Un poema "homófobo"

Vamos a realizar un experimento: primero incluyo aquí un poema "homófobo" y luego os digo quién es el autor. Muchos ya lo sabréis, pero otros (los de la LOGSE) necesitan que se les recuerden ciertas cosas. Allá va:

ODA A Walt Whitman

Por el East River y el Bronx
los muchachos cantaban enseñando sus cinturas,
con la rueda, el aceite, el cuero y el martillo.
Noventa mil mineros sacaban la plata de las rocas
y los niños dibujaban escaleras y perspectivas.

Pero ninguno se dormía,
ninguno quería ser el río,
ninguno amaba las hojas grandes,
ninguno la lengua azul de la playa.

Por el East River y el Queensborough
los muchachos luchaban con la industria,
y los judíos vendían al fauno del río
la rosa de la circuncisión
y el cielo desembocaba por los puentes y los tejados
manadas de bisontes empujadas por el viento.

Pero ninguno se detenía,
ninguno quería ser nube,
ninguno buscaba los helechos
ni la rueda amarilla del tamboril.

Cuando la luna salga
las poleas rodarán para tumbar el cielo;
un límite de agujas cercará la memoria
y los ataúdes se llevarán a los que no trabajan.

Nueva York de cieno,
Nueva York de alambres y de muerte.
¿Qué ángel llevas oculto en la mejilla?
¿Qué voz perfecta dirá las verdades del trigo?
¿Quién el sueño terrible de sus anémonas manchadas?

Ni un solo momento, viejo hermoso Walt Whitman,
he dejado de ver tu barba llena de mariposas,
ni tus hombros de pana gastados por la luna,
ni tus muslos de Apolo virginal,
ni tu voz como una columna de ceniza;
anciano hermoso como la niebla
que gemías igual que un pájaro
con el sexo atravesado por una aguja,
enemigo del sátiro,
enemigo de la vid
y amante de los cuerpos bajo la burda tela.
Ni un solo momento, hermosura viril
que en montes de carbón, anuncios y ferrocarriles,
soñabas ser un río y dormir como un río
con aquel camarada que pondría en tu pecho
un pequeño dolor de ignorante leopardo.

Ni un sólo momento, Adán de sangre, macho,
hombre solo en el mar, viejo hermoso Walt Whitman,
porque por las azoteas,
agrupados en los bares,
saliendo en racimos de las alcantarillas,
temblando entre las piernas de los chauffeurs
o girando en las plataformas del ajenjo,
los maricas, Walt Whitman, te soñaban.

¡También ese! ¡También! Y se despeñan
sobre tu barba luminosa y casta,
rubios del norte, negros de la arena,
muchedumbres de gritos y ademanes,
como gatos y como las serpientes,
los maricas, Walt Whitman, los maricas
turbios de lágrimas, carne para fusta,
bota o mordisco de los domadores.

¡También ése! ¡También! Dedos teñidos
apuntan a la orilla de tu sueño
cuando el amigo come tu manzana
con un leve sabor de gasolina
y el sol canta por los ombligos
de los muchachos que juegan bajo los puentes.

Pero tú no buscabas los ojos arañados,
ni el pantano oscurísimo donde sumergen a los niños,
ni la saliva helada,
ni las curvas heridas como panza de sapo
que llevan los maricas en coches y terrazas
mientras la luna los azota por las esquinas del terror.

Tú buscabas un desnudo que fuera como un río,
toro y sueño que junte la rueda con el alga,
padre de tu agonía, camelia de tu muerte,
y gimiera en las llamas de tu ecuador oculto.

Porque es justo que el hombre no busque su deleite
en la selva de sangre de la mañana próxima.
El cielo tiene playas donde evitar la vida
y hay cuerpos que no deben repetirse en la aurora.

Agonía, agonía, sueño, fermento y sueño.
Éste es el mundo, amigo, agonía, agonía.
Los muertos se descomponen bajo el reloj de las ciudades,
la guerra pasa llorando con un millón de ratas grises,
los ricos dan a sus queridas
pequeños moribundos iluminados,
y la vida no es noble, ni buena, ni sagrada.

Puede el hombre, si quiere, conducir su deseo
por vena de coral o celeste desnudo.
Mañana los amores serán rocas y el Tiempo
una brisa que viene dormida por las ramas.

Por eso no levanto mi voz, viejo Walt Whítman,
contra el niño que escribe
nombre de niña en su almohada,
ni contra el muchacho que se viste de novia
en la oscuridad del ropero,
ni contra los solitarios de los casinos
que beben con asco el agua de la prostitución,
ni contra los hombres de mirada verde
que aman al hombre y queman sus labios en silencio.
Pero sí contra vosotros, maricas de las ciudades,
de carne tumefacta y pensamiento inmundo,
madres de lodo, arpías, enemigos sin sueño
del Amor que reparte coronas de alegría.

Contra vosotros siempre, que dais a los muchachos
gotas de sucia muerte con amargo veneno.
Contra vosotros siempre,
Faeries de Norteamérica,
Pájaros de la Habana,
Jotos de Méjico,
Sarasas de Cádiz,
Ápios de Sevilla,
Cancos de Madrid,
Floras de Alicante,
Adelaidas de Portugal.

¡Maricas de todo el mundo, asesinos de palomas!
Esclavos de la mujer, perras de sus tocadores,
abiertos en las plazas con fiebre de abanico
o emboscadas en yertos paisajes de cicuta.

¡No haya cuartel! La muerte
mana de vuestros ojos
y agrupa flores grises en la orilla del cieno.
¡No haya cuartel! ¡Alerta!
Que los confundidos, los puros,
los clásicos, los señalados, los suplicantes
os cierren las puertas de la bacanal.

Y tú, bello Walt Whitman, duerme a orillas del Hudson
con la barba hacia el polo y las manos abiertas.
Arcilla blanda o nieve, tu lengua está llamando
camaradas que velen tu gacela sin cuerpo.
Duerme, no queda nada.
Una danza de muros agita las praderas
y América se anega de máquinas y llanto.
Quiero que el aire fuerte de la noche más honda
quite flores y letras del arco donde duermes
y un niño negro anuncie a los blancos del oro
la llegada del reino de la espiga.


Alucinante, ¿verdad? Ah, sí, el autor, casi se me olvida: Federico García Lorca del libro "Poeta en Nueva York".

¿Alguien quiere comentar algo?

If

Mi amigo J., además de ligar con eritreas, es un crack. Me acaba de recomendar un poema de Kipling que J. dice que resume muy bien su filosofía de vida. El poema es buenísimo, y no puedo dejar de compartirlo con quien se acerque a estas costas. Desde aquí mi público agradecimiento a J. del que siempre he pensado aquello que dicen los versos de Lope de Vega: "Qué tengo yo que mi amistad procuras..."

If

IF you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,'

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Para aquellos que no tenéis muy claro lo del inglés os adjunto la traducción (de Tomás Pérez-Durías):

Si...

Si guardas en tu puesto la cabeza tranquila,

cuando todo a tu lado es cabeza perdida.

Si tienes en ti mismo una fe que te niegan

y no desprecias nunca las dudas que ellos tengan.

Si esperas en tu puesto, sin fatiga en la espera.

Si engañado, no engañas.

Si no buscas más odio, que el odio que te tengan.

Si eres bueno, y no finges ser mejor de lo que eres.

Si al hablar no exageras, lo que sabes y quieres.

Si sueñas y los sueños no te hacen su esclavo.

Si piensas y rechazas lo que piensas en vano.

Si alcanzas el TRIUNFO ó llega tu DERROTA,

y a los dos impostores les tratas de igual forma.

Si logras que se sepa la verdad que has hablado,

a pesar del sofisma del Orbe encanallado.

Si vuelves al comienzo de la obra perdida,

aunque esta obra sea la de toda tu vida.

Si arriesgas de un golpe y lleno de alegría,

tus ganancias de siempre a la suerte de un día,

y pierdes, y te lanzas de nuevo a la pelea,

sin decir nada a nadie lo que eres, ni lo que eras.

Si logras que los nervios y el corazón te asistan,

aún después de su fuga, en tu cuerpo en fatiga,

y se agarren contigo, cuando no quede nada,

porque tú lo deseas, lo quieres y mandas.

Si hablas con el pueblo, y guardas la virtud.

Si marchas junto a Reyes, con tu paso y tu luz.

Si nadie que te hiera, llega a hacerte la herida.

Si todos te reclaman, y ninguno te precisa.

Si llenas el minuto inolvidable y cierto,

de sesenta segundos, que te llevan al cielo.

TODO lo de esta Tierra será de tu dominio,

Y mucho más aún ...

¡ Serás un HOMBRE, hijo mío !

Yusuf

Yusuf es mi héroe. Trabaja en nuestra oficina como limpiador pero tengo para mí que es, por lo menos, coronel de la sociedad secreta (de la que hablaré en otro momento).

En Arabia todas las oficinas tienen uno o más coffee managers cuyo cometido consiste casi exclusivamente en suministrar café o té a todo el mundo, uno o más conductores y uno o más limpiadores. Yusuf pertenece a este gremio, y tal y como van las cosas, va a resultar difícil que ascienda a coffee manager y mucho menos a chófer. Procedente de Kerala (India), al principio todo el mundo (incluso sus compatriotas) pensaba que era retrasado mental. No entendía las instrucciones más sencillas: "limpia esto", "limpia lo otro", etc. Así, poco a poco, y siguiendo la vieja ley de la mili, a Yusuf cada vez se le pedían menos tareas. ¿Para qué pedirle nada si no te entiende? O sea, Yusuf vivía como un sátrapa.

Lo curioso es que un buen día alguien descubrió que Yusuf no era retrasado mental, era sordo, o casi sordo. Entonces se propuso llevar a cabo una colecta general para comprarle un audífono. Y así fue. Desde entonces Yusuf entiende lo que se le dice y, claro está, ha dejado de ser feliz. Ahora tiene que trabajar y ya no le vale no entender. Pero como no es tonto ha descubierto un truco infalible: sólo se le puede hablar en malayalam (lengua de Kerala) o en árabe. Por eso mi oficina está limpia y la del resto de los compañeros que no hablan árabe deja bastante que desear.

En fin, Yusuf trabaja más que antes, pero ahora además se comunica y cuenta cosas. Un fenómeno, Yusuf.

Eritreas

Mi amigo J. me pregunta, después de leer la entrada sobre los somalíes, que por qué no hablo de las eritreas. Bueno, tú lo has querido. Hablaremos de las eritreas.

En Arabia te pasan a veces cosas raras, como si la realidad fuera más bien una película de ficción. No recuerdo muy bien el motivo pero el caso es que cierto día en Riyadh nos vimos invitados a cenar en casa de Yusuf, más conocido por "Pepe el de los c..." según su propia expresión. Yusuf es un tipo peculiar. Antiguamente fue un alto cargo del gobierno saudí, y sus fotos junto al Rey Faisal Bin Abdulaziz así lo demuestran. Se ve que con el tiempo fue cayendo en desgracia y ahora se dedica (o dedicaba) a no hacer nada, a pasar el tiempo con sus amigos y "amigas", a beber como un cosaco (en un país en el que el alcohol está absolutamente prohibido) y a ganar dinero con sus propiedades.

Aquella noche nos invitó a cenar a su casa, y allí nos presentamos. Después de los saludos de rigor pasamos al salón para tomar algo antes de ir al comedor a cenar. Entonces apareció una de las mucamas eritreas de Yusuf que creo recordar que se llamaba Janette (o Juliette, el caso es que era cristiana y tenía nombre cristiano).

Janette era guapa. Como toda la gente del Cuerno de África tenía un color de piel muy atractivo (piel morena tostada) y una elegancia natural que llamaba la atención. Lo curioso es que en cuanto vio a mi amigo J. se quedó prendada de él y no apartaba la vista de mi amigo. En ese momento hasta Yusuf hizo un comentario al respecto y todos nos reímos. La sorpresa fue que Janette desapareció mientras tomábamos la primera copa y volvió a aparecer para servirnos la cena completamente cambiada. Se había vestido sus mejores galas, maquillado y arreglado para mi amigo J.

Aquello no pasó desapercibido para nadie y las risas y comentarios fueron sonoros. Mi amigo J. iba a triunfar.

Y así fue. J. no perdió la ocasión para darle su teléfono en un momento de despiste y al día siguiente quedaron juntos para conocerse mejor. Mi amigo J. estuvo saliendo con Janette durante un tiempo pero, no contento con la idea de ser él sólo el que salía con ella, decidió organizar una reunión con una amiga de Janette y nuestro amigo Khaled. Al final salieron los cuatro juntos y, según cuenta la leyenda, no lo pasaron nada mal durante una temporada.

Al cabo del tiempo nos enteramos de que una noche la mutawwa (policía religiosa) hizo una redada en casa de Yusuf y se llevaron a la cárcel a Yusuf, sus amigos, sus mucamas y todo aquél que pasara por allí en ese momento.

J. siempre pensó que podía haberle tocado a él, pero eso es otra historia.

De Yusuf y amigas no volvimos a saber nada.

Nokia N95, el móvil de mis sueños

Ya ha salido al mercado, por el módico precio de unos 550 euros, el móvil de mis sueños, el Nokia N95. Desde que descubrí el sistema operativo Symbian (gracias a Tekena y Luis Marcial) no paro de darle vueltas a la idea de conseguir un móvil con este sistema. La cosa fue derivando y, como los sueños no tienen límites, empecé a pensar en más cosas para el móvil ideal. Y jalás, ya está en el mercado. Viene con una cámara de 5 megapixels (por supuesto Carl Zeiss, no vamos a escatimar), wifi, GPS incorporado, pantalla de alta resolución, ...., en fin, la pera. ¿Problema? el precio. Por ello estoy dispuesto a que cualquier alma caritativa y de amplios bolsillos me lo regale.

¿Alguien se anima?

Corrupción en Arabia Saudí

No está mal, 800.000 millones de dólares se pierden por culpa de la corrupción en Arabia Saudí. Lo alucinante es que se empiece a hablar de esto y que se puedan publicar artículos como éste. ¿Signos de cambio en Arabia? Parece que la mano del Rey Abdullah es blanca y su sombra se extiende por las negras madrigueras de los corruptos. Quizás haya esperanza. ¡Qué diferencia con lo visto hasta la fecha!


Corruption Costs Flight of SR3 Trillion Worth FundsP.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News
(http://www.arabnews.com/?page=6&section=0&article=92556&d=22&m=2&y=2007)

JEDDAH, 22 February 2007 — Saudi funds worth SR3 trillion ($800 billion) have gone out of the Kingdom as a result of administrative corruption, according to Majed Garoub, a legal consultant and chairman of the lawyers committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Garoub did not say over what period of time this figure is derived.
He made this disclosure while commending the significance of the national strategy for combating corruption, which was approved by the Council of Ministers last Monday. The Cabinet also set up an authority to monitor implementation of the strategy.
Garoub called for greater administrative and financial controls and establishment of a separate ministry for administration.
“We are also in need of a constitutional court to ensure that our rules and regulations are suitable and legitimate,” he added. There are different forms of administrative corruption, such as bribery, use of influence or wasta (personal connections) and embezzlement of public money.
“We are losing billions of riyals every year as a result of corruption,” said Amri Al-Kholi, professor of law at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah.
While passing the anti-graft bill, the Cabinet urged all government departments to combat corruption by carrying out their duties in accordance with the law, reducing and facilitating administrative procedures and holding all officials, irrespective of their positions, accountable.
The National Authority for Combating Corruption will be under the direct supervision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who has declared a war on corruption and bureaucratic practices ever since he ascended the Saudi throne in August 2005.
The head of the authority will be appointed by a royal decree and will have a ministerial rank, informed sources said, adding that all officials including ministers would be held responsible for dishonest practices. Salim Al-Qahtani, a Shoura Council member, said state-owned companies like Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), Aramco and Saudi Electricity Co. would also be questioned in case of malpractices.
“The decision to establish a national authority for fighting corruption is not only an acknowledgement of corruption in the country but also an affirmation of the government’s resolve to fight it,” Muhammad Al-Qahtani, professor of economy at the Institute of Diplomatic Studies, told Al-Watan Arabic daily.
Qahtani said the decline in government services, especially in the health and education sectors as well as the spread of poverty prove that public money is not spent in a proper manner. He said administrative corruption was taking place secretly, adding that all officials involved in graft cases must be questioned. Saudi Arabia holds a remote 78th position among 160 countries in terms of transparency. “Using government position to realize personal interests is one of the definitions for administrative corruption,” Qahtani said. He also spoke about violations in government contracts and stealing of public land and other properties.
Referring to malpractices taking places in government purchases, Qahtani asked why the products purchased for government departments are priced five times higher than their market value. “This is a dangerous but widely seen practice,” he added. Some studies show that government officials take bribes because of low salaries. “But nobody should be allowed to accept bribes. If customs officials and border guards take bribes for doing favors it will have dangerous consequences,” he added.

La mano de Irán es alargada

¿Serán capaces los americanos de cortársela? Impresionante análisis de Amir Taheri.

Iran: US Has Many Options
Amir Taheri
(http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=92268&d=17&m=2&y=2007)

Has war between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran become inevitable?
These days, the question is at the center of discussions in diplomatic circles across the globe. A good part of the talk on the sidelines of the annual International Security Conference, held in Munich, Germany, last week was precisely about that.
The same question will be at the center of talks between Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad who is due in Tehran today to coordinate his strategies with Iran.
Judged by the visuals of the case, a military conflict seems possible.
Like a pair of angry cats contesting the same space, Iran and the United States have been frowning and making warlike gestures, over who should set the agenda for the Middle East, for a quarter of a century.
At some point, the two cats must jump at one another.
In a sense, the two have been at war since 1979 when Khomeinist militants raided the US Embassy in Tehran and seized its diplomat’s hostage.
Since then, pro-Iran militants have killed almost 1,000 Americans across the globe, including in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon and, more recently, Iraq. The Americans killed almost as many Iranians with the accidental downing of an Iranian jetliner and the destruction of Revolutionary Guard positions along the Gulf in 1987.
Through the 1990s, the two managed to avoid conflict, by ignoring one another. That changed after 9/11 when the US decided to reshape the Middle East with “regime change” in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Calling the Islamic republic part of an “Axis of Evil”, President George W. Bush made it clear there would be no room for Khomeinism in his new Middle East.
That prompted Tehran to prepare for a showdown that Ahamdinejad seems to welcome.
Iran intensified the arming of Hezbollah, renewed contacts with Shiite militants in Arab states, and increased its military budget by 21 percent. It also resumed uranium enrichment, putting its controversial nuclear program into high gear, and provoking a diplomatic tussle with US and its allies.
In Afghanistan, Iran reactivated Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hizb Islami militia, shipped arms to the Is’haqzai Pushtun tribe, and helped Hazara Shiites raise an army of 12,000. Iran also opened its borders to fleeing Taleban and Al-Qaeda militants. According to Arab intelligence sources, some 30 senior “Arab Afghans” are in Iran.
To exert pressure on another US ally, Iran has shipped arms to Balochi rebels in Pakistan, including Marri tribesmen led by Nawab Khair-Baksh.
Next, Tehran established contact with Palestinian radicals, notably Hamas, feting its leaders in Tehran and providing aid worth $250 million. Last week’s capture of Iranian military advisers in Gaza shows that Tehran was also involved in training Palestinian fighters.
Last summer, Tehran fought a proxy war against Washington in Lebanon with Israel, the United States’ regional ally, dueling with Hezbollah, Iran’s cat’s-paw in the Arab world. A month before the war, Iran had signed a defense treaty with Syria, turning into a client state.
Hezbollah’s perceived “victory” encouraged Iran to seek extending its glacis to Lebanon, by trying to topple the pro-Arab government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Since last year, however, Iraq has become the principal battleground in the indirect war between Iran and the US.
Iranian strategists assume that, if the Americans run away, Iraq will be divided into three mini-states: Kurdish, Sunni, and Shiite. Invoking the 19th century Treaty of Erzerum, which gives Iran certain rights in Iraq’s Shiite areas, Tehran hopes to play “big brother” to a future ministate in southern Iraq. The list of US accusations against Tehran includes:
• Supplying Iraqi militants with roadside bombs, known as Explosive Formed Projectiles (EFPs), which have killed at least 170 US soldiers and maimed over 600 others.
• Supplying Iraqi insurgents, both Sunni and Shiite, with sniper rifles bought by Iran from Austria in 2002.
• Recruiting, training and financing a number of Iraqi Shiite militias, notably the Mahdi Army, led by Moqtada Sadr.
• Setting up command-and-control networks to coordinate insurgent attacks on US forces in Iraq. Seventy-eight members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and security services have been arrested in Iraq, including seven senior officers captured in raids in Erbil and Baghdad. Among them were Muhsin Shirazi and Muhammad-Ja’afar Sahraroudi who have been in charge of pro-Iran militant groups abroad since the 1980s.
• Offering safe haven to anti-US militants, including Jamal Jaafar-Muhammad, a member of the Iraqi National Assembly who coordinated the smuggling of EFPs into Iraq. Moqtada Sadr is also in Iran along with Abu-Hamza, a leader of the Al-Qaeda and Ramadan Al-Shalah, leader of the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO).
Iran cannot allow the imposition of a pax Americana in which Khomeinism could have no place. The US, for its part, cannot allow its Khomeinist foes to dominate a region that contains half the world’s oil and gas reserves.
The conventional wisdom is that with the US Army bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington cannot wage full-scale war against the Islamic republic. This ignores the fact that the US Navy and Air Force remain fully free and ready for action. Washington’s choice is not limited to either invading Iran or surrendering to the mullahs. Between the two, a range of options is available.
Some are already being used.
These include moves, known in military jargon as “proximity pressure”.
Bush has changed the rules of engagement in Iraq to allow US forces to capture or kill Iranian infiltrators. The arrival of two naval battle groups in the Gulf represents the biggest concentration of firepower there since 1990.
These could take out the Islamic Revolutionary Guards positions close to or along the Gulf, including key strategic assets like the bases in Dezful, Bushehr, Bandar Abbas, the Jask Peninsula, and Konarak.
Iran’s nuclear installations in Klardasht, Arak, Tehran, Natanz, and Isfahan, along with the uranium mines of Bafq and Sarcheshmeh could also be destroyed, postponing the emergence of the Khomeinist regime as a nuclear power by years.
Other targets include the bases and headquarters of the so-called Quds (Jerusalem) Corps that Iran has uses for “exporting revolution”. Located in western Iran, close to Iraq, these could be taken out with a combination of air attacks and ground commando raids.
Such moves by the US would face the Iranian leadership with a tough choice: Whether to retaliate, thus provoking a full-scale war.
Iran could retaliate by using its Lebanese and Palestinian clients for attacks against Israel.
It could also organize terror operations in several Arab states and in Europe while making life harder for NATO in Afghanistan.
Escalation, however, would provide Washington with the excuse to hit the command-and-control structures of the Khomeinist regime, including in Tehran itself.
The list of American accusations is long. It includes:
So far, the Khomeinsit leadership has swallowed the American accusations and “proximity pressure” operations with uncharacteristic pusillanimity. Ahmadinejad’s talk of the “Samson option”, meaning to set the Middle East ablaze if the Islamic republic is threatened, has not gone beyond rhetoric.
It is as if the mullahs are looking for a way to walk back from the edge of precipice without losing face. The question, however, is whether the US, emboldened by the mullahs’ lack of response, will not seek “regime change”, and whether the Khomeinist leadership can climb down without losing face, and, perhaps, its grip on power.
This is high stakes poker, with its outcome hard to predict

Energía nuclear en el Golfo

Genial. No contentos con el programa nuclear de Irán ahora es Arabia, principal productor mundial de petróleo, el que dice necesitar energía nuclear "por supuesto con fines pacíficos". Claro. Nada de armas nucleares. Es que no tenemos bastante con el petróleo.


Saud: No Barriers to Nuke Cooperation With Russia Raid Qusti, Arab News —

(http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=92171&d=15&m=2&y=2007)

RIYADH, 15 February 2007 — Saudi Arabia said yesterday there were “no barriers” to atomic energy cooperation with Russia, following a visit made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Saudi Arabia discussed this matter with the Secretariat General of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) during the Russian president’s visit,” said Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal at a press conference held here yesterday.
“The (Al-Jaber) GCC Summit held in Riyadh had mentioned that GCC countries would develop this (nuclear) energy in line with certain protocols,” he added.
He said that GCC countries would not develop nuclear weapons.
“Russia is a country with nuclear energy experience and cooperating with it in this field is similar to cooperation in other areas,” he added.
The foreign minister also confirmed that the Kingdom discussed potential arms deals with Russian officials.
“It depends on what arms the Kingdom needs from Russia and what Russia can provide,” he said, without elaborating.
The foreign minister said the Kingdom has engaged in talks with Iran regarding the developments in the Islamic world.
“They conveyed to us their fear of the Islamic world being divided into Sunni and Shiite,” he said. “We are worried about this and hope it does not happen.”
He said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia did not take sides with any country in the Islamic world, but stressed at the same time, “that we are waiting for actions and deals and not just discussions” from the Iranian side.
Prince Saud said the Kingdom “strongly condemned” the diggings by the Israeli government near Al-Aqsa, Islam’s third holiest mosque. He said the project that the Israelis say is to renovate a bridge near the mosque that’s used by visitors (but critics say is part of Israel’s overall policy to alter the demographics of the Old City in its favor at the cost of Palestinian autonomy), is calculated “to provoke the feelings of Muslims all over the world.”
The foreign minister said he was thankful to God that the Kingdom had successfully brought together their Palestinian brethren in Makkah to form a unified national government.
“We hope that their agreement would find international support to lift the suffering of the Palestinian people and pave the way for the peace process to continue,” he said.
On the issue of Iraq, Prince Saud said that he had met with visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari yesterday to discuss the latest developments in the country.
“We expressed our hope that security prevails in Iraq and that all sources of violence, terror, and armed militias are eliminated,” he said.
He also said he was hopeful that Iraqis would enjoy unity and prosperity under the constitution and equal distribution of wealth. He said the Kingdom was doing what it could to prevent illegal entry into Iraqi territory.
He also said the Kingdom “was exerting all efforts to ensure that Saudi prisoners in Iraq return home safely,” adding that the Saudi government would investigate the conditions under which prisoners were arrested and jailed.
The foreign minister said the Kingdom condemned the bus bomb in Beirut on Tuesday, a day before the commemoration of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“Events have proven that his death was a great loss for Arabs and the Lebanese,” he commented. He called on all Lebanese political parties to sort out their differences and to embrace an accord that would restore peace and prosperity in the country.

Efecto llamada

Hace dos años mi amigo A. aterrizaba en Dubai, Emiratos Árabes Unidos. Cogió un taxi y empezó a hablar con el taxista. "Yo soy sudanés, y usted ¿de dónde es?" Le preguntó el taxista. "Soy español". Dijo mi amigo. "Ah, español. España muy bien ahora con Zapatero, no como antes con Aznar. Ahora gracias a Zapatero yo voy a ir a España con toda mi familia y nos van a dar trabajo y papeles sin problemas. No como antes". Mi amigo se quedó petrificado y le preguntó: "¿Y cómo sabe usted eso?" "Todo el mundo lo sabe. En el tercer mundo estas cosas corren como la pólvora". Le dijo sonriendo el sudanés...

Efectivamente, Caldera, no existe el efecto llamada.

Conspiración de silencio en el mundo árabe

Hmmm, interesante. ¿Marbella? Hmmm.
Artículo interesante aunque no estemos de acuerdo en algunas cosas.


Conspiracy of Silence in the Arab World Robert Fisk, The Independent —

(http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=92083&d=13&m=2&y=2007&pix=opinion.jpg&category=Opinion)

Could Rifaat Assad’s day in court be growing closer? Yes, Rifaat — or Uncle Rifaat to President Bashar Assad of Syria — the man whose brother Hafez hurled him from Damascus after he tried to use his Special Forces troops to stage a coup. They were the same Special Forces who crushed the Islamist rebellion in Hama in February 1982, slaughtering up to — well, a few thousand, according to the regime, at least 10,000 according to Fisk (who was there) and up 20,000 if you believe The New York Times (which I generally don’t).
Either way, I’ve always regarded it as a war crime, along with the massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila camps in Beirut by Israel’s Lebanese militia allies a few months later. Ariel Sharon, who was held personally responsible by Israel’s own court of enquiry, is an unindicted war criminal. So is Rifaat.
That’s why the faintest breeze blew through my fax machine this week when I received a letter sent to the UN secretary-general by Malik Abdeh, head of the London-based Movement for Justice and Development in Syria. Abdeh left his Syrian town of Zabadani before the Hama massacres — he works now as an IT consultant for a multinational — so he’s hardly able to breathe the air of Sister Syria. But then again nor can Rifaat, who languishes — complete with bodyguards — in that nice EU island of refuge called Marbella. And refuge he probably needs. Because Abdeh is asking the UN to institute an enquiry into the Hama bloodbath in the same way that it is powering along with its tribunal into the murder almost two years ago of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Ouch. In the letter Abdeh describes how “warplanes and tanks leveled whole districts of the city (of Hama) ... the evidence clearly suggests that government forces made no distinction between armed insurgents and unarmed civilians ... the assault on the city represents a clear act of war crimes and murder on a mass scale.”
The letter has now been passed to the UN’s legal head, Nicolas Michel, who is also involved in the Hariri murder case. The sacred name of Rifaat has not been mentioned in the letter but it specifically demands that “those who are responsible should be held accountable and charged....”
Now, of course, there are a few discrepancies in the facts. The Syrians did not use poison gas in Hama, as Abdeh claims. They certainly did level whole areas of the city — they are still level today, although a hotel has been built over one devastated district — and when Rifaat’s thugs combed through the ruins later, they executed any civilians who couldn’t account for their presence.
But of course, the Hama uprising was also a Sunni Muslim insurrection and the insurgents had murdered entire families of Baath party officials, sometimes by chopping off their heads. In underground tunnels, Muslim girls had exploded themselves among Syrian troops — they were among the Middle East’s first suicide bombers although we didn’t appreciate that then. And the Americans were not at all unhappy that this Islamist insurgency had been crushed by Uncle Rifaat.
Readers will not need any allusion to modern and equally terrible events involving Sunni insurgents to the east of Syria. And since the Americans are getting pretty efficient at killing civilians along with gunmen, I have a dark suspicion that there won’t be any great enthusiasm in Washington for a prosecution over Hama.
But still... What strikes me is not so much the force of Abdeh’s letter but that it was written at all. When the Hama massacre occurred, neighboring Arab states were silent. Although the Sunni prelates of the city called for a religious war, their fellow clerics in Damascus — and, indeed, in Beirut — were silent. Just as the imams and scholars of Islam were silent when the Algerians began to slaughter each other in a welter of head-chopping and security force executions in the 1990s.
Just as they are silent now over the mutual killings in Iraq. Sure, the mass killings of Iraq would not have occurred if we hadn’t invaded the country. And I do suspect a few “hidden hands” behind the civil conflict in a nation which never before broke apart. In Algeria, the French spent a lot of time in the early 1960s persuading — quite successfully — their FLN and ALN enemies to murder each other. But where are the sheikhs of Al-Azhar and the great Arabian countries when the Iraqi dead are fished out of the Tigris and cut down in their thousands in Baghdad, Kerbala, Baquba? They, too, are silent.
Not a word of criticism. Not a hint of concern. Not a scintilla (an Enoch Powell word, this) of sympathy. An Israeli bombardment of Lebanon? Even an Israeli invasion? That’s a war crime — and the Arabs are right, the Israelis do commit war crimes. I saw the evidence of quite a few last summer. But when does Arab blood become less sacred? Why, when it is shed by Arabs.
It’s not just a failure of self-criticism in the Arab world. Criticism of any kind is a dodgy undertaking. But can there not be one small sermon of reprobation for what Iraqi Muslims are doing to Iraqi Muslims?
Of course, but the real problem the Arabs now face is that their lands have been overrun and effectively occupied by Western armies. I worked out a few weeks ago that, per head of population — and the world was smaller in the 12th century — there are now about 22 times more Western soldiers in Muslim lands than there were at the time of the Crusades. How do you strike back at these legions and drive them out?
Brutally and most terribly, the Iraqis have shown how. I used to say the future of the Bush administration will be decided in Iraq, not in Washington. And this now appears to be true.
So what should we do? Allow the Rifaats of this world to go on enjoying Marbella? And the killers of Hariri go free? And the Arabs remain silent in the face of the shameful atrocities which their brother Muslims have also committed? I’ll take a bet that Rifaat will be safe from the UN lads. In Iraq right now, he’d be on “our” side, wouldn’t he, battling the Islamic insurgency as he did in Hama?
And that, I fear, is the problem. We are all Rifaats now.

¡Terremoto!

Hoy hemos padecido un terremoto. No ha sido gran cosa: 6,3 puntos en la escala Richter en el epicentro, 4 puntos en mi oficina. Lo han sentido todos los que estaban sentados en sus puestos de trabajo. A mí me ha pillado en el pasillo, hablando por el móvil, y no me he enterado de nada. Sin embargo, los compañeros de la quinta planta lo han notado claramente y se han asustado. Algunos edificios altos han sido evacuados.

Ha sido interesante. Hemos visto cómo unos se asustan muchísimo y otros conservan la calma. Yo he vuelto a pensar en lo de siempre: no somos nada y vivimos de prestado. Cualquier día puede ser el mejor día para que todo acabe para siempre. Vanidad de vanidades...

El milagro de Espartinas

Todos los domingos a las 12 de la mañana se produce un milagro en la iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Espartinas: la misa de los niños. Allí se organiza una barahúnda de chiquillos que se preparan para la primera comunión. El párroco, un franciscano afable y de infinita paciencia, va explicando a los niños las enseñanzas de Jesús acompañado por dos mujeres que tocan la guitarra y cantan. Las canciones son pegadizas y hacen que todo el mundo participe cantando y dando palmas. La misa es alegre y, sin duda, mucho más efectiva a la hora de transmitir el mensaje divino que las que se producen cada domingo en otras iglesias. El cura no se enfada nunca, y con delicadeza exquisita, explica el Evangelio y les recuerda a los niños que también sus padres pueden asistir a la ceremonia.

Lamentablemente, a veces da la impresión de que algunos de esos niños harán pronto su primera y última comunión.

Café con unos somalíes

"When in Rome do as Romans do". O dicho en román paladino: "Donde fueres haz lo que vieres". Ésta es la filosofía que he aplicado siempre en todos mis viajes. Procuro pasar desapercibido, hacer las cosas que hace la gente en los lugares que visito, no llamar la atención más de lo necesario.

En cierta ocasión tuve la fortuna de que mi amigo Jelani, somalí, me invitara a comer a su casa en Riyadh, Arabia Saudí. Jelani se casó, tuvo seis hijos y luego se casó otra vez. Siguiendo su interpretación del Corán, decidió que debía tratar a su segunda mujer exactamente igual que a la primera. Esto significa que tuvo otros seis hijos con su segunda mujer. Así pues, Jelani tiene doce hijos. No preguntéis cómo llega a fin de mes.

Aquel día estaba yo comiendo en su casa un estupendo zigni (www.recipezaar.com/31076), uno de los platos más picantes que yo haya probado en mi vida, rodeado de su familia. Al acabar la comida se sirvió el típico café. En Arabia el té y el café se toman sorbiéndolos. Al principio a uno le cuesta, pero pronto te acostumbras y descubres que el café sabe así mucho mejor. Te lo sirven muy caliente, lo acercas a la boca y lo sorbes de golpe. Inmediatamente sientes cómo las partículas de café te llenan la boca, la nariz y los pulmones. Es como si lo respiraras, como una explosión de sabor. Muy recomendable.

Así pues, cogí mi taza y me puse a sorber como un árabe más. En ese momento todos los presentes (los niños mayores y menores de Jelani, sus parientes, etc.) me miraron fijamente. "Tu amigo no es español, es árabe" dijo uno de los presentes. "Sorbe el café como los árabes y no lo bebe como nosotros, los somalíes, para los que sorber el café es una falta de educación tremenda, como para los europeos".

Pues eso, cuando vayas a Roma haz como los romanos, pero asegúrate primero de que son romanos.

Cosas que te pueden pasar en Arabia

Ir a una fiesta es un crimen en Arabia Saudí. Punto:
(http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24823&Itemid=116)

Jailed for Partying
Monday, 05 February 2007
The Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH. A court has convicted and sentenced 20 foreigners to receive lashes and spend several months in prison for attending a party where alcoholic drinks were served and men and women danced, an Arabic newspaper reported Sunday. The Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice arrested 433 foreigners, including more than 240 women, for attending the "impudent" party in Jeddah, the Arabic newspaper Okaz reported. The newspaper did not identify the foreigners, give their nationalities or say when the party took place.
Judge Saud Al-Boushi sentenced the 20 to three to four months in prison and ordered them to receive an unspecified number of lashes. They have the right to appeal, the newspaper said.
The prosecutor general charged the 20 with "drinking, arranging for impudent party, mixed dancing and shooting a video for the party," Okaz said.
The newspaper said because of the large number of detainees, several judges were assigned to try them in groups. The rest of the detainees are awaiting trial.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños!

Hoy, 3 de febrero, festividad de San Blas, es mi cumpleaños. Y, para celebrarlo, me he permitido ser el primero en felicitarme y alegrarme por ello. Cumplo 44 años y, a estas alturas de la película, empiezo a vislumbrar que la vida no es lo que queda por delante sino lo que ya se ha ido y nunca volverá. Y empiezo a entender que hasta ahora he estado demasiado ocupado soñando cómo iba a ser mi vida en el futuro en lugar de disfrutar el presente que se escapaba entre mis manos.

Pero no importa. Soy feliz. Tengo mucho más de lo que merezco gracias, entre otros, a mi mujer y a mis hijas. Y por su puesto al resto, a la "famiglia" que siempre están ahí cuando uno les necesita. Y a los amigos y conocidos, incluyendo a los compañeros de trabajo y sin embargo amigos. Y a tanta gente buena o mala que en algún momento han sido parte hasta la fecha del libro de mi vida. A todos vosotros vaya por delante mi agradecimiento.

En fin, no quiero caer en la melancolía. Disfrutemos del momento y procuremos ser cada vez mejores personas. Y cantemos todos juntos aquello de Violeta Parra que cantaba magistralmente Mercedes Sosa: "Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto..."

The Nightmare of Being a Saudi Woman

No he podido evitar compartir esto. Está en inglés. El original está en: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=91626&d=1&m=2&y=2007


The Nightmare of Being a Saudi Woman

(Abeer Mishkhas, abeermishkhas@arabnews.com)

HERE WE go again and this time, it is official. A woman in Saudi Arabia has no right to choose her husband; she is forced to marry whomever her family chooses and, what is most shocking of all, a Saudi woman can be divorced from her husband against her will if that is the wish of her family. Add to this all the “normal” limitations in her life which if we start listing them, we’ll fall into a vicious cycle of repetition. But repetition or not, a serious crime is taking place in front of us and just because we have gotten used to hearing about it does not make it any less serious.

All our anger and frustration aside, the latest news concerning the much-written about Fatima is very unsettling. She is the woman who was happily married to a husband whom her father approved of; after his death, however, her half-brothers decided she should divorce Mansour since, in their eyes, he was not her social equal. And they set about going to the court and divorcing the couple even though Fatima and Mansour were happily married with two children. The court has ruled in favor of the half-brothers so the couple is now “legally” divorced. There is nothing in Islam or its laws that allows such a thing to happen but nonetheless, the court has issued its verdict.

Now Fatima is facing being forced into her brothers’ custody who are threatning to revive the accusation of “khulwa”, or being alone with Mansour, for which they were originally arrested. She now has to face being given over to her brothers, being charged for being alone with her husband (as the court ruled that they are divorced), and having to live with the feeling that her life has been taken away from her unjustifiably and by force.

Fatima no doubt feels that her life has been taken completely, unjustly and unjustifiably away from her. To take things a step further, we are facing a situation which could become the nightmare of every woman in Saudi Arabia. A woman is not secure in her marriage; she is at the mercy of her brother, or half-brother or any male relative who can tear her life apart and get a court to support the action. The question is clear: Where and when will this madness stop? One of my colleagues pointed out something that is definitely not encouraging — the verdict in this particular case was handed down very swiftly and very clearly. There are thousands of other cases involving husbands and wives in which a verdict is sorely needed but which has been delayed by maneuverings and machinations. Many women in Saudi Arabia are waiting for a verdict that will free them from an abusive husband, father or male relative; far too many of them have been refused justice since their sufferings have been deemed to be unimportant. The men continue their abuse and the women suffer. Other women have had their children taken away from them as there are no laws granting them visitation rights, let alone the right to take care of their children. Other women are beaten up and forced to go back to their abusers and still the courts do not intervene in the name of justice. In none of these cases has it been recognized that women have rights and that they are being threatened on a daily basis.

To look at the whole story, Fatima’s case also proves that men can also be caught in the same web. Her husband is as much a victim as she is, and maybe his case will widen the issue and make it more of a human rights case than one involving only a mere woman.

Fatima’s verdict was announced on the day I learned about a case that made me explode with questions and exclamations. Here are the details: A young Saudi woman living in the UK went to a hospital with injuries and it turned out that she had been beaten by her husband. The woman doctor at the hospital was very sympathetic and supportive and listened carefully to the details of the assault; she did not hide her anger or disgust at the man who did this. She then alerted the social services and also reported the matter to the police. The police began investigating and used the woman’s own statement. No one told her, “We can’t believe you because you don’t have proof” which had happened to her previously in the Kingdom. The police sent a team to arrest the husband and the woman was absolutely incredulous. “I can’t believe that they are listening to me, believing what I said and actually acting,” she exclaimed.

Her amazement increased with each passing day with calls from social services and the police, checking to see that she was living comfortably and that her children were all right and offering any help that she needed. All of this support occurred at the same time she began to get threats from her husband’s family in Saudi Arabia. You see, she had dared to complain. His family has threatened to take her children away from her as soon as she returns to Saudi Arabia. And guess what? They can do exactly that if they feel like it. Not because they have a right to but because as a woman, she cannot demand her rights in the Kingdom. If she returns, she faces a long humiliating process — probably coupled with social ostracism and disgrace — and the final result is by no means guaranteed.