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Petra Group
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Browse Authors عربي
Moderate Muslim voices Turkish soap star sparks divorces in Arab World An Egyptian VIP accused of murdering Lebanese Singer Mahmoud Darwish: The stranger's bed The peace I found Amir Taheri’s Iraq: the real deal? Who pays for the struggle of power in Saudi Arabia? Can Arabs and Jews unite behind Obama? Is Arab media truly free? Is Arab world ready for democracy? Allies on torture! I am pro-Israel, therefore I criticize Israel The struggle to "liberate" the Middle East Soccer under the veil Interview with Miss DC Fear and Nelson Mandela! Diagnosing the Arab Media's Shortcomings An interview with General Willam Odom An interview with the President of Iraqi Red Crescent Famous Arab Americans Objectivity under fire A cup of tea "The Yacoubian Building" A film breaks every taboo Rethinking Islam Sacred Cows America's failure in the media war with al-Qaeda
Italian Design
Egyptian brides without hymens to be refunded!
According to a new Egyptian law, grooms can now complain to the Consumer Protection Agency if their brides "are missing a hymen, or are otherwise faulty,". If the marital product, also known as "woman", is found without the highly-prized tissue still intact, bride consumers can return the damaged commodity within 7 days of trying it out, in which case they will then receive compensation from its manufacturer, or "parent". ...
Youssef
KAMEL AL-RIAHI KAMEL AL-RIAHI

Cheikh Mohamed stumbled as he crossed the street, a food basket in his hands. He cursed the devil and prayed for divine protection. A smile lit up his face, hiding a few wrinkles underneath the golden keffieh and the red chechia[1]. He arranged his linen djebba. ...
Why are we aggressive?
Hamad Nazzal Hamad Nazzal

I spent many years playing soccer in Arlington Virginia, not far from Washington DC, mainly with groups of Latinos. The soccer field was always crowded yet well organized without the need for a referee. Everyone knew the simple but effective few rules; one goal or 10 minutes play and no hard tackling - it was just for fun and fitness. If there were no goals ...

Gaza aid, finally arrives!

A humanitarian aid convoy carrying food and medical supplies has arrived in the Gaza Strip nearly a month after it embarked from the UK.Members of the much-delayed Viva Palestina convoy began passing through Egypt's Rafah border crossing into Gaza on Wednesday, waving Palestinian flags and raising their hands in peace signs.

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Competitive education in US, Palestine & Israel
Maher Farraj Maher Farraj

No two reasonable people would disagree that education is utmost important to any society as a plus-sum, especially for the following two groups of the society; women and children. The two later mentioned are the most oppressed in good and in bad times. This happens in the West by the so-called "glass-ceiling" and in developed countries ...
21st Century 1001 Arabian Physics discoveries
Joe Alexander Nahhas Joe Alexander Nahhas

An Arab American me Joe Nahhas discovered at age 15 in summer of 1973 that all of physics for past 350 years is mathematically solved in event time or lab time and later these same events will look different if measured in real time and will have different values and what we see later in real time will not be what started ...
Why do we lag behind?
Rabih Bobo Rabih Bobo

From where I have to start? It is puzzling indeed?

We did give every field its utmost ignorance .... From where I have to continue and which way I have to follow when all lead to the core of retardation.

They said that we do not lag behind, however, we did not use our creativity for the sake of our development, ...

Choice between bikini or berqa?
Ray Hanania Ray Hanania

As I always do around this time of year, I pushed aside the Arab-Israeli conflict for a moment to contemplate the more serious conflict between secular Muslims and Christian Arabs and the growing religious extremism in the Middle East. There are 22 Arab countries, yet only two had the courage (or pride in their women) to field entrants in this year's Miss Universe Pageant, which was held in the Bahamas, ...

Jordan launches flight with all-female crew, UAE next!
carol.jpgA Royal Jordanian flight from Athens to Amman could have passed off as any other routine trip except this RJ 132 flight was a little different as it boasted a female pilot leading an all female crew. ...
Wife seeks divorce over "Gitmo" phone name
gilgamesh.jpgFurious after her husband stores her name on his cellular phone as Guantanamo, a Saudi woman files divorce after the notorious American prison, saying it is enough of a reason to end a 17-year marriage. ...
Freedom dominates MEIFF film fest

hipsters.jpg'Hipster' by Russian director Valery Todorovsky won top honors at the 16 Black Pearl Awards for the Middle East International Film Festival, which was held at the luxurious Emirates Palace Hotel in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi. The movie celebrates Soviet teenagers' underground embrace of American pop music culture during the culturally oppressive 50s.
'Last Ride', by Australian Glendyn Ivin earned feature director kudos for her tale of a criminal and his son on the run in Australia.

...
Niqab Debate in Egypt
Divided Scholars
Alfred Hackensberger

The bone of contention is none less than the Grand Imam of Cairo University and the Al-Azhar Mosque. Mohammed Sayed al-Tantawi, one of the most senior legal scholars in Sunni Islam, declared that a veil that covers a woman's face leaving only a slit for the eyes is not religiously permissible.

During a visit to one of the schools affiliated to Al-Azhar University early in October, the theologian was irritated by a girl's niqab. He then ordered the baffled girl, who had ironically only worn the veil in honor of the high-ranking visitor, to take it off and never put it on again. "These are traditions that have nothing to do with religion," he explained to the students. At the same time the Imam promised to ban this particular kind of veil from ...

Suicide rate in Palestine reaches record high
Suicide rates have reached unprecedented levels in Palestine as economic conditions keep deteriorating and political solutions seem more distant than ever.

According to a report issued by the Ramallah police Planning and Research Department, there have been 250 suicide attempts since the beginning of 2009 with eight deaths. In the Gaza Strip, there were 95 attempts and seven deaths. ...
Muslim and jewish faiths merge in DC

Muslims and Jews are merging in Washington, even praying at each other's institutions according to Khaled Iqbal, the deputy director of one of Washington's biggest Muslim communities.

Iqbal, who manges the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) said the society has been cooperating with synagogues for the last 12 years.

Every Friday, ADAMS holds Juma prayers at the Northern ...