Cat Eat Bird

I walk past a family of rank street cats every morning. Their fur is moppy, and, as you approach them, the cats cower, some retreating to the safety underneath the parked cars. The dirty gray matriarch with a reptilian half-tail, however, stands in defense and stares at you. Proud, exasperated, her gaze dares you to shoo her and her family away. I know that she continues to eye me down after I pass her. She's waiting for me to cross the street, the point of no-return.

They spend their days outside of a stinky fast food joint that serves the bored-to-death soldiers posted every ten-meters around the Ministry of Defense across the street. The stench of this place is a jumble of low quality bathroom cleaner, ruined lettuce, and wet bread. I hold my breath when I pass through the thick of it. Across the street, a giant, festive impressionist portrait of Hafez al Assad in a bling mirror frame hangs above the entrance to the Ministry of Defense.

Down the street, you hear the cooing of Arabic pop sensation, Fares Karam. The music is coming from the cellphone of the mustached soldier imprisoned in a booth outside of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, a 1970s austere concrete eyesore. Sometimes, he stands up to open the garage for the shiny black Jaguars. A few months ago, he planted a fake plastic flower with two "wet-drops" of wax on the petals in front of his booth. There is an opulent flower shop across the street; they sell real flowers. Today, I noticed his new yellow cockatiel. The bird cage hangs outside in the piercing desert cold. I wonder if he will bring the cage inside his booth tonight.

Economist: Syrian Economic Outlook for 2008-09

SYRIA COUNTRY VIEW: OUTLOOK FOR 2008-09
THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT
EIU ViewsWire 01 Jan 2008

      * The  president, Bashar al-Assad, is expected to remain in power in 2008-09. He will continue to rely on the strength and loyalty of the security services, which will keep opposition forces weak and ineffective.
     * Mr  Assad  will  devote  considerable  effort to ending Syria's political isolation, but it is questionable whether  he  is  willing  to  make any concessions on Syria's strategic alliance with Iran or its desire to influence events in Lebanon.
     * Economic  policy  in 2008-09 will focus on the need to diversify the economy and on encouraging investment, but structural fiscal reform will be constrained by the fear of alienating public opinion.
     * Syrian  oil  output  is expected to fall markedly over the outlook period, which will reduce export volumes and  government spending (which is heavily dependent on the level of oil revenue) and thereby curb economic growth.
     * The  Syrian  pound  will  appreciate against the US dollar in 2008 (largely because of dollar weakness) but will depreciate in 2009 owing to concerns about export competitiveness.
     * The  trade  account  will  fall  into deficit in 2009, as the negative impact of falling oil production and exports is compounded by a modest decline in global oil prices.

   DOMESTIC  POLITICS: Power remains firmly in the hands of the president, who is supported by key elements in the security services and by the ruling Baath party. There appears little prospect that any serious challenge to Mr Assad's  regime  will  emerge  in the outlook period. Since assuming power following the death of his father in 2000,  Mr  Assad  has stepped up repression of local opposition groups and activists, and has appointed his own close  allies  to  key  posts.  This has increased his control, albeit at the cost of narrowing his power base. Importantly,  the core of the elite is drawn from Mr Assad's minority Alawi sect, and is acutely conscious that to move against him would risk endangering the Alawi hold on power.

   INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS:  Although  Mr  Assad  may  have  secured  his domestic position, he faces a number of challenges in the international arena (which will have a profound bearing on his popularity at home). Efforts to  emerge from international isolation have been ongoing for much of the year, but in November, Syria received recognition  from  both  Europe  (in  particular, France) and Arab countries. The new French president, Nicolas Sarkozy,  opened channels of dialogue, culminating in a large, high-profile team of diplomats being sent to the capital, Damascus. The diplomatic initiative was ostensibly aimed at reaching an accommodation between pro- and anti-Syrian  forces  in  Lebanon,  but  was  probably  also  part  of  Mr Sarkozy's wider ambitions to create a "Mediterranean  union",  involving  Europe  and  the  southern and eastern littoral states. From the Syrian perspective, it seemed to confirm that Syria had the right to be consulted about the next Lebanese president.

   POLICY TRENDS:  The  soaring  cost  of  the fuel subsidy bill, which is placing an unsustainable burden on the fiscal  account,  has  led  to  heated  economic  debate  between the government's more reformist, technocratic elements, led by the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Abdullah al-Dardari, and the more conservative Baath  party  members. Mr Dardari is pushing for structural fiscal reform, including cuts in fuel subsidies and the  introduction of a value-added tax (VAT). However, some Baath party members oppose these reforms, in part because of concern about their negative impact on disposable incomes. As a result, the proposed introduction of VAT  has now been delayed until 2009. Fuel subsidy cuts also appear to be on hold. Indeed, in late November the Ministry  of  Petroleum issued a tender invitation for the development of a smartcard system to administer fuel rationing.  The  Economist Intelligence Unit expects any cuts in fuel price subsidies to be piecemeal and to be offset by compensatory payments to low-income families.

   INTERNATIONAL ASSUMPTIONS: We forecast that world GDP growth will average 4.6% in 2008-09 (at purchasing powerparity  exchange rates), down from an estimated 5.1% in 2007, largely as a result of a sharp slowdown in the US economy in 2008. International oil prices are expected to remain high, however, as buoyant demand in emerging  markets  offsets  any  slowdown  in  OECD oil demand. The benchmark dated Brent Blend is expected to rise to an average  of  US$78/barrel  in  2008,  before  easing slightly to US$72/b in 2009, but risks are weighted on the upside.

   ECONOMIC GROWTH: The Syrian economy is expected to grow steadily over the outlook period, at an annual average rate of 4.5%, as falling oil production is offset by persistent expansion in the services sector, boosted by solid growth in tourism and demand for goods and services, in part from the large Iraqi refugee population. Our growth forecast is also underpinned by the expected recovery in the agricultural sector (after drought conditions in parts of the country depressed growth in 2007).

   INFLATION:  We  estimate  that  inflation will have eased in 2007 to an average of 7.4%, down from 10% in 2006. However, holiday-related demand for foodstuffs will have compounded the impact of higher global food costs, and the  increase  in petrol prices in November will feed through into distribution costs; as a result, we estimate that  the end-2007 inflation rate will have risen to 8.9%. Although we expect average inflation to rise to 8.7% in  2008,  it  will  fall over the year as the new exchange-rate regime helps to contain imported inflation and domestic demand pressure ebbs. In 2009 lower global oil and non-oil commodity prices will help to reduce the inflation rate to 5.9%. Moreover, a significant return of Iraqi nationals to Iraq would also lower inflationary demand  pressures in 2008-09. However, if the government were to enact more phased cuts in fuel price subsidies in 2008-09, this would lead to a significant upward revision to our inflation forecast.

   EXCHANGE RATES:  Since the beginning of October 2007 there has been a marked appreciation of the pound against the US dollar, suggesting that the new exchange-rate regime–a peg to a basket of currencies based on the IMF's special  drawing  rights–has  finally  been  implemented.  The  currency  will not be allowed to float freely, however, with the government continuing to prioritise stability. The regime is well placed to protect the value of  the  pound, because of the dominant position of the state-owned banks and the control that the Central Bank of  Syria  retains over foreign-currency transactions, even as some laws are relaxed. Consequently, we forecast that  the  pound  will  remain  relatively  stable  in  2008  (partly  as  a result of dollar weakness), before depreciating  modestly in 2009 owing to concerns about the competitiveness of Syria's non-oil exports (and some strengthening of the dollar against the euro).

   EXTERNAL SECTOR: We estimate that the value of merchandise exports will have risen in 2007, with strong growth in  non-oil  exports more than offsetting the decline in the value of oil exports. The estimated fall in oil export revenue is the result of lower Syrian oil production. Non-oil exports are continuing to benefit from the relaxation  of  foreign-exchange  controls, which has led to more exports being officially recorded, and strong regional demand.  We  have raised our forecast for export earnings in 2008 following an upward revision to our global  oil  price  assumption  for  that year. The higher price will offset the negative impact of falling oil production, and we expect still strong growth in non-oil export revenue. Import spending growth will also remain  strong in 2008-09, partly as a result of the ongoing process of tariff liberalisation. As a result of these  trends, the trade account will register a surplus of US$377m (0.8% of GDP) in 2008, slightly larger than in 2007, and a deficit of US$257m (0.5% of GDP) in 2009, as oil production falls and international oil prices ease.
Jan/03/2008

Syria's Deputy Premier Wants Further Relations with Turkey
BBC Monitor: Turkish news agency Anatolia.

Ankara, 3 January: The Syrian deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Abdallah Dardari and an accompanying delegation met officials of Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) in Ankara on Thursday [3 January].

Dardari said there is a common culture and a strong political grounds between Turkey and Syria, and relations between the two countries should be further developed for a much competitive place in global economy in the future.

Dardari also recalled that Turkey and Syria decided to cooperate in energy, natural gas, electricity, oil, transportation, railway, maritime and highway transportation.

He said officials agreed to build an organized industrial zone in Syria in association with Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).

Dardari noted that Syria will adopt arbitration law and a Turkey-Syria joint arbitration board can be established.

Originally published by Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English

Damascus (dpa) - Syria and Turkey have decided to form a joint oil exploration and development company bolstering the countries' cooperation in the oil sector, Syrian Oil Minister Sufian al-Alaw said Thursday.

With the project, the two neighboring countries will also cooperate on importing and exporting oil extracts, in addition to setting oil distribution stations in Syria, said al-Alaw, currently part of a high-profile economic delegation visiting Turkey.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, the countries had also discussed the possibility of importing natural gas from nearby Azerbaijan and Iran through a Turkish oil company, in addition to connecting Syria to the Turkish natural gas pipeline network. Syria's oil production has experienced a decline in the past few
years, with output falling to 370,000 barrels per day in 2007, from 380,000 barrels previously.

Memorable Orientalisms

Other: Is it just me, or does Arabic prose tend to read like a list all the time?  This happened, and then this happened, and then this...

Me: That sounds like a huge generalization--what Arabic prose have you read besides newspapers?

Other: (with a turn of the head) "Well, none, really, just the newspapers, and I'm reading a short novel..."

Damascus emerges as Arab cultural capital of 2008

DAMASCUS (AFP)












Damascus heads into a new year as the cultural capital of the Arab world for 2008, hosting a year-long series of theatrical and musical events, along with talks by renowned intellectuals.

American linguist and leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky, Czech writer Milan Kundera and Lebanon's famed songstress Fairouz are among the personalities coming to Syria as Damascus assumes the cultural mantle from Algiers.

But not everyone welcomes the planned events, with Syrian writer Ibrahim Haj Abdi calling them "ephemeral cultural festivities." "Syrian intellectuals might have believed these promises (by the organizers) if only they had been accompanied by efforts to free one of the country's most important intellectuals, Michel Kilo," he wrote in Sunday's pan-Arab daily newspaper Al-Hayat, published in London.

Kilo was jailed in 2006 for being a co-signatory of the Beirut-Damascus Declaration, along with nearly 300 Syrian and Lebanese intellectuals. In May this year he was sentenced to three years in prison.

The declaration called for an overhaul of ties between the two states and for Syrian recognition of the independence of Lebanon, where Damascus was the major powerbroker for three decades until 2005.

Twenty years after she last performed in Syria, Fairouz -- the greatest female Arab singer since Egypt's Umm Kalthoum -- will take to the stage on January 28.

In May a conference will bring together Chomsky, Kundera and novelist Isabel Allende, the daughter of former Chilean president Salvador Allende.

Another Syrian novelist writing in Al-Hayat also slammed the organizers of the year's festivities.

"My experience with the organizers quickly dismissed any hope... of seeing it revive the role of culture that has been destroyed over decades" in Syrian society, wrote Samar Yazbek.

The cultural year will get under way on January 10 with a fireworks display on Mount Qassiun overlooking Damascus, followed by an official ceremony nine days later.

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/12/28/43481.html

Great post from joshualandis.com

Five undeniable facts about the Syria that I saw / by Ehsani
Monday, December 24th, 2007

I have just returned from a short one-week trip to Syria. As you may recall, I had once written a note on this forum describing how Syria was made up of two countries: one for the one million well to do and another for the other 19 million. I will offer below a summary of my updated impressions since. My observations are predicated on list of what I consider to be five undeniable facts about the Syria that I saw.The first undeniable fact that I have encountered on this visit is the ever-widening gap between the poor and the wealthy of Syrian society. While this phenomenon has been in place for years, one cannot but take note of the recent acceleration in this trend. What makes this subject matter particularly interesting is the fact that Syria is still a supposedly socialist country. One would have thought that such excessive wealth concentration is the hallmark of more capitalist societies rather than Baathist ones. Perhaps the observation below can explain the reasons behind this process:

The second undeniable fact that one cannot ignore is the way with which Bashar is changing his father's long and heavy imprints on this country. For all practical purposes, Socialism is slowly but steadily being dismantled as an economic system. The new official title of course is "social market economy". The word "social" is presumably still there to assure the 19 million Syrians that they will still continue to receive their subsidized necessities and the most basic forms of state assistance. What is most noticeable, however, is the speed with which the "market economy" part of the new economic paradigm is spreading in the country. The new "Aishti" clothing store adjacent to the Four-Seasons hotel proudly advertises on its outside window the following:

Prada men's shoes – SYP 27,500
Brioni mens pants – SYP 22,000
Iceberg t-shirt – SYP 13,800
Armani dress for ladies – SYP 248,500

One cannot help but wonder how the late Hafez Assad would have reacted had he seen these prices displayed in his so-called Baathist capital

Syria's push for increased investments:

The country is abuzz with the latest wave of foreign and domestic investments. The leadership has done an outstanding job in this endeavor. Not a week passes by without an announcement of a new wave of investments from Qatar, Kuwait, U.A.E. or Saudi Arabia. Similar announcements seem to come from domestic investors in the new "holdings" companies that have been set up. Those that have already taken the risk of investing have thus far been handsomely rewarded by having seen the value of their investments in real estate (mostly still empty land) rise rather dramatically. This has encouraged more investments and a virtuous circle of higher prices and more investments to take place. The third undeniable fact is that there is no going back in this trend towards opening up the country to foreign investments and a more liberalized economy.

Whether this trend has been driven by political necessity or by genuine belief in the merits of free markets is an open question. My suspicion is that it is more likely to be the latter. It is important to note that the pace of the economic reforms is unlikely to go in overdrive mode. Instead, it will more likely be of the sure and steady variety. The already wealthy will get even richer while the poor will struggle with higher inflation and falling real wages.

The fourth undeniable fact is that the country's fiscal budget will continue to feel the stress in the years ahead. One cannot help but be struck by how little the very wealthy are taxed. It is imperative that this broken system receives a comprehensive overhaul. Similar taxation reforms are sorely needed in the real estate area. A major reassessment needs to take place in order to more accurately reflect the new market value of real estate pricing and hence taxes levied. 

The fifth undeniable fact is that while economic reforms will continue, political reforms are unlikely to follow suit at anywhere near the same pace. This leadership appears to be extremely comfortable with its ability to hold on to power. The young leader appears to be in an absolute control of his country. Those that refuse to believe this are denying what seems to be the obvious. In this atmosphere, the pressure to offer political concessions is close to nil. The late Hafez Assad had built an incredible security apparatus that has come to resemble a fortress. It did not take the new President much time to fully appreciate the value of this intricate system that he had inherited. It seems inconceivable that he will take any risk in this area. Calls for political reform will be viewed as nothing but a trap and a slippery slope that must be avoided. Human rights advocates, for example, are likely to be sorely disappointed with the government's willingness to deliver.

Conclusion:

Bashar is steadily but slowly dismantling the old socialist nature of his father's reign. He is too clever and too cautious to do this on faster scale. He is fully aware of the economic challenges faced by the vast majority of his people. Given the need to grow the economy and fix his country's fiscal mess, opening the economy to foreign direct investments is a decision that is irreversible. The rich will continue to get richer in this environment. On the political front, Bashar is unlikely to loosen his grip and institute any significant reforms. Egypt has been down this before and it may well offer a similar model of more economic liberalism without the political reforms to match. Come to think of it, is the ultra successful economic model of Dubai any different?

On the Last Day of Eid

Today, I laid rose petals on Byzantine ruins and lied down on broken walls with flowers across my chest.

Interregnum

I wanted to get Indian with my friend, E, last night, but she couldn't make it because she was at the Syria-Iraq border.

This morning, she briefly touched on her experience.  She was visiting a refugee camp that sits, literally, in between the borders of Iraq and Syria.  There are around 500 or so Palestinians in this year-old refugee camp.  They are living in tents, and only two months ago were electricity and running water installed in this camp.  They fled the violence in Baghdad and had hoped to enter Syria last year but, because of their refugee status, were denied entry.  They had no where to go, so they set up tents between the borders.

Delegations from Chile and Sudan have offered to take in some of the female refugees, rupturing families and leaving young men behind.

Excerpts from Notebook, mid-August 2007, Beirut

Will I be miserable when I get to Damascus, or is there a future for me there?  Would I have to kill myself if I got drafted into the military?  Maybe not.  There is a great security, a dull comfort, in routine, an opportunity to surrender to an authoritarian-totalitarian government's schedule.  I could write a play about it.  Maybe the theatrical imagination is omnipotent.  Because it has the potential to generate place and time from language.  In real time.  And in real space.
...
I could feel the resonance of her smile after she hung up the phone.

Al Hayat Article on Jawad al Asadi's NISA' AL SAXOPHONE

«نساء السكسو ... فون» تهتك نص الشاعر الاسباني لوركا ... جواد الأسدي يحاصر «البيت» الخراب بهواجس النسوة

بيروت – عبده وازن     الحياة     - 09/12/07//

لم يقتبس المخرج العراقي جواد الأسدي نصّ الشاعر الاسباني لوركا «بيت برنانردا ألبا» بل أعاد كتابته نصاً وعرضاً مشهدياً بعدما أمعن فيه تفكيكاً، حاذفاً منه مقاطع وشخصيات ومضيفاً اليه مقاطع وأبعاداً. «البيت» الذي شاءه الشاعر القتيل رمزاً لـ«السجن» الذي وسمت به اسبانيا في عهد الديكتاتور فرانكو جعله الأسدي عبارة عن «بيت خراب» بحسب عبارة إليوت (الأرض الخراب)، بيت عراقي وعربي في آن واحد. ولعل المشهد المأسوي الأخير الذي أطلت النسوة الخمس من خلاله بملابسهن السود، بدا أشبه بـ «وقفة» على أطلال ذاك البيت، الذي دمرته مواقفهن المشبعة بالكراهية والحقد والثأر، علاوة على الحروب المعلنة في الخارج التي أتت نيرانها على الحقول والحدائق.

ينجح جواد الأسدي دوماً في «استيحاء» النصوص العالمية وإعادة كتابتها حتى ليصبح وكأنه مؤلفها الثاني. هذا ما فعله سابقاً في نصوص لجان جينه وانطون تشيخوف واوغست سترندبرغ وسواهم. وعرضه المسرحي البديع «الاغتصاب» أثار حين تقديمه حفيظة صاحبه الكاتب سعدالله ونوس (اقتبس نصه عن مسرحية لأنطونيو باييخو)، نظراً الى «الخيانة» الجميلة التي مارسها الأسدي إزاء هذا النص الملتبس. في نص لوركا الذي أصبح «نساء السكسو... فون» (مسرح بابل، بيروت) حذف الأسدي ثلاثاً من الفتيات وأبقى على اثنتين هما أديلا وماغدولينا. برناردا ألبا نفسها جعلها مغنية أوبرا محافظاً على تسلطها و «ديكتاتوريتها». أديلا لم تنتحر كما في النص الأصلي وماغدولينا جعلها تقتل أباها عن غير قصد. الخادمتان اختصرهما في خادمة واحدة هي لابونتيا... لكنه لم يبدل الأسماء ودمج الفصحى بالعامية ساعياً الى ترسيخ أكثر من مستوى للّغة المسرحية تماشياً مع مستويات العرض المسرحي نفسه الذي تراوح بين الغروتسك أو التضخيم والبورلسك والأسلبة والواقعية والباروديا أو المحاكاة الساخرة التي لم ينج منها حتى الغناء الاوبرالي المزدوج (ديو) بين برناردا والخادمة. ونجح الأسدي في دمج الأنواع هذه مشهدياً جاعلاً من اللعبة المسرحية لعبة بصرية تهذي وتتفجر.

إنها «خشبة» جواد الأسدي أولاً وأخيراً. سينوغرافيا بديعة بألوانها المتنافرة (الأسود، الأحمر...) وجداريتها التي وضعها الرسام العراقي جبر علوان الذي صمم أيضاً الديكور والملابس. والنسوة اللواتي عُرف علوان بهن لم يغبن عن مخيلة الأسدي (أديلا حين تتمدد بجسدها المتفجر على الطاولة أو على الكنبة) وهن كنّ حاضرات في صالة المسرح عبر معرضٍ جميل، بأوضاعهن الجسدية (والنفسية). وبدا المعرض مدخلاً الى المسرحية، مدخلاً جمالياً ودرامياً. شاء الأسدي خشبته أكثر من خشبة: عالم داخلي تفصله عن «معترك» النسوة ستارة من «نيلون» كأنها غشاء بكارة حيناً وراءها يكمن عالم اللاوعي الذي يتفجر حين تنفتح (الستارة) بعنف غالباً، أو كأنها تارة جدار تتعارك معه الفتاتان، جدار سجن هو البيت نفسه. واختلق الأسدي أيضاً خشبة هامشية او زاوية للجدة العجوز الخرقاء والمهلوسة التي أدى شخصيتها ببراعة الممثل رفعت طربيه موظــفاً طاقــاته خـــلف قناع تلك العجوز التي تعيــــش على حافة «الذكريات» والهواجس الجنسية.

عالم داخلي، مغلق ومسوّر، تفجره النسوة المتشابهات، الأم والفتاتان والجدة والخادمة وكأنهن أمام مرايا ذواتهن وأجسادهن المقموعة. ضحايا و «جزارون» في وقت واحد، مسكونات بالكراهية والبغضاء، ينتظرن اللحظة التي تتيح لهن الانتقام من «الآخر» ومن أنفسهن، هن اللواتي وجدن في صورتهن صورة القامع نفسه. موت الزوج والأب لم يكن إلا موتاً للماضي السلبي: الزوجة برنردا التي تألمت لموته ظاهراً وجدت في هذا الموت متنفساً لها وراحة لن تطول كثيراً. لقد تحررت من هذا الجسد «المعطل» الذي مكث عشرة أعوام في فراش المرض وهي عشرة أعوام من الحرمان الجنسي. أما الابنتان فقد انتهتا عبر موته من فكرة «الأب» الغائب أصلاً و «الخائن» الذي لم يكن يبالي إلا بنفسه وهواياته وحياته الخاصة. حتى الخادمة لم تستطع أن تكن له المحبة، مثله مثل برناردا المتسلطة التي تعاملها باحتقار وقسوة لكونها الخادمة، على رغم انها كانت أداتها لتتسقط أخبار الابنتين، ولم تكن الخادمة تتوانى عن الوشاية بهما انتقاماً لنفسها.

عالم من الكراهية والكبت والبغضاء المتبادلة تصنعه نسوة مكبوتات ومحرومات يسعين الى انتهاز الفرصة كي يقتلن بعهن بعضاً، كي يقتتلن ويدمرن حياتهن المدمرة أصلاً. هكذا ذهب جواد الأسدي بعيداً في رسم ملامح هذه النسوة، متخطياً الملامح التي كان رسمها لوركا، معتمداً القسوة واللاوعي والحوافز النفسية الخبيئة. برنردا ألبا، الأم القاسية تجد نفسها وحيدة، ليس بعد موت الزوج وإنما بعد تحررها منه. الحداد الذي تعلنه كأنما تعلنه على نفسها، هي مغنية الأوبرا التي لم تبق لها سوى الذكريات. تلجأ الى الغناء الأوبرالي والكنسي (السرياني...) وبعض الفلامنكو (ظهر في البداية أيضاً) بحثاً عن عزاء. تمارس على ابنتيها سطوتها تعويضاً عما فاتها، لكنها لا تتمكن من قتل ما بقي من حنان الأم. هنا تكمن قوة هذه الشخصية التي جسدتها بقوة ورقة في وقت واحد المغنية جاهدة وهبي التي كانت احدى مفاجآت العرض. الابنتان أو الاختان، أديلا (ايفون الهاشم في إطلالة جميلة جداً) وماغدولينا (نادين جمعة في اداء قدير)، تفيضان بالكره والبغض، تشي واحدتهما بالأخرى، وتغار واحدتهما من الأخرى، خصوصاً في ما يتعلق بالجنس و «رجل الاسطبل». فتاتان تعيشان بجسديهما المحرّقين الى الرغبة، بل بالأحرى بهواجسهما الجنسية و «الفانتسمات» المتفجرة. جسدان على حافة الانهيار، يحتاجان الى نار الرجل التي تشعل فيهما اللذة. جسدان متألمان من شدة الحرمان وسط هذا السجن، وسط هذه العزلة القاتلة. حتى الخادمة التي أدت دورها عايدة صبرا بمهارة فائقة مازجة بين التضخيم والأسلبة والسخرية، بدت تعيش هاجس الجنس، لكنها راحت، بخبثها كضحية، تذكّيه في الأخريات، لا سيما في برناردا ألبا، التي ذكرتها مرة بعجزها عن الاستمناء. ولم تنجُ الجدة بدورها من هذه الفانتسمات» التي باح بها جسدها العاجز.

دخل جواد الأسدي أعماق هؤلاء النسوة ونفذ الى لاوعيهن وهواجسهن وأحوالهن الداخلية وفجّرها، فاذا بهن كتل من لحم ودم وشبق وحقد وبغضاء. يكرهن العالم (البيت) مثلما يكرهن صورهن، مثلما يكرهن بعضهن بعضاً، مثلما يكرهن فكرة الأب والأم والسلطة كيفما تجسدت. وعوض ان تنتحر اديلا تُجنّ، وهكذا شقيقتها. انها القسوة التي طالما انتهجها جواد الأسدي، القسوة التي لا تطهّر الذات إلا بالعنف الداخلي بالموت، القسوة التي تجيب على الأسئلة التي لا أجوبة لها، عبر إلغائها. وعندما تجد النسوة أنفسهن أمام لحظة الموت (المجازي) أو العزلة المطلقة يلجأن الى التداعي من خلال «المونولوغ» مواجهاتٍ أنفسهن بأنفسهن. الأم والابنتان والخادمة، جميعهن يلجأن الى «الاعتراف»، اعتراف ما قبل الموت، ما قبل الخراب الذي سيدمر البيت. ولعل أجمل «مونولوغ» هو الذي تبادلته ماغدولينا مع الخادمة، وقد غدا «مونولوغاً» بصوتين انطلاقاً من دفتر المذكرات الذي دونتها ماغدولينا.

يجيد جواد الأسدي العمل على الممثل وكانه عماد اللعبة المسرحية. فالعرض هو عرض الممثلين مثلما هو قائم على السينوغرافيا والديكور والموسيقى والحوار... يعطي الأسدي الممثلين فرصة تحقيق ذواتهم انطلاقاً من الشخصيات التي يبنيها باحكام ومن العلاقات التي ينسجها بمتانة. يجد الممثل نفسه على خشبة الأسدي وجهاً لوجه أمام ذاته متجلية في ذات الشخصية التي يؤديها. هنا يصبح التمثيل بحسب الأسدي تجسيداً للذات الانسانية، بصراعها الداخلي وهواجسها وأحاسيسها العميقة. لكن التمثيل لن يخلو أيضاً من فن اللعب لا سيما في لحظات الهتك والسخرية والتضخيم.

لم يكن من المفارق أن يحول جواد الأسدي «بيت برناردا ألبا» بيتاً عراقياً وعربياً وأن يدمره ويجعله أطلالاً، مغلّباً طابع التشاؤم على المصير أو المستقبل، فالمأساة التي عاشها ويعيشها كمواطن منفي ومقتلع تشهد على عمق التجربة التي يكابدها. والمهم أن «الخطاب» المأسوي هذا ابتعد كل البعد عن التفجع والمأسوية المباشرة (والكربلائية العراقية) من خلال اللعبة الدرامية الفاتنة التي أدتها هؤلاء النسوة – الممثلات والتي توازت فيها السخرية العابثة والفجيعة الداخلية. انهن «نساء السكسو... فون» كما عبّر العنوان. وكلمة «السكسو...» ليست هي «الساكسو...» انها اللفظة الموسيقية المحرّفة بغية ان تشمل حال الجسد. انه العزف الموسيقي على مقام الجسد. وما أجمل هذا العزف حقاً.

Review: "Crying of My Mother"

Stripped of their galabayehs, they stand quietly with their backs to us under the soft blue light, their breath drifting like smoke in the frigid air. The expansion-contraction of their torsos is deep at first, but it slowly gives way to calm. Simple and ethereal, the closing stillness of "Crying of my Mother" is pregnant with a serene abandon that left us in the audience molten.

Choreographed by Muhannad Rasheed and featuring Rasheed and Duraid Abbass, the twenty-five minute dance performance ran December 1st through 3rd at Teatro in Damascus, Syria. The only private performance space in the city, Teatro is an old Damascene house cum theatre institute and production venue founded and directed by May Skaf, a well-known television and film actress in Syria. The performance took place in the central courtyard whose grand two-story arch has been rendered a proscenium.

The piece opens with Rasheed and Abbass in khakhi galabayehs cradled together before a fire. Rasheed's hand stretches forth taking in the heat while Abbass combs through his companion's afro. Their bodies, twin fetuses in a womb, are barely distinguishable from one another, and the moment denotes a sense of isolation as if the two worn men were resting for a night in the midst of a taxing journey.

But they are not desperate, not hopeless; rather, a tranquility, albeit one loaded with heavy fatigue, colors the scene. They have each other. The unbridled intimacy, at once brotherly and romantic, establishes a pianissimo, legato foundation from which the performance evolves. The movement takes on a staccato dynamic, and the bodies become disfigured and even corpse-like. Afterwards, the piece crescendos into a scene of mourning and concludes with a moment of ethereal peace.

As such, "Crying of my Mother" broaches the subject of death as metamorphosis. The transformation is, however, twofold: we witness shifts in the corporal and the gender identities of the dancers. After the theme of corpsed bodies builds momentum, the men slowly lift their galabayehs over their heads and clench their collars shut under their chin in silhouette, evoking images of mourning women in a chador, burqa, or jilaabah.

The quaking intensifies, and the performance climaxes as the men slowly pull the galabayehs off their bodies, shedding their skin and letting it fall to the ground. So, mourning entails the man's adoption the body of the woman--the mother--as a surrogate. Whereas the male body is the site of physical pain and death, it is the female body that carries the burden of emotional suffering, and it is the female body that has transformative agency, taking in the dancers--tortured, murdered, and left for dead--and bearing forth reborn, naked bodies.

Duraid and Abbass and their families were displaced by the 2003 American invasion of Iraq and subsequent civil-war and are refugees in Syria. Throughout the next couple weeks, "Crying of my Mother" will travel to the Netherlands and to Italy. The migration of the art and artists is a testament to the paradoxical realities of the military industrial complex which serves to colonize and to ravage peoples on the one the hand and to foster and to circulate the cultural production of pillaged societies on the other.

The St. Andrew's Ball

We left early. The champagne was tasty, but the St. Andrew's Ball at the Four Seasons last night did little more than confirm my disdain for expatriates, especially Americans and Brits, in Damascus.

I picked up my tuxedo from my aunt's house on Thursday afternoon in anticipation of my first Damascus ball, thinking Four Seasons + Damascenes + maziqa + dancing + open bar + Glam^3 = unforgettable. No one does Glam better than Damascus. No one. Except maybe Fergie.

The "chieftain" of the Caledonian Society, a hoary chum with eyebrows like ashen tumbleweeds, greeted us at the top of the staircase. His Lucky Charms shoes matched his kilt, and his Scottish accent rang with charming vigor. He directed us towards the saggy-faced lady.

"Table 31, Loch Lunaig," she said, dropping our tickets in the giant raffle tub. "Y'can see the tayble chart o'er dere." We glanced across the room past the dozens of men in kilts and marching band outfits and spotted--not the chart--but floating trays of champagne.

It's been ages since I've seen so many Caucasians. Where did all these expats come from? Where are they hiding in Damascus? I didn't see but a handful of Arabs. At first, I thought, "Duh, obviously, they'll show up at least an hour late." But I was wrong.

Thank the lord our table featured a bottle of Glenmorangie Scotch; otherwise, my friend Sh and I would have dropped dead of nausea. There were six Americans at our table, four of whom were teachers at the Damascus Community School. They looked and sounded like they had been plucked from their minivans in rural Nebraska and dropped in Syria. They knew little to nothing about this place and, aside from discrete comments about their cats who eat their scarves, had trouble conversing.

It was a nightmare featuring Laura Ingalls Wilder and friends. Remember those girls and boys from high school at Woodward who were so dull they just kind of blended into the background? Yeah, they were there, too.

After the British Ambassador's endless monologue about global warming (what the hell?!), the chieftain took the mic and invited everyone to the dance floor. The lead singer of the band, flown in from Scotland, proceeded to dictate dance instructions to the two hundred strong herd. When we saw the girl in the jester outfit doing a Scottish jig, we knew it was time to evacuate.

Castrating Simba

One of the wool rugs was missing from the long marble corridor leading to my bedroom.

"He's pissing everywhere, now! The rug's drying on the balcony. Emily washed it, and it's hanging outside," Mama Hiam complained, crunching through a heart of raw lettuce. "He meows at night, all night, outside my door. I'm castrating him. Tomorrow. We have an appointment at 9am with the doctor, and we're going to castrate him."

Simba is a spoiled and reticent Turkish angora. He takes his meals in the kitchen but drinks only--ONLY--from the crystal ashtray that Hiam fills periodically throughout the day. Every morning, after a cup of Nescafe and half a red apple, she puts on a hospital mask and brushes Simba inside out, working his body like he was a rag doll. He's surprisingly okay with all the maneuvering, and it's only when she gets to his tail does he begin to resist.

It was Hiam's daughter who managed to coax her to getting a cat shortly after the war last summer. At first, Hiam rejected the idea altogether, I think in a stubborn effort to assert her self-sufficiency and comfort in solitude. She didn't need a cat, she wasn't lonely. Eventually, she caved in to the suggestion, and the rest is history.

She seemed disappointed when she returned from the veterinarian that morning. She was in the kitchen making kibbeh with Emily, and I overheard the dialogue from the living room.

"He didn't castrate him. Simba has psychology. You know what is psychology?"
"Yes, Madame."
"He says he keep Simba to examine him. But he did not castrate him. He did the echo, but no castrating him."

Cheney undergoes heart treatment

english.aljazeera.net

Dick Cheney, the US vice president, has been treated with electric shock treatment for an irregular heartbeat discovered during a doctor's visit. Cheney who was sedated for the procedure on Monday, later returned home and will resume his normal schedule at the White House on Tuesday, his office said.

"An electrical impulse was used to restore the upper chambers to normal rhythm," the statement said. "The procedure went smoothly and without complication."

Cheney, who had gone to see doctors because of a lingering cough from a cold, was found to have "atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart," Megan Mitchell, his spokeswoman, said earlier on Monday.

History of problems

He went to the hospital later in the day for the outpatient procedure. Atrial fibrillation is a disorder becoming increasingly common. The heart's two small upper chambers quiver instead of beating effectively and blood is not pumped out completely, so it may pool and clot, putting the person at risk of a stroke.

Cheney, a close aide to George Bush, the US president, has had a history of heart problems. He survived four heart attacks before he became vice president. The last one, shortly after the November 2000 election, was considered mild. More recently he was treated for a blood clot in his leg that was discovered after a trip to Asia and the Middle East. He underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 1988 and he has also had angioplasty to reopen a partially blocked artery.

...
Gosh darn it, working for peace is stressful!

3ajami

No, life here was very nice. Let me tell you why.
Wafic was a guy who loved life. I mean, for one, he never liked staying at home, and, two, he'd call me from the office: 'Get dressed. I'm picking you up.'

Five-thirty, we'd go to a house party. Then, there'd be a cocktail, so we'd go to the cocktail. We'd come back home. He'd change and then say to me, 'Get some sleep.'
'Why sleep? I just got back from the cocktail party, why sleep now?'
'I have to meet my buddy at Cape des Rois, then we're meeting some friends at the Mocombo around eleven, twelve, one.'
'We're going together.'
We were a Lebanese group, and we always went out together.
At the end of the night, there's this place called 3ajami, in the Souq el Taweeleh, on a paved street, a really narrow lane, half the width of a bedroom. The best stores were in Souq el Taweeleh. On both sides there were shops, and at the end a tiny little spot called 3ajami. They sold drinks, food, fool emdemmas, akel libanais.

It was in Centre Ville. Now, il n'existe plus. It's nothing now. They destroyed it, built it up again, put in a road, I don't know. There's nothing left of 3ajami.

De l'Orient le Jour, 24 novembre 2007

Upping the Anty on Internet Censorship: Ma3 al Salameh, Fbook

They blocked Facebook.

Gone are the days of profile updates, wall messages, and poking. 
Farewell to clicking "Not Attending" for events in America. 
Adieu Scrabulous.

Just two months ago, my friend O and I were chatting about Facebook as a public sphere.  We were saying how it was one of the only--if not the only--public spaces for free association.  Sure, the bodies and the language are digital; nonetheless, it is a revolutionary public sphere where individuals can assemble into groups and express their thoughts in an open forum.

Given that the Assad regime isn't so fond of free association/assembly and of unregulated expression in general, it doesn't really surprise me that the government has blocked Facebook.  However, I am shocked that they were perceptive enough to realize what a major role it plays in everyday life here.

The government has knocked my-facebook-self into a coma.

Wikipedia writes,

"A notable ancillary effect of social networking websites, particularly Facebook, is the ability for participants to mourn publicly for a deceased individual. On Facebook, students often leave messages of sadness, grief, or hope on the individual's page, transforming it into a sort of public book of condolences. This particular phenomenon has been documented at a number of schools. Previously, Facebook had stated that its official policy on the matter was to remove the profile of the deceased one month after he or she has died,preventing the profile from being used for communal mourning, citing privacy concerns. Due to user response, Facebook amended its policy. Its new policy is to place deceased members' profiles in a "memorialization state".

Additional usage of Facebook as a tool of remembrance is expressed in group memberships on the site. Now that groups are community-wide and available among all networks, many users create Facebook groups to remember not only a deceased friend or individual, but also as a source of support in response to an occurrence such as 9/11 or the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007."

How will Facebook respond to all of us comatose Syrians?
Our profiles are now memorials.  Does that mean we're dead?

Fondly, from opera-syria.org

Welcome to Dar Al-Assad for Culture Culture and Arts

Scouring through hundreds of websites

You visited us

To let our friendship start here

How?

By being with us in our free creations

To let our friendship start

For

Culture is the spirit of civilization

&

Art is the expression of its rise

We create love & peace

We follow the profession of happiness

Surpassing frontiers & races

Yet

Our Syrian human being is looking for world's human beings

You're welcome again

You're with us & we're with you

The Sword

I envision my death when I walk to the theatre.

Dar al Assad, the National Theatre, sits on Sahat el Oumayeen, a giant roundabout a la Paris's Place de l'Etoile. Instead of the Arc de Triomphe, there is a wide fountain with dozens of jets that glimmer neon blue at night. It's far from majestic, but you can't help but giggle when you see that much water shooting into the desert air.

A concrete monolith accented by a sliver of windows, the Assad library and Syria's equivalent of the Pentagon hold the fort on the Eastern flank of the Sahat. To the West lies another concrete monolith, the Sheraton Hotel...although it's more of a modernist ruin than anything else.

One of the few memories I have from my trip to Damascus fifteen years ago is indulging in a banana split at the Sheraton pool. It still hosts a chic crowd during the summer (the prostitutes go to Le Meridien). The 80s glam of the sunbathers juxtaposes with the heinous architecture reminiscent of ammunition igloos at Fort Dix. Southwest, you've got a nondescript Ministry barricaded by a colonnade, and due South is Dar al Assad which is a perfectly shaven, concrete rectangular prism. Literally.

Charming as the fountains may be, the real axis of this space is the towering seven-story sword (probably the Assad Sword), whose pseudo-stained glass facade lights up at night. Rooted off-center in a concrete island near the Dar al Assad, it reminds all cars and pedestrians that--make no mistake--this phallus lays down the law of the land.

Approaching the Sahat is like stepping into a vortex of nationalism, totalitarian authoritarianism, and patriarchy...and concrete. Time after time, I'm floored by how boldly the architecture and geometry of this cityspace embody a politics of monism. And, time after time, I pass a row of kalishnikovs aimed at my liver as I stroll past the Ministry of Defense. There's an exasperated soldier hanging out every twenty meters or so. He's got his gun draped perpendicular to his torso and directed right at the passers-by.

I know these guns are probably not even loaded. And I doubt that these guys are even conscious of where their guns are pointed. And even though kalashnikovs and tanks were ubiquitous in Cairo and Beirut, I can't quite get used to walking past a barrel aimed straight at my body. Without fail, as I'm approaching the target range of these guns, I think to myself, "This is it. It's going to shoot accidentally. Something's going to happen, and it's going to shoot. This is it. I'm going to be shot. I'm going to be killed. And I'm going to collapse dead at the feet of a towering polychromatic phallus in Damascus, Syria."

Text from a Placemat in La Casa in Abu Rummaneh, Damascus, Syria

When was the last time you had Asian?

of the ginseng herb

Cleansing the body of stress.
Ginseng has a long history of helping increase libido or sexual energy and desire.
Ginseng is considered one of the only safe natural herbs for sexual health.

www.visitlacasa.com

Under my Umbrella

I nearly exploded when I heard the rain.  I was in the shower when it started, and so it probably took me a while to perceive the relatively soft pattering outside.

Yesterday, in the car on the road to Beirut, the woman squeezed to my right relayed the news of the rain.  I thought she was pleasant at first.  After we veered off the Chtoura highway forty minutes deep into the belly of the Lebanon Mountains to the end of the road (literally) of the village Shbiah, I was ready to shove her out of the Chevy.

Mama Hiam gave me a giant aquamarine umbrella, and I hurried off to the Goethe Institute to attend a conference.  The service dropped me off just after the AUB on Bliss, and I walked the rest in the downpour.  Past Snack Faysal--it sits at the base of a civil war ruin, one of the few on Bliss that hasn't been replaced with a concrete atrocity or a fast-food workshop.  Past Siniora's house, past Salon Khalil Mike, and past Heo's doctor's office, who, it turns out, is a distant relative of mine.  It was Sunday.  The streets were empty, which was lucky because my umbrella proved to be too big for the sidewalks, so I took to the road.

But, actually, come to think of it I never really walk on sidewalks anymore.  My walk this afternoon was exceptional because of the umbrella, that's all.