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Bahrain: Obsessed with a Turkish soap opera

Ayesha Saldanha · 23:00 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → ar · es

A Turkish soap opera, Noor, has become a hit in the Arab world, with reports of fights and even divorces occurring because of the obsession of many women with the handsome male star, Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, who plays Muhannad. Some Bahraini bloggers have been examining the popularity of the drama series amongst Arabs.

Malath sets the scene:

الساعة الآن تشير إلى العاشرة 10:00 مساءً..” بل بدأت نور، ويش فيش تمشين علعدال؟ يالله بسرعة”

“إحنا لازم نرجع البيت أحين لا تفوتنا الحلقة” … يالله اشخطي السيارة …اشخطي..!

عبارة أسمعها كل ليلة تقريبا من أختي التي تستعجلني في الرجوع للمنزل قبيل العاشرة مساء لأجل أن تشهد كل حلقة من مسلسل نور. لدرجة أنني تخيلت نفسي محلقة بطائرة (هوليكبتر) و كأنما أأخذ بها جولة على البيوت البحرينية المقتلعة الأسقف كما بدت في حلم اليقظة ، لأجل أن أرصد كم المشاهدة البحرينية لمسلسل نور. مؤكد أن الجميع يحتشد أمام شاشات التلفزة مشاهدا نور بهوس و متابعا كل تفاصيلها إن كان الأب نفسه ، الأم و الأبناء و حتى الجدات يا جماعة” والله حتى الجدات!” متابعين بشغف مهند الذي يدللها بفيض من الرومانسية الشحيحة بعالمنا العربي.

It's almost 10pm.
“Why aren't you speeding? Come on! Hurry up!”
“We have to be back home or we will miss the soap opera.”
“Drive faster! Hurry up!”

These are the phrases I hear almost every night from my sister, who asks me to come back home before 10pm so that we can watch Noor. It has got to the point that I have imagined myself taking a helicopter ride and zooming into Bahraini homes, which I can see in my daydream without roofs, in order to monitor how many people watch it. I must stress that everyone is huddled around their television sets, watching Noor obsessively, watching every detail - from the father, to the mother and children, and even the grandmother. Can you believe it? Even grandmothers! They watch how Muhannad spoils her [Noor] with romance, which is missing from our Arab world.

Ali Al Mulla too is astonished at the popularity of Noor:

بكل صراحة، لا أتذكر أنني تابعت حلقة كاملة لمسلسل نور ولا سنوات الضياع، إلا أن ما شدني أكثر هو تواتر الأخبار الغريبة التي تتحفنا بها الصحافة العربية لمواقف يومية وإبداعات مجتمعاتنا العربية المتحضرة في الانحدار، وآخرها تلك الزوجة التي طلقها شريك حياتها لأنها أبدت (رغبتها العارمة في أن - تنام - مع مهند ولو ليلة في حياتها ولا بأس أن تموت بعدها) ولن يهمها ما سيكون نتيجة إعلانها عما يجول في داخلها من شعور!!

فهنيئا لها ..

Frankly speaking, I have never followed a complete episode of Noor or The Lost Years (another soap) but I have been lured by the strange news in the Arab Press, which comes out with stories about the level of degradation our society has stooped to. The last of these articles, is a story about a wife who was divorced, because she expressed to her husband her wish to 'sleep' with Muhannad, even for a night and that it would be fine for her to die afterwards. She didn't even care what the reaction to expressing this wish would be. I hope she is enjoying it.

Then Malath looks at the reasons for the drama's appeal:

ياجماعة.. ماذا فعلت بنا نور.. أنا نفسي إنتقدت المسلسل بداية و ظننت إنه سخيف و لا يستحق المشاهدة، و لكن بعد حلقة و إثنتين متتاليتين وجدت نفسي ممن يشاهدن مسلسل نور. و فعلا أسعى لشراء أو تحضير العشاء قبل العاشرة مساء حتى نستمتع بمشاهدة نور ريثما نتناول وجبة العشاء. بدأت أتسائل فعلا عن الحمى التي ألحقها بنا هذا المسلسل، هل هو هروب من الملل و الحياة الرتيبة؟ أم هو مخرج من سيناريوهات الدرامة العربية التي تحاكينا بلغة المخدرات و(الصياح و النياح و الكفوف و الطراقات و البكوس)؟ أم أن نور و مهند ثنائي جميل يجذب الناظرين و يجعل القلوب تهوي خيالا بهما؟ أم لأن الطبيعة التركية و مناظرها الخلابة، طريقة التصوير، التقنيات المستعملة فيه و الألوان التي تريح الأعين هي أحد الأسباب التي تفسر هذا الولع بالمسلسل؟ و لا ننسى سحر عيناه و شهامته التي لاجدال فيها، ربما تكون هي الأخرى أسباب مهمة، قد يكون مهند جميل حقا لكنه برأيي لا يمتلك معايير الوسامة و الرجولة والجاذبية العربية بمجتمعنا الشرقي و التي تنص على أن الرجل العربي لا يمك أن يك وسيما إن كان ناصع البياض ذو وجه “حليبي” إن صح التعبير، شديد النعومة و الصفاء، و لكن من سألتهن عن سبب إعجابهن بمهند قلن لي: نحن نفتقر للشعر الأشقر و العيون الزرقاء بعالمنا، فهو على الأغلب ما يولد لدى نساؤنا الهوس بمهند التركي! حتى إنني سمعت بأذني إقرار من رجال أن مهند وسيم، آه ه ه تخيلوا!!

What has Noor done to us? I personally criticised the soap when it first started because it was silly and not worth watching. But after watching it for an episode or two, I found myself following it. And I really strive to finish my shopping and prepare dinner before 10pm so that we can enjoy watching Noor while having our dinner. I started questioning our fascination with this soap opera. Is it an escape from boredom and our routine? Or is it an exit from the Arab dramas, which talk to us about drugs, in episodes full of crying, screaming, caves, alleys and fighting? Or is it because Noor and Muhannad are an attractive couple, who are nice to watch and allow our imaginations to take us away? Or is it because of the beauty of Turkey's nature, the way the soap is filmed, and the setting of this production that we enjoy? We also can't forget the allure in his eyes, and his character, which no two can argue over. Perhaps the other reasons could be important and Muhannad could be handsome, but I believe that he doesn't have the characteristics or attractions of an Arab man, which dictate that a man cannot be handsome if he is fair, with soft clear skin. However, those I have asked about their fascination with Muhannad have told me that they miss having blonde men with blue eyes in our part of the world! This is perhaps why our women are hysterical over Muhannad the Turk! I have even heard men admit that he is handsome!! Can you imagine that?

But her own interest in it is waning:

يا جماعة والله أشعر بأن الموضوع قد أعطي أكبر بكبير من حجمه، و بدأت أتململ من السالفة، أحنا مساكين نعيش حالة من التشرذم و الضياع، متخبطين بحياتنا ،ينهشنا غلاء الأسعار و السياسات العربية و المحلية المتفذلكة، و أحوالنا العربية الباعثة على الشفقة فنهرب كلنا نحو نور ،و كأنها درب الخلاص الذي سينتشلنا من عرصة الهم الذي يفيق و إيانا كل صباح.. نتعلق بنور و بمهند ، بشجاراتهم و بحبهم ، بلبسهم، بقصات شعرهم، بطبيعتهم، بتفاصيلهم الغبية على مدى ساعة من الزمن كل ليلة ، كل ليلة هروبا من همومنا و مشاكلنا التي لا تنفك تتضخم و تتفتح عنها أبوابا كبيرة.

I feel that this topic has been given more space than it deserves. I have become bored of it. We are poor people, who suffer from a loss; our lives are messed up; we suffer from inflation and expensive goods, local and Arab policies, and our conditions as Arabs are pathetic. This is why we escape towards Noor, as it it was the path towards our salvation, which will remove us from our miseries, which wake up with us every morning. We hang on to Muhannad and Noor, their fights and their love, their clothes, their haircuts, their natural surroundings, and the stupid details of their lives for an entire hour every night. Every night we escape our huge problems - which are getting bigger by the day.

At the end of her post Malath asks:

و ماذا بعد نور…………… يا عرب؟

And what after Noor … Oh Arabs?

9 comments · read »

China: Looking back at a campus shooting

John Kennedy · 21:57 · East Asia

Desktop pirates might have noticed that last year's movie Dark Matter was chosen by eMule as one of the P2P network's movies of the month [zh] was been getting heavy rotation on Saturday. So that's why you're reading about it now; while the metaphor of dark matter as cultural insensitivity doesn't exactly fit, the connection is probably worth making given all the discussion following the revenge-stabbing of several police officers in Shanghai earlier this month.

First, a 2007 post from film critic Raymond Zhou (周黎明):

本以为这样的独立影片会勇敢地探讨人性的黑暗面、以及文化冲突、水土不服等问题。但真的有点失望，影片把中国留学生刚到美国时的种种不适应，做了最肤浅、最夸张的描写，里面当然有真实的细节，但总体上人物根本不可信。从主题上讲，影片的投机取巧使之失去了原来事件的冲击力。

一个很外向、很容易跟人相处的人，是不会一举枪杀好几个人的。

最奇怪的是，华裔导演陈士争没有给斯特里普发挥演技的广阔空间。众所周知，斯特里普是不需要导演便可以给予极具厚度的角色塑造。影片中一场较感人的戏，是刘烨扮演的刘星来到斯特里普家送礼物，欲说还休，他离开后，镜头只给斯特里普一个侧面。我想，换了别的导演，此处可以出现一个叫绝的镜头，因为那时斯特里普的角色内心非常复杂，而那样的镜头是可以把整个表演提升到奥斯卡水准的。

刘烨的表现还不错，有点像留学生中的乖乖仔。只是很难想象他最终会变成卢刚式的人物。当然那是编导的责任。…

At first I thought this indie film would bravely delve into the dark side of human nature, as well as cultural conflicts and issues of acclimatization to new environments. But I really am disappointed in how the film offers a most shallow and exaggerated portrayal of a Chinese overseas student's problems adapting just after his arrival in the United States. Of course, there are many realistic details in the film, but overall the characters are not believable. As for the subject, the impact of the original incident gets lost in the film's selfish ambitions.

An outgoing, amicable person just doesn't turn around and shoot several people.

The strangest part is, the ethnic Chinese director Chen Shizheng (陈士争) did not give actress Meryl Streep ample space to display her acting skill. As everyone knows, Streep doesn't need a director to be able to fully develop her characters. One particularly touching scene in the film is when Liu Xing (刘星, played by Liu Ye 刘烨) goes to Streep's home and she feigns interest in the skincare products he takes to selling to make ends meet after his study plans are botched; he forgets a sample, and as he leaves, the shot only shows Streep from the side. I think with a different director, this scene would have wowed the audience, because Streep's character's emotions at that point were extremely complicated. Of course, that is the director's responsibility…

In April last year, Sina blogger and media worker Wang Xudong (王旭东) attended a screening of the film followed by discussions with Liu Ye, and at the time had this to write:

讨论的话题围绕，电影文本的并不太多，更多焦点是放在：几年前中国留美研究生枪击美国博导和同门师弟这个新闻事件，能否在国内上画？在美上画的考虑等社会话题展开。
影片，整体的感觉就是稚嫩，尤其表现在导演手法和叙事上。故事是以一个真实的新闻事件改编，在我看来，“卢刚校园枪击案”的事件，很震撼，至少结果很震撼，由于当年咱国媒体只是淡化处理了，我们只知道的是个结果，其中的过程并不了解。本期待着通过影片获得些真实的信息，可影片应该没能完成这个任务。

Topics of discussion were sort of peripheral, and there weren't many about the movie script; most were focused on whether news of a Chinese PhD student in the US shooting his American supervisor and several of his peers could be shown in China, as well as social issues in it having been shown in the US.
Overall, the film felt rather raw, especially seen in the narration and directing techniques. The story was based on true events, which I assume was the “Lu Gang (卢刚) campus shooting incident”, which was very shocking, or at least the outcome was, and because our domestic media only played it down at the time, the outcome was all we knew, left unclear about the events leading up. I'd expected to get some of the true facts from this film, but I don't think that's a task this film as achieved.

Intrigue is part of working life for many people in China, but then isn't it for everyone, everywhere? An anonymous writer on this Baidu thread thinks so, although looking primarily at the academic world:

中国知识份子到外闯的确困难重重: 想要出头果真需要天时、地利、人和. 刘星不过是想改善家人生活和追求知识顶峰罢, 谁料到这种不回头的固执会毁灭自己! 主角不幸遇上一个不容其他人挑战自己、好保著自己学术地位的「名师」(Aidan Quinn) . 教授年青时推翻了老师的理论, 成名多年后是个死守学说、靠留学生替自己研究学术, 但内里极度轻蔑门生的学棍. 并非所有人都同意教授, 只是身在学府, 最重视的是自己饭碗, 靠人脉关系「埋堆」才可以生存. 刘星一心只想研究学术, 不会阅读人性险恶, 他甚至估计不到教授反对通过他的论文, 并不是因为使用何种运算方法, 而是因为锋芒过露, 足以动摇教授的地位. 刘星向教授赞扬美国的老师比中国的更能接挑战, 其实东西方都一样, 都不喜欢学生胜过自己.

Chinese intellectuals have it hard anywhere they go abroad; those who want to stand out really need the right opportunity, to be in the right position, and to have the right support. Although Liu Xing only wanted to improve his family life and reach the peak of intellectual pursuit, nobody foresaw that this sort of blind obstinance would lead to his own destruction! The main character unfortunately coming up against someone with no tolerance for being challenged by others, his renowned supervisor (Aidan Quinn). Having disproven his own supervisor's theory in his youth, years later and having built a name for himself, has become an academic thug forced to defend his own theory, having his PhD students' research do his research for him but despising them at the same time. And not everyone agrees with this professor, but being in the academy, are ultimately concerned about keeping their own rice bowls full, relying on their relationships to survive. Liu Xing lives only to do research, and is oblivious to people's ill intentions, to the point of even not being able to realize that his professor's opposition to approving his thesis has nothing to do with calculation methods, but because of being outdone by talent, enough to rock the professor's position. Liu Xing praises to his supervisor American professors' wider acceptance of being challenged than Chinese professors, when actually it's the same both in the East and West: nobody likes being outdone by their students.

And finally, some cherrypickings from the comments thread from Dark Matter's download page on VeryCD:

Ryancou:
其实看到真实事件和拍摄花絮，心理很难受的，中国大学生到美国大学就读，由于人际关系的纠纷，酿成惨剧。
还有，“初进剧组的那几天，气氛非常诡异，他们私下里都在议论我是不是从中国来的功夫巨星”
为什么中国人和美国人在一起总是那么尴尬呢？
为什么我们中国人和美国人永远不能成为彼此之间互相了解的好朋友呢？

Actually, having seen both the real thing and the footage on the news, it's unbearable, a Chinese university student goes to an American university to study, but then an interpersonal dispute turns to tragedy.
Also, [quoting Liu Ye] “the first few days with the cast were really strange, everyone kept whispering to each other wondering if I was a big kung fu master back in China.”
Why does it always have to be so awkward when Chinese and Americans get together?
Why will we Chinese never become friends who understand each other with the Americans?

demonzion
真人真事，当时很轰动，报纸上说是结业时导师没有给他第一的评价而是给了另一个中国留学生，这位应试教育出身的“才子”就把美国天体物理学的半壁江山毁了。美国老师死就死在不懂中国学生从小就是：考考考，老师的法宝；分分分，学生的命根儿。

Based on true events, it was quite a stir at the time. The newspaper said when the program finished, the supervisor didn't give him top spot but gave it instead to another Chinese student. This “genius” brought up on test-taking education turned half of America's astrophysics world on its head. American professors died for not knowing that for Chinese students, it's all tests, tests, tests, and the magic power for teachers is: score, score, score, it's what Chinese students live for.

wangu571
没有看此片给人第一印象，我心底总感到有辱华的感觉呢，虽然刘烨说没有。

I haven't seen this film, but my first impression is that it's humiliating to China, even if Liu Ye says it's not.

NicholasGunn
Meryl Streep?! 这也成？！必须下了。

They got Meryl Streep to be in it? I have to download it.

kreax:
中国人在美国做出这件事，这部电影对我们国人来说也是一个审视自己的机会和角度……

For a Chinese to have done something like this in America, this film also offers an opportunity and point of view for us with which to examine ourselves……

moolemon:
非常好的电影,发片时期很巧和,和virginia tech的枪击残案.华人导演华人主角,我们应该支持.非常沉重的话题.

An extremely good film, which coincidentally was released at the same time as the horrible Virginia Tech shooting. A Chinese director and Chinese main actor, we ought to support it. An extremely serious subject.

suprakit:
看完了，说两句。大家不要把电影看作当年事件的再现，影片中讨论的是文化冲突，而且强调主人公受到教授的不公正对待，均与事情的本来面目有一定出入。
当时卢刚枪击的受害者中，就有斯特里普扮演人物的原型。受害人单林华，也没听说有片中描述的刻意讨好美国人的行为。
就表现卢刚事件而言，不存在什么辱华的问题，反而对卢刚付出更多的同情。
事件中，卢刚也是受害者，但是我以为不存在太多文化冲突的因素，更多的是他个人性格缺陷的结果。

I've just watched it, and I've got two cents. Don't everybody look at this as a rehashing of the events at the time. What this film discusses is culture clash, and emphasizes the unfair treatment the main character received from his professor, and clearly departs from the original incident. Among Lu Gang's shooting victims at the time was the character played by Streep. Of the victims you only see Shan Linhua (单林华), and I didn't hear any discussions in the film that went out of their way to praise Americans' behavior.
As for the displaying the Lu Gang incident, I wouldn't say that any of it was humiliating to China, instead it puts forth even more sympathy to him.
In this incident, Lu Gang was also a victim, but I wouldn't say that there exist too many culture clash factors, the majority of it was the result of his individual personality defects.

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Saudi Arabia: What if Olive Riley Had Blogged All Along?

Amira Al Hussaini · 15:24 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → bn · es

The world's oldest blogger, Australian Olive Riley
has died at the age of 108. In mourning her death, Mohammed Al Shehri, from Saudi Arabia, wonders what the legacy Riley would have left behind been like, had the Internet and blogging been available all along.

He writes [Ar]:

اليوم تناقلت وكالات الأنباء خبر وفاة الزميلة الاسترالية Olive Riley
أكبر مدونة في العالم عن عمر يناهز 108 سنوات ( توفيت السبت الماضي ) عاصرت فيها أحداث قرن مضى بكل حروبه الأولى والثانية وثورته وصناعته ومدنيته وهمجيته ، وديكتاتوريه وضحاياه وافراحه وأحزانه ، أرشيف كامل من الذكريات قد تعجز عن حمله مدونة ! ولكنه التدوين وشغفه عندما يطل بعد كل هذا العمر .
تخيلوا معي لو أن التدوين بشكله الحالي موجوداً منذ زمن بعيد وأن أوليف دونت طوال تلك السنوات كل ما مر بها في حياتها من قصص وأحداث ومشاعر منذ شبابها وحتى وفاتها ، يا ترى كيف ستكون خانة الأرشيف !
بالتأكيد سيكون الأمر أكثر إثارة ونحن نقرأ يوميات هذه المرأة عندما بدأت الحرب العالمية الثانية وكيف كانت مشاعرها في ذلك الوقت وما الذي كانت تقوله الصحافة ورأيها بما يحدث أو نقرأ مثلاً تدوينة عن حبها الأول وكيف كان أو عن رأيها عندما شاهدت أول تلفزيون يتم إختراعه وعمرها لم يتجاوز 22 سنه ! …
المدونون هم من يكتبون التاريخ الحاضر لقراء المستقبل ! و اوليف بتديوناتها كادت أن تكون شاهدة على عصرها لو أن التدوين وجد منذ زمن .
كم هم محظوظون قراء المستقبل .. أنا أحسدهم .
لكن يا ترى ما الذي جعل أوليف تفكر بالتدوين بعد كل هذا العمر !؟

Our Australian colleague Olive Riley, the world's oldest blogger, had died at the age of 108. She had lived through the first and second world wars, their revolutions and industries, their civility and destruction, their dictators and victims, and their happiness and sadness. She carried with her an archive of memories, more than a blog could hold. And then she discovered blogging and its thrill, especially at her age!

Imagine with me, if blogging as the way it is today, had been available in the past and that Olive had continued to blog all those years, writing all her life experiences, feelings and incidents, from her youth until her death. How will her blog archive look like?

I am sure we would have been excited reading her diary when the Second World War started, her feelings, her reactions to what the newspapers wrote and her ideas about what was happening. It would have been enchanting to read a post about her first love; or what her feelings were when she saw the first television which was invented when she was 22 years old!

Bloggers are writing today's history for tomorrow's readers! And Olive in her blogging could have been the first witness to that era, had blogging been available then. How lucky are the readers of the future! I envy them! I wonder what made Olive start blogging after that advanced age?!

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Global Voices' New Public Health Editor, Juhie Bhatia

Solana Larsen · 15:24 · Announcements

lingua → zht · zhs · fr · mk · it

Last month, we announced six new Rising Voices citizen media projects in partnership with the Open Society Institute’s Health Media Initiative. This month, we're pleased to introduce our new Public Health Editor, Juhie Bhatia. Her job will be to report on the progress of our newest micro-grantees in Romania, South Africa, The D.R. of Congo, Ukraine, and Russia, and to keep abreast of worldwide citizen media related to public health.

Juhie is a South Asian-Canadian journalist, who is passionate about global health issues. She has worked as a health reporter and editor for almost ten years. She has reported for Reuters Health from India and Thailand, but also a string of other media, including MSNBC.com, Bulletin for the World Health Organization, Women's eNews, and the website EverydayHealth.com, which she helped create (and still works for as an editor). She is currently based in Paris, France.

Juhie has also volunteered for several social justice and health organizations over the years, including women's resource centers, a sexual health NGO in South India, and the Alliance for South Asian AIDS prevention where she led workshops on HIV/AIDS.

We're really pleased to welcome Juhie to Global Voices, and work together with her to expand our coverage of citizen media concerning public health. In her first post on Global Voices today, she looks at Indian bloggers' reactions to proposed legislation in the state of Maharashtra that would make HIV/Aids testing mandatory before marriage. Welcome Juhie!

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Brazil: Tears and Cheers for Middle East Prisoner Swap

Paula Góes · 14:46 · Middle East & North Africa , Americas

lingua → pt · bn · es

Brazilian of Arab descent or bloggers interested in all things Middle Eastern talk about the Israel-Lebanon Prisoner Exchange. Considering that Brazil is the country that arguably holds the largest Arab population outside the Middle East, there are very passionate points of views both for and against the deal, and as much tears as cheers:

Groove is in the Rahal [pt], in a post called “I feel so sorry”, felt the need to express his feelings towards the Arab people:

Difícil falar sobre os conflitos no Oriente Médio. Por mais que eu estude, nunca é suficiente. Mas sei o necessário para dizer que sinto muito pelo sofrimento do povo palestino, libanês, árabes em geral.
Para quem me conhece e sabe da minha descendência e forte ligação com a história das arábias, pode achar tendenciosa a minha posição. Não culpo o povo israelense, que também sofre com conflitos sequenciais, mas a tendência aqui parte de um princípio básico: a corda sempre arrebenta do lado mais fraco. Sim, árabes são poderosos, mas nesse caso estão em desvantagem.
Infelizmente o extremismo, o radicalismo xiita cai bem em um contexto assim…

It is hard to talk about the conflicts in the Middle East. Regardless how much I study, it is never enough. But I know what it is necessary to say that I feel very sorry for the suffering of the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Arab people in general.
For those who know me and know of my descent and strong links with the history of the Arabic world, you may think my position is biased. I do not blame the Israeli people, who also suffer from sequential conflicts, but the trend here derives from a basic principle: the chain is no stronger than its weakest link. Yes, Arabs are powerful, but in this case they are at a disadvantage.
Unfortunately, extremism, shi'ite radicalism serves well in such a context…

Brazilian living in Germany, Felix Dhimmi [pt] had hopes that at least one of the prisoners would be handed back alive and he was very disappointed to learn that only coffins arrived:

Honrar compromissos com inimigos sem honra é atitude válida quando ela conduz à paz, e a atitude do Hezbullah mostra uma intenção oposta à esta, a intenção é a de humilhar, pisar e alimentar o ego dos árabes tribalistas, insuflá-los com orgulho sem sentido, orgulho baseado em nenhuma realização senão a morte de inocentes, como os pequenos mortos pela ação da besta Kuntar e de seus cúmplices, um ato que deságua no objetivo final deste grupo que é a eliminação de Israel e seu povo, com criminosos assim as regras civilizadas não contam.

Honoring commitments to not honorable enemies is a valid attitude when it leads to peace, and the Hezbullah's attitude shows an intention opposed to this, its intention is to humiliate, despise and massage Arab tribes egos, inflate them with senseless pride, a pride based not achievements but on the death of innocents, such as the little ones dead by the action of Kuntar the beast and his accomplices, an act that leads to this this group's ultimate goal, which is the elimination of Israel and its people, with criminals like these the civilized rules are nothing.

Anwar Assi [pt] believes the release could not have happened on more symbolic date, exactly when the Lebanese people celebrate the second anniversary of victory over Israel in the 2006 war.

A libertação dos combatentes libaneses é sem dúvida nenhuma uma grande vitória da Resistência Islâmica, comandada pelo Hezbollah, que não poupou esforços para colocar fim a um dos piores dramas causados pela ocupação isralense do território libanês: a questão dos prisioneiros em cárceres judaicos. […] O Hezbollah já prometeu que não vai poupar esforços para colocar um fim a estas agressões. Quando o Hezbollah promete, cumpre. No caso dos prisioneiros, a promessa sincera de libertá-los foi cumprida.

The release of Lebanese fighters is without doubt a great victory of the Islamic Resistance, led by Hezbollah, which spared no effort to put an end to the worst tragedies caused by Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory: the issue of Jewish prisoners in jails. […] The Hezbollah has promised spared no efforts to put an end to these attacks. When Hezbollah makes a promise, it keeps it. In the case of the prisoners, the sincere promise to release them was met.

Pedro Dória [pt], who has been a national reference for his coverage of Middle East [pt] for a long time, questions the deal's goals, considering that “these kidnappings were the excuse for the war which put an end to the Lebanese government's morale”:

Perguntar não custa: de que adiantou botar o Líbano abaixo se, no fim, o governo de Israel terminaria por capitular perante o Hizbolá? […] Era melhor ter feito a negociação pela troca antes, quando soldados e vítimas libanesas da guerra estavam vivos e o governo libanês ainda tinha alguma força perante o Hizbolá. Guerra estúpida – coberta por este Weblog – para resultados piores ainda.

It doesn't hurt to ask: What was bringing Lebanon down worth in the end, if the government of Israel was to capitulate to Hezbollah? […] It was better to have negotiated the exchange before, when soldiers and Lebanese victims of war were alive and the Lebanese government still had some strength before the Hezbullah. A stupid war - covered by this Weblog - with even worse results.

To finish off, one of the many political cartoons by Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff, a supporter of Palestine and Lebanon against Israel.

The Arabic people have deep roots in the Brazilian cultural melting pot. It is estimated that 70,000 Arabic immigrants (notably Lebanese and Syrian but also from Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq) landed in Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, forming today's population of full or partial Arabic descent of about 10 million people. Arab Brazilians are considered the largest Arab population outside the Middle East, according to the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.

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China: Olympics side-effect on industry

Bob Chen · 14:40 · East Asia

What will be the cost of presenting an unprecedented Olympics?

Blogger Dailu, an author listed in Bulloger.cn, recorded one of his dialogues with a few workers in a chemical factory, which suffered from an unexpected side-effect of the Olympics.

中午吃饭，有搞化工的人，听到他们谈论，奥运期间，北方很多化工、医药工厂都要停产。
我说：“那是好消息呀，你们南方不受影响，赶紧加大生产，抢占市场。”
人家说：“好个屁呀，我们原料是山东的，没有原料，生个屁产！”

Having lunch today, I heard several workers talking that, during the Olympics, a great many chemical and pharmacy works in the north were shut down.
“What a great piece of news,” I said, “it’s the right time for you works in the south being unaffected to promote production to take over the market!”
“What a hell good news is it?” answered them, “we all have our raw materials from Shandong, and what a shit could we make without them!”

The blogger plotted again, “Then just stock up the material! It’s right the time since it has still one months left before the Games!”

“那赶紧囤积原料啊，还有一个月，备战备荒还来得及。”

“咳，就你聪明？政府已经规定，7月1日到10月18日，全国范围内危险品都不准运输，高速也不能上，长江也不能进，我们原料是剧毒物品，已经运不出来了，你就等着停产吧。”

“You are not the only guy wise! The government has regulated that from 7.1 to 10.18, no cargo of dangerous goods should be shipped or get on to the highway, or even go along the Yangtze River. What we need are all poisonous materials, already forbidden. Just wait for the black-out!”

After checking online, the blogger found:

笑完了，回去上网一查，果然查出禁令无数，大禁如梳，中禁如箆，小禁如剃，凡是不朝气不蓬勃不和谐不向上的行业，几乎全都着了道

The prohibitions during Olympics, countless in number, were really like combing and raking over across the entire industry, all those not positive, and not “harmonious” enough on the hit list.

He further commented:

记得当初申奥时，专家们出来算经济账，纷纷都是一个“赚”字。如今各项预算大大超支，于是经济账就再也没人提了，换季流行的是政治帐。一方面对外高喊：奥运不能政治化，一方面又对内宣传：我们只算政治帐！奥运是一只爱国奶牛，吃进去的是钱，挤出来的是大国形象。

I was reminded that “bonanza” was what the experts yelled out when just starting to compete for the Olympic hosting. However, the calculation of economy has already been replaced today by that of politics, because of the overspending on budget. No one mention how much we can earn now (but only what a great name we can get — translator). We proclaimed to the world of no getting the Game politicized, while in the other hand we are speaking to ourselves that we only consider the political impact!

The Olympics is like a patriotic cow, with money flowed in, the profile of a great nation squeezed out.

其实，以我之见，算算政治帐也无可厚非，心理满足本来就是人的最高需求嘛。问题主要是，现在似乎是完全靠政治开路。要知道经济成本不会凭空消失，在政治帐的口号下，必然会以政治压力的方式呈现出来，中国人经济上失去的越多，政治上期望就越高.

In fact, I don’t think there’s much worng with political consideration; isn’t the psychological satisfaction the highest pursuit of human? But the problem now is that, politics seemed to be used to solve every problem, while we know that the economic cost won’t just die out. Pressured under political slogans, it will finally burst out in the form of political pressure. The more we Chinese lost economically, the more we anticipate on politics.

His conclusion has a grey color: