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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Ed Webb

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Ed Webb

David Ignatius - Jordan's ex-spy chief wasn't too good to be true - 2 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...AR2009121102610_pf.html

shared by Ed Webb on 13 Dec 09 - Snapshot
  • played in the movie by British actor Mark Strong
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 13 Dec 09
       
      Continuing the long tradition of westerners (particularly Brits) playing Arabs in films - Anthony Quinn, Alex Guinness et al. It's almost as if Omar Sharif is the only Arab allowed to play a major role...
Ed Webb

The Next Islamists: The Wide Green Smudge That's Changing Our World | RDBook | ReligionDisp... - 0 views

www.religiondispatches.org/...t%E2%80%99s_changing_our_world

books review Islam future islamism

shared by Ed Webb on 07 Dec 09 - Snapshot
  • Ed Webb
    Ed Webb on 07 Dec 09
     
    Great review from Haroon of what sound like worthwhile books.
Ed Webb

Swiss ban on minarets was a vote for tolerance and inclusion | csmonitor.com - 1 views

www.csmonitor.com/...p09s01-coop.html

Switzerland minarets Islamophobia hirsiali opinion

shared by Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09 - Snapshot
  • By Ayaan Hirsi Ali
  • There are two ways
    to interpret the vote.
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
       
      Actually, I can think of many more than two ways to interpret it. This is a very limited way of framing the issue.
  • Imams can then preach a message of self-segregation and a bold rejection of the ways of the non-Muslims.
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
       
      Sure. But they can also preach about, you know, pretty much anything. They can preach a message of tolerance and inclusion, too, and having a minaret doesn't actually change things either way.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • None of those Western academics,
    diplomats, and politicians who condemn the Swiss vote to ban the minaret address, let alone dispute, these facts.
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
       
      I'm a Western academic, and former diplomat, and I'm disputing these 'facts'.
  • And this is what the Swiss vote shows us. This is a confrontation between local, working-class voters (and
    some middle-class feminists) and Muslim immigrant newcomers who feel that they are entitled, not only to practice their religion,
    but also to replace the local political order with that of their own.
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
       
      This may be what the vote shows you. But you have shown no scrap of evidence that the small minority of Swiss who are Muslims have any such agenda. All there is so far is a tendentious Islamophobic narrative backed by the coarsest of generalizations. Where's the substance?
  • It is
    remarkable that the Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, said in public that the Swiss vote is a poor act of diplomacy
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
       
      I'm with you there. Very odd and poor choice of words there. The UN condemnation of the vote as intolerance was more to the point.
  • There is indeed a wider international confrontation between Islam and the West. The Iraq and Afghan wars are part of that,
    not to mention the ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians and the nuclear ambitions of Iran. That confrontation
    should never be confused with the local problem of absorbing those Muslims who have been permitted to become permanent residents
    and citizens into European societies.
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
       
      The problem here is that if you're going to accept the Huntington master-narrative of clash of civilizations, then you cannot really separate these things. If you want to see a confrontation between "Islam" and the "West" then you have to accept that it is within as well as across borders. It is much easier to separate out the domestic and foreign policy issues if you abandon the narrative of the 'clash' - I recommend it.
  • Ed Webb
    Ed Webb on 06 Dec 09
     
    Hirsi Ali's opinion.
Ed Webb

Mysterious 'Saddam Channel' hits Iraq TV - Yahoo! News - 0 views

news.yahoo.com/...ml_iraq_saddam_channel

satellite TV Arab Iraq Baath Saddam

shared by Ed Webb on 30 Nov 09 - Snapshot
  • The late Iraqi dictator is lauded on a mysterious satellite channel that began broadcasting on the Islamic calendar's anniversary of his 2006 execution.

  • The Associated Press tracked down a man in Damascus, Syria named Mohammed Jarboua, who claimed to be its chairman.


    The Saddam channel, he said, "didn't receive a penny from the Baathists" and is for Iraqis and other Arabs who "long for his rule."


    Jarboua has clearly made considerable efforts to hide where it's aired from and refuses to say who is funding it besides "people who love us."

  • broadcast across the Arab world
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Saddam's hanging three years ago was on the first day of Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar. His execution — and the day it was done — remains a sore point for Saddam sympathizers still smarting over images of the defiant leader in his final moments as Shiites in the death chamber shouted curses.
  • One prominently displayed image is that of a man burning an American flag. Another shows graves covered with Iraqi flags
  • audio recordings of Saddam making speeches and reciting poetry. Patriotic songs urge listeners to "liberate our country." None of the pictures appear to be recent, and no announcers or commentators appear or speak.
  • In a telephone interview Sunday from Damascus, Jarboua said he is Algerian and that the Saddam Channel is based in Europe but refused to say where, citing safety concerns for its employees.
  • Ziad Khassawneh, a Jordanian Baathist who once headed Saddam's defense team, said wealthy Iraqis living in Lebanon, Syria and other Arab countries are funding the channel. He declined to give names.
  • A Mideast satellite expert said al-Lafeta's operators tried to hide any clues to their identities and broadcast sites by using a variety of satellite services and frequencies. The channel airs via Noorsat, a Bahrain-based satellite service. It also has purchased a frequency on Egypt-owned NileSat, which is run by Eutelsat, a European consortium.
Ed Webb

NGOs and the News » Nieman Journalism Lab - 0 views

www.niemanlab.org/ngo

journalism future NGOs

shared by Ed Webb on 18 Nov 09 - Snapshot
  • NGOs and the News:
    Exploring a Changing
    Communication Landscape
  • essay series
Ed Webb

MEI - Middle East International - Inside MEI - 0 views

meionline.com

mei middleeast Middle_east international journal newspaper

shared by Ed Webb on 09 Nov 09 - Snapshot
  • Ed Webb
    Ed Webb on 09 Nov 09
     
    Relaunched.
Ed Webb

A New Mosque in Nicaragua Fires Up the Rumor Mill - WSJ.com - 0 views

online.wsj.com/...SB125772737927737439.html

Nicaragua Islam mosque Iran Honduras rumors

shared by Ed Webb on 09 Nov 09 - Snapshot
  • "All the Taliban," declares William Martinez, a 24-year-old barber at Le Moustache, a hair salon across the street.
  • "There are two types of people who use the mosque," she says, matter-of-factly. "The Arabs and the Iranians."

  • Many here refer to all Muslims or Middle Easterners as Turks, and seem to know next to nothing about their religious beliefs.


    "They pray to the god of the moon so they only gather at night," says Ms. Melendez.

  • Ed Webb
    Ed Webb on 09 Nov 09
     
    Largely a non-story, except for what it reveals of public attitudes and knowledge, or lack thereof.
Ed Webb

NSFW: After Fort Hood, another example of how 'citizen journalists' can't handle the truth - 0 views

www.techcrunch.com/...rnalists-cant-handle-the-truth

Iran socialmedia citizenjournalism USA comment opinion carr

shared by Ed Webb on 09 Nov 09 - Snapshot
  • For all of our talk about “the world watching”, what good did social media actually do for the people of Iran? Did the footage out of the country actually change the outcome of the elections? No. Despite a slew of YouTube videos and a couple of thousand foreign Twitter users turning their avatar green and pretending to be in Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is still in power. It’s astonishing, really. Despite how successful ten million actual voters marching through Washington, London and other major cities in 2003 were in stopping the invasion of Iraq, a bit of entirely virtual cyber-posturing by foreigners didn’t lead to real change in Iran.
  • Ed Webb
    Ed Webb on 09 Nov 09
     
    Mostly not about Iran, but about citizen journalism. I think Carr is all kinds of wrong here, but it's an interesting and probably important debate.
Ed Webb

Fears over education's gender gap - The National Newspaper - 0 views

www.thenational.ae/...article

education Gulf GCC UAE gender boys girls

shared by Ed Webb on 06 Nov 09 - Snapshot
  • Emirati boys are posting lower examination scores and dropping out of high school at a much greater rate than Emirati girls, newly released research shows.

    It also found that among pupils who complete secondary schooling, many fewer boys go on to a university education.
  • although 70 per cent of Emirati girls enrol at university after high school, the figure for boys is only 27 per cent.

  • The drop-out rates are highest in Grade 10, the first non-compulsory year of school, when many boys abandon their education to pursue jobs in the public sector.

  • ...4 more annotations...
  • “By no means does this study imply that girls have an outstanding quality of education either,” she said. “I would say that neither boys nor girls are receiving the best education that they could in government schools.”
  • Dr Ridge recommended that the Ministry of Education should look at improving the quality of its expatriate teaching force, getting more Emirati men to become teachers, and making schools more attractive to pupils.
  • The Armed Forces and police were a “very attractive” career choice for some because they required minimal education
  • Emiratis make up only one per cent of the UAE’s private sector workforce. The public workforce is 85 per cent Emirati.
  • Ed Webb
    Ed Webb on 06 Nov 09
     
    What are the implications of an undereducated population for media and governance?
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