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Iran: Citizen Media Sex Scandal

Hamid Tehrani · 14:14, June 19th, 2008 · Middle East & North Africa

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Earlier this month, students at Zanjan University in North-West Iran recorded and uploaded a video of their school's vice president, Hassan Madadi, with his shirt unbuttoned, allegedly preparing to have sex with a female student. Several Iranian websites and blogs say the female student had alerted her university's Islamic Student Association that she was under pressure by the vice president to have sex with him.

Students at other Iranian universities including Kirmanshah University have previously made allegations of sexual harassment from officials, without consequences. In this case, the evidence of citizen media was clear: students protested for one week, before the vice president was finally suspended. The President of the University apologized and thanked students.

Here is the video showing a very confused university vice president listening to the orders of the students who filmed him. This film has been watched more than 67,000 times in less than 10 days.

Iranian blogger, Asmoun Abi writes [fa]:

I am living in a country where the only thing I get is a veil. I am living in a country where you look at me as somebody to sleep with. I am living in a country where in its most secure and cultured place, a woman gets violated.

The blog, Zanjan1387 was launched by students in Zanjan University to keep readers updated about their protest movement. In this blog we read [fa] that more than 1500 students signed a petition asking the Minister of Science to fire the President of Zanjan University. The blog has also published several photos and videos from different protests.

Sano claims [fa] that the vice president put pressure on this girl to have sex with him and wanted a 7 month “temporary marriage”. The blogger adds that before this incident there were other cases too.

Tourjan says [fa] that the interesting point is that Madadi, the vice president who has acted in a very immoral way, a few weeks ago told the Association of Islamic Students that they would be shut down for doing immoral things!

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Morocco: The Fez Festival of World Sacred Music

Jillian C. York · 03:17 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → bn

As the 14th annual Fez Festival of World Sacred Music comes to a close, bloggers - both Moroccan residents and travelers - share their experience with this year's festival. The View from Fez bloggers, who were fortunate enough to be in the thick of things for all of the festival, shared their favorite bits of the festival, one of which was the Sami singer Mari Boine:

The Batha Museum was the venue for what we had picked as one of the outstanding concerts for the entire Fez Sacred Music Festival - and we were not disappointed. Mari Boine is an amazing performer and the selection of Sami chants and songs was pure magic.

Equally outstanding were the arrangements and performance by her band. The guitar of Georg Buljo wove beautifully through the songs along with Svein Schultz on bass, Ole Jorn Mykelbust on trumpet and Gunnar Augland on percussion. Departing from her published programme, Boine gave us a taste of her earlier work with Gula Gula and exhibited her traditional joik throat singing to amazing effect. For those used to seeing a singer open their mouth wide to reach for a high note, it was extraordinary the volume and pure tones achieved by Boine with almost closed lips. Her drumming added a wonderful touch, but as she said - “My drum is used to cold weather.” So she wet the skin with a bottle of Sidi Ali!

As the festival wrapped, The View from Fez summed it up in a few words:

Nine days of afternoon and evening concerts, Sufi nights, art exhibitions, children's events, free concerts in the medina and the new city, Rencontres debates on the sacred, more talks at Palais Jamai, fringe events at Dar Batha … all in all a very busy time. How was it for you?

They also had a few criticisms of this year's event…

2008 was not a vintage festival and one is left with the impression that the programme was assembled on a very tight budget. The feeling is that the Fes Festival needs more money pumped into the artistic director's function of booking artists. In years past we've seen luminaries like Youssou N'Dour and Ravi Shankar, but such stars seem to be sadly missing these days.

…But in general were pleased with the work that went into it:

It's a huge job putting on such a big Festival, and The View from Fez congratulates the whole team.

Ismael Lo and the Hamadcha perform at The Fez Festival

Everything Morocco was also in Fez for the festival, and shared this tidbit:

Overall, this week at the Fez Festival has been a series of pleasant surprises, particularly Fahdel Jaziri's production of Hadhra and Abdelwahab Doukkali's special performance Thursday night at Bab Makina. We have seen Touaregs on the electric guitar, R&B saxophone in an Arab orchestra and all sorts of traditional instruments from every region of the globe. And there is no better place than Fez for all of this to come together at one time.

the art of the drum, who was just traveling through at the time, had much to say about the festival's commercialism:

In the most basic sense, sacred music seeks to create a spiritual connection with the Divine. Religious (sacred) music often is performed in the confines of a holy institution, like a church or temple, to eliminate worldly distractions. In the moments of a sacred music performance, is the stage not the temple? It is a doctrine of all religions to disavow any sort of commerce within the physical space of the institution? (Yes, yes, I have been to plenty of Hindu temples that sell souvenirs, and the Vatican does have a gift shop). Surely John 2:16 is not just a Christian prospect – materialism has no place inside of a mosque or synagogue or any sort of holy sanctuary, for that matter. How can proper devotion to the Divine be made when a vender is hawking Hagaan Daz a hundred feet from the stage? At what point do we distinguish between reverence and exploitation?

He also took issue with the sense of “orientalism” about the event:

Another reservation for me to endorse the festival is the immense sense of Orientalism that surrounds the festival. The concept of Orientalism, as written about by the great scholar Edward Said, essentially states that in the West, we have a very skewed view of the Eastern cultures. Strictly in terms of “religious studies,” some Westerners perceive Eastern religions as more “mystical” than Western traditions, and thus they are “better.”(You see this practice quite frequently in India, Westerns that “adopt” Hinduism because of the esoteric essence of an Eastern religion)

The blogger also added:

Clearly, I have very strong feelings about the essence of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music. Believe it or not, as you will read in future posts specifically about my experiences at the performances, I genuinely enjoyed the festival – despite my many, many reservations about it. Take what I wrote with a grain of salt: as Man Ray once said, “All critics should be assassinated.”

Photograph of Ismael Lo and the Hamadcha Brotherhood by The View from Fez

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Lebanon: Condoleezza Rice's Surprise Visit

Moussa Bashir · 03:11, June 19th, 2008 · Middle East & North Africa

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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced, five-hour visit to Lebanon on Monday, June 16. She declared her government’s support for the newly elected Lebanese president, as well as for the Lebanese government, the parliament’s speaker and the democratic system in the country. Rice last visited Lebanon during the devastating 2006 Israel-Lebanon war that left more than 1,300 people dead, most of them Lebanese civilians. Here are some of the responses to this visit in the Lebanese blogosphere:

Sursock observed that death always follows Rice on her visits. He was also sarcastic about her brushing aside of any suggestions referring to the US interference in Lebanese politics, even after what she had to say upon visiting some of the Lebanese leaders:

Authorities in Lebanon say at least three people have died in clashes between pro- and anti-government groups in the eastern [Bekaa Valley] villages of Saadnayel and Taalbaya….
The clashes took place as Condi “birth pang” Rice paid a surprise visit to Lebanon. Death always seems to follow her. According to the AFP:
Rice said she made the trip to “express the United States' support for Lebanese democracy, for Lebanese sovereignty.”

Tantalus criticized Rice’s incomprehensible support for some of the Lebanese leaders and questioned the actions of some of those leaders for whom she declared the backing of the US government:

Rice, talking to reporters at Ain al-Tineh said Speaker Nabih Berri realizes that he enjoys the backing of the United States.
That's quite confusing for all those who recall that Berri's thugs are the ones who spread the chaos during the fateful days of May 7-21. The Berri-backed Amal sons-of-b*****s threw stones, fired guns, burned tires, talked shit all over the city of Beirut. Was that US-backed too?
How does the US function?

Tears for Lebanon mentioned some of the criticism directed to Rice by some politicians for her treatment of the “March 14 Alliance” as school children:

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun
on Tuesday criticized U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for
meeting leaders of the March 14 alliance like “students gathered in a
class room.”
However, he emphasized that “one issue remains vague, that is the issue of naturalizing Palestinians in Lebanon.”

Jnoubiyeh posted an article by Franklin Lamb in which he analyzes Rice's visit and in which he states that:

It is likely Ms. Rice's last visit to Lebanon, but not her finale to the region which have averaged roughly one appearance every 9 weeks since assuming her current post. Rice, as with the Bush administration generally, remains hugely unpopular here in Lebanon based partly on her callous remarks: ” it ( the wanton Israeli killing and bombing) are birth pangs of the new Middle East” , “it's too early for a sustainable ceasefire”, “Israel is just exercising its right to self-defense and the United States supports that right”, etc . during the 33 day July 2006 War and her work to delay a ceasefire during the fighting which directly contributed to the more than 1,400 Lebanese killed, 4,500 wounded and massive destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure as well as its economy and environment.

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Israel: New National Bird Good for a Laugh

Maya Norton · 02:59 · Middle East & North Africa

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Embarrassed about your country's national bird? Don't be. Israel has one far more comical. Comedy Central's hit television show “The Colbert Report” cites Israel's choice of the long-billed hoopoe as evidence that, “Countries don't make passes at birds that wear glasses.”

Isrealli, who has the video clip, says:

Last night, Stephen Colbert reported on some of the more important developments going on in Israel. For starters, Israel has a new national bird.

$Israel\'s New National Bird: the Long-Billed Hoopoe$

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Costa Rica: Andrea Morales Leaves Her Political Party

Roy Rojas · 02:30, June 19th, 2008 · Americas

lingua → es · zht · zhs

Andrea Morales, a deputy from the Citizens Action Party (PAC) in Costa Rica, caused controversy when she resigned from her political party, in which she has belonged to during the past several years. Many speculate that her exit was expected, and others felt that she was forced to make that decision.

The young congresswoman has faced political pressure [es] over the past few days. Pressue that very few has had to deal with, and as one blogger writes, that it appears that she truly wanted to help the country. As Cristian Cambronero of Fusil de Chispas [es], “opportunistic or not, calculating or not, her attitude is civic.”

The Costa Rican blogosphere has been talking about this recent event, with some in favor and with others against. However, each gives their opinion. Cambronero, who once supported the PAC and now regrets his vote says:

La actitud de Morales hoy es titubeante, floja. De asumir posiciones valiosas de divergencia con su propio partido, la diputada ha pasado a ser una feliz veleta a merced de los vientos del oficialismo, refiriéndose a que varios sectores del PAC le recriminan que ella ha tomado una posición de poca oposición contra el gobierno.

Morales' attitude is tongue-tying and loose. By taking brave positions different from her own party, the deputy has become a happy weather vane at the mercy of the officialist party, referring to the fact that various sectors of the PAC are reproaching the fact that she has taking positions that have not been against the government.

The underlying question that this brings up is what happens when a deputy falls out of line with the official party and makes her own personal decisions? Should she be expulsed from her party? One of the decisions that have been criticized has been Morales' decision to not oppose the laws so that the Free Trade Agreement is approved. In her defense, she says that her decisions reflect the will of the people who voted for this agreement.

Dean Córnito en the blog La Suiza Centroamericana [es]:

De todos es conocida la posición de Andrea Morales con respecto al TLC. No lo apoyó, pero desde un principio dijo que habría que respetar la voluntad popular y que, en su visión de mundo, eso significaba no obstaculizar la agenda de implementación en la Asamblea si el TLC era aprobado en el Referéndum.

Everyone knows Andres Morales' position on the Free Trade Agreement. Even though I don't support it, she said from the beginning that one must respect the will of the people and in her vision of the world, this means to not be an obstruction in the implementation in Congress if the Free Trade Agreement was approved in the Referendum.

The PAC continues to commit errors after errors, and losing support little by little according to Roy Rojas of the News Star [es]. He writes in the post Costa Rica and its Political Games that the PAC is in trouble and due to the arrogance of its leader Ottón Solís, it would never notice it.

qué pasó con el partido político que le decía no al obstruccionismo, aquel partido que se perfilaba como la voz del pueblo?. Ahora el PAC se ha convertido en uno más, incluso por su falta de experiencia cometiendo errores que les puede costar muy caro en un futuro cercano

What happened to the political party that said “no” to obstructionism. The party that represented the voice of the people? Now the PAC ahs become just another party, and for its lack of experience it is committing errors that could prove very costly in the near future.

The blog Manda Güevo [es] also shows support to Morales for standing up to the PAC leader.

However, not all agree with the decision. The blog La Foto Salió Movida [es], the writes is very direct in expressing displeasure at the deputy's behavior and says:

La diputada del PAC Andrea Morales, no sólo debería renunciar al PAC, si no a su curul. Esto como manera de respetar el convenio que firmó con su partido al inicio de la gestión, Con Morales tenía esperanzas, pero ahora ha enviado por un tubo grandes esfuerzos. Le endoso semejante responsabilidad, porque aunque diga todo lo contrario, ha dado de las peores muestras de coherencia que alguien pueda dar, más directos no podrían ser.

The PAC deputy Andrea Morales, should not only resign from the PAC, but also from her seat. This is something that would respect the agreement that she signed with her party at the beginning of her term. With Morales, I had hope, but now she sent her efforts down the drain. I endorse such responsability, because even though she says the opposite, she has demonstrated the poorest examples of coherency, more direct it cannot be.

So the debate continues whether Andrea Morales did the right thing, and whether she should resign from her seat in the Legislative Assembly. However, most bloggers applaud her decision and believe that she is being unfairly criticizes for her personal decision.

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