Good. You’re paying attention now so let’s start this week’s roundup with the mundane and progress from there:
Mahmood seems to have been branded a pervert for photographing wild parakeets having sex in one of his palm trees and have chosen to nest in his house’s eaves. He’s been warned; however, to quit this “bird-porn” business as some think that his site will be blocked by virtually the whole Gulf because of the terms used in that article.
Moving on… On the tenth day of Muharram, the first month in the Muslim calendar, an event that took place over 1,300 years ago is commemorated in Bahrain by its Shi’a population as do hundreds of millions of Shi’a Muslims around the world in remembrance of Imam Hussain.
In Bahrain, the commemorations have morphed into a cultural event that is now not just the usual expressions of grief which is exhibited by processions of men beating their chests. These events are now streamed on the interneta, something that prompts Tawfiq Al-Rayyash to suggest calling this festival e-Ashoora.
However, some take this expression of grief to extremes by allowing an incision to be made in their scalp so that a copious flow of blood occursa. This bloody precession is called “Haidar” and is a very controversial subject even among leading clerics and Shi’a Marji’ as Tawfiq Al-Rayyash arguesa and concludes that this act damages the reputation of not only the Shi’a, but Islam in general and needs to be stopped. Something that virtually all Bahraini bloggers agree witha.
Michael Jackson has left the island! Good riddance, Mahmood says and breaths a sigh of relief, one that is echoed by others as well. But from the mundane Jackson to Bahrain’s very own under-rated superstar; Abdulhadi Khalaf brings to our attention Salman Zaimana, a progressive musician who has had a great impact on the art and artists in Bahrain as is explored in a wide ranging interview in Al-Talee’aa literary weekly magazine from Kuwait.
The main daily newspaper in Bahrain Al-Wasata started a section three days ago highlighting blogs and blogposts. Silly Bahraini Girl is worried on what this might lead to. She argues that: “The fact that Arab media is taking a close look at blogs is alarming to say the least. A few months ago the Information Ministry in Bahrain, for instance, had ordered bloggers to register their blogs with the ministry or else face action, the minute some twit up there realised that there was a new craze called on-line journals. And now Al Wasat is trying to draw attention to bloggers and then the Cabinet and Parliament will hold extraordinary sessions to discuss the matter and we will, I repeat, we will petition the UN to .. to .. I don’t know what.”
Haitham Sabbah continues to monitor the international press and asks very valid questions on how they choose to ignore news and takes them to task.
Finally, Mahmood takes on a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry who foolishly emailed him an encouragement to boycott Danish products in protest of Jyllands-Posten publishing derogatory cartoons about the Prophet and argues that the Chamber of Commerce should limit its role to taking care of businesses and their business needs, rather than their spiritual ones.
a = in Arabic
This article first appeared on Global Voices as my weekly roundup of the Bahraini blogosphere. I apologise if I have missed to include your post or blog, but I do try to be as fair as I can if and when I find published articles which might be of interest to the outside world. I realise that I cannot do a perfect job, so your input is highly appreciated. Please contact me and let me know your views or just enter them as comments to this article. All input is welcome.
Comments
GV Roundup: Bahrain: Sex, blood and incarceration
Man, oh man.
I am not a religious person and certainly not into dogma but I DO have an opinion: A religious event should be celebrated by saying a few prayers, sharing a few experiences, and having a large meal with family friends, and the congregation. There should be none of this bloodletting BS as I don’t think Allah/God would be impressed or swayed by such.
I remember an uproar a few years ago about the U.S. government subsidizing an artist who put a picture of Jesus in a jar of urine. This was disturbing on two counts: 1) That it insulted Christianity. 2) That it was government funded. There were no riots or civil unrest and Christianity is still going strong. Islam can do the same.
Why do some governments support religion (in this case, Islam)? This used to be the case in Europe and Catholicism kept Europe in the Dark Ages for over 1,000 years.
And what is this “Ministry of Information” BS? In order for a mind to develop rationally, it must have informational input. Some of the information will be bad and some of the information will be good. It should be left up to the individual to determine which is which. State run censorship is a mark of tyranny.
GV Roundup: Bahrain: Sex, blood and incarceration
i agree with Citizen Quasar but i got a better opinion/solution …
I think History subjects and books should be banned in skools & the country, anything related to History should be burned !! [ yeah rite ] like they would ..
the Human nature to invistigate and search is another problem too lol !
even if you Brainwashed/Erased it … some will always find away to hate , to segment to divide
seriously i was having a Discussion with a friend of mine today about history and where i might be coming from , so i told him history can go to hell if it’ll create such a big deal !!
So he was like , huh , dont u want to know where ya came from ? dont u want to know your Origin ?
Hell NO … if it will create [HATE] then my history can go to hell , i dont care where im from , i dont care where anybody is from , i care for Actions and Behaviours i care for what they are now and what they’ll be in the future .
[b]we aint born with it , we learn to hate , they teach us to hate ![/b]
one thing about Denmark thingy , lemme post what my danish friend recently sent me .
[quote]
Hi Moo ,
Yes, it’s very sad what has happened between Denmark and the Arab world. All Danes are very affected by this and are truly sad and disturbed by the affect the cartoons have had. We of course have no intentions to provoke or hurt the Arab world, or anyone else for that matter.
Well things seem to be easing down a bit now. It has been a strange period for Danes. We started out feeling misunderstood. Then we got kind of mad, and ended up being scared. Now we are just sad that it had to come so far. A lot of feelings for a hole nation to go through I such short time. Maybe it’s been healthy and something good will come of it, but I fear the opposite.
Funny though, that I’ve seen the American flag being burned many times, and have often sympathised with the flag-burners, but seeing my own flag burn was different. And when people started burning our embassies, it also seemed like they didn’t want a peaceful solution and that we were at war. In fact, a fraction of Al-Queda did declare war on Denmark, but I know it’s the extreme.
Shallow minded people are everywhere my friend, also in my part of the world. Arrogant people too who are convinced their way of living is the only right way. Weather it’s extreme Muslims in your part of the world, or say Neo Conservative Christians in USA. There is no one right way…..just a world of opportunities.
Well that’s it for now Moo.
Take care.
[/quote]