Current Listen: The Arab Conquests
Great discussion of the early days of Islam on BBC4's In Our Time.
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"Melvyn Bragg discusses the mighty Arab conquests of the 7th century with his guests Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge; and Robert Hoyland, Professor in Arabic and Middle East Studies at the University of St Andrews."
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Bay Area Sights
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Civic Center Even To Commemorate The Palestinian Nakba. I left wishing It was better organized and more inclusive.read more »
Sheikh Imam: Nixon
What a great and hilarious song. Sheikh Imam along with Ahmed Fouad Negm are known for their political songs and poems which are usually in regular everyday Egyptian Arabic. Imam was banned from Egyptian radio and TV. He has also been imprisoned several times. One of these time was in 74 when Nixon visited Egypt. I think the appeal to many is that they appear to represent "the people", the poor and marginalized .
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Brief History of Cairo University + Big Tangent
Not to soon after posting about the increased use of Insha Allah in Egyptian Society I ran into this post on the excellent Hatshepsut which very briefly discusses the history of Cairo University. What I found really fascinating though was the pictures included in the post. I started wondering what happened to all those people from the class of 1959? I began zooming in and looking at each of them trying to imagine what they were like as persons. read more »
Insha Allah @ The NY Times
The NY times has an interesting and often funny lite article reflecting on the increased use of Insha Allah in Egyptian society.
Interesting Segments:
"...there has been inshallah creep, to the extreme. It is now attached to the answer for any question, past, present and future. What’s your name, for example, might be answered, “Muhammad, inshallah. “I say to them, ‘You are already Muhammad or you are going to be Muhammad?’ ” said Attiat el-Abnoudy, a documentary filmmaker in Cairo."
and
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New ICG Report On Egypt "Egypt’s Muslim Brothers: Confrontation or Integration?"
The International Crisis Group has just released its new report on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood titled "Egypt’s Muslim Brothers: Confrontation or Integration?". I for one try to read as many of their reports as possible for they seem to offer a great summary of the issues discussed from a non-biased perspective. Check out their other Egypt-focused reports or even for other countries you might be interested in.
I think their recommendations are exactly what is needed:
To the Government of Egypt:read more »
عشان ما تنضربش علي قفاك
Egyptian opposition papers and blogs have been following the story of a formal Egyptian police officer who published a book detailing how to deal with the police In Egypt. Shortly after its release the book was confiscated. The book's very Egyptian title "So You Do Not Get Beaten On The Back of your Neck" is classic Egyptian phrasing/humor. Now the author Omar Afifi has fled Egypt to the US after claiming that he has been harassed and followed by state intelligence officers. read more »
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