January 2007

I’m really surprised at how Sami Yusuf still hasn’t caused any big controversy or received any death threats until now. I mean, in my opinion this guy who in the last few years has become so famous is probably the first person ever to break the whole retarded Muslim taboo of “music accompanied with stringed instruments is haram” in such an open yet successful manner. Just 5 years ago, some retards used to bug the crap out of me because I play guitar. Some still do. Some even questioned my dad about his sanity and how on earth he would allow me to play guitar. “It’s HARAM” they would scream. Haram my Sudanese ass. I can NEVER imagine my life without music. I would rather lose my sense of sight than lose my sense of hearing.

I’ve got one word to describe how I feel about Sami Yusuf. RESPECT! I don’t know if many people are noticing this but he broke the “barrier” and we haven’t witnessed any visible whining from retarded anti-music Muslims. Not only that, but his music is truly deep and wonderful. I guess many approve of him silently. No? Check out his recent concert in Khartoum.

Okay so something slightly crazy happened during the Akon Live show I went to here. Akon selected 5 lucky girls and 2 guys to join him up on stage. After that 2 of the 5 girls had a priceless “heated” moment with Akon himself and his DJ, Benny D. Some genius captured it using a camera phone and uploaded it on Youtube. Imagine if that was your sister or your girlfriend. LOL. In this other clip, the crowd joins him in singing his new smash hit “I Wanna Love You” except that the crowd instead chooses to follow by singing the uncensored version called “I Wanna F*ck You”. Akon is cool and damn creative right? Yaaaaaay to Akon and the overall current state of commercial hip hop music! … If you ask me, I would still choose Tiesto’s rave over Akon. The Tiesto party I went for last year was truly mad. I still can’t forget it!

Previously, I posted something about American pop culture and how in my opinion I believe it to be one of America’s strongest assets. I still firmly believe that. Even if America stopped invading other countries with its military, America’s “other invasion” would still continue. Moreover this “other invasion” isn’t forced but rather invited by the “invaded”.

Me: so how was Sudan? Tell me the good stuff first.

Lil sis: The first few days were damn boring but after big bro arrived from US it became really fun. He took me out to many nice places.

Me: Really? Cool. Which passport did he use this time?

Lil sis: his American passport so that when he leaves they won’t force him to pay the Zakat payments like they force many of the others to.

Me: hmmm… seems like things are still the same. Give us the Zakat. It’s your duty to pay it as a Sudanese Muslim bla bla bla. Too bad most of the Zakat money never even makes it to the poor people who deserve it. (My uncle had a big headache when he wanted to return to Saudi after his holiday. They made him pay a lot of money.) Oh well… tell me more

Lil sis: We also went for many wedding parties and met many old friends. The weather was good too. Oh ya and check out my henna. Nice right? Bla bla bla…

Me: Okay, now tell me the bad stuff.

Lil sis: (Lots of bla bla bla)… Oh ya and we had to go to this market place called Sa’ad Gishra and aunty told me I had to wear a hijab or else some people there would verbally start harassing me for not being dressed decently enough.

Me: thinking WTFish?! I mean seriously… add some chili and spices to it… now let’s try it again… WTFish????!!!!!! *Disgusted*. I thought Turabi wasn’t ruling Sudan with al-Bashir anymore. It’s none of those people’s damn freaking business if you wear a hijab or not.

Lil sis: I know!

I’ve been busy like hell during this past week. Work has been mad but extremely interesting. I’m getting hammered but in the process I’m learning so much. I’m really lucky this is not one of those typical boring internships were you get all the crappy repetitive tasks which you learn nothing from. My mom also came back from her long holiday in Sudan recently. She told me all sorts of stories… some happy, most just pure depressing. My elder brother is still there. He’ll be arriving here this Saturday or Sunday and he’ll stay with us for about 2 months. After that he’ll be going back to Chicago. In between, all the work and family related issues, I’ve also been busy with music and entrepreneural related stuff. Thank God for last night. It was a night desperately needed. I went to Akon’s Live convert here. It was gooooood but of course Akon who’s interestingly a Muslim preached sinfull things in his songs (Smack That) … Anyways meanwhile, check out this excellent discussion on Eric Reeve’s article about Darfur. (hat tip: Sudan Watch) While I don’t doubt the guy’s intentions, I find his opinions twisted and somehow deceptive. I’m no Eric Reeves fan for sure. Just notice how keeps refering to the Khartoum government as the National Islamic Front when in fact the NIF seized to exist a while ago. The NIF was headed by al-Bashir and al-Turabi but it split up after al-Bashir started having problems with al-Turabi and put him on house arrest. The product of the NIF split up are the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) headed by al-Bashir and the Popular Congress Party (PCP) headed by al-Turabi. So basically using the term NIF is just wrong. Moreover he’s a staunch pro-interventionist and as many of you who’ve been reading The Sudanese Thinker for quite a long time know that I’m anti-intervention… Oh well gotta run now but before I do, I would like to extend my condolences to Big Pharaoh. May she rest in peace bro … More laters.

I LOVE Matisyahu.

Interesting:

The Prison Visit:  My friend Sarah and I visited a man named Isaac (a Christian from Southern Sudan).  Although his English was broken and difficult to understand, he explained a rough overview of the situation that he has faced over the past several years.  At the time, we attended to Isaacs needs, and worked with him to make a short list of what he needs during his stay in prison.  We also found out that he will be released to a Kibbutz or Mushav in the North to replace migrant Thai workers that have been expelled from Israel.  Oddly, the prison that Isaac is being held in actually has nicer accomodations than the Kibbutz I stayed in shortly after coming to Israel-yes, I am indeed bitter.  Since our meeting, the group I was with has begun to organize efforts to assist in whatever way we can.  It is understandable (from a political and international security standpoint) as to why they are in prison, the Israeli government recognizes the issues at hand and is indeed dealing with them (as well as a slow buracracy can).  Also, we have begun to solicit funds from our home communities to spark fundraising efforts for the various non-profit groups in Israel that help benefit Darfur refugees in Israel (so that the buracracy goes a little faster).  Israel is a small country and has very limited means, but it is unacceptable for a country founded by genocide refugees to let these people fall through the cracks.  Thankfully Israel understands that and is doing what it can.

Special thanks to Andrew Brehm for bringing this to my attention. I really hope those Sudanese will have a better life in Israel. They deserve some peace of mind.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank David Krayzel for his Czech translation of the “what’s Darfur really about” page I wrote for Darfur-Awareness.org. You may view it here. If you’re interested in writing a translation in your language, it would be greatly welcomed.

Or “Consulate”? Whatever it is, it sure is an interesting development. I think this is meant as a warning to Iran not to interfere in Iraq. Hmmmmmm… What’s Iran planning to do next? We’ve heard a lot of rhetoric from Ahmadinejad in the past. 2007 might end up being crazier than 2006.

Usually I really don’t like to do these kind of posts but I can’t help it. There are some people that you just can’t have a proper discussion with. Fluent-Sudani really cracks me up even though at the same time I find his comments highly disturbing. He’s the same guy who called Saddam a Shaheed (martyr) and continues to make comments like this one:

Arab Americans [mainly in Dearborn, MI] that celebrated Saddam’s death. Buncha cowards, all I can say.

Okay, let’s see. A few days ago he posted this on his blog:

SD Flag restoration

Multiple Sudani forums discussed the issue of our homeland flag. Some say it exculdes presence of southern Christians. I am profound with the current flag because it’s history that ties it. Ta’aysha patriots kicked out the Brit. colonists out of our land, gained us indepedence. Yes, I recognize southern Sudanese and respect them, but they simply were not a part of country’s rebelion. We come to an end in wasteful seconds, change remarkable exhortions of our fathers! I refrain from imaging this thought.

Each color has a fascinating meaning.
Red represents bloodshed of patriots. Green represents land color. White represents soul purity. Black represents independence struggle.

Nonetheless, I have an alternative flag module I attached to this entry below.
The only change is “La Illah ila Allah, Muhamadon rasool Allah” defined as: there is no God but Allah and Muhammed (pbuh) is his last prophet.

Happy belated independence day.

At the start I was like WTFish? That’s not constructive. Sudan is not all Muslim. How would that make other non-Muslim Sudanese feel? Shouldn’t the flag represent ALL of us? How can you say “Yes, I recognize southern Sudanese and respect them” but still modify the flag as you please in a way that’s not really representative of Southerners? After a while, I didn’t bother much. I mean hey, Denmark’s flag for example has a cross on it but there are still Danish Muslims living in Denmark who seem fine about it. Sudan’s flag isn’t worthy of so much heated debate. There are other more important things we should be focusing on. So ya, basically I just put the whole thing at the back of my mind and thought to myself “oh well his intentions are probably sincere” but THEN… I read the following comment on his post:

No body is denying their existence. What have they [Sudanese Copts] achieved for Sudan? nothing. Copts didn’t accomplish anything.

I found it revolting. Sudanese Copts in the past numbered about half a million but now their numbers stand at around half of that. They came to Sudan from Egypt more than a hundred years ago. They’re a minority in Sudan but they’re prominent. Many of them operate and run successful businesses which is good for the Sudanese economy. Others are highly educated lawyers, doctors, engineers etc. which is also good for Sudan. Even though they’re a small community, they still contribute to their country. They have accomplished something and still continue to so saying they accomplished nothing is simply pure garbage. Black Kush also posted a polite reply to Fluent Sudani:

I believe in freedom of speech and each person is entitled to his ideas and dreams. I am one of those who believed that the Sudanese flag is unrepresentative of the people. Flags, like national anthems should reflect the multi-ethnic and multi-religious identity of the country.

But first his claims that south Sudanese were not part of the rebelion that kick the colonialist is utter nonesense. South Sudanese have resisted for a long time and many died fighting the British occupiers. The Shilluk Kingdom with its powerful Reth stands to witness to this.

What happened, and is happening in the Sudan today is the fabrication of history by the bunch of NIF croonies in the government. The history books being thought now inludes a chapter entitle “the entry of people in the Sudan”. When I was studying history, that very chapter was entitle “the entry of the Arabs to Sudan”. This is an example of the fabrication going on. References to other cultures, languages and believes are being erased. You can never erased the history of the ancient Christian Kingdoms in northern Sudan.

Guess what Fluent-Sudani thinks? He thinks we’re overreacting! Yes, oh yes indeed we are.

… translated into Chinese! Cool!

Remember my previous post about a 60 day truce in Darfur? Well now I’ve got even better news. JEM denies that it agreed to it. Oh ya and people are still dying in Darfur. Good on New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for trying his best to broker an agreement though. Crap, what am I thinking? Screw that filthy infidel Bill Richardson! He’s part of the Zionist CrUSAder plan to invade Sudan and divide it. It’s people like him and those other bloody pigs and apes that are using the “divide and control” strategy in Darfur. Yes, exactly! Let’s just blame everything on them.

Good news indeed. I really hope this holds.

At least this is an indication:

Jan 11, 2007 (BEIJING) — China and the United States on Thursday said negotiations remained the best solution to resolving the issue of the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan.

And this too:

Jan 12, 2007 (BEIJING) — The US special envoy on Sudan said he had held surprisingly positive talks in Beijing this week and that he expected China to play a greater role in helping to end the conflict in Darfur.

Wrapping up a four-day visit, envoy Andrew Natsios said Chinese engagement was critical in getting Sudan’s government to agree last month to an expanded UN presence in Darfur and he expected China’s role to grow.

“Our policy and the Chinese policy are closer than I realized they were and I think the Chinese are going to play an increasingly important role in helping us to resolve this,” Natsios told a press briefing before departing Beijing.

Natsios, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in September, came to Beijing to seek further cooperation on the issue from China, which has close commercial ties with Sudan’s government.

The fact that there’s a growing general agreement regarding the Darfur situation between China and America is a good thing. Meanwhile the Sudanese Defense Minister is visiting Iran to enhance military cooperation.

Excellent post at Nah.det Masr. Me completely agrees!!
(Hat tip: Freedom’s Zone)