the news in arabic

From the state-friendly Jordanian daily al-Rai’: 

عمان – بترا – عاد جلالة الملك عبدالله الثاني وجلالة الملكة رانيا العبدالله إلى أرض الوطن امس بعد زيارة خاصة استمرت بضعة أيام.

Amman, Petra — His Highness King Abdullah the Second and her Highness Queen Rania have returned to the nation-land yesterday after a special trip which lasted a few days.

Period.

(Photo of Fadlallah in shades from bayynat.org)

January 25, 2008

Fadlallah starts his sermon with a discussion of women and their rights in Islam. He discusses the “four witnesses” clause in the Quran — that if a woman is accused of adultery, then four witnesses must be produced who witnessed the actual sex act in order to issue a punishment. Fadlallah uses this to say that it is impermissible to go around accusing women of adultery and that if someone wants to make accusations, then they better have some damn good proof. Fadlallah alludes that is essentially impossible to prove that a woman is adulterous. He also uses this time to denounce “honor crimes.”

The English translation of his sermon says:

Similarly, a brother or a husband might accuse his sister or wife with adultery and kill her in what is known as crimes of honor. These people, as we have mentioned several times, are criminals and they should be sentenced to death, like any other murderers.

The Prophet is said to have been told by someone: If I find my wife with someone in bed, should I kill her. They Messenger (p.) asked him. Where are the four witnesses? Meaning that, the legal punishment should not be resorted to unless there are four witnesses.

In the second half of Fadlallah’s sermon, where he addresses political issues, he focuses on the crisis in Gaza — criticizing the Israeli occupation, the Western countries that support it, and the Arab countries who sit by and watch silently. He said:

Due to all these circumstances, the question is still: Is there an Arab world that hold its responsibilities towards the Arab situation? Or do these rulers continue to run after the American cowboy, who visits their countries to conclude arms deals that do not give the Arabs any strength but rather support the American economy and the American arms industry?

(The above image is of souq al-ghazal in Baghdad, from al-Jazeera.net)

Al-Arabiya reports that 64 were killed and 85 injured in two explosions in Baghdad. One explosion targeted souq al-ghazal, a bird and animal market in central Baghdad and the other targeted a popular market. Security forces say that in January 2008 alone, 541 Iraqis have died in explosions and other acts of violence in all Iraq’s provinces.

I’m a little late in posting this comic, but I thought it was worth it. From al-Quds al-Arabi.

Here’s a great English-language article from the journal Arab Media & Society which details the decline of London as the hub for Pan-Arab dailies. The author, Najm Jarrah, argues that Arab media output in London is still high, but the rise of satellite television has offset production a bit.

I read the London-based (and now Saudi-owned) al-Hayat every day; I think it provides the highest-quality reporting and I enjoy reading Jihad al-Khazin’s columns. (It turns out, Khazin also has an English-language blog.) In order to get a copy of al-Hayat in Damascus, I had to get to the paper stand early because the paper was always sold out. The Syrian papers never sold out.

Jarrah offers this characterization of al-Hayat:

Al-Hayat has also undergone changes. The paper made good use of the advantages bestowed by a London location when it re-launched there in 1987, ten years after closing in Beirut. It was qualitatively a cut above any other Arab daily. It provided original worldwide reporting from an Arab perspective through a network of capable correspondents, while most of the competition relied principally on recycled agency material. . .

Today’s al-Hayat is not so distinctive. It still has strengths. But like Asharq al-Awsat, albeit to a lesser extent, Saudi influence has become more visible. Longstanding readers complain of a more conformist editorial approach and a general erosion of quality. The London base has ceased to be the asset it was.

Sometimes I find a somewhat reverent tone in al-Hayat toward Saudi leaders, and sometimes not-so-important Saudi-related stories get unnecessary front page attention, but overall, the articles provide in-depth information, especially in their Lebanese coverage.

Thanks to Jarrah’s description of al-Quds al-Arabi, I’ll have to check out more of their coverage. Al-Quds al-arabi is “the pan-Arab print media’s anti-establishment standard-bearer, it is reviled by detractors as demagogic and revered by fans for its courage and candor in criticizing Arab regimes and reporting unflattering news about them.”

(Obama drinks Aquafina!)

Al-Manar breaks down the US political system for its internet readers:

Since 1856, the United States has elected a president from one of two parties: the Republican or Democratic parties. All the governors in the states and members of the Congress belong to one of these two parties. There are 33 political parties in the US, but only these two parties get to the level to have a candidate run for president. Furthermore, these two parties decide the campaign finance laws, political policies, and the media outlets. In this sense, American society is divided into two camps, in contrast to the French system which allows for many different views.

The author says that it’s too early to tell who will win the US election, but that “in light of opinion polls and the 2006 congressional elections, then it will be the Democrats.”

In a separate article, al-Manar criticized Sen. Barack Obama for his refusing Palestinian refugees the right of return (al-haq al-’auda). Al-Manar said that Obama related to Israeli media sources that he would make great efforts to ensure Israeli security and that Israel would stay a Jewish state. The article repeatedly refers to Obama as the “black candidate” (al-murashah al-aswad).