Holocaust float in Rio’s carnival raises eyebrows.

Oy vey. Brazilians and revelers celebrating carnival this year in Rio de Janeiro might be perplexed by the sight of something that belongs anywhere but the raucous bacchanalia that is carnival.

A float depicting the Holocaust is set to parade down the streets of Rio de Janeiro during Brazil’s infamously raunchy annual festivities.

Whose disgusting idea was this? The Unidos da Viradouro samba school, apparently. As part of their “Shockers” theme they will feature the Holocaust float (minus the sequined, scantily clad dancers) as “a sort of alarm, so that it never be repeated,” said creator Paulo Barros.

 How thoughtful.

Naturally, local Jewish leaders are uncomfortable with the situation.

Somehow, it doesn’t seem likely the drunken, bead-throwing crowds at carnival will be able to display any sort of composure or propriety when this float glides by.

Persepolis a colorful movie, without the color

On Saturday I went to see Persepolis, a movie based on a graphic novel by a French-Iranian woman by the name of Marjane Satrapi. The book and the film are her autobiographical accounts of her departure from Iran after the Islamic Revolution.

It is up for an Oscar in the animated features category and has gotten good reviews.

Although the movie is animated, the animation and graphics are breathtaking in their fluidity and realism. The art quickly melts away into a reality for the viewer (yes, my friends and I choked up a few times) and Satrapi’s story is told in a touchingly human way.

My one critique of the film is that it is the story of one individual, one particularly liberal Iranian, one woman with a particular experience. This is the strength of the film, but also its one weakness; viewers should keep in mind this is her autobiography and her view of what happened. This makes it no less valid, certainly, and it is more than worth the $10 I paid to go see it.

Lebanese movie waxes nostalgic, hopeful

During previews while I waited to watch Persepolis with some friends, one preview caught my eye.

It began with a woman I recognized as Nadine Labaki, a well-known Lebanese Arabic music video producer and stunningly beautiful woman dabbling in acting recently.

Sugar, water and lemon juice are thrown together into a pot and boiled. I knew immediately this was no recipe for candy; it was the wax many Middle Eastern women make to use instead of shaving. I remember watching my own mother make it as a child. Since it’s just water, sugar and lemon juice, it’s also edible. If a batch doesn’t turn out quite right, then you’ve got yourself some sweet, gooey caramel to eat.

Labaki is starring in Caramel , a Lebanese movie that has gotten nods from film festivals in Europe and even our very own Sundance. Check out the music for the movie here http://www.nadinelabaki.com/caramel.php. It’s whimsical.

Labaki’s last movie meant well, but it was unbearably cheesy in my opinion. Caramel is about five women coping with sex, heartbreak and aging; the same problems almost every woman on earth faces at some point in her life.

I can’t wait for this movie to come out in a couple of months. Besides the fact that it looks exceptionally well-done, it will humanize Arab women in a way that the media has largely failed to do.

Ahmadinejad as Hitler

Parodies of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Hitler were recently run on Iranian television.

An image of him holding up his arm confidently a la Nazi greeting was superimposed over a reworking of his name to fit the commercial, “Hitler Nejad”.

Oh, the irony. This is the same guy who was harangued for suggesting that the solution to the problems of the Middle East would be to remove Israel.

Ahmadinejad has taken a hit lately from his own citizens and Iranian leaders who appear to be tiring of his outlandish tendencies. Iran’s religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, overruled Ahmadinejad and ordered him to increase the supply of gas in the country after freezing temperatures caused the deaths of some Iranians in rural areas.

That too is ironic, seeing as that Iran has the second largest natural gas reserve in the world. It looks like Ahmadinejad better watch his political step if his own citizens are getting tired of him.

935 Falsehoods on the Wall

President George W. Bush lied about Iraq. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam was not stockpiling uranium. There was no al-Qaida-Iraq link. A non-profit media watchdog group went through and systematically counted how many false statements the Bush administration made before the invasion.

What else is new? It’s been proven that people knew that before the war started, but the Bush administration plugged its ears, sang “la la la la!” and dragged our sorry American behinds over there anyway to make a stink.

Now we know precisely how many times Bush and his comrades actually made false statements. It’s interesting that a lot of major newspapers called them 935 “falsehoods”. Falsehood? What is this, Masterpiece Theatre? Maybe the word “lies” stings too much and belongs on the front page of the Star or inTouch Weekly. 

When it comes down to it, you say “potayto” and I saw “potahto”, but Bush told lies. Or falsehoods.

Israel peeps in on Iran

On Monday, Israel launched a powerful satellite capable of spying on Iran, even at night and in cloudy weather.

Within two weeks Israel will be able to keep tabs on Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran says their nuclear program is peaceful. The U.S. and Israel disagree and think Iran is up to something more sinister.

Israel is the only nation in the Middle East with a nuclear weapons program. Pakistan has nuclear weapons, but that country is not typically lumped in with the Middle East. Mordechai Vanunu was the whistleblower who confirmed suspicions that Israel had a nuclear weapons program. For his actions, Vanunu was in solitary confinement for 11 of the 18 years that he was imprisoned.

The launch of this satellite from India is not a surprising development, but it is a significant one because it reaffirms Israel’s monitoring power in the area with this latest multi-million dollar addition to its hefty arsenal of military and intelligence capabilities.

How it uses the intelligence it gathers, and who it shares it with (the U.S., perhaps?) remains to be seen.

Images from the satellite should be arriving in about two weeks.

Smile, Iran. You’re on candid satellite.

Pervez Musharraf: Mr. Busharraf?

Embattled Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf is visiting Europe and is trying to do some damage control to his shifty image following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, his biggest rival. Bhutto was always a thorn in Musharraf’s side. The investigation of her death is incomplete, and the current Pakistani government is providing little insight into the case, even though there are serious doubts about their version of what happened.

Musharraf is not wildly popular in Pakistan. His authoritarian tendencies have led him to oust judges and lawyers who have disagreed with him in the past, and I’ve heard some Pakistanis refer to him as “Busharraf” for his close relationship with American president George W. Bush, who has referred to him as his “buddy”.

Musharraf, who took power in a military coup nearly a decade ago, assured Europeans that elections scheduled to be held soon will be fair.

Regarding his aspirations for democracy, Musharraf said, “We are for democracy and I have introduced the essence of democracy, but we cannot be as forward looking as you (in the West) are.”

Democracy with a disclaimer.

Gaza goes downhill

In recent weeks, fighters from various Palestinian military factions in Gaza, some governmental and some not, have exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers. This has led Israel to essentially seal off Gaza, and by doing so, almost putting a complete stop to supplies that can get in. Gaza is home to several refugee camps and is one of the most densely populated tracts of land in the world.  

This blockade for purposes of punishing Palestinian militants will cause a humanitarian crisis. “Gaza is completely shut down. This will only add to an already dire situation,” said Christopher Gunness in an AP article, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

The blockade will make it extremely difficult to deliver food and health supplies to Gaza and many Palestinians in Gaza depend on them for survival. Hospitals are already running short of power, Gaza’s main power plant shut off on Sunday and sewage is spilling into the streets.

Regarding the restrictions, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying, “As far as I’m concerned Gaza residents will walk, without gas for their cars, because they have a murderous, terrorist regime that doesn’t let people in southern Israel live in peace.”

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak added, “I care more about our quiet than their quiet.”

This comes at a time when Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas are supposed to be working on negotiating peace. Abbas and his forces have no control over Gaza and are in no position to be negotiating anything. Before negotiations can go on, some control and self-restraint has to be taken from both sides.

 Stories to check out:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F4D0B4B7-D450-44E7-B6C0-33EA5744D6A5.htm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22765132/

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D0130E7B-4E9B-49D7-8AFB-CABAE4AB7305.htm

Bin Ladens pursuing peace

A recent AP story detailed the plans of Omar bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s 26-year-old son, to seek an understanding between Muslims and western nations.

The bin Laden clan hasn’t exactly been known for its efforts in promoting peace.

Omar bin Laden appears to be a far cry from his father’s extremist tendencies. Unlike the turban and beard his father is known to don, Omar bin Laden has dreadlocks that reach half way down his back, a neat goatee, and frequently wears jeans and baseball caps.

“It’s about changing the ideas of the Western mind. A lot of people think Arabs — especially the bin Ladens, especially the sons of Osama — are all terrorists. This is not the truth,” he says.

Omar’s cousin, Wafah Dufour and niece of bin Laden, is an aspiring model and musician in New York whose glamour shots made big news in GQ magazine.

With his 52-year-old British wife, whom he met in Egypt, Omar bin Laden is planning a 3,000-mile horse race across North Africa to promote peace.

Omar bin Laden was trained at one of the notorious al-Qaida training camps that his father is known for, but left Afghanistan for his home country of Saudi Arabia in 2000.

“I don’t want to be in that situation to just fight. I like to find another way, and this other way may be like we do now, talking,” he said.

Like so many young Arabs, Omar bin Laden is of a different generation with different priorities and interests than his parents. Young people in the Arab world are Internet savvy, they’re modern and many of them are sick and tired of their governments’ old ways.

Maybe Omar can ask his daddy to help him out with his latest project.

The Middle East includes Iran, Mr. President

President George W. Bush dropped in on Egypt, the last stop on his eight day trip to the Middle East, on Wednesday.

One of the main themes of the visit was his persistent finger-wagging at Iran, and the encouragement of other countries in the Middle East to similarly wag their fingers at their neighbor.

Bush’s disapproval of Iran is nothing new. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has no qualms about expressing criticism toward the United States and its allies. This behavior is unlike that of most nations in the Middle East, most of which have diplomatic ties (some strained, some smooth) with the United States.

Asking Middle Eastern nations to shun Iran, however, is not going to happen. Nor should it.

Americans would scoff at any request from a country to shun Mexico. Arabs have gently brushed away these requests from Bush during his trip to help him put the pressure on Iran.

There are some key reasons why the Arab world will not, and should not, shun Iran:

- The obvious: They are in close proximity. Iran and Iraq fought a horrific war in the 1980s over a bit of land and a little port called Shatt el Arab that is at a strategic location in the Persian Gulf. Neither Arab nations nor Iran want a repeat of that.

- Religious tension: Iran is a nation populated overwhelmingly by Shi’a Muslims. The Arab world, with the exception of Iraq, is overwhelmingly Sunni (the differences between the two will be explained in a later post). If the Arab world shuns Iran, it looks like it is shunning an entire religious population, and for the minority Shi’a Muslims in the Arab world, the situation might make them feel vulnerable.

- Economic benefits: There is a lot of potential for economic benefits from both sides if Iran and the Arab world improve their diplomacy.

- Security: Iran needs the Arab world to protect it from U.S. threats (in case of a viable threat, the Arab world could plead and intervene on Iran’s behalf), and the Arab world could use Iran to shield it from threats from the -stan nations–Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons.

A good relationship between the Arab world and Iran would be good for Americans, too. Iran is far more willing to respond to diplomacy with its neighbors than it is to the U.S.