs. Headed by the Mayor, the council seeks to rid the city of approximately seven-hundred thousand dogs annually so as to ensure the safety and well-being of pedestrians throughout the municipality. ...
Keep Reading »The Palm House
![[Tarek Eltayeb. Image by Hans Labler]](/content_images/3/sm_Eltayeb-photo-Labler.jpg "[Tarek Eltayeb. Image by Hans Labler]")
It was Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice. I had been staying in the village of Wad al-Kababish, the one closest to where Wad al-Nar used to be, but separated from it by a vast desert. Exactly forty days had passed since the funeral I described. Quivering, I made my way through the crowds that stood in the shade like palm trees leaning over a riverbank in the morning. They were standing all in a row, as if they were waiting for God’s mercy to bring a ram down from heaven for them. But that didn’t happen. Walking through the village in my flowing white robe, I looked like the mast of a ship whose sails are caught in a gust of wind. Wad al-Kababish: of the ...
Keep Reading »Love
![[Cairo Graffitto by Ganzeer and Sad Panda. Image from Elliott Colla]](/content_images/3/sm_ImageforHamdyStory.jpg "[Cairo Graffitto by Ganzeer and Sad Panda. Image from Elliott Colla]")
Tahrir Square—at the corner of Qasr al-Nil Street. In front of the Tourism and Travel Company, Tahrir Koshary restaurant, and the little store that sells tamarind blossoms. Between the sidewalk and the thick iron guardrail designed to block the flow of pedestrians across the square. Where the sidewalk meets the street—the red, green and black curbstones. The sidewalk tiles come in different shapes and sizes—wide, medium, and large. In front of the flower shop, in the shape of hearts with red roses on them. The stones are old, they haven’t been replaced in years. Still, each is solid and unyielding. With steady eyes and heart and stubborn determination she is working ...
Keep Reading »حِنّة
نهض في السادسة والنصف كعادته منذ سنين طويلة، بلا منبّه، منذ أصبحت مثانته أفضل مُنَبّه طبيعي يجبره على الاستيقاظ وزيارة الحمام أكثر من مرة. وقف أمام المرآة في الحمّام الذي يحاذي غرفته. غسّل وجهه وحلق ذقنه. أخرج طقم أسنانه من القدح المليء بالماء وأعاده إلى فمّه وثبّته فيه. أعاد نظاراته إلى وجهه. وفي طريقه من الحمام نحو المطبخ كي يعدّ الشاي، وقف أمام التقويم المعلق على جدار الممر كما كان يفعل كل صباح. وهي عادة قديمة لم يقلع عنها حتى بعد أن تقاعد وخلت أيامه من المواعيد وقلّت مشاغله وواجباته. فقد اعتاد أن يقف دائماً ليشطب اليوم الفائت بقلم الرصاص المعلّق بخيط من نفس المسمار الذي يثبّت التقويم على الجدار ويعلن، بذلك، بداية يوم جديد. نظر إلى صورة المصطبة الخالية التي جلست ...
Keep Reading »Walls [Gone to Palestine: 8]
![[‘Allar Village Wall. Image from Palestineremembered.com]](/content_images/3/sm_AllarVillage.jpg "[‘Allar Village Wall. Image from Palestineremembered.com]")
We went to visit our friend who was participating in the summer program for foreigners at Aida camp in Bethlehem. We were surprised that it took only ten minutes from the center of Jerusalem to get to the checkpoint at Rachel’s Tomb. There we started to take pictures. We walked through the spotless new terminal and thought of our tax dollars. On the Bethlehem side, we took pictures of a huge sign that the Israeli Board of Tourism had put up on the wall. It said “Go in Peace” in Hebrew, English and Arabic. The taxi drivers wanted to give us tours of the Church of Nativity and Shepherds’ Field, and would not take no for an answer. Finally they relented and told us how ...
Keep Reading »Our Solidarity [Gone to Palestine: 6]
![[Qalqilya: Wall in Stenciler's Shop, image from author]](/content_images/3/sm_Qalqilya-StencilersShop-2005.jpg "[Qalqilya: Wall in Stenciler's Shop, image from author]")
A group of us activists went to Qalqilya, a town so far west that it sits not in the dry hills, but on the humid coastal plane. Though the uprising had been effectively suppressed, we felt that our trip, in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, was important. After all, the violence and dispossession of the occupation had not ceased even though the resistance had been decimated. Our solidarity group was warmly received by local activists who were quite used to seeing similar delegations from Europe and the US. They took us to the massive concrete wall, complete with guard towers every few hundred yards. We couldn’t believe it, though we’d read about it, and ...
Keep Reading »Dogs
![[A stray dog in Baghdad. Image from Unknown Archive]](/content_images/3/sm_DoginBaghdad.jpg "[A stray dog in Baghdad. Image from Unknown Archive]")
[This text, translated from the Arabic by Sinan Antoon, was originally published in al-Aalem (Baghdad) in July 2010 following a campaign to exterminate stray dogs in Baghdad] I smelled a strange odor at night. It was a nagging and repulsive odor. I was told it was “Johnny” or “Tony’s” corpse. Tony is Johnny’s son. They both share the same genetic features as if they were twins. One day Johnny would be making a loud noise in the alley, the next day it would be Tony. They were never together. Now there is neither Tony nor Johnny. Just a rotting odor of a corpse hiding in the dark. They killed him and didn’t even bother to take his corpse away. In fact they killed all the ...
Keep Reading »Maroun Abboud's "Everlasting Everlasting"
![[A Statue of Maroun Abboud in Byblos, Lebanon. Image from Unknown Archive]](/content_images/3/sm_MarounAbboud.jpg "[A Statue of Maroun Abboud in Byblos, Lebanon. Image from Unknown Archive]")
It has often been remarked, with a note of frustration, that most of the literature produced in the Arab world and translated into English is characterized by its heavily sorrowful tone. One has to admit that most of the last two centuries has witnessed the invasion of western imperialism in that part of the world and this area has been wrought with wars until our days. These devastating experiences are more likely to produce a literary corpus in which expressions of loss, destruction, disorientation, and rupture are pervasive. And it is often the case. However, as it is also the case with literatures of trauma and war, there are myriad ways to relate these experiences ...
Keep Reading »NPR: Israeli Chef Invents Baba Ghannouj
In news that stunned millions of listeners, NPR confirmed that the dish once known as "Baba ghannouj" (or "Spoiled Papa") is actually the recent creation of the inventive Israeli chef Yoram Ottolenghi who, in his new book, prefers to call it "Burnt Eggplant with Tahini." In an exclusive interview with NPR's Senior Levantine Food Correspondent Susan Stamberg, Ottolenghi also admitted to using pomegranate and even cilantro in his unique culinary creations, a choice that he says puts him at odds with Italians who, in contrast to the other swarthy peoples of the region, do not like to use the herb. But doubtless, it is Ottolenghi's comments on ...
Keep Reading »عن الكتابة والثورة : حوار مع محمد صلاح العزب
![[Mohamed Salah Al-Azab, image from Chris Stone]](/content_images/3/sm_IMG_2844.jpg "[Mohamed Salah Al-Azab, image from Chris Stone]")
التقى كريس ستون مع الكاتب محمد صلاح العزب في القاهرة يوم ٣٠ مايو، ٢٠١١. لم نترجم المقابلة إلى العربية الفصحى بل حاولنا أن نحتفظ بلغة الحوار الطبيعية قدر الإمكان. ذكر كريس لمحمد أن الفكرة كانت نشر مقابلة معه وأخرى مع كاتب مخضرم مثل صنع الله ابراهيم . سأله محمد إذا كان قد ذكر اسمه للأستاذ صنع الله، فيبدو أنهما اختلفا في ندوة أدبية مؤخراً. كريس: ماذا كان موضوع الندوة؟ محمد: كان عن كتاب يتناول الثورة. ك: أنا ملاحظ أنو أصلاً في كتب. م: بس خلي بالك الكتب اللي كلها عن الثورة ديت كلها حاجات استهلاكية بس يمكن ما فيش حد طلع كتاب خالص غير أحمد زغلول الشيطي اللي طلع كتاب اسمه "مائة خطوة من الثورة : يوميات من ميدان التحرير، دار ميريت." لانو ...
Keep Reading »The United Transport Company - Jerusalem
![[Bus ride, Image from Chris Stone]](/content_images/3/sm_P1080158.jpg "[Bus ride, Image from Chris Stone]")
— Translated from the Arabic by Chris Stone. The United Transport Company stands alone on a square kilometer of land in the heart of Jerusalem. It is bound on the west by Street Number 1, which falls on the line that divided the city into East and West Jerusalem in 1948. To the east are The Garden Tomb and the Schmidt Girls School. To its south is the Jerusalem Hotel and to the north lies Damascus Gate, which leads to the old city. Here one usually finds large and small white buses with green lines on their sides on which is written "The United, Jerusalem-" then the name of the area that that particular bus goes to. In the eastern part of ...
Keep Reading »The Imagination as Transitive Act: an Interview with Sonallah Ibrahim
![[Sonallah Ibrahim, Cairo, Spring 2011, Image from Elliott Colla]](/content_images/3/sm_IMG_0774_2.jpg "[Sonallah Ibrahim, Cairo, Spring 2011, Image from Elliott Colla]")
Last month, the Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim sat down with Jadaliyya to talk about revolution, literature and the imagination. As always, the author was generous -- presenting a broad view of literature politics, and life. (Recorded in Cairo, May 14, 2011; the Arabic text can be found here. A Spanish translation can be found here.) Elliott Colla: Was what happened in January and February a revolution? Sonallah Ibrahim: It certainly was not a revolution. A revolution has a program and goal—a complete change of reality or the removal of one class by another. What happened was a popular uprising against a standing regime. Its primary demand was “regime change,” ...
Keep Reading »A Prayer
Friday, January 28, 2011, Day of Gathering Giza Square, despite its vastness, feels tight and constricted. No wonder. First, they corralled up all the sidewalks with four-foot iron rails that seemed sinister and repugnant in our eyes. Then they painted the crumbling facades of the old buildings “Sahara yellow.” No wonder the sight of it made people’s chests tighten and constrict. But now the square now boasts a new underpass with brightly-lit stairs and a smooth marble floor. Its small, green island ...
Keep Reading »Plucking Out the Heart of Power: Al-Qawqa`a
“I looked at the people. I examined their faces – that apathy…I wondered, how many of them know what happened and is happening in the desert prison? I wondered, how many of them care? Is this “the people” the politicians talk about so much?...Is it possible that this great people don’t know what’s happening in their own country? If they don’t, it’s a catastrophe. If they know but do nothing to change it, that’s an even bigger catastrophe…” When Mustafa Khalifa is transferred from Tadmur ...
Keep Reading »The Levant [Gone to Palestine: 10]
On the way back from Kafr Qasim, we turned off the highway in Ran’ana where, we were told we’d find the best Moroccan food in the country. We went into the first gas station we saw when we came into the town, and the Iraqi attendant there told us where our restaurant was. It’d been weeks since we’d had anything but local food, and as delicious as that could be, we were getting sick of the humous and tomatoes and thyme and parsley and eggplant and rice and flat bread. What we craved was bitter lemons, ...
Keep Reading »The Keys to Birweh [Gone to Palestine: 9]
We went to visit Shatila camp where our friend Lula was teaching English. We knew the camp was important. We knew that it was a center of the struggle for many reasons. We knew that this was the place where hundreds of women, children and men were massacred over a few days in September 1982. We knew who the murderers were. We knew who trained them. We knew who supplied the weapons. We knew who promised to provide security for the camp when the PLO evacuated. We knew that the camp was leveled in 1985 to ...
Keep Reading »Cannes ya ma Cannes Ramallah [Gone to Palestine: 7]
We’d been invited to the Franco-German cultural center to see a film by a leftist Israeli filmmaker. The advance notice had said that “this was perhaps the most important film on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ever made.” It was endorsed by a couple well-known intellectuals from abroad, and all its screenings at the Jerusalem Film Festival were sold out well in advance. I’d never seen his first film, which apparently was a autobiographical work that was “sort of interesting.” My friends said the ...
Keep Reading »Culture XVI
This is our sixteenth weekly section. We have five posts; Amal Hanano continues her diary from Aleppo. Gaelle Raphael translates a poem by the great Syrian poet Saniyya Salih. Youssef Rakha examines the cultural discourse in Egypt. Nezar Andary reviews May Odeh's Diaries. Sinan Antoon translates a text by Ahmad Saadawi about Iraqi dogs. We will be taking a summer break and will return in the fall with more energy and lots of culture. Enjoy! It's Not Him, It's Them by Amal Hanano The ...
Keep Reading »Urgent: Pair of Sandals for Gilboa Prison!
[Translated from the Arabic by Sherene Seikaly. The original text can be found here.] — Did they give you a copy of the photo I faxed? — No! — What about the photo I attached to the letter? Didn’t it arrive? — No, I haven’t received a thing. We continue talking. Question marks wander through our minds, as we look to the hands of the clock. They fall upon us and steal our time. Without any warning they announce the end of our forty-five minutes. We say goodbye to one another. Then the telephone ...
Keep Reading »Entrevista al novelista egipcio Sonallah Ibrahim sobre la revolucion; la imaginacion como acto transitivo
[This interview was conducted in Arabic by Elliott Cola and translated/published in Spanish by www.rebelion.org] Entrevista al novelista egipcio Sonallah Ibrahim sobre la revolución: La imaginación como acto transitivo [Traducción para Rebelión de Loles Oliván] El mes pasado el novelista egipcio Sonallah Ibrahim se sentó con Jadaliyya para hablar de revolución, literatura e imaginación. Como siempre, el autor fue generoso: abordó su amplia visión sobre la política, la literatura y la ...
Keep Reading »On Writing and Revolution: An Interview with Mohamed Salah Al-Azab
Chris Stone met with the writer Mohamed Salah al-Azab in Cairo on May 30, 2011, and the Arabic text can be found here. When Chris mentioned that Jadaliyya was thinking of juxtaposing his interview next to one with Sonallah Ibrahim, Mohamed asked if his name had been brought with Sonallah, as they had apparently disagreed at a conference recently. CS: What was the conference about? MSA: It was about a book on the revolution. CS: I've noticed that there are already a number of books. MSA: ...
Keep Reading »Two Stories by Luay Hamza Abbas
Closing His Eyes (Ighmadh al-‘Aynayn) is a collection of seventeen short stories written between 2003-2007. It is the fourth and latest collection of short stories by Iraqi novelist, literary critic and short story writer Luay Hamza Abbas (published by Azmina, Amman, 2008). Through this collection, Luay Hamza Abbas’ talent as a storyteller has been acknowledged with national and international awards. The most recent of these is the Iraqi Ministry of Culture Award for Creative Short Story (2010) for ...
Keep Reading »Dawn
— Translated from the Arabic by Amira Hanafi Dawn on Saturday, January 29th, the world around us a vacuum, an emptiness steeped in solitude and silence after yesterday’s volcano. Yesterday—day, evening, and night—the day of resurrection, everywhere ablaze, the voice of horror rising, and the pointless beast of death, all across the country. And today dawns, Ash Saturday. The sky above us is still black, without a punctuation of light—darkness in the alleys, the boulevards, the streets, the thresholds ...
Keep Reading »The Persistence of Jokes
My friends laughed and called me a “revolution tourist” — which wasn’t incorrect, since part of my reason for coming was to see what was happening up close. But the other reason, of course, was to visit the state archives to check on the status of my application. Last fall, I wrote up a vague proposal for research I intended to undertake on the inefficiencies of cotton pricing in the nineteenth-century. I submitted the proposal in triplicate: one to the head of the Ministry of Higher Education; one to ...
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