Arabisc: Cultural and Art Week

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This is a cross-posting. It was initially published at Global Voices in my (semi)-weekly translation post.

The following is an abbreviated translation from some of the Arabic-language blogsphere.

This week, johacom was happy to find some cartoons by Arab cartoonist that depict some Official Arab Leaders. He says:

????? ???? ?? ?????? ????????????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ??? ???? ?????.????? ??? ???? ?????? ?????????? ??????? ???? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ?????.

The cartoons that depict the Arabian leaders are very few. I found this cartoon on a website of the Arabian cartoonist, Raed Qara'an.

The Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi standing in front a cave, cuffed and a TV airing a scene of Saddam Hussein. Qaddafi say: "With full-will, we decided to get rid of WMD".

johacom then follows the above post with another one that list all the Arab cartoonist websites he could find. Comprehensive list, I would say.

From the Gulf, Sadafat reports that United Arab Emirates citizens are against the Food Fair which will allow alcohol and wine to be marketed in it:

??? ?????? ???? ???????? ??????? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ???????? ?? ?????? ?? ????? ?????? ???????? ????????? ??????? ??????? ????? ???????? ??????? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????? ????? ??? ??? ???? ??????? ???? �???? ??????� .

United Arab Emirates citizens expressed their deep rejection to accommodate any event that may object to Arabian and Islamic culture and heritage, as the preparation for the Alcohol Exhibition which Dubai is hosting carries on as a side event of the "Gulf Food Exhibition".

In the Saudi blogsphere, Cinema, Beauty and Books were discussed this week.

Emy says the Prince Waleed Bin Talal (one of the richest men worldwide), is sponsoring the production of the first Saudi movie. She says:

???? ???? ??????? ?????? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????? ????? ??????? ?????? ????? ????? ??? ????? ??????? ???????? ??? ???? ???? ??????.

??????? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ?? ??????? ?????????? ?????? ?? ????/???? ?? ???? ???? ??????? ???????? ??????? ?? ?? ??????.

Young Saudis longing for cinema in a country that has no movie theater and little marks of cinema industry, are firm willing to push the conservative Kingdom to the globe of the Seventh Art.

Seven Saudi films will participate in a cinema festival which will be held this March at Abu Dhabi-UAE, in the strongest appearance for the newborn Saudi cinema.

On the beauty side, Fuad Al Farhan says that in a college lecture it was reported that 90 percent of the Saudi females are not happy with their look and shape and that 37 percent of them would possibly go for a plastic surgery.

He then concludes:

?? ?????. ???? ????? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ??????? ??????? ???? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ????????? ????? ???? ?????.

No Comment. But I think if I open a plastic surgery clinic, I might earn in the coming two years more money than that I could earn from Information Technology for the coming ten years.

The books had a good focus from few Arab bloggers. Again with Fuad Al Farhan who went to visit one of the biggest book stores in Jeddah, he noted that that very few Saudi citizen labors work in this new shop when compared to other famous Saudi book stores.

On the other hand, Abu-Joori comments on the conflict and tension that ruined a panel about Censorship on Media, which was held aside of Al Riyadh International Books Fair. He describe the conflict between the liberals and the devoutly religious panelists and says:

?????? ????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ????? ??????? ? ????? ? ??????? .. ?? ??? ?? ???? .. ??? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ????? ?? ??????? ???????? ??? ???????? … ???? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ??? ????? ?? ?????.. ?? ?? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ?? ??????!

Honestly, the problem is that each side is distinguished by his extreme, rejection and generalization .. Each side have flaws .. but the goal to win a battle against the other side … prevents both sides from building on positives of the other side.. in fact focus on magnification of flaws of others in an ironic way and full of desire to erase other from existence!

Last but not least on books, Zeyad Al Saidi and other blogger from Oman are looking forward for the Oman Book Fair. He said:

??? ???????? ????????? ?? ??? ??? ????? ??? ???? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ???????? ?????? .

As for Omani bloggers, one of them published some photos of what is going in the Fair before the official opening.

{ 2 } Comments

Haitham | March 4, 2006 at 7:46 pm | Permalink

Thanks for pointing out that one, Leila!
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kimmy | March 5, 2006 at 4:29 am | Permalink

I visited this website and I found it better than the political cartoons in North America. Not only that, they are closer to the truth.
Haitham, you should see them. They are funny and to the point. Also they are very true. The US do not want them in their country because the American people will realise how they are being lied to.
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TigerHawk | April 3, 2006 at 7:45 pm | Permalink

[...] gotiation did the job (notwithstanding this fairly dispositive testimony). Haitham Sabbah posts and translates an Arabic cartoon, which perhaps does not add anythi [...]
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