Quick Hits مفتي السعودية: الإسلام بريء من حزب الله اللبناني First woman judge in UAE Somalia: W.H.O. Says Polio Has Been Eradicated Again مفتي السعودية: الإسلام بريء من حزب الله اللبناني Posted: 14 May 2008 02:00 AM PDT "لأن ما يحصل في لبنان من هذه الثورات المنضمة المهيأة المعدة التي رتب لها ترتيبا دقيقا على أيد من ينتسبون ويحسبون على الإسلام ويرفعون شعارات First woman judge in UAE Posted: 13 Apr 2008 10:12 PM PDT Somalia: W.H.O. Says Polio Has Been Eradicated Again Posted: 27 Mar 2008 03:24 AM PDT The World Health Organization said polio transmission had been stopped in Somalia, leaving just a dozen other countries with the disease You are subscribed to email updates from Delicious/shirsoore/post To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Email delivery powered by Google Inbox too full? Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Quick Hits مفتي السعودية: الإسلام بريء من حزب الله اللبناني First woman judge in UAE Somalia: W.H.O. Says Polio Has Been Eradicated Again مفتي السعودية: الإسلام بريء من حزب الله اللبناني Posted: 14 May 2008 02:00 AM PDT "لأن ما يحصل في لبنان من هذه الثورات المنضمة المهيأة المعدة التي رتب لها ترتيبا دقيقا على أيد من ينتسبون ويحسبون على الإسلام ويرفعون شعارات First woman judge in UAE Posted: 13 Apr 2008 10:12 PM PDT Somalia: W.H.O. Says Polio Has Been Eradicated Again Posted: 27 Mar 2008 03:24 AM PDT The World Health Organization said polio transmission had been stopped in Somalia, leaving just a dozen other countries with the disease You are subscribed to email updates from Delicious/shirsoore/post To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Email delivery powered by Google Inbox too full? Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Quick Hits مفتي السعودية: الإسلام بريء من حزب الله اللبناني First woman judge in UAE Somalia: W.H.O. Says Polio Has Been Eradicated Again مفتي السعودية: الإسلام بريء من حزب الله اللبناني Posted: 14 May 2008 02:00 AM PDT "لأن ما يحصل في لبنان من هذه الثورات المنضمة المهيأة المعدة التي رتب لها ترتيبا دقيقا على أيد من ينتسبون ويحسبون على الإسلام ويرفعون شعارات First woman judge in UAE Posted: 13 Apr 2008 10:12 PM PDT Somalia: W.H.O. Says Polio Has Been Eradicated Again Posted: 27 Mar 2008 03:24 AM PDT The World Health Organization said polio transmission had been stopped in Somalia, leaving just a dozen other countries with the disease You are subscribed to email updates from Delicious/shirsoore/post To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Email delivery powered by Google Inbox too full? If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: Delicious/shirsoore/post, c/o Google, 20 W Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Oh, Ogadeniya

During the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’ in the late 1880’s, various European empires claimed different African territories and as a result lands with Somali speakers/Somali people were taken by different colonial powers. Somalia become one of the countries that was colonised by several super powers at once; Britain claimed Northern Somalia, Italy took control of Southern Somalia, France took Djibouti whilst the Ogaden was returned to Ethiopia in 1948 after it had previously belonged to Somalia under Italian rule in what was called the Italian East Africa. In the summer of 1960 both the UK and then Italy agreed to grant independence to its territories and thus the two main Somali territories joined to form a united Somali Republic on the 1st July 1960. My view of this is (of course) bias to me being Somali so I have to point out that Somali people are nomads and that before independence and colonisation, there was never an officially established "Somalia"; only a large area inhabited by various ethnic races at one point or another but where Somali speaking people were always the majority and thus early on became known as Soomaaliya.  As one of the starting points of independence, the new Somali government supported the right of all the Somali speaking lands to be united under a greater Somalia and thus there were often (and still is) a lot of clashes between the borders of Somalia and Ethiopia and Somalia and Kenya (due to the largely Somali-inhabited northeastern region of Kenya). So already we have a very fragmented national history where the maps created and redefined by external colonial powers drew borders that don’t accurately reflect the different people of the regions and often even the majority of each region and thus end up separating people, politically, who otherwise share the same ethnicity, culture, religion and of course language. Literature wise, the novel that best highlights the plight of The Ogaden is the brilliant Somali author Nuruddin Farah's highly recommend book Maps. As a work of fiction, it deals more with the more complex psychological consequences of living in such a widely disputed area, being Somali but not quite in Somali soil according to official records etc. This whole ongoing issue has fueled my pre-existing obsession with borders and maps (beyond The Ogaden, Palestine or Tibet) and is one of the big reasons why I'm doing my MA in Post-Colonial studies. There are so many on-going border conflicts in different parts of the world (some unfairly lesser known than others) where simple lines, drawn by men, never regard the every-day reality of who is living there and how it affects them. Ethiopia and Somalia are of course neighbours endlessly fighting over literally a desert area between the two countries, metaphorically a child whose disputing parents end up neglecting and not considering what is best for it, in their fight for full custody. One of the more powerful quotes from Maps is when one of the characters says: "it is easier ridding yourself from a colonist beyond the seas than it is to oust an African one..." It's important to note however that the Somalis in The Ogaden, although the biggest majority, are not the only ethnic race living in that specific region and so the question is: how do those other minorities (within minorities!) become identified in a map? In order for The Ogaden to re-join Somalia, it has to sacrifice its already established identity as a place not just inhabited by Somali speaking people. However, it also cannot remain in this current state of limbo under the umbrella of the Ethiopian empire that's not exactly doing all that it can and indeed should for the area it has politically claimed for strategic reasons. It's frustrating enough that Somalia doesn't get enough press coverage (unless you're a "pirate" - do you really think that people without aid will just quietly perish after being colonised and war torn?) the same way that other African nations and areas do whilst The Ogaden conflict remains swept under the international media rug. This is a struggle I feel very strongly about both patriotically and emotionally; my grandmother was born in The Ogaden, in Wardheer, and a few weeks ago I asked her how she feels about it being politically seen as Ethiopia and, (my grandmother who has a habit of answering important questions in Somali proverbs and other sayings) said something that can best be translated as: "your landlord might own your home but he has never lived in it the way you have". Enough said. For more basic information of the region, start here.

Refugees returning to Mogadishu

Calm has returned to Mogadishu and so have tens of thousands of refugees. They'd fled the two-year long brutal Ethiopian occupation (that's according to Amnesty) and had been living in dire circumstances since. There is no peace yet in Mogadishu but at least there no fighting, for now. The situation is still tense and fighting could brake out any moment but there is also serious talk about peace. Islamic scholars, from Somalia and outside, are in Mogadishu and have been mediating between the government and the armed opposition. Why Islamic scholars? because both sides are Islamists calling for the implementation of Sharia. Please read Mohamed Adow's excellent explanation of the current situation here.

Just in: Sheikh Sharif Ahmed running for president

Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the former leader of the Union of Islamic Courts, announced he was running for president, in the peace talks currently held in Djibouti. There are many other contenders, and his announcement doesn't come as a surprise. He has a strong support from the parliament and he himself will select about 200 MPs - he has a good chance of becoming president

Somalia Update

More deaths in Mogadishu. AU peacekeepers retaliated with heavy artilary to an Al-Shabab suicide bombing in Mogadishu yesterday, the result: more than 20 civilians dead and 30 more injured. The minaret of one of the more famous mosques in Mogadishu, Sheik Ali Sufi mosque, was damaged by an artilary shell. Al-Shabab, and other Islamist militias, made it clear they will continue fighting the African Union peacekeepers despite the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Mogadishu. Now, the 3000 AU peacekeepers are trapped in Mogadishu, attacked by Al-Shabab and despised by the population. Their presence in Mogadishu has only made the situation worse and the question is: what peace are they suppose to keep? Not only is there no peace, there is no political process that could lead to peace - at least not anytime soon. The government has virtually collapsed but there now sign it might be resurructed. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the former leader of the Union of Islamic Courts, had signed a power-sharing deal with the government few months ago - it was never implemented, until now. The opportunity came when former president Abdullah Yusuf, who had opposed the power-sharing deal, resigned. Now Sharif Ahmed, prime minister Nur Adde, speaker of the parliament Adan Madobe and MPs are gathering in Djibouti to select a new president and form a new government that includes Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's Islamist supporters. The talks in Djibouti is sponsored by the UN and has the support of the international community, or so it seems. Back in Somalia, Al-Shabab and Ras Kamboni brigades reject the legitimacy of the government, even if other Islamists join it and say they will continue fighting as long as foreign troops are present in Somalia. They control large part of southern Somalia including the strategic port city of Kismayo and are heavily present in Mogadishu. The Ethiopians are still around, too. Barre Hirale, a veteran warlord, told BBC Somali radio that he is heading to Kismayo with his militia along with Ethiopian troops to fight Al-Shabab. Hirale was chased out of Kismayo in 2006 by the Union of Islamist Courts and in 2008 by Al-Shabab, and twice more before that. He is one of a number groups that had been armed by Ethiopia in anticipation of their withdrawal. Ethiopian had troops inside Somalia since 1996, backing and arming warlords - and Eritea has been doing the same, too. For Ethiopia and Eritrea are back in the business of proxy wars, in Somalia.

Israeli army targets UN-run schools, killing 130

Israeli army bombed two UN-run schools yesterday, killing more than 130 civilians. UNURWA, the UN agency working in Palestinian refugees, converted the schools into temporary shelters for people fleeing the Israeli attacks. To insure the safety of the schools UNURWA gave the coordinates of the schools to the Israeli army so it wouldn't be bombed - leaving no room for the Israelis to claim it was an 'error', but they were bombed. Israel claims that rockets were fired from one of the schools, but even if that was the case, though doubtful, it doesn't justify the bombing of schools that the UN labelled a civilian area. I'm I surprised? No. Israel targetted civilians in Lebanon in 2006, and for the past 60 years.

I'm back from a long break from blogging. I wanted to congratulate everyone on the new year but that would inappropriate when Israel, in only five days, murdered four hundred Palestinians, and injured close to two thousand, in Gaza while the world watches. The tragedy is that nobody will stop Israel, and Arabs in particular. How could they when their governments are part of the plot, and specially Egypt which had approved of bombing Gaza in the hope of getting rid of Hamas. The suffering of the people of Gaza didn't start five days ago. For more than a year, they had to endure a merceless seige both from Israel and from Egypt. Basic food and drugs were not allowed in, let alone the loss of jobs and the complete destruction of the local economy. As the Arabic saying goes "the aggression from your brother is more painful than that of the enemy", and for Gazans, it's the Egyptian government that had refused to open the Rafah crossing to let in food and medicine, and it hurts more. The people in the Arab world have expressed their anger at their governments, but they know better than to expect much from them or the Arab League. Some of the Arab governments, just as it was with the Lebanon war in 2006, are counting on Israel to take out Hamas. At the end, Arab leaders will have a summit and meet when it's all over, and conguratulate themselves that they still have their seats. And After Israel feels it has killed enough Palestinians and pulls out, the people of Gaza will still be under seige and as the Egyptian president confirmed Rafah crossing will not be opened.

Woo Hah - Busta Rhymes and Islam

American rapper Busta Rhymes has certainly come a long way since his days of rapping about loose women and easy money, and now as a converted Muslim, has recently spoken out about how America should embody some of the characteristics of Arab culture: "The one thing that the Arab culture has always exemplified for thousands of years is the significant value of spirituality; all the way down to the spirituality of financial and economic stability. At the end of the day, they grow, groom and condition their children to understand those values. They implement it successfully in their household. It seems really unfair to me, because as a man of Islam myself, I definitely want to make sure that I’m doing my part in being able to re-establish the integrity and the beauty as far as the Arab culture is concerned. It’s contradictory of us to have this impression of a culture that’s not only done so much for this culture, well this country rather. You know the United States don’t really have no culture. We take a little bit from everyone…"

Ambulances For Mogadishu

It is hard to determine which fact is more horrific; the daily unspeakable violence that is still a reality for the millions in Somalia's capital or that Mogadishu is only now getting an ambulance service for the first time in almost 20 years.  Five ambulances may not seem like much, but as the saying unfortunately goes: it is better than nothing. This is a blessing and a good step forward. I only wish it had come from the so-called 'government' rather than the compassion of Irish charity.

Somalia - quick update

Somali pirates carried the most daring, and probably the largest, pirating operation ever. They hijacked a Saudi oil tanker carrying two million barrels, worth more than a $100 million. The pirates hijacked the ship 450km of the Mombassa, while 150 ships are guarding the Somali coast. Meanwhile the Somali government is all but collapsed. The entire government and parliament are outside Somalia, with the president and the prime minister accusing one another for the failure of their government. Insurgents have taken most of southern Somalia, except Mogadishu (the control large part of it), Baladwayn and Baidao. The Ethiopian forces are getting ready to leave Somalia.

Barack Obama Is President

In the words of the great man himself in his acceptance speech: "it's been a long time coming".

No Degree? No Job!

Iran's Interior Minister got the boot after admitting that his honorary degree from Oxford University was fake. He previously stated that his degree was issued for his "managerial and executive experience and for submitting a thesis to Oxford University via a person who had opened an affiliate office in Tehran in English language affairs".  Via 'a person'?! Perhaps he should have claimed the degree was from a slightly less prestigious University to make it more credible. Or better yet, wait until he actually earned one...no wait, this is a politician we're talking about.

Interesting article on young Islamic bloggers in the Arab world clashing with the Muslim Brotherhood.