Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
November 1, 2005

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) is distributing the enclosed articles to build bridges of understanding between the West and the Arab World and countries with predominately Muslim populations. Unless otherwise noted, all copyright permissions have been obtained and the articles may be reproduced by any news outlet or publication free of charge. If publishing, please acknowledge both the original source and CGNews, and notify us at cgnewspih@sfcg.org.

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

1. “When Ballots Bring on Bullets,” by Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder

Edward D. Mansfield of the University of Pennsylvania and Jack Snyder of Columbia University, authors of ''Electing to Fight: Why Emerging Democracies Go to War,'' identify a lack of appropriate institutions as the reason why so many Middle Eastern state’s elections are failing to bring stable democracies. Noting that it is not Islam that is unsuited for democracy, they point to “the need to work patiently to put in place the preconditions of democracy, and in the proper sequence…with economic reform and the development of a competent, impartial state administration”.
(Source: International Herald Tribune, October 28, 2005)

2. “Higher Education: New 'Engine' of Development,” by Shafeeq Ghabra
Shafeeq Ghabra, president of the American University of Kuwait, describes the importance of an academic fora in the Middle East that permit and promote open discussion of ideas, particularly in the aftermath of 9/11 when many Arab students are denied access to U.S. schools. Ghabra also looks at the bridging aspect of American education systems in the Middle East: While war is raging in Iraq, the American University of Kuwait and other American universities in the Middle East are building for peace and a better future.”
(Source: Arab Times, October 25, 2005)

3. “Pressure Builds on Syrian regime,” by Nicholas Blanford
Nicholas Blanford, Beirut correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, looks at the situation of Syria, the target of two UN reports, spearheaded by the United States and France, which may result in increased sanctions against the country. Although many are heralding the end of the regime, some critical events suggest that President Assad is not so vulnerable. If this is the case, the international community may have to devise some longer term plans for working through their problems with Syria, plans that do not rely on coups from within.
(Source: The Christian Science Monitor, October 24, 2005)

4. “The Oil Tsunami” by Youssef M. Ibrahim
Youssef M. Ibrahim, a former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times and energy editor of the Wall Street Journal, and current managing director of the Dubai-based Strategic Energy Investment Group, writes on the popular topic of oil and terrorism in the Middle East. He concludes that the world’s dependency on oil and the economic impacts of this incredible demand, coupled with the increasing terror attacks on oil pipelines and refineries, forecasts a grim and expensive decade for all of us if we continue on this trajectory.
(Source: Middle East Times, October 21, 2005)

5. “Cultural Sensitivities Surface in Choosing 'Appropriate' Children's Toys,” by Nadia Wassef and David Blanks
Nadia Wassef, one of the owners of the Diwan Bookshop and David Blanks, a historian, discuss the cultural and political sensitivities (and friendly disputes) involved in purchasing a Barbie or Fulla doll for their daughter’s friend in Cairo. Outlining the reasons they found each doll to be an inappropriate gift, they were surprised to discover that though each of them “was up in arms over a perceived misrepresentation of our own culture by members of our own culture and neither one was particularly bothered when it worked the other way around.”
(Source: The Daily Star, October 22, 2005)

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ARTICLE 1
When Ballots Bring on Bullets
By Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder

New York - Nine months after President George W. Bush's call to spread democracy abroad, the results of this year's spate of elections throughout the Middle East are in.

They are dismaying. Most of the winning candidates ran on platforms endorsing Islamic sectarianism, narrow ethnic interests, warlord power, nuclear proliferation, terrorism (in the case of Hamas), or a continuation of authoritarian business as usual. In Iraq, the voting deepened the political stalemate.

This is not just a speed bump on the road to a democratic peace. It reflects a fundamental flaw in the Bush administration's strategy of forced-pace democratization in countries that lack the necessary preconditions.

Countries that are just starting down the path toward democracy are at high risk of war, especially if they are ill prepared for the journey. Our research shows that over the past two centuries, countries that opened up to elections without the institutions needed to manage political competition have been more than four times more likely to become embroiled in war than other states.

Yugoslavia collapsed into war in 1991, six months after divisive elections. The elected regimes of Pakistan and India clashed in the 1999 Kargil War. Wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ecuador and Peru, Russia and Chechnya, Ethiopia and Eritrea also followed democratic experiments in the 1990s. Deadly violence engulfed Burundi after an internationally mandated 1993 election, and East Timor after the an independence referendum in 1999.

Shaky emerging democracies are at risk for international and civil war because violent nationalism and sectarianism thrive in their turbulent politics. Old regimes often gamble on nationalist appeals as a way of hanging onto power. Challengers appeal to ethnic groups which have been oppressed. In the early days of electoral jockeying, liberal, secular groups are harder to organize than tribal, ethnic or religious groups.

Without a basic framework of law, effective government and consensus on which ethnic group gets to exercise the right of self-determination, elections become an opportunity for ethnicity-baiting.

This year's Middle Eastern votes illustrate this pattern. The Iraqi election played into the hands of religious and ethnic sectarians and soured the Sunnis on democratic politics. Iranians elected a pro-nuclear, hard-line Islamist as president. Palestinians face a choice between religious terrorists and corrupt hacks. In Egypt, Islamist candidates were banned, monitors were kept away from the polls and the authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak won in a landslide.

The Lebanese election was a blow for independence from Syrian domination, but politics remained locked in an ethnically based voting system that has hindered cross-group political movements and contributed to the outbreak of civil war in the 1970s. In Afghanistan, elections simply ratified the power of warlords and tribal leaders.

President Bush has claimed that "it is the practice of democracy that makes a nation ready for democracy, and every nation can start on this path." In fact, openings toward democracy usually revert to autocracy or to chaos in countries that have very low incomes and literacy, weak state institutions, deep ethnic divisions, or oil-based economies. All Arab states have at least some of these risk factors, and none have strong institutional antidotes in place.

Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Yemen have per capita incomes under $2,000. Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen have illiteracy rates above 20 percent. Pushing these countries into electoral politics too soon risks stoking war, sectarianism and terrorism.

The problem is not that Islam is culturally unsuited for democracy. In Turkey, where governmental institutions provide a stable framework for political competition, the ruling moderate Islamic party is committed to democratic processes. Other Middle Eastern countries need to develop this kind of effective state before elections can be expected to produce the same kind of moderate outcome.

To reduce the risk of democratic processes that serve only to strengthen democracy's foes, democracy promoters need to work patiently to put in place the preconditions of democracy, and in the proper sequence. The process must start with economic reform and the development of a competent, impartial state administration. This was the path followed by Taiwan, South Korea and Chile - countries where democratization was successful and peaceful. Like them, the Middle East should take the transition slowly and get the sequence right.

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* Professors Edward D. Mansfield of the University of Pennsylvania and Jack Snyder of Columbia University are the authors of ''Electing to Fight: Why Emerging Democracies Go to War.''
Source: International Herald Tribune, October 28, 2005
Visit the website at www.iht.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
Higher Education: New 'Engine' of Development
Shafeeq Ghabra

The Arab world today is experiencing a revolution in higher education, whereas a decade ago we were talking about the information revolution. This education revolution stems from two phenomena: (1) the millions of Arab students graduating from high schools and looking, since Sept 11, 2001, for regional colleges to accommodate their needs, and (2) an evolution in methods of teaching, subjects, and ways of thinking.

Private education holds an edge in advancing the evolution in methods, subjects, and ways of thinking. This type of education stands to leave an indelible mark on the future of learning in the Middle East. Restrictions on travel by Arab students trying to study in the United States after Sept 11 makes the case even stronger for private education in the Arab world.

Private higher education based on a US-style system must be able to provide its students with emerging international standards of knowledge and exposure to prevailing professional habits. With public education having become increasingly bureaucratic over the last two decades, private education has the potential of acting as an agent of change in the cultural and political arenas as well as in the professional world. Only by focusing on quality, standards, and best practices can the new private education reach a new level of effectiveness. Standards must be reflected in admissions, classrooms, and student life. Without quality, education cannot succeed.

American higher education is a method and model of learning based on a variety of practices, opinions, research, and experiences that allow critical and problem solving thinking to flourish. India has the largest number - 600,000 - of Indian students studying in US-affiliated universities worldwide. Indians are well aware how this type of education promotes the development of critical thinking, advanced communication skills, independent study, and self-awareness. One of the values of this system is life-long learning. This aspect of education has become a basic component of the modern era. Every learned individual is today a reflection of life-long learning. When we say "American curriculum," we mean an open curriculum, with contributions from all cultures. The US education system is not a closed system based only on one view.

It is basic in US education to focus on interaction inside lecture halls and laboratories, in libraries and through sports and the various other activities that develop talent and character. American education emphasizes discussion, classroom interaction, teamwork, and projects that require library and Web research as well as work at research centers. Attendance at lectures is stressed as is providing assistance to students having difficulties. A lively, effective, and creative model in all these areas, with the goal always of student-centered learning, is a must in higher education. This style of academic teaching model provides a learning environment - which includes trust and safety - that helps in achieving its goals.

Students graduating from colleges based on the American system will be eagerly sought after in the local and regional labor market. The curriculum and educational system makes them desirable in the private sector as well as in the public sector. By the time they graduate, such students should have the required linguistic, intellectual, and operational skills to make valuable contributions to the workforce. Accordingly, a graduate is not bound to only one specialization, but is able instead to be versed in a larger context of education, knowledge and skills.

Quality higher education is expensive. Hiring distinguished faculty from American universities is quite expensive as is providing needed services for students, staff, and professors. American-style universities in the Middle East must ameliorate their high cost through financial aid and scholarships. This year, for example, the American University of Kuwait created a scholarship fund of $300,000. We are now seeking additional scholarship funding from the private sector as part of our commitment to expanding the student population to avoid becoming an elitist institution.

It is without a doubt that any institution in the Middle East with US affiliation would face challenges if founded during active US military involvement in the Middle East. Lots of international hires see our region as militaristic and war-ridden. Kuwait, however, has been a country of peace with the exception of the 1990-1991 invasion and war. Our ability to clarify where Kuwait is and what it stands for, helps recruit faculty who see the merit of contributing to the East-West dialogue through education. We must always meet the challenge of attracting a distinguished group of professors and executives.

This is a special time for American education in the Middle East. It is a model of education that is admired and respected by the peoples of the region despite the controversy over politics and policies. While war is raging in Iraq, the American University of Kuwait and other American universities in the Middle East are building for peace and a better future.

The Arab world has a long way to go in establishing high-quality education systems. We have lagged behind during the last fifty years, and it is time to do something serious about development and learning in the region. We are at critical phase of learning, building, and developing. Quality learning is and should remain our main focus.

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* Shafeeq Ghabra is president of the American University of Kuwait.
Source: Arab Times, October 25, 2005
Visit the website at www.arabtimes.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 3
Pressure Builds on Syrian Regime
Nicholas Blanford

Beirut - The beleaguered Syrian regime is set to be hit this week with another critical report from the United Nations, days after a UN investigation implicated senior Syrian security officials in the killing of a former Lebanese prime minister.

Together, the two reports are expected to underpin a diplomatic offensive led by the US and France, which could lead to sanctions against Damascus.

"They want this [Syrian] leopard to change so many of its spots that it turns into a lap dog.... It's tantamount to regime change," says Joshua Landis, an American professor of history presently living in Damascus and author of the influential Syria Comment weblog.

Late last week, Damascus was stung by the findings from the UN investigation into the murder of Rafik Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, killed in a bomb explosion in February. Later this week, UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed Larsen is expected to report that Syria is still meddling in Lebanese affairs even after it withdrew its troops in April.

Mr. Larsen is expected to hand to the UN Security Council his latest report on Syria's compliance with Resolution 1559, which calls for a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and respect for Lebanese independence and sovereignty. While Syria has pulled out its troops, an erratic campaign of bomb attacks and assassinations against anti-Syrian Lebanese is being blamed on Damascus and its remaining allies in Lebanon.

According to Sunday's edition of Israel's Haaretz daily newspaper, which claimed to have received a copy of the report, Larsen's findings confirm that Syrian troops have left Lebanon but accuse Damascus of continued indirect military intervention and direct intelligence intervention in Lebanon, including supplying weapons to pro-Syrian Palestinian groups.

Tuesday, however, the UN Security Council will assess the findings of Detlev Mehlis, the German prosecutor who heads the UN investigation into Hariri's murder. The report - released Thursday, which over the weekend captivated Lebanese gathered around TV sets to listen to news on its findings - concludes that there is "converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act," and recommends the investigation continues.

President Bush called the report "deeply disturbing." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "There will have to be some way to ensure accountability for what has already been found here."

The Lebanese government on Saturday welcomed the report, saying it "provides the basis for finding the truth ... and punishing those responsible."

On Saturday night, Lebanese police arrested Mahmoud Abdel-Aal, a member of the pro-Syrian Islamist group, Al-Ahbash, and a brother of one of the chief suspects in Mr. Hariri's death. The police also announced Saturday the arrest of three men who had confessed to being recruited by Syrian intelligence to carry out bombings and shooting attacks in Lebanon.

Although the Mehlis report does not provide conclusive evidence against senior Syrian officials, an earlier version of the report mistakenly released to the media did name suspects in the Hariri assassination. They are Maher Assad, Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother, and his brother-in-law Gen. Asef Shawkat, head of military intelligence.

Analysts and UN officials say that the Security Council will issue a resolution warning of "serious consequences" if Syria fails to cooperate with the UN investigation. If Syria is subsequently judged to be stonewalling the UN commission, the Security Council could impose targeted sanctions on Syria.

In anticipation of UN action, Syria softened its tone over the weekend with Riad Daoudi, the legal adviser at the Syrian foreign ministry saying, "Syria remains committed to the decisions of international legality [the UN], and we will continue to cooperate with the international community."

Furthermore, Professor Landis has posted on his weblog an unusually detailed and frank letter from Imad Mustafa, the Syrian ambassador to Washington, addressed to US Rep. Sue Kelly (R) of New York, in which he provides a rebuttal of US accusations and expresses a willingness to engage fully with the Bush administration.

"Threats of further sanctions will have a negative impact on Syria's efforts to achieve what the US administration has repeatedly asked Syria to do, and what we have been working hard on achieving," Mr. Mustafa writes in the letter.

Some Security Council members may be wary of treading the sanctions path after the controversy surrounding sanctions in the 1990s on Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The sanctions brought widespread suffering to the Iraqi people but failed to dislodge Mr. Hussein's regime.

And it remains unclear whether sanctions would force a change in behavior in Damascus or effect the stability of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Some analysts argue that the series of strategic blunders made by Syria in recent years is leading to President Assad's inevitable downfall. They include the decision to extend for a further three years the mandate of Syria's close Lebanese ally, President Emile Lahoud, last year.

Hariri's assassination sparked the so-called Cedar Revolution and led to Damascus disengaging from Lebanon in April, ending a military presence of 29 years. Washington has a raft of issues with Syria, of which Lebanon is only one. Others include Damascus' support for Palestinian rejectionist groups and accusations that it is failing to secure its porous desert frontier with Iraq.

"If we want to assess the regime's chances for survival on the basis of its performance over the last few years, then I have to say that they are next to none," says Ammar Abdelhamid, a Syrian social activist with the Washington-based Brookings Institute. "Indeed, we find ourselves in this situation today, not as a result of some conspiracy, but on account of the cumulative effect of the regime's various miscalculations over the years."

On the other hand, while President Assad is isolated internationally and regionally, some analysts argue that he remains strong domestically, the result of a crackdown on opposition groups and tightening his inner circle of regime leaders.

Within the regime itself, the apparent suicide two weeks ago of Ghazi Kanaan, the Syrian minister of interior and a powerful member of the Alawite community that forms the backbone of the regime, removed a potential alternative to President Assad - one that might have been acceptable to the US.

"I think the regime is very stable here," says Landis. "I think the Ghazi Kanaan thing was a demonstration that they are on top of the coup possibilities. It's just too hard to pull off a coup here anymore."

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* Nicholas Blanford is the Beirut correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, October 24, 2005
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
The Oil Tsunami
Youssef M. Ibrahim

Dubai - The global oil market environment is becoming a target of opportunity for terrorists and world powers. The terrorists increasingly see disruptions of oil facilities as a valid strategy in their war against governments that they oppose. World powers like China, Japan, the United States and India are driven into increasing confrontation fighting for diminishing oil supplies.

These are sinister developments, ingredients for the next tsunami to hit the already turbulent world of oil where prices have gone so high that they are depressing world economies.

The trouble from insurgents blowing up oil facilities is no less dangerous than the pressures from China, India and Japan's voracious appetite for more oil.

China is a major superpower showing that it will not hesitate to use pressure to secure oil. The Chinese are developing a strong foothold in Pakistan, where thousands of Chinese workers are building a new port in Baluchistan at Gwadar, right at the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

One of the main causes of friction between China and Japan now involves access to oil and gas deposits in the East China Sea. When the Security Council tried to impose sanctions on Sudan - one of China's main oil suppliers - over the issue of Darfur, the Chinese said no.

In May when a massacre occurred in Uzbekistan with hundreds of people killed on the orders of President Islam Karimov, the United States and Europe asked for an international investigation. China, which had signed a $600 million gas deal with Uzbekistan, blocked it.

One needs to ring the alarm bell as this Asian pressure combines with terrorist attacks to form the elements of the perfect storm heading directly toward the Arabian Peninsula.

At the moment Iraq is the biggest model for jihadists seeking to spread chaos, fight the pro-American government there and eventually defeat the United States invasion - and the American project in the region by attacking oil facilities. But soon this tactic will travel to other oil-producing countries. There have already been attacks on oil installations in Chechnya, Pakistan, India, Russia, Azerbaijan and Nigeria.

Since the American invasion of Iraq, there have been more than 300 attacks on pipelines, refineries, and other facilities. Iraqi refineries have been looted to a point that the United States and Kuwait are supplying gasoline and heating oil to Iraq, which sits on top of one of the world's largest oil reserves.

Iraqi oil production has fallen drastically, and with it so have Iraqi oil revenues. The Northern pipeline that carries Iraqi oil to Turkey, which is repeatedly blown up, has never really functioned since the war.

The decreasing oil supplies, the Chinese-Japanese demand juggernaut and insurgents targeting oil have added an "anxiety premium" to the price of oil - a fear tax if you will - which accounts for more than $10 a barrel, leading to the current prices of $65 per barrel. The winter might well see prices going higher.

Western intelligence agencies are particularly concerned that many of the jihadists fighting in Iraq are non-Iraqi Arabs from Arab oil-producing countries. They come from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan, Egypt, Kuwait and Qatar, among others. These jihadists will return to their countries supplied with a well-practiced model. Do the math.

The oil crisis we face today is not the supply-driven crisis we had in 1973, when the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia led the oil boycott of the United States and the West to protest against their support of Israel in the October war of that year. This is a demand-driven crisis, which leaves the world more dependent on its most politically unstable area: the Greater Middle East, where 77 percent of the world's oil reserves are located.

High prices will eventually push world economies to aggressively pursue a search for alternative sources of energy including solar, nuclear and oil sands, which are very expensive to create or extract, but everything is relative.

It still takes time to get from here to there.

We are in a bottleneck that will last for five to 10 years. OPEC is not the solution, as its members are already producing all the oil that they have. Nor are they spending money to increase production.

In fact, at this time, NO oil producer - from Russia to Saudi Arabia - is spending money on boosting its oil infrastructure to produce more oil. Instead, they are using huge new revenues to build up their economies and pay debts.

No one can blame them. They like the high prices and need the money.

As for the jihadist terrorists, they are already secure in the knowledge that blowing up an oil refinery or pipeline is much easier than ramming planes into the World Trade Center or blowing up subways in London and Madrid.

Their philosophy is guided by the likes of Osama Bin Laden, whose core belief is that war against what he calls "infidels" is a war against Western economies dependent on energy. So fasten your seat belts. We are in for a rough ride on oil prices.

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* Youssef Ibrahim, a former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times and energy editor of the Wall Street Journal, is managing director of the Dubai-based Strategic Energy Investment Group, a consulting firm.
Source: Middle East Times, October 21, 2005
Visit the website at www.metimes.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 5
Cultural Sensitivities Surface in Choosing 'Appropriate' Children's Toys
Nadia Wassef and David Blanks

Cairo - It is not uncommon for a child to fight with his or her parents over a toy he or she wants; it is less common for the parents to fight about that toy. But two weeks ago, when our daughter received an invitation to go to another little girl's birthday party, the whole present-buying episode caused a rather unfortunate clash of civilizations.

Mistake number one was letting the baby choose the gift. Free will at the age of 18 months is, as it turns out, a rather dubious proposition: She ran straight for the Barbie dolls - which was enough to send her 1980s-era father into politically correct, feminist whiplash.

"Uh uh. No way. We're not buying that. What kind of a message does it send?! Look at the body image! If this were a life-sized woman her measurements would be 52DD, 12, 16!"

Mom felt he was overreacting.

So we scooted our infant off in another direction. This time she chose Fulla, the politically-correct, Middle Eastern Barbie-substitute.

"Oh no," Mom said, "This is too much."

For those of you who haven't picked out birthday presents for little girls lately, Fulla was launched in 2003 by a Syrian-based company called, ironically, New Boy Design Studio. It has become an amazing bestseller all over the Arab world.

Marketed as a doll with "Muslim values," Fulla comes complete with lace undies, a calf-length skirt, pink and white top with long sleeves, pink flat shoes, pink shoulder bag, a black abaya with gold trim, a matching hijab, and a tiny prayer rug in pink felt. Dad didn't see the problem.

But while daughter wailed at her unfair parents and proceeded to rip through several shelves of building blocks and train sets, it was explained to him in no uncertain terms. Point one: It's wrong to profit from religion. Point two: You don't have to wear an abaya to have good Muslim values. Point three: If it's what's on the inside that counts, why are these dolls making such a big deal about what's on the outside?

"But sweetheart," he countered weakly, "They have a Doctor Fulla and a Teacher Fulla - surely that's a good thing."

Point four: You came home at three o'clock in the morning last Thursday and didn't even call! End of argument. No Barbie; no Fulla.

Back home we got on the Internet and discovered that this was not the first attempt to give Barbie a makeover (i.e. eat into her market share). In the West, there is a black Barbie and a size 16 Barbie and no doubt a Barbie who wears sweat pants and t-shirts and likes to play basketball instead of dressing up and playing with Ken.

In the East, Fulla too has had her predecessors. There was Moroccan Barbie, Leila the Muslim slave girl, and Razanne, the veiled doll created by Noorart with her scout, teacher, eid mubarak, and "in and out" outfits (please check out their Web site www.noorart.com). "Razanne helps Muslim girls understand that in the home they can be the ultimate fashion statement yet still have attractive attire while dressing modestly outside the home."

Surely, however, there must be many ways to be modest without having to don the abaya. It's not even Egyptian! What about Fulla the fellaha, who reflects our heritage and culture, who works hard, has good family values, and just happens to get her feet wet feeding her family? She doesn't have gold trim on anything.

Nor is there fellaha silverware, fellaha stationery, fellaha luggage, fellaha cereal, fellaha chewing gum, fellaha bicycles and a fellaha spring wardrobe (all sold separately of course). Perhaps there should be. Abla Kamel could do the commercials. Can't you just see her pedaling daintily through the Delta tossing bon bons to immaculately clad peasant children while singing Arabized selections from "The Sound of Music?"

Ultimately, we solved our dilemma by placing baby in front of a large display of stuffed animals, where she proceeded to pick out a purple creature with a triangle on its head that offended no one's cultural sensibilities, since neither one of us are natives of Teletubbystan.

It's funny, though, how each of us was up in arms over a perceived misrepresentation of our own culture by members of our own culture and neither one was particularly bothered when it worked the other way around.

It was also funny that we should fight over something so silly - and it forced us to re-evaluate the way we communicate and to look for ways to avoid such disagreements in the future. In the end, we came up with a pretty good solution.

Next time we're hoping for a boy.

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Nadia Wassef is one of the owners of the Diwan Bookshop. David Blanks is a historian. They live in Cairo.
Source: The Daily Star, October 22, 2005
Visit the website at www.dailystar.com.lb
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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Posted by Evelin at November 2, 2005 05:19 PM