Women Call for More Sports Facilities

The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily Friday 7 December 2007 (27 Dhul Qa`dah 1428) Women Call for More Sports Facilities Najah Alosaimi, Arab News — RIYADH, 7 December 2007 — Despite dramatic advances in the number of women worldwide participating in sports, Saudi women remain unable to practice sports at an amateur level in the Kingdom. Some Saudi sports specialists believe that women are prevented from participating because of cultural attitudes — something that hampers the amount of support they are given. Dr. Rashid Al-Hamed, general director of the Saudi Tennis Federation, believes that if there were enough international level sports facilities accessible to women in the Kingdom then women could explore their physical potential, regardless of cultural barriers. “Currently businessmen are investing money in having sports facilities for the elite rather than for the less well-off,” said Al-Hamed, adding that the current situation of sports facilities hamper women from taking part in sports. Dr. Abdul Hameed Al-Masood of sports education at the Ministry of Education and general director of the Saudi Federation of Gymnastics Fund, said there are serious misconceptions about sports in the Kingdom. “The majority of Saudi women consider sports as something that only overweight people turn to in order to lose weight. Women need to be encouraged to involve themselves in sport activities and understand that sports are not only healthy but also entertaining, especially in our society where women have a limited entertainment outlet,” he said. Dr. Majedah Besar, a women’s activist, said: “We are in need of special committees to take the responsibility of encouraging women to participate in sports and promote respect for women and girls, who wish to practice sports according to Shariah law.” She added: “Saudi society still resents women doing sport. This is exacerbated by sporting organizations paying too little attention on this area.” She added that the committee should be responsible for funding sport facilities and organizing sport activities and tournaments for women. Women interviewed by Arab News expressed their dissatisfaction at the lack of sports facilities for women in the Kingdom. They added that the facilities that are available are either of low quality, too expensive, or limited in the activities they hold. It is difficult to count the exact number of women’s clubs in the Kingdom. However, some people estimate there are 25 sports clubs in the Kingdom catering for women. Activities include fitness classes, spas and a few outdoor physical activities. In Riyadh, a city of five million, there are only three women’s sports clubs. In many sports centers around the world, members are entitled to enjoy all services. However, sports centers in the Kingdom charge membership fees and then separate fees to use facilities. Shayma Al-Utaibi, a 27-year-old teacher, registered herself at a leading sports center in Riyadh, paying SR780 to learn how to swim. Once she completes her course she will have to pay SR50 a day to use the pool. “Sports clubs in the Kingdom are very expensive and this is because women have no other alternative but to use the few venues, which are available and which monopolize charges,” said Al-Utaibi. Many women complained that sports clubs are inconveniently located far from urban areas. “It’s a big challenge getting to a club,” said Badriah, a 33-year-old Saudi mother. “Since I am not allowed to drive a car and most of the clubs are located too far from the city, I face a lot of difficulties. I have to ask my husband to take me around,” she said, adding that she often misses sports lessons. “If there were more clubs in residential areas, then women wouldn’t need to beg male family members to take them around,” she added. Other women expressed concern at the lack of facilities at sports centers. Rania Al-Karawi is a big fan of football and believes that this sport is not restricted to males. However, she is unable to play football anywhere. There are no clubs providing women with the chance to play football. “Almost all clubs offer a very limited range of sport,” she said, adding that her passion for football has never stopped. She still plays at home in the yard.

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Star DiCaprio lauded in Morocco

Star DiCaprio lauded in Morocco

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has received an honorary award from director Martin Scorsese at the opening of the seventh Marrakesh Film Festival in Morocco.

Scorsese called the 33-year-old "a very good friend and wonderful actor" as he presented him with a Golden Star award.

"I never fail to be amazed by his clear and complete commitment to his work," said the Oscar-winning film-maker.

The actor, who has worked with Scorsese on three films to date, returned the compliment by calling him "a legend".

The pair are set to reunite next year for their fourth movie together, thriller Shutter Island.

Contribution

Moroccan director Mostafa Darkaoui was also awarded a Golden Star in recognition of his contribution to cinema in his homeland.

More than 100 films will be shown at this year's festival, which opened with a screening of period drama Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Its director, India's Shekhar Kapur, sits on a jury headed by the Czech-born filmmaker Milos Forman.

The festival, which honoured Scorsese himself in 2005, runs until 15 December.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/7134276.stm

Published: 2007/12/08 12:57:42 GMT

© BBC MMVII

from BBC

In Depth: The Kurdish Way

Foreign Exchange: Fareed Zackaria Talks with Qubad Talabany

Fareed Zakaria: As the situation in much of Iraq grows increasingly unstable and fractious, the semi-autonomous oil-rich Kurdish region in the north is an area of relative clam and prosperity. What will the disintegration of Iraq either by civil war or by design mean for the people and success of Iraqi Kurdistan? With us to discuss this is Qubad Talabany, the US Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Qubad let me ask you; when one looks at Iraq right now it appears as though there is a level of sectarian violence and tension that is increasing day-by-day, week-by-week. In other words, the trend line is very much in the wrong direction; am I wrong?

Qubad Talabany: I don’t think you’re entirely wrong Fareed; the fact that Iraq really hasn’t developed a stable and sound and effective central government since the ousting of Saddam Hussein has really polarized the society where the different communities are feeling much more comfortable in being aligned with the political parties or their religious groups or the--the mosques of their affiliation and--and this has somewhat made it more difficult and has somewhat increased the tensions between the different sectarian and ethnic groups in the country.

Fareed Zakaria: Now you guys in Kurdistan squabbled a lot ten years ago and there were pitched battles and it seemed as though there was a kind of a minor low-grade civil war taking place in Kurdistan. What ended it?

Qubad Talabany: Well I think--and that’s--and I’m very glad that you raised this point because a lot of similarities can be pointed to what’s going on in the rest of Iraq at the moment. If--if you remember in ’91 we came down from the mountains; we encompassed this land called Kurdistan for the first time; we had been fighting for it for so long. With the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from that region we--we started to administer the region. It was a fledgling Administration that really didn’t have the political maturity to be able to sustain the coalition government that we formed, so there was a civil war that broke out between the two major political parties in Kurdistan and this war waged on for many years. It was only when we realized that we are missing a golden opportunity by fighting each other that--that we could miss out on the--on the great price of living within a federal democracy in a Saddam-free Iraq. The United States stepped in; they helped broker a peace between the two sides. It took many years even after that peace was broken for the trust to really develop between the two warring factions in--in Kurdistan. But today we’re seeing the byproduct of that intervention on the US part. We’re seeing a stable and prosperous Kurdistan region where the parties have their rivalries, have their differences, but have really put the majority of those differences aside, have unified ranks and are working together to really provide the best they can for the citizens of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Fareed Zakaria: All right; so now let’s look at the differences. You--there was no great sectarian difference. You were all Kurds. You lived under the shadow of US protection; that is to say that if the United States had withdrawn the no-flight zone. Saddam’s troops would have gone in and massacred you. You needed the stability because you needed money and you needed you know--whether it was all US aid or oil revenues. When I look at Iraq right now I see deep sectarian divisions. There is no sense that the United States is really effectively being able to protect anyone other than you know the people in the green zone and the feeling is that the oil revenues are there for them to take anyway; so--so the oil revenues have become part of the problem because they are the spoils which each side is vying for. That seems--sounds much more hopeless.

Qubad Talabany: The stakes are much higher in Iraq; the complications are greater. I think the regional interference is as much or possibly greater than it was in [inaudible] but what’s similar is--is the political immaturity that exists in Baghdad--that existed in Kurdistan--the ability to administer and govern effectively is what’s really lacking in--in Baghdad today.

Fareed Zakaria: And why was it--why was the United States able to broker that deal because God knows we’ve been trying to broker a deal in Baghdad. We--we tried push the--the Shia parties to make certain concessions; we’ve tried to push the Sunni groups to--to reach out to the insurgency and reign in the violence. Neither side is biting.

Qubad Talabany: The--the sides have to come to a realization that they will lose before they can actually come to the table and sit down and negotiate. We came to that realization in Kurdistan. We realized that we were going to lose a golden opportunity and so we did; we put our differences aside and--and albeit there weren't the--the kinds of divisions that we’re seeing in Iraq today. There were a lot of tensions that did go back for several decades between the two--the two main parties. What we--what we’re seeing in Iraq is very unfortunate and tragic but to--if we can look at the complications the problems of Iraq today are not today’s problems. They’re problems of hundreds if not a thousand or so years ago that we’re seeing turn into reality in Iraq today and it’s coming to a realization that the complexity of the situation in Iraq and the deep sectarian and--and ethnic division that exists in Iraq makes it very difficult for us to come up with a blanket policy that will please the Sunnis, please the Shiites, please the Kurds--at the same time.

Fareed Zakaria: Everybody agrees that the only way you’re going to get a--some succession or--or diminution of the violence is some kind of a political deal. Everybody knows what the political deal is going to have to look like--substantial autonomy for the regions, some sharing of the oil revenues, some kind of amnesty so that everyone involved in the killings can be rehabilitated; there is no indication that there is much movement on these issues--yes, one or two laws pass here and there but a substantial national reconciliation on the lines of a South Africa or something like that seems nowhere in the cards. How do we get from here to there?

Qubad Talabany: Well first and foremost the violence has to stop. It’s--it’s going to be very difficult to carry out a--a national reconciliation, a truth in reconciliation plan as in--as in what happened in South Africa while there is a war going on, while there is the blood-letting and the violence that we’re seeing today in the country. And again this comes back to the ability of the leadership in Iraq, the leadership of the different communities, the leadership of the different tribes and of the religious groups to be able to be held accountable for the actions of their--.

Fareed Zakaria: But how do you stop the violence? People are trying and it’s decentralized at this point and as you pointed out the--the weaker the Iraqi state the more people withdraw to these local regional militias; in fact sometimes to just street gangs. There are reports now that in places like Basra you--it’s--it’s--people are pledging their allegiance to you know--to almost neighborhood by neighborhood militias. How on earth do you stop this?

Qubad Talabany: Well there’s--I don’t really have the answer to that to be honest with you, Fareed. I’ve been--I’ve--

Fareed Zakaria: If you did you’d be in Baghdad. [Laughs]

Qubad Talabany: I’d be you know a lot happier and I think the world would be a lot safer but we have to come to the realization that today Baghdad is the prize which is why everybody is fighting for Baghdad. If we reduce that prize and the importance of that prize and--and give people a stake in governing their own affairs, their own regions, their--their own territories, where they can raise their own local police and law enforcement units, without the imposition of Baghdad then I think we--we have a much better chance of success. I’m not saying that--that will be easy because we have to overcome corruption, nepotism, and--and warlord(ism) in the region.

Fareed Zakaria: Now this is--this sort of plays into a certain Kurdish agenda which is of course to have a strong--stronger local and regional grouping, which may be inevitable, it may be the way of the future but does it not produce an intractable problem which is that the Sunni will not stop fighting unless there is a deal on oil revenues because under your plan it all sounds nice except that the Sunnis get no oil, right. And so unless you have some deal in place devolving power to the--to the regions will insure that one of these three groups--the Sunnis will fight to the bitter end because they know what--what that will mean in the absence of an oil--oil revenue sharing deal.

Qubad Talabany: I have to disagree with you there, Fareed because our deal includes the Sunnis in--in them receiving their fair share of the oil revenues. We have to come up with the real deal that needs to be made is coming up with a formula with a mechanism that equitably distributes the oil revenues of the country.

Fareed Zakaria: Right; but that--and that the Sunnis do not trust is in place.

Qubad Talabany: They do not trust at this point and they won't trust with--with a centralized government in Baghdad. There has to be a lot of international involvement whether it’s World Bank oversight or--or some other international body to oversee the distribution of Iraq’s oil revenues to make sure that--that it’s not based on--that it’s based on a per-capita and a proportionate system that makes people feel assured. At the moment, insecurities are high; everyone is insecure. The Sunnis are insecure, the Shias are insecure--.

Fareed Zakaria: But this is auditory again--how do we make it happen? Why is that what you’re describing which is eminently sensible is not something that--that the Shia majority in Parliament will accept?

Qubad Talabany: We have to get them to understand; we have to--again it comes back to political maturity and we--I don’t know how we do it but--but the--the less insecure they get the more--the more all sides will realize that we can come up with a framework. There is enough oil to be distributed in this country and this is what we have to continue to--to let people know; this country is a potentially very rich and powerful country and there is enough to go around to make the Sunnis happy, to make the Kurds happy, to make the Shiites happy but what we need is a mechanism in place and the mechanism has to be an Iraqi mechanism with a lot of international oversight to give people the security and--and the guarantees that it will be managed effectively.

Fareed Zakaria: All right; if all this doesn’t happen do you want American troops in Kurdistan--your--the President of Iraq who is a Kurd who also happens to be your father has said publicly for the first time in the last few months that he would welcome American--an American base; is that a formal offer to the United States?

Qubad Talabany: We’ve constantly offered this to the United States formally and informally. We think that--that having the American troops in the Kurdistan region will--will serve the United States. It’s--it’s the one part of--of the Middle East I would say--certainly of Iraq--that is overwhelmingly pro-American--that wants American troops there.

Fareed Zakaria: Probably Bush--I think of it as one place that Bush would have done well in this last election is if he had gotten votes in Kurdistan.

Qubad Talabany: [Laughs] Well we--people are grateful to the President because he led this effort to liberate us and to oust Saddam and I think that’s--that’s very recognizable.

Fareed Zakaria: Do you think it will happen?

Qubad Talabany: Do I think the Americans will have troops in Iraq--in Kurdistan? I think it will; I think it will be--it will be a mistake for them not to take up this offer.

Fareed Zakaria: All right; if we’re going to protect the shining example of--of modernity and democracy do you think that the situation in Kurdistan in terms of democracy and openness is going to get better? Right now the place runs as essentially two one-party [states] carved out and to be--to--to prosper in either part of the--Kurdistan you have to belong, you have to have political allegiance to one of the two parties--one of which you represent. That’s--one hopes that it--Kurdistan is going to get more democratic than that.

Qubad Talabany: Right; and--and we’re constantly trying to democratize the Kurdistan region. And this is why we need American involvement to help us along this way. We have done very well to come from where we did in ’92 to where we are today--where we have a unified Kurdistan regional government where both political parties are fully engaged and the Cabinet Ministries are--it’s a coalition government in the Kurdistan region but we have to increase our level of civil society, improve on our level of civic education and really open our society up a lot more. We--we are an example when you compare us to the rest of Iraq but if you compare us to Europe and other places we have a long way to go. And we understand that and our leadership understands that which is why we think it would be a travesty if there was a premature withdrawal from Iraq and there was no guarantees to protect the--the really developing civil society in the Kurdistan region. Here is a region in the heart of the Islamic Middle East that has a real semblance of hope; we--we jokingly say because of and despite of US foreign policy we are where are today and--and we really urge that--that people not lose sight of what’s emerging in Kurdistan. Instead of leaving us to our own devices help us to turn into a fully functioning democracy and I think the will on the part of the leadership of Kurdistan is there. We just need to partner with the United States and with others in the international community to help us get there.

Fareed Zakaria: Qubad Talabany, thank you very much.

Qubad Talabany: Thank you, Fareed.

the original site is http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc120107FZ.html
We have copied this interview from there

Moroccan hopes dashed of hosting 2012 World Expo

The suspense is over: Tangier will not be hosting the 2012 World Expo. The final decision, which put an end to Morocco's hopes, was announced at 9pm on Monday (November 26th) in Paris. After months of campaigning to win the bid, Morocco lost out to a strong rival – South Korea. When the 140 member states of the International Exhibitions Bureau held a secret ballot at the organisation’s 42nd General Assembly, Yeosu won 77 votes, beating Tangier’s 63. The third bidder, Poland, had been eliminated in the first round after receiving only 13 votes.

The Moroccan delegation said Morocco had sought the World Expo not only for itself but also for the whole of Africa, the Mediterranean region and the Arab and Muslim world. Member Abdellatif Benazzi said the country mounted an exemplary campaign. "Morocco presented a vision of a future where individuals are at the heart of the development process. We believed in our values," he said.

Moroccan Communications Minister Khalid Nasiri expressed his bitter disappointment, saying that Morocco made a very credible effort and did all it could in the face of strong competition. "I feel my country has suffered an injustice. Morocco put in an outstanding bid; all those who watched the three presentations objectively believed Morocco’s was by far the most original and had the most spirit," he said.

Morocco still has every reason to be proud, Nasiri noted. "Plans to develop the northern region and the rest of the country will continue, with or without the Tangier Expo. These plans will support our nation and our principles. Whatever the outcome may have been, Morocco has come away from this with its head held high. Our cities will continue to develop," he declared.

Although Tangier residents seem equally confident that development of their region will continue, they were disappointed to learn their home city will not host the World Expo. Medical student Hakima Hachimi said the city’s inhabitants really believed in Tangier’s chances and never doubted that victory would be theirs.

"Morocco’s bid was a cultural one. It would have been the first African and Arab country to host a World Expo. The theme 'World highways, cultural crossroads: for a more united world' was closely linked to Morocco’s identity as a nation of sharing, tolerance and cohabitation of cultures and civilisations. It’s a real shame," Hachimi lamented.

Teacher Salim Moha was more optimistic: "Sure, the Expo would have boosted the country’s economy further, but the north will continue to develop – as you can see from projects such as the Tanger-Méditerranée port."

This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.

The Influence of the Moors in Spain and Portugal

by Edward Vivian Scobie

The same degree of intellect and learning was brought by the Moorish conquerors of the Iberian peninsula to Portugal. Like Spain, that country was to be culturally influenced by the Moors. Its association with Africa dates as far back as the fourth and fifth centuries when Africans arrived in southern Europe. But it was in 711 A.D. that they marched in as conquerors under the command of Tarik. To reinforce what has been said earlier these Moors, as the early writers chronicled, were "black or dark people, some being very black."

After the invasion of 711 came other waves of Moors even darker. It was this occupation of Portugal which accounts for the fact that even noble families had absorbed the blood of the Moor.

From that time onwards, racial mixing in Portugal, as in Spain, and elsewhere in Europe which came under the influence of Moors, took place on a large scale. That is why historians claim that "Portugal is in reality a Negroid land," and that when Napoleon explained that "Africa begins at the Pyrenees," he meant every word that he uttered. Even the world-famed shrine in Portugal, Fatima, where Catholic pilgrims from all over the world go in search of miracle cures for their afflictions, owes its origin to the Moors. The story goes that a Portuguese nobleman was so saddened by the death of his wife, a young Moorish beauty whom he had married after her conversion to the Christian faith, that he gave up his title and fortune and entered a monastery. His wife was buried on a high plateau called Sierra de Aire. It is from there that the name of Fatima is derived.

The Moors ruled and occupied Lisbon and the rest of the country until well into the twelfth century. They were finally defeated and driven out by the forces of King Alfonso Henriques, who was aided by English and Flemish crusaders. The scene of this battle was the Castelo de Sao Jorge or, in English, the Castle of St. George. Today, it still stands, overlooking the city of "Lashbuna"--as the Moors named Lisbon.

The defeat of the Moors did not put an end to their influence on Portugal. The African (Moorish) presence can be seen everywhere in Portugal; in the architecture of many of the buildings. They still retain their Moorish design--like the Praca De Toiros--the Bull Ring in Lisbon. A walk through Alfama--the oldest quarter in Lisbon, with its fifteenth century houses, narrow-winding streets--dates back to the time when it was the last settlement of the Moors. Fado singers abound in all corners and bistros of Afalma. Their songs and rhythms owe much to the influence of the Moorish musicians centuries ago. Even the fishing boats on the beaches of Cascais show marked African traces. Called the rabelos, these boats, with their large red or white sails, which also ply on the Douro River to fetch wine from the upper valleys, are reminiscent of the transport boats of Lagos in Nigeria.

Moors and Arabs

When the Romans entered West Africa in 46 B.C., they saw Africans and called them Maures, from the Greek adjective Mauros, meaning dark or black. It is from Mauros and the Latin term Marues that the word Moor is derived. Since the inhabitants of North Africa were black, the Romans and later the Europeans called them Moors. It is no coincidence that the land inhabited by the Moors was called Mauritania and Morocco, meaning "Land of the Blacks."

In the beginning of the seventh century, the Arab prophet, Muhammad, began to preach the word of Islam. Consumed with religious fervor, the Arabs sought to spread Islam and conquer the world. By 708, the Arabs had overrun North Africa. Consequently, Moors in large numbers accepted Arabic as the national language and converted to their conqueror's religion, Islam. Interestingly, hundreds of years later, Africans who had been enslaved by Europeans would again convert to their conqueror's religion, Christianity.

After the fall of the Roman Empire (fifth century), Spain was held by a barbaric white tribe, the Visigoths. Though they were Christians, their brand of Christianity was cruel and unjust. For this reason, Spain's Jews, serfs, and slaves looked favorably upon the arrival of a new civilization in which they would be able to live free of persecution.

Tarik, a great African chief, was given the rank of general in the Arab army and sent to raid Spain. On April 30, 711, Tarik landed on the Spanish Coast with 7,000 troops. His troops consisted of 300 Arabs and 6,700 native Africans (Moors). An ancient source, Ibn Husayn (ca. 950, recorded that these troops were "Sudanese", an Arabic word for Black people.

The Moors were unstoppable, and Visigothic Spain ceased to be. The few resisting Visigoths fled to the caves of the Cantabrian Mountains. Later in the century, the cave dwellers would venture out of the Cantabrian Mountains and reclaim parts of northern Spain.

The Moors of Africa were the real conquerors. When the Arabs arrived, the hardest part of the job had been done. Instead of treating the Moors fairly, the Arab chiefs assigned themselves the most fertile regions. The dissatisfied Moors were not long in coming to blows with the Arabs. (The History of Spain by Louis Bertrand and Sir Charles Petrie - published by Eyre & Spottiswood, London, 1945, page 36). Ultimately, the Moors acquired two-thirds of the peninsula, which they named Al-Andulus.

Al -Andulus was obliged to pay tribute to the Arab Caliph (King) of Damascus. As Al-Andulus acquired its own identity, its bond with the Caliph began to weaken. In 756, Al-Andulus proclaimed itself an independent state. Thus, its only links to the Arabs would be the Islamic faith and the Arabic language.

The Moorish architectural remains in Cordoba, Seville, and Granada prove conclusively that these cities were more prosperous and artistically more brilliant than any Christian cities in Europe at the time. The Moors of Al-Andulus held the torch of leaning and civilization when the rest of Europe was plunged in barbaric ignorance.

If Moorish Spain had been an accomplishment of the Arabs it would have been called Arab or Arabic Spain. Instead it bears the name of its creators, the Moors, i.e., Moorish Spain. Moorish culture was black in origin, bright in Achievement, and powerful in its influence on the rest of Europe.

Yvonne Clark is a researcher and public lecturer currently residing in Los Angeles, California. She had recently returned from an educational tour of Bahia, Brazil, and has done extensive research on Moorish Spain. Ms. Clark may be contacted at ycclark@earthlink.net

from
http://africawithin.com/moors/moors_and_arabs.htm

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