The following is an abbreviated translation from some of the Arabic-language blogsphere. It was initially published at Global Voices!
Music…
Amal, in her latest cartoon:
“See my Wawa, kiss my Wawa.” The Wawa is the little tiny hurt “ouch”..
In this cartoon; a poor bleeding Palestinian child is begging from a wealthy Arabian man who seems not giving attention and busy listening to one of the most famous, yet currently the most seductive singer in the Arab world, Haifa Wahbi.
Quoting the late Ghassan Kanafani (a famous Palestinian novelist, revolutionary journalist and writer), Amal writes:
???? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ???? ?????? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ? ??????? ????? ???? ??? : ???? ? ????? ? ????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ? ?????? ?????? ? ???????? ? ???????? ??? ?? ?? ??? ? ???? ? ???? ?? ??????? ????? ???? : ?????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ? ? ????? ????????? ????? ??? ???????? ??????? ? ???????? ? ????? ???? ??? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ???? ?? ????
???? ?????? - 1968
We refuse to be tagged by this type of radio songs, and we consider it an insult assailing us, our people, our culture and taste. We consider it to be deliberate and intentional distortion of values, and repulsive to what is good and beautiful and noble in our lives. In other words; a serious conspiracy against the young generation, and a cheap dictatorship against our morals, an arbitration by a handful who do not represent the values of our most precious and valuable assets.
Ghassan Kanafani - 1968
Speaking of the Wawa, Iyas and Laith has produced the Jordanian version of the Wawa song (MP3). On the other hand, Haitham wrote a funny quick tutorial of the Wawa and how to treat it supported by seductive photos of the famous singer, Haifa Wahbi.
Iraq…
During the past few days, an application form has been widely distributed in many cities throughout Iraq urging past Ba’ath party members to rejoin the Ba’ath party. A news report by Al-Basra Net said that the form was distributed among the Iraqi-Sunni’s only.
Imad Khadduri disaffirm this news. He said:
???? ????? ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ??????? ???? ??? ????? ???? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ?????????? ???? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?????? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ???????? ????? ???? ??? ???? ????? ????? ???????? ??????? ????? ??????. ???? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ?????????? ??? ??????? ?? ??????. ???? ????? ???? ?????????? ??? ?????? ?????? ??????? ???? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ????? ?? ??????. ??? ?? ????? ??????. ??? ?? ?? ????? ????????? ??? ?????????? ??? ??????? ?? ???? ???????. ????? ?????? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ????????? ?????????.
I am an Iraqi citizen from
Karbala; irritated by the news and disturbed because its purpose is covering the fact that the forms were distributed not only in areas of the
Sunni brothers, but in the
Shiite areas and even those dominated by the Iranian militia of Mr. Hakim. I lived in the city of Kerbala and confirm that the forms were distributed in Karbala. I myself saw the forms with friends and relatives and they live in three districts in Kerbala. This is what I have known personally. What I do not know certainly if the forms were distributed in most neighborhoods or not. You know that Karbala is under the control of the oppressive Iranians.
Away from war and conflicts, Tara, loves life. She lists here some of the reasons:
-????? ?????? ???? ????? ??????? ???????? (??? ?????? ?????? ?? ????????? ??? ?? ???? ???) ?????? ????? ??? ????? ???????.
-??? ???? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ???? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ????? (??? ????? ?????? !)
-??? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ? ???? ?????? ??????.
-??? ???? ??????.
-????? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ???? ???? .
- It gives us people of delicate sense (such as a lot of bloggers, as Rat said) who brings us hope when reading their words.
- Because of the very people who persevered to become role models in ascending from the bottom (such as Opera Winfrey!)
- Because the unjust falls at the end and the world will know the truth.
- Because God is in administration.
- It still gives me surprises despite the fact that I washed hands from it.
Democracy…
In Kuwait; democracy is heading towards a new brink. This evening, the ‘Orange Protest‘ will go out in streets protesting the new government proposal to change the number of election zones.
The protests already started few days ago. On Tuesday, Zaydoun had a foreigner guest from Dubai who is in business trip to Kuwait. When he saw the protest in front of the Kuwaiti parliament during the day, he insisted that he would like to join the protest that was going to take place a the same night.
Zaydoun then said:
?? ???? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ???????? ????????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????.. ??? ????? ??????? ???????? ??? ?????? ????? ?????. ??? ?? ????? ???????? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ??????? ? ??????? ???? ???????? ????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ?????…
He (the guest) could not believe his eyes when he heard the crowd cheer speeches, then the guest summed up the scene by simply saying; Dubai has the construction and showy adornment, but Kuwait has the spirit. I told him that the spirit of the Kuwaiti was suspended throughout the years of frustration and negative indifference, but now emerged strongly and resolutely voice …
A lot of photos from the last few days protests can be found here and here. Note the font colors of the blog like many other Kuwaiti blogs, turned orange.
That was on the peaceful side of protest in the Arab world. The rocky one still continues at Egypt.
The government issued a decree banning street protests.
Wa7da Masrya post short press release by “Journalists for Change“, which says:
?????? ??? ????? ????? ???????? ???????? ?????????? ???? ????? ????? ??? ?????? 18/5/2006 ???? ???? ?????? ?? ??? ??????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ????????? ?? ??? ???????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ???? ????? ????? .. ?????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ????? ???????. ???? ?? ??? ??????? ?????? ????? ?????? ????? ??????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ???? ?? ???? ????????? ?? ?????? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ????????? .
Commenting on the warning the Ministry of the Interior for journalists and reporters about the coverage of the events on Thursday, 18 May 2006,
Journalists for Change Movement holds President
Hosni Mubarak personally and as responsible for any violations or blood at the hands of security forces. The Movement appeals to the Egyptian and foreign journalists to exercise their professional duty in covering the events. The Movements sees that the government warning is a license for the security forces to commit further crimes and violation of law and the Constitution, both against the rights of citizens to peaceful assembly or freedom of information flow.
Ahmed is even more pessimistic. He publishes the Egyptian flag, but upside down and writes:
??? ???????? ?????????????? ?????? ???????? ??????????? ???? ???????? ????? ???????? ?? ??????????? ?? ?????? ?????????? ?? ???????
In military tradition, the flag upside down is a sign of distress and the catastrophe and request for help.
Zarqa Alyamama even call it occupation:
?? ?? ?????? ??????? ?????? ?? ??? ??? ???? ???? ????? ?????? ??????????
?? ??? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????
???? ???? ?????? ???????? ???? ????? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ??????
?? ??? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??
We should deal with Egypt as an occupied land and demand independence, or at least ask, for self-governance. We are the indigenous of Egypt and we ask the Security Council call for our autonomy. Really, enough of what is happening.
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10 Comments on “Arabisk - The Arabic Bloggers Ken”
Thank you for the return to substance.
Is there such a thing as a program which would translate Arabic into English? With all the decoding and eavesdropping capabilities of my government you would think there might be an “over-the-counter” translation program available to the general public
But then the general public would know what the Arabs are REALLY saying, and the governments would no longer be able to “translate” to their advantage. ; )
Generally speaking, no, there is no good auto translator.
I know of Sakhr (http://tarjim.sakhr.com/sakhr/) (require subscription) but it’s really bad, and is not good for translating anything more than few words from Arabic/English or English/Arabic (max. 128 characters). I guess they have a paid service, but I don’t trust it would be much better than the online samples.
Recently, Google launched a new Arabic translation service (http://www.google.com/language_tools). After checking it, again generally speaking, it is not that good. Translation of a paragraph from English to Arabic was in my opinion not more than 90% accurate. OTOH, translating from Arabic to English was worse. A lot of grammar mistakes, and in most cases, you just can’t get a meaningful Arabic/English translation. I won’t give it more than 50% in accuracy.
Haitham,
I am LOL LOL LOL. I tried using the google thing. I found some sites unrelated to yours, simple ones and tried it. It seemed to work. Then I thought, hmm, I’m going to try it on the Wawa link and see what the Arabic at the top of the subject says. It made absolutely NO SENSE. Maybe that IS what it says, but it was hilarious because I don’t think there is anywhere near 90% accuracy. I put it in my favorites and will use it, but you’re right, it’s not very good from what I could see of the Wawa translation. Thanks for providing it for me.
Raymond,
I’m assuming your wife speaks Arabic. You are LUCKY if you don’t but you have her to interpret (do you read Arabic? Just wondering) I REALLY wish mine had been furthered. Think of all the jobs I could get for our government!!! (oh yeah, they have hi-tech machines to do all that. Osama, where are you? We’re listening in on all these calls, but we haven’t found your 6′4″ butt in Afghanistan yet. Must be in some small town in America, or at least you have been talking to millions of people there!!)
Yes, I speak Arabic, but barely read it yet. Why would I be lucky if I didn’t?
Raymond,
I worded it clumsily. I meant that if you don’t read Arabic you’re lucky to have an interpreter close at hand. When I first married my ex I became totally “emersed” in the language from my mother-in-law who did not speak English. I was in Beirut with her and my two sister-in-laws (who both spoke perfect English) during the first six months of the civil war. My ex was in Saudi except for an occasional visit. My mother-in-law just talked to me as if I understood. The nouns were ok if they were at hand to pick up and show me what she was referring to. The verbs and other words were more problematic. I would listen, try to figure it out, but if I didn’t I would repeat it later to someone who spoke English. It’s absolutely the best way to learn a language. Then at night I would lay in bed and try my best to think in Arabic. I still remember enough to get the gist of a conversation but I regret very much that I did not keep up with it. I took reading and writing lessons also for about two years and got fairly good at the simple aspects. I found my notebooks recently and they didn’t make a lick of sense to me. It’s an absolutely beautiful language and VERY hard to translate because the mere fact of the “feeling” of the words is so much more intense in many cases. Keep in mind also I learned “Gulf Arabic” although alot of the Lebanese/Palestinian dialect was mixed in due to living in Beirut. I loved speaking Arabic. I’m strongly considering getting back to it in earnest. On a side note, one day my mother in law asked me to come and sit with her. She had an English newspaper in her hand and proceeded to read it to me. I was SHOCKED. No one knew she could read or understand English. She told me she had learned to read by watching Sesame Street and other children’s programs. She just didn’t want me or anyone else to know (she wasn’t very fluent) because she wanted me to learn Arabic. She was my closest friend and amazing woman. It was to her I owe almost all of my Arabic learning. God bless her.
Great story. I learned some from my wife, but more through classes and then everyday usage. If you need it to survive, language comes a lot quicker.
Please say you were joking about using your Arabic to help the U.S. government. I think everyone in the U.S. should learn Arabic so that they can start translating it for themselves and discover what lies they’ve been told.
Raymond,
LOL Tee Hee. Of COURSE I was joking!!!But in case the powers that be are reading here, I want to make sure they know I am willing to help them out. Just imagine what mischief I could reek with my translations. It has always amazed me that no matter where in the world a Moslem lives, they learn the Koran in Arabic even though this is not their native tongue. Although it is “classical” Arabic and not used for everyday conversation. I see notes all the time from Moslems who want to learn Arabic so they can better understand the language and read the Koran deeper. The beauty is untranslatable so here we have millions of Moslems reciting the Koran in classical Arabic but not actually speaking the language. It’s difficult for me to comprehend this phenomenon. Who says English should be the ONLY universal language, it’s so dry for the most part. Learn the beauty of the Arabic language and you at the same time learn the beauty of the culture.
Yes, I truly did need it to survive, at least with my mother-in-law who was the only immediate family member who did not speak fluent English. Even though people spoke to me in English, they spoke to eachother in Arabic. I’m a “nosey” person. I WANTED to learn, I was PUSHY about it. Thank goodness for all the patient people willing to teach me (part of the culture as you know). My mother-in-law is still living, but she has Alzheimers. She pronounced my name RO (as in row your boat) bin. I loved it. Her name is Latifa, absolutely appropriate, for she is beautiful.
I also experienced many kindnesses and help by native speakers in my learning Arabic. Anyone that thinks the Arabs are backward and unfriendly clearly have never broken bread with them.