Thursday 11/3/2010
I've just heard that the Sheikh of al Azhar, Mohamad Sayid al Tantawi, has passed away. I think he was a frail old man in a difficult position, and that was what made him say some of the ridiculous things he did regarding Palestine, or shaking the hand of Peres. I think that whilst the sensationalism of these mistakes has gotten a lot of attention, he should also be remembered
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When I have time I will be writing a post about my experiences and perspectives as an Arab ex-patriate living in the West. There are many things which we culturally adapt to and notice about living in these lands that range from the comical to the outlandish to the absolutely horrifying. Perhaps my post, which I'm considering putting in Arabic as well, would help Arabs about to travel here or
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I must say, studying law in London with "Oxbridge" students has opened my eyes to the often stated fact that Britain is a society deeply divided upon class lines. Oxbridge is the term given to students who have graduated from Oxford or Cambridge and who usually come from a public school background. Public school in England is what people in other countries would call private schools, the most notable of
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It has been extremely difficult to stay abreast of political developments or some of the rubbish being written by Middle Eastern experts. Studying law in such an intense and short period is taking up a lot of my energies. I will try to keep things going regularly and I apologise for being a bit silent here, in the meantime enjoy the classical Arabic poetry that I've been discovering. I had
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Close to where I live, two men play native American songs and tunes with a collection of pipes and flutes whilst dressed as American Indians or in South American ponchos. They had been doing so for about ten years but I never used to pay attention to them, apart from admiring their talent from a distance. Today I walked up to one of them and had an interesting conversation. I
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It is ironic, but perhaps inevitable, that the assassination of Mahmoud al Mabhouh would become such an object of interest and discussion. Earlier that month another Hamas operative was also assassinated, by missile, in Gaza. The fact that I can't remember the man's name off the top of my head is indicative of just how important it is to die with a camera somewhere. What was that saying? If a
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emEverything a man loses can be replaced, except if you lose Allah. There is no substitute. /embr /br /Wow, puts things in perspective...div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/30984739-3024108061794731594?l=maysaloon.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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A Syrian Arab (emphasis on Arab) awakening in a modern and bewildering world gone insane.