Saturday, May 24, 2008

"So You Think You Can Dance" mini-cap: the season opens with some returning talent

"So You Think You Can Dance" mini-cap: the season opens with some returning talent

On the first episode of the new season, we’re treated to an overview of the first three seasons with the graceful Sabra winning last year, my man Benji winning the year before and … someone winning the first season. (Was anyone watching that year? I think I was too busy breaking up with my girlfriend. You too?)


All photos by Jamie Horton/FOX

Then we get an summary of the dancers to come with a montage of falling dancers, turning dancers, crying dancers, beautiful contemporary dancers, some breakers, some spinning on the head dancers … you get the idea. After the auditions in Los Angeles and five other cities, a herd of dancers lands in Las Vegas where they audition some more. There will be 20 contestants total, along with host Cat Deeley (who is always there with her glorious smile and we thank the deity of your choice for that), judges Nigel Lythgoe and the squeal-a-minute Mary Murphy. A guest judge fills the third slot, and for this first episode, it was my TV girlfriend Mia Michaels, who will also choreograph some of the pieces in later shows. Not only has she won an Emmy for her work in a previous season, but she’s also choreographed for Madonna and Cirque du Soleil, when she’s not busy spending the night at my house.

The first dancer does a great job … of standing still. Heart’s “Barracuda” is blasting away but she’s not moving a muscle. The music stops and one of the judges asks, “Wrong music?” No, dunderhead, she’s dancing in her mind. The right music – a lovely ballad – starts up and Devin Oshiro does a beautiful job with fluid movements that perfectly match the music. Micheals – I sometimes use her last name, which see likes – says that she’s sensational and if she’s this good now, she’ll be stupid in the finals. (That’s Mia-speak for amazing.) Of course, OShiro gets a ticket to Vegas.

We’re then treated to an Italian dude who charmingly informs Deeley that the difference between American men and Italian men is hair. Italians have lots of it. (Um, TMI.) Deeley doesn’t blink and notes that he must have shaved his chest so of course he puffs it out to show off his sculpted muscles and washboard abs as every gay boy in America faints from the beauty of it. I, however, am not moved. And neither are the judges, exactly. While it’s clear he’s watched Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” one million times, he’s not quite up to the American standard, as dryly noted by the judges. Michaels starts to tell him he won’t be successful in this country but slips and says “sexcessful.” (No, Michaels, that would be Cat Deeley.) Still, they want to give him a chance so he’s told he’ll be participating in the choreography. This is an additional round of auditions for those who don’t get a direct pass to Vegas.

And then Sex is back. No, I don’t mean the hot girl lust going on over on Grey’s Anatomy (admit it, I know you’ve been sneaking peaks while SYTYCD is on), but the guy named Sex, who is not sexy. He comes with his mother, noted as his biggest fan. (More like, his only fan.) He does a pelvis swiveling mess that might pass for dancing if everyone in the room was doing crack. Michaels slips and says he was really good at some point in one of his three auditions. (Quick! Hug her real close and tell her the hallucinations will stop soon!) When she collapses in laughter, we can wipe our brows because we know she’s kidding. I kind feel sorry for the guy as he goes on about the many, many, many years of extensive dance training he has. (Yes, that’s three “many’s”.)

The next contestant, Laura Garcia, is from Tucson, my perfect home town — land of great Mexican food, awesome music and gorgeous mountains. I’m leaning forward, wanting her to smash the competition but regrettably, she’s not yet at a professional level. What is cool, though, is that she’s visually impaired – even needing help to find her starting spot on the stage – and still does a beautiful job. Lythgoe comments that to allow her to the next round would only be patronizing and she nods in agreement. Micheals is sobbing as she tells Garcia how much she appreciates the passion in her work and goes on to say that a dancer close to her recently lost their sight. See, this is why Mia – I’ll use her first name here -- is my TV girlfriend. This isn’t just a show where she can parade her accomplishments. These dancers mean something to her.

Twitch auditioned last year, and he’s back to show us what he’s learned since. Lord have mercy, he’s good – his pops and slides are art. Murphy tells him he’s slick and stupid. (See, she learned that from my girlfriend.) Michaels demonstrates “stank face” which is a good thing. There’s no doubt that Twitch is going to Vegas. Deeley is waiting around the corner for him, casually sitting on a stairway and asks him if he has any news for her. Now I’m dreaming that around every corner is Cat Deeley, asking me for news. How freakin’ beautiful would that be?

Another dancer cut last season, Phillip Chbeeb, does some popping and locking that doesn’t look real. I swear he dislocates his shoulders more than once. His bag of tricks elicits many “Wows” and “Oh my gods” from the judges and rightly so. Dude is so going to Vegas.

There’s another montage, this one focused on clothing. We see a dancer in striped socks and baggy red pants, a guy in a tie, a dude in a big feather scarf and a sequin bedecked bellydancer. Bellydancer?! Girl howdy, that’s MY specialty. They show her for one and a half seconds. Although she’s doing some sexy hip accents and has a lovely smile, that’s all we see of her. No fair — they did this in an earlier season: We get a brief shot of a bellydancer, then they zoom off to some head spinning hip hopper. Bellydancers aren’t just one trick ponies, people. (Okay, I’ll get off the soap box. Maybe my TV girlfriend will console me.)

We get a glimpse of the choreography round. Arrogant Italian guy doesn’t make it but Wingfield and Chbeeb do (yay!)

Day two of the LA auditions brings us more of the same. Erika Gee is a pretty blond who calls herself a starving professional dancer. Honey, most professional dancers are starving, unless they’re Madonna. (Um, not that it’s right, I’m just sayin’.) It’s her third try and apparently, the third time’s a charm: Michaels calls her lovely and she’s put through to Vegas.

Contestant Randy Lewis dances like a drunk guy at a late night wedding reception, eliciting an “Ew!” from one of the judges. I concur. His hiney wiggle is cute though.

Next we’re treated to some amazing hip-hop from Victor Kim. His head slides are so good, I’m convinced his spine has detached. He spends a whole lot of time spinning on his hands and – get this – on his freakin’ elbow. We know he’s ending when he walks down the stage steps on his hands and plops down in a chair in the audience. Wow.

Then, there’s the Gold Inferno. Please tell me this is a frat initiation and not a man who’s seriously auditioning. His “jump style” is just that – a lot of twitching and jumping, on one foot, then the other, then both, then … oh, I don’t care. I’m happy he’s wearing a gold mask with a black mesh front so I don’t have to see his eyes. I’ll bet they’re evil in a Chucky kind of way.

Another ballroom couple is next, dancing to a Latin number. You’re know they’re doing well when the camera cuts to Murphy who’s grinning like she’s eaten a box of very good imported chocolate. Ballroom is her specialty so when Murhpy’s happy, we’re happy. It’s even more amazing when you know that Asuka Kondoh, the woman of the pair (her partner is Ricky Sun) has been sick for a few days. Where she gets the energy to dance like that, I don’t know. They must be making some powerful decongestant these days. The couple is sent directly to Vegas, as they should be.

My hopes rise when I realize the next dancer is a soccer player. I may not be a sports fan but babes, I love me some jocks. There are clips of her chasing around a soccer ball and talking about how’s she’s a tomboy. The yum factor rises. I start humming Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby.” Then she talks about wanting to be all girlie. (Okay, okay, I can do this.) Her contemporary dance is quite nice. Murphy screams, “I think she needs to go to Vegas!” We get it, Murphy. Dial it back, Lythgoe needs his hearing. So do the engineers in the control room. So do we.

It’s getting later in the day but still the waiting dancers are going like there’s no end to their batteries. (Where can I buy some of those batteries? I’m tired of recharging my MP3 player.) We see a pastiche of rejected dancers including one long haired beauty who whines that the judges “didn’t like her pants” and that they’re “racist against tall people.” Whatever.

Robert Muraine does some really scary – that’s scary good – twists and contortions that any circus would be happy to have. He must also dislocate his shoulders but his head? How did he do that? He uses his whole body including great facial expressions and HE WRAPS HIS FOOT AROUND HIS SHOULDERS AND UNDER HIS CHIN. It’s all crazy good. He runs up to Lythgoe to get his ticket to Vegas and in the last few feet goes into slow-mo. So does Lythgoe. It’s poetry, man. Who knew an older guy like Lythgoe could move like that? Send him to Vegas! (Oh yeah, he’s a judge so he’s already going.)

Lastly, we get another brief glimpse of the choreography round with Vegas bound people doing their happy dance afterwards. Sadly, Victor Kim doesn’t make it but Ricky Sun and Asuka Kondoh do.

For the next episode they’re going to Salt Lake City and Dallas. Bring it on — as long as Cat Deeley is waiting around the corner with her bullhorn, I’m there.

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Japan regrets anime insult to Quran

Japan regrets anime insult to Quran
Sat, 24 May 2008 09:55:36

Tokyo calls for more respect for religions after an offensive anime sparked Muslim fury with its tacit attempt to provoke Islamophobia.

''While it resulted from carelessness, the Japanese government considers it regrettable that Muslims' feelings were hurt by the content of some of the cartoon,'' Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Kazuo Kodama said Friday.

''In any case, we think it is important to prevent a recurrence by fostering understanding and respect for other religions and cultures.''

The statement came a day after the cartoon creators, Shueisha Inc and Another Push Pin Planning Co, apologized for 'inappropriate scenes' in their anime series.

While the company apologized for offending Muslims, they insisted the details had simply been overlooked, claiming they meant no disrespect to the Quran.

The offensive cartoon depicts a villain picking up a Quran from a bookshelf and apparently examining it as he ordered the execution of the hero and his friends.

NAT/AA

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=57118&sectionid=351020406
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Away from politics, Arab women sing

BY DR BOUTHAINA SHAABAN (Arab View)

24 May 2008
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2008/May/opinion_May93.xml&section=opinion&col=

On the 60th anniversary of Al Nekbah, it has become clear more than ever before that there are two worlds, two concepts and two prospects for the Middle East, especially as far as the Arab-Israeli conflict is concerned.

The international media was busy highlighting the 60th anniversary of the birth of Israel to a total negligence of the plight and right of the Palestinian people. The Israelis have always taken pride in the so-called Balfour Declaration. At the same time they have done everything that goes against the wording and the spirit of Balfour Declaration itself.

When Balfour promised a national home for the Jews in Palestine, he stressed that "it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine".

Balfour described the non-Jewish communities as 'minorities' despite the fact the Arabs were a majority in their land. Nevertheless, Israel has done everything during these sixty years to undermine the rights, history, and the very identity of these communities, through killing, transfer and systematic erasure of indigenous people and replacing them with white and African settlers who have never been in Palestine.

It has become clear from the story of Palestine that serves as the prism for the story of the Arabs, that the Arabs are being systematically marginalised in the world affairs. What is happening in Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, and Somalia is a clear evidence of that. Moreover, the Arabs are losing their crafts, history and even language, which are being replaced by non-indigenous way of life.

The international media is totally biased against the Arabs and the laws issued in the West after 9/11 have a racist tinge against Arabs and Muslims. The Arabs are watching in disbelief what is happening to them, hoping that somehow their rights will be restored and their future will be theirs. But the problem is that this aggression against the Arabs is no longer limited to the political domain: their culture, language, food and way of life are all under attack. A new strategy in this attack is the infiltration of Arab people, so that some of them will adopt the colonial agenda against their people and fight them if necessary.

That is why Palestinian people, Iraqi people, Sudanese and the Somalis differ on the very definition of the national interests and how to defend these interests. Otherwise how do we explain some Palestinian negotiating with the Israelis but refusing to talk to their own brothers who just like them are faced a cruel Israeli occupation?

Hence, we can realise the arrogance of those targeting the Arab identity, as they possess the military means and the political power to terrorise and subjugate the Arabs. Added to this is the fact that international media is run, directly or indirectly, by people who occupy Arab lands

The factors that prolong and enhance this process have also something to do with the Arabs' failure to understand, strategise and design the correct mechanism to face this new evolving and difficult reality. The Arabs meet, talk and issue statements, but they do not put to use the mechanisms or the money needed for implementation.

Our enemies know this very well and exploit it. As the Arab media has also become mostly receptive to international media, there is hardly any credible source that presents the genuine and independent Arab perspective.

The best way out of this vicious circle is for the Arabs to change focus and highlight their points of strength from civilisation to history, language, crafts and values for which they are renowned. There are so many conferences, festivals, panels and seminars held at an Arab level almost every day, but they are not highlighted and celebrated in the media, although they will be so heartening and encouraging to young generations if they were.

To give only one example, Damascus as the capital of Arab culture embraced a number of Arab women singers from Morocco to Iraq who sang every evening in Al Azem Palace, Damascus. It was interesting to see the thousands of people in the audience responding so warmly and heartily to every singer because the tunes, the culture, the history and the language, of course, are the same.

In art, culture, literature and language, the Arab identity is deeply rooted and it is a source of pride to all of us. It is this identity that should be the focal point of all our efforts seeking to restore the balance in our favour.

The political domain is no longer the only one that should be the focus of our attention but the cultural, literary, legal, economic and artistic all should be taken very seriously. Once we do that we will be elevating the points of Arab strength that will serve Arabs' political stance and status. Once we do that, Israel would not dare to suggest erasing the word 'Nakbah' from the lexicon of the UN because this word embodies rights usurped, lands confiscated, towns and villages colonised and indigenous people killed or made homeless so it cannot be crossed without setting all these issues. The road to settlement, however, is not only political but it is cultural, economic, legal, historical and artistic.

Dr Bouthaina Shaaban is Syria's Minister for Expatriate Affairs and foreign policy spokesperson for the Syrian government
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Friday, May 23, 2008

Sexy Belly Dancer

Sexy Belly Dancer

Friday, May 16, 2008

"The Post-American World" | U.S. in need of legitimacy

Friday, May 16, 2008 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo, other than personal use, must be obtained from The Seattle Times. Call 206-464-3113 or e-mail resale@seattletimes.com with your request.

"The Post-American World" | U.S. in need of legitimacy

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2004417474&zsection_id=2002119537&slug=zakaria16&date=20080516

Special to The Seattle Times

Even if we Americans already know that our country has lost some of its game over the past, say, eight years, Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria delivers this message in an altogether new, almost buoyant context.

"This is a book not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else," he writes in the first sentence of "The Post-American World" (Norton, 292 pp., $25.95).

It's about a China whose economy has doubled every eight years for the past three decades; a young and vibrant India emerging from debilitating poverty; a Russia newly flush with oil revenues; and strengthening economies worldwide, from Europe to the Middle East to Latin America.

These countries are not only wealthier, they're also expressing themselves in "new narratives," as Zakaria calls them, from more self-assertive diplomatic stances to an explosion of non-English-language media to a circumvention of the U.S. nexus in favor of greater multilateral trade.

Zakaria doesn't see these changes as inherently bad — for instance, he calls the economies of China and India, with their low-wage work forces, the "two great global deflation machines."

Rather, it's how the U.S. adapts to these changes that concerns him most.

America might have far to go, starting with the way we treat other cultures. Zakaria tellingly quotes Briton Christopher Patten, former European commissioner for foreign relations, who describes the arrival of American Cabinet officers to a conference abroad: "Hotels are commandeered; cities are brought to a halt; innocent bystanders are barged into corners by thick-necked men with bits of plastic hanging out of their ears. It is not a spectacle that wins hearts and minds."

This attitude is certainly an embarrassment, but given that America is also capable of creating the Marshall Plan, facilitating an Egyptian-Israeli peace accord and serving as an "honest broker" globally, such imperiousness may not be permanent.

More worrying for Zakaria seems to be our predilection for isolationism vs. internationalism, a tension being fully played out in this year's presidential primaries.

Reading Zakaria, it's hard not to reference Thomas L. Friedman's seminal 2005 "The World Is Flat," which sounded an alarm over the growing global competition America faces. If Friedman's study was more urgent in its call for a new American competitiveness, Zakaria is more sanguine in that respect.

He argues that our economy and military are strong, our educational system dynamic (Friedman's thesis notwithstanding) and our trade mechanism vital. (Oddly, the elephant in the room — global warming — is left largely untouched.)

Departing from Friedman, Zakaria emphasizes a need for America to restore its legitimacy. "The United States has every kind of power in ample supply these days except one: legitimacy. ... Legitimacy allows one to set the agenda, define a crisis, and mobilize support for policies among both countries and nongovernmental forces like private business and grass-roots organizations."

Illustrating the point of America's lost legitimacy, the author recently reminded PBS interviewer Charlie Rose that 19 years ago, pro-democracy demonstrators erected a likeness of the Statue of Liberty in Tiananmen Square. That probably would not happen in a demonstration there now, he argued.

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Arab women need to have a larger role in the media

Muhammad Ayish

  • Last Updated: May 12. 2008 8:44PM UAE / May 12. 2008 4:44PM GMT
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080512/OPINION/198289821/1080&template=opinion

The media’s handling of women’s issues has always generated heated debates in different communities around the world, and the Arab region is no exception. This week, a pan-Arab panel of media practitioners and experts convened in Abu Dhabi under the auspices of Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the head of the General Women’s Union and of the Family Development Foundation, as well as chairwoman of the Arab Women’s Organisation, to exchange views on how to enhance women’s representation and professional presence in the media industries.

Clearly, the meeting underscores Sheikha Fatima’s keenness on supporting women’s causes not only in the UAE, but across the Arab region.

In 2002, the Abu Dhabi Declaration on Arab Women and the Media noted the leading contribution of the UAE to women’s advancement as a central component of the country’s development strategies. It also made reference to the growing role of the media in building up public opinion and publicising the remarkable achievement of Arab women in all walks of life, saying that women should be accorded appropriate representation in media content and offered professional opportunities of access to media institutions.

Although the Abu Dhabi meeting represents yet another milestone in the UAE’s endeavours to empower women to be active contributors to their communities’ development, the event carries far more profound significance. Participants discussed a draft Arab Women Media Strategy slated for initiation at the forthcoming conference of the Arab Women’s Organisation in mid November in Abu Dhabi on the role of women in human security.

The new document represents a different approach, with programmes of action to bring about changes in women’s relationships with the media. Over the past two decades, the representation of women in the media has figured high on national and pan-Arab public agendas; however, most of the initiatives to address this problem have been shrouded in political rhetoric, lacking in strategic visions, and failed to adopt a true pan-Arab posture.

This time, the convergence of clear visions about women’s empowerment and the bright achievements of the Arab Women’s Organisation in promoting more active roles for women in their communities, are bound to generate fruitful results.

The renewed interest in bringing about positive transformations in women’s roles — both as objects of media content and as media practitioners — seems to reflect some grim realities in this area. According to reports released by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (Unifem) and the Tunis-based Centre for Arab Women Training and Research (Cawtar), Arab women still have to make a lot of progress before they are able to leave enduring marks on the public sphere.

One Unifem report noted a considerable increase in the number of women entering the field of media across the region. However, this increase does not seem to have improved the way women are represented. This could be because of institutional media policies, professional values, or advertisers’ demands, the report acknowledges.

In June 2006, Cawtar released its long-awaited Arab Women and Media Report that revealed striking findings about women’s images, especially on the satellite television channels, in advertising and magazines. The report noted that women continue to lack appropriate access to senior media positions involving editorial decisions, staff recruitment, and budget allocations.

It also found that the way women are portrayed seems to be out of line with the huge advances achieved by Arab women in public life as politicians, educators, engineers, lawyers, and medical practitioners.

It seems unfair to blame these problems regarding the role of women in the media solely on long-established industry practices. Social and cultural inhibitions are also important factors to consider as large sections of the community continue to hold serious doubts about women’s entry into the media professions — despite the quite amazing dominance of women enrolling into communications studies programmes in the region.

More than ever, it is time to recognise the contributions to the development and sustainability of the media industry by women. For the next few decades, Arab women, like others in many parts of the globe, are likely to continue to be objectified, commodified and stereotyped in the public sphere. But when we think about the superb endeavours of visionary women leaders in the region such as Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak in supporting women’s empowerment, we can be assured that the true face of the Arabian woman will eventually be visible at the end of this dark tunnel.

Prof Muhammad Ayish is Dean of the College of Communication, University of Sharjah

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In Qatar, Muslim, Jewish clerics meet

In Qatar, Muslim, Jewish clerics meet

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — More than a dozen Jewish rabbis, including two from Israel, were in attendance this week as this conservative Muslim sheikdom opened one of the Gulf's first scholarly centers dedicated to interfaith dialogue.

The rare meeting of Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars in the heartland of conservative Islam is another sign of Qatar's efforts to present a moderate image as it bids for the 2016 summer Olympic Games. It's also part of a broader push by Arab governments for interfaith dialogue, even though most still do not recognize Israel.

The talks were not entirely smooth, and politics and disputes over the Palestinian issue did inevitably intrude, said Rabbi David James Lazar, leader of a synagogue in Tel Aviv.

Yet, the benefits for him were huge, he said — especially the ability to make personal connections with Arabs and Muslims "who otherwise I would have no contact with."

"For some it's their first chance ever to hear, not only an Israeli but to hear a Jewish rabbi speak ... And so one of my responses is trying to tell them the story of the Jewish people, which often they have not heard. The Holocaust," he said.

"I hear their story as well," he said. "It's an exchange of stories."

Another attendee, Rabbi Herschel Gluck, chairman of the Muslim Jewish Forum in Britain, commended Qatar for "being brave" by holding the conference.

"We know that hosting rabbis and an interreligious forum can be controversial in the region," said Gluck, whose group is based in a part of London where Jewish and Muslim communities sit side by side.

Some Qataris did criticize the gathering.

"This openness to other faiths creates confusion among our people and jeopardizes our identity," said one preacher at the local Fanar Islamic center, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

But other Qataris consider this and other changes made by Sheik Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al Thani as progressive and credit him for social and economic reforms since 1995.

Two months ago, the country also allowed the opening of its first-ever Catholic church. It has had low-level ties with Israel through a trade office for 12 years although it does not recognize Israel, and recently also invited Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to speak at a conference on democracy.

Ibrahim al-Nuaimi, the director of the interfaith center sponsored by the ruling family, said the goal is to "promote joint studies of academics from three faiths to foster understanding and peace."

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who heads Vatican's council for inter-religious dialogue and attended the conference, praised Qatar's efforts to include Jews.

"As religious leaders, let us promote a sound pedagogy of peace, which is taught in the family, mosques, synagogues and churches," Tauran said.

Efforts at interfaith dialogue got one of their biggest boosts when Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah met with Pope Benedict XVI last November at the Vatican.

In March, the Saudi king then made an impassioned plea for dialogue among Muslims, Christians and Jews — the first such proposal from a nation with no diplomatic ties to Israel and a ban on non-Muslim religious services and symbols.

The moves, however, come amid rising tensions in the region and with peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled. Many also believe there is a growing gap of understanding between the Muslim Arab world and the West.

Muslims have been angered by cartoons published in European papers seen as insulting the Prophet Muhammad and by the pope's baptizing on Easter of a Muslim journalist who had converted to Catholicism.

The specifics of the Saudi king's initiative — and who would participate — still remain unclear, in particular whether Israeli religious leaders would be invited to a Saudi-brokered dialogue.

It also is unclear if the Saudi efforts would have any political component, or any eventual impact on stalled Arab-Israeli and Palestinian peace talks.

Lazar, the Tel Aviv rabbi, said he is no politician but will carry his warm impressions from the conference back to his students and synagogue — as he hopes Muslim clerics will, too.

Lazar said one Palestinian researcher at the conference confronted him about Israeli textbooks that were, in his words, promoting hatred of Palestinians among Israeli Jewish children.

"My challenge to him was, let us meet together ... and together we'll look at our textbooks, the Jewish textbooks, the Muslim textbooks and the Christian textbooks in Palestine and Israel — and together we'll find if they're educating children toward hate," he said.

Associated Press writers Pakinam Amer in Cairo, Egypt, and Aron Heller in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

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Arab League talks seek to defuse Lebanon crisis
Hezbollah agrees to end blockade of airport; feuding factions to meet on power-sharing deal
May 16, 2008

Middle East Bureau

BEIRUT–Words finally replaced bullets here yesterday, as Lebanon's feuding factions once again prepared to settle their bitter differences in a semblance of peace – or at least to try.

"We want dialogue to save Lebanon's independence, integrity and institutions," Sheikh Naeem Qassem, deputy secretary general of Hezbollah, said in a televised address. "We want to work hand in hand in order to build a new Lebanon."

An Arab League delegation helped broker a truce yesterday between Lebanon's ruling coalition and several opposition factions, following nearly a week of intense and deadly armed combat between the two sides.

Under the deal, Hezbollah was to remove its blockade of Beirut's seaport and international air terminal, withdraw its gunmen from the streets, and agree not to use military force as a political tool in future.

Representatives of different Lebanese political and religious factions were expected to meet in Doha, Qatar, today for peace talks aimed at reaching agreement on power sharing and the drafting of a new electoral law.

Qassem said yesterday he welcomed a decision announced late Wednesday by Lebanon's pro-Western government to revoke a pair of security-related decisions that last week plunged the country into its worst spate of internal violence since the civil war that raged here from 1975 to 1990.

Yesterday, Lebanese information minister Ghazi Aridi said the government's change of heart should not be seen as caving in to armed pressure by Hezbollah and other opposition groups but as a reflection of its concern for the greater good of Lebanon.

"Since the government is greatly concerned with the higher interest, the government decided to approve the rescinding of the two decisions," he said in televised remarks.

But there was little doubt the pro-Western administration of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora had indeed been forced to back down after Hezbollah militants overwhelmed the government's own paramilitary forces in several days of fierce street fighting in Beirut and other cities.

Armed clashes erupted in much of Beirut on May 7 after the ruling coalition said it was firing Gen. Wafiq Shouquair, chief of security at Beirut's international airport, because of alleged security breaches and also moving to dismantle Hezbollah's private telecommunications system.

Hezbollah denounced both measures as tantamount to acts of war and promptly sent hundreds of its well-trained fighters into the streets in a bloody show of force that left more than 80 dead and some 250 wounded.

As the Lebanese Armed Forces looked on without intervening, Hezbollah gunmen quickly overwhelmed a patchwork of government militias and soon controlled most of western Beirut.

Having made its point in blood, Hezbollah withdrew without mounting a direct challenge to the government's survival.

"Hezbollah stopped just at the entrance to the Grand Serail," a prominent Lebanese lawyer said, referring to the huge government palace in downtown Beirut.

Yesterday, the streets of the Lebanese capital presented an otherworldly study in contrasts, as urban sophisticates in the fashionable Hamra section of the city chatted on the patio of the Costa coffee bar or perused their laptop computers, as if oblivious to the tanks and soldiers still posted only a block away or at frequent intervals throughout the city.

Hezbollah said yesterday it would begin clearing the mounds of earth and other debris that have blocked many of Beirut's main access roads for more than a week, including the road to the international airport, closed for the past eight days.

Middle Eastern Airlines, Lebanon's flagship carrier, was expected to begin flying its planes back into Beirut late last night.

With a population of 4.2 million, Lebanon has been in a state of near political paralysis for the past 18 months because of bitter squabbling between the government and opposition.

The post of Lebanese president has been vacant since last November because the two sides cannot get together to vote for the position, even though they agree on the same candidate – Lebanese Armed Forces commander Gen. Michel Suleiman.