by Natasha Tynes | Mar 31, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, Media watch
I can’t believe I missed this. I’m glad Abu Aardvark picked it up:
Aljazeera reported that the editor-in-chief of the Jordanian newspaper
al Ghad, Imad al Hmoud, was fired by the paper’s administrative
council in light of the of al-Hilla bombing controversy.
Abu Aardvark also indicated that the section editor in which the
controversial story appeared had already resigned before this announcement. Ayman al Safadi, the former editor-in chief of the Jordan Times, then head of Jordan TV and most recently Jordan’s UN spokesman in Iraq, will replace Hmoud as al-Ghad’s editorial head.
The most fascinating part of any analysis of this whole scandal is how long gone the days are when Jordanian/Arab media could get away with publishing irresponsible material. Nowadays, everybody is watching!
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 30, 2005 | Doha affairs, Shutterbug, Travel
We had a very nice day today with Amal on a half-day trip to the north of Qatar. The excursion began at 9:00 am when we were picked up by a driver from Qatar International Tours who took us to our first stop of the day: Al Khor, Qatar’s second largest city. There was nothing much in this sleepy city besides a beach and a museum. We were amazed to see how little development had occurred in the second largest city when compared to Doha. Somehow it made us feel grateful to live in the Qatari capital.
We continued our trip north and stopped by Zubara fort [seen here], which was built in 1938 for military purposes and used against the Brits and Bahrainis. This was followed by a stopover at some excavations nearby. We then made our way further north to the last point in Qatar before the sea: al-Rowais, where we stopped for lunch at a traditional Qatari house. We also got to visit a high-end tent Majlis (complete with pool table and A/C), which is where Qatari men hang out.
There we had a nice chat with a young Qatari man by the name of Ali about traditional marriages here. Amal and I asked him about the Qatari marriage tradition of not seeing one’s spouse until the wedding night. Ali had no problem with it and fully respected it, saying his parents have been happily married for thirty years now following the same tradition. After our brief chit-chat, Ali took us inside an adjacent house where he raised falcons. He insisted on us holding the birds and taking pictures with them. This was loads of fun. Those falcons are just fascinating creatures.
All in all we had a great time. It is a trip I would highly recommend to anyone visiting or currently residing in Doha. It is always refreshing to see Qatari landmarks besides air-conditioned malls and five-star hotels.
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 29, 2005 | Doha affairs, Shutterbug
This month we are going to be doing some exploring in Qatar primarily for a writing project we are working on and secondly to make sure we’ve seen most everything this country has to offer before we leave for good. Here are a few of the things we saw on today’s outing.
The first is the interior of the Moorish-style Doha fort, dubbed Al Koot fort, which is currently closed for refurbishing. We managed to sneak in anyway. The second here is of a famous monument along the Corniche: The one and only water jars. The third is of the gate of the fort, which was established in 1925. Qatar is famous for these beautiful medieval-looking wooden doors. All images enlarge on click.
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 28, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, The Disturbing
I hope I’m mistaken but it seems the US media has gotten into a fairly recent frenzy about Jordan-related news that has a distinct Not without my daughter flavor about it. Here is one example with headline:
Estranged Jordanian father charged in Ashby kidnapping
The estranged husband of an Ashby mother who has not seen her daughter
in 11 years was arraigned in Ayer District Court Wednesday on one
count of kidnapping of a minor by a relative.
Mhad Kadter, a citizen of both the United States and Jordan, was
arrested in Ohio with the cooperation of the FBI, the National Center
for Missing Children and Interpol.
And yet another:
Kidnapped boy, now 15, reunites at last with mom
For 14 years, Kathleen Ziadeh longed to see her only son, Zaid, who as
a toddler was abducted to the Mideast by his Jordanian father tired of
life in the United States. During those years, Ziadeh and the child’s grandmother, Barbara
Dooley, lobbied U.S. presidents and Jordanian royalty, sought help
from the State Department and courts overseas, and even had the weight
of a national newspaper columnist behind them. But none of their efforts succeeded in bringing back Zaid or easing their heartbreak …
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 27, 2005 | Doha affairs, Music
Last night, we once again conquered fear of another Doha terrorist attack and made our way to the city’s iconic Sheraton Hotel to see Lebanese singer Majida al-Roumi in concert as part of the Doha Cultural Festival. It was exhilarating. We had a blast! Majida gave a top-notch performance that I will personally remember for years to come. She kicked off her concert by praying for the safety of Qatar, something I found very considerate and unexpected.
Her first song was Beirut ma bitmout, or ‘Beirut won’t die.’ She performed it so passionately. It was very touching in light of the political tensions occurring there these last months. The audience — a good portion of whom were Lebanese — clapped and cheered as she sang the lyric calling for the "removal of the foreign hand," which I assumed was a reference to Syrian interference in Lebanon. This is the Middle East, you can never escape politics!
During the two-hour concert, Majida performed a number of masterpieces like Kon Sadeeqi, or ‘Be my friend,’ Kalimat, or ‘Words’ and 3am biesalouni 3aleik el nas, or ‘People are asking me about you.’ [links pull Real Audio feed] I surprised myself by knowing a number of her songs by heart. I guess they were buried there deep down in my subconscious.
Majida looked absolutely stunning and performed so elegantly. I can’t believe she is almost fifty. She just looked amazing.
One interesting thing happened during the concert when a group of people that appeared to be Lebanese left the hall running with mobile phone to ear. I figured something must have happened like an explosion. I was right. As we were enjoying our time listening to Majida’s tantalizing voice, a bomb exploded in yet another Christian area in Lebanon. It is very sad indeed. But I quote Majida: Beirut Ma bitmout or Beirut won’t die.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I had become over-saturated by the continual playing of the songs of Fairuz, another Lebanese diva. Last night I couldn’t help but wonder why Majida had yet to reach the pinnacle that Fairuz occupies in the hearts and minds of her Arab audience. Majida belongs at the same or even a more elevated position than Fairuz.
All in all, we had a great time! I’m still humming the tunes from the concert. I will definitely make sure to add some of Majida’s albums to our humble music collection very soon.
