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Viewing posts from: Adventure
Is an International Financial Commission Libya’s Last Hope? – Conference 21 Jan 2020
What’s left of Libya’s sovereignty? 21 Jan 2020
Major powers commit to “peaceful resolution” in Libya 20 Jan 2020
Press Conference USA VoA Podcast: Overview of the Situation in Libya with Jason Pack 20 Jan 2020
Rhiannon Smith on CNN Newsroom on Berlin Conference 20 Jan 2020
Rediscovering the spirit of Christmas and hospitality
To celebrate the holidays, Founder of Libya-Analysis LLC Jason Pack evokes in this article the spirit of Christmas, and notions of brotherhood and hospitality through his experiences in the Middle East.
Merry Christmas and happy new year from the Libya-Analysis team !
Serendipity in the Caucasus: An examination of the major Georgian Qvevri wine varieties
Thanks to the generosity of the Georgian government (who facilitated the research trips), many of the lavishly hospitable winemakers of the Kakheti region, and my colleagues Georgian Backgammon Club, Daria Kholodilina, James Flewellen and Lydia Jabs, my article series “Serendipity in the Caucasus: An examination of the major Georgian Qvevri wine varieties” has been published with the leading online magazine focusing on Eastern European wine, WineSofa. It is the culmination of months of research, tens of books read, and hundreds of bottles drunk. I strongly recommend anyone interest in wine, organic farming, or artisinal products to read it. Here is “PART I: The natural wine renaissance: A journey to the spiritual home of orange wine.” I am trying to set the resurgence of natural wine in the historical context as part of the rise in the quality conscious consumer and the trend for producing food products naturally and returning to ancient methods and flavours. Below is a small excerpt:
The last three decades have witnessed many interconnected revolutions: globalisation, the internet, the fall of communism, the Arab Spring and most recently, the rise of neo-populist movements. These revolutions have been spurred by, and in turn promoted, the ability of the individual to express himself. Linked to these sometimes-disturbing political upheavals has been the beneficial rise of the empowered, cognisant consumer – ushering in the Golden Age of Wine. This silent revolution’s underpinnings have been increased worldwide demand, technological improvements, a movement from bulk to quality and the ability of the consumer to obtain information instantly about thousands of wines with the click of a mouse.
In this everchanging world of iTunes, Tinder and Trump, two countervailing trends are noticeable: hypermodern, technology-influenced developments in food and fashion are simultaneously being opposed by a corresponding obsession with a return to period pieces and authenticity in décor and design. As gourmet restaurants are falling prey to fads of molecular cuisine and every sort of fusion, trends in the wine world are, fortunately, pushing in the other direction.
The Monuments Men and Women of Libya
The University of Cambridge has published an article written by Dr Giulio Lucarini, a Leverhulme Research Fellow at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in Cambridge, which tells the inspiring and fascinating story of a group of nine Libyan archaeologists who, with Daesh at their heels, have accomplished the feat of completing the excavation of the Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica, one of the most important prehistoric sites of all Africa, despite the ongoing conflict and instability in the region.
When, in 2013, the team of international researchers involved at the site was forced to suspend work, nine Libyan archeologists – two women and seven men – successfully completed the excavation by themselves, securing its secrets for posterity. Thus the history of human population along the North African coast over the last 100 thousand years can now be written.
Haua Fteah is, in fact, the largest karst cave in the Mediterranean (measuring 80 x 20 metres) and is open to the sea a short distance from the city of Susa, the ancient Apollonia. It is a sort of natural hangar, inhabited uninterruptedly by humans from prehistoric times until the present.
Trump and Putin in the Caucasus: Georgia’s Options at the Abkhaz Border
A few months ago Jason Pack, founder of Libya-Analysis, was the guest of the Georgian backgammon club, who had given him the opportunity to play in the Gugi Bukia Memorial Backgammon tournament in Batumi (a seaside resort by the Black Sea). After taking second in the super jackpot, he used the opportunity to have a foray northward to the Abkhaz border. Now months later given developments between Trump and Putin, this region constitutes a new fault line in the global order, hence he teamed up with Lolita Brayman to publish this first hand view of the fissures in the global order.
Georgians are now at a crossroads as they contemplate the potential effects of a Trump-Putin détente for their country. The United States has long supported Georgia, as Russian influence creeped further and further into Georgian territory via the so-called “frozen conflicts” in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. However, President Trump’s friendly approach to President Putin could mean less access to Washington for officials in Tbilisi. In this neo-Cold War era, Georgians need to rethink their strategy of non-recognition regarding the lost territories before these entrenched faultlines erupt into complete chaos, or worse yet, war.
Georgia’s attempt to extend an olive branch to Abkhazia, by including them in a visa free travel arrangement with Europe, further solidified the partnership between the de-facto republic and Russia. It provided Russia an opportunity to step up as the true champion of Abkhazia’s sovereignty goals. Russia is now promising to convince the EU to start accepting Abkhazia’s own passports for travel into the region. Even though the empty promise holds little chance of coming to fruition, Russia’s no-strings attached approach provides a sense of unfettered backing…
The saying “where there is conflict there is opportunity” rings true in the South Caucasus. Here, conflict with Russia provides Georgia an opportunity for continued American and European patronage. The perpetuation of conflict helps their allies on the ground. It can be argued that Georgians don’t want to resolve the conflict because continuing it ensures Western defense aid and makes the small country more important in international affairs. But at what point does conflict become too costly?
To read the whole article click here.
Debunking Trump’s Lies about ISIS and Libya and How Hillary Should Counterattack in the Second Debate
The Libya-Analysis team’s first major intervention in the presidential campaign has just come out! In it our Hate Speech International report, “Who pays for ISIS in Libya?”, is featured in my major opinion article about Trump’s lies about Libya and ISIS in the first debate and how Hillary should aggressively rebut them in the second debate. In it, I give Hillary some tips on how to change her strategy to keep Trump off guard in the second debate.
I am very proud of this article. It features my academic work as the key way to debunk Trump’s egregious lie that ISIS controls Libya’s oil. It is very encouraging to know that the Clinton campaign and various high profile supporters have referenced our work (offline thus far though) as they have sought to reference it to refute Trump’s claims that ISIS controls Libya’s oil. That is really a unique honour for us. This is a very important issue and if you could send around to people in the know that would be very valuable, especially before Sunday’s debate.
What Should Tbilisi Do About Putin?
As a guest of the Georgian government, armed with high level contacts, and connected to professional translators, I had the rare opportunity to research Tblisi’s position in the neo-Cold War that has emerged between the West and Putin over the last years. Writing for Parallax and breaking the complex issue into three discrete views, I uncovered a broad range of opinion in the country: stretching from those like Lasha Pataraia who wish Georgians to be Western foot soldiers in cyberspace in the confrontation with Putin to those like Malkhaz Gulashvili who believes that Georgia cannot stand up to Russia and should seek to accommodate Putin through neutrality and demilitarization.
Lasha Pataraia: As the proxy conflict between Russia and the West over Ukraine has intensified during the last two years, Georgia has reemerged as a potential battleground. Signaling their ongoing intention to deter further Russian expansion, American and British NATO forces completed the Noble Partner training mission with their Georgian counterparts on May 26.When Pataraia surveys these strategic realities, he concludes that Georgia should prioritize cooperation with the West via building its intelligence capabilities to respond to these challenges. The Soviet Union did not collapse due to a frontal military assault, but rather due to its weakening from within. Today, according to Pataraia, Georgia could be instrumental in fighting the information war against Putin’s domestic tyranny and weakening his Caucasian alliance with Armenia, which leads to Georgia’s present encirclement. Pataraia believes that popular opinion in Russia and the Caucasus is currently being dramatically affected by Russian online propaganda.
Mehran Kamrava: For Mehran Kamrava, Director of The Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar,Georgia sits atop the quintessential fault line in the new Cold War. If it becomes enmeshed in a new round of violent Western-Russian confrontation, its territory, citizens, and economic interests stand to suffer greatly…. “Small states in conflict regions have two basic strategic options: either bandwagon or hedge. The drawback for any Georgian attempt to bandwagon with NATO is potential abandonment when the chips are down. Moreover, the Caucasus are a complex region and Georgia needs as many friends as it can get,” Kamrava explained.
Malkhaz Gulashvili: Gulashivili knows about Saakashvili’s dictatorial behavior first hand. During his reign, Gulashvili handed a copy of his book “A Road to the Truth, a Peaceful Caucasus and a Unified Georgia” to Russia’s then-president and current prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev. The Saakashvili government labeled this an action of “treason” by Gulashvili, who was later incarcerated as a political prisoner…. According to Gulashvili, “the time has come for Georgians to face hard facts. One: Putin is more powerful than Yeltsin ever was and he fully controls the political, economic, military, technological, and media levers in Russia. In short, he and his KGB cronies are more fully in power than any post-Soviet leader. Two: in case of a conflict between Russia and Georgia, the West won’t be able to provide any real and tangible military help to Georgia, as we saw in 2008. That is why Georgia needs to come up with innovative politics. For the sake of argument, I will call it cross politics: we need to seek alignment in all directions: West, East, North and South. Up until now our politics was oriented only towards West.”
To read the full article click here.
Georgia and the Caucasus: Europe or Asia?
Jennifer Segal and I just returned from a trip to Georgia where we were treated by the Ministry of Tourism to an extended bus tour of the monasteries and churches in Western Georgia as well as many classical Georgian banquets, a vineyard visit, a trip to a troglodyte monestary, and an the invite-only ‘First Annual backgammon tournament for Journalists” sponsored by Europebet. I finished third in the Journalist tournament and we had many fascinating experiences like bathing in the famous radioactive baths favoured by Stalin at Tskaltubo. You can read about our adventures and how they shed light on the perennial debate about the Caucasus region: Is it Europe or the Middle East or Asia in our HuffPost article.
For over a hundred years, Caucasians have been plagued by a unique kind of identity politics….We read an article in the local English language newspaper in Tbilisi which cited that 93% of Georgians consider themselves very religious – the second highest proportion of any nation on earth… As a result of its Europe-directed foreign policy, Georgia is caught in a web of external threats.
What Happens When Two Libyanists Go Out to Dinner…
They eat a crispy Kadaiffi for dessert! Yes this is actually what happened when I invited Will Raynolds, the renowned expert on the preservation of Libyan architecture and historical monuments, out to dinner at Barbounia. We decided to look at the Restaurant week menu, and for dessert found this:
Although we were uncertain if Qadhafi’s remains were still in the meat locker in Misrata we were quite curious as to what a Crispy Kadaiffi might be. The waitress informed us it was fried shredded phillo dough made into a crispy pastry. We asked her why it was called that. She said she didn’t know but that the dessert chef would visit us.
When it came out it looked like this:
The Kadaiffi is perched above the ice cream and fascinatingly it sits atop pure green and yet if you push it, red goo oozes out. We were rather shocked to find this out: After this riveting culinary and cultural experience, we spoke to the dessert chef who explained that a Kadaifi is a part of a Turkish dessert (Greek version is kadaifi) and both are related to or derive from the Palestinian/Lebanese Kanafeh. You can see this on Wikipedia here. And amazingly there seems to be a loose connection to Mu’ammar himself. The Kadaifi is the wirey fried curly filo dough bit which is only part of the larger dessert. And it looks something like Qadhafi’s hair! Lastly, in chatting with the dessert chef we learned that he has cooked special ‘Libya themed’ dinners for interested patrons. So combine that with Barbounia’s Old Cataract style interior Mamaluk arched ceiling and its incredible wine list of over a thousand bottles and it should be every Libyanist favourite restaurant in the Union Sq area.
What is a buzzleskabut?
[THIS POST IS HUMOUROUS AND NOT FACTUAL.]
This question has plagued many a researcher of the ancient Amazigh culture in North Africa. But due to newly discovered texts in the Algerian desert near the Libyan border we know that the Buzzleskabut (written in Libyan dialect as buzzugelgabut or in Fushaa as buzzuqalqabudh — the word comes from tamazighit) is a term for the ancient godhead of the prehistoric Libyan Berber and Tuareg populations which was frequently represented in the form of a rabbit in desert cave drawings in the early first millennial BC. The rabbit represented, for these ancient civilizations, the unity of the tribe with the desert and with nature itself. Today very few of the desert cave bunnies are still to be found in the Sahara desert. They tend to be concentrated in the caves and valleys of the Nafusa mountains, where they are still prized for their marvelous fur. Today the Buzzleskabut has come into greater prominence than at anytime in the 21st century as some Berber militias such as the thuwwar Jadu have taken the buzzleskabut as their mascot which appears on their various technicals and armed cars.
Aiding the Assyrians Fight Against ISIS
Here is a quick foray into commenting on the fight against ISIS and how it has to be used to strength communities and the Iraqi state or similar tragedies will repeat themselves. Click here to read the whole article at the Huff Post.
The Syrian civil war and the rise of ISIS has engendered many tragedies — some widely known and bemoaned, others not. One of the lesser known dangers is that the very existence of the Assyrian people in their historic homelands in the Middle East is under threat.
Supporting Assyrian led security forces will contribute to Iraq’s demographic continuity, reconciling the peoples of Nineveh to their land and helping to fortify the area against future incursion by extremists. Their will should be transformed into efficacy, and European powers and the USA can and should play a leading role in that process.
Local security and administrative capacities are likely to form an important basis of any future national security arrangement in Iraq. This understanding has been recognised in the form of American legislation. This year’s National Defense Authorisation Act, which recently passed both Congress and Senate, contains language in its Explanatory Statement sanctioning “local forces that are committed to protecting highly vulnerable ethnic and religious minority communities in the Nineveh Plain and elsewhere from the ISIL threat.” The policy of European states should echo these commitments.
Libya Leads World in Traffic Deaths Per Capita
This saddening statistic captures the mood of political and personal recklessness and abandon which prevails in today’s Libya and was nurtured by both the Italians and Qadhafi. It is interesting to note that two former Italian colonies, Eritrea and Libya, are the two most dangerous places to drive in the World! As Italy had so few colonies this doesn’t seem like a coincidence but rather a causal relationship. Read the full article here.
It gives Libya a road traffic fatality rate of 60.1 fatalities per 100,000 population (on a population of six million), the highest figure of any country in the world. The next most dangerous place to drive in the world, according to the World Health Organisation, is Eritrea, with a fatality rate of 48.4.
The 2013 rate for Italy is 7.2, France 6.4, Germany 4.4, the UK 2.75 and US 10.4 — meaning that someone is more than eight times more likely to be killed in a traffic accident in Libya than in Italy and 22 times than in the UK….. The soaring rate is attributed by many to young reckless drivers now ignoring traffic regulations in the absence of traffic police to enforce them. However, Libya was already one of the most dangerous places in the world to drive under Qaddafi. Libya’s rate just before the revolution was 40.5 — making it at the time the third most dangerous place on earth to drive.
Dunks and Dodging Bullets: Americans Chase Hoop Dreams in Libya
Here is a little bit of ‘light’ Libya reading from NBC News, showing how the American media still likes to condense complex multi-dimensional political and social issues, into one dimensional human interest stories with references to violence and sport thrown in.
Earning salaries of up to $8,000 per month and living in mansions and top hotels, a handful of Americans are chasing their hoop dreams in lawless Libya – with the threat of heavily armed Islamist militias and kidnappings providing a constant reminder of just how far they are from home. “I lived the first 13 years of my life in some of America’s worst neighborhoods, so it’s similar. But I don’t have my family and I don’t have a gun.”
“I live to play the game,” the 28-year-old point guard told NBC News. “Most people think the revolution is still going on but it’s a very safe place. I haven’t had any problems.” However, security is an issue when it comes to games. As a result, Rice’s team often plays in front of just 30 or 40 people who are vetted and searched.
In Benghazi, where two American pros were reportedly detained by Libyan special forces earlier this month, the situation is a lot more unstable, according to another player who asked not to be named due to security concerns. “It’s a lot more dangerous than I expected,” the player said about the city where a 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. “While the club looks after me and they have put me up in a nice place, I can hear the guns and explosions close by and it’s scary.”
Khattala with the Candlestick in the Diplomatic Mission
David Kirkpatrick’s New York Times investigative report about the causes of the killing of Chris Stevens is the best account yet produced of the motivations of the key players and causes of the tragedy. I am still a little skeptical about the importance of the silly anti-Islamic YouTube video made in California, but I don’t doubt that Kirkpatrick is correct that many different causes combined together to fuel the attack. I also think Kirkpatrick is wrong to down play the revenge element for the killing of Al Qaeda operative Abu Yahya Al-Libi.
Most importantly, Kirkpatrick connects the dots between the killing of Chris Stevens and that of Abdul-Fattih Younis. These events are most certainly the two most significant incidents that have derailed the NTC’s and GNC’s attempts to build a central government and keep the Islamist militias in check. Fascinating, Abu Khattala is directly implicated in both incidents and therefore despite being a mental ill, loner with less than a hundred followers, he can be said to be the key figure who has ‘defeated’ Mahmoud Gibril’s and the NTC’s political vision for post-Qadhafi Libya. What a shame and how depressing. To read the whole report click here.
Happy Libyan Independence Day and Merry Christmas
I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a joyous Libyan Independence day. Of course, the holiday is marred by Sunday’s tragedy and the long negative trendline of events in 2013, but I hope, nonetheless, that you are able to celebrate these holidays with friends and family. I know this is a tough time in Libya’s history , but it is also a time pregnant with possibilities. The Christmas holiday reminds Muslims and Christians alike of the possibility of miraculous rebirth and a new collective beginning.
It is in trying to nurture such hope while also providing practical suggestions to Libyan and Western policymakers that I co-authored this Christmas/Libyan Independence day article with Ambassador Richard Northern for Bloomberg. To read the whole article click here.
Lastly, I want to share with the readers of Libya-Analysis.com a piece of seasonal/festive art I had commissioned for this occasion. It is by the same artist who drew Omar Mukhtar in pointalistic technique for the cover of my book.
Libya’s Berbers: A Microcosm of the Country’s Fissures
In The Atlantic, Will Raynolds and I dissect the views of the Berber community towards the constitution illustrating how Libya’s Berbers are a microcosm of the country as a whole — filled with hope, intransigence, dysfunctionality, and brilliance.
While it is true that Berbers, Cyrenaicans, and Tubu were all disadvantaged under Qadhafi and have not witnessed much economic development since the revolution, the central government is actually bending over backwards to appease their mutually contradictory demands. In so doing, the central government has given away most of their legitimate power and allowed the parameters of the debate to be set by their localist and “Federalist” opponents. Federalism in the Libyan context is code language for a weak central government, with each region having veto rights over important policies. Moreover, it lacks any compelling economical, historical, or structural logic. Yet, this Federalism is increasingly popular among large swathes of the population because it appeals to wounded pride, paranoia, and the discourse of deprivation that characterizes so many of Libya’s insular communities — and which was on vivid display in our conversations in Jadu. Absorbed by communal self-righteousness and victimhood, most Libyans forget that the federalist experiment under King Idriss, from 1951-63, failed, and that it is incompatible with coherent infrastructure plans, a successful petroleum industry (which is absolutely vital to the country), and reducing the myriad layers of government that lead to corruption and inefficiency.
Libya, After The Revolution: A Study Tour with Political Tours
Are you looking to go to Libya and become intimately versed in the country’s political and social fissures as well as the current economic situation?
Political Tours, the current affairs travel company is leading a unique study to Libya this November. (Sat 16 Nov – Sun 24 Nov)
This eight day tour examines how the country can emerge from current instability that has beset it since the revolution. It is the second tour run by Political Tours to the region, and includes meetings with leading members of the government, community leaders, diplomats and local media. The week combines analysis with an overview of key social and economic trends in the country and is designed for policy makers, investors as well as groups with a strong interest in foreign affairs. For further details about the tour please contact Nicholas Wood on 07855 266 151. For more info on how you can attend click here and for special opportunities mention that you were routed to Political Tours via Libya-Analysis.com
Plato – Slave-Owning Aristocrat or Homosexual Mystic?
Plato – Slave-Owning Aristocrat or Homosexual Mystic? is a thought provoking book review I wrote for The Spectator about a new work of historical fiction about Plato’s life. Obviously it is not my standard fare: but Libya-Analysis readers will be interested to know that Plato briefly studied philosophy in Libya (and Egypt) and that Cyrene was a centre of culture even before Roman times.
For over two millennia, the writings of Plato had been at the very core of a Western education. Yet by the dawn of the 21st century, Plato appeared marginalized to the benign pedantry of Classics departments — engagement with his ideas having been spurned by many philosophers and educators over the preceding decades. To many his call to search for truth — and to live according to it — is no longer seen as applicable to our relativistic age. Neel Burton’s Plato: Letters to My Son attempts to rescue Plato from irrelevance and guide another generation of readers and leaders along the path of self-knowledge.
To understand the thrill of Burton’s timely intervention, it is essential to grasp why Plato has fallen out of fashion. After Karl Popper’s famous assault on ‘Plato’s totalitarianism’ in the middle of the 20th century, Plato was systematically critiqued in the context of the post-1968 culture wars movement and its spawn — multiculturalism — both of which took umbrage at the very notion of a canon of ‘dead white men’. As Plato epitomized the traditional canon and the process through which great books can motivate young men and women to defend Western cultural heritage, he became the object of particular scorn. These intellectuals asserted that Plato’s ideal of a hierarchical — and at the same time rigorously meritocratic, rational and just — society was merely a cover for racism, classism and misogyny. After all, despite his obvious brilliance, Plato was another white, slave-owning, male aristocrat.
Libyan “Analysis” of US Election [Joke]
Here is a guest post/joke. By Abdullah Elmaazi slightly edited by Jason Pack the original is available here.
No doubt you will have your own analysis of why you think Barak Obama was reelected last night but maybe you want to read what really did happen from a source of mine. A Libyan political analyst, versed in the wheeling and dealings of power, called me this morning to tell me what really happened in the USA presidential elections. He has learned the truth by having many conversations with movers and shakers in Benghazi. The truth is that Obama wouldn’t have clinched the election if it wasn’t for a deal he cut with the Bani Ohaions . The deal is for Barak Obama to appoint two cabinet ministers from among the Bani Ohions in return for their make or break support.
These friends tell me that it’s a major package deal between Obama and the Bani Ohaions in which Obama betrayed the people who adopted him and made him what he is today the Bani Illionoisiyyin.
This morning after they discovered the deciet, the Bani Illionoisiyyin are furious with Obama , hopping mad and screaming treason . Bani Illionoisiyyin have a long history of conflict with the Bani Ohaions going back to their first battle on the football field in 1897. Its possible that they might unite with their civil war enemies in the south to block the confirmation of the Bani Ohaion ministers in congress. Don’t even be surprised if the Bani Illionois bus armed members of their militia ( The Bani Illionoisiyyin National Guard ) to storm both houses of congress and prevent the confirmation vote from taking place altogether.
This might explain why the Bani Ohaion insisted on having the Inland Security Ministry as one of the departments under their control . The other being of course the treasury . Part of the deal will be for the Ohio department of transportation to assign the contract, for the Cuyahoga County – West 73rd Street relocation and new bridge construction as part of the Lakefront West project, to the first cousin once removed of a close friend of, Michelle Obama brother, Craig Robinson . The contact originally budgeted for around USA 32 million dollars is now expected to exceed 250 million dollars and will require help from the Federal government.
These analyst friends also pointed out to me what they perceive as a growing anti-West coast sentiment among people of the North East coast because of resentment over favourable weather conditions on the Pacific side of the country. This is met by a growing secessionist movement on the West coast fuelled by complaints of people on the West Coast having to pay for damage done by frequent East Coast hurricanes and tornadoes . Historically people on the East coast joked about the decadence and the vanity of people of the West coast who among other things boasted of their horticultural prowess claiming unrivalled power for their San Francisco grown flowers while People of the East coast mocked people of the East coast for naming their most important street after a wall.
My friends warn that in the midst of these tribal and regional issues the future of the USA hangs perilously in the balance.
These friends were not able to corroborate their analysis with evidence acceptable even to a Libyan integrity commission but as you very well know , the burden of proof is never on the analyst.
Do you have evidence to challenge the basis of this analysis or are you like the rest of Americans content to reside in a bubble of complacency pretending it’s all about swing states ,demographics, Latino vote , abortion, and all the nonsense about this mythical creature called ISSUES . ?
Armed Salafist Protest in Benghazi
On Wednesday there was a bombing at the US Consulate in Benghazi and then on Thursday I received the below from an anonymous trusted informant.
Am in Benghazi right now and got caught up in yesterday’s demonstration by armed Salafi/Islamist brigades on the corniche while going for a Thursday evening stroll. They were there to attend a meeting on the promotion of Sharia in Libya—but the fact that they came heavily armed was quite striking. Dozens of pickups mounted with heavy weapons, bearing stickers of at least a dozen different brigades, most of them from Benghazi, but some from Darnah and Misrata. Lots of black flags with the Shahada, lots of guys with long beards; those who wore masks were probably covering their lack of beard… Anyway, it was all quite worrying.
Beauty Meets the Beast—Nancy Ajram Encounters Kurdistan
Erbil, Iraq—Beauty meets the Beast—aka Nancy Ajram, the Lebanese bombshell and Britney Spears of the Middle East, plays post-conflict Kurdistan
Tonight was Nancy Ajram’s first and presumably last ever concert in Iraq. Tickets were priced from $75 to $500, putting it within easy reach of the vast Armani wearing uber-elites that congregate in the capital of oil-rich Kurdistan.
My American companions and I arrived fashionably late because even though our house in the upscale Christian neighborhood of Ainkawa was a mere 10 minute walk from the concert, the cabbie we took to get there didn’t know where it was. Despite the fact that it was at the biggest banquet hall in Kurdistan and this concert is the biggest music happening the country has experience since Saddam’s fall, each time we asked for directions we got told to go in an entirely different direction, sometimes to different neighborhoods entirely. Erbil—called Howler in Kurdish—is a city in which half the buildings are less than eight years old and many of the nicer restaurants and government offices have only been open a couple of months. It was therefore, not that surprising that no one knows where anything is.
After arriving at the Galaxy hall and traversing an enormous dirt field, as the parking lot and roads leading to the hall are not yet built, we entered the brand-new, cavernous ball room and were haphazardly ushered to an empty table filled with half-eaten kabobs and soiled napkins. The hall seated about 1500 people arranged in tables of 8. It was 90% full. While listening to the debka style opening band, I approached a waiter and asked if we could have fresh kabobs (they were included in the ticket price). Three hours later when Nancy was almost done our food arrived. In the intervening period, I chatted with every waiter in the place and got a whole range of responses about the likelyhood of our being served. They ranged from a) your food will be out in five minutes to b) we are out of food as we only thought 1000 people would come but 1400 are here to c) everyone is being served sequentially and you are at the back of the room please just sit down and wait to d) I can’t bring you your food but go talk to the maitre d’ and maybe he can fix it.
Now, after waiting two hours during the hyper-repetitive opening act while starving, it was finally announced in Arabic that Nancy would be appearing if the audience just clapped and yelled loud enough. Then, at the top of their lungs, all the young Howlerians howled and the MC announced Nancy and the curtain covering the side door swung open. Droves of men surged towards the stage with their smart phones held above their heads to film her entrance. Rather than appearing on cue, ten minutes later she appeared and started singing, but the miking was so poor you could only hear the band and not her voice. Then, she stopped in the middle of the song to allow the MC to announce that everyone must return to their seats. Now all official communication in the concert hall was in Arabic. Advertisements, signs to the bathroom and backstage, the music sung by the warm up band, and of course the MCs communications to the audience.
It is unclear if this is the reason that stage commands were not heeded. For many young Kurds who were educated after 1991, Arabic is their third or fourth language. Generally, their native dialect of their regional or sectarian group is their first language (i.e. Kurmanji for northerners, Chaldean for Christians, Fayli for Shi’I Kurds, a nameless dialect for Yazidis, and some form of Sorani for most of the urban Sunni population etc.). Then their second language is Modern Standard Iraqi Sorani Kurdish which appears to be the official standardized language of the Kurdish Regional Government and is the official variant of the Sorani dialect traditionally prevalent in South Eastern Iraqi Kurdistan, which has increasingly become the literary language of Iraq Kurds over the last fifty years. The universally taught foreign language in school is English. Obviously, the American liberation/occupation and the Kurds’ position in the global economy makes English a necessity for individual success. However, some Kurds who have returned from the Diaspora are more likely to know German or Swedish as those are the centers of the Kurdish Diaspora. Arabic is, therefore, the fourth language of most of the Kurdish population and in some smaller towns, it is not spoken at all by people under thirty.
Yet it was in this language that Nancy was singing and that the MCs were trying to convey things to the crowd and encourage them to move back to their seats. For the next hour while Nancy tried in vain to sing the concert, the security failed to prevent people from standing up on chairs to take pictures, rushing towards the stage, blocking everyone’s view, and making so much noise that hearing her singing was impossible. After an hour or more, Nancy’s manager came on stage and told her to embrace the unstoppable by asking select women and men (particularly those with children or non-hijabed girlfriends and wives) to come on stage and have their picture taken with Nancy. This created a degree of order as everyone knew if they behave well they might be picked. But, the ruse only lasted about ten minutes as it became hyper-repetitive causing the natives to become restless. It also prevented singing from actually happening.
After Nancy had kissed many babies and let many women get their pictures with her taken by their brothers on their iphones, she announced, “Hadha ghayr haflat taswir, hiyya haflat musiqa. ‘Ibadu, ‘Ibadu min fadlaku wa khalni akun murtaha li ughani.” (This is not supposed to be a photo party but a concert, please give me some space so I can sing.) At this moment she stepped backwards away from the front edge of the stage, now instead of having the desired effect of causing people to back away from the stage, as she moved further and further back her security people also backpeddled causing a gap to appear between the security and the mob. With each step Nancy took backwards, the security also backpeddled and the mob surged into the gap. By the time Nancy was halfway back on the stage, scores of young Kurdish men were on the stage. By the time she had fled to the back of the stage behind the drums and stage equipment, the security men (all wearing black suits and red ties) were overwhelmed by the mob. Pinned against the wall, Nancy then knelt on the floor and the remnants of her security force formed a box around her, to prevent her from being molested. This worked for about a minute. Then, new audience members mobbed the stage –apparently to see what was happening — preventing the initial mob from retreating or advancing. After a few minutes of stalemate — during which time it was unclear what indignities she suffered — the concert lights were turned on and men in Peshmerga uniforms marched in from the back of the hall with AK-47s. This created a distraction ‘pulling’ the attention of members of the crowd away from the stage and towards the back of the hall. At this point, Nancy’s security team fought a rear-guard action to extricate her from the crowd by pushing and punching their way from the back of the stage to the side door. After surviving this nearly ten minute siege, Nancy was safely backstage, the lights were on, and the men with guns proceeded to clear out the concert hall.
At this point, the surreal began to turn into farce—the MC took the stage to address the mob as we exited the hall. Rather than berating the crowd members for being savages, a proof of Iraqi backwardness, the reason major Arab performers never come to Iraq, or an embarrassment to the Kurdish nation… The MC said ‘I see that Howler is very happy to have witnessed Nancy’s first concert in Iraq. She was very happy to sing for you as well. She apologizes that due to the crowd control and security issues that she will not be able to continue singing. The concert is now over, we are all happy, it was a great show, and we hope you have a wonderful evening. We apologize that Nancy did not get to sing the much anticipated premier of her new song in the Iraqi dialect which she hoped to unveil tonight. Please be safe and go home.’
Now on the way out, I looked at people’s faces and they did not seem shocked or angry. Then amidst the crowd, I noticed a woman in her mid forties that I recognized, she is the chief of staff to the Minister of Justice of the Kurdish Regional Government (the minister was the chief justice in the Saddam Trial, I do not mention her or his name so that this blog does not come up on searches about them. They are both extremely kind, gracious, and knowledgeable individuals who are striving to build Kurdistan). As it happens, I had just had a meeting with the Justice Minister two days previously and had talked at length with his chief of staff, so I signaled her out of the crowd as someone who spoke excellent English and would be able to share with me her insight into the evening’s events.
I opened the discussion by asking her what she thought of the concert. She responded that ‘People were very happy and it went very well.’ I told her I had the opposite impression. She then said, ‘It was a great night for Kurdistan that Nancy Ajram, a cultural icon of the whole Middle East, visited Irbil and people were very happy and do not know how to behave in such situations.’ Taking us into decidedly undiplomatic territory, I probed ‘Is it really a great night for Kurdistan? If I were Kurdish I would be embarrassed at how many of my countrymen behaved, especially the wealthy young men in fancy western clothing.’ She said, ‘no not at all, People merely behaved normally and enjoyed themselves, they were relaxed and felt they were in their home. And could behave as they wanted to. That is good.’ I wondered outloud if everyone got to enjoy themselves or if in fact some people enjoyed causing chaos and inconveniencing everyone else. Her husband jumped in saying ‘It was a great night for Kurdistan, it is a shame that they had such a cheap security firm, they must not have been Kurds or they could have controlled the crowd better. I used to live in London, I know this stuff happens all the time there when big stars like Michael Jackson play and they don’t have the best security. One hears of such incidents at concerts in Europe all the time.’
Later while walking out we met the maitre d’hotel who I had complained to about not getting served our food. As a non-diplomat, he was slightly more open with me. He explained that they expected 600 people, planned for 1000 and that 1400 showed. He said it was a very sad day for him as he failed to serve everyone food and that the concert was a failure. He wished it had never happened. I commiserated with him, assuring him it wasn’t his fault and that I understand how hard it can be to manage such an event. I told him there will be other opportunities to get both the food and the crowd control right. However, I doubt if I was Miss Ajram I would want to make a return visit anytime soon.
The website Al-Bawaba.com describes the incident slightly differently, stating:
Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram broke in hysterical tears during her recent concert in Irbil Iraq, after the audience forced themselves on stage and surrounded her from all sides. The singer became very scared during the concert, which did not go according to plans.What was considered to be very unusual during the incident is the fact that the security men assigned to protect Nancy from being attacked by fans also turned into fans and became preoccupied with trying to take pictures with her neglecting their assigned duties. This neglect of the security men led the audience to go on stage knowing they would not be stopped. At this point, Nancy’s business manager Jiji Lamara, the organizer of the event and the band played the role of the security men and tried to protect the singer from being hurt and toppled by fans. Nancy became terrified and began crying hysterically and as a result of the crowds of people pushing towards her was injured in her foot. It took Nancy over 15 minutes to get to her private car and flee the scene. Once she was able to escape, Nancy packed her bags and immediately left to go back home.
Crossing Into Libya
Crossing Into Libya – Jason Pack Survives Border Bureaucracy And Sustainable Development Consultants
I figured getting to Tripoli for another quick research trip would be significantly easier than the time I went to visit the Iraqi archives in late 2003. This time around, I thought it would be very unlikely that I would encounter what the Iraqis used to call an ‘Ali Baba border guard’. One such petty bureaucrat playfully attempted to enforce the HIV test that had been mandatory for foreign visitors under Saddam, thereby compelling me to cough up a hundred bucks to prevent him from sticking a dirty syringe in my vein. I had also heard that the Libyan road network from the Tunisian border to the capital was entirely secure, unlike the Amman-Bagdad route in 2003 which passed through the ‘Sunni Triangle’ near Fallujah where frequent IEDs necessitated lengthy detours onto local roads. On both accounts I was flat out wrong.
As soon as I was off the propeller plane at the Djerba airport, I spotted two hipsters at the baggage carousel positively oozing a metrosexual vibe. They turned out to be Arabic-speaking Georgetown grads, who over the course of the next 36 hours would alternatively style themselves as sustainable development consultants, green entrepreneurs, and experts in import-export. In their more candid and giddy moments they made such statements as “Libya feels like the Wild West. I am sure it is where I will make my first million.” Or even more revealing of the condescending and predatory nature of many ambitious Westerners in the development field, “When I was in Benghazi in April, it struck me that the people were in such dire need of skills and capacity building, you could rake in the cash simply by setting up a falafel restaurant if you could import decent ingredients and bring quality control to its operations. Imagine what you could do in the fields of desalinisation or genetically-engineered seeds modelled on Israeli agronomy methodology but produced in Jordan!” Although I did not share their motivations for coming to Libya, I knew that sticking with them would keep me safe and cut my costs in getting to Tripoli.
In the birthplace of free North Africa, Tunisia, the late summer air is still humid and stagnant. Yet, when a refreshing breeze blows through, the locals say that that wind is like revolution. Invigorating, calming, freeing, yet ephemeral.
The graffiti outside the media reads, “Freedom is something that you practice everyday” (in Arabic this is a not-so-clever rhyme [Hurriyya, inta lazm tumarisha yomiyya]). More graffiti campaigns for public vigilance. Seeing the precious revolution as endangered, it proclaims, “Qaddafi at large, is a threat to the Tunisian Revolution.”
And yet wandering the streets all is as it once was. The cats paw at piles of reeking garbage. The soldiers inside the barbed wire barricade at the Prime Minister’s office wear their same uniforms and continue their service merely for different masters. I overheard them talk of sex and cigarettes–I asked if they had been conscripts under Ben Ali, and all said yes.
At 5pm, young soldiers in flowing red and white capes emerge from the Ministry of Defense accompanied by a 10-piece marching band. Amidst pomp, circumstance, and some off-key playing, the young men in their outlandish capes proceed to the huge ceremonial flagpole in the center of the Place de la Gouvernement. After lowering the the large flag with laudable efficiency they have difficulty folding the flag in the wind.
After the recessional, I approach an Arab man in business casual attire who I have noticed filming the whole ceremony on his iPhone 4. I ask him in my ridiculously American-accented French, “Isn’t that the same hymn and ceremony from before the revolution?” He answers me in perfect Parisian French, defending the need to preserve the culturally authentic Tunisian traditions.
I ask him, “but didn’t these traditions only start with Bourgiba and the independence regime [ie, from the late 1950s] and isn’t it essentially a colonial vestige to have a flag lowering ceremony daily with a French hymn played on bugles and drums?”
Impassioned he answers, “The flag is our heritage and we need continuation or we will be swallowed up by globalization. We must cling to our traditions. If we change our flag or our hymn we would have nothing to replace it with and it would surely be replaced by some Hollywood-inspired farce. We are proud to be Tunisian and we must not become cosmopolitan and abandon our roots merely because we seek freedom.”
Either he has elegantly hit the nail on the head demonstrating the cultural authenticity of the Tunisian revolution, or he has inadvertently revealed that there has been no revolution at all. My guess is the people at the top know that they had to change their figurehead to save themselves. Amazingly, they haven’t tried to conceal that development by at least changing the country’s slogans and ceremony a little bit.
This episode revealed to me that the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings represent only small change at the top of the social pyrimad while the libyan revolution represents a much larger inversion of social and political order. How exciting that I happen to be studying Libya!!!
في أعقاب الحرب: الصراع على ليبيا في مرحلة ما بعد القذافي
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