Afghanistan: For Suicide Bombers, a Pauper’s Grave

Bomber’s End: Flash of Terror, Humble Grave

Barry Bearak (NY Times)

…In Kabul, the burial of a suicide bomber occurs at a secret time in a secret place, the forgettable end to what most here consider an unforgivable act. Of course, it is easier to bury the remains of a bomber than the fearsome consequences of the bombing. At least 193 suicide attacks have been reported in Afghanistan during the past 18 months, enough to contaminate much of the nation with the persisting malady of terror…

… In Kabul, the burial of a suicide bomber occurs at a secret time in a secret place, the forgettable end to what most here consider an unforgivable act. Of course, it is easier to bury the remains of a bomber than the fearsome consequences of the bombing. At least 193 suicide attacks have been reported in Afghanistan during the past 18 months, enough to contaminate much of the nation with the persisting malady of terror…

Afghanistan: Health Care Becoming Increasingly Scarce

Afghans Face a Loss of Health Care
Medical Teams Scale Back As Attacks on Them Rise

Griff Witte (Washington Post)

… Just as violence is heating up, with civilian casualties rapidly escalating, the health-care system is breaking down, according to Afghan and international medical experts.

The deterioration has been especially pronounced in rural areas, scene of some of the most intense fighting between Taliban and international forces. In those places, clinics are shutting their doors because the medical workers have become targets…

Egypt: Female Circumcision Banned After Botched Procedure Kills 12 Year Old Girl

An official ban probably won’t deter the barbers, midwives and other free-lancers who profit from the mutilation of young girls. But, this is a start…

Egypt bans female circumcision after death of 12-year-old girl

Ian Black (The Guardian)

Egypt has banned all female circumcision after the death this week of a 12-year-old girl undergoing the widely practised procedure…

Hamas TV: Mickey Mouse Clone Beaten to Death in Final Episode

It’s not often that children get to see their favorite TV characters beaten to death. Thank goodness for Hamas TV.

I am hoping that this story turns out to be a hoax. It certainly is absurd enough to merit investigation.

Hamas TV kills off Mickey Mouse double

(Associated Press)

A Mickey Mouse lookalike who preached Islamic domination on a Hamas-affiliated children’s television program was beaten to death in the show’s final episode Friday.

In the final skit, “Farfour” was killed by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour’s land. At one point, the mouse called the Israeli a “terrorist.”

“Farfour was martyred while defending his land…”

Saudi Arabia: No Welcome Mat for Teen Males at Shopping Malls

The “tight” abayas worn by young female shoppers are putting the mall rats into a frenzy…

‘Young Men Not Allowed’

Ali Al-Zahrani (Arab News)

This is a sign that proudly hangs at the entrances of supermarkets and shopping malls across Riyadh, and is directed at all men above the age of 16. It is an annoying sign for many, especially since in some parts of the Kingdom this rule is not adhered to.

Many youngsters are fed up and are calling on security guards and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice to give them a break.

Iraq: Christians Seek Refuge in Kurdish Areas

Baghdad Christians Find New Life in Kurdish North

Sabrina Tavernise (NY Times)

… The Iraqi exodus is one of the largest displacements in the Middle East since the creation of Israel in 1948. Many have fled to Jordan and Syria, countries where Arabic is spoken. Others have stayed within Iraq’s borders, moving into the largely peaceful Kurdish north, which is more foreign to them than neighboring countries because the main language is Kurdish, not their native Arabic…

See also:

Christians forced out of Baghdad district
The U.S. military is trying to stop further neighborhood purges in the Iraq capital.

Ned Parker (LA Times)

Pakistan: Military Big Brother is Everywhere

An illiterate (and probably unsanitary) soldier hovering over a medical doctor to “monitor” him as he tries to treat patients. Definitely NOT what the doctor ordered.

Musharraf’s Military Reaches Deep Into Pakistani Society

Griff Witte (Washington Post)

Nusrat Riaz, a doctor for 17 years, has spent the past three directing a clinic that provides care to thousands of poor patients in this remote, wheat-farming village on the plains of Punjab.

So Riaz was surprised this spring when he learned the government had appointed a monitor to look over his shoulder as he worked. He was even more surprised when he learned the man had no medical background, had no experience supervising doctors and was functionally illiterate.

But when Riaz learned the monitor was a retired Pakistani army officer, it all made sense. “This is part of the militarization of the entire country,” said Riaz, 46. “It is very insulting, and it is happening because of the man sitting at the top…”

USA: Upstate NY Jewish Community Says “No Wal-Mart Here, Please”

The ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Monsey, NY is not happy with the possibility of having Wal-Mart as a neighbor. They are concerned that the big-box discounter will attract outsiders who are not aware of the religious and social customs of the inhabitants.

Fearing Wal-Mart Will Bring Too Much of the Outside In

Fernanda Santos (NY Times)

Oren Ben-Dor: There Has Never Been a True Left in Israel

Ben-Dor speaks of the possibility “a single state over all historic Palestine– in which redress can be made for past injustices and equal citizenship provided for all, Arabs and Jews.”

Nice idea. Not sure what it will take to achieve though…

There Has Never Been a True Left in Israel
Israeli Apartheid is the Core of the Crisis

Oren Ben-Dor (CounterPunch)

It is unethical to blame Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem for events in Gaza. At the heart of the factional violence in Gaza and the political crisis in the Palestinian leadership lies the constant marginalization of a voice which poses an ethical challenge to an uncritically accepted presumption. Sadly, but hardly surprisingly, initial reactions to the situation have used it to further marginalize this voice.

The presumption challenged is that it is morally acceptable to have a state whose legal structures assign preferential stake to all those who pass some test of Jewishness. It is not surprising that the Israeli right wing rejects this challenge. But why is the message also rejected by those Israelis, and their Western supporters, who claim to be concerned about human rights?…

Saudi Arabia: Female Bankers Evicted from Offices to Prevent “Free Mixing” (and Communication) with Male Colleagues

According the Associated Press, no one is stepping up to claim responsibility for the banishment of female bankers from the office floor. It will be much more difficult for these women to do their jobs efficiently since they are forced to do their business over the phone, behind screens, etc. etc.

Perhaps the real goal is for them to just give up and go back home “where they belong.”

“Nothing has been done to eliminate discrimination against women,” said historian Hatoon al-Fassi. “The new measures discourage women from work and from seeking leadership positions, and they encourage employers to hire men instead.” Five female bankers interviewed by the AP said they worry the measures would deprive them of their jobs or lead to their demotion. They said they doubt the orders will be reversed because it will be hard for officials to defend actions that the religious establishment deems offensive.

Three steps forward, two steps back…

Segregation rules hit Saudi bankers

(Associated Press)

Female bank employees are being partitioned away from their male colleagues in their workplaces under new rules enforcing Saudi segregation of the sexes, a move women say is squeezing them out of the few business realms where they have been gaining more rights. In one case, a woman banker reported to work only to be told she would no longer be working at her usual place alongside her male colleagues. Her office has been relocated to a women-only suite, set up on the ground floor so she and other female bankers won’t mix with men taking the elevators to higher floors…

… [T]he latest measures targeting several bank headquarters in Riyadh have stunned many female bankers who believed the government had turned a blind eye to the mixed environment at their offices because it wanted Saudi women to advance at work. Women have long been banned from several professions, especially in the legal system, and academic majors, such as engineering, journalism and geology. The kingdom’s labor law prohibits the employment of women in “hazardous jobs or industries” and allows them to work only “in all fields suitable to their nature” without specifying what those are…

Saudi Arabia: Mutawwa Cleared in Death of Man During Raid

Although it had been reported that the man was beaten bloody before being removed from is house, the mutawwa, Saudia Arabia’s religious police, have been exonerated.

Mutawwa cleared over man’s death

(Agence France Presse)

Eighteen members of Saudi Arabia’s vice police have been cleared of involvement in the death of a man during a raid on his home, officials said yesterday. The officers from the powerful Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, or the Muttawa, were under investigation over the death of Suleiman al-Kharisi in May. The officers “had no connection to the cause of death”, said a statement from the Riyadh region principality…

Iran: Update re Government Crackdown on Dissent, Non-conformity…

Via Ali Eteraz, a clarification from NewsHoggers on some of the news coming out of Iran. It turns out that the NY Times article & accompanying photo about the crackdown in Iran was not completely accurate, and the Times has issued a correction.

Get the details at NewsHoggers.

Italy: Makeover for All Female Beach on Adriatic Coast

The first all-female beach in Italy was originally reported in 2006, described as catering to Muslim women (Sun, sea and sharia on women-only Italian beach). There were a lot of complaints about Europe turning into Eurabia or Eurostan. Now the beach will have a male presence – but only the life guard. And the new target audience is non-Muslim women who just want to feel comfortable exposing their cellulite without a male audience.

Sun, sea, and no need to hide the cellulite

Tom Kington (The Guardian)

Italian women are flocking to the country’s first all-female beach: a short stretch of sand designed to let bathers relax away from prying eyes and football talk.

Bathers arriving at Beach no 134 on the 50-mile stretch of beach clubs linking Rimini to Riccione on the Adriatic coast are greeted with a large sign featuring a cross over an image of a man…

8 Random Facts About Moi

I’ve been tagged by commonplacer to list 8 random facts about myself. Thanks,cp!

1. Ice cream is my ultimate comfort food. Cookies & cream preferred, but another flavor will do. (’specially if that other flavor is pistachio!)
2. I no longer enjoy driving as much as I used to. Remember how much you loved to drive after you first got your license? I am soooo over that! This is partly due to learning to drive in a very, small metropolitan area and then being transplanted to Northern Jersey, which is a type of roadway hell.
3. I’m fascinated by cell phones. The Ocean, the iPhone — I’ll read and re-read the reviews, haunt Howard Forums and Phone Scoop, lurk around cell phone retailer displays, and gaze longingly at the pictures online, and DOWNLOAD them to look at later (cell phone porn?). Funny thing is, I still only replace my phone every 1.5 – 2 years and Verizon Wireless is still my carrier, even though their selection is consistently less cutting edge than that of any of their competitors.
4. Dr. Zhivago is my favorite movie of all time. I’ve probably seen it about 20 times, and it never grows old. This was David Lean’s best movie, much better than Lawrence of Arabia. Ryan’s Daughter was a waste of time (3.25 hours, to be exact).
5. As a child, I used to take violin lessons and, later, piano lessons. I can play neither instrument. Mom, sorry I wasted your money!
6. Favorite everyday body scent: cucumber and melon – in body spray, lotion, soap, shampoo. It’s a very clean, soothing combination.
7. Favorite smells from the kitchen: freshly diced celery. Also partial to chopped parsley, vanilla and cinnamon.
8. Secret vice: I love Post Secret, and visit every Sunday when they update. It takes a lot of courage to confront the demons that people post there; I admire them for being able to be honest with themselves.

USA, Staten Island: Muslim Teen Finds $12K, Returns to Rightful Owner

Honest teen returns 12Gs in lost cash

John Annese (Staten Island Advance)

Had someone else stumbled upon an envelope stuffed with almost $12,000 cash in a New Jersey restaurant, this story might have turned out differently.

Luckily, it was Yousry Desooky who found the missing wad, which he gave back to its rightful owner [Guessoum Tahir] yesterday at the Advance offices in Grasmere…

… “He found it in a place where nobody could see it except God,” Nouawadeh [owner of the restaurant where the money was found] said. “It takes a lot of strength and a lot of power and conscience to say, ‘It’s not mine.’”