AlsahafaNewspaperNovember2007

NOVEMBER 2007
www.al-sahafa.us
Hollywood’s
Portrayal of Arabs
See page 4-5 Cover Story
Marcel Khalife
The Living Legend
in Cleveland, Ohio
see page 8

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November 2007 • Page 2 www.al-sahafa.us
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EDITOR’S THOUGHTS
EDITOR’S THOUGHTS
Elections and the Middle East Policy
The Time Is Right For Change
The topic I’d like to discuss with
you all this month is about “Reformulating
Policy in the Middle
East,” an issue that is critical to get
right. We need to get our Middle
East policy right. If we don’t get it
right, it’s become clear that we can’t have security in the United States.
So it’s important for U.S. citizens to get it right. Our allies need us to
get it right because they can’t have security, and the people of the region
need us to get it right because the destruction that we saw in Lebanon
last summer, the continuing violence between the Palestinians and
Israelis, the ongoing destruction that we’re seeing in Iraq, we don’t
want to see that continue to expand to other countries in the region.
So, this is a critical moment to really look at this issue of reformulating
policy in the Middle East. It’s important that we begin to have a very
honest and frank discussion about it.
So how do we make a more sensible Middle East policy? I think
when you start to look at the Middle East you have to start with the obvious
- the question of oil. There’s no question that controlling the oil
and the profits from oil is a top priority in the Middle East, particularly
as we are competing with China and India for that resource. As it gets
more precious and more expensive, that becomes a higher priority. So
if you want to talk about reformulating policy in the Middle East, it
starts with reformulating our energy policy at home and by becoming a
leader in the world for a more sensible energy policy. We have the technology
to change our energy policy away from the dirty, nineteenthtwentieth
century fossil fuel economy toward a twenty-first century
clean, sustainable energy economy. A review of the wind resources,
for example, in the United States by the federal government found that
three states alone could provide enough energy through wind to satisfy
all of our electricity needs. Three states alone. One of those is Texas.
Even oil-rich Texas can profit and continue to profit from the wind
resources. And that’s just one source. What’s great about the moment
that we’re in right now is that we’re reaching a tipping point where the
public is ready for this. The public is ready for this transition. They
know it’s needed. It’s needed for a variety of reasons. There’ll always
be a need for some oil. So, the Middle East will still be an issue, but it
won’t become a national security issue if we can break our addiction to
oil. It’s also an environmental urgency.
So we have a combination of economic and environment and national
security coming together with the same conclusion. It’s time to
break our addiction to fossil fuels. It’s urgent. There’s no time to waste
on it. The missed opportunity of 9/11 for our oil-based economy was
to say, “We need to get all these old, dirty fossil fuel cars off the streets
within ten years. We could do it.” Imagine the Midwest (OHIO) with
the explosion in new automobile sales and new automobile production.
The Midwest would have been growing. We’d also change the way our
buildings operate, both personal, commercial and government buildings,
because there’s a lot of waste there as well. The United States
wastes half the energy that it has, and so we can have a lot of room in
there for that change. I think once we break our oil addiction, which I
think is very doable and essential, then we can really look at the Middle
East in a much more sensible way.
So I hope that people hearing
this will run for office themselves,
because we really need leadership.
We need people to get up and say
that we need to change direction
because that is the role of us as
civic players and we need to start
to be civic participants in the government.
As civic participants we
need to not just run for office, we
need to be advocating these issues
Fatina Salaheddine;
Publisher & CEO
because I think the time is right for change. I repeat, the time is right for
change. You can see it in the polling. You can see it in the votes we’ve
had around the country. Currently, so far, this election season, people are
ready to see a different direction in government, and once we get a different
direction in government with an emphasis on breaking away from
a fossil fuel-based economy which I think is the key for so many war and
peace issues, like the Middle East; and the issue of our economic environment.
And once we get these key issues right, I believe things will start
to fall in place.
Oh...and by the way, Happy
Thanksgiving on November
22nd! ...
~ Fatina Salaheddine
Lebanese-American
We are pleased to announce that the Al-Sahafa Newspaper Corporation is the official Ohio correspondent to: the
ART Channel, the Al Jazeera Network, The Lebanese Broadcasting Channel, and Lebanon’s Future Television. Please
stay tuned for future broadcast features and details about our thriving Middle Eastern Ohio community, to be seen
all over the world through these very important international satellite channels.
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November 2007 • Page 3

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NOVEMBER 2007
Cover Story
Hollywood’s
Portrayal of Arabs
See page 4-5 Cover Story:
Marcel Khalife
The Living Legend
“Arabs and
Arab Americans in Hollywood
live in an interesting time,” writes Ashraf
Khalil of the Los Angeles Times. “The appetite
for Middle Eastern stories and themes
boomed after 9/11 and grew again with
see page 8
Hollywood’s Portrayal of Arabs
Arabs in Film Grow, For the Better?
the ongoing grind of the war in Iraq. But
the roles suddenly being created for Arabheritage
actors often are limited to those of
terrorists or are otherwise so poorly drawn
that actors must swallow their pride to take
them. And that’s if they even get offered
the parts.” Some in the Arab-American film
community, however, still view the changes
as a sign of progress. “There is more work
out there for the Arab actor than 10 years
An Epiphany at the Movies
ago,” says Ismail Kanater, a Moroccan actor
on Showtime’s “Sleeper Cell” show. “Even
though we get actors complaining about terrorist
roles, there is a natural interest in the
region. That will open doors.” According to
Omar Metwally, who played a Palestinian
militant in the movie Munich, “Americans
are hungry for information. They want to
engage.” Emmy Award-winning Tony Shaloub,
who is of Lebanese origin, comments
on his first televised role playing a terrorist;
“I did it once, and once was enough.” Egyptian
writer-director Hesham Issawi believes
the increase in quality of Arab roles in films
runs parallel to the increase in quantity. “The
roles are bigger, the scenes are bigger, the
money is better. But it’s still a terrorist role,”
he said.
November 2007 • Page 4
By; Shelley Leann Gosen
(Case Intern Student)
The lights came up in a mostly empty
movie theatre and some of the few stood up
right away even before the credits graced
the screen. None of them were talking
loudly or being obnoxious. They just left
quietly in ones and twos. But I did not get
up. I sat in my seat as I had sat for the last
thirty minutes of the film and I thought.
After not too long I got up and walked
without thinking to the exit. I didn’t quite
make it to my car though. I stopped at a
cement column outside the cinema, leaned
against it, and thought some more.
This is not my normal cinematic adventure.
When I go to the movies, I go to see
a movie and then I’m done with it. The
movie that is. I might joke with friends
later if it’s funny or “epic” as the new catch
adjective would have it. As I sit in the uncomfortable
chairs in the theatre, if it is not
such a great film, I will stick and unstick
my shoes to the dirty cinema floor and get
that satisfying “stkkkkk” sound and wait
for the credits. Then in the last frame before
the credits I get up and leave with my
friends. Even when it is a movie that has
one of those funny after clips with bloopers
or a little end scene I juggle with my
patience to make it to the end. As for the
credits, I already know who was in it—the
main characters anyway—so there is no
point for me to hang around. I have better
things to do.
Well on Thursday afternoon I flew down
in Naples, Florida, celebrating my fall
break from school. I have some friends
who are going to join me to relax and
shake off the past half-semester before
we dive into the next half. But they
had exams today, Friday, and won’t
be down until Saturday evening. So
I sat in my room, bored, and finally
decided to go see a movie. It was ten
o’clock when I made this decision so
my options were small in this smaller
town. I briefly glanced at the trailer
for Rendition and thought, “well, what
else would I see?”
I got to the theatre and paid $9.50
for my ticket; when I asked the guy at the
ticket counter if there was a student discount
he kind of laughed at me and commented
that there should be. I was mildly
disgruntled at the ticket price when I sat
down and hoped that the movie would not
completely be a wash out.
It was the best $9.50 I’ve ever spent.
Rendition, in essence, was about an
Arab-American who was taken from the
airport on his way home and questioned
for suspected ties to a terrorist group in
Northern Africa. To keep your attention,
and maybe add creditability to the film as
well, the primary actors in it include Reese
Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Meryl
Streep.
The Arab American was born in Egypt
and moved to the United States when he
was only 14. He got his chemical engineering
degree at NYU and got married.
He lives in Chicago with his mother, son,
and wife (Reese Witherspoon) who is
pregnant with their second child. As a
chemical engineer he makes $200,000 a
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year and lives in a nice house and even has
time to coach his young son’s soccer team.
He was targeted for three reasons: (1) He
received, but did not answer, phone calls
from an unknown person who wound up
being a terrorist (2) He was an Egyptian
married to an American and did not try to
get citizenship (3) His profession could be
used to create bombs or other such weapons.
Maybe if you put yourself in the shoes
of the government the pieces made sense.
But it made me wonder.
The film raises a number of issues.
While National Security is very important,
how far are we willing to go to protect our
own safety? Would we sacrifice our friend
or our mother? How close can you feel
to your country if you are being tortured
for information you do not have for reasons
that are false? Where do we draw the
line? As we look for more enemies we find
them. But could it be that because we are
looking for them, they appear?
As I sat at the end of the movie, all these
thoughts ran through my head, as well as
many others. Is this what it is like for all
Arab Americans when they fly on an airplane?
How must have Arab-Americans
felt on 9/11? America is their home too
yet people form the image in their minds of
what a terrorist looks like, and that terrorist
has tanned skin.
Shows on TV like 24—really any movie
with a foreign bad guy—shows terrorism
as the new threat. Back in the day the bad
guys came from World War II and we are
all familiar with them. Nazis. You can
picture them in your head with the greenish
uniform, the red armband with a circle
and black lines. Films like Indiana Jones
portrayed the Nazis as the enemy and the
Nazis filled this type-casted role for many
years to come.
When people talk about Germans now
they don’t immediately think Nazis. They
think European. They think beer and sausages
and the language. They might think
of history and the second World War but
chances are if they were to meet a German
a picture of Adolf Hitler would not flash
across their mind. In 2000 did people really
have a pre-formed mental impression of
an Arab woman dressed in veil or an Arab
man donning a turban? Not any more than
they did the Indian woman or the Chinese
business man or the Latino teenager walking
down the street. Then 9/11 happened
and everyone was on full alert. But time
passed and though airport security has
not lessened, people’s attitudes have for
the most part. Suicide bombings used to
cause a stir in a group of people if it came
across the news. Now people are jaded
to the terrible events that still occur. It is
in the press all the time, these images of
people living in Iraq and suffering as their
government is shattered. How often have
I gone into my health club and seen on TV
the scrolling headlines at the bottom of
the screen, “Suicide bombing kills [insert
number] and many more are hospitalized
for severe injuries.” We continue to pay
attention in the worst possible way. We
create the shows with terrorists to keep
Epiphany, cont’d on page 11

Cover Story
www.al-sahafa.us
NOVEMBER 2007
The Kingdom
By Shelley Gosen
(Case Intern Student)
Another film in my cinematic endeavor discussed similar
issues from another point of view and aimed at a different
audience. The previews for this film are much more attractive
to the typical action movie lover including torture,
explosions, big guns, mystery, and of course a star studded
cast including the bad ass leading man Jamie Foxx, an
attractive female co-star played by Jennifer Gardner, and
Chris Cooper acting as the experienced but comical backup.
If you have happened to see any of the trailers for The
Kingdom you probably got the impression that it would
be the typical shoot-’em-up film. An American housing
compound in Saudi Arabia is thrown into confusion and
fear when local terrorists infiltrate the secured walls and a
suicide bomber kills many, including women and children.
Based on the previews, four F.B.I. investigators travel Saudi
Arabia, the kingdom to which the title refers, to investigate.
Most of the rest of the preview is full of explosions,
gun fire, and epic views of the leading characters.
It is a shame that the trailer does not give the potential
movie-goer any background or premise for the terrorist attack
or why it is a big deal for the American F.B.I agents
to enter the kingdom. During the opening credits, the film
reviews a brief history of Saudi Arabia’s economy, its past
relationship with the United States, and the existing issues
that currently stand between the two countries. For me, it
was very interesting, as I had little to no understanding of
any of the aforementioned topics. The primary focus of the
introductory history lesson was oil.
U.S. geologists in the 1930s were the first to discover oil
in Saudi Arabia. However, large scale production did not
begin until after World War II. The rapid development in
their oil industry throughout the 60s and 70s transformed
the kingdom dramatically. Obviously you can see the issues
with this situation and makes you wonder about a
few things. The problem is that Americans discovered the
oil. So what are the implications? How did the Americans
come to discover the oil and how did they do it? Were
they looking for it? What did the American and Saudi governments
think? Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves
in the world and it is the world’s leading oil producer and
exporter, accounting for more than 90% of the country’s
exports and nearly 75% of government revenues. Can you
wager a guess as to who is the largest consumer of oil in
the world?
Saudi Arabia’s role in the Arab and Islamic worlds,
its possession of oil reserves, and its strategic location
make its friendship important to the United States.
The continued availability of reliable sources of oil,
particularly from Saudi Arabia who is one of the leading
sources of imported oil, remains important to the
prosperity of the United States. To put it simply, the
U.S. is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner, and
Saudi Arabia is the largest U.S. export market in the
Middle East.
In general, relations between Saudi Arabia and the
United States have been good. However, there was a
huge change in attitudes after September 11, 2001. After it
was identified that 15 of the 17 suicide bombers were Saudi
citizens the accusations,
spoken or
unspoken, by the
United States government
caused a
rift.
According to
the movie, after
this time there was
instability within
Saudi Arabia’s
own borders and
American troops
left the country.
Investigators from
the US were no
longer allowed inside
the boarder without proper authorization from government
officials. During the movie, there is an attack on an
American housing compound in which many oil workers
and their families lived. Thus begins the chain of events:
American F.B.I investigators want to go over to the crime
scene and do what they do best-investigate.
However, due to the strained relations, the F.B.I agents
are limited in the work they can perform. The Saudis did
not want the Americans there despite their experience.
This raises the question about the honesty in
the film about foreign countries capabilities
in solving terrorist attacks. Does America
provide one of the best investigative services
or does America merely think it does?
Despite all the previous questions, the
most important and powerful messages are
in the following paragraphs. During the
film, the American agents are permitted to
question any witnesses, with Saudi police
present, within the complex. One of the
houses they visit belongs to a man whose
wife was killed. When the man opened the
door and saw the Saudi police he raged at
them and blamed them all for the death of
his wife and all the deaths within the compound.
Throughout the film, one particular
Saudi policeman is introduced to the audi-
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ence. He has a family, a father, a wife,
and children. He is a man who loves
his country and wants to find the men
responsible for all the terrorist attacks
and rid the world of those terrible
people. This Saudi police officer
is a good man, yet the American
who lost his wife blames the police
because they are Saudi, they look like the terrorists, and
they represent what the American lost. It is unfair, but
it is life.
As I watched the film unfold after that moment
I hoped that anyone who had similar stereotypes in
their mind after 9-11, anyone who looked at an Arab
man or woman and internally blamed them for all the
turmoil in the country, anyone who took a second
look at an Arab passenger on an airplane, I hoped
that anyone of those people would see this scene
and realize how wrong it is. We cannot control our
emotions in such dire times and we can be unfair to
others, but it is the continuance of those thoughts
and impressions that further unreasonable stereotypes
that take generations to ameliorate. I felt
uncomfortable in my seat as I watched this scene
because I knew that
this probably has happened
in real life and
it will happen again.
For my final point
I want to address a
line in the final moments
of the film.
Do not worry, this
is not going to ruin
the movie for you
if you keep reading.
However, it
will expose the
primary message
of the film. If
you would like to save that for your own
cinematic experience, pick this article up
again after a weekend at the theatre, because
of all the things I hope to say in this
analysis, I want people to remember this
the most.
In the last parts of the movie, an American
is speaking to another American
about the initial suicide bombings while
at the same time a young Saudi boy
speaks to his mother about a family
member who was murdered because
he was a terrorist. Both parties feel
better about the situation and get some
sense of hope with the following
phrase: we’re going to kill them all.
When we seek retribution for those
who have killed our love ones, we
then kill someone else’s loved one.
The cycle continues and we are forever
in the twisted circle. It makes
you examine the line between what
needs to be done, what needs to
change, and how we can begin to
change. Is it as simple as going to
a movie and taking a second look
The Kingdom, cont’d on page 11
Hollywood’s
Portrayal of
Arabs
Marcel Khalife
The Living Legend
see page 8
See page 4-5 Cover Story:
November 2007 • Page 5

Community
Public Lecture by Syrian Ambassador
“Syria, U.S. and the New Old
Middle East:
Confrontation or Cooperation”
Friday, November 9, 2007 4:30 pm
City Club of Cleveland 850 Euclid Avenue,
Cleveland 44114
Cost: $20.00
Ambassador Imad Moustapha,
Ambassador of Syria to the
United States will speak on Friday,
November 9th at 4:30 pm at the
City Club of Cleveland. Reception
to follow.
For more information or to make
a reservation for this event, please
contact CCWA at (216) 781-3730
ext. 102 or reservations@ccwa.
org.
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Imad Mustapha
One World Bazaar 2007
LEBANESE-SYRIAN JUNIOR
WOMEN’S LEAGUE
Membership Co-Chairs & Committee
Cheryl Joseph: (216) 447-0683
Deneen Kassouf: (440) 835-8155
UPCOMING EVENTS 2007-08:
11-20-07 La Dolce Vita
DECEMBER Christmas Party
2-19-08 General Meeting; Cooking Demo
3-08-08 Tea Party
4-14-08 Debutant/ Escort Reception & General Meeting
5-20-08 General Meeting
6-10-08 Debutant Ball Meeting
7-27-08 Debutant Ball & Scholarship Presentation
AUGUST Cleveland Indians Baseball Game
WE HAVE A NEW ATTITUDE AND WE NEED YOU TO MAKE
IT COMPLETE. COME CHECK US OUT & JOIN IN ON THE
FUN!
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One World Artisans & Fair Trade Bazaar
Location: West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church
Address: 20401 Hilliard Blvd, Rocky River, OH 44116
Date: Saturday, November 10, 2007 • Time: 9:00 am-4:00pm
Additional Website Info: www.wsuuc.org • Admission Fee: $2
Not your typical Church Bazaar!
This unusual event offers
hard-to-find Crafts and Treasures
from all over the world including
handmade African items, Chinese
Pearls and Jewelry, Central American
Handicrafts, all collected by
church members on their travels.
Also featured are “Fair Trade”
crafts, coffees, and chocolates.
Crafters of the highest quality will
have tables and displays with a
wide variety of beautiful, whimsical, and practical items. Enjoy lunch at
the One World Café. If you would like to rent a table to sell your crafts and
folk art, contact Jerry Knasel, 440-835-2529 or jerryknase@aol.com.
November 2007 • Page 6
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SYRIA: TWO PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
COVER STORY- SEE PAGES 4-5
Community
Al-Sahafa's Recommended Reading
Mayada - Daughter of Iraq
(Author; Jean Sasson)
Book Review by Publisher; Fatina Salaheddine
Sasson, author
of Princess:
A True Story
of Life behind
the Veil in Saudi Arabia (1992), first met Mayada in
1998. A year later, Mayada, granddaughter of a revered
Iraqi hero who fought with Lawrence of Arabia,
a former journalist, modern businesswoman, and
the mother of two children, was arrested and imprisoned
on allegations that her business was printing antigovernment
flyers. Sasson relates Mayada’s imprisonment
with 17 “shadow women,” similarly falsely
accused and imprisoned and subjected to torture and
cruelty under the regime of Saddam Hussein.
To distract themselves, the women tell each other
stories of their lives, and Mayada discloses her highborn,
privileged lifestyle even though her family
were not members of the leading Baath Party. She recalls
her mother’s acquaintance with Hussein’s wife
and their mutual dislike. Mayada also tells of interviews
with the cruel and erratic Ali Hassan al-Majid,
Hussein’s cousin and the man who would become
known as Chemical Ali. This is a fascinating behindthe-scenes
look at the cruelties suffered by the Iraqis
under Hussein. This story is one of many other untold
Subscribe for
yourself and
give another
subscription
as a gift!
stories. Some people, like Mayada, were lucky
to survive. Others disappeared without a trace.
OCTOBER 2007
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GOD's
WARRIORS
See Cover Story pages 4-5
$30/year
or 2 years
for $50
The Living Legend:
Marcel Khalife in Cleveland
November 11th
see page 8
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FEBRUARY 2007
Subscribe to the Al-Sahafa.
Call us today! (216) 688-0991
Be lydancing Styles
See Page 8
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November 2007 • Page 7

MARCEL KHALIFE
Cleveland, Ohio Concert
Sunday, November 11 at 6:30 PM
Westlake Performing Arts Center, 27830 Hilliard Bld., Westlake, OH 44145
Sponsored by AACCESS-OHIO For Tickets $25, $35 and $50: 216-373-5661
Tickets also available at Arabic Stores in
“Little Arabia” (Al-Manar, Sahara, and Al-Madina)
For Online Ticket Purchases: http://www.ticketspigot.com/khalife.htm
November 2007 • Page 8 www.al-sahafa.us
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Popular Ramadan Series;
“Bab Al Hara” An Addiction for Arabs
When the series; Bab Al Hara was shown on television in
the Middle East during the holy month of Ramadan, streets
became empty and Mosque clerks even cut prayers so people
could go and watch the series.
According to the London daily Elaph, “Bab Al Hara” was
watched not
only by Muslim
Arabs (in
the evenings
as they broke
their fast),
there were
Christians,
Jews and Druz
that were addicted
to it as
well. The Syrian
producer of the drama Basam Al Mala was able to make it
strong and affective by playing the simple life style of how our
Arab ancestors used to live.
Many of the
Arab men if
they are not
watching “Bab
Al Hara” from
their homes
were watching
it at local
cafes. Women
and kids were
also hooked
to the television
set when the series started and they wouldn’t take their
eyes off. Many of the series watchers hope to live back the
simple life again where neighbors respect and help each other,
and when sons and daughters alike help out their parents and
obeyed their wishes. The drama gave people a sense of unities
and strong family ties. The days long gone where integrity and
nobleness was held in the highest esteem, and where literally it
took a village to raise children into men.
Winners, news and other points of interest at The Ohio State Lottery
Do you know the next Teacher of the Month?
Mike Ankrom was recently honored as Teacher of the Month in The Ohio State Lottery’s
Partners in Education program. Ankrom teaches Social Studies and Government at
Manchester High, where he created a class called “Current Issues” that allows students
to discuss social, economic and governmental issues that affect their lives. As Teacher
of the Month, Ankrom was publicly recognized at the Cleveland Browns’ game against
Baltimore on Sept. 30. The Lottery will continue to recognize Teachers of the Month
and student Academic All Stars throughout the school year. For more information
about the program and for nomination forms, go to www.ohiolottery.com.
Are you interested in getting your child involved in a Scripps Spelling Bee? The Ohio
State Lottery is paying the entrance fee for schools interested in participating. See your
local school administrator for more information.
Paid Advertisement
www.al-sahafa.us
Every month, The Ohio State Lottery awards millions of dollars
in prizes to lucky players just like you. Below is a list of recent
monthly payouts.
September 2007
Game Number of Winners $ Paid to Winners
Rolling Cash 5 435,730 $2,441,157.00
Classic Lotto 46,328 $365,734.00
Pick 3 123,521 $16,009,055.50
Pick 4 22,737 $8,424,519.00
KICKER 15,614 $714,280.00
Mega Millions 339,119 $3,410,737.00
Ten-OH! 221,704 $972,906.00
Raffle to Riches 2 $1,000.00
All Instant Games 7,332,544 $65,206,057.00
Totals 8,537,299 $97,545.445.50
In September, The Ohio State Lottery sent
$58.3 million to the
Lottery Profits Education Fund.
Take a Chance for Education.
Odds Are, You’ll Have Fun.
November 2007 • Page 9
®

November 2007 • Page 10
From Our Nation’s Capital
AAI Countdown
A Coincidence? We Think Not
Expectations may not be high for the upcoming November peace conference, but we at Countdown
remain optimistic. Here’s why: the Cleveland Indians’ defeat of the New York Yankees in
the American League Division Series brings the Tribe one step closer to their first World Series
Championship since . . . 1948. If the Indians take the world championship, can’t Israelis and
Palestinians negotiate peace?
Welcome to Dearborn . . .
In yesterday’s Republican debate in Dearborn, Michigan, presidential hopeful Governor Mitt
Romney was asked how he, as president, would change the bias facing Arab Americans. Here’s
Romney’s reply: “Well, of course, we remind people that this is a nation that recognizes the equality
of all individuals. We welcome people from all nations to come here. We also want to make
sure that our nation is kept safe. And we’re going to pursue any avenue we have to to assure that
people who might be preaching or teaching doctrines of hate or terror are going to be followed
into a church or into a school or a mosque or wherever they might be. But we welcome people of
all backgrounds and faiths, and we don’t discriminate against people based on those things. The
countries that we’re battling around the world - they’re the ones that distinguish based on those
things, and we don’t. And we of course welcome Arab Americans here in Dearborn and in places
across our country.” While Romney’s answer is generally thoughtful and positive, including
warnings about national security in a comment about the Arab American community as a whole
helps to perpetuate the climate that has led to bias in the first place.
Also at the debate, CNBC host Maria Bartiromo asked the candidates “should a Dubai company
be able to own 20 percent of NASDAQ?” Following are excerpts from their responses
. . . the negative reactions from Congressmen Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo come as no
surprise . . . Mayor Rudy Giuliani: “Sure, if they are - if they are considered to be safe, if they -
pass safety and security clearances. Unfortunately, that deal was done so hastily, it was done so
quickly, nobody can tell whether they could or they couldn’t. But you just can’t rule out foreign
companies. There’s a whole procedure you go through as to whether or not are they safe, are they
secure. We cannot stop doing business with the rest of the world . . .”
Congressman Ron Paul: “I don’t think they’re a threat to our national security, no. So they
would be able to.”
Governor Mike Huckabee: “I think it really matters as to whether or not they’re going to be
- there’s going to be a fair trade. And the fact is, we don’t have fair trade. And that’s the issue
we’ve got to address. Can they buy a company? Sure. But our real problem continues to be that
an American company is having to pay an extraordinarily high tax on everything they produce,
but the countries who are importing to us don’t have the same border adjustability that we do.”
Senator John McCain: “Yes, of course, they have to pass the required security requirements and
everything like that. But I’m a student of history. Every time the United States has become protectionist
and listened to the siren song that you’re hearing partially on this stage tonight, we’ve
paid a very heavy price. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Acts in the 1930s were direct contributors to
World War II. It sounds like a lot of fun to bash Chinese and others, but free trade has been the
engine of our economy in the last half of this year, it will continue to be, and free trade should be
the continuing principle that guides this nation’s economy.”
Governor Mitt Romney: “Of course you let a country invest in the United States, because we’re
going to have to stop thinking always in terms of defense and trying to keep other people out. The
key is that America can compete around the world and win, and we do. In product after product,
service after service, we’re the best in the world. But we have to make sure that as we enter into
agreements with other nations, we make sure that those agreements are in our benefit as well as
theirs; usually that’s the case, but not always, and in some cases it’s not.”
Senator Fred Thompson: “The answer is yes. Dubai would own 20 percent of NASDAQ, but
NASDAQ, under this deal, as I understand it, would gain more than 30 percent of the Dubai
company. It all depends on national security issues. Doesn’t seem to be one there. But we should
look at all these deals carefully because we have a vast infrastructure. The great portion of it is
in private hands. There’s no way, frankly, we can protect it all. So we need to do everything that
we can to make sure that we’re doing all that we can to protect the infrastructure we’ve got and
scrutinize these deals, number one, first and foremost, from a national security standpoint.”
Congressman Duncan Hunter: “No, because I don’t trust them. And I don’t trust them because a
few years ago Dubai, while an American Customs agent was trying to stop them, set for delivery
a set of nuclear triggers to an anonymous recipient in Islamabad, probably for the A.Q. Khan
network. That went directly against American interests. So I would not do that.”
ADC Condemns Anti-Semitic
Remarks by Ann Coulter
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
condemns the bigoted anti-Semitic comments made by political
commentator Ann Coulter on the television program
“The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch” which aired on CNBC.
Coulter stated on the show that Jews need to be “perfected”.
When “Big Idea” talk show host Donny Deutsch asked
Coulter to clarify her comments by asking “[So] we should
just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians?”
Coulter responded “Yeah.” As Deutsch responded with bewilderment
she later said “You have to obey.” To read a transcript
of Coulter’s remarks, click here: http://www.foxnews.
com/story/0,2933,301216,00.html .
ADC National Executive Director Kareem Shora said,
“ADC strongly condemns the anti-Semitic comments made
by Ann Coulter. The comments are a reminder of attitudes
of supremacy which in the past have facilitated genocides,
including the Holocaust.” Shora continued, “We call on Ms.
Coulter to issue an immediate public apology and retraction
of these bigoted comments.”
This comment is the most recent in a slew of racist and bigoted statements made by Coulter. In an October
1, 2007 edition of Hannity and Colmes on the Fox News Channel, Coulter defended a reference in her
book to Arabs as “camel jockeys” by stating: “They killed 3,000 Americans. I’ll be very careful with my
language.” When pressed about the bigoted nature of such a comment, she went on to say: “Yes, and it’s
so mean after they killed 3,000 Americans, and I shouldn’t be mean to them…we have sure moved away
from the day when we called them Krauts and Nips.”
In a recent interview, Coulter attacked a woman’s right to vote,
stating: “If we took away women’s right to vote, we’d never
have to worry about another Democrat president.”
Coulter was fired from her position at the National Review
after stating (in reference to Middle Eastern countries): “We
should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them
to Christianity. We weren’t punctilious about locating and punishing
only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German
cities; we killed civilians. That’s war. And this is war.”
In 2005, Coulter published a column in which she claimed: “Press passes can’t be hard to come by if the
White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the President.”
Director Sutherland Serves
on Counter-Terriorism Panel
Senator Sam Brownback: “Yes . . . If this party walks away from free trade, we’re going the
wrong way as a party . . .”
AAI Countdown, cont’d on page 24 Director Sutherland, cont’d on page 17
www.al-sahafa.us
Daniel W. Sutherland, Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties for
the Department of Homeland Security was a panelist at last month’s
5th Annual Counter-Terrorism Conference held in Trenton, New Jersey.
Sutherland, along with representatives from the New York Police
Department, the FBI and University Security experts from around the
country discussed ideas around this year’s theme, Radicalization: Global
Trend/Local Concern? The panel discussions covered topics such as to
what extent is radicalization a concern in the U.S.? And how should we
be countering radicalization in the United States?
Sutherland spent about two hours on a panel which took a look at what
extent the radicalization process is a concern both in the US and abroad.
Sutherland concentrated on three main points:
As law enforcement tries to understand the radicalization process, it
is paramount that we understand the importance of upholding our citizen’s civil rights and civil liberties.
Sutherland quoted Senator Joseph Liberman who said our best defense is America at its’ best. As we protect
our civil rights and civil liberties and prove our commitment to social justice and equality, it undercuts
one of the strongest arguments the extremists make.
Sutherland said the second point that he felt was important for law enforcement in understanding and
dealing with the radicalization process was finding ways to engage the religious and ethnic communities.
Building trust and understanding is the beginning of building meaningful bridges between law enforcement
and these communities.

From Our Nation’s Capital
The Kingdom, cont’d from page 5
at what we see all the time on the news?
These terrorist attacks have happened in the
past. On May 12, 2003 suicide bombers killed
35 people, including nine Americans, in attacks
at three housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh.
On May 1, 2004 terrorists killed two Americans
in the Yanbu oil facility in the western part of
the country. On May 29, 2004 terrorists killed one
American and wounded several others in attacks
on an official building and housing compound in
al-Khobar in the Eastern Province. On June 6, terrorists
shot and killed a BBC journalist. On June
9 and June 12, 2004 terrorists killed Americans
Robert Jacobs and Kenneth Scroggs. On June 18,
2004 terrorists kidnapped and beheaded American
Paul Johnson. On December 6, 2004 terrorists attacked
the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, killing five
consulate employees.
What will continue to make them happen in the
future?
Will we kill them all or are we only killing each
other?
AAI’s National Leadership Conference
AAI’s National Leadership Conference was a
huge success, with over 600 Arab Americans from
across the country gathering in Dearborn, MI to
launch AAI’s “Our Voice. Our Future. Yalla Vote
08” campaign. Popular blogger Steve Clemons
of The Washington Note participated on a panel
that explored the role of blogs on political accountability
and debate in the upcoming elections. Click
here to read his post on the conference and add to
the lively debate his post has started. Stay tuned
for more on the NLC over the next few days!
Here’s what Clemons wrote:
Shame on Them: Republicans and Top Dems
Missing at Arab American Leadership Summit October
27, 2007
I have to give credit to Senator John Sununu. He
showed up at the Arab American Institute’s National
Leadership Conference in Dearborn, Michigan
this weekend and openly talked about his search
for his Palestinian grandfather’s home in old Jerusalem.
Sununu also talked about his attempts to hold
back the loss of civil liberties -- to a large degree
aimed at Arabs and Arab Americans -- embedded
in the Patriot Act.
And then Sununu talked about his work on a Senate
Resolution calling for firm resolve in achieving
a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine stand off
and said explicitly that America must help engineer
the conditions that will lead to the creation of
a sovereign Palestinian state.
Sununu was saying things before the 600-plus
audience that I couldn’t imagine any Republican
presidential contenders saying -- with the sole
exception of Ron Paul who also spoke at the conference
(though I was still flying back from India
and missed his comments). But I couldn’t really
imagine most of the Dems saying what he said as
boldly either. Perhaps I’m wrong on that -- but I got
a quick sample in Hillary Clinton’s “videotaped”
message to the Arab American summit.
Hillary seemed genuinely interested in the importance
of Arab Americans and sent one of her
Epiphany, cont’d from page 4
the image alive and interesting while the real issues
are not addressed. And THIS is what the
new generation of American’s are seeing as their
parents leave the
news on while they
make dinner.
When I was a
kid the only thing
I knew about Arab
culture was when
my mother set my
sisters and I down
to watch Disney’s
Aladdin. Kids sit
down now and they
have a far more extensive
knowledge
of culture than I
ever did. Nickelodeon has the show Dora the
Explorer which teaches children Spanish. In
many cartoons there are characters of different
ethnicities. When I was little, Nickelodeon
had the show Doug, where the ethnicities were
white, black, green, teal, you name it, they had
National Campaign Co-Chairs Lebanese-American
William Shaheen (husband of Jeanne and a legend
in New Hampshire Democratic politics) to represent
her at the conference.
Shaheen was great and connected with the audience
and did a great job trying to assure the Arab
Americans there that she really does care about the
rights of Palestinians and the value of Arab and
Arab-American lives as much as she does about
Israeli security.
But odd thing about Hillary’s commentary -- unlike
Sununu, Hillary just did not say “Palestine” or
“Palestinian state” in her taped message.
I’m a big fan of James Zogby and the people
who run the Arab American Institute -- which is
essentially a collaborative holding entity for a
large network of other social and political groups
focused on Arab-American issues. While the group
is not nearly as large as AIPAC, it’s influence is
high -- and given the times we are in, the work that
Zogby does is a non-partisan vehicle for the hopes
and concerns of approximately 3.5 million Arab
Americans.
But unlike the clamor of candidates to speak
at the annual AIPAC conference or to appear at
various national security forums in Israel, this important
Michigan-based conference of the great
and the good among Arab Americans was given a
frosty shoulder by leading candidates of both parties,
and I think that is outrageous.
I think it communicates that a false choice that
places Israel’s interests beyond concerns of the
Arabic world would be the default position of all
the candidates if elected President. The key is to
communicate that the best pro-Israel policy is also
a pro-Arab policy, and the best pro-Arab policy
can be a pro-Israel policy. Some candidates have
been seduced into the narrative that relations between
the US and Arabs on one hand are a zero
sum game pitted against America’s tight relationship
with Israel.
As Senator Chuck Hagel has said, that is a “false
choice, and a dangerous choice.”
the color in there. We had colors. Not cultures.
My generation did not get that kind of exposure.
However, society ruins that amazing cultural education
when
we have television
shows
and popular
movies where
the evil terrorist
is always a
certain kind of
person. When
this new generation
looks
back on the
classic shows
and movies
of their youth
they will see terrorists as the enemies.
Hopefully, as with what happened with the link
between Nazis and Germans, the connection and
relationship will slip further and further out of
our conscious mind, into our subconscious, and
then out of thought entirely and we stop making
www.al-sahafa.us
the connection at all. But for those of us in THIS
generation, in THIS decade, we need to attempt
to understand what is happening to our society
collectively.
I am not of Arab heritage or ethnicity. I’m a
white suburban girl from outside Minneapolis
and the largest minority in my high school was
adopted Asian children. We had two Indian girls
in my school. We had nine African Americans.
We had one Russian adopted girl. I would say
there might have been more, but I doubt it. My
high school had 2,500 students. I did not grow
up being culturally aware. I won’t say that after
seeing some movie all of the sudden I understand
what it must be like for Arab Americans dealing
with this kind of stereotype—not always obvious
or extreme but even if just under the surface—
coming from other Americans. I will say though,
that before watching this film I never realized
how much I didn’t understand. I will never
ever get it because I am not Arab American, but
at least now I have a better grasp of what I will
never understand.
First of all, I want to applaud the fact that Ron
Paul, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, and Bill
Richardson took the time to be at this important
assembly of Arab Americans.
Let me clap with just one hand the fact that Hillary
Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama
sent videotaped greetings and had “surrogates”
represent them in exchanges with the large audience.
I saw nothing there from Chris Dodd or Joe
Biden. (may have been my oversight though)
None of the Republicans other than Paul had a
serious presence there. Mitt Romney had someone
put out some brochures -- but neither he, nor Rudy
Giuliani, nor Fred Thomspon, nor John McCain
sent anyone to meet with national leaders of the
premier Arab American leadership conference in
the nation.
This should not be tolerated. Yes, America has a
close and important strategic partnership with Israel.
But to reinforce in the minds of Americans that
“closeness” to Arab Americans could be a political
negative in the climate we are living in is disgusting
and approximates the times we have seen Arab
Americans ejected because of their “look” from
airplanes, and other discriminatory acts.
I told Arab American Institute President James
Zogby how irritating I found the low turnout of
leading presidential hopefuls who are making a
mistake about the importance of Michigan politics
as well as Arab American politics, and he told me
that despite what I saw, there have been strides
made in the “comfort level” and “acceptance” of
Arab Americans into the national political process.
As a comparison of how things are today, his
staff shared a quick history of rejection of Arab
Americans in national level politics that included:
In 1984, Democratic presidential nominee Walter
Mondale “returns contributions” to a group of
prominent Arab American businessmen.
In 1988, despite Republican nomination candidate
Bob Dole speaking at the Arab American Institute’s
annual leadership conference, Democratic
nominee Michael Dukakis rejects an endorsement
from the Arab American Democratic Federation
In 1996, Republican nominee Bob Dole refuses
to meet with Arab American Republican leaders
After 1996, the situation improved somewhat
in that Al Gore and John McCain both addressed
the summit in 1999 via satellite -- and now Arab
Americans are part of the campaigns in both leading
Republican and Democratic presidential races
-- so the story isn’t all bad.
But the sense of imbalance I have from having
attended AIPAC’s annual conference and this
meeting is strong.
I’m glad Hillary Clinton, Obama, and Edwards
sent videos -- but they should have been there.
And shame on Giuiliani, Romney, Thompson,
McCain, and the rest -- who were just absent.
The room seemed majority Republican -- but one
could feel the tectonic shift of the community to
the Democrats -- or to Ron Paul -- and away from
the Republican frontrunners in a number of cases.
But that said, I’m not sure that the Democratic
frontrunners really deserve all that much praise.
A video is a video, a nice gesture, but not good
enough given the massive amount of time that these
Dems have showered upon other ethnic American
voting communities.
I think Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and
Obama ought to call James Zogby and ask him to
bring a group of leading Arab Americans to meet
with them and express their concerns about the
course the nation is on. I’m sure that Zogby could
get such a group to Iowa easily -- but the request
should come from the campaigns.
And yes, Romney should do the same -- but the
Giuliani neocon network led by Norman Podhoretz,
David Frum, and Daniel Pipes would veto
any suh meeting between Rudy and leading Arab
Americans.
But if Rudy was as boldly sensible as he pretends
to be, I bet Zogby’s group would meet him too.
-- Steve Clemons
November 2007 • Page 11

Surrender to irresistible
‘Aliens in America’
Today’s existential quiz: If a
TV network presents a daringly
different and funny comedy, but
very few people see it, was it
ever televised at all?
“Aliens in America” is set in
Wisconsin, as was “That ‘70s
Show.” Justin, played by Dan
Byrd, is making the same transition
that Kevin Arnold did at the
start of “The Wonder Years”: new
school, new year, new chance to
reinvent himself. Except it doesn’t go well, so his well-meaning parents intervene.
The parents, played by Scott Patterson (likable Luke on “Gilmore Girls”) and Amy
Pietz (who’s delightful here), decide to boost their son’s popularity by sponsoring an
exchange student - one of those handsome boys like the one on the brochure cover.
Except that when the exchange student arrives from London, he’s not tall, blond
and athletic, but small, dark and Pakistani: Raja, a polite and devout youngster
played by Adhir Kalyan, who might become a breakout star this season despite the
handicap of CW’s low viewership.
He’s that good. So is his character
and so is this show, which is
brave enough to take a lot of daring
chances that pay off with big
laughs.
Describing too much would only
dilute the fun of watching, but
here’s a taste. On Raja’s first day
of school, one well-intentioned
but clueless teacher tries to “begin a dialogue” with the new exchange student, and
asks, in front of the entire class: “Raja, you are so different from us. How does that
feel?”
Then she asks how the other students feel about Raja being so different. One girl
raises her hand and says, sweetly, “I guess I feel angry, because his people blew up
the buildings in New York.”
Raja protests that
she’s wrong, but it
hardly matters. Even
Justin really wants Raja
gone - at first. Then
they bond, and before
long, the mother comes
home to find the two
boys getting along famously,
playing soccer
in the backyard (around
some alpacas) and praying
toward Mecca together. For those of you who have never heard of Alpacas, they
are a domesticated species of South American camelid, resembling a small llama in
superficial appearance.
Alpacas and Muslim prayers in a family sitcom? Yes. Sameer Asad Gardezi and
his writing partners have created something very different in “Aliens in America” -
and something very, very funny.
November 2007 • Page 12
Entertainment
Professor Sheds Light on
Egyptian Animal Mummies
The animal mummy room in Cairo’s Egyptian
Museum fascinated Salima Ikram the first time she
traveled to Egypt. Unfortunately, it had been shut
down. “I felt it needed rescuing,” Ikram said with
a laugh. Ikram, a professor of Egyptology at the
American University in Cairo and co-director of the
Animal Mummy Project at the museum resurrected
the room six years later. The study of animal mummies
can shed light on ancient Egyptian religious
and cultural practices, Ikram said Wednesday to a
packed audience in the E. William Doty Fine Arts
Building. While animals were an important part of
Egyptian life, they were “not just lunch on hoof,”
Ikram said. The mummified remains can give information
on veterinary science, changes in the environment,
village beliefs and technology, she said.
Analysis of evidence shows Egyptians mummified
animals to remember beloved pets - as they were believed
to be sacred - to present as votive offerings and
to serve as sources of food in the afterlife, she said.
“If you really like your beef ribs, you could take them and have them with you in the afterworld,” Ikram
said. During her research, Ikram noticed spikes in Egyptian history where cults of sacred animals were increasingly
popular. They believed a fragment of a spirit would enter an animal, she said. This spirit would
be recognized, and during the animal’s lifetime, it lived as a god on Earth. When it died, priests buried
it with pomp and splendor. Mummification is the practice of artificially preserving a body of a human or
animal. Organs are removed and the body is dried out with natron, a combination of salt and baking soda
found naturally in Egypt. Once dried, the body becomes stiff. Sacred oils are poured over the body to make
it pliable, and then it is wrapped. X-rays of animal mummies show signs of advanced veterinary technology,
she said. There is evidence of tooth extraction and the setting of broken bones. Throughout Egypt’s
history, cults worshiped animals they saw as representations of gods, said UT classics professor Jennifer
Gates-Foster. Priests often mummified cats as an offering to the goddess Bastet, who was frequently
represented as a cat, she said. “It may seem strange to us, but a lot of serious academic research has been
devoted to this area,” Gates-Foster said. Other animals frequently mummified included dogs, jackals and
monkeys, as well as larger animals such as crocodiles and bulls. Ikram has published multiple books as
well as a series of children’s books on ancient Egypt. She is currently working on a book about animal
mummies and tomb decoration.
English Rules Lebanon
& Cyberspace?
“English is cool. If you’re hip and you’re
young, you speak English,” said a Western
diplomat in Beirut. According to Oakland Ross
of The Star, English is becoming the newest
trendy language in the capital of Lebanon, paralleling
French, “long the language of choice
for cultured Lebanese.” According to editorial
writer at L’Orient Le Jour, Lebanon’s Frenchlanguage
daily newspaper, English has “indisputably
supplanted French as the language of
status in this resolutely status-conscious land.
English - particularly American English- has
muscled French aside in this Mediterranean
land, whose capital was once known as le Paris du Moyen-Orient. The Paris of the Middle East.” After the
breakup of the Ottoman Empire in 1922, Lebanon became a French protectorate, “But Parisian influence
- linguistic and otherwise - endured long after Lebanon became an independent state in 1946.” Ghassan
Moukheiber, a lawyer in Beirut, notes “Cultured Lebanese were all educated in French-speaking countries.”
A variety of theories and explanations exist for the recent popularization of English. Some in the
country find it to be less challenging than French while others note it opens more doors and creates more
opportunities than French. “English is a lot more useful if you want to go abroad,” said a French-speaking
diplomat. “It is a wonderful trilingual country. In a single sentence, you will hear all three languages, as
in the typical Lebanese greeting - Hi, Keefak, Ca’ Va?”
www.al-sahafa.us
Egyptologist Salima Ikram explains embalming processes
used to mummify various animals in ancient
Egypt. She spoke to a packed audience in the Doty
Fine Arts building Thursday evening.
Media Credit: Karl McDonald

Princess Diana
inquest opens with
royal murder claim
LONDON (AFP) — The father of Princess
Diana’s Egyptian boyfriend
reiterated his claim
that the couple were murdered
by the British royal
family, as an inquest into
their deaths got underway.
Mohamed Al-Fayed made
the comments shortly before
11 jurors were selected to begin
six months of hearings into the
deaths of Diana and Dodi Al-
Fayed, who died 10 years ago
in a Paris road tunnel crash.
“I’m fighting for 10 years. At
last we’re going to have a jury of
ordinary people and I hope (for)
the decision which I believe, that
my son and Princess Diana have been murdered
by the royal family,” he said outside the
High Court.
“I’m hoping to God to find the murderers,
the gangsters who have taken the lives of two
innocent people,” he told reporters.
In court five men and six women jurors
were then selected, taking an oath to “diligently
inquire” into the couple’s deaths under
the direction of Coroner Lord Justice Scott
Baker.
Under British law the inquest could only begin
after the completion of an official probe, which
last year concluded that the crash was a “tragic accident”
involving a high-speed crash by a drunk
driver.
Entertainment
Harrod’s owner Al Fayad
The inquest – legally required when a British
citizen dies an unnatural death abroad and the body
is repatriated -- has a narrow remit, seeking only
to identify the deceased and find how, when and
where they died.
No blame is determined and the verdict must not
identify anyone as having criminal or civil liability.
Possible verdicts include natural causes, accident,
suicide, unlawful or lawful
killing or industrial disease.
The inquest may also produce
an open verdict if there is insufficient
evidence to reach a
conclusion.
If a verdict of unlawful killing
was returned, it could
leave open the possibility
of civil legal action by Al-
Fayed.
Diana, 36, and Dodi
Fayed, 42, were in a Mercedes
driven by Fayed’s
chauffeur Henri Paul, 41,
that hit an underpass pillar
on August 31, 1997 as
it sped away from chasing
paparazzi photographers.
Diana’s bodyguard, Trevor
Rees-Jones, was the only
survivor, but suffered serious
injuries.
The inquest will examine
the embalming of Diana’s
body, her post-mortem, the
hours before the crash, suggestions
she was engaged to
Fayed, the alleged purchase of a ring, claims she
was pregnant and bodyguards’ evidence.
Jurors were handed maps of the route taken on
the fateful night in Paris as well as photographs of
the wrecked Mercedes in the underpass.
Baker said the jurors would be asked to consider
how the driver of the car lost control and smashed
into the 13th pillar in the tunnel and to consider
whether the events were by “accident or design.”
They would be asked to look at the nature of the
collision with a white Fiat Uno as well as a report
of a blinding light in the tunnel.
They were also shown a press photograph of the
couple kissing during a Mediterranean holiday
aboard the Fayed yacht as well as one with Diana
in a leopard-print bathing suit which fuelled rumors
she was pregnant.
But Baker reminded them it was taken before
there was any sign of an intimate relationship with
Dodi.
Fayed, owner of London department store Harrods,
maintains that Diana was killed in an intelligence
plot orchestrated by Prince Philip to prevent
her potential marriage to a Muslim.
He has sought, so far unsuccessfully, to force
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip
to testify.
Shortly before the inquest started, Fayed’s
spokesman said he hoped it could finally uncover
the truth about the crash.
“This is the last best chance to get at the plain unvarnished
truth about what happened 10 years and
two months ago,” said spokesman Michael Cole.
www.al-sahafa.us
Widow of Hollywood
Director-Producer
Moustapha Akkad Sues
Global Hyatt Corporation
for Wrongful Death
Akkad Was Killed in a 2005 Suicide Bombing at the Grand
Hyatt Hotel in Amman, Jordan
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed today in the Circuit Court of
Cook County by Sooha Akkad, the widow of Hollywood directorproducer
Moustapha Akkad (executive producer of Halloween),
against Global Hyatt Corporation and Hyatt International Corporation.
A guest at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman, Jordan, Akkad
was killed by a terrorist’s bomb in the hotel’s lobby in 2005.
Mrs. Akkad and the Akkad Estate are represented by Thomas A.
Demetrio and Daniel M. Kotin with the Chicago, IL. law firm of
Corboy and Demetrio, P.C. and Browne Greene and Geoffrey S.
Wells with the Santa Monica, CA. law firm of Greene Broillet
& Wheeler, LLP. Jeffrey Siegel, Administrator of the Estate of
Moustapha Akkad, deceased, and Sooha Akkad vs. Global Hyatt
Corporation, et. al., Case Number 2007 L 9489.
On November 9, 2005, Akkad, who lived in Los Angeles, was
in Jordan with his wife, Sooha Akkad, to attend a wedding and
was staying at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman. They were in the lobby of the hotel, along with
their daughter, Rima Akkad, when a suicide bomber detonated explosives, which had been strapped
to his body. Akkad was seriously injured and died two days later from his injuries, Rima Akkad was
killed instantly, and Sooha Akkad survived the attack but was seriously injured.
At approximately the same time on November 9, 2005, suicide bombers also detonated explosives
at the Radisson and Days Inn hotels in Amman. All three suicide bombers were members of
al-Qaeda in Iraq and affiliated with Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In an Internet
statement released after the bombings, Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attacks which resulted
in the deaths of 62 people and hundreds of injuries.
Mrs. Akkad alleges in the complaint that Hyatt was negligent in failing to responsibly protect its
registered guests from foreseeable criminal attack and violence, failing to provide metal detectors,
failing to provide adequate security, and failing to keep unauthorized individuals from accessing
the interior of the hotel. The lawsuit was filed in Chicago, IL, which is Hyatt’s world-wide headquarters.
According to Thomas A. Demetrio: “Security at the Grand Hyatt was wholly inadequate to protect
its guests. Prior to November 9, metal detectors were located at the entrance to the Grand Hyatt
but were removed by the hotel prior to the attack. The Grand Hyatt was one of the few hotels in
Amman totally accessible from the street. On November
9 especially, heightened security measures at the hotel
should have been in place since November 9 is a date
that carries the same significance as September 11 in the
United States due to the fact that in the Middle East and
in many countries around the world the day number precedes
the month number when written. Thus, November
9 becomes 9/11.”
Browne Greene said: “The law is very clear. A hotel
has a high legal duty to its registered guests to protect
them from the foreseeable criminal acts of terrorists.
On November 9, 2005, Hyatt should clearly have had
heightened security - rather than the loose security that
was in place. Our goal will be to see to it that the Akkad
family has its day in court and that justice is served.”
Sooha Akkad (L) w Mrs. Kawar of Jordan
Embassy
The late Mustapha Akkad
Moustapha Akkad was the executive producer of the
Halloween horror films and produced and directed the
movie, The Message, starring Anthony Quinn, about the
Prophet Muhammad. Considered to be Syria’s greatest
film director, he was scheduled to go to Syria after the wedding in Jordan to be honored by the
Damascus International Theater Festival.
November 2007 • Page 13

By Shelley Gosen
(Case Intern Student)
As a person who is not deeply religious, or really
even slightly religious, I find religious houses
as beautiful examples of architecture, devotion,
and worship. Although I am exposed to churches
most often, I love looking at and appreciating the
magnificence of temples and mosques as well.
When you look at a mosque or a church do you
ever consider when it was built? Do you wonder
what the founders of that particular house of worship
went through to ensure its existence?
As I researched this topic more I realized how
little I knew about mosques. In a general sense
I knew what they were-the shape of the building,
it is the house of prayer for Islam, for instancebut
I knew very little details. The word mosque,
for those of you like me-or even for those of you
who aren’t but would enjoy a little backgroundis
an English word that comes from the Arabic
word “masjid.” Main religious texts provide no
clear guidelines as to what a mosque should look
like, unlike many religions, but the construction
and design are divinely guided. One required
essentials of a mosque is that it should point towards
Mecca. In many mosques this might be a
niche in the wall referred to as a mihrab which
must be roofed and no door. There are two kinds
of mosques-jama’as and masjids. A jama’a, in
English, is most commonly referred to as a Friday
Mosque or a Great Mosque and is most typically
ornately furnished. A majid can also be ornately
furnished but are not nearly as elaborate as a
jama’a. These mosques are generally smaller and
local. Interestingly enough the masjid, meaning a
place for prostration, have been used by Muslims
but also at times by other religions.
Around the world Muslims are having more
and more difficulties building new or improved
mosques. Currently the biggest uproar is in Cologne,
Germany. Cologne is known for its medieval
cathedral, the most recognizable building in
Cologne and one of the world’s largest at 375.7
feet long, 282.2 feet wide and its two towers are
515.1 feet tall. However, the controversy is not
over the church, but over the designs for a large
November 2007 • Page 14
mosque with minarets more than 165 feet high.
In comparison, the mosque is dwarfed by the Roman
Catholic Church, but this would be one of the
largest mosques in all of Europe.
Cologne’s Muslim population, estimated at over
120,000, is ready for larger places of worship but
the town is divided. Normally, Muslims pray in
smaller houses of worship scattered throughout
the city and no real centralized location for them
exists. The new mosque would be able to hold
2,000 worshipers at once. “Cologne has 120,000
Muslims,” commented Social Democratic district
council man, Josef Wirges. “They should be able
to pray at a prestigious building. After all, we
have the beautiful Cologne cathedral.”
Wirges, however, does
not hold the most popular
opinion. Approximately
36% of residents were
happy with the mosque
plan, 29% wanted to see it
scaled down and 31% were
entirely against it according
to The Economist magazine
(a weekly British magazine
on news and international
affairs). This brings certain
questions to mind for the
outsider. For example, why
are people willing to accept
a church that is so large in
size but not a mosque which
is about half as large? Is it a
matter of minority religions
with comparable religious
buildings to the majority?
Germany is not alone in this debate. Other
European countries with growing populations of
Muslims are facing similar disputes. Spain and
Italy, both possessing strong histories of Catholicism
and invasions by the Ottoman Empire, are
the most resistant. It is the general opinion that
these are Catholic areas and mosques are not
welcome on the landscapes. In general, some
speculated that in areas where there is a longer
history of Muslim immigration, such as Britain,
Belgium, and France, resistance is breaking down
over time. This give
two messages: Muslims
may choose to
avoid immigrating
to the more troublesome
countries and
avoid the problem
all together, or
there is hope in the
future for all European
countries being
equally receptive to
the growing Muslim
populations.
However, France
is a questionable
battle ground. Currently
it is estimated
that the Muslim
population in France
Spiritual
All About Mosques!
is between 3 and 10% (the numbers are ambiguous
because it is illegal to ask questions pertaining
to religion in the census). In the mid 1500’s
the city of Toulon was used as an Ottoman naval
base and to make it more convenient for Turkish
crews, the Christian population was evacuated.
Additionally, the cathedral was converted into a
mosque. The great mosque of Paris, founded after
World War I as a sign of France’s gratitude to
the Muslims from the colonies who fought against
Germany, is a wonderful symbol of a new, more
accepting France. However, it was not until after
World War II that immigration picked up. In 2002
the Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy got the ball
rolling on the creation of a “French Council of the
Muslim Faith.” This act was widely criticized but
the council managed to make it and continues to
be informally recognized by the national government.
Now there are second and third generation
Muslims living throughout France and are working
on the behalf of their family and community
in making a more accepting France as a whole.
Although, despite this long and growing history
with Muslim immigration, France is riddled with
numerous other cultural concerns-including the
wearing of hijabs in public schools by students
and teachers. France is a work in progress and
shows growing promise for Muslims.
And of course, you have the United States. The
first mosque in the United States was built in one
of the least populous states, North Dakota, in the
1930s. More and more mosques appeared slowly
with approximately 20 mosques by 1950. According
to the Faith Communities Today around eighty
seven percent of mosques in the United States
were founded since 1970. As you might guess,
the state with the largest number of mosques is
California. However, due to the density of Muslims,
Michigan is the home of the largest American
mosque, the Islamic Center of America which
holds over 3,000 people. The United States census
is prohibited from asking questions about religion
but for 2007 there is an estimated population of 4
million. Currently there are approximately 1,200
mosques to serve that population. That means that
each mosque would have to accommodate about
www.al-sahafa.us
3,300 worshipers. Of course, not all Muslims attend
mosques, but you get the picture. Islam is
one of the fastest growing religions in the United
States but the progress is slow in accommodating
this increasing population. So then you might
think, “Well, then just build more mosques.” And
that is exactly what is happening, but not without
resistance. In July, 2006, Florida residents protested
the granting of a building permit for a new
mosque. More than likely, the founders of this
Floridian mosque were up against enough barriers
as it is. In general, the building of mosques is
impeded by “practical” reasons: zoning, parking,
etc. However, lucky for the Islamic community,
religions are protected by that famous colonial
stance of the United States on religion: Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
So although there are countries that are taking
great strides to meeting Islam in the middle,
Cologne Germany, Spain, and Italy are a couple
names that still need some work. To these countries
I only have one thing to say: the Muslim
population is growing and it is not going anywhere,
so sooner or later it is going to come down
to you. How you want to meet that inevitable future
is up to you.
* Readers- if you are interested in attending a
mosque or want more information about mosques,
just attend a service at one of the many in the
Cleveland area.
Islamic Center of Cleveland
6055 W.130 St
Cleveland, Ohio 44130
First Cleveland Mosque
3613 East 131 st
Cleveland, Ohio 44105
Masjid Al-Bilal
East 75th Euclid Ave
Cleveland, Ohio 44103
Masjid Al-Haqq
1187 Hayden ave
Cleveland, Ohio 44110
Masjid Al-Hijrah and Cleveland
Community Islamic School
7301 Superior Ave
Cleveland, Ohio 44103
Masjid Al-Islam
12740 Lorain rd
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Masjid Al-Madinah
1300 Reid Ave
Lorain, Ohio 44054
Masjid Al-Mu’min
2690 M.L.K. Jr. Drive
Cleveland, Ohio 44105
Masjid Al-Ummatullah
3929 East 140th st
Cleveland , Ohio 44128
Masjid Al-Uqbah
Uqbah Mosque Foundation
2222 Stokes Blvd, Cleveland,
OH 44106
Masjid Al-Warith Deen
7301 Superior Ave
Cleveland, Ohio 44103
Masjid An-Nur
1253 East 99th
Cleveland, Ohio 44103
Mursalla Mosque JSL-ISLAM
15015 ST CLAIR
P.O. BOX 20578
Cleveland, Ohio 44120
Musalla : Residence
3821 Kirkwood
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Islamic Center of America,
Deerborn Michigan

Paid Advertisement
www.al-sahafa.us
November 2007 • Page 15

November 2007 • Page 16
Eye On Middle East
Egyptian Editors
Sentenced
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned a
recent Cairo court’s ruling which sentenced four independent
editors to one-year prison terms for allegedly publishing
false information, reports All Africa. Ibrahim Eissa of
Al-Dustour, Wael al-Abrashy of Sawt al-Umma, Adel Hammouda
of Al-Fajr, and Abdel Halim Kandil of Al-Karama
were all convicted of “publishing false information likely to
disturb public order.”
The lawyer who initiated the case, representing the ruling
National Democratic Party, accused the four editors of
defaming President Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal and
of spreading false information, specifically reporting that
Egyptian President Mubarak’s health is ailing.
“By jailing journalists merely for something they pub-
Mubarak- President of Egypt
lished, Egypt once again thumbs its nose at the most basic principles of a free press,” said Joel Simon,
CPJ Executive Director. “The court also appears to be exacting retribution on the press after its recent
coverage of President Mubarak’s health.” Although the court dropped the defamation charge, the editors
were found guilty under Article 188 of the Egyptian Penal Code, which states that anyone who
“malevolently makes up public pieces of information or statements or false rumors” will be punished
by a maximum of one year in jail and fined 20,000 Egyptian Pounds ($3,540).
“This is undoubtedly a new attempt on the part of the government to terrorize journalists and to
stifle their voices in order to control any future information about President Mubarak’s health and
ability to remain in power,” said Nasser Amine, leader of the Arab Center for the Independence of the
Judiciary and the Legal Profession.
Meanwhile, Jackson Diehl of The Washington Post reports that Egyptian publisher Hisham Kassem,
a recent winner of the National Endowment for Democracy’s prestigious annual Democracy Award
for his role in jump-starting a free Egyptian press, “Could not help but feel a little depressed.”
Kassem says, “Egypt was in the least of [President Bush’s] priorities. You can feel Egypt is on the
back burner right now. Everyone is in despair about the situation.” Kassem points out that the White
House, which he once credited with helping him advance press freedoms in Egypt, has abstained from
reacting to recent court verdicts. “We were getting air cover from the Bush administration, but when
the fighting started last month they were not out there with us in the outposts. Instead, they effectively
said, ‘You’re on your own.’ It’s put us in a very difficult position–and I mean all of us who supported
democracy in the greater Middle East.”
“There is no place for a respectable and honorable journalist anymore,” expressed Eissa in an Al-
Dustour article. “He must be an employee working for state security. He must either be raised on
writing reports and selling his friends out, or be a hypocrite and a coward.”
American PR Goes Arab
for Revenue
A recent study by JWT Advertising, the nation’s largest advertising
firm, shows the Muslim American community with an estimated purchasing
power of about $170 billion, according to Mohamed Elshinnawi
of Voice of America News. JWT is reportedly working with a
variety of companies to create strategies aimed at attracting Muslim
American customers. JWT Advertising states, “Companies in the Detroit
area are leading the way in using the cultural aspects of the Muslim
faith to expand their share of the Muslim American market.”
JWT’s Director of Trend Spotting, Ann Mack, notes, “Some marketers–I am not going to name them
specifically–are having Ramadan advertisements and because they are speaking specifically to these populations,
they will appeal, they will resonate and those consumers will tend to gravitate towards these
brands.” The study further suggests six to eight million Muslims in the US are seeking respect and recognition,
“and that companies should make sure they are not neglecting or offending their community.”
Various companies are planning creative approaches to cater to Muslim Americans’ desires and needs.
“Currently we are underway in a research project to understand exactly what Sharia law says and
whether the bank will be able to provide true Islamic bank products and services,” said Amal Berry, Vice
President of Comerica Bank.
In a related move, McDonald’s restaurants in the Detroit area have started offering halal chicken, and
area Rite-Aid stores now display Arabic signs while Comcast Cable is featuring the first nationwide Muslim
American TV channel.
Advertising in the Muslim American community “is a win-win situation,” writes Elshinnawi, “they
say American companies will use it to expand their market share, while Muslim Americans will enjoy
recognition and respect.”
Arab Women on
Driving, Art and Fashion
In Saudi Arabia, the only country which prohibits women from driving, a group of women have
petitioned King Abdullah to reconsider the infamous ban.
According to an article in Arab News, Fawziyyah al-
Oyouni, a founder of The Society for Protecting and
Defending Women’s Rights, insists that “Women are
in urgent need of driving; it’s a basic need.” Al-Oyouni
notes that King Abdullah has previously termed
this a social issue, rather than political or religious,
and that the government does not object to women
driving.
Reporter Ebtihal Mubarak writes, “Government officials
made statements last year indicating that the
decision of women driving is up to society and not the
repeal of any law. Indeed, there is no law in the Kingdom
that explicitly states that women cannot drive.”
Mubarak cites Saudi writer Abdu Khal, who writes
that the ban is flawed even when viewed conservatively.
He notes that since women must have drivers rather than drive themselves, this forces them
to be alone for long periods with unrelated men.
Yet many people, including Saudi women, continue to visibly support the ban. A female reader of
the daily Al-Hayat, Iman Abdul-Wahhab, questions why the right to drive “has become an obsession
for many, Saudis and non-Saudis.” She insists that the driving ban “is a tradition that has become
acceptable…no one has any right to use it as a means to mock or ridicule.”
Saudi Arabia was also in the news concerning the integration of women into Al-Muftaka Village,
a collection of artist’s studios in Abha, reportsArab
News.
According to Saudi artist Ahmad Mater, “Certain
sections of Saudi society, including the government’s
own artistic and cultural departments, have
neglected women artists for a long time…The new
studio (for women) inside the Al-Muftaha Village
should have been established a long time ago. And
still, it is unfair to have numerous women working
out of one studio while each male artist has his
own space.”
Mater does not consider the new efforts to be a
substantial reform and points to women that are often
prevented from exhibiting their artwork due to cultural mores and laws that require women to
acquire permission to travel from their legal guardian.
“These women went through so much trouble to obtain permission for an exhibition,” he said. “By
the time they were given clearance, the Abha festival was almost over.”
In a separate article in the International Herald Tribune, Muslim women are adapting traditions
instead of changing them as they search for more fashionable and modern garb.
“The Islamic fashion market is going to explode in the coming years,” predicts Gulsen Aydemir,
editor of the American site Modest Flair. She says that the industry has seen markedly wider varieties
of styles on offer in recent years. “Muslim women want to dress modestly in a way that is still
in sync with the styles of the cultures they live in.”
Designer Sarah Binhejaila states, “Historically, Islamic clothing for women across the Arabian
Peninsula was always rich in design, color and embroidery. But this rich history of Islamic tribal
fashion was threatened to become extinct due to the enforcement of the black abaya [the long overgarment
and matching head scarf]…I’m attempting to revive that festive spirit by using the richness
and appeal of modern fashion within the boundaries permissible by Islamic dress code.”
The article estimates that half of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims dress modestly and spend $120 on
clothing, putting the worldwide market around $96 billion annually, with higher per capita spending
in wealthier countries. Dubai recently held its International Fashion Week; Tehran followed suit.
A recent forum in South Korea highlighted the variety of women’s roles in the Middle East,
reports AMEInfo.com. Speaking during a recent visit to South Korea, Mona Al Marri, Chair of
the Dubai Women’s Establishment, described Dubai as progressive, especially where women were
concerned.
Al Marri questioned perceptions of Western presentations of Islam and the Middle East, “Women
in the UAE hold prestigious and significant positions in the political, commercial, academic and
financial arenas. This needs to be proclaimed to the world that still harbors doubts about women’s
role in the modern Arab world.”
www.al-sahafa.us

Eye On Middle East
Arab TV, From Mobile
to Mecca
The Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) is looking to push user-generated content in the coming
seasons, according to an article in the Gulf News. MBC’s Director of New Media, Ammar
Bakkar, says that their initiatives are a “first for the Arab world.” These initiatives include
proposed video calling, where viewers can make video calls to live programs using their
mobile phones. They have also launched “mobisodes” designed to air episodes of various
television programs on mobile phones, for the Ramadan season.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi television recently wrapped up production on the popular show
Prince of Poets, similar to the Western-based American Idol, reports Variety. Roughly 4,000
poets from all over the Arab world competed by sending in poems. The winner, Emirati Karim
Maato, won the title and 1 million dirhams ($270,000).
Tunisia’s newest radio station-one of only three privately-owned stations in the country-will
broadcast religious programming 24/7. Radio Zaytouna for the Noble Qur’an (named after
the Zitouna Mosque) launched at the start of
Ramadan this year, and hopes to be a “beacon
in the Islamo-Arab world,” according to owner
Muhammad Sakhr al-Matiri. Middle East Onlinereports
that roughly 80% of the station’s
broadcasts will be about the Quran, and the
remainder will focus on the prophet Mohammad
or similar religious topics. Until 2003,
Tunisia’s government prohibited private radio
broadcasting.
According to Gulf Times, leading Islamic
scholars and Imams, speaking at a seminar
organized by the Friends of Environment Center
in the Ramadan Green Tent, addressed and
questioned the independence of Arab media.
Hatim al-Qarnashawi, an Islamic affairs specialist,
accused the Arab media of portraying
Islam “in accordance with the political trends
of each country.” Al-Qarnashawi claimed that
Arabic television does not properly represent
Islam and its “spirit of tolerance,” focusing instead
on Islam’s use as a political weapon “in
which loyalty to Islam is measured by the loyalty to the regime.”
“In Iraq alone there are now around 30 religious satellite channels which contributed to the
rift among the different factions in the country,” said media expert Marzouq Bashier. “Fatwas
that instigate for division and disunity are sold easily in Iraq because of the multiplication of
the satellite channels there. The situation has come to a stage where each Muslim now has a
satellite channel that fits her or his views.”
In other news, the Organization of the Islamic Countries and Qatar is set to launch a new
television station designed to curb the growth of other religious channels, which some say
encourages sectarian disputes in the region, reports Gulf News. Ahmad Abdul Malek, an expert
who once worked for the Supreme Council for Heritage and Culture, says that many of
the channels focus on negative and insightful commentary rather than unifying and peaceful
programming.
In similar developments, Warner Brothers, Time Warner’s film and TV division, “Has
launched an unprecedented multibillion –dollar partnership to develop a media and entertainment
hub in Abu Dhabi virtually from scratch,” reports Joshua Chaffin of Financial Times.
The project, which will be handled by Aldar, Abu Dhabi’s largest real estate developer and
Abu Dhabi Media Company, will include the creation of a 6,000 acre theme park, hotel and
cinemas. The government of The United Arab Emirates has set aside $500 million dollars to
co-finance the production of Warner Brothers’ films. “For our company and its further globalization,
growth for us is not just in domestic markets. It’s largely outside the US,” explained
Time Warner chief executive Dick Parsons. “The deal seemed to underline the fact that Hollywood
and its products have not been tarnished by the US government’s unpopularity around
the world,” writes Chaffin.
www.al-sahafa.us
Syrian Media Focus
According to Arab Media & Society, the ruling Arab Socialist Baath Party of Syria recently
held a workshop titled “The Role of the Media in Enhancing the Culture of Resistance,”
which underlined the need to establish an Arab media strategy “to defend the Arab rights and
identity and confront the campaigns
of deception and distortion the causes,
rights, and interests of the Arab nation
are facing.” Among the speakers
was Tahsin al-Halabi, deputy president
of the Palestinian Journalists
and Writers Union in Syria and Dr.
Muhammad al-Rifa’i, a professor at
the Media Department of Damascus
University. Al-Halabi spoke of the
advancement of the means of communication
and the techniques of the
modern media, which have become
a central part of the balance of powers.
He highlighted the most recent
Israeli-Lebanese War, and spoke of a
conflict between 2 media fronts, those of Israel and the Arabs. “The legacy of the resistance
culture of the Arab nation, however, facilitated the work of the resistance media, which
achieved a great victory in the end. On the other hand, the Zionist society, which is an opportunist
society, does not have the resistance energy the Arab human has,” he explained.
“The participants touched upon the negligence in exposing the massacres of the occupation
and remind the successive Arab generations of the heinous crimes the occupation committed
against the Arab people…They underlined the need to draw up plans and conduct strategic
media studies for the next stage that would support the resistance media and enhance the
resistance potential of the Arab citizens in order to defend the Arab rights and regain them
fully,” writes Arab Media & Society.
In other Syrian media news, the Iranian-based Press TV has opened a bureau in Damascus.
During the opening ceremony, Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal “wished the channel
success in its mission in defending the Arab legitimate issues through conveying the truth
clearly, transparently and objectively.”
“The channel will focus on the Middle East issues and use the state-of-the-art technology,”
explained Assistant Secretary General of the Syrian bureau Ahmed al-Najafi. Press TV is the
first Iranian-based international news network to broadcast round-the-clock in English.
Director Sutherland, cont’d from page 10
And Sutherland said that law enforcement professionals need to keep in mind that the American Muslim
community is a strength and an asset to our country. Although some would have us believe different, the
Muslim community has made and continues to make many contributions to our country. We need to go
into these situations understanding that and try to build on these contributions.
“We have learned that engaging with these communities in a proactive manner before an incident takes
place is always to our advantage. That’s why we have set up in six cities around the country ongoing
Community Roundtables so we can tackle issues before they come up. We think that is important to establish
good relations so that when issues do arise, leaders know who to talk to, how to get their questions
answered, and how to give their input because we know they have to deal with policy issues, as well.”
He says there are many other such roundtables set up around the country which are facilitated by the FBI
and other authorities.
Sutherland says that studies from sociologists and others indicate that there is no definite profile of
someone who decides to make the move from just being discontent to violent.
He says there is a whole industry inside and outside of the government which is attempting to study the
sociology of a terror network. But again there is no definite way at this time to ascertain the data needed
to make such a determination.
That being said, Sutherland indicated that it is very important to connect communities - that leads to
ideas like local law enforcement emphasizing community policing. The closer they are to a situation, the
more likely they are to see a potential problem brewing.
If the lines of communication stay open and information flows both ways, it can greatly reduce the
potential for problems and keep us all protected while upholding all of our citizens’ civil rights and civil
liberties.
November 2007 • Page 17

U.S. & Middle East Relations
Abu Dhabi Media Oasis
An Arab statelet is spending huge sums to
turn itself into a media hub
WHEN location scouts were
searching for a place to shoot
“The Kingdom”, a film about a
terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia,
they initially chose Dubai. But
local officials refused because
they were unhappy with the
emirate’s portrayal in “Syriana”,
an earlier film. However,
Abu Dhabi, Dubai’s sister
state within the United Arab
Emirates, welcomed the filmmakers
with open arms. It even
provided Apache helicopters
for use as props.
Further evidence of Abu Dhabi’s determination to turn itself into a centre for media and entertainment
came last week when it signed a deal worth $1 billion to woo Hollywood’s biggest film studio,
Warner Bros, into a partnership. The government has several motives. Abu Dhabi, which claims
to sit atop nearly 9% of the world’s oil, has boundless wealth. It hopes that spending some of it on
media will win it worldwide status and influence in its region.
“In the Middle East you hear a lot about fundamentalists but there isn’t a modern media voice
that is realistic, dispassionate and factual,” says Riyad al-Mubarak, chief executive of the new Abu
Dhabi Media Company (ADMC). “We want to be that voice”. Cynics reckon that Abu Dhabi is also
motivated by its rivalry with Dubai, whose relative lack of oil wealth has already prompted it to
diversify into tourism, finance and media.
The deal with Warner Bros. requires that each side will spend $500m making big-budget films and
video games, to be sold internationally. Profits will be shared equally, but the studio will earn extra
cash by distributing the content. It will also earn fees by licensing characters to a new theme park, a
hotel and multiplex cinemas, to be built in Abu Dhabi soon. Warner Bros. will make films in Arabic
with ADMC too. “These are people with a lot of money and Warner Bros. gives them credibility,”
says a film executive.
This month a slate of foreign films will compete
in a new festival in Abu Dhabi, just before Dubai
holds its fourth such event. The New York Film
Academy plans to open a branch in the territory
in January 2008 and ADMC is talking to other
media-training institutions. Abu Dhabi wants to
make its mark in print too: next year ADMC will
launch a newspaper in English with about 200
journalists recruited from America, Europe and
elsewhere, headed by a former editor of Britain’s
Daily Telegraph. “It’s a coming-out party for Abu
Dhabi,” says a person involved.
Are the sheikhs wasting their money? The government
hopes that ADMC will make a decent financial
return at some point. Abu Dhabi can take
heart from the international renown of al-Jazeera,
a television channel financed by Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa al-Thani, the emir of nearby Qatar.
But it is unlikely that Abu Dhabi would tolerate
anything as controversial as al-Jazeera, or risk annoying
its neighbours as much as the Qatari channel
has done. “We have to be responsible,” says Mr Mubarak. That may hinder Abu Dhabi’s ambitions
to attract a global audience.
But the initiative may still have impact in the region. Journalists writing in Arabic in Abu Dhabi
censor themselves unnecessarily, according to an adviser to the government. The expatriates on the
English-language newspaper are less likely to, which may encourage boldness elsewhere. And Abu
Dhabi plans to tackle a huge problem for commercial television in the Middle East, which is the lack
of a trusted ratings agency to verify viewing figures. ADMC will push for the creation of such an
agency for the Middle East—not as exciting as big Hollywood deals, but probably more useful.
UN Envoy Slams
Middle East Quartet
Over Rights
Hisham Abu Taha, (Arab News)
A top UN expert said he will urge the world body to leave the Quartet unless the
four Middle East peace sponsors address Palestinian human rights. “In my most
recent report to the General Assembly, I will suggest that the secretary-general
withdraw the UN from the Quartet, if the Quartet fails to have regard to the human
rights situation in the Palestinian territories,” John Dugard told the BBC in an
interview released yesterday.
Dugard is the UN human rights envoy for the Palestinian territories and a retired
South African professor of international law. The Quartet groups together the European
Union, Russia, United Nations and United States.
Dugard said the
UN “does itself
little good by remaining
a member
of the Quartet”
and that the
organization was
“heavily influenced”
by the US.
“Every time
I visit the situation
seems to
have worsened,”
he told the BBC.
“This time I was
very struck by the sense of hopelessness among the Palestinian people.” Dugard
attributed this to “the crushing effect of human rights violations” and, as quoted by
BBC, in particular Israeli restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement.
He called Israel’s response to security threats “very disproportionate.” In a report
made public last February, Dugard drew parallels between the Israeli occupation of
the Palestinian territories and apartheid.
In another development, a Palestinian man attempted to set himself on fire in
Gaza City yesterday in protest against Israel delaying to issue identification cards.
Mohammed Junaid, 20, who has not seen for 10 years his family which now lives
in Jordan, poured gasoline on his body before the Palestinian Legislative Council
and announced his intention to immolate himself but tens of other demonstrators
stopped him. The demonstrators say that more than 54,000 Palestinians do not have
identity cards and are therefore unable to leave the Palestinian territories, even
when they need medical treatment available in other countries.
November 2007 • Page 18
www.al-sahafa.us

U.S. & Middle East Relations
Progressing Arab Politics, with Princely Style!
By Fatina Salaheddine
Can an army of Arabic pop stars and their canny
boss, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, stem the tide of Islamic
extremism?
During last summer’s
Arab-Israeli
war, Beirut tabloids
were filled with the
expected denunciations
of Israel, along
with the occasional
shot at Hezbollah for
sparking the conflict
by kidnapping two Israeli
soldiers. But they
saved plenty of outrage
for a local group
of powerful elites they
charged with wounding
Lebanon’s fighting
spirit: a crew of sexy,
wealthy pop stars, accused
of fleeing by
limo and private jet as
soon as the going got tough.
HRH Prince Alwaleed
“The first missile had barely been launched on South
Lebanon,” fumed music critic Iman Ibrahim in the online
Arabic-language daily Elaph, “before most of the
artists of Lebanon had packed their suitcases. They
didn’t forget to bring along their personal effects and
jewelry when passing ... through Syria to whichever
world capital they preferred, where they’ve gotten
used to enjoying their private luxuries far away from
the eyes of the camera.” Among the first to skip town,
wrote Ibrahim, was curvaceous Beirut beauty Haifa
Wehbe, dubbed “the sexiest woman in the Middle
East” by People magazine last spring—herself a native
of the Shiite-dominated Lebanese south where
Hezbollah enjoys the most support.
Behind the pundits’ outrage lies the story of a revolution
in Arab pop culture that started in Lebanon and
has turned seductive young
vocalists and dancing divas
into influential public figures.
In most Arab capitals
recently, street protesters
hoisted banners cheering
Hezbollah and demanded
that Arab elites adopt a
similar stance. But Wehbe
and other top-selling Arab
pop stars don’t answer to
the Arab street. If they take
orders from anyone, it’s Al-
Waleed bin Talal, the wily
Saudi prince whose entertainment
empire dominates Middle Eastern music and
satellite television. A nephew of Saudi King Abdullah,
the tall, wiry, mustachioed prince (whom Forbes called
the fifth-richest man in the world) earned his fortune
in the Saudi construction industry and once partnered
with Michael Jackson to promote family values. He
is also a major shareholder in Planet Hollywood and
Euro Disney and made headlines last fall when his
massive investment in News Corp stock protected Rupert
Murdoch from a hostile takeover. Though surely
buoyed throughout his career by family wealth, Al-
Waleed is generally touted for having surpassed most
Saudi princes in business acumen and creative energy.
“Royals, in general, they earn their living by being
royal,” Saleh Al-Ghoul, an executive director for the
prince’s flagship Kingdom Holding Company, noted
in Al-Waleed’s authorized biography. “What made
him different is that he earned his way.”
Back in the mid-’90s, Prince Al-Waleed noticed that
millions of Arabs were installing rooftop satellite dishes
and tuning into American MTV, French soft porn,
and the then-fledgling Al-Jazeera. If a homegrown, alternative
news network like Al-Jazeera could take off,
he reasoned, a similar venture might well succeed in
pop culture. “There was a gap, there was an opening,”
the prince recalled in an interview with biographer Riz
Khan. “Whenever I see an opening, I like to fill it.”
It’s one thing to sneak a satellite dish onto your roof,
however, and quite another to ask a conservative Saudi
girl to dance half-naked for the camera-even if you’re
a prince. So Al-Waleed took his idea and his checkbook
to Lebanon, where a more risqué entertainment
industry had been thriving for decades.
The music empire he built, Rotana Audio Visual
Company, is like MTV, Atlantic Records, and Ticketmaster
merged into one entity. It manages the careers
of about 120 leading Arab vocalists, owns the rights to
their songs, and produces their American-style music
videos—known as “video clips” in Middle Eastern
parlance. Prince Al-Waleed and Co. “looked at the
video clips and the songs in the United States and the
West,” explains Rotana managing director Hazem Abdul
Al, “and did the same with the Arab songs. They
shoot it as a story. It has become a new thing here in
the Middle East, and the people love to watch.” The
company operates the five biggest satellite channels
on which Arabic music is broadcast, reportedly drawing
tens of millions of viewers per day, and it also
rules the major concert venues where singers perform,
from the big summer festival in the Jordanian town of
Jerash to the ancient Roman amphitheater in the Tunisian
city of Carthage.
“His highness, he takes care of every small detail,”
Abdul Al says. “He watches everything. He writes
reports about the things he likes, the things he dislikes....
Sometimes he watches a video clip and says,
‘The name doesn’t match the song. Who chose the
name?’”
Video clips produced by Rotana have become more
than just a lucrative business
venture. In addition
to offering viewers a
taste of Western-style
pop culture, they are a
vehicle for self-expression
of a sort that is truly
Haifa Wehbe
revolutionary. While
Haifa Wehbe sings and
dances a slow flamenco
in the rain wearing a
slinky red dress, a steady
stream of Arabic text—
messages that viewers
have paid to transmit via their mobile phones—crawls
underneath the image like the stock exchange ticker
tape on CNBC. Subscribers to the service can express
their personal desires in a way that was unimaginable
even five years ago. “People are sending in messages,
saying, ‘Hi, I’m 23, looking for a hot girl in Cairo,’”
says Patricia Kubala, a Cairo-based graduate student
from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
In a society in which sex and flirtation have long
been relegated to the bedroom, Rotana and other
music networks have given young people a risk-free
outlet for self-expression. “That’s a major component
of the ‘video clip’ phenomenon that bothers and perplexes
a lot of people,” Kubala says. For the prince,
who claims credit for innovating the concept, it’s also
good business. “My channel pays for itself with just
these messages and advertising,” he told his biographer.
Tens of thousands of text messages scroll across
the screen each week, according to a source at Rotana,
in response to which a leading reactionary social
critic in Egypt slammed the so-called “culture of the
video clip” for broadcasting “a bias
toward individuality—as if individual
pleasure is the only purpose
of life.”
Supporters of Hezbollah and
Hamas have alleged a conspiracy to
corrupt Arab youth. “[Music television
producers] want us to dance
over the wounds of our people in
Palestine and Iraq,” another leading
Islamist has been quoted as saying.
In the Iraqi holy city of Karbala
last year, a thousand people demonstrated
against an alleged affront
by Lebanese idol Nancy Ajram. A
few months later, a right-wing music
critic in Egypt reportedly threw
juice in her face.
Despite these vigorous attacks,
pop idols rival mosque preachers and politicians for
the attention of Arab masses. Their fans, mostly in
their teens and 20s, comprise one of the largest baby
booms in human history. And what may be most disturbing
to Arab hardliners is that Prince Al-Waleed’s
most popular vocalists, having won the hearts of Arab
youth, have also begun to vocalize a progressive political
agenda.
When millions of Lebanese gathered peacefully
in downtown Beirut a year ago to demand that Syrian
troops withdraw from Lebanon, Haifa’s “Let Me
Live” was played on the PA system. She told Arabic
women’s magazine Laha she had recorded the song
deliberately to send a message, “because it discusses
... freedom, considered to be among the most basic of
human rights.” Lebanese diva Elissa allegedly pushed
the matter further by calling on Syrian troops to withdraw.
Her outspokenness provoked repeated attacks
in the state-run Syrian press. After Al Qaeda bombers
killed scores of Egyptians and Westerners in the Sinai
resort town of Sharm el Sheikh in July 2005, Ajram
announced her plan to hold a two-day charity concert
on behalf of the victims. She called the move “a step
against terror,” decrying some people’s apathy at the
carnage. “We can’t just sit in
our homes,” she lamented.
The benefit concert never
materialized—but over the
ensuing months, Ajram
toured hospitals in which
bombing victims were being
treated and reportedly donated
proceeds from her concerts
to their medical fees.
All these liberal pronouncements
by Rotana artists
in turn seem to affirm the
tradition of progressive Arab
politics Prince Al-Waleed grew up with. As a young
man, his father, Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz, called unsuccessfully
for sweeping political reforms, declaring
himself a socialist in the early ‘60s and briefly broadcasting
anti-monarchist radio propaganda from his
exile in Cairo. The elder prince eventually reconciled
with Saudi leadership and returned to the kingdom, on
condition that he refrain from all political activity. By
way of Rotana, the young Prince Al-Waleed appears
to have found an indirect way to channel his father’s
values through dozens of sexy singers.
Enter Hezbollah and its recent war with Israel. Over
www.al-sahafa.us
Nawal al-Zoghbi
2,000 bombs were dropped by Israeli warplanes on the
Islamist-controlled Lebanese south as well as select
targets throughout the country. Yet Rotana’s extensive
Beirut studio facilities in the mostly Christian neighborhood
of Ashrafiya remained
unscathed. “We have no problems
whatsoever,” general manager
Abdul Al told Radar when
reached in Cairo during the conflict.
“Our Lebanese installation
was always prepared for these
things to happen at any moment.
We have taken the necessary
precautions.”
There’s no evidence that the
Israelis see Rotana as especially
friendly to their cause, but the
fact is, most Rotana artists declined
to profess support for
Hezbollah fighters—and their
silence spoke volumes.
Compare Prince Al-Waleed’s
120-odd prime time starlets with
other, less well-known Arab artists who haven’t joined
his lineup, and the contrast is striking. Independent
Cairo performer Salah al-Sa’adni voiced praise for
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah at a rally in August:
“Press on, O Hassan Nasrallah, press on!” Firdos Abd
al-Hamid, another non-Rotana performer, hurled insults
at Condoleezza Rice during her diplomatic visit
to the Middle East. “Go have children in your own
country, if you can even get married!” he cried.
By contrast, Rotana music queen Wehbe raised
money for Lebanese families while in Egypt, where
she had fled—but studiously refrained from praising
the Hezbollah “resistance” during the three-week war.
Iraqi heartthrob Kazem al-Saher, another client of
the prince, kicked in $18,000 out of his own pocket
in emergency relief for the country—but likewise
declined to take a stand on the propriety of Hezbollah’s
actions. And despite Arab tabloid reports of sexy
Lebanese singers’ mass exodus from Lebanon, several
of the most prominent Rotana faces remained in
Beirut, in solidarity with their fellow Lebanese. They
just didn’t incite young men to join the battle. Witness
sultry starlet Nawal al-Zoghbi, who, by visiting
classrooms on daily goodwill missions, has focused
her efforts on keeping
kids in school despite
the violence.
With the Hezbollah-
Israeli war now in remission,
Prince Al-Waleed’s
major performance venues
have been hosting
a series of fund-raising
concerts to support the
reconstruction of Lebanon.
Among the lyrics
Kazem al-Saher
sung at those concerts
is a popular refrain by
al-Zoghby:
“I do not want you to burn my life,” she sings. “I
want to live. I want to live.”
In the context of rising Islamic extremism, which
promotes an eagerness to die for a sacred cause, that’s
a pretty radical idea. As the late Al Qaeda in Iraq
leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi put it, “We have men
who love death as you love life.” It’s nice to know
they also have at least one prominent woman, Nawal
Al Zoghby -with her flowing auburn hair and sultry
eyes, who’s willing to lend her powerful voice to the
opposite sentiment!
November 2007 • Page 19

Food For Thought
Tea in Middle East...
La Pita Express
*Restaurant Review by; Mark Hopkins
Fast-food Fatoush? It is an idea whose time and
place has come at La Pita Express in the heart of
Lakewood. It is an appetizing confluence of great
prices, great Lebanese food, great service, and a great
location that is the dream of its owner, Ghazi Slailati,
who is a one-man
kitchen preparing
every order right
before your eyes.
La Pita Express,
with its simple
décor minimal
seating, is like
a small venue
in any Middle
Eastern city, but
it has combined
that with the All-
American concept of fast food at affordable prices.
Opened since November, 2006, its reputation for
quality has already grown beyond its neighborhood
location. And, surprisingly, that is a concern for
Ghazi. He is concerned about La Pita Express becoming
so popular that people will come and order
more than he has prepared for! But like any pioneer,
he knows that this is where his journey towards customer
satisfaction begins.
You won’t be saying that you can get no satisfaction
with such selections as Appetizers (hummus,
November 2007 • Page 20
How does one enjoy a great cup of tea to warm up from the cold weather, you
ask? In beautifully decorated glasses
flavored with mint leaves (na3na),
lemon or with cardimon sticks. Perfect
for warming the heart and fingertips
in the chilly evenings.
babaghanoug, kebee, foul)
priced $3.50 and below; Salads
(tabooleh, fatoush, yogurt)
at $4.00 or less; Platters
(beef shawarma, shish kabob)
all less than $10.00; and
Sandwiches (soujok, kafta,
falalfel) all under $5.00. How
could anyone, either from the
neighborhood or from across
the river not be enticed to try
such great fare at such great
prices?
Ghazi has embraced the
concept that has already found
success in other cities where
fast-food Mediterranean food
has become a staple for dining
options. Mediterranean cuisine is one of the fastest-growing
food industries in America. Its healthful,
satisfying food selections are becoming well-known
to more and more people, so it seems only right that
such an idea as La Pita Express, should bring it the
forefront of convenience, right alongside the Big
Macs and Papa John pizzas.
Lakewood’s La Pita Express, in its short time in
business, has already gathered a deserved reputation
for the value of its menu and for the friendliness of
its affable owner who prepares every platter of kafta
kabob and every falafel sandwich with the intention
of pleasing one customer at a time.
Hospitality in the Arab world is
second to none, and nowhere is it
better expressed than in the age-old
custom of serving freshly-brewed mint tea to every guest, whether the
gathering be business or social.
Hot mint tea has been called the national drink of the Arab world. In the
Middle East it is served in a traditional pot and glasses on a tray, and can
be accompanied by an array of delicious sweets. Enjoy!
www.al-sahafa.us
So, step into the express lane and make a point of
visiting La Pitas Express. And make sure you bring
someone along to share the enjoyment of the experience.
La Pita Express
13615 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio
11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. daily
Closed Sundays
Cash only, no credit cards

Dear Cuz’n Kadin
Each month, Al-Sahafa Newspaper will be presenting a sort of “Dear Abby” column, but with
an Arab American twist. Our very own, Cuz’n Kadin (whom we will leave up to the readers’
imagination as to the gender of Cuz’n Kadin) will be answering and discussing many sensitive
topics that are rarely talked about, and deemed unworthy to discuss within the Middle Eastern
heritage. Each month, Cuz’n Kadin will be answering back readers’ cultural questions on “taboo
topics” that are so often “shushed” within Arabic households.
Readers, we encourage you to join our monthly “Dear Cuz’n Kadin” discussions by sending in
your questions and issues that you or a friend may be going through. Whether it’s an interracial
dating or arranged marriage issue, or a topic centering on sexual orientation, religious or cultural
differences, gender inequality in treatment- our very own Cuz’n Kadin will be here to give you an
ear and hopefully enlighten the issue with a fresh perspective.
Hi Cuz’n Kadin:
My Iraqi boyfriend and I have been together
almost three years (minus five months
separated). Whenever the subject of marriage
comes up, he says, “... whenever YOU want
to ask.” In other words, he’s putting the
responsibility on me! I am old-fashioned when it comes to proposals. I think the
man should ask.
Do you think he’s putting the responsibility on me because he knows I won’t ask
and he doesn’t want to commit? I have one child from a previous relationship,
and I would like more, but I vowed that I wouldn’t have another one until I was
married. I am only 32, but I don’t want to be having kids 10 years from now.
Oh yeah, we are looking at houses to buy together. How can I tell if he will ever
“pop the question” or if it’s a lost cause? What should I do?
Sincerely,
-Miss wanting to be a Mrs. Again
Dear Miss,
There is no doubt that you are frustrated right
now and wish that things could flow as you want
them to. But according to your letter, I don’t
know much about your Iraqi boyfriend. Is he
Muslim or Christian? Does he come from a
strict Iraqi household or not? What is the relationship
between him and your current child?
Speaking of which, would partly be his if you
two decide to get married. So let me break down
these questions for you so we could see how
much they weigh in regards to your situation.
I asked if your boyfriend was Christian or
Muslim, because I want to understand his mentality
a little better. If there is a difference in
religion, maybe he never thought about committing
to you until now, even though it is religiously
permissible for a Muslim man to marry
a non-Muslim woman. So if that is the case,
maybe he’s worried that such differences will
become prominent in the marriage (not assuming
that that will be the case).
www.al-sahafa.us
If that is not the problem,
what does his family think?
What do they know about
you? Do they know you
have a child from a previous
marriage? Basically, is
he hiding something that
is keeping him away from
asking your hand in marriage?
Please don’t think
that I’m putting bad
thoughts in your mind,
but I want you to be real
with yourself and act
accordingly. You have
to know what is going
on around you, so you
can break through any
confusion and curiosities.
And lastly,
I asked about your
current child. Believe
it or not, that
could either weigh
little or more than
any other topic
I discussed with
you. You have to
understand that you
are dealing with a man (let alone an Arab man)
who might be thinking “this child is not mine.”
And if that is an issue, your eagerness to have
more children will change things around.
All in all, this goes back to your boyfriend. I
feel that I know more about where you stand
on this issue than anything else I know about
your boyfriend. But, you know him more than I
do. So, I advise you to talk to him! Figure out
what he is thinking about, what he is worried
about, and what he is fearful of in the future.
If he is just a shy guy and afraid of proposing,
that won’t be much of a problem. But I honestly
believe that the issue is deeper than that. If he
was ready to propose, he probably would have
done it already. But I want you to understand
that this does not mean that he does not want to
be with you. However, you have a little more
homework to do when you’re done reading my
response!
In the meantime, be patient and let the answers
to your questions come naturally. There is nothing
better in the world than the things that are
meant to be. Sometimes, we question another
person’s actions and behavior, thinking that we
know them well enough. And sometimes, we
question the time that it takes for the pieces of
our puzzle to come together. We are all human
and crave for the same thing that you’re craving:
Answers! So I hope that you have a better
idea how to deal with your situation. That way,
you will find out what it right and not right for
you. Do your homework, and be patient. And
no matter what, life goes on and only gets better.
That is, if you let it be.
Good luck,
Kadin
Readers, if you or someone you know are in
a situation that is too sensitive to speak about
with friends and family – and are looking for
a bit of “cousinly advice”, please feel free to
email me; In Attention to: KADIN at office@
al-sahafa.us. And for your confidentiality,
address yourself whichever way you choose.
You don’t have to give us your name. I’ll
be the person who is willing to listen, when
others are not. And remember, you’re never
alone.
November 2007 • Page 21

Editorial
Haidar Abdel Shafi, a model for the
Palestinians, died on September
25th at age 88
In the spring of 1948, around March as he remembered it, Haidar
Abdel Shafi found himself at nightfall, waiting, in a small mud hut
by the side of the main road in Deir al-Balah. Around him stretched
groves of olive and orange trees. Palestine, in those days, was a
community of peasants and landowners; a man was judged by how
many trees he had. Haidar’s father had had none, preferring—as he
told the astonished neighbours—to save money for schooling his six
children rather than buy plantations. The lanky boy, with his dark
brows, had shaken the dust from his feet and gone away to study.
But he was back now, defending the land.
Beside him lay a bag of first-aid equipment. He was a doctor,
trained in Beirut and Jerusalem, now based in Gaza, and one of only
about a dozen practising in the whole southern sector of Palestine.
With his few colleagues he had founded, in 1945, a southern branch
of the Palestine Medical Society, and together they had attended
the first Palestine Medical Congress. Since his student days, when
he had first been inspired by Arab pan-nationalism, he had looked
on doctoring as a form of resistance: to illness, to poverty and, by
strengthening the common people, to political troubles and oppressions.
When it came to organizing Palestinians, a community not
easily made coherent, a network of doctors, clinics and waiting
rooms might serve as well as any political party. But crouching in a
hut by the main road was not his normal mode of operation.
Somewhere ahead of him were a group of fedayeen, Arab guerrilla
fighters, who had come to attack the Jewish settlement of Kfar
Darom. The settlement, one of many built on purchased land in Palestine
in the years before the establishment of Israel, was well-defended,
surrounded by circle after circle of barbed wire. Within the
circles the ground was mined, and the whole scene was overlooked
by Jewish observation towers.
The battle, though it raged all night, was a bloody defeat for the
fedayeen: 12 killed, with Dr Abdel Shafi’s first-aid bag no match for
the mines and the snipers. The Zionists seemed superbly organized.
Indeed, it was usually so. All through his long career, in which he
was a founder-member of the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) and represented Gaza on the Palestinian Legislative Council
(PLC), the doctor’s chief lament about his own people was their
disarray. They had little notion of democracy, being loyal instead to
Yasser Arafat, a strongman who monopolized all decision-making
and surrounded himself with thieves. And they turned out in the end
to have no capacity for national unity, splintering into factions—
Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and the rest—who then fought one another.
The Israelis, as he often pointed out, needed only to watch the
Palestinians destroy themselves, as they had watched that March
night from their high, dark towers.
Requiem for the olive trees
Dr Abdel Shafi was that rarest of figures, a secular and non-sectarian
Palestinian leader whose integrity and outspokenness made him
a model for all the rest. He was of the left, in an old socialist way,
but was never a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Haidar Abdel Shafi
Palestine; a doctor’s role, he seemed to believe, was to stay detached
from such affiliations. Far more useful was his decision to found and
direct the Gaza branch of the Red Crescent, his own rallying organisation
for Palestinian improvement. The Islamists attacked him, and
in 1981 burned his clinic down; he noted then, stoically, that the
Israelis who then ruled Gaza did not trouble to intervene.
On both the PLO and the PLC he was a gadfly, denouncing corruption
and resigning with much publicity from the PLC, in 1997,
because it was doing nothing to counter Israeli ambitions. The Palestinian
Authority infuriated him because it would not control the
intifada and was allowing Palestinians (though, he stressed, they
had every reason to rebel) to commit random violence against Jewish
civilians. He never ran for president in the 1996 elections, but
might have done well if he had.
Though the Israelis twice deported him and then confined him
to Gaza for his long-term refusal to cooperate, he did not oppose
the existence of Israel. The Jewish presence was a reality, and the
Jewish state had to be accepted. Nor did he dislike Jews: at Sabbath
dusks, as a boy, he had been in demand to light the lamps of
his Jewish neighbours. But there had to be a spirit of “mutuality
and reciprocity”: two viable states, side by side, within the 1967
borders, and no Jewish settlers on Palestinian land. Until the settlements
stopped entirely, he insisted, there was no point in any peace
plan for the Middle East.
This was his message at the Madrid Conference in 1991 and at the
Washington talks that followed—talks which he led and which were
undermined, to his disgust, by secret accords made later at Oslo between
Arafat and the Israelis. His speech at Madrid was perhaps the
most eloquent the West had ever heard from a Palestinian: a plea for
understanding, for sympathy and for territory. “What requiem can
be sung”, he asked, “for trees uprooted by army bulldozers? And...
who can explain to those whose lands are confiscated and clear waters
stolen, a message of peace? Remove the barbed wire. Restore
the land.”
A Mountain
to Climb
The Palestinians have longed for a state for
nearly 60 years. Arabs and Muslims have also
wanted one. So has most of the world. And now
suddenly, so do the Americans. At least that is
what they say. US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice says that it is time to establish a Palestinian
state and that it is not only in the interest of Palestinians
and Israelis, but in US interest as well.
This is a remarkable turnaround given that the
US has for years been the principal opponent
(apart from the Israelis themselves) of Palestinian
independence. It almost sounds too good to
be true. That is the view in the Arab world where
Rice commands little or no trust. They know how
decisive has been the malign influence Washington
has had for more than half a century on the
core Middle East issue. Perhaps, experience elsewhere
in the Middle East has forced Washington
to realize that Israel’s way is not the right way to
protect American interests in the region.
Rice is, of course, quite right that a Palestinian
state is in US interest. Middle East pundits have
been trying to tell the Americans this for years.
The absence of such a state and American appeasement
of the Israelis as they heaped oppression
upon the Palestinians have been the major
source of anti-US sentiments in the region and
the wider Muslim world.
But will this declaration of support for a Palestinian
state make President Bush’s planned, but
far-from-certain, Middle East summit in Annapolis,
Maryland, a success? All depends on whether
the Israelis and the Abbas government can agree
to a declaration of principle as the basis for the
talks. The Israelis have given the distinct impression
that they want to sideline the talks into
generalities with no decisions and deadlines to be
decided.
In the event, it seems that the Americans have
sided with the Palestinians to some extent. The
November conference has to be “substantive,”
says Rice. Add to this Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert’s sudden willingness to talk about
Jerusalem, one of the Palestinians’ prime demands.
Whether it is the result of US pressure is
unknown but the terms of diplomatic engagement
are clearly shifting. Even so, there is still a mountain
to climb in order to reach Annapolis.
It will not be enough for Palestinian sovereignty
to be accepted. Palestine has to exist as a recognized,
functioning state like any other. There is
no point agreeing and recognizing a state which
a couple of weeks later is invaded and dismembered
by the Israelis. Equally there is no point in
recognizing a state that turns out to be another
Somalia or Iraq at war with itself. In short, a viable
Palestine involves the consent of both the
Israelis and Hamas -- no mean feat. Possibly, an
agreement could be hammered out initially between
the Israelis and the Abbas government in
the West Bank with Hamas ignored. But it would
not last. Palestinian aspirations for full national
identity do not allow Gaza to be a permanent
prison camp. A mountain to climb, indeed.
November 2007 • Page 22
www.al-sahafa.us

By Mahmoud El-Yousseph
September 28, 2007
Columbia University President Lee Bollinger
lacked decency and integrity during his
introduction of Iran’s
President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. Mr.
Bollinger’s remarks
were rude and insulting.
The speech at Columbia
University
was an important
podium for Iran’s
president to express
his country’s views.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
This is what was supposed
to be a vehicle for dialog between Iran
and the U.S.
Mr. Bollinger’s unexpected introductory
remarks turned into a belligerent speech,
continuing ad nauseum. Directed at a world
leader in front of the whole world to see, it
was an ambush intended to humiliate the
guest speaker, further inflaming tensions between
our two nations.
I am not a big fan of Ahmadinejad but I
don’t care what anyone thinks of his politics
Editorial
Columbia University: Lack of Decency and Integrity
or his personality, a guest--someone invited
by Bollinger himself--should not be treated
in such a manner. It showcased a lack of hospitality
and immaturity that was very disappointing
for what is supposed to be a prestigious
institute of
higher learning.
It was clear
from the beginning
that the
pro-Israeli lobby
wanted Columbia
University
to rescind the
invitation for the
Iranian leader
to speak. When
that failed, they
demanded that his stay in the U.S. be made
miserable. So, when the president of Columbia
was giving his address, he was talking on
their behalf.
Someone should tell Bollinger that the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) is the one who poses threat to
our national security and not Iran. Two top
AIPAC officials were indicted and will stand
trial this year. They are accused of passing
U.S. national security information to a foreign
government [Israel].
AIPAC was the leading advocate and the
only group that pressured our government
to invade Iraq. It is also the only group in
America to launch an international campaign
to isolate and subsequently push for bombing
Iran by either Israel, the U.S. or both. As
an Arab/Muslim veteran and proud father of
U.S. army soldier who served in Iraq, I am
sick and tired of seeing our young men and
women being killed in foreign lands for the
sake of Israel. AIPAC is holding U.S. foreign
policy as a hostage. Its disastrous agenda toward
the Middle East should be challenged
and rejected.
Let’s set the record straight about Iran:
Bridges of Understanding
There is an open letter from more than 130
Muslim scholars to the pope and other Christian
leaders calling for greater understanding
between the two faiths. Issued to mark Eid
Al-Fitr, it is an effort to reach out to the other
in generous faith to built new bridges.
Muslim-Christian dialogue, which has dozens
of organizations and institutions to promote
it, has unfortunately tended to flourish
behind the doors of academe or on a personal
basis between clerics. This letter, by contrast,
has the potential to create a new spirit of cooperation
and harmony between Muslims
and Christians to replace the ignorance and
suspicion that over the centuries pushed followers
of both faiths ever further apart. Indeed,
in the aftermath of 9/11, ignorance and
enmity seem to have grown, as bigots on both
sides of the divide preach hate and violence
in a bid to build their own power bases.
The letter spells out important facts that
have been long forgotten — that while Islam
and Christianity are separate religions, Muslims
and Christians worship the same God
and believe in the two greatest of commandments,
the love of God and, secondly, the love
of one’s neighbor. Given that the two faiths
account for more than half the world’s population,
the appeal also spells out what should
be blindingly obvious — that “without peace
and justice between these two religious communities,
there can be no meaningful peace
in the world. The future of the world depends
on peace between Muslims and Christians.”
Amen to that.
But this letter has to be seen as more than
an appeal to dialogue and understanding
between the two faiths, vital though that is.
It is also a clear summons to both Muslims
and Christians to spurn the call of those who
long for a clash of civilizations. Hopefully,
it will be recognized by Christians and other
non-Muslims as representing the true voice
of Islam. The signatories come from all Islamic
traditions and schools, not just Sunni,
and from every corner of the globe. Here is
the Ummah, the Muslim community worldwide,
speaking out as with one voice, a voice
that is mainstream, that believes in peace,
that is concerned about the future of all of
Iran has never in 1000 years threatened or
invaded another sovereign nation.
Iran does not possess nuclear weapons and
does allow UN inspectors to monitor its nuclear
facilities.
Iran neither maintains military bases nor
has advisors in 139 countries.
Iran never supported military dictators and
death squads in central and South America.
Iran does not welcome and roll out the red
carpet to a indicted foreign war criminal (Former
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon).
us on this planet, not
just Muslims, and that
sees Christians not as
historic enemies but
as partners, under one
God, for peace.
If that is understood
not just by church
leaders, but by ordinary
Christians, and
most of all by those
among them who have
come to fear Islam either
because of the actions of some extremists
or because they have had their hearts
hardened and their minds closed by their
own bigots and extremists, then this appeal
will be a mighty blow against Islamophobia
and also at the phobia of Christianity that exists
in some Muslim quarters.
Better still, if it takes dialogue out of the
conference room or the lecture theater and
into the streets, where Muslims and Christians
actually live together, then a new prospect
is in sight: Christians and Muslims
www.al-sahafa.us
Columbia University President Lee Bollinger
Iran did not provide a safe haven for two
prime suspected terrorists who are wanted for
the 1976 downing of a Cuban plane off Barbados,
killing all 73 passengers.
Finally, speaking of state-sponsored terrorism,
I wonder if the president of Columbia
University could name the country that shot
down an Iran Air flight 655, a commercial
airbus, killing all 299 passenger and crewincluding
66 children in 1988 ?
Mahmoud El-Yousseph
TSGT/USAF [Ret.]
Readers feedback:
elyousseph6@yahoo.com
at their closest in one and a half thousand
years.
DISCLAIMER:
Al-Sahafa Newspaper assumes no liability nor
claims any responsibility for any discrepancies that
readers may have concerning the opinions represented
on the editorial pages. The editorial pages
are open to any person in any and all creeds, race,
religion and organizations. Al-Sahafa encourages
reader’s comments, discussions, opinions and input.
To be a part of this page, please e-mail the offi ce at:
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November 2007 • Page 23

C.A.M.E.O.’s 2007
Election Endorsements
BEREA
MAYOR
CYRIL KLEEM
BROADVIEW HTS.
MAYOR
SAMUEL ALAI
COUNCIL AT LARGE
JENNIFER MAHNIC
BILL NAVRATIL
DON S. SOPKA
BROOKLYN
MAYOR
KEN PATTON
COUNCIL AT LARGE
SCOTT CLAUSSEN
RITA BROWN RUSSELL
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
COUNCIL-AT-LARGE
MIKE D’AMICO
CLEVELAND
JUDGE/CLEVELAND MUNICIPAL
COURT
MARILYN CASSIDY
JUDGE/CLEVELAND MUNICIPAL
COURT
CHARLES PATTON
JUDGE/CLEVELAND MUNICIPAL
COURT
RAYMOND PIANKA
COUNCIL WARD 1
HENRY WARREN, JR.
LYNDHURST
COUNCIL AT LARGE
DOROTHY CONRAD
PARMA
MAYOR
DEAN DEPIERO
PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL
CHUCK GERMANA
WARD 8
SCOTT TUMA
PARMA MUNICIPAL COURT
DEANNA O’DONNELL
PARMA HEIGHTS
COUNCIL AT LARGE
RALPH KOLASINSKI
ROCKY RIVER
COUNCIL WARD 1
JOE KOTOCH
CLERK OF COURTS
MAUREEN SWEENEY
SEVEN HILLS
MAYOR
DAVID BENTKOWSKI
COUNCIL WARD 4
MATTHEW TRAFIS
AAI Countdown, cont’d from page 10
Congressman Tom Tancredo: “No, if -- I’ll tell you. If Dubai wanted to buy Wal-Mart, I might
think about it. But if they wanted to buy something else that would have, in this case, certainly
more of an impact on our national security interests, I’d say, no, we’d have to think about that
in a totally different way . . . But when you trade with people who are your potential enemy, and
they have shown a willingness to use that economic opportunity to actually increase their threats
to the United States, I’m not for trading with them at all.”
No Harm in Libel?
The University of St. Thomas, a Catholic university in Minnesota, made headlines recently
for its decision to disinvite Archbishop Desmond Tutu from speaking on the campus for “some
things he said that some people judged to be anti-Semitic and against Israeli policy,” specifically
that Tutu “compared the state of Israel to Hitler.” Most disturbing about this controversy
is that the smear against Tutu - a Nobel prize winner who has dedicated his life to social justice
- is based on a false report of a 2002 Tutu speech statement from the Zionist Organization of
America. As JTA reports, “The only reference to Hitler in Tutu’s speech came in a passage addressing
the power of the ‘Jewish lobby’ over political discourse in the United States, a line of
argument some claim is indistinguishable from classic anti-Semitism. Tutu went on to note that
even powerful governments can be felled. ‘The apartheid government was very powerful, but
today it no longer exists,’ Tutu said. ‘Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochet, Milosevic and Idi Amin
were all powerful, but in the end they bit the dust.’” The ZOA statement, however, quotes Tutu
as saying, “Israel is like Hitler and apartheid.” ZOA President Morton Klein now claims that
the quote was meant to be attributed to Klein himself as a “synopses” of Tutu’s remarks. Klein
stands by the libel, stating “I frankly don’t see the harm done when our encapsulation promotes
what his statements essentially said.”
Arabs are Everywhere
Doing our best to reach out to the Arab American community, we came across a newspaper
called The Arab Tribune. A very nice note from the paper’s editor informed us that The Tribune
was the local newspaper for the town of Arab, Alabama. It seems that the town’s name came from
a misspelling by the U.S. Postal Service Office in 1892. The local postmaster had submitted three
names for itself after prominent local families: Ink, Bird, and Arad. The Postal Service choose
Arad, spelled it Arab, and 115 years later, the name stands. As the city’s website shows, the town
motto is “Welcome to Arab: Proud of our past . . . embracing the future.” As the gentleman from
Arab, Alabama wished us good luck on our efforts at AAI, we’d like to wish the Arab Knights
football team the best of fortune in their game against the Etowah Blue Devils Friday night.
EAST CLEVELAND
COUNCIL WARD 2
BARBARA THOMAS
FAIRVIEW PARK
COUNCIL WARD 5
MICHAEL KILBANE
GARFIELD HEIGHTS
PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL
VIC COLLOVA
SHAKER HEIGHTS
COUNCIL
AL FOSTER
STRONGSVILLE
COUNCIL WARD 4
MICHAEL GALLAGHER
VALLEY VIEW
MAYOR
RANDALL WESTFALL
C.A.M.E.O. (Cleveland American Middle East Organiztion). Monthly meetings
are every second Wednesday, at 7:30pm at the Holiday Inn, Rockside Rd.
(in Independence). We welcome Al-Sahafa readers to join us. For questions,
please call Abby Mina 216-749-6629 or Joe Charif 216-701-1262.
November 2007 • Page 24
www.al-sahafa.us