Persiflage & Paroxysm

We are used to censorship from government owned or patronized television channels in the Arab world, but what we were never prepared for was the kind of heavy handed 'overkill' censorship practiced by Western entertainment channels broadcasting to an Arab audience. Whether they follow State-supplied guidelines of what to censor and what not to censor, or whether they follow their own overzealous censorship guidelines, the end result is annoying and it detracts from the viewers enjoyment of the movie. In the scene from ‘Night at the Museum 2’ where Larry and Amelia are speaking to ‘The Thinker’, the Rodin sculpture that came to life in the Smithsonian, a very visible smudge is seen over where the statue’s private parts would be. In the uncensored version, no offending dangly bits are visible. My question here is what exactly was the censor smudging over, an offending bit of thigh or abdomen? In fact the viewer would have been totally oblivious to that particular portion of...

There are times when your counterpart across the peace table needs to be reminded that the only alternative to achieving a just and acceptable peace for both sides of a conflict is resumed conflict, a resumption of armed struggle, but above all an absence of peace of mind. In Israel there is at present a delusional right wing government that thinks it can erase historical facts from every school text book that it can isolate Palestinian towns and villages into economically unviable pockets, surround them with high concrete walls and watch towers, and that that alone will ensure peace of mind for its people. There are people who think that a return to armed struggle for the average non-fanatical, non-militant Muslim Palestinian is unthinkable so long after Oslo . They think that armed resistance to Israeli imperialism, neo colonialism, and blatant occupation of Palestinian and Arab land, is only possible if you join a certain political camp, namely that of Iran and the Syrian ...

The news is out through mainstream media, Abed Shaheen's experience and Facebook post has had an impact, BBC Arabic picked it up. Also thanks to all bloggers and Facebookers out there who shared and reposted, every one helped to get the message out. Let's hope this encourages more people to report racist behavior in Lebanon in the hope that shinning the spotlight on such ugly behavior will help stop it once and for all.

I am reposting this rather late after many bloggers and Facebookers have. It's all in support of a worthy cause: To shed light on racist behavior wherever it rears its ugly head. Abed Shaheen posted his recent experience at Beirut International Airport on Facebook. I hope it goes viral if only to push our mainstream local media to discuss this issue at length. At its core I suspect such appalling behavior is all about ignorance, having the wrong attitude, and the 'learned bully response.' "Racism at Beirut Airport ! My personal hands-on experience. Yesterday on the 6th of October I was at gate 11 with a friend of mine waiting to board the Air Arabia flight at 20:25. While waiting to board there was a group of foreign workers sitting with the rest of the passengers waiting for their turn. They were behaving normally as any other group of passengers would. Then sadly, the lady (looking at her uniform she apparently works for MEA Ground Services and n...