Comment on March 15th: Just Another Tuesday in Nablus by David
Sad, beautifully written.
Comment on Two Words Every Inspirational Teacher Deserves by Steve Royston
Great post James.
And in no region should people be celebrating good teaching more than in the Middle East. Trouble is, you will find much divergence of opinion as to what good teaching is! So celebrate outcomes as well as excellence!
All of my teacher…
Comment on The Real Damage of Vanity Fair’s Attack on Dubai by GM
Unfortunately, there are many others like A.A. Gill, who come here and bite their fingers with jealousy. Underpaid, undermined, ignorant and hateful….
Comment on Saying No to An ‘Open Sesame’ Welfare Agenda by David
Subsidise and support entrepreneurs – from all nationalities. That is the way to create jobs.
The small business owners are the life blood of a country, and they should be nurtured, encourages, promoted and helped – not put through the hoops.
Build the culture of entrepreneurship and we will be half way towards full employment, and the needs of a welfare state will disappear.
Comment on Why Bahrain Trumps Dubai – Demographics by David
Not very constructive Obaid, although clearly the damage done to bahrain’s reputation is now aof a level of magnitude worse than it was. Even should the status quo remain, Bahrain is now going to be a simmering mass of anger for a long time to come, and the shia population is going to feel even more oppressed.
I do not understand why the army moved in, it seemed something positive was coming out of the troubles, an explosion of creativity. Now the future of the country looks much more uncertain, even if the state clamps down and managesnto exert it’s authority.
Bahrain has a long road ahead of it.
Comment on Sunni-Shi’a Friction Takes Sharp Turn for Worse by David
Qadaffi is obviously providing the blue print for others to follow. Lessons to be learned. 1, protests need to get to a critical mass quickly or the government regains equilibrium, 2. Protectors need to be clear on what they want otherwise there is no …
Comment on Realpolitik: Leaders Fiddle While Libyans Burn by oblomov
The important question is “who are the rebels ?”
Are they like the demonstrators in Tunisia, basically educated, lucid citizens seeking a democratic solution to dictatorship, corruption and repression?
Or are they simply a group of clans seeking to replace Gaddafi and rule over his side?
The images we see on tv of demented tribesmen shooting in all directions (mostly in the air) seem to indicate the latter scenario.
Its quite possible that in the end, if no action is taken, “forgive and forget” will prevail, as it did for Lockerbie and the UTA bombings.
Comment on Riyadh Book Fair Debacle is Nothing More Than Theater by Steve Royston
Good analysis Rob. When I visited the fair last week, I was quite surprised to find books on Hinduism and Judaism. The Haia had an official presence at the Fair throughout. The fact that those books were still on display three days before the Fair closed indicates that whatever objections the disrupting group had, they were clearly not sustained.
Khoja’s sanguine attitude might have changed, however, after he received that nast text message from the sheikh who told him that he was bound for hell….
Comment on The Rise of the Arabs, the Fall of Colonialism by Stephen
Thanks for the invective laced history lesson but really it’s balanced only in the sense of the idiom, you have a chip on both shoulders
“Even as they continue in their quest to control the wealth and destiny of Arabs” and ” Arab societies, however, have risen with a unified call for freedom”
Do you honestly believe these statements?
Stand up for yourselves -oops sorry you can’t without guidance and support, when it suits. The day we see Arab unifcation is, I believe, a day to be reckoned with and for rejoicing but alas you and i will not see it and nor will our children.
I wish the revolutionaries well but this pseudo intellectual concept of a new Arab self-definition is laughable
Comment on The Rise of the Arabs, the Fall of Colonialism by Simone
Honestly, I get a little bored by hearing that everything is the West’s fault. My god guys, your future belongs to you, and always has. It’s your problem if it took you decades to assert yourself.
I also find it deeply irritating that on the one hand you ask the West to step in in Kuwait and now Libya, and yet punish and see conspiracy when you do manage to convince them. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.
Please, liberation comes from within, and that means allowing yourself to be liberated from the past. Today is your world. Stop whining and sieze it.
Comment on New Labour Laws a Powerful Boost for the UAE Economy by shan
I have been working in one company for last 42 months. This is my second contract which I renewed on last October 2010.
I just wants to know that if i got new job in UAE can the present company give me a one year ban? And as per this new rule there…
Comment on The Reasons Why Saudi Arabia Will Not Fall by Leila Awad
I refuse to be a second class citizen. We are demanding change like everyone else. Life in Jeddah is dismal and oppressive. Change can happen when women are represented in all walks of life including government. I am fed up of not being heard or repr…
Comment on Rebuilding Business Confidence the Next Battleground by Paul Maloney
Investors are still very cautious about the events that have recently occured in the Middle East, and information is indeed vital to encouraging them back to the region. Wining the minds of business, I would say goes hand in hand with winning the minds…
Comment on Libya: The West Must Make Its Decision Now by Robert Weller
I would disagree on one point. The worse thing that could happen would be that Gaddafi holds on to power.
Comment on New Indonesian Rules on Domestics Irk Saudis by Omar al-Issawi
Finally! While there are always media reports and condemnation of the abuse inflicted upon domestic servants in the Arab world, the governments of these women have remained silent, repatriating them after their terrible ordeals at the most.
This works…
Comment on Is Turkey the Role Model for the Arab World? by dario
Turkish leaders from far right to far left are fascists during the 1937-1938 Dersim Rebellion. In explaining the reason for the Kurdish rebellion to the British foreign secretary Anthony Eden said the following:
The government has tried to assimilate t…
Comment on Arabic: Why it’s Failing, What Can be Done by Kefaya Punk
An interesting article, but I wanted to express some thoughts.
I, and many others dislike Arabic language because it’s not our truly spoken language. In each country, or region, we speak distinct unrecognized languages, or dialects.
Arabic language is the language of Koran and that’s why it is enforced on us. Secularism hasn’t been adopted yet. We are being coercively forced to be Arabized, or being mind controlled to be happy to embrace Arabization by the politicized education and media.
We have no freedom of exchange of information. We have limited knowledge.
Those who are only literate in Arabic language won’t have the chance to know the realities about politics or science.
Question: What are the Arabic language information sources? 🙂 They are normally anti-western, anti-secular, anti-Israeli and Islamist. So, those who know foreign languages, such as English, have a great opportunity to know the truth and become less misinformed.
Forcing us to be subjected to only Arabic information is dangerous. Because of our subjection to foreign languages (mostly English) we were able to demonstrate, because we were provided with real information, and not the censored propagandist misinformation available in locally/regionally-made Arabic language material/media.
S.O.S. Help us from Arabization 🙂
Comment on Gadaffi Goes for Oil, Opposition Naivety Revealed by Ph. Dr. Manuel Iglesias – Guerrero
Libya Today (es, en, it):
http://aims.selfip.org/~alKvc74FbC8z2llzuHa9/default_libia.htm
Comment on Rebuilding Business Confidence the Next Battleground by James Gray
The challenge is greater because much of the promotion was through fairly broad based PR which leaves each country very exposed to negative events which grab the headlines and in effect demolish all progress which had been made. I faced this promoting Northern Ireland. The PR firms will now seek yet more resources to counter the negative messages but are unlikely to succeed. Besides this approach is not based on experience of attracting inward investment. Investors are clever ; they are not greatly swayed by PR or branding ; they want information and support. If countries want to succeed long term they need to devote resources to a sustained business to business contact campaign , building relationships with potential investors and superb engagement with investors already on the ground… win the minds of businesses not journalists. James Gray jamesgcca@gmail.com
Comment on The Reasons Why Saudi Arabia Will Not Fall by Stunned
Which planet did you say your were from? Oh, yeah! Planet out of this world? Are you for real!
While we might agree with you that Saudi may far from being next! It is definitely not for the reasons you mentioned.
But your Article is excellent Hollywoo…
