iPouya

I get back to the states in 3 days and I definitely plan on blogging more and posting some pictures so please forgive me for taking so long to post (not that anyone was waiting). It’s been really hard maintaining my blog lately. I left Lebanon after 2 months and went to Jordan where I barely had access to the internet. I was there for a week and it was a pleasant time… surprisingly. People had painted the most awful picture of Jordan for me describing it as a lifeless and boring place but I had a blast. Unlike other places I’ve been this summer, Jordan had much to offer in terms of the outdoors. And although I am not much of an outdoorsman, My friends and I went to Wadi Mujib and went on the most amazing hike and at the end we repelled down a beautiful waterfall.
People of Palestinian origin constitute the majority of Jordan’s citizenry but obviously you can’t tell who there is Jordanian or Palestinian. I, however, discovered a way. So when people would ask me where I was from, I always said that I was an Iranian from America and I always got 1 of 2 responses. The Jordanians welcomed me as they would anyone else. The Jordanians of Palestinian origin gave a distinct response that made it obvious that they were not regular Jordanians. When Palestinian Jordanians found out I was Iranian they would not stop telling me about their admiration for Iran and particularly for Ahmadinejad.
Anyway, the one thing that disturbed me greatly about Jordan was the fact that my friends informed me that for kicks, Jordanian boys capture cats and poke their eyes out. I didn’t believe it until I saw a cat with its eye poked out. And as much as I dislike cats (I’m a dog lover), it was heartwrenching to see those cats. Anyway, I left Jordan on my birthday and I’ve been here in Egypt since the 27th. I’ve only seen Cairo and Alexandria but Cairo is especially noisy, crowded, dirty, and generally chaotic but it is still a pleasant experience and there’s much to see. Ramadhan started here today and it was amazing to see this bustling city just shut down into near silence during the breaking of the fast.

CNN: “For me, being here has heightened the issue of Israel and Palestine,” Alimagham said. While in Lebanon, Alimagham visited a Palestinian refugee camp. “That was a testament to six decades of bad policy,” Alimagham said. “When I went to the refugee camp I realized that no one cares about the Palestinians.” (Of course, CNN left out the piece where I credited Israel for creating the world’s largest refugee population… the Palestinians.)

Oh, and an up-and-coming blog, Debunking Zionism, did a feature about Rebel Radio. Read it here. It’s a good blog that warrants your attention so please save the link.

After more than two months here, I leave my Lebanese home for Jordan on Wednesday. Most of the kids in my program have gone and most of the full time AUB students have left as well since summer classes are out. My squadron of Abdullah, Abdal Aziz (Azooz), and Amanj are still here. Outside of class, I’ve spent most of my summer with these guys. We’ve spent hours playing basketball and cards, watching movies (The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Risky Business, Green Street Hooligans, Get Smart), talking politics, going to the beach, eating zatar, tawough wraps, and crepe, and practicing Arabic (Azooz has sort of been like a private Arabic tutor). Abdallah, Azooz, and a couple others have taught me how to play likha. It is by far the hardest card game I’ve ever tried to learn but definitely the most strategic and fun. My friends tell me that it’s more a Levantine card game so I’m wondering if any of my Arab friends back at home know how to play.

Anyway, Azooz is from Saudi, Abdallah from Iraq, and Amanj is from Iraqi Kurdistan. Yesterday, Azooz and I went to the southern Lebanese city of Sour (Tyre) and had a ball under the sun. Today, however, Azooz departs for Saudi for a short summer vacation and I’m wondering if I’ll ever see these guys again. I hope so. It is these guys and not the political slogans, the ancient Roman ruins, or the Lebanese party scene that came to define my summer and my Lebanese experience.

We live worlds apart, but this summer, a Saudi, an Iranian from the US, and two Iraqis, one from Baghdad and one from Kurdistan, lived as brothers in Lebanon of all places, where ethnic, religious, and national divisions destroy lives.

My intermediate Arabic program has ended, thankfully. There were many Arabic programs to choose from for this summer. The one here at AUB had the most contact hours (over 180) in a short period of time (6 weeks). I thought that these specifications were a good thing because with only 6 weeks of course work, I’d have plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the summer. As it turns out, we didn’t have time to breathe these past 6 weeks. It was intense, fast paced, and overwhelming so I’m glad to now have some breathing room.

So what now? I leave Lebanon in 10 days for Jordan and from there to Egypt and back to California for a week and then back to school in Boston. It’ll be nice to be back home after so long but I just wish I could spend a little more time in California. The summers are never long enough, right?

As for my remaining days in Lebanon, I hope to conduct some research, spend some time in the south of the country, and play hours of cards with my AUB friends. I never played poker in the US but I’ve become an avid player while here, isn’t that funny?

I also hope to go to the Nahr al Bared Palestinian refugee camp, the one that was bombed out by the worthless Lebanese army. Basically, the Lebanese army exists for one thing: Not to defend itself from international aggression, i.e. it stood by as Israel ruthlessly bombed Lebanon two years ago (actually, it didn’t just stand by, one Lebanese general was photographed serving tea to Israeli military personel); and not to prevent civil strife as it remained neutral during factional fighting a few months ago; but the Lebanese army exists for one reason and one reason only: to fight the Palestinians. Again, here it is important to thank Israel for creating the world’s largest refugee population, the Palestinians.

As for the news, I think it’s hilarious that Bush criticized China on its human rights record. That’s like doodoo telling vomit it stinks. I mean, the grossest human rights violation of this century thus far has got to be the invasion of Iraq, no doubt. John Edwards is a tool. And although I know little about Arabic poetry, I knew of Mahmoud Darwish and his work and I was saddened to read about his passing. The Palestinian Revolution is at a huge loss with his death. And I’m not at all surprised with the war in Georgia as resurgent Russia has been itching to flex its muscle (how’s that for analysis? haha)

As for entertainment news, I saw “The Dark Knight” for the 2nd time last night and I think it is such an entertaining and brilliantly written story. Cheers to Chris Nolan, the director and co-writer, Bale, Caine, and of course, Heath Ledger, who definitely and expectedly stole the show. What did you guys think of the movie? Here is the trailer for the new Terminator film due out summer of 2009 and also starring Bale. It’s delicious.

Hello Hello! I wish I could post pictures for you. For whatever reason, I can’t access photobucket, even though the site is not blocked. If you are on facebook and would like to see pictures, I recently posted pictures from Damascus and Istanbul. I will post pictures from Lebanon soon.

Anyway, Wednesday I went to Shatila Palestinian refugee camp, one of two sites of the notorious Israeli-backed Phalangist massacre in 1982. According to the security guide, it was built after Israel was established on the ruins of Palestine and thorough the ethnic cleansing operation that drove out more than 700,000 Palestinians in 1948. In other words, the camp is 60 years and it was really disturbing to see the camp in such a state. I mean, there was a total lack of civilian infrastracture. It was a ghetto, no doubt. The camp’s continued existence and condition reminds me that nobody, and I mean nobody, cares about the Palestinians, not the Arab World, not the Muslim World, not the Palestinian Authority, and certainly not Israel, the creator of the world’s largest refugee population.

We talked to a doctor at the Red Crescent at the camp and she told me two things: they need an x-ray machine and that she loved Ahmadinejad. Seriously, almost every person who learns I’m Iranian begins praising Iran and Ahmadinejad. They will certainly be disappointed if he turns out to be a one-term president.  I was buying souvenirs with some American friends and another lady was overcharging them, but when she realized I was Iranian, she insisted that the items were free of charge for me. I paid anyway. Also, when people hear that I’m Iranian but from the states, many ask me who I support when it comes to the rising tension between the US and Iran. My answer always is that I support who is right. The US is the only country that has used nuclear weapons not once, but twice, has thousands of nuclear bombs, and brags about many of them being more powerful 3rd generation bombs, but denies Iran the right to nuclear technology, even though Israel and Iran’s neighbor Pakistan are armed to the teeth.

Thursday, was a huge day in Lebanon because of the prisoner exchange. It is one of many recent Hizbullah political victories. Samir Quntar was convicted in Israeli courts in 1979 for killing 3 Israelis (one of them being a little girl). If Lebanon or Palestine would convict Israelis for killing civilians especially children, half of Israel would be in prison, I bet. Anyway, he’s been in prison for 30 years and he is neither Shia nor Hizbullah, as he predates Hizbullah’s emergence. Nevertheless, he is the most famous Lebanese prisoner in Israel and although many groups have sought his release, for better or worse, it was Hizbullah that achieved what is considered here in Lebanon a national victory.  

Literally hundreds of thousands of people gathered in south Beirut to mark the occassion. Nasrallah hasn’t been seen in public since his victory speech at the end of the 2006 war but there was a rumor that he may make an appearance at Thursday’s rally. I feel like he’s a celebrity for many here. Anyway, people thronged at the celebration site and when the prisoners arrived, they cheered. But when Nasrallah showed up, they went wild. In other words, the release of the prisoners seemed secondary in importance than when it came to seeing Nasrallah in person after 2 years. They chanted in unison: “Abu Hadi” (“Father of Hadi” which referenced his older son who died fighting the Zionist occupation in the south in 1997.)

Many of the attendees brought flags with them. Although most of the flags there were Lebanese and Hizbullah, obviously, there were also many flags belonging to Hizbullah’s allies, namely Amal and the Syrian Socialist National Party. The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was also present.

Nasrallah was only there for a couple of minutes then left for security reasons (the Israeli gov’t has sworn to kill him). He gave his speech via broadcast. I didn’t understand most of it but friends translated bits and pieces. The last part of the speech paid much praise to Imam Musa as-Sadr, the father of the Shia Revival in Lebanon.

The rally was highly organized and sophisticated. After many victories, they’ve mastered the ability to capture the gravity of the occasion.

Before I write a little about Syria and my experiences thus far in Lebanon, I wanted to tell you about one other thing I witnessed in Turkey. I was there during the Turkey-Czech game where Turkey was down 2-0 and was facing elimination when it scored 3 goals in the last 15 minutes to advance. The celebrations were justifiably out-of-control. One thing, however, annoyed me a bit (well, that one thing and all the flags).  On the news they interviewed one of the celebrating fans and he said something like: “This just shows that when the Turk is determined, nobody can stop him.”  Nationalism and its myths are indeed annoying.  In my opinion, Turkey scoring 3 goals in the last minuate meant nothing more than the fact that they played well and exploited the momentum well.  And when Turkey lost to Germany, it didn’t mean that “The Turk” wasn’t “determined” but that the German team had more talent, or had a better coach, or whatever.

Anyway, I was in Damascus for a shorter while than in Istanbul but I nevertheless enjoyed my stay there immensely. While in Istanbul, I was reminded of Iran a lot, but when I was in Syria, I thought of Iran all the time. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that there were hundreds of Iranian pilgrims there to visit Zainab’s shrine.  Near the shrine compound is a small cemetary where Dr. Ali Shariati, the Iranian revolutionary ideologue, is buried. I love Shariati and it was a blessing to be able to go to his humble tomb.

Shariati’s tomb was also a destination site for many Iranian pilgrims. The Iranian tour guides would bring them there but as I sat there listening to the visitors, I realized that not many of them knew who he was, as some of them explained to each other that he was simply a great Islamic thinker. There was a lot of writing on the tomb and one of them read in Persian: “Shariati motor-e Engelaab-e Iran bood” (Shariati was the engine of revolution) which I thought was very interesting.

Anyway, every local I talked to, like in Istanbul, expressed nothing but disdain for Israel and they admired Nasrallah and Ahmadinejad greatly.  It’s prudent to note here what I said in the post below: my experiences in these countries do not represent the countries’ entire populations. They just represent who I’ve spoken with and what they’ve been willing to share with me.

What else? When I first arrived in Damascus, I had to go through passport control. It was funny to see the guard react to my American passport. He looked at it, then looked at me, then looked at it again, then at me again, then he showed it to his co-worker sitting with him inside the booth, then I got a bit nervous and began to sweat 🙂 and then he asked me about my origins, to which I said I am Iranian. He then said “America baaaaad, Iran goooooooood” and stamped my passport. haha. Nevertheless, all the people I came in contact with were nothing but friendly and welcoming.

I’m not religious at all, but I was at the great Omayyad Mosque during Friday prayers and it was a great experience to be there with so many people in such a huge mosque. The amens at the end of the sermon just echoed throughout the mosque.

Next time, I will tell you about the hassle of getting into Beirut through Damascus.

In Peace,

iPouya

Hello Hello! Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve actually been traveling the Middle East. I received a couple scholarships to study intermediate Arabic at the American University in Beirut so I took the opportunity to plan trips for before and after. I spent about 10 days in Istanbul, Turkey and Damascus, Syria before arriving in Beirut and I’ve been here for about 2 weeks now. After the program, I hope to go to the UAE and then I’m flying back home from Egypt. It’s been a fulfilling yet exhausting few weeks. I’ve met some of the most random people and have had some of the most random conversations in many places.  In my upcoming posts, I will share with you my experiences in the region but I must give you a disclaimer: In no way do my experiences and the people I’ve talked to represent all of Turkey, Syria, or Lebanon. They just represent what I’ve seen and what specific people have been willing to share with me. I dislike it immensely when people travel and talk to like 5 people and pass of their views as representing the whole populace and I will not be doing that here.

In any case, while in Turkey I had the good fortune of meeting with a Kurdish friend of mine and his friends and family. It was interesting to hear them discuss the issue of identity. One insisted that he was a Turkish citizen and that the Turkish flag was his own, while the other proclaimed he was Kurdish first. I talked to secular and religious Turks who expressed nothing but admiration for Ahmadinejad and Shaykh Nasrallah. One man barely understood English but when he heard the name Ahmadinejad, he just flexed his muscle signifying that the Iranian president represented strength. The image I had of Turkey before I got there was that Turkish society had been rendered non-religious after decades of Kemalist ideology but it was interesting to see, at least on a superficial level, how religious some of the most westernized segments of Turkish society remained.

I played backgammon with shop keepers (who had nothing on me by the way :)) and it was interesting to see how apolitical individuals nevertheless expressed solidarity with the Palestinian cause and expressed nothing but disdain for Israel.

What else? While in my hotel room, I tried to go on youtube.com to watch some Dave Chappelle stand up comedy and I was little surprised to see youtube blocked in Turkey (Both youtube and facebook and many blogs on blogger.com were blocked in Syria).

I should also say that Istanbul was very geared towards foreign tourists, almost to the point where it seemed like it had lost its identity. Not that I know what Istanbul’s identity was before the rise of its tourism industry, but I am sure that it has lost much of its character in the process. I can’t say the same about Damascus but I will tell you about the Arab capital next time.

In Peace,

iPouya