Middle East Analysis
Some pan-Arabists and Ba’athist sympathizers in exile (mostly in London) have been grumbling about the rise of Kurdish power and influence in Iraq (they also complain about the rise of Shi’a influence, but the Kurds are not Arabs). Recent statements by Kurdish leaders about the Kirkuk region have not been helpful in this matter. A column by the editor of Asharq alawsat , a level-headed man, refutes these complaints, noting that Iraqi Arabs selected a Kurd, Mr. Talibani, as president in a democratic process that is unfamiliar to most other Arabs.
An famous Egyptian Islamic activist and intellectual, Fahmi Howeidi, notes the deterioration of the level of faking evidence and fingering scapegoats in the Arab World. He cites the bizarre Jordanian charges against the Palestinian Hamas about plotting and smuggling arms and missiles into Jordan as a good example. I don’t care for the fundamentalist agenda nor do I agree with Mr. Howeidi on most issues, but I have to agree on this issue: this Jordanian charge not only smells- it reeks of familiar political opportunism.
In Kuwait, political tensions have risen this year, to a level perhaps unseen since the country’s independence in 1961. Here is a summary of recent events:
Early this year the old Emir Shaikh Jaber passed away, and his cousin the Crown Prince was declared the new Emir. He is from a rival branch of the al-Sabah ruling family, and has been in bad health for some years.
The Prime Minister at the time, a former Foreign Minister, brother of the late Sheikh Jaber, wanted the job of Emir for himself, perhaps because the new Emir, Sheikh Saad was ill. The new Emir refused to abdicate, and the PM, who has been running the country for some time, got the cabinet (appointed by him) and the National Assembly to depose Sheikh Saad and declare himself (the erstwhile prime minister) as Emir- I know, it is confusing for many of you: if it sounds so Byzantine and oriental…that is because it is.
It was essentially a palace coup with a veneer of legitimacy, because the constitution does now allow for abdication or removal of the ruler (not many monarchies have an arrangement for replacing the monarch, you would think for obvious reasons). The new Emir appointed his brother as the new Crown Prince, and his nephew as Prime MInister.
Now the National Assembly, having for the first time appointed the new Emir, or so it thinks, feels its power, and perhaps feels lucky. In a dispute over electoral districts, which is really a debate over political reform, a large block of the assembly, composed of the remnants of the old liberals and some of the other members are threatening a vote of no confidence in the new prime minister. There are hints of dissolving the assembly and calling new elections. No great changes or shifts are expected to result from all this political turmoil. The job of Assembly Speaker may change hands though, perhaps going back to the man who held the job before. The new Prime Minister might lose his job, though. Rumors claim that some non-royal members of the wealthy merchant oligarchy are waiting in the wings, already competing for a possible shift toward selecting a Prime Minister from outside the ruling family, i.e. one of them.
The current speaker of parliament, a former finance minister during the unforgettably corrupt 1980s, is said to be subtly campaigning for this eventuality (but not too subtly for us to notice).
al-Arabiya TV reports that about 177 Saudi women are currently suing their husbands for their refusal to perform their spousal duties in the conjugal bed. Like most women in the Middle East, they are more outspoken than you think. Sheikh Zara’a, a religious man apparently in charge of solving these problems, claims that the Saudi women need to be educated in the ‘culture of the bedroom’, so that they can attract their men. Now I wonder: what alternative do these men have over there. I have been there, and playing the field is hard, it is probably do-able, that is human nature, but hard and dangerous.
The responses to the story were varied. One woman complained on the al-Arabiya web site that the men pop up too much Viagra and their women get tired. In general, as expected, this item got the most response I have ever seen for an Arab web site, it was even more than the response to the stock market crash. Just to show you that all is not serious and grim in Saudi Arabia as stereotyped on the outside, a lot is going on under cover, or maybe for some not enough is going on under cover.
In Bahrain a column in a daily newspaper complains about interference from the U.S embassy in the country’s internal affairs, especially in political matters. Perhaps the local branch of Amnesty International or Middle East Watch can handle these matters- but they must be allowed in.
Also in Bahrain, Michael Jackson has gone underground, literally. Rumors say that Snedden might be considering vacationing there this summer
Cheers
Mohammed
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