Just another dent in the damage…

…but like Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s modern dictator.

After the death of his brother, Basil in 1994 (first in line for Presidency), Bashar left the UK and his studies in ophthalmology to assume the mantle of President in waiting. Six years later his father Hafez al-Assad (in office 1971-2000) died and the new President arose.

Unlike Hafez, Bashar is a believer in the democraticisation of Syria and the liberalisation of its people, but to change a stagnant old-fashioned dictatorship is no easy task and with little (if any) leadership training is Bashar even capable of such a thing? Look at Barack Obama for example, has he actually met his promise of change yet? Hardly, to change anything means changing a system of doing things and we all know how bureaucratic these things can be. Change is difficult – even trying to change information on a webpage at work is complex enough for me. Changing the whole mentality of a nation is big and it’s probably why after a decade of Bashar we haven’t seen much happen.

It’s quite ironic that even the Internet, which Bashar himself introduced, is heavily restricted and is in itself an example of how to ‘deliberalise’ the people, limiting their freedom of expression. Learning about the decision making processes of Syrian politics came from reading his father’s meeting notes. And it was here where he learnt that ’unlike performing eye surgery, running a country like Syria requires a certain comfort with ambiguity’.

November’s edition of the National Geographic magazine featured an awesome piece about Syria and the Assads and is definitely worth taking the time to read.

Syria really is a beautiful country and the BEST place in the world to eat falafel… seriously. Aleppo’s citadel is breathtaking and if you happen to find this dude (on the left) in Damascus stop and have a chat, eat his patties – they’re awesome.

Have a look through this photo gallery too, the images are stunning.

This week’s Channel 4 Dispatches focused on piecing together the horrific terrorist attacks that hit Mumbai last November. It is incredibly detailed in its tracking of the young terrorists’ movements and their communications with their ‘commanders’ in Pakistan, featuring original voice recordings of mobile interceptions, amateur video footage and CCTV, interviews with eye-witnesses and news coverage of the time.

It’s pretty difficult to watch given the inclusion of extremely graphic images depicting the carnage that left at least 173 dead and a further 308 injured but an excellent documentary nonetheless. They’ve done remarkably well in reconstructing the group’s movements across the city and collating detailed descriptions of the plot that took the city of Mumbai hostage for three days.

It makes me question what the Indian authorities were doing at the time during these intercepted telephone conversations, was there contact with Pakistani administration? Were they able to trace the calls to find any further information out about the ‘controllers’? What has been/is being done to identify the leaders of the mob and how will Lashkar-e-Taiba be held accountable? What is to come of the Kasab trial (the sole surviving terrorist caught by the Indian forces and currently held in custody) given that on May 6th he pleaded not guilty to 86 charges? Surely there is enough evidence here which says otherwise?

And finally was it really appropriate for the Dispatches team to end the documentary with the ‘controller’s’ message to the media? – ‘this was just the trailer. wait for the rest of the film’.

There are 28 days left on the 4oD platform to catch-up or see Youtube’s five part break down:

• Part 1;
• Part 2;
• Part 3;
• Part 4;
• Part 5.

If you’re still not convinced though have a quick peek at this Channel 4 News report for a taster:

It was this article in The Observer that sparked my interest in From my Sister’s Lips, a book written by Na’ima B Robert as a ‘celebration of Muslim womanhood.’

Na’ima B. Robert is the daughter of a white South African father of Scottish descent and a black South African mother of Zulu descent. Born in Leeds, she grew up in Zimbabwe and went on to gain a first-class degree from the University of London. She has worked in the travel and tourism industry, was a teacher and has written and illustated children’s books. Following her conversion to Islam and her marriage to a Ghanaian revert, she settled in South London, where she now lives with her husband and two small sons.

Having experienced very little (if any) religious upbringing with no family connections to a faith I hoped that Robert’s invitation to view life ‘beneath the veil’ would to some degree widen my understanding of ‘western reverts’. She explores the many stereotypical notions of Muslim women in Britain from ‘covering’ to marriage to motherhood and offers an in-depth account of her personal journey to Islam.

At times I found Robert’s analysis of women and Islam rather difficult and somewhat overly self-righteous but as a non-Muslim this is understandable and something she herself put into words – ‘Although I have tried to explain Islamic concepts as clearly as possible, there are some things that will be difficult for non-Muslims to understand. The Muslim accepts these things because of his faith and grounding in Islamic knowledge – the same cannot be expected of those who have not entered the faith’.

One concept that particularly interests me concerning Islam is the progression from the hijab and loose fitting clothing to the abaya(h) (modest ‘dresses’) to half/full jilbabs and the burqa/niqab. What exactly is it that women find so ‘liberating’ about covering their physical attributes? And why is it that they do all of this in the name of ‘Allah?’ What ‘reward’ do they receive for embracing Islamic values and traditions? It wasn’t until ‘Part 2:Living Islam‘ that I really connected with what was being said. As a vegan I guess in someways I belong to a group of extreme individuals that share/respect and stand by certain principles no matter what strains are placed upon me to indulge in non-vegan products (ridicule/peer pressure/ignorance/facilities etc.) It is possible then for me to understand the Muslim dress progression in terms of vegetarianism progression i.e. from lacto-ovo vegetarianism to lacto/ovo vegetarianism to veganism to fruitarianism etc etc. Being vegan is something I am proud to be everyday and something I find personally rewarding/liberating through a lack of falter. By drawing such an analogy (albeit a rather simple one — I know) I feel that I can at least begin to understand a small amount of the many challenges that faces a Muslim woman in a western world. I am far from ignorant to the western attitudes concerning Muslims (gender roles/threat of terrorism/suicide bombers/honour killings/arranged marriages etc) and further seek to develop my personal understandings of Islam and it’s magnitude of followers.

Refreshing, controversial and often surprising, From my Sisters’ Lips is an invitation to a world usually seen only by those admitted to its inner circle. It is a celebration of their womanhood and friendship – a celebration of their Islam.