Support Citizenship for Saudi Women

Support a state called Palestine.

These next few days will be very interesting and probably crucial for the so-called peace-process in the middle east; as Palestine and Mahmoud Abbas will adress the UN council to demand full membership statehood, the question remains, who supports Abbas and the Palestinians.

Many an article has been written these last few days and I won't bother summarize all of them. If you're in need of well researched information, check Jaddaliya, Al Jazeera, Robert Fisk's column and the Guardian.

All I want to say is this - I think it's about time Palestine is recognized as a proper state. It is the people's right, and I think Germany's position on the matter is wrong and disgraceful (especially in Germany's case, which I know most about, so I won't judge on any other country's politics.)

I believe in light of the recent months in the middle east, it's  now Palestine's turn to experience their Arab Spring. But peaceful, of course, and by supporting the idea of a palestinian state, I do not at all agree with the cruel and violent doings of Hamas, nor is it my intention to disrespect or discredit the israeli people.

So yalla, Filasteen - and shame on you, Ms Merkel, for not showing more "cojones" when it comes to Israel!

To Mekkah and back with a true west-eastern diva.

Ten years 9/11. It’s on every TV- and radio programme, in every newspaper. As I arrived at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele last night fort he reading of Saudi novelist Raja Alem, I hadn’t even thought of the date. Looking at the program, it suddenly popped into my mind – did they choose this date on purpose for a Saudi to read? Oh dear. And – oh no, will I have to suffer through an entire event all about 9/11 ... Oh dear, oh dear. That’s not why I came here at all!

But then I’m pleasantly surprised – the whole thing seems thoroughly un-orientalistic. No camels or magic carpets to be seen, the event’s host (very competent, well-prepared and with a pleasant way of interviewing: Arno Widman of the Frankfurter Rundschau) does not make any references to 1001 Nights. 

Raja Alem is a very impressive woman – beautiful and with a very strong aura – a textbook west-eastern diva.

Even more impressive: when asked to read from her novel (winner of this years’s arab Booker Prize, „The dove’s necklace“), she does not read, but recite by heart. Only once she misses a word or two, shoots a quick glance at her text, but continues to recite beautifully. Arno Widman seems to be very impressed as well. And yes, she knows almost the whole novel by heart, Alem admits.

Her novel describes her hometown of Makkah in Saudi Arabia. The old Makkah, to be precise, she says. Thentwo main characters grow up in the 50s and 60s in old Makkah, and are now confronted with all the changes in society, technology and morality that the city is affected by. Alem herself was born 1970 and says, she only knows the old Makkah from her grandfather’s and parents’ tales. It is important to keep the memory of this old, magical place alive, says Alem, and this is what she wants to try and do in her books.

Furthermore, in the Dove’s Necklace, there is a murder case, a psychologically disfunctional woman and a love story involving a German doctor. From the short excerpt she reads, we can’t really say much more about the story, except that it is beautifully written in a deeply poetic Arabic. Let’s hope, the translations will be able to maintain this wonderful tone of magical sadness and beauty.  

And then Widman finally asks about the date – 9/11- albeit a little ironically (Damn! Was that really neccessary?). Alem reacts pretty calmly and rationally. „It made me realize how quickly something so personal like your religion and your nationality, something that was always very private to you, can become public and looked at as a threat to others. My first reaction was, whenever we travelled, to try and hide our passports just so people wouldn’t immediatelly recognize us as Saudis.“ I nod silently; it’s exactly the way I feel, and I know many, many Arabs, muslims and especially Saudis felt since then.

Anyway – a much more interesting topic (form e as a translator) was the issue of the english translation of one of her novels. Apparently the translator of her book „My 1001 Nights“ had taken many liberties whilst translating and changed a whole lot of things, switched chapters and re-wrote the novel to a large extent, to suit the english readership. This all happened in agreement with the author, Widman explains, non the less Alem admits she was surprised when she first saw the english version of her book. "The translator did not quite understand that I wasn’t being ironic when I wrote about magic, about spirituality. These things really happened in my family in the old days. And yet, the translator changed the whole spirit of the book into some modern, ironic version of Aladdin. There are just some things you cannot understand or translate when you work with a scientific approach to the subject and the language.“

Well, this is basically what I’m saying all the time. Working as a translator, especially in a language that is so far from your own linguistic and cultural background, you need to have a thorough knowledge of the people and the culture you are translating. Otherwise there is no way you will ever become a good translator! 

In the end, the whole event only lasted about an hour, quite sad, f you ask me, I had some questions I would have loved to ask (eg are her novels available in Saudi Arabia? And when will the translations be available?) 

But, one last thing we are told – Alem and her sister Shadia curated the Saudi pavillion at the Biennale in Venice this year. It looks very interesting, and also seems to be a good enough reason for Italian Vogue to do a beautiful spread on the Saudi sisters. I like! Bring on the Divas!

Discovering Nai Al-Barghouti from Ramallah

A few months ago, an egyptian friend sent me this clip:

It is a sung version of Mahmoud Darwishs  poem عن إنسان – About a Human.
The voice, the tune, Darwishs eternaly beautiful words left me dumbfounded. I listened to it over and over, and every time, it had me in tears, for the sheer beauty of the music and the poetry.
The most incredible thing about this song would be the voice of the young singer, Nai Al-Barghouti from Ramallah, born in 1996! Yes, that's right! 1996! How on earth a person of such a young age can carry so much wisdom, so much grief and emotion in her voice, is completely beyond me! Darwish is an icon, his poetry belongs to the most beautiful, sophisticated in the world, and yet, Al-Barghouti manages to convince us – the listeners – of her deep understanding of these verses. I am all in awe.
Nai studies classical music and singing in Ramallah, she composes and was already awarded several prizes for her art. Her identity as a Palestinian provides her with inspiration and motivation, she says.
Only yesterday she gave her first ever concert outside of Palestine, in Cairo's beautiful Al-Genina Theatre, and apparently swept the audience off their feet.
If you'd like to experience Nai's wonderful voice outside of Ramallah or Cairo, you can buy this great sampler, called A Time to Cry – Lament over Jerusalem. It includes songs by the equally brilliant Rim Banna, Wissam Murad and Jawaher Shoufani.

The booklet also offers english translation of all the songs.

The translation of the Darwish song you can read here:

Driving in KSA

After the Manal AlSharif case has been closed for some time now, news about women driving in the kingdome have been scarce. Although I keep hearing from friends and family that every once in a while there are women sighted behind the wheel in Jeddah or Riyadh, the public does not seem to care that much anymore. Maybe that is the secret to a soft transition - don't talk so much about it, just do it.

Girls, you have my full respect, wheather you're driving yourself or supporting the campaign from afar! So here's a shout out to all my girls to get behind the wheels of their Audis (or any other vehicle ;-)

Her Story - please support!

Back from summer- and ramadan break, I'd like to start by introducing different art projects that deal with the arab revolution that have shaken up the world.

The first project I'd like to introduce is the amazing indi-film "HerStory" from Egypt. Film makers interviewed women from all walks of life and had them talk about these past months and their personal story from the revolution. We hear the young activist as well as the mother of a tahrir marthyr.

I love the idea of this film and can't wait to see the whole thing. Unfortunately, as all independent art project, money is scarce and the makers need our support. You can simply spread the word by sharing this blog post or their facebook page, or you can donate, just like I have.

I really hope, this inspiring and couragous work of art will get made and will see the light of day soon. Only the people of the revolution can share their story of the revolution with us! so yalla, let them! Thank you all! 

Ramadan Kareem

Arabic Graffiti Exhibit in Berlin

On weekends, I frequently try and catch up with all the arts, fun and leisure, Berlin has to offer. Last weekend, I spent at a Basket Ball game, watching Alba Berlin winning yet another Play-Off match. Nice.
This weekend, I thought I try some art for a change. Luckily, a friend emailed me a link to a great exhibit, which was about to end.
Located in the Hip Hop Stützpunkt (Hip Hop Headquarter) in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg, is the charming, very hidden, but totally amazing common ground gallery. And up until saturday, there was an exhibit with arabic graffiti and street art going on. The show was small and exclusive, but stunning non the less. Young artists from Maghreb, Jordan, Palestine, Libanon showed their work, including pretty recent stuff, reflecting on the Arab Revolution.

As the exhibit is now unfortunately over, you should seriously consider investing in the very pretty, lusciously illustrated book on the exhibit, published by From here to Fame publishing, a company attached to the common ground gallery. It is an english edition, containing loads of interesting texts and introductions on arabic calligraphy, reflections on the state of arab street art and essays on contamporary artists! It's a great read, as well as a beautiful coffee table book with many colourful and exciting photographs!
Next there will be an exhibit on calligraphy at the common ground gallery. So if you happen to be in Berlin, you should drop by and visit!

Support Manal AlSharif!

A couple of weeks ago, I found this article on Jadaliyya, an amazing online magazine on middle eastern affairs. It contained a manifesto which called women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to stand up and drive their cars, starting june 17^th. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not permitted to drive.

The manifesto, the attached movement was founded by young Saudi Manal Alsharif. She posted a video on youtube, set up a Facebook page and started the campaign. The campaign's manifesto states that there is no evidence in the saudi constitution or the Qur'an that women shouldn't be permitted to drive. Lots of women in the kingdom cannot afford to pay a driver, and they are not allowed to ride on public transport.

„Great“, I thought! I'm all for driving, and even more so for the sisters in Saudi Arabia. Let's see what comes out of this!

Then, a few days ago, I read on al Jazeera, that Manal had been detained for launching the campaign. According to al Jazeera, she has been released shortly after, but on the campaign's Facebook page you can read that AlSharif is still in police custody.

To support Manal, please visit the Facebook page, share this article, sign the online petition! Just spread the word! It's just a travesty that a girl who simply wants to drive, with no intention of disrespecting anyone, has to be held in custody!

Some swing to start the weekend

I really love this clip! Enjoy!

On roots and wings

I recently finished reading the amazing and highly recommendable "Just Kids" by Patti Smith. It is not a novel and not an autobiographie, but it's a tale of love, friendship, art and the long and rocky road to finding a place for yourself in the world. (I know this might sound cheesy now, but you should really pick it up, it is so beautifully written and full of wisdom)
Among many other quote- and memorable sentences, this one in particular struck me:
"You can't have both, roots and wings."
This of course is written in the context of an artist's biography and on the journey, said artist travelled.
But for me, this instantly struck me as a mantra for my life and the lives of so many other people I know who come from a bi- or multi-cultural background.
I grew up in a way, many people with parents from different parts of the world did (in my case, this would be Germany and Saudi Arabia) - I was born some place now no longer significant for my family or my day-to-day life, then spent a few years of my childhood in a country very different from where I was born, learned the language, my way with the extensive family there and made some friends for life. Then there was more moving, again to a foreign land, mother's homeland this time, again there was a new language to learn and new friends to be made. By that time, I was ten years old. I had to fit into a new school, a new social system and deal with the loss of my old world(s).
Ever since these very first years, I find myself constantly struggling. Where do I belong? Why don't I belong? Why is everything always so very much out of place? Or is it me, who is out of place? I had always battled - and still battle - this strange longing to be close to my family, to settle, either here or there, the warmth of an arabic familiar embrace, the comfort in staying - and on the other hand the urgent desire to run, run fast and far away, embrace the world, see, experience and reach as much as I possibly can and leave behind what I at times consider too closed-up, too narrow.
From first thinking it would be a teenage phase, soon over inshallah, to true despair and depression over this in my early twenties, I now, at almost 33, begin to understand that trying to combine these two forces, might not end very happily or successfully. Eventually, and this is where Patti Smith comes in again, you will have to decide - roots or wings.
In my case, I'm guessing it will be more the wings. My friends have been joking for a long time that I have gipsy blood and therefor have to keep moving, no matter what. Personally, I prefer,  what a friend, who's still very dear to me, once said - that he and I were the proverbial Rebels without a clue.
As hard as these journeys might be - in Patti Smith's case, it ended quite happily and with an amazing career - eventually it pays off to decide. At least that is what it feels like at the moment.
So wings it is ...

What it's all about

For a few weeks now I have been writing my german blog Die West-Östliche Diva, where at first I attempted to write about this and that, mainly about day-to-day racism in both media and real life in Germany, about things that interest me such as books, films, public matters all dealing with multi-culturism (although I hate that term ...) and life as a third-culture-kid in general. Then came what started as the Jasmin Revolution. The brave people of Tunisia ousted their dictator. Only a few weeks later, Egypt followed, and we all know, how that ended. Ever since then, I have mostly been writing about this arab revolution, it's effect and portrayal in the german media and what my personal take is on these matters. Being an Arab myself and having a very, very strong bond with Egypt and Cairo in particular, it only felt natural for me to write about these things.
I got some very nice response to the blog, but a few non-german friends who can't or only just about read german, kept encouraging me to also write my posts in english. So here you are - it's not my fault, and please excuse my faulty spelling and grammar ...
After I gave it a thought or two, I now believe it's not a bad idea at all to start this english version of Die West-Östliche Diva. I won't be translating all my german posts and put them here, but some of them, and I intend to also write posts only for this space. I'm not a political correspondent, or ambassador of any kind, but I feel the world is ready for this very unique saudi-arab-german-multi-culture perspective on life and the world :) also, sometimes I feel I can think more clearly in english. Something to do with the fact that my now-spoken language - German - is only the third language I learned as a kid ... it was arabic and english long before that. But that's another story.
So here goes - enjoy this journey with me, I have no idea where it's going to lead us all! But let's hope it's going to be fun!!